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A new kind of sanitizer could cost Americans up to $100 more per year, according to a new study.
Sanitizing toilet paper is already a popular trend, with many Americans buying in bulk to save money on paper.
But a new report from the consumer research firm MarketWatch shows that the price tag could be even higher for consumers who don’t have the luxury of buying in a single package.
The study found that a $10 plastic bag would cost consumers an additional $50 in the long run.
That’s because a plastic bag typically contains a variety of micro-particles, including the bacterium Clostridium difficile, which can be passed from one person to another.
When a person gets sick with Clostidium diff, it can make it easier for the bacteria to multiply.
It’s the type of bacteria that makes people sick with SARS and other infections, and the cost of cleaning and treating it can add up quickly.
In the report, MarketWatch researcher John Schulze found that disposable paper bags cost about three times more per gram than standard paper.
He also found that the cost could be much higher for older consumers, since a lot of their tissues are made from recycled plastic and it takes a lot longer to get the paper off of a bag.
A bag made from paper can weigh about 2.3 pounds, or about 3,300 paper shreds, Schulz said.
That means that a single bag of paper could cost about $50.
The report estimates that the average cost of a single paper bag is $1.35, which is about $40 more than the average price for a standard paper bag.
But there are many other items that could be more expensive, according in the report.
A toilet paper dispenser that comes with a refillable cartridge could cost up to four times more than a disposable plastic bag.
For example, a toilet paper roll can cost $0.16, while a refill roll costs about $1, according the report’s calculations.
A water filter could cost between $2 and $5, and that’s for a large one, Schuulze said.
And, for those who have to clean their hands, he added, that could cost you a lot more than it would for someone who uses a disposable filter.
Schulze, who is a professor of health care policy at the University of California-Irvine, said that while there are already a lot less disposable items on the market, it’s important to keep a close eye on the price tags.
He said that the more the consumer knows about the quality of a product, the less they’ll pay.
“We’re really starting to understand how much of a price differential there is between a consumer buying a disposable product and a person who has a chronic illness,” he said.
“And I think the public is starting to learn about this and it’s a big factor for us to think about how we can keep prices down and make sure that people are getting the value for money.”
The researchers also found some unexpected cost savings from the use of paperless sanitizers.
The researchers found that reusable paperless wipes could save consumers about $5 on their average bill per year.
And a single cloth sanitizing brush could save the consumer $5 a year.
Schuulz also pointed out that people tend to prefer disposable products over disposable paper, since they’re easier to wash and reuse.
But he said that it’s hard to predict how the market will react to the idea that people will use a paperless cleaner more frequently.
“There are definitely some benefits to disposable paperless products, but I think it’s too soon to tell,” he told Reuters Health.
Schuyler said that, in general, people would be more likely to buy a paper-free product if it was a cheaper alternative to disposable, because they have a better chance of actually washing the items.
But, she added, the study did not prove that a paperfree sanitizant was the best option.
“If people are willing to pay more for a better product, that might be good for the market,” Schuyler told Reuters.


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Affalterbach may or may not call it a Black Series model, but it's been spotted testing a more hardcore version of the Mercedes-AMG GT around the Nürburgring – so the Porsche 911 GT3 had better watch out.
Jaguar is continuing to develop an even higher performance version of the F-Type with a more aggressive body, rumored to be turning up the power on its 5.0-liter supercharged V8 to take output as high as 600 horsepower.
Any hope of rescuing the 2015 German Grand Prix ground to a halt when the FIA has officially removed it from the Formula One Championship for this year after negotiations with both the Nürburgring and Hockenheim bore no fruit.
At the Geneva Motor Show this year, Radical will be showcasing an upgraded version of its RXC coupe with 530 horsepower squeezed out of a 3.5-liter V6 and an eye fixed squarely on beating its own Nürburgring lap record.
Since 2006, the German Grand Prix has alternated between Hockenheim and the Nürburgring. But after the latter was taken over by new owners, a dispute over fees will see it staying at Hockenheim for the time being.
Few bragging rights are as hotly contested as Nürburgring lap times. Things have gotten so heated, in fact, that automakers have started slicing up the pie even finer: who makes the fastest sedan ever to lap the Norschleife, who the fastest front-driver, the fastest this and the fastest that. But the ultimate bragging rights still belong at the top of the leaderboard for the fastest street-legal production car. And now another exotic automaker is throwing its hat in the ring.
Developing a new vehicle is not without its complications, we're sure, but usually things follow a fairly predictable progression: you develop a prototype, you test it, test it and test it again, then you put it into production. What you don't expect is that your prototype will burn to the ground, but that's what famously happened to the NSX which Honda engineers were testing a few months ago.
For the past couple of decades, Land Rover has watched pretender after contender try to topple it from its throne as the world's ultimate purveyor of luxury SUVs. The British automaker has answered with an ever-expanding and ever-improving array of entries of its own, capped by a flagship Range Rover that seems to go more upscale every year, positioning itself as the high-riding counterpart to fellow British luxury marques like Jaguar and Bentley. It might even abide by the Leaping Cat, its sist
Aston Martin is on the verge of a renaissance that stands to be the biggest shift for the British automaker since it went independent in 2007 – if not since Ford took it over in the early 1990s. It's got a new chief executive, a new engine deal in place with Mercedes-AMG, a new platform under development and – if the new Lagonda sedan is anything to go by – maybe a new design direction in the works. And what do we have here? A test mule that could foreshadow one of the first ne
Endurance sports car racing always always centered around the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but that's not the only event on the calendar. For the past few years, the FIA and the ACO (the French racing body behind the race at Le Mans) have come together for the World Endurance Championship, the only series that features the top-tier LMP1 prototypes from Audi, Porsche and Toyota. Now the ACO has revealed the full calendar for next season, and it includes a rather enticing new addition.

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31 March, 2022 | by The Retail Bulletin
New figures have demonstrated that shop value inflation has attained its maximum charge given that 2011 this month pursuing mounting price pressures in the world-wide source chain
The figures from the British Retail Consortium and NielsenIQ reveal that yearly store value inflation accelerated to 2.1% in March, up from 1.8% in February.
Helen Dickinson BRC main govt, said: “Consumers ended up hit when once more by rising charges, with March viewing the fifth consecutive month of inflation. There have been mounting expense pressures throughout the supply chain for some time, which includes climbing wages, input expenses, world-wide commodity charges, energy, and transport. A lot of of these costs are beginning to be exacerbated by the problem in Ukraine, but the whole effect on prices is yet to be found. Wheat price ranges have risen sharply, though the increase in oil selling prices has not only impacted domestic energy charges, but also the expenses of fertiliser and transporting items.”
Although foods rates rose by 3.3% in March, up from 2.7% in February. non-meals rates elevated by 1.5%, up from 1.3% in the preceding thirty day period.
Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business enterprise perception at NielsenIQ, said: “With value-of-residing improves accelerating, the next few months will be a tough time for shoppers. Increasing foodstuff price ranges will start out to effects what’s set in the shopping basket so supermarkets will require to adapt ranges to assistance shoppers regulate what they expend on their weekly groceries. Even though superior road retailers will be competing for discretionary shell out that’s coming less than rising pressure”
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Growing preference for spicy food products has led the manufacturers to opt for natural and organic ingredients. In addition, surge in demand for flavor enhancers in food products such as rice and pasta is projected to boost sales of the condiments, sauces, and dressings globally. Fact.MR states that the global sauces, condiments, and dressings market is projected to reflect a CAGR of 2.3% over the forecast period, 2017-2026.
Changing taste patterns of the customers has led them to experiment with new delicacies and flavors. Demand for the spicy food products is expected to rev up with the increasing preference for organic and natural food flavors. Consumption of food products such as pasta and rice with various sauces, condiments and dressing continues to remain in vogue globally. Increasing shift towards consumption of spicy food products is further expected to boost demand for various condiments, sauces, and dressing significantly. Growing need to control the pH in sauces continues to remain a major challenge among the sauce manufacturers. In order to control the pH in sauces and offer enhanced flavor has led to surge in acidification process of the sauces.
As customers are becoming more conscious about their health, manufacturers are increasingly opting for organic and natural ingredients for food products. Demand for food products that have minimum or no additives or preservatives continue to remain high among the modern consumers. In addition, surge in demand for on-the-go and convenience food products has led the manufacturers to increasingly offer ready-to-use pouches of sauces and mixed herbs that customers can conveniently use to garnish on the food products while travelling or working. Surge in demand for on-the-go food products will continue to boost sales of the sauces, condiments, and dressing globally.
Request Free Sample Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=347
Overconsumption of salt has continued to impact health of the customers adversely. According to CDC, excessive consumption of sodium increases the probability of hypertension, stroke or cerebrovascular accidents and heart disease. Moreover, World Health Organization recommends that consumption of salt by an individual should not be less than 5 grams daily.
As sodium continues to remain a major ingredient in range of hot sauces, overconsumption of the hot sauces can adversely affect the health of customers. Excessive consumption of hot sauces can lead to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or acid reflux. Due to growing apprehensions of acid reflux, customers with sensitive stomachs avoid consumption of various hot and spicy sauces. In addition, excessive consumption of tomato sauce can cause headache, vomiting and dizziness. Bound to these factors, demand for the sauces, condiments, and dressings is expected to drop during the forecast period.
Cooking Sauce to Represent a Leading Segment
Growing need to enhance flavor of various delicacies has led to surge in demand for cooking sauces in the food industry globally. On the basis of product type, the cooking sauce segment is expected to represent the highest revenue growth, accounting for a value of over US$ 14,500 Mn by the end of 2026. In contrary, the pickled product type segment is expected to register a robust CAGR during the forecast period.
Based on distribution channel, the foodchain services segment is expected to generate significant revenues, recording a value of over US$ 9,700 Mn by the end of 2017. On the other hand, the online store distribution channel segment is expected to register significant CAGR throughout the forecast period.
Leading market players operating in the global sauces, condiments, and dressing market include General Mills Inc, Hormel Foods Corp, Nestle SA, ConAgra Foods Inc, McCormick & Co Inc, The Kraft and Heinz Company, Unilever Group, PepsiCo Inc., Kikkoman Corp and Clorox Co.
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Stock futures are trading higher on Wednesday following significant losses in the previous session. The decline was driven by investor concern over the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates higher for a longer period and a decrease in consumer confidence. Despite this, several companies are poised to make moves throughout the day.
Costco Wholesale Reports Strong Financial Performance
Costco Wholesale (COST) has reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and sales that exceeded analysts' expectations. However, the stock has declined by 2.1% in premarket trading due to the retailer's failure to provide an update on a potential increase in membership fees. Wall Street analysts believe this increase is long overdue.
Positive Outlook for MillerKnoll
Furniture company MillerKnoll (MLKN) has raised its fiscal 2024 outlook and expects adjusted earnings of $1.85 to $2.15 per share, surpassing its previous profit guidance of $1.70 to $2 per share. Additionally, MillerKnoll has posted first-quarter earnings and sales that have beaten analysts' expectations, resulting in a 16% surge in its stock price.
Amazon.com Recovers Slightly
After experiencing a significant slump of 4% on Wednesday, Amazon.com (AMZN) is rising by 0.3% in premarket trading. This recovery follows the announcement by the Federal Trade Commission that it is suing Amazon, alleging that the e-commerce giant strategically stifles competition within its dominant online marketplace.
AAR Corp. Expects Profit in Second Quarter
AAR Corp. (AIR), a provider of aviation services to commercial and government operators, anticipates swinging to a profit in the current fiscal second quarter. The company's Chief Executive, John Holmes, revealed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that this growth is driven by expanding operating margins. AAR Corp. has already surpassed analysts' estimates with its first-quarter adjusted earnings of 78 cents per share, accompanied by a 23% increase in sales.
Peloton Interactive Announces New Chief Product Officer
Peloton Interactive (PTON) is experiencing a 1% rise after naming Nick Caldwell as its next chief product officer. Caldwell, with over two decades of experience primarily in the technology sector, will succeed Peloton's co-founder, Tom Cortese.
Upcoming Earnings Reports
Today, earnings reports are expected from Micron Technology (MU), Paychex (PAYX), and Jefferies Financial Group (JEF). Investors will be eagerly awaiting these quarterly updates.
Discover how the Republican debate could shape investment strategies and affect sectors such as energy, ESG, human capital, and foreign policy.
Kodiak Sciences discontinues development of wet AMD treatment, tarcocimab, due to failure to meet efficacy endpoints and increase in cataracts. Despite setback,...
Fitch Ratings has decided to withdraw ratings of Country Garden Services (CGS) following downgrade of its sister company, Country Garden Holdings. CGS faces pro...


