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The African continent’s biggest video games and technology exposition has returned. The three-day technology and video game extravaganza starts today and has been eagerly anticipated by professional gamers, casual players and tech-savvy families.
rAge 2013 is set to be the biggest in the history of the event courtesy of the presence of both next generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony, namely the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 respectively.
As such, rAge 2013 is the primary space for the South African public to get a taste of the next generation of gaming before many other countries in the world. It is a great time to be a South African gamer.
rAge 2013 will showcase computer and console gaming hardware, PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo games, gaming accessories from joysticks to headphones, comic books, figurines, anime, role playing, cosplay, board games, creative arts, competitive collectible card games, local game developers and much more!
rAge 2013 runs from 4th to 6th October 2013 at the Coca-Cola Dome, and is open for visiting from 10:00 until 18:00 on Friday and Saturday, and 10:00 until 16:00 on Sunday.
Tickets are only R70 per person and can be bought at the door or online at iTickets. See you there!
- Bran the Broken will be at Comic Con Africa 2019 - 4 September, 2019
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- Lego Ideas Treehouse blooms sustainable bricks - 30 August, 2019
- LEGO Ideas Central Perk celebrates 25 years of Friends - 29 August, 2019
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint PC Specs Revealed - 29 August, 2019
- Control Review – Frustratingly Mysterious - 26 August, 2019
- Nerf MicroShots Fortnite TS Blaster Review – Pocket Sized Fun - 30 July, 2019
- The Boys Review – Exceptionally Fun Superhero Satire - 29 July, 2019
- Netflix The Witcher Trailer teases Geralt, Yennifer, Ciri & Monsters - 20 July, 2019
- Anthony Mackie confirmed for Comic Con Africa 2019 - 18 July, 2019


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Cryptocurrency ETP provider Amun has launched the world's first short bitcoin ETP, a sign of innovation in the crypto landscape.
The 21Shares Short Bitcoin ETP (SBTC) is listed on the SIX Exchange and enables investors to bet against the performance of bitcoin.
Unlike usual shorting, the ETP is reset at the end of the day and the performance is not rolled over to the next day making it suitable to capture short-term price movements of bitcoin.
Amid the launch, Amun has rebranded its 11-strong ETP range to 21 Shares. The migration to the new name will take place over the course of Q2 this year.
Hany Rashwan (pictured), CEO of Amun, commented: The one missing piece to the puzzle was to deliver a product to capitalize on negative price movements.
"Our platform is now near complete and marks an important step towards the introduction of derivative products in conventional ETP form for the still nascent crypto market."
Last December, Amun received approval from the Swedish regulator to distribute its products across the European Union (EU).

domain: news


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As we all know, Nokia is at long last returning to the smartphone market with a bang. A week ago, we informed you regarding the Nokia D1C that was spotted at Geekbench. Some significant details were uncovered because of this listing yet it was only a little sneak peek at the specs of the device. All things considered,leaks never end and today, the phone has been spotted once more, this time on AnTuTu. AnTuTu posting barely ends up being incorrect as today’s leak may give the full idea of the device.
NOKIA D1C SPECS AS REVEALED BY AnTuTu
Above all else, the Nokia D1C will have a 1080p screen. That is correct, there will be Full HD screen according to AnTuTu. The screen size hasn’t yet been uncovered by the listing. Anyways, Snapdragon 430 chipset is going to power the phone alongside the Adreno 505 GPU. RAM will be 3GB while there will be 32GB of internal memory. As far as cameras are concerned, 13MP back and 8MP front-facing cameras will be there on Nokia D1C. Likewise, the phone will run Android Nougat 7.0 out of the box.
On the off chance that you missed the news, the D1C scored a 3229 multi-core score on Geekbench which is pretty nice considering the specs.With the state of Samsung and Apple this year, this is the ideal open chance for Nokia to return with a bang. What do you think? Will Nokia have the capacity to regain its popularity? Tell us your opinions by means of the comments section. :- )
VIA : PHONEARENA


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MONEY-BACK PARKING LAUNCHED
The new parking initiative for Fermoy is now underway, having commenced as of this Thursday, April 2.
The scheme entitles shoppers to receive a refund of up to 1 hour’s parking charge when they spend a minimum of €20 in participating outlets and present their parking ticket stub when paying.
Participating stores will carry a sticker in their window that was officially launched by traders this week. Brian Herlihy of Herlihy’s Centra, Fermoy praised the initiative.
“We are in challenging times at the moment. Anything people do to drive footfall into the town is welcome,” he said.
Cllr Peter Merrigan, who has spearheaded the campaign, said it was time to take a proactive step to ensure that retail business thrives in Fermoy.
Thursday 2nd April 6:35pm


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After meeting with tech industry tycoons in Silicon Valley last Thursday, President Obama headed north to visit Intel's chip fab in Hillsboro, Oregon. There, Intel CEO Paul Otellini seized the opportunity to announce plans for a new, $5-billion fab located in Chandler, Arizona.
Construction on Fab 42 will kick off in the middle of the year, Intel says, and it will end some time in 2013. If I'm reading the press release right, the new fab will allow chips to be manufactured using process technologies as fine as 14 nm. Those chips will be laid out on 300-mm wafers. No wonder Intel expects Fab 42 to be the "most advanced, high-volume semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world."
The construction of Fab 42 sounds like good news for the folks in the area, too. Intel says in its announcement that the plant will generate "thousands" of jobs, both in temporary construction and in permanent chip manufacturing. Chandler is a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona that also plays host to Intel's Fab 12 and Fab 32.
Speaking of U.S. jobs, Intel adds a patriotic veneer to the move by pointing out that, right now, three quarters of its CPUs are made in the States—and the new fab will "increase the company's American manufacturing capability significantly." The remainder of Intel chips are manufactured in Ireland, Israel, and China.
|1. GKey13 - $650||2. JohnC - $600||3. davidbowser - $501|
|4. cmpxchg - $500||5. DeadOfKnight - $400||6. danny e. - $375|
|7. the - $360||8. rbattle - $350||9. codinghorror - $326|
|10. Ryu Connor - $325|
|Early Unreal Tournament concept art reminds us how far we've come||2|
|Report: Intel targeting larger, pricier Android tablets||13|
|AMD's Mullins APU appears in $250 HP netbook||40|
|Core i7-4790K 'Devil's Canyon' overclocking revisited||34|
|Steam controller gets an analog stick||51|
|Delays strike Battlefield: Hardline, Dragon Age: Inquisition||18|
|It's official: Microsoft will consolidate Windows development||68|
|Microsoft's 2014 revenue up 11.5%, but income stagnates||28|
|Tuesday Night Shortbread||49|
|The new new name for the UI is called Retro.||+37|


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By Tiernan Ray
Shares of video compression and image processing semiconductor designer Ambarella (AMBA) are up $1.38, or almost 9%, at $17.57, after the company this afternoon reported fiscal Q1 revenue and earnings per share that topped analysts’ estimates.
Revenue in the three months ended in April rose 31%, year over year, to $33.9 million, yielding EPS of 21 cents, excluding some costs.
Analysts on average had been modeling $31.9 million and 15 cents.
CEO Fermi Wang remarked that the company was “very pleased” with the results, and said Ambarella made “excellent progress in the IP security camera market with new design wins at both professional and consumer IP-camera customers.” He said the company also saw revenue rise in “wearable sports camera category, led by market leader GoPro.” Camera systems in cars was another area of strength, he indicated.
Ambarella will host a conference call with analysts at 5 pm, Eastern time, and you can follow the webcast of it on the company’s investor relations web site.


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Those who count themselves as devoted fans of Apple products are anxiously awaiting the official new iPhone 8 release date. While some reports say there is no delay expected, other reports state that there will be a delay after all. If the iPhone 8 release date is delayed, will it only be a short delay or a much longer wait?
There is no denying that the new iPhone 8 may very well bring about the biggest upgrade cycle seen by Apple's smartphones. This is because Apple's iPhone has remained virtually the same in most respects since the iPhone 6 was released in 2014. This also marks the year when rumors began circulating that Apple had plans to enlarge their iPhones in the future.
While both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus did actually have larger displays coupled with a new design, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus haven't broken any new ground, and Apple users are clearly clamoring for a new design, which may account for Apple's sales slump with iPhones, BGR reports. With the promise of a redesign and so many exciting changes and features to the new iPhone 8, this explains why users are keen to find out the exact release date for the iPhone 8.
There are a few new reports that are now suggesting that the iPhone 8 release date may actually be pushed back and slated for November, as Fox News reports. However, other reports are appearing to remain cautious, yet optimistic, and state that October may be a more realistic release date for the new iPhone 8. But why does the release date for the iPhone 8 appear to keep changing and what is the rumored reason why there would be a delay?
Apparently, the OLED display for the iPhone 8 reportedly is to blame for the delay, but there are also rumors suggesting that Apple's various partners who they rely on for different components of the iPhone 8 won't be able to supply enough of the needed products to make the iPhone 8's September release date a reality.
An exclusive first look at the iPhone 8's final design irl https://t.co/LuW55gYeAx pic.twitter.com/arE5lfkD9yOn the other hand, there are still indications and rumors that the iPhone 8 will be released much faster and without the delays that many are expecting. A Morgan Stanley research note has stated the iPhone 8 will actually be in an Apple store near you much sooner, possibly at the start of September to the middle of September. Morgan Stanley also alleges that they have not discovered rumored production problems or delays because of Apple's partners to be true.
— Zach Epstein (@zacharye) May 17, 2017
While some investors have become frightened at the prospect of low yields for the various components of the iPhone 8, Morgan Stanley believes that the production for the new iPhone shouldn't be delayed and that the iPhone 8 release date may still be on target.
"Morgan Stanley's Greater China Technology Research colleagues have not yet seen delays in the supply chain and still expect new iPhone production to start on time for most of the components, including OLED."
With the new iPhone 8 will come camera modules that are extremely advanced and will allegedly feature the support needed for augmented reality along with facial recognition. As far as the actual design for the iPhone 8, several independent reports have claimed that the new smartphone will have a stainless steel frame set between a couple of 2.5D glass panels, which will bring an extremely modern look to it.
The new OLED display of the iPhone 8 that has been talked about so much is alleged to have a screen-to-body ratio even better than those of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, which would mean that it would have to be higher than an 83 percent ratio.
The iPhone 8 may actually be called the iPhone 8, yet there are other rumored names that Apple may give its new smartphone. ValueWalk report that iPhone X is alleged to have been discussed as a possible new name. There is even the suggestion on a Japanese blog that the smartphone could go by the name of iPhone Edition, although iPhone 8 or iPhone X are probably safer bets for names.
Apple's new iPhone 8 is sure to dazzle users, despite a possibly pushed back release date for the iPhone 8 later this year.
[Featured Image by Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images]


