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Bondi Obtains Judgment Against Mortgage Relief Scammers
By Space Coast Daily // May 30, 2015
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday were granted a final judgment against the Hoffman Law Group and corporate affiliates accused of using deceptive marketing practices and scamming distressed homeowners into paying illegal advance fees.
Working together, five companies conned consumers into paying millions of dollars in illegal upfront fees to join frivolous lawsuits that the companies falsely claimed would pressure banks to modify their loans or provide foreclosure relief. The court found the corporate defendants liable for more than $11.7 million—the full amount of illegal fees paid by consumers—and ordered them to pay a $10 million civil penalty to CFPB and more than $6 million in penalties to Florida.
“Scamming homeowners worried about losing their homes is not only illegal, it is despicable, and thanks to the great work of my consumer protection division and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, these defendants will pay for preying on Florida homeowners facing foreclosure,” said Florida Attorney General Bondi. “Foreclosure rescue scammers cannot evade the law by hiding behind a law firm. It is discouraging that there are attorneys out there that will allow their licenses to be used by shady companies to target people facing foreclosure.”
“These companies preyed on vulnerable consumers who were trying to save their homes from foreclosure,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “The false promises made by these companies lured struggling homeowners into scams that led to greater financial hardship. We are working to protect consumers from illegal predatory practices by holding bad actors accountable for their actions.”
The lawsuit named Hoffman Law Group, formerly Residential Litigation Group, its operators, Michael Harper, Benn Willcox, and attorney Marc Hoffman, and its affiliated companies, Nationwide Management Solutions, Legal Intake Solutions, File Intake Solutions, and BM Marketing Group, all based in North Palm Beach, Fla. The Hoffman Law Group was a law firm set up to give the appearance that consumers in financial distress needing to modify their mortgage loans or save their homes from foreclosure would get specialized help from attorneys.
The related companies, which were run by Harper and Willcox, existed to market and support the scheme. The only defendant who was actually a lawyer, Marc Hoffman, has surrendered his bar license. The defendants were charged with violating the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services rule, and certain Florida state laws that prohibit charging advance fees for mortgage loan modification and related services, making misrepresentations about loan modification services, and requiring that consumers be given certain disclosures.
To view the complaint, click here.


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T-Mobile Announces Installment Plan for Devices
Today T-Mobile announced a new program that allows customers to break up the cost of a new handset over a period of four months. The Equipment Installment Plan let those in good standing pay for purchases in four monthly interest-free installment payments instead of paying the full purchase price up front. There are no additional fees associated with the program, but customers will have to be approved for it. This will let people who may be cash-strapped spread out the cost of a new phone over time rather than pay it all at once.
T-Mobile Rolls Out Buy-One, Get-One Offer for Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6
T-Mobile said shoppers will be able to score a free Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+, or LG G6 or V20 (pictured) through a new buy-one, get-one offer that kicks off June 16. Existing T-Mobile customers need to buy both phones on an installment plan and subscribe to an unlimited data service plan in order to qualify.
Sprint Brings Back Two-Year Contracts - With A Catch
Sprint has reversed its position on contracts and starting today began offering them again as an option to customers purchasing new equipment. Sprint customers can pay full price for phones, lease them, break payments up over time, or sign a two-year contract to purchase phones at subsidized prices.
Sprint Last of Major Carriers to Launch Galaxy S7 BOGO
Sprint today followed AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless by rolling out a buy-one, get-one offer for the Samsung Galaxy S7. Customers can lease or purchase the Galaxy S7 at full retail price and receive a second for free.
AT&T Confirms Plans to Ditch Contracts
AT&T says beginning January 8, it will rely on AT&T Next as the primary avenue through which customers will purchase handsets. AT&T has historically sold handsets with two-year contracts attached to the purchase, but in recent years added the AT&T Next installment plan option.
Now that's a good thing...
LOL they just announce this now
It's a cool idea but...
Equipment Insallment Program

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LAST UPDATED : Dec 17, 2017, 04.11PM IST
- #Trending: Social awareness through fashion shows in Doon
Be it raising awareness about acid attacks or highlighting the plight of LGBTQ community, Doon has chosen a creative way to talk about serious stuff -through fashion shows. According to designers from the state, the number of fashion shows for social causes in Uttarakhand has doubled in the last one year. This is because, designers say, it’s an engaging way to talk of important, socially relevant issues.
- Top 10 fashion trends for 2017
If there is one strong trend that will rule the runway as well as the stores this year— it’s edgy glam. Experts in the fashion industry predict that the be-yourself, personality-oriented look is going to be a rage in 2017. We spoke to top fashion designers and style gurus to decipher the looks to look our for...


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- UK ad watchdog spanks Golden Tiger Casino over misleading bonus promotion
January 6, 2016
The UK’s advertising watchdog has administered a spanking to Golden Tiger Casino for misleading customers. The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint regarding an email promotion last October from the Malta-based Golden Tiger Casino. The email offered players a “£1,500 FREE! Welcome Bonus,” adding that “if you win,...


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FoodLoop is a business-to-business app which connects suppliers of surplus food to those in need of the produce.
It comes after it is estimated 6.4million tonnes of edible food is wasted in the UK every year - the equivalent of more than 15 billion meals.
The app is an initiative of the No Food Wasted forum, set up by local food and drink champions Produced in Kent in the summer of 2020.
It brings together businesses, charities, community initiatives and individuals working to reduce food waste and create greater access to good food for all in Kent and is backed by Kent County Council and other local councils.
Now, after eight months of fundraising for the project, it is going to be trialled in Kent for 12 months.
Also taking part in the pilot project will be Northamptonshire, through its Made in Northamptonshire (MiN) organisation, after it contacted Produced in Kent, keen to get involved.
Floortje Hoette, CEO of Produced in Kent, explained: "FoodLoop could be a game changer in reducing edible food waste levels in the food-producing sector.
“It enables the county’s growers, producers, butchers, farmers and shops, restaurants and pubs to connect with and get food to those who need it.
"Food-sharing apps such as OLIO and Too Good To Go have proven to be powerful online tools to minimise household food waste and redistribute surplus food directly to the consumer. FoodLoop offers a business-to-business solution, typically for larger quantities of fresh and ambient food within a county, creating a local circular economy for surplus food with a very small carbon footprint.
"Surplus food can be made into a new product or redistributed to those in need, giving more people access to a greater variety of good food. We are incredibly grateful to all the food loop champions and crowd funding donors who have helped to make this happen”.
As of this week, businesses, charities and community initiatives can register here for free to take part in the trial.
Adds the Produced in Kent chief: “Key to the success of the project is that as many organisations as possible sign up to the app and take part in the trial which runs from April 4, 2022 to February 6, 2023”.
Rachel Mallows, CEO of MiN, added:, ”Thanks to the support received from our local council we are able to participate in this exciting project. If FoodLoop is successful in Kent and Northamptonshire, then there is no reason why it could not be taken on by other counties in the UK. We have to all work together to eliminate edible food waste.”
During the trial, data will be collected to give insight into the volume of food waste being upcycled, redistributed and recycled through FoodLoop in Kent and in Northamptonshire.
This, say the team behind the project, "will help to inform further action and policy development around food waste elimination".


