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In December 2017, the French Association Attac staged a protest in Paris Apple Store. In January 2018, the Corporation filed for activists in court, according to the Agency France-Press.
The second December 2017, supporters of the French Association of civil support to the taxation of financial transactions, Attac — broke into the Paris Apple store Opera. They distracted the guard, handcuffed themselves to railings at the entrance to the premises and shouted slogans: “We’ll stop when Apple pay”. Three hours after the start of the protest arrived at the scene the police detained about 100 protesters.
Fourth December 2017 the Department of Finance of Ireland and Apple have reached an agreement and made a schedule of payments to 13 billion euros in tax revenues. The trial lasted from the end of 2016, when the European Commission decided that the Corporation received unreasonably low tax rates in Ireland and ordered the country to collect the unpaid fiscal payments.
The second December 2017, the participants of Attac is not the first time I tried to force Apple to pay taxes. Before to organize a major protest action, representatives of the Association wanted to thwart the start of sales of iPhone X in France. Then they scattered fresh apples the largest Apple Store in Paris. The action was accompanied by slogans: “It’s not the best birthday iPhone for evasion of taxes.”
Apple representatives claim that met with members of the Association and asked to stop the demonstration due to security reasons. Apparently, these measures have not led to success. In early January 2018, Apple asked the court to prohibit the supporters Attac closer to the Apple Store and other corporate objects of the company. The Corporation also claims the activists caused damage in the amount of three thousand Euro and was ordered to pay a fine of 150 thousand euros.
“Such protests have jeopardized the safety of our employees and customers,” — said the press service of Apple.
Supporters of Attac are outraged by the lawsuit:
“This is an attempt to put the ball and prevent the implementation of the new civil demonstrations, to continue to evade taxes”, they say.
Follow the news of the Apple in our Telegram-channel, as well as in the app on iOS MacDigger.


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Over the past few years, the set-top box industry has been nothing short of a disaster. In addition to Digeo, makers of the Moxi DMR, cutting its workforce in half and ditching most of its products, TiVo — the world’s most popular DVR company — lost almost $48 million last year, easily eclipsing the company’s $34 million loss in 2006. And with cable companies offering the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD for only a few dollars each month, most companies are forced to sell set-top boxes for practically nothing.
With that in mind, AHT has announced the release of its first open source set-top box. Dubbed Tribbox, the device will run you about 310 euros ($453) and can be plugged into any existing home network via Ethernet. But unlike its competitors, the Tribbox is designed with both consumers and OEMs in mind. According to the company, companies can develop a full-fledged set-top box with the pre-installed Linux OS, and because it’s an open-source device, consumers can create a GUI and an “embedded system, media center, car entertainment system or whatever!”
Of course, the company is also quick to mention that the Tribbox is not necessarily a set-top box, noting that it doesn’t include a hard drive out of the box. Instead, you’ll be forced to find your own SATA hard drive and connect it with the help of the included cables.
Regardless, can an open source set-top box survive and succeed in an environment where companies are practically forced to sell devices at a loss just to compete?
Sure, the Tribbox may cost almost $400 less than the TiVo, but it’s still over $400, and the chances of someone buying this device are slim when a well-known and well-received device like the TiVo is sitting right next to it. And if you’re lucky, you might be able to find that same TiVo much cheaper on Amazon.
Sadly, we’ve entered a stage in this industry where the set-top box may only be revolutionized by large companies that have the money to invest in research and can afford to charge much less than TiVo. Is the Tribbox idea a good one? To some extent. But are people truly willing to pay that much for a device that won’t even work the way they want it to out of the box and requires Linux and developing knowledge as a pre-requisite for use?
Try as it might, the open source set-top box is dead in the water until it can create a compelling reason for us to consider it. Until then, enjoy your TiVo.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who covers everything from Google to HDTVs. He currently writes for over 15 popular technology publications, including CNET’s Digital Home, InformationWeek and Future Publishing in the UK.

domain: news


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There will be no Special Edition Mustangs in 2005; Ford
doesn't need the buzz to move them this year. They are considering other
special editions in the future, including a Boss, Mach 1, Bullitt, and
California Special, though the Bullitt and Mach 1 are less likely because
they have already been done recently.
There will be no SVT products in 2005. The 2007 SVT Cobra design will be
unveiled March 23, 2005 at the New York Auto Show. There will be a Shelby Mustang in the
future, but not in 2005.
Trend reports in the March 2005 issue that the Shelby Mustang will be
released as a 2007 model and will be powered by the Ford GT's 550-hp
supercharged 5.4L 4V V-8. It will not have IRS as previously planned, but
a "beefed up" live axle.


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10 Millionth Mustang Shatters Sports Car Record Ford To Celebrate
Love is the answer, so I know you don't mind that we lost your data.
Checking for possible updates on
Dude, there was a gigantic robot walking around in the Keys according to online reporters.
How about this?
In the news
Ford CEO Hackett reassures investors of EV plans as it pours money into electric F-150, ‘Mustang-inspired’ crossover
(May 2019) The company has already announced two EVs it plans to introduce next year: a fully-electric F-150 pickup and a “Mustang-inspired . to sell by 2029 from 15 million to 22 million. Japan-based Toyota
Council rejects Robideaux request for $18 million in library funds a second time
(May 2019) Instead, the council doubled-down on an April decision to place before voters Oct. 12 the transfer of $10 million in library funds to roads . a booth made out of the front of a real classic Ford
Mustang Bio’s first-of-a-kind CAR-T starts trials
(May 2019) “Multiple myeloma accounts for 10% of all blood and bone marrow . said it made $247 million in Empliciti revenues. Mustang also announced this week that it had raised $32 million in a public
Larson holds off Harvick for Monster Energy All-Star $1 million
(May 2019) Kyle Larson is a million dollars richer after holding off Kevin Harvick . With a huge push from Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang after a restart with 12 laps left, Larson surged into the
The Story of How the P-51 Mustang Almost Made the Ultimate Comeback
(May 2019) The A-10 Warthog cost almost $19 million apiece. Nonetheless, a modernized Mustang was a curious choice. The P-51 had made its reputation in 1944–45 as an air-superiority fighter that was fast
Mustang Set To Become A Mini-Sarepta On Bubble Boy Miracle Cure; Fortress Along For The Ride
(since Apr, 2019) Mustang being valued at 10% of Sarepta is not an unreasonable target . Assuming its treatment saves 100 babies a year at $700,000 each, $70 million in revenue, which should translate to $60
Mustang Bio Announces Pricing of Public Offering of Common Stock
(since Apr, 2019) April 30, 2019 10:01 ET | Source: Mustang Bio . Assuming the full exercise of the over-allotment option, gross proceeds would be $31.6 million. Mustang intends to use the net proceeds from the
17 April, 1964 was a momentous day for the automotive world. On that day, at the World’s Fair in New York, Ford unveiled the first-generation Mustang . .
Ford rolls out 10 millionth Mustang – Fenton Tri County Times
(months ago) Ford rolls out 10 millionth Mustang Fenton Tri County Times
The iconic Ford Mustang rolled out its 10 millionth car at Ford’s Flat Rock facility in Dearborn on Wednesday, Aug. 8, adding fuel to the popularity of this .
Ford Mustang hits 10 million mark – Automotive News
(months ago) Ford Mustang hits 10 million mark Automotive News
Ford marked production of the 10 millionth Mustang last week, a mega-threshold only crossed by about 25 nameplates.
The Ford Mustang was a revelation when it was first launched, capturing a new spirit of freedom, and 54 years later it’s just as important.
Ford sold a massive 113,066 Mustangs in 2018, making it the best selling sports coupe of the year and further enforcing the fact that it is one of the most .
Ford Mustang celebrates 55th birthday – Automotive Blog
(since Apr, 2019) Ford Mustang celebrates 55th birthday Automotive Blog
The Ford Mustang is 55 years old – and the iconic muscle car has plenty to celebrate. Ford claims the Mustang is the world’s best-selling sports coupe for the .
Ford Marks Production Milestone of 10 Million Mustangs – Tires & Parts News
(months ago) Ford Marks Production Milestone of 10 Million Mustangs Tires & Parts News
Ford marked the production of the 10 millionth Mustang with celebrations at the company’s headquarters and at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant.
Photos: Ford unveils iconic Mustang in 1964 | Archives – Madison.com
(since Apr, 2019) Photos: Ford unveils iconic Mustang in 1964 | Archives Madison.com
On April 17, 1964, Ford Motor Co. unveiled the Ford Mustang at the New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows.
The Greatest Ford Mustangs of All Time – RoadandTrack.com
(months ago) The Greatest Ford Mustangs of All Time RoadandTrack.com
Ford has built 10 million Mustangs since 1964. It’s time to revisit the history of one of America’s greatest cars.
With this Autoblog buyer’s guide, we aim to help you make an educated decision about whether to buy the 2019 Ford Mustang.


