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Hunger marketing, rabid fans and value-for-money products have fueled the hype for smartphone startup Xiaomi across the country in the past few years. But now, at the start of the 4G era, rivals are determined not to let Xiaomi steal the march again.
Manufacturers have launched one new smartphone model after another in the last few weeks, including Huawei’s latest flagship Ascend P7, Lenovo’s Golden Warrior s8 and newcomer Baidu’s video-oriented 100+ V6. But it’s not just about product design. They have also come up with novel, interactive ways to sell their products and stand out from the crowd.
For example, buyers can take the latest Lenovo s8 home, use it and see if it’s really what they want before buying it. This way, Lenovo is selling the smartphone as well as the shopping experience.
Xu Guoxiang, director of 100+, goes one step further and pledges to let customers become business partners and promises not to make any profit from the handsets themselves.
He despises the product worship that Xiaomi has inspired, telling National Business Daily that it’s an unequal relationship for one party venerating the other.
With 100+, customers will become the group’s partners, earning commissions for recommending the handsets to their friends.
The zero-profit concept made jaws drop when it was first heard. After all, how can a firm survive without making money?
Rather, the firm will earn from what Xu calls the ecosystem. Details are scant as Xu won’t elaborate but the best guess is 100+ will try to make money through services and other value-added functions to its handset buyers.
– Contact the writer at [email protected]


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The app community sprouting up around the Suunto Ambit GPS watch helps wearers crunch workout data in terms of chocolate consumption, beer guzzling, and percentage of Usain Bolt's speed.
The device will sport a health-tracking features and work with multiple mobile platforms, Forbes reports.
It's a stunt worthy of "Mission Impossible," but these guys did it atop a Hong Kong skyscraper without CGI, harnesses or extra takes.
Tech companies have been trying to make smartwatches happen for decades. Luke Westaway argues that Google has a mountain to climb to make Android Wear the Next Big Thing.
analysis The Galaxy Gear, with a $299 price tag and a day of battery life, isn't going to be the iPhone or iPad of smartwatches. But you can be sure Apple, Google, and others will be watching closely.
Designed as an all-in-one wrist computer for sports, WearIt works with ANT+ sensors for biking and heart rate monitoring.
The tech giant has requested components for a potential touch-enabled watch device, executives at Asian suppliers tell the Wall Street Journal.
commentary: A computer on the wrist has so far had a lukewarm reception from bleeding-edge buyers and reviewers. Sounds like just about every other major new product.
What would make a great smartwatch? This.
This week on Crave, we ain't fraid of no Mr. Ghost iPhone EMF detector. Or any Bluetooth showerhead that sprays songs. Also, play our fun new game "Into It/Not Into It."

domain: news


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Publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment and developer of Japanese studio ILCA (remake of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl) announced Role-playing adventure One Piece Odyssey based on the popular manga One Piece.
In the story, the Straw Hat Pirates, led by Monkey D. Luffy, are caught in a storm and end up on a mysterious island. First, the hero must find the crew scattered by fate.
The developers of One Piece Odyssey promise multiple controllable characters (in addition to Luffy, members of his team will be available), a turn-based combat system, and One Piece-style quests and dungeons.
Manga author Eiichiro Oda is reportedly responsible for the design of the new One Piece Odyssey characters and monsters, and Motoi Sakuraba, who wrote the music for the Dark Souls and Tales series games, is responsible for the soundtrack .
One Piece Odyssey is slated for release later this year on PC (Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S. According to producer Katsuaki Tsuzuki, the game has been in development for several years.


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India Festival to benefit Mother Teresa Shelter
For the City Times
STEVENS POINT – Pacelli High School will host the Mother Teresa India Festival on Sept. 14, 3-7 p.m., to benefit the Mother Teresa Shelter.
Learn about India customs and enjoy an ethnic meal, while helping to raise funds for the Mother Teresa Shelter Home in Tanjore, India.
The meal buffet is being served 4:30-6 p.m. at the high school, 1301 Maria Dr., Stevens Point.
The event also features Indian dancers, a sand art demonstration, and a cooking class. There will also be India clothing and food for sale, henna painting, and a children’s sand art area. The event closes with a Colorfest walk at 7 p.m. – bring your own t-shirt.
Tickets are available at Pacelli, or online at www.indiamissionjoy.org.


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A[shopping] bag that makes no impression is a waste," says Ron Basso, vice president and general manager of Continental Extrusion, a plastic bag manufacturer in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. With the knowledge that shopping bags are reused eight to 20 times after purchase, small-business owners should be using their bags as a marketing tool.
At 25 to 50 cents per bag, well-designed, eye-catching bags are a relatively inexpensive method of getting your message out. They are also an invaluable way to project and reinforce your company's overall image. Is your business glamorous or trendy? Basso says see-through bags are hot right now, used mostly by cosmetics companies and other fashion-driven retailers. On the other hand, if your company wants to project an environmentally conscious attitude, you may want to put your customers' merchandise in bags made of recycled paper.
Whatever image you want to project, if you're using boring, generic bags, you're missing out on a prime marketing opportunity--and giving customers one less reason to buy from you. "Large businesses do it well," says Basso. "Small businesses should, too."


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Taiwan-based Paktek, a manufacturer of auto folder-gluers, auto flute laminators, and flattening and slicing machines was in full force at the All in Print China exhibition in Shanghai. Paktek has its Chinese plant near Shanghai, which was set up in 2003 and which primarily attends to the Chinese market. Only 20% of its production is exported. Its Taiwanese plant attends to only 5% of local demand and the rest 95% is exported to its various customers around the world.
At AIP, Paktek showed its auto folder-gluer inline with Easy Pack. The auto folder-gluer comes in various sizes ranging from 650 mm to 1100 mm. The machine, which was demonstrated at the stand, came with a maximum working width of 650 mm. Through this machine duplex boards as well as micro-flute boards can be used. Easy Pack, which is optional, can be opted by any customer. Once it is connected to the conveyor, it automatically arranges and compresses the cartons to collect diverse box shapes such as straight line, crash-lock bottom box and 4-corner box, thus saving time and energy for the printer.
At the IndiaCorr Expo, which was held in September in Mumbai, Paktek had displayed its one-piece and multiple-piece KS 1600M folder-gluer, which it also showed at Shanghai. The machine was well received by its customers, according to Amy Chan, managing director at Paktek. “Post drupa 2016, we have received a lot of interest in this machine. Our factories are busy with the deliveries of this machine,” she says.
The Indian market is important for Paktek, according to her. “The Indian market is very big and has a lot of potential for us. We have received very good response at all the exhibitions that we have participated in. TCPL is one of our biggest customers and they continue to support us. We have installed seven machines at TCPL, which includes flute-laminators and folder-gluers. Altogether, we have more than 60 installations in India so far,” Chan concludes.


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People Watching Airport Holiday Travel O’Hare Chicago Illinois 4K UHD
More info on People Watching Airport Holiday Travel O’Hare Chicago Illinois 4K UHD
Chicago and other northern US cities scramble to house migrants with coldest weather just ahead
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago is scrambling to house hundreds ... more than 1,000 were still living at police stations or at O’Hare International Airport as of Friday, according to the city dashboard. “As ...
Expect delays on roads and in airports as people travel for Thanksgiving
(KFSN) -- Holiday ... people will be flying for Thanksgiving, a 6% jump compared to 2022. "Travelers can expect to see the Fresno Yosemite International Airport very busy during this travel ...
Holiday hordes? Record number of Thanksgiving travelers expected at O’Hare and Midway: ‘Travel’s coming back’
Travelers navigate Midway Airport ... O’Hare, Midway and other airports in the state this Thanksgiving season than in any past travel season on record for the November holiday. About 290,000 ...
Thanksgiving holiday travel rush kicks off at Ontario International Airport
The holiday ... International Airport in Southern California say they are fully prepared. TSA officials predict that this could be the busiest holiday travel period on record since the early 2000s.
These are the busiest travel days at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport this coming holiday season
Following the end of COVID-19 travel restrictions, Dallas/Fort Wort Airport is expecting a record number of travelers to go through its concourse this holiday season. “Air travel has not only ...
How to Prepare for the Busy Thanksgiving Travel Season This Year
Most people will be driving for the holiday ... a well-known travel influencer, suggests people flying figure out their “security strategy” before arriving at the airport.
Portland International Airport gives advice for holiday travel: Arrive 3 hours early, plan for parking
PORTLAND, Ore. — Holiday travel officially kicks off next week, says the Portland International Airport, and PDX is offering some key information to make the season a smooth one. PDX says it ...
O'Hare consistently gets mediocre ratings. Why?
The report is just the latest in an array of annual rankings that consistently say the Chicago airport has room to improve. But what exactly makes O'Hare so mediocre, according to these rankings?
BNA officials remind passengers of alternative airport exits ahead of holiday travel
(WKRN) — It’s becoming a holiday ... Thanksgiving travel season in years: Here’s when NOT to drive Billboards around Nashville tell people two alternate ways to get to the airport: Exit ...
Atlanta airport prepares for busy Thanksgiving travel season
ATLANTA - Travelers to the world's busiest airport ... highest volume travel day in history at over 2.8 million people. Historically, the three busiest travel days during the holiday period ...
Nearly 2.1M people expected to travel through MCO as airport preps for holidays
With just one week away from Thanksgiving, experts are anticipating once again a lot of people set to travel during the holiday season. That’s the reason why Orlando International Airport says ...


