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The meat industry is characterized by unsustainable practices and the unethical treatment of animals. All aspects of the meat production process, including the clearing of fields for factory farming, feed sourcing for thousands of animals, and waste and manure management, are environmentally damaging (Clean Water Action). Additionally, the fields created for the sole purpose of providing resources to meat farms create toxic fertilizer and chemical runoff that pollutes water supplies.
Factory farms focus on intensive animal farming, with the goal of producing the largest amount of meat at the lowest possible cost. Thus, animals in such farms live in horrific conditions and are treated with cruelty and indifference (Healy).
Despite these factors, the demand for meat and meat products is only rising. A recent estimate reported that over 300 million tons of meat are produced each year (Ritchie and Roser). Currently, the solutions available are extremely expensive and unsustainable in the long term.
The Meat Industry’s Perspective
Meat industry officials often go on the offensive during discussions of the meat industry’s connection to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change (Jacquet). The current system is extremely cost-effective, and most meat industry employees have one goal: to maximize profits and minimize expenditures. The simplest way for meat industry officials to meet quotas and please investors is to continue with their current practices.
However, this business model has become unsustainable in the long term; these companies must consider public opinion. Consumers are becoming more eco-conscious (Latham 2021). Many people are cutting down their meat intake or becoming vegetarian. Thus, many meat corporations have begun prioritizing a reduction of water and electricity use, and in greenhouse gas emissions (JBS Foods). Even so, their idea of progress contrasts starkly with the reforms proposed by environmental activists, who believe that the meat industry’s power has allowed it to shirk the blame for environmental damage it rightfully deserves (Elgin). Meat industry officials countered this by stating that other industries should equally share the blame for methane emissions and by turning a blind eye to methane emissions (Baker). Many meat industry officials feel that activism should be directed towards the transportation industry, and have combated governmental programs that link meat production to climate change (Gustin). Their beliefs differ significantly from those of activists working towards significant reforms.
The Activists’ Perspective:
Environmentalists oppose the meat industry because of its high levels of methane emissions; methane is far more toxic to the environment than carbon dioxide, because it traps heat more easily (EPA). The meat industry is also a large contributor to deforestation, as feed consumed by cows, chickens, and pigs must be grown and sourced specially (WWF). Because of the rapidly increasing number of animals being raised for food, feed shortages have caused an increase in land clearing and the intentional burning of native prairie grasses to provide more space to grow feed. This worries and angers environmentalists (Plumer), who fear that the meat industry has enough power and funding to crush any opposition to its methods.
Similarly, animal activists are opposed to the meat industry because of its cruel and inhumane treatment of animals. Many activist groups, such as the Humane Society of the United States, have created campaigns with the goal of encouraging consumers to become vegetarian in protest of what they describe as the “suffering of billions of animals each year” in factory farms (Humane Society of the United States).
Some claims made by activist groups are unfounded, and governments worldwide have taken legal action against animal rights extremists (Understanding Animal Research). Meat industry officials believe these groups are radical threats to business and safety, and oppose them strongly. Consumers counter this opposition by noting that activists’ descriptions of cramped conditions and animal abuse are, unfortunately, often true (Harari). Some advocates for change even state that meat industry officials will save money in the long term by investing in sustainability (World Bank). It is important that any solution implemented by the meat production industry takes the claims of activists into account to ensure sustainability and the ethical treatment of animals.
Limitations of Current Solutions:
Current solutions to the emissions caused by the meat industry include direct air capture technology, bioenergy, and ‘clean meat’. Direct air capture technology involves the capturing of carbon dioxide from the air for storage underground (Budinis). However, it is extremely expensive- the higher end of the cost estimate is 600 dollars per tonne of CO2 removed from the atmosphere, which equates to trillions of dollars by 2025 in order to meet the goals of the Paris agreement (UNFCC), and more than that in subsequent years to fully offset CO2 emissions. Additionally, DAC only impacts CO2 emissions; in the meat industry, methane emissions are far more prevalent and dangerous (EPA).
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage involves the conversion of biological materials into fuel (McCarl). This technology is expensive, with some estimates placing it at $100-200 per ton (American University). Additionally, bioenergy could cause more environmental problems than it solves by negatively impacting (American University). Thus, it is not a feasible long term solution.
A widely publicized solution to unsustainable meat production is the manufacturing of ‘clean meat’, created by culturing animal cells. Challenges associated with clean meat are difficult to overcome. Consumers are not properly educated about clean meat, and are hesitant to consume anything that is “grown in a lab” (Pakseresht, Khaliji, and Canavari). Additionally, clean meat companies have had difficulties bringing their products to market due to protests from meat companies that believe clean meat should not be labeled as ‘meat’ in grocery stores (Balstad). If clean meat companies are unable to call their products meat, customers will be even more reluctant to consume them.
The Carnivore’s Perspective: Societal Pressures
People are inherently resistant to change, and countries in which people consume large amounts of meat will pose a particular challenge to sustainability initiatives. Americans, for example, consume 3 times as much meat annually as other citizens, and account for much of the global demand for meat (Johns Hopkins University). Some members of the American public fear that meat-based substitutes created in labs are unsafe, and that reforms will encroach upon their freedoms. Although scientists and activists have countered this statement by testing and proving the safety of clean meat and similar products, there is a general lack of education regarding the environmental impact of the meat industry and the viability of emerging solutions, which has made it difficult to sway public opinion. Additionally, some activists have taken an extreme approach, alienating much of the public, while meat officials have countered opposition by pivoting strategies and portraying their meat as ethically and sustainably sourced. These clashing perspectives have created confusion among consumers.
Recommendations: Where Do We Go From Here?
There are a number of cost-effective solutions that can curb the environmental impact of the meat industry. Zeolites are cheap materials derived from clay that can be used to convert methane into carbon dioxide (Chandler). Although it may seem counterintuitive to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, zeolites will result in a massive benefit for the environment, and could reduce atmospheric methane to pre-industrial levels (Chandler). This approach has the potential to remove 3.2 billion tons of methane from the atmosphere (Jackson, Solomon, and Canadell). It would eliminate one-sixth of all causes of global warming, vastly reducing the meat industry’s negative environmental impact (Chandler).
Reforestation campaigns and plant-based substitutes are cost-effective solutions. Investments in both clean meat production education campaigns are crucial as well; if the general public was convinced that paying a premium to consume clean meat would help the environment, that many would make the change. Legal resolutions focused on increasing the marketability of clean meat are also important. Lastly, government regulations regarding the ethical treatment of animals are necessary. Farm inspections for animal health and living conditions, along with required yearly transparency reports, will help ensure a healthy future for farm animals.
Baker, Aryn. "'Cows Are the New Coal.' How the Cattle Industry Is Ignoring the
Bottom Line When It Comes to Methane Emissions." Time, time.com/6125014/
cows-agricultural-emissions/. Accessed 9 Mar. 2022.
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Beef Research. www.beefresearch.org/programs/beef-sustainability. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
"Bioenergy in a Greenhouse Mitigating World." Choices: Biotech and Foods. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/choices.23.1.0031?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=bioenergy+co2&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dbioener. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
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"Can you call it meat? Lawsuit takes issue with labeling." Columbia Missourian, www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/can-you-call-it-meat-lawsuit-takes-issue-with-labeling/article_14d1450e-b13f-11e8-a6ef-c3a0888f96da.html. Accessed 26 Jan. 2022.
"CARBON DIOXIDE CAPTURE FROM AIR: A SIMPLE ANALYSIS." Energy and Environment. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43735099?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=direct+air+capture+CO2&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Ddirect. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
Celebrate Your Foodprint. sustainability.jbsfoodsgroup.com/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
Chandler, David L. "A dirt-cheap solution? Common clay materials may help curb methane emissions." MIT News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, news.mit.edu/2022/dirt-cheap-solution-common-clay-materials-may-help-curb-methane-emissions. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
"Cleaning our hands of dirty factory farming." Australian Quarterly. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26529681?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=meat+production&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dmeat%2Bproduction%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3Aef6caa25595724f26d8a95140314ff47&seq=5#metadata_info_tab_contents. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
Clean Water Action. www.cleanwateraction.org/features/meat-industry-%E2%80%93-environmental-issues-solutions. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
Explore scientific, technical, and medical research on ScienceDirect. www.sciencedirect.com/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
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"Has coronavirus made us more ethical consumers?" BBC News, www.bbc.com/news/business-55630144. Accessed 26 Jan. 2022.
Healy, Hazel. Article proposing the banning of industrial factory farming. New Internationalist, newint.org/features/2021/02/08/what-if-we-banned-intensive-farming-animals-fjf. Accessed 26 Jan. 2022.
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Impacts of Climate on the Australian Vegetable Industry. www.vegetableclimate.com/climate-credentials/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-crop/. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
"Importance of Methane." United States Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane#:~:text=Methane%20is%20the%20second%20most,trapping%20heat%20in%20the%20atmosphere. Accessed 26 Jan. 2022.
Matheny, Gaverick. "Farm-Animal Welfare, Legislation, and Trade." Law and Contemporary Problems. JSTOR, Farm-Animal Welfare, Legislation, and Trade. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
Mattick, Carolyn. "The Future of Meat." Issues in Science and Technology. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43315822?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=meat+production+issues&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dmeat%2Bproduction%2Bissues%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcont. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/climate/meat-industry-climate-impact.html. Accessed 1 Feb. 2022.
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Nordgren, Anders. "Meat and Global Warming: Impact Models, Mitigation Approaches and Ethical Aspects." Environmental Values. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41714203?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=ethical+problems+with+meat+industry&searchUri=%2Faction%2Fd. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
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"Stanford researchers outline vision for profitable climate change solution." Stanford News Service, news.stanford.edu/press-releases/2019/05/20/counterintuitive-climate-solution/#:~:text=A%20zeolite%20array%20about%20the,apply%20to%20other%20greenhouse%20gases.
Sustainability. jbsfoodsgroup.com/our-purpose/sustainability. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
Vandermel, Jackie. "PREVENTING CLIMATE CHANGE WITH BECCS: BIOENERGY WITH CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE." PSCI, Princeton University, psci.princeton.edu/tips/2020/11/15/preventing-climate-change-with-beccs-bioenergy-with-carbon-capture-and-storage. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
"Virginia measure could put PETA out of the animal shelter business." The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/animal-bill-could-put-peta-out-of-the-shelter-business/2015/02/23/2f4f05b6-bb6a-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
"What is BECCS?" American University, www.american.edu/sis/centers/carbon-removal/fact-sheet-bioenergy-with-carbon-capture-and-storage-beccs.cfm. Accessed 22 Jan. 2022.
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For the last decade, food companies have been priding themselves on adding probiotics to everyday nutritional staples like yogurt, cereal and even dark chocolate. And the public has been gobbling them up.
On paper, probiotics are a tough sell, especially when described as live microbes that are meant to be ingested by the billions. But their positive effects have been widely and actively reported, thus allowing them to infiltrate the mainstream market easily and quickly.
In a 2012 Ipsos-Reid survey, 98 per cent of respondents said they had purchased some kind of functional food or beverage product over the past year, including probiotic-fortified yogurt. And the North American probiotic market is expected to increase to more than $6.5 billion US by 2023.
Probiotics claim to sustain healthy gut bacteria, and aid in digestive issues as wide-ranging as minor cramping and bloating to colitis and irritable bowel syndrome by preventing bad bacteria from growing and adhering to the lining of the digestive tract. This in turn enhances the immune system and helps to maintain general health. Suffice to say, they have been positioned as a valuable addition to a healthy lifestyle.
“I recommend probiotics to most of my clients for digestive health, especially if they have been on antibiotics recently or if they have digestive issues such as IBS, Crohn’s or colitis,” says Christy Brissette, dietitian and president of 80 Twenty Nutrition, a food consultancy and communications company.
WATCH: 5 ways to get probiotics
But a study published in May in the journal Genome Medicine is painting a less flattering picture of probiotics. Oluf Pederson, a professor of medicine at the University of Copenhagen and director of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Basic Metabolic Research, conducted the study that calls into question what effects, if any, probiotics can have on an otherwise healthy digestive tract. In examining hundreds of reports on the subject, and narrowing them down to seven that fit certain criteria, he and his colleagues discovered that while some strains of probiotics have been shown to help in the management of irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis and traveller’s diarrhea, only one showed any shift in the gut bacteria of healthy adults.
“This came as a surprise to us that there is no scientific evidence that probiotics do have an impact on the gut microbiology,” Pedersen said to the Washington Post. “The problem is many people think there is a benefit.”
It’s not just consumers, either. Physicians have long been prescribing probiotics to patients not only for controlling their gut bacteria, but also for addressing health issues as disparate as upper respiratory tract infections and atopic eczema. But they are quick to point out that there’s no one magic probiotic (they come in hundreds of different strains that address different issues) and they don’t work on everyone equally.
“Each person’s microbiome contains over 100,000 billion bacteria, hence there will be some variability from person to person,” says Dr. Sapna Makhija, gastroenterologist and co-founder of the GI Health Centre.
While Makhija is reluctant to stop recommending a daily probiotic to her patients, she does recognize that further studies need to be done to determine exactly how much benefit they can bestow on the healthy gut. And she also advises patients to consider the source.
“The majority of patients we see have seen a naturopath before us and were put on various forms of probiotics,” she says. “Naturopaths tend to sell their own promoted products and some of these probiotics don’t undergo the same scrutiny as other medications would.”
She suggests consulting a medical professional first and making sure there’s a high enough concentration of the probiotic in the supplement. The recommended dose varies from person to person, and can range anywhere from one to 10 billion CFUs (colony-forming units) over three or four doses.
It’s doubtful that Pederson’s study will do much to curb probiotic consumption, though doctors are eager to correct the promises espoused by the natural health community. Especially since probiotic supplements aren’t heavily regulated by Health Canada – as of 2009, only 16 species had been approved for inclusion on food labels.
On the plus side, there are few side-effects associated with probiotics, aside from some initial bloating or gas. (Brissette advises cancer patients to steer clear of them since their immune systems are compromised.) So it’s unlikely that even those who don’t stand to benefit from them will avoid them.
“Any therapy can have a placebo effect,” Makhija says. “Patients report a subjective improvement, so it’s hard to measure. But if it makes them feel better, even psychologically, it’s having a beneficial effect.”