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The struggle between the United States and the People’s Republic of China is deepening, as evidenced by a letter from the United States Senate calling on the Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to ban all athletes from using the digital yuan.
The letter, signed by three senators, namely Marsha Blackburn…
UBS Group AG, a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company are intensively dealing with the issue of digital assets.
The first online media platform to draw attention to this information from people familiar with UBS’s plans was Bloomberg, who confirmed that the Swiss bank was exploring several investment…
The world-renowned multinational technology company Microsoft also seems to be showing interest in Bitcoin, which conducted a customer survey for its Xbox division about the possible addition of Bitcoin as a payment method.
This information was first published by a reddit forum user named Jebusura, who took part in the survey and also did not forget to take a screenshot.
As you can see in the photo the third question was, “which of these other payment methods would you like to use on Xbox (select all that apply)?” and one option was Bitcoin.
The survey immediately sparked a heated debate, but it is no wonder, because last statistics say that Microsoft’s online gaming service has nearly 90 million active users per month (April 2020).
Shanghai-based researchers at Hurun have prepared a new “Global Rich List 2021” that has not forgotten the crypto billionaires.
According to this report, there has been a net increase this year of 17 crypto billionaires, who owe their wealth mainly to the establishment and ownership of crypto exchanges, hold or…
Although interest in cryptocurrencies and advanced technologies such as Blockchain is currently increasing worldwide, the Hong Kong government is enforcing a law restricting trade in cryptocurrencies.
The legislative proposal, which was published on the official government website, was presented last November and, after three months of consultation, is being transformed…
Tesla is currently under the scrutiny of journalists, who are coming up with other information that is closely related to the recent investment in Bitcoin. …
Analysts at Arcane Research released today a chart monitoring the first trading day on CME ETH Futures, which tracked volume and open interest.
In this chart we can see that only on the first day of trading it exceeded the trading volume of $ 30M, specifically $ 31M. As for the open interest, it was recorded at $ 20M.
In terms of trading terms, each monthly contract contains 50 ETHs, which in current terms is almost $ 88K. Investors must also take into account the minimum trade size, which is set at 5 contracts.
Despite the global outbreak of COVID-19, which was behind the March slump in all financial markets, 2020 was the best year for cryptocurrencies to date.
Even though only Bitcoin was mostly talked about, it is probably not surprising that Ethereum achieved significantly better results than BTC.
If you belong to the category of traders that was already here during the first bull run, you will certainly remember the countless altcoins that tried to follow this wave.
Only time has shown which of these projects were able to fulfill what they promised and found real application.
The sad news is that up to 83% of these altcoins have failed to do this, and compared to their ATH, which they reached in 2018, they are in heavy minus to date, averaging -90%.


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The Bank of Jamaica has partnered with an Ireland-based tech firm for its central bank digital currency project scheduled to begin in May.
Jamaica is the latest country making concrete efforts towards issuing its own sovereign digital currency.
According to a press release by the Bank of Jamaica on Tuesday, eCurrency Mint, a cryptography security company specializing in central bank digital currency issuance has been selected as the technology provider for the sovereign digital currency project.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Jamaica’s central bank invited technology solution providers to submit applications for its CBDC project back in July 2020. At the time, the BoJ clarified that its planned sovereign digital currency would not be based on crypto technology.
Based in Ireland, eCurrency Mint is reportedly working with central banks and other international finance organizations to develop protocols for CBDC design and implementation.
As part of the announcement, Jamaica’s central bank revealed that the CBDC pilot will commence in May under the aegis of the BoJ’s Fintech Regulatory Sandbox. ECurrency Mint will support the central bank in testing protocols during the pilot stage scheduled to be completed by December.
The Ireland-based tech outfit will also serve as Jamaica’s CBDC provider when the full national roll-out commences in early 2022. According to previous statements by the BoJ, the CBDC will be available for both individuals and businesses as a payment means similar to cash.
Like many countries in the Caribbean, Jamaica has somewhat liberal crypto and blockchain laws with regulated entities like the nation’s Stock Exchange participating in cryptocurrency trading.
The BoJ is one of the Caribbean central banks currently working on CBDCs. Back in October 2020, The Bahamas became one of the first countries to officially launch a sovereign digital currency.
Regional CBDC efforts are also ongoing with the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union working on a blockchain-based sovereign digital currency project.
Outside the Caribbean, Asia’s largest economies are accelerating their CBDC development projects. Multiple banks in China have issued digital wallets for the country’s digital currency electronic payment project.
In Japan, the central bank is leading a public-private partnership to examine proof-of-concept protocols for a possible digital yen. Earlier in March, Kuroda Haruhiko, governor of the Bank of Japan, said that the country must work out modalities for issuing a CBDC.


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In Cambodia, a court has prevented Donaco’s former partners in Star Vegas from terminating the casino’s 50-year land lease.
In a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange, Donaco stated that the Banteay Meanchey Court of First Instance had granted an injunction preventing, Lee Hoe Property Co -owned by shareholders Somboon Sukcharoenkraisri, Techatut Sukcharoenkraisri and Bhuvasith Chaiarunrojh – from ending the lease.
The company stated that it previously had obtained a separate court injunction preventing the three shareholders from illegally competing with Star Vegas in Poipet in breach of the sale agreements for the property, and is seeking to claim $190m in damages from them.
In the Northern Mariana Islands, Lu Hou Tsai, SVP of operations for Imperial Pacific Holdings, has confirmed that construction of the hotel portion of its Imperial Pacific Resort on Saipan is advancing.
“This project will go through. We are working diligently to get the hotel up, because once the hotel is up, that will further assist us in increasing our cash flow,” Tsai stated, speaking to the gaming media.
He stated that the company’s plans to build a 350-room hotel and 15 villas are moving forward.
As a condition of its casino licence, Imperial Pacific is required to complete an “initial gaming facility” at the property – including a minimum number of hotel rooms, a gaming area, food and beverage outlets, a retail component and meeting space – by no later than the end of August.
In Korea, foreigners-only casino operator, Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), saw casino sales increase 16.7 percent year-on-year in May on the back of strong table games results.
GKL, a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, operates two casinos in Seoul and a property in Busan under the Seven Luck brand.
Casino sales reached KRW40.6bn ($37.9m) for the month, up year on year from KRW35.8bn in May 2017 and showing a 2.7 percent rise on April’s figures.


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Hopes of uniting Stella and Bud look all at sea
The £26billion tie-up between two of the world's biggest beer brands is under intense pressure.
Sources claim a £800million break-fee is the only glue keeping Stella owner InBev and Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Budweiser, together.
As market conditions deteriorate the attractiveness of the deal is fading and a penalty payment would be triggered if either side walked away.
InBev chief executive Carlos Brito has staked his reputation on creating the world's largest brewer. The collapse of the deal would be a major embarrassment.
Only here for the beer: But the sands of time are running out on the deal
But with the closing date fast approaching, fears are mounting the heavily indebted deal will either fail or have to be renegotiated.
InBev has already been forced to postpone plans for a £5.5billion rights issue, where existing shareholders would have been offered new stock at a discounted price.
The gap in the funding has been filled with expensive short-term debt and a well placed industry source says senior InBev executives are privately questioning the logic of pushing ahead with the acquisition in the current climate.
'They want to get out of it,' said the source. 'But they don't want to pay the break fee.'
Belgium based InBev has already been hit by a double whammy of freefalling stock markets and the financial sector meltdown.
Its last trading update disappointed and its shares have halved in value to €27.6 in the past six months.
One analyst, who did not want to be named, reckons the deal may have to renegotiated, or canned altogether.
'If the (InBev) share price gets absolutely dumped then the numbers don't stack up,' he said.
'While shareholders have voted this through the board still needs to be able to turn up in front of them and argue that the deal will be earnings enhancing within three years. If they can't then it's a pretty crappy deal.'
Some investors suggest InBev may choose to part finance the deal with its own shares instead handing £26billion of cash it can ill afford, or try to persuade Anheuser to accept a lower offer.
A spokesman for InBev denied there were any problems with the deal: 'We will complete this deal and no question of us walking away.'
Anheuser shareholders will vote on whether to accept the takeover offer next month.
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Thankful for local businesses
Today, we continue our series on thankfulness with a word of gratefulness to our local businesses.
They do a lot for us.
According to Michigan State University’s Center for Community and Economic Development, small businesses:
∫ Create two out of every three new jobs in the U.S.
∫ Circulate more money back into the local economy than do national chains.
∫ Contribute more to local charities than do national chains.
∫ Add community character and uniqueness and increase choices for consumers.
∫ They also tend to have a smaller environmental footprint than the big chain stores.
Today is Shop Local Saturday, and we hope you’ll join us in showing your appreciation for local businesses by shopping at a small, locally owned business.
That’s the best way to pay them back for all they’ve done for us.
(THE ALPENA NEWS)


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Hot on the heels of their opening of Una Pizza Napoletana, Jeremiah Stone and Fabian von Hauske Valtierra are looking to Essex Crossing. The duo behind Contra and Wildair on the Lower East Side have filed for a beer and wine license at 115 Delancey St. and confirm they are planning a project in the Market Line, the 40-vendor food market slated to open as a part of the sprawling Essex Crossing project.
This filing, under LLC name Cubmare, is a redo of their failed effort to open a wine shop on Orchard Street. The plan there had been a shop featuring the wines of their former wine director Jorge Riera, who is now at Tribeca hot spot Frenchette. Riera is no longer involved in this project.
The former plan had been for a store, but this filing is for a beer and wine license. Stone and Von Hauske Valtierra declined to provide any further details, but the meeting on June 11 will reveal more.
The news comes as Market Line reveals a few more new vendors: pickle shop the Pickle Guys, doughnut store Doughnut Plant, Lebanese nut shop Castania Nut Boutique, and juice shop Substance Vitality Bar.
The Market Line is part of Essex Crossing, one of nine buildings with over 1,000 new residences, over 400,000-square-feet of office space and 450,000-square-feet of retail spaces total, connected by a new park, bike paths, and green spaces. The Market Line itself will also have two indoor parks. Other previously confirmed vendors in the Market Line include Veselka, Nom Wah, and Ends Meat.


