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22 November 2012 09:21
More customers are booking their holidays on tablet computers and mobile phones
An increasing number of people are booking their holidays on mobile devices, a study shows. Almost a quarter (24%) of people said they have used their smartphone or tablet computer to make a holiday booking, according to a survey of 2,000 people for Abta. For foreign holidays, 14% said they had used a mobile phone to book a holiday package or flights, hotels and
travel insurance. A tenth had booked an overseas trip on a tablet. For UK-based breaks, the figure was slightly lower - 12% had used their smartphone to book a break and 8% had used their tablet.
Youngsters aged 15-24 are the keenest to book their breaks while they are on the move - nearly half (47%) said they had made a booking either using their mobile or tablet. However, the older generation is taking a little longer to embrace the new technology, with only a tenth (11%) using a mobile device to book a trip away.
However, the PC and laptop are still the computers of choice for booking holidays online, with 89% of people who have booked over the internet using their home computer rather than a mobile device. Victoria Bacon, head of communications at Abta, said the survey shows people are keen to have several options available to complement the high street travel agent when they source and book their holidays.
06 December 2016
Eating a handful of nuts every day can help reduce your chances of suffering heart disease and other serious illnesses, scientists have claimed.
03 December 2016
Thousands of Britons could be heading off on snow-sports holidays without appropriate travel insurance cover, it has been warned.
01 December 2016
Pilots at German airline Lufthansa are on strike again after a two-day break in their campaign of walkouts.
02 December 2016
Britons are among the top spenders in Europe when it comes to holidays, new research has found.
30 November 2016
The UK should think about resuming flights to the popular tourism resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, according to a major United Nations agency.
29 November 2016
Plans are in place to develop a new aviation arrangement between the UK and US, to ensure holidaymakers can still fly between the two countries once Britain departs the EU.
26 November 2016
Hundreds of Lufthansa flights have been grounded after pilots working for the airline took part in a strike.
25 November 2016
The US is warning its citizens that Europe is facing a "heightened risk of terror attacks" at Christmas markets and other seasonal holiday events.
24 November 2016
A groundbreaking radiotherapy machine that can track the changing position of tumours in real time will soon be used to treat cancer patients in the UK.
23 November 2016
Top airline bosses are urging the government to scrap air passenger duty ahead of Wednesday's Autumn Statement.
22 November 2016
Winter sun is now the most popular holiday type, according to new research conducted by travel experts.
19 November 2016
A holiday price increase of 10% on trips to Europe could cause tourists to postpone their getaways next year, experts are warning.


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— Reliance Digital TV (RDTV) the leading Direct- To- Home (DTH) service provider in the country has partnered with Star India to showcase its bouquet of Asli HD channels like Star Plus, Star Movies, Star Gold and Star World for its HD and HD- DVR subscribers.
Indore, MP, India, June 27, 2011 Reliance Digital TV (RDTV) the leading Direct- To- Home (DTH) service provider in the country has partnered with Star India to showcase its bouquet of Asli HD channels like Star Plus, Star Movies, Star Gold and Star World for its HD and HD- DVR subscribers.
RDTV has been making constant endeavours to bring about digitization in the country and enhance its subscribers’ television viewing experience. Recently, RDTV introduced a break through technological innovation and became the only DTH brand in India to offer its’ entire bouquet of 250 broadcast TV channels in ‘Full High- Definition’ quality (Full HD quality = 1080p, 2 million pixel frame resolution). The new cutting-edge digital technology enables real-time video signal up-scaling by up to 10 times with a 16:9 wide aspect ratio and digital sound clarity.
Continuing with the tradition of providing its subscribers with a better viewing experience, RDTV has tied-up with Star India to offer its’ bouquets of HD channels and carry forward the objective of offering a world- class experience with rich content in High Definition.
Commenting on this partnership, Mr. Sanjay Behl, Chief Executive Officer, Reliance Digital TV said, “Reliance Digital TV has always been a frontrunner in innovation in the DTH industry. It has been our continuous endeavour to enhance our subscribers’ viewing experience. By partnering with leading content providers like Star India with whom we have a shared vision, Reliance Digital TV is now leading the change in adoption of an unparalleled television viewing experience.”
Commenting on this tie-up Sanjay Gupta, COO, Star India Pvt. Ltd. said,
“This association with Reliance Digital TV, furthers our aim to ensure that every Indian home is able to experience world class media experience through Star India’s bouquet of Asli HD channels.”
Reliance Digital TV consumers can now subscribe to the ‘Ultra Sharp 2 pack’ to watch Star Plus HD, Star Movies HD, Movies Now HD, Nat Geo HD and iConcerts HD at Rs.75/- (plus taxes) per month.
Alternatively, the channels are available on a-la- carte basis at Rs.30 per month.

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Study: Fraudulent impressions top $3 billion mark
A new study out from MdotLabs puts a dollar value on fraudulent traffic and fake ad impressions - and it's in the billions. Not only that but some of the biggest brands in the US are falling victim to what researchers call Pay-Per-View (PPV) fraud.
"Fake display-ad impressions are estimated to account for about 30% of overall online traffic," says Timur Yarnall, CEO and co-founder of MdotLabs. "That puts display fraud waste at $3.6 to $4.5 billion annually in the US alone. That doesn't include video, mobile, or the rest of the world. We believe the estimate would easily top $10 billion on a global basis."
Pay-Per-View networks have cropped up all over the Internet, touting their ability to push brand messages to consumers, but according to MdotLabs' "Impression Fraud in On-line Advertising via Pay-Per-View Networks" report many of these PPV ads are never seen by consumers' eyes. Instead malware and bots are pushing many 'impressions', which cheats the advertisers paying for those same impressions.
"We conservatively estimate the number of invalid impressions that are generated from these PPV networks alone to be on the order of 15 billion per month. Assuming the modest quality level for sites that are part of PPV networks, we estimate the cost to advertisers for this fraudulent traffic to be on the order of $180 million annually," said Mdotlabs Chief Scientist and co-founder, Dr. Paul Barford.
MdotLabs researchers posed as online publishers and signed up for several services to study how the services worked.
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Hot on the heels of the launch of the iPod mini, Apple yesterday took yet another bite out of rivals with its launch of a revamped version of the original iPod.
With Sony and Samsung preparing counter-strikes and HP readying its own version of the iPod, Apple has addressed the two main gripes that customers had with the popular music player: battery life and price.
The new, cheaper, fourth-generation iPod contains all the features of the original flagship product but boasts a doubled battery life of 12 hours and a significantly lower price tag.
A 20GB iPod costs £219 while a 40GB model costs £299. The new iPods also feature the popular click wheel navigation first introduced on the iPod mini.
"The best digital music player just got better," said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, in a statement. Jobs added that the company has sold more than four million iPods since October 2001.
Molybdenum ditelluride is a two-dimensional material that can be easily stacked into multiple layers to create a memory cell
New light-guiding nanoscale device can control and monitor a nanoparticle trapped in a laser beam with high sensitivity
Optical traps are scientific instruments in which a focused laser beam is used to exert an attractive or repulsive force on a microscopic object to hold it in place
Scientists estimate that the exoplanet has already lost up to 35 per cent of its mass over its lifetime
The observations were made using the Atacama Array in the Chilean desert


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The South Korean based automaker Kia has just released more details on the 2013 Sorento, and the model is expected to hit the market sometimes this year.
After starting its life back in June when the carmaker didn’t announce any info on it, the 2013 Kia Sorento is ending up in our news once more, this time with the company releasing some interesting facts on the SUV. According to the car manufacturer, the 2013 Kia Sorento will be available on the Old Continent with a choice of three engines, and all of them will be mated to six-speed manual transmissions as standard or with optional six-speed automatic gearboxes.
The first unit to be offered will be the 2.0 liter diesel, producing 148 HP (150 PS / 110 kW), and this will be soon followed by a larger 2.2 liter turbodiesel R, generating 195 HP (198 PS / 145 kW), along with a 2.4 liter GDI petrol unit, with direct injection, developing a total output of 194 HP (197 PS / 144 kW). In international markets, the 2013 Kia Sorento will be sold with the same petrol engines as before, the 172 HP 2.4L MPI and the 276 HP 3.5L V6. More details on the 2013 Kia Sorento will be announced later on, this year.


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HID Global is hosting a webinar June 20 at 2 pm ET about near field communications and the impact is could have on access control technology.
Near field communications could potentially revolutionize the access control industry. Over the next few years, it will be possible to create, use and manage secure identity on NFC-enabled smart phones, HID posits. Smart phone users will soon have a single device that provides physical access to their home and work place and secure access to their PCs and corporate networks.
Mike Moran, special projects editor with ASIS International, will moderate this webinar. The featured speaker is John Fenske, vice president, product marketing with HID Global.
Attendees will learn:
- New mobile access capabilities including on-demand, over-the-air credential provisioning and digital home access.
- Discover how smart phones can carry everything they need to open doors and access computers and network resources, including all necessary digital keys and smart tokens so they needn’t carry any other cards, fobs or devices for building entry or system logon
Attendees can register for the webinar here.


