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France Says No To Facebook’s Libra
On Sep 15, 2020
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France has publicly revealed that Facebook Libra project cannot be allowed to thrive in any European country. This was made known by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Thursday while speaking at an OECD conference in Paris.
France Disapproves Of Libra
France is currently leading the pack of European countries that are striking at big tech companies. It passed a 3% digital tax on several U.S. firms like Facebook, Amazon, and Google. According to the French Finance minister, Bruno Le Maire,
“All these concerns around Libra are serious. So I want to say this with a lot of clarity: In these conditions, we cannot authorize the development of Libra on European soil.”
Le Maire stated concerns around the possibilities of Libra undermining the sovereignty of other nations’ currencies and also issues regarding terrorism financing and money laundering.
Libra Constantly Failing Regulatory Tests
Facebook Libra has fallen into choppy waters with many regulatory bodies across Europe and the United States since it was announced in June. Security, privacy and concerns around possible illicit use of the global digital currencies are blocking Facebook in developing the proposed controversial project. Recently, popular jurist and European Central Bank’s (ECB) legal official, Yves Mersch, made a comment on Facebook’s controversial proposed global digital currency project calling it “beguiling but treacherous.” According to Yves,
“I sincerely hope that the people of Europe will not be tempted to leave behind the safety and soundness of established payment solutions and channels in favor of the beguiling but treacherous promises of Facebook’s siren call, ”
Also, earlier this week, the Libra association was reported to have turned to Swiss FINMA for a payment system regulatory approval. According to a statement released by the association,
“Switzerland offers a pathway for responsible financial services innovation harmonized with global financial norms and strong oversight,”
“We are engaging in constructive dialogue with FINMA and are encouraged to see a feasible pathway for an open-source blockchain network to become a regulated, low-friction, high-security payment system,”


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QCOSTARICA – This Thursday, September 2, the first cruise liner of the 2021 season, the Star Breeze, arrived in Puerto Golfito.
The ship, which arrived from the Port of Balboa, in Panama, will remain in Costa Rica the rest of the week, and will also visit Quepos and Caldera.
The Star Breeze is not one of those gigantic ships, but the arrival marks the return of cruise passengers to Costa Rica, a market that was paralyzed by the pandemic for 17 months.
The last docking of a cruise ship in Pacific waters occurred on March 11, 2020, and in Limón, on March 16, 2020.
The vessel of approximately 13 tons, six decks and 159 meters in length was received with Costa Rican music, typical dances and authorities of the ministries of tourism and economy, Costa Rican Institute of Pacific Ports, the Golfo Dulce Chamber of Tourism and Commerce and Naviera Naútica, among others.
“The reactivation of this niche reinforces the economic recovery in the coastal areas. Passengers who choose to disembark in Costa Rican ports carry out activities that generate foreign exchange for the destination and this chain will benefit carriers and guides, local tour operators and gastronomy, among other chains,” said Gustavo Segura, Minister of Tourism.
Travelers are expected to take small-group excursions to the National Wildlife Refuge in Golfito, as well as dolphin watching at Punta Encanto.
“For the local economy and, above all, for the tourism sector, the arrival of the cruise ship is very important,” said Davie Salazar, executive director of the Golfo Dulce Chamber of Tourism and Commerce.
Salazar added that they were prepared considering sanitary regulations and integrating different groups related to tourism such as businessmen, local artisans and cultural groups.
The immigration service doing their thing for disembarking passengers.
The cruise season runs from September to March.

domain: news


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IK Investment Partners has agreed to sell Schenck Process, which provides measuring and process technology and serves industries including food, chemicals, mining and construction, in a deal valuing the business at more than €700 million ($836.7 million), a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Law360 on Thursday.
The European Union’s competition watchdog launched an agenda Thursday seeking agreement among the bloc's member countries to tax digital businesses where they earn profits, regardless of their physical location.
Uber urged the Ninth Circuit at a hearing Wednesday to decertify a class of drivers who say they were misclassified as independent contractors and send their claims to arbitration, saying the drivers’ individual interests preclude certification and that the court’s 2016 decision in another Uber case requires arbitration of individual claims.
Trade associations from the entertainment, art, medical and technology industries announced a new partnership Tuesday with a mission to advance creativity and innovation while facing the challenge of enforcing their intellectual property internationally.
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday reversed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling that NFC Technology failed to show the inventor of a near-field communication device had created a prototype that rendered a patent obvious, saying the decision lacked substantial evidence.
The number of requests for evidence on H-1B visa petitions for skilled workers has shot up by 45 percent this year compared to the same period in 2016, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services statistics.
Gambling product provider Scientific Games Corp., which owns slot machine maker Bally Technologies Inc., has struck a deal to scoop up digital gambling software company NYX Gaming Group Ltd. for roughly $628.3 million to create a digital gambling and lottery powerhouse, the pair announced on Wednesday.
White collar suspects’ use of email and other electronic communications about their illicit activity has been a boon to prosecutors for decades, but the rise of encrypted messaging apps and other new technology may be a roadblock to Wall Street prosecutors accustomed to a run of successes.
Amid revelations on Wednesday that a Waymo-commissioned expert report estimated damages caused by Uber’s alleged trade secret theft at $2.6 billion, U.S. District Judge William Alsup accused the Alphabet spinoff of crying “crocodile tears” in seeking to delay trial over the purported theft of self-driving car technology.
A California federal judge on Tuesday trimmed the Federal Trade Commission's closely watched suit accusing D-Link Systems Inc. of failing to adequately secure its connected devices, ruling that the commission had failed to allege any actual consumer injury to support its unfairness claim and that two of its deception claims weren't specific enough.
After months of setbacks and a series of rumored suitors, Toshiba finally unveiled firm plans to unload its memory business in a roughly 2 trillion yen ($17.9 billion) sale to a consortium led by Boston-based Bain Capital despite the Japanese company's ongoing legal battle with a joint venture partner. Here, an interactive graphic outlines the twists and turns leading to the deal.
Google is closing in on a deal to buy assets from struggling smartphone maker HTC, AIA Group is nearing an agreement to buy the roughly $4 billion insurance business of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Switzerland's stock exchange operator is mulling a sale of its multibillion-dollar payments business.
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Wednesday nixed a Mobile Telecommunications Technologies LLC wireless communications patent that the company had accused numerous tech giants of infringing, finding that it was obvious as anticipated over prior art.
The U.S. Tax Court's decided preference for the comparable uncontrolled transaction method, as shown most recently in transfer-pricing victories for Amazon and Medtronic, may not necessarily increase the method's popularity among taxpayers.
The former CEO of a fiber optics company that was bought by Corning Inc. last year was arrested Wednesday after being criminally charged and sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly using insider information and secret brokerage accounts to make $2 million.
The world’s largest computer companies have called for a global response to the threats that botnets pose to federal networks and other critical infrastructure, arguing that targets vulnerable to hacking threaten the entire digital ecosystem, the federal agency advising the president on telecommunication policies said.
A New York federal judge gave European investment firm KBC Asset Management NV and its lawyers at Motley Rice LLC the green light on Tuesday to lead a proposed securities fraud class action against cloud computing company Rackspace Hosting Inc.
System1, a Venice, California-based digital marketing company that provides businesses with targeted internet advertising services, has raked in $270 million from a group of investors led by private equity firm Court Square Capital Partners, according to a statement on Wednesday.
Toshiba said Wednesday it will sell its memory business to a consortium led by Boston-based Bain Capital for about 2 trillion yen ($17.9 billion) in an effort to forge a turnaround, a major step in a turbulent sales process steeped in litigation with the Japanese company’s joint venture partner.
Blue Coat Systems Inc. and Palo Alto Networks Inc. asked the Federal Circuit to rethink a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling upholding a Finjan Inc. malware detection patent asserted against them, arguing that it had misinterpreted prior art.
Blockchain has grown well beyond its cryptocurrency roots, leading proponents to suggest that it can aid in everything from voter registration to supply chain tracking. Companies can prepare for insurability and regulatory issues by recognizing potential risks in advance, say Brian Scarbrough and Justin Steffen of Jenner & Block LLP.
Maureen Ohlhausen, the acting chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, recently delivered a sobering attack on the agency, noting that it and other antitrust agencies have “lost sight of core antitrust principles.” From such a highly competent federal official who is also a recognized legal scholar, this critique deserves our full attention, says David Teece, chairman of Berkeley Research Group LLC.
A new utility business model may be coming in the near future, as distributed energy resources play a larger role. But the evolution of DERs will be strongly path-dependent — that is, the way DERs are valued and incentivized today will affect how they are viewed and adopted in the future, say Bill Zarakas and Frank Graves of The Brattle Group.
The only rationale for why the capital markets have succumbed to the trendy scheme of dual-class stock is that economist John Kenneth Galbraith was right — when it comes to financial markets, we do have short memories. History is littered with well-meaning founders and chief executives who succumbed to the seduction of wealth and power, says Les Trachtman, CEO of The Trachtman Group.
The European Court of Justice's judgment in the Intel case last week may play an important role in a number of high-profile European Commission investigations of alleged abuses of dominant positions, particularly in the technology and pharmaceutical sectors, say Ian Giles and Jay Modrall of Norton Rose Fulbright.
The growth and widespread use of distributed energy resources may ultimately contribute to the evolution of the electric grid into a more sophisticated “platform.” In this scenario, utilities will facilitate numerous transactions concerning energy and associated services among DERs, consumers and the utilities themselves, say Bill Zarakis and Frank Graves of The Brattle Group.
The Federal Trade Commission's recent settlement with Lenovo over allegedly preloaded adware on its laptops reinforces a growing trend of courts and regulatory authorities imputing liability to companies for the acts and omissions of its third-party vendors, say Tracy Lechner and Esteban Morin of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP.
Recent case law underscores the importance of demonstrating a strong causal link between a false or misleading statement forming the basis of a Lanham Act false advertising claim and a resulting injury to the plaintiff. These decisions provide valuable guidance for any company that wishes to pursue or needs to defend against a false advertising claim, say Susan Cook and Rebecca Mandel of Hogan Lovells.
Rapid deployment of distributed energy resources has led some to argue that the utility business model of the last 100 years will soon no longer suffice. Even moderate amounts of DERs change the landscape for utility planning, and require new methods of analysis and changes to status quo policies, say Bill Zarakas and Frank Graves of The Brattle Group.
Some have cast the Disney v. VidAngel proceeding, recently decided by the Ninth Circuit, as the “big studios” versus the “little guy.” This is far from the truth. Instead, copyright law served to vindicate a small Utah company that pioneered filtering and adhered to the law, says Jim Burger of Thompson Coburn LLP.


