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OnePlus 11 price cut: Ahead of Diwali, the OnePlus 11 5G smartphone has received a massive discount on Amazon India. After the price cut, the high-end smartphone is available at just Rs. 4,749. For the unversed, the smartphone was launched at Rs 56,999 at the Cloud 11 event along with the OnePlus 11R 5G.
How and Where to Avail OnePlus 11 5G Discount?
ICICI credit card holders can get a discount of Rs 2,250 on Amazon, along with an exchange deal of up to Rs. 50,000. Intrested customers must note that the discount will vary depending on the resale value of your old smartphone. So, before finalising the purchase of OnePlus 11 5G, buyers are advise to check the available discount for their current device.
A look at 5 key features of One Plus 11 5G
- The OnePlus 11 5G comes in two colourways -- Titan Black and Eternal Green.
- It features a 6.7-inch display that comes with a refresh rate of 120 Hz.
- The smartphone comes equipped with the 3rd Generation Hasselblad Camera for Mobile with a "three-main-sensor" triple-camera system -- 50MP+32MP+48MP.
- It is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset with up to 16GB of RAM.
- Further, the new phone supports 100W fast charging, which charges the 5000mAh battery from 1 per cent to 100 per cent in 25 minutes.
In other news, OnePlus Open, the flagship foldable device has achieved robust sales across multiple channels on its open sale day, and emerged as the highest-selling foldable smartphone on the first day of its sale. OnePlus Open became the highest-selling foldable smartphone device on the first day of sale at Reliance Digital.
Moreover, OnePlus Open has emerged as the highest-selling foldable smartphone on Amazon.in on its open sale day in more than Rs 1 lakh price segment in 2023.


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As mentioned in a previous post, my girls and some of their friends had a sale this past Saturday to raise money for Project Hope Worldwide, an organization building an orphanage, school & medical clinic in Lira, Uganda.
The sale went great and the girls had a great time selling their products. It was also "Kid's Day" at the Farmers' Market and some of their friends were there selling items they've made, as well. Lots of creative kids out there already learning how to run a business and make a profit.
Here's a few pics from the sale...
I also just found out this morning that Air 1 and K-Love radio stations have been airing a "positive news story" about the girls! You can find links to the story here and here and you can listen to a snippet here. I just asked them to add their event to their local event calendars and they ended up doing a little story on them. So proud of those girls and their big hearts!

domain: news


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We report on a Leipzig exhibition showcasing shoe design from around the world. The exhibition runs until late September 2013.
Revered designer Peter Ghyczy — and his legendary Cold War "Egg" chair — gets a solo exhibition at the Brussels Design Museum that celebrates function over form.
Portugal's shoemakers have built a reputation for quality in an industry dominated by low-cost producers. As DW's Jochen Faget finds out, despite intense competition the production lines are still humming nicely.
Although it may come as a surprise, East German graphic artists had more creative freedom than their counterparts in the West when designing movie posters. Graphic artist Detlef Helmbold tells DW why.
Leena Kejriwal uses art and gaming to share stories of human trafficking and encourage players to take action in the real world. Thousands of girls are forced into the sex trade in India each year.
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Scott Morrison, Gladys Berejiklian and Dominic Perrottet have jointly announced a raft of new support measures for the state of NSW in response to the prolonged lockdown in Greater Sydney.
The Federal and NSW Governments will jointly fund a new Small and Medium Business Support Payments for eligible NSW businesses. In addition, the NSW Government has expanded the previously announced grants and introduced some additional support measures for businesses.
In his announcement, the Prime Minister declared that these support packages would be available to any state or territory that experienced an extended lockdown.
William Buck have summarised the support available to businesses and how you can access it.


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A YouTuber has posted a video featuring what he claims are two prototype Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra devices, suggesting the phone might have an unusual feature: a 1-inch rear-facing screen right next to the cameras. The video shows this small screen displaying what looks like an image of the phone’s home screen, only… you know, microscopic. A more practical application might be for selfies using the rear-facing camera.
The video, since taken down, comes from a little-known Filipino vlogger who goes by Tech Buff PH. XDA-Developers says the device model number checks out, and certain details align with previous leaks. Other details from this alleged leak include 67W fast wireless charging, a 6.8-inch curved OLED with an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz, a 5,000mAh battery, and IP68 water and dust resistance.
The alleged devices include a huge camera bump with a 120x hybrid zoom camera, like last year’s Mi 10 Ultra, as well as a 50-megapixel main camera. If this phone is indeed the Mi 11 Ultra, then it looks like Xiaomi ditched the 2x telephoto lens on the previous model, offering just the longer periscope-style zoom lens instead. There’s also a 12mm ultrawide, which Tech Buff PH claims has a 48-megapixel sensor, upgraded from 12 megapixels.
Xiaomi announced the Chinese variant of the standard Mi 11 at the end of 2020, and more recently, it unveiled an international version. Both feature a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 888 processor offering 5G connectivity. With those versions announced, Xiaomi will likely follow with other variants such as the alleged Ultra version featured here. Whether this device will shape up to be the real deal remains to be seen, but it’s an interesting concept to consider in either case.


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Alterra Coffee Roasters will open its second Wauwatosa cafe — and its second cafe to serve alcohol — on June 30, the company said in an email.
The 3,200-square-foot cafe, 6745 W. Wells St., will feature a fireplace, outdoor fire pit and roll-up garage doors, the email said. It also will serve Alterra's signature beer brewed by One Barrel Brewing Co. of Madison.
Alterra opened its first beer-serving cafe in Madison in April.
The Wauwatosa Economic Development Corp. awarded the Wauwatosa project $99,000 in community development block grants.


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Ford, a latecomer to the world's biggest auto market, is stepping up efforts to catch up with rivals such as GM and Volkswagen AG.
In addition to this, the lobby group for the automobile industry has also sought government support for promotion of electric and hybrid vehicles.
South Korean carmaker Ssangyong Motor Co could set up a manufacturing plant in its biggest global market China if sales there rise to 50,000 vehicles a year.
According to three China-based Toyota executives, the NDRC this month summoned Beijing-based executives at Lexus for questioning.
India's structures are more like Germany's than China's. We may have the same vision as China , but our paths to it will have to be different.
India must urgently improve its infrastructure and reform its tax, land acquisition and labour laws if it is to fulfil its ambition of becoming a leading international automotive manufacturing hub, global carmakers said.
Following representations by developers, the ministry of new and renewable energy has asked the commerce ministry to review its proposal.
According to auto industry data, around 609,676 vehicles, including cars have been recalled by various manufacturers in the Indian mkt since July 2012.


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October was a special month in the business of Cyber Security. In line with Europe’s Cyber Security Awareness Month (ESCM) and the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) campaign in the USA, MFG have also been showing their commitment to Cyber Security in October by offering free phishing tests and external vulnerability scans.
But!… as we fully appreciate that Cyber Security is for Life and not just for October, we’ve decided to extend our Cyber Awareness campaign until the end of November 2019. That’s right – Brexit isn’t the only thing to be delayed this October!
So from now until Friday 29th November 2019, MFG are offering new and existing clients a free phishing campaign and/or a free external vulnerability scan – designed to test both your technical and human resilience to cyber security threats.
Here’s what one of our new clients, Philip Harrison from Plimsoll Publishing said about our free Phishing test:
Great company easy to work with, Ash was very helpful in designing the Phishing Campaign and has been key to making the company aware about how prepared we are for Cyber threats.
How do I claim the free Cyber Security offers?
Whilst powerful learning practices such as phishing tests and cyber awareness programs are designed to test your staff’s human resilience to cyber security threats, external vulnerability scans highlight technical weaknesses that, in some cases, are often identified when it’s too late.
As you know, at MFG, we have a huge commitment to cyber security. We believe all companies need to train their employees to identify and prevent cyber threats – regardless of their resources or budgets… And since, as we say “Cyber Security is for Life, not just October”, our key objective is to help businesses raise awareness of cyber security threats and promote good cyber security processes – for life.


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Engelbert stated on Thursday that “we need to do a better job from the league of placing them in internships, in apprenticeships, in skill sets.”
According to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, the league is still looking for methods to provide players with enough money so they won’t have to go abroad.
In response to the Thursday news that Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner had been released from a Russian prison, Engelbert addressed a press conference. He questioned how the WNBA could stop a situation from occurring again.
Engelbert claimed that she “often” discusses “the economic model” that the WNBA is attempting to establish to increase player compensation. A top athlete can earn up to $700,000, according to Engelbert.
She noted that the league’s youth, in comparison to the NBA or other professional sports leagues, is a hindrance.
“Unlike some of the men’s leagues, we are not 75 or 100 years of age. In order to do that, we are researching the past, creating rivalries, and creating household names.” The league will provide $1.5 million as “part of the player marketing deals,” according to Engelbert.
To focus more on player marketing, Engelbert claimed that the agreements were “something we negotiated in collective negotiations.”
By tying players to businesses and endorsement deals, the intention is to “create more household names in this league,” preventing them from needing to play abroad, as Griner was doing when she was detained in Moscow in February.
“So not only do we pay them to remain in the United States, but they also get to develop their brands, interact with corporate or media brands, and receive endorsements.


