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One of the most iconic car places in Los Angeles is now performing its final act.
The Aadlen Brothers Auto Wrecking, located in San Fernando Valley, had been the host for over thousands of burned-out, smashed and rusted cars. Moreover, it has served as set for more than 200 movies shot for Hollywood.
The place is quite unique with the “Bruce” shark mold from Steven Spielberg’s 11975 “Jaws” movie finding its home there.
Nathan Adlen, the owner of the Hollywood junkyard, announced that by the end of this year, the place will turn into 26 acres of bare land. He explains that “You need to make money to survive, and it’s gotten harder to make money in the junk business.”
The place is the home for thousands of cars gathered one on top of another, waiting to be smashed and turned into scrap metal. The 60-year old owner added that prices have gone down while insurance cost are still rising and that he is working on a minimum wage.
Over the years, more than 200 movies, TV shows, commercials, video games and music videos were filmed at this nostalgic place.
Adlen also says that the income from Hollywood gigs is not enough for a business that used to cater to mechanics who were looking for cheap car parts taken either from a Rolls-Royce or a Volkswagen bug.
The lot has also appeared in famous box office movies like “The Hangover”, “The Fall Guy”, “The A-Team”, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and other popular TV shows like the recent “Supergirl”.


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Nov. 17, 2017—Facebook recently introduced a new feature that will allow business owners to integrate Facebook Messenger into their businesses' websites, according to a Small Business Trends report.
The feature, Customer Chat, is a plugin that will allow businesses to manage live chats with customers either through Facebook or the business's website.
This plugin is especially beneficial for today's customers that are always on the go or on their mobile devices, since Facebook Messenger can be accessed via phone, tablet or desktop computer.
Additionally, businesses will reap the benefits because they can track and easily log their conversations with customers and they can use Messenger's payment features too.
The plugin is currently in a closed testing phase.

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SEOUL, March 19 (Yonhap) -- Samsung C&T Corp., a South Korean trading and construction company, said Tuesday that it has acquired Whessoe Projects, a British gas and oil storage tank manufacturer.
Samsung C&T took over Whessoe Projects, which has been based in Darlington since 1790, in an effort to secure a new growth engine and expand its presence in overseas markets, the company said in a statement.
Samsung C&T did not disclose the value of the deal, but it is estimated at 20 billion won (US$18 million), according to industry sources.
The acquisition will help Samsung C&T diversify its overseas markets to Europe and North Africa from Asia and the Middle East in the mid- to long term, the company said.
The gas and oil storage tank market is expected to grow to $50 billion by 2020 thanks to the rapidly growing shale gas and urban developments, Samsung C&T said. Shale gas is natural gas deposited in shale formation.
Shares of Samsung C&T rose 3.41 percent to 66,900 won as of 9:49 a.m. on the Seoul bourse.
<All rights reserved by Yonhap News Agency>


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Sony's PS4 Reigns Supreme; Outperformed Microsoft's Xbox One & Nintendo's Wii U In February Sales; Will Sony Beat Nintendo Switch?
Sony's popular console, PS4 is obviously attracting more and more buyers as the unit sales are consistently increasing in the month of February. Now reports are claiming that the PS4 is officially the top selling console for February 2017, outperforming Microsoft's Xbox console.
A lot of gamers were able to acquire one of the best package deals of PS4 in February when Sony declared a price drop including some of the famous games, "Uncharted 4" and "Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare". The consistent high sales in PS4 is certainly a great success for the company, and is now enjoying the top spot.
According to Game Rant, both the Xbox and Nintendo's Wii U have been left behind by Sony, however, there is no specific figures have been published to denote exactly how many Sony systems were sold last month to give it the edge against its competition. Moreover, Microsoft did not divulge the figures which makes it more difficult to determine the difference in the sales.
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) March 9, 2017
Aside from Sony giving out more package bundles to buyers, there are more reasons why Sony has been victorious. One is the availability of games in the platform. Games such as "Nioh" and "Horizon: Zero Dawn" are well-received by a lot of gamers, and are currently available in PS4 platform.
However, the competition is not yet over as Sony will have to face Microsoft and Nintendo for a new competition for the month of March. According to TechnoBuffalo, the Nintendo Switch is reported to be the strongest and most successful gaming console for several years, launched at GameStop. In the meantime, stay tuned for more Gamenguide update.


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Epic Games has also filed a lawsuit against Google for its “anti-competitive conduct”.
Instagram has said the bug was fixed earlier this month.
The executive order on WeChat is said to be in effect in a matter of weeks.
‘Apple One’ is said to be introduced in October alongside this year’s iPhone.
The Trump administration’s ban on TikTok would see the video platform lose US business transactions, disrupting its funding.
Facebook Lite has been pulled off of Apple’s App Store.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Subscribers can access the new Xbox Game Pass app on Android and take part in the beta.
Parallels Desktop 16 supports macOS Big Sur ahead of its public launch later this fall.
Microsoft may be gearing up to officially announce the Xbox Series S later this month.
If Apple only has to remove WeChat from the App Store in the US, the effects would be much less severe.
The Facebook Gaming app was rejected multiple times by Apple due to its App Store policies.
Microsoft has claimed that Apple “consistently treats gaming apps differently” in a statement.


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Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Google Assistant will allow users to have an ongoing two-way conversation between them and Google in helping them get things done in the real world. Like Google Now, it will gradually learn more about users' context and improve with more relevant information.
"We think of this as building each user their own individual Google" Pichai said, adding that the service will leverage Google's years of investments in machine learning, artificial intelligence and natural language processing.
This service also extends to chats wherein users can ask queries, get relevant answers and follow up with more specific queries. It could also execute specific tasks like booking tickets or changing reservation times among others. In essence, think of Google Now with chat bot integration.
During his keynote, Pichai also gave an example to provide a hint on where they intend to take the service in the future.
Users can ask movie suggestions to watch, to which Assistant responds with available movies and theatre locations nearby. One can then follow up with a comment like "We'd like to bring the kids this time" to narrow down the choices to family-related movie titles. Assistant will then follow up to ask whether the user wants to complete the purchase by buying tickets.
Pichai claimed that its natural language processing is "an order of magnitude ahead of everyone else," thereby indicating an edge over rivals Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa.
This assistant will be integrated into Google's new conversational products including its messaging app Allo and its Amazon Echo competitor Google Home that is releasing later this year.


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Back in July of 2012, the 10.1-inch Wikipad tablet was first unveiled to an eager tech and geek audience.
I'm sure I'm not the only gamer out there who is super stoked about the upcoming Wikipad, an Android-powered mobile gaming console.
You can now confirm your $499 game-centric Android tablet.
Sony has confirmed that its PlayStation Mobile cross-platform gaming service will go live this fall in 9 countries, including Japan, the United States and Canada.
It's still got a long way to prove that it can compete with the likes of Apple and Google, but the Wikipad tablet is on its way.
If you're a fan of Android gaming and have been in the market for a new tablet, you may want to check out the Android 4.0 WikiPad.


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It has been already confirmed by Microsoft’s COO Kevin Turner during the Annual Technology Conference last December 4 that the latest version of their Operating System, Windows 10 will make its debut next year (2015). More approximately, the latest Windows version will be made available to about 1.5 billion Windows enthusiasts by late summer to early autumn. They will be providing the preview of the operating system by early summer, and all is set from there and then. According to the tightest Apple competitor, Windows 10 exhibits the most detailed and exhausted platform. Further, it will cater flexibly to an extensive number of devices with 4-inch to 80-inch screens.
As we all know, Windows 10 was pretested by some of the Microsoft smartphones this year. It won’t be too long before Microsoft brings Widows 10 OS into their new lines due next year. Redmond’s OS giant had promised its Windows 8 powered Lumia users that the handsets are all-set to be upgraded to Windows. It has been agreed upon that not only Windows-based phones will be boosted by Windows 10. However, upgrading date is yet to be announced officially.
The first preview that Microsoft will hold though will be through its Windows 10 mobile SKU on January 2015. It conveys post Christmas perks as Intel and ARM powered tablets are also likely to benefit from the said OS. There’s no denying that Microsoft is bringing its users to the next revolutionary level of their technology, don’t you agree?


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The island of Lesvos in the northeastern Aegean has become a draw for visitors from Turkey looking to combine their holidays with cycling. According to the Municipality of Lesvos, in recent large numbers of Turkish cyclists have visited the island specifically for this purpose.
The sudden Turkish interest in cycling holidays on nearby Lesvos is not by chance, but the product of a concerted effort to promote the alternative form of tourism on the island. The mayor of Lesvos, Spyros Galanos has been meeting with representatives of cycling associations in Turkey – specifically those based in the nearby cities of Izmir and Edremit.
The positive response to these overtures has prompted the Lesvos local authorities to move ahead with procedures to twin the municipality of Lesvos with that of Edemit. The latter is a city with a population of 130,000 and which receives 1.5 million tourist per year, thanks in part to its newly opened international airport. Following the twinning of the two municipalities, efforts will be made to further develop sports-based relationships between them.
The municipality of Lesvos believes that the flow of Turkey-based cyclists to the island could grow further in the near future, providing an important boost to the tourism industry on the island.
Other Regions Also Seek to Reap Benefits of Cycling
Lesvos is not the only region looking to invest in pedal power. The municipality of central Athens is looking to create a network of bicycle lanes in the city center to be used by locals and tourists alike. The effort will seek to also create safe parking areas for bicycles as well as establish a clearer legal framework regarding the operation of bicycle lanes.
The promotion of cycling both as a mode of transport for locals as well as a way to attract foreign tourists is also being undertaken by a number of other municipalities, such as Alimos on the south coast of Athens, and the town of Rethymno in Crete. The latter has taken the additional step of creating touristic packages specifically aimed at cycling fans in countries such as Italy, Germany and France.
In recent years ‘cycle tourism’ has grown markedly in Europe and is becoming an increasingly important part of the international tourism market thanks to the rise in demand for activities that promote health, quality of life and which are more environmentally friendly.
According to estimates, cycle tourism accounts for 2-4% of the total trips taken to most of European countries – a percentage that is expected to double or even triple to 6-12% in the coming decade.


