text:
At the AquaTheater, guests might swim during the day, then watch a synchronized swimming show by night
While fears over the H1N1 virus and unprecedented low cruise fares have been the year’s biggest cruising stories to date, there’s a new newsmaker in town. Her name is Oasis of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean International’s newly launched ship is now the biggest cruise ship on the planet, usurping that title from the line’s own Freedom-class ships. Interest in the new razzle-dazzle ship is at fever pitch after months of hype and hoopla.
A World of Firsts
Architecturally, Oasis of the Seas spans 16 passenger decks; encompasses 225,282 gross registered tons; carries 5,400 guests at double occupancy; and features 2,700 staterooms. In addition, the ship boasts seven innovative neighborhoods—Central Park, Boardwalk, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center, Entertainment Place and Youth Zone.
“The hype on this ship has been just as big—if not bigger—than when the Voyager of the Seas debuted,” says Michelle Fee, CTC, CEO and co-founder, Cruise Planners. She feels the new ship’s debut is great for the industry, especially during this challenging economic time. When Fee tells anyone she’s sailing on Oasis of the Seas this month, they usually know all about the ship; that doesn’t happen with every new ship launch.
One reason is the ship’s innovative features, which have been getting sizable media play. For example, guests might stroll amid 12,000 plants and trees in the first park at sea. At the oceanfront AquaTheater, guests might swim during the day and then watch a synchronized swimming show by night. Or, they might opt for more high-octane adventure—soaring nine decks above the ship’s open atrium on the industry’s first zipline at sea.
Clients who just can’t get enough handbags on shore can shop till they drop in the first Coach store at sea. Kids of all ages will want to hop onboard a handcrafted carousel, another first at sea. On the dining front, the ship has 24 restaurants, 14 of them no-charge venues included in the guest’s cruise fare. Plus, decadent delights are on tap at Cupcake Cupboard, where clients will chow down on tasty cupcakes and learn about cake decorating.
On the accommodations side, Oasis of the Seas boasts dozens of cabin categories, including six types of suites. Agents tell us they can’t wait to view the new multilevel, urban-style loft suites with floor-to-ceiling windows.
As for the ship’s introductory schedule, preview cruises for VIPs, the trade and media took place in November. On November 30, Oasis of the Seas was officially named and operate a one-night cruise to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The ship will then run a special four-night Labadee Extravaganza cruise, designed to highlight new features at Royal Caribbean’s private Haitian beach paradise. Earlier this year, Royal Caribbean completed a $55 million expansion at Labadee. It added a new 800-foot pier; a Barefoot Beach Club with private cabanas; an alpine roller coaster with individual controls for each car; new dining facilities; and a new, larger Artisan’s Market.
One of the many firsts that the Oasis brings to sea is the handcrafted carousel
Oasis of the Seas’ official “inaugural” voyage is slated for December 5; this sailing will include exclusive entertainment and gifts for guests to commemorate the occasion.
Travel Agent talked with both Fee and Steven Hattem, vice president of marketing, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc., about their perspective on the rollout of the industry’s largest, most amenity-filled nautical star.
Fee believes the public is most excited about the ship’s size and its unique neighborhoods, especially Central Park and Boardwalk. “And when I tell them it has ziplining, that seems to astonish them,” she notes. “They ask, ‘On a ship?’”
The many firsts announced by Royal Caribbean are helping captivate both previous cruisers and first-timers, according to Hattem. CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. agents and agency owners tell him that consumers are most interested in the ship’s sheer size as well as its unique neighborhoods, aquatic theater and myriad outdoor activities.
Customers actually began getting excited about the ship last year as Royal Caribbean began its series of so-called “reveals.” One event was during the annual CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. National Conference, where “we started accepting pre-registrations—prior to general bookings even being open,” says Hattem. “The immediate response we saw was incredible…from people who wanted to book themselves on Oasis without knowing the true price, itinerary or any other specifics.”
One positive byproduct of Oasis of the Seas’ humongous size appears to be the potential for agents to sell repeat business. Seeing and doing everything onboard in one week may prove difficult, so guests might return to experience all the ship has to offer. “From past experience in selling the [Royal Caribbean] Voyager class, I believe this will be a definite repeat [ship],” says Fee.
Concurring is Hattem, who sees it this way, “We always talk about cruise ships as destinations but Oasis of the Seas takes this message to new heights.”
Of course, the ship’s real test—in terms of consumer appeal and acceptance—will come next month when it begins its regular sailings. It will operate seven-night cruises roundtrip from Port Everglades to the eastern Caribbean with port calls at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and Nassau, the Bahamas.
Starting in May 2010, Oasis of the Seas will alternate that week-long eastern Caribbean itinerary with a seven-night western Caribbean itinerary; the latter calls at Labadee and the Mexican ports of Cozumel and Costa Maya. In December 2010, the line will revise the western itinerary replacing Costa Maya with the new port of Falmouth, Jamaica. The itineraries will give agents the opportunity to book clients on consecutive cruises with varying itineraries.
Hattem says, “We’re all waiting to see—will the actual experience meet the expectations of consumers? Will happy passengers disembark each week, bragging about the Oasis?” He believes Royal Caribbean will deliver the great experience it’s promising. Certainly, the industry can use help this winter in selling cruises in a tough economy.
“Anytime a new ship gets this amount of attention, it certainly helps the entire industry,” says Fee.
Hattem also cites the benefit to the line: “Royal [Caribbean] has a lot banking on this ship and the ‘wow’ experience that is expected to be delivered.”


text:
Making Strides for the Food Truck Rights
2012 was a busy year for SoCalMFVA. We faced challenges from everywhere, the state, the County and many of the 88 cities within LA County. We met all those challenges and ended the year as strong as ever by expanding on food truck rights. However, the opponents of mobile vending are gearing up for another fight. 2013 will be our most important year yet to ensure mobile vending remains unencumbered by anticompetitive regulations.
The Association had some major successes in 2012. Most notably on the county level was our cooperative work with the Los Angeles County Health Department that resulted in the repeal of the bathroom letter requirement and the expansion of food truck rights. The repeal was part of a overhaul of the County’s food truck policies and procedures that were brought on by the hard work of the Association.
On the litigation front, the Association filed nine new lawsuits against Los Angeles County cities. So far eight of those cities have agreed to revise or repeal their restrictive mobile vending rules, including: the City of Industry, Arcadia, and South Pasadena who each previously prohibited mobile vending. In addition, the cities of Lawndale, Carson, Artesia, Compton, and El Segundo have agreed to revise their restrictive regulations to do away with time-limits rules. The City of Monrovia, after fighting the Association for nearly a year and a half finally agreed to repeal and revise their uber restrictive rules. The Association continues to work with cities informally to make sure our member’s rights to be free from illegal and nonsensical regulations are respected.
On the State front we fought a very restrictive health ordinance. AB1678, would have prohibited food trucks from operating within 1500 of any school in the state. By partnering with other stakeholders statewide we defeated that bill before it went to committee.
We will continue to fight for the rights of food trucks and the consumers who love them in 2013.
Thanks for all your support.

domain: news


text:
Vodafone's third quarter results were dragged down by weak demand in southern European countries and fierce competition in the UK and Germany.
Vodafone said that its service revenue declined by 4.8% for the third quarter ending in December, with a sharp downturn in Europe of 9.6% which was not offset by a strong performance in emerging markets.
This meant that group revenue for the quarter declined 3.6% to £11bn ($17.9bn, €13.2bn).
"Our emerging market businesses are growing strongly, supported by consistent execution and accelerating demand for data. In Europe, conditions are still difficult," said Vittorio Colao, chief executive of Vodafone.
While revenue in India grew by 13.2% and in Turkey by 3.9%, the revenues in major European markets went downwards substantially.
Revenue went down in the UK by 5.1% due to competition, particularly in the prepaid and enterprise sectors of the market.
Meanwhile, Germany declined by 7.9% due to strong price competition in both consumer and enterprise.
Revenues in Spain fell by 14.1% and in Italy, revenues went down by 16.6% due to the weak economies and competition.
Despite the tough times in Europe, Colao was sanguine about the operator's rollout of 4G networks and prospective revenues from enhanced content delivery.
"We continue to mitigate these challenges through on-going improvements to our operating model and cost efficiency. In addition, the shift to 4G is gaining momentum and we have seen improving mobile customer net addition trends. We are therefore optimistic that our revenue performance will begin to improve as regulatory headwinds ease and customer appetite for video and content services increases," Colao said.
Colao said the $130 billion sale of Vodafone's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to partner Verizon Communications Inc., would be used to fund Vodafone's 4G rollout and broadband improvements; a total of £19bn would be allocated to those projects over the next two years.
"After the imminent completion of the Verizon Wireless transaction, we will be very attractively positioned, with a strong balance sheet, improved dividend cover and the financial and strategic flexibility to make further investments in the business or returns to shareholders in the future," he said.
Vodafone also remained on track to achieve its target of 11-12 million customers on Vodafone Red by March 2014, with 9.8 million customers signed up already.