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Photos Of Raw Meat Delivery Go Viral, USDA Investigates
By Cooking Panda
The USDA is currently investigating a disturbing case of mishandled raw meat delivered in shopping carts to 99 Ranch Market in San Jose, California.
Local shopper Loretta Seto was on a routine shopping trip to the grocery store, located at Hostetter Road and Lundy Avenue, when she spotted two delivery men transporting raw meat in Costco shopping carts at the front entrance. Suspicious and alarmed, Seto immediately snapped a photo and posted the incident to Facebook as a warning to other local shoppers.
Seto told NBC Bay Area that the two men appeared to have dumped slabs of raw pork in the grocery carts where they could go down aisles touching other products. “I don’t know,” Seto said. “It was absolutely horrific in my opinion.”
Another customer, Christine Cabral, discovered a similar sight in March 2016 — uncovered butchered hogs being rolled in shopping carts through the back doors of the Marina grocery store. Cabral took the same action as Seto and snapped a photo.
Now, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is working with local authorities after the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health launched an investigation into the San Jose grocery store.
The USDA said in a statement that it will be conducting a thorough inspection of the facility, interviewing personnel and reviewing paperwork to determine if further actions will be needed.
NBC Bay Area looked into county inspection reports for 99 Ranch Market and found cases of “major risk factors and violations” in the meat department noted by a health inspector on Jan. 8. “Improper hand washing, food debris in the meat slicers and grinders and dirty meat trays” were highlighted by the food inspection official.
Records also showed an inspector noted live cockroaches in the meat preparation area.
Seto’s Facebook post continues to garner attention with over 2,000 shares and hundreds of comments. The grocery store has even responded to Seto’s post directly stating that the market intends to resolve the issue by filing a complaint against the vendor, Jim’s Farm Meat. 99 Ranch market said in an interview with NBC Bay Area that it has discarded all the meat from the vendor.99 Ranch, Raw Meat, San Jose
Raw Meat Cakes Are Apparently A Real Thing (Photos)
By Cooking Panda
If you’re watching your sugar and carb intake and following more of a protein-heavy diet, these meat cakes might be just the thing for you.
Metro reports that the citizens of Japan have bumped their birthday celebrations up a notch with the introduction of raw meat cakes. And no, this isn’t steak tartare we’re talking about … it’s a raw meat platter shaped like a birthday cake. They even put candles on top and everything.
Some are decorated with sparklers, and others even with flowers. The meats are top choice and, according to Kotaku, they’re appearing more and more at grilled meat restaurants all over the country.
When looking through these pictures (which are all over social media, FYI), you have to wonder who even came up with this? And why?
According to Bustle, in a country like Japan where most meals are dominated by fish and rice, high-quality meats are a luxury, which explains why they’re such a great birthday gift. If you receive a platter of meat shaped like a birthday cake or like roses (or both), you’re a pretty happy camper. If you’re at a grill-your-own-meat joint, it could just be like meshing your dinner with your dessert.
Take apart the beautifully crafted piece of beefy artwork and get to grilling, after snapping a picture, of course. Some of the “cakes” even feature high-quality cuts of sashimi.
Personally, this new trend is not my thing. If you say cake, I expect layers upon layers of chocolate and icing; I want my flowers to be full of sugar. However, I guess I can see the appeal. I’m sure the carnivores delight in this (probably very expensive) birthday treat.
Maybe if I could get past the look of it … I could give a meat cake a chance. Then again, I’d have to go to Japan to do so. Strange how this seems like it would be much more of a Western thing. I guess we’ve rubbed off on them some!Sources: Metro, Kotaku, Bustle / Photo Credit: melogy5/Twitter, Kotaku/Twitter, kazu23kayo/TwitterTags: Birthday Cake, Happy Birthday, japan, meat cake, Raw Meat, Raw Meat Cake


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Hyatt falls to POS malware infection
Hotel data breach epidemic continues
Just in time for Christmas, Hyatt is notifying customers that their payment card data may have been compromised by malware-wielding cybercriminals. The major hotel chain is thus encouraging its customers “to review payment card account statements closely.”
Hyatt says in a Dec. 23 statement saying that it recently “identified malware on computers that operate the payment processing systems for Hyatt-managed locations.” The company says it launched a related investigation when the point-of-sale malware was detected, brought in third-party digital-forensic investigators, and that the related breach investigation remains ongoing.
“Protecting customer information is of critical importance to Hyatt, and we take the security of your payment card data very seriously.”
Chicago-based Hyatt, which is controlled by the billionaire Pritzker family, says that in the wake of the breach it has “taken steps to strengthen the security of its systems,” although does not detail what those steps might be.continue reading »


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While we’ve been following the dispute between Apple and Epic Games, Japanese developers have now expressed concerns about the App Store’s business model regarding Apple’s 30% commission and also how the company treats third-party apps. As the gaming market in Japan is extremely strong, the local government may soon take action against the Cupertino-based company.
According to a Bloomberg report, several Japanese developers have stood in favor of Epic Games in the dispute against Apple due to the removal of Fortnite from the App Store. They mentioned that the App Store review process is unfair and that the company should give better treatment to third-party apps in its store considering the high commission developers must pay Apple.
While Epic, publisher of the hit title Fortnite, focuses on the 30% revenue cut app stores typically take, Japanese game studios have broader concerns. They have long been unhappy with what they see as Apple’s inconsistent enforcement of its own App Store guidelines, unpredictable content decisions and lapses in communication, according to more than a dozen people involved in the matter.
Hironao Kunimitsu, founder of the Japanese gaming company Gumi Inc, wrote on his Facebook that he wants “from the bottom of my heart Epic to win,” in reference to the legal battle between Apple and Epic Games. But the problem goes beyond Apple’s 30% commission, as developers criticize the company for the App Store review guidelines.
Makoto Shoji, founder of PrimeTheory Inc, argues that “Apple’s app review is often ambiguous, subjective and irrational.” Shoji complains that the app review process sometimes can take weeks, but it’s difficult to get support from Apple on these occasions. “While Apple will never admit it, I think there are times when they simply forget an item’s in the review queue,” said the developer.
Another situation addressed by Japanese developers is how Apple sometimes has its own interpretation of what is appropriate content in an app. The report mentions that several game studios had to change their characters in swimsuits as Apple claimed they were sexualized characters.
Apple CEO Tim Cook testified this year at an antitrust hearing of the US Judiciary Committee and the company has also been facing antitrust charges in Europe. These investigations may extend to even more countries as Japan’s antitrust regulator said in an interview that they’re monitoring Apple’s practices when it comes to how the company manages the App Store.
It’s worth mentioning that the first hearing of the case between Apple and Epic Games is expected to take place later this month.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Prouds Duty Free is marking the third anniversary of the opening of its duty free store at Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby.
Official celebrations, in partnership with CPL Group, the largest multi-format retailer in Papua New Guinea, took place at the airport earlier this month.
Prouds Papua New Guinea Manager Kiran Rathod said: “The past 36 months have been very exciting and challenging for us. The timing of our official opening coincided with the opening of the 2015 Pacific Games which PNG hosted and it was a really great way to start business in the fastest-growing Pacific nation with a workforce of 42 staff.”
Rathod said the Prouds Duty Free store was aligned with the latest international duty free and travel retail trends and its customers were able to purchase with confidence.
CPL Managing Director Mahesh Patel noted positive customer feedback: “You have made us all proud,” he said.


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Buybacks have gotten a bad rap from both Republicans and Democrats. But stocks would be trading at a massive discount without them.Marketsread more
The biggest U.S. gasoline price surge in years is running out of steam just in time for the start of the summer driving season.Energyread more
Stocks rose on Friday, but notched weekly losses as investors worried the U.S.-China trade war is hurting economic growth.US Marketsread more
The combination of mounting recession fears, bets on a more cautious Fed and a regular uptick in market volatility could spell more losses.Marketsread more
The therapy, Zolgensma, is a one-time treatment for spinal muscular atrophy — a muscle-wasting disease and leading genetic cause of infant mortality, affecting 1 in every...Biotech and Pharmaceuticalsread more
SpaceX has raised just over $1 billion in financing since the beginning of the year.Investing in Spaceread more
An analyst for Ark Invest, which has a major investment in Tesla, says recent drastic price-target cuts by others on Wall Street are missing the big picture.Investingread more
A federal judge in California has blocked President Donald Trump from building sections of his long-sought border wall with money secured under his declaration of a national...Politicsread more
Former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson is seen as the bookmaker's favorite to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May.Europe Politicsread more
The race is underway to find a vaccine that can control African swine fever, a highly contagious and deadly viral infection ravaging China's hog population. There is currently...Agricultureread more
While the iPhone 6S may look just like the standard model, Apple fans should expect a much more potent device this fall, 9-to-5 Mac Senior Editor Mark Gurman said Thursday.
"One of the big things we reported that will be coming is the inclusion of a new processor for wireless networking from Qualcomm, which will allow data speeds over 4G to move twice as fast, which means emails [will be] downloaded faster and web pages loading more quickly, " Gurman said in a CNBC "Squawk Alley " interview.
On Tuesday, 9-to-5 Mac published an article showing what it claims to be the first photos of Apple's newest smartphone. The company did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
Gurman added that consumers should also expect the device to price in between $199 on-contract and over $500 off-contract, in line with previous iPhone models.
Gurman also shared his first impressions on Apple's music streaming service, saying that, while consumers seem to enjoy the service right now, the company will have to wait until the three-month free trial period is over to gauge its success.
"Right now there's a lot of hype and marketing," Gurman said. "But it's free. It's free for everyone to download it right now. We'll see what people really think about it when they have to start paying [$9.99] per month.
Apple's stock was down slightly in midday trade.