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In what has become a seemingly weekly ritual, a series of problems cropped up across the city during the morning rush, including signal issues and a train with mechanical problems.
NYS Entity Status
NYS Filing Date
APRIL 04, 2014
NYS DOS ID#
NYS Entity Type
DOMESTIC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
2014 - JD GONZALEZ TRANSPORT, LLC
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Friday Jun 9, 2017
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Friday Jun 9, 2017
Richard Liu, the CEO of JD.com, described at The Wall Street Journal's D.Live Asia tech conference how he wants to use drones and artificial intelligence to grow the Chinese e-commerce company.
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Monday Jun 19, 2017
Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Michael Gonzalez on President Trump’s new approach to the Castro dictatorship. Photo credit: Getty Images.
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On the streaming service Shudder, foreign series like “Jordskott” and “Penance” offer a classic psychological dread that’s in short supply on American TV.


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Visitors at the Expo 2020 Dubai. Kamal Kassim, Gulf Today
The UAE Embassy in Austria has organised a virtual symposium entitled ‘Tourism between the UAE and Austria’, in which a group of senior officials in the tourism and aviation sectors participated.
Tickets to Expo 2020 Dubai are now on sale, and among the plethora of reasons to book a season pass for the world’s biggest cultural gathering is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the historic, invite-only opening ceremony.
The 10th Middle East Retail Forum held on Nov.24 witnessed the confluence of the region’s top retail leaders to discuss the unveiling of tomorrow’s retail experiences.
Raja Al Mazrouei, CEO of Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE’s Federal export credit company, praised the success of the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which took place in Abu Dhabi from 26 February to 1 March 2024. Raja Al Mazrouei said:
The UAE said that its production will remain at 2.912 million bpd until the end of June 2024. Afterwards, in order to support market stability, these additional cut volumes will be reversed gradually subject to market conditions.
The third edition of Investopia (Investopia 2024), held over the course of two days, 28 and 29 February in Abu Dhabi, ended on a high note after


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Downgrade for Lloyd Webber
THE poor outlook for West End shows has led to a credit downgrade of Andrew Lloyd Webber's theatre company.
Moody's of the US has cut its ratings on £47m bonds issued by Really Useful Theatres. RUT is a 50/50 joint venture between the composer and life peer's Really Useful Group (RUG) and buyout firm Bridgepoint Capital.
RUT runs 13 theatres, including the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the London Palladium.
It bought out rival Stoll Moss in a £150m deal in 2000, before 11 September hit takings. RUT, which had £100m sales last year, is also a top ticketing agency.
Moody's says the 13 theatres have been less full and ticket prices have been lower than it expected.
RUT managing director Andre Patzkinski agrees that it faces a 'nasty blip' next summer. Audiences for shows such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang could fall off before new blockbusters kick in.
Patzkinski says London theatres had a record 12m visits last year - more than Broadway. He said: 'Musicals are as popular as ever, but theatre is an inevitable pattern of hits and misses.'
Lloyd Webber founded RUG in 1977. His hits include Evita, Cats and Jesus Christ Superstar. >He is working on a new show based on Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, due to open next year.
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PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP August 15, 2017
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP PROTECTS AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
“Enforcing intellectual property rules alone could save millions of American jobs.” – Then-Candidate Donald J. Trump
INVESTIGATING THEFT: Today, President Donald J. Trump is taking the first step to ensure we protect American innovation and the intellectual property (IP) of American companies.
- President Trump is signing a Presidential Memorandum to direct the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to examine whether China should be investigated for unreasonable or discriminatory policies that may harm American IP rights, innovation, or technological development.
- President Trump and his Administration have a strong commitment to protecting the IP of Americans and ending the illegal theft and transfer of IP to foreign nations.
- USTR will analyze issues raised by the Presidential Memorandum and consult with Government agencies and advisory committees to determine what action, if any, is appropriate.
- While there have been serious and consistent allegations of a problem with China and IP theft, President Trump is not prejudging the inquiry and USTR will decide whether to launch a formal investigation and, if so, whether action should be taken and what that action would be.
CHINA PROFITS FROM AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: Reports suggest that China has greatly benefited from the theft of American IP, in some cases forcing American companies to transfer their innovation to benefit China.
- According to the 2017 update to the 2013 report of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property (IP Commission Report) released by the National Bureau of Asian Research, Chinese government policies lead to the theft of American IP.
- China uses restrictions such as joint venture requirements, equity ownership limitations, opaque administrative processes, and other practices aimed at the transfer of United States technology to Chinese companies.
- China has gained unauthorized access to the computer networks of United States businesses for commercial purpose and, on a number of occasions, has stolen firms’ commercial information.
- According to the Department of Homeland Security, China, including Hong Kong, accounts for 88 percent of seized counterfeit goods coming into the United States.
- According to the United States Chamber of Commerce, 86 percent of all counterfeit goods worldwide come from China and Hong Kong.
- According to the United States Chamber of Commerce, the equivalent of 12.5 percent of China’s exported goods are counterfeit.
AMERICA AND ITS WORKERS SUFFER: IP theft directly harms the American economy and American workers.
- American workers and companies are directly harmed by theft of IP, which has caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damage to the United States economy.
- The IP Commission Report estimates that the annual cost to the United States economy from IP theft could be as high as $600 billion.
- According to the IP Commission Report, China is estimated to be responsible for between 50 percent and 80 percent of all IP theft costs that harm the United States economy.
- The United States economy and labor markets depend on American innovation and productivity; the scale and persistence of IP theft directly threatens the economy.
- The 81 industries designated as IP-intensive accounted, directly and indirectly, for 45.5 million jobs in 2014, representing 29.8 percent of all jobs in the United States.
- • As General Keith Alexander, former Director of the National Security Agency, put it: the ongoing theft of IP is “the greatest transfer of wealth in history.”
A PROMISE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE: President Trump is following through on his promise to the American people to protect their IP so they can benefit from their innovation.
- Then-candidate Trump said, on August 8, 2016:
“Just enforcing intellectual property rules alone could save millions of American jobs. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, improved protection of America’s intellectual property in China would produce more than 2 million more jobs right here in the United States.”


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Consumers who access content via TV networks' web sites are more likely to remember and consider the brands that sponsor that content, and they also have higher levels of engagement with streaming or downloaded video on network sites, and are more likely to view those same shows on regular television, according to a report by Knowledge Networks.
The report, entitled 'How People Use TV's Web Connections', found that sponsorship of network TV web offerings is a potentially powerful opportunity for marketing companies, while also offering significant benefits to TV networks and stations themselves.
Among the company's main findings:
- Nearly half (49%) of TV network website viewers say that sponsorship of the streaming or download of an episode would increase their consideration of the sponsoring brand;
- Users of streaming or downloaded network video also are significantly more likely than internet users overall (30% against 22%) to buy from companies that advertise on their favourite programmes.
- TV networks also benefit from offering streamed or downloaded videos, as 78% of viewers of these say that being able to watch episodes online increases their involvement with the programme;
- 25% of viewers of streaming or downloaded network TV videos say they are watching a regular TV programme more often because of what they have watched on internet video.
Building viewer equity
According to David Tice, vice president of custom research for Knowledge Networks, "We found that, for the most part, features on network and programme web sites are building equity with programme viewers, for both the TV networks and their advertisers. And while this data indicates a good start to sampling the networks' revamped websites and internet initiatives, there is much room to grow this cross-over TV/web audience."
The report is part of the company's ongoing service, The Home Technology Monitor, which combines annual surveys of media technology ownership in the US with other reports on devices and services.


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Bridging the digital divide amongst underserved communities is essential to giving everyone in the nation equal access to critical communications networks.
According to Verizon’s latest initiative, the telecommunications company has created a way to make reliable, high-speed internet more accessible to those in underserved communities who meet financial assistance requirements through Verizon Fios Forward.
A news release shares the Fios Forward program was first offered to new customers back in April 2020, and generates much faster and more equipped internet services, unlike traditional home Internet assistance programs. It also offers eligible customers a discounted rate for faster internet service.
The goal of the program is to rid customers of unreliable internet providers who limit their access to quality home internet, which often lacks speed and the capacity to handle more than one user’s demands.
This has become an increased issue over the last year due to many citizens working from home and students participating in at-home learning.
As we enter a much more dependent digital phase, reliable internet is required to sustain livelihoods from the comfort of people’s homes.
“Our guiding principle is that we create the networks that move the world forward. Far too many families will be left behind if their home Internet can’t keep pace with today’s demands for learning and work,” said Frank Boulben, SVP-Consumer Marketing & Product at Verizon, in a statement. “We know the impact connectivity has on advancement, so we’re extending Fios Forward to support digital inclusion and help create opportunity with affordable access to high-performing broadband Internet.”
Boulben continued with his sentiment stating broadband internet connections don’t solely define how citizens can be a part of an inclusive digital future, but access to quality connections determines who is able to keep up with our ever-evolving world.
In creating this effort, Verizon has committed to redefining what digital inclusivity means for society, supporting digital inclusion initiatives, and providing people with the skills and resources they need to thrive in this digital age.
According to the company, its latest efforts build upon Citizen Verizon — the business plan responsible for economic, environmental, and social advancement — which strives to help under-resourced communities close the digital divide for more than 38 million students across 40 states and the District of Columbia.
For more information on Verizon’s digital inclusion initiatives, click here.