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The slide in UK new car sales during 2005 was more of a disappointment than a shock. No graph – except possibly that of global warming – can keep going up indefinitely and after 10 years of growth (apart from a blip in 1999), carmakers and their franchised dealers are now having to adapt to the downside of cyclical demand. It was a bit of a fool’s paradise, anyway. “Borrow against the increasing value of your house,” exhorted the High Street lenders. “Treat yourself to the holiday of a lifetime, a new car….”.
It took a slide in property prices, a hike in utility bills, the prospect of another inflation busting round of council tax rises and persistent reports of a ‘black hole’ in the economy to persuade consumers to start applying the brakes. By July, private sales – dealers’ bread and butter business – had fallen from 250,000 to 180,000.
Of the major dealer PLCs, Lookers was arguably the most weatherproofed against the return of rainy days. It reduced its dependence on new car sales by focusing more on used cars and aftersales, buying FPS and Apec – two wholesale parts distributors – and used car supermarkets the Bristol Trade Centre and Ian Shipton Cars, based at Burton-on-Trent. By September Lookers had posted a 21 per cent increase in profits on a 12 per cent rise in turnover. “New car sales are certainly not where we make our money,” said finance director David Dyson. Fred Maguire, Lookers' chairman, added: “It’s a foolish trader who relies on new car sales.”
The point was underscored by a report from Castrol Business Services which said that aftersales had the potential to contribute up to 60 per cent of a dealer’s profits, with margins on car parts of around five per cent.
Inchcape Retail, with more than 80 sites representing 16 franchises, also bucked the downward shift, its half year trading profit rising from £11.3m to £13.8m. With fleet and small business accounting for nearly half its sales, Inchcape was better protected against the slump in the retail segment.
Pendragon began the year with a bang – pre-tax profits rocketing by 47 per cent to £65m as it reaped the benefits of its takeover of CD Bramall a year earlier. But come the summer, even Britain’s biggest dealer group was feeling the pinch, with half-year pre-tax profits down £2.8m to £35.3m. That jolt seemed to whet its appetite for another acquisition, this time for Reg Vardy, another big fish to get caught on the choppy water. Vardy’s profits warning came in March and by July its pre-tax profits had dipped from £45.6m to £43.8m, despite a 6.8 per cent rise in turnover. The group’s prominence in the small car market made it particularly vulnerable to the fall in private sales.
HR Owen’s opening of a new £7.5m BMW and Mini site in west London in March gave chief executive Nick Lancaster an opportunity to highlight another aspect of tough trading conditions. He called for more backing from manufacturer partners to ease costs of operating in the London area. It was an issue close to his heart: in a 30-month period, the company acquired 30 outlets, mainly within M25 territory. BMW boss Jim O’Donnell also took up the cause, commenting: “There is a real danger that the cost of operating in London will become prohibitive.” Lancaster again cited London operating expenses, coupled with low economic confidence, when HR Owen issued a profits warning, followed by a half-year loss of £7.3m. The company has since put all five of its BMW dealerships in London up for sale.
Whatever the make up of their portfolios, most dealers found themselves in a lose-lose situation because the drop in new car sales prompted manufacturers to rein back on price rises – 0.3 per cent in Jan compared with 0.8 for the same month in ’04 – which had the knock-on effect of reducing margins. As Glass’s Market Intelligence Service put it: “Dealers are caught between a rock and a hard place. Retained margins of one per cent or less are the order of the day and new car profitability is still in decline.” PricewaterhouseCooper went a stage further, confirming what was common knowledge when it commented: “Many dealerships are selling new cars at a loss before manufacturer bonuses.”William Jacks was one of the beneficiaries of a VAT refund, but it was not enough to mask the company’s problems as it reported: “Recovery in new car volumes is critical to achieving successful performance this year.” As it turned out, half year losses were worse than feared - £25,000 more than the £800,000 prediction. Jacks, like Reg Vardy, had to count the cost of the dive in private sales which accounted for around two thirds of its customer base.
For another dealership group, Gateshead-based Priory, it was time to quit, with managing director Bill Oliver saying that even with massive investment companies the size of his could not compete with the major PLCs. One of those, Reg Vardy, stepped in to buy five of 11 Priory sites in the north east prior to Priory quitting the business.
Vardy was again among the players – along with Pendragon and Arnold Clark – in taking on 12 Kia sites, bringing the marque’s total outlets to 164. This despite grumbles from existing dealers that Kia’s sales targets were over optimistic: 45,000 cars for ’05, 12,000 more than ’04, and rising to 100,000 by the end of the decade.
European Motor Holdings followed up its intention of expanding through “complementary acquisitions” with the purchase of privately owned Smith Knight Fay (with 18 franchises in the north west) for almost £30m, while the biggest privately owned group, JCT600, continued its £27m investment over the three previous years with a new Chrysler and Jeep dealership in Wakefield and acquisition of sites in Leeds and Bradford for Porsche and Peugeot.
Meanwhile, Sytner opened a £19m BMW site in High Wycombe, Bucks, following the opening of other BMW ‘super sites’ in Gloucestershire and London’s Docklands; Marshall Motor Group expanded its Peterborough operation, spending £5m on its Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo franchises; Sunwin Motor Group unveiled a £3.7m scheme for its Midlands-based dealerships acquired from the Ilkeston Co-op Group involving around 13 dealerships; and Pendragon added five Cadillac and Corvette locations to its network at a cost of £30m.
To have Pendragon come on board for Cadillac’s second stab at the UK market – the first having ended so ignominiously – gave credibility to General Motors’ puzzling decision to promote the Caddie as its premier badge rather than Saab. But fewer than 200 registrations (a mix of demonstrators and actual sales) of both Cadillac and Corvette by the autumn fell far short of the 500 sales target for ’05.
Rather than throw in the towel, like Priory, in January a collection of Davids took on the Goliaths with the launch of the Retail Automotive Alliance. It comprised 20 groups operating 155 sites with a combined turnover of more than £2bn.
Those behind the joint venture were at pains to point out that its purpose was not to go head to head with the likes of Ford (its core members are Blue Oval dealers) over vehicle pricing. Rather, its main purpose was to share the benefits of collective buying on consumables and, longer term, car rental.
Collectives like the RAA will need an extra dose of steroids if they really hope to muscle in on the retail agenda set by manufacturers. Block exemption reforms were intended to address the imbalance between carmakers and their franchised network and the independent sector. But developments during ‘05 still pointed to the piper calling the tune. The blunt message from vehicle manufacturers was: If you want to be part of our franchise, here’s what it will cost. And for those with aspirations to become an ‘approved repairer’, that much vaunted part of block exemption intended to give independent garages a share of warranty work, the message was the same.
One of the RMI’s Dealer Satisfaction studies concluded that manufacturers were exerting even more control than ever. Brain Spratt, chief executive of the Automotive Distribution Federation, commented: “Markets generally buck the attempts of others to regulate them.”
Market forces also decreed that Birmingham’s NEC was never going to cut the mustard as the UK’s motor show venue and, after a 30 year absence, the SMMT decided to move it back to London - not at the down-at-heel Earl’s Court but in the swankier setting of Docklands. The date has changed too, from May to July.
Coming and goings
Vauxhall chairman and MD Kevin Wale left the UK to head GM’s China operation. Jonathan Browning took over as chairman of Vauxhall, in addition to roles at GM Europe, with Bill Parfitt taking on dual roles as MD and sales director.
Giulio Salomone arrived from Turin to become MD of Fiat Auto UK.
Roger Putnam retired as chairman of Ford of Britain and took over as SMMT president from Tod Evans, former UK chairman of Peugeot Citroen. Stephen Odell filled Putnam’s place at Ford from Mazda.
Former Euro Disney boss Andre Lacroix became chief executive of Inchcape, succeeding Peter Johnson, who took on the role of non-executive chairman.
Xavier Duchemin was appointed MD of Citroen UK, replacing Alain Favey who moved to Italy.
RMI franchised dealer director Alan Pulham retired after 15 years, replaced by external affairs head Sue Robinson.
Rover: the story so far
Anyone with the remotest interest in motor industry affairs must be wearily familiar with the background to the collapse of MG Rover in ’05. How four businessmen invested £240,000 in return for a £lbn ‘dowry’ from BMW. How the so-called Phoenix Four spent that cash – and more – to keep the company afloat, while benefiting to the tune of £40m in pension, pay and other benefits. Along the way, there were abortive joint venture talks with Proton and China Brilliance and a minor collaboration with Tata, which produced the disastrous City Rover. Then, with losses over four years amounting to more than £600m, the company turned to another Chinese carmaker, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, to bail it out. SAIC cherry picked its way to the intellectual property rights for Rover cars, worth £67m, and then No. 2 on the Chinese menu of bidders, Nanjing Automotive, secured a deal for £50m,which saw it stripping out MG Rover's Longbridge factory for shipment to its home base.
What remains of the company’s UK’s operation is still in the melting wok, and a government inquiry into the saga – including the DTI’s 11th-hour involvement – is awaited. One beneficiary is administrator PricewaterhouseCooper whose bill so far comes to £5.6m. Losers - apart from the workforce – are dealerships which had MG Rover franchises. They include Pendragon (£3m), Reg Vardy (£2.8m) and Caffyns (£2.1m).
As for the legacy of the Phoenix Four, Professor Chris Brady of the Sir John Cass Business School said: “They kept 6,000 people in work for five years and gave time for the suppliers in the area to diversify and not to be so reliant on Rover.”
“It’s a foolish trader who relies on new car sales” - Lookers’ chairman Fred Maguire
“There is a real danger that the cost of operating in London will become prohibitive” - BMW boss Jim O’Donnell.
“Dealers are caught between a rock and a hard place” - Glass’s Market Intelligence Service.
“Markets generally buck the attempts of others to regulate them” - Brain Spratt, chief executive of the Automotive Distribution Federation.
“Despite the fact that many sectors, including the retail motor industry, are suffering from a skills shortage, the government still does not fully commit to the concept of vocational training being equal to an academic course” - Stephen Ramsay, MD of training provider ReMIT.
“They kept 6,000 people in work for five years and gave time for the suppliers in the area to diversify and not to be so reliant on Rover” - Professor Chris Brady of the Sir John Cass Business School on the legacy of the Phoenix Four.
Record year for car launches
‘Spoilt for choice’ took on an extra dimension for consumers as 2005 saw an unprecedented total of 76 all-new models launched in the UK – 55 per cent up on the previous year. The sheer range of models and their variants – estimated by EurotaxGlass’s to number more than 6,000 – prompted the company to point out that dealers face an “unenviable task” in selecting products for showroom display.
GM and Fiat decided to split after a four-year partnership. It cost GM more than £1bn to buy its way out of a commitment to take over Fiat. Ford and Fiat announced a ‘co-operation’ deal to produce replacements for Ka and Cinquecento.
Ford stopped production of Jaguars at Browns Lane.Norwich Union bought the RAC for £1.1bn to secure an extra foothold for car insurance, loans and roadside assistance cover.
Introduction of Financial Services Authority regulations governing the sale of insurance and warranty products.
CVC Capital, the private equity company that bought Kwik-Fit from Ford for £350m in 2002, sold it to another private equity group, PAI Partners, for £800m.Roll-out of MoT computerisation to more than 19,000 test stations. As with most computer projects, there were problems, with the RMI reporting delays among its members in getting through to the helpline.
Daewoo disappeared as GM brought it within the Chevrolet brand
It must have been a grave-turning moment for Henry Ford when the company he founded and which went on to become an icon of corporate America was reduced to junk bond status. Ford was not the only behemoth which fell to the iconoclasts – General Motors went the same route, while Toyota stormed to a third successive year of record profits, giving it a ‘triple A’ loans rating.
GM and Ford’s plight prompted a hitherto incredible question: Could these two companies actually go bust? It’s still not too improbable. Delphi, GM’s one-time parts division and still its main supplier, was driven into bankruptcy along with a series of other suppliers because of relentless pressure from paymasters to reduce component costs. In desperation, GM intends to shed 30,000 jobs and close five assembly plants, and is trying to sell the family silver, its GMAC loans business which generates more profits than vehicle sales. GM and Ford have also reverted to discounting, despite stated intentions to move away from price-cutting their way out of trouble. GM reduced ‘incentives’ by nearly nine per cent in the autumn and for its efforts saw its share of the US car and light truck market slide to a record low of 22.1 per cent, with share prices at their lowest for 13 years.
In October, average discounts on GM products were $3,062, compared with Ford ($2,820) and Chrysler ($3,075). Price cutting only served to reinforce the message being sent out by American consumers that its nation’s Big Three still haven’t got an answer to overseas competition: Asian carmakers offered discounts of only $1,247 per vehicle in October.
Adding to GM’s burden are pension and healthcare liabilities, not only covering its own employees but those on Delphi’s books when it offloaded the parts supplier in 1999.
Ford, too, is saddled with employee-related liabilities, a lacklustre performance by its Premier Automotive Group and sliding sales of its volume business. Like GM, Ford spun off its parts operation – Visteon – but took it back into the fold after five years rather than see it head the way of Delphi. Chrysler, at one time the weakest of the Big Three, meanwhile showed that recovery can be achieved through tough doctoring. It was carried out by Dieter Zetsche who has now turned his attention to Mercedes-Benz after taking over as head of DaimlerChrysler.
Standards still below par
Talk about skills shortages has become as commonplace as moans about the weather, and ‘initiatives’ to overcome them are as thick on the ground as autumn leaves, along with complaints about shoddy workshop standards. The latest report came from Trading Standards which examined 88 cars after they’d been worked on by a variety of garages (most of them members of the RMI and SMTA) and pronounced that 77 of them were below par.
This was shortly followed by the launch of Automotive Technician Accreditation to benchmark the skills and competence of individuals. It was no knee-jerk reaction to damning findings from the likes of Trading Standards and the Consumers’ Association, but the culmination of three years’ development work – mainly led by the IMI which is now responsible for governing the scheme. Industry organisations, under the auspices of the sector skills body for the retail motor industry, Automotive Skills, are now working to extend the ATA programme to other jobs, including those in aftersales.
While applauding the introduction of ATA, one correspondent to Motor Industry Magazine said its success would depend on “a culture change” to provide those in the workshop with equal status and rewards to those of salespeople.
Culture change was a theme taken up by Stephen Ramsay, MD of training provider ReMIT, but this time directed at government. He was critical of the continuing drive to get more people into university, claiming it would harm efforts to attract young people into vocational education. “Despite the fact that many sectors, including the retail motor industry, are suffering from a skills shortage, the government still does not fully commit to the concept of vocational training being equal to an academic course,” said Ramsay.
Elsewhere on the training front, Thatcham opened a new apprentice training centre, prompted by research which found that only one third of bodyshops take on apprentices, and the British Standards Institute introduced its Kitemark scheme for garage standards. This followed the RMI’s abandonment of another standards programme, CarWise, which was turned down at the second stage of its development by the Office of Fair Trading. The bodyshop sector was more successful, with OFT approval for standards drawn up by the Vehicle Builders and Repairers’ Association.
Failure of Carwise cost the RMI £500,000, a bill it could ill afford given an ‘04 operating loss of £1.5m, a six per cent fall in membership subscriptions, and a £5.6m shortfall in its pension fund. Heart searching led to the redundancies of three divisional heads, the appointment of a director of sales and marketing, and a pledge from new president Keith Sayfritz to make the organisation “more dynamic, cost effective and vocal”.