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Kraft Heinz will sell its 50.1% stake in its South African operations to its joint venture partner Pioneer Foods.
The move sees Heinz Foods SA become a wholly-owned subsidiary of South African company Pioneer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed and it is expected the transaction will close in the first quarter of 2018.
Pioneer will also be entering into a two-year agreement with Kraft Heinz to manufacture and distribute Heinz tomato ketchup. It will also distribute HP and Lea & Perrins products in South Africa.
Felipe Guimaraes, managing director of Kraft Heinz Middle East and Africa, said: “We believe this change is an excellent opportunity for the business and our employees to leverage Pioneer Foods’ existing scale and platform in South Africa to grow the business further.”
Pioneer Foods CEO Tertius Carsten added: “By acquiring full ownership of Heinz Foods SA, we look forward to the further growth and development of the portfolio that includes a range of number one or two brands in their respective categories.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024


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Ms Piggott said, for Australian almond producers, 2023 had been another year of export growth. “Shipments in the marketing year through November 2023 were up eight per cent in volume, exceeding the crop size for 2023 and resulting in a significant reduction in carry-out volume,” she said.
There were mixed results across export markets during the year, Ms Piggott said. “The reduction of tariffs on Australian almonds to India has prompted significant growth in trade to the region, with volumes up 140 per cent year-on-year in 2023 (March to November 2023).
“Meanwhile, for Australia’s largest export destination, China – the sluggish economy has softened consumer demand and exports to the region are down 32 per cent year-on year (March to November 2023). Fortunately, growth in other markets and in domestic sales has been positive, as Australia continues to diversify its export destinations,” she said.
Ms Piggott said the bank expects a strong rebound in international almond prices over the next 12 to 18 months, despite global production returning to higher levels.
“Production challenges in 2022 and 2023, coupled with an ongoing recovery in global demand, will drive ending stocks to their lowest level in four years. The lower carry-in expected in 2024 and its powerful, multi-year impact on the market are setting the stage for potential price stabilisation at stronger levels,” she said.
The bank anticipates while almond production will hit new records over the next five years, so will export shipments.
“Reductions of Indian tariffs are fuelling strong export growth for both the US and Australia,” the report said. “While health and plant-based food trends, rising incomes, lower inflation, and strong marketing efforts will continue to support almond demand, significant risks remain.”
Ms Piggott warned with geopolitical tensions on the rise, logistical concerns are always looming. “And there is ever-growing competition in the tree nut space,” she said.
Accounting for roughly 80 per cent of global almond production and about 86 per cent of global almond exports, California plays a critical role in determining the state of almond markets, Ms Piggott said.
“US production more than tripled from 2005 to 2020, surpassing the three-billion-pound milestone in 2020 – sooner than industry expectations – thanks to favourable growing conditions that year.
“However, the three subsequent seasons have had production challenges, as yields were impacted by weather events. While yields in 2021 and 2022 were affected by an exceptional drought and deficit irrigation, 2023 brought floods and remarkably challenging conditions during pollination,” she said.
Rabobank says global almond production in 2023/24 is estimated to be down 15 per cent compared to the 2020/21 record.
“The final crop size this year may be even lower, given the likelihood of a smaller-than- expected crop in California,” Ms Piggott said. “Marketable supply could come under further pressure as the loss- and-exempt percentage of the 2023 California crop is reportedly well above average.
“Higher year- on-year production in the EU (Spain and Portugal) and Australia will offset the potential decline in California production and bring the 2023/24 global crop to levels similar to the prior season’s,” she said.


text: Malaysia’s public consumer will not pay any taxes on goods and services because the taxes will not be charged in this three month. With the zero- percent of GST, demand would increased for goods and services because of the lower prices of goods and services. For example, car is cheaper at zero-percent of GST. Many companies have revised for their cars prices and consumers could be saving thousands of ringgit than before such as prices for Perodua vehicles are priced lower for average 5.6% when the zero-percent of GST. Reduction in the selling price of new residential properties due to lower cost of construction following the zero-percent of GST for building materials and construction services also make the sales in commercial and residential units increased.


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Observational Study Finds Medical Cannabis Products Improve Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Illnesses
LOS ANGELES– A new study has found that medical cannabis products are generally well-tolerated and can lead to significant improvements in the health-related quality of life of patients. The research, published in the journal Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, assessed the safety and efficacy of cannabis-derived products in 2,833 patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. All participants had been authorized by their doctors to use cannabis-based medicinal products, which have been available since 2018 to patients unresponsive to conventional medications.
The patients enrolled in the study suffered from a range of conditions, including chronic pain, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, depression, migraine, inflammatory bowel disease, and other afflictions. The participants consumed cannabis by either vaporizing marijuana flowers or by ingesting plant-derived extracts containing both THC and CBD. Researchers assessed their symptoms compared to baseline at one, three, six, and twelve months.
The study found that most patients experienced sustained improvements following cannabis therapy, and that adverse events associated with cannabis were typically mild, with dry mouth and fatigue being the most frequently reported side-effects. However, the authors noted that female and cannabis-naïve patients were at increased risk of experiencing adverse events, and that the risk of such events should be considered before initiating treatment.
The authors concluded that the findings could help inform current clinical practice, but also highlighted the need for further clinical trials to determine causality and generate guidelines to optimize therapy with cannabis-based medicinal products. Overall, the study suggests that medical cannabis products can have a positive impact on the quality of life of patients with chronic illness, but more research is needed to fully understand their benefits and risks.
Here the full text of study “An observational study of safety and clinical outcome measures across patient groups in the United Kingdom Medical Cannabis Registry”
Schwazze Posts $18.5 Million Loss in 2022 Due to Expansion into New Mexico and Acquisitions, But Sees Strong Revenue Growth and Retail Sales
LOS ANGELES-- Schwazze Inc., formerly known as Medicine Man Technologies Inc. and based in Denver, Colorado, has reported a net loss of $18.5 million for the full year of 2022, a significant downturn from its ...
Columbia Care reports $300 million net loss for Q4 2022 and strategic restructuring efforts
LOS ANGELES-- Columbia Care Inc. recently reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2022, revealing a net loss of $300 million for the quarter, compared to a net ...
Aurora Cannabis Saves $2.6 Million in Interest Payments Through Repurchase of Convertible Senior Notes
LOS ANGELES-- Canadian cannabis company Aurora Cannabis Inc. has announced that it has repurchased approximately $46.6 million (US$34.3 million) worth of its convertible senior notes. The Notes were repurchased at a total cost, including accrued ...


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NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tablet Hotels, the hotel experts at the MICHELIN Guide, today revealed new data that shows consumers are feeling increasingly optimistic about travel in 2021, with the number of travelers booking stays 90 or more days out growing 208% over the November 1–December 9 period versus the prior four-month period. The data indicates there is significant pent-up demand for travel and that consumers are growing more confident about traveling safely again in the new year as global vaccine efforts accelerate.
The company also announced the launch of the Tablet Recovery Pledge, which is designed to provide travelers with more information about the enhanced safety measures participating hotels are taking to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. More than 1,000 of Tablet's partner hotels have taken the pledge and confirmed they are acting responsibly to support the health and well-being of guests and staff.
"We launched the Recovery Pledge to give travelers extra peace of mind when choosing a Tablet destination and to give hotels on our platform the opportunity to explain their enhanced health and safety measures," said Lucy Lieberman, Chief Marketing Officer of Tablet. "Our hotels have always held themselves to the highest standards when it comes to guest safety and sanitation, and they were eager to share the additional steps they were taking during the pandemic, so travelers can book their stays with confidence."
The Recovery Pledge is the latest in a series of initiatives Tablet has launched in collaboration with its hotel partners to help them meet consumers' unique travel and work needs amid the ongoing pandemic. The company is also partnering with 25 selected hotels to make rooms available by the day at reduced rates for those looking for a safe and inspiring remote office workspace. Consumers in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Austin, Nashville and London now have the option of booking a room at a Tablet hotel to use during business hours for a refreshing change of pace from their home or corporate office.
Tablet has also recently expanded its Tablet Plus selection, giving travelers even more reason to begin planning trips and getaways again. The company has added hundreds of properties to the VIP program, bringing the total number of participating hotels to over 1,000. Tablet Plus program members receive access to upgrades, member-only sales and other exclusive benefits at Tablet Plus hotels as well as dedicated concierge-level assistance from Tablet's team of travel specialists.
Tablet Recovery Pledge Methodology
To create the Recovery Pledge, Tablet first compiled research on COVID-19 hotel safety guidelines set by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local authorities in various markets, hotel unions, and travel and hospitality brands. Tablet then crafted a survey based on the research and sent it to all hotels with whom the company has a direct relationship. The survey was designed to focus on three critical categories:
Implementation of safety and cleaning measures related to COVID-19
Providing access to personal protective equipment for all staff and guests
Adherence to government-recommended actions designed to slow and prevent the spread of COVID-19
More than 1,000 hotels are participating in Tablet's Recovery Pledge.
About Tablet Hotels
Founded in 2000 and part of MICHELIN since 2018, Tablet offers a curated selection of extraordinary hotels to meet every discerning traveler's taste and budget and makes booking them quick and easy. The company provides concierge-level customer service from an experienced team of travel specialists and offers membership in the Tablet Plus VIP program, which offers upgrades and exclusive privileges to members when they stay at participating Tablet Plus hotels. Available in eight languages, the Tablet website and iOS app allow users across the globe to discover hotel destinations that provide a uniquely memorable experience rather than just a room for the night.
Michelin, the leading mobility company, is dedicated to enhancing its clients' mobility, sustainably; designing and distributing the most suitable tires, services and solutions for its clients' needs; providing digital services, maps and guides to help enrich trips and travels and make them unique experiences; and developing high-technology materials that serve a variety of industries. Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America, Inc. (www.michelinman.com) has more than 21,400 employees and operates 19 major manufacturing plants.