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Valentine’s Day is a symbolic moment for couples to show love for each other and surprise their partner with heart-shaped chocolates or roses.
But since it began to be celebrated in the 6th century BCE, Valentine’s Day has turned into one of the most lucrative shopping seasons. Valentine's Day spending statistics provide evidence of significant economic impact.
Data show that tens of billions of dollars are spent each year on Valentine's Day. Although at first glance it seems as if the charm and attraction to this symbolic day has begun to fade, there are still entire industries that remain highly dependent on lovers who buy and exchange gifts.
Some interesting statistics for Valentine's Day:
- Expenditures for Valentine's Day in the US totaled about $ 20.7 billion last year.
- Americans spent over $ 886 million on Valentine's Day gifts for their pets.
- More than 135 million Americans went shopping for Valentine's Day.
- About 85% of all Valentine's Day cards are used by women.
- Men spend up to five times more than women on gifts for their partners.
Despite this economic evidence, it is worth noting today that Valentine's celebrations have declined steadily in recent years. Ten years ago, more than 60% of people celebrated this day. Today, that number stands at no more than 51%.
Expenditure statistics for Valentine's Day show that the average consumer spends approximately $ 162 on this holiday (estimate made, referring to 2019 data). People aged 35-44 are the largest spenders with an average of 279 $, followed by those aged 25-34 who spend $ 239.


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New Delhi: American streaming platform Netflix has announced a new show Soup directed by Abhishek Chaubey known for films like Udta Punjab, and starring Manoj Bajpayee and Konkona Sen Sharma. The dark-comedy crime series is produced by Macguffin Pictures. Chaubey has earlier worked on Netflix originals like Raat Akeli Hai and Ray.
“Working with Netflix for Soup has been really exciting and I’m thrilled to share our story with audiences all across the world. We’ve had a wonderful experience shooting Manoj, Konkona and the entire cast and crew of Soup, can’t wait to showcase this motley bunch of idiosyncratic characters,” Chaubey said in a statement.
Netflix that has clocked 222 million paid memberships worldwide saw net additions in 2021 decline by more than 50% to 18 million, compared to 37 million in 2020. The company follows a January-December accounting year. In the Asia-Pacific region, large parts of which continue to see disruption because of covid-19, the platform increased paid memberships by 2.6 million compared with 2 million in the fourth quarter a year ago, Netflix said. This came on the back of a strong growth in both Japan and India, it said.
Last December, Netflix slashed rates by 18-60% across plans in India to woo wider audiences and deepen penetration. The move sets the stage for greater competition among foreign giants, including Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video, which have so far led in terms of subscriber count with all players now evidently focusing on volume rather than value.
Netflix’s mobile-only plan, earlier priced at Rs. 199 per month, will now come for Rs. 149. The basic plan, which allows access to all content on any one device, will now cost Rs. 199 versus Rs. 499.
The company has announced local productions in collaboration with popular actors and directors in India such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Heeramandi), Vishal Bhardwaj (Khufiya) and Zoya Akhtar (an Archie Comics adaptation), besides second seasons of hits such as Mismatched, Masaba Masaba, and Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives.


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Sesame seeds likely aren’t one of those foods you pay any mind to, but the crunchy little buggers have been shown to play a crucial role in weight maintenance and deserve to be tossed into a salad or whole wheat noodle dish. Researchers suspect its the lignans—plant compounds—found in sesame seeds (and flax seeds) that makes them so special. In a 2015 study, women who consumed high levels of lignans tended to weigh less and gain less weight over time when compared to women who didn’t consume these compounds in high amounts.
Those issues can be part of what's known as the “keto flu,” Warren says. Other side effects of the keto diet, all of which are tied to carb withdrawal, can include lightheadedness, nausea, mental fog, cramps, and headaches, in addition to tiredness. Luckily, the keto flu doesn't usually last more than a week—which is coincidentally about when people start to see the number on the scale go down, says Warren.
This diet plan focuses on foods that are sources of protein and fat, which will help to keep you feeling full which may help you eat less overall. However, the keto diet is not a license to eat as much bacon and cheese as you want. It is even more critical to make good choices while on this diet because following a strict keto diet could result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies. And while the diet does eliminate many processed and ‘junk’ foods, it also limits many fruits, vegetables, and other important fiber-rich carbohydrate foods, which provide many health benefits.
Cons: Eating this way perpetuates the outdated idea that dietary fat is the enemy of body fat. And it isn’t necessarily better than other diets: One study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared high-protein, normal protein, high-fat, and low-fat diets, and found no significant difference in fat loss among the groups at six months or two years (though all did result in some fat loss). What’s more, while the low-fat group was supposed to keep its intake of the macro at 20%, actual intake was closer to 26-28%, suggesting that sticking to a strict low-fat diet is rather difficult and potentially unrealistic for most.
The 2-week turbocharge is a great way to kick off the plan: all the claims about resetting your body's expectations proved true for me. In the 3 months I've been on this plan I started a new job; celebrated my anniversary, Halloween, my birthday, & Thanksgiving, and now find myself surrounded by all the Christmas treats...and still find it easier than it's ever been to make conscious choices about what I eat.
This popular diet program is fairly restrictive — and for the first 30 days, dieters must cut out grains, legumes, most dairy, added sugar, and alcohol without any slip-ups, according to the Whole30 website. (29) The aim is to “reset” your body and to adopt dietary habits resulting in weight loss. Cutting out added sugar and alcohol has merit, but all the restrictions prove challenging and could lead to nutrient deficiencies and disordered eating.
Yes, you can eat dark chocolate to lose weight. A study among women with normal weight obesity (or “skinny fat syndrome”) who ate a Mediterranean diet that included two servings of dark chocolate per day showed a substantial reduction in waist size than when on a cocoa-free meal plan. Researchers attribute dark chocolate’s weight loss abilities to flavonoids, heart-healthy compounds in the sweet treat that the scientists at Harvard say can reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and mortality. Like nuts, dark chocolate has also been found to induce satiety. When reaching for chocolate, just make sure you choose a bar with at least 70 percent cacao. Anything less contains more belly-bloating sugar and a significantly reduced flavonoid content.
Many diets, including Atkins and the keto diet, fit into this umbrella. A typical low-carb diet limits carbs to less than 60 g daily, but this can vary, according to the Mayo Clinic. (15) In a September 2015 review published in PLoS One, people following low-carb diets saw modest weight loss — although study authors note that long-term effects of the diet require further research. (16)
Walnuts are packed with tryptophan, an amino acid your body needs to create the feel-great chemical serotonin. (In fact, Spanish researchers found that walnut eaters have higher levels of this natural mood-regulator.) Another perk: "They're digested slowly," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center. "This contributes to mood stability and can help you tolerate stress."
On a ketogenic diet, your entire body switches its fuel supply to run mostly on fat, burning fat 24-7. When insulin levels become very low, fat burning can increase dramatically. It becomes easier to access your fat stores to burn them off. This is great if you’re trying to lose weight, but there are also other less obvious benefits, such as less hunger and a steady supply of energy. This may help keep you alert and focused.


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US-based private investment firm IAG Capital has agreed to acquire a majority stake in peer-to-peer lender Zopa Group as part of the capital-raising by the fintech group.
The Zopa Group is expected to finalise a £130m capital injection that will enable the company to pursue its ambition of becoming a challenger to Britain’s biggest banks, Sky News has reported.
Zopa is reported to be holding talks to secure the funding from an entity belonging to IAG Capital Partners, and Silverstripe, its UK subsidiary.
The Sky News report quoted sources as saying that a deal is expected to be signed early next week.
The deal, if completed, would come before the expiry of Zopa’s banking licence-with-restrictions a year after it was granted.
According to sources, the company requires additional funding to fulfil regulatory capital requirements.
Sources also said that the funding was negotiated at a steep discount to Zopa’s previous capital-raising in 2018.
The new cash injection is also expected to give IAG Capital a majority stake in Zopa.
IAG Capital already has a small stake in Zopa, which was established 15 years ago as a peer-to-peer lender to build a prominent consumer brand.
The lender has so far issued loans totalling £5bn, including £1bn in the last year alone.
The company has a workforce of 500 and is claimed to be among Britain’s biggest fintech companies.
IAG Capital, based in South Carolina, is a serial investor in financial services companies.
The company’s portfolio includes Bamboo, a consumer loan provider based in the UK, and Credit One, a US-based bank that serves customers with poor, or no, credit ratings.
In December, Zopa announced that it will launch a fixed-term savings product protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), credit card and a money management app this year.
The company expects a full authorisation of its banking licence to enable the acceleration of these products.


