text:
DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor Co. is arming its dealers with a new iPad app designed to improve the customer experience. The app will be used by Ford sales associates, who will be able to access key inventory and product information from anywhere on a dealer’s lot.
Called the SHOWCASE app, the tool was designed to help deliver Ford dealers deliver an Apple experience, where salespeople can easily access key information to answer customer questions or to locate specific vehicles. Ford officials said the company began exploring the use of the Apple iPad in its dealerships in early 2011. To view the new SHOWCASE app in action, visit the link below: http://youtu.be/fmg1FJh5Lo8
“Waiting for the sales consultant to check the inventory or wandering the aisles of a car lot in search of just the right combination of colors and options can be a tedious and time-consuming process,” said Michelle Moody, cross vehicle marketing manager for Ford. “If the weather is bad or the sun has gone down early in the winter months, venturing outside is even less appealing.
In recent years, customers have become accustomed to using various shopping tools to configure and compare vehicles on the Ford.com website. The new SHOWCASE app links this experience to the showroom, giving sales associates new technology to determine what features a customer wants and to immediately check inventory to see which vehicles in stock most closely match those needs.
“We had tried using kiosks in the showroom to enable customers to check out our vehicles and features, but many customers were not as comfortable using these on their own,” Moody said.
Using the new SHOWCASE app running on an iPad, the salesperson can sit with the customer to pick out the model that person wants, then filter the selection based on trim level, colors, equipment and price. The app then displays all the vehicles in stock that match the customer’s criteria, including a list of all the equipment installed on each vehicle.
“I have to say it has never been easier finding the right vehicle,” said Maxx Springman, a customer who recently bought a new Escape from All-American Ford in Old Bridge, N.J. “I can’t believe we were able to build the exact Escape I was looking for right there at the salesman’s desk.”
The SHOWCASE app provides instant access to information and videos about a specific vehicle feature, including Ford SYNC and MyFord Touch. Using the app, the salesperson can quickly demonstrate features like collision warning with brake support, Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) or Lane-Keeping System, which may not be easy to show off during a test drive.
If the customer needs time to consider or discuss the purchase with his or her significant other, the sales associate can email the information on the specific vehicles in stock directly to the customer.
“Customers don’t like to wait while the salesperson walks away to check inventory,” said Rich Savino, owner of All-American Ford, a participant in the pilot program. “The SHOWCASE app helps to create a more intimate experience; it lets customers see what is available instantly and make adjustments if they don’t find what they are looking for.”
The SHOWCASE app was developed by Ford and user interface design specialists Razorfish over a period of several months in 2011. A pilot group of 14 Ford dealers participated in defining the app and then testing it beginning in November 2011. Open registration for all Ford dealers began on Aug. 1, 2012 and nearly 200 dealers have already signed up to use the new app.
Recently, the Build and Price section of Ford.com was enhanced to give customers the ability to save their builds. Ford is also working on a number of future enhancements for the Showcase app including the ability for the sales associate to retrieve custom builds previously saved by the customer and then automatically search inventory to find vehicles that match the customer’s needs.


text:
By Michael Moore
2015 has been a great year for the online and mobile payments industry, as the technology has truly moved into the mainstream.
From tube stations to gasoline fill-ups to your local supermarket, businesses of all sizes are now accepting digital payments of every kind, making paying for goods and services easier than ever before.
But what does 2016 have in store for the payments industry? We asked the experts to find out …
Spurred on by public launches of both Apple Pay and Android Pay (along with several other technologies such as Samsung Pay and LG’s G Pay), 2015 saw huge growth in the number of mobile and digital payments completed, and this will only continue.
And this growth will also help companies looking to grow and expand their business to new territories, particularly overseas. Having an effective e-commerce strategy makes expanding to new countries easier than ever before, but companies need to realize that there are many challenges that come with this.
“In 2016, it will be key for the U.K.’s smaller high street businesses to accelerate what they offer online, and how they keep up with fast evolving customer demands,” says Nominet CEO Russell Haworth.
“Despite us seeing a rise in the number of online-only small businesses, research we recently commissioned found that only 13 percent of small businesses currently offer the three online services valued most by consumers. We need to see these numbers shift in 2016 or the high street could find itself in trouble.”
“Expanding e-commerce activity across borders involves more than translating Websites and establishing efficient logistics,” adds Ralf Ohlhausen, business development director at PPRO Group.
“It’s also vital that merchants offer shoppers their preferred local payment method … it’s important that providers know their way around alternative payment methods in these regions.
Merchants should consider which markets are particularly suited to international strategies and simulate potential market launch models with partners such as payment service providers.”
The success of Apple Pay and its related competitors also helped to push forward the idea that payments were no longer limited to your wallet—or even your smartphone.
The Apple Watch has helped promote wearables as a means to complete a payment thanks to the company’s easy-to-use service, and this trend is only set to continue as more and more companies look to equip their products with payment capabilities.
2016 should see even more smartwatches and other wearables becoming payment-equipped, particularly as technology and fashion blend closer together, with Barclaycard’s bPay devices leading the way.
“In 2016, we will also see mobile payments become less smartphone-dependent,” says Ohlhausen. “Instead, new technologies including smartwatches, bracelets and even rings will give us the ability to provide payment options.”
Security Fears Need Addressing
For many, the supposed lack of security surrounding mobile and digital payments remains a major issue. Lots of consumers still unconsciously see their smartphone as something to make calls and texts with, as well as being a social media tool, meaning that they don’t associate it with secure banking or retail.
Despite the great work being done by many firms in the security space, more therefore still needs to be done to reassure shoppers and customers alike.
Tokenisation has long been thought of as the answer, but due to a lack of regulatory standards, has struggled to take off in a large way, so hopefully 2016 will bring better news.
“Looking at the retail landscape next year, a large focus will be on ensuring customer information is secure whilst trading continues to perform at its optimum level, even during peak trading times such as Black Friday, when retailers are most likely to be targeted by cyber-attacks,” says Rupal Karia, Fujitsu’s managing director of retail and hospitality, U.K. and Ireland.
“Security will not only apply online, however. Physical security will also play its part as the bag tax has an unforeseen effect on shrinkage in-store. The retailers viewed as most secure will win hearts and minds as the rate of high profile hacks continues to rise.”
And Biometrics Could Be the Answer
2015 also marked a huge leap forward in the range of biometric security solutions being trialed and deployed, as businesses look for that extra barrier to secure their customers.
From Fujitsu experimenting with finger vein mapping technology to banks across Europe adopting behavioral biometrics as a means to authenticate digital banking users, this year has seen banks truly embracing innovation in the security space.
“This overwhelming uptake of biometrics in the banking space has been borne of the sector’s need to ensure rigorous security, while offering a frictionless service that doesn’t disrupt the user experience,” says Neil Costigan, CEO of authentication experts BehavioSec.
“We expect to see this new era of security moving beyond the financial sector, as a result of the growth of on-demand digital services. Digital enterprises that rely on paywalls and subscriptions, from online media publications, to film or music streaming services lose revenue on a daily basis as customers share their log-in credentials in order to split costs.”
“Forward thinking biometric authentication technology will surge in the New Year, as new and existing enterprises in this space embrace this form of a security as a means to ensure their digital business model is economically viable.”
But Also the Right Legislation
The rapid growth of mobile and digital payment technology has meant that much of the legal framework surrounding it remains slightly outdated.
Payment services within the E.U. are still defined by the first Payment Services Directive (PSD), which was passed in 2007, meaning it is far out of date. However, the E.U. has, after a tough two-year negotiation period, finally agreed on a second payment services directive (PSD2).
The proposed revision defines several priorities, one of which involves strengthening the security requirements for online payments by improving customer authentication in order to combat fraud. PSD2 will also provide a legal framework to stimulate competition.
“This framework will facilitate market entry for new providers and allow the development of innovative mobile and Internet payment methods. It will also force banks to grant such providers access to their crown jewels: the accounts,” says Ohlhausen.
“The European Banking Authority (EBA) is set to develop more detailed guidelines and regulatory standards for applying the directive. Although enshrining these in national legislation in all E.U. countries will take a further two years, payment industries should begin preparing themselves now for implementation and start taking steps by 2016.”
So prepare for big changes in the payment market in 2016, but also great leaps forward, as developers and businesses adopt the technology in new and exciting ways that will transform the way we live as we know it.

domain: news


text:
Operator unhappy at not being involved in the JV between Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone but trio insist it is an open entity
Three has expressed its unhappiness at being excluded from the m-commerce joint venture between Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone.
Earlier today the trio of companies claimed the JV will deliver the technology required for speedy adoption of mobile wallet and payments, which will enable consumers to transfer their entire physical wallet into a new secure, SIM-based wallet regardless of which NFC enabled mobile device, or mobile network they are on.
Three UK chief executive Kevin Russell (pictured) praised the direction of the move but said the company was concerned at being left out of the JV.
“Directionally, this is a good move on taking m-commerce forward,” he said. As the leader in the adoption of mobile internet services in the UK we would want and expect to be at the heart of a cross-industry development like this and are more than a little concerned that – as a core competitor – we have been excluded from this joint venture.
“The crucial test of the openness of this initiative will be our ability to launch services for all UK mobile consumers simultaneously.”
Everything Everywhere CEO Tom Alexander, O2 UK CEO Ronan Dunne and Vodafone UK chief exeuctive Guy Laurence insisted in a conference call that the new venture would be an arms length business and be completely open, and that they were confident it would receive approval from the Competition Commission.
O2 UK CEO Ronan Dunne said: “This is an open vehicle. I will be a customer of this business, Tom will be a customer of this business and Guy will be a customer of this business. Kevin can be a customer too, that’s absolutely fine. I don’t see any issue.
“We have been contributing know-how, capability and expertise into this and that’s why the three of us are in this. I am very comfortable with the approach we’ve taken and we’ve made it clear this is to enable experiences for customers.”


