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By Brendan Sasso - 02/09/13 07:43 PM EST
Lobbyists for Internet and technology companies don't expect Congress to pass legislation protecting online privacy any time soon.
"It's not a front-burner issue right now," another technology lobbyist explained.
Despite repeated calls, including from President Obama, for online privacy legislation, Congress has been unable to unite around any bill that would set baseline requirements for how companies must handle their customers' personal information.
Many technology companies compile troves of data on their customers, allowing for more customized services and more precisely targeted ads. The rise of smartphones has enabled companies to track users' locations and provide them with more useful information.
Technology companies, many of which offer their services for free, make billions of dollars every year from the collection of personal data.
But many privacy advocates and policy makers are concerned that without any ground rules, consumers are at risk of losing control over their most sensitive personal information.
The European Union has adopted tough privacy protection laws and is currently considering a proposal that would impose even stricter requirements on Internet companies, such as allowing their users to access and delete the data collected about them.
The United States, meanwhile, has few privacy protection laws on the books.
"American innovators lead the world when it comes to Internet services and that would be next to impossible under the European privacy regime," said Steve DelBianco, executive director of industry group NetChoice.
Last year, the White House announced an "online privacy Bill of Rights" and urged Congress to enact the principles into law.
The Obama administration argues that broad privacy laws would increase trust in online services, boosting e-commerce.
Sens. John KerryJohn KerryObama phones Italian leader after deadly earthquake US arms sale to Saudi Arabia under fire from lawmakers Top Republican presses Kerry for Iran 'ransom' details MORE (D-Mass.) and John McCainJohn McCainGeneral calls McCain's Bergdahl comments 'inappropriate' Clinton enjoying edge over Trump in Silicon Valley Five takeaways from Clinton, Trump finance reports MORE (R-Ariz.) introduced comprehensive privacy legislation in 2011, but the bill found little traction in Congress.
Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), the new chairman of a key subcommittee with jurisdiction over online privacy issues, told reporters in January that he is open to privacy legislation, but he said his panel will first have to form a study group and hold a series of hearings to study the issue more thoroughly.
The technology lobbyist who said the issue is not on the front burner argued that privacy legislation has stalled because it is a complicated issue and that lawmakers are afraid of stifling future innovation.
The lobbyist emphasized that some online companies favor privacy legislation because it would provide clear rules to follow and could stave off tougher regulation.
"I don't think in the first six months we'll see much movement on [comprehensive privacy legislation]," admitted Justin Brookman, director of consumer privacy for the Center for Democracy and Technology, a public advocacy group.
Brookman said he is optimistic that Congress will eventually enact baseline privacy rules, and he argued that narrower protections are possible in the short term.
He explained that the Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to take up a bill from Sen. Al FrankenAl FrankenLiberal hypocrisy on the free exchange of ideas Winners and losers of the Dem convention Party unity overcomes chaos...and the Bernie-or-Bust crowd MORE (D-Minn.) that would require companies to get a customer's consent before collecting or sharing mobile location data.
Meanwhile, aides to Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Ed MarkeyEd MarkeyDem senator criticizes Facebook, Instagram for gun sales Apple, Google enlisted for FCC robocall effort Airlines brace for boost in travel volumes over Labor Day MORE (D-Mass.) said they plan to renew their push for the Do Not Track Kids Act, which would strengthen online privacy rules for children.
And an aide to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay RockefellerJay RockefellerLobbying world Overnight Tech: Senators place holds on FCC commissioner Overnight Tech: Senate panel to vote on Dem FCC commissioner MORE (D-W.Va.) said the senator plans to re-introduce legislation that would allow Internet users to opt out of online tracking.


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Terrence Chalk, the owner of Compulinx Managed Services, and his nephew Damon Chalk were indicted this week on fraud and conspiracy charges. The pair allegedly falsified information on applications for loans, credit cards and credit lines, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The defendants allegedly used Compulinx employees' and customers' personal information, such as their social security numbers and addresses, to obtain such financing. Terrence Chalk, a computer reseller in White Plains, N.Y., allegedly ran up more than $100,000 in unauthorized credit card charges. If convicted, the elder Chalk could face a maximum of 165 years in prison and a $5.5 million fine, while the younger Chalk could face a maximum of 35 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine.

domain: news


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- Dalal Street Corner: Market ends flat even as FII selling nears exhaustion; what should investors do on Friday?
- Exclusive: June GST collections estimated at Rs 1.37-1.39 lakh cr, sources tell Zee Business ahead of announcement on 1 July
- Eknath Shinde sworn in as 30th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Fadnavis becomes Deputy CM
- Gold Price Today: Weaker Rupee to hold yellow metal slide domestically, amid strengthening Dollar; analyst suggests strategy
- Monsoon session of Parliament to begin on July 18; to end on August 12
Christie's creates record during Maharaja auction sale of Indian, Indian-inspired pieces of jewellery in New York
Christie`s in New York on Wednesday made a record through its latest auction titled "Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence" sale that featured a collection of Indian and Indian-inspired pieces of high jewellery.
Global auction house Christie`s in New York on Wednesday made a record through its latest auction titled "Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence" sale that featured a collection of Indian and Indian-inspired pieces of high jewellery. The auction realised high prices for its first few lots that included a 17-carat Golconda diamond "Arcot II", once owned by the Nawab of Arcot, that sold for a stunning Rs 23.5 crore ($3,375,00), an IANS report said, adding that the auction showcased 400 royal objects from The Al Thani Collection of the Qatar`s royal family.
Earlier informing about the event, Christie`s reportedly said this collection is poised to be the most valuable auction of jewellery and jewelled objects. Notably, the current auction record is held by The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor, which totalled $144 million in 2011.
The sale also includes an antique diamond riviere necklace once owned by the Nizams of Hyderabad, which sold for $2,415,000 (nearly Rs 17 crore). The 33-diamond necklace was estimated to sell for $1,500,000 (nearly Rs 10.5 crore), Christie`s announced on Twitter.
About the auction, Christie's tweeted "#AuctionUpdate 'An Antique Imperial Spinel, Pearl and Emerald Necklace' realizes $3,015,000, compared to an original high estimate of $2,000,000"
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) June 19, 2019
The auction had started with the `Indore Sapphire Taveez Bead Pendant Necklace, Mounted By Cartier` that owes its provenance to Indore`s Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar II, who was educated in England and spent much time abroad with his wife, said the report. The royal necklace achieved $206,250 (Rs 1.44 crore), surpassing a high estimate of $60,000 (Rs 42 lakh), Christie`s tweet stated.
An antique diamond ring of Rajmata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur sold for Rs 4.45 crore. Another major sale was of an enamelled and jewelled `huqqah` set from 1680-1720, "almost certainly made in the imperial Mughal workshop" as per Christie`s, which went under the hammer for $759,000 (almost Rs 5.3 crore) as compared to its higher limit estimate of $350,000 (almost Rs 2.4 crore).
Another carved emerald brooch, and interchangeable `Jigha` mounting depicting Lord Rama, Sita and Hanuman has sold for $735,000 (close to Rs 5.12 crore). A five-strand natural pearl and diamond necklace and a diamond brooch created by Mumbai-based jewellery house Bhagat sold for high prices as well -- Rs 11.8 crore and Rs 1.5 crore respectively, it added.
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- Australia: Opportunity to comment on national tree standard revision (1)
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- US: AFE educational grant applications due June 1 (2)
- "Plenty of opportunities to expand markets outside Russia's major cities" (1)
- Coloured by Gerbera presents new assortment (1)
- "Customers are looking for different shades of red roses" (1)
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- India: Government gives 50% subsidy on a poly house (46)
- Southern hemisphere's largest solar water heating facility at LVG Plants (1)
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Top 5 -yesterday
- The impact of sustainable packaging on the floral industry
- AIPH president addresses thousands at Taichung World Flora Expo opening ceremony
- USDA rejects biotech blue chrysanthemum request
- New Zealand: Peony growers 'flat out' until Christmas
- Controlling conditions according to plant temperature opens up more possibilities
Top 5 -last month
Top 5 -last week
Spain: Over 7 million roses expected to be sold this Sant Jordi
Mercabarna wholesalers are optimistic about the forecasts: more than 7 million roses are expected to be sold, which is 20% more than last year.
The president of Mercabarna, Agustí Colom, said that Mercabarna-flor expects to sell 1.2 million roses more than in last year's campaign, when some 6 million were sold. Colom stressed that "the main reason for the good sales forecast is the fact that Catalonia’s National Day is going to be a working day, as that gives an overall boost to the demand for roses, especially to that from companies and associations." In recent years, there has also been a significant growth in the demand for roses from the hospitality and catering sector. These factors, together with the gradual economic recovery that is being achieved in some sectors, explain this increase in the sales forecast.
Wholesalers have also detected a significant increase in the number of orders for yellow roses. It is estimated that out of all the roses sold this year, 10% will be yellow ones, while in previous years these normally account for between 2% and 3% of the total. According to the flower specialists, this year's trend will be to purchase yellow roses in combination with red ones.
Mercabarna-flor expects to sell one third of all roses sold in Catalonia; that is, almost 2.5 million units.
The president of Mercabarna, Agustí Colom, pointed out that "Sant Jordi is one of the most important events for the Catalan floral sector; a day in which 30% of all roses marketed in Catalonia during the entire year are sold."
Trends in packaging
The trend favouring the use of ecological packaging, first observed a few seasons ago, continues. Consequently, plastic and cellophane are losing ground to cardboard wrappers, reinforced paper, wood and iron supports.
In this National Day, sales are also expected to increase for yellow arrangements and accessories. This growth is estimated to oscillate between 15 and 30%, especially in the case of ribbons and wrappings.
Prices remain stable
As explained by the President of the Association of Entrepreneurs and Wholesalers of Mercabarna-flor, Miquel Batlle, wholesaler prices are very similar to those reached last year, mostly due to the good availability of roses from Ecuador and Colombia.
Batlle recalled that "to make sure that you purchase a good quality, long-lasting rose, it is advisable to purchase them from professional florists."
Most popular varieties
The Freedom variety will be the absolute star of this National Day, accounting for 80% of sales and consolidating as the favourite rose both for professionals and customers. The second most sold rose is the Red Naomi, which comes from the Netherlands, which will account for 15% of all roses sold.
Miquel Batlle assured that "traditional red roses will remain the most popular, accounting for 85% of all roses sold", but he explained that this Sant Jordi will also be marked by a rise in the demand for yellow roses, which are expected to account for about 10% of all sales.
In order to meet this demand for yellow roses, given the low number of local rose producers delivering this colour, the varieties that will be sold will come from Colombia, the Netherlands and Ecuador.
Main origins of roses
Batlle explained that 95% of the roses sold in Mercabarna-flor are imported, from Colombia, Ecuador and the Netherlands, while the other 5% are produced domestically.
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Other news in this sector:
- 2018-11-13 US (MI): MDARD accepting public input on Specialty Crop Block Grant Program
- 2018-11-13 Marigold fragrance suffuses Nepal on Tihar
- 2018-11-13 "Nigerian hibiscus exporters ‘technically’ out of business"
- 2018-11-13 Kenya: Horticulture earnings hit 1 billion USD in eight months
- 2018-11-12 Identifying foreign direct investment opportunities in Nepal
- 2018-11-12 Sri Lanka: Passenger held with Anthurium bushes
- 2018-11-09 Nepal: Village flourishes with flower farming
- 2018-11-09 Nigeria resumes export of hibiscus to Mexico
- 2018-11-09 Dutch plant-growers don’t dig Brexit
- 2018-11-08 Australia: NGIA CEO provides update on current issues
- 2018-11-08 Brazil sees Westland as example for its own horticulture cluster
- 2018-11-08 India: Flowery future for Nagaland floriculture
- 2018-11-08 China: The fastest growing market for Kenyan roses
- 2018-11-07 Nepal: Tihar calls for 1 million USD worth flower imports
- 2018-11-07 Australia: Nationwide survey to collect nursery data kicks off
- 2018-11-07 Turkish exporters on trade mission to London
- 2018-11-06 China: Chrysanthemum flowers enter harvest season
- 2018-11-06 Kenya: "Union wary of more lay-offs as flower firms hire staff on contract"
- 2018-11-05 South African Cape Flora on the rise
- 2018-11-05 Canada joins global partners in support of agriculture innovation and trade


