text:
Sustainable Cryptocurrencies – In recent months, there has been a lot of focus on Bitcoin’s alarming environmental impact, and while attempts are being made to reduce the cryptocurrency’s carbon footprint, some investors are abandoning the cryptocurrency in favor of greener alternatives.
The energy usage of cryptocurrency is also influenced by market dynamics. Miners often slow down or turn off their computers when the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other major players in the space falls below a certain level, as it is no longer profitable to run the machines at that level.
Digiconomist believes that Ethereum miners reduced their energy consumption by more than half (from roughly 20 TWh to 10 TWh) in less than 20 days. The energy usage linked with Ethereum has risen alongside with the cryptocurrency’s valuation in 2021.
So, which cryptocurrencies do you think have a brighter long-term future than Bitcoin?
Also Read: Cryptocurrency – Good Or Bad Investment
Here are some of the sustainable cryptocurrencies to watch out for:
SolarCoin is a decentralized, global, and government-free cryptocurrency. SolarCoin can be traded and spent just in the same way as other cryptocurrencies, but the platform’s major goal is to reward real-world environmental activity: verifiably produced solar energy.
2. Powerledger (POWR)
POWR was an Ethereum currency that powered the Powerledger platform in 2016/17. It appeared on Coinbase in November 2021, and the token’s price soared even as the rest of the cryptocurrency market plummeted.
Cardano was created by Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of Ethereum, and was the world’s first peer-reviewed blockchain when it was evaluated by academics and scientists.
It is mostly used as a digital currency, but it can also be used for digital contracts, decentralized applications, and other uses. Cardano can process 1000 transactions per second, compared to Bitcoin’s 7 transactions per second.
Also Read: Meta Has a Giant New AI Supercomputer to Shape The Metaverse
The Stellar network (which split from Ripple in 2014) was created to bridge the gap between digital currencies and traditional financial institutions. Stellar doesn’t charge institutions or people to use the network, and it’s becoming a significant competitor to PayPal since it allows for easier, faster, and more cost-effective cross-asset and cross-border transactions.
The Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit organization, manages Stellar. Stripe (a payments startup) provided seed money, as well as gifts from Google, FastForward, BlackRock, and FastForward.
Burstcoin was renamed Signum in June 2021, and its symbol was changed to SIGNA. Following a large price drop after the currency was delisted from Poloniex in May 2019, a hard fork has rendered the original Burstcoin basically invalid.
Burstcoin was likely the first blockchain to incorporate Turing-complete smart contracts, which allow non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to be created and used in on-chain games.


text:
LAST UPDATED : May 07, 2021, 01:14 PM IST
- Hyderabad: Man attempts to break open ATM
An unknown offender tried to break open the ATM machine of a private bank at Krishna Nagar near Sri Nagar Colony in Banjara Hills. At around 2 am, the accused wearing a blue shirt and grey trousers entered the ATM centre and tried to break open the ATM using a boulder. As he could not succeed, the accused left the place. Police registered an attempt to burglary case.
- Rush at Muhana mandi as people stock up vegetable in Rajasthan
With the declaration of lockdown in Rajasthan, people have been flooding Muhana Mandi, the vegetable market, to purchase vegetables and sell them as vendors. This has increased the footfall in the market and the mandi association has been demanding to either increase the timing to open mandi or keep the mandi shut for two days a week.
- Mad rush at grocery stores, Covid norms go for a toss in Indore
Huge crowd was seen at most of the city markets with people queuing up in front of grocery stores and shopping complexes from early morning on the first day of bi-weekly relaxation for such establishments on Thursday. From super markets of Bypass, Rajendra Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Scheme-54, to main grocery markets like Siyaganj, Malharganj, Marothia Bazar, Malwa Mill, all shopping stores and shops were crowded with people waiting from early morning to buy items of their needs.
- Six injured as Haryana, Uttar Pradesh farmers clash over land
Less than a month after a clash between Haryana and UP farmers over claim to agricultural land left one dead and several injured in Baghpat, another violent clash on Wednesday evening in the border village of Tanda in Baraut tehsil of Baghpat left six, including a woman, injured.
- E-passes must to move out of NCR as UP extends curfew till May 10
The UP government has extended the ongoing curfew in the state till 7am on Monday (May 10), making this a nine-day partial lockdown. The decision was taken, said officials, as the government is getting good results in slowing down transmission of Covid cases during the curfew.
- Crackdown on pvt hosps goes on for overcharging patients
Continuing its crackdown against private hospitals that are overcharging Covid-19 patients, different teams of district administration conducted surprise inspection of hospitals in city and cumulatively hospital bills were reduced by more than Rs 8 lakh, here on Wednesday.
- Fresh spell of rain, snow likely from today in Uttarakhand
Rain, snowfall and thunderstorm are likely in Uttarakhand for the next 48 hours starting May 5. The regional meteorological centre on Tuesday issued an orange alert and predicted thunderstorms accompanied by hail and lightning at isolated places in almost all districts of Uttarakhand, along with strong winds of 30 to 40 kmph speed in plains and foothills.
- Chennai: Businessman says son stole Rs 12 lakh for online game, police probing
Police have begun probing a city-based businessman’s complaint that his 13-year-old son stole Rs 12 lakh from the safe in their house at Nolambur over a period of one year to play an online games with three of his friends. Police have questioned the complainant’s son and are making inquiries with his three friends, all aged 13.
- Black marketing of oxygen cylinders on the rise in hills
While people struggle to find oxygen cylinders, concentrators and lifesaving medicines, police said blackmarketing these critical supplies has emerged as a lucrative business in the hills. Miscreants were intercepting cylinders at refilling plants, hoarding and then selling these at inflated prices.

domain: news


text:
Study: Nearly 2/3 of Netflix Users Who Share a Password Willing to Pay for Their Own
Since Netflix announced that it had lost a total of 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter of the year, both the world’s largest streaming service and the industry as a whole have been trying to figure out what the future holds and how to adjust to the new streaming reality.
Seemingly in response to its first subscriber decline in over a decade, Netflix announced two changes to how it will operate moving forward. First, the company plans on launching an ad-supported subscriber option later this year, and second, the streamer is planning to expand its efforts to curb password-sharing.
After launching the initiative in Latin America earlier this year, the results have not been encouraging for the streaming giant thus far, but a new study from Variety Intelligence Platform and CRG Global suggests that Netflix users who are currently using someone else’s account can be convinced to sign up for their own profiles.
Admittedly, the study only spoke to 504 U.S. Netflix users — only 143 of which use an account paid for by someone else — so the numbers are not the most scientifically sound, but the results should still be encouraging to Netflix.
Conducted late last month, the survey found that nearly two-thirds (64%) of participants that currently use someone else’s Netflix account would be willing to pay for their own “if they were forced to do so.” Similarly, 71% of people who allow others to use their password would be willing to pay extra in order to continue the practice.
While Netflix would obviously not be opposed to the first option, the latter is more in line with how the platform plan to roll out the efforts. Following their earnings report in April, Netflix execs explained that they would be focusing on enticing subscribers to add sub-accounts to their existing plans in order to share their password outside of their home.
Although this plan will not technically increase the streamer’s subscriber base, it is designed to increase the revenue per subscriber, which has been where investors and Wall Street have hoped that the industry would turn its attention following the ballooning budget free-for-alls of the past several years.
Netflix reported earlier this spring that 100 million people — or 45% of its base — use its service through the log-in credentials of someone else. So, converting them into paid subscribers — in one form or another — presents a potentially substantial revenue increase for the service as it continues to see its stock price decline.
With 30 million U.S. and Canadian households accessing Netflix without paying for it, there is absolutely an opportunity for the streamer to increase revenue, but the question is by how much? According to the VIP+ study, of the 64% of users willing to pay for their own accounts, there is a fairly sizeable spread as to which age demos these potential customers fall into.
Users aged 25 to 44 — primarily falling into the Millenial age bracket — were the least likely to be willing to pay for a plan. This is not necessarily a surprise as these generations either grew up in or came of age during the rapid expansion of the internet and, in turn, streaming, so they are likely more open to adapting to new services and technological options.
What is a bit of a surprise is that the older generations — 45 years and older — were the most likely to pay for their own plan if need be. While this might be explained by some sort of sense of right and wrong, these age groups are made up of TV consumers who grew up in the era of standard, broadcast TV and (on the younger end) the rise of basic cable. One might assume that these users would be more comfortable with abandoning Netflix for a more traditional viewing experience, especially if they only had Netflix because their children installed it on their TVs for them.
Interestingly, Gen Z — ages 18 to 24 — is just a couple of percentage points behind their oldest counterparts in being willing to pay for their own plans.
With monthly rates ranging from $9.99 to $19.99, Netflix is already the most expensive premium platform in the U.S. market, so the introduction of the lower-cost, ad-supported tier is likely to be a way to bring in new, more cost-conscious customers — or to retain those that might otherwise unsubscribe.
Half of the VIP+ survey respondents mentioned that having a lower-priced tier that continues the ad-free experience would encourage them to sign up for their own account. And while that might seem like an unlikely option for Netflix given this year's price hikes, it is essentially the streamer’s “sub-account” plan. The idea would be to charge the original account holder a small fee — perhaps $2-$4 per month — and they could then set up out-of-home accounts for other people to use.
But cost isn’t the only thing that would encourage users to pony up for their own subscriptions. Despite Netflix still maintaining what studies say is the “best streaming library,” the VIP+ and CRG Global study showed that this specific group of users would like to see more non-Netflix Original movies and TV shows on the service.
Netflix built its massive subscriber base by being the streaming home of just about all TV and movie content. However, as more companies and studios have launched their own competing services, Netflix has lost a substantial amount of its licensed inventory. The company has responded by pouring billions of dollars into original programming, but Netflix’s hit-rate on those projects has been spotty to date, and viewers have long been concerned that the service cancels niche series too quickly.
Despite the optimism provided by the Variety study, another recent survey from media research firm Aluma indicated that Netflix could see 13% of its U.S. customers cancel their accounts because of the password-sharing crackdown; a much less rosy outlook.
At this point, it is anyone’s guess as to how consumers will respond to password-sharing changes, and until Netflix makes the full details of its plans public, it is tough to truly gauge what the future holds. But, assuming the service does move forward with attempts to convert freeloaders into additional revenue, it will be a major change for the service and an important test case for the rest of the industry.
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Netflix offers four plans — on 1 device in SD with their “Basic with Ads” ($6.99) plan, on 1 device in SD with their “Basic” ($9.99) plan, on 2 devices in HD with their “Standard” ($15.49) plan, and 4 devices in up to 4K on their “Premium” ($19.99) plan.
Netflix spends more money on content than any other streaming service meaning that you get more value for the monthly fee.


