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Chevy Corvette C7 Discounts Can Reach Nearly $9,500
If you’re not a fan of the mid-engine C8, this is good news for you.
December 1st, 2019 – The Corvette C8 is already out and about, and we bet those who have been waiting for the unit deliveries are all riled up in getting their hands on the first mid-engined ‘Vette. In fact, the Corvette C8 has won Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award even before production units have reached their rightful owners, beating the Supra and 911 to the accolade. Chevrolet, however, wants you to consider buying its predecessor, the Corvette C7. Spotted by the GM Authority, the Golden Bow Tie is offering up to $9,404 cash discount on a front-engined Corvette.
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Anaheim, CA. Saturday, January 11th “There’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you’ll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?” —Elaine Dickenson, from the movie Airplane It was Saturday afternoon when the Santa Clarita Corvette Airwing responded to reports […]
Our friends at Bunnin Chevrolet of Santa Paula carried on the dealership’s annual tradition of hosting a Toys for Tots drive in conjunction with the US Marine Corps Reserve on December 14th. This year’s event once again included the Corvette Clubs of Ventura, Santa Clarita and the Redline Corvette Club of Newbury Park. Lou Bunnin, […]
Mike Woodings San Luis Obispo (SLO) and the Central Coast make a great destination for travelers and maybe even more so for Corvette people. A road trip there offers not only many choices of sights and things to do, but also plenty of driving through beautiful countryside. The weekend of November 15 – 17 was […]


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Macau’s tourist price index recorded a year-on-year increase of 2.78 percent in the second quarter, according to data released on Friday by the city’s Statistics and Census Service. In the first quarter the index rose by 6.15 percent.
The index reflects price changes in goods and services typically purchased by visitors, but excludes gaming. The majority of gamblers in Macau’s casinos are tourists.
The statistics bureau said the sequential slowdown during the second quarter in the index’s year-on-year growth was partly reflected by price indicators in two of the categories used to create it – accommodation, and transport and communications – having dropped “owing to lower hotel room rates and airfares after the Lunar New Year”; a peak holiday period in China. Price indicators for hotel accommodation fell by 22.60 percent quarter-on-quarter, while those for transport and communications was down 3.51 percent.
Nonetheless, the tourist price index year-on-year growth that did occur in the second quarter owed something to higher hotel prices compared to the same period in 2017.
The average occupancy rate of Macau hotels – one factor in pricing – during the first five months of 2018 stood at 89.3 percent, up 4.4 percentage points from the prior-year period, according to data released in early July by the statistics bureau.
A separate set of data released recently by Macao Government Tourism Office – citing figures from the Macau Hotel Association – showed that the average room rate of the city’s three-star to five-star hotels stood at MOP1,329.30 (US$164.54) for the first five months this year, representing a 5.7 percent year-on-year increase.
Factors other than accommodation costs affecting the tourist price index in the second quarter this year included rising prices at restaurants, for bus fares and for airfares.
Price indices for accommodation, transport and communications, plus food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco rose by 7.05 percent, 6.30 percent and 4.25 percent year-on-year respectively.
For the first half of 2018, the tourist price index rose by 4.48 percent year-on-year.
Judged on an annualised basis – i.e., measured across the 12 months to June 30 this year compared to the equivalent prior period – the index went up by 4.21 percent.
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Mainland China’s sales of official lottery products in July

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Café Yaucono seeks to motivate Puerto Ricans to create their own business
Looking to motivate entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico, Café Yaucono has created an initiative through which it will award two mobile coffee shops that will allow creating a business anywhere on the island.
The company has partnered with
retailer JF Montalvo for the initiative. Those interested in participating have
until Mar. 8 to visit any of the stores for more information, said Stephanie
Matos, brand manager.
The portable coffee shops are
designed on a bicycle equipped with a stove with two electric burners so the owner
can warm up desserts and pair them with a cup of coffee. They also have a dual transportation
function, either by pedaling or through a battery.
“We understand how
difficult it can be to take that step to create a business, because of the
economic difficulties we are experiencing, so we’re committed to entrepreneurs
who are looking for ways to get ahead with a creative and unique business that
will stand out in the market,” said Matos.
The bicycles are valued at more
than $6,000 and were designed to be a tool to create an innovative business in
the coffee industry. As part of the effort, participants can also earn gift
certificates worth from $50 to $500.
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Thousands of house sales could fall off a cliff as the stamp duty holiday comes to an end, experts have warned.
A rush of buyers created by the stamp duty cut is clogging the purchases pipeline and causing delays.
It means some buyers may miss the stamp duty holiday deadline of 31 March next year if they don’t press ahead with their deals, especially given the festive period in between.
This three-bed terrace house in London’s Abbey Wood had a guide price of £175,000 and is sold subject to contract
The stamp duty holiday was brought in for six months to stimulate the housing market following lockdown, with the removal of the standard rate of tax up to £500,000.
The measure has been successful in boosting the market amid the pandemic, creating a surge in demand.
But a backlog of purchases has built up due to pent-up demand from lockdown being unleashed.
In a letter to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, industry bodies have called for the stamp duty to be extended to allow them time to deal with the pent-up demand.
In the letter, they explained: ‘Failure to complete those transactions could see the breakdown of chains with consumers potentially financially unable to continue with the purchase, as they would have to find funds to pay stamp duty.’
It is calling on the Government to announce before Christmas an extension to the stamp duty holiday.
It also wants the Government to introduce a way of smoothing the end of an extended stamp duty holiday to prevent another cliff edge further down the line.
This four-bed detached house in Erdington, Birmingham, had a guide price of £195,000 and is now sold subject to contract
It said: ‘By acting now, the Government can release the pressure in the system to allow transactions to complete and avoid a disorderly and distressing period for movers and businesses throughout the market.
‘Any extension or gradual phasing of stamp duty would also help mitigate sharp reductions in consumer demand.
‘More widely, a buoyant housing market drives consumer confidence in the wider economy whereas constrictions on lending and falling house prices lead to reduced consumer confidence and a material reduction in economic activity.’
The industry bodies that came together to endorse the letter included estate agents, mortgage brokers, solicitors and removal firms.
This four-bed detached house in Kirkcaldy, Fife, was on the market for offers over £309,995 and is now sold subject to contract
Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark, said: ‘The joint letter sent to the chancellor is an important step in protecting those in the process of buying or selling a house that might miss out on the March 31 stamp duty deadline.
‘They miss out because of increased pressure on service providers within the industry which is causing delays for buyers and sellers in the sector.
‘The boom, caused by the stamp duty holiday, has been hugely beneficial for the housing market.
But he went on to warn: ‘The stamp duty cliff edge on March 31 could cause thousands of sales to fall at the final hurdle and have a knock on and drastic effect on the housing market which has recovered well from the Covid slump.
‘We are calling on Government to rethink these timings, so pressure on the system can be released to allow transactions to complete and avoid a disorderly and distressing period for movers and businesses throughout the market.’
This three-bed semi-detached house in St Albans, Hertfordshire, was on the market with a guide price of £300,000 and is now sold subject to contract
It comes after property website Zoopla revealed this week that 50 per cent more home sales than usual are waiting to be completed.
Record high sales agreed post-lockdown has led to some 140,000 more homes currently progressing through the system than at this time last year, taking the total of unfinished transactions to 180,000.
Zoopla said sales agreed peaked in August, rising 62 per cent, and were up 40 to 60 per cent between July and October compared to the same period last year – but demand has now slowed back to pre-Covid levels of early March.
With an average 100 days to complete an agreed sale those looking to beat the stamp duty deadline need to agree a sale before mid-December.
Richard Donnell – Zoopla
The high volume of business means it may take longer than the typical 100 days for transactions to complete – and prospective home buyers need to agree a sale before mid-December if they want to avoid missing out on a saving from the stamp duty holiday, Zoopla said.
Richard Donnell, research and insight director at Zoopla, said: ‘There is a large pipeline of sales to complete by Christmas and the 31 March 2020 – with an average 100 days to complete an agreed sale those looking to beat the stamp duty deadline need to agree a sale before mid-December.’
Paresh Raja, of bridging finance provider Market Financial Solutions, said: ‘There could be a backlog of sales that could result in many buyers missing out on the holiday due to the fact that lenders are simply not able to release the volume of loans needed.
‘The Government has two choices. The first is to extend the SDLT holiday beyond the current deadline.
‘The second is to put into place arrangements to ensure that buyers who have agreed to a sale prior to the deadline still qualify for the tax relief should the sale occur after 31st March 2021.’


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From the February 2009 Idaho Observer:
Drink diet soda; develop diabetes
By Don Harkins
Based upon FDA claims that aspartame is a "safe" artificial sweetener, the Calorie Control Council and the American Diabetic Association have long been counseling diabetics who drink sodas to drink diet sodas sweetened with aspartame. Neither organization would change their pro-aspartame tune though both had been presented with irrefutable, independently-generated scientific proof that aspartame literally destroys diabetics. The proof has been confirmed one more time.
A daily diet soda drinking habit is associated with significantly greater risks for select incident components of the metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) and type 2 diabetes, according to the results of an observational study reported online in the January 16, 2009 edition of Diabetes Care.
"Two longitudinal cohort studies have shown positive associations between diet soda consumption and incident MetSyn independent of baseline measures of adiposity," wrote Jennifer A. Nettleton, PhD, et al, from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston.
Initial evaluation was performed from 2000 to 2002, at which time baseline food frequency questionnaires measured diet soda consumption. Three follow-up evaluations were performed from 2002 to 2003, 2004 to 2005, and 2005 to 2007. Careful analyses of the data revealed that, compared with participants who did not drink diet soda, those who drank diet soda at least daily had a 36 percent greater relative risk for incident MetSyn and a 67 percent greater relative risk for incident type 2 diabetes.
"Although these observational data cannot establish causality, consumption of diet soda at least daily was associated with significantly greater risks of select incident MetSyn components and type 2 diabetes," the study authors wrote.
"These results corroborate findings from the ARIC [Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities] and Framingham studies and show stronger adverse associations exist between diet soda and type 2 diabetes," the study authors conclude. "Diet soda consumption, either independently or in conjunction with other dietary and lifestyle behaviors, may lead to weight gain, impaired glucose control and eventual diabetes."
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute supported this study. The study authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships that could be construed as prejudicing the study.