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The James Beard Awards are considered among the highest honors in the culinary industry, and D.C. has some winners.
The D.C. area is home to thousands of restaurants, and the food editors and critics at Washingtonian pick their top 100. Here are the highlights.
This year, the region welcomed a number of new restaurants, many of which pleased the palates of the toughest culinary critics. Ann Limpert, executive food editor at Washingtonian, stopped by WTOP to share a short list of the best restaurants that opened in 2018.
When Ashok Bajaj moved to D.C. from London 30 years ago, he arrived with one objective: to open a fine-dining Indian restaurant in the nation’s capital. Now, he is celebrating the restaurant’s 30th birthday.
Forty years ago, it got its start as a small restaurant in a former auto repair shop. Now, it’s the D.C.-area’s only three-star Michelin restaurant. Here’s the breakdown of the 2019 Michelin star restaurants.
‘Dinner and a show’ is not an unusual concept — in fact, it’s a pretty common one. But on May 23, experts will go one step further to explore the notion of food as theater in a multicourse meal and discussion at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
A tiny neighborhood restaurant in Northwest D.C. is making a big splash. Himitsu has just a dozen employees and two dozen seats, and the chef is only 30, but the accolades keep coming in.
D.C. is known for its breweries and distilleries. Now, the nation’s capital is cultivating a collection of wineries. City Winery opens this spring — and only half the focus is on wine.
On March 14, the James Beard Foundation announced the 2018 nominees for the James Beard Awards, and four D.C. chefs made the cut.
D.C.’s Pineapple and Pearls is one of eight restaurants in the U.S, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean to join AAA’s list of Five Diamond restaurants for 2018.
One way to shake the winter blahs? Restaurant Week.
D.C. is the best restaurant city in America, and if you’ve been meaning to find out what makes the District so delicious, now is your chance.
Here are the top winners of the annual RAMMY Awards, often called “the Oscars of food.”
Recreating the District in video game form was no small task. Here's how the developers did it.


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There is talk of recovery in the Vietnamese cement industry, after a long period of oversupply that has seen 20% manufacturers on the verge of bankruptcy, according to the Secretary General of the Vietnam Cement Association. Dr Do Duc Oanh added that over 10 M&A deals were concluded in 2012, and some plants were sold to foreign companies a manufacturers struggle to cope in a massively oversupplied market.
The rapid expansion of the cement industry in Vietnam drastically outpaced growth in cement demand, which currently stands at around 54 million t compared to available production capacity of 68 million t. The Ministry of Construction anticipates demand of 60 – 61 million t by 2015 and exports of 10 million t, but for the time being the industry seems pretty stagnant.
The latest report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, however, shows a general recovery in the Vietnamese economy, with 8792 businesses that had suspended production resuming operations in the last five months, including 1309 from the manufacturing industries and 1475 construction firms. Some cement and steel producers also reported improved sales in March and April, but the general feeling is that recovery for the cement industry will be slow while such significant overcapacity exists.
The government is issuing a VND30 trillion bailout package to resuscitate the real estate market, which is hoped will provide a boost for cement and steel, but again analysts are warning that building material manufacturers should lower their expectations. As both the US and much of Europe has found, the road to recovery is long and progress can be very slow indeed.
Written by Katherine Guenioui.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/asia-pacific-rim/05062013/recovery_still_a_way_off_for_vietnam_1006/


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MILAN — Ferragamo Parfums hasn't yet lifted its spell of enchantment.
The fragrance house is set to launch another one-shot scent, called Incanto Charms, which was inspired by Incanto, its two-year-old women's fragrance, whose name means "enchantment" in Italian.
Set to launch in January, Incanto Charms is the third fragrance under the Incanto banner, following the introduction of Incanto Dream last spring. Incanto Charms will be launched in Italy and Japan next month and its worldwide rollout is slated to run through March.
Silvio Bertinelli, director of Ferragamo Parfums, spoke about the Incanto Charms launch in a phone interview from the company's headquarters in Florence. He said he hopes the scent will follow the lead of Incanto Dream's runaway success.
"Incanto Charms will follow what we have done with Incanto Dream, which has had great success in Japan," said Bertinelli. "We think Incanto Charms will also have some Japanese market success, where Incanto Dream sold some 500,000 units. For us, that number is enormous."
Asian success saved Incanto Dream from getting the ax, and Bertinelli said the company would apply the same business model it had for Incanto Dream to Incanto Charms.
"Theoretically, Incanto Dream was a one-shot product that we were going to finish producing in December 2005, but the reality is, we are still continuing distribution to some markets, including Japan," said Bertinelli. "If Incanto Charms works well, the line will be continued."
Both fragrances have a similar target consumer — young women between 20 and 40 years old — but Bertinelli believes Charms could attract different markets.
"We think that Incanto Charms will have more successful markets with perhaps less of a focus on Asia and more impact on the U.S. and European markets, with a focus on Italy," said Bertinelli. Italian sales, he said, will be aided by an extensive print advertising campaign photographed by Tobias Zarius.
According to industry sources, Incanto Charms is expected to net $13 million in its first year of sales. In the U.S., where the scent will be introduced in March, that figure will reportedly be in the neighborhood of $5 million.Alison Farn, president of Gary Farn Ltd., which handles the Ferragamo fragrance business in the U.S., noted that, while Ferragamo has appeal on the men's side of the fragrance category, "we found with [Incanto] Dream that Salvatore Ferragamo women [consumers] identified with a younger, fun concept." Referring to the appeal of Incanto Dream, she added: "This has exploded."
Incanto Charms will be carried in about 350 doors in the U.S., including Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Sephora.
Farn noted that plans call for the creation of a Ferragamo accessories collection, which is slated to be tied into the Incanto Charms scent via similar color motifs and visuals.
Incanto Charms, created by Beatrice Piquet of International Flavors & Fragrances, belongs to the fruity-floral olfactory family. It has top notes of passion fruit and honeysuckle, middle notes of jasmine petals and Ottoman rose and it's rounded out by base notes of musk and amyris wood.
Incanto Charms' transparent flacon is colored blue green and decorated with a bright henna-like design created by artist Sylvie de France. The cap is a pink, oval-shaped loop.
The eau de toilette will be available in three sizes, a 3.4-oz. bottle for $75, a 1.7-oz. version for $55 and a 1-oz. size for $40. A $37 body lotion will accompany the scents, as will a bath and shower gel for $30.
Incanto Charms will precede what Bertinelli described as a key signature Ferragamo women's fragrance launch next September. Bertinelli said the company planned to concentrate on the U.S. and European markets with a worldwide advertising campaign for next fall's women's scent, including a television advertisement in Italy. The new signature fragrance will be designed to target Salvatore Ferragamo's fashion clients — women between the ages of 30 and 40 years old.
Ferragamo Parfums' other fragrance license, Emanuel Ungaro, will remain under creative control of the company following the early November sale of the Emanual Ungaro fashion house and fragrance arm by Gruppo Ferragamo to San Francisco-based high-tech entrepreneur Asim Abdullah.
Breaking: @cushnieetochs’ co-founders @carlycushnie and @ochsmichelle are parting ways. After a 10-year run, Ochs is leaving the brand. Get the full story on WWD.com – link in bio. #wwdnews #wwdfashion
@maybelline’s Kanako Takase had snow bunnies in mind when creating the beauty look for @philipppleininternational. Playing off of the bedazzled snowboards in the collection, Takase mixed two highlighters together for a luminous sheen. #wwdbeauty #nyfw (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
“There’s a huge gap between the old way of doing things and today. It takes the youth to help evolve that. You have to count on the kids today to help lead you into the future. A lot of these retailers are stuck in the past. Communication is the biggest thing,” said @ronniefieg of @kith on the youth’s role in retail. On Monday night, Jeff Staple moderated a keynote session with Fieg and @syresmith at Assembly - a series of workshops, talks and keynotes addressing topics or issues in the apparel industry. Head to WWD.com to read more advice from Fieg and what Smith thinks of his dad @willsmith’s Instagram account and sustainability (📷: @weston.wells)
@joansmalls closed the @michaelkors fall 2018 show in black sequined pants and a varsity T printed with 19 on the front and 81 on the back. 1981 – the year Kors went into business. #wwdfashion #nfyw (📷: @giovanni_giannoni_photo)
“You think your life is going to be a certain way, and nothing you thought would happen ends up happening. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be designing clothes and working with Mickey Drexler, and building something I’m deeply proud of,” said Jenna Lyons. Nine months after leaving @jcrew, Lyons is exploring the meaning of happiness. Read the interview, where Lyons talks about reinvention and more on WWD.com – link in bio. #wwdfashion (📷: Farrell) #jennalyons #jcrew