text:
Weekend games see children get active in King’s Lynn
Youngsters hoping to become the next Andy Murray or Lionel Messi were on show at the Alive Games on Sunday.
Held on Lynn’s Tuesday Market Place, the free event drew in lots of sporting hopefuls taking part in a range of activities.
As well as mini football and mini tennis, children aged five and over also had the opportunity to have a go at the climbing wall, athletics and the tyre flip challenge.
Children taking part in three or more activities received an Alive Games medal.
The event was supported by the Vancouver Quarter and Robinsons Mercedes of Lynn.
Just a few yards away at the Alive Corn Exchange, Lynn-based functional fitness experts Jordan Fitness brought the live fitness experience to town.
Alive Leisure fitness class favourites were showcased on the big stage, while the day also saw the launch of Powerwave – a new addition to the Alive Leisure fitness class programme.


text:
Samsung's already wide product family is getting even bigger thanks to its new chip dubbed the "Samsung Bio-Processor." As the company tells it, it's already in mass production and is "specifically designed to allow accelerated development of innovative wearable products for consumers who are increasingly monitoring their health and fitness on a daily basis." Phew. The announcement post goes on to say that the processor is the first all-in-one health solution chip and that since it's packing a number of different control and sensor units (like a quintet of Analog Front Ends, a microcontroller unit, digital signal processor and eFlash memory) it can do all these tricks without the need for external processing.The idea behind the silicon is to be the one-stop wearable fitness resource. Those five AFEs? One keeps track of bioelectrical impedance analysis, while the others focus on volumetric measurements of organs, an electrocardiogram and skin temperature, among other things. Bear in mind that Samsung's latest smartwatch, the Gear S2, only tracks your heart rate. Same goes for the Apple Watch. Considering how err... interesting Samsung wearables tend to be, a possible scenario here is that the tech giant won't keep the Bio-Processor all to itself. Nope, the real money here lies in potentially licensing it out to other folks, as it's wont to do with its other self-made parts.
We won't have to wait too long to see these in the wild, either: Samsung promises it'll be packed into devices available early next year. If you're wondering where, the inevitable follow-up to the aforementioned Gear S2 successor is a pretty likely bet. Whether that shows its face at CES or Mobile World Congress is the real question, though.


text:
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, one of the world’s biggest Internet companies, said Sunday that it will go public on a U.S. stock exchange, a move analysts predict could raise up to $15 billion.
The announcement confirming plans for an IPO in the United States ended months of speculation over where the company would list its shares after talks for a Hong Kong stock sale fell apart last year.
Alibaba, based in Hangzhou, China, has said that more than $150 billion worth of merchandise changes hands on its online platforms each year, more than Amazon and eBay combined.
The company was founded in 1999 by former English teacher Jack Ma, whose 17 employees worked out of his apartment to link Chinese suppliers with retailers abroad. It grew into an online retail behemoth, with offices around the world and more than 20,000 employees, controlling around 80 percent of China’s e-commerce.
Alibaba doesn't report its finances. But Yahoo, which owns a 24 percent stake in the company, said Alibaba's revenue for the quarter ending in September rose 51 percent from a year earlier to reach $1.8 billion.
Analysts estimate Alibaba has a value of at least $140 billion, and the IPO proceeds could exceed $15 billion. Facebook's IPO in June 2012 raised $16 billion and at the time valued the company at more than $100 billion.
While the company didn’t offer any details about the timing or size of the IPO or on which exchange it would list its shares, sources told Reuters that Alibaba is planning the public offering in the third quarter of 2014.
Alibaba's decision to go to the U.S. is a blow to the Hong Kong stock exchange, which was initially the company's preferred venue for the IPO. The semiautonomous Chinese financial center's stock exchange refused to change its rules to accommodate the company's unusual management structure, in which it allows top executives owning 10 percent of the company to retain control of the board.
However, Alibaba hinted that the door has not completely shut on listing its stock in Hong Kong.
"Should circumstances permit in the future, we will be constructive toward extending our public status in the China capital market in order to share our growth with the people of China," the company said in a release.
The listing will be closely watched by Alibaba's two largest shareholders — Yahoo and Japan's Softbank Corporation, which controls 37 percent of the company. Yahoo initially invested in Alibaba in 2005, but has said it plans to trim its stake in the company through the IPO.
Alibaba is one of a number of Chinese Internet heavyweights planning to cash in with IPOs amid rapid growth. The announcement comes two days after Chinese Internet company Sina filed plans for a potential U.S. IPO for Weibo, its microblog unit. Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, indicated it plans to raise $500 million. Another Chinese online retailing giant, JD.com, filed in January for a U.S. stock listing.


text:
has updated the public on its plans for integrating the assets of rival Brio Software
, pledging to extend the company’s product line after
dropping them into its business performance management (BPM) software suite.
Sunnyvale, Calif.’s, Hyperion said it would take Santa Clara, Calif.’s
Brio’s business intelligence software suite and maintain it as a standalone
product at the close of the acquisition, which is slated for the fourth
quarter. Brio makes enterprise reporting, query and analysis, and
dashboarding software, all key components of BI.
Hyperion has recognized this as a key ingredient to improve its BPM software
portfolio and a necessity to compete in a market where vendors such as
Cognos and Business Objects reign.
Hyperion moved to
acquire Brio July 23 for $142 million in stock and has been reselling
Brio’s BI software under an OEM agreement ever since.
Jeff Rodek, chairman and chief executive officer for Hyperion, said
acquiring Brio is vital for his outfit because “business intelligence is
often the first step a company takes in moving away from ‘spreadsheet hell’
to a more managed, controlled, and collaborative environment.”
BPM software enables enterprises to make better decisions, as well as
improve the efficiency of reporting and planning. The software is on the
rise, according to recent data from Meta Group surveyed 459 CIOs, CTOs, CFOs
and CEOs from IT companies, and found that 85 percent consider BPM to be a
priority for their company over the next 18 months.
Hyperion has over 6,000 customers using its BPM products and generated
annual revenues of $510 million in fiscal 2003. The company hopes to quickly
expand on both counts with Brio in hand.
Rodek said in a conference call there are three main areas of product
integration in the near term for Hyperion. In the first, he said his company
will fuse Brio 8 products with Hyperion’s BPM applications so customers may
view operational data with their financial reports. The company expects this
integration to be completed in December.
Second, Rodek said Hyperion will bundle Brio Metrics Builder with the
Hyperion Platform to create blend applications and dashboards. This new
enterprise metrics management offering will be unveiled with the company’s
integrated platform launch in
Lastly, Hyperion will its products with the Brio platform to create a common
query, reporting and analysis. Previews of this will be featured at
Hyperion’s Solutions user group conference in April 2004, Rodek said.
As was disclosed in the preliminary S-4 filed on August 15, Craig Brennan,
Brio’s president and chief executive officer, will be employed by Hyperion
as an advisor until June 30, 2004. Craig Collins, Brio’s chief financial
officer, will be employed by Hyperion as an advisor until at least 10
business days following Hyperion’s first earnings announcement following the
After the merger comes to fruition, one of the following current members of
Brio’s board of directors — Yorgen Edholm, John Mutch or Edward Saliba —
will be appointed to the Hyperion board.
Hyperion Updates Product Plans for Brio Merger


