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Health officials confirmed four cases tied to E. coli and 13 likely cases in people who last holiday season ate "cannibal sandwiches," an appetizer with raw, lean ground beef served on cocktail bread that is popular in Wisconsin. The dish has become less common recently as food-safety awareness has increased.
"Cannibal sandwiches," an appetizer featuring raw, lean ground beef served on cocktail bread,...
Company has released the first commercial kit designed for the detection of benzalkonium...
A report from the FDA says the Idaho Department of Agriculture spotted moldy yogurt during a routine inspection at a Chobani facility in Twin Falls two months before the company issued a voluntary recall. More than 300 people reportedly got sick after consuming the moldy Greek yogurt.
Missouri agriculture officials say about 1,450 pounds of possibly contaminated beef and pork products have been returned to a southwest Missouri processor. Cloud's Meats Inc. of Carthage voluntarily recalled the meat after routine testing detected E. coli in samples last month.
The Wisconsin State Journal reported that the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection sent a letter dated Nov. 11 to chef Dan Fox ordering his Fox Heritage Farms to stop selling "misbranded multiple ingredient meat products, specifically pork."
A California slaughterhouse, a meat-packing facility and two companies that provided loans to the operations have agreed to settlements after allegations of inhumane treatment led to a massive recall that included beef sold to the National School Lunch Program.
The VersaTouch® product portfolio features high-performance reusable gloves for managing cut and thermal risks, fully immersible gloves for working in liquid environments and single use gloves for versatile wet and dry applications.
The Connecticut Public Health Department is reminding people to be careful preparing food for the holidays so they don't get sick. The state's protection program warns one in six Americans will get food poisoning this year and holiday foods can be risky.
Rules covering the production, testing and labeling of raw milk sold in South Dakota will take effect Dec. 11, the state's agriculture secretary said Tuesday. Raw milk producers argue the milk already safe and the new rules impose too many restrictions.
The Food Safety Update section of Food Manufacturing is designed to offer our readers insight into the state of food safety concerns across the industry. We received hundreds of responses to this month’s survey on dairy processing.
Congress members are asking the Food and Drug Administration to allow further comment on sweeping food safety rules that farmers say could drive them out of business. The group asked the agency to propose a second set of rules to implement the 2011 FSMA.
Foods units recalled and the number of international recalls increased during the third quarter of 2013, with one out of every three FDA recalls tracked by the index having an international component, according to the ExpertRECALL Index of recall data.
The reduction of pesticide use in food production has resulted in increasing cases of consumers finding spiders in their produce. Using preventative measures, both growers and food manufacturers can help increase consumer safety — and prevent an unwelcome shock at the supermarket.
Tennessee health officials said that a strain of E. coli that sickened nine children has been matched to animal waste collected at a dairy farm that sells raw milk. Five of the nine children were hospitalized and three developed a severe kidney problem.
About three years ago, the CDC picked its battles, and now it's issuing its own report card on reaching these goals. This year's report card notes that there was no improvement in food safety. However, the agency doesn't deserve all the blame, as the FDA and USDA also play key roles in this area.
Eric and Ryan Jensen, two Colorado cantaloupe farmers who pleaded guilty to charges related to a deadly listeria outbreak, personally apologized Tuesday to some of the family members of people who got sick or died. The meeting was part of an agreement with prosecutors.
Food safety and traceability are a constant concern for food manufacturers. Food Manufacturing spoke with Tom Muth of Epicor Software Corporation about these challenges and how ERP software can help processors improve food safety and traceability.
A Tokyo-based health information research firm launched a free website where members can search for food that does not contain ingredients to which they are allergic. Members specify food allergens and then see a list of food that don't contain them.
The FDA has extended the comment for food safety rules for farmers by an additional week after people said they had technical problems submitting their views online. The original deadline was Friday; the new deadline is Friday, Nov. 22.
The Garden-Fresh Foods plant in Milwaukee has halted production and reassigned about 100 employees because of product recalls, the company said Saturday. Garden-Fresh has recalled tons of products in eight separate recalls since the end of August.
Food manufacturers must maintain a focus on continuing innovation to keep their products and processes ahead of the curve. There is a multitude of innovative technologies available to the industry, from food safety solutions to R&D initiatives.
DairyGuard™ milk powder analyzer is a near infrared (NIR) spectrometer developed for food suppliers and manufacturers.
A bill that would offer incentives to schools that keep emergency medication on hand to treat children suffering from severe allergic food reactions is set to be signed by President Barack Obama. The measure was provoked by the deaths of two girls.
The deaths of two girls in Illinois and Virginia from severe food allergies have helped spur efforts to get schools to stockpile emergency medications that can save lives. That effort has now reached the highest level: President Barack Obama's desk.
A Georgia-based dog food company has expanded a recall involving its teriyaki dog treats over salmonella concerns. Officials from Bailey's Choice say a recall of the company's Teriyaki Chicken Treats has expanded to include Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and Tennessee.
Consumer advocates in the European Union say they are worried about the effects of a proposed trade agreement with the United States. They reportedly fear a flood of risky or unsafe foodstuff, medicines and other imported goods from America.
European consumer groups are worried about the effects of a proposed trade deal with the U.S., fearing a flood of risky or unsafe foodstuffs and other imports from America. U.S. and European Union representatives have resumed negotiations on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
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Walmart announced Wednesday it will hire 40,000 workers for the upcoming holiday season, far fewer than last year, as inflation weighs on US households and curtails consumption.
The big-box retailer, the biggest private employer in the United States, said the additional staff will help “millions of families across the country bring the holidays to life,” according to a company blog post.
A year ago, Walmart said it would hire 150,000 workers for temporary and permanent posts as it competed for employees with other retailers and logistics companies in a torrid labor market.
But the economy has changed significantly from that time.
In July, Walmart cut its profit outlook in the wake of the worst inflation in decades that has forced many Americans to spend more on food and other household staples that have lower profit margins than many discretionary goods.
Neil Saunders, an expert in retail at GlobalData Retail, said the more modest hiring reflects Walmart’s desire to protect profit margins given the “marked slowdown” in consumer demand since last year.
“They don’t need anywhere near as many associates to serve consumers as they did during the holidays of 2021,” Saunders said.
“Holiday sales won’t be terrible this year, but a lot of growth will be driven by inflation and underlying volumes will be down. This necessitates fewer staff on the shop floor, in warehouses and in fulfilment facilities processing online orders.”
Earlier this month, delivery company UPS said it would hire more than 100,000 workers by the end of the year, the same level as in 2021.

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If any music service can claim to be a veteran of high-quality streaming, it is Qobuz. The French streaming (and download) service was the first of its kind to offer CD-quality (16-bit) streams and, in 2015, it became a primary patron for hi-res (24-bit) streams. So while Amazon Music HD has only been going five months, Qobuz has been hi-res streaming for five years.
Amazon's entry into the hi-res streaming market – making it the first of the 'big three' (Apple, Amazon and Spotify) to go there – is a significant one. With Amazon Music HD now a direct competitor to Qobuz, is it game over for smaller streaming services? Or will its arrival in the market spread the hi-res message louder and further than Qobuz ever could?
“We knew it was coming," says Benoît Rébus, Qobuz's Head of Global Innovation and Partnerships. "It is never good to be alone, so we were waiting for big players with a loud voice and marketing money to bring the benefit of artist endorsement. We only have a little voice.
"Since Amazon’s launch, we’ve done nothing but grow. People are realising that there’s something else on the market – they’re being told that what they currently get at Spotify isn’t hi-res at all."
But with Amazon’s greater subscriber reach and resources, not to mention its more affordable monthly cost (£14.99/$14.99), Qobuz has had to react.
The elephant in the room: price
Qobuz recently announced that it was going to ditch MP3s altogether: "It has been 20 years, it’s time to move on," says Rébus. Qobuz’s Premium (MP3) and HiFi (CD-quality) subscriptions will soon be gone, leaving just the Studio (£25/$25 per month) and Sublime+ (£250/$300 per year) packages.
Both offer access to a CD-quality and hi-res catalogue, but the latter is an annual-payment-only option that also offers discounts to its download store. Meanwhile, in the US, Qobuz has relaunched with just one competitively priced tier.
"Our issue was price, so we reduced it with our Studio Premiere plan," says Rébus. "We thought four tiers were too many – Qobuz customers come here for hi-res, not MP3s. The beauty of the US relaunch is that now it’s one single subscription of $15 per month, which is below Tidal and Deezer," says Rébus.
"Before reducing the price, we had to make sure we could keep our margins, so we talked to the labels and this new price allows us to do that. Now, we have to deal with each label in each country, so it takes time… but our interest is in democratising hi-res." However, until it can achieve this, Qobuz remains pricier than its hi-res streaming rivals in other markets.
Qobuz is also attempting to bring down costs by introducing a Family Plan. "Our customers tend to accumulate services: Qobuz for themselves, and maybe Spotify or Apple Music for the kids," says Rébus. "But with Family Plan, we think parents are more likely to get rid of Spotify, because something better exists,” he adds.
Differentiation: catalogue, downloads, partners
But, as our recent review of the service noted, Qobuz won't be perfect for everyone. While it claims to have the biggest library of 24-bit tracks among its competitors – almost double Tidal's number – we would often find albums on Tidal, Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer that weren't available on Qobuz at all.
Rébus acknowledges the shortcomings of its service, saying: “We differentiate ourselves with our catalogue. Others are pushing mainstream music, whereas we try to push emerging artists and not just pop music.” Arguably that's what its subscriber base, largely comprising music enthusiasts aged over 40, wants.
Despite a decline in the popularity of downloading music, Rébus claims that Qobuz's download service, Sublime+, is doing well. Downloading hasn't been totally neglected, not least as Qobuz expects downloaders to move to streaming eventually.
Qobuz is currently working with partners such as Aurender and Bluesound to find ways of improving the download experience. One possible feature could be to enable automatic downloading of any track or album purchased on your smartphone onto any connected servers you have at home.
Qobuz prides itself on its 24-bit ecosystem: with streams widely supported across the hi-fi industry, most recently by Naim and Cambridge Audio. Another one of Qobuz's unique selling points is that its catalogue supports albums with extended metadata and reading material, such as booklets and articles.
“With Amazon you get the quality of course, but that’s kind of it,” says Rébus.
“We were supposed to be a launch partner of Sony, but had some delays – we’re a small company that has to choose its priorities. It has opened up a new market... there’s the impression hi-res is for geeks and audiophiles and you need a super expensive system, whereas with [3D audio] you can just use regular headphones.”
“It’s a good opportunity for us, but the catalogue is limited to around 2,000 tracks. We have to make sure it’s not only about Drake and The Weeknd, but also our style of artist.
“Voice [control] is tricky because we’re catching up. We will take small steps and start [integration] with 'play my favourites', for example. Now that the US is our second market, Alexa makes sense because they’re very proactive. Amazon has more manageable tools than Google… whereas Amazon is more self-service.
"We’re also thinking about our own voice assistant. We need to address Alexa and Google customers, but there are limitations in terms of languages, audio quality and codecs," says Rébus. "Alexa can’t play hi-res content… well, Amazon can, but we can’t. As a brand, it’s important to have direct contact with our customers. We want to remain independent," he adds.
Qobuz is also aiming to make music easier to discover: "The more they listen, the longer they'll stay," says Rébus. "All our recommendations are human recommendations – our users love it. But we’re developing our own internal AI solution based on a collaborative algorithm.
"We wouldn’t drop hand-picked recommendations – it’s important to keep that alive, and we also want to leverage the Qobuz community, so that users can recommend songs to others. In 2020, we will start releasing weekly automated playlists, based on what they've been listening to."
Qobuz is clearly ambitious, then, aware that it needs to be to survive now that big players are joining the game. It's confident the new features on its 2020 (and beyond) roadmap, combined with the service's core differentiators next to its increasing number of competitors, will keep it afloat. And as hi-res streaming is building momentum, there are undoubtedly many, us included, who hope Qobuz can continue riding it.


