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After buying the firm back, Bullitt’s founders have set their sights on a honed and focused approach, says CSO Nathan Vautier
The Reading offices of Bullitt are fairly quiet when I go to visit – but rather than a sign of a business in the doldrums, it is in fact an indicator of increased drive and purpose.
Instead of reflecting the tumult that saw around 50 of 200 employees at the Land Rover and Cat phone licensee depart earlier this year, the fact that many staff are out and about is a display of the company’s bullish ambitions to get back to strength since the return to ownership of founders Colin Batt, Dave Floyd and Richard Wharton.
Normally, they would be sat at the table outside the meeting room I’m in with chief sales officer for Europe and APAC Nathan Vautier and head of marketing Lisa Meakin, but they’re currently meeting with Vautier’s US counterpart across the pond.
Members of the product team are also away – this time in Eastern Europe – ahead of the launch of a new device under the Cat licence that Bullitt claims is a market first for rugged slimness (but more on that later). Vautier himself was in Germany at a Deutsche Telekom event the day before we meet.
Bullitt’s 10th year in business has been one of flux, with Batt, Floyd and Wharton buying the company back from private equity firm Exponent in March this year, just 18 months after they sold it a 63 per cent stake for around £100 million.
That period saw Bullitt’s sales slump from £156 million in 2017 to £118 million last year, and profits from £39 million to £17 million, prompting the founding trio to buy it back for an undisclosed amount.
Vautier cites “hyperaggression” from the top players alongside an unsteady market as reasons for the decline; other news sources pointed to an underwhelming performance from the Land Rover Explore phone launched last year.
In August, Batt told The Daily Telegraph that Bullitt was back on course for revenue growth this year and seeking good profitability by mid-2020, despite the redundancies. This aim has also been bolstered by backing from investment company BGF, founded by several of the UK’s largest banks in the wake of the 2008 financial crash.
“It’s really been a focus on getting the business back to what Bullitt has always been about, which is what we’ve done for the past 10 years: providing rugged devices that are extremely relevant for a group of consumers and businesses,” says Vautier.
Meakin adds: “We can’t put words into [the founders’] mouths, but this is their baby, they love this company, and they know they can make a difference and how to grow it. Such optimism appears well-founded amid the backdrop of a growing rugged device market. Global sales of smartphones in this segment are projected to double from 29 million this year to 57.5 million in 2022, according to CCS Insight (see graph).
Part of Bullitt’s renewed focus includes its sole attention on the Land Rover and Cat mobile brands, having previously designed audio accessories for Ted Baker and Ministry of Sound, and phones for JCB and Kodak.
Bullitt claims several industry firsts, including the first 4G rugged phone (the Cat S50) and the first smartphone with an integrated thermal imaging camera (the Cat S60); it’s now claiming another with its Cat S52, the first in a new series line that is touted as the world’s thinnest fully rugged phone, at 9.69mm.
The device has a smooth design that eschews the chunky frames of most rugged phones, but still comes with IP68 water and dust resistance, and is MILSTD- 810G military-graded for temperature and vibrations.
The phone, which went on sale online on November 12 in the UK ahead of a wider European rollout, targets a segment of the market that Bullitt top brass terms ‘prosumers’. This refers to people who lead active lives and may encounter pitfalls such as dropping their phone on tarmac or their children dropping it in food, or who do a lot of outdoor activities.
“One in three people in Europe has broken their phone to the point it needs repairs in the past three years, according to CCS,” says Meakin. “It’s unacceptable that you go out and see so many people using broken phones that aren’t fit for purpose. If you’re on a construction site, you’d expect to carry a more rugged phone because you’d expect the duress, but if you drop your phone getting your keys or your kid drops it, that’s a day-to-day situation. That’s where this phone starts to bridge the gap.”
“We want people to feel proud to put this on the bar,” adds Vautier. He won’t go into sales targets, only mentioning “very positive feedback” from channel partners, but the device occupies its own niche and shows there’s still room to manoeuvre in the crowded mobile market.
The S52 epitomises Bullitt’s fresh commitment to targeting the consumer space, after Exponent pursued a B2B-focused strategy. This isn’t to say that the company is neglecting its business customers, though, having shored up its distribution this year through deals with Westcoast and Eurostar. “Westcoast and Eurostar serve a plethora of B2B resellers,” says Vautier, a segment in which he says rugged devices are “more entrenched and understood”.
There firm is nevertheless taking a measured process to the consumer rollout of the S52: although the device has been available since November 12 from MPD, A1 Comms and Clove, it will also launch through Bullitt’s independent retailer network “just before Christmas”, but Meakin says there needs to be some organic customer uptake before Bullitt decides how and who to target.
“We need to let the phone bed in digitally and then analyse those statistics and work out who’s buying. We can anticipate this from what we know, but until we have a bit of audience data from our digital activity, then it makes sense to wait before we work out which trade shows and magazines we go to,” says Meakin. “Just because you’re a plumber, you don’t necessarily think of yourself as one. You go out on a Friday night: do you want to buy something you see in a plumbing magazine or something you see in T3?”
Offering these types of specialised devices requires a keen understanding of the market. This is something that Vautier – whose 20 plus-years in telecoms has seen him at Ericsson, Sony, EE and Brightstar – has in spades, describing the specifics of different European markets where Bullitt has a strong footing.
Some countries are more amenable to a rugged offering than others, he explains: “The ‘prosumer’ segment will differ in size by market. If you look at the Nordics, there’s a huge number of people who will be outdoors across the year in a range of temperatures, from sailing in the summer to skiing in the winter.”
You also have to take into account the different ways consumers and operators behave from country to country, says Vautier: “We’re very successful in Switzerland, where there are no airtime contracts tied to the device. You could pay for your phone with Swisscom but have airtime with Sunrise, or vice versa.” Reception to different brands also varies between markets. Cat phones, for instance, perform well in Caterpillar’s home market of the US.
Vautier says, meanwhile, that it’s a good time to be associated with Land Rover, as the car manufacturer gets set to launch a new Defender 4×4 next year.
Branding itself is a challenge to which Bullitt needs to constantly rise, with the company’s association with the Cat and Land Rover names both a blessing and a curse because of pressure to make devices that live up to the names.
“There’s a lot of communication [with the companies]; we work with them on the design and on the market segments we’re going after,” says Vautier.
Meakin adds: “With Land Rover, we’re very hand-in-hand from a design point of view, taking design cues from the cars because that’s a fundamental thing they want. From the Cat point of view, it’s more about the rugged sensibility. The companies want different things from us, so communication is key all the way through design to marketing.”
Shooting for the future
The S52’s unique design is evidence of Bullitt’s eagerness to put the speed bump of recent times behind it and look to the future, with the promise of a refreshed device portfolio to come.
Naturally, any conversation with a significant mobile player these days turns to 5G. Vautier can’t say much about Bullitt’s ambitions for the technology at present, but he’s certainly excited about its potential. “Frankly, 5G will be a bigger generational difference than we’ve ever had before,” he says. “2G to 3G and 3G to 4G has really been more of the same. Sure, there’s been the introduction of data, but if we think about 5G, there’s a whole new paradigm as to where the industry will move, as well as its role for many other sectors.”
Given the anticipated influx of business use cases for 5G, Bullitt looks well-placed to capitalise with its industry-friendly devices. “There’s so much ongoing change [in mobile] compared to other industries, where the product set can be very stable,” says Vautier. “Think about all the change we’ve been through and the people who have come and gone, the change between retail and online, changes in people’s behaviour – it’s a very exciting space to be.”


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So, here we are on our second week of 2013 and already a rumour has been launched by an employee from Blizzard Entertainment according to Michael at Phoronix.com.
The rumour is the come summer, Blizzard will be announcing one of their game titles as being available for the Linux operating system. Should anyone believe this, well I for one will not be getting my hopes up since I have seen how Linux users has been treated in the past by Blizzard.
In the past, Linux players have been both banned and their Linux client requests deleted or locked in the Blizzard forums. That being said, many Linux gamers do seem to be getting all hyped up about this rumour to the point of actually speculating what game Blizzard would release first.
If Blizzard was run by smart people, my money would be on World of Warcraft being released first. The reason why that make perfect sense is because, Blizzard suppose to have already a working Linux client used in house so naturally if that is indeed true, there isn’t much work to be done. Another reason is the fact that World of Warcraft is a subscription based game. Anyone, including myself, who stopped playing the game due to lack of Linux support would be back paying the monthly subscription fee which of course equals more monthly revenue for Blizzard.

domain: news


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The National Consumer Commission has warned the public about the consumption of Liqui Fruit Red Grape still juice which comes in 330ml cans…
In a media statement released this past weekend, the consumer watchdog confirmed that it had been informed by Pioneer Foods “of its intention to recall a batch” of the popular fruit beverage.
Acting Consumer Commissioner Thezi Mabuza said: “The information we have is that there are glass particles found in the product and this poses a health risk to consumers if consumed.”
The batch in question has date codings BB 01.04.2021 and BB 02.04.2021. The affected items have a 27327 product code.
Mabuza urged anyone who has “bought this product to stop consuming it immediately and return it back to the retailer of purchase for a full refund.”
For safety reasons, the public has been asked not to dispose of the product but rather to return to the seller for proper disposal.
Pioneer Foods is still pursuing an internal investigation to determine the extent of the problem and will in due course inform the consumer commission of its findings. The company reiterated that “small shards of glass” were found “in a single batch.”
“The NCC will upon receipt of the official notice monitor the recall of this product,” explained Mabuza.
A statement on the Pioneer Foods website advises people who are unable to return the product to the store where it was was purchsed, to contact reach out to the producer’s helpline by calling 0800 212 360 or emailing firstname.lastname@example.org.
Pioneer Foods said: “All other Liqui Fruit product codes are unaffected and do not need to be returned.”


