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When you enter your financial information into a website, do you ever stop to think about how safe it is? If you don’t, you should. Rates of cybercrime attempt and financial fraud have skyrocketed this year during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s important to be aware of these things, because if you haven’t been hit with an attempt to steal your information, you may soon.
Travis Ledbetter from Arvest Bank has a few tips to keep your information safe.
Here are some recent scams Ledbetter says has been going around:
1. "Phishing is always something to watch out for. Scammers will use email or text to trick you into giving them your sensitive information by directing you to click a link. The page they send you to could look exactly like your bank’s website, but may have a few minor differences."
2. "Lately, there have been text messages from random numbers going out claiming to have found a UPS, FedEx or Amazon package, and asking you to click a link to claim it. This is a phishing scam."
3. "Hackers are constantly performing breeches on businesses who store a lot of consumer information. Make sure that when you buy something online the website is secure. You’ll see a padlock icon by the website’s URL if the page is secure."
4. "If you are connected to public Wi-Fi, cybercriminals can use the connection to break into your network and steal your information. Be sure to ONLY connect to WIFI networks that you know are secure."
Here are some ways to help protect our financial information:
1. Never submit your financial information or social security number on any suspicious looking website. Make sure a website is secure before entering in your information – remember to look for that padlock icon.
2. Be mindful of calls from random numbers claiming to be your cell phone provider, mortgage company, car warranty provider, or internet provider.
3. Stay up-to-date on the most common cybercrimes happening right now.
Coronavirus and election-related scams are prevalent right now. Never click on a link sent to you by an unknown number or email address.


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He told a media briefing in Colombo yesterday that he would invite a scholarly debate if anyone in the opposition would like to prove otherwise.
Meanwhile, State Minister Janaka Wakkumbura stated that a package of spices with a market value of Rs. 1350 containing high quality local spices will be sold at a concessionary price of Rs. 800.
This local spice package will be available at a discounted price from the CWE outlets in the coming weeks.

domain: news


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The supply chain that America is dependent on is going through a crisis. Thus, induced shortages mean only one thing; high prices and high inflation.
These shortages are disrupting their operations, forcing them to raise the prices. Whirlpool and Albertsons complain about the shortage of the basic products and materials.
It is increasing the cost of manufacturing for the former, while for later running their store has increasingly become a gamble.
Even restaurants are facing a shortage of ingredients and supplies. There is pressure on every link of the supply chain.
Starting from factory closures due to Covid-19 restrictions, to finding loaders, this is a universal threat spread throughout every part of the chain.
This heightens the questions concerning the danger that inflation possesses to vigorous consumer spending and recovering corporate income. Jet fuels, resins and electric components are also facing scarcity and higher prices.
Last Wednesday’s Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, reported the narrowed supply chain and labour shortages had slowed economic growth in the US.
What makes inflation and supply shortages worse, is that it is coupled with high demands for goods and raw materials from both consumers and corporates alike. Overwhelmed ports, trucker shortages and record low warehouse vacancy rates add fuel to this fire.
Companies are suffering unpredictable delays, in the delivery of the products produced in a hectic schedule.
With the crisis in the chain, they are finding it hard to get supplies at pre-Covid rates. They are trying to offset it by raising the prices or finding alternatives.
P&G’s chief financial officer said that it would increase the prices of nine of its 10 categories of products in the US after it warned that the supply chain costs would be higher than anticipated. So would PepsiCo and Tesla.
Even though the executives expect this condition to extend till 2022, but have apprehension about raising the prices as they are not sure about how long this inflation may last.
They fear such a trend will affect the consuming power of a US consumer.
The companies are aware of this fact but they are helpless in preventing price rise, as the supply shortages and port congestion continue. To ease port congestion air cargo has increased.
This is the condition in the US, and is not much different in other countries.
In China, the supply chain disruptions are causing scarcity both domestically and internationally, severely affecting the automobile industry. In India, it almost disrupted the Navratri market and gave a near fatal strike at the market.
All of these economies are hoping to recover from the pandemic and restore the economy to full scale by 2022.


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If you were holding your breath for news of Mario Kart 9, you might as well exhale. The racer’s immediate predecessor, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, is still one of publisher Nintendo’s best-selling games on Switch. It has sold a hair short of 10 million copies over the past year, according to an earnings statement published today.
Just to reiterate: 2017’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a moderately spruced-up version of a game that launched alongside the printing press, is still putting up numbers that come within spitting distance of Pokémon, a perennial sales blockbuster. In fact, for Nintendo’s fiscal year 2022, which ran from last April through the end of this March, Pokémon is the only series whose games outsold Kart.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a spin-off from the mainline series that came out in January, sold 12.6 million copies. November’s Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes, meanwhile, sold a staggering 14.6 million copies. (It’s worth noting, however, that some Pokémon fans tend to buy both versions to more easily trade for version-exclusive Pokémon.) Mario Party Superstars, another Nintendo nostalgia cash-in, sold close to 7 million copies, while pandemic time-sink Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold roughly 6 million.
Nintendo has demonstrated an impressive ability to squeeze blood from the Mario Kart 8 stone. During a February Nintendo Direct, amid a fever-pitch rumor mill that suggested Mario Kart 9 may or may not be in the works, Nintendo revealed the game’s Booster Course Pack, a wave of new downloadable content for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The pack didn’t include anything totally new, mind you: It was a collection of 48 reimagined maps from Mario Karts past, partitioned into bundles, where a handful would come out every few months.
Fans said these versions of the maps are a graphical downgrade compared to even, oh, Mario Kart Tour, a mobile spin-off. Subscribers to Nintendo Switch Online’s premium tier can access the not-quite-new courses as soon as they’re released. Otherwise, the Booster Course Pack is available separately for $25. The last batch of maps is planned for release before the end of next year.
Yeah, we’re never getting Mario Kart 9.


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Love them or hate them, everyone and their mother has an opinion about the newly proposed Alberta license plate designs. Last week three new choices for the future design of Alberta’s license plates were released to the public in an online vote along with the announcement that the new plates will feature a new reflective coating.
With the FIFA World Cup 2014 kicking off in Brazil on June 12th we knew we absolutely had to host our very own Pure Vision Foosball World Cup!
Here’s the scoop: we’ve recently been blessed with 11.4 litres of vanilla ice cream and 11.4 litres of chocolate ice cream from our pals at the Ice Cream Depot. All is fun and games until you’ve had one too many Ice Cream Fridays of just vanilla and chocolate. Even if you don’t have as much ice cream as we do, you could probably add a little flavour to your plain ol’ ice cream. Let’s take a look at some ways to jazz it up:


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We can see this in the work of Ronald Coase. Who pointed out that firms are inherently inefficient, in that they've got fixed costs and so on. So, why do they exist? Because, dependent upon the time, ... Read More
When canvassed for evidence to support this, SALT told me at Forbes it had a “waiting list of borrowers” who want to use their loans service. According to conversations with these borrowers the p... Read More
Pantera Capital to Raise $100 Million in Investment for ICO Hedge Fund
The $600m market for initial coin offerings may soon be set to expand.
Announced today, investment firm Pantera Capital is launching a new hedge fund focused on investments solely in tokens that po
World Economic Forum Blockchain White Paper Gets Warm Reception
The World Economic Forum (WEF) today published a dedicated Blockchain report detailing how the technology will flow into the global economy. Described as a white paper, Realizing the Potential of
Burger King in Russia Will Enable Bitcoin Payments Later This Year
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The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has cited the advance of technologies like blockchain in a request to obtain additional funding for its oversight activities.
Testimony from acting CFTC


