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Sonic the Hedgehog is finally getting his first official lego set, thanks to a popular fan design on the Lego Ideas website.
The lego set design was submitted in 2019 by Viv Grannell, a 24-year-old Sonic fan based in the U.K. Called “Sonic Mania – Green Hill Zone,” the lego set is based upon the 2017 game Sonic Mania.
In March 2020, the design achieved the required 10,000 fan votes to be considered by Lego for production. Now, the Lego Group has decided to turn the design into reality.
“I’ve been invested in the world of Sonic for almost my entire life, and it’s such a perfect fit for the LEGO system that I spent about a year rallying support for it to happen,” Grannell said in a press release. “Having 10,000 people back my design was overwhelming enough, even with friends and family behind me, but having it be selected for further development was the most exciting secret I have ever had to keep!”
In 2016, a Sonic the Hedgehog Level Pack set for Lego Dimensions was released, consisting of a Sonic mini-figure, a Tornado plane, and a Sonic Speedster car. But this is the first time a full Lego set featuring the character will be made.
Sonic Mania – Green Hill Zone will go into a product development phase before the design is finalized. Grannell’s original design calls for roughly 700 pieces, a Sonic minifigure, seven brick-built figures including Dr. Eggman, Green Hill Zone modules including a palm tree, spring, bridge and loop, and more.
“At SEGA, we’ve always encouraged fans to take part in the legacy of the Sonic franchise through their own creations and it’s wonderful to see the tradition continued through the Lego Ideas program,” said Jason Rice, Director of Brand Licensing, SEGA Europe Ltd. “We’re thrilled to partner with Viv and the Lego Group, and hope to inspire fans to continue creating their own unique Sonic the Hedgehog experiences for generations to come.”
No release date has been announced yet, but the set will be available worldwide upon release.
This is the latest of several Sonic the Hedgehog announcements made so far this year for the 30th anniversary of the franchise. Earlier this week, a new Sonic the Hedgehog animated series was announced for Netflix.


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New-style taxis could soon roll on to city roads after court of appeal judges ruled that the shape of the traditional London black cab was not distinctive enough to be a trademark.
The London Taxi Company wanted to claim exclusive rights to the black cab shape and thwart a rival firm. But Lord Justice Kitchin and Lord Justice Floyd have upheld a ruling made last year by a high court judge.
In January 2016, Mr Justice Arnold ruled that the shape was not a “valid registered trademark” after a high court hearing in London.
Appeal judges dismissed a challenge by the taxi company on Wednesday – although Lord Justice Floyd indicated that supreme court justices might be asked to consider the case.
Rival Ecotive said it was now in a position to put its electric Metrocab into production.
Confectionery giant Nestle earlier this year lost a similar trademark fight over the shape of its KitKat chocolate bar.
Specialist lawyers said Wednesday’s ruling showed how hard it was for manufacturers to trademark shapes.
“The London Taxi Company has been trying to prevent a rival manufacturer from producing a new style of London taxi which it claims infringes its intellectual property rights in the original shape,” said lawyer Mike Gardner, who is based at law firm Wedlake Bell.
“The court of appeal has dashed the notion that there is any trademark protection for the classic design.”
He added: “The case illustrates how difficult it can be for anyone to obtain a permanent monopoly to protect the shape of something as a brand – even where that shape is iconic. The loss of its trademark registrations effectively leaves the London Taxi Company powerless to prevent competitors producing similar-looking vehicles.”

domain: news


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Burlington inks deal with UPS to improve logistics
December 10, 2002-- Home Textiles Today,
Greensboro, NC — In an effort to better service its increasing international logistics needs, Burlington Worldwide has inked an agreement with UPS Supply Chain Solutions to manage those needs.
UPS will also manage the domestic transportation for Burlington Worldwide, a division of Burlington Industries Inc.
The company also announced that as part of the transition to its expanded logistical services it would phase out its trucking operations and transportation division offices located in Burlington, NC, which employ approximately 130 employees.
Related Content By Author
New homes for Indo Count, Trident


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Sokol Custom Food Ingredients has recently announced the expansion of its senior leadership team. The company has appointed John Pimpo as vice president of ingredients, sales and marketing, and Lauren Davis as vice president of finance and strategy.
Sokol says that Pimpo will be responsible for increasing sales revenues while developing strategic marketing initiatives for profitability of the ingredients division. It also says Davis will be leading the finance and strategy functions, working as a link between the operations, sales and finance teams to promote growth in areas that serve customers.
“Following my first few weeks as CEO at Sokol, I’ve seen firsthand the opportunities that exist for company growth, which is why I am happy to welcome John and Lauren to the team at such a pivotal time for our business,” said Shawn Sullivan, CEO of Sokol. “Having personally known John throughout his tenure in the food industry, I’ve witnessed how his passion for innovation and dedication to customer retention and development can and will be an asset for Sokol. Lauren is a take-charge organizational leader and an excellent collaborator with a strong background in finance and driving strategic initiatives — making her particularly well-equipped to help us achieve systematic sales growth and profit improvement.”
John Pimpo joins Sokol from Parker Food Group where he was the director of marketing. Pimpo has over 20 years of experience in revenue growth, customer development and marketing management. Davis joins Sokol from LICKS Pill-Free Solutions where she was the VP of operations and finance and held other roles such as, VP of strategy at Midwest Co-Pack and senior business analyst and manager of supply chain architecture for Ferrara Candy Company.


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- Corporate institutions now hold bitcoin as a store of value
- Presently, companies hold over 700,000 BTC
A recent report by Arcane Research has shown that corporate institutions are making more demands for popular crypto asset, Bitcoin, more than ever.
Presently, over 700,00 BTC is being held by both private and public firms which is over $10 billion when converted to fiat currency.
Microstrategy has recently increased its total holding of Bitcoin to as much as 38,000 BTC which is over $416 million. Square had also announced its intention of holding at least a percent of its total assets in the cryptocurrency.
Square’s current holding would translate to over 4000 BTC.
Ever since the announcement of Square and Microstrategy intention on holding Bitcoin, it has been discovered that more private and public companies were throwing their hats into the crypto industry.
BitcoinTreasuries.org also made it known that public traded companies held as much as 610,302 BTC ($7.9 Billion) while 175,697 BTC ($2.3 Billion) is being held by private companies.
Bitcoin adoption on the rise
The level of Bitcoin adoption has grown exponentially lately. Many players in the crypto industry have seen an increased rate of participation by corporate institutions who are beginning to see BTC as a store of value and as a means of carrying out a seamless and fast transaction.
Financial behemoth companies like PayPal have also enabled crypto features to their transaction gateway which would enable their users enjoy these crypto enabled transactions.
Not only that, countries have also started working on a central bank digital project. This project is being carried out by central banks of these countries with the aim of coming up with a digital currency that will complement their physical cash.
Countries like China, Bahamas, Russia, Japan and other have made a steady growth in their project with some of them already implementing digital currency into their economy.


