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Ahead of its expected debut in just a few short months, the 2011 X3 test mules appear to have increased their testing on public roads. All the better for us as we now have even more photos of the soon to be slightly upmarketed X3. This particular one comes in a reddish tone.
BMW continues its BMW X3 tease while conducting final testing stages on the 2011 BMW X3, which will likely receive its world debut at the 2010 Paris motorshow this fall. Bigger more comfortable than the first gen X3 it’s replacing, the 2011 X3 will move slightly upmarket while the X1 slots in under it.
We bring you these newest spy photos of upcoming 2011 BMW X3 (F25) spotted for the first time with only tape camouflage. The car is now more fully revealed as we can clearly see the front bumper design, grills, and headlamp shape, as well as the profile shape, side windows, and rear tail light shape. Overall, it appears to be an improvement in looks over the current outgoing X3 model.
Production of the new X3 is to be moved to South Carolina in … CONTINUED
BMW has already confirmed that the BMW X3 (F25) will be all new for 2011. Additionally, production is to be moved to South Carolina in the newly expanded plant alongside the other X vehicles.
The car itself is built upon a shared platform with the next generation 3-series (F30) and since the X3 will be released before the next generation 3-series it will actually serve as a preview for the 3-series.
Benefiting from the 3-series lineage, the … CONTINUED
Here is a very insightful post by BMW insider Scott26/27 who mentions that an iS version of the X3 is definitly fair game, especially in the USA where such a model could find itself in some demand.
BMW have high hopes for this Sport Activity Vehicle that the design department are working on a iS Specification model with an Aerodynamic pack reminiscent of the new … CONTINUED
BMW continues testing the X3 but doesn’t yet want to pull of anymore camo so once again we see the black and white psychadelic camo and not much else. Like the X1, the proportions look good and this should end up as a very nice upgrade to the current X3 when the car is finally released.
Source: … CONTINUED
The sister publication of Autobild "Allrad" has a new Huckfeldt interpretation of the forthcoming BMW X3 Sport Activity Vehicle. As of all the publications who have created illustrations of the X3 , This interpretation stands out as the closest to the production car which this time around will be built at BMWs Spartanburg plant in South Carolina.
Taking as many of the characteristics from the E83 and refining them such as the rising glasshouse towards the rear of the car coincides with … CONTINUED
Joining its brethern (the 3-series and 1-series) the next generation X3 has also been caught starting its cold weather testing cycle. It seems X3 development has been slowed down a little (because of the success of the X1 as some rumors have it). As you may remember this X3 has been under development for quite a long time now, far longer then the next 1-Series and 3-Series.
Credits to spyshots.nl for the photos:
Spyshots.nl once again bring more spy photos to the web, this time photos of the next generation BMW X3. While these photos offer nothing new in terms of the amount of camo still on the car, they do confirm that the car has grown noticeably compared to the current car, and will make more sense in the BMW lineup next to the current BMW X1. The car should also take a few visual cues from its X1 and X5 bretheren to give it a much more … CONTINUED
Although the talk has predominantly surrounded the all new X1 model, BMW continues to work on the X3, and judging by the amount of development time being put into this car, it will be a significant step up in quality and design from the current model. Here are some photos of the car testing in cold weather environments.
Read the rest of this article, view the photos and make comments here ==> http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228466
Here are the photos that are most important to alot of people out there. A direct comparison between the current X3 and the newly redesigned model. Although the car is heavily camoflaged, we can make out the general dimensions and it seems the new car has grown very little compared to the current model, althought it has grown.
Read the rest of this article, view the photos and make comments here ==> http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192183
For the first time ever, we caught the next generation X3! The current X3 will have to soldier on for a few more years until the arrival of an all-new model slatted for the 2011 model year. Nonetheless, these are the very first spy-shots of Munichs (and Spartanburgs!) compact SUV photographed earlier today.
The new X3s dimensions will hardly change compared with the current one, and its styling will be shaped to reflect elements from the CS Concept. The basic shape will remain much the same, however the new model is … CONTINUED
These are the latest rendering by Huckfeldt of what he thinks the upcoming X1 and X3 redesign could be. These seem to be off-base IMO as they are not inline with BMWs current styling trend
Read the rest of this article, view the photos and make comments here ==> http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147489


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Apple launched the Face ID unlocking option for the very first time. It has a bunch of sensors, which takes a collection of many face points and keep them as data. Interestingly, this is the reason behind the larger notch area on the iPhone X screen. However, all of us know that this won’t last for long due to day to day advances in the tech field.
Interestingly, now the rumors of Apple working on its screen fingerprint unlocking method are approving day by day.
As per the reports of SlashGear, Apple has recently obtained a patent for the latest optical screen fingerprint.
The patent document narrates that the controller used in this technology is capable of changing the way to display a menu of available applications based on a user’s input to the touch display. Also, it can perform other functions based on input to the touch display too.
Moreover, Apple’s subsidiary GIS has already developed ultrasonic fingerprint recognition technology in cooperation with Qualcomm earlier. In this technology, the imaging sensor can identify and read the grooves as well as the furrows of the fingerprint. Moreover, such a system is equipped in a few of the android smartphones as an in-display sensor too.
Though we have been thinking it will debut with the new iPhone, it seems another Apple product will adopt it sooner. The technology used as of now demands bigger screens that occupy more of the front of the overall device. Therefore, there are serious chances that the new 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro can house this technology for the very first time.
What are your views on this topic! Do let us know your views in the comment section below.

domain: news


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In Senegal, 8 out of 10 workers are paid in cash. Most are temporary workers and excluded from health insurance. A survey found that 77% of temporary workers would be willing to receive their pay digitally if it gave them access to health insurance. Here are some of the main findings of the publication (https://bit.ly/3anLM71) that the Senegalese government launched today, with the support of the Better Than Cash Alliance (United Nations) (www.BetterThanCash.org ), the World Bank and the Senegalese National Statistics and Demography Agency. The combination of digital payments and health insurance benefits offers a great opportunity for social inclusion, formalization and financial innovation.
Digital payments drive domestic production and consumption. If 50% of temporary workers in Senegal received payments digitally, 45 billion CFA francs would be added to GDP per year (around 80 million US dollars). Paying workers digitally, accelerates the financial inclusion of the population, stimulates the competitiveness of companies and increases the liquidity of the financial system. To exploit this potential, the SME Development Agency (ADEPME) plans to strengthen its SME support fund with USD 20 million (approximately CFA 11 billion) from the World Bank. This will be used to strengthen the digitization initiatives of SMEs and support digital payment projects for workers.
Top executives speak out in favor of digital payments for workers
Senegalese President Macky Sall and HM Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, who is the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), called on their fellow leaders, the private sector and civil society, inviting them to: “Use this report to ensure that digital payments are at the center of a sustainable and equitable economic recovery. We look forward to playing a leadership role in this agenda to achieve an inclusive and digitally-facilitated recovery”, added the two leaders.
To set an example, the President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, also decreed, at the end of 2020, the digitization of the payments of workers in the Burkinabé administration. When the COVID crisis arose, West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) made decisions (https://bit.ly/3mZVAcr) aimed at reducing the circulation of cash in the 8 countries. These actions have had tangible impacts that are starting to change the lives of workers and businesses.
Digitize payments and advance universal health care coverage
Although collecting a salary is often linked to health contributions, at least 61% of workers worldwide work in the informal sector (https://bit.ly/3sxhSUd) without adequate coverage, according to the International Organization of labor (ILO). Indeed, in some countries, there is not always a legal obligation for employers to contribute to any type of coverage for their informal / self-employed workers, which affects women more than men.
To meet this challenge of inclusion, the National Agency for Universal Health Coverage of Senegal has launched an ambitious digital payment platform (https://bit.ly/3n0Rv83). It has partnered with fintechs and private companies to link access to universal health coverage and digital payments – specifically targeting women. Leading national companies such as the agricultural giant SODAGRI or SMEs such as QUALIOCEAN and Kossam SDE set an example by offering temporary workers universal health coverage. More than 200,000 workers will now have access to quality health care subsidized by the government.
While 81% of domestic companies have fewer than 20 employees, on average hundreds or even thousands of temporary workers are employed in their supply chains. Employees are generally banked, but 93% of employees on temporary contracts are paid in cash. The latter are systematically excluded from the formal health system.
The successful transition to digital payments
Three obstacles have limited the growth of the digitization of payments in Africa: the size of the informal sector, sometimes up to 90% of the economy; the historically low rate of financial inclusion; and above all, 21% of African workers receive a salary that keeps them below the poverty line.
All of this has radically changed. Financial inclusion has jumped since 2010 (https://bit.ly/3gmU0Aq) with the arrival of electronic money issuers and fintech.
The country’s largest employer, Compagnie Sucrière Sénégalaise, has succeeded in digitizing the payment of around 8,000 workers through a partnership with local fintech. “We wanted to digitize payments without using the banking system, which is not suitable for certain populations”, noted Claude Fizaine, general secretary of the company, in an interview with an African media (https://bit.ly/3x8hvmn). “For employers, the benefits of digitizing payments include avoiding the hassle of handling large amounts of money and all the risks that distribution can involve. It also makes it possible to offer employees tools adapted to their financial and family situation, which can only have a positive impact on their personal and professional life, ”he added.
WAEMU innovations should continue to inspire the rest of Africa. Since 2012, it has been the engine of economic growth and stability on the continent (https://bit.ly/3x23abr). The examples of Senegal and its neighbors reinforce the ILO’s global agenda (https://bit.ly/2Qe24IW) which may well make digital payments for workers a new global standard for promoting decent work.
Short Link: https://wp.me/pcj2iU-3yWX
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Monday sets to be an enormous day in the history of mobile sports gamblers who have Android smartphones. Because that’s the day, Google Play has chosen to update its policy allowing real money betting apps to be marketed in its popular store.
Among all sorts of apps that are to be available to download from Google’s Play Store, iGaming, lotteries, daily fantasy games and sports betting are now also available there.
Some specific restrictions will still apply as described in the Google guidelines. For example, all the developers of the betting app must have a license for each state they choose the app to be distributed. So, a bettor from New York will have to cross the Hudson River before getting the access to the store to make a download.
According to another regulation, all the gambling apps should be rates as adults only and they should have underage access prevention system. These apps are also required to be free to download and restricted to use Google Pay for any kind of in-app purchases.
Old Style Process for Android Bettors
Even after the Professional and Amateur Protection Act (PASPA) came to act nearly three years ago, Android users haven’t taken their leave from the mobile gambling scene. All these apps have only been downloadable from the official website of the operator through a process called sideloading. The process requires Android users to check their phone setting and update them to allow the manual installations.
And if users want to install those apps manually, the updates have to be made through a manual download process. In this contemporary period, the number has grown by around 50 percent in the range of last seven years. Researchers expect the Google-based operating system will grow further and will have over 130 million users.
However, according said the statecountr dot com, Apple’s iOS operating system is ruling the smartphone market. One key criterion where, Apple has exceeded Google’s store is it hasn’t limited the developer by imposing any type of extra regulations on them. A couple of years ago, Apple required the developers to turn their app into native to the iOS system.