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Before I report this news for you, I want to point out one of the patents in question here in case you’ve missed it. U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647 involves the following. When you receive an incoming message on your iPhone containing a phone number, web link, e-mail address, or street address, this information is highlighted and turned into a link that you can tap. This tap in turn performs an action like opening the web link in Safari or asking if you would like to dial the phone number. That’s weird because I would have thought tapping a phone number should open your music player. Surely, who ever implemented that process on Android must have stolen it from Apple. Just food for thought since this is one of many patents Apple says HTC is in violation of.
Newly introduced into Apple’s patent infringement case against HTC involves Andy Rubin, co-founder of Android Inc. Apple is alleging that Rubin took inspiration for Android’s framework from APIs he supposedly encountered while working for Apple in the early 90s. Hit up the break for more.
We have heard all along that Amazon is working on two tablets. We are expecting at least one of them to come out this fall, and to be priced as a loss leader to blow Apple out of the water. This will most likely be a seven inch model.
We know they are working on a 10.1-inch version as well, but it looks like it might not hit the scene until the 1st quarter 2012 according to Foxconn, the manufacturer of the device. We have heard the codename is Hollywood, and it could include NVIDIA’s Kal-El quad-core chip. If this is the case, it would be a big set back since ASUS is ready to go with the Kal-El chip in the follow up to the very successful Transformer this fall.
I still think that if Amazon comes out with a $249 tablet this fall as expected, sales will be through the roof. Ultimately the hardcores will be yearning for the “Hollywood,” but volume is where it’s at for Amazon. They have a lot to gain from their app store, music, video, and book distributions. With the 7-inch version priced right, it will produce the volume necessary to drive their digital business.
The Android freight train shows no signs of slowing as its market share in the U.S has climbed to 41.8% for the three month period ending July 2011. Back in April it was at 36.4%. Apple was able to gain market share as well, but marginally. They are now at 27.0%, which is a gain of 1.0% from the previous period of 26.0%. Of course it is no surprise that Microsoft and RIM dropped in their respective market shares.
Android’s gain of 5.4% is huge as compared to Apples’s gain of 1.0%. Apple will continue to hold its own, especially with the iPhone 5 coming out this fall, and especially if the rumors hold that it will show up on Sprint as well. Android’s gain is coming from Microsoft and RIM’s decline. RIM will probably never show an increase unless they adopt Android, and Microsoft has a chance for some marginal increases with the launch of Mango.
There is no question the patent wars plaguing the smartphone and tablet industry is out of control. Verizon’s chief counsel, Randal Milch is now asking President Obama to step in. He wants a blanket statement from the President making clear that he would not allow any decision blocking imports of consumer wireless devices. He would rather see the parties enter into a license agreement.
The real question is if the President has the authority? It happens to be one peculiarity of the ITC that allows rulings to be waived by the President.
Unfortunately Verizon’s perspective is to provide new phones and tablets, and the blocking of imports hinders that. They want everything to be settled with licensing fees, but that is not the solution either. Licensing fees add to the costs and slows innovation. The real problem is the patent system. Patents are given out for just about anything, and the entire system needs to be overhauled.
Ultimately Milch’s request is a start. It could help burst the patent bubble so we can get back to pure innovation.
Earlier today we reported that a Netherlands Judge ruled that Samsung infringed Apple patent EP 2,058,868, and therefore banned the sale of the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and the Galaxy Ace.
Samsung made the following statement afterwards:
“Today’s ruling is an affirmation that the Galaxy range of products is innovative and distinctive. With regard to the single infringement cited in the ruling, we will take all possible measures including legal action to ensure that there is no disruption in the availability of our Galaxy smartphones to Dutch consumers.
“This ruling is not expected to affect sales in other European markets”
Later they made a second statement pointing out that the judge rejected 9 out of the 10 complaints Apple made against the Galaxy line (including tablets):
Millennial Media has tracked a 7% increase in Android usage on their network from June to July. This marks the eighth consecutive month that Android has held onto the lead. According to their data, July also bore witness to iOS dropping six points and RIM dropping one point. So we know who Android has been grabbing its share from. Apple was still the top vendor however, followed by Samsung, RIM, HTC, and Motorola. Hit the source link for more detailed data on manufacturers and individual phones.
By now you have already heard that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer. Here is the text of his resignation letter:
To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know.
Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
So what do you guys think? Steve’s comment that Apple’s “brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it” is interesting. Does this mean they will stop the patent war and actually start innovating? Don’t bet on it.
Well, well, well… isn’t this just the latest in “wow” news from the mobile world. Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, Founder, and overall grand master of Apple, Inc. has just resigned as CEO. In his place will be Tim Cook, Apple’s previous Chief Operating Officer. The Apple Board of Directors made this announcement mere minutes ago.
According to Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech,
“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company. Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”
So what does this mean for the mobile space? With such a huge player as Apple changing so dramatically, it’s hard to tell. Will Apple continue on its warpath to patent out the universe? Will mobile continue to be as big a part of Apple’s game plan? Time will give all these answers. All we know is that we’re reeling from the news. We knew the day was coming, we just weren’t sure when. Hopefully, this could be another major break for Google to part the waters and continue in the growth pattern they’ve been seeing for so long.
Here’s to you, Steve Jobs. We wish you well, but hope this proves to be a major stepping stone for Android. What do you think this means for the mobile space? Let us know in the comments below.
After it was announced that Google would acquire Motorola Mobillity, I wondered exactly what patents Google had their sights on. Number wise, this upcoming acquisition will bring in 17,000 existing patents and another 7,000 that are still pending from Motorola Mobility.
Out of the 17,000 patents, it seems 18 of them may be the most useful to defend Android. David Mixon, a patent lawyer at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, says this group of patents encompasses technology essential to the mobile-device industry including location services, antenna designs, e-mail transmission, touchscreen motions, software-application management and third generation wireless. To be a little more specific, the article states:
One patent from 2001 disables a “touch sensitive” sensor when a smartphone is near a user’s head to prevent inadvertent hang-ups or dialing. Another from 1994 aims to increase data storage, while a third enables users to control when a global positioning system sends their location data over a network.
In addition to the Apple battle, Motorola Mobility proposed that Microsoft has infringed on some of its patents over video technology and is looking to block imports of the Xbox video-game console. Peter Misek, an analyst with Jefferies & Co., says it as simple as possible stating “This is a war”.
With that said, the Google acquisition isn’t approved yet, so there may be a ways to go for this battle. I hope that the same amount of energy that’s going into these battles is also being put into new ideas. That statement applies to all the manufactures as everyone seems to be tied up in these battles with each other. Protecting technology and ideas are important, but I hope it will not hinder what’s really important to the consumers, which is competition. Check out the article for yourself and see what you think. What do you see as the end result of Google’s acquisition?


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Microsoft Research has developed a new type of smartphone cover. It features a secondary display and it knows when and how it's being flexed, offering users new ways to interact with their devices.
...of Microsoft money, ARM's acquisition, and Windows 10 updates
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge Lens Cover
Expanding mobile photography with Aukey's wide-angle lenses
JESBOD QY13 sports Bluetooth earphones
Time is running out to claim your free Windows 10 upgrade
windows 10 upgrade
Insider build 14393.3 for PC and Mobile released to Fast ring
A Taiwanese manufacturer demonstrates a bendable screen that sends input to a phone's operating system. Perhaps someday the screen can warn users if it bends too much in your pocket?
LG will invest $8.5bn in OLED display technology over the next three years, in an effort to establish itself as a leader in OLED TVs and a new generation of devices with truly flexible displays.
Samsung demonstrated its upcoming Youm fexlible display technology at its CES 2013 press conference in part by using what it might look like on a version of a Windows Phone device.
Samsung is creating very thin displays that are half as thick as ones available today. The ultimate goal is to allow the displays to be flexed and folded, increasing the portability in devices.
Nokia and Samsung are hoping that 2012 will be the year of flexible displays, but Apple isn't buying it. Could flexible displays be just the thing Microsoft needs to gain a foothold with Windows 8?
Nokia showed off a wild looking smartphone display prototype that it called the "Nokia kinetic device" that lets the user physically flex the screen in order to perform various tasks.