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Today appeared the first stable version of mobile OS Tizen, whose creation was announced last fall. Developers can download not only the open source operating system, but updated set of tools for software development (SDK). The new platform supports HTML5 and Wi-Fi Direct, and in tools for developers included a stable emulator browser.
Tizen 1.0 was developed thanks to support from the companies Samsung and Intel, and the OS itself is based on MeeGo platform and LiMo. Reportedly, the company’s platform Samsung – Bada – is also likely to be merged with the new product. Manufacturers Acer, ASUS and Huawei have expressed support for the operating system. The launch of the first smartphone in the management of Tizen is planned for mid-year.
Logically, the most likely manufacturer of the device will be the company Samsung. According to its creators, the new operating system will be used in tablets, netbooks and televisions, as well as production cars.


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Corruption the watchword as annual national summits near
Officials and businessmen pay their usual call on their connections in the capital amid caution over President Xi's anti-bribery crackdown
Every year in March, the country's most important officials and businessmen will converge in Beijing for the two annual top-level political summits known as "Liang Hui".
This year, many will wonder if it will be cleanest gathering because of President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption crackdown.
It's no secret that March, when the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference are held, is also the best time for high-end restaurants and shops in Beijing in terms of banquet and luxury product sales. It has been at least for the past decade.
During this period, local government officials, including the many delegates to the national legislature and advisory body, take the opportunity to visit their connections in the capital, typically those senior officials in various government ministries and policymaking agencies.
Of course, when they visit, they can't just go empty-handed. That is why luxury stores, especially watch shops, often see strong sales in the month.
I covered "Liang Hui" sessions for the five years to 2008, staying at the landmark Beijing Hotel. There were several gift shops at the hotel and my colleagues and I often noticed that many expensive watches were out of stock as soon as the summits began.
And it was definitely not just Beijing Hotel that had good banquet business. Other high-end hotels and restaurants did brisk business, too.
Some restaurants even prepared special "Liang Hui" menus, which easily cost more than 1,000 yuan (HK$1,270) per person. And that did not include drinks.
A bottle of mao-tai cost about 5,000 yuan at five-star hotels and many hotels would be out of stock of the fiery white spirit during those two important weeks in March.
Private businessmen - many who are also NPC and CPPCC members - usually did exactly the same thing for their important connections in Beijing when they attended the annual gatherings.
If local officials bought expensive gifts for central government officials in the hope they could gain promotions faster, businessmen of course had clearer goals: whoever could help win more deals or smoothen the business process, would be bought gifts.
Will this year be different? Yes and no.
One chief executive friend said he had received a message from a so-called consulting firm that claimed to be able to provide "high-end business dining and partying services especially for the needs of Liang Hui in March". What the message suggested was obvious. The firm also guaranteed 100 per cent confidentiality.
On the other hand, bribery attempts would not be so blatant this year in view of the anti-corruption drive. Activities will go underground while corrupt officials and businessmen will be more discreet in their affairs.
But corruption will not end just because of Xi's determination to stop it. So, let's wait and see how fruitful the "Liang Hui" sessions remain for our mainland comrades this year.


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Crypto.com is the latest cryptocurrency company to get permission from the Dutch central bank to operate in the country.
Following a thorough evaluation of Crypto.com’s operations and compliance with the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism funding requirements, the exchange announced that it had registered as a cryptocurrency service provider with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).
As previously reported, the Dutch central bank has 36 cryptocurrency-related businesses registered, including Coinbase Europe, eToro, and Bitstamp.
Before the registration announcement, Crypto.com’s services were available in the Netherlands.
According to Oudejans of DNB, Dutch-based customers are legally entitled to join up for a service, but a company without registration would be operating illegally if it marketed or advertised its services to Dutch-based.


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CaterFix were asked to look at providing a new Ansul Fire suppression system at Maharani’s in Market Deeping. Insurance companies are putting pressure on hospitality customers to ensure that their cookline products like fryers and burners are protected against any potential fire hazards. CaterFix with the help from Marlowe fire suppression installed a completely new fire protection system which will put out any potential fires at source.
Restaurant owner Mohammad Yaseen was very happy with the service provided. “CaterFix were very professional in the way they handled this job from the initial site survey, to organising the installation and then connecting to the Gas Interlock system. We are now safe from fire hazards and compliant to our insurance companies requirements.”
CaterFix also installed a good quality used Rational SCC combi oven with its own vent . “This gives us so many more options when it comes to preparing our products quickly and consistently…a great addition to the Maharani Kitchen”


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Pick n Pay tests ‘nude wall’ — plastic-free fresh produce zones
Pick n Pay says it has introduced packaging-free fruit and vegetable sections in 13 stores to see if shoppers in SA are ready to switch to loose products
Pick n Pay says it has introduced plastic- and packaging-free fruit and vegetable sections in 13 stores to see if shoppers in SA are ready to switch from pre-packaged food to loose products.
Retailers globally face mounting pressure to reduce the environmental damage caused by plastic. In SA, a number of independent, plastic-free grocery stores have cropped up in recent years, including Cape Town’s Nude Foods and Shop Zero.
High-end retailer Woolworths said in 2018 it planned to phase out nonrecyclable plastic packaging for its own products — as well as plastic shopping bags, straws and earbuds — by 2022.
"Plastic waste remains a concern for many customers, and this trial will give them the choice to shop for more everyday fruit and vegetables free from plastic packaging," Pick n Pay said on Monday.
The retailer said it will introduce "nude wall" sections at its Pick n Pay On Nicol and Constantia shops, and 11 others. Paper bags will be available to customers at these sections, it said.
Paula Disberry, commercial retail executive at Pick n Pay, said the sale of loose products currently accounts for just 10% of all fruit and vegetables sales at the retailer.
“There is scope to grow our nude wall offering, but it needs to be sustainable and without unintended consequences. Reducing plastic waste has obvious benefits, but we need to be careful not to increase food waste levels during the process," Disberry said.
Packaging extends the shelf life of fresh produce, preventing "unnecessary food waste".
Disberry said while loose produce was previously less popular than pre-packaged products, this was changing.
"We will closely monitor shopping behaviour and if this trial is successful, we can expand the initiative to more stores.”
Pick n Pay chair Gareth Ackerman said in April 2018 the retailer had "made good progress" in shifting customers away from single-use plastic bags, having sold more than 1-million reusable bags in 2017.
But reversing "the tide of plastic damage" was a complex issue given the industry’s reliance on plastic to protect products, to aid food safety, for convenience and to make products affordable, he said at the time.


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Why Does Toyota Have So Many Recalls?
No matter where you look, articles are detailing major recalls of vehicles by Toyota. That isn’t to automatically label Toyota as a bad brand. It is a numbers game more than anything else. When a company sells as many cars and trucks as Toyota does, there are bound to be more issues.
The start of major recalls for Toyota
According to Toyota, the company sold 2,112,941 vehicles in 2020. That made it the number one selling manufacturer for the ninth year in a row.
Back in 2009, Toyota was the subject of a large recall due to incorrect floor mats. These mats would either not fit correctly or come loose and get stuck, leading to uncontrolled acceleration. Toyota recalled 3.8 million vehicles in the US.
Shortly after, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) pressured Toyota into recalling additional vehicles. For buyers, this left a haze of confusion over the brand’s reliability.
Was Toyota a bad car manufacturer? No, but some signs pointed to there being an issue with quality control at the time. Also, manufacturers like Ford, Chevrolet, and Hyundai were producing well-performing cars.
Was Toyota going to turn things around and pinpoint the exact spot during production that was causing issues? Perhaps.
Recalls across multiple brands
This included many vehicles such as 2013-2014 Lexus GS 350, 2014-2015 4Runner, Land Cruiser; Lexus GX 460, IS 350, LX 570. In addition, Toyota recalled the 2018-2019 Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Sequoia, and Tacoma. The list goes on.
The recall noted that the vehicles could stop operating and cause the engine to stop working. The dashboard could light up, and the car could stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Of course, Toyota and Lexus do not want to be associated with low-quality cars. By acting fast and recalling more cars, the company lessens the chance that more drivers will get hurt.
Using parts across makes and models
But why are these recalls increasing in size and frequency? If we look at Wharton University’s investigation, a portion of the issue is the parts themselves. To cut costs, many cars use the same parts across manufacturers and platforms.
Thus, there is possibly an issue with many other cars if there is an issue with one car. This explains the huge number of cars noted in the recalls.
Susan Helper, an economics professor at Case Western Reserve University, suggests that perhaps all new technology is compounding the issue. Cars used to be mechanical systems. These days, cars are mechanical systems integrated with electronic systems.
“Some of it has to do with the newness of some of these systems. We have not had 100 years to study electronics the way we have with mechanics,” Helper noted about Toyota’s response to recalls in 2010.
Using parts across various makes and models is a cost-cutting measure that helps make these cars more affordable. On the catch side, it also means if one part has a problem, the problem will likely affect a lot more cars.
Toyota isn’t alone in this
Unfortunately, recalls are not limited to just Toyota. Sometimes it means adjusting a part, replacing a part, or even adding a new part. As long as Toyota and other brands are proactive when there is an issue, drivers should not be afraid of the brand.
Toyota did not return a request for comment about the recalls by the time of publication.