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RocketFuel Blockchain CEO Peter Jensen joins Natalie Stoberman from the Proactive newsroom to discuss the launch of the company's Payouts program.
Jensen says this product complements their existing Pay In solution in a way that enables merchants to pay out amounts to their associates in either fiat or cryptocurrency. He says the addition of this product has resulted in increased revenue and growth opportunities for RocketFuel.
Jensen says he notices significant benefits of this program across various platforms especially pertaining to the gig economy. where individuals worldwide prefer receiving payments in crypto due to its speed, reliability, and potential cost savings.


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As the world’s largest e-commerce retailer, Amazon (AMZN) has long struggled to gain traction with shoppers who want to purchase their favorite brands and services from Amazon Prime.
Amazon stock has traded near its lowest level since late 2015 amid its slow recovery from a massive data breach that impacted hundreds of millions of users and affected the company’s stock price.
However, Amazon stock rose in early 2018 as Amazon Prime members began buying items like TVs, video games and other goods.
However as Prime members started to make purchases, the stock price took a sharp dive as it declined for most of the year.
Now, the Amazon stock is trading at a more bullish level as Prime sales continue to accelerate.
For example, the company announced a new Prime subscription service on Tuesday that includes free shipping and returns.
It also has a new free shipping offer for Prime members and other customers who pay for Prime.
For the first time, Amazon Prime customers can get a new Amazon Prime-branded TV with the latest and greatest Amazon content, Amazon Music and Amazon Video.
For more on Amazon stock, check out the video below:Amazon stock price: Amazon stock ticker: AMZN stock price chart: Amazon earnings: Amazon shares: Amazon prime: Amazon cashback: Amazon products: Amazon video: Amazon


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Disabled 76-year-old Gogo Nontuthuzelo Handile of KwaZakhele township in Port Elizabeth was left penniless and frustrated after being defrauded of R5,000 in her Sassa account.
The money includes the foster grants for her three grandchildren aged 11, 13 and 14.
She told Scrolla.Africa: “On Wednesday I went to Kenako Mall Post Office to withdraw my [Sassa] money. But to my surprise the teller told me the money was already withdrawn at the FNB ATM”.
“I told her that was impossible because I only withdraw my money at the Post office by using my fingerprint. I have never used my Sassa card because I forgot my pin number.”
Gogo Handile, pictured above, said this situation has left her and her grandkids with no food.
“The last porridge we had was in the morning on Thursday. This money was helping me to put bread on the table for my family of nine.
“I am stressed and I don’t know where I will get the money to buy food and electricity. My funeral policies also have not been paid. The tellers advised me to lay a charge of fraud at the police station.”
But she heard a different story from the police. Eastern Cape Sassa spokesperson Luzuko Qina said Gogo Handile needed to report the matter to the Post Office. “The client has been defrauded during the pin reset process.”


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The Asian version of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) must not be allowed to make life-saving medicines more expensive in poor countries, the Public Health Association says.
If agreement is reached on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), new trade regulations would be introduced between New Zealand and 15 countries, mainly in south-east Asia.
It covers three billion people and represents 27 percent of global trade, with a combined national output of $US23 trillion*.
The association's chief executive, Warren Lindberg, said the same concerns existed about this deal as about the wider TPP.
"That is, that instead of it promoting free trade it actually protects the powers of the pharmaceutical industry to increase the costs for medicines," he said.
New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay has urged negotiators to press ahead and put their countries' offers to open up markets on the table, saying New Zealand would not sign up to RCEP unless there were tangible benefits in doing so.
New Zealand International Business Forum executive director Stephen Jacobi said RCEP would give New Zealand an important foothold in India.
However, prominent anti-TPP critic Jane Kelsey, a University of Auckland law professor, said RCEP was a "Chinese-led TPPA" and shared many of the same weaknesses.
* There are 16 countries involved in RCEP: the 10 members of ASEAN - Brunei-Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - plus the six countries with which ASEAN has free trade agreements: Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand.


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PETA accuses a coconut milk supplier in Thailand of using chained monkeys to pick coconuts.
As winter encroaches, more than half of U.S. consumers are considering replenishing their assortment of goods and essential products that they had originally stockpiled during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.
In the spirit of Halloween, Burger King is trolling the competition by offering free Whoppers to anyone who dares to drive by a select number of abandoned fast-food restaurants once operated by unnamed rival chains.
The PCR saliva kits can be used at home and don't involve "painful nasal swabs," according to the description on Costco's website.
The average rent in Manhattan has dropped below $3,000 for the first time since 2011.
Target is implementing a reservation system at stores around the nation in an effort to curb crowds during the busy shopping season.
Santa Claus won't be greeting kids at the flagship Macy's store in Midtown this year due to the coronavirus.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 787,000, a sign that job losses may have eased slightly but are still running at historically high levels.
Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin, the powerful prescription painkiller that experts say helped touch off an opioid epidemic, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges, the DOJ said.
ZICO coconut water, Coca-Cola Life, Odwalla among brands being cut
The Mattel doll got animated about addressing racial bias and discrimination in a new video posted on the Barbie YouTube page, in a discussion with her pal Nikki, a Black doll.
The U.S. government's road safety agency is investigating complaints that the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle can catch fire.
The Food and Drug Administration says a pet food company is expanding a recall of certain products due to a mold byproduct that could potentially kill animals.
A man has been arrested after surveillance footage showed someone tampering with pizza dough at a Maine deli.
Because Amazon Prime Day was delayed this year, it could affect Black Friday sales.
A diabetes drug is facing recall because the medication contains excess levels of a cancer-causing agent, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Friday announced the U.S. will impose tariffs on $1.96 billion worth of aluminum sheet after determining the goods were being unfairly dumped in the country, the broadest trade enforcement action by the agency in more than two decades.
Petco has stopped selling shock collars and it’s calling on others in the pet industry to follow its lead.
Hundreds of New York City public and private schools were closed Tuesday in neighborhoods with flare-ups of coronavirus cases as city and state officials continued discussing the possibility of shuttering many businesses in those areas.
Shoppers should pay close attention to stores that are closing and make sure to spend any gift cards they may have there first.