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Heroes Tastes and Taps is slated to open in the spring at a former Montana Mike's.
The bar and restaurant had been in operation for nearly two decades.
A retail spot for The Pie Box bakery opened; a Republic couple entered the restaurant industry; and west Springfield gained a medical marijuana dispensary.
The shop reopens after nearly two months of renovation work.
Specialty grocer Filipino Market LLC opened; the Republic restaurant for national pizza chain Domino’s moved; and personal trainer David Poland expanded into Christian County.
The Hive in Willard is hiring people with disabilities for plans to open in March.
This package features five small-business owners who make their goods in the Ozarks
The Rountree neighborhood gained a flower shop; drive-thru coffee shop Chance of Sno & Coffee Co. LLC launched in Nixa; and a former over-the-road truck driver transitioned into a new career path.
Even with vaccine delivery underway, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in December reported most small-business owners nationwide believe the worst of the pandemic is ahead.
Vintage Paris owners predict revenue will surpass $300,000 in 2021.
PKD Venue will serve breakfast and lunch starting Feb. 8.
Antojos Tacos y Mas ownership announces plans to focus on family.
A former Meek's building is under contract for a proposed custard shop, city officials say.
Evangel University senior Abby Voelker became a first-time business owner; a Springfield Public Schools venture got a new home; and Branson-based The Robbins Group moved.
Locally Noted concept sends ticket holders on themed experiences at area businesses.
Fort Smith, Arkansas-based K-MAC Holdings is adding to its southwest Missouri properties with a second Taco Bell store in Ozark.
They said it. We're reporting it. Fourteen industry forecasts lead the way into 2021.
The Bark Yard dog park and bar concept launched; Charity Fent Cake Design LLC moved; and a pair of business owners collaborated on opening The Hidden Hut LLC.
This poll is not a scientific sampling. It offers a snapshot of what readers are thinking.
Heather Kite, owner of startup business Rooted Deep Farms, talks about tough times during the winter of 2020-2021. She says determination was a necessary component that kept her going.
Jeramey and Julia Henson, co-owners of HM Dentworks Academy, discuss the importance of family in work-life balance. They say you can’t make up for the major life events. HM Dentworks Academy is also co-owned by Chris McWhirter.
Rachel Barks, owner of Artistry Pottery, talks about her struggle with PXE, or Pseudoxanthoma elasticum, a disease that affects the eyes. She says that despite her struggle, she is ultimately thankful.
Jessica Burkland, a Missouri State University business instructor in the Department of Management, talks about small business start-up trends in a post-pandemic year. Burkland, who owns Activate Consulting & Training and volunteers as a small business mentor for SCORE of Southwest Missouri, says startups that offer new services and products to help people work from home or that enhance mental health could find greater success.
Jim and Debbie Meinsen, co-owners of TCI Graphics, say the past year has been one of the toughest they have faced. Now in the company's 50th year, the couple says they learned a few things in 2020.
Charlie Rosenbury, president of Self-Interactive, calls on his experience in programming to illustrate lessons he has learned running a business and life in general. Springfield Business Journal's 90 Ideas is presented by Great Southern Bank.
Darline Mabins talks with SBJ’s Christine Temple about growing up after a tragic accident took the lives of her mother and older brother. Mabins is now the regional branch sales manager for Arvest Bank. No Ceiling is an SBJ podcast, going in depth with local women, sharing their journey to the top of their professions.
Caleb Scott, owner, coach and player for Queen City Insane Asylum semi-professional football team, talks about the ways that the team works to support each other on and off the field. Scott says you can’t force people to become leaders, they have to come naturally.
Steve Williams, owner of Crosstown Barbecue, discusses the role relationships have played throughout the 51 years that Crosstown Barbecue has been in business. He says that while he puts effort into providing the best food he can, ultimately “people like to do business with people they like.”
Randy Bacon, professional photographer and humanitarian, relates his experience building relationships with clients since he became a photographer. He says building relationships with his clients and perfecting his craft are the most important things he does to spread his business.


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Following the death of Jiang Zemin, the launch of Vivo’s iQOO 11 and the midrange iQOO 7 SE will not hold on the 2nd of December. This is coming barely 48 hours to the initially scheduled official launch event.
Vivo had previously ticked December 2nd for the official announcement of it iQOO 7 SE and the iQOO 11 series. Sadly, news broke earlier today in China, of the sudden demise of Jiang Zemin, a former Chinese president between 1993 to 2003.
Jiang Zemin who died at 96 (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022), was also the chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004. Consequently, his death has lead to the suspension of major exciting events from China, including the launch of Xiaomi’s December 1st launch event.
Even though it is very obvious, like Xiaomi, iQOO did state reasons for the cancellation. Speaking on Weibo, the company said:
We regret to inform you that the new product launches of the iQOO 11 series and iQOO Neo7 SE will be postponed. We will notify you as soon as the new release date is confirmed. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Stephen is the Editor-in-Chief @DroidAfrica. He has been in the tech space for over 6 years helping mobile technology users to understand more about their very own devices. His work on DroidAfrica is born out of a pure passion for tech, especially as it relates to smartphones.


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Sen. Hoeven Hosts Roundtable Discussion Around Market Facilitation Program Payments
The USDA is Providing Assistance to Eligible Farmers Impacted by Tariffs
FARGO, N.D. — With tariffs, trade negotiations and low commodity prices, farmers are still struggling.
The USDA is providing eligible farmers nationwide with $14.5 billion in Market Facilitation Program payments.
But North Dakota producers have a unique set of challenges.
“Certainly some crop diversity that we don’t see everywhere across the country. Weather challenges, obviously, too that compound the situation that a lot of farmers are in,” said USDA FSA Administrator Richard Fordyce.
Sen. John Hoeven and Fordyce are in town listening, asking questions and digging for solutions.
“Right now, a lot of farmers are hurting. And so, these Market Facilitation Program payments are certainly going to be helpful for some cash to infuse into their businesses and to continue to give the administration just a little bit more time to negotiate better trade deals,” said Fordyce.
Only half of the payments will be given out by mid–August.
They say cash flow is just a small piece of the big picture.
“It’s not just about getting this assistance out, which we’re talking about today. That’s really to kind of help them through this stretch while we work hard to negotiate trade agreements to get access to markets on a fair basis. And if we can do that, our farmers and ranchers can compete with anyone in the world,” said Sen. Hoeven.
Open and fair trade is the ultimate goal.
“We grow, produce the very best products in the world, and our partners want those. Our trading partners want those products. We got to get to a point where we have that opportunity to do that in a very fair way,” said Fordyce.
But Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, told Bloomberg these payments are merely helping the biggest farms get even bigger while family farms keep shrinking.
North Dakota’s FSA Committee Chairman Jim Hauge says it’s been a long journey.
“If we can have fair and open trade, we can compete with anybody. But the deck has been stacked against us for so long that it’s really, really been hard to achieve that.”
Through this first round of payment, each eligible farmer receives 50 percent of their payment or 15 dollars per acre, whichever amount is more.


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Walgreens has expanded its Covid-19 vaccination efforts to more than 7,000 stores in 49 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
The expansion announced Monday comes as the Biden administration ramps up the number of doses sent to states while increasing the availability of doses sent directly to U.S. retail pharmacies including CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart and others. These retail pharmacies are key to President Biden’s directive to have a vaccination site within five miles of 90% of Americans homes by April 19.
Walgreens, which has said it has the capacity to administer up to 20-25 million Covid-19 shots a month, has already administered more than 11 million Covid-19 doses. The increasing supply of vaccines from makers Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson is the reason CVS and other drugstores and retailers with pharmacies are able to offer vaccinations.
“With the initiative to vaccinate residents and staff in long-term care facilities nearly complete, close to 60,000 immunizers are now administering vaccinations at more than 7,000 Walgreens stores and through off-site clinics,” Walgreens said Monday in a statement updating its progress.
Walgreens, which is administering more than 1 million Covid-19 vaccine shots a week, said the company is prioritizing medically underserved communities that have been hit hard by Covid-19 both inside its pharmacies as well as by vaccine clinics “off-site.”
“Walgreens has conducted nearly 500 COVID-19 vaccine clinics to date in underserved areas across the country, including locations in California, Illinois, Georgia and Mississippi,” the company said.
“Hundreds more off-site clinics are planned for the months ahead with partners including Uber, local community organizations, and most recently, national partners including the 100 Black Men of America Inc., and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc.,” Walgreens said. “From Houston and Chicago to Milwaukee and El Paso, Walgreens is working in collaboration with partners on the ground to accelerate equitable access and to remove transportation barriers for individuals hardest hit by the pandemic.”