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TDK and Blu-ray: Blank-media giant TDK has officially endorsed Blu-ray technology, according to an April 5 report out of the CeBIT technology show in Hanover, Germany. TDK is the latest to join the Blu-ray contingent, following Hewlett-Packard and Dell Computer. The 50-gigabyte capacity of Blu-ray discs will accommodate feature-length high-definition video programming and recording. TDK's contribution will make the 5" discs more user-friendly by eliminating a proposed "disc caddy."
Growth of DTV: The Consumer Electronics Association's (CEA) president Gary Shapiro launched the ninth annual DTV Summit in Washington with an announcement that more than 9 million DTV products are now in US homes. "We now actually project that 5.7 million DTV units will be sold this year, 9.4 million in 2005, 15.6 million in 2006 and 23 million in 2007. And this is still for a fairly expensive product," Shapiro told DTV Summit attendees. Projected figures have been revised upwards due to the popularity of DTV products, but the market penetration of the technology won't reach the 85% threshold needed to end analog TV broadcasting by the December 31, 2006 deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC).
That level won't be reached in 2007, either, according to CEA market guru Sean Wargo. By the end of that year, the installed base of DTV sets and monitors will total about 62 million units, approximately 53% of US homes, only about 33% of which will be receiving and displaying DTV signals by that time. Only 2.3% of US households were doing so at the end of 2003. FCC officials would like to count cable and satellite subscribers as part of DTV's market penetration, a plan Chairman Michael Powell has yet to endorse.
FTC = "Film Trade Commission?" On April 8, the Bush administration announced the nomination of film industry lobbyist Jon Liebowitz to fill a Democratic vacancy on the Federal Trade Commission, to succeed departing FTC commissioner Mozelle Thompson. Liebowitz is vice president of congressional affairs for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). His nomination is subject to Senate confirmation.
Changes at Atlantic Tech: Audio manufacturer Atlantic Technology is now under the control of its original board of directors, the result of a sale by majority owner OAC Group, a management and consulting firm. OAC partners Oscar Ciornei and Joshua Cooper are now consultants to Atlantic. Ciornei had been Atlantic's president and CEO for the past year, and Cooper had served as creative director and industrial designer. Atlantic founder and board chairman Peter Tribeman is now president and CEO.
PARA 's 25th: The Professional Audio Video Retailers Association (PARA) will celebrate its 25th anniversary at this year's annual management conference. The "In The Zone 2004" event takes place April 21–25 in Scottsdale, AZ, presided over by departing PARA executive director Deborah Smith. She will host her final conference before leaving the association to start a consulting company. PARA was the consumer electronics industry's first management association for independent specialty audio retailers, later expanded to include video, home theater, and custom installation.
Sony retail expansion: Sony Electronics will likely expand its Sony Style stores into ten US markets this year, according to an announcement in late March. The company currently has two of the stores in Beverly Hills and Costa Mesa, CA. New Sony Style stores will differ from the big full-line stores in New York and San Francisco, and will instead emphasized products targeted for women. "The stores will not have rows of TVs nor even carry all of our products," a company spokesman said, and will feature "counselors and coaches" to demonstrate products in "lifestyle vignettes."
EchoStar up: EchoStar Communications reported a that revenue rose 14% in the fourth quarter, ended December 31, totaling $1.5 billion, up from $1.3 billion in the same period in 2002. Net income for the quarter was $3 million, versus a net loss of $716 million for the same period last year. For the year, EchoStar posted total revenue of $5.7 billion, up 19% over the $4.8 billion reported in 2002. Net income for 2003 was $224.5 million, compared with a net loss of $852 million the previous year.
New products from Theater Automation WOW! Sworn to "Changing the way America buys Home Theater," TAW has launched some intriguing new products. Among them are the "Revolution" three-chip DLP projector, delivering 1800 ANSI Lumens brightness and .64 ANSI Lumens black levels for a "true 2700:1 contrast ration measured at the screen."
The Revolution is color-wheel free and is said to be designed for "the client that wants a 9" CRT performance without the CRT size, sound, reliability, and serviceability problems." The compact, 47 pound unit allows point convergence preventing color fringe and has no internal scaler, but is sold with the "Rock Pro," external scaler via DVI. The pair will soon be a Firewire equipped, according to the company.
The Rock Pro video processor is software based and upgradeable in both hardware and software over the Internet. The Rock Pro has TAW's exclusive "Pixel Perfect De-Interlacing (PPD)" and includes TAW's exclusive "Judder X-Terminator algorithms that provide the lowest pan judder in the industry." Additional MPEG scrubbing, anti-aliasing and poor reception algorithms are on the horizon as upgrades. The ROCK PRO features external field installable inputs including HDSDI, HD/SD YUV/RGB/HV, DVI and Firewire (IEEE1394B). The Rock Pro is said to be compatible with "any combination of inputs up to 4080."
TAW also offers the "DigiLink II," a DVD player with 10-bit SDI output. The DigiLink II plays "just about any format disc including SACD, DVD Audio, NTSC/PAL R/W and many more. The unit has an RS232 port for external control, both coax and optical digital outputs. 6.1 analog output with 30-bit DACs. subwoofer output, speaker size, and LFE control. Like other TAW products, the DigiLink II is "100% upgradeable."


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Students help local businesses go green
Students from Essex University have launched a new start-up to help the county’s small businesses become more environmentally friendly. They see sustainability as of the utmost importance in today’s society; sustainability being a social and environmental commitment to finding new ways to consume without draining our planet’s resources.
They’ve developed a new platform so that local firms can source sustainable supplies, focusing mainly on packaging – such as recyclable coffee cups or home compostable boxes – at fair prices, and promote themselves to consumers who care about the environment.
“We want to create a community of businesses, with suppliers and local producers who are as conscious of the needs of the environment as we are,” said James Field, the CEO behind the new initiative. “By forming partnerships and creating a community of compassionate businesses, we can drive down the costs of sustainable products and create a better standard of doing things.”
The students hope they can turn local businesses into trailblazers for sustainable production by spreading the values and passions of increasing social and environmental sustainability within the community, while also working towards the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development.
The platform, developed by students during lock-down, is called CUSP – “Community Umbrella for Sustainable Practice.” It’s a community that connects businesses with local suppliers, food producers, apps and customers who share the same values.
“We know COVID-19 is making life hard for a lot of small enterprises,” said Field. “We want to help level the playing field so they can get the same prices and market access for their sustainable packaging as the big corporations. Consumers say they want sustainable conscious businesses and our new platform helps businesses around the UK achieve this at an affordable price.”
“2.5 billion disposable coffee cups are used every year in the UK alone and only 1 in 400 are getting recycled. There has been a lot of momentum behind the environmental movement and we do not want to let that die because of COVID-19” Said Harriet Oxley, the Social Media Manager.
The initiative is the brainchild of 5 students, aged 22 to 24 who are studying International Politics, Psychology and Finance at the University of Essex. They want to sign up local businesses who share their passion for sustainable development.
“Our new platform helps small and medium-sized businesses use their collective strength to get discounted prices,” said Loti Martin, the COO. “And at the same time, it gives them a powerful voice through a collective marketing campaign directly to consumers who care about the environment.”
The students hope they can promote sustainable practices at all angles: from production to consumption.


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Porsche India delivered 474 units in the country last year – CY2021. The brand registered a growth of 62 per cent over the previous calendar year. After 2014, this is the highest-ever figure achieved by the company in the Indian market. In fact, Porsche claims that it retailed an SUV almost every day on average. The company reveals that 187 units of the Macan were delivered last year, which represents 39 per cent of the total volume. Talking of the order bank, a whopping 165 per cent rise was observed in the year 2021. Porsche’s other SUV – Cayenne, followed the Macan as the second best-seller for the company, and it contributed 17 per cent of the total sales.
Thanks to the strong performance of the brand, it is now betting big on its plans. The company has recently added two new models to its Indian line-up – Porsche 718 Boxster 4.0 and Porsche Cayman GTS 4.0. Also, deliveries of the Macan facelift launched last year have now started. Porsche India also launched the Taycan in our market last year, and the first lot of the fully-electric model is set to reach our shores in the coming days. Soon, the brand will introduce four new models in our market, namely Taycan GTS and 911 GT3, along with the Platinum Edition of the Cayenne and the 718 Cayman GT4 RS.
Watch Video | 2022 Porsche Taycan EV Walkaround:
On the achievement, Manolito Vujicic, Brand Director for Porsche India, quoted, “Following a challenging first half of the year due to the impact of the pandemic on people’s lives and businesses, the retail performance from July to December established a new record for us. A total of 301 cars were delivered to new and established customers during the final six months, endorsing a positive outlook leading into 2022 on the back of future-oriented facility investment plans by our associates. Additionally, we look forward to welcoming two new partners to Porsche India with the arrival of Bangalore and Chennai to the retail network in the coming months.”
Manolito Vujicic further added, “Our customers and stakeholders have again shown their faith in Porsche and on behalf of my team I wish to thank them for their loyalty and continued support. We have big plans for the year ahead, not only with regards to the dealer network but also in the area of Marketing and After Sales to complement our growing range of models.”