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UPDATE (6:00 p.m., February 4) – Matthew McConaughey’s spokesperson says that he sold his interest in the ranch in 2011, in spite of the fact that LP Ranch’s website described him as a “co-owner” and “staff” member as of February 4th, 2015. His photo was removed from the website on the day the news broke in the mainstream media. Stories about the controversy have been published in The Daily News, TMZ, The Daily Mail and many other media outlets.
Actor Matthew McConaughey, a former spokesman for the “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner” ad campaign, co-owns a ranch that sells canned hunts. According to his company’s website, “We at LP Ranch pride ourselves with our whitetail deer hunts.”
McConaughey purchased the LP Ranch in 2001. Six years later, the ranch “decided it was time to expand” by selling canned hunts. For visitors spending the night, the ranch offers “Old West” accommodations with a “modern touch” so that “after the hunt, our guests can feel assured to eat some great meals and relax in all out comfort” (unlike the animals who they killed for fun that day).
LP Ranch also sells horses who are “ready for any ranching task that may be asked of them” and cattle who they “treat in a way that will allow them to be ready for any conditions.” According to his nephew Madison who is LP’s “Cattle Manager,” McConaughey is a “big beef man” who “feels it’s important to raise Angus cattle and support the beef industry.” In fact, McConaughey was a beef industry spokesman in 2010:
Canned hunts are among the cruelest forms of hunting. Not only is the other “team” unarmed and unaware that they are being targeted, but they are also confined to a fenced in area with no possible way to escape. In 2011, HSUS conducted an undercover investigation of canned hunting operations to educate the public about this outrageous “sport.”
Filed under: Entertainment, Food
Tagged with: beef, canned hunt, cows, HSUS, hunting, Matthew McConaughey


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Las Cruces-Dona Ana County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information that helps identify a man who tried using a stolen bank card at a convenience store on Sept. 11.
Las Cruces police learned that a vehicle parked near the batting cages at Hadley Park, on the evening of Sept. 11, was burglarized. One of the items taken was a bank card that was used a short time later at the Circle K store on El Paseo Road. The card was denied and the man who tried using it left the store’s parking lot in a dark color minivan.
Investigators obtained a surveillance photo of the suspect and are hopeful someone in the community will be able to identify him.
Anyone with information that can help identify the suspect is asked to call Las Cruces-Dona Ana County Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. Tips can also be provided through the Las Cruces Crime Stoppers app, “P3 TIPS.” The app is available through the App Store on most devices. Those who provide tips through Crime Stoppers do not have to leave their own name and will remain completely anonymous.


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The very recently unveiled HTC Wildfire now has a release date for those of you over in the UK who want to get your hands on this entry level Android phone. T-Mobile UK just announced, via Twitter, that they will offer the HTC Wildfire starting June 14th, 2010.
Even though this particular phone is considered an entry level device, it does comes sporting Android 2.1 with an updated Sense UI, which should make a lot of people happy.
Here is a screenshot of the announcement made by T-Mobile UK via twitter…
If you have not already read up on the specs for this entry level phone, here is a quick rundown of the most important ones:
- CPU – Qualcomm 528MHz
- 512MB Flash ROM
- 384MB RAM
- 3.2-inch QVGA Touch screen
- 5 megapixel camera with LED Flash
- Android 2.1 with Sense UI
- 4 available colors
The above specs further illustrate how entry level this phone is - while not the worst specs we've seen on an Android phone, they are certainly far from mind blowing.
So, folks across the pond, which one of you is picking this up on June 14th? Fess up.


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It seems that there is an ongoing big-bore war between big Chinese motorcycle manufacturers. First, Loncin broke the 1200cc barrier earlier this year with their police-only model, the CF1250J Police Special.
Then, Benelli responded with their 3-cylinder, 1209cc 1200GT available to any buyer. Loncin has just fought back with a civilian version of the CF1250J, the 1250TR-G, just launched at the 18th China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition in Chongquing.
This grand tourer boasts a massive 1279cc LC-8 engine developed through Loncin’s partnership with Austrian motorcycle manufacturer, KTM. Loncin manufactures some of KTM’s engines intended for small to middleweight motorcycles.
Just like Benelli’s 1200GT though, the 1250TR-G obviously draws a lot of inspiration from BMW’s R 1200 RT grand tourer bike. The 1250TR-G boasts of all-LED lighting, Brembo braking system, massive TFT panel screen, WP shock absorbers, smartphone connectivity, and a multimedia system that includes a JBL stereo system.
The CFMoto 1250TR-G will be available in showrooms starting 2021. The price has yet to be announced.


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The bankrupt maker of Twinkies, Devil Dogs and other snack cakes said it selected bids by rival bakery Flower Foods Inc. to buy six of its bread brands for $390 million. Flower Foods, based in Thomasville, Ga., is best known for Tastykakes but also makes breads including Nature’s Own and Cobblestone Mill.
Hostess is expected to announce buyers for its famed dessert cakes in coming weeks. The company has said a wide variety of parties have expressed interest in its brands, including national supermarket chains and the makers of brand name packaged foods.
Flower Foods was selected as the “stalking horse” bidder for the bread brands. That means higher competing bids can still be made and the final deal must be approved in bankruptcy court. The company made two separate bids for the Hostess breads; a $360 million bid for Wonder, Nature’s Pride, Butternut, Home Pride and Merita, along with 20 bakeries and 38 depots. Another $30 million bid was made for Beefsteak.
Taken together, Hostess said those breads generated just under $1 billion in sales last year, with Wonder bread accounting for about half of that. Flower Foods, which generates about $3 billion in annual sales, said it expects the deals to be accretive to its earning this year. The company plans to finance the deal through a mix of cash and debt.
Hostess Brands Inc., based in Irving, Texas, announced in November that it was shutting down its business and selling its breads and snack cakes.
The company’s demise came after years of management turmoil and turnover, with workers saying the company failed to invest its brands. Hostess filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in less than a decade this January, citing costs associated with its unionized workforce. It had about 18,500 employees when it announced that it was shutting down after it was unable to reach a deal on a new contract with striking workers.
Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn, who was hired last year to help orchestrate a turnaround, said in a statement that negotiations were continuing with parties for its snack cakes and remaining bread bands. The company has stressed in bankruptcy court that it would need to move quickly in the sales to capitalize on the outpouring of nostalgia prompted by its shuttering.


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Cornwall Brand has had a ‘Brand Ambassadors’ breakfast briefing at Trelissick Gardens on the topic of how to beat the downturn. It was delivered by Anthony Edwards, Director of Communications Planning & Integration, Euro RSCG London:
His career began as a media planner in a creative agency, and his subsequent experience over the past 15 years working within the Communications Planning industry has focussed on delivering creative media thinking and strategy for blue chip brands, such as News International, Nike, COI, ITV, Pepsi, Land Rover, Dulux & Nestle. Winning creative media awards for Land Rover, Pepsi & 3.
More recently helped develop the social media centric campaign for Dulux: The Let’s Colour Project’. The campaign scooped the inaugural TED Ideas Worth Spreading Award and over 20 other industry awards.
His current role focuses upon not only planning, but delivering organisational strategies and ideas to help Euro deliver the kind of integrated systems, processes and insights that the new digital environment demands. In the last 12 months he has launched and managed digital, social and search businesses for the group.
Anthony is a regular commentator on industry issues, and is a visiting lecturer in Marketing at the University of Southampton.


