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All over the place you look there appears to be a new scarcity popping up in America’s at the moment very unusual financial system. From rooster to fuel, gadgets are more and more tough to search out as provide chain points, outsized demand and the local weather disaster all converge on stifled accessibility.
However as Individuals study to dwell in a brand new regular once more – this time with vaccines, much less masks, and barely relaxed pandemic period restrictions – demand for issues like journey and resorts is on the rise. With an extended weekend forward, Individuals are able to return to the world. However the financial system is probably not prepared for them: listed here are the shortages that might plague Memorial Day weekend.
Trip house leases in the US are at an all time excessive this yr.
Increasingly more folks need to journey because the vaccination fee will increase. In the US, 65% of individuals plan to journey extra this yr than earlier than the pandemic started and 82% of households have already deliberate their holidays, based on Vrbo on-line rental middle.
If you have not rented a trip house but, it might be too late to search out one this yr: 85% of trip leases on Cape Cod, the Outer Banks and alongside the Jersey coast, are booked till August, Vrbo stated.
Accommodations and motels
It isn’t simply trip and rental properties which are seeing an enormous improve: resorts and motels noticed their prices rise 8.8% in April, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
CNBC Studies that nightly costs are on the rise and can probably solely improve as summer season journey is in full swing. Actually, costs in coveted areas, like seashores, have soared above pre-pandemic ranges.
Whereas some industries say they’re struggling to search out staff and workers, the leisure and hospitality sector truly made noticeable positive aspects within the April jobs report. Whereas the report was properly under expectations – with solely 266,000 jobs added, as a substitute of the anticipated million – leisure and hospitality emerged the strongest.
The business added 331,000 payrolls. Whereas it is a promising signal of restoration, some consultants say even these additions do not come quick sufficient.
Individuals trying to hit the highway for Memorial Day weekend will face outbreak fuel costs.
the the value of gasoline has reached its highest degree in seven years Wednesday. Fallout from a cyberattack on the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline devastated the provision chain, pushing the common value in the US to over $ 3 a gallon. The 5,500-mile pipeline reopened on Thursday, however Reuters reported it’d take weeks for the gasoline provide to return to regular, after shoppers rushed to replenish on gasoline through the week.
Forward of final weekend’s cyberattack, costs shouldn’t see one other vital spike till after Memorial Day, when journey is predicted to push demand even larger on the finish of the month.
However, even earlier than the pipeline closed, fuel costs have been skyrocketing as demand exceeds dwindling gasoline provides. In April, gasoline costs jumped 9% of their greatest one-month improve in 9 years, as transport container shortages, delays at ports and OPEC’s manufacturing cuts hit. made the commodity an increasing number of priceless.
A brand new or used automobile
For those who needed to purchase a automobile for that summer season highway journey you’ve got been planning since March 2020, you may end up going through stiff competitors and ever larger costs.
New automobiles are scarce as a consequence of an ongoing scarcity of pc chips that energy all the pieces from Bluetooth in automobiles to iPad, and their shortage was felt all through the financial system. Some automobile producers needed to cease manufacturing in the beginning of the yr, resulting in extra elusive fashions and better costs.
This trickled all the way down to the used automobile market. In April, used automobile costs jumped 10%. Insider’s Ben Winck reported it was the largest improve in a month since 1953, when knowledge started to be collected. Actually, that value hike was a couple of third of the sharp 0.8% rise in inflation in April from the earlier month.
Consultants attribute the scarcity to demand for automobiles, particularly as new automobiles are more durable to search out and rental automobile providers try to rebuild fleets; offered loads a few of their automobiles in the beginning of the pandemic.
Rental automobiles are additionally in nice demand. As Individuals clamor to journey once more, a “excellent storm” is brewing, Brittany Chang Insider Studies.
In scorching vacationer locations, costs skyrocket; Jonathan Weinberg, Founder and CEO of Auto ahead slashChang advised Chang that some rental automobiles in Hawaii price over $ 500 a day – an enormous improve from the same old $ 50. And automobile rental corporations anticipate sturdy demand this summer season for his or her small fleets, whereas going through a scarcity of pc chips.
However vacationers can nonetheless discover it costly and tough to get round in the event that they depend on carpool drivers. Uber and Lyft have tried to get drivers again to work with new incentives, however there’s nonetheless a persistent pilot scarcity. This is because of a wide range of components as drivers fear about security and discover stability in enhanced pacing advantages.
For those who plan on jetsetting over Memorial Day weekend, you might discover that the costs for the insanely low pandemic flights are gone.
In April, airline costs rose 10.2%, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That is to not say there are not any offers, as airways launched per week of untamed worldwide flight offers in April; the chance with these, like Insider’s Tom Pallini reportedis that we have no idea if these international locations might be open to American guests.
However, because the Washington Put up reviews, that could possibly be a distinct story for home flights, particularly through the summer season. Rising demand and tariffs could possibly be concentrated over the summer season, as Individuals rush to benefit from the climate situations and newly relaxed pandemic restrictions.
Adit Damodaran, economist at Hopper journey reserving app, stated Insider’s Jamie Ditaranto that demand is concentrated in direction of the top of Might and the start of June – and that costs can improve by 15%.
Bacon and scorching canine
Memorial Day barbecues might be affected by provide points.
Bacon and scorching canine will be arduous to search out in grocery shops as a consequence of a worldwide pork scarcity. The pork business has skilled a number of setbacks over the previous yr. Excessive instances of pigs worn out pig populations final winter and COVID-19 outbreaks in not less than 167 meat processing crops, which compelled practically 40 factories to shut in June 2020.
Demand will probably exceed provide as folks replenish on meat for meals cooked on Memorial Day weekend.
Will probably be costlier to have a good time the vacation with fireworks this yr.
Superior fireworks advert they have been rising their costs by about 15% this yr – the very best degree the corporate has ever needed to increase costs in its 20-year historical past.
The corporate is one in all many fireworks producers who’ve been compelled to boost costs to be able to offset larger transport and manufacturing prices.
Vacationers trying to chill out within the pool on trip weekends might battle to search out clear swimming pools.
Final month CNBC reported that the US is going through the worst chlorine scarcity in historical past. The costs of chemical substances used to scrub swimming swimming pools have practically doubled this yr and are solely anticipated to proceed to rise in scorching climate.
Pool homeowners can keep away from the scarcity through the use of saltwater swimming pools as a substitute, based on Insider’s Annabelle williams.
Imported merchandise like wine and cheese
Vacationers can pay high greenback for imported meals.
Good from abroad together with seafood, cheese and wine are going through months of transport delays. Some grocery shops, together with Costco, have already reported a scarcity of imported meals, whereas different corporations have already began elevating costs in response.
Final month, Coca Cola and Normal Mills introduced that it was rising its costs.
Folks trying to eat out on the vacation weekend might discover it tough to get service at native eating places.
Severe labor shortages have rocked the restaurant business. After shedding thousands and thousands of staff in the beginning of the pandemic, many eating places battle to convey staff again after they reopen.
Restaurant chains have rolled out new incentives to draw staff, based on Insider’s Kate Taylor. However many frontline staff are reluctant to return to work as a consequence of issues in regards to the security of COVID-19, in addition to little one care, Insider Ayelet Sheffey reported.


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LG Electronics has told The Verge that the company’s phone with a resizable hide hide, the LG Rollable, has no longer been positioned on preserve. “I’m able to firmly dispute that this form of decision on future cell products has been finalized,” says an LG spokesperson. The denial is available in accordance to a anecdote from Yonhap Recordsdata that LG had reportedly told map suppliers that the Rollable had been positioned on preserve and that they’ll seek details from cash again for his or her construction efforts.
Denying that a final decision has been made is no longer quite the identical thing as reassuring all people that the Rollable continues to be coming in 2021, nonetheless it will replicate the classic uncertainty that incorporates designing, manufacturing, and transport sophisticated electronics throughout a world pandemic. And it can even be that the Yonhap Recordsdata anecdote is somewhere advance the truth.
LG moreover firmly denied a anecdote in January that it used to be planning to exit the smartphone enterprise, and Korean outlet TheElec hurt up deleting that anecdote, easiest to survey LG flip around later and admit that it used to be certainly pondering an exit from smartphones, even if the decision hadn’t been finalized but.
If LG did judge to place the Rollable on preserve, it will seemingly be to trade liberate dates or to re-engineer some segment of its develop. Now now not every trade in manufacturing agenda necessarily formula cancellation. It will potentially approach as a surprise to LG workers if it did earn canceled, even though: TheElec’s now-deleted anecdote initially steered that smartphone enterprise or no, Undertaking I (LG’s codename for the Rollable) would proceed, XDA Builders wrote.
LG has had a onerous time competing with utterly different smartphone makers admire Samsung or Huawei, and its smartphone enterprise has lost roughly $4.5 billion over the closing five years. But it has seemed committed to developing obvious the LG Hover isn’t the closing “irregular” phone develop it releases. The Rollable’s future is hazardous, nonetheless the anecdote in reality isn’t over but.

domain: news


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Amazon leans heavily on warehouse robots to assist workers and fulfill your orders on time, but these machines still can't pack items quickly enough to replace humans. However, the internet giant is determined to make these mechanical helpers more useful. It's holding a competition at a conference this May to see who's best at producing an autonomous robot that grabs products off shelves and stuffs them into boxes. This may sound like a relatively straightforward challenge, but it isn't -- the bots have to grab a variety of objects while breaking as little as possible, including fragile things like food.
Although the victor only gets $25,000, there's potentially a lot of prestige involved. Amazon will no doubt be interested in doing business if there's a clear winner, and the techniques developed in the challenge could apply to other robots where a delicate touch is necessary. Either way, there's a real chance that Amazon will take one step closer toward highly automated shipping hubs. And that's not necessarily a bad thing for the human staff. While Amazon might end up replacing employees with robotic packers, such a move could also help people cope with crushing holiday workloads and let them focus on more exciting (or at least, less monotonous) tasks.