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Firefighters vs. police will compete to raise funds and see who can eat the most waffles at the tiabi coffee and waffle annual waffle eating contest!
The local coffee shop is celebrating international waffle day with a fun waffle eating contest and community squat challenge to raise funds for two local charities supporting first responders!
Grab a fork! International Waffle Day is coming up, and TIABI Coffee and Waffle is hosting its annual waffle eating contest – Waffles for a Cause! The annual event combines two of their favorite things: waffles and community. The Clark County School District Police K-9 unit will go head-to-head against the Firefighters of Southern Nevada Burn Foundation on Saturday, March 25, to see who can eat the most waffles in five minutes—leading up to the event the community can get in on the fun and Fun-raising by signing up for the squat challenge, a new addition to the event. Participants can sign up to compete to squat the most reps in five minutes while holding a twenty-five-pound bag of sugar; the winner will receive free waffles for the year. To sweeten the experience, TIABI Coffee and Waffle will also have a healthy first responder menu; items will promote wellness and be available throughout March, and a portion of proceeds from the specialty menu will be donated to both organizations.
Waffles and Syrup go hand and hand at TIABI Coffee and Waffles. The local coffee shop has been serving freshly made-to-order waffles and locally roasted coffee for over nine years. Their motto is “To Inspire And Be Inspired,” They have made it part of their company culture to serve and give back to the community. They participate each year in the Veganuary campaign, support the UNLV internship program, and partner with local charities throughout the year to raise funds and awareness within their two TIABI Coffee and Waffle locations.
“A holiday to celebrate eating waffles is worth celebrating! So this year, we want to continue our tradition of celebrating those on the front lines by giving back and keeping our other traditional Waffle Eating Contest.” – Tiffany Biscoe, owner of Tiabi Coffee and Waffle.
TIABI Coffee and Waffle decided to give the Waffle for a Cause event an additional twist with a competitive edge putting firefighters vs. police in a friendly competition to see who can eat the most waffles. Each organization will walk away a winner, as each Waffle eaten will be $5 towards their organization. As a request from the community to get more involved with the fundraising, the local shop owner, Tiffany Biscoe, and her team came up with the squat challenge and added a waffle ingredient to the mix – a twenty-five-pound bag of sugar; each participant will hold the bag while they squat, fitness professionals will be on-site keeping track and making sure they are squatting properly and safely.
TIABI Coffee and Waffle will fire up the waffle irons on March 25 to host the Waffle for a Cause International Waffle Day Eating Contest at 8 a.m. in front of the shop at 3961 S. Maryland Pkwy. Competitors interested in getting more details and signing up for the Squat Challenge can visit www.iwanttiabi.com.
About TIABI Coffee and Waffle:
TIABI has been serving handcrafted coffee, waffles, and vegan specialties since 2013. TIABI is an acronym for “To Inspire And Be Inspired. It all started with two Journalism Majors meeting at UNLV in 2007. Their friendship also leads to a business partnership and passion for bringing something new and innovative to their community.


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What to watch for today
A major free-trade deal finally goes ahead. Japan, the United States, and 10 other Trans-Pacific Partnership nations will hold two days of meetings in New Zealand before the controversial treaty is signed. Local businesses have been advised to close their doors due to expected protests.
The UK and EU both debate Britain’s new role in Europe. British prime minister David Cameron has to convince Parliament that proposals to change the relationship between Brussels and member countries are sufficient. Meanwhile, MEPs are debating the contents of the proposed new deal in the European Parliament.
German scientists take a crack at nuclear fusion. A team is set to heat hydrogen until it reaches the same temperature as the center of the sun. The test, likely attended by chancellor Angela Merkel, is intended to advance understanding of the potentially clean and unlimited source of energy.
Two data sets on the US economy. Analysts expect 195,000 non-farm jobs were added to the economy in January, down from over 250,000 in December. Separately, the country’s services sector is expected to show slower growth in the month.
Keurig and others updates their investors. The single-serve coffee machine maker is expected to post lacklustre sales figures as it faces a saturated market. But investors will expect an update on Europe’s JAB Holdings’s planned $13.9-billion takeover. Comcast, Yum! Brands, and General Motors will also report quarterly results.
While you were sleeping
ChemChina bought Syngenta for $43 billion. The state-owned agro-chemicals company agreed the highest price tag ever paid by a Chinese company for a foreign business. The value of shares in Syngenta, the world’s largest pesticide producer, rose by 6%.
China set a new GDP target. Beijing intends to grow its economy by between 6.5% and 7% this year, reflecting a slowdown from last year’s target of about 7%. The National Development and Reform Commission, which announced the figure, said it would also curb “zombie companies.”
Mark Zuckerberg became the world’s fourth-richest man. The Facebook founder is now worth $50 billion thanks to a share price that is defying global pessimism. Zuckerberg surpassed Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos to take the number-four slot.
Australia ruled in favor of detaining asylum seekers overseas. The High Court dismissed a challenge to the legality of keeping detention centers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, which currently hold around 1,400 people. A legal NGO brought the case to try to prevent nearly 270 people being deported to the islands.
The euro zone’s service sector underwhelmed. The Markit purchasing managers’ index for the economic bloc fell to 53.6 in January, from 54.3 in December, indicating a slower rate of expansion. The UK’s took a surprise leap to 55.6, after analysts expected a decline.
Lenovo posted the first sales decline in six years. The world’s largest PC maker reported an 8% drop in fiscal third-quarter revenue, to $12.9 billion. Shares fell by 11% as Lenovo struggles with a maturing smartphone market and flat PC sales.
Quartz obsession interlude
Ana Campoy on Latin America’s surprising gender parity. “Unlike companies in Europe, Canada, and the US, where the focus has been on recruiting women for top positions, firms in Latin America are adding more female workers across the board, from support staff to executives. In fact, they are hiring women at a higher rate than men at every career level, except at the manager level.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
We need a global marketplace for movies and music. The Netflix ban on VPNs won’t help until demand for foreign TV is satisfied.
Hillary Clinton is being pigeon–holed as the disciplinarian “mom.” Her Democratic presidential rival Bernie Sanders gets to be the fun “dad.”
Don’t let Zika remind you of Ebola. They’ve both been declared “public health emergencies,” but Zika should be approached differently.
Some of Microsoft’s cloud is underwater. An undersea data center takes advantage of the sea’s natural cooling properties.
Elon Musk can be vindictive. He allegedly personally cancelled a blogger’s Tesla order after a “rude” post.
Anti-perspirants can make you smellier. They can kill the good bacteria in your armpits.
A Mumbai landfill fire is so large it can be seen from space. It’s been burning for a week.
Amnesty International is planning a holographic protest. It will project life-sized images of marchers in Seoul to defend free speech.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, anti-perspirants, and coin-toss conspiracy theories to firstname.lastname@example.org. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day.


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New study says sugary drinks sour health of women
Sugary drinks sour health of U.S. women
New study ties beverages to rise in weight, diabetes
Published 5:30 am, Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Soft drinks long have been blamed for rotting teeth — now it seems these sugary beverages also are bad for the rest of your body.
After studying the eating and health records of more than 90,000 young and middle-age women, researchers have linked sugar-sweetened beverages such as cola and fruit punch to weight gain and type 2 diabetes, two increasingly troubling health problems in the United States.
And it doesn't take super-size quantities to do damage.
The study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that a woman who consumes just one can of a soft drink a day is 83 percent more likely to acquire diabetes than a woman who has less than one such beverage a month.
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"The message is quite clear," said Dr. Meir Stampfer, a co-author of the study and chairman of the Harvard School of Public Health's epidemiology department. "These beverages are contributing to the ill health of our country."
A growing trendBetween the late 1970s and late 1990s, soft drink consumption by U.S. adults rose by 61 percent and more than doubled in children. Although the prevalence of obesity and diabetes has similarly risen, evidence linking the trends has been limited, at least until the new study was published.
All groups of women, on average, gained at least some weight during the study's time frame, from 1991 to 1999.
But women who went from drinking low levels of soft drinks (less than one per month) to high levels (one or more per day) gained, on average, nearly 20 pounds. Women who went in the opposite direction, going from high levels of sugary soft drinks to low levels, gained just 3 pounds.
There were similar, although lesser, effects for women who increased their consumption of fruit punch and fruit juices during the study.
Fruit juice was not associated with diabetes, however. Although the study found that any consumption of soft drinks or fruit punch raised the risk of diabetes, fruit juice, which has nearly as many calories, did not.
The sugar in apple, orange and other types of juices is different from the high-fructose corn syrup found in soft drinks and fruit punches, Chan said. The natural sugar in fruit juice has a lower glycemic index, which means it takes longer for the body to digest it and turn it into glucose, the fuel the body uses for energy.
'Obesity alarmists' blastedFruit juice might not be connected to diabetes, Stampfer and the other study authors note, because people are far less prone to drink excessive amounts of it, whereas a 32-oz. or 48-oz. fountain soft drink is easily found at most gas stations, neighborhood marts and movie theaters.
An advocacy group backed by restaurants and food manufacturers said the study's authors were "obesity alarmists" with ties to the diet industry. Some of the doctors have, indeed, received past grants from companies that manufacture diet pills. This study, however, was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
It is notable, said Dan Mindus, a senior analyst with the Center for Consumer Freedom, that women who maintained their rates of sugar-beverage consumption during the study — be they very high or very low — had similar weight gains. In other words, a woman who drank a soft drink every day was statistically likely to gain no more weight than a woman who never drank such beverages.
"This is fizzy science to promote an anti-soda agenda that tries to scare Americans without the data to back it up," he said. "It's the typical hysterical rhetoric, without solid evidence, that indicates a biased agenda by nutritional Puritans."
The authors don't dispute the fact their research shows little difference in the weight gained by women who drank consistent amounts of sugary drinks, and they call for more study of this finding. But they warned it is not OK for someone now avoiding soft drinks to begin consuming more Coke, Pepsi or other similar beverages as their research shows that women who did this gained considerably more weight.
Diet soft drinks were not associated with any weight gain, but the researchers did find a slightly higher risk of diabetes for people who consumed high levels. This risk, however, was not statistically significant.
The study analyzed self-reported data from female nurses. The authors said there is no reason to think their findings do not apply to men.
Sugar-based soft drinks are targeted by nutritionists because they contain "empty calories," or liquid carbohydrates that do little to curb an appetite, unlike solid foods that include fiber and complex carbohydrates that are more filling.
Cutting back earlyIn Texas, the message has already been heard.
A recent study found that one in five of the state's fourth-graders are overweight, a rate nearly 50 percent higher than the national figure for a similar age group.
To curb the problem, the Texas Department of Agriculture this year ordered schools participating in the federal child-nutrition program to limit student access to soft drinks and other snacks. Most school districts in the state, including the Houston Independent School District, participate in the lunch program.
As a result, elementary students can't use vending machines during school hours, and middle school students can't get a soda or candy bar until after lunch is over.
"Instead of eating lunch, kids were buying snacks and drinks from the machines," said Beverly Boyd, a spokeswoman with the department. "We think the schools are a good place to start dealing with the obesity crisis."


