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WASHINGTON, DC – Earlier this week, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) announced that, at her urging, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had sued to block the Kroger-Albertsons grocery store mega merger because it could reduce competition and further raise grocery prices. In December, she sent a letter calling on FTC Chair Lina Khan to review and consider blocking this mega merger over concerns that it would increase food prices.
Nevada Independent: Nevada joins federal lawsuit to block Kroger-Albertsons merger
- Nevada has joined a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and seven other states to block the proposed merger of major grocery store chains Kroger and Albertsons over its impact on consumers and employees.
- Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who asked the FTC in December to consider blocking the merger, said in a statement on Monday that she was “glad to see the FTC take steps at my urging to block this mega merger and protect families from even higher prices.”
Anchor: “She says less grocery companies in the valley could impact many of us.”
Senator Rosen: “We all know that when you reduce competition, what happens? The prices go up. So when you only have one grocery store, they’re the only game in town. They can charge whatever they want.”
Shopper: “Any time they try to make a monopoly out of everything, it destroys our freedom of choice.”
Anchor: “One of Nevada’s senators is speaking out against the proposed merger between two of the country’s largest grocery chains. The Federal Trade Commission has filed a suit to block Albertsons and Kroger from combining. The proposed $24.6 billion deal is the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history. Senator Jacky Rosen says allowing the merger could reduce competition and raise grocery prices. Americans are spending 26 percent more on groceries since 2020.”
Senator Rosen: “It’s going to limit competition for regular families. And we all know that when you only have one game in town, or one store to shop from, they can charge you whatever they want, and everyone needs groceries to live. And so it’s really important that this merger is blocked.”
Anchor: “As we’ve been reporting, the Federal Trade Commission, or the FTC, says it’s going to sue to block the merging of Kroger and Albertsons grocery stores. This comes after Senator Jacky Rosen says she pushed the FTC to consider blocking the merger, over concerns that combining the two stores would decrease competition, thus possibly increasing food costs.”
Senator Rosen: “Am I gonna take big corporations at their word when they say they wanna merge and they’re gonna make it better for the consumer, when they’re gonna give you less choice and less competition? I say it doesn’t take an expert to think maybe we shouldn’t take them at their word. That’s why the FTC is suing to block this merger.”


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This push for a more balanced global supply chain is part of Intel’s expansion into the client foundry business and the company clearly hopes to capitalize on the perception supply chain issues are the result of too much capacity in the Asia-Pacific region.
During a recent investor call, MSI chairman Joseph Hsu said the company expects the supply of video cards and other in-demand gaming components will continue to drop. MSI points to dropping shipments from both Nvidia and AMD as the primary culprit, and as a result, GPU prices could increase even before they get to the resellers who are charging an arm and a leg.
GPU prices have continued moving in the wrong direction this spring. The only good news is that demand for the PlayStation 5 may be weakening.
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"Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company"
Palwasha is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
He may not have worn a turtle neck sweater but he looked just as dedicated in his suit as the much celebrated Apple founder Steve Jobs did every time he got on stage to present his masterpieces. I'm talking about Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), who presented the new additions to Amazon's tablet family--Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Paperwhite in Thursday's press conference.
To me, Bezos is a true visionary. He inspires many young entrepreneurs today. His ultimate mantra for Amazon has been his “focus on consumers.” Often I like to compare the two brains, Jobs and Bezos, behind the two behemoths of their respective industries. When Jobs revealed the Mac, he was clear in his message;
'...we didn’t build the Mac for anybody else. We built it for ourselves. We were the group of people who were going to judge whether it was great or not. We weren’t going to go out and do market research. We just wanted to build the best thing we could build.'
Unlike Jobs, Bezos worked differently, or as he puts it—“worked backwards.”
"There are two ways to extend a business. Take inventory of what you're good at and extend out from your skills. Or determine what your customers need and work backward, even if it requires learning new skills. Kindle is an example of working backward."
While the former preached do-what-you-can-best attitude, the latter preached “adaptability.” The former created his own demand, the latter supplied to existing demand. There's been a clear contrast between their ideologies and their companies. However, the thick line that historically divided the online book store from the computer device manufacturer has faded to nonexistence today. Today, we see both the companies trending towards becoming each others' true competitors. The two once-separate industries in which these companies operated have now overlapped and it's only a matter of time before we see Apple making ebook readers or Amazon making phones. Putting it again in Bezos words.
"What's dangerous is not to evolve"..."We watch our competitors, learn from them, see the things that they were doing for customers and copy those things as much as we can.”..."There is no physical analog for what Amazon.com is becoming."
Some argue that Amazon, in and of itself, may be a great company but the stock, that trades at 319x earnings, is not a good bargain. I beg to differ. The Amazon stock that was priced at $3 on this date 15 years ago when it went public, jumped to $16 on the same date 10 years ago in 2002, survived the dot-com bubble, continued to gradually climb, hit $81 on this date in 2008, survived the recession, continued its uptrend and today hit its all-time high of $259.42. What makes the comparison between the two interesting is their % change in price against their % change in revenues.
Apple went up from $380 the same week last year to $680 this year, a percentage gain of 79%. For the same period, we have revenue results available for three quarters. Assuming Apple makes the same amount of sales in the next quarter Q4 as the last quarter Q3 (although, in reality they'll be less with the holiday season coming up and purchase delays because of the new iPhone 5, but nonetheless), the extrapolated total revenues for the year come out to be around $155.6 billion. That's an increase of almost 44% in revenues, up from $108.2 billion last year. Applying the same analogy to Amazon and extrapolating next quarter revenues, we get a 22% increase in price and an approximated 17% increase in revenues for the year.
Comparison of % Revenue Increase to % Price Increase (Sep 2011-Sep 2012)
|%Price Inc.||%Rev. Inc.||
|Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN)||22%||17%||1.3|
|Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)||79%||44%||1.8|
In a nutshell, for every 1% increase in revenue at Amazon, its price increased by 1.3%. Contrarily, for every 1% increase in revenue at Apple, its price increased by 1.8%. Besides, Nasdaq sets a 1 year price target of $260 for AMZN, so it's not like the stock is insanely overvalued.
Some also argue about its low operating margin of 1.17% against peer eBay's whopping 20.34% or for that matter Apple's 35.62%. Well, somebody tell that to Buffett who continues to invest in Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) with an operating margin of 5.94% when Target (NYSE: TGT) has a 7.43% margin, Macy's (NYSE: M) has 9.3% and Dollar General has 10.18%. Also, where will the margins come from when a company breaks even with its low sales prices? Take, for instance, Amazon's 32GB 4G LTE-run Kindle Fire HD that it sells for only $499 when Apple sells a comparable tablet (iPad 3) for $729? When Bezos said the following, he likely meant investors to understand that Amazon's margins will never be comparable to others in the industry.
"There are two kinds of companies, those that work to try to charge more and those that work to charge less. We will be the second."
He reiterated his stance in the latest press conference that Amazon wants to make money when people USE their products, not when they BUY them. And this is probably why the online e-commerce company has been able to enter the tablets market and get hold of a good 22% of the market share within 3-5 years time, and will likely continue to pose a threat to Apple's iPad. Whether the Kindle family will prove boon to Amazon's success or not, it's definite good news for the consumers. For us, competition means industry growth, more innovation and affordability for all.
Additionally, as the e-commerce industry continues to grow with leaps and bounds, we can expect more good news from Amazon in the years to come. According to a study, online shoppers in the US are expected to spend $327 billion in 2016, up 62% from $202 billion in 2011. The study suggests that much of this increase will be the result of online deals that will lead consumers to prefer web stores over bricks-and-mortar retailers. The study found that 70% of holiday shoppers last year made purchases online because of better online deals and that 12% of online shoppers belonged to Amazon Prime-like programs. We can easily figure out that, of the $202 billion online sales, Amazon's $44 billion in revenues account for almost 22% of it. In contrast, eBay's $12B amount to only about 6% of the total online sales.
To sum it all up, I'll again quote Bezos;
"If there’s one reason we have done better than of our peers in the Internet space over the last six years, it is because we have focused like a laser on customer experience.”
So, if Amazon lays down in its mission statement to be 'earth’s most customer-centric company', I want to give it due credit for keeping us, the customers, in focus and making its stuff available to those who can't afford the likes of Apple.
The stakes are high and the opportunity is huge after Apple’s introduction of the iPhone 5, so to help investors understand this epic Apple event, we've just released an exclusive update dedicated to the iPhone 5. By picking up a copy of The Fool’s premium research report on Apple, you'll learn everything you need to know, and receive ongoing guidance as key news hits. Claim your copy today by clicking here now.
PalwashaS has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Amazon.com. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Amazon.com, Apple, and eBay. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.If you have questions about this post or the Fool’s blog network, click here for information.


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NEW DELHI: The finance ministry has expressed its reservation against a proposal to fix prices of petroleum products on the export parity saying that this would benefit only "one private sector refiner" and would "compound the problems of PSU refiners".
Commenting on the approach paper to the Eleventh Five Year Plan, the finance ministry said that "the rationale for advocating export parity pricing for products is not clear."
Export parity broadly means setting the minimum price of a product, while import parity includes customs duty and other levies. Instead, the ministry has said it is in favour of trade parity as suggested by the C Rangarajan committee. Trade parity is an average of export and import parity model, in the 20:80 ratio.
In the approach paper for the Eleventh Five Year Plan, the Planning Commission has suggested that the current method of determining prices for petroleum products needs reconsideration. "India is deficient in crude oil but has developed surplus capacity in products. Product price entitlement should, therefore, be based on export parity pricing, which would be much lower than the import parity."
Reacting to the Planning Commission's suggestion, finance ministry expressed faith in the current "trade parity model." "The recommendation for a trade parity model on 80 (import) and 20 (export) weighted average basis has been arrived at after much deliberation and has a strong logical basis," it said.
"Export parity is relevant for one private sector refiner, whose basic market is export-oriented, it would compound the problems of PSU refiners if such a model is imposed on them as well," it added. Margins of domestic refiners (both private sector as well as PSUs) have been under pressure due to the recent hike of crude prices in the global markets. Some of the companies including Reliance Industries and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) resorted to exports as domestic margin was under pressure.
The pricing model for petrol and diesel has changed recently when the government decided to migrate from the existing import parity regime to a trade parity regime. The trade parity model takes the weighted average of the import and export parity in the ratio of 80:20.


