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Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
KVPL and TTEL bring honour to Sri Lanka at Hallbars Awards
KVPL and TTEL reports to be displayed at Alfred Nobel Museum Selection qualifies both companies for Global Sustainability Awards KVPL wins in Business Sector by Products - Tea category TTEL wins country award for Best Sustainability Annual Report Design
Hay leys Plantations’ subsidiaries Kelani Valley Plantations (KVPL) and Talawakelle Tea Estates (TTEL) were recognised as country winners at the prestigious Hallbars Sustainability Report Awards 2020.
KVPL’s Annual Report for 2017/2018, ‘Growth Beyond Measure’, was recognised as the country winner in the Business Sector by Products- Tea category, while TTEL’S Integrated Annual Report for 2018/ 2019, ‘Cultured’, was recognised as the country winner for the Best Sustainability Annual Report Design.
The awards are designed to showcase and encourage a sweeping shift in international efforts towards sustainability, by evaluating t he annual reports of nominees across three main pillars- social, environmental and financial.
In a bid to increase global engagement in sustainability, the reports of all country winners are displayed in a special room at the ‘Nobelmuseum’in Karlskoga – a museum dedicated to the memory of the inventor, entrepreneur, donator and founder of the Nobel Prize, Alfred Nobel.
“Being part of an organisation that has championed sustainability in Sri Lanka for many years, it is inspiring to see the promotion of such practices on a prestigious platform. This is a true honour for both companies under the banner of Hayleys Plantations to have been ranked among such globally renowned brands and leaders in sustainability,” Hayleys Plantations Managing Director, Dr. Roshan Rajadurai said.
KVPL was recognised on par with leading global companies such as TATA from India and Finlays from the UK, while TTEL won recognition alongside leading corporates from Austria, Australia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
Notably,kvpl and TTEL are now qualified to participate in the Global Sustainability Awards, competing with the reports of other countries in the same category.
The Hayleys Plantations Sector is comprised of Kelani Valley Plantations PLC (KVPL), Talawakelle Tea Estates PLC (TTEL) and Horana Plantations PLC (HPL). All three companies have consistently maintained top ranks among Sri Lanka’s regional plantation companies in rubber and tea respectively. The sector manages 60 tea and rubber estates, and over 26,137 hectares of land, while accounting for 4.5 percent and 2.5 percent of Sri Lanka’s tea and rubber production respectively.


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By DeCA Corporate Communications
Commissary savings will be reported more often and better reflect the cost of living where patrons shop, said the director and CEO of the Defense Commissary Agency.
“We have updated how we measure patron savings at the commissary,” Joseph H. Jeu said. “This enhanced way of calculating savings doesn’t change the actual dollars that patrons save, but it will give patrons a better understanding of price comparisons in their local area.”
Historically, DeCA measured savings globally, by comparing national prices at commissaries against average market prices for the whole country. However, the cost of living varies by region. To account for these geographic differences, Congress now requires DeCA to report on savings regionally, comparing prices with two-to-three commercial grocers, including super centers, in the local area of each commissary in the United States.
Through this updated measurement, DeCA is also expanding the range of items on which it measures savings. Besides continuing to compare approximately 38,000 branded items at a national level, DeCA will also be comparing local prices on approximately 1,000 products, which are representative of a shopper’s typical market basket.
“What we did before was good for showing a worldwide, annual savings average,” Jeu said. “However, now we are diving deeper into our patrons’ shopping experience to better reflect regional differences in cost of living and actual shopping patterns.”
Since the savings rate is calculated from local price comparisons, it will vary by region due to differences in the cost of living, even when commissary prices remain uniform and constant.
For example: Imagine the price of macaroni is $1.25 at all commissaries, but the comparison price at local commercial retailers varies by region. In Hawaii, where the cost of living is higher, the price of macaroni in commercial retailers is $2, but in Georgia, where the cost of living is lower, the price outside the gate is $1.50. This would mean even though customers pay $1.25 for macaroni at commissaries worldwide, customers in Hawaii save 37.5 percent by using their commissary benefit, whereas customers in Georgia save 16.7 percent.
Congress requires that DeCA maintain savings at current levels, even as the commissary system transforms its business operations and improves the shopping experience. The new savings rate provides an accurate baseline that will allow DeCA and Congress to monitor and protect patron savings.
“I am pleased that DeCA can offer significant savings to our patrons on products they frequently purchase,” said Jeu, “The enhanced savings calculation will allow us to measure the benefit more specifically and more often, protecting it at current levels for years to come. The value of a patron’s market basket should not change because of the new savings calculation. Although market fluctuations will cause prices of grocery products to increase and decrease – as they do today – commissary patron savings levels will remain constant.”
For information on savings by region, see the table below:
|Alaska / Hawaii

domain: news


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Since its launch at ABA’s Annual Convention this week, ABA’s revamped #BanksNeverAskThat campaign website, banksneveraskthat.com, has received more than 61,000 page views.
The latest incarnation of ABA’s award-winning #BanksNeverAskThat anti-phishing campaign returns in October. The season premiere of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast features a banker’s perspective on participating in the campaign and a sneak preview of new creative.
More than half of mobile subscribers reported losing money to phone scam calls in a recent survey on the prevalence of the problem, with young people the most likely to fall for the scams.
Scammers are increasingly impersonating financial services companies as they seek to trick unsuspecting computer users into divulging sensitive information through phishing emails and websites, according to a report released today by cybersecurity firm Vade.
The American Bankers Association Foundation and the Federal Trade Commission released an infographic with information to help consumers protect themselves when using mobile payment apps and services.
Helping banks secure their email—and their organizations
The award-winning #BanksNeverAskThat anti-phishing consumer education campaign is back with refreshed content for 2021.
As the COVID-19 pandemic turns one, bankers and cyber experts reflect on the rapid rise of scams and fraud schemes aimed at banks and their customers.
Criminals do not need to bother scouring the depths of the dark web to dig up this personal information. Too often, it’s sitting out in the open for all to see.


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Microsoft has until the end of May to come to terms with EU authorities over a long-running antitrust dispute, the European Commission has said.
Microsoft is dragging its feet, the European Commission insists
The deadline refers to a 2004 judgement, where the Commission found the software firm guilty of abusing its market dominance.
Microsoft is supposed to provide details of how it could bring its practices back in line with EU rules.
But Brussels has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction at the slow pace.
"We are waiting for the Microsoft people to do their homework," said European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes
A Microsoft spokesman in Brussels said the software giant would "continue to work out with the commission towards an agreement on full compliance with the decision".
In addition to a 497m-euro ($640m; £343m) fine in March 2004, Brussels ordered Microsoft to open up its core software systems to rivals.
This was to enable other software manufacturers to make programs that worked more seamlessly with Microsoft's Windows operating system.
Microsoft was also ordered to provide a version of Windows without its own Windows Media Player, to give rival software makers a chance to compete, and computer makers the option to supply PCs with the media software of their own chosing.
Under EU rules Europe could fine Microsoft up to 5% of its daily global turnover for each day that a decision is not applied to its liking.
Ms Kroes said it was "too early" to say whether the case against Microsoft could be reopened.


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Coke goes green with ‘PlantBottle’
ATLANTA Coca-Cola’s newest green initiative hit store shelves on Monday, the beverage maker announced.
The “PlantBottle” packaging, a recyclable plastic bottle made partially from plants, is now available in 500-mL and 2-liter sizes. For the PlantBottle packaging in the United States and Canada, up to 30% of the content in the PET plastic comes from plants.
Coca-Cola said its goal is to produce 2 billion of the by the end of 2010.
New flavors, products help drive consumers ‘nuts’
Consumer interest in better-for-you snacks, and a stream of new product introductions from manufacturers, have led to continued growth in the nut category.
While nut category dollar sales overall only grew 2% in the drug channel for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 6, according to Information Resources Inc., the category has seen significant growth from new introductions from Planters NUTrition brand and Frito-Lay’s TrueNorth.
Chris Clark, a spokesman for the Snack Food Association, said new flavors, products and packaging have contributed to growth. “While category growth slowed last year compared to the rapid growth we had been seeing over the past few years, there’s still been a lot of action in the category,” he said. “Premium resealable pack aging, canisters and 100-calorie packs and new flavors—particularly spicy and sweet/savory combinations—also have contributed to category growth.”
TrueNorth has been a big hit in the category. IRI data indicated the brand, which includes nut crisps and nut and fruit clusters, has grown more than 170% since its launch last year. Katherine Ritchey, a spokeswoman for Frito-Lay, said consumers have responded to a healthy, great-tasting snack that’s 100% natural and offers 4 g of protein in each 1-oz. serving. “We’ve raised consumers’ expectations of what a nut snack can be,” she said. TrueNorth recently rolled out three new varieties: apple cinnamon and citrus burst clusters, and almond cranberry crisps.
Blue Diamond’s dollar sales were up nearly 37%, while Planters NUTrition brand surged 16%, according to IRI. Planters’ Daybreak Blend trail mixes, which combine granola clusters with dried fruits and nuts, have been popular. Planters also recently introduced Harvest 100 Percent Natural Nuts and Trail Mixes, mixes that are all-natural and have a lower sodium content than many other trail mixes.
What’s Hot: Coke pops out slim can
NEW YORK —Addressing consumers’ desire for lower-calorie beverages and reduced-calorie portions, Coca-Cola has introduced a 90-calorie slim can version of its classic cola. The new cans contain significantly smaller servings than Coke’s traditional 12-oz. cans, which contain 140 calories.
The 7.5 fluid-oz. mini cans will be test marketed in Washington, D.C., and New York City in December. Coke plans to expand to a national rollout in March 2010 and to add 90-calorie cans of additional brands, including Fanta Orange and Sprite, as part of that rollout. All will be available in eight-can multipacks and will not be sold individually.
The introduction of the mini cans is “part of a broader effort to adjust to the demands of consumers trying to make better decisions,” according to a statement released by Coca-Cola.
Consumers have been migrating to lower-calorie beverages since the 1990s. Coke’s carbonated beverages were off 3% last year, according to the company’s 2008 annual report, and the percentage of noncarbonated and low-calorie beverages rose from 11% in 2000 to 22% in 2008.
Controlled portions have been successful in the snack category; it could be a smart strategy for keeping consumers interested in carbonated beverages as well.