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Video screenshot via Dan Sur
While we’re pretty used to seeing celebrities sporting strange hair colors, a rapper named Dan Sur has taken things to a whole new level.
Instead of bleaching his mop or getting grills like most in the industry, he went a step further and had gold chains surgically implanted into his scalp, boasting that he’s the only one on Earth with literal gold chains for hair.
According to Black Enterprise, Sur said the chains hang from hooks that had been implanted into his scalp, which are placed all over his head. He can then attach the chains as he wishes, passing them off as his very own locks.
“The truth is that I wanted to do something different because I see that everyone dyes their hair. I hope not everyone copies me now,” Sur reportedly said.
“This is my hair. Golden hair. The first rapper to have gold hair implanted in human history.”
While the new look has certainly garnered attention for the rapper, health experts have cautioned against getting similar procedures.
Dr Frank Agullo, a plastic surgeon, told Yahoo Life that such surgeries “introduce an easy path for bacteria between the outside world and the internal body.”
“In addition, I am concerned about the amount of weight these hooks are supporting. The weight or any accidental tug on a band of gold could cause the implant to dislodge and even fracture the skull,” he said.
Thanks for the idea, Dan Sur, but I think most of us will stick to hair dye. Intrigued? Check out Sur’s latest music video below.


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The power of industry experience is perspective - perspective we bring to help you best leverage your own capabilities and resources.
The Australian Government has released a number of economic measures in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
23/03/2020 - Technical Update: Second Australian economic stimulus package in response to coronavirus includes more tax measures
23/03/2020 - Technical Update: The Employment Tax and Mobility implications of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
23/03/2020 - Media Release: Coronavirus Stimulus II Package Announced
18/03/2020 - Technical Update: Australian States deliver economic stimulus packages in response to coronavirus including tax measures
13/03/2020 - Technical Update: Australian economic stimulus package in response to coronavirus includes tax measures
12/03/2020 - Media Release: ScoMo Jump Starts a Shaky Economy: announces $17.6 bn stimulus package following impact of COVID19 on businesses
On 22 March 2020, the Australian Government released its second economic response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) worth $66.1 billion, with new tax measures for small to medium enterprises, individuals and corporate directors.
On 22 March 2020, the Federal Government released the second stage of its economic plan to cushion the economic impact of COVID-19 including a temporary window for early, tax free superannuation withdrawals for those hit hardest.
BDO Australia has commented on the second $66 billion coronavirus stimulus package which was announced by the Morrison Government today.
Australian States and Territories are delivering their economic stimulus packages in response to COVID-19, including various concessions for businesses.
On 12 March 2020, the Australian Government released its economic response to the coronavirus (COVID-19). The ATO also released a series of administrative concessions for taxpayers.
BDO Australia has commented on the $17.6 billion stimulus package which was announced by the Morrison Government today.