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It looks like Microsoft’s last optional update, Windows 10 KB4535996 has caused a lot of trouble for those who installed it. We reported last week that some users are complaining about BSODs, random freezes while trying to install the latest optional update and as a result of that, the KB4535996 update failed to install. But what is worse is that the update seems to have created new problems for some users.
Users on Microsoft Forum, Twitter, and on various other platforms voiced their concerns about the optional update because the update makes it impossible for some users to put their PCs on Sleep mode. Users are complaining that PCs are waking up automatically from the Sleep mode after installing the update.
Another user took to Twitter to confirm the existence of such a bug. “Since the latest Windows 10 updates, KB4537572 and KB4535996, my computer is waking itself from sleep every couple of hours. Didn’t do this prior to updates,” a user noted on Twitter.
“This needs to be addressed. We should be able to prevent an optional update if it causes problems. No I have to either pause updates for 7 days and then uninstall KB4535996 again. This update causes both my laptop and desktop to not go into sleep mode,” a user wrote on Microsoft’s answer forum.
Users are also facing issues such as FPS drops, audio stutters, increased boot times or boot failures. Thankfully, the update is working fine for the majority of the people, meaning only a handful of people are facing problems. But that doesn’t mean these are not pressing issues.
Unfortunately, Microsoft hasn’t acknowledged these issues just yet, so there are no official fixes available at this moment. But what you can do is uninstall the latest optional update and that should make everything normal once again.
HOW TO UNINSTALL WINDOWS 10 KB4535996 UPDATE
- Hit Windows+I to open the Settings app
- Click the “Update & security” option.
- On the “Update & security” screen.
- Switch to the “Windows Update” tab.
- Click the “View update history” option.
- Click the “Uninstall updates” link.


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El Salvador’s Superintendence of Competition (Superintendencia de Competencia, SC) has rejected an application from Mexican group America Movil (AM) seeking approval for the acquisition of Telefonica’s local mobile unit. In a statement, the antitrust body said AM’s application was ‘inadmissible’ but revealed that the Carlos Slim-backed firm would submit a new authorisation request. The SC will then perform a new technical, legal and economic analysis of the proposed transaction, in order to evaluate the possible effects on competition in the market.
As previously reported by CommsUpdate, in January 2019 Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica agreed to sell its businesses in Guatemala and El Salvador to AM for USD333 million and USD315 million, respectively. Telefonica Moviles Guatemala and Telefonica Moviles El Salvador (Movistar) are controlled by Telefonica Centroamerica Inversiones, a company which is owned by Telefonica (60%) and Corporacion Multi Inversiones (40%). Both parties are selling their stakes, meaning that AM is looking to acquire 100% of the Guatemalan business and 99.3% of the Salvadoran cellco. The closing of the sale of Telefonica Guatemala took place that same month, while the El Salvador deal is subject to certain customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.


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The Indian pharmaceutical industry, which supplies nearly 15% of its total exports of more than Rs 30,000 crore annually to Africa. cipla (one of the largest exporter of drug in Africa ) has pointing out that if similar legislation was adopted by other African countries as Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania under the influence of global MNCs then export of India’s drugs to African countries will be under threat and depriving the Kenyan population access to affordable generic medicines
In a Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 50 dated 24th July 2009, the Minister gave the directive for the Act to be operational from 7th July 2009 even though on 8th July 2009, three people living with HIV filed a petition with the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of the Anti-Counterfeit Act.
The petitioners said that:
1. The Act confuses counterfeits and generic medicines through inaccurate and confounding language. By noting that generic medicines are legitimate exact copies of their brand-name original, the petitioners stated “Generics are not counterfeits and should not be confused with counterfeits.
2. The Act addresses the numerous sections which contain dangerous ambiguities; their mis-interpretation would be detrimental to the government’s ongoing efforts to ensure access to essential medicines for all Kenyans.
3. A clause in act was added which specifically mentions “medicines” it is still incomplete – for example, the clause does not include vaccines. The Anti-Counterfeit Act does not distinguish medicines from other goods. “Medicines are essential and life-saving and should be distinguished from non-essential goods such as DVDs and batteries,”
The coordinator of the Kenya Treatment Access Movement (KETAM) argued that the
1. Act contravenes sections of the Industrial Property Act, 2001 such as Section 58(2) (providing for parallel importation) and Section 80 (government use). These sections have played an important role in the struggle to increase access to essential medicines in Kenya
2. Section 34 on seizures of suspected counterfeits goods (including medicines) is too broad
source : Economic times


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The owners of a now-closed “luxury smoke lounge” on Trinidad’s dispensary-clogged Main Street have filed suit against the city’s mayor, police, city council and district attorney, claiming that shifting local policies about pot consumption and weed-related signage doomed their business.
Author Toke of the Town
Thirteen people associated with Hoppz’ Cropz stores in Colorado Springs, including co-owners Joseph Hopper, also known as “Joey Hops,” and Dara Wheatley, nicknamed “Boss Lady,” have been indicted on charges that they illegally distributed nearly 200 pounds of marijuana in a variation on the sort of “free” pot giveaway schemes that date back to the days before and just after the launch of legal recreational cannabis sales.
Ever see a parody before the original, or hear a sample before the real song? Like listening to “Weird Al” Yankovic’s Amish Paradise years before you discover Coolio’s gangsta inspiration. (I used to be really white.)
The revelation that you’ve been duped into thinking an imitation was the real thing can be both refreshing and disturbing. You’re glad to finally get it right, but you have to wonder how many times you were wrong before. I couldn’t help but feel that surge of excitement the first time I encountered the Cough. Was it one of the Strawberry Cough’s unknown parents? Did Devin the Dude and his Coughee Brothaz christen the strain? Neither of those fantasies ended up being true, but the real story isn’t a bad consolation prize
It only takes one hailstorm to see how competitive the roofing wars can get in Denver, with companies offering hundreds of dollars in gift cards and rebates in order to persuade homeowners to spend their insurance money with them. But one local roofer is plying his trade with another Colorado pastime in order to get a higher return, offering customers $500 in weed if they buy a new roof from him.
Prosecutor George Brauchler, who’s running for Colorado governor in 2018, is using Shawn Geerdes’s conviction for murdering Jason Dosa nearly three years ago as an opportunity to criticize legal pot even though the marijuana grow in which the two partnered was illegal.
The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that a company acted improperly when it fired medical marijuana patient Cristina Barbuto after she tested positive for pot. The Colorado Supreme Court reached the opposite conclusion in an analogous 2015 case, determining that DISH had the right to dismiss paralyzed MMJ patient Brandon Coats following his own positive test for cannabis. And while the Barbuto finding won’t directly impact the Colorado case, Coats’s lawyer sees a trend toward granting more patient protections here and in other medical marijuana states.
For this year’s iteration of Colorado’s campaign to discourage underage marijuana use, the state teamed up with TEDxMileHigh and media company Cactus to take teens on immersive field trips with movers and shakers across Denver.
Rorschach blots are part of a popular psychological test in which your perceptions of ink blots are analyzed to make distinctions about your personality, emotion and upbringing. With all due respect to Dr. Herman Rorschach, the man credited with developing the famous Rorschach test, we prefer our blots squeezed from the nectar of weed, not squid.
But why can’t we enjoy THC and inner reflection at the same time? Pushing cannabinoids onto wax paper isn’t just creating symmetry – it’s creating symmetry you can smoke. Try not to relive too many traumatic memories with these Rorschach rosin blots. Or better yet, try to discern what these look like before and after a dab. How’s that for inner analysis?


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Billfish boycott might work
A seafood buyer, whether an executive chef or a mother of four, has incredible power to help change the way business is conducted. While seafood suppliers now crowd the sustainability bandwagon, the movement arguably began when concerned consumers and the environmental groups they belong to demanded the industry's attention. It took some time - and it still needs work and greater commitment throughout the supply chain - but sustainability has stuck.
Some organized efforts clamoring for change often go away quietly. Others have lasting impacts, sometimes long after the fight has ended. For an example, the "Give Swordfish a Break" campaign, launched by SeaWeb in 1998 and ended two-plus years later when the species showed sufficient evidence of recovery, is still talked about today (ask any swordfish dealer) and is partly responsible for the species' resurgence by enlisting chefs to keep it off their menus. About two weeks ago, the Northwest Atlantic Canadian longline and harpoon swordfish fisheries applied for sustainability certification with the Marine Stewardship Council. Can you imagine that happening a decade ago?
Other boycotts occur annually with measurable results. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and its crusade against Canada's seal hunt has enlisted numerous seafood buyers to boycott Canadian seafood. Snow crab, which has become collateral damage in the dispute because it is harvested in Newfoundland where the seal hunt is centered, is still popular with U.S. consumers but the list of boycott participants grows each year. HSUS says more than 5,000 grocery stores, restaurants and hotels and casinos nationwide are participating this year, up from 3,600 in 2008.
So there's every reason to believe that the nascent "Take Marlin Off the Menu" campaign, launched by the International Game Fish Association, the Billfish Association and the National Coalition for Marine Conservation to stop marlin overfishing, will be successful. They've got Wolfgang Puck on board and they're armed with recent survey results in which 78 percent of respondents say they won't touch it. Marlin is not a staple species on restaurant menus like salmon or shrimp, so restaurant traffic shouldn't halt without its availability.
The hunt for the next hot seafood item is always on, and species like marlin, spearfish and other billfish seemingly fit the bill (no pun intended). But with mounting pressure to lay off these long-living predatory species, looking elsewhere for the next darling fish might be a sound strategy.