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29 Jan CSA appoints Phizz as official supplier
CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA (CSA) appoints start-up sensation Phizz as an official supplier to CSA, its teams, players and staff.
“Phizz has been the preferred hydration tablet by CSA’s medical team for training, travel and match days for two years. It’s exciting to formalise this relationship as the young brand launches in pharmacies across South Africa,” commented CSA Chief Commercial Officer Kugandrie Govender.
Three years since launch, the self-funded challenger has sold over 30 million tablets worldwide. Phizz supplies Premier League Football Clubs, airlines, gyms and 5 star hotels around the world with a hybrid multivitamin/electrolyte tablet. The dual formulation gives Phizz a wide range of applications across sport, travel and general wellbeing.
“It’s a pinch yourself moment for the Phizz family” says Head of Sport, Yasmin Badiani. “To launch in South Africa as an official supplier to the national cricket team is a big moment. This deal is a testament to our sport department and is a proud badge of credibility as we enter a new market!”
Phizz is now available across South Africa in Clicks and independent pharmacies, distributed by Skymed Pty Ltd.
For more info on Phizz visit www.phizz.co or Instagram


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tagDiv, the developer of one of the most popular WordPress themes in the world, just activated a trojan horse in their themes taking over thousands of websites. With the release of the Newspaper Theme 11.3 last night, the previous version 11.2 enabled code by developers that disabled websites replacing them with ads. An untold number of websites and news outlets were affected.
Disclosure: Jekko News used this WordPress theme at the time of writing. We have migrated due to this security threat.
In all my years of internet, I’ve never seen a legitimate developer destroy, damage, or dismantle thousands of websites to promote their affiliate link. An affiliate links are links that pay the advertiser when a purchase is made. Whether or not it was a cash grab, the more troubling information about tagDiv came forward: They’ve coded a kill switch into there themes that can takeover Newspaper, Newsmag, and others from the Envato market at any moment.
Like the theme names imply, tagDiv creates WordPress themes for news outlets, magazines, and ecommerce. Websites that were taken offline range from local news to nationally syndicated outlets. The effects of newsrooms being locked out of their content management system can have devastating results. Readers might be under the impression their news websites have been hacked. Even when resolved, downtime for any website can have long lasting results.
As of the time of this article, 114,540 have purchased the Newspaper theme. The theme is available for purchase via the Envato marketplace. Customers’ websites that did not enable auto-update, register the theme, or had other issues were completely taken offline and replaced with an ad from the developer. Other customers reported their legitimately purchased themes had taken down their websites too. Although the tagDiv has disguised this as DRM to prevent piracy, the fact remains they have installed a way to take over websites using their themes.
Affected users can remove the theme directory via FTP to regain control.
Whether it was done to combat Piracy or not, inserting code to take over paying users websites is troubling. The news industry is based on trust, and tagDiv has just shown that the tools they build for that industry cannot be blindly trusted anymore. Furthermore, Envato needs to address the issue at a market place level.
tagDiv has not responded to our requests for comment.
Update 10/13/2021: An Envato representative responded to our request, but needs to escalate it. As such we’re waiting for an official comment.
Update 10/14/2021: Affected buyers are flooding the comments after their websites have been hijacked by the developer.
“NO NO NO! You’ve made updates to block everything! I have your license. I test my website in staging. After the update, I CANNOT DO ANYTHING. Time to go back to the previous theme.”
“You told me we will be able to update the main website while working on staging website. Now what is this (…). I am unable to update my main website. Who has given you the permission to control my website backend. I am unable to switch my theme also because you have locked my website backend.”
Update 10/15/2021: Envato has released this statement via social media. “Thanks for getting in touch. We’re engaging with the author about changes they made to the item that have breached our terms, and will be reviewing how these terms are better understood across the community in the future.”


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March 20, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: Jewellers across the country, including Delhi and Mumbai, extended their protest for another two days against the budgetary proposals hiking customs duty on gold import and levying of excise on unbranded jewellery. All India Sarafa Association and All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation said the strike will go on for two more days. Jewellers have been observing strike since March 17 against the Budget 2012-13 proposals that impacted the trade.
July 25, 2013 |
KOLKATA: Jewellers are up in arms against the new 20-80 principle worked out by the Reserve Bank of India to curb gold imports. While availability will come down in the market, there is an apprehension that a large section of small jewellers will have to rely on the grey market for the supply of gold to meet the local demand. Jewellers say the government should come out with stricter rules to stop the sale of gold coins and bars rather than issuing new strictures at short intervals to curb imports in a bid to check the widening current account deficit (CAD)
September 24, 2014 |
MUMBAI: Jewellers are keeping their fingers crossed, expecting falling prices and the end of the inauspicious period to buy gold to improve consumer demand for the yellow metal. Shradh or Pitru Paksha, a period when many Hindus pay homage to their ancestors and traditionally refrain from buying precious metals, ends Wednesday. The end of this period also marks the beginning of festive buying that peaks around Diwali. The generic front-month gold futures contract has been falling steadily, from Rs 28,075 per 10 gms on August 28 through Monday's Rs 26,588, after which markets have bounced back a bit on tensions in the Middle East.
April 6, 2012 |
NEW DELHI: Agitating bullion traders and jewellers on Friday called off their 21-day strike after an assurance from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that the government will consider their demand for rollback of excise duty on unbranded jewellery. "We have decided to suspend the strike till May 10," All India Sarafa Association General Secretary Surendra Jain said. Karol Bagh Jewellers Association President Vijay Khanna also said that strike has been called off. Some of traders who met UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in the morning and later Mukherjee, said the Finance Minister has assured them that their grievance with regard to levy of 1 per cent excise duty on unbranded jewellery would be addressed.
March 16, 2012 |
MUMBAI: Protesting against the Budget proposals to bring unbranded precious jewellery under the excise duty net and raise customs duty on gold bars and coins, the All-India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation has decided to go on an indefinite strike from tomorrow. Budget at ET: Budget 2012 | Union Budget | Live Union Budget Blog | Railway Budget | Budget News | Economic Survey of India "Raising the duty further to 4 per cent will encourage smuggling even more," the federation Chairman Bachhraj Bamalwa said.
April 5, 2012 |
MUMBAI: Jewellers, who will meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow, remained firm over complete rollback of excise duty as their national wide agitation entered the 20th day today, resulting in a revenue loss of over Rs 20,000 crore. "We want a complete roll back of excise duty and request the Finance Minister not to suggest any alternate solutions. It is very difficult to comply with the legalities of excise and we fear that it will bring back Inspector Raj," All-India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation Chairman Bachhraj Bamalwa said told reporters here.
August 1, 2014 |
MUMBAI: On 21st May — five days after UPA's crushing defeat and five days before Modi's swearing-in ceremony — India's gold import rules were changed. This decision, taken by an outgoing government in the fag end of its tenure, is now being challenged in the court of law as it allegedly favours large trading houses, including some of Corporate India's influential business groups. A writ petition filed by a body representing bullion dealers and jewellers before Delhi High Court is coming up for hearing on August 7. Grappling with dollar outflow, the previous government had imposed a new rule in June 2013 that required a fifth of all bullion imports be re-exported.
May 11, 2013 |
KOLKATA/MUMBAI: Indian jewellers are in a rush to stock up their shelves in the run-up to the auspicious gold-buying day of Akshaya Tritiya on Monday, making miners in Australia and South Africa work overtime to meet the sudden surge in demand from the country. Jewellers expect up to 50 per cent jump in Akshaya Tritiya sales year on year, particularly after the yellow metal's first major price fall in 12 years, but they have been struggling to procure enough gold because miners across the world had cut down production after the fall in prices.
July 16, 2014 |
KOLKATA: Middle class families, who have to marry off their daughters in the upcoming wedding season beginning November, are an anxious lot following the government's move to bring the hugely popular monthly installment schemes under the definition of public deposits. This means that jewellers have to lower effective returns on these schemes and also limit the total deposits collected to 25% of the networth. Most of the jewellers have decided to discontinue with the scheme for the time being and have asked customers to take back the money or get equal amount of gold jewellery.
August 30, 2011 |
42% was the one-year (August 2010-August 2011) return delivered by e-gold compared with 40% for gold ETFs. While the marginal difference in returns can be attributed to the cost-effectiveness of e-gold, both these avenues provide ease of investing by allowing people to hold gold in the demat form. However, each product has its pros and cons—while gold ETF is a more tax-efficient means of investing, e-gold offers the option of physical delivery. This is perhaps the reason experts remain divided on which route makes for better investment, finds out ET. Based on their opinion and depending on your individual needs, find out whether you should go for e-gold or gold ETF. Anjani Sinha, Managing Director, National Spot Exchange E-GOLD The biggest advantage that investing in e-gold has over gold ETF is that it involves no management costs or other recurring expenses.