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Local Schools Get Grants from Shopping Promo
For 15 years, In&Out Magazine has been the definitive source of “Everything that’s going on” in and out of the community. We thank you, our readers, as well as the businesses that support the magazine through advertising, for that opportunity. But with little going on, and many businesses suspending or canceling their ads during the Covid-19 crisis, we are suspending publication of the magazine and web sites for the month of May.
Ten North Phoenix schools got checks ranging from $500 to $2,500 for participating in an annual shopping promotion at stores and restaurants at the Shops at Norterra. The grants were awarded based on points earned by shoppers for the school of their choice.
- Ridgeline Academy (Charter) $2,500
- Sunset Ridge Elementary (DVUSD) $2,100
- Adams Traditional Academy (Charter) $1,750
- Desert Sage Elementary (DVUSD) $1,450
- Sandra Day O’Connor High School (DVUSD) $1,200
- Stetson Hills School (DVUSD) $1,000
- Boulder Creek Elementary (PVUSD) $850
- Barry Goldwater High School (DVUSD) $700
- Norterra Canyon School (DVUSD) $600
- Sonoran Foothills School (DVUSD) $500
Ridgeline plans to use the funds for a new digital marquee sign.
“This is an incredible opportunity for our school and community to come together, and we appreciate the Shops at Norterra for providing this fundraising opportunity every year,” said Principal Keven Barker.


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Today, the risk posed by climate change is greater still than that posed by fascism on the eve of World War II, threatening to bring about a planet that's uninhabitable for humans, and plenty hostile to them in the meantime. "We remain committed to creating long-term value for our shareholders through operational execution and strategic investments to build on our track record of growth". "We achieved this by executing on our strategy to deliver best-in-class trading, clearing, listings and information services while continuing to expand our range of content and distribution solutions to meet the evolving needs of the market". The company has never made a full-year profit since it went public in 2010. The adjusted loss eliminates one-time expenses, including stock-based compensation.
The Falcon Heavy was designed with the intention of bringing people to the moon or even Mars.
Tesla's total revenue for 2017 was $11.8 billion, which was also in line with analysts' forecasts.
Yesterday's earnings report and conference call didn't do a whole lot to knock bullish-leaning analysts off their positions, although there is some hedging from the group on when Tesla will outlive its Model 3 production headaches and on the nature of the free cash flow tally generated during the quarter. Tesla's shares are also in the stratosphere, up 8 percent from the start of this year. In the wake of Falcon Heavy's success, Musk has said he will soon offer launches for around $90m (£65m) for major payloads, a figure significantly lower than the $300-400m (£217-290m) price tag offered by Falcon Heavy's nearest rivals. "With alleviating that constraint, that's what gets us to the roughly 2,000 to 2,500 unit per week production rate". If you haven't, then here it is again. For example, he said, the company has nearly completed an automated battery module assembly line which will speed production at its Nevada battery factory. Beyond instant torque or cheap Supercharging, the $35,000 price tag is the most important selling feature of Model 3.
"If we can send a Roadster to the asteroid belt, we can probably solve Model 3 production", averred Mr Musk, when asked by, well, the world.
Expulsan a 'Donald Trump' y 'Kim Jong-un' de los JO — FOTOS
Tres cuartos de hora después del inicio de la ceremonia, los dos dobles fueron conducidos sin incidentes al exterior del estadio. El vicepresidente de EE.UU., Mike Pence, si estuvo presente.
SHIFTING TARGETS: Tesla delivered 103,181 vehicles last year, up 35 percent over 2016 and ahead of its targets.
Now it seems the car will reach some 160 million miles from the sun. At one point Tesla had more than 500,000 customers on a waiting list for the Model 3. And an explosion is precisely what Musk had said could happen for the better part of a year leading up to Tuesday's launch.
Sky News takes a look at the three men at the forefront of galactic exploration.
In 2014, NASA turned to the private sector for help.
"SpaceX can give details, but that is their call". But Musk said Wednesday he has no plans to step aside as CEO.
(+FOTOS) ¡Histórico! Juegos Olímpicos de invierno Pyeongchang 2018
Pence reiteró la postura de Washington de que "todas las opciones están sobre la mesa" para lidiar con Corea del Norte . Al revés de los coreanos, ninguna de estas potencias militares y deportivas tenían nada para celebrar.
The money: Bezos used some of his own e-commerce riches to fund Blue Origin. NASA's version is expected to cost more than 10 times as much.
"Key to that investigation is learning why that switch was lined (aligned) that way", Sumwalt said.
© 2018 Associated Press under contract with NewsEdge/Acquire Media.
Musk announced recently that SpaceX will terminate development on the propulsive landing system for the Dragon capsule, and that Falcon Heavy is no longer being developed for human spaceflight.
North and South Korean athletes take selfies together at the Olympics
Meanwhile, relations between South Korea and North Korea have shown promising signs of improvement in recent days. He also made multiple comments on his plans to not allow North Korea to use the Olympics to spread propaganda.


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A BMW dealer in France has advertised a preview event for the new X1 by releasing a teaser image of the next-gen SUV. The new X1 is expected to get comprehensive changes to the exterior and interior with updated powertrains, and, for the first time, a full-electric version named iX1. BMW has confirmed that the new SUV will arrive sometime this year.
- New-gen X1 will be globally unveiled sometime this year
- BMW will offer full-electric iX1 version
- Expected to get petrol, diesel and plug-in-hybrid powerplants
2023 BMW X1: what all will be new?
Details of the third-gen BMW X1 are scarce at the moment, but it is expected that the next-gen SUV will come with several powertrain options. Sources suggest that BMW is likely to equip the X1 with a 306hp, 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine as the range-topping version – the same engine that currently powers the BMW M135i and BMW M235i. A plug-in-hybrid powertrain is also expected for the new X1, although more details on that are awaited.
We expect the new BMW SUV will have a more chiselled styling, in line with the bigger BMW SUVs. Like many new BMWs, the X1 will also feature larger kidney grills. On the inside, it is expected to borrow design elements from the recently introduced BMW 2 Series Active Tourer sold overseas.
Like the new 7 Series, BMW will also offer a full-electric X1 along with the ICE-powered versions, with rumours suggesting that it will be available in both single and dual-motor layouts.
2023 BMW X1: India launch details
The current generation BMW X1 was unveiled in India at the 2016 Delhi Auto Expo. The SUV received a major update in 2020 with subtle cosmetic changes, BS6-compatible engines, and a new 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox for the petrol variant.
Currently, the BMW X1 rivals the Mercedes-Benz GLA and the Volvo XC40. Audi is also expected to launch the long awaited new-gen Q3 later this year, which will rival the X1.
The India launch of the new-gen BMW X1 is still some time away. With a global unveil expected towards the end of this year, it is likely that the new SUV will come to India sometime in 2023, at the earliest.
Image source via Motor1
2020 BMW X1 facelift review test, drive
2023 BMW X1 first look video
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American Airlines Now Offering Non-Binary Gender Booking Options
American Airlines (AA) recently announced their decision to offer customers non-binary gender options when booking tickets.
American Airlines spokesperson, to ‘USA Today’ Passengers will now also be able to select “U” or “X” for their gender, making AA the second airline to ever offer more than two gender options. The option is only available through over-the-phone bookings, but will soon be available on their website as well.
Aside from being more inclusive, American Airlines’ decision is also in compliance with recently-implemented regulations regarding non-binary IDs. According to ‘USA Today,’ over 7,000 gender X driver’s licenses and identification cards have been issued across nine states and the District of Columbia Unnamed Source, to Fox Business.


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Facebook Inc unveiled a test on Thursday that charges users to send certain types of messages through the social network, the latest example of the company looking for new sources of revenue and profit. #Facebook Inc#TechBuzz#Facebook messages
The messages tab on Facebook hasn't exactly been a prize-winning feature but it seems that company is finally taking note. The social networking site today announced that it would be upgrading how messages appear on Facebook. #Facebook Inc#TechBuzz#Facebook messages
Need another reason to upgrade to iOS 8 ? Apple can’t see any of your personal information if you have a passcode enabled on devices running the new OS. And if Apple can’t see it, the government can’t, either. Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed the company’... #Google Inc.#Facebook#Apple, Inc.
Tinder is an online dating app which helps users find potential matches or 'dates' based on their geographical proximity. It does this by locating you using GPS, and then accessing your Facebook page to create a basic profile which consists of your f... #Google Inc.#Facebook#Apple, Inc.
Does the word "virginity" evoke discussions of sexuality or religious belief? That's the question residents in Fayetteville, Arkansas, are asking after a junior high student was asked by school administrators to change out of a T-shirt that read "Vir... #Paul Hewitt#Facebook#Fayetteville, Arkansas


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Google founders sergey brin have made independently by Google shows the first build driverless cars. It is important to note that the car without a steering wheel, accelerator, even the brake.
Google official pointed out that the prototype car and the finished product has been very close. But Google will not choose their own selling the product, it will take the way of working with people. It is reported that Google is trying to attribute the driverless cars commercial as early as possible.
according to Google, driverless car has the following features:
the lack of a regular car necessary “facilities”, no steering wheel, accelerator, even is the brake;
completely sensor and computer control, no dead Angle 360 degrees around a monitoring;
the front similar foam material, windshield flexible flexible;
prototype car the speed limit is 25 miles per hour;
has two sets of automatic driving system, to prevent the failure.
Google has invited people to test at present, without a safe driver, experience in succession to the product.