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Key Gaming Directions from E3 2016
The international gaming industry came together at E3 – the Electronic Entertainment Expo (June 14-16) – for its annual showcase in Los Angeles. Considerable attention was drawn to cultural shifts that need to be made as gaming's mainstream impact continues to grow. Here are three key directions that emerged from the presentations.
- Safe Spaces: In response to the lasting shockwaves of #gamergate and ongoing harassment issues in the community, Microsoft announced its social awareness initiative Gaming for Everyone.
The US tech giant revealed the first user benefit will be community management tools that will make it easier for gamers to discover, create, maintain and protect like-minded gamer communities to play with on its social gaming platform XBox Live. The company hopes this will make social gaming a less daunting prospect for demographics for whom the space remains quite toxic – chiefly women and members of the LGBTQA community, despite gender parity in the US gaming market (Pew, 2015).
"If a woman wants to play a game and she only wants to play with other females, great," said XBox head of PR Letty Cherry. "We have so many different ways of having choice. We're not trying to ostracise anyone."
Meanwhile, entertainment news site The Verge criticised games publishers for failing to acknowledge the events of the Orlando shooting, which immediately preceded the conference. Instead, they presented their numerous gun-violence-based games as if nothing had happened. The days of gaming as niche entertainment are over, and the industry will have to consider the place of its stories in our culture.
- Play Anywhere: Microsoft confirmed it will allow players to buy a game once and then seamlessly play it across desktop computer operating system Windows 10 as well as on XBox, its dedicated gaming console.
This move is something Microsoft gamers have been demanding for a while, now. It's also in line with consumer demand for multiple, seamless access points – an attitude felt by entertainment brands and marketers across the board.
The on-demand public is looking for full control of its consumption and entertainment schedule, with individual customer journeys and multiple contact points that make entertainment content fit around their lives. A recent survey showed that 90% of American millennials switch devices mid-task, and two-thirds of all consumers are frustrated with poor content handover across devices (Adobe, 2016).
During E3 2015, we noted a push of established gaming properties into the mobile market. With Japanese giant Nintendo's augmented reality mobile game Pokemon Go to be released in July 2016, the demand for cross-platform, anywhere/anytime gaming is likely to increase.
- VR is Coming: Publishers are taking a decisive step into the virtual reality (VR) space, with games headed to all consumer headsets. Japanese tech company Sony announced its PlayStationVR headset will be released in October 2016. The 50 initial games available for play in VR at launch will include blockbuster franchise titles like Star Wars Battlefront X-Wing VR Mission, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy XV.
With Star Trek: Bridge Crew, US publisher Ubisoft is also banking on an established franchise to lure gamers into the VR space. Headed for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation, the game will put players in control of a brand new Star Trek spaceship as one of four different control-room crew members.
Finally, Microsoft has confirmed that its upcoming Project Scorpio XBox consoles will be able to run 4k resolution games and high-end VR.
To stay informed about developments in gaming and its impact on other entertainment sectors, follow our monthly Pop Culture Round-Ups. To learn about how gaming culture is shaping the future of live streaming, see Live-Streaming Strategies, and for more on seamless customer journeys, check out UX Best Practice for Marketers.


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By : Andrew Short
October 11, 2017 04:00 AM
Small businesses represent a vast market, and consequently a big opportunity for banks.
In the US, there were 28.8 million small firms operating last year, accounting for pretty much all US businesses (99.7 percent). Similarly, the UK was home to a record 5.5 million private sector companies at the start of 2016, and 99.3 percent of these were small businesses.
With so many other things to worry about – generating revenue and managing costs, for example – most small firms want their banking services to be as straightforward and convenient as possible.
Consumers are becoming increasingly accustomed to maximum convenience and omni-channel accessibility in banking, but are financial institutions doing a good enough job of extending the same benefits to small businesses?
One area where banks could be doing more to engage with small business customers, according to research, is digital account opening.
This is a service that is becoming increasingly common in consumer banking, with many providers now giving people the option to open an account without leaving their home, with nothing more than a mobile phone.
In the business banking market, progress has been slower. In its new report ‘Digital Account Opening in Small Business Banking’, Javelin Strategy & Research reveals that, in the US, only six of the top 30 banks serving business customers allow digital application for checking accounts. Furthermore, those banks already hold 30 percent of the country’s small business deposits.
The report argued that businesses should have more options than time-consuming phone calls and branch visits when they want to open an account or make changes to their banking services.
Jacob Jegher, senior vice-president of banking and head of strategy at Javelin, said digital account opening represents “a tremendous opportunity for banks to demonstrate their omni-channel competence”.
He added: “Bankers should strive for a process that allows for seamless transition between channels, and uses the strengths of each channel to cross-sell and onboard customers into engagement-building digital services.”
Small business owners face many demands on their time and have various external pressures to deal with, so what they really want from their bank is a combination of service quality and convenience. In short, they want their banking services to be reliable, effective and easy to use.
In a report released earlier this year, research firm Raddon revealed the factors that are most important to small businesses in their primary financial institution. Service quality topped the list, followed by convenient branch locations, online banking technology, convenient branch hours and free business checking.
Bill Handel, vice president of research at Raddon, advised: “Financial institutions can win small business customers by demonstrating that they understand business owners’ challenges, have the expertise these customers need, and can deliver the technology and service to help small businesses grow.”
The digitization of services and omni-channel delivery will only become more important over the coming years.
Small businesses will show increasing demand for the same standards of convenience and accessibility that have come to define consumer banking. Those institutions that are able to meet these demands will be in a strong position to reap the rewards from this lucrative and expanding market.


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Red Dog Arrives Stateside
Crave releases Red Dog for the North American Dreamcast.
Crave has announced the release of Red Dog for the Sega Dreamcast. The game will be available at retailers nationwide this week, and it includes six single-player missions with several more that are unlockable. Multiplayer modes include deathmatches and bomb tag. Red Dog was published in Europe by Sega.
GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.


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A new wearable device promises to harness the power of self-pleasure, storing electricity generated by the movements of your wrist, and allowing you to use that power to recharge your phone or tablet.
Andy WeirSenior News Editor Neowin LLC
- Forum Name:
- London, UK
- 04 May 2011
- Forum Posts:
I have a keen personal interest in how technology can be used to solve broader social and even geopolitical problems; if you have any thoughts on that front, let's have a beer and chew the cud - you never know, we may just make the world a better place.
Huge sci-fi fan as well (BSG/Trek run through my veins), and I love a good cup of tea. And Ovaltine. More than anything though, I love things with buttons, screens, switches, lights and toggles. I love tech.
Latest by Andy WeirView All
Microsoft has rolled out the latest update to its OneDrive app for Windows Phone, adding a range of new features, including the ability to add a PIN code, and easily switch between Microsoft accounts.
Lenovo device owners are being sought as part of an investigation into Superfish - the adware that the company secretly pre-installed on its devices - which will likely lead to a class action lawsuit.
Microsoft's most affordable Windows Phone is now available for just $94.49 in the US - although the retailer's claims that this represents a $200 discount on the usual price are somewhat misleading.
The rollout of the Lumia Denim update is certainly gathering pace - it's now available on the Lumia 925 on T-Mobile US, and is expected to land soon on the carrier's Lumia 521.
You can now grab a year of Xbox Live Gold membership for just $39.99 - saving you $20 on the normal price - either as a digital download, or as a card, for those planning to give it away as a present.
After working with Samsung to boost security on its Galaxy Android devices, BlackBerry is now collaborating with Google to offer a 'highly secure mobile solution' for other Android manufacturers.
Samsung boasted last year that it had reached mobile speeds of 7.5Gbps in 5G testing - but using new 'breakthrough technologies', UK researchers have achieved wireless speeds of up to 1Tbps.
After recent discussions with Microsoft, Axel Springer and other complainants against Google, the EU's antitrust chief will meet with Schmidt in the latest stage of Europe's 4-year investigation.
LG has announced details of availability for the G Flex2, its new curved Android flagship, featuring an octa-core 2.0GHz Snapdragon 810 processor, 2GB RAM, and 13MP rear camera with laser auto-focus.
After launching its first Windows Phone in September, KAZAM is launching two more - the Thunder 450W and 450WL - which both include a three-year warranty and free screen replacement in the first year.
Panasonic has added Freeview Play to its 2015 range of VIERA TVs, making it the first manufacturer to support the new connected TV service, and new set-top boxes and DVRs are also on the way.
GTA V for PCs was scheduled to launch on Jan 27th - two months after the Xbox One and PS4 versions. But after delaying the PC launch until March, Rockstar has once again said that it needs more time.
XOLO has quietly revealed its new Win Q1000, which features a 5-inch HD display, 1GB RAM and 8MP camera with 1080p video recording, in a sleek 8.8mm thick body - all for Rs.8,499 (around $137).
It's been two years since Google launched its high-end Chromebook Pixel, a $1300 Chrome OS laptop with a 13-inch touchscreen - and the company has now confirmed that a new model is on the way.