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As an Internet of Things (IoT) startup for fish farming, eFishery, an Indonesian startup is tackling one of the supposedly biggest challenges in commercial aquaculture industry. According to the firm, fish feeding traditionally eats up between 50 and 80 percent of all overhead costs in the business. Overfeeding negatively impacts the environment in many ways, says eFishery, as a great deal of fish food ultimately goes to waste. It also harms the health of a farmer’s stock. Over-feeding also directly affects productivity in fresh water fish farming in rural Indonesia, and eFishery aims to solve the problem by providing an internet-based tech to monitor and control feeding. While underfeeding, on the other hand, means fish may not survive.
eFishery smart feeding device
The result of unmeasured and inexact fish feeding methods on a large commercial scale means monetary losses for farmers. eFishery offers a very viable automatic smart feeder that uses sensors to measure the fish’s appetite and then dispense food appropriately. Designed for both small and large scale operations, the system can also deliver real-time reports of consumption straight to the farmer’s smartphone.
eFishery is also currently developing a technology that is able to detect the “level” of satiety in fishes, based on their behaviour and the ripples they have caused. “The way we see it is that when fishes are moving aggresively, it means they are still hungry, and when the fishes are less aggresie, it means that they are satisfied. From that point we can decided when to stop feeding them,” El Farizy explained.
The CEO also stated that in the long run the startup aims to introduce the use of big data in Indonesian fishery sector, with the aim of pushing for a more transparent pricing range. But user acquisition remains the current focus for the startup.
“The problem that we are solving is the inefficiency of feeding in the fish farming business,” explains eFishery co-founder and CEO Gibran Chuzaefah Amsi El Farizy. “I saw the problem when I was a fish farmer myself. Fish feeding is done inefficiently by laborers, and farmers don’t have any technology to control the feeding yet.”
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, more than 96 percent of fish farming activities worldwide are concentrated in Asia. In Indonesia alone, the overall market size for commercial aquaculture is US$5.4 billion. The firm makes money by selling smart feeders to farmers and distributors. It also charges a monthly subscription fee for the mobile software used to monitor and analyze the fish feeding activities in real-time.
On average, eFishery’s smart feeding system reduces the amount of feed used by 21 percent, the startup says. eFishery will also soon develop its software side platform, create a better dashboard for customers, add more features, and include new compatibilities for the device. To do that, the company says it’s looking for the best talent out there.


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While Google is pressing on to unleash its Android Newsstand in a few weeks, Apple has already have some minor setbacks with the launch of the Daily Newsstand which was going to occur on January 19th 2010. It seems for the moment the launch is pushed back to an indeterminate amount of time, because they need to further tweak its online subscription service.
The online digital newspaper subscription service entitled “The Daily” is supposed to be launched at the Museum of Modern Art by both Steve Jobs and Rupert Murdoch on Jan 19th. The Wall Street Journal had News Corp confirm the delay on the project to be launched exlusively on the Apple iPad.
News Corp intends to go all out with the Daily News service which allows customers to be billed automatically, instead of the current iTunes methodology of only charging customers a one time fee. News Corp also has hired a staff of 100 veteran journalists and online media writers from their competition, such as; Forbes, New Yorker and New York Post. So you can be sure that News Corp is quite serious about this new undertaking and is not taking it lightly, or regurgitating content pulled from its other media sources.
Although Apple has not confirmed the relaunch date, sources close to the matter say it will not be months away, but instead will only be a few weeks.
This launch of the Daily is tremendously important to Apple, in its bid to cornerstone the Digital News Market before Google can get the jump on them. They delay is probably important to get the service to be up to Apples high standards, right out of the gate. Both companies stand to loose allot if this new venture fails, and will not bode will for the immediate future of getting solid news on tablet computers.
Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times.


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Over than 10 years earlier, Beyond Meat (BYND) was the leader of substitute meats for plants. A total of 112,000 supermarkets and food services outlets in more than 84 countries are now distributed to the vegan meat sector. The BYND stock at https://www.webull.com/quote/nasdaq-bynd reached an all-time height of 859 per cent a few months ago after its introduction in May 2019. The average of 50 days was also not sustained in a key support location.
The show will be kept in the sustainable category of supermarkets in the face of heightened rivalry. Outside Meat focuses on its retail stance this year, when restaurant purchases are halted by coronaviruses. Now, though, is BYND shopping? The simple and technical picture of the vegan meat company needs to be analysed first.
In comparison to beef inventory profits
In addition to beef, the influence of Q3 was deceptive on 9 November. The smoked tofu …


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Taking a page from the Roku playbook, Comcast-owned subsidiary Sky Oct. 7 announced the launch of a branded television that connects with streaming apps without the requirement of its namesake satellite dish.
Called “Sky Glass,” the new streaming TV will be available to buy in the U.K. Oct. 18 with monthly subscriptions starting at £13 (plus the cost of the TV), and will launch in Sky’s other European markets in 2022. The Sky Glass HDTVs come in 43-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch screen sizes. A separate “Sky Puck” enables users to access Sky Glass via third-party devices.
The TVs feature Ultra HD and Quantum Dot technology, 360-degree Dolby Atmos sound with built-in speakers and sub-woofer. Users can talk to their TV to find what to watch. Sky claims the units to be the world’s first TV to be certified as a “CarbonNeutral” product.
“Sky Glass is the streaming TV with Sky inside, providing the total integration of hardware, software and content,” CEO Dana Strong said in a statement. “Built on over 30 years of understanding what our customers want, this is a TV that only Sky could make. We believe this is the smartest TV available, and that customers will love it.”
Strong said the streaming revolution has brought a “whole new set of challenges” underscored by increased cord cutting by traditional pay-TV subscribers.
“Most people use multiple apps to find content but these experiences can feel fragmented and we end up spending more time searching for content than sitting back and enjoying it. In our already complex lives, we need things to be simple and this will dramatically simplify experiences and transform the role of TV in the home.”
The technology mirrors what Roku did in 2014 when it launched a line of Chinese-made TVs that don’t require a separate streaming device or cable, satellite connection.


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Snoop Dogg and Master P File Lawsuit Against Cereal Retailers Alleging They Prevented Sales of Snoop Cereal
Snoop Dogg and Master P File Lawsuit Against Cereal Retailers
On Tuesday (Feb. 6), esteemed civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced via a press release on his website that he'd be filing a suit against major cereal retailers on behalf of Snoop and Master P. The lawyer did not name which retailers would exactly be targeted in the lawsuit and said more details would be available during a press conference later on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. PT.
Crump elaborated in the press release that The Doggfather and The Ice Cream Man founded Broadus Foods in 2022. The goal was to create "a family-owned company that promotes diversity in the food industry and provides opportunities for minority-owned products." Additionally, the food brand would contribute "to charitable causes addressing hunger and homelessness."
"To expand their reach, Snoop Dogg and Master P approached major brands to engage in a partnership and promotion agreement to distribute Snoop Cereal with national retailers," Crump wrote in the release. "However, despite one company agreeing to the agreement, it allegedly sabotaged the success of Snoop Cereal by preventing it from reaching consumers through deceptive practices. Broadus Foods is seeking damages suffered by the deceptive trade practices under various causes of action."
Snoop Dogg and Master P Announce National Distribution Deal for Cereal
The lawsuit comes after Snoop Dogg and Master P announced last January that they had earned a national distribution deal via the Minnesota-based cereal company Post Cereal. Master P celebrated the moment on Instagram at the time.
"HAPPY MLK DAY @snoopdogg and I are the first black-owned cereal company with a national distribution deal. Salute to @post_cereals for believing in diversity," the No Limit boss wrote.
In a video, Master P also gave thanks to the hard-working employees at Post. It was a massive victory for the pair, especially since Snoop and Master P were initially forced to rename their cereal brand in 2022.
The duo claimed on Instagram that Snoop Loopz switched to Snoop Cereal after an unnamed competitor attempted to ban their product from grocery stores.