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Honor has launched its new budget 5G smartphone in China. The Honor X30 Max is the company’s latest 5G smartphone that is aimed for users who consume a lot of content on their smartphone. The X30 Max has a large 7.09-inch display, which is quite rare in smartphones these days. It does not have an AMOLED display though. Honor’s X-series smartphone comes with a dual-camera setup on the back. The phone also packs a beefy battery under the hood. Let’s take a look at the Honor X30 Max price, specifications and other details.
Honor X30 Max price
Honor has launched the X30 Max in two storage configurations. The base variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage has been launched for CNY 2,399 (roughly Rs 28,000). There is also a 256GB storage option, priced at CNY 2,699 (roughly Rs 31,500). It comes in three colours – Black, Sea Blue and Titanium Silver. There is no word on the smartphone’s launch in India at the moment.
Specifications and features
As mentioned above, the X30 Max features a 7.09-inch TFT LCD with a 1080 x 2280 resolution. The screen has 100 percent of DCI-P3 colour gamut and offers a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio, despite having a water-drop notch on top. Honor claims that the phone has 780 nits of peak brightness and comes with HDR10 support.
Under the hood, the phone draws power from a MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC with up to 8GB of RAM as standard. The phone comes with up to 256GB of internal storage. It packs a 5000 mAh battery with 22.5W fast charging support. The phone comes with Android 11-based Magic UI 5.0 out of the box.
On the back, the dual-camera system includes a 64MP primary camera. It also features a 2MP depth sensor. For selfies and video calls, the phone has an 8MP front camera sensor. It comes with stereo speakers and houses a USB Type-C port. The phone weighs 228 grams and is 8.3mm thick.
Other specs include 5G network support, dual SIM, dual-band WiFi, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, etc.


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Backers forced to throw £1.5m at Charcol
The backers behind Britain's biggest independent mortgage broker, John Charcol, have been forced to stump up £1.5m after its auditors warned of a 'material uncertainty' that it can continue as a 'going concern'.
The London-based business, which employs 250 staff, was left in poor shape after being bought by Bradford & Bingley in 2000 for £100m and then spat out five years later to its original investors for £5m, sporting a loss of £4.7m.
While that loss has now shrunk to £41,000 on revenues up by £2m to £19m, auditors KPMG wrote in the latest accounts: 'The group incurred a net loss of £41,000 during the year ended 31 December 2006 and at that date the parent company's current liabilities exceeded its current assets by £150,000.'
The company, which says it is in advanced sales talks after being approached by two potential buyers, said that the injection of cash from its two original founders John Garfield and Charles Wishart, as well as private equity boss Jon Mouton, was always on the cards and not linked to KPMG sounding the alarm.
A spokesman said: 'Additional money totalling £1.5m was invested in the company, which was very much always part of the plan.'
A note in the accounts about the investment read: 'The directors consider that this should enable the company and group to continue in operation for at least 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements by meeting its liabilities as they fall due for payment.'
The spokesman suggested John Charcol was buoyant: 'The business continues to move forward. We have seen an increased demand for quality mortgage advice, and our inquiry levels this year are showing significant year on year growth of 75%, despite decline in the market as a whole.'
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No, not a producer of canned vegetables but the world’s biggest producer of ‘green’ environmentally friendly products.
The South Korean giant, which accounts for 20 per cent of that country’s exports, is to launch or expand businesses in five sectors involving renewable energy or healthcare: solar cells, rechargeable batteries for hybrid cars, lighting, biopharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
The new focus will bring it up against some of the world’s other manufacturing monsters including General Electric, Philips and Sanyo.
Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who has returned to the company after fighting bribery charges, says this will lead to $44bn in incremental sales by 2020, meaning the company will be roughly one sixth bigger.
But he also says its current biggest businesses, LCD flat screens and memory chips, may not exist in ten years’ time hence the urgency to go green. Samsung is currently the world’s biggest seller of IT products, ahead of Hewlett-Packard.


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So Ms. Steinkuehler makes a pretty 6 digit salary from her stint as White House Video Game Czar while also benefiting from a
$350,000 MacArthur Foundation Grant.
Perhaps I’m a bit old-fashioned and not as hip as I once used to be, but did I miss the memo on the importance of video games and how they should now be embraced by society as an educational tool?
It comes as recent research shows that video games now reach across demographic and generational lines. The advent of cellphone and casual games such as Angry Birds and Farmville have reworked the typical gamer profile in breathtaking fashion.
So because more people are playing video games thanks to smartphones and Facebook, we’re suddenly going to view video games in a new and better light?
Video games have been a huge parental concern for many years generating articles like the following:
So what is the real reason for the White House Video Game Czar?
If history is our teacher, then it may not come as surprise when new regulations for the video game industry are rolled out after Constance Steinkuehler reports on her observations. Despite the addictive nature of video games, consumers and businesses of video games worked fine under the free market system. But socialists like Obama need to meddle into these kinds of affairs to make it more ‘fair’ and ‘right’.
Perhaps the addictive nature is exactly what the Obama Administration wants to use. Remember Karl Marx said that “religion is the opiate of the masses”? If Pres. Obama can make the American public buy into the belief that video games are now the modern tool to educate, it would be the perfect vehicle to reach the masses on his message of social justice.
That is the statist game: dictate what people can do, and force compliance. I’d much rather play a game called ‘Free Market Capitalism’ where people serve their fellow man by providing goods and services people want and need at prices people are willing to pay in a voluntary transaction. Do you think the White House Video Game Czar would create that game? The leftists in the White House don’t even understand how to play it.
What do you think? Do we need a White House Video Game Czar?


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The crucial US retail sales and inflation figures for May will be released at 13:30 BST today, June 14th, it will be followed by the long-awaited FOMC June rate decision at 19:00 BST and the press conference at 19:30 BST.
US CPI and core CPI has reached, and held above, the Fed’s 2% target since December 2016 and November 2015 respectively, however, both saw a decline since February 2017 partially caused by falling energy prices. Consensus for CPI and core CPI for May (YoY) are 2.0% and 1.9% respectively. If the figures released are better than the consensus it will likely provide USD support.
US retail sales (MoM) has seen a downtrend since 2016 December mainly caused by the decline in auto and petroleum sales. The April figure saw a 0.4% rebound. Retail sales excluding autos (MoM) also saw a downtrend since January 2017 with the April figure showing a 0.3% rebound.
Per the CME’s FedWatch tool the probability for a June rate hike has climbed to 99.6%. Regardless of the incoming retail sales and inflation data performance it appears to be a certainty that the Fed will announce a rate hike today. At present a September rate hike appears to be less likely as economic data over the past few months showing a slowdown. Besides, recent political turmoil also likely result in the Fed’s actions being less active. Per the CME’s FedWatch tool the current probability for a September rate hike is only 23.4%.
The Fed will continue monitoring economic data performance, labour market conditions and inflation pressure over the following months to adjust the future rate hike pace. If the US economy continues to show a slowdown with ongoing political turmoil then the next rate hike will likely happen after December.
US data performance, and the tone of the Fed’s statement, will be the major drivers of USD and gold strength this week. USD prospects currently remain moderately bearish. The dollar index has seen a 0.4% fall over the past three sessions. This morning, in early European session, it hit a 4-day low of 96.82, trading below the resistance level at 97.00.
Gold rebounded 0.85% since Tuesday after testing the significant support line at 1260, hitting a 3-day high of 1269.93 this morning. USD/JPY recovered the significant level at 110.00 on Tuesday. EUR/USD consolidates above the psychological level at 1.1200. GBP/USD has rebounded 1% since Tuesday, hitting a 3-day high of 1.2795 this morning.


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Nokia lowers Q2 outlook, promises WP7.5 smartphones in Q4
Nokia revised its smartphones and services outlook for Q2 and full 2011 and there is some good news and some bad news for investors and users alike. The company will generate substantially less revenue from smartphones and services in Q2, but Windows Phone smartphone development is going ahead of schedule.
With the sales Nokia's current portfolio apparently not going according to plan the company says that it won’t be able to achieve its target revenue of €6.1 billion. The estimated operating margin of 6% to 9% will obviously be out of reach for Nokia too with the revised forecast suggesting a breakeven quarter.
The company is so far away from its targets that it has given up on its full 2011 forecasts altogether. It says that it will do everything it can to arrest the fall though including some restructuring that should be able to save about 1 billion a year from 2013 on.
On the positive side, the development of the first WP smartphones carrying the Nokia brand are obviously going well and the company is getting increasingly optimistic that it will be able to launch them in Q4.
As you can see the partnership with Microsoft is now vital to the future of Nokia so we really hope it works out. The software giant has already brought its mobile platform a huge step forward with the Mango update so we now have to see if Nokia will deliver on the hardware end.Source
- Miracles are over
- 05 Jun 2011
Windows phone still needs room for improvement, and you really have to a believer that Microsoft will pull it right this time. So far WP hasn´t given any real proof. Few apps, and all the software is being developed for Android or Iphone. ...
- 03 Jun 2011
Wp7 is an amazing os for the smartphone. I use it all the time now and love it. I used android and apple, both can't hold water to wp7. Just everyone is so bias these days for apple or the droid. I think Nokia will do very well!
- 02 Jun 2011
Nokia isn't out for the count yet. Unlike the other companies, where market smartphone marketshare has to be fought for, Nokia, can simply create its own. Nokia is still a dominant force in the dumbphone market, and all they have to do is conver...