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Catastrophe is one word that best describes the impact of COVID-19 on Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector. As people in the western world – Europe and the USA – started isolating and retail stores downed shutters amidst countrywide lockdowns, manufacturers in Bangladesh were spending sleepless nights anticipating what awaited them in the days to come.
It did not take long for things to manifest and with devastating effects! Large-scale order cancellations amounting to more than US $ 3 billion rocked the industry, and in the list of cancelers were names, big and small alike, representing almost the entire spectrum of the global retail landscape. Even though some brands and retailers later decided to reinstate some cancelled orders, the damage had already been done by then.
Just to give an idea of the scale of devastation, amongst all the garment manufacturing hubs in the country, the garment exporters from the port city of Chittagong alone had suffered work order cancellations to the tune of Taka 100 billion from the global buyers. Even though there are no proper estimations as to losses suffered by the other individual manufacturing hubs, the business loss of Chittagong is sufficient to give an idea of the gravity of the overall situation.
As a result, at least 30 RMG factories have closed down in Chittagong, claimed media reports citing officials from the Chittagong branch of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), according to whom, there are a total of 689 garment factories in the port city of which 241 are big ones, which have somehow managed to keep the show going. But the same cannot be maintained for the other small and medium-sized players, which like many of their counterparts in other parts of the country, are struggling to keep afloat and could call it quits for good any time soon.
“The RMG sector is facing a severe crisis in these times of coronavirus pandemic. It is now very difficult for the factory owners to clear the wages of workers,” underlined MA Salam, First Vice President of BGMEA in Chittagong, adding, “Orders worth Taka 100 billion have already been cancelled for factories in Chittagong and there are no new orders from the European countries.”
That almost 60 per cent of apparels manufactured in Chittagong make their way to the USA and Europe (as per some reports) annually, but shipment of many of which remained suspended since the pandemic started in Europe, has complicated the matter further.
“We are going through tough times of business due to the coronavirus outbreak. Garment orders have been cancelled while no new orders are expected in the near future. How can we run our factories in this circumstance?” asked NasirUddin Chowdhury, former First Vice President, BGMEA, adding, “The RMG sector in Chittagong is facing a crisis of existence now. The crisis started in January and is continuing until now. When coronavirus broke out in China, the export of raw materials from there came to a halt. But when the situation became normal in China, the pandemic began in Europe and the USA. As a result, the business of RMG sector in Chittagong as well as all over the country took a severe blow.”
However, now that outlets of all major clothing retailers and brands in the EU and US are reopening, what is the status of work orders in other hubs of the country?
As per reports, buyers are now coming back with work orders and some factories are even running with almost 80 per cent of their capacities, with many amongst the big names reportedly doing decent business. However, majority of suppliers maintained that the volume of fresh work orders is less, as the buyers are either reclaiming goods already manufactured or are executing old work orders.
“Inflow of new work orders is low. We are catering to old work orders now. There will be a nearly 30 per cent gap in receiving work orders this year compared to last year,” KM Rezaul Hasanat, Chairman and CEO, Viyellatex Group, told the media, while Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, Managing Director, Rising Group, maintained his company is executing 85 per cent of knitwear orders, as there are adequate orders but as far as woven items are concerned, only 60 per cent of the total capacity could be used, as he needed to import fabrics from overseas, especially China.
“Up till August, the current inflow of work order is there, but September onwards, the volume of confirmed work orders is reducing. I am negotiating with my buyers for new work orders,” MA Jabbar, Managing Director, DBL Group, explained the status of the work orders, adding, “The inflow of work orders is not steady now. I can achieve nearly 80 per cent of my annual target of export at the end of this year.”
Meanwhile, Bakhtiar U Ahmed, COO, Fakir Apparels, said his buyers were now reclaiming old orders. “The volume of new orders is relatively low now,” he said, adding that buyers have stated they would not cancel any work orders but would take some time to take goods that have already been manufactured.
Lately though, apparel export from Bangladesh is showing signs of improvement, for sure. According to reports, readymade garment exports in the first 18 days of July stood at US $ 1.57 billion and this is largely due to global buyers reinstating work orders in a big way, claimed industry people, who underlined that although the export earnings were still lower than the amount earned in the same period of last year, the shipment of RMG products worth US $ 1.57 billion in the 18 days was a positive sign for the country, as the RMG sector had lost earnings worth US $ 4.33 billion in the March-June period of this year due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
According to the provisional data prepared by the BGMEA compiling statistics from the National Board of Revenue, the RMG exports in the first 18 days of July this year declined by 11.74 per cent to US $ 1.57 billion from US $ 1.78 billion in the same period of last year. “The export trend in July is encouraging, as exporters are feeling pressure for additional shipments this month due to the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha vacation but it might take a slow pace in August,” maintained Ahsan H Mansur, Executive Director, Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, adding, “We should be happy if we could run our RMG factories with 70-80 per cent capacity up to September.”
Meanwhile, speaking on the issue, BGMEA President Dr. Rubana Huq said, “The deceleration in export decline is certainly a positive sign of hope for the industry. However, this may not necessarily indicate new order placements by the buyers, but reinstatement of the cancellations happened immediately after the outbreak of COVID-19.”
She said that this might be noted that the industry had lost US $ 4.33 billion worth of exports during March-June, and the growth was still below the positive trend, while adding that new orders were also being placed, but it was not enough for most factories to run with full capacity.
“Order placement is up to 60 per cent compared to last year and a total recovery will take up to the middle of next year,” Rubana added, while Mohammad Hatem, First Vice President, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), on his part maintained that the global buyers had started reinstating their cancelled or on-hold orders, as the severity of the pandemic decreased in the European Union and some other export destinations.
He said that the global buyers revived 70-80 per cent of orders which were cancelled or put on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“We are happy as buyers started reviving most of their cancelled orders, and now, we are running our factories with 70-80 per cent capacity,” underlined Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, adding it is a positive sign that shipments in the 18 days of July stood at US $ 1.57 billion.
Worries nevertheless still remain for both Europe and the USA! Even as manufacturers are gearing to scale up production, there seems no respite from coronavirus cases in the USA with the country reporting significantly higher number of fresh cases at the time of filing of the report, bringing back apprehensions that the Government could impose some restrictions, which if at all, will not augur well for businesses while the economic outlook for Europe seems to be another concern area, especially in the long run.
As per recent reports, Euro zone is all set for deeper recession and weaker rebound with the economy dropping deeper into recession this year and rebound less steeply in 2021 than previously thought, as per European Commission’s forecast. Further, France, Italy and Spain are struggling the most due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission noted.
The downbeat assessment of Europe’s economy comes amidst the concern that the US recovery may also be faltering as a surge of new coronavirus infections prompts states to delay, and in some cases, reverse plans to let stores reopen and activities resume.The EU executive said the 19-nation single currency area would contract by a record 8.7 per cent this year before growing by 6.1 per cent in 2021. In early May, the Commission had forecast a 2020 downturn of 7.7 per cent and a 2021 rebound of 6.3 per cent.
The Commission said it had revised its forecasts because the lifting of COVID-19 lockdown measures in euro zone countries was proceeding less swiftly than it had initially predicted.The EU executive significantly cut its earlier forecasts for France, Italy and Spain, all hit hard by the pandemic, and now expects downturns in excess of 10 per cent this year in each. In Germany, the euro zone’s largest economy, where widespread testing has helped limit fatalities, the Commission moderated its estimates both of 2020’s downturn to a fall of 6.3 per cent from an earlier prediction of a 6.5 per cent drop forecast in May – and next year’s rebound.
The Economics Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni told a news conference that to reduce risks of a second recession, EU fiscal rules could remain frozen even after growth returns next year.The Commission also said its inflation forecasts were little changed, at 0.3 per cent this year and 1.1 per cent in 2021. The new growth figures indicate an economic recovery gathering momentum in June, although it is based on a number of “critical” assumptions, with “exceptionally high risks”. The forecasts assume no second wave of infections triggering renewed restrictions, although social distancing measures would persist, while monetary and fiscal policy measures are expected to support the recovery.
The main risks include a potential wave of new infections, more permanent scars from the crisis including unemployment and corporate insolvencies, and the absence of a future relationship deal between the EU and post-Brexit Britain. “At the global level, the still rising rate of infections, particularly in the US and emerging markets, has deteriorated the global outlook and is expected to act as a drag on the European economy,” the report said.
So, even if the inflow of new work orders is slowly picking up and exporters hoping that the situation would improve further by the end of this year, any second wave of the pandemic could very well sound the death knell for many, fear industry insiders. Garment manufacturers fear retail sales in the EU and US will slow down again if a fresh wave of infection spreads at those major export destinations and a slump in sales in the western world for any reason will have an effect on the inflow of work orders for Bangladesh.
“I think we have to wait until after coronavirus crisis eases in Europe and the USA for new orders. But how many factories can survive until then?” MA Salam asks a critical question, indicating things still remain very much fluid and could very well turn for the worse in case there is any second wave of the pandemic.


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The welfare of workers employed by Apple's partners is continuing to improve, according to the iPhone producer's latest annual Supplier Responsibility Report, with the firms audited also found to be following its lead in becoming more environmentally friendly with their production processes.
In the eleventh installment of the report, Apple audited a total of 705 suppliers, up from 640 audits conducted in 2015, and the 633 audits in 2014. The number of suppliers complying with Apple's 60-hour workweek has reached 98 percent, up from the 97 percent recorded in 2015, and an all-time high for Apple since it started publishing the report.
Workers' Rights Training, a program that has educated workers on local laws, health and safety regulations, and the Apple Code of Conduct, continues to operate, with more than 2.4 million participants taking part in the scheme in 2016. While this is still a significant number, this marks a reduction down towards 2014's participation level of 2.3 million, down from 3.05 million reported for 2015.
The Supplier Employee Education and Development (SEED) program, which provides free courses in computer skills, graphic design, and other subjects, is continuing to see high enrollment numbers, with over 2 million participants in the program since it commenced in 2008. For 2015, this figure reached 1.4 million.
Apple's Energy Efficiency program now has three times as many participating suppliers as it did last year, helping reduce carbon emissions by over 150,000 metric tons. This is said by Apple to be the equivalent environmental impact as taking 31,000 cars off the road for a year.
Over 200,000 metric tons of waste were diverted from landfills in 2016, with Apple suppliers achieving 100 percent UL Zero Waste to Landfill validation for all final assembly sites in China for the first time. Apple's Clean Water program has cumulatively saved over 3.8 billion gallons of water since 2013, which is enough to provide the entire world's population with 18 glasses of water.
As part of it's responsible sourcing efforts, Apple notes all of its smelters and refiners of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold are participating in independent third-party audits for the second year in a row. Apple is also working with NGOs to make a positive impact in areas surrounding some of its partner's operations, including programs to provide health and safety training, artisanal mining, and to help keep children in school.


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Constellation Brands Inc., Victor, N.Y., announced that it completed its acquisition of Grupo Modelo's U.S. beer business from Anheuser-Busch InBev, Leuven, Belgium, for approximately $4.75 billion. The transaction includes full ownership of Crown Imports LLC, which provides Constellation with complete, independent control of all aspects of the U.S. commercial business; a state-of-the-art brewery in Nava (Piedras Negras), Mexico; an exclusive perpetual brand license in the United States to import, market and sell Corona and the Modelo brands Crown currently sells; and the freedom to develop brand extensions and innovations for the U.S. market.
Strongbow, a brand of Heineken USA, White Plains, N.Y., launched its “Golden Hour” on-premise, retail and event activation for the summer. The cider brand will act as a catalyst for spur-of-the-moment experiences to excite consumers of legal drinking age and encourage them to create their own “Golden Hour” celebrations with Strongbow, it says.
What would the United States be like without beer? A study conducted by John Dunham & Associates, jointly commissioned by the Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association, shows that without the beer industry, the U.S. economy could be very different.
With a title like chairman of the party, Josh Deth of Revolution Brewing has a tall order to fill. The Chicago-based craft brewery went from operating solely as a brewpub to opening a brewery for its consumer packaged goods (CPG) business last spring, but the idea of Revolution Brewing began much earlier than that.
Depletions grew 16 percent versus comparable 13-week period last year
May 3, 2013
The Boston Beer Co. Inc., Boston, reported first quarter 2013 net revenue of $135.9 million, an increase of $22.7 million or 20 percent, compared with the same period last year, which it says is mainly due to core shipment growth of 18 percent.
Leuven, Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) reported that its total revenue grew 1.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013, with strong revenue per hectoliter growth of 5.8 percent due to the company’s revenue management initiatives and the premiumization of its brand portfolio in key markets. On a constant geographic basis, revenue per hectoliter grew by 6.9 percent, it reports.