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Target has set its sights on the long-vacant former Best Buy store in southern Marin County for one of its smaller-sized stores, but it’s a deal that almost didn’t happen.
And because of that key lease, a center that has struggled for years with empty spaces may be heading toward teeming tenancies.
The Minneapolis-based retailer on April 21 said it plans to open a “flexible-format” store in Marin Gateway Shopping Center in March 2017. Located at 101 Donohue St. in Marin City, the 181,700-square-foot center has Highway 101 frontage at the northwest corner of the Sausalito–Marin City interchange.
The Target store is set to go into the 49,000-square-foot space Best Buy left in February 2014 after not renewing its lease.
It will be a “centerpiece” of the revitalization of the shopping center, according to Terrence Tallen, principal and owner of Gerrity Group LLC, which bought the property in 2011.


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Minecraft creator Markus Persson (aka Notch) has cancelled the Oculus VR version of the game, because, as he puts it: “Facebook creeps me out.” His studio, Mojang, had been in talks to bring a version of Minecraft officially to the VR gaming headset, but he said on Twitter shortly after the Facebook acquisition of Oculus VR was announced that he “cancelled that deal.”
Oculus Rift ports of Minecraft already exist, as Notch himself points out, but none have the official backing and branding of the studio. That’s too bad for gamers who wanted to dive into the blocky virtual world builder up to their eyeballs, but there’s always the chance Persson could have a change of heart. Maybe Zuckerberg’s next hoodie will sport a familiar face to help convince Notch to come around.
In an extended statement on his blog, Notch goes into detail about why, exactly, he’s still bullish on VR but doesn’t want to work with Facebook.
Facebook is not a company of grass-roots tech enthusiasts. Facebook is not a game tech company. Facebook has a history of caring about building user numbers, and nothing but building user numbers. People have made games for Facebook platforms before, and while it worked great for a while, they were stuck in a very unfortunate position when Facebook eventually changed the platform to better fit the social experience they were trying to build.
Don’t get me wrong, VR is not bad for social. In fact, I think social could become one of the biggest applications of VR. Being able to sit in a virtual living room and see your friend’s avatar? Business meetings? Virtual cinemas where you feel like you’re actually watching the movie with your friend who is seven time zones away?
But I don’t want to work with social, I want to work with games.
Image courtesy 1will2000will1 on DeviantArt


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Our list of coming Apple “attractions”
Apple appears to have written of this year as too horrible to mention, and its much hyped announcements at Apple WWDC 2016 were nothing more than a loud sounding yawn. But what should they have said?
$500 for outdoor Android fun
Casio is joining some big watch names including TAG Heuer and Fossil and it is ready to launch its Casio Smart Outdoor Watch WSD-F10 Android Wear watch.
Buying the software to get the hardware running
Asiscs has announced that it acquired Runkeeper fitness tracking software for $85 million.
Gartner polishes its crystal balls
Augurs in the divination division of the analyst outfit Gartner have been consulting the entrails of load of bullocks and come to the conclusion that 274.6 million wearable electronic devices will be sold worldwide in 2016.
Still waiting for Apple’s response
Do not hold your breath – it is Sony
Thinks plastic wristwatches are classy


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Astralis has applied to become publicly listed on a stock exchange in the U.S. 16 months after it first went public in Denmark.
The team’s application went to OTC Markets Group’s Best Market exchange and is expected to take four weeks for review. If approved, the company’s stock will become available to trade by Americans directly for the first time, rather than through an intermediary.
Astralis first became a public company when it became listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Denmark market, a local exchange for Danish investors. The company reported “satisfactory” financial performance in 2020 but reported $8.5 million in losses. The share price on that exchange closed at 6.19 Danish Krone ($0.99) per share today.
The move to become available in U.S. markets comes among “growing investor interest,” according to a press release the company put out today.
“From the company’s perspective, it provides added exposure to an expanding US market of esports investors,” Astralis CEO Anders Hørsholt said in a statement. “Trading on OTCQX will secure increased access for U.S. institutional and retail investors looking to invest in our company and proven business model and it will provide an opportunity to be a part of Astralis Group’s continued development as an international leader in the growing, global esports industry.”
Astralis includes three teams: a multi-time championship-winning CS:GO roster, an LEC franchise, and a FIFA roster. It’s one of the largest European esports brands, particularly in its home country of Denmark.
Esports companies going public is still a relatively new trend in the U.S. Among those publicly available are Enthusiast Gaming—the parent company of Luminosity and media companies Upcomer and Destructoid and co-owners of the Seattle Surge and Vancouver Titans—and Allied Esports & Entertainment, who own the Esports Arena Las Vegas and run both esports and poker events worldwide.
Modern Times Group, the owners of ESL and DreamHack, are also publicly traded. Roundhill Investments and BITKRAFT, a major private investor in the esports space, launched the NERD ETF in June 2019 that holds shares in many of the large gaming and esports brands, such as MTG, Activision Blizzard, Corsair, and others.


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Technology has become an important part of small business operations. Operators now have to think of to improve their skill sets to achieve more with the resources available to them, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking during a webinar organised by PriceWaterhouseCooper (PwC), Ms. Tara Fela-Durotoye, a beauty entrepreneur, says there are people who were in makeup that is now doing consultancy, others in Agro and now doing logistics. She cites an event centre in Lekki, Lagos which, due to COVID-19, engaged her customers through social media and decided to meet their needs by turning the centre into an open market on Saturdays.
She says: “The event centre realised that some women in the area were not comfortable going to Balogun or Mile 12 market during the pandemic and decided to create that open market for them. “
She cites the case of a Game Centre that has started offering video conferencing services to its clients. It observed a gap in the video conferencing space and explored it. It created a video conference app that would not require much space like Zoom to download and that works on small phones.
She adds that this is the time for business owners to create a will to forge ahead and understand that they do not have a government like Canada or the United States that would meet their needs as expected.
However, Abubakar Kure, Managing Director of NIRSAL Micro Finance Bank, in his presentation, explains that the Federal Government introduced the targeted credit facility and other loans to cushion the effect of the pandemic on small business and households when it realised business owners lack the required cash flow to survive the shock arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kure agrees with Fela-Duriotoye that SMEs have to think out of the box and not wait for the government, adding: “The facilities are token but SMEs need strategies and think out of the box as suggested. The facilities are actually subsidised because they are between one to three years at five percent for one year and nine percent subsequently.”
PwC also makes in-depth recommendations for government, SMEs and stakeholders on policies and strategies to cushion the effects of the pandemic on the nation’s ailing economy.
Click here to watch the webinar


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SKB founders Dave Sanderson and
Steve Kottman stand with their recently
installed Hydraulic Toggle Injection
Molding System. Delivered and installed
at SKBs main factory in Orange, CA,
the new addition to the SKB equipment
family weighed in at 225,000 pounds.
Orange, CA (March 2, 2008)–SKB Corporation has undertaken a major upgrade to its manufacturing facility in Orange, CA. At the center of this upgrade is a massive new energy-saving hydraulic toggle injection Molding System.
The machine will reportedly provide the company with high efficiency, technological advantages and energy-saving capabilities; improved repeatability due to the servo motor closed loop operation; quick response time; and a much lower noise level in low-speed applications.
The initial case production run by the machine will require a 27,000-pound mold. The unit offers 2.25 million pounds of clamping pressure and a twin cylinder balanced injection system operation with a massive 405 oz.(25 lbs) shot capacity. It features an 8-axis robot with a 44-pound payload rating and 175,000-pound capacity permanent electro-magnetic (neodymium rare-earth) clamping platens. Recently delivered and installed at SKB’s main factory, the new addition to SKB’s equipment family weighed in at 225,000 pounds.
“For the past 30 years, SKB has always been a leader in our field, and this piece of equipment offers significant enhancements to what SKB can offer,” stated company President Dave Sanderson. He continues, “The strength, finesse, efficiency and precision of its operation will result in improved product construction and an even more innovative product line.”
Steve Kottman, company CEO, echoes Sanderson’s remarks: “We are very excited about our new Injection Molding System and what it represents for our company, our sales partners and our customers. It’s a great way to cap off our 31st year.”


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A woman who borrowed £25 from her grandparents over lockdown has turned her love of sewing into a five-figure business – and now she’s on track to purchase her first home.
Maisie Crompton, 19, owns Totes for You, a fashion brand that specialises in slogan bags, clothing, stationery and prints, with a following of 161,000 on TikTok.
She launched her tote bag business at the height of lockdown with just £25, however a year later, she’s on the way to investing in her first home.
But the former supermarket worker says her idea came about by accident in between shifts as a supermarket worker last year.
Speaking in on YouTube, Maisie said: “In the first lockdown I had just finished my A-levels and was working in Waitrose.
“I was really bored in my spare time and I had an idea to start embroidering and it just came to me – tote bags.
“I had no idea how to run a business let alone a successful business.
“I started with £25 that I actually got from my granny. I bought needles, an embroidery hoop, embroidery thread and tote bags for £25 all off Amazon.”
Maisie said she’d taken to sewing as a child and it ‘came naturally’ to her.
She started selling her designs on Depop because there were no seller fees at the time and would design and embroider all her bags by hand.
Have you got a small business story to tell? Get in touch: Mirror.Money.Saving@mirror.co.uk
As the orders started to roll in, Maisie struggled to keep up with the demand and purchased an embroidery machine, meaning she could create a tote bag in ten minutes rather than three hours.
After launching her website in June, Maisie’s orders hit another milestone, turning over £4,000 in her first month.
“In September I quit my supermarket job which meant so much to me, it was a mark of what I achieved,” she said.
By January this year Maisie had launched several new product lines, branching out from totes into sweatshirts, hoodies, notebooks, prints and planners – seeing her turn over five figures a month.
She continued: “Day to day I get between six and 30 orders just depending on the day.
“I was on a gap year. Now I’m on a gap life, I have no plans to go to uni in the near future,” she told her followers.
“I am saving so that I can get a mortgage on a house. I would rather not rent because I see it as a waste of money.
“I’m financially stable enough that I can afford to live somewhere nice, but it’s just not money that I really want to spend.”
Read More: Woman who started business with £25 in lockdown is now buying first house at 19