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Marriage Mantra to hold fashion fairs in Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow this April
Fashion and lifestyle events business Marriage Mantra will hold ‘Fashionista’ shopping fairs in Jaipur, Kanpur, and Lucknow this April. The business-to-customer events will feature an array of womenswear and accessories brands from across India.
From April 1 to 2, Fashionista will hold its second ever shopping fair in the city of Jaipur at the Holiday Inn, Marriage Mantra announced on Facebook. The event will focus on brands in the mid- and bridge-to-luxury segments of the market and aims to provide participating brands with a platform from which to launch their new spring/ summer collections.
The event will then travel to Kanpur for its 39th edition in the city from April 4 to 6 at the Royal Cliff Hotel. The event will feature product categories including womenswear, jewellery, accessories, handbags, footwear, and gift items among others and its target audience is millennial premium shoppers.
Fashionista will take place in Lucknow from April 8 to 9 and will hold its 33rd event in the city at the Hyatt Hotel. Marriage Mantra holds events across India and is designed to enable brands to connect with new customer bases in locations where there may jot have an established brick-and-mortar retail presence.
Copyright © 2023 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


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NO, and yes.
No, since almost all countries in the world have seen their inflation – the rate at which prices increase over a given period – worsening since 2020, with the global average rising to 4.7 percent in 2021, to 7.4 percent so far this year. This has been initially due to the disruption in economic activity due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic that started in 2021. It has been a perfect storm, with so many factors involved.
To simplify things though:
Blame it on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which was like a meteor falling on the global sea, creating tsunami waves in different forms such as disruptions in energy and food supplies. The richest countries’ defensive actions not just to contain their local inflation but prepare for war with Russia worsened the situation. The US for example steeply raised its local interest rates, but this strengthened its dollar, which in our case drove down the international value of our peso, making our imports – either for manufacturing inputs or direct consumption—expensive.
But this doesn’t explain the fact that our inflation rate, at November at 8 percent, is highest in the region, next only to Laos, one of the poorest countries in Asia which reported a 39 percent inflation. Our 8 percent inflation is double that of Malaysia’s 4 percent, significantly higher than Indonesia’s 5.4 percent and Vietnam’s 4.7 percent
What is worrying is that, as shown in the accompanying table, our inflation has worsened from 7.7 percent in October to last month’s 8 percent — the highest in 14 years, or since November 2008 at the height of the 2008-2009 global recession. There has been an upward trend monthly from the 6.4 percent in July at the start of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration.
This continuous rise is in contrast to the decline in inflation in most countries in the region. Thailand’s inflation slowed down from 6 percent to 5.6 percent from October to November; Indonesia, from 5.7 to 5.4 percent, and Malaysia’s from 4.5 percent to 4 percent.
I can only attribute the continued rise in our inflation rate – compared to our neighbors which are facing the same global factors — to Marcos’ lackadaisical response to inflation. Yes, he is to some extent to be blamed for the 8 percent inflation reported last month
He had revealed his mentality with regard to the inflation problem at the very start of his administration when he even cast doubt on the Philippine Statistics Authority’s report that inflation had hit 6.1 percent in June. ”I have to disagree with that number,” he said, as if there could be a debate on a question of fact. He even told the media then: “The forces that have pushed commodity prices up are beyond our control. Much of our inflation is imported; it’s inflation on products that have suffered inflation that we import. Sumama inflation nila sa atin (Their inflation accompanied ours).”
Marcos has been the secretary of the agriculture department since he assumed the presidency. He has done this, as he claimed, to emphasize that his administration is putting priority on efficient food production, to ensure stable supply at prices affordable to the masses.
As often happens, theory doesn’t match practice, and the agriculture department in effect has been a leaderless organization. With every official there waiting for Marcos’ instructions, the department has had no real, major initiatives to address the rise in food prices — which in fact has been the main reason for our soaring inflation rate.
Marcos being agriculture secretary obviously was crucial in asking Congress for an unprecedented 40 percent increase in its budget for next year. But will the agriculture department in its demoralized condition be able to spend that money efficiently and quickly to reduce food prices?
It seems Marcos and the agriculture department’s main response to addressing the rise in food prices has been to take a page from his father’s programs, which is the Kadiwa idea of getting producers to sell to retailers directly, to remove traders’ margins.
This idea didn’t work during his father’s time, it won’t work today. Because our agricultural sector has mainly been a small-scale industry, traders provide before-harvest loans for farm-to-market transport costs, for which they extract their profits. A new, major phenomenon that didn’t exist during the elder Marcos’ time is the emergence of big supermarkets with their “wet-market” sections with of course their own trading margins.
How can mom-and-pop Kadiwa outlets compete with the large traders sector and the supermarkets? Kadiwa stores, by one estimate, don’t even account for 1 percent of retail sales of agricultural products.
It is no surprise then that our soaring inflation rate has been mainly due to the rise in food prices, which rose 10 percent in November, compared to a year ago, one of the highest rates in the post-EDSA period. The biggest rises were for commodities the agriculture department could have the most influence on, among them: corn, 27 percent; sugar, 38 percent; vegetables, 26 percent; and meat, 9 percent. (See accompanying table)
Rise in Food Prices (%) Y-on-Y Nov. 2022
|Flour and flour-based
|Fish and Other Seafood
|Dairy Products, and Eggs
|Oils and Fats
|Fruits and Nuts
|Vegetables and Tubers
|Sugar and sugar products
|Ready-Made Food etc.
What can be done? Leonardo Montemayor, longtime chairman of the Federation of Free Farmers, says: “A lot of things could be done by the agri department – such as seed dispersal for vegetables, efficient subsidized fuel to fishermen. While these may seem small things that won’t lower overnight food prices, if they’re all done, in a coordinated manner, these will have an impact. But right now, the agriculture department is still waiting for signals from the agri secretary on what to do.”
Debate as much as you want whether Marcos must share part of the blame for our soaring inflation, one thing is crystal clear to me: His administration doesn’t have a clear and detailed strategy to contain inflation. I find this scary. There’s a point at which inflation reaches — 10 percent according to some economists — at which it gets out of hand, and can be contained only by the harshest means such as astronomical interest rates.
Inflation would be Marcos’ scariest nightmare. It wasn’t the Filipinos’ desire for democracy or justice for the killing of opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. that eventually led to his father’s ouster.
It was inflation. Although due to reasons so different from those operating today, it crept up from 10 percent in 1979 to an unbelievable 50 percent in 1984. Tama na, sobra na really referred to rising prices at the time.
He should get the Congress he controls to stop working on the silliness called Maharlika Wealth Fund and should instead draft a comprehensive anti-inflation program, in the way President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo formulated and executed her government’s Economic Resiliency Plan in 2008
This enabled the country to weather the 2008-2009 global recession. and break the back of inflation fast, from 8.3 percent in 2008 to 4.2 percent the succeeding year.


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Twitter, the micro-messaging platform, has been consistently making improvements to it’s platform over the last year. Some of these improvements were through acquisitions of smaller companies that provided a new technology that would improve their service. Many of the most recent changes, however, were simply things that Twitter had not gotten around to creating a quality product for; Things like official apps for the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android mobile operating systems or their integrated URL shortener t.co.
Last night, they previewed major changes to the service that would include much of the functionality that tools like Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and HootSuite had been developed to fill. These changes will be launching soon for many of Twitter’s users and include some great new features:
- New, cleaner design and user interface – the current version works, but major improvements to the interface make finding things easier and more intuitive
- Photo, Video, and Multimedia Content Integration – Twitter partnered with companies that are already providing services to many of their users. Expect a snowball effect of user adoption for companies involved including Dailybooth, DeviantArt, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, Twitvid, USTREAM, Vimeo, Yfrog, and YouTube
- Related content based on tags, location, author and subject – Having more discovery features is something that users have been looking for since launch. Twitter directories like WeFollow and Twellow were created to fill this need and Twitter obviously sees this as an area that they can improve upon.
- Mini-profile pop-ups – Less clicks to view information from a user. Just hover to see what someone is about. Follow a person without visiting a page.
Overall, I think these improvements are great and long overdue. Twitter is attempting to make itself a little bit more social so it can hopefully experience some of the more mainstream adoption that Facebook has over the past 2 years.
What do you think about the changes? Will you move from an app to the web version of Twitter?


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Plan To Ban Book Imports Will Hurt Libraries
"Community and University libraries will suffer under an impending Government announcement which will ban parallel importing of creative goods such as books and CDs," National's Katherine Rich said today.
The ban, expected to be announced soon, will force libraries to buy books through exclusive New Zealand agents who will have monopoly rights to certain titles, rather than dealing directly with overseas publishers as libraries do now.
"This means increases in book prices for our libraries, increases the delays in sourcing books from overseas and more importantly reduces the number of books that libraries can buy for their communities. Community library budgets are already under pressure. They don't need this extra squeeze.
"For academic and university libraries it's much worse. They need access to timely information. Delays from dealing with a local agent rather than the publisher directly mean they can be left behind in the research race. Good research needs current information
"The ban makes no sense because we have little or no local production of academic titles. New Zealand will never have a competitive market for specialist academic titles - we need to source them from overseas.
"This ban aims to eliminate the piracy of intellectual property and protect local content - neither of which are problems faced by the local book industry. New Zealand Libraries simply do not purchase pirated goods and neither would they want to.
"Virtually all books by New Zealanders are published by New Zealanders and sold through New Zealand publishers to New Zealand shops. Implementing a ban on overseas books will not make libraries buy more titles by New Zealand authors. It simply doesn't work that way.
"If a reader wants the latest Jeffrey Deaver thriller or a reprint of 'The Bell Jar' these titles will never be printed in New Zealand - we will always have to import them. This ban makes that all the more expensive for our libraries and avid readers," Katherine Rich said.
A printable formatted copy of this press release will be available on http://www.national.org.nz along with an archive of previous releases.


