text:
The enthusiastic television pitchman who told viewers they could "save big money" at Wisconsin-based home improvement chain Menards has died
ANTIGO, Wis. (AP) — The enthusiastic television pitchman who told viewers they could “save big money” at Wisconsin-based home improvement chain Menards has died. Ray Szmanda was 91.
Szmanda’s son, Charles Szmanda, says his father died Sunday in home hospice care in Antigo, Wisconsin, of congestive heart failure.
Ray Szmanda was featured in advertising for Eau Claire-based Menard Inc. starting in 1976 until his retirement in 1998. He was known as “The Menards Guy.”
A Milwaukee native and World War II Navy veteran, Szmanda founded a broadcasting school in Wausau. He also narrated a recording of the Bible.
Most Read Business Stories
- Here's a question: How much are you willing to pay for a burger or burrito?
- Google team that keeps services online rocked by mental health crisis
- Blake Nordstrom inducted posthumously into Seattle's walk of fame
- Stranded sailors rely on this Walmart of the seas. COVID made it hard to stay afloat
- Seattle concrete strike continues after union calls mediation a 'failure'
Menards said Szmanda’s “friendly, enthusiastic and fun loving personality have made a lasting impression” on the family-owned company and its customers.
Menards has stores in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.


text:
Roborace's self-driving car isn't faster than a human (yet)
It's still in the ballpark of human ability, though.
VW unveils electric race car built to tackle Pikes Peak
The I.D. R Pikes Peak could set a new performance record for EVs.
VW's Seat unveils the first fully electric touring-class race car
The Cupra e-Racer delivers up to 670HP.
Volkswagen is building an electric supercar to tackle Pikes Peak
Their all-wheel-drive car will face the world's most renowned mountain race.
Infiniti prototype melds a 1940s race car with EV power
It shows how creative you can be with electric car designs.
The Renault R.S. 2027 Vision could be the F1 car of the future
The French automaker debuted the concept in Shanghai.
Audi drops Le Mans in favor of Formula E
It's all about committing to electric cars both on the track and off.
Electric race car sets an acceleration world record
The Grimsel can hit 62MPH in just over 1.5 seconds.
Watch Stanford's self-driving Audi hit the track
It sounds like no fun, but the idea is to prevent crashes like the one Google had recently.

domain: news


text:
Market research company iSuppli is reporting that notebook shipments are expected to post double-digit growth in 2010. This growth is expected because of increased shipments for netbooks and Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage (or CULV) notebooks.
Overall in 2010, 209.5 million units of notebook PCs will be shipped, which is 25.5% higher than the amount of notebooks shipped the previous year. The netbook category itself is expected to have 34.5 million shipments in 2010, a 30% increase from the previous year. Four years from now in 2014, netbook shipments are expected to hit a whopping 58.3 units! CULV notebooks are expected to have 14.5 million units shipped in 2010, which is a 93% increase from last year’s 7.5 million units.
Taiwan-based netbook manufacturer Acer leads the pack in netbook shipments; it has been the market leader for two years and holds 37% of the market. ASUS, also Taiwan-based, currently ships 5.5 million netbook units and holds 21% of the market. Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, and Dell are third, fourth, and fifth in netbook shipments. These top five netbook manufacturers make up 90% of the market.
After reporting booming 3Q results, ASUStek is projecting a breakthrough in netbook shipments in 4th quarter.
The recent quarter, ending September 31, saw 1.6 million shipments for ASUS.
Laptop shipment numbers are also looking great for ASUS – between 2.2 and 2.4 million units in the upcoming quarter.
Though the back-to-school netbook market was weaker than forecasted, netbook demand is still healthy. Growth may slow, however, in October due to “weaker demand from end-market players.”
Numbers for specific vendors are promising, with Dell expecting 1.2-1.4 million shipments third quarter and Acer looking at 3-3.5 million Acer Aspire One shipments.
As a comparison, the predicted number of shipments for Acer, one of the leading netbook manufacturers, is currently predicted to be roughly 12-15 million units.
LG & Samsung both have close ties to telecom companies, and this is one of the contributing factors to the expected volume of netbook sales, since telecom companies are a major channel for netbook sales.
If you think netbooks are popular now, just wait. DisplaySearch, a market research firm, predicts that netbook shipments will ultimately double in 2009 from 2008. While the number of shipped netbooks in 2008 was 16.4 million, that number is expected to increase to 32.7 million in 2009.
Just because the number of netbook shipments are expected to increase doesn’t mean the same for notebooks. In fact, notebook sales are expected to remain fairly constant in 2009.
This can be attributed to the growing netbook market, the economic downturn, and the fact that the unpopular Microsoft Windows Vista is the default OS on many new machines.
On the other hand, among some reasons that the netbook market is experiencing an increase in customers is the introduction of Windows 7 and some optimism as the economy starts to recover.
Acer has recently stated that netbooks could make up as much as 25% of all its notebook shipments during 2009. One of the reasons for this is the increase in netbook sales by telecom companies, which have enticed customers to purchase low-priced netbooks bundled with monthly data plans.
Acer currently predicts that it will sell between 10 million and 15 million netbooks within 2009. This Taiwan-based company is currently the world’s third largest PC manufacturer and second largest notebook manufacturer.
One of Acer’s goals is to overtake Hewlett Packard and become one of the world’s largest notebook manufacturer. If Acer continues selling netbooks at the rate that it’s predicting, it may overtake HP one year earlier than expected (by 2010).
Revenues and profits. The bottom line. This is one of the most important, if not the most important, concept that a company cares about. Due to a disappointing first quarter in 2009 as well as a decrease in revenues and profits, Acer is decreasing its expected demand for netbook shipments in 2009 by several million.
For the first quarter of 2009, Acer reported a net profit of $60.3 million, which is quite a significant decrease (actually a 31% decrease) from the net profits it had roughly one year ago. This is not unexepected though, as the economy has suffered quite a lot recently. Consequently, Acer plans to cut its 2009 netbook shipments from 12-15 million to 10-12 million units.
Netbooks are becoming ever more popular, and because of this, gross profits from the sale of laptops, desktops, and other similar computing technology are declining. The “cannibalization rate” is roughly 15 to 20 percent. The process (or problem, if you want to see it that way) of netbook cannibalization is growing ever more prominent.
The decrease in average selling prices (or ASPs) for netbooks is attributable to several factors. Firstly, selling prices have always been decreasing. As more netbooks are produced, they are going to be cheaper to produce and therefore, their prices will become lower over time. Secondly, the economic downturn has had quite a significant role in lowering prices of netbooks in order to increase sales. Lastly, the pricing of netbooks has changed consumers’ overall pricing expectations.
Image via DewantoroNetwork.
The IDC has released its latest prediction for the state of the world PC market on Thursday. The new report shows PC sales continuing to drop in 2009 before rising once more in 2010.
The 2009 drop will come in at about 4.5%, a bit worse than its previous anticipation of 3.8% back in December. The focus for these drops are rising unemployment and drops in consumer spending this year, according to IDC research manager David Daoud.
He expects consumers to wait until 2010 to make PC purchases, but in the mean time, our favorite sub-industry is expected to flourish: netbooks.
Netbook shipments hit 10 million last year, but in 2009, the IDC thinks that number will double. Whereas a year ago netbook technology was in its infancy, these rising sales prove that consumers like netbooks and are comfortable buying them.
Growth in laptop shipments, which should grow by about 6 million in 2009, will also boost netbook sales.
Be sure to check out another optimistic projection by ABI Research, which puts netbook sales by 2013 at 139 million.


text:
There are now only limited tickets available for the 2022 British Open Championship.
Supported by Besson, the 168th event will take place on Saturday 10th September at Symphony Hall in Birmingham, where the competing bands will perform Edward Gregson's 'The World Rejoicing'.
Tickets for both the contest and the following day's Gala Concert are on general release and can be purchased online through the Symphony Hall online box office: www.thsh.co.uk
Gala Concert tickets:
Tickets for the Brass Gala featuring Cory and Black Dyke Bands (Sunday 12th September) follow the exact sale process.


text:
By now, you’ve probably heard that Twitter is rebranding itself simply to ‘X’.
Yup, Elon Musk — having bought the domain rights to ‘x.com’ long ago — has finally found a use for it. And according to his new plans for the social media site, he wants to make a new tech phenomenon.
But before I get into what Musk says we should look forward to, let’s first think about what he is losing.
After all, as troubled as Twitter’s story has been (even before Musk), it is a huge brand.
The fact that the term ‘tweet’ as a verb is recognised as an official word, for instance, is telling. Few companies are lucky enough to enjoy that kind of recognition.
Don’t forget the little blue bird either. Most people in the world could probably identify Twitter by that simple logo alone.
And yet, Musk is planning to throw all of this away.
All the years of brand building is, seemingly, going to go down the drain.
That’s a lot of goodwill and free publicity to give up for what looks like a simple name change. Most of the time, you’d expect this kind of rebranding following a crisis or major scandal.
So, why is Musk doing this?
The everything app
The reason we’re all going to be ‘xeeting’ instead of tweeting is because Musk wants Twitter to be about more than just words. In his grand vision, X should become an ‘everything app’:
‘The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth — like birds tweeting — but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video.
‘In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world. The Twitter name does not make sense in that context, so we must bid adieu to the bird,’
As Musk clearly sees it, Twitter was about sharing short thoughts.
X is about sharing ideas, images, videos, audio, and soon even money…
This certainly isn’t the first time that payments have been flagged for use with Twitter. Jack Dorsey, the previous CEO and founder, was also keen to integrate money into the Twitter marketplace.
But saying it is one thing, doing it is another.
You can’t just add the ability for people to transact on a website and expect them to do it. There needs to be incentives, trust, and, of course, regulation.
This gets even tricker when you consider the fact that Musk wants to offer banking services. His ideal vision for X would include the ability to run savings accounts and offer credit or debit cards.
It’s wild to consider, but it could also be a huge push toward the web 3.0 dream that many have.
A digital future that could facilitate and encourage frequent transactions for all kinds of content.
Just imagine being able to make money by sharing a piece of art or commentary on Twitter. That is what may be in store for us if Musk’s plans come to fruition.
And if you’re looking for the conduit to make it happen, it has to be cryptocurrency…
The blockchain difference
The fact of the matter is that cryptocurrencies would be the perfect way to enable micropayments on X.
Let’s say, for example, it costs you 1 cent to view a specific video on X, perhaps a short update from a news source you know and love.
In our current digital economy, this sort of pricing isn’t really feasible. The fees charged by major payment processors make any pricing below around 5 cents extremely prohibitive.
It just doesn’t make sense to use this kind of pricing model even if you wanted to.
Crypto, though, thanks to the blockchain, makes it possible.
The way the technology works allows for relative fee pricing down to literal fractions of a cent. It could genuinely facilitate a payments platform that caters for these micropayments.
And if Musk does decide to go down this route, it would put crypto in front of millions of new users. An opportunity that would bring crypto into the mainstream limelight in a big way.
After all, we already know he is interested in crypto.
Dogecoin, the meme currency, became something of a plaything for him back in 2021 pandemic boom. Perhaps Musk can make it into something more than a meme with X. Or maybe he’ll turn to the more well-known cryptos like Bitcoin [BTC] or Ethereum [ETH].
Whatever token or coin he chooses isn’t all that important.
What matters is whether he chooses crypto at all…
For investors like yourself, it’s the kind of development that is worth watching too. Because if you’re looking for the catalyst that could propel crypto into a mainstream payment solution, this could be it.
Only time will tell if Musk’s gambit is a genius move or not.
But if you’re even remotely interested in cryptocurrency, it should have you at least a little excited.
Editor, Money Morning