text:
23 Sep 2020
Posted in Consumer
Uncle Ben’s rebrand will appeal to 43% of socially conscious millennials, says GlobalData
Following today’s news (23 September) that Mars has renamed the 70-year-old Uncle Ben’s rice brand, which has been criticized as a racial stereotype;
Carmen Bryan, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:
“The rebrand will help set a new standard in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) community based on inclusion and diversity. By retiring old racial archetypes, major players will be able to tap into an increasingly globalized market and reinforce a positive brand message.
“In fact, according to GlobalData’s latest COVID-19 recovery tracker (published 23 September), 43% of millennials globally are always or often influenced by how socially responsible a product is, and this trend shows no signs of slowing. What’s more, a further 38% of global respondents admit that their purchasing decisions are always or often driven by how the world around them is changing, such as economic or social developments. This is even more prevalent in the US (41%), which birthed a number of social movements such as ‘Me Too’ and ‘BLM’. It is no surprise that the current BLM activity is what has helped fuel these changes among major FMCG players, and will continue to do so.
“Rebranding is risky, however, and can make or break a product. By largely maintaining the same essence – that is the blue font on an orange background, as well as the memorable ‘Ben’s’ name – Mars’ iconic rice brand is able to maintain its familiarity and original customer base while still adapting to a modern audience.”


text:
Who says Westport is no longer an artists’ colony?
Yesterday, store windows all across town were transformed into Halloween-worthy works of art.
The paintings were done by local youngsters. The Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event — which was also a contest. MoCA’s Anne Greenberg and Ruth Mannes judged the windows today. Winners will be announced tomorrow.
Meanwhile, over at MoCA, Westport artist Trace Burroughs led families as they pained an 8’10” x 20′ canvas. It was part of the the Guinness Book’s world’s largest abstract painting.
The style was all Jackson Pollock. And that’s who held the previous record!


text:
» Badi Behan Ko Maa Banaya
Badi Behan Ko Maa Banaya
Badi Behan Ko Maa Banaya on Technology News and Updates AdmaTechnology.com at Saturday, April 19, 2014
Requires heavenly guidance in work or romance.
A temple in southern Taiwan will launch a smartphone app that can help religious Taoist to seek enlightenment from the Almighty when being activity.
In a report released CNA news agency on Saturday (10/22), [...]
Your comic lover and owner of an iOS device? Do not miss this one application.
Marvel Comics tried to offer around 13 thousand popular comics in an application called Marvel Unlimited.
Quoted from Slashgear, Friday (3/8), the user will be given the freedom [...]
Apple reportedly ready to release a mini-version of the course will also be priced cheaper than its flagship smartphone, the iPhone.
Quoted from Techradar, Saturday (2/23), according to the report, the presence of the iPhone Mini will happen this summer.
Rumors that Samsung will release the Galaxy S4 Dual-SIM version became a reality.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Sunday (28/4), the South Korean manufacturer officially introduced the Galaxy S4 Duos.
Besides being able to be pinned two SIM Card at once, no more [...]
Jakarta – SpeedUp launched “Pad 8″ tablet equipped with HD Display and SpeedUp Studio.
This tablet lets users enjoy more than 850,000 original music content both local and foreign artists.
“The tablet is different from our other [...]
Review AdmaTechnology this time about the arrival of new notebooks from ASUS that has been fully supported Windows 8 OS, VivoBook X202E.
What kind of sophistication? Consider the following short review.
Simple yet beautiful look. That first impression [...]
Faster, easier to use, and can be accessed anywhere
Confused viewing your Yahoo email today? Yes, Yahoo is just presenting a fresh new look.
In a posting on its official blog on Tuesday (12/11), Yahoo boss Marissa Mayer, said Yahoo! Mail is now not only [...]
The Samsung has confirmed that they will continue cooperation with Apple.
After emergence page report quoted the Korea Times on Monday, (10/22), about the possibility of termination of their partnership with the Apple.
Today, the Samsung has confirmed [...]
A man named Jim Stickley so far recorded more than 1000 bank he had robbed.
Uniquely, the hacker genius was never arrested let alone sent to prison.
Yes, Stickley is a ‘tester‘. His job is to penetrate and break through the security of computer [...]
The issue of global warming causing many manufacturers to make devices that are environmentally friendly. Including one replacement power source for electricity with renewable sources or unlimited.
This one device seems to be an environmentally friendly [...]
Become a Facebook future strategy.
The number of game enthusiasts on Facebook continues to grow from year to year. As of September 2012 was 251 million people playing games on Facebook, up from 226 million in September 2011. Growth was assessed as the [...]


text:
Today, Dragon Slumber announced that the new DLC for its RPG Arelite Core is available today on PC. Entitled Lleana’s Journey, the side story DLC takes the role of the eponymous playable character as more of her story is revealed. Additionally, the developer has also announced a new hard mode for those wanting an old school RPG experience as well as a 50% price cut for those interested in checking the base game and free DLC out.
ARELITE CORE: LLEANA’S JOURNEY continues the story of Lleana as she finds herself alone against the soldiers of Boreale, bent on reviving the ancient entity Talameq. Discover, new locations, characters and monsters as the spacii must find her way back to her friends. Facing numerous challenges on her own, it’s up to you to help her rise against adversity. And for those seeking more genuine old school gameplay, try the new grind mode, featuring increased difficulty and enemy encounters, available for the core game and the expansion. And to celebrate the occasion, we’re even discounting the game by 50%.
ARELITE CORE was a passion project for me, but sadly after over four years of development, I couldn’t afford to add all the features I wanted before its launch in February. It was a hard development road, but seeing the players enjoying the game has been a very powerful motivator to continue working on it. I hope you all will enjoy LLEANA’S JOURNEY as well, and look forward to more content in the upcoming months. I remain available to answer any questions you might have concerning its development as well as interviews.
Lleana’s Journey will also feature a new ally helping Lleana in battle, as well as a dozen new monsters and three bosses. We had fun with the original Arelite Core earlier this year, and we can’t wait to see what direction this DLC will take the story. Check out our interview with Kevin Giguère here, and stay tuned for more news here on Gaming Trend.


text:
Mashable has learnt that Facebook is finally launching advertisements globally on Instagram Reels, a short-video maker, that rivals another similar popular app TikTok.
The trial for the same has already taken place in countries like India, Australia, Brazil, and Germany in April.
According to Mashable, Instagram teamed up with leading brands and tested their advertisements on Reels. The brands were: BMW, Louis Vuitton, Netflix and Uber.
The Instagram Reels will have the same vertical and full-screen format as regular Reel uploads. The Reel advertisements will be up to 30 seconds long and will appear between individual Reels.
In fact, as per Mashable, advertisements in Instagram Reels can be commented on, liked, saved, and also shared.
Instagram Reels managed to gain a lot of traction after it was launched in India back in July 2020, shortly after TikTok got banned.


text:
In the third of a four part series on natural colours, FoodNavigator looks at the regulatory situation in the US and Europe and the challenges this poses for food manufacturers and ingredients companies.
EFSA has published its panel’s opinion on camphor as a flavouring, deeming it unlikely to cause acute effects in foods with less than 2mg per kg of body weight per large portion, but recommending that maximum limits be set.
In the second of a four part series on natural colours, FoodNavigator looks at challenges in finding colours that work in formulations – and ensuring the supply chain is secure once a source has been identified.
Touchi, a fermented soy bean extract that has been used for centuries in Japan, China and other parts of Asia may be available to European consumers if a European Union Novel Foods application is approved.
FMC Corporation has strengthened its hold in the hydrocolloid market and entered into an agreement to acquire CoLiving Food Ingredients, based in Guangzhou, China to serve the rapidly growing dairy market there.
Organic food has been one of the biggest trends in the food sector in recent years. FoodNavigator is seeking your views on whether organics have staying power, or whether consumers will lose interest over time.
Symrise has reported good sales growth in local currencies the first half of 2008 driven by flavours and emerging markets, although fragrance growth was hit by the drop-off in consumer spending on luxury goods.


text:
Sports Interest Explodes Online
CREDIT: Shutterstock / MariusdeGraf
More and more people are going online to keep up with sports — likely in part because of this year's Olympics.
Though TV remains the most popular medium for sports, online interest is growing, according to data from Internet research firm comScore. It found, for example, that the number of people visiting sports-related Web sites shot up by about a fifth (23 percent) this past June in comparison to June 2011. Even before the games, interest was high, with 143 million people around the globe watching nearly 20 sports videos in June.
And male-female stereotypes seem to hold. Men are 11 percent more likely than average Internet users to visit sports-related sites, while women are 13 percent less likely. Men spend more time on the sites as well, at nearly an hour on average. Women visitors spent 28 minutes.