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Microsoft appeal over 'abuse' is thrown out
Microsoft today suffered a stunning defeat when the courts backed a European Commission ruling that it illegally abused its market power to crush competitors.
The European Union's second-highest court dismissed the company's appeal on all substantive points of the 2004 antitrust ruling, upholding the record €497m (£343.8m) fine.
Microsoft shares fell 2% after the ruling as the court said the world's largest software maker was unjustified in tying new applications to its Windows operating system in a way that harmed consumer choice. The verdict, which may be appealed against only on points of law and not of fact, could force Microsoft to change its business practices.
It also gives EU Competition Commission Neelie Kroes a green light to pursue other antitrust cases and complaints involving Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm and Rambus, and to issue draft new antitrust guidelines that were put on ice pending the ruling. Antitrust specialist Rony Gerrits, at law firm Morrison & Foerster, said: 'This is the biggest, highest-stakes competition decision in the history of the EU. It's likely to prompt a flood of antitrust actions.'
The court endorsed Commission sanctions against Microsoft's tying together of software and refusal to give rival makers of office servers information to enable their products to work smoothly with Windows, used by 95% of computers.
It annulled only the EU regulator's imposition of a Microsoft-funded independent trustee to monitor compliance. "The Court of First Instance essentially upholds the Commission's decision finding that Microsoft abused its dominant position,î a court statement said.
Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith promised the company would obey the ruling in full. He said there was no decision yet on whether to appeal to the European Court of Justice.
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£70,000 of designer watches stolen at Almondvale centre
Police in West Lothian are appealing for witnesses after £70,000 of designer watches were stolen from a jeweller's in Livingston.
The incident happened at about 03:45 at the Chisholm Hunter store in The Centre shopping centre.
Two men broke into the centre using a sledgehammer, and then broke the window of the jeweller's to steal 30 Tag Heuer watches that were on display.
The pair then drove off in a small car, possibly light in colour.
Det Con Bruce Kennedy, of Police Scotland, said: "This was a brazen crime which has led to the theft of 30 watches worth thousands of pounds each being stolen.
"We are appealing to anyone who was in the area around the time of the incident, who noticed the vehicle, to contact police as a matter of urgency.
"Similarly, anyone who believes they have been offered the stolen items for sale, or has any other information that can assist our inquiries, should also get in touch."


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They say strong essences are kept in small bottles, and, though the mobile tech big kahunas have different views on what exactly is small and big nowadays, it’s crystal clear a new era is approaching. In other words, brace yourselves, as the “Minis” are preparing to take over the world.
It all started with Samsung’s Galaxy S4 mini, followed swiftly by HTC’s One mini, and then the Sony Xperia Z1 f, aka Z1 mini or Z1S. There’s even a ZTE Nubia Z5 mini out and about, albeit the Chinese don’t seem very keen on rolling it out globally.
Who’s next? Why, Asus, of course. Only we know very well the Taiwanese like to keep things fresh all the time and would not be caught dead in following someone else’s strategy to the letter. So instead of simply introducing yet another diminutive 4 to 4.3-inch phone, Asus is said to be working on a watered down version of its 2-in-1 PadFone hybrid, capable of seamlessly turning from a 4-inch handheld to a 7-inch tab.
Teased for the first time back in August and subsequently confirmed by Asus CEO Jerry Shen, the PadFone mini is finally getting some specifics, courtesy of a short GFX Bench visit.
The notorious benchmarking website’s database shows the PadFone mini carrying the enigmatic T00C codename, but since the screen is listed as a 960 x 540 pix res one, there’s no doubt we’re looking at the phone part of the upcoming half-breed.
Now I know, that resolution doesn’t sound sizzling hot. Yet if previous rumors pan out and the display will only measure 4 inches in diagonal, the resulting pixel density will be 275 ppi or so. Light years behind HTC One mini’s 342, but mildly better than GS4 mini’s 256 ppi.
Moving on, there appears to be a CPU clocked at 1.4 GHz beneath the hood, which again sounds like a bummer, but again it’s not so bad all in all, as it likely boasts four cores (namely Qualcomm’s MSM8226 Snapdragon 400), being paired with an Adreno 305. And probably with 1 gig of RAM.
Software? Everything’s fine and dandy there, with pre-loaded Android 4.3 Jelly Bean making the user experience silky smooth. Now let’s see what Asus has planned for the 7-inch slate part of the hybrid and, most of all, what’s the price range we’re looking at.
That’s the big make-or-break element, mind you, because let’s face it. The “full-sized” PadFone has always looked like a nifty concept, but a darn expensive one.
Via [GFX Bench]


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|IndyCar has been asleep at the wheel for over 10 years – trying to get a 3rd engine manufacturer with minuscule TV ratings on NBCSN. 100% of IndyCar races must be on network TV to get the viewership high enough to attract the big investment needed from a manufacturer. Until then they are just pissing in the wind.|
Here we go again. IndyCar and/or Cosworth are hoping for the impossible. Unless IndyCar finds a way to increase TV ratings, their wet dream of landing a third engine manufacturer is futile.
Just follow the money. Where is the value? Where is the payback on their investment?
Bruce Wood, Cosworth's managing director of powertrains, had this to say to Autosport:
"We've spoken to two or three [manufacturers] over a period of a couple of years," Wood told Autosport.
"There is interest out there, definitely. "Right now, we're not close to translating it to the real world (Editor's Note: The word 'not' is fairly obvious).
"[IndyCar is] untapped by car companies and I'm surprised more don't think 'OK it's not F1, it's not Le Mans, but the Indy 500 is quite close behind' and you can do it for a fraction.
"We've talked about IndyCar before because that for us always seems to be slightly over looked.
"Everyone is familiar with the costs of going to F1 and, in recent years, going to Le Mans. Those costs are extraordinary.
"Even the biggest car makers in the world have to think pretty hard about whether they can afford that.
"You can go into IndyCar for a fraction of that because it's a spec Dallara-built car, and the engine regulations are straightforward. There aren't works teams out there.
"For a manufacturer to get into IndyCar it's a lot cheaper and you can win the Indianapolis 500 and [Fernando] Alonso was over there trying to win it last year – it has a huge allure."
Wood also thinks that IndyCar's new engine rules for 2021 are "sensible".
"It's just a small capacity increase," he added. "So Honda and Chevrolet will stay in [IndyCar], as it doesn't require them to put in hundreds of millions of investment.
"Anyone thinking about joining will hopefully continue down that line because you're not throwing the whole thing away and starting again.
"We think the IndyCar rules are sensible and would love to make an engine, but we need a car manufacturer to do it."


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Good News for YouTubers. YouTube is all set to pay up to $10,000 per month to creators creating and sharing YouTube Shorts on the video hosting platform.
Now YouTube will pay a very good amount for YouTube Shorts. YouTubers in select countries can vie for a piece of the $100 million Youtube Shorts Fund if their creations rise to the top of the heap of the most viral clips.
YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, Neal Mohan, told that creators will have the opportunity to earn up to $10,000 per month (roughly around Rs 7.41 lakhs) for making YouTube Shorts.
Every month, YouTube will select thousands of eligible creators to claim a payment from the fund, which marks the first step in its efforts to monetize the short-form, TikTok-like video feature.
The fund for Shorts’ creators was first announced by YouTube in May 2021. However, at that time, YouTube hadn’t shared many details about the fund.
YouTubers who meet the criteria can make anywhere from $100 to $10,000 based on viewership and engagement of their Shorts, which can be up to 60 seconds in length.
“The popularity needed to earn money will depend on just how many people are making and watching Shorts each month, and payouts will also depend on where each creator’s audience is located.”
Google says YouTube Shorts has quickly become a worldwide hit: The feature now generates more than 15 billion global daily views, up from 6.5 billion in March.
The Google-owned platform had launched YouTube Shorts in India in September 2020, soon after the Indian government had banned the Chinese short video sharing app due to user privacy and national security concerns.
How to earn money from YouTube Shorts?
Creators on YouTube can receive money from the fund by sharing short videos. However, creators will have to publish only original content to become eligible for earning money via YouTube Shorts.
All of a creator’s YouTube Shorts videos will count toward their Shorts performance each month that they receive views (not just the month they were uploaded).
The bonus payment amounts will be adjusted based on a channel’s total Shorts performance and their audience’s location.
To qualify for payouts from the Shorts Fund, channels must have uploaded at least one eligible Short in the last 180 days.
They also must conform to YouTube’s Community Guidelines, copyright rules, and monetization policies.
In addition, creators must be 13 or older in the U.S. (or the “age of majority” in their country/region) and must accept terms of the program and link to an active Google AdSense account to receive the bonus payments.
For now, only creators in 10 countries are eligible to receive YouTube Shorts Fund payments: India, U.S., Brazil, U.K., Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Japan, South Africa, and Russia.
“We plan to expand eligibility to more countries/regions soon,” YouTube says.
Excluded from payment eligibility are YouTube Shorts that include non-original content, such as videos re-uploaded from other channels, as well as videos with watermarks or logos from third-party social platforms.