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Oh Lizard Squad, what are you guys up to now?
Hacker group who took down XBox Live and Sony PlayStaion Network on Christmas Day, has claimed responsibility for attacking Malaysia Airlines’s website
The site also has the familiar Lizard Squad avatar, links to three Twitter acc
ounts (@LizardMafia, @UMGRobert and @UmgChris) and a rap song that plays automatically, celebrating Lizard Squad’s achievements including its recent takedowns of online gaming services Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.
The site showed ‘404 – Plane Not Found’, it was referring to the Flight MH370. There hasn’t been any mentions on why would Lizard Squad Hack Malaysia Airlines. They ruined Christmas for most people, and tried to attack Tor. While user’s data weren’t breached but if users were directed to a phishing website then their credentials could have been stored by the Lizard Squad.
Malaysia Airlines confirms that its Domain Name System (DNS) has been compromised where users are re-directed to a hacker website whenwww.malaysiaairlines.com URL is keyed in.
At this stage, Malaysia Airlines’ web servers are intact.
The airline has resolved the issue with its service provider and the system is expected to be fully recovered within 22 hours.
The matter has also been immediately reported to CyberSecurity Malaysia and the Ministry of Transport.
Malaysia Airlines assures customers and clients that its website was not hacked and this temporary glitch does not affect their bookings and that user data remains secured.
Making claims of data theft is serious and should be taken seriously,” Robert Siciliano, an online safety expert to Intel Security, told ABC News. “Those who have information stored on the site, such as personal information and credit card numbers should take heed and take steps to ensure their accounts are secure. Monitor statements looking for unauthorized activity. Beware of phishy emails and avoid clicking links. Otherwise pay attention to news reports and look for the airline to send out a communication.
Going to dump some loot found on http://t.co/D9XYneQoaK servers soon
— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) January 26, 2015


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Home > News > AMD 'chip fab' plans inspire visit to rival's backyard
June 6th, 2007
AMD 'chip fab' plans inspire visit to rival's backyard
Business and political leaders here are raving about a trip they took to Hillsboro, Ore., last month to see what the Capital Region's nanotechnology future could look like.
The Hillsboro area, which is just west of Portland, is home to about 16,000 employees of computer chip manufacturer Intel Corp., Oregon's largest private employer.
Economic developers have long been pointing to Hillsboro as a model for what the Capital Region could look like if Advanced Micro Devices Inc. -- Intel's main competitor -- builds a proposed $3.2 billion computer chip factory in Saratoga County.
Los Alamos Researchers Uncover New Properties in Nanocomposite Oxide Ceramics for Reactor Fuel, Fast-Ion Conductors: Misfit dislocations are key to transport properties across material interfaces September 23rd, 2014
Production of Organometallic Frameworks in Least Possible Time September 23rd, 2014
Twisted graphene chills out: When two sheets of graphene are stacked in a special way, it is possible to cool down the graphene with a laser instead of heating it up, University of Manchester researchers have shown September 22nd, 2014
New star-shaped molecule breakthrough: Scientists at The University of Manchester have generated a new star-shaped molecule made up of interlocking rings, which is the most complex of its kind ever created September 22nd, 2014
Japanese gold leaf artists worked on a nano-scale: Study demonstrates X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy is a non-destructive way to date artwork July 3rd, 2014
Harry Potter-style invisibility cloaks: A real possibility next Christmas? Forget socks and shaving foam, the big kids of tomorrow want an invisible cloak for Christmas December 19th, 2013
Chicago Awareness Organization First Not-for-Profit to Sponsor Dog Training to Detect Ovarian Cancer Odorants December 12th, 2013
ZEISS Microscopes used to create images for Art Exhibit at Midway Airport: Art of Science: Images from the Institute for Genomic Biology October 25th, 2013


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MIRA USA Palm Beach organized a workshop called “How to create or improve your own business” led by the guest speaker, Mario Dore-Bernhard from CAPITAL soluxions, at the Main Palm Beach County Library.
MIRA USA volunteers welcomed community members who attended the workshop and briefly introduced them to MIRA USA’s mission. Mr. Dore-Bernhard made a presentation focused in understanding the stages to create a business. He spoke about various topics, such as the reasons to create a company, types of corporations, legal steps and factors when creating a business, and online resources to get financial and technical support.
At the end of the event, the participants said the workshop was very helpful in providing guidelines to build a successful business. They further expressed their gratitude towards MIRA USA and its commitment to help the immigrant community.
See Gallery Here
#PalmBeach, #MIRAUSA, #negocio, #business, #AyudarNosMueve, #HelpingMovesUs


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It’s only two weeks away, and the competition for Black Friday sales has started to heat up! Walmart will open doors to the bargain hunters at 8pm Thanksgiving Day, the earliest holiday sales start ever.
And they are not the only ones planning on opening early:
- Sears will also open at 8pm on Thanksgiving Thursday, up from last year’s start at 4 am
- Kmart will be open for business from 6am to 4pm on Thanksgiving Day and will then re-open from 8pm to 3am
- Target will be open at 9pm Thanksgiving Thursday
Next week we look at the ads! Do you have what it takes to wait in line all night for a 40 inch HD-TV that will cost less than $200?
DT Deb and G talk Black Friday:
Read more about Black Friday openings from the Daily News and tell us what you think:
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April 20, 2023
Blis, is further expanding its operation in India with two strategic roles, growing its headcount across Asia by 30% in the last 6 months.
Blis’ has added to the investment in regional roles to drive growth and meet advertiser demand, now offering a truly national sales representation across India. Blis welcomes new Head of Sales, Nabajit Nath, based out of Mumbai to lead the sales efforts across the region. Nabajit joins the team with more than a decade of experience in digital advertising and technology sales, including Paytm, Flipkart and Network 18. Most recently, at Paytm, Nabajit led the foundation sales team, driving growth and success for the business across a number of years.
On his appointment, Nabajit said; “I was drawn to the role due to the company's strong people focus, and I’m determined to contribute to this dynamic, innovative, and fast-paced organization which pioneered location-powered advertising solutions.”. Supporting Nabajit in Mumbai is Ishika Sharma, who has recently been promoted to Associate Director West, and in the south, Sales Lead, Lloyd Joseph, who joined the Blis business in Bangalore last year.
Blis also welcomes Associate Group Head, Nived Kansal to the team, who will lead the Delhi region for Blis. Nived comes to Blis with over 10 years’ media experience across India, working at major global and local companies such as Google, LinkedIn and most recently mobile ads provider Inmobi, where he was the Brand Solutions Expert across telco, consumer durables, OEM and auto.
Commenting on the announcements, Emma-Jayne Owens, Managing Director, APAC at Blis, said, “We’ve driven significant growth across the APAC region over the past few years and I’m delighted to be building further momentum with our new hires. They join Blis to drive our ambition for an even stronger team across more regions in India, where their combined local knowledge, expertise and seniority in digital advertising and technology allows us to support market leading solutions and our clients’ businesses growth.”
Blis is the audience-first platform that doesn't rely on personal data. Over the past 19 years, Blis has built its reputation on delivering award-winning location-powered advertising solutions. In today’s consumer-centric landscape, Blis is transforming the role of location data by combining it with a broad range of rich and powerful datasets to give our clients the deepest audience understanding available. We serve relevant ads to the highest-value addressable audiences across any channel and deliver our clients’ campaign outcomes every time, from brand awareness and engagement through to store/site visits and sales.
Established in the UK in 2004, Blis now operates in more than 40 offices across five continents. Working with the world’s largest and most customer-driven companies across all verticals including Unilever, Samsung, McDonald's, HSBC, Mercedes Benz and Peugeot, as well as every major media agency.
To learn more, visit blis.com


