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ONE OF THE WINNING TICKETS WAS SOLD IN THE CITY OF RED BUD, ILLINOIS
Lottery ticket-holders in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland each selected the winning numbers for the world record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions jackpot, lottery officials said early Saturday.
Illinois’ winning ticket was sold in the small town of Red Bud, near St. Louis, and the winner used a quick pick to select the numbers, Illinois Lottery spokesman Mike Lang said. The Maryland Lottery said it sold a winning ticket at a retail store in Baltimore County.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL NEWS STORY


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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- GrubHub Inc.
on Monday filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell 10 million shares in a secondary offering. The online platform for restaurant pick-up and delivery orders said it is planning to use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes. The company will have 80 million shares outstanding once the offering is completed. Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch will act as lead underwriters. GrubHub shares were halted for the release of the news, but are up 63% since the company's initial public offering in April. The S&P 500 is up 8% in the year to date.

domain: news


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International Battery Company (IBC), the US-owned battery manufacturer, announced an investment of around $1 billion in a new 10 GWh plant for prismatic lithium-ion battery cells. It will be built on the outskirts of Bengaluru, in Karnataka state, southern India.
IBC already manufactures high-performance battery cells with more than 160 Wh/cell in a pilot plant in South Korea. The company claims that energy density is 40% higher than for conventional cells, offering up to 160 KWh/kg. Recycling of the components should be easy thanks to the oxide chemistry, which allows re-use of lithium, and which will not cause any toxic phosphate pollution.
The R&D work and design of the prismatic cells is performed in the US, based on proprietary I-NMC chemistry. IBC also emphasises that it has added thermal protections to avoid overheating of the high-performance cells, offering a lifespan up to 15 years.
The battery also contains a custom lid and scan design to reduce the risk of explosion or fire.
According to IBC, the large form prismatic cells offer the advantage of fewer units required for each battery pack. The cells manufactured in South Korea have been used in testing and to build a supply chain platform.
The Indian plant will be supplied by local manufacturers and subsidiaries of foreign battery component producers.
The US R&D centre will transfer know-how to India, which will remain the major market for the new production unit, scheduled to be in full production in 2028. IBC India president Venkatesh Valluri said India will need lithium cell batteries in the range of about 150 GW capacity by 2030.


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Danimer Scientific (NYSE: DNMR) is a leading next- generation bioplastics company focused on the development and production of biodegradable materials. The company recently announced the closing of its registered direct offering for the purchase and sale of 15,000,000 shares of common stock (or common stock equivalent in lieu thereof) at a purchase price of $1.00 per share (or per common stock equivalent in lieu thereof) and accompanying warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 15,000,000 shares of common stock. Danimer secured approximately $15 million in gross proceeds, of which it intends to use the net for working capital and general corporate purposes. Roth Capital Partners acted as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.
To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/kexh8
About Danimer Scientific Inc.
Danimer is a pioneer in creating more sustainable, more natural ways to make plastic products. For more than a decade, its renewable and sustainable biopolymers have helped create plastic products that are biodegradable and compostable and return to nature instead of polluting our lands and waters. Danimer’s technology can be found in a vast array of plastic end products that people use every day. Applications for its biopolymers include additives, aqueous coatings, fibers, filaments, films and injection-molded articles, among others. Danimer holds more than 480 granted patents and pending patent applications in more than 20 countries for a range of manufacturing processes and biopolymer formulations. For more information about the company, visit https://danimerscientific.com.
InvestorWire (“IW”) is a specialized communications platform with a focus on advanced wire-grade press release syndication for private and public companies and the investment community. It is one of 60+ brands within the Dynamic Brand Portfolio @ IBN that delivers: (1) access to a vast network of wire solutions via InvestorWire to efficiently and effectively reach a myriad of target markets, demographics and diverse industries; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ outlets; (3) enhanced press release enhancement to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN to millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of tailored corporate communications solutions. With broad reach and a seasoned team of contributing journalists and writers, IW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that want to reach a wide audience of investors, influencers, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, IW brings its clients unparalleled recognition and brand awareness. IW is where breaking news, insightful content and actionable information converge.
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This weekend only, get our new Marketplace zip up hoodie when you donate $8/month instead of $16/month. Don’t wait — this offer ends at midnight Sunday!
Segments From this episode
British Petroleum announces a two-year plan to sell off all 700 of its AM/PM stores to franchisees. Nearly 10,000 eployees will lose their BP jobs. Stephen Beard reports from London.
The price of the annual turkey feast is a reliable indicator of overall consumer prices. And this year, it's jumped 11 percent from last year. But it's still a bargain. Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.
Japan currently limits imports of U.S. beef to young cattle, up to 20 months old, due to concerns about mad cow disease. President Bush is likely to ask for imports of older cattle. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.
Marketplace Morning Report for Friday, November 16, 2007


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MILAN FASHION WEEK
Milan, Paris, London: The European cities that are the Mecca of fashionistas
Fashion is considered as one of the world’s most important industries, driving a big part of the global economy.
Bulgaria, Japan & Indonesia: Streets that spell style
Global travellers are on the lookout for tradition-inspired urban trends.
Beyond the classroom: For the footloose millennial, travel is part of education
Nowadays, youngsters combine a vacation with a workshop to learn a new skill.
Saudi Arabia gearing up to host first-ever Fashion Week in Riyadh
This step will help reform the country's dependence on oil, expanding the private sector and empowering women.
From player to one-man multinational: Cristiano Ronaldo
As befits a man of his renown, CR7 has no fewer than 330 million "followers" on social media -- more than any other athlete, meaning sponsors queue to make him the face of their merchandise.
Singer Kanika Kapoor becomes first Indian to perform at the Buckingham Palace
The India-based singer is on her way to becoming a global brand.
Louis Vuitton’s next generation steps up to Kanye's latest tune; is breaking away from brand's modus operandi
As Bernard Arnault's children expand their influence, LVMH is reshaping the brands it already owns.
Have a chic vacation in mind? Head to Milan in Italy or Seoul in South Korea for a fashionable experience
Go ahead and spot ways of vanity right on the streets and here’s your cue to up your travel fashion quotient.
Japan reaps benefits of its stars playing in Europe
Kazuyoshi Miura, who had left Japan as a teenager to eventually play for Palmeiras and Santos in Brazil, scored four of the goals, taking him to 53 for the national side.
Style check: Athleisure stole the show at Milan & London Fashion Weeks
Roberto Cavalli highlighted embroidered jackets, while Ralph Lauren designed printed jackets as their trump card.
Soccer: Roma inconsistency more exasperating after Barca win
SOCCER-ITALY-PREVIEW:Soccer: Roma inconsistency more exasperating after Barca win
Versace's original Golden Girls walk the runway 20 years on and they look stunning
The show marked the 20th anniversary of Gianni Versace's murder.
Fashion fortune goes to a foundation: Giorgio Armani details succession plans
With an estimated fortune of close to $6 billion, Armani is still active in Italy's second-largest fashion group.


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The decline could prove a nightmare for holidaymakers , with currency experts warning a pound may get you just a single euro next year.
Sterling fell to its lowest level in five years against the European currency, with £1 worth just €1.13 this morning.
That marks a sharp contrast to the €1.30 you could get for your pound before Britain voted to leave the European Union in the referendum in June.
A pound will also get you just $1.27 today, after hitting its lowest value against the dollar for more than 30 years.
Now there are concerns the price of holidays abroad could continue to rise, with some predicting the pound could be worth the same as the euro next year.
But such a fall in the pound's value could be good news for hotels, attractions and other Liverpool businesses which benefit from tourism - as holidays in Britain will be cheaper for foreign visitors.
It could also be good for some local companies which sell goods abroad, making their products cheaper overseas compared to their international rivals.
John Wraith, head of UK rates strategy at Swiss bank UBS, said: "When the global financial crisis entered its acute phase, sterling resumed its rapid decline, falling a further 20% by the end of 2008.
"Although different in its underlying causes, a similar pattern of decline, pause, and fresh falls may be unfolding now."
"We reiterate our forecasts for the end of 2017 of 1.20 dollars for GBP/USD, and 1.00 for EUR/GBP."
But Theresa May played down the significance of the pound's plunging value in a BBC interview at the Conservative party conference.
She said: "Currencies of course go up and down. If you stand back and look at the fundamentals of our economy, which are strong, if you look at the other economic data that has been around in recent weeks, if you look indeed at the most recent forecasts now coming out for growth in our economy this year, all of that is more positive than people had expected it to be and predicted it to be."


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Apple has released a quarterly report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, which reported on December 31 for the first time since Q2 2019. The main reasons are said to be a decrease in iPhone sales due to quarantine measures in China, a strong currency, and general macroeconomic factors.
Apple's revenue decreased by 5.4 percent in the previous quarter from $121.1 billion. The company's earnings per share also fell by 10.9 percent year on year.
Apple faced a range of difficulties during the first quarter of fiscal year 2023. Among them were issues with the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, which were caused by COVID-19 and related disturbance at the largest iPhone assembly factory in Zhengzhou, China.
Apple stated in a report that iPhone sales generated $65.8 billion in revenue last quarter, compared to $68.3 billion predicted by analysts. Sales of wearables and other Apple devices last quarter fell 8.1 percent year over year to $13.48 billion, also below market expectations of $15.23 billion.
This is a 28.66% decrease from last year, and it is also significantly less than analyst's expectations of $9.6 billion.
The only hardware segment that saw growth in the last quarter was the iPad, which increased immediately by 29.66% to $ 9.4 billion, and significantly exceeded analysts' estimates of $ 7.76 billion. This is due to the release of new models and the absence of a shortage, which had hampered sales of Apple tablets a year earlier.
Apple Services, which include Apple Music and Apple TV+ audio and video streaming services, the App Store, Apple Pay, iCloud, and other services, increased 6% year over year to $20.8 billion, slightly ahead of estimates. Apple Pay and Apple Card, and music, are strong areas of Apple services, according to Cook.
Apple's CFO Luca Maestri predicted that Mac and iPad revenue would decrease by two figures in the current quarter, while smartphone revenue will decline faster than in the previous quarter.
Apple investors are waiting to see if the company will explore new market segments this year. There are high expectations for Apple's planned flagship mixed reality headset this year, which might cost around $3,000. Alternatively, there are rumors that the company is working on a more affordable AR / VR device.
Apple hasn't announced large layoffs, although the business is slowing down its recruitment and is cutting costs, according to Cook.
If you notice an error, click on it with the mouse and press CTRL + ENTER.