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Two of the world’s largest PC markers have reported positive financial results on the back of PC sales, going against the prevailing trends within the industry.
Lenovo, which is the world’s largest PC maker, returned to profit as its PC shipments declined at a slower rate than the overall market.
And HP Inc reported better than expected results, as both its PC and printer business grew for the first time in seven years.
Lenovo for its part reported that made it had made “good progress in implementing and executing its new “three-wave strategy.”
For the fourth quarter ending 31 March, it posted a net profit of $107m (£82.6m) on sales up 5 percent at $9.6bn (£7.4bn). But its full year figures revealed a profit of $535m (£413m) in the year to March on revenue that fell 4 percent to $43bn ($33.2bn).
“Despite challenging market conditions, Lenovo saw revenue resume to growth in the fourth quarter, after five quarters of decline,” said Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo Chairman and CEO.
“To drive further growth, we have clearly defined the three-wave strategy. We will maintain PC leadership in scale, profitability and innovation in the first wave, while building our second wave, mobile and data centre businesses into growth engines. Simultaneously, we will execute our third wave of ‘Device + Cloud’ and ‘Infrastructure + Cloud’ to capture the opportunities brought by new technologies.”
Lenovo said that sales at its PC and Smart Devices (PCSD) business group for the full year were down 2.3 percent but still beat the overall market, at $30bn (£). It said that shipments for the year beat the market significantly by 7.1 points, with 66.6 million.
This is despite Gartner reporting earlier this year that global PC shipments had fallen for the 10th consecutive quarter in January-March, dipping below 63 million units for the first time since 2007.
Meanwhile there was also good news over at HP Inc, which last year revealed it would cut between 3,000 and 4,000 jobs over the next three years due to challenges in the personal computer and printer markets.
For the second quarter ending 30 April, HP reported a net profit of $559m (£431m) down from $629m (£485m) in the same year-ago quarter.
Revenues meanwhile rose to $12.4bn (£9.6bn) from $11.6bn (£8.9bn) a year ago.
HP said that revenue at its Personal Systems group rose 10 percent year-over-year, with total units shipped up 5 percent (notebooks units up 12 percent and Desktops units down 6 percent).
And the good news did not stop there, as HP revealed that its revenue from Printing rose 2 percent year over year, with total hardware units shipped up 4 percent.
HP had acquired Samsung’s printer division for $1bn (£772m) last year.
“This was a breakthrough quarter for HP, and marks the first time both Personal Systems and Print have grown in the same quarter since 2010,” said Dion Weisler, President and CEO, HP Inc.
“We’re delivering solid performance across our portfolio, in all regions, and on key financial metrics,” said Weisler. “Our team is taking profitable share, out-executing our competitors and delivering some of the best innovation in HP’s history. It’s clear our reinvention is paying off.”
HP is no doubt being helped by the popularity of its MacBook Air-challenging Spectre 13 laptop. It has also unveiled of laptops with built-in privacy screens designed to curtail snoopers in the physical world; something that’s likely to appeal to people working in sectors where privacy is paramount.
That said, earlier this month it was revealed that HP laptops may have been logging user keystrokes for several years.
Quiz: Think you know all about HP?


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Google's recent spree of expensive acquisitions has continued with the company splashing out on London-based artificial intelligence firm DeepMind, it was confirmed on Sunday.
According to Recode, the Mountain View giant has handed over $400m (£242m, AU$460m) for the little-known AI firm in order to acquire the firm's talent roster, although Google hasn't confirmed the fee.
According to its website, DeepMind is "a cutting edge artificial intelligence company," which combines "the best techniques from machine learning and systems neuroscience to build powerful general-purpose learning algorithms."
It is not known what Google plans to do with the three year old firm, who's first commercial applications come through "simulations, e-commerce and games."
Turning to a new Page
DeepMind was co-founded by "gaming prodigy and neuroscientist" Dennis Hassabis and claims to have been backed by some of the most notable tech entrepreneurs of the last decade.
Recode's report, which claimed the company has around 50 employees, said the deal was spearheaded by Google CEO Larry Page.
The acquisition comes at a time Google, under the stewardship of Android co-founder Andy Rubin is investing heavily in robotics companies. The reasons for which are yet to be disclosed.
Just last month the company picked up Boston Dynamics, famous for its awesome yet slightly terrifying array of animal-like robots. Do we really need a 29mph Cheetah robot infused with artificial intelligence?


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Trade is thriving in London this Easter due to more Londoners staying and enjoying their city, said the city’s tourist board Visit London.
It also said many UK couples and families had chosen London as an Easter short break destination and hotels had seen an influx of European visitors.
Theatre was cited as a popular choice with musicals such as Oliver!, Wicked, and Mamma Mia! leading.
Visit London said the expense of Europe was encouraging more Britons to stay.
Ray Jones, from Visit London, told BBC London 94.9FM that certain business sectors in London were doing particularly well this Easter.
“I am not going to put a figure on it but I believe this weekend most hotel rooms in London will be full, I think restaurants will do well. I know that theatres are packed.”


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"Do you think those people on the line are dumb? They can raise a family of four on $347 a week. I don't have one vice-president who can do that."
-- Rene McPherson, former chairman of the Dana Corp., quoted by Tom Melohn in his forthcoming book, The New Partnership (Oliver Wight, 1994, $22)
Forget all the talk about what's worrying the small-business community these days. The important question is, What are small businesses doing? Judging by our latest unabashedly unscientific survey, there have been some significant changes in the way folks are running America's small growing companies.
CEOs are back on the road. In recent months the focus has shifted from cutting costs at home to getting out and selling. The most sales-shy owner we spoke with says she's spending 50% of her time selling, "and every minute is painful -- but necessary."
Product development is a top priority again. Now the emphasis is on developing new products and services at lower prices for existing customers -- and quickly. "Those who can exploit the advantages of being small are going to be the winners," says one owner.
"Key players" are in demand. Though still conservative about hiring in general, small companies are aggressively looking for top managers, including former large-company executives. "I know how difficult the transition from big company to small can be, but I also know the potential impact of one key person on a business as young as mine," says one start-up veteran.
Belts are staying tight. "I never ever again want to go through the pain we've experienced in the past three years getting our overhead down," is how one founder expressed the universal sentiment for keeping costs under control.
The watchword in marketing is customer retention. Companies are focusing on keeping current customers loyal with pricing policy (holding the line), product development (coming up with more stuff for the same folks), and technology investment (improving customer service).
The merit raise is a thing of the past. More than ever before, growing companies are using performance-based incentive programs. Other than cost-of-living adjustments and promotions, financial rewards go to those who produce tangible results.
The big concern is stress, "at every level of the organization," says one CEO. "We're working overtime because we don't want to add to payroll. Our salespeople are pushed to the limit. We are a very, very successful company, and yet I wonder how long we can go on like this. How long can I go on?"


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Statesville, NC – Kicking off at 6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10 Rescue Ranch will launch a virtual auction to raise funds for the 87-acre animal education nonprofit. The online auction will run until Thursday, Dec. 17 and will feature items such as a custom-made dining room table, artwork, a private meal by the Moyer’s restaurant, an assortment of NASCAR items from different drivers, and more.
All proceeds from the auction will benefit Rescue Ranch’s missions of utilizing educational programs to promote respect for animals and responsible pet ownership, as well as agricultural, environmental and wildlife conservation.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the auction replaces the annual holiday dinner which would have celebrated its 16th year in 2020.
“Like all nonprofits, we’ve shifted our fundraising events to help keep our community safe during this time,” said co-founder, Krissie Newman. “We’re sad to not have the opportunity to see our supporters at our annual holiday dinner, however, we’re excited to launch the auction online so that supporters from across the country can participate. We have some amazing items for folks to bid on with all proceeds going directly back to the Ranch.
“More importantly, we have a really exciting announcement that we will make during the virtual auction on Dec. 10 that involves the continued growth of the Ranch and our mission!”
To join the live auction on Dec. 10 head to rescueranch.com, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Sponsorship opportunities are still available. For more information contact, Amy Kwiatkowski at (704) 768-0909 or firstname.lastname@example.org.
About Rescue Ranch:
Rescue Ranch is a nonprofit animal welfare organization founded by Krissie Newman and NASCAR driver Ryan Newman. The 87-acre facility offers school, Scout and camp programs, birthday parties and private tours, which promote humane education through hands-on learning. Rescue Ranch is located in Statesville, North Carolina – less than an hour from Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Hickory. For more information on Rescue Ranch visit, rescueranch.com, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Photo: 2020 Auction item, 72” x 36” x 30” custom-made live edge Brazilian cherry dining table with metal base by Old Mill Custom Wood Crafting.