text:
Inc. accelerated its commitment to wireless recently, rolling out new
transceiver modules, development boards and application interfaces (APIs) that
could make it easier for machines to talk to one another.
products are a response to the growing need among engineers to add wireless
communications to their designs.
"Wireless in the embedded space is
becoming more cost effective and a more viable means of communications," said Tyler
Smith, marketing manager for the RF Products Div. at Microchip. "We're seeing a
lot of engineers who view wireless as being critical to their designs."
Microchip announced at the recent
Embedded Systems Conference-Chicago that it is rolling out a pair of Wi-Fi
transceiver modules, known as the MRF24WB0MA
The modules' firmware includes an API driver interface to Microchip's TCP/IP
protocol stack, as well as to its 8-, 16-, and 32-bit PIC microcontrollers.
"The API allows the user to add
features to the TCP/IP stack," Smith said.
Along with the Wi-Fi module,
Microchip also said it will offer development hardware, known as the MRF24WB0MA
Plus Daughter Board.
Microchip said it is targeting the
products at applications ranging from remote monitoring and control to energy
monitors and machine-to-machine applications.
Keeping with its growing emphasis
on wireless, Microchip also said it is rolling out a low-power-consumption
transceiver for sub-GHz applications. Known as the MRF89XA,
the new transceiver is targeted at 868, 915 and 950 MHz wireless networks.
Smith said the new sub-GHz unit would be targeted at meter readers, industrial
automation systems, remote keyless entry, tire pressure monitoring and
Most of the new 3D printers and 3D printing technologies in this crop are breaking some boundaries, whether it's build volume-per-dollar ratios, multimaterials printing techniques, or new materials types.
Independent science safety company Underwriters Laboratories is providing new guidance for manufacturers about how to follow the latest IEC standards for implementing safety features in programmable logic controllers.
Automakers are adding greater digital capabilities to their design and engineering activities to promote collaboration among staff and suppliers, input consumer feedback, shorten product development cycles, and meet evolving end-use needs.
Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.


text:
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Google Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette said Monday that increased antitrust scrutiny of the Internet search giant is a natural and expected result of the company's success.
Pichette also reiterated his view that a recovering economy has helped Google
"Google is big," Pichette said during an appearance at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco. "We shouldn't pretend we're not a big company."
In recent months, Google has been confronted with an antitrust inquiry in the European Union, and has faced criticism of its proposed settlement with book authors and publishers from antitrust regulators at the U.S. Justice Department.
Rival Microsoft Corp.
"With success and being large you attract scrutiny," Pichette said. "It's part of growing up, and you need to participate in it" by being "proactive," he said.
In its public statement on Friday, Microsoft had said that, "We are concerned about Google business practices that tend to lock in publishers and advertisers and make it harder for Microsoft to gain search volume." Pichette countered that Google has attracted users thanks to presenting itself as an attractive choice, rather than by limiting competition.
Microsoft has invested heavily to compete with Google in online search and advertising. However, Microsoft still holds a roughly 11% share of the U.S. search market, compared to Google's roughly 65% share.
Pichette said that "the mood at Google kind of continues to be electric," despite some lingering effects of the recession.
"It's true there is a recession out there, but for the broad data world, everything that's the data space, there's really no recession," Pichette said. "It's been a great time for us in the last 12 months, 18 months."
Pichette said that throughout the recession, Google has maintained an emphasis on being "generous, but frugal." As a result, it has come through the downturn with additional businesses making a significant contribution to the company's financial health, he said - such as mobile communications, display advertising and Apps productivity software.
"They were kind of like interesting areas of Google, they are now part of the core agenda of the company," he said.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, Pichette said, Google saw "people showing up back online," adding that the company even saw an increase in interest in advertising for luxury items.
That compares to the fourth quarter of 2008, when the economy was stalled, and "there was a massive amount of advertising with heavy discounts," Pichette said.
Shares of Google rose nearly 1% to $531.87.


text:
Digital downloads are here to stay, and 2005 will be characterised by more, bigger attempts to get mainstream buyers as well as natural P2P users to pay for downloading songs. Apple’s vertical model – own the hardware and the content supplier – is likely to remain pre-eminent, but only while it’s the hardware that leads the business. Microsoft’s PlaysForSure scheme may be able to unite disparate hardware vendors and content sellers into a whole that has the synergy of iPod and iTunes, but it seems unlikely. In Europe, losing the right to bundle Windows Media Player 10 with the OS may cost MS dear.
That said, the weight of WMA-based services, many from strong music-related brands, may cause the balance to shift from hardware to content. And the effect of video remains unclear: will video devices wrest consumers’ attention away from the iPod next Christmas? Or are portable media centres to become little more than the pocket TV of the 21st Century?
Where both of my research interests collide: Honda wins China copyright ruling
Japan’s Honda has won a copyright case in Beijing, further evidence that China is taking a tougher line on protecting intellectual property rights.
A court ruled that Chongqing Lifan Industry Group must stop selling Honda brand motorbikes and said it must pay 1.47m yuan ($177,600) in compensation.
Internationally recognized regulation is now a key part of China’s plans for developing its economy, analysts said.
Beijing also has been threatened with sanctions if it fails to clamp down.
For some, the yule log is an easy, pleasantly cheesy backdrop to tree trimming and gift-wrapping. But it is also a Dadaist joke: television as the hearth, not just metaphorically but literally.
Whatever the reasons, there is no question that the yule log is cherished by viewers. When WPIX decided to stop showing it in 1989, the station was flooded with complaints and a grass-roots lobbying campaign sprang up to bring it back. Ersatz and, at some level, deeply pathetic, the television yule log became one of those mourned New York landmarks that make up the city’s shared nostalgia, like the Automat and Ebbets Field. (And someday, no doubt, the Naked Cowboy in Times Square.)
Connoisseurs trade as a trivia question the name of the man who brought the yule log to television (Fred Thrower, who was general manager of WPIX from 1953 to 1975, and died in 1999). The show’s mystique grew during its dark period: each year since WPIX brought it back in 2001, the log has won its time period in the city’s overnight Nielsen ratings. This year, viewers in cities like Chicago and Dallas can see what they have been missing when the log is shown early on Christmas Eve on Superstation WGN (like WPIX, a Tribune Company television station). And throughout the holiday season, anyone can start a quick fire on a laptop by linking to the log online (www.wb11.com), though it would probably be best not to download it in a crowded theater.


text:
They are in the coating of your nonstick frying pan. The wrapper of your favorite burger. The stain-resistant upholstery of your couch, and even the water coming from your tap.
They are PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — a huge group of toxic chemicals that are used in thousands of consumer products, and they are now also in our water and the blood of nearly every American.
The Rhode Island General Assembly is considering several bills to limit Rhode Islanders’ exposure to these “forever chemicals,” so named because they stay in the environment rather than breaking down. Two bills focus on testing for PFAS in drinking water (2022-H 7233) and soil (2022-H 7234) and cleaning it up. Two others focus on limiting contamination of our water and landfill by banning PFAS from products such as food wrappers (2202-H 7438A), clothing, carpeting, furniture and firefighting foam (2022-H 7436). Another creates a task force to develop strategies and secure funding to help fire departments replace PFAS-laden turnout gear with PFAS-free gear (2022-H 8133).
Every day, we learn more about the pervasiveness of PFAS in our environment and ourselves, and about its dangers. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry notes studies have associated PFAS with increased cholesterol, decreased vaccine efficacy, changes in liver enzymes, low birth weight, and increased incidence of testicular and kidney cancer.
Virtually every American has PFAS in their blood, absorbing it through the water they drink, their clothes, their nonstick pans and fast food wrappers. The extent of contamination is not fully known, as this is a large family of chemicals — several thousand — that have not been routinely monitored.
What we know for sure is that we need legislation to control the introduction of these chemicals into our water and soil by using products that don’t contain them. And we must set a contaminant limit — we propose 20 parts per trillion — so water suppliers and well owners can test their water against it, and immediately remediate if necessary.
We must also begin the process of replacing firefighters’ gear and firefighting foam with PFAS-free alternatives. Over the past several years, cancer has replaced heart attacks and line-of-duty incidents as the leading cause of firefighter deaths. Scientists point to the shedding of PFAS, both into the air when exposed to the heat of a fire and into the skin through wearing PFAS-laden gear, as a likely reason.
The good news is that private-sector companies are now waking up to the dangers of PFAS. A recent study by Consumer Reports found PFAS in packaging, plates, bowls and utensils of most major fast-food chains. Several of these companies — from McDonald’s to Burger King to Chipotle — say they will move to PFAS-free wrappers.
There are now alternatives to PFAS-laden firefighting foam. Work is underway on alternatives for turnout gear. And when the US House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better bill, it allocated $95 million to fund the replacement of contaminated gear. Although the bill did not move forward, this underscores the significance of this problem.
The federal government is, at long last, directing its attention to these toxins. The Environmental Protection Agency issued a “PFAS Strategic Roadmap” in late 2021, and the recently passed infrastructure bill includes $10 billion for addressing PFAS in drinking water, some of which will come to Rhode Island.
For now, it is essential that we pass this legislation in Rhode Island, as many of our neighbors have done.
Representative June Speakman is a Democrat representing District 68 (Warren, Bristol). Representative Terri Cortvriend is a Democrat representing District 72 (Portsmouth, Middletown). They are the sponsors of several House bills addressing PFAS.