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Last week, when it emerged that the PC version of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 didn't launch with local co-op despite saying it would beforehand, there was some discontent among fans.
Since then Capcom has confirmed that an online mode will be added post-launch, but if that's not enough for you then never fear, as one modder has gone and beaten the publisher to the punch and has made a mod facilitating local play.
Modder FluffyQuack has released the mod for the game here, and while it only supports gamepads and not the Raid mode, at least it's something.
Meanwhile, are Capcom planning on releasing a local co-op patch in the near future?
"We are currently looking into the matter and potential solutions and we hope to have new information to share very soon, so please stay tuned," the company said on Steam.
Or, if you'd prefer, you can get a refund.
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Gran Turismo 7 is a racing video game created by Sony Interactive Entertainment and developed by Polyphony Digital. In the Gran Turismo series, it will be the eighth main installment. Gran Turismo 7 players can look forward to a serious breakthrough in artificial intelligence known as ‘ Gran Turismo sophy’. Sophy was in development for five years and is a new independent AI agent that is trained to win the world’s best-trained Gran Turismo drivers and uses a new interactive algorithm that created a more sophisticated racing opponent that wasn’t possible until now.
Developed by using Polyphony Digital and Sony AI, the brand new synthetic intelligence – called Gran Turismo Sophy – was announced at some stage in Sony’s Race event with the media. Sophy advances via deep reinforcement studying, wherein it facts the velocity, positions, and surroundings in the course of a race before then actioning either the throttle, steering, or brake via a positive or negative sign despatched to the AI.
Two Gran Turismo racing events were held in July 2021 and October 2021, in which Sophy faced off against four quality human GT drivers throughout three tracks and vehicle combinations. The first set of races was won by human racers, however, Sophy learned from the loss and simply won within the 2nd set of races – coming first in all 3 instances.
The AI has mainly been educated via Gran Turismo Sport. Gran Turismo Sophy is a widespread development in AI whose motive isn’t always genuinely to be higher than human players, however, to provide players a stimulating opponent that can boost up and increase the players’ strategies and creativity to the subsequent level “.
As a part of Gran Turismo 7, Sophy will also help teach gamers at using and also appear as a pal in the course of races. Furthermore, gamers can educate the AI about “sportspersonship”.
Gran Turismo Sophy may be rolled out to GT7 in a future update.
When is Gran Turismo is coming out?
Gran Turismo 7 is going to be launched and available to play from March 4, 2022. While those are the good five years after the last installment of grand Turismo hit the PlayStation. It is intriguing that even with the delay it took only less than a year after the announcement of the game to hit the shelves which are not so common in the gaming universe.
Which Platforms the game is hitting?
Just like the rest of the titles of the hit racing series, Gran Turismo 7 is a PlayStation distinctive. However, Gran Turismo 7 is particular in that it is the first game within the collection to release on consoles: PlayStation four and PlayStation five. Polyphony Digital has expressed that the PlayStation five model is the best way to play Gran Turismo 7, because the console is predicted to run the game at 60fps in 4K with HDR help and ray tracing skills.
Is Gran Turismo Sport the same as Gran Turismo 7?
The trailer showcased the best of what Gran Turismo 7 will have to provide, and the visuals of the next-gen title are beautiful. Players have been treated to an already splendid recreation in the shape of Gran Turismo Sport, and when in 4K 60 fps, it virtually is something to behold.
Is there even a notable difference in the games?
Yes! The most exquisite difference is the lighting, as the visual fidelity of the fashions used (cars and tracks) is already close to its top. Although, there are nonetheless moderate enhancements there as properly, as meshing around the car seems greater than reasonable.
The lighting, however, is even more sensible. Instead of incredibly dark shadows with little details, the new version displays lighting fixtures in actual life.
Is Gran Turismo 7 open world?
With less than one month from the release there are still speculations about the game being an open world or not. It should have been mentioned if it was happening in the game by now. But right now we can assume that the answer is NO. The enthusiasts and the gamers may witness it in additional variations but as of now, it is not happening.


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The monkey and the gorilla
IT IS a fair bet that more than half of the PCs bought this Christmas in America for less than $1,000 will have AMD rather than Intel inside. Not content with this seasonal miracle, Advanced Micro Devices, the perpetual also-ran of the computer processor business, is bidding to loosen Intel's grip on the more lucrative high end of the market too. It could well succeed.
The clearest sign yet of the markets' new confidence in AMD was a credit-rating upgrade last week by Tom Kurlack of Merrill Lynch, doyen of Wall Street's semiconductor analysts. Mr Kurlack, a famous bear who, in 1990, pronounced AMD to all intents and purposes dead, was not the first to revise his views. Since August, shares in the 29-year-old Silicon Valley firm have more than doubled in value.
For most of its existence, AMD has lived in the shadow of the deal that it did with Intel in 1982. To power its early PCs, IBM had decided to buy Intel's new x86 chips, but wanted a second supplier to keep Intel under control. Under the terms of the agreement, Intel got the contract, but had to share its intellectual property with the smaller AMD. Intel broke the arrangement, AMD sued, and thus began nearly a decade of bitter legal battles between the two companies. Intel's Andy Grove and AMD's Jerry Sanders became the Jarndyce and Jarndyce of the computing world.
Although Mr Sanders was largely vindicated, the conflict distorted AMD's business, absorbed untold management energy and undermined investor confidence. By selling cheap, reverse-engineered Intel clones, AMD staggered on, sometimes quite successfully, especially if Intel was late to market with a new product. But despite the support of computer makers groaning under Intel's dominance, trying to hitch a ride on the back of a grumpy 800lb gorilla was proving a precarious form of existence.
Eventually, under a settlement in 1995, AMD gave up any rights to Intel microcode. It was confident that its home-grown K5 would give Intel's Pentium a run for its money, while a new $1.8 billion fabrication plant (“fab”) in Texas would meet demand and match Intel's manufacturing expertise. It did not. Design faults put the K5 more than two years behind the Pentium, and the Austin plant lay largely idle.
What saved AMD was an inspired acquisition. In 1996, it paid $625m for a company called NexGen that had a great design for a sixth-generation processor, needing only a few tweaks to make it capable of volume production. It also had a gifted engineering team whose leader, Atiq Raza, shared Mr Sanders's burning desire to take on Intel.
Mr Raza's K6 processor, launched last year, has been a smash hit. Early production problems prevented AMD from meeting demand, but output this year should top 12m. It is the K6 that has made the profitable sub-$1,000 PC possible, turning it into the fastest-growing part of the market, accounting for 25% of all sales.
Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and IBM are selling as many AMD-based PCs as they can crank out. Consumers seem to be indifferent as to whether the “intel inside” logo is there or not—which, given the billions of dollars that Intel has spent creating what it hoped would be one of the world's most valuable brands, is perhaps surprising. Fortunately for Intel, corporate buyers have proved more loyal. It may be that they fear (wrongly) that networking PCs that run on different processors is risky.
Can AMD maintain its momentum? To stay on track, it must double output and successfully launch its high-performance K7 processor in the first half of next year. Microprocessor Report, the industry bible, says that the K7 knocks spots off Intel's forthcoming Katmai. Yet any delays or production glitches would be disastrous. Next year should be a bumper year for PC sales, because millennium-bug worries will mean the junking of old hardware; but the industry fears a bust soon after. AMD therefore needs to make hay while it can.
Its ambitious target is to double its share of the PC market to 30%. With a new fab in Dresden, Germany, coming on stream, it should be capable of churning out 40m units by 2001. PC makers will be eager to help it get there, to keep up the pressure on overmighty Intel. But a fast maturing PC market and a wounded Intel will give AMD little respite.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "The monkey and the gorilla"
From the December 5th 1998 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the edition
What is at stake as Hindenburg Research picks a fight with India’s mightiest tycoon?
A strangely pervasive custom of odd poses and forced smiles
The pioneering e-commerce giant battles soaring costs and a stagnating legacy business


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Even as we await the launch of the iPhone 9 – slated to be revealed sometime later this month – leaks and rumors about its cousin, the iPhone 12 Pro, don’t seem to be drying up. New sketches of the device have emerged on the social media platform Twitter, showing off the iPhone 12 Pro, but with the revised camera array on the block.
Among other things, the sketch also shows off the iPhone 12 Pro with a LiDAR sensor at the back of the phone. The image comes courtesy of Concepts iPhone, who claims to have obtained the image from the iOS 14.
The image gives us a clear look at the camera array for the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max of the camera; there is a wide-angle lens, an Ultra-Wide angle lens, and a Telephoto lens with an additional LiDAR sensor that was previously seen on the iPad Pro of 2020.
Additionally, there have been some other reports that the iPhone 12 lineup, too, which claims to reveal quite a lot about the device. Earlier, it was revealed how Apple is planning to make drastic design changes to the iPhone 12 as it plans to do away with the notch on the upcoming smartphone. This would fall in line with the previous reports that Apple is looking to introduce a refreshed design with its new iPhones. Earlier, there was a rumor that Apple iPhone 9 is likely to launch by last week.
Previously, Apple introduced the notch on the Apple iPhone X and has since used it in two more iPhone generations. While the prediction about Apple doing away with the notch on the iPhone 12 may appear as a logical step, several reports in the past few weeks have also hinted that it may not be for this year.