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Home-sharing platform Airbnb announced today that the company had collected and remitted over $18 million in sales taxes to local and state governments in Florida in the first five months of the year, according to a press release from the company today.
The taxes were collected pursuant to an agreement reached with the Florida Department of Revenue in 2015, under which Airbnb would collect sales taxes on behalf of the 35,000 Airbnb hosts in Florida. The same year, Airbnb initiated efforts to secure similar agreements with local county governments as well. Currently, 63 out of Florida’s 67 counties assess a bed tax, and Airbnb has agreements with 39 of them.
The $18 million in taxes collected by Airbnb through the end of May puts them on track to collect this year more than double the $20 million they collected in 2016. In Orange County alone, Airbnb collected $700,500.
“The State of Florida and so many of its counties are emerging as national models for how to harness the economic power of home sharing,” said Chris Lehane, Airbnb’s global head of policy & communications. “We are committed to serving as good partners to Florida’s local governments, and we will not stop working until every Florida county is benefitting from new home sharing tax revenue.”
Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter: @rumpfshaker.


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New Study Lists Popular Apps That Collect Your Personal Information
Are you an app addict? Carnegie Mellon University looked at data from the most popular apps in Google’s Android store to see which collect private information.
They published the list and Smartphone apps like Angry Birds and Brightest Flashlight were found to collect your location and ‘device ID’ (which is unique to each phone).
Research participants were “confused and surprised” by what they considered a violation of privacy, and the Daily News article says some apps even take info from your contact list!
Apple apps were NOT tested in this study, but researchers say they are strongly suspected to have the same result.
Read the full article and see what Android apps collect your info by clicking HERE and take our poll:
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And of course, there's a Change.org petition to get them to follow in the footsteps of Denny's
In the world of restaurant chains, it's been increasingly popular to eschew gestation crates à la Denny's and McDonald's. Recently, however, Domino's shareholders decided to keep pork from suppliers who use gestation crates.
Animal activists reacted accordingly: There's a Change.org petition calling Domino's out on their decision to keep the crates, known for overcrowding sows for reproduction. "Companies like Domino's should not tolerate this and consumers should not buy the product of such suffering," petitioners wrote.
On the other hand, the Texas Farm Bureau applauded Domino's decision.
"It’s about time one of the major fast-food franchises showed some backbone to the animal rights activist group," publications directory Mike Barnett wrote on the blog. "Other fast-food companies — including Burger King, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s — have caved to their demands, fearing [Humane Society of United States] will stir public outcry and reprisal if they don’t."
Denny's is the most recent chain to choose gestation crate-free pork products.


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A lumber building materials manufacturer will acquire a sawmill to supply its expanded operations in southwest Virginia, state officials said.
Woodgrain plans to spend $ 8 million to buy and expand the former Independence Lumber plant and an additional $ 9 million to bolster its production facility near Marion, Virginia. The projects would save 80 jobs at the sawmill, which was the county’s largest private employer, and create 20 more at the facility. Marion’s site is expected to add 80 new jobs.
The sawmill complex will become the primary supplier to the Marion Woodgrain mill and allow the company to source 90% of its new forest products in Virginia. Officials said the company will purchase an additional 9 million board feet of Virginia-grown lumber over the next three years.
The company is expected to receive a $ 350,000 grant from the state’s agricultural and forestry economic development program to support expansion projects.
Woodgrain, based in Idaho, produces lumber, moldings, doors and windows at 27 facilities across the country. It is one of the largest carpentry companies in the world, officials said.
“We are excited to expand our operations and strengthen our commitment to Southwest Virginia,” said Robb Hitch, the company’s Eastern Region Woodworking Manager, in the announcement. “We believe this will have a significant positive impact on the local economy and allow us to further leverage our vertical integration by supplying lumber to our carpentry site in Smyth County and throughout the South West. .
Image Credit: Dusan Petkovic / Shutterstock.com


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In conjunction with the first annual National Period Day on October 19th, Dartmouth Planned Parenthood Generation Action and Planned Parenthood NH Action Fund are joining forces with PERIOD to host a panel discussion focused on the issue of period poverty, which is commonly defined as the inability of menstruators to access sanitary products due to financial obstacles. The event, which will take place on Wednesday, October 16th from 6 PM to 8 PM at Dartmouth College, will highlight both successes and continued challenges in improving the availability of menstrual products and eliminating period poverty and period stigma in New Hampshire, the broader United States, and around the world.
The panelists, each representing different dimensions of the menstrual policy debate, will address different challenges inherent in this issue and plans for action to help improve menstrual product access. Panelists will also discuss the process by which local elected officials, academic researchers, and activists were able to collaborate and ensure the passage of SB142, which provides sanitary products to middle and high school students in New Hampshire’s public schools.
This event is part of a broader campaign run by PERIOD, a national organization that aims to address period poverty and other menstruation-related issues in the United States and around the world. PERIOD is launching their first annual National Period Day campaign this year, which will feature rallies in all 50 states, action programs aimed at providing sanitary products to women, and other consciousness-building events such as panels and discussion sessions. The goal of this event and this campaign is to raise awareness about period poverty and promote actionable solutions to this issue, while drawing attention to the ways in which many people struggle to access menstrual products every month.
This burden falls especially heavily on lower-income menstruators, people experiencing homelessness, and students who rely on their schools’ often-insufficient menstrual product resources. The “tampon tax,” a sales tax levied on sanitary products in many states throughout the U.S., furthers such inequality and limits access. Additionally, the issue of period poverty is certainly not a “women’s issue” and should not be labeled as such – transgender and gender non-conforming individuals who menstruate face unique obstacles towards obtaining menstrual products, such as not being able to readily access menstrual products in public restrooms or facing social barriers that impede their ability to purchase these products.
This event is important to me, to Planned Parenthood, to members of Dartmouth’s chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action, and to other college students because period poverty and period stigma are vital issues that are often misunderstood and ignored. Menstruators are taught to spend a significant amount of money, time, and resources in order to conceal and “manage” our menstrual cycles, which can take a financial and emotional toll. This issue is largely kept out of the public eye and policy debate due to menstrual stigma, as people who menstruate are conditioned to be ashamed of this natural bodily process.
Furthermore, since our predominantly-male legislators are often hesitant to approach the subject, meaningful progress on menstruation-related issues rarely takes place. However, this panel is a sign that this generation of menstrual activists knows that it is time to take a stand for menstrual equality, build upon the positive work that has begun in New Hampshire with SB142, and continue to ensure access to sanitary products for all menstruators across the country and the world. Period.


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Kankatala, one of Andhra’s most-loved sari brands is in the city for a pop-up, just for a day!
This pop-up, featuring traditional weaves and fusion pieces, visits the city for the third time
Vishakhapatnam-based Kankatala, renowned for their unique saris, is back in Chennai for their third pop-up since 2018. Fresh off the success of their just-completed pop-up in Coimbatore, the curated pop-up of saris handpicked by members of the Kankatala family features banarasis, kanjivarams, paithanis, patolas, khadis, kotas, gadwals, ikats, chikankaris and uppadas. Popular with several celebrities including Karishma Kapoor, Keerthy Suresh, Rambha Indrakumar, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Lakshmi Manchu, Lavanya Tripathi, Pooja Hegde and Tamannah Bhatia, among many others; we catch up with director Anirudh Kankatala, to find out more.
“We’re bringing traditional weaves from across the country to Chennai for the upcoming festive season and this will include our special fusion saris — kalamkari on paithani, bandhani on kanjivaram, kalamkari on patola, petit point on kanjivaram, chikankari on kanjivaram, kota with a paithani border and the likes — something that we’re really famous for as a brand,” opens Anirudh Kankatala, who is also one of the curators of the pop-up.
Kankatala, established in 1943, is known for its hand-picked, hand-woven saris and as is known for its 75-year-old unbroken tradition where each and every piece is carefully selected by a member of the family after careful scrutiny checks for quality of weave, design and fabric. “We’re 79 now and will turn 80 next year, and I am the third generation in the family business. We hope to open stores in Chennai and other parts of South India soon, but are currently based in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi, outside Andhra Pradesh. That’s the reason we’re so enthusiastic about this pop-up — it’s our only way to connect with our clientele in Chennai,” explains Anirudh, a Penn State graduate.
The pop-up brings silks, cottons, organzas and koras in a 2,000+ piece collection including a special bridal edit and a special patan patola edit in the asawali weave — each of which takes a year to make!
INR 4,000 onwards. August 26. 10 am to 8.30 pm. At The Folly, Amethyst.