text:
Tech giant Motorola today said its strategy of using only the e-commerce route, instead of the traditional brick-and-mortar stores, has worked in its favour as validated by competitors who are now adopting similar ways to sell their devices online.
Motorola, which launched its ‘Moto G’ smartphone in India through Flipkart in February, was among the first players in the world’s second most populous market to exclusively adopt the online route to sell its devices.
“The success of Moto G validates that our strategy was spot on. Many more people are now using e-commerce (to sell devices) and many more will come on board. We have the first mover advantage,” Motorola India General Manager Amit Boni told PTI.
Since then, Motorola has launched two other devices — Moto E and Moto X — exclusively through Flipkart.
- Here’s Why Delhi-NCR Gets Pollution Code On Lines Of Beijing
- PM Modi Is More Interested In TRP Politics Rahul Gandhi At Congress Parliamentary Meet
- Bigg Boss 10 December 1 Review: Priyanka Jagga Succeeds In Her Divide And Rule Strategy
- Kahaani 2 Audience Reaction: Vidya Balan Starrer Thriller Gets Mixed Reviews
- Find Out What PM Modi Said About Demonetisation On LinkedIn
- Row Over West Bengal ”Military Coup” Issue Escalates: Who Said What
- Here’s How Mohammad Kaif Replied To Virender Sehwag’s Birthday Wish On Twitter
- West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s Flight Reportedly Had Low Fuel: Here’s What Happened
- Reliance Jio Welcome Offer Extended Till March 31, JioMoney Launched
- Uri Attackers Came From Pakistan, Establishes Digital Data
- Bigg Boss 10 Nov 30 Episode Review: Captaincy Brings Differences In Manoj Punjabi & Manveer Gurjar
- Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s Official Twitter Handle Hacked
- After Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter Handle, Congress Official Twitter Account Hacked
- 3 Dead As Army Helicopter Crashes In Sukna In West Bengal
- BJP, Congress Engage In War Of Words Over Nagrota Attack: Find Out More
“We have a significant portfolio coming up. India is one of the most important markets for us and pretty soon, we will have more devices here,” Boni said, adding that business in India is doing “phenomenally well”.
The US-based firm is scheduled to launch a new device on September 5 but did not disclose any details of the event.
According to reports, the company may launch successors of the Moto X and Moto G alongside its much-awaited Moto 360 smartwatch.
After being acquired by Google in May 2012, Motorola Mobility stopped introducing new products in India. However, the firm continued with its operation in the Indian market.
India is the fastest growing smartphone market in Asia Pacific, growing at 84 per cent year-on-year to 18.42 million units in Q2 2014 from 10.02 million units (in April-June 2013 quarter), according to research firm IDC.


text:
Buy Tata Steel Ltd. target Rs 352.: CK Narayan
Buy Tata Steel Ltd. at a price target of Rs 352.0 and a stoploss at Rs 334 from entry point.
Motilal Oswal maintains neutral on Tata Motors, target price Rs 119
Neutral Tata Motors Ltd. at a price target of Rs 119.0 .
Morgan Stanley maintains equal-weight on Bharat Forge, target price Rs 401
Equal Weight Bharat Forge Ltd. at a price target of Rs 401.0 .
ICICI Securities upgrades Oberoi Realty to buy, target price Rs 577
Buy Oberoi Realty Ltd. at a price target of Rs 577.0 .
Reliance Securities maintains buy on Cipla, lowers target price to Rs 610
Buy Cipla Ltd. at a price target of Rs 610.0 .
HSBC maintains hold on Maruti Suzuki India, target price Rs 7,200
Hold Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. at a price target of Rs 7200.0 .
Congress releases poll manifesto; promises 33% quota for women in government jobs, loan waiver for farmers
Describing it as 'Sankalp Patra', the party in its manifesto promised 33 per cent reservation to women in government jobs and private institutions in the state and free rides in Haryana roadways buses.
Deutsche Bank has no plans for additional job cuts
The bank also underscored in a statement that a "substantial" number of jobs will be cut in Germany, which is "by far" Deutsche Bank's largest location.
Yes Bank appoints new COO, head for marketing
Anita Pai, who was also responsible Head of ATM Business, Branch banking Service and Phone Banking at ICICI Bank, and had previous stints at ICICI and HDFC.
YES Bank sells 6.56% stake in Fortis Healthcare for Rs 645 crore
The shares were offloaded at an average price of Rs 130.27.
Trade setup: Stay cautious, Nifty won’t see sustained rise unless it moves past 11,450
From pattern analysis, it appears that Nifty has given up 50% of its most recent pullback.
Income tax department surveys Zaveri Bazaar bullion traders
Zaveri Bazaar is a hub for wholesale and retail gold and jewellery trade.
Remaking Marico: How MD Saugata Gupta wants to disrupt the FMCG market with a host of new categories
Marico founder Harsh Mariwala disrupted the market with hair oil. Now, MD Saugata Gupta wants to do it again.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning spawn new jobs in eCommerce
Currently, new technological solutions, powered by AI, are disrupting how retail companies do business, in ways that are innovative and beneficial to their customers.
Instagram, Twitter are turning into new hiring destinations for Indian companies
Over 70% of global Instagram users are less than 35 years of age, and recruiters are keen to target this audience.
Copyright © 2019 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service


text:
Bitcoin was slightly lower on Monday as traders remained cautious about regulatory crackdowns from China and elsewhere.
The cryptocurrency was trading at about $43,000 at press time and is roughly flat over the past 24 hours. Analysts are monitoring blockchain data for signs of buyer accumulation, although it may be too early to tell if sellers have fully capitulated.
For now, it appears that some buyers have shifted their focus away from bitcoin and moved into decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens in the wake of China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency activities. For example, Messari data shows the PERP token initially spiked about 55% toward $17 on Monday, although the price settled at about $15 at press time. PERP is the utility token facilitating and incentivizing the decentralized governance of the Perpetual Protocol.
Analysts expect China’s crypto industry to phase out given the recent ban.
“I think OTC platforms that are operated from the big exchanges will close down,” said Bobby Lee, founder and CEO of the Ballet wallet service and former head of BTCC, once one of the biggest bitcoin exchanges in China in an interview with CoinDesk. “OTC” refers to over-the-counter trading, or off-exchange.
And on Monday, Ethereum mining pool SparkPool said it plans to suspend services for all its users by Sept. 30.
Bitcoin fund inflows
Investors pumped $95 million into digital asset products last week, more than double the prior week’s pace, according to a CoinShares weekly report.
With the headwinds that digital assets have faced recently, such as China’s ban, the inflows suggest that price declines may have been seen as buying opportunities, CoinDesk’s Lyllah Ledesma reported.
Flows into all crypto funds during the week ended Sept. 24 were the most since the $98 million in the week through Sept. 3, and brought total inflows over the last six weeks to $320 million.
Bitcoin saw the largest inflows of any crypto investment product with a total of $50 million, also the most in three weeks.
Test of buyer conviction
Analysts are questioning whether bitcoin holders can sustain enough buying power to support further price increases into the fourth quarter. Prices are now back near the cost basis for most short-term holders, similar to September 2020, which preceded a price rally.
This time, however, “the 50%+ correction in May resulted in a flushing out of many retail traders and investors, and thus interest in the [Bitcoin] protocol has waned since early 2021,” Glassnode wrote in a blog post.
About 58% of short-term holders are already experiencing losses (current BTC price below the acquired price), according to Glassnode data. The holders who entered over the past two months could decide to sell their BTC at a loss, which could drive prices lower, or accumulate more BTC in hopes of turning a profit.
The chart below shows the market-value-to-realized-value (MVRV) ratio, which measures BTC’s market capitalization relative to its realized market value. The current MVRV suggests that BTC is trading at roughly its fair value after the May sell-off.
- DeFi tokens PERP, DYDX lead crypto market higher: Native tokens of decentralized trading platforms such as Perpetual Protocol and dYdx are surging as China’s crypto crackdown saw centralized exchanges scramble to comply with new regulations. Perpetual Protocol’s PERP token surged 55% in the past 24 hours, reaching $17 a token, CoinDesk’s Omar Godble reported. Derivatives DEX dYdx registered a trading volume of more than $4.3 billion in the past 24 hours, surpassing the Nasdaq-listed centralized crypto exchange Coinbase’s $3.7 billion.
- Immutable X token sales raise over $12.5 million in under an hour: Ethereum scaling product Immutable X’s token sale on CoinList sold out in less than one hour and raised $12.5 million for the project, CoinDesk’s Jamie Crawley reported. Of the 720,000 accounts that registered to participate in the sale, only about 25,000 (3.6%) were able to make purchases due to the high demand, Immutable announced Monday. The company said it is aiming for the IMX token to be Ethereum’s “Stripe for NFTs,” offering gas-free non-fungible token minting and trading, referring to payments company Stripe.
- Cardano’s commercial arm to invest $100 million in DeFi, NFTs and blockchain education: Emurgo, the commercial and venture arm of Cardano, is investing $100 million to “accelerate the development of the Cardano ecosystem,” Emurgo CEO Ken Kodama announced at the Cardano Summit 2021 on Sunday. Emurgo also said it would be pouring additional funding into African artificial intelligence, blockchain and smart technologies firm Adanian Labs. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson also recently donated $10 million to establish the Hoskinson Center for Formal Mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University.
Most digital assets in the CoinDesk 20 ended the day lower.
Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
- Filecoin (FIL), +4.7%
- Uniswap (UNI), -6.6%
- Aave (AAVE), -4.3%
CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