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Cryptos, and particularly , have had a tough ride of late. The fundamentals have been lining up against them, however is what we have seen recently all part of a bigger picture?
In January of 2021 The UK’s financial authority made this announcement:
“The FCA is aware that some firms are offering investments in cryptoassets, or lending or investments linked to cryptoassets, that promise high returns. Investing in cryptoassets, or investments and lending linked to them, generally involves taking very high risks with investors’ money. If consumers invest in these types of product, they should be prepared to lose all their money.”
, , , and , to name but a few, have made life difficult for crypto trading since the beginning of the year and just three weeks’ ago the FCA (Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority) has stated that , one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the UK.
Janet Yellen has also made it clear that the US will clamp down on cryptos as it is widely believed it is used as a front for tax fraud and money laundering.
The West is not alone. China and India have clamped down heavily as well. Elon Musk has done a full 360 from promoting it, to then dropping it due to its high non-environmentally-friendly footprint.
Other big names have also followed suit in condemning the carbon footprint caused by mining. As a consequence, in the last two months the price of Bitcoin has more than halved when looking at today’s value of just over $30,000. So is this a commensurate reaction to all of the above, or merely just a brutal correction in a sector gone mad?
Cryptos are extremely volatile after all, so this huge drop in price shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, nay actually expected.
The way we see it, is while cryptos have several positives, no one can doubt the technology has been ground breaking and the limited supply also paints an attractive picture. However, the major issues appear to outweigh the benefits. We outline what we believe these to be as follows:
Cryptos in the major countries are not subject to regulation in the same way the stock market is. This leaves them open to scammers and fraud with your money being at risk. Criminals have been able to hack wallets and steal coins without trace, and still do to this day.
The lack of footprint left by a lot of this fraud means anyone that enters crypto trading does so at a much higher risk than regulated markets. One would have to ponder what would happen to the price of cryptos should regulation come in to play overnight. I would suspect the price would head south.
There are many that believe that Bitcoin is a frontrunner to Central Bank Digital Currencies which are currently in their test phase in China, with the US and UK likely to make a bold statement on their intentions in the coming months.
It is highly likely China has made a stand on Crypto to allow more focus on their own digital currency. China has stated the aim of their central bank is for “controllable anonymity;” cryptos have “untraceable anonymity.” If the masses start believing in digital currencies, then what will be left for cryptos?
The New Craze Bubble For Retail Investors
When something new appears, there is a certain excitement that goes with it. Cryptos have had a good run now and hitting parabolic runs to above $60,000 to where we are now would appear the fun for them has ended. Retail investors have had a certain amount of a glorious introduction to trading cryptos, up until two months ago when it peaked.
The COVID crash brought about an awful lot of new traders to the market who have only ever seen prices go up to levels that would normally take years. Think of all the retail investors who have lost money on cryptos in the last two months. Do they still believe it is going to $10m because someone on YouTube said it will? Sadly that is the illusion that leads to retail traders dipping into certain markets and the professionals eat them alive.
Reddit has a new crowd with a mass following that pumps and dumps certain stocks. This seems to be the new craze, so has boredom kicked in with cryptos? Barring ’s monumental introduction, is the crypto craze now coming to an end? Is it old news? Are retail traders five years’ late? Taxi drivers have been talking about Bitcoin, and although a cliché, it is often the time to get out.
Bitcoin’s current price level is at a serious inflection point. If $30,000 holds, there is a chance of a rebound, if it doesn’t it could open up the trap door to very, very low levels. The chart pattern is ugly and is suggesting south is where it is going.
The crypto world is cleaning up its act. Crime loopholes of wallet theft are being closed, and there are more eco friendly versions of mining in the pipeline to offset the huge carbon footprint. Someone buying crypto now must find someone to sell it to in the future at a higher price, and in this extreme downtrend, that doesn’t appear attractive.
The stark warning from the UK at the start of the year perhaps has a certain dark underbelly. Is this a warning that once CBDCs are imposed across the globe, the crypto game is over?


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11 November 2019
By Elaine Murphy
Cork City enjoyed fantastic success at the Retail Excellence Awards held in the Great Southern Hotel Killarney at the weekend, being named Ireland Friendliest City for 2020. Two city centre shops also picked up awards for their commitment to the customer.
The Friendliest Place competition is the central part of the Retail Excellence Annual Awards, which were established in 1997 to promote best practice and encourage the highest standards in the Irish retail industry. Since then the awards have grown to become the largest and most prestigious retail awards in Ireland.
Lord Mayor, Cllr. John Sheehan said ‘Here in Cork City, we decided to put the customer at the heart of everything we do and it is amazing to already see such recognition of our combined efforts as Cork is named as Ireland’s Friendliest City. Earlier this year we launched the Cork City Customer Service Charter, the first of its kind in Europe, and last week, almost 400 frontline staff from retail and hospitality businesses across the city attended an inspirational customer service training session in the Everyman Theatre”.
As part of the awards, local authorities across the country nominated local retail businesses who were independently assessed on their friendliness. Cork enjoyed triple success on the night with long-established independent book store, Vibe and Scribes, winning best national bookstore and Nano Nagle Place winning best visitor store.
Head of Local Enterprise office, Cork City, Paul Mc Guirk, said ‘ Cork City Council and the Local Enterprise Office has worked very closely with the City Centre Forum over the last few years to make the city a centre of customer service excellence. Together, we have run two training programs, developed a customer service charter with the support of CIT School of Business and held a number of other customer service events. Last week, we hosted international customer service expert, Alf Dunbar, for a hugely successful training session. We believe this award is the culmination of this collaborative work and the commitment of all involved. The national awards for Vibes and Scribes bookshop and Nano Nagle Place, are also richly deserved and I am particularly delighted for Joan Lucey of Vibes and Scribes who has been one of the main advocates of this overall initiative.’


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Canadian communications technology and media company Rogers Communications and the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) have launched a 5G challenge for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that operate in Ontario to accelerate innovation in the automotive sector.
Eco-friendly, universal, scalable wireless docking stations for all popular e-scooters with management functions and extra safety capabilities has arrived and is coming to a city near you.
GUEST OPINION: The recent Zero Emissions Day (21 September) marked the day for us to reflect on what we can better do to reduce harmful carbon emissions and find more sustainable solutions in our ways of life.
IT spending across all industry sectors in Australia will grow by 3.6% to reach $95.8 billion in 2021, the technology analyst firm Gartner says, adding that this follows an expected 2.8% decline in 2020.
On the 10th of November, Zebra Technologies is holding its ANZ Customer Summit, with this year's theme being "Customer experience at the edge", and CTO Tom Bianculli joined us for a wide-ranging discussion on the on-demand economy, supply chain optimisation, new devices, the impact of COVID-19 and more.
Optus has selected Nokia’s IMPACT Internet of Things (IoT) platform to provide device management and data collection capabilities to their customers across multiple industry segments in Australia.
Expenditure by end users on IT infrastructure — server and enterprise storage systems — will decline in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the global market intelligence firm IDC says.
Security professionals believe the world is in a permanent state of cyber war, with 90% concerned that digital infrastructure will suffer the most damage as a result, according to new research which found that these professionals believe the most vulnerable industries are those that are undergoing rapid digital transformation and are essential to daily life.
Global freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace Freelancer.com has acquired enterprise freight marketplace Channel 40, in a move expected to pave the way for the launch of a new freight, shipping and transportation marketplace, Freightlancer.com.
The global market for Internet of Things technology continues to explode, with the market value expected to grow threefold to US$318 billion by 2023.
Singapore telco Singtel Group’s corporate venture arm, Innov8, has launched its Connect program to facilitate the search for local and global start-ups with innovative solutions that could help accelerate the adoption of Internet-of-Things technologies.
SmartGizmos’ DuoGlyde was recognised back in mid 2015 as specifically being safe despite lesser boards catching fire, and now SmartGizmos has the certification to prove it.
The Machine-to-Machine or M2M market is set to keep growing at 18.1% CAGR from 2013 to over 30% revenue growth by 2016, with major industries the predicted bulk of demand.
It's long been the bane of existence for business travellers wanting to do business in the skies - a lack of Internet for doing business - but that all could change with a new Telstra trial.
Uber's ride-sharing functionality has been deemed illegal in the state of New South Wales, after the government declared it contravened the Passenger Transport Act.
Adelaide-based global connected vehicle technology leader Cohda Wireless is poised to become a major beneficiary of a US Department of Transportation decision to green light ‘talking cars’ on American roads.
The ongoing tension between Silicon Valley's haves and have-nots came to a head yesterday when a group of rowdy protestors stopped a bus full of Google employees.
Queenslanders will now be able to find their way around the southeast part of the state a little easier today, with Google turning on its 'transit' function for Google Maps.
Advocates responsible lifestyle for protecting the environment
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.Club applicant eliminates competition and raises $7 million to launch top level domain.
.Club Domains, LLC has raised a combined $7 million from 27 individual investors and has eliminated its competition for the .club top level domain through a private auction.
Citing confidentiality agreements, .Club Domains CEO Colin Campbell declined to provide the final auction price to Domain Name Wire.
“We’ve raised $7 million to acquire the rights to the name and to launch the name,” he said.
Given the previous $3.5 million announcement and the language used in the company’s press release about the auction, I suspect the auction price was no more than $3.5 million.
Campbell said the auction lasted four days.
As of right now the company has three or four employees, but it is ready to expand. Campbell said it might take 15-20 people to execute on the vision for .club.
“You could obviously run a registry for a lot less, but we like to do things in a big way”, he said.
He also envisions multiple offices around the world. Campbell said “club” is a worldwide brand; a term used in almost all countries to mean a similar thing.
Despite an application priority number of 1,046, Campbell is optimistic that .club will launch by early 2014 because it lacks GAC advice and is no longer faces competition.
“I can’t say how happy and excited the staff here are [about winning the auction]” he said.