text:
Shortly before Facebook Inc. went public in 2012, a poll of more than a thousand professional investors, analysts and traders came to an overwhelming conclusion. The social media giant was overvalued, according to 79 per cent of those surveyed.
Two years later, the skeptics are practically extinct. Facebook vanquished the doubters by pulling out a weapon they never expected: strong, growing earnings.
When the company reports results on Wednesday, it's widely expected to unveil yet another quarter of surging sales and profits. Forty-three of 52 analysts who follow the stock label it a "buy" and the consensus estimate calls for the company to enjoy an 88 per cent jump in earnings per share compared to the same quarter a year ago.
Why did professional investors get Facebook so wrong two years ago? It was largely a case of mistaken identity.
The pros figured the company for a nerdish fad that would soon, inevitably, face competition from an even cooler upstart. Not so, it turns out. Behind the company's still vaguely hipster image circa 2012 lurked a buttoned-down utility intent on squeezing out competitors and producing steady profits.
These days, Facebook is the new Microsoft – a company everyone professes to hate but uses anyway. It's long since stopped being cool. (Heck, your grandma is probably on Facebook.) It's become even boring. (When was the last time you raved about a new feature?) But its user base and its revenue keep on spiralling higher with no apparent end in sight.
Its gains come despite its increasingly obvious grabs for cash. When it went public, its hoodie-wearing CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote a letter proclaiming that "Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social goal – to make the world more open and connected."
The company has taken to interpreting its mission statement rather liberally. It has boosted its advertising rates by moving ads into users' news feeds. Its latest initiative, still in the trial stage, is a "buy" button on sponsored ads that lets users purchase a product simply by clicking.
The business that began with a social mission is now becoming a vehicle for impulse shoppers. But while users may gripe, the bottom line tells a different story. Analysts expect revenue in the second quarter to surge nearly 55 per cent from a year earlier.
One big driver of the company's recent success is mobile traffic, which accounted for nearly 60 per cent of its total ad revenue in the first quarter. Most analysts expect mobile's contribution to be even bigger this quarter.
Looking further ahead, international markets are likely to fuel the next stage in Facebook's growth. Bloomberg News reported earlier this month that Facebook is on the verge of opening its first office in China, even though its website remains blocked in most of the country.
India is already the company's second-largest market, behind only the U.S. in terms of number of users. Each Asian user generates less than a fifth of the revenue of a U.S. user; if the company can close that gap and open up China, its revenue will shoot skyward.
So what could derail its progress? Growing disaffection among young users in the United States could be a hurdle. Digital consultancy iStrategy Labs released a report earlier this year suggesting that Facebook has millions fewer young users now than it did in 2011. But nearly nine out of 10 college-aged adults still use the service, which suggests the worries, at least for now, are overblown.
Facebook's relentless push to cash in on users' interactions will inevitably hit a ceiling at some point, but all the evidence suggests that day still lies well into the future. The company that nearly everyone once underestimated is now difficult to overestimate.


text:
The Rank Group (LON: RNK), owners of the Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casino brands, has posted a sizeable loss for the financial year having had to close its bingo and casino venues during the various lockdowns in the UK.
The gambling company, established in 1995 and headquartered in Maidenhead, reported a pretax loss of £98.9m for the year to June 30 from a profit of £35.7m the year before. Net gaming revenues plunged by 48% to £329.6m, compared with £629.7m.
Mecca Bingo Hall's reported sales for the 13 weeks to August 15 were 21% down against the same period in 2019.
Sales across its Grosvenor venues were 19% below levels from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic hit UK shores.
Despite the declines, Rank Group has said its venues have performed beyond expectations since reopening on May 17th
The Rank Group (LON: RNK) told investors in an accompanying statement that further growth is anticipated as “travel restrictions eventually ease and tourism returns, particularly to London”.
Rank also hailed “encouraging progress” since restrictions were eased.
John O’Reilly, chief executive of Rank Group (LON: RNK), said:
“The year to June 30 was exceptionally challenging for the group and, frankly, we are delighted it is over.”
“We are now well into a new financial year with our venues open and trading positively.
“Good progress is being made in our digital businesses and there is a renewed sense of confidence as we focus on the growth initiatives within our clearly defined transformation programme.”
“Our venues have been performing ahead of our expectations following the easing of restrictions on the UK hospitality sector on May 17 and we anticipate further growth as travel restrictions eventually ease and tourism returns, particularly to London.”
Online Performance Falters
The Rank Group (LON: RNK) also revealed a 6% Year-on-Year decline in revenue generated from its digital business to £136.3m.
The UK gambling and leisure giant operates MeccaBingo.com, one of the UK's top bingo sites. It said that it had faced a “year of transition” as it progressed with online platform technology. However, revenue had “disappointed”.
It also said that it had been a “challenging” year for online “following the stringent application of affordability restrictions”,
During the lockdown period, the UKGC (United Kingdom Gambling Commission) issued new guidance, that included affordability checks, for online gaming operators to ensure consumer protection.
Ben has been an massive bingo enthusiast and fan since playing at the seaside as a kid. Dedicated to bringing you the latest and best bingo news from the UK


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
Baddies' brilliant plan to get mobile malware whitelisted: Bribery
App developers like money too
Criminals have resorted to bribes in order to smuggle malware into the source code of mobile gaming apps.
The scam, in which malware authors bribed the employees of a legitimate mobile games company in China to embed malware into mobile apps, was uncovered by security researchers from Check Point.
The bribe ensured that malicious software was whitelisted (i.e. approved for download without scanning) by Qihoo 360, China's biggest antivirus software firm. This meant that Chinese users of Qihoo 360 installed the malware-infected apps from third-party app stores without receiving malware warnings, because Qihoo “trusted” the apps from the unnamed games developer.
Crooks made money from devices infected by the mobile app to steal money from users’ online payment accounts on transactions made through Taobao.com, a marketplace similar to eBay. The complex fraud involved multiple stages, as explained in a blog post by Check Point researcher Feixiang He.
Customers browse buyer listings of products and, when they find something they want to buy, they initiate the purchase by sending a picture of that item back to the buyer using Aliwanwang, an instant messaging app. Money is then exchanged using Alipay, Aliwanwang’s payment platform.
An attacker, disguised as a Taobao.com customer, would take a seller’s legitimate photo and inject it with a whitelisted Trojan. The seller would open the picture on a PC and become infected because the Trojan would not be detected by Qihoo anti-virus.
The attacker would then request a refund from the seller, requiring the seller to log in to their Alipay account. The Trojan would then keylog their credentials, allowing the attacker to steal money from the seller’s account.
According to Check Point, this shows how even primitive malware might find its way into a “secure” network using tricks such as old-fashioned bribery. The security firm further argues that the incident provides evidence that “whitelisting” of apps or code is not secure – a lesson that also applies to trusted app stores, according to Check Point. ®


text:
The Marley Station mall has been around since 1987 and like many malls around the country, it is struggling to stay alive. Though it is not dead yet, the mall is quite fragile. Today we’re going to take a look at the mall’s history and its crumble in the wake of modern advancement.
Marley Station Origins
As we stated earlier, the mall opened in 1987. It was expanded in both 1993 and 1997 to accommodate growing demand. Tragically, this was not to last.
The original anchors for the mall were Hecht’s and Macy’s. J.C. Penny moved in around 1993, and then Sears was added in 1996.
The early 90’s were great for the mall. Brick and mortar shops were thriving. People were buying. However, by 2013, things were already looking dire for the old mall.
Speculation on Marley’s Fragility
According to Dan Bell, dead mall documentarian, the biggest problem that this mall faces is its reliance on crumbling anchor stores. Macy’s, J.C. Penny, and Sears aren’t doing very well.
Forbes.com did a write up about Macy’s back in 2016 and the department store hasn’t seen an increase in revenue since. J.C. Penny isn’t doing much better. They’ve closed stores and laid off employees continuously since 2014, though their decline began in 2010. To give you an idea of how Sears is doing, they lost about 10.4 billion dollars between 2011 and 2016. The department store giants are losing money left and right.
Marley’s Station Mall depends on its anchor stores to continue to drive revenue and the fact that they’re dying themselves is major cause for concern.
However, the mall’s decline is tied to a larger conversation about our economy and a changing world.
The Retail Apocalypse
The world has changed drastically since the 80’s and these changes have greatly affected the way that people shop and spend their time. Shopping online is ruthlessly efficient. We can find more specific items to meet our evolving needs rather than wandering around giant stores and being followed by desperate sales staff.
Not only that, but the crippling weight of student debt and the difficulty of making one’s way in the world is dragging the current generation down. The emerging millennial market doesn’t have the kind of disposable income necessary to support malls, and the disposable income they do have is going more towards small businesses, not big chain retailers.
Why go out to the mall when you can stay home? This is the battle-cry of the current generation; a rally to turn one’s back on frivolous spending in favor of staying afloat.