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Listen: Kato Foods, Britain And Kroger discussed on AP 24 Hour News
"Food. The fruit has been sold under various brands or labels at Kroger. Walmart trader Joe's target and whole foods. The FDA says to check packaging to determine if the melon was distributed by Kato foods, and if so not to eat it, they advise store. Here's to pull the products from shelves ninety three people have gotten sick twenty three of whom were hospitalized. But no deaths have been reported Prince, Harry and Meghan. The duchess of suspects may be keeping plans about their impending baby under wraps, but AP correspondent Zaria shaklee reports that hasn't stopped everyone in Britain from trying to guess the gender and the name of their first child if Britain's book make as to be believed, it's definitely ago, and Diana may will be one of her many names, the William Hill agency closed the betting on the baby's agenda a few days ago, often"


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Apple has not had a presence at major expos across the globe for quite some time, but if a new listing is any indicator, that could be changing next year.
Information provided to MacRumors by Babel PR indicates that Apple will have some kind of presence at Mobile World Congress next year. Specifically, the listing shows Apple will be present, in some fashion or another, at the App Planet stand, which will be in Hall 8.1. There will also be two separate spaces in the upper level, which are said to be meeting rooms, so it’s possible those areas won’t be consumer- or attendee-facing exhibits.
As for App Planet, it is described as “a unique area focusing on the latest technology from the fast-moving apps industry.” What that means for Apple, specifically, remains unknown. However, the company could be moving to supply more visibility to its App Stores, or it could have something to do with the upcoming Planet of the Apps.
Apple left the expo rotation way back in 2009, when it had its final event at Macworld. Apple’s name has been said at other events, of course, especially with third-party accessory makers, but Apple itself hasn’t felt the need to show up at the events. Apple hosts its own events throughout the year, dealing with software and hardware announcements, which rake in attention all on their own.


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What Impact Will Trump China Talk Have on Worldwide Gambling Industry?
It’s a fascinating question that was examined in some depth in a recent, and fascinating, editorial titled, Las Vegas Sands in Danger as Trump Threatens War Over Chinese Islands, by Rafi Farber that appeared recently on CalvinAyre.com.
The basis for Farber’s article is Trump’s increasingly belligerent tone when speaking of disputed islands in the South China Sea. China, not surprisingly, has said that it will protect its “irrefutable” sovereignty of the disputed territories. It doesn’t take a degree in international relations to see where this conflict could go.
Farber quite correctly points out that one of the first corporate victims of a trade or traditional war between the US and China would US-owned casinos on Macau like the Las Vegas Sands.
The Sands, as you might recall, is owned by Sheldon Adelson who also one of the GOP’s top donors. Adelson donated around $25 million to Trump-related super PACs during the last election cycle, according to the Guardian.
A question worth asking at this point is, how much influence does that $25 million buy Adelson in the Trump White House? Is it enough to get him to stop antagonizing the Chinese? Trump is often tough to predict, but Adelson does wield a great deal of influence in GOP circles.
It also seems reasonable to suggest that if Adelson’s interests in Macau are suffering due to a trade war, he will probably focus more efforts on his pet project, preventing the spread of internet gambling in the United States. This goal could easily be accomplished by getting Congress, which is controlled by the GOP, to take an active interest in Restore America’s Wire Act (RAWA).
Should RAWA pass into law, the embryonic US online gambling industry would be shut down indefinitely.
Farber also points out that a trade war with China would have a significant impact on the US economy, including a spike in inflation due to a lack of cheap imported goods that come from (you guessed it) China.
With fewer dollars in their pockets for household goods, US consumers aren’t likely to be spending nearly as much at entertainment complexes like casinos.
In short, a trade war between the US and China would have a palpable, and likely devastating, impact on the worldwide gambling industry. The implications of a ground or naval war between the two superpowers are almost too awful to contemplate.


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UK-based Coffee Republic Plc. is in talks with eight Indian companies to appoint an India franchisee that will bring the coffee chain to India as it looks to expand outside its home market.
It hopes to finalize the deal in the first quarter of next year. The company is currently studying whether it should enlist a single ‘master franchisee’ for India or have 4 different franchisees in the countryâ€™s 4 different regions, Peter J.F. Breach, chairman of Coffee Republic, said. ‘We havenâ€™t decidedâ€¦ we might do one (franchisee) or 4,’ Breach said.
Breach declined to name the Indian companies Coffee Republic is talking to but said two of them are real estate firms and one is a ‘large’ company. The company plans to open up to 500 outlets in India in the first 5 years and add another 250 stores in the 5 years after that, Coffee Republic executives said. The company hopes to roll out its first stores in the second quarter of 2008.


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The scandal at the 2 Sisters chicken factory should act as a “wake-up call” to the UK food regulator which has presided over a system in which it is simple to “hide infractions,” a report by a committee of MPs has found (The Guardian). MPs have demanded that loopholes in food quality regulations be closed following allegations that the largest supplier of chicken to UK supermarkets tampered with safety records to persuade consumers to buy meat past its sell-by date (The Financial Times £).
Britain’s biggest poultry supplier already had a “far from pristine” track record on food standards before the recent scandal over hygiene violations, a report on the affair has concluded. According to the Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee, the problems identified at 2 Sisters Food Group plant at West Bromwich were “not a one-off” and called into question its corporate governance structure. (The Times £)
Asda has toasted its second consecutive quarter of growth as a sign that the supermarket had now “stabilised” following plunging sales a year earlier (The Telegraph).
Walmart’s fightback against Aldi and Lidl in the US showed signs of success in the third quarter as the company posted its strongest quarterly sales growth since 2009 (The Times £). Walmart on Thursday posted its strongest quarterly US sales in more than eight years as the company’s digital investments continue to pay off and as store traffic improved (The Financial Times £).
After months of campaigning that resembled a heated political race, the proxy battle between Procter & Gamble and activist investor Nelson Peltz is set to drag on due to a stunning reversal of voting results. (The Financial Times £)
The burgeoning threat of online food delivery companies appears to have helped convince competition authorities to wave through Just Eat’s £200m acquisition of rival Hungryhouse. (The Telegraph)
British shoppers are expected to spend £10.1bn in the week of Black Friday, nearly 4% higher than last year as more retailers take part in the US-inspired promotional day. (The Guardian)
Rocketing food inflation and uncertainty about the outlook for the UK economy have sent retail sales tumbling to their first year-on-year fall since 2013. Food prices, which were 3.5% higher than a year earlier, helped push the volume of goods bought in shops and online down by 0.3% from October 2016. (The Guardian)
Private equity group Bridgepoint has agreed a deal to take control of the Burger King brand in the UK, pledging to ramp up its expansion and “reinvigorate” its operations in the country. (The Financial Times £)
Camelot, the operator of the UK’s National Lottery, is plotting a route back to growth, expecting to reveal crucial plans in the coming days that are designed to reverse a sharp fall in ticket sales. (The Financial Times £)
The American hedge funds which own the Co-operative Bank have kicked off a hunt for a new chairman as they attempt to rebuild the business in the wake of a £700m rescue deal. (Sky News)
Most government support for research and development subsidises investment that would have been made anyway according to a think tank. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) estimates that up to 80% of tax credits for research and development are a “deadweight”. (The BBC)


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Sri Lanka’s largest private sector retail bank, HNB PLC, announced a landmark partnership with the country’s largest non-banking finance institution (NBFI), LOLC Finance PLC to serve as its settlement bank for the Company’s recently established card payment services.
Settlement banks are a primary component of the transaction process, helping to make electronic transaction processing available for merchants. Through the new agreement, LOLC Finance will now route all of its credit card transactions through HNB’s settlement account for foreign and local transactions.
“HNB is proud to serve as the exclusive settlement bank for LOLC Finance. Through this milestone partnership between two of Sri Lanka’s giants in banking and finance, we will be providing payment processing support for all credit and debit card transactions made by LOLC Finance cardholders. Given their vital role as the largest NBFI, we view this partnership as a valuable opportunity to support the expansion of cashless payments and access to credit to the grassroots of the Sri Lankan economy,” HNB Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Dilshan Rodrigo stated.
“We are the very first NBFI in Sri Lanka to obtain a Payment Card – Acquiring license from the Central Bank and from Mastercard worldwide and Visa International. We are also the country’s first NBFI to obtain the Primary/Principal License from Mastercard worldwide and Visa International to issue Credit Cards and Acquire Payment Cards. Especially given that the majority of our customers are from the bottom of the pyramid, we are grateful to HNB for rapidly establishing this partnership so that we are now able to reach out to our customers and provide them greater convenience and flexibility in the management of their finances whilst fulfilling their aspirations for a better standard of living,” LOLC Finance Director and Chief Executive Officer, Conrad Dias stated.
LOLC Finance PLC is a premier licensed finance company in Sri Lanka and is the flagship finance company of the LOLC Group.