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HAIR RESEARCH: L'Oréal is set to create a hair care research center in the Paris suburb of Saint-Ouen. Around 600 researchers and technicians will be based at the 3.7-acre site, which is to be operational by 2010. "The new hair care laboratories we are announcing today correspond to this organization's modern and original vision, to service the performance of our research and the safety of laboratories," said Jean-François Grollier, L'Oréal's executive vice president of research and development, in a statement issued Monday. He added the French beauty giant considered it important to locate the new site near its French research centers in Clichy and Asnières. L'Oréal did not disclose how much it will invest in the project. More than 3,000 people work in the company's 16 research centers around the world. In 2006, L'Oréal spent 533 million euros, or $726 million at current exchange, on research, and logged 569 patents.
T.V. SCENTS: Jaye Hersh is expanding her QVC repertoire into beauty with the Tuesday launch of the perfume iT. The owner of the Los Angeles boutique Intuition will sell a 2-oz. bottle for $48 on the show "Beauty Newsmakers." For nearly two years, Hersh has offered apparel and accessories items that have found a following in her store and in Hollywood to the QVC audience. "If you don't have a chance to get to L.A., here's a chance to get a piece of Hollywood at a great value," said Hersh, explaining her appeal on the shopping channel.
She added that iT has been available at her store for a year and has been picked up by various celebrities, including Denise Richards, Carmen Electra, Tori Spelling and Britney Spears. Due to legal reasons, Hersh will not discuss those names on QVC. Instead, she will elaborate on the fragrance by showing viewers its ingredients such as honeysuckle, tangerine, grapefruit, night blooming jasmine and blue tiger lily. "IT came out of my own mixes of scents through the years and people asking me what I am wearing," Hersh said. After her QVC beauty launch, she plans to grow the iT line with oil, candles, bath products and hair care. "They [QVC] are very much behind me," she said.CLEAR SKIN: BioCare Labs has launched a new skin care line, Naturally Clear Skin, aimed to nourish and refresh skin at drugstore prices. Products include BodyButter lotion, BodyButter cream, body oil, healing hand cream and lip balm. Each product contains advanced concentrations of shea and cocoa butter, essential oils and vitamins to deliver maximum hydration. The line is available nationwide with prices ranging from $1.40 for a lip balm to $8.99 for the lotion.
PERFECT PILL: Vitabiotics Perfectil, a leading beauty and health supplement in the U.K. and Europe, is now available in the United States. For more than 35 years, the British company has manufactured leading consumer health care products that typically provide up to 28 essential vitamins, trace minerals and bioactive nutrients. Perfectil is a one-a-day tablet that provides nourishment for skin, hair and nail tissues and also doubles as a complete multivitamin. Antioxidants protect against sun damage and wrinkles while natural plant extracts increase radiant beauty, said a company spokesperson. The supplement is available at drugstores nationwide and retails for $16.99 for 30 tablets.
SITE APPEAL: In November, London-based perfumery Ormonde Jayne will launch a new e-commerce Web site in the U.S. that will allow customers to browse new products and receive them the next day. Products available on the site will include Ormonde Jayne's famous scented candles, Parfum Absolute, Eau de Parfum and a new bathing range free of parabens, sulphates, petrochemicals and artificial colors. In conjunction with the launch of the Web site, Ormonde Jayne's newest scent, Orris Noir — a dark, spicy oriental — will be available online as a Parfum d'Or Naturel, an Essential Bathing Oil and as a large scented candle.
@chanel and @pharrell dropped what’s being dubbed as the world’s most exclusive sneakers yesterday. The Adidas Originals NMD Hu, which Williams designed in collaboration with Chanel and @adidasoriginals, has a waiting list of over 120K people who pre-registered online at chanelatcolette.fr –– and only 500 pairs are on sale. The singer predicted the resale value of the shoes could reach $40K. Read the full interview on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdfashion (📷: Dominique Maître)
@imanshumpert is diving deeper into his creative endeavors and relaunching his clothing line, Post 90s, and is helping to raise money for the hurricane victims in St. Maarten with a jersey he’s designed with his brother. The Cleveland Cavaliers player talked to WWD about kneeling during the national anthem, working with fashion brands and how he wants to be more than an @nba player. Read the interview on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: George Chinese)
Not only does #TheProfit return to CNBC tonight, but @marcuslemonis has launched @shopmarcus, a new shopping and lifestyle retail experience in Aspen and Chicago, with more locations to come. The retail stores offer in-store stylists and a variety of contemporary womenswear selections.
“It’s life, I’m going to face it,” @mingxi11 sighed. “I fell, but you know, I think the most important thing is that I get back up. I had the love, the help from my sister — the girl next to me Gizele [Oliveira] — she’s so nice. When I went backstage everybody was trying to comfort me like ‘Oh Ming, it’s OK.’ I’m really, really touched. I think it’s them who gave me the courage to go back on stage for the finale,” Xi told WWD of her fall at the @victoriassecret fashion show. (📷: David Fisher) #wwdfashion #vsfashionshow #victoriassecret
@louisvuitton tapped @therealpeterlindbergh for its latest city-centric photo book, which is part of a series called Fashion Eye. The primarily black and white book captures the spirit of Berlin in 57 images shot between 1989 and 2019. “Berlin is an inspiration for me, more than a city. I mean @millajovovich is simply Berlin!” said Lindbergh. #wwdfashion
“You know, I think audiences expect a certain performance so I have to deliver to them what they’re expecting to a certain degree. But I’m also a different actor and a different person, I have my own spin on the character,” says @noahegalvin of his takeover of the leading role in “Dear Evan Hansen” following the departure of @bensplatt, who originated the role. Read WWD’s interview with the 23-year-old actor on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
For pre-fall 2018, @etro created richly-colored wonderland, using tapestries, textiles and wallpapers from the Eastern world at large. The line featured floral and graphic prints and jacquard motifs, like this two-piece look featured here. #wwdfashion (📷: Giovanna Pavesi)
@kith is moving into children’s. The men’s and women’s streetwear brand has launched Kidset, a Kith kids line located in New York at 64 Bleecker Street. The line includes mini versions of staple Kith pieces like the Astor bomber jacket and the Kith box logo sweatshirts, along with a wall that can display up to 120 pairs of shoes from @adidas, @newbalance, @timberland and more. #wwdfashion
“I just wanted to create this fully rounded character, but I do think what excited me most was just the opportunity to give a group of people representation that I feel needs it. I like to do characters in projects that stand for something and Karolina definitely does, so that was really exciting to me,” @ginnygardner says of her new role in @hulu’s “The Runaways.” Gardner plays Karolina Dean, a queer superhero, which is a rarity for @marvel. Read more about Gardner’s character on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @dandoperalski)