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- NZ retailers have been missing their sales targets amid the Omicron outbreak in the country, witnessing subsequent lower foot traffic in stores.
- Annual inflation in NZ hit 6.9% for the year ended 31 March 2022.
- Warehouse Group, Michael Hill and Kathmandu Holdings are working on building digital capabilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest data released by Stats NZ on Thursday showed that the annual inflation in NZ hit 6.9% for the year ended 31 March 2022, up from 5.9% for the year to December 2021. It is the biggest Y-O-Y rise in 32 years and was majorly propelled by the housing and household utilities group, followed by the transport group.
The increase in inflation will further raise the cost of living in the country and may result in further rate hikes by the RBNZ in months ahead. Continued supply chain issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic and huge volatility in commodity prices are some of the other contributing factors to increased inflation in the country.
NZ retailers have been missing their sales targets amid the Omicron outbreak in the country, witnessing subsequent lower foot traffic in stores. They further expect prices to rise even more and have been facing challenges around mandatory mask wearing for the retail staff under current settings.
Amid this backdrop, let’s see how these 3 retailers are doing.
Source: © 2022 Kalkine Media®
The Warehouse Group Limited (NZX:WHS)
Warehouse Group’s market share stood at 6.1% of the total retail sales. In H1 FY22, up by 0.1 point on pcp, its SKU price segmentation programme helped in protecting margins. The Group’s supply chain fared well amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but cost inflation remains an issue to manage.
Food inflation, rising petrol costs and rising interest rates continue to put pressure on Kiwi pockets, subsequently impacting the overall trading environment. WHS is making progress in building an integrated supply chain and is focusing on store pick-up Click & Collect orders as well as building capacity for its customer care tools.
WHS ended the day 1.27% in green to close at $3.2.
Michael Hill New Zealand International (NZX:MHJ)
Michael Hill registered strong results in Q3 despite lower foot traffic and staff rostering challenges amid Omicron. The Group’s all store sales rose 11.1% and same store sales saw an increase of 4.8% in the quarter on pcp.
MHJ’s sustained margin expansion continued growth in store and digital conversion showcase that its operational reset is working for the company. The business remains centered on delivering key strategic priorities and has put emphasis on improving loyalty program and excellence in retail fundamentals and exploring digital expansion prospects.
MHJ ended the day 0.77% in red to close at $1.29.
KMD made sales of $407.3 million and a gross margin of 57.7% in H1 FY22 as travel recovered and the COVID-19 impact on supply subsided. It paid an interim dividend of 3cps on 30 June 2022.
KMD expects to trade without any restrictions in winters with the flip to cold weather in a few weeks and is also likely to benefit from border reopening to Australia.
The Group has also undertaken ESG initiatives to positively impact wider communities and remains focused on elevating its digital capabilities, investing in building global brands in H2 while navigating the COVID-19 impact.
KMD ended the day flat to close at $1.33.
NZ retailers continue to navigate the COVID-19 impact and remain focused on customer satisfaction and achieving operational growth.
(NOTE: Currency is reported in NZ Dollar unless stated otherwise)


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India's long love affair with the Maruti Ciaz only seems to be getting only stronger. It has emerged as the best-selling car in its segment for the third consecutive year. The car held nearly 30% market share in its segment and recorded an overwhelming sales figures of 46,000 units in FY2018-19.
Maruti Suzuki has sold over 2.56 lakh units of the Ciaz since its launch in 2o14. 48% of the sales have been in the car's range-topping grade, which has been called Alpha since it moved to NEXA. The most popular colour choice is the signature NEXA Blue shade, specified by every 3rd customer. The Maruti Ciaz outsold both its close rivals, the Honda City and the Hyundai Verna, in March 2019 sales.
Commenting on the success of the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, R.S Kalsi, Senior Executive Director, Sales & Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India, said: “Ciaz has witnessed a resounding success in the highly competitive premium sedan segment. With a staggering 30% market share in 2018-19, Ciaz has been a preferred choice for the aspirational and evolving consumers who have the drive to excel. It is a testimony of them liking new technologies and features offered by us, and we are thankful to our customers for their confidence and choice that reinforces our commitment to bring newer, advanced and greener technologies in India.”
The Maruti Ciaz received a facelift in August last year and gained the all-new K15B 1.5L petrol engine (105 PS/138 Nm) featuring the all-new Progressive Smart Hybrid dual-battery mild-hybrid system. Last month, it gained the all-new E15A 1.5L diesel engine (95 PS/225 Nm) paired with an all-new 6-speed manual transmission. Prices start at INR 8,19,688* and go up to INR 11,38,188*.


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The Galaxy S9 Plus scores an impressive 3773 points in single core performance and 9024 in multi-core tests. Prices for the S9 Plus and its smaller variant will reportedly start at GBP 739 (Rs 66,600 approx) in the UK at launch.
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The Mobile World Congress 2018 is just a week away and Samsung will showcase its flagship Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus smartphones a day before the event officially commences. Almost all the specifications of the devices have leaked, however, the larger Galaxy S9 Plus has been spotted on Geekbench running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 platform for the first time. Additionally, TechRadar and Roland Quandt have also reported how much the smartphones could cost in UK and Norway respectively.
Starting with the Geekbench listing, the Galaxy S9 plus scores 3773 points in single core tests and 9024 in multi-core performance. It is seen running on Android 8.0 Oreo and 6GB RAM. The benchmark scores for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 scores are impressive but the iPhone X from last year is still ahead with 4188 points for single-core and multi-core score of 10069. The Galaxy S9 was also previously spotted on the benchmarking website and it scored 3648 and 8894 in single and multi-core tests respectively.
Also a TechRadar report, citing insider mobile phone industry sources, claims that the Samsung Galaxy S9 will be priced at GBP 739 (Rs 66,600 approx) in the UK on launch. Earlier, their sources said that the smartphone could cost GBP 789 (Rs. 71,400 approx), which is 100 pounds higher than its predecessor. Leakster Roland Quandt has also tweeted claiming that the Galaxy S9 (64GB) will cost NOK 8,790 (Rs 72,800 approx) and the Galaxy S9 Plus (64GB) will be priced at NOK 9,790 (Rs 81,100 approx) in Norway. It is speculated that similar to the iPhone X, Galaxy S9 series smartphone could cross the $999 barrier.
Both the Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphones were recently leaked in full glory, supplemented with alleged official images and ‘almost’ all the hardware details. The report reaffirmed the rumours that the devices will sport a variable aperture lens (f/1.5 and f/2.4), which is capable of capturing videos at 960 fps. The Galaxy S9 is also seen with a single rear camera setup, whereas the Galaxy S9 Plus is equipped with a vertically placed dual rear camera setups. You can read more about the mobile phones here.
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There are changes underway at Moose Jaw’s Carr’s Confectionery. It’s becoming a little less spacious.
On Tuesday, store co-owner Janet Carr told the Times-Herald the 392-Fourth Ave. SW, business began renovations to accommodate a size reduction in August.
Carr and her husband Jim operate two businesses at the South Hill location — Carr’s Confectionery and Carr’s Pack ‘n’ Mail. Until recently, the two businesses were located in side-by-side buildings.
"It's been a part of Moose Jaw for a long time." Janet Carr
However, Carr said a recent business deal meant the owners had to fit both businesses into the building with the confectionary. The Carrs still own the building next to the confectionary, but are leasing it to an entrepreneur opening a store called the Medicine Shop.
Carr said her business is a staple in the community.
"It's been a part of Moose Jaw for a long time."


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From agriculture to retail, the Internet of Things (IoT) is changing how companies in many industries do business.
This is more evident than ever at the IoT Solutions World Congress, which kicked off in Barcelona, Spain on Tuesday.
Industry experts from all sectors are at the event showcasing how they are using smart systems to better their business.
Here's a look at six industries being transformed by IoT.
Agriculture is embracing IoT in a big way.
According to BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, IoT device installations in the agriculture industry are estimated to grow from 30 million in 2015 to 75 million in 2020.
Farmers are collecting data about their crops and livestock in a variety of ways. For example, John Deere has started using sensors in its tractors to connect them to the internet so that farmers can easily access data about their crop yields. By combining those sensors with advanced data analysis, farmers can get a sense for the best times to plant crops and how to optimize their yields.
Connecting the healthcare industry means not only more efficient business, but can mean better service for the patient.
For example, by connecting an MRI machine or other medical devices up to the internet, hospital staff can get alerts for when repairs are needed. This may sound like a small thing, but in a hospital a working piece of medical equipment could mean the difference between life or death.
"If we can use sensor data in these machines and collect data off the machines and the behavior of how that machine is being used...we can fairly accurately predict when it is going to fail," GE Digital chief experience officer Greg Petroff told Business Insider. "So this lets you choose when to do the repair so that it won't impact operations of the hospitals," he said.
Retail may not be the first sector that comes to mind when thinking about digital industry. But even it is beginning to be transformed by IoT.
For example, retailers are beginning to use bluetooth beacons in their stories to better reach their customers. These beacons enable communication with customers' mobile phones to enable location-based services.
So, for example, once the consumer has linked with the retailers app, they could receive more information about specific products and get personalized discounts.
From supply chain logistics to public transit, IoT solutions are being used in transportation to better business in a number of ways.
For example, by connecting shipping vehicles with sensors to monitor temperature, companies can help ensure goods, especially food, arrive in a safe condition.
Sensors and smart software can also be used in a semi-truck or public bus to collect data that can be used to help the driver operate the vehicle in a manner that helps save fuel. What's more, Intel provides IOT solutions that can be used to monitor how safely a driver is driving and can help predict when fleet vehicles may need repairs in real-time.
In the future, connected infrastructure will also work with connected vehicles to help reduce traffic and prevent accidents.
IoT is also changing the way energy companies do business.
For example, utility companies like PG&E are beginning to use smart meters as an effective IOT solution.
Smart meters are basically electronic devices that keep track of a customer’s energy usage and are able to communicate with the utility company’s central system.
Because of the two-way communication, smart meters give utility companies the necessary data to better predict demand, spot outages, and help the company know when to schedule repairs.
Manufacturing is perhaps the biggest industry being impacted by IoT.
In fact, BI Intelligence predicts that global manufacturers will invest $70 billion on IoT solutions in 2020, which is up from the $29 billion they spent in 2015.
Manufacturers in all sectors are connecting their factories to be more productive and efficient.
IoT solutions in the space generally includes having sensors placed on equipment in factories so that data can be collected about the performance of the machine and systems. This enables factory operators to not only see when a piece of machinery may need repaired, but it also gives insight on how to make the entire system work more efficiently.
For example, a manufacturer can use IoT solutions to better track assets in the factory and help consolidate control rooms.