text:
Taiwanese tyre manufacturer Cheng Shin Rubber has re-elected its board of directors. Chen Yun-Hwa continues as chairman of the tyre maker and Lo Tsai-Jen succedes Chen Shiu-Hsiung as vice chairman. Other members of the board of directors include Chen Shiu-Hsiung, Tseng Sung-Chu, Lee Chin-Chang, Lo Yuan-Long, Chen Han-Chi and Wu Hsuan-Miao. In addition, Lo Tsai-Jen’s son Lo Yuan-Long succeeded Huang Chung-Jen as the new director. Tseng, Sung-Ling’s directorship was replaced by his cousin Tseng Sung-Chu.
Future visitors to the Nürburgring Nordschleife will see 87 metres of Nankang branding in the ‘Breidscheid’ area. The Taiwanese tyre maker has initially signed up as an advertising partner at the Nürburgring until the end of 2025.
On 14 March, Federal Tire said it would hold a general shareholder meeting in three months. Tyrepress China found that the tyre manufacturer will issue a “Report on losses up to half of the paid-in capital” at the general meeting of shareholders. Federal explains that “the accumulated losses of the company in 2022…reached one-half of paid-in capital”. This document shows that the Federal business situation in 2022 seems to have fallen into a trough.
On 24 February, Federal signed an off-take agreement with Vietnam XT Tyre. According to the agreement between the two parties, XT Tyre will start to produce tyres for Federal in 2023 by Federal’s orders and production specifications. Federal did not disclose the details of the cooperation with XT Tyre, including the specifications and production capacity involved in the making the agreed products and the specific timetable for the collaboration between the two parties.
Luo Yongli, deputy general manager of the company, recently told a briefing that he is optimistic about the operation of Cheng Shin in 2023. In the past, Cheng Shin has reportedly significantly reduced capital expenditures to combat adversity in the operating environment. But with the overall situation expected to improve, the tyre maker will start expanding production capacity, including launching a 40 million tyre capacity expansion plan at factories in mainland China.
On 18 November, Federal Corporation stated that Chiang Ching Hsing, the company’s chairman and general manager, resigned. Chen Heng Kuan, who is also chairman and president of Nankang, held his position. According to analysts, both Chiang Ching Hsing and Chen Heng Kuan are representatives of Nankang Rubber on the Federal Corporation’s board of directors, and Chiang Ching Hsing’s departure will not bring about a massive change in Federal Corporation.
Recently, four Taiwanese tyre manufacturers, Cheng Shin, Nankang, Federal and Kenda, successively announced their September results. In September, Cheng Shin’s operating revenue was approximately NT$8.875 billion (about 244 million pounds, 280 million euros), an increase of 13.03 per cent over the same period last year.
On 3 October, Cambrian Tyres announced that it has been appointed as the exclusive importer of Goodyear Bicycle Tires for the UK and Ireland. Already a top-three global tyre company, Goodyear has been establishing itself as a leading brand within the global bicycle tyre segment since 2018 via a licensing agreement with Rubber Kinetics. Rubber Kinetics produce all Goodyear bicycle tyres at their “bicycle tyre specific research, development, and production centre in Taiwan”.
Recently, Taiwanese tyre manufacturer Federal disclosed to the public its recent operations, including land development plans associated with one of its factories. Federal has two factories in Taiwan, located in Chungli and Guanyin, with a total of 535 employees. The tyre maker said the Guanyin plant has an annual capacity of 3 million tyres; the Chungli plant has been suspended due to the implementation of anti-dumping duties by the United States.
On 28 June 2022, Huntington Business Credit announced it closed $35 million of new credit facilities with American Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. (Kenda USA). According to Huntington Business Credit, the funds were used to “refinance existing indebtedness and provide ongoing working capital growth financing.
In the first week of August, Taiwanese tyre manufacturers Nankang and Federal successively released operating data for July 2022.
Nankang’s operating revenue in July was NT$660 million (about £18.22 million; 21.58 million euros), down 10.8 per cent from NT$740 million (about £20.42 million; 24.2 million euros) in the same period last year. From January to July, the tyre maker’s operating revenue was about NT$4.72 billion (about £130 million; 115 million euros), down 3.08 per cent year-on-year.
According to Federal Corporation’s 2021 annual report, which was published in mid-May 2022, on 15 October 2021, “major shareholder Nankang Rubber Tire Corp. Ltd. Nankang Rubber Tire Corp., Ltd…called an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to obtain the management right[s].” Federal and Nankang representatives have been contacted by Tyres & Accessories for comment.
On the evening of 13 June 2022, a fire broke out at the tyre factory of Federal Corporation (formerly known as Taifeng Tire) in Zhongli City, Taoyuan, Taiwan. Black smoke from the fire was visible several kilometres away, according to local news reports.
Nankang Rubber Tire Corp. Ltd. has announced that it has completed the re-election of directors and appointed Lin Junying as its general manager. According to Taiwan media reports, Lin Junying is the eldest daughter of Lin Xuepu, the deceased honorary chairman of Nankang and also an amateur racing driver.
Kenda has won the “Best Practice Award” for manufacturing quality during the 26th National Quality Awards in Taiwan. The award recognizes businesses that demonstrate high quality management and is the only award for business quality issued by the Executive Council in Taiwan. Kenda was one of just 15 to win the award.


text:
What is FoodIdentityTheft.com?
FoodIdentityTheft.com alerts consumers about misleading food and beverage packaging and deceptive advertising. Because we all have the right to know what’s in the products we buy, it tells the truth about food ingredients and package labels so that we can make informed decisions.
This website is powered by Citizens for Health, a non-profit education and advocacy organization that provides unbiased information to almost 130,000 American consumers.
About Citizens for Health
Since 1993, Citizens for Health has been the non-profit voice of the natural health consumer. Through its websites and monthly newsletter it provides important news to nearly 130,000 consumers to help them make informed choices about the products and services they purchase for themselves and their families.
Citizens for Health Petitions FDA to Require Accurate High Fructose Corn Syrup Labeling
Citizens for Health is petitioning the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to require food makers using HFCS to accurately label the percent of fructose in the ingredient. Currently, the FDA has only approved use of HFCS with a maximum fructose level of 55%, but it has been reported that HFCS with 65% fructose is turning up in mainstream sodas. One major company is even advertising a 90% fructose HFCS product for use in low calorie foods. These sweeteners with excessive amounts of fructose are not FDA approved. The CFH petition asks that the FDA require Proof of Safety in accordance with the food and drug law if these they are to remain on the market.
Food Identity Theft Issues
2nd Annual “Read Your Labels Day” is April 11, 2014
Citizens for Health has declared Friday April 11, 2014 (4/11) as the 2nd Annual National “Read Your Labels Day” to encourage American families to get the “411” on what’s in the foods and beverages they buy.
Consumers are encouraged to read the ingredients labels on products in their kitchen pantries and refrigerators, and on grocery store shelves, and look for the “Top 10 Ingredients to Avoid,” a list of questionable sweeteners, preservatives, and industrial chemical additives, such as High Fructose Corn Syrup, aspartame, and monosodium glutamate.
Jim Turner, who chairs Citizens for Health said, “We sponsored the first ‘Read Your Labels Day’ this last April to help Americans to be aware of how many chemicals are used in processed foods and beverages. The response was tremendous. We had stories on TV stations around the country, and the news was covered by major grocery publications. Even some of the biggest supermarkets, including Whole Food Markets, hosted ‘Read Your Labels Day’ events in their stores. We’re expecting an even bigger success in 2014.”
While many shoppers scan the nutrition labels on packages looking for such things as saturated fats or sodium content, an independent study published in 2011 by the food and beverage research group Mintel reported that less than half of consumers surveyed read the ingredients labels on the foods they purchased in supermarkets.
“The majority of us don’t check the list of ingredients on food package labels,” added Turner. “The big food manufacturers are counting on this. If we don’t read or understand the ingredients in their products, they can put pretty much whatever they want to into our food.”