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The United States government, along with tech giant Intel, has announced plans to invest in leading-edge semiconductor technology with the goal of keeping America at the forefront of innovation. Intel’s commitment to spending its share of the CHIPS Act funds on fabs and research centers across several states underscores its dedication to catching up in leading-edge manufacturing by 2026. This significant investment not only aims to boost domestic chip technology but also create thousands of jobs in fab construction and chip manufacturing.
Intel’s decision to build a $20 billion fab in Ohio, along with expanding operations in Arizona and New Mexico, demonstrates the company’s strategy to focus on AI chip production in the US. By establishing these manufacturing sites, Intel is laying the foundation for a premier location for AI chip production on American soil. Other companies like GlobalFoundries, Microchip, and BAE Systems have also received CHIPS Act funds, signaling a concerted effort within the semiconductor industry to bolster domestic chip production and innovation. Ultimately, these investments aim to secure the US semiconductor industry’s position and prevent potential supply chain disruptions in the future.


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In the short window of opportunity before Microsoft’s all-new Windows 8 software hits its smartphone offerings (somewhat controversially), MS has taken the time to revamp its Windows Phone Developer Center. This the quite of software that app developers use to craft software for the phone, and MS has said it’s tried to make the process swifter and thus more profitable for developers. There’s a whole new UI, and infrastructure changes that make it easy to sort out tax issues for paid apps, support for PayPal, and so on.
Microsoft knows the ecosystem surrounding Windows 8 is probably more important than its sleek, alternative UI in a smartphone world dominated by Apple and Android. The move to improve the developer center is all about getting coders excited about Windows Phone 8–but the move is going to be troublesome for MS because the new OS is incompatible with the old, meaning users who’ve bought current Windows Phone 7 devices will see themselves left behind the cutting edge. It’s already emerged, for example, that only Windows Phone 8 devices will get support for in-app purchases.
Drop by our main Fast Feed page to keep up with the news as it happens.


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PORTSMUTH, Virginia — Federal documents show that three people were behind an operation to resell stolen goods online in Hampton Roads.
The Portsmouth store was known as the Bargain Empire and was located in shopping plazas around High Street and London Boulevard.
In October 2021, Rashid ElHassani, Adil ElHassani, and Laura Ortiz were indicted by a grand jury on charges including conspiracy, money laundering, and interstate transportation of stolen goods.
The operation reportedly took place over three years, from January 2018 to December 2020.
Shoplifters stole items such as power tools, printer ink cartridges, electronics and razors from stores in Hampton Roads, including Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe’s, according to court documents. Those shoplifters took the goods to bargain his empire location.
There, the defendant paid for them in cash, knowing they had been stolen, and put them up for sale online through his eBay and Amazon accounts.
According to court records, the eBay and Amazon accounts linked to the defendants made more than $5,000 in interstate sales of merchandise.
According to court documents, a search warrant was executed in December 2020 linking two warehouses, Bergen Empire and Hampton, to Ortiz.
Inside the store, police seized thousands of items, including printer ink cartridges and power tools. This included a generator and saws connected to Lowe’s on Victory Boulevard in Portsmouth.
Meanwhile, police seized items from the storage unit, including laptops, electronics, and razors. Other items included an upright vacuum cleaner linked to his depot at Home in Virginia Beach and a Chromebook linked to his Buy Best of Newport News.
The owner of a business called Bargain Empire said the store was always busy.
“When they first came in, I thought it was like a consignment store,” said the owner of Passions Exclusive Cutz and Stylez. [and] I brought you something in a box. ”
“I thought it was business as usual,” he added.
Rashid ElHassani and Laura Ortiz have pleaded guilty to collusion. Rashid’s sentencing is scheduled for the end of this month and Ortiz’s sentencing for her in March.
WTKR reached out to attorneys for both on Wednesday, but both declined to comment on the matter.
Adil ElHassani has not yet been arrested and may be out of the country, according to court records.