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Mumbai: The second day of the three-day mega textiles fair ‘Textile India 2017’ in Gandhinagar got off to a cheerful start with the signing of 65 MoUs in the textiles sector.
The MoUs were signed between various domestic and international organizations from the industry and the government in the presence of Union Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani and Minister of State, Textiles, Ajay Tamta. Of the 65 MoUs, three were G2G MoUs.
The signatories to the MoUs included organizations from countries like China, Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Japan, among others.
These were related to information exchange, documentation, research and development, skill development, commercialization of handloom products and silk production, cooperation in Geo textiles supply of cotton and trade promotion with overseas partners, etc.
Addressing the press, Smriti Irani said that the current age is a golden era for development of textile industry. She also said that many Union Ministers will be attending Textiles India 2017 tomorrow, on the 3rd and final day of the mega event.
Other luminaries included Union Textiles Secretary, Shri Anant Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Smt. Pushpa Subrahmanyam and Textiles Commissioner, Ms. Kavita Gupta....


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Toronto Fashion Week is back! After a hiatus and sponsorship changes, the fashion lovers of this city were abruptly left without a runway to flock to. Luckily, the future of Toronto Fashion Week looks bright with its recent revival.
In December, 2016, Peter Freed announced the purchase of Toronto Fashion Week from IMG Canada Limited. Freed, President of Freed Developments, is spearheading the ownership group comprised of several founding sponsors that include The Hazelton Hotel, Hill & Gertner Capital Corporation and Yorkville Village.
The official fall show dates of Toronto Fashion Week were announced for September 5, 6, and 7. To toast the announcement was Suzanne Cohon, Fashion, Arts and Cultural Ambassador, Toronto Fashion Week and Carolyn Quinn, Executive Director, Toronto Fashion Week.
The bi-annual festival celebrating fashion, art and culture will take place within Toronto’s most prestigious luxury retail and brand neighbourhood, Yorkville along Hazelton Avenue and Yorkville Avenue.
A robust programming schedule to occur over the three day festival will include fashion talks with internationally renowned designers and industry experts, runway shows and fashion presentations.


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He even reckons the burger giant is better than some restaurants. __BREAK1__
Jamie, 34, said: âœMcDonaldâ™s in the UK is very different from ÂMcDonaldâ™s in the US. GENERAL ELECTION 2010: NEWS, POLLS, MAPS, GAMES AND ANALYSIS... âœThe quality of beef, they only sell free-range eggs, they only sell organic milk and their ethics and recycling are being improved.
âœI canâ™t believe Iâ™m sitting here telling you McDonaldâ™s UK has come a long way, but actually it probably puts quite a lot of gastropubs to shame with the amount of work they are doing.
âœAnd theyâ™re proving that being commercial and caring can work.
âœActually, itâ™s the future.â
Oliverâ™s revelation will cause a stir. For the past five years he has been on a crusade to get schoolchildren to stop eating junk food.
In Jamieâ™s School Dinners he urged Government ministers to back his campaign.
At the time, dad-of-three Jamie said: âœIâ™d hate for us to end up like America where youâ™ve got McDonaldâ™s sponsoring school canteens.
âœThatâ™s scary.â __BREAK3__
The cook makes his McDonaldâ™s claim on new US show, Jamie Oliverâ™s Food Revolution.
He travels to Americaâ™s least healthy towns to teach children the importance of eating well.
In one episode, he even shows youngsters what really goes into a McDonaldâ™s chicken nugget in an attempt to put them off.
Meanwhile, the Essex geezer has hinted he may vote Tory next month, saying yesterday: âœI like Cameron. I think heâ™s bright and he cares.â
__BREAK4__ __BREAK5__ __BREAK6__ __BREAK7__


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New car registrations have plunged again after a further collapse in the sale of diesel vehicles that is being widely blamed on the government.
Sales are down more than 11 per cent in November, a decline for the eighth month running. The industry has described the crash as a “major concern”.
Last year a record 2.7 million new cars were sold in Britain. This year that figure is on course to fall by more than 5 per cent, a decline of more than 11,000 cars a month and one likely to take it below 2015 levels of 2.6 million.
In November, registrations of new cars fell 11.2 per cent to 163,541. Sales to fleet owners of more than 25 company cars or cars for rent…


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United States Consulate in Nigeria has said that for Nigeria to succeed, young entrepreneurs creating new businesses, generating new ideas and innovating new ways of improving services must be assisted to succeed.
Delivering his opening remarks yesterday at the Conference for Emerging Entrepreneurs hosted by the U.S. Consulate in collaboration with Field of Skills and Dreams (FSD) in Owerri, the Imo state capital, the Public Affairs Officer of the Consulate, Russell Brooks noted that small businesses largely produce the jobs and provide the incomes that keep an economy growing.
He noted that the Conference for Emerging Entrepreneurs in Imo State has brought together 150 young, talented, and ambitious entrepreneurs from across the South East of Nigeria.
The 150 participants, he said, were selected through a competitive process from over 2000 applicants.
Citing relevant statistics Brooks said: “The National Bureau of Statistics reported in 2017 that Nigerian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises created 59.6 million jobs across the country, and with a population of nearly 200 million, the importance of these jobs and the financial support that they provide for families throughout this nation cannot be overemphasized.”
He stated further that: “For Nigeria to succeed, the men and women who are creating these businesses, or hope to create new businesses must succeed. Their ideas for new products or improved services will produce the growth, the jobs, and the incomes that will lead to a more prosperous, stable, and secure Nigeria.”
On why the U.S. Mission in Nigeria is involved with the conference, Brooks explained: “The Conference for Emerging Entrepreneurs is important to the United States Consulate because we have learned that it is an extremely successful means to promote one of our principal aims in Nigeria which is to encourage economic growth, trade, and investment.
“We are committed to supporting entrepreneurs in Nigeria, because we believe that they, their ideas and their energy, represent Nigeria’s best hope to create new products and services that will be attractive to markets around the world, and thereby produce the growth, jobs, and incomes that will be crucial to bringing about the future Nigeria that these young people want and deserve.”
Russell Brooks further urged the participants to embrace the virtue of perseverance stressing through illustrations of successful entrepreneurs, that the resolve to try, patience and perseverance are the only ingredients that differentiate the successful entrepreneur from the non-successful.


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Mobile banking usage to double in the next three years
Published on: 22nd Jun 2010
Note -- this news article is more than a year old.
The number of mobile subscribers who use their phones for mobile banking will exceed 400m globally by 2013, according to a new in depth study by Juniper Research. This equates to double the number of users this year.
The results of Juniper's survey showed that banks are laying the foundations for this rapid user take-up by rolling out services using SMS, mobile web and apps to provide additional channel choices for their customers.
Report author Howard Wilcox explained: "Our survey concluded that banks in all regions are becoming increasingly innovative in their service offerings and provide impetus for user growth. Mobile is becoming a "must have" channel for banks."
The mobile banking report, however, stressed that some banks are limiting their options by offering insufficient mobile channel options for users, whilst others have yet to deploy mobile services at all. On the other hand, there are many banks in Europe, North America and the Far East that are actively delivering and promoting their services by significant above the line marketing campaigns.


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Wantable Helps Combat COVID-19 By Crowdsourcing Homemade Facemasks Through its “Sew Good” Initiative
Tuesday, March 24, 2020 – 9:00 a.m. CT
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – As medical mask inventory in hospitals across the country becomes increasingly depleted, Wantable is temporarily shifting from its day-to-day operations as a try-before-you-buy online retail business to help those in need through their “Sew Good” initiative.
The initiative launches on Tuesday, March 24 and will leverage Wantable’s technology, logistics, and Milwaukee-based fulfillment center to fuel an army of at-home sewing volunteers across the country to mass produce face masks. Each volunteer will receive instructions on how to make the masks and a prepaid shipping label to send their completed masks to Wantable. Once received, all face masks will be examined for quality assurance and distributed to hospitals and first responders in need.
“We have the opportunity to leverage our technology and resources to empower our customers, employees and anyone with a sewing machine to help our community,” said Jalem Getz, founder and CEO of Wantable. “Everyone at Wantable was eager to help, and now we get a chance to support those on the medical frontlines who are running out of supplies.”
“We know even the most carefully crafted home-made masks are not a replacement for medical-grade masks, but when we heard some health-care workers are being asked to reuse masks, or create their own at home, we knew we needed to help with the temporary shortage” he added.
In an effort to move swiftly and get face masks into the hands of the medical professionals battling COVID-19, Wantable is approaching the “Sew Good” initiative with an iterative model. During phase one of the initiative, which launched March 24, Wantable is asking volunteers to use supplies they have on hand, such as 100% cotton fabric and elastic.
During the second phase of the initiative, face-mask-making kits with cotton fabric and elastic will be shipped to volunteers who do not have the necessary supplies at home. Wantable is partnering with vendors and auditing their existing inventory to source materials that can be made into masks.
“Urgent times call for urgent measures,” said Getz “We are scanning our existing inventory and working with our vendors to identify any articles of clothing that are made of 100% cotton and preparing them so they can be sewn into face masks.”
In a time of great need, the goal of this initiative is to empower volunteers to pull together and fight the spread of COVID-19 by supporting our hospitals and healthcare workers.
Wantable is calling on all volunteers interested in sewing masks to learn more at https://www.wantable.com/sew-good/.
For those who’d like to join the cause but don’t have a sewing machine, Wantable needs your help too! Spread the word across your social channels with the hashtag #sewgood
About Wantable: Wantable is a try-before-you-buy retailer. Stylists create one-of-a-kind relationships with customers to deliver looks geared to their unique tastes, needs and wants. Wantable uses data science to personalize and enhance the shopping experience to fuel the self-confidence of its customers.