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AMSTERDAM, Nov 4 (Reuters) – The Dutch markets regulator will investigate how investment apps are influencing consumer behaviour, it said on Thursday, after a sharp rise in the number of do-it-yourself investors.
In its yearly review of major trends, the Authority for Financial Markets (AFM) said that the number of Dutch households that actively invest had risen by 35% over the past two years, which coincide with the coronavirus pandemic.
Most are making their own investment decisions and trading via a smartphone application, it added.
It said that among self-directed investors, a “large majority” check the value of their investments more than once a week and are prone to overreact to price changes, with around a third showing signs of poor investing practices.
“Low diversification or trading frequently in high-risk products such as…


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What started as a motley experiment to create a market for digital art on the blockchain, became one of the biggest success stories in blockchain evolution. It also expanded the importance of smart contracts and proves that any industry can be disrupted.
Although many critics exercised skepticism by insisting that NFTS are a bubble that will soon burst, the times have shown the importance of these digital collectibles, and how fast it is disrupting other industries. Also, Blockchain gaming and Metaverse are becoming the new deFi buzzword, and NFTs are still part of its evolution.
However, since the rise of NFTs and its intermittent struggles to solidify its base, everyone is asking: What next?
The NFT wave has moved to the digital ticketing industry, to create a bridge between the memories of the old ticketing traditions, and modern digital ticketing.
What is NFT Ticketing?
It is common practice for arbitrage scalpers to buy out concert/exhibition or football tickets before the time of the event, inflate the price, and resale it on the secondary market for high profit. This is a very old practice that has stymied the growth of many entertainers and sporting events.
NFT ticketing is simply leveraging the potentials of blockchain to create digital tickets to eliminate ticket fraud and arbitrage. This ensures that artists get fair value for their products and talents, and loyal fans are not exploited.
The place of blockchain, however, is to eliminate the third-party and middlemen that dominate the ticketing industry. Blockchain technology creates the necessary protocol that will make every ticket history open in its ledger, traceable, and impossible to fake. The tickets can also be programmed in ways to profit the entertainers and sports directly. That is to say that proceeds from resale will directly go to the owners rather than a fraudulent third party.
The NFT ticketing system is a favorable development for event organisers. One of the ways it will benefit them will be the ease with which tickets will be tracked. This is because since tickets will be directly interlinked to their buyers after sale, it will be easy to monitor their movements on the blockchain.
This new movement will benefit the entertainment industry especially Sports, Movies, Arts, Social media, and Gaming.
Why the NFT Ticket industry will be huge
The possibilities of the NFT ticket industry are enormous. It is relatively new, and live event organisers are beginning to notice its benefits. Listed below are a few reasons why the ticketing industry will be disrupted by NFTs.
Easy and reoccurring revenues for entertainers, creative and loyal fans
The possibilities of smart contracts as a protocol of blockchain are limitless. With these possibilities, contracts can be developed for revenue disbursement, secondary sales, and how royalties will be split between entertainers, organisers, and loyal fans.
It will eliminate scalpers and fraudsters
As already noted, one of the advantages of using NFT ticketing is that it will, above all things, eliminate the fraudulent activities prevalent in the digital ticketing space. With the blockchain documenting and tracking every ticket movement, third-party scalpers will be taken out of the picture.
It is not very cheap to print Paper tickets compared to what is obtainable with blockchain. Yet, printing on paper has many disadvantages outside cost. Sometimes the bar codes can be forged. The bar code may also chip as a result of unforeseen circumstances. NFT tickets will replace paper printing and save event organisers money and time.
Speed and transparency
The speed of most blockchains in printing NFTS makes them suitable for ticketing. Purchasing and processing can be done from the comfort of one’s home and with ease. Since Blockchains are transparent, every ticket can be tracked on the open ledger.
Metaverse has become a popular idea for the blockchain industry. However, when Facebook announced its transition to Metaverse the possibilities expanded beyond gaming. Most celebrities and superstars are already having live shows in the Metaverse with tickets to the shows being sold as NFTS. Live events in the Metaverse are becoming a thing, and as the Metaverse explodes so will NFT ticketing.
Finally, there are many other reasons why NFT ticketing is the next best thing in the industry. The above reasons are chosen for they are the most obvious, and are being employed by most platforms running NFT ticketing. It is also advisable to carry out your research before investing in any sector. You should not take this article as a piece of financial advice.


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Beauty E-commerce has risen with innovation and diversity. During the pandemic, people resorted to many E-commerce websites for Comfort and accessibility. When it comes to shopping for beauty, personal care, and lifestyle products, online shopping is undoubtedly beneficial for repeat purchases. E-Commerce platforms are continuing to integrate virtual try - on modules in their E- Commerce schema . With advancement in technology, shopping online has been more widespread than before . However, testing out products physically before purchase with regard to beauty products is still important to many customers. No doubt beauty eCommerce platforms like BeautyKart have a virtual Try-On, trying products is more trustworthy according to many consumers.
Users need to have a hands-on experience and check the product texture, reckon its scent, and do a patch test to ensure the product they are buying a product that’s a perfect match for them. Further, many beauty enthusiasts think that beauty counters or studios help them try out new looks and expand their creativity.In this scenario, BeautyKart emerged as the most loved e-commerce hub in the beauty and personal care space in India. As they continue to add more diverse brands, they also created a community of enthusiasts and professionals where they share their wisdom to curate a personalized user experience for customers.
Moreover, the Founder & CEO of the company Santhoshi Reddy believes the potential offline channel holds and further plans to diverge its channel module into physical retail to meet the demand for offline sales. She recently said in an interview, “Physical retail holds a lot of potential,, and we are at the stage where we cannot ignore our offline channel not just to continue to serve as a dominant E-Commerce player but also to meet the demand of our offline consumers. “She further added, “The prevalent digital landscape has brought radical changes. From the beginning, We are heavily involved in understanding the needs of our customers and strive to make all those needs a reality. We also understand the power of community and want to create a physical space beauty enthusiasts can enjoy and feel like home”.
The company had its breakthrough when the pandemic compelled people to shift to online shopping. BeautyKart, which kicked off its journey as an e-commerce that sells beauty, cosmetics, personal care, and lifestyle products will foray into physical retailing.


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Today Ubisoft announced that Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, based on Universal Pictures' December 14 release, King Kong, from three-time Academy Award winner Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), has officially gone "Gold" on the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, Xbox video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube system and Windows PC. The title will launch in North America November 22 at the manufacturer's suggested retail price of $49.99 and is rated "T" for Teen.
"Ubisoft is extremely excited to reach this milestone in collaborating with Peter Jackson, Wingnut Films and Universal Studios Consumer Products Group," said Yves Guillemot, president and chief executive officer of Ubisoft. "The response among the media, core gamers and the mass-market audience has been tremendous and we can't wait to launch Ubisoft's most impressive and successful game of 2005 – Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie."
While the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft version of Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie is slated to go "Gold" the first week in November, it too will launch on November 22, 2005, alongside its console counterparts and the Game Boy Advance title Kong The 8th Wonder of the World. PSP (PlayStation Portable) system and Nintendo DS versions of Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie will launch soon thereafter.


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Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) will be the fourth member, besides Hapag-Lloyd, Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Yang Ming, to join THE Alliance. The members of THE Alliance have also decided to establish a new cooperation with four members and a term until 2030. The actions were agreed in Taipei on 19 June 2019. The new contract between the four lines will begin on 1 April 2020.
South Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) announced today the launch of its new Corporate Identity, in a bid to reflect its vision and ambition for the future, according to HMM CEO Jae-hoon Bae.
The new CEO of South Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine wants to improve relations with Maersk and the Mediterranean Shipping Company of the 2M alliance. For this reason, Jae-hoon Bae will visit the two companies to strengthen their ties. Currently, the company has an agreement to swap container space with Maersk and MSC on trades between the Far East and US, which will expire in a year.
South Korean HMM announced that it will expand cooperation with Russian transportation group FESCO. With the expansion of cooperation, the current China-Korea-Russia weekly service will be reorganized and two of new direct services connecting Korea and Russia.
Finnish technology provider Valmet said it will supply scrubbers for seven new building container vessels, to be built by DSME for South Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine. The container ships will be the largest in the world, with over 23,000 TEUs each.
As part of its efforts to comply with the 2020 sulphur cap, South Korean shipping company HMM announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a win-win fund for scrubber installation and to seek cooperation in the shipping-related industries.
On January 30, 2019, HMM held a signing ceremony for the 'PSA-Hyundai Pusan New Port Pier 4' sales contract. This sales contract includes that the private equity fund, Yuanta-HPNT, which will acquire stakes of Waska Inc. which holds 50% stakes of PHPNT. HMM will also secure stable berths for 23,000 TEU mega containerships.
HMM finalised the contracts for its twenty eco-friendly mega containerships. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries will construct seven and five 23,000 TEU containerships, for delivery in the second quarter of 2020. HHI will build eight 15,000 TEU containerships, for delivery in the second quarter of 2021.
South Korean Shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine has selected three compatriot shipbuilders for the construction of its twenty eco-friendly mega container ships, under the company's ‘Capacity of 1 Million TEU’ strategy, and the Korean government’s ‘5 Year Plan for Rebuilding Korean Shipping’ plan.
South Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine has started cooperation with California-based software company Oracle, to move its data to a cloud-based system. The company revealed intentions to find a technology partner for this purpose since early 2018 and is expected to move all of its data by 2020.