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Organic Farmers Share Tips at Conference
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT-TV) - Dozens of farmers from around the state gathered at the College of Southern Idaho today for the annual Grower's Own Conference.”
"We will be having farmers discussing a variety of topics, as well as, some of our agency people and the University of Idaho researchers who are all working on organic farming issues," said Jennifer Miller, Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides.
Some of the topics up for discussion...
"Well, with organic farming one of the main concerns is how you control your weeds, so we'll be talking about different cultivation practices. Another thing is where do you get your nutrients from," said Miller.
For Jessica McAleese of Lady Bird Farms in Pocatello, it's an opportunity to brainstorm with other farmers.
"This Grower's Own Conference is a chance for us to meet other growers to talk about the sustainability of our food system and to sort of energize each other to cooperatively enhance our region's food system," said McAleese.
Organic and sustainable farming is something McAleese is passionate about.
"Agriculture is so important because it's something we exist on every day. It's the food we eat. And, the way we grow our food and distribute it to those around us is really important," said McAleese.
Janie Burns, who owns a sheep and poultry farm in Nampa, facilitated one of the sessions and gave a virtual tour of her farm.
"Showing people who probably don't have an opportunity to come and see me, what I do, how I do it and why I do it," said Burns, Meadowlark Farm.
One of many opportunities for these farmers to learn and grow.


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Earth Networks Promotes Dave Oberholzer to Vice President of the WeatherBug Home Business Unit
- Jun 16, 2015
Germantown, Md. – June 16, 2015 – Earth Networks, the parent company of the popular WeatherBug® brand, promoted David (Dave) Oberholzer to the position of vice president of business and partner development for the company’s growing WeatherBug Home business unit.
In this expanded role, Oberholzer leads a team that will continue to drive partnership engagement and go-to-market strategies with device and platform technology providers to reach additional utilities and retail energy providers. Oberholzer joined the company in 2011 and previously held the position of director, energy products and business development.
The WeatherBug Home business unit delivers an innovative and powerful integration of big weather data, smart meter data, two-way connected thermostats, and connected home IoT sensors to drive home energy management, comfort and savings for consumers. WeatherBug Home automatically delivers energy efficiency and provides insights and alerts to consumers based on the weather, which drives 50 percent of home energy consumption.
WeatherBug Home recently made its mobile debut on the popular WeatherBug app for iOS and Android. The app now includes a Home Energy Meter, a feature that educates consumers about the close connection between weather and energy use. WeatherBug Home is partnering with companies such as Honeywell and Accelerated Innovations to bring its energy usage insight to consumers.
We’re extremely pleased to be promoting Dave Oberholzer to vice president,” says Amena Ali, senior vice president and general manager, WeatherBug Home. “Dave has played an integral role in fostering partnerships and developing go-to-market strategies with top technology providers, device manufacturers and utilities to evolve WeatherBug Home from a research and development initiative into an innovative solution that leverages the rapid expansion of connected home devices, exclusive real-time local weather data from our WeatherBug Network, proprietary algorithms that understand and optimize how a home responds to the weather, and finally, deep and persistent consumer engagement with our WeatherBug app.”
For 20 years, we have been Taking the Pulse of the Planet® using the world’s largest weather, lightning and greenhouse gas monitoring networks. Our sensors across the planet keep consumers, businesses, and governments informed, updated and alerted. Our popular WeatherBug® brand provides neighborhood-level weather, superior forecasts and advanced severe weather alerts to millions. Our WeatherBug Home offering taps big weather and connected home data for improved energy efficiency and comfort. Enterprises such as schools, airports, professional sports teams, utilities and government agencies rely on our early warning solutions to safeguard lives, prepare for weather events, and optimize operations. Know Before®.


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The economy was weaker than economists expected in the September quarter, but don’t assume the Reserve Bank of Australia will be rushing to cut interest rates at its next board meeting in February.
The current annual growth rate of 2.3 per cent – almost a full percentage point below the economy’s trend growth rate – is broadly in line with more dismal economic outlook the RBA presented in its November monetary policy statement.
If the bank thought that outlook demanded a further cut in rates, it would have cut them already.
There are enough signs of rising confidence and increased activity in the interest rate-sensitive parts of the economy to support hopes that the 2.25 percentage point cut in the official cash rate over the past two years will be enough to support a revival of non-mining investment.
Part of the reason for that hope is that the $A has depreciated back towards the levels of August and September, which means it is 14 per cent below its April peak against the US dollar. That’s a significant competitive boost for trade-exposed industries, even if it isn’t enough to lift growth back to its trend rate of just over 3 per cent, or to stop the upward drift in the unemployment rate.
What’s needed for that is a general lift in business confidence that probably will build up over the coming months as rising house prices add to consumer wealth and spending, the Australian dollar depreciates further on the back of a successful start to US monetary policy tapering, and employment growth in this country accelerates.
From the RBA’s forecast of another year of sub-trend growth it seems that a fulsome revival of non-mining investment spending could be some time away.
The statement by RBA governor
“Further ahead, private demand outside the mining sector is expected to increase at a faster pace, though considerable uncertainty surrounds this outlook," he said.
“There has been an improvement in indicators of household and business sentiment recently, but it is still unclear how persistent this will be. Public spending is forecast to be quite weak."
According to the national accounts, consumer spending is crawling along at less than two-thirds of its normal growth rate despite an improvement in confidence and reasonably solid retail sales data. Households have increased their rate of saving.
No doubt economists will be picking apart all of the data on the labour market, the housing market, and consumer demand over the next month and are half-looking for evidence of an improvement in animal spirits.
But they also will be searching for clues about the global outlook.
The potential for monetary policy tapering to trigger disruptive increases in interest rates and capital outflows from the major emerging market economies is one of the sources of uncertainty about Australia’s economic outlook. Tapering has the potential to be a plus or a minus for us.
The good news, however, is that the balance now seems to be tipping in the direction of the tapering being a positive with a weaker Australian dollar and growing confidence about the outlook for the US being a plus for growth.
The Australian Financial Review


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Much like it did on PlayStation 4, Sony is bringing back the firmware update beta program for PS5. You can sign-up now to be in with a chance to test new features coming to the system ahead of time as well as provide feedback that will affect development. The scheme is open to anyone over the age of 18 residing in the USA, UK, Japan, Canada, Germany, and France. You can sign-up for the chance to take part through here.
The PlayStation Blog explains that those selected for the scheme will receive an email containing instructions on how to download the beta version of a future PS5 firmware update. "You will also be added to the potential participant pool for future PS5 system software betas automatically without having to register again. After the beta begins, you can restore your system software to the latest official release version before the beta program ends."
Sony says the next big PS5 firmware update will be rolled out later this year, with access to the currently locked internal SSD slot assumed to be a part of that. The company is said to be drawing up a list of SSDs that will work with the PS5, ensuring they're fast enough to run current-gen titles. Will you sign up for the PS5 firmware update beta program? Let us know in the comments below.