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By MANOTE TRIPATHI
SPECIAL TO THE NATION
Constraints such as out-of-sync regulations, insufficient infrastructure and inconvenience continue to hamper freedom of travel in Asean, the World Travel and Tourism Council summit heard.
Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul expressed optimism about closer cooperation for Asean integration with Thailand as the hub.
“Asean is 50 years old, but Asean tourism acts like a 15-year-old,” she said in opening the session on “Freedom to Travel: Can Asean countries lead the way?”, which moderated by noted broadcaster Linda Yueh on the second day of the two-day summit that wrapped up yesterday.
Kobkarn said Asean has dual tourism and travel strategies – long-haul and intra-Asean – that benefit not just Thailand, but Asean as well.
The “long-haul” strategy offers “two-countries-one-destination” travel packages that encourage travellers from Europe, the Middle East and America to visit at least two Asean countries as part of the “intra-Asean” promotion of weekend destinations, medical tourism, wellness and education.
“Thailand reported 32.5 million tourist arrivals (last year). People come to Thailand to eat, shop and visit doctors. Up to 70 per cent of them were from Asean, in which tourism growth averages 6.5 per cent,” she said.
“We have to thank all the airlines, the low-cost ones in particular. The growth of Asean tourism is due to the growth of budget airlines offering capital-to-capital routes.”
Further expansion of Asean tourism can be achieved through maximising the potential of the existing air, land and maritime links between mainland Southeast Asia and the rest of the region, she said.
Thailand’s developing north-south and east-west corridors, the planned aviation hub in Rayong’s U-Tapao, its developing Phuket-based maritime tourism and over 600 flights from Thailand to other Asean countries are some of the Kingdom’s strengths that will not only stimulate Asean tourism but also improve regional connectivity.
Border-crossing on big bikes
“On land, we are seeing caravans of motorcycles, you know, big bikes like Harley-Davidson, going across the borders frequently,” the minister said.
“Maritime tourism is growing fast with an Asean Caribbean model that allows for luxury travel on super yachts and yachts visiting places like Myeik, Phuket, Penang, Phu Quoc and Sihanoukville.
“There will be cruises along the Mekong River – a magic river for many of us that is going to be big in the future. We need to use the river efficiently.
“When it comes to safety and ease of travelling, which is something new in Thailand, it’s still not perfect yet. We need public-private partnerships.”
Kobkarn’s planning to take her holiday in Myeik.
Thailand has formed single-visa, security and ease-of-travelling committees to boost local and regional connectivity.
The benefits of tourism growth should be collectively shared and distributed sustainably throughout Asean, Kobkarn said, extolling the merits of the sufficiency economy concept of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
“Asean will grow together. No one (in Asean) is a bigger or smaller brother. We are working together,” she said. “Tourism is not about making money, not just about economics. We have to make sure that everyone gets something and we leave something for our children and the younger generation.
“We need to give the right to everyone in the 10 Asean countries to travel. Freedom of travel is not for the select few, but for everyone.”
Arun Mishra, director of ICAO for Asia-Pacific, told the session that poor infrastructure, along with discordant regulations, is the main stumbling block to growth in Asean, citing congestion in the Asean skies and at airport terminals.
“With airports in the region enjoying a boom comes congestion. Everywhere new terminals are being built,” Mishra said.
“Because of the congested skies, we need navigation equipment and large numbers of aviation professionals. Right now we don’t have sufficient aviation professionals.
“Worse, mobility of qualified aviation professionals is restricted by regulations that hinder the free flow of labour to where it’s needed. Harmonisation of regulations would help.” Arief Yahya, Indonesia’s Tourism Minister, said infrastructure is a major concern in countries like his where the lack of funding is a perennial problem.
“In Indonesia, regulations are hampering ease of doing business. Ease of doing business is low,” he said. “To improve its infrastructure, Indonesia needs funding from both the government and foreign direct investment as government funding (for infrastructure) accounts for only 30 per cent.”


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Microsoft recently announced that they’ve banned a “small percentage” of Xbox Live accounts, in response to enforcing mandated usership polices.
Microsoft previously warned the community that anyone who modded their Xbox Live to play pirated games would face a permanent Xbox Live ban.
Well, that ban just happened, and although Microsoft said the bans reach only a “small percentage” of all Live accounts, a small piece of 20 million is still significant. Some reports place the figure at over 600,000 units.
Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz a Microsoft spokesperson said
“We have taken action against a small percentage of consoles have been modified to play pirated game discs. In line with our commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the more than 20 million members of our Xbox Live community, we are suspending these modded consoles from Xbox Live.”
The accounts have only been banned from Xbox Live, and can still be used for offline play, but that won’t help you play Modern Warfare 2 now will it?
The lesson here today. Pay for your games! Stealing is stealing!


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NEW YORK: Clothing designer Marc Ecko parlayed a tiff with the city into a wealth of free media coverage for an upcoming video game he produced in partnership with Atari.
The game, entitled Marc Ecko's Getting Up, focuses on a heroic graffiti artist in a futuristic city. It is set for public release this fall.
Promotions for the game are being handled jointly by Atari and Ecko, whose company, Marc Ecko Enterprises, produces the Ecko clothing brand.
Ecko planned a day-long street festival in New York featuring famous graffiti artists to showcase the game. But his permit for the festival was abruptly revoked by the city less than a week before the event, when a city council member and Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the event would encourage vandalism.
Ecko immediately held a press conference saying he intended to fight the city. The dispute garnered widespread regional print and TV coverage, transforming the event into a full-fledged free speech battle.
Ecko filed a lawsuit and won, and the permit was reinstated in time for the festival to go on as planned last Wednesday.
Nonprofit group Keep America Beautiful (KAB) also sent a "crime alert" to groups like the US Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities saying the game "is providing tutelage to kids on how to do damage," said Robert Wallace, KAB's VP of communications.
Ecko said in a statement: "This [event] is my tribute ... to an art form powerful enough to permeate virtually every moment in our lives."
Tara Bruno, an account director at Highwater Group PR, who works with Atari, spoke to Ecko's intimate involvement in the promotion.
"This is kind of a unique instance in which the licenser is extremely involved," Bruno explained.
"We have a very robust marketing, PR, and ad campaign," said Atari PR director Andrea Schneider, "including traditional and nontraditional marketing tactics, guerrilla marketing, [and] street teams."
The video-game maker is also teaming with such corporations as Apple and Nokia for cobranded events in anticipation of the game's launch, Schneider added. Atari is not involved in the graffiti festival.


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The silver and black editions of the much-anticpated LG Arena handset will go on sale this weekend.
According to a report from respected technology site Pocket-lint, Orange will launch the silver edition of the phone.
Meanwhile, the black version of the LG Arena will be available on rival mobile phone network T-Mobile.
Tariffs and contract details have yet to be confirmed by the networks, but it is anticpated that the phone will be available on contract-only deals initially.
The LG Arena was first unveiled during March at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where its good looks and rich array of features won it a favourable response from the industry.
Functions of the phone include a music player, five megapixel camera, large touchscreen, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, a 3.5mm headphone jack and 8MB of internal memory.
Marketing campaigns for the handset are expected to prominently feature its compatibility with T-Mobile’s music download service Music Jukebox.


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Whale, a leading manufacturer of water and heating systems for mobile applications, has cut lead times by 97% thanks to the implementation of 3D printers in its production of injection mold tools.
The company is not only saving significant amounts of time thanks to implementing 3D printed injection mold tools, but also they are making huge costs savings compared to traditional methods of production.
“Traditionally, our lead times for metal tools were somewhere between 4 – 5 weeks and came with significant production costs. As a result, our R&D process was very time-consuming and fundamentally slowed down the launch of new products,” said Jim Sargent, from 3D Technical Services at Whale.
He says the company is using an Objet350 Connex Multi-material 3D Printer supplied by Stratasys, a global provider of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, which has enabled the printing of injection mold tools in less than 24 hours.
“With our Objet Connex 3D Printer, we are now able to design our tools during the day, 3D print them overnight and test them the next morning with a range of end-product materials. The time and cost savings associated with this new tooling method are significant,” added Jim Sargent.
The 3D printed injection mold tools are printed using Stratasys’ Digital ABS material and feature distinct properties such as high temperature resistance and toughness, but Whale also offers a Rapid Prototyping Service for both the automotive and aerospace industries and they have found 3D printing “hugely revolutionary,” in terms of how the company expects to operate its business in the future.
Patrick Hurst, Managing Director at Whale said: “We have already seen the technology take months off of our product development process and that in turn minimizes risk. In fact, I estimate that we’ve shortened our R&D process by up to 35% with Stratasys 3D printing solutions. Add that on top of the 20% we’re already saving in terms of our design work – well for me, it’s fantastic.”
Stratasys say they are seeing an increasing number of customers exploring the potential that 3D printed injection mold tools offer manufacturing companies.
“In addition to the dramatic cost and time savings potential, our Digital ABS tools enable companies to produce parts in the real end-product material, ready to test even in the prototyping phase. Our customers can therefore make quicker test iterations and bring products to market faster,” said Nadav Sella, Solutions Sales Manager at Stratasys.
This is yet another application for 3D printing, which will save companies time and costs over traditional manufacturing techniques. In some cases 3D printing is replacing injection molding as a means of production, and in other cases, like with Whale, it is complimenting it. Let us know what you think of this case study in the 3DPB.com forum thread for Whale. Further details on how Stratasys’ technology is helping manufacturers create injection molds, can be found here.
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Retail chain Bhs has suffered a 60% fall in annual profits, a setback owner Philip Green said was "disappointing".
Philip Green bought Bhs in 2000
Pre-tax profits at the fashion and homeware business fell to £42.2m last year from £106.7m in 2004-5, the second successive year profits have dropped.
Mr Green blamed the poor performance on mistakes with its womenswear range of clothing but stressed that items currently on sale were doing better.
Mr Green, who tried to buy M&S in 2004, owns other retailers such as Top Shop.
Mr Green said he would not be paying himself a dividend after the fall in profits, the second year in a row he has declined to do so.
Like-for-like sales, which exclude new store openings and are considered a key measure of retail performance, fell 7% in the year to April.
Overall sales dipped 1.8% to £860.5m
"The results for the last financial year are obviously disappointing," he said. "This has been a difficult period for the business."