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Friendster said on Monday it received $10 million in new funding to expand abroad and help its pioneering social-networking site survive in a market dominated by younger successors who stole its thunder.
Friendster's initial funding in 2004 set off a speculative boom of copycat investments, which drew comparisons to the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s but also spawned the rise of its now-far-larger rivals, MySpace and Facebook.
Friendster President Kent Lindstrom, a three-year veteran who took over day-to-day management in February, said his strategy was to return the company to its original vision of building on real-world relationships between friends rather than virtual friendships that other social networks emphasize.
"We are hopefully your place to link to your real post-college friends," he said in an interview. "In some sense we have conceded that MySpace is a much better media company."
MySpace is a teenage Web craze with 51 percent of the U.S. social networking market -- 10 times more than No. 2-ranked Facebook, a favorite with college audiences, with 4.7 percent of recent visits, according to Internet audience measurement firm Hitwise Inc. Friendster attracts 0.24 percent, or 213 times fewer U.S. visitors than MySpace, ranking it 34th among U.S. web users of social networks and online communities.
But it now has $10 million to improve technology and invest abroad. DAG Ventures of Palo Alto, California is lead investor in the new round, joined by previous venture capital investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and Benchmark Capital.
Under the radar of many former fans, Friendster has become far more popular among users outside the United States and Canada, which now accounts for only about a quarter of its 8 million to 9 million regular users, Lindstrom said.
Instead, he said roughly 40 percent of users come from English-speaking Asia -- places like Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, where large expatriate populations often turn to Friendster to find friends upon arriving in new cities.
Another 25 percent of the audience comes from international users in places such as Mexico, Britain or France, he added.
"We have a very international point of view," Lindstrom said. This transformation appears to parallel how Google's rival social social networking service, Orkut, has become a big hit with Brazilians, which are estimated to account for roughly three-quarters of its global users.
Friendster is betting that social networks will remain divided among different peer groups. The company sees its brand as the natural socializing spot for urban professionals, in contrast to MySpace's teens and Facebook's college students.
Lindstrom sees Friendster as more the social complement to LinkedIn, a Palo Alto-based network popular with business professionals for job recruitment or sales contacts.
Rather than pushing into entertainment, where MySpace is chasing popular Internet video search site YouTube, Friendster aims to help people keep up with friends. "We will innovate in terms of meeting up with people," Lindstrom said.
San Francisco-based Friendster is signing up brand advertisers like Coca-Cola and automakers who seek out its older, financially independent demographic. In Asia, it recently launched a text-messaging feature to update profiles.
The latest investment by DAG, whose investments include Silicon Valley Web start-ups Plaxo, Grouper, SpikeSource and Zimbra and electronic scooter maker Segway, follows a $3 million recapitalization round in February of this year.
For all of its subsequent pitfalls, Friendster helped define the free web consumer business model of get-big-quick, before figuring out to make money later, which has come to characterize the current generation of "Web 2.0" companies.


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Expired rice found being repackaged with new expiry dates in Nairobi
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have seized tonnes of expired rice which was being repackaged into new carrier bags at Kariobangi estate in Nairobi county.
According to DCI boss George Kinoti several suspects have been arrested in the ongoing raid that started in the morning of Tuesday, May 14.
The rusty rice had a very unusual appearance with thick clogs.
The rotten rice was packed in rusty bags at a go-down in Kimende area and was being repackaged into new bags indicating it was produced and packaged in February 2019 and its set to expire in February 2022.
The rice was repackaged into new bags that indicated it was produced in February 2019 and is set to expire in February 2022. Initially the rice was packaged in large rusty bags in teh go-down before the owners decided to pack into 25 kg bags.
The suspects were caught in the act as they were weighing and packaging the rice into the smaller bags.
The latest arrests are among the many that have been conducted by government agencies in the ongoing crackdown against illicit goods.
On Monday, May 6, the Anti-Counterfeit Authority said it had confiscated goods worth KSh 100 million in April, most of it originating from Far East countries.
In June 18, 2018, a unspecified number of bags of sugar labeled "Not for Sale. For industrial use only" were found in a warehouse in Ol Kalou town, Nyandarua County, and with some 30 employees of Jamaa supermarket busy repackaging the sweetener.


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John Riccitiello, president and chief operating officer of Electronic Arts, has branded the Nokia N-Gage, "a dog," but reckons they'll come back to market with a better design in the future:
"When I picked that thing up I knew it was a dog -- it just feels stupid," Riccitiello said in an interview at the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecommunications Summit in New York. He then mimicked how a person playing a game would have trouble answering a phone call with the bulky taco-shaped device.
Riccitiello said Nokia was one of the best design engineering companies he knew, and he had no doubt that Nokia would eventually succeed in the gaming category. "Nokia will figure it out," he said. "It's just that they haven't figured it out yet."
I think when the president of EA starts bashing your device, you've got to stop pretending that there's no problem Nokia.


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PANTS Announces New Dates for 2015
The annual Penn Atlantic Nursery Trade Show will take place Nov. 4-5, 2015 in Philadelphia.
The annual Penn Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (PANTS) will take place Nov. 4-5, 2015 in Philadelphia.
“The new date is advantageous for both exhibitors and attendees alike,” said Kevin McLaughlin, show director. “November better aligns with the shift in buying cycles of garden centers and wholesalers, and it coincides with the traditional lull in business prior to the beginning of the holiday season.”
The event will host more than 300 exhibitors, which include retail garden center owners, landscape contractors, nursery growers, greenhouses, landscaping designers and installers, interior landscaping specialists, property managers, government officials and more.
For more information, visit www.pantshow.com.


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Many may be looking to expand their family in 2019 by adding a new four-legged fur baby to their household, but the Better Business Bureau (BBB) says it’s important not to get too caught up in the excitement.
The charitable giving season is now underway. But a new tax law has nearly doubled the standard deduction, which is expected to substantially lower donations. While the local impact is unclear, we learned more about the guidelines for giving at Goodwill Industries
Online scammers are increasingly targeting senior citizens in an effort to exploit people for money and identity theft. During the holidays, it’s even more important for consumers to protect themselves from possible scams.
Excess vitamin D in the diet can cause vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling and weight loss. Pet owners whose dogs have been eating the recalled brands and are showing these symptoms should contact their veterinarians.
The reduction includes 8,100 white-collar workers, some of whom will take buyouts and others who will be laid off. Most of the affected factories build cars that won't be sold in the U.S. after next year. They could close or they could get different vehicles to build. They will be part of contract t


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To learn about the frameworks VC firms use when evaluating potential venture opportunities, Mike Roberts, executive director of the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, and HBS senior research associate Lauren Barley recently interviewed four venture capitalists from leading firms in Silicon Valley.
What follows are exceprts from their responses:
“The most important requirement is a large market opportunity in a fast-growing sector…The second factor involves a competitive edge that is long lasting…The third thing is team…”
“We track four things and relate them to the success of our investments: market size, the team, unique technology, and whether the product is developed at the time we invest…”
“In no particular order, for us they are team, market opportunity, and the product/value proposition for the solution. Technology differentiation or business model differentiation is also important to sustain a competitive advantage.”
Read more in this HBS Working Knowledge article.


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Pokemon spread to another social network. There is now an official Japanese Pokemon TikTok account. As people might imagine, it will feature short videos involving characters from the series and information about it.
Here is the tweet announcing that the Japanese Pokemon TikTok is now open. It also confirms that the first video is live. However, the downside to this is that it is region-locked, so people using the service in another country, say the United States, will not be able to see the video. You should have no problem following the account, however.
— ポケモン公式ツイッター (@Pokemon_cojp) August 13, 2021
This isn’t uncommon. There are official Pokemon accounts across various social media channels. In addition to the new Pokemon TikTok account and aforementioned Twitter one, there are also accounts on services like Facebook and Instagram.
In other news related to the series, a Pokemon Presents is about to take place on August 18, 2021. It will look at the three upcoming Nintendo Switch games. These are the Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes of the DS games and the original Pokemon Legends Arceus open world title. The most recently released spin-off is Pokemon Unite, a MOBA immediately available on the Nintendo Switch and coming to mobile devices in September 2021.