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Canadian industry association Magazines Canada has released the 2009 edition of its Consumer Magazine Factbook.
According to a news release, the book “contains 72 pages of new and updated industry information and research.” It includes information for media planners, advertisers and magazine sales professionals.
In a blog post titled “Magazine fact book brings good news in the face of hard times,” magazine consultant D.B. Scott notes:
“While the purpose of the publication is unabashedly to spin a good story, it is hard not to come away from it without feeling that we’re in a robust and resilient business.”
A French version of the book will be released soon and a Business Media Factbook is set to be created as well (“in the coming months”).
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Representation is so important in Hollywood!
And Camila Mendes is giving her take on it! In a recent interview, the “Riverdale” starlet not only told the story about how she got started in the entertainment industry, but dished on why it’s so important that her show makes changes from the original comic to add representation where there may not be any.
Camila even reveals that fans of the show have reached out to her saying they feel represented as Latinas with her portrayal as Veronica. She’s realizing that now, at 24-years-old, she has a chance to make a difference and is working on using her platform to do just that. We can’t wait to see what Camila has in store for the future!
“The fact that Veronica’s Latina was something that I thought was a very positive change to make. Also, the fact that it’s a Latinx family is very important because we’re being portrayed in a way that not all Latinx characters get to be portrayed. They’re powerful and sophisticated, and I think that’s not something you see a lot in the media.”
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Camila recently dished on her friendship with co-star Lili Reinhart!


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According to a recent Wall Street Journal piece, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 3,811 religious discrimination complaints last year.
While this number represents a dip from the record 4,151 religious-discrimination claims brought to the EEOC in 2011, the article notes that religion-based complaints have more than doubled in the past 15 years, and are growing at “a faster clip” than claims involving race, age, sex or disability, for example.
Part of this uptick “comes from employees—Muslims, Christians, Seventh-Day Adventists and others—who were denied requests to avoid work on Sabbath days,” according to the article. “Conflicts have also erupted over workers’ appearance, particularly in jobs requiring uniforms, involving food preparation and in image-focused fashion retailing.”
In September, for instance, New Albany, Ohio-based clothing chain Abercrombie & Fitch settled EEOC lawsuits involving two Muslim women and their hijabs, the veils typically worn to cover the head and chest of Muslim females. In one case, former employee Umme-Hani Khan said she was fired after an A & F manager said her hijab violated the company’s “Look Policy” dress code. The other suit alleged Abercrombie refused to hire an applicant who wore a hijab. Per the settlement, the retailer will inform applicants that exceptions to its “Look Policy” may be available, and must also regularly review its religious accommodation decisions and report to the EEOC twice annually.
Also in September, the EEOC sued Canonsburg, Pa.-based Consol Energy Inc., alleging the company pushed a long-time employee to retire after he objected to using a new biometric hand scanning device that tracks employee time and attendance. According to the claim, the employee repeatedly told mine officials that submitting to a biometric hand scanner violated his beliefs as an Evangelical Christian, and wrote a letter explaining the relationship between hand-scanning technology and the Mark of the Beast discussed in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament.
Earlier this year, the EEOC filed a suit charging that Star Transport Inc. refused to provide two employees with an accommodation of their religious beliefs when it terminated their employment because they refused to deliver alcohol.
Despite the growing number of religious discrimination complaints being brought to the EEOC, it remains a small number that actually reach the litigation stage. In fact, the EEOC filed nine religion-based lawsuits in fiscal year 2012, a drop from 15 in 2011 and 24 in 2010.
Still, settlements of religious discrimination claims such as those leveled against Abercrombie & Fitch often oblige companies to provide training and meet other requirements, as seen in Abercrombie & Fitch’s case. Other organizations may be wise to take note, as these settlements should serve “as a teaching example for other employers,” Jeanne Goldberg, senior attorney advisor with the EEOC, told the Wall Street Journal.


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Xiaomi is ready to hit the floors of Indian market with its most talked about smartphone Xiaomi 12 Pro. Moreover, the device is already surfacing online from past few weeks hinting about its offerings and more. In addition, the company’s head Manu Kumar Jain hints through its social media handle regarding the launch date. The company’s twitter handle gives idea that the company will announce the launch date of Xiaomi 12 Pro on April 12. The company’s official Twitter handle reads that ‘ Stay tuned to our page for a special announcement on the April 12 2022’. Furthermore, this device is already available in Chinese market from last year December and in Global market recently. Now, this device will make its entrance in India this year.
Xiaomi 12 Pro specifications and details
The company is going to announce the launch date of upcoming Xiaomi 12 Pro on April 12. In addition, it seems that the launch of the device is around the corners as device is already online multiple times. Moreover, the Xiaomi 12 Pro features 6.73-inch Quad HD+ AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and 1500 nits peak brightness. The display has HDR10+ certification and is protected by Corning Gorilla glass Victus protection.
Moreover, the device gets power from an Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor with Adreno 730 GPU. In addition, the device carries up to 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 internal storage configuration. The device will run Android 12 with MIUI 13 out of the box.


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And the hits just keep on coming for Apple, Inc.
Recently we’ve talked about reception problems with Apple’s iPhone 4, a possible class action over iPhone locking, and the US Copyright Office’s decision that jailbreaking an iPhone isn’t illegal; now there’s another legal action in the works against the software giant.
On July 23, a potential class action lawsuit against Apple was filed in a California federal court, alleging that the company’s new iPad tablet “does not live up to the reasonable consumer’s expectations created by Apple insofar as the iPad overheats so quickly under common weather conditions that it does not function for prolonged use outdoors, or in many other warm conditions.”
The complaint refers to the iPad’s use in direct sunlight, which the suit alleges, causes the unit to overheat and turn off. One of the iPad’s main selling points is that it allows users to read magazines and books, and indeed, the three plaintiffs in the case claim they were tricked by Apple’s assurance that “reading on iPad is just like reading a book.”
“Using the iPad is not ‘just like reading a book’ at all,” the complaint states, “since books do not close when the reader is enjoying them in the sunlight or in other normal environmental conditions.”
The plaintiffs, who are seeking certification as a class, allege that Apple has engaged in deceptive advertising and fraud and has sold defective iPads to customers.
Apple sold over 3 million iPads in the second fiscal quarter, with the $2.17 billion in sales representing nearly 15% of the company’s revenues. ComputerWorld has gathered a list of complaints of iPad overheating that have been placed around the Internet since the units were first sold.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages; Apple has had no comment on the pending litigation.