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11-year old sells secure passwords for $2
A good password may be worth its weight in gold, but an entrepreneurial 11-year-old from New York City will supply you with one for just $US2.
11-year old Mira Modi uses the Diceware system to create secure passwords for her customers. By rolling standard six-sided dice, she comes up with random numbers that correspond to different words. When those words are combined into a string, they’re difficult for a computer to crack, but easy for humans to remember.
Modi has managed to sell 30 passwords in her first month of business. She’s the daughter of a veteran privacy-minded journalist at ProPublica.
Using a pleasingly low-tech process, Modi rolls real-world dice, looks up the matching words on a physical copy of the Diceware word list (see third link below) and then handwrites the resulting password to be distributed via snail mail.
Want a threesome?
Want a threesome? There’s an app for that – 3nder – pronounced ‘Thrinder’ to rhyme with Tinder, and enables users to find partners willing to take part in a threesome. What next?
Launched last year, the app says it allows “kinky, curious and open-minded singles and couples” to match, exchange photos, group message and arrange meetings.
And the app – which is “for all ages and orientations” – has proved hugely popular so far, boasting almost one million downloads.
According to the report, users are sending about 1.2 million messages a month, while logging around 4 million swipes.
The tech start-up has just raised another $US500,000 seed round from two anonymous angel investors.
It is currently only available on iOS.
A smartphone app to help the blind
Phone cameras aren’t all that useful to someone who is blind – not, at least until Be My Eyes.
The app, developed by the Danish Blind Society, connects visually impaired users to sighted ones. Through a live video feed, sighted volunteers can decrypt unfamiliar street signs, expiration dates on food packages, or anything else for which the visually impaired needs a quick visual assist.
Since it launched at the beginning of the year, the app has helped 23,000 users over 100,000 times.
The app is free.
Coin operated vehicle vending machine
A used car website Carvana, has built the world’s first coin operated vehicle vending machine in Nashville, Tennessee. They maintain it is cheaper than buying a vehicle in the old fashioned, traditional way.
The company has been working on the concept for the past two years – their original car vending machine was installed in Atlanta in 2013 – and have been working on improving the design.
The machine consists of a five-story glass tower that can hold up to 20 cars at a time. Inside the tower is a ‘welcome center’, an automated delivery system, and three delivery bays. The tower basically serves as a pickup point for used cars that customers purchase through the website, enabling competitive pricing and eliminating delivery costs.
Clients can access a long list of specifications, ratings, reviews, and lots of other details about the cars they’re interested in on the Carvana website. They even get virtual tours that point out every nick and scratch on the body of the car. Once the car is chosen and paid for, the company usually delivers the car to the customer for a seven-day trial period. This means that the delivery costs must be worked into the price of the vehicle.
But with the Vending Machine, customers are able to go pick up their cars eliminating the delivery costs.
To get their car, customers place an oversized coin in a slot and watching their car roll down automatically.
Replacement of writers is top of Gartner’s predictions
According to Gartner's annual list of near-future predictions, many human writers will be replaced. By 2018, 20% of all business content, that is one-in-five documents you read, will be authored by a machine.
They also predict that by 2018, two million employees will be required to wear health and fitness tracking devices as a condition of employment. This may seem a lot like George Orwell’s 1984, but certain jobs require people to be fit, such as public safety workers.
By 2020, smart agents will facilitate 40% of mobile interactions. This is based on the belief that the world is moving to a post-app era, where assistants such as Apple's Siri will act as a type of universal interface.
Big Brother is getting closer.
Pepsi smartphones in China
According to a report from Reuters and others, Pepsi plans to launch smartphones and a line of accessories in China in the coming months. The company won't be manufacturing the phones, instead it'll be licensing its brand to a partner (there's really no shortage of phone makers in China).
Mobipicker reports that one of the phones is called the Pepsi P1, and for the most part, looks like a mid-range Android phablet with a 5.5-inch screen, 1.7 Ghz CPU and 16GB of storage, but it sure to be adorned with plenty of Pepsi logo bling.
What’s next? The Coke phone? McDonalds?
Rhino horn cameras to catch poachers
Anti-poaching teams have been trying for years to protect rhinos from poachers but they can only do so much. Their immediate presence can be a deterrent but a lot of the slaughter happens before these teams even know that something's wrong.
That's where British non-profit group Protect's RAPID (Real-time Anti-Poaching Intelligence Device) comes in. The system uses a mix of heart rate sensors, GPS tags and cameras drilled into one of the rhinos' horns (don't worry, it's painless) to warn conservationists when a rhino is under threat. If a rhino's heart starts racing or suddenly goes still, the teams get an alert that lets them turn on the camera to see if something's wrong.
Ideally, this will prevent poachers from even firing a shot because they’ll know that they'll likely be caught within minutes if they chase or kill a tagged animal.
The system is currently being trialled in South Africa, but there is expected to be a wider launch by the end of 2016. It’s also hoped that versions of RAPID could protect elephants, lions, tigers and whales.
Swatch trademarks Apple’s “One more thing”
You'll surely know the phrase, “One more thing” from almost every Apple keynote address that involved Steve Jobs. It also appeared near the end of the recent Apple Watch launch event too.
It announces that ‘extra something’ that the Apple cultists at the keynotes are hanging out for. It's the thing. The next big thing. The one more thing.
Why, then, would Swatch trademark it? A webpage that details the trademark was pointed out by the website Patently Apple. The page seems to declare that "One More Thing" is an active Swatch trademark in Switzerland, registered in May this year and one that holds until November 27, 2024.
The trademark covers an amazing array of commercial areas. Are you ready for the list? Here you go:
"Scientific, nautical, surveying, photographic, cinematographic, optical, weighing, measuring, signalling, checking (supervision), life-saving and teaching apparatus and instruments; apparatus and instruments for conducting, switching, transforming, accumulating, regulating or controlling electricity; apparatus for recording, transmission or reproduction of sound or images; magnetic data carriers, recording discs; compact discs, DVDs and other digital recording media; mechanisms for coin-operated apparatus; cash registers, calculating machines, data processing equipment, computers; computer software; fire-extinguishing apparatus; precious metals and their alloys, and goods in precious metals or coated therewith, not included in other classes; jewelry, precious stones; horological and chronomatic instruments."
I think we should all get in line for a One More Thing Fire-extinguishing Apparatus… or perhaps a One More Thing Calculating Machine?
This might be a small measure of Swatch’s competitive defence against the Apple Watch or perhaps it’s just a bit of humour at Apple’s expense.
Pee proof walls in San Francisco
For those who choose to empty their bladders on the streets of San Francisco karma awaits.
The San Francisco Public Works Department (SFPW) is coating selected city walls with water-repelling paint that makes the urine splash back onto the feet and pants of the originator of the illegal fount. It’s a system borrowed from Hamburg in Germany, where the superhydrophobic paint has drenched enough perpetrators that fewer people are choosing to take care of their business in public.
In San Francisco, people making city walls their personal restroom has been a persistent problem as evidenced by the fact that since the beginning of 2015, the SFPW has received almost 400 requests to steam clean urine from the streets.
The city is currently testing the liquid-repellent paint on nine walls in some of the most urine-drenched parts of the city, and they plan to coat more walls in other city districts. The paint contains Ultra-Ever Dry, the same superhydrophobic coating that’s been used in self-cleaning car paints.
Ancient Peruvians invented the telephone
Around 1200 years ago, long before Alexander Graham Bell was fighting over the patent for the electric telephone, the Chimu people of Peru had invented a primitive, non-electric form of telephone. Similar to the old tin cans-and-string which we played with as kids, the Chimu people figured out that with two hollow containers (gourds coated in resin) connected by a 22.8 metre length of waxed string they could transmit audio from one cup to the other.
The invention appears to have come from the coastal Chimu people in the Río Moche Valley of northern Peru. It was certainly no 4G smartphone.
Since the article points out that the Chimu were known to be a top-down society, it‘s entirely possible that a member of the elite or a priest used the device to order room service.
Is IBM becoming a cloud computing patent troll?
An article in InformationWeek from Charles Babcock, an Editor-at-Large, notes that IBM has been hoarding patents on every aspect of cloud computing. In fact, they've secured about 1,200 in the past 18 months, including about 400 so far this year.
This from the article:
For those who conceive of the cloud as an environment based on public standards with many shared elements, the grant of these patents isn't entirely reassuring. Whatever the intent, these patents illustrate how the cloud, even though it's conceived of as a shared environment following public standards, may be subject to some of the same intellectual property disputes and patent trolling as earlier, more directly proprietary environments.
Are we at the beginning of the cloud patent wars? Let's hope not.
Cyber-flashing in the UK
Ever heard of "cyber-flashing?" Me neither.
The BBC has reported on a strange case that the British Transport Police are currently investigating. It appears that while a woman was travelling to work on a London train, unsolicited pics of a male’s appendage started appearing on her iPhone. First, the lady in question saw a preview image of a stranger's genitals pop up on her iPhone, sent via AirDrop, followed by another after she declined to accept the first.
Understandably, she was pretty distressed by the weirdo's oversharing, especially since the offending party would have been within AirDrop range, and reported it to the police.
Unfortunately, since the pictures were declined, the police didn’t have a digital trail to follow up on, so there's little chance of an arrest.
Some years ago, we reported the same type of activity with Bluetooth, but this seems to be a first for AirDrop.
ATMs in Kenya dispense water
In Nairobi, Kenya, people can go to central spigots and pay a fee for access to groundwater that's both drinkable and readily available. For the privilege, they pay a fee to the man who opens the valve. The problem is, the valve-keeper is not inclined to pass the money back to the community and therefore limits the city’s ability to re-invest the money in purification systems.
To solve the problem of dispensing water while also creating revenue for the local community, Grundfos, a Danish engineering company, developed AQtap. It's a machine that essentially functions like an ATM for water: users get a "water card" where they can collect points, either by making a purchase from a vendor or making a payment on their phone. When they swipe their card at the machine, a simple interface will allow them to select the amount of water they want and then deduct the points from their card. A hose below the screen dispenses the selected amount of clean water.
The project is still in its pilot stage, but being tested in Kenya, Uganda, Thailand and Nigeria. In the slums of Nairobi, where the company has worked with the local government to set up four AQtaps ATMs, community members pay 3 Kenyan shillings (~$NZ0.30) for a 20-litre jerry can of water.


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San Francisco ebook publishing start-up Inkling has released a new set of collaborative online digital publishing tools to try and coax book makers to fully move their content into the Internet age.
The new software suite called Inkling Habitat(Opens in a new window), will be the first online, collaborate, free, and open digital publishing environment for professionals.
Matt McInnis, CEO of Inkling, showed off some of Habitat's capabilities at an event in New York last night. The online software appears to compete with the likes of Adobe's Digital Publishing Suite(Opens in a new window) and even Apple's iBooks Author(Opens in a new window). Like Apple's product, Habitat is free, although it sounds slightly more gear toward professional publishing houses, particularly those in education.
Inkling, which has an iPad app of the same name through which it sells interactive ebooks, has sold textbooks predominately, although it focused on designing and building the interactive experience—not the publishing. With Habitat, the company is shifting its business to give publishers the ability to design their own finished products in-house.
Digital books created with Habitat won't be limited to being sold through Inkling's app, however. The content can be exported to any standards-compliant EPUB platform. And titles developed using Inkling Habitat will be able to use the Creative Commons license as well to keep their intellectual properly open for others to build upon, a crucial component in education in particular.
McInnis also announced last night that Inkling has developed a Content Discovery Platform, which essentially makes books developed with Habitat more SEO-friendly… or to put it frankly, more likely to show up in Google search results. For example, searching a question or phrase in Google could turn up a single page or chapter of an ebook that answers it. The user would then be able to preview the page and decide whether to purchase the book, or even just part of the book that she wants, and download it to an iPad or iPhone (Inkling will be adding support for Android devices this year, according to McInnis).
While a lot of Inkling's releases to date have been textbooks, the company has seen some success with travel guides publishers, including Frommer's, and the company is beefing up its relationship with more consumer-focused readers. DK Publishing, HarperCollins, Lonely Planet, and Rick Steves have signed on, too.
For more about Inkling, see "A New Frontier for Books."
For more from Jill Duffy, follow her on Twitter @jilleduffy(Opens in a new window).
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You have searched for "smartphone"
Showing 1-10 of 10000
Deciphering codes, climbing trees, reading signs. Geocaching requires participants to fully immerse themselves. For more than two decades, people have been searching for hidden spots all over the world, and the pandemic has barely slowed the activity's growing popularity.
Water resistance is a must-have feature on a flagship smartphone these days and manufacturers will rarely miss the chance to show you footage of their phones surviving big splashes.
INSURANCE is a necessary financial safety net, but signing up for one can be frustrating.
Everything changed for Yuta Tsuruoka when his mother, who runs a small shop in rural Japan, made a passing comment: She wanted to set up her own online store but didn’t know how.
Cases of children working for major food delivery apps in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic have been uncovered by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, with prosecutors vowing to investigate amid growing scrutiny of employment practices in the gig economy.
PETALING JAYA: KESM Industries Bhd is expecting a gradual recovery and hopeful of breaching a plant utilisation rate of 30% in the second quarter ending Jan 31,2021, according to a Kenanga Research report.
HONG KONG (AFP): China's number two smartphone maker Xiaomi briefly suspended trading of its shares in Hong Kong on Wednesday (Dec 2) after failing to disclose a multibillion-dollar top-up placement in time for the market to open.
CHINA'S No. 2 smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. has raised $4 billion from a combined share placement and sale of convertible bonds, adding to a war chest aimed at expanding its market share from competitor Huawei Technologies Co.


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As Instagram launched its new reels feature, YouTube is launching its own TikTok copier: YouTube Shorts.
In an announcement on YouTube’s official blog, the company described the feature as “a new short video experience”. This feature allows users to “record short, eye-catching videos using just their phones” – and their ideas, of course.
The company is launching an initial beta version, we’re testing new tools with a focus on a multi-segment camera. It allows users to edit, speed up, and record multiple clips.
Similar to TikTok, YouTube shorts are 15 seconds long and the platform also has a feature that allows users to scroll vertically to scroll through videos.
TikTok has been in a precarious position recently when the Trump administration asked Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest its business assets in the United States.
In response, Instagram launched Reels, its own version of the video service popular with teens.
Meanwhile, Variety reports that Oracle will be the first bidder to partner with TikTok as the company’s “trusted technology provider.”
This deal has yet to be approved by the Trump administration. Whatever happens, you won’t be left without TikTok fakes.