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Bryan Gividen writes "Time.com is running a story on the previously unidentified blob floating off of the coast of Alaska. The article states that the blob is an algae bloom — far less sinister (or exciting) than any The Thing or The Blob comparison that was jokingly made. From the article: '"It's sort of like a swimming pool that hasn't been cleaned in a while." The blob, Konar said, is a microalgae made up of 'billions and billions of individuals.'"
bfwebster writes "Here in Denver, we have E-470, a toll section of the 470 beltway, that uses the usual transponder attached to your windshield. Fair enough, and I make use of it, particularly in driving to the airport. But they've just implemented new technology on E-470 that allows anyone to drive through the automated toll gates. If you don't have a transponder, it takes a photo of your license plate and sends a monthly bill to your house. As a result, the company that runs E-470 plans to close all human-staffed toll booths by mid-summer. And as an article in this morning's Rocky Mountain News notes, 'Such a system could be deployed on other roads, including some that motorists now use free. The result: a new source of money for highways and bridges badly in need of repair.' You can bet that legislators, mayors, and city councilpersons everywhere will see this as an even-better source of income than red-light cameras. You've been warned."
A company nearby recently produced its (estimated) trillionth gel capsule.
An anonymous reader points out news that the music and movie studios are attempting to develop a new type of DRM that would allow customers more flexibility in playing content on multiple devices. The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) would establish a list of devices in your personal "domain" (unrelated to web domains), and minimizes or removes restrictions within that domain. TechCrunch summarizes DECE and notes that many of the big corporations have decided to support it. "The ecosystem envisioned by Singer et al revolves around a common set of formats, interfaces and other standards. Devices built to the DECE specifications would be able to play any DECE-branded content and work with any DECE-certified service. The goal is to create for downloads the same kind of interoperability that's been true for physical products, such as CDs and DVDs. Where it gets really interesting, though, is the group's stated intention to make digital files as flexible and permissive as CDs, at least within the confines of someone's personal domain. Once you've acquired a file, you could play it on any of your devices -- if it couldn't be passed directly from one DECE-ready device to another, you'd be allowed to download additional copies. And when you're away from home, you could stream the file to any device with a DECE-compatible Web browser."
HangingChad writes: "As if the laptop search at the border wasn't invasive enough, DHS published a new policy that's positively jaw-dropping. According to the article officials may "...may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies...". It gets better. "...officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16..." DHS claiming the right to clone off your laptop contents to decrypt and analyze at their convenience. A policy so invasive even our do-nothing Congress has taken note. "The policies . . . are truly alarming," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government's border search practices." Really? Ya think?"
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
dstates writes: The Washington Post reports that a new Department of Homeland Security policy allows agents to seize a laptop or other electronic device at a border crossing without the need to show any cause for suspicion. Further, the device can be held for an unspecified period of time, and both the device and its contents may be shared with other government agencies and private entities. The new policies apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens and covers "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, beepers, video and audio tapes and "all papers and other written documentation," including books, pamphlets and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.'" Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) is quoted as saying "The policies . . . are truly alarming,". He is probing the government's border search practices and intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches. The full DHS policy statement is available on line.
Pickens writes "Dr. Dobbs has an interesting interview with Paul Jansen, the managing director of TIOBE Software, about the Programming Community Index, which measures the popularity of programming languages by monitoring their web presence. Since the TIOBE index has been published now for more than 6 years, it gives an interesting picture about trends in the usage of programming languages. Jansen says not much has affected the top ten programming languages in the last five years, with only Python entering the top 10 (replacing COBOL), but C and C++ are definitely losing ground. 'Languages without automated garbage collection are getting out of fashion,' says Jansen. 'The chance of running into all kinds of memory problems is gradually outweighing the performance penalty you have to pay for garbage collection.'"
Ponca City, We Love You writes "Factories in China produce iPhones that are exported to the United States and Europe and then smuggled right back in helping explain why Apple says it sold about 3.7 million iPhones last year while only 2.3 million are actually registered in the United States and Europe. For Apple, the booming overseas market for iPhones is a sign of its marketing prowess but also a blow to Apple's business model, costing the company as much as $1 billion over the next three years, according to some analysts. Since negotiations between Apple and China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile-phone service operator with more than 350 million subscribers, broke down last month, the official release of the iPhone in China has been stalled producing a thriving gray market. Copycat models are another possible threat to Apple in China. Not long after the iPhone was released, research and development teams in China were taking it apart, trying to copy or steal the design and software for use in iPhone knockoffs, or iClones and some people who have used the clones say they are sophisticated and have many functions that mimic the iPhone. "A lot of people here want to get an iPhone," says Shanghai lawyer Conlyn Chan."
BobB writes to mention Sun has acquired Innotek, open source desktop virtualization vendor. "VirtualBox will remain free of charge under Sun and be placed in the company's xVM portfolio of virtualization products, Steve Wilson, Sun's vice president of xVM, wrote in a blog posting. 'If we're going to continue to give it away, why is Sun investing in VirtualBox? In short, because the developers that build applications have a huge amount of influence on how they're deployed," Wilson wrote in his blog. "We believe that developers using VirtualBox can help guide their friends in the data center towards xVM Server as the preferred deployment engine. Beyond that, I think there is a huge opportunity to link with Sun's other developer-related assets like NetBeans, Glassfish and (soon) MySQL.'"
An anonymous reader writes "I have code that I've written for my current company that I'd like to open-source. The only problem is that my company has the usual clause that says that anything I write belongs to them. Now that they've decided to abandon my code for another product that replaces its function, I'd like to continue working on my project as well as open it up to the world. The easy part is cleaning it up and posting it on SourceForge and Freshmeat. The hard part is making sure that I am free of any legal complications in the future. I've looked online to try to find a legal document I could present to my employer to get them to sign off on it, but I'm not having any luck. Has anyone else been in this boat or can refer me to some legal documentation that may help out?"
Ponca City, We Love You writes "When government officials announced last month that a top-secret spy satellite would come falling out of the sky they said little about the satellite itself. They didn't need to. Spotters equipped with little more than a pair of binoculars, a stop watch and star charts, had already uncovered some of the deepest of the government's expensive secrets and shared them on the Internet. Thousands of people form the spotter community. Many look for historical relics of the early space age, working from publicly available orbital information. Still others are drawn to the secretive world of spy satellites, with about a dozen hobbyists doing most of the observing. When a new spy satellite is launched the hobbyists will collaborate on sightings around the world to determine its orbit, and even guess at its function. They often share their information on their web site, satobs.org."
On January 15th we asked you for tech-oriented questions we could send to the various presidential candidates, and you responded like mad. The candidates were the exact opposite: not a single one answered emails we sent to their "media inquiry" links or email addresses. Slashdot has more readers than all but a handful of major daily papers, so that's kind of strange. Maybe they figure our votes aren't worth much or that hardly any of us vote. In any case, the Ron Paul campaign finally responded, due to some string-pulling by a Slashdot reader who knows some of Ron Paul's Texas campaign people. Perhaps other Slashdot readers -- like you (hint hint) -- can pull a few strings with some of the other campaigns and get them to communicate with us. Use this email address, please. But first, you'll probably want to read the Ron Paul campaign's answers to your questions (below).
NewScientist is reporting that NASA has kicked their previous space partner, Rocketplane Kistler, to the curb and is in search of a new commercial space partner. The new partnership will try to develop a new shuttle to service the International Space Station. "The GAO's decision clears the way for NASA to select a new COTS partner in addition to SpaceX, whose partnership with NASA continues. Only $32 million was paid to Rocketplane Kistler, leaving $175 million for new partnerships."
Matt Barton writes "Gamasutra is running a feature on the venerable Apple II platform, which practically defined the early home computer industry and was home to many of the greatest games and developers of all time. The authors discuss the platform's lifespan and many iterations, struggles with illegal distribution, and legendary Apple II games such as Prince of Persia, John Madden Football, and Ultima. 'How big of a problem was piracy? Although several software authors claim that they stopped developing games because of rampant piracy and the subsequent loss of revenue, piracy did expose more computer owners to more games than they otherwise would have been -- this was at a time before ubiquitous demos made it easier to "try before you buy." Another benefit of this piracy is that much of the software archived today at online repositories are the cracked versions.'"
An anonymous reader found that "For the last 30 years, Lucasfilm has created special holiday greeting cards for its employees and business partners. For the first time ever, we have compiled most of the Star Wars-themed Holiday Cards on one page." My favorite is 2005. That would make a cool poster or something.


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Apple’s iPhone 4S is now available for pre-order in the UK.
Apple says pre-ordered handsets will be delivered on October 14 (next Friday), which is the date the device will be made available through Apple’s high-street stores.
The Apple iPhone 4S benefits from a dual-core A5 chip, which according to Apple delivers twice the processing power and up to seven times faster graphics than the previous iPhone.
The handset also benefits from a dual-antenna that will intelligently switch between two antennas to send and receive. Hopefully, the iPhone 4S won’t be plagued with the same call-dropping issues that affected the iPhone 4 on launch, and resulted in Apple having to issue a bumper to prevent this.
Other features of the Apple iPhone 4S include Siri, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking. For example if you say "will I need an umbrella this weekend?", it understands you want a weather report. The iPhone 4S also comes with an 8Mp camera with a custom lens, grid lines on screen and ability to capture video in full 1080p HD.
The smartphone will run iOS 5, the latest iteration of Apple’s mobile platform, which benefits from 200 new features including iMessage that allows users to send messages, photos, videos and contact information to other users of the app for free over Wi-Fi and a new Photos app that ensures images can be cropped, rotate and enhanced on the device.
The iPhone 4S also features iCloud, Apple's new online storage service that automatically syncs music, apps, games and photos taken on the device, in the cloud so they can be accessed from other devices that support the service.
All of the UK’s major networks have confirmed they too will be offering the handset. See Apple iPhone 4S UK deals: latest details for more information.


