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With deflation still evident in the economy, credit card interest rates could shoot up, according to some economist, Smart Money reports.
During a time when prices for everything seem to be falling, credit card companies have to find a way to make up for depreciating assets, says Smart Money. One way to do that is through raising fees and interest rates.
Considering the trend of increased fees, it’s not unreasonable to think that consumers may find themselves paying more for their credit card purchases, says Smart Money. Consumers with credit card debt can take steps to help combat imminent prices increases.
Smart Money says that if an issuer tries to impose an interest hike, consumers should try to decline it. If that doesn’t work, sometimes transfering the balance to a new card with a lower interst rate makes the most sense.
Sometimes a debt management program is the best and easiest solution for getting a grip on credit card debt. Counseling programs can help consumers create a feasible payment plan.
The Federal Trade Commission notes that many colleges, military bases and credit unions offer resources for people to turn to when in need of debt management services.


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This file photo provided by Kia Corp. shows the front of the EV6 to be unveiled later this month. (Kia Corp)
Kia Corp. on Tuesday released a teaser for the EV6, its first dedicated all-electric model built on Hyundai Motor Group's EV platform, ahead of its global unveiling later this month.
Kia plans to launch seven all-electric models by 2027, and the EV6 is the first model of the planned EV-only lineup, the company said in a statement.
The EV6 is based on the group's own Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) and developed under Kia's new design philosophy that embodies its shifting focus toward electrification, it said.
"Our aim is to design the physical experience of our brand and to create bold, original and inventive electric vehicles," Karim Habib, head of Kia Global Design Center, said.
Last month, Kia's bigger affiliate Hyundai Motor Co. unveiled the IONIQ 5, its first model embedded with the E-GMP platform, as the group strives to morph into a future mobility solutions provider. (Yonhap)

domain: news


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BONITA — While the future of its Bonita operation is in limbo, pending two court cases over the legality of a referendum opposing rezoning of two greenhouse complexes, NatureSweet announced it is continuing to grow.
The company announced Tuesday expansion of its Mexican operations through a joint venture with high-tech greenhouse grower Ganfer.
“With this joint venture, we believe that NatureSweet will become the largest vertical-integrated greenhouse (operation) in North America,” NatureSweet CEO Rodolfo Spielman said in video announcement.
The move adds about 200 acres of greenhouse operations to NatureSweet’s existing 1,200 acres, with another 150 acres expected to be added before the end of 2022.
The result, Spielman said, should be an increase in sales of about 20 percent.
“We are very excited to start this joint venture with NatureSweet. This is beyond just growing superior products, but it’s also about a vision to leverage higher technology to accelerate and maximize our positive impact in our communities and the planet,” said German Gándara, president and CEO of Ganfer.


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Bright Box, a global corporation that specializes in solutions and platforms in the connected car sector, today announced that it will be attending Microsoft Inspire 2019, the Microsoft World Partner Conference. This year Bright Box Named Finalist for Automotive nomination of the Microsoft 2019 Partner of the Year Awards. The event will be held at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 14th through 18th. TOP representatives Ivan Mishanin, the CEO of Bright Box and Vitaly Baum, the Chief Product Officer will involve in key activities.
“We provide our customers with turnkey Connected Car platform Remoto including hardware, business software and a mobile app for their user. The platform is hosted in the Microsoft Azure cloud, so we have access to modern software development and testing tools, and can easily upscale the solution. And today we are glad to be this year’s finalist for Automotive nomination”, said Bright Box CEO Ivan Mishanin, who will join the finalists’ events.
Solutions from Bright Box are based on cutting-edge Microsoft technology. Bright Box requires its app to be online 24/7, all over the world, with minimal downtime. Microsoft Azure is seen as a secure, highly compliant development platform for Open Source software and a secure repository for storing sensitive data, well protected by Microsoft and respected in the industry.
Inspire 2019, taking place in Las Vegas July 14–18, is Microsoft’s premier event for partners and experience for anyone interested in growing their business and strengthening their Microsoft partnership. The event brings together thousands of attendees from 130 countries around the globe for a week of networking and learning — all with the goal of increasing partner profitability and accelerating business growth. This year the keynote speaker lineup will include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, President Brad Smith, Executive Vice President Judson Althoff, who leads Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Business organization, and Corporate Vice President Gavriella Schuster, who leads Microsoft’s One Commercial Partner organization.


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Black Sabbath Guitarist Sues Live Nation Over Gear
BLACK SABBATH GUITARIST SUES LIVE NATION OVER GEAR:
December 17, 2008
Tony Iommi, lead guitarist of the rock band Black Sabbath, is suing Live Nation Inc. for trademark infringement, alleging a subsidiary of the music promoter has illegally sold merchandise using images of the band.
The guitarist alleged that Signatures Network Inc., purchased by Live Nation in 2007, has continued to sell merchandise with images of Iommi and Black Sabbath’s trademarked symbol after the expiration of a licensing agreement, according to a complaint filed today in a U.S. District Court in New York.
Iommi co-founded Black Sabbath in 1968 along with vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward. The left-handed guitarist behind songs such as “Iron Man” and “Paranoid” has retained control of the band’s trademarks as the other original members left, according to the complaint.
Live Nation, the largest U.S. concert promoter, purchased Signatures for $79 million in 2007 and tapped its chief executive officer, Dell Furano, to take over its merchandise division.
The purchase gave Live Nation control of the rights to license and market merchandise for artists such as The Beatles, U2, Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand. The company, based in Beverly Hills, California, also competes with Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. for concert ticket sales.
Live Nation rose 15 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $3.80 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have lost 74 percent this year.
Iommi, 60, has registered the Black Sabbath trademark in the U.K, U.S. and European Union. The band’s contract with Signatures expired in 2006, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges that Signatures continued to sell the band’s merchandise after Iommi sent a letter in April telling the company to stop. The gear included about 100 items of clothing, jewelry, posters and fashion accessories.
Iommi is seeking damages of at least three times Signatures’ profits from the merchandise, as well as a halt to the product sales.
Live Nation doesn’t comment about ongoing litigation, said spokeswoman Liz Morentin.
The case is Anthony Iommi v. Signatures Network Inc., No. 1:08-cv-10904, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
Courtesy of www.bloomberg.com


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The company has revealed the design and specifications through teaser images. The 6GB RAM/128GB storage version is fifty bucks more, and the available colors for the metal chassis are Black, Champagne Gold, and Blue. Xiaomi slaps on a 6.9-inch 2160×1080 Full HD+ screen. There's also a 2.5D curved glass covering the display. It is powered by 1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 636 processor with Adreno 509 GPU backed up be 4GB/6GB RAM and 64GB/128GB storage with 128GB expandable memory. The lens has a aperture of f/1.9 and the sensor has 1.4µm pixel size and has Dual PD focus.
There are also dual AI-assisted cameras on back - one 12-megapixel and a secondary 5-megapixel - and supports face unlock with its front 8-megapixel camera.
Xiaomi President Lin Bin on his Weibo handle announced the arrival of new Mi Max 3 smartphone, to be launched in China on July 19. Both new smartphones, apart from continuing the legacy of being a part of Google's Android One, will come with a thin-bezel screen. The primary rear camera comes with a Sony IMX363 sensor accompanied by an LED flash. Further, the recent listing of the Mi A2 Lite on AliExpress confirmed that there will be 3GB and 4GB RAM options with a starting price of $189.99 (roughly Rs. 13,000). The Mi Max 3 weighs 221g and has a thickness of 7.99mm.
Xiaomi Mi Max 3 is a phone for people with enormous hands
Connectivity options on the Mi Max 3 include 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, dual-SIM 4G VoLTE support, GPOS/A-GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, a type-C USB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. As for India the smartphone is expected to launch in the month of October. You'd expect that on a phone of this size, as powering the massive screen will probably take a lot out of the phone's (admittedly huge) 5,500 mAh battery.
Camera-wise, the Mi Max 3 comes with a (now-ubiquitous) two camera setup, allowing you to capture photos with gorgeous depth-of-field effects, bolstered by the usual AI tweaks. Also, stay tuned for the live updates of the events.
Oklahoma City Thunder trade Carmelo Anthony to the Atlanta Hawks
Carmelo Anthony has been traded to Atlanta, but don't expect to see him suiting up for the Hawks next season. Twitter reacted to the news by applauding the 10-time All-Star's ability to continue to make his money.
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Wienerschnitzel, the world’s largest hot dog chain, is celebrating its title as the official hot dog of Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross (JGRMX), with an exciting motocross-themed, on-the-cup sweepstakes. Beginning today, chili dog and race fans alike are encouraged to visit Wienerschnitzel to purchase a medium drink featuring a game piece to win one of many prizes. From instant free food to GoPro cameras and Yamaha Dirt Bikes, every medium drink is a winner.
The fast-casual renaissance that has taken over the restaurant industry in the last decade has lately infused excitement and momentum into the broader limited-service sector. Market research firm Mintel found that sales at fast-casual restaurants grew 10.5 percent last year, compared with 6.1 percent growth from quick-service restaurants.
Wienerschnitzel announced its newly formed partnership with 4 Wheel Parts—the global leader in off-road, Jeep, and aftermarket performance products—and Smittybilt—a supplier of innovative truck and SUV accessories to thousands of active dealers and distributors worldwide. To kick off the relationship, Wienerschnitzel will join the two brands and event sponsors at the 2015 Nitto King of the Hammers Presented by 4 Wheel Parts, deemed one of the toughest and largest four-wheel-drive, off-road-vehicle races where contenders battle through a 200-mile natural terrain course.
Wienerschnitzel, the world’s largest hot dog chain, has announced its newly formed partnership with Toyota to engage in fun cross-promotional efforts around both brands’ participation at Monster Energy West Coast Supercross and Motocross events throughout 2015. The relationship with Toyota began when Wienerschnitzel signed on as the official hot dog of professional Motocross team Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross (JGRMX) in October 2014, which Toyota sponsors along with AutoTrader.com and Yamaha.
Wienerschnitzel, the world’s largest hot dog chain, invites fans to explore the company’s revamped website that went live this week. Designed with tomorrow’s customer in mind, the site has been revamped to serve as a one-stop-shop for Wienerschnitzel’s Chili Dog-loving fans and prospective franchisees alike. The website overhaul was activated by the recently established Visionary Department, Wienerschnitzel’s forward-looking marketing division dedicated to building brand loyalty among younger generations.
In an effort to expand marketing reach to a younger audience, Wienerschnitzel, the world’s largest hot dog chain, has established its new Visionary Department: a forward-looking marketing division dedicated to building brand loyalty among younger generations.
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In celebration of Wienerschnitzel’s 53rd Anniversary, the hot dog went back to where it all began in 1961 and made a few retro updates to the very first “Der Wienerschnitzel” location in Wilmington, California. Updates include large photos from Wienerschnitzel beginnings placed along the building as well as a plaque declaring the location a historic landmark by the city of Los Angeles, making it the second fast-food establishment in the city’s history to receive the honor. The landmark dedication ceremony will take place on Tuesday, September 16, at 2 p.m.
Wienerschnitzel is giving guests even more chances to win big during its fifth-annual Cash in on a Corn Dog sweepstakes. Beginning August 25, just by purchasing a fan-favorite corn dog, guests can rake in prizes including free corn dogs, cash, and gift cards, along with the $1,000,000 grand prize.
July is National Hot Dog Month and the 53rd anniversary of Wienerschnitzel. To celebrate, the company is rolling back prices on three classic Hot Dogs on Sunday, July 20. In honor of its 1961 founding year, participating Wienerschnitzel locations are offering fans its original Chili Dog, Mustard Dog, or Kraut Dog for 61 cents each.
Wienerschnitzel has introduced a variety of new menu items to kick-off the summer. Two new Big Angus Premium Beef Dogs, Tastee Freez Caramel creations and Summer Sippers Lemonades are now available for a limited time at participating locations.
The BBQ Bacon Angus Dog features bacon, crispy onion straws and zesty BBQ sauce.
The Blue Cheese & Bacon Angus Dog is topped with Blue Cheese crumbles, grilled onion, and drizzled with Blue Cheese dressing.