text:
24 Jan 2022
Posted in Automotive
Switching for cheaper motor insurance becomes harder for 77.8% of UK motorists as providers increase premiums, says GlobalData survey
The vast majority of UK consumers who switch motor insurance policies do so for a cheaper price, with 77.8% of motor insurance customers switching at renewal because a different insurer offered a lower premium according to a GlobalData survey. However, that is now being restricted following the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) regulatory reforms.
The leading data and analytics company’s 2021 UK Insurance Consumer Survey also found that 30.7% of all consumers switched to a new motor insurer in 2021. However, a further 41.6% shopped around but ended up staying with the same insurer. This highlights how many motor insurance consumers shop around for value in premiums every year.
Ben Carey-Evans, an insurance analyst at GlobalData commented: “As motor is a compulsory line, there is not a great deal that consumers can do, and insurers do not face the risk of people canceling policies, as in other lines. Rising prices will undoubtedly lead to more shopping around at renewal, but if no leading insurers are offering competitive premiums to new customers, then the amount of consumers switching will not necessarily rise.”
According to the Insurance Times, the cost of motor insurance has risen by £100 on average in 2022.* The new reforms prevent insurers from offering cheaper policies to new customers than existing ones. The lack of preferential rates will make it harder for consumers to shop around for cheaper rates. This will be worrying news for the FCA, which introduced these measures in order to protect consumers. Typically, existing customers had faced higher rates than prospective ones because of the loyalty penalty.
Carey-Evans went on to add: “The largest threat to insurers is likely to be from pay-per-mile motor insurers. These are generally startups, with companies such as Metromile and ByMiles leading the way. Their policies offer consumers a cheap basic rate for the year, and then they will pay a flexible rate based on how much they drive. This means they can control costs, and it may even be more fitting anyway, with fewer consumers commuting to work on a daily basis due to COVID-19.”
Overall, leading insurers and the FCA will need to work together to ensure premiums do not continue rising sharply throughout 2022. Consumers in the UK are facing low wage growth and an increased cost of living, so this would lead to many searching for alternative, cheaper forms of motor insurance, such as pay-per-mile.
*secondary data from the Insurance Times can be found here.


text:
Last week Google unveiled its new offering - Google Tag Manager. Although it was a low profile launch it’s a move that has been much talked about the past week with discussions focusing on its merits and impact on existing tag management providers.
So what’s all the buzz about? According to Forrester’s recent report on “Understanding Tag Management Tools and Technology”, page load performance was cited as a top challenge for marketers’ interviewed, whilst one of the top three benefits of a tag management system was the improved flexibility to evaluate and adopt new vendors. And with the UK ecommerce market now accounting for 12% of all retail in the UK and global e-commerce due to hit the €1 trillion mark next year this is an opportune time for Google to enter the space.
On the surface, the launch could be seen as good news for the sector, working to highlight the importance of tag management to businesses.
The difference between good and bad tag management
At TagMan we have seen the rapid growth in the sector both in terms of new entrants as well as marketers seeing the impact that good tag management can have on their business. This was reflected in a recent Forrester report that showed how implementing TagMan provided 128% in ROI.
Google’s tag management system is very much an entry level product – in much the same way that Google Analytics is for the Analytics market, one that was also shaken up by Google’s entry but one where the cream rose to the top, with companies such as Omniture and Webtrends flourishing as Google brought focus to the sector but couldn't produce many of the higher end services or scalability.
We are likely to see a similar trend happening here with Google Tag Manager proving to be useful for non-enterprise, long-tail advertisers with a focus on low-cost, basic offerings. As they are introduced to tag management by Google we foresee a journey as their businesses grow to using an enterprise tag management provider such as TagMan as they look for greater tag service capabilities and large scale data management services that a more basic provider like Google Tag Manager is not able to deliver.
Google Tag Manager concerns
For larger, more established businesses there are also two key concerns which Google Tag Manager raises.
The first is objectivity. By investing greater resources in the Google technology stack, advertisers run the risk of investing in a system that may also be getting the lion’s share of their media spend. Google’s near monopoly in search and its leading position in display makes it an inherently biased source of marketing data and tag support.
The second is the true cost of free. The importance of a foundational technology that powers your ability to optimise, market, and protect the performance of your online business needs to be weighed against the limitations that inherently come with a free product. Free isn't really a benefit if it doesn't solve your major challenges or help drive your business and drives up the opportunity cost.


text:
The team at Jaguar Powerboats is throwing a 75-mph twist into the yacht segment with the unveiling of its 55 Special design. According to a press release from the High Point, N.C., company, the twin-hull center console catamaran is slated to be the first yacht powered by a pair of Mercury Marine Verado 600 outboard engines.
Jaguar Powerboats released a rendering of its new 55 Special, which the company is calling a luxury center console catamaran yacht.
Renderings and specifications for this luxurious new chapter in the custom boatbuilder’s history are going to be available next week (March 25–28) at the Palm Beach International Boat Show in slip number 1024.
The lines of the 55 Special are unlike anything Jaguar has previously designed. With a modern aesthetic, the yacht combines the boatbuilder’s thirst for innovation with its commitment to continuous improvement. The 55-foot hull, which is 11 feet, 11 inches wide, is more angular than previous Jaguar hulls, with bold chines and a dramatic reverse sheer. Drawing on its racing legacy, the steps generate lift to boost its top-speed performance, while strakes and running pads will ensure the boat’s sure-footedness and seakindly ride.
“Hull number one of the 55 Special is nearing completion and will soon be tested at Mercury’s Lake X facility,” said John Clarke, president of Jaguar Powerboats. “With the 600s, we’re expecting a top speed of 75 mph—in a boat that offers all the amenities and luxury one would expect in a world-class yacht.”
Under the 55 Special’s impressive 17-foot, 10-inch-long hardtop is seating for 10, comprised of six Llebroc helm chairs, twin lounges and two jumpseats. For entertainment purposes, Jaguar utilized the center console for a built-in bar with refrigerator, sink and bottle storage. In the cockpit is an icemaker and second refrigerator. On either side, transom doors make stepping onto the yacht effortless.
Below deck is pure opulence. Offering 75 inches of headroom, the full-length master cabin has a queen bed, hanging closet, sofa and television. The ensuite bathroom has a full shower, toilet and sink. There is a second head to port. Four massive yacht windows on each side illuminate the interior and offer striking views.
Jaguar Powerboats will have its innovative J43 cat in the water at Palm Beach, and the 55 Special luxury center console catamaran yacht will debut at the 2021 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (October 27–31).
Mercury Goes Boldly With 600-HP V-12 Verado Outboard
Jaguar Powerboats New 43-Foot Cat Coming To Miami
Jaguar Powerboats Converting Well-Known Thriller Raceboat With Outboards
35th Annual Palm Beach International Boat Show Gets Go-Ahead For Late March
Gallery Of The Week: Picture-Perfect Formula 500 SSC With New Mercury Verado 600 Engines


text:
Apple says that over 100,000 iPhone software development kits have been downloaded since its celebrated unveiling on March 6, not a week ago. The announcement below is atypical of Apple: following the standard chest-puffing from execs such as worldwide marketing SVP Phil Schiller, you'll find exec quotes from Namco, NetSuite, PopCap, Rocket Mobile, Six Apart and THQ—I suppose in alphabetical order by company. It's more wind, to be sure, but from the feel of this announcement, it's almost as if Apple had planned to support third-party development all along. Whatever the case, we're looking forward to the resulting apps, both legit and, well, under the table.
iPhone SDK Downloads Top 100,000
CUPERTINO, California—March 12, 2008—Apple® today announced that more than 100,000 iPhone™ developers have downloaded the beta iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) in the first four days since its launch on March 6. The iPhone SDK provides developers with the same rich set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and tools that Apple uses to create its native applications for iPhone and iPod® touch.
"Developer reaction to the iPhone SDK has been incredible with more than 100,000 downloads in the first four days," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Also, over one million people have watched the launch video on Apple.com, further demonstrating the incredible interest developers have in creating applications for the iPhone."
Apple also previewed the new App Store, a breakthrough way for developers to wirelessly deliver their applications to every iPhone and iPod touch user. Developers set the price for their applications—including free—and retain 70 percent of all sales revenues.
Leading developers such as AOL, Electronic Arts, Epocrates, salesforce.com and Sega have already demonstrated amazing applications using the SDK, and developer response continues to be phenomenal with more developers embracing the platform.
"The iPhone SDK gives us the tools we need to create powerful iPhone applications and is an important part of our overall mobile strategy," said Rick Jensen, senior vice president, Small Business Group at Intuit. "We're excited that the iPhone expands the ways our customers can solve key financial tasks wherever they might be."
"We're very excited about Apple's new SDK and reaching every iPhone user through the new App Store," said Scott Rubin, vice president, Sales and Marketing, Namco Networks. "We can't wait to show off great new versions of arcade classics like PAC-MAN and Galaga that use the revolutionary features of the iPhone and iPod touch."
"Apple's tools have provided our development team the flexibility to make the SuitePhone application richer and deeper," said Luke Braud, vice president, Software Development, NetSuite. "NetSuite is excited at the opportunity to give every iPhone customer access to their critical business data anytime, anywhere."
"Apple's become an important mobile game platform with the iPhone SDK," said Jason Kapalka, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, PopCap. "The new SDK gives us the tools to innovate and reinvent games like Bejeweled, Zuma and Peggle. With the new App Store we can reach every iPhone and iPod touch user on the planet."
"Seventy percent of the retail price is hands-down the best deal out there in mobile. It's simple and motivating for developers," said Wayne B. Yurtin, president and CEO, Rocket Mobile, Inc. "We can't wait to get our first iPhone applications on the revolutionary App Store."
"Six Apart pioneered the mobile blogging experience with an iPhone-optimized blog service," said Chris Alden, CEO, Six Apart. "We're taking it to the next level with our native iPhone application for TypePad that's already in development."
"The iPhone is the mobile platform game developers have been dreaming of," said Scott Zerby, vice president, THQ Wireless. "We're looking at how we can use the iPhone's innovative user interface to create new game experiences for our big brand entertainment partners that consumers love."
Pricing & Availability
The free beta iPhone SDK is available immediately worldwide and can be downloaded at developer.apple.com/iphone/program. The iPhone Developer Program will initially be available in the US and will expand to other countries in the coming months. A QuickTime® video of the iPhone roadmap event is available to view at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/iphoneroadmap.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.