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U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to assure lawmakers on Wednesday that the United States would not sign off on Japan's entry into trans-Pacific trade talks until it is confident Tokyo is ready to meet high U.S. goals for the pact.
"We've been very honest (in talks with the Japanese) that they have to meet those standards," Kirk told the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee at hearing on the Obama administration's trade agenda. "Frankly, it's in Japan's hand to demonstrate their willingness to address these issues."
Japan, the world's third-largest economy, announced its interest last year in joining negotiations with the United States, Australia, Vietnam and six other countries in the Asia Pacific region on the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact, known as TPP.
That has raised concern among Detroit-based automakers Ford, Chrylser and General Motors, who oppose Japan's entry because believe Tokyo is not prepared to tear down "non-tariff barriers" that they blame for low U.S. auto sales.
Other U.S. farm and business groups have welcomed Japan's potential participation, but worry Tokyo may not really be willing to open its market and could drag out the negotiations for years.
A free trade pact with Japan could require the United States to phase out its remaining low tariffs on Japanese automobiles as well as a 25 percent tariff on pickup trucks. Japan already has a zero percent tariff on U.S. cars, but imports few cars from the United States or other foreign automakers.
The nine countries currently negotiating the TPP are beginning a new round of negotiations in Melbourne in coming days and have a goal of reaching an final agreement by the end of this year.
Kirk gave no timetable for a decision on Japan's entry or for a decision on Canada and Mexico, which have also applied to join the talks.


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The media landscape has undergone a massive transformation over the past decade, with the rise of digital technology and the internet revolution. The traditional method of journalism has undergone tremendous changes with the widespread adoption of digital technologies, which have disrupted traditional business models and upended the distribution of content.
As a result, the future of journalism and media in a digital world is still a matter of intense debate, with some experts predicting a bleak future for traditional media outlets while others are hopeful about the opportunities presented by the digital age.
One of the most significant changes that have been brought about by digital technology is the ease of access to information. With the advent of social media and mobile devices, people are now consuming more news and information than ever before. However, the ease of access to information has also resulted in a crowded marketplace, where traditional media outlets are struggling to compete with new digital players.
This competition has resulted in a pressure on traditional media outlets to adopt new technologies and digital strategies. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have become important advertising channels for traditional media outlets, but they have also become distribution channels for content, as they reach massive audiences globally.
As a result, the future of journalism and media in a digital world is one that will be primarily focused on online and mobile channels. The widespread availability of high-speed internet access and mobile devices has made it possible for people to access news and information from anywhere, at any time.
This has also resulted in a shift in the way journalists approach their reporting. Increasingly, journalists are employing digital tools to collect, analyze and report on stories, from citizen journalism to data-driven reporting. Data journalism uses big data analytics to examine massive amounts of data sets to identify trends in society, economics, politics and other spheres.
Furthermore, digital technology has also resulted in a shift in the business models of traditional media outlets. The shift to digital media has meant that traditional advertising revenue streams are no longer as profitable. Consequently, media outlets are looking for alternative revenue streams such as subscriptions, sponsored content, and events to monetize their audience.
In conclusion, the future of journalism and media in a digital world is one that will be defined by innovation, experimentation and the adoption of new technologies. While the traditional media outlets will remain an important component of the media landscape, they will need to adapt to the changing landscape, consumers, and technologies to stay relevant.
Digital technology has disrupted traditional business models and upended the distribution of content, which has led to the growth of new players in the media industry. The media industry will need to respond to these changes by adopting new strategies, building new competencies and experimenting with different business models to stay competitive and maintain their relevance in a rapidly changing media landscape.


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Over the past week, the gaming world has been obsessed with an indie shooter coming to Xbox, treating it with the fervor (and wildfire social media metrics) of a forthcoming AAA tentpole. But here’s the weird part: This game’s already out. It’s been playable on multiple platforms for years.
You may have heard of Hypercharge: Unboxed, a wave-based shooter that casts you as an action figure pitted against a ton of other action figures — big Toy Story vibes here. Developed and self-published by Digital Cybercherries, Hypercharge does a lot with a little, marrying both first- and third-person shooting with base-building elements in childhood-inspired environments. It’s also multiplayer, sporting both online and, in a sadly rare but much appreciated boon, local co-op.
By most accounts, Hypercharge is pretty damn good, sporting a “very positive” (91%) rating on Steam. Here’s a brief summary via Kotaku’s Zack Zwiezen, who wrote positively about the game two years ago:
The basic gameplay loop has you break out of your toy packaging and then you search around a map for tokens, which you use to buy defences and upgrades to help protect your energy stations. After a few minutes, a wave of enemies attacks. You fight them back, and then get another few minutes to search for more loot and build more defences. It’s not a terribly new or fresh spin on this type of gameplay, but what is here is solid. Guns feel good, enemies react when you shoot them, and movement is fast and snappy.
Though it was first released in early access five years ago, Hypercharge saw a full release for Switch and PC in 2020. But you wouldn’t immediately glean that from the game’s official feeds, which could easily be read by a casual observer to indicate the game isn’t out yet. On Twitter specifically, Hypercharge has picked up the sort of buzz typically reserved for big-budget games, thanks to what appears to be a shrewdly engineered digital marketing strategy.
Right now, Hypercharge’s Twitter page laser-focuses on Xbox to the exclusion of the other platforms it’s playable on. The current banner photo specifically calls out “Xbox players,” urging prospective players to vaguely “sign up” for…something. (Click through, and you’ll learn it’s a newsletter.) The pinned tweet — a post that stays at the top of a Twitter account’s feed, regardless of the chronological order of posts — refers solely to the “Xbox Series S.” The bio is a call to action for “Xbox players” with no mention of other platforms, as is textbook for pretty much every other game with a social media presence; if you want links to Hypercharge’s Steam or Nintendo eShop storefront pages, you’ll have to first click through a Linktree.
dear Xbox fans,
positive vibes. let’s make this tweet go viral!
we are five adults who are making our childhood dream game where you play as “action figures”
✅RT and RT some more!
— Hypercharge | Xbox Players, Sign Up (Check Bio) 👇 (@HyperchargeGame) July 3, 2022
Video clips about Hypercharge’s gameplay have gone mega-viral a few times over the past few months in the wake of a marketing push, seemingly launched in the spring, to build buzz for a potential Xbox release. Just this weekend, one such clip picked up more than 13 million views, thanks in part to cross-feed shares by popular gaming personalities with large followings, like esports commentator Jake Lucky. (Lucky’s accompanying text could also be read as if Hypercharge is a yet-to-be-released game: “These 5 dudes are trying to make an indie game where you play as an action figure in a toy store…and it’s sick.”)
This strategy — essentially, treating Hypercharge as if it’s a totally new game — makes sense, seeing as the game hasn’t exactly taken off on existing platforms. According to Steam-tracking database Steamcharts, Hypercharge’s all-time max concurrents is less than a thousand players. And while official metrics aren’t publicly available for Nintendo’s storefronts, c’mon.
It’s unclear just how much the studio anticipated the recent buzz. Representatives for Digital Cybercherries did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
But intentional or not, the dividends are apparent. Digital Cybercherries says more than 20,000 people signed up for the newsletter last week. That’s in addition to the videos that pick up millions of views, and the relatively high level of engagement on its social media posts, which regularly garner thousands of likes. Of course, this level of attention regrettably has drawbacks. Last week, the studio released a statement calling out the toxicity it’s received regarding the lack of a specific release date.
Speaking personally, and maybe I’m just a sucker, but the past few weeks of buzz are…totally working on me? Hypercharge is not the sort of game I’d play on Switch (not enough technical horsepower) or PC (no gaming rig for me). But I’d totally play it on Xbox — where I typically play local co-op games, which are, and I’m just reiterating how much of a bummer this is, few and far between these days.
A week ago, I thought Hypercharge was just another shooter. Now, it’s charged to the top of my “gimme gimme gimme” list. Hypercharge is broadly slated for an Xbox release early next year, according to The Verge’s Tom Warren, with the window open for a launch on Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s enormously popular games-on-demand service. Let’s see if the buzz can hold ‘til then.


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School is out, summer is in full swing and family road trips are marked on the calendar. Chapman Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram wants to make the family vacation a little more luxurious and convenient this summer with the 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan SE Plus.
The Memorial Day weekend is generally good for the car business. When building incentive plans for the sale, car dealers add many reasons to purchase at this time each year.
Volkswagen is in the midst of launching its new models, and the 2019 Jetta is evidence the German automobile manufacturer is putting its best foot forward with these latest enhancements.
This Memorial Day weekend, Chapman Warm Springs wants to welcome all locals to its re-grand opening. The dealership located at 1100 W. Warm Springs Road is the Certified Used Car Center and largest pre-owned Jeep outlet in Nevada.
The recent 2018 Light the Night executive breakfast at Cili Restaurant drew a capacity crowd and a common goal among everyone in attendance. With the combined efforts of Leukemia &Lymphoma Society of Southern Nevada Director Elizabeth Hunterton and Findlay Automotive CFO/Light the Night Walk Chair Tyler Corder leading the way, the event was the perfect kickoff for an important fundraiser.
Earlier this month at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Boulder City, the annual Boulder City Spring Jamboree dominated the grounds in the middle of the charming city.
Ed Bozarth Nevada Chevrolet recently hosted Legacy High School’s High School of Business Academy freshman class. The High School of Business is a four-year program. In their senior year, students will test and receive nine to 12 free college elective credits.
This month, Chapman Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram was one of the first dealers in the valley to welcome the 2019 Ram 1500. The all-new 2019 Ram 1500 Crew Cab Laramie Longhorn is re-engineered from the inside out making it the strongest and most capable Ram yet.
An astute group of gearheads recently spent four days in Southern Nevada having great times in their hot rods while also helping raise funds for Opportunity Village.
Knights fever has clearly swept across the Las Vegas Vegas Valley. No expansion team has ever performed so well in their inaugural year and few cities have waited so long for professional sports as did Las Vegas. Add to that the fact that most of the staff at Findlay Toyota are such die-hard sports fans and you’ve got a recipe for extreme fans.