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InterSICOP is the International Bakery, Confectionery, Ice Cream, Coffee and Equipment Exhibition. IFEMA and the Organising Committee have agreed to hold from an online event from 1st to 28th March 2021 to keep the sector’s business active, generating business and promoting knowledge exchange and learning. This will be a transitional event to pave the way for organising the 2022 edition in a safe environment and a context of economic recovery, an event that we are sure will exceed all expectations.
This is a carefully-considered decision taken after an exhaustive evaluation of the worldwide situation and the difficulty of forecasting the changes ahead, and our continuing commitment to the concerns and needs of the whole InterSICOP exhibition community in all its fields (bakery, pastry, ice cream, TECSICOP and cafés).
So, IFEMA is already working on this online event, part of our commitment to continue contributing to the growth and dynamism of all these sectors at a time when it is more important than ever. A two-week virtual meetup between supply and demand, with talks, seminars, B2B and competitions in the Bakery, Confectionery, Ice Cream, Café and Equipment sectors. In short, the birth of a digital business community using an innovative technological platform for promoting interaction and networking between all different actors in the industry.


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https://www.insidermedia.com/news/midla ... very-giant
Turnover surged towards the £1bn mark at Queen's Award-winning parcel delivery giant DPD during its most recent financial year, newly published results have revealed.
The business, which headquartered in Smethwick on the edge of Birmingham, achieved a turnover of £972.8m for the year to 30 December 2018, up from £894.7m in 2017.
The documents for DPD Group UK also show that its pre-tax profits went from £143.8m to £142.4m over the same period.
DPD operates from more than 40 locations across the UK and employs almost 2,000 staff
The company's £100m hub in Hinckley, Leicestershire, is fully operational while in June 2018 DPD relocated its Nottingham depot to a new 60,000 sq ft distribution centre, creating up to 209 new jobs.
Plans for a major distribution centre in the Black Country were also approved in November 2018.
A statement signed off by the board said: "The company has continued to develop its businesses and the directors are satisfied with the operating results.
"The company has made plans to continue to grow market share and has put in place strategies and investment programmes to achieve this objective.
"The board believes that the company is well placed to deliver further growth of revenue and profit from both core products and from further value-added services.
"The company ended the year in a very strong financial position and the board believe that this position, coupled with the strength of its parent La Poste puts it in a market leading position for future development."
The company started life in 1970 as Courier Express and was renamed Parceline in 1984 when it was acquired by Mayne Nickless of Australia.
It is now owned by French postal service La Poste, which bought the company in 2000, and in 2008 its name was changed to DPD.
DPD won a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the innovation category in 2015.
In June 2019 the company completed a deal to move into a new warehouse in Sandwell.


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While different areas in Scotland have different rules on outdoor consumption of alcohol, the new restrictions mean that for every area under level four restrictions, it will now be illegal.
Therefore, buying a takeaway pint from a pub and drinking it outdoors will not be allowed.
Before the pandemic, local authorities had the power to make by-laws to prohibit alcohol being consumed in public places.
For example, it was legal to drink alcohol outside in Edinburgh, but not in Glasgow, Aberdeen or Dundee.
The First Minister said that that she understands it will not be a popular move but that it underlines the fact that nobody should be leaving their homes to socialise anyway.
Ms Sturgeon continued on to say that the situation in the country “remains precarious and serious” so it was necessary to bring further rules in to suppress the virus.
She added that further steps needed to be taken to stop people from interacting both indoors and outdoors because the case numbers are so high and the new variant is “so infectious”.
All six new measures announced will come into force on Saturday, January 16.
These include a limit being placed on the ‘click and collect’ service, with only retailers selling essential goods being allowed to continue the service and takeaways no longer being able to allow customers inside when picking up orders, everything must be handed through a hatch or doorway.


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"We are elated with the Court's Final Judgement of $439 million in that not only did it affirm the jury's verdict of $1.20 per infringing iPhone, iPad and Mac Product, but also added for willful infringement, interest and attorney fees," VirnetX CEO Kendall Larsen said.
"This is the third time a jury has ruled in our favor against Apple."
The court granted all of VirnetX's motions, including one for willful infringement and one for an enhanced royalty rate from $1.20 to $1.80 per device.
"We believe this established per device rate for security is very reasonable and will greatly assist us with our domestic and global licensing efforts," Larsen said.
The court ruling appears to conclude the seven-year legal fight, which was the first patent infringement case against Apple.
Apple, though, said it plans to appeal the court's order, The Verge reported.