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How Do Toy Companies Like Lego Stay Alive in a Tech Boom?
In an increasingly digital world, it seems as if the traditional toys of decades past are waning in popularity among toy makers eager to gain new young fans. In order to capture the attention of children looking for the newest item on store shelves, companies are adding buttons, creating apps, and launching into completely new areas of toy technology to ensure they’re at the forefront of the digital wave in children’s play. Lincoln Logs are cast aside in favor of puzzle apps on tablets, and digital companies are pairing up with toy companies like Little Tykes to create play on a screen instead of the living room floor.
The rise in technology isn’t a bad thing: Parents now have broader access to games and resources that seem like play, but also teach their children the basics of math, reading, and other skills — often through free apps on their devices. But how are “analog” games without computer chips supposed to compete? Through a series of hard lessons, LEGO learned the solution often comes in moderation.
The company, founded in 1926 by Danish owners, has updated over the years, but based much of the company around the plastic building bricks that made the company so well-known. Just as “Kleenex” is so often the general term for tissues, the success of the toy brand means that plastic building blocks will always be called “LEGOs,” no matter the actual manufacturer. But the rise of technology has not always been kind to the company, and it’s taken quite a balancing act to bring the company back from the brink of bankruptcy in 2003.
At the 2015 New York Toy Fair in February, LEGO’s senior director of brand relations Michael McNally told Fast Company the business wasn’t going to buy the idea that kids only want toys with smart chips. “You put the toy industry under one roof and you hear, ‘This is what kids want,'” he said. “LEGO very resolutely stands in opposition to that.”
LEGO’s turnaround story
Perhaps it’s because the company already knows that throwing misguided innovation at children won’t typically yield success. Innovation became a key focus for the company in 2000, and it followed all of the rules. “LEGO followed all the advice of the experts,” said David Robertson, a professor of operations and information management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “And yet it almost went bankrupt.” By 2003, after a series of unsuccessful theme parks and toys that only were popular in niche markets, LEGO lost $300 million and was projected to lose another $400 million in 2004. The company had been innovative, Robertson explained at a conference in 2012, but hadn’t stayed rooted in the reason they were successful. Not enough attention was paid to the literal building blocks of the company.
So instead, the company sought to integrate with the digital world in more balanced ways. When products are developed, the goal is to inspire play among children, no matter the medium they’re using. And at LEGO, today that means a balance of real-life blocks and virtual systems. Instead of making video games that were only created for a virtual reality, the makeup of LEGO’s games inspire kids to build in real life, too. The nature of play started to become noticeably reciprocal, McNally said. “Kids see no difference between the digital and physical world,” he said. “It could be content on YouTube that inspires them to go back and play. Our goal is to surround kids with experiences that drive them back to building.”
That idea is echoed by Michael Cohen, a developmental psychologist and market researcher. Cohen, when interviewed by ToyInfo.org, said that technology often becomes a means for the imagination, not the core of what the child experiences. “With every new technology there’s a novelty phase,” Cohen told ToyInfo. “The fact that it’s on touch screen becomes the big thing. But then the technology becomes so integrated into our lives that it becomes functional. … The focus will be back on the play rather than the technology.”
At the toy fair in New York, the emphasis was still on technology. The Verge, a website dedicated to the intersection of technology and culture, picked out several of the latest toys poised to hit the market. Crayola has an app that brings coloring pages to life by recreating the page on screen. Kids can then use a mannequin to make the figure move on the screen. Anki Overdrive mixes video game technology with a real-life race course. Fisher Price has a “Smart Connect” set that allows parents to control their child’s cradle or nursery mobile with their phones.
LEGO made The Verge’s list, too: After a hugely successful movie release in 2014 that grossed $257.8 million in the United States alone, the company introduced technology that allows children to use the toy figures to interact with an app. LEGO FUSION blends building specially-created bricks and scanning them with a tablet. The characters within the app tell a story, battle each other, and more as the kids build the structures in real life. The products were first released in mid-2014, and the video below shows how the interaction works.
The increase in technology can be a concern for parents, though no recent concerns have popped up from LEGO users. Mattel, the makers of Barbie, have been fielding concerns because of how their newest doll interacts with children. Using cloud software, the new Hello Barbie incorporates speech recognition and connects to Wi-Fi. When children (or anyone) press a button on her belt buckle, the doll records what they say and sends it up to the cloud, keeping a growing record of the childrens’ likes and dislikes. The doll is scheduled to go on sale this fall for $74.99, but some critics say the doll is too “creepy” for their children. The company says it’s only providing what children have already imagined: a way to have a conversation with Barbie.
Regardless of trends in toys, and whether some like Hello Barbie even make it onto the gift list, Cohen told ToyInfo that the long-term success of any toy – “unplugged” or not, will have to do with the play value, not the gadgets. “I think part of the reason we’re seeing a resurgence of unplugged toys is that they have immense play value,” he said. “And those are the ones that are evergreens…We’ll see an explosion of digital toys but the ones that are going to make it are the ones that offer extraordinary play value, and that will be used over and over.” In essence, as long as LEGO still inspires kids to play and be creative, the company will be just fine.
Follow Nikelle on Twitter @Nikelle_CS


text:
Lowcostbeds plans to speed up access to its properties for online agents in the next few weeks by introducing an improved version of its XML gateway.
Paul Riches, Group Director of Sales, said that the group has already more than doubled its long-haul sales through the trade in the past 12 months. The company now has around 100,000 hotels in its portfolio, including more than 20,000 long-haul properties. Lowcostbeds recently expanded into more long-haul destinations, with particular focus on the Caribbean, Far East and Australia, the USA and Middle East.
“We have been steadily building our long-haul business over the last few years through the trade, and now see the opportunity to really accelerate this growth,” said David Weatherson, Long-haul Product and Purchasing Manager. “We are not as well known for long-haul destinations as short-haul, but we aim to change that perception over the forthcoming months.”
New destinations include Kenya, Gambia, the Maldives, Mauritius and South America, with many new hotels sourced from international chains such as Centara, Hilton and Barcel.
“With our improved technology, we are now able to offer a much greater range of long-haul hotels than ever before,” added Paul Riches.


text:
Diageo’s luxury brands mask Guinness slump
Wednesday 31 July 2013
Britons are splashing out on upmarket spirits like Ciroc vodka — a favoured tipple of Prince Harry — even as Guinness sales struggle, the world’s biggest drinks company said today.
The blue-chip’s UK sales were flat in the year to June but a 14% rise in luxury brands like Ciroc, Ketel One and Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve proved a stark contrast with a 3% fall in sales of the black stuff.
The Ciroc “halo” — when a bottle served at a table in a gleaming metal ring is rocked to pour the vodka into the glass — is a feature of London nightclubs such as Mahiki, the Rose Club and Zuma. Chief financial officer Deirdre Mahlan said: “The clubs in the biggest cities around the world are the ones where we want our brands positioned.”
Diageo’s Johnnie Walker whisky is now selling 20 million cases a year, with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Platinum retailing at £66. “Even in difficult times consumers look for affordable luxuries,” Mahlan added. Guinness — mainly drunk in pubs — is struggling with a “difficult macro backdrop”, she said.
Western Europe — where sales fell 4% — remained the toughest market for the company in the first set of results since chief executive Ivan Menezes took over from long-serving Paul Walsh earlier this year. Diageo grew profits 8% to £3.53 billion in the year to June, but overall sales were up 5% — short of its medium term 6% target set in August 2011 — despite strong spirits sales in the US. Investec analyst Martin Deboo warned: “Chronic weakness in Southern Europe and trouble spots in Korea, Brazil and elsewhere are contriving to impede recovery.”
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer and maker of Budweiser, Beck’s and Stella Artois, sold less beer but made more money than expected in the second quarter as drinkers absorbed price hikes and traded up to premium lagers. Underlying profits rose 6% to a higher than expected $3.9 billion in the second quarter.
- 1 Scottish referendum: So how about the English now being given a chance to split from England?
- 2 Friends 20th anniversary: Alison Jackson photographs reunited cast
- 3 London council removes 'unacceptable' Stamford Hill posters telling women which side of the road to walk down
- 4 The response to my Pizza Express review has been overwhelming, and taught me a lot about journalism
- 5 Free U2 album: How the most generous giveaway in music history turned into a PR disaster
Scottish independence referendum: A nation divided against itself
Scottish referendum results: Cross-party consensus collapses amid Tory-Labour spat on the 'English question'
Scottish independence: David Cameron is becoming the 'George Bush of Britain'
Russia freezes Ukraine into submission: Kiev admits country doesn't have enough fuel for winter
Archbishop of Canterbury admits doubts about existence of God
Portuguese academic says British are 'filthy, violent and drunk'
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text:
The increase is better than historical norms, according to John Pitzer, chip industry analyst at Credit Suisse Securities (USA). August marks the third month in a row that chip sales have been higher than seasonal norms.
is the month electronics manufacturers buy most of the chips they need
to prepare for holiday season gadget demand, the SIA said, indicating
companies expect strong Christmas sales. Rising PC demand is also
boosting overall chip sales because about 40 percent of all chips go
into PCs. Other goods are helping global chip sales by increasing the
number of chips used, such as automobile engines.
Sales of Personal Computers are way up worldwide as well; 12.5 percent higher than last year for the quarter.
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text:
The Federal Trade Commission’s rulemaking on non-compete agreements faces legal obstacles but could reap political and public policy benefits even if it’s struck down in court.
It’s an unusual legal story that involves international chess tournaments, the Twombly standard for pleading collusion, Arthur Schopenhauer, and radio-controlled vibrating sex devices — all at the same time. But this is such a story.
Current Issue: 1031
Next Issue: Feb 14, 2023
A complaint against Amazon could be based on novel legal theories and resemble the Facebook case in its breadth, as the Federal Trade Commission looks at whether Amazon’s market dominance is...
Twice last week, Federal Trade Commission member Noah Phillips did the opposite of entering the lion’s den.
The Federal Trade Commission dropped to No. 22 in a coveted listing of best places to work among midsize government agencies, after ranking in the top five for the past five years.
When Justice Stephen Breyer retired from the Supreme Court last month, the court lost its most knowledgeable expert on antitrust and administrative law, and one who wasn’t easy to label.
It costs more to be a woman, and 61 members of Congress say the Federal Trade Commission should enforce violations of a ban on gender-based pricing.
Both federal antitrust agencies are looking for new ideas to deepen their analysis of pharmaceutical mergers, and now they have the workshop to prove it.
In a scenario that seemed far-fetched just three months ago, a comprehensive US national privacy bill is speeding through Congress and changing rapidly, with a vote expected in the House soon.
Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said the agency must develop research into ensuring that minority-owned businesses aren’t discriminated against and screened out as potential...
Go slow. That’s the advice most scholars and practitioners are giving to the Federal Trade Commission as it considers embarking on antitrust rulemaking.
Access all archived issues back to 1994


text:
This is such a simple, elegantly executed design that I'm surprised we can't actually buy it yet. Designer Vanessa Hordies' website says the hourglass lamp is "coming soon", so fingers crossed we can soon burn down the minutes until it's time for bed. [Vanessa Hordies via Mocoloco]
Bury The Light In Sand, To Remind You Of The Passing Time
Trending Stories Right Now
Video. Presented without comment, because who am I to judge.
The European Commission paid €360,000 ($541,980) for a study on how piracy impacts the sales of copyrighted music, books, video games and movies. But the EU never shared the report -- possibly because it determined that there is no evidence that piracy is a major problem.


text:
The best smartphone of the era coming soon to rock the gadget market, According to latest rumors Samsung’s next generation smartphone, Galaxy S5 with Android Kitkat, Octa-core processor, 16MP camera and innovative eye scanner coming by Mid- March 2014 along with the next-gen Galaxy Gear smartwatch expected priced around Rs 50,000 or $ 720. to take on Apple iPhone 5s.(ibtimes)
According Rumors upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 is the first phone to feature eye-scanning/iris-recognition will offers you 5.0-inch Super AMOLED display with 2K (2560x1440p) resolutions and pixel density of 560 ppi (pixels per inch) powered by a 64-bit architecture based Samsung Exynos chipset or Exynos 5420 Octa-core processor with 3GB RAM and 64GB ultra-slim memory and expandable memory solutions for faster multitasking will runs on Android 4.4 kitkat OS browsing with Mozilla and Firefox sporting a 16MP rear camera with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and 2MP front facing camera with with full HD video recording packed with powerful 4000 mAh dual-battery concept.
It expected to offer you most innovative features like Liquid cooling technology, Float Touch technology , wireless charging, Shatterproof screen, KNOX technology , Smart Eye Tracking technology including Fingerprint sensors, Shatterproof screen, 3D camera. How ever no confirmation from Samsung so far.
At last I would like to say that upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 is coming to do wonder in sales. What you think? Please be open to give your view.