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As a pioneer in the creator economy, we’ve long dedicated ourselves to providing new and innovative ways for our talented roster of creator partners to reach wider audiences and expand their brands. Our mission has always been to turn the thriving video creators of today into the digital icons of tomorrow by bringing them new opportunities. In our latest effort toward achieving this goal, we’ve partnered with Spotify, the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, to bring creators’ video content to the platform for the first time via Spotify for Podcasters.
The deal comes on the heels of Spotify’s Stream On event in March 2023, where the streaming giant unveiled the reimagined Spotify for Podcasters that features a host of new opportunities and tools for creators to create and build communities on Spotify. We trust that Spotify’s 500 million global users will empower our partners to grow, level up their content, and build lasting connections with fans all over the world.
As part of this new deal, Jellysmack will help our brilliant creator partners expand onto Spotify by optimizing and distributing their video content onto the video-friendly Spotify for Podcasters platform. The podcasting one-stop-shop contains impressive features like video podcasting, interactive episodes that offer voting capabilities, subscriptions, and robust data that creators can use to make smart decisions about their content. The platform also offers flexibility to watch the content or just listen to the audio like a traditional podcast.
“We’re thrilled to introduce Jellysmack’s top-performing creators to our platform,” said Bryan Thoensen, Head of US Content Partnerships, Spotify. “We want creators to develop deep relationships with the Spotify community, and this partnership is about elevating creators and offering new experiences for our listeners.”
At Jellysmack, we’re always looking for revenue- and growth-driving opportunities for our partners, and with Spotify’s global appeal and millions of users, this is a major step forward for everyone in the JellyFam.
“Jellysmack is thrilled to partner with Spotify, the leader in audio streaming, to provide our creators yet another new platform to grow and connect with audiences,” said Sean Atkins, President of Jellysmack. “Together we’re unlocking new opportunities for creators to share and monetize their work.”
To get the partnership going, we carefully selected creators from our roster to help them launch video episodes (that are also audio-only friendly) on Spotify for Podcasters.
For automotive expert and creator Ed Bolian of VINwiki, the Spotify opportunity will help him reach more auto fans where they are.
“Car enthusiasts are everywhere, which is why I’m thrilled to bring my video content to the Spotify platform with Jellysmack to reach even more fans,” shares Ed Bolian, creator of VINwiki. “This is a major step for the VINwiki brand and creators as a whole—Spotify has introduced a new opportunity for massive growth, monetization, and success. I’m ready to enjoy the ride.”
Here’s a list of the additional creators who are premiering their content on Spotify for Podcasters:
We’re all hooked on true crime storytellers, but what sets Jessica Kent apart from the pack is that she offers a very unique perspective on felonies … because she has previously spent time in prison. This former inmate-turned-true crime creator uses deeply personal stories from her time behind bars to explore all sorts of prison politics. In this episode, she breaks down some of the rules she learned from life in lockup. Spoiler alert: they’re nuts.
Understanding your rights as a citizen is essential, especially when it comes to encounters with law enforcement. That’s where Audit the Audit comes in, discussing the right and wrong behind all sorts of police interactions. In this episode, Audit the Audit explores the unlawful arrest of a legal defender.
Christina Randall (coming soon)
True crime creator Christina Randall shines a spotlight on shocking cases that you might not have heard of. Her series, Crime Report with Christina Randall, will bring the same can’t-stop-watching content Christina is known for on YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, and most recently, Roku, to a whole new audience on Spotify.
Brooke Makenna (coming soon)
This true crime-focused creator maintains a victim-forward angle to help bring awareness to cases that need it most. On her Motives and Malice with Brooke Makenna video podcast on Spotify, Brooke will be able to shine an even bigger spotlight on the cases she discusses. Her FAST series of the same name also premiered on The Roku Channel on April 3.
“The five creators who are kicking things off in this program are true storytellers, and we can’t wait to see Spotify’s audience discover and fall in love with their content,” said Stef Schwartz, Global Head of Platform Partnerships at Jellysmack.
”Police encounters, car talk, and true crime content is able to translate across so many platforms, whether you’re watching or just listening.”Stefanie Schwartz, Jellysmack’s Global Head of Platform Partnerships
The partnership marks the continued expansion of Jellysmack’s creator program, where we optimize, distribute, and promote creator content across various platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, The Roku Channel, and more. We’re always looking for new ways to help creators reach more fans and expand their brands, and with Spotify’s massive reach, the future definitely looks bright.


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Univera Healthcare Stresses Importance Of Breakfast
Many people who have lost weight and kept it off eat breakfast, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The old saying is absolutely true, breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” said Patricia Salzer, a registered dietitian and a health and wellness consultant at Univera Healthcare. “To ‘break’ the ‘fast,’ start your days with a step in the right direction. Our bodies, including our brains and muscles, require energy to work. This is especially important after we have gone for hours without eating.”
One in 10 U.S. consumers does not eat breakfast, according to a 2011 study by The NPD Group, a marketing research company. Males who are 18 to 34 years old are the ones most likely to skip breakfast.
“Eating breakfast is important since what you consume affects your energy level for the rest of the day,” Salzer said.
She recommends consuming carbohydrates with fiber, plus protein and fat.
“This will delay symptoms of hunger and help you feel full until the next meal,” she said.
Salzer offers several breakfast tips.
Sick of traditional breakfast foods? Try eating:
Last night’s leftovers
Hummus on toast
Rice and beans
Brown rice with fruit, nuts and cinnamon (similar to oatmeal)
Breakfast foods can be low in calories, high in nutrients. Give these nutritious breakfast options a try:
Greek yogurt with fruit
Oatmeal with nuts
Whole grain toast topped with low-fat ricotta cheese and fruit
Whole-wheat tortilla filled with lots of sauteed vegetables and scrambled eggs
For those not hungry at breakfast time, start with a lighter meal:
A glass of chocolate milk
A piece of toast or some yogurt
Then, have a mid-morning snack to complete the meal by eating:
A hard-boiled egg
Cheese and fruit
For more quick breakfast fixes that will help people manage their weight, visit: www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/manage-your-weight-with-breakfast.


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Toolstation’s retail portfolio continues to expand with three new stores announced in the last two weeks.
Toolstation Pontypridd is to open on Monday 22nd August, based on Main Avenue in Treforest Industrial Estate.
One week later, Toolstation Blackburn will be opening its doors for business on Monday 29th August, set in Drumstone Trade Park, Grimshaw Park.
Finally, a Glasgow branch is to open Monday 5th September at The Point, Saracen Street.
Toolstation is headquartered in Bridgwater, Somerset and was established in 2003. Travis Perkins owns the company.


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Earlier Friday, a photo of supposed new Michigan alternate uniforms may have accidentally leaked via a retail magazine named MDen. We won’t speculate as to whether there’s a reason that just hours later, the program unveiled the new threads it will be wearing for this year’s “Under The Lights” game against Penn State…
Adidas and Michigan tweeted out photos of what they’re calling the Wolverines’ “Go Blue” alternate uniforms. The TECHFIT digs have a blue base with maize lettering, gloves and cleats. The lettering is also striped across.
— adidas Football US (@adidasFballUS) August 9, 2014
— Michael Ehrlich (@adidasUSPRGuy) August 9, 2014
Up close of Michigan jersey for October 11 game vs Penn State pic.twitter.com/5qwYtyBhnX
— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) August 9, 2014
— Michigan Football (@umichfootball) August 9, 2014
We mentioned earlier that they might look similar to the 2011 version that Michigan wore – but they had maize pants for that set. This time, it’s all blue. Here’s a quick video the program unveiled along with the photos.
Michigan fans – what do we think?


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Boulder, Colo. On November 10, Hill’s Pet Nutrition and Bond Pet Foods, Inc. About a strategic partnership to advance the sustainability of Hill’s pet food formulas with fermented proteins. Rich Kleiman, founder and CEO of Bond Pet Foods, has since shared details about the partnership with him pet food processing, including prospects going forward for the pet feed biotech company.
“Hill’s collaboration with Bond is part of a sustainability mission focused on combining high-quality pet nutrition with what’s best for the planet – as a way to leave the world a better place for people and pets,” Kleiman said. “The relationship is strengthened by Plug and Play, a global innovation platform that works with startups that create ideas to transform animal health and agriculture. As a founding partner of Plug and Play’s Topeka office located at the KC Animal Health Corridor, Hill works collaboratively with the organization to support businesses Selected startups and work with them on strategic collaborations and pilot programmes, such as Bond Pet Foods.”
In fact, Bond Pet Foods was one of 10 companies from across the US, Australia, Spain, UK and Sweden selected to participate in the inaugural Plug and Play competition in 2020.
Together, Hill’s and Bond will explore the possible applications of target meat protein in dog and cat formulations and across various forms. The number of products to be included in this sustainable reformulation project will be determined by this discovery phase, Kelleman shared, and the specific nature of the target meat protein has not yet been announced.
“The product and regulation review process will determine the timing,” he said. “We plan to follow the appropriate product innovation development process, conduct the necessary trials and obtain all necessary regulatory approvals prior to market launch.”
Bond Pet Foods will manufacture the cultured meat proteins, and Hill’s Pet Nutrition will retain the marketing rights for these proteins.
Kelleman also noted that while Bond remains focused on its collaboration with Hill’s at this time, the biotech company may look to leverage other industry relationships to accelerate the arrival and impact of meatless pet nutrition protein solutions.
“In our food laboratory in Boulder, we have demonstrated that we can produce a large number of meat proteins with our technology platform,” he said. “While the focus was initially on target protein for chicken and cardamom, this work is ongoing.”
On the horizon, Bond Pet Foods aims to introduce more of its pet nutrition products from farmed meat protein, after launching its inaugural product – protein-packed dog treat bars – in May 2020.
Read more about Product development, ingredients and formulation.


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Bugbear has announced Next Car Game has "reached and topped" the developer's original campaign funding goal in just a week after the availability of Early Access through pre-orders.more
The milestone was met "only a couple of days before Christmas," and sales of the title doubled during the holiday week. The firm also announced that the game's demo has been downloaded over 50,000 times.
"It was the first time we were going to show the game to everyone, and we were very anxious to hear the feedback, but the game took the Internet by storm: the first Early Access release doubled the sales of the title during the Christmas week," said Bugbear in a statement.
"Last autumn, we had a stretch of bad luck with our Kickstarter campaign, and it didn’t reach the goal we were aiming for. Even so, we didn’t lose our faith in the game and wanted to get it in the hands of the players as soon as possible. And thanks to our great supporters, we really couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas present.
"All this is of course a testament to how awesome crowd of supporters we are fortunate enough to have. Although our game is still at a pretty early stage, and as such, contains many missing features and numerous bugs, the players have loved what we already got and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve already received a plenty of smart suggestions for future improvements, some of which will of course find their way into the final game.
"During the coming months we’re going to give the game a lot of polish as well as implement new exciting features, and our Early Access supporters have an opportunity to experience the game as it develops and get involved in the development."
Next Car Game is in development for PC with console versions possible later if enough money is raised.
You can look over the latest set of screenshots through the official website.