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News By Tag
* Online tutoring
* More Industries...
News By Place
Eduboard Launches Its Beta Version
Eduboard.com has rolled out a new beta version, bringing the image of online tutoring to the next level.
The beta version also introduces the 'Get a Tutor'service, which is going to be launched in 2 weeks, on November 1, 2012. Newly enacted it implements an updated and improved whiteboard technology and a new design with the variety of new features and tools to ensure the most user-friendly learning environments amoung other online services existed already. That's mostly about new formula editor and screensharing technology which get a future-proof image of being really popular due to its easiness in using.
Eduboard.com is an online tutoring, homework help, and test prep service which is intended to help others with challenged subjects and homework. The problem Eduboard saw was connected to the lack of up-to-date modern resources for tutoring online that claim true quality. Knowledge should be shared and spread in a smart, qualitative and fun-based way.
Eduboard's view is clever and makes their students take moves through new possibilities and learning experience. It's pricing model features flexibility and affordability, thus making the tutoring accessible and truly motivated. While focused totally on consumers Eduboard hires super-professional and loyal teachers to get their students to better grades as soon as possible.
Nowadays, Eduboard is aspired to become a leder on the market by offering the most wide range subjects to tutor and providing the newest featured interface and wgiteboard technology.


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As the general cryptocurrency market strikes by a turbulent week, one under-the-radar altcoin is defying the downtrend in a serious manner.
Decentralized reserve foreign money protocol Olympus (OHM) has surged by 34% over the previous seven days.
A attainable catalyst for the worth leap is the latest announcement of a brand new product known as Olympus Professional.
Whereas discussing hurdles the blockchain trade historically faces buying funding and its environmental affect, the workforce behind the undertaking explains,
“Bonds are a mechanism by which the protocol itself can commerce its native token in alternate for property. As a substitute of renting liquidity from third events, it purchases them outright.
As soon as the bond is created, the protocol owns these property and, like liquidity mining, has distributed new provide.”
Olympus claims to have raised over $150 million in property since launching the bonds program six months in the past.
The brand new Olympus Professional X bond market seeks to cut back emissions whereas serving to all gamers inside the decentralized finance (DeFi) house.
In 11 days we made $10m $DAI by bonds.
— OlympusDAO (@OlympusDAO) September 22, 2021
In response to the corporate’s group supervisor WartuII,
“OlympusDAO 7-day protocol income exceeded the mixed income of OpenSea, dYdX and PancakeSwap.”
OHM is valued at $625.86 at time of writing, a 34% enhance from $465.77 every week in the past, in keeping with CoinGecko.
Olympus has additionally attracted the eye of high-profile investor Mark Cuban.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Day by day Hodl aren’t funding recommendation. Traders ought to do their due diligence earlier than making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital property. Please be suggested that your transfers and trades are at your individual threat, and any loses you could incur are your accountability. The Day by day Hodl doesn’t suggest the shopping for or promoting of any cryptocurrencies or digital property, neither is The Day by day Hodl an funding advisor. Please word that The Day by day Hodl participates in affiliate internet marketing.
Featured Picture: Shutterstock/Maxger


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Apple has been named as the number-one most-admired company for innovation by Fortune magazine.
The annual Fortune report also puts Apple at number seven among the top twenty companies in the world, and in second place in the computers category (behind IBM).
"You could say that Apple has landed — not only on our street corners and in our malls but also, for the first time, on the top ten of our Most Admired Companies list," Fortune writes.
The company's retail outlets have also transformed the company into America's best retailer, Fortune writes.
Commenting on this, Apple CEO Steve Jobs told Fortune: "Our stores were conceived and built for this moment in time — to roll out iPhone."
The company also ranks in first place for people management and for the quality of its products and services. Apple is in second place for its use of corporate assets, quality of management, financial soundness and long-term investment potential.
Apple took sixth place in Fortune's list for its social responsibility.


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Before you know it, the calendar will be flipping to 2016. It’s never too early to get a head start on seeing what beverage trends might be moving the needle in the coming year.
As we look over the beverage industry’s current landscape, two words seem to bubble up to the top: natural and versatile.
It is not surprising that natural and healthy offerings continue to be a focal point of the industry. An October report from Mintel, an industry research firm, looks ahead to 2016 and called artificial ingredients “Public Enemy No. 1.” They believe consumer demand for natural drinks will continue to force companies to remove artificial ingredients as consumers will demand more natural formulations based on recognizable ingredients.
Technomic, another leader in the beverage research field, is big on bubbles in the coming year. They are predicting the industry will see a continued rise in popularity in both hand crafted sodas and bubble teas.
Bubble tea, also known as pearl milk tea or boba milk tea, is a Taiwanese tea-based drink invented in the 1980’s. You can read about its origin and recent swift rise to popularity here.
Sodas, on the other hand, are experiencing a reincarnation in the industry. They are whipping, blending and fizzing into new creations with attention to detail and multiple flavor pairings. As the rise of this formerly forgotten culinary art form gains even more traction, a new menu opportunity for food service operators will continue to expand in 2016.
While hand crafted sodas are reemerging in the beverage landscape, coffee continues to be a staple. Its continued ability to reinvent itself into multiple offering options will keep it among the hottest trends in 2016.
From coffee mocktails to dry-hopped coffee on nitro taps and coffee cherry brews, the Sterling-Rice Group’s Culinary Trends for 2016 report believes there’s no end to the creative coffee libations which will be coming our way from inventive baristas and beverage makers.
The upcoming year looks to be another innovative one for the beverage industry and the consumer palate looks to be reaping the benefits. Stay tuned!
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News Source: Wall Blog
Mobile has changed the way we live our lives and the way we shop, but we are yet to see a significant impact in FMCG. We’ve been slow to understand where the real opportunity lies. Mobile apps for brands and retailers abound, but look in store and see how many people are using their phones. And if you see anyone, are they using a shopping-related app?
According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, marketers see today’s consumers as web-savvy, mobile-enabled data sifters who pounce on whichever brand or store offers the best deal. Brand loyalty, the thinking goes, is vanishing. But rather than being the cause of the problem, mobile offers FMCG brands the chance to create more shopper loyalty in the form of habitual purchasing.
We know that shopper behaviour is changing. Shoppers are making smaller, more frequent trips across a number of different retailers, with convenience or proximity becoming a primary driver of store choice. So as shoppers become more promiscuous, they become even more difficult for brands to connect with.
A recent Nielsen study into the success of brand marketing revealed that six in ten FMCG companies are currently losing money on promotions, highlighting the difficulty brands have with connecting to shoppers. With no understanding of who has bought an offer, FMCGs lose the chance to build a relationship with individuals, a result of missing parts of the data puzzle.
Nearly 90% of smartphone users claim that their phone never leaves their side – and mobile technology enables FMCG brands to engage with shoppers directly, establishing a relationship based upon a value exchange. Mobile brokers this exchange by giving shoppers time to consider news and offers from brands, extracting data and then snapping their till receipt to redeem promotions for any purchases made.
So how much value is there for a brand if it’s able to use data to identify different shopper groups and talk to each with tailored messages and offers? Using mobile means no more non targeted promotions that often lose money, instead shopper loyalty schemes work to increase frequency of purchase, whilst new users are targeted with offers that encourage trial. For the brand there is the additional benefit that the effectiveness of every activity is measured enabling the development of a deeper, more profitable relationship with shoppers.
With more smartphones than people on the planet (allegedly), mobile is clearly the most convenient means for brands to engage with their shoppers. The technology exists, we just need the imagination to use it.
Barry Lemmon, Managing Director of Shopitize UK


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Electrolux Home Products has begun affixing ‘Australian Made’ stickers to a variety of major kitchen appliances in its Kelvinator, Westinghouse and Chef ranges. These three brands currently manufacture refrigerators, freezers and cookers at plants in Orange, in New South Wales, and Dudley Park, in South Australia.
Here is Electrolux Home Products managing director John Brown, via a media release:
As an Australian manufacturer having had 15 years of no tariffs, the economics are fundamentally running against us. And today’s consumers are far more pragmatic and won’t buy Australian-made products simply because they’re built in Australia by Australians.
To survive, let alone prosper, in the modern marketplace, you have to be competitive on quality, features and price. So the fact that these brands have done this against an increasing number of cheap imports is a tribute to the skills of the people who design, develop and produce them here in our factories.
Electrolux claims that between 30 and 40 per cent of all refrigerators, freezers and cooking appliances sold in Australia are either Kelvinator, Westinghouse or Chef branded.
More than 1,000 Australians are employed in the two Electrolux manufacturing plants and adjoining research and development centres, supported by product designers and marketers in the company’s head office and design studio in Mascot, Sydney.
The refrigeration plant makes fridges and freezers bearing the Westinghouse and Kelvinator brands, which, together, account for one-third of all fridges and freezers sold in Australia.
The company’s cooking plant makes freestanding and built-in ovens and stoves bearing the Westinghouse and Chef brands which, together, comprise nearly 40 per cent of Australia’s total cooking products sales.
In addition to the Australian Made brands, Electrolux Home Products also markets the Simpson, AEG, Dishlex and Electrolux brands in Australia.