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PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, popularly known as just PUBG, is probably one of the most popular games in the world at the moment, if not the most popular. Developed and published by PUBG Corporation, which is a subsidiary of South Korean Gaming company called Bluehole, the online multiplayer battle game is now all set to come to PlayStation 4!
Move around and you’ll see plenty of youngsters engaged in battle on their smartphones, which also raises the question of this game being extremely addictive. 100 players drop into a map and shoot each other to battle it out and fight for survival. How cool is that? Now, they’re also set to launch on the PS4 platform come 7th December 2018, and this could very well be the best thing since God of War.
PlayStation took to Twitter to make this announcement on Tuesday, 13th November, asking players to ‘Prepare to drop, loot, and fight your way to the top’ in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, PS4:
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) November 13, 2018
Complete details about the launch were shared on the PlayStation blog. Another announcement made is that the game will include 3 iconic maps when it launches on 7th December – Erangel, Miramar, and Sanhok, and a fourth snow-themed map coming this winter. Other features of the game will include custom matches, ranked system, event mode, trophies, and plenty more. You can also pre-order your copy of PUBG for PS4.
The company is offering a PUBG avatar and theme to rock on your PlayStation Network User ID, as an instant download for pre-ordering. Those who pre-order will get exclusive benefits that no one else will, so head over to your PlayStation Store and buy right away. The three versions available right now are:
- Looter’s Edition
- Survivor’s Edition
- Champion’s Edition
All these will be available till the release date, 7th December.
“We’re excited to expand our PUBG service and introduce new communities to our Battle Royale game. PlayStation has developed an amazing community of passionate gamers and we can’t wait to join them this holiday season,” commented PUBG Corp CEO, Changhan Kim, on this development.
“One of most memorable moments while developing PS4 PUBG was the first time we had 100 people join a test match. Before the test, the dev team’s mission was to deliver the finished product this year – it was a big challenge and it felt almost impossible. But as soon as we had 100 people drop in for the test, our confidence started to build and and we pushed ourselves harder to make everything happen. We are proud of the game we have created and can’t wait to get it into your hands,” said Koo Sung Jeong, PS4 Lead Project Manager.
Keep watching ReadScoops.com for more updates from the world of gaming.
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By Paula Moggio
A dynamic new band headlined and performed at the most recent SXSW Festivals in Austin, Texas—not a rock band, but a wristband.
For the first time in SXSW history, admission wristbands with embedded RFID (radio frequency identification) chips were used.
Precision Dynamics Corporation in San Fernando, Calif., supplied South by Southwest (SXSW) with its Smart Band RFID Wristband System during the popular SXSW Music, Film and Interactive Festivals last spring, which also happens to be the largest annual conference held in the city of Austin. SXSW debuted RFID technology to prevent counterfeiting and over-crowding while increasing public safety and ticket sales. More than 23,000 RFID embedded credentials were used on the largest crowd to date.
One of the biggest issues faced by the ticketing industry is counterfeiting. Today, the market for secondary trading of tickets in the United States is estimated to be between $20 billion and $38 billion, This translates to high profit loss for venue promoters, performers and unnecessary burdens to everyone else involved in the selling and purchasing of tickets.
The previous year during SXSWeek, thousands of counterfeit wristbands were made and sold on the street with a face value of as much as $500,000. Those involved in the counterfeiting were later caught and charged with forgery and trademark counterfeiting. In 2004 counterfeiting of SXSW tickets was seriously discouraged by using the Smart Bands.
"It was a very good solution for us," says Roland Swenson, president of SXSW, Inc. "We had suffered from a high-profile incident with counterfeiters in 2003, and implementing RFID wristbands in 2004 was a smart choice for preventing this from occurring again."
Smart Band wristbands revolve around a tiny, flat RFID chip sealed in a non-transferable plastic wristband that uses customized software to store and transfer data that is read by RFID readers. The RFID chips used in SXSW wristbands contained serial numbers that were used to verify the authenticity of each band. Smart Band's non-transferable feature is key to preventing scalping and unauthorized access to the information stored on the chips.
During SXSWeek, the wristbands were scanned by specialized PDAs at the admissions entrance of every venue. After the RFID chip was scanned by the RFID reader, a light appeared signaling whether or not the wristband was real—green indicated legit, red indicated fake.
"We found no counterfeits this year, and our sources told us that certain groups we were aware of in the past, but could never make a case against, had ceased their activities," Swenson says.
RFID technology helps quicken the admissions process. Also, the lack of counterfeit wristbands helps alleviate over-crowding in general. Over-crowding can hinder a patron's experience since suffocating crowds can lead to unpleasant occurrences. Having the ability to track accurate numbers of attendees makes it easier to manage and control crowds, which in turn increases overall event security.
What's more, employing RFID wristbands at SXSW helped increase ticket sales.
"We distribute numerous comps to sponsors, acts and the media," Swenson says. "Some of them sell their comps every year. We believe RFID [wristbands] increased sales because people were wary of purchasing comp wristbands on the street for fear that they might be counterfeit."
Many other features can be programmed for use with Smart Band. The wristband can be used as a portable electronic wallet for point-of-sale applications and easy tracking of sales for event organizers. The system's read/write electronic storage technology allows for easy data transfer to and from host systems. In addition, data can be read and recorded through clothing, water, glass and the human body.
Smart Bands also can interface with the new AgeBand, which helps prevent underage drinking by providing positive patron identification and age verification. This age and ID verification system uses specialized software and databases from state's departments of motor vehicles to spot fake and expired IDs.
"RFID wristbands were a valuable addition to this year's event, and we look forward to using the high-tech wristbands at a higher capacity in the future," says Eve McArthur, director of operations at SXSW. "We're excited to have entered the new era of identification technology and to be one of the first in our industry to implement RFID successfully."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Precision Dynamics Corporation: 818-897-1111 or www.pdc-rfid.com
Paula Moggio is a senior marketing communications specialist at Precision Dynamics Corporation in San Fernando, Calif. She can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.
© Copyright 2022 Recreation Management. All rights reserved.


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Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), on Monday, announced that it has acquired Pittsburgh-based Mobile Technologies, which specializes in speech recognition and machine-translation technologies, for an undisclosed amount, in a move that opens up ample possibilities for the social networking giant to strengthen its mobile strategy.
“We are excited to announce that Facebook has agreed to acquire Mobile Technologies and that once the deal has closed many of us will be joining the company at their headquarters in Menlo Park, California,” Mobile Technologies said, in an announcement on the company's website.
Founded in 2001, Mobile Technologies is the company behind the Jibbigo translation app, which is available on both Android and iOS platforms. The app, which was launched in 2009 and is capable of running online and offline, translates more than 25 languages -- a feature that can be helpful for world travelers to communicate in a foreign land.
A Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company would continue to support Jibbigo for now but did not reveal whether the company would integrate the translation technology into its mobile applications.
According to Tom Stocky, Facebook’s director of product management, the company is keen on exploring voice-based navigation, suggesting that Facebook may allow users to dictate commands to browse on its platform.
“Voice technology has become an increasingly important way for people to navigate mobile devices and the web, and this technology will help us evolve our products to match that evolution,” Stocky said. “We believe this acquisition is an investment in our long-term product roadmap as we continue towards our company's mission.”
In addition to voice-based browsing, Mobile Technologies’ speech recognition and machine-translation expertise also could help Facebook support cross-language chats, or let users post Facebook news feeds in one language and then display them in a different language of their choice. Facebook also may incorporate voice-input capability to its Graph search tool.
“It has always been our mission to make the world more open and connected,” Stocky said. “Although more than a billion people around the world already use Facebook every month, we are always looking for ways to help connect the rest of the world as well."


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FRANCE: Coca-Cola Enterprises chief leaves France for UK
The general manager of Coca-Cola Enterprises France has been appointed general manager of the group's UK arm, Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd.
Hubert Patricot, who has held the position in France since April 2003, will assume the position in the UK from the beginning of next year, the company said today (20 December).
Patricot, 48, joined the French arm of Coca-Cola in 1986 as product manager and went on to hold several posts including sales and marketing director in 1997 and assistant general manager in 2002.
In the UK he will succeed Kevin Warren who is moving to head up Coca Cola's Canadian division.
Coca Cola's UK arm is almost double the size of its French division and Patricot will oversee a EUR3bn business, employing 4,500 staff and operating from six plants and eight distribution centres.
Patricot's replacement in France will named next month.
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"With Google Pay, it'll be easier for you to use the payment information saved to your Google Account, so you can speed through checkout with peace of mind", wrote Pali Bhat, VP of Product Management, Payments at Google in a blog post. We're not betting that Google is going to be able to streamline all digital payments with Google Pay, but it sure would be nice if Android had a single method for buying stuff. It also launched Android Pay with the Wallet for payment on Android. It also mentioned that users will see the rebranding move across payments with friends, online retailers and stores.
But the new system Google Pay brings all this under one umbrella, which the company says should make buying and paying through Google much less confusing. However, I bet you'll continue seeing payment kiosks with the Android Pay branding on them for years to come.
Woody Allen's Daughter Calls Out Hollywood Hypocrites By Name
The Time's Up initiative was announced on New Year's Day , and includes more than 300 women in television, film and theater. I seem to remain secondary to their ambition, which undermines the powerful and embracing message they are trying to send.
Xbox One users are getting a 'do not disturb' feature
Will be able to access content for games you've played recently from a Game Hub without ever having to leave the action. These Mini Game Hubs contain the same content seen in regular hubs, such as Achievements, friend activity and so on.
Why Oprah Was The Ultimate Winner of the 2018 Golden Globes
Winfrey continued, "So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon". In the Fade , starring Diane Kruger as a woman coping with tragedy, won for best foreign-language film.
Google is looking to go head-to-head with Apple and Samsung by simplifying and streamlining all its payment services into one united platform. Android Pay was supposed to launch here at some point of time but then Google made a decision to launch a market-specific app called Tez here instead.
The P2P money sending platform Google Wallet's all of the features are implemented in the Google Pay system, at the same time with all capabilities of Android Pay.
With today's change, it also means the ultimate death of Google Wallet as we know it.


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I haven't mentioned how March's earthquake is affecting us recently. Basically those of us outside the north eastern side of Japan are not affected anymore. Those in the north now are battling flies and unsanitary conditions brought on by the heat, the humidity, the carrion of fish markets and ruined fields, the stagnant water left by the tsunami. From what is reported on TV, it looks and sounds like hell. I go nuts with the annual parade of ants that infest my house but in the north, there is no way to battle the flies that turn surfaces black. The possibility of fly-borne disease is feared.
Japan's government is doing flip-flops from one policy to another and politicians are alive and active at trying to pull the top man from the totem pole. They get nothing accomplished while the people in the north suffer patiently. Some of the other nuclear plants throughout Japan have been put on hold while the government tries to decide if Japan is even a safe place to have nuclear energy. The citizens want to protect the country from a repeat of March 11. Popular opinion is that as an earthquake centered country that we should ban nuclear energy altogether. And the possibility of a major earthquake in the coming years is scientifically high! But nuclear energy provides a lot of jobs and without it electric companies cannot support the population.
So... While the various electric companies throughout Japan argue and management corruption prevails, we little people try to do our part by turning off the air conditioners, wearing neck coolers, and planting vines in front of our windows. Many households are going to LED lighting instead of light bulbs.
Most department stores and restaurants have signs saying that in order to help conserve energy, the store temperatures have been set higher and the store lights set lower this year, and would all of us be understanding of the uncomfortable conditions.
Where years ago we were busy conserving trees by using hand blow dryers instead of paper towels in the store restrooms, nowadays there is always a basket of paper towels and the hand blowers have signs on them explaining that they are unplugged in an effort to conserve electricity.
The vending machines along the streets are no longer lighted and instead reflective signs tell drivers that the vending machines still dispense drinks, but the soft drink companies are doing their part by turning lighting low. (As someone pointed out, we could get rid of all the vending machines in Japan and save A LOT of energy!)
Even the brightly lit oasises along the dark country roads... the convenience stores, have turned out their glaring sign lights and customers have to look closely to see which store is which.
I carry around my hand fan, and I did buy Tetsu the cooling sheet (I will give it to him on Wednesday!) so I am doing my part!