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National U.S. Retailer, Tuesday Morning, Set to Save $750,000 in Four Years with CrowdStrike Falcon
While onstage presenting to the entire Tuesday Morning Corporation IT team, from administrative staff to the CIO, Tom Sipes, director of IT security and compliance, glanced at an adjacent screen and watched in awe as CrowdStrike Falcon® spotted and stopped a security attack in real time. It was the first such detection since the retail giant had deployed the Falcon platform and typified how the solution has transformed the way the business manages and mitigates the risk of cyberattack.
About Tuesday Morning
Tuesday Morning is a national retail chain established in 1974 that specializes in selling high-quality and designer-brand closeouts at discounts between 20% and 60%. There are 490 stores across the U.S. selling a range of luxury home textiles, home furnishings, housewares and seasonal décor. Five thousand employees staff Tuesday Morning’s stores, while 350 work at the head office and distribution centers.
Like many businesses, Tuesday Morning is subjected to frequent threats such as ransomware, phishing and malicious attacks. With thousands of people visiting stores every day and thousands of endpoints, the company’s threat surface is particularly broad. However, Sipes’ main focus is on business continuity. “In retail, the mantra we live by is, ‘make sure the dollar goes into the register,’ otherwise we are not making money,” he explained. “Sometimes, security is seen as a detractor to that aim. It is not that I am trying to shut the door, rather I am opening the window so the business can function without letting the bad guys in.”
Response Slowed by “Cobbled-together” Legacy Security Tools
Sipes inherited a legacy security platform at Tuesday Morning. “Our security posture was not bad, it was just that a lot of stuff was cobbled together because of spending limitations and challenges like the pandemic,” he said.
The retailer’s existing managed detection and response provider was slow and often left Sipes and his team on their own to chase relevant information. Sometimes it could take 72 hours to get a reply. “Even 24 hours in the life of an incident is forever,” Sipes said.
With Sipes and several new senior IT executives in place, things began to change. The company’s new CIO stood up in front of 125 senior staff to emphasize the importance of security and launch an initiative to find a new solution. They looked at several competitive products as well as the incumbent solution.
For Sipes, one of the main reasons for choosing CrowdStrike was to ease the burden of handling security manually. “Our security team is small, just two others and me,” he said. “The solution we needed had to be manageable, functionable and something that I could leave to operate automatically and still have the confidence that everything would be protected. That is what CrowdStrike promised and has certainly delivered.”
CrowdStrike Deployed to 2,800 Endpoints Across 490 Stores — in a Month
Tuesday Morning decided to become a CrowdStrike customer in late September 2021, and by mid-October, the solution was fully deployed across the business. Tuesday Morning has an on premises IT environment running Microsoft systems from two data centers. The company has 2,800 endpoints — comprising desktops, laptops and servers at the head office and point-of-sale registers in stores — that are now protected by CrowdStrike Falcon. Even the control systems and switches for the in-store card readers are protected by Falcon.
CrowdStrike was deployed to corporate users in just three days, while the store rollout was done in stages to minimize any effect on sales. After a few stores were completed with no issues reported, full deployment was quickly accomplished. Now when a new endpoint is set up, like a register in a new store, CrowdStrike recognizes the device and deploys the Falcon agent within 20 minutes.
Tuesday Morning uses a wide range of CrowdStrike products and solutions, including the Falcon OverWatch™ threat hunting service. The company was one of the first organizations to deploy Falcon FileVantage™ — CrowdStrike’s file integrity monitoring module that provides real-time, comprehensive visibility for the creation, deletion and modification of all critical assets, and which Tuesday Morning used to resolve a SOC remediation issue in eight hours with minimal cost or interruption to operations.
One of the standout features of CrowdStrike is using an industry-wide approach to detection and remediation.
CrowdStrike Transformed Security Management
For Tuesday Morning, this approach and the comprehensive CrowdStrike Falcon platform transformed its approach to security. “In security, we’re always reacting to an event,” Sipes explained. “What CrowdStrike does is what I call ‘proactive reactive.’ We can now get very close to the time of the attack so that we are almost executing the kill chain as soon as the event happens.”
CrowdStrike has transformed the way Tuesday Morning manages security, from reducing costs and workload to increasing visibility, streamlining operations and improving protection.
Tuesday Morning did a cost/benefit analysis on CrowdStrike, and with no staff changes, the company forecasts that CrowdStrike willsave the business $250,000 in the first year and $500,000 over the next three years based on efficiencies.
Alongside cost savings, CrowdStrike is delivering significant security and operational improvements. Sipes cited one example where CrowdStrike Falcon detected an incident and eliminated it in eight minutes. An engineer was upgrading some software and inadvertently downloaded information that contained malicious code. Within two seconds, Falcon detected the code, and within eight minutes it had stopped the incident. “The only thing the developer knew was the installation stopped for about 10 seconds while the malicious code was removed,” Sipes said.
Critically, neither Sipes nor his security staff needed to intervene. “I was sitting at home in the morning drinking a coffee and noticed an email alert,” Sipes said. “I pulled up the dashboard and watched the entire kill chain as CrowdStrike dealt with the incident automatically.”
This example highlights how CrowdStrike has taken over the burden of mundane security. “I have been in the cybersecurity business for a long time and seen all sorts of breaches, but with CrowdStrike we do not see many indicators of compromise,” Sipes said. “I see potential attacks, but CrowdStrike stops them. Whether it is the OverWatch team or an identity alert — having used Falcon Identity Protection to extend our existing multifactor authentication (MFA) to legacy on premises apps to help stop lateral movements — attacks are being contained and I do not need to take action.”
Falcon Identity Protection not only integrated seamlessly with Tuesday Morning’s existing MFA solution, but also extended this MFA to protect legacy on-premises applications that were developed internally. This was achievable without requiring any additional configurations or customizations to these existing legacy applications — enabling protection with risk-based MFA tied to the appropriate security policy.
Users across the business also are seeing minimal disruption.
“The biggest comfort that CrowdStrike delivers is to give my users the ability to do their job safely, with virtually no impact at all.”
With a small team, Sipes oversees the cybersecurity of 5,000 staff, and with CrowdStrike falcon, is now able to do a lot more. “One of the biggest benefits of CrowdStrike is taking away the need to look at consoles, search for malicious code or analyze incidents,” he said. “Instead, CrowdStrike enables us to focus on more important work and taking the business to the next level. CrowdStrike gives us a great work/life balance and, in terms of improved productivity and adding value to the business, the difference is night and day.”


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Visa enjoys the exclusive right to be the only credit card that can be used for payments at the Winter Games as it is an official global sponsor of the International Olympic Committee.
The Visa-only policy is likely to cause public inconvenience for visitors, especially Chinese who mostly use China's UnionPay credit cards.
South Korean officials said they expect many Chinese to visit the PyeongChang Winter Olympics as Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Games Olympics.
Those who do not have Visa credit cards can purchase Visa prepaid cards with other credit for transactions at Olympic venues.
Vending machines are set to be installed at Olympic venues so visitors can buy Visa prepaid cards.
"We are working to ensure that non-Visa card holders do not suffer inconveniences," a Visa card official said. Source from the Yonhap.


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Popular “Charlie bit my finger” YouTube Video Sold as NFT for $760K
The famous “Charlie bit my finger” footage is the newest unforgettable and noteworthy video auctioned off as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). Last Sunday, the NFT was marketed for $760,999, as per a website set up by the family of Davies-Carr.
“Bid to own the soon-to-be-deleted YouTube phenomenon, Charlie Bit My Finger, leaving you as the sole owner of this lovable piece of internet history (while also getting the chance to say Charlie bit your finger, if you want to see what all the hype is about).”
The video “Charlie bit my finger” was posted on YouTube 14 years back. With 883 million views, it has become one of the most watched videos on Youtube. In the footage, at the 55-second frame, Baby Charlie is seen “chomping down on his older brother Harry’s finger”.
An unnamed party offered a price in the final hours of the auction cycle, which sparked a price war and pushed the price up. Finally, “3fmusic” won the NFT by outbidding “mememaster.”
Although everyone can copy the video until it is removed, the winner of the auction will get a certificate of authenticity for the actual footage. According to the website, the NFT winner will also get a chance to make a spoof video with Harry and Charles (now teenagers).
The NFT frenzy has taken less well-known personalities in most videos into the spotlight in recent months, while still allowing them to auction their works for astronomically high prices. The “Disaster Kid” meme, which features a teenage girl giggling at a camera as building burns in the distance, ended up selling as an NFT for $425,000.
Several other personalities, such as Snoop Dogg and Eminem, have auctioned their NFT creations, demonstrating a keen interest in the technology. Dynamo Kiev, a leading football team in Ukraine, announced its plan to participate in Binance’s upcoming NFT platform on Friday.
And per the club, over 25% of their home game tickets will be sold as NFTs in the near future. Dynamo wants to be the technical pioneer in European football, as per Mark Ginsburg, the club’s chief of innovation.
“We have a well-calculated strategy and a clear goal over the next two years to make Ukraine’s best club the technological leader European football.”
Moonwalk, a fintech startup, collaborated with the club in January 2021 to develop the club’s endorsed coins, as well as cryptocurrency-related rewards, incentives, and games.


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The worldwide cloud infrastructure services market rose 47 percent to $14 billion in Q2 2017, according to Canalys.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the dominant cloud services provider, growing 42 percent on an annual basis and accounting for more than 30 percent of total spend.
Growth rate of AWS was lower than those of its main rivals. Microsoft achieved 97 percent growth and Google gained 92 percent growth. Fourth-placed IBM grew 23 percent.
The top four cloud services providers represented 55 percent of the cloud infrastructure services market, which includes IaaS and PaaS.
The report said growth in cloud infrastructure services market was driven by demand for primary cloud infrastructure services, such as on-demand computing and storage, across all customer segments and industries.
Future growth will be fueled by customers using the artificial intelligence (AI) platforms cloud service providers are building to develop new applications, processes, services and user experiences.
AWS has an established AI service, focusing on understanding language, speech recognition, visual search, text-to-speech conversion and machine learning technologies.
“It continues to strengthen its AI capabilities, with increased accuracy in speech recognition, as well as offering Volta GPU-powered virtual instances in its EC2 to expand its deep-learning capabilities,” said Canalys Research Analyst Daniel Liu.
“Microsoft is focusing more on machine reading, which will enable automatic understanding of text. It acquired Maluuba, a deep-learning startup, in January this year as it sees AI as a strategic part of the company’s future growth,” Daniel Liu said
Google announced its own dedicated AI chip, called the Cloud TPU, which is the latest version of Google’s custom-built processor that it uses to run its own AI services. Google does not plan to sell the chip directly to others but will offer exclusive access through a dedicated cloud service.
IBM is placing much emphasis on Watson to drive future growth, with APIs such as conversation, discovery and visual recognition. It is being used for services such as virtual agents in contact centers and security intelligence.
Chipset providers also gained traction, with Nvidia’s datacenter GPU business growing nearly 300 percent. AMD’s partnerships with Microsoft, Google and Baidu to provide graphics processors for their AI businesses signifies cloud service providers’ growing investment in hyper-scale hardware with AI-focused capabilities.
Synergy Research Group said Microsoft and Google have almost doubled their quarterly revenues since Q2 of 2016 and both have increased their market share substantially.
AWS continues to grow its revenues more rapidly than the overall market. AWS market share now stands at 34 percent, compared to 11 percent for Microsoft and 5 percent for Google. IBM held its market share steady at 8 percent.
Among the next 10 top-ranked cloud providers, Alibaba and Oracle are achieving the highest growth rates.
AWS, Microsoft and Google are the lead providers in IaaS/PaaS.
IBM continues to lead in hosted private cloud, where Rackspace and some traditional IT service providers also feature more prominently than they do in public cloud.
Alibaba has now become the fourth ranked provider in IaaS, thanks to very strong growth in its home Chinese market, helped by aggressive expansion abroad.