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Still relatively small compared to the conventional cotton market, organic cotton production and use has stabilized in the 2011-2012 season, according to data from the non-profit Textile Exchange in its Farm and Fiber Report.
Organic cotton production is down 8 percent from the previous season, but significantly less than the 37 percent decline for 2010-2011. Increased production, however, was reported in half the countries growing organic cotton.
The stabilizing effect is seen now after the substantial growth between 2006 and 2010, and after the major decline of 2011.
Organic cotton is grown without the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. A cotton field must be pesticide free for three years to be certified as organic.
Organic cotton is environmentally-friendly and poses no health hazards to animals, plants, water supplies and human beings, as does conventional cotton (See the Sourcing Journal Online Report on Conventional Cotton).
Organic cotton also requires far less water than the conventional variety.
In 2011, the last year for which reliable figures are available, the organic cotton market worldwide was valued at $6.2 billion. The 2012 market was estimated to hit $7.4 billion, although no reliable figures are yet available.
The conventional cotton market, by contrast, topped $300 billion in 2010.
More than 90 percent of US organic cotton is grown in Texas. Although a severe drought hit the state in 2011 and caused a 45 percent decline in production, the US retained its position as the world’s fifth largest producer of organic cotton for the third consecutive year.
Organic cotton production in other countries — as percentage of the world’s total output and production in metric tons, are ranked as follows:
 India 103,003.52 74.20%
 Turkey 15,802.00 11.38%
 China 8,105.53 5.84%
 Tanzania 6,890.90 4.96%
 USA 1,580.00 1.14%
 Mali 860.00 0.62%
 Peru 478.50 0.34%
 Uganda 455.70 0.33%
 Egypt 420.00 0.30%
 Burkina Faso 370.00 0.27%
 Benin 328.00 0.24%
 Kyrgyzstan 156.00 0.11%
 Nicaragua 122.00 0.09%
 Paraguay 100.00 0.07%
 Israel 70.00 0.05%
 Brazil 37.79 0.03%
 Senegal 17.35 0.01%
 Tajikistan 16.00 0.01%
Total metric tons produced: 138,813.30
No data from Syria (production continuing, but no export due to civil unrest)
No data from Pakistan (presumed to have ceased production)
Although apparel and textiles made of organic cotton cost more than similar items made with conventional cotton, the market for eco-friendly organic cotton goods is expected to grow in the coming years as more consumers become aware of organic cotton benefits.
Those benefits include the following:
Organic farming methods helps restore land “exhausted” by overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
Organic cotton is not harmful to the environment, to the farmers who grow it, and to the consumers who wear or use organic cotton products.
Organic cotton is thicker and softer than the conventional variety.
For value conscious consumers, a fast-growing category, organic cotton products last longer than the same item made with conventional cotton. And as consumer demand increases, more production may be expected, and that could conceivably result in lower costs.


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LONDON: Social networking giant Facebook has become the seventh company to agree to give people advance warning if its mobile applications pulls users’ personal information from tablet computers and cell phones.
The agreement requires mobile apps seeking to collect personal information to display their privacy policies before their app is installed on a device.
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said that the agreement includes Facebook’s own applications, as well as those made by third parties in its recently launched App Center.
According to CBS News, Facebook said it incorporated the principles of the privacy agreement when it was designing its App Center.
The other six companies that have signed the agreement are Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Research in Motion and Hewlett-Packard.
“We are delighted that Facebook has joined Amazon, Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Research in Motion to provide consumers with greater control and information about how their personal data is used,” Harris said.
“We need to protect privacy while we foster innovation,” he added.
Meanwhile, Facebook will now also allow its users to edit their comments on the website.
Users would be allowed to edit their comments by clicking on the edit option, which appears in the form of a small pencil icon on the right side of the comment, following which a drop-down menu will appear, with the option to edit the comment as well as the option to delete it entirely.
According to ABC News, the Facebook site will also be “showing the editing history for a comment so that subsequent commenters or likers have the full context of the conversation” which would allow commenters to see the history of the conversation.
The editing ability on the social site went live on Thursday, and will be gradually rolling out to all users over the next few days.


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Riksbank Governor Erik Thedeen (R) and Deputy Head of Monetary Policy Mattias Erlandsson announced at a press conference in Stockholm on Wednesday that they were forced to raise Sweden’s interest rate to the highest level since 2008 because inflation remained “too high”. Photo by Anders Wiklund/EPA-EFE
April 26 (UPI) — Sweden’s central bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points to 3.5% on Wednesday in an effort to curb “excessive” inflation, warning that another quarter percentage point hike was likely in June or September.
Despite falling energy prices, higher-than-expected inflation in the first months of the year convinced the Executive Board that in order for inflation to fall and stabilize at 2% over a reasonable period of time, said the press release.
“Inflation remains too high,” which, combined with higher core inflation, “affects certain households with tight margins to begin with, but the development is negative for the economy as a whole,” the bank said.
“Low and stable inflation is a necessary condition for good economic development. For confidence in the inflation target, it is important that inflation clearly decreases this year.”
However, the Riksbank stressed that any future rate adjustments depend on what happens with inflation and the economy.
“There is still considerable uncertainty regarding the development of inflation. The new information and how it is evaluated will affect the outlook for the economy and inflation, and will be decisive in determining monetary policy.”
Two of the six members of the executive board, First Deputy Governor Anna Breman and Deputy Governor Martin Floden, opposed the decision to raise the interest rate by 0.5 percentage point, favoring 0.25%, a rate that indicates a high probability. will continue to increase in either June or September or both.
Inflation has been falling — albeit not consistently — since December, when it hit a 30-year high of 12.1 percent, but remained in double digits at 10.6 percent in March. The bank said the 1.4% fall from 12% in February was mainly due to lower energy prices.
The Riksbank said that the krona was not the decisive factor behind the large increase in inflation, but that it “contributed to slightly higher inflation” and that a stronger krona “would be desirable in this situation”.
A weakening currency increases the prices of imported raw materials and goods, increasing consumer price inflation.
The bank predicts that inflation will again reach the 2% target next year.


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An offshoot of the U.S.-China trade impasse may be the reduction in the Chinese shares eyeing U.S. listings.
After the U.S. barred domestic tech companies from maintaining relationships with Chinese phone maker Huawei, it is feared that the sentiment will trickle down to stock exchanges too.
Billions At Stake
The company could raise billions from a stock sale, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In September 2014, Alibaba listed its shares on the NYSE following a $25-billion IPO.
At the time, the company chose the U.S. exchange,, giving the Hong Kong stock exchange the cold shoulder — primarily due to rules that barred dual-listed shares from the exchange.
Since then, the exchange has repealed the law.
The secondary listing puts Alibaba at an advantage, as it now has a bigger market for its shares, boosting its already large valuation.
Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares have a market cap of roughly $417 million.
The proposed offering is likely to be managed by China International Capital and Credit Suisse, the Journal said.
Alibaba shares were trading slightly higher at $160.15 at the time of publication Thursday.
Alibaba Ties Up With Audi, Renault And Honda For AI-powered Tmall Genie Auto Smart Speakers
What To Know About Alibaba's Russian Joint Venture
Photo courtesy of Alibaba.
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© 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


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Renault Samsung plans to add 200 to its payroll
The automaker said Sunday it will hire 120 more people in the latter half of this year after already hiring 79, as of May. The 200 people will make up 4 percent of the entire executives and staff members of Renault Samsung.
“In line with the new government’s employment policy, we plan to hire 120 people for research, administrative and manufacturing departments in the latter half,” the company said in a statement.
The Korean unit of French auto giant Renault Group has been shy about adding new employees since 2012 when it experienced a management crisis. In 2011, Renault Samsung had an operating deficit of 214.9 billion won ($192 million), followed by a 172 billion won one in 2012.
The company didn’t hire from 2012 to 2014. It even had a personnel reduction of some 800 employees, which was 20 percent of the entire staff at the time.
Once production and sales recovered, the company resumed hiring in 2015, when it added 22 people.
Last year, it hired 100 on the back of improved sales performance. It recorded an operating profit of 417.5 billion won, a 6.7 percent year-on-year growth.
From January to May this year the company sold 43,882 units of cars, which is a 21.4 percent growth compared to the same period last year.
The automotive company also said 30 percent of the new workforce will be female and will go through an empowering program labeled “Women@Renault,” in which the company offers diverse mentoring and leadership classes and discussion sessions for the female workforce.
BY JIN EUN-SOO [firstname.lastname@example.org]


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The Concrete Industry Management program has released a call for donations for the 2024 CIM Auction. Traditionally held at World of Concrete, the silent auction is scheduled for January 24, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with the live auction starting at 1 p.m. World of Concrete exhibits are open from Jan. 23-25 and seminars run Jan. 22-25.
The Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program is a business-intensive program that awards students with a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Concrete Industry Management.
“The proceeds from the 2024 CIM Auction will benefit the CIM National Steering Committee (NSC) and support the current CIM programs at Middle Tennessee State University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Texas State University, California State University – Chico, South Dakota State University, and the Executive MBA program, as well as help fund scholarships,” says Ben Robuck, Chairman of the CIM Auction Committee.
Once again, the CIM Auction organizers are hoping for another record event in 2024. According to CIM Marketing Committee Chairman Brian Gallagher, the 2023 auction broke the record for all previous years’ auctions, raising more than $2.1 million in gross revenue.
“The annual CIM Auction is a critical funding mechanism for the CIM NSC,” says Gallagher. “We’ve been blessed with tremendous support from the concrete industry and the World of Concrete Show Management has been an amazing partner.”
Last year’s auction items included two concrete mixer trucks, a truck-mounted concrete pump, a laser screed and much more. Other donated items included cement, fly ash, aggregate, concrete saws, drills, safety equipment, training sessions, reference books and software subscriptions, laptop computers, sports travel packages, golf and vacation travel packages and much more.
Those interested in donating to the auction should contact CIM Auction Committee Chairman Ben Robuck at [email protected] or (404) 456-6867.


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This platform brings together the inspiring entrepreneurs and investors for creating new opportunities for investment, breakthrough ideas, innovations and insight, build new partnerships and collaboration avenues.
Entrepreneur India 2016, in its 6th Annual edition, was held on 23 and 24 August, 2016 at Hotel Pullman, New Delhi. This platform brings together the inspiring entrepreneurs and investors for creating new opportunities for investment, breakthrough ideas, innovations and insight, build new partnerships and collaboration avenues.
After lighting the lamp, Ritu Marya, Editor-in-Chief, Entrepreneur Media, India said, “How to become a successful entrepreneur? Don’t run after the money, let the money come to you. Entrepreneur should change the world approach, the person himself has to be the biggest critic, creativity, need to love the customers, unjugaad and be competitive.”
Rajesh Mehta, Chairman, Rajesh Exports said, “As the jewellery industry is unorganised, there is a huge opportunity to make it organised.” On the same lines, Priyank Kharge, Minister of state for IT & BT and tourism, Government of Karnataka, stated, “Government is approachable for the startups and we have also started a startup cell.”
The next session was on capital city that is getting funded in 2016. The key speakers were Deepak Gaur, partner, SAIF Partners, Prashant Praksh, partner, Accel partners, India, Peeyush Bansal, Founder & CEO, Lenskart, David Gowdey, Managing Partner, Jungle Venture and Nitish Mittersain, Founder & Managing Director, Nazara technologies Pvt ltd. In this session, Bansal spoke about the franchising model as this model has worked for him. He said, “Getting the right people and talent is the key and I actually found great partners and ventures to partner with.”
A presentation on building enterprise growth through technology was given by Ashish Arora, CEO, Airtel Business. The fourth session was on driving in the scale up mode. The eminent speakers were Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder, Shopclues & Droom, Sandeep Murthy, partner, Lightbox ventures and Mohit Dubey, Co-Founder & CEO, CarWale.com.
Startup Kickoff took place simultaneously with the sessions, where startups came and pitched their business plans to investors/ VCs/accelerators and got a chance to get featured in Entrepreneur magazine.
Post lunch, there were sessions on retail investors v/s institutional investors - which works best for the business. The next session was on building business with public money. After that, there was a presentation on the power of influence.
The speakers at ‘People, process and partnership in new age enterprise’ session were Rajesh Sawhey, Co-Founder Inner chef, Sandeep Sinha, Cofounder & Managing Partner, Lumis partners and Raghav Gupta, India Country Head, BLA Car India. And the last session was on Mahatmas of entrepreneurs- Antar Prena, which was given by Prof Prag Shah.
After these informative sessions, there was an award ceremony at night for the new and recognised entrepreneurs who made a difference.
On the second day, there were five summits which included society summit, future consumer summit, urban summit, tech summit. Within these summits, there were demo zones, experiential exhibitions, media interactions and opportunities to connect with industry thought leaders and mentors.