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The latest security patch for Samsung’s Galaxy devices will begin rolling out as early as May 30, the company announced today. However, the earlier May 2022 security patch did resolve the well reported “Dirty Pipe” attack for many devices, so that’s something to keep in mind.
For Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel smartphones, this issue mostly affected remote access to vulnerable devices with full control. Samsung Galaxy S22 series phones were targeted by this vulnerability since they were running Android 12 and the kernel version 5.8 or higher at the time of their release.
One UI 4.1 is still not available for all Galaxy smartphones, though. Several functionalities and features that were first announced as Galaxy S22-exclusive upgrades are included in this mid-cycle build of Android 12. Some Samsung Galaxy phones may receive the June 2022 security update along with One UI 4.1 because the rollout has not yet been completed.
Table of Contents
In Europe, security updates for the Galaxy S21 will begin in June 2022.
Samsung S21 Will Get June Update security patch. The Galaxy Tab S7 series was the first to get the latest software. Galaxy S21 models in Europe are getting it, as well.
Firmware version G998BXXU5CVEB is the latest for the Galaxy S21, the Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra. As of right now, the update is only accessible in Germany, but the rest of Europe should get it soon. Within the following several weeks, it will be available in other regions, including Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Hundreds of security and privacy flaws are addressed in the June 2022 security patch. Bug fixes and enhancements to the device’s stability may also be part of the plan.
To get the most recent software for your Galaxy S21, go to Settings » Software update and tap on Download and install if you’re in Germany. Alternatively, you can access our firmware database and manually install the most recent version.
Devices that have received the Samsung Security Update for April 2022
Samsung Galaxy handsets with the June 2022 security update are currently limited, although this number is expected to grow over the next few days and weeks.
There will be a notation here about when and where the update was initially released, as well as whether or not it is available here in the United States. The most recent additions will be highlighted in bold, as always.
S series of the Galaxy
Among the most recognisable in technology, Samsung’s Galaxy S range is almost always at the forefront of its efforts in the smartphone industry. As recently as early in 2022, Samsung’s S20 and S20+ series of phones received a software upgrade for June.
On May 31, European Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra owners began receiving the June 2022 security patch through OTA. Exynos 2100-powered devices will begin receiving the update in the coming weeks. Qualcomm models, on the other hand, haven’t yet been updated.
- G998BXXU5CVEB is the model number for the Galaxy S21 (Released first in Europe)
- G998BXXU5CVEB is the model number for the Galaxy S21+ (Released first in Europe)
- Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra — G998BXXU5CVEB is the model number (Released first in Europe)
In the Galaxy Flip line
The Z Flip series from Samsung is part of the company’s expanding foldable phone lineup. The compact smartphone portfolio has outstanding technology and timely software upgrades, despite the lack of the Galaxy Fold.
Samsung’s native country of South Korea has begun rolling out the June 2022 security OTA update for the Galaxy Z Flip 3. Aside from these new capabilities, this patch also provides access to previously unavailable content. You’ll be able to place Smart Widgets on the Z Flip 3’s small outside display with the software upgrade. Widgets can now be stacked and accessed with a left or right swipe thanks to the introduction of Smart Widgets. Lockscreen widgets will be expanded beyond the pre-installed options available, and we expect this to be available in more locations soon. Flip 3 – F711NKSU2CVEE (Released first in South Korea)
The Galaxy Tab line of tablets
For those who were curious, the first Samsung device to receive the June security patch as an OTA update was actually a tablet, not a smartphone. Starting in Europe, the Galaxy Tab S7+ 5G began receiving the update in countries including as Germany and France as well as Portugal and Spain. The following regions have been added to the expansion as of May 30: 5G version of the Galaxy Tab S7+ (First released in Europe)
Q1: Will Galaxy S21 receive a total of how many software updates?
The Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra will receive three major Android OS updates from Samsung. In addition, all devices will receive four years of security upgrades from the manufacturer.
Q2: Will Galaxy S21 get Android 14 or not?
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is expected to run the following major Android versions: Android 13, Android 14, and Android 15. As far as we know, this is merely the manufacturer’s commitment; Samsung may provide additional upgrades or stop support for the phone sooner than expected.
Q3: How much of a bargain is the S21 plus?
As a high-end Android phone, this is a good pick with its powerful processor and plenty of RAM. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus is an appealing upgrade if you presently own a Galaxy S10 or Galaxy S9. It’s quick, powerful, and ready for the future thanks to its support for 5G technology.
Q4: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE will be supported for how long?
To put it another way, the Samsung S21 Will Get June Update FE will run Android 13 in 2019, then Android 14 in 2022 before ultimately getting to Android 15 in 2024. It will continue to receive security updates until the end of 2026, when it will be declared no longer supported.
Q5: When Galaxy S 21 Released?
For much of the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, the release date of the Samsung Galaxy S21 was Friday, January 29, 2021.
Q6: What is the typical lifespan of a Samsung phone, then?
However, if your Samsung Android gadget is not damaged in any other way. You may expect it to endure at least 6-7 years until it dies of old age.
Q7: Is the Samsung S21 water-resistant?
The Samsung S21 Will Get June Update Ultra may be IP68 rated, but it is not waterproof enough to resist the underwater excursion seen in the image. However, the phone should be able to endure immersion in freshwater up to 1.5 metres for 30 minutes. However, saltwater is a very different situation.


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BEIJING, July 2- Xiaomi Inc on Thursday said it sold 34.7 million smartphones in the first six months of 2015, casting doubt on the ability of China's most valuable tech startup to achieve its full-year target. Xiaomi's new sales data comes at a moment when industry analysts believe the smartphone market in China- where Xiaomi is No. 1- may be reaching saturation.» Read More
Spam around the world dropped by an estimated one-fifth after Russia’s pursuit of a suspected spam kingpin, reports The New York Times.
Cramer ponders the difficulty in being positive on stocks rather than negative.
Cramer’s predicting a boost in earnings estimates across the board for 2011.
Amazon just issued a news release reading, "Amazon.com Customers Now Buying More Bestsellers on Kindle Than Paperbacks and Hardcovers Combined—At a Rate of 2 to 1."
Here's why you should keep a close eye on these six stocks.
Apple's title for yesterday's conference in Cupertino is in itself provocative: That Apple would need to tell its audience that it was going "Back to the Mac" is enough to make you think.
Cramer offers his take on the industrials, banks, tech and more.
For the third time this year, reporters, analysts and the ever-faithful are gathering in Cupertino, California—home of Apple and where the company is hosting an event focusing on Mac computers.
A new study found that Twitter comments “predict” the ups and downs of the Dow by a few days.
Plus, get calls on the banks, fast food and more.
Apple’s PC-versus-Mac battle almost put it out of business. Is it creating a similar one in the smartphone field?
Google likes to have its finger on the pulse of the Web, and that’s becoming harder to do as users increasingly use closed networks like Facebook, reports The New York Times.
As countries expand efforts to gain Western technology, U.S. firms risk having employees expose secrets, reports the New York Times.
At bottom, “The Social Network” is a movie about obsession. That is a large part of the reason I’m so smitten with it: that same obsession that caused Bill Gates to drop out of Harvard to start Microsoft and that drove Steve Jobs to build the first home computer in a garage — that’s the story of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook too, at least in Mr. Sorkin’s telling. And that obsessional quality is what Mr. Sorkin has captured better than anyone before.
Plus, get calls on for-profit schools, telecom and more.
Plus, the “problem” of too much good news in this market.
Over the years, Intel has used aggressive and catchy marketing programs to help elevate its position in the computing marketplace. This cachet has served Intel well, allowing it to command top dollar for its products, which power the vast majority of PCs. The Intel juggernaut was apparent on Tuesday as the company reported earnings better than expected on a sharp revenue increase.
I've been trying to get my head around this all morning. Google has just announced — well, I'm not sure exactly what they have announced.
Several hours before last night's Hailpocalypse descended upon Brooklyn, we were having drinks with a guy who works in fixed income a JP Morgan Chase. He revealed a new and unintended consequence of more bankers using iPhones: some senior bankers are just discovering text messaging.
Anyone driving the twists of Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently may have glimpsed a Toyota Prius with a curious funnel-like cylinder on the roof. Harder to notice was that the person at the wheel was not actually driving.
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Matt Hunter is the senior technology editor at CNBC.com.
Working from Los Angeles, Boorstin is CNBC's media and entertainment reporter and editor of CNBC.com's Media Money section.
Jon Fortt is an on-air editor. He covers the companies, start-ups, and trends that are driving innovation in the industry.
Josh Lipton is CNBC's technology correspondent, working from CNBC's Silicon Valley bureau.


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- Shares were mixed after a rise in U.S. retail sales in October.
- Retail sales came in at 1.7%, which exceeded expectations as inflation remains around 30 years high.
- St. Louis Fed President James Bullard suggested that the Fed could begin rate hikes before the downsizing ends.
Shares were mixed on Tuesday after U.S. retail sales rose more than expected last month, while investors rated high-profile comments from St. Louis. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard as inflation stays high for several years.
Major Wall Street indices came from lower levels after government data showed retail sales rose 1.7% last month to a new record high of $ 638.2 billion. The print beat the median forecast for a 1.1% jump from economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The report also showed that consumer spending increased relative to the pace of September.
Here’s where US indices stood at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday:
The increase in retail sales took place as inflation hovered around 30-year highs. Bullard said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday that he agrees with the pricing in the markets for two Fed rate hikes that will take place in 2022, and he suggested that the central bank could start raising interest rates before ending its process of downsizing asset purchases.
Around the markets, gold rose 0.1% to $ 1,864.07 per share. ounce. The 10-year interest rate rose to 1.629%.
Oil prices won out. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6% to $ 81.33 per barrel. barrel. Brent, the oil’s international benchmark, rose 0.5% to $ 82.43.
Bitcoin fell 4.5% to $ 60,897.80.