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Much like coffee, over the review period, sales of tea improved through foodservice, as a huge number of cafés opened up in Sweden, attracting a greater number of visitors. This also included workers who used foodservice venues as an alternative work spot, with freelancers and office employees working from cafés, as well as being venues for consumers to socialise.
Although retail sales of tea are set to decline in 2020, healthier options are expected to record positive growth. The existing health and wellness trend in Sweden is set to be boosted by the outbreak of COVID-19, as consumers pay more attention to their health, aiming to be fit with a robust immune system.
Sales of private label tea are expected to grow in 2020, as the outbreak of COVID-19 leads consumers to become more price-conscious. With some Swedes losing their jobs, and many working from home, financial insecurity rose, and consumers have been adapting their purchasing decisions accordingly.
Total volume sales of tea are set to decline in 2020, with foodservice facing the biggest drop, as consumers avoid public venues and spent more time indoors. In addition, retail sales are also set to suffer from increased price-sensitivity, with consumers trading down, and purchasing less tea in line with reduced budgets.
E-commerce is set to be boosted across the forecast period, having seen a rise in share in 2020. This rise was linked to consumers being wary of leaving the home, turning instead to online shopping, especially for essential household goods.
As the tea landscape is saturated, players are expected to launch added value tea offerings, or alternative products to the traditional tea; similar to strategies that are being taken on the coffee landscape. Some players are expected to launch RTD tea extensions to their well-established tea products during the forecast period.
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Everyone loves his or her new set of Nike apparel. In fact, Nike can be found on the bodies of many athletic team members. Why would such a prosperous and well-known company rely on the exploitation of child slave labor? It all started when CEO Philip Knight came up with a "brilliant idea": put shoe factories in Asia, paying the workers pennies on the dollar, and raking in immense profits. Nike can easily afford to pay workers a fair amount. One can see that this is the antithesis of Nike's philosophy: doing what's fair. Workers in Nike sweatshops are denied human rights, pressured into working long and hard hours, and worst of all can't provide for themselves or their families. It's ironic how an American company, which enjoys the rights given to it by the American government, takes away human rights in other countries.
Nike should open its factories to inspection by the local labor rights offices. Until it wants to, Nike will probably continue the denial of human rights. Workers in one factory in Formosa, El Salvador are abused frequently and take it because they need the money. They take physical and verbal abuse such as yelling, cursing, and even hitting and shoving. Bathroom visits are monitored and limited. The workers have never even heard of the Nike Code of Conduct. Workers could be fired on the spot if they were suspected to be involved with joining a union or a strike. Pregnancy tests are even given to new workers. If they are found to be positive, they are fired immediately. Nike should educate its workers so they know their legal rights. Nike should not just move its sweatshops out of complaining countries, as this could hurt the country's economy.
Long and hard hours are notorious of the Nike sweatshops. Nike workers are forced to work overtime without pay. Sick days and visits to the clinic are denied or deducted from the worker's wages. Workers in the PT Hardaya Aneka factory went on strike, demanding that they be paid the new minimum wage...
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Anders Warming has been appointed Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ Director of Design. He will join the company from 1 July.
Rolls-Royce has unveiled a new version of the Phantom which now includes specially commissioned artwork on the dashboard. An all-new
Manufacturer of luxury sedans and sports cars Jaguar introduced the XJ Ultimate, a model that offers the appointments of a private
The Jaguar F-TYPE focused on delivering a heightened level of dynamic driving reward At the New York International Auto Show,


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Blog January 26, 2021 Todd Winterhalt discusses corporate strategy planning during unprecedented times.
Blog January 05, 2021 The Business Pivot Playbook will help you plan for recovery and growth in today’s economy.
Blog December 11, 2020 Jacques shares the importance for individuals to give back to their communities.
Blog December 02, 2020 EDC is committed to fostering a welcoming and diverse workforce in every area of business.
Blog October 26, 2020 EDC’s COVID-19 relief has included providing liquidity, credit insurance and loans through CEBA.
Blog October 19, 2020 COVID-19’s disproportionate effects on diverse companies serves as a stark reminder that we’re not all on equal footing. Not yet.
Tool August 25, 2020 Shift gears with your business – and drive growth in uncertain times
Article July 08, 2020 EDC customers share what it’s like running women-owned Indigenous companies in Canada.
Article July 06, 2020 COVID-19 has forced Atlantic Canada’s seafood industry to rethink how they do business.
Article June 08, 2020 Two EDC customers share their tips to help women in trade succeed on the world stage.
Webinar Learn the cash-flow management strategies your company can use to survive now and ramp up for business post-COVID-19.
Blog January 24, 2020 EDC customer, Ciele Athletics, shares their advice.
Blog December 11, 2019 Q&A with an Export Help Advisor.
Blog November 26, 2019 In 2017, e-commerce sales in the United States hit $360 billion. And that number is going nowhere, but up.
Article November 01, 2019 Corporate social responsibility isn’t just about risk management.
Blog October 30, 2019 Cleantech industry expected to grow to $2.5 trillion by 2022
Blog September 11, 2019 Certificates of origin (COs) are legal documents that declare the origin of a product. When you export goods to an overseas customer, you must include a CO with your shipment.
Blog September 04, 2019 Alexandre Pelletier, CEO of marketing automation consulting company, Perkuto, shares why creating a flexible work environment has been key to his company’s success.
Blog August 26, 2019 Shonezi Noor, chief of staff for Sampler, shares why having a diverse and inclusive, women-led workplace has helped the company’s growth.
Article August 01, 2019 Expert advice to develop and execute a strong export plan
Success Story With help from its financial institution and EDC, this marketing consulting company has been able to continue its fast-paced growth and take on international contracts.
Blog June 12, 2019 EDC has been holding stakeholder panels for 14 years, but this was my inaugural event as President and CEO
Blog December 19, 2018 Businesses need to embrace digital technologies or risk falling behind.
Article August 07, 2018 In about two minutes, the Innovation Canada platform will whittle down the nearly 1000 programs and services into a list of your top matches.
eBook July 24, 2018 This guide highlights how you can recruit top talent to help you compete internationally.
Article June 29, 2018 A list of U.S. resources to help you determine which Canadian metals are subject to U.S. tariffs.
Blog June 19, 2018 Is your business ready to expand internationally? Read our 3 conditions for success.
Blog June 15, 2018 4% of all SMEs are considered high performers. What sets these highly competitive businesses apart?
Blog May 01, 2018 Freelancers and consultants can help you boost your competitive advantage, but you must integrate and manage them efficiently.
Blog April 27, 2018 Adding freelancers and consultants (gig workers) to your talent pool can keep your international business growth strategy on track and keep you ahead of the competition.
Blog April 11, 2018 EDC’s Mairead Lavery shares 3 tips for change management success.


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Mastercard and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB) are offeringexciting opportunities for Indian travellers to avail the convenience of cashless payments and attractive discounts on dining,shopping and staying in Sri Lanka. This is part of their ongoing strategic efforts to jointly promote Sri Lanka as a preferred destination in key markets.
Travellers with Mastercard debit and credit cardsissued in India will be able to enjoy excitingoffers including discounts on holiday packages and air tickets to Sri Lanka booked through partnering travel websites as well as savings of up to 25 percent at select partner hotels, restaurants, and retail stores.Jetwing Hotels, Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts,AMAN Hotels, Loon Tao Restaurant and Mlesna Tea are some of the hotels that have been partnered with for this campaign.
Supported by a pan-India marketing drive by Mastercard, this collaboration has been set to drum up greater interest in Sri Lanka amongst Indian travellers.
John Amaratunga, Minister of Tourism Development, Sri Lanka,described the move by Mastercard as a welcome development. He said, “I congratulate Mastercard for pioneering this initiative with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau to promoteSri Lanka as the preferred destination for the discerning Indian travellers. Be it for leisure, shopping or business, the incentives on offers coupled with the cashless convenience factor would definitely help card users discover more of Sri Lanka. With tourist arrival numbers from India on the rise, this promotion will help consolidate and sustain this growth into the future. Therefore, the Mastercard promotion is a welcome development that will further establish Sri Lanka as India’s favouritetravel destination.”
Commenting on this partnership, Sutheash Balasubramaniam, Managing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau said,“We believe that this new partnership with Mastercard will encourage cross border tourism between India and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is rich in culture and heritage and an attractive destination for both leisure and business travellers. Easy connectivity with short haul flights from India and favourable currency exchange rate will serve as the perfect package for the travellers.”
Vikas Varma, Senior Vice President, Account Management, Mastercard said, “Mastercard is delighted to partner with Sri Lanka Tourism Board to boost cashless tourism and further enhance the Sri Lanka experience. Tourism is a major contributor to Sri Lanka’s economy and given India’s close proximity to Sri Lanka, Mastercard’s market intelligence on the Indian travellers’ spending patterns and strong partnerships with various stakeholders, Sri Lanka can fully harness the potential of cashless payments.”
R. B. Santosh Kumar, Country Manager, Sri Lanka and Maldives, Mastercard said, “Mastercard has beenworking closely with all stakeholders across the public and private sectors in Sri Lanka for more than three decades. Their local insights together with our suite of world-class electronic payment solutions and global expertisehas helped Mastercarddeliver greater value to Sri Lankan businesses and consumers. The current campaign that Mastercard is running in partnership with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau, one of its longstanding partners, is yet another way Mastercard continues leveraging the transformative power of digital payments to do so.”
This announcement comes on the heels of recent positive growth of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry. As per a report published by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority in 2018, international tourism arrivals in Sri Lanka hit a record of 2.1 million in 2017 with a growth rate of 3.20% over 20161. India is the largest source of tourism for Sri Lanka contributing to 18% of the total tourists visiting the country. This year, Sri Lanka is expecting 440,000 arrivals from India, according to an estimate by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau2.