text:
Electric car pioneer Tesla (TSLA) today reported 26% jump in first revenue to $3.4 billion, beating analysts’ estimates. The adjusted net loss for the quarter came in at a better-than-expected $568 million, or $3.35 per share. Analysts had expected quarterly revenue of $3.22 billion and a net loss of $3.58 per share.
On a GAAP basis, the company’s net loss widened to $784.6 million, or $4.19 per share, versus $397.2 million, or $2.04 per share in the prior-year period.
The Elon Musk-headed company reiterated its projection: positive GAAP net income and positive cash flow in the third and fourth quarters of this fiscal year, even as its cash reserves declined 21% to about $2.67 billion.
A worsening cash condition had earlier prompted the Wall Street to predict that the company would need to raise more capital again this year, though Musk had rubbished this on Twitter. The company had $3.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of fiscal 2017.
Tesla said Model 3 production hit 2,270/week in April. The company had earlier warned that it would miss the weekly production target of 2,500 Model 3s in Q1 and 5,000 Model 3s in Q2. Deliveries were impacted by two production delays during the quarter caused by “problems relating to excessive automation.”
Meanwhile, the company once again maintained its optimism of achieving its weekly production target of 5,000 Model 3s in the coming two months. Tesla also reiterated its long-term gross margin target of 25% for Model 3.
Tesla expects 2018 to be a key period for its energy storage business. The company aims for a three-fold increase in MWh deployed for its energy storage products in 2018.
Yesterday, the Utah-based competitor Nikola Motor filed a $2 billion lawsuit against Tesla, alleging that the company had stolen the patent design of its semi-truck.
Tesla shares rose 0.6% in aftermarket trading following the announcement. The shares are down over 5% in the past 52 weeks and down over 3% year-to-date.
Last month, the IPO market was in a full swing. IPOs of Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) and JFROG (NASDAQ: FROG) had an impressive opening day in September, the former creating a
PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) beat market expectations on both revenue and earnings for the third quarter of 2020. The company saw the momentum continue in its snacks business while the
With more and more people turning to virtual entertainment sources, amid the virus-related movement restrictions, video game publishers like Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) are witnessing unusually high demand. Not surprisingly,


text:
A few weeks ago, I posted a story about how Mighty No. 9 may have been delayed to 2016. This was after retailers like Amazon and Walmart listed the game to be releasing in 2016 and not this year. Since the digital version of the game was still date for 2015, it was still unclear if the game was officially delayed or not.
Thanks to an email sent to backers of the game, we now have solid confirmation that the game won’t be released this year.
“We are unable to confirm a final release date at this time, however we will be aiming for a release in Q1 2016,” says the email. “Once a solid release date is set, we will announce it immediately to our backers and fans.”
This is disappointing news in and of itself, however, the actual reason for the delay is something which has caused many (myself included) to become very angry.
“Of course, it is important to explain why exactly the game is being delayed,” the email continues. “As we have communicated in the updates to our backers, all of the core content for the game is developed and in a complete state. However, there are still bugs and issues pertaining to the online features that are included in the game. These bugs and issues have a direct affect on enjoyment of the game, so a decision was made to work these issues out before release.”
This game is a spiritual successor to Mega Man, a game which traditionally has been an offline game. While it’s good that the team are working hard to resolve any issues with bugs, the fact that those bugs are from the online portion of the game is what is infuriating. It would have made more sense to release the main game, which is supposedly finished, and then add the online features later. I doubt anyone would be missing them since this is a game people want to play for its single-player mode.


text:
Google Chrome, the world’s most widely used web browser, is now available natively for Windows on ARM devices. In partnership with Qualcomm Technologies, Google released the ARM64 version of Chrome in the Canary channel in January 2024. Now, it is being rolled out to the stable channel for compatible Windows on ARM devices. The release of the native Chrome browser on ARM devices comes ahead of the release of Windows PCs powered by the Snapdragon X Elite compute platform, which is expected to launch in mid-2024.
“We’ve designed Chrome browser to be fast, secure, and easy to use across desktops and mobile devices, and we’re always looking for ways to bring this experience to more people. Our close collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies will help ensure that Chrome users get the best possible experience while browsing the Web on current ARM-compatible PCs,” said Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President, Google.
Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm Inc, said, “The new version of Google Chrome will help cement Snapdragon X Elite’s role as the premier platform for Windows PCs starting in mid-2024. The PC industry is on the cusp of an inflection point, and as we enter the era of the AI PC, we can’t wait to see Chrome shine by taking advantage of the powerful Snapdragon X Elite system.”
Previously, Google Chrome ran on Windows on ARM devices using the emulation layer, which consumed significant battery and memory resources. However, with the launch of the optimized version of Chrome on ARM devices, users will get improved performance along with a better battery life. Google Chrome for ARM devices is now available for all users with Windows on ARM devices.


text:
When Epik released their official statement on January 11 after Parler was taken offline by Amazon Web Services, they did so to shine a light on the…Read more
Amazon is just another company ushering in censorship.
If you haven’t noticed already Parler has been cut off of Amazon’s servers making the social media platform unavailable…
I was expecting Real to be extremely skeptical about newfangled devices that use cloud-based AI to interpret biodata. After all, human relationships are much too complicated…Read more
Jeff Bezos Tells Shareholders to Take a Seat as Profits Hit by Coronavirus Entirety of second quarter profits expected toRead more
Bezos Wealth SKYROCKETS by $24 Billion as 17 Million Americans Lose Their Jobs One of the world’s richest men, JeffRead more


text:
South Africa is set for its worst year of industrial action since all-race elections in 1994 after a 20-day strike by state workers won them raises of more than twice the inflation rate, encouraging miners and autoworkers to hold out on their pay demands.
About 1.25 million working days were lost to strikes in the six months through June, double that in the same period last year, according to Johannesburg-based Andrew Levy Employment, which advises clients on labor relations. It expects even bleaker data in the second half, when the 20-day strike by state employees cost about 10 million working days.
The labor action has spread to private industry, with about 80 percent of the 6,800 workers at Northam Platinum Ltd.’s Zondereinde mine downing tools on Sept. 6, after other walkouts by car-parts makers and gas station attendants. Manufacturers say that rising wages and the labor unrest threaten to undermine the competitiveness of exports, curb investment and deter companies from hiring in a country where 25 percent of workers are jobless.
“The competitive challenge has never been greater and this wage-cost inflation makes the situation even more challenging,” David Powels, managing director of Volkswagen AG’s South African unit, said in an Sept. 2 interview in Cape Town. “It’s a very serious situation. The impact on our customers, export customers in particular, is critical.”
On Aug. 31, the government agreed to give its 1.3 million employees a 7.5 percent pay increase, 2.3 percent, or 6.5 billion rand ($894 million), more than was set aside for wages in the February budget. Yesterday, unions that had been demanding 8.6 percent raises suspended their strike, which shut thousands of schools and saw patients turned away from state hospitals, giving themselves 21 days to consult their members.
A benchmark for this year’s wage settlement was set in May by the state-owned transportation company, Transnet SA,, which gave its workers an 11 percent increase to end an 18-day strike, Powels said.
State workers are not underpaid relative to other South Africans, according to Mike Schussler, chief economist at Economists.co.za., a Johannesburg-based advisory service.
“Civil servants get paid 28 percent of all formal sector wages, although they only make up 21 percent of all formal sector employees,” he said by phone yesterday. “There is definitely a knock-on effect” when they win such high increases.
The government denies it is driving up wages for private industries.
Companies won’t concede “anything that they can’t afford,” Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said in a Sept. 2 interview. “Workers have the right to pursue a decent standard of living and decent work.”
Gas station attendants and workers in the auto-parts industry began an open-ended strike on Sept. 1, demanding pay increases of 15 percent, more than double the 6 percent offered by employers.
Volkswagen, Toyota Motor Corp. and other vehicle manufacturers last month agreed to grant 10 percent increases to end an eight-day strike that shut their plants, while Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the world’s second-largest platinum producer, raised wages by about 8 percent to ward off labor action. Northam workers are demanding 15 percent increases before they return to work, while the company is offering them 8 percent.
South Africa’s inflation rate is currently 3.7 percent.
“Overall wage settlements in South Africa are not only divorced from inflation but more importantly productivity,” Peter Attard Montalto, an economist at Nomura Plc in London, said in an e-mailed response to question on Sept. 6. “The government is clearly setting a bad example to the rest of the economy. The inflationary effects should start to come through from the first quarter of next year.”


text:
North America has traditionally been a region of high auto demand and strong supply, but the recent economic downturn in the U.S. caused many American automakers to make drastic changes to their workforce, production lines and vehicle outputs. However, the region's automotive industry has rallied in recent months, with Bloomberg reporting auto sales in the U.S. may reach 16.1 million in 2014. According to Bloomberg, that is 500,000 more vehicles than what experts project for the end of 2013. As the automotive industry fuels regional production and economic strength and more businesses are taking advantage of the competitive manufacturing environment in Mexico, North America is on track to regain its pre-recession strength in the industry.
Rising industry strength may cause issues in the future
As manufacturers in the automotive industry continue to ramp up their auto part and vehicle productions and increase staff levels, many businesses are seeing benefits. Auto News reported strong vehicle sales and streamlined stocks may indicate a recovering North American industry, but some businesses may be expanding too quickly. According to Auto News, a Morgan Stanley study found the industry is expanding at the fastest pace of capacity growth since the 1950s, which may put many automakers in danger of undercutting their own profits.
Automakers are constructing new plants and employing more workers quicker than in past years, yet doing so may disrupt the balance between supply and demand. According to Auto News, the discrepancy between the large number of automakers and the still relatively low number of automotive customers may result in missed sales opportunities and unsold inventory because automakers moved too quickly. However, the rate of growth may slow soon as automakers adjust their business strategies to meet consumer demand.
Yet for many automakers, reducing momentum may not be an option, and with the high cost of building plants in the U.S., some are expanding to Mexico. With the country's low manufacturing costs and geographic proximity to the U.S. consumer market, many manufacturers are able to mitigate the risks of fast growth by keeping their operational costs low. With the U.S. experiencing economic recovery and many consumers beginning to feel comfortable with their finances once more, the pent-up demand for vehicles may cause manufacturers to surpass normal growth rates. Offshoring the production process to Mexico can help manufacturers meet this demand quickly with high-quality products.
The Offshore Group: You manufacture ... We do the rest