text:
Data Gumbo joins Blockchain in Transport Alliance to drive adoption in logistics sector
16 March 2020
Data Gumbo Corp., a provider of a trusted transactional blockchain network to automate contract execution, has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA), an organization dedicated to determining best practices and standards for blockchain in the transportation industry.
BiTA members include Descartes, Daimler, FedEx, SAP and Uber Freight, among dozens of other global brands. Data Gumbo offers the logistics sector GumboNet, its massively interconnected blockchain network, to free up working capital, reduce contract leakage, improve cash and financial management, and deliver material provenance for global freight and transportation.
The main challenges in the logistics industry involve care, custody and control. The lack of a networked interoperable solution to connect disjointed, manual and paper-based processes only further complicates data coordination and transactions. Our network solves these pain points by providing a secure, immutable system of record that can be shared to deliver contractual flexibility and frictionless payments.—Andrew Bruce, CEO and Founder of Data Gumbo
GumboNet is a trusted transactional network that can be used to automate contract execution between multiple counterparties using field data to verify contract terms have been met. As a neutral, third-party and unchangeable data log, the network is transforming how players in transportation perform business.
For example, for freight forwarding companies such as those that offer international commodities shipping, GumboNet enables them and their clients real-time transparency into global shipment tracking (some of the most expensive and treacherous shipping in the world), in turn, providing counterparties the benefits of reduced disputes, increased accuracy, and automated contract executions for faster invoicing and payments.
Founded in August 2017, BiTA has become the largest commercial blockchain alliance in the world, with nearly 300 members. BiTA members are primarily from the freight, transportation, logistics and affiliated industries. Alliance members share a common mission to develop a standards framework, educate the market on blockchain applications/solutions and distributed ledger technology, and encourage the use of those applications.
Good news for the blockchain space!
Posted by: _Cardano_ADA | 16 March 2020 at 06:07 AM


text:
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has approved a rate hike for NIPSCO’s electric customers. Beginning in October, there will be an increase of approximately 6 percent for a typical residential electric bill.
It is the first electric rate increase for NIPSCO since 2011. The approval came following an agreement reached in February by NIPSCO, the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, NIPSCO’s industrial customers, a coalition of eight northern Indiana municipalities and the United Steelworkers. The agreement includes a bill adjustment that is about half of what NIPSCO originally requested last year.
NIPSCO says the rate increase means the average residential customer will see their bill rise about $5.70 per month. Individual commercial and industrial customers will see an increase of about 5 to 6 percent, depend on their usage.
"Customers want to be certain they’re receiving quality service at a price that’s fair," said Violet Sistovaris, executive vice president of NIPSCO. "We believe these newly approved electric rates represent a balanced outcome that allow us to continue improving the level of service to our customers."
NIPSCO says the increase was necessary to offset the increased cost to produce and distribute power to customers and to invest in continued service improvements.


text:
The Darktrace PLC (LON: DARK) share price edged 5.26% higher after announcing that it was acquiring Cybersprint B.V. for €47.5 million ($53.7 million) in a 75% cash 25% stock deal.
Cybersprint is a company specialising in providing continuous, real-time insights to detect risks and eliminate blind spots from an outside-in perspective.
The leading cybersecurity company clarified that Cybersprint’s technology and external data complement Darktrace’s product suite, especially its recently-launched “Prevent” product.
Darktrace confirmed that Cybersprint’s attack surface management data would improve the effectiveness of its Darktrace Detect and Respond products by providing external vulnerability data in real-time.
The acquisition will also help Darktrace penetrate other market segments like proactive AI cyber security much faster than if it had to build its team entirely from scratch.
The deal will give the company an extra European Research and Development Centre in The Hague, Netherlands. Cybersprint’s R&D team will join Darktrace’s current R&D team based in Cambridge, UK.
Investors responded positively to the news, as evidenced by the rally in Darktrace shares, but I would have loved to see a more significant rally.
There have been many questions about the quality and effectiveness of Darktrace’s AI cyber security services. Today’s acquisition is a step in the right direction for the company.
However, Darktrace’s share price has fallen 64.5% from 1002.6p on 24 September 2021 to 355.6p. The shares are down by 15.3% in 2022, but the company’s worst day may be in the past.
Poppy Gustafsson, Darktrace CEO, said: “We are very excited to welcome the Cybersprint team to Darktrace. Bringing inside-out and outside-in visibility together is critical, and having access to the robust, rich, real-time external dataset combined with Darktrace’s Self-Learning AI means that customers get a holistic view of prioritised cyber risks to harden the parts of their organisation that are most vulnerable…,”
Pieter Jansen, Cybersprint CEO, said: “I’m very excited about this fantastic step in the journey of Cybersprint. We are passionate about automating manual tasks in cybersecurity from an outside perspective. We believe attackers never sleep and operate without scope. When we began conversations with Darktrace, we felt an instant connection on vision, culture and technology. That’s why we are looking forward to joining Darktrace…,”
Darktrace finally cut all links with Mike Lynch, whose association with the firm could have been behind some people’s lack of trust in the company. Lynch is accused of inflating sales figures in his past company, Autonomy, which he sold to HP for an exorbitant price.
It is too early to say that we shall get a rally higher in Darktarce shares, but the current setup on the daily chart is quite promising.
*This is not investment advice. Always do your due diligence before making investment decisions.
Darktrace share price.
Darktrace share price edged 5.26% higher to trade at 360.1p, rising from Tuesday’s closing price of 342.1p.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage . 68 % of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider . You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money .
Simon has over six years of professional trading experience across FX, commodities and equities. He has a strong passion for financial markets and is particularly focused on price action trading


text:
Vonage has been chosen by Doctor Anywhere, a regional omni-channel healthcare vendor headquartered in Singapore, to deliver digital healthcare solutions across Southeast Asia using the provider's Video API.
The healthcare provider is set to enhance its video capabilities with Vonage’s Video API to provide medical advice and deliver supervised self-swab COVID-19 tests over video consultations. This is in addition to adhering to social distancing measures, providing uninterrupted services where in-person consultations are risky and reducing the risk of exposure to COVID-19 infection.
Sunny Rao, senior vice president of Global Sales at Vonage, highlighted the value of the digital health services market in Asia Pacific, which is “expected to be worth USD326 billion by 2030”.
Rao also explained that sustained demand for digital health services coupled with pandemic-driven change in consumer habits for such services across the region will prompt healthcare providers to “adopt dependable and robust platforms to enable fast and effective telehealth delivery".
“Vonage connects medical experts with patients in real-time, from any location and on any device, to deliver critical healthcare experiences in a safe manner," Rao said.
"The infrastructure, built with our Video API, has enabled countless telehealth providers to provide instant medical consultations efficiently, especially in markets where in-person counselling is a challenge. We’re pleased to extend this support to Doctor Anywhere as it aims to deliver seamless and quality healthcare across the region."
Doctor Anywhere’s digital platform enables users to manage their health through its mobile app. Users can consult a licensed local doctor "anytime, anywhere" and get medication delivered to their doorstep within hours.
Medical history, health reports, and other documents are stored in-app for easy access. An in-app marketplace – DA Marketplace – is also available for health and wellness products and services.
Available in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and soon in Indonesia, Doctor Anywhere has 2.5 million users, 3,000 general practitioner and specialist doctors, 1,000+ key corporate accounts and more than 500 team members.
In 2021, Doctor Anywhere saw four times growth in the number of video consultations and a 70 per cent increase in the number of doctors available on the platform.
“High quality, uninterrupted video services are essential for us to enhance our platform’s customer experience and deliver timely medical attention to our rapidly expanding user base," noted Lim Wai Mun, founder and CEO of Doctor Anywhere. "We’re confident of strengthening our tech capabilities through the integration of the Vonage Video API, allowing us to serve our customers in a timely and effective manner."


text:
Amazon will build a second, 1 million-square-foot Jacksonville distribution center on the city’s Westside in the Cecil Commerce Center, according to plans submitted to the city of Jacksonville.
It’s the mystery "Project Velo" that city officials identified as a prospect for the city in September, which they said at the time would employ 325 people to start, but could eventually hire up to 1,200. Plans call for the facility to open in 2019.
It’s also the second announcement of an Amazon.com fulfillment center for Jacksonville since July; the first one, under construction on the Northside, is expected to employ about 1,500 people and be open late next year.
Amazon confirms plans to bring 1,500 jobs to new distribution center on Jacksonville’s Northside (7/27/2016)
City issues $87-million permit for Amazon Jacksonville facility (8/23/2016)
The proposed distribution center for the Cecil Commerce Center, at 13333 103rd St., would be the latest in a string of recent successes for the city as it develops land at the former naval air station.
The newest facility would be built by Dallas-based Hillwood Investment Properties, which entered into a contract in 2010 with the city for commercial development of 4,475 acres of the 17,224-acre Cecil site. Since then, companies such as GE Oil & Gas, Bridge-stone Tire, Saft Battery and FedEx Ground have set up shop, bringing more than 1,200 jobs, said City Councilman Doyle Carter, who represents the district that includes Cecil Airport.
Amazon’s warehouse would be the biggest tenant so far in the Cecil Commerce Center.
City officials said in September that the company’s payroll would add about $39 million annually to the Jacksonville economy.
The land, which is currently mostly wooded, is owned by the city, and would be sold to Hillwood for the distribution center. It would go for $8,819 per acre, or a total of $758,000, a city memo said in September.
In total, Amazon would provide a capital investment of about $115 million for equipment, furniture, land and real estate improvements, and in return, would receive a package of local and state financial incentives that would be based on creation of an initial 325 jobs. Average annual salary of those positions was said to be about $50,000.
Under terms approved earlier by the City Council, the city would provide a "commitment of … support in an amount not to exceed $195,000" in tax incentives. That would be matched by $780,000 from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The city would also provide $6.7 million in a "Recapture Enhanced Value" grant and another $200,000 grant to provide training for workers. The state would provide a $420,000 training grant.
The process for Project Velo was similar to what happened in the courting of Amazon for the Northside, which was originally dubbed Project Rex by city officials.
The internet retail giant closed a deal to build a distribution center here in July after being courted by the city for years. Amazon is already in the process of constructing the 800,000-square-foot distribution center on a 170-acre site on International Airport Boulevard and Pecan Park Road, just north of Interstate 295. That facility will employ 1,500 people at the distribution center by the time it is operational by the end of 2017.
City Economic Development Office analysts in a September memo touted the benefits of Project Velo to Jacksonville.
"The project location will make jobs accessible to residents in some of Jacksonville’s high unemployment areas. … Project Velo will also help further the city’s goal of making Alliance Florida at Cecil Commerce Center one of the premier job centers and industrial parks in the Southeastern U.S.," the memo said.