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GOP Lawmakers Call for Investigation Into Amazon's Alleged Bribery of Defense Official
Added 05-04-21 07:20:04pm EST - “Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) and Rep. Ken Buck (R., Colo.) on Tuesday asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Amazon for possibly violating federal law while competing for a Department of Defense contract.” - Freebeacon.com
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Posted By TheNewsCommenter: From Freebeacon.com: “GOP Lawmakers Call for Investigation Into Amazon's Alleged Bribery of Defense Official - Washington Free Beacon”. Below is an excerpt from the article.
Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) and Rep. Ken Buck (R., Colo.) on Tuesday asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Amazon for violating federal law while competing for a Department of Defense contract.
The lawmakers in a letter said Amazon may have bribed a senior defense official in order to secure a cloud computing contract, citing an alleged payment from an Amazon consultant to a top adviser to former secretary of defense James Mattis, Sally Donnelly.
Lee and Buck, citing an April 2020 inspector general report, say Donnelly received more than $1 million in undisclosed payments from an Amazon consultant during her time at the Defense Department. While the payments were officially for the 2017 sale of her consulting company, Donnelly reported only $390,000 from that sale. Lee and Buck allege the payment came in exchange for her willingness to promote Amazon in her official capacity at the Defense Department. Donnelly had done consulting work for Amazon’s cloud computing services, Amazon Web Services (AWS). She is now a member of the isolationist Quincy Institute’s board of directors.
Amazon’s alleged misbehavior came to light in a 2018 dossier released by a private investigative firm, Rosetti Star, which publicized the accusations. The Defense Department's inspector general found no evidence of wrongdoing by either Donnelly or Mattis, but Lee and Buck suggested that finding was inadequate.
The accusations have received attention as a growing segment of the GOP looks for new tools, including Justice Department investigations, to rein in big tech companies. Lee and Buck said Amazon’s behavior was "anticompetitive," suggesting "Amazon may have attempted to monopolize one or more markets" with the contract.
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'Watchmen' HBO Teaser: Here's Why That New Character Looks So Familiar
It may remind fans of some other 'Watchmen' favorites.
Production of the new Watchmen TV series is underway, and fans of the graphic novel (or its movie adaptation) just got their first official look at the new show. With the launch of a Watchmen Instagram on Monday, HBO shared a video of what appears to be a brand new character along with the caption, “Who Watches The Watchmen? #WatchmenHBO.”
It might not seem like much, but HBO may have revealed even more about its Watchmen series than it intended. Here’s everything we know (or think we know) about this new character and the rest of the show.
The new HBO show is apparently set after the comic, and Ozymandias — who was kind of a big deal in the Watchmen comic — may be dead before the show even starts. Notably, the character in the Instagram teaser does not appear to be someone from the comic or movie, but he may look very familiar to fans of both.
Is the new character a tribute to some other Watchmen personalities?
In the new Instagram teaser, the mysterious character’s face is covered like Rorschach. As one of the main protagonists of Watchmen, Rorschach wore a cloth mask featuring shifting inkblots similar to a Rorschach test. It could be that the masked face of this character is a direct tribute to Rorschach.
In addition, the mystery character’s mask is colored a bright yellow, much like the Comedian’s bloodied pin that is so synonymous with Watchmen as a whole. So there’s a good chance that color was chosen deliberately, to further evoke recognition in Watchmen fans.
Is the mask part of a new uniform, and not an individual fashion choice?
Regardless of what that yellow mask may be meant to invoke, assuming it belongs to a single new character may be a mistake. Previous set photos from Watchmen production suggest that the outfit this character is seen wearing could be a new police uniform in the series. So instead of a single person, we could be looking at an entire army inspired by Rorschach and the Comedian.
Despite some clear connections between this new character (or characters) and the original Watchmen, the best strategy may be to simply avoid reading to much into this single image. After all, it is just a teaser, and with the launch of this new Instagram account we may see even more from the new series very soon.
HBO’s Watchmen is expected to premiere in 2019.


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Just two weeks after it announced its purchase of nToggle, Rubicon Project reported $42.9 million in revenue in Q2, down 39% from $70.5 million the year before.
CEO Michael Barrett told financial analysts during an earnings call on Tuesday that while revenues declined and losses will continue to mount, the company will cut its take rates to transition into a lower-margin, high-volume business model. In addition, a turnaround plan will include the launch of a server-to-server side header-bidding solution, and an intensified focus on mobile app inventory.
Amid a furiously consolidating ad-tech sector, Rubicon also pointed out bright spots in Q2 including a sequential 7% increase in total ad spend during the period and total mobile ad spend up 21% versus the first quarter of the year.
In addition, the company said customers’ ad spend in Q2 broke down to 42% mobile and 58% on desktop, compared to Q1 when mobile represented just 35% of ad spend.
Barrett told analysts that he projects the nToggle acquisition to pay off in three years and that it will help Rubicon improve its win rate. The company’s integration with Rubicon will take about six months.
Rubicon officials told investors that the company’s average “take” rate for Q2, the fee it collects on all transactions, was about 21% for the period, an improvement over first quarter when take rates averaged 23.7%. Reducing costs per transaction is a key focus for the company.
Barrett also touted the firm’s integration with Amazon’s Transparent Ad Marketplace, which it said will help speed integrations with mobile apps.


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Consumer Spending - October 2008
State tax revenue reports indicate that retail sales in September (reflecting activity in August) improved slightly compared to August but remained below year-earlier levels across much of the District.
According to our informal survey of District retailers, September sales were disappointing, with all respondents reporting sales below expectations. The majority of retailers anticipate that holiday sales will be down on a year-over-year basis.
Vehicle sales in the Southeast weakened further in August and September. District new vehicle registrations dipped 22 percent from a year earlier while national registrations were down 17.5 percent on a three-month moving average basis ending in August. The decrease in District registrations was mostly due to declining truck and SUV sales. For September, contacts from leading distributors reported sales declines across all models except subcompact vehicles. Sales of District-assembled vehicles through September were down 17 percent from a year earlier compared to a decline of about 13 percent nationally. All 25 vehicle models assembled in the District posted declines. Weak demand for full-sized trucks and SUVs has prompted several companies to cut production and hours to work off high inventories.
Tourism in the District remained strong but showed some signs of weakness in August and September. Passenger arrivals at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans increased 17.6 percent in August 2008 compared to a year earlier. International arrivals at Orlando International Airport increased 13.6 percent in August; however, domestic arrivals fell 7.4 percent. Gaming revenues in Mississippi were $85.6 million in September, a 23 percent decline on a year-over-year basis.
Reports of discounting continued to flow in from various parts of the District, but the outlook for the rest of the year remained positive. Miami International Airport will gain traffic from a 1 percent increase in passenger seats compared to December 2007. Cruise lines are expecting strong business and plan to add new and bigger ships to their fleets. September visitors bureau bookings in New Orleans were stronger than a year earlier.


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One of world’s leading market research company Forrester has confirmed a data breach on the infrastructure hosting their website Forrester.com.
Forrester helps customers to take decisions on launching their new product or service based on the existing and potential impact of technology.
The company said on Friday that the breach occurred during last week and it is still unknown who is behind this breach.
The hacker accessed the forrester.com accounts using a stolen valid user credentials. Using that access, hackers stole the research reports which were made available to customers.
Steven Peltzman, Forrester’s Chief Business Technology Officer, said that: “There is no evidence that confidential client data, financial information, or confidential employee data was accessed or exposed as part of the incident.”
The company said that no sensitive information was stolen, but the market research data of their customers can be very useful for the economic espionage hacker group.
Based on the stolen data hackers can find out what all technologies are used by their clients and which all are the products ready to launch. Hackers can also sell this information in dark web marketplaces.
“We recognize that hackers will attack attractive targets — in this case, our research IP. We also understand there is a tradeoff between making it easy for our clients to access our research and security measures, We feel that we have taken a common-sense approach to those two priorities; however, we will continuously look at that balance to respond to changing cybersecurity risk,” said George F. Colony, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Forrester.
Forrester said that the investigation is still going on and it has informed the Law and Enforcement Authorities to take necessary actions and do the needful.
You may be interested in reading: Breach in Deloitte Exposes Clients Confidential Information.


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Little with whom I presented the culture of a school and that people need to have. buy brand name viagra Galkin manages to touch the financierÐ²Ð?â?¢s otherwise untroubled conscience and reveal some spiritual doubts of his own.
John McAfee, the founder of the software company, McAfee Associates, stipulated the exact day, a day he calls the ‘hard date,’ when he believes that Bitcoin will achieve the $1,000,000 feat. This was in response to Jesse Lund’s recent statement on the future of Bitcoin.
Lund, Vice President of Blockchain and Digital Currencies at IBM spoke about IBM’s latest project – World Wire payment network, XLM and Stellar and the future of BTC in an interview. When asked about the cryptocurrency [...]


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Kelly Ripa has pink hair! We repeat, Kelly Ripa has pink hair!
The 44-year-old "Live with Kelly and Michael" co-host debuted her new look on Instagram on Tuesday, when she posted a bunch of similarly hued emojis and gave stylist Ryan Trygstad a shout out for transforming her locks. "🌸🍒🍓💗💖🎀 for the love of P!NK @ryantrygstadhair you are boss!" Ripa captioned the Instagram snap.
“They call me pinkie galore,” Ripa told the audience and viewers of her show on Wednesday, as it was the first time she was taking her newly colored hair on national television.
“Every time I go on vacation I dye my hair a different color,” she explained. “It usually washes out and this will wash out. It’s part of my tradition -- I like to have fun for a few weeks. I literally sat there with pink hair dye, multiple shades of pink on my hair for hours. I get very bored. I’ve had the same color for six months at least, and that’s a long time for me.”