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The United States imposed an additional 25% tariff on imported Chinese solar cells and modules last week in America’s steadily escalating trade war with one of the world’s most dominant economies and international powers.
US President Donald Trump and his Administration have been waging an escalating trade war against China over the past few months, but it was only last week that the trade war expanded to threaten the US solar industry, when US Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer increased the number of product lines subject to a 25% tariff on imported Chinese products. The newly-imposed tariffs will impact $50 billion worth of Chinese products, including solar cells and modules.
This 25% tariff is in addition to the 30% tariff that Donald Trump imposed on all imported solar cells and modules in January of this year.
The list of products subject to the new 25% import tariff is extensive (PDF) and, unsurprisingly, China is not responding well. China’s Ministry of Commerce quickly retaliated, announcing it would impose its own trade barriers of the “same scale and strength” — in a move likely to target agricultural goods, cars, and energy.
There are obviously huge implications behind the move, one that extends well beyond each country’s respective clean technology industries. That being said, it is unclear just now exactly how this new move will impact the US solar industry, considering that, according to the Energy Trade Action Coalition in January, China only made up 11% of solar cells and modules imported into the United States. Rather, it was Malaysia with 31% that ate up the lion’s share, followed by Kore with 21% and Vietnam with 14%.
As such, this new tariff will likely be much less impactful than the 30% tariff the US imposed on all imported solar cells and modules — a move which has already cost the industry $2.5 billion in cancelled projects and the likely loss of thousands of jobs across the country.
Another thing to take into account is one of the immediate impacts the 30% import tariff has had on the solar industry, with several big-name solar manufacturers announcing new factories based in the United States — representing either necessary and opportunistic expansions, or overseas-based companies attempting to circumvent the import tariff by creating local manufacturing facilities. Specifically, and in short order, China’s JinkoSolar announced in early April that it would open a US manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Florida; US-based First Solar announced it would open a new solar manufacturing plant in Perrysburg, Ohio; and Korean solar PV manufacturer Hanwha Q CELLS announced it was building a PV module manufacturing plant in Georgia.
First Solar declined to comment on whether the move will have an impact on its business, but Hanwha Q CELLS explained it will barely be affected, considering that its fully assembled modules imported into the US come from Malaysia or South Korea, and thus are only affected by the Section 201 trade barriers. Hanwha Q CELLS Chinese factory does not serve the US market, and solar cells for the company’s Georgia facility will similarly come from its South Korea or Malaysia factories. JinkoSolar did not reply for comment.
The situation as it applies to Hanwha Q CELLS is relatively applicable across the board, however, according to Xiaoting Wang, solar analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF):
“Currently, PV cells and modules originating in China are subject to two sets of tariffs: antidumping and countervailing duties that originally started in 2012 and experienced some amendments since then, and 30% tariffs under Section 201 commencing in February 2018.
“The total value of the two sets of tariffs is greater than 50% even for individual manufactures with the lightest penalty. Therefore, Chinese module firms are shipping products to the U.S. from their factories in Southeast Asia, which are still subject to the Section 201 tariffs but exempt from the duties on products made in China. The potential additive tariffs proposed in Section 301 would make the already abandoned sourcing channel even less feasible, but not affect the existing shipment process.”
There is also the possibility that the filing includes an exception for solar PV cells and modules from this particular trade barrier, given the somewhat ambiguous nature of the filing.
Appreciate CleanTechnica’s originality? Consider becoming a CleanTechnica Member, Supporter, Technician, or Ambassador — or a patron on Patreon.


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The American are Eating More and More, Aren't Realizing How Much Portion Size / Serving Size have Grown
A slice of pizza once in a while won't do you any harm, but if pizza (or any fast food) is all you eat, that can lead to problems. The most obvious health threat of eating too much fast food is weight gain - or even obesity. Teens are more at risk than ever of developing type 2 diabetes, a disease that's linked to overweight and used to affect only adults. But weight gain isn't the only problem. Too much fast food can drag a person's body down in other ways. Because the food we eat affects all aspects of how the body functions, eating the right (or wrong) foods can influence any number of things, including:
- mental functioning
- emotional well-being
- future health
Are you eating a variety of healthy foods, exercising and still struggling with your weight? You may need to pay closer attention to portion control — managing the amount of food that you eat — as your total calorie intake determines your weight.
A serving isn't what you happen to put on your plate. It's a specific amount of food defined by common measurements, such as cups, ounces or pieces. The serving sizes represented here are part of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid — a food pyramid designed to promote weight loss and long-term health. Use these serving sizes in conjunction with a diet based on a variety of healthy foods. Add the right amount of regular physical activity, and you're well on your way to enjoying good nutrition and controlling your weight.
Along with the American waistline, the American plate and portion size have grown too. A study at Rutgers University supports earlier research that people today eat bigger servings than they did 20 years ago.
Are you looking at the Nutrition Facts on food labels in the supermarket ?
b.% given are based on 2,000 calorie diet
e.Total fat and saturated fat
"People aren't realizing how much they are eating," said Jaime Schwartz, a registered dietitian and one of the authors of the study. "The larger portion size they're eating — even if it's a healthy food — is still more calories."
The research, done in 2003 and described in a recent issue of the American Dietetic Association, replicated a 1984 Penn State University study.
Both studies asked students to take food portions of various items. Diners were offered three sizes of plates, bowls and cups in a buffet-like setting. There were 177 students in the more recent study at Rutgers and 147 students in the 1984 Penn State study.
In a comparison of breakfast servings, the students in 2003 took 20 percent more cornflakes than students took in 1984, Schwartz said. Ditto for milk.
The glass of orange juice grew by more than 40 percent compared to 20 years ago. That translates into 50 additional calories, or a weight gain of five pounds over the course of a year, if consumed on a daily basis. Dinner and lunch servings grew, too — 50 percent more fruit salad wound up on the plates of the Rutgers students.
"People are eating with their eyes and not their stomachs," Schwartz said. "They're not listening to their bodies to tell them when to put the fork down."
Helen Guthrie did the original Penn State study when she couldn't get accurate self-reported data on how much food people ate because they wrongly estimated portions. That's when she set out to see if diners could visualize portion size.
Most people still lack that skill, but the portion size is getting larger, said Guthrie, a professor emeritus now living in Florida.
"The frame of reference for the serving size is increasing," she said. "They still don't have an ability to translate to amounts that are easily quantifiable if you ask people how much they've eaten. That has not changed."
Other studies have shown that people eat more when they are served more. Schwartz believes larger portions at restaurants and larger plate size and packaging all play a role.
Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, a professor of nutrition at Rutgers and a co-author of the study, said portion size is only one factor feeding the national problem of obesity.
However, people may not realize that they are eating more when they take larger plates and bowls.
"Plate size, bowl size, cup size are very deceptive," she said. "They can't estimate the amount of food in a dish and it makes it even more difficult when the dish is deeper or bigger."
A 1994 informal survey found that the standard plate size in the restaurant industry grew in the early 1990s, from 10 inches to 12.
"That holds 25 percent more food," Schwartz said. "That really makes a difference in how much our plates can hold and how much we eat from them."
Obesity expert Barry Popkin at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said the idea of "value pricing" in fast food restaurants, which sells much larger portions for a minor cost increase, has also changed perceptions at home.
"The most surprising result is the larger portion size increases for food consumed at home — a shift that indicates marked changes in eating behavior in general," he wrote in a study published in 2003.
A food diary is a record of the food you eat each day. It can help you and your health care provider check your diet. The diary can show which foods you eat, how many servings of the different food groups are in your daily diet, your eating patterns, and how much nutrition you are getting. From the diary you can also learn how many calories you eat every day.
Your provider or dietitian will ask you to keep the food record 2 to 3 days, often at least 1 work day and 1 weekend day.


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Smart homes of the future may just as readily respond to instructions sent by text, as the voice-powered interfaces that dominate the early entrants to the market for the Internet of Things in the home. Amazon, Google and Apple all have technologies largely relying on speech recognition, but as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg discovered after … Continue reading Solving the User Interface problems associated with Smart Home technology
Adam Hartung, one of the leading global management consultants, states that for success in the new economy, every company must become a tech company. In analyzing the astonishing rise of the share price of Apple, he says that traditionally valued assets (land, buildings, equipment) matter less than information, knowledge and effective solutions:Unless we look at … Continue reading To succeed in the new economy, every company must become a Tech company
Note: This was originally published on October 25, 2010. Amazon develops products and service offerings that are focused on meeting needs of their customers. They do this by taking a backwards approach to product development that starts with a mock-up of a press release announcing the product's benefits. In this way, stakeholders (and potential clients) … Continue reading How to Deliver Exceptional Results: Work Backwards
On Wedenesday, September 28, Amazon announced a new tablet - the 7-inch Kindle Fire. Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, put on his best Steve Job's impersonation for the announcement, which also included updates to the entire Kindle line. The most amazing detail of the Kindle Fire has to be the price: $199. Will this replace the … Continue reading Why the new Amazon Kindle Fire isn’t ideal for construction inspections
A new feature for Amazon's Kindle platform allows readers to directly interact with authors. Amazon calls the feature, @author and has registered the corresponding Twitter account. Sixteen authors (including Tim Ferriss) have already agreed to participate in the new service. Check out the Kindle Daily post for more info.


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Amazon.com Inc.
Amazon shares were off 21.8% to $26.26. Investors punished the stock in the wake of Amazon reporting second-quarter profit fell 58% because of increasing competition.
Analysts began cutting price targets for the stock. Prudential lowered its target to $25 from $30, Goldman Sachs cut to $30 from $34, and Friedman Billings Ramsey changed its outlook to $29 from $35.
Amazon said net income fell to $22 million, or 5 cents a share, from $52 million, or 12 cents, in the year-earlier period. The year-ago numbers didn't include option expenses.
Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson First call were expecting earnings of 7 cents a share, on average.
Amazon's bad news cast a pall over most of the Internet sector Wednesday. Shares of Google Inc.
Jobs board Monster Worldwide Inc.,
But a disappointing outlook later in the day by staffing firm Robert Half International pushed Monster and others like it into the red. Monster finished the day down 5.4% to $36.26 a share.
Internet content delivery specialist Akamai was also down for the day, falling 6.2% to $30. The firm's expected to announce its latest financials following the close of trading Wednesday.
Some companies did manage to avoid the Amazon-induced vortex.
The lone bright spot among Internet bellwethers was Yahoo Inc. YHOO, which finished the day up .5% to $27.08.
Investors are likely still bottom-feeding on the stock, which lost a fifth of its value last week when it reported disappointing earnings, and postponed by three months a key advertising upgrade.
Also, business procurement software provider Ariba Inc. ARBA ended the day up by 11.6% to $7.88. The day before, Ariba reported narrowing its loss to $31.5 million in its third quarter.