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Fire up the grill: Summer has arrived. To mark the start of BBQ season, For The Win looks at some great moments in the confluence of sports and grilling.
Over 100 million George Foreman grills have been sold worldwide, netting the former heavyweight champion more money than he earned in his entire boxing career.
When Camden Yards opened, the highlight wasn’t the warehouse in right field, it was Boog Powell’s barbeque stand that stood in the shadow of the warehouse.
A 20-year-old container of McJordan BBQ sauce sold for $10,000 in 2012.
The former Oklahoma Heisman Trophy winner has dozens of restaurants in his self-named BBQ chain.
Grilling got the swimmer in trouble on the medal stand at the 2012 Olympics.
There are eight products for sale on Big Ben’s BBQ website, including a hot sauce where ” heat greets you like an all out blitz of Habanera Peppers.”
Steelers rookie Jarvis Jones posed with a life-sized replica of himself made out of Subway’s Smokehouse BBQ Chicken.


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Pro-EU parties are set to hold onto two-thirds of the seats at the EU Parliament.Europe Politicsread more
The projected result comes shortly after Conservative Party leader Theresa May announced her resignation as prime minister on Friday morning.Europe Politicsread more
A Beijing decision to rapidly and sharply cut its excessive and unsustainable trade surplus with the U.S. would change for the better the bilateral relationship, writes...World Economyread more
Stocks in Asia were were mixed in Monday morning trade as investors watched for developments from U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit to Japan as well as results from...Asia Marketsread more
Sources say the talks have picked up speed in recent days and could lead to an announcement regarding a merger or partnership by Monday.Autosread more
Biden had criticized Kim Jong Un as a "dictator" and a "tyrant" at a recent rally in Philadelphia. North Korean state media responded by calling Biden a "fool of low IQ" among...Politicsread more
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The ban of some Apple iPhones in China shows that intellectual property rights are still determined by national borders.
Qualcomm announced Monday that a court in China — the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court — had granted the chipmaker's request for two preliminary injunctions against four of Apple's Chinese subsidiaries for patent infringement.
The two patents cover the ability to adjust and reformat photographs, and navigate through applications with a touchscreen. Apple has appealed the Chinese court order, which bans the sale of seven older iPhone models, ranging from 6s to X.
"A patent in the U.S. is not a patent in China, unless someone registers a patent in China," said Matthew Dresden, an attorney at Harris Bricken covering international intellectual property. "It's just another facet in another battle between two tech titans."
Qualcomm and Apple have been embroiled in a years-long legal dispute over patent royalties.
Both companies are based in California, but generate a significant portion of their revenues from China. For the fiscal year that ended in late September, Apple reported that 19.6 percent of net sales came from greater China.
Qualcomm said revenues from China, including Hong Kong, accounted for 67 percent of total consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2018, which also ended in late September. The chipmaker also said in the report it has not recorded any revenues for royalties due on sales of Apple products since the third quarter of 2017.
It is relatively cheaper and quicker for one party to bring a case against another in China compared to the U.S., said Eileen Li, head of research at Shanghai-based market intelligence firm Red Pulse. The environment for high-end industries is also more favorable in China given Beijing's efforts to produce more technology at home through Made in China 2025, she added.
"In general, China is known for having what industries would call copycats. (Most of these are in) consumer and retail areas," Li said. "With tech, China is tightening a lot of its policy and becoming more serious about IP protection."
It remains to be seen whether a preliminary injunction from a municipal court in China will have a lasting, nation-wide effect. The ban does not cover Apple's latest iPhone models and the company said all versions of the smartphone remain available for customers in China.


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Rockfish Games has announced today via press-release that its successful Kickstarter-funded rogue-like space shooter EVERSPACE will be releasing on the Xbox One and Windows ten next year.
The first showing of the Xbox One version will be at next year’s GDC 2016 in San Francisco.
“We are very excited to work with the ID@Xbox team to bring EVERSPACE to Xbox One and Windows 10,” says Michael Schade, CEO of ROCKFISH Games. “We believe EVERSPACE will be a great space shooter also for consoles thanks to its arcade style with easy-to-pick-up gameplay and its intuitive controls. Of course, this is also good news for all VR players as the PC version will feature full gamepad support as well now.”
“We were captivated from the first second we saw EVERSPACE, and are extremely excited to have ROCKFISH bringing the game to Xbox One and Windows 10,” says Chris Charla, Director of ID@Xbox.
Parallel to the release on Steam, ROCKFISH Games rogue-like Space Shooter EVERSPACE will be published exclusively for Xbox One and Windows 10 in cooperation with the ID@Xbox self-publishing program. Hamburg, Germany – October 22nd , 2015 – After having raised over USD 500.000 through the immensely successful EVERSPACE Kickstarter campaign as well as funding via the official site http://everspacegame.com, the Hamburg-based Indie Studio ROCKFISH Games now announced its collaboration with Microsoft.
Thanks to the ID@Xbox self-publishing program, the rogue-like Space Shooter will make its console debut exclusively on Xbox One, and will appear for Windows 10 on the Windows Store at the same time as its release on Steam.
The release of EVERSPACE, the most funded game from Germany on Kickstarter, is planned for Q4 / 2016. The first build of the Xbox One version will be shown at GDC in San Francisco in March 2016. Since the current PC Pre-Alpha version already performs quite seamlessly on an average gaming PC even without optimization, the objective for the console version on Xbox One is an equally smooth gaming experience in all its glory with full-HD resolution. In addition to the confirmed console version for Xbox One, there is good news for all PC players and especially VR gamers: ROCKFISH Games confirmed that the gamepad support favored by the community can now be fully implemented as well.
This means that in addition to flight- and action-sequences, equipping the ship as well as navigating through the game’s menu can also be controlled via gamepad. Thanks to ongoing backing by the community the ultra-challenging Hardcore Mode with perma-death and other nasty surprises for all rogue-like purists out there has also just been unlocked.


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Crane rewarded 22 of its top Avaya resellers for 2006 with places on its now legendary Crane Avaya Ski Trip. This year’s destination was the popular resort of Val Thorens in the French Alps, the highest resort in Europe. Staying in a luxurious chalet with swimming pool, sauna and fitness area, the group enjoyed great skiing conditions followed by excellent après-ski.
Bruce Sutherland, Managing Director of Sabre Telecommunications said, “This is the third Crane Avaya ski trip I have been on and it just gets better every year! The trip was superbly organised and was an excellent opportunity to network with other people working in the channel.”
Runa Macleod, Crane Avaya Marketing Director added, “The ski trip is now running in its 15th year showing its continuing success and popularity. Our resellers contributed enormously to Crane’s success in 2006 and this is our way of thanking them for their hard work and continued support!”


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Designer Suneet Varma and Arttd’inox recently announced a three-year collaboration. Varma, whose list of collaborations already includes Judith Leiber and BMW, will be creating a line of kitchenware using a combination of precious stones (rose quartz, aquamarine and tourmaline), gold and stainless steel for Arttd’inox (the lifestyle brand that specialises in stainless steel accessories).
“I’ve admired the design sensibility and aesthetic of Arttd’inox for long. Now coming on board, I am excited to be working in an altogether new field for me,” says Varma. His objective is to “combine steel – one of the hardest materials – with other precious metals to create one-of-a-kind, modern products.” He also hopes to “keep the rich heritage of Indian craftsmen alive” by weaving in time-tested techniques like bidri.
Flip through the gallery to check out the sketches from the collaboration, and pictures from the event
You may also want to read: Topshop and Alexander Wang revive iconic pieces


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Last week, Samsung released the details of its November 2017 security patch and has now started rolling out the update to smartphone units. Samsung Galaxy A5, A7 (2017) and J1 (2016) have all received this update. Now, Galaxy S6 is currently receiving the update. Users should not expect much from this update because it is a minor patch that comes with only security fixes. This update can also not be ignored because it comes with a very vital Wi-Fi vulnerability fix.
Gizchina News of the week
The WiFi fix became necessary because of the security flaw in the WPA Wi-Fi security protocol thus any WiFi supported device is probably affected by it. This vulnerability gives attackers the loophole to tap into the traffic between access points and connected devices. For now, there are no reports of extensive exploitation of this vulnerability thus we can safely assume that most devices are still safe.
This firmware version has the number “G920FXXU5EQK4” and the Galaxy S6 SM-G920F is currently receiving the update. For now, only the SFR-branded version of this smartphone in France has received this update but we are optimistic that it will soon be released to other markets.


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The European Union has agreed to a proposal to allow companies like Facebook, Google, and Apple to store data about European users in the United States, once again allowing data to flow across the Atlantic.
In 2020, an EU court decided that a deal allowing for data transfers of user data across the Atlantic was illegal. But on Monday, the European Union approved a new plan to continue allowing the data of EU citizens to be stored by tech companies within the United States.
The European Commission adopted an "adequacy decision" for the Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, concluding that the US does ensure an adequate level of protection to transferred data that's "comparable to that of the European Union."
The framework includes binding safeguards to address concerns raised by the European Court of Justice, such as limiting access to EU data by US intelligence services to "what is necessary and proportionate." It also establishes a Data Protection Review Court that EU citizens can access, and other improvements that the previous Privacy Shield framework failed to offer.
That court was formed as part of a President Biden executive order in 2022, reports the Wall Street Journal.
"The new EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework will ensure safe data flows for Europeans and bring legal certainty to companies on both sides of the Atlantic." said EC President Ursula von der Leyen in a statement. "Following the agreement in principle I reached with President Biden last year, the US has implemented unprecedented commitments to establish the new framework."
US-based companies can join the framework by committing to a list of privacy obligations, such as deleting personal data when it's no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected in the first place.
The adoption of the framework puts in place a way for US-based tech companies to continue operating with trans-Atlantic data transfers, without needing to resort to appeasing EU data privacy rules by investing more heavily in EU-specific infrastructure, for example.
The change will be useful for companies like Meta, which was slapped with a 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) fine from the European Union in May over its ruled-illegal data transfers. While the deal means Facebook won't necessarily need to make considerable changes to how it handles data, it is still expected to pay the fine.
Meta, Facebook's parent company, is appealing the fine.
Though the new framework will be beneficial to tech giants, it is likely that it will face legal challenges from privacy advocates in the United States who may still be against the prospect of the data transfers.


