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Joi Freemont, a dentist in suburban Atlanta, doesn't have to look further than her appointment book to tell that people are worried about money.
Patients who used to get their teeth whitened all the time "now want to think about it a bit," she said. Braces? "People were getting them for the kids, for themselves, but now they're waiting," she added. And when people get cavities, they have their fillings done one a month, not five or six at a time, she said.
As a result, Freemont and her husband are worried their income could drop and are trying to be more prudent with their money. They're monitoring spending more closely and continuing to whittle down their credit card balances and her dental school debt, she said.
"We know how to put the brakes on if we have to," said Freemont, 35.
Across America, there are growing signs that consumers are worried about the weakening economy, which could slip into recession. While some say Americans are not famed for their belt-tightening tactics, there are signs that people are trying to improve their personal balance sheets so they're ready for tougher times.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, said the economic signals "are flashing yellow," suggesting that consumers need to take care.
Jobs are getting harder to find, while the crisis in the mortgage industry has made it more difficult for homeowners to borrow against their houses, closing down what has been a major source of extra cash in recent years. Consumers' budgets have been squeezed by rising food and fuel prices.
Credit card balances surged through the fall, according to Federal Reserve figures. Now delinquency rates on consumer loans are rising, the American Bankers Association reported recently. Even companies that cater to higher-income families, such as American Express Co., are feeling the pinch.
When the economy stumbles, "you have to begin living within your means, or you'll be forced to do so," Zandi said.
But Americans are much better spenders than savers, said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst with Bankrate.com, an online financial information service.
"Consumer spending isn't something that gets turned on and off like a light switch," he said. "People will say they need to cut back, but they often lack the willpower to do it."
Still, it appears that people are starting to make an effort.
Denise Dorman, who runs an advertising and public relations agency in Geneva, Ill., decided not to replace her 12-year-old vehicle, a Jeep Grand Cherokee with 125,000 miles on it, to avoid taking on a car payment.
She and her husband Dave, a commercial artist known for his Star Wars illustrations, also are "aggressively paying off credit card debt." And Dorman is seeking new opportunities to expand her business, perhaps into growth areas such as video-gaming.
"I'll feel a lot more comfortable when our debt is paid down and business has picked up," she said.
The couple experienced the downturn in the housing market firsthand as it took them 18 months to sell their former home in Florida. They've also become increasingly aware of the nation's deepening economic malaise from news reports and the presidential election debates.
"Altogether, it made us rethink what we're doing financially," she said.
Frank Krystyniak, 65, director of public relations at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, said the uncertain financial environment and the effect of the upcoming presidential election has him worried that his savings could take a big hit.
So he recently moved his nest egg out of stock and bond funds and into a fixed-rate account that should yield about 4.75 percent a year, he said.
He's also wary of rising gasoline prices, which could curtail his driving to Colorado to visit family and indulge in his hobby of trout fishing.
Some consumer retrenchment might not be a bad idea, said Sheryl Garrett, founder of The Garrett Planning Network of certified financial planners and author of the "Personal Finance Workbook for Dummies."
High debt and low savings indicate that consumer budgets are out of kilter, she said.
"A mild recession would be a good opportunity — or cause or excuse — for people to stop and take a deep breath," Garrett said. "So many people have overextended themselves.
"If you're living on the edge when times are good, just what are you going to do when they get bad?"


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The social networking site has added a message at the top of its news feed urging its members to donate funds to help the hundreds of thousands of people affected by Nepal’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
Facebook is offering its “Safety Check” feature. Google, which lost a senior employee in an avalanche as a result of the earthquake, has activated its “Person Finder” tool.
The site is a one-stop clearinghouse where veterans and their families can find links to Philly-specific services including jobs, housing, and treatment.
Babies are now swiping and scrolling on tablets and smartphones before they can walk.
It’s tough to wrap your brain around something so miniscule it’s a thousand times smaller than a human hair. But when it comes to these nanoparticles, visualizing and measuring them can be a matter of life and death. That’s where a company based at the University City Science Center comes in.
“If the Department of Justice actually filed suit against Comcast, a lot of analysis of Comcast’s business practices would become part of the public record,” a public interest group’s attorney says.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly sent a memo to team presidents and credentialed media reiterating the league’s policy on streaming footage.
Comcast has officially dropped its $45 billion takeover bid of Time Warner Cable.
In the digital age, kids are signed up for cell phone plans and social media accounts before they hit puberty. Local mom-turned-author Jenn Cannon says her book acts as a guide to help kids navigate the high-tech tools.
Bloomberg News is citing “people with knowledge of the matter” in its report that Comcast is “planning to walk away” from the deal.
Riders are instructed to open the app and request HELMET.
Google is getting into the wireless game — announcing cell phone service it hopes will entice AT&T and Verizon Wireless customers to jump ship.
How about a 3D model of your face for $25, or a full-body statuette for $125? A center city company can do it.
Eagles fans will have one of the first apps designed for the brand-new device.
Tuesday night’s retro gaming event gave gamers a chance to play everything from Mrs. Pacman to Mortal Kombat, all on the original systems.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a refreshed lineup of iPods and a smaller Apple TV during a presentation in San Francisco on Sept. 1, 2010.

domain: news


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Canon's mirrorless lenses have been quite successful for the company, offering impressive optical quality that sets the bar quite high. However, Canon fans are still waiting for a stronger mirrorless body that pushes the boundaries a bit more from the company. The good news is that it seems that will be changing soon, as the company is likely to release two new mirrorless cameras in the coming months.
Canon Rumors is reporting that Canon will likely be releasing two new EOS R cameras in the first half of 2020, with the source stating that the company will be "stepping it up a gear" with the new bodies. While the EOS R is a reasonably capable camera, the mirrorless lineup is missing both a high-resolution studio/landscape camera akin to the 5DS R and an action-oriented camera similar to the new 1D X Mark III. While it is not clear just quite yet what sort of cameras Canon is planning on, I would not be surprised to see one or both of the aforementioned types of cameras. It would be particularly exciting to see a high-resolution camera given the optical quality of some of the new RF lenses. 2020 should be exciting for Canon fans!


text: The Rubber Additives market is projected to reach US$ 9.3 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 3.5% from US$ 7.8 billion in 2021. The rapidly growing automobile industry in the region is the key driver of the market. Rubber additives are utilized majorly by the automobile industry to produce tires. China is the largest market for rubber additives in the region. The growth of the rubber additives market is primarily triggered by the growing automobile industry, which in turn drives the need for rubber additives.


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Thursday, June 07, 2007, 12:00 pm PT (03:00 pm ET)
Boot Camp 1.3 beta adds new drivers, Apple remote pairingAhead of its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Apple has released an update to its Boot Camp dual-boot software that adds new graphics drivers among other improvements.
The 274MB release also delivers support for keyboard backlighting (MacBook Pro only), Apple Remote pairing, improved Boot Camp driver installer, improved international keyboard support, and localization fixes.
The beta software, which will be included in Apple's upcoming Mac OS X Leopard operating system release, allows users of Intel-based Macs to install and run versions of rival Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system.
At its annual developers conference on Monday, the Cupertino-based Mac maker is expected to provide an update on Leopard as well as major enhancements to Boot Camp that have remained under wraps for the past 10 months.
Apple last updated its Boot Camp beta in March when it added support for Windows Vista.
On Topic: General
- Apple chose to handle iOS 8 rollout with own content delivery network
- Apple invents bone conducting EarPods for better iPhone noise cancellation
- Tim Cook touts new Apple privacy policies in open letter to customers
- Tim Cook explains consolidation at Apple in new interview
- Apple 'never' planned to use sapphire covers for iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus - report


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Study up on Solr and Big Data
As part of its Lucid University program, Lucid Imagination announces live, four-day, interactive online courses covering Solr search and Big Data. The classes will take place each day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. PST on Jan. 16-19, 2012 and again on Feb. 21-24 and March 19-22 at the same times.
The company says Scaling Search with Big Data & Solr begins with an explanation of Hadoop, including MapReduce, HDFS (the Hadoop Distributed File System), cluster management, "the shuffle," etc., before continuing on to connecting it to Solr. The classes will include two days of lectures from Lucid Imagination trainers and two days of instruction from Scale Unlimited’s Ken Krugler, an expert in scalable, reliable data analytics, workflow design and Web mining.
Lucid Imagination also offers another online course in Q1 2012, Solr Essentials.