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Milbank health oil business expanding
MILBANK - A block or so off the north end of Main Street here lies an old concrete building that has been home to a number of businesses over the years.
Known now as the Flannery Building from a fresh meat company that once occupied it, the structure reflects a piece of Milbank's history. But what is happening inside today is more future than past.
Coming full circle - in more ways than one - Cal Stengel returned to his hometown a few years ago after spending time working in the Pacific Northwest.
Coming from a family known for years in the Milbank area for their conventional and organic seed business, Stengel took a West Coast idea and brought it back to its roots in the Midwest.
"In 1998 I visited with a friend in Washington who worked where they pressed flax seed and processed the oil," Stengel said recently.
Stengel took a job with the company coordinating shipments of the seed to the plant and then moving the oil to markets around the country. Flax seed oil has become popular in recent years as people become more aware of the health benefits of oils that contain omega 3s.
The oils have been touted as providing essential fatty acids that the body cannot produce on its own, but are significant to better heart health and also in fending off a variety of illnesses, from cancers to heart disease.
While he was in the Northwest, it became apparent to Stengel there was a better way of doing the oil seed business.
"They were shipping the seed from the Dakotas for pressing and then shipping the oil around the country," he said. "I thought why put all those miles on trucking the seed and putting extra cost on to begin with?"
The 49-year-old took what he learned in Washington and brought it to South Dakota. His brother Doug now runs the family seed business and owns the Flannery Building, which he uses for seed storage..
Cal Stengel moved back to Milbank and bought a single seed press, rented space from Doug and began Stengel Oils, pressing flax seed, some sunflower and even almonds for oil.
With that one press, there were some struggles early as Stengel worked to establish the business. But now, he has six presses with five running 24 hours a day, seven days a week and two young men working for him.
Most of the business of Stengel Oils to this point has been in bulk, sending the flax seed oil in 55-gallon drums to companies who manufacture it into capsules for retail sale.
But recently, Stengel took the business another step and began bottling some of his own oil for retail. It's still in the experimental stage, but with a new Web site in the offing and some local stores carrying the product, he is hopeful the new venture will add another viable product to the business.
"It's brand new coming into the community," Stengel said. "People are buying a lot of (oil) capsules, but the liquid is new."
Stengel has been selling the bulk oil in 22 states and into Canada and hopes to see that success continue with the bottled version. He said he doesn't want to get into direct retail sales himself, but is relying mainly on Internet sales to drive the new product.
Stengel said the going rate for flax seed oil is about $1 an ounce. But because he is near the seed sources in the Dakotas and Manitoba, he is able to reduce that cost significantly.
Right now, he can produce five 55-gallon drums of oil each day. If the individual bottle business catches on, he will set up a full-time bottling line and envisions hiring as many as 10 to 15 people to run the operation.
Along with selling the oil, the pressing process also produces a meal from the seed which can be used as animal feed. He ships all the meal produced to a single buyer in California.
As he works his way through the permitting process and begins to develop more sales, Stengel looks at the new business as providing him not with just a living, but also another opportunity.
"It was an opportunity to come back home," he said.


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Government advice: 'Food miles are good'
The Government will today dismiss fears over 'food miles' and urge supermarkets to stock more produce flown in from Africa.
Ministers are to offer taxpayers' money to retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose to help them find new African suppliers, in a move that has been described as the worst kind of 'strawberries at Christmas nonsense'.
Environmentalists want consumers to give up their taste for exotic vegetables in the middle of winter and buy more seasonal British produce.
But in a speech in London today overseas development minister Gareth Thomas will tell Britain's biggest food companies that about one million African farmers and their families depend on exports to Britain.
He said: 'We have never agreed with those who say we should punish African farmers because they don't like the emissions. If you take green beans, studies have shown there are fewer emissions from growing green beans in Africa than producing them in the European Union.
'The way to reduce carbon emissions is to get a post-Kyoto global deal, not penalise Africans who then can't get their goods to market.'
Mr Thomas will offer up to £2m in matched funding to supermarkets to help them forge deals with farmers in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Zambia. He said trade with European countries meant poor farmers 'now pay for their children to go to school and can buy medicine when they need it'.
Mr Thomas gave the example of a bean farmer in the Machakos district of Kenya whose sales to Britain earned the community £20 a week, enough for 'a house with a tin roof that doesn't leak, a bicycle and a radio — big, big changes in their standard of living from what seems a small amount of money to us.'
But Professor Tim Lang of City University, the academic who coined the term 'food miles', said: 'The Government needs to ask the question, "Why is Africa feeding the already overfed and why is Britain not feeding itself ?" We are using Africa as a neo-colonial food system.'
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In efforts to boost Malaysia-Thailand halal ties, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin planned on a three-day visit to Thailand, arriving on Thursday.
The visit aims to enhance cooperation to push halal goods as major global products.
Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand, Nazirah Hussain stated that even though Thailand had a better capacity to produce halal products, it was Malaysia’s Religious Development Department’s halal brand that was recognised worldwide.
According to Malaysian news agency BERNAMA, Muhyiddin wants more investments from Thailand to flow into Malaysia in a move to strengthen bilateral trade ties.
He said about 400 Malaysian companies had invested in Thailand but only a few from the neighbouring country had invested in Malaysia.
The deputy PM of neighbouring Malaysia also reiterated that Thailand was Malaysia’s fifth largest global trading partner and the second largest in ASEAN.
In 2012,two-way trade rose between 12 and 13 per cent to almost RM24 billion,” he added.
Muhyiddin complimented Thailand’s interest in the industry and its strategies to accomplish more halal investments have been laid out clearly.
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In recent years, we witnessed some of the biggest and most devastating cyber attacks in history. Well established firms such as Yahoo, Uber and Equifax all fell victim to such attacks, in turn affecting the day to day operations of these firms and the consumers as well. It’s important to point out that it’s not only the big firms that fell victims to cyber attacks but also small businesses.
Cyber attacks orchestrated by malicious skilled experts affected hospitals, manufacturing companies, government agencies and individuals who transacted with many of these firms. On top of that, many businesses, especially small companies, lack the facilities to handle such cyber attacks mainly because the process of implementing comprehensive security systems is quite expensive.
Finding competent staff members capable of diverting such attacks is a rigorous, time consuming, financially depriving and challenging process for many companies. With that said, it’s clear that advancements in technology facilitate the introduction of new programs as well as new ways of handling and eliminating security threats. Blockchain Technologies, Adaptive Authentication and Artificial Intelligence are some of the latest technologies, which continue to transform the cyber security landscape. Innovators including those stationed in Silicon Valley and venture capitalists are heavily investing in these trends.
Research shows that in the last 13 years, the cyber security market has grown 35 times bigger. At the moment, the industry is worth 120 billion dollars. By looking at recent trends, this number is estimated to increase by over $1 trillion by the year 2021. Let us look at some of the cyber security trends that we should expect next year.
Intelligent Security Systems
Though the term intelligent security systems have been thrown around a lot, we are now finally able to see the idea come to fruition. The consumer market is now filled with customs solutions and innovative technologies, and as the day goes by, more and more companies continue to introduce new products. All these products combine elements of artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as traditional security applications. For many security systems, the more threats and attacks they face, the more the intelligent system adapts to such attacks. In turn, the security system is able to develop new defence mechanisms to prevent such attacks from happening in the near future.
The premise of intelligent security systems is that they will first learn to identify suspicious activities and any unwarranted changes to the existing software. On top of that, they will also continuously monitor the network to flush out any unapproved parties that may have found a way into it.
Introduced five years ago, blockchain technology is a relatively new field that continues to create a lot of buzz in the tech world. Many people look at blockchain in terms of investment or commerce. However, what many fail to understand is that it’s a security mechanism. Thanks to blockchain technology, all transactions conducted within the system are fully secure. In addition, the identities of the people undertaking transactions remain anonymous. Though the public ledger validates all transaction, any information including the identity of the individuals will remain private at all time.
Blockchain powered security can be employed in a number of fields and key areas including transactional systems, identification of management software, healthcare management data, and several other industries.
Also referred to as adaptive authentication, Risk-Based Authentication is an emerging technology that is completely transforming identity management systems. Some of the major players including RSA, IBM, and Gentrify continue to release new risk-based authentication products into the consumer market. These products employ many technical and behavioural metrics to minimise access to various applications until the system is able to complete the verification process. After analysing device vulnerabilities, the users IP address, historical behaviour and network connections, users can sign into their SaaS databases, applications, as well as the company’s knowledge base.
Human Resource officers can integrate devices and directories to control and monitor access permissions. Once this is in place, users will worry less about their online security, while the firm will worry less about suspicious activities.
At getNEXT we are committed to helping our customers safeguard their IT integrity and ensure their business continuity, focusing on business outcomes, not technology solutions alone. Get in touch today to see how we can help your business.