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The new model is the SOHW-832SX and will be available in Europe from week 28 with an expected retail price of €169.
Double layer burning has been implemented in the new 8x external DVD dual drive with USB 2.0 interface.
Record 8.5GB of data or 4 hours DVD quality video on one DVD+R disc. It can also write single layer DVD+R or DVD-R media at 8x maximun, DVD+RW or DVD-RW media at 4x, and read DVD-ROM media at 12x maximum. It also supports writing CD-R media at 40x maximum, US CD-RW media at 24x max, and reads CD-ROM media at 40x max.
The external drive has smaller dimensions, 165mm(W)x58mm(H)x192mm(D).


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In the past week, Mojang, company responsible for the development of Minecraft, made its position clear regarding NFTs: totally prohibited within its universe. This has dealt a serious blow to this technology, since video games are one of the few outlets where they could make sense. However, not all developers share the opinion of Minecraft, and there are other developers, such as Epic Gameswho have strongly criticized Mojang’s decision, positioning themselves in favor of this technology.
After Mojang’s controversial statements, it hasn’t taken long for all kinds of users and developers to appear, seeking to show their support for NFT technology. And one of those who has shown his support for NFTs has been none other than Tim Sweneyfounder and director of Epic Games.
After learning of Mojang’s decision regarding this technology, a user decided to ask the CEO of Epic Games himself for the company’s opinion on the matter. And, although at no time has he shown his full support for it, the answer does make his position very clear.
Developers should be free to decide how to build their games, and you are free to decide whether to play them. I believe stores and operating system makers shouldn’t interfere by forcing their views onto others. We definitely won’t.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) July 21, 2022
The director of Epic Games indicates that the problem is that it is the developers who must choose what technologies they want or don’t want to do, and not be swayed by the director’s beliefs or opinions. In other words, at the moment we don’t know if Fortnite, the biggest game from Epic Games, will soon begin to allow NFTs to its players, but what is clear is that at no time will the store prohibit developers from using any technology. , even if they are these controversial NFTs.
The Problem: NFT Worlds
One of the biggest problems that have appeared after Mojang’s decision to ban this type of technology is in NFT Worlds. This platform is built within the world of Minecraft, and allows users to earn money (in the form of tokens) as they play with it. It currently moves about 80 million dollars in content (although the value of its own token has dropped by half after the publication of the Mojang note). Now it is up in the air.
— NFT Worlds (@nftworldsNFT) July 20, 2022
Its managers are already thinking about how to deal with this problem in order to continue operating. Although at the moment there is no definitive solution, some of the proposals on the table are either changing the Minecraft engine for something “similar to Minecraft”, or setting up a GameFi platform.
We will have to wait to see how this problem is solved.


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Friends of the Library fall book sale starts Wednesday
SPOKANE, Wash. — Onto the next chapter with Spokane Public Library as it hosts this year’s Friends of the Library fall book sale.
The book sale will begin Wednesday, Oct. 16 for the members who purchased pre-sale. You can join the pre-sale members for $10 at the door in order to get the first look at what is for sale.
Starting Thursday, Oct. 17 the book sale will be open to everyone and will go through Saturday, Oct. 19.
All books will be for sale starting as low as $1. To learn more about hours of the event, check out the library’s Facebook event.
COPYRIGHT 2021 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.


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It’s bad enough that Toronto’s shoppers must now pay a nickel for every plastic bag used while shopping because of a municipal bylaw. But now, some retailers are
an extra penny,
blaming the HST
for the price hike.
It happened to me over the weekend at my local
. After forgetting to pay for a bag with my order, I scrounged around for a nickel and handed it over. The bashful young cashier asked me for an extra penny.
“You know — HST,” she said.
So the city gets us coming, and the province gets us going. And in the middle, we’re left struggling to haul our groceries home. Nice one.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m all for saving on the plastic. Heck, I wandered around
St. Lawrence Market
on Saturday with fresh salmon stuffed into my purse. (Try explaining that one to your mother in law while you’re digging around for your keys.) But there are times you need a bag.
Tightwad mayoral candidate Rob Ford is
tells the National Post’s Cory Ruf
: “The bag tax was already an unfair tax, and now consumers are being taxed on the tax … This is ridiculous. I know I am not the only one who thinks enough is enough.”
What happens if the penny goes extinct, what then? Will some retailers demand a dime? That’s just crazy talk.
But I’ll tell you one thing — that darned extra penny is enough to keep me away from the stores that are rounding up.
Shoppers Drug Mart
says it’s keeping its bag charge at a nickel. Some other stores might want to follow suit.


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- MasterCard has disclosed plans to expand into crypto through partnerships.
- According to Mastercard VP, mainstream adoption of cryptos is gaining momentum as its interest remains positive among companies, businesses, and consumers.
The mass adoption of cryptos by institutions is viewed as imminent, making Meta and others make an early move. The latest entity to join the train is the global payment firm, MasterCard, which has disclosed plans to expand into cryptos through partnerships.
Mastercard VP Harold Bossé disclosed during an Avalanche webinar about the use of digital assets for cross-border transactions and some of the challenges faced by financial institutions while executing these processes. He also spoke about the adoption of digital currencies by fintech, payment firms, and banking. According to him, mainstream adoption of cryptos is gaining momentum as its interest remains positive among companies, businesses, and consumers.
There are early adopters and new adopters, but we have switched toward mass markets, [and]that will be a very important aspect for financial institutions to move into the space.
Mass blockchain and crypto adoption is inevitable – MasterCard VP
Bossé further explained that the mass adoption of blockchain technology and digital currencies is inevitable as institutions move in their numbers into the space. In his presentation, he observed that companies face major challenges in their crypto adoptions which are primarily linked to the “lack of understanding among senior management, commercial rationale surrounding scalability, cost and speed, and regulatory concerns.”
MasterCard has shown a lot of aggressiveness in its expansion into the crypto space as they are offering crypto rewards and acquiring crypto companies. As part of its move, it recently partnered with Nexo and Gemini to offer crypto credit cards. The global payment firm is also a partner of Ripple. It is interesting to note that most of the team members believe that MasterCard will soon replace the Swift system.
During World Economic Forum’s annual (WEF) summit hosted by the Global Blockchain Business Council, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said that it is likely that Swift will not dominate in the field of cross-border payment systems in the next five years.
Recently, MasterCard filed several trademark applications related to the metaverse and NFTs. This was confirmed by trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis, who disclose that the firm had filed 15 trademark applications for intellectual property. He further disclosed that MasterCard seeks to be an integral player in the digital economy. In addition, it has made provisions for events in the area of finance, cryptos, and NFTs. As part of its plans, it seeks to come up with a marketplace for digital goods, NFT-backed media, and e-commerce software. This is to make it easy for users to make business transactions on the metaverse.
Der Beitrag MasterCard executive makes bold prediction about SWIFT as company doubles down on crypto erschien zuerst auf Crypto News Flash.


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China-Africa SMEs* Convention is a business event that will gather more than 3,000 Chinese and African companies in Shanghai, China from April 11th-13th, 2016. The event is co-organized by Reliconn and Global Alliance of SMEs with the help of ZXEVENTS. The convention is a platform for African SMEs to trade and partner with Chinese SMEs, to learn from the experience of their Chinese counterparts, and to find opportunities for investment from Chinese and African investors. During the event, African and Chinese SMEs will meet face-to-face to establish long term trade and business relationships which will lead to technology transfer. African SMEs will also learn from the experience of Chinese SMEs through company visits and sharing. A similar image of how the face-to-face meeting will look like between Chinese and African SMEs is below:
There will also be training sessions from remarkable Chinese professors and business leaders in order for African SMEs to learn about the Chinese manufacturing technologies and also about the economic growth of China.
SMEs are widely known for their importance in contributing to economic growth and development across regions. In China for instance, according to a 2014 report by WTO, SMEs contribute up to 60% of China’s GDP. Unfortunately, the SMEs in Africa lack the tools and technology to play this role for Africa’s economy. That’s why we are holding this event called “China-Africa SMEs Convention” for African SMEs to trade, partner, and learn from the experience of Chinese SMEs to become the engine of Africa’s economy.
*SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises).