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Older adults with low vitamin D levels may lose their memories and thinking abilities faster than those with normal vitamin D levels.
Scientists found that low levels of the vitamin doubled or even tripled the rate of cognitive decline in 382 men and women over the age of 60.
A majority, 61%, had insufficient vitamin D in their blood.
Lead researcher Professor Joshua Miller, from Rutgers University in the US, said: “There were some people in the study who had low vitamin D who didn’t decline at all and some people with adequate vitamin D who declined quickly. But on average, people with low vitamin D declined two to three times as fast as those with adequate vitamin D.”
The progress of participants was monitored over eight years between 2002 and 2010.
Vitamin D is mainly generated in the skin as a result of sun exposure but can also be found in certain foods.
The vitamin is essential for strong healthy bones but also has important roles in nerve and muscle function, cell growth, the immune system, and combating inflammation.
Prof Miller recommended that the over-60s consult their doctors about taking vitamin D supplements.
He added: “Some people may have had melanoma (malignant skin cancer) or fear getting it, or they may live in climates where the sun isn’t powerful enough, or do work that keeps them out of the sun. That’s where supplements come in.”
The findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association – Neurology.
Dr Simon Ridley, chief scientist at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Vitamin D plays an important role in keeping our bodies healthy and there are a number of studies that suggest a link between vitamin D deficiency and memory and thinking difficulties.
“While this new research suggests an association between low vitamin D levels and faster rates of memory loss, we don’t yet know whether taking supplements could stave off dementia or slow down decline in those who are already living with the condition. We need to see more research into this approach to understand the role vitamin D plays in dementia risk.
“A balanced diet is important for brain health and, alongside physical activity and keeping weight and blood pressure in check, can help reduce dementia risk.”


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New NC law lets parents freeze minors' credit reports
Identity thieves don’t discriminate on the basis of age, which is why a new state law was passed to give parents the ability to protect their children’s credit ratings.
House Bill 507, which takes effect Jan. 1, gives parents and guardians the ability to freeze credit reports of children under the age of 16.
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said a security freeze locks down a person’s credit report to keep identity thieves from opening accounts and racking up debt. He said ID theft can strike victims at any age. The blank slate of a child’s record makes it particularly attractive for identity thieves.
“Parents don’t consider checking the credit report of a child, so thieves can get away with stealing a child’s identity and making money with it over a long period of time without protection,” Cooper said. "This new law is important to give parents a tool to protect their kids. All consumers should be checking their credit reports regularly, and that includes the credit reports of their children.”
Cooper said identity theft continues to be one of the fastest growing crimes not only in North Carolina, but across the county. This is mostly due to advances in technology which have increased the opportunities for criminals to get hold of personal information. Cooper said thieves have several ways to steal a child’s identity.
"Every child has a birthday, a Social Security number and an address,” Cooper said. “In today's world, that information has to be provided to many entities. Sometimes criminals can break into databases and get that information. Sometimes they can steal it from an office, whether it's on paper or a disk and, if parents aren't careful, could potentially get information right out of a garbage can or stealing a wallet or information about their child directly from the parent."
Parents and guardians can request a security freeze for their child by contacting the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — by mail, telephone or online. Contact information for all three companies is available at ncdoj.gov/creditfreeze.
To lift a freeze permanently or temporarily, use the PIN or password established when setting up the freeze. It may cost up to $5 per credit bureau to place or lift a freeze on a child’s credit. A freeze is free if the child already has a credit report or has been a victim of identity theft.
North Carolina adults can freeze their credit reports for free online with each of the three major credit bureaus, with online forms available on ncdoj.gov. Cooper said security freezes are one of the most underutilized, but effective, tools that consumers can use to protect themselves from identity theft.
“I think one of the reasons it is underutilized is that it's not the easiest thing in the world to do,” Cooper said. “You have to go to each one of the credit reporting companies and set up a user name and ID and put the freeze on for each one. Then when you want to get a car loan, get a credit card or buy a house you have to get the freeze temporarily lifted so you yourself can conduct commerce.
“It's a little bit of trouble,” he said. “I believe it's worth the trouble because people who've had their identity stolen can tell you real horror stories about how difficult it is to reestablish your good name."
Additional tips on identity protection and cleaning up the damage ID theft can cause are also available on the NCDOJ website or by calling 1-877-5-NO-SCAM toll-free within North Carolina.


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Brendan Blumer, block.one
George Town, Cayman Islands - EOS, the first blockchain operating system designed to support commercial decentralized applications, has announced further details for its digital token distribution to open on Monday, June 26. EOS's token distribution follows a participation model that will take place over the course of one year intended to create the fairest token distribution project launched on Ethereum to date.
"To ensure inclusivity, EOS are not sold for a fixed price, but sold at a price determined by market demand; this mimics mining, but does not offer unfair advantages to large purchasers," said Brendan Blumer, CEO of block.one, the open source software and blockchain company developing EOS.
block.one will distribute one billion EOS ERC-20 compatible tokens, called "EOS Tokens" over 341 days starting on June 26, 2017 at 13:00 UTC following the below schedule:
- 20 percent of EOS Tokens (200,000,000) will be distributed during the first 5 days of book opening.
- 70 percent of EOS Tokens (700,000,000) will then be split evenly into 350 consecutive 23 hour periods of 2,000,000 EOS tokens each starting July 1, 2017.
- 10 percent of EOS Tokens (100,000,000) will be reserved for block.one and cannot be traded or transferred on the Ethereum network.
EOS is being designed to scale mainstream development for large enterprises, currently unsupported by existing blockchain platforms. EOS introduces asynchronous communication and parallel processing to support millions of transactions per second, higher than that of Facebook and Google at 52 and 40 thousand per second, respectively.
EOS is being designed to support distributed applications that have the same look and feel of their centralized counterparts, including eliminating the requirement for the user to pay for every transaction. This enables new blockchain users to get involved without having to navigate the complex process of purchasing a cryptocurrency and should help to spur the industry. It also means any type of application can be built, run, and governed by EOS's operating system, creating a new level of transparency for business.


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GMOs Since 1974, scientists around the world to talk about how dangerous GMOs.At the present time, many scientists are increasingly sounding the alarm about the negative impact of GMOs on human, based on data from animal studies.We can list the negative aspects of the negative impact of these products on human obesity, food allergies, weakened immunity, which often leads to epidemics.
Unfortunately, GMO products are large and quick profits, which are driven by our producers and entrepreneurs to make a profit.Now all over the world despite the prohibitions official sources used in food genetically oxide modified products.Especially in the lead on this issue the United States.Trying to protect its own population from GMO products, many countries have put labeling on products with GMOs, or to organize the sale of the products at a low price.There are countries that have hosted the territory free of GMO products.But unfortunately innovative technologies run forward and stop this process is impo
ssible.This is the case when humanity comes to their own rakes.
We would like to recall some of the negative effects of human consumption of genetically modified foods.Banned the sale of products which used genetically modified plants resistant to antibiotics.Indeed it can lead to the problem of the treatment of many diseases.Moreover, each insert of a gene in an organism is a mutation.What will we learn human mutation in the future as well as our children suffer from the consumption of GMOs.Already changes are identified in humans consuming GM foods.It is noted that, by crossing different classes of plants or animals entails infertility, such as cross-breeding a horse and a donkey gives us a mule.
GMOs already constitute a danger to future generations of man.Genetically modified plants are resistant to virtually all agricultural chemicals, indicating that the rapid spread of the plants on Earth.In Russia, production of GMOs appeared in the 90s.Despite official restrictions in the use of GMOs genetically modified substances often found in in meat, dairy products, bakery products as well as baby food for young children.The most common is soy.Manufacturers are required to check the level of GMO products, but the check is usually passed on transgenic products are mainly funded by their manufacturers, and it is often sufficient biased.Russia has grown GM crops are officially banned, but at the same time, imports of these products is allowed.
development of market relations in Russia contributed to the spread of GMO products.According to the latest Russian scientists GMO foods lead to the rise of cancer and infertility.Application of new technologies without understanding the consequences of their actions can lead to tragic consequences.


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Former Google boss Eric Schmidt foresaw a day when there would be two separate internets: one led by China, the other by the US. Google has provided justification for a division. Following US blacklisting of Huawei, the Alphabet subsidiary has suspended the Chinese company’s access to key services. Unlike wireless equipment bans by the US, this one should mean lasting damage for Huawei.
Huawei will only be able to use the basic, publicly available version of Android. Its future smartphones will lose access to millions of apps from the Google Play store, including Gmail and YouTube. The impact will be minimal in China and the US. Google apps have always been banned in China. Huawei’s AppGallery has more than enough options. As for the US, the Huawei phones are already largely unavailable.
However, Huawei’s sales outside these regions are a concern. Its European business, its second-biggest market, would be most affected by Google’s move. About three-quarters of European users use an Android phone. Huawei has just under a quarter of its smartphone market. That is now at risk. There is no chance Europeans would give up YouTube and Gmail for a Chinese WeChat or Tencent Video.
Huawei claims to have a plan B. It has been developing its own operating systems. But this will be not be easy. Indeed, Intel, Samsung and Microsoft have all tried their hand at a proprietary operating system. None gained significant ground. Getting users to abandon familiar apps would be the least of the challenges. Assuming users will quietly suffer the countless bugs of a new system when a tested option is available is presumptuous.
The Chinese equipment maker could shrug off President Donald Trump’s 5G wireless equipment bans. Telecom systems are embedded in the infrastructure of countries. There are just a handful competitors, all priced above Huawei. Yet with smartphones, there is no shortage of low-end options. Google’s move creates a big obstacle to Huawei’s ambition of becoming the best-selling smartphone brand by next year.
Take a step back however. This move should provide Chinese smartphone makers with the catalyst to create their own platform for mobile phones. As Mr Schmidt notes, China’s Belt and Road Initiative involves more than 50 countries, which could easily move to China’s version. Google may have brought a separate internet closer, starting with mobile operating systems.
Lex publishes two popular newsletters for premium subscribers. Wednesday: Lex Letter From London, New York or San Francisco. Fridays: Best of Lex, a weekly round-up. Please sign up at ft.com/newsletters.