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FDA presses on repression regarding questionable diet supplement kratom
The Food and Drug Administration is splitting down on several companies that distribute and make kratom, a supplement with psychoactive and pain-relieving qualities that's been linked to a recent salmonella outbreak.
In a letter released on Tuesday, FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb gotten in touch with three companies in different states to stop offering unapproved kratom products with unproven health claims. In a declaration, Gottlieb said the business were engaged in "health fraud rip-offs" that " present major health risks."
Stemmed from a plant belonging to Southeast Asia, kratom is often sold as tablets, powder, or tea in the US. Advocates say it helps suppress the signs of opioid withdrawal, which has led individuals to flock to kratom in the last few years as a means of stepping down from more effective drugs like Vicodin.
Since kratom is classified as a supplement and has actually not been developed as a drug, it's not subject to much federal regulation. That means tainted kratom tablets and powders can easily make their method to keep shelves-- which appears to have actually happened in a recent break out of salmonella that has so far sickened more than 130 individuals throughout multiple states.
Extravagant claims and little scientific research study
The FDA's recent crackdown seems the current step in a growing divide in between supporters and regulatory companies regarding making use of kratom The companies the company has actually named are Front Range Kratom of Aurora, Colorado; Kratom Spot of Irvine, California and Revibe, Inc., of Kansas City, Missouri.
The claims these 3 companies have actually made include marketing the supplement as " extremely effective versus cancer" and suggesting that their products might help minimize the symptoms of opioid addiction.
There are couple of existing scientific research studies to back up those claims. Research study on kratom has discovered, however, that the drug taps into a few of the exact same brain receptors as opioids do. That stimulated the FDA to categorize it as an opioid in February.
Experts say that because of this, it makes sense that individuals with opioid use disorder are relying on kratom as a way of abating their signs and stepping down from more effective drugs like Vicodin.
However taking any supplement that hasn't been checked for safety by doctor can be dangerous.
The dangers of taking kratom.
Previous FDA screening found that a number of items distributed by Revibe-- one of the 3 business called in the FDA letter-- were tainted with salmonella. Last month, as part of a request from the agency, Revibe destroyed several tainted products still at its center, however the business has yet to validate that it remembered items that had actually currently shipped to stores.
Last month, the FDA issued its first-ever compulsory recall of kratom products after those produced by Las Vegas-based Triangle Pharmanaturals were discovered to be polluted with salmonella.
As of April 5, a overall of 132 people throughout 38 states had been sickened with the bacteria, which can trigger diarrhea and abdominal link pain lasting up to a week.
Besides handling the threat that kratom items could carry harmful bacteria, those who take the supplement have no trustworthy method to determine the correct dosage. It's also hard to discover a verify kratom supplement's full ingredient list or account for possibly hazardous interactions with other drugs or medications.
Kratom is presently banned in Australia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and several US states (Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, and Wisconsin). Throughout the US, a number of reports of deaths and dependency led the Drug Enforcement Administration to position kratom on its list of "drugs and chemicals of concern." In 2016, the DEA proposed a ban on kratom but backtracked under pressure from some members of Congress and an outcry from kratom advocates.


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Fiber, low-cost power has Microsoft building nearly 1.5M square-feet of data center space read more »
Advertisers can use a single interface to promote downloads of their mobile apps in other apps or directly from Twitter timelines read more »
Google approached the court in California to counter a Rockstar complaint in Texas against its Android partners read more »
Another 400,000 cards at subsidiary Aaron Brothers may have been affected read more »
It is the second major utility in a year to announce IT outsourcing read more »
The deal will help Samsung and GlobalFoundries provide an adequate supply of mobile chips read more »more news ..
Outsourcing Blogsmore blogs ..
Watch this on demand webinar which explores IT innovation, managed print services and business agility.
Check out our latest articles on Microsoft's next-generation operating system.
Join ComputerworldUK's editor in chief, Mike Simons, and Dell executives in a series of video discussions on how to respond to cyver criminals.
Following HP's dispute with Autonomy, we look back at other HP acquisitions in this Computerworld UK slideshow.
Outsourcing In Depth
Mittu Sridhara, CIO at the global leisure company, tells ComputerworldUK how he has overhauled IT operations to help TUI Travel become the first choice for holidaymakers read more »
You can't rely on finding the perfect hires, you have to develop your team read more »
Lacey Thoms, marketing specialist at Protecode read more »
The year customers get control read more »
Get it right the first time read more »
We revealed this week that DWP currently has just three IT staff working on the digital system read more »more in depth ..
Forbes came out with its list of billionaires, and techies make an impressive showing read more »
HP has acquired 116 companies since 1986. We take a look at how well, or badly, some of them have gone read more »
The IT job landscape is evolving quickly. Here's how to avoid IT extinction read more »
Demand for cloud architects on the rise as cloud computing jobs market goes berserk read more »more slideshows ..


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The sector of Tablet in difficult conditions for some time now, and despite attempts to "relaunch" the light is not seen at the bottom of the tunnel. Some of the most important companies seem to be gradually losing interest in this sector; others, however, continue to insist and launch new products. It is the case of Samsung is Huawei, two companies that continue to invest in the tablet sector.
Samsung is preparing to unveil the Galaxy Tab S6 while Huawei has two products in the pipeline: MediaPad M7 is Huawei MatePad Pro. However, according to a recent poster, the Chinese manufacturer plans to launch another tablet, which is called 10.4-inch MatePad.
The poster simply calls the tablet "Huawei MatePad" and suggests the presence of two color variations: white and gray. The poster shows that the main strengths of Huawei MatePad are the exclusive educational function, 2K full screen eye protection and a Kirin 810 chip. Also, the bezels of the tablet are significantly more subtle compared to what we used to see on the other tablets of the Shenzhen company. At the same time, the bezels appear to be thicker than the supposed image of the Huawei MediaPad M7, which could have a display with the now classic "hole". This tablet not equipped with a hole but it could be equipped with support for the Stilo.
Huawei MatePad 10.4-inch a tablet that in recent days has been affected by some "leak". The product is expected to cost 1799 yuan (around 233 euros). To power this device we will find a Kirin 810 processor with a maximum of 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory. This new tablet will have two versions, both WiFi and LTE, and a resolution of 2000 x 1200 pixels. It will also come with an 8 MP front camera and will use a USB Type-C interface, with Bluetooth 5.1 support. In addition, Huawei's new tablet will be equipped with a huge 7250 mAh battery.


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Pressat are pleased to confirm their distribution partnership with M2PressWIRE®, the third largest press release distribution service in the world operated by M2 Communications.
The partnership is aimed at providing a wider distribution arena for Pressat clients, targeting not only media in the United Kingdom but also coverage across a range of global distribution networks.
M2PressWIRE® is one of the most trusted newswires in the world, providing cutting edge
news to journalists and major partners such as Lexis Nexis, Financial Times, Comtex, Gale and many more trusted outlets.
Working closely with 3rd party distributors gives Pressat the competitive edge in comparison with similar providers.
Spokesperson for Pressat says:
"This partnership will increase media pickup for the newsworthy releases belonging to our clients. It will provide them with the publicity they desire."
Note to editors
Pressat was launched in 2012 into open BETA by two Graduates from the University of Salford.
Pressat has provided distribution services for national household brands to small startups across the UK.
Press release distributed by Pressat on behalf of Pressat Main, on Sunday 12 August, 2012. For more information subscribe and follow https://pressat.co.uk/


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Using higher level thinking skills to understand the 2012 presidential election.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
President Obama's ad "The Choice" presents the CRUX of the matter
The Obama campaign has produced an ad that calmly, without name-calling, lays out the focal issue of this campaign - the economy - and the choice the voter has to make. Barack Obama doesn't get any better than this.


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Schipul The Web Marketing Co. will open its first office outside Houston April 1.
The Houston-based company selected Operations Manager April Kyle to lead the new office in Sunnyvale, Calif.
“We feel like putting our operations manager out in the heart of Silicon Valley and counting on them to do what the Houston community did, (which was) underestimate us,” said Ed Schipul, president and CEO. “Even with rent and sales costs being double out there, with the advantage of a Houston base, we feel we can kick butt.”
Formed in 1997, the company developed online management software Tendenci and designs websites powered by Drupal.
Schipul grew revenue 12 percent last year and earned $2.5 million in revenue, not counting advertising dollars, according to Schipul.
Schipul said he is starting out in California the same way he started out in Houston, which will be a 600-square-foot office. His goal is to have between eight and 12 employees working in Sunnyvale and rotate some of his 32 Houston-based employees in and out of California.
Schipul estimates that 60 percent of the company’s business is Houston-based.