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News tagged: Netflix
Netflix has debuted a special interactive form of content targeted at children. The streaming service's new "choose your own adventure" stories let kids navigate a story in unique ways. While the format is initially meant for kids, it could potentially expand at some point.
There are more people in the US with a Netflix subscription than a cable TV subscription, the streaming company has confirmed in a recent report. In its quarterly earnings report, Netflix revealed it has 50.85 million members in the US. That's higher than the cable TV industry.
A TV adaptation of The Witcher is officially headed to Netflix and Andrzej Sapkowski, author of The Witcher novels, will be a creative consultant for the show. His novels inspired the game series, which has been a big seller over the years for CD Projekt Red.
Rooted Android phones and tablets won't be able to use the latest version of Netflix. The app now comes with an updated DRM system that fully relies on Google's Widevine DRM. As a result, it typically won't run on a device that's been rooted. Widevine offers content protection.
Netflix's app on Android now comes with support for HDR video streaming, although the feature currently just works on the LG G6. Since the app uses the Dolby Vision spec for mobile HDR video, the feature is limited to the G6, which is the only phone offering that spec.
Time Warner Cable (TWC) is facing a lawsuit from New York attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman over unacceptably low performance. According to Schneiderman, Time Warner Cable intentionally provided consumers with service that was slower than advertised.
Streaming services like Netflix generate far greater watch time among young people than traditional live television. According to a report from Trendera, teens spend 24% of their time on YouTube, 27% on Netflix, and 14% on live TV. Hulu and Amazon were at 4% and 3%.
Through a deal with Chinese video streaming service iQiyi, Netflix has managed to enter China. Netflix was originally planning to directly enter the market, but it decided in October 2016 to work on licensing deals instead. Baidu owns the iQiyi service.
Subscriber growth at Netflix wasn't as high as expected during the last quarter, though it plans to bring itself over the 100 million mark in the second quarter. It expects to reach 102 million subscribers with 600,000 new domestic users and 2.6 million international subscribers.
Netflix is trying to massively increase its original content offerings and a multi-billion dollar investment in shooting content in California will contribute to that goal. Ted Sarandos, the company's chief investment officer, says it'll invest $6 billion in California business.
Netflix remains the most popular streaming service in the US, according to a report from comScore. 53% of WiFi-enabled households currently use at least one streaming service and Netflix is present in 75% of those households. YouTube is in second place.
Netflix's thumbs up/down ratings system is now rolling out to users. It's replacing the star-based rating system for movies and TV shows that's been in place for years. Netflix believes this new option will increase the likelihood of people giving their opinion on content.
Offline streaming is now included in the Netflix app for Windows 10. It's been possible to download videos for later viewing on Android and iOS since late 2016, and now that ability has come to Windows. Only certain parts of the Netflix library are available.
Rather than hire a professional team to translate the vast amount of subtitles on Netflix, the company has unveiled a contractor-based program. Netflix's Hermes program is inviting users to create subtitles in over 20 languages. They'll work as contractors.
Netflix is significantly updating its rating system to replace stars with thumbs-up and thumbs-down. The change will roll out to all users in April. It's already gone through testing and was well-received during that part of the process, says Netflix.
Netflix's original movies and TV shows could potentially be re-cut for mobile devices. Neil Hunt, the company's chief product officer, said during a briefing with journalists that it's within the realm of possibility different cuts could be made for mobile.
Netflix is working to include HDR support for streaming video on mobile devices. Reed Hastings, Netflix's CEO, says the company is committed to offering HDR on all platforms. He made that statement while speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Netflix and a group of other companies are facing lawsuits from Blackbird Technologies, a patent troll, over their offline download features. Lawsuits have been filed against Netflix, Soundcloud, Vimeo, Starz, Mubi, and Studio 3 Partners. They all offer offline downloads.
You can receive a free year of Netflix streaming if you purchase or lease a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge from T-Mobile. Either phone must be purchased by February 7 and you must register for the promotion on the Samsung Promotions site by February 21.
Netflix has added another reason for people to want expandable storage support on their phones. The streaming service is now letting Android users download movies and TV shows to microSD cards. However, many top phones don't come with microSD support.


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Sad news for elderly lonely hearts in Shanghai: they can no longer look for love in Ikea.
The Swedish furniture giant's Shanghai store has seen a strange phenomenon of senior citizens descending upon its famed cafeteria to socialise and even find partners.
Locals said it occurs twice weekly, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
China's state broadcaster CCTV News reported that the elderly patrons would often buy a cup of coffee or some bread and "spend an entire day just chatting with others".
They are believed to be part of a dating community, making use of their Ikea membership cards.
This week, Ikea put a stop to it by imposing a strict "no food, no seating" rule to discourage senior citizens from occupying canteen seats for "extended periods".
In a notice posted at the entrance of the Ikea Shanghai Restaurant, staff identified a "match-making group" and accused it of "uncivilised behaviour".
"The situation has adversely affected the dining experience and security of most of our customers," it said, adding that it had received public complaints about "spitting" and "quarrels and fights".
"It is having a negative implication for our canteen's operation. From today, the restaurant will only be for people who purchase their food first."
The news has attracted attention from netizens on Chinese social media, with many in support of the elderly.
"They are harmless," wrote Ed Ed Chiu in a reply to a post by CCTV News on the popular Chinese micro-blogging Sina Weibo platform.
Weibo user Lee Xin slammed the move as a "draconian measure" and said it was cruel to elderly patrons.
"What wrong are they doing? They are lonely and are probably hoping to find some company again. If anything, the store should practise empathy and at least sympathise with these old people," she said.
The move was criticised by some elderly patrons, who spoke to local media outlets.
"We've been to fast food outlets like McDonald's - but there are barely any peers there," said an 86-year-old man who went by the name of Qiu.
Mr Qiu told the state-controlled Global Times newspaper: "We feel like aliens - surrounded by youngsters. If there is another place in Shanghai where elderly people can gather, we are more than ready to pay twice as much and travel further."
But others online voiced support for the store's management, praising its efforts in "maintaining store policy".
"Intolerable behaviour," said one Weibo user. "I'm with the management on this. It's deplorable how people are caught photographed sleeping on Ikea displays, what more spitting and swearing in public? This should not be tolerated at all."
Another user Lao Gao from Beijing wrote: "To everyone romanticising this, please also consider that the store has an image to uphold while protecting the interests of other paying customers. It is ugly behaviour to take up seats for such long durations while you make others wait."
Reporting by the BBC's Grace Tsoi in Hong Kong and Heather Chen in Singapore.


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Timberwolves Take Foster Kids On Shopping SpreeThe holidays can be a difficult time for many children who don't have a permanent home. So today the Minnesota Timberwolves had a surprise for some foster children to make their holiday brighter.
Larry Fitzgerald Jr. Takes Twin Cities Kids On Shopping SpreeA group of Twin Cities kids not only spent two days at a football camp led by an NFL player -- but they also went shopping with him. Larry Fitzgerald Jr. of the Arizona Cardinals teamed up with Dick's Sporting Goods Tuesday to reward some deserving young athletes.
Vikings Players Give Kids In Need $100 Shopping SpreeAfter the crowd at TCF Bank Stadium helped the Vikings win another big game over the weekend, players game back to the community Tuesday.
Vikings Invite Robbins Family To Winter ParkLast month we shared a story about a grieving Minnesota family who received a special gift from a Vikings player. The Robbins family lost their wife and mom, Maggie, in a car crash in early October.
Vikings’ Ponder Gives Shopping Spree To Grieving FamilyA grieving Minnesota family received an unexpected gift during a chance encounter at the mall. Brianna and Emily Robbins' mom, Maggie, was killed in a car accident earlier this month. A few days later, their dad took them shopping to try to lift their spirits.
MN Wild Give Ultimate Fan Ultimate Shopping SpreeFor the Wild faithful, the Hockey Lodge is where fans like Eric Anderson find their team spirit. "We've had tickets since 2001, their first season, so you can't have enough wild stuff,” Anderson said. As he browses the jerseys, sweatshirts and other Wild gear, he's preparing for a dream shopping spree. "Perfect time of the year,” he said. “Christmas gifts, you know, you can't have too much stuff."
Back-To-School Shopping Affordable For Low-Income KidsBack-to-school shopping is fun, but also very expensive.


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Hyundai sales up 1% in September at 62,757 units
The company had sold 62,285 units in September last year, HMIL said in a statement.
Domestic sales declined 4.5 per cent to 47,781 units last month as compared to 50,028 units in September 2017.
Exports grew 22.2 per cent in September to 14,976 units as against 12,257 units in the year-ago month.
"Despite some ongoing market challenges, we expect this festival season will induce positive sentiment among customers and the industry would witness a strong positive growth," Hyundai Motor India National Sales Head Vikas Jain said.