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You probably didn’t need more proof that you should stop using the charger that came with your Chromebook 11 from HP. First we heard reports from Consumerist’s own editorial offices, then Google itself told customers to quit using the charger. Now Consumer Reports happens to be testing Chromebooks, and measured the surface temperature of the charger: 140 degrees.
The good news, if there is any, is that the much-publicized charging flexibility of the Chromebook means that you probably already have a compatible charger somewhere around your house. That charger might be a little low-powered to run an entire computer, that’s all. “Low-power charger connected. Your Chromebook may not charge while it is turned on,” whined the Consumer Reports test computer when a lower-amperage charger was plugged in to it.
HP, Google, and even the Consumer Products Safety Commission don’t have much to say to the media regarding the charger issues. It’s an ongoing investigation, okay, but what should consumers do in the meantime? There are no answers or bushels of free, non-toasty replacement chargers forthcoming.


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Third-party app developers will for the first time get access to the NFC chip in the iPhone 7/Plus (and presumably this year’s iPhones) in iOS 11. To date, only Apple Pay has been allowed to use the near-field communications chip.
Apple’s WWDC keynote did give one hint that use of the chip was being extended beyond payment when it showed the Apple Watch syncing data with gym equipment, but a new developer document says that third-party apps will be able to use it too …
The new framework appears to let the chip in the latest iPhones read any tags – not just Apple Pay tags – and take action on them based on the phone’s location. NFC could open up more ways for iOS apps to communicate with connected devices and iPhones could also replace NFC-based keycards or transit passes like London’s Oyster card and the Bay Area’s Clipper card.
Whether the type of payment card use referred to would be permitted is, however, not certain. Apple has strongly resisted giving NFC to bank apps on security grounds. The company argues that Apple Pay represents the gold standard for payment security, and doesn’t want banks to be able to offer less secure solutions.
Engadget also speculates that Apple may prohibit device pairing via NFC in order to maintain the exclusivity of its proprietary easy-pairing system based on the W1 chip. This method of pairing is currently limited to AirPods and several Beats headphones.
Apple’s developer document doesn’t give many clues as to the forms of usage that may or may not be permitted.
Your app can read tags to give users more information about their physical environment and the real-world objects in it. For example, your app might give users information about products they find in a store or exhibits they visit in a museum.
It appears apps will only be allowed to read NFC tags when they are in the foreground, so they won’t be able to pop up notifications automatically when a tag is detected.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - You may not know it, but Thursday is National Popcorn Day, and what may further surprise you is just how big of a role Indiana plays when it comes to the popular snack.
The Hoosier State comes in second for the amount of popcorn produced in the nation. Government numbers show Indiana farmers produced 151 million pounds of shelled popcorn in 2012.
Cousin Willies and Orville Redenbacher are two of the best known microwave popcorn brands and they both started in Indiana.
Ramsey, Indiana is where the Sieg family started selling popcorn in 1944. Expanding into microwaveable popcorn in the 1980's, the family named the brand after Wilfred Sieg, calling it Cousin Willies and using Wilfred on the package to show it's a “down-home country brand,” according to the company’s website.
Then there's Orville Redenbacher who was born in Brazil, Indiana in 1907 and went on to college and became a graduate of Purdue University. In 1944, he started selling popcorn to supermarkets and his success took off from there, making him a household name.
There's even a Popcorn, Indiana – which is both a town in Lawrence County with a population of 42 people, as well as a brand name. The corn grows in Popcorn and is later popped and seasoned with flavors like Smoky Queso, Himalayan Pink Salt, and Dark Fudge Pretzel.
Finally, how about a popcorn festival!? Indiana has at least three, but you've just missed them! Van Buren has a Popcorn Festival August 3-5, followed by the Valparaiso Popcorn Festival on September 9 and the Brookston Apple and Popcorn Festival on September 16.
A number of gourmet popcorn shops have popped up with everything from typical flavors to more exotic creations. Inga’s Popcorn in Zionsville and Bloomington offers dozens of flavors, like White Volcano which is described on the company's website as "Habanero, ghost pepper and red pepper stirred into the white cheddar for those fearless who like to feel the burn." On the sweeter side, there is even a birthday cake with icing flavor described as "blond caramel popcorn mixed with colorful sprinkles and then drizzled with an icing flavored with cake mix."
The Cornival Popcorn Shop inside Washington Square Mall is another popular choice. The business offers more than 100 flavors from butter pecan to spicy nacho and Cajun cheddar. Cornival is a family-owned operation and its flavors are "complementary to what would be offered in a festival or Carnival environment," according to the company’s website.


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HTC sent out an invite for the unveiling of the new HTC One at the Mobile World Congress 2015 on March 1.
The rumors have already pointed to the HTC One M9 reveal at the MWC 2015. Now it is official. HTC shared an invite for the new HTC One reveal on Twitter. The invite carries the bold statement: “let them stare.”
The new HTC One, known as HTC One M9 internally, is rumored to have a 5-inch display with Full HD resolution (possibly as high as 1,440×2,560px). The 64-bit HTC One runs supposedly on a 2GHz Snapdragon 810 CPU. The phone will come with 3GB of RAM. HTC would offer a 32GB or 64GB version. The back camera of the new HTC One has an advanced 20.7MP whereas the front will be 4MP UltraPixel camera. The new HTC One is also said to have a bigger battery of 2840mAh.
Android L and the latest HTC Sense 7 will be available on the new HTC flagship phone.
HTC will have to battle for attention with Samsung at the MWC 2015. Samsung will unveil the highly anticipated new Galaxy S6. The Galaxy S6 is rumored to be released in two versions. One will have a three-sided screen.
Both smartphone maker will need to impress consumers as the Apple iPhone is gaining market share fast. Last quarter Apple has matched Samsung in global shipped smartphone units according to Strategy Analytics. If Apple can continue the momentum, the company might be able to turn the tables in the smartphone market and make iOS the dominating mobile operating system.


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In January, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report suggesting that many homebuyers spend more time looking for a TV than shopping around for the right mortgage. In an attempt to make things a little less daunting for prospective borrowers, the Bureau today released the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage shopping toolkit. [More]
Mother Nature has created plenty of headaches for snow-weary residents of Massachusetts, but one man is turning Gaia’s frozen bounty into an opportunity to make a few bucks off those warmer states. He’s selling the snow from his front yard for $89 for six pounds, shipping it to sunnier climes. Taking snow lemons and making snow lemonade, right?
Nice try, Kohl’s, but we see through your game. An item isn’t on sale just because you say it is. You have to actually decrease the price. Noah writes that when he found a tag emblazoned with the word SALE, he thought this meant that perhaps the item was on sale. Don’t be silly, Noah.
Pabst Brewing Company is up for sale, the New York Post reports.
Would you live in a mobile home? No? What if it were solar and wind powered, and tricked out with the latest modern conveniences and looked sharp?
One of the fun side-effects of Craigslist is that the lack of an editorial gatekeeper means it lets the crazy blossom. The newspaper Telegraph has assembled 20 of what they consider the wackiest Craigslist ads, including over 1300 Pope hats (sorry, they’re just replicas), diapers for incontinent dogs, and 300 stuffed penguins. Naturally we assume every one of them is really about sex, but maybe we’re being too jaded about Craigslisters.
Eddie Bauer is the latest retailer to file for bankruptcy, and it says it hopes to be sold outright rather than try to reorganize, refinance, or liquidate. The AP says the clothing company had “$476.1 million in assets and $426.7 million in debt at the time of the filing Wednesday with the United States Bankruptcy Court of the District of Delaware,” and that by declaring Chapter 11 now it hopes to reassure suppliers and stave off impending cash flow problems.
Here’s a perfect example of the power of the written word in advertising: Jane Hambleton’s splashy classified ad to sell her son’s car worked so well that now everyone knows she caught him with liquor in his car and sold it as punishment.


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December 17, 2020
Palm Beach Main PO is Open for Business
Palm Beach, FL — Postal operations at the Palm Beach Main Post Office at 340 Royal Poinciana Way, STE 328 have resumed.
Retail operations, once again, will be available at 340 Royal Poinciana Way, STE 328 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Customers also may pick up their P.O. Box mail and packages at this location during these hours. The Palm Beach Main Post Office, located in the Royal Poinciana Plaza, is closed Saturday and Sunday.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Postal Service temporarily suspended operations due to facility issues and cited the safety and well-being of customers and employees.
The Postal Service appreciates its customers and apologizes for any inconvenience during the suspension.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.