text:
In September of 2008, rumors began to circulate that Apple was going to make a deal to release a CDMA version of their iPhone to be used on the Verizon wireless network. Apple uses a GSM network, so this sounded like an impossible chasm to bridge.
In April of 2009, Apple and Verizon did enter talks about building this bridge. Since then, not much has come out from either company to provide any details about whether a deal had been made, was in the process of being made, or much else.
Currently AT&T has the exclusive rights to distribute the Apple iPhone into 2010.This is according to a deal that was brokered in 2006. Many people in the TelCom industry expect AT&T to attempt to convince Apple to continue the deal. Some have even implied that the deal was for AT&T to have a five-year exclusive contract. If this were truly the case, then Verizon would have to wait until 2012.
Let’s backtrack a moment and discuss what the iPhone actually is.
First and foremost it’s a Smart Phone, which means it acts as a phone, a camera, and a media player. It also has an App Store where customers can download hundreds of applications. iPhones were rather expensive when they first released, costing around $599.00 for the 8 GB model, and closer to $800.00 for the 16 GB version. They have come down to a more affordable price since they came out in 2007. Of course, electronics prices tend to go down after time. There is an old adage that states “Don’t buy it today, it will be cheaper tomorrow.”
For the iPhone to be able to operate on Verizon’s CDMA network would be quite a coup for Verizon, which is currently upgrading its network to a 4th generation wireless technology called “LTE”. If Apple adapts their iPhones to run on this upgraded CDMA/LTE technology, AT&T would lose a great deal.
Verizon offers Apple 80 million customers. While it is certainly possible some might have multiple carriers and have an iPhone, it is more than likely that the vast majority of them don’t.
There is one consideration for the customers of AT&T who already have iPhones that want to continue using them on the Verizon network. If Verizon takes over the iPhone distribution, any customers wanting to make the jump will have to buy a new phone. AT&T has a GSM network, so their customers phones, would literally not work on the Verizon network. Any way Apple goes, they will make a killing.
AT&T would not be completely shut out, though. Apple does not intend to end its association with the TelCom giant. Customers who don’t want to change their carrier and jump to the Verizon network will be able to continue using their iPhones on AT&T.
AT&T has been compatible with Apple for quite some time. For Apple to change the rules at this stage would be a real game changer. It begins to look like Apple and Verizon are attempting to change the way the TelCom market share pie is sliced.
However, all of this is still speculation. Talks have been mentioned in the trade papers, and on the internet, however nothing is written in stone at this stage. Speculation this may be, but it makes for interesting possibilities.


text:
HTC’s superphone, the One X was unveiled earlier this year at the MWC, and it looks like it’s going to be released to the world pretty soon. While HTC hasn’t given a release date for the phone in the US, the folks in the UK will be seeing the phone in the first week of next month. According to a tweet from O2 UK, the HTC One X will be available in the UK on April 5th – a mere 3 weeks away. While the pricing of the phone wasn’t disclosed, the phone has already been put up for pre-order with a price tag of €599, which converts to around £500.
In the meantime, folks in the US will just have to sit tight and wait. Hopefully the release date won’t be too far off in the future. Anybody planning to purchase the HTC One X?
- 2014-04-15: Galaxy S5 Versus HTC One M8, iPhone 5s, Nexus 5 In Torture Test
- 2014-04-15: Sense 6 Gets Ported Onto Nexus 5
- 2014-04-14: Sense 6.0 Arriving On HTC One By End Of May
- 2014-04-08: HTC One Review (M8)
- 2014-04-08: HTC M8 Ace Leaked
- 2012-04-29: HTC One X gets Cyanogenmod 9
- 2012-03-30: HTC One X unboxed
- 2012-03-29: HTC One X and One V to start shipping on April 2nd?
- 2012-03-28: HTC One X to be renamed HTC EVO ONE on Sprint?
- 2012-03-23: HTC One X takes stunning photographs


text:
Eating Green: Beyond the Menu
MARK SCHARAGA thinks about fish pretty constantly. Naturally enough, as executive chef and co-owner of Wilmington’s TAMASHII SUSHI AND SPOONS restaurant, he thinks about how he will prepare and present various fruits of the sea.
Tamashii, however, calls itself the first truly sustainable sushi restaurant in the Southeast, so Scharaga’s interest in fish goes beyond what’s available and what’s fresh to whether the available fish aligns with the restaurant’s fish philosophy.
“We focus on fish caught through practices that don’t harm the environment or that are not targeted at particular species,” he said.
The restaurant, which opened in the summer on Masonboro Loop Road, is one of a growing number of area eateries that tout their eco-friendly menus and operations.
Thus, Tamashii, which means “soul” in Japanese, eschews fish caught using longlines or nets (“too much bycatch,” Scharaga said), as well as unagi, a freshwater eel served in almost all sushi restaurants in the country. Scharaga’s objection to unagi stems from the fact that so much of it is farm raised in China, taking eggs from the wild and depleting the wild stock.
The menu at Tamashii instead features smaller species of fish that have been locally caught with hook and line. It also offers black sea bass that come from approved fish farms in the area.
Tamashii’s green initiatives also extend to the restaurant’s operations.
“We recycle everything we can, including grease,” Scharaga said. “We serve filtered water in glass pitchers rather than using plastic pitchers or bottles of water. We use stainless steel chopsticks for dine-in customers. Some of our wines are organic, and our house vodka is 360 Vodka, a company that works hard to reduce its carbon footprint. We look for products that align with our mission and are consumer-friendly.”
TRIPP ENGEL, executive chef at BRASSERIE DU SOLEIL in Lumina Station, has similar eco-friendly goals for his operation.
“We use a lot of biodegradable, compostable containers for takeout items,” he said.
Engel, who has been at Brasserie du Soleil since it opened in 2005, said a 2007 state law mandating restaurant recycling of oyster shells really got him going green.
“That law helped me institute what I wanted to do,” he said. “I got others on board, and we went further on our biodegradable takeout containers. Then the biofuels company in Raleigh approached me about recycling our oil. We don’t have any place for a compost pile, but we do everything else we can.”
JOHN FEICKERT, kitchen manager at Lumina Station’s STONE CRAB OYSTER BAR, said participating in the state’s mandated oyster shell recycling program is pretty easy.
“They drop off the bins, we throw the shells in there and they come pick them up,” he explained. “Our volume depends on the season. Summer’s busy – we probably go through two, 50-gallon bins a week. Later in the fall, when the local oyster season starts, things pick up again. We probably fill up 50 bins in the course of a year, and we also recycle glass and cardboard.”
While BRAD CORPENING and CHRIS GRAHAM were planning CHOPS DELI, their downtown food venture, they learned about Eco-Products. The company manufactures biodegradable eating utensils as well as cups, bowls and to-go containers.
Deciding to use the earth-friendly products was “a no-brainer,” Corpening said. “It was a good idea for us to use them and raise awareness.”
As an example, he said, Eco-Products spoons, forks and knives are made from a cornstarch compound. “They break down within 60 to 90 days, rather than sitting in the landfill for years and years.”
Corpening listed a few other steps Chops has done to curb its carbon output. “We’ve moved to fountain drinks, which means no more soda cans,” he said. “We also promote recycling by putting a bin by the door. We turn off the electricity and electrical appliances when they are not needed. And we make our own vegetable stock, minimizing throwaways.”
KEITH RHODES, chef and owner of CATCH, has also assessed his restaurant’s operation from an earth-friendly perspective. His menu features local, organic and sustainably produced food, including wild-caught or locally farmed fish. Like his eco-aware colleagues, he uses biodegradable packaging for to-go orders and recycles everything possible, including oils.
Rhodes also purchases only biodegradable detergents and cleaning products so that runoff from Catch has a minimal impact on water quality.
Catch’s clientele might not know it, but one of the restaurant’s green features is also under their feet. Three years ago, Rhodes installed a dining room floor made entirely of recycled plastic, with a wood-grain overlay.
Soon, Catch will take another step on its green journey, converting its food truck to biodiesel.
“It’s good to know that the dollar you bring to a restaurant doesn’t just go for food, but supports an environmentally responsible operation,” Rhodes said.
To view more of photographer Andrew Sherman’s work, click here. ashermanphotography.com