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As coronavirus travel restrictions ease, allowing Queenslanders to travel around the state, tourism operators, cafes and accommodation providers in the Wide Bay and Burnett regions have eagerly reopened their doors.
- Queenslanders can now travel around the state and stay overnight
- Accommodation providers have already seen an increase in bookings
- Businesses are urging patience as restrictions ease
On Sunday, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced unrestricted intrastate travel and gatherings of up to 20 people would be permitted from midday today.
Bundaberg Tourism Chief Executive, Katherine Reid, said the sector has been pleasantly surprised by the early ease in restrictions.
"We are encouraging locals and all people in our region to take a holiday in our own backyard — and if you can book an overnight stay, somewhere different in the region, go out for dinner and really support our businesses around the region," she said.
"They were ready and looking forward to seeing bookings come in when the stage two restrictions were happening, so we are excited it has enabled us to make it happen even earlier."
Businesses, hotels keen to make it work
Fraser Coast Mayor, George Seymour, said operators were focused on making the most of the upcoming whale season.
"We want to make sure we have a great whale watching season which starts around mid-July.
"It'll create some issues in terms of social distancing on boats but we're working with the State Government about solutions."
Backyard tourism the focus
Lady Musgrave Experience commercial director, Shane Anderson, who oversees day tours to the island in the southern Great Barrier Reef, was looking forward to reopening after stopping all tours due to COVID-19.
"What a magnificent opportunity is it for everyone to be out and discovering our own backyard and with the Great Barrier Reef so close in the Wide Bay," he said.
"Zero [customers] is difficult, so I think to come out on the other side of that and be able to welcome people, we are looking forward to showing them what we know best — and that's the reef."
Turtle Town Scuba Bargara owner, Gordon Evans, said starting a new business during coronavirus was a risk that paid off.
"COVID-19 did postpone our launch, but it's given us a great opportunity to review our training program, update equipment and establish long term relationships with business and people in the community," he said.
Call for patience as businesses scale up
Bundaberg cafe owner, Suzy Evans, said Sunday's announcement had left some businesses racing to be ready to cater for 20 dine-in customers, two weeks ahead of the initial schedule.
"A lot of customers mentioned it yesterday and we were confident in saying 'no, things aren't going to change until two weeks' time. So when I realised I went' 'that's come a little bit quicker than expected!'," she said
Ms Evans hoped customers would be understanding
"There's still a lot of businesses out there that just cannot operate under these restrictions."


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Mining equipment maker Caterpillar’s worldwide dealer machinery sales dropped 10% for the three months ended in September amid a drop in spend by commodity producers
The company’s forecast for its 2015 earnings was gloomy with the current slump in sales the result of commodity producers reducing capital expenditure amid a commodity price pinch.
Increase in Q2 profit
The company’s reported a 4% increase in second-quarter profit this year. However, its second half sales for 2014 reflect slumping demand in China and turmoil in Russia and the Middle East.
The forecast for 2014 sales is a range of $54 billion to $56 billion, compared with an earlier prediction of $53.2 billion to $58.8 billion, according to reports.
Drop in mining sales
The worst affected of the mining and construction equipment makers divisions was the resources segment, made up mainly by mining equipment, which sank by 28% compared to the same period last year.
The company said in July that it expected weaker sales of construction equipment in the second half of the year in key markets, including China.
To cope with weak mining demand, Caterpillar has closed plants and laid off workers. Its global labour force stood at 131 631 at the end of the second quarter, down about 5% from a year earlier.
The equipment maker was scheduled to report third-quarter earnings Thursday.
Caterpillar executives said mining companies eventually will have to repair or replace more machines. “We don’t know when it will come back, but it’s coming back,” CEO Doug Oberhelman told analysts earlier this year.


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Volkswagen of America shares a look at how the company is helping develop its first long-range electric SUV for the American market.
Later this month, Volkswagen will unveil its first electric SUV, the ID.4 — and a new system that allows customers to reserve their car.
The Volkswagen reservation platform will make its debut on Sept. 23rd, immediately following the reveal of the all-new, zero-tailpipe emission Volkswagen ID.4 electric vehicle at 11 a.m. EDT. on VW.com. Customers who want to experience the future of driving will be able to reserve an ID.4 before it hits dealer showrooms later this year.
The easy-to-use platform lets Volkswagen fans reserve an ID.4 in a few simple steps. The platform also includes shopping tools such as a range estimator, payment tool and dealer selection to assist shoppers with finding an ID.4 model and making the transition to EV ownership.
Once a user has built their vehicle, they can secure their place in line with a fully refundable $100 reservation payment. As vehicle production starts, our reservation holders will be invited to lock their configuration and confirm their order with an additional $400 deposit. From placing a reservation, to production and through delivery, the customer can see where they stand and when they can expect their ID. 4 to arrive at their preferred local VW dealer. At that time, the customer can negotiate the sale price with their dealer and complete their purchase.
Volkswagen plans to offer the ID.4 electric vehicle across all 50 states, and throughout its network of more than 600 dealers. The reservation platform will also invite owners and prospective EV customers to become insiders by allowing them to subscribe to Volkswagen’s latest EV news as it plans to sell 26 million electric vehicles globally by 2029.


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Brighter Year For Some Hotels As Others Battle Financial Woes
By Yudislaidy Fernandez
With new hotels to fill in Miami-Dade, this year appears brighter for the hospitality industry as occupancy is expected to inch up and room rates to drop by less than last year’s plunge, a new report states.
But the global recession that deterred some tourists from vacationing in Miami has been a big blow for some hotels, hospitality experts say, as some struggle to restructure their loans and others could be foreclosed upon.
These projections and trends were discussed at the unveiling of the second annual hospitality report presented by the Commercial Industrial Association of South Florida this month at the Riviera Country Club in Coral Gables.
Presenter Guy Trusty, a hospitality consultant who put the report together with Tom Dixon of Dixon Commercial Real Estate, noted that hospitality is a major employer, with about 90,000 employed in Miami-Dade as of late last year. The hospitality sector employs almost as many people as construction and trade combined.
The county’s hotel occupancy stood at 71.5% in 2008, then fell to 65.2% in 2009 and this year is expected to rise slightly to 65.6%, the report says.
The average daily room rate, which dropped from $160.14 in 2008 to $140.73 in 2009 — a fall totaling about $20 — is projected to fall to $137.73 this year. That’s a $3 further drop in room rates, according to the report sourced with information from Smith Travel Research, Macroeconomic Advisers, and Lodging and Hospitality Realty.
The county’s average daily rates in the past four years have remained highest in Miami Beach, downtown Miami, Coconut Grove/Key Biscayne and Aventura/Sunny Isles, the report says.
With seven new hotels, Mr. Trusty said, Miami-Dade’s room count has grown by 751 rooms in the past year, according to the state’s Division of Hotels and Restaurants.
Among these hotels are the 135-room Opera Suites & Marina at the Opera Tower in Omni, 125-room Fairfield Inn & Suites Miami South and the 199-room SpringHill Suites Continental.
Because of the new hotels there are more rooms to fill. The room supply has steadily increased in the past three years, jumping from 41,270 in 2007, to 44,678 in 2008 and 46,072 last year, according to the Department of Business Regulation.
Four hotels closed their doors in the county last year: Grand Bay Hotel in Coconut Grove, and in Miami Beach the Ritz Plaza, Saxony Hotel and Breakwater Hotel.
But the recession has hampered Miami-Dade’s hotel market as it has others around the country, with fewer guests checking in and those who do spending less.
Behind closed doors, some hotel owners and lenders are coming to the table to restructure loans, said Suzanne Amaducci-Adams, a partner in law firm Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod. She heads the firm’s hospitality industry group.
"Deals are happening but they are not being made public…, so you may not know they are happening," she said.
For example, she cited the Four Seasons Hotel in Brickell as one of those hotels that were recapitalized.
Another kind of deal becoming popular is note sales.
She says investors such as real estate investment trusts are investing in these notes.
But some hotels may still end up in foreclosure.
Mr. Trusty forecasts some financially-troubled hotels will be foreclosed upon in the next six to eight months as lenders pull the plug on these non-performing loans.
Because of the delays in the foreclosure process in the state, Ms. Amaducci-Adams added that some lenders are using a dual approach, in which they file to foreclose while attempting to restructure the loan, so that in case a deal is not reached the foreclosure is under way.
Despite these hurdles, Ms. Amaducci-Adams says she is confident that with Miami’s paradise appeal, the hotel market is going to rebound — but, she said, it’ll take some time.