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NEW YORK — The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had declined slightly in April, fell further in May. The Index now stands at 64.9 (1985=100), down from 68.7 in April. The Expectations Index declined to 77.6 from 80.4, while the Present Situation Index decreased to 45.9 from 51.2 last month.
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was May 16.
Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: “Consumer Confidence fell in May, following a slight decline in April. Consumers were less positive about current business and labor market conditions, and they were more pessimistic about the short-term outlook. However, consumers were more upbeat about their income prospects, which should help sustain spending. Taken together, the retreat in the Present Situation Index and softening in consumer expectations suggest that the pace of economic growth in the months ahead may moderate.”
Consumers’ appraisal of present-day conditions deteriorated in May. Those claiming business conditions are “bad” increased to 34.3 percent from 33.2 percent, while those saying business conditions are “good” decreased to 13.6 percent from 15.5 percent. Consumers’ appraisal of the job market was also less favorable. Those claiming jobs are “hard to get” increased to 41.0 percent from 38.1 percent, while those stating jobs are “plentiful” decreased to 7.9 percent from 8.4 percent.
Consumers have also grown less upbeat about the short-term outlook. Those expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months decreased to 16.6 percent from 18.5 percent. However, those anticipating business conditions will worsen decreased to 13.1 percent from 14.2 percent.
Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also less positive. Those expecting more jobs in the months ahead decreased to 15.8 percent from 16.9 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs increased to 21.0 percent from 18.4 percent. The proportion of consumers expecting an increase in their incomes improved to 15.2 percent from 13.9 percent.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey®
About The Conference Board
The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: To provide the world’s leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board is a non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. www.conference-board.org
Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.
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DETROIT, April 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that the government will likely lose money from the investments it made in bailing out the auto industry. Speaking to the Detroit Economic Club, Geithner said the government will do everything it can to maximize returns from bailout investments. He also said the United States will push China to reduce subsidies and other protectionist measures that it maintains in order to give its exporters a leg up ...
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Few weeks ago, at Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona, Microsoft introduced two new Windows smartphones joining their mid-range list of offerings, the Lumia 640 and its bigger sibling – Lumia 640 XL. Shortly after its official premiere, T-Mobile officially announced that the Lumia 640 will arrive to Magenta network in the near future. Today, the phone popped up on T-Mobile online store listed as ‘Coming soon’.
Microsoft Lumia 640 – Pricing & Availability
Sporting a 5-inch LCD display with 1280x720p of resolution, the Microsoft Lumia 640 comes powered by the quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.2 GHz combined with 1GB RAM and 8GB of built-in expandable storage. On the optics side, the phone offers users a decent 8-megapixel main camera unit featuring LED flash that is capable to record full-HD 1080p videos.
Furthermore, the upcoming Lumia 640 arrives equipped with a full package of connectivity options, including Wi-Fi and the support for ultra-fast 4G LTE. When it comes to battery life, the phone’s lights are kept on by a 2,500 mAh unit said to deliver up to 26.5 hours of talk time.
In addition, running Windows Phone 8.1 the Lumia 640 offers everything any user need to work on the go. This new affordable handset comes with some of the best Microsoft services and apps including Office, OneNote, OneDrive and the personal assistant, Cortana. It should be also mentioned that the manufacturer promises to deliver Windows 10 upgrade for the Lumia 640 as soon as it will be available.
Summing up, the Lumia 640’s design, hardware parameters and operating system surprise with pretty impressive quality as for an mid-range device and fluidity of the phone’s performance.
So far, this affordable phone has been announced to become available in Metro PCS sometime in mid-April. The carrier will be offering the handset for $99, which is allegedly an off-contract price with no long-term commitments.
Moving on to the Lumia 640’s price and launch date details, T-Mobile hasn’t determined the phone’s official premiere date yet. However seeing it in the carrier’s online store, we may safely assume that the handset will join the T-Mobile’s list of offerings in the first half of April or perhaps even in late March.


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Facial recognition software could reveal your social security number
Social security numbers can be predicted with public information, researchers find
Carnegie Mellon University researchers have shown that public information readily gleaned from governmental sources, commercial data bases, or online social networks can be used to routinely predict most — ...
Research shows the behaviour of business leaders could be directly linked to their experiences in childhood
What makes a great leader? Effectiveness? Experience? Volcanoes? It might seem unlikely, but new research from a team of academics, including Raghavendra Rau, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Professor of Finance ...
76M households hit by JPMorgan data breach (Update 3)
A huge cyberattack against JPMorgan Chase & Co. this summer compromised customer information for about 76 million households and 7 million small businesses, the bank said Thursday.
UK says cyber-spies monitor Facebook, Google use
The U.K.'s electronic spy agency is legally allowed to track the online activities of millions of Britons who use U.S.-based platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google, Britain's top counterterrorism ...
Discrimination potential seen in 'big data' use
A White House review of how the government and private sector use large sets of data has found that such information could be used to discriminate against Americans on issues such as housing and employment ...
US official admits testing US cellphone tracking
National Security Agency chief Gen. Keith Alexander revealed Wednesday that his spy agency once tested whether it could track Americans' cell phone locations, in addition to its practice of sweeping broad ...
Privacy fears cause more to cover online tracks
Amid growing fears about online surveillance and data theft, Americans are increasingly taking steps to remove or mask their digital footprints on the Internet, a study showed Thursday.
Facebook says governments demanded data on 38K users (Update)
Government agents in 74 countries demanded information on about 38,000 Facebook users in the first half of this year, with about half the orders coming from authorities in the United States, the company said ...
Online sharing helps hackers sharpen 'spears'
Sharing on social media helps hackers sharpen "spear phishing" attacks they use to trick their way into computers, security experts said Monday.
Free app successfully flaggs 97 percent of spam and malware posts on Facebook
(Phys.org)—Cyber-crime is expanding to the fertile grounds of social networks and University of California, Riverside engineers are fighting it.
App firm say it may be source of Apple breach
A digital publisher said Monday it was likely the source of a data breach which resulted in the leak of personal data from as many as 12 million Apple iPhone and iPad users.
Security firms see rise in smartphone cyber-attacks
Cyber-crooks are increasingly taking aim at smartphones, following their prey as lifestyles migrate to Internet-linked mobile devices, according to new reports by online security firms.
Facebook stocks up for Google fight
As Facebook and Google jockey for dominance of the Web, the social networking titan's $5 billion stock offering will give it a hefty warchest for the ongoing fight, analysts said.


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Templeton made a brief appearance at the beginning of the day-and-a-half whirlwind media tour of products, methods, and discoveries by TI engineers and scientists, repeating an earlier mantra that TI is “an analog and embedded company because the world is that way with analog in everything we own.” He then left it to his lieutenants to answer questions.
As expected, the execs responsible for the Multicore, Single Core, Analog and DLP divisions put a positive spin on the innovations in their neck of the woods. Scott Roller, VP and GM, Microcontrollers, was joined by Brian Glinsman, VP and GM, Multicore processors; Dipti Vachani, VP and GM, Single Core Processors; Sami Kiriaki, SVP, Power Management, Analog; and two VPs from DLP division, Kent Novak an Marquita Gordon.
“In ten years the Internet of Things will be a reality,” said Brian Glinsman, “and automobile companies will be rolling out with more and better technology much faster than they have heretofore.”
“We are tapping all businesses to provide power solutions that earlier needed to be plugged into wall sockets,” said Sami Kiriaki. “And in addition we need to replace 35 billion light bulbs with solid-state lighting in the next 10 years.”
DLP VP Kent Novak perhaps encapsulated TI’s current strategy best: “Today you just can’t ship products without the analytics specific to the applications for which the products are designed.”
“We are pushing hard on open source development with our partners,” said Dipti Vachani, “We have one of the largest open source communities in the world. Our deliverables need to be high-quality so we engage with global partners with expertise to complement our devices and system solutions.”
Glinsman added that “we have to release chips with full software support and systems implementation tools for our some 42,000 products.”
“Our job is to trigger our customers’ imagination,” said Vachani, mentioning that that there is now more software being produced for each chip design engineer, part of the company’s 80,000 customers worldwide. The latest tablets sport TI chips.
Many ideas for new products come from TI Kilby Labs, an incubator for major control and other technologies since 2009 for such areas as motors. The Kilby Motor labs is a dedicated area whose goal is to take out the majority of rare earth metals out of motors and efficiently control future motors using proprietary algorithms.
“TI ‘gets it’ regarding what TI calls ‘analytics’ – i.e., analyzing signals to extract valuable information," said TI Media Day participant Jeff Bier, founder and president of BDTI, a specialist in DSPs and embedded vision processing. “This area of 'analytics' is going to become very, very important in the next few years, and represents a big opportunity for chip companies that embrace it.”
Much of TI’s success is its proximity to Texas universities and research centers. “We think we have the largest and most comprehensive analog program in the U.S., said Ken K.O, director Texas Analog Center of Excellence (TxACE), who works closely with TI and its interns and engineers to tackle the “next thing in analog."
Part of UT Dallas’ Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, the center is considered the “MIT of the Southwest," according to O.
The Jonsson school, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has had a long standing partnership with Texas Instruments. Mark W. Spong, dean of the Jonsson School, considers TI’s proximity a source of prestige when competing against top universities for promising students and faculty.
For a company that started in the 1930s as a geological instrument measurement company, TI has come a long way to become a global powerhouse in the analog and embedded space, owning the industry's only 300mm analog wafer fab.
The semiconductor behemoth from Dallas will be offering its share of chips to mobile computing in order to turn "going to places to have an experience, to one where the experience is on the go," as expressed by DLP VP Novak.
TI is a very interesting company. After using their products and having worked closely with them for many years they are a big company with a very small company feel. I only hope that as our company grows we can maintain the same level of intimacy with our customers that TI has been able to achieve.
Nic did you use analog or digital re-calibration :)
"mentioning that that there is now more software"
oc people would like to know where these TI Vp's keep their "analog quantum photogenic computer on a SOC" price lists ;)
but if that's to hard to answer at this time then we would probably settle for where is their REAL FULL "open source" OMAP Cortex graphics Kernel and user mode open source code URL and Upstream GIT for this code base and when can Linux expect to get this code and documentation to improve its speed etc.
Don't want to be a back seat proofreader... but, this really could have used some.
The second paragraph is a mess. It mentions the company twice as part of the guys title.
2nd para... vying instead of vouching (at least I'd assume)
6th para... tapping instead of taping
12th para... "a DSP specialist and embedded vision processing"... can't guess what that should have been.
Join our online Radio Show on Friday 11th July starting at 2:00pm Eastern, when EETimes editor of all things fun and interesting, Max Maxfield, and embedded systems expert, Jack Ganssle, will debate as to just what is, and is not, and embedded system.