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Colgate UK has announced that it has partnered with TerraCycle and set up the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Programme.
This new recycling scheme allows customers to post their used toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes, toothpaste caps, toothpaste packaging and electric toothbrush heads to TerraCycle for free, who will then recycle everything on behalf of Colgate. This scheme covers all brands of toothpaste and toothbrushes — not just Colgate.
Consumers will receive 100 points for every kilo of waste they send to TerraCycle for recycling, and 100 points equals £1 which can then be claimed by a charity, school or non-profit organisation of the consumer’s choice.
Philip Durocher, General Manager at Colgate UK, said:
“We really encourage people to take advantage of the programme and recycle their oral care products and packaging via the programme and tell their friends and family about this new recycling initiative.”
Oral hygiene products tend to be composed of a variety of materials, making them typically difficult to recycle. This has led to many toothbrushes and related items being sent to landfill, due to many local councils not having the facilities to recycle them. TerraCycle are able to recycle oral care products and do so by separation, shredding and melting. This results in plastic pellets, which can then be used to create new plastic products.
TerraCycle Europe’s General Manager, Laure Cucuron, said:
“Oral care products are used by all of us each and every day, so it’s one of the most frequently asked about types of products that consumers tell us they want to be able to recycle.”
TerraCycle have recently teamed up with other large companies too, including Walkers and Kellogg’s, enabling empty crisp packets and Pringles packaging to be returned and recycled.


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Man sues Apple for $1 billion, claims facial recognition software led to his false arrest
A New York man claims facial recognition technology led to him being erroneously arrested for stealing from several of their stores, but that came from a glitch in their technology
Is Apple legally responsible for its technology leading to one New York man’s false arrest? A lawsuit for $1 billion says it is.
Ousmane Bah, 18, is suing the company claiming its facial-recognition software erroneously blamed him for stealing merchandise from Apple stores, according to the New York Post.
According to papers filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Bah alleges that after his ID was stolen last May, someone pretending to be him was caught stealing $1,200 worth of products from an Apple store in Boston.
The piece of identification the thief had on him during the arrest listed Bah’s name, address and other personal information, but did not include a photo. Bah says Apple was negligent for taking the actual perpetrator at his word and not verifying who the thief was with a proper photo I.D. As a result of this oversight, Apple then programmed all of its security systems to recognize the man’s face as Bah’s.
When the same thief later robbed Apple stores in New Jersey, Delaware and New York, Bah was then falsely blamed for all the crimes, the suit claims. He had no idea any of this was going on till he received a Boston municipal court summons in the mail in June.
On Nov. 29, after Bah was arrested by the NYPD, a detective working the case viewed surveillance footage from the Manhattan Apple store and quickly realized that the suspect in the case “looked nothing like” Bah, his lawsuit states.
Every state involved in the thief’s robbery spree has dropped charges against Bah except New Jersey, where the case is still pending.
Bah’s lawsuit slams Apple for causing him so much unnecessary legal trouble and claim’s the company’s “use of facial recognition software in its stores to track individuals suspected of theft is the type of Orwellian surveillance that consumers fear, particularly as it can be assumed that the majority of consumers are not aware that their faces are secretly being analyzed.”
Apple says it does not use facial recognition software in its stores, according to Bloomberg News. Another defendant in the case, Security Industry Specialists Inc., did not comment on the case.


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The White Home on Thursday stepped into the fragmented marketplace for disposable virus-filtering N95 masks, transferring to attach medical provide corporations with masks producers who say they’re loaded with stock however can’t discover patrons — even within the midst of a pandemic through which medical doctors and nurses are determined for the protecting gear.
President Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator, Jeffrey D. Zients, intervened after studying concerning the masks producers’ dilemma on Thursday in an article in The New York Instances.
“We are going to do all we will to get frontline employees the private protecting gear they want, together with breaking down obstacles for N95 producers,” Mr. Zients stated in an announcement, including that he had “reached out to the entire main medical distributors to begin connecting them with these new N95 masks producers.”
A senior administration official stated members of Mr. Zients’ crew had talked with three high medical suppliers: AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Well being and McKesson Company.
Practically two dozen small American corporations have not too long ago jumped into the enterprise of constructing N95s however are sitting on further provide, partly due to ingrained buying habits of hospital methods, competitors from China and bans on masks promoting by corporations like Fb and Google, which had been making an attempt to thwart worth gouging early within the pandemic.
Mr. Zients stated the White Home meant to work with “on-line retailers to make sure they’re making extra of those merchandise accessible to their clients.”
One masks producer, Luis Arguello Jr., stated he had 30 million masks on the market. After the pandemic uncovered an enormous want for protecting gear and China closed its stock to the world, his family-run enterprise, DemeTech, started making masks in its factories in Miami. It invested tens of hundreds of thousands of in new equipment after which navigated a nine-month federal approval course of that enables the masks to be marketed.
“It’s insane that we will’t get these masks to the individuals who desperately want them,” he stated.
The masks scarcity has been probably the most seen failures of the federal response to the pandemic. One masks firm govt, Mike Bowen of Status Ameritech, testified on Capitol Hill final yr that he had been warning for years that america was too depending on China for masks provide.
He raised alarms once more in a letter to a Trump administration official final February, a month earlier than President Donald J. Trump declared the coronavirus a nationwide emergency. “Please ask your associates to convey the gravity of this nationwide safety problem to the White Home,” Mr. Bowen wrote.


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Comic Con India (CCI), the greatest pop culture experience in South Asia, have just announced a surprise for the Tech and Fantasy-obsessed fans out there – the launch of the pioneering Non-Fungible League. This Ethereum blockchain based league plans to launch a series of limited-edition digital collectibles. Debuting Comic Con India’s foray into Metaverse, the next frontier of the digital multiverse. The first character-based collection launches in the coming weeks.
The Non-fungible league is the Comic Con India’s steppingstone into the larger world of web3. Created by the prolific Abhijeet Kini, an award-winning comics-illustrator and animator, ‘The Non Fungible Man’, is the latest superhero on the block, in the web3 era, which will possess a series of unique traits, including some very rare ones.
Living on the Ethereum blockchain, the novel superhero will herald the commencing of the league with a whole host of surprises that are sure to excite the burgeoning market of NFT collectors as well the larger community of pop-culture fans.
Sharing a glimpse of what’s in store for the breakthrough Non Fungible League – Karan Kalra, Director, Comic Con India, commented, “The metaverse and the burgeoning world of Web3 is the next big thing, therefore we wanted to create a collection that bridged the gap between web3 and pop-culture. The plan is to create long-term value for all those signing for our league.”
Adding to this, Jatin Varma, Founder, Comic Con India, commented, “Like Karan mentioned, our aim is to generate value for collectors joining our league, with tentatively multiple character drops in the future, development of this IP into animation, comics and of course hosting our events in the Metaverse. The key is long-term value. And we hope the burgeoning community of NFT collectors and pop-culture fans will trust us like they have in the past with our other venture.”
Comic Con India is the biggest celebration of pop-culture on the subcontinent and its founders are well versed in the world of pop culture. The hold multiple shows across India, attracting over 200K fans annually and an even larger digital audience of over 20 million fans with a cumulative social reach of over 141 million.
Keeping with the times, Comic Con India, is entering the burgeoning metaverse to create an unparalleled experience for its fans. The league of characters launched will eventually exist in the metaverse and the makers are inviting fans to join their favourite superheroes’ League. As the Leagues expand, further projects would be added in the form of crossovers into comic books, animation, and even a live-action series.


text: It is hard not to be impressed with Alibaba. Initial public offering earlier this month, the company that was founded 15 years ago in a modest apartment in southeastern China has officially minted the biggest IPO on record. With a market value of $220 billion, Alibaba is worth more than Facebook, Amazon or eBay. They also tend to have high premiums. A 60 year wholesale jerseys old might pay $200 a month for a policy that pays $150 a day for a maximum of three years, according to a 2009 study by Avalere Health, a research and consulting firm, and the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Kaiser Health News, which produces this column, is a program of the foundation.) Purchasing at a younger age can help trim premium costs.. In another time and cheap football jerseys place my next door neighbor had chickens and although I often worked from home sitting just on the other side of the back wall of their coop I never once smelled them and rarely heard a peep out of them. They were well kept and well loved. It is roosters not egg laying hens that cock a doodle doo. For the first few months, I was a bit hesitant if they were how they were supposed to look,” says Lauren. Within about six months, the implants dropped into her chest cavity and settled into place, which, her surgeon explained, was par for the course. “They have filled out and moved into the right place, but it took the better part of a year,” she says.. Others, like resort fees, can add up to hundreds of dollars. To help you avoid unwanted extra expenses, we’ve put together a list of the most common ones.Transport to and from your cheap authentic jerseys hotelTouchdown your flight has landed and you can’t wait to get to your hotel and start cheap nfl jerseys china relaxing. But suddenly you’re accosted by hundreds of options for getting out of the airport, all of them claiming to be the cheapest way, while at the same time seeming to cost a small fortune. Bruno said it’s essential you do your due diligence before agreeing to distribute parts for a new supplier. That could get expensive. Travelling to China to visit their production facility may seem excessive, but as Arent Fox lawyer Tony Lupo said: “If you’re not going over to check out their quality, you can’t really be sure. Auctions induce bidders to gamble. This happened in Europe and the US in respect of the cheap football jerseys 3G spectrum. Banks and investors did not finance the bid winners. There’s also the worry that an electric car could run out of juice on longer trips. Auto sales. Through April, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank and Tesla Motors.