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An announcement for tender bids posted on ahtba.org.cn suggests that a new Nio model codenamed ‘Gemini’ is in the pipeline. The planned yearly production volume of 60,000 units indicates that it could be an entry-level Nio electric car with an LFP battery.
William Bin Li, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Nio, has acknowledged the cost advantages of LFP batteries. He suggested that the company could offer it if shortcomings like reduced performance in low temperatures are overcome. In a market like Oslo, Norway, where Nio begins selling cars in September, LFP-equipped vehicles may not be suitable as temperatures in December, January, and February, usually fall below zero degrees centigrade.
During the Q1 2021 Earnings Conference Call last month, he said:
Of course, there are some inherent advantages of the LFP battery pack. A very important one is the cost. But there are also some weaknesses and shortcomings with this technology or form factor. For example, the performance of the battery pack in low temperature. This is going to significantly affect the user experience, especially during the winter. If we can solve the performance bottleneck under low temperature, I believe it should be the right timing and the right choice for us to use LFP battery pack and form factor.William Bin Li, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Nio (Nio Q1 2021 Earnings Conference Call)
In other recent updates, a report from 36kr.com (via cnevpost.com) said that Nio plans to upgrade its 70 kWh battery pack by changing its chemistry to Lithium Iron Phosphate and increasing energy storage capacity to more than 75 kWh. The upgraded battery pack is currently in the second (B) stage of testing and validation (out of three stages A, B, and C), and it will be released in the fourth quarter of the year.
In January, a report from Yuguancheshi said that Nio had signed a deal for a lithium iron phosphate battery production line with CATL. The homegrown battery maker is the biggest name in its business by volume, and it is testing the new low-cost batteries for Nio, it was reported.
On the adoption of LFP batteries
Adopting LFP batteries might be seen as a regressive move by some. Still, its lower cost and stability compared with lithium-ion batteries have motivated automakers to bring them into their production line. Also, companies don’t want to put all their eggs in one basket. Cutting dependency on a single battery type or chemistry means more flexibility and fewer supply issues.
The report said that there’s no information about the Nio models that will get the lithium iron phosphate batteries, but the first launch should occur this year.
On May 24, 2021, Nio announced that JAC, its manufacturing partner that currently produces the ES8, ES6, and EC6, will increase the annual production capacity to 240,000 units. It confirmed that JAC plans to manufacture the ET7 and “potentially other Nio models in the pipeline’ as well. So, the same company may build the Nio Gemini entry-level model that is expected to feature an LFP battery.
Future Nio cars
Like Tesla and Xpeng, Nio plans to use lithium iron phosphate batteries to position entry-level electric cars at a more affordable price, it is reported. Besides lowering the price of existing models, a Nio ES4 compact SUV, along with a coupe cousin Nio EC4 and a compact sedan, could be future entry-level models that use LFP. Note that Nio has not confirmed names of future models, but it is logical to expect a top-down approach as Bin Li said during the Q3 earnings call in November that it does not intend to go above the ES8. He had stated that the next two launches (including the ET7) are sedans.
The lower cost LFP batteries could be aimed at making Nio cars a bit more accessible while preserving the premiumness of the brand. The European market, which welcomes the ES8 in September 2021, is expected to get the smaller Nio product offerings in the coming years.
Featured Image Source: Nio


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Samsung registers 6 new Galaxy brands, fans might see new models in the upcoming galaxy series
Galaxy is a flagship line of the tech giant company, Samsung is famous all over the globe whether it’s the top flagship Galaxy S series and A series or the much more affordable Galaxy M series, the foldable Galaxy Z series, Galaxy Watches, Galaxy Note series that includes tablets and phablets. Users all over the world and especially Samsung fans have really appreciated the Galaxy flagship many times now and with the release of new products under Galaxy almost every month the flagship has still continued to receive compliments from tech enthusiasts and users.
Recently a tipster @theonecid has revealed that Samsung has registered six new Galaxy brands.
Samsung registered 6 new Galaxy brands 🤔🤯
• Galaxy One
• Galaxy Pulse
• Galaxy Rhythm
• Galaxy Index
• Galaxy Insight
• Galaxy Circle pic.twitter.com/2KQvGG0bdK
— CID (@theonecid) July 13, 2023
This means the flagship will soon be arriving with products with some new moniker names. Though the company has only registered these brand names till now so maybe there is still time that the company launches a product under these new Galaxy brands.
The Six New Galaxy Brands:
- Galaxy one
- Galaxy Pulse
- Galaxy Rhythm
- Galaxy Index
- Galaxy Insight
- Galaxy Circle
These new names look quite impressive and different from the previous brand names. Let’s see if, in the coming days, we get more information about this new Galaxy brand.


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Tesla Could Receive $250 Million in California Environmental Credits This Year
May 7, 2013 10:30 AM
No other automaker is receiving what California is giving Tesla
Tesla's financial standings have
climbed out of the red
largely due to the state of California's environmental credits, which could add another $250 million to the automaker's bank account.
The state of California has set up a system of Zero Emission Vehicle credits, which aims to push the adoption of electric vehicles by offering federal and state incentives to both automakers and consumers.
Under this system, Tesla can receive about $35,000 - $45,000 extra on each sale of its Model S sedan. Wall Street analysts predict that these credits (which can be sold to automakers that don't produce EVs) could send as much as $250 million to Tesla this year.
This goes to show the importance of clean vehicles to the state. Its Air Resources Board wants electric vehicles to make up 15 percent of new car sales by 2025. Currently, they make up less than 1 percent.
Many automakers have fought California on its strict environmental regulations, saying that they want to create green vehicles on their own terms without being bullied by regulators. However, Tesla has managed to meet California's standards and is benefitting significantly from it.
In fact, these environmental credits are a large reason as to why Tesla will be able to announce a profitable quarter come Wednesday for the first time.
"We are in the air pollution business, not the car business," said Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the Air Resources Board, which has broad control over environmental policy in California. "There is some jealously of Tesla going on here."
Tesla has come a long way to get where it is now. After problems in the past like Model S shipment delays, a run-in with a poor review from
The New York Times,
and a production delay of
the Model X
, Tesla managed to get up and dust itself off.
Tesla began shipping 500 Model S' a week in March, exceeding the sales outlook of 4,500 posted in the February shareholder letter.
It later announced that the company would be able to
pay off its $465 million government loan
within five years, and that this current quarter would be its
first profitable one
Tesla is looking to keep that momentum, as well. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been fighting for a
Texas electric vehicle sales bill
(House Bill 3351), which would allow distributors and manufacturers of electric vehicles only to sell directly to customers without the use of dealerships. Musk called this bill a matter of "life or death" for Tesla.
The Los Angeles Times
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SuBo fanatics cause white coat shortage
Medical clothing and equipment distributors have announced a shortage of white coats and stethoscopes, after a surge in sales to male Susan Boyle fanatics.
The spike in sales occurred after it was revealed in the tabloid newspapers today that SuBo is dating a doctor.
“This no fair. I be a doctor also. Look here!” said an Italian male fanatic while pointing to his stethoscope. “Now open wide and say ahhh” he continued while holding a lollipop stick.
“She needs to date me! I’m a surgeon!” said another fanatic while cutting open a ‘patient’ with a rusty knife.
“Och, nae, she ken date me! Och, gotta go me beeper’s gannin off!” said a Scottish fanatic while pressing buttons on what looks like a toy computer game.
“It’s not a doctor, it’s a dentist!” SuBo more than likely didn’t say when asked.
See our follow up story tomorrow about a shortage of drills and mirrors!


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A downtown business owner, who's boutique was right across from the RV that exploded on Christmas Day, has relocated her business.
Sandy Lee of Simply The Best $10 Boutique & Ensemble has moved and rebranded the business. It was destroyed five months ago in the fiery explosion that engulfed a city block in the early hours of Christmas morning.
Lee said the new business, called Nashville's Best $10 And Up Boutique, will open on August 1. It will be located in Marathon Village.
Lee and her husband are fixing up the building and their business will occupy a 1500 square foot section.
"This is exactly the vibe we want. This is a historic building back from the 1900s. The space was the right size and it wasn't going to take that much for the build out," said Lee.
Since the bombing, the recovery was exhausting at times. Lee said they considered not reopening, but so many people reached out to them in support, they felt called to.
"Kind of some of the emotion has been taken out of it. We're going forward as we have been since the day it happened. We're moving forward and we can't look back," she said.
At first, getting insurance money was a struggle. She said they eventually received a good portion, but not enough to make them whole again.
"We've worked through the insurance and ours came through pretty decent. As well as it could of. We were underinsured, unbeknownst to us. To lose both stores in one day, we were definitely underinsured," she said.