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Many consumers want to go organic nowadays. After all, people are becoming more conscious of their food choices.
The shift towards going organic is mainly because of the growing concern that individuals may end up with health problems because of accidentally consuming produce with traces of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
Indeed, there’s enough evidence on the negative impacts of chemical pesticides on human health. Take the example of paraquat. Paraquat is a widely used herbicide that’s been linked to an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease.
Several farmers and agricultural workers who had long-term exposure to paraquat have already filed paraquat lawsuits. According to their complaints, they were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease following chronic exposure to the weed killer.
With that in mind, it’s only natural for people to be more conscious of what they buy in the market. But what does the science say about organic farming?
Does it really do you and the environment a huge favor? Read the article to find out.
What are organic pesticides?
Organic pesticides are considered to be pesticides that come from things in nature that can be used to keep pests at bay. These natural sources include substances derived from plants, microorganisms, and minerals.
For instance, two of the most commonly used organic pesticides are neem and spinosad. Neem oil comes from the seed of the neem tree, which is commonly found in Southeast Asia. When this substance is applied directly to insects’ bodies, it can block their respiratory openings and cause suffocation.
Spinosad, on the other hand, is a selective insecticide that comes from a bacterial species. It can help in controlling a wide plethora of insects that attack vegetables such as thrips, caterpillars, and leafminers. It is a nerve and stomach poison that can kill pests that come in contact with or consume it.
Although they come from natural ingredients, that doesn’t mean organic pesticides are free from chemicals. It’s just that the chemicals come from mineral and botanical sources.
These chemicals, however, break down more quickly compared to synthetic ones and are thought to be less threatening. But all these don’t change the fact that they should still be handled carefully.
The active ingredients in an organic pesticide may come from a natural source, but these ingredients are still at much higher concentrations than how you’d find them in nature. After all, if they aren’t formulated that way, they wouldn’t be able to kill bugs and weeds.
The Debate On Organic vs. Conventional
Experts have been debating over organic versus conventional farming for years now. The decision to use organic or natural pesticides stems from an interest in protecting the environment. Widely seen as a more sustainable alternative with regards to food production, organic farming encourages reduced pollution and better soil quality due to the lack of fertilizer or pesticide use.
On the other hand, conventional agriculture has always been heavily criticized for causing soil erosion and water pollution because of synthetic fertilizer and pesticide use.
However, despite the numerous disadvantages of conventional pesticides, experts have recently found that their organic counterparts may not be completely free from fault as well.
In 2018, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology published a study in the journal Nature that revealed that organic peas grown in Sweden had up to 50 percent higher greenhouse gas emissions compared to peas that were conventionally grown in the country.
Soon after the study was published and got attention from several news outlets worldwide, many researchers came forward to criticize it. In a blog post, Andrew Smith, a chief scientist at the Rodale Institute, wrote that it was “irresponsible to extrapolate a global phenomenon based on two crops grown in one country over three years.”
More important than this debate, however, are the future challenges in the agricultural industry. It is estimated that by 2050, there will be a 59 to 98 percent increase in the demand for food because of the increasing global population. A major issue that the agriculture business needs to face is figuring out how to feed an ever-growing population while adapting to climate change.
Organic Agriculture And The Environment
It’s been assumed for years that natural pesticides, which have organic ingredients that come from natural sources, are better for the environment. However, research shows that this might not be the case.
Take, for instance, the organic pesticide, Rotenone. Rotenone has been widely used as a pesticide and piscicide in the United States for decades. Because it’s a naturally occurring compound that’s derived from the roots and stems of some subtropical plants, it was thought to be safe and organic.
However, studies have revealed that rotenone is dangerous because it attacks mitochondria, often referred to as the powerhouses of the cell. Research also found that exposure of rats to the pesticide reproduced features of Parkinson’s disease.
Furthermore, another study by Canadian scientists compared organic and synthetic pesticides on their ability to control a pest called the soybean aphid. They found that synthetic pesticides did a better job in controlling problematic pests. Aside from that, however, they also found that organic pesticides also caused an increased risk of death in non-target organisms like aphid predators.
It’s worth noting that other pesticides of the organic type may harvest better results than the ones used in the study. But this study shows that the assumption that nature is better for the environment may not always be the case.
What about organic foods?
Despite organic foods being more expensive than their non-organic counterparts, they’re becoming more popular among consumers. And it’s not hard to see why. After all, many people believe that organic food is far more nutritious.
Scientists have been comparing organic foods and non-organic ones for over 50 years now. However, research hasn’t found any solid evidence that organic products are healthier than conventionally grown produce.
Recently, a research project in the United Kingdom reviewed 162 articles on organic versus non-organic crops published in journals between 1958 and 2008. These contained a total of 3558 comparisons of nutrient content and other substances found in organic and conventional foods.
The researchers found no differences in the content of more than 15 different nutrients. These include beta-carotene, vitamin C, and calcium. There were, however, some differences between the two that were observed in the study, including:
- Conventional produce had higher nitrogen levels.
- Organic crops contained higher phosphorus and acidity
- In livestock products such as dairy, meat, and eggs, organic foods have higher levels of fats, particularly trans fats.
Organic Farming In Industrialized Countries
A lot of experts worry that the term “organic food” isn’t always properly regulated. For instance, in industrialized countries like the U.S., more large corporations are getting involved in the organic market.
Researchers say that this mainstream involvement has “led to the weakening of ecologically beneficial standards”. Experts also worry that in some countries, agribusinesses can farm without any biodiversity and still claim they’re organic. Meanwhile, the situation of organic agriculture in developing countries tends to be different.
For instance, in India, the organic farming practices that are observed are more on the traditional side. In emerging economies like India, organic farms grow a wide variety of crops at the same time. They grow crops that can naturally fend off pests and don’t use strong inputs like sulfur.
Experts maintain that in the ongoing debate over organic versus non-organic farming, more information needs to be at the consumers’ disposal when it comes to labeling and being well-informed about the certification processes in highly industrialized countries.
Why don’t we have more organic farms?
Organic farming has always been seen as the answer to a more sustainable world. But why don’t we have more organic farms? Or why can’t we just completely switch to organic farming?
According to a study conducted by scientists from Portugal and Austria, it’s not possible to feed all of humanity by 2050 just by completely switching to organic farming under today’s premises.
The work highlighted that since organic farming doesn’t concern itself with the use of synthetic fertilizers, it can’t possibly provide enough nitrogen for crops to be within everyone’s reach globally.
“The results clearly demonstrate that the complete transition to organic production in 2050, as presently practiced, leads to a lack of nutrients to produce the food needed to feed the world’s population regardless of dietary changes, ” one of the study’s researchers, Tiago Morais, stated.
Another reason is that organic food production has a lower productivity per yield. This means that it needs more space or more arable land is required to produce the same amount of food as conventional farming methods can achieve.
Furthermore, since more farmland is needed if organic farming is to be the way forward, the demand for more land means that there will be resulting environmental consequences. For instance, land-use change can cause loss of products made from timber or fiber. There will also be a loss of ecosystem services such as sequestered carbon in wildlife, soil, and biodiversity, among others.
To date, there’s not enough scientific evidence that we can abandon synthetic mineral fertilizers as nutrients for crops. Therefore, going organic all the way might still be a long shot for now.
The Bottom Line
The health concerns observed with the use of conventional pesticides are very concerning. As a result, more people are making the switch to organic products. This decision is fueled by people’s interest to avoid pesticide residue that may come with synthetic pesticides.
Some advantages come from organic farming methods. For instance, the efforts of organic growers to avoid monocultures, where too many of the same plant species are grown in a field at a time, deserve recognition.
Mixed planting and crop rotations are much better for the natural balance of soils. However, it’s not a fool-proof agricultural method. Many organic pesticides may be less toxic than their synthetic counterparts, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely safe or won’t inflict environmental harm.
As with chemical pesticides, organic pesticides are also formulated to kill a variety of pests. Therefore, even their active ingredients come from natural sources, these ingredients are still at a much higher concentration than how they were in nature.
With that said, you should still handle organic pesticides with care. Other organic proponents also argue that organic food is much healthier than non-organic ones. However, there’s not much scientific evidence to prove this as of date.


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Summer in February is coming to King County. On February 23, we’re celebrating “beach style” with Labor Prom at the IBEW 46 Hall in Kent. Stay tuned for more details…
Door Knock for Seattle Students and Educators
From all of us at MLK Labor, we wish you a happy holiday season and a New Years.
It’s inspiring to see the collective action being taken by Amazon tech workers around climate change. From Amazon to Google, tech workers are choosing to stand together to take on big issues—and they’re winning!


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More Canadians streaming television shows via Netflix
More and more Canadians are tuning into online movie streaming websites such as Netflix, but it has not impacted traditional television viewing as feared, according to a report published Thursday.
The percentage of Canadians that subscribed to Netflix grew from 10 percent in 2011 to 17 percent in 2012, while the number of Canadian basic television subscribers increased by one percent to 12 million, according to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)'s annual report.
Canada's population is 35 million.
"More Canadians than ever are watching and listening to content on their computers, smartphones and tablets, yet the vast majority of programming is still accessed through traditional television and radio services," CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in a statement.
The amount of time spent watching television was down only slightly from 2011, averaging 28.2 hours per week, according to the report.
Collectively, Canadians watched 931.3 million hours of television per week, nearly half of which were Canadian programs.
Meanwhile 33 percent of Canadians also or instead watched Internet television, typically about three hours per week, up slightly from the previous year.
Over the coming months, the CRTC will hold public consultations that could lead to an overall in the way Canadians watch television and the prices they pay for cable or satellite television services, with new regulations to follow.
No changes are expected that would impact online movie and television streaming services, after the CRTC twice rejected calls requiring Netflix to buy a broadcasting license, which helps fund Canadian productions.
In an interview with CBC Radio last week Blais commented that broadcasting is changing and will never be the same.
He noted that almost every Canadian household once had a television set in their living room, but now the trend is moving fast toward on-demand video content that is available on various devices, including tablets.
Other facts from the CRTC annual report:
— more than two out of four Canadians owned a smartphone and more than one out of four owned a tablet in 2012;
— Canadian families spent an average of Can$185 each month on communications services;
— Canadians downloaded an average of 28.4 gigabytes (GB) and uploaded 5.4 GB per month; and,
— there were 27.9 million Canadian wireless subscribers versus 11.9 million traditional telephones at home.
© 2013 AFP


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ADVO Inc. filed a $10 million federal lawsuit Thursday, charging that two Philadelphia newspapers and their parent company engaged in unfair trade practices to lock the Windsor-based marketing firm out of the Philadelphia advertising market.
ADVO, a direct-mail and marketing services company, accused The Philadelphia Inquirer, its sister paper, the Philadelphia Daily News, and their parent company, Philadelphia Newspapers Inc., of "illegal predatory and monopolistic trade practices."
ADVO charged that when it expanded its operations in the Philadelphia area last fall, The Inquirer and the Daily News began offering ADVO's customers free or deeply discounted ads and quoted low prices to distribute ad circulars with the papers.
The goal, ADVO alleges, was to preserve the papers' dominant hold on the Philadelphia advertising market and ultimately drive out ADVO.
With the competition out of the way, ADVO charges, the papers planned to sharply raise their ad rates.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, asks an immediate order halting the newspapers' abusive tactics, pending a full hearing on the charges.
ADVO also seeks $5 million in actual damages and $5 million in punitive damages, said David M. Stigler, ADVO vice president and general council.
Attempts to reach officials of the defendant companies for comment were unsuccessful late Thursday .
ADVO and media companies often compete with each other to deliver advertising to homes and businesses.
But Stigler said this is the first time the company has gone to court over a competitor's actions.
Robert Kamerschen, chairman and chief executive officer, said ADVO had to protect its rights.
"We accept strong competition as a natural and even positive environment," he said in a statement. "However, when a competitor goes so far over the line as The Inquirer has, we have to defend
ourselves under the law of the land.
"We hope that the message will be clear that we will stand up to protect our rights.