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Three reasons why your company should aim to tackle social issues.
(Photo from left to right: Alan Murray, Fortune; Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala , Ayala; Helena B. Foulkes, CVS Health; Ed Brandt, MasterCard; and Jakob Riis, Novo Nordisk.)
While the Great Recession put a dent in the public’s trust in corporations, faith in business is now gradually on the rise. According to the 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer, no other institution recorded a larger gain in trust among the general population last year. In the same survey, 80% of respondents agreed companies should take the lead on solving the world’s most pressing social problems.
Amidst this climate, Fortune Managing Editor Alan Murray took the stage at last month’s Shared Value Leadership Summit to interview four company leaders who featured in a new ranking last year: The Change the World List, which spotlights 50 companies who address major social problems as a core part of their business strategy and innovation. The Shared Value Initiative and our parent organization, FSG, serve as research partners on this list and are seeking nominations for 2016.
In the interview, senior representatives from the “Change the World” companies – MasterCard (#11), Novo Nordisk (#18), Ayala (#29), and CVS (#31) – discussed how purpose and social issues are affecting their core models, their brand power, and growing into new markets. Here are the three biggest benefits they found in tying profits to purpose:
Your business will be more viable in the long term.
In all of these companies, social purpose drives business decision-making – and it’s delivering for the bottom line. “I wasn't approaching this from a shared value perspective,” said CVS Health EVP Helena Foulkes in regards to the CVS Health rebrand. “It was a practical issue for us at the time.” The rebrand was one way to unify the organizational structure, which housed both CVS Pharmacy and Caremark. As CVS started to use their defined purpose – helping people on their pathway to better health – as a filter for business decisions, it became clear that the only way of communicating that externally was to stop selling cigarettes and tobacco products. That official 2014 decision meant immediately giving up $2B in annual revenue, but according to Foulkes “it has paid off” in the long term with new business, rising stock prices, and increased customer loyalty.
Ed Brandt, EVP at MasterCard, described a similar journey, starting 5 years ago: “Our long-term growth is going to be dependent on global prosperity,” he said. “We need the economy to be able to grow in developing countries.” As regulation escalated after the financial crisis, increasingly the company partnered with local governments to increase financial access to emerging markets and their “huge growth potential,” he said.
Triple Bottom Line Head Jakob Riis at diabetes care company Novo Nordisk agrees that a long-term mindset shift is necessary: “If we don't have a model that's sustainable in the long run, we don't do it,” he said. In a world where only half of 420 million diabetics are diagnosed, Novo works to train primary care physicians globally to detect and care for diabetes – which in turn creates demand for their products. Riis also mentioned that Novo is developing new employee incentives to deliver on patient outcomes rather than products sold.
Employees and customers will value your brand.
The research is out there: There’s a new generation of employees and customers who want to work for and buy from purpose-driven companies. The panel universally agreed that their employees were more excited and engaged once the company more effectively communicated its purpose for good. “To the employees of MasterCard, nothing was more impactful than being on that [Fortune] list,” Brandt mentioned off-hand. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, CEO of Ayala, also marveled at how engaged his employees have been once the company began dovetailing business objectives to societal needs.
For CVS Health, the shift meant prioritizing culture change – constantly earning employees’ trust. “It's so critical that we [as business leaders] make purpose-driven decisions,” said Foulkes. “Sometimes those decisions are good for the bottom line, sometimes they're not. But when people see you doing that as a business leader they start to think about it differently.” She added that the company measures culture rigorously and leaders are rewarded by how connected their people feel to the company.
You’ll find new market opportunities (and innovate to get there).
With shared value approaches, these companies are finding that emerging markets represent a huge opportunity because they are very often untapped markets. The Fortune list highlighted Ayala’s work in privatizing and distributing municipal water in the Philippines, which they had to approach with a completely different model – billing communities instead of individuals. Before Ayala stepped in, “60% of the water in Manila was not reaching end clients,” Zobel described, “I'd like to think that a for-profit model began to address that while bringing prices down substantially.” Murray added that Fortune confirmed Ayala has the metrics to prove it.
However, you need to approach these markets with different solutions and with the help of partners. “We know the Bottom of the Pyramid is a very different service model,” said Brandt, which meant a move toward mobile services to reach those living in rural areas on less than $2.50 a day. To tackle this problem MasterCard hired new people – not from banks, but from governments, NGOs, and development agencies – to complete this work on the front lines of business development and product design. For example, Brandt mentioned the company is working with Mercy Corps and others to expand digital aid distribution services to rural communities in Philippines, Yemen, and other countries.
One common thread among all these companies is that they’re applying business innovation to solve social problems – and in that way, their business is more sustainable in the long run. If your company or one you know is addressing social problems at its core, please nominate them for the 2016 Fortune Change the World List.
MORE LIKE THIS:
- 5 Companies Finding Purpose in Solving Global Challenges
- At CVS, Improving Health Is Just Good Business
- Novo Nordisk’s Journey to Shared Value
- Fortune’s 2015 Change the World List


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Recycling is still seen as the most impactful everyday behaviour consumers can do to help the environment. The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) has released the ARL Consumer Insights Report, and in fantastic news, awareness of the label continues to grow, and three-quarters of consumers are asking to see the ARL on all packaging.
For the first time, APCO has also cast its net wider to assess and compare New Zealand’s attitudes to packaging sustainability – with positive results.
The ARL is on more than 300,000 SKU’s and continuing to grow. Product packaging is the most common source of recycling information, followed by bin signage and the internet. Prominent on-pack labelling continues to present the best channel for businesses to help their customers recycle packaging correctly.
You can read the insights report here. To get the ARL on the pack, please contact the National Retail Association’s ARL hotline on 1800 571 146 or join our free, online sessions held each week, by registering here.


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Bookstore Goes Greener With New Shopping Bag Policy
Published on August 20, 2012
Susquehanna University’s Campus Bookstore will do its part this year to help bookstore operator Follett Higher Education Group reduce the amount of plastic bags entering landfills and waterways by 3.5 million bags. Accordingly, starting this fall, bookstore purchases will be bagged only upon request.
“Many of our students actively seek opportunities to reduce their environmental impact, and this simple step can contribute greatly to individual and campus sustainability goals,” said Kevin McCarty, bookstore manager. “To ensure we continue to meet all our customer needs, the Campus Bookstore will always have bags available, but we are confident a majority of our customers will support this sustainability effort.”
Bags, both plastic and paper, are not inherently biodegradable and, according to most experts, can take up to 1,000 years to break down. With more than 930 stores across the United States and Canada, Follett recognized that even the smallest policy change could have a significant impact. Patrons can support these efforts by foregoing shopping bags and choosing to use backpacks, purses or reusable bags when shopping at the university’s Campus Bookstore.
Follett also maintains the largest inventory of used textbooks in the industry and further limits the need for producing print textbooks with year-round buy-back services, as well as robust rental and digital textbook assortments. The company continues to identify additional opportunities to improve its sustainability practices, including the installation of T5 fluorescent lighting in stores to deliver significant energy savings, and the use of recycling programs for shipping materials and disposal of electronics. Follett is also the major benefactor of the Thirst Project, a nonprofit organization focused on providing clean drinking water in areas without access.
The Campus Bookstore is the official on-campus bookstore of Susquehanna University, offering products and services to students, faculty and the surrounding community both in-store and online via www.efollett.com. The bookstore is located in the Charles B. Degenstein Campus Center and is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Karen M. Jones


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Last week, the first vitamin A cassava shop was officially launched in Ibadan, Nigeria, in order to increase awareness of this new nutritious cassava variety.
Cassava is a major staple food in Nigeria, eaten daily by more than 100 million people. However, the commonly available white cassava lacks micronutrients, such as vitamin A, that are essential for a healthy and productive life. Nearly one in three children under five and one-quarter of all pregnant women in Nigeria are vitamin A deficient, resulting in impaired immunity to infectious disease, poor vision, blindness, and sometimes death. By eating vitamin A cassava, women and children can get almost half of their daily vitamin A requirements.
With more than 500,000 Nigerian households currently planting and eating vitamin A cassava throughout the country, and over 550 commercial farmers on board to multiply the crop on 1,000 hectares of farmland, vitamin A cassava is becoming more widely available. The model shop will be a one-stop shop for vitamin A cassava products where consumers can buy stems, roots, and ready-to-eat products such as pies, cakes, and fufu – a traditional staple food made from cassava flour.
“This is just the first model,” said Paul Ilona, HarvestPlus Country Manager for Nigeria. “We need to establish 300 of these model shops across Nigeria so that Nigerians can enjoy the full health benefits of the crop. We need partners to buy into this initiative in order to make it a reality across the country.”
HarvestPlus Deputy Director of Programs Dr. Ina Schonberg launched the shop alongside Balogun Olooto, the paramount ruler of Idiose, Ibadan.
“We look forward to seeing Nigeria develop innovative strategies to scale up vitamin A cassava as well as vitamin A maize, and build sustainability for the project in the country,” said Dr. Schonberg. “It is in this regard that we applaud the support and partnership of Nollywood stars and the traditional chiefs in attendance, as they will help carry this message further to their people”.
The launch was organized by HarvestPlus-Nigeria in collaboration with local development partners. Nollywood actors and directors – who have been working with HarvestPlus to promote vitamin A cassava through film – were also at the launch and amplified the atmosphere as fans excitedly called out their names. Zeb Ejiro, Nigeria’s top movie producer, used the opportunity to commend HarvestPlus for its use of film to increase awareness of vitamin A cassava.