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Rather than just scrolling by and admiring art, fashion, music and more from creators on Instagram, the platform is now enabling people to buy directly from the influencers and celebrities they love.
The new feature allows creators to tag exactly what they are wearing or using in a post – which frees them up from having to respond to hundreds of direct messages and comments. It also provides Instagram users with a direct purchase path to products they’re interested in.
In a post about its update, Instagram said: "This new feature is another important step in our shopping journey. We are committed to making the shopping experience simple, convenient and secure and we'll continue to listen to feedback from our community on how we can make the experience even better."
The social network will test out the feature on a small group, including celebrities like Gigi Hadid, Kim Kardashian West, Kris Jenner and Kylie Jenner, and creators such as Leesa Angelique (@saythelees).
According to Mae Karwowski, founder and CEO of Obviously, the new feature is a smart decision for Instagram.
She said: "Until now, it’s been a clunky experience for customers to go from Instagram to the brand's site for purchases. For influencers, it’s an exciting opportunity to better quantify the traffic and revenue they're generating. Instagram has changed a lot over the years, and influencers who have been successful have evolved along with it. For us in influencer marketing, we're always looking for new and smarter ways to track the revenue we're driving for our brand clients, among other metrics. This can be a great new tool to do just that."
Instagram also revealed a new camera design on Tuesday that allows users to share posts without a photo a video, simplifying the way people use creative tools, including effects and interactive stickers.


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LEESBURG, Fla. - Gun shop owners in Central Florida say they have seen a spike in gun and ammo sales because of the coronavirus.
One gun shop owner tells FOX 35 customers fear the “unknown.”
“People are scared,” The Gun Shop & Gun Range owner Gordon Schorer said. “People are scared of other people. People are scared of our government.”
Schorer said people fear they may need to protect themselves and their families if the outbreak gets worse.
“People have been buying handguns, long guns, lots of ammo, shotguns,” Schorer said. “Stuff that would protect themselves.”
The owner of The Gun Shop & Gun Range in Leesburg is seeing the boost.
“Since Thursday of last week, we’ve been record numbers,” Schorer said.
His supplier said the same.
“When I talked to my salesperson, she says we literally got wiped out in two days and they’re the largest distributor in the United States,” Schorer said.
On the gun range at the business, FOX 35 spoke to new, first-time gun owners learning how to shoot.
“I bought a gun two weeks ago,” Emily Zhang said.
Zhang said she bought her gun because she’s scared.
“Why?” Zhang said. “For safety. In case, you know. Right now, the situation, corona [coronavirus] spread everywhere. I try to protect my family and myself.”
The owner of the gun store plans to keep his doors open for sales until he is forced to shut down.


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A thriving catering business has led to another business venture for one busy Janesville woman, Kendra Hoehn. She and her business partner, Amanda Slaughter, opened Brew’d Awakenings Bistro in downtown Janesville at the end of September.
“Two years ago, Infinity Catering officially started and has had great success. The rented kitchen being used was getting too small so we started looking at buildings in town to expand. We were approached by the current building owners to see if we wanted to open something in the other half of Wistes Meat Market when they reopened after the fire. They decided to limit their grocery availability and had commercial space to be utilized. Andy and Sarah Arnoldt have been great to work with and have helped us get up and going,” says Hoehn.
Brew’d Awakenings Bistro is a small, quaint restaurant/coffee shop that serves tea, and hot and cold coffee, including flavored, all day. They also serve pastries, soup, salad, sandwiches, wraps and desserts.
Located at 206 North Main Street in Janesville, Hoehn says she is happy to finally be open to the public.
“Trying to get open has been the most challenging so far. It was hard getting the contractors lined up and stay on a schedule to finally get to opening day. We were hoping to open in June but so many different variables, it made us keep pushing the opening day back,” says Hoehn.
“We knew that the community was eagerly waiting for us to open, but we have been pleasantly surprised at how supportive and welcoming the town has been, as well as the feedback we have been receiving.
Aside from Brew’d Awakenings and Infinity Catering, Hoehn is a mother of five and runs the lunch room at Trinity Lutheran School in Janesville.
Brew’d Awakenings Bistro
206 North Main Street, Janesville
Phone: (507) 995-7137
Facebook: Brew’d Awakenings Bistro


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Affordable, no-code apps for health, fitness, and wellness creators.
Our nation’s nutrition policies are often written by the highest bidders.
The Fall of Food
No secret, the standard American diet consists mainly of unhealthy ultra-processed foods (UPFs) shown to be addictive, obesogenic, and downright lethal.
- 68% of the US food supply is categorized as “hyper-palatable,” made with levels of sugar, sodium, or carbohydrates that make them addictive to humans.
- In recent years, consumption of UPFs as a percentage of daily caloric intake has risen to 57%, while whole foods eaten dipped to a low of 27%.
- 1.6K Americans die daily from chronic diet-related illnesses, primarily obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Adding to this preventable loss of life, the food we eat is also devastating our economy, environment, and healthcare system. Yet, despite this reality, the individual and societal harms of subsisting on toxic foods continue to be ignored.
While personal responsibility and food scarcity are not to be discounted, it’s important to examine the policies and playbooks that make choosing healthy options harder.
Under the Influence
Big Food and Bev companies go to great lengths to keep us hooked on their products.
In the latest instance of impropriety, The Washington Post uncovered a shady social media campaign led by industry insiders.
The report found that American Beverage Association, the lobbying group behind brands like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, paid dietitians, physicians, and fitness influencers to post about the #safetyofaspartame.
This coordinated effort was meant to combat the World Health Organization’s recent warning about potential health risks of the artificial sweetener, a key ingredient in diet soda.
Marketing misinformation. Not an isolated instance, The Post said this tactic is part of a new playbook where the food and beverage industry uses dietitians and other credentialed experts to spread contradictory health information:
“Companies and industry groups paid dietitians for content that encouraged viewers to eat candy and ice cream, downplayed the health risks of highly processed foods and pushed unproven supplements — messages that run counter to decades of scientific evidence about healthy eating.”
Nothing new, entrusting our health to online fitfluencers and wellness gurus is a bad idea. However, further evidence that basic nutrition is being intentionally manipulated for the benefit of junk food brands should be a wake-up call.
Most troubling, these ploys are hitting their mark with a captive, trusting audience.
- 40% of Americans regularly see food and nutrition content on social media.
- 67% of consumers trust the food and nutrition info they receive from influencers.
- 60% follow their recommendations, but 68% report seeing conflicting claims on which foods to eat or avoid.
Following precedent. Unfortunately, this is just the latest instance of the nation’s guiding institutions turning a blind eye to our deadly diet.
In the 1960s, the sugar industry paid Harvard scientists to downplay the link between sugar and heart disease, instead vilifying saturated fat as the culprit — the study, published in New England Journal of Medicine with no disclaimers, was used in the development of US food guidelines.
Along those lines, earlier this month, a STAT report detailed Big Food’s persistent efforts to infiltrate government agencies in order to peddle influence with policymakers — a scheme that has proven successful.
Punchline: Willpower debates aside, Americans are burdened with deciphering food fact from fiction in a world where data is manipulated for dollars. Short of policy intervention, steering people toward healthier choices starts with transparency.


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Emma Marsing, [email protected]
SWEETWATER COUNTY, WYOMING — Jenissa Meredith, Chief Executive Officer of Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism, spoke in front of the Green River City Council Tuesday about the annual report of 2022. This report showed the event grants they funded, more information on their activities, economic impact, and more.
Earlier last month Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism (SWCTT) released its annual projection report which shows that the Sweetwater County travel economy is remaining strong. With $65 million in visitor spending revenue, new projects, and ideas are on the horizon.
Based on the press release, CEO of SWCTT Jenissa Meredith stated, “It is no secret that the incredible landscape, abundant wildlife, and outdoor recreation opportunities that we all know and love, are also very attractive to visitors from around the country and world. While our advertising efforts alone generated $65 million in visitor spending in 2022, total visitor spending typically reaches almost $160 million, which is money realized in the cash registers of our valued local businesses. Tourism is big business in Sweetwater County. It is truly an honor to work for a dedicated board, and with a talented team of marketing professionals, to showcase this great county.”
Originating in 1991, the Sweetwater County Lodging Tax was introduced and has continued its renewal since then. In the November 2022 election, 81% of voters supported the tax. According to the report, these are the percentages of the lodging tax breakdown: 79% Multi-Media Marketing Campaign, 7% Event Grants (any non-profit, local event that generates lodging occupancy), 3% Rock Springs and Green River Chambers of Commerce (staffing of visitor services), 4% Sweetwater Events Complex (out-of-county marketing and event recruitment), and 7% Administration.
Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism do a wide variety of things to help benefit the communities they oversee. Event recruitment is one subject they are working hard on. Meredith stated, “Most recently Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism Board (SWCTTB), has partnered with both the Rock Springs and Green River High Schools to recruit the 2023 & 2024 State High School 3A and 4A Boys and Girls Soccer Tournaments. We will be hosting approximately 800 athletes, their families, supporting coaches, and staff for several days during these events, and we were so proud to be able to partner with both communities to make this happen. These events will generate an estimated $6 million in economic impact to the local economy over two years.”
On top of event recruitment, SWCTT has introduced many new fun activities for visitors and community members as well. In 2021, SWCTT launched Guided Bus Tours along the Flaming Gorge. Guided by Lucy Diggins-Wold and Dawn Dale, the tour members will be immersed in fun facts along the way. This tour is only $68 and includes lunch, snacks, and water. Tours will continue this summer of 2023. In the summer of 2022, SWCTT released sandboards, made for residents and visitors to surf the Killpecker Sand Dunes.
SWCTT also partners with KUTV Channel 2 News out of Salt Lake City every summer. In 2022 they featured the new Mustang Loop Trail System in Rock Springs, as well as sandboarding at Killpecker Sand Dunes.
SWCTT is very known for its sponsorships around the community. One of the biggest sponsorships they have done is “Brave Girl”, a documentary about a young adventurer who finds out what it takes to climb mountains, especially the one in her own backyard in Wyoming. the SWCTT has recently implemented the Certified Tourism Ambassador Program (CTA). As taken from their website, “The Sweetwater County Tourism Ambassador program is a multi-faceted program that serves to increase tourism by inspiring front-line employees and volunteers to turn every visitor encounter into a positive experience. When visitors have a positive experience, they are more likely to return in the future and also share their experiences with others. Everyone benefits—the visitors, the industry, the local economy, and most importantly, the front-line worker.” Currently, there are 120 CTA’s in Sweetwater County.
With all of this in mind, visitor revenue continues to increase. Meredith concluded by stating, “Tourism marketing and product development generates visitor spending which is realized as money going into the cash registers of local businesses. I am fortunate to work with an incredible team here at Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism and we take our mission of growing the visitor economy very seriously.”