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Bangladesh Bank to discourage imports of non-cereal, processed food, foreign fruits
Bangladesh Bank today says it has decided to raise the ratio of import payments businesses must make to banks while opening letters of credit (LCs) for luxury goods, foreign fruits and non-essential items such as non-cereal food, canned and processed products.
The move is aimed at discouraging the imports of the items, said the central bank in its monetary policy statement for the next fiscal year.
On May 10, the central bank instructed banks to take up to 75 per cent of import payments in advance from businesses to open LCs for luxury and non-essential goods.
Today, the BB also said it would roll out new refinance schemes to ramp up the production of import substitute products in order to cut the reliance on foreign purchases and save foreign currencies.


text:
That income meant the company earned 6 cents per share for the fiscal third quarter ended Nov. 30, matching the average expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Red Hat also announced quarterly revenue of $50.9 million, an increase of 55 percent over the same period last year, but less than the $51.8 million analysts expected.
The Raleigh, N.C., company's stock closed at $15.07 on Wednesday, but in after-hours trading dropped 49 cents, or 3 percent, to $14.58.
Red Hat, a top advocate of the collaborative open-source programming philosophy, competes chiefly with Novell, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems. Its software is used mostly on powerful networked computers called servers, but the company is expanding toas well.
Red Hat sold 132,000 subscriptions to itsproduct in the quarter. Of those, 119,000 were for use on business servers and 13,000 were for technical computing clusters or Web sites. Cluster and Web customers typically buy software in higher volumes and pay less per copy.
However, that wasn't as many subscriptions as the company hoped. "We expected the unit volume to be higher," Chief Executive Matthew Szulik said in a conference call. The reason: Red Hat wasn't willing to yield on price just to close a deal by the end of the quarter.
The company will continue to report quarterly subscription tallies, but because of a change to daily rather than monthly recognition of that revenue, Szulik believes revenue is a better measurement of success. "If (a sale) occurs on the 29th of November, there is no material impact to our revenue," he said in a later interview. "Why do something economically foolish to satisfy a near-term metric for Wall Street?"
Szulik preferred to tout deferred revenue--the subscription money that customers have pledged to pay but that Red Hat hasn't yet recognized. Deferred revenue increased to $121.4 million in the quarter, a 22 percent increase of $99.7 million from three months earlier and a 170 percent increase from $45.1 million from the year-earlier quarter.
Red Hat now includes desktop Linux subscription sales within its tally of shipments for high-performance computing and Web site sales. Although that number wasn't high, Red Hat did announce one new customer for desktop software, Riu Hotels and Resorts.
In its earnings announcement, Red Hat said it had expanded its work force by 10 percent to 800 over the quarter, chiefly by hiring new sales and support staff in an international expansion.
The company is aggressively seeking a stronger Indian presence, with support for languages used in India, 55 local software development partners and 100 authorized training partners, Szulik said.
Next on the agenda is China, where Red Hat just opened a Beijing office. In a, company representatives met with Chinese Linux seller Red Flag, Szulik said.
"We tried to figure out what is the size of the Linux marketplace, what are the distribution channels, what is the market opportunity," Szulik said of the Red Flag visit. "We really went there to explore. How big is Red Flag really?"


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Quality is once again Job One at Ford Motor Co. Taking a page from the automaker’s ad slogan of the 1980s and ’90s, Ford’s new chief executive, Jim Farley, is aiming to rein in rising warranty repair costs that are a key reason why the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker’s financial performance in North America has lagged that of its archrival, General Motors Co. As part of its new effort to cut warranty costs, Ford has told suppliers it will charge them upfront for half the cost of a warranty probl
Continue reading Farley aims to tackle Ford’s warranty costs in bid to boost profit
Farley aims to tackle Ford’s warranty costs in bid to boost profit originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 Nov 2020 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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One way to avoid a turkey of a Thanksgiving road trip is to make sure the vehicle you will be driving is running well. A 10-minute pre-trip check is a quick and easy way to help avoid the inconvenience of a breakdown many miles away from home, says the non-profit Car Care Council. The Car READ MORE »
The post Don’t Let Your Thanksgiving Road Trip be a Turkey appeared first on Be Car Care Aware.
Winter is quickly approaching and that means fewer hours of daylight. To be sure you can be seen by others and your visibility is not compromised, check your vehicle’s lights and wipers, says the non-profit Car Care Council. “The days are getting shorter, so it is a good time to check that your vehicle’s wipers READ MORE »
The post As Days Get Shorter, Check Vehicle Lights, Wipers appeared first on Be Car Care Aware.
As wildfires engulf the West, the non-profit Car Care Council reminds car owners to have their cabin air filters and engine air filters inspected and changed regularly to ensure they are providing maximum protection from smoke and debris. “Cabin air filters are the first line of defense against contaminants that reduce vehicle cabin air quality READ MORE »
The post Wildfires a Serious Concern for Vehicles, Passengers appeared first on Be Car Care Aware.


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from Life Style Sports…
Life Style Sports report the Japan RWC Jersey now their third highest selling jersey behind Ireland and the All Blacks
Life Style Sports has confirmed that, following the side’s historic victory over South Africa, the Japan RWC jersey has sold out. Against all odds the red and white hooped jersey, made by Canterbury and which had an RRP of €80, is now the Irish retailer’s third highest selling RWC jersey behind Ireland and the All Blacks.
Prior to their big win, only a single Japanese jersey had been sold but Sunday morning saw a surge of support for the team with the full complement of stock snapped up in 48 hours.
Commenting on the jersey sales Debbie Byrne of Life Style Sports said; “We feel Ireland has now chosen their second team in this incredible Japanese side. No one had predicted that win and likewise we couldn’t have predicted the record jersey sales, particularly a sell-out.
It has been predominantly Irish people who have bought the jersey and with Japan facing Scotland on Wednesday afternoon, Irish people want this inspiring story to continue and will be turning Japanese to show their support.”
A recent poll sponsored by Life Style Sports of over 30,000 sports fans has shown Irish people’s favourite RWC jersey is Argentina (24%) followed by Fiji (22%) and then Samoa (17%) and Ireland (15%) in third and fourth places respectively. Life Style Sports is the only retailer in Ireland to stock all 20 RWC team jerseys* and to browse the jerseys or for more information please see lifestylesports.com


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The number of mobile phone users in the world is expected to pass the five billion mark by 2019 china was predicted to have just over 14 billion mobile connections in 2017, while india. About linkedin welcome to linkedin, the world's largest professional network with more than 546 million users in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Infosys is a global leader in consulting, outsourcing and next-gen services, enabling clients to create and execute digital transformation know more. Monitor your website’s availability and performance for free with pingdom and always be the first to know when your website is down test that your site is available from all over the.
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Source: winningprep all over the world, 80 percent of the people use a computer, 60 percent access the internet and 40 percent are having a computer at home. Google claims over 2 billion users with android while microsoft has claimed over 14 billion users for windows the third platform – or strictly two from late 2016 the mobile era took.
A plan that details how a company creates, delivers, and generates revenues business to business (b2b) applies to businesses buying from and selling to each other over the internet a. Uworld test prep offers test preparation, practice tests and assessments for more than 1 million users who are preparing for usmle, abim, abfm, nclex, mcat, sat “over the last five. As we have employees, users and customers all over the world (canada, korea, hong kong etc) it is critical for us to be - answered by a verified programmer. 2 billion consumers worldwide to get smart(phones) by 2016 over half of mobile phone users globally will have will do so that 2018 figure also represents over half—517%—of all mobile.
It includes any process that a business organization (either a for-profit, governmental or non-profit entity) conducts over a computer-mediated network e-commerce does not refer merely. As part of international women'd day, we are showcasing the work that women all over the world are doing in computer science education research.
This year the number of internet users worldwide reached 227 billion, almost exactly twice what it was in 5 years ago, 115 billion we all know the internet is big, but this kind of growth. Is a massive network that connects computers all over the world and allows them to communicate with one another world wide web www social networking analysis (sna) maps group contacts. 10 ways technology will change the world by 2025 rebecca borison jun 30, 2014, 1:32 pm 125,504 tesla is already making a splash, but by 2025 electric vehicles will take over. Arcgis the mapping platform for your organization create interactive maps and apps and share them with the rest of your organization realize new opportunities and gain insight. Consequently, if we want to know about wiener’s method of analysis, we need to observe what he does, rather than look for any metaphilosophical commentary upon his own procedures when. This report lists the market share of the top operating systems in use, like windows, mac, ios, android, and linux.