text:
Is this the end of the email password? Google working on a security system where users put a USB chip on smartphones or jewellery
- Google trying to protect 500million users from their accounts being hacked
Google is working on a plan to eliminate computer passwords and allow users to log-in using their smart phone or a small chip that can be embedded in rings and bracelets.
The company is trying out different options to create more secure ways for its 500 million users to use their accounts - and a more convenient method than remembering a host of passwords.
Google has been working with a company called Yubico - who make a USB device called a YubiKey which can be programed for a two-step, secure log-in.
Tighter controls: Google have been looking at plans to make their accounts more secure for users
However carrying around a token may not be seen as a positive change for many users so Google is exploring other options, according to Wired.
Google Vice President of Security Eric Grosse and engineer Mayank Upadhyay said that passwords and cookies are no longer enough to keep their users safe from hackers.
Google introduced a two-step log-in in 2011, making it more difficult for your account to be hacked - and it had a successful uptake among users.
Accounts are given tighter security by linking them to your smartphone. Each time a Google user logs in via a different computer, they receive a code in a text message to vouch for who they are - however even this plan has its flaws.
People may find that they are just as likely to lose a token as forget a password.
There is also the issue that if the device is lost or stolen, then an individual's accounts would be wide open.
Safety first: The YubiKey USB device works by being plugged into the computer and then entering a password for tougher security on the Internet
Most watched News videos
- Former EDL leader Tommy Robinson involved in punch-up at Ascot
- Unsatisfied customers: Two diners BEAT restaurant owner, daughter
- Panicked beach-goers run to shore as blue shark swims in shallows
- Anonymous predicts NASA will announce discovery of alien life
- Shocking moment girl, 14, falls from Six Flags Sky Ride
- 'I pressed my brake!' woman is left distressed after incident
- AirAsia pilot tells passengers them to pray for their safety
- US aircraft carrier practices some INCREDIBLE high-speed turns
- Shark behind closure of Majorca holiday beaches has been caught
- Glastonbury's fallow year - what will fans do in 2018?
- Spectators gasp as Trump's limo approaches Mnuchin wedding
- Shocking footage shows a boat going down in Colombia's Guatape Dam


text:
#fame restructures Ops; Saket Saurabh exits as India CEO
Saket Saurabh has stepped down from his role as #fame India CEO, he had joined as CEO in May 2014
Saket Saurabh has stepped down from his role as #fame India CEO, he had joined as CEO in May 2014.
It maybe recalled that #fame a live video social network, had raised $10 million in the second round financing from TO THE NEW Ventures (TTN Ventures). This round followed the $3 million investment TTN Ventures had made when the business began in beta in early 2014. Since its launch in Sep 2014, #fame has emerged as one of the fastest growing digital entertainment networks in India.
The company also recently operations in Indonesia and Thailand.
“We are thankful to Saket for setting up the operations in India, and truly appreciate the strong foundations for #fame he set up in India. Since we are growing and expanding at such a fast pace, we have restructured our operations to having functional heads as opposed to Country heads in our next phase of growth.” said Puneet Johar, Co-founder and CEO of TO THE NEW (TTN) and CEO #fame.
Saurabh joined #fame from Network18, where he was GM, Corporate Development. Prior to that, he had headed marketing for CNBC-TV18. Saurabh has had stints in branding and advertising in Leo Burnett and JWT earlier. He also has several years of media experience, including with Aaj Tak.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)For more updates, be socially connected with us on
WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & Youtube


text:
Arla Foods is a Danish headquartered dairy cooperative owned by 11.200 dairy farmers in 7 countries in Northern Europe with global activities focusing on increasing access to healthy dairy nutrition through sustainable dairy production, inspiring good food habits and improving the environment for future generations
Arla Foods is tagged in 3 stories.
11 months ago
- Dairy products in the fridges of European households are getting better for the environment. By the end of the year, across six countries, Arla is making 600 million fresh milk cartons renewable and 560 million yogurt pots recyclable, cutting 7,330 tonnes of carbon.


text:
RESPA: The Anti-kickback Law that Encourages Kickbacks
In the beginning of June, 2013, we were quoted in a nationally syndicated Washington Post story on kickbacks (click here). Follows is our more indepth analysis of this issue that could be serious enough to drive us into the next foreclosure crisis.
“Kickbacks harm consumers by hampering fair market competition and by unnecessarily increasing the costs of getting a mortgage,” said Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray. “The CFPB will continue to take action against schemes designed to let service providers profit through unscrupulous and illegal business practices.” These were comments made after the recent and highly publicized $118,000 enforcement action against Paul Taylor Homes, a Texas homebuilder.


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
A little snow never hurt Douglas Dynamics; firm posts record sales
Snow is good in the world of Douglas Dynamics Inc., which has the ticker symbol of PLOW on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company makes snow and ice control equipment for light trucks under the names Western, Blizzard, Fisher and Snowex.
Usually the company posts the lowest sales in the first quarter, but not this year.
Business has been so good for the Milwaukee-based business that in the first quarter of 2014 it posted record net sales of $36.4 million, a 158 percent increase compared with the first quarter of 2013, the firm announced after markets closed Monday. The company even posted a profit — of $1.6 million — for a quarter that typically generates a loss, like last year's first quarter that ended $3.4 million in the red.
James Janik, president and chief executive officer of Douglas Dynamics, said the sales numbers were “particularly pleasing” and that had a lot to do with winter arriving late in the season.
"We are now at the end of one of the longest snowfall seasons we have experienced, which produced the highest amounts of snowfall in North America of any of the past 18 years,” Janik said.
To put things in perspective, a few months ago Janik said that the snow actually makes his employees have a “spring in their step.”
Take that Mother Nature…
Reporter Denise Lockwood covers manufacturing for the Milwaukee Business Journal.
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
- Most popular
- Wells Fargo laying off 1,000 as it shutters Milwaukee office
- Open House: Estate on Geneva Lake has its own golden pond
- Costco buys New Berlin store site; construction expected soon
- Building Commission backs Walker's rejection of $147M in UWM projects
- Public land for sale: downtown riverfront, I-94 frontage and City Hall
- Cost for Gov. Scott Walker's arena-bond plan balloons to $488 million
- Can Milwaukee re-employ 1,000 after Wells Fargo cuts?
- Frank Crivello plans growth for Phoenix in Milwaukee area
- Will #SatisfactionThursday make way for #RubyTuesday?
- County Board members consider Art Museum takeover of O'Donnell Park
Sign up to receive Milwaukee Business Journal's Morning Edition and Afternoon Edition newsletters and breaking news alerts.
Audit Senior Manager CHAN Healthcare | Sioux Falls, SD
Controller Milaeger's | Racine, WI
Engineer II Johnson Controls, Inc | Milwaukee, WI
Registered Nurse (RN) - Part Time - Per Diem - NURSING: CRITICAL CARE Parallon Workforce Solutions | Milwaukee, WI
Marketing Generalist Ellsworth | Germantown, WI


text:
UK – Mark & Spenser (M&S) has announced four new senior appointments as the British retailer moves to reinforce its food division ahead of the online joint venture with Ocado next year.
The retailer has appointed former Tesco strategy director, Pav Anand as its head of food strategy and special products.
M&S has also named Lisa Raschia, Sainsbury’s head of technical fresh as the head of produce and horticulture. Raschia has also worked with Tesco for nine years in various roles including category buying manager of prepared foods.
M&S said that the Raschia’s appointment was important in supporting the produce category as the retailer seeks to further to expand in the sector, which it has identified as an opportunity for growth.
In addition, former supply chain director at Danish Crown, David Stokes has been appointed as M&S head of sourcing, where he will be accountable for co-ordinating sourcing strategy across all categories.
Laurissa Kuligowski, a former PwC consultant,
will also join the team as commercial strategy and
The new team will report to food commercial director George Wright, who also joined M&S earlier this year after departing Tesco as commercial director for convenience.
M&S Food managing director Stuart Machin, who is overseeing the transformation of M&S’s food division, said the appointments marks “good progress on our food transformation, but we know this is just the first stage of a multi-year plan.”
As part of his transformation, Machin has improved prices and the supply chain as well as launching a new-format food halls and stores designed to better showcase M&S’s range and quality and to help boost sales volumes.
Earlier this year, M&S announced a US$996.67 million (£750 million) joint venture with online grocer Ocado, which will enable M&S to sell its food range online for the first time starting next year.
According to M&S, the 50/50 Joint Venture is set to ‘transform online grocery shopping for UK consumers by combining the strength of M&S’s brand and its leading food quality and innovation with Ocado’s unique and proprietary technology to create an unrivalled online offer for customers.


text:
Meta Pay is the new Facebook Pay
A new blog post by Stéphane Kasriel, head of fintech at Meta, says that Facebook Pay is adopting the Meta brand. Coming Soon Meta Pay – refresh aims to improve the online payment experience.
Meta is also exploring how to facilitate payment processing within the Metaverse. Kasriel said the company is in the “very early stages” of creating a unique wallet experience for users. It would explore how you carry your identity across the metaverse, store digital goods, and how you can easily pay with any method you want.
The company sees Meta Pay as an opportunity “to bring more people into the financial system.” With 1 billion people in the world without any form of identification, Meta seeks to solve this problem; this could allow more users to support themselves or even start their own businesses.
Meta Pay will also seek to help businesses and creators better serve their audiences. With the potential for expanding business opportunities in the metaverse, Meta Pay can make this possible. He said there will be more to look forward to in this area throughout the year.
Our way forward is grounded in our mission to empower everyone, everywhere to access the global financial system to accelerate financial inclusion and economic empowerment. Designing products and infrastructure with the Metaverse in mind today will help facilitate innovation that provides greater access and real cost savings – even before the Metaverse becomes mainstream. Now is the time to lay the foundations for the future. Because once that foundation is in place, the potential of the metaverse, and where it can take fintech next, will be limitless.
FTC: We use revenue-generating automatic affiliate links. After.