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» Mac Book Air 2014 Next Generation
Mac Book Air 2014 Next Generation
Mac Book Air 2014 Next Generation on Technology News and Updates AdmaTechnology.com at Friday, April 18, 2014
One of the advantages of this device is able to work without a hitch with Apple Time Machine
The company Western Digital announced a new version of an external hard drive My Book Studio.
USB 3.0 capability is now added to the family hard drive My Book [...]
You look forward to welcoming the Microsoft Office applications on Android and iOS seems to be more patient.
Because, the latest news says that Microsoft is delaying its release until 2014.
Quoted from ZDNet, Thursday (11/4), the largest software producer [...]
The launch of Apple’s tiny tablet, iPad Mini, Tuesday (10/24) morning was really a magnet for lovers of the gadget world, to the extent that the presence of a fourth-generation iPad was released simultaneously ignored.
The fourth generation of [...]
The observations made by Repair Labs under a microscope.
According to a report released by Repair Labs, the quality of the screen which is owned by iPad mini, it is still above iPad second generation.
It is based on the quality of each screen tablet [...]
Polaroid has agreed to put his name behind a Socialmatic concept, which will embody the spirit of Instagram into real form with an instant camera.
With the help of ADR Studios, Polaroid instant camera will perform retro and is expected to be present [...]
Unfinished news about the iPhone 5S, the latest info is precisely focused on the iPhone 6.
Quoted from BGR, Wednesday (1/5), an analyst mentioned that this smartphone will be released in June 2014.
Analyst named Peter Misek it seems pretty confident [...]
The workings of the technology they have is to change the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the air and make it as synthesis gas.
A genius engineer from England middle pioneered a new technology that can produce fuel (gasoline) made of [...]
The key features? iPhone
Every day the number and types of smartphones is increasing. Choose the one that suits the needs of each person, require adequate information about the technology, features, and operating system. Especially considering the price [...]
Los Angeles – Technology latest computer with a transparent display that allows users to reach out and touch into digital content introduced recently at the TED Conference (Technology, Entertainment and Design) in Los Angeles.
Researchers TED Jinha [...]
Good news for all you lovers of the game The Sims. Electronic Arts officially announced that The Sims 4 ready to be released in 2014.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Tuesday (7/5), EA sure about human life simulation game is being developed for PC and Mac.
Smartphone Sony Yuga is estimated by some analysts will be the mainstay.
A number of people have stated that Sony was preparing his most recent flagship smartphone, which is rumored to be a major competitor iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S III.
According to [...]