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- Frasers Livestock Transport managing director Ross Fraser discusses managing driver fatigue
- Chinese investor agents Sonia Leung and Iris Han discuss their work during the Beef Australia 2015
- Narrabri grazier John Manchee discussing his victory in the Overall Champion Carcass at Beef Australia 2015
- Director of sustainability for McDonalds Gary Johnson discussing Australia's role in creating the 'sustainable beef' brand.
- Rabobank vice-president for food and agribusiness research for animal proteins, Don Close, says demand for ground beef has seen cattle prices reach AU


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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday reported that retail sales continue on a positive trend, edging up 0.3% for the month of January.
The increase to $381.6 billion marked the seventh consecutive month of gains for retail sales. Total sales for the month were above the year-ago period by 7.8%.
The report also noted that grocery stores experienced a 1.4% increase to nearly $45 million for the month, while health and personal care stores sales rose 0.5% to about $22.3 million.
Although the Census Bureau does not disclose advanced estimates for pharmacies and drug stores, the agency last reported that sales rose to $21 million in December 2010, up from $18.8 million in November 2010.
Commenting on the retail sales results was the National Retail Federation's president and CEO, Matthew Shay. NRF is releasing its economic forecast for 2011 on Thursday.
“In spite of the economic uncertainties that still exist, consumers are clearly demonstrating their desire to spend on discretionary items once again,” Shay said. “The industry is certainly benefitting from the renewed confidence we’re seeing in shoppers, although sustained growth in 2011 will largely rely on improvement in key economic indicators like employment and housing.”


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In this exclusive insight, Category Management boss for Magnit Cosmetic reveals which beauty categories he’s investing in in 2022 and how consumer shopping habits are changing across such a vast region
Russia has the largest landmass of any other country in the world, boasting 17 million square kilometres in total.
Along with its impressive land span, the country encompasses one-eighth of Earth's inhabitable landmass – meaning there’s miles and miles of space between regions, making the demands and needs of consumers unequivocally different.
So how does a beauty retailer cater to all the needs of its shoppers with such a vast land mass?
In this exclusive Q&A, Mikhail Tantserev, Head of Category Management at Magnit Cosmetic, one of Russia's leading personal care and beauty retailers, explains how it caters to the needs of all its consumers across the region and the categories he’s watching for in 2022....
This is a small extract of the full article which is available ONLY to premium content subscribers. Subscribers sign-in (top right) to read the article.
Subscribe now to premium content on Cosmetics Business


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‘You can’t say you’re the only one’ – The Petco dogs training website
A training program has been banned from Petco stores in a move aimed at encouraging dog owners to keep their pets indoors and to avoid the use of electric shock devices (ESDs).
Petco Australia, which owns Petco Stores in Melbourne and Sydney, announced the decision in a blog post on Monday.
The decision was based on the fact that the Petco Dog Training program, which is offered through a number of its stores, “can result in dogs exhibiting behaviour or behaviours that could be interpreted as aggressive or aggressive in nature”, it said.
“We are also concerned that a number dog owners are choosing to use our training program instead of training their own dogs, thereby increasing the likelihood of injury to pets and other people.”
It said the program was not suitable for all dogs, and said the company would be working with the Australian Animal Protection Alliance to ensure that all Petco Store employees could be trained in the program.
“If a Petco store is aware of a dog that may have been involved in a training program that is not compliant with the PetCo Dog Training policy, Petco will take immediate action,” it said in a statement.
The program was banned from the stores last September, when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) began investigating the company for not doing enough to protect pet owners against ESDs.”ACCC found that the program failed to comply with the laws on the use and disposal of electric shocks,” it wrote.
“The program is not approved by Petco Australia.”
A statement from Petcos said it was committed to “cooperating fully” with the ACCC, but did not say when it would offer an update on the program’s status.
The ACCC is investigating the Petcos program after the program appeared to be popular.
A spokesman said the agency would not comment further until the ACCA completed its investigation.
The ABC’s David Hutton, reporting from Melbourne, said the ban could be seen as “tough on the dogs”.
“People were saying, ‘How do you do this?
How do you teach your dog to sit down?'” he said.
“But it doesn’t work that way.
It’s going to make a lot of people very unhappy.”
Topics:animal-welfare,animal-behaviour,animal,training,petco-3050,melbourne-3000,vic,australiaMore stories from Victoria


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On January 17 2024, Samsung held their annual Galaxy Unpacked Event, where they dive into the exciting new releases coming out in the upcoming year. As expected, the star of the show was the debut of the s24 phone, the new samsung phone 2024 coming to the samsung galaxy phone S Series. However there was another reveal that took many Samsung fans by surprise. So let’s take a closer look at everything that was revealed at the Galaxy Unpacked 2024 Event, updating you on what you missed and what is to come over the next 12 months.
(The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024 Event was held in person in San Jose, California and streamed on Samsungs official YouTube channel.)
So like we mentioned, the star of the show was certainly the announcement of the galaxy s24 series which we will get into the mobile specs of now. But, Samsung also mentioned the unexpected reveal of the Samsung Galaxy Ring, a health tracker device with no official launch date. Further information will be mentioned about this later on…
Related blog: Samsung S24 Vs iPhone 15
What is the new Samsung phone 2024?
It was no surprise that the Galaxy S24 was announced at the Galaxy Unpacked Event. This smartphone will have a heavy involvement with generative AI, after it took the world by storm at the end of 2022 with the introduction of ChatGPT.
Samsung announced they are working on adapting their Galaxy AI, with a combination of on-device and cloud based ai features which will be available on the S24 in some new features similar to live translation, expanding photos and tone in text. Besides the introduction of Galaxy AI into their smartphones, the only other major difference was that the smartphones screens will be 0.1” bigger in size compared to the previous models.
Of course, there will be a s24 ultra samsung being released, which will be more premium trading its aluminium frame for a titanium body similar to the iPhone 15 Pro and swapping a 10MP camera to a 50MP camera.
(The new samsung phone 2024 release date is currently available for pre-order on the official Samsung website, with the official release date of the phone being January 31st.)
Related blog: Samsung Galaxy S24: Latest News and Features
Galaxy S24 specs:
- Storage – Up to 512gb
- Colours – Sapphire blue, jade green, sandstone orange, cobalt violet, amber yellow, onyx black, marble grey
- Front camera resolution – 12MP
- Rear camera resolution – 50MP, 10MP, 12MP
- Memory – 8GB
- Weight – 167g
What is Samsung Galaxy Ring?
At the end of the event, Samsung revealed another piece of tech which wasn’t expected by anyone. Further improvements will be made to Samsung Health with the arrival of the Galaxy Ring. Though we know little about this at the moment, it is believed to be a new piece of tech that will measure your health through your day to day life. We like how Samsung has created new ways to incorporate tech into our everyday lives, moving away from the smartwatches and focussing more on rings and other accessories.
The Galaxy Ring has no current release date, but we will make sure to provide regular updates on this tech when it’s revealed.
Related blog: IOS VS Android
Thank you so much for reading! So what are your thoughts on the new Samsung updates? Will you be considering the Samsung S24 as your next mobile upgrade? Remember, if the Samsung S24 isn’t really what you’re after but you still want an upgrade, we have plenty of the latest Samsung smartphones available waiting for you. And if you want a complete change… check out our Apple selection, from the classics to the greatest, we have it all!
Samsung Triple Fold Phone Concept
by Charlotte Bolton | updated Feb 26, 2024
Many may agree that Samsung have always been ahead of the game when it comes to innovative tech. They were one of the first major companies to re-release the flip phone which was originally made popular by the nokia flip phone and doro flip phone, then shortly after followed it up with the Fold phone... READ MORE >
Apple Flip: What We Know So Far
by Charlotte Bolton | updated Feb 15, 2024
For the last few years now there has been many rumours that Apple could be creating their first ever foldable phone which would rival the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Flip Series. ... READ MORE >
iPhone 16: Everything we know so far
by Charlotte Bolton | updated Feb 12, 2024
The classic iPhone release is usually towards the end of the year, specifically September/October. ... READ MORE >


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DETROIT (WXYZ) — There’s still 44 days until Christmas, but the shops are open in Cadillac Square, featuring local shops highlighting the best of what Detroit has to offer.
"This is great,” Bill Henderson from Sterling Heights said. "The city just seems to be opening up. More restaurants, there’s things to do.”
Bill and Jane Henderson are one of many couples out enjoying their Friday night, stopping by for a drink as they explore downtown.
“It's so pretty to look at the city and it’s so exciting to see so many people downtown again enjoying everything there is to enjoy,” Jane Henderson said.
It’s only day two since Downtown Detroit Markets and Cadillac Lodge has been open, giving 18 local vendors like Naima Melonson a chance to showcase their work.
“Born and raised in Detroit, so I feel like this is the perfect opportunity to tell Detroit my story,” Melonson said.
Melonson owns Young Socialites Clothier, a brand she created based in Detroit that is now on full display for her city to see.
"This is a wonderful opportunity," Melonson said. "I also have had boutiques over the years throughout Michigan, but this is my first time actually being able to set up in Detroit.”
“I think this is awesome," shopper Maddie Keller said. "It’s one of my favorite downtown Detroit activities throughout the year.”
Keller and her friend Danielle were out downtown checking out the stores, making it a yearly destination for gifts.
“I think it’s a great way to get people downtown and to shop local," Keller said. "I know there’s a ton of stores around here that don't have a storefront space, so getting them in front of consumers and getting them to be a part of people's Christmas shopping is great for the city.”
It's too soon to tell how busy opening weekend will be, but one thing is certain: it’s never too soon for the holiday season.
"I feel like it’s never too early for the Christmas spirit,” shopper Jamie Britl said. "It's good to see everyone out and all the families here getting that holiday feel, that good Thanksgiving, Christmas spirit.”
“I haven't listened to Christmas music or anything yet. I like to let Thanksgiving go by," Jane Henderson said. "But in here? It all works.”
Dates and hours for Downtown Detroit Markets and Cadillac Lodge are below:
Nov. 10 through Jan. 1:
- Mondays: Closed
- Tuesdays: Closed
- Wednesdays: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Thursdays: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Fridays: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Saturdays: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Sundays: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Special dates and hours:
- Nov. 24: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Dec. 20: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Dec. 21: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Dec. 24: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Dec. 25: Closed
- Dec. 31: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Jan. 1: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.