text:
SINGAPORE--Several mobile software companies have banded to form a local industry group that aims to drive the development of mobile applications in the country.
Comprising over 30 founding members from the industry that include Acision, Bak2U, Gemalto, Navteq and tenCube, the Mobile Alliance of Singapore is supported by local government agency International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore), as well as related industry groups Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) and Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).
The Mobile Alliance is looking to establish Singapore as "a vibrant and innovation-driven hub for home-grown mobile content and application developers", Boudewijn Pesch, Asia-Pacific managing director of Acision, said in a statement Tuesday.
The group hopes to do so by churning "greater synergies and incubating new opportunities" within Singapore's mobile ecosystem, said Pesch, who is also the group's president. The Mobile Alliance will also focus on coordinating initiatives with existing industry platforms that will benefit the mobile software market, as well as plug holes in the current ecosystem.
It will work with IE Singapore, the MEF and MMA to develop new initiatives and programs aimed at establishing Singapore as a development hub for mobile services, which can then be marketed globally.
Thian Tai Chew, director of ICT division at IE Singapore, said in the statement: "In recent years, mobile operators are stepping up efforts to bring more value-added services to customers. New and interesting mobile application services are required to attract and retain subscribers, which creates the opportunity for Singapore-based mobile software companies."
The Mobile Alliance also formed an affiliation with the Sweden Mobile Association, which represents players from Sweden's mobile industry as well as the global mobile market, establishing a communication channel between members from both groups.


text:
Former Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Orlando Brown will open Maryland's first Fatburger hamburger joint in August at a franchise location in Columbia.
The new restaurant, in the Columbia Gateway shopping center, will be one of five that Brown plans to open in Maryland. His franchise expects to open five additional Fatburgers around Washington, with a first location planned near Howard University, executives with the Santa Monica, Calif.-based chain said.
A planned College Park location, originally to be the first Maryland location, has been delayed.
"We're an L.A. hamburger concept that's trying to make a presence on the East Coast and throughout the country and world, for that matter," said Seymour Floyd, Fatburger's vice president of development.
The restaurant just opened its first international location in Macau and has others planned in Hong Kong and Beijing, Floyd said.
Brown's plans were first reported by The Daily Record.
The closest Fatburger restaurants to Baltimore are in Chesapeake, Va., and Atlantic City, N.J. The chain has 98 restaurant locations, mostly on the West Coast.
The Five Guys hamburger chain popular in the Baltimore-Washington region will be Fatburger's most direct competition in the market, Floyd said.
Unlike Five Guys, servers bring Fatburger orders to customers' tables after orders are placed at the counter, he said. Fatburger is known for its one-third-pound burgers, onion rings, steak fries and hand-dipped shakes. The restaurants have digital jukeboxes that spin out old school R&B; and jazz tunes.
Several music and sports celebrities besides Brown own Fatburger restaurants, including Queen Latifah, Kanye West and former professional football player Reggie Brown.


text:
EEOC Issues Final GINA Regulations
Final regulations implementing the employment provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act have been issued and will take effect Jan. 10, 2011.
While the law has been in effect since late 2009, the U.
This article has been restricted to subscribers. To login, click here
Try a Smart Search through our databases


text:
This account is pending registration confirmation. Please click on the link within the confirmation email previously sent you to complete registration. Need a new registration confirmation email? Click here
The iPad and iPhone maker on Tuesday named
John Browett, CEO of European electronics retailer
Dixons, to lead the tech giant's retail expansion.
Browett will join Apple in April. He replaces Ron Johnson, who left Apple in November to run
Apple's first-quarter results last week blew away expectations with $46.33 billion in revenue and
profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 a share. Analysts anticipated about $39 billion in revenue and profit of $10.15 a share.
Morgan Keegan analysts noted in a Jan. 26 report that they expect iPhone versus non-iPhone sales to become more "lopsided when Sprint's data comes out."
"Non-iPhone smartphones actually decreased between Q3 and Q4 breaking a normally positive seasonal trend. To us this indicates that Apple took some subscriber share this quarter as well, and did not just benefit from iPhone fanatics upgrading," Morgan Keegan analysts wrote in the report.
Shares of Apple hit a 52-week high of $458.24 on Tuesday. The stock's 52-week low of $310.50 was set on June 20.
TheStreet Ratings gives Apple an A+ grade with a price target of $583.58. The stock has risen 13.05% year to date.


text:
Today is Small Business Saturday. It is a day for everyone to support the small businesses that their community thrives on.
American Express founded the day in 2010 to help small businesses get exposure during the holiday season, when they might be otherwise overlooked. With retailers buzzing around the holidays, it is important to support local small businesses that rely on their neighbors in order to continue prospering and building the local economy in Bethlehem.
"My goal is to get everyone in the Lehigh Valley to change their thinking," said Victoria Shparber, owner of the Black Forest Deli on Union Boulevard in Bethlehem, and the founder of Shop Local Lehigh Valley, a group of merchants that has formed in the past year.
The first project of the fledgling group was for them to collectively buy time on electronic billboards on Route 22 and Route 378. For the next four weeks, 20 locally based businesses are all that is in the advertising rotation for three Adams billboards, Shparber said.
"If you can go to a local restaurant, why go to an Applebee's or a Panera?" Shparber asked. "When you patronize a local business, the money stays here. When you go to a chain, who knows where it goes?"
Last year, 100 million people nationwide participated in Small Business Saturday by shopping at locally owned stores to help boost the economy and their communities.
Among the small businesses participating in Small Business Saturday in Bethlehem:
- Party Time Outlet
- Hometown Heroes
- Mac's Hobby Hall
- Enright's Fabric Warehouse
- Aykroyd Hardware
- Action Wheels Bike Shop
- Accents From Head to Toe
- Inspired By You
- The Lesson Center
For a complete list of participating businesses, follow this link: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/Shop-Small/
You can also “like” Small Business Saturday on Facebook by visiting www.facebook.com/shopsmall.
Everyone has locally owned businesses in their community, and shopping on Small Business Saturday is the perfect way to give back to the businesses you know and love in your community.
TELL US: What small businesses do you patronize in your town and what makes them great? Share in the comments below.


text:
Global color authority the Pantone Color Institute has named a new blue shade, ‘PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri’, as the ‘Color of the Year’ for the year 2022.
However, unlike the past 22 years, the institute decided to manufacture a brand new color for the 2022 awards instead of awarding any pre-existing colors in its archive. What’s more, the ‘dynamic periwinkle’ color will be released via an NFT collection since the blueish color often represents technology.
The institute will mint the NFTs on the energy-efficient Tezos blockchain in collaboration with Paris-based multidisciplinary artist, Polygon1993, and each digital collectible will contain the new color.
Explaining the move, Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute, said in the press release:
“Creating a new color for the first time in the history of our Pantone Color of the Year educational color program reflects the global innovation and transformation taking place. As society continues to recognize color as a critical form of communication and as a way to express and affect ideas and emotions and engage and connect, the complexity of this new red-violet-infused blue hue highlights the expansive possibilities that lie before us.”


text:
The automobile giant Daimler-Benz sold trucks to the military in Pakistan without proper export permits, a news magazine reported Saturday.
A spokesman for Daimler-Benz, Friedrich Losch, denied that export rules had been broken, saying the trucks were multiuse vehicles not specifically designed for military purposes.
Der Spiegel magazine said Daimler-Benz had sold Pakistan 237 trucks and 30 tractor-trailers from November 1986 through November 1987.
Der Spiegel said the shipments had not been inspected by customs officials because they were registered as civilian vehicles. Mr. Losch said the company had complied with all export license requirements. ''These vehicles came out of mass production lines and can be used for all kinds of transport, including military,'' he said in a radio interview.
Export permits are required for the shipment of military equipment or hazardous materials to areas of tension.Continue reading the main story


text:
Bonus for underperformance
Targets that trigger bonus payments for company directors are often set at a level that is too easy to hit, according to a report by top accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The report reveals that almost three-quarters of company directors could be raking in lucrative bonus payments despite their firms underperforming the market.
The report also attacks companies for making it too hard for shareholders to understand the bonus targets being set for directors.
According to PwC's survey, 70% of companies had set performance targets at just 3% real growth in earnings per share. In some cases the targets were even lower.
Graham Ward-Thompson, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and author of the report, said the figure was easily hit by almost 75% of companies.
'A worthwhile target is something that is difficult to achieve,' he said. 'If the link between directors' remuneration and performance is to be effective, a greater level of clarity is needed to ensure that shareholders understand the criteria on which directors are being judged.'
He said the report showed that in 49% of schemes a shareholder would not be able to identify what criteria was being used by reading the company's report and accounts.
And in 32% cases, the performance requirement for pay-out was either not disclosed or only described in vague terms.
Mr Ward-Thompson said: 'This lack of clarity, combined in many instances with low targets, is combining to create mediocre performance among the companies surveyed.'
The PwC report was based on information in the annual report and accounts for years ended between July 1998 and July 1999 of 122 FTSE-500 companies.
Most watched Money videos
- New Italian Fiat Panda introduced in 1981
- Vauxhall Astra car comes to UK market in 1981
- Austin Metro TV ad from the 1980s introduced the new British car
- Jaguar Land Rover providing vehicles to emergency services
- Classic 1987 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is heading to auction
- Shares that could benefit from a stock market recovery
- Brabus launches the Invicto - capable of withstanding explosions
- Kent farm advertises crop picking position for under 1,000 people
- What the fund that beat the crash is buying now
- Jaguar Land Rover introduce safety measures to reopen factory
- RAC gives you tips on looking after your car in lockdown
- Euro NCAP outlines its updated safety protocols


text:
For years, the Amazon Echo led the smart speaker market with hardly any competition in its way. But then the Google Home was announced some seven months ago and critics thought that maybe their industry would get a little tougher. However, recent reports indicate that appeal of the newer player was short-lived and over-hyped.
As noted by Android Police, Google Home is not a bad device. The hype was there for a reason and that is that the product has a lot of potentials. However, at this point, its Google Assistant is in a fragmented state. The AI virtually cannot compete with the same found on current smartphones.
In a video posted by the publication, an individual asks Google Home to list down a reminder. However, the Assistant notifies him that the feature is currently not in its list of skills. Likewise, the person requests the same of his Google-powered smartphone and the task is painless and hassle free.
Google Home also had a tough time last week, when users claimed that ads were being announced by the device. "By the way, Disney's live action ‘Beauty and the Beast' opens today," it said. Assistant then went on to describe a few differences from the animation and the live action film. Several users went to their social media accounts to complain of the unwelcome advertisement.
But as Google told The Verge, it was not intended to be an ad. Apparently, the company was trying out a new feature that was called My Day, wherein Google Home shares some timely content. The company explained that it is trying out different projects to make the entire experience more meaningful to users. It then admitted that it could have done better and the ads have since been taken down.
Google Home has a long way to go in the market if it wants sustainable success. Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo arguably has had more time to experiment in the market, but that cannot be seen as an excuse. If the search engine giant is looking for a long-term success route, it will need to clean up its act soon.