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Duke Realty Corp., a REIT that has a history of investing in offices and medical properties, is buying logistics facilities (warehouses) from Bridge Development Partners. The purchase solidifies a move to logistics properties that Duke began years ago. The strategy stems from the explosion of the online retail business. Peter Grant reports:
Indianapolis-based Duke is buying the properties from Chicago-based Bridge Development Partners LLC in two stages. The first includes a 10-building portfolio with 3.4 million square feet in Southern California, northern New Jersey and South Florida.
Duke also has agreed to buy two other properties totaling 853,000 square feet that haven’t been built yet. Construction is expected to begin later this year.
The existing 10-building portfolio is about half occupied because the buildings are new and there hasn’t been time to lease them up, according to Steve Poulos, chief executive of Bridge. The space should fill easily because demand is strong in those markets, largely from online retailers that want to be close to population centers so they can deliver goods quickly, he said.
Read more here.


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US, EU and Canada file trade case against China on auto parts
Friday, September 15th 2006, 9:16 am
News On 6
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The United States joined with the European Union and Canada on Friday charging that China has erected illegal barriers to the sale of U.S. and other foreign-made auto parts there.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said that the United States and its allies had tried to resolve the dispute through negotiations with China but had been unable to do so. Thus, they turned to the World Trade Organization with their complaint.
``China's current stance leaves us no choice but to file a trade case,'' Schwab told reporters during a conference call.
The case, which was filed at the WTO's Geneva headquarters, marks the first time that the United States has been able to convince other countries to join in challenging China's trade practices.
The action comes less than a week before Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will meet with Chinese officials in Beijing to press them on a range of trade issues, from China's currency policies to the need for China to open up its banking sector by allowing the operation of U.S. and other foreign banks.
The administration is under increasing pressure in Congress to do something about America's soaring trade deficit with China, which is running well above last year's all-time high of $202 billion.
Democrats hope to make America's huge trade deficits an issue in the upcoming congressional elections in which they are trying to wrest control of the House and Senate from Republicans.
The auto parts dispute involves taxes that China imposes on auto parts made in the United States and other foreign countries as a way to encourage automakers operating in China to use more Chinese-made parts.
The WTO complaint filed by the United States and the other countries alleges that this ``local content'' requirement is in violation of WTO rules.


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Golf Industry News - Srixon Sports Europe
SRIXON has announced the launch of the new ZX Mk II Irons which are designed for skilled golfers looking for longer distances, improved feel, more control, and greater consistency.
Srixon becomes official ball brand of the EDGA06-06-2022
SRIXON has signed a deal to be the Official Ball Partner of the European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA) for the next three years.
Srixon rolls out new Z-Star Diamond ball18-01-2022
SRIXON has expanded its range of tour-level golf balls with the launch of the all-new Z-STAR DIAMOND, which will be available at retail in the UK and Europe from mid-March.


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Bert Wouters on Insideclimate News about glacial melt
Bert Wouters was interviewed on Insideclimate News about melting ice glaciers.
Read the article :
New laser measurements can help pinpoint how and when the world’s vast stores of ice will vanish.
On a Melting Planet, More Precisely Tracking the Decline of Ice
Insideclimate News, 30 April 2020


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Sega Ages is coming back and could bring even Saturn and Dreamcast games to the Switch.
Jessica Estephan has won a Magic: The Gathering Grand Prix, making her for the first woman to win one.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds fans can celebrate The Walking Dead premieres this weekend on Twitch.
The God of War hype is real, including for this special early soundtrack release for everyone to enjoy.
Monster Hunter: World gets quirky April 13, 2018 with Mega Man, and Devil May Cry items will follow soon after.
Rainbow Six Siege is enjoying an impressive milestone with a heartfelt "thank you" to the fans.
Xbox Live Achievements are coming to Nintendo Switch in its version of Minecraft.
THQ Nordic is skipping E3 2018 to get drunk at a reasonable time for this year's World Cup.
The Bully Hunters are a new, sponsored streaming organization about harassment awareness in general and in CS:GO.
EA has announced the return of microtransactions and a new mode based on Ewoks.
Destiny 2 players have a new roadmap to explore to prepare for the game's second expansion, Warmind, which launches May 8.
Soulcalibur VI gets an oldie but goodie addition to the roster with the appearance of Siegfried.
Rocket League's Nintendo Switch version has fallen a little bit behind, but will be fixed soon.
Warcraft III has gotten a massive update that adds widescreen support, resets ladder standings, and more.
Two high-profile PS3 games are losing their online functionality in July 2018.
PUBG's overall flow is going to change, as a new patch will change how the blue zone works.
The FTC might have a huge beef with gaming console makers over bogus warranty language that dissuades repairs.
Donkey Kong record-holder Billy Mitchell has been stripped of his achievements after tomfooelry has been discovered.
Chrono Trigger's PC version now lets people choose between classic or updated graphics after a patch.
Now that Steam has received a privacy update, Steam Spy will have to shut down.
A new kind of malware wants people to play PlayerUnknown's Battlgrounds, rather than cough up cash.
19 Xbox and one Xbox 360 game are coming to the Xbox One in April 2018.
Senran Kagura is getting two new western releasing in the franchise in 2018.
Forza Horizon 4 will be supposedly be making an appearance at E3 2018 to reveal its location.
Indie treasure Below should be releasing some time in 2018 after quite a long delay.
Overwatch's Mercy looks especially beautiful in this over one foot tall collector's statue.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is one of the newest additions to the number of original Xbox games that work on the Xbox One.
Gran Turismo Sport adds two special Audis in free update, while Audi makes two real-world versions of them.
Myst is celebrating a big milestone year with a special collector's edition via an already successful Kickstarter.
Ys VIII has finally seen past its troubles and will be releasing on PCs next week.


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THIMPHU: Nobel laureate certifies Bhutan rupee crunch 'not a crisis'
May 30, 2012 | Posted by: roboblogger | Full story: Asia News Network
The word "crisis" to describe the current issue of rupee crunch Bhutan was faced with, Professor Joseph Stiglitz said, was a "misnomer". That confirmation, coming from an economist, a Nobel laureate and a professor at Columbia University in the US, came as a breather.
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Palo Alto, Calif. – November 17, 2020 – LEVL Technologies, Inc. today announced a solution that redefines device identity management in Wi-Fi networks with a privacy-friendly alternative to the MAC address. The patented LEVL-ID™ technology takes a full-stack approach to wireless device identification, using data from all seven layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) stack (including the physical layer) to create a unique, reliable identifier for every device. Addressing consumer privacy, the new technology is future proof for wireless networks in Internet Service Provider (ISP), hospitality, enterprise, and public sector segments.
With the increased push for more consumer privacy from device and operating system (OS) manufacturers, many device makers are limiting the use of identifiers such as the MAC address. LEVL-ID allows the Wi-Fi network to accurately identify a device, without accessing or compromising user information. This allows consumer-facing services that rely on the unique device ID to still function, including secure log-in, tailored content, parental control, network optimization, and more. By taking a full-stack identifier approach, LEVL-ID leverages information from the physical layer of communication through several powerful and sophisticated techniques. Physical layer analysis, which is unique to LEVL, ensures higher identification accuracy. Also, it is not affected by other layers and thus, future proofs this approach. The technology is passive and part of the network, requiring nothing on the user device.
“Given the evolving security/privacy landscape, the industry seeks device identification solutions that provide user privacy with flexibility, convenience, and security,” said Rohit Mehra, Vice President of Network Infrastructure, IDC.“It is incumbent upon companies like LEVL to focus their innovation on consumer privacy while enabling secure device identification. We look forward to seeing increased adoption of technologies like LEVL’s.”
LEVL-ID has been tested throughout 2020 in Wi-Fi networks by major ISPs, with tens of thousands of failure-free connections. The solution can be used across multiple use cases and network environments including the home, enterprise, hospitality, and public Wi-Fi.
“The LEVL Technologies team supports major device suppliers in their drive to stronger consumer privacy, specifically on wireless networks,” said Dr. Daniel Zahavi, Co-Founder and CEO, LEVL Technologies. “LEVL-ID answers the need for personalization while respecting user privacy, addressing both consumer and network provider concerns. We intend to lead the wireless security market and look forward to accelerating the adoption of this exciting new technology.”
About LEVL Technologies, Inc.
LEVL Technologies redefines device identity and intelligence for ISPs and network operators. It supports strong consumer privacy and all the benefits of a unique device ID. LEVL is unique in leveraging all layers of the network, including the physical layer, to provide higher accuracy and more device information. LEVL is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif. with engineering offices in Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information, see https://levl.tech.