text:
December 21, 2000
tops budget issues
Alfred M. Biddlecomb
Plans to continue phasing out the car tax, despite a slump in the economy,
are getting mixed reviews from lawmakers in Richmond where another fierce
debate seems to be brewing over Northern Virginia transportation needs.
Gov. James S. Gilmore III renewed his pledge to eliminate the unpopular
tax during remarks made to the Senate and House budget-writing committees
Wednesday’s briefing gave lawmakers a look at Gilmore’s amendments to
the state’s $48 billion budget which will be debated during the 2001 General
Assembly session beginning Jan. 10.
State legislators have already abolished 47.5 percent of the personal
property tax on automobiles and a 70 percent reduction is expected next
year with a full phase out expected in 2002. Phase out of the car tax is
contingent on 5 percent yearly increases in state tax collection.
With revenue projections for this year lagging below 5 percent, Gilmore
proposed a plan to use a lump sum payment of the state’s share of the national
tobacco settlement to raise revenues to the 5 percent level, thus triggering
further car tax relief.
“The bond of trust between the people and their government is a
sacred one,” Gilmore said in his remarks to the committees. “I’m
a man of my word and I keep my promises.”
Gilmore’s insistence on eliminating the tax, which was the cornerstone
of this 1997 campaign for governor, will cost an estimated $1.2 billion
Car tax reduction and slumping revenue figures caused Gilmore to postpone
further reduction in the sales tax on food which was reduced from 4.5 percent
to 4 percent earlier this year.
Another half percent was scheduled to be shaved off the tax on food
in April, but state revenue estimates won’t allow it.
Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, said the money and effort being made
to eliminate the car tax should go toward tax relief on groceries and helping
to give public school teachers a raise.
“I don’t see how you can find money to fund the car tax and can’t
find enough to remove this measly half a percent of the sales tax on food,”
Gilmore said he’s open to creative suggestions to further reduce sales
taxes on food during the upcoming legislative session.
Gilmore is also asking state agencies to make cuts ranging from 3 to
6 percent in order to save another $206 million from the budget.
Del. John A. “Jack” Rollison, R-Woodbridge, was visibly upset
at some of Gilmore’s new budget numbers and said he’s expecting a battle
over keeping transportation funding that was fought for by Northern Virginia
lawmakers during the last session.
The General Assembly approved a priority transportation fund last March,
which is supposed to set aside money to accelerate needed road projects.
Rollison said Gilmore’s plan would shift some of that money around replacing
cash with debts.
“This plan would turn $70 million in cash into debt and it would
take another $65 million out of the highway trust fund,” Rollison said
after Gilmore’s remarks. “That’s $135 million in transportation commitments.”
Rollison, co-chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said he
worries about money shuffling in the transportation budget.
“It’s as if the governor promised to buy us a home and then a year
later gives us a mortgage to pay off as well,” Rollison said. “The
governor is not being faithful to his promises.”
A number of Northern Virginia lawmakers are expected to endorse legislation
forming a special taxing district to fund Northern Virginia highway projects.
The formation of a Northern Virginia transportation authority would
allow the region to raise special tax revenues – either through sales
or fuel taxes – in order to finance regional road projects.
“There’s going to be legislation on that but we’re still debating
the form such an authority will take and how it will be funded,” Rollison
Rollison said he supports such a bill as long as the final decision
is left up to the voters in a local referendum. Such an authority would
include Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Arlington counties and Alexandria
and all other cities and towns within those counties’ boundaries.
Though Gilmore vetoed similar legislation last year, he has shown signs
in recent days of possibly supporting such a referendum. He even went as
far to say it sounded like a good idea on a local radio program earlier
Rollison, however, isn’t that optimistic.
“From what I’ve been hearing today, the governor’s already backtracking
on that,” Rollison said. “We’re still going to take a look at
it and see where it goes.”
Other budget amendments include:
n Taking $460 million of the tobacco settlement in a lump sum to pay
for college building and economic development projects.
n Bond issues totaling $600 million for public building construction,
improvements and maintenance. This includes $30.7 million for new academic
buildings at George Mason University’s Fairfax and Arlington campuses.
n An additional $10.1 million for public education, including $6 million
to expand a remedial program for students at low-performing schools.
n $38 million to give state employees raises averaging 3.5 percent under
the new pay-for-performance plan.
Alfred Biddlecomb is a staff writer for the Potomac News in Woodbridge.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Venison: Deer hunters provide food for the hungry
Bambi is good for Virginians in need.
The facts: Venison is one of nature’s leanest meats, and deer populations
continue to overburden limited land resources in Northern Virginia. In Virginia,
one in eight families is affected by hunger.
Hunters for the Hungry was started in 1991, and since then the program
has provided nearly 4 million servings of venison to Virginia’s needy.
In Manassas, the meat has gone to SERVE Inc.
“God love them. We love them over there,” said SERVE food
closet coordinator Helen McWhorten, of the hunters and meat processor Manassas
Frozen Foods. “And our clients love it.”
Over the past five years, she said SERVE has gotten hundreds of thousands
of pounds of meat from local hunters, who donate their freshly killed deer
through the program that pays for the meat processing.
This year, Manassas Frozen Foods on Main Street reports that local hunters
this season donated 56 deer, up from 24 last year.
Frank Parrish, owner of Manassas Frozen Foods, was going through donation
receipts last Thursday.
“Here’s a guy who donated two deer, 58 pounds and 105 pounds,”
he said. “Here’s one. 62 pounds. This guy donated Nov. 29, 82 pounds.
Here’s one. Not only did he donate the deer, he left $40 to pay for the
Hunters for the Hungry also makes the public aware of the tradition
of hunting and quality of deer meat.
“Five years ago when we started this, we couldn’t pay anyone to
eat deer meat,” McWhorten said.
So she said SERVE staff passed out recipe tips on how to cook venison.
It should be treated like beef, but cooked just a bit longer. For people
who want to dilute its bit of a gamy taste, it can be soaked in milk or
vinegar. Venison is superb in spaghetti sauce, or as a stew, McWhorten said.
“And now we have people who ask for it,” she said.
Parrish said hunters bring in their deer usually within 24 hours of
killing them. Deer can be hung overnight, provided they were gutted in the
field, and it is cold outside, he said. The deer is best kept clean by not
skinning them in the field, he said.
Manassas Frozen Meats provides SERVE with family-size packs of deer
meat, Parrish said.
The SERVE food closet provides an average of 2,200 people with a week’s
worth of groceries every month. The shelves are swelled now from Operation
Turkey, evidence of the community’s extreme generosity, McWhorten said,
and the venison is just one of many sources of protein families get.
Fresh produce, milk, overflowing amounts of bread, formula for infants,
meats from grocery stores and just about anything else you’d find at the
grocery that has been donated is given to needy families by SERVE, McWhorten
· Contact Chris Newman at [email protected].
to close Saturday
The strength of the economy is forcing Wolf’s Pizza to close its doors.
The pizza delivery shop has had problems with getting dependable help for
the last 10 months, and chef/owner Danny Wolf said it’s gotten to the point
where they can’t survive.
Wolf said his shop may shut down as early as this Saturday, or after
a few days next week.
“It’s funny, or sad, to say this – the economy is too good,”
Fellow downtown business owners sympathized with Wolf’s plight at the
Old Town Business Association meeting Wednesday morning.
“It’s a shame too because he makes award-winning pizza,” said
Arnold Levine, vice president of the Old Town Business Association. “But
if you can’t get the pizza delivered, you can’t get the business.”
Wolf’s Pizza opened in September 1999. His product is so good that Italian
chefs traveled to Manassas to learn his methods after he was the only non-Italian
to place at the World Pizza Championships in Italy last April.
That was three weeks of labor, too, Wolf joked at the time, saying he’ll
take it any way he can get it.
Some customers mail his breadsticks to friends in California, and others
come in to learn how he cooks them.
But the labor market was tougher than he ever imagined it would be.
Young people can easily move from job to job, which doesn’t lend itself
to a strong work ethic, he said. Drivers would not show up to work, and
didn’t bother to call. Wolf’s had to close for more than a day last month
because they couldn’t deliver.
Many low-skilled workers will only work for several weeks at a time,
he said, and McDonalds pays $8 to $9 an hour and doesn’t require that employees
“How do you compete with that?” Wolf asked, since it takes
six weeks before a new hire is cooking good pizzas consistently.
He points out that Pizza Outlet has closed three locations in Prince
William County but is holding on to them until the economy slows down.
Levine said independent shops are more greatly impacted when hired help
is not dependable. People will go to Target and Wal-Mart no matter who is
there, he said.
But shop owners have to project an image, and Wolf saw his service slipping.
“I’m that mom-and-pop shop that the big guy has hurt,” Wolf
said. “He survived because he’s got lots of crutches. The only crutch
I got is, well, nothing.”
Wolf does have his cooking skills to fall back on.
He is a trained chef who has cooked for Ronald Reagan in the White House.
He’s looking to taking a post as a chef at a top restaurant in Washington,
D.C., but nothing is final, he said. The shop maybe sold to one of the pizza
chains; he won’t say which.
· Contact Chris Newman at [email protected].
sells Jewish gifts
There’s an air of excitement among the young people shopping in the
Ner Shalom Judaica Shop.
Hanukkah has arrived and the adults help children select small gifts
to give to their parents during the Festival of Lights at Prince William
County’s only temple located on Spriggs Road.
But it wasn’t always this way.
For years, the Judaica Shop was like a traveling road show. The Menorahs,
candles, dreidels, gelt and gifts for sale were unpacked and repacked after
every event. It wasn’t until 1994 that a home was found for the shop in
the Congregation Ner Shalom temple.
“We’d load up our cars with all the boxes during the November and
December meetings and services,” Joan Cohn, manager of the store said.
“We’d set up our little store and then pack it all up again.”
When the temple was built six years ago, a space was designed by the
architects to house the Jucaida Shop. Now the walls of what was once a mobile
shop are lined with shelves, all holding merchandise related to the Jewish
Since the shop has become stationary, the inventory has grown as well.
Candle-lit and electric Menorahs, chocolate coins, wrapping paper and gift
items of all types are available, Cohn said. Plus, all the supplies needed
for a traditional Hanukkah celebration.
Cohn shops the area for Jewish-related gifts that might appeal to the
congregation of more than 125 families. While it used to be hard to find
Hannukah-related gift items in stores, Cohn said its become much better.
“Places stock things for Hanukkah now, it’s just how you stumble
upon it,” Cohn said.
The store is open before Sunday and Friday services, except in the summertime
when it remains closed for the season.
But the weeks before Hanukkah and during the eight days of the lighting
of the Menorah, which begins this evening, are special to everyone in the
congregation, Cohn said.
“Everybody has their own traditions. It depends on the family,”
Cohn said. “But this is a wonderful time.”
Hanukkah, observed by millions of Jewish people around the world, is
a holiday celebrating the rededication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem after
it had been turned into a pagan shrine by the Seleucid Emperor Epiphanes
The eight-day holiday falls according to the Jewish lunar calendar and
is celebrated by the Festival of Lights. Each night, a candle is added and
lit on the Menorah, symbolizing the number of days one jar of divine oil
lasted the Maccabees when they reentered the temple.
The Judaica Shop is a wonderful asset to the temple, according to its
president, Scot Rittenberg.
With families coming from all over Prince William County, southern Fairfax
County and northern Stafford County to attend services, it’s important to
offer the congregation a place to find gifts and supplies related to their
Friday’s annual Hanukkah service is always a special time to the congregation,
“The story of Hanukkah will be told and we will give gifts to the
children of the congregation,” Rittenberg said.
Following the lighting of the Menorah, everyone will eat latkes, the
traditional potato pancakes.
“This is the time for a festive celebration,” Rittenburg said.
· Caryn Goebel is a staff writer for the Potomac News in Woodbridge.
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text:
Burger joint to open at Dolphin Square
PUBLISHED: 16:00 26 January 2018 | UPDATED: 16:55 26 January 2018
A burger joint which serves up mammoth meaty creations is coming to Weston-super-Mare's Dolphin Square.
American diner 7Bone Burger Co. is the latest restaurant to claim a unit at the multi-million-pound leisure hub.
The chain has several outposts along the south coast, and promises ‘dirty sexy burgers’.
An opening date for the restaurant is yet to be confirmed, but it has begun the search for bar and waiting staff.
A spokesman said: “7Bone is an old-school American diner with significant growth plans to become the leading dirty burger joint in the UK.”
The Mercury understands fellow Dolphin Square eateries Preto and Loco Mexicano have ‘broken ground’ in their respective units, and will begin fitting in the coming fortnight.
Eight-screen multiplex Cineworld will opened today (Friday), as the revamp of the former shopping complex nears completion after years of uncertainty.


text:
Slater and Gordon to sue over £637m buy-up of Quindell's ambulance chasing business
Bringing claims: Slater and Gordon bought Quindell's injury claims business last year
The Australian law firm crippled by its takeover of Quindell's ambulance-chasing business is planning to sue the British company, writes Hugo Duncan.
Slater and Gordon bought Quindell's injury claims business, which deals with car crashes and accidents at work, for £637million last year.
But the deal quickly turned sour as the Serious Fraud Office began an investigation into Quindell's accounts, and Slater and Gordon had to write off more than £500million relating to the takeover.
Slater and Gordon, which specialises in no win, no fee personal injury claims, was also hit by a crackdown on whiplash claims in the UK.
The Australian outfit said it 'intends to bring claims' arising from the takeover against Watchstone Group – Quindell's new name.
The case could see Slater and Gordon recoup £50million of the purchase price that was put into escrow and was due to be paid out in November.
However, Watchstone dismissed the claim as groundless and pledged to defend itself.
It said it had conducted 'a professional and transparent disposal process' of the company, and that Slater and Gordon was given the opportunity to complete 'an extensive and detailed due-diligence process'.
Watchstone shares fell 7.3 per cent or 15.8p to 200.3p.
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Dairy Recalls Milk Products Sold In Harnett, Cumberland Counties
Posted February 6, 2004 2:00 a.m. EST
RALEIGH, N.C. — Jackson Dairy Farm in Dunn has agreed to voluntarily recall all its milk products with an expiration date of Feb. 18 because the products may contain excessive amounts of aflatoxin.
The milk products, which are stamped with the code "Feb 18 37-89," were distributed to stores in Harnett and Cumberland counties this week.
The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Food and Drug Protection Division detected the higher levels of aflatoxin in two products during routine sampling of North Carolina milk and milk products.
"There have been no complaints or reports of illness associated with these products," Agriculture Commissioner Britt Cobb said. "However, we urge anyone who has purchased these products to discard them or return them to the place of purchase."
The products tested were:
These milk products contained aflatoxin in excess of 0.5 parts per billion, which is the U.S. Food & Drug Administration standard.
Aflatoxin, a potent carcinogen, is a byproduct of the mold Aspergillus flavus, which may affect grain and forage products consumed by livestock. If ingested in huge amounts, it can cause stillbirths and cancer in livestock and humans.
Jackson Dairy Farm is cooperating with the department's continuing investigation.