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Black Friday madness toned down in Orange County due to COVID-19, online sales
Danny Kendrick and his wife, Rosa, took their two young sons, Alexander and Andrew, to South Coast Plaza on Friday morning.
The trip wasn’t to shop for the Garden Grove residents, though Rosa Kendrick said she and her husband “used to be the crazy people” who would line up for deals in the early-morning hours of Black Friday.
“The last five years, obviously, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have had more of an online presence, but COVID really sped that up,” Danny Kendrick said. “Maybe they have some good in-store stuff, I don’t know. There’s just no incentive for us to come and do it anymore.”
Instead of shopping, this year they came to South Coast Plaza to take pictures with Santa Claus. The only thing was, Jolly Old St. Nicholas was inside a display, behind glass, and the pictures had to be taken in front.
“It’s like, walk through, take it through the glass and that’s it,” Danny Kendrick said. “Normally, this would been hours to wait to see Santa up there. That’s why we came first thing [in the morning].”
If nothing is normal during the coronavirus pandemic, Black Friday was not the exception to the rule for local malls like South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island in Newport Beach and Bella Terra in Huntington Beach. South Coast Plaza was calm Friday morning, as fewer one-day sales lessened the need to get there right as stores open. The mall was, however, getting busier as lunchtime approached.
Julia Liberty, a Long Beach resident, stood in a short line with some friends outside of Victoria’s Secret. She said the quiet mall shortly after 9 a.m. was “eerie.”
“It just feels like a normal shopping day,” Liberty said. “It doesn’t feel like the season yet, especially for Black Friday, but I have to admit that the availability is probably a lot better for everything.”
Black Friday online sales were expected to be between $8.9 billion and $10.6 billion nationwide, according to preliminary data from Adobe Analytics. This would represent an increase of 20% to 42% over last year’s numbers, even though many stores have extended the savings to the whole week or month of November this year.
Brick-and-mortar indoor shopping malls in Orange County have been limited to 25% capacity since the county went back into the most-restrictive purple tier for reopening on Nov. 16. South Coast Plaza had large areas of its parking lot coned off Friday to accommodate that. Once inside, customers could check out a mall-record eight holiday retail pop-up stores, while Tiffany & Co. officially opened its new location on Friday. The store’s Blue Box Café will open for limited service next month.
“I think the interesting thing about this year is that our business is really good,” South Coast Plaza spokeswoman Debra Gunn Downing said. “I think the reason for that is that the shopping now is very intentional. You don’t have people wandering around looking at décor, or just coming to come out and wander. They’re coming because they’re going to buy something.”
Allison Ash is the owner/manager of one of the pop-up stores, the Wrapper, which provides custom gift-wrapping services as well as seasonal decorations. The Wrapper has been at South Coast Plaza for 35 years, missing just one of those holiday seasons, Ash said.
Ash expected business to pick up later in the day on Black Friday, when customers would bring in their gifts to be wrapped. Despite the trying times there is no shortage of the holiday spirit in 2020, said Ash, who noted that people in her Carlsbad neighborhood have put up Christmas decorations much earlier than usual.
“People want Christmas,” she said. “I mean, they can’t wait for it. We open in early October. Usually people start coming in and they’re grumbling, like, ‘It’s not even Halloween yet and you’re already shoving Christmas down our throats.’ That has not happened this year. People are telling me, they’re decorating earlier.”
Indeed, Adrian and Sandy Roxas of Rancho Palos Verdes said they put up their Christmas lights in early November this year. They made a roughly 40-mile trek Friday morning, bringing their 12-year-old daughter Ashlyn to South Coast Plaza to check out the Lego Store.
Sandy Roxas said the family felt safe with social distancing and safety precautions in place, though it did feel like something was missing.
“Definitely miss the crowds, definitely miss the excitement of traditional Black Friday shopping from before,” Adrian Roxas said. “It does not [seem like the holidays], but the priority is our safety.”
The Bella Terra parking lot was crowded around noon but not totally full. Linda Allen of Huntington Beach appreciated that fact, as she stepped into Kohl’s to check on the sizing on children’s clothing.
“This time of day on a regular Black Friday, you wouldn’t be able to find a place to park,” Allen said. “It’s kind of nice. I like it. I really thought it might be too crazy. It was like, ‘Oh, if I can’t find a place to park, I’ll just keep going.’ I wasn’t going to wait or do any of that stuff, but it was fine.”
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text: In the first 11 months of 2011, tuna exports reached US$343.8 million, up 29.4 percent over that of the same period of last year and accounted for 6.3 percent of the total seafood export value of Vietnam. In 2011, total tuna export value was estimated to hit about US$380 million. Compared to the corresponding period of 2010, tuna export price in 2011 climbed sharply in which the tuna export price to Japan witnessed the highest increase of 100 percent, the export price to Canada, Israel, the U.S., Switzerland increased 50 to 80 percent. However, export price to Iran, Taiwan, and Germany rose slowly. In Jan-Nov 2011, tuna (live, fresh or frozen) exports hit US$210.7 million, occupying 61.3 percent of total export value while tuna (preserved and prepared) exports reached US$133.1 million, representing 38.7 percent. In Jan- Nov 2011, there are 92 markets importing Vietnam tuna, in which the U.S., Japan and EU are three top importers. The U.S. is the biggest and the most stable tuna importer of Vietnam. The export price to the market increased comparatively from 40 to 60 percent on that of the same period of 2010. Consuming demand of tuna in the market is firm. In Jan-Nov 2011, Vietnam tuna export to the market reached US$157.6 million, up 31.2 percent over 2010. The U.S. imported mainly processed skipjack tuna and frozen yellow fin tuna from Vietnam. EU: Tuna exports to EU hit approximately US$71 million, up 23.2 percent in value over 2010. In 2011, the export price to the market reported a slowest and instable growth. Vietnam tuna export value to Germany increased 78 percent, Italy up 36 percent and Belgium down slightly 6.2 percent. Japan: Among all tuna importers of Vietnam, tuna export value to Japan reported a sharp growth, up from 80 to 150 percent in the first eleven months over the same period of 2010. However, Japan is also a partner with strict requirements to Vietnam tuna exporters. In the last 5 months of 2011, tuna exports to the market kept growing. As of November 2011, tuna exports to Japan reached nearly US$39 million, increasing 86.8 percent and rising over 200 percent in value in November alone compared to the same period of 2010.


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For its 2D shooter Not a Hero, developer Roll7 submitted a piece of artwork that was at one point under consideration as art for the game, but later discarded.
Roll7 Director Simon Bennett says the team contracted artist Adam Rosenlund to illustrate the image below, and liked what he put together, but decided not to use the image as official art because the style didn’t match the game’s pixel graphics and the team didn’t want to confuse players. But Bennett says the image does a good job of showing the creative spirit behind the game, and adds that it led to the team’s decision to make a Not a Hero comic book.
Bennett says Not a Hero’s development is complete, and the game will go on sale on Steam on May 7, with PlayStation 4 and Vita versions down the line. Check out our previous coverage of the game here.


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(Pocket-lint) - Microsoft has acquired 6Wunderkinder, the company behind Wunderlist.
Microsoft published a blog post to confirm the deal, following a report from The Wall Street Journal: "What’s better than completing that last important task on your to-do list? Doing so with a beautiful and useful productivity app. Today, I am thrilled to announce that Microsoft has acquired 6Wunderkinder."
Wunderlist will continue to exist in app stores and work for the time being. The app will remain free, and there will be no price changes for Wunderlist Pro or Wunderlist Buesiness. Microsoft will likely - or rather, eventually - integrate the app's technology into its own productivity apps at some point in the future.
Wunderlist will "fit squarely" into Microsoft's product portfolio and ambition to reinvent productivity for a mobile-first, cloud-first world, Microsoft said in its post. It also referred to its exisiting productivity tools, including Office, OneNote, Skype for Business, and the recent Sunrise and Acompli acquisitions.
Ever since Satya Nadella took over the reigns at Microsoft, the Redmond-based company has been working hard to focus more on mobile apps and devices. It therefore makes perfect sense for Microsoft to buy popular apps, especially the productivity-based ones, as it is an area the company is well-known at getting right.
"Over the next few months as Wunderlist becomes a part of the Microsoft family, we’ll introduce a host of new features, continue growing the ecosystem of partner integrations and progress in delivering Wunderlist to billions of people. We are excited," Christian Reber, Wunderlist's Founder and CEO, confirmed.
Wunderlist also announced it has about 13 million customers at the moment. Its acquisition is rumored to have cost between $100 million and $200 million, but neither company has disclosed the financial details.