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Posted on December 19, 2022 at 6:45 PM
Argishti Khudaverdyan has received a ten-year prison sentence. Khudaverdyan is a previous owner of a T-Mobile retail store, who has been convicted for running a $25 million phone unlock scheme by gaining unauthorized access to the internal systems of T-Mobile.
T-Mobile hacker imprisoned for ten years
Khudaverdyan will be going to prison for ten years after being found guilty in this scheme that happened between August 2014 and June 2019. The 44-year-old must also pay restitution of $28,473,535.
Khudaverdyan is being accused of “cleaning” hundreds of thousands of cell phones for his previous clients at his T-Mobile retail store. The 44-year-old man had a T-Mobile retail store in California that he used to conduct illegal activities. However, T-Mobile terminated its contract with him in June 2017, accusing him of suspicious behavior and involvement in unlocking cell phones without authorization.
The Department of Justice issued a press release saying that between August 2014 and June 2019. Khudaverdyan had unlocked and unblocked multiple cell phones linked to the T-Mobile network. Khudaverdyan also unlocked mobile phones on networks such as AT&T, Sprint, and other mobile carriers.
The DoJ further said that removing this unlock allowed these phones to be sold in the black market while allowing T-Mobile customers to halt using the services offered by the wireless carrier. This caused a significant drop in the company’s revenues.
“Removing the unlock allowed the phones to be sold on the black market and enabled T-Mobile customers to stop using T-Mobile’s services and thereby deprive T-Mobile of revenue generated from customers’ service contracts and equipment installment plans,” the DoJ added.
Phone unlocking scheme
Besides Khudaverdyan, the other co-defendant, in this case, is Alen Gharehbagloo, the former business partner and a co-owner of the T-Mobile retail store. Khudaverdyan gained unauthorized access to the internal computer systems of T-Mobile. He gained access by using stolen credentials acquired during other malicious attacks such as phishing campaigns targeting over 50 employees that worked at T-Mobile.
The stolen employee credentials were also used to obtain access to the T-Mobile internal computer systems. In most cases, the details were used to reset employee passwords, where the account owners were locked out of the system.
In August, which was the month when Khudaverdyan pled guilty to infiltrating user devices, the DoJ noted that the defendant also worked with other people based on overseas call centers. He obtained more T-Mobile employee credentials that he later used to infiltrate the T-Mobile systems and target high-level employees by collecting their personal identifying information.
Khudaverdyan later called the T-Mobile IT Help Desk to change the company passwords of T-Mobile employees. This gave him access to T-Mobile systems that he later used to unblock cell phones.
When running this scheme, Khudaverdyan and his business partner advertised themselves as people providing premium unlocking services for all phone carriers to potential customers using various methods such as emails and dedicated websites.
After accessing the stolen employee credentials and the IMEI numbers sent by customers using websites they owned, the two helped to unlock thousands of devices via the T-Mobile dedicated Mobile Device Unlock and the MCare Unlock tools.
The MDU tool is exclusive to authorized employees at T-Mobile. However, MCare did not need any authentication as it used the IP address blocks used on T-Mobile and Metro locations.
On one occasion, Khudaverdyan used his personal T-Mobile credential to access a T-Mobile Wi-Fi access point while in Texas and gain entry to the unlockitall.com website. This action linked him with the phone unlocking scheme.
In one of his advertising messages, Khudaverdyan had told a client that his company would “perform convenient, factory-grade unlocks on all iPhone and iPad devices that have been iCloud locked without voiding your phone’s warranty.” The company promoted itself as having unlocked cell phones for many years.
Moreover, Khudaverdyan said that, unlike other phone unlocking companies, his unlock services guaranteed that the iPhone would not be locked again in the future. He further said that the company’s T-Mobile unlock services were official and offered directly through Apple and T-Mobile.
The store’s co-owner, Gharehbagloo, has also pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and for accessing a protected computer device with plans to commit fraud and money laundering. His hearing is scheduled to take place within two months.


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Tesla is now officially in the solar energy business.
Five months after Tesla announced a more than $2 billion bid to acquire SolarCity, shareholders of both companies voted in favor of the deal today.
“The transaction will be completed in the coming days,” Tesla said on its blog last night.
Tesla solar roof promo photo – credit Tesla
While Tesla will continue making electric cars and home battery systems, CEO Elon Musk says Tesla’s purpose is broader: to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
Musk pitched this vision to shareholders three weeks ago when he unveiled the two companies’ first collaboration: a solar roof — which, Musk has previously said, is “not a thing on the roof,” like traditional, roof-mounted solar panels. “It is the roof.”


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Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs as they are popularly known, have become a hype over the last year. These unique pieces of digital work built on top of Ethereum blockchain can be worth up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The NFT market has reached a multi-billion-dollar size. In 2021 alone, sales in the market have skyrocketed reaching $2.5 billion by July, according to Reuters.
Even traditional players of the art and luxury world have embraced this trend. Just a few days ago, the giant auction house Sotheby’s announced the launch of a NFT-only marketplace hoping to tap into this booming sector.
In the latest episode of our #FinancialFox show, we wanted to brief you about the technological and legal aspects of NFT ownership. Our host Steffy spoke with Catherine Zhu, a technology lawyer at Foley and Lardner about NFTs. They discuss legal aspects of creating and buying NFTs, decentralised models and how blockchain technology has impacted the legal world.
Catherine says that the legal definition of an NFT relates to its technological concept which is a “record on the blockchain representing a digital asset”. She also explains the aspects related to intellectual property and ownership of NFTs.
The use of blockchain for smart contracts has brought significant impact for the legal world and allowed for more autonomy for creators, says Catherine. This shift is overall very positive for those creating digital art who now enjoy more control over their pieces and do not need to rely on third-parties for sales and compliance.
If you are considering entering the NFT market, either by creating your own art or buying collectibles, this episode gives you valuable information.
Watch our latest #FinancialFox interview with Catherine Zhu.
REMEMBER: All content in the video is for informational purposes only and it doesn’t constitute financial advice.
Be sure to follow us on social media @cassiopeia_ltd to keep up with more news and updates in this exciting sector, and don’t forget to subscribe to our channel to hear about further upcoming interviews on FinancialFox.


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Picking a phone is hard today because there are many options yet they are often so similar. This is what the British-based Nothing company aims to change with a range of smartphones that promise to catch your eye.
At its launch yesterday in Singapore, the Nothing Phone 1 certainly looked like it would stand out from rivals. The back of the phone grabs your attention with a transparent cover and flashing LED lights.
You cannot see the actual innards of the smartphones, but Nothing’s designers has created unique patterns for the LEDs that will light up in different sequences whenever a call or notification comes in.
Of course, you can customise the lighting sequences too for specific friends or family so that you can recognise the caller without lifting the phone off a desk.
For sure, this is not the first time smartphone manufacturers have made use of lighting effects. Asus’ ROG smartphones have RGB elements that sparkle too.
What is different is that Nothing Phone 1’s Glyph interface lighting system is more elegant with its white-on-white or white-on-black design, depending on the phone colour. It will feel right at home in the pockets of designers, fashionistas and techies who want something different.
The Phone 1 has brought some excitement to the rather drab smartphone offerings we see these days.
That said, it is hard to avoid seeing the silhouette of an Apple iPhone in the Phone 1, especially with the aluminium frame and the placement of the camera lenses.
For shutterbugs, the good news is that the Nothing Phone 1 has 50-megapixel sensors for both the primary and ultrawide cameras and a 16-megapixel front-facing camera. It will shoot images with more accuracy using 10-bit colour space, plus it supports HDR too for better contrast and vibrancy.
The Nothing Phone 1’s camera system also ticks most boxes with Portrait, Landscape, Panorama, Night and Expert modes included with the camera system. Of course, we have to see how it performs when we get a unit to try out for a bit longer.
Upfront, the 6.55-inch Full HD+ OLED screen can refresh at 120Hz, which makes the Android-based Nothing operating system flow from page to page like butter.
I like that it reminds me of a Google Pixel phone, where things are kept simple and there’s little space for bloatware.
Unlike a Google phone, however, the Nothing Phone 1 packs in a good 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM, so taking high-quality photos and videos will be worry-free for snappers. There’s enough space to save the images on the phone without relying on the cloud.
The only thing that jumps out from the specification list is the use of a customised Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ processor. As this is customised, the Nothing Phone 1 can have its 4,500mAh battery charged wirelessly.
This isn’t the latest or most powerful Qualcomm chip right now, but we’d have to try out the phone longer to see if it performs well for everyday tasks.
In Singapore, the top-end version of the Nothing 1 costs S$949, while the entry-level 8GB/128GB version will be sold at S$769 and the 8GB/256GB at S$869.
The Phone 1 is certainly not a phone that is expected to break benchmark test records but it might just have enough in the specification list so the everyday experience isn’t compromised for potential buyers.
We’ll try out the phone more and report back with a review!


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To mark the festival of Holi — which is being celebrated today — Apple took to Instagram to showcase the camera capabilities of the iPhone 12 series. A series of eight images that feature close-up shots of people were posted on Apple’s Instagram account. Apple reportedly commissioned photographer Dhruvin S to click the images.
The images are faces of people smeared in Holi colour. Further, the images are cropped to highlight a part of the face. All the faces in the images are smeared with different Holi colours.
“I never imagined Holi as a form of art," said photographer Dhruvin S in the accompanying caption on Instagram. “It's almost like creating a canvas on a face. And you don't have to be a painter or an artist to do this.”
In the following post, Apple has also posted a behind the scenes of the shoot. “I was really excited to see how colours would react on different faces, go really close to the subject and capture the micro details. I was surprised when I took the pictures,” said Dhruvin.
Apple has been running a #shotoniPhone campaign for marketing and promotional purposes for many years now. The images clicked for Holi too are a part of it where the camera capabilities of the iPhone 12 Pro series have been highlighted.
Apple on the social media post didn’t specify which iPhone — presumably iPhone 12 series — was used to click the Holi special images.