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- Who has the fastest 5g?
- Is 5g in use in USA?
- Who has 5g in the US?
- Is LTE faster than 5g?
- Which carrier will have the best 5g?
- Which countries have the most 5g network?
- Which countries have banned 5g technology?
- Is T Mobile 5g better than Verizon?
- When did China get 5g?
- Who invented 5g?
- What company makes 5g chips for Apple?
- Who is the leader in 5g technology?
- What country has 5g first?
- Which companies will dominate 5g?
- Where is 10g in world?
- Who are the big players in 5g?
- Which country use 6g network?
Who has the fastest 5g?
AT&TAT&T* has the fastest nationwide 5G network for Q3 2020.
This comes on the heels of the 7th quarter in a row that we’ve also won overall fastest wireless network2 in the nation and fastest wireless network for iPhones3 in Q3 2020, according to the latest results from Ookla® Speedtest®..
Is 5g in use in USA?
As of Jan. 2020, 5G had been deployed in 50 cities in the United States. Sprint has rolled out mobile 5G in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Kansas City, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C. AT&T has made its mobile 5G+ network live for consumers in parts of 35 cities and 190 markets.
Who has 5g in the US?
AT&T certainly has one of the most impressive lists of cities with available 5G coverage. AT&T has launched the majority of its 5G network for business use. AT&T started with millimeter wave, or mmWave before the more recent release of the Samsung Galaxy S20 5G alongside its low-band 850Mhz deployment for consumers.
Is LTE faster than 5g?
“The main advantage that 5G offers over 4G LTE is faster speeds — primarily because there will be more spectrum available for 5G, and it uses more advanced radio technology,” Els Baert, director of marketing and communications at NetComm, told Digital Trends.
Which carrier will have the best 5g?
VerizonVerizon has started rolling out its 5G Ultra Wideband mobile service, which it claims is 10 times faster than some other 5G networks. Verizon has four unlimited plans, and you get 5G access included on the top three of those: Play More, Do More, or Get More Unlimited.
Which countries have the most 5g network?
Leading the pack is South Korea with coverage in 85 cities. China takes second place with 57 cities, followed by the US with 50 and the UK with 31. The remaining countries in the top ten for 5G are Saudi Arabia, Spain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, Germany, and Romania.
Which countries have banned 5g technology?
As of December 12, 2019, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan and the U.S. have decided to ban and phase out the company’s products within their mobile networks. Meanwhile, the UK has banned the company from contributing core parts to 5G technology, cutting Huawei’s share in the country’s new network to 35 percent.
Is T Mobile 5g better than Verizon?
Verizon’s fastest median 5G download speed in the report was 255Mbps, compared to T-Mobile’s 82.5Mbps. … And while Verizon has the least 5G coverage, its 5G speeds remain unmatched as even its 4G LTE network speeds “often rival the 5G speeds of other carriers,” a Rootmetrics report showed Monday.
When did China get 5g?
November 1Chinese carriers officially launched 5G services in the world’s largest market on November 1, but the coverage remains limited only to major Chinese cities and key areas in lower-tier cities for the initial rollout.
Who invented 5g?
Verizon led the way in developing and deploying 5G and accelerating 5G innovation. In 2015, we created the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF)—bringing together key partners like Ericsson, Qualcomm, Intel and Samsung—to move the entire 5G ecosystem forward.
What company makes 5g chips for Apple?
QualcommQualcomm, the leading supplier of microprocessors in China, will supply chips for Apple’s 5G iPhones.
Who is the leader in 5g technology?
EricssonEricsson Emerges as 5G Leader After U.S. Bruises Huawei – WSJ.
What country has 5g first?
South KoreaSouth Korea was the first country to have 5G networks and devices that used them at the same time.
Which companies will dominate 5g?
Analysts like these 5G stocks:Verizon Communications (VZ)T-Mobile US (TMUS)Apple (AAPL)Nokia Corp. (NOK)Broadcom (AVGO)Analog Devices (ADI)Qualcomm (QCOM)
Where is 10g in world?
Korea launches UCLP-enabled 10 Gigabits per second (10G) Korea-North America and Korea-China network circuits in August 2005, making the first major step towards the 10G GLORIAD network ring around the northern hemisphere.
Who are the big players in 5g?
Some of the key players in Global 5G Infrastructure market include Qualcomm, Samsung, Huawei, Verizon Communications, Cisco, AT& T, ZTE, and China Mobile. Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
Which country use 6g network?
ChinaChina starts development of 6G, having just turned on its 5G mobile network. China has officially launched research and development work for its 6G mobile networks. The country only just turned on its 5G networks earlier this month, ahead of an initial 2020 schedule.


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Kuala Lumpur Luxury Homes and villas
Kuala Lumpur Luxury Property Search
World-renowned luxury designer Jimmy Choo recently signed on as endorser and ambassador for Star Development, an upscale, mixed-use project in Kuala Lumpur City Centre.
You can now own a custom-made freehold bungalow in Damansara Heights, the most exclusive neighbourhoods in Kuala Lumpur positioned high up on the hills in the midst of a quiet surrounding, located les...
The Westside One enjoys the benefit and prestige of being located in Desa ParkCity, a visionary master planned township. Desa ParkCity, Kuala Lumpur, covering 473 acres of prime freehold land, is one ...
Two penthouse units located in the centre of Kuala Lumpur were recently each reserved for an estimated RM37 million (US$12.2 million), according to local newspaper The Star.
Hamptons International will unveil its latest high-end Malaysian residential development, The Mews, in a two-day exclusive exhibition to be held at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.
The number of branded residences in Kuala Lumpur is set to rise in coming years. International brand names, including St. Regis, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Banyan Tree and Harrods are all soon to be ...


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Google final week launched a brand new video format, VR180, developed with enter from its Daydream group.
The VR180 format, which shows what’s in entrance of the consumer solely, delivers good video high quality each on desktop PCs and cellular units.
While VR180 movies seem in 2D on desktops and cellular units, they seem in 3D VR when seen with Cardboard, Google’s Daydream headset or Sony’s PlayStation VR headset.
The VR180 Creative Process
Creators “don’t have to choose between making a 360 video and/or providing new content for their subscribers,” stated Google spokesperson Liz Markman.
“It’s easy for creators to start producing VR videos since they won’t have to change up their filming style or production techniques,” she informed TechNewsWorld. “There’s no need to think about what’s behind the camera.”
YouTube helps VR180, so it “works anywhere YouTube is,” Markman identified. VR180 additionally helps live-streaming movies.
Video creators can arrange and movie movies identical to they might with another digital camera. They can use their present gear, or eligible creators can apply to borrow a VR180-enabled digital camera from a
YouTube Space in sure cities, together with London, Paris and New York.
They quickly might be in a position to edit the movies utilizing acquainted instruments resembling Adobe Premiere Pro.
Content creation points apart, “VR headsets are still very intrusive and cumbersome,” noticed Trip Chowdhry, managing director for fairness analysis at Global Equities Research.
“The VR industry is still not ready to take off,” he advised TechNewsWorld.
Making VR Technology Less Expensive
Companies together with
Yi Technology, Lenovo and LG have dedicated to constructing cameras from the bottom up for VR180.
They can be as straightforward to use as point-and-shoot cameras and price about the identical, in accordance to Google’s Markman.
The cameras shall be obtainable this winter. They will goal shoppers and “will be tightly integrated into our services, like YouTube, so it’s easy to go from filming to uploading,” Markman identified.
Google will supply a VR180 certification for different producers.
Z Cam shall be one among its first companions.
Both the VR digital camera area and VR video content material are forecast to expertise “tremendous growth,” stated Sam Rosen, a vice chairman at ABI Research.
Each phase will hit almost US$7 billion by 2021, he advised TechNewsWorld.
Clever Use of Technology
VR180 halves the viewing angle so shoppers viewing movies on browsers and smartphones will see two 180-degree pictures of an object, one with every eye.
This “is more natural and pervasive from a camera technology standpoint,” ABI’s Rosen noticed.
Google is not the primary firm to supply this functionality, he stated. Lucid VR will ship this month, for instance.
However, based mostly on its analysis of early variations of the know-how, ABI has “found it failed to adequately handle some of the complexity with 3D video,” stated Rosen
It’s probably that Google will combine VR180 into wearables, together with sensible glasses, to compete with Snapchat, he steered.
Not Yet Ready for Prime Time
The VR180 format has purposes in numerous segments, reminiscent of demo movies in the actual property and artwork fields; as productiveness instruments for distant staff; and maybe gaming, as a part of a combined reality platform, stated Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.
The ease of improvement and use lets anybody create VR content material “with relatively inexpensive equipment,” he informed TechNewsWorld. “This is much better than offering a high-end solution that takes years for an OEM to develop a solution that’s offered at a high cost to consumers.”
That stated, “it’s interesting that we see these new video formats being adopted in alternative media spaces like social networking and YouTube videos, not traditional media,” McGregor famous. “This is possibly because the user base is still too small.”