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Maria would like to welcome Genie Bouchard of Canada who is the latest player to wear the Nike ‘Maria Sharapova Collection’.
The 18-year-old was the first Canadian female to win a junior Grand Slam at Wimbledon this year. Alongside this win in juniors, Genie won four titles on the ITF circuits this year ($10K Bastad x2, $25K Granby and $50K Toronto). Following all of these good results, Genie’s ranking jumped over 150 spots since the beginning of the year and her current ranking is 149.
Maria’s collection launched at the beginning of 2010.


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Cura Network, a Nigeria-based healthcare technology start-up, has announced the launch of its revolutionary Global Decentralised Health System. The platform decentralizes storage of health data, by means of entities collaborating and sharing data with each other to promote, restore or maintain health. These entities are patients, specialists, providers, and third-party app developers. Patients will have […]
The post Nigerian Start-up Announces Revolutionary Global Decentralized Health Platform With A Distributed Blockchain appeared first on Blockchain News.
AI Companies Don’t Actually Use Any AI Technology
Thursday March 07, 2019
Sometimes a small survey can reveal a huge amount of information. Especially when it covers the aspect of a whole group of companies not using their own product. According to the London VC firm MMC Ventures, 40% of European AI companies, don’t use AI in the slightest. The survey reveals that most companies only have
Bitcoin and Crypto Transactions Banned by Alipay
Friday October 11, 2019
The digital payment branch of the Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, Alipay, has officially banned all bitcoin and crypto transactions. There're several reports about @Alipay being used for bitcoin transactions. To reiterate, Alipay closely monitors over-the-counter transactions to identify irregular behavior and ensure compliance with relevant regulations. [cont'd…] — Alipay (@Alipay) October 10, 2019 Yesterday, Alipay’s


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The largest arduous fork up to now, nevertheless, occurred on August 1, 2017, when bitcoin break up into bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Money (BCH). Bitcoin Cash was filled with unruly disagreements among como fazer day trade com bitcoin the many builders of the blockchain, resulting in a tough fork that break up Bitcoin Cash into the ABC side and the Satoshi’s Vision (SV) facet. Because of the bitcoin blockchain, we now have a secure version of digital money that runs without a centralized entity and can't be hacked. Bitcoin had been by small bear and bull runs before. 1,309.03 BTC. By December 2009, Satoshi and the small team of bitcoin developers had released the second version of bitcoin’s software program. However for app and software program developers to construct on bitcoin, they first have to see some demand for their apps and software program. Despite this catch-22 situation, app and software builders proceed to construct nice issues on bitcoin. Despite having a slow begin to the year, Bitcoin spent the month of March with a hot streak. Initially of 2019, bitcoin continued to be gripped in its bear market, though it could slowly show signs of rebounding. You start using bitcoin. They are using the recognition of this incredible bitcoin buying and selling system to get folks to purchase their program as a substitute. We’d all like to make straightforward cash, which is why scammers typically target new bitcoin users with get rich fast schemes.
Cryptoassets the innovative investor's guide to bitcoin and beyond
Zaif, a Japan-primarily based cryptocurrency alternate, fell victim to a hack, leading to a lack of million. Facebook had beforehand held a ban on any cryptocurrency-based mostly advertisements however decided on June 26 to reverse it. Google followed the path of Facebook, establishing a ban in opposition to both preliminary coin offerings and cryptocurrency commercials. Most cryptocurrency exchanges do not need an AUD/BTC pair, for instance, or a CAD/BTC pair. All of them have web presence and some have physical brick and mortar places throughout the US and world. As bitcoin turns into extra out there on world exchanges, it turns into easier for individuals around the globe to purchase. The bubble proved unsustainable, nonetheless, with bitcoin's worth crashing as a lot as 80% by way of the end of 2018. This yr bitcoin is up more than 50%, reaching about 60% of peak levels. Bitmex & Bittrex BOT are being provided free in our Telegram Neighborhood. However clearly, regulatory and authorized adjustments have a big affect on the value of bitcoin.
Simple bitcoin exchange
If a gallon of milk https://www.tlshs.com/peru-bitcoin-exchange prices $four in the present day and $300 tomorrow, then the dollar will no longer be used as a unit of measurement, and it won’t be thought-about an excellent foreign money. Someone can say that a gallon of milk costs $4 at the moment, for instance. You needed to download the total bitcoin software just to carry bitcoin, for instance. We enthuse when the value of bitcoin eclipses $20,000 USD, for instance. A rising tide lifts all boats, and that’s what occurred with bitcoin and altcoin prices in 2017. As bitcoin’s why investing in bitcoin is a good idea price rose, altcoin prices rose with it. Meanwhile, unfavourable media consideration may cause demand for bitcoin to plummet. Some laws will trigger the value of bitcoin to plummet, whereas others will cause the price to rise or keep the identical. The two pizzas were worth $25, while bitcoins had been still valued at a fraction of a penny. Bitcoin Market, the first crypto exchange, launched in February, https://tipstility.com/2021/02/10/what-is-the-bitcoin-dollar-exchange-rate whereas the a lot better-recognized Mt. Gox launched in July. Major exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini launched their very own crypto custody solutions. New opponents like Litecoin, launched in late 2011, started to emerge, benefiting from bitcoin’s open supply expertise to launch new and improved variations.
Bitcoin is a good investment
In actuality, most modern fiat currencies aren’t technically backed by something both. Of course, you may as well argue that bitcoin is one of the best retailer of value because it’s insulated from central banks, politicians, national economies, and related things - all of which can have an effect on fiat currencies. The proposal was resubmitted by crypto trade center January 31, though there are some consultants that imagine that the proposal with one of the best probability of approval by the government as the original Bitcoin ETF with VanEck/SolidX proposal for the SEC. What occurs if the United States government bans the purchase of bitcoin tomorrow? The proposal for a Bitcoin ETF with VanEck and SolidX was withdrawn by CBOE, attributable to worries that the federal government shutdown would find yourself causing the cancellation of the ETF anyway. Bitcoin began the month underneath ,500, nevertheless it rose over 10% higher than it began, closing at ,867 by the end of February. Before the end of the month, Satoshi had despatched one of many earliest bitcoin builders, Hal Finney, 10 bitcoins, marking the world’s first bitcoin transaction. Because of those lost or destroyed bitcoins, we've got only 16 million bitcoins in circulation.
Tricks of a crypto trader forbes
Should the public demand Fedcoin, they would have to bring paper dollars to the Fed to be transformed into an equivalent quantity of new Fedcoin ledger entries, the notes formally removed from circulation and shredded. Now, let’s assume that two million of those bitcoins have been misplaced. However, we additionally know that not all 18 million of those bitcoins are nonetheless circulating. We all know there are 18 million bitcoins in existence. Nonetheless, there are still, by necessity, central figures behind bitcoin’s governance. But the bear market that gripped bitcoin from late 2013 to early 2017 was the worst in bitcoin’s historical past to date. Bitcoin as a Unit of Measurement: Bitcoin is worst when used as a unit of measurement. Bakkt, a crypto startup, was supported by Starbucks, Microsoft, and other corporate buyers within the US, and got down to create a chance for institutional traders to be more drawn to Bitcoin. On the time of Bitcoin’s $13,870 worth, Thiel’s Founder Fund allegedly was price thousands and thousands of dollars in Bitcoin. Peter Thiel, a venture capital investor of Silicon Valley, made historical past as he purchased millions of dollars in Bitcoin in January 2018, based on stories from the Wall Street Journal.
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The money markets show that investors currently expect US rates to peak around 5% in June Next year.
The dollar index contracted 0.2% to 106.375. so far week has risen 0.4%paring last week’s 4% drop, after US inflation data triggered one of the biggest weekly falls for the currency in decades.
The euro rises 0.2% against the dollar to $1.0381, while the pound gains 0.5%, to $1.1926. Both have reached multi-month highs against the dollar since consumer inflation data showed a weakening of price pressures in the United States. Front of Japanese currency, the dollar remains stable around 140.27 yen.
The treasury bond yields They were also rising after Bullard’s remarks, but not enough to scale the week’s highs, with 10-year returns trading around 3.82%.
Earlier this week, data from retail sales in the United States, what were they stronger than expected they also debunked speculation about a pause in rate hikes, as they seemed to suggest that consumers are still spending.