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The Whitefield Cybercrime Police are trying to track down a person who created an email account in the name of the Flipkart Chief Executive Officer to mail customers seeking details .
Based on a complaint filed by Rajesh K., an employee of the company, on behalf of the CEO, the police have registered an FIR charging the accused under various sections of the IT Act on Tuesday.
In his complaint, Mr. Rajesh said that the accused created firstname.lastname@example.org and mailed customers, posing as CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, seeking their personal and financial details earlier this month.
The incident came to light when one of the customer verified it with the company. This is an attempt to tarnish the image of the company, Mr. Rajesh alleged in his complaint.
The police who initiated a probe said that the fake email id was generated from Nigeria. “We are trying to track down the person through other technical details,” a police officer said.
It may be recalled that a similar incident was reported in 2016, where an email id in the name of the then CEO of Flipkart was created by hackers to swindle $80,000 from the company’s account.


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DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF REVENUE INTELLIGENCE
Transactions worth Rs 12,000 crore by insurers under taxman's lens
In November last year, the department had conducted searches on premises linked to the agents after goods & services tax (GST) authorities informed the insurance regulator about alleged malpractices by more than a dozen insurance companies while allocating commissions to their agents.
BSF ex-DG Pankaj Kumar Singh appointed deputy NSA
According to an official order, Singh, a 1988-batch IPS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed on a re-employment contract for a period of two years. Singh retired as BSF chief on December 31, 2022. When Singh took charge of the BSF on August 31, 2021, he had created history of a son and a father holding the top post of a paramilitary force during their services.
Operating margins seen contracting by 270 bps to 18-19% in Q3: Crisil
According to Sehul Bhatt, an associate director at the agency, operating margins in the automobile, metals and construction sub-sectors, which had contracted in the second quarter, reversed trend sequentially in the third quarter. Of the 20 sectors expected to outpace driven by the growth in revenues, 10 should see a margin contraction and five marginal improvement
Gujarat: DRI seizes mobile accessories, branded goods worth Rs 80 crore at Mundra port
The articles were concealed in a consignment of garment accessories and ladies footwear having a declared value of Rs 1.5 crore, he said. As per an official release, two persons were arrested even as a probe revealed that the importers did not exist at the registered premises.
Asteria Aerospace receives DGCA type certification for its A200-XT drone
With this achievement, Asteria said it has become the first company to have two DGCA-certified drones that it can offer to its customers for a variety of applications including law enforcement, industrial security, infrastructure inspections, and agriculture and land surveys.
SpiceJet looks to settle dues of aircraft lessorsThe company will first transfer its cargo undertaking to a newly created subsidiary. The unit, SpiceXpress, will then issue compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) to the parent, said the people cited above. Then, SpiceJet will offer lessors the option to swap lease payments with the CCDs.
Gold refiners go more than a month without bullion salesRefiners, who import impure or dore bars for refining, alleged that there has been a significant rise in smuggled gold in the Indian market as demand has increased during the wedding season in the past month. High duty on gold, now at 18%, encourages entry of gold through this route, they said.
Enforcement agencies seized 3,083 kg gold till November this year; Kerala accounts for maximum seizuresEnforcement agencies have seized 3,083 kg of gold till November this year, with Kerala accounting for the maximum number of seizures, Parliament was informed Monday. Gold seizures across the country have gone up this year when compared to 2,383 kg seized in the 2021 calendar year and 2,154 kg in 2020. In 2019, 3,673 kg of gold was seized.
BharatPe moves to SIAC to enforce 'claw back' of Ashneer Grover's restricted sharesThis is the third legal action by BharatPe against Grover this week in an ongoing battle where the fintech firm has also filed a civil suit at the Delhi High Court and a criminal complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW).
New tactical tools needed to check sale of drugs through dark net, social media, cryptoThe Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has made a case for developing 'new tactical tools' to check the sale of drugs through the dark net, cryptocurrency and social media platforms.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi stresses on use of latest tech to track economic offendersThe fast-paced technological changes necessitate keeping pace with the latest trends in fintech and digital systems through upgradation of skills and systems, Modi said.
Go after big fish in drug trafficking cases: Nirmala Sitharaman to DRI officersFinance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was addressing the 65th foundation day of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which is primarily involved in busting of illegal trade of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, gold, diamond counterfeit currency notes and other goods into the country, besides taking punitive action against the offenders.
I-T Dept raids insurance agents' premises over alleged tax evasionThe Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has been investigating these companies for allegedly floating shell companies to pay high commissions and accounting for the payments under other heads to reduce the tax outgo. The Mumbai unit of the DGGI had conducted inspections on some companies and summoned their executives, as ET reported on November 12 citing people in the know.
Govt allows Enforcement Directorate to share info with 15 more agenciesThrough the notification, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which deals primarily with cases of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws, would be able to share data with a total of 25 agencies, including the 10 specified earlier. These 15 agencies include National Investigation Agency (NIA), Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), State Police Department, regulators under various Acts, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of External Affairs, and Competition Commission of India (CCI).
Government not to impose anti-dumping duty on Chinese metal cutter wheelsThe commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR had conducted a probe into the alleged dumping of "Resin Bonded Thin Wheels" from China, and in September it recommended the imposition of the duty.
DRI officers seize crystal methamphetamine, cocaine worth Rs 1,476 crore"This is a new kind of modus operandi involving concealment of drugs in the boxes of 'Valentia Oranges' imported from South Africa. After clearance of such oranges from Customs area, the goods used to get stored in some cold storages located in Vashi," the ministry said.
Probe if Hero Electric, Tunwal violated localisation norms: Directorate of Revenue IntelligenceDRI has written to the National Automotive Board, Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, saying the EV makers may have violated the minimum local value addition criteria to receive subsidies under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles India (FAME-II) scheme.
Hero Electric moves HC against DRI show causeThe DRI in its 2020 notice claimed that the company had falsely declared imported kits of electric scooters as components to evade customs duty.
Adani arm gets clean chit from CESTAT in over-invoicing caseSources told ET that the department has sent a proposal to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) for filing an appeal before the Supreme Court against the Tribunal's orders on the point of both fact and law.
India sees spurt in 5G smartphone shipments from China despite recent crackdowns on alleged tax evasionDespite the spurt of recent crackdowns in India, most of the major Chinese smartphone brands in the top five smartphone leaderboard registered a healthy growth during the quarter. Xiaomi (20 per cent), Samsung (18 per cent) and Realme (16 per cent) captured the top three spots in the smartphone leaderboard in Q2, followed by Vivo (15 per cent) and OPPO (10 per cent).
YouTube suspends OPPO India's channel during launch livestreamIn a bizarre incident, OPPO India saw its YouTube channel being terminated on Monday during the live-stream of its much-anticipated flagship smartphones Reno 8 Pro and Reno 8, OPPO Pad Air tablet, and TWS earbuds.
MeitY flags revenue dept's move to levy customs duty on phone display partsThe seeming differences in views between the two departments, government and industry executives say, is relevant for duty evasion notices that the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has served on Chinese smartphone majors Oppo and Vivo.
Customs can put tracking devices on 'suspect' goodsAs per the CBIC notification, if a proper officer having a reasonable belief that a suspect consignment is being imported into or exported out of India in the form of the baggage or otherwise shall file a report in Form-I proposing to undertake controlled delivery of such consignment. The report has to be approved and authorised by a specified officer - principal additional director general or additional director general of Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI).Load More
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Volvo has announced it is to introduce a new powertrain to its ’90’ series range of cars. Set to sit below its existing D4 and D5 models, the new D3 will feature a Drive-E four-cylinder diesel engine, coupled to a new six-speed manual transmission.
The D3 engine is already in use in Volvo’s 60 and 40-series cars, and produces 150bhp and 320Nm. Volvo states that the new engine, when in situ in the 90 series and paired with the new six-speed automatic transmission, will deliver fuel economy of 4.3 l/100 km, with CO2 emissions down to 114 g/km. The D3 will also now be available with All-Wheel Drive.


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P&?s Braun churns out sweepstakes from Olympics-themed photo-sharing
Procter & Gamble?s Braun is leveraging mobile and social photo-sharing to support the sponsorship of American short track speed skater J.R. Celski during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
The CPG brand is using a combination of social media and a mobile application for the Olympics-themed ?Cool Under Pressure? campaign to promote a sponsorship of the 2014 Olympics. Additionally, the initiative promotes Braun?s CoolTec shaver.
?The Snaps app allows consumers to superimpose themselves into an image of J.R. at the skating start line,? said Brian Messerschmitt, North American brand manager at Braun, Cincinnati, OH.
?This program is mobile-optimized and provides instant sharing of ?good luck? messages for J.R. on behalf of Braun,? he said.
?The goal of the program is to provide fans with a fun way to get involved with J.R.?s Olympic journey, while also introducing them to the Braun brand.?
Showing mobile support
To participate in the campaign, consumers first have to download the Snaps mobile app for free on iPhone or Android devices.
Braun?s campaign is located within the app?s ?discover? tab.
Consumers can then click through and access the campaign?s landing page, which pulls in a series of photos tagged with the hashtag #CoolUnderPressure.
Users can then snap a photo posing next to Mr. Celski and decorate the picture with branded decals such as a gold metal that has P&G?s logo printed on it.
Consumers can resize the decals and spin them across the photo.
The bottom of the photo includes the campaign?s hashtag and the Braun and P&G logos.
The photo is automatically added to the Snap app and can also be shared via Twitter, email, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter.
Once the Olympics are over, Braun will select some of the best photos to be included in a photo album on Facebook. Additionally, the consumers with winning photos will receive a free CoolTec shaver.
The CPG brand is also promoting the campaign via its Facebook and Twitter pages. A link to the Snaps mobile app will pushed out within links on these social platforms.
Mobile-photo opportunities grow
The idea behind Braun?s campaign is to leverage the sponsorship of Ms. Celski with mobile and social to connect with U.S. consumers who cannot attend the Olympics but are still following the games.
What is interesting about Braun?s use of mobile and social is how the brand plans to incorporate the photos from the campaign into further initiatives.
Over the past year, brands have used mobile photo-sharing in several different ways to increase engagement.
For example, Kate Spade also ran a campaign within the Snaps app last year to introduce a new collection (see story).
Similarly, Juicy Couture used the app for a promotion earlier this year to play up selfies (see story).
?It?s rare to find a consumer without a mobile device in their hands today,? Mr. Messerschmitt said.
?With more and more people using their devices as a source of anywhere/anytime entertainment and retail, the program allows Braun to engage consumers with ? and drive traffic to ? the brand?s social media pages, while also raising awareness of Braun?s many grooming product offerings,? he said.
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York