text:
More Articles for Richard Anderson ETCC Chairman and a former Texas State Senator and Harrison County Judge
Amtrak and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) have agreed on the scope of a feasibility study for new Amtrak service between the Bossier City -Shreveport area in Northwest Louisiana and along the Interstate 20 (I-20) corridor to Dallas and ...
- Rand Paul introduces bill to fund emergency transportation projects475 Views
- Sydney uses water curtains to alert drivers to stop (VIDEO)461 Views
- Tesla Model S earns top ratings from Consumer Reports428 Views
- Big four cellphone companies jointly launch anti-texting campaign261 Views
- Acceptance of connected vehicles depends on cost, LaHood says254 Views


text:
The novel coronavirus (nCoV) or COVID-19 pandemic not just brought the world to a standstill, but spelled doom to several businesses and impacted economies globally compelling several multi-national corporations, private companies and business establishments resort to harsh policies of layoffs and pay cuts.
IBM Resorts to Layoffs
In leading to this, tech-giant IBM alongside other companies such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Airbnb Inc, Uber Technologies, etc. has started firing employees worldwide owing to the pandemic-induced recession.
Speaking of the situation, Ed Barbini, IBM's Spokesperson said, "IBM's work in a highly competitive marketplace requires flexibility to constantly add high-value skills to our workforce. While we always consider the current environment, IBM's workforce decisions are in the interest of the long-term health of our business."
"Recognizing the unique and difficult situation this business decision may create for some of our employees, IBM is offering subsidized medical coverage to all affected U.S. employees through June 2021," Barbini added.
Arvind Krishna, the new IBM CEO, had spoken optimistically earlier in May about the company being able to weather the pandemic, but also cautioned the investors of uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the company made a "tough decision" to withdraw revenue projections for the rest of 2020 given a dip in its earnings.
Boeing Co. Takes a Hit
Like the tech-sector, Aviation industry too is severely hit by the Corona pandemic resulting in collapse in air travel, thereby impacting the demand for jetliners. Given this, Boeing Co., a globally acknowledged Airline manufacturer, has come in the line of fire, resorting to large scale job cuts with close to 6,770 confirmed eliminations in the offing, as per the reports.
Confirming the same, Boeing Co., CEO, Dave Calhoun told his employees, "The Covid-19 pandemic's devastating impact on the airline industry means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices."
In fact, Calhoun, had last month indicated that the company will need to cut 10% i.e. around 16,000 jobs from its workforce as many of the its best airline customers fight for survival.
MakeMyTrip Joins the Club
With layoffs being the 'new normal' amongst industries, MakeMyTrip, an online travel firm based in India, has joined the club of sectors, who have taken to job cuts as a policy measure impacted by COVID-19 pandemic.
In the wake of this, the travel-firm has laid off 350 employees, mostly in international holidays and related line of business, according to a company spokesperson.
Speaking of the same, MakeMyTrip Group Executive Chairman and founder Deep Kalra and Group CEO Rajesh Magow in e-mail to employees said, "Over the past two months, we have analysed impact closely and have spent considerable time thinking about the path to business recovery. As a result, it's become agonisingly clear that there are certain lines of business that are far deeply affected and will take much longer than the others to recover. Keeping this in mind we have had to take this sad but inevitable decision of rightsizing our workforce in these businesses."
Calling it a tough decision, Kalra and Magow added, "We have had to take so far and it's the saddest day for us as an organisation".


text:
Forty Clothing has launched a campaign attacking the government adverts urging young people working in the arts to abandon their dream jobs and retrain in “cyber”.
Bosses at the Glasgow clothing and youth culture company renowned for their cutting-edge design and finger on the pulse attitude insisted they HAD to respond as the future of the youth of Scotland and the UK is at stake.
Founder Gordon Miller said: “I was speechless when I saw that ad – speechless.
"I thought it was a joke at first to be honest.
“I have a young son who is incredibly talented in the creative and artistic side of things and that is where he, his teachers and my wife and I see his future lying.
“For the government to come out with a crass, crushing campaign like this, telling my boy his future is not viable and he has to work in IT security, is just vile.
“We had to respond. We had to. Someone has to speak up for these kids who are growing up and dreaming of careers in the arts, or the young people who have devoted maybe 20 years of their lives from childhood to their art.
“We never set out to be the voice of these generations – but someone has to do it.”
Forty today put out a promo teaser with Boris Johnson’s defaced head on a ballerina picture, with the words Distress. Distort. Deface. Rather than the government ad’s Rethink. Reskill. Reboot.
The controversial ad showed a ballerina with the words “Fatima’s next job could be in cyber (she just doesn’t know it yet).
The clothing firm’s response says “Forty’s next launch could make you smile (and you know it).
Gordon explained: “My business partner Peter, our designer, felt exactly the same way I did on seeing the ad.
“We were astounded. Shocked. Just stopped dead in our tracks.
“This is the future of the arts, of music, of social life and most importantly of our kids.
“We will not stand for this we can’t. Our kids should be nurtured, encouraged and praised for their creativity, not told it’s wrong or not ‘viable’.
“My boy drew a monster face when he was three and that design is our company logo, on countless items of clothing all over the UK. That’s the power of kids being creative.
“That’s what the government are throwing away. And we won’t let it happen.”


text:
Meat production will continue to grow globally, spurred by rising personal income levels.
That trend, coupled with a predicted long-term decline in grain prices, should bode well for the meat industry.
“Global protein consumption is expected to increase, with chicken being the largest benefactor because of how quickly it can turn grain into meat,” said Ryan Turner, commodity risk manager for ITL FCStone, New York.
His comments came during a panel overview of the world livestock industry at the eighth annual Oilseed & Grain Trade Summit, Minneapolis, Oct. 22.
Worldwide, demand for and consumption of meat continues to increase as personal income levels rise.
Of the forecasted growth during the next 10 years, poultry is expected to account for 50 percent, pork 30 percent and beef 17 percent, Turner said.
By 2022, per-capita meat consumption in China, for example, is predicted to be 50 kilograms compared with 40 kilograms today.
Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd.’s acquisition of Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Inc. also may be a sign of things to come, Goldsmith said.
“China struggles to assemble a safe, secure livestock system, so the acquisition of Smithfield almost as a turn-key event for the Chinese industry makes a lot of sense,” he said. “It’s also beneficial for the producers and the grain supplier complex here in the U.S.”
High grain prices hurt meat producers
In the United States, recent high grain prices have resulted in record-high consumer prices for poultry, beef and pork, Turner said.
It typically costs 50-60 cents to put on a pound on a fed steer in Kansas, he said. At the peak last summer, the price was up to $1.30 per pound, which was reflective of $7-8-per-bushel corn.
Pork producers saw similarly high feeding costs, topping out at $200 per head this past July. That figure should drop to about $150 per head after the first of the year.
The high feeding prices forced beef and pork producers to reduce herd sizes.
As grain prices drop, Turner said he expected producers to rebuild. In the case of beef especially, it may take longer to rebuild cow-calf numbers.
Although consumer poultry prices also climbed to record levels with high grain prices, the price spread wasn’t as great as with beef or pork.
“It pushed demand away from beef and pork to chicken,” he said. “Chicken replaced beef and pork, and a lot of it was a price function.”