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All the hurly-burly today about the iPhone 4’s somewhat fragile screen and its inability to survive three 3.5-foot drops reminded me about Nintendo’s efforts to ensure its systems keep on ticking despite severe lickings.
Just look at the Gulf War Game Boy on display at the Nintendo World Store: it survived an aerial bombing, and still plays Tetris just fine! As for the company’s modern handhelds, while a portion of the DS Lite models experienced shoulder buttons issues and cracked hinges, for the most part, the systems are considerably solid.
To make sure its portables could withstand an unexpected kiss with concrete, Nintendo waited until its final DS design was able to work consistently after being dropped ten times from a height of 1.5 meters, or around 4.9 feet (higher than an adult’s breast pocket), before putting the console into production.
Nintendo’s CEO and president Satoru Iwata explains:
"If a kid puts a game console in the basket of their bicycle, then has to make a sudden stop, the console can come flying out — and it’s not going to land on carpet.
So I told them to make it so it could survive being dropped from 1.5 meters onto concrete. The hardware design team screamed, but proceeded to figure out how to pass the test.”
The team dropped dozens of prototype DSes 100 times each, eventually choosing the design that took the most drops to break, according to Osamu Inoue’s recently published book Nintendo Magic. The company had a similar strategy with the Wii, testing the console until it could withstand an 80 kg weight (176 lbs.) for one minute.
And of course, if your DS finds a way to stop working, Nintendo’s customer service department has a reputation for going out of its way to make sure that replacing or repairing your system is as painless as possible.
Buy: Nintendo Magic
See also: Nintendo DS Lite thrown through a wall
[Image via Jacob Kaplan-Moss]


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In the next 10 to 20 years, businesses will be driven by experts in the supply chain industry because of emerging technology revolutionizing the way customers are served. That’s according to Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon, who spoke at UT’s Haslam College of Business Supply Chain Forum earlier this month.
Global Supply Chain Institute News
A new study from UT’s Global Supply Chain Institute outlines the best practices for leveraging transparency in supply chains for financial profit.
Sandra MacQuillan, chief supply chain officer at Kimberly-Clark, was honored with the first-ever Distinguished Women in Supply Chain award at last week’s Supply Chain Forum at the Haslam College of Business. The award was presented by the college’s Nexxus group, an organization launched by female supply chain students and faculty at last year’s forum.
New research released today from UT’s Global Supply Chain Institute, in collaboration with leading B2B integration provider DiCentral, looks at supply chain trends, issues, and challenges expected in 2016 and beyond.
In response to growing demand from supply chain employers to connect with new hires, UT’s Haslam College of Business is launching the Supply Chain Management Scholars of Distinction program.
According to a new study from UT’s Global Supply Chain Institute, Selecting and Managing a Third Party Logistics Provider, companies are still struggling to optimize their use of 3PLs despite growth in every sector of the supply chain over the last quarter-century.
A new study from the Global Supply Chain Institute demonstrates that decision fatigue impedes a company’s agility and profits.
Supply and Demand Chain Executive featured a recent survey by the Global Supply Chain Institute at UT.
The work of Michael Burnette, associate director of the Global Supply Chain Institute, was recently cited in a Forbes article about “platforming.”
The Haslam College of Business’s Supply Chain Forum, held November 11–12, included an inaugural reception for Nexxus, a program aimed at promoting gender diversity in the field. In addition, industry professional Kevin O’Marah was honored with a faculty fellowship.


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Apple’s Newest iPhone Didn’t Click With Customers As Much As Expected, Hurting the Stocks in the Process
Just last week, Apple unveiled their latest master creation: the iPhone XS and XS Max. Both iconic iPhones are already available for preorders and will start shipping on September 21.
Despite the excitement of millions of Apple users and investors, unfortunately, the annual product unveiling didn’t live up to the hype this time. Not only did it fail to wow the customers much, but this critical reception may hurt the company’s stock performance.
Last Wednesday, Apple unveiled its newest flagship phone: the iPhone XR which costs around $749, iPhone XS at $999, and the iPhone XS Max at $1,099. The iPhone XS comes with an astounding 5.8 inch OLED screen and water-resistant features. Its new handsets will follow the company’s 10th-anniversary high-end product line.
The Smartphones also feature a new processor and a storage space of up to 512 GB to allow faster performance, seamless multitasking, and improved color representation.
Aside from these critical features, the XS also has an improved dual-camera system with new sensors and true-tone flash for better portrait mode photos. The front camera collaborates with a dot projector to create an in-depth photography. It also has the FaceID security system for locking and unlocking the phone.
Both phones will also feature a dual SIM ability to allow users to have two numbers, mostly for work and home lines, or when traveling internationally on the same phone. According to Schiller, this will allow their Apple customers to have more flexibility in communicating with their loved ones, or at work as they see fit.
A Lackluster Event
Despite the prestigious unveiling event, the new generation of iPhones wasn’t welcomed warmly by its customers according to LikeFolio data firm. According to the founder Andy Swan, it was “lackluster” compared to the previous version of smartphone announcement.
The firm tracked the thousands of social media posts, tweets, likes, shares, and retweets to study Apple’s unveiling trends and found a declining line when it comes to the number of people interested in buying the new iPhones.
Swan adds their chart reflects a bad sign for Apple. She noted Apple’s purchase intent after a Keynote presentation event hit its lowest for the first time in over 13 years. And it seems that LikeFolio’s data reflects the public’s consensus as Tweets circulated on the Internet about how some Apple users don’t intend to buy the new iPhones.
According to one Twitter user named Max Mortillaro, for example, expressed how he’s going to stick with his iPhone 6S since he didn’t see any compelling feature for XR, XS and XS Max. He reiterated the features were almost the same as the earlier versions and the price wasn’t justified for him, while Craig Poulsen is still debating whether or not he should upgrade his iPhone for minimal changes.
The Declining Stocks
Aside from potentially hurting Apple’s sales, the lack of reception from Apple’s customers may also be a reliable predictor for the company’s declining performance in the stock market for the past nine months. According to Swan, Apple’s shares increased after Apple’s 2017 Keynote event, following its announcements for the iPhone 8 and X.
But this time, the result was a lower level of purchase intentions and the company’s share price closed at $226.41 last Thursday. Despite the slight price gains, Swan notes how Apple’s performance is still relatively cheap compared to its past earnings.
Despite these projections, Swan did note that the new Apple Watch Series 4 is currently the fan’s favorite, especially with its FDA-approved heart-monitoring features. Apple’s Watch Series products pose a major threat to Fitbit, in which the latter’s company stocks fell to nearly 7% after the reveal.
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According to a new report, UK-based payment company Earthport was recently purchased by the US payment giant Visa for $250 million. Earthport is a known international payment service that provides services to businesses and banks around the world. It is also one of the biggest partners of Ripple Labs, the parent company of XRP cryptocurrency.
Earthport, which is headquartered in London, UK, was founded in 1997. It partnered up with Ripple in 2015 to integrate the Ripple protocol into their existing payment network. The company has been performing international payments via a single application program interface (API). Up to this point, its clients included some of the largest companies and financial institutions in the industry, including Ripple, Payoneer, Bank of America, Japan Post Bank, and others.
Earthport also made headlines in early 2016 after launching the first DLH (Distributed Ledger Hub) in the world. This move allowed it to offer its technology to its clients via a simple API. As a result, it provided more than 200 countries with a wide variety of payment methods, as well as access to the Ripple ecosystem.
Visa overpays Earthport shares
Reports also claim that Visa has paid each Earthport share four times more than their stock’s Monday closing price. According to the stock market, the shares’ worth is at around 7.45 pence, while Visa paid around 30 pence per share. The company was already considering a change in strategy due to a 28% drop in stock value due to significant expenses and losses in 2018.
As for Visa, it was recently reported that the payments giant is planning its own blockchain-based digital identity system. The system is called “Visa B2B Connect”, and it will focus on improving international payments. According to their announcement, it is scheduled to go live in early 2019. It will make essential business data tokenized, and it will grant the company a cryptographic identifier to be used for various platform-based transactions.
Earlier this year, in June, Visa experienced significant disruptions in their card payments, most of which were reported in Europe and the UK. The company did not report what was causing the disturbance, only that they are investigating it and working on resolving the issue.
Banks reportedly opening up to crypto and blockchain
Meanwhile, it appears that the interest in blockchain technology is growing around the world, as proven by these and other recent events. Only a month ago, in November, Ripple Labs CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, announced that there are over 100 SWIFT-connected banks that have entered a partnership with Ripple. Considering that SWIFT was always skeptical of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, this announcement represents a clear proof that SWIFT members might be changing their attitude towards new technologies.
In addition, Garlinghouse attempted to speed up the adoption of blockchain by donating $50 million to 17 different universities. However, reports claim that the donation was still made in USD, instead of XRP or any other cryptocurrency. This shows that Garlinghouse does not aim to attract people to blockchain by force and that the company is merely trying to raise awareness of crypto and blockchain.
Also, despite the harsh crypto winter that has damaged the value of countless cryptocurrencies, Garlinghouse remains optimistic about the future of these technologies. He even predicted that XRP will likely surpass Bitcoin at some point, after making claims that XRP exists and operates independent of Ripple Labs — the fact that many are still questioning to this day.
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Apple’s annual conference, the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is happening next week (between June 4 and June 8). If the reported information coming from Bloomberg's sources, or as the publication calls them "people familiar with the plans", is to be believed, Apple will not announce any new hardware at all this time at WWDC. Instead, the California-based multinational tech giant will focus on software improvements.
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If we don’t bother about the recent skirmish between two Larrys (Larry Page, the Google’s CEO and Larry Ellison, the Oracle CEO), the combination of Android and Java is so far causing tremendous apps and the most excellent among them are games. Google says Android exists on more than half of the smart-devices all over the world and Oracle says Java now powers more than 5 billion diverse electronic devices. Developers say – long live Android, long live Java!
Java is the most used programming language and its use in Android game development is a godsend for developers. Java can be used in creating from simplest Android games to the complex ones. Due to simplicity and easiness of Java, Android has turned out to be a popular platform for game development.
However, there have always been some features with Android OS that naturally attracted game developers-
–Android is an open source platform that makes the development of games comparatively less costly. Android allows anyone who is interested to customize the source code so that the app will become more useful and error-free. Latest report claims Android apps crash much less than iOS apps and devs believe that it is because of open source that added such capability to Android.
–Android supports both 2D graphics and 3D graphics. However it uses quite different APIs for 2D vs. 3D graphics. The API powering 2D graphic is built on the Skia graphic library. The 3D graphic API is OpenGL-ES, the “embeddable” subset of the well-known cross-platform OpenGL 3D graphics API. But, they both provide outstanding graphic outputs.
–Despite the fact that Android is open source, the development standards of this OS are similar to iPhone. Both have been tested several times for performance and functionalities and there is nothing that can challenge Android.
–Rapid and easier development has also made Android the most sought-after mobile operating system among game developers.
–For any game development, support of rich audio and video formats is a prerequisite. Here developers find Android OS with readily available supports for almost all media and audio formants. It is really great for developing rich games.
–Android devices are far economical than iOS, Blackberry and Windows Phone powered devices. Many Android powered smartphone can be purchased at $200. This gives chance to people to easily have a smartphone that is powered by Android OS.