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5 Apple Rumors: From Touch ID for Macs to the iCar Launch
What products or services is Apple planning to surprise us with next? Here’s a rundown of all the latest Apple rumors that are making the rounds this week.
1. Touch ID may be coming to Macs
Apple’s biometric authentication system may soon be expanded to its laptop and desktop computers. According to sources cited by Taiwanese Apple news site AppleClub.tw, the company’s rumored 12-inch MacBook Air and a refreshed MacBook Pro will come equipped with a Touch ID module that is embedded above each device’s trackpad. As reported by Tech Cheat Sheet last week, the latest rumors suggest that a minor MacBook Air refresh will be unveiled before the redesigned 12-inch MacBook Air makes its debut later this year.
Touch ID will also be embedded in an upgraded Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad that will enable old or new desktop Macs to gain access to the fingerprint sensor. Per AppleClub.tw, the expansion of Touch ID to Macs is part of Apple’s effort to “aggressively promote” its Apple Pay mobile payments service. The inclusion of Touch ID in Apple’s Macs will allow users to authorize Apple Pay transactions by simply using their fingerprint. As noted by MacRumors, AppleClub.tw has previously provided accurate information about the iPhone 6 and the iPad Air before those products were released. On the other hand, the sources provided no real evidence to back up their Touch ID claims.
2. More iPad Pro evidence?
While scattered rumors of a larger-screen iPad have circulated for about two years now, the number of supply chain leaks about the device has greatly increased over the past several months. For example, an image of a purported manufacturing mold for the larger-screen iPad was posted on China’s Weibo microblogging site in early January. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo – who has a fairly impressive track record when it comes to details about Apple’s future products – has also repeatedly predicted a larger-screen iPad. In a recent research note obtained by MacRumors, Kuo forecast that the oversized tablet would be paired with a stylus.
Now even more evidence for the upcoming release of a larger-screen iPad — which is alternately referred to as the iPad Pro or the iPad Air Plus – has surfaced on NoWhereElse.fr. The French tech site recently obtained images of a protective case made for the device. Although the case was made by a third party, it should be noted that many Apple accessory manufacturers maintain insider connections to the company’s supply chain in order to get a head start on the competition.
Unfortunately, while the leaked iPad Pro case images appear to align with earlier rumors about the device, NoWhereElse.fr’s source did not provide the exact measurements for the tablet. Various rumors have pegged the device’s size anywhere from 12.2 inches to 12.9 inches. Whatever its exact size may be, most industry watchers believe the device will launch sometime this year. Last October, the Wall Street Journal cited sources who claimed that the production of the larger-screen iPad had been pushed into early 2015 due to the unexpectedly high demand for the latest iPhone models. Assuming that rumor was correct, this would mean that the iPad Pro could debut as early as the second quarter of 2015.
3. Apple Pay roll out in China may be delayed
Apple’s plan to roll out its NFC-based mobile payments system in China appears to have been delayed. Per MarketWatch’s insider sources, negotiations that involve bankcard association China UnionPay, e-commerce company Alibaba, and China’s central bank are holding up the introduction of Apple Pay into the country. As reported by 9to5Mac earlier this month, code in the upcoming iOS 8.3 update indicates that Apple Pay will be implemented in China through the UnionPay network.
MarketWatch’s sources believe that the holdup is due to China UnionPay’s unwillingness to surrender control of its NFC-based payment network. Meanwhile, Chinese regulators are also concerned about the type of iPhone chips that Apple uses for its mobile payment system. According to MarketWatch’s sources, the chips do not meet a certain technical standard that the country’s central bank requires for all mobile payment systems.
Other sources cited by MarketWatch claimed that talks with China’s banks have stalled over the division of profit. Apple Pay’s 0.15% fee is seen as too high by many of the Chinese banks. While it’s unclear when Apple was hoping to have Apple Pay up and running in China, MarketWatch’s sources claimed that the company was hoping to have an agreement with China UnionPay finalized by March 2015.
4. Apple’s rumored preparations for Watch launch
As the scheduled Apple Watch launch in April gets closer, more details about the various preparations that Apple is making continue to emerge. Earlier this week, sources that spoke with the Wall Street Journal claimed that Apple originally intended the device to include multiple health-monitoring features that had to be abandoned due to technical issues and concerns over regulatory oversight from agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). You can read more about the evolution of the Apple Watch’s development here. Per the Journal’s sources, Apple’s suppliers have produced an initial run of five to six million units. While most of the first batch of devices consists of the entry-level and mid-tier Watch models, approximately 15% of the initial production run will consist of the gold Watch Edition model of the device that is estimated to cost more than $4,000.
Apple is also making preparations to have multiple third-party apps ready for the Apple Watch. According to insider sources that spoke with 9to5Mac, Apple has been holding workshops and meeting with dozens of developers in an effort to finish up as many Watch apps as possible. According to 9to5Mac, the urgency surrounding the Watch app preparations suggests that Apple is intending to hold a media event ahead of the device’s launch in April in order to demonstrate its capabilities. As previously reported by Tech Cheat Sheet, sources cited by MacRumors claimed that Apple had asked some developers to have their Watch apps ready by as early as mid-February.
Finally, French websites Mac4Ever and FashionMag recently reported that Apple is secretly building a boutique solely for the Apple Watch at high-end department store Galeries Lafayette in Paris. According to Mac4Ever, the boutique is being built under the direction of Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts. While Apple hasn’t confirmed its existence, the debut of an Apple Watch boutique in an exclusive Paris department store aligns with the company’s other efforts to position the wearable tech device as a luxury fashion accessory. For example, soon after the Apple Watch was first unveiled last year, the company set up a temporary display of Apple Watches at trendy Parisian boutique Colette and later featured the device on the cover of Vogue China.
5. More evidence for Apple car project surfaces
Not surprisingly, a large number of the Apple rumors making the rounds this week were related to the company’s purported plan to build an electric vehicle. As Tech Cheat Sheet reported earlier this month, the initial rumors about an Apple car development project emerged after several camera-equipped minivans were linked to the Cupertino-based company. While the minivans may have simply been shooting footage for an Apple Maps upgrade, the appearance of the vehicles led to a flood of leaks about a secret electric vehicle project that has supposedly been underway since late last year.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal last week, the rumored project is codenamed “Titan” and involves hundreds of employees under the leadership of product design VP Steve Zadesky. This week, even more evidence for Apple’s vehicle project has emerged from several other sources. As reported by Tech Cheat Sheet, electric/hybrid vehicle battery manufacturer A123 Systems filed a lawsuit against Apple this week that accuses the iPhone maker of poaching several of its key employees for similar work at Cupertino.
Meanwhile, 9to5Mac uncovered even more automotive experts that have been hired by Apple since last year, including workers from Ford, Tesla, and Mercedes-Benz. One of the latest Apple car-related rumors comes courtesy of Bloomberg’s insider sources. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Apple is aiming to begin production of the electric vehicle as early as 2020. While there appears to be a growing amount of evidence that Apple is developing a vehicle, as recently noted by Tech Cheat Sheet, there are also industry watchers that have alternate theories about what the company may be working toward.
That’s it for this week’s batch of Apple rumors! Be sure to check back regularly with the Tech Cheat Sheet to get all the latest Apple news.
Follow Nathanael on Twitter @ArnoldEtan_WSCS


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(Reuters) – NXP Semiconductors is exploring selling itself to Qualcomm Inc in a deal that could be valued at more than $30 billion, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The deal would help diversify Qualcomm’s business and make it a bigger supplier to the automotive industry. Talks are in the early stages and NXP may entertain other offers, should they emerge, according to one of the sources.
An agreement with Qualcomm could be struck in the next two to three months, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported news of the talks.
Representatives for Netherlands-based NXP and San Diego-based Qualcomm declined to comment.
NXP shares rose 16.9% to close at $96.12 on Thursday, while Qualcomm’s rose 6.3% to $67.45.
NXP closed a nearly $12 billion deal to buy US-based Freescale Semiconductor last December, creating the world’s top maker of automotive electronics and doubling the percentage of its auto-related revenue to 40%. It could also attract interest from other large semiconductor companies such as Broadcom and Texas Instruments, analysts have said.
Qualcomm, which supplies Android smartphone makers and Apple, has been dealing with slowing smartphone sales and stiff competition from Chinese and Taiwanese rivals.
Qualcomm has so far sat out the transformative consolidation sweeping the industry, which has seen mega-deals such as Avago; buying Broadcom for $37 billion last year.
Qualcomm gets the bulk of its revenue from chip sales but most of its profit comes from wireless patents it licenses to the mobile industry. It explored a plan to break up its chip business from its patent licensing unit after pressure from activist investor Jana Partners but decided to remain whole.
Mizuho Securities analyst Vijay Rakesh said that the deal would give Qualcomm a roadmap for the next decade while moving away from a maturing handset market and toward the faster growing opportunity in automotives.
Qualcomm was ranked third in terms of revenue among global semiconductor companies in 2015, while NXP ranked No. 7, according to research firm IHS.
RBC analyst Amit Daryanani said the potential deal would be accretive to Qualcomm, which could also use offshore cash.
“Assuming a reasonable valuation is paid, this would be an attractive acquisition for Qualcomm and a good use of $30 billion in cash Qualcomm currently has on their balance sheet,” Daryanani said.
NXP has a market value of about $28.5 billion, while Qualcomm’s is about $93 billion.
(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York and Liana B. Baker in San Francisco, Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru and Eric Auchard in Frankfurt; Editing by Ted Kerr, Sriraj Kalluvila and Bernard Orr)