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PepsiCo has decided to take its UK snack brand Walkers SunBites into the savoury biscuits category.
The company, which launched Walkers SunBites in 2007, has added three lines to the range – Crispy Crackers, Pitta Bakes and Crackers and Dip.
PepsiCo claimed SunBites had been a “huge success” and pointed to a 31% jump in sales in the last year.
Lee-Teng Chung, senior marketing manager at Walkers, said PepsiCo was launching the brand into a growing category.
“We believe the range extension will help further increase sales of the popular brand and we are excited to be launching into the savoury biscuits category which has grown 5.3% in the past year,” Chung said. “We know consumers are seeking delicious snacks they don’t feel guilty about eating, and that’s exactly what Sunbites offers them. It felt natural to expand the exciting range with tasty products that are packed with wholegrain but still providing delicious bites that consumers love.”
The Sunbites Crispy Crackers are available in four flavours in multipacks of five with an RSP of GBP1.89. The Pitta bakes have the same RSP and come in three flavours, sold in multipacks of five.
PepsiCo said the Crackers and Dip come in a box with Lightly Salted Crackers and a pot of salsa or chutney dip. They have an RSP of GBP1.49.


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Gauntlet (2014): Launch Date Announced
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) announced today that the release date for Gauntlet, the fully modernized reboot of the classic dungeon crawler, has moved to September 23, 2014. The additional time was needed to fine-tune details in order to bring gamers an even more robust multiplayer experience.
Gauntlet is still set to arrive on Steam for Windows® PC and will offer full support for SteamOS and the upcoming Steam Machines in 2015. As a thank you for all fans who pre-ordered the game, WBIE has added a special in-game item as a bonus: The Spawn of Kerthull, a special Wizard’s Robe made from dead imps, who are children of the greater demon, Kerthull. An image can be found here.
In addition, WBIE and developer Arrowhead Game Studios today released a new video that takes an in-depth look into the heroes, game modes and lore of the game.
For mroe info, visit http://www.gauntlet.com
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We are excited to announce that the Truecaller developer platform is now ready for 3rd party app developers, digital businesses and startups in Africa! Continue reading Truecaller for Developers Goes to Nairobi!
We’re excited to open registrations for Early Access of Truecaller Full Stack SDK, for verifying and onboarding both Truecaller as well as non-Truecaller users.
Today we are happy to share that verification solution has been made easier with Truecaller SDK, the instant and OTP less verification service from Truecaller! Developers who are building apps on mobile web platforms, can now verify, login or sign-up their users with their phone numbers – no matter the country they are developing from!
Our first WomAndroid Hackathon, an all-woman powered coding event, took place last October at the Truecaller headquarters in the heart of Stockholm! Continue reading WomAndroid Hackathon: Woman Powered Coding
Working hard in the startup world can get you places. Just talk to Harshad, who simply approached our Truecaller development team with a great idea at a local meetup in India. Continue reading Life as a Developer Relations Manager


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The release of iOS 10brings an array of new features and upgrades, including an important change to the functionality of the “Limit Ad Tracking” privacy setting.
For ad-averse iPhone users, the Limit Ad Tracking setting has long been a nice feature to have. According to Jules Polonetsky, CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum, the newest OS offers a significant change to how this operates, and what it means for your online privacy.
Polonetsky talks about the changes to the Limit Ad Tracking privacy setting in iOS10 in his video on LinkedIn, and tells us:
“There has been, for quite some time, an option called Limit Ad Tracking. This is not new. What this has done until today is it resets the advertising identifier you have [on your phone].”
That ad identifier, he explains, is similar to a cookie, and it’s used by apps to recognize you and gather data about your behavior inside the app. By limiting ad tracking, the app developers agreed not use the identifier to target you with relevant advertising. The app could, however, still track behavior linked to that identifier to understand, for example, if the ads they were pushing were working.
“So, up until iOS10, Limit Ad Tracking meant ‘please don’t do any behavioral advertising but yes, you can continue measuring whether your ads elsewhere are working effectively,’” he explains. The information collected was used by the app itself and by whatever third-party companies were allowed access to it as well. So somewhere out there exists a massive amount of data tied directly to your phone’s app usage.
That’s changed in the new iOS10.
“Whatever the goal or whatever the motivation, Apple has decided that when people say ‘Limit Ad Tracking,’ no longer will that advertising identifier be sent to the app and to those third parties,” he adds.
The upshot of this extends beyond the user experience. While certainly many will be happy to avoid those creepily-familiar highly targeted ads, it also may protect their personal information out in the global data cloud.
Privacy experts believe, and the FTC is coming to terms with this fact too, that the ad identifier on your phone can be linked to personal information. In other words, a third party could theoretically access the link between that ad identifier and the owner of the phone, bridging the gap to other personal information.
With iOS10, we can reset it and theoretically break that link between the identifier on our phone and our personal info.
In other words, you’ll still get ads pushed to you (unless you are among the growing numbers who use ad blockers), but the tracking capability will be shut off at the source. Sounds like a win for privacy fans, and a big potential loss for companies that rely on this user data.


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For many people there is nothing quite like an ice-cold beer or a glass of wine to unwind at the end of the day or to make a special event even more spectacular. But could a hidden danger be lurking in that enjoyable alcoholic drink?
According to a recent study conducted by researchers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and published in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, there is a real possibility that your favorite alcoholic beverage may contain heavy metals like arsenic, lead or cadmium.
That clear, beautiful red wine or golden ale isn’t that color naturally, which is why manufacturers generally filter their product before bottling it. Many use a naturally occurring soft rock known as diatomaceous earth in this process.
Diatomaceous earth is actually good stuff and can have many health benefits. What is it exactly? In a previous article Natural News explained:
Few people give much thought to lowly diatoms, single-celled marine micro-organisms that are found in abundance in large bodies of water. However, when these tiny organisms die, their skeletal remains settle to the bottom, become fossilized over time and accumulate to produce one of nature's most beneficial and healthful substances: diatomaceous earth.
Food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) can gently, but effectively, scrub intestinal walls, cutting up any parasites present in the digestive tract. Additionally, as it passes through the digestive tract, it attracts and absorbs pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi. It also absorbs and removes pesticides, heavy metals, and drug residues.
However, the recent study found that food grade DE used to filter alcoholic beverages can have the opposite effect: It can actually increase the levels of heavy metals like arsenic in these drinks.
Although some studies have reported elevated levels of the contaminants in wine and beer, researchers aren't sure how the metals are ending up in these beverages. Benjamin Redan, Lauren Jackson and colleagues wondered if the diatomaceous earth (DE) used to filter beer and wine could be introducing heavy metals, and if so, whether altering the filtering conditions could reduce the transfer.
To find out, the team tested three types of food-grade DE and found that all of them contained arsenic, as well as smaller amounts of lead and cadmium. When used to filter beer or wine in the lab, one of the DE samples increased arsenic 3.7- to 7.9-fold compared with the unfiltered beverages, rising above the safe limit proposed by the FDA for apple juice (10 parts per billion; ppb). The amount of arsenic transferred to the drinks decreased when the beverage was exposed to less DE, the pH of the liquid was altered or the DE was washed beforehand.
When the research team measured levels of heavy metals in commercially available beer and wine samples, they found that arsenic was present, but in most samples, levels were below 10 ppb. The exception was two U.S. white wine samples, which contained 18 and 11 ug/L arsenic, respectively.
The arsenic discovered in the samples was inorganic, which unfortunately, is more toxic than organic arsenic.
The FDA is now looking into ways to reduce this potential source of heavy metal exposure, since such exposure can endanger health.
Stay current with the latest information at HeavyMetals.news.


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News & Advocacy
September 2014 Newsletter Now Available
The latest Conservancy newsletter is now available online, as well as past editions. Our newsletter covers upcoming preservation events, preservation issues, features on the people and places of historic Santa Monica and much more.
In the current edition of our newsletter you will find:
- Fall Salon at the Bundy House
- Mills Act Strengthened
- Landmark Courtyard Apartments Threatened
- Shotgun House in Miniature + Progress Report
- More News, Reports, and Event Listings
The newsletter is published four times per year. Conservancy members get mailed a copy of each new issue. Not a member? Join today!
Click here to download the current issue.


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Deployment of Cerevo's walking, talking 1/8 scale models of "Ghost in the Shell" smart tanks delayed until August 2017
Originally announced back in 2016 as part of the "Ghost in the Shell Realize Project", Cerevo has pushed back the release date of their walking, talking 1/8 scale Tachikoma smart tank toys from June 2017 until August 2017 in order to improve the mobility and durability of the tiny robots.
After an official announcement in March of 2017, the Tachikoma were intended to be released in June of 2017 with only the ability to run around on four wheels as their primary means of locomotion. Cerevo has since postponed the toys' launch to allow further development that will give the Tachikoma the ability to walk as well. The video below features a Tachikoma demonstrating its walking gait, which is currently still under-development.
The 1/8 scale Tachikoma toys can walk, talk, and interact with their owners via voice recognition technology and a smart phone app. They also have the ability to synchronize with the cloud and learn, and they speak using voice synthesis technology based on samplings from the original Tachikoma voice actress, Sakiko Tamagawa.
Owning your own smart tank from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex will cost a pretty penny, though, because the 1/8 scale Tachikoma toys retail for 157,400 yen ($1414.44 US) including tax.
Official Cerevo 1/8 Scale Tachikoma home page (English version)
Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.