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Former Minnetonka Toys R Us to Become Hobby Lobby
Another Hobby Lobby is coming to the Northwest Metro. A former well-known toy store in the Ridgedale Festival Center is about to transform into a new location for the craft store chain.The Toys Я Us closed in the spring of 2018 when the company went bankrupt and liquidated all of its stores.
Hobby Lobby stores have opened in many of the former Toys Я Us location across the US. This store is expected to open in February.
Toys Я Us still owns the Maple Grove storefront that used to house the toy store.


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As anyone who has ever pigged out on chocolate fudge can attest, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.
Lately, as the May jobs report released on Friday shows, we’ve had these good things in spades.
We have now nearly filled in the deep jobs hole created by the pandemic. If May’s pace of employment growth (390,000 jobs added) continues, we’ll be back to the pre-pandemic level of employment in another two months or so. That would be much sooner than (nearly) anyone predicted.
Again, a good thing! Especially compared to the painfully slow recovery after the Great Recession.
While we want a hot economy, and a hot labor market, there is also such a thing as “overheating.”
This could happen, say, because consumers have tons of cash to spend, and want to spend it (again, usually good things) – but suppliers can’t keep pace with customers’ super-strong demand for goods and services. They don’t have the capacity to scale up quickly enough. That mismatch can lead to rapidly rising prices and shortages of products. It can also manifest through shortages of workers, if businesses are trying so hard to scale up that they want to hire more people than are able or willing to work.
That has been the case for about the past year: Since May 2021, there have been more job vacancies posted at the end of each month than there were idle workers actively looking for jobs. In April 2022, the most recent month of data, there were about twice as many job openings as there were unemployed workers.
So even if every single unemployed worker suddenly got a job, there would still be tons of positions going begging.
One risk in a situation like this is a wage-price spiral. This occurs when companies chasing scarce workers decide to raise wages (again, usually good), but the resulting higher labor costs cause the companies to raise the prices they charge their customers. That, in turn, prompts workers – who, of course, are also consumers – to demand even bigger raises, which causes more price increases, and so on.
There has been some debate about whether we could be headed toward (or are already in) one of these dreaded spirals. There has also been debate over whether the Federal Reserve needs to act more aggressively to break or prevent such a cycle – specifically, by raising interest rates much more sharply than it already is doing.
That would have the effect of making it more expensive to borrow, which puts a damper on spending; but, historically, it has also usually led to a recession.
In April, Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell referred to to the labor market as “too hot. It’s unsustainably hot. ” He added that “It’s our job to get it to a better place where supply and demand are closer together.”
But that doesn’t mean he wants hiring or economic growth to come to a halt, obviously, or for the economy to crash. What he and other policymakers have been looking for – what could help them avoid having to raise interest rates more drastically – is sometimes called the “Goldilocks” economy: not too hot, not too cold. Just warm enough. Just right.
Powell and others have acknowledged that getting and staying on that “just right” path would be challenging. But at least based on the jobs report released on Friday, there is reason for optimism.
The report showed that job growth was strong, but a little bit slower than it was in April. Wages (at least in nominal, pre-inflation terms) are growing, but they’re not accelerating – if anything, they have slowed a touch. The report was “good but not gangbusters,” as Politico aptly put it.
Even more encouraging, more Americans who had previously been sitting on the sidelines entered the labor force in May.
This hopefully means that vacancies can get filled more quickly. Which, in turn, means companies can scale up production – whether of household appliances, construction materials, restaurant meals or anything else – to accommodate continued demand from customers.
To be sure, this is one month of data. There are still a lot of risks for the economy in the year or so ahead. These are driven by a combination of unlucky shocks (war and its resulting disruptions to energy and food markets; pandemic variants and related factory lockdowns; avian flu; drought; who knows what else) – as well as the (still unknown) ability of the central bank to nimbly calibrate its response. Raising rates just enough, but not too much.
A few more Goldilocks reports like May’s would certainly be welcome.


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Keep the Grinch Away This Holiday With FICO's Anti-Fraud Tips
Today’s post is by TJ Horan, vice president at FICO, who oversees fraud solutions and is on a mission to arm consumers with practical knowledge to protect themselves from credit card fraud.
On the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the month of December offers savvy spenders even more opportunities to scoop up great deals on their holiday shopping. With Green Monday, Free Shipping Day, and Super Saturday all happening within one week of each other, consumer spending is expected to rise to record amounts this year—especially purchases made online or via mobile. And that presents a potential issue for individuals swiping their credit cards all month long: a higher sales volume during the holiday season also means a greater risk of card-present and card-not-present (CNP) credit card fraud.
Especially this year, there are a few factors that have made credit card fraud during this period more likely, including recent high-profile data breaches that have leaked millions of cardholders’ personal information. Plus, data from FICO’s fraud detection Falcon platform found that the number of compromised credit cards at ATMs and merchants rose 39 percent in the first six months of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016 so you could even fall victim to fraud when taking cash out of the ATM!
But I’m not saying this to scare you—in fact, I have some ideas to help. If you’re out holiday shopping, expect that criminals are out to get your money and arm yourself with a few preventative actions which I’ve shared below.
FICO’s Fraud Prevention Tips
for Holiday Shoppers
Tip #1: Stay Vigilant at ATMs
If an ATM looks odd, or your card doesn’t enter the machine smoothly, consider going somewhere else for your cash. Never approach an ATM if anyone is lingering nearby, and never engage in conversations with others around an ATM.
If your plastic card is captured inside of an ATM, call your card issuer immediately to report it.
Tip #2: Monitor All of Your Purchases Closely
This should be a general practice throughout the year, not just during the holidays. You should always check your credit card transactions (using online banking and your monthly statement) to ensure that all charges are accounted for.
Tip #3: Communicate With Your Card Issuer
Ask your card issuer for a new card number if you suspect that your payment card may have been compromised. It’s important to change both your card number and your PIN whenever you experience a potential theft of your personal information.
Also, most card providers can provide alerts via text message or email to notify you if fraudulent activity is suspected on your card; be sure to enable and take advantage of these helpful communications. It’s important, too, to make sure that your card issuer has your most up-to-date address and cell phone information for every card you have, so that you can be reached if there is ever a critical situation that requires your immediate attention.
The holiday season is a time to relax and unwind with friends and family—not to worry about the risk of theft or fraud. Follow these tips for peace of mind while shopping and make the holidays special with good company and of course, the perfect gift. Happy Holidays!


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MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. chief executive officer Brian Cornell has announced several leadership changes.
Casey Carl, Target’s president of omnichannel, will take on the newly created role of chief strategy and innovation officer and will report directly to Cornell. Carl will oversee a new center of excellence in data, analytics and business intelligence, an effort that will be led by Paritosh Desai.
Target is also creating a new guest center of excellence to better understand how customers connect with the retailer through its many channels. That operation will be led by Jeff Jones, Target’s chief marketing officer, who is adding the customer experience to his responsibilities.
Jason Goldberger, who was senior vice president at Target.com and mobile, has been promoted to president of that division. Dawn Block, a Target vice president, will assume Golberger’s previous role.
Laysha Ward, Target’s president of community relations, will add global affairs and sustainability to her responsibilities under her new title of chief corporate social responsibility officer. John Hulbert has been promoted to vice president of investor relations.


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Judge OKs settlement over Subway sandwich length
NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - Subway restaurants will promise to use a measuring tool for bread to help ensure that bread sold to customers is either 6 or 12 inches long as part of a settlement of a class action suit.
The privately held firm will also do monthly inspections at restaurants to sample the baked bread to ensure it is at least 12 inches long. The sampling will include measuring at least 10 baked breads in total, and breads using both the Italian and 9-Grain Wheat loaves will be included in the sample.
The whole issue surfaced in 2013 when an Australian teen's photo of an 11" sandwich went viral.
The settlement comes after nine people, including two people in New Jersey, individually sued claiming they were being short changed. It turned into a class action lawsuit but only those nine people will get money out of the settlement... up to $1,000 apiece.
A special website has been set up to explain the settlement.