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Google Pay users will be able to earn a variety of rewards, including up to S$105 cashback in this year’s seasonal mini game, “Hawker Pals”.
Google Pay is launching a new in-app mini-game from 8 August to 20 August 2023 to celebrate Singaporeans’ love for food. Titled Hawker Pals, users can cook up a storm as hawkers and win a cashback reward of up to $105 and other exclusive merchant vouchers by completing eligible actions in the app.
One of Singaporeans’ well-loved iconic sights, the skyline of Boat Quay will also be featured as a Google Doodle on the Search homepage on 9 August.
Play and Win
Starting 8 August, 8am, users will be able to access the Hawker Pals game on Google Pay. The love for hawker food is unparalleled here in Singapore, with “hawker centres'' being one of the top searched topics related to food in the past six months. With Hawker Pals, users will take on the role of a hawker to keep four of our visiting Pals – Meow Shanwang, Orh Lua & Orh nee, Merina Baey, and a mystery customer – well-fed.
By completing different payment actions, users are tasked to serve up three well-loved local dishes such as steamed egg and chilli crab to each of the four Hawker Pals. With each completed round, users will be awarded a scratchcard, and by the end of all four rounds, they can stand a chance to collect four scratch cards with cashback totalling up to $105!
These actions include
- Sending at least S$10 to a friend who is on Google Pay
- Making a PayNow/FavePay transaction of at least $3 to merchants on Google Pay
- Completing a short trivia on Singapore
Scan and Win
Google Pay is also bringing back its well-loved ‘Hawker Scanner’ to reward users with more partner vouchers. Using image recognition technology, users can use the app to scan items that people will spot in their daily lives - think fruits, vegetables and items at a hawker centre.
Each successful scan will earn players vouchers from partners such as JBL, Sephora, 6ixty8ight, or Sony as well as local brands such as Irvin's, Gain City, Ryde, Suntec+ or TADA.
Download Google Pay to start earning these rewards!
Celebrate Singapore on the Google Homepage
Head to the Search homepage on 9 August to check out a local Google Doodle commemorating Singapore’s 58th birthday featuring the iconic skyline of Clarke Quay.


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‘Don’t Fumble When Buying Tickets!’
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge issues a Consumer Alert on ticket broker sales, scams
Arkansas Attorney General’s Office LITTLE ROCK — When Arkansans decide to take in a live football game at any of our great in-state institutions this fall, it is important they don’t fumble when buying tickets. Oftentimes scam artists will try to take advantage of fans by selling them tickets that are fake, duplicates or don’t actually exist at all.
They may use high-pressure- sales tactics to rush innocent Arkansans into buying tickets using deals that seem unbelievable and many times are. The stadium should be a safe haven for diehard fans rather than for scammers.
“Football in Arkansas is a cherished tradition and it is worth protecting,” said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “Whether you support the Razorbacks, Red Wolves, Bears or Boll Weevils, everyone deserves to cheer for their favorite team without worry of scammers trying to take advantage of their wallets.” Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge issued the following tips to help Arkansans protect themselves when looking to buy game tickets during the upcoming football season.
• Research the seller or broker with the Better Business Bureau and ensure it is a member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers.
• A legitimate ticket broker will offer a refund policy. Only buy tickets from a reseller that provides clear details about the terms of the transaction.
• Always use a credit card to make a ticket purchase because credit card laws provide buyers with some recourse if the tickets are fraudulent.
• Check the seats ahead of time. Ask for section, row and seat numbers to avoid obstructed views and purchasing tickets that do not exist.
• Stick with well-known ticket sellers who offer guarantees and policies that protect buyers and have the ability to investigate and restrict accounts of merchants who violate the policies.
• If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Refuse to be rushed. Scam artists often try to hurry prospective buyers into making a decision.
According to AARP, nearly 5 million consumers receive fraudulent concert, sporting event and theme park tickets each year.
We can all do our part by ensuring our neighbors, friends, and families are educated on the deceptive practices of scammers and ways to avoid them.
Consumers who think they may have purchased a counterfeit ticket can contact the National Association of Ticket Brokers at 630-510-4594 or the Arkansas Attorney General’s Public Protection Department.
For more information on other tips to avoid being scammed and other consumer- related issues, call the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office at 800482-8982 or visit ArkansasAG. gov.
About Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. Elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn in on January 13, 2015, she is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected as Attorney General. She was resoundingly re-elected on November 6, 2018. Since taking office, she has significantly increased the number of arrests and convictions against online predators who exploit children and con artists who steal taxpayer money through Social Security Disability and Medicaid fraud. Further, she has held Rutledge Roundtable meetings and Mobile Office hours in every county of the State each year, and launched a Military and Veterans Initiative. She has led efforts to roll back government regulations that hurt job creators, fight the opioid epidemic, teach internet safety, combat domestic violence and make the office the top law firm for Arkansans. Rutledge serves as Chairwoman of the National Association of Attorneys General Southern Region and re-established and cochairs the National Association of Attorneys General Committee on Agriculture.
As the former Chairwoman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, she remains active on the Executive Board.


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So, it seems Guinness is having a bit of a home-field disadvantage these days, as more and more Irish drinkers are staying in. Considering that Guinness built its brand on the beauty of a settling draught pint, you see how this could be a problem. The Guardian  today reported that sales were down 9 percent last year, a drop the company attributes to drinkers trading smokeless bars for smoky living rooms . On Monday, the company launched this ad , which aims to make a place for canned Guinness in people’s refrigerators. Of course, they could have told folks to get out of the house, but then no one would be home to read the brand’s new blog .
—Posted by Deanna Zammit


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AmpleHarvest.org creator Gary Oppenheimer is on a mission to reduce food waste while helping disadvantaged families get access to fresh produce.
The longtime tech-world veteran has been working since 2009 on a nonprofit called AmpleHarvest.org built around the website of the same name, creating a resource to connect local growers like community gardens and backyard gardeners with food pantries where they can donate their excess produce to put food that would otherwise get thrown out to use while providing nutritious fruits and vegetables for those who need them.
“My grandparents always told me to finish what’s on my plate,” Oppenheimer recalled. “I learned from a young age not to waste food.”
According to the USDA, about 30-40 percent of the food supply is wasted. About 133 billion pounds of food was lost in 2010 at the retail and consumer levels according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service.
A member of the American Horticultural Society’s Master Gardener program, Oppenheimer said the idea for the project came from a meeting in 2008, where he met with a group in his town to discuss donating excess produce from a community garden to a local food pantry.
Oppenheimer’s idea was to have a similar system but scaled to a national level.
With a background as a software developer and programmer, creating a website was a natural fit for Oppenheimer’s plan. The internet’s ability to connect people dovetailed perfectly with AmpleHarvest.org’s mission to get gardeners in touch with local emergency food services without any extra help needed on the website’s part.
“Our modus operandi is to educate, enable, and then get out of the way,” Oppenheimer said.
It’s hard to get an exact number on how much food has been donated because of AmpleHarvest.org, but there are currently more than 8,200 food pantries in the U.S. registered on the site.
Oppenheimer said that word of mouth has been a big factor in spreading the message for the nonprofit.
“Gardeners don’t have the least bit of aversion to donating food,” he said, adding that once a grower is set up with their local pantry, they become a vector for that information, and don’t even need the website to continue spreading the word.
For example, one gardener who connects with a pantry on AmpleHarvest.org can tell another gardener in their community to go to the same pantry, without the second gardener ever knowing that AmpleHarvest.org was how the initial connection took place.
This model is also environmentally efficient, Oppenheimer pointed out.
“The food doesn’t have to travel across the state or the country,” he said, adding that the leftover produce would ideally make its way from growers to food assistance services to hungry families within hours or days.
He added that he had seen children from disadvantaged communities experience fresh produce for the first time, with kids learning “that apples don’t come pre-sliced in cellophane.”
“The endgame is a healthier planet and healthier people, at no cost to the community,” Oppenheimer said.
And their job is far from over. According to No Kid Hungry, over 13 million children in the U.S. live in homes that are food insecure.
“An estimated 12.3 percent of American households were food insecure at least sometime during the year in 2016, meaning they lacked access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members,” said a USDA economic research report from September.
Now, working with a remote staff across the country, Oppenheimer is working to continue furthering AmpleHarvest.org’s mission. He’s largely focusing on fundraising to increase outreach for the website.
Backyard gardeners, Oppenheimer said, are one of the biggest challenges to reach, particularly if they’re not part of a garden club.
To help further promote the concept of reducing food waste and hunger at the same time, Oppenheimer has started a project called Food Waste Weekend, working with faith communities to promote food donations.
“The lack of fresh food for families is a symptom of food waste,” said Oppenheimer. “My belief is that we should be using all of the food we grow – if we have the food, someone should be eating it.”
Lead Image Source: Shutterstock


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Are ultra-processed foods feeding your bad moods?
Feeling down or anxious? Eating a lot of ultra-processed foods such as packaged chips, cookies and candy could play a role, results of a recent study suggest.
Using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data to collect a nationally representative sample of more than 10,000 adults, researchers looked for ties between the consumption of ultra-processed foods – which contain little or no whole food – and mental health issues. They found that people who ate the highest amount of ultra-processed foods had statistically significant increases in symptoms of mild depression, “mentally unhealthy days” and “anxious days.”
The researchers note that more than 70% of packaged foods in the United States are classified as ultra-processed, and those products make up 60% of all calories Americans consume.
“The ultra-processing of food depletes its nutritional value and also increases the number of calories, as ultra-processed foods tend to be high in added sugar, saturated fat and salt, while low in protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals,” researcher Eric Hecht, a physician and an affiliate associate professor at Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine, said in a press release. “Our study has significant clinical and public health implications.”
The study was published online in the journal Public Health Nutrition.