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Some tourists flock to California to see Hearst Castle, Sausalito, Big Sur and the Golden Gate Bridge. Then there are those who come for the breathtaking views of artichokes.
''I want to talk to you about artichokes,'' said Evan Oakes, founder of Ag Venture Tours, possibly the country's first company specializing in agricultural bus tours for tourists, as he wielded a field knife before sightseers huddled beside a prickly field. ''In Egyptian tombs, in Syria and Babylon, they were talking about artichokes.''
While artichoke tourism may never rival Disneyland, Mr. Oakes, 41, an agricultural research scientist, may represent the Next Big-to-Medium-Size Thing. His bus tour, a sort of 4-H Club for Dummies, is part of a national trend toward agricultural tourism. It is a daylong, fact-filled 80-mile or so gambol through ''the nation's salad bowl'': the Salinas Valley, the fertile fog-layered land made famous by John Steinbeck. Here, about 50 percent to 75 percent of the country's vegetables are grown, ruled by ''the king,'' as Mr. Oakes calls iceberg lettuce.
''We wanted to try something different,'' said Dr. Leon Fournet, 60, a maxillofacial surgeon from Metairie, La., who was aboard Mr. Oakes's tour van with his wife, Martha. ''We'd been to wine country. I love to cook. I wanted to learn about the things we eat every day.''
Let birders obsess over ''life lists.'' Those aboard Mr. Oakes's vegetable safaris get a list of ''Major Monterey County Agricultural Commodities,'' to check off vital produce spotted en route. To the left, a scenic overlook of radicchio. To the right, a majestic vista of broccoli.Continue reading the main story
''Romaine lettuce is the hottest thing, because everyone is eating Caesar salad now,'' Mr. Oakes observed from behind the wheel before beginning a discourse on seed pelletization, an industrial process that coats seeds to make them more uniform and easier to plant by machine.
''Have you ever made candied nuts?'' he asked the passengers, who included Erica Weber, 78, a tourist from Lucerne, Switzerland. ''It's the same idea. But instead of sugar you're using clay material and fungicide.''
While Mr. Oakes's tour is offbeat, it is a tiny but potentially fertile seed in the flourishing movement of agricultural tourism. In states like Vermont and Wisconsin, farm tourism, including ''agri-tainment'' like U-Pick-'Em Christmas tree lots and Victorian high teas amid hay bales, is on the rise. (Spotted in Brainerd, Minn.: a beef and pork tasting room.)
In California, one of 20 states promoting agricultural tourism, direct marketing -- including hay rides, farm stands, income from farmers' markets, and bed-and-breakfasts on farms -- accounts for $75 million a year, a small but increasingly significant part of the state's $20 billion agricultural industry, said Desmond Jolly, an agricultural economist and director of the University of California's Small Farm Center in Davis.
In Vermont, tourism-related agriculture, including sleigh rides, maple sugar visits and wool spinning, represents $10 million in income for 3,000 small farms, said Jackie Folsom, program coordinator for the Vermont Agritourism Initiative, a federally financed program that works with farmers to promote tourism.
The interest in agricultural tourism represents the convergence of several major cultural trends.
''There is a growing concern about where food comes from,'' said Kent Gustafson, an extension educator in tourism at the University of Minnesota. ''And families with young kids are looking for real, authentic experiences beyond Six Flags.''
Dr. Jolly, of the University of California at Davis, said Mr. Oakes was ''on to something.''
''Agriculture is basically cultivated nature,'' Dr. Jolly said, ''and this is part of nature tourism. Just as people love to go to national parks and visit forests, they are fascinated with learning how agriculture -- which is well-managed nature -- works. It's part of a healing process.''
While Mr. Oakes's tour is not overtly about healing, he does address many profound changes in the American landscape, like tallying farm worker productivity with computers and suburban sprawl. As the van sped past a billboard for a housing development in Salinas, for example, Mr. Oakes confided that ''seven years ago we used to do lettuce experiments here.''
Sprawl is considered ''the most threatening problem we face,'' said Ken Lewis, the owner of the 800-acre Gabilan View Farms outside Salinas. It is more dangerous, Mr. Lewis said, than even two-spotted mites in a strawberry field, which can be controlled by releasing reddish-orange predator mites -- 75,000 per acre.
To Mr. Lewis and other farmers, visits by Mr. Oakes's van are an opportunity for public relations.
''You hear so much about agriculture raping our resources and polluting our streams,'' Mr. Lewis said. ''It's not all like that. In every industry, there are always rogues like Enron. But most of us are true husbanders of the soil.''
Farmers learn from tourists, too. After making numerous references to what ''the housewife'' finds appealing about strawberries, Mr. Lewis was confronted by Frances Shaffi, a real estate developer from Monterey.
''I'm going to gag,'' Ms. Shaffi said. ''The correct term is consumers, not housewives!''
Mr. Oakes, who wears an enamel artichoke pin on his left lapel, specializes in wine grapes. He subsidizes his agricultural tours with trips to more mainstream destinations like Hearst Castle and Salinas Valley wineries. A former assistant farm adviser with the Monterey County Agricultural Center in Salinas, he now consults with the University of California. Five years ago, he realized that preaching to the unconverted might be more satisfying than ''standing out in the middle of fields taking soil samples and counting aphid colonies on lettuce plants.''
Agricultural tourism, he said, is more highly developed in Europe, especially in Italy, where rural tourism is seen as a way of maintaining the heritage of villages and revitalizing their economy.
Whether people will come to share his passion for the life cycle of broccoli remains a question.
''People don't know where their food comes from,'' Mr. Oakes said. ''Here, they see it. But most tourists want to go on the 17 Mile Drive and then visit Carmel and go shopping. Let's face it.''
Meanwhile, the living embodiment of everything a visitor always wanted to know about farm scenery but was afraid to ask rolls on by.
''Is that mustard?'' Ms. Shaffi asked, eyeing a fleeting field of yellow flowers.
''Weeds,'' Mr. Oakes replied.Continue reading the main story


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We noticed a few star wives landing up announced or unannounced on the sets of their husband's films.
Vaani Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri and Saiyami Kher walked the ramp at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week 2017 in Mumbai.
Bollywood celebrities like Malaika Arora, Sussanne Khan, Aditi Gowitrikar, Kim Sharma, Mini Mathur, Maria Goretti, Arjun Kapoor and Karan Singh Grover were spotted at the birthday party of Thelabellife.com founder Preeta Sukhtankar.
Actress Katrina Kaif, who flew back after praying at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah, was spotted at Mumbai international airport on September 12. She wore a beautiful white suit with Kala Chashma.
Manisha Koirala was the show stopper for designer Chola at the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai on August 26.


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Trader Joe’s new novelty candy bar has gummy bears floating in a pool of chocolate just in time for summer.
The coffee-infused gummy bears come in Cold-Brew, Bourbon Cold-Brew, and Iced Vanilla Latte flavors, each of which packs in 60 milligrams of caffeine.
Two Etsy shops have found a way to turn Fireball whiskey into chic gummy candy form. Irish Confectionery Co.'s Fire Cubs start at $5.81 for a bag, while VineGelee's Fire Bears start at $9.95.
German broadcasting company ARD aired a 45-minute documentary uncovering alleged nefarious labor practices behind the making of the world-famous gummy bears.


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NEW YORK (
--The retail landscape is shifting under the feet of the nation's sellers. While the major concern for the sector has been consumer spending, retailers now potentially face two major headwinds in the second-half of the year: euro crisis and increases in sourcing.
These concerns were the topics of conversation at Piper Jaffray's annual Consumer Conference in New York this.
, for one, admits that the euro is a significant concern for the company, and as a result management is planning conservatively. CFO Dennis Secor says they are protecting margins through hedging.
The European consumer, regardless of the state of the economy, is more welcoming of the Guess brand, the company said. In Italy, where Guess sees about $350 million in annual revenue, the shopper, according to Secor, is more willing to spend because the savings rate is higher, even though the country is in debt.
Overall Secor expects the euro will impact operations by a penny in 2010.
Commodity prices, specifically for cotton, as well as labor shortages, will also be a drag on Guess' business, offsetting some of the margin gains achieved during the first half of the year. The company is consolidating and diversifying its vendor base and reducing its production time to allow for shipping via vessels rather than airplane, in an effort to cut costs.
says it hasn't seen a slowdown in its European business, even though it has a presence in most European countries. Currently, same-store sales in Europe are running ahead about 5% over the past six weeks, CEO Manny Chirico says.
The apparel maker, which recently acquired Tommy Hilfiger, does see apparel inflation impacting business.
Even amid the euro crisis,
is still making a push to expand its European business. "Even though the economy is not growing in Europe and is particularly shaky, we believe we can effectively integrate ourselves into the group of choices consumer have in key European market as we did in Japan," CEO Lew Frankfort says. "Consumers in Europe, like their counterparts in Asia, are looking for great product that is relevant and priced exceptionally well."
As an accessible luxury retailer, Coach believes it is well-positioned to appeal to shoppers who are looking for quality merchandise at a fraction of the cost of other European luxury brands.
On the sourcing front, Frankfort says the supply chain team has done a good job at securing low production costs for the next several quarters. "No doubt though we are starting to see some increase in raw costs," Frankfort says.
Like PVH, Coach is also moving production to lower-cost regions like Vietnam and India. "We will face headwinds in 2011," Frankfort says, "But we are optimistic for 2012 and beyond and expect modest gross margin expansion."
CFO Michael Nicholson rattled off several upcoming issues, including prices of raw materials, currency exchange rates, oil, freight and wage pressures. The women's retailer began voicing these concerns in the fourth-quarter last year and Nicholson doesn't see them going away in the near term.
Like other retailers, Ann is taking steps to avoid taking hits from sourcing costs; those steps include shrinking its supply base and utilizing technology like e-sourcing. Nicholson is confident in these initiatives, and AnnTaylor still expects gross margin up 150 basis points or 56% this year, even with these headwinds.
-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.
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The ban on the sale of animal-tested cosmetic products came into force in the 27 countries of the EU this March. The European Commission, committed as it is to supporting alternative methods for testing the toxicity and efficacy of cosmetic ingredients, is now trying to persuade other countries to adopt the European standards.
Although a petition to stop live animal testing, signed by four million people, was presented to the European Commission as far back as 1996, this recent decision is a direct result of a process that the EU launched in 2003 that allowed a period of 10 years for adaptation to the ban. European associations against animal abuse have celebrated the news as a major victory in defence of the dignity of animals.
Animal experimentation is the traditional way to verify whether a particular ingredient may be harmful to humans before its inclusion in a cosmetic formulation. The process for authorizing the use of an ingredient is to first test it in the laboratory (in vitro) and then with animals (in vivo), usually rats, guinea pigs and rabbits. Finally, if no problems are found with the product in these test phases, controlled testing is performed with human volunteers.
The ban was implemented in phases from 2003. For example, the use of ingredients imported from other countries that do allow animal experimentation (like the USA) was permitted up to a specific deadline. In 2009 the first general ban on using animals for testing was implemented, although an exception remained in place regarding testing for accumulated potentially cancerigenous toxicity.
The European Commission’s objective is to encourage the search for alternative methods, for which it earmarked some 238 million euros between 2007 and 2011. The cosmetics industry has also contributed by co-financing the SEURAT-1 research initiative with 25 million euros.
However, the European cosmetics industry fears that this new situation will leave it at a disadvantage with respect to American and Asian competitors not affected by the ban, given that the cost of well established animal tests are high but known, whereas alternative methods are still in the experimental stage.
These advances, however, may lead in the future to a ban on animal experiments in the research and development of new drugs, which remain unaffected by this recent ban.