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CALIFORNIA, During her visit to the United States, US, Mariam Hareb Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, reviewed the latest technological developments in indoor and smart agriculture, which are key future solutions to providing enough food for the whole of humanity.
She also participated in the Global Conference of the Milken Institute, a non-profit organisation that aims to promote international prosperity, as one of the main speakers in a discussion about food security issues and the role of smart and vertical farming.
Almheiri stated that smart indoor agriculture is a promising area and is part of the efforts to increase food production and decrease consumption of resources while pointing out that recent technological developments have made it possible to produce large quantities of vegetables, fruits and other fresh products in urban environments using minimal space and less water, compared to traditional farming.
She also highlighted the importance of this new type of agriculture, as the current era is witnessing greater pressure to produce food while posing many challenges, such as climate change, the lack of fresh water, deforestation and a greater demand for energy.
During her visit to "Windset Farms" in Santa Maria, California, Almheiri reviewed the latest advanced technologies of the company, which is a major supplier of sustainable natural products in North America. She also met with Steven Newell, CEO of Windset Farms, Tony Martin, CFO of Windset Farms, and John Hart, Executive Director of Windset Farms, while the farm's team presented a detailed technical report about its production process.
She then visited the "Local Roots Farms" in Santa Monica, California, where she learnt, from Eric Ellestad, CEO of Local Roots Farms, and Brandon Martin, Vice President for Business Development, the concept of indoor agriculture. She also met with officials from "TPG Rise," which is an incubator for companies that assist in reducing hunger, increasing food security and encouraging sustainable agriculture, as well as representatives of Pontifex, which is an investment company in agricultural technology.
The Future Food Security Office is currently working on preparing the "National Strategy for Food Security," with the aim of adopting a comprehensive national framework to guarantee the UAE's short and long-term food security.
The plan is being developed in cooperation with relevant government authorities, decision-makers, academics and experts from the government and private sectors.
Source: Emirates News Agency


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iPhone 5s, 5c coming to PH Nov. 15By Doris C. Dumlao |Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—The country’s mobile phone providers are set to bring Apple’s newest smartphones – iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c – to local consumers by November 15.
Smart Communications and Globe Telecoms separately announced on Friday that they would make these two Apple smartphone variants available to the local market on the same date.
iPhone 5s is described as “the most forward-thinking smartphone in the world” and one that has catapulted Apple back to the top of the smartphone market in the US in September versus stiff Korean rival Samsung.
Among the key features of iPhone 5s is the touch ID sensor built into the home button, which scans fingerprints to unlock the phone and can also be used to make purchases from the App store. It also carries the A7 chip with 64-bit desktop-class architecture, which promises twice as fast performance while the M7 co-processor handles motion tasks to preserve battery life.
On the other hand, iPhone 5c, “the most colorful iPhone yet,” is more affordable in pricing and meant to broaden the market base.
Smart said customers may pre-register interest online at www.smart.com.ph/iPhone.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Federal officials say a nationwide investigation found that a North Carolina women’s clothing retail chain discriminated against pregnant workers and workers with disabilities.
The Charlotte Observer reports The Cato Corporation has agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s investigation. The agency announced Monday that the Charlotte-based company denied reasonable accommodations for those workers and made some workers take unpaid leave or terminated them because of their disabilities.
The agency says Cato’s practices violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. An EEOC release says Cato has agreed to update its policies to prevent discrimination against those workers.
It says a claims process will allow the settlement to be distributed to workers terminated because of their pregnancy or disability.
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Cato’s website says it has more than 1,000 stores in 32 states.
Information from: The Charlotte Observer, http://www.charlotteobserver.com


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“I get distracted by things or I’ll think ‘that’s a good idea…let’s do something about it,” says the entrepreneur and former ad agency creative behind an actual line of shiny balls—Amazeballs.
The spherical stainless steel drink chillers were first sold at Chapters/Indigo for Father’s Day in 2014, and are now sold in 700 retail outlets across North America including Urban Outfitters, Marshalls and Winners.
Fallak, who is still a company of one person, is appearing on the March 16 episode of CBC Dragons’ Den. He says he’s looking for someone with “deep pockets” who can help him staff up and fund purchase orders, for starters.
The problem, says Fallak, is he has to pay his manufacturer upfront for his vendors’ orders, and it’s 120 days before he gets paid from the stores.
“Developing the product, the name, the packaging and getting big stores to buy it—that was the easy part,” says Fallak. “But the hardest part is the cash flow. Once I get to a certain point, my orders will be able to fund the next orders. But I’m just starting out, so I’m not there yet.”
The idea to create Amazeballs came to Fallak in late 2013. He was reading an article online about the most overused words of the year, and “amazeballs” was one of them.
“It wasn’t really part of my vernacular… but I knew people were saying it,” recalls Fallak. “And I thought to myself, ‘if that’s just now being called one of the most overused terms, there’s still a few more years before we get soccer moms saying it. This is going to trickle down to mass market over the next couple of years.’”
“I just thought, ‘that’s a really strong word on its own and people would get a good kick out of it if it was actually a physical good,” says Fallak. “So that was it. I kind of decided I’m going to turn Amazeballs into a brand.”
He just had to find a product. “I kind of did it backwards than anyone else who brings a product to life, where they’ll develop a product and then name it,” he says. “I did the exact opposite. I started with a name and had to find a product that fit it.”
Fallak says the idea for a drink chiller actually came right away. He was aware that products like square whiskey stones were getting popular, and thought he could make a round one. He found a manufacturer overseas and within a month, he had the logo and packaging (which he designed himself) and retail-ready samples from the manufacturer in his hands.
He sent samples to Chapters/Indigo, and the company ordered 500 units for Father’s Day. “That’s when I went to the lawyer and said ‘I need to trademark this word,’” says Fallak. “I wanted to own that. I wanted to have that intellectual property.”
When Chapters/Indigo placed a larger order for Christmas, Fallak started to cold call other buyers like Urban Outfitters, and then other buyers, like Winners, started calling him.
Amazeballs wasn’t Fallak’s first foray into entrepreneurship. After leaving the agency world in 2005, Fallak spent seven years working for the federal government. He took a buyout in 2012 and used the money to fund a business he had going on the side: making custom marble coasters from people’s photographs and art.
Fallak previously ran the now-defunct KeepHerHappy.ca, an online flower scheduled delivery service for men.
Now (and hopefully with help from a dragon) Fallak says he’s looking to build a complete line of “Amaze” brand products and become a boutique drink accessories company. He introduced a second SKU last year, Amazerods, a stainless steel rod that’s inserted into beer or soda bottles to keep the drinks cold. The product is currently sold at Chapters/Indigo.
Fallak isn’t ruling out trademarking another pop-culture word either. “If I get another idea like [Amazeballs] that with my hunch I know it’s going to be good, I’ll pursue it for sure.”