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Volvo recalls more than half a million vehicles around the world, the Swedish company’s spokesman said on Saturday, July 20.
In Germany it is planned to recall 54 ths units. Defects were revealed in engines, which could lead to overheating and deformation of parts.
In the worst case, engine ignition may occur. However, Volvo has not yet received complaints about such issues.
Earlier, the company reported a sharp decline in profits in the second quarter of this year despite increasing sales.
Last year, BMW had to recall about a million cars due to problems with a cooling module of the exhaust gas recirculation system.
Toyota also recalled more than 2.4 million hybrid Priuses and Aurises. There were defects which could result in the engine stoppage during driving.


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The U.S. Trade Representatives office filed the paperwork to appeal a World Trade Organization compliance panel's decision on cotton subsidies. Brazil brought the challenge against the U.S. claiming they had failed to follow earlier WTO findings against their farm programs.
"We are appealing because we feel the changes made by the United States have brought its programs into full compliance with the WTO’s recommendations and rulings in the original cotton case," says USTR spokesperson Gretchen Hamel. "The appeal challenges the erroneous findings on both U.S. support payments and export credit guarantees. We will continue to consult with Members of Congress and private sector stakeholders, including the agricultural community, as we move forward with the appeal."


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Meatless vegan corn beef is now available in Detroit at Mudgie’s and Oak House delicatessens.
Businesswoman Jenny Goldfarb of Los Angeles created a vegetarian (or vegan) kosher meatless corned beef sandwich that won her an investment from the ABC TV show Shark Tank in 2019 that is now available in Detroit at Mudgie’s and Oak House delicatessens.
“I personally tried and liked her vegan corned beef and when we decided to carry her “Unreal Deli’ products, we sold out our initial inventory and decided to keep carrying Mrs. Goldfarb’s vegan products because of the high demand by our customers.” said Greg Mudge, owner of Mudgie’s Delicatessen in Detroit.
“Mrs. Goldfarb’s Unreal Del” vegan corned beef may also be purchased at unrealdeli.com.


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Affirm’s purchase now, pay later checkout possibility will likely be accessible to sure Amazon prospects within the U.S. beginning Friday with a broader rollout within the coming months.
The partnership will let Amazon prospects break up purchases of $50 or extra into smaller, month-to-month installments.
Friday’s partnership is the newest signal of the booming installment lending area as youthful customers transfer in direction of these various traces of credit score.
That is positively a excellent news for amazon. Now extra folks will be capable of benefit from this characteristic and spend extra money on amazon buying. It is going to improve amazon e-commerce income and market shares as extra younger folks like to make use of the purchase now, pay later characteristic.


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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal’s Islands of Adventure is still very busy. Most mornings guests are lined up just to get into the new area. So it comes as no surprise that Universal has run out of some of their exclusive Wizarding World merchandise. Some days the wand shelves are almost empty, the popular Pygmy Puffs are gone until next month, and you probably won’t be able to find a toy version of Harry’s white owl, Hedwig.
Star Wars Weekends is starting and some of the most popular Star Wars characters are headed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Star Wars weekends runs each Friday, Saturday and Sunday through June 13, 2010.
More than 50 Star Wars characters will roam the streets for meet and greets and photo opportunities. Here’s where you’ll be able to find most of them. Although you never know who’ll be around the corner, so keep your lightsabers ready. [Read more…]
My family and I took advantage of Orange county schools letting out an hour earlier on Wednesdays to visit Epcot yesterday. It had been a few weeks since we’d last visited. If you followed @Attractions on Twitter last night, you may have already seen some of these in our Tweets. But there’s some new pictures here as well. Here’s what caught our eyes… [Read more…]
The store was located next to the recently opened LittleMissmatched store. Even though it was their largest store in Disney World, they’re still selling Planet Hollywood merchandise at their store inside their restaurant and just outside of the restaurant at Downtown Disney. They also have a store on Sunset Boulevard in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
There’s no word yet on what will open in the now empty storefront.
Last week we told you about a new hand art vendor that opened in one of the stands at the Downtown Disney Marketplace. We also mentioned that a wood carving store had closed down, with its stand remaining empty. Well it’s no longer empty.
The store is owned by the same company that owns Magnetron (magnet store) in Downtown Disney West Side. Before they moved into their new stand, they had a wall of left-handed merchandise in Magnetron. Those of you who have visited San Francisco may have visited their other store on Pier 39.