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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
MANILA, Philippines – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to deliver his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), and cap his first month as agriculture secretary, amid soaring prices of basic commodities, especially food.
Skyrocketing cost of sugar, flour, and eggs are taking a heavy toll on businesses and consumers. Fertilizer prices have tripled in some areas, painful for farmers whose incomes are already suffering from high fuel prices and an inability to compete with cheaper imported goods.
In a way, Marcos’ decision to serve as agriculture chief is a gutsy one because of the gargantuan challenge of uplifting a sector so long neglected, and one close to the stomachs of so many Filipinos. Unlike presidents who had alter-egos who could absorb the blame, the buck stops with Marcos here.
No wonder his campaign promise to bring the price of rice to P20 per kilogram got a lot of attention from ordinary Filipinos.
“Siya na nakaupo sa gobyerno, sana ‘yung pangako niya matupad na (He’s the one now in power, we hope he lives up to his promise),” said Marikina baker Ado Bartolata who’s had to halve the weight of his monay and add a peso to its price because of the high cost of ingredients.
What has Marcos done in his first month as agriculture secretary?
Department of Agriculture Undersecretary-designate and spokesperson Kristine Evangelista described Marcos in his first 30 days as a “hands-on” agriculture chief. But his dealings so far have been mostly to take stock of the state of the agricultural sector and gather recommendations from both government and the private sector.
“He was very particular about increasing production. So now, it’s a review of all the programs we’re doing and which one of that actually leads to that direction of increasing production,” she said in a Rappler Talk interview.
“Second, you’re also looking into how to increase the income of the farmers…. I think he’s very hands-on, and he really wants to be able to solve problems that have been perennial also, as far as agriculture is concerned,” added Evangelista.
The meetings have led to these directives from Marcos:
- A general marching order to boost production of rice, corn, vegetables, pork, and poultry
- A general marching order to “reconstruct” agricultural value chains so farmers and other producers have more income
- Come up with a master plan of farm-to-market roads to make transportation of agricultural goods more efficient, thus reducing costs
- Review the rice tariffication law and how it’s affected local farmers, and whether or not it should be amended to once again allow the National Food Authority to import
- Study the proposal to implement “Masagana 150” as a way to increase the yield per hectare of rice land by providing farmers with loans to purchase high-yielding rice varieties, fertilizer, and pesticides
- Study government-to-government purchase of affordable fertilizer so farmers can have access to cheaper fertilizer
- Study the implementation of a suggested retail price for sugar
The first three could take months or years to implement and are more of mid-term to long-term plans. The last two, G2G and a sugar SRP, are urgent directives meant as immediate measures to cushion farmers and consumers from pricier fertilizer and sugar, respectively.
But Marcos’ biggest contribution to the agricultural sector may be the powerful optics borne of his decision to lead the agriculture department himself. The move was a big message and a morale-booster to the department.
“I think things might happen faster than they used to because there is more focus and there is a lot of attention,” said Evangelista, recalling how other government agencies have been instructed to be attentive to needs of the agri sector.
Evangelista was present in the three “executive committee” meetings Marcos had held with DA officials, including one held virtually because the Chief Executive at the time had COVID-19.
Aside from these large meetings, Marcos, or his Malacañang staff at least, supposedly touched base with the DA daily. It was Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez who asked Evangelista to be department spokesperson so that, apart from Marcos himself, there would be another talking head to take media queries and project action to the public.
Marcos’ point person in the DA is Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian who formerly had been chief of staff of the previous agriculture secretary, William Dar.
Apart from the DA meetings, Marcos has held one meeting with members of his Private Sector Advisory Council focused on food security, and took up agriculture and inflation in at least one of his three Cabinet meetings.
His first press conference as President largely dealt with agriculture and food security, specifically things he had discussed in his first meeting with DA officials on July 4.
“That is why I made agriculture the single, the highest priority of everything that we are doing,” said Marcos the day after, July 5.
“Because you cannot build a strong economy unless you have a foundation of a robust agricultural sector, which assures food supply even in emergencies. And that’s what we’re working towards. That’s the long-term plan,” he added.
Not everyone is happy with Marcos’ plans so far.
Progressive groups Pamalakaya panned his farm-to-market road network plan as being unresponsive to the issue of rising costs of agricultural production.
“Anong silbi ng farm-to-market roads kung wala namang produktong [maibibiyahe] dahil bagsak ang [produksiyon] ng mga mangingisda’t magsasaka dulot ng taas-presyo ng mga gastusin?” they said in a press release.
(What is the use of farm-to-market roads if there are no products to transport because the production of fishers and farmers is depleted because of the high costs of production?)
“Roads and infrastructure are not the solution to achieve food security if the producers of food are not supported,” they added in Filipino.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas had the same issue with the proposed Masagana 150.
“You can’t just increase the average yield. What’s needed are production subsidies, help in post-harvest, and increasing the price of palay (unmilled rice),” said the group.
Both groups are pushing for a law that would give all farmers and fishers P10,000 in cash aid and P15,000 for buying production inputs like fertilizer and pesticides.
These groups also want Marcos to repeal the rice tarrification law, suspend excise tax on oil products, prohibit the conversion of agricultural land or land suitable for planting staple crops, resolve “long-standing agrarian disputes” like that of Hacienda Tinang in Tarlac, allocate 10% of the national budget to agriculture and food production, among others.
Marcos and progressive groups agree on one thing: the need to reduce reliance on importation of agricultural products.
Currently, the government often needs to import to stabilize prices of food staples like rice, sugar, and more. In the case of rice, the rice tarrification law lifted all quantity restrictions on imported rice, and imposed tariffs on rice from abroad instead.
But Filipino farmers have said the policy depleted their incomes because the rice they sell can’t compete in terms of price with the imported rice from countries like Vietnam and Thailand where the agricultural sector benefits from larger subsidies.
Marcos has ordered a review of the rice tarrification law but is yet to decide whether he will seek amendments or its scrapping.
Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, on the Friday before the SONA, said reducing dependence on imports is a key aim of the President.
“His vision for us is not only to have food security but food sovereignty,” he told reporters. “Meaning, we don’t have to rely on much importation anymore. If we can feed ourselves as a nation, if we can feed ourselves as Filipinos, I think we are on our way to where we want to be much like where our neighbors are,” he continued.
Marcos himself said in his first presidential media briefing: “We would prefer to import as little as possible.”
He especially mentioned the need to improve self-sufficiency in corn because, with the choking of wheat supply due to the Russia-Ukraine war, corn became a substitute for the now more expensive crop.
Corn is critical because it is used both as food and as feed for other agricultural products like chicken and pork.
But to achieve self-sufficiency in staple crops, farmers have to have the motivation to continue in their livelihood. For this to happen, their incomes from agricultural work have to improve.
Food price crisis
Not once did Marcos specifically mention his “P20 per kilo of rice” promise in his DA meetings, said Evangelista. Marcos previously said this P20 price was an “aspiration” of his government.
“We are working on it,” said Evangelista about the promise.
“We don’t talk about the P20 figure but we talk about bringing down the cost,” she added.
Marcos’ plan to make food in markets and groceries more affordable for Filipinos is to “reconstruct” value chains. This could also lead to higher incomes for farmers and other producers because consumers would buy more of their products since they are cheap.
But no concrete plan has been unveiled so far on how this will be done.
Marcos has mentioned a plan to “integrate” the disparate parts of the value chain – from harvesting, to transporting, to processing, to selling.
“There are elements of the value chain that are there but they are not part of a process, they exist stand-alone. So we will make them part of a whole so we can generate savings…. When you vertically integrate, there will be many savings along the line,” said Marcos on July 5.
The most specific this plan has gotten was mention of existing Kadiwa programs, in which the government helps bring agricultural products direct from farmers to consumers through strategically-located Kadiwa stores.
Marcos has also mentioned involving cooperatives and the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) in mobilizing food. The FTI is a government agency with a mandate to bring agricultural products closer to vulnerable communities so that they are more affordable.
It’s only Marcos’ first month on the job. A foundation has been laid – and expectations set – for how he’ll turn the sector around. – Rappler.com
How does this make you feel?


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More market and car boot sale organisers in Staffordshire are joining a national campaign to ensure goods sold at their event are legitimate and that visitors aren’t ripped off.
The county council has signed its fourth Real Deal agreement with the management team of the district council-run market in Cannock town centre. The campaign aims to promote a fair and safe trading environment, including ensuring markets are free from counterfeit goods. The campaign brings together councils, market operators, traders, industry groups and copyright and trademark owners. Event organisers signing up to the Real Deal charter are demonstrating their commitment to tackling counterfeit goods sales and keeping visitors safe.
Staffordshire County Council’s communities leader Gill Heath said: “It’s pleasing to see another market organiser sign up to the Real Deal charter. We’re asking other market and car boot event organisers across the county to get on board and sign up. The more we have signed up, the harder it will be for counterfeit traders to operate in Staffordshire. By signing up, they are making a commitment to tackle the problem of counterfeit goods sales and sending out a message that their events are safe and have responsible traders. Counterfeit goods can cause real harm, for example if they are cosmetic or electrical items and they also damage our economy. “It is in everyone’s interests to combat the sale of such goods and it is important we all work together to do this.”
Tony Griffiths, market officer, said: “By signing the real deal charter we can assure residents and visitors alike that we are committed to ensure that goods sold on our markets are not counterfeit.”
Patricia Lennon, coordinator of the Real Deal scheme nationally said: “We are delighted to welcome Cannock’s markets to the Real Deal programme. This is a further demonstration of the long-term commitment by Staffordshire County Council trading standards, working in partnership with markets and car boot operators to ensure these venues are fake-free in order to protect shoppers, traders and local businesses from the harm caused by the trade in counterfeit goods.”
Real Deal charter agreements have already been signed with market and car boot organisers in Stafford Borough and South Staffordshire District.
Photo caption (left to right): markets officer Tony Griffiths, assistant markets officer Linda Shaw, Ian Sandford from events company Skett’s and Nigel Cotton from Staffordshire County Council’s trading standards team.