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Could studying a basketball team's poop make them better athletes?
New research suggests that analyzing your bacterial makeup could vastly improve your health. And one team is giving it a try.
Turns out it's not so much what's in your body, but rather what comes out of it, that really matters.
(You can stop squirming now. It's OK. We were a little skeeved out, too. But give it a minute or two to, ahem, digest.)
It's all based on the idea that our intestinal bacteria – also known as our gut microbiome – affects many of the functions in your body, from how you make decisions to how you process food. Everyone's composition is a little bit different, so a food that may be harmful for you might be just fine for your sister, or your roommate, or your grandfather.
And it could be why so many one-size-fits-all diets end up failing.
An Israeli startup called DayTwo is packaging this relatively new concept of personalized nutrition and turning it into a new outlook on overall health – for athletes, for the chronically ill or for regular people who just want to improve their lives.
The company launched last year after five years of research at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel led by Professors Eran Segal and Eran Elinav, who are key proponents of personalized nutrition.
DayTwo has recently made its sample kit available for purchase on its website. For $299, you can send your stool sample in a postage-paid box (think Ancestry DNA), wait a few weeks and receive a customized nutrition profile that includes tailor-made recommendations on what to eat and what to avoid. It all comes together in an app that evaluates thousands of meals and food combinations based on your nutrition score and helps you build and plan meals according to your specific needs, sensitivities and preferences.
And now, at least one professional sports team has gotten in on the action. Israel's national basketball team is using DayTwo to tailor diets for each player based on their gut bacteria.
The hope is that the analysis will lead to better performance, higher energy levels and – as is the nature of competition – more wins.
"The huge differences that we found in the rise of blood sugar levels among different people who consumed identical meals highlights why personalized eating choices are more likely to help people stay healthy than universal dietary advice," Segal said.
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A leading technology analyst firm has published a deep dive into the smartphone camera technology industry. Their findings? Snapdragon is leading the industry in camera technologies.
"Each year, Qualcomm continues to innovate and lead in smartphone processor cameras. Snapdragon processors not only best the competition in DXOMark, but they also lap their predecessors. When it released the Snapdragon 888, the company delivered more than 20 industry firsts, many camera related. It will continue to define premium camera offerings as new Snapdragon processors enter the market."Linley Group
The Linley Group report takes a detailed look at Snapdragon features and history, examines the latest devices, and provides a technology deep-dive explainer.
The flagship Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile Platform powers many premium tier smartphones. There's hardly any question why - it packs camera features never before seen in smartphones or professional cameras. Features include:
Snapdragon 888 features 10-bit HEIC to capture photos in over a billion shades of color, a feature that made its debut in the Oppo Find X3 Pro
Snapdragon 888 features a triple ISP so you can capture photos and videos from different cameras simultaneously. These camera experiences are available in flagship phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G and Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.
Snapdragon devices are at the top of the chart in terms of image quality according to camera benchmark site DXOMark.
When your smartphone has Snapdragon, you have a professional quality camera in your pocket.
Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
Qualcomm Inc. published this content on 21 September 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 September 2021 16:21:24 UTC.


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Manchester’s Christmas Markets are back so let the annual scrum for eye-wateringly expensive sausage and not-quite-a-pint of lager begin, says Simon Binns…
And so the annual debate about whether the Christmas Markets are good or bad for business will start to flare among the local food and drink businesses in the city centre – especially those who can see, hear or smell the market stalls outside their window.
“the Xmas markets
bring in around 538
million people and
generate the entire
annual turnover of
Spain during the five
or so weeks that
The Christmas markets bring people to Manchester from all over the place, in a way that Birmingham’s and Liverpool’s just don’t.
I was in Copenhagen last November, expecting to see Christmas Markets that would rival and possibly dwarf our own, but the reality was that the Danish capital’s festive market offering would have fitted in the main bar of the Albert Square outpost. With plenty of room to spare.
It’s a numbers game isn’t it? According to city centre spokesman and Manchester’s director of Christmas, Pat Karney, the markets bring in around 538 million people and generate the entire annual turnover of Spain during the five or so weeks that they trade.
Some bars and restaurants complain they take customers away. Others, such as new ventures like Quill on King Street, will pick up some passing trade from the stratospheric rise in footfall in pockets of the city centre like King Street. The Corn Exchange will benefit from the markets site at Cathedral Gardens.
It probably evens out. Some would argue that the onus is actually on existing food and drink businesses in the city centre to capitalise on that footfall and lure market customers who might be tired of dropping the best part of £20 on a pint, a deposit for a glass, some hot wine and a deposit for a mug, with some better value offers in surroundings where you are less likely to freeze your tits off, get elbowed by an overexcited surveyor who’s had one too many gluhweins or run over by a pram.
They say a dog isn’t just for Christmas. Neither should our markets be. We need to realise just how great the markets that we have near us all year round actually are.
Some of you may have noticed that Altrincham Market recently picked up an Observer Food Monthly award – richly deserved and confirming what anyone who has been there since former Urban Splasher Nick Johnson and his team took over more than two years ago already knew.
But let’s not forget traditional markets in places like Bury, Levenshulme, Stockport, Ashton and others. Smaller, more artisan makers markets also exist in and around the city centre, including the Northern Quarter and St John’s. Salford Quays has upped its game significantly with food festivals and markets, too.
They are thriving, hopefully because consumers want something different and – especially with food and drink – are more conscious of provenance. Independent food and drink traders and the markets in which they gather are putting the emphasis on quality and authenticity.
Do the Christmas markets in a large city centre like Manchester do that? Sometimes, but a lot of the traders there are more focussed on volume. Make hay while the sun don’t shine, if you will.
So take them as you find them and manage your own expectations about what a market should be based on where and when it trades.
The markets that have landed in our city for the next few weeks are a tourist attraction more than anything else – and a very lucrative one at that.
But they might also convert a few people to the way of the market stall. And given that Greater Manchester has lots to offer on that front all year round, that has to be a good thing. Now, where did I put that plastic pint pot?


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European Molly Looks Cooler Than American MDMA Because Superman is a Brand
Gold Bars, Pac-Men, and the WB logo represent drug crews' aspiration and lax law enforcement.
A survey of European clubbers’ mouths would reveal candy-colored pills, shaped like tiny diamonds, Pac-Men, and Superman crests. American molly, on the other tongue, rarely looks as fun. The pale, crumbling tablets sold as MDMA on U.S. streets don’t exactly scream “Good times ahead!” They mostly look like they might land you in the ER.
So why have European drug crews, the majority of which operate out of the Netherlands, perfected the art of pill pressing while American producers have made so little effort?
For prominent drug crews like the Dutch Partyflock or Q-dance crew, who are thought to be responsible for some of the strongest pills in Europe, producing the distinctive, high-quality pills is key to staying on brand. Their Ferraris, Androids, Heinekens, and very popular UPSs aren’t just intricate and eye-catching, they’re also hard to fake, helping to uphold the crew’s reputation for purity and prevent other producers from hijacking their market.
Fake pills aren’t just annoying to users looking for a reliable roll; they can also be dangerous. Reddit is rife with European users warning against copycats using MDMA adulterants such as piperazines, PMA, caffeine, and bath salts like methylone, which can have very different — and dangerous — effects. By changing up their pill presses every few weeks, major producers stay ahead of the fakes, counting on dealers to keep their users up to date with the newest pills.
The American MDMA market doesn’t operate the same way. The history of ecstasy use in the U.S. is brief by European standards, so pill production stateside hasn’t had the time to catch up. The harsher legal climate surrounding drugs in the U.S. doesn’t help, either. The benefit of a recognizable product doesn’t outweigh the risk posed to dealers by traceable drugs.
Missi Wooldridge of DanceSafe, a San Francisco-based organization promoting safe drug use in the electronic music community, told Inverse that U.S. manufacturers probably have less access to MDMA precursors, such as the chemicals safrole and piperonal, than their European counterparts. Ditto for industrial-scale presses, leaving American manufacturers little choice but to use the less precise hand-held versions. “This may be a contributing factor as to why we see more powders or inconsistently shaped pills,” she explains.
Uncomplicated pills are, naturally, easier to copy and adulterate. MDMA safety resources like PillReports or EcstasyData.org, where users look up the quality and contents of the pills, are a lot less helpful for American users. Occasionally, pills like Chicago’s highly rated White Dominos will flood the U.S. market, but these blockbusters are few and far between.
“Also,” adds Wooldridge, “If people will buy the powder or crystal here, then why go through the extra hassle of pressing it into a pill?” When it comes to psychoactive substances, demand outweighs supply, she says, and it’s a lot easier to get your hands on new substances that might mimic some of MDMA’s effects.
Reliability, not color, remains the biggest perk of getting your hands on European MDMA. Not that pills from across the pond are, by default, safe — no illicit drug can ever guarantee that — but they’re a lot easier to research online. Still, whether you’re popping little pink Dutch grenades or taking a chance on the sketchy “T-Powder,” it’s always best to run a quick test before getting your roll on.