text:
While millions of shoppers flocked to Wal-Mart stores nationwide on Black Friday, thousands of protesters descended on Wal-Marts to protest what they said were the retailer's low wages.
About 300 people rallied Friday morning at a Wal-Mart near Union Station in Washington, while 11 Wal-Mart workers and supporters were arrested on charges of blocking traffic outside a Wal-Mart on West Monroe Street in Chicago. At the Wal-Mart in North Bergen, New Jersey, several hundred union members and others protested.
Ronee Hinton, a cashier at a Wal-Mart in Laurel, Maryland, joined a morning protest at the Wal-Mart in Washington, calling on the company to increase everyone's pay to at least $15 an hour and give more workers full-time and less erratic schedules.
"It's very hard on what I earn," said Hinton, noting that she typically earns about $220 a week — she earns $8.40 an hour and often works about 26 hours a week. "Right now I'm on food stamps and am applying for medical assistance. It would help a lot to get full time."
In recent days, leaders of Our Walmart, a union-backed group of Wal-Mart employees, said there would be protests at 1,600 stores on Black Friday. Friday afternoon, officials from Our Walmart said that with the protests unfolding, they could not say how many Wal-Mart employees had joined the rallies or how many protests had occurred.
Wal-Mart sought to play down the protests, saying few employees went on strike. In a statement, the company said: "Fewer associates called out absent over the past day than we see on a typical day. That tells us our associates are excited to be there for our customers at this special time, and they are not joining in made-for-TV demonstrations in any meaningful way."
Wal-Mart added, "The crowds are mostly made up of paid union demonstrators and they are not representative of our 1.3 million associates across the country."
Wal-Mart said it paid competitive wages and its employees, full time and part time, averaged nearly $12 an hour.
The demonstrators said they were also protesting retaliation by Wal-Mart. In January, the National Labor Relations Board accused the company of illegal activities in 14 states, in particular in the disciplining of about 70 workers — and firing more than a dozen of them — for participating in previous protests. Those accusations are pending, and Wal-Mart said the labor board had not made any rulings that the company acted unlawfully against Our Walmart members.


text:
No Deposit Bonus : SlotsLv casino currently is offering everyone a $22 no deposit bonus. New Players Only. Fully Cashable. USA and Canadian Players are welcome. Please see our SlotsLv review page for the no deposit bonus info. SlotsLv Review
Best USA Casino Bonus
Big Casino Bonus : All USA Players Welcome: Bovada Casino the #1 USA Online Casino offering all new signups a $3000 table game and slots bonus + weekly cash back. All new accounts qualify thru our link. No codes needed. For full bonus information please see our Bovada Bonus review.
Stay At Home Moms Love Online Gambling
1/12/10 - The results of a research study commissioned by the competitions website Winmonkey and released this week are attracting attention in the UK media.
The tabloid The Sun reports that a quarter of those studied log on to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for more hours than they spend looking after their children - with some staying on the Web for more than five hours a day.
Over 80 percent of all full-time mothers admitted going online during the day - and 79 percent spent more time at their PCs than they did cooking and cleaning, the study discovered.
The most popular sites were social networks, but almost a quarter of the housewives interviewed revealed that they spent at least some of the day on online gambling sites.
The study of 1 466 women found that chat forums, social networking sites and gaming sites were the main Internet attractions. Stay-at-home mums spent an average of two and a quarter hours online a day. Over forty percent said they used the Internet more than three hours a day and 18 percent spent more than five hours a day online.
Almost three quarters of mums quizzed said they spent more time surfing the web than they did watching TV, and 79 percent spent more time on the Internet than they did doing household chores, including cooking.
In related news, a recent survey by Yahoo found 65 percent of mums use the Internet as main source of information, rather than simply wasting time online.
Limited time offer for all our Readers. All Countries. A brand new No Deposit Bonus. No Max Cashout. Claim It Here.
Gambling News :
Yggdrasil Gaming Expanding -
The Swedish online gambling games developer Yggdrasil Gaming is to establish a new parent company and expand its Stockholm office as it bolsters its presence in Sweden with a raft of new hires.
FanDuel and DraftKings Settle With NY Attorney General -
Speculation earlier this week that daily fantasy sports market leaders FanDuel and DraftKings were about to agree a settlement on consumer fraud suits prepared by the New York AG was confirmed Tuesday when a $12 million settlement was announced.
Stan james Now Live With EPOS -
The company switched to the Optima server less system across its entire estate in July after previously using Optima EPOS technology. The switch was completed early this (October) month and has already delivered noteworthy savings for the company.
Singapore Online Gambling Ban Begins -
Singapore media reports indicated Tuesday that restricted online gambling services offered by the Singapore Pools have started online operations, whilst Singapore Turf Club will commence online betting activity on November 15.
Pennsylvania Online Gambling Updates -
Pro-online gambling companies, including the Golden Nugget in New Jersey and Pokerstars, were quick to refute Schippers views based on their operational experience.
WSOPE In Czech Republic -
World Series of Poker Europe 2017 has moved to King’s Casino Rozvadov (KCR) in the Czech Republic following a multi-year deal that will see KCR host numerous WSOP-branded events over the next several years.
BtoBet Partners with AfroBet -
Following the launch in Kenya, Afrobet said it has high hopes for further expansion into East Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Congo.
Pissed off Tabcorp shareholders -
A significant number of Tabcorp shareholders, led by The Australian Shareholders Association, reportedly objected to proposed hikes in executive pay packages and were unhappy with the company plans for a merger with rival gambling group Tatts.
Please Note : Gambing might not be legal in your area. We bring you www.recentpoker.com as an information and gambling news site only. We hope that you find all the information and gambling news found in www.recentpoker.com to your liking. Please tell your friends about us and visit us again soon.


text:
Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the rest of the holiday shopping season will be upon us before we know it, alongside the increased consumer demands still projected for the end of the year.
Despite additional job opportunities, warehouses are experiencing a surplus of open positions.
Companies are cracking down on their budgets with even large-scale chains filing for bankruptcy due to the pandemic. Any new investments should be vetted thoroughly to ensure they’ll be worth your money.
Due to recent industry innovations and the COVID-19 pandemic, warehouse pallets are getting an upgrade. As they’re such an essential part of an efficient facility, they must be able to handle the most challenging jobs, complete versatile tasks and keep your products (and your team!) safe.
Nothing can tie up your warehouse more than excess inventory.
As the COVID-19 crisis continues to affect businesses all over the nation, warehouses are forced to find ways to increase efficiency due to an influx of online shopping and orders.
What’s the most important characteristic of industrial manipulators? Regardless of industry, their versatility, flexibility and ergonomic features can make a real difference in your facility.
With the Coronavirus pandemic still being top of mind, the health and cleanliness of warehouses and their employees across the country remains a major concern. Many businesses are adapting their operations to find ways to reduce the amount of contact between their teams, their products and their customers. When looking for ways to help them […]
Even in an average year, warehouse injuries are all too common. According to the Work Injury Source, manufacturing companies had 395,300 workplace injuries in 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, warehouses are being put to the test. Online purchases are up and it’s resting on the efficiency and productivity of warehouses to keep up with the […]
While social distancing and stay-at-home orders are in place for the majority of the nation, many essential warehouses are continuing operations. But just because warehouses have to be up and running during this time, it doesn’t mean that they can’t do their best to uphold safety and health requirements to keep everyone safe.


text:
Rumor: Digital Foundry claims mid-generation Switch hardware refresh was once planned
Posted on December 27, 2022 by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Rumors, Switch
Rumors of a more powerful Switch – often dubbed by fans as the Switch Pro – have persisted for years. The thought was that Nintendo would come out with a new piece of hardware that isn’t quite a successor, but would be a step up from what we have now. Presumably this theoretical device would allow for things such as technical improvements when it comes to aspects like frame rate and resolution and perhaps even better visuals.
Digital Foundry’s John Linneman has now weighed in on the situation in the outlet’s latest podcast. After speaking with some developers, he believes Nintendo was at once point toying around with a Switch hardware refresh. However, “that seems to no longer be happening” and the company is apparently pursuing a true successor instead.
Linneman’s full words:
“So I think at one point internally from what I can understand from talking to different developers, is that there was some sort of mid-generation Switch update planned at one point and that seems to be no longer happening. And thus it’s pretty clear that whatever they do next is going to be the actual next-generation hardware. I don’t think it’s going to be 2023.”
Linneman would go on to say that in his view, Nintendo is likely nervous about transitioning to what will come next after Switch given past generations. After the GameCube didn’t do too well, we saw the Wii which sold over 100 million units. However, with Wii U which came next, it was one of Nintendo’s worst-selling systems. The company is now back on top again with Switch which is one of its best-selling consoles ever. There’s been a little bit of a pattern with one system doing well, and then the next one taking a step back.


text: Peterson Chiropractic and Acupuncture will be collecting food for Meals on Wheels of Ridgefield during its 40-year anniversary Saturday, Oct. 14, from 9 to 2. The event, which will include giveaways, raffle prizes, music, and face painting, will be held at 31 Bailey Avenue \u2014 next door to TerraSole and Luc\u2019s Cafe. Those attending are asked to bring a canned good or nonperishable food item to get a free raffle entry. Needed items include cans of cannellini or kidney beans, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, low-sodium beef, chicken or vegetable broth, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, jelly, jam, mayonnaise, pasta, foil pans, and olives. For more information, call Peterson Chiropractic at 203-438-9609.


text:
16/09/05 - Earlier this year, Control Technology Inc held demonstration seminars in Australia, heralding the future of the 505 and the development of new products and long-term solutions for 505 users. CTI senior vice president Robert Peck spoke with Denes Bolz
Ferret.com.au is Australia’s leading hub for the manufacturing, industrial and mining industries. Owned and operated by Prime Creative Media, Ferret.com.au provides a comprehensive central online source containing the latest product, supplier and industry news updates attracting more than 70,000 unique visitors each month.
Ferret.com.au is the official partner of Australian Mining and Manufacturers' Monthly.