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Israeli flavours and ingredients group Frutarom benefited from the
recent merger with Swiss counterpart Flachsmann to post a 55 per
cent increase in first quarter sales. Growth in the functional
foods sector also contributed to the...
At least 155 million school-age children worldwide are overweight
or obese, a growing problem which needs to be tackled now if more
serious ailments such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease are to be
avoided, according to the International...
A food product on the shelf must satisfy a range of senses to earn
consumer appeal. But US scientists claim that little understood
contextual cues - food display, colours - can lead to people eating
much more than they need.
Top ingredients supplier Danisco will phase out its activities in
oil and protein crops in order to focus on sugar beet seed, said
the Danish firm this week, in a move reflecting changes to the
European sugar regime in 2006 that will...
The dynamic performance of the Romanian chocolate sector continues
to gather pace with the announcement from Supreme Chocolat that it
has increased its sales in the first quarter by an impressive 120
Acquisitive ingredients firm Kerry will spend €170 million on four
bolt-on flavour acquisitions announced yesterday as the €3.7
billion Irish company continues to consolidate its position in the
highly competitive flavours market....
Real-time supply chain execution (SCE) software provider ClearOrbit
has launched Purchase Order Change Management, part of its Advanced
Collaborative Replenishment Suite. PO Change Management automates
the communication of order changes...
In the thriving world of snacks the key to success for food
developers will be in designing time-positioned, healthy and guilt
free indulgences as the consumer becomes more fussy, says a new
report from Datamonitor that shows UK snackaholics,...
Foss has launched a software package specifically designed for use
on its NIRSystems near-infrared (NIR) laboratory and process
analysers. The technology is designed to complement the FDA's
recently launched Process Analytical...


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The U.S. Department of Justice is doing last minute preparations for a press conference this afternoon at which officials are expected to disclose details about the take down of a major cyber robbery ring.
British authorities went public with their part of this bust earlier this week . And The Wall Street Journal has just reported that U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan is preparing to announce that 60 people have been charged in connection with a major ZeuS crime ring. The ring may be responsible for stealing some $30 million from online banking accounts worldwide, according to this article in the Daily Mail, which also features dramatic photos of the arrests in progress.
"From the initial reports it would seem the U.K. arrests are the ringleaders and the U.S. arrests are mostly the money mules that were used to actually convert stolen details into cash, although we won't know until the U.S. charges are released in an hour or so," Richard Wang, manager, SophosLabs US.
Wang points out that using money mules who are in the same country as the victims of identity theft is a way to reduce the chances of the banks' internal fraud detection mechanisms raising red flags. Details of these arrests should raise awareness about why the banking industry has placed the burden on consumers to protect themselves online, as we reported in this cover story.
By Byron Acohido
Technology Live covers computers, electronics, and the Internet, with a focus on cutting-edge technology that has a real impact on your life. Our reporters and editors -- based in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, and Washington – offer news and tips to help you make the most of your digital domain. More about the team
Sign up for Technology Live e-mail alerts


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Apr. 08, 2015
By Barbara Van Reed
Joanne Kubicki is a familiar name and face in downtown Webster, having worked for three years at the Coney 1950 hot dog shop at 119 Main Street. She was en employee there until a year ago, and the restaurant closed later last year.
But beginning Saturday, March 21, the popular lunch place will reopen with a flourish, a new owner, and a new name: Joanne’s Coney Express.
Joanne will be selling hot dogs,... Read More
Apr. 01, 2015
By Magda Dakin
AUBURN – Hundreds of visitors attended the Eighth Annual Health and Business Expo last week to see what’s new with local health care agencies, talk with local businesses, and participate in a host of free activities and raffles.
“The Expo was definitely more crowded than last year, and has steadily grown in the three years we’ve moved it to an evening event,” said Eleanor Houbre, director of the Auburn... Read More


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Georgia is experiencing unprecedented economic growth, the country’s Prime Minister Garibashvili notes at every opportunity. But few are taking this announcement seriously, as they watch the price of fuel, food and other goods going up. GEORGIA TODAY spoke to Dr Vladimer Papava, Director of the Center for Applied Economic Studies and Senior Fellow at the Rondeli Foundation, to find out more about the current situation and what’s in store moving forward.
The Georgian national currency is getting stronger, but prices of products in the market remain the same or are still on the up. What’s the cause?
We have to start with the Covid-19 pandemic, because nobody predicted its appearance and nobody knew how to deal with it. Many national governments decided to lock down many companies in many sectors of the economy. This resulted in the disruption of global supply chains, and prices will grow when you have a reduction in supply. As a result, we have high inflation.
2021 was a good economic year for Georgia because economic growth was 10.4%, but inflation was 13.9%
With Russia’s war in Ukraine, Western countries adopted special economic sanctions, and the process of disruption of global chains of supply continued. That’s why the problem of high inflation is general and is a problem for all countries, including the United States. Georgia also has a high level of inflation. For example, 2021 was a good economic year for Georgia because economic growth was 10.4%, but inflation was 13.9%, meaning inflation was higher than economic growth. That’s why the Georgian population doesn’t feel the positive results of the economic growth. Inflation covers economic growth, and it is not a situation only in Georgia; the same problem is being seen right now in many other countries.
While most countries struggle economically, Georgia has double-digit economic growth. How is it possible, and will society benefit from it?
Georgia is an interesting case. The country tried to continue with the same policy it had in 2021, with an open economy and no more lockdowns, and a focus on promoting touristic development. That created a situation where Georgia’s economic growth was relatively high. The projected real GDP growth rate in 2022 is 3.2%, but, according to the Georgian government, it will not be less than 7%. If we have no difficulties and the situation around and inside of Georgia doesn’t change, I think the government’s predictions will be right, and the growth will be at least 6%, nearly 7%, two times more than the International Monetary Fund predicted.
But will the people benefit from it? We hear that the economy is growing, but people’s pockets have the same weight.
The predicted annual inflation in 2022 will be 9.9%. Inflation will be higher than the rate of economic growth. That’s why the Georgian population’s feeling about the financial situation is not optimistic.
Even after the sanctions, the Russian economy has not collapsed. Why is that, and can the West weaken the Russian economy even more?
Unfortunately, these sanctions have two holes. First, many countries in the world haven’t joined the economic sanctions, major countries which have connections with the Russian economy being China, India, Turkey, and Israel. The other hole is inside the European Union. Yes, EU countries joined the economic sanctions, but at the same time, they continue purchasing gas and oil from Russia. During the first month of the war, the EU granted Ukraine nearly 1 billion dollars in humanitarian and financial aid. At the same time, in only one day, revenues from gas and oil Russia received from European countries amounted to nearly, daily, 1 billion dollars. Let’s make it clear: The Russian economy is in a difficult situation, and these difficulties will increase, but now we have a very interesting situation with Western countries trying to use Cold War tactics against Russia’s hot war in Ukraine. It is the first time in world history that we have such a complicated situation. So, how efficient these tools of the Cold War will be, nobody knows. We all hope and want to see Ukraine winning this war, but we must be realistic. We must understand the real difficulties Ukraine, Russia, and other countries face. And the energy supply for European countries is complex.
What’s the current situation for the Ukrainian economy, and what are your predictions?
Speaking about the Ukrainian economy is tricky because there is no data about the inflation rate in Ukraine. I tried to find some information using IMF and World Bank as sources, but there is simply no current data. The World Bank predicts that the GDP growth in Ukraine in 2022 will be -35%. It is a sharp decrease in the economy. As to the forecast of when Ukraine will deal with its economic difficulties – it depends on the war.
Western countries are trying to use Cold War tactics against Russia’s hot war in Ukraine
I’m sure it will be a victory. I don’t want to consider any other scenario. Other situations will be much worse for Ukraine, Europe, the world, and Georgia. I only believe in the case in which Ukraine wins the war.
According to the current situation, how much will Ukraine need financially, and can foreign economic support bring the Ukrainian economy back to its pre-war status?
Yes, I think that’s possible, but nobody knows the exact answer. The war isn’t over yet; the destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure continues. The problem is that nobody knows how long it will take to end this war. That’s why any predictions on how much money the Ukrainian economy will need for its recovery will likely be inaccurate.
Along with Ukraine, Europe is also struggling. Is it only because of the war? Might we see an even worse scenario than we had in 2008?
In 2008 and 2009, there was a global financial and economic crisis, one which was generated purely in the economy. The crisis we have now is not generated in the economy, it was generated outside of it. The Covid-19 pandemic came first, then the war, later the economic sanctions, and all these factors are outside of the economy. I think the current situation is much worse than in 2008-2009, because economists at least knew how to deal with it during this crisis. Globally, the world is facing not only the Russo-Ukrainian war, but two other simultaneous wars. The first one an oil war, started by Russia, and including not just an oil problem but gas as well, and the other is a food war. Before Russia’s war in Ukraine, these two countries exported 25% of the world’s wheat exports. Now Ukraine has serious problems with it, and only with the serious intervention of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the General Secretary of the United Nations have they managed to resolve the issue of Ukrainian ships leaving Ukrainian ports. But this doesn’t fix the overall problem.