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DELRAY BEACH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WANTS THE COMMUNITY TO #KEEPLOCALSAFLOAT!
The Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce asks the community to Keep Locals Afloat. Delray Beach is home to thousands of locally owned, small businesses. Most of these small businesses have suffered during the pandemic.
“The COVID-19 crisis has been tough on everyone. We need our community to come together to support our locals and keep them afloat during the summer months”, explains Stephanie Immelman, Interim CEO at the Delray Chamber.
The Chamber is urging the community to make a special effort to visit one of our local attractions such as the Putt N Around or Delray Yacht Cruises. If you are putting off travel, plan a Staycation at one of Delray’s unique hotels. Delray Beach has something for everyone including boutique luxury at Crane’s Beach House, spa pampering at the Seagate or downtown vibes at the Hyatt Place. The Fairfield Inn & Suites has now opened and the Opal Grand (formerly the Delray Beach Marriott) is welcoming visitors. Maybe it is time to visit Delray’s newest hotels the Aloft and the Courtyard by Marriott.
Tessa Hodge of Courtyard by Marriott stated, “We were happy to host our fellow Chamber Members for the Keep Locals Afloat photo shoot and highlight our rooftop pool and bar. Our hotel and The Reef Rooftop Bar is open for business. We encourage everyone to visit Marriott.com to learn more about the safety protocols and cleanliness standards that we have implemented to keep guests and associates safe. We look forward to welcoming everyone back. “
Delray’s restaurant scene is always booming, even at the current at 50% occupancy rate. Delray Beach’s restaurants are following all CDC regulations to keep their patrons safe and healthy.
But the savings are not limited to tourism offers. Many of our Chamber members are offering discounts, special rates and free consultations on everything from loans to cleaning services, dental visits, business services and even face masks.
All of these specials can be found at www.DelrayBeach.com/Float
Support your community and buy local.
Share your photos and stories with us on social media using: #KeepLocalsAfloat
About the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce:
The Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce is comprised of nearly 800 businesses and professional firms working together to make the Delray Beach area a better place to live, work, and play. For nine decades, the Chamber has served as the hub of business where stakeholders intersect with government, technology, health care, education, economic development, tourism, arts, culture and non-profit interests. The Chamber’s long-time business owners coupled with new up and coming entrepreneurs create a vibrant business landscape. In fact, it is one of only 300 chambers in the country that is accredited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, placing it in the top three percent of all Chambers in the United States. For more information, call 561-278-0424 or visit www.delraybeach.com.


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The nation’s Quick-moving client items (FMCG) business continued to witness a consumption slowdown within the September quarter, with rural markets registering a better decline in volumes in comparison with the three months ended June, says a report.
Additionally, shoppers continued to favor buying smaller packets amid firms climbing costs in response to broader inflationary pressures, in keeping with the report launched by knowledge analytics agency NielsenIQ on Thursday.
The FMCG business witnessed an total quantity decline of 0.9 per cent within the September quarter compared to the previous three months.
This was the fourth consecutive quarter with unfavorable quantity development for the business and is “attributed to the double-digit worth development for the previous six consecutive quarters,” the quarterly FMCG business report mentioned.
Rural markets recorded a quantity decline of three.6 per cent within the September quarter compared to a decline of two.4 per cent within the June quarter.
“The consumption decline within the rural markets continues to be led by each double-digit worth will increase and decrease unit development,” the report mentioned.
Throughout the identical interval, city markets recorded an 1.2 per cent enhance in volumes.
This development was led by the meals section with a 3.2 per cent quantity development whereas the non-food section had a decline of three.6 per cent within the September quarter.
Nonetheless, the report mentioned the Indian FMCG business continued to have a price-led development in topline, with a an 8.9 per cent development within the July-September interval in comparison with the earlier quarter.
“Quantity and worth gross sales of FMCG are above pre-Covid ranges” of March quarter of 2020 because the “markets have opened up utterly post-pandemic,” it added.
Shoppers continued to favor smaller pack sizes. For the business “common pack dimension development is unfavorable in July-September 2022, as shoppers carry on shopping for smaller packs,” the report mentioned.
“Most of those new product providing is by way of modifications in pack dimension. This may very well be the results of producers working with smaller grammage as uncooked materials costs are nonetheless excessive,” the report mentioned.
In the course of the September quarter, quantity degrowth at conventional commerce channels corresponding to kirana and neighbourhood retailers deepened by 2 per cent in comparison with the June quarter.
Fashionable commerce channels corresponding to hypermarkets, supermarkets and malls “stay resilient with double-digit worth (22.2 per cent) in addition to quantity (11 per cent),” the report mentioned.
As per the report, small producers and high 400 FMCG gamers are driving the consumption with constructive quantity development of 0.5 per cent.
“They’re additionally gaining each worth and quantity share in final 2-3 quarters when checked out sequentially,” it added.
NielsenIQ Managing Director India Satish Pillai mentioned that whereas the strain of inflation continues, there have been variations in rainfall throughout rural areas within the nation which have additionally led to a softening of indicators for rural markets.
This sentiment additionally exhibits up within the cautious behaviour of the retail commerce, he added.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Rupee Hits A New Report Low Of 83.30 Per Greenback


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From the announcement:
Hawk Wargames is excited to announce Dropzone Commander: 2nd Edition!
The current Dropzone Commander system is highly regarded and we are working on bringing you a new edition that retains its excellent core mechanics whilst improving many aspects to reflect warfare in the 27th Century.
We are in the stages of alpha testing the proposed changes and a closed beta will also take place with our Hawk Talon scheme. We expect a release in Q4 2017 with a release date announced closer to the time.
2nd Edition will bring balance to existing units and enhance a player's collection, not invalidate it. We want every unit to be playable. New units are in development which will be previewed over the next few months.
Beasts of War have interviewed Dave and they will have a video for you on Monday with more details including proposed changes and even more new artwork, including this incredible Archangel squadron!
Make sure to spread the news by sharing this post and let us know in the comments what you're looking forward to in the new edition.


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In a previous blog post, I wrote that the need for camera stores would continue to erode — not at all a difficult guess.
But that need has erroded at remarkable speed.
It’s not just the product that has changed. The method of delivery has also quickly evolved, often rendering the “camera” obsolete.
With the bankruptcy filing by the parent company of Wolf Camera, we are about to see the end of an era. The Wolf brand was required in basically every grocery-anchored center of note. Now, that space has essentially been replaced with a phone store, a product with a significantly different customer, one not loyal to the shopping center as much as to the product itself.
The demise of the camera store should give each of us pause to evaluate whether we, and our companies, are keeping up with technology, whether we and our industries are being made obsolete, and whether the narrowness of our focus has stifled any meaningful growth.
These are critical considerations, if our businesses do not have the clear loyalty of the customer. Analyzing the product and its desirability are important, particularly as better cameras and service likely would not have meaningfully helped Wolf.
This bankruptcy is, unfortunately, but one of a series of likely events to continue. We’ve seen the industries evolve in books and music and now with cameras. We’ve lost Circuit City and Borders and others.
The Wolf filing is not likely the last.


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Successful year offers motivation for epeaswitzerland
06 December 2022 12:41
Albin Kälin has every reason to look back on 2022 with enormous satisfaction. After all, he himself and the organization he founded in 2009, epeaswitzerland, have both been showered with an assortment of international awards. The team and Kälin have claimed ten awards to go alongside acclamation and recognition for their commitment to the circular economy.
Kälin himself was named Best CEO of the Year by the publications M&A Today, Global 100 and Lawyer International, while CEO Today Europe named him Leader of the Year in the area of manufacturing. At the CEO Awards of Business Worldwide Magazine, Kälin received two awards, as the most innovative CEO in the worldwide textiles industry and for his leadership role and contribution to sustainable production processes. Moreover, Fortunes Crown has now also recognized Kälin as one of the most inspiring CEOs of the year.
In the Fortunes Crown cover story dedicated to Kälin, his sights are already firmly set on the future. After having been regarded as something of a rebel for more than two decades and experiencing headwinds because of this, the recognition he has enjoyed in the more recent past has meant that Kälin is now benefitting from tailwinds. As such, things are “moving faster with less energy”, he explains. However, epeaswitzerland is not resting on its laurels following the success seen in recent years. Instead, its website has just been completely updated, with the focus now on the network of trust covering around 1,000 partner companies including the supply chain that has been established on the back of numerous implemented projects. In this way, the successful work of epeaswitzerland will be continued in the coming year on an even broader basis.