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In addition to making payments, customers can ask Alexa the balance in the wallet and also command it to top it up from a bank account linked to Amazon Pay. This new feature on Alexa will further help in reducing payment friction as customers will be able to complete their payment transactions with just their voice command.
“This new integration of Amazon Pay with Alexa will help reduce both time and effort for customers who use Amazon Pay for bill payments and repeat similar transactions every month. We are also excited to share that this is an India-first feature which Alexa customers in India can enjoy before any other international customers,” Puneesh Kumar, Country Manager for Alexa Experiences and Devices, Amazon India said.
The company last month announced that Alexa can now speak in Hindi. Going forward it is planning to launch its voice assistant in a host of other Indian languages. Taking the competition to Google Assistant, Amazon is ramping up the usage of Alexa in India by tying up with speaker manufacturers, mobile phone companies
to make Alexa the primary voice assistant on devices.
At the moment Alexa knows 500 skills in Hindi. In English Alexa can perform over 30,000 tasks. “Amazon Pay’s integration with Alexa will enable customers to use digital payments for their daily use cases making it hassle-free and swift. Paying of bills such as electricity, water, post-paid mobile, cooking gas, DTH and more will become seamless with just one voice command,” Mahendra Nerurkar, Director, Amazon Pay said.


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Zynga launches Zynga.com
Zynga announced launched a new site, Zynga.com, where users can play social games directly without logging on Facebook.
It is a big move by Zynga considering the fact that Facebook gets 12 % of its revenue from Zynga, & Zynga gets more than 90 % of its revenue from Facebook.
But that doesn’t mean Zynga will withdraw games from Facebook and it will continue to use Facebook Credits as the virtual goods payment system even for Zynga.com’s users.
But it is definitely a good move by Zynga as a long term strategy to increase its revenue and build a stand-alone website and brand.
Microsoft Windows 8 Consumer Preview Hits 1 million Downloads Within 24 Hours
Microsoft’s new Windows 8 Consumer Preview, hits one million downloads within 24 hours of its launch.
Microsoft Developers team who is building Windows 8 tweets about it, “One day later… 1 million downloads of the consumer preview”.
It is a great start for the most anticipated windows from Microsoft. And if experts are to be believed, it can be a big threat for Android OS for tablet platform.
If you have not downloaded the Windows 8 Consumer Preview yet, follow the link here.
More Loopholes in Apple iOS
After reports of various apps storing your address book on their servers, the New York Times reported that apps without permission can access your photos as well.
After a user on iPhone gives an application permission to have access to location info, the app can copy the user’s entire photo library, without any further warning/notification, according to various app developers.
This is a much bigger threat than the address book loophole.
Apple have not given a comment on this issue yet.
HTC Partnered with TomTom To offer maps and Turn-by-Turn navigation
Tom Tom, one of the largest player in map & navigation devices business, has tied up with HTC to provide the maps, & turn-by-turn directions for a range of HTC smartphones in India.
TomTom has 100 % coverage of more than 5,000 cities & towns across India.
The TomTom Maps will be additional feature in the HTC smartphones along with Google Maps and Bing Maps


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General Motors (GM) and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd (Tengzhong), today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement that will allow Tengzhong to acquire GM’s premium all-terrain HUMMER brand.
Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd (Tengzhong) and General Motors Corp. Have confirmed details of their proposed transaction, pursuant to which, Tengzhong, a major industrial machinery group, will acquire the rights to the premium off-road HUMMER brand, along with a senior management and operational team.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), announced it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a buyer for HUMMER, its premium off-road brand. This transaction is the result of GM's strategic review of the HUMMER brand and the company’s ongoing restructuring efforts.
Artist Matthew Harrison today unveils his latest project entitled ‘Hummer’ at the fifth Zoo Art Fair (17-20 October) - a HUMMER H3 complete with wooden wagon wheels, the iconic installation will be parked on Old Burlington Road, opposite the Royal Academy of Arts for the duration of the fair.
HUMMER will showcase the HX Concept, a nimble, reconfigurable off-road concept vehicle, at the British International Motor Show. Joining the HX will be the current UK offerings the HUMMER H3 and H2.
For 2008, the iconic HUMMER H2 features numerous changes that deliver a more luxurious, comfortable and refined interior, while retaining HUMMER’s legendary off-road abilities and ruggedness.
Building on the remarkable abilities and image of the HUMMER H1 and H2, the midsized H3 is the most accessible HUMMER ever.
HUMMER has partnered with Mountain Rescue (England & Wales), to provide a specially modified vehicle for the UK charity.
Scheduled for introduction at the 2008 North American International Auto Show, the HUMMER HX concept reflects the innovative minds of three new GM designers - David Rojas, Min Young Kang and Robert Jablonski - whose first assignment was to provide a vision for the future design of off-road vehicles.
Footballers, music moguls and city boys are dusting off their wallets as the first UK version of the world’s most iconic boy’s toy – HUMMER – goes on sale today.
One of the world’s most legendary four-wheel drive brands has finally arrived in the UK, and it’s like nothing else on, or off, the road.
Borla’s recently introduced Cat-Back exhaust system for the mighty 6-litre V8 Hummer H2 (2003-2006 models) is now available in the UK from sole Borla appointed distributor USAutomotive Ltd, competitively priced at £578.00 plus vat.
The movie, which is based on the popular Hasbro action figures, stars Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duamel, and includes Steven Spielberg in its production team. It is set to further broaden the awareness of the HUMMER’s iconic design to new audiences throughout Europe.
The HUMMER brand is arriving in the UK with the opening of the first dedicated HUMMER showroom this week. HUMMER will begin selling a right-hand drive H3 in the summer.
The HUMMER brand goes global with the introduction of the HUMMER H3.
1 to 15 of 17 for Hummer Cars


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GOVT Singapore has launched its first Häagen-Dazs campaign for General Mills Southeast Asia, titled Real Moments. The campaign was launched in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand on the same day. It centered around the insight that real, quality time with a loved one is more meaningful than just buying expensive gifts for each other.
To launch the campaign, GOVT Singapore created a 2-minute video that showcased 3 real-life couples and what they wanted for Christmas. Since its release a month ago, the video has been viewed more than 1.8 million times.
The video led consumers to a microsite, where couples could win a table at a Häagen-Dazs store in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok. Over 25,000 people across 3 countries participated and the brand closed their store for a day and treated the lucky couples to a special festive dessert.
One lucky couple from each country also received a special surprise from Häagen-Dazs, where they had the entire shop all to themselves, documented in 3 different videos below.
Tim Chan, Creative Director, GOVT Singapore, said, “Häagen-Dazs believes that Nothing Is Better Than Real. So we wanted to help the brand play a role in bringing the real meaning of Christmas to couples. It’s really been a labour of love. And we’re thankful that our clients and partners have been so supportive.”


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Join our email list for updates on island news and events
VRMA, Vacation Rental Managers Association and NCVRMA, North Carolina Vacation Rentals Manager Association, and vacation rental professionals nationwide and around the globe are celebrating the first annual VRMA Vacation Rental Week, March 9-13, 2020!During Vacation Rental Week, firms showcase the positive impact that professionally-managed vacation and holiday rentals have on guests, property owners and local economies large and small.
Many property management agencies across the USA are acknowledging the importance of what they do day in and day out. The vacation home rental business continues to explode with more and more homes entering the market every day. It is important during this week to remember the agencies who have engaged in the business of property management and rentals for many, many years. VRMA has picked this week in March to honor such history and the efforts that are exerted every day in taking care of property owners, the business community and vacationers.
The Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce joined in the celebration by hosting a Faces of Commerce with leading vacation rental companies in the Southport, Oak Island and Bald Head Island areas. Joining forces to express agency awareness were: Trisha of Bald Head Island Limited and NCVRMA president; Melanie from Oak Island Accommodations and VRMA/NCVRMA board member, Dawn from Margaret Rudd & Associates, and Catherine from Better Beach Rentals. You can see the full interview of here.
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It has been long speculated that the iPhone 5se, the new Apple Watch 2 as well as the iPad Air 3 will be launching sometime in mid-March. Now there have been some interesting updates on that front. And rightly so, since the speculated D-day is inching closer.
According to report on 9to5Mac, the Apple event where fans will witness the arrival of these products may be scheduled for the week of March 14th. Lightly pencil it in your calendars, since there is no certainly over the final date.
The latest iPad is expected to sport a 9.7-inch screen and arrive with additional speaker grills as well as a LED flash ensuring better images in low-light conditions. Speculations are rife that the iPad Air 3 will also extend support to the Apple Pencil.
Tech aficionados know that it is time that the iPad Air gets its upgrade. Last year, Apple loyalists witnessed an upgrade to the iPad Mini as well as a new iPad Pro being announced. This was reason enough for the iPad Air 3 to be left off the roaster since iPad Pro clearly was the centre of attention.
But it looks like the Air 3 variant won’t be behind when it would come to showing-off some of the latest specs. As noted by Master Herald indicating other reports, “The reason why Apple decided to defer the release of the iPad Air 3 because it wanted to make sure that the new tablet has major improvements from its predecessor, the iPad Air 2.” And naturally so, since Apple loyalists will be expecting nothing less from an updated variant of the iPad Air.
As per earlier reports, the iPhone 5se may possess features such as Live Photos, always-on Siri, upgraded camera, more storage, faster A9 chip as well as NFC chip for Apple Pay amongst other specs. The Apple Watch update spells out that the product may arrive with new colour options for the Sport Bands, Hermes bands as well as black version of Milanese Loop.
Apple loyalists can keep coming back for more updates on the products line-up for the speculated launch in March 2016.