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Sales fall at Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia fashion group
Sir Philip Green’s retail empire suffered a sharp decline in British sales last year as the tycoon complained that clothing was becoming a less important part of household budgets.
Revenue at his chains, which include Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Evans, declined to £1.7 billion in the year to August 27, down from £2.2 billion the year before, accounts for Taveta Investments, the holding company, showed.
The biggest hit was from the loss of till receipts from the sale of BHS, but, stripping out those losses, turnover in the UK still declined by 7.3 per cent.
Fashion chains are under pressure from online specialists, rising inflation and a shift in spending habits away from clothing towards leisure activities. New Look was the latest company to show


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About 30 Million Tourists Visited Turkey in 2011, States Timetric
23 Oct 2012 • by Natalie Aster
Turkey is the sixth-most attractive tourist destination in the world in terms of tourist volume. As the cradle of an ancient civilization, Turkey has been a long-standing popular destination for tourists with historical interests. Due to the sustained growth in the country’s economy, there has been a surge in the international and domestic tourist activity. The tourism sector has become an important driver for Turkey’s economic development, comprising 10.9% of the country’s GDP and 9.2% of its total employment rate in 2011. Following Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) countries, Turkey is considered a promising emerging economy, alongside Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt and South Africa.
With a surge in interest from both European and Arab tourists, the inflow of international tourist visits to Turkey increased from 22.8 million in 2007 to 29.7 million in 2011, registering a CAGR of 6.82%. This growth can be attributed to a variety of macroeconomic factors such as rapid GDP growth, higher levels of disposable income, closer integration with the EU and a weakened currency.
Although domestic tourism is a small part of Turkey’s overall tourism sector, it makes a significant contribution to its revenues. The rapid growth in the country’s GDP and disposable income levels has supported a rise in domestic tourist volumes. The expansion of the country’s transport infrastructure, alongside the growth of low-cost airlines, also encouraged domestic tourists to travel.
Cultural and religious connections with the Arab world and the presence of cost-effective modern medical facilities are key growth drivers and one of the reasons why Turkey is seen as a leading global health tourism destination. Turkey has a strong historical reputation as a popular health destination due to its natural mineral spring resorts and advanced medical facilities.
According to the report “The Future of Travel and Tourism in the UK to 2016” by Timetric, during the review period, Turkish Airlines emerged as the fourth-largest air passenger carrier in Europe. Its market leadership was cemented after it agreed official sponsorship deals with European football teams, establishing Istanbul as a major transit hub for travelers from Europe to the Middle East. Furthermore, Turkey is a hub for aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, due to its geographic position and cost advantages. All these factors ensure that the Turkish aviation market will remain attractive over the forecast period.
The Future of Travel and Tourism in the UK to 2016
Published: October, 2012
Price: US$ 1.950,00
With the number of international arrivals due to reach 31.2 million in 2012, the hospitality industry’s revenue is set to increase at a CAGR of 6.97% over the forecast period. Inbound tourism expenditure on accommodation increased from TRY3.8 billion in 2010 to TRY5.1 billion in 2011, and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 8.74% over the forecast period. Domestic tourism is set to be a key contributor to the hotel industry as expenditure is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.56% over the forecast period.
More information can be found in the report “The Future of Travel and Tourism in the UK to 2016” by Timetric.
To order the report or ask for sample pages contact [email protected]


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A hacking group known as ShinyHunters has put up a huge cache of stolen user details online.
According to reports, the hackers were able to steal the data of over 73 million users from various websites, which is now up for sale for approximately $18,000 on the underground marketplaces.
Among the sites that have fallen victim to the attack are the likes of Zoosk, Chatbooks, Star Tribune newspaper, Chronicle of Higher Education and various South Korean fashion and furniture websites.
- Ghost blogging platform servers hacked
- This major Chinese VPN provider has been hacked
- Over 120 million Decathlon accounts hacked
The group has already been able to hack into the systems of Tokopedia, an Indonesian e-commerce store after leaking datasets containing information about 15 million users for free, before the entire database of over 91 million users was later put for sale for $5000.
The group was also behind the recent attack on the Indian online learning platform Unacademy, stealing a database of over 22 million users that was listed online for $2000.
While ZDNet was able to verify the identity of some of the users from part of the sample records leaked by the hackers, printing service Chatbooks has officially announced that it has also fallen victim to a breach and has advised its users to update their login credentials for the service.
Here is a list of organizations that have fallen victim to this group:
- Online dating app Zoosk - 30 million user records
- Printing service Chatbooks -15 million user records
- South Korean fashion platform SocialShare - 6 million user records
- Food delivery service Home Chef - 8 million user records
- Online marketplace Minted - 5 million user records
- Online newspaper Chronicle of Higher Education - 3 million user records
- South Korean furniture magazine GGuMim - 2 million user records
- Health magazine Mindful - 2 million user records
- Indonesia online store Bhinneka - 1.2 million user records
- US newspaper StarTribune - 1 million user records
Experts suggest that ShinyHunters may be associated with another hacker group called Gnosticplayers which is accused of selling the database of over a billion users on the dark web.
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Jitendra has been working in the Internet Industry for the last 7 years now and has written about a wide range of topics including gadgets, smartphones, reviews, games, software, apps, deep tech, AI, and consumer electronics.


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XCOM: Chimera Squad is a new XCOM spin-off and it’s out in 10 days.
You can now play a free demo of Civilization VI on PC.
2K and Firaxis Games unveil the launch trailer for Sid Meier’s Civilization VI as the game becomes available to pre-load on Steam.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI is getting a special edition to celebrate the franchise's 25th Anniversary, but you'll have to be quick.
2K and Firaxis Games release new video showing how 'Unstacking Cities' will impact gameplay in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI.


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Sonic Forces is promising lots of chaotic Sonic-style gameplay with three different ways to play, and now there's more video to back that up. After Nintendo's E3 announcement event, the company released the official trailer above, which shows off more video of the game's three different modes.
Sonic Forces, from the same developers that made Sonic Colors and Generations, lets you play in 3D as Modern Sonic, Classic Sonic as a traditional platformer, or make your own custom hero character. Check out new gameplay video from today that shows a custom hero in the series' iconic Green Hill zone.
Further on in the video we also see Sonic in full battle with Eggman in Classic Mode. And check out this video of Modern Sonic blazing his way in 3D through a city under siege.
You can check out this roundup of all the E3 Nintendo news to catch up on everything that was announced today, including a release date for Super Mario Odyssey, new Yoshi and Kirby games, details on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's upcoming DLC packs, and a future Pokemon RPG on Nintendo Switch. And keep an eye on our hub for more news and videos from E3 2017.
from GameSpot News http://ift.tt/2rY6OUf


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25 March 2016 and 28 March 2016 (Good Friday and Easter Monday) are bank holidays in most EU countries.
As a result, the euro payments clearing and settlement system will be closed and payments won’t be processed on these dates.
Please ensure your payments are submitted early to avoid any potential delays.
We recommend that you submit payments such as salaries or bill payments on Wednesday 23 March for value on Thursday 24 March.
Any payments initiated before 18.00 on Thursday 24 March will be with the recipient banks on Tuesday 29 March.
Any payments initiated after 18.00 on Thursday 24 March will not be credited in the recipient banks until Wednesday 30 March.


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Privately held technology startup ShelterZoom recently launched a new, blockchain-based real estate online offer platform, appropriately named ShelterZoom.
The firm claims that this new platform, which is built on Ethereum-based blockchain technology, will revolutionize real estate buying/selling by bringing openness to what has traditionally been a fragmented and opaque process.
ShelterZoom says its “Offer NOW” applet gives Realtors, buyers and sellers unprecedented visibility and transparency via blockchain technology.
“As the online shopping market has matured, consumers have become increasingly willing to purchase high-value items online, and real estate is no exception,” says Amir Allen Alishahi, co-founder and director of ShelterZoom, in a release. “As such, migrating a greater number of real estate offers to the online realm is a logical and natural next step.
“ShelterZoom’s state-of-the-art, highly secure transaction platform will not only facilitate and speed this online migration, it will also offer a competitive advantage to real estate firms and professionals who seek to expand their market horizons and need greater speed, accuracy and transparency in the process,” Alishahi adds.
The Ethereum blockchain technology at the core of ShelterZoom’s digitized offer packages provides the industry’s first solution for generating highly secure and interoperable agreements, the firm claims.
“Blockchain technology is the next frontier for the real estate industry,” says Sandy Krueger, CEO at Staten Island Board of Realtors Inc. “We are looking forward to bringing this exciting capability to our subscribers in the Staten Island Multiple Listing Service, as well as adding a new level of transparency and efficiency to the offer process. This is only the beginning of the transformation of the real estate transaction management process, in a way that addresses the needs of consumers and the professionals who serve them.”