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Amazon Prime dates back to 2005. Amazon has had 15 years to establish and refine its perks.
Recode reported that Walmart’s members-only subscription service will launch in July. The launch will bring about a number of perks for early adopters, many of which seem tailor-made to compete with Amazon’s Prime subscription service. But because it has not yet launched, the benefits of the Walmart+ program are far less sketched out.
Here’s a look at how the two subscription services compare. We will update this article as more details are released about Walmart+:
View original article here Source


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Tesla followed the Annual Shareholder Meeting with a company update from Tesla CEO Elon Musk:
Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory went from a “dirt pile” to volume production within 15 months, expected to one day produce a million vehicles per year.
Model Y’s journey to volume production was “the smoothest launch” Tesla has ever had.
Tesla is the first automaker in over a hundred years to develop production vehicles and become profitable.
Tesla introduced the lowest-cost Solar Roof on the market, which will become a “major product in the future.”
Four consecutive quarters of GAAP profitability.
Factor in the value of autonomy when valuing TSLA.
50% worldwide vehicle delivery growth in 2019.
Tesla published an extended impact report.
Tesla’s factories are safer than the industry average.
Autopilot functionality continues to improve: with Autopilot engaged, average collisions drop to 0.3/million miles as opposed to the industry average of 2.1/million miles.
3 new Gigafactories: Shanghai, Austin, Berlin.
Battery Day coverage forthcoming, with “truly revolutionary” technology that’s fundamental to Tesla’s goal of a sustainable future. (Tesla is taking a short break prior to starting the presentation.)
Only Used Tesla: The BEST Place to Sell a Tesla for TOP Dollar.
firstname.lastname@example.org Made in USA. Get OUT!


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In other words, the software giant is now comfortable enough to recommend that the Skype universal app is fully usable for all, and you should be fine using it as your main client (as opposed to the traditional Skype desktop app which is the only choice for those on non-Windows 10 machines).
It also makes some useful changes to the interface, such as new keyboard shortcuts when it comes to messaging, and a redesigned layout for group video calling.
Furthermore, it’s now possible to search Skype chats for specific messages – which could be a very handy feature. Plus you can switch over the camera and/or microphone, or indeed the device you’re using, while making a Skype call on-the-fly.
- The Dell XPS 13 is choice hardware for using Skype
In other Microsoft-related happenings, MS Power User also spotted the release of a new standalone Windows Hello camera which allows users to benefit from this secure login method if their Windows 10 machine doesn’t come with an integrated camera.
The peripheral is made by Mouse Computer and one of the chief attractions is that it’s affordably priced at $70 (around £55, AU$90) – other third-party Windows Hello-compatible cameras have been considerably more expensive to date.
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And a final note in our mini-Microsoft news roundup: the company has hit the headlines because, according to the Verge, over at the China Development Forum, Tim Cook was present and Microsoft provided the Apple CEO with a Surface Pro 4 to use at a session.
Haha,All the SP4 there in Development Forums,even Tim Cook has to use it. pic.twitter.com/WB90mMW0JnMarch 20, 2017
It’s not clear what Cook did with the hybrid, or whether he actually used the device, but the latter is doubtful to say the least. Particularly given his previous comments regarding Microsoft’s convertibles – a couple of years back, he accused the Surface Book of “trying to be a tablet and a notebook and [succeeding] at being neither”.
- Will you be using Skype for Windows 10 on the imminent Surface Book 2?
Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).


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LifeVantage announced its financial results for the second fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2020.
The report detailed revenue of $59 million, an increase of 7.6% sequentially, and a 3.6% decrease compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2020. Adjusted EBITDA was consistent sequentially and increased 12.6% to $6.7 million compared to the year prior.
“We are proud to report continued earnings momentum with 31.6% adjusted operating income and 12.6% adjusted EBITDA growth while we saw modest declines in revenue of 3.6% compared to the prior year period, the highest quarterly revenue in the company’s history and 7.6% sequential revenue growth over the first quarter of fiscal 2021,” said LifeVantage Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Steve Fife. “We saw positive momentum from our virtual convention held in October which reached an estimated 20,000 participants in 18 countries. At the convention we launched limited time expanded Axio flavor offerings, featuring 6 new flavors and a new digital tool called ITT, aimed at standardizing the education and training of new customers and distributors. We saw strong adoption of the ITT system and a successful response to promotions launched in the quarter driving enrollments.”
The company maintained a strong balance sheet with $19.7 million in cash and no debt incurred. Total active accounts for the company increased 1.2% sequentially to 174,000, but declined 4.4% when compared to the prior year period.
“As we look to the second half of fiscal 2021, we are excited for the initiatives we have in place, including the timely addition of new products to our portfolio in Q3 and Q4, innovative digital tools to aid our Distributors in customer retention, and the expansion of our virtual training platforms to develop the leadership of our Distributor base,” Fife says. “We remain on track to meet our 2021 expectations and are confident in our business model as we continue to execute alongside the current pandemic. We are proud of the LifeVantage team and are focused on driving growth while delivering shareholder value.”
Additional highlights for this period include the repurchase of 365,000 or $4 million of common shares and the appointment of Steven R. Fife as President and CEO and member of the Board of Directors.


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About 72% of smart phone users say they would be likely to recall an advertisement that contained a QR code, according to a recent study by Baltimore advertising agency MGH. Of course, that’s just people who own smart phones, which is only a fraction of the overall population (about 27% according to Comscore).
Recalling an ad with a QR code in it is one thing. Actually using the barcode is quite another. According to the survey, only 32% of smart phone users say they’ve used a QR code. Of those that have, they tend to use them to enter contests or to access extra information or other content.
In short, this data shows that: (1) consumers are interested in interacting with advertising that bears a QR code – thus, the promise of additional benefits in the form of deals, coupons, videos, sweepstakes, social media interactions, etc.; and (2) QR codes can help an ad break through the clutter by increasing the chance it will be remembered, great news for advertisers who have already integrated a QR code strategy into a traditional advertising campaign or are looking to insert them in a future campaign.
QR Code Survey Results and Executive Summary via mghus


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Now if you are a crorepati and big fan of handmade Swiss watch, chances are you will fancy this handmade phone as well. Vertu, the luxury phone maker which till recently was part of Nokia, has launched its first Android powered smartphone, called Vertu Ti, in Singapore with a huge price tag of Rs 5.64 lakh to Rs 11.78 lakh.
This is the first Android smartphone from Vertu. It comes with a 3.7 inch display, a dual-core 1.7 GHz processor, Android 4.0, 8 megapixel camera, NFC and 64 GB of storage. It is handmade with precious elements that make it super special.
The Vertu Ti has titanium casing with leather accents as well as a 3.7-inch display made from sapphire crystal. Each handset is also signed by the craftsman who made it.
The cheapest Vertu Ti, the Titanium Black Leather version will retail for about Rs 5.64 lakh, while the Titanium Pure Black will go for Rs 6.77 lakh and the Titanium Black Alligator is even more expensive at Rs 7.48 lakh. But the most expensive crown goes to Black PVD Titanium Red Gold Mixed Metals Ti which will retail for a whopping Rs 11.78 lakh.


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Tyler Drake made thousands of dollars helping people decorate their houses for Christmas this year, but he didn’t spend a dime on himself.
Instead, he donated gifts to Toys For Tots, a non-profit run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve that distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas.
“I like the feeling of being able to help people,” said Drake, an electronics technician in the U.S. Navy, currently stationed in Coronado.
Drake decorated about 25 houses all over the county from Oceanside to Chula Vista to Coronado.
Drake took the $2,000 he made decorating and leveraged it into $3,000 worth of toys, by teaming up with different employees at Toys ‘R’ Us to use employee discounts.
He also brought some little helpers. “I had my little sisters run through Toys ‘R’ Us, choosing toys they would like,” said Drake.
He then took gifts to Toys For Tots, all on his own, even donating 20 of the toys to the Coronado Fire Department.
“There’s so many out there that could use a little help trying to make their kids’ holiday a lot better,” added Drake.
Drake is stationed in Coronado for one more year, and plans to raise money again next year with the help of his command.


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By now, you’ve probably heard that the 2017 Disney Infinity line of toys was discontinued in February 2017, but now you know why: a new report from Engadgets has revealed that the company had spent $102,500 on a handful of toys for the next-generation of the line, and some of those toys were made in China.
The report, which was first reported by Bloomberg, revealed that Disney spent a whopping $102 million on three sets of new toys, but the biggest purchase was a set of “blue and white” toy figures for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie.
That set of toys included a lightsaber, a stormtrooper helmet, and an AT-AT walker, and a number of them were made by toy-maker Buckyball.
The figures were made for around $1,500 each, but they were made to resemble the new characters and were expected to sell out.
Buckyball’s website indicates that the figures are set to release on May 19, but it’s not clear if those figures will be available online or in stores.
The site also lists a number the toys are expected to have retail sales, but not a retail price.
The toys were originally scheduled to hit shelves on June 18, but those dates were pushed back to June 24, 2018.
The toys in question were also made by a third company that is rumored to have a partnership with Disney.
Toys R Us announced in December that they will be producing three new Disney Infinity toys for Disney Infinity 4.0, and they include the first three toys in the line that Disney made with Buckyballs.
The toy sets are made of plastic and feature blue and white plastic figures.