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Small Business Sales Index Corona's Worst Japanese Government Survey April 24, 4:14
A survey conducted by the Japan Finance Corporation, which asks small businesses with less than 20 employees about monthly sales, has worsened significantly due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, exceeding the time of the Lehman shock. It was the toughest result since it started.
The survey targeted small businesses and sole proprietors all over the country with less than 20 employees, and subtracted the percentage of companies that said they had "saved" from the percentage of companies that said they had "increased" sales. The index is watching the changes in the situation.
In last month's survey, the number of respondents saying that sales had “decreased” due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection rapidly increased, and the index fell to minus 65.4, a sharp decline of 46 points from the previous time. It was below the minus 53 we had in July 2009 after the Lehman shock, the worst result since we started the survey in 1993.
By industry, the index was negative 93.3, as most restaurants replied that their sales had “decreased”.
In addition, the retail industry fell to minus 69 and the manufacturing industry fell to minus 51.2.
Japan Finance Corporation has said, "Many businesses are worried about the crisis caused by a virus whose treatment method is not clear. This time the next survey is even more difficult, as many responses have been issued before the government's declaration of an emergency. It's going to be a result. "


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Topic: Novel Coronavirus, Trade and Business (including licenses) | Posted By: lstevens
Friday, 19 June 2020 - 5:59pm
The business community is notified that the registration forms for grants for affected small and medium sized businesses previously advertised to be available on Friday June 19 will now be available at a date to be announced.
The Cabinet Office is notifying the public that Statutory Instruments No. 69 Immigration and Passport (Prohibition of Entry) (No. 9) Order, 2020 and No. 71 Imposition of a Curfew (No. 22) Order, 2020 are now available for public information on the Virgin Islands Official Gazette website at https://eservices.gov.vg/gazette/.


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Microsoft's Bing has surpassed Yahoo! to become the world's most popular search engine that isn't Google. At least for the moment.
One June 4, according to data just released by StatCounter Global Stats, Bing accounted for 5.62 per cent of all worldwide searches, compared to Yahoo!'s 5.13 per cent. Meanwhile, Google grabbed a typically monopolistic 87.62 per cent.
In the US, StatCounter says, Bing grabbed 16.28 per cent of June 4 searches, Yahoo! 10.22 per cent, and Google 71.47 per cent. "Steve Ballmer is quoted as saying that he wanted Microsoft to become the second biggest search engine within five years. Following the breakdown in talks to acquire Yahoo at a cost of $40 billion, it looks as if he may have just achieved that with Bing much sooner and a lot cheaper than anticipated," reads a canned statement from Aodhan Cullen, StatCounter CEO.
But you can bet that a sizable portion of Redmond's recent traffic leap is only temporary. Bing made its debut just this week, and it's still riding the media-coverage wave.
"It remains to be seen if Bing falls away after the initial novelty and promotion but at first sight it looks like Microsoft is on to a winner," Cullen says.
You could also argue that Microsoft's Yahoo! leapfrog has something to do with Bing's undoubted talent for delivering online porn. But this too is temporary. Microsoft has already tossed out a short-term antidote for Bing's porn-loving ways, and a more substantial fix is on the way. ®


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The BMW Group recently concluded its Electric Days press conference, which talks about its current electrification strategies. The group–which consists of BMW, Rolls-Royce, and Mini, has said that despite their increased development in electrified vehicles (xEVs)–internal combustion engines (ICE) will remain part of the company’s portfolio in the coming years.
Speaking with Wieland Brúch, Spokesperson BMW i and Electromobility, an efficient internal combustion engine is part of what they call the “Power of Choice.” This is the group’s multi-solution approach in providing various environmental and mobility needs. Since there are customers around the world who still do not have access to any public charging points, a car with an efficient ICE is still the optimal choice for them.
From the perspective of us driving enthusiasts, the BMW Group’s commitment to the ICE means that the brand’s iconic inline-6 gasoline and diesel engines, along with the smaller displacement engines will continue to be improved to comply with stricter emission regulations. However, with the group’s commitment to climate protection and the Paris Protocol, the number of pure ICEs that the company will offer will slowly be reduced. This brings to mind the future of large displacement engines such as the 6.6-liter twin-turbo V12 found in the BMW M760Li xDrive and various Rolls-Royce vehicles.
The European Union (EU) has set a target that by 2021, with the phase-in period being in 2020, the EU fleet-wide average emission target for new cars shall be at 95 g CO2/km. As a way to meet that target, the group will be releasing a host of xEVs, two of which are fully electric vehicles (EV) by 2021. This includes the BMW i4 electric four-door coupe and iNext electric SUV. The fully-electric BMW iX3 is also the first vehicle to complete the BMW Group’s Power of Choice concept as it now has a long-range full electric vehicle that’s fit for everyday use.
The BMW Group is aiming 1 million xEVs on the road by 2021. By 2023, the group will have a total of 25 xEVs, half of which are full EVs. And then by 2025, EVs and PHEVs will account for 15 to 25 percent of the brand’s sales.
Internal combustion engines remain part of the BMW Group’s powertrain portfolio, but are you aware that the BMW Group is not interested in developing a “self-charging hybrid?” This marketing term has been popularized by Toyota and Lexus for its non-plug-in hybrids with their much smaller batteries. That’s a topic worthy of an upcoming article we’ve prepared.


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The Design Museum has launched Waste Age: What can design do? , an exhibition showing what design can do to tackle the problem of waste and its environmental consequences across the globe.
The exhibition at The Design Museum in London invites visitors to explore how designers are redefining fashion, construction, food, electronics, packaging and more through over 300 objects, by designing out waste and creating a more circular economy.
The first section of the exhibition, ‘Peak Waste’, confronts visitors with the epic scale of global waste – shining a light on how mass production and consumption habits contribute to growing landfills. While the second part of Waste Age, ‘Precious Waste’, focuses on solutions and new thinking.
‘Precious Waste’ invites visitors to learn more about the raw materials used in everyday products through object deconstructions by Studio Drift as well as the designers leading the way in recycling waste into new resources. These include sustainable materials in fashion by Stella McCartney, Adidas and Bethany Williams; to construction materials such as the K Briq by Kenoteq, which uses almost 90% less carbon than a regular brick, and new lives for plastic like the S-1500 chair by Snøhetta, made from discarded fishing nets.
In ‘Post Waste’, the third part of the exhibition, visitors can discover more about new circular methods of production, with a focus on grown rather than extracted materials. It features experimental designs that introduce a whole new world of clothing, products and packaging made from natural materials such as coconut, algae, and corn husks. Fernando Laposse’s The Dogs bench uses raw fibres from the leaves of the Agave plant and The Blast Studio’s 3D printed column, made with waste and the fungus Mycelium, promotes a no-waste architecture.
‘Post Waste’ also delves into how everyone can change their systems and behaviours to consume less. It examines models of sharing, labelling, and design-for-disassembly, which can help objects last for longer, be repaired and significantly reduce how much is manufactured and discarded.
Justin McGuirk, Chief Curator and Waste Age Co-Curator, said: “Design has helped create our wasteful society, and it will be crucial in building a cleaner future. That means rethinking the lifestyles and materials that do so much damage. This optimistic exhibition demonstrates the energy and ingenuity being applied to the challenge – and we want it to mark a turning point. There is so much we can do, but it begins with understanding our waste.”
By showcasing local solutions like Kamikatsu, a Zero Waste Town in Japan, and a display of tool sharing libraries across the world, the exhibition promotes living without waste and imagines a more resourceful world for future generations.
Waste Age: What Can Design Do? is currently on at The Design Museum in London until 20 February 2022
Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyle including sustainable and green living


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One of the criticisms that can be made about this type of study is that recalling
information through the turn-taking method is not the most common form of retrieval in groups.
Honda is recalling
1.1 million vehicles: about 680,000 in North America, 270,000 in Japan and 64,000 in Europe.
The early anti-recall arguments were threefold: One was that recalling
Davis would be an illegitimate use of the recall.
Strategies recorded on each trial included sorting, physically moving cards into groups; rehearsal, saying the words aloud; category naming, saying the category name of a group of words (e.g., TRANSPORTATION, WEAPONS, FRUITS); and clustering, recalling
words by categories.
Sally Roberts, "Mattel Recalling
Dolls to Patch Up Image," Business Insurance, January 13, 1997, pp.
Next follows a review of the few elections in which state officials, including legislators and judges, have been recalled and a discussion of the advisability of recalling
In the rest of this article, I first review research showing that accuracy in recalling
briefly presented scenes was affected by order of report, as well as one study using SAGAT that found that recall accuracy was not affected by order of report.
In 1978, four major federal recalling
agencies (Food and Drug Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and Consumer Product Safety Commission) reported 1,510 separate recall campaigns, retrieving at least 29,770,562 products (Levy, 1979, p.
By as early as age 6, people who are asked to recall lists of items from memory tests--in any order that springs to mind--first mention items that they previously had the most trouble recalling
, Brainerd and his colleagues report in the July PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE.
announced last week that it is (https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/altaire-pharmaceuticals-inc-issues-voluntary-recall-multiple-ophthalmic-products) recalling
several brands of eye drops and ointment sold over-the-counter at popular retailers Walmart ((https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/WMT/) WMT ) and Walgreens ((https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/WBA/) WBA ).
It was also announced that GM is recalling
89,294 2013-2015 Chevrolet Sparks in the United States.
New Delhi, May 27 -- Nissan Motors last week said it is recalling
22,188 Micra and Sunny cars in India to replace faulty brake master.