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The Romanian government has hit back at suggestions one of Romania’s abattoirs could be to blame for undeclared horse meat making it into frozen readymeals.
French meat supplier Spanghero said it had sourced beef for Findus readymeal manufacturer Comigel from Romania, via traders in the Netherlands and Cyprus.
The meat content of some readymeals made by Comigel – including Beef Lasagne in the UK – has since turned out to be horse.
But Romanian prime minister Victor Ponta said he was “angry” Romania had been blamed for the scandal. “”From all the data we have at the moment, there is no breach of European rules committed by companies from Romania or on Romanian territory,” he said at a news conference earlier today.
He added the accusations of wrongdoing had put Romania’s reputation at risk, and the real culprits needed to be found urgently “It has to be established where the fraud was committed and who is responsible for this fraud,” he said.


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Indonesian Cloud kitchen start-up Hangry has raised $13m in a Series A round to fund its expansion plan.
Alpha JWC Ventures led the funding round, which saw participation from other investors, including Atlas Pacific Capital, Salt Ventures and Heyokha Brothers.
Hangry co-founder and CEO Abraham Viktor said: “There are not many global food chains with gourmet-quality dishes, let alone one originating from Indonesia. That’s what we aspire to be. We’ll start from home and will continue to expand across Indonesia, as well as to neighbouring countries soon.
“In the long run, Hangry wants to be a brand that grows with the consumer, making their moments delightful over the years. That’s why we have multiple brands and continually expand our culinary repertoire, so we can cater to different tastes and interests.”
Started in 2019 by Viktor, Robin Tan and Andreas Resha, Hangry has launched several brands with culinary varieties, including Korean-inspired fried chicken Moon Chicken, authentic Japanese cuisine San Gyu and more.
This fresh capital infusion will help the company scale up its business to more than 120 outlets.
The company aims to launch more than 20 dine-in restaurants across Indonesia this year as part of its plan to become a leading food and beverage brand in Indonesia by 2025, and a global culinary business by 2030.
Last year, Hangry secured institutional funding of $3m from Alpha JWC Ventures and Sequoia Capital.
Alpha JWC Ventures partner Eko Kurniadi said: “As their first institutional investor, we believe what Hangry has achieved so far is a testament of our confidence in the team from Day 1.
“The team operates at the highest level of customer-first mindset and execution; the whole team is solely energised to reaching perfection in the product taste and service experience.”


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Pirates Steal 'Pirates' From Disney
It's been reported that hackers have gained access to the upcoming 'Pirates Of the Caribbean' movie and are threatening to release in online if Disney doesn't meet their demands.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed during a meeting in New York City, saying that the culprits will release “bits” of the movie if Disney doesn't pay a huge sum of money.
Iger has said that Disney is refusing to pay the money are are working close with federal investigators.
While the Disney CEO didn't disclose the title of the movie, 'Deadline' is reporting that it is indeed the Johnny Depp flick which is due for release next week.
This comes weeks after hackers released episodes of the upcoming season on 'Orange Is The New Black' with a hacker carrying out a threat when Netflix didn't meet their demands.
The episodes where stolen in late 2016 from a post production company. Although only 10 of the 13 episodes were stolen due to completion.
The hacker who goes by the name “thedarkoverload” has also threatened to release unreleased TV shows.
The FBI is investigating the incident.


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HP has unveiled a new Chromebook powered by Intel's latest Haswell chip architecture.
Named the Chromebook 14, the laptop runs using Google's cloud-based Chrome operating system. Google claims the OS helps radically improve running speeds by offloading a lot of the work traditionally tasked to a device's processor onto the cloud. It also runs all programs and applications off the cloud, meaning users do not have to download files to the machine to run them. HP claims that this, with the use of the Chromebook 14's 16GB solid-state drive, means the device can boot in seconds.
The Chrome OS can run native applications offline, though users looking to get the most out of it will need a constant internet or data connection. HP is offering a more expensive 4G version of the Chromebook 14 in the US. The 4G-enabled Chromebook will come bundled with 200MB of free data per month on T-Mobile's 4G network for the first two years after purchase. There is currently no word if HP plans to offer a similar data deal in the UK.
Buyers will also receive 100GB of free storage on Google Drive for the first two years. Other key specifications include a 14in diagonal HD display and HDMI, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports.
New Chromebooks from Acer and Toshiba, as well as a new Chromebox from Asus, were also confirmed at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) this week, though further details about the new Chrome OS devices remain unknown.
The Chromebook 14 is the second Chromebook released by HP, following on from the Pavilion 14. HP senior vice president Ron Coughlin said the company expects the use of Chrome OS to be a key selling point for the device. "There are customers telling us they are interested in new operating systems and in particular Chromebooks. We built the HP Chromebook to offer a great experience, choice and affordability, with a design that is truly unique," he said
The HP Chromebook 14 is listed for release in the the UK in November, starting at £249.00.
NASA's Voyager 2 probe set to reveal secrets of space beyond the heliosphere as it goes interstellar
The probe is now more than 18 billion kilometres from Earth, with equipment enabling it to reveal some of the secrets of interstellar space
Four glaciers located west of massive Totten glacier have lost almost three metres of ice in height since 2008
Ceres, located in the asteroid belt, has a carbonaceous-rich upper crust, SwRI study claims
The spacecraft found traces of hydrogen and oxygen molecules, known as hydroxyls, embedded in the rocky surface of the asteroid


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OR WAIT null SECS
Kenny Walter is an editor with HCPLive. Prior to joining MJH Life Sciences in 2019, he worked as a digital reporter covering nanotechnology, life sciences, material science and more with R&D Magazine. He graduated with a degree in journalism from Temple University in 2008 and began his career as a local reporter for a chain of weekly newspapers based on the Jersey shore. When not working, he enjoys going to the beach and enjoying the shore in the summer and watching North Carolina Tar Heel basketball in the winter.
Independent evaluations found NDMA levels increase over time and when stored in temperatures above room temperature.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced they will be removing all prescriptions and over-the-counter ranitidine (Zantac) drugs from the market immediately due to consumer exposure to an unacceptable levels of N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).
The FDA determined that this impurity can increase over time and when stored at than room temperatures can result in unacceptable levels of the known carcinogen.
NDMA is a probable human carcinogen that the FDA has been investigating since 2019 when independent laboratory testing found the containment in ranitidine.
However, low levels of NDMA is often consumed in food s and water and is not expected to lead to an increase in the risk of cancer.
When sustained at higher levels of exposure it can increase the risk of cancer in humans.
In September, the FDA warned the public of the potential risks of ranitidine products.
New testing and evaluation conformed NDMA levels increase even under normal storage conditions and increase significantly in samples stored at higher temperatures, including temperatures the product may be exposed to during distribution and handling by consumers.
The testing also showed the older the medication is, the greater the level of NDMA.
The FDA is sending letters to all ranitidine manufacturers requesting they withdraw the products from the market. The FDA is also advising consumers stop taking the medications and dispose of them.
Patients taking prescription ranitidine should speak with their health care providers.
“We didn’t observe unacceptable levels of NDMA in many of the samples that we tested. However, since we don’t know how or for how long the product might have been stored, we decided that it should not be available to consumers and patients unless its quality can be assured,” Janet Woodcock, MD, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. “The FDA will continue our efforts to ensure impurities in other drugs do not exceed acceptable limits so that patients can continue taking medicines without concern.”


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Editor’s note: Krish Kupathi is the CEO of Mobiliya.
It took only seconds for Xiaomi phones to sell out on the e-commerce platform Flipkart in India. This feat is staggering considering the Indian e-commerce industry is a relatively new concept for many consumers. In fact, Indian smart phone sales doubled from 156 million sold in 2013 to 364 million units sold thus far in 2014. With a product in such high demand, mobile manufacturers that want to succeed in India must put three things first: customizable products, regional-market sensitivity and trend incorporation.
Google’s product strategy team, which includes many Indian members, understood the necessities and desires of the Indian market. Google designed the Android One specifically to meet the needs of this Indian market segment — often referred to as “the next billion” — which is still transitioning to smartphone technology.
Android One came equipped with dual-SIM card capability…
View original post 790 more words


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Mark this as one of the most surprising news stories of the week. The United States Olympic Luge team has officially been sponsored by comic book publisher Valiant Comics. Valiant Comics has reportedly made a significant contribution to the team and has designed their uniforms to resemble their character X-O Manowar. The team will debut their comic inspired uniforms next month at the Luge World Cup in Austria, but the team will wear them for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.
You can see the luge team’s marketing director talk about the new uniforms below on Wall Street Journal Live (via Geek Rust).
X-O Manowar was created by Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, and Jon Hartz in 1992. The character is a time displaced warrior named Aric that wears the sentient X-O Manowar armor. Valiant recently relaunched the character in an all new ongoing series.