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The industry is “not at the end of the innovation era” in finding new types and sizes of SUVs and crossovers, according to Nissan product planning chief Philippe Klein.
“We’re looking at what to find,” Klein told Autocar. “There are lots of potential variations.”
Klein said crossovers were at their best when “solving a contradiction the customer has in their mind”, pointing to the likes of the Qashqai and Juke in having been successful for mixing higher driving positions, safety, economy and driving dynamics. “We need to continue exploring,” he said.
Klein added that the idea of a crossover smaller than the Juke was “an interesting question”.
“The question is not always cost but value,” he said. “We’re a sustainable business and have to hit customers for a long time. I have no good answer… [on a smaller SUV] But there are places to go. How big are those places?"
“Roominess is a fundamental part of a vehicle. If you go to the extreme small, you have to be careful of the trade-off.”
Klein added that Nissan’s CMF platform was flexible at accommodating different body types and in manufacturing, with value efficiency the main consideration on any new product.
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Fairwood Trust joined forces with the University of South Wales’ Bright Ideas programme to offer support for fledgling businesses. The programme offered existing students from the University, who have recently started their own company, the opportunity to apply for funding for up to £5,000. The chosen businesses were given training in entrepreneurial skills and topics including attitude, creativity, networking and building relationships.
After the success of the first year, the Trust has renewed its funding for the Bright Ideas programme. Six scholarships are available during the current academic year and are available to graduates of up to five years. The ventures judged to have the most potential will be selected to receive the grant as well as a skills development package.
One of the Bright Ideas success stories – Welsh fashion designer Michelle McGrath – received funding from Fairwood Trust that has helped her to establish two fashion labels – Michelle Victoria McGrath and A Little Bit of Couture.
Michelle said: “I am extremely grateful to Fairwood Trust, it is such an incredible fund and I am thankful for the opportunity and the support it has given me during the development of my fashion labels.
“The grant has enabled me to live my dream here in Wales and my designs are even being sold internationally! My ambition for both my labels is for them to be manufactured here in Wales and sold around the world.” (Michelle McGrath)


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Since the General Community Quarantine started in Metro Manila, different infrastructure projects were resumed after months of delay. However, this does not mean that the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic is gone.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the country are not slowing down anytime soon. According to the Department of Health, there are more than 170,000 cases, while more than 60,000 of them are still active. With infrastructure projects continuing and infection rates increasing each day, blue-collar workers are most at risk particularly those who work in the construction sector.
To help these workers, the Philippines Domestic Construction Board organized a Technical Working Group to draft the “Construction Guidelines for Project Implementation during the period of Public Health Emergency.” These guidelines will ensure the feasibility and continuity of the projects as well as the safety of the workforce in those projects.
The plan also further emphasizes the importance of project planning—from supply logistics to equipping the labor force, everything must be accounted for as safety measures need to be implemented during these changing times.
JP Marzan Project Ventures Inc., one of the leading logistics providers in the country, believes that companies need to change their approach when it comes to planning.
“Due to sudden changes, what was then the “norm” can no longer be the option if they want to ensure the safety of their workforce,” Jay Marzan, Chairman of JP Marzan Project Ventures Inc., said.
Visibility in All Aspects
Visibility will be one crucial element when implementing and planning projects to find possible vulnerabilities that would risk the health and safety of the workers on site.
Focusing on critical materials, equipment, and products will help prioritize and identify important elements of the project. Once those susceptible factors are identified, you must determine how reliant they are on the regions affected.
Legal and Financial Groundwork
The rules have changed during the pandemic. When planning, consider all the legal groundwork to make it happen, especially with the new guidelines implemented to maintain the health and safety of the site’s environment.
Other than legal concerns, financial implications must also be recognized. Look for the impact of the supply chain disruptions in margins, cash flow, and terms on loan repayments to ensure that all materials and equipment would not have any problems.
During a global health crisis, communication and cooperation are two important elements that are essential to successfully conduct business operations in the midst of disruptions. Thus, ensure during planning stage to have a proper communications strategy with both the stakeholders and the labor force doing the groundwork.
The pandemic brought the world to a near standstill and plunged the global economy a recession. Luckily, thanks to the advancement of today’s technology, countries were able to counter the effects of the pandemic by continuously addressing different supply chain disruptions that come up.
Problems, however, will continue to arise as the pandemic stays and different solutions will therefore, be needed to address challenges as they happen. Businesses will need to consider alternative delivery methods that can allow projects to start and end on time; conduct scenario analysis to predict possible disruptions; explore technology that can increase efficiency and productivity among the workforce.
“The government and the private sector must recognize the great change this pandemic brings and, address it through careful planning and cooperation. We must carefully watch each step we take to ensure the safety of everyone while continuing business operations. That way, the country will be in a better shape to withstand and even weather this crisis,” Marzan said.
JP Marzan Project Ventures Inc. is one of the leading logistics providers in the country dedicated to meet the challenges of the globalized market and serves as a reliable partner for the country’s economic growth.
As the company plans for new ways to mitigate the risks of the pandemic, they believe that partnerships will help build the nation into a brighter future. And, with their services to plan projects and provide logistics, they are prepared with the best equipment to help the country.
The company started in 1972 as RV Marzan Brokerage and used to handle customs brokerage and deliveries around Luzon. Since then, it started the separate logistics company, we know today and has established itself as a reputable logistics company consistent with the best business practices.
It has also expanded its services and catered to the needs of companies across the country. Among its services include heavy-lift support, trucking, forwarding, logistics, domestic distribution, warehousing, rigging works, plant transfer, factory machine installation, powerplant assembly, project consultation, equipment rental, civil engineering, and trading of industrial equipment and services.
To know more about JP Marzan Ventures, Inc., visit its website at www.jpmarzan.com.


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ALBANY, GA (WALB) - The Albany Downtown Development put off the approval of three leases for businesses on Front Street.
If approved, there will be two new businesses opening up on Front Street for a three-year lease term.
The third lease is from Cool Scoops, which is already an operating business that will stay on Front Street. One board member said he wants to consider redoing all three properties at the same time.
Following the successful launch of the Pretoria Fields Brewery, officials are confident that bringing these new businesses will continue to bring people to the downtown area.
"How important it is for us to make sure that those storefronts have businesses in there but also have the right mix of businesses in there," said Downtown Manager Latoya Cutts.
"If we are going to rebuild Albany, it's going to take us investing in these smaller businesses and sometimes that means taking a risk on a small business and giving them a longer lease option and allowing them to make the investments that are necessary," said board member Carl White.
The board will have a special called meeting in the coming weeks to vote on approval of those leases.
The Downtown Development Authority wouldn't release the names of the two new businesses but they did say they have a direct tie-in to the Flint River.
Copyright 2017 WALB. All rights reserved.


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THRIVE’s trailblazing founder, Sean Reddington, is revolutionizing the learning landscape with his visionary approach, propelling the company to unprecedented success and recognition as finalists in the prestigious Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2023.
Sean Reddington founded THRIVE, the industry’s fastest-growing learning technology company, in 2019 with a vision to build a modern learning experience from the ground up. Headquartered in Nottinghamshire with a global presence, THRIVE has replaced hundreds of traditional learning management systems and grown its customer base to over 320 brands, including Vodafone, Matalan, Sky, British Airways, and Volvo.
Reddington brought together a group of passionate learning professionals who recognised an opportunity to provide organizations with an all-in-one learning platform. “We decided to rewrite the rule book. Doing things differently is in our DNA, and we saw an opportunity to build a truly modern learning experience completely from scratch,” said Reddington.
In just five years, THRIVE has achieved monumental success and transformed the learning landscape. The company has a 99% customer renewal rate and satisfaction score. Customer referrals make up a third of revenue. THRIVE also exceeds service level agreements, with a 99% first response rate. When comparing THRIVE to competitors, 91%+ of customers rate them higher.
THRIVE’s accomplishments have been recognized with two Business Brilliance Awards for Customer Service and CEO of the Year. Looking ahead, Reddington aims to maintain THRIVE’s first-class customer experience and growth, especially in the US and with even more enterprise organisations.
Reddington’s vision and leadership have built one of the fastest-growing learning technology companies that is transforming how people learn at work around the world.
As finalists in the 2023 Great British Entrepreneur Awards, known as “The Grammys of Entrepreneurship,” Reddington and THRIVE have proven themselves as innovators rewriting the rules. To learn more about Reddington and THRIVE’s inspiring story, visit www.thrivelearning.com.


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Tribune News Service
Rohtak, May 25
Owing to the substantial drop in the demand of liquor, especially beer, due to lockdown-related factors this year, the local liquor contractors have slashed the prices in a bid to boost the sales.
Boards and banners announcing discount offers have been put up at liquor shops in Rohtak, with contractors claiming that they have cut down the rates at the retail outlets up to 33 per cent.
“There are hardly any social get-togethers or family functions. The bars are closed, and so are the hostels of universities and colleges. Hence, the sale of liquor, especially beer, has taken a huge dip these summers. We have reduced the rates considerably to push the sales,” says Sumit Soni, a liquor contractor.
Sanjay Manchanda, who works for a beer company, also maintains that the sales are down owing to the closure of bars, pubs and restaurants, besides the general economic setbacks suffered by people in general due to the lockdown.
Persons involved in liquor trade further point out that the stiff competition among the liquor contractors and illegal sale of liquor in villages and townships have also compelled the contractors to slash the prices.