text:
Infiniti announced today that it is moving forward with plans to develop a compact vehicle but is not going to be involving Magna Steyr in the production process.
“Infiniti began a feasibility study with supplier Magna Steyr in May this year to determine a possible third-party production site in Europe for the premium compact Infiniti,” Infiniti said in a statement. “However, Infiniti ended the feasibility study this week and has decided to produce the vehicle in-house in a European production facility as part of the brand’s overall expansion production plans.”
The compact Infiniti vehicle is scheduled for launch in 2015. The automaker said that it will announce a production location and more product details closer to the start of production.
Infiniti still intends for the all-new compact premium vehicle to share a platform developed with Mercedes.
– By: Omar Rana


text:
When Startups Need More Lawyers Than Employees, The Patent System Isn't Working
from the do-the-math dept
As part of our sponsorship program with the Application Developers Alliance, we’re highlighting some of the content on DevsBuild.It, their new resource website, that we think will be most interesting to Techdirt readers.
We’ve talked a lot about the tax on innovation that patent trolls create, which is well-known inside startup circles but often misunderstood by the broader public, thanks to the pro-innovation rhetoric of high-profile trolls like Intellectual Ventures. The conversation is getting more attention lately, especially with the recent news of Senator Schumer’s patent reform bill which specifically aims to fight the patent troll problem, and this interview with an anonymous developer from a tech startup offers some perspective from someone who is directly affected by the issue.
The FBI-style anonymization might seem a little extreme, but ultimately it is making a legitimate point: not only do patent trolls pile on to successful startups, they can also be vindictive towards those who criticize them. The developer describes the snowball effect that patent lawsuits can have:
Even if you fight, and you win, you still put a big bullseye on your back that other patent trolls can look for, because suddenly you're on their radar and they think maybe you're wounded and don't have any more resources to fight.
The developer's story is familiar. Once a startup crosses a certain threshold of success, the licensing demands start pouring in, followed by the lawsuit threats, followed by the tough choice between settling and fighting. And, of course, these are the kinds of patents that describe broad concepts without actually solving any problems, held by non-practicing entities who develop no products:
We are now being sued by two of them for patents that are as broad as using a website to talk to a server, which is just the building blocks of the internet, to making a font legible on a mobile device. Just basic stuff, and it's been hugely disruptive to our business.
One of the biggest problems with the patent troll situation is that it's self-perpetuating. Startups are often forced to get defensive patents which, even if they never use them offensively to block innovation, just add to the ever-growing thicket and often eventually fall into the hands of trolls anyway when startups close or get bought and patents get shifted around. In this case, kudos to the developer for refusing to let that happen:
We've decided that rather than invest our scarce resources in patents, which have questionable protective value, we've just decided to invest in growing the business the best we can. Frankly these days it seems like it's more about having enough money to defend yourselves than it is about having defensible patents.
Still, what's the offshoot of all that? This particular startup has five employees (you know, the people actually working on solving problems and delivering products) but requires the services of six lawyers focused on patent issues. That alone makes a pretty good case that the system isn't working.
This post is sponsored by the Application Developers Alliance. Find more info on patents and other issues that affect developers at DevsBuild.It


text:
A Moray brewer has abandoned plans to open a new bar – blaming “endless red tape” from council planners.
A former Moray bike shop could soon be given a new lease of life as a trendy bar.
There were plenty of fun and games at Mosset Park on Saturday when the first annual Pitch Perfect festival entertained big crowds.
A new beer and music festival, which takes place in Forres today, has ambitions of becoming the biggest day out in the town’s annual calendar.
He is more used to delivering beer to pubs, but now brewer Seb Jones hopes supplying pianos will also strike a chord with punters.


text:
Microsoft has high hopes for its answer to the iPad, Surface RT, and the early signs look good. According to the Microsoft online store, the $US499 32GB model (without the Touch Cover) has sold out in a day and scheduled to ship "within three weeks." With the big reveal scheduled for October 26 there is a palpable sense of excitement within Microsoft’s ranks. But without raining too much on their parade, this hardware exercise doesn’t necessarily guarantee a win for Steve Ballmer.
The software giant’s foray into the hardware space seems a case of too little too late and then there is something a little unpleasant about its intentions with the device.
On the one hand there is the juggling it is doing in not being seen to compete with its hardware partners and on the other, there is the equally problematic dilemma it is trying to avoid in competing with the PC market generally and its own cash cows, Office and Windows.
The PC market is already feeling the brunt of the surge in popularity of the tablet with PC shipments due to decline by 1.2 per in 2012. Although some of this may been due to poor economic conditions, the fall is largely being attributed to the surge in tablet sales. The problem for Microsoft is that the tablet market is split between Apple, Amazon and Android. Even if Windows RT proves to be relatively successful on other companies’ hardware, Microsoft will see its revenue and profitability impacted.
Then there is Ballmer’s comments to shareholders in which he outlines Microsoft’s ambitions to focus on devices and services. Being in control of the hardware would certainly be one way of compensating for the reduced income from the software. But this again would come at a price. The PC manufacturers are already seeing the writing on the wall when it comes to declining sales. Many have made the shift to tablets already. Facing a double whammy of Microsoft competing in the hardware space, many may decide to opt to concentrate on Android.
In Ballmer’s letter, he further made reference to the "Consumerisation of IT”. The drive to mobile in the corporate world has been accelerated by the adoption of BYOD. But these devices have been essentially consumer devices. They have displaced the more corporate BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows Phone because they were devices staff had bought for themselves, were pleasurable to use and were truly useful because of the huge number of apps they ran. This of course works for corporations because it is much cheaper, staff are happier and generally, more gets done.
For Microsoft this spells disaster. They charge a premium for their corporate software. Even with the Surface RT, they have been careful to stress that the version of Office that comes pre-installed cannot be used for commercial use. The last thing they want to see happen is businesses buying the cheaper Surface RT in preference to the professional and more expensive Surface Pro.
Even with the Xbox, Microsoft’s only successful consumer device to date, the hardware was only a vehicle for sales of the more expensive and profitable games. The same opportunity to leverage the hardware platform is missing with the Surface RT as Apple and Google have established a largely free and inexpensive price point for all software that runs on mobile devices.
This is a losing battle for Microsoft and reflects how slow they have been in responding to both Apple and Google. This is also not a rerun of Internet Explorer vs Netscape. Microsoft doesn’t have any particular advantage when it comes to mobile and so they can’t leverage a monopoly position in the same way they did with the browser.
For the Surface RT, the lack of distribution channels and more importantly, lack of applications to run on the device will essentially seal its fate. It won’t be a repeat of the Zune or the Microsoft Kin (the disastrous phone that Microsoft pulled after two months of no sales) but it won’t be that much better.
TECHNOLOGY SPECTATOR: Microsoft's risky Surface strategy
Microsoft's soon to be launched personal use tablet computer – Surface RT – is generating excitement among consumers but long-term it is hard to see the device being anything but a drag on the company.
Want access to our latest research and new buy ideas?
Start a free 15 day trial and gain access to our research, recommendations and market-beating model portfolios.Sign up for free


text:
engine - 2:23 pm on Apr 4, 2011 (gmt 0) [edited by: tedster at 11:56 pm (utc) on Apr 4, 2011]
More Retailers Warn of Security Breach [latimes.com]
Best Buy Co., TiVo Inc., and Walgreen Co. are the latest in a seemingly endless string of companies to warn over the weekend that hackers gained access to customers' files, including email addresses.
The companies all use the same marketing and communications vendor, Epsilon. It's a leading marketing services firm that sends more than 40 billion emails annually and has more than 2,500 clients including seven of the Fortune 10. Epsilon, based in Dallas, issued a brief statement on Friday saying "a full investigation was under way" following the discovery of the breach of some customer client data. The company said that information obtained was limited to names and email addresses and that "no other personal identifiable information associated with the names was at risk."
[edit reason] spelling error [/edit]
[edited by: tedster at 11:56 pm (utc) on Apr 4, 2011]


text:
T-Mobile Targets Rural Areas for 600 MHz Service, Starting with Cheyenne
T-Mobile today said it has activated its first 600 MHz cell site in Cheyenne, Wyo. T-Mobile is using Nokia equipment to provide LTE coverage across Cheyenne in the 600 MHz band. The Un-carrier plans to light up 600 MHz service in rural areas around the country first. Markets that can expect to see 600 MHz service by the end of the year include Wyoming, Northwest Oregon, West Texas, Southwest Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, Western North Dakota, Maine, Coastal North Carolina, Central Pennsylvania, Central Virginia, and Eastern Washington. T-Mobile says deploying LTE on 600 MHz in these markets will improve its coverage from 315 million POPs today to 321 million by year's end. T-Mobile won the spectrum licenses in the reverse auction that concluded earlier this year. The government gave T-Mobile the licenses just two months ago. The company plans to deploy service on the 600 MHz airwaves as quickly as it can to help shore up weak coverage areas. The service may be up and running, but there are no devices yet that can use it. According to T-Mobile, Samsung and LG plan to release compatible handsets during the fourth quarter of the year.
T-Mobile Brings Smartpicks to Jump On Demand
T-Mobile today improved its Jump On Demand program with the introduction of T-Mobile Smartpicks. The Smartpicks program is a leasing option that lets people score affordable phones with low monthly payments.
LG V30 First to Support T-Mobile's 600 MHz Spectrum
LG and T-Mobile today said the new V30 flagship smartphone will be the first device capable of operating on T-Mobile's brand new 600 MHz spectrum, or Band 71. T-Mobile kicked off 600 MHz service in Cheyenne, Wyo., two weeks ago and today added Scarborough, Maine.
T-Mobile Says It Will Start Using 600 MHz Spectrum This Year
"T-Mobile now has the largest swath of unused low-band spectrum in the country," said T-Mobile CEO John Legere about the company's 600 MHz auction winnings. The company successfully won an average of 31 MHz (ranging between 20 MHz and 50 MHz) of the 70 MHz low-band spectrum auctioned off by TV stations and the FCC.
T-Mobile to Light Up 600 MHz LTE This Summer
T-Mobile today said it plans to begin testing its newly acquired 600 MHz spectrum as soon as this summer. The FCC granted licenses for the spectrum this week following the years-long incentive auction process.
No messages yet