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David Savastano, Editor05.15.13
There are quite a number of printed electronics manufacturers who have made the leap from the lab to pilot production. The next step is to bring their product into commercialization, which takes a great deal of effort, both in terms of finding the right markets and upsizing their company.
ISORG is successfully navigating the path to commercialization. Founded in May 2010, ISORG, or Image Sensor Organic, in partnership with CEA-LITEN, the French Laboratory of Innovation for New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials, introduced the Magic Pad in 2011.
The Magic Pad a flexible organic photo-detector array demonstrator that can transform glass and plastic into smart surfaces. Potential applications include consumer electronics, interactive packaging, home appliances, industrial displays and games. By mid-2011, ISORG had caught the eye of designers, and was developing its own manufacturing line on Grenoble, France.
Now, two years later, Laurent Jame
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Flutterwave, the payment company founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, has just raised over $10 million in a series A funding round. Greycroft Partners and Green Visor led the new funding round with existing investor Y Combinator and new investors like Glynn Capital.
Flutterwave is building underlying unified payments infrastructure for African businesses to accept card, mobile money, and bank account payments.
In a year of operation, Flutterwave has garnered 10 banking partners across Africa and processed over 14 million transactions worth $1.5 billion in the last 12 months.
According to an official blog post, the new capital will be put into hiring more talent, build out global operations and fueling rapid expansion across Africa.
On January 27, 2021, Techpoint Africa will be hosting the brightest minds in decentralised finance/crypto at the Digital Currency Summit tagged “Building the money of the future” Click here for more details, registration and sponsorship.
Report: Millionaire West African startups” raised over $1.806 billion between 2010 and 2019, 97.9% of which went to Nigerian startups. Get a free overview and 50% purchase discount here.
Listen to Built in Africa, a podcast by Techpoint Africa


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Toyota has announced plans to increase prices for three nameplates entering the 2017 model year.
The biggest jump is tied to the Toyota 86, formerly known as the Scion FR-S. The mid-cycle update delivers revised styling, upgraded interior materials and a retuned engine. The extra horsepower is limited to the manual version, which now fetches $27,120 (including $865 freight) — an increase of $950, or 3.8 percent, over the 2016 model year.
The Corolla has also been updated for 2017, celebrating the model’s 50th anniversary with a few aesthetic tweaks and new safety systems. The entry-level L trim has been adjusted upward by $600 to $19,365, while the top XLE and XSE packages have been discounted by $370 and $445, respectively.
The Corolla iM hatchback is also set for a price bump following its rebranding from the Scion iM. The six-speed manual edition now commands $19,615, while the CVT variant starts at $20,355.
The 2017 Toyota 86 and Corolla iM will arrive in showrooms this month, while the Corolla is slated to launch in early September.


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Developing Analytics Startups in India in 2019 - Techiexpert.com
25 April 2019 8:18 AM GMT
India begins to highlight its spontaneous growth and development in the number of analytics startups over the previous counting years. From the mentioned earlier year, numerous analytics startups have been covered that are functioning in the areas of healthcare, fashion, real estate, agriculture, facilitating lending decisions, emotional intelligence, voice-based solutions, hybrid TV powered by Artificial [?] More
- This initiate brings us the fact that India has developed as a startup nation, with a robust ecosystem permitting the startup founders and professionals to bring across the innovative solutions in advanced analytics and give a head-start to their ventures.
- The company has analysed 160-billion miles of driving data in order to prevent lives and money for fleet management firms, insurance companies, and customers.
- It has further built a neoteric AI-powered technology platform for fleet businesses, automobile companies, insurance firms and consumers to contribute active insights about driving behaviour on the road, ensuring a safe and reliable drive.
- Pentation analytics, as an InsurTech and Big Data Analytics company, looks after analytical services to the BFSI industry, with its core product Insurance Analytics Suite.
- These products bring forward the use cases such as advanced analytics across the value chain, machine learning based scores at an individual policy level, acquisition through Self-quote generation and more.


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Emcee’s around the world are competing for the “top crown” again this year, sending in their hardest 16’s for consideration by rap legends and a live audience.
The competition began on April 17th and stopped taking submissions on April 21st. During the contest entry period, participants were asked to upload their best rap performance video using the “Shook Ones” instrumental to Youtube, Instagram, or Facebook with one of the hashtags #ShookOnesChallenge, #Hot97Contest or #TopShelfFreestyle. In phase one, their raps were judged by battle rap phenom Loaded Lux and chosen finalists advanced to the next round. Freestyles were judged based on criteria of lyrical delivery and wordplay, originality, and quality of performance.
Tonight, the four finalists selected have been invited to compete in a live stream competition on Instagram at 9 pm. Rappers will have to present entirely new material over the “Shook Ones” instrumental beat. The public — YOU — can vote for your favorite cypher and score the same earlier criteria as Loaded Lux in phase one. Voting opens immediately after the live stream event!
The grand prize winner will receive a prize of $500 and will be announced by Loaded Lux on Saturday, April 25th.


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The 2019 Subaru Tribeca will be a 7-seat mid-size crossover. This SUV is beginning the new Viziv-7 platform. While fans made certain that company dropped the third row from its vehicle, Tribeca is coming again with similar styling. Nevertheless, considering that we understand that Viziv idea is utilized, there won’t be a lot more surprises. In 2016 this platform had a premiere at Los Angeles car program, and ever since fans are waiting to see it in production. They don’t need to do it for much longer given that the time is near.
From principle to a production model in just 2 years– that is the life of a brand-new idea. The 2019 Subaru Tribeca will come in not more than a year. Professionals forecast its launching at the biggest car program in the world, in Detroit. While its premiere will be in 2018, this is going to be 2019 year model. That season will bring lots of other mid-size crossovers, such as Jeep Grand Cherokee and VW Touareg. Base cost for the SUV will start at $30,000. We still do not know which trim levels will be offered. However, Tribeca will use a version for all tastes.
Drivetrain for the 2019 Subaru Tribeca is still a secret. The loudest rumors are informing about a 3.6-l system, which produces energy for Outback. We make certain that fuel unit will be standard. On the other hand, diesel and hybrid are still doubtful. Especially after VW scandal, diesel units are not so popular. Contrary, hybrids are attractive nowadays, however expensive to establish. A V-6 will be enough for start, and Subaru can constantly include options. Transmission is 6-speed automobile, and SUV utilizes AWD as the alternative to standard FWD.
The Viziv idea is 205 inches long and 80 inches large, which ought to be dimensions of 2019 Subaru Tribeca. Although it is mid-size SUV, the vehicle seems to be large. However, there are possible modifications, and some experts believe that crossover will cut the wheelbase variety. This will be the second generation of the vehicle, which should bring many novelties. Update on the control panel and control panel will present new systems. Safety parts are now on a greater level, making this SUV an outstanding family car.


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South Shields named among the top places in England for a pub crawl, beating national favourites including the Leeds Otley Run and London's Monopoly Run
and live on Freeview channel 276
According to events organisers Hen Weekends and Stag Weekends, the town deserves to rank among a select group of top locations to head to, based on the number of number of bars available.
And while it may not have the most overall, analysts ruled it did come close to topping the table compared to other areas surveyed, with an impressive average of 60 pubs and bars per 10 square miles.
Sinia Jazwi, landlady of The New Cyprus Hotel, in Chichester Road, was not surprised by the results, with her premises hosting regular events and packed with punters every weekend.
She said: “We are overwhelmed to be a South Shields pub in the heart of the community after opening in a pandemic.
"We are proud to be a South Shields pub renowned for an amazing busy pub with a great atmosphere that is very affordable.”
Other publicans at some of the town’s best-known hostelries were more shocked by the findings, but equally thrilled by the results, such as Edward Hilton, of the Sand Dancer.
He said: “I'm surprised it's been listed in a poll for pub crawls, the coast is a beautiful location and we tend to see people head down and stay for a few hours enjoying food, drinks in the sun and our live music.
"The trade has changed a lot in the past few years and we open early for breakfast and coffee, and our food trade has doubled.
Chris Lincoln, general manager at The New Sundial, was also pleased with the analysis.
He added: “We’re thrilled to hear that South Shields is such a top location for a pub crawl.
“The result has come as a surprise, although with such a strong community and beautiful coastline, we can understand why people want to venture out and enjoy the pubs and bars South Shields has to offer.”
According to Ahrefs data, the search term “pub crawl” is believed to receive an average of 2,600 searches every month in the UK through search engine Google.
In the USA this almost triples to 6,600 for the Americanised term “bar crawl”.
Alicia Curry, of Hen Weekends & Stag Weekends, said: “In many smaller towns across England, they’ve adapted massively to their dwindling number of high street shoppers by focussing on offering experiences in the forms of restaurants, bars, and pubs - the type of retail that you can’t quite replicate at home.”
“England already has many infamous pub crawls, such as the Otley Run in Leeds and the Monopoly Run in London, but it appears that our smaller towns and cities are equally as good and probably much cheaper to take part in.
"I expect to see many more well-known crawls set up over the next few years, dotted around the country.”
Top 10 pub crawl locations according to number of pubs and bars per 10 square miles:
Huddersfield - 65
South Shields - 60
Shrewsbury - 56
Portsmouth - 54
Bath and Norwich - 52
Bristol - 50
Oldham, Liverpool and Darlington - 49
The top five friendliest pubs in South Shields include:
Harton Hop House – 4.8 rating from 57 Google reviews
The Look Out Inn – 4.8 rating from 40 Google reviews
The River View – 4.7 rating from 177 Google reviews
The Steamboat – 4.6 rating from 572 Google reviews
The White Horse Inn – 4.6 rating from 200 Google reviews


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Tesla Motors has decided to place its Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada, where it has already laid a foundation for the factory, news that was first reported by CNBC.
Tesla said via an email that the company is looking forward to joining Nevada state officials for a "major economic development announcement" Friday in Carson City at 4 p.m.
Elon Musk's electric-car maker and the state are still negotiating specifics of the contract, CNBC reported, citing an anonymous source inside the Nevada governor's office.
The company in July began clearing an area in in Sparks, Nevada, just outside Reno. Musk had said that the company would begin work on several sites in the fives states that had been considered for the Gigafactory — California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. It has not yet been confirmed whether the company will continue to develop the Sparks site or if it will pursue a different location.
While the news ends the recent competition between the five states to nab the 6,500 high-tech manufacturing jobs that the plant promises to bring, Tesla has said it must build multiple Gigafactories to meet demand for lithium-ion batteries.
Musk has said that the plant will cost around $5 billion once it's completely operational and that it will comprise about 10 million square feet. Running at full capacity, the factory will produce 500,000 battery packs a year, enough to match what the entire world produces today. Musk needs the factory's titanic economies of scale to reduce by 30 percent the cost of the lithium ion batteries its cars use.
Tesla's sky-high production expectations are key to the company's long-term strategy. Musk wants the company to expand from producing only $70,000 luxury vehicles and begin building enough $35,000 Model III sedans to make a dent in the market for lower-priced cars.
In order to do this, Tesla needs to build a whole lot of much cheaper batteries.
Nevada is home to the only lithium mine in the U.S. The Gigafactory will use around 25,000 metric tons of the mineral each year — around a fifth of the world's capacity. Supplying the Gigafactory is expected to raise demand for lithium in the battery industry by about 50 percent, and demand in the overall market by 20 percent.
With the Gigafactory, Musk aims to transform the domestic manufacturing, automotive and energy industries, less than 20 years after co-founding PayPal, the online payments business that made him a billionaire and forever changed the landscape of the Internet industry.
Sarah Drake contributed to reporting this story.