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Hyundai seems to be on a roll with the massive success of the Xcent and the sales numbers speak for themselves. Hyundai Motor India registered the domestic sales of 36,205 units and exports of 15,513 units with cumulative sales of 51,718 units for the month of May 2014.
Commenting on the May sales Mr. Rakesh Srivastava, Sr. VP- Sales and Marketing, HMIL said, “Hyundai with a volume of 36,205 units has grown by 12.8% over last year which is in line with this year’s objective to grow in market share and volume. The phenomenal success of Xcent, Grand and Santa Fe increased volumes creating positive momentum. We foresee to maintain this positive trend by strengthening our product portfolio and improving channel efficiencies.”
After the Hyundai Xcent there are now plans to launch many new cars this year to keep its dominant position in the market.


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According to reports over at WinRumors, Microsoft may be planning to announce a more flexible hardware specification allowance for manufacturers of Windows Phone 7 at MIX11.
We also received this info from @WindosPhone8 (still rumour guys!): "New flexible spec #Wp7 chasis requires no wi fi, bluetooth, 3g, camera, fm, compass, gyro. Must have wvga 3.5"+, gps, accelerometer, 2g+"
While this would tie in nicely with Nokia bringing devices to the platform and would certainly appeal to many with a really tight budget, I don't see this happening simply because there are already fairly cheap options already on the platform - namely the HTC 7 Trophy which is available at Amazon (UK) for £299.99 (just under $500US), not to mention previous deals on the Samsung Focus. As well as that, lower-end hardware would introduce concerns from users that the devices may not be able to run the software (and applications) smoothly to ensure a user experience found on top-end models.
With the current line of WP7 devices packing a single-core processor, I'm not entirely sure how low we could go before performance begins to become an issue, especially with multitasking coming around the corner later this year in Mango. Microsoft themselves stated numerous times they're in the smartphone race for the long run, why would they begin to go back on the WP7 foundations that features strict platform hardware requirements? WP7 would also run the risk of mild fragmentation, something that made many of us leave Android.
Let's see if anything is announced at MIX this week, what do you think about the rumor? Do you think it's nonsense and Microsoft will stick to the fantastic strict specification requirements, or do you believe they're starting to get impatient about marketshare?
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Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.


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AnTuTu’s ranking of the fastest Android phones for the month of March is out with Xiaomi still making waves with its recently unveiled Mi 9. While the Mi 9 claimed last February top spot dethroning the Nubia Red Magic Mars, a change that wasn’t unexpected, given that the Mi 9 has the SD 855 humming under its hood, the device has now given way for its sibling – the Mi 9.
For the month of March, the standard Mi 9 one step down the ladder, relinquishing the number one spot for the Xiaomi Mi 9 Transparent Edition. The Transparent Edition, with a Snapdragon 855 under the hood, scored 372,072 on AnTuTu, while the Xiaomi Mi 9, on the other hand, bagged the second spot with a slightly lower score of 371,878.
The monster VIVO IQOO – a new entrant to the list with its 12GB RAM and 256GB storage clinched the third position with an average score of 365,430, while the duo of the Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10 secured the fourth and fifth place with 359,987 points and 359,217 points respectively. The IQOO and the S10 duo are based on the SD 855, so it is not surprising seeing them on the list.
Gizchina News of the week
VIVO again makes an appearance on the list with the standard IQOO which still is based on the SD 855 occupying the 6th place with 356,510 Antutu scores, while the Nubia Red Magic Mars with the Snapdragon 845 chipset under its hood finds itself in the eighth position, Honor V20 in ninth, and Honor Mate 20X in the last spot.
A few devices based on the latest SD855 and some on the HiSilicon Kirin 980 SoC are just arriving, so sure are to see some dislodgement in the April report from AnTuTu.


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The insurance industry in India is on the rise and with digitisation increasing throughout the country it is becoming increasingly easier to get insurances done online. Now, AskArvi.com has made it even more convenient by enabling users to buy insurance policies over a mobile chat.
Mumbai-based Haida Technologies Pvt. Ltd., the company behind AskArvi, has fully automated the insurance web aggregator platform to provide an easy, perosnalised buying experience to customers – via mobile chat.
The company rolled out its personal insurance assistant, Arvi, that combines artificial intelligence and data which makes insurance-buying instant, intuitive and informative for customers.
Sushant Reddy, co-founder and CEO of AskArvi, said, “Our vision is to help our customers make the fastest and smartest financial decisions over a mobile chat.”
Given the complex terms used in conventional insurance-related literature, users often need to rely on middle-men. This is something the company is looking to undo and believes that AI could the answer in eliminating these ‘agents’.
AskArvi launched in 2017 and reportedly helped over 15,000 customers with products and information support on claims while still in its beta stage. Founded by Sushant Reddy, Alok Tiwari, Ashwin Narkhede and Mandar Zope, the startup closed their seed round in September and is now servicing health insurance and travel insurance segments. They are also planning to include life and auto insurance over the coming months.
The startup plans to leverage AI platforms like IBM Watson which would make for intelligent conversations with customers regarding insurance. According to ANI, customer can ask Arvi questions like “Show me plans that provide maternity benefits” or “Show me plans that provide best cashless coverage in Mumbai” and Arvi will automatically filter plans according to the customer’s needs enabling better decisions.
The insurance market in India is seeing some interesting updates. As reported earlier, e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart are also looking to enter the insurance market space. Amazon is close to signing a deal with Mumbai-based insurance startup Acko and will soon start offering a slew of financial products on its platform here. Flipkart has also filed documents with the Registrar of Companies looking to get the nod from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority to be allowed to sell insurance products.


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Huawei has today launched its latest flagship smartwatch in India after originally unveiling it at the Mate 30 launch event in Munich, Germany, back in September. Called the Huawei Watch GT 2, it’s a successor to the company’s Huawei Watch GT smartwatch and brings a number of new software and hardware upgrades over its predecessor.
Huawei Watch GT 2 Features and Specifications
The Huawei Watch GT 2 comes in two sizes, including with a 42mm variant with a 1.2-inch AMOLED display (390 x 390 resolution) and a 46mm variant with a 1.39-inch AMOLED display (454 x 454 resolution), with a 3D glass uni-piece crystal-bezel design and always-on mode. The rest of the tech specs remain identical, including a Kirin A1 chip, 4 GB built-in storage (~2GB usable) and 5ATM water-resistance.
The smartwatch also packs GPS, a heart rate sensor and support for the new Bluetooth v5.1 (BLE) standard, offering 2x better range the Apple Watch Series 4. The watch runs on Huawei’s own LiteOS instead of Google’s WearOS and sports a battery of unspecified capacity that the company says will last around 30 hours in GPS mode, 24 hours of music playback and 10 hours of Bluetooth calling.
Sensors include an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor, an optical heart rate sensor, an ambient light sensor, an air pressure sensor and a capacitive sensor. Like the recently-launched Honor MagicWatch 2, the GT 2 also supports 15 sports modes and has an integrated microphone and speaker for voice calling.
Huawei Watch GT2 Price and Availability
Huawei Watch GT 2 pricing starts at Rs. 14,990 for the 42mm model, but it won’t be available right away. The 46mm variant, meanwhile, has been priced starting at Rs. 15,990 for the ‘Sports Edition’ model, which will be up for sale from December 19 on Flipkart, Amazon, Croma and various offline retail stores.
Customers buying the device before December 31 will also get a Huawei Minispeaker for free. Pre-orders during December 12 – December 18 will also entitle buyers to get the Huawei Freelace wireless earphones worth Rs. 6,999 for free.


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“This Christmas, make a declaration.” So exhorts the Diamond Trading Company’s fall diamond jewelry advertising campaign. Building on previous themes, the campaign focuses on three key areas of diamond jewelry marketing: the “Past, Present, and Future” three-stone jewelry campaign; the “statement diamond” campaign; and fancy-shape diamonds.
This is a challenging Christmas season, says Seth Grossman, director of market planning for J. Walter Thompson, DTC’s advertising agency. While holiday acquisition rates of diamond jewelry have jumped 26% by volume over the past five years, the 2002 holiday selling season is a week shorter than usual, with only three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The overriding theme for the fall campaign is “Make a Declaration [of love].” It was developed after DPS and JWT examined both diamond jewelry sales trends and the American psyche as it moved from the exuberance of the millennium to the somber days of post-Sept. 11. Though permanently wary of terrorism and still mired in economic and social uncertainty, Americans are nonetheless ready to move on.
“Most cultures and religions use the one-year anniversary as a marker to end a mourning period,” says Brandee Dallow, account supervisor at the Diamond Information Center. “It seems as though America, and New York and Washington in particular, were holding their breath [until Sept. 11, 2002], but by looking at [articles in] the general media, we can see that America has moved from shock and grief toward determination, hope, and rebuilding.”
The “Declaration” theme is designed to do exactly that. After the 9/11 attacks, JWT immediately scrapped its 2001 holiday advertising copy to find a message more appropriate to the nation’s somber mood. The resulting “Hands” television spot shows no product but focuses on an elderly couple holding hands and a young couple inspired by them to take each other’s hand. “Hands” will still be part of the TV rotation for 2002, but Grossman doesn’t think it has quite enough urgency to convey the diamond jewelry message this year. “It’s time to make a declaration, both as a nation, and to those we love,” he says.
The campaign will incorporate JWT’s now-famous humorous bold black-and-white print ads, with such drivers as “Make a Declaration of Dependence,” or “It’s Like Saying ‘I Love You’ Through a Megaphone With the Volume Turned Up to 11.” There is also a new television spot—the first in years with voices—titled “Venice.” Shot in St. Mark’s Square, it focuses on a young man shouting to passersby and pigeons alike, “I love this woman!” and presenting her with diamond jewelry.
The “statement diamonds” idea also will help jewelers gain incremental dollars from holiday sales, say Dallow and Grossman. Diamond jewelry is no longer perceived as a gift just for the affluent, but there remains a price distribution gap in sales. The bulk of diamond jewelry units sold are under $500 (accounting for 26% of the value of all diamond jewelry sold), while 56% of the value of all diamond jewelry sold (but only 12% of units) comes from pieces costing more than $1,000. The “statement” idea won’t push an under-$500 customer to the over-$1,000 category but might help jewelers drive a $199 purchase to $399, or a $599 purchase to $799, says Dallow.
Other holiday advertising plans include an edgy photography campaign focusing on fancy-shaped diamonds. Shadowed, naked couples embracing depict the various shapes of diamonds. “Design drives desire, and this campaign seeks to take customers out of the usual realm of how they view diamonds,” says Dallow. There is also a push to drive customers to the Design Gallery of the www.adiamondisforever.com Web site.
The final element is a continuation of the “past, present, and future” three-stone jewelry campaign—again, says Grossman, tapping into the emotional reasons for giving diamond jewelry.
Retailers will benefit from the fall 2002 campaign in a number of ways. “We’re giving the retailers the tools, and we’re working with them hand in hand,” says Dallow. Free marketing materials, such as counter cards and ad slicks, are available to retailers, and these can be personalized. Retailers also can download pictures of the pieces and copy lines used in the campaigns from www.dps.org.