text:
It’s been a crazy past few days on Twitter for the Bitcoin and crypto industry.
The accounts of Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Kanye West, and other prominent celebrities and names/entites in the cryptocurrency space were hacked to promote a scam involving Bitcoin. For those that don’t remember, the hackers posted tweets from these high-level accounts promising to ‘double’ the deposits of a cryptocurrency to an address.
Despite the hackers seemingly still at large, Tesla CEO Musk is making light of the situation through the crypto industry’s meme currency.
Elon Musk Makes Light of “Bitcoin Scam” By Referencing Dogecoin
When asked by one of his followers “where my f**king Bitcoin is” by one of his followers, the prominent enetrepreneur just responded by saying: “Excuse me, I only sell Doge.”
By Doge, Musk is referring to Dogecoin (DOGE) — a cryptocurrency worth hundreds of millions of dollars that recently went semi-viral on social media.
He published the image below in a tweet shared minutes after the abovementioned comment. The image shows a sandstorm, tagged “dogecoin standard,” engulfing a city, which is tagged the “global financial system.”
It’s inevitable pic.twitter.com/eBKnQm6QyF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2020
This meme involving the cryptocurrency was first shared by Bitcoin market tracking application Blockfolio to Musk.
This is not the first time Musk has entertained Dogecoin and Bitcoin.
Around April Fool’s Day in 2019, the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive said that he thinks Dogecoin is his “favorite currency.” He proceeded to become the ‘CEO’ of the project after the Dogecoin community voted it so. Becoming the CEO of a cryptocurrency is, of course, a misnomer.
Musk Thinks Bitcoin May Have Some Value
Although Musk’s latest comment on Dogecoin is in line with his propensity to play with the cryptocurrency industry, he hinted that he sees some value in Bitcoin.
Responding to “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling who asked about Bitcoin, he wrote:
“Pretty much, although massive currency issuance by govt central banks is making Bitcoin Internet money look solid by comparison.”
He said in an earlier interview with ARK Invest, published in early 2019, that he thinks Bitcoin is “brilliant” in structure. Yet, Musk did criticize the asset’s reliance on the proof of work structure, which requires lots of energy to maintain
Featured Image from Shutterstock Price tags: xbtusd, btcusd, btcusdt, DOGEusd Asked About Bitcoin, Elon Musk Just Joked He "Only Sells DOGE"


text:
In our opinion, these are the reasons Match is the best online destination for international dating.
.action_button.action_button:active.action_button:hover.action_button:focus.action_button:hover.action_button:focus .count.action_button:hover .count.action_button:focus .count:before.action_button:hover .count:before.u-margin-left--sm.u-flex.u-flex-auto.u-flex-none.bullet.
In 2012, a former employee claimed in a lawsuit that she was requested to create thousands of fake female accounts attractive to male customers, resulting in repetitive stress injury. In July 2016, CEO Rob Segal and newly appointed President James Millership told Reuters that the company had phased out bots by late 2015.
Segal shared an independent report by EY (Ernst & Young) which verified the phase-out.
In the same month, the company changed its signature tagline from "Life is Short.
Have an Affair." to "Find your moment," and updated its brand imagery to replace the image of a woman wearing a wedding ring with a red gem-shaped symbol as its logo.
Not only is available in more than 25 countries and eight languages — but it also has more than 30 million members, sees more than 13.5 million visitors a month, and is responsible for more romantic connections than any other dating site.
Have an affair." The company received attention on July 15, 2015, after hackers stole all of its customer data—including emails, names, home addresses, sexual fantasies and credit card information—and threatened to post the data online if Ashley Madison and fellow Avid Life Media site Established were not permanently closed.
By July 22, the first set of customer names were released by hackers, with all of the user data released on August 18, 2015.
More data (including some of the CEO's emails) was released on August 20, 2015.
The release included data from customers who had previously paid a fee to Ashley Madison to supposedly have their data deleted.


text:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Business orders for U.S. factory goods shot up by a record amount in July, reflecting a surge in demand in the volatile category of commercial aircraft.

But outside of transportation, orders actually fell slightly during the month although the setback was expected to be temporary.

Factory orders rose 10.5 percent in July, the biggest one-month increase on records going back to 1992, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Orders for civilian jetliners rose four-fold. But excluding transportation, orders edged down 0.8 percent and a key category that serves as a proxy for business investment plans fell 0.7 percent.

Manufacturing has been a source of strength this year, helped by robust demand for new cars, other consumer items and business equipment. Economists expect that strength to continue.

The report showed that durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, were up 22.6 percent in July, unchanged from the estimate in a preliminary report last week. Orders for nondurable goods such as paper, chemicals and food were down 0.9 percent in July after a 0.4 percent increase in June.

In addition to the surge in demand for airplanes, orders for motor vehicles and parts rose 7.3 percent, reflecting continued strong consumer demand for new cars and trucks.

But there was slippage in other areas. Orders for primary metals such as steel fell 0.3 percent, demand for machinery was down 1.2 percent and orders for computers and other electronics products fell 14.7 percent.

Despite this weakness, most economists expect that manufacturing production will provide solid support for economic growth in the second half of this year.
A blustery winter storm dumped snow and ice across the West on Wednesday, making driving treacherous in the mountains from California to the Rockies and forcing residents and party-goers in some usually sun-soaked cities to bundle up for a frosty New Year's.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A gunman who opened fire inside a Planned Parenthood clinic was arrested Friday after engaging in gun battles with authorities during an hourslong standoff that killed t...
WASHINGTON (AP) — A man draped in an American flag climbed over the fence at the White House on Thursday, prompting a lockdown as the first family celebrated Thanksgiving.The man was immediately appre...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama spared two turkeys named for one of the nation's most admired presidents, continuing a White House tradition that provides a refreshing sense of amusement and...
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The latest on the attack on a hotel in the Malian capital of Bamako. (All times local):___4:55 a.m.The U.N. Security Council is condemning "the horrifying terrorist attack" at the...
ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — World leaders vowed a vigorous response to the Islamic State group's terror spree in Paris as they opened a two-day meeting in Turkey on Sunday, with President Barack Obama call...


text:
While Elon Musk and Tesla may have garnered the most column inches with the announcement of its new battery earlier this year, in the background there have been several other developments with implications for the hotel sector. Combined with improvements in data analytics, the technologies offer considerable savings for hotels seeking to address their climate change impacts and the risks of rising energy costs.
“These systems combine predictive software and safe, reliable batteries to proactively store and discharge energy for optimal economic impact,” writes Glenn Hasek in GreenBiz. “The systems can access energy reserves during times of peak electricity demand to avoid short-term usage spikes and the corresponding demand charges — all with no human intervention or impact to operations.”
- Read the original article “How the hotel industry benefits from energy storage“
- Follow Glenn Hasek on Twitter
- Learn more with the Carbon Trust’s Energy Efficiency advice for hotels