text:
Identifying new Kashmir-type sapphires from Madagascar
GRS GemResearch Swisslab AG highlights the significance of distinguishing a new type of
sapphires from Madagascar from their Kashmir counterparts to ensure transparency in the
GRS GemResearch Swisslab AG is once again fortifying its role in the gemstone industry with a
recent study that aims to effectively distinguish sapphires from a new mine in Madagascar from
those mined in Kashmir.
The project, which involves a Master Set of more than 50 reference samples from both mines, will help foster transparency in the trade, according to Dr. Adolf Peretti, founder and CEO of GRS.
“Spectacular inclusion features have been found in sapphires from Bemainty in Madagascar and they resemble textbook Kashmir (from India) sapphire inclusions. As a consequence, a certain degree of misinterpretation of these sapphires seems to exist in the market, and a series of stones from Madagascar has possibly been falsely classified as Kashmir sapphires,” revealed Peretti.
He also cited an unprecedented rise in the price of Kashmir sapphires over the years, reaching more than $100,000 per carat, while their counterparts from Madagascar are 10 times less expensive.
“This offers a great potential for fraud, and the correct identification is thus an important part of the challenge of internationally recognised gem-testing laboratories,” added the gemstone specialist.
The new mine was discovered at Bemainty, near Ambatondrazaka and Didy in Madagascar in late 2016. The mining area, which has since been closed, produced a considerable amount of large sapphires, including Padparadscha and yellow sapphires.
GRS Master Set
The Kashmir Master Set was prepared from GRS’ reference collection of hundreds of sapphire samples from Kashmir. The Ambatondrazaka Master Set, meanwhile, includes samples from independent agents that GRS sent to the new mines, and cut and polished stones from more than five reliable sources.
GRS revealed that, among other findings, Kashmir sapphires contain a special type of pseudo- secondary fluid inclusion features, which are largely absent in stones from the new Madagascar mine.
Isolated yellow colour zones were also found in samples from the new mine, which are not present in Kashmir sapphires.
“Based on our Master Sets, we can confirm that comparing the minute details of the sapphires makes it possible to distinguish the two origins. Re-checking is recommended for sapphires in the market between 2016 and 2017, which are claimed to be from Kashmir,” noted Peretti.
© 2023, GRS GemResearch Swisslab AG


text:
Tech billionaire and Microsoft founder Invoice Gates has responded to Elon Musk’s transfer to purchase Twitter. Gates responded to hypothesis about his disagreement with Musk, saying the Tesla CEO might make Twitter a “worse” platform.
Talking on the Wall Avenue Journal’s CEO Council Summit, Gates mentioned he’s uncertain of Musk’s intention to purchase the microblogging platform. Throughout his dialog, Gates additionally talked about shorting Tesla, one thing Elon Musk had reportedly confronted him about, amongst different issues. “It might truly make issues worse,” Gates mentioned. He additionally famous that purchasing Twitter is an unsure transfer for Musk. Gates mentioned it is unclear what Musk will do with Twitter earlier than backing off a bit and saying he will not assume what’s going to occur. “If Musk makes Twitter worse, I am going to discuss that, however I will not assume what is going on to occur,” Gates mentioned.
Musk, who acquired Twitter for round $44 billion, has mentioned that he plans to enhance the platform by including extra options and making the algorithms open supply. Musk has additionally mentioned he needs so as to add a function that enables individuals to edit their tweets and has expressed a want to maintain the platform “free speech.”
Elon Musk not too long ago criticized Apple for the 30 p.c fee the iPhone maker fees builders to record their apps on the Apple App Retailer. Musk shared his views on App Retailer charges via a sequence of tweets this week and gave the impression to be the newest to hitch an extended record of naysayers who discover Apple’s coverage difficult to grasp. Musk even declared that the App Retailer charge is like “a 30 p.c tax on the Interne


text:
Los Angeles, CA – January 29, 2018— Event hub aka eventhub.net (formerly events locker), the online event vendor management platform and sponsorship marketplace, today announced live event and ticketing industry veteran Mark Meyerson as the newest member of its Strategic Advisory Board.
“We are proud to officially bring Mark onto our advisory board,” said CEO and Co-founder Michael Bleau. “He has already proven to be an invaluable resource in our strategic planning, and has a great understanding of where the industry of event management technology is headed, and how to help us be on the forefront of that new wave."
“Michael and Jamie have a unique vision in the event industry,” said Mark in a statement released Monday. “[event hub] streamlines vendor management, while also serving the Organizers bottom line and brand expression by bringing them together with sponsors through a vibrant marketplace. I'm honored to help them build and grow this business as they both truly embody my goal of wanting to work with smart people, who are also good people, doing amazing things.”
About event hub
Founded in 2015 by event marketing industry veterans Jamie Nassar and Michael Bleau, event hub offers live event Organizers a streamlined vendor management platform via eventhub.net, which hosts the platform, as well as a sponsorship marketplace to drive new sponsor and exhibitor leads to events. The company also has a budding agency business, sourcing activation opportunities at races and festivals, for clients ranging from General Mills to some of the largest experiential agencies in the country. Visit https://eventhub.net, call 206-414-8237 or email email@example.com for more info. For more recent news, click here.
About Mark Meyerson
(Click here to view Mark's LinkedIn profile.)
Mark got his start in the events industry working for over a decade with legendary concert promoter Bill Graham at BGP, after which he helped grow the young House of Blues into a national brand through his early adoption and understanding of internet data, email marketing and ecommerce. After this, Mark worked as a strategic executive with industry heavyweights such as Ticketmaster and AEG Live, and then moved into the startup world, helping to guide fledgling ticketing startups such as ScoreBig and CrowdTorch, the latter of which was acquired by Cvent and then Vendini. This acquisition led to Mark assuming a broader strategic role, in his most recent corporate position of VP/GM of music for Vendini.


text:
Relying much more heavily on domestically grown lead-firms, india's car manufacturing industry, in contrast to china's, has benefited at a. Background: according to the society of indian automotive manufacturers (siam) , indian automotive sector today is a $74 billion industry and by 2026, the. The automobile sector in both india and china developed due to waves of investment in these countries since the late 1980s this column. With rapid increase in purchasing power of india's consistently growing population, indian automobile industry has become one of the most economically .
Automobile industry in india: emerging conflicts between scale and scope 1 satyaki roy 1 introduction automobile industry across the world is undergoing. The automotive industry in india has a positive future for wallenius wilhelmsen oce, this means that the export of cars out of india will likely. The automobile industry, along with the auto components industry, is one of the core industries in india a well developed transportation system plays a key role.
The automobile industry in india is on the move, and the country could grow into the world's third-largest passenger-vehicle market here's what traditional. The automotive industry in india is one of the largest in the world with an annual production of 2396 million vehicles in fy (fiscal year) 2015–16, following a. The indian automobile industry includes two-wheelers, trucks, cars, buses and three-wheelers which play a crucial role in growth of the indian economy.
The automotive industry in india is one of the largest worldwide with more than four million cars and commercial vehicles produced in india, one of asia's largest . Automobile industry in india is growing rapidly car exports grew @ 14%,muvs growing @ 197% & a heap of auto giants like renault have entered the indian. The automotive industry in india comprises of all vehicles, including 2-3 wheelers , passenger cars and multi-utility vehicles, light and heavy commercial vehicles,.
The automotive industry in india is one of the largest in the world with an annual production of 2337 million vehicles in fy 2014-15, following a growth of 868. Global automobile industry: an overview 20 3 global auto-components industry 32 4 the india scenario 38 5 exports of auto and auto components from. The automotive industry in india is one of the largest in the world as well among the fastest growing annually india's automobile production across all categories . The automobile industry is one of india's most large and growing industries this industry shared 22 per cent of the country's manufacturing.
The central government has released its 2016 “make-in-india” automotive sector achievements report and here are the highlights. Several growth drivers have led to a rapid growth in the automotive sector in india ▻ increasing disposable income ▻ graduating from two wheeler to four. Research and markets has announced the addition of the automobile industry forecast to 2021: india, pakistan, bangladesh, nepal, sri lanka.
Bric report on india's automobile industry that has seen high demand growth this year global car manufacturers are expanding their presence and india is. The indian automobile industry can contribute over 12 per cent to the next decade, said maruti suzuki india (msil) chief kenichi ayukawa. Automobile industry jobs - apply latest automobile industry jobs across india on timesjobscom browse automobile industry jobs, jobs. Abstract it may sound truism to understand the influence of changing policy set- up on the growth and development of automobile industry in india and to explore .


text:
Pembroke named Canada's second sexiest town, Ottawa ranks as Canada's third sexiest city
In the lead up to Valentine's Day, the town of Pembroke, Ont. has been named the second sexiest town in Canada, while Ottawa ranks as the third sexiest city.
The rankings were assembled by PinkCherry.ca, an online Canadian retailer of adult novelty products.
Classifying towns and cities as areas with less or more than 300,000 people respectively, PinkCherry.ca ranked each place based on the most adult toys sold per person in 2021.
At For Your Eyes Only, an adult novelty store just outside of Pembroke, owner Julien Eady says given the popular line of work in the heart of the Ottawa Valley, the ranking is only natural.
"With us being a military town and a lot of the military members going on leave, a lot of the toys have been super popular," Eady says, admitting she was shocked by the ranking.
Eady says with most people staying home with their significant other over the last two years, sales have gone up.
"A lot of my customers do like to come in and shop in store and I have been super busy since the beginning of the pandemic," Eady tells CTV News Ottawa.
"Pembroke has a lot of not so nice titles, but this is a great one," says Hazel Smith, manager at Chahna Fai and Church Street Flowers on Pembroke's Main Street.
"We have a lot of things going on," says Smith. "We have Rise Above Studios, they have pole fitness and aerial sports. We have quite a few flower stores; we have a lot of great restaurants."
With Valentine's Day less than two weeks away, Smith adds she can feel the love in Pembroke.
"The card messages are really cute this year, I've got to say," says the flower store manager, as she assembles Valentine's Day bouquets. "Got to hand it to the guys that I've spoken to so far, they're doing a good job."
Rounding out the top three for sexiest towns was Colwood, B.C. in first place and Courtenay, B.C. In third. Calgary and Surrey, B.C. Ranked as the top two sexiest cities in Canada.


text:
PORT WASHINGTON, WI (WTAQ) - A Wisconsin firm that has made shoes for every president since Ronald Reagan is getting a new owner.
Allen Edmonds said Monday it's been sold to a private equity firm in Los Angeles that's affiliated with Brentwood Associates.
Allen Edmonds will keep its headquarters in Port Washington. It had been owned since 2006 by the Minneapolis firm of Goldner, Hawn, Johnson, and Morrison. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Former Goldner executive Paul Grangaard will stay on as Allen Edmonds' CEO. He took over the firm in 2008, and helped it regain its financial footings.
Grangaard said Brentwood is committed to the shoemaker's growth strategy, and it has a similar corporate culture.
There's been recent speculation that Men's Warehouse would buy Allen Edmonds. Grangaard would not confirm companies that submitted losing bids.
Allen Edmonds was founded in 1922, and is one of just a few remaining high-quality shoemakers in America. It has around 1,000 workers. About 450 of them work in Port Washington.