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By Scott J Grunewald
The M.Lab21 Initiative goals are to modernize industrial arts classes, create connections between prospective employers and educators and to help develop 3D printing labs and high-tech manufacturing curriculums in US high schools.
The recently formed advisory board will consist of representatives from manufacturing industry organisation SME, 3D Systems, and America Makes as its founding members. They will be joined by representatives from Intel, GE, Johnson Controls, Lockheed Martin, Deloitte and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The board members have committed to providing access to their extensive resources and industry knowledge and will help guide the development and advancement of the initiative.…
The original post SME and 3D Systems Team Up to Form Advisory Board for the M.Lab21 Education Initiative appeared first on 3D Printing Industry.
By Scott J Grunewald
3D printing marketplace Shapeways has just integrated some new features into their website allowing registered users to follow individual designers and to view a personal feed that allows you to track your favorite sellers and artists.
Shapeways has always tried to foster a strong community among its users, and now they’ve taken it to the next level by adding a new social media twist to their user profiles with Shapeways Social. When you log in to your Shapeways account, you can now follow specific designers who make products that you want to keep an eye on.…
The original post Shapeways Gets Social With its New Feed and Follow Designer Options appeared first on 3D Printing Industry.
By Davide Sher
Let’s be honest, although some artists have already achieved extremely high quality outputs with FDM 3D prints, the majority of productions still lack many of the features that make low cost FDM/FFF machines (or even high cost for that matter) a feasible and acceptable choice as a means of production for aesthetically pleasing end-use items, especially the larger size ones.
This has been changing and more people are starting to see FDM/FFF as a rapidly advancing, truly versatile technology, mature enough to allow for the production of high quality furniture.…
The original post 7 3D Printed Designer Stools Could Open Up an Age of Maturity for FFF 3D Printing appeared first on 3D Printing Industry.
By Evan Chavez
A haunting exhibit using the Latin alphabet, whose decedent I use now to write this article, acts as inspiration and installation for Anna Nazo’s 3D printed design in the drawing for artist of the year at this year’s London 3D Print Show. Constructed with 3D studio Max 2010, Adobe Soundbooth CS5, Z Brush, professional software for preparing the 3D models, the designs came to printed fruition with a ProJet 660 Pro 3D printer. The design was not simply transferred from a computer design to an object from filament.…
The original post EPLVLEREPRAETERITORVM: Ana Navo 3D Prints the Dust of Yesterday with Today’s Powder appeared first on 3D Printing Industry.
By Scott J Grunewald
Thanks to Autodesk’s Design the Future program students at Swanson Middle School are participating in a class project to design, 3D model and 3D print a new medical device that will make it easier for a disabled student to interact with his communication device.
Kris Martini is Arlington Public Schools director of career, technical and adult education. When a colleague asked him for advice on replacing the self-made device that her son used to interact with the touchscreen interface on his wheelchair he wanted to see if he could help.…
The original post 8th Graders use Autodesk to Design a Medical Device for a Disabled Man appeared first on 3D Printing Industry.
By Rachel Park
As summer closes out what I call ‘3D printing silly season’ is about to get underway as 3D printing event activity ramps up in terms of the many annual additive manufacturing and 3D printing shows that are scheduled throughout the final months of each year. It will all kick off next week with the London 3D Printshow. TCT, 3D Printshow Paris, 3D Printing Event Eindhoven and Euromold in Frankfurt will then take place in the following months. Of course, the excellent global Inside 3D Printing series of events has been ongoing throughout 2014, and the end of the year will be business as usual for Mecklermedia with the Hong Kong edition successfully hosted just last week.…
The original post 3DPI Editorial Round-Up: August 2014 appeared first on 3D Printing Industry.
NASA said this week that it has successfully tested the most complex rocket engine parts ever designed by the agency and printed with 3D printing, on a test stand at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The part is a rocket engine injector, a highly complex part that sends propellant into the engine.
This article NASA successfully tested the most complex fuel injectors built with 3D printing is first published at 3ders.org.
During the Second World War, Poland has had a hard time. It was the first country for the Nazi’s to conquer and at the end of the war 85 percent of its capital city Warsaw was destroyed by the Nazi’s. The Polish state, however, has one event in that disastrous war to proudly look back […]
Apparently, 3D printed footwear will also dazzle hundreds of thousands of visitors who flock to New Jersey’s Atlantic City boardwalk to participate in the events of the Miss America Parade.
This article Miss Georgia, Maggie Bridges, will wear 3D printed shoes in Miss America “Show Us Your Shoes Parade” is first published at 3ders.org.
By Michael Molitch-Hou
At the beginning of the summer, Land relayed news of a universal open operating system for 3D printers, called 3DPrinterOS, from 3D Control Systems. Since then, the cloud-based interface for managing multiple 3D printers has finally launched, giving users the ability to download 3DPrinterOS and use it with their own machines.
3D Control Systems was founded by former Dell lead engineer, John Dogru, and a 3D cloud printing PhD candidate, Anton Vedeshin, who have teamed up with a number engineers to develop a universal system for managing 3D printers through the cloud. And, thanks in part to funding from Vulcan Capital, the company has gotten its cloud-based networking solution for 3D printers, 3DPrinterOS, off the ground.…
The original post 3DPrinterOS Universal Cloud Management for 3D Printing Launched appeared first on 3D Printing Industry.


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Chicago Shoppers who endured long lines and sometimes-frigid temperatures spent only slightly more during their Black Friday shopping sprees than they did last year, according to data released Saturday by a research firm.
At the same time, their pajama-clad counterparts, a much smaller group that accounted for only a fraction of overall sales, shopped online from the warmth of their homes and dramatically boosted their spending.
More than a year after the economy’s collapse began rattling shoppers, industry observers said Friday’s shopping sprees offered a strong start to the holiday season.
“We have struggled for a long time and one of the ways for the economy to get going again is for the consumer to begin to spend more freely,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of research firm ShopperTrak, which released its sales figures Saturday. “And I think this is an indication they were willing to do that.”
Preliminary sales data from Martin’s organization, a Chicago research firm that tracks sales at more than 50,000 stores, showed shoppers spent $10.66 billion when they hit the malls on the day after Thanksgiving. That’s only 0.5 percent more than last year when Black Friday sales rose a striking 3 percent.
The traditional shopping spree — dubbed Black Friday because it often was the day when a surge of shoppers helped stores break into “the black,” or profitability, the full year — has marked the kickoff of holiday shopping for many consumers.
But its importance has faded in recent years as merchants started hawking the deep discounts usually reserved for that day well in advance.
For example, last year’s Black Friday spending grew from $10.3 billion to about $10.6 billion. But the overall holiday spending fell 4.4 percent as shoppers slowed spending as the holiday season went on.
Still, the day is often used as an important barometer of shoppers’ mindset: what kinds of items they’re buying and what kind of discounts will lure them.


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J motion’s cameras have been rolling again at Sulgrave Manor as we captured all the fun of the annual American Independence Day celebrations. Our latest promotional video for the top Northamptonshire visitor attraction will be used on Sulgrave Manor’s website.
We spent a day in the sunshine at Sulgrave, talking to visitors and filming the battle re-enactments.
Harley Davidsons line up to celebrate all things American
Let battle commence!
Sulgrave’s gardens provide the backdrop to some very realistic combat scenes
More at www.sulgravemanor.org.uk