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As news of draft-802.11n and MIMO products reaches the market and wireless vendors release products designed to work with the upcoming 802.11n standards, USRobotics announced recently it is working to develop its own line of next generation wireless products. USRobotics, a Platinum Equity company, is committed to supporting its customers and has once again chosen a route to the next generation of products that will ensure interoperability and compatibility. The company is actively working to design and develop products that are expected to meet specifications of the IEEE 802.11n Draft 1.0 standard. Initial products in the family are scheduled to release during the fourth quarter of 2006.
USRobotics has a long history of working with standards bodies to develop and implement consistent technologies, both in the analog, wired, and wireless industries. As an early member of the Enhanced Wireless Consortium, USRobotics is proud of its role in the wireless standards process. After more than 30 years of developing high-performance, standards-based, and interoperable technology solutions for our customers, USRobotics will continue to maintain that history with its next generation of wireless products.
Products developed, produced, and marketed prior to the approval of the IEEE 802.11n Draft 1.0 specification are based upon technology that may not be compatible with Draft 1.0, and future, specifications for products. Initial testing of those ‘Pre-N,’ ‘MIMO,’ and ‘802.11n-compatible’ products has shown increased speed and throughput, but problems remain with legacy and neighbor networks. Even early versions of 802.11n Draft 1.0 based products have shown issues with interoperability and legacy networks. As the IEEE comes closer to complete ratification of the standards, changes can be expected for the final standard. Therefore, products developed with pre-standards technology, or even rushed to market with standards based implementations, put customers at risk of incompatibility.
USRobotics will release its 802.11n Draft 1.0-compliant products when these issues have been resolved. Customers can rest assured any products they purchase from USRobotics today will work with our next generation of wireless products and that any investment they make will continue to be a wise one when n-standard compliant products become available.


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Sri Lanka central bank chief quits as forex crisis worsens
Sri Lanka’s central bank chief resigned Friday over “political and personal issues” as a foreign exchange crisis intensified and the government imposed new import controls.
W.D. Lakshman said he will step down next Tuesday, six weeks ahead of his planned retirement at the age of 80, citing severe “mental stress” over the past 10 days.
Lakshman said he had drawn up President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s economic policy, but he was unable to implement it fully due to ideological and personal clashes.
“There have been unpleasant reports in the media in the past week to 10 days,” he told reporters.
“There are some political issues, there are some personal issues. Generally, getting things done according to my plan was not easy.”
The announcement came three days after Finance Minister Basil announced that Sri Lanka faced a “dangerous foreign exchange crisis”.
The president declared a state of emergency last week with most private banks running out of foreign currency to finance essential imports. Queues have formed outside stores on most days for sugar and rice.
The government had already banned imports of cars, some cooking oils, spices and other goods in a bid to save currency.
On Thursday, the central bank further tightened restrictions, telling banks not to provide credit to finance imports of mobile phones, consumer goods, tyres and clothing.
Sri Lanka’s coronavirus-hit economy shrank by a record 3.6 percent last year after the key tourism sector shut down.
Official figures show foreign reserves fell to $2.8 billion at the end of July. Sri Lanka has to repay about $2 billion to service its foreign debt during the rest of the year.
International rating agencies have downgraded the country’s credit status, expressing fears it could soon default.
Latest Headlines in Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka’s Agriculture Minister explores opportunities to export eggs and chicken September 23, 2023
- Stability should not come at the sacrifice of values of freedom of expression: U.S. Ambassador September 23, 2023
- Sri Lanka imports test kits to detect Nipah virus September 22, 2023
- Import tax on powdered milk increased September 22, 2023
- Sri Lanka President’s robust economic development program leads to 62.1% drop in inflation – Minister September 22, 2023


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MG Motors has announced that it will be introducing a brand-new e-commerce platform this Ramadan to help enhance its Middle East customers' purchasing experience. Accessible via the brand’s distributor’s websites, the new e-commerce platform will allow customers to select vehicles from their local distributors' stock, reserve vehicles, conduct online payments, and schedule home delivery of cars. Additionally, customers will also be able to book home test drives.
Tom Lee, Managing Director of MG Motor Middle East, said: "The automotive industry has seen a major shift in recent months and years, with buyers’ behavior and the window shopping and physical purchase of vehicles in showrooms moving to a more virtual one. According to a recent independent study across the GCC*, 6 out of 10 customers are now willing to purchase vehicles online. With the launch of our new e-commerce platform, we will be able to serve our customers from the comfort of their homes more effectively."
To enhance the virtual shopping experience, in the second phase, the website will offer a special all-around visual experience of the cars, including a full 360-degree display of the interior and exterior of any available vehicle. There will also be walkaround videos, with MG sales consultants introducing the cars. This video will highlight features, functions, competitor comparisons, and current sales offers, with all content available in a multi-language format.
Purchasing a new MG can be done by making a small down payment via the payment gateway. Customers can make payments using credit cards, debit cards, or even Samsung Pay. Once a deposit is placed on the desired car, the Customer Relationship Management from the showroom will contact the customer for all car delivery formalities.


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PARIS -- Free2Move, the mobility service business developed by PSA Group, now has the capacity to start to court outside investors, CEO Brigitte Courtehoux said.
Created as a brand in 2016, the business became a fully fledged legal entity within PSA Group last week. It offers a range of services, which include taxi rides and parking as well as long-term and short-term rentals, also known as car-sharing.
The new status grants Free2Move greater autonomy to develop its own apps and opens the way to seek new investors.
"It remains completely open," Courtehoux said in an interview. "It's one of the possibilities, but we aren't there yet."
"We're really in stage one: profitable growth and pulling it all together."
Free2Move's car-sharing service competes with companies such as French start-up Drivy; Share Now, jointly controlled by Daimler and BMW; Renault's Zity; and Europcar's Ubeeqo, in what has become an increasingly crowded and fast-evolving landscape.
It also competes with taxi app Uber and U.S. car-sharing company Zipcar. Free2Move employs 150 tech experts specializing in data, design and e-commerce.
The company's first-half revenues grew by 23 percent, Courtehoux said, in spite of the novel coronavirus outbreak that led to the suspension of its car-sharing service in Paris and Madrid.
Courtehoux declined to provide specific financial figures but Free2Move's sales remain tiny compared with the ones generated by PSA's main car brands, Peugeot, Opel and Citroen. PSA had set a goal for the service of 300 million euros in revenues by the end of 2021.
The COVID-19 crisis led Free2Move to postpone to 2021 plans to extend its car-sharing network, which also includes Washington, DC, and Lisbon, to a large European city, which it would not identify.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, with which PSA hopes to merge in the first half of 2021, has its own rental and car mobility entity, Leasys.
"We're very complementary, we have a very common vision of what we want to do in the world of mobility," Courtehoux said, without elaborating.


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Previous leaks we saw many leaks showing the first look of the new Android 12 along with some of the new features. Now XDA Developer has just got another leak that reveals the features along with the official name of the OS.
As per the source, the upcoming Google Android 12 OS will get a new name as Snow Cone. Yes, we saw the trend of naming its OS with popular deserts, and yet again Google’s upcoming Android 12 will get the name Snow Cone. The XDA revealed that there is mention of sc everywhere in the source code that confirms the popular sweet Snow Cone. Sadly, with Android 10 and above Google has stopped naming the OS instead it just calling with the version number.
The source also mentioned some of the major features of the upcoming Android 12 OS. The new Android 12 OS will finally get its dedicated Gaming mode which we missed a lot on the vanilla version of Android. The Game mode will get a feature called Game Manager service which Google service to manage game-related features. It is nothing but to control some of the system settings like auto-brightness, autorotation, toggle the Do Not Disturb mode.
Google will also introduce another feature called Reduce Bright Colors which is now called Reduce Brightness which will be available on the default quick tile. It will help users with visual impairment.
Further, there is also another feature that we really need with auto rotation. We saw on many deices unnecessary screen rotation while placing the deice on a flat place. So to overcome this issue Google is not adding some AI features to make it much smarter. Probably it could use the selfie camera to orient the display.


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OSHAWA, Ontario (AP) — The Canadian Auto Workers union says General Motors Canada plans to close its consolidated plant in Oshawa, Ontario, by June 2013.
Chris Buckley, a local union president, says GM gave the union notice Friday. The closure of the plant that produces the Chevrolet Impala and the Equinox could mean 2,000 layoffs.
GM is scaling back its overall operations in Canada as part of a North American restructuring that began two years ago under bankruptcy court protection.
In Canada, GM has already closed a truck plant in Oshawa and a transmission factory in Windsor, Ontario.
GM Canada currently employs more than 10,000 people across the country. In its heyday, the automaker had more than twice that number of employees and major operations in Oshawa, Windsor, and St. Catharines, Ontario.


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Flash Player Receives Update
After Fortinet called attention to two security flaws in Flash Player, Adobe has released an updated, fixed version. The new release will take users from the vulnerable v22.214.171.124 up to v126.96.36.199.
You can get the patch here. Adobe and Microsoft have stayed pretty well on top of things so far, but this latest alert caused Brian Krebs to go on a small rant about the lack of an auto-update feature for Flash and Shockwave. He does grant that the two companies “are to be commended for cooperating to keep customers protected from flaws that bad guys have been quick to exploit in the past.”
“Adobe has the brains and the infrastructure in place to make auto-updating a reality, and it is long overdue,” he wrote. “Heck, even Mozilla is now working to develop its own auto-updater to check and see whether users have the latest version of Flash installed.” Of course, some auto-updaters, such as the one in Windows, haven’t exactly been universally pleasing.
But Krebs points out that Adobe Reader already has an auto-updater, and cites sources that indicate Flash and Shockwave may soon be blessed with the same. We’re waiting . . . but we’re happy to be able to wait with v188.8.131.52. And as Kreb notes, this latest patch for everybody’s favorite “standard for delivering high-impact, rich Web content” (as described by Adobe) “should update Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape or Opera.”
Update: I received an e-mail in which Matt Rozen, a PR Manager at Adobe, kindly pointed out that the Flash and Shockwave “actually do have” “auto-update notification capabilities.”
“The confusion on this may be from the fact that Adobe doesn’t immediately turn it on’ the day we launch a new player,” he wrote. “This is because we typically wait to ensure everything on the download center is working and kinks are worked out before driving a high traffic load. Once we change the minimum version check to notify users who are on a version lower than the current version, users will begin to see the update notification appear on their systems. By default, this check occurs if it has been at least 30 days since the last time it checked for updates. Users can also change this setting in the Settings Manager here. Note that the auto-update notification feature is for Windows only at this time.”
I appreciate the clarification.