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The central theme of Mobile World Congress 2014 for me was clearly Connected Living. I’ve been attending Mobile World Congress for quite some time — 2006 was my first, the year that it moved to Barcelona from Cannes. And, this year felt different. No longer did the event feel dominated by handset manufacturers and equipment providers. Mobile World Congress is no longer a telecom event; it is clearly a mobile event. Mobility has penetrated every industry and every aspect of life, and that diversity is now clearly felt at the show. The large presence of car manufacturers and the buzz around Facebook indicate a definitive changing of the guard. That shift is ongoing. The proliferation of connected devices, the explosion of over-the-top services and the rise of the data economy will continue to shape the industry. But for me, this year I felt excitement around our new connected lives.
2013 was a year in which media attention and hype targeted 3D printing: “artisanal” do-it-yourself (DIY) upstarts on Kickstarter making headlines across the blogosphere every week; high-profile speculation, such as President Obama’s quip that 3D printing will create a new manufacturing economy in the US; and Victoria's Secret models strutting down the runway in elaborate 3D printed corsets and signature wing accessories.
The excitement has reached the C-suite, where execs are wondering how this elusive and unfamiliar new technology will affect their business. As the resident techie, the CIO should expect the questions to come her way: What are the business implications? How fast is the technology developing? What are the implications for business technology at your organization?
Here are three angles on how 3D printing is driving business impact and digital disruption:
1. 3D printing can create tremendous business value — today. 3D printing enables key business imperatives in the age of the customer: faster time to market, new products and new markets, and the expansion of personalized products or services.


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To understand the concern that the marketing of electronic cigarettes might lure minors into a life of nicotine addiction, consider some of the flavors: cherry, bubble gum, cola, milk chocolate and sugar cookie.
Since their introduction into the U.S. market in 2009, e-cigarettes have grown exponentially in popularity and sales, to the tune of $1.7 billion. Legions of lifelong users have converted to vaping, trading the tar and carcinogens of cigarettes for the seemingly safer alternative.
But with such an aforementioned variety of flavors in e-cigarettes, health experts, substance abuse prevention officials and lawmakers are increasingly concerned that e-cigarette manufacturers are targeting teens.
“They are adding all these interesting flavors and they are pandering to people who are nonsmokers or more specifically kids,” said Dr. Richard Bell, a Berks County pulmonologist and a member of the Pennsylvania Medical Society. “I’m not sure an adult would be attracted to a bubblegum flavor cigarette.”
Bell echoes widely held concerns in the public health community that Big Tobacco is increasingly marketing the electronic devices to minors — using many of the same promotional techniques it used to hook generations to cigarettes — with television and magazine ads, sports sponsorships and cartoon characters.
“Whether e-cigarettes can safely help people quit smoking is also unknown, but with their fruit and candy flavors, they have a clear potential to entice new smokers," The American Medical Association recently opined.
E-cigarettes are not subject to the federal ban on television advertising. Those calling for action say that much the same same way Big Tobacco used the Marlboro Man, Joe Camel and attractive celebrities to promote their product, e-cigarette manufacturers are doing with modern-day celebrities.
The market saturation amazes Linda Doty, prevention specialist with the Cumberland Perry County Drug and Alcohol Commission. Doty recently Googled e-cigarettes near her Carlisle office and learned that between the West Shore and Newville, there are 100 e-cigarette retailers, the majority of them convenience stores, which draw heavy traffic from young people stopping in for sodas and snacks.
Doty said she is concerned that the increase in young e-cigarette users is playing out amid a dearth of medical evidence regarding their safety. She said a recent study by the the Smoking and Health Behavior Research Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University found that 20 percent of middle school students who had tried e-cigarettes said they had never smoked regular cigarettes.
“Even e-cigarette manufacturers recommend that breast-feeding women and those with health complications not use the products,” Doty said. “To me that’s an acknowledgment that this could have potential for harm.”
Indeed, a study last year by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that use of e-cigarettes among teens in 2012 had more than doubled from the previous year. However, at the same time, cigarette smoking among teens continued to decline.
Currently, no federal or state law governs the sale of e-cigarettes. A bill in the state Senate would restrict the sale of the devices to people 18 and older.
Harrisburg resident Keith Kepler challenges the notion that e-cigarettes — and their fruity, candy flavored choices — will lure kids into smoking.
“I’m 57 and, doggone it, I still like strawberry and chocolate,” said Kepler, who began to smoke at 14 and recently quit with the help of e-cigarettes. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard of. I still chew bubble gum. You’re telling me we can’t have things flavored bubble gum, because it will lure kids? I don’t get that.”


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RailSimulator.com announces Train Simulator 2013 Deluxe Edition is now available worldwide via Steam. The digital version is on sale for the next month, and a boxed edition is coming to retail soon:
All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
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According to local reports, Muhammad Ali Tabba, Chairman of the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers’ Association (APCMA), has urged the government to remove import duty on coal. Tabba labelled the tax an injustice towards the cement industry; the sector is the primary consumer of imported coal in Pakistan, using approximately 95% of the 4.5 million tpa imported into the country.
As a result of increasing gas shortages, many industries have switched to using coal as an alternative energy source. Although the tax is minimal, it could be damaging to future investments in alternative energy projects. Tabba further noted that the industry’s competitive advantage would be significantly reduced if the government continues to impose import duty on its main fuel source.
This issue adds to the long list of problems faced by Pakistan’s cement sector, including load-shedding, labour shortages, a slowdown in construction projects, a low level of exports and losses on coal imports due a lack of freight subsidies by the government.
Edited from various sources by Rosalie Starling
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/asia-pacific-rim/07072014/apcma_urges_government_to_withdraw_import_duty_on_coal_44/