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Stellar Smart LED TV review: BPL is back with a bang
This brand new, budget-friendly 4k Smart TV could very well be the trump card that brings BPL back into the mainstream.
Micromax launches new LED TVs
The Smart Television range of 32 inches, 40 inches and 50 inches priced at Rs 19,999, Rs 29,999 and Rs 42,999 r...
Videotex International partners with Usha Shriram Enterprises to foray into LED televisions
Videotex already manufactures for a majority of l...
Super Plastronics to foray into LED television segment
Kodak’s president for consumer and film division and global chief marketing officer Steven Overman said Kodak has played a key role in the development of the entertainment industry in India
Diwali special: Intex launches four new smart LED TVs
The 32-inch HD TV is priced at Rs 27,999, the 43-inch full-HD TV at Rs 47,999 & the 50-inch full-HD TV at Rs 54,999.
Ringing Bells now launches cheapest LED TV
The company claims that the cheap cost of the smartphone is maintained by “technology, economy of scale, online marketing and e-commerce innovation”.
LED TVs may cost more as display panels get dearer
In India, 32-inch screen size TVs are still the largest-selling, commanding 37 per cent of sales, followed by 40-42 inch sets, which account for 15% of sales.
TCL 48-inch Curved TV review: The cheapest full HD curved LED TV available today
The display has a resolution of 1920 X 1080 pixels and impresses with excellent brightness levels and wide viewing angles.
Kodak launches HD LED TVs starting at Rs 13,500
SPPL, which is Kodak's licensed partner, has launched five HD LED TVs in screen sizes of 32, 40 and 50 inches at a price point of Rs 13,500 and upwards.
World's cheapest smartphone makers Freedom 251 launch cheapest LED TV
The HD LED TV is priced at Rs 9.9K. The phones are available with names of King (Rs 899), Boss (Rs 999) and Raja (Rs 1099).
After Rs 251 smartphone, Ringing Bells plans to launch LED TV
While the pricing of HD LED television was not disclosed, the company said it will be "another price revolution in the Indian consumer electronics".
Finally, the clouds are lifting for Sun TV
In the past few years, Sun TV's stock has been highly volatile, largely due to potential political risks to the company's operations, such as to security clearance for its radio licence.
R Dinesh, the man who led the transformation of TVS Logistics into a multinational company
Under Dinesh, TVS Logistics has acquired 14 cos over 5 years, widened its service capabilities, including last-mile delivery, demand forecasting and tech logistics.
Diwali cheer: Intex launches new 32-inch LED TV at Rs 16,490
The TV is equipped with the Eye Safe T-Matrix technology that removes undue lag and balances every feature smartly.


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Is Cisco changing its strategy?
This week has seen two big moves on Cisco's part - is the IT firm changing tactics, or is this just part of a longer term move?
On Monday, networking powerhouse Cisco Systems announced it will start building its own computers in this case blade servers for the first time. Then on Thursday, it flips around and shells out $590 million (409 million) for the maker of a tiny consumer video camera.
What's going on at Cisco?
Actually, Cisco has been acquiring its way steadily into consumer electronics for six years now, starting with its 2003 acquisition of home networking supplier Linksys for $500 million. Two years later, Cisco snapped up set-top box maker Scientific Atlanta for a cool $7 billion. Later in 2005, Cisco paid $61 million for a Danish company called Kiss Technologies, developer of video-on-demand boxes.
Cisco executives revealed some of their emerging strategy a few months after that at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where they unveiled home audio and media hub products intended to generate demand for home networking equipment.
Now with the acquisition of Pure Digital, maker of the wildly popular Flip video camera, Cisco places its hopes for future growth in an arena once considered anathema to it.
"Cisco's basic business problem is that they want to continue growing and they'll have to do it beyond their current markets," said Andy Ingram, vice president of business development for the data center group at Juniper Networks, a much smaller networking vendor. As their bread-and-butter businesses mature, he noted, Cisco must find new ways to maintain the kind of double-digit growth its shareholders have come to expect.
It certainly doesn't hurt that the company is sitting on roughly $30 billion in cash.
Less than five per cent of the company's $40 billion in annual sales comes from consumer products currently, but that may well change as Cisco continues to flesh out the details behind its advertising slogan: "Welcome to the Human Network."
Ned Hooper, head of Cisco's consumer group and senior vice president of corporate development, said that the Flip video camera is more than just a clever little gadget. It's a video platform, capable of driving ever-increasing demand for bandwidth and, ultimately, for more Cisco routers.
"The acquisition of Pure Digital is key to Cisco's strategy to expand our momentum in the media-enabled home and to capture the consumer market transition to visual networking," Hooper said in a statement. "This acquisition will take Cisco's consumer business to the next level as the company develops new video capabilities and drives the next generation of entertainment and communication experiences."
By the same token, Cisco's push into blade servers part of what the company calls its Unified Computing System strategy also is designed to keep Cisco's growth rate up, even as the economy flags.
"In today's economy, IT organisations must increase productivity and cut costs while maintaining the IT excellence that provides their companies with a competitive edge," said John Enck, managing vice president of infrastructure and operations at Gartner.
"CIOs will invest in innovative technology if it increases productivity, protects their existing IT investments, and demonstrates real benefits that will extend the life of the data center."
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Sanna Lehto and Antonina Sedakova win at Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography
Two Aalto people, alumna Sanna Lehto and MA student Antonina Sedakova, received awards at the prestigious Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography this year.
Sanna Lehto was awarded the Public Prize for her photo series "Morphologies".
"It has been a great experience to be a part of the Hyères Festival," she said. "I have met so many new people and learned a lot to talk about my art more fluently."
Antonina Sedakova, a MA student in the Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design programme, was recognized for her collection Communication Tube with a special prize by the Chinese label Exception de Mixmind.
Antonina Sedakova. Photo © Chris Vidal Tenomaa
"My collection is based on youth culture in the Soviet Union in the 1980s. When my mother was a student she was forced to work in reform camps for youth who were misbehaving. I wanted to capture the look and energy of that time,” says Sedakova.
Sedakova and Lehto were two of a total of five Aalto people nominated as Hyères finalists. Also included in the shortlist were fashion designers Anna Isoniemi and Linda Kokkonen. Alumnus Jaakko Kahilaniemi was nominated as finalist in the photography competition.
The International Hyères Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories has been held in Hyères, France, since 1985. In its 33rd year, it is considered one of the most prestigious competition for young designers and photographers in the world. The festival jury was chaired by Haider Ackermann, former creative director of Berluti. Past Grand Prix winners include Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello and Lacoste’s Felipe Olivera Baptista.


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Paris-based Francois-Charles Oberthur will buy Kirk Plastic Co., a Los Angeles manufacturer of credit cards. The companies signed a definitive agreement Aug. 15, and expect to close the cash deal by Oct. 1, said Kirk R. Hyde, Kirk's president, chief executive officer and owner. Hyde would not disclose the purchase price.
Both Oberthur and Kirk are high-security printing companies, though, so far, Oberthur's U.S. manufacturing has been limited to printing lottery tickets, and postage stamps for the U.S. Postal Service, Hyde said by telephone.
But in Vitru, France, Oberthur manufactures credit cards and smart cards for the European market. The company claims to be the world's largest supplier of smart cards: plastic cards equipped with microprocessor chips that are used in electronic banking transactions. It also prints bank notes for the central banks of 35 countries.
Kirk brings more than $25 million in plastic bank transaction and credit card sales to the deal, with Visa and MasterCard cards making up roughly 70 percent of that business, Hyde said. The rest comes from cards for retailers like Neiman-Marcus Co., gasoline companies and cards for automatic teller machines.
In Los Angeles, Kirk employs 270 at three facilities that house production, marketing and sales. The company produces more than 100 million cards a year for the U.S., Latin American and Asian markets.
For Hyde, selling his company means keeping pace with its international competitors, by hooking up with a larger, international player that offers new products, world markets, technology and capital.
He noted that, when the deal is done, he will have a three-year contract to stay on as Kirk's president.
Oberthur's plans for Kirk include adding smart-card production at Los Angeles, a move that probably will involve doubling the size of Kirk's 25,000-square-foot manufacturing plant there by next year, Hyde said.
The French firm also will use Kirk's Latin American customer connections to boost market share for smart cards in the region.
``Our customers see these electronic smart cards as being the future,'' Hyde noted.
Kirk makes its cards from four-ply laminated PVC sheet; a typical sheet measures 20 inches by 24 inches and yields about 54 cards.
During lamination, each card is personalized - embossed with a name and number and encoded with a magnetic strip. Then they are die-cut and hot-stamped with signature panels, holograms and the like.
Kirk buys its PVC sheet from Klockner Pentaplast of America Inc. in Gordonsville, Va., and Mazzucchelli Vinyls srl in Varese, Italy, Hyde said.
Oberthur employs 2,500 at 18 printing plants worldwide.


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Yahoo was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in January 1994 and was an early pioneer in the dotcom boom, but was quickly overhauled by Google and others. In 2008, it rejected a US$44.6 billion bid from Microsoft, and subsequently Yahoo’s market capitalisation slipped to just US$22.24 billion just three years later.
Yahoo boss says monthly traffic surpasses 800 million users
Reuters in San Francisco
Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer said the Internet company now has more than 800 million monthly active users, which she said represented 20 per cent growth.
Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Mayer said the 800 million users did not include traffic from Tumblr, the online blog and social media hub that it acquired earlier this year.


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We can confirm that Pet Shop Boys have remixed Madonna's next single, "Sorry", which will be released in February. At the moment we do not know whether "Sorry (PSB Maxi-Mix)" will be commercially released or only made available on promo copies to club DJs. Chris and Neil remixed the track in December and Neil added some vocals to it. Further release details will be here when we have them.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, Pet Shop Boys’ headline show at OverOslo, Oslo, Norway on Friday 18th June 2021 has been rescheduled to Friday 17th June 2022. All tickets remain valid for the new date. For further ticket information, please contact your point of purchase.