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nevillethedevil writes: The BBC has a story about a man who "found" a missile launcher in a shed in Florida. Having tried to dispose of it he finally handed it to the Kicks for Guns scheme. After inspecting the rocket launcher, police spokeswoman Sgt Barbara Jones said: "I tell you, you never know what you're going to get."
An anonymous reader writes: ECN magazine posted a long interview with the Woz. "Apple Inc. co-founder and legendary hacker Steve Wozniak recently found a new passion in energy-efficienct housing. Last month he told PC World magazine, 'I have a long dream to build my own house in a very energy-efficient approach,' and here at ECN we thought you'd like to know more. So we interviewed Woz by email. Here is a transcript of our questions and his answers." Good insight into the mind of a living genius!
ILikeRed writes: In a Quakecon 2007 interview, John Carmack introduced his new high end game Rage, and then went on to call the Wii "a spark of newness". He talks about creating a Quake Arena themed game for the DS, and porting Orks & Elves to the Wii. He was less than happy with current cell phone hardware and Java however.
Onlyodin writes: An executive at Microsoft has an unusual idea for beating spammers. Powerful software tools and supercomputers aren't involved, but kittens are. Or rather, photos of kittens.
Kevin Larson, a researcher at Microsoft's advanced reading technologies group, has found that asking a user to identify the subject of a photo, like a kitten, could help block spam programs.
Services like Microsoft's free e-mail service Hotmail commonly require new users to type in a string of distorted letters as proof that it's a human signing up for the account and not a computer. The trouble is, computers are getting smart enough to recognize the characters and it's a race for Microsoft to continue to alter its HIP (Human Interactive Proofs) system to fool the computers before they catch on.
With 90 billion pieces of e-mail spam sent every day, according to Larson, companies like Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft that offer free online mail services have an incentive to try to block spam. Otherwise they pay for the resources that help send the spam.
destinyland writes: "Mathematician Rudy Rucker argues that any natural process can be regarded as a computation — which means "The digital thing is sort of a red herring." If one system can be "mapped" using another — since they share a recurring pattern — a universal computation is expressed in any number of systems, including living beings. Taking the idea to an extreme, he's explored the idea in a new science fiction book asking if
existing patterns approximate ongoing patterns, could it generate partial predictions of the future?"
WillCodeForRaisins writes: "Bill Gates has lost it again, this time in a fit over Apple's new John Hodges' PC ads. Among his comments:"I don't know why [Apple is] acting like it's superior. I don't even get it. What are they trying to say? Does honesty matter in these things, or if you're really cool, that means you get to be a lying person whenever you feel like it? There's not even the slightest shred of truth to it." The full interview with Newsweek can also be read here."
Friends of Jim writes: "Amazon has loaded satellite image data from the area where computer giant Jim Gray disappeared into Amazon Mechanical Turk and they are asking the community to help scan those images for signs of Jim Gray's boat. Details on the background of the data can be found on the weblog of Amazon's CTO Werner Vogels."


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Is CBD Legal?
Yes. In 2018, the federal government passed a new Farm Bill legalizing hemp and derivatives, like CBD, with less than 0.3% of THC.In June 2019, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 339 which legalized the production of hemp and hemp-derived products in the state of Texas. Since then, many people have be en wondering what this means for hemp and CBD products in Texas.
The good news is that hemp and CBD products are now legal in Texas, as long as they contain less than 0.3% THC. This means that Texas residents can now legally enjoy all the potential health benefits of hemp and CBD products without fear of running afoul of the law.
Overall, hemp and CBD products are now legal in the state of Texas and the emergence of this new industry is becoming a welcome addition to the Lone Star State. With more research and the right regulations in place, hemp and CBD products may prove to be the wave of the future here in Texas.


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Tecmo Koei released a batch of videos today showing off the bosses in the upcoming fighter Dead or Alive: Dimensions. While they do showcase some dazzling combos and abilities, longtime series fans may not be so impressed.
It's an amazing thing when you've played a game since the very first iteration and followed the story throughout the entire series. For example, when a character you've always loved has a child in one game and
A new character has been revealed from the upcoming multiplayer brawler Anarchy Reigns. Enter Sasha, a speedy and aggressive fighter who uses shards of ice to decimate her foes. The combat in Anarchy Reigns is looking absolutely
Many Metroid fans got quite riled up last week when a promotional video released for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS fighter Dead or Alive: Dimensions showcased a Metroid themed stage featuring the iconic villain Ridley. I speculated at
A video uploaded by a YouTube user earlier today reveals a number of characters that have yet to be confirmed by the developers, NetherRealm, to appear in the upcoming blood fueled fighting game Mortal Kombat.
Two new characters have been confirmed to appear in next year's fighting game mash-up Marvel Vs Capcom 3. Those who've been watching this game closely probably will not be surprised by the confirmation of either of these
It has been announced that XSEED Games and Falcom's RPG, Ys SEVEN, will be shipped out to retailers on August 17th, 2010, exclusively for the PSP Portable. A Standard and Limited Edition of Ys SEVEN will be


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There’s usually at least one “Aha!” moment during a Bill Gates CES keynote address — that instant when you see the potential for one of the cool technologies Microsoft’s co-founder is hyping.
In this case, my moment came when Justin Hutchison, a Microsoft group product manager for Windows Vista, showed off a feature of that operating system that will be offered only to those who have the Ultimate version. DreamScene makes it possible to turn any video on a Vista PC into animated wallpaper.
“Omigosh!” I thought. “The porn industry is going to love this.”
The fact that this was one of the high points of Gates’ speech tells you just how sedate this installment was. In fact, the most exciting part of it was the cattle call attendees had to go through, complete with burly security guards yelling at several hundred members of the press to “get up against the wall.”
As expected, Gates also announced a home server product that will let users organize and back-up media files. He wasn’t detailed about it, but it will be sold as a hardware/software combination by companies such as HP. It will even allow you to store and retrieve documents remotely, over the Net.
The only other thing of high interest in Gates’ talk was an announcement of a joint product with Ford that lets devices such as cell phones and MP3 players use a car’s sound system. Gates brought out Mark Fields, a senior vice president at Ford, who described a system that would read your text messages to you, channel your phone calls through a vehicle’s speakers and manage playlists for your MP3 player using voice recognition. It will be available later this year in about a dozen Ford models.
After his speech, I headed over to the Digital Experience, a mini-expo being held at Caesar’s Palace. Here I got a look at a product Gates mentioned briefly in his speech, HP’s new TouchSmart PC, a computer that uses Vista’s enhanced touch-screen support for simple navigation.
It will be available once Vista’s out, by the end of the month, and sell for $1,799.
I also got to meet Rahul Sood, the co-founder of Voodoo PC, which was recently acquired by HP. Sood was showing off a new, 20-inch notebook computer called the Envy, which is handmade and takes 30-45 days to build. The cost: $4,000.
“But you wouldn’t want that one,” he said to me. “You want it all tricked out. By the time you get it the way you really want it, it’ll run $5,000-$6,000.”
It’s huge, so I presume that price includes two guys who’ll carry it for you.
I also got a chance to chat with some of the people from HTC, which makes cell phones, including two of my favorites — Cingular’s 8125 and T-Mobile’s Dash, which I’m using on this trip. They showed me one that’s not available in the United States. Dubbed the HTC P3300 — a.k.a. the Artemis — it has a rollerball pointer similar to the Sidekick and the BlackBerry Pearl. It has a screen-based keypad and built-in GPS capabilities, all in a phone about the size of an LG Chocolate. Very sexy, but sorry, U.S. residents, you can’t have one!
I finished the evening at a party thrown by HP at Pure, a hot new Las Vegas bar located at Caesar’s Palace. The mood was pseudo-surreal-decadent, completely with people dancing on stilts and women doing semi-erotic hula-hoop and flag dancing while a Napoleon Dynamite lookalike beat a tom-tom.
Don’t worry if you don’t get it. I didn’t get it, either.


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YouTube is rolling out its own Progressive Web App, which gives its website more app-like features
- YouTube can now be installed as a Progressive Web App to enjoy a dedicated experience.
- PWAs combine the best features of Web and mobile apps
- YouTube Music and Google News were already present as Progressive Webs Apps.
YouTube has arrived with its new feature – PWA support. It will allow users to install a Progressive Web App (PWA) for instant access to YouTube.
PWAs are the web pages that act as an app on your phone and you needn’t have to install them as a separate application. It can now be installed as a Progressive Web App (PWA) for quick access.
PWA support was earlier added by Google for YouTube Music and YouTube TV. According to the report, the support was incorporated into the main YouTube site from the last couple of days.
In Chrome, the telltale plus-in-a-circle icon appears directly in the Omnibox, with users prompted to “Install app.” This is different from the browser’s “Install” option, which has been available for quite some time now.
Google had recently announced that it was bringing Stadia to iOS as a PWA.
As explained by Google Developers, PWAs use modern Web capabilities to deliver a user experience that is similar to using an app. Pages in browser tabs can deliver immersive, high-level apps.
In 2018, Google Photos was made available as a PWA. YouTube TV had got PWA support in January last year and YouTube Music got the same in October 2019.
How to Install YouTube PWA on Web Browser
- First, open the Chrome browser, and go to the YouTube website.
- You can see a plus icon in the Omnibox.
- Click that icon.
- Now, tap on a popup ‘Install app’.
- Click on Install and you will be redirected to the app.
It will take a few seconds to install the app. You can also launch the app from the search bar. For this, all you need to type is ‘YouTube’. You can also access the app from the YouTube website with the help pin available on the site.
Google tells that a Progressive Web App uses the app shell model to provide app-style navigations and interactions and fits any form factor, desktop, mobile, tablet, or “whatever is next.”