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Samsung has been pushing the Android 12-based One UI 4.1 update for numerous Galaxy devices including Galaxy A32 smartphones. However, the Galaxy A32 handsets in Brazil are yet to receive an update. Instead, they’ll be receiving the April 2022 Security Update and it comes with better security and stability.
The update will fix dozens of exploits and issues while also helping in preventing your device from viruses and bugs. Further, the April 2022 Security Update for the Galaxy A32 handsets comes with the build version A325MUBS2AVD1. The update will come as a software package of 203 MB, which means it’ll be a smart option to connect your device to a high-speed Wi-Fi connection when updating.
Changelog for the Samsung Galaxy A32 April 2022 Security Update
Samsung has started rolling out the April 2022 Security Patch Update for Samsung Galaxy A32 handsets in Brazil and it’ll come with the build number A325MUBS2AVD1. The new update will improve the stability and security of your devices while also providing seamless performance thanks to the newly added configurations.
Moreover, the update will also come with many general bug fixes and fixes for issues to provide an optimum overall user experience. The April 2022 Security Update will come with fixes for as many as 88 security and privacy-related vulnerabilities from Samsung and Google, including 18 moderate and 27 high levels of CVEs. Some of these vulnerabilities are related to One UI Home, S Secure, Knox Manage, Samsung Contacts app, StorageManagerService, Samsung DeX Home, and more.
Download and install the April 2022 Security Update for Samsung Galaxy A32
In case you are a Samsung Galaxy A32 user in Brazil, you should be on the lookout for the April 2022 Security update as you’ll be receiving it anytime in the coming days. You can also manually check for the update by following these simple instructions –
- Simply navigate to the Settings
- Look for the Software Update option
- Tap on Download and Install the update
- Reboot your device and once your device restarts, you can enjoy the new update


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It's been revealed that publisher-in-trouble Midway may be trying to get rid of the Mortal Kombat
franchise in an effort to stay afloat - and that despite the dire financial straits the company is in it is still handing out large bonuses to upper management.
According to court documents uncovered by Netdockets
Midway set aside £2 million GBP to give to members of upper management as bonuses if certain goals could be met. Those goals include the off-loading of The Wheelman
franchise, which has since been passed to Ubisoft, and the sale of the Mortal Kombat
The fact that bonuses are being paid out to executives has reportedly angered remaining Midway employees who are suffering from the fact that the company is on the verge of bankruptcy.
The publisher has struggled in the face of financial adversity lately, facing stock delisting
, studio closures, game cancellations
and the loss of key staff members
. The company recent had to go to court in order to gain permission to keep spending as part of an effort to recoup losses. The publisher reportedly lost more than $100 million USD in 2007 alone
What's worse is that it seems
that Midway is able to afford paying these large bonuses to executives by using money that had previously been pledged to paying sacked employees the remainder of their holiday pay and personal time off.
Charming, eh? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the forums
, as well as who you'd like to see buy up the Mortal Kombat


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A graduate student in Central China stole a luxury car just to show it off on WeChat's Friend Circle, which features social networking services, Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.
Yu Shuqing, 24, who is studying for his master's degree in Hubei province, drove away with an 800,000-yuan ($131,147) BMW from an auto 4s shop in Changsha, in neighboring Hunan province, after a test drive last Wednesday.
After driving back to Wuhan, the first thing he did was posting a photo of himself and the car on WeChat's Friend Circle, a place where people can share photos and messages with their friends, with the caption, "The second car in my life."
Later, Yu was arrested and brought back to Changsha to face trial.
Xiao Jianming, the police officer in charge of the case, said Yu confessed of being envious of others flaunting their cars, and then telling friends that he started an enterprise and bought a BMW.
Yu turned to theft after making up the lie. Last month, he bought a set of fake identity cards and chose the auto 4s shop in Changsha.
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Hitachi is not the first storage vendor to bring a 3TB drive to market. However, it is the first to introduce an internal 3TB drive reliable enough for hardcore business use.
A press release from Hitachi GST proclaims, “Committed to the growing market for cost-effective, capacity-optimized drives, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today introduced its new enterprise-class, 3.5-inch, 3TB Ultrastar 7K3000 drive family–the world’s first and only 7,200 RPM drive family rated at 2.0 million hours MTBF and backed by a five-year limited warranty.”
The MTBF stands for mean time between failure. Essentially, it is the number of hours the drive is expected to be able to function within proper limits before crashing. It is a measure of the overall reliability of the drive, and it is an important stat to consider for business critical servers and data storage.
There are other 3TB drives out there, so in terms of total storage capacity this new Hitachi drive is not revolutionary. However, drives like the Seagate GoFlex are external drives that are not built to the more rigorous specifications of reliability that businesses demand. There are also drives like the 3TB Western Digital Caviar Green HD which is internal, but has half the data transfer rate and nowhere near the MTBF of the Hitachi drive. These drives serve a purpose, and the external drives in particular can be great tools for backing up data and storing it in a more secure or offsite location. But, they don’t really have a place in a business critical data center.
Reliability is not the only factor to consider, though. The Hitachi GST press release explains how the benefits of the new drives impact the bottom line. “Today these 2.5-inch drives cost roughly twice the dollars per GB ($/GB) of 3TB, 3.5-inch 7,200 RPM drives with 66 percent less capacity. To reach the same capacity as a 3TB, 3.5-inch Ultrastar 7K3000 drive, customers would have to purchase three 1TB 2.5-inch 7,200 RPM drives, which will consume up to 170 percent higher watts to power the drives and will occupy three times the storage array slots.”
If you are looking for massive storage capacity on drives you can trust your most critical data on, or looking for ways to consolidate drives and servers to cut back on the power and cooling requirements in your data center–as well as the physical space occupied–these new Hitachi drives are definitely worth checking out.
Dell CouponAvail an extra $100 select laptops & desktops above $1499 - Dell coupon code


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Fletcher Building Limited FBU
Property markets on both sides of the Tasman may have deteriorated since our last review of this building supplies manufacturer on 12 May 08 (Hold - $6.68). But the company painted a rosy picture after reporting that sales for the year were up 19.7% to NZ$7.1bn and net profit after tax was up 17% to NZ$467m, after adjusting for last year’s one-off NZ$80m tax benefit. Shareholders can look forward to a NZ24.5 cent dividend as well.
The future, though, looks more grim. Management stated that current market conditions are ‘difficult’ and made the conscious decision not to offer any forecasts, which perhaps suggests earnings will be lower next year. Our second worry is how the company will pay off its $1.85bn in net debt. With higher interest rates and lower earnings, less cash is available for dividends.
Still, this is a very well run company and if you’re prepared to weather the vagaries of the building cycle, with the stock price down 16% since our most recent review, we suggest you continue to HOLD.


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Starting most notably with the Baby Boomers, Americans have become a very nostalgic people. When it comes to pop culture…
Today’s pop stars aren’t weird enough.
That’s the conclusion I came to after listening to the magnificent…
So at long last, George Lucas has decided to get out of the moviemaking business. He’s selling out Lucasfilm, including…
AS UNPREDICTABLE AS his career has been, pretty…CONTINUE READING >
After 18 trend-setting, pocket-passing, finger-licking seasons, Nash…CONTINUE READING >
Already gaining traction on social media with the…CONTINUE READING >


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Whole Food Market's Mid-Atlantic Region has recalled a pimiento cheese spread because it contains eggs, which are an undeclared allergen.
The spread was sold with a Whole Foods Market label that reads:
"pimiento cheese spread" and includes a "use by" date of 7/29/13, which is noted on the scale label.
People who have an allergy or sever sensitivity to eggs run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.
The pimiento cheese spread was distributed in Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Washington D.C. and New Jersey (Princeton store only).
To date, no illnesses have been reported.
NICE EASTER WEEKEND
Frost advisories posted for Friday morning for lows in the 30s. Protect sensitive plants in the outlying suburbs away from the city!
Expect a gradual warm up over the next couple of days.
Friday High: 56
Saturday High: 64
Sunday High: 65


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Scientists from the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, in collaboration with scientists at Loughborough University, Britain’s leading sports science institute, set out to discover potential benefits of dark chocolate for healthy people that enjoy an active lifestyle. The full article contribution is available in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.
Chocolate consumption, as part of a balanced diet, is a source of pleasure for countless people worldwide. Given its popularity and widespread consumption, finding possible health benefits of dark chocolate, which is rich in polyphenols, is good news for chocolate lovers. Scientists at Loughborough University teamed up with the Nestlé Research Center to investigate the potential benefits of daily dark chocolate consumption for those regularly engaging in sport.
Twenty active men consumed either 70% cocoa dark chocolate (40 g twice daily) or a control chocolate (matched in fat and carbohydrate content but containing no cocoa liquor) for two consecutive weeks as a replacement for their regular snacks and to maintain normal calorie intake. At the end of the two weeks, they cycled for 1.5 hours at medium-high intensity, followed by a time to exhaustion trial. Following the exercise bout, blood samples were taken to measure key markers of oxidative stress and nutrient utilization.
Interestingly, results showed that dark chocolate lowered the oxidative stress generated by exercise, without affecting volunteers’ overall performance. Additionally, with two weeks consumption of dark chocolate before exercise, there was increased free fatty acid mobilization. This suggests that consumption of dark chocolate (compared to the control chocolate) leads to increased utilization of fat, rather than carbohydrates during exercise. The overall findings indicate that dark chocolate can be an effective part of a balanced diet for healthy, active people.
“Dark chocolate can be a snack alternative for people regularly participating in sport as it provides an efficient energy source and potentially counteracts the free radicals generated during prolonged exercise,” said Dr. Karen Cooper, Nestlé researcher leading the study. “These results add to the mounting evidence about the numerous beneficial effects of cocoa.”
Allgrove J, Farrell E, Gleeson M, Williamson G, Cooper K. Regular dark chocolate consumption reduces oxidative stress and increases free fatty acid mobilization in response to prolonged cycling. Int J of Sport Nutr and Ex Met. Published online ahead of print Jan 2011.
International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.
For media information, please contact:
Nestlé R&D Media Relations
Nestlé Corporate Headquarters, Vevey, Switzerland