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Top 9 online banking trends that will shape 2021
Although back in 2019, online banking was becoming increasingly popular, many users still used to visit banks out of habit and solve all financial issues directly in branches. However, online banking trends began to interest millions of people in 2020 during the pandemic, when people were forced to sit at home, and traditional banks were closed and did not provide their services.
Already at that point, many savvy users began to choose their online bank, and those who had previously been reluctant to download apps from banks to their smartphones were happy to do so. Mobile apps and digital payments exploded around the world.
Reports from banks indicated that 15 to 20 percent more users have started using their mobile apps than they did before the pandemic. Chase said that the number of active users of the company’s mobile app, which allows almost all banking transactions, has grown to 40 million users.
Banks themselves have responded very actively to the changing needs of their customers, throwing all their energy into promoting their digital services. Digital banking broke every conceivable record in 2020, but what is interesting is that in 2021, when people once again have the freedom of action and the ability to visit bank branches, they are still using mobile apps and digital solutions from financial institutions. It’s not even just the habit itself, but the fact that many customers appreciated the high speed of all banking transactions and their convenience through mobile apps.
People have started to respond with more determination to firms’ innovative solutions. In particular, a report by McKinsey says that at first covid-19, more than 75% of consumers purchased new brands, to which they were previously indifferent. At the same time, 60% of these users continue to plan to buy new products for them.
However, along with high demand, users have become more demanding. In all the products they use, they demand more emotional connection and empathy. It means that banks should now offer different digital solutions and significantly expand their perception and increase the level of emotional connection. So, very shortly, we may no longer see the digital banking that we are used to. But right now, let’s look at its main trends, which we will be able to see as early as 2021.
1.Greater digitalization at every stage of service
Even though many banks continued to offer a wide range of services to their customers even during the pandemic, digitalization still left a lot to be desired. And while many banks claim to be implementing digital processes at every stage of their operations, it became clear that many financial institutions were still not ready for tough times during the pandemic. If, for example, their customers in 2020 wanted to apply for a loan or need to be identified, they still had to visit bank branches, putting their health at risk. It is not to say that the banks were unable to provide remote customer service, although it was a critical need at the time. This shortcoming of banks was addressed by financial startups, which quite deservedly took some of the customers for themselves.
From that point on, banks started paying more attention to digitalization.
2.A tendency to adjust quickly to customer needs
Financial institutions that pay maximum attention to technological development can adjust much faster to customer needs, which change quickly, literally at lightning speed.
These banks can identify techniques that are no longer relevant quickly, focus on in-demand technologies, and make changes to their financial products as needed.
Of course, it is possible and necessary to pay attention to digital transformation. Still, the problem is that any bank can be left without customers if they forget to focus on their primary consumers in its development. In short, a customer-oriented approach is always and everywhere, even if we are not talking about the financial market but any other company.
According to a survey, 79% of U.S. customers are willing to continue using its products that care about them. Customers need to feel that care.
Regardless of what products companies create, the customer should always be at the center of that product, and it is their needs that need to be addressed. It will be very easy for those firms that have already recognized the importance of digital technology and are incorporating it into their operations. Financial companies unwilling to adjust to customer needs and changing conditions will be forced out of the market.
3.Filling gaps in customer expectations
Suppose banks do not identify actual customer expectations, and a significant gap remains between what their customers expect and what the bank can offer. In that case, it can end badly for the bank. Decades ago, when there weren’t many banks globally, customers often had to adjust to the banks’ capabilities. Today it is the other way around, and every customer can go from one bank to another in a matter of minutes, and the financial institution is shortchanged.
So how can banks prevent this from happening? The only option would be to identify these gaps as soon as possible and fix them.
One option to solve such a problem is to involve innovative fintech startups. These fintech startups will significantly help traditional banks by attracting new customers who are mainly digitally demanding.
4.Emotional connection with customers
In today’s challenging times, when many people have been forced to sit at home and feel alone for a long time, it is essential that all companies, without exception, show maximum attention and care to customers. Banks should provide a wide range of services to their customers and establish an emotional connection with them, do everything possible to make customers feel cared for, and want to solve any problem as quickly as possible.
When states impose new restrictions because of the pandemic, people are isolated from society; they have to solve all financial issues through mobile applications and websites. In this situation, the banks that can show maximum participation and establish an emotional connection with all customers win in the fight for customers.
Many fintech companies are already creating personalized apps for their customers that are based on an emotional connection. As for traditional banks, they still keep their customers at a certain distance, trying to maintain their level of prominence.
There’s no doubt that a user-friendly user interface is a huge advantage and helps customers solve financial issues faster. But if the customer doesn’t feel that the bank is trying to help him, that the bank understands his problems and is trying to find the best solution for him, all this will harm the customer experience.
Platforms such as YouTube or Facebook provide a seamless experience, and banks could learn from this experience by designing their apps around it. By doing so, these apps could better meet all customer needs, but it seems that today’s traditional banks have much more pressing problems.
An example of a popular app that takes personalization to a higher level is Mint. In this app, every user can get an invaluable banking experience, thanks to banking services that Abe AI integrates with Google Home.
Today’s companies use legacy metrics that show how many customers and from what sources the company has attracted. Shortly, such metrics will become a thing of the past and will be replaced by metrics that focus on customer experience. In this case, the most important thing will be not how many clients the company managed to attract, but how well the banks serve its clients and how satisfied the clients are with the level of service. Speaking of mobile applications, it will evaluate the degree of convenience of using them. Recommendations, reviews, and comments from clients will be necessarily considered when compiling the new metrics.
To compile such metrics, banks will take into account the reasons why customers most often contact customer support, what are the app store ratings, what is the lifetime value of each customer, how often users change mobile apps, how active they are when making financial transactions, and so on.
6.Moving to an emotional intelligence model and automation
The world’s leading banks never tire of talking about implementing artificial intelligence in their work and other new technologies. However, emotional intelligence is coming to the forefront. A vivid example of how banks can implement emotional intelligence and what results it can lead to is the BELLA platform. This banking platform demonstrates well how different brands can incorporate emotional intelligence into their operations. All of this happens thanks to a dedicated, customer-focused conversational banking platform.
7.Bringing all bank systems to a single interface
Since the digitalization process in traditional banks took place in several stages, there was a serious fragmentation of the user experience. The visual components of websites, ATMs and mobile applications of the same bank look completely different and do not resemble each other. It leads to confusion for users of such a bank’s products, and the overall user experience suffers.
A case in point is the State Bank of India. The Indian regulator has released several applications at once, which allow to make deposits, manage bank cards, invest in financial markets, and so on. At first glance, this policy seems to be right, but each application has its own interface. The State Bank of India has gone a step further and developed one app that combines all these functions. What do you think is the interface of the app? It’s completely different from the other applications!
The bank customers don’t understand that because when they use the applications of the same bank, they expect a unified user experience and understand everything quickly. Only if all apps from the same bank have the same interface can customers get the experience they want. Otherwise, they’ll choose another bank that cares about their time and their interests.
8.Deeper collaboration with fintech companies
To be as efficient as possible, banks need to integrate digital processes into their operations. However, it’s not easy for banks that have been in the market for decades and have established procedures to go digital right away. Here, they will need some innovative solutions to make it more convenient for customers to work with them. They turn to fintech companies for these innovative solutions. And this cooperation proves to be very productive.
Commerzbank cooperates with IDnow. The latter company helps organize the process of client verification via video communication. Bankia actively works with Euro bits, helping to organize the process of invoicing clients.
9.Sustainable and continuous development
Today, it is not enough for a bank to provide quality customer service and a wide range of services to be competitive. They need to go beyond the scope of their business and contribute to a global common cause. For example, many customers want to be associated with financial institutions that contribute to the environment. Customers themselves are willing to participate in these programs, and if they feel that banks support them, customer loyalty to these institutions will increase significantly. An example would be the interaction between fintech and climate tech.
However, participation in conservation is not the only way for a bank to ensure its sustainability and increase customer loyalty. Tanda has gone to great lengths to ensure that low-income families have unhindered access to financial transactions and banking services. Beyonic offers advanced digital solutions for customers in Africa. And this list of initiatives could go on and on.
The need for banks to be digital existed before the pandemic, but starting in 2020, the need for this transition has accelerated dramatically. It’s no longer enough for customers to access basic banking services. They want empathy and complicity in their lives, a special emotional response from banks so that they can continue to use these banks’ services comfortably and remain loyal to them. And banks will have to respond to the changing needs of customers anyway.