text:
Rural India is likely to be the biggest contributor in country’s five-fold increase to its super-rich families by the turn of the decade, a Bloomberg report suggests.
What does the report say?
Recent report released by the People’s Research on India’s Consumer Economy and India’s Citizen Environment or PRICE, accessed by Bloomberg, suggested that then number of super-rich households, i.e. those earning more than 20 million rupees a year, almost doubled to 1.8 million in five years in 2021.
Meanwhile, growth of such households in villages was 14.2%, compared to 10.6% in cities.
The Bloomberg report stated that the study, polled more than 40,000 people in 25 states, concluded that super rich households will swell further to 9.1 million by 2032, but rural India will see faster growth.
India is home to a rising number of millionaires:
According to the Bloomberg report, Global Health Managers and Foreign Banks are expanding in India as the nation becomes home to a rising number of millionaires.
Oxfam International estimates that India minted 70 Millionairs each day between 2018 and 2022.
India’s middle class:
As per the survey, the country’s middle class population of 432 million – earning between $6000 and $36,000 annually – is the fastest expanding category.
The study predicts it will reach 715 million by 2031.
People are engaging in commercial agriculture businesses:
Rajesh Shukla, Chief Executive Offizier of the organisation claimed that ‘people are increasingly engaging in commercial-agriculture businesses as well as non-agricultural business activities in rural areas.’


text:
Global commodity prices plunged 5.3% on a monthly basis in August, as against 1.5% increase in July. During the month under review global commodity prices dropped in 4 of the last 10 months. The poor performance reflected a sharp drop in energy prices, mostly led by plummeting oil and oil-derivative prices. Agricultural prices logged the steepest decline since March 2017, while base metal prices posted its fourth decline in the last five months. Overall, the price for the three commodity groups was negatively affected by escalating trade tensions between China and the United States and a dismal global economic outlook. On the flip side, precious metal prices benefited due to investors taking refuge in safe-haven assets, amid the uncertain global economic outlook. While energy and base metal prices are likely to decline, prices for agricultural commodities and precious metals may post significant increase.
Precious metal prices rose 5.2%MoM in August, accelerating from July’s 4.3% increase. As a result, precious metal prices posted the ninth gain in the last 12 months. As in previous months, strong demand for safe-haven assets underpinned higher precious metal prices in August. An uncertain global economic outlook, the prolonged trade war between the two superpowers, widespread geopolitical risks and more accommodative monetary policies by key central banks are behind the recent rally in safe-haven assets, especially gold and silver. Although, platinum prices are catching up due to this flight to safety, there are also fundamental reasons behind the rally, such as signs that carmakers could start substituting expensive palladium for cheaper platinum. Meanwhile, palladium prices have been recovering in the last few weeks from a sharp decline in early August, which reflected weak auto sales in China and technical selling. Ahead, global growth is seen weakening further, bruised by heightened geopolitical uncertainty and ongoing trade wars, which, coupled with the lower interest rate environment, will continue to spur demand for safe-haven assets.
Energy prices declined 5.9%MoM in August, as against 2.0% rise in July and representing the third decline in four months. Soft demand from China continued to put a lid on coking and thermal coal prices, with both sinking around 10% in the month. Moreover, prices of oil and oil-related products declined in August on concerns about reduced demand as a result of subdued global growth prospects and spillovers from rising trade protectionism. Announced trade talks between China and the United States, more supportive fiscal and monetary policies among most of the world’s key economies and the successful implementation of the OPEC+ oil cut deal should support oil prices going forward. However, prospects remain fragile and highly dependent on political developments. Along with lower prices for oil and oil-related products, the sharp decline will be led by a sizeable fall in natural gas prices.
Prices of agri commodities fell 8.0%MoM in August, following July’s 1.8% decline and marking the fifth drop in the last seven months. Moreover, August recorded the largest decrease in 29 months. Prices of all agricultural commodities, except rice and palm oil declined in August. Higher-than-anticipated agricultural plantings and production led the decline in corn prices. Thailand’s most severe drought in roughly a decade propelled hike in rice prices.
Base metal prices fell 3.1%MoM in August, contrasting a 1.2% increase in July. The downturn was mostly driven by a sharp drop in prices for iron ore, tin and zinc. Iron ore prices have been on a downward trend since early August on demand concerns from China, low steel prices and increased shipments from Brazil. Overall, low demand from China, which consumes roughly half of all base metals, had been weighing on most base metal prices. The main exception to this trend was nickel, which saw another month of double-digit growth in August, chiefly propelled by news that Indonesia would ban nickel exports in January 2020 as the country seeks to climb up the value chain. This move was originally planned for 2022.
Analysts see base metal prices falling on pessimism over growth dynamics in China and the United States as the possibility of a swift resolution to the trade spat between the two superpowers seems increasingly unlikely.


text:
The European Commission has fined Google US$1.7 billion for breaching European Union antitrust rules.
The global internet giant was fined 1.49 billion euros (US$1.7 billion dollars) Wednesday for abusing the dominance of its search engine to block competitors in the market of selling text ads on the search results that appear on third-party websites.
The fine was calculated based on the value of Google's revenue from online search advertising sales in the European Economic Area (EEA), said the European Commission.
“Google has cemented its dominance in online search adverts and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anti-competitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said.
Google's strategy utilizing it's AdSense products as an online search advertising brokerage is at question. The company contracts with "publisher" websites, such as newspapers or travel sites, which use search functions. When users execute a search, the website, using AdSense delivers both search results and related ads made to look like results.
Google was stopping publishers from placing any search adverts from competitors on their search results pages, forcing them to reserve the most profitable space on their search results pages for Google’s adverts.
Google has already been fined twice by the European Commission.
Vestager, in July 2018, imposed a record US$4.9 billion fine on Google for illegal practices regarding Android mobile devices to strengthen the dominance of Google's search engine. In June 2017, the Commission fined Google US$2.7 billion or abusing its dominance as a search engine by giving an illegal advantage to the company's own comparison shopping service.


text:
There’s an aura of downtown vintage cool around the Yale campus. Students scurry to and from classes in a mix of secondhand blouses, beat-up sneakers and layers of sweaters and scarfs. And yes, they’re label-conscious — label-allergic, that is. Here, nothing’s less cool than “looking like money, even if you’re rolling in it,” says one junior who hails from Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Students also just don’t have time to worry about what they’re wearing. “If you’ve only had two hours of sleep and you’re going to be walking from place to place, sweatpants are fine,” says senior Cecilia Morelli, who admits that when she’s in New York City for the weekend she definitely thinks more about what she’s wearing.
On campus, practicality is key, especially given New Haven’s frigid New England winters. “I wore the same pair of pants for 80 days in a row because it was so cold,” says Avni Bhatia, a senior art history student.
But, as much as Yale students won’t admit that they care about fashion, it’s still a guilty pleasure they like to indulge from time to time. They do so in a variety of ways, such as student fashion shows and numerous style columns in the Yale Daily News, including a recent how-to on keeping chic despite dismal weather, and in-depth reviews of the European collections. “It’s a small but aggressive group who care about fashion,” says Alexis Swerdloff, a senior history major.
Given Yale’s reputation as one of the liberal Ivies, its no surprise that students welcome self-expression in any form — “except nudity,” says sophomore Ting Ting Yan of what flies as campus fashion. “I guess the idea is that you can wear whatever you want to. As long as you can stand looking at yourself in the mirror, we can, too.”
Classics 101: Battered designer jeans, colorful Pumas or Adidas, vintage-looking shirts, layered sweaters.
Best fashion moment: Charlotte, Scarlett Johansson’s dewey-eyed naïf in “Lost in Translation,” a recent Yale graduate.
Chic alumni: Andrew Goodman, Valerie Steele.
If your school were a designer, who would it be? “We’re Marc Jacobs — old Marc Jacobs.” — Cecilia Morelli, ’04
If you were reading Vogue before class, would you hide it when you got there? “I never have time to read a fashion magazine before class. I’m usually cramming.” — Ting Ting Yan, ’06


text:
Witcher fans will remember Rise of the White Wolf as the console-specific version of CD Projekt's first Witcher game. It was slated to feature completely reworked controls for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, though the project was canceled in April of 2009. At the time, developer Widescreen Games complained of missed payments, while publisher CD Projekt claimed that all milestone payments had been made to Widescreen.
CD Projekt Red's Summer Conference is slated to take place tomorrow, and promises a major announcement. That announcement, however, will not be Rise of the White Wolf, reports Eurogamer. CD Projekt told the site that it will instead be announcing its next RPG, which was revealed in recent job listings. That said, the company does have some Witcher-related "surprises" planned for this year and next year.