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The Biden administration expanded a pandemic relief program for dairy farmers on Monday to cover up to 9 million pounds of milk produced during the second half of 2020, up from the original 5 million pounds. The Agriculture Department also announced a new assistance program for organic dairy farmers, who face sharply higher feed expenses.
The USDA gained “a significant increase” in its power to prevent fraud and protect the integrity of the National Organic Program with the publication of the Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule, said Agriculture Undersecretary Jenny Moffitt on Wednesday. The rule will take effect in 2024.
California leads the nation with $3.55 billion in sales of organic agricultural products, one-third of the U.S. total, said the USDA on Thursday. The 2021 Organic Survey listed total organic sales of $11.2 billion, an increase of 13 percent in two years.
Abnormally high feed costs, partly the result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, are ruining organic livestock producers and federal relief payments are vital to keep farmers in business, said organic trade groups and businesses. "A perfect storm of trade disruptions, international conflicts and acute drought conditions has created a situation no farmer could have planned for or foreseen," said the 13 groups in a letter to lawmakers released on Monday.
The Agriculture Department will spend $300 million on an initiative to help farmers transition to organic production and on "pinpointed" market development projects, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday. It would be the single largest investment ever in organic agriculture by the USDA "and a big step in the right direction," said the Organic Trade Association.
Organic agriculture groups challenged Danone North America on Monday to match the USDA commitment to support organic dairy farming in the Northeast. "We urge Danone to invest at least $20 million in this region, matching the USDA taxpayer investment to aid organic dairy farmers overcome this crisis," said six organic groups on the anniversary of Danone's decision to terminate contracts with 89 dairy farms in the region.
The pandemic exposed the weaknesses of a food system built around large-volume production and national supply chains, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. As a remedy, he said, the USDA would help independent processors start up or expand their operations and encourage local marketing.
To help organic dairy farms survive in the Northeast, a first-of-its-kind partnership is asking consumers to pledge to buy dairy products from 35 brands that agreed to expand their purchases of milk from the farms. The Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership was a response to decisions by processors to pull out of the region, said Gary Hirshberg, a co-founder of Stonyfield, on Wednesday.
Recent polls show that a majority of Americans are concerned about climate change and willing to make lifestyle changes to address it. Other surveys show that many U.S. consumers are worried about possible health risks of eating food produced with pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones. One way to address all of these concerns is to expand organic agriculture. Organic production generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional farming, largely because it doesn’t use synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. And it prohibits using synthetic pesticides and giving hormones or antibiotics to livestock. (No paywall)
As the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) gets underway in Glasgow, a new report finds that synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than previously thought, outpacing even the commercial aviation industry. The report, from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Greenpeace and GRAIN, urges a swift transition toward more sustainable food production in order to avert the most catastrophic effects of climate change.(No paywall)
After seven years as chief executive, Laura Batcha plans to leave the Organic Trade Association next spring as the industry enjoys record food sales. With sales of $56.5 billion last year, certified organic food accounts for nearly 6 percent of the total U.S. grocery market.
Congress should provide $30 billion for climate-friendly agricultural practices and organic production in the upcoming reconciliation bill, said five dozen farm, environmental, and food groups in a letter to Democratic leaders on Wednesday.
While still a small sector of U.S. agriculture, organic agriculture is booming, reported the USDA on Thursday. Sales totaled $9.9 billion in 2019, an increase of 31 percent in three years, and 29 percent of organic farmers say they plan to expand production. There are more farms and more land in organic production — 16,585 farms and 5.5 million certified acres — than ever before.
The USDA admitted to flaws in the analysis it used to kill a regulation setting animal welfare standards for organic farms, and now faces a Sept. 8 deadline to publish a final rule with the updated cost-benefit analysis. “After these many efforts, the department should move quickly,” wrote U.S. district judge Rosemary Collyer granting voluntary remand to the USDA.
The USDA official overseeing organic agriculture said the sector, which rejects GMO crops along with the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, might benefit from gene-edited varieties. “There is the opportunity to open the discussion,” said Agriculture Undersecretary Greg Ibach.
In FERN's latest audio report, reporter Barry Yeoman delves into the fast-growing organic food sector and explores how organic agriculture is faring in the 2018 farm bill. The piece was produced for Nebraska Public Media's "On the Table" Podcast. (No paywall)
The Agricultural Marketing Service of the Department of Agriculture issued a preliminary notice Friday morning terminating the proposed organic checkoff program. The program, which was controversial among organic industry stakeholders, would have funded research and marketing for organic products. No paywall
Two months after an advisory board voted to deny organic certification to aeroponic agriculture, the USDA said aeroponic crops remain eligible for the organic seal. "USDA will consider this [advisory] recommendation; aeroponics remains allowed during this review," said the Agricultural Marketing Service in a bulletin to organic growers.


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By Taylor Haas
Special to The Globe
CARTHAGE, Mo. —
Small businesses are struggling enough in this anemic recovery — we shouldn’t have to compete with one hand tied behind our backs. But that is basically what is happening because big online-only retailers are allowed to forgo collecting sales taxes, which gives their products the illusion of being cheaper. And, of course, customers go for what they perceive as the cheapest product.
Luckily, a national solution is in the offing. But it will only become law if regular people and small-business owners stand up for those politicians brave enough to take a stand against these online behemoths.
Here in Missouri, Republican Sen. Roy Blunt is one of those taking such a brave stand. He is a co-sponsor of the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would give states the power to collect sales duties (and garner much-needed revenues without raising taxes).
The Marketplace Fairness Act is a win-win for everyone involved. Local retailers get to compete on a level playing field, online-only retailers help pay their way in the states they do business and the states get increased revenues without being subject to federal dictates.
Congress needs to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act today.


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We're only a few days away from Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Many people hope to score big deals these days - and so do criminals. According to a report featured recently in The Credit Union Times, "40% of U.S. consumers fall victim to online phishing attacks, despite 91% reporting they are aware of the existence of spoofed websites or emails of trusted brands." But phishing isn't the only scam we - and our members - need to beware of.
Criminals can place skimmers on ATM machines, gas pumps, and even checkout lanes. Skimmers scan your card data from the magnetic strip and either store it in a database or transmit it via Bluetooth to a laptop, tablet, or cell phone. Once criminals have your information, they’ll make a duplicate card and drain bank accounts, rack up charges on a person's credit card, or sell the information on the underground market.
Criminals may also attempt to hack into online accounts - something made easier if passwords aren't strong, or if someone shares information with bogus sites. The best passwords use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, and don’t use words, names or birthdays.
Take some time to review the nine crucial security tips on our website, and share them with members. For even more information, refer to our Fraud Education page, as well as our Tips to Prevent Identity Theft.


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RestaurantsTired of waiting for the bill after the meal? Pay with a QR code
Digital solutions for payment in restaurants are gaining popularity. And experience would show that staff can come out on top.
Everyone has already experienced it: a good meal at the restaurant, friendly staff and then, once you have drunk the last drop of coffee or swallowed the last spoon of the homemade dessert, it is as if you disappeared from the surface of the Earth and you have to go out of your way to ask for – and then receive – its bill.
But a solution is beginning to emerge. Already widespread in some foreign countries, Switzerland will see more and more QR codes flourish directly on restaurant tables. And not just to consult the menu, as has been widely done during the pandemic, but also to pay. There “Schweiz am Wochenende” takes stock of several start-ups that offer the solution and whose success is there.
Everyone can win
Among them, Twenty Pay, founded in Lausanne less than a year ago and which already has more than 70 customers in French-speaking Switzerland. Its co-founder, David Ben Adiba, 26, explains to the German-speaking newspaper that the practice becomes all the more interesting in the current situation of staff shortage. This one, rather than running in all directions, can save time on receipts and put it to good use for, for example, customer advice. “That’s their real passion, not counting coins and bills,” he says.
But if customers pay from their smartphone, without the supervision of the employee, will they then take advantage of it to surreptitiously skip the “tip” box? No, notes the young entrepreneur. “Our experience shows that when people pay on their smartphone, they even leave on average 40% more,” he says. As is very common in the United States, where tipping is mandatory, notes created via QR codes automatically offer idea orders for different tips, for example 5%, 10% or more, based on the amount of the bill.


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Thanksgiving marked the start of the holiday season, a time when families and friends come together in joy and harmony. Delicious meals are served and quality time is spent over turkey and pumpkin pie. The atmosphere is relaxing, away from work and other responsibilities. Except for these days, Black Friday actually starts on Thanksgiving Day in many cities.
Desperate for dollars, more and more stores have opened their doors on Thanksgiving Day itself, giving bargain hunters the opportunity to get an extra half-day of shopping in. But as the hours have grown crazier, so has the behavior. Black Friday has been marred for years by violence, but this year it may have peaked in ridiculousness.
A fight broke out in a Birmingham mall late Thanksgiving night. One person was injured in the fracas, which occurred at approximately 11 o’clock pm. Such an incident is rarely newsworthy, as these types of incidents happen dozens of times a year across the country. But this time, a person threw a shoe.
Throwing a shoe is ridiculous no matter what, but the shoe missed its target and went over the second-floor railing, striking a baby on the floor below. The baby was not seriously injured, but this only goes to show how quickly things can get out of control, and how an innocent bystander can be injured.
If you or someone you love has been injured while shopping, and you are not sure what legal avenues are available to you, please contact an experienced lawyer. A qualified attorney can walk you through the process of filing and managing your case and can help you obtain the compensation you are entitled to for your injuries.


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Because they spend so much time on the road, motorhome owners are generally more desperate to save money on fuel than the average driver who just goes a few miles each day to work and back. However, research has found that many mobile home owners don’t actually know what price the fuel they are buying actually costs and just fill up the tank when it is needed.
Research conducted for the EST’s (Energy Saving Trust) Fuel Your Passion campaign found that over half (54%) could not say what the average price of a litre of fuel was. However, an impressive 60% of them say they are aware that following eco-driving tips could help them save money; but a stubborn 40% refuse to follow those tips because they are too set in their ways. The four-month Fuel Your Passion campaign aims to inspire drivers to save money behind the wheel by driving more efficiently. An app produced by the Energy Saving Trust has also been developed for smartphones which show drivers how much can be saved by simply following some simple tips and advice. Some motorhome owners are so keen to save money on fuel that they’re happy to spend time trying to find the cheapest petrol station while others use another app that tells them the cheapest place to find fuel based on their location.
It’s not hard to see why many owners don’t know the actual price of unleaded with prices rising so quickly. The Energy Saving Trust is happy to show how the impact of these unwanted rises can be reduced. The Fuel Your Passion app shows how much money can be saved by smarter driving and what the spare cash could be spent on, such as cheaper motorhome insurance or new tyres. The research found that some motorhome owners are wasting 20p per litre. Almost 46% of male respondents say they don’t like being told what to do. In comparison, only 21% of females said they wouldn’t change the way they drive to save fuel. The study took the views of 1600 mobile home owners and was conducted by Ipsos Mori on behalf of EST.