text:
Software brand will oversee the arrivals at September’s Hot 100 party.
EPoS specialist Pursuit Software has been revealed as the latest company to partner with Professional Jeweller’s Hot 100, following in the footsteps of buying group The Company of Master Jewellers (CMJ) and jewellery brands Ti Sento and Clogau Gold.
Pursuit will oversee the invitations and arrivals at this September’s Hot 100 party – where 2012’s Hot 100 will be both revealed and celebrated – using special technology to record the arrival of guests.
The Professional Jeweller Hot 100 celebrates the 100 most influential and forward-thinking members of the jewellery industry through insightful profiles and original photography taken by the lead photographers of Harpers Bazaar Arabia and L’Officiel magazine.
The book and the list will be unveiled at the exclusive invite-only Hot 100 party, which will take place at the Art Deco-designed Freemasons Hall in London’s Covent Garden on September 4.
Mike Burns, managing director of Pursuit Software, said: “Prompted by the power and potential of the latest wave of advances in PoS and ecommerce tools, vast sections of the industry now regard information technology as taking a centre-stage role in business thinking.
“For Pursuit Software therefore, there could be no better time to have the honour of becoming a Professional Jeweller Hot 100 partner. Impressively, as well as strategically-astute multiples, we are seeing fifth- and sixth-generation family-run jewellers at the forefront when it comes to embracing change.”
Hot 100 partner Pursuit Software joins gold partner Ti Sento and fellow sponsor the CMJ, which has returned as principle partner for a third year, and Clogau Gold which will be returning to the Hot 100 event for a second year with its popular Hot 100 Best Dressed competition.
Burns added: “As the leading innovator in jewellery IT – and continuing to make substantial investments to maintain our lead – it is a great privilege to take our place with the elite of retailers and suppliers that make up the Hot 100.”
To see photos from last year’s event and find out more click here to visit the dedicated Hot 100 mini site.


text:
Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) CEO Jeff Kirwan sold 7,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.02, for a total transaction of $237,908.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 30,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $982,949.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.
Jeff Kirwan also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Wednesday, November 29th, Jeff Kirwan sold 6,430 shares of GAP stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.02, for a total transaction of $205,888.60.
- On Wednesday, November 1st, Jeff Kirwan sold 1,000 shares of GAP stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.11, for a total transaction of $26,110.00.
- On Monday, October 2nd, Jeff Kirwan sold 1,000 shares of GAP stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.38, for a total transaction of $29,380.00.
Shares of Gap Inc (GPS) traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.98. 6,227,163 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,989,820. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Gap Inc has a 1-year low of $21.02 and a 1-year high of $32.83. The company has a market cap of $12,046.79, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.86.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. GAP’s payout ratio is 42.40%.
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GAP by 286.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 8,620 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 6,392 shares during the last quarter. Greenlight Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of GAP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,751,000. Gyroscope Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GAP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,826,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GAP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $658,000. Finally, FrontFour Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in GAP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,308,000. Institutional investors own 54.32% of the company’s stock.
GPS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of GAP and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Oppenheimer set a $28.00 price objective on shares of GAP and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. ValuEngine raised shares of GAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of GAP in a research note on Tuesday, September 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.94.
COPYRIGHT VIOLATION WARNING: This piece of content was posted by American Banking News and is the sole property of of American Banking News. If you are reading this piece of content on another domain, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of international copyright laws. The legal version of this piece of content can be accessed at https://www.americanbankingnews.com/2017/12/01/gap-inc-gps-ceo-sells-237908-60-in-stock.html.
The Gap, Inc (Gap Inc) is an apparel retail company. The Company offers apparel, accessories and personal care products for men, women and children under the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta and Intermix brands. Its products are available to customers online through Company-owned Websites and through the use of third-parties that provide logistics and fulfillment services.
Receive News & Ratings for Gap Inc Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Gap Inc and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.


text:
jfruh writes: "Networked cars — cars that can identify each other's location and prevent collisions — are coming soon, and will be a boon for safety, with one estimate having them cut accidents by 70 percent. But what happens to all the data the car will collect — about your location and driving behavior? It's worrisome that nobody seems to be thinking seriously about the privacy side of the equation."
Sign up for the Slashdot Daily Newsletter! DEAL: For $25 - Add A Second Phone Number To Your Smartphone for life! Use promo code SLASHDOT25. Win a FREE Moto Z2 Force Edition smartphone from Wirefly ×


text:
Need to Know
- Adidas is growing its partnership with WhatsApp by launching a major direct marketing campaign.
- Facebook-owned WhatsApp does not allow brands to run ads but does allow brands to engage fans through its chat function
- WhatsApp has over 1.5 billion active users across 180 countries.
- Over three million businesses use WhatsApp to connect with customers.
While ads are still not allowed on WhatsApp, Adidas is using the popular messaging app as a tool for direct marketing and a new way to create highly-engaged customer communities.
Since 2015, Adidas has been using WhatsApp to chat directly with customers, in an effort to grow influence organically. Most recently, the sportswear brand has been ramping up its marketing strategy by using the app as the main platform for global campaigns.
WhatsApp is a mobile messaging app that is used as a tool to chat with friends who also have the app, no matter where they are in the world or what kind of smartphone they have. Though Facebook owns WhatsApp, the social media giant does not allow advertising on the app, which has resulted in brands getting creative with how they use it to engage customers.
For example, Netflix sends movie and TV recommendations via WhatsApp to users in India, and KLM airlines sends passengers flight updates and booking information.
Adidas is using the app by engaging influencers, athletes, and other brands to operate as “salespeople” to promote their products. In a recent UK campaign, Adidas opened up a chat hotline for fans in need of a football player to cover for unreliable teammates on their team. Adidas-sponsored players would then show up to the games of successful winners decked out in Adidas’ newest footwear.
“It’s allowed us to build direct relationships with a smaller community of influential people in an ongoing way that doesn’t feel transactional and allows for a conversation, rather than just a broadcast,” said Laura Coveney, managing editor for Adidas’ newsroom in London.
It’s no surprise that brands are eager to use WhatsApp to engage a new fan base. WhatsApp is a hugely popular app, with 1.5 billion active users in 180 countries. WhatsApp Business launched in 2018, which now allows over three million companies to engage their fan base. Businesses can also track statistics such as the number of messages read and user engagement allowing the companies to inform a stronger business strategy.
“The open rates for messages in WhatsApp will be ‘immensely’ higher than message platforms’ closest competitor, email,” said James Whatley, strategy partner at Digitas U.K.
Rather than investing more money in ads, Adidas is exploring ways to engage organically with its most loyal fans, and exploring WhatsApp is just one avenue in Adidas’ effort to innovate with popular platforms.
The fashion brand has also partnered with Spotify, allowing the music streaming service to “tap into a phone’s accelerometer while someone was out for a jog, calculate a stride rate, then mine Spotify’s content to find songs with the correct BPM and intensity to match the pace of the run.”
Added Whatley, “The brands that get this right will be the ones that understand just how private message platforms are and how privileged they are to be invited in.”


text:
The nature of the sell off over the last 2 days seems to be related more to worries of the economic slowdown spreading to emerging markets. The biggest indicator of that is a sharp fall in Copper over the last 1 week. Although the S&P 500 is still above its August lows, Copper has sharply broken lower. China is the biggest consumer of Copper and there is a worry about the Chinese building boom slowing down. Yesterday Fedex talked about slowing down in Asia.
Following is a 3 month price chart for Copper.


text:
Apple is delaying the production of its new 2020 iPhone models due to a slump in demand, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Production of the new models will be pushed back by approximately one month, as fewer people are purchasing gadgets such as high-end smartphones due to the global coronavirus outbreak. This will affect the four upcoming iPhone models which were anticipated to be launched this fall as part of the 2020 iPhone 12 line, coming in 5.4-inch, 6.7-inch, and 6.1-inch sizes and offering 5G connectivity.
This delay is not entirely unexpected, as this time last month Apple contractor assemblers were already speculating that there would be decreased demand for high-end smartphones, especially in the U.S. and Europe.
In addition, even though the outbreak of COVID-19 has been brought somewhat under control in China, at least enough for many factories there to reopen, there remain concerns about global supply chain issues.
Regarding the production delay, a source told the WSJ that Apple intends to reduce the number of handsets it produces this year by up to 20%, although the company may possibly make up for this drop by producing more handsets next year.
Apple was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic early on, as much of its manufacturing takes place in China. It announced that it was unlikely to meet its second-quarter revenue forecast and had to close its retail stores, first in China and then around the rest of the world.
But Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said at the time that he was confident Apple could weather the storm of factory and retail closures: “It will take some time, but by and large I think this is a temporary condition, not a long term kind of thing. You know, Apple is fundamentally strong, so that’s how I see it.”
- Before you buy an iPhone 15 Pro case, make sure it has this one thing
- Yes, Apple’s FineWoven iPhone 15 cases really are that bad
- Got an iPhone 15 Pro? Make sure to change this one setting
- After 3 days, I love these 4 things about the iPhone 15
- Does the iPhone 15 have an overheating problem? Here’s what we know