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Founders of Matchesfashion named in New Year’s Honours list
Matchesfashion.com co-founders Tom and Ruth Chapman have been awarded OBEs in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for their services to the international fashion retail industry.
Commenting on the honour, Tom and Ruth Chapman said: “We are delighted to accept these awards on behalf of the many extraordinary individuals we were lucky enough to work with while founding and leading Matchesfashion.
“It brings immense pride to have been at the forefront of the changing face of retail, from the humble beginnings of one brick-and-mortar store to one of the foremost global luxury e-commerce businesses, flying the flag for Great Britain in more than 170 countries.”
The Chapmans, who founded their MatchesFashion business with a single brick-and-mortar store in Wimbledon in 1987, has grown into one of the most respected global luxury retailers, offering more than 450 established and emerging luxury designers and selling to over 176 countries worldwide.
“Throughout the growth of Matchesfashion, we have had the privilege of working with many of Britain’s most talented emerging fashion designers,” added Tom and Ruth Chapman. “The success of the business wouldn’t have been possible without them and it’s wonderful to be acknowledged for the work Matches Fashion continues to do in championing new and emerging fashion talent around the world.”
Fashion names recognised in the Queen’s 2020 New Year’s Honours list
There was also an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for Camilla Lowther, founder of management agency CLM, who was recognised for her services to British fashion and to photography, and managing director of David Nieper Limited, David Christopher Nieper, who will receive for services to UK manufacturing and to apprenticeship development.
Fashion designer and television presenter Gok Wan, who has designed collections for Sainsbury’s and Simply Yours, was named an MBE for his services to fashion and to social awareness, and said on his social media that he was “overjoyed” to receive the honour.
Graphic designer, Peter Saville, who has worked with brands including Burberry and Lacoste was named an CBE, or Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to design.
Meanwhile, John Hannett, lately low pay commissioner and general Secretary of Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers received an OBE for his services to the economy.
Other notable names on the annual honour’s list which featured more than 1,000 British people includes Sir Elton John, who received the highest honour of all, Companion of Honour for his services to music and charity, while actress Olivia Newton-John was given a damehood, film directors Steve McQueen and Sam Mendes were awarded knighthoods, and broadcaster June Sarpong was named an OBE.
The awards will be handed out during the year by Queen Elizabeth II and members of the royal family.
Image: Tom and Ruth Chapman winning at the Walpole British Luxury Awards 2017, courtesy of Walpole


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One-third of Lumia smartphones sold in the U.S. market don't run the Denim software needed to upgrade to Windows 10 Mobile, according to a PCWorld report.
Microsoft blew the mobile opportunity and does not want to make the "same mistake" in other areas, such as wearables, CEO Satya Nadella told ZDNet in an interview at the Worldwide Partner Conference this week in Orlando.
Microsoft released on Tuesday the latest version of its Windows 10 Mobile build (10136) for Windows Insiders. Redmond is only offering the build to phones running Windows Phone 8.1 and users who have opted into the Windows Insider Fast ring.
Dropbox took a number of steps this week on its road to attract enterprise customers.
While smartphones are super portable, they have never been ideal tools for work-related tasks beyond checking email and texting. Well Microsoft wants to change that with the launch of Continuum for mobile phones running Windows 10 at its Build conference this week.
As expected, Microsoft released on Friday another build of its Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones. Based on the bugs already identified by Microsoft and ones uncovered by Bright, Redmond still has a long way to go to fulfill on its promise of universal apps.
Microsoft plans to unveil the next Windows 10 technical preview for phones on Friday, announced Gabriel Aul, point man for Microsoft's Windows 10 technical preview program.
While small and medium-sized businesses might be pinching pennies in other areas, they are opting for the pricey iPhone when it comes to smartphones.
Microsoft on Thursday released the first build of Windows 10 technical preview for phones. The technical preview is initially available only for Windows Phone models Lumia 630, 635, 636, 638, 730, and 830.
As part of its partnership with Microsoft, Dropbox has released an app for Windows smartphones and tablets.


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IT'S ANOTHER SLAP in the face for Intel as Nokia's upcoming N9 smartphone appears to be using a Qualcomm chip and not Chipzilla's Moorestown platform in specifications that have appeared on a Chinese website.
Less than a week after photos appeared online on a Chinese website a document apparently detailing the technical specifications for the Nokia N9 has appeared.
According to the website the next Nokia smartphone will run on a Qualcomm 1GHz QSD8250 processor with 512MB of RAM, 1GB of NAND flash memory and 64GB of internal storage. The device will also have microSD removable media.
The device will have a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen and is reported to be running the first version of the Meego operating system that Nokia plans to use to replace the Symbian OS in its high-end smartphones, according to screenshots.
For connectivity the device will have HSPA+ cellular connectivity and will support 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 for peripheral devices. The specifications also indicate it can take 720p video at 30 frames per second. According to the leaked photos the handset will have a hard QWERTY keyboard.
The leaked product code matches those of Nokia's hardware prototype line, suggesting that this reliable data. µ
SoC will debut in Google Daydream-compatible devices
For all the firm's hits there have been plenty of misses
Oracle founder has almost literally all the money in the world. But what does he spend it on?
Built-in cigarette lighter? Yes please


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Apple has hired away a former Vice President of Search Technology from Amazon, according to 9to5Mac. Benoit Dupin’s profile was removed from Amazon A9’s leadership site, and his LinkedIn now lists him as a Director at Apple. The new role is said to be involved in revamping search specifically as it relates to Apple Maps, according to 9to5Mac’s sources.
The job change is significant because it represents a major poach from Amazon, and specifically its subsidiary that deals exclusively in search and advertising tech. Dupin has been managing Amazon’s search efforts since coming on board in 2007, which means he has a lot of expertise with making sure inputting search terms results in finding the right stuff.
Apple is likely well aware that it needs to shore up its search and discovery options in both the App Store, iTunes Store and Maps, all of which are said to be areas of focus for Dupin at Cupertino. Maps and the App Store in particular have been areas that have come under fire from consumers as not necessarily the most reliable services in Apple’s arsenal, so it makes sense for the company to bring in some fresh talent to tackle these trouble spots.


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Amazon.in launches Solar Power store
New Delhi, India, May 25, 2015: Amazon.in, India’s largest online store has launched its new Solar Power store. With an array of products across panels, lights, USB chargers and lots more, Amazon.in’s Solar power Store offers the widest selection of energy saving and eco-friendly products in the country. In the wake of increasing awareness of responsible citizenship clubbed with the need to save on electricity bills, the store promises to be a one-stop-shop for discerning consumers across the country.
Consumers can choose from over 400 products from leading brands such as Bajaj, Sun King, Eveready and Tiny Deal. As we move towards peak summer, buy solar powered lanterns, solar mobile chargers and solar powered fans to beat the heat. These products are apt for nature and outdoor enthusiasts as well.
Announcing the launch, Mr. Samir Kumar, Director, Category Management said, “We understand that consumer mindset towards energy efficiency and carbon footprint is undergoing a positive change. We witness this everyday on Amazon.in as more and more customers today prefer to purchase products that are eco-friendly. Our new Solar Power Store offers customers across India an easy and convenient access to a wide range of eco- friendly and energy saving products that they can get delivered at their doorstep in a fast and reliable manner.”
Some of the interesting products that can be found on the store include a Water Proof Solar Power Bank, a multi-functional charger for mobile phones available for the first time in India; a Solar Backpack which allows users to charge phones, music players and all USB devices, a Solar LED Lamp with Mosquito Repeller and a unique Solar Security Light with intrusion warning.


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Over the last year, the OpenSUSE community transformed its development process and now promises us "the first hybrid Linux distribution"—OpenSUSE Leap.
Twitch is using the power of the crowd to install Arch Linux, but a mischievous botnet attempted to take over and install Gentoo Linux, instead.
The newest version of Fedora is here, making life easier for PC users today while simultaneously paving the way for the future.
Kubuntu Linux founder Jonathan Riddell has stepped away from the project while leveling blistering accusations towards the Ubuntu Community Council and Canonical.
Ubuntu 15.10 "Wily Werewolf" didn't have many notable changes, but its official offshoots shake things up a bit.
The latest version of Ubuntu is here, but you won't find much beyond software version bumps in Wily Werewolf.
Ubuntu's vision of a phone that doubles as a PC was quietly delayed, while Microsoft's Windows 10 Phones will launch next month.
Adobe abandoned Firefox for Linux users years ago, but new compatibility layer software can help you ditch your outdated Flash version for the latest code.
Valve's getting its ducks in a row before the widespread launch of Steam Machines in November.
CrossOver and Wine have long been famous for helping Windows software run on Linux, and now they're coming to Android.
Yes, there's a nasty new botnet infecting Linux devices, but your personal PC is probably safe. Here's why.
Google Drive is finally on Linux, but that's not the only major improvement in GNOME 3.18
Installing Linux on a Chromebook isn't difficult--if you know what you're doing.
AMD's new Linux drivers promise fixes in games like Shadow of Mordor and DIRT Showdown.
After years of broken promises from Google about Linux support, GNOME desktop is taking matters into its own hands and natively integrating Google Drive into its file system.