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Virgin Media Television has secured the RSA-owned insurance brand 123.ie as the new sponsor of The Six O’Clock Show in a deal that was brokered by Mindshare.
The popular show, which airs at 6:05pm each weekday, is hosted by Brian Dowling Gourounlian and Katja Mia and is watched by an average of 442,900 viewers weekly.
According to Tara Moran, head of sales at Virgin Media Television: “We are thrilled to have 123.ie come on board as the sponsor of The Six O’Clock Show at such an incredibly exciting time for the show, with new hosts Brian Dowling and Katja Mia bringing a fresh energy and vibrancy to a show that is loved by so many. It is a fantastic brand fit and I can’t wait to see the partnership come to life over the next year.”
Elaine Knowles, head of marketing and customer communications at 123.ie adds: “We’re delighted to be the new sponsors of the Six O’Clock Show on Virgin Media Television, a favourite on TV screens across the island of Ireland. It gives us an opportunity to share our new campaign which centres on our consumer insight that shows that people have a lot on their mind, and insurance shouldn’t be one of those things. So, with 123.ie, you can remember the more important things in life like tuning into The Six O’Clock Show and forget about us – until you need us.”


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Last week, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams debuted a new, limited-edition flavor made in collaboration with the Queen of Country music, Dolly Parton. The flavor is called Strawberry Pretzel Pie and it was available in stores with the option to purchase pints online.missing or outdated ad config
Unfortunately, Jeni’s website saw up to 50 times it’s normal traffic causing issues. They tweeted, “To those of you trying to order Strawberry Pretzel Pie online, we are so sorry. This sucks. The flavor is NOT sold out. Our website issues have lasted longer than expected, but we are working on it and will let you know via email and social media when we’re back up and running.”
On Thursday, April 15, Jeni’s will have 5,000 pints available to purchase online. Sharing the news on their website, Jeni’s states, “At noon (ET) on 4/15 the remaining inventory from our first run—about 5,000 pints—will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, and ship in the coming weeks.”
At 3 pm on Thursday, Jeni’s will also offer the opportunity to pre-order on a second run of Strawberry Pretzel Pie pints, available with a ship date in August.
There will be a four pint limit on orders.
GOOD NEWS UPDATE!
Strawberry Pretzel Pie pints will be available ONLINE ONLY this Thursday, April 15—and there will be two ways to get a pint!
— Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams (@jenisicecreams) April 13, 2021
If you haven’t tried Strawberry Pretzel Pie yet, ordering online is your best bet as the Jeni’s site says scoops and pints are sold out in shops nationwide and they currently do not have plans to release more in shops.
Strawberry Pretzel Pie is described as a “throwback to the triple decker pie from the potlucks of our youths. Layers of salty pretzel streusel, subtly sweet and effortlessly tangy cream cheese ice cream, and lipstick red strawberry sauce.”
This flavor will benefit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a book gifting program that gives free books to children from birth to age five.


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DoorDash enjoyed an after-hours trading bounce after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings for last year’s fourth quarter, showing signs of healthy post-lockdown growth for the food delivery business.
DoorDash, the market-leading food delivery group in the US, ahead of Uber Eats, grew its monthly active user base to 34mn, up 28 per cent on the same period in 2021.
Revenue climbed to $1.82bn, up 40 per cent on 2021, and above Wall Street estimates. Order numbers rose 27 per cent to 467mn.
Gross Order Volume — the total value of all orders on DoorDash — rose to $14.4bn. The company said it forecasted GOV of $15.1bn-$15.5bn for the current quarter.
Some of the growth can be attributed to the company’s acquisition of Wolt, a Finnish delivery service taken over by DoorDash in June 2022 — a move which opened it up to more than 20 markets in Europe.
The company said it had also introduced additional efficiency in its existing markets, including reducing delivery times by around 10 per cent.
However, the company incurred deeper losses than Wall Street had been expecting: $642mn, compared to a $155mn loss last year. The company said it suffered a $312mn impairment due to a poorly performing investment, plus restructuring charges of $84mn related to recent employee lay-offs.
The company said Christopher Payne, DoorDash’s chief operating officer and president, would be stepping down. He will be replaced by current chief financial officer Prabir Adarkar. Ravi Inukonda, a finance and strategy executive, will step up to the CFO role.
Shares rose by as much as 10 per cent before settling at around 5 per cent higher.


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A Chicago eatery cooked up 75 pounds of Italian beef and spread it across 109 feet of bread to set a world record for the longest Italian beef sandwich. (UPI Odd News) More
This RSS feed URL is deprecated, please update. New URLs can be found in the footers at https://news.google.com/news
Posted on 18 July 2018 | 7:19 am | Google News
Restaurant attempts world's longest Italian beef sandwich
July 11 (UPI) -- A Chicago eatery cooked up 75 pounds of Italian beef and spread it across 109 feet of bread to set a world record for the longest Italian beef sandwich. ... "To have something special like an Italian beef sandwich would be awesome ...
Posted on 11 July 2018 | 11:33 am | Google News
Emerald Green Restaurant opens at Lost Marsh Golf Course
St. John resident Gloria Morris opened a Float Sixty — the sort of amenity that's more commonly found in places like Chicago, Los Angeles or Nashville — at 322 Indianapolis Blvd. in Schererville in a professional complex across from Omni Health ...
Posted on 4 July 2018 | 8:04 am | Google News
Best of Southwest 2018
At locations in the East Isles, Tangletown and Diamond Lake neighborhoods, shoppers will find aisles stocked with specialty items, full-service meat counters and in-store delis featuring an array of prepared foods. The recently ... The wood-fired pizza ...
Posted on 29 June 2018 | 3:11 pm | Google News
Best of Washington 2018
Humanitarian and disaster-relief leader seem more apt after Andrés and his nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, outperformed the Red Cross by serving more than 3 million meals to Puerto Ricans hit by Hurricane Maria. Or perhaps we ... Because, like ...
Posted on 29 June 2018 | 6:36 am | Google News
The Grid: Exploring the Ravenswood neighborhood
Welcome to “The Grid,” our in-depth look at Chicago's neighborhoods. Today's stop: Ravenswood. Ravenswood is eight miles from downtown Chicago on the city's north side. It's an interesting mix of colorful Victorian homes and industrial manufacturing ...
Posted on 20 June 2018 | 5:01 am | Google News
Copyright © 2017 LastMinuteStuff.com


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With Gov. Greg Abbott terminating the statewide mask mandate and allowing all businesses to operate at full capacity as long as COVID-19 hospitalizations remain low, Texas has become the latest state to officially reopen for business.
Rights of Business Owners Regarding Masks:
“(Business owners) have as much freedom as they have for everything else related to their business. A business or the government can insist on certain practices by those they do business with. Similar in many ways to Texas’ laws regarding firearms, a business can post a sign and prohibit the carrying of firearms for any reason it wants to. Also, a business could post a sign and say it won’t serve people wearing or not wearing masks. Another important point, liability insurance companies can say they require certain mask-wearing policies be enacted by anyone they insure. If they do so, that would take away a lot of freedom for business owners to make their own policy.
“Same as any other violation of company policy, an employee can also be terminated for not wearing a mask if the employer requires it. However, like any discharge, you can’t violate another law while you do it (age discrimination, disability discrimination, etc.) The governor’s order clearly tries to get the state out of the way – whatever rights you have to tell an employee what to wear in a particular business, that’s what you have. Could an employee be terminated for wearing a mask? That’s a harder question. An at-will employee can be fired for any reason. But, so long as there are federal guidelines out there that say mask wearing promotes safety, there’s a risk of violating federal safe-workplace laws.”
Rights of Consumers Regarding Masks:
“They can take their business somewhere else – ‘vote with their feet’ – if they don’t like the rules of a business. But if a business asks you to leave because you don’t have a mask, you must leave or you could be arrested for trespass. Same as any other violation of a company’s rules when you are on their property.”
For more information, please contact Sophia Reza at 800-559-4534 or firstname.lastname@example.org.