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Brits holidaying in Greece are being warned of potential delays as additional passport checks come into force. With summer just a few months away, holidaymakers are eyeing up the sun-kissed destination for a well-needed getaway. But, those of us heading to places like Crete, Athens, Corfu or Zante have been hit with some travel advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). As of this April 7, additional passport checks will be in place for Brits entering Greece – which is one of our most popular holiday hotspots. The change applies to all EU citizens coming from outside the “Schengen area”, who will now face delays at passport control, as Birmingham Live reports. Despite being in the EU, the UK is not in Schengen, along with other member states Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania (Romania and Bulgaria are in the process of joining). Non EU states Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are also in the area. In statement the FCO said: “As of April 7, 2019, the Hellenic Police will begin implementing systematic passport control checks for all European citizens travelling to and from destinations outside the Schengen area (including the UK) in line with a 2017 Schengen Borders… Read full this story
- Can I go on holiday to Dubai? Latest travel advice and quarantine restrictions
- Will I need to renew my passport after Brexit? Latest travel advice and updates
- Can I travel to Spain, France and Germany? Latest coronavirus holiday advice
- Can I still travel to Denmark? Latest quarantine rules and advice
- Lanzarote, Tenerife and Gran Canaria have travel ban lifted by Germany – so is the UK next?
- Cheap half-term package holidays to quarantine-free Greece, Madeira and Cyprus from £228pp
- Brits to lose thousands because airlines won’t honour expired travel vouchers – here is what to do
- Head to Yorkshire’s award-winning Brompton Lakes for the perfect staycation
- Can I travel to the Canary Islands? Holiday quarantine rules explained
- 20,000 Brits battling for half-term holiday refunds as Britain puts Italy on the quarantine list
Brits heading to Greece this summer hit with urgent travel advice have 323 words, post on www.dailyrecord.co.uk at April 3, 2019. This is cached page on Drudgereport. If you want remove this page, please contact us.


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Big Hit Entertainment Records Its Highest Annual Performance With Profits From 2020
On February 23, Big Hit Entertainment shared their profits for 2020, recording their greatest annual business performance since the founding of the agency.
In 2020, Big Hit recorded an annual sales revenue of 796.3 billion won (approximately $716.4 million), an operating profit of 142.4 billion won (approximately $128.1 million), and a net income of 86.2 billion won (approximately $77.6 million). These preliminary settlement figures are calculated by the agency, following the accounting standards of K-IFRS, without the accounting audit of an external auditor.
Compared to 2019, the agency’s sales revenue has increased 36 percent, with their operating profit and net income increasing 44 and 19 percent respectively. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, these mark Big Hit Entertainment’s highest performance numbers to date.
In the fourth quarter of 2020 alone, Big Hit accumulated a revenue of 312.3 billion won (approximately $281 million) as well as an operating profit of 52.5 billion won (approximately $47.2 million). Compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, these numbers see increases of 117 and 122 percent respectively. When looking at their quarterly performance, this fourth quarter also records Big Hit’s highest figures since its founding.
The greatest factors influencing this increase in revenue were excellent album sales and business growth. Big Hit Label’s artists, including BTS, SEVENTEEN, TXT, ENHYPEN, and more, sold 13.2 million copies of albums (according to Gaon charts). As a result, revenue from album sales was 320.6 billion won (approximately $288.5 million), which is an increase of 196 percent from 2019.
After acquiring Pledis Entertainment in May 2020 and KOZ Entertainment in November 2020, Big Hit now has a multi-label structure with five different labels, also including BELIFT LAB and Source Music.
Business growth also had a significant impact on revenue increases. Although the agency saw a decrease in sales from concerts due to COVID-19, Big Hit focused on official merchandise and licensing, content, and fan clubs. This led to increases of 53, 71, and 66 percent compared to 2019, respectively.
Big Hit’s global fan community platform Weverse also saw continued growth throughout the year. As of February 2021, the total number of app downloads surpassed 25 million.
Along with their performance report, Big Hit Entertainment commented, “Even in the midst of COVID-19, we were able to record our highest performance figures ever due to our solid business structure. Through the continued growth of our Big Hit Label artists along with our inorganic growth through acquisitions and mergers, we have a strategy to continue expanding our business scope.”
They continued, “Including our integration with Naver V Live’s business division through the recently announced WEVERSE COMPANY and our partnership with Universal Music Group, we plan to continue working with external partners in diverse ways to continue our growth.”


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Disney World Tightens Mask And Eating Policy Amid Rising Cases
Disney World Faces Severe Backlash After Reopening
The global Coronavirus pandemic has put a halt on all entertainment, fashion, and public gatherings of any sort since March. It has been a frustrating time for everyone and businesses have felt the full brunt of the pandemic and the ongoing lockdown during this period.
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World and Disney World, is an entertainment complex in Florida, in the United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. It was developed by Walt Disney in the 1960s and is considered to be one of the most magical places on earth.
The Florida theme park reopened its gates a couple of weeks ago and it has already come under heavy criticism for taking the Coronavirus pandemic lightly, amid a rising number of cases in Florida.
Amid growing concerns over the safety and health of the people, Disney said that its newly enhanced safety protocols, such as hand sanitizer, temperature screenings, and social distancing, were sufficient enough to keep employees and guests safe.
Now Disney has come up with a new rule: Stay stationary when eating and drinking!
The new policy reads:
"You may remove your face covering while actively eating or drinking, but you should be stationary and maintain appropriate physical distancing."
However, the reaction to all these rules has not gone well with the masses who want Disney to shut down Disney World indefinitely until the Coronavirus cases come down.
JUST SHUT DOWN OH MY GOD https://t.co/6cZt1kEPNc— ???? Emotional Joestar ⁶⁶⁶ (@EBOYJOTARO) July 20, 2020
The new Disney World fastpass just sends you straight to the ICU— shelfby (@shelbytheclown) July 12, 2020
Florida keeps breaking the national record for the biggest single-day number of positive coronavirus cases in any state since the beginning of the pandemic.


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Here's how Jaguar Land Rover is combating coronavirus.
With new variants of the coronavirus spreading around the world, it's more important than ever to keep your car clean. Since the pandemic started, automakers have offered solutions to help stop the spread of the virus. Ford, for example, released software that increased the cabin temperature of the Police Interceptor Utility based on the 2020 Ford Explorer to over 133 degrees Fahrenheit to kill the virus. An Israeli company has also been developing a Covid-zapping lighting system for car interiors. Now, Jaguar Land Rover has revealed new cabin air purification technology that can combat coronavirus in its future road cars.
A prototype of Jaguar Land Rover's innovative heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system has been developed using Panasonic's Nanoe X technology to prevent bacteria and viruses from infiltrating the cabin.
Panasonic's Nanoe X technology uses a high voltage to "create trillions of Hydroxyl (OH) Radicals enveloped in nano-sized water molecules" that neutralize virus and bacteria air particles and "deodorize and inhibit allergens" to create cleaner air inside the cabin.
To test the technology, Jaguar Land Rover partnered with Perfectus Biomed, a leading microbiology and virology lab. During a 30-minute test, Jaguar Land Rover's climate control system inhibited viruses and bacteria by up to 97 percent with Panasonic's Nanoe X technology. In a separate two-hour laboratory test carried out by viral testing research Texcell, Panasonic's Nanoe X technology also inhibited more than 99.995 percent of the Covid-19 virus.
"This technology is a great example of being able to harness the power of nature and puts Jaguar Land Rover right at the forefront of this cabin technology," said Jaguar Land Rover Research Engineer, Alexander Owen. "Hydroxyl Radicals are one of the most important natural oxidants in chemistry and have been helping to clean our atmosphere for millennia, removing pollutants and other harmful substances. The creation of this technology and our advanced research is the first step in deploying this scientific phenomenon within vehicle cabins of the future."
Currently, the Jaguar I-Pace and the Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover Evoque are offered with Panasonic's Nanoe air purification technology, but the new system that will be offered in future Jaguar Land Rover road cars is said to be ten times more effective.


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New Delhi: Honda has created a stir in the market with the launch of its new compact SUV Elevate. With the arrival of the Elevate, now there seems to be a lot of trouble for vehicles like the Creta, Nexon, and Brezza. But now the biggest confusion among the people regarding this SUV is whether it is a 7 seater or a 5 seater. So we can easily remove this confusion of yours. Actually, this SUV is 5 seater and it comes in the category of compact sports utility vehicle. Its length is 4.3 meters due to which it is not in the full-size SUV category.
However, despite being compact in the Honda Elevate, the company has taken full care of space and comfort and its ground clearance is also much better. Due to this, it will give you the feel of a full-size SUV. Although it was discussed earlier that the Elevate will be launched with the hybrid engine that the company is introducing in the Honda City, now the car has been given the same 1.5-liter petrol engine that comes in the Honda City. Let us know the specialty of this car….
Honda city engine
Earlier there was a discussion about Honda Elevate that a hybrid option can be given in the car as this car has been designed on the platform of Honda City. And now the hybrid engine has been given in Honda City but it did not happen. Currently, the Elevate has been launched with the same petrol engine as the Honda City. It will get a 1.5-liter petrol engine which will generate power of 121 bhp. At the same time, the car will produce a torque of 150 newton meters. The car will get the option of 6-speed manual transmission and CVT gearbox.
6 airbags safety
In Elevate, the company has given a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Along with this, there is a TFT screen in the instrument cluster color HD which is 7 inches. There is also wireless smart integration that will make it easy to connect to Alexa. At the same time, many safety features like 6 airbags, adaptive cruise control, lane watch, hill hold assist, and lane keep assist will also be available in it. At present, the company has not yet disclosed about its launch or price. But it is believed that the price of Elevate can be started from around Rs.8 lakh. However, its top variant is expected to hit the market around 15 lakhs.