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Dell to go private for $24.4 billion
Published 9:36 pm, Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Number of the day
That's how much Michael Dell, along with Menlo Park's Silver Lake Management, will pay to acquire the computer giant he founded. Dell, the third-biggest PC maker, has lost more than half its value in the past five years as management has failed to cope with new competitors in mobile and cloud computing. By taking the company private, Michael Dell is seeking more leeway to cut jobs and court higher-margin business customers spending on data centers.
"While these engines may look better on paper with impressive EPA numbers, in reality they are often slower and less fuel-efficient than larger four- and six-cylinder engines."
Latest Business News
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Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, on the performance of turbocharged engines in the Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Cruze. Automakers are under pressure to meet stricter U.S. fuel-economy standards, and they're turning to turbo and direct-injection engines and hybrid systems. Yet Consumer Reports found gaps between company claims and real-world performance in some models. Ford and GM disputed the findings.
Visa releases quarterly earnings Wednesday morning, and analysts expect the credit card company to post a 15 percent increase in net income to $1.19 billion. Sales may rise 11 percent to $2.82 billion. It's the first time the Foster City company has reported results under new CEO Charles Scharf, the former head of retail banking at JPMorgan Chase, who took over from Joseph Saunders last year. Saunders, who led Visa since its IPO in 2008, will remain as executive chairman through March.


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Samsung Galaxy S8 is going to be a device under radar by million of eyes. Due to Note 7 incident, many Samsung fans and would be users of the S8 are waiting for the device. To cater to this vast demand, Samsung is preparing three different variants of the devices.
Samsung Galaxy S8 is coming in three versions, S8 Standard version, S8 Edge and Edge S8 Plus. Only Plus variant is new for the S series of the Samsung’s next flagship. The Korean giant has said to develop the new variant to cater the users who have left stranded after the ban on Note 7.
Today, Mobilefun has said that they have developed the Galaxy S8 series covers using inputs from their sources, leaks and reports.
Talking about the Clear Cover line, which goes for the “minimalistic, almost not there” look. So, that said, the colors on the list are Black, Silver, Gold, Pink, Blue, and Violet. Well, here in the list there are many new colors. There’s new type of cover “Alcantara Cover Case”, which will consists premium materials for device cover. These type of premium leather or other material is used in premium cars. Now, it would be on your device in the form of Cover Case.
Unique Cover cases are coming to Galaxy S8 series this year. You would see many different accessories for the device.


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Thai Union Group Plc, one of the world’s biggest seafood processors, posted a record quarterly loss after writing off investment in its Red Lobster restaurant unit.
The company, which also controls the Chicken of the Sea brand, reported a net loss of 17.2 billion baht in the fourth quarter, compared with a net profit of 1.24 billion in October-December a year earlier. Shares fell as much as 1.3% Monday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Thai Union took a one-time non-cash charge of 18.4 billion baht on Red Lobster after deciding to “exit” the US seafood restaurant chain, according to its exchange filing Monday. Chief Executive Officer Thiraphong Chansiri last month announced a planned departure from Red Lobster, reiterating in the latest filing that the restaurant unit’s “ongoing financial requirements no longer align with Thai Union’s capital allocation priorities.”
The quarterly loss was the company’s largest, according to data compiled by Bloomberg dating back to 1996. Excluding the one-time charge, Thai Union’s normalised net income was 1.24 billion baht in October-December period, little changed from a year earlier. Sales in the quarter dropped 10% from a year earlier to 35.5 billion baht.
The seafood giant paid $575 million in 2016 for a 25% stake in Red Lobster — plus preferred stock that can convert into a further 24% shareholding — and bought another 13.7% of common equity interest in 2020.
Challenges that hit Red Lobster in recent years included the Covid pandemic, sustained industry headwinds and higher interest rates and labour costs, according to Mr Thiraphong. That resulted in a “prolonged negative financial contribution” to Thai Union, which won bondholders’ approval last week for changes to an interest-coverage ratio and dividend-cap restriction on several tranches of notes.
Earnings growth “could recover in 2024”, as the company sees better performances from core units that provide canned, frozen and chilled seafood, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Lisa Lee and Lea El-Hage said in a note on Feb 16. In addition to Chicken of the Sea tuna, Thai Union also owns the John West brand and controls the exchange-listed pet food business i-Tail Corp.
“Capacity expansion will help, as gross profit margin stabilises to 17-18% from cost-cutting efforts, lower raw-material costs, new product launches and price increases,” the BI analysts wrote.
The US and Canada comprise Thai Union’s largest market, contributing 41% of total sales in 2023, followed by Europe at 30% and Thailand at 11.5%, according to the company’s filing.


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Star Wars Celebration is over but new “Star Wars” merchandise is still arriving at Disneyland. Pair this new Princess Leia tee with your new Ewok ear headband for a perfect outfit.
Princess Leia Tee – $24.99
The shirt is heather grey, with a blue version of the Resistance logo on the center. Leia Organa, with her classic hair buns and dress from “A New Hope,” stands with a blaster in her hand to one side.
“Not your average princess” is printed next to her in shiny rose gold lettering.
The back of the shirt is blank. We found it in Star Traders at Disneyland.
For more Disneyland Resort news and info, follow Disneyland News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news worldwide, visit WDWNT.
The post New ‘Star Wars’ Princess Leia Tee at Disneyland Resort appeared first on WDW News Today.


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A Growing List of Coronavirus Scams
A master list of known and alleged scams.
More than 1,000 unsubstantiated health claims remain on the internet nine months after TINA.org’s investigation.
How long does it take a Multi-Level Marketing – a way of distributing products or services in which the distributors earn income from their own retail sales and from retail sales made by their direct and indirect recruits. company that sells nutritional supplements to take down inappropriate health claims being made by its distributors? For 60 Direct Selling Association (DSA) member companies, the answer for the vast majority is too long.
A TINA.org investigation last November found that 97 percent of DSA member companies selling nutritional supplements had distributors marketing their products with illegal health claims. Nine months later, an audit has revealed that the majority of these companies have failed to take down over half of the claims. This means that out of an aggregate sampling of approximately 2,000 inappropriate health claims, at least 1,000 remain on the internet, available for distributors to (mis)use to market their wares and sell the business opportunity.
The audit further revealed that
What do the MLMs have to say for themselves?
TINA.org sent letters to the 60 MLMs featured in the health claims investigation in November 2016 asking that each company take immediate action to remove all unsubstantiated health claims, as well as ensure that no future misrepresentations occur. While a little over half of the companies responded to the letter, there was not a direct correlation between response rate and affirmative action taken.
Most of the responses TINA.org received pointed out that the company was committed to abiding by the law and that the health claims were being made by their distributors (not the company). Responses also catalogued the steps the company takes to ferret out inappropriate health claims and outlined the steps they were taking to address the sampling of health claims identified by TINA.org.
There were a few companies, however, that took a different approach. Herbalife, for example, sent a letter that basically said nothing. Conversely, an attorney representing another MLM commended TINA.org’s work, writing:
Then there were a handful of responses that were of concern. Flavon, for example, asserted that:
However, one need look no further than the FTC’s prosecution of Vemma Nutrition Company to know that evidence obtained from the internet by TINA.org can in fact form the basis for a legal claim. Similarly concerning was the response from a L’Bri representative, who wrote:
Contrary to L’Bri’s position, FTC law states that a company and its distributors cannot make a representation that any food, drug, or dietary supplement is effective in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any disease unless the company can support such a claim with competent and reliable scientific evidence.
Here’s another response TINA.org received – this one from an attorney representing a Youngevity distributor, who seemed similarly unfamiliar with the legal requirements of distributor testimonials:
In interpreting the FTC guidelines on testimonials, federal courts have clearly stated:
[w]hen an advertisement contains a testimonial reflecting the experience of an individual with a product, there is an implicit representation that such experience reflects the typical or ordinary results anyone may anticipate from use of the product.
The examples above demonstrate that some in the DSA simply do not understand the legal implications of using unsubstantiated health testimonials in their marketing.
So where’s the DSA?
In response to TINA.org’s health claims investigation last November, DSA president Joe Mariano stated, among other things, that:
Beginning in 2017, 100 percent of DSA member companies will undergo a mandatory ethics review to ensure compliance with our Code of Ethics, including in the areas of income and product claims.
To date, however, TINA.org is not aware of any public action taken against any DSA member company for even the most flagrant violations of the DSA Code of Ethics.
By way of example, the DSA is well aware that member company Nerium International is making inappropriate health and income claims directly and through its distributors. In fact, TINA.org has amassed more than 450 examples (health, income) of deceptive and misleading marketing claims being made by Nerium and its distributors.
So what was the DSA’s response to Nerium’s ethical (and legal) violations? It honored the company at its 2017 convention and then publicized the fact on Twitter – retweeting a Nerium post:
So while the DSA may talk a good game when it comes to ethics, in reality, it is more than willing to “honor” as “among the best in the industry” a company that makes a mockery of the DSA Code of Ethics. And in so doing, the DSA ethical code is rendered utterly meaningless.
Read more about TINA.org’s investigation last fall here.
Update 9/5/17: TINA.org sent a complaint letter to the DSA Code of Ethics Administrator notifying him of the troubling audit results.
A master list of known and alleged scams.
Deceptive health and income claims, including some tied to COVID-19, persist in wake of warning from the feds.
We have to make sure we’re not seen as “taking advantage of a crisis situation,” said DSA President Joe Mariano.