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Central Bank Digital Currencies Are Good for Bitcoin, Barry Silbert Says
In a recent Grayscale investor call on Feb. 12, Barry Silbert, the CEO and founder of Digital Currency Group (DCG) and Grayscale Investments, shared his optimistic view on Bitcoin. He discussed various topics related to digital assets, such as Bitcoin’s role in the generational shift of wealth, stablecoins, decentralized finance and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
CBDCs are digital currencies that a federal regulator controls and issues. Unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, CBDCs represent fiat money in the digital form. Many governments have been developing and exploring such projects, but no global jurisdiction has launched a CBDC yet. China is reportedly preparing to test its CBDC soon, while at least 10% of central banks are likely to issue a CBDC for the general public in the short term.
Barry Silbert millionaire, who claims to have bought his first Bitcoin in 2012, three years after the creation of the first block on the Bitcoin blockchain, argued that central banks that develop their own digital currencies might be giving more power to Bitcoin by creating the infrastructure for institutional interest. He suggests that Bitcoin and other non-central bank cryptocurrencies could gain from the same infrastructure that is used by the widespread adoption of CBDCs: “So at one point of the future we might have 80 different CBDCs. And if that happens, it would trigger a tremendous amount of investment in operators of financial systems where essentially every financial institution would then have to be able to safely store and transact CBDCs and, guess what, if they actually build that infrastructure, that same infrastructure could be used for non-central bank digital currencies like Bitcoin.” He also stated that he was sure that central banks will require users to use and engage with the existing financial systems and will not restrict the supply of the digital currency. “Central banks love to print money,” Silbert said, highlighting Bitcoin’s limited supply feature.
As he leads two major companies that are involved in various aspects of digital assets, Silbert is one of the most influential figures in the crypto industry. Grayscale Investments is the world’s largest digital asset manager, with over $40 billion in assets under management as of Feb. 12. Digital Currency Group is a venture capital firm that invests in various crypto-related projects, such as Gensis Trading, Foundry and CoinDesk.
Silbert has been vocal about his bullish views on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for a long time. Some projects, such as Ripple (XRP), which he regards as centralized and not genuine cryptocurrencies, have also been criticized by him. He has also predicted that most altcoins will experience bankruptcy in the long run, while Bitcoin will continue to dominate the market.
To conclude, Barry Silbert is a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry who suggests that central bank digital currencies are positive for Bitcoin. He argues that CBDCs will create the infrastructure for institutional interest in non-central bank cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. He also emphasizes that Bitcoin has a limited supply feature that makes it superior to fiat money. He leads two major companies that are involved in various aspects of digital assets: Grayscale Investments and Digital Currency Group.


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Researchers from the University at Buffalo, New York and Fudan University in China have developed a low-cost chip that can reportedly detect the presence of cocaine in only a few minutes.
“The high-performance chip we designed was able to detect cocaine within minutes in our experiments,” said Dr. Qiaogiang Gan, according to the Mirror.
Read also: Apple confirms serious problem with iPhone X
In the event that biological or chemical molecules land on the chip’s surface, part of this captured light interacts with the new molecules and is “scattered” in recognizable patterns, which can reveal which compound is present.
In addition to cocaine, the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) technology could be used to look for opioids and the active ingredients in marijuana.
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First 5G iPhone could come in 2020, Intel to supply the modem
The 5G race is starting to intensify. US Carriers are investing heavily with the hopes of winning the "first to release a 5G network" title, while manufacturers are preparing to introduce a barrage of smartphones that support the ultra-fast connectivity in 2019. Apple; however, might not be among those to launch a 5G handset next year.
new report by Fast Company, the first 5G iPhones will come in 2020. Citing an unnamed source "with knowledge of Apple’s plans", the US magazine claims that Intel's 10-nanometer 8161 modem chip will be exclusively used in the future lineup. The tech giant has utilized modems from both Qualcomm and Intel since 2016, but it looks like Cupertino is cutting ties with the former.According to a
Current tests are reportedly being performed with a slightly older 8060 chip, and the results are not too encouraging. Apparently, Intel is struggling with reducing the heat dissipation with these components. Many US carriers will rely on using millimeter wave, an electromagnetic radiation spectrum between 30 and 300 GHz, for 5G. The band is rather demanding, and current testing units with the 8060 modem are having problems with the accumulation of heat, which also negatively affects battery life.
The source states that Intel is confident in its ability to solve the problem with time, but Apple is lining up MediaTek as an alternative chip supplier if the issue persists. For comparison, Android manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi will use Qualcomm's X50 5G modem, which supposedly does not heat up as much.
Apple's apparent decision to take things slow might not seem like good news to some. Still, a conservative approach could be a good course of action here. Sure, we've seen 5G phones like the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 come out in 2018, but these capabilities won't be utilized until there's a 5G network to support them. Some wireless carriers in the US and around the globe will make the technology available soon, but worldwide coverage won't happen overnight. Most Americans don't even know what 5G is at the moment, so the need for 5G phones will be felt once the ultra-fast download speeds, lower latency, and the ability to connect a lot more devices at once become available to the majority of mobile users.


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Aussies who ordered KFC home delivery on Halloween were in for a “spooky surprise” thanks to a KFC activation campaign created by Ogilvy Sydney.
The campaign was brought to life in partnership with Menulog, opr, MediaCom and Geometry.
By simply selecting the “Trick or Treat” menu item on their Menulog order, KFC customers received a special Halloween-themed KFC delivery, from delivery drivers dressed as Cursed Colonels, to a KFC three-piece band & popcorn chicken treats.
Ogilvy Sydney creative director Ben Smith said in true KFC fashion the activation successfully flipped the Trick or Treat tradition on its head – delivering unexpected, but highly sharable, Halloween-themed surprises to Aussies’ front doors.
He said: “We love working with the KFC team as they are always open to creating unexpected, fun campaigns which stand out from the pack. Our spooky, bespoke delivery experience certainly got Aussies talking about KFC delivery over the Halloween period.
“The team totally sunk their teeth into bringing this idea to life and we were thrilled at the results.”
KFC CMO Kristi Woolrych said: “KFC always delivers a good treat, so we used the Halloween activation to put our own twist on Trick or Treat and make our mark on the home delivery market.
“Halloween was the perfect occasion to say ‘Bucket? Why Not!’ and deliver some unexpected spooky fun.”
Supported on KFC & Menulog social and owned channels on the night of Halloween (31 October), the teaser campaign launched 29 – 31 October, with the activation on 31 October and post-content will run 1- 3 November.
To raise awareness of KFC Delivery on a national scale, the content from the activation was seeded out in a 60” YT edit and 3 x 10” social edits plus supported by PR activity and will be underpinned by a 25 per cent off KFC Menulog deal (KFCTREATS) over the Halloween-kend (1 Nov – 3 Nov).
Ogilvy – Creative Agency
Geometry – Experience & Activation Agency
opr – PR Agency
Mediacom – Media Agency
In this guest post, founders of The Daily Aus Sam Koslowski and Zara Seidler discuss why in order to stay in the game and keep its user, social media giant Facebook needs to do more to combat hate speech… For young Australians, Facebook is on the decline. Unless the platform better responds to its user’s […]
A brave move has paid dividends for Baskin-Robbins Australia who recently announced they won the award for Best Digital Initiative at last week’s QSR Media Awards. Baskin-Robbins Australia’s Master Licensee, Palm Oasis Ventures took a risk in launching a digital winter campaign targeting a new millennial and Gen Z demographic when it partnered with Netflix to launch season 3 of the streaming giant’s most popular show, the sci-fi horror series, Stranger Things.
Leading eCommerce website development agency, Convert Digital, has achieved the coveted Magento Gold Status from Adobe. This accomplishment has been reached following the agency’s continuing work with the Magento 2 platform - platform that is incredibly robust and offers unrivalled flexibility and scalability.
Influencer marketing agency Born Bred Talent has partnered with the Starlight Children’s Foundation to mobilise their talent roster and support the Stream Raiser campaign, contributing over $95k in donations thanks to virtual fundraising efforts. With a combined reach of 6.2 million across Instagram, TikTok and Twitch, 9 Australian influencers contributed 76% of the $124k raised […]
In 2020, the ‘new wave’ of youth consumers have inspired the world with their activism and fundraising, so eGEN is proud to have partnered with UNICEF, Loserfruit and friends to help gamers fight COVID and help the world’s most vulnerable children. The world’s most famous strawberry will be joined by her Click crew for a […]
Silverbullet Data Services Group (Silverbullet), has become one of only four businesses globally to achieve Adobe Specialisation in EMEA for Adobe Audience Manager. Adobe Specialised Partners are acknowledged as the most skilled technical practitioners throughout the global partner ecosystem. Specialisations are earned after organisations achieve a level of certified expertise in an Adobe solution and […]
Food company General Mills has partnered with Zyper, a marketing platform that connects brands with their superfans, to build virtual fan communities for General Mills’ brands. As part of the agreement, General Mills will use Zyper’s software to initially identify the Betty Crocker and Fibre One brands’ top one per cent of fans on social […]
Facebook is continuing its Facebook Australia Groups Impact Fund, today announcing $500,000 in funding for the program. The grant was originally designated for bushfire recovery groups, however, has now been extended to local communities across the country who might be facing hardship. Facebook said it is on the lookout for groups that have a positive […]