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July 31, 2020
By popular demand, the Pink House "Pop Up" team was delighted to open last Thursday for the first time since 13th March and very lucky to be hosted at Milton Manor in Milton on Stour, just a couple of miles from our offices in Mere.
We were made very welcome by the new owners of Milton Manor (formerly Milton Lodge) and our customers, some of whom travelled down from London, enjoyed their shopping experience in a Georgian manor house.
Once again customers were able to get excellent bargains from the "Pop Up" - new Lotty B special items have now arrived in there including a very limited number of samples of our extremely popular Fan Palm print kaftans, dresses and blouses.
We will open "Pop Up" again soon and will let you know the details once everything has been confirmed, but when we do open it will continue to be visits "by appointment" for the time being.
In the meantime we wish you all well and hope that you remain safe and sound, wherever you may be.
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January 31, 2023
Fun times at the Mustique Blue's Festival - alive and kicking at Basil's Bar on Mustique - find your perfect festival wear too....
January 24, 2023
Turtle Trellis print - we are delighted to share with you the inspiration behind Lotty's new design. Originated on Mustique and based on the green turtles that come to the island ...
January 17, 2023
Well, we saw off Blue Monday! Blue Monday, you ask? According to press reports the most unhappy Monday of the year fell yesterday, Monday 16th January .... we hope to cheer you up with some of our beautiful blues...
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Target has re-opened its looted Minneapolis store that was completely ransacked during the George Floyd riots over 5 months ago with the goal of catering more to black shoppers and being less “racist.”
According to a Bloomberg report, there is now a new “mural” at the entrance of the store and it has been completely remodeled by a contracting company owned by a Somali-American woman in order to make it more welcoming for black people.
The store will also stock more products made by black-owned brands.
In August, Target’s new “racial justice committee” outlined the goal of responding to its stores being looted (predominantly by black criminals), by tackling its reputation of appealing primarily to white shoppers.- READ MORE
Listen to the insightful Thomas Paine Podcast Below --


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PoP Bappas muscle away the clay idols
By Ali Shaikh
After two years of muted celebrations due to COVID-19, Pune is gearing up to welcome Bappa with gusto and fervour. The only dampener is that inflation has hit idol making and artisans as well as citizens are complaining about a sharp rise in prices. Enter plaster of Paris (PoP) idols that are flooding the market for being comparatively cheaper than the environment-friendly ones made of shadu clay. Environmentalists are worried since most people will opt for the former for economic reasons.
The GST imposed by the Centre on paints and material, such as artificial jewellery, and the relaxation on PoP idols by chief minister Eknath Shinde are being blamed for the predicament. Meanwhile,artisans told Mirror that the rates of Ganpati idols have increased in the city by up to 25 per cent.
Kiran Prakash Ingale, the owner of Prakash Arts, said the rates of idols have increased because of the increased rates of the material. “The 25-litre plastic paint, which cost Rs 4,500 a year ago, is now sold at Rs 5,500. The idol which we were selling for Rs 2,000 last year is at Rs 2,500 this year.”
Nirmala Shinde, owner of Shree Om Arts, said the labour charges have also increased, pushing up the cost of idols. “Labour charges and prices of all other things required to make idols have increased.
The colourful stones used to decorate idols have also become expensive. A stone that was sold at Rs 30 earlier is being sold at Rs 50 today. The same idol which we were selling at Rs 800 last year is now at Rs 1,000.”
Ganesh Lanjekar, the owner of Lanjekar Bandhu factory, said GST is the main culprit. “The GST on material required to make an idol has increased; around 18 per cent GST is charged on items. As a result, the cost of making idols has also increased, making way for people to choose cheaper PoP idols.”
Despite a ban on the making of PoP idols, these are seen available everywhere in the markets, thanks to the authorities going easy on implementing it.
Abhijeet Dhondhphale, another idol maker from Rasta Peth, who organises workshops on eco-friendly idols and was mentioned by the PM during a Mann ki Baat programme, expressed concern over PoP idols being sold freely.
“The demand for PoP idols has not increased because the government has provided them with the option. The process of making PoP idols is faster. An idol of shadu clay takes five days, while the same idol made of PoP gets ready in two days,” he added.
Ganesh Lanjekar, whose family has been in the idol-making business for the last 60 years, said the government should introduce rules for idols at least a year before the festival.
“Due to the last-minute decision to relax action against PoP idols, artisans started opting for it over idols made of shadu clay. The previous government had taken the POP idols issue seriously after it had banned it earlier this year, one of the factories was even sealed. However, the new government suddenly changed the decision,” he said.
Yashwant Mane, deputy commissioner, department of environment, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), told Mirror, “The ban on use of PoP idols is already there, but it is not being implemented strictly. We are focusing more on awareness this year. I will instruct the divisional offices to increase awareness if POP idols are available in the market.”
The officer said that the decision to not go harsh was taken at a recent meeting of state officials with the CM. “He told the administration to focus more on awareness campaigns than clamping down on PoP idol makers,” added Mane.
Speaking to Mirror, environmentalists expressed concern. “The administration is taking efforts to save the environment. We cannot challenge the political decision, we must make people aware of the issue and they should be told about the alternatives available in the market,” said Shailaja Deshpande.
Vaishali Patkar, another green crusader, said, “No one follows rules in India. There is a lack of awareness among people... even shadu clay is not environmentally friendly. People’s mentality should change. A strict implementation of rules is important. The rule says we should have one Ganpati for one village or area, but we see Ganpati idols in every house.”
Suraj Mhaske, a citizen, said, “Inflation has already hit us hard and we have suffered for the last two years due to the pandemic. While celebrating the festivals now, we are forced to pay more, which is very unfortunate.”
Nikhil Patidar, another local, said, “The government keeps appealing to us to install eco-friendly idols, but these idols are costly due to inflation. We have no option other than going for PoP idols.
The PoP idols were strictly banned during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime. Earlier this year, the MVA government had even sealed a factory in Akluj in Solapur district. Raids were conducted on factories in Akola and Yavatmal districts and banned material seized. Are politicians trying to win brownie points at the cost of the environment?


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2007 Buell Super TT motorcycle: Happy times for hooligans
David Booth, CanWest News ServicePublished: Friday, June 08, 2007
It all works much better when the road gets twisty. In fact, the twistier the better. In high-speed sweepers -- i.e., the kind of corners where Ducatis excel -- the Super TT remains a little twitchy. It's one of the few modern bikes I wish had a steering damper.
The Lightning offers all the handling of the Super TT with a better ride, lower seat and even passenger accommodations.
That's not to say the $12,379 Super TT won't find its niche. And I have a funny feeling said niche will include bright green paint and a household paint roller applied by someone sporting a pierced eyebrow.


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Microsoft’s Surface lineup has become an enormous success over the last couple of years. Though, users have been complaining about power usage issues in the wake of recent firmware updates. The company is finally trying to placate the users with a fix that will apparently solve these problems.
Last month marked the most number of complaints regarding this issue in particular for both the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4. There were some cases where users reported that their systems would appear to be in sleep mode, but would continue to use up its battery life and have no charge the next time it was needed.
Also read: Microsoft to recall faulty Surface Pro power cables
In a blog post that was published yesterday, Microsoft’s Panos Panay announced that new updates developed in response to user feedback were being distributed. While there’s no explicit mention of a fix, Panay does suggest that the updates will help users “get the most of the power management options that Surface is designed to offer.”.
The response to this update was mostly positive on online forums like Reddit. The fixes that the users have been raving about include the power issue along with an audio fix and the fix to the issue that involves users facing a blank screen when they came out of the sleep mode.
Panay speaks at length about his desire to build devices that people love in the above-referenced blog post, and further stresses the paramount importance of user feedback. You may say that this is a good consumer discourse, but as the people are being so positive about this fix, there is definitely some credence that is added to the words.
The Surface line had launched as an uncertain proposition for Microsoft and now it has changed to its most successful ventures. This fix, if it turns to be that effective, does make the future prospect of this lineup brighter.


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Xbox has detailed new peripherals it will be releasing alongside Series S and X consoles in November.
In addition to the already revealed ‘Carbon Black’ and ‘Robot White’ controllers, it will also release a ‘Shock Blue’ variant, it announced on Monday. The controllers will be available for the same price point as the current-gen versions ($60).
In addition, Microsoft will update its PC controller bundles to include the new Xbox Wireless Controller in Carbon Black, which will be available with a wireless adaptor or USB-C cable. These controllers can also connect to PC via Bluetooth.
Microsoft has refreshed its rechargeable battery solution and is introducing the Xbox Rechargeable Battery + USB-C Cable, which it says will fully charge a controller in under 4 hours before or during play.
Finally, the company announced that beginning October 14, its Xbox Design Lab controller design service will be going offline temporarily “so that we can bring you some updates,” returning in 2021.
The new peripherals will be available beginning November 10 and available to pre-order alongside the Xbox Series X and S console on Tuesday, September 22.
Xbox Series X is being positioned as the most powerful of the next-generation consoles, with Series S offering many of the same features including an SSD and ray-tracing.