text:
EasyJet holidays has put its 2022 spring and summer holiday programme on sale early citing a "surge in demand" after the government revealed its roadmap plotting a course out of the country’s Covid lockdown.
The airline has also puts its spring 2022 flight programme on sale, and is currently offering 19 million seats across 111,000 flights departing up to 31 May 2022; fares lead in from £14.99pp.
Meanwhile, easyJet holidays’ 2022 beach breaks lead in from £249pp, with free child places available on many package trips.
It comes after easyJet confirmed earlier this month it would add 15 new routes for the summer 2021 peak season, including Newquay, and 10 new holiday routes from Luton, Birmingham, Bristol, Belfast and Gatwick.
On Monday (22 February), Boris Johnson said international travel would restart on 17 May at the earliest, with a reconvened Global Travel Taskforce due to report on how this can be achieved safely by 12 April.
As a result, easyJet said summer flight bookings and holiday bookings were up 337% and 630% respectively compared to last week, although neither the airline nor its operator division offered specific figures.
Beach resorts in Dalaman, Malaga, Alicante, Palma, Faro and Crete have so far proved most popular, with August being the most commonly booked month followed by July and then September.
Ali Gayward, easyJet UK country manager, said Monday’s roadmap announcement had provided "a much-needed boost in confidence", adding the airline protection promise would ensure flexibility in the event of any changes necessitated by Covid.
"While the summer may be a little while off, we will be working around the clock to ensure we will be ready to ramp up our flights to reconnect friends and family or take them on a long-awaited holiday."
Paul Bixby, easyJet holidays commercial director, added the operator would offer 45 new hotels, as well as "thousands" of free child places.
EasyJet holidays’ 10 new destinations include Enfidha in Tunisia and Sunny Beach in Bulgaria, boosting its package holiday programme to more than 100 destinations offering in excess of 5,000 hotels across 500 resorts.
Deposits start from £60pp; holidays can be paid in fee-free instalments, with balances due 28 days before travel.


text:
Union Pacific eyes Upper Midwest for intermodal opportunities
(Source: Freight Waves, November 21, 2020)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Union Pacific is hoping to attract more intermodal customers in the Upper Midwest now that it has an intermodal terminal in Minneapolis.
Full story: Freight Waves
Monday, November 23, 2020
Like us on Facebook at
Sign up for BLET News Flash Alerts


text:
Expedia’s travel management brand Egencia has expanded its operations in Asia with the opening of an office in Singapore.
The new Singapore base is Egencia’s fourth full-service local office in the Asia Pacific region. The TMC already operates in China, India and Australia and now has a presence in 65 countries across the world.
Egencia’s president Rob Greyber attended the opening of the new office as the company focuses on “growth and development” in the region.
“Singapore has a well-deserved international reputation for being a business-friendly city, and an important travel hub, and we're delighted to be here,” said Greyber.
“Growing in Asia means we can provide our world-class customer service and intuitive technology to modern business travellers throughout the region.”
Expedia said it was launching its Singapore office with more than 30 clients already on its books, including pharmaceutical company Takeda.


text:
If you’ve been tracking the tech news over the past 48 hours, you’ll have seen a new name crop up with increasing regularity: Ouya. Currently in a prototype, the design studio behind the project are raising funds via Kickstarter to bring the concept to living rooms worldwide. Gamers have been overwhelmingly positive in their response – with roughly $3.5 million already pledged in the first 48 hours alone, the console looks almost certain to become a reality.
So what exactly are people buying?
This is not a games console in the traditional sense. Ouya seeks to change the relationship between developer, platform owner and consumer. Instead of having expensive development kits and closely guarded marketplace access, the team behind Ouya are keen to make it as easy as possible for developers to get on to their platform, using pricing and payment models that are right for them. By building their own console, rather than relying on someone else’s platform, the team behind Ouya can control each point in the process.
The box itself is also intriguing, once it’s looked at indirectly. The hardware is based around the NVidia Tegra3 system-on-chip, something you’ll also see powering the Asus Nexus 7 tablet. It’ll also be running Android 4.0, meaning that the operating system will already be taken care of. While Ouya’s focus will be on the USB joypad, the ecosystem and the front-end, hackers will be eager to take this thing apart and start playing with it. In many respects it’s almost a premium-grade Raspberry Pi. And just like with mobile devices, there’s an opportunity to bring out a faster, more powerful and backwards compatible version each year.
But none of this is truly radical. Apple and Google have been doing similar things with their platforms for smartphones and tablets. Valve have been using Steam to do similar things for PC. Bringing that kind of engagement and pricing model to our big-screen TVs would certainly be a dramatic disruption to the status quo, but that’s all it would bring. We won’t be seeing next generation graphics on the Ouya, just images intended for a seven-inch screen blown up for our 42-inch plasmas.
It also finds itself in a precarious position. All it takes is for one of the existing walruses to roll over and change their stance, and Ouya’s unique proposition evaporates. It’s also possible that some enterprising coders transplant the Ouya wrapper onto other Tegra or Android based kit, eliminating the need to shell out on the hardware. Should that happen, it becomes a straight contest between Ouya, Google Play and Amazon’s app store.
For me, the intrigue of Ouya harks back to the days of Spectrums, Commodores, and Amigas, where your games machine was also your development box, where anyone could code as long as they had time and patience. But considering that anyone with a PC can start developing for Android, and anyone with a Mac can start coding for iPhone, the need for this little box of wonder seems moot.
Over 25 thousand of us have already put our cash down for the console, with many more likely to join them before the deadline expires next month. But even if the first production run nets Ouya an installed user base in the hundreds of thousands, I wonder if we’ll still be talking about the console next year. Whether it can create – then ride – the wave of change, or be wiped out in the wash, remains to be seen.


text:
Venture Minerals is planning to start tin production, from its Mount Lindsay project in Tasmania in 2013, as increased tin prices have resulted in market demand.
Venture Minerals managing director Hamish Halliday told Reuters that the firm is in talks with Chinese smelters that could lead to a supply offtake agreement with respect to mine development and provide up to $160m in construction costs.
“There’s a sweet spot in the tin market between now and around 2020, when little new supply in the world will come online,” Halliday said.
To support development of the mine, iron and copper will be produced as by-products to tin.
The mine will produce about 2,500t of tin a year and will have an expected mine life of eight years.


text:
Bitcoin rebounds, leading other cryptocurrencies higher, after its big dip over the weekend
Bitcoin Climbed on Tuesday
Bitcoin climbed on Tuesday after a slew of poor headlines had pushed the cryptocurrency to a new 2022 low over the weekend.
The rate of bitcoin jumped greater than 6% to $21,358.31 round 1:20 p.M. ET, in step with Coin Metrics. Over the weekend, it fell as little as $17,958.05. That became its lowest point in view that December 2020.
Meanwhile, ether rose more than 5% to $1,166.24.
The actions arrive at the heels of bearish headlines for the cryptocurrency industry that began with pressure from macroeconomic forces. Wholesale fees rose at a close to record annual pace closing week and the Federal Reserve hiked its benchmark hobby charge through 3-quarters of a percentage factor, the biggest growth in view that 1994.
Cryptocurrency agencies, together with Coinbase and BlockFi, are shedding personnel. Crypto lenders, which promise customers high yields for depositing their digital coins, have been sparking insolvency fears.
In a similar approach to those considering shares, crypto buyers are treading gently round endure market bounces with some waiting for that the asset magnificence should fall even similarly before seeing a significant rebound.
“Bitcoin’s weekend dip was, to position it definitely, not deep enough,” stated Yuya Hasegawa, a crypto marketplace analyst at Japanese bitcoin exchange Bitbank. “The macro surroundings has now not virtually modified from remaining week’s [Federal Open Market Committee] meeting: There nonetheless has not been a clear sign of inflation coming down and the Fed may also nevertheless power the economy into recession by way of raising quotes too aggressively or certainly by using failing to tame inflation.”
Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at the U.K.-based totally virtual asset dealer GlobalBlock, said bitcoin faces resistance at the $21,300 stage. If the cryptocurrency can overcome that, he stated, it could attain the next target of $23,500 as its quick sellers get squeezed. A “quick squeeze” takes place whilst the price of a closely shorted asset starts offevolved growing, and brief sellers are pressured to buy extra of the asset to cowl their positions.


text:
Fill out the Form Below to Voice Your Support to this Very Important Bill
California, Illinois, and Nevada passed laws that go into effect this year to ban the sale or import of animal-tested cosmetics. Hawaii, New York, Virginia, and New Jersey are in the process of passing similar legislation. Animal-tested cosmetics already are banned in the European Union, Israel, and India. As a result of the ban in the European Union, many international companies have eliminated the use of animals when testing their products.
In addition to being cruel and painful to the animals, there are scientific and economic reasons that the cosmetics industry is moving away from animal testing. First, animal sensitivity to cosmetics is not necessarily a true predictor of human sensitivity to those products. Second, there are alternatives to using animal subjects. Unilever, Avon, and Procter and Gamble have successfully used synthetic tissue to test the safety of their cosmetics. Moreover, doing testing on animals can be expensive as these animals have to be fed, housed, and given veterinary care. Finally, companies reap economic benefits as many current and new customers actively select cosmetics that are not tested on animals.
By passing this bill, Maryland is sending a message that our state embraces a humane model of corporate social responsibility.
This may seem like simply a “cosmetic change” but to the animals enduring those gruesome tests, it’s way more than skin deep.
Thank you again for being an advocate for Maryland’s animals. Remember, Maryland Votes for Animals, Inc. can only succeed with the help of animal advocates like you. Please consider making a donation to Maryland Votes for Animals at voteanimals.org/donate now, so we can continue fighting for Maryland animals.
Maryland Votes for Animals, Inc.