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VIDEO: Sorrell talks 'horizontality', frenemies and his new tech alliance
WPP's chief Sir Martin Sorrell talks about the logic of partnering with an IT company, his desire for "horizontality" and his mixed feelings about Google, Facebook and Twitter.
Speaking at the offices of WPP's new ally Infosys on Monday (23 April) to inaugurate the latter's new "customer experience centre", Sorrell expanded on the background to the tie-up with Infosys, which has produced a cloud-based marketing platform dubbed "Infosys BrandEdge in partnership with Fabric" (Fabric is a WPP company).
Sorrell explained his latest buzzword – "horizontality" – his label for pulling together all WPP's businesses to work together, "because clients don't hire agencies but people".
Asked what he thought would happen to WPP's peers if they didn’t follow it down the road of applying technology, Sorrell was measured, responding that "we all" managed to survive the rise of Google and then the recession.
He went on to claim WPP had "good relationships" with key digital players – companies he has previously described as "frenemies" – predicting it is on course to spend $2bn with Google and $400m with Facebook this year.
True to form, he turned critical, accusing them of being new media owners masquerading as technology companies and comparing their pitch to Rupert Murdoch going "straight to our clients".
He suggested it would be wise for marketing services companies to strike alliances with technology companies which have relationships with chief technology officers or chief information officers.
"We'd better prepare for the day when we engage just as much with CIOs as CMOs," he concluded.
Follow Daniel Farey-Jones on Twitter @danfareyjones
This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk
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Fredericton’s Eigen Innovations has announced a partnership with Intel that will see it use the chipmaking giant’s technology in an artificial intelligence system meant to improve the efficiency of manufacturing processes.
Founded in 2012, Eigen uses AI to help machines manage large amounts of data and identity the causes of quality control issues at factories. Recently, the company has aggressively courted customers in the automotive sector and now counts among its clients several “tier one” auto suppliers -- the companies that build vehicle components for automakers.
The deal is part of Intel’s Partner Alliance program, which offers businesses access to Intel’s technology, technical training programs and software for designing marketing campaigns. Eigen’s AI system will use Intel’s version of the OpenVINO toolkit, which is a software platform that helps computers emulate human vision.
“I would say this is a commercialization partnership,” said Eigen COO and President Greg Picot in an interview. “We get to know leverage the Intel resources and use their technology at the same time.”
Eigen was using Intel’s technology before the partnership was announced and incorporated it into the production version of its AI now being used by customers.
“It was kind of a prerequisite to making sure that we could make the announcement -- having the integration done,” said Picot. “So that's done now, and we can focus on more of the commercial aspects.”
Picot’s team has been working on commercializing Eigen’s system for about three years, focusing mostly on the North American market. Most of the company’s clients also own factories overseas, which Picot said will allow Eigen to expand into new regions without having to build relationships with new customers from scratch.
“It isn't just the number of customers [we have],” said Picot. “These are global manufacturers, so one customer could represent dozens of factories, and each factory is kind of like, almost a mini-customer, in a sense.
“As we're rolling out across North America, it's just going to be like a copy-and-paste -- at least, that's the strategy -- to take us to their factories that are overseas.”
That expansion, Picot said, could come in the next couple of years, but the exact timeline will depend on Eigen’s clients.
“For us to be looking beyond North America is something that is imminent,” he said. “If one of our customers said tomorrow, ‘Hey, we want to roll this out in Germany,’ we'd be able to do it.”
Since beginning the commercialization process, Eigen has established itself as one of New Brunswick’s AI powerplayers. It traces its origins to the University of New Brunswick, where a team of researchers began working on algorithms to help manufacturers improve production efficiency and reduce waste. They were working under the guidance of professor and co-founder Rickey Dubay, who still sits on the company’s board.
Now, Picot said Eigen has between 15 and 20 employees, mostly based in New Brunswick with a handful in Halifax.
In October 2018, the company closed a $3.5 million round of funding, led by Toronto-based tech specialist Globalive Technology. The other investors in the round included BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, Opportunities New Brunswick, and several local angel investors.


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A few months ago Startup Chile published the new 100 startups that will be on their program in February. We got selected!
But wait, what's Startup Chile? Startup Chile is a business incubator developed by CORFO, to which everyone who feels that their idea is worthy can apply. Even when thousands of entrepreneurs apply each year, only few get selected. Clearly, being awarded this funding gave SimpliRoute a new status on the tech-business, which it will be soon launched to the market.
This video will explain to you what SimpliRoute is, so if you are interested please check it out:


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- Shadowgate now on GOG at 20% off, with ringtones and other extras
- Destiny gets The Vault of Glass raid, more content coming next week
- Persona 4 Arena Ultimax trailer deluge – story, systems, characters
- Activision bringing Chivalry: Medieval Warfare to 360, PS3 this fall
- Grand Theft Auto V for next-gen console, PC dated, media released
Fancy A Date?
Daily Archives: August 12, 2013
Final Fantasy fans looking forward to Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster can now hear a portion of the audio drama being added to the set as well as see more of what’s in store in a host of new screenshots. Square Enix has released a 30-minute preview of the audio drama, created by scenario writer Kazushige Nojima, that is being added as part of the credit sequence. Ten new screens were also released, showing some of the updated visuals.


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Kurz showcases its strength at PrintPack
Kurz India displayed its KPS SX+, which was launched one year back, during PrintPack 2022, which took place on 26-30 May, 2022 in Greater Noida.
06 Jul 2022 | By Rahul Kumar
Ashwani Kumar of Kurz India said though the product is already well-known. He said that the company is about to launch a new version with a 50% thinner polyester carrier film, called KPS Slim (Patent Pending).
“This will not only reduce the amount of used raw materials significantly, but also allow our customers to use longer rolls and hence have a higher machine uptime. And stunningly, all this comes with even an enhanced performance,” Kumar said.
Kurz also showcased its KPW XU, its latest product for cold transfer on labels and plan to develop a slim version. The company also displayed its new MSU series, which has been developed to be able to cope with difficult-to-hot stamp surfaces, such as OPP-laminates and UV-coated and other varnishes papers and card boards.
“Kurz has been involved in high security and commercial security for decades. During this show, we displayed our optical variable devices (OVDs), popularly known as holograms, as well as our digital solutions, which when combined create additional layer of security for our customers.” Kumar added.
In another development, Kurz India has shifted its operations from Mayapuri, Delhi to Noida from 27 December 2021. According to the company, the move was necessary due to a shortage of space at Mayapuri. The new facility at Plot No 5, Sector 90 in Noida has a 5,000-sqm area compared to the earlier 1,800-sqm.
Kumar said, with the company products customers are able to achieve higher yield rates, a higher output and a better utilisation of their capacities. “We have compliance with most of the applicable regulations. Overall, our products have the least environmental impact since we provide the highest grade of sustainability accessible to our industry,” Kumar said.
He added many Indian companies, in segments ranging from tube, packaging, label to the security printing, are using the company products. “Usually, the big and innovative companies utilise our products and machines in order to be able to compete not only locally, but also internationally,” he said.
Kumar said during the pandemic, the company’s sale of equipment was not as much as before, still it managed to get a few installations done. “Fortunately, now, customers are already looking into potential investments again. We can feel that the industry is rebounding with confidence and big machine deals are finally subject to discussions again,” he said.
“The last two years had indeed been challenging, but we have been able to cope well with this challenge. Most of our consumable products, which are our main revenue stream, are applied to essential goods and we were allowed to maintain our deliveries throughout. This achievement happened thanks to the global footprint of our manufacturing facilities as well as our wide network of subsidiaries and sales offices. India has a huge potential of diversification and many of its customers are looking closely into new business areas."
“In this respect, we are looking forward in a positive manner since we will be an integral part of this process due to our innovative range of products and solutions. We are confident that we will be able to show our customers new ways of achieving their plans and grow not only organically, but through innovation and in a sustainable fashion,” he said. He added that the label sector is looking good, but in national and international context, there is still room for innovation and growth.
Kumar said only thorough planning and constant monitoring of quality can one secure sustained technological leadership. “Market requirements, innovation and product quality are embodied within our product development. The manufacturing quality prescribed in the product documentation must be adhered to reliably. That’s why we regularly validate all processes, from order receipt to timely delivery. Automatic monitoring and control processes are used wherever possible. All results are logged without omission and in a reproducible manner. These measures serve not only to meet product requirements, but also to improve quality and our processes. We mirror our high standards throughout all production locations around the globe and make sure that our customers are receiving our best product irrespective of the manufacturing location.
Kurz Germany will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2024 and KURZ India its 25th anniversary this year.
Meanwhile, the company is hosting the Kurz Label Weeks from 20 June to late October, where customers will be able to book an appointment and visit its Headquarter in Germany, where they will be able to witness its latest innovations for the label industry.