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Secretary of State Mobile Office schedules Riverview visit March 21-23
MAR. 15, 2012
LANSING, Mich. - Secretary of State Ruth Johnson today announced that the Mobile Office will be in Riverview to serve customers on March 21-23.
The office will be at Riverview City Hall, 14100 Civic Park Drive. Hours are 11 a.m. to
7 p.m. on March 21 and 22, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 23.
"If Riverview area residents have any business to take care of with us, I encourage them to stop by our Mobile Office or go online to www.ExpressSOS.com," Johnson said. "We hope many customers will take advantage of our convenient service options."
The office is made up of four, easy-to-use carts that are rolled out of a 14-foot-by-7-foot trailer and then assembled as a customer service counter with all the necessary equipment and data connections.
Customers of the Mobile Office have the ability to pay with a MasterCard or Discover card as well as buy instant titles or a copy of their driving record. The Mobile Office offers all the services available at a traditional branch office.
People renewing license plates, driver's licenses and ID cards can do business by mail or online at www.ExpressSOS.com. Easy to follow instructions can be found with the renewal notice. Additional services can be done online as well.
For more information about office locations and additional services, visit www.Michigan.gov/sos. Sign up for the official Secretary of State Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/MichSOS and Facebook updates at http://www.facebook.com/MichiganSoS.
Customers also may call the Department of State Information Center to speak to a customer-service representative at 888-SOS-MICH (767-6424).
For media questions, please call Gisgie Dávila Gendreau at 517-373-2520.


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The International Surface Event (TISE) recently announced that attendee online registration for Las Vegas 2016 is now officially open. On The Cutting Edge of the floor covering, stone and tile industry
Sufaces and Las Vegas Market are excited to announce they are forming an extended strategic partnership to co-locate their events for 2013 and 2014 to provide their attendees an enhanced product sourcing, educational and networking experience.
In this issue of Stone World, check out content about an office tower in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which straddles the city’s business and fashion districts. Also read about Tab India, which is another recognized stone producer from India. Through the years, the company has invested heavily in its quarrying and fabrication operations.


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Pepsi to launch smartphones --- in China
Here's what users should expect from Android Marshmallow 6.0.
BlackBerry fans could be in for some good news as the mobile phone manufacturer is rumored to release an Android slider handset.
Google's next operating system, Android M, is expected to be released by the last quarter of the year, maybe as early as September, since an update on Google Plus revealed that it is already preparing for the upgrade.
Here's what users can expect from Google's Android M 5.2.
Is the new Note phablet very similar to Samsung's existing flagship smartphone?
LG makes smartphone history on Sunday when it unveiled in South Korea the first flip phone to have the features of a smartphone.
Here are the latest details about Android M, Google’s upcoming operating system.
Here are the latest rumors about the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Note 5 Edge.
The Moto G 2015 is set to be released before the year ends so fans of the phone series are now anticipating what changes will it bring to its predecessor.
The Moto G 2015 3rd Generation could be out in the market as early as next month with reports indicating that the device is indeed nearing its release date.
The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 is projected to be not only the company's slimmest offering but also the thinnest in the world.
The following Android devices are now able to get a taste of Lollipop 5.1.1 updates.
See how Samsung's future devices compare against each other, if recent reports are to be believed.
¡Únase a la ganadora del premio Emmy Mickela Mallozzi mientras descubre las tradiciones de baile y música de los neoyorquinos locales en los
El Festival de las Luces conduce a una gran danza india en la ciudad de Nueva York: el Bharatanatyam clásico, el Sótano Bhangra con DJ Rekha y la
La comunidad boliviana en Queens puede ser pequeña, pero son poderosas: Mickela se une a familiares de varias generaciones bolivianas con las danzas
Propuesta del presidente Trump "Caja de cosecha" amenazaría a los neoyorquinos más vulnerables al disminuir el acceso a alimentos frescos y


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Trump trade war would leave world in 'deep recession' - WTO
The US President is showing no signs of backing down as major trading nations react with anger to his plans for metals tariffs.
Monday 5 March 2018 17:35, UK
The head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has warned a trade war sparked by US President Donald Trump would plunge the world into "deep recession".
Roberto Azevedo used remarks in Geneva to appeal for calm, saying member states must stop "the fall of the first dominoes" - hours after the European Union said it was preparing a "decisive" response to plans that, Mr Trump hopes, will bolster US competitiveness.
He prompted fury among major US trading partners worldwide last week when he announced proposals for 25% tariffs on steel products and 10% on aluminium.
His administration has since made it clear the tariffs - due to be announced formally this week - would apply to imports from any country, including Britain.
While Theresa May has spoken to the President to outline her "deep concerns" and urged multilateral action to resolve trade issues, Downing Street has made it clear the UK's response to any tariffs would fall within EU action while the country remains in the bloc.
:: Trump rejects PM's appeal on trade tariffs
European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the issue would be discussed by commissioners on Wednesday, insisting its reaction would be "swift, firm and proportionate".
He added: "When someone takes unilateral and unfair action that puts thousands of European jobs at risk we have to act.
"And if the measures announced by the US President materialise in a way that affects European interests, we shall react ... in a decisive, but proportionate, and strictly WTO (World Trade Organisation)-compatible way.
"This is about Europe doing what it has to do to defend its interests. It is not about escalating anything."
However, it became clear over the weekend that tit-for-tat protectionism is on the table.
Mr Trump has responded to threats of retaliatory tariffs on top US motorcycle and jeans brands by tweeting on Sunday: "If the EU wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on US companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the US.
"They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!".
China and Canada have also been among the countries urging the US to show restraint.
There were signs the President was using the tariff issue as a bargaining chip during continuing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiation talks with the Canadians and Mexico.
He suggested both nations could win exemptions to his planned steel and aluminium tariffs by signing a new deal and taking further steps to ensure fair trade.
The prospect of a trade war has also unsettled investors across the world, with stock markets reflecting fears of damage to the world's economic recovery.


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Bitcoin has many symptoms of speculative mania. Just like gold, its value varies from person to person. It has no intrinsic value. There is no direct way out for bitcoin. If digital assets develop enough to challenge the government's monopoly on currency issuance, official actions may easily restrict their use. It is estimated that 20% of bitcoin cannot be used because investors have lost their passwords. Bitcoin is not accepted in most places. Transactions are usually slow and expensive. When the network is blocked, it sometimes takes a few days, and the cost of each transaction even exceeds $25. The amount of computation required to maintain bitcoin blockchain alone is equivalent to the power consumption of a medium-sized country, which has a significant impact on the climate.
The supply of gold is not completely static. With the increase of mining, the supply of gold increases by about 1.25% every year. The storage cost of gold is often high, and the transaction in spot form is extremely inconvenient, at the same time, it is difficult to separate. Bitcoin does not have these shortcomings. There is no flexibility in the supply of bitcoin, and there is a ceiling. Only 21 million digital coins will exist. As of February this year, 18.638 million bitcoins have been mined. As long as you don't lose the code to access it, you can send it as easily as you send an email. It's resilient, verifiable and independent of any government, and most importantly, it's easy to divide.
Analysts and cryptocurrency investors expect bitcoin to have a higher long-term goal if it becomes a gold substitute. If bitcoin turns out to be widely used as a means of payment rather than just another asset to hold and invest in, there will be no cap on bitcoin.
Gold is still irreplaceable. The economic situation is the key to choose gold or bitcoin
Gold is regarded as a superior "anti legal" asset, which promotes the demand for gold. If people are worried about the long-term purchasing power of government issued currency, they will spend more money on gold, because gold is regarded as a hedge.
The huge debts of governments and enterprises around the world have also raised concerns about repayment pressure, and gold may be favored again at that time. At this point, as a medium of value storage and exchange, gold has many advantages over cryptocurrency. These benefits make it hard to believe that gold will lose its role as a hedge against inflation / currency risk. Safe storage in the vault. Custody of individual gold or silver retirement accounts. Actual industrial utility. After thousands of years of proof, life expectancy is longer.
With thousands of years of history, gold, which has always been the first safe haven asset, has its irreplaceable advantages. The volatility of gold can be controlled because production can accelerate or decelerate according to demand, but bitcoin is the opposite. Compared with other assets, even after the market structure is fully mature, its volatility may continue to increase. With the increasing popularity of bitcoin, investors can continue to buy bitcoin in the face of economic downturn and rising yield, and gold may continue to be the ultimate hedging tool against economic downturn, inflation and currency devaluation.