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With a global economic slowdown now looking inevitable, South Korea’s major industries are predicted to be affected considerably. The 2012 industrial outlook for South Korea by domestic economic research institutes, the industry association, and economic organizations, shows that the petrochemical, wireless communication device, and automotive industries are predicted to exhibit strong performances in 2012.
However, the steel, shipbuilding, and construction industries are unlikely to escape depression. In particular, a vast majority of experts agree that South Korea’s flagship industries, such as semiconductors and displays, will experience a tough time. Here is the 2012 outlook for the 10 major industries that support South Korea’s economy.
Exports Decrease for 2 Consecutive Years, but Will Recover in Latter Half of Year
Excessive investment in facilities from 2009 to 2010 sent memory semiconductor prices into a downward spiral in 2011. Semiconductor exports, which account for 11 percent of Korea’s exports, have declined year-on-year in 2011. Pessimistic outlooks for the semiconductor industry in 2012 are dominant. The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET) has predicted that semiconductor exports and production will decline 1.9 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively year-on-year in 2012. Meanwhile, the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) predicted that semiconductor exports will decline for 2 consecutive years due to the continued shrinking of the PC market. A survey of 502 export manufacturers conducted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) shows that the prospect for semiconductor exports is the second worst after textile and clothing among South Korea’s top 10 major export businesses.
However, it is forecast that the semiconductor industry will move away from depression. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) has predicted that demand for DRAMs will turn around beginning the first half of 2012, with the non-volatile memory (NVM) industry, such as NAND flash memory, growing steadily due to the increase in demand for smart devices. Lee Joo-wan, a researcher at the Hana Institute of Finance in Seoul, said, “The continued downward pressure on prices is deepening the slump in the memory sector and future economic prospects are negative”, adding, “However, the oversupply of memory semiconductors will be solved in the first half of 2012 and the industry will begin recovering in the second half”. The size of the investment by SK Group which recently acquired Hynix Semiconductor, and the timing of Samsung Electronics’ establishment of plants in China are the keys to reading the semiconductor market situation.
Solutions to Negative Factors from China out of Sight
Display exports in 2011 declined for the first time since 2000. The display market, which is mired in deep recession, is expected to suffer further in 2012. FKI predicted that the display market will begin upward growth in 2012 after its long-lasting slump. However, base effects caused by the recession in 2011 are likely to be responsible for the upturn.
Domestic industries are claiming they cannot find how to overcome the negative impact from China. The prices of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels dropped 20 percent in 2011. With the Chinese government’s support, Chinese manufacturers created an oversupply of LCD panels. The Chinese government has provided financial aid totaling 100 billion yuan (approximately 18.3 trillion won) to its domestic LCD industry over the last 3 years. Despite huge deficits, China’s LCD panel manufacturers have continued to increase facility investments and production, putting downward pressure on prices and increasing their market presence. It is expected that this trend will continue in 2012. The Hyundai Economic Research Institute (HERI) said that there will be no huge improvement in the LCD panel market. The Hana Institute of Finance (HIF) has predicted that as the supply of Chinese LCD panels increases amid weak demand, the current slump in the display market will last longer due to the imbalance of supply and demand. However, KIET has predicted that the export situation will in fact improve in the second half of 2012 due to curbs on aggressive investment, high expectations for rising demand resulting from the London Olympics, and rising demand in emerging markets.
Wireless Communication Device
South Korea’s Market Presence Will Expand amid Rising Demand
The 2012 industrial weather forecast calls for sunny skies for the wireless communication device industry. It is predicted that Samsung Electronics, which has positioned itself as a strong rival to Apple, and the smartphones of LG Electronics, which is increasing its market penetration at a fast pace, will function as cash cows. KIET predicted that mobile phone exports will grow 6.9 percent in 2012 year-on-year, citing that amid expanding 4G mobile communication service markets, domestic smartphones have gained a competitive edge in the global market. Kwon Sung-ryul, head of the company analysis department of Dongbu Securities, said, “The 4G LTE (long-term evolution) market is expected to grow sharply from 8.2 million in 2011 to 31.6 million in 2012.”
Emerging nations are expected to pull the market forward. The Hana Institute of Finance predicted that the economic recovery of advanced countries is likely to be delayed, whereas demand for mobile phones in emerging countries will continue to grow in a stable manner. A recent survey regarding the export outlook of 1,416 buyers and foreign companies by KOTRA revealed there are high expectations surrounding smartphones. KOTRA predicted that despite domestic smartphones once being defeated by the iPhone, demand for domestic smartphones will continue to grow steadily because of high preference in the US and Europe. However, there will be no huge growth in exports because domestic companies are expanding their overseas production.
Electronics and Home Appliances
Expect Rising Demand Resulting from Big Events such as London Olympics
Business sectors such as electronics and home appliances, which are highly susceptible to economic fluctuations, have high expectations regarding upcoming big events. The market outlook is mostly gloomy because consumer confidence in major markets such as the US and Europe is expected to weaken. DisplaySearch, a market research and consulting firm, recently released a report predicting sales in the global TV market will reach 254 million in 2012, 0.4 percent down from a forecast three months ago. The research firm predicted sales of LCD TVs will increase 9 percent in 2012, compared to 2011, but that sales of PDP TVs will decrease 15 percent over the same period.
Big events are key factors to increasing TV sales. Kwon Sung-ryul, head of the company analysis department of Dongbu Security, said, “In 2012, the London Olympics and Euro 2012 will be held, and 18 countries will make transitions to digital broadcasting. With this, demand for TVs and 3D TVs will increase further.” Emerging markets are also important factors. KOTRA has predicted that the expanding middle class; a result of economic growth in giant emerging countries, and the enhanced image of Korean products will increase demand for TVs. The KORUS FTA is expected to have a limited effect on TV sales.
At present, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics occupy first and second place in regards to TV market presence in North America, respectively. The KORUS FTA would remove 5 percent export tariffs. However, it can also be said that there are no tariffs on their products because the two electronics giants produce most of their products in Mexico. The dominant outlook for the PC market is that the slump will last longer. iSuppli, a market research firm, has predicted that the 2012 growth rate of the whole PC market will be 6.8 percent, a similar level to 2011.
Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors to Expand Exports
South Korea’s automotive industry in 2011 offset some of the losses from sluggish domestic consumption through strong exports, and 2012 will not be an exception. However, experts mostly agree that export growth will lose steam compared to 2011, with automobile production expected to stagnate or rise slightly. The POSCO Research Institute (POSRI) predicted that automobile production will reach 4.48 million in 2012, the same as last year. HERI forecasted 4.6 million cars, while KIET stated 4.75 million. It is expected that domestic consumption will continue to weaken, with consumer purchasing power not recovering sharply due to the sluggish labor market and household debt. POSRI predicted that domestic sales will continue to decline until the first half of the year, before rebounding slightly in the second half.
The outlook for automobile exports is mixed. HERI has predicted that auto exports will increase 2 percent, claiming export growth will shrink due to depressed markets in advanced countries. POSRI predicted that in the first half of 2012, auto exports will decline 1.2 percent from the same period a year earlier, with auto exports growing 1.7 percent in the second half due to depressed markets in advanced countries, the weakening growth of emerging countries, and the vanishment of gains from the Japanese earthquake. On the contrary, KIET predicted that although demand for automobiles in advanced markets is expected to stagnate or decline, auto exports will increase 10.4 percent year on-year because emerging markets are growing and the quality and brand image of domestic automobiles overseas have improved. According to KOTRA, The exorts of auto parts, viewed as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Korea-EU FTA and KORUS FTA, are expected to grow 10 percent.
Orders to Decline, but Demand for Special Vessels to Rise
Experts agree that there will be a fall in the number of orders received by domestic shipbuilders in 2012. This is because Europe’s large financial companies, which have the largest share of the global shipping financial market, are facing hard times. The shipping industry began to take a downturn in the second half of 2011, and this trend is expected to continue through 2012. KIET predicted that domestic ship production and exports will decline 13 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively in 2012. Sung Ki-jong, a researcher at Deawoo Securities, said, “Markets for container ships, tank ships and bulk carriers will perform poorly due to the oversupply.”
It is expected that there will be a boom in the market for high value-added special purpose vessels. HERI has predicted that exports of high value-added special ships will pick up speed and offset the stagnation in growth of other business sectors in 2012. There is expected to be a lasting boom in the LNG ship and marine plant markets because oil prices and demand for natural gas continue to rise, resulting in increased investment in developing natural resources such as crude oil and natural gas.
The wealth gap between large shipbuilders and small and medium-sized ones is expected to widen further in 2012. Large Korean shipbuilders have already obtained orders for works until 2014 because they had almost a monopoly on large marine plants in 2011. Jang Won-ik, a researcher at POSRI, said, “The shipbuilding industry is estimated to have passed its lowest point since the 2008 financial crisis, but the slump will last for some time. Following the bankruptcies of some small and medium-sized shipbuilders, the shipbuilding industry is likely to see some restructuring.”
Strong Demand in China Will Lose Steam
With expanding investment in emerging markets, the machinery industry picked up speed in 2011. However, it is predicted to lose steam in 2012. Most experts agree that as economic uncertainty has grown, demand for machinery has fallen, yet it is expected to recover during the latter half of the year. One official from the Korea Association of Machinery Industry (KAMI) said, “With the help of demand for investment in China, the machinery industry grew more than 20 percent in 2011, but this will fall to the 10 percent level in 2012.” In 2012, markets in North America and Europe are expected to maintain demand at the 2011 level due to the effects of the Korea-EU FTA. In Japan, rising demand for machinery resulting from the earthquake and preference for Korean machinery because of the high yen, are expected to contribute to a good performance for the domestic machinery industry. Exports to markets in BRICs countries less susceptible to the direct impact of the financial crisis in advanced countries, as well as the Middle East, and Africa, are expected to improve because they are expanding investment in industrial facilities. There will also be a positive impact on demand in the domestic market due to old equipment being replaced and new investment by the government to develop equipment to produce 7 major products that function as new growth engines. However, a fall in domestic demand is predicted because companies are likely to slash investment.
China is a key factor in the increasing demand for machinery. South Korea’s machinery exports to China have expanded to 40 percent over the last several years. In 2011, the domestic machinery industry did not perform well in China because the Chinese government tightened rules and regulations. Sung Ki-jong, a researcher at Deawoo Securities, said, “Demand recovery as a consequence of China’s policy changes will have the biggest impact on South Korea’s machinery industry.”
Domestic Market Weak, but Exports to Emerging Nations Hopeful
According to the Korea Iron & Steel Association (KOSA), steel exports are expected to reach 30 million tons in 2012, a slight increase from 2011. Much cannot be expected from the domestic market because of the slump in automobile production, decreased shipbuilding, and continued depression in the construction market. KOSA predicted that steel consumption in the domestic market will drop 2 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2012, before rising 4.5 percent in the second half. Gong Mun-ki, a chief researcher at POSRI, said, “Steel exports are expected to grow only 6.2 percent, with domestic steel consumption expected to increase 1.2 percent in 2012.” KIET expects domestic steel consumption to remain at 0.3 percent.
Experts from other economic research institutes gave similar forecasts. Park Hyun-wook, a researcher at HMC Investment Securities, said, “Steel consumption in the global market will increase 5.5 percent year-on-year in 2012. As a result, growth rates in steel consumption this year will slow compared to 2011.” The reason is that steel consumption cannot pull the market forward as a result of sluggish demand in advanced economies (North America, the EU, etc) and China’s excessive expansion of steel production facilities. Jeong Guy-soo, a researcher at HIF, said, “The slump in the construction industry will continue, and slower growth rates in high demand industries such as IT and shipbuilding will be inevitable. The growth rate of crude steel production in the global market will slow down to 5 percent year-on-year.” What is a little better is that demand for steel in emerging markets will last longer. KIET has predicted that steel exports will increase 7.3 percent year-on-year because demand for steel in areas such as China, India, and South East Asia is continuing, and that domestic steel manufacturers are putting more effort into expanding exports. If the forecast is correct, steel exports are expected to surpass US$40 billion for the first time in history.
Petrochemical and Oil Refining
Exports to Emerging Nations to Continue and Outlook Bright
Among the 10 major industries that support South Korea’s economy, the petrochemical industry is expected to perform best in 2012. Domestic consumption of petrochemical products is expected to remain the same or rise slightly, yet exports to emerging markets are predicted to grow steadily. Furthermore, as China reduces investment in petrochemical facilities, the oversupply of petrochemical products in the global market is expected to be eased. KIET has predicted that petrochemical exports will grow 13.5 percent due to rising demand in the South East Asian and Indian markets in 2012. HIF predicted that despite a fall in demand in advanced countries, the supply and demand of petrochemical products will continue to grow significantly as a result of strong demand in emerging markets. Park Young-hoon, department head of IBK Investment & Securities, said, “The economic crisis will serve as a catalyst to improving the market situation.” “In the short-term, demand is likely to weaken, but in the long-term, suppliers will be able to obtain a competitive edge in the market because facility expansion restricted by the economic crisis creates tight supply and demand intermittently,” he added.
The prospects for the oil refining market are mostly bright. KOTRA said that exports of Korean petroleum products will increase due to growing demand in Japan, China, Brazil, and Indonesia. HIF has analyzed that exports will slow down slightly due to the decreasing effects of Japanese earthquake and weakened global demands, but that domestic demand is expected to take an upturn because petroleum product prices are being lowered as a result of declining oil prices and manufacturers maintaining stable operating rates. The financial institute also predicted that exports of refined oil will increase 6.4 percent year-on-year in 2012.
Investment to Rise Slightly but Full Recovery Be Difficult
It is predicted that the construction market, which remains trapped in a long-term depression, will not be able to move away from its weak performance in 2012. The government is attempting to revitalize the real estate market by easing regulations, but this is not working. Experts agree that demand in the housing market is expected to rise slightly, but that a full recovery is unlikely. Diminished investment in the public sector is also having a negative impact on the construction market. As the Four Major Rivers restoration project has been completed, the government’s budget for social overhead capital (SOC) is expected to be cut sharply. HERI has forecasted that the number of public sector construction orders received by construction companies will remain zero. POSRI has predicted that civil engineering investment and construction investment will grow 2.6 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. POSRI said that as total construction investment would post 153 trillion won, which is lower than before the 2008 financial crisis, the construction market is highly unlikely to enter a full recovery phase.
There is also a possibility that despite the government’s budget cuts for SOC, facility investments beginning to recover in the latter half of 2012 can increase demand for industrial plants. The construction market will be positively affected by projects regarding the construction of government office buildings for public organizations moving to local provinces, as well as by investment expansion by the private sector in non-residential construction. It is also expected that the project financing (PF) market will be normalized because the number of unsold apartment buildings is decreasing and the restructuring of troubled savings banks has been completed. If the government further relaxes regulations regarding the real estate market and expands investment in the public sector amid the approaching general and Presidential elections in 2012, the construction market could recover quicker than expected.