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The move gives UK-based GSK an increased global footprint in the market for over-the-counter dermatology treatments and is expected to add annual global revenues of $1.5bn to GSK to total sales figures – representing 8 per cent of global sales in this category.
GSK says the acquisition marks a significant step towards growing and diversifying its business, while also offering new opportunities for revenues and synergies that should increase the profitability of the business as a whole.
Cost synergies will save $240m a year
Cost synergies are expected from combining the companies’ manufacturing and administrative functions and should deliver annual pre-tax savings of up to $240m by 2012, with total integration costs of $325m over a three year period.
The company also says that it intends to grow the existing Stiefel business portfolio with plans for a ‘robust new product pipeline’.
GSK CEO Andrew Witty said that the deal was part of the company’s ambitions to grow its business further through value-added acquisitions:
A new world-leader in dermatology is born
“This transaction will creates a new world-leading, specialist dermatology business and re-energise our existing dermatology products,” Witty said.
The deal means that GSK will pay $2.9bn in cash, while assuming $0.4bn in debts and a further $0.3bn in cash as a contingency against the future performance of the business.
Stiefel has carved out a name for itself worldwide as a specialist in minor dermatological problems, including dermatitis, psoriasis and acne.
Expanding the dermatology brand portfolio
To this end its three leading brands are the Duac acne treatment, Olux E treatment of dermatitis and Soriatane for the treatment of psoriasis, complementing GSK’s existing portfolio of dermatology brands that include Bactroban, Cultivate and Altabax.
In the lead up to the sale of the business, Stiefel has been readying some 15 new product development projects, which it says are currently in the late-stage of development and will focus on acne, fungal and dermatoses.
GSK says that it is not expecting to make any significant changes to the Stiefel business structure and that the existing CEO, Charles Stiefel, will remain in his position, for which he also serves as chairman of the Stiefel board of executives.
“This deal will increase the value of Stiefel’s dermatology pipeline by expanding the customer base to which we will be able to offer these products,” said Stiefel.


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Marguerite Humeau has been named one of the top 50 Most Exciting Artists in Europe by Artnet.
'In a year dominated by major political upheavals—in Europe and beyond—this wasn’t the moment for a round-up that obediently reflected sales figures and institutional exhibitions. Not to say we’re ignoring them, but we also wanted to look beyond, to the art world’s disruptors, influencers, agitators, and organizers. We need their input, now, more than ever.' - Hettie Judah
The full list can be found here.


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News: SCEA announces plans for product placement in Home.
SCEA has announced plans for its online advertising campaign having recently hired Darlene Kinder (former VP of publishing at Adscape Media) as the Director of Network Advertising.
The in-game advertising sector will be in charge of advertising for all PlayStation platforms, though it has been focused on the upcoming PlayStation Home. The company has said ?SCEA will depict brands in various forms within the game, where users would expect to see them in real life on billboards and posters, on shopping bags and soda cans and on images of TV screens.?
Could this be the dawn of a very dark in-game advertising age? It certainly looks like it ? let's just hope it's a subtlety and not something that screams out at you when you're hanging out with some friends and showing the girls your Home. After all, it's not like Sony is Mr. Popular with consumers right now.


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News reaching us is that Anerlisa Muigai’s sister has died after being involved in an accident.
In a statement seen by Ghafla, Keroche Breweries – where she served as the director of strategy and innovations – revealed that Tecra Muigai passed away on Saturday afternoon.
“Tecra’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of important innovations that enriched the company’s product range including the development of new brands that we scheduled to be launched this year,” the news release reads in part.
More to follow.
Terryanne Chebet finally reveals 10 survival tips that kept her financially stable soon after being fired
July 6, 2020


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Apex Legends on PS4, Xbox One, and PC is missing a huge feature: cross-play. However, this could be changing soon. That's right, it looks like Respawn Entertainment's popular battle royale game will be the next title to embrace cross-play, which is increasingly becoming commonplace for multiplayer games. Word of the new feature comes way of a newly-discovered datamining leak, which usually are pretty reliable, though, for Apex Legends specifically, have been misleading and inaccurate at times. That said, earlier this year Respawn noted it would be interested in adding the feature to the game, but noted it would take a lot of work and resources to make happen, casting some doubt on whether cross-play would ever come to the game. But, well, it looks like the EA developer has found the time and resources.
New files added to the game in a recent update feature "nucleus" strings, which have descriptions that refer to matchmaking on the three platforms. And as the dataminer who made the discovery explains, there's almost no reason why these would be added to the game if it wasn't in preparation of cross-play.
I'm not 100% convinced we'll see it soon, but did want to show that I found some handling for cross network play using something called Nucleus - also looks like they have a way to standardize the Player Identification across platforms? pic.twitter.com/MpIWgjkvFS— That1MiningGuy (@That1MiningGuy) September 23, 2019
As you can see, it looks like not only is cross-play being worked on, but cross-progression, which sometimes accompanies cross-play implementation. Cross-progression simply means you can transfer your progress from one platform to another.0comments
Of course, all of this should be taken with a grain of salt, like any leak. That said, it's pretty damning evidence that, at the very least, Respawn is messing around with adding cross-play to the game. Whether it ever will, who knows. Further, if it does, there's no indication when it could go live. However, if files are already being added to the game, this suggests it could be coming sooner rather than later.
Apex Legends is available, for free, via the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. For more news, media, and information on the battle royale meets team-based first-person shooter game, be sure to check out all of our past and latest coverage of the title by clicking right here.
Did you know ComicBook.com has a Pokemon podcast? That's right folks, A Wild Podcast Has Appeared is available every Thursday bringing you the best breakdowns of the week's biggest news from Jim Viscardi, Megan Peters & Christian Hoffer. Catch the newest episode right here or subscribe on iTunes today!


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Apollo Tires on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 174 crore for the second quarter ended September, as against a net loss of Rs 246 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Consolidated revenue from operations increased by 18% YoY (YoY) at ₹5,077 crore compared to ₹4,295 crore in the July-September quarter of last year.
“We have seen strong demand for our products across categories and across geographies, which is evidenced by healthy revenue growth, both in the second quarter and in the first half of the fiscal year. Some of the recent additions to the Our product offerings help us increase our leadership in the field of commercial vehicles and passenger cars in India.
Europe also continues to grow, especially in the passenger car category, he said, adding that pressure on the margins continues, due to the rise in raw material prices, despite multiple price corrections being made in the past few months.
Shares of Apollo Tires closed at 212.75 rupees per piece on the Bahrain Bourse on Friday, down 0.14 percent from the previous close.


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KIA Motors opens production plant in Georgia, USA
The opening of Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG) was marked by producing a white all-new Sorento. This is the company's first US production plant. It is expected to produce 300,000 vehicles a year at full capacity and employ 2,500 people. Additionally with on-site and nearby suppliers it will create 7,500 jobs in the region.
"The start of production at our first manufacturing facility in the United States further demonstrates our commitment to growth in North America and we are proud to be adding 2,500 jobs to the local economy," said B.M. Ahn, President and CEO, Kia Motors America (KMA) and KMMG.
The total investment by Kia Motors is around US$1 billion. The production plant is built on 2,200 acres and also includes a body stamping facility and a transmission shop. Since 2002, more than US$1.3 billion has been invested by Kia Motors in different facilities throughout the whole country. Some of them are the corporate campus and design center in Irvine, California, the state-of-the-art research and development centre in Ann Arbor, Michigan and the custom-built vehicle proving ground in Mojave, California.
With the opening of Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia the total produced vehicles per year will become 2.56 million. Most of them are made in Korea - 1.53 million, 430,000 in China, 300,000 in Slovakia and now 300,000 in the US.


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Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz is bullish on NFTs and believes that these tokenized digital assets will be around for the foreseeable future.
What Happened: In an interview with Bloomberg, Novogratz has said, “NFTs are going to be with us for the rest of our lives.”
The Galaxy Digital CEO sees use cases like art, IP, and collectibles being deployed on the blockchain as a trend that is only just getting started. “We’re in the very very early stages, so much that there’s little mini bubbles that will pop up and down,” he said.
Novogratz explained that what was important is to not miss the big picture. According to him, NFTs will fundamentally change how we secure intellectual property going forward.
Why It Matters: The average transaction volumes and prices of NFTs have cooled off since their peak in mid-February. The slowdown has led some to question whether the emerging asset class will continue to be an important part of the crypto space.
This is exactly why I avoid nft’s and pulled from Audius. I generally see these platforms crashing, and creating far more harm than good even before factoring in the environmental impact. It feels like a pyramid scheme at best and life ruining bubble collapse at first. https://t.co/SfBOIFVfxq
— Pulse Witch (@Pulse_Witch) April 7, 2021
Others have outright questioned the utility of NFTs and called it a bubble, including Beeple, who is arguably one of the largest beneficiaries of the NFT frenzy. The artist, who sold his tokenized digital artwork for $69 million, called the space “a bubble” last month and admitted to quickly converting all the crypto he earned from the sale to U.S. dollars.
Novogratz’s bullish outlook for the NFT sector amidst the growing uncertainty that currently surrounds the space provided some renewed optimism for NFT blockchain enthusiasts.
Join us on SPACs Attack w/ Matt Higgins & Gary Vee
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights


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Dec 03, 2021 (Baystreet.ca via COMTEX) -- Tesla /zigman2/quotes/203558040/composite TSLA +7.33% Chief Executive Elon Musk has sold another 934,091 shares of the electric vehicle maker worth $1.01 billion to meet his tax obligations related to the exercise of options to buy 2.1 million shares, regulatory filings showed on Thursday.
In early November, the world's richest person tweeted that he would sell 10% of his stock if users of the social media platform approved. A majority of them had agreed with the sale.
Since Nov. 8, Musk has exercised options to buy 10.7 million shares and sold 10.1 million shares for $10.9 billion.
Following a flurry of options exercise, Musk still has an option to buy about 10 million more shares at $6.24 each, which expires in August next year.
Elsewhere with Tesla, earlier this week, the electric car maker confirmed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Gigafactory Texas at 13101 Harold Green Road, Austin, Texas. The company has already spent more than one billion dollars in the state on the new Austin Gigafactory, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Tesla expects to receive about $65 million in local tax rebates for the factory and create 10K jobs in the area. Elon Musk also has personal tax benefits by residing in Texas and is much closer to SpaceX's /zigman2/quotes/208333884/composite SPCE +6.44% Boca Chica launch site near the Mexico border. Tesla still plans to expand production at its California plant despite the new Texas HQ.
TSLA shares ditched $12.30, or 1.1%, Friday to $1,072.30
Is there a problem with this press release? Contact the source provider Comtex at email@example.com. You can also contact MarketWatch Customer Service via our Customer Center.