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Insights is our content library, providing access to a collection of articles, market intelligence and relevant industry information.
Ducor Petrochemicals, a global partner in the development of polypropylene plastics, has developed a
TotalEnergies is a global energy company that is committed to reducing its carbon footprint
Sumika partners with Hexagon, enabling 60% plastic carbon reduction for new vehicles by digitizing
Listen to Ian and Joe discussing the new revisions to the packaging tax. Sustainability
Lactips has designed a formulation based on CareTips® and bio-polyesters to manufacture golf tees.
Rising energy costs are consistently in the news at the moment and affects thousands of businesses up and down the UK. A recent quote from a British Plastics Federation (BPF) report cited that in many cases their members were hit with a 300% rise in energy costs. One company stated they “would do anything they can to reduce their energy bills”
TotalEnergies and Vanheede Environment Group sign a commercial agreement to scale up the manufacturing
Scientific breakthrough proves innovative plastic film transforms into harmless wax when exposed to nature
Imperial College London-based Polymateria has added to its growing list of peer-reviewed publications with
Supplied by Polyram Plastic Industries Ltd. RamClean® smart purging agents help reduce downtime and minimise scrap rate thanks to superior purging efficiency. Being compatible with almost any processing technology, Ramclean® is non-corrosive, non-abrasive and non-toxic, designed to effectively purge almost any thermoplastic material.
Plastribution are proud distributors of ExxonMobil’s Santoprene range of TPVs.
Santoprene thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) are high-performance elastomers, which offer manufacturing flexibility, ease of processing and durability. By offering superior and consistent performance across automotive, industrial and demanding consumer applications, Santoprene TPV offers the potential for reduced system costs, reduced weight, and recyclability compared to materials such as thermoset rubber.
Polymateria, an Advanced Technology Development Company based in London, have developed a next generation biodegradation solution together with Imperial College University London.
Read about the new Capilene CP71AV polypropylene resin from Carmel Olefins. Providing a unique combination of mechanical and optical properties, together with outstanding processability, it is designed specifically for the thin wall packaging market and consumer applications.
To maximize polymer performance in final products by mixing polymers with different properties was the goal of RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers. The result is its new specialty range of products with the brand name Radilon® Mixloy. The matrix material for these new innovative products is polyamide, the flagship product of RadiciGroup, the only industrial group in Europe today capable of controlling its entire production process, from polymer chemicals to engineering polymers, including end-of-life recycling. Totally vertically integrated production allows the Group to realize customer-tailored formulations and develop innovative projects.
With the advent of the 5G era, demand for higher product performance continues to increase, such as more flame retardant and heat resistant materials for communications applications.
In response to this increased demand, CHIMEI has developed PC 545, featuring truly high flame retardant and high heat resistant properties with great processability.
Light guides made from Plexiglas® lend a high-quality appearance to the new premium ATMs from Diebold Nixdorf. Whether in a pedestrian zone or in a shopping mall, advertisement boards are lit up everywhere and compete for the attention of passers-by. Many companies therefore place value on being recognized by their brand colors and, ideally, standing out from the crowd. The same goes for banks. However, while facades and the buildings themselves are generally found in the company colors, most ATMs still look very similar. The next generation of ATMs from Diebold Nixdorf – the DN SeriesTM – will now change this.


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The Jaguar F-TYPE focused on delivering a heightened level of dynamic driving reward
At the New York International Auto Show, Jaguar announced that an all-new sports car will enter production; the Jaguar F-TYPE. The all-new Jaguar F-TYPE sports car will expand the Jaguar model line.
A true two-seat sports car, the Jaguar F-TYPE will launch as a convertible becoming the fourth model in the current line of innovative and seductive cars, along with the XF sports sedan, the XJ luxury sedan and the XK coupe/convertible.
Benefitting from Jaguar‘s leading expertise in aluminum vehicle construction, the Jaguar F- TYPE will focus uncompromisingly on delivering a rewarding drive experience. A range of engines will be available, including a new powerplant family. Production of the F-type will take place at Jaguar’s Castle Bromwich plant. At present prototype models are being evaluated for driving dynamics
Speaking at the New York auto show Adrian Hallmark, Global Brand Director, Jaguar Cars, confirmed: “We showed the C-X16 concept in September 2011, and the reaction to it has been so positive that we’ve accelerated our development of an all-new Jaguar sports car. That car will be called the Jaguar F-TYPE, and it will be unveiled in production form later this year. The core appeal of Jaguar’s cars is their sporting heart, and that heart will beat stronger than ever before in the F-TYPE. Its development is a vivid representation of the confidence and ambition of the Jaguar brand, and the desire amongst our engineers and design team to produce a world-leader in a market segment that we have been absent from for too long. But no longer, the F-TYPE is coming.”
Ian Hoban, Jaguar’s Vehicle Line Director said: “The engineering development of the F-TYPE has focused on delivering a heightened level of dynamic driving reward. We are excited about our progress to date and are looking forward to soon being able to demonstrate what we have achieved.”
Ian Callum, Director of Design, said: “A true sports car needs to be pure in both its purpose and its form; to have the opportunity to produce such a car for Jaguar has been a privilege both for myself and for my team. The C-type, D-type and E-type Jaguars were all sports cars that held true to this principle in their era, and the F-TYPE will hold true to that same principle in its time, a time that is soon to arrive.”
Full Jaguar F-TYPE technical and model range details will be announced later in 2012. It will go on sale in mid-2013.


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According to food-focused website Eat This, Not That, the best-rated burger in Texas is 'El Caliente,' which can be found at Papa's Burgers in San Antonio. The burger includes a fresh beef patty grilled to your liking, grilled onions and jalapeños, lettuce, tomatoes and sliced pickles, stacked between the restaurant's signature toasted bun.
The website recently teamed up with Yelp, using star ratings and individual reviews, to create a list of the Absolute Best Burger in Every State.
This isn't the first time the San Antonio burger spot has been recognized for food excellence. Time Magazine and Yelp previously teamed up to release a list of the "10 Best Burger Joints in America" in 2018, which put Papa's Burgers at No. 4.


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Individuals stroll by a Ford Escape SUV exhibited through the media day for the Shanghai automobile demonstrate in Shanghai, China, April 16, 2019.
Aly Song | Reuters
Ford said Thursday that it would suspend its dividend and withdraw its 2020 assistance as the firm attempts to shore up its income amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Ford also explained it would draw $15.4 billion from two credit score traces. The enterprise claimed that it strategies to borrow $13.4 billion underneath its corporate credit history facility and an supplemental $2 billion below its supplemental credit rating facility.
Shares fell 2% in early investing to $4.40 following tumbling 8% pre-market place.
“Like we did in the Great Recession, Ford is controlling by means of the coronavirus crisis in a way that safeguards our organization, our workforce, our prospects and our sellers in the course of this very important interval,” said Ford CEO Jim Hackett in a assertion. “As America’s most significant producer of autos and largest employer of autoworkers, we plan to arise from this crisis as a more robust enterprise that can be an engine for the restoration of the overall economy relocating ahead.”
The organization mentioned it experienced $35 billion in liquidity and $22 billion in cash at the close of 2019.
Separately, Ford and its U.S. sellers are offering customers a selection of companies, together with six months of payment reduction for some new-motor vehicle potential buyers, the business mentioned in a assertion.
Ford will spend for a few months and prospects can defer for up to a few more for a overall of 6 months, the organization reported. The application is only for folks obtaining 2019 and 2020 design-yr motor vehicles, excluding 2020 Tremendous Responsibility trucks.
On Wednesday, Detroit’s Huge Three automakers announced they would halt creation in their North American factories as the coronavirus sweeps through the country.
This is breaking information. Remember to check again for updates.


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The coronavirus pandemic has brought uncertainty to many industries. The world of sports has been no exception. Major organizations such as the MLB and NBA are just starting to take steps in reopening. While the UFC had to cancel some events, it’s been full steam ahead ever since the Nevada State Athletic Commission allowed the return of sporting events. Then, of course, there is “Fight Island,” which is really Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
Dana White Says UFC Brand Is Stronger Than It’s Ever Been
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, White said that despite the circumstances the UFC brand is at peak levels (h/t MMAFighting).
“The brand has never been bigger or stronger than it is right now,” White said on Tuesday ahead of UFC on ESPN 13. “I mean if you look at the ratings and the amount of promotion. I don’t know if you guys felt it like we felt it, but you had to feel in your business. My personal social media was off the charts, the biggest numbers that I’ve ever pulled, ever. UFC’s social media numbers are off the charts. The traffic.
“I told you guys the other day — the merchandise, we’ve already sold more merchandise this year than we did all of 2019. We already crushed that number from 2019. The list goes on and on.”
White admits things haven’t been all sunshine and rainbows. He said the promotion is missing out on around $110 million due to the lack of live gates. The UFC boss also said there are more eyeballs on the sport of MMA than ever before due to the pandemic. He said that isn’t just limited to the United States.
There’s no denying that the UFC has exceeded expectations during the COVID-19 crisis. Viewership numbers on ESPN have increased as well as pay-per-view buys. UFC 251 is reportedly trending to do 1.3 million PPV buys.


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Nissan welcomes Government move to expand EV charging network
As part of the £37m scheme, the Government has said that any public sector organisation – such as the police, NHS, local government – wanting an on-site charging point will now have the installation carried out for free. In addition local authorities will gain a 75% contribution towards the cost of installing public chargers with a similar contribution being made to chargers installed at railways stations and private drivers’ home addresses.
John Martin, Nissan’s senior vice president for manufacturing in Europe, said: ‘We are at a crossroads in personal mobility. Nissan is proudly pioneering zero emission technology through our UK operations and we are delighted that the UK Government is showing it shares our commitment to the transport of the future.
‘Electric vehicles become a way of life if the charging infrastructure is in place and Governments are committed to helping drivers to make the switch. We know this from the experiences of Nissan LEAF drivers in countries like Norway where a network of charge points is already in place.
‘Manufacturing lithium-ion batteries and the 100% electric Nissan LEAF at our Sunderland Plant has already put the UK at the forefront of electric vehicle technology. This announcement has the potential to make the UK a global leader in EV infrastructure and in turn to accelerate the introduction of electric vehicles in Britain.’