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The Galaxy A series has been a popular and highly anticipated line of smartphones, and while Samsung's Galaxy A04 has already been released, the Galaxy A34 and A54 are still awaiting launch. The latest leak in a string of many reveals the prices and specifications for both devices, as reported by industry insiders. For those eagerly awaiting the newcomers, here's everything we know so far about these upcoming devices.
Starting with the Galaxy A54, users will find a smaller screen on the phone when compared to its cheaper substitute A34. It will be 6.4-inch in size bearing AMOLED technology, Full HD+ resolution, and 120Hz refresh rate.
Galaxy A54 rocks a newly-introduced Exynos 1380 chip at its core. It plugs into a 5000mAh cell backed by 25W fast power delivery. The handset will likely feature 50MP primary, 12MP secondary, and 2MP tertiary sensors in cameras. The selfie shooter will be a higher-res 32MP inside a punch hole cutout.
CLICK HERE TO SEE
Samsung Galaxy A54 Price in Pakistan & Specs
SnoopyTech and Yogesh Brar (well-versed Samsung leakers) tipped Galaxy A54’s price for the 128GB variant. According to re, the phone will cost ~520 Euros, roughly translating to PKR 153,000. This time, the price is higher than last year’s 450 Euros mark for A53.
Moving on to Galaxy A34, the phone has a larger 6.6-inch display, AMOLED tech, 120Hz, and with Full HD+ resolution. A slight difference between the screen of both newcomers will be their notches. Galaxy A34 has a slightly intrusive U-notch.
A34 is using MediaTek’s relatively old Dimensity 1080 chip. Its triple-camera configuration likely consists of 48MP + 8MP +5MP sensors, and the front camera should be 13MP. Reportedly, the phone is IP67 rated, and inside the chassis, it holds a 5000mAh cell.
CLICK HERE TO SEE
Samsung Galaxy A34 Price in Pakistan & Specs
According to the tipsters, Galaxy A34 will go on retail for around 420 Euros, which roughly translates to PKR 123,500. Its price is higher than last year’s Galaxy A33, starting at 370 Euros for a 6+128GB configuration. The newcomers are likely to unveil midway through March, and we’ll cover both devices in depth after their release, so stay tuned.


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In the world of print, two of the most recent developments that have captured everyone’s interest have been 3D Printing and the way in which the industry has began to catch up with the idea of a cloud-based, remote office.
Of course, 3D Printing has caused a real buzz over the past couple of years – and rightly so, as the possibilities are seemingly endless. However, it’s the introduction of consumer 3D Printers that has seen the technology become much more widely discussed. Who wouldn’t want a 3D Printing in their home!?
A remote office with no restrictions is something that many have been working towards for years, though there have always been doubts about how printers would fit into that ideal vision of the future – particularly with their reputation as large, heavy devices stuck in the corner. Now, though, there’s the ability to send print jobs from mobiles, tablets and the cloud, as well as the actual machines changing in shape and size – there’s plenty of portable printers for any on-the-go workforce.
Now, Italy-based Giuseppe Izzo has come up with an intriguing concept that combines both 3D Printing and the advent of a remote office – introducing the Pbag, a truly portable 3D Printer.
With the Pbag, you are able to print in 3D no matter where you are – bringing 3D Printing into the flexible, remote office world. Designers and architects can go and visit clients and print the latest plans, you can take it with you to multiple offices and you could even get away from the four walls for some inspiration while you print!
The Pbag is essentially a 3D Printing encased in a portable bag, coming in either leather, fabric or plastic material, but this isn’t just individuals carrying a printer to the next office – the idea of remote working is at the heart of this concept.
Featuring a build size of 250 x 200 x 200h mm, the Pbag can be powered by battery alone for up to 12 hours, as well as allowing for wireless connection and remote management via a smartphone or tablet. You can also connect to a PC through a USB port, too.
There’s also software available that allows you to completely control the whole 3D printing process, with a micro-camera and an app allowing you to keep track of your prints, even if you’re out of the office.
In a bid to produce the Pbag, Izzo has launced an Indiegogo campaign, which you can pledge to here.


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Efficient Drivetrains Inc. announced today the integration of its EDI PowerDrive 4000 into a Class-4 General Motors Low Cab Forward platform, creating an industry-first electrified work truck for agriculture applications.
The vehicle combines the benefits of a compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel system and plug-in hybrid technology and is geared to help agriculture fleets switch from petroleum-based fuels to domestically available, cleaner burning natural gas and electricity.
The zero-emissions vehicle features a unique technology collaboration between Efficient Drivetrains and A-1 Alternative Fuel Systems, integrating the EDI PowerDrive plug-in hybrid powertrain, and the A-1 CNG Frame-Mount (FM) natural gas system into a GM Class 4 work truck commonly utilized by the agriculture industry.
The truck will be operated in San Joaquin Valley, a 250-mile-long region prone to air pollution due to its bordering mountain ranges. The technology collaboration between EDI and A-1 Alternative Fuel Systems plays a critical role in helping California meet its long-term carbon reduction goals.
While in operation in San Joaquin Valley, the new vehicle provides 40+ miles of all electric, zero-emissions driving, and range extension utilizing cleaner-burning CNG.
“Vehicle operators will experience the expected full power OEM truck performance without change to driver behavior, with the added benefit of zero-emissions driving, cleaner air for their workforce and the surrounding community, and significantly reduced fuel costs,” EDI states in its press release.
For vehicle manufacturers looking to quickly offer electrified solution offerings, the company offers its EDI PowerDrive technology in both PHEV and EV platforms as an electrification kit for OEMs, including control software and optional telematics for vehicle analytics and real-time fleet monitoring.
Chevy teases Silverado HD
Chevrolet also announced this week that the next-generation Silverado HD will debut next year, as a 2020 model. It will be the third all-new truck in the Silverado lineup revealed in just 18 months, joining the 2019 Silverado 1500 and the 2019 Silverado 4500/5500/6500HD.
“Chevrolet already fuels the most successful truck manufacturer in the industry,” says Alan Batey, global head of Chevrolet. “With a completely new, expanded range of Silverado models on the horizon, we expect to see even more truck buyers in Chevrolet showrooms.”
The 2019 Silverado 4500HD, 5500HD, and 6500HD chassis-cab models were introduced in March and are scheduled to go on sale in late 2018. The first-ever Silverado medium-duty trucks are designed specifically for commercial customers, with an emphasis on being easy to drive, easy to upfit and easy to service, Chevrolet says.


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In addition, Ondrejka announced that the first update to Facebook Home for Android will be released in "the second week of May." While this is in line with Facebook's promise that it will update its mobile apps on a monthly basis, Ondrejka declined to add what changes the new version would include.
At the same time, on Tuesday iOS users got a small sample of the changes that Android users receive with Facebook Home. While there is no way to replace the app launcher in iOS, as can be done in Android, on Tuesday the company also released Facebook 6.0 on iOS.
Although Facebook 6.0 for iOS includes a few design tweaks, but the main focus of the update is in Facebook Messenger.
For one, while within the Facebook app, users can pop-out Chat Heads for conversations. You might recall that Chat Heads refers to the round icon with the face of whomever you're talking to. However, unlike the more open Android, users won't be seeing Chat Heads anywhere, but the actual Facebook app (in Android, Chat Heads are persistent and can appear via SMS messages, too).
The limitations to Chat Heads are because of iOS' containerized format.
iOS doesn't give hooks to [allow Chat Heads] to be persistent across the entire device.Facebook for iOS also received another feature update: digital stickers.
Stickers are basically large, emoji-like images that you can send with just a tap. They're available in "packs" of related images that end users can download and then send.
Finally, Facebook's iPad app received a UI refresh, too. Facebook took what seemed to some to be forever to release an iPad version. When the social media giant did release an iPad app, it seemed little more than a blown-up iPhone app. The new version shows that Facebook has finally given iPad optimization some thought.
The updated versions should be available in the App Store later today.