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Nokia Pushes Symbian^4 UI to Symbian Foundation
As the Symbian Foundation moves forward with its work on the Symbian base code, Nokia has offered up several concepts on how it thinks the user interface might look. It provided several different screen shots of the home screen, as well as some insight as to how the Contacts, Music, Photos and Applications might look. The Symbian Foundation will take Nokia's contributions under advisement, which are public for all to see and comment on. Based on the screen shots, they show what appears to be an evolved version of S60 5th Edition.
Feb 24, 2019
TCL Communication — the company behind Alcatel and BlackBerry phones — is planning to launch one or more foldable phones with a flexible display in 2020, and showed off several of its current concepts at the MWC trade show this week. The company has been actively working on the project for a couple of years already, the result of which is a proprietary, patented hinge design that the company calls DragonHinge.
Mar 5, 2020
TCL has a new batch of concept phones to show off in 2020 that use flexible-display technology in interesting ways. Two are foldables, including a unique "tri-fold" design with two different hinges allowing it to reach full tablet size when open.
TCL has put out a few folding-screen concepts in the past year, and now they have a new one to show off at CES. It's a little more polished and functional than previous concepts, but it's also definitely not market-ready.
Sep 27, 2019
Cricket now offers two different $80 phones running Android 9 Go Edition. The company launched the Alcatel Insight today, and the Cricket Icon on Monday.
Jun 25, 2018
T-Mobile today rolled out FamilyMode, a new service that gives parents more control over how their kids use smartphones and other connected devices. The service has two components, the FamilyMode app and the FamilyMode Home Base, an in-home box that connects to WiFi.


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Economic challenges for casual-dining chains will persist into 2012, according to a new report from Goldman Sachs securities analysts Michael Kelter and Chris Cerrone. The two analysts said Darden Restaurants Inc. is the only company positioned to weather the slow recovery’s drag on consumer spending. Meanwhile, they said The Cheesecake Factory’s plans to reaccelerate growth in the face of several risk factors have prompted them to take a bearish position on the upscale-casual ...
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Mendix Launches New ‘Go Make It’ Brand Identity; Employees No Longer Need Ask What If? — Go Make It!
With Spring ’19 Release everyone from citizen developers to professional developers are empowered to quickly and easily make the apps they need to improve their work life and optimize profitable business outcomes
MENDIX WORLD, ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS – APRIL 16, 2019 – Mendix, a Siemens business and the global leader in no-code/low-code application development for the enterprise, today unveiled at Mendix World 2019 its dedication to enabling all enterprise employees to push personal boundaries of creativity and productivity to achieve business values never before imagined. Mendix’s new “Go Make It” brand identity, part of its Spring ’19 Release, transcends the traditional enterprise technology product offering and instead communicates directly with its customers to turn their ideas into reality.
With Mendix’s low-code software development platform, every person within an organization can make the software applications they need to vastly improve their professional lives without being at the mercy of the IT backlog. Mendix’s intuitive ease of use rewards people for being curious, creative, and for going deeper and farther than they have gone before to build the software and apps needed to make their lives easier, better, and more productive.
“Challenging and empowering everyone to ‘Go make it’ has already pushed the boundaries for product innovation, experimenting with new technology, and finding new ways to engage with customers,” said Derek Roos, Mendix founder and CEO. “Many companies talk about helping customers achieve digital transformation, but we can actually show tangible examples of how our customers are doing it without massive overhead or infrastructure investments.”
The restrictions for who can test an application or who can deploy a finished product to their team have been shattered. Mendix fundamentally changes the way employees approach software development, and empowers them to go make apps that are transformational for the enterprise – they can now accomplish the impossible.
“Mendix provides the tools business makers need to create more apps faster and better, ultimately scaling and delivering more business value than ever before,” said Roos. “We are excited to see what the business makers create in 2019, and we’re thrilled to enable their creativity and productivity to be successful.”
Mendix’s “Go make it” challenge for customers is on display at Mendix World 2019, offering attendees the opportunity to take part in a wide array of activities, such as making their own metal keychains and fire branded luggage tags with the help of professional blacksmiths, designing a personalized screen print for a tote bag or t-shirt, and collecting coins by participating in various activities for the chance to win from a selection of maker-centric prizes. Throughout the entirety of Mendix World 2019, attendees will experience a heightened level of inspiration and excitement to think outside-of-the-box and create things that before now have only been an aspiration.
Mendix Spring ’19 Release
Mendix Spring ’19 Release is a major update to the company’s pioneering low-code platform, ramping up the platform’s power and capabilities, enabling enterprises to catalyze their digital innovation agendas and advance their initiatives to bring the digital and physical worlds together. With this release, Mendix is launching a new and powerful “maker movement” to drive the digital future — dramatically expanding the universe of application “makers,” furthering the platform’s leadership in supporting enterprise-scale applications, and leveraging smart technology, in both the creation of applications and their capabilities.
For more information about Mendix, please visit www.mendix.com.
Tweet This: Just announced at #MxWorld2019, @Mendix encourages developers at all levels to #gomakeit with creativity and curiosity as part of its new brand identity
LinkedIn: Today at Mendix World 2019, developers of all skill levels were encouraged to “Go Make It” using the Mendix platform, as a part of the company’s new brand identity
Connect with Mendix
Mendix, a Siemens business and the global leader in enterprise low-code, is fundamentally reinventing the way applications are built in the digital enterprise. With the Mendix platform, enterprises can ‘Make with More,’ by broadening an enterprise’s development capability to conquer the software development bottleneck; ‘Make it Smart,’ by making apps with rich native experiences that are intelligent, proactive, and contextual; and ‘Make at Scale,’ to modernize core systems and build large app portfolios to keep pace with business growth. The Mendix platform is built to promote intense collaboration between business and IT teams and dramatically accelerate application development cycles, while maintaining the highest standards of security, quality, and governance — in short, to help enterprises confidently leap into their digital futures. Mendix’s ‘Go Make It’ platform has been adopted by more than 4,000 leading companies around the world.


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Trump to Redevelop Washington, D.C., Old Post Office BuildingFebruary 7, 2012 By: Andrew Sheivachman
Trump Hotel Collection will develop a new luxury hotel in Washington, D.C., at the city's Old Post Office Building. Trump will team with private equity investor group Colony Capital to finance the project after winning approval from the U.S. General Services Administration.
“We are delighted to team with The Trump Organization to redevelop this historic American landmark while preserving its grandeur and elegance,” said Thomas J. Barrack Jr., chairman and CEO of Colony Capital, in a release. “As long-term investors in hospitality, we share the GSA’s vision for transforming this iconic property into one of the finest destination hotels in the country. We look forward to working with the Trump Organization and GSA to make the redevelopment a reality.”
Bloomberg reports that the proposal calls for a 250-room hotel with spa, restaurant and meeting space. “A new luxury hotel hasn’t been introduced to D.C. in years, and there is no current pipeline of luxury hotel product given the lack of great available locations and the high cost of land and development,” Ivanka Trump, who oversaw the hotel proposal, told Bloomberg in a telephone interview.
The Wall Street Journal reports that work on the building likely won't begin until 2014, and that Trump and Colony plan to sink $200 million into the redevelopment project.
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Supermodel Kendall Jenner just shared a sultry shot on Instagram of her walking the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion runway alongside BFF Gigi Hadid. The TV personality shared the image ahead of the broadcast of the iconic fashion show that’s set to hit the airwaves on Sunday at 10 p.m. on ABC.
Kendall Jenner was ecstatic when she found out she would get to return to the runway of Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. For 2017, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star had taken a break from the yearly lingerie show, and it wasn’t announced until the beginning of November that she would be returning to walk in this year’s event.
She told People, “I’m excited to be back. We’re all together again” and pointed to friends Gigi and Bella Hadid after she said it. Both sisters participated in Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2018, along with other big names in the modeling business such as Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel and Stella Maxwell.
The 23-year-old Jenner looks absolutely stunning in the Instagram pic she shared with her 99 million-plus followers, and the black lacey lingerie she’s wearing leaves little to the imagination. The lingerie and rhinestone-adorned sheer black wrap she wore over the bedroom attire additionally showcases her flawless skin and lithe frame.
Additionally, the black gem-encrusted boots the 5′ 10″ Jenner is wearing draw attention to her impossibly long stems. Her olive skin, dark locks and neutral ensemble also play off the blonde and light-skinned Gigi Hadid and the vibrant attire she’s wearing.
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moments before and during the @victoriassecret fashion show. tune in TONIGHT at 10/9c on ABC
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In contrast to Gigi’s dangling gemstone earrings, Jenner is foregoing any jewelry in the pic. And, like all VS Angels at the show, the entertainer is wearing glamorous and professionally applied makeup. Her long, flowing brunette locks flow behind her as she’s shown strutting her stuff on the catwalk.
According to People, lead makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury did the ladies’ makeup before the show.
The last Victoria’s Secret Show that Kendall Jenner participated in before this year was back in 2016. The 2016 show was held in Paris, and for that gig, Kendall got to play the part of a fierce bird of paradise with bright plumage. The outfit was all about turquoise and flaming reds, and the model wore the wildly-themed lingerie with panache.
Kendall Jenner was the highest-paid model in 2017, making a cool $22 million. According to Forbes, she attained that milestone in part because of her “Instagram account that lets her disseminate advertisements to 85 million followers.” She was able to tally a monetary best in her career in 2017 from lucrative deals she made with La Perla, Adidas and Estée Lauder, to name a few. Her paychecks from the Kardashian’s reality TV show, social media endorsements and the clothing line that she partners with her sister Kylie on also add to her modeling earnings.
Source: Read Full Article