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It’s one part of shopping that both retailers and their customers loathe: the checkout line.
Even customers who like to shop just want to get out the door. And it’s not lost on retailers that a good portion of their labor costs go to workers who perform mind-numbing, robotic tasks.
In response, a growing number of stores are trying to speed the checkout line along, or do away with it altogether. That doesn’t mean shoppers are ready to step away from the 10 items or less checkout line just yet, though. Here’s 10 things to know (not 11, mind you) about the technology.
1. Amazon’s on the leading edge. In the most extreme form, Amazon is rolling out a fleet of cashierless convenience stores across the country. No cash, no plastic credit card required. Just an app and an account.
And last week, Meijer joined chains like Sam’s Club and Macy’s that let shoppers ring up purchases on their smartphones.
To retailers, the cashierless future is not such a leap. No one thinks twice about using ATMs or pumping their own gas. Eventually, retail experts say, streamlined serve-yourself shopping could feel just as natural. But “it’s going to be a bumpy road,” said Robert Moraca, vice president for loss prevention at the National Retail Federation.
Still, he added, “that’s where we’re headed.”
2. We’re used to self-checkout. By now, self-checkout kiosks are a staple in grocery and drugstores. But it’s become a bigger focus for a wider range of retailers in the past couple years, said Read Hayes, director of the Loss Prevention Research Council at the University of Florida.
Customers are watching closely, too. When Chicago’s first Amazon Go store opened last fall, customers eager to try what Amazon calls “just walk out shopping” stretched down the block.
Customers scan an app on their smartphone when they arrive. Cameras and other sensors track when they grab items from shelves and the store automatically charges their account when they leave. Three more Chicago stores have since opened.
3. Retailers are experimenting. Amazon isn’t the only company using technology to try to improve self-service shopping.
As of last week, customers at Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer’s 23 stores in Chicago and Northwest Indiana can use a smartphone app to scan a bar code on items as they take them from the shelves and add them to a running tab. It still requires a stop at a self-checkout kiosk, but doesn’t require pulling each item from the cart and makes it easier to search for coupons, said Thomas Dant, Meijer’s Chicago-area market director.
“You go to the checkout lane, scan a code, and away you go,” he said.
Sam’s Club and Macy’s have similar tools. Macy’s also requires customers who use the mobile scanning app stop at a designated checkout counter before leaving. Sam’s Club does not, though all customers must let an employee check their receipt before leaving regardless of how they pay.
4. Shoppers aren’t sold, yet. Meijer, which also has curbside pickup and home delivery options, began testing the app at stores in Michigan last year. About 80 percent of customers who tried it used it again, Dant said.
But it appeared to be off to a slow start at a store in Rolling Meadows, where self-checkout shoppers were still scanning at the kiosk the old-fashioned way one week after the tool became available in Chicago stores.
Store director Minesh Patel said that many shoppers weren’t aware that it was available and expects it will become more popular as more customers learn about it and start to use it.
“The ones who have it love it,” he said.
5. A little different isn’t enough. Shoppers hearing about the Meijer app for the first time in Rolling Meadows weren’t immediately sold.
“It doesn’t sound that much different,” said Lisa Crowne, 46, of Chicago. She said she prefers traditional registers because using them feels as if she’s supporting jobs, but heads to self-checkout when its lines are shorter.
Even shoppers who said they prefer handling checkout themselves shrugged off the idea of ringing up items on a phone. Alan Holmes, 44, of Cary, said he’d heard about similar technology at other retailers but never felt motivated to try it out.
“I stick with what I know,” he said. “I’m usually only getting a couple things. I don’t know it would help that much.”
6. Tech won’t slip up on that banana. Meijer’s app found bar codes on most products easily, even when the camera wasn’t well-aimed. Items without a bar code require some extra effort, though no more than with standard self-checkout. Top sellers like bananas are listed prominently on machines that weigh and print labels for produce sold by the pound, but items like tamarind (a “misc. vegetable”) require a couple of more clicks. Customers can also search using a four-digit item code.
Challenges around items that aren’t prepacked and need to be weighed were part of the reason Walmart — Sam’s Club’s parent company — tested the membership club’s smartphone-based checkout but chose not to roll it out. Walmart carries more of those items and the scanners added “friction points” that undermined the promised convenience, Sam’s Club said in an emailed statement.
At least temporarily, there’s one more friction point for Meijer shoppers scanning purchases with their phones. An employee has to spot check their work, re-scanning some items before they can pay at the checkout kiosk.
It’s a short-term measure while customers and employees get used to the new system, though Meijer said it will audit some purchases on an ongoing basis as a security measure.
Still, it highlights the challenge for retailers that want to give customers a seamless experience without making it too easy to walk away with items they haven’t paid for, whether intentionally or by mistake.
7. Some folks will “forget” to scan. Stores with self-checkout tend to see higher losses than those that send all shoppers to cashiers, and letting customers use their own devices is generally seen as riskier than requiring they ring up their items at a kiosk because it’s harder to monitor, Hayes said.
Asked how effective Amazon Go has been at keeping customers from walking out with items they haven’t paid for, Amazon said its technology is “highly accurate.”
That doesn’t mean it would work for other stores, said Brendan Miller, principal analyst at Forrester Research. Outfitting a chain of big box stores with a system of cameras and sensors like the one powering Amazon Go would cost too much, and bigger stores with multiple entrances and exits are harder to control, he said.
8. It’s another app to deal with. Other retailers also don’t want to limit their pool of customers to people who have accounts with the store, as Amazon does, said Michael Suswal, co-founder and chief operating officer of Standard Cognition.
The San Francisco-based company is among a handful of startups working on systems meant to let other retailers offer something more like Amazon’s cashierless stores than traditional self-checkout. Its runs a test store in San Francisco, and is operating behind the scenes at another retailer that wants to test its performance before using it on real transactions, he said.
Standard Cognition uses cameras to track the motion of every person that enters a store. According to Suswal, they can monitor the items shoppers pick up with fewer overhead cameras than Amazon Go and no shelf-based sensors, making it easier for a retailer to roll the system out to large numbers of stores.
9. Coping with cash could be key. Customers using Standard Cognition’s app will be charged automatically. Those who don’t want to use the app or want to pay with cash must use a kiosk, but won’t have to scan their items, Suswal said.
Clumsy as kiosks are, the ability to accept cash could become more important if laws requiring stores accept cash, already on the books in New Jersey and Philadelphia, become more common, said Neil Stern, senior partner at Chicago-based consulting firm McMillanDoolittle.
10. Tech’s effect on employment still uncertain. While cashierless stores have obvious appeal for retailers facing tight labor markets and higher wages, that doesn’t necessarily mean they would employ fewer people.
Amazon still employs people to stock shelves and help customers at Amazon Go stores, and Dant said Meijer hadn’t used the scanning app to reduce the number of traditional, staffed checkout lanes.
“It’s just one more option, without taking away anything else,” he said.
Retailers are more likely to shift the kind of work cashiers do, since a basic transaction at the cash register doesn’t add much to most shoppers’ experience, Miller said.
“If I can seamlessly (use self-checkout) and have a higher-value engagement with someone at the deli stand or bakery, my experience is going to be better,” he said. “It’s more emotional.”


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Many people find leasing as a better alternative to financing a new car. Because lessees pay for only the depreciation of the vehicle and not the full value, their monthly payments may be lower. With leases lasting 24 to 36 months, they are not stuck in a long-term payment plan. In addition, the warranty covers the vehicle for the length of the lease.
Experts from the automotive research firm IHS Markits say the average lifespan of a car or truck is eleven years old. Cars dating back to 2009 and older are considered to be outdated. Driving an older vehicle with over 100,000 miles can lead to various mechanical issues, such as engine failure. Fixing these issues can become quite costly and hurt your finances in the long run.
A report from ReportLinker showed that the global automotive airbag market is expected to grow to $71.8 billion by the year 2025. The firm said the growing market can be attributed to a number of factors, including technological advances in developing airbags, legislation mandating the installation of airbags in newer vehicles and “smart” airbags that come with sensors.
The Wall Street Journal reported that today’s pickup trucks are bigger than they were almost 20 years ago. The article cited data from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory which showed that the average pickup is now 1,142 pounds heavier than it was in 1990.
A consortium of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, utility companies and private businesses has formed a new lobbying group called ZETA (Zero Emission Transportation Association), which seeks to have 100% of new car sales be EVs within 10 years.
Despite its promise to have all of its airbags fixed, Takata has yet to complete this task. In fact, 24% of those recalled airbags have yet to be repaired. That means nearly 12 million vehicles are on the road with defective airbags.
ABC News reported that General Motors (GM) is recalling over 217,000 vehicles after it was found that some of the cars were missing bolts from their start-stop mechanisms. This may result in transmission oil leaking from the mechanism and causing the car to either stop moving or catch on fire.
Kiplinger featured a story on drivers over the age of 50 who were in the market for a new car. Most of them said they needed a vehicle that both addresses their mobility issues and helps them stay safe on the road.
An article from Forbes explained that owners of electric vehicles (EVs) may have to pay more for insurance than owners of gas-powered cars. Some of the experts interviewed for the article said that the higher insurance rates can be attributed to the fact that repair costs for an EV are greater than those for conventional autos.
Recent estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed that more car buyers bought domestic vehicles than their foreign counterparts. This comes as the U.S. auto market is attempting to recover from the lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.


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Earlier this week, news broke that despite the fact the Heat did not win a championship this year the Nike LeBron 11 "Champs Pack" would be released in Europe.
Today, we get word that at least one half of that pack, the Nike LeBron 11 Low SE "Multicolor," will be dropped in the U.S. It seems as if Nike wisely ditched the idea of releasing a "Champs pack" here stateside, as the "Multicolor" LeBrons get their own release date.
With the season over and the LeBron 12 on the way, the LeBron 11 Lows have been getting a lot of play from Nike lately. In what seems to be the offseason shoe of choice for King James, Nike has rolled out "China," "Sprite" and "Independence Day" versions of the shoe this summer as well.
The Nike LeBron 11 SE Low "Multicolor" will be available in-stores on July 28 for $190.