text:
To: IAHF List
Subject: NY TIMES Calls For Repealment of DSHEA- IAHF Response
Date: 6 Jan 2004 17:16:03 -0000
IAHF Webmaster: Breaking News, Whats New, What to Do, USA and all Countries, Harm-onization
IAHF List: Yesterday the NY Times Newspaper published the following editorial calling for the repealment of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. Please read their editorial and my response, below which was posted on the NY Times Website.
Many Americans, including well meaning people in the health freedom movement are already jumping up and down all excited about this editorial, despite the fact that neither Durbin's Senate bill (S.722) The Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003, or Davis's House Bill (HR 3377) have any support in Congress, and aren't likely to pick up any appreciable support, this editorial notwithstanding.
The FDA's ban on ephedra can easily be overturned in court. It is illegal under the Administrative Procedures Act, but no one can file a lawsuit until the FDA publishes their Final Rule, which they haven't done yet (it will be out soon.) Under the Administrative Procedures Act it is illegal for the FDA to act in an inconsistent way. It is not legal for them to ban epehdra as a dietary supplement, while leaving pseudoephedrine, which objective data proves is FAR more dangerous than ephedra, in a slew of OTC cold preparations sold by a slew of multinational drug companies.
The double standard here is a classic, and its outrageous. There is no way the Cartel will succeed in repealing DSHEA via this sort of angle on US soil, but there is a VERY REAL danger of repealing DSHEA indirectly via HARM-ONIZATION, which is why he FDA and Cartel have set us up to lose in a future WTO Trade Dispute.
The Cartel WHITEWASHED the Oversight Hearing on Codex that I pushed for for 5 years on March 20, 2001. I witnessed CRIMES committed by Dr.Beth Yetley of the FDA at Codex meetings in Germany. What Yetley is doing (in total violation of US law) is that she and the pharma dominated National Academy of Science are creating FALSE DEFINITIONS of supplement safety in order to set us up to lose in a WTO Trade Dispute via which our domestic law can be forcibly HARM-onized to a grossly restrictive emerging INTERNATIONAL VITAMIN STANDARD.
The ONLY WAY we can stop what is unfolding is to support the Alliance for Natural Health's lawsuit against the EU Food Supplement Directive, and ANH will be in court AT THE END OF JANUARY (JANUARY 30th) in the British Courts. They BADLY need donations, not only for this lawsuit, but also to be able to continue their emergency lobbying in the EU Parliament against the EU Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive, and against the Pharmaceuticals Directive. This last, the "PD" is the worst of the 3- and we won't be able to kill it unless we FIRST OVERTURN the FSD in court.
The PD turns any substance that squeaks through the first two Directives into a "drug". It turns any substance with ANY PHYSIOLOGIC EFFECT IN THE BODY into a "DRUG". It would turn WATER into a "DRUG".
Keep in mind that at NEXT YEARS CODEX MEETING in Bonn Germany they can FINALIZE a Vitamin Standard which can be imposed GLOBALLY via a new international court- the "Dispute Settlement Body" of the WTO- which is a mickey mouse court that does not follow our rules of evidence.
It was created to enable multinational corporate interests to strike down any national law that interferes with multinational corporate PROFIT$$$ and thats exactly what its been doing.
Every single decision made by the WTO's "DSB" has gone against the environment, against the public health, against human rights, against labor rights, against every intantible that goes into the shaping of any democratic nation's laws.
We are, quite LITERALLY, being forced into a PRISON PLANET in which all the laws are being "harmonized" (made the same). Our would be rulers intend to create a CARBON COPY of the EU Dictatorship in our hemisphere called the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) via which they intend to harmonize the laws between Canada, the USA, Mexico, Central and South America. Unless we oppose them with EVERY FIBER OF OUR BEINGS, these greed driven Machivellian BASTARDS FROM HELL will succeed.
Food control = PEOPLE control.
Codex is all about culling our numbers. They don't want us to be healthy, they don't make $$$$ when we stay clear of their doctors, their hospitals, and their DRUGS, so they're trying to raise the hurdles via a ton of red tape so that they can CRUSH the supplement industry, all in the name of "safety" in the name of "protecting us from harm."
Well these hypocritical pieces of dog waste can stick it where the sun don't shine, and its up to everyone in America to do the following things to monkeywrench their plans:
1) Call your members of Congress today via the US Capital Switchboard at 202-225-3121 (ask for your Senators and Congressmen, if you don't know their names tell the switchboard operator your zipcode and they'll tell you, then connect you.
USE my response below to the NY Times as a script, and EDUCATE THEM so that they can see the BIG PICTURE which is that this attack on DSHEA is only one SMALL PART of a COORDINATED GLOBAL ATTACK against the entire supplement industry which is not only occurring in the USA, but world wide!!! Explain to them about the whitewashed oversight hearing on Codex in 2001 and tell them that if they cosponsor Durbin's and Davis's bill (the so called Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003) that you will move heaven and earth to destroy them politically.
2) You MUST donate IMMEDIATELY to the Alliance for Natural Health's lawsuit to OVERTURN the EU Food Supplement Directive. Donate via their secure server at http://www.alliance-natural-health.org or via the address on their website. (You must send an international money order if you donate via snail mail or they can't deposit your check in an English bank.)
If ANH fails in court, or in their lobbying campaign, we're done for, but they have the best lawfirm in Europe working with them and they're VERY CAPABLE people who are totally WORTHY of our support!!! We CAN WIN in court!! We CAN STOP the cartel's genocide agenda, we HAVE TO, or we're going to witness GENOCIDE.
See the NY Times Article Calling For the Repealment of DSHEA Below, and Below it see IAHF's RESPONSE. Please get on the NY Times website yourself http://www.newyorktimes.com and put your OWN comments to them on their website and also email them to the editor, and copy them to your Senators and Congressmen.
This is WAR people: GLOBAL WAR:
The Ephedra Ban Is Not Enough
Published: January 5, 2004
It took an unconscionably long time, but the federal government has finally managed to ban an unsafe dietary supplement before it can harm or kill any more unwary users. The Bush administration's health regulators announced last week that they would soon ban ephedra, an herbal supplement used to promote weight loss and increase energy, on the grounds that it poses "an unreasonable risk of illness or injury." That was the only sensible response to mounting evidence that ephedra has been harming thousands of Americans. Yet the tortuous course of this regulatory crackdown underscores the dangerous weakness of a 1994 law that allows the supplement industry to market products whose safety and effectiveness have never been proved while making it extremely hard for health regulators to take them off the market if evidence of harm subsequently emerges.
Ephedra is an adrenaline-like stimulant, derived from plants, that excites the central nervous system, speeds metabolism and increases the rate at which a person burns calories. But it can also drive up blood pressure and stress the circulatory system. Ephedra has generated far more reports of adverse effects than any other supplement and has been linked to cases of heart attack, stroke and sudden death. Ephedra has been banned by three states, including New York, and by some athletic leagues though not others.
Some critics blame the Food and Drug Administration, which has been worried about ephedra for many years now, for moving too cautiously. There is some merit in that complaint, but the major culprit is clearly the 1994 dietary supplement law that requires the F.D.A. to prove that a supplement poses a significant or unreasonable risk of harm instead of requiring the manufacturer to prove that it is safe and effective, the standard used for prescription drugs. The law does not even require manufacturers to report adverse effects to the government.
This is a formula for covering up problems and ensuring regulatory inaction. It is no accident that ephedra will be the first supplement ever banned for safety reasons under the 1994 law. That sluggish response was precisely what the supplement industry and its more zealous customers wanted when they pressed Congress for protection against strict regulation.
When Congress returns for its next session, it needs to revise the ill-conceived 1994 legislation. At a minimum, Congress must require the industry to pass on any adverse health reports to the F.D.A. promptly. Even better, it should require the manufacturers to prove the safety and efficacy of their products before those products are allowed on the market. Under the current lax system, there is no guarantee that the substitutes for ephedra will be any safer.
IAHF RESPONSE WHICH WAS POSTED ON THE NY TIMES WEBSITE
Re: "The Ephedra Ban is Not Enough"
The ephedra ban is illegal under the Administrative Procedures Act which requires that the FDA act consistently, and not in a biased way as they regulate (OSTENSIBLY to "protect the public.")
If the FDA were GENUINELY interested in "protecting the public" they would not only yank the safe herb ma huang (ephedra) off the market, but they would SIMULTANEOUSLY ALSO yank pseudoephedrine off the market, but they're NOT GOING TO.
The REASON they're not going to yank pseudoephedrine off the market is that it is contained in a SLEW of OTC Cold Preparations marketed by a SLEW of multinational drug companies which OWN the FDA via the "good ol' boy" syndrome of revolving doors between the Agency and the companies who they serve in the capacity of a Trade Association.
Objective Data collected via the American Association of Poison Control Centers clearly indicates that pseudoephedrine kills, but the FDA has a double standard. What they're doing is protecting the sales of prescription weight loss drugs that are far more dangerous than ephedra, and the public knows it.
S.722 and HR 3377 aren't moving in Congress, and your editorial won't cause either bill to move. Vitamin consumers aren't stupid. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to go to http://thomas.loc.gov and read the language of these witch hunt bills. The word "ephedra" isn't used ANYWHERE in either one.
The language would demonize any dietary supplement that happens to be used concurrently with one or more Rx drugs, if there is a reaction, regardless of causality, without a shred of evidence that the supplement caused the adverse reaction. This is a naked Big Pharma effort to try to repeal DSHEA, and its consistent with a Global push to destroy the dietary supplement industry world wide.
On June 18th, 2003 the Canadian Government illegally harmonized Canada's dietary supplement laws to Australia's draconian drug based laws, in total violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In Australia in the past year 1600 safe dietary supplements were yanked from the shelves under false pretenses.
On January 30 the Alliance for Natural Health http://www.alliance-natural-health.org will be striving to overturn the corrupt EU Food Supplement Directive. Donations for the lawsuit are badly needed and can be made via the secure server on the site.
In October 2004 at the UN Codex Alimentarius Commission's Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Use Australia will be bringing a junk science pharma generated supposed "white paper" on supposed "scientific risk assessment" for vitamins and minerals, just at the moment the EU goes from Observer status at Codex to having FULL Status. As they go to full status the SIZE of the EU will have ALSO increased from 15- to 25 nations.
The FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) is intended to be a carbon copy of the EU Dictatorship in our hemisphere. It is intended to "harm"onize us to the EU. The Dietary Supplement Working Group of the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue http://www.tabd.org is trying to harmonize the US to the EU. This group is dominated by pharmaceutical interests.
The growing number of vitamin consumers on the email distribution list of International Advocates for Health Freedom http://www.iahf.com can stay abreast of these issues by signing up at no charge on my website. Donations are much appreciated and can be made via paypal on my website or send to me at -John C. Hammell, President, International Advocates for Health Freedom 556 Boundary Bay Rd. Point Roberts, WA 98281 USA 800-333-2553 N.America, 360-945-0352
For Health Freedom,
John C. Hammell, President
International Advocates for Health Freedom
556 Boundary Bay Road
Point Roberts, WA 98281-8702 USA


text:
Crisis-hit Steinhoff posts 2 percent rise in nine-month sales
today Aug 31, 2018
Steinhoff reported a slight increase in nine-month sales on Friday as its managers remained pre-occupied with cleaning up after an accounting fraud that nearly tipped the South African retailer into bankruptcy.
The company said sales rose 2 percent to 12.9 billion euros (11.57 billion pounds) in the nine months through the end of June as a strong showing at its separately listed African unit, Pepkor, offset weak results from Europe, the U.S. and Europe.
With regard to Pepco sales in Europe, the company reported an increase of 35.5%, to €949 million, compared to the prior year. Sales performance was impacted by the introduction of a Sunday trading ban in Poland, the company said, but like-for-like sales still rose 7.4%.
The chain entered two new countries, Lithuania and Latvia, during the fiscal period, bringing it to a net number of 197 new store openings. Pepco had 1,410 stores in total across 10 territories as of 30 June 2018.
FashionNetwork.com, with Reuters
© Thomson Reuters 2019 All rights reserved.


text:
Traditionally at this time of year, hundreds of local tourism-related businesses are working hard to prepare for the tourist season.
Greater Victoria has been long known as a desirable destination in the spring and summer months. Our bright, sunny weather is a draw for many. Cruise ships arrive in port and our iconic hotels fill with guests — many experiencing for the first time what Greater Victoria has to offer.
What local residents perhaps are less aware of is the tourism economy in Greater Victoria is coming off a very successful shoulder and off-season as well.
In the past few years, Tourism Victoria identified this period in the calendar as an opportunity for growth. Promotional campaigns for romance and LGBTQ travel, Chinese New Year and the Dine Around culinary promotional campaign brought many visitors to Greater Victoria who otherwise would not have visited.
Greater Victoria is diversifying its tourism product and the sector is thriving. Businesses are confident and have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years for hotel renovations, new ferry services and other infrastructure.
This in turn helps other sectors in the economy such as construction and trades.
The Victoria Conference Centre is a great example of capitalizing on new opportunities. In 2016, Tourism Victoria and the City of Victoria entered into an agreement where Tourism Victoria would take over the sales and marketing function of the Victoria Conference Centre.
The collaboration between the two organizations resulted in a 60 per cent increase (138 vs. 220) in conference leads to our destination. In January, Tourism Victoria hosted the inaugural Impact Sustainability Travel and Tourism Conference.
More than 175 delegates from across the country came together and discussed the future of tourism in a new age of environmental and social responsibility. Many of these conferences — like Impact — are taking place in our shoulder and off-seasons, bringing attendees from all over to Greater Victoria. They fill our hotels and spend money at our local restaurants, helping the local economy in the process.
Although we have made strides in in our shoulder and off-season, we have much to look forward to in our upcoming spring and summer months. We are anticipating another busy year. New flights to Victoria International Airport have been announced, including direct flights to and from Montreal and Edmonton.
Last year, Victoria was named by Condé Nast as its No. 2 destination in the Readers’ Choice list of best small cities outside the U.S.
Word is out about Greater Victoria as a tourism destination — and not just regionally or nationally, but internationally as well.
As Greater Victoria’s tourism product evolves, so must our brand. Our organization is re-branding our destination to better reflect what we are and what have become. Greater Victoria was once a regional tourism brand, but is now a truly global tourism brand. These changes will be unveiled in the next few months.
The future of tourism in Greater Victoria is exciting and ever changing. Tourism Victoria will continue its hard work to attract visitors to our region, and doing its part to support the local economy and community in the process.
Paul Nursey is the president and CEO of Tourism Victoria