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NEWS ANALYSIS / Size Isn't Everything In Case of Microsoft
Published 4:00 am, Friday, May 15, 1998
In this era of Godzilla-sized mergers, it may seem strange that the nation's anti trust crusaders are making their prime target Microsoft Corp. -- a firm that has grown largely through its own resources and ingenuity.
The government last year let four giant Baby Bells combine into two: Bell Atlantic and Nynex, and Pacific Telesis and SBC Communications. This year, authorities seem ready to permit even grander mergers of Bank of America with NationsBank, Citicorp with Travelers and Chrysler with Daimler-Benz.
Why is the government approving such apparent monopolies-in-the-making, while spending extraordinary time and resources pursuing an extremely complex and murky case against Microsoft?
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The answer, antitrust experts say, is that sheer size doesn't necessarily restrict competition or harm consumers.
"Big doesn't mean bad in an antitrust sense," said Richard Gilbert, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley and former chief economist in the Justice Department's antitrust division. "Bigness and market power are not the same concepts."
When two regionally distinct banks -- such as North Carolina-based NationsBank and San Francisco-based BofA -- combine, the resulting megabank doesn't necessarily have any greater power in local markets where most people do their business, Gilbert noted. The merger of Citicorp, a bank, and Travelers, an insurance and stock broker, will offer consumers one-stop shopping for a broad line of financial services. But it won't eliminate any direct competitors from the market.
At the end of last year, the United States still had more than 9,000 commercial banks competing for deposits and loans, and thousands more insurance companies, mutual funds and investment banks.
Similarly, the merger of SBC and Pacific Bell passed scrutiny because neither was a competitor in the other's market. The merger eliminated any potential competition between them, but plenty of other big players, including AT&T, MCI and GTE, are still trying to crack their markets.
But the Federal Trade Commission did object last year to the merger of Staples and Office Depot, after careful economic analysis showed that consumer prices were higher in markets with only one office superstore. In that sector, local market power made a demonstrable difference.
Few experts dispute that Microsoft dominates the market for PC operating systems. Apple's decline, the failure of IBM's OS/2 and squabbles among rival Unix vendors have left the field to Windows.
A few experts say it's possible that Microsoft is maintaining its huge market share by meeting the market's demand for furious technological innovation, rather than wielding traditional monopoly clout.
"You could be holding onto market share for dear life only by doing your absolute best to provide value for consumers," said Gary Roberts, an antitrust expert at Charles River Associates in Washington, D.C., and former Federal Trade Commission staffer.
But Microsoft enjoys a special competitive advantage in its market, which economists call a "network externality." The idea is that the value of a network, like a telephone system, depends on the number of people hooked up. One phone by itself is worthless; thousands linked together are valuable.
In the same way, Windows is more valuable to consumers because most computers run on it. That means users can swap files conveniently between home and office and with each other, and software companies can afford to develop inexpensive applications, knowing they have a mass market. Rival operating systems have a huge challenge overthrowing that advantage.
Microsoft's market power per se isn't a crime. It built its empire without obvious antitrust violations such as price-fixing or collusion. And even antitrust officials acknowledge that consumers benefit from having an industry-standard operating system.
The issue, Gilbert said, is Microsoft's possible abuse of that power to "tie" distribution of its Internet browser to Windows and allegedly discourage computer-makers from loading Netscape's browser onto their PCs, a form of "exclusive dealing."
The Clayton Act, one of the centerpieces of antitrust law, makes it illegal to tie the sales of separate products "where the effect . . . may be to substantially lessen competition." If a copier manufacturer used its market power to force retailers to sell only its toner or paper, that practice could be an illegal example of tying.
Microsoft says its Web browser, Internet Explorer, is not a separate product but an integral part of Windows and an improvement to the operating system that benefits consumers.
Some experts argue that antitrust doctrines against "tying" were misguided in the past and shouldn't be applied to Microsoft today. "There's a danger in calling things tying," said Roberts. After all, "When Chrysler builds a steering wheel into its cars, it forecloses the guy who'd like to make third-party steering wheels."
But Microsoft critics argue that government authorities must be especially watchful of its practices because of the inherent market advantage Windows enjoys as a de facto standard.
"It can win in the marketplace whether it's better or not," said Kevin Arquit, a former FTC attorney who now does work for Sun Microsystems, a Microsoft competitor. "The government has to act quickly before market effects take hold. Once the egg is scrambled, there's no going back."


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Is the Federal Reserve Board fighting the wrong war?
Since the financial crisis started in 2008, the Fed has engaged in a series of “Quantitative Easings” to ward off potential deflation. In its most recent iteration, the Fed will buy $70 billion of longer-term bonds per month. It has also committed to keeping the short-term Federal funds rate near zero percent indefinitely.
As measured by the Consumer Price Index, the Fed has succeeded. Over the past five years, CPI inflation has averaged exactly the 2 percent per year targeted by the Fed.
Is the Fed happy about this? It is not. Because inflation in 2013 will come in at about 1.6 percent, Quantitative Easing and interest rate suppression will continue until inflation expectations exceed 2.5 percent.
On one hand, the Fed”s desire to pull the economy further away from deflation is understandable. Deflation, which occurs when prices are falling, is the hardest economic trap to escape.
Why? When prices deflate, consumers delay purchasing today what will be less expensive tomorrow. As consumers hold back, business activity and employment fall. Debt becomes harder to service as individual incomes and business profits decline.
The normal processes for stimulating the economy no longer work. It pays to hold cash even if interest rates are cut to zero. Tax cuts are more likely to go into savings than consumption.
The exact opposite occurs during periods of inflation. It is better to borrow and buy now before prices go up. Although inflation has its own adverse consequences in the long run, its initial phases can boost demand and increase employment. This is clearly what the Fed is hoping to do by getting the CPI above its target.
The problem is that real-world inflation may already be there.
Over the years, the methods for calculating the CPI have changed substantially. The largest component of the CPI — housing expense — was changed from the cost of houses to the cost of “owner”s equivalent rent.” This is currently understating the rate of inflation compared to past methodology.
The CPI is now subject to “hedonic” adjustment. Today”s $25,000 car or $700 computer is better than yesterday”s. In calculating the CPI, this counts as a price cut since the consumer is getting more for the same amount of money. From a “cost of living” perspective, yesterday”s computer might theoretically cost $100 but nobody makes it so computer buyers shell out the same $700 as they did before.
The CPI also adjusts for “substitution.” If the price of steak goes up, real world shoppers switch to chicken. This causes the CPI to put less steak and more chicken into the market basket making look as if prices have not gone as much as they have.
According to John Williams” Shadow Government Statistics, inflation is currently over 8 percent using the methodology in place before 1980 and over 4 percent using the methodology in place before 1990.
If true, the Fed”s fear of deflation is overblown and its devotion to Quantitative Easing misplaced.
Jeffrey R. Scharf is chairman of Scharf Investments. Contact him at email@example.com.


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So far, Jordan Brand has blessed us with the Air Jordan 4 OG ‘Bred’ Air Jordan 4 OG ‘Fire Red’ and the Air Jordan 4 OG ‘White Cement’, leaving the Air Jordan 4 OG Military Blue as the only silhouette yet to receive the retro treatment. Last seen in retailers in 2012, the Air Jordan 4 ‘Military Blue’ added a slew of new collectors to its circle while maintaining its core base from its original ’89 release. Now, what’s going to be 32-year hiatus since featured in its OG skeleton. The classic has now been in rumor talks to arrive fitted in Original Nike Branding like its brothers for what’s currently going on two years but has yet to come to fruition. For 2021, an Off-White version of the shoe is currently in motion as Virgil prepares his take on the ’89 classic. While details are still scarce at the moment, an earlier leaked image of the shoe had surfaced the web featuring similar designs like the Air Jordan 4 WMNS ‘Sail’ released late last year, but that was as far as news outlets pushed the envelop. Moving forward, it leaves us wondering will Jordan Brand scrap Virgil’s Off-White release in favor of the Air Jordan 4 OG Military Blue return, or will we see both takes on the shoe hit retailers later this year.
Colorway:WHITE/MILITARY BLUE-NEUTRAL GREY


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|Is your company interested in protecting trade secrets and intellectual property?
This conference is designed to create awareness among Southeast Michigan companies whose trade secrets and other confidential data may be compromised by hackers as threats become more prevalent and alarming. Last year alone, cyber thieves cost U.S. companies $400 billion in intellectual property, while severely undermining our nation’s global competitiveness and national security.
The conference will be moderated by Matt Roush, editor of the WWJ Technology Report. Guest speakers include Special Agents Thomas Rankin and Chris Bartolo of the FBI. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, will keynote the event. Rep. Rogers is a nationally renowned expert on cybersecurity issues. In addition, the conference will feature case studies from companies whose networks have been breached. Company executives will discuss what safeguards were implemented to mitigate future risks of espionage.


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According to Kern, VW plans to bring 12 new models to its lineup in the next three years, a level unprecedented by any large carmaker. Kern was also quoted in German magazine Auto Motor Und Sport as saying "we are going to expand our presence in the United States, Russia, India and other markets."
High fuel prices have started to change the way Americans look at transportation, and several automakers are rushing to market smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles onto US roads. Daimler Benz is in the final stages of launching the Smart fortwo city car here in the US, and Volkswagen is looking at entering the fray with their own mini compact, the Up!. The stylish Up! was unveiled in Frankfurt on Monday, and Adrian Hallmark, head of Volkswagen of America, has already informed Wolfsburg that the