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UK estate agency software specialist Inteeka‘s new Move St division has launched Smartboards, compact weather-proof smart posters designed to attach to the agents’ boards displayed outside houses for sale. The Smartboards feature a custom URL, a QR code and an NFC tag, all of which send inquirers through the company’s web-based redirection service to the property details.
- India to rank states on digital transactions
- HSBC to launch Hong Kong P2P mobile payments app
- Indian mobile wallet adds healthcare services
- Singapore commuters to get NFC-enabled transport payment wearables
- Call to ‘digitise Indian rupee’ using blockchain


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Kratom is a tropical tree in South-East Asia. Its leaves have been used to relieve pain for hundreds of years. They can be eaten raw, but more often they are crushed and brewed as tea or turned into capsules , tablets, and liquids.
Kratom acts as a stimulant at low doses. It acts as a sedative in large amounts, and the DEA says it can lead to psychotic symptoms and psychological dependence. According to the CDC, about 42% of cases of kratom use reported between 2010 and 2015 involved non-life – threatening symptoms that required some treatment. Approximately 7% of exposures were classified as life-threatening and major. The DEA reports that it is aware of 15 kratom-related deaths between 2014 and 2016.
Kratom has been on the DEA list of drugs and chemicals of concern for several years. But the DEA notes that its use appears to be on the rise. Law enforcement agencies across the country seized more kratoms than ever before in the first half of 2016. U.S. poison control centers received 263 calls for kratom in 2015, a 10-fold increase from 2010, according to the CDC. Kratom sometimes has the following names: Biak, Ketum, Kakuam, Ithang and Thom.
How do people use kratom?
Most people are taking kratom as a pill , capsule, or extract. Some people chew the kratom leaves or cook the dried or powdered leaves as tea. The leaves are sometimes smoked or eaten in food.
In mice, kratom targets a part of the brain that responds to drugs such as morphine, codeine, and fentanyl, according to a study published earlier this month by Susruta Majumdar, PhD, a researcher at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. These drugs are called opioids.
Majumdar’s study found that, unlike morphine, a synthetic compound derived from kratom (mitragynine pseudoindoxyl) does not produce harmful side effects such as slow breathing — called respiratory depression — constipation and physical dependence. Since the majority of opioid overdose deaths are due to respiratory depression, he believes that kratom merits further study to see if some of its compounds can be used for medical benefits that are potentially less addictive.
Can a person overdose on Kratom?
There have been multiple reports of deaths in people who have ingested kratom, but most have been involved in other substances. A 2019 paper analyzing data from the National Poison Data System found that there were 11 deaths associated with kratom exposure between 2011 and 2017. Nine of the 11 deaths reported in this study included kratom plus other drugs and medicines such as diphenhydramine (an antihistamine), alcohol , caffeine, benzodiazepines, fentanyl and cocaine. Two deaths were reported following exposure from kratom alone with no other substances reported. * In 2017, the FDA identified at least 44 deaths related to kratom, with at least one case being investigated as possible use of pure kratom.
The FDA reports note that many of the kratom-associated deaths appear to have resulted from adulterated products or from the use of kratom with other potent substances, including illicit drugs, opioids, benzodiazepines, alcohol, gabapentin, and over-the-counter drugs such as cough syrup. There have also been some reports of kratom packaged as dietary supplements or dietary ingredients laced with other compounds that have caused death. People should check with their health care providers about the safety of Kratom mixing with other medicines.
Does Kratom have value as a medicine?
In recent years, some people have used kratom as a herbal alternative to medical treatment to control withdrawal symptoms and cravings caused by opioid dependence or other addictive substances such as alcohol. There is no scientific evidence that kratom is effective or safe for this purpose; further research is required.
Where Can I Get the Most Effective Kratom Products in San Antonio?
When it comes to purchasing quality kratom products that are safe, long-lasting and effective, you always want to make sure the products you are receiving come from a reputable source like Mary Jane’s CBD Dispensary. The main reason for picking products like ours is to ensure you only get the best quality kratom products and never receive any ineffective and/or potentially harmful products. With locations across several states to serve you, and our convenient online store, when you shop with Mary Jane’s you know you will only get the best kratom products on the market today.


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Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand Foods reported a net profit of 4.869 billion baht (US$162.4 million) for the second quarter 2011, up 40% from the previous quarter.
For the second quarter 2011, CPF reported sales revenue of 53.23 billion baht (US$1.78 billion), an increase of 11% over the same period in 2010. Net profit reached 4.869 billion baht (US$162.5 million), an increase of 40% from the previous quarter and 22% from the same period in 2010.
The company's president and CEO, Adirek Sripratak, expects 2011 overall net profit to remain strong as well, thanks to restructuring of operations in Thailand and the company's overseas expansion.
Pet owners want a lot from their pet food brands. They want primary proteins that suit what they believe is best for their animal. They want grains or they don't. They want something customized, but it has to be easy to understand.
Constraints and crises, like those experienced in 2020, help drive innovation and sustainability offers context.


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Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) March 03, 2015 The physicians at Diet Doc have formulated Metabolism Boost, a fast weight loss product that is being recommended by fast weight loss specialists across the country. This is [More]
(PRWEB UK) 28 November 2014 The size of a wrist-watch and worn at the knee, the battery powered firefly™ device delivers painless electrical impulses to the common peroneal nerve to activate the muscle pumps of [More]
Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) September 09, 2014 With good, fresh food, more exercise, and clean air, expats say they live a healthier lifestyle overseas and it’s easy to do so.
Americans Denver Gray and his [More]
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) April 07, 2014 AtCor Medical (ASX: ACG), the developer and marketer of the SphygmoCor® system which measures central aortic blood pressures and arterial stiffness noninvasively, today announced that the results of a [More]
Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) February 18, 2013 Diet Doc scientists and physicians have spent decades researching hCG and the original 1950s hCG diet plan to now provide patients with a safer and more effective means of [More]
Billings, MT (PRWEB) February 02, 2013 In the past, heart disease was regarded as most exclusive to American men; however, experts now agree that coronary artery disease is the primary cause of death in American [More]
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 27, 2012 hCGTreatments / Diet Doc hCG Diet & Weight Loss Plans announces improved hCG diet for those considering invasive surgery like Lisa Lampanelli.
Announcing an improvement to the [More]


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The shutters keep coming this month, this time with three Austin restaurants spread throughout the city: Rosedale’s Blue Star Kitchen and Bar, South Austin’s Independence Fine Foods, and far north Austin’s Cajun Pizza Place.
Blue Star Kitchen and Bar announced it was closing on 4800 Burnet Road via an emailed statement as of Monday, January 28. The reason for the shutter is because of increasing rent and taxes. Owner Eddie Bernal called out the shopping center’s landlord Wilder Properties in a statement, which was looking to increase Blue Star’s rent by more than 20 percent.
Bernal opened the restaurant 13 years ago under the name as Blue Star Cafeteria. He runs the Whole Enchilada Restaurant Group, which includes 34th Street Cafe, Santa Rita Tex Mex Cantina, Gusto Italian Restaurant, and various catering companies. He isn’t ruling out reopening Blue Star in another location, but his catering companies will still serve its menu.
Then, it seems like southwest Austin restaurant Independence Fine Foods is closed on 1807 West Slaughter Lane, according to Community Impact. The listed phone number rings out, and its website and Facebook page are gone. The shuttering appeared to have happened sometime in mid-January.
The restaurant, with its general American menu, opened in 2014 under former Whole Foods executive chef Casey Livingston.
Finally, Louisiana-inspired pizzeria and restaurant Cajun Pizza Place also closed up this week at 6001 West Parmer Lane, because owner Keith Dartez wanted to retire. Community Impact reported that the Milwood restaurant’s last day of service was yesterday, Tuesday, January 29. Along with Cajun-inspired pizza, it served up Cajun dishes like po’ boys, gumbo, and muffuletta.


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As the leading U.S. manufacturer of autonomous drones, we leverage breakthrough computer vision ... says Xavier Lacherade, chief operating officer, SoftBank Robotics Europe. “We are proud that we are ...
We bring together the very latest drone news from hundreds of sources across the web! Product releases, reviews
& videos combined with help on finding some of the very best drone deals from stores and online outlets!
Constantly updated through the day - every day -
the site has everything for the beginner right right through to the seasoned drone professional!