text:
Forbes - It’s Kombucha Thursday at the Santa Monica headquarters of The Honest Company, which means that groups of young, stylish workers gather at communal tables in a converted toy factory to slurp fashionable fermented tea. Jessica Alba, Hollywood star and company cofounder, sits in the adjacent room. She’ll join her troops shortly, but for now she’s transfixed by a box of tampons that looks more like it holds an expensive candle than Kotex. “Dope!” she declares, approvingly.
“We’re using all-organic cotton and plant-based polymer and a bio-plastic applicator,” says the 34-year-old actress earnestly, contrasting that with the plastic content of drugstore tampons and their effect on hormones. Honest’s new feminine care line launches in July.
Alba can go similarly deep on almost all of The Honest Company’s 120 products, whether the ingredients in a new organic beeswax sunscreen or the clever insulation pocket hidden inside a chic $170 vegan-leather diaper bag. Yes, she has a pretty face — it seems as if every men’s magazine has named her the most beautiful woman in the world at some point — but it’s the details from which great fortunes stem.
Details and hard work. Alba laughs about how she once worked an 86-hour week as the star of James Cameron’s sci-fi TV series, Dark Angel — the series that launched her career. Now, she says, she spends those 86 hours at a vintage teal blue desk, overseeing marketing and brand development for a company that feeds a growing demand for safe, nontoxic products, particularly among young helicopter parents who treat children — and what goes near or inside them — like porcelain.
Safety sells. The Honest Company has experienced an absurd level of growth. In 2012, its first year selling products, it hit $10 million in revenue. By last year it was $150 million, and industry insiders are predicting over $250 million this year. The company is focused on growth over profits, boasting a current valuation to match: $1 billion.
That figure means Alba, who owns between 15% and 20% of the company, according to a source with knowledge of her investment, is sitting on a fortune of $200 million. She’s on her way to earning a spot on FORBES’ new ranking of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, just $50 million shy of Beyoncé and Judge Judy, who are tied at number 49. The only other two celebrities to make the inaugural list are Oprah and Madonna. The difference is that foursome made their money in their core field, media and music. Alba, at a young age, has done it in a completely unrelated industry. But ask Alba and she’ll tell you she and Honest are just getting started. “If we really want to make a difference in the world and people’s health, it’s billions and billions of dollars, not just one,” she says, surveying the open-plan company floor from a conference room above its wooden rafters.
Like most great ideas, The Honest Company was inspired by a need that wasn’t being filled. In 2008 Alba was newly engaged to Internet entrepreneur Cash Warren and pregnant with their first child. At a baby shower thrown by family and friends, she remembers her mother advising her to use baby detergent to prewash the piles of onesies she’d received as gifts. She used a mainstream brand and immediately broke out into ugly red welts, harkening back to a childhood spent in and out of emergency rooms and doctors’ offices.
“She was the most sensitive child,” remembers her mother, Cathy Alba, who wasn’t referring to her daughter’s emotional well-being. Raised on Air Force bases in such places as Biloxi, Miss. and Del Rio, Tex., Jessica’s bad allergies and chronic asthma made her predisposed to pneumonia, which she contracted about twice a year, often leading to two-week hospital stints.
Now covered in hives again — and wary of having her baby relive her own experience — Alba spent late nights on Google and Wikipedia researching the contents not just of the offending detergent but also of everything in her bathroom cabinet and under her kitchen sink. “I was like, ‘How can this be safe for babies if I’m having this type of reaction?’” she says. What she found terrified her: petrochemicals, formaldehydes and flame retardants in everyday household products from floor cleaners to mattresses. Some were listed on the ingredients label plain as day, with others disguised under the catchall of “fragrance,” which is entirely legal.
Armed with Internet printouts and fear for the health of her unborn child, Alba first tried to shop around the problem but grew irritated trying to find natural and eco-friendly products that weren’t either extortionate or seemingly designed for yurt-dwelling vegan yogis. Or both. “I felt like my needs weren’t being met as a modern person,” she says. “I want beautiful design like everybody else. But it shouldn’t be premium-priced, and it should, of course, be safe.”
She tried making her own cleaning products out of baking soda, vinegar and essential oils but wound up with something closer to salad dressing. So when she came across Christopher Gavigan, who for seven years led a nonprofit called Healthy Child Healthy World, she, like most new mothers, asked him what to buy.
“They don’t want to be that investigatory weekend toxicologist,” says Gavigan. “They just want someone to hold their hand.” He explained that several companies with “green” credentials like Vermont-based Seventh Generation were doing good work across some product categories, but there was no one umbrella brand positioning itself as the go-to for all things eco-friendly, safe and nontoxic.
A lightbulb went off for both of them. Pretty soon Alba and Gavigan were polishing off wine on nights and weekends, cooking up a business plan and buying up Web domain names with the word “honest” in them. Through her husband, she met Web entrepreneur Brian Lee, a trained attorney who had hit it big with LegalZoom.com, an online legal-documentation service he cofounded with Robert Shapiro of O.J. Simpson infamy.
“I made some introductions for her and said good luck,” says Lee, who looked at Alba’s 50-page PowerPoint in 2009 but didn’t bite. He says now he was simply tied up launching subscription shoe site ShoeDazzle.com with then partner Kim Kardashian.
Meanwhile, Alba was busy with her Hollywood career, starring in the likes ofValentine’s Day, Little Fockers and Machete, all of which premiered in 2010.
Alba kept Gavigan on her payroll as a consultant. By 2011 she had turned herself into an expert on consumer products and traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby for updated legislation. She was — and is — particularly focused on reforming the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, which has allowed more than 80,000 chemicals to remain in household products untested. Only five are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency; just 11 are banned from consumer goods. (In Europe that figure is more than 1,300.) “Enough people have to get sick or die from a certain ingredient or chemical before it’s pulled from the marketplace,” says Alba.
For Alba’s husband, Cash Warren, it was a lesson in climbing a steep learning curve. “I didn’t know much about all the chemicals that were in our consumer products, so she educated me on this epidemic,” he says. “It felt massive, so I was a little reserved at first. She jumped into it headfirst.”
She went back to Brian Lee in 2011 armed with data on the rise of childhood diseases and a much more concise ten-page pitch deck. Lee’s mind had changed — not coincidentally, he had recently become horrified when his young son was banned from bringing that classic, all-American lunch the PB&J sandwich to nursery school. Too many kids had severe nut allergies. “Autism, Tourette’s, chronic allergies and asthmas and celiac disease — all of this stuff is on the rise,” Lee says. “I almost had this moment of awakening. Why aren’t we doing something about this?”


text:
As business needs change, so do the requirements for the business backbone. ARN looks at networking trends and technologies and reports on predictions for 2008 and beyond.
A IS FOR APPLICATION INTEGRATION
Gartner research director, Geoff Johnson, said network architects must prepare for dramatically increased integration between once-distinct communications tools spanning applications, networks and devices. "The value chain in enterprise networking is changing," he said. "And once voice is carried as an IP traffic stream on a data communications network, it becomes readily integrated into IT applications. As the dominant enterprise solutions vendors develop 'voice' as a feature in new releases, it is clear that previous architectures such as PBX, CTI and IVR face dead-ends."
B IS FOR BUSINESS PROCESSES
Gartner's Johnson said Communications Enabled Business Processes (CEBP) will soon allow agent collaboration in new, exciting ways. We're all familiar with Word's ability to incorporate hotlinks. "How about," said Johnson, "if it harnessed a communications protocol like SIP, which you can click on to see who wrote and edited the documents, and also talk to them." Such 'voice-click' technology is not far off, and will stimulate new, more efficient ways of working seamlessly from within a document - or from within an application - in real-time.
"Companies are under tremendous pressure to improve the speed and efficiency of their business processes," Johnson said. "[Yet] little has been offered to improve processes that are human-communications-intensive."
C IS FOR CONSUMERS
Technology providers like Yahoo and Google are the new leaders and are driven by consumers, according to Gartner's Johnson. "A lot of enterprise technology is now driven by consumer trends and activities. That's a trend for the next two years," he said. What's more, enterprises will accept increasing use of consumer applications at work. "By 2011, 80 per cent of enterprise procurement will permit or condone the use of effective consumer IT solutions as employees' personal productivity tools - with 0.7 probability," Johnson said. Integrators and service providers with core IT skills will position themselves to take advantage of managed services opportunities that arise from new technologies, he said.
D IS FOR DATACENTRES
With business computing pushing more data over the network, storage is under ever more pressure, according to Riverbed regional director, Steve Dixon. "The important thing is how do you improve backup to the datacentre," he said. "Companies are trying to improve back-end storage issues and performance issues."
E IS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Green issues are in the vanguard of recent customer thinking. D-Link marketing director, Maurice Famularo, said channel players should watch out for its new SOHO and SMB Green Ethernet products complying with the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive. "[Going green] is a company direction," Famularo said. Vendors and customers alike in Australia will soon follow. People want and need to cut their power consumption too, so look out for switches that can run power according to the length of cable used, saving on energy.
F IS FOR FACEBOOK
According to Exinda Networks co-founder, Con Nikolouzakis, Facebook is a major contributor to wasted network resources. And take-up is unlikely to let up next year, meaning businesses need better ways to manage the use of recreational applications. "Some of the concerns include the use of third-party advertising engines to collect information, such as in a recent security hole where people logging off Facebook were still having info collected about them," Nikolouzakis said.
G IS FOR GOOGLE
Gartner's Johnson argued Google is one wildly popular consumer 'wild card', with its free email, search and document services. "The 'giveaway' mass marketing business model that was so successful during the dot.com era is creating inexpensive alternatives to formal enterprise IT solutions," he noted. Giveaways already include search for text, images and video; email, VoIP, storage, news, information, merchant payment, directories, location images and services.
"Google, Yahoo, eBay - and even an AOL/Time Warner or Apple/Disney in future - will be occupied delivering their single-function products in the near-term, but many mashups or blended solutions will launch during the next few years," he said.
"Strong cash flows and an enormous capital base allows Google to invest in IT infrastructure well in advance of its need for new business," Johnson added. . .