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Area 8 in Milton now open every weekend in October
Published October 6, 2022 at 3:16 pm
Conservation Halton has announced that Area 8 will now be open every weekend throughout the month of October.
The park, which many Milton residents may remember as the Kelso Quarry, is located at 5437 Steeles Ave W.
“The lake is beautiful, the scenery is stunning and the gravel path is flat, which makes it perfect for strollers,” said Conservation Halton on Twitter.
Area 8 is now open every weekend for the rest of October, including the Thanksgiving long weekend! 🍁🍁 The lake is beautiful, the scenery is stunning and the gravel path is flat, which makes it perfect for strollers. Book online now: https://t.co/8SQwTj92YF pic.twitter.com/ja2tESYJdD
— Conservation Halton (@ConservHalton) October 6, 2022
To book a visit at Area 8 this month, click here.
Photo: Conservation Halton


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To give patients timely access to novel and effective therapeutics, we must use artificial intelligence – but changing industry attitudes is no mean feat
Jaleel Shujath | | Opinion
As our global supply chains grow in reach and complexity, so too does the potential for quality control and safety issues. The problem has been compounded by COVID-19, with newly imposed supply chain restrictions causing product shortages and disruptions to production and distribution. It has become common for patients, governments, and even health organizations to stockpile medicinal supplies – sometimes in substantial quantities. Pharmaceutical hoarding has resulted in massive price hikes for raw ingredients. For example, the price of ingredients for hydroxychloroquine, a malarial drug, recently rose from US$100 to $1,150 per kg in Pakistan (1), resulting in some companies’ trying to source alternatives. This current crisis exacerbates an ongoing problem: creating new risks for supply chains and exposing patients to substandard or falsified products. Other issues, such as geopolitical crises and fraud, remain constant threats to pharmaceutical supply. Is there a way to address the disparate problems that plague our industry?
Advanced technologies, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI), may hold the answer. These technologies offer the resilience, agility, and supply chain visibility essential to maintaining consumer access to potentially life-saving therapies – and pharma must implement them for the sake of not only the supply chain, but also patients’ health and wellbeing.
Blockchain is one of the more popular track-and-trace technologies used by pharmaceutical stakeholders. As a substance or product travels through the supply chain, each step generates data and adds an unchangeable code to the entry (an “immutable ledger” system). If one step is broken, the system can flag for investigation and stakeholders within the supply network can assess the accuracy, traceability, and authenticity of every product and process step – easily identifying and addressing weak areas in the chain. Blockchain also allows for data sharing while protecting sensitive and proprietary information.
The data blockchain technology gathers can, in turn, feed AI-powered analytics and solutions. AI tools can predict where a supply chain is likely to be disrupted and preemptively reroute medicine deliveries. Such tools could also be leveraged in exploratory or diagnostic ways to protect supply chains. By modeling whether orders could be consolidated in the production and distribution chain, AI-based tools for logistics and fulfillment can identify areas where increased efficiency can protect profit margins and improve performance. AI can also help protect against fraud in vulnerable parts of the supply chain by identifying potential weak points in the supply chain. Finally, AI’s modeling and analytics capabilities can enable more informed decision-making – a critical factor in managing risk and product quality, as well as harmonizing and optimizing supply chain management.
But despite their promise, these solutions have not yet seen widespread adoption. Many life science companies take a “wait and see” approach to adopting innovation or are forced to consider it by emerging regulation. This has affected the extent of AI use across the industry. And with technology outpacing regulators’ ability to set clear guidance for its use, the compliance landscape is continually growing in complexity and cost to implement – another concerning factor for pharma stakeholders. Data integrity is also an important consideration. The pharmaceutical industry generates data in vast volumes and at differing qualities. How can organizations manage such large amounts of information with confidence that each data point is reliable? How do we determine which data are useful to collect and which are not? Although information is undeniably valuable, not every data point must or should be retained – and those who fall into this trap run the risk of making their systems more challenging to manage and optimize.Also unclear is which data may be useful in the future, which can result in data hoarding. To produce robust data models and unlock the full predictive potential of AI, we must use high-quality data – poor data will lead to poor analysis.
Data collaboration could provide businesses with the high-value data needed to support the validation and refinement of novel AI tools, but pharmaceutical organizations have historically been hesitant to share relevant datasets with “competitors.” Blockchain offers the industry an open, decentralized model for data collaboration that could allow organizations to build and share the verified, high-quality datasets AI solutions need.If the industry can more widely embrace these technologies, we will all have a fuller understanding of the dynamics and processes at play across our ever larger and more complicated supply chains – better equipping us to foresee and proactively overcome complex challenges. The faster we adopt AI, the better we can use it to protect our patients.
- S Piranty, “Coronavirus fuels a surge in fake medicines” (2020). Available at: https://bbc.in/3mHIj7M.


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Amazon CEO Jassy says he wants to improve warehouse safety
In his first letter to Amazon shareholders, CEO Andy Jassy offered a defense of the wages and benefits the company gives its warehouse workers while also vowing to improve injury rates inside the facilities. Jassy, who took over from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as CEO last July, wrote the company has researched and created a list of the top 100 “employee experience pain points” and is working to solve them.
A report released this week by a coalition of four labor unions found Amazon employed 33% of all U.S. warehouse workers in 2021, but was responsible for 49% of all injuries in the industry.
(Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)


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What’s the fastest accelerating EV in the world? The Spark Formula E racer? The Drayson B12? Nope – according to Guinness, it’s a converted BMW built by Croatian engineer Mate Rimac. If you feel the need to get to 60 mph in under three seconds, you can actually buy Rimac’s latest model, the Concept One, for a mere million bucks. The 25-year-old entrepreneur’s Zagreb-based startup, Rimac Automobili, was profiled in a recent Wall Street Journal article.
The Concept One sports four individual motors, and has 1,000 hp of total power, a maximum speed of 190 mph and a range of 150 miles. “It’s not just something that looks pretty at an auto show,” says Rimac. “We can build it today. We just need scale.”
Rimac converted his 1984 E30 BMW when he was 19, and now uses it as a test mule. Back in its gas-powered days, Rimac drove it in drifting competitions until the engine blew up. Inspired by the great Nikola Tesla, Rimac decided to try an electric motor. “It wasn’t about making the car environmentally friendly,” he says. “The performance is just much better.”
Rimac converted the E-series using off-the-shelf components, and kept improving it until it was conquering all comers at the race track. When a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family asked to buy two cars, he set to work on the Concept One, and Rimac Automobili was born. Today the company has 22 employees, mostly engineers.
“It was a learning curve – we made mistakes,” Rimac says. “But eventually I realized we were doing something right: developing cars for a lot less money than big car manufacturers and managing to beat them in many fields. We have an advantage starting with a blank sheet of paper. There’s no heritage that we have to incorporate into the design.”
Rimac builds most of the components of the Concept One in-house (the batteries and air bags are two exceptions). The company uses milling machines to cut the wheels and pedals out of solid aluminum blocks. “Only Formula One cars or spaceships are made this way,” says Rimac.
As do many small automotive companies, Rimac Automobili earns most of its revenue designing and producing components such as electric powertrains and battery management systems for other automakers. “We can design and build prototypes fast and inexpensively, and not just for electric cars. We make chassis, electric parts, molds – all under one roof. But if BMW wants to develop a supercar with an electric powertrain, the best one on the market is from us,” Rimac says. “Our technology could end up in a high-volume product under a different brand. If we had sufficient funding, we probably wouldn’t do this kind of stuff. It’s a simple matter of survival. Enzo Ferrari started to make road cars just to finance his race cars – he did it to pay the bills.”
Source: Wall Street Journal


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(Photo by Flickr user Ian Sanderson, used under a Creative Commons license)
Campbell Soup Company wants to improve a food system that all too often leaves healthy food options off the menu for underserved communities.
To help make those improvements, the longtime Camden-based corporation has launched an independent investment arm.
Starting with $125 million from Campbell, Acre Venture Partners is a venture capital fund that invest in food startups. The fund will be managed by “unidentified outsiders,” according to the Inquirer.
The move is in part, corporate acknowledgment of growing concerns over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Big Food.
“We recognized that people, even our own employees, are questioning food,” said CEO Denise Morrison at the annual Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference last week, where the Acre Venture Partners announcement was made.
The future of “real” food, Morrison said, “requires new approaches, new business models, smart external development and an ecosystem of innovative partners.”-30-
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As per latest research, the smart robot market is expected to reach $17.56 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 19.6% from 2018 to 2025.
According to a published report, the global wireless charging market is anticipated to garner $49.30 billion by 2027.
Surge in focus toward utilization of hearing devices to prevent hearing loss in industrial applications has provided the market.
The global smartwatch market is expected to reach $96.31 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 19.6% from 2020 to 2027.
Smart greenhouses are equipped with communication technologies and smart sensors that help capture and deliver information regarding crops.
As per latest research, the global crop insurance market is projected to grow at a considerable CAGR from 2020 to 2027.
The global video surveillance market is anticipated to manifest a significant CAGR during forecast 2020 to 2027.
According to new research report, the vertical farming market to reach $12.77 billion by 2026 and growing at a faster pace with 24.6% CAGR.
Owing to the advantages offered by wearable technology and its adoption, the demand is hastily growing in the market.
As per latest research conducted, the global streaming devices market is expected to reach $18.97 billion by 2027.