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Just a few minutes ago, Microsoft officially confirmed two new Assassin’s Creed: Unity Xbox One bundle. The first bundle includes a copy of Assassin’s Creed: Unity, Standard Black Xbox One and a copy of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, it carries a price tag of $399.99.
The second bundle carries a price tag of $499.99 and includes: copy of Assassin’s Creed: Unity, Standard Black Xbox One, Kinect and copy of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag.
Both bundles will launch on November 4 in UK and on November 2 in United States, yes the dates are ahead of game’s official release date which is November 13. Hold on, in no way this means Microsoft will provide early access to copies of the game, instead players will be able to digitally pre-load the title.
“This holiday we’re focused on offering fans the best games, with unprecedented choice and value,” Microsoft’s corporate vice president Yusuf Mehdi added.
“We’ve lined up an incredible set of bundles to support the launch of some of the most anticipated game launches of the year, including Assassin’s Creed Unity, Sunset Overdrive, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Combined with our award-winning games line-up this holiday, it’s an incredible time to play on Xbox One. Over the next two months, we look forward to celebrating with fans every week as we launch new games, new bundles, and a few surprises for Xbox One.”
You can pre-order both the bundles from AMAZON NOW from following links. Check out the trailer below detailing both the bundles.


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TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Israeli stocks fell sharply and broadly on Wednesday, with supermarket chain Shufersal sliding after its third-quarter earnings report and only Oil Refineries Ltd. and two other stocks drawing substantial buying interest among the blue chips.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's benchmark TA-25 Index closed lower by 1.74% at 1031.89, while the TA-100 Index (1884407) lost 1.99% to 964.97.
The Tel-Tech 15 Index of top technology issues slumped 2.77% to 226.55.
And the Real Estate 15 Index shed 3.09% to 300.71.
The supermarket chain reported that third-quarter net income rose 6.8% to 63 million shekels ($16.9 million) from 59 million shekels in the year-earlier quarter. Sales were about flat at 2.88 billion shekels. Operating profit was 126 million shekels, an operating-profit margin of 4.4%.
The investment bank Excellence Nessuah said the net income was 7 million shekels better-than-expected "due to the higher-than-expected gross profitability and lower-than-expected financial costs."
Pricing pressure prompted a 1.6% decline in comparable-store sales, the brokerage reported.
"Overall the market looked for continued resilience, and that's what the company delivered," Excellence said.
Leader Capital Markets had pegged Shufersal's net at 76 million shekels, attributing the difference to additional financial expenses, "which are difficult to forecast."
"Although the recession continues to negatively affect the sector," Shufersal "continues to prove its ability to ... deal with the market slowdown," the investment bank said in a note.
Rival supermarket chain Blue Square-Israel
Two companies that put many products on the shelves of the supermarkets -- the foods makers Osem
The oil companies were two of the three blue-chip gainers: Oil Refineries Ltd. up 3.6% and Paz up 0.4%.
Oil Refineries, the most-active issue on the TASE, announced a deal under which it would swap a 17.5% stake in itself for the 50% interest in Carmel Olefins that it doesn't already own. Its 50-50 partner in Carmel is Israel Petrochemical Enterprises. Petrochemical shares added 3.5%.
Bezeq shares edged down 0.6%. The company was reiterated neutral at Credit Suisse, which said that the announcement of the transfer of control the company shouldn't much a fact the stock price. The investment bank's emerging-market analysts affirmed their opinion of Bezeq as "one of the best managed integrated [telecoms] in Europe," a factor that's already priced into the stock.
"Bezeq trades at a slight premium to the sector" on a price-to-earnings basis, "deservedly in our view, given its dividend yield of around 8%" or 15% with an expected special dividend, the analysts said. They "see limited scope for further rerating from current levels."
Elsewhere in telecoms, Cellcom
Israel's Communications Ministry approved a plan under which Hutchison Telecom HTX will transfer a controlling 51.3% holding in Partner to Israel's Scailex Corp.
Scailex, which imports Samsung mobile phones into Israel, will sell small stakes in Partner to a number of other companies, reducing its potential holding to about 44%, Reuters reported.
shares slumped 4.1%. Other prominent decliners among the property companies, Alony Hetz, off 4.6%, Elbit Imaging,
Holding company Delek Group DGRLY dropped 3.4%.
Investment and insurance firm Harel declined 3.7%.
And Ormat Industries, parent of Ormat Technologies,
Within tech, the sharp losers were VeriFone,


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Apple tested the new iPhone charging port to replace the lightning port with USB-C. However, it is unlikely to see this feature in 2022’s iPhone lineup.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, the adapter may allow future iPhones to work with the USB-C. The Lightning-to-USB-C adapter will work for flash drives and credit card scanners plugged into existing iPhones. Bloomberg has reached out to Apple for confirmation and is waiting for a response. This change will occur at its earliest in the second half of 2023
The switch was not a surprise and was the subject of many jokes, but it would be immense. The company’s motivations for this change may not be entirely altruistic. iPad Air, iPad Mini, and iPad Pro are already using USB-C. And the EU revealed a recommendation in September requiring smartphones and other devices to incorporate USB-C ports. For years, the EU has been pushing for a universal phone charging standard and publicized a proposal in September requiring the majority of smartphones and devices to use USB-C.
The widely available standard port is bigger than the lightning one. This change could make it easier for those who already use USB-C to charge their devices, which could also mean less e-waste.
Since the lightning port was introduced with iPhone 5 in 2012, there have been rumors that Apple is developing a portless iPhone, but it will not be available anytime soon.
Written by Janet Grace Ortigas
Edited by Sheena Robertson
Engadget: Apple is reportedly testing USB-C iPhones; by David Imel
The Print: Apple reportedly testing iPhones with USB-C instead of lightning port
The Verge: Apple is reportedly testing iPhones with USB-C; Jay Peters


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Amitive, which calls itself the "pioneer of Community Supply Chain Management," has launched Amitive Unity, a suite purpose-built for both large and mid-sized brand-centric companies who outsource manufacturing. Amitive Unity is suited to a new class of companies whose core competency involves brand management and product design, and who focus on supply chain excellence as a competitive advantage.
Amitive Unity enables "brand owners," who outsource production to third-party contract manufacturers, to drive a continuous synchronization of demand and supply capabilities across all partners. It optimizes community-centric variables, including lead times, shared capacity and quantities. Amitive Unity enables the new generation of brand owners to stay ahead of shifting market demands and focus on market-driven requirements, such as faster product velocity across a global supply chain community. Compared to traditional manufacturing-centric SCM solutions, whose primary function is asset utilization, Amitive Unity delivers visibility into business processes and event synchronization across its distributed community of partners. Delivered as a software-as-a-service solution, Amitive Unity ensures simple implementation, use and maintenance by all community members.
"A new breed of supply chain professionals is working in lockstep with brand and product management, while also driving product velocity, market responsiveness and cost effectiveness across its outsourced partners. But software vendors have failed to keep pace with rapidly advancing business practices, so few companies have been able to reap the full benefits of today's outsourced manufacturing model," says Amar Singh, chief executive officer of Amitive. "Instead of trying to twist existing SCM software to meet this growing challenge, Amitive built a completely new solution that is easy to integrate with existing technology infrastructures."
Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.


text: AOL has put its weight behind the campaign to remove per-minute telephone charges for Internet access calls in the UK.AOL's VP of Europe, Claire Gilbert, said "In our view the way forward to Internet and ecommerce growth in the UK is to change the telephone structure.", and European CEO Andreas Schmidt warned that the current system is holding back the growth of ecommerce. AOL are also supporting the Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications that has been lobbying for the unmetered tariffs since summer 1998, attending a meeting with CUT and the government minister responsible for ecommerce, Patricia Hewitt, yesterday. AOL is confident that Hewitt will act on the issue. "We have been very pleased with Patricia Hewitt's comments, both publicly and privately. She is demanding innovative pricing for Internet access and seems to very much focus on consumer choice." "We are hoping it will continue to apply pressure on BT to actually act to make this a reality for consumers now, rather than sometime in the future."


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Acouple of months back, some smart folks came together in San Francisco to provide creative technology and marketing strategies for DonorsChoose.org in a first of its kind “social hackathon.” DonorsChoose raises funds for public classrooms. Several of my friends were there — Beth Kanter, Chris Brogan, Chris Messina, Ben Parr, Kathy Sierra — as well as representatives from Bing, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, REI, Twitter and WebTrends.
Out of this gathering, put on by marketing agency Deep Focus, came a free ebook, Goodness Engine: Driving Greater Social Impact in the Digital World, which aims to help nonprofits — and, yes, businesses — learn about how to use social media for social good, including topics ranging from driving online traffic to creating dynamic content and managing online engagement.
From the introduction of the 54-page ebook:
“We are now more connected than ever before. Power in numbers — especially online — has become our everyday reality. Rallying, organizing and motivating are no longer hurdles, but life-changing opportunities. Passions become movements. Movements make impacts. Impacts re-shape our world. In the spirit of connecting for good, Microsoft’s Bing and Hotmail teams brought together luminaries within the tech industry to help DonorsChoose.org address its ongoing technology and marketing challenges. Deep Focus attended the event and distilled the best ideas, tactics and creative solutions into an in-depth analysis that can serve both nonprofit and for-profit companies with corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.”
Also check out Microsoft’s Citizenship efforts: Microsoft.com/Citizenship website; @msftcitizenship on Twitter and Facebook.com/MicrosoftCitizenship on Facebook.
- Bing post on the Goodness Engine.
- Interview with DonorsChoose founder Charles Best (Socialbrite)
JD Lasica, founder and former editor of Socialbrite, is co-founder of Cruiseable. Contact JD or follow him on Twitter or Google Plus.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.
Text Marketing is the future of B2B marketing. 95% of Texts get read.
Social media can’t compete with 5 Billion cell phones


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(AP) — Oprah Winfrey has chosen a pair of Charles Dickens classics, "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Great Expectations," as the latest selections for her popular book club.
Winfrey said on Monday's episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" she has never read Dickens before. She said "it's the best of times, readers" and called the books timeless classics.
The two novels are being issued in a single bound Penguin paperback edition, around 800 pages, with a list price of $20. The electronic version, also from Penguin, sells for $7.99. They also can be downloaded free through the newly launched Google bookstore.
According to Harpo Productions, Oprah's Book Club has nearly 2 million online members. Her previous selection was Jonathan Franzen's bestselling novel "Freedom."