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Maybe this would look better inside an actual car.
As usual, LG Display isn’t waiting until the show starts, or even the new year, to talk about what it’s bringing to CES 2023.
This, er, free-flowing P-OLED and LTPS (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon) LCD display concept (shown below) envisions a bend in the touchscreen that separates the climate settings from the main interface.
In addition to the screens, LG Display is also bringing its “Thin Actuator Sound Solution”, a grill-free speaker made with “film-type exciter technology” that is the size of a passport and 2.5mm thick. It can be installed in places like the car’s “dashboard, roof, pillar and headrests.”
Your move, Sony.


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2016 Toyota Corolla vs 2016 Kia Forte
The 2016 Toyota Corolla and 2016 Kia Forte are stacking up their performances with the help of Hesser Toyota. The vehicles are showing of their capabilities in order to help drivers make a car-buying decision that best fits their needs.
The 2016 Kia Forte is a leader in the segment with its starting price of $15,990 MSRP. At this base level, the vehicle can earn an estimated 39 mpg highway fuel economy, which delivers an impressively efficient ride. When paired with its largest engine, the Forte can generate up to 173 horsepower under the hood for an athletic driving experience. With space for up to 14.9 cubic feet of cargo, the Forte also ensures its passengers get the space inside the cabin all for themselves.
|2016 Toyota Corolla||VS||2016 Kia Forte|
|13.0 cu. ft.||Cargo space||14.9 cu. ft.|
2016 Toyota Corolla Janesville, Wisconsin
While the 2016 Kia Forte leads in many of the categories displayed above, the 2016 Toyota Corolla has longevity on its side. According to the automaker, 90 percent of the Toyota Corolla models sold in the last decade are still going strong on the road. With an ability to earn an estimated 42 mpg highway fuel economy in the LE Eco, that isn't a surprise. When stacked with its biggest engine, the Corolla can generate 140 horsepower while keeping its travels efficient. Its trunk opens up to reveal 13.0 cubic feet of space for passengers' belongings and its starting price is still within a fair range at $17,300 MSRP. Drivers interested in learning more about the Corolla can schedule a test drive today at Hesser Toyota.


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It has been an interesting evening in the world of high tech business as the post-CES silence was broken by two news-worthy stories. AMD’s CEO gets kicked to the curb and now this: NVIDIA is settling its legal issues with Intel for $1.5 billion paid over five annual payments in exchange for a cross-licensing deal during that time. For all the talk from each company’s respective CEOs over the years of this dispute, it all comes down to some simple payments and we’ll likely not hear of it again until the renewal season is met.
The patents are really going one way here – Intel gets access to NVIDIA’s portfolio of goodies in exchange for this payment. Does NVIDIA get access to Intel information? Likely, but it doesn’t look like the green team has any plans to use it:
Well there you go – NVIDIA doesn’t plan on to work on a processor compatible with x86 technology and instead is going to push forward with its Project Denver that will attempt to bring the ARM architecture to larger platforms like tablets, notebooks and even desktops. That much I have always believed – x86 is big, complex and not the best tool for the job in terms of mobile devices.
What we might have expected was a return of NVIDIA to the world of Intel platform core logic design, but that sounds like its out as well. I am guessing that restarting the division inside the company would take longer than it is worth and with the continued rise of Intel’s desktop-class processor graphics, going down that road is less and less profitable.
Intel to Pay NVIDIA Technology Licensing Fees of $1.5 Billion
New Six-Year Cross-License Renews Previous Agreement
SANTA CLARA, CA, Jan 10, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) —
NVIDIA announced today that it has signed a new six-year cross-licensing agreement with Intel.
For the future use of NVIDIA’s technology, Intel will pay NVIDIA an aggregate of $1.5 billion in licensing fees payable in five annual installments, beginning Jan. 18, 2011.
NVIDIA and Intel have also agreed to drop all outstanding legal disputes between them.
"This agreement signals a new era for NVIDIA," said Jen-Hsun Huang, NVIDIA’s president and chief executive officer. "Our cross license with Intel reflects the substantial value of our visual and parallel computing technologies. It also underscores the importance of our inventions to the future of personal computing, as well as the expanding markets for mobile and cloud computing."
Under the new agreement, Intel will have continued access to NVIDIA’s full range of patents. In return, NVIDIA will receive an aggregate of $1.5 billion in licensing fees, to be paid in annual installments, and retain use of Intel’s patents, consistent with its existing six-year agreement with Intel. This excludes Intel’s proprietary processors, flash memory and certain chipsets for the Intel platform.
The existing agreement is to expire March 31, 2011.
Pursuant to U.S. GAAP, a portion of the proceeds will be accounted for and attributed to the settlement of prior legal claims. This amount, which NVIDIA anticipates to be less than $100 million, will be included in the company’s fourth-quarter results.
The balance of the licensing fees will be accounted for on a straight-line basis over the six-year term of the agreement. Accordingly it is anticipated that this would amount annually to approximately $233 million of operating income and an increase in net income of $0.29 per diluted share, on a full year basis.


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After a strong debut here two years ago, Superdry is planning a retail rollout in the U.S.
The U.K.-based apparel brand, which operates 110 stores worldwide, granted a license in 2009 to SDUSA, a division of Sunrise Brands LLC. Since that time, it has opened six stores in the States: a flagship in New York’s NoHo area, as well as units in Paramus, N.J., Las Vegas, Beverly Hills, and San Francisco. There’s also an outlet in Woodbury Common, in Central Valley, N.Y.
Superdry will add a store in Santa Clara, Calif., at the Valley Fair mall later this month as well as a unit at the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan in June. A store in the Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minn., is slated for a July opening.
According to Michael Martens, president of Superdry USA, the company is planning to open 10 to 12 stores a year for the next four years, depending upon availability of space. “Finding the right property is key,” he said.
The brand has performed well since it made its debut in the U.S. That, coupled with its popularity in Europe, prompted the retail expansion in America and dictates where the stores will be located. The company seeks spots that draw a mix of international tourists and domestic customers, he said, or “places that play to our two strengths.”
Martens said Superdry would like to open additional stores in the Los Angeles market and is also looking at Boston, Chicago and Miami. The average store measures around 2,000 square feet of selling space, although the NoHo store is 6,000 square feet.
Superdry, which sells 50 percent men’s and 50 percent women’s wear, blends British tailoring with vintage Americana style and hand-drawn Japanese-inspired graphics. Signature styles include T-shirts with hand-drawn graphics; buffalo sweaters; plaid shirts; jackets with contrasting colored hoods; surplus-inspired outerwear; leathers, and sweaters. With the T-shirts, each graphic is used on only one style and offered in only one color per season.
The T-shirts mimic Fifties garage culture, Martens said, and feature tin-tab hangtags that replicate the graphic on the shirt. These have become collectibles, he said. The T-shirts retail for around $30, and the vast majority of the line sells for under $100.
Superdry also has a wholesale component, and about 40 percent of its sales will come from that distribution channel by the end of the year, Martens said. The line is sold in Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s and 150 specialty stores, including Ron Herman. “We want to keep a good balance,” Martens said. “We don’t want to flood the market. We’re looking for responsible growth.” And with a lot of “high-volume stores” opening here later this year, the percentage attributed to retail will be larger. Ultimately, he said, he expects a “50-50 split.”
Martens said the company has worked to get its name known in the U.S. by getting involved at events such as the Sundance Film Festival that “resonate with our customer.” The company rented a bar in Park City, Utah, and hired an up-and-coming band, drawing celebrities such as Penn Badgley, Adrian Grenier and Danny Masterson.
When the Seaport store opens, Martens said Superdry may host a softball or kickball game rather than throw a traditional party.
“We want to get our product on the right people,” he said, noting that university students receive a 10 percent discount. “We target the college student to the young professional. That’s our core.”
Founded in 2003 by James Holder and Julian Dunkerton, Superdry Clothing launched in Cheltenham, England, as Laundry Athletics before opening its first store under the Superdry name in Covent Garden, London, in December 2004. It is sold in more than 30 countries.
“These collections continue to build on that vision, empowering differently abled adults to express themselves through fashion,” said @tommyhilfiger of his line of adaptive apparel, which launches today. The line consists of 37 men’s and 34 women’s styles based upon the pieces from the spring Tommy Hilfiger sportswear collection. #wwdnews
“Stranger Things” is getting a new cast member for season 2. Meet @sadiesink_, the 15-year-old who will be joining the Netflix series for its new season. You may recognize her from “The Glass Castle” with Brie Larson and Woody Harrelson, but the Texas native’s next role goes in an entirely different direction. She describes her character, Max, as “a rough and tumble skater girl [who] becomes friends with the boys at school.” The second season debuts on October 27. (📷: @jgreenery) #wwdeye
Amid the Harvey Weinstein controversy, there’s another sector that’s being put under the spotlight for sexual abuse: the modeling industry. While rumors about abuse and sexual harassment of female and male models — and the photographers, agents and others who perpetrated it — have circulated within the fashion world for years, model @cameronrussell started posting stories from models on Instagram last week about abusive situations they’ve encountered — from sexual harassment and molestation to attempted rape. Over 75 have weighed in so far. Read more on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdnews
To celebrate its 16th anniversary, @dylanscandybar tapped designers and celebrities to create mosaics out of candy. The mosaics will be auctioned off to support the philanthropic cause of each participant’s choice. Pictured here is the mural created by @aliceandolivia's Stacey Bendet. For a first look at some of the other artwork being unveiled tonight, go to WWD.com. #wwdeye
The annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in Pacific Palisades this weekend drew Kate Hudson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Laura Dern and more. See pictures of the star-studded event on WWD.com. (📷: @chelsealaurenla) #wwdeye
In his new book “Hollywood Royale,” Andy Warhol’s Protégé Matthew Rolston celebrates the Eighties revival of Hollywood glamour. Featuring more than 100 portraits taken by Rolston from 1977 to 1993, the book contains photos of icons like Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, and @drewbarrymore, pictured here in 1991. “Hollywood Royale,” out today, will be accompanied by an exhibition opening at Los Angeles’ Fahey/Klein Gallery on March 1. #wwdeye
"Nowadays when life is not so happy with everything going on in the world, I think people come to me for a little bit of whimsy and color and fun." - Designer Rebecca De Ravenel on her cult-favorite jewelry line. (📸 : @vsteves) #wwd40
“Everyone is talking about how the retail industry is struggling, but I think it’s an incredible time because brands who are doing something different and innovative are setting themselves up for the future,” said @adamgoldston, who founded the luxury athletic brand @apl with his brother @ryangoldsten. The Goldston’s are part of WWD’s 40 under 40: a group of industry notables. See the rest of the list on WWD.com. (📷: @vsteves) #wwd40
@eyeswoon blogger Athena Calderone debuted her first-ever cookbook, “Cook Beautiful,” which is heavily centered on the presentation and visual expression of food. Pictured here are her miso glazed carrots from the book. Get the recipe on WWD.com. (📷: @johnny_miller_) #wwdeye