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Aminul Islam, a Bangladeshi labor rights activist and former apparel worker, was tortured and murdered in early April in Dhaka. His body, which bore signs of brutal torture, was dumped outside of the capital city and was found by local police. Labor rights organizations in Bangladesh and the United States say the killing is associated with Aminul’s work on behalf of apparel workers who sew garments for suppliers to major U.S. retailers and brands.
U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) issued a statement condemning the murder:
“I am deeply troubled by this development and call on the Bangladeshi authorities to conduct a full investigation into Mr. Islam’s murder. Workers do not have even the most basic labor rights if they can be killed with impunity for trying to improve their working conditions.”
Aminul had worked for several years as a labor rights organizer and advocate. His organization, the Bangladeshi Center for Worker Solidarity, is among the most prominent labor rights groups in the country. Levi Strauss called BCWS “a globally respected labor rights organization that has played a vital role in documenting and working to remedy labor violations in the apparel industry in Bangladesh.”
The BCWS was featured in a recent ABC TV News story (watch it below) exposing the relationship of Tommy Hilfiger and other U.S. brand clothing to a sweatshop factory fire in Dhaka that killed 29 workers last year, and describing the repression of labor rights advocates.


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The Commerce Commission has recommended major petrol suppliers face a wholesale pricing regime and have their supply contracts regulated in order to improve competition in the wholesale fuel market.
This comes after a market study confirmed the fuel industry is not as competitive as it should be - and that Kiwis pay too much for petrol.
Among a raft of recommendations in a near 600-page report the watchdog is also regulating wholesale supply contracts to give resellers more freedom to compare offers and switch suppliers.
In response to the findings out this morning, Minister of Energy and Resources, Megan Woods said: "This is about breaking the big fuel companies' stranglehold on supply and getting more competition into the market to benefit consumers."
The study found a lack of competition in wholesale markets and the Government would be introducing the best options to increase competition at a wholesale level, which will filter down to the retail market and prices on the forecourt.
"A more competitive wholesale market means that low cost brands, like Waitomo and NPD, would be able to access cheaper fuel and pass these benefits onto consumers. Other retailers would be forced to adjust their prices or risk losing customers," Woods said.
The report also found that fuel dealers and distributors have limited ability to switch suppliers due to restrictive terms in their contracts and the Government would look to introduce a mandatory industry code to regulate the conduct of participants in the fuel industry.
The Government will now take the commission's recommendations to Cabinet with a view to swiftly implementing changes, such as:
• A more transparent wholesale pricing regime
• Greater contractual freedoms and fairer terms to facilitate wholesale competition
• Introducing an enforceable industry code of conduct
• Improve transparency of premium grade fuel pricing
But National says the Government is squarely to blame for Kiwis being "fleeced" at the petrol pump, having milked $500 million out of motorists in just two years through its fuel tax hikes.
National's transport spokesman Chris Bishop said New Zealanders were being ripped off at the petrol pump and it is the Government which is picking their pockets through all the fuel tax hikes it has introduced these past two years.
The extra revenue it has collected from increased fuel excise. For example, road user charges and the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax has already hit $565 million or $319 per household.
"Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is the fleecer-in-chief. Her Government's tax grab will hit $1.7 billion once further tax hikes -already passed into law – take effect down the line," Bishop said.
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said the commission's report confirmed concerns that consumers were paying higher prices for petrol and diesel than could be expected in a competitive market.
The Government would look at requiring retailers to display both regular and premium petrol prices on service station price boards.
"I'll be encouraging retailers to make those changes as soon as possible."
Faafoi also saw merit in adding premium fuel prices to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's current monitoring of regular grade petrol and diesel margins so consumers have a better awareness of price trends.
"The report has found there is action required in several key areas and the steps we're going to take to address these will make the retail fuel market fairer for all New Zealanders."
Graphic: Chris Knox, data provided to the NZ Herald by Gaspy
The Commerce Commission's recommendations include introducing a Terminal Gate Pricing (TGP) regime to increase trading opportunities for importers and resellers and regulating wholesale supply contracts to allow greater contractual freedom for retailers to compare offers and switch suppliers.
This means the major fuel companies, including Z Energy, BP and Mobil, will be required to offer a spot price at which they will sell fuel to wholesale customers at storage terminals.
The commission warns that it considers ''a credible threat of further regulation if a TGP regime does not facilitate competitive wholesale prices within a reasonable period of time'' would provide incentives for the majors to offer competitive prices.
''This type of regulatory intervention is likely to be lower cost and with a reduced risk of unintended adverse consequences compared to regulated participation in infrastructure sharing arrangements or price control.''
In Australia, the terminal gate price is the price at which fuel companies sell tanker loads of to wholesale customers from seaboard terminals on a spot basis. The minimum amount that can be bought is 35,000 litres.
Australia BP says that by comparing retail prices with terminal gate prices, customers can judge whether they think a service station is charging a fair mark-up.
The Commerce Commission also recommends that the Government regulate to require retailers display premium petrol prices on price boards to better enable consumers to compare the available prices of premium fuels without needing to drive into a station to check the pump price.
Regulations are also urged to require fuel cap or fuel flap stickers specifying the minimum octane level required to avoid customers buying premium fuel for their vehicle when they don't need to or inadvertently buying regular petrol when their vehicle needs premium.
All wholesale contracts should be written in clear and concise language and include a transparent cost-based pricing clause, the commission said.
"We have identified several factors we consider are hindering competition and contributing to these high returns.
"In our view, the core problem is that an active wholesale market does not exist in New Zealand. This is weakening price competition in the retail market."
"The combination of infrastructure sharing and restrictive supply relationships gives the major fuel companies an advantage," commission chair Anna Rawlings said.
"There is a reduced ability for importers to compete for customers of the majors and for distributors and dealers to obtain competitive wholesale supply terms."
The regulator's market study found the country's fuel retailers may be earning close to $400 million a year in excess returns, and few expect any reduction in profitability any time soon.
Analysis of the capital employed by the firms showed their average returns have consistently exceeded the commission's estimate of their weighted average cost of capital since Shell sold its local business in 2010.
However, Z Energy, BP and Waitomo Group all challenged the Commerce Commission's claims that a lack of competition in the fuel sector is delivering participants excess returns.
Z Energy, the country's biggest fuel retailer, argued there were a number of inaccuracies in the commission's draft findings on profitability, including a misrepresentation of Z's 2016-2018 rate of return as about 22%, about double Z's independently reviewed calculations of about 11%.
Following the release of the report shares in Z Energy rose 1% to $4.99, trimming their loss so far this year to about 8%. Z had been an advocate for the type of terminal-gate wholesale pricing the commission has recommended.


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A swarthy, James Bond-type figure slips silently inside through an
open window and silently places a box of chocolates — and a rose — by a
beautiful, sleeping woman. For over 30 years, nothing was too much
trouble for the Milk Tray man, whether it required leaping from a moving
train or diving off a cliff into dangerous waters.
Such a specimen of good health must have had a strong heart. Perhaps he snaffled some of the box’s contents en route?
Recent studies have found that chocolate — specifically dark chocolate — is actually good for the heart.
Scientists have discovered that bacteria in the gut react to
dark chocolate and make it 'healthy'. Once consumed, the chocolate is
fermented into useful anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for the
heart. Results suggest that adding fruit to dark chocolate could boost
this fermentation process.
And this is only the beginning. The US National Heart, Lung
and Blood Institute plan to trial a chocolate pill to tackle heart
disease. The aim of the study is to see whether there are health
benefits from chocolate's ingredients, minus the sugar and fat.
At Eurest, we look at healthy eating from a viewpoint of
loving food, rather than just ticking boxes. This means that our menus
are delicious first and foremost — and also happen to be healthy.
As part of Compass Group UK & Ireland, we’ve signed up to
the Department of Health’s Responsibility Deal, reducing salt and
saturated fats in our menus without losing that all-important great
What’s more, hundreds of our workplace restaurants display
nutritional information next to each meal so customers can make an
informed choice about what they’re eating. We’ve introduced Know Your
Food boards too, giving our customers additional information about
health and wellbeing as well as other important facts around ethical and
We leave the roses and danger to the Milk Tray man; we show
how much we care by giving you everything you need to make healthy and
Roberts, M (2014), ‘Gut bacteria turn dark chocolate ‘healthy’’ BBC News [Online], http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26626507, (Accessed 25 March 2014).


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How to spot the cute kitten with an earring
A pet store employee was justifiably worried about the quality of the cats and dogs inside her pet store.
The employee was so concerned about the kitten that she called the police.
The cat and dog was discovered with earrings on.
It wasn’t the first time a pet store worker has called the cops about an ear-ringed kitten.
A year ago, a pet shop worker called police about a kitten with a gold-colored necklace.