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The next-generation Mercedes-Benz S-class will strengthen its position as the world’s best-selling luxury saloon with unparalleled levels of safety, driveline, chassis and telematics technology when it goes on sale next year.
With up to five cutting-edge new safety systems, including a ‘Braking Bag’ that bursts under the front axle to add an extra dimension of last-second emergency stopping power, the S-class is likely to rate as the world’s safest car when it launches late in 2012.
A computer-controlled suspension system, with redesigned multi-link front and rear axles, more efficient engines and a nine-speed automatic gearbox promise to make the latest S-class a better drive, a more relaxed ride and a more sparing consumer of the planet’s resources.
The platform structure for the new family is Mercedes’ steel, modular rear-wheel drive architecture — which already underpins both the E-class and the M-class and will soon form the basis of the next-generation C-class.
However, in an effort to keep weight under control, some exterior panels of the S-class, such as the doors, will be fashioned in aluminium.
There are also strong indications that the four-wheel-drive 4Matic model will at last become available in the UK following extensive lobbying by Mercedes-Benz UK.
There will be five models in the range: a four-door saloon, two extended-wheelbase cars, a short-wheelbase coupé and, for the first time, a soft-top convertible.
The standard and long-wheelbase saloons are due for launch next year, the extra-long- wheelbase Pullman and coupé in 2013 and the convertible in 2014. The Pullman will satisfy demand in China for an even roomier car than today’s LWB S-class.


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ZIMBABWE’s telecommunications companies registered a 19 percent growth in cumulative revenue to $292,7 million in the third quarter to September 2017, compared to $244,5 million recorded in the previous quarter driven by growth in data usage.
According to regulator, Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) mobile internet data usage was up 39,1 percent to 4 129 terabytes. The country has been experiencing an increase in mobile data usage as mobile phone and internet penetration have been growing exponentially. Figures from POTRAZ show that the mobile penetration rate increased by 3,5 percentage points to 100,5 percent from 97 percent in the second quarter.
The active internet penetration rate increased by 0,9 percentage points to 49,5 percent from 48,6 percent recorded in the previous quarter of 2017. All the three mobile operators registered an increase in data usage while Econet having the highest market share of 70 percent. NetOne recorded the highest increase in data or internet consumption at 86 percent, which resulted in its market share increasing by 5,7 percentage points to 22 percent of total market share. Of the total industry revenue, mobile operators contributed $224,8 million during the quarter under review, representing a 36 percent growth.
“The increase in overall operator revenue is attributable to the growth in internet and data usage as well as mobile money services,” said POTRAZ. The industry’s aggregate revenue per user per month increased by 10,8 percent to $4,41 from $3,98 recorded in the previous quarter. Total operating costs for mobile operators declined by 6,3 percent to $123 million from $131 million the prior quarter.
POTRAZ said the decline was a result of efforts by mobile operators to cut down operating expenditure. The aggregate average cost per user per month declined by 9,3 percent to $2,72.
However, investment by mobile operators declined by 37,2 percent to $31 million. Active fixed telephone lines declined by 2,3 percent to reach 260 183 while fixed tele-density remained at 1,9 percent. Since the advent of the mobile phones, fixed network services have continued to face stiff competition resulting in declines in voice revenues as, consumers opt for the more convenient mobile phones.
According to POTRAZ, most of the fixed telephone lines in rural areas belong to local authorities as well as educational and health institutions. The national mobile voice traffic increased by 7,6 percent to record 924,7 million minutes from 859 million minutes recorded in the previous quarter. Revenue from other services such as postal and courier revenues decreased by 1 percent to $13,8. Postal services provider, Zimpost said recently that it was working on growing other services such as money transfer to offset the decline in mail postal services.
However, the firm is still upbeat of good returns from postal and courier services driven by increased online based purchases, as the purchased goods still require to be couriered to customers.–herald


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MWC 2017 - Day 1 announcements
Mobile World Congress has begun, with loads of new smartphones and tablets getting announced. Samsung has new Android and Windows tablets. Huawei's new flagship phones come in Pantone coloured cases and they have new smartwatches. The LG G6 is a big long rectangle in a metal case. The reborn Nokia has 3 Android phones and a 2017 take on the classic 3310 that is 2G only so won't work in Australia. Motorola showed us the G5 and G5 Plus. The new owner of the BlackBerry trademark is attempting to extract ever last cent out of that dying brand with the KeyOne. There'll be more relatively unimportant product launches tomorrow.
Google Assistant coming to all Android 6 & 7 phones soon
Android phone owners might be happy to know that you'll be getting Google Assistant in an update soon. The assistant (i.e: Google's version of Siri that's better than Siri) was previously exclusive to Pixel phones, but will be pushed out via Google Play to all phones running Android 6.0 and 7.0 in the USA, Canada, Australia the UK and Germany. I wonder how Android users will feel getting an update for their phone? Will they know what to do with it? Will they think it's a piece of malware? *shit eating iPhone user grin*
Cloudbleed - another IT security thing with a brand name
A Google security researcher has discovered a rather nasty issue with Cloudflare - a service that sits in front of many popular websites, protecting them from hacks and allowing them to handle vast amounts of traffic. Apparently there was a bug in CloudFlare's servers that leaked private info (like HTTP cookies, auth tokens, HTTP POST bodies) sent between you and a website, that ended up cached in search engines. Troy Hunt gives a great "ok so what's this mean for me?" post, explaining that while it sounds bad, it's not as big of a problem as it seems. There's more chance of getting owned by a phishing email, using old unpatched software or a dodgy ad site, than your auth tokens getting exposed by this incredibly rare and random bug.
More bad Uber stuff
Here's some loose ends about Uber that I'm mainly posting because Uber had it coming and I'm taking a perverse delight in seeing it all come out at once. First there's this rather insightful post on Jalopnik about how Uber make no money and it doesn't look like they'll make money unless a bunch of things all line up, which looks increasingly unlikely. Some of Uber's investors are bit pissed off the investigation into the toxic work culture at the joint (outlined pretty well in this New York Times article) is led by insiders at the company, not an entirely external team. The Verge highlights how that self-driving car in SF ran a red light was actually not the driver's fault like Uber said, but was the car's inability to detect the light at all. Oh and Uber has a new competitor for the self-driving semi-trailer market.
You can once again find out what type of NBN you’ll get
NBN has finally got around to fixing its website's availability checker. You're now able to enter an address and see what type of internet connection you'll receive and the estimated time frame for when you'll be able to connect to it. Hard to believe that the NBN website lacked such basic info for so long, but hey, it's the NBN, nothing should surprise us when it comes to these drongos.
Reddit is a hive of sockpuppet astroturf shilling
Here's a 11 minute documentary on YouTube that explains how Reddit is basically a playground for astroturfers. These guys contacted ad agencies that sell "reputation management" and pretended to want to be a game dev company wanting to spin conversations mentioning their game in a positive light. The agencies use fake profiles, to post fake comments, as well as paying existing Reddit users with "aged" accounts to upvote stuff, to make it all more legit to get around Reddit's basic spam filtering. Never believe anything you read on the internet. Except this email. I'm your friend, you can trust me 100%, all the time.
Not everyone is rapt to have MWC in Barcelona
Mobile World Congress may seem kinda harmless to most people it's just a bunch of nerds talking about phones, what's the big deal? That's not how some people in Barcelona feel about MWC taking over their city. They've organised "ethical alternatives" to MWC that are focused on the use of blood minerals in smartphones, the violation of human rights in the manufacture of the products on display at MWC, the social impacts of technology and a couple of hippies want to talk about electromagnetic contamination (i.e: wi-fi hurts the children). Greenpeace interrupted Samsung's press conference, to highlight the shameful waste of all those recalled Galaxy Note 7 phones that were dumped instead of refurbished. Which is a pretty damn good point.
eBay has 10% off everything, so there's some cool cheap stuff
eBay is having another sale - this time it's 10% off *everything* using the code C10, so there's some nice deals popping up on tech. Synology DS416Play NAS for $509. Entry level Intel NUC NUC5CPYH for $129. Cheapest AU stock, new iPhones around (32GB 7 for $905, iPhone SE 64GB for $635). $156 for a Kindle Paperwhite from Officeworks. 1TB M.2 SSDs for $313. PS4 Pro for $503. Lenovo ThinkPad E460 for $881 (which I think I'm gonna buy to replace my Dell Inspiron 11). Bose QC35 wireless noise canceling headphones for $391. GoPro Hero5 Black for $448. I'll probably dig some more stuff up for tomorrow's issue. Keep an eye on the forums if you want to see them before the actual issue is emailed out.
Here endeth the sizzle (until tomorrow!)
The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Like The Sizzle? Like it on Facebook!