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Modcloth Co-Founder Launches Merit – an Invite-Only Cryptocurrency
Former co-founder and CTO of indie womenswear brand ModCloth Adil Wali has recently unveiled a new “invite-only” cryptocurrency through his Seattle startup Merit. The company wants to make it easier for people to use cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services.
People Gotta Learn to Use Crypto
The company came about after Wali and his co-founder Maxim Khailo discovered that very few people own cryptocurrency, something he feels could lead to problems regarding usability and accessibility in the future.
“If you want to create the world’s most-used cryptocurrency, what do you do?” he recently asked. “You have to make it simpler, you have to make it safer, and you have to make it a community.”
Merit’s cryptocurrency (MRT) can only be held by customers who are given a special invite. This allows executives to track who’s using it across the blockchain. Wali states that the anonymity that many cryptocurrencies afford users provides too easy a path for hackers to steal users’ information and funds.
Merit Doing Things Differently
Merit also operates on its own protocol, which means users who exchange it don’t do so through long 34-character public addresses as seen with most other virtual entities. The currency is also extracted through a “proof of growth mining” system that changes the fundamentals of the extraction process and allows for easier monitoring of those who hold Merit.
“Folks can actually mine Merit without a computer,” Wali explained. “And we created an escrow on the blockchain that can hold money for you to claim it.”
At press time, MRT can be sent via Twitter, SMS, and various other communication tools. It also boasts decentralized vaults, cancelable transactions, and password-protected transactions. MRT is launching without an ICO, as Wali wants the community to determine its price. His main goal is to make crypto accessible to virtually anyone, regardless of their technical prowess.
“Any currency is only as useful as the number of people who use it. If you can’t transact with it, what’s the point? If we have dramatically less than a percent of the world’s population using crypto, it’s a really big problem when you think about the viability of the space at large.”
Starting Small, but Thinking Big
The digital asset was founded on an initial $1 million USD investment, and is split into two separate divisions: Merit Labs, and a non-profit called the Merit Foundation.
“The idea of Merit is that with a decentralized launch and a longer-term approach, we are incentivized to make Merit valuable every day,” Wali stated. “With both the non-profit and for-profit, we’ll sell a little bit of Merit over time to continue operations in the organization. As the value of the currency goes up, then we’re able to do that more.”
Are we likely to see more cryptocurrencies like Merit in the future? Post your comments below.
Images via Pixabay, Pexels


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Google newly developed phone android one will be soon available in market at very low-cost, with the features which are mostly available in very expensive phones. It will be an opportunity for those with the compact budget.
By launching of Google Pixel for $650 and Pixel XL for $770, google is now making clients for their high-tech phones, and now by launching low budget phones in US will definitely cover the space left in a category of people holding a tight budget. Google started the project from with three Android phones, launched in 2014. The cost of each phone was $100.
All Three phones were similar in specifications, 4.5 inch FWVGA display with a 854×480- pixel resolution, quad core 1.3GHZ MediaTek processor, dual-SIM, 1GB RAM,4GB internal memory, microSD card slot, 5mp camera and removable 1700mAH battery as well.
Not everyone in US can afford such expensive and high tech phones, Google is pushing Android One as a low- cost phone in developing market but that doesn’t mean that no one is US want the with low cost. According to new report after launching Google’s new cheap smartphone it will tack over the market.
Google’s new device will be launch till the mid of the present year and the cost of the phones will be around $200-300. The phones are not cheap as the CEO of google once stated but $200 for an unlock phone is fair enough.


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The development is coming barely a month after the Federal Government commenced the implementation of the Backward Integration Policy (BIP) in the sugar industry. Indeed, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, has commended the sugar refiners for the progress recorded within the time frame.
The Federal Executive Council had on October 19, 2012, approved the Nigerian National Sugar Masterplan.
Specifically, the Minister noted that if the plan is effectively implemented, going by the pace being experienced in the industry, “Nigeria may soon begin to focus on the export market from 2016.”
Speaking during a facility tour of BUA Sugar Refinery in Lagos, at the weekend, the Minister noted that the level of success recorded by the refineries in terms of sugar production and investment in the sector is highly commendable.
According to him, the whole idea of the backward integration plan was to reduce importation of raw sugar and eventually increase refineries’ capacity to invest in sugarcane plantation such that attention would be focused on the export market.
He said: “We have done very well since September last year when it was introduced. We have worked with different groups and received their plans. We have to commend the refineries. We are moving to the next level of the integration plan. With the level of capacity utilisation recorded, this would aid job creation in the country.
“Today’s (Saturday) visit is to assess the refineries’ demonstration to the BIP. We are also working with them on their sugar allocation based on their commitment to the BIP. We hope to replicate the success recorded in the cement industry in the sugar industry.”
The Group Chief Operating Officer, BUA Group, Chimaobi Madukwe, commended the government for its commitment to the sector while stressing the need for an increase in its sugar allocation in order to help the firm remain in production.
According to him, local firms have expressed commitment to supporting government’s initiative, “but to sustain the current growth and success story, we need to be incentivised and encouraged like it is being done in other sectors.”
Executive Director, BUA Sugar Refinery, Siva Kuma, added that the company has acquired a large expanse of arable land to aid its sugarcane production, noting that the company has recorded at least 95 per cent increase in capacity utilisation and would remain committed to investing in the nation’s economy and job creation.
Managing Director of the company, Goddie Isibor, explained: “Presently, we have been operating at 95 per cent capacity utilisation in the last two months and production rate has been at an average of 42,000 metric tonnes per month or 640,000 metric tonnes per annum. This means that we will certainly run out of raw sugar and therefore shut operations in the last quarter of the year.
“When factories shutdown or reduce production, smuggled goods take over, workers become redundant and even funding for backward integration is affected. We hope government addressees this.”
However, the three major sugar refiners have urged the Federal Government to increase sugar allocation to them to enhance production and boost the supply chain.
To this end, representatives of the refiners, comprising Dangote Sugar Refinery, BUA Group, and Golden Sugar Refinery would meet with the Federal Government tomorrow, to seek panacea to the challenges encountered by the refineries in the course of implementing the backward integration policy.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.


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TAIPEI (CNA) — Hundreds of Uber drivers rallied in front of the Presidential Office on April 21 to protest planned regulations that would require Uber-supported transportation services to adopt hourly or day-based fare rates and bar them from driving around looking for passengers.
Some 200 Uber vehicles parked on Ketagalan Boulevard to protest the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ (MOTC) planned revision to the “Regulations for Automobile Transportation Operators.”
The amendment would add Article 103-1 to the regulations that would prohibit drivers of vehicles from rental car companies to drive around seeking passengers or schedule shifts to accommodate customers calling for a ride.
It would also require fares to be charged by the hour or the day.
After Taiwan barred Uber’s standard ride-hailing service because Uber refused to abide by regulations applicable to transportation companies, such as taxis, a new system was devised allowing drivers to use cars from rental car companies and get riders through Uber’s service.
But the MOTC found that the service was essentially a taxi service working with Uber in everything but name only and ruled that it was in violation of the law.
The MOTC published the proposed amendment in February and scheduled it to take effect starting on April 26, sparking the protest of Uber drivers.
In addition to the Sunday protest, services via the Uber application were suspended for six hours during the day.
Uber Taiwan General Manager Willy Wu (吳罡) said his company’s current cooperation with rental car companies is a legal and reasonable operating model that emerged two years ago during talks between Uber and the MOTC.
Now the ministry has suddenly changed the rules, turning “both the industry and drivers into victims,” Wu argued, hoping that the government will withdraw its proposal and invite all related parties to look for better resolutions.
Wu said last month that if the planned new rule designed to protect Taiwan’s taxi industry was introduced, it would negatively affect the business model of rental car companies, threaten the livelihoods of 10,000 Uber drivers and their families, and restrict choice for 3 million regular Uber users across Taiwan.
On Sunday, Deputy Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) reiterated that the MOTC has already proposed legal ways that would provide a viable transition for Uber and Uber drivers.
By Chen Wei-ting and Elizabeth Hsu


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Proving that the bragging right of selling Android devices by the millions doesn't exclusively belong to the house of Samsung, LG has announced that its budget Optimus L-series smartphones have sold over 10 million units worldwide.
T-Mobile Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2 and other Android handsets to see major price drops
T-Mobile has a convincing and affordable mid-level Android phone to offer this holiday season, the LG Optimus L9. The mid-range device comes with a price tag of $79.99 with a 2-year contract, and after a mail-in rebate of $50.
LG Optimus L9 heading to T-Mobile on October 31 for $79.99
As Sprint and AT&T are preparing to welcome the LG Optimus G to their embrace, T-Mobile is opting to carry its smaller and less-equipped cousin, the LG Optimus L9. Before the budget phone was even listed on T-Mo’s website, a leak suggested that it will be priced rather aggressively. Now, the price has been confirmed by the carrier.