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It’s the 1st of April and you know that means – a handful of Mario games have been removed. Why has this happened and what is Nintendo’s reasoning? Fans are still searching for answers to these questions.
While nobody seems to really be able to provide an answer, VICE reporter Patrick Klepek investigated the whole limited release thing last year and received an insightful response from a developer who has worked with Nintendo on multiple occasions in the past.
Apparently, it’s rather “straightforward” – the video game giant is resorting to artificial scarcity because it believes it drives sales by playing on people’s “FOMO”, otherwise known as a fear of missing out:
“They have data that shows that rereleases of games tend to wither on wishlists,” said a developer who’s been involved with publishing several games on Switch, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not permitted to publicly discuss their meetings with Nintendo. “The manufactured FOMO [fear of missing out] helps them get those sales, or so they think.”
Last year, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser had a crack at explaining why Mario’s games would be removed – stating how it was a “celebration” of Mario. At the time, he also noted how it would not be a strategy widely used going forward.
“Yeah, I think I use a simple word: celebration. It just — this is a celebration of Mario’s 35th anniversary. And we wanted to celebrate in unique and different ways, and we’ve done that through games like Super Mario 3D All-Stars, or we will be doing that through future releases, such as Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.”
“And then we’ve also done it through releases such as Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros., or through Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. There are various ways that we’re celebrating Mario’s 35th. And with some of these titles, we felt it was an opportunity to release them for a limited period of time. They’ve done very, very well. Super Mario 3D All-Stars has sold over 2.6 million units in the U.S. alone. And so clearly, consumers have been able to jump in and enjoy that. And it’s not strategy that we’re going to be using widely, but it’s one we thought was very unique for the actual anniversary.”
So, what do you think about the idea of Nintendo using limited-time releases to drive sales? How would you feel about similar offerings in the future? Share your thoughts down below.


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I’m not naive enough to believe that social issues such as the destruction of marriage and people not getting married are going to lead to upheaval issues within Western civilization. What is more likely is that technology will cause this. Self driving vehicles, especially trucks, which make up the backbone of the economy will cause significant upheaval. Reproductive technology may also go that route as well with potential male birth control.
The next 10 years we will see even more significant changes than with the previous 10 years. In approximately the previous 10 years, we saw the introduction of Google’s massive expansion (IPO 2004), Facebook (2004), Youtube (2005), social media, and phone technology. Even Apple’s growth into the world’s largest company by far started approximately right after 2008. In fact, Apple is now larger combined than the world’s largest conglomerate (General Electric), Retailer (Walmart), Auto (General Motors) and food seller (McDonald’s).
In terms of a world government, the globalization effect of multinational companies inches toward that. The “power” is where the “money” is because of lobbying and bribes.
It will be interesting to see what effect this has on the economy and by extension social and religious issues.


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Every Internet user must be aware of the dangers of phishing attacks. These types of scams are escalating.
Facebook has recently taken action to help combat the growing problem of phishing. They filed a $2 million lawsuit against a number of fraudulent websites, as well as some domain hosts that gave them the opportunity to exploit their victims.
The lawsuit alleges that the domain hosts were either intentionally or unintentionally complicit in the scams. They are suing for a trademark infringement, because some of the fraudulent domains used terms including the word “Facebook.” These websites claimed to part of the Facebook brand and were asking users to update or download Facebook apps in an attempt to steal their information.…Continue reading


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Mar 21, 2017 - Each quarter, there is a week of earnings activity from a number of companies that report fiscal results off the beaten path.
Mar 21, 2017 - General Mills, Inc. (GIS) surpassed expectations. Our consensus earnings estimate called for EPS of 71 cents per share, and the company reported third quarter fiscal 2017 adjusted EPS of 72 cents.
Mar 20, 2017 - General Mills Inc. (GIS) is set to report third-quarter fiscal 2017 results on Mar 21, before the market opens. Let's see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Mar 17, 2017 - Previewing the Q1 Earnings Season
Mar 13, 2017 - Hershey's (HSY) productivity improvement and cost-saving initiatives should drive the stock's performance in the upcoming quarters.
Mar 02, 2017 - General Mills, Inc.'s (GIS) investment partner and venture unit -- 301 Inc. -- has teamed up with Chicago-based 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners for an investment in D's Naturals.
Aug 12, 2016 - Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (EL) is set to report fourth-quarter and fiscal 2016 results on Aug 19, before the opening bell.
Aug 07, 2016 - EndoChoice Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GI) Q2 2016 Earnings Conference Call August 03, 2016 09:00 AM ET Executive Zack Kubow - The Ruth Group Mark Gilreath - Founder and CEO David Gill - President and CFO An
Aug 05, 2016 - The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) posted mixed second-quarter 2016 results wherein earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate while revenues missed the same.
Aug 04, 2016 - Zacks.com featured highlights: Macy's, General Mills, Zoetis, Boston Scientific and Citrix Systems


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The breathless news release from OutdoorPartner Media describes a nameless client that is spending $1 million on an outdoor campaign using "payphone kiosks," which I assume is a synonm for phone booths.
That's not news. Nor is the fact that "OutdoorPartner is particularly well-positioned to capitalize on the migration of media dollars to out-of-home media properties due to a combination of the Company's: vast network of advertising displays; micro-targeting capabilities; and ability to deliver branded, multimedia content to consumers using Prime Point's Bluetooth product."
Here's the real news item: There are hundreds of thousands of phone booths still in use in North America! I don't know if anyone make phone calls in them, but they're certainly useful as "alternative out-of-home media solutions for advertisers."
Disclosure: God, now I have to write disclaimers about advertisers. The timing of this piece is awkward, since it's based on a news release handled by CNW Group, who just started advertising on this blog yesterday. But I don't believe in penalizing advertisers any more than I believe in fawning all over them, so instead of spiking this item, I'll just note the potential conflict of interest and run it anyway. I've been subscribed to CNW's news release distribution service on and off for three years.


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Expatriates considering relocating overseas to Europe could be at a financial advantage in the next few months due to the strengthening of the pound, Post Office Travel Services has suggested.
Head of travel services Sarah Munro said destinations that can be reached by ferry rather than by air will be popular this summer, especially with British travellers.
But she warned potential expatriates to "do as much research as possible before travelling, looking at exchange rate movements and taking into account destinations where living costs are lower".
It comes as a survey by sunshine.co.uk found almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of consumers get confused by foreign currency, with 12 per cent believing the money used in Spain is still the peseta and 30 per cent thinking the French still use francs.
"One of the main reasons consumers are confused over currency is because they are often unsure which countries belong to the eurozone and which do not," Ms Munro suggested.
Moving abroad? Get a free quote for your international medical insurance online.


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CHARLOTTE, N.C., and JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Alimentation Couche-Tard and Millat Convenience announced a deal that will bring Circle K to South Africa. Millat, which has been granted an exclusive license to develop franchised Circle K stores in South Africa, expects to open the first location in the Gauteng province in late October.
Millat Group is a privately owned, multinational family business that has built a broad portfolio of assets within the tourism and hospitality sector. Hamza Farooqui, CEO of Millat Group, said his company has worked extensively over the past year to lay the foundation for Circle K’s introduction to the South Africa market.
“Bringing Circle K to South Africa aligns with our concept of introducing customer-centric brands, experiences and compelling food service offerings. This further speaks to our strategy to play within the leisure, hospitality, foodservice and convenience segments,” said Farooqui. “As a brand, Circle K is an acknowledged leader in the convenience retail sector, and this deal will allow for disruption in this space as we are a company with extensive expertise in every facet of convenience and retail.”
Outside the U.S. and Canada, Couche-Tard has about 1,900 franchise Circle K locations in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.
“We are always exploring opportunities to bring Circle K to new customers with franchise partners who understand how to build brands in their markets,” said Pat Fitzpatrick, vice president of global franchise for Circle K. “Millat Group understands the South African consumer, has a strong track record of building retail, hospitality and food service brands in that country and has exciting plans for the Circle K brand. We are very pleased to be working with them to bring to life our mission to make our customers’ lives a little easier every day.”
In North America, Circle K is focused on growing its fresh foodservice offers, leveraging its investments in a ghost kitchen and restaurant hub technology company and rolling out smart checkouts in its convenience stores.