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SFMade Week highlights locally made products
SFMade, now 150 companies strong, celebrates the variety of products manufactured in the city with a week of shopping, food and tours
Panama hats. Carbon fiber ukuleles. Silk robes. Organic body butter. Waffle mixes. Mattresses. Bike helmet locks. Seersucker pants. Beer. Bow ties. Organic pet food. Tea towels. Waxed canvas safari bags.
Surprised to learn that those are just a few of the many products made by companies that manufacture in San Francisco? An upcoming weeklong series of free events seeks to change that.
"It's just amazing what is made here," says Janet Lees, director of programs and communications for SFMade, whose SFMade Week (Saturday-May 27) overlaps with San Francisco Small Business Week and seeks to better acquaint locals with San Francisco-made products through factory tours, a fundraising party, a pop-up shop and a street food market.
Since its launch in early 2010 by Rickshaw Bagworks founder and CEO Mark Dwight, also SFMade's chairman, the nonprofit organization has grown to include 150 member companies that are headquartered in San Francisco, employ a local workforce and produce at least one product within city limits.
"It's completely exceeded all expectations," Dwight says of the organization's growth.
To member companies, who join for free but must apply and be accepted, the organization offers educational resources and hosts events designed to help local businesses navigate the city's manufacturing landscape, strengthen branding and sales initiatives, find subcontractors, and hire and retain local workers, just to name a few. Funding comes from a variety of sources, including the city and county of San Francisco, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Levi Strauss & Co. and Anchor Steam Brewing.
Speaker events, workshops and factory tours held throughout the year are aimed at helping businesses thrive and grow. But for Joy Opfer, owner of eco-friendly jewelry line Kyler by Joy O, SFMade helped almost immediately.
"Like even before I applied," says Opfer, who quickly found subcontractors via the organization's website after reading coverage of SFMade in the New York Times.
Opfer joined the organization last month and will be one of 20 vendors in an SFMade pop-up shop on Saturday.
"When you don't have a store, events and pop-up shops are really the only way to make it work," Opfer says.
And while SFMade Week is all about local products, the organization is hoping to make an impact outside the Bay Area as a co-founder of the Urban Manufacturing Alliance, a national group started this year to help manufacturing in cities around the country.
Says Dwight: "A lot of communities feel victimized by outsourcing and global trade, and this is something we can do to reinvigorate ourselves."
SFMade Pop-Up Shop: Vendors of local apparel, gifts, accessories and items for the home take over the I/O Incubation Space next to the Summit (780 Valencia St.) for one day only. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday.
SFMade Off the Grid: The roving weekly street food extravaganza, a haven for food truck fans, will feature only edibles and beverages made in San Francisco. 5-9 p.m. Saturday, McCoppin between Market and Valencia streets.
Factory Tours: Throughout the week, free tours offer a chance to meet the company heads and view the daily operations of local manufacturers such as Rickshaw Bagworks, Anchor Brewing, Ritual Coffee Roasters, Timbuk2 Designs, Lily Samii, and Cayson Culinary. Multiple times, locations. Full schedule here: bit.ly/j2MtH1.
Ramp It Up! What's Old Is New Again Annual Fundraiser: Along with artisan food, beverages and locally made products from SFMade members such as DODOcase and Hello Lucky, the event includes former Dwell editor Allison Arieff as special guest. 5:30-8:30 p.m. May 25, McRoskey Mattress Co., 1687 Market St. Tickets: $45.


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Blaze of colour draws crowd
Tracey Snowden looks for the perfect paeony at the 10th annual open day of The Paeony Patch in Old Renwick Rd yesterday. The patch showcased 80 different varieties in full bloom.
Owner Marie Harvey said about 150 carloads of people turned up to the 10th annual open day. "They were streaming in just to look at the flowers and to buy tubers," she said.
The Marlborough Express


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Posted Tue Sep 18, 2012 at 09:00 AM PDT by Dick Ward
Car companies seem to be the ones most affected, but camera and electronics manufacturers are being attacked as well.
If you've somehow missed it, there is a huge dispute happening now between Japan and China. It's the kind that goes way back and doesn't seem to have a resolution that will make both countries happy. It's, well, complicated.
Protests in China have become incredibly intense, resulting in violence, looting, and arson. Japanese car dealerships have been burned down, Japanese products destroyed and even workers are causing problems. Panasonic's plant was even sabotaged.
As a safety measure to their products and – more importantly – their workers, many Japanese companies have shut down their plants for a day or two in hopes that things will ease up. Expect to see them remain closed longer if tensions stay as high as they are.
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.


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Panasonic are to launch the world’s first Blu-ray recorder, which will include an integrated Freesat receiver and internal hard drive.
The Japanese giants are to release two Blu-ray recorders: The DMR-BS750 with a 250GB hard drive, and the DMR-BS850 with 500GB hard drive. SD memory card slots are an additional feature on both recorders.
The built in dual tuner will allow users to record a programme on one channel while watching another, similar of course to DVD recorders and digiboxes with hard drive recording capabilities, i.e. Sky Plus.
Since its launch in 2007, Sky+ HD offers users to record any of their HD channels, of which they are expanding all the time, but a Blu-ray recorder will offer more versatility and of course users will not have to be tied down by any subscriptions.
These latest beauties will not be launched officially until May 2009, where buyers will be able to find out more details and release dates, including confirmed recommended retail prices.


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Fun, fun, fun is what Microsoft will be pitching tomorrow. The company will release on Tuesday a number of free updates for Windows XP users that focus on digital media experience and content creation. The packs will add some new functionality to Windows Media Player and Movie Maker 2.0, plus they'll introduce some new PowerToys. The new PowerToys will allow you to use any WMP video as your screen saver, and another will let you automagically rotate your desktop wallpaper. Yea, or something. You can find a list of what's expected to be released here. Once the downloads go live (sometime tomorrow), you'll be able to find them at Microsoft XP site.
Microsoft, which has spent much of its history marketing it OSes as productivity enhancers, has consistently tried to sell Windows XP as originally conceived: about eXPerience. It fits well with the company's overall desire to connect with users who hold the company in suspect, or simply find Microsoft's offerings to be bland. Of course, the company is also well aware of the emerging medium of digital entertainment, a medium that places Microsoft between a rock and a hard place as it attempts to navigate between offering consumers what they want from software, while also appeasing entertainment industry advocates who want Microsoft to help police their products. This is also a hat that Apple is apparently eager to wear. We reported in early March that Apple was reportedly developing its own on-line music service for iTunes users. Now we're told that on the 28th of this month Apple will be holding a media event that is slated to be "music to your ears." While we've touched on the rumors that Apple was looking to buy Vivendi Universal Group, it's far more likely that this upcoming event will be the announcement of the on-line music service. Place your bets before Sunday.


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Auto Inc Rewind 2019: Lessons learnt from a year of slowdown
If you happened to track what's happening in the auto industry then certainly you would have noticed that 2019 has been a wild year for the Indian automobile industry unless you have been living under a rock.
Hello and welcome to 25th episode of ETAutoCast. I'm your host Shruti Mishra and in today's episode which is also out last episode[ of 2019 we will do a brief and detailed rewind of domestic auto industry that witnessed more downs than ups in 2019. But before that let's do a quick roundup of the top stories of this week. Government proposes BS VI emission norms for quadricycles from April 2020 CBI books ex-Maruti Udyog MD Jagdish Khattar for loan fraud Renault India to focus on petrol run vehicles;phases out Lodgy Delhi Cabinet approves Electric Vehicle Policy, targets 5 Lakh EV registrations by 2024 Govt mulling premium on petrol, diesel prices on BS-VI switchover Anand Mahindra to step down as Mahindra Group executive chairman next year Fitch lowers India GDP growth to 4.6% in FY20If you happened to track what's happening in the auto industry then certainly you would have noticed that 2019 has been a wild year for the Indian automobile industry unless you have been living under a rock. Throughout this year the auto sector faced multiple headwinds that resulted in nosedived sales and piling up of inventories. According to industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the total domestic sales of vehicles declined by 13.8 percent between January to November 2019. The cyclical slowdown in the economy, IL&FS meltdown and the consequent shortage of lending by non-banking finance companies, price hike, regulatory changes like transition to BS-VI, increase in third party insurance and road tax, slowdown in infrastructure spending, change in axle load norms were the key reasons that pushed the industry on the verge of breakdown. Another important factor that caused massive turbulence this year is the wave of electric mobility. As per the industry watchers, despite massive push from the government, traditional OEMs are finding it difficult to predict precisely what types of vehicles will be leading the market a decade from now. Experts also pointed out that incumbents in the automotive industry need to prepare for a changing landscape as India grows into the world’s third-largest passenger-vehicle market and global trends disrupt the sector. In today's sessions our experts- Mr. Vinnie Mehta, director general, ACMA; Mr Ravi Bhatia, President, Jato Dynamics India; Mr. Nikunj Sanghi, director at FADA, will share their opinions leanings and future perspective


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California's first almond crop estimate has projected the 2003 crop at 920 million pounds. If realized it will be the second largest crop in the state's history and every pound will be welcome to meet soaring demand.
The subjective crop estimate from the California Agricultural Statistics Service came out in May. The CASS objective crop estimate, which is always more definitive, will be released June 26.
A 920-million-pound crop would become the second largest crop by almost 100 million pounds, leaping over the 1999 crop of 830 million pounds.
2002 crop record
The largest crop ever was the 2002 crop of almost 1.2 billion pounds. However, this crop was propelled through the market system at a record breaking pace. When the final reports come in, 2002 crop shipments are expected to reach 952 million pounds, a whopping 16 percent increase over 2001 shipments.
Coming with those production and shipment records were excellent prices.
Most almond handlers say the industry needs a big crop in 2003 to meet growing demand. Handlers are predicting grower returns will be 10 to 20 cents per pound over 2002 prices.
e-mail: [email protected]


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Hong Kong-based logistics firm U-Freight Group expressed approval of the “Luxor Resolution” on e-commerce, recently adopted by the World Customs Organization (WCO) Policy Commission to help customs and other government agencies understand and address challenges that emerge with increasing e-commerce activity.
The resolution, named for the Egyptian city where it was adopted during the WCO Policy Commission’s December 2017 meeting, addresses eight aspects of e-commerce, including: advance electronic data and risk management; facilitation and simplification; safety and security; revenue collection; measurement and analysis; partnerships; public awareness, outreach and capacity building; and legislative frameworks.
With the issuance of the Luxor Resolution, the WCO is taking on a leadership role in creating frameworks for managing cross-border e-commerce, which has previously been addressed separately by individual companies and consortiums, but has generally lacked larger organization.
According to U-Freight, “the adoption of the Luxor Resolution will help establish an e-commerce framework of standards and associated operational/implementation plans, with timelines, to further support the development of cross-border e-commerce, whilst effectively addressing the challenges that arise.”
U-Freight’s CEO, Simon Wong, said the logistics company is facing challenges stemming particularly from growing volumes of business-to-consumer e-commerce demand and increasing time-sensitivity, “which pose unique challenges to all e-commerce stakeholders under the current conditions.”