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This year’s Super Bowl parties will have an uninvited guest: high inflation.
The prices of gameday finger foods have soared, in many cases beyond even the forty-year high of 7.5 percent inflation reported by the Department of Labor Thursday.
Food inflation overall is running at seven percent, the highest rate since 1982. Food-at-home inflation is running at 7.4 percent. But many of the items that are popular at Super Bowl parties are seeing even higher price hikes.
“It will cost about 8% to 14% more than 2021,” Wells Fargo estimated in a recent report.
Guacamole: Good luck finding avocados. This year, avocados are available in about one-quarter of the number of stores as last year. And the average price is at $1.24 up from 78 cents last year, a massive 58 percent price increase.
Chicken Wings: Thursday’s consumer price index shows that chicken parts prices are up 11.6 percent compared with a year ago. But that includes drumsticks, thighs, and breasts. Focusing in on wings, prices are up 27 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Silver lining: they are available in about three times as many grocery stores as they were a year ago.
“Super Bowl weekend is here and chicken retailers are increasing chicken feature rate and activity index in circulars, but shoppers will have to look a little harder to catch a bargain,” the USDA said in its report.
Crackers: If Elizabeth Warren were right that “corporate greed” is behind inflation, then cracker makers would be some of the greediest people on earth. Cracker prices are up 12.6 percent. Puttin’ on the Ritz, indeed. (Don’t worry, she’s not right about inflation and we’re sure cracker folk are not any greedier than the rest of us.)
Chips: Cornmeal prices are up 5.2 percent, which is likely pushing up the prices of tortilla chips. (Inexplicably, there is no CPI line for tortilla chips themselves.) Potato prices are nearly flat with a year ago, so potato chips may be a better bet. Corn people are greedier than potato people, obviously.
Beer: The God of inflation has some mercy and made non-greedy people run breweries. Beer prices are up just 1.8 percent compared with last year. Wine prices are up just 0.9 percent.
Soda: Soda, pop, coke. Whatever you want to call fizzy, sugary drinks, carbonated beverages are up 3.8 percent.
Shrimp: “It is up sharply from last year’s $3.60 per pound (at the wholesale import level, according to Urner Barry7) to close to $4.40 per pound (same index),” Wells Fargo reported. “That’s a 22 percent increase.” Fishermen are the poster-children for corporate greed.
Ham: The price of ham is up 10 percent compared with a year ago because of those greedy piggies.
Cheese: Cheese-makers, by contrast, are blessedly generous and have only raised prices 0.2 percent.
Snacks: This catchall category for in the inflation data is up 8.2 percent.
Salsa: Prices of relishes, which include salsa, are up 6.7 percent.
Lunchmeats: The protein-industrial-complex has jacked prices of lunchmeats up 8.2 percent. (Suspiciously the same increase as snacks!)
Overall, spending on Super Bowl entertaining is expected to increase around five percent this year from $13.9 billion to $14.6 billion, according to the National Federation of Retailers.


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Stellar Christmas sales at Reiss spark speculation fashion firm will be sold
Stellar Christmas sales at Reiss have fuelled speculation the high-end fashion chain could soon be sold by its US owners.
Like-for-like sales were up 18 per cent in the seven weeks to January 18 and, even in the difficult UK market, sales jumped 15 per cent.
The chain, which has 82 shops, 104 department store concessions, and 40 franchise and wholesale points, was founded by David Reiss in London in 1971 and now has a presence in 15 countries.
Reiss is a long-term fashion favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge
Said to be a favourite of the Duchess of Cambridge, it was bought in 2016 by US private equity firm Warburg Pincus in a deal valued at £230million.
Reiss’s chief executive Christos Angelides said last night: ‘Our customers are responding positively to the steps we have taken to improve the quality and style of our products.’
Advisers have now been lined up to sell the company, which made pre-tax profits of £10million last year and has proved to be a rare bright spot on Britain’s gloomy High Street.
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U.S.-U.K. Trade Dispute Comes to an End
Reuters reports that U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a joint statement the deal “would protect steel and aluminum companies — and their workers — in both countries, allowing the allies to focus on what they say are ‘China's unfair trade practices.’”
Under the agreement, the U.K. will receive a duty-free import quota of more than 500,000 metric tons of steel that is melted and poured in the country annually, with excess volumes subject to a 25% tariff.
Raimondo said the deal would also help ease inflation in the United States, where consumer prices are at a 40-year high.
The United Steelworkers union said the deal marked “an important step in addressing systemic problems like illegal dumping and global overcapacity that threaten the vitality and future of our steel and aluminum industries.”
Steel Manufacturers Association president Philip Bell said in a statement, “The Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) is pleased with the 232 agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom announced today. This agreement will help with the problems of global excess steel capacity, transshipment, illegal dumping and subsidies. The deal will end the threat of retaliatory tariffs by the U.K. and will implement a tariff rate quota structure with a melted and poured requirement.”
Bell added, “We are glad to see that the arrangement also includes a requirement to audit Chinese owned steel producers in the U.K. This will help prevent favorable Chinese financing and subsidies and thwart China’s attempts to evade fair trade laws by using foreign investment.”
Read more here.


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Small businesses are not letting big brands rule the school. By telling the right story, maximizing online presence, leveraging trends, competing on lead generation
Mobile is the way and here’s why – productivity on the go and no-charge support. Whatever business, mobile applications can make life a lot easier.
Small Business Week – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), recently asked small business owners to share their stories in a short video


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BYJU'S to close $800M funding round by the end of August
The edtech decacorn is yet to receive $250 million in funding from Sumeru Ventures and Oxshott committed in March 2022.
Tuesday July 12, 2022,
2 min Read
Edtech decacorn $800 million funding round it had announced in March this year "because of macro-economic reasons," the startup said, adding that it will close the round by August this year.is struggling to close the
BYJU'S is yet to receive $250 million from Sumeru Ventures and Oxshott that were committed at the time of the fundraise announcement.
Founder Byju Raveendran has completed his personal investment of $400 million, a spokesperson told YourStory.
“Of the other $400 million, about $150 million has come in. The remainder is expected from Sumeru and Oxshott by the end of August, and the delays are because of macro-economic reasons,” the spokesperson added.
The edtech giant confirmed its valuation at $22 billion after this round of funding.
Last month, BYJU’S laid off approximately 600 employees in a cost-cutting measure. Edtech startups have seen massive layoffs in the last few months, with Unacademy and Vedantu together firing more than 2,500 employees. LIDO learning and FrontRow have also let go of employees recently.
This spate of layoffs indicates to the edtech sector losing its mojo from the pandemic high. With schools reopening, online-first edtech startups are now reinventing themselves by moving to a hybrid model.
In February, BYJU'S said that it would invest $200 million into its hybrid tuition centres to open 500 centres across 190 cities.
Meanwhile, macroeconomic factors such as central banks raising interest rates, global inflation, supply chain gaps, and the war in Europe are impacting the business ecosystem in India as well. In the last few months, the valuations of consumer technology companies including Paytm and Zomato have plummeted.
Edited by Kanishk Singh