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Jeg Jr. to Compete Under the Mopar Banner in the NHRA Pro Stock Class in 2012
• Elite NHRA Driver Jeg Jr. Ends One-year Pro Stock Hiatus to Join Team Mopar
• Four-time NHRA Champ Will Join Veteran Allen Johnson in the Team Mopar Lineup
• JNR Racing Engine Shop to Supply Mopar HEMI Engines for Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s Dodge Avenger
• Mopar and JEGS to Strengthen Bonds in the Brands’ Performance Parts Business
• Mopar, along with partners Pennzoil® and Magneti Marelli, to expand relationship with NHRA Funny Car driver Matt Hagan
Auburn Hills, Mich. , Nov 1, 2011 – Mopar® revealed today at the 2011 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas that four-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will join the Team Mopar roster in 2012, campaigning a new Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Avenger in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock class.
“Jeg Jr. is a proven winner, with four Pro Stock championships on his résumé,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “We are thrilled to add an elite driver to Team Mopar, and we look forward to sharing in his great success at the drag strip next season.”
“I’m extremely excited to join forces with Mopar in 2012,” said Jeg Jr., the only racer in the history of the NHRA to win a national event in six different classes. “The entire Coughlin Brothers Racing team has high expectations for the 2012 season and we expect to field a premier program with our Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Avenger team, from top to bottom.”
Jeg Coughlin Jr. will join veteran racer Allen Johnson as the only two drivers in the Pro Stock class directly sponsored by Mopar.
“Adding Jeg Jr. to the Team Mopar roster is a great addition for the brand,” said Allen Johnson, driver of the Mopar Dodge Avenger. “This puts at least two very strong Mopar cars in the Pro Stock field next year, and I think it gives the brand an excellent chance of seeing a Mopar-powered driver bring home the Pro Stock championship in 2012.”
“Allen Johnson and his father Roy Johnson have a long history with Mopar and have built a highly respected program with their J&J Racing team,” said Jeg Jr. “Between our two teams, I think you’re going to see a Mopar Dodge in the winner’s circle at many NHRA events next year.
“When we pull through the gates at Pomona for the NHRA Winternationals (the 2012 season-opening event), with the lofty goals we’ve set for ourselves, we expect to have a car that can qualify on the pole and win on Sunday. I believe the Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge will be able to fire some shots off the bow immediately.”
The announcement marks a return to the Pro Stock class by Jeg Jr. after a one-year hiatus. It’s also a return to the Mopar fold for the 40-year-old Delaware, Ohio native, who has a long history with the brand. Jeg Jr. captured the 2004 U.S. Nationals Mopar HEMI® Challenge event win driving a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda, raced a Mopar HEMI-powered Dodge Pro Stock car during the 2005 NHRA season and currently owns and occasionally competes in Sportsman events in a Mopar Challenger Drag Pak.
“I have a number of firsts involving Mopar,” said Jeg Jr. “My first car was a 1983 Dodge Charger. One of my first jobs as a teenager at our JEGS business was to organize the warehouse and create space for a brand that was expanding its parts line — the Mopar Direct Connection brand.
“The passion I’ve witnessed in the folks I’ve dealt with at Mopar and Chrysler Group is second-to-none. Their enthusiasm and excitement is a big reason this program came together, and that passion is something that will fuel our team next year.”
JNR Racing shop to supply Mopar HEMI engines for Jeg Coughlin Jr’s Dodge
Jeg Jr. will go in-house to crank out the Mopar HEMI engines needed to power his Pro Stock cars, utilizing his new JNR Racing engine shop, located in Mooresville, N.C., to supply a steady stream of Mopar HEMIs.
Jeg Jr. and his family announced their new engine shop venture with partners Nick Ferri and Roy Simmons earlier this year. The duo teamed with Jeg Jr. on his engine program in the early 2000s, and the group has combined to earn multiple Pro Stock championships since 2002.
“We’re really excited to join back up with Nick and Roy,” said Jeg Jr., who will act as both team owner and driver for his Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge. “Coupled with our new relationships with Mopar and Chrysler Group engineers, I think we’re really going to see some great noise out of our Mopar HEMIs.”
Jeg Jr.’s new team will be headquartered out of the Coughlin Brothers Racing shop in Delaware, Ohio. The Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge squad will enjoy plenty of family support, with Jeg Jr. working closely with his brothers and fellow team owners John, Troy and Mike Coughlin. Jeg Jr.’s father, Jeg Coughlin Sr., will act as a team adviser for both the engine shop and at-track operation. To tune the Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Avenger, which will run under a Haas chassis, Coughlin Jr. turned to Finland native Tomi Laine, a renowned European Pro Stock champion who has worked with a number of NHRA Pro Stock teams.
“I think Tomi will do a great job with us, and my dad, my brothers and I have been extremely successful together,” said Jeg Jr. “Mopar Dodge Avenger driver Allen Johnson is also competing with a Haas chassis, so it seemed wise to choose a similar car to maximize the sharing of data obtained from aerodynamic and technological tests. I’m very comfortable with the way things are lining up with the Mopar/JEGS.com team.”
Mopar and JEGS to strengthen bonds in the brands’ performance parts business
The new alliance between Mopar and Jeg Jr. will also extend to the JEGS family business, founded by Jeg’s father, Jeg Coughlin Sr., in 1960. Mopar and JEGS, both leaders in the performance parts arena, will look to grow their relationship in aftermarket parts sales.
“The JEGS name is a respected source for performance parts,” said Gorlier. “We look forward to taking advantage of the many avenues in which the JEGS brand can help us provide Mopar parts to our customers, including through JEGS retail stores, the brand’s mail-order program and JEGS online Web site.”
“We’re excited not only to be associated with the Mopar brand on the drag strip, but also to help extend the Mopar brand to the hundreds of thousands of JEGS customers, and service those customers with the Mopar brand of parts that they need,” said Jeg Coughlin Jr.
Mopar, along with partners Pennzoil® and Magneti Marelli, to expand relationship with NHRA Funny Car driver Matt Hagan
Mopar also announced at the SEMA show in Las Vegas that the brand will expand its longstanding relationship with Don Schumacher Racing and its sponsorship of Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Matt Hagan. Mopar, along with partners Pennzoil® and Magneti Marelli, will increase its presence on Hagan’s car for the entire 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
Hagan raced with a special Mopar graphics scheme on his Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car this season at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, qualifying third and making it to the finals of the event. He also carried the Mopar colors at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, where he reached the semifinals.
“Matt Hagan is one of the best young talents on the NHRA circuit and has been a great brand ambassador for Mopar,” said Gorlier. “Mopar has enjoyed a long and successful relationship with Don Schumacher Racing, one of the elite organizations in motorsports, and we are happy to increase our sponsorship on Matt Hagan’s Dodge, and welcome partners Pennzoil and Magneti Marelli in support as well.”
Jeg Coughlin Jr. Career Highlights:
• Four-time NHRA Pro Stock champ (2000, 2002, 2007, 2008)
• Five-time NHRA world champ including 1992 Sportsman title in the Super Gas class (1992)
• Only driver in NHRA history to win a national event in six different classes
• Only driver in NHRA history to win national events in four different classes in one season (1997 – Pro Stock, Super Stock, Competition, Super Gas)
• Just the tenth driver in NHRA history to claim 50 national event victories
For more than 50 years, the name JEGS has been synonymous with high performance racing parts, dating back to 1960 when Jeg Coughlin Sr. opened the doors of JEGS High Performance at a small, non-descript shop in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Nearly three decades after Coughlin’s original speedshop was born, he helped his four sons, John, Troy, Mike and Jeg Jr., purchase the operation, and under their collective guidance the small family business became a mail order giant.
The original 4,000 square-foot shop now encompasses a 100,000 square-foot warehouse, a chassis shop, a call center, and the original retail store on the very grounds where it all began. A 225,000 square-foot state-of-the-art distribution center was later added to better serve customers. This location also houses the corporate offices and call center. There is also a 35,000 square-foot R&D facility where in-house racing operations are housed.


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The manufacturing industry is changing, and technology is continuing to play a greater and greater role in the industry. Those who are considering the future for their own manufacturing or shipping firms can benefit from knowing about upcoming trends in the industry. Here are the Top 5 Manufacturing Trends in 2015:
- Internet of Things
Growing connectivity between devices, including manufacturing machines, and the Internet has increased the productivity of many industries. Interment of Things technology allows devices to communicate with each other without human help, and this is reducing down time, increasing the quality of manufactured products and reducing waste across the industry.
- Social Media
Social media is not a new trend, but one that is growing in importance. Manufacturing companies are pushing to create and use a presence on Facebook and Twitter, and now the key is finding a strategy to make that presence an effective tool to enhance visibility through thoughtful communication.
- 3D Printing
The public is becoming increasingly aware of 3D printing technology, and as a result manufacturing is starting to look at ways to incorporate the technology into their businesses.
The tiny world of nanotech is increasing in importance in manufacturing as well. Manipulating products on an atomic level makes improvements in the overall design. From creating stronger golf clubs to crafting cloth that is more stain resistant, nanotech is transforming products, and that transformation starts at the manufacturing level.
- Increased Flexibility
Growing consumer expectations means creating flexibility in the manufacturing world. Equipment needs to be adaptable and flexible to adjust to the changing needs and demands of consumers, who expect their products to meet exact specifications.
Do these trends affect your business? If you are working in manufacturing or in industry connected to manufacturing, such as the shipping and freight industry, then you will be affected by these trends, and need to understand them.


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The start of US deliveries should be right around the corner.
The latest from Ford puts the start of Mustang Mach-E deliveries in the US sometime this month, but while we wait, it seems a handful of other countries have already taken in shipments of the new pure-electric performance crossover.
More specifically, Ford's Norwegian division shared via social media that its first batch of Mach-Es have just arrived, publishing a couple of photographs of the still-wrapped EVs being trucked into a snow-covered landscape. The Mustang Mach-Es arrived in Antwerp, Belgium just days ago, as part of a much larger shipment that departed from Veracruz, Mexico last month. The all-new 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E is built just hours away from Veracruz at the automaker's Cuautitlan Assembly Plant.
Interestingly, as far back as May, Ford has said that deliveries of the Mustang Mach-E had been delayed in Europe by the global pandemic, but not in the US. Of course, there's one very good reason why Ford might want to prioritize Norway: the country leads the world with regard to EV adoption, with zero-emissions vehicles making up more than 40 percent of all new car sales in the country in 2019. That's somewhere around 25 times the EV take-rate in the US.
And for what it's worth, all 17 of the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E units known to have reached Norway so far are said to be demo vehicles, meaning they'll be available for customer test drives, but not necessarily for purchase.
In other words, just because Ford has shipped a small quantity of early Mustang Mach-Es to select countries does not mean that the automaker has chosen to forsake the US market. If anything, the arrival of the vehicles in Norway suggests that the Mach-E assembly line is up and running in Cuautitlan, as expected and the first customer deliveries ought to start any day now in the US.
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