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Apple Inc. is that tech giant company which is known for having a large number of cash reserves and diversification of investments. A recent report shows that Apple has bought a self-driving startup Drive.ai, which is now making lots of buzz. Drive.ai was founded in 2015 by former members of Stanford University who are specialised in Artificial Technology. The company, since its foundation, has received more than $77 million of funding from angel investors and at one time it was worth more than $200 million. The news about acquisition got lots of media attention when Drive.ai laid off its 90 employees with permanent disclosure, and Apple spokesperson confirmed this news.
There was speculation that Apple is trying to get into the self-driving vehicle industry, but there were no clear reports on it. However, this new acquisition is the indication that Apple is quite interested in making autonomous vehicles. A few months ago, a report came which stated that Apple had cut 190 employees from its self-driving project called Titan and they replaced those employees with the dozens of Drive.ai engineers.
Drive.ai is that startup which has got a reasonable valuation from venture capitalists for its high autonomous vehicle technology. Apple is that tech giant company which is trying to enter into new sectors, and that’s why they have entered into autonomous vehicle industry very smartly. Self-driving technology is still in its early stage, which means companies will have to burn lots of money for producing a significant amount of vehicles and Apple has got that much money. Apple is trying to shift its focus from producing small consumable items like smartphones to cloud computing, autonomous cars, movie streaming businesses. However, it’s still unclear whether Apple is going to use the technology or workforce of Drive.ai, but since they have bought the company with a majority, they can use both of these things.
Phone: +1 512-845-8160


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This article is not just a profile about one of the three brilliant roasters who I’ve picked out for the upcoming March 2022 Coffeevine box. It’s also a trip down memory lane.
Manchester, 2003 – 2006. The northern English city was my stomping ground while I lived and studied in nearby Lancaster and even following my graduation, I repeatedly went back there to see friends and retrace my own steps.
In the early days of The Coffeevine, there were only a handful of places in the city that served really good specialty coffee with Takk being one of them. Despite London being largely considered to be Europe’s capital of coffee, England’s third biggest city largely remained in the wilderness.
My last visit to Manchester is now a few years back and I remember noticing some positive change but until recently, I would have struggled to name a single well-known local specialty coffee roasters. Until Blossom Coffee hit the scene.
Founded by former colleagues Josh Clarke and Andy Farrington, Blossom Coffee has the goal to finally put Manchester on the map and prove to local Mancunian coffee bars that they don’t have to source their coffees from far-away roasters. Local is where it’s at.
During an interview with Josh this afternoon, he told me that his interest in coffee was originally sparked while living in New Zealand where according to him, ‘you cannot get a hospitality job unless you’re a barista’. Thus, he started working at a local Wellington restaurant and soon received a full barista training from Coffee Surpreme, one of the Pacific nation’s most respected specialty coffee roaster.
With his sight firmly set on a career in coffee, Josh eventually moved to Melbourne where, after a few months, he got a coveted 6-month apprenticeship at the local Coffee Supreme roastery. “The timing for this could not have been better,” he recalled.
Upon returning to the UK, he was lucky enough that one of Manchester’s biggest roasters, Grindsmith, was in the process of setting up a roastery and needed someone with experience. “My application just fell into their lap at the right time,” Josh told me. “My learning curve just kept on going up.”
“It’s really important for us to have as little an impact on the environment as possible”
While working at Grindsmith, he was offered to complete his Q-grader course and he visited Colombia on an origin trip. It was a lot during just three years since pulling his first shot of espresso. And he wanted more.
One of his pet peeves and a key motivation behind eventually setting up Blossom Coffee Roasters was the lack of a Manchester-based specialty coffee roaster with an international profile. Someone who people immediately think of when they think of Manchester.
That’s when he approached his future co-founder Andy whose wide-ranging experience in wholesale and training perfectly complemented Josh’s own roasting and sourcing skills.
From day one, they wanted Blossom to be different from others in the industry. “We are a fully carbon-neutral certified company and we are member of 1% for the Planet. We do all of our deliveries in our electric van and roast on a Loring. It’s really important for us to have as little an impact on the environment as possible,” Josh explained.
This link to the environment is also what informed the choice of name. Blossom represents the natural process of a plant to mate and bear fruit and it describes some of the delicate floral notes that we love in specialty coffees. Indeed, one of Manchester’s mascots is the bee, a remnant of the city’s industrial revolution heritage when its workers were called worker bees.
What’s important for Josh, Andy and fellow team member Olli Jones is to build strong long-term relationships with coffee producers and to set new industry standards when it comes to full transparency. Coincidentally, Blossom has recently published its second environmental impact report, which details how it tries to minimise its carbon footprint.
For the upcoming March 2022 Coffeevine box, Blossom will roast for us a really delicious yellow honey Catuaí from Costa Rican producer Mauricio Jimenez who they sourced a completition-level coffee from last year and who they wanted to build a stronger relationship with. After tasting a few of Mauricios’ regular specialty coffee crops, they fell in love with this outstanding coffee that offers a gorgeous cup with notes of caramel, nectarine and milk chocolate.
I guess I don’t need to tell you how happy I am to finally feature such an admirable company from my former hangout. Manchester is a really fun city that has a lot to offer, and now, it also has a great roaster.
To get this delicious coffee alongside our other choices for the upcoming March 2022 box, including coffees from Uncommon and Crooked Nose, visit our shop now.


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Metro Trains Melbourne recently altered their specifications to include the use of recycled materials.
Researchers from the UK have successfully tested a new way or protecting concrete from fire damage using materials recycled from old tyres.
Close the Loop has unveiled a new manufacturing line in Melbourne capable of converting 200,000 tonnes of soft plastic and toner waste into an asphalt additive for roads.
With reauthorisation from the ACCC, Tyre Stewardship Australia is increasing the scope of its product stewardship scheme to fund demonstration projects that use tyre-derived products.
Tyre Stewardship Australia has teamed up with the Australian Asphalt Pavement Association to bring road builders a sustainable and effective alternative to standard asphalt products.


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Every major car manufacture today makes SUVs, that wasn’t always the case. Many automakers, only a few years winced at the thought of including these big bodied cars in their inventories.
Only 6 years ago Ferrari’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne, said his company would never make an SUV – now Ferrari makes SUVs, along with every other high end car brands who once looked down on the Sport Utility Vehicle segment.
Many of these luxury car brands’ SUV line-ups are their most popular and expensive and that’s why Rolls-Royce currently holds the record for the most expensive Sport Utility Vehicle in the world.
The Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge sits atop list of the most expensive SUVs that may change as time goes by. The vehicle has a staggering price tag of $341,300 USD, the price of small condo in many major cities around the world. This is the most expensive SUV money can buy.


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Not so long ago, we covered about Apple’s rumored plans to launch a new iMac with a multitouch display which will run a iOS 4 layer on top of OS X to use touchscreen capabilities. Well it looks like we are finally going to see a touchscreen computer from Apple after all. A new interesting patent has just popped up which shows a touchscreen capable iMac dubbed as the “Apple iMac Touch”.
The developers behind the popular iPhone game Touchgrind has published a video, which shows off a Mac version of the game, run and controlled by utilizing the multitouch capabilities of MacBook Pro’s mouse trackpad. This version of Touchgrind for OS X is only a technical demo and requires the newer MacBook’s with multitouch capable mouse trackpads.


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The import of electrical appliances including air conditioners, fans and electric irons without the GCC specification compliance certificate will be banned this year, a senior official from the Ministry of Environment has said.
"The compliance certificate is a guarantee that such electrical appliances are safe to use and will not cause any risk of fire or other harm to the users," Dr Mohamed bin Saif al-Kuwari, assistant undersecretary for laboratories and standardisation, told local Arabic daily Arrayah.
The targeted electric appliances include irons, heaters, water heaters, ovens, fridges, toasters, lamps and electric wires, besides air conditioners, the daily said yesterday.
Dr al-Kuwari pointed out that the experimental launch of a campaign to combat the harmful consequences of inferior electrical appliances has resulted in the withdrawal of large numbers of non-standard products from the local market in co-operation with the Consumer Protection Department of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce.
"An awareness programme will be launched first to raise public awareness about the required specifications and standards, which are still under discussion. Then, importers and retailers will be given a grace period of six months to modify their situation according to the new requirements. After that the new regulations will be enforced."
Dr al-Kuwari also advised consumers to be careful when buying any electrical appliance to make sure that it complies with the local requirements and is of high quality to avoid any risks during use.
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Qatar-Italy solid co-operation in infrastructure highlighted
‘Qatar-Kazakhstan bilateral relation to strengthen further’
Qatar Academy celebrates graduation of third batch
Education ministry official affirms commitment to achieve excellence
Submissions invited for HMC’s Patient Experience Forum
Arabian Supply Center holds seminar for fleet customers
Jumbo Electronics launches LG Dualcool AC
Qatar-Azerbaijan ties hailed
LuLu Hypermarket Qatar opens ninth outlet at Ezdan Oasis


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Forcing suppliers to deliver energy to household consumers at the lowest price is illegal, as it would violate European regulations and equal to a new Ordinance 114, Zoltan Nagy-Bege, vice president of the National Energy Regulatory Authority, said on Tuesday.
“With the multiple pressures to which the authority was subjected at the end of December and the beginning of January, when we were asked to force these suppliers to include the 5.7 – 5.8 million household consumers in the regulated market at the lowest prices of their portfolio, I would like to point out that, in our view, it would have been and is illegal, because it would violate EU Regulation 943 on the internal market of electricity and Directive 944, which had as transposition deadline 2020-end. These two regulations clearly state that prices must be made up by supply and demand, and no government, parliament or regulator has the right to intervene in prices, as states take steps to ensure competition in the market,” he said.
In his opinion, such an obligation would have the same effects as the Ordinance 114.
“Such an intervention by an emergency ordinance or by an ANRE order for a short or longer period would have violated the Regulation and the Directive and I would venture to say, even if this would create controversy, that it would be equivalent to a new GEO 114, with the same effects,” Bege was quoted as saying by Agerpres.
This would have increased energy prices for consumers who were already in the free market, he explained.
“Forcing a number of suppliers to provide cheap energy for 5.7 million customers, in addition to the fact that it is very difficult to achieve, but assuming that it is possible, creates very large financial losses for these suppliers. Losses that should be recovered from the other categories of consumers, which would have meant a price increase for other households, 3 million of which are already in the competitive market, or non-household consumers – exactly what happened with GEO 114, I hope we still remember,” stressed the vice-president of ANRE.