text:
There have been many false dawns over the past year or so, but it does finally look as though milk prices are beginning to come out of the long downturn they have been going through. The recent Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction in New Zealand delivered a close to 10% improvement. This followed successive and substantial price increases since August, adding to a sense that the global dairy industry is finally escaping the grip of over-production.
These gains are partly down to Fonterra managing the auction well, but we are at last beginning to see the old adage of ‘low prices being the cure for low prices’ beginning to deliver. The EU’s Milk Market Observatory reported that September had brought “a slowdown in the decline in milk prices” across the EU. That is just about good news, but then markets have to stop falling before they can rise, and we are hopefully getting close to that point. This, however, has to be set in context, and the industry is a long way from being out of the difficulties that it is facing.
Even though it has improved, the New Zealand price is still below the EU intervention price equivalent. China has not returned to dairy markets as the aggressive buyer it was and economic growth has weakened in many of the powerhouse Asian economies, where a growing middle class was driving demand for dairy products. Oil-rich countries have lost buying power because of the low oil price, making them more cost-sensitive when it comes to buying dairy products; and while the euro has strengthened marginally, it is still squeezing prices, and there is no evidence that this will change in the near future.
Recovery will be a lot slower here than those headline GDT results suggest. Suggestions that it will not happen until well into 2016 are probably not too wide of the mark. Even then debts built up over the past year will take a long time to clear, and that means confidence will remain fragile for a long time. Many farmers are facing what is going to be a very difficult winter for managing cash flows, and the scale of that challenge will become clear as the bills begin to rise.
The EU farm commissioner, Phil Hogan, can now point to what is happening globally to back up his claim that there was no case for increasing or reviewing the intervention price. He maintained that markets would correct themselves, and this seems to be happening. That is partly down to how Fonterra has managed the GDT auction and if the EU had been more bullish about intervention it could have supported these efforts.
The focus in Brussels has moved from market support to how to prevent a price collapse on the scale happening again. Mr Hogan is assembling a group of experts to consider how to manage volatility. This group will look in particular at how the dairy industry could hedge prices via an effective futures market. This idea of hedging and perhaps other mechanisms to balance out good and bad prices are going to be the only shows in town.
It is clear now that intervention and export refunds are off the Brussels agenda. The UK dairy industry needs to come up with its own ideas on how to manage volatility, so that from the outset it can be fully engaged in this debate.


text:
2010 cash cow or brand catalyst?
To achieve the much-vaunted ‘Barcelona Effect' of leveraging 2010 to build sustainable tourism growth for years to come, the benchmarks set by Barcelona post 1992 are truly remarkable:
- Barcelona's international tourism growth averaged nearly 20% for the three years following the Olympics;
- Accommodation occupancies rose from 54% to 82% within five years of hosting the event;
- Unemployment almost halved from 18.4% pre-Olympics to 9.6% post.
- Barcelona became a magnet for Europe's young professional elite, with more than 7 million visitors in 2007 alone, half of whom came for business rather than leisure.
Key to Barcelona's tourism success was turning the city and region into an attractive destination and making it more affordable for the global tourist market than the established European city brands such as London and Paris.
At the end, this is what the hotly contested 2010 pricing argument
comes down to: Are we treating the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a 30-day cash cow, in order to maximise short-term profits, or are we using the event to build SA's tourism brand for decades to come? ‘Consumer greed turned into consumer fear'
The worst case tourism legacy beyond 2010 would be to see visitors grudgingly pay exorbitant prices for accommodation only to go home and brand South Africa as a beautiful but prohibitively expensive destination. History has shown many times that, no matter how great a destination, if visitors feel they have been ripped off, not only will they not return but their word of mouth is likely to affect another 150 consumers back home over the period of one year after the event.
In which case, destination SA would be locked out for many Generation Y consumers who have the need, the means and the inclination to travel long distance but are becoming increasingly adept at maximising their travel dollars to achieve optimal value for money.
This was recently borne out of a global travel survey conducted by travel research institute IPK, based on 500 000 travel interviews in 58 countries. In its conclusion, IPK CEO Rolf Freitag stated that “long-haul travel is falling sharply. And the most pain is felt in the business travel sector” (which is so critical to SA's tourism industry), concluding that “we are in a full global economic crisis, not a small recession. Consumer greed of the last few years has turned into consumer fear.”How Athens burnt its tourism brand
Only a few years ago did the 2004 host of the Olympic Games fall victim to exorbitant pricing demands by its local hotel industry, with dire repercussions for its tourism brand post the event. Warnings by the Greek National Tourism Organisation
that overpricing for accommodation in Athens during the Olympics could kill the goose that lays the golden egg went unheeded by hoteliers, who in some cases raised room prices by a colossal 7 - 8 times in a bid to cash in on the expected tourism bonanza.
The result? Hotel occupancy in Athens plunged to 57% in the year following the Olympics, the lowest among 11 of Europe's biggest cities (and trailing a far cry to London's 77% over the same period), according to a study by JBR Hellas
. The prohibitively expensive rates also deterred many tourists, who chose cheaper destinations instead.
“Greece was among the losers last year,” said Anja Braun
, a spokeswoman for TUI, Europe's largest tour operator. “People were put off by negative reporting about price hikes.” Who is behind the 2010 hotel greed?
A report in the Saturday Star
quoted property agents claiming that “luxury seafront villas on offer for the 2010 World Cup will cost up to R75 000 a night”, this price apparently being demanded for “a Llandudno beach villa which has six bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and private deck”, only to mention at the very end that so far only one enquiry had been received from “a high profile client”. This rate is almost a ten-fold (i.e. 10 times) premium over similar accommodation in Llandudno, which retails at R8000 a night at the peak time of the December holidays. Lessons from Cape Town's film industry
Unfortunately, it was the very same destination that not long ago burnt its international brand when trying to capitalise on its new-found demand by international movie producers.
Recently, an industry insider pointed out
that in 2001 Cape Town was identified by major international film production companies as offering excellent value for money and quickly became a preferred filming destination: “As Cape Town became an increasingly popular filming and production destination, demand for accommodation began to outweigh supply. Many local operators tried to capitalise on the situation and inflated their prices to such an extent that the production companies started pulling out of Cape Town in search of better value destinations.
“It has taken nearly five years to rebuild Cape Town's image as a destination which offers good value and excellent service. We should be careful not to make the same mistake twice.”2010 a time to win brand advocates?
Following the previous FIFA World Cup held in Germany, the host country was able to increase international leisure tourism by 33% year-on-year, and international business tourism by 47% in the hosting city of Berlin, by deliberately converting visitors to brand advocates for destination Germany and achieving a Net Promoter Score of 88% - that is, 88% of visitors stating that they will recommend destination Germany back home to their friends and colleagues.
With less than a year to go to the 2010 kickoff, destination South Africa is standing at the crossroads between short-term profiteering and long-term brand building - as Barcelona has evidenced ever since 1992, it is at this pivotal touch-point that Brand SA will determine her tourism fortunes for years, if not decades, to come.
Are we going to kill the golden goose called tourism or invest in her capacity to lay golden eggs long into the future?For more:


text:
Bethesda has announced that QuakeCon 2022 will be held online again this year, but that the real face-to-face event will return in 2023.
The event, which will take place from 18-20 August this year, will disappoint fans because, due to uncertainty, it will once again be held digitally, as it has been for the previous two years.
“Like you, we’re disappointed to not return to Dallas this year. An event of this size requires months of planning, and in this case, we had to make decisions when there was still too much uncertainty to commit to successfully executing an in-person QuakeCon. The QuakeCon team is already working hard to put together exciting new streaming programming, online meetups, giveaways, charity opportunities, the virtual BYOC, and more, and we will announce more details in June.”
As last year, new developments, updates and other content will be available to steam. The QuakeCon Twitch team and QuakeCon Discord may also reappear, and charity events will be held in conjunction with the event.
More details on this year’s QuakeCon are expected in June, with plans to return in person in 2023.
Leave a Reply