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WISCONSIN RAPIDS – I’m back on the road…
Right now, I’m in the sleepy central Wisconsin town of Wisconsin Rapids. And as I drove down the main drag, my jaw dropped when I saw this sign…
The job market here is apparently so hot that McDonald’s is offering a $250 bonus to new workers. And it’s not alone.
In nearby Stevens Point, the UPS service center can’t find enough part-time package handlers. It’s a 20-hour-per-week position… UPS is also offering a $100 weekly bonus—averaging out to a $5 per hour bonus.
If that’s not enough, most new hires are eligible for tuition reimbursement… up to $5,250 a year. That’s almost enough to be a full-time student at the nearby college.
This isn’t just a Wisconsin thing…
Convenience store chain Buc-ee’s is advertising above-market wages, benefits, and vacation plans.
National Construction Rentals is offering a $1,500 bonus to new fence installers—$500 paid on the 18th day of employment.
Registered nurses in the Tampa Bay area can get a $2,400 sign-on bonus if they work certain shifts.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to regular readers…
During my Rust Belt Tour last year, I showed you the economy was getting better in most parts of the country…
I wanted to see how well this trend was holding up. So I set out across the country again this summer to see how things are going on Main Street—not Wall Street.
And the signs I’m seeing aren’t just great for entry-level workers… They’re good news for investors, too.
People Are Getting Paid More
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), average worker wages are growing faster now than any time in the past eight years.
More people are working, too.
According to the BLS, the U.S. has 2.5 million more full-time workers than it did last year—a 1.5% increase.
More workers are earning more money and pumping it into the economy. And we’re seeing new evidence of this spending…
On August 13, the National Retail Federation raised its expectations for sales by 4.5% from last year.
Here’s what CEO Matthew Shay had to say:
Higher wages, gains in disposable income, a strong job market and record-high household net worth have all set the stage for very robust growth in the nation’s consumer-driven economy.
That’s what I’ve been telling you since my first Rust Belt Tour last year: The U.S. consumer is strong. And despite what you hear, the economy is very strong, too.
But it’s not just stores that are getting a boost…
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, second-quarter restaurant sales surged 25% higher than during the same time last year. That’s the biggest gain in the 26 years the department has tracked restaurant sales.
These numbers are starting to come through in earnings reports as well…
Most notable is Walmart. Last week, the giant retailer reported 4.5% sales growth for the past quarter. Walmart has $500 billion in annual sales… so that’s a huge gain (and double what experts predicted).
Walmart’s stock rose 10% at the open of that day—which was its biggest one-day move since 2008.
This bodes well for all of retail. And there’s a simple way to play this trend.
How to Play the Booming Economy
In September 2017, I told readers to ignore the gloom-and-doom about a retail apocalypse… In fact, I wrote that retail was headed for a turnaround.
I brought the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) to readers’ attention. Since then, it’s up over 25%.
Institutions are starting to catch on, too…
Palm Beach Trader editor Jason Bodner is our Wall Street insider. Each morning, his proprietary system pulls more than 120 data points on over 4,000 U.S. stocks to find which companies big institutions are buying.
His system started signaling big buying in retail in June 2018… and he predicted the sector would gain momentum (see our June 22 “Chart Watch”).
Jason was right… A recent Reuters article reported that multibillion-dollar hedge funds (such as Third Point Management and Greenlight Capital) are pouring into retail stocks.
The “smart money” is following us into the retail trade and pushing the sector up. They see what we see—a strong consumer and economy.
If you own XRT, continue to hold.
If you don’t own XRT, don’t worry… I’ll be touring the country looking for more money-making opportunities you won’t find in the mainstream press.
Analyst, The Palm Beach Daily


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Infrastructure special report
TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Internet for 22m by 2020?
Government plans to extend broadband access into much-neglected rural areas
The insatiable appetite for broadband Internet continues to spur spending in telecommunications infrastructure — mobile and fixed-line — with companies already committing to further investments in 2017. The availability of reliable broadband networks has led to smart phone sales and usage soaring, resulting in a surge in data usage. The availability of fast Internet has also opened up new industries such as mobile app developments and given rise to new online services such as online banking, video and music streaming. Other technology services such as the Internet of Things and cloud computing also require reliable connection to the Internet. According to telecommunications and postal services minister Siyabonga Cwele, total investments towards information and communication technology (ICT) increased by 18.8% to R28bn in 2016 — despite the tough economic environment. A recent report by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) showed that 3G coverage has reached 99% and...
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Corp. is going to have a “step up” on the competition in the '02 model year.
The automaker, with the help of several suppliers, says it will debut an advanced thermoplastic olefin (TPO) nanocomposite step-assist part on its GMC Safari/Chevy Astro minivans. The announcement is important because TPO nanocomposites might provide plastics with the key upgrades the materials needs to win big vehicle applications, such as body panels, from steel and aluminum.
Nanocomposites make plastic parts firmer and more dimensionally stable and improve surface quality, GM claims. Weight is reduced, costs are cut and low-impact performance is improved as well, says the automaker. Like other thermoplastics, TPO nanocomposites are made by introducing a solid material into a plastic resin.
What's different is that the particles being added are extremely small compared with conventional fillers that are 1,000 times thicker. For noncomposites, smectite clay is used to replace traditional fillers such as talc or glass-fiber.
“In the case of these materials, the additive is tiny flakes of a clay that are only a nanometer (one millionth of a millimeter) thick,” says Alan I. Taub, executive director of science for GM Research and Development. “They have huge surface areas relative to the other additives we use, like talc, and the result is exceptional improvements in the properties of the plastics with only a fraction of the inorganic filler.”
The clay flakes are so flat and thin that only 5 grams (0.18 oz.) could cover the surface area of a football field, says an official at supplier Southern Clay Products, Inc. The use of clay avoids some of the negative characteristics associated with talc, mica or glass-fiber, which make surface finishes bumpy and cause parts to crack more easily in cold temperatures.
A TPO with as little as 2.5% inorganic nano filler is as stiff and much lighter than parts with 10 times the amount of conventional talc filler, GM says. That can result in parts that are as much as 20% lighter. The cold-temperature impact performance of nanocomposite TPOs also is far superior to conventional TPOs. Because there is less overall filler material, the parts are easier to recycle, too, GM says.
Despite the impressive performance characteristics of nanocomposites, GM is easing the new technology into production. “When you use new materials, you often get surprises. Walk before you run,” reasons Mr. Taub.
Volume for the step-assist is low; about 8,000 Astro/Safaris are made with this option annually. Moreover, the minivans are scheduled to go out of production in 2003. “We chose to go with a low-volume product and scale up,” says Mr. Taub. “While it may not be a product that's going to be here in five years, we do have commitment from the cycle plan to learn what we need to learn from this field test.”
Other new exterior and interior TPO applications are expected to start trickling out over the next several years at GM, including rocker panels, semi-structural parts, cladding and body panels. Work also is being done on the “Holy Grail” of plastics applications: non-painted, molded-in color exterior body parts. “Obviously we're not at that stage yet,” says Bill Windscheif, vice president of advanced polyolefins at Basell Polyolefins, a supplier that helped GM develop the step-assist nanocomposite part. “I don't want to deceive anyone. But that is the direction the technology is going. If you think about it, if you're able to reduce the filler content and keep the equivalent stiffness or increase the stiffness, that opens the door for all kinds of things you can do with nano-composite TPOs.”
The new plastic also represents a breakthrough in the way GM works with suppliers.
When the automaker first announced it was developing the nanocomposite material in December 1998, it marked one of the first times the automaker happily shared the spotlight in public with the suppliers it is collaborating with: Basell, Southern Clay Products and Blackhawk Automotive Plastics.
Since then, the relationship has continued to evolve. GM, Basell and Southern Clay now have an agreement that grants mutual confidentiality, which GM says is unprecedented in its relationships with outside suppliers. Basell also has an exclusive license on GM's process to manufacture the material, and GM will be the only automaker using the material for now. Mr. Taub will not reveal further details of the exclusivity agreements or their length, but says a second-generation nanocomposite likely will debut on GM products by the time the current material becomes available to other automakers.


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UK March inflation strongest since Dec 2014, boosted by air fares
[LONDON] British inflation hit its highest level since December 2014 last month, as the Easter holiday pushed up air fares, official data showed on Tuesday.
Consumer prices rose 0.5 per cent compared with a year ago, the Office for National Statistics said, compared with a 0.3 per cent increase in February.
Economists in a Reuters poll had expected a 0.4 per cent annual rise.
British inflation is rising after falling below zero last year, but is still well the below the Bank of England's 2 per cent target, as it has been for more than two years.
Last year it was zero, the lowest since comparable records began in 1950.
Air fares surged 22.9 per cent between February and March this year, a jump that reflected the timing of the Easter holidays.
Clothing and footwear also contributed to higher inflation, although food and petrol prices dragged.
The BOE said in February that it expected inflation to stay below 1 per cent all year and to undershoot its target until 2018, due to the global slump in oil prices, the effect of past rises in sterling and lacklustre wage growth.
North Sea oil prices rose 10 per cent last month and have recovered further in April so far, after slumping around 35 per cent in 2015.
Fears that a weakening global economy and sharp stock market falls might sap the strength of Britain's moderate domestic recovery mean few economists expect the BOE to raise rates before early next year.
Many in financial markets think it could take much longer, and see a small chance that the BOE could even be forced to cut rates below the record-low 0.5 per cent where they have languished for almost seven years.
An ONS measure of core consumer price inflation - which strips out changes in the price of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - rose to 1.5 per cent, its strongest since October 2014. Economists had expected it to rise slightly to 1.3 per cent.
British consumers reined in their spending last month, according to two separate surveys published on Tuesday which added to signs of a slowdown in the country's economy.
There were other signs that inflation pressure is slowly building again. Factory gate prices fell 0.9 per cent year-on-year, the smallest decrease since November 2014 and compared with forecasts of a 1.0 per cent annual drop.
The ONS also released figures for February house prices, which showed a 7.6 per cent annual rise across the United Kingdom as a whole, slowing slightly from 7.9 per cent in January but still stronger than for much of last year.
Prices in London alone rose 9.7 per cent, slowing from 10.8 per cent in January. A shortage in housing supply is expected to keep the market under pressure.