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Do you want a brand new Ford car? Make sure to buy a fuel-efficient model from a Ford dealership Brisbane has today. Such a car can help you save significant amounts of cash from lesser fuel consumption in the long run.
According to a statistical report in June 2018, vehicles in Australia have consumed 34,170 megalitres of fuel in just 12 months. Meanwhile, a 2019 report show car owners in major cities spending around $69.52 for fuel each week, and those living in regional areas have been spending an average of $73.46.
That shows how much fuel burned in the country as a whole, which translates to gigantic volumes of carbon emission and serious energy inefficiency. And, you can help ease such problems by buying fuel-efficient cars of today.
Perks of using fuel-efficient cars from Ford dealership Brisbane centres
Buy a fuel-efficient car and observe the benefits it can provide.
Save a significant amount of cash
As stated earlier, car owners in big cities or regional areas spend on significant amounts on fuel each week. However, if you drive a Ford Focus, Fiesta, or Fusion, you can experience as low as 10.0L/100km fuel economy. And, that’s a big price to save regardless of your location.
Other car brands can also help you save money. The Mitsubishi Outlander, for example, boasts a 7.0/100km fuel economy. However, make sure to buy it from a trusted Mitsubishi dealership Brisbane has today for the best deals. See more Scenic Motors
Less carbon emission to the atmosphere
Cars burn fuel into gas as you drive. Such carbon-rich gas goes to the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change.
Thus, when you hit a Ford dealership Brisbane centre, find the car with the least fuel economy. That can help reduce your carbon footprint as you drive.
Oil, no matter how much the Earth has it, isn’t renewable. Experts estimate that by 2050, the world’s oil supply will begin to run out.
However, car buyers can help when you purchase a fuel-efficient car. If people see this benefit of fuel economy and begin buying the right car, Australia’s fuel consumption will drastically drop. In fact, experts estimate the country to save around 6 billion barrels of fuel in 2050 by making such a change.
When you buy a Ford Queensland has to offer, you can contribute to such benefit. That helps with making the world’s oil supply last quite longer.
How to buy a fuel-efficient car
After knowing the benefits of fuel-efficient cars, you need to know how to choose one to buy. You need to consider a few factors for it.
Engine type and fuel efficiency reports
The best way to know about a car’s fuel efficiency in one glance is by reading about its engine reports. This can tell you about how much fuel a car burns in a hundred-kilometre drive and how much fuel its tank can hold.
Also, there are cars with hybrid engines, making it another factor to consider. They can switch to using electricity to run, so they do not only rely on petrol.
You can visit Hyundai dealers Brisbane Southside has today and check the Hyundai Ioniq hybrid cars.
Size of the vehicle
Fuel efficiency is almost always correlated to the size of the vehicle. For example, you can expect the small Ford Fusion SE having better fuel economy than large SUVs.
Thus, it’s also important to consider the size of the car you are going to buy. If you need a family van, for example, don’t measure its fuel economy by comparison to small cars.
If the benefits of fuel efficiency amaze you, you should look for one that has this quality right away. You can visit ScenicMotors.com.au for a Ford dealership Brisbane people trust. For more info, click here http://www.scenicmotors.com.au/


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Typically, if you do your job really, really well, you get a promotion. Or you get a raise. Or at the very least, you get to keep your job.
But that didn't happen in Miami as the Heat fired its season ticket sales staff after the team sold out of season tickets. Ouch.
In a statement, the team confirmed the terminations Friday afternoon, saying that with an "exhausted'' inventory of season-tickets "we no longer require a season ticket sales team to sell tickets.''
Stephen Weber, vice president of sales, delivered the news to about 30 ticket sales people Friday morning, according to the story from the Miami Herald. Currently, the team's waiting list has more than 6,000 names on it. It's pretty evident that at this point, the Heat can sell tickets without even trying.
"They let us go because there was really nothing left to do anymore,'' a fired staffer told the Herald.
The statement also said: "While the decision to release part of our sales force was a difficult one, we greatly appreciate their contributions to the company. We have also hired a placement service to assist those individuals find new employment. Should any season tickets become available, they will be handled through our season ticket deposit program. We thank those employees for their time with the company and wish them success in their future endeavors.''
Obviously this seems like a major low blow. But as the staffer said, what were they really going to do? I wonder what places like Green Bay do with waiting lists that long. Still, firing a group of 30 after a job well done, has a funny taste to it. Or actually, is just downright mean.
Evidently, the Heat aren't worried about retaining the new season ticket holders. I guess LeBron, Wade and Bosh are supposed to take care of that.


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Uber drivers take unprecedented international legal action to demand access to their data and transparency over algorithmic management. App Drivers and Couriers Union will present evidence of Uber's use of hidden driver profiles with performance classifications. Uber drivers and Uber Eats couriers in the UK and EEA are invited to join group action. Crowdjustice campaign launched.
UBER DRIVERS TAKE UNPRECEDENTED INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ACTION TO DEMAND THEIR DATA
· The AppDrivers & Couriers Union files complaint against Uber in Amsterdam over failure to provide access to data & explanation of algorithmic management as required by GDPR
· The union will present evidence of Uber’s maintenance of secret driver profiles with work related performance classifications
· Drivers are demanding the right for their data to be ported directly to their union’s data trust established for purposes of collective action/bargaining
· Action comes one day before ADCU faces Uber at the UK Supreme Court as Uber appeals against 2016 driver worker rights victory
· Union launches CrowdJustice campaign and appeal to all UK and EU area Uber drivers and Uber Eats couriers to join collective action to demand their data
· Action is supported by the IAATW in unprecedented international collaboration of Uber driver unions
Monday 20th July 2020
A group of UK Uber drivers from London, Birmingham, Nottingham and Glasgow have launched a legal action against Uber in the Netherlands supported by the App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU), the International Alliance of App-based Transport Workers (IAATW) and Worker Info Exchange. Copies of the complaint filed can be found at this link in English and Dutch.
The drivers will argue that Uber has violated its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by failing to provide full access to their personal data. They will also argue that Uber has failed to provide sufficient information on the automated decision making and profiling that takes places in the Uber Driver App and other systems used by Uber.
Multiple drivers have been provided access to little or no data despite making a comprehensive request and providing clear detail on the data requested.
The union will argue that Uber drivers are subject to performance monitoring at work and will present evidence of how Uber has attached performance related electronic tags to driver profiles with categories including:
- Late arrival/missed ETAs
- Cancelled on rider
- Inappropriate behaviour
This runs contrary to Uber’s insistence in many employment misclassification legal challenges across multiple jurisdictions worldwide that drivers are self-employed and not subject to management control.
Despite multiple subject access requests and in clear violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Uber has failed to provide access to the performance related profile data in question, the associated electronic tags and their logic of processing.
The drivers will also ask the district court in Amsterdam to make an order that Uber immediately comply with data protection law and to be fined€10,000 for each day it continues to violate the law. The action has been taken in the Netherlands because Uber BV, the corporate entity that controls the platform and driver data, is based in Amsterdam.
The ADCU is working with the nonprofit Worker Info Exchange to establish a data trust for drivers for the purposes of collective bargaining. The drivers will ask the court to order Uber to respect their right to port personal data directly from Uber to their union’s fledgling data trust.
The legal action is also supported by the International Alliance of App-based Transport (IAATW) workers in an unprecedented international collaboration of Uber driver union.
This action comes one day before the ADCU defends Uber’s final appeal at the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn a 2016 Employment Tribunal ruling.This ruling confirmed that Uber drivers are workers under the law and entitled to earn the minimum wage, holiday, freedom from discrimination and whistleblower protection.
The drivers will be represented in the Netherlands by their attorney Anton Ekker.
The union has launched a CrowdJustice campaign to help fund the action and is calling on all Uber drivers and Uber Eats couriers in the UK and the European Economic Area to register for free to join the collective action for digital rights.
Azeem Hanif, Chair of ADCU Nottingham said:
Drivers must have full transparency over algorithmic management and complete access to their data so they can build real collective bargaining power in their union. Once again,Uber is flouting the law and exploiting low paid workers.
James Farrar, Director of Worker Info Exchange and co lead claimant of in Aslam & Farrar v Uber (UK Supreme Court) said:
Uber has deliberately blocked the efforts of drivers to access their data for the purposes of establishing a data trust. This is not only a violation of the law but a terrible abuse ofUber’s position of informational power over drivers. Drivers suffer not only wage theft but data theft too.
Biju Matthew of the International Alliance of App-based Transport Workers and the National Taxi Workers Alliance (AFL CIO) said:
Uber operates a common global platform, so it is vital that Uber drivers work collectively on a global scale to demand transparency and fair pay. This international legal action represents an unprecedented shift in labour organizing with workers
Anton Ekker of Ekker Advocatuur said:
With Uber BV based in the Netherlands as operator of the Uber platform, the Dutch courts now have an important role to play in ensuring Uber’s compliance with the GDPR. This is a landmark case in the gig economy with workers asserting their digital rights for the purposes of advancing their worker rights.
1. Copies of the complaint filed today at the Amsterdam district court, civil division can be found at the following link in Dutch (original) and English (translated). https://ekker.legal/2020/07/19/uber-drivers-demand-access-to-their-personal-data/
2. The App Drivers and Couriers Union is a UK listed trade union representing app-based transport workers. The union’s President and General Secretary are Yaseen Aslam and James Farrar who are also lead claimants in the successful Aslam v Uber worker rights claim which Uber is appealing at the UK Supreme Court this weekon July 21 and 22nd. https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2019-0029.html
3. The CrowdJustice campaign to support the legal challenge for data rights for UK and EU drivers can be found at this address https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/help-protect-uber-drivers-from/
4. Campaign video can be found at this address https://youtu.be/Ic5F9dKgypA
5. Worker Info Exchange is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping gig works gain control of their personal data at work. www.workerinfoexchange.org
6. The International Alliance of App Based Transport Workers represents 22 affiliate unions in 14 countries. It is dedicated to social justice and fair pay for app drivers. www.iaatw.org
7. Anton Ekker is an Amsterdam based lawyer who specializes in personal data, privacy, AI and algorithms. https://ekker.legal/


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The Pet Food Drive for S.O.A.R. (Suncoast Organized Animal Relief) is happening Saturday, October 19th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, October 20th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pet Supplies Plus in Pinellas Park.
Come help SOAR fill a truck with pet food and supplies to be distributed to the Florida Pan Handle who are still in desparate need after last year's Hurricane Michael left thousands of animals homeless and abandoned.
While you're there for such a great cause, enjoy food trucks, raffles, prizes and giveaways ALL day long!