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Thursday, December 20, 2012
Local retailers will be open late on Thursday to accommodate holiday shoppers.
Still have some last-minute holiday shopping to do? Downtown Ferndale retailers will make it easy for you tonight by staying open late for "Merry Midnight Madness." The event, which is part of the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority's Third Thursdays initiative, encourages shoppers to check out the city's unique local stores as well as the vendors at the Rust Belt Market. Many stores will stay open late to accommodate late-night shoppers, though exact hours vary. The Twisted Shamrock, for example, will be open until 11 p.m., and Modern Natural Baby will stay open until 10 p.m. Also at Modern Natural Baby on Thursday night, the store is offering 20 percent off on all toys and clothes. Owner Emily Murray said it's a way of saying thanks …
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
The market continues expanded hours for the 12 days of Christmas.
The Rust Belt Market began its 12 days of Christmas last week, offering expanded hours to give customers more opportunities for holiday shopping. The market is now open every day until Christmas - Hours for the rest of the week are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19 through Sunday, Dec. 23; and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve. For more information, visit www.rustbeltmarket.com.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Are you gearing up to let your fingers do the walking on Cyber Monday?
Ferndale residents who didn’t want to brave the crowds on Black Friday or Small Business Saturday still have one more big chance to save courtesy of Cyber Monday. Similar to the two other major shopping events, Cyber Monday differs in that consumers don’t have to leave the comfort of their own homes (or offices) to take advantage of some pretty big pre-holiday deals. All the bargains laid out for Cyber Monday are for online shoppers only. So how can you find the best deals online this Cyber Monday? While most major retailers that have an online presence aren’t tipping their hats on their online deals just yet, many have splash pages set up that they're inviting shoppers to bookmark in advance of the Nov. 26 shopping holiday. Here are just …
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Ready, get set, go shopping! The bargain hunting starts early this year, so Patch has compiled the best big box discounts to give you a head start.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
If you want the best Black Friday deals, you'll barely have enough time to gobble down your turkey; forget about your pumpkin pie. Stores are opening earlier than ever on Thanksgiving to grab Black Friday shoppers. Toys 'R Us, Walmart, Kmart and Sears open their doors at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Target opens at 9 p.m. Many others open at midnight or very early Friday morning. Several stores are offering waves of doorbusters. Many also are advertising online deals, which include free shipping, and Black Friday prices all day Thanksgiving. The early start to Black Friday has even prompted some opponents to start petitions against the practice. Here's everything you need to know about Black Friday. Read on for more specific deal information. …
Monday, November 28, 2011
Black Friday spending reached all-time levels this year, but the biggest jump was in 'couch commerce.' Have you shopped mobile this year?
Spending reached all-time Black Friday highs this weekend as a record 226 million shoppers jumped into holiday purchases – many of them using mobile devices to do so. The average holiday shopper spent $398.62 Black Friday and Saturday, according to a National Retail Federation survey. And Black Friday global mobile payment volume increased 516 percent from 2010, according to data from PayPal. A lot of mobile shopping appeared to take place from the couch following Thanksgiving dinner: Five times as much was spent that day via mobile as was spent on turkey day 2010, PayPal's blog reports. According to eBay, U.S. shoppers purchased nearly 2 1/2 times as many items through mobile devices this Black Friday compared with 2010. What about you…


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- HummingBad’ malware affects 85 million Android devices
Almost 85 million devices running on Google’s mobile operating system have got infected by a malware called HummingBad. The security company further claims that the majority of the HummingBad victims are in India and China. The malware affects most almost all Android OS versions; however, the most affected are devices running on Android KitKat and Android Jelly Bean. HummingBad malware is a “drive-by download attack” that users face when they visit certain websites. It includes two components: First component tries to gain root access on the Android device to exploit vulnerabilities. This could give hackers full access to the device. If the first component is not able to root the device, the second component shows a fake system update notification, tricking users to unknowingly grant system-level access to the HummingBad malware
Cyber security Tips: To prevent from this attacks use antivirus in your system, update antivirus, do not click on any ad, avoid opening spam mails.
- Pandora warn users change passwords after data releases online
Pandora hasn’t been hacked, but its user’s accounts could be. Pandora is warning it’s users to change their passwords thanks to a breach in a different service leading to hacking risks. A “data dump” from a different service that was recently released to the public that contains usernames and passwords of users.Although Pandora’s systems weren’t hacked themselves the risk is that many use the same username and password across various different services and platforms. Unfortunately the issue of login details being hacked and sold on the Deep Web is more prevalent than it may seem.
Cyber security Tips: If you’re a Pandora user, especially if you’ve received that email, you may want to go set a new password to protect your account, use strong password for your account, check mail before changing password.
- TP-Link forgets to renew and loses its domain used to configured router setting
TP-Link has reportedly “forgotten” to renew both domains that are used to configure its routers and access administrative panels of its devices. Networking equipment vendor TP-LINK uses either tplinklogin.net or tplinkextender.net for its routers configuration. Although users can also access their router administration panel through local IP address (i.e. 192.168.1.1).The first domain offered by the company is used to configure TP-LINK routers and the second is used for TP-LINK Wi-Fi extenders. Both domains have now been re-registered using an anonymous registration service by an unknown entity and are being offered for sale online at US$2.5 Million each.If malicious actors get their hands on these domains, they could use them to distribute malware, serve phishing pages instructing users to “download new firmware to your router,” and request device or social media credentials from users before redirecting them to the router’s local admin panel IP.
Cyber security tips: for this avoid accessing their TP-Link routers using the tplinklogin.net domain, recommended Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block the affected domain names.


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NEW YORK — Get ready for Fashion’s Night Out marketing blitz.
To further spur awareness of the Sept. 10 retail initiative, a public service announcement will air on network TV, in taxi cabs and online beginning Wednesday.
Trey Laird, of Laird + Partners, developed the creative, and Douglas Keeve, director of “Seamless” and “Unzipped,” filmed designers, actors and models, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Carolina Herrera, Zac Posen, Chanel Iman, Alexander Wang, Raquel Zimmermann, Karlie Kloss, Coco Rocha, Daria Werbowy, Tory Burch, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, Oscar de la Renta, Rachel Roy, Vera Wang, Ashley Olsen, Jessica Stam, Donna Karan, Diane von Furstenberg and Isaac Mizrahi.
“I had this wish list of people to cast and everyone basically said yes,” said Laird.
Posen, who filmed his segment with Iman, said the media has become a tool for fashion, adding that, while business is still challenged, there has been movement into the positive. “It’s about survival till the end,” said Posen who, on Sept. 10, will appear in a window at Bergdorf Goodman painting dresses, worn by model Anna Cleveland, that will be available for purchase.
Tory Burch’s plans for Fashion’s Night Out include throwing a block party in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District with DJ Cassidy. Burch, who is prominently featured in the PSA, said business is picking up again. “Despite this environment, we are hanging in there,” she added. “It’s making us better and more focused.”
Vera Wang told WWD she will be on-hand at both of her stores on Sept. 10. “FNO is global, glamorous and positive. It’s taking our industry efforts directly to the client, with a clear, united voice,” Wang said.
While filming, each participant was asked to wear the official Fashion’s Night Out T-shirt in his or her own sartorial style. “I was pleased to do it,” said Roy adding she developed a crush on Keeve. “I’m not an actress and I had to follow Sarah Jessica Parker, which was a little intimidating, but I had a lot of fun with it.”
There are multiple versions of the ad and Parker kicks off one with: “New Yorkers are always in fashion,” and Diddy is dancing and hamming it up with Mizrahi. Off camera, “Isaac said, ‘I love you’ to Puffy and Puffy looked back at him and said, ‘I love you, too,’” Laird recalled. “It was great to see all of these characters come together.” And de la Renta had some fun with Rocha, twirling her around.
The final scene cuts from Parker to a huge crowd on 39th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, filled with hundreds of fashion industry employees, from interns to merchandisers, clad in the Fashion’s Night Out T-shirts. The scene ended a day’s worth of filming designers and celebrities.
“Anna [Wintour] showed up and she was cheering loudly, yelling louder than anyone else,” said Laird who, along with Keeve, worked on the PSA free of charge.
“It’s about people’s jobs and livelihoods, putting the fun back into fashion again, that it’s going to be a huge celebration of fashion and everybody within the industry is going to be present,” Wintour told WWD. “We are all in this together and we are all here to help, and that really was also the thinking behind the event.”


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Star Wars games aren’t found in galaxies far, far away anymore. Well, at least not since the recent Star Wars Jedi games have been making waves in the AAA gaming community. As a recent leak suggests, Saber Interactive has been working on a huge Star Wars game. A Redditor has noticed the LinkedIn page that has details regarding the project’s development.
At the time of writing, the link has been taken down, suggesting that the rumour is likely true. In the meantime, we can speculate some information about the upcoming game.
Is the New Star Wars Game a KOTOR Remake?
Earlier last year, there was a conversation around the remake of a Knights of the Old Republic game being made by Aspyr Media at the time. However, the project was shifted to Saber Interactive instead. The owner, Embracer, had a thing or two to say about the project’s development:
One of the Group’s AAA projects has transitioned to another studio within the Group. This was done to ensure the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title. We are not expecting any material delays for the title based on this transition.
At the time, the game was three years into its development cycle. If the rumours are true, this year marks the fourth year of development for the game, which is usually when studios start marketing the game a little or start hinting at a potentially new IP they’ve been working on.
From the recent speculation, Redditors have been commenting about their excitement around the new game. And, if the rumours are true, KOTOR will be the ideal game to make fans happy.
If You’re a Gamer Who Loves Star Wars, You’re in Luck
The recently announced Star Wars Outlaws launched itself into a hype train with gameplay that’s from an outlaw’s point of view instead of someone who necessarily controls the Force. And then, we’ve had two Star Wars Jedi games focusing on Cal Kestis’ journey as he grows and manoeuvres his life through the Force. In fact, the franchise’s success made way for a third game that’s in the works.
If the recent leaks are true, a KOTOR remaster would yet again give players the power fantasy to play through some of the darkest and grittiest tales told in the Star Wars narrative. The game’s setting revolves close to 4,000 years before the formation of the Galactic Empire, asking players to take the role of a Jedi venturing through the galaxy in order to defeat Malak.
The 20-year-old title is one of the most popular Star Wars games today and worthy of a remaster. Saber Interactive’s history with some great titles like Evil Dead: The Game and Space Marine 2 has given us good reason to keep faith in their development and handling of the IP.
What are your thoughts on the rumoured info about an upcoming Star Wars game by Saber Interactive? Do you think they’ve got what it takes to make (or remake) a classic? Let us know in the comments.


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Disrupting the Disruptors conference was held in Toronto between September 9-10, dedicated to understanding and accelerating platform co-operatives in Canada and all around the world. This event offered a practical exploration of a more equitable digital economy by using co-operatively owned digital platforms. Can co-operative ownership solve the challenges we face from platform monopolies, such as Walmart and Amazon? We explored the possibilities of building a sustainable platform economy that benefits entrepreneurs and all people.
The conference was joined by over 300 co-operatives, associations and other groups representing millions of businesses worldwide. Direct Co-ops joined the conference as one of the pillars of the new digital economy, leveling the playing field for all mom and pops. After understanding the sense of urgency, Direct Co-ops has decided to give their experience and technologies, completely for free, to help stop the bleeding for small independent businesses globally.