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It's the most challenging day of the high-tech news gathering week. The mighty machinery of the West Coast has been at the beach for the weekend, phones sit silently on desks and there's only a light dusting of press releases in the inbox for inspiration. So this hardy searcher after truth hits the Web, rattling along dusty lanes leading to university research departments, the better class of blog, technical forums.
And what's this? "Researchers in North Carolina have developed a data transfer protocol for the Internet that achieves speeds roughly 6,000 times that of DSL"? Heavens! I get quite excited for a Monday, and don't quite engage the little grey cells. A real news story. The usual claims are there in the press release – download MP3s in the blink of an eye, tremendous implications for supercomputing and science, blah blah blah.
But how does it work? Can't write the story without that...
Ten minutes of hard labour untangling the terminally confused press release later, and the truth is depressingly clear. The new protocol is just that – a protocol. It goes 6,000 times faster than DSL when you run it on a gigabit fibre that's, um, 6,000 times faster than DSL to start with. The real story is that Internet protocols aren't that good at working over very, very fast links – and this invention is somewhat better. Which is fine if you're writing news for IP Week and TCP Review but not really the meaty stuff you, the beloved reader, expect as your right. No good.
It's early in the week, but I can swear. And I do. Visions of gigabit DSL vanish, to be replaced by a mental picture of a press release writer swinging gently in the breeze while enraged researchers and frustrated journalists prod at the corpse with electrified pokers.
It's the only language these people understand.
Now, this is more like it. Philips has announced a fluid lens technology that means you can make a tiny device out of two different liquids in a chamber, and by zapping it with the right volts -- electrowetting, which is what I thought girls used to do at Gary Numan concerts -- it'll change focus. Liquid optics are nothing new -- people have made telescope mirrors from mercury spun into a parabolic shape, and there are some very clever and cheap one-size-fits-all eyeglasses where you set the right lens shape for you by merely pumping the right amount of water into plastic bags in front of your peepers. But the Philips idea will work with digital cameras, potentially replacing quite a lot of expensive mechanical gubbins. This is the first time such a notion has hit the mass consumer market.
Or is it? Vague memories coalesce -- a French company called Varioptic had something similar. In fact, looking at the Web site, something astonishingly similar.
So similar is it, in fact, that m'learned friends have been retained -- and are even now, one assumes, frantically looking up 'electrowetting' in Larousse.
We'll have to wait for a court to decide, but from a quick reading of the patents involved it looks as if the Philips device is near-identical to the Varioptic invention -- which precedes the Dutch version by some time. It is impossible for Philips not to have known about the antecedent: the company's brusque retort to Varioptic's request for licence fees indicates that some bother is expected. It's also odd that such similar patents were granted.
Philips must have wargamed the forthcoming lawsuit and be sure that it can win either through dint of being right or the customary principle that my lawyers are bigger than your lawyers. Let's hope it's not the latter.
The history of technology is spattered with this sort of game, from the early days of wireless and television to our own uniquely convoluted gameshow of SCO versus The World. At least in this case it's over a good old-fashioned invention.
Ah, good old Maewyn. We know him better as St Patrick, who in a long and perambulatory career among the verdant greens of early medieval Ireland put paid to the Druids and established a Celtic Christianity that was later to reinvigorate a battered and sullen Europe still reeling from the barbarian hoardes. He didn't throw out any snakes, didn't resurrect any dead people and most certainly had no idea that nearly two millennia after his death he'd be personally responsible for me drinking too much Guinness at the hands of the merciless Creative Labs. Of such mysteries are legends woven.
There are other mysteries at the Creative Labs St Patrick's Day Party. How come the Muvo 4GB MP3 player didn't make a fraction of the ripple that the iPod Mini's made, despite being first and very nearly as cute? How come the entire staff of VNU Business Publications has commandeered the pool table? And how come an Irish pub's idea of traditional St Paddy's Day nosh is sausage rolls and onion rings?
Nonetheless, some good comes of it. I find out from a roving marketing manager that the return rate for wireless kit at retail is 45 percent -- nearly one in two Wi-Fi devices comes straight back to the shop, 'cos the punter can't make it work. This meshes well with a recent report from the Wi-Fi Alliance, which says that it found around 25 percent of kit submitted for certification failed on first try.
It's not getting any better -- for every announcement that some piece of kit is certified, there are five claiming speed improvements, security enhancements or other widgetry that lie outside the Wi-Fi standard and risk messing up interoperability with other people's kit. If people's perceptions of wireless are sullied by this experience, then all that expected growth from new and faster networking technologies may never happen -- and no amount of Guinness will help.
In fact, I can categorically state that large amounts of Guinness won't help matters in any case. Woozily making my way back to North London, I wonder if in fact it was a dodgy onion ring that provoked my insides to complain so much. Yes, that's it. I just hope I don't have to return 45 percent of it.
The Internet took off when two things happened: the technology got easy enough for non-nerds to use, and flat-rate access providers removed the worries about the phone bills. It's thus a good thing that T-Mobile has announced a flat-rate wireless data package: buy one of their GSM/GPRS/3G/Wi-Fi cards and wherever you are, if it can find a T-Mobile hot spot, 3G or mobile network you can seamlessly connect and gorge away. Great. And the card only costs £99.
But oh, my dears, the service charge! Seventy quid a month. We're right back in the early days of mobile phones, where Joe Soak couldn't get a look in -- the only people who could afford such extravagance were wandering sales bods doing high-value deals. Used car merchants. Estate agents. Purveyors of fine chemicals to the gentry. The perception of mobile phones that this engendered did nobody any good: who wants to be a spiv?
And we risk repeating the exercise with T-Mobile's painfully pitched provision. Who most needs to be able to use the Net while nimbly skipping from place to place? Who stands to make enough money at this to afford the thumping monthly wedge? Let us hope that it's not spammers, virus writers, gangsters seeking to put the cyberpinch on bookies and those who surf the more exotic branches of human sexuality.
I'm sure T-Mobile has in mind only wholesome captains of industry, high earning, high status individuals who'll approach the product much as they'd approach the latest and most sparkling Lexus or Beemer. It would be a terrible shame were full 3G and hot spot net access to acquire a less than pristine reputation.
You'll have feasted on our CeBIT coverage already, sent back single-handed by our intrepid one-man expeditionary force, Graeme Wearden. Of course, not everything makes it through our rigorous editorial process, so there wasn't room to tell you about Sony's heavily plugged press conference.
Now here is a company so far in advance of the times it has a fab new QRIO robot. It senses its surroundings! Aieeee! It is 60cm tall! Flee from Girant Roboto! It stands up when you push it, or can fall over gracefully on command! Professor! The army is useless against its power! It wants to play football! Actually, with that skill set it's probably already on its way to Anfield. It's certainly capable of dancing with chancellors although the first robot-friendly budget is still some way back.
Not content with wowing the world with a robot called Queerio, Sony enlivened its press conference with tales of massive convergence, wireless wonders and other high-tech wonders. Unfortunately, this didn't stretch to the back-up press materials, which were only obtainable on a trestle table positioned at the foot of the escalators leading to the conference. The result, reports Wearden, was queues worthy of a Soviet supermarket when the cabbages came in, with scrums breaking out as those hardy souls who'd fought their way through for the press releases had to battle back out to get to the stairs. Every so often, the weaker members of the pack fell in combat, their battered corpses efficiently levitated up to the next floor and dumped in a neat pile at the head of the escalators together with their grave goods of shattered laptops and hideously ripped promotional cagoules. I made that bit up.
More press conference fun came courtesy of O2, which had a good tale to tell about rising from the chains of BT management like a post-spinach Popeye. The UK hacks felt very special: the UK head of communications fully realised the importance of the event and decided to spend it touring O2's own stand instead, well out of reach of impertinent questions like "why have you launched 3G in Germany and not at home?" Answering those was a task that fell to a German spokesperson (actually, Graeme's notes here say "slim leggy blonde woman", but I don't think we need to know that) – but alas, any answer she made is not recorded. And that bit about throwing off the shackles of BT mismanagement? Spoken with some feeling by heroic CEO Peter Erskine: bet there are some red faces among those who used to manage Cellnet and BT Mobile before the float. We'll have to ask the bloke who was in charge back then – hm, some cat called Peter Erskine.
Other than that, it was a superbly organised event and Graeme most certainly didn't engage in the traditional post-show pursuit of drinking heavily with our Continental comrades. The good burghers of Hannover can sleep soundly in their beds until this time next year.


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Tomorrow at 10:00 am Eastern Apple is making an announcement they believe none of us will soon forget. What is the announcement? Apple really isn't giving us any hints. There is much speculation, but with Apple speculation is a way of life. There are those that think a streaming service is coming. In May Apple registered iTunes Live as a trademark. Recently a bit of code was found in iTunes 10.1, just released, that references iTunes Live URL streaming. There is also the huge data center in North Carolina and of course their acquisition of Lala, which Apple quickly shutdown. Yet if music industry sources can be believed, Apple doesn't have the rights to stream music and there are those that think the labels have no desire to give Apple those rights and that much ownership of music.
Others, now led by the Wall Street Journal, that say the big announcement is about The Beatles coming to iTunes. This has been rumored for many years, most recently before the September media event. Apple only recently ended their years old battle with Apple Records over the iTunes music service. Apple agreed years ago that they would stay out of Music and Apple Records wouldn't sue them. That issue was put to bed with an unnamed settlement. The remaining rights holders to the Beatles catalog have not jumped at the chance at going digital, Yoko Ono seeming making it clear that we shouldn't hold our breath. We know this, the announcement is about iTunes. It's probably a world wide release. We know it will be at 10 am Eastern, 7 am Pacific. We know nothing more for sure.
What do I think? I think Apple may have over played their hand. It's looking likely that what we will hear is The Beatles. Probably some special holiday deal too. I think it will be in most major markets. I also think that the blogosphere and the Twittershere will go nuts with negativity. They want streaming, and the announcement leads itself to look like a big change is coming to iTunes. Since 10.1 was just released it seems unlikely.
Here is what I hope. The Beatles are coming to iTunes, and their entire catalog will be the first available as part of the streaming service. This will echo when CDs came out and Thr Beatles had the first commercial CD. That would make serious waves and be a reason we won't forget tomorrow.
That's what I hope, but it doesn't seem likely. That though is what hope is all about. In less than 12 hours we will know.


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Average family spending power up on June 2015 levels
Families' spending power was around £12 a week higher in June than a year earlier, according to a report.
The average UK household had a weekly disposable income of £201 a week in June, an average of £12 more than in June 2015, according to Asda's income tracker.
The increase marks the 20th month in a row of double-digit growth in spending power, with total average discretionary income remaining at a record level since the income tracker started in 2008.
Households' spending power is the amount of cash they have left over to spend on outgoings such as holidays, sport, toys, cinema trips, eating out and savings, after expenses such as food, clothing, household bills, transport and school costs.
The continued momentum of the labour market and the falling cost of food and drink helped to ease pressure on purse strings, the report said.
In addition, larger household expenses such as mortgage interest payments also provided some respite for UK families.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), which compiles the report, said the gains households have made in spending power in recent years should help them to navigate the economic uncertainty following the referendum vote to leave the EU.
Sam Alderson, an economist at Cebr, said: "We continue to see a picture of broad increases in discretionary incomes across the country.
"In the uncertain economic environment the UK now faces, the gains in spending power seen in recent years cannot be understated. Whilst consumers have understandably lost some confidence in recent weeks, improved finances should provide some support in navigating the uncertain outlook."