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ConClave is in negotiations with the Dearborn Doubletree for this year’s convention. Tentative dates will be October 9-11, 2015. GoH to be announced.
Sorry! Thanks to all who bought them!
The planning for ConClave 39 in October 2015 is just getting underway. Please watch this page for updates!
From all reports, everyone had a great time.
Con t-shirts are available! We are trying something new this year, on demand printing of the shirts. Thank you to our friends at Offworld Designs!


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- City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
- Dubai 05:26 06:39 12:34 15:52 18:24 19:37
"The market in Egypt is doing really well," Moaz Barakat, managing director of the industry-funded World Gold Council in the Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan, said.
"The economy is improving, many tourists are buying gold, and the government is reviving the market," he told Reuters.
Egypt, which once considered gold as "the skin of the gods," is likely to achieve an economic growth rate of around 7 per cent in the 2007/8 fiscal year despite rising inflation rates, Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin said last Monday.
Egypt was among the fastest growing countries in tourism last year, according to the World Tourism Organization.
Major regional players are expanding their manufacturing capacity, such as United Arab Emirates' Damas Jewellery and Saudi Arabia's L'azurdi Jewellery, and sales campaigns have significantly boosted demand in the country, Barakat said.
"These manufacturers are attracting Egyptians to buying gold again, and it is now back in fashion... that was not the case a few years ago," Barakat said.
Egyptians, who once used gold as a dialy ornament and buried their pharaohs bedecked with the precious metal, consider gold jewellery a financial security and a vital part of weddings.
Despite soaring gold prices, last year's demand was up 12.2 per cent at 67.3 tonnes. The country's fourth-quarter demand was up 8.8 per cent at 17.4 tonnes.
"Compared to the rest of the Middle East, and particularly the Gulf, Egypt was the best performer in the fourth quarter of last year despite high and volatile gold prices," Barakat said.
Gold rose more than 30 per cent in 2007 amid safe-haven buying due to credit market turmoil and worries about the health of the US economy.
Spot gold set a record high of $975.90 a troy ounce in Europe on Friday as a weaker dollar and escalating worries about price pressures triggered a wave of investor buying.
Gold's rally weighed on fourth-quarter demand in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's largest gold consumer, depressing volume by 8.9 per cent to 22.4 tonnes.
In the UAE, demand followed a similar pattern, and fell 8.1 per cent to 19.3 tonnes during the same period.
In other countries such as India - the world's top gold consumer - demand has suffered, Italian consumers temporarily suspended orders, and Japanese retail investors are offloading.
"Things are going well for us here, and we are seeing many keen buyers, who are either tourists or ordinary housewives who think it is a good time to buy gold and perhaps sell it later if prices go higher," Abdo Mallak, a Cairo jeweller said.
"I think wearing gold jewellery is becoming trendy again, and many women here want to be trendy regardless of the price."
Egypt is revisiting ancient deposits of the metal - some of which have not been worked for 2000 years. (Reuters)
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.


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Sony massively expanded the availability of PlayStation Vue today, bringing the internet-based television service to hundreds of additional markets throughout the U.S. with new, cheaper bundles of channels.
When Vue launched a year ago, the service was available only in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia. Between then and now, Vue went live in Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco, bringing the total up to seven major U.S. cities. With today's expansion, Vue is available in 203 additional television markets to "cover the entire U.S.," said Sony in a press release. (You can enter your ZIP code on Vue's website to see if you're covered.)
"PlayStation Vue has been an ambitious project from the start, and national expansion demonstrates our ability to innovate in an industry that's overdue for a reinvented experience," said Eric Lempel, senior vice president of marketing and head of PlayStation Network Americas at Sony Network Entertainment International. Sony said it is "working to add live local broadcast stations across all networks to each of the new TV markets."
Sony has gotten aggressive recently about Vue's pricing, starting with a $5 cut to two of the service's three tiers in November and continuing with a $10 drop for each tier earlier this month. Today, Sony introduced three additional "Slim" packages that offer fewer channels than the existing tiers, at Vue's lowest monthly prices to date: Access Slim (55-plus channels) for $29.99, Core Slim (70-plus channels) for $34.99 and Elite Slim (100-plus channels) for $44.99.
Vue's Slim bundles are available only in the 203 new markets to which Sony expanded the service today. The seven existing cities will retain the three original packages: Access (60-plus channels) for $39.99, Core (75-plus channels) for $44.99 and Elite (100-plus channels) for $54.99. As always, Sony doesn't lock you into a contract or charge equipment fees. But things get more complicated with the packages.
In addition to the differences between the channel lineups for the standard and Slim versions of the tiers, the Slim bundles come with a catch. Subscribers to a Slim package don't have access to live feeds for three of the four major broadcast networks — ABC, Fox and NBC. Instead, content from those networks is available only as on-demand programming to those customers. And if you're in one of the 203 new markets, you're stuck with the Slim packages; you can't choose to pay extra for a regular tier so you can get the live feeds for ABC, Fox and NBC. (Sony said live and on-demand content from CBS will be "added to select TV markets at a later date.")
PlayStation Vue is currently available on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, as well as on the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. The service can also be accessed through the Vue mobile app on Google Chromecast, iPad and iPhone.


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We are in the midst of an exciting transformation towards a reinvigorated Delta through modern design and innovations. Many of our hotels are currently undergoing extensive renovations to their public spaces including lobbies, restaurants and bars, business and lounge areas, and meeting spaces, in addition to our well-received new ModeRoom guestrooms. The versatile new designs encourage interaction and provide personal spaces for guests to sit, connect and relax.
We look forward to having you experience our most recently renovated properties – the first to come in our network of hotels across Canada.
Delta Ottawa City Centre recently completed a multi-million dollar renovation that includes a redesigned lobby with floor-to-ceiling windows; the creation of an open space business area featuring a series of interactive, fully connected work hubs and lounge areas; and 26,000 square feet of newly revamped meeting and conference space. The hotel is now home to LIFT, a new full service restaurant and lounge designed to encourage relaxation and interaction with a modern and contemporary design that creates a comfortable, yet elegant dining experience.
The extensive $14 million renovation at Delta Fredericton included upgrades to the lobby, public spaces, pool and fitness centre. Meeting spaces were also renovated, and now features a sports wall-of-fame in the ballroom foyer, and a SMART Board – an interactive whiteboard projector with multi-touch capabilities and internet connection.


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EA has bought Industrial Toys, a small studio – they number just 14 staff – founded and led by Alex Seropian. You may have heard of one Seropian’s former studios: Bungie, which he co-founded with his college classmate Jason Jones, who remains one of its directors. Seropian helped create Halo and served as Bungie’s CEO, leaving in 2004.
Since then, Seropian has focused on smaller, more innovative projects. He founded another studio, Wideload, which was later acquired by Disney, leading to Seropian’s role as head of Disney’s in-house game development team. Seropian left to found Industrial Toys in 2012, with the idea to make mobile games for core gamers.
Looking for something new? Here are some of the best PC games to play right now.
EA says Industrial Toys are known for developing unique game ideas on different devices, and will continue to bring innovative new game concepts to life.
“Creating breakthrough games takes passionate developers and incredible creativity, and each time we’ve worked with the Industrial Toys team, we’ve been inspired by their unique approach,” Samantha Ryan, general manager of EA’s Worldwide Studios, says. “We’re thrilled to have them join our studio organisation, pursue new ideas together and bring amazing new games to our players.”
Here’s the press release from EA, if you’d like the news from the proverbial horse’s mouth. As it explains, EA’s Worldwide Studios make games across all major platforms, so while Industrial Toys’ expertise is on mobile, there’s also a fair chance that the creator of Halo may yet make a new game for the PC. And until then we can track the countdown to theHalo Infinite release date.


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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) Mesa County is giving certain businesses who are looking to move away an incentive to stay in the area.
County commissioners passed a resolution adding to a program approved in 2012 that gives businesses a rebate on personal business property tax, a yearly tax on machinery.
This program gives businesses a credit on the personal business property tax if they are investing in new machinery and, therefore, creating jobs.
New and existing businesses were already eligible to get this credit, but now, commissioners said the county wanted to stop businesses from considering moving away, so they decided to apply this program to such businesses in hopes that it will be an incentive to stay.
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or firstname.lastname@example.org.


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One of the most charismatic British manufacturers, the yardstick for tradition and craftsmanship has just released a teaser photo containing a sketch of their next release.
The car which has its lines featured in the shot is the Morgan 2+2 EvaGT.
As always with cars just being teased information is available on a need to know basis and despite the fact the car hasn’t yet had its debut the Morgan is already taking deposits for it. The deposit is the equivalent of 5000 GBP and puts your name down for one of only 100 units to be produced. Oh, by the way, deposits are taken but no word has been put out on the actual price.
Each of these 100 units will feature a 3 liter, twin turbocharged, straight six engine with an output of 306 horsepower and which brings about a bit of a concern. The engine is made by BMW and while that may be great it sort of takes away the “britishness” of the Morgan EvaGT.
The car weighs just 1,250 kg and with such an engine it gets from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds and continues all the way to a top speed of 170 mph. If you want to see more of this car you’ll have to be at Pebble Beach on the 15th of August.


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Sanitary industry is growing continuously
The sanitary, heating and air conditioning industry once again generated sales of EUR 42.9 bn last year.
This corresponds to an increase of 2.9 % compared to the previous year. For the tenth year in a row, the almost 51,000 companies were able to look forward to growing economic success.
The trade benefited from the continuing construction boom in Germany and the modernization business in bathrooms and heating systems.
Like other sectors, the trade is fighting against the shortage of skilled workers.In 2017, for example, almost every second company reported vacancies.