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Specialty insurance provider, Hagerty has revealed its 2023 US Bull Market list, an annual collection of enthusiast cars and vehicles with the best potential to hold or increase in value in the coming year.
In its 6th year, the list is compiled using data from public and private sales, insurance valuations and historical trends.
“Bull Market is a guide for enthusiasts of all types to find, buy and drive something they love while also making a good investment,” Hagerty’s Larry Webster said.
“Buying an enthusiast vehicle can be a big decision but the good news is that we’ve done the legwork for you by using the best valuation data and market insights analysed by our team of experts.”
“This year’s Bull Market list includes a diverse range of vehicles, including microcars, muscle cars, sports cars, exotics, a motorcycle and even a military-grade SUV.
“The common factor is timing — even against the current economic backdrop, we believe this group is poised to grow the most in value next year.”
“Buying a fun car while it’s on the way up means you can use and enjoy it while likely coming out ahead when it’s time to sell.”
The 2023 US Bull Market list. Prices in US dollars for vehicles in excellent condition:
1992–2006 AM General Hummer H1($105,000–$127,300)
There’s something undeniably appealing about a utilitarian, no-frills off-roader, and they don’t get more rugged and ready for action than the Hummer H1. Gen Xers (the biggest fans of collectible SUVs) own over half of all H1s protected by Hagerty, but millennial quotes are up to almost a third, which has doubled since 2020. Meanwhile, appreciation since 2019 has lagged, with an increase of only 9.9 per cent. It seems the H1 may be overdue for a price increase.
1968–1970 AMC AMX($30,500–$40,600)
An underdog in the pony car world of Camaros and Mustangs, the stylish two-seat AMX is an incredible value, but for how long? The AMX has appreciated 28.8 per cent since 2019, which is behind the ’67–69 Camaro (up 40.5 per cent). However, interest from next-generation enthusiasts has nearly tripled since 2019, from a share of 13 to 38 per cent of insurance quotes, suggesting these will continue to hold or increase in value.
2008–2015 Audi R8 (Manual)($154,000–$186,700)
The R8 has always been a special car, and a huge part of that appeal lies in the examples that came equipped with a manual transmission sprouting from a metal gate—a nod to classic Ferraris and Lamborghinis that came before. Insurance policy growth is more than three times faster than the Hagerty average over the past 5 years. Lookups on Hagerty Valuation Tools have doubled in the past 12 months, and they lead lookups for the similar Lamborghini Gallardo. R8 values are up 37 per cent since 2019 with plenty of room to continue climbing.
2001–2004 Chevrolet Corvette Z06($31,400–$39,300)
A supercar in disguise, the C5 Z06 is a trackday monster that is also easy to live with on a daily basis. Lookups for the C5 Z06 on Hagerty Valuation Tools have more than tripled since 2021 – a strong indicator of an impending climb. In addition, an equal share of insurance quotes come from boomers, Gen X, and millennials, showing that demand is spread evenly throughout the market.
Throw a leg over this low and long cruiser and you’ll have some idea what freedom and rebellion meant in postwar America. Knucklehead owners are nearly three times more likely than Indian Chief owners to be under 45 years old. And those younger enthusiasts are insuring Knuckleheads for 15 per cent more than boomers. As far as motorcycles go, the Knucklehead has a bright future with the next generation taking up the torch.
It’s hard to argue against a 470kW V-12 barking to 8500 rpm just over your shoulder. If that’s your thing, grab one of these wild Lambos now. Values for the Murciélago are up 48 per cent since 2019 but have lagged behind cars like the Porsche Carrera GT, which doubled in value over the same period. As next-generation enthusiasts are a growing share of owners (approaching two-thirds), values for the Murciélago appear poised for more appreciation.
If ever there was an underappreciated hypercar, the SLR McLaren is it. While values for the Porsche Carrera GT have more than doubled since 2019, the SLR has increased a modest 37 per cent. The SLR has long held a large premium over its spiritual successor, the SLS, but the value gap narrowed to only 7.4 per cent in July 2022. In the third quarter of 2022, the SLR premium widened again, to 23 per cent, with younger buyers fueling much of the demand.
The 350Z arrived at the perfect time, giving Nissan a new performance car it could be proud of and enthusiasts a reason to fall in love with Z cars all over again. Average values for the 350Z have increased 78 per cent since the start of 2021—the largest increase for any Z aside from the 1978–83 280ZX, which doubled in that time. Boomers still own the majority of 350Zs, but 19 per cent of new policies added in 2022 were from buyers under 40.
1985–1993 Saab 900 Turbo ($22,200–$25,800)
If quirky, practical performance appeals to you, the 900 Turbo is calling. Increasingly owned by next-generation enthusiasts, the Saab 900 Turbo appears to be trending towards faster appreciation. Owners under the age of 40 have tripled since 2019 from a share of 7 to 22 per cent.
1991–1998 Suzuki Cappuccino($12,200–$16,700)
The 47kW Cappuccino won’t win any stoplight battles, but in the turns it’s a MX-5 on a diet and sure to surprise more than a few folks in your rearview. Millennial and Gen Z enthusiasts submit over 80 per cent of insurance quotes, which assures there will be a dedicated following for the Cappuccino in the future. It’s nearly impossible to find a more interesting car for under $10,000.
1984–1988 Toyota Pickup 4×4 ($20,700–$26,700)
If you’re into vintage 4x4s but have been priced out of Land Cruisers and Broncos, consider Toyota’s robust, handsome second-generation pickup. The number of Toyota Pickups added to Hagerty policies has quadrupled since 2017, with younger collectors as the fastest-growing segment. Although boomers currently own 43 per cent of them, collectors under 40 more than doubled their ownership share since 2019, from 7 to 16 per cent, ensuring a healthy appreciation for the model in the future.


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What Are the Bad Carbs?
- “Added” sugars
- Refined “white” grains
There’s no way to sugarcoat the truth: Americans are eating more sugar than ever before. In fact, the average adult takes in about 20 teaspoons of added sugar every day, according to the USDA’s recent nationwide food consumption survey. That’s about 320 calories, which can quickly up to extra pounds. Many adults simply don’t realize how much added sugar is in their diets.
Sugars and refined grains and starches supply quick energy to the body in the form of glucose. That’s a good thing if your body needs quick energy, for example if you’re running a race or competing in sports.
The better carbs for most people are unprocessed or minimally processed whole foods that contain natural sugars, like fructose in fruit or lactose in milk.
Avoid Excess “Added Sugars”
“Added sugars, also known as caloric sweeteners, are sugars and syrups that are added to foods at the table or during processing or preparation (such as high fructose corn syrup in sweetened beverages and baked products),” explains Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, a spokeswoman with the American Dietetic Association.
Added sugars supply calories but few or no nutrients, Gerbstadt says.
“Americans are very aware of low-fat diets and because of that we’ve been eating more fat-free and low-fat products,” notes Shanthy Bowman, USDA food scientist and author of a recently published study on sugar in the American diet.
“But what many people don't know is that in many of these products, sugar is being substituted for fat, so we've really been trading fat for sugar,” Bowman says.
The USDA recommends that we get no more than 6% to 10% of our total calories from added sugar -- that’s about nine teaspoons a day for most of us.
Use the Nutrition Label to Track Your Carbohydrates
The Nutrition Facts section on food labels can help you sort the good carbs from the bad carbs. Here’s what to look for on the Nutrition Facts label.
Total Carbohydrate. For tracking the total amount of carbohydrate in the food, per serving, look for the line that says “Total Carbohydrate.” You’ll find that often the grams of “fiber,” grams of “sugars” and grams of “other carbohydrate” will add up to the grams of “total carbohydrate” on the label.


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YouTube app makes it easy to use ‘Like’, ‘Dislike’ and ‘Video Sharing’ features on iPhone, Android
On YouTube app, Like, Dislike, Comment and Share video features have become easier to use on iPhone, Android now.
YouTube, owned by Google, is introducing a new layout for its iPhone and Android mobile app full-screen player. The video player mobile app gets a new redesigned user interface for full screen which will make it easier to like, dislike, comment and share videos. Users will get a row of buttons even in full screen mode on YouTube while watching a video. This will eliminate the need for users to swipe up or close the full-screen window to access multiple options while watching the video, which was a big deal earlier.
All buttons will only appear on the screen when the video is paused or you tap the screen, otherwise they will remain hidden and not interrupt your viewing experience. Among several options, there will also be a like and dislike button, as well as a comments option that will allow you to open comments in a small sidebar on the right.
Youtube fullscreen mode will also have a dedicated button to share the video and another to save it to a playlist. YouTube has also added a section for More Videos in the lower right corner of the screen.
While all of these options are available for the YouTube app, users previously had to exit full screen mode to access these buttons in portrait mode or use a swipe up gesture. But, now, users will also have these options in full-screen mode.
YouTube’s new full-screen feature is rolling out for iPhone and Android users, but apparently it won’t be available to everyone all at once. This means that it is only available for certain users and others may have to wait a bit to get the update on their phone.
Meanwhile, YouTube is also reportedly testing a new looping feature, which will allow users to “loop” entire videos or particular chapters of a video endlessly without manually returning the playback cursor to a particular point.


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Nearly $230,000 worth of hair extensions was discovered stolen Saturday morning from a beauty supply store in Chicago's South Side Bronzeville neighborhood.
The owner discovered the burglary about 8 a.m. at a beauty supply store in the 200 block of East 35th Street, police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli said.
Sometime after 9 p.m. Friday, the thieves broke through the door of a neighboring empty storefront, Mirabelli said. They then broke through the east wall of the storefront into the beauty supply store.
Thieves made off with $229,000 worth of hair extensions, Mirabelli said.
Video surveillance may be available, Mirabelli said.
No one is in custody and Area Central detectives are investigating.
The owner of 35th Street Beauty Supply refused to comment Saturday afternoon.