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A security firm has released a new app iVerify that promises to detect when your iPhone gets targeted by hackers, but the devil is in the details.
iVerify, now on the iPhone App Store— is one of the first ever apps that promises to catch iPhone hacks to be approved to be on the official App Store.
In 2016, a well-known iPhone security researcher released a similar tool, but it was immediately banned from the App Store. The founders claim that iVerify is more advanced than that app.
How it works
In the event that an iVerify user does get hacked:
- The app alerts them
- Creates a personalized URL that includes data on what was detected and what went wrong.
- The app gives the user some basic advice on what to do next
- sends the incident report to Trail of Bits (Security Firm)
Why make this
For years, there’s been no real way to know whether your iPhone had been hacked. Dan Guido, founder of the security firm, is hoping to change that.
Here’s a bit of context
iPhones are widely believed to be some of the most secure devices one can get but over the past year security researches have exposed some cracks in its firewall.
- A Google researcher found 10 critical bugs in iMessage that would have allowed hackers to silently and stealthily take over an iPhone.
- Google revealed that hackers—reportedly working for the Chinese government—had been using unknown iPhone vulnerabilities to target the phones of muslims in Uighurs
To read more from ProperGaanda: This Company Has Made a Special Version of Android That Runs on the iPhone


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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Acosta has released its fifth round of research providing insight into the continuing evolution of consumer behavior and outlook amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as some states and counties begin to reopen. The report, which found just over half of shoppers expect life to return to normal in less than six months, also provides guidance to help retailers and manufacturers navigate the current climate and prepare for the future.
“Three months into the pandemic, consumers are not surprisingly seeking the light at the end of the tunnel, but not all are optimistic about, or supportive of, a quick return to normalcy due to continuing health concerns,” said Darian Pickett, CEO of Acosta. “With shoppers settling into their new routines, ‘normal’ life will not look like pre-COVID-19 life, at least not entirely. Our research shows that bringing reusable bags to stores may become a thing of the past and using hand sanitizer and masks while shopping is likely to remain common practice even after the pandemic subsides.”
Acosta’s most recent COVID-19 research report, gathered via online surveys conducted between May 3 and May 5, provides insight into consumers’ habits and concerns, as well as recommendations for retailers and manufacturers, including:
When Will Life Return to “Normal”?
- Just over half of shoppers (51%) expect life to return to normal in less than six months, while more than a quarter (29%) believe it will take more than a year.
- Millennials (65%) and Southerners (54%) are the most optimistic about life returning to normal in less than six months.
- Shoppers have differing opinions on state reopening plans. Forty-three percent believe their state is reopening on a reasonable schedule; 39% believe their state is reopening too soon; and 13% don’t think their state is reopening fast enough.
New In-Store Behaviors Becoming Routine
- Sixty-eight percent of shoppers reported using hand sanitizer before or after shopping.
- Sixty-six percent of shoppers reported wearing a mask while shopping. Mask usage has doubled since early April and is most popular among shoppers in the Northeast.
- Nearly half of shoppers (49%) reported shopping during off-peak hours to avoid crowds.
- A third of shoppers (34%) opted to use self-checkout.
High Demand for Meat
- Shoppers are stocking up on meat products because they are cooking more meals at home (34%), concerned about shortages (31%), minimizing their number of store trips (31%) and concerned about higher prices on future trips (21%).
- Chicken was the most popular choice with 47% of shoppers stocking up on it, and beef (45%) and fish (39%) round out the top three.
- Fifty-three percent of shoppers noticed purchase limits when buying meat; 46% noticed out-of-stocks; and 35% noticed higher prices.
Acosta’s research was gathered via online surveys using the company’s proprietary shopper community between May 3 and 5, 2020. The report also includes comparison data from online surveys conducted between April 17 and 23, April 3 and 7, March 20 and 29 and March 6 and 12, 2020. To access the full report, visit www.acosta.com/news.
Acosta will continue to conduct research and will share updated data and recommendations for retailers and manufacturers on how to best meet consumers’ needs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.


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Posted on 09/08/2018 by admin
Our Aaron Grimmer predicted this past Monday that FIFA 18’s Team of the Week 41 in Utlimate Team might go down in history — for all the wrong reasons.
While it’s debatable whether or not it quite goes that far in its sheer quotient of leaving much to be desired, it’s certainly no world beater. Other than German goalkeeper Timo Horn, who’s stuck in the German top division on a technicality in-game but plays in the 2 Bundesliga now in real life, there’s virtually no one of consequence. A few MLS, Japanese Meiji Yasuda J1 League, and Korean K LEAGUE Classic names sneak their way in, but it’s a venerable collection of “Who’s that again?”s otherwise.
The silver lining is, of course, we’re a week away from the return of the English Premier League to TOTW. While a lot of the higher rated guys have 90-plus rated special items at this point in the game, some of the lesser names may get their best item this FIFA as a result of their accomplishments on the pitch in the league’s opening weekend. The rest of Europe’s big five domestic leagues will follow. And then all will be right again in the world of in-forms.
Roll on FIFA 19. Please.
Here’s the full FUT 18 Team of the Week 41:
Click here for more related info.
EA released a brand new FIFA 19 SBC UEL Moments Mata for celebrating Mata’s 2012-2013 se……
EA released another Prime ICON Moments SBC in the new week featuring 93 Dennis Bergkamp,……
The last winner of FIFA 19 Bundesliga Player of the Month February has been released, Ba……


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Violin playing marketing Love songs with new CMO
Mysterious hire has NetApp experience
All-flash array maker Violin has finally got over chief marketeer Eric Herzog's abrupt departure on the eve of a massive product announcement, and has appointed a new CMO, Amy Love.
According to her LinkedIn entry, she comes to Violin via BizEthos, with a spell at NetApp prior to that, joining in May 2011.
At NetApp she was VP for Global Brand and Communications until April 2013. She was also acting CMO from May 2012 to November 2012, when Julie Parrish took on the role. In April 2013, Love's title changed to VP for Global Brand and Demand.
However, in November 2013 Love got on her bike and quit NetApp, joining BizEthos, which incubates Silicon Valley start-ups and does consulting, where she was a partner.
It's odd, as a Google search reveals no website for this entity. Eighteen months later, she's picked up her bow and is going to make marketing music with Violin.
Violin's new CMO, Amy Love
What LinkedIn doesn't show is that in February 2014 she was CMO for Appirio, a global services provider, joining from NetApp .
The Violin gig has been written up in Love's LinkedIn profile, so it looks as if the stint at Appirio has either not been entered on LinkedIn or has been deleted. Mmmm, intriguing.
At NetApp, Love was involved with its sponsorship of the NetApp Tour de France cycle team and with NFL sponsorship. This is a person inclined towards corporate sponsorship, so maybe Violin will get into that game.
Eric Herzog was a prolific tweeter while at Violin. Love also believes in the power of social media to help get customers aware of a brand before they approach a supplier, and has written an article about self-directed customer research.
Our impression is that she will be a smoother social media operator than the ebullient Herzog, and that Violin will experience a whole lotta marketing love as a result. ®


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Revolutionary New Braking Technology & A Further Range
It may be the Goldilocks Truck for the Commercial Market
The 2017 Nissan Titan King Cab is one of the world debuts at this year’s Chicago Auto Show; an event known for being the most consumer-oriented of its kind.
It makes sense, then, that Nissan debuted this truck in Chicago. The Nissan Titan King Cab is built for the consumer — specifically the commercial/business consumer.
Amazing Cars in Action
With summer drawing to an end, car enthusiasts and collectors showed up in droves for the last night of the 2016 Southlake Auto Mall Cruise Nights on Tuesday in Merrillville. The Cruise Nights are held twice a month from May through September and feature cars of all makes, models and years. Crowds gathered around an access road at the dealership for what most would agree is the most exciting part of the night: the burnouts.
Standard bearer of Nissan's family of TITAN pickups
The 2017 Nissan TITAN half-ton pickup, which made its world debut at the 2016 New York International Auto Show, is the standard bearer of Nissan's family of TITAN pickups. It is projected to be the highest volume TITAN, competing in the heart of the full-size pickup segment.
The eighth generation Nissan Maxima adds Apple CarPlay Standard
The eighth generation Nissan Maxima, which was completely revised for the 2016 model year, is enhanced for 2017 with the addition of standard Apple CarPlay™ and two new accessory value packages – the Medallion Package and Dynamic Package. The two new packages join the previous Midnight Edition, offering buyers three convenient ways to customize their Maxima straight from the dealership.