text:
Mercedes and Peugeot to become parteners?
Mercedes wants to replace the A-Class by 2011 and the B-Class a year later and a partner for the two models could help Mercedes cut costs.
"We have to accept that Mercedes alone will not achieve volumes some of our global competitors have," said Thomas Weber, DaimlerChrysler board member for r&d. "We are thinking about our strategy for the next generation of these cars."
And sources from Mercedes says that the PSA/Peugeot-Citroen is considered a potential candidate. PSA already has a joint venture with Mercedes rival BMW to build gasoline engines for BMW’s Mini and for PSA’s small cars.
"We talk with everybody about everything. We do not have a final project with Mercedes, though," said Gilles Michel, PSA’s board member responsible for platforms, technology development and purchasing.


text:
Over 200 partners joined Kodak Alaris at its first virtual Partner Summit. The global information capture specialist had planned on holding its annual partner conference for the EMEA region in Vienna, but in light of the current Covid-19 crisis, decided to make it a virtual event. Alaris President and General Manager Don Lofstrom confirmed that despite the challenges presented by the current global pandemic, Kodak Alaris’ performance in the financial year ended March 31 was strong overall. In his address to partners, he provided an update on the impact of Covid-19 on the business and the marketplace over the past four months, as well as steps Kodak Alaris has taken to minimise disruption to its customers.
“Employee safety and supply chain management have been at the forefront of the company’s focus,” Lofstrom said. “Our supply chain is now intact and strong, our manufacturing sites in China are up and running at nearly full capacity. Scanner production is over 95% capacity now compared with 40% in March. Our secondary supply chain partners are also beginning to normalise, although we continue to monitor this very carefully in certain regions.”
Whilst March brought some delays and slippage to orders, Lofstrom said that this month has seen increased demand from a number of sectors including healthcare and logistics. “Work from home mandates are also creating market needs for digitisation and remote collaboration solutions that involve our digital capture and software offers” he explained, adding: “We have also increased our use of remote monitoring and service to ensure we keep customers up and running, and do continue to provide essential on-site service in locations where government mandates allow.”
66% of partners who attended the virtual event said that Covid-19 had ‘considerably changed’ their business and that they were looking to change their business strategy. Lofstrom said that Kodak Alaris is thinking outside the box, looking for opportunities to offer expertise to help partners overcome these new challenges. “We expect some short-term decline for most applications as a result of the crisis but are confident that there will be some pockets of incremental demand. The need to share documents across remote teams and accurately capture data and automate business processes will remain critical, with many organisations under pressure to remove manual steps and reduce staff time,” he stated.
Lofstrom also believes that technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotic process automation and machine learning will continue to change scanning requirements. “AI and machine learning require intelligent capture, RPA accelerates process automation and edge capture follows edge computing,” he said. Kodak Alaris is well positioned to help partners capitalise on the opportunity with offerings including its partner-centric, cloud-connected scanning solution INfuse; usage-based pricing; cloud-based software and managed services including fleet management.
Lofstrom also provided partners with insight into the future roadmap. He confirmed that the INFuse infrastructure has been expanded to work with Amazon and Alibaba in addition to Microsoft Azure and announced the launch of a new Windows server edition, new legal flatbed accessory and card reader accessory with availability in late summer. “The low volume production scanning market presents growth opportunity for partners,” Lofstrom said. “To this end we will be launching an updated series of scanners later this year.”
In conclusion, Lofstrom said that partners bring Alaris technology to life and confirmed the company’s commitment to investing in its channel partners. “We have a strong partner network and continued investment in partner enablement is important to us. We have this year, developed relationships with a new breed of partner, AI, RPA and software vendors, as we look to expand our reach and share in new markets. We continue to gear our efforts to support our resellers in winning their most promising opportunities, through the provision of market development funds, best-in-class partner resource management systems and marketing collateral. We will also be adding more capabilities to enable partners in reselling software solutions. Working together we will succeed in this challenging environment.”
Kodak Alaris is planning a series of follow-up events designed to keep partners engaged throughout the year. These include virtual breakout sessions in April and May covering opportunities within the enterprise and public sectors, archiving and digital mailroom markets; as well as sessions looking at key vertical market solutions/opportunities, sales enablement and bringing further value through the Alaris Partner Programme. The company will also recognise its partners’ achievements in a virtual awards presentation on May 20th.


text:
Within a month of the crippling strike at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers today favoured reforms in India's labour laws to allow lay-offs of employees during a slowdown, but with adequate unemployment benefits.
"Labour reforms is high on agenda of SIAM for quite some years. We don't have any policy on laying-off during slowdown. Labour problems hamper the employment prospects of permanent staff," Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) President Pawan Goenka told reporters here.
He said auto companies should be encouraged to have more permanent employees like in the US, where the firms are allowed to fire them in case of a slowdown and a government fund takes care of them for a certain period or till they join a new job.
"So something similar is needed here. Permanent employees have to grow. The law should give the flexibility to handle the number of people during slowdown that means laying off," Goenka said.
SIAM has discussed about labour reforms many times with the government without any positive result, he added.
"We have made several presentations to the Ministry of Heavy Industries, but no serious discussion has happened yet on what could be done.
"One thing is certain that something has to happen. Otherwise, it will have serious impact on the sector," Goenka said.
SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur said the law should give "flexibility" on taking disciplinary actions even against a single person.
Last month, the country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki lost production of 12,600 units, valued at about Rs 630 crore, in a 13-day strike at Manesar facility for recognition of a new union at the plant.
Days after this, production was completely affected for four days at tyre maker MRF's Kottayam plant in Kerala and the company had declared a lockout.
Earlier, major manufacturers had called for labour law reforms, while trade unions said existing rules must be implemented strictly to avoid confrontations.
"The rigidity in labour laws has led companies to increasingly resort to outsourcing and contracting of labour. To be very precise, the need of the hour is flexible labour reforms," General Motors India vice president P Balendran had said.
However, national trade union leaders have an opposite view to the problem and insist that formation of a union, or even multiple unions, and getting political affiliations are workers' rights and are allowed under the Indian labour laws.
Subscribe to Business Standard Premium
Exclusive Stories, Curated Newsletters, 26 years of Archives, E-paper, and more!


text:
Just a few days ago we covered how Hotel associations across the country are alleging online booking platforms for their competitive pricing strategies that are making restaurant owners earn as good as compared to older times. After action against MakeMyTrip and GoIbibo in November, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) – an all India body of hotel owners and operators had warned OYO of nationwide protests if it did not negotiate with the hotel owners body.
Hotel owners showing their anger against OYO
In a letter to OYO founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal, the FHRAI had said that apart from breach of contract, most of its members have grievances with OYO, regarding endorsement of and hoarding illegal and unlicensed bed and breakfast apartments, flats in residential/commercial buildings, and such other independent structures as hotels.
“Such positioning/endorsement is not only misleading but also a potential guest safety hazard,” the letter read.
Hotel owners are against the 25%-30% commission charges that aggregators take from them. Another problem for owners is that they cannot discount their rooms, OYO can offer add-on discounts on bookings. Due to this strategy, the brand value of OYO is increasing while reducing the same of their hotels.
The hotel associations have also claimed that after capturing the market by providing deep discounts, OYO is not keeping up with the agreements and trying to make a monopoly which is against the market rules. Several cases have arrived in which OYO is making hotels to change the agreements, else they will not pay them.
“Unfortunately, OYO has been reneging on all its obligations and in fact adopting exploitative and coercive methods against hotels who have protested,” the letter dated December 10, added.
In response, an OYO representative said “We believe that the allegations are misguided and misplaced, and depict cartelization by small groups of people (not necessarily by franchisees and lessors associated with OYO Hotels) with vested interests, which is not in the best interest of the consumers.” The company also believes that the changes demanded by the hotel owners lobby could end up raising the prices for end customers by as much as 40%.