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The Components That Make Smart Clothes Possible
Smart clothing may already be here, but it will take a while before the average person is reading their heart rate statistics through the very fibres of their jumper. For now, let’s discuss the components and engineering considerations involved that, once mastered, could eventually commercialise this latest breakthrough in wearable tech.
Creative Air Purification Solutions for Cleaning up Polluted Cities
Over 90% of the population is breathing in air that exceeds the World Health Organization’s standards, the authority says. But at least every smoggy, CO2-filled cloud has a silver lining: there are many engineers out there bringing breakthrough air cleaners to the urban landscape.
Hardware Prepped to Meet Europe’s 5G Implementation
5G has been hailed as tech's next big leap forward and, if you pay attention to all the noise and claims from telecoms companies, you certainly wouldn't be ridiculed for believing so. Despite everything that is being said, is Europe ready for 5G's implementation?


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The year 2018 has been good for ugali lovers but bad for Kenya’s maize farmers, a researcher has said.
It is even getting better for consumers, as the price of a 2kg packet of unga is currently retailing at Sh75, following a government’s directive to reduce the price due to a surplus of maize in the country.
However, Timothy Njagi, a research fellow at the Tegemeo Institute said that while the consumers are paying less for a plate of ugali, maize farmers are extremely broke.
He said despite the cost of producing a 90kg bag of maize dropping from Sh2,083 last year to Sh1,781 this year, farmers re still making losses of up to Sh531 per bag as the same bag of maize is retailing at Sh1,250.
He was speaking yesterday in Nairobi during the release of a report on the cost of production for maize, irish potatoes and rice in Kenya by the Tegemeo Institute.
“The country has enough maize stock to sustain the country until July 2019 but farmers are extremely broke and not making money. This is a bad year for the maize farmer in Kenya but a good one for the consumer,” he said.
Njagi attributed this to delayed payments by the National Cereals and Produce Board to farmers who sold maize to the government last year, and low market prices.
The delay has angered some farmers from the North Rift and they are now turning their maize produce into animal feeds. Some farmers have also reduced their acreage under maize production with one farmer from Uasin Gishu only having 79 acres under maize this year compared to 210 acres in 2014/2015 crop year.
“The increasing production has triggered maize prices to a downward trend thus leading to huge losses to the farmers. Over and above local production, there is also a lot of maize import coming from Uganda and Tanzania,” said Njagi.
Lilian Kirimi a senior research fellow at the institute said that the country is set to have a bumper harvest of 46 million bags which will last until July 2019.
She said the current maize stock is at 20.1 million bags with farmers holding 15.8 million bags, millers and traders have 383, 612 bags while NCPB has 3.8 million bags. Bean stock is at 4.9 million while wheat is at 4.7 million bags.


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CUNA Announces 2019-2020 CUNA Lending Council Executive Committee
The 2019-2020 CUNA Lending Council Executive Committee was announced at the 25th annual conference November 3-6, in New Orleans.
Learn more about CUNA Lending Council Executive Committee and CUNA Lending Council at cunacouncils.org.
The 2019-2020 CUNA Lending Council Executive Committee includes:
- Jim Block – chair: EVP, chief operating officer, Baxter CU, Vernon Hills, Ill.
- Ray Lindley – vice chair: chief lending officer, Elevations CU, Boulder, Colo.
- Cary Shumway – 2nd vice chair: VP of consumer lending, UNIFY Financial Credit, Union, Mesa, Ariz.
- Tom Becker: chief lending officer, Hanscom FCU, Littleton, Mass.
- Julie Lind: VP, consumer and small business lending, WSECU, Olympia, Wash.
- Mike Long: EVP/chief credit officer, UW CU, Madison, Wis.
- Kevin Kesecker: SVP, chief lending officer, SECU, Linthicum, Md.
- Ethan Nelson: VP, credit administration, Oregon Community CU, Eugene, Ore.
- Sandi Papenfuhs: SVP, consumer lending, First Tech FCU, Beaverton, Ore.
- Jon Paukovich: chief lending officer, Ent CU, Colorado Springs, Colo.
- Debbie Shephard: lending manager, Northern Colorado CU, Greeley, Colo.*
- Lisa Cox: vice president of lending, CORE CU, Statesboro, Ga.*
*New executive committee members
The following outgoing CUNA Lending Council Executive Committee members were acknowledged for their service:
- Rita Fillingane: VP, research & collaboration, California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues, Ontario, Calif.
- Steve Quigley: VP, retail banking, GreenState Credit Union, Iowa City, Iowa
- Mike London: chief lending officer, Georgia United CU, Duluth, Ga**
**Served the last two years as chair


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VRChat joins a growing list of VR games dropping Quest 1 support, ending after June 30.
"This is primarily due to Meta’s deprecation of the Quest 1 SDK, which will prevent us from keeping VRChat updated properly on the device," states the team in a new developer update. It joins Onward, Zenith: The Last City, Synth Riders and Myst, who all made similar announcements these last few months, citing Meta's decision to end Quest 1 support this year. Here's what VRChat advised about this change:
After June 30th, 2023, we will no longer provide support for the Meta Quest 1 headset. Tickets opened with our User Support team regarding the Meta Quest 1 after that date will be informed that we no longer support the HMD and will not be able to provide assistance to users using it. Any time after June 30th, the Quest 1 may stop working entirely.
This isn't the first time VRChat's communicated plans to end Quest 1 support, having previously revealed the news during its April 13 developer update. Back then, no specific end date was provided and it only confirmed that support would finish "within the next 3 to 6 months," making this announcement earlier than expected.
If you've got a gaming PC, the developer advises you can still use a Quest 1 headset to play the PC VR version through Quest Link, Virtual Desktop, ALVR "or other tethering methods." However, VRChat notes that "those other applications may also be deprecating the Quest 1, so keep an eye on their announcements and news posts."


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Apple doesn’t plan to revamp its audio product lines before the end of 2024, or even the beginning of 2025. We’re expecting AirPods Max 2, a HomePod mini 2, and AirPods Lite.
Buy the product in the current range or wait for the next one? The question regularly comes up when you are a fan of tech products. With AirPods Max celebrating its three years this year, there’s something to be excited about.
Especially since Apple launched into a big transition to USB-C, there’s a lot left to do than the next generation itself equips. A good reason to wait a bit, especially in a helmet of 629 euros.
The audio would wait
Except here, according to the often well-informed Ming Chi Kuo, the next great renewal of the audio ranges at Apple would not be for now. After the very recent launch of a 2nd generation HomePod, the Cupertino company would wait until the end of 2024, or even the beginning of 2025, to launch new products in this universe.
This would include AirPods Max 2, but also a HomePod mini 2 and AirPods Lite.
The release of a second HomePod mini 2 may seem surprising. In fact, the first generation had made HomePod 1 less interesting. With the release of HomePod 2, it’s surprising to note that Apple would take the same risk.
Meanwhile, the AirPods Lite would be appropriately named. These would be entry-level AirPods capable of competing with very good entry-level and mid-range wireless headphones like the Nothing ear (1) or the Realme Buds Air 3. As a reminder, the AirPods 2 are listed today at 159 euros, so we can expect AirPods Lite closer to 100 euros.
Do you use Google News (News in France)? You can follow your favorite media. Continue Frandroid on Google News (and Numerama).


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I, like many women, love chocolate and the Swiss are known for it. However, some Swiss nationals, particularly farmers, regularly eat dog and cat as a meat source.
The advocacy group SOS Chats Noiragigue is leading a campaign to ban the consumption of cats and dogs with a petition to parliament. As of late November 2014, 18,000 signatures had been gathered including that of famous actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot.
Dog meat is primarily used in sausages.
In Switzerland, a proposal needs 100,000 signatures out of a total population of around 8 million for a national referendum to be held on the issue.
With the power of the internet, animal lovers from around the globe can sign a petition to help add weight to this cause. The Force Change petition is here.
Kathleen Crisley, specialist in dog massage, rehabilitation and nutrition/food therapy, Canine Catering Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand


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Louisiana joins the national consensus on marijuana legalization.
As in other weed-legal states, federal prohibition applies on federal lands like national forests.
The state representative plans to propose recreational, expanding on the governor’s intention to widen access.
Road safety is the name of the game.
This new bill could dramatically improve the state's cannabis laws.
Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are helping this dispensary kick off in the best way.
You’d have to have 16 ounces of cannabis to get a felony under this proposal.
Carl's Jr. is about to make fast food history with the launch of a new CBD burger.


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News Roundup: Unbox for Tivo goes live, Friendster + Google, Web radio deathwatch?
What a week it's turning out to be. Amazon's Unbox service for TiVo is live. Friendster and Google are now friendly, and Web radio could be on its way out thanks to the record labels.
- TiVo users get unboxed. TiVo users looking to spend their hard-earned money on digital downloads of movies and TV shows online can now do so without leaving the couch. Last month's announcement of the partnership to bring Amazon's Unbox service to TiVo owners has been fulfilled, and now TiVo users can pick from more than a thousand pieces of content to download straight to their set-top box. (News.com)
- Friendster makes Google its ad, search supplier. Google has unseated Yahoo for advertising supremacy at Friendster, one of the oldest social networks that still has 37 million registered users. Friendster will now feature Google text and picture ads, along with a Google search bar for searching the Web or member pages. Worth noting is Google's attempt to purchase Friendster in 2003. (News.com)
- Webcasters to see hike in Net radio fees. Popular Web radio services such as Last.fm, Shoutcast, and Pandora could be in hot water with new rate increases for streaming music on the Web. The rates per song are due to double in the next three years. Is this the end of Internet radio? (Wired)