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The internet is increasingly replacing parents in India when it comes to studies.
Nearly 90% of Indian parents say that instead of asking them for help, their kids are more likely to look something up on the internet, according to a survey by Hong Kong-based tech firm Lenovo.
The survey of over 15,000 people globally, including in India, US, Mexico, Brazil, China, Japan, UK, Germany, France, and Italy, was done between March 31 and April 27 this year. It found that Indians, at 89%, are among the biggest adopters of technology to transform children’s education and balance their lives; the Chinese follow at 85%.
Using technology is proving to be a win-win.
Most parents globally (84%) agreed that tech is helping them strike a balance between their careers and parenting. However, Germans (68%) and Italians (71%) weren’t as enthusiastic, the study revealed.
In India, the rapid growth of technology-enabled education startups like Byju’s, Vedantu, and Topper, along with the use of virtual reality tools in schools, have enthused parents keen on inclusive and immersive learning environments.
“There is a huge scope to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of education delivery in India through technology adoption. Technology will help circumvent challenges around the availability of quality teaching talent, especially in remote areas,” said Rahul Agarwal, CEO and managing director of Lenovo India.
However, parents have their own share of worries, too.
Around 72% of parents globally expressed concerns over excessive use of technology, including high-speed internet, automated translation tools, and accessibility features. These may lead children to become heavily dependent on the internet, potentially affecting social skills, they felt.


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In Brazil, a hardware store presented two tablets to a schoolboy who was doing homework in a mall. The video was published on November 10, and after it became viral, gaining 7.5 million views.
G1 reporters found out that the video shows 10-year-old William Santiago. At his school, 278 people study, there are only 12 available tablets, and the Internet can be used when the school council permits. There is no Internet at home either, so the boy began to do homework on the devices displayed in stores.
Santiago was photographed when he was doing a geography job at the Samsung store. Initially, he used the phone, but store employees noticed this and suggested that he change the device to a tablet. “I didn’t say anything, I was scared. The seller asked what I was doing. It was a work about one of the southern regions. It took me 10 minutes, I asked for this time, ”said Santiago.
After the video became viral, Samsung presented the boy with two tablets, insuring them against accidents. Parents of the schoolboy knew that Santiago did lessons at the store several times, but were shocked by such popularity.
Against this background, Brazilians said that the country has very expensive Internet, and low-income families can not afford tablets or computers: the minimum wage there is 1000 reais () , and an inexpensive computer costs 600 reais.
Locals recalled that not all Brazilian schools correspond to the educational institutions of developed countries. Some do not even have electricity. There are also few libraries in the country, they are not financed and not all residents like to read.


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Ecobank Nigeria Chief Financial Officer has urged banks and financial regulatory bodies to ensure that young Nigerians are involved in the process of creating and developing new payment solutions for the country.
Ibukunoluwa Oyedeji noted that the millennials are the major consumers of these products and must therefore be involved in the birthing process if such products are to be sustainable in the market place.
The CFO noted that such process has long been identified by the Fintechs, hence their continued relevance to financial development.
According to her, the millennials, generation z and generation alpha makes up 92 percent of the population of Nigeria which explains what the future banking should look like.
She said that millennials have brought about great disruption in the payment space both as consumer and owner of the products.
According to her, “the meteoric growth of payments, which is much more than corporate and investment banking in the last few years is an indicator of future growth potential as the world moves more and more to digital.
“The Fintechs are already exploiting the disruptions and have grown exceedingly in the past few years.
“The combined evaluation of just two Fintech playing in this space exceeds the market capitalization of six Nigerian banks with an average 60 years of operation and a median leadership age of 56.
“They have understood the needs of these demographics which makes up about 92% of the population of Nigeria currently,” the bank CFO stated.
Oyedeji, who made this submission in her presentation: ‘Millennials as Game Changers for Future Payments’ at the recent Annual Banking and Finance Conference, maintained that youths have demonstrated a strong entrepreneurial spirit as Nigeria remains one of the top three hubs for fintech investments and activities in Africa which removes the question of skill gap.
“For the new generation, it’s about solution and not necessarily product. They are very digital savvy, and we must start playing to their needs.
We must engage them as our employees and our consumers. We can actually go to the answer and solve backwards to the question. The skill is already in the market to provide all what is required.
The Fintechs are already doing what the consumers want and will continue to do that if the banking sector doesn’t jump on the trend.”
She submitted that “the millennials have the capacity to create wealth even more than the old bankers and that is something the financial institutions, governments and regulators can tap. They want convenience, digital, and timely service delivery.
Banking is essential but not a bank. They are very quick to jump from one vendor to the other. There is need for collaboration between the millennials, government, and financial institutions.”


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Apple shares took a dip in early trading Tuesday, after an analyst report claimed that the firm is planning to cut production of the iPhone by 20 percent in the second half of the year.
As CNBC reported, analyst Brian Blair of Wedge Partners said in a note that the firm has cut smartphone production by a fifth — planning to make between 90 million and 100 million rather than an original projected range between 115 million to 120 million. The cuts, the report said, include production for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and as-yet unreleased (and unconfirmed) next generation of the iPhone.
What if I could just lie through my teeth and say that Apple was going to sell zero iPhones next year? The stock would go down, and I could buy it up at a bargain price. Then, when Apple sells 15 bajillion phones back in Reality World, I’d get really rich. Hmm… If only people were stupid enough to fall for my transparent manipulations of both their minds and their markets…
The Coastal Commission checked out the area on May 1 after receiving a tip about the construction in late April. Two days before the wedding, Parker signed a settlement agreement that allowed the wedding to go on.
Let me get this straight. A billionaire shitmuncher (who made his billions, incidentally, by A)facilitating widespread theft and B) doing cocaine with the right people) decides illegally to build a bunch of ugly crap in a rented grove of ancient, endangered redwoods. He is found out before the planned event. He is permitted to carry on, so long as he coughs up a little somethin’ somethin’ ($2.5 million). Shithead wins, world loses.
There’s nothing at all that surprises me here. I’d offer some wish that he be met with justice, but of course “justice” only happens to poor people.
You may have heard about PayPal’s recent changes to their User Agreement, which include a clause prohibiting their customers from taking part in any future class action lawsuit against them. This change feels a little shady to me, even if it appears to be a trend among large American corporations these days.
It turns out, as Shawn King illustrates, that there is a way to opt out of the amendment in question. It involves sending an actual, physical letter, because that’s more difficult for you. PayPal is classy like that.


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Bullitt and MediaTek have confirmed a partnership that's going to result in the launch of a device offering satellite messaging in early 2023.
Following the launch of the iPhone 14 with its satellite SOS feature, there's been growing attention to the possibilities that satellites offer, able to provide a degree of connectivity when out of cellular range.
Bullitt - behind a range of rugged devices under brands like CAT and Motorola - says that this is the first device to use MediaTek's 3GPP NTN (non-terrestrial network) chipset. The companies have put 18 months of development into it, the result being that you'll get a free-of-charge satellite SOS feature for the first year.
The device will switch to offering satellite connectivity when there's no other cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity, then enabling the owner to communicate with devices on regular cellular networks.
Little else has been said about the device, but the announcement sees the first commercial 3GPP NTN device coming to market - and we're expecting many others to follow suit. The significance of it being a 3GPP standard is that this standard will be worked towards by other manufacturers so there's a cohesive effort to push satellite communication forwards, rather than everyone having different solutions.
We know little else about the device at the moment, but we're expecting many more details around the start of 2023, so we're likely a CES launch.
Samsung is rumoured to be including satellite communication in the Galaxy S23, expected to launch in the first week of February, so it looks like 2023 is going to be the year when satellite communications become commonplace in smartphones.Continue Reading


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Ride-hailing firm Lyft files for IPO
INTERNATIONAL – Ride-hailing company Lyft on Thursday filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering, ending months of speculation about the timing of its much-awaited market debut.
The company, which was last valued at about $15 billion (R 211 bn), did not specify the number of shares it was selling or the price range for the offering in a confidential filing with the SEC.
The IPO is slated for the first half of 2019, sources have told Reuters. Bigger rival Uber Technologies is also expected to pursue an IPO next year that could value it at about $120 billion.
Lyft's IPO is expected to commence after the SEC completes its review process, it said here in a press release on Thursday.
Reuters reported in October that the company had chosen JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse and Jefferies as underwriters for its IPO.
Lyft was set up in 2012 by technology entrepreneurs John Zimmer and Logan Green, three years after Travis Kalanick co-founded Uber.Reuters