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Lookout Completes $11M Series B Funding
, a San Francisco-CA-based provider of smartphone security applications, completed an $11M Series B round of funding
The investment was led by Accel Partners, with participation from Khosla Ventures and Trilogy Partnership.
In conjunction with the funding, the company has added several new executives to its team, including former CEO of Vontu and executive at Symantec, Joseph Ansanelli, as Chairman of the Board.
Ping Li, Partner at Accel Partners, will join the board, as well.
Lookout has also added:
- Eric Bothwell as vice president of engineering, who formerly held engineering leadership positions at Vontu and Symantec;
- Chris Jones as vice president of product management, formerly senior director of portfolio product management at Symantec;
- Julie Herendeen as vice president of marketing, formerly vice president of network products and advertising solutions for Yahoo! Inc.
The company has developed applications that immediately identify and block threats before they compromise a consumer’s mobile phone, backup and restore mobile content, find a lost or stolen phone and wipe data from a phone if necessary. They are currently available in more than 400 mobile networks in 170 countries.


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When Apple’s iPads first launched, they were basically oversized iPhones running a barely modified version of the iPhone operating system. But over time, Apple has added a growing number of iPad-specific features and spun out the operating system as iPadOS.
Now Apple is introducing iPadOS 14. In addition to support for the same features coming to iOS 14 (including widgets and an App Library), there are some new features specific to iPads including an updated UI for key apps including Photos, Notes, Files, Music, and Calendar.
Apple is releasing an iPadOS 14 developer preview today. A beta release is scheduled for July, and the software should roll out to everyone with a supported iPad this fall.
For example, there’s a new Sidebar element that shows up in those apps, giving you a new way to navigate. There are also new toolbars atop the apps, giving you quicker access to key functions — and making some tablet apps feel more like desktop apps.
Apple says Search has also been updated in iPadOS, allowing you to launch apps, bring up contacts, or visit websites by entering a few letters to bring up a list of suggestions.
The new version of iPadOS also brings new Apple Pencil features including support for “Scribble,” which lets you use Apple’s stylus to enter text in any field thanks to automatic handwriting recognition which converts your chicken scratch to text.


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POSTS TAGGED: Google I/O 2012
Posted July 6, 2012 at 11:30 pm by Ian Stacy
Google I/O 2012 brought with it a variety of exciting announcements in both software and hardware. Many Android enthusiasts have been drooling over the 7 inch, Tegra 3 powered Nexus tablet since it’s unveiling at the kenote of the event. As you are no doubt aware, the tablet is already available for pre-order through the Play Store, where it is listed as ‘Ships Soon (2-3 weeks)’.
Power users awaiting their pre-orders won’t have to wait for a root method, though. In no time at all, the root method was documented and shared to the community—weeks before release! The process requires the use of ADB and fastboot via command line, and works on any OS as long as the Android SDK is ins. . . READ ON »
Posted July 2, 2012 at 03:00 pm by Jimmy McGee
With I/O 2012 having come and gone, a lot of exciting news has appeared on the XDA Portal. If you missed it, there is no need to fear. This Week in Development, Jordan talks about the articles on the XDA Portal that you may have missed. Some of the stories mentioned are the log cat article and Google Ears being available for any Ice Cream Sandwich ROM. Jordan reminds you to check out XDA Elite Recognized Developer AdamOutler‘s XDA TV Google I/O 2012 Developer Review.
Jordan then spends some more time talking about the latest news from the developments from Google I/O 2012. Jordan mentions the Day two and three Recap. In Jelly Bean news, the OS has been ported to the CDMA Galaxy Nexus and the Acer Iconia A500. Wha. . . READ ON »
Posted June 30, 2012 at 02:30 pm by Jimmy McGee
Another year of the defining event for all things Google and, most importantly, Android developers has now passed, and many exciting announcements have been made. Our Portal Administrator Will Verduzco was live watching the events unfold. XDA-Developers has added forums for the Nexus 7 tablet and the Nexus Q device, both announced at Google I/O 2012. There has been a flurry of activity regrading the latest version on Android, Jelly Bean, since its announcement this week.
While all these announcements are exciting to both developers and users, Google I/O 2012 had a bunch of information for Android developers that may not excite phone users, but it excites us here at XDA-Developers. In that spirit XDA Elite R. . . READ ON »
Posted June 30, 2012 at 11:00 am by Will Verduzco
Two days ago, we wrote about what we felt to be some of the most exciting news from day 1 of Google I/O 2012. Now, we’re back to take a quick look at day 2’s keynote and some of the more interesting sessions on days 2 and 3. While the keynote on day 1 was focused predominantly on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and the various digital media resources available through the Play store, the second keynote was all about Chrome and how cloud-based technologies such as computation and immersive experiences shape our lives.
We also had the chance to attend sessions covering the next version of the ADK, Project Butter and how it smooths the Android experience, and new NFC features available in Jelly Bean. So what are you wai. . . READ ON »
Posted June 29, 2012 at 03:00 pm by Jimmy McGee
With I/O 2012 happening, this week has been a banner week for exciting news. On This Week in Development, Jordan talks about the articles on the XDA Portal that you may have missed but are very important. Some of the stories mentioned by Jordan are the release of CyanogenMod 9 RC1 for over 37 devices, the Galaxy S III Power Drain issue being identified and Android getting NTFS read and write support. Jordan reminds you to check out XDA Elite Recognized Developer AdamOutler‘s XDA TV Linux tutorial.
Jordan then spends some more time talking about the latest news from Google I/O 2012. Jordan mentions the Day One Recap and the forums being added for the Nexus 7 and Nexus Q. In Jelly Bean news, you can install . . . READ ON »
Posted June 27, 2012 at 10:00 pm by Will Verduzco
Earlier today, we had the great pleasure of attending the Google I/O 2012 Keynote Presentation at the Moscone West conference center in downtown San Francisco. While Internet connectivity issues precluded us from live blogging the event, we would like to bring you some of the most exciting events that we saw, as well our thoughts on the future of the Android ecosystem.. . . READ ON »
Posted April 20, 2012 at 11:30 am by Chainfire
Less than a month ago, registrations opened for Google I/O 2012. It was sold out in 20 minutes. This didn’t go down exactly as planned. According to Google themselves, server load immediately exceeded the number of tickets they had available. Registration was hit-or-miss, and certainly not first-come-first-serve basis, as promised. Google had also hinted that a coding challenge would be part of the registration process, so more developers and fewer swag-hunters would get in. But for reasons unknown, this didn’t actually happen. More than a few of those who managed to obtain actual tickets tried to sell them on eBay for obscene markups, while many disappointed would-be Google Goers took to s. . . READ ON »
Posted April 1, 2012 at 09:30 am by Chainfire
Google I/O registration opened a few days ago, and as you might have heard, was sold out in minutes. Many developers were unable to get a ticket, and this has been widely blamed on resellers (see tickets on eBay) as well as people hunting for the much coveted I/O swag.
The past few years, Google have given away pretty spectacular items at I/O, and many expect this year’s item to be the rumored Nexus Tablet. This alone would be reason enough for many a fanboy to try and swoop up some tickets to be the first to have one, or for the aspiring entrepreneur to resell the tablet afterwards for more than the ticket cost.
Due to all the complaints about the situation, Google has decided to have a second week of I/O, from July 11 . . . READ ON »


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The percentage of transactions using Segregated Witness (SegWit) has hit a new all-time high above the 65% mark at the beginning of this year, as adoption for the scaling solutions keeps growing.
According to data from a website created to track the usage of SegWit on the Bitcoin network, transactions using it have jumped from around 36% in September 2019, to little over 65% on January 4.
SegWit usage is said to be growing partly thanks to cryptocurrency exchanges adding support for it. In October, for example, Bitfinex added native SegWit addresses for BTC withdrawals, shortly before BitMEX did the same.
The scaling solution’s adoption may keep on growing in the near future as Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, has said on Twitter the cryptocurrency trading platform plans to add SegWit adoption by the end of the first quarter of this year. The rise is significant as SegWit adoption was struggling to move over the 50% mark since April 2018.
SegWit is a protocol upgrade to the blockchain which helps reduce transaction sizes and transactions costs by removing the “witness” or signature data from transactions. Litecoin, often seen as the silver to bitcoin’s gold, adopted the scaling solution first and saw its SegWit usage hit 75% in September 2019.
Featured image via Pixabay.


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Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/29/2020 - 01:34
This post first appeared on Trade for Development News and the ReSAKSS blog.
Despite longstanding recognition of the benefits of trade and the importance of improving competitiveness, Africa is performing beneath its potential in global and regional agricultural markets.
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 01/21/2020 - 00:36
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/08/2020 - 02:00
The production of safe, nutritious food to feed Africa’s growing and urbanizing population in an economically and environmentally sustainable way will require reliable, affordable clean energy sources. How can Africa ensure both availability of and access to such energy, particularly in rural areas?
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 01/06/2020 - 04:42
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 12/02/2019 - 03:00
Join the Food Security Portal (FSP), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) in the launch of the global foresight tool Impacts of Alternative Investment Scenarios. The tool was recently developed by IFPRI’s IMPACT model team and the FSP. The Global Foresight tool provides researchers and policymakers with a flexible way to explore the impact of various agricultural investment scenarios on agricultural production, productivity, and hunger for the period 2010-2050.
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/07/2019 - 07:42
Rurbanomics: The path to rural revitalization in Africa
By Shenggen Fan and Ousmane Badiane
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 10/24/2019 - 07:01
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 10/02/2019 - 07:17
Webinar hosted by the Food Security Portal with support by the Harvest Consortium
Date: October 31, 2019 at 11:00AM EST
Submitted by s.malhotra on Wed, 09/18/2019 - 11:53
A new report from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) finds that millions of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) source directly from millions more smallholder farmers across Africa South of the Sahara. These SMEs, often led by women, include food processors, wholesalers, and retailers. SMEs provide a range of services, from transport and logistics to the sale of inputs such as fertilizer and seed to farmers.
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 08/22/2019 - 14:07
According to a new report from FEWS Net, poor households in several regions of Southern Africa have exhausted their own produced foods earlier than usual in the season due to below-average harvests. The number of households in the region experiencing IPC Crisis (Phase 3) food insecurity is expected to increase with the start of the lean season in September and October.