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By Olga Artyushina, Marketing Communications Specialist, Qulix Systems
Constantly growing competition and the need to keep pace with technological trends are forcing banks to maintain an open mind in regard to digital innovation.
That said, the banking industry has always tended to be conservative and extremely cautious with any kind of experimentation. This is certainly true of blockchain.
However it is also true that banks are recognizing that this new technology does have applicability, and that it cannot be ignored completely.
The blockchain revolution
A lot has been said about blockchain, mainly as it relates to the openness of the technology and cryptocurrencies based on it. But blockchain can be also implemented for traditional banking. For example, it can be used to create a transparent system for payments tracking.
In fact, the opportunities to use blockchain technology in the financial industry are enormous. For instance, the blockchain could make it possible to view a customer’s payment history in real time and thus judge eligibility for loans.
The technology is also perfectly suited for investment banks obligated to perform their own “Know Your Customer” checks.
In 2016, according to figures from Statista, 60 percent of surveyed financial companies worldwide were planning to use blockchain for international money transfers.
Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) named security clearing and settlement as intended uses, while 20 percent of respondents saw opportunities to use blockchain in their ‘Know Your Customer’ and anti-money laundering activities.
Blockchain technology use opportunitiesamong financial institutions worldwide in 2016
How does a blockchain work?
Currently, we use a financial intermediary, e.g., a bank, to perform financial transactions. In contrast, blockchain enables consumers and providers to communicate directly with each other, eliminating the need for a third party.
Due to the encryption of data traffic, blockchain provides a decentralized transaction database that is accessible for all network users.
This network represents a chain of computers that have to approve every single transaction before it is confirmed and recognized.
In other words, it is a kind of electronic account book that consists of transactions in the form of data blocks:
Challenges facing blockchain
Despite the great potential of blockchain for the financial industry, the technology is still in its infancy, it lacks a standard platform. Widespread blockchain use requires technical industry standards ensuring compatibility between different blockchain platforms.
The integration of blockchain technology with the existing IT infrastructure represents a further challenge. The Internet of Things will significantly expand the attack surface for the Internet. In fact, IT security plays an essential role in the blockchain world.
In the financial industry, supervisory authorities still prefer a central contact that can be called to account in the event of unexpected problems, such as software bugs or hacker attacks.
Moreover, there are questions to be clarified regarding compliance, fraud detection and prevention (including a legal framework for cryptocurrencies).
Finally, there is a need for clear data privacy regulation and an answer to the question of how to concurrently ensure a transparency across transactions.
In short, there’s a lot of hype surrounding blockchain technology — and some ambiguities concerning the way it can be used most effectively.
Without any doubt, blockchain can help to automate particular features in simple transaction-related application cases.
Nevertheless, there are many issues to be addressed before the technology can be used with tangible benefits.
Qulix Systems is a global IT & consulting company that provides a solution-oriented approach and custom software development to clients across multiple business domains.
This article was originally published on the Qulix blog at www.qulix.com


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FAIRMONT — Louis Spatafore has transferred ownership of the Arts and Antiques Marketplace in downtown Fairmont to the Claudio Corporation after years of owning and operating the store.
As of July 1, Claudio Corporation, a West Virginia holding company, acquired all Arts and Antiques Marketplace assets, vendors and customer contracts.
Spatafore has owned the building where the marketplace resides for over 40 years. He said he originally owned Friendly Furniture Galleries in the building before transforming it into what it is today.
Dominick Claudio, founder and CEO of Claudio Corporation, said the building and location align perfectly with his goals of helping small businesses and local downtown areas.
“We really like to focus on downtown redevelopment, and I think this building is prime for that,” Claudio said. “The location is great. He has done well with the Arts and Antiques for the last six years, and it just makes sense for what we are doing to help Fairmont’s downtown.”
Claudio said the Claudio Corporation manages businesses in the Clarksburg and Morgantown areas, but this will be one of the first projects it takes on in the Fairmont area.
“We have some property, but we haven’t done much work there,” Claudio said. “We are looking forward to putting new businesses in that building and cleaning it up and making it as beautiful as it can be.”
Spatafore said the building is over 36,000 square feet and five stories tall, creating huge potential for growth.
He said with the combination of Claudio’s experience and the luxury of having a lot of space, it will be an easy transition to open the building completely for retail.
Along with adding new stores to fill the space, Claudio said he has many other plans on how to make use of everything the building has to offer.
“We are going to try to open a couple more floors, add some new businesses in there and maybe cool living space on the fifth floor,” he said.
Although Claudio said his company will be taking over, its main goal is to carry on what Spatafore has created since opening the antique shop.
“We want to add to what he has already created there,” Claudio said. “He has a really good vendor network that he uses to fill that space, and we are going to try to add upon momentum he has already created with appreciation for the arts and antiques in that area.”
Spatafore said after years of running businesses in Fairmont, he is ready to retire. However, he is looking forward to seeing what Claudio is able to transform the business into.
“We decided it was time to turn the reins over to someone younger, energetic, and could keep the business going,” Spatafore said. “It has been a fun venture, but I believe Claudio Corporation and Dominick and his family can carry this businesses on.”


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Many credit card users paying through the nose
Credit is cheap these days, unless you're talking about credit cards.
The average credit card interest rate for people with fair credit is a whopping 21 percent, according to financial research firm CardHub. That was almost 4.5 percent higher than a year earlier.
While interest rates for other types of loans, such as mortgages and auto loans, remain near historic lows, consumers haven't seen the same type of benefit when it comes to their credit cards. The reason? For one, credit card debt is unsecured, meaning there's no asset to claim if a borrower can't pay, which raises a lender's risk and pushes up rates.
Meanwhile, a 2009 credit card law aimed at protecting consumers hurt lenders' profits by capping penalty fees. That led card issuers to raise interest rates as a way to recoup the losses, according Bankrate.
While that might not make you feel better if you're on the paying end of those rates, the good news is that people with strong credit histories are paying far less than 21 percent. For those with excellent credit histories, the average rate is just under 13 percent, while people with good credit pay about 17.4 percent. Both of those rates are up from a year earlier, at 0.6 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
Credit card debt remains a conversational taboo, with more people saying they're more embarrassed to admit how much they owe on their accounts than reveal their weight, according to a recent poll by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
The average household carries $7,087 in credit-card debt, with the country's total credit-card indebtedness mounting to $854.2 billion. That makes it the third-biggest debt market after mortgages and student loans, notes personal finance site NerdWallet.
So what should you do if you're saddled with high credit card rates?
First, call your credit card company and ask for a lower rate. If you pay your bill on time and have a good credit score, remind them of those facts. But before you even make the call, do some research to find out what your lender is offering new customers, as well as what rates are being promoted by competitors.
Second, consider transferring the balance from a high-rate card to one that offers a low or no-interest introductory period. For consumers who are confident they can pay down that balance before the rate goes up, this can be an effective strategy, Bankrate notes.
Third, pay down your balance and commit to paying off new charges every month. With rates only getting higher, carrying a balance means your credit card interest will only increase. Paying off that debt will provide immediate dividends by erasing monthly credit card interest fees, freeing up cash flow in your household, U.S. News & World Report points out.
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What vehicles sell in the USA? You can’t beat a truck
Gas prices pushed the sale of economy cars in 2011 but if it seems like all you see are pick-up trucks out on the road, it might interest you to know that the number-one selling vehicle in the United States this year is the Ford F-series truck — by a mile (or a couple of them).
Through the first 11 months of 2011, the F-series truck has racked up 516,639 sales, well ahead of another truck in the number-two spot, Chevrolet’s Silverado with 367,343 units sold, according to the latest figures from the Automotive News. The Toyota Camry comes in third at 275,004 vehicles sold. So the number-one selling vehicle, a truck, has outsold the number-one car two to one in this country.
Of course, this shouldn’t come as any surprise. Ford introduced the F-Series in 1948, creating a brand that has become Ford’s all-time best selling vehicle. That’s ahead of the Model T, Mustang and Galaxy, folks. You need a scorecard to log all the changes and adjustments that Ford has made since the first F1 came off the line but, whatever the F-series generation, it sells.
What you never have to worry about is how Ford and Chevy market those pick-ups: pour on the machismo, baby. Whether it’s Denis Leary providing tough-guy narration for Ford or Sam “I will pitch for anyone” Elliott, you’d think you’re back in 1955 when those truck spots come on. It’s all crew cuts, chewing tobacco and cowboy hats. The Japanese automakers have caught onto this gambit, driving their pick-ups through fire or leaving them on cliffs in various TV commercials.
Things you can expect to see and hear in a pick-up TV commercial: farm country, country music and guys out-Marlboroing Marlboro men out on the plains. But look at those sales figures; apparently it works.


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International business travel is expected to rise by 26% in 2021 and another 34% in 2022, recouping some of the losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With these statistics in mind, security leaders can prepare for the rise in travel by considering some key health security factors.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) released the findings of its report, "Adapting To Endemic Covid-19: The Outlook For Business Travel." The report from WTTC and McKinsey & Company conducted research and interviewed 19 CEOs and other key travel and tourism stakeholders to gain deeper insight into how the pandemic has continued to shift business travel.
The report identified important factors for security and other professionals to consider when planning business travel around the globe, including:
- Vaccination rates: The rate of vaccination in business travel destinations varies from country to country and will likely be a considered factor in future travel policy, according to the report.
- Mutual recognition: The international acceptance of vaccines, COVID-19 tests and proof of vaccination certificates determines which travelers can easily access business destinations.
- Variant prevalence and hospitalization rates: As different countries experience variant outbreaks, business travel will likely adapt to avoid high-risk areas.
- Testing accessibility: Testing availability and cost will play a role in budgeting for and executing safe travel for employees.
The experts from the World Health Organization predict that COVID-19 will become endemic, as noted by the report. Preparing for COVID-19 as the pandemic nears the end of its second year still remains a priority for business travel.