text:
WWE let go of many Superstars yesterday and hundreds more employees in the company lost their jobs as well. There were widespread cuts, but Heath Slater is moving on.
He dropped a video response to his WWE release yesterday. Slater seems motivated to make some noise and come back better than ever. In the meantime, he needs to feed those kids.
Heath Slater released a new t-shirt on PW Tees. It is done in the same style as his “I Got Kids” t-shirt from WWE. Only this time the text says “I Got Fired.”
You can check out the new merchandise below. Many former WWE Superstars are starting to release new merchandise since their release. They have to figure something out until their non-compete clauses expire on July 16th. Hopefully, the indie wrestling scene is active enough for there to be shows by then.


text:
Anscheidt confirmed Mate Rimac’s words that Bugatti has no plans to produce an SUV, despite the fact that many manufacturers, including high-end ones, have them on offer. Even Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, and even Rolls-Royce or Bentley have chosen this trick. Bugatti has no plans for an SUV, and according to the design director of the brand, there is a very good reason for that – the desire to maintain exclusivity.
The text continues below the video:
Echoing the words of Mate Rimac, Achim Anscheidt said that the second type of Bugatti products, and the SUVs they would be, would greatly weaken the level of luxury that the brand has accustomed its customers to. By developing them, it will have to increase the exclusivity of its best models to distinguish them from the many models that could possibly be SUVs. At the same time, mass production has never been Bugatti’s goal.
Anscheidt also noted that mass production of SUVs for this company would go against the company’s beliefs, “If it is compared to something, it is not a Bugatti car.” At the same time, the SUV of this brand must be compared with other, although slightly similar models, while the current models of the brand are basically not competitive.


text:
Californians will be paying higher sales tax rates beginning in January, thanks to the state's vote last month to approve Proposition 30. The proposition raised state sales taxes by a quarter of a percent for four years.
Many cities and counties around the state also levy their own sales taxes in addition to the amounts mandated by the state. So each jurisdiction has its own rate.
Use the search tool below to find out what you'll pay where you live beginning Jan. 1, 2013.


text:
Xperia Play smartphone is the first
PlayStation smartphone to hit the market. AT&T just announced that it
is getting its own version of the Xperia Play called the Xperia Play 4G.
The 4G moniker doesn't imply a real 4G connection like LTE, however; the
smartphone supports the HSPA+
4G network that AT&T currently has in place. One of the most surprising
things about the Xperia Play 4G is that it will be
offered at a bargain price of $49.99 with a new 2-year agreement. That puts the
Xperia Play 4G on par with the iPhone 3GS in price.
runs Android 2.3.3, and features a Snapdragon 1GHz CPU paired with an Adreno
205 GPU. It also has a 4-inch screen with 480 x 854 resolution, a 5MP rear
camera, VGA front camera, and chat capacity over Wi-Fi.
AT&T's version of the Xperia Play will get a few exclusives to sweeten the
deal compared to the device on other networks. The phone features a special
stealth blue color and also comes with a pair of bonus accessories including
the Multimedia Dock DK300 and the MC100 music cable. That dock turns the Xperia
Play 4G into a clock as it charges and the cable lets you shoot the music on
the smartphone out to speakers you connect.
“Our fans on AT&T have been asking for Xperia Play and now we’re giving
them everything they need in a smartphone with what they really want – an
immersive gaming experience on AT&T’s 4G Network,” said Peter Farmer, Head
of Marketing for North America, Sony Ericsson. “In addition to a constantly
growing list of games exclusive to and optimized for Xperia PLAY, we know
AT&T customers are really going to enjoy the uniquely Sony Ericsson social
experience, including Timescape and Facebook Inside.”
The phone will come loaded with six games courtesy of AT&T as well. The
games include Dungeon Defenders Second Wave, Asphalt 6 Adrenalin, Star
Battalion, Madden NFL 11, The Sims 3, Tower Bloxx, and Crash Bandicoot.
will hit AT&T on September 18.


text:
Another thrilling MotoGP™ season has come to an end. In celebration, Tissot presents the 2017 MotoGPTM Collection, inspired by the fast-paced and breath-taking performances of the season. These [...]
Tissot PR 100 Federal Switzerland Festival and of the games Alpestres Estavayer 2016 Special Edition0
Tissot has been named Official Watch of the most popular sporting event in Switzerland in terms of spectators – the Federal Swiss Wresting and Alpine Games Festival The Official Watch, the [...]
Tissot, famous Swiss watch brand, known for its spirit of innovation by tradition announced ace cricketer Virat Kohli as the brand ambassador today in Mumbai.
Tissot, a member of the Swatch Group, has distinguished itself once again in the world of cycling by becoming Official Timekeeper of the Tour de France and all cycling time trials run by Amaury [...]
One step further The new Tissot T-Touch Expert Solar is an update on the ground-breaking first tactile watch to be powered by solar energy. With such high expectations, fans will be delighted it [...]
Le Locle/Les Diablerets, May 29, 2015. The famous swiss watchmaker is proud to present the Tissot T-Touch clock at the end of the “Peak Walk by Tissot”, the first suspension bridge in the world [...]
A Sporty Tribute Tissot’s role as Official Timekeeper at the 1st European Games is such an honour that a special watch has been released to mark the occasion. The Tissot Quickster Baku [...]


text:
YouTube is the latest frontier where AI-generated content is being used to dupe users into downloading malware that can steal their personal information.
As AI generation becomes increasingly popular on several platforms, so does the desire to profit from it in malicious ways. The research firm CloudSEK has observed a 200% to 300% increase in the number of videos on YouTube that include links to popular malware sources such as Vidar, RedLine, and Raccoon directly in the descriptions since November 2022.
The videos are set up as tutorials for downloading cracked versions of software that typically require a paid license for use, such as Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Autodesk 3ds Max, AutoCAD, among others.
Bad actors benefit by creating AI-generated videos on platforms such as Synthesia and D-ID. They create videos that feature humans with universally familiar and trustworthy features. This popular trend has been used on social media and has long been used in recruitment, educational, and promotional material, CloudSEK noted.
The combination of the previously mentioned methods makes it so users can easily be tricked into clicking malicious links and downloading the malware infostealer. When installed, it has access to the user’s private data, including “passwords, credit card information, bank account numbers, and other confidential data,” which can then be uploaded to the bad actor’s Command and Control server.
Other private info that might be at risk to infostealer malware includes browser data, Crypto wallet data, Telegram data, program files such as .txt, and System information such as IP addresses.
While there are many antiviruses and endpoint detection systems on top of this new brand of AI-generated malware, there are also many information stealer developers around to ensure the ecosystem remains alive and well. Though CloudSEK noted that the bad actors sprung up alongside the AI revolution in November 2022, some of the first media attention of hackers using ChatGPT code to create malware didn’t surface until early February.
Information stealer developers also recruit and collaborate with traffers, other actors who can find and share information on potential victims through underground marketplaces, forums, and Telegram channels. Traffers are typically the ones that provide the fake websites, phishing emails, YouTube tutorials, or social media posts on which information stealer developers can attach their malware. There has also been a similar scam with bad actors hosting fake ads on social media and websites for the paid version of ChatGPT.
However, on YouTube, they are taking over accounts and uploading several videos at once to get the attention of the original creator’s followers. Bad actors will take over both popular accounts and infrequently updated accounts for different purposes.
Taking over an account with over 100,000 subscribers and uploading between five and six malware-laced videos is bound to get some clicks before the owner gains control of their account again. Viewers might identify the video as nefarious and report it to YouTube, which will ultimately remove it. A less popular account might have infected videos live and the owner might not be aware for some time.
Adding fake comments and shortened bit.ly and cutt.ly links to videos also makes them appear more valid.
- Microsoft explains how thousands of Nvidia GPUs built ChatGPT
- Ranking all 12 versions of Windows, from worst to best
- Jasper AI: how to use the ChatGPT alternative now
- Microsoft will launch ChatGPT 4 with AI videos next week
- Discord is taking ChatGPT out of your browser and into your server


text:
Look closely in your lunch box or gym bag -- you may soon have some contraband when you visit San Francisco.
It's your bottled water.
Sales of bottles of drinking water may soon be barred from events like Outside Lands, as San Francisco mulls a total ban on plastic bottled water sales on city property, according to the San Francisco Examiner.
On this ban, San Francisco would be a follower: other cities, like Concord, Massachusetts, have banned bottled water as part of the "Ban The Bottle" campaign, the newspaper reported.
Under a proposal floated by San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, bans would begin on bottles 21 ounces or smaller, and would encourage city residents and visitors to partake of the city's tap water -- which is piped in from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park.
It would be phased in -- if approved, it would apply to new leases signed after 2014 (which means bottled everything would be available at the San Francisco Giants' AT&T Park). And Outside Lands would not be beyond the pale for bottled water until 2016.