text:
Holland America Line Extends Worry-Free Promise Through December
Guests can continue to book with confidence through cruise line’s flexible cancellation plan and new COVID-19 Protection Program
Seattle, Wash., May 23, 2022 — Holland America Line is giving consumers the confidence to make travel plans through the summer, fall and holidays with the extension of its “Worry-Free Promise” to Dec. 31, 2022, for all cruises booked by Sept. 30, 2022.
Under the promise’s Flexible Cancellation Plan, guests who make a new booking by Sept. 30, 2022, for itineraries that depart on or before Dec. 31, can cancel for any reason up to 30 days before departure and receive a Future Cruise Credit.
In addition, Holland America Line has added the COVID-19 Protection Program that provides further peace of mind for guests within 30 days of embarkation who may be unable to travel because of a positive test for COVID-19. Under the program, which also applies to bookings prior to Sept. 30, 2022, that depart on or before Dec. 31, guests who cannot travel due to a positive test or new governmental travel restriction will be eligible for a Future Cruise Credit.
“Guests are thrilled to be back on board and exploring new adventures,” said Beth Bodensteiner, chief commercial officer for Holland America Line. “We want everyone to feel comfortable when booking one of our great cruise offers available right now, knowing that they will be covered if their plans change.”
For more information about Holland America Line, consult a travel advisor, call 1-877-SAIL HAL (877-724-5425) or visit hollandamerica.com.
About Holland America Line [a division of Carnival Corporation and plc (NYSE: CCL and CUK)]
Holland America Line has been exploring the world since 1873 and was the first cruise line to offer adventures to Alaska and the Yukon nearly 75 years ago. Its fleet of premium ships visits nearly 400 ports in 114 countries around the world, offering an ideal mid-sized ship experience. A third Pinnacle-class ship, Rotterdam, joined the fleet in July 2021.
The leader in premium cruising, Holland America Line’s ships feature innovative initiatives and a diverse range of enriching experiences focused on destination exploration and personalized travel. The best live music at sea fills each evening at Music Walk, and dining venues feature exclusive selections from Holland America Line's esteemed Culinary Council of world-famous chefs.


text:
We’re excited to announce that Harver has acquired pymetrics!
Dive into the specifics of retail volume hiring in the post-pandemic world, the technology that can help you overcome your recruitment challenges, and the benefits that come with digitally transforming your hiring process.
When Covid-19 hit, unemployment rates went through the roof, and people from across impacted industries applied to essential retail jobs where the barrier to entry was low. This made the already complex process of volume hiring even more challenging for recruiters, who had to deal not with hundreds, but with thousands of applicants per month.
In this white paper, we explore:


text:
If you love carbonated drinks and think it’s alright to have one every now and then… think again. The health benefits of not consuming them are tremendous… here are seven important reasons why you should avoid the bubbly.
Helps you with weight loss
Drinking regular sweetened soft drinks changes the way the body muscles use food as fuel – they start to burn sugars instead of fats for energy. This reduces the body’s ability to burn fat, which makes it harder to lose weight and easier to gain it, say researchers from the UK.
Lowers your risk of diabetes
Your risk of developing type 2 diabetes drops by 25 per cent, every time your reach for water instead of a sugary fizzy drink. Don’t be tempted to swap your fizz for a diet soda, as it would not have any effect on your diabetes risk. It’s natural to assume that replacing sweet drinks with artificially sweetened ones will reduce diabetes risk, but unfortunately this is not the case.
Lowers your chances of a heart attack
New research has found that people who drink diet soft drinks on a daily basis are 43 per cent more likely to have a cardiac arrest. Researchers say it may be due to the acid in carbonated drinks.
Lowers the possibility of a stroke
US researchers have discovered that a larger intake of both diet and sugar-sweetened fizzy drinks increases your risk of a stroke. It is also known that consuming sugar-sweetened drinks can lead to insulin resistance and inflammation, increasing the risk of the hardening of the arteries and blood clots – both key risk factors for a stroke.
California-based scientists warn that drinking 590 ml of sugary soft drink a day shaves four-and-a-half years off your average life span. The high sugar load accelerates the ageing process.
Protects your teeth
The erosive potential of sugary cola-based soft drinks is 10 times higher than orange juice. Opting for sugar-free, artificially sweetened soft drinks is not helpful either. Because they’re often ‘sweetened’ with acidic additives like sorbitol and xylitol, which can also up the risk of dental erosion, where the surface of your teeth (including tooth enamel) gets worn away, say researchers.
Slims down your waistline
In a nine-year study, people who drank at least one diet soft drink a day gained more than 7.6cm around their stomachs. Even people who drank diet soda drink a couple of times a week gained twice as much abdominal fat as people who didn’t drink it at all. And compared to fat that gets stored elsewhere, it’s the fat that gathers around the abdomen that’s a higher risk factor for disease.
Text: Good Health, Bauer / Additional Reporting: Shenielle Aloysis


text:
Google Pay was refreshed late last year with an all-new interface and a reworked direction. In addition to mobile payments, the app has expanded to support food orders, online shopping with exclusive discounts, and budget tracking. It's a big switch for users, and while many have likely adjusted to the new experience by now, others have stayed on the older, simplified UI. Unfortunately, time has run out for anyone procrastinating on downloading the new app, as Google has put one final nail in the coffin of the legacy version of Pay.Read More
The old Google Pay is dead — long live the new Google Pay was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


text:
Tatabye Tours, one of the top four wholesalers of India market organized the longest FAM trip to the Maldives.
Earlier a total of 13 people from different parts of India arrived in Maldives on July 26, and explored eight different properties in eight days.
Tatabye Tours/Tatabye Maldives has a major market share in Maldives from the Indian market. The tour operator is an eight year old company based in South India, and is one of the strongest wholesalers for the island nation from the Indian market with over 110 direct contracted resorts.
The founder of Tatabye Tours Mr. Roshan Jain headed the FAM group. Maldives Tourism Board welcomed the entourage, providing them with an information kit upon arrival.
The team consisted of the best travel professionals from top media outlets including Travel Geek Holidays, Duniya Safari, Coastalin, Travelling Compass, Travel Saga Holidays, 7 Ocean Tourism, Apple Holidays, Pearl Travels, Ocean Touch Tourism as well as the sales and marketing team of Tatabye Maldives.


text:
Mar 14, 2011
- Patty Murray has voiced her support for the BEER Act.
***This post was originally published on the Brewery Law Blog, an alcoholic beverage law blog administered by Reiser Legal LLC. The office’s Doug Reiser provides Beer Blotter with regular legal and legislative commentary.***
Last week, I discussed the federal BEER Act. Today, it looks a bit more promising for the tax cut legislation that would put millions back in brewery pockets.
A fairly wide-spreading marketing effort took over this past week. You can now see an out-pouring of support from Senators across all parts of the U.S. With each passing day, it appears more likely that this bi-partisan effort will pass through the Senate.
As of today, both Sen. Maria Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray have stepped up to provide assurance that they will back the BEER Act. In total, The Wall Street Journal counts 17 senators as co-sponsors. But, reports last week showed that there are closer to thirty that have expressed support for the bill.
If you want to learn more about the BEER Act, read our earlier post. In that post, you can find summary information, as well as links to the language, courtesy of the Brewers Association. The Act itself is incredibly brief.
We will continue to track progress of the bill, here at Brewery Law Blog.
Filed under: The Beer Law Tagged: BEER Act, Beer law, beer legislation, Brewer Employment and Excise relief, doug reiser, TTB excise tax
Jan 12, 2011
Beer: Coming soon to a Farmer's Market by you!
**This post originally published by BrewerlyLaw.com, beer law blog published by Seattle based Reiser Legal LLC.**
Booze at farmer’s markets? Yep.
A new legislative action by Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles would bring beer and wine sampling to Seattle’s wondrous farmer’s markets. The bill is being introduced in the State Senate as SB 5029 and can be reviewed by following this link.
Apparently, this legislation is modeled after a recent law that permits the sampling of beer and wine at grocery stores. But, this first step is a simply a “test kit”, targeting 10 sample markets and limiting sampling to one brewer or winemaker per market, per day.
We will be sure to follow the legislation through the voting process. But, I think that most will agree that its a great first step to bringing our great state’s most celebrated craftsman to the market — the brewer.
Filed under: Seattle, US, The Beer Law Tagged: beer at farmers markets, Beer law, beer legislation, beer sampling at markets, farmer markets, seattle farmers markets, seattle market, washington farmers markets


text:
This Monday, March 31, Canadian electric car company ZENN announced that it would roll out its first highway-capable EVs in the fall of 2009.
The company currently offers only one battery-powered low speed vehicle (LSV) with a range of 35 miles and a top speed of 25 mph. Thanks to its partnership with EEStor--an ultracapacitor supplier for the defense industry--ZENN says the new highway-ready model dubbed cityZENN will reach speeds of up to 80 mph, have a range of 250 miles, and be rechargeable in less than 5 minutes.
"We need to move away from chemical battery technology to a whole new way of storing energy for electric vehicles, with a solid infrastructure to support global roll out," said Ian Clifford, CEO of Zenn, at the company's annual general meeting.
CityZENN is likely to be based on the present ZENN platform. However, the company says it also plans to expand its low-speed product lineup for the 2009 model year with a four-passenger and a utility LSV. To learn more about ZENN vehicles and see them in action check out our partner-site Technoride.