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Issued by: Global Vision, By: Jon Jacobson
Facebook has changed the way as many as 400 million people are engaging with the Web on a regular basis, 200 million of them every day. Users are accessing Facebook to access “their world” on the Web. As a result, Facebook has now dethroned Google as the most accessed website in the US. And with Facebook plug-ins being incorporated into over 250,000 sites already (50 of which are among comScore’s Global Top 100 Websites), the Web is increasingly becoming more and more relevant to Facebook users with each passing day.
I first noticed this on the CNN site when I accessed the home page and to my right I saw news pieces that had been recommended by a couple of my Facebook friends. Of course, the presence of these recommendations by friends on Facebook now makes my CNN experience seem more familiar, personal and, above all, relevant. And this seems to be what the next big wave on the Web, or let’s say Web 3.0, is all about. If we try and sum up Web 2.0 in one word, it was all about collaboration. End users creating their own content and interacting with each other on the Web. It was the wave brought on by wikis, blogs, social media and increased accessibility. A wave which became mainstream in 2006 when Time Magazine’s Person of the Year was “You”. “You” were now in control of publishing content on the Web. “You” were engaging with companies, brands and individuals on your terms. “You” could now get news, TV programmes, music, radio broadcasts, etc. when “you” want it. But don’t worry, Web 3.0 is still all about “you”. It’s just going to be even more so. With Web 3.0, it’s about the Web becoming smarter, getting to know you better from your browsing history (and all you’ve contributed to it during Web 2.0) and automatically delivering content to you that is relevant.
A recent article on CNN, “How Facebook won the Web”, by guest columnist Pete Cashmore from Mashable.com goes on to explain ways in which Facebook are working to personalise the Web and thereby extend their reach and dominance on the Web. According to Cashmore, Facebook is able to take Google’s search strategy one giant leap further. Where Google have based the ranking of their search results on the number of sites linking back to a page, or how relevant a page may be to “other” Web users, Facebook is in a position to deliver search results “based on your friendships and interests,” or how relevant search results are to your social network and you.
Facebook’s “Like” button has been a key driver. Every time you “Like” something on Facebook, Facebook is getting to know you better. You can “Like” an ad, a posting, or a page set up by a brand, music, or organisation. And now Facebook has made it easy for 3rd party sites to add “Like” buttons to their content, so you can start letting Facebook know everything that you “like” on the Web.
Of course, Facebook already have your basic demographics: age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, language and location. As a result, the combination of these demographics, your preferences as defined by your “likes” and the “likes” expressed by your social network puts Facebook in a position to deliver highly relevant ads and search results. A position marketers would kill for, but can actually attain within their own market by replicating Facebook’s strategy using emerging channels and technology.
New channels such as the Web, social media, email, and mobile have now made it easier and quicker to track individual consumer responses to campaigns. As a result, marketers now have an easier time learning from their campaigns, understanding their consumers’ preferences, and building on these learnings to increase the relevance of the messaging to the right consumer segment. Sounds a lot like Facebook’s strategy, doesn’t it? Perhaps Marketing is in a very similar stage of development as the Web: the drive towards increasing relevance. Relevance is not only what Web 3.0 is all about, but what marketers should strive for in their engagement with consumers. Relevance gives consumers the sense that your brand can fulfill their needs better than a competitor. Relevance thus builds loyalty and marketing effectiveness.
As a marketer, is this not what you should be striving for?


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December 13, 2006
Thanks to the Internet, coupons practically offer a brand-new world to marketers in terms of leveraging the traditional offer via online while delivering savings-minded customers into brick-and-mortar storefronts.
Discover how a health-product manufacturer combined coupons, the Internet, a sampling program, direct mail and DRTV to get trucks zipping out of their warehouse. Not to mention how they motivated retail partners -- tidily synched up with the coupons -- to push the goods and create double-brand loyalty.
Brilliant multichannel strategies, tactics and creative samples ...
“We have to strategically find ways to drive customers into stores because we are not an ecommerce site,” says Sheryl Biesman, Internet Marketing Manager for Nature Made Wellness Advisor, a division of Pharmavite. “We need to bring them back to our Web site with a reward or an enticement in order to engage them and then encourage them back into retail.”
Before this year, Biesman’s team carried out a multichannel strategy limited to a Web site mention in print advertisements and retailers’ circulars. However, they wanted to step up the game and bring in completely new customers rather than attract repeats.
Television commercials are an efficient way to draw attention, but could Biesman tie them to her online and offline initiatives? Plus, how could she keep track of customers who were spreading out to 75 retail partners?
Biesman used a pair of ad campaigns to drive home the benefits of Nature Made’s products and to make the Web site and brand part of the consumers’ neighborhood shopping experience.
Step #1. DRTV campaigns, micro-sites and coupons
First, they put together seven DRTV commercials last spring -- six highlighted a single product while one touted the brand overall. To accompany the 2-minute-long commercials, Nature Made launched micro-sites for each product to best serve prospects and track response.
An in-house team developed all seven spots. Viewers were encouraged to visit the Nature Made Web site or call a toll-free number to receive up to four coupons amounting to $10. Interested consumers could print the coupons from their computers or choose to receive them via postal mail.
Those who responded to the ads were also able to sign up for a rewards program at http://www.NatureMade.TV, with a chance to earn more coupons after building up points. In addition, $1 coupons were emailed as follow-ups on a regular basis to keep the audience active with the brand.
The home page of the Web site also featured a big banner ad that read, “Did you see the Nature Made TV commercial? Click Here to request your coupons.” Clicking the link let viewers replay the commercial and sign up to get their coupons.
Step #2. Postal mail/email combo
In May, Biesman’s team mailed 15,000 samples of the company’s multivitamin (a two-week supply) not only to drive awareness, but also to measure the reach that the product had already achieved with older women, their chief demographic.
Recipients of the samples received a follow-up “Thank You” HTML email within a week and were invited to take a survey discussing what types of vitamins/supplements they currently used and what they knew about Nature Made’s products. In particular, since the firm specialized in “letter” vitamins (A, B, C, etc.), Biesman was interested in knowing whether people were aware of their multivitamin offering.
The list was generated from a slew of banner ads at health- and food-based sites, such as http://www.AllRecipes.com, that promoted the free-sample offer. Of course, the coupons were mentioned in the mailing as well.
“One of the great things about this type of [campaign] is that a person has to go through a fair amount of effort to get the sample,” Biesman says. “They have to give up their information to us, and there’s the issue of privacy for some to get beyond. So, it’s encouraging to market to people who you really feel have an interest in your products.”
Step #3. Bring rewards efforts to the local store level
While spreading the word this year, Biesman’s team also collaborated with retail partners to set up online methods of localizing coupons. Viewers who signed up were asked to select their favorite drug store or supermarket chain from a drop-down menu of 75 brands.
Cobranded by Nature Made and a preferred retailer such as Kroger, Walgreen’s or Rite Aide, both logos appeared on the printed coupons. The preferred retailer could be revised in the customer profile at any time.
Biesman’s team tracked the coupons to tally SKUs of each product type sold, allowing the advertising and product development staffs real-time market analysis. In addition, customers were asked if they wanted to receive sales alerts from retailers and were told that they could participate in a rewards program to achieve even more savings.
They also set up micro-sites, such as http://walgreens.naturemade.com/, to highlight the joint feature. Biesman worked with retail sales reps to coordinate Nature Made’s email alerts with specials that the preferred retailers ran. For each of the 75 retailers, the company created an opt-in consumer file.
“The idea behind it is to create double-brand loyalty,” Biesman explains. “And the relationships help educate consumers about the entire product category, which is often riddled by confusion among consumers.”
Even though DRTV leads are costlier than online advertising, Biesman is convinced of the program’s effectiveness. The spots drove coupon requests to heights unseen, and six of the seven campaigns have already been slated airtime for 2007.
“If we look at the percentage of people responding to our DRTV spots who are new to the database, it’s extremely encouraging,” she says. “That was one of the big goals we set out to accomplish.”
Of the coupon requests generated by DRTV, 52% were made at the company’s Web sites while the rest were via the toll-free number.
The free samples surveys taught Biesman a handful of useful points about their audience. Of the consumers who responded, 94% said they were using another multivitamin, and 77% didn’t know Nature Made had a competing product.
More importantly, 72% said they tried all two-weeks worth of Nature Made’s multivitamin, and 78% said they planned to or had already purchased the product. Word of mouth was good, too, since the same percentage indicated they were considering recommending the multivitamin to a friend or family member.
Biesman describes the overall success of the sampling mailing as two-fold: “We were able to get the word out with the free sample and also learn about how we needed to better market the multivitamin in the future.”
Nature Made’s efforts to tie coupons and online to their store partners is drawing rave reviews from the stores and consumers alike. “We’ve gotten a lot of feedback about how much customers appreciate the emailed retail alerts and online coupons,” Biesman says. “It gives our sales reps something extremely exciting to talk about with the retailers in their meetings. Our online relationships also give stores an extra incentive to move our products.”
Useful links related to this article:
Creative samples from Nature Made’s initiative:
Respond 2 Communications Inc., the agency Nature Made used for the DRTV portion of the campaign:
Silverpop, which managed the email lists and email program for Nature Made:


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Naples resident Anja Brown dutifully saves money each week by clipping coupons before she visits the grocery store, but the young mother of two small children thinks she can do better.
That's why Brown attended a couponing seminar at the Women Today Expo on Friday morning.
"I try to use coupons when I can," said Brown. "I think I save about $20 a week, but this was awesome, all the good information that I can use to save more."
Couponing guru Kasey Trenum, a stay-at-home mom who began couponing in earnest when the economy went south, led the 45-minute workshop
Although Trenum is from Cleveland, Tenn., her personal story is a familiar one to many Southwest Florida residents. She and her husband had built two homes on speculation, and then were stuck with three house payments when the housing industry collapsed and her husband lost his job.
Since that time, Trenum and her friend Kelly Thompson devised a couponing system that allows them to save hundreds when they visit the grocery store.
They also established a blog and website to help other consumers do the same, and have shared their system on the ABC television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," as well as on National Public Radio.
Trenum has a hungry audience, as couponing has become more popular since the economic decline. In the first six months of 2011, consumers saved an estimated $2 billion using coupons, according to the Promotion Marketing Association.
Still, coupons are an untapped resource, according to Trenum. Last year, manufacturers offered $330 billion in coupon savings, but only 1.03 percent of those coupons were redeemed.
Like Trenum and Brown, Breka Strait of Naples said she has increased her use of coupons since the economy faltered.
"I'm single, so I don't use them quite as much as a family might," said Strait. "But I do use coupons for groceries and items at the drug store, like contact lens solution and eye drops."
"I have learned to go through stores and buy what I use, rather than buy what I need, which was a useful point in the presentation."
Buying for use rather than need is the central tenet of Trenum's couponing philosophy.
It means buying staples in quantity as particular food items tend to go on sale in 10 or 12 week cycles. Once you have built up a pantry, you can replenish it when items are on sale or you have coupons, rather than when you need them.
Trenum said building a pantry make trips to the store faster and less stressful, as well as less expensive, because consumers have a pre-determined list.
"I have a life outside my grocery cart," she said. "Couponing is a necessity. I do it in a balanced, effective way that doesn't take over your life or require an addition to your home."
Trenum provided tips for collecting coupons, using newspapers, magazines and online resources, such as coupons.com or her website, www.time2saveworkshops.com.
She said that 89.6 percent of coupons are still found in Sunday newspapers and that she buys several papers each week so she can buy sale items in quantity.
At one point, she asked an audience member to inspect one of her recent grocery bills. The bottom line: she saved $345.08 with coupons in a single trip.
"Coupons equal money," she told the audience. "Do you want to pay with your cash, or do you want to pay with coupons?"


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El Salvador bought Bitcoin worth about $21 million. This happened the day before it officially legalized the world’s most popular cryptocurrency in the country. On Monday, President Nayib Bukele announced on Twitter that he had bought 400 bitcoins, which could be the first big step towards popularizing and improving the digital currency in the country.
The tweets were out at intervals of several hours. The number of digital coins purchased was about $20.9 million. The value of Bitcoin rose to $52,681.85 after the tweets.
El Salvador is the first country to recognize Bitcoin as a legal currency that will work with the U.S. dollar. The adoption of the Bitcoin law by El Salvador was announced in June. Critics and supporters around the world are watching how this unprecedented experiment unfolds. Buckel’s statement is a pretty significant milestone for Bitcoin. El Salvador is the first to put Bitcoin in reserve and put it on balance officially.
El Salvador Plans
The policies pursued by the state have drawn criticism across the country. A survey conducted by the University of Central America confirmed that 70% of Salvadoran respondents disagree with the administration’s decision; Most of them do not want to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender. Many of them do not even know about the use of digital currency.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Proponents of her claim have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement public online. The government of El Salvador hopes that financial inclusion in the country will increase, and a large part of the population will have access to traditional financial services.
According to the World Bank, the main components for the state economy are remittances and remittances. That accounts for more than 24% of El Salvador’s gross domestic product. Under the law, tax contributions can be paid in digital currency, prices are reflected in Bitcoin, and capital gains tax is not subject to exchange.
Lastly, El Salvador has created the Chivo wallet app, where citizens can register with an I.D. card to make transactions using Bitcoin. Last week, Congress passed a bill in El Salvador to create a $ 150 million fund that would greatly facilitate the conversion of Bitcoin to the U.S. dollar. Given that Bitcoin is an unstable currency, its effectiveness is still in question.


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$0.24 Earnings Per Share Expected for Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) This Quarter
Wall Street brokerages expect Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) to post earnings per share (EPS) of $0.24 for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Two analysts have issued estimates for Star Bulk Carriers’ earnings. The lowest EPS estimate is $0.10 and the highest is $0.37. Star Bulk Carriers posted earnings per share of $0.35 in the same quarter last year, which indicates a negative year over year growth rate of 31.4%. The business is expected to report its next earnings results after the market closes on Tuesday, November 19th.
According to Zacks, analysts expect that Star Bulk Carriers will report full-year earnings of $0.47 per share for the current year, with EPS estimates ranging from $0.26 to $0.68. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the company will report earnings of $2.93 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $2.70 to $3.16. Zacks Investment Research’s earnings per share averages are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that cover Star Bulk Carriers.
Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The shipping company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $157.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $137.11 million. Star Bulk Carriers had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a positive return on equity of 2.12%.
A number of equities analysts ....