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CHICAGO, Oct. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Mayor Brandon Johnson launched the inaugural Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Climate-Tech, underscoring a pivotal moment for the city’s advancement in the climate tech space. The Chicago Venture Summit, originally founded by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2014, and annually orchestrated by World Business Chicago, has consistently been a magnet for tech and innovation leaders throughout the Midwest. Today’s summit, focused on climate tech, has garnered immense attention and sold-out weeks in advance. Over 800 climate tech enthusiasts, founders, investors, and business leaders are gathered at the iconic 167 Green Street in the Fulton Market District, a convening that epitomizes the strength of the Chicago region’s dynamic and burgeoning climate tech landscape.
“I’m pleased to welcome the more than 800 startup founders, investors, and innovators to the Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Climate-Tech, showcasing our city’s commitment to climate technology, sustainability, and renewable energy,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “As one of the nation’s largest and fastest growing venture summits, today’s inaugural climate-tech edition showcases the essential role our vibrant startup community plays in advancing environmental justice and sustainability.”
According to World Business Chicago’s Research Center, the Chicagoland region’s green economy produced over $18 billion in economic output in 2022, growing by nearly 180% between 2016 and 2022. With over 65,000 in employment, Chicagoland is ranked fifth out of the top ten metro areas for employment in the green economy. Nearly 25% of all growth capital deals in Chicagoland were investments in climate and cleantech startups, the highest proportion when compared to total deals across the Midwest, U.S., and the world. The Chicago Business Bulletin’s “Chicagoland’s Green Future, Issue 6,” a publication produced by World Business Chicago’s Research Center, delves into the region’s role today and in the future in climate tech innovation and the green economy, examining the current market size, trajectory, the importance of talent and capital, workforce availability, public and private investment trends including grants, and innovation driven by research, technology transfer from Illinois universities, commercialization, and patent trends.
“The Chicago Venture Summit continues to be one of our nation’s most exciting events which connects the startup, growth capital, and corporate communities,” said Mark Tebbe, Innovation and Venture Council Chair at World Business Chicago. “Because we believe our world-class business ecosystem must be deeply invested in our local entrepreneurs, the Chicago Venture Summit is the perfect platform to drive inclusive growth and opportunity for our startups.”
Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Climate-Tech attendees represent more than 450 unique corporations, startups, financial and investment firms, universities, national laboratories, and other business and innovation entities. This includes more than 80 financial, investment, and venture capital firms, and more than 10 countries represented via Consulate Generals, trade offices, and other international participants. The summit’s startup portfolio includes 149 startups, more than half led by a founder of color, 55 percent headquartered in Illinois, and 45 percent headquartered outside of Illinois—demonstrating the summit’s continued resonance as a national event.
Among the highlights of the Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Climate-Tech, include:
“The Chicago Venture Summit stands as the Midwest’s premier gathering, drawing in over 1,500 forward-thinking entrepreneurs, investors, and innovative startups in just the past year,” said Michael Fassnacht, CEO and President of World Business Chicago, and the City of Chicago’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Today’s climate tech focused venture summit underscores the Chicagoland region’s commitment to directing investments and innovation towards robust climate solutions that not only generate jobs but also catalyze inclusive economic advancement.”
Visionary Ecosystem Leaders & Business Titans Champion Chicagoland as the Next Global Climate Tech Nexus
The Chicago Venture Summit is proud to announce the support of 40 unique sponsors, including the valuable contributions from its presenting sponsors: 1871, CBRE, ComEd, Crowe, Current, Energize Capital, Evergreen Climate Innovations, J.P. Morgan, mHUB, Microsoft, S2G Ventures, Shapack Partners, UL, and Verizon. The summit’s presenting international partner is the Consulate General of Canada in Chicago.
World Business Chicago recognizes that the success of the Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Climate-Tech, the region’s flagship venture summit, is due in large part to the generous support of its partners and sponsors. Innovation Sponsors include all seven members of the Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership (Cook County, Choose DuPage, Kane County, Kendall County, Lake County Partners, McHenry County Economic Development Corporation, and the Will County Center for Economic Development). Additional Innovation Sponsors include Cooley, GET Cities, Illinois Science and Technology Coalition, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, and SRS Acquiom. Startup Sponsor include Amazon, Clique Studios, Mycocycle, and Wynndalco Enterprises. Venture Partners include All Raise, BLCK VC, Chain Reactions Innovations at Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago:Blend, Earth Foundry, Gen Z VCs, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and Lofty Ventures, and SomosVC.
For the fifth time since 2021, the Chicago Venture Summit returns to 167 Green in Chicago’s Fulton Market District. The 640,000 square foot office building, developed by Shapack Partners and Focus and owned in partnership with Walton Street Capital, is a testament to its location and design. Recently, CCC Information Services, Foxtrot, and others have announced their headquarters’ relocation to the building, joining Kroll and other innovative companies located at 167 Green in the Fulton Market District. 167 Green features one of Chicago’s largest town hall spaces, which doubles as a full-size basketball court on the top floor of the building, along with a rooftop terrace, sitting room, game room and gym.
ABOUT WORLD BUSINESS CHICAGO:
World Business Chicago serves a critical role in driving inclusive and equitable recovery throughout the city’s 77 neighborhoods, focused on high growth sectors: transportation, distribution, & logistics; manufacturing; healthcare & life sciences, and our local innovation, startup, & venture ecosystem. As the City of Chicago’s economic development agency, World Business Chicago leads corporate attraction & retention, workforce & talent, community impact, and promotion of Chicago as a leading global city. Supported by a council of 300+ local leaders, World Business Chicago’s portfolio of innovation & venture programs include: the Chicago Venture Summit series, Startup Chicago, ThinkChicago, and Venture Engine with the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition (ISTC). Follow World Business Chicago on LinkedIn for daily news and announcements on company relocation and expansion, industry and ecosystem growth, U.S. and world rankings, and more about Chicago’s economic progress.
SOURCE WORLD BUSINESS CHICAGO.
We are excited to share that the World Business Chicago Research Center, in collaboration with the Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership (GCEP), has unveiled a new interactive online tool and compr
PRESS RELEASE A Deep Dive into the Chicagoland Region’s Economic Strengths CHICAGO – [September 27, 2023] – Today the World Business Chicago Research Center published an asset
Who is S2G Ventures? S2G Ventures, the direct investment team of Builder’s Vision, partners with entrepreneurs who are working on solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges across food,&
The Midwest region’s premier startup and growth capital summit advances to include climate tech innovation. Chicago, August 7, 2023 – Mayor Brandon Johnson joins World Business Chicago in anno


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DTS-HD Master Audio|7.1 on the PS4 can be utilized by disk based media (Blu-ray) along with digital video downloads and video streaming.
Read on for the announcement from DTS.
DTS, Inc., a leader in high-definition audio solutions and audio enhancement technologies, today announced that the PlayStation 4 (PS4) from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. will ship featuring DTS? new DTS-HD Master Audio|7.1 decoder, allowing consumers to receive the ultimate surround sound experience from both physical disc and digitally delivered media. Launched in North America today, November 15, PS4 marks the first product to ship with DTS? new DTS-HD Master Audio|7.1 decoder.
?Today, there are more than a couple of ways for consumers to access and enjoy entertainment content,? said Brian Towne, executive vice president and chief operating officer at DTS. ?Millions of consumers rely on their gaming consoles to serve as their hub for accessing digital content services, holding the expectation that these devices will deliver the same quality video and audio experience that they receive when gaming or watching Blu-ray discs. By featuring DTS? new DTS-HD Master Audio|7.1 technology, PS4 owners will be able to enjoy the same high-definition 7.1 surround sound experience received on Blu-ray from streaming and VOD services.?
DTS-HD Master Audio|7.1 is the latest delivery profile under the DTS-HD technology portfolio of advanced audio solutions for next-generation content. Designed to deliver the highest quality surround sound experience possible from both physical and digital media, this new decoder supports streamed and downloaded content featuring DTS-HD-encoded audio tracks, as well as optical disc media with soundtracks produced in all DTS formats including DTS-HD Master Audio.
For more information about DTS, please visit www.dts.com, or connect with DTS on Facebook and Twitter (@DTS_Inc).


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Hot on the heels of Apple cutting its Q1 forecast due to weaker-than-expected iPhone sales, Apple CEO Tim Cook has released a memo to employees, obtained by Bloomberg, that tries to soften that blow. In it, he notes that, despite the lower numbers, “iPhone activations in the US and Canada set new Christmas Day records” for the company.
The internal memo further reinforces Cook’s original statement that the $9 billion shortfall in revenue was due to the iPhone underperforming in China. Cook elaborated that “we expect to set all-time revenue records in key markets including the US, Canada and Mexico, Western European countries including Germany and Italy, and countries across the Asia-Pacific region like Korea and Vietnam.”
There’s no information on the breakdown of which iPhone models were activated
While Cook’s note points out that the number of iPhones activated on Christmas Day is an all-time high for the company, there’s no information on the breakdown of which models those were. It’s entirely possible that those phones could have been largely made up of older, cheaper models like the iPhone 7, iPhone 8, or even the discontinued iPhone X, and not the newer (and more lucrative) iPhone XS and XR.
The news may be a bit of a silver lining for those concerned about Apple’s future, but even if US and Canada sales are doing better than ever, it’s clear that Apple’s global presence is going to be a far bigger factor of its success going forward.