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Liberum Capital reiterated their buy rating on shares of Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) in a report issued on Monday, ThisIsMoney.Co.Uk reports.
ABF has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group reiterated a buy rating on shares of Associated British Foods in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Associated British Foods to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays restated an overweight rating on shares of Associated British Foods in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 3,125 ($41.11) to GBX 3,065 ($40.32) and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group lowered their price objective on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 2,800 ($36.83) to GBX 2,500 ($32.89) and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of GBX 2,789.55 ($36.69).
LON ABF opened at GBX 1,911 ($25.14) on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.16. Associated British Foods has a 1-year low of GBX 1,554 ($20.44) and a 1-year high of GBX 2,730 ($35.91). The company has a 50 day moving average of GBX 2,257 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 2,397.20. The company has a market cap of $15.13 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20.
In other news, insider Graham Allan acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 2,271 ($29.87) per share, for a total transaction of £45,420 ($59,747.43).
About Associated British Foods
Associated British Foods plc operates as a diversified food, ingredients, and retail company worldwide. It operates through five segments: Grocery, Sugar, Agriculture, Ingredients, and Retail. The Grocery segment manufactures and sells grocery products, including hot beverages, sugar and sweeteners, vegetable oils, balsamic vinegars, bread and baked goods, cereals, ethnic foods, and meat products to retail, wholesale, and foodservice businesses.
See Also: S&P/TSX Index
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SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of flavored tobacco products that are made by adding flavorings to regular tobacco products to give them a sweet or cool taste are growing at a blistering pace in the domestic market.
According to the data that Rep. Choi Hye-young of the ruling Democratic Party received from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, domestic tobacco sales declined to 3.59 billion packs last year from 4.4 billion packs in 2011.
In contrast, sales of flavored tobacco products more than quintupled from 260 million packs to 1.38 billion packs during the same period.
Accordingly, the share of flavored tobacco products among overall tobacco sales has been on an upward trend, rising to 40.3 percent in June 2021 from 38.5 percent last year and 5.8 percent in 2011.
Among flavored tobacco products, sales of capsule-type cigarettes shot up to 1.09 billion packs last year, more than 15 times higher than the 70 million packs sold in 2011, with their share among overall tobacco sales rising to 32.4 percent in June 2021 from 1.7 percent in 2011.
Sales of e-cigarettes also jumped from 80 million packs in 2017 to 380 million packs last year, with sales of flavored e-cigarettes surging from 50 million packs to 310 million packs.
Kevin Lee (email@example.com)


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Hah! It will only take one head-on accident with a human-driven vehicle to end that. Amazon.com Inc.’s budding shipping service won’t be able to compete with FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. over the long-term, according to investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein.
That is, unless driverless technology takes off.
Amazon’s shipping service — “Shipping with Amazon” (SWA) — aims to deliver packages from its merchants’ warehouses directly to customers, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.
The Seattle-based retailer plans to eventually extend…


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Finally, Halo Infinite is getting its biggest requested feature in July. Yes, the co-op campaign is finally on its way. Rejoice!
When Halo Infinite was released in November 2021, to much disarray, it launched with no campaign co-op. This was a blow to fans because campaign co-op has been a popular feature in the series ever since the original Halo was released in 2001.
Following Halo Infinite’s launch, campaign co-op was supposed to release in the coming weeks/months. Unfortunately, campaign co-op suffered several pushbacks. Thankfully, however, co-op will arrive as early as next month.
That being said, there is a catch, because Halo Infinite’s campaign co-op won’t be available to everyone in July. To play the co-op campaign next month, you first need to be registered to the Halo Insider program.
Double-check your Halo Insider profile
If you are registered to Halo Insider, then you will be in the selection pool to be in with a chance of playing co-op during the test flight in July.
However, even if you are registered to Halo Insider, it might be worth double-checking your details, because players have missed out on previous tests due to incomplete profiles.
If you miss out on the Halo Infinite co-op campaign test, then fear not, because its full launch is planned to arrive the following month in August. That’s assuming of course that the test goes well, and no further delays are made.
In related news, the developers at 343 Industries have hinted that classic maps might be coming to Halo Infinite’s multiplayer. Happy days!
Will you be looking forward to finally playing Halo Infinite campaign co-op with a friend? Let us know across our social media channels. Halo Infinite is available now for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
You can buy Halo Infinite for £44.95 at the GameByte Shop.
While you’re here, be sure to check out our video of the week. 10 of the scariest horror games of all time are shown off. What is your favourite horror game?
The fighting in Ukraine is causing families to flee their homes. Please give now to save lives and protect people in need. Donate today!
Also, make sure to check out the GameByte Shop for all your gaming needs!
Featured Image Credit: Xbox Game Studios/343 Industries


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[Funding alert] Gobbly raises Rs 7.2 Cr in pre-Series A led by Anicut Angel Fund and Sauce.VC
Gurugram-based retail technology startup, on Tuesday announced that it has raised Rs 7.2 crore in pre-Series A round led by Anicut Angel Fund and Sauce.VC. Agility Ventures and other notable angels like Kunal Shah (Cred), Anupam Mittal (People Group), Jitendra Bhandari (Nic Naturals), Sameer Chugh (Mosambee), and Mihir Agarwal (Ex PE professional and Entrepreneur) also participated in the round.
According to the official statement, the fresh funds will be focused on strengthening the company’s position as one of the fastest-growing retail tech startups in India. It will further allow the company to use the capital for technology, business development, product innovation and development, and expansion.
Founded by Amit Ahuja and Ankur Aggarwal, Gobbly is a contactless retail store filled with farm-fresh fruits and veggies, and dairy products placed in societies. It is implementing self checkout stores at captive spaces such as residential and gated communities.
Amit Ahuja, Co-founder of Gobbly said, “We are combining the convenience of online shopping with the instant gratification of real-world retail. Marry that to our strategy of maximising captive spaces on the back of our indigenously developed tech stack and we get an unfair edge over our competition while catering to a huge commerce opportunity in apartments.”
Ankur Agarwal, Co-founder of Gobbly dovetailed this, “With this funding, we are now excited to tap the retail opportunity present inside residential apartments. These places are a hub of tech-savvy millennials with high purchasing power creating social communities in their own right, providing a perfect platform for Gobbly.”
Gobbly claims to have garnered high traction in terms of early engagement and retention, and materialised key partnerships to reach scale, boost revenue and profitability. Leveraging data to optimise the supply chain, Gobbly has built-in features for easy scaling, as well as a legacy of multiple tech innovations that have led to huge cost reduction.
Commenting on the investment, Ashvin Chadha, Co-founder, Anicut Angel Fund stated,
“The pandemic has been a watershed moment for businesses, especially those having to do with ecommerce in any form. Gobbly is poised for accelerated growth because it deep dives into a pressing need – buying essentials with convenience and the highest degree of safety.”
"Self checkout technology is the future of retail, and Gobbly's homemade tech is enabling consumers instantaneous gratification 24*7 in the most concentrated and captive affluent customer bases - societies and offices. A very large opportunity that no delivery-based e-commerce player has been able to tap into yet," added Manu Chandra, Managing Partner, Sauce.VC.
YourStory’s flagship startup-tech and leadership conference will return virtually for its 13th edition on October 25-30, 2021. Sign up for updates on TechSparks or to express your interest in partnerships and speaker opportunities here.
For more on TechSparks 2021, click here.
Edited by Anju Narayanan


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Tonnes of fans have been flocking to buy the crooner's double A-side Evergreen/Anything Is Possible.
And almost 59 per cent of you have said you'll be buying it too in our very own vote.
The single's beaten the previous biggest seller, Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? which sold 750,000 copies in December 1984.
By Friday afternoon, Will's track sold more than 800,000 copies.
And with a whole day of shopping to go, it looks like it's bound to be number one on Sunday.
Competition from Gareth?
It remains to be seen whether it will stay top when Gareth Gates' single, Unchained Melody, is released on 18 March.
And of course there's Rik Waller's effort, a version of the Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston hit I Will Always Love You which comes out on 4 March.
Make sure you check back for the new top 40 on Sunday!


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The last model year for MG in the United States was 1980, but that doesn't mean that Morris Garage vehicles have become impossible to find in our car graveyards right now. Far from it! Examples of the Midget and the MGB continue to show up at Ewe Pullets throughout the land, but the Pininfarina-styled MGB-GT hatchback has been a lot harder to find than its convertible sibling. Here's one of those cars, found at a family-owned yard just south of Denver.
Every once in a while, a car surfaces from the vast internet that truly deserves the title of “obscure.” It happened previously with a beautiful Gordon Keeble, and now Rare Rides is proud to present another very obscure British two-door.
It’s a Midas Gold, obviously.
BMC and then British Leyland churned out MG Midgets and near-identical Austin-Healey Sprites for 20 years, with the final example coming off the Abingdon line in 1980. Because project-grade Midgets still clutter garages, driveways, yards, and fields throughout the land and they’re not worth much, the clock runs out for many of them every year.
The next stop, usually, is among the Sephias and Jettas of the IMPORTS section at a self-service wrecking yard. Here’s a forlorn ’79 I spotted last week in California.
In all of my decades of visiting junkyards, one thing has remained constant: I’ll see a handful of Fiat 124 Sport Spider s and MG MGB s every year, about the same number in 2018 as I saw each year in 2001 or 1987. Here’s the latest: a red ’76 convertible in a self-service wrecking yard in California’s Central Valley.
During my 35 years of poking around in car graveyards, one thing has remained constant: MGB s keep showing up. Not in large numbers, but the rate at which these lovable-but-not-particularly-valuable British sports cars get discarded has remained about the same during that period. Here’s a purple model, from the darkest days of the British Leyland era, that I shot last week in a San Francisco Bay Area self-service yard.
As wonderful as the American marketplace is, there’s an entire world — literally — of cars out there that we just can’t get our hands on. In TTAC’s new series, “Foreign Affairs,” we look at forbidden fruit that you can buy brand new around the world.
As a not-so-closeted Anglophile, I’ve waited for the day that I could walk into an American showroom and drive home a new MG. The iconic octagonal badge reminds me of the MGBs that I restored with my father, and the possibility of a new car with that badge is another link to the man who made me a car enthusiast.
Of course, any time you buy an MG, there are three more letters that will come to mind: AAA. Buy the top-of-the-line package, with unlimited tows. Trust me.
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- UnoGeeks Thanks for the informative article. Unogeeks is the top Oracle Integration Cloud Training Institute, which provides the best Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) Training
- Varezhka And why exactly was it that Tesla decided not to coat their stainless steel bodies, again? My old steel capped Volant skis still looks clean without a rust in sight thanks to that metal vapor coating. It's not exactly a new technology.
- GIJOOOE “Sounds” about as exciting as driving a golf cart, fake gear shifts or not. I truly hope that Dodge and the other big American car makers pull their heads out of the electric clouds and continue to offer performance cars with big horsepower internal combustion engines that require some form of multi gear transmissions and high octane fuel, even if they have to make them in relatively small quantities and market them specifically to gearheads like me. I will resist the ev future for as long as I have breath in my lungs and an excellent credit score/big bank account. People like me, who have loved fast cars for as long as I can remember, need a car that has an engine that sounds properly pissed off when I hit the gas pedal and accelerate through the gears.
- Kcflyer libs have been subsidizing college for decades. The predictable result is soaring cost of college and dramatic increases in useless degrees. Their solution? More subsidies of course. EV policy will follow the same failed logic. Because it's not like it's their money. Not saying the republicans are any better, they talk a good game but spend like drunken sailors to buy votes just like the libs. The sole function of the U.S. government is to take money from people who earn it and give it away to people who didn't.
- CecilSaxon Sounds about as smart as VW's "SoundAktor"