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Following reports of explosion of dozens of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 while charging, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has issued a seven-day ultimatum to Samsung Electronics West Africa Limited to provide information on the full status of its compliance with the global directive of Samsung on the recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
The CPC’s ultimatum, which came on the heels of recent global recall of the product following its defective battery, also demanded Samsung Electronics West Africa Limited to furnish it with other measures the company may have taken to safeguard the safety and interest of Nigerian consumers.
The Council, in a letter to the company dated September 14, 2016, signed by its Director General, Dupe Atoki, said “the attention of the Council has been drawn to media reports indicating that the lithium-ion batteries for Samsung Galaxy Note 7 are prone to catching fire.”
The agency’s letter stated further that “the said faulty batteries have reportedly caused the phone to explode in 35 separate incidents, sometimes bursting into flames, damaging property and leaking dangerous chemicals,” expressing concern that “some Nigerian consumers may already have purchased the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 for personal or other uses.
“You are, therefore, directed to, within seven days of the receipt of this letter, furnish the Council with information on the full status of your compliance with the global directive of Samsung to recall the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 forthwith, including other measures you may have taken to safeguard the safety and interest of Nigerian consumers in this respect.” it added.
Commenting on the situation, the Council’s Director General, Dupe Atoki, said Nigerian consumers who may have purchased the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 should, as an interim measure, stop using the phone forthwith.
According to her, “while awaiting the response of Samsung Electronics West Africa Limited in order to determine the number of affected consumers in Nigeria, there is an urgent need to avert whatever dangers that may be associated with the use of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in Nigeria.”
Mrs. Atoki stated that in line with international best practices, the company should immediately issue a recall notice giving Nigerian consumers adequate information on the procedure for recall and the appropriate compensation being offered.
She urged the company to ensure that affected consumers either get a free replacement from Samsung, or a refund of their money, where necessary.
The Director General explained that Samsung had announced in the United States that consumers with Samsung Galaxy Note 7 can check whether or not their phones are affected and eligible for recall by entering the IMEI or serial number of their phone in a space provided on Samsung website, www.samsung.com/us/note/recall/, saying that Nigerian consumers can avail themselves of that facility.
CPC is the apex consumer protection agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria established by the CPC Act Cap 25, LFN 2004 to, among others, educate Nigerian consumers, remove hazardous products from the market, provide redress to consumer complaints and ban the sale of products which do not comply with safety or health regulations.
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FunMobility Photo Booth Ad Units
FunMobility is proud to announce the release of its new and improved Photo Booth Ad Units, combining all the fun of a novelty photo-editing app with the branding power and targeting capabilities of a mobile media campaign.
A recent study by Mitek Systems underscores just how much of consumers’ mobile behavior revolves around the camera:
- 91% agree that the mobile camera is important or “very important”
- 87% use their mobile camera every week
- The camera ranked third for “favorite” mobile feature–just behind apps and internet
It goes without saying that the mobile camera can be a powerful addition to your advertising toolbox, and FunMobility’s new ad units make it easier than ever. We’ve now added even deeper customization features for advertisers, and more powerful photo manipulation options for consumers.
Here’s how they work:
Once a consumer clicks into the Photo Booth, they choose from a selection of custom-branded “frames” to play with. They can either snap a photo of themselves right then and there (using the mobile camera), or they can upload and manipulate existing images from their photo album/hard drive.
When the photo booth image has been created, users are prompted to share their work to social: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Photos can also be downloaded or shared to social circles via email.
The new Photo Booth Ad Units have shown outstanding initial results, with 70% of users creating photos after clicking-in, and more than 50% of all photos being shared to social. Consumer engagement and dwell time has been high as well, with each unique user averaging 6.2 separate engagement events per session.
- 70% of consumers who clicked-through used the photo maker
- 6.2 engagement events per unique user
- Powerful Emotional Response
The social sharing aspect allows the reach of the campaign to spread far beyond the initial media buy or SMS blast. Because the content is something created by the consumers themselves, sharing is far more widespread–and generates markedly more personal and more emotional responses from the user’s social network than traditional marketing.
- More than half of all photos created are shared socially
- More than ¼ of all traffic to Photo Booth Ad Units comes from consumers who discovered them on shared social media.
The secret to this success lies in the Ad Units’ ability to transform consumers into brand advocates–bringing them into the creative process, and giving them a simple outlet to design and share humorous & emotionally powerful branded media. It combines all the best qualities of user generated content and targeted digital ad campaigns.
Mock up carnival-style cutouts, place the consumer’s face alongside celebrities in movie posters and album covers, or simply set the scene—transforming ordinary vacation photos into digital post cards, or giving little leaguers their very own branded baseball cards.
Photo Booth Campaign: ACE Brand Sports Medicine Products


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Swiss Post customers can now send carbon-neutral letters and packages, thanks to a newly installed [CO.sub.2] emissions offsetting programme.
Customers have the opportunity to pay a "pro clima" surcharge on both domestic and international mail to offset emissions that will be generated en route, thus ensuring their packages travel responsibly, according to a recent Swiss Post press release.
Domestic charges range between SFr 0.01 and SFr 0.10 per item, depending on the destination. International consignment charges vary based on destination and service. The surcharge can be paid at both the Post's physical and online counters, and revenues will be channelled into projects like wind parks and solar installations.
"Swiss Post only supports environmental projects with the independently monitored Gold Standard," the press...


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LOS ANGELES, USA – Rock group U2’s new single “Invisible” raised more than $3 million for the fight against AIDS during the 36 hours it was available for free on iTunes, it was revealed Tuesday, February 4.
It scored more than one million downloads in the hour after it premiered in a Bank of America commercial during Sunday’s Super Bowl, then picked up two million more until the free offer ended Monday midnight (0500 GMT Tuesday.)
With the second-biggest bank in the United States pledging one dollar for every download, “Invisible” raised more than $3 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The song now is selling on iTunes for $1.29 with all proceeds going to the Global Fund, said (RED), a charity co-founded in 2006 by U2 frontman Bono to engage big consumer brands in AIDS fund-raising, in a statement.
“We are very thrilled with this, ‘Invisible’, it sounds great and it feels good,” Bono told Britain’s BBC Radio One pop music station Monday. “We’re just delighted there are still people very interested in us.”
The Bank of America, which made $3.4 billion last year, has committed $10 million over two years to fight AIDS in a partnership with (RED) and U2 announced in January.
(RED) chief executive Deborah Dugan said: “These are much-needed funds for the fight to end the AIDS pandemic in our lifetime and to get closer to the goal of eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015.”
Listen to “Invisible” here:


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Handbag rental service Avelle cuts staff
- John Cook
It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that Avelle is trimming its work force.
After all, possibly the only thing worse than renting a designer handbag during these tough economic times is making an outright purchase of one. And that might be the saving grace for Avelle, the Seattle online handbag rental service formerly known as Bag Borrow or Steal.
The company -- often described as the "Netflix of Handbags" -- eliminated positions representing about 20 percent of payroll earlier this month.
Avelle Chief Executive Mike Smith, who previously led Classmates.com, Nordstrom.com and Lands' End, said that the company actually is better positioned than some high-end retailers because of its unique rental service. It charges $9.95 per month to access the handbags.
"Everyone is feeling the impact of the economic downturn in some way," Smith said in an e-mail interview. "As a player in the luxury goods category, we are at an advantage because we offer an alternative to buying luxury during a time when people are really looking for new ways to shop. Renting gives access to luxury without the large expense or commitment of ownership."
Smith declined to offer specifics about whether membership levels have declined in recent weeks at Avelle, though he did note that membership has more than quadrupled in the past year to more than one million. He also noted that the company continues to broaden its product focus. In addition to handbags, Avelle also offer jewelry and sunglasses with plans to add watches this week.
Avelle now employs 45 people. And it continues to hire, especially at its warehouse operation which was recently brought in house. It also has recently hired customer service agents and Web site analysts.
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The UK is already home to one of the world’s most mature online grocery markets, with eCommerce accounting for approximately 6% of all grocery sales.
IGD’s latest ShopperVista survey reveals that 42% of British shoppers are open to conversion to online grocery shopping, presenting a significant growth opportunity for retailers and FMCG brands alike.
Register for our live webinar with IGD on June 29 at 11AM BST to learn how you can capture your fair share of growth within the channel and win online.
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According to DailyTech and internal Best Buy documents displayed at Joystiq , the days of the 20GB PS3 may be numbered. Since the system's launch last November, Sony has offered the PS3 in two models- the 60GB and 20GB versions. However, due to a lack of demand for the latter, retailers will likely start ignoring it and simply focus on the premium model.
As you can see by the document, it lists the 20GB PS3 as "discontinued." This wouldn't surprise anyone, especially since Sony revealed they're losing a lot more money on the lower-end model – $307 vs. $241 – in comparison to the 60GB model, and most consumers aren't bothering with the bare-bones version. Last week, SCEA's communication director Dave Karraker said they wouldn't be scrapping the 20GB PS3, despite 80% of PS3s ordered by retailers being of the 60GB variety.
And while Sony insists they'll continue to make the lower-end PS3 available to any retailers who wish to order it, the number of retailers who carry it will likely begin to fall. And when that happens, perhaps Sony will go another route… Take a look at Microsoft with the mostly useless Xbox 360 Core system, and the recent rumors that the 360 Premium Pro will soon replace it. Things change, and sometimes, for the better.