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Topic: Current Hardware
01/07/2013, 11:01 am
External storage for Macintosh-based content creators just got a bit bigger with the release of new 1- and 2-terabyte storage devices from G-Technology.
01/07/2013, 10:01 am
More than a month after the launch of the new iMac, Apple still cannot provide adequate supply of its redesigned desktop, as resellers remain completely barren.
01/05/2013, 03:01 am
Apple this week began selling refurbished 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display units through its online store, with savings coming in at over $300 for entry-level models to over $550 for fully-upgraded machine.
01/05/2013, 03:01 am
Apple is now offering the Fusion Drive as a build-to-order option when ordering the most affordable 2.7GHz 21.5-inch iMac model, a change in availability from October when the system was limited to high-end versions and the 27-inch iMac.
01/04/2013, 11:01 am
In spite of discounts on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and even Thanksgiving Day, Apple's MacBook line of computers saw a 6 percent decrease in U.S. sales over the five-week-long 2012 holiday sales period.
12/21/2012, 01:12 am
In somewhat of a regression in function from its predecessors, it has been confirmed that Apple's new iMac line of all-in-one desktops are not compatible with mounts certified by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA).
12/17/2012, 09:12 am
Update: Amazon has now sold out of the 21.5-inch iMac, but AppleInsider partner B&H does still have the $1,499 model in stock, as can be seen in the Mac Price Guide below. We'll update readers if more inventory becomes available.
12/16/2012, 01:12 pm
With Apple still reflecting backlog of 7-10 business days on new 21-inch iMacs, readers looking to purchase one of the super slim desktops for guaranteed delivery ahead Christmas can place orders through some retailers to receive their shipment before Christmas.
12/11/2012, 11:12 am
AppleInsider partner B&H is currently offering Western Digital's 6-terabyte My Thunderbolt Duo Dual-Drive Storage System for $479 with free shipping. That's $120 off the regular price of $599 while supplies last. The accessory comes with dual Thunderbolt ports capable of up to 10 Gb/s data transfer rates.
12/10/2012, 03:12 pm
Apple on Monday released a software update for owners of its recently updated Mac mini desktop, addressing an issue that would cause a connected screen to flicker.
12/10/2012, 11:12 am
Customers who preordered Apple's newly redesigned 27-inch iMac have begun receiving notifications that their order has shipped and will arrive before Christmas.
12/08/2012, 12:12 pm
eBay, in conjunction with seller Johny641, is selling Apple's 13.3-Inch MacBook Pro MD101LL/A (2.5GHz/4GB/500GB) for $999 -- $200 off retail and the lowest price available -- while supplies last. 67 units had sold as of press time. The item is the current 2.5GHz 13-inch MacBook Pro and comes brand new/sealed with Apple's standard 1-year warranty.
12/07/2012, 10:12 am
Apple on Friday revised the estimated shipping times for its newly redesigned 27-inch iMac, with new orders now scheduled to ship in January.
12/04/2012, 08:12 am
Retail sales of Apple notebooks on Black Friday were flat year over year as overall consumer electronics sales declined nearly 6 percent, while sales of Windows-based notebooks plummeted 10 percent despite the launch of Windows 8.
12/02/2012, 06:12 pm
Apple may be taking some of the burden of assembling the new iMac off Chinese supply partners by performing parts of assembly in the U.S., as a number of newly-purchased standard units are showing an "Assembled in USA" notation usually reserved for made-to-order machines.
12/01/2012, 06:12 pm
In its customary teardown of the newest Apple products, repair firm iFixit gave the 21.5-inch iMac a "repairability score" of three out of a possible ten, citing a hard to replace display and lack of easily-upgradable RAM, while the Online Apple Store sees ship-by dates pushed back to over a week.
11/30/2012, 05:11 pm
Reviews for Apple's new iMacs are starting to hit the web just hours after the all-in-one officially launched at Apple Stores and resellers worldwide on Friday, and so far the two standout features appear to be the unit's laminated display and slim design.
11/30/2012, 12:11 pm
Apple's big-screen 27-inch iMac looks to be in extremely limited supply this holiday, as the estimated shipping time has already lengthened less than 24 hours after the new all-in-one desktop went on sale.
11/30/2012, 12:11 pm
Benchmarks for Apple's redesigned 27- and 21.5-inch iMac models are now available, showing significant performance increases over the previous-generation models.
11/30/2012, 05:11 am
Apple on Friday made both models of its new all-in-one available for order through the Online Apple Store following a rollout to brick-and-mortar locations worldwide, with the smaller 21.5-inch version seeing a short delivery lead time while the 27-inch iMac is set to ship later in December.


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An international array of environmental groups is charging computer makers and their consumers, along with the United States government, with using Asian nations as a dumping ground for hazardous electronic waste.
A report released Monday, Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia, says that "huge quantities" of so-called e-waste are being exported to China, Pakistan and India, where their subsequent handling presents a significant threat to human and environmental health.
The report was issued by the Basel Action Network and the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, with contributions from Toxics Link India, a Pakistani group called SCOPE, and Greenpeace China.
The centerpiece of the report is an investigation into the Guiyu area of southern China. The groups report that 100,000 poor and migrant workers break apart and process obsolete computers imported chiefly from North America. The operations include the burning of plastics, metals and components such as circuit boards, along with the dumping of CRT (cathode-ray tube) monitors, according to the report.
"The operations involve men, women and children toiling under primitive conditions, often unaware of the health and environmental hazards involved," the report says.
Environmentalists and governments around the world have turned increasing attention to the potential dangers posed by various components of electronic devices--from PCs to TV sets to cell phones--if they are not properly disposed of. A chief concern is lead, which is found in the solder on circuit boards and in the glass panels of CRT monitors. Other worrisome elements include mercury, cadmium and plastic compounds.
These worries have prompted the European Union to consider sweeping action to stem the flow of electronic goods to landfills and reduce the use of hazardous materials. Action in the United States has been largely limited to local product take-back programs. California and Massachusetts both have banned CRT monitors from landfills, and two California senators last week proposed new "e-scrap" laws.
While the threat of releasing possible toxins into groundwater and the atmosphere gets the splashier headlines, there's a more mundane but still significant aspect to e-waste: volume. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that computers and other electronic goods are the fastest-growing tributary to the waste stream in the United States, accounting for about 220 million tons per year.
The efforts in the United States don't add up to much so far, according to the report's backers.
"The U.S. is developing very questionable practices to deal with the problem of e-waste, rather than (developing) an infrastructure that's able to deal with these problems," said Ted Smith, SVTC's executive director.
"We need to establish a market-based system where people are paid a living wage for their work, which should be done under safe conditions, and where the products are reused...(or otherwise) dealt with in appropriate ways," Smith said. "We're a long way from there."
In the United States, electronics recycling and reuse actions range from municipal studies to PC makers' fee-based take-back programs and even work programs for federal prisoners.
Major electronics makers have condemned the practice of exporting obsolete PCs, TV sets and other gadgets to locales with lax environmental and worker safety laws, but they also say they're doing the best they can for now at trying to figure out how to tackle the problem.
"The argument people make, and it's a just concern, is should material be sent overseas to be put in a landfill or burnt in an incinerator? The answer is no," said Mark Small, vice president for environmental affairs at Sony. "Can everything be cost-effectively recycled here in the United States? The answer is, no it can't."
Small said that many Sony products sold in the United States are made overseas in places such as Malaysia and China, and when those products reach the end of their useful life, they may be sent back to the place of manufacture--to be handled in environmentally sound ways.
"Within the Sony company, and its suppliers, the standards are very high," he said. "For the most part, they are as good as the operations in the U.S. What's different is the infrastructure that some countries have to handle the waste."
International accords, but little progress
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which has issued guidelines for the environmentally sound management of used and scrap PCs, described the used computer as a new business with "somewhat informal origins." Although refurbishment and reuse of PCs take place to some extent in all countries, the 30-nation OECD said, "it is considerably more prevalent in countries with transitional economies."
At least one international agreement focuses on the issue. The Basel Convention classifies CRT glass, mercury switches and other elements of computer scrap as hazardous waste. The United States has not ratified the convention.
The Exporting Harm report calls shipments of electronic scrap from industrialized nations to developing countries "a dirty little secret of the high-tech revolution," which has been "studiously avoided" by the electronics industry, government officials and many recyclers.
It says that between 50 percent and 80 percent of the e-waste collected for recycling in the western United States is not recycled domestically, but rather shipped to destinations such as China. Market realities force even well-intentioned recyclers to take part in dumping.
A representative for the U.S. Commerce Department declined to comment.
But electronics makers and recyclers both acknowledge that scrap does get shipped abroad and improperly handled--whether in the dismantling or the ultimate disposal in landfills.
"A lot of our competitors choose to ship materials to China, both whole goods and parts?or ship 'scrap' over there for their economic benefit as opposed to doing the right thing environmentally," said Doug Steen, president of Belmont Technology Remarketing. "We don't ship scrap overseas."
It's the midsized to small companies--including some that operate out of their garages--that send scrap overseas to shore up their profits, "making $5 to $6 as opposed to spending $5 to $6," said Steen, whose company is one of the larger players in the recycling and reuse field.
"Our country is very guilty of sending scrap overseas," he said. "It's kind of like poisoning the world for personal profit."