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European Commission Claims Amazon Breached Antitrust Rules
Posted on 11/11/2020
The European Commission said Amazon.com, Inc. breached European antitrust rules by using independent sellers’ data for its own benefit. The European Commission announced a second formal investigation into the company’s e-commerce processes. The European Commissions has confirmed that its Statement of Objections, published Tuesday, does not constitute legal charges against Amazon.
“Data on the activity of third-party sellers should not be used to the benefit of Amazon when it acts as a competitor to these sellers,” Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief, said in the statement.
The EC found that very large quantities of non-public seller data are available to Amazon and flow directly into Amazon’s automated systems.
The European Commission started its official probe in Amazon in July 2019 over anti-competitive behavior concerns.
For 2019, Amazon paid US$ 162 million of federal income taxes, slightly more than 1% of the company’s U.S. profits. In 2018, Amazon paid $0 in U.S. federal income tax on more than US$ 11 billion in profit before taxes. Amazon also received a US$ 129 million tax rebate from the federal government.


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Mandela Washington Fellow, Dr. Ashiru Abubakar, talks with USP about the drug supply chain, the intersection of public health and political will, and the hope for a future free of counterfeit medicines in his native Nigeria.
With the debate about the safety of food additives recently revived in the media, proper identification of the additives themselves is an aspect of food safety often forgotten. It is assumed food ingredients are well known before safety assessments are performed, but that might not be always true.
Most people in developed countries, whether they work in the food industry or not, take for granted that the food they consume is nutritious and free of substances that may be harmful to their health. What they may not realize is that it takes enormous effort from multiple stakeholders to keep their food "safe" on a daily basis. This article reveals the major players involved in maintaining a safe food supply in the United States.


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(Mankato, MN) – Great news for local lovers of root beer floats and papa burgers…it’s now confirmed – A&W will again be setting up shop in Mankato.
SMT first reported in May the likely coming of the A&W, but company officials just today confirmed that a franchise agreement has finally been signed. The Mankato A&W will be located in the River Hills Mall.
As for now, it’s unclear when it’ll open, but it could be as early as this fall. “It will be a much quicker build than most because it is going into an existing space and not a ground up build,” said A&W officials.
There are currently around 630 A&W locations in the U.S. serving up “All American Food.” In southern Minnesota, that includes places like Faribault, Hayfield, Rochester, Spring Valley and Winona.
Last spring, A&W restaurants nationwide again started making their own root beer. That had been done in the past, but mostly abandoned in recent years in the name of an easier, bag-in-the-box variety.
(Copyright© 2018 Southern Minnesota Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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“Perhaps most damning, leaked screenshots revealed more information about Twitter’s secretive abilities to control accounts and narratives on the site. The leaked internal dashboards (evidence of which Twitter is aggressively deleting from the site) contain keywords like “trends blacklist” and “search blacklist,” seemingly an admission that Twitter does exercise some editorial judgment when it comes to which concepts receive algorithmic boosting and which don’t.
The hack plainly illuminates issues that cryptocurrency and Web 3.0 enthusiasts have been raising for years. “Trusted third parties are security holes” isn’t just a slogan; it’s a concept that millions of people will have intuitively grasped for the first time yesterday. The sheer centralization at play evidenced by the godmode key is striking.
One wonders why it’s even possible in the first place for Twitter employees to commandeer any account on the platform. Everyone knows that Twitter is the political discussion platform of choice for world leaders. Had the attacker been more inclined towards chaos rather than entrepreneurship, they could have used their access to contrive an international incident among hostile nations.
Additionally, the accidental reveal of Twitter’s long-rumored deboosting tools will intensify the view among critics that Twitter is a partisan, editorializing service rather than the neutral one it claims to be. As many have pointed out, it invites governments to pressure or infiltrate the platform to obtain efficient tools to control speech.
A user-owned and operated social internet built on a public key infrastructure is an absolute necessity, if we are to resist tyrants both in the public and the private sector.”
“The social media platform confirmed that hackers responsible for the massive breach of high-profile figures’ accounts had conducted a ‘coordinated social engineering attack to gain access to internal systems and tools.‘
We know they used this access to take control of many highly-visible (including verified) accounts and Tweet on their behalf. We’re looking into what other malicious activity they may have conducted or information they may have accessed.
Employee admin panels targeted in the hack have significant access to a variety of tools to control the affected accounts, including posting messages on their behalf and changing the verification phone number and email address.
Sounds bad that a Twitter developer can just login to my account and tweet anything, read my private stuff and all.”
See Also: Chainalysis and CipherTrace Confirm FBI Investigation
See Also: Coinbase, Binance, BitGo May Know Hackers ID
See Also: Hidden Messages Found in Transactions to Twitter Hack Bitcoin Address
“The pandemic forced Congress to look at new technology for money in a sweeping way.
We have seen almost a 180 in that conversation. The pandemic has forced congress to go digital.
There is now consensus among policymakers that it is a good idea to upgrade our money, and that is progress.”
“One big factor was MakerDAO shifting the stability fee (SF) down to 0% following the mid-March crypto crash. The Dai Savings Rate (DSR), which was previously as high as 8%, also fell to zero as Maker battled to keep its dollar peg at the right place.
The move saw earnings for Maker fall from over $1.2 million in the first quarter down to around $150k for the second. Kyber was the highest earner for the period with $634,000 generated over the three months, while Compound came in a close second with just under $625,000.”
“Despite seeing very little controversy, the community is still debating on the proper procedure on how to implement it more than six months after the BIPs were published.
The issues stem from the necessity of conducting a soft fork that would be accepted by all relevant stakeholders. According to a Reddit thread pinned in the r/Bitcoin community, ‘the biggest problem with activating Taproot is PTSD from the previous softfork, SegWit.’
Despite the relatively uncontroversial and limited set of features, Taproot may take months — if not years — to be activated. The maximum length for this procedure would be 42 months, or three years and a half.”
“The United States Food and Drug Administration released a blueprint and pilot study for food safety.
The technologies mentioned include artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, sensor technologies and blockchain, and are looked at in relation to four topics: tech-enabled traceability, prevention and outbreak response, retail modernization and food safety culture.“
“This integration aims to provide a solution for Stellar end-users to store private keys on selected Galaxy smartphones.
Developers from the Stellar ecosystem will be able to create blockchain-related apps and services for Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners.”


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Our Latest Online Backup Reviews:Vembu SyncBlaze
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30 Mar 2012
Social news platform celebrates the importance of data security with the Internet community
SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2012 –/BackupReview.info/– Today reddit is proud to invite computer users around the world to celebrate the second annual “World Backup Day.” The idea for the holiday originated with a biology student at Youngstown State, Ismail Jadun, who identified the need for a backup day after reading comments on reddit discussing backup awareness. Ismail took the idea and ran with it, declaring the day before April Fools’ Day the perfect time to back up files. This year’s World Backup Day looks to build on the success of last year and has added the online backup company Backblaze as a presenting sponsor.
“I was just a college student who was looking for something interesting to do,” said Ismail. “I took the initiative and started the @WorldBackupDay Twitter feed as well as the website. A fellow redditor contacted me to help with the website design. After a fast and furious week of developing and designing, the World Backup Day holiday was born on March 31st, 2011.”
World Backup Day isn’t just for the tech-savvy. Some people have never backed up their important files because they don’t know about it or think it’s too hard. Meanwhile, those that are tech-savvy are in a great position to assist those who have never backed up and to re-check if their backup procedures actually work. We all have friends, parents and coworkers that don’t back up because they don’t know how, and they need our help.
“Just like making resolutions on New Year’s Eve and sowing seeds on Johny Appleseed Day, World Backup Day is about making March 31st the day people think about the impact of data in our lives,” said Erik Martin, GM of reddit. “Our goal is to have bloggers reviewing backup products, grandmothers backing up data for the first time, IT professionals raising the topic of updating backup procedures with their bosses and redditors sharing their latest backup methods or data loss horror stories.”
Don’t be a Fool. Backup your Data. Check your Restores. World Backup Day is nearly here, and help make sure data security is top-of-mind this Saturday.
For information on the 2012 World Backup Day, please visit http://www.worldbackupday.com/ .
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