text:
Twilight of combustion engine comes for Germany
13 April 2019 | 10:49 am
We may be witnessing the end of the internal combustion engine. As more and more consumers and investors make the shift to electric vehicles, will Germany’s auto makers be able to adapt in time? BMW and Volkswagen are among those actively looking to expand their offering of electric vehicles.
4 May 2019
Frank Witter, chief financial officer at Volkswagen, discusses the importance of China to his business, how a U.S.-China trade agreement would impact the company, enlarging their footprint in the U.S., expansion in China, the drop in sales in Audi and Porsche, the potential for job cuts, an IPO for the trucks division and unlocking value in their sports car division.
23 Jun 2019
Factory workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee have voted against unionizing. The vote dealt a blow to UAW efforts to gain a foothold among foreign auto facilities in the southern part of the United States.
15 Jul 2019
Herbert Diess, Volkswagen AG chief executive officer, and Jim Hackett, Ford Motor Co. chief executive officer, discuss the automakers' agreement to extend their partnership in electric and self-driving car technology. They speak with Bloomberg's David Westin on "Bloomberg Markets."
25 Aug 2019
The iconic car rolled off the assembly line in July 2019 after more than two decades since its relaunch. There are only 65 'Final Edition' Beetles available, and they can only be bought in Mexico.
2 Sep 2019
The German multinational company are due to be pay $96.5 million (€87.6 million) for the error. VW admitted in 2015 that up to 11 million cars had been fitted with software designed to deceive emissions testers.
1 Oct 2019
What has the 'dieselgate' scandal cost Volkswagen?
18 Nov 2019
The German car giant said it will invest even more money than previously planned into expanding its electric fleet. Over the next decade, VW plans to roll out 75 completely electric models and 60 hybrid vehicles.
30 Nov 2019
VW is under pressure for working with the Chinese government in Xinjiang after evidence of human rights abuses against Uighurs in the region. Meanwhile, the German and US governments urged China to uphold human rights.
10 Feb 2020
US investigators have said the helicopter involved in the crash which killed basketball superstar Kobe Bryant did not appear to suffer engine failure. The pilot allegedly came within 30 meters of clearing the clouds.
31 Jul 2020
Nearly 50 hours of secretly recorded conversations appear to show Volkswagen engaging in legally dubious behavior in a dispute with a supplier. Now the carmaker is investigating who released them to the media.
1 Aug 2020
Germany's top court has ruled that people who bought a VW car after the Dieselgate scandal erupted in 2015 are not entitled to compensation. It's the latest in a string of key cases linked to the emissions controversy.
9 Sep 2020
The German automobile maker has expressed grave concerns over the use of Nazi imagery by a Mexican distributor. Volkswagen said it "strongly" disapproved of showing such images at affiliated facilities.
2 hours ago
The Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon has been filled with drama but not that many onlookers. The government is aiming to try and fill up empty stadiums as supporters prefer fan zones. But first, one protester is killed in Sudan as two top US diplomats arrive in the country to try to speak to all sides involved in the deepening crisis. And in a major step for the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa, South Africa has opened a new vaccine plant, the first on the continent to cover the entire process from start to finish.
4 hours ago
Police in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have detained members of a group allegedly linked to the killing of Italy's ambassador last year as well as more recent kidnappings of NGO workers, a provincial police chief said on Tuesday.
4 hours ago
Ambassadors of Israel and Germany say denying the Holocaust threatens peaceful coexistence worldwide. Their appeal comes 80 years after the Wannsee Conference, where Nazis discussed the extermination of Europe's Jews.
5 hours ago
Athletes travelling to next month's Beijing Olympics were warned on Tuesday (January 18) about speaking up on human rights issues while in China for their own safety by speakers at a seminar hosted by Human Rights Watch. Rights groups have long criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for awarding the Games to China, citing the treatment by the Chinese government of the Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups, which the United States has deemed genocide.
5 hours ago
Pakistan is the world's fourth largest producer of milk. Domestic demand is strong and some 90 percent of the population consumes untreated raw milk. This provides an opportunity for corrupt retailers but also for farmers who are trying to survive inflation and falling profits. Some use illegal methods to increase the volume of the precious liquid – diluting milk with tap water is one of the most widespread techniques. Others even create fake milk from chemicals. Faced with this serious threat to public health, the authorities in Punjab province have stepped into action, as our correspondents report.


text:
Many Twin Cities eateries have chucked the white stuff in favor of newer, eco-friendly products. So as the city of Minneapolis joins dozens of U.S. cities in renewing its ban on polystyrene foam, often called Styrofoam, a lot of restaurants say they are ready for next year’s deadline.
Updated: June 03, 2014, - 09:31 AM
Bland, who earned a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Minnesota in 1978, was a born storyteller gifted with humor and charm.
Updated: May 26, 2014, - 08:50 PM
Amid an improving economy, state tourism offices from the Dakotas to Wisconsin are launching elaborate multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns to beckon regional visitors.
Updated: May 25, 2014, - 11:02 AM
Most people don’t like thinking about setting money aside. So the next move is to make it happen automatically.
Updated: May 17, 2014, - 04:51 PM
The free-standing clearance center is a first under the Herberger’s name.
Updated: May 16, 2014, - 02:38 PM
The service to the two hubs begins Sept. 14, with tickets and fares available starting Saturday.
Updated: May 13, 2014, - 05:40 AM
More major retailers are expanding their organic selection. That’s pushing prices down, but some worry about the quality.
Updated: May 11, 2014, - 07:24 PM
Lowe’s shoppers can get supplies for a project — and the name of a professional to tackle it, too.
Updated: May 03, 2014, - 04:12 PM
Powerboat buyers of every stripe are focusing on value, value, value. That’s causing manufacturers to rethink the way they do business.
Updated: April 26, 2014, - 07:23 PM


text:
DJ Khaled is giving back.
DJ Khaled is using his clothing to help students take that next step.
According to E! News, the Grateful impresario has teamed up with Poshmark to literally sell his own clothes for a good cause. Starting today (july 12th), the producer/DJ will be dropping the first of four collections online, with a portion of all proceeds going towards his charity campaign Get Schooled, which is a non-profit endeavor that helps motivate students to graduate high school.
The great part about this is that each piece is really coming from his personal wardrobe. The first collection will reportedly include the blue suits that Khaled and his son Asahd wore on the Grateful album cover. Dress like one of hip-hop's biggest names and give back to the youth of today while doing it!


text:
All About Lightning Electrum
"The reality is that within 2 seconds (or less), the merchant has checked the transaction and the reality is that you didn't send double the cost," he said, adding, "I'm going to take any losses." True double money fraud. Oh...... I don't even want to spend a penny. I will also help ensure that those who do this spend a lot of time in a small cell. "
Double-spend attack: Will ETC become more "cheap" if hackers spend $200,000 to make $5 million?
According to the dimensionality reduction security laboratory (johnwick.io), hackers launched a denial of service (DoS) attack on the well-known wallet Electrum server. The hackers used a botnet of more than 140,000 computers to attack Electrum nodes and deployed malicious nodes at the same time . When users connect to these malicious nodes and use the old version of Electrum to send transactions
In August-September, Bitcoin wallet Electrum was hacked twice, and according to multiple sources, at least 1,450 BTCs worth $11.6 million were stolen from phishing attacks that faked Electrum upgrade tips.
Bitcoin desktop wallet client Electrum has released a 4.0 beta version, adding several important updates, including support for the Lightning network, nearly a year after the previous version of Electrum, 3.3.8 (last July). In the 4.0 beta version, Electrum mainly added features such as PSBT (partially signed Bitcoin transactions), Lightning Network, watchtowers (暸 watchtowers) and Submarineswaps (subliminal switching). (Github.
Star Daily News Bitcoin Wallet Electrum official Twitter announced that the next version of Electrum will support Lightning online payments. Its lightning node implementation has been consolidated into the main branch of Electrum. Electrum also confirmed that the wallet will adopt a new implementation of in-house development written using Python. (Cointelegraph)
Users of Bitcoin wallet Electrum are currently facing phishing attacks, according to the Devi Security Lab.
I can say that this is not the entire secure money storage solution. Electrum Wallet provides you with a user-friendly solution to send/receive Bitcoin payments on a regular basis.
Send the coin to another wallet for long-term bitcoin storage. There should be a full node behind the wallet, such as the Electrum node pointing to your own Electrum server.


text:
Jim Ryan Desires More PlayStation Games To Be Available To A Wider Crowd
In a recent interview, Jim Ryan, the boss of PlayStation has said that he hopes the platform’s game titles can reach “hundreds of millions of people”.
PlayStation games to reach a wider audience?
The interview was done by Gl.biz and Jim Ryan mentioned that a game is a huge success when it can reach 10 or 20 million people, but he wants more than that and here’s what he had to say:
I would also like to see a world where the games that we make at PlayStation can be enjoyed by many tens of millions of people. Perhaps hundreds of millions of people. Right now success with the current console model, a really great PlayStation hit you’re talking 10 or 20 million people being able to play that game.
Jim Ryan, PlayStation
He aims to have the their platform to be as big as the music and music industry which are “almost limitless” according to him.
Despite that, he didn’t mention on how exactly they plan to achieve that. One might think that they plan to port more of their games to PC. They’ve recently acquired Nixxes Software, a company that ports games to PC, who are working to make PlayStation’s iconic Uncharted franchise to the other side.
For more on the latest tech and gaming news plus reviews, stay tuned to Pokde.net.
Pokdepinion: Can’t say that I’m upset with their direction. I don’t have any favoritism when it comes to gaming platform. It’s always nice to see games to be on multiple platforms but that doesn’t mean that their console would lose their user base. Consoles are still good for couch gaming.


text:
An Edinburgh shop have begged a shoplifter to return their stolen items with "no questions asked".
Maisie's Boutique in South Queensferry were left disheartened on Saturday (June 19) after a thief had smuggled a pair of sunglasses out of the store.
The glasses, from Katie Loxton, can cost somewhere between £30 to £40 per pair.
However, staff at the boutique took to social media this weekend to explain that it wasn't the item itself that mattered, but the attitude towards local businesses after such a tough year.
After two long lockdowns and with restrictions still in place surrounding their store, staff said:
"So we hate to be all doom and gloom when we always try to be as positive as possible but we had a shoplifter today.
"It’s been a really tough year for everyone but especially for small businesses. We’ve been closed for the better part for a year and have struggled to keep going and open again on this side of the pandemic, so it’s really disheartening for some one to come in and steal from us today."
However, hoping to rectify the situation, staff asked the individual to "do the right thing" and return the glasses, promising a "no questions asked" encounter.
Local residents were also disappointed to hear of the news, with many commenting words of support on the shop's page. One customer wrote:
"So sorry to see this girls hope they have the decency to give them back."
Another said: "So sorry this happened to you girls. Local businesses have had such a hard time lately, this is the last thing any business owner needs. Stay strong."
The South Queensferry shop, like many others, was able to reopen on April 26 after months of closure with certain rules in place such as store numbers and social distancing.