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When it comes to finding freight companies that fit your needs, many businesses focus exclusively on traditional delivery methods. While transporting materials by rail, road, or sea will continue to play a significant role in the global marketplace, it is also important for businesses to understand how new advances in technology are changing logistics for the better. Here are just a few examples of how new tech is bringing about big change.
Drones are an increasingly common sight in the air, and with their wide range of applications, it should hardly be surprising that they are already playing a role in local deliveries. Though current drones are hardly fit for large-scale freight shipments, their convenience and reliability is already making an impact.
Currently, drone deliveries are generally limited to smaller packages, and can only be performed during favorable weather conditions. Don’t be surprised, however, to see new expansions to these services as the technology is fine-tuned.
Another change in direct to consumer logistics is the rise of in-store distribution. Rather than shipping an item directly to the customer’s home address, many businesses are instead shipping from items their warehouse to local brick and mortar stores. The customers receive a notification once their item is ready for pickup, and go to the store to complete the transaction.
Such distribution methods help reduce costs for both manufacturers and consumers by reducing the need for smaller local delivery vehicles. They also reduce the risk of theft or accidental damage. Unsurprisingly, these benefits have resulted in the increasing popularity of this option in urban and suburban areas.
Perhaps the most newsworthy (and certainly most controversial) change to freight logistics is the introduction of fully autonomous vehicles. Several companies have begun testing driverless semi trucks, and the results so far have been encouraging. Automated delivery systems show great promise for reducing costs and improving overall efficiency of the global freight system.
However, it will likely be quite some time before such changes are implemented on a wide scale. Concerns over workforce displacement and safety regulations mean that fully automated freight vehicles will be gradually introduced to the roads. Still, this is one trend worth watching.
Such changes to the logistics marketplace are already affecting companies big and small. As logistics providers continue to adapt their services, businesses will find themselves with far more delivery options. While there will undoubtedly be a few hiccups along the way, this new tech is poised to ultimately make freight delivery more efficient and reliable than ever.


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New Delhi: The government today said inflation continues to be a matter of concern and needs policy action to contain it, although prices are expected to start falling slowly over the next two to three months.
“I believe inflation is still high ... still of concern. We do need policies for that (containing it), but probably inflation has peaked,” chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu told reporters on the sidelines of an Assocham function.
Basu expects inflation, which touched 9.9% in March, to start falling steeply after a few months.
“It (inflation) is going to be on a downward trajectory slowly for 2-3 months and then rapidly thereafter,” he added.
While economists expect the RBI to tighten money supply to cool down surging prices in its 20 April policy review, Basu said there are other intervention options as well that the government can take, apart from monetary action by the RBI.
“You are probably going to see little bit of different kinds of interventions. I don’t know whether it’s going to be monetary intervention... there are things that we are planning in terms of pulses, food release, sugar,” he said.
“RBI has been extremely judicious,” he added.
Led by rising food prices, overall inflation had gone up to a 17-month high in March.
“For a long time, we thought that food never crossed 20% (inflation), but then we discovered that in the end of November, it had actually crossed 20%,” Basu said.
He said core inflation has come down down, although it continues to still be high. “Core inflation by our calculation is 5.2% in March. It was 5.5% in February.”


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News Flash Home
The original item was published from 4/13/2020 9:21:54 AM to 5/1/2020 12:00:12 AM.
Posted on: April 13, 2020
[ARCHIVED] Senior Yoga Now Available Online
Seniors (aged 60+) can now attend Yoga virtually from home on Fridays. Details and registration information can be found online here:
Virtual Senior Yoga Information


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Etsy’s Reworked Rules Open The Door To Bigger Sellers
According to their guideline changes, sellers on the online marketplace can now hire employees, outsource shipping, and use manufacturers.
Created in 2005 as a place to sell home made craft products, Etsy recently changed their guidelines to expand who can sell through the online marketplace and how they can sell their goods.
According to the new policies, sellers can hire employees, outsource their shipping, and use manufacturers to produce their creations. That is, as long as they are transparent about it.
The company has been experiencing some growing pains and has come up against issues concerning sellers and the company’s policies. Last year, there were sellers who protested that a featured shop violated Etsy’s policies after it was discovered the shop had a staff creating its products. The company has also gotten feedback from sellers that their policies are confusing. The definition of what qualified as a hand made shop was unclear for some.
According to a blog post by CEO Chad Dickerson, the policy changes are long overdue and give the control back to sellers. This means the sellers can decide how they want to run their business. The new policies aim to be more flexible and open to the different methods or process that sellers take to create their original products.
This change in policy means larger sellers can now get on Etsy, but the company is also making sure that sellers are being transparent. Many businesses that start on Etsy are growing and the company doesn’t want to turn these businesses away. Etsy is asking sellers who work with a third party to create their products apply for review and approval to make sure that their products are authentic and that they aren’t simply passing off mass-produced items as hand-made goods.
Although the new guidelines are more flexible, they can also become an issue for the small shops who won’t be able to compete with larger sellers. According to a post on Bloomberg Businessweek, however, rival marketplaces are more than happy to accept the Etsy sellers who decide to jump ship.


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The American workplace is undergoing a radical transformation: independent workers now make up a full 30 percent of the labor pool-and experts estimate that the figure could rise to 50% by 2020. Even though times are tough, these Americans aren’t waiting around for big corporations to create opportunity for them: self-employed workers are launching more startups than at any time in the last 14 years. That’s exactly the kind of economic engine we need to feed and nurture. Unfortunately, the 42 million freelancers working in this country lack the basic wage protections that other workers can count on. It’s time to change that.
This year, I introduced S4129C which authorizes the Department of Labor to investigate complaints;, make claims for compensation;, assess liquid damages, civil penalties, and criminal penalties; and authorizes the award of attorney fees and liquidated damages. This legislation would afford independent contractors the same compensation guarantees as traditional employees.
Freelancers are among the fastest-growing workforce in the country, yet they’re also among the least protected. They’re discovering that the new gig economy offers none of the guarantees of traditional employment-not even a paycheck when the work is complete. Indeed, we’ve seen wave after wave of evidence of independent workers getting stiffed on payments-even from wealthy corporations who could easily pay, and would never dream of withholding wages from their salaried employees. Freelancers Union surveyed its 165,000 members and found shocking numbers: members reported being cheated out of an average of $4,643 in wages and were paid late an average of $10,000. In all, 77 percent of Freelancers Union members reported struggling to collect-44 percent in the last year alone. When contractors challenge these deadbeat companies, they often find that the company turns around and blames another client, pretends to be confused about the terms of the payment agreement, or just disappears entirely.
Freelancers Union recently launched two new free tools to help independent workers push back on deadbeat companies and collect the money they’re owed. A new Client Scorecard serves as an online directory-similar to Yelp or Angie’s List-where freelancers can rate and review companies they’ve worked for, and a Contract Creator that allows freelancers to create customized, legally-binding contracts, without the expense of hiring an attorney. (Both tools are available at www.freelancersunion.org) The response has been great-but every freelancer knows these steps just aren’t enough on their own.
When traditional wage workers are mistreated by their employer, they can file a claim with the State Department of Labor. Right now, Freelancers cannot. In order to recoup their pay they must go through the costly and uncertain ordeal of filing in small claims court. That’s where the legislation I introduced comes in. The legislation gives independent workers the right to file claims with the Department of Labor, which would in turn be empowered to go after deadbeat companies on behalf of the claimant.
As more and more Americans are striking out on their own to support their families and start businesses, now more than ever we need this legislation to become law.


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According to Engadget, Apple has been working with Intel since possibly as early as 2007 on a new standard intended as a universal solution to replace USB, Firewire and Display interface. Head on over to Engadget to check out their take on how Light Peak sprung to life.
Light Peak. The Genesis
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Yesterday, Google announced it would rename its four-year-old smartwatch operating system from Android Wear to Wear OS. Ostensibly, the purpose of this rebranding is to prevent scaring off iPhone owners from purchasing smartwatches running Android Wear, which for a long time has supported pairing with both Android and iOS devices. As Google puts it, Wear OS is "a wearables operating system for everyone".
The people of Plattsburgh, New York have had enough. Yesterday, the city council approved an 18-month moratorium on new cryptocurrency mining operations. The temporary ban will be used to figure out what to do with these ding dong miners using up all the electricity.