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Coronavirus Outbreak: Aerospace Industry Fights Back with Business Mitigation Strategies
The coronavirus outbreak isn’t just a massive health crisis; it’s an economic one as well. Businesses across the world are faltering as China, one of the nerve centers of the global economy struggles to cope with the epidemic. For the world’s economic health, an early resolution to the crisis isn’t just a hope, it’s imperative.
Coronavirus has caused immense disruption in the aviation industry and airlines across multiple continents, including Australia, North America, Europe, and Asia, have been canceling air travel to China and back. Today, China accounts for around 16% of global airline capacity and, if current trends continue, capacity is likely to drop to between 7%-8%.
For more information about the coronavirus outbreak and its impact, please download the complimentary whitepaper. Alternatively, schedule a meeting with our research team to gain insights into risk mitigation strategies.


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- Dutch startup Mosa Meat has received $8.8 million in funding toward its goal of selling cultured meat in Europe.
- Mosa Meat co-founder Mark Post needed $330,000 to create the world's first lab-grown burger, but he hopes to bring costs down to about $10 per burger.
- The startup will use the funding to develop a process for cultured meat production and prepare for the construction of a pilot production plant.
The Dutch startup behind the world's first lab-grown burger just got a big boost in the race to transform the meat industry, receiving $8.8 million toward its goal of selling cultured meat in Europe by 2021.
The startup, Mosa Meat, is developing cultured meat — also known as lab-grown or "clean" meat — made from animal cell cultures instead of slaughtered animals. The new investment comes from German pharmaceutical giant Merck and European meat processor Bell Food Group.
Mosa Meat was co-founded by scientist Mark Post, who presented the world's first lab-grown burger at a news conference in 2013. At the time, the burger cost $330,000 to make. Now Post says he hopes to bring costs down to about $10 per burger, according to The Wall Street Journal. Google co-founder Sergey Brin was among the startup's early investors.
Several startups in the United States are also working to bring cultured animal products to market, including Finless Foods, which is creating fish meat from cells, and Memphis Meat, which grows meat in a lab. Meanwhile, the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration are discussing how the technology could be regulated.
Peter Verstrate, Mosa Meat's CEO, said in a press release that working with Bell Food Group and Merck's M Ventures is "a perfect collaboration," citing M Ventures' work with early-stage financing of science companies and Bell Food Group's experience in meat processing and distribution.
Mosa Meat will use the funding to develop a process for cultured meat production at a reduced cost, and the startup also plans on using the money to prepare for the construction of a pilot production plant.


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Researchers at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine report findings on the role a sugar specific to red meat may play in forming tumors in humans.
The researchers wanted to understand why people who eat a lot of red meat are at higher risk for certain cancers, while people who eat other types of meat are not.
The team first conducted a systematic survey of common foods and found that red meats – beef, pork and lamb – are rich in a sugar called Neu5Gc and provide the primary sources of this sugar in the human diet. The sugar molecule naturally occurs in animals but not humans could be the reason why people are at higher risk for cancer when they consume red meat
While people who eat a lot of red meat are at a higher risk of certain cancers, other carnivores are not. This is why scientists decided to investigate the possible tumor-forming role of a sugar in humans, called Neu5Gc, which is naturally found in most mammals but not in humans.
In this latest study, the researchers fed NEu5Gc to mice engineered to be deficient in the sugar, like humans. In the end, they found that the mice fed this sugar were significantly more at risk for developing spontaneous cancers. This, in particular, is a key link between red meat consumption and cancer.
The researchers had previously discovered that animal Neu5Gc can be absorbed into human tissues. In the newest study — published in the early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — they hypothesized that eating red meat could lead to inflammation if the body’s immune system is constantly generating antibodies against consumed animal Neu5Gc, a foreign molecule. Chronic inflammation is known to promote tumor formation. It becomes part of your own cells. When you react to a peanut or other allergy-causing substance, you’re reacting to something foreign. This is the first example we know of something that’s foreign, gets totally incorporated into you despite the fact that your immune system recognizes it,” lead author of the study explained.
“Until now, all of our evidence linking Neu5Gc to cancer was circumstantial or indirectly predicted from somewhat artificial experimental setups,” said Ajit Varki, one of the researchers, in a news release. “This is the first time we have directly shown that mimicking the exact situation in humans-feeding non-human Neu5Gc and inducing anti-Neu5Gc antibodies-increases spontaneous cancers in mice.”
Apart from red meat, Neu5Gc is also present in milk, fish, eggs and some forms of cheese. The researchers recommend the consumption of these foods in moderation as an attempt to prevent cancer.
“The final proof in humans will be much harder to come by,” said Varki. “But on a more general note, this work may also help explain potential connections of red meat consumption to other diseases exacerbated by chronic inflammation, such as atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes. Of course, moderate amounts of red meat can be a source of good nutrition for young people. We hope that our work will eventually lead the way to practical solutions for this catch-22.”
These findings seem to be in addition to previous beliefs that red meat causes cancer due to harmful chemicals which are released when it is grilled. Many other studies have already linked the consumption of red meat to certain forms of cancer such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer.
The researchers behind that study suggested, therefore, that by adding natural sources of resistant starch – bananas, beans, chickpeas, lentils, whole grains – to a diet high in red meat, the increased risk of colorectal cancer may be diminished.
Another study in 2014 also suggested that higher red meat intake during early adulthood was associated with a 22% increased risk for breast cancer.
That study found that replacing one portion of red meat a day with a portion of another high-protein food – for instance, legumes, poultry, nuts or fish – was associated with a 14% lower risk of breast cancer.
The researchers, however, also emphasize on the fact that red meat does have a good nutritive value- it is a rich source of iron and individuals less than 40 years of age in particular, could have benefits of its consumption. However, for those over 40 years of age, it could have more negative effects on health than benefits.
Read more at http://americanlivewire.com/2014-12-30-sugar-molecule-red-meat-responsible-cancer-study/
article sources: http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/20747/20150101/sugar-links-eating-red-meat-risk-cancer.htm
(Photo : Flickr)


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In total, turnover for the brand rose from €467.1 million to €478.8 million, with a total profit of around €60 million. Commenting on the results, Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmann said: “With this new record in deliveries and profits we have marked the most successful fiscal year in the history of our company."
On the sales side, weaknesses in major traditional regions were offset by growth in other areas as well as in new and emerging markets. The U.S. saw a decrease of 20.3% with 741 units sold compared to 930 sold the year before, which means the U.S. share of world-wide sales decreased from 38.7% to 30.5%. Meanwhile, in Europe, sales remained stable, with traditional markets such as Germany and the UK showing relatively small single digit decreases.
Strong growth rates were achieved in the Middle East and Far East Asian core markets. The Middle Eastern region – particularly the United Arab Emirates – achieved a sales increase of 66% from 100 to 166 units sold. In the Far East, China more than doubled its sales from 28 to 72 units sold. The Middle East and Far East regions grew their contribution to Lamborghini’s total worldwide sales from 15% to 21.8%.
For this year, the company plans on sticking to its commitment of announcing at least one new product each year, an approach already seen in the new Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder and the Murcielago LP 670-4 Superveloce.


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Today, Easy Anti-Cheat from Epic Games / Epic Online Services has officially announced a full expansion for Linux including native builds and Wine + Proton. This is big for Linux Gaming and the Steam Deck.
For those who don't know, Epic Games owns Easy Anti-Cheat and earlier this year they made it free for all developers making Windows games. Today this has been expanded to fully support developers doing native Linux games (and macOS too).
Not only that, this is the big one we've been waiting for — they've also expanded Easy Anti-Cheat support officially for the Wine and Steam Play Proton compatibility layers.
Earlier this year, Easy Anti-Cheat for Windows games was made available to all developers, for free. Today, we extend support to Linux and Mac for developers who maintain full native builds of their games for these platforms.
To make it easy for developers to ship their games across PC platforms, support for the Wine and Proton compatibility layers on Linux is included. Starting with the latest SDK release, developers can activate anti-cheat support for Linux via Wine or Proton with just a few clicks in the Epic Online Services Developer Portal.
Sadly it's not an automatic thing for Wine and Proton, as developers do need to actively go and do those "few clicks" but it's a huge step. In the documentation, it says how developers need to "test and activate client module updates for Linux regularly in addition to Windows". Hopefully many developers will go and do it, since it sounds like very little effort on their part. Considering just how many of the most popular games use Easy Anti-Cheat, this is the start of something massive.
Have a favourite Windows game that doesn't work on Linux currently with Proton or Wine? Looks like it's time to politely ask them to hook it up. Just a few of those that would hopefully work if developers update include:
- Apex Legends
- Dead by Daylight
- Fall Guys
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection
A good time to remind game developers and readers to ensure you email us news tips, especially if a game enables this to start working so we don't miss it.