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Herat, Afghanistan: In the middle of a bazaar in western Afghanistan, Arezo Akrimi grabs her smartphone and, after a few taps on the screen, turns some cryptocurrency into a bundle of hard money.
Arezo, 19, is one of a hundred students in Herat who has been receiving about $200 a month in cryptocurrency since September thanks to an American NGO Code To Inspire.
This amount, which she converts at an exchange office in Afghans, is crucial for the rent and for feeding her family of six.
Since the return of the Taliban in August, the Afghan economy has virtually collapsed and the country is gripped by a crisis caused by the seizure of billions of dollars in assets held abroad.
But digital currencies and their decentralized architecture, impervious to international sanctions, are enabling a handful of young Afghans to avoid the worst of the crisis.
“It was very surprising to me to learn that this can be used in Afghanistan,” Arezo told AFP. “It was really helpful.”
Code To Inspire was founded to teach computer programming to women in Herat, but its hi-tech approach now also helps students make money in the economically disadvantaged nation.
Bank transfers to Afghanistan are currently almost impossible to prevent money from falling into the hands of Islamist fundamentalists.
But even those who have money in a bank struggle to get it out — individuals are limited to withdrawing the equivalent of $200 a week, and companies $2,000.
Even those transactions require customers to queue for hours.
The cryptocurrency transfer allowed the NGO to get around these hurdles and ensure that every donation reaches those who need it most, founder Fereshteh Forough told AFP.
“Crypto is an incredible way to overcome all kinds of political and economic sanctions, as well as a tool that can change the lives of people living under authoritarian regimes,” said the American, whose parents fled Afghanistan in the 1980s.
To ensure the financial security of its students, the NGO avoids paying them in bitcoins, the most well-known cryptocurrency but whose price regularly fluctuates wildly.
Instead, it favors the BUSD, a so-called “stablecoin” whose price is backed by the dollar.
“One BUSD is one dollar,” Forough says.
In addition to this humanitarian initiative, cryptocurrencies are gaining other followers in Herat, according to forex dealer Hamidullah Temori.
He has seen an influx of new customers over the past six months, many of whom come regularly to convert cryptoassets sent to Afghans by relatives from abroad.
“Since the Taliban came to power (cryptocurrency), transfers to and from abroad have increased by 80 percent,” he told AFP.
Wire transfers are instant and commissions are much lower than Western Union or hawala transactions, the over-the-counter system traditionally favored by Afghans.
In Kabul, circumstances have made Noor Ahmad Haidar a crypto convert.
The young man, who began exporting saffron to the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada in early 2021, has now paid 90 percent of his orders in bitcoins.
“I avoid the chaotic process of bank transfers,” he says.
“Since August, it has really become the only option available and the most convenient for me.”
Afghanistan’s growing popularity was noted by Chainalysis in its 2021 Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index, which ranked the country 20th out of 154 countries for “grassroots take-up”.
“I don’t think it’s just a response to the Taliban takeover,” said Kim Grauer, the company’s research director.
“It’s also because we are in a time where there are more solutions that allow you to trade cryptocurrencies on your phone and more people understand what it is.”
While momentum is growing, trading volume remains very low, and will continue to do so because of the lack of internet access and high illiteracy rates in Afghanistan, she says.
‘Very good protection’
But for those who can venture into this world, cryptocurrencies can be a lifeline.
In addition to his studies, Ruholamine Haqshanas writes from Herat for India-based media specializing in new technologies.
Since the arrival of the Taliban, his salary, paid entirely in stablecoins, has enabled him to absorb the galloping inflation and free fall of the Afghani.
“The stablecoins offer very good protection against loss of value of the currency,” says the 22-year-old student, who now earns more than his doctor’s father.
The young man is also trying to speculate about some of the more volatile crypto currencies, thanks to the advice of a WhatsApp group with 13,000 members in Herat.
Fellow student Parisa Rahamati made $600 in February to hedge against the price of decentralized currencies like Ethereum and Avax – a windfall she shared with her widowed and unemployed mother.
“You have to be willing to take risks,” the 22-year-old confides to him.
“Crypto is 50/50… you can double your bet or go to zero.”
This post Crypto provides solution for some in crisis-stricken Afghanistan
was original published at “https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/cryptocurrency/crypto-provides-fix-for-some-in-crisis-hit-afghanistan/articleshow/90334707.cms”


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Food retailers in the United Kingdom are feeling the effects of competitive pressure and low inflation.
This is most notable in the declining gross-profit margins the two largest U.K. chains reported in their recent year-end 1993 financial results.
J. Sainsbury, the largest retailer in the United Kingdom, saw its gross-profit margin decline by about 40 basis points in the year ended March 12, according to Tony MacNeary, a securities analyst at County NatWest, London, who follows European food retailers.
At Tesco, the second-largest food retailer in the United Kingdom, gross margins fell about 70 basis points in the year ended Feb. 26, MacNeary said.
County NatWest has "hold" recommendations on the stock of both Tesco and Sainsbury.
"Gross margins have come down in the U.K. market since last November," MacNeary said. This is an operational issue U.K. retailers have not confronted for quite some time, but trends have completely reversed in the past six months with the advent of discount retailing and other competitive factors.
Retailers in the United Kingdom began to reap the benefits of higher gross margins in the 1980s with their aggressive rollout of the superstore format, MacNeary said. The larger superstores enabled retailers to offer wider product ranges, with more private-label, fresh food and other higher-margin items. Operating costs, which were basically fixed, were then leveraged against increased sales.
"You were basically seeing very large stores having more and more volume put through them," MacNeary said of the superstores. "So their economies of scale were growing."
Today, an amalgamation of factors is putting new pressures on gross margins, MacNeary said.
"It's not just discounters, although it's partly that," he said. Additionally, chains that were once thought to be weak operators are now turning up the competitive pressure with major price promotions.
For example, Gateway launched an aggressive price-promotion program about a year ago that has proved successful, MacNeary said. And Asda, another second-tier chain, has "managed to resurrect itself very strongly," he said.
In response to the ongoing price competition, the major retail groups are "endeavoring to basically cut operating costs," MacNeary said. "I don't think there is much hope of gross margins being rebuilt strongly in the short term. So attention is focused very much on hoping to keep margins stable because inflation is virtually nonexistent here."
Retailers also must go back to their suppliers to get "better terms of trade, but that's not going to be easy," MacNeary said.
With U.K. food retailers' prospects for improving earnings looking dim, some investors have turned their attention to France.
Leading French retailers -- such as Carrefour and Promodes -- have been active in international expansion for a number of years and already have footholds in a number of other markets.
These long-term international opportunities, coupled with solid market shares at home, help make the stock of French retailers among the most attractive in European food retailing, according to MacNeary.
MacNeary and David Shriver, another NatWest securities analyst, recently completed a study on French food retailing. Their findings resulted in "buy" recommendations on the stock of three French retailers: Carrefour, Promodes and Docks de France.
"We do have a very positive view on Carrefour as we do French food retailers in general," MacNeary said. The stock of Casino, another French food retailer, is rated as a "hold" by NatWest.
One of the strengths of Carrefour, according to the NatWest report, is that management has recognized "that it must begin to eradicate diseconomies in buying, sourcing and logistics if it is to capitalize on its industry leadership on a domestic and international basis."
Earlier this year, Carrefour announced a plan that "embraces a major restructuring of management in France" and which represents another step toward centralization, the NatWest report said. "While recent shifts in strategy toward greater control from the center carries risks, it is also the key to the company's long-term development," the report said. "1994 and 1995 will be the critical years for Carrefour [to determine] whether it can successfully make the transition to a more focused and less entrepreneurial culture."
Promodes, which NatWest called "one of the most exciting growth vehicles in European food retailing," already has benefited from centralization. In 1992, the company set up Promodes World Trade as a Geneva, Switzerland-based central buying office. This office will procure as much as 8% of Promodes worldwide sales by the end of the year.
"The purpose of Promodes World Trade is not to bludgeon manufacturers into accepting volume-related discounts, but to identify savings in the cost of production and distribution for the manufacturer, which Promodes will share," the NatWest report said.
Docks de France, a medium-sized French food retailer, exceeded NatWest expectations in fiscal 1993 with net income of $79 million, an increase of 16%. Docks is "capable of sustaining market share by astute management of its brand franchise across a number of key formats," the NatWest report said. "A strong domestic position is reinforced by an excellent Spanish operation."


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Alibaba, one of the world’s largest companies, is making a 1.4 Billion investment into Artificial Intelligence for its new Smart Speaker. It will be called the Tmall Genie Smart Speaker X1. They are using the money to invest in Artificial Intelligence to boost their Tmall Genie line of devices so they can integrate and automate all their devices. However, this is not the first time we have heard about Alibaba making a push into full home automation. There were reports back in 2017 that Alibaba was in the process of making their own Smart Speaker to integrate into the Tmall Genie ecosystem. But, here we are in 2020 – Alibaba is creating its own AI ecosystem to complement its devices.
Automate Your Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com and other Amazon websites.
The Tmall Genie devices are much like Amazon Alexa enabled products… which makes sense why Amazon was integrating Alexa into everything but the kitchen sink in the last year.
It’s clear that Alibaba has a market share of smart devices in China. They compete with Xiaomi and Baidu in the Chinese market, but I think they are ready to make a push outside their borders with Tmall Genie.
It will be interesting to see what happens next. Will they be able to compete with Amazon, Google, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Baidu.