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Mattermark ranked the five fastest-growing Series D startups from last year in its Startup Traction Report, and the top three are all services in the sharing economy.
The sharing economy refers to goods or services that are rented or borrowed among people, rather than used by solely one person. Users can share apartments, cars, and music, or even online staff and money (crowdfunding). PwC estimated that the sharing economy will be worth $335 billion in 2025, catching up with the traditional rental industry.
Series D is typically the fifth round of funding that a startup raises, after seed and Series A-C. The size of a Series D round varies, but the startups listed below raised between $150 million and Uber’s $1.2 billion (probably an outlier). Fast growth is determined by the Mattermark growth score, which takes into account monthly unique website visitors, weekly mobile downloads, social media metrics, number of employees, and equity funding.
Here are those hot Series D startups:
Uber raised a $1.2 billion Series D round in June 2014. Since then, they have raised over $4 billion more and acquired deCarta, which provides mapping software.
Growth score: 15,401
Mattermark says: “Uber, the ridesharing service that connects passengers to drivers, is worth more than several Fortune 500 brands. After launching in 44 foreign countries, Uber is growing faster in Europe and Asia than in the US.”
Lyft raised a $250 million Series D round in April 2014 and has since raised over $600 million more. In the meantime, they also acquired ridesharing app Hitch and messaging app Leo.
Growth score: 7,026
Mattermark says: “Lyft, another peer-to-peer ridesharing service, has higher customer growth rates than Uber when adjusted for size.”
Airbnb raised a $475 million Series D round in April 2014 and went on to raise $1.5 billion in private equity in June of this year. They also acquired Pencil Labs (a scheduling app) last December.
Growth score: 4,289
Mattermark says: “With its $475M Series D cash injection, Airbnb, a vacation rental marketplace, has seen its listings pass 550,000 in 192 countries.”
Hortonworks raised Series D funding in 2014 totaling $150 million. Since then, they’ve acquired three analytics companies: XA Secure, SequenceIQ, and Onyara.
Growth score: 2,366
Mattermark says: “Hortonworks, the enterprise Hadoop data platform, plans to overhaul the Hadoop ecosystem. According to CEO Rob Bearde, this focus is attracting enterprise customers and valuable partners, including Microsoft, Teradata, and Rackspace.”
Houzz raised a $165 million Series D round in October 2014. This August, they acquired GardenWeb, which handles their discussion threads.
Growth score: 2,123
Mattermark says: “Houzz, the online home remodeling and design community, has aggressive global expansion plans. After opening offices in Berlin, London, and Sydney, the site has more than 5 million monthly unique users outside the US.”
The fastest-growing Series D startups of 2014, along with a wealth of other data on the fastest-growing startups, regions, and industries, are reported in the 2014 Startup Traction Report (get it for $99).
Mattermark’s 2014 Startup Traction Report uses data from public sources like Crunchbase, AngelList, NASDAQ, the SEC, and the White House Office of Management & Budget, as well as private relationships they have with investors and entrepreneurs. Everything was measured for the 2014 fiscal year, which covers October 2013-September 2014.


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Dan owns and writes for BankVibe.com. BankVibe specializes in informing consumers on current bank deals, rates, and industry specific news.
Disclosure: BankVibe has financial relationships with a number of credit card issuers and banks through various affiliate programs.
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Al Gore on the future of our planet — and everything else
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My husband and I are business partners who just had our first child — here's how we make it work
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The dual camera smartphone is equipped with two image sensors that capture different light information, enabling it to support new features such as refocus and bokeh. Thanks to this, dual camera has become a trend of high-end mobile devices.
For OEMs, however, the integration of dual cameras may be a daunting process that takes significant time to optimize between different vendors developing sensor and software algorithms.
However, Samsung's suite of dual camera solutions based on an additional Image Signal Processor (ISP) simplifies this process, allowing some mid-range and entry-level mobile devices to enjoy some of the camera features on high-end devices as well.
GSMArena quoted microblogging information on a source in Asia, said the Galaxy S9 will use Sony's sensors, the most likely is IMX345.
The information from the official website shows that, although its size and Galaxy S8 and Note 8 on the sensor almost, but the Sony IMX345 supports up to 480fpsvideoRecord.
However, although there have been several sources mentioned Sony and Galaxy S9 series of links, but Sony has not confirmed this matter.


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- China-based company DJI makes drones that DHS has flagged as security risks.
- Meanwhile, federal agencies like the FBI and Secret Service have purchased the drones.
- “DJI’s cyber security vulnerabilities are well documented,” says Marco Rubio.
Despite efforts to halt the use of Chinese surveillance drones by the federal government, many agencies, including the FBI and the Secret Service, have recently made drone purchases from Shenzhen-based company DJI.
And the Department of Homeland Security is not happy about it.
According to Axios, “in 2017, the Department of Homeland Security — the Secret Service’s parent agency — stated with ‘moderate confidence’ that DJI was ‘providing U.S. critical infrastructure and law enforcement data to the Chinese government.’
DJI products are prohibited by both the Interior Department and the Commerce Department for safety and security reasons.”DJI’s cyber security vulnerabilities are well documented,” says Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has advocated for doing away with Chinese drone tech for good.
“Given everything we know about the Chinese Communist Party and its companies, there is absolutely no excuse for any government agency to use DJI drones, or any other drones manufactured in countries identified as national security threats,” Rubio adds.
Concerns over DJI tech are largely due to the proprietary software that must be downloaded to fly the drones and use the mapping databases. This raises serious privacy concerns. But DJI spokesman Adam Lisberg says Americans have nothing to worry about.
“Claims that somehow DJI products are transmitting customer data back to China, or to DJI, or anywhere they’re not supposed to be … are just false,” Lisberg told Axios. “No one has ever found a deliberate attempt to steal data, or any of the other fantasies promoted by some of our critics. It simply isn’t true.”
Some reports claim there’s a possibility that the FBI and Secret Service purchased the drones in an attempt to study them to combat Chinese cyberattacks – but no official statement has been released by the government that would corroborate these claims.
Chinese cyberattacks against the U.S. are well documented, with one of the largest attacks in history taking place earlier this year on Microsoft’s Exchange mail servers. More than 30,000 customers were affected, including small businesses, state governments and military contractors.
Is it really that difficult to imagine a Chinese drone company could be stealing U.S. data?


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Customer satisfaction among American consumers for a wide range of goods and services reached an all-time high at the end of 2006, according to a survey of consumers published Tuesday.
The University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) increased to an overall 74.9 score out of 100 in the fourth quarter of 2006, its highest level since the survey first started in 1994. That's a gain of almost 2 percent from the previous year and a 0.7 increase from the previous quarter.
The survey, which measured customer satisfaction in everything ranging from department stores to life insurance, saw the biggest improvements in the retail and financial services sectors, and only a slight uptick in e-commerce.
The index also anticipated that consumer spending, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the U.S. economy, will continue to grow in the first quarter of 2007 at a 3.5 percent to 4.1 percent pace.
"In view of these results, it is not surprising that the consumer continues to lift the economy despite the housing slump," Professor Claes Fornell, director of the University of Michigan's National Quality Research Center, said in a statement, CNNMoney.com reports.
Overall, satisfaction with financial and insurance services also increased. Americans gave Wachovia Corp. (WB) the highest score among banks for the sixth consecutive year. Its score of 80 topped a score of 72 for each of the following: Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WLF). Wells Fargo, however, posted the biggest improvement from 2005, when it scored 67.
Scores for MetLife Inc. (MET) and Charles Schwab Corp.'s (SCHW) online brokerage increased the most from 2005 among financial services companies. MetLife and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. were tied for the top life insurance ranking, while Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s (BRKA, BRKB) GEICO took the top spot among property and casualty insurers in the survey.
Department stores and discount retailers were among categories where customer satisfaction declined. Federated Department Stores Inc. (FD) dropped to 71 from 74 after its 2005 acquisition May Department Stores. Target Corp. (TGT) also declined, to 77 from 78. Kohl's Corp. (KSS) kept the top spot among department and discount retailers, but like that of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), its score was flat, marketwatch.com says.
Prepared by Alexander Timoshik
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