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Apple’s move last year to institute limits on tracking with its App Tracking Transparency tool quickly inhibited a portion of online advertising — including what was then a red-hot direct-to-consumer (DTC) category.
More than a year later, it seems, DTC has gone through a few periods of contraction due to seasonality, but more importantly it’s also expanding again, with TikTok the primary beneficiary of growth.
Rob Figueroa, vp of sales at AudienceX, an agency that serves mid-market advertisers largely in CTV and streaming video, said just in the last few months he’s seen an increase in larger brands from sneakers to retailers (he declined to identify any by name) choosing to explore the DTC route, as a means of getting a bit more bottom-of-the-funnel action. “We’re getting access to some brands that we normally wouldn’t, because of that direct-to-consumer conversation that’s starting to burgeon right now,” said Figueroa.
“There’s a lot of growth, where we were seeing 10, 20, 30% of our revenue from e-commerce or direct-to-consumer stuff, that could probably be at a healthy 50% if we do that right and focus on a little bit more,” he added, without providing exact figures.
So which platforms are benefiting from this surge in spend?
Facebook has the highest monthly median spend in July 2022 at $19,022 ($2,000 less than a year prior), according to Varos, a research company that tracks e-commerce spend for about 1,800 companies. Google’s median spend inched up from $8,101 to $8,209 over the same period; TikTok’s grew from $4,095 to $5,981.
Total spend of companies that are advertising on all three platforms, according to Varos data supplied to Digiday, saw similar shifts, with Facebook’s dropping from 74% of all spend in July 2021 to 60%, while Google’s grew from 20% to 25% and TikTok doubled from 7% to 14%.
With Apple’s ATT move, “what we’ve seen is some [DTC companies] haven’t survived, while some have basically diversified into a lot of marketing channels,” said Yarden Shaked, co-founder and CEO of Varos, who noted the primary beneficiary of that diversification has been TikTok while the primary loser of business has been Facebook.
Due to increases in cost-per-acquisition, which Varos also tracks, Shaked said that DTC is focusing more heavily on customer repetition and retention. “When a customer gets really expensive to acquire, it basically means [DTC advertisers] need to make that value for that customer worth it,” he said. “So if it costs [them] $100 to get a customer and the product only costs $50, then it’s probably cheaper to convince that customer to buy again than to get a whole new customer.”
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UK food and drink companies pledge to cut calories
Some of the UK’s biggest supermarkets, food manufacturers, caterers and food outlets have agreed to voluntarily cut the number of calories in their products under a new UK Government health initiative to tackle obesity.
Coca-Cola Great Britain, Kraft, Mars, Nestle, PepsiCo, Premier Foods, Unilever, Subway, and all the UK’s leading supermarkets are amongst those already signed up to the UK Government’s ‘Responsibility Deal’ calorie reduction pledge initiative.
The initiative aims to reduce the UK population’s total calorie consumption by 5 billion calories per day. More than three-quarters of the UK’s retail market has already signed up to the initiative.
According to the UK Government’s Department of Health, England has one of the highest rates of obesity in Europe and some of the highest rates in the developed world. Over 60 per cent of adults and a third of 10 and 11 year olds are considered overweight or obese.
The following examples highlight some of the initiatives being taken:
- Coca-Cola Great Britain has pledged to reduce the calories in some of its soft drinks brands by at least 30 per cent by 2014;
- Mars has pledged to cap the calories of their chocolate items to 250 calories per portion by the end of 2013;
- Premier Foods, manufacturer of brands including Ambrosia, Batchelors, Hovis, Loyd Grossman, Mr.Kipling, and Sharwood’s, has pledged to reduce calories in one third of its sales by the end of 2014 and at least 30 per cent of new products will be lower calorie choices;
- The Subway brand has committed to offer five out of their nine Low Fat Range Subs, each with fewer than 370 calories, as part of their ‘£3 lunch offer’;
UK Government Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley said, “Eating and drinking too many calories is at the heart of the nation’s obesity problem. We all have a role to play – from individuals to public, private and non-governmental organisations – if we are going to cut five billion calories from our national diet.”
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A central NSW mustard seed oil has won a medal at specialty food competition in New York.


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STUDIO CITY, Calif. — The woman dubbed CBS Los Angeles reports the move follows a massive online backlash that resulted in her products getting dropped by other marijuana sellers.or threatening to call police on an 8-year-old black girl selling water on the street has stepped down as CEO of her cannabis company.
Several Bay Area dispensaries are now refusing to sell products made by Alison Ettel's company TreatWell Health, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.
"It is Ms. Ettel's belief that TreatWell, its employees and patients should not have to suffer because of a situation that occurred in an escalated moment," company spokeswoman Cynthia Gonzalez is quoted as saying in the paper.
At least three marijuana dispensaries stated publicly they would stop selling TreatWell products.
"I forgot to mention that we had pulled [TreatWell's] product line as soon as we saw the video," said the manager of one San Francisco store. "We do not support that type of behavior!"
TreatWell sells pain-easing "cannabis-based tinctures in different ratios for humans and pets," The Los Angeles Times reported last year.
The producer of "Lady Buds," an upcoming documentary on women in the legal cannabis industry, said Ettel would no longer be part of the project.
Some have pointed out the irony of Ettel selling marijuana products for dogs despite the fact that cannabis is not regulated or approved for use on animals.
She told the Chronicle in 2015 that the company's practice was "kind of like 'don't ask, don't tell.'"
The online debacle began when video of Ettel appearing to call the police to report 8-year-old Jordan Rodgers for selling $2 bottles of water near AT&T Park Saturday went viral.
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Over 40,000 Pounds of Montana Meat is Heading to Food Banks Statewide
Exciting news for food banks around Montana.
The Montana Food Bank Network and the Producer Partnership are bringing 42,000 pounds of USDA-inspected pork, breakfast sausage, and ground beef to food banks around the state. The Billings delivery is Tuesday, September 26 at Family Service. Family Service will then distribute the food through their local network to families who are struggling to meet their food needs.
Locals helping locals.
That's been an unofficial motto for Montanans for a long time. Despite the media doing its best to divide us, when it comes down to helping out our fellow humans, there is still a flickering light in Big Sky Country.
The Producer Partnership, launched in 2020, is a coalition of Montana farmers and ranchers who donate livestock to the program. Producer Partnership then processes, packages, and freezes the beef and pork at its state-of-the-art, fully inspected facility near Livingston. It's the only one of its kind in Montana. The food is then distributed around the state. These aren't some highly processed, soy-filled "meat" products, either. We're talking quality Montana beef and pork. Grown here, packed here and consumed here. Nice.
1 in 10 Montanans are food insecure.
Feeding a family has always been expensive and with current food prices/inflation, more and more of us are watching our food budget get stretched extremely thin. The USDA says 1 in 10 Montanans experience food insecurity. I make okay money and I haven't bought a nice steak at the grocery store for months. We used to grill ribeyes or New York strips every weekend.
Learn more about the Producer Partnership HERE. Check out what the Montana Food Bank Network does HERE. And support Family Service by attending the annual gala fundraiser The Benefit, on October 7th at the Northern Hotel.
One food bank in Billings is getting attention for its less-than-edible food and lackluster care. Read More: Do You Want MOLD From Billings Food Bank? This Family Got It.


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Malaysia received investments worth MYR 9.30 billion (USD 1.96 billion) in strategic and high-potential sectors such as electrical and electronic (E&E), Research & Development (R&D), biomass, information technology and communication, chemical industry, and food. Japanese companies such as Tosoh Corporation, NTT Corporation, and KOA Corporation are expanding their current investment portfolios. Meanwhile, Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd. and Euglena Co. Ltd. anticipate new investment projects.
Leading Malaysia’s Trade and Investment Mission (TIM) to Japan in September 2022 was Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali. He stated that MYR 300 million (USD 63.32 million) in potential trade was attracted from this TIM, specifically for products related to palm oil, halal food and beverages, and products from Sumitomo Corporation and ADEKA Corporation. Azmin also spoke with Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Nishimura Yasutoshi, about a variety of topics, such as the spinoffs and strategic multiplier effects that will result from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).
Malaysia and Japan companies also inked an agreement on Aircraft Industry Cooperation. They have further outlined cooperation for information exchange for the aerospace supply chain, business networking, as well as forming a dedicated Technical Working Group. Azmin expressed commitment to work together with Japanese companies and industries to ensure a stable energy supply and renewable energy. Japan is one of Malaysia’s top bilateral trading partners, with total trade recorded at MYR 149.76 billion (USD 31.48 billion) in 2021, an increase of 20.6% compared to 2020.
(Sources: The Star Online; The Edge Markets; Business Today)


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April 2, 2008 - The self-titled debut from Day26, a group that emerged from the MTV series "Making the Band," sold 190,000 copies during its first week in stores, enough to debut at No. 1 on the US album chart.
March 26, 2008 - Danity Kane's sophomore set, "Welcome to the Dollhouse," sold 236,000 copies during its first week in stores, more than enough to give the group--the product of the MTV series "Making the Band 3"--its second No. 1 album.
March 25, 2008 - Beck, Wilco, Ben Harper, Steve Winwood and Widespread Panic are among the newly-announced acts joining headliners Radiohead, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Jack Johnson for the three-day Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival taking place in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park Aug. 22-24, according to a press release. Described by organizers as a multi-faceted festival, Outside Lands is expected to offer-up an eclectic lineup of artists and a broad range of other entertainment and amusement options, including interactive attractions, performance artists and art installations.


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A Barry Island Fish and Chip shop has announced plans to open on Christmas day to support those in need.
Alice Harding is the manager of O’shea’s fish & chip shop on Barry Island who came up with the idea. She plans on opening to the public on Christmas day and providing them with memories that will last forever, along with her signature fish and chips on Christmas day, with added Christmas cheer and mince pies.
Alice told Bro Radio “I chose Christmas day because its a day most of us take for granted. That so many of us have families and are able to spend all this money on food, drinks and gifts Where as we don’t ever think of those who don’t have the luxury of that.”
“Christmas can be such a lonely time if you don’t have family and friends around you. That’s why I thought I could be the one to provide them with that”
The owner of O’Shea’s fish and chip shop has supported the idea and allowed Alice to open on Christmas day, donating the food and hot drinks that will be served.
To help make someones Christmas, O’Shea’s are asking for local people to make donations via Just Giving or items such as blankets, Buck’s Fizz or Mince pies, with anything not spent on Christmas Day being donated to the homeless in Cardiff.
Alice is also looking for anyone available to provide entertainment on the day or who could make deliveries to local people who may be alone and not be able to leave the house.
Alice said “There’s so many reasons people can’t leave their house, whether it be age, disability or mental health. They are the people we don’t think about on a daily basis that could do with our help”
A £200 target has been set on Just Giving, which has reached 50% of its target. Donations can be made via Just Giving.