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Nintendo today made it official that its next console, codenamed “NX”, will launch worldwide in March next year.
The news was shared in the company’s latest financial release, which stated that company is currently working on a new gaming platform codenamed ‘NX’ and that it expects to launch the platform in March 2017 globally.
Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima told Nikkei that the NX will not merely succeed the 3DS or the Wii U but is going to be a new system altogether. When asked why the NX wasn’t releasing this year during the holiday season, Kimishima replied saying Nintendo wants to ensure that there are enough games available for the NX at launch. The company also has no plans of showing off the console at E3 2016. The focus at E3 this year will be on new Zelda game, which is scheduled to release next year for both the Wii U and NX.


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With these changes happening so rapidly, regulation may be forced to catch up with technology in 2016. We may find that some countries or industries will begin to develop guidelines that address the new risks of information use, data ownership, and consent presented by IoT devices.
2. Opportunities For Cybercriminals To Compromise Apple Devices Will Grow
Apple devices have experienced a surge in popularity in recent years. According to IDC, the company now accounts for 13.5 percent of global smartphone shipments and 7.5 percent of global PC shipments. This increase in usage has not gone unnoticed by attackers. A rising number of threat actors have begun developing specific malware designed to infect devices running Mac OS X or iOS.
Although the number of threats targeting Apple operating systems remains quite low when compared to the company's main competitors (Windows in the desktop space and Android in mobile), the amount uncovered has grown steadily in recent years. In tandem with this, the level of Apple-related malware infections has spiked, particularly in the past 18 months.
Security researchers have also given a greater focus on vulnerabilities in Apple software, with a number of high-profile flaws uncovered in the past year. Zero-day brokers have begun offering bounties for Apple vulnerabilities, with US$1 million paid recently for a jailbreak of iOS 9.1.
Should Apple's popularity continue to grow, it seems likely that these trends will continue in 2016. Apple users should not be complacent about security and change their perception that Apple devices are "free from malware"- this perception opens up opportunities for cybercriminals to take advantage of these users. They need to take precautions in order to prevent their devices from being compromised.
3. The Battle Between Ransomware Gangs and Malware Distribution Networks Will Heat-Up
From early beginnings in Russian speaking counties, ransomware has evolved and spread into Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia. It is likely that some of the gangs responsible for the original ransomware are part of this expansion, but other established criminal gangs are also becoming involved. Clearly, the fraud is profitable for criminals and is likely to increase.
It is also possible that ransomware gangs will come into conflict with more traditional malware distributors in 2016. Ransomware infections are overt and obvious, while most other malware infections are covert and discreet. The presence of ransomware on a computer will usually prompt the computer owner to clean the machine thoroughly, removing any malware from it. As the ransomware may have been installed by a separate piece of malware, that other malware will also be removed, cutting into the malware operator's business model.
In 2016, more malware distribution networks may soon refuse to distribute such obvious malware, forcing the ransomware gangs to develop their own distribution methods (like Trojan.Ransomlock.G and Trojan.Ransomlock.P have already done).
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Coinbase NFT comes as the publicly listed company continues efforts to diversify its business and reduce its reliance on transaction fees from crypto trades.
Coinbase has announced that it is opening a peer-to-peer marketplace to “make minting, purchasing, showcasing and discovering NFTs easier than ever.”
The exchange says the user experience when trying to create or purchase non-fungible tokens is “lacking” at present.
In a blog post unveiling Coinbase NFT, the company said user-friendly interfaces will reduce complexity, while social features will make it easier to enter into conversations about artworks and discover fresh content.
Sanchan Saxena, one of the company’s vice presidents, said:
“Creating an NFT should be as simple as tapping a few buttons. Anything more complicated is a barrier to creativity. Coinbase NFT will be a peer-to-peer marketplace that empowers the imagination. With an intuitive design built on top of a decentralized marketplace, Coinbase NFT puts the art and artist’s experience at the forefront.”
The exchange added that it is determined to ensure that artists continue to have creative control through decentralized contracts and metadata transparency. ERC-721 and ERC-1155 token standards on the Ethereum blockchain will initially be available, with support for other chains rolled out in future. This could mean that the project has teething problems, with congestion on the network resulting in high minting fees.
Coinbase NFT comes as the publicly listed company continues efforts to diversify its business and reduce its reliance on transaction fees from crypto trades. It’ll be interesting to see whether the exchange will be able to wrestle away market share from OpenSea — and the types of fees that artists may be charged.
A waitlist has now been established so users can express an interest in using the platform — and according to Decrypt, it will be live by the end of the year.


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Maria Wasastjerna as Moderator at Nordic Privacy Arena 2021
24 September 2021
Partner, LL.D. Maria Wasastjerna from Hannes Snellman's Competition Practice will be moderating a discussion on digitalisation, competition and privacy at the Nordic Privacy Arena 2021.
The Nordic Privacy Arena (NPA) is the biggest privacy and data protection conference in the Nordics. Every year the NPA attracts around 450 local and international data privacy experts. This year the event is semi-digital and takes place on 27-28 September in Stockholm, Sweden.
The panel discussion will focus on digital transformation and business models, production methods, distribution, and the way businesses compete. The panellists will be addressing questions on how to maintain the competitive conditions in the data driven economy and how to protect personal integrity.


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ADECS 2018: JMSDF anticipates new and smaller destroyers
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) had 47 destroyers in 2013, but it plans to boost its fleet to 54 by 2023 by introducing a new destroyer type known as the 30DD.
The new 3,900t warship is classified as a ‘compact vessel’, with building costs reduced by making its ...
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In response to the international financial crisis of the year, the automatic packaging machine industry operation has some new features.
First, adjust product mix made great progress: From the industry perspective, fewer low-end products, high-grade, more specialized products; Second, the outcome of significant innovation: development of a number of multi-functional, automatic peeled, print , the cumulative SZDG series semi-automatic liquid quantitative filling machine (electronic weighing); three fixed-asset investment growth: 1 November 2009 Fixed Assets Investment up 35.8%, a number of major technology projects and have completed played a role, especially in heavy machinery production capacity has increased significantly; fourth way to start a business change. Such as the strong increase productivity and reduce manufacturing costs, further optimization of supply chain, technical services for the users to further enhance and so on.
2010, the industry must highlight the strategic focus, clear food packaging machine main direction, and further speed up structural adjustment and change in mode of development, health and sustainable development for the industry and create conditions and environment. 2010 is the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" implemented last year, the key year is a year full of hope. The industry will be the central economic work on the 2010 policy guidance, hard work, innovation, for the machine tool industry to speed up structural adjustment, change and make new contributions to the development mode. The association will promote the industrial upgrading of technological innovation as a strategic measures to improve the industrial level of transformation as an important means to foster the development of manufacturing technology and services as an important direction for new growth, to promote independent innovation, and actively guide the industry focus backbone enterprises in technological progress, the industry plays a leading role in the development.
Content Source: Investment Advisory Network News
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Inspired by a long-standing regional tradition, the digital ‘Jamiyah’ empowers ila users with a seamless automated solution while encouraging wider audiences to leap into the digital world.
Manama, Bahrain: ila Bank, Bahrain’s fast growing digital mobile-only bank, today launched the first-of-its-kind, digital ‘Jamiyah’ in Bahrain. Stemming from an informal regional community saving tradition, the innovative banking service automates the entire end-to-end ‘Jamiyah’ process in seamless and effortless steps. This comes as part of ila’s promise to continuously sense market needs and deploy tailored solutions that enable customers’ financial goals and aspirations. It also accelerates the Government’s vision to facilitate a cashless, digital economy.
From inviting individuals to join custom Jamiyah’s, setting collection targets to automatically deducting monthly contributions from members, the digital ‘Jamiyah’ formalizes this long standing tradition, while saving valuable time and effort. Participants can maintain a clear trail of each members contribution instead of the manual way of book keeping and collecting funds in cash.
Commenting on this much anticipated product launch, Sael Al Waary, Deputy Group CEO, Bank ABC, who spearheaded the creation of ila, said: “We are delighted to deliver on our promise to continue to introduce innovative products and services that better suit our clients and communities. Jamiyah is an example of our vision to combine technological innovation with human behaviour to create new products and services that reflect the needs of our customers.”
Mohamed Almaraj, CEO, ila Bank Bahrain said: “ila is all about adapting banking to reflect customer lifestyles, needs and aspirations. This product appeals to all segments of our community and amid the current ‘contactless’ environment, its launch could not have been timelier. We are proud to continue to bring market-first products such as Jamiyah to Bahrain.”
This groundbreaking feature has been designed with a goal to build financial capabilities and resilience in the local community. Extensive focus groups were conducted to understand the pain points that Bahraini’s have today when participating in Jamiyahs. There is a clear need for customers to be able to track payments, monitor the Jamiyah’s progress and automate monthly payments being made to each participant. ila’s version preserves this widely loved saving tradition and enables friends and family to collectively save in a playful digitized manner.