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The Numbers Game
Baseball's days as our national pastime may be numbered.
On the neurological underpinnings of geekdom.
It's the Medium, Stupid
Amidst all the clamor over the Starr Report, one Webzine reminds us what journalism on the Net was supposed to promise.
Psychotherapy on the Net
Boldly going where Freud never went.
With the market in turmoil, the only safe bets may be at the box office.
There's Something About Harry
How a twenty-six-year-old college dropout became the king of "film geeks" -- and the bane of big Hollywood studios.
The Second Coming
Jesus and Elvis meet Dolly.
A preview of the Oxford English Dictionary's electronic edition points the way to a new kind of reference work.
The Lolita Effect
What Vladimir Nabokov and Bill Clinton have in common.
As Saving Private Ryan sweeps the country, learn about the reality behind the celluloid images.
Investigating the Renaissance
An interactive exhibit shows how digital imaging can reveal a painting's secrets.
For more, see the complete Web Citations Index.
Everything for Sale|
October 15, 1998
In 1995 a software developer named Pierre Omidyar created a small online auction to help his girlfriend, an avid collector of Pez dispensers, find people to trade with. That auction was followed by others, and led to the birth of eBay, a company now worth almost a billion dollars after recently going public (the stock price tripled on the first day of trading, despite the market's bearish mood). eBay's success suggests that online auctions are the Internet's get-rich-quick scheme of the moment -- both for those who run such sites and for those who sell their wares on them.
There are hundreds of different auction sites on the Web, specializing in everything from golf tee times to seafood to used lab equipment to meteorites and dinosaur fossils. eBay is the most successful so far, with more than a million registered users and almost 10 million bids placed since its founding, but several other established companies, both on and off the Web, are jumping on the bandwagon as well: Yahoo! has recently launched its own auction site, as has the Home Shopping Network. Even Sotheby's has tested the waters, with an online auction for first-edition books this summer. (The auction house plans to hold similar auctions in the future.)
Some companies set up auctions to sell their own wares; others serve as middlemen between manufacturers and individual buyers. The Home Shopping Network's site, for instance, sells everything from Samsonite suitcases to Magnavox stereo systems, in half-hour "flash" auctions during which bidding always starts at a dollar. (The deals at times seem great, but potential bidders should be careful: products are often listed with the price they'd sell for if new, yet many items are being resold after being refurbished by their manufacturer.) Travel Facts Auction is one of a growing number of sites where one can bid on plane tickets, hotel rooms, and other travel-related items. Most auction sites, though, offer something closer to traditional offline auctions and concentrate on person-to-person sales, for which the site is merely the facilitator, receiving a small percentage of the money paid for each item. Not surprisingly, pop-culture trends are well represented on these person-to-person sites. At around the time Mark McGwire hit his seventieth home run, 6,000 McGwire-related items were for sale at eBay. Almost all the big auction sites have a category just for Beanie Babies; Lady Di and Elvis memorabilia are ubiquitous.
While online auctions can be entertaining, a good way to locate hard-to-find items, and financially rewarding, they also are attracting hustlers and cheats (many of the items for sale are booklets or disks promising to help one "make a million dollars" playing the auctions). According to Susan Grant at the Internet Fraud Watch, complaints about online auctions top the group's list of most-reported Internet frauds. People often don't receive the item they paid for, or the item is different from how it was represented -- and, when one is buying from an individual rather than a business, most consumer-protection laws don't apply. (The Internet Fraud Watch has published a list of tips to help people avoid being had in online auctions.)
Several auction sites, concerned that their business will suffer if online auctions come to be thought of as playgrounds for less-than-honest characters, are taking pre-emptive measures. Auction Universe, owned by Times Mirror, is about to roll out BidSafe -- for a fee, the auction house will keep money in escrow until buyers have received their goods. eBay, which emphasizes in its guidelines that "we believe people are basically good," asks its patrons to police one another: all users are encouraged to rate their experiences with sellers, and the ratings are then posted for everyone to read. (There's nothing to stop someone from registering multiple times under different names, however.)
Despite the risks of trusting strangers to deliver their Beanie Babies, people continue flocking to online auctions. At what other single location can one find a sweaty Michael Jordan jersey, a sixteenth-century knight's helmet, and "the world's most powerful stinkbomb"? And for those who still can't find what they're looking for on the many existing auction sites, there's hope: with the help of software from companies like Beyond Solutions, anyone can now follow Pierre Omidyar's lead and set up their own auction, if not become the founder of the next billion-dollar Internet start-up.
Discuss this Web Citation in the Technology & Digital Culture conference of Post & Riposte.
Katie Bacon is the senior editor of Atlantic Unbound.
Copyright © 1998 by The Atlantic Monthly Company. All rights reserved.


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EVE Online: “Crius” Feature Site and In-Development Video Launched
CCP has just launched a feature site for the July 22nd Crius release for EVE Online and an accompanying in-development video that highlights the biggest changes coming to industry and manufacturing within gaming’s most dynamic and player-driven economy in EVE‘s 11 years. As the fuel that powers the “infernal machine” of harvesting, creation and destruction, the industry changes will catalyze player-driven action, create new opportunities for veterans and new players alike, and most likely start some good old-fashioned space conflict.
For more info, visit http://play.eveonline.com
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The tracking of consumers’ shopping habits (online and offline) for targeted behavioral advertising and other types of marketing is not new. There have been numerous news stories about this surveillance issue. For example, after theÂ Wall Street Journal reported that credit-card companies Visa and MasterCard â€œare pushing into a new business: using what they know about peopleâ€™s credit-card purchases for targeting them with ads online,”Â Sen.Â Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), chairman of theÂ Senate Commerce Committee, wrote to both MasterCard and Visa asking about the report. Also, the consumers have become interested in opt-out and Do-Not-Track remedies, including browser tools.Â (Read more about targeted behavioral advertising and privacy issues connected with it in a previous post.) Here are a few recent stories about the tracking of consumers’ browsing and purchases:
BusinessWeek: Big Brother Is Watching You Shop
On the Web, every click and jiggle of the mouse helps e-tailers customize sites and maximize the likelihood of a purchase. Brick-and-mortar stores have long wanted to track consumers in a similar fashion, but following atoms is a lot harder than following bits. […]
To get a better understanding of their customers in real time, mall operators are monitoring shoppersâ€™ behavior with devices that track mobile-phone signals, while retailers includingÂ Montblanc (CFRUY),Â T-Mobile (DTEGF), and Family Dollar Stores (FDO)Â are finding new uses for old tools such as in-store security cameras. The goal is to divine which variables affect a purchase, then act with Web-like nimbleness to deploy more salespeople, alter displays, or put out red blouses instead of blue. […]
T-Mobile employs similar technology from San Franciscoâ€™s 3VR, a maker of security systems. Two years ago, 3VR executives realized that its cameras could be used to gather consumer data, according to the companyâ€™s CEO, Al Shipp. He says T-Mobile, in Bellevue, Wash., uses 3VRâ€™s technology in some of its retail stores to track how people move around, how long they stand in front of displays, and which phones they pick up and for how long. T-Mobile declined to comment. Now 3VR is testing facial-recognition software that can identify shoppersâ€™ gender and approximate age. […]
Some retailers are installing gear to track shoppers via cell phones. Path Intelligence, a company in Portsmouth, England, started selling a technology in 2009 that records a phoneâ€™s cellular signal and follows its owner through a building. Today itâ€™s used primarily by malls in Europe, and the company says its technology records the paths of more than 1 million customers every day. […]
Path Intelligence says it doesnâ€™t record anyoneâ€™s identity and alters some of the digits in each phone number before storing it. […]Â Not everyone is reassured. In November the Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va., and the Promenade Temecula mall in California began testing Footpath, the first such trials in the U.S. The test was suspended after one day following complaints from Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) that the technology could compromise shoppersâ€™ privacy.
Associated Press: Companies getting very creative with data about you
As it becomes easier to gather information on consumers, businesses are crunching personal data in new ways to forecast a wide variety of behavior. In much the same way that credit scores predict how likely you are to pay your bills, a new generation of scores now rate the likelihood that you’ll take your medications or redeem a specific coupon.
In some cases, transactions that were traditionally considered off the books â€” such as rent payments and payday loans â€” are being incorporated into the growing body of information used to size up customers.
The new uses of personal data raise a host of concerns for consumer advocates, who question the reliability of the scoring models and the accuracy of the information on which they rely. Also troubling is that many consumers are oblivious that they’ve been tagged with these numbers, notes Chi Chi Wu, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. In many cases, consumers have no way to learn what their so-called consumer scores are. […]
If you’re wondering how else businesses are rating you, here’s a look at four recently introduced scores you may not know about:
Anyone who has applied for a mortgage understands the importance of credit scores. The three-digit figures not only help determine whether a bank will approve a loan, but its interest rate as well.
Now a company called CoreLogic is developing a score it says will zero in on predicting a borrower’s likelihood of repaying a mortgage. The score will be based on a new breed of credit reports the company released last month.
These reports gather information that isn’t typically listed on credit reports, including information from CoreLogic’s in-house databases of rental records and payday loan applications. Also included are public court records, such as property liens, evictions and child support judgments.
Read the full story for more on three other types of scores that could affect consumers.
Upon reading recent news stories about how Facebook tracks almost everywhere he goes on the Internet, Jim Kress grew outraged.Â The consultant from Northville, Mich., subsequently learned Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Adobe and many other companies also exhaustively track his online activities. […]
So Kress, 61, did some homework about a powerful class of online tools and services â€” most of them free â€” designed to block online behavioral tracking. He began using a new free service called Do Not Track Plus from Internet privacy start-up Abine.
Kress is part of a grass-roots movement that began to swell late in the year and is expected to continue growing in 2012: consumers taking online privacy into their own hands.
Suppliers of the best-known anti-tracking tools â€” Ghostery, Adblock Plus and TrackerBlock â€” all reported big jumps in usage in the second half of 2011. Ghostery, for instance, is being downloaded by 140,000 new users each month, with total downloads doubling to 4.5 million in the past 12 months, saysÂ Scott Meyer, CEO of parent company Evidon. […]
Online tracking has been a privacy hot potato for more than a decade. The relentless collection, correlation and selling of tracking data take place to help advertisers deliver more relevant ads to individual Web users. […]
As this debate extends into the new year, consumer backlash appears to be gaining grass-roots momentum. More and more average Web users, such as Doug Toombs, 25, a quality assurance engineer from Cambridge, Ontario, are discovering and using available anti-tracking technologies while the global privacy debate continues. […]
Meanwhile, average consumers who’ve already figured out how to use the current anti-tracking tools say the trouble is well worth it. […]
Kress, the consultant from Michigan, says the main benefit he reaps “is knowing that my browsing and Internet activities are much more private and are not being pirated by a collection of miscreants intent upon benefiting themselves, at my expense, without my knowledge or permission.”