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Australian dairy company Bega Cheese is selling its 18.8 per cent stake in Warrnambool Cheese and Butter to Canada’s Saputo.
New South Wales-based Bega had kicked off an international bidding war for Victorian dairy firm WCB more than four months ago, with a cash and share bid initially worth around $5.78 per WCB share.
WCB shares surged from $4.51 at the time of Bega’s bid to be now trading at $9.35 – Saputo’s offer is worth $9 per share if it gets less than half of WCB shares, $9.20 if it gets 50-90 per cent, and $9.60 if it gets 90 per cent or more acceptance.
Bega says it will receive between $94.7 and $101 million from the sale of its shares, booking a profit before tax and costs of between $61.8 and $68.2 million, after originally buying into WCB in 2010.
Bega’s executive chairman Barry Irvin says his firm’s investment in WCB has been a win-win, even though Bega lost the takeover battle.
“Bega Cheese’s initial investment in WCB and subsequent takeover offer for the company has created significant value for both companies’ shareholders,” he noted in a statement.
“Bega Cheese’s takeover offer was the catalyst for a process which has highlighted the value of the Australian dairy industry, a rerating of Bega Cheese’s share price and a substantial profit for Bega Cheese.”
On January 13, Saputo said it controlled almost 26.5 per cent of WCB shares – adding Bega’s 18.8 per cent stake now gives it at least 45.3 per cent of the takeover target six days out from the closing date of its offer.
Saputo has declined to comment on the latest developments, except to say it is “delighted” by Bega’s share sale.
The other substantial dairy shareholders in WCB, rival takeover bidder Murray Goulburn and Japanese giant Kirin, hold 17.66 and 10 per cent of WCB shares respectively.
Murray Goulburn’s $9.50 a share bid is still awaiting a ruling by the Australian Competition Tribunal as to whether it can proceed, but it seems increasingly likely that Saputo may have purchased half of WCB before that decision is made.


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Trials Rising fans will be happy to learn that the game will be getting a huge DLC soon. According to Ubisoft, the DLC called the Gigatrack will be coming to the game this week. Here is what we know right now.
It was announced that The Gigatrack will come with the longest track in the Trials franchise made to test the endurance of players. The track will span five different environments which was also showcased in the new trailer that they released.
You can check out the new trailer below.
Ubisoft had a lot to revealed this week during their Ubisoft Forward event where fans are expecting to learn more about upcoming games including Watch Dogs Legion, Far Cry, and more. Which games are you most looking forward to getting your hands on?


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The Nintendo Switch has been selling very well all over the world since it launched last year. But, its performance in its home territory of Japan has been particularly notable. The system has been topping weekly charts for some time now, and that trend continues in the latest report from Media Create.
According to this report, Switch sales are far to the top, well outpacing its biggest competition the PS4. Speaking of which, PS4 sales have been noticeably slowing down in Japan over the last few months aside from a few spikes here and there. This is likely due to the system getting up in years. It must also be noted that with the Switch being a hybrid system and Japanese gamers preferring portable consoles over home consoles, this is all helped the Switch stay at the top.
Check out the line-up (previous week in brackets “”)
- Nintendo Switch – 50, 762 – [48,944]
- PS4 + PS4 Pro – 18,811 [20,295]
- New Nintendo 2DS XL + 2DS – 4,628 [4,185]
- PS Vita – 3,470 – [2,163]
- New 3DS XL – 2,695 [2,627]
- Xbox One + Xbox One X – 287 –
Having been introduced to video games at the age of 3 via a Nintendo 64, A.K has grown up in the culture. A fan of simulators and racers, with a soft spot for Nintendo! But, he has a great respect for the entire video game world and enjoys watching it all expand as a whole.


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With big plans for WA in 2022, Coles has commenced construction on its latest developments at Currambine Village Shopping Centre and Florida Beach Village Shopping Centre, boosting local employment and bringing new shopping centre technology with its state-of-the-art Coles supermarket.
Construction at Florida Beach Village Shopping Centre, located at the corner of Dandaragan Drive & Bailey Boulevard, Florida Beach, Dawesville commenced on Friday 22 October. The new shopping centre has several proposed tenancies including a gym, childcare facilities, and other speciality retailers.
The shopping centre will assist with creating a vibrant, social hub in Dawesville, while the new Coles will provide Dawesville residents with a streamlined, convenient shopping experience and will be among the first shopping centres in WA to feature a Click & Collect drive-through.
Coles General Manager WA, Pat Zanetti, said Coles was pleased to be creating a large number of local jobs and bringing the latest and greatest shopping centre initiatives to Dawesville.
“This exciting development will bring hundreds of jobs to the community, and will see the area transformed into a well-connected, amenity-rich and community-focused precinct for Dawesville residents to enjoy,” he said.
Built in partnership with Coles Property Developments and constructed by Credentia Construction, Coles Florida Beach will champion sustainability with solar energy, electric vehicle charging stations and increased tree planting to create natural shade throughout the site.
On Friday 29 October, construction on Coles Currambine Village Shopping Centre also commenced. The Coles supermarket and centre retailers will create hundreds of jobs in the local community, in addition to the jobs created throughout construction.
In addition to the state-of-the-art Coles supermarket, Currambine residents will be able to access several specialty retailers at the shopping centre in mid-2022.
Being delivered for Coles Group Property Developments by Focus Building Company and project managed by Wallace PM, Coles Currambine will champion sustainability with solar panels generating energy for the centre, electric vehicle charging stations and increased tree planting throughout the development to create natural shade.
“We are thrilled to commence work on our Currambine Village development, which will bring more hundreds of jobs to the local community,” Zanetti said.
“This exciting project will lift the shopping experience for our Joondalup customers, providing greater convenience whether they choose to shop in store or online. Currambine residents will be among the first in WA to have access to the Coles Online Click & Collect drive-through, which is a great feature for convenient and efficient grocery shopping.”
The centre will also support a number of community initiatives, including dedicated SecondBite and REDcycle collection areas.
Both Coles Florida Beach and Coles Currambine are set to open their doors in mid-2022.
Last week a brand-new Coles Local store opened in the Sydney suburb of Concord, offering an impressive selection of gourmet pasta, gnocchi and ravioli to satisfy all pasta lovers.
With a range tailored specifically for local customers, the Coles Local Concord store features a brand-new frozen dessert bar offering gelati, mochi treats and macarons, an orange juice bar as well as a pet Scoop n’ Weigh station, complete with a range of pet treats and ice creams for canine companions.
Catering to the increasing demand for at-home convenience, the store has more than 400 ready-made convenience meal products including salads, curries and lasagnes for quick and easy dinner options or take-home snacks.
Head of Coles Local Michael Fahd said he was pleased to be launching the innovative Coles Local store concept to Concord residents after months of construction.
“We are excited to deliver a superior shopping experience for Concord and the surrounding community in our modern and spacious store, with a new-look design we know our customers will love,” he said.
“Our customer research highlighted a real love of pasta among local shoppers, so we have featured a range of almost 250 pastas and sauces, including 118 products that are unique to Coles Local.
“Coles Local Concord is our 11th store in this format, and every one of them is different because we tailor them specifically for the needs of the local community.”
Coles Local Concord will offer premium sourdough bread and sweets from Sydney stalwart Sonoma Bakery, delicioius artisan New York-style bagels from Brooklyn Boy Bagels and fresh seafood from The Fishery, a Coles exclusive supplier of sustainable seafood.
As part of the new-look store, Coles commissioned local illustrator James Gulliver Hancock to create a mural for the exterior of the building, capturing the essence of Concord and drawing on two pillars that form the foundation of all Coles Local Artist works, diversity and sustainability.
Coles Local Concord Store Manager Victoria Barrett said she was pleased to be creating more than 50 local jobs for the Concord community as part of the store’s re-opening.
As part of Coles’ commitment to sustainability, Coles Local Concord will cut food and plastic waste through partnerships with soft plastic recycler REDcycle as well as food rescue organisation SecondBite, which collects unsold food for distribution to those in need through local charity partner L’Arche.


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Whitbread eyes eastern expansion as profits increase
Whitbread believes a growing thirst for coffee among young Chinese professionals will boost its expansion plans after unveiling its latest profits increase.
Departing chief executive Alan Parker - who gives way to former easyJet boss Andy Harrison on November 25 - said the future of Whitbread's Costa coffee chain was rooted in Asia's emerging economies.
'The Chinese in particular are adopting Western lifestyle fashions in food and drink,' said Parker.
Westernised: Costa Coffee wants to cash in on growing demand in China
And he pointed to brands such as McDonalds and KFC as examples of Western staples which have rapidly become commonplace in the People's Republic.
Whitbread (up 35p to 1728p) has 70 Costa stores in Shanghai and Beijing, targeting young white-collar workers.
But the group believes it can roll-out 340 stores by 2014-15, capitalising on a growing appetite for traditional Western brands with a push into southern China.
Overall, Whitbread is aiming to increase its stable of Costa coffee shops from 1700 to 3000 by 2015.
In his last results presentation before retirement, Parker revealed that group revenues in the first six months hit £805.4million on the back of a 7.8 per cent hike in underlying sales.
Pre-tax profits rose 42.5 per cent to £151million, and the firm rewarded its shareholders with a near 17 per cent increase in the interim dividend to 11.25p.
Whitbread's budget hotel brand Premier Inn was in good form, with revenues up 14 per cent to £355.7million.
But Parker left his successor Harrison in little doubt that he expects continued improvement in the chain's share of the hotel market.
'There's a long way to go yet,' he said.
'We've got about 7 per cent of the total hotel market at the moment. Why shouldn't that be double?'
He pointed out that 21 per cent of rooms were unsold over the summer, leaving plenty of room for improvement in occupancy levels, adding that Whitbread had no intention of raising prices.
The firm is in the throes of a major expansion push, which has seen it add 795 rooms in the first half, with 1,700 to come in the second half and 3,500 next year.
Whitbread is aiming to increase its current estate of hotel rooms by around a third, from 43,000 to 55,000 by the end of 2014.
Parker will make way for Harrison next month, after six years as chief executive which have been characterised by steady growth.
He has also been lauded for the sale of gyms business David Lloyd Leisure for £925m in 2007, just before the funding markets froze up.
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The mobile phone has overtaken the personal computer as the most popular way to access Internet services in Japan.
According to a survey in the Internet White Book, published by Impress Corp., the number of Japanese Internet users totaled 32.6 million by February, compared with 19.4 million a year earlier. The study said that 61 percent of households have Internet access via cell phones, compared with 59.1 percent with access through PCs.
A year earlier, 98.4 percent of all Internet users in Japan used their PC, while 9.1 percent used a mobile phone. Moreover, the number of people who access the Net exclusively via a mobile phone rocketed to 6.5 million from just 30,000 a year earlier, Impress said.
Key to the growth of mobile Internet access is NTT DoCoMo Inc., which has more than 24 million subscribers for its i-mode cell-phone service.Continue reading the main story