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- Curvy Wife Guy drops music video for rap song ‘Chubby Sexy’ Friday 7:33 PM
- A ‘Black Mirror’ spinoff mini-series is coming to YouTube via Netflix Latin America Friday 5:56 PM
- Kanye West appears on David Letterman’s Netflix show to talk Trump, TMZ, and Drake Friday 3:27 PM
- QAnon believers link small-town arrest to deep state conspiracy without evidence Friday 1:58 PM
- Instagram photos showing prison conditions spark massive protest Friday 1:33 PM
- ‘Gay rat wedding’ headline sparks amazing new meme Friday 1:03 PM
- ‘I read a gossip piece’ meme mocks Moby’s Instagram post Friday 12:39 PM
- Rotten Tomatoes wants to see your ticket stub to leave a verified review Friday 11:46 AM
- ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ movie delayed to 2020 to fix his look Friday 11:39 AM
- ‘Swamp Thing’ gets off to a promising start, but can it tell a convincing love story? Friday 11:34 AM
- ‘Falling on deaf ears’: ‘Queer Eye’ star sparks conversation about ableist idioms Friday 11:15 AM
- Parents are spending thousands on YouTube camps that teach kids how to be famous Friday 10:43 AM
- In season 2 of ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ Spike Lee remains unapologetically himself Friday 10:36 AM
- Trump selling Pride shirts is a grotesque insult to the LGBTQ community Friday 10:27 AM
- Logan Paul is being mocked for pulling out of slapping competition Friday 9:57 AM
The Buster Gun replica is also back in stock at ThinkGeek.
Not all of the wonderful geek merch on display at Comic-Con this week is exclusive to the event.
Such is the case with a life-sized replica of Mega Man’s helmet, the defining characteristic of one of gaming’s longest-running icons. Mega Man is right up there with Mario and Sonic as an old-school gaming legend, only Mega Man’s gear is a lot more cool. And now you can buy it.
Capcom broke the news about the helmet before Comic-Con, but the pre-orders at the Capcom store hadn’t opened up yet. Now they have. The Mega Man helmet will run you $150. You won’t get the centerpiece of your new Mega Man cosplay until this winter, however.
ThinkGeek also has the Mega Man Buster Gun replica in stock. That’ll run you $80.
Not a cheap pair of purchases in total, but once you have the helmet and the gun the rest of the costume is easy, right?
Illustration via Capcom
Dennis Scimeca was the Daily Dot's gaming reporter until 2016. He loves first-person shooters, role-playing games, and massively multiplayer online games. His work has appeared in Salon, NPR, Ars Technica, Kotaku, Polygon, Gamasutra, GamesBeat, Paste, and Mic.


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UPDATE 2-U.S. safety regulators close investigation into Tesla fires
(Adds details, updates share price, background)
March 28 (Reuters) - U.S. safety regulators on Friday said they had closed an investigation into several fires in Tesla Model S electric sports cars after determining the incidents were not likely to become a trend, which sent the company's shares up as much as 4.5 percent.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed the probe without asking Tesla for a recall after it the company raised the sedan's ground clearance and added protective plates for the lithium ion battery pack that powers the car.
NHTSA opened an investigation four months ago after two cars in the United States and one in Mexico caught fire. NHTSA does not have jurisdiction in Mexico.
The two U.S. fires started after drivers ran over debris in the road, damaging the battery pack placed under the car between the front and back seats.
In addition to raising ground clearance at highway speeds and adding two protective plates, Tesla took steps to prevent overheating of its charging systems, including giving customers upgraded wall adapters and providing charging software upgrades.
"Tesla's revision of vehicle ride height and addition of increased underbody protection should reduce both the frequency of underbody strikes and the resultant fire risk," the NHTSA said on its website. (r.reuters.com/tyn97v)
An analyst with industry research firm Kelley Blue Book agreed with NHTSA's assessment.
"Given that no punctures have been reported over the past four months, even without the added protection, this fix should eliminate the potential of a battery pack fire under all but the most extreme circumstances," said Karl Brauer of KBB. Continuación...


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The Additive Manufacturing Green Trade Association (AMGTA), an organisation positioned to promote the environmental benefits of AM, has been joined by Sweden’s Höganäs AB as a founding member. Dutch and Belgian AM network Flam3D and the UK National Centre for Additive Manufacturing (NCAM) have also joined as participating members, bringing the total membership to forty.
Höganäs AB will serve alongside existing founding members Desktop Metal, Divergent Technologies, QC Laboratories, Sintavia, Stratasys, and Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation.
“I’m delighted to officially welcome aboard Höganäs, our new founding member, as well as each of our new participating member organisations,” stated Sherry Handel, Executive Director of the AMGTA. “Our esteemed global trade consortium supports our mission and provides a solid foundation as we continue to grow and strategically invest in environmental sustainability research projects in Additive Manufacturing. I look forward to working with each of our members as we expand the AMGTA as the key industry resource committed to advancing sustainability in the AM industry.”


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A Super Forecast
With the calendar flipping to the all-important fourth quarter, it’s time for pet retailers to start speculating about what is in store for them during the upcoming holiday selling season and beyond. Of course, the picture will become clearer once the season kicks into high gear around Thanksgiving, but if the tone of last month’s SuperZoo trade show in Las Vegas can be counted on as an early indication of the retail pet-care industry’s future fortunes—as it often proves to be—the forecast looks promising.
At this time of year, Pet Business regularly canvasses industry professionals from up and down the supply chain to gauge their expectations for the weeks and months ahead, and without fail, many of the people we speak with point to SuperZoo as an important bellwether. This year is no exception, and all indications are that most attendees—whether they are retailers, distributors or manufacturers–came away with a positive outlook.
Not only did the show see an obvious uptick in the number of exhibitors, but the aisles seemed more crowded with retailers than at any other time in recent memory. What’s more important, exhibitor after exhibitor noted that buyers are taking an aggressive approach as we head to the end of 2012.
This year’s SuperZoo also proved to be a great place to see the hottest product trends. Of course, grain-free foods and treats were front and center at many booths, as were products geared specifically for aging pets. Not surprisingly, natural products were also represented in force, with everything from natural cat litters to eco-friendly toys continuing to become more prevalent among the market’s offerings.
In addition to providing some insight into what’s to come for pet product retailers, SuperZoo has also become something of an indicator for the grooming industry as well, with the addition of the Groomer’s SuperShow. This year, the portion of the trade show devoted to grooming products and competitions was robust, with seemingly more exhibitors and competition spectators in attendance than ever. Once again, the highlight of the Groomer’s SuperShow was the Cardinal Crystal Awards presentation, honoring stand-out members of both the competitive and retail grooming industry. The event was hosted by Pet Business’ sister publication Grooming Business magazine, Cardinal Laboratories and the World Pet Association.
Of course, prognosticating based on the results of a single trade event is not a precise science, and there are plenty of forces that can derail a strong showing from the pet industry. But hopefully by the time Thanksgiving rolls around and with the national election behind us, SuperZoo will once again prove to be something of a crystal ball for the industry’s coming fortunes. And if that is the case, the future is looking super, indeed.


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Police in Texas have arrested two Mexican citizens for alleged credit card fraud related to the massive data breach at Target over the holidays, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Mary Carmen Garcia Vaquera, 27, and Daniel Guardiola Dominguez, 28, allegedly used credit card data stolen from Target to spend tens of thousands of dollars on purchases at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Kmart, Toys R Us and other major retailers in South Texas, Chief Victor Rodriguez of the McAllen, Texas police department said in a news conference Monday.
Police seized 96 credit cards from the suspects that were cloned with account information stolen during the Target data breach.
"It quickly became obvious to us that the information about the fraudulent activity — that is, the accounts that were being used... was part of a data set that was involved in what we call now the Target data breach," Rodriguez said, according to a recording of the press conference.
Here's some of the cloned cards:
The couple is believed to have purchased the credit card information from overseas hackers.
McAllen police worked with the Secret Service in pursuing Vaquera and Dominguez, but a federal official contacted by The Journal later denied that there was a known connection to the Target data breach.
We have reached out to Target for comment on the arrests and will update when we hear back.


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iPad Helps Prevent “Single Biggest Source of Pilot Injuries”
It’s been quite some time now that pilots have been using iPads in the cockpit, and iDownload Blog reports today that the widespread use of iPads by pilots has had a surprising effect on the health of pilots. According to Patrick O’Keeffe, vice president of Airline Operations Technology for American Airlines, replacing 40-pound flight bags with iPads has meant that the company has “reduced the single biggest source of pilot injuries: carrying those packs.” O’Keeffe made the comments during a keynote address at the TabTimes Tablet Strategy conference in New York City. Aside from this health benefit, O’Keeffe also said that switching over to the iPad should also shave $1 million from American’s fuel bill, and also printing costs. iDownload Blog notes that currently only Apple’s iPad has been approved for in-cockpit use by pilots, with American Airlines the only airline that has official approval to use the iPad in-flight.
Source: Apple?s iPad seen preventing pilot injuries


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Anders Holch Povlsen and his wife Anne arrive for an event in Copenhagen. Ritzau Scanpix / Tariq Mikkel Khan / AFP
Three of the four children of Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen were killed in the Easter day attacks in Sri Lanka, a spokesman for his clothing retail group Bestseller said on Monday.
Danish media have reported that Holch Povlsen, his wife Anne and their four children were in Sri Lanka on vacation at the moment of the attacks, which struck churches and luxury hotels killing nearly 300 people.
"I can confirm that three children have been killed," Jesper Stubkier, the communications manager for Bestseller, said in a statement.
"We ask you to respect the privacy of the family and we therefore have no further comments." Considered to be Denmark's richest man, 46-year-old Holch Povlsen is the main shareholder in the online fashion retailer ASOS as well as owning Bestseller.
He inherited Bestseller from his parents who founded the firm in 1975.
The group, which includes brands such as Vero Moda, Only and Jack & Jones, has more than 3,000 stores in 70 countries.
In addition to the majority stake in Britain-based ASOS, Holch Povlsen also owns an interest in its German rival Zalando.
Sri Lankan officials said Monday they believe that the local hardliner extremist group National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) was behind the attacks.
Dozens of foreigners are among those killed, while some 500 people were injured.
Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church will televise a private on Sunday mass after cancelling regular services over fears of a repeat of Easter suicide bombings that killed 257 people, a spokesman said.
Police on Monday said they had found 87 bomb detonators at a Colombo bus station, a day after a string of attacks on churches and hotels that killed nearly 300 people.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which officials said were carried out by at least seven suicide bombers on three churches and four hotels. About 500 people were also wounded.
Daesh's claim, issued on its AMAQ news agency, came shortly after Sri Lanka said two domestic militant groups, with suspected links to foreign militants, were believed to have been behind the attacks at three churches and four hotels, which wounded about 500 people.
Video from WFBO showed a Buffalo police officer appearing to push a 75-year-old man who walked up to police clearing Niagara Square around the 8 p.m. curfew Thursday.
The UAE was able to supply the material because of its internationally-recognised success in curbing the spread of COVID-19.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is dismantling its vast lockdown of the 1.3 billion population imposed in March.