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It’s especially shocking how Wal-Mart _forces_ customers, at the point of a gun and backed by US law, to shop at their stores. Or perhaps the authors’ point is how the poor, stupid benighted bastards who shop there are just too damn dumb to know that shopping for the best prices, being able to own things they would be unable to afford elsewhere, improving their quality of life by buying the best goods at the cheapest price, all these things are wrong and evil, mostly because union officials don’t get their cut. And when union officials don’t get their cut, the democrat party suffers, because then union officials can’t siphon union dues off to democrat party coffers. Everyone should just cut out the middleman and give all the money they would spend at Wal-Mart, or anywhere else, to the democrat party (something the democrats are constantly attempting to codify). Then, with all money in democrat hands, they can redistribute it according to their fair and equitable political patronage system, much as they did with the so-called “Recovery Act” funds.
Walmart upsets limousine liberal


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Lawyer and former gymnast Rachael Denhollander has been selected as Sports Illustrated‘s Inspiration of the Year.
Denhollander was the first woman to publicly accuse former Michigan State and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of sexual assault.
Denhollander filed a federal lawsuit against Nassar at the U.S. District Court for the Western District fo Michigan. Two-hundered and fifty-one other former gymnasts, along with 23 husbands of gymnasts, also brought up claims consolidated into her suit.
Following Denhollander’s lead, more than 300 women in total have said they were sexually assaulted by Nassar.
Denhollander was the last to confront Nassar during his hearing for criminal sexual misconduct and delivered a powerful rebuke of the serial predator.
You might just need to walk into a Walmart to experience a Christmas miracle.
In recent weeks, anonymous good Samaritans have paid off all layaway items in four Walmart stores in different parts of the country — a total of more than $130,000.
Julie Gates got an unusual surprise in early November when she walked into a Walmart in Derby, Vermont. A man waiting at the register offered to pay for everything she had bought and had on layaway — and did the same thing for most customers in the store.
This mystery man, who called himself “Santa,” was apparently the first in a string of similar random acts of kindness in Walmarts across the United States. Since then, Walmart customers at stores in New York, Colorado and Pennsylvania discovered that their bills were taken care of and their layaway items had been paid for.
All the mysterious Santas have chosen to remain anonymous — and each has been generous in their acts of kindness.
A Walmart spokesman confirmed to CNN that an anonymous donor paid for $57,000 in layaway items at a Uniondale, New York, store while another spent $44,000 in a Longmont, Colorado, store and a third shelled out $29,000 at a Walmart in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Secret Santas have visited Walmart in seasons past, too. In 2016, a Santa paid for almost $50,000 in layaway items at a store in Everett, Pennsylvania.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Here’s one way to get out of speeding ticket: A North Carolina state trooper helped deliver a baby on the side of the road after pulling over a speeding van on the highway.
WRAL-TV reports that State Highway Patrol Sgt. Brian Maynard pulled over a van going 85 mph (135 kph) late Saturday.
The couple in the van, Jimmy and Laura Baker, were headed to the hospital so she could give birth, but the baby had other plans and started coming before they could get there.
Maynard helped deliver the baby at roadside, calling the experience both “scary” and “rewarding.”
Baby Halyn was later taken to a hospital. Jimmy Baker says his wife and their newborn are both doing well.
David Moore’s excellent list of Books of the Year, many of which were interviews on this blog.
WASHINGTON — New York City’s 40,000-member Christian Cultural Center is planning to build a $1.2 billion affordable housing development project on its 10.5-acre campus in Brooklyn, pastor A.R. Bernard said Thursday.
Speaking to Christian leaders from over 45 countries at the 100 Cities Summit hosted by Movement Day at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., Bernard told the crowd that the Christian Cultural Center will partner with various government and private entities to build a community of 2,100 mixed-income housing units.
The community, which Bernard expects to be finished within the next seven to 10 years, will also include an education center, retail space, and a performing arts center.
“We are a 50/50 partner with the developer — not land that [the church] sold or gave up,” Bernard explained. “In New York, it is not just land but air rights that is worth millions of dollars. We are in it together to reap all that comes out of that development and to address gentrification issues that are happening in the communities there in New York City.”
Bernard elaborated on the project in an interview with The Christian Post.
“In cities like New York, there is gentrification taking place. Gentrification could be racial, it could be economic. For us it is economic. Individuals who are working class or in a certain income range are being squeezed out,” he stressed. “We wanted to respond by creating affordable housing. We didn’t want to do what has typically been done over the last 70, 80 years in America and that is warehousing people with one income, which perpetuates poverty and perpetuates inner city condition.”
“What we want to do is create a community and a model that is sustainable,” he added. “It is creating community and we want to do it in such a way that is sustainable long-term and a model that we can replicate in other cities across the country.”
A mini-runway, lined with stiletto heels, glistens in bright fluorescent lighting. Shoes of various types sit neatly in individual glass shelves. A statue of an angel carrying several shopping bags stands in the middle as Los Angeles fashionistas mill about, trying on shoes, posing on the red carpet, drinking champagne served in tall, slender glasses.
It was a private launch party of a new luxury brand of shoes called Palessi, designed by Italian designer Bruno Palessi.
“I would pay $400, $500. People are going to be like, ‘Where did you get those? Those are amazing,’ ” a woman said as she tried on a pair of bright-gold sneakers with leopard prints.
The woman was not actually buying a Palessi because there’s no such brand, and there’s no Bruno Palessi.
There is, however, Payless ShoeSource, a discount shoe retailer hoping to shake things up through an elaborate — and expensive — advertising prank to attract new customers and change the perception that the company sells cheap, unfashionable shoes.
“We felt like this campaign would be a great way to get a lot of people to consider Payless again, and to realize it’s more than just a shoe store in the mall,” said Sarah Couch, Payless’s chief marketing officer.
Tinseled trees and snowy landscapes are not the only signs of the upcoming holiday season. Red kettles, staffed by men and women in street clothes, Santa suits and Salvation Army uniforms also telegraph Christmastime.
The Army is among America’s top-grossing charities. In 2015, its 25,000 bell-ringers helped raise an all-time high of US$149.6 million. That was part of the year’s almost $3 billion revenue from bequests, grants, sales, in-kind donations and investments as well as direct contributions.
William Booth, an English evangelist, founded the Salvation Army in 1878 as a religious outreach to London’s poor. How a British evangelical church became an American icon is an ongoing interest of mine.
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont woman whose family peacock ran off with a flock of turkeys says she’s hopeful to get close enough to catch it with a net.
The peacock belonging to Rene and Brian Johnson has been on the run for six weeks.
On Wednesday, the Johnsons posted a message on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Facebook page: “My peacock has run off with the turkeys. Do you have any suggestions on how to catch the little twerp?”
Rene Johnson told WCAX-TV she thinks the bird she calls Pea was lonely so it sought turkey companions.
LAKE PRESTON, Australia (AP) — Knickers the steer is huge on the internet — for being huge.
The black-and-white Holstein Friesian won social media fame and many proclamations of “Holy Cow!” after photos surfaced of the 194-centimeter (6-foot-4-inch) steer standing head and shoulders above a herd of brown wagyu cattle in Western Australia state.
Owner Geoff Pearson said Knickers was too heavy to go to the slaughterhouse.


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Free hot chocolate and mulled wine for $8 per cup will be served at Rosemary’s, 18 Greenwich Avenue (West 10th Street), in Greenwich Village, on Friday beginning at 7 p.m. during a tree-lighting and caroling party.
Gingerbread houses modeled after various landmarks around the world will be on display in the atrium of Le Parker Meridien New York, 119 West 56th Street (between Sixth and Seventh Avenues), in Midtown, from Saturday to Jan. 3. Visitors can buy a $1 ticket to benefit City Harvest and vote on their favorite. Also, proceeds from the sale of gingerbread hot chocolate at Knave, the hotel’s espresso bar, will be donated to City Harvest.
One dollar will be donated to the Hurricane Sandy relief fund set up by The Daily News for every Hurricane Shandy cocktail sold through December at Aska, 90 Wythe Avenue (North 11th Street), in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Seventy-five breweries will pour about 150 American winter craft beers for tastings on Saturday from 12:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Basketball City, Pier 36 at South Street and Montgomery Street. Those attending are requested to bring a Christmas gift for children in Breezy Point, Queens, affected by the hurricane. There will be two sessions, with general admission from 1:30 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m., $55 in advance or $65 at the door. V.I.P. tickets for admission one hour early are $75 in advance, $85 at the door or, for access to a special lounge, $125 and $135.
The winemaker Fanny Sabre will co-host a four-course dinner with wine pairings at Rouge Tomate, 10 East 60th Street (between Fifth and Madison Avenues), on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The wines, which Ms. Sabre produces with natural-farming techniques, are usually unavailable in the United States. Tickets are $175 per person, and reservations can be made by e-mailing email@example.com or calling (646) 237-8977.
A tasting of products from local food entrepreneurs will take place on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. at Jimmy’s No. 43, 43 East Seventh Street (Second Avenue), in the East Village. Tickets are $11.34 for members of Slow Food, which is organizing the event with the nonprofit organizations Fare Trade and Food Artisans, and $16.52 for others. Tickets at the door are $15.
A silent and live auction of old and rare whiskeys, like Balvenie and Cragganmore, at Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street (East Fourth Street), on Sunday from 4 to 6 p.m., will raise money for the Tunnel to Towers Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund. There will be whiskeys available for tasting and live jazz. Tickets are $25 per person.
Cobble Hill’s PS90, 425 Henry Street (between Kane and Baltic Streets), throws its annual fund-raiser on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a gift fair, baking contest and a wide selection of pies, which can be sampled by buying $5 tasting tickets.
L’Apicio, 13 East First Street (between Bowery and Second Avenue), a new Italian restaurant in the East Village from the team behind dell’anima, L’Artusi and Anfora, begins brunch service this weekend. Angolo SoHo, 331 West Broadway (Grand Street), is also starting an Italian-themed brunch on Saturday and Sunday.