text:
With Thanksgiving around the corner, the holiday travel season is nearly upon us. The holidays are always a very busy time for air travel, and even with COVID-19 keeping many folks from venturing out, that isn’t looking to change completely. While it will be a different travel landscape this year, plenty of people are still planning to head home for the holidays. Here’s how a few major airlines are preparing.
Delta recently released an article detailing their 4 “Cs” of holiday travel:
You can learn more about them on their website, but we’re summing up the main takeaways here. First, they are preparing for increased holiday demand by adding flights; promising to “operate more than 3,800 peak-day flights per day this Thanksgiving season.”
Second, for those concerned about COVID onboard, they are committed to maintaining their current policy of blocking off middle seats through at least January 6th. And if this is important to you, you should know that Delta and Alaska Airlines are the only two major US airlines with this policy through the holiday season. The airline also continues to disinfect high-touch surfaces daily and circulate cabin air through HEPA filters.
Southwest is making a change to their current COVID policy to prepare for increased holiday flight demand. Due to the pandemic, Southwest had been blocking out the middle seats on flights for months. However, they’ve just announced a plan to discontinue this practice.
Southwest is opening up middle seats to make more room for travelers. According to the airline, new information supports that full planes are just as safe as long as there are proper cleaning and ventilation protocols. They said “[Not selling middle seats] bridged us from the early days of the pandemic, when we had little knowledge about…the virus, to now. Today, aligned with science-based findings…we will resume selling all available seats for travel beginning Dec. 1, 2020.”
If you’re flying Southwest this holiday season, know that you may be on a full flight. Luckily, if you’d prefer to social distance on the plane, Southwest still has a very flexible change policy so that you can find a less crowded flight if needed.
American Airlines is preparing for the reality that the holiday travel season this year won’t see as many travelers as in years previous, so they’ve cut back their December flights by 50%. This translates to 100,000 fewer flights than they normally operate in December.
Airports most heavily affected by the cutbacks include those in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles. These airports were chosen to help support the fact that those cities have some of the stricter policies regarding COVID travel restrictions.
Loyal AA customers shouldn’t worry, though, as the airline will be adding a few routes to the Caribbean and offering pre-flight COVID testing for passengers heading to Hawaii. If you’re looking to escape to warmer weather this holiday season, they have you covered!
United is also looking to testing to help passengers navigate COVID-related travel restrictions. They’ve just launched a brand-new pilot program -the first of its kind in the world- to offer free rapid tests for transatlantic customers. This program will run from November 16th through December 11th on select flights from Newark Liberty to London Heathrow.
United has been a pioneer in COVID related policies, which they are keeping through the holiday season These include mandatory compliance with in-air policies regarding mask-wearing, online pre-travel health assessments, and touchless check-in for travelers with baggage.
Have a Safe Flight
Of course, holiday travel safety during the pandemic doesn’t stop with the airline. As you choose how to travel this year, make sure to take into account how you’re getting to and from the airport, and how your local airport handles COVID-19 safety protocols. Happy holidays, and safe travels!
Looking for Airport Parking?


text:
Online age-verification is gaining such traction that it was mentioned in the Queen’s Speech this Spring as one of the focuses of the UK government’s agenda for the coming session.
In fact, just last week one of the world’s most popular dating apps, Tinder, gave in to growing pressure and announced plans to increase its minimum user age. This decision followed a public outcry at the increasing cases of child-grooming taking place via the app.
Online businesses are beginning to realise that they have the same responsibilities to prevent children from using services, accessing content or obtaining products that are age-restricted, as businesses that operate in the real world.
For too long ‘a lack of parental control’ has been used as an excuse for children gaining access to inappropriate goods online. One would have little sympathy for a merchant on the high street selling whisky or cigarettes to children on the grounds that their parents were not there to stop the transaction.
It can be argued that businesses still aren’t acting fast enough to rectify the situation. A recent study found some of the UK’s biggest retailers are failing to verify the age of customers online before selling them age-restricted items.
With the government cracking down on those failing to do their part, and a growing awareness amongst the public, businesses need to realise why age-verification matters and then quickly take action.
But just how easy is it, at present, for young people to access age-restricted content, products and services online?
With the rise of the internet, more and more businesses and brands are moving their operations online but yet are not introducing robust enough age-verification mechanisms. This has made it easier for young people to access products, services and content that are age-restricted.
Recent studies, such as the aforementioned, have found retailers are not doing their part to protect children from obtaining age-restricted goods online. This includes research such as that carried out by auditor Serve Legal which put 1000+ online retailers to the test in order to determine whether they were verifying the age of their customers before delivering alcohol. The findings of the study revealed that more than half (56%) of the businesses were not checking ID at the point of delivery.
The problem is that on many websites, the onus is placed on the customer to be honest in recording their date of birth but there is rarely a mechanism in place to confirm if this is actually true.
Other websites instead ask a customer to merely tick a box to confirm they are over 18. Commonsense would deem neither of these measures as adequate age verification.
It’s also important to remember that there are online businesses who do not have their own delivery service and therefore rely on a third party courier to deliver their goods.
Third-party couriers may not feel liable to verify the age of another company’s customers and therefore will not ask for proof of age upon delivery, or they may simply have processes that do not allow for any verification to take place.
Businesses failing to verify the age of their customers before allowing them access to age-restricted products, services or content are leaving themselves legally liable. And this could spell big problems – not only with the law, but for their reputation.
As is the case in a bricks and mortar store, it is the responsibility of the business to ensure their customers are the right age before allowing access to any age-restricted goods, services or content online. Robust online age-verification is imperative in order to sift out those who are underage and prevent any law-breaking.
It’s also important that businesses that already have online age-verification mechanisms in place ensure these are regularly tested and updated. This will go in some way to help make sure their age-verification measures develop in line with the continuous advancements in technology.
It can also be damaging to a business’s reputation if they fail to verify the age of customers, as Amazon found out earlier this year. When the 16-year-old convicted of fatally stabbing Aberdeen schoolboy Bailey Gwynne last year was questioned about how he had obtained a knife, he revealed he bought the offensive weapon on Amazon, without having to first prove this age.
The legal penalties for businesses that fail to do this can be harsh. Businesses that allow anyone under 18 access to age-restricted products and services could face up to two years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.
So what measures can businesses take to verify customer ages online?
One measure businesses can take is to ensure every customer purchasing an age-restricted item provides their proof of age upon delivery. This is something that many businesses are still failing to do. The onus is on the business to ensure their staff or any third party courier companies strictly enforce this policy.
Websites can also verify a customer’s age online when a credit card is used as the payment method as only over-18s are able to apply for this credit facility.
This is a crude mechanism and only a partial solution as debit cards continue to be the UK’s leading payment method of choice for online purchases. If a website was to adopt this as the only accepted payment method, it could lead to a loss of business.
Asking customers to register their details via setting up an ‘account’ can also act as a means to deter under-18s. In doing this, it means that a customer will only need to verify their age once – when the account is first set up.
>See also: How to childproof a smartphone
But these measures are not without loopholes and therefore cannot guarantee that an under-18 will not slip through the net. But there are more innovative mechanisms and systems emerging to help better sift out under-aged people.
AgeChecked, for instance, is a software application that works to verify the age of customers during the online buying process. It pulls information from a range of sources and creates an age-gateway that routes users based on age.
As more and more businesses begin to realise the importance of online age-verification, there is a growing demand for more robust measures to help websites prevent under-aged people from accessing age-restricted content, services and products.
With growing pressure from both the government and the general public, now is the time for businesses to act or they could find themselves landed with a hefty fine, or even worse – a bad reputation.
Sourced from Alastair Graham, CEO, AgeChecked


text:
While many parts of the country are overrun with chain stores, San Francisco remains a stronghold for locally owned businesses, according to a new study, which also found that those local stores generate sizable benefits for the city’s economy.
… Read More
Last November, the consulting firm Global Insight (GI) released a study that found that Wal-Mart saved U.S. consumers $263 billion in 2004. That works out to $2,329 for the average household — a striking degree of economic benefit. But a rigorous new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a non-profit think-tank, concludes that the GI study is “fraught with problems.”
… Read More
This report opens with an overview of research on the impacts of large chain stores and the benefits of locally owned businesses. It then outlines dozens of concrete strategies to rebuild the homegrown economy. Although this report was written for Maine, the strategies are applicable in other states. … Read More
Among Jane Jacobs’ many accomplishments, she mobilized her neighbors and led several successful grassroots fights in the 1960s that saved Greenwich Village, Soho, Little Italy, and the Lower East Side from being leveled for glass towers and an eight-lane highway. … Read More
Massachusetts spent more than $52 million last year providing healthcare coverage to employees of some of the state’s largest companies, including numerous chain retailers like Wal-Mart, Dunkin Donuts, Stop & Shop, CVS, Home Depot, and Target. … Read More
California taxpayers are spending $86 million a year providing healthcare and other public assistance to the state’s 44,000 Wal-Mart employees, according to a new study by UC Berkeley’s Institute for Industrial Relations. The study, "Hidden Cost of Wal-Mart Jobs," found that the average Wal-Mart worker required $730 in taxpayer-funded healthcare and $1,222 in other forms of assistance, such as food stamps and subsidized housing, to get by.… Read More
As Wal-Mart seeks out locations in central Los Angeles and the city council considers a measure that would ban supercenters from much of the city, a debate is brewing concerning the costs and benefits of supercenters for residents of low-income urban neighborhoods. Two dueling studies examining the impact of supercenters in southern California were recently released.


text:
With the Nord 2 being almost a year old, OnePlus announced a refresh to the top-end Nord phone with the 2T. Aside from a slight design revamp for the camera module, how is the Nord 2T different from the Nord 2? In a nutshell, the key upgrade of the Nord 2T is its use of a Dimensity 1300 processor.
The Dimensity 1300 is practically similar to the Dimensity 1200 used on the Nord 2, but the Dimensity 1300 has newer AI capabilities that should, on paper, offer improved performance. Aside from the processor, the Nord 2T supports 80w wired charging, which is faster than the Nord 2’s 65w charging.
Like its predecessor, you also get a 90hz AMOLED display on the Nord 2T, along with a triple rear camera setup that is led by a 50-megapixel IMX766 main camera with OIS.
OnePlus Nord 2T 5G Specs:
- Dimensity 1300-AI processor
- 8GB/12GB RAM
- 128GB/256GB internal storage
- 6.43-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, 90hz refresh rate, support for HDR10+ and DCI-P3
- 50-megapixel f/1.8 IMX766 main camera with PDAF and OIS, 2-megapixel f/2.4 mono camera, 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera
- 32-megapixel selfie camera
- 4G, 5G
- WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1, in-display fingerprint scanner
- Stereo speakers
- 4500mAh battery
- 80w fast charging
- Android 12, OxygenOS 12.1
The OnePlus Nord 2T is priced at 399 Euros(~Php 22.2k) for the 8GB/128GB model and 499 Euros(~Php 27.7k) for the 12GB/256GB model. Sales in Europe will start on May 24 via OnePlus store and partnering retailers, where early orders will come with a pair of OnePlus Buds Z2 wireless earphones.