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Amazon could soon start accepting payments in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum among others. The ecommerce giant recently put out a job posting for a digital currency and blockchain product head who will be part of its payments team.
“The Payments Acceptance & Experience team is seeking an experienced product leader to develop Amazon’s Digital Currency and Blockchain strategy and product roadmap”, Amazon said in the hiring post.
Further describing the role of the candidate, the statement added: “You will leverage your domain expertise in Blockchain, Distributed Ledger, Central Bank Digital Currencies and Cryptocurrency to develop the case for the capabilities which should be developed, drive overall vision and product strategy, and gain leadership buy-in and investment for new capabilities”.
The move clearly indicates that world’s largest retailer is looking to explore the possibility of enabling cryptocurrencies for accepting payments from customers in near future.
“We’re inspired by the innovation happening in the cryptocurrency space and are exploring what this could look like on Amazon. We believe the future will be built on new technologies that enable modern, fast, and inexpensive payments, and hope to bring that future to Amazon customers as soon as possible”.
Amazon doesn’t accept cryptocurrencies as payment yet.
This is the second large mainstream tech company in 2021 that has looked to hire for a crypto positionIn May this year, Apple had also posted a job titled “Business Development Manager – Alternative Payments”.
Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk also announced that the electric car maker would soon resume accepting paymets in Bitcoin. “I wanted a little bit more due diligence to confirm that the percentage of renewable energy usage is most likely at or above 50%, and that there is a trend towards increasing that number, and if so Tesla would resume accepting bitcoin”


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Gamescom 2019 kicks off in force next week, and Microsoft is planning to help get things started with a big episode of Inside Xbox. Announced on Xbox Wire, the Inside Xbox Gamescom show is shaping up to be a banger with a reveal of Gears 5's Horde Mode, trailers for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint and Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, and much more.
The Inside Xbox stream from Gamescom will take place on Monday, August 19, at 11 am ET (8 am PT and 5 pm CEST). You'll be able to tune in to the stream from Xbox's Mixer, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter pages, so there's no shortage of ways to watch.
As for what's on deck, here's a quick look at what Microsoft has planned:
With the release of Gears 5 less than a month away, Inside Xbox will unveil the game's Horde Mode! We'll also premiere nearly a dozen never-before-seen trailers and have big news and reveals on Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, Wasteland 3, Empire of Sin, Greedfall, The Surge 2, Vigor, Metro Exodus, Blair Witch, Xbox Game Pass, X019, new accessories, and much, much more.
Gears 5 is likely to be the big highlight here. The game is expected to launch on September 10 and if one of Microsoft's biggest first-party games releasing this year. And if you're playing on Xbox One X, you'll get the game in 4K with HDR running at a fast 60 fps. Gears 5 is up for preorder now for $50 and will come to Xbox Game Pass as well.
A personal journey
Explore the world like never before. Skim across glaciers, sail over deserts, and descend into sunken ruins to discover the largest and most diverse Gears world ever created.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
Minecraft Dungeons lead talks its next DLC and the future endgame
We talk Minecraft Dungeons’ recent Jungle Awakens DLC, the Creeping Winter expansion, and future endgame plans with game director, Måns Olson.
Fix up your Xbox Elite Controller with these parts
Need some replacement parts for your Xbox One Elite Controller? From new paddles, grips, bumpers, thumbsticks, and more, we have you covered.
Hands-on with Windows 10 build 20161 showcasing the new Start menu
Yesterday, Microsoft released a new build of Windows 10 that includes an updated Start menu design with translucent Live Tiles, improvements to Notifications, and behavior changes to things like Tablet Mode and the Taskbar. It's been a while since Microsoft released a build with any surface-level changes, but now it's finally happened, we're back showcasing all the changes on video.
These are the best Xbox One media remotes you can get
If you use the Xbox One to control most of the media in your home, you are well aware of how clunky the standard gaming controller can be when trying to command other systems. Looking for a better solution? We have you covered.

domain: news


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A new simplified online registration system, called the Global Enterprise Registration, has been introduced in an effort to boost business growth in Africa and other emerging markets.
The initiative was launched at the World Investment Forum 2014 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) this week.
Registering a business is too often a long and cumbersome process that involves multiple government agencies. The time, money and complexity of the process considered as being one of many obstacles government can quell. In a blog post GEW notes that more than 50% of the population in the developing countries – and many more around the world – work in the informal sector.
Kurt Tong, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs of the United States of America says that the portal will encourage more countries to implement more efficient online registration processes:
The “Global Enterprise Registration” portal is a global index of web portals allowing online business registration or describing the business registration process.
It is intended to promote the use and improvement of business registration services worldwide, by allowing easy access to existing online systems and by facilitating the exchange of experiences and best practices among governments.
Global Enterprise Registration is jointly produced by UNCTAD and by the Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative of the Kauffman Foundation to engage all players along the investor and entrepreneurship spectrum in strengthening business ecosystems around the world.


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7-Eleven teams up with Waitr to expand on-demand delivery in the U.S.
The new partnership builds on 7-Eleven's current delivery portfolio.
Credit card transaction fees are taking a big bite out of gas station profits
Four tips to help operators reduce credit card costs.
Some single use plastics will be banned over the next 18 months
List of banned products feature heavily in convenience stores.
Together again! Register today for The Convenience U CARWACS Show
Canada's largest convenience, gas and car wash event is back in-person and you don’t want to miss it.
New study reveals Canadian CEOs’ top priorities
Global IBM study shows the pressure is on business leaders to act on sustainability
7-Eleven unveils its latest Evolution Store
Store features digital and product innovation, plus outdoor dining.
Pesty pest problems
Protect your brand’s integrity with these expert tips to prevent and control pests.
Alimentation Couche-Tard kicks off global hiring blitz
The company is touting numerous benefits and incentives to attract employees.
Centex Petroleum signs deal with Payment Source
Now Prepay’s full service prepaid solution will help C&G company provide an enhanced offering to customers.
Alimentation Couche-Tard to deploy 10,000 AI-powered cash registers
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Marketing efforts will support the return of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Digital point-of-sale investments pay off for car wash operators
No cash, no problem: A seamless experience leads to higher sales.


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Halo Reach is a solid PC port and remains a decent shooter, although it has dated more than we expected.
Triple-fan cooler, mild overclock, basic RGB - worth it over Founders?
Who do you think deserves the crown for 2019?
Promises 24GB HBM2 chips.
JESD235B revision out now.
Smaller than a postage stamp.
Gen2 spec doubles the interface rate.
Promises an easy route to better SoCs.
3D RAM to hit shop shelves soon.
TSV-based 3D DRAM tech heads to production.
Promises some serious breakthroughs.
Microsoft has joined the Hybrid Memory Cube Consortium, supporting the new HMC RAM technology.
GlobalFoundries has announced it will offer through-silicon via (TSV) production at the 20nm node.
Invensas is to present a new breakthrough in its xFD packaging technology for high-density DRAM.
November 22 2019 | 13:00
Copyright © 2000 - 2019, bit-tech.net. All rights reserved.


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Cyberpunk 2077 is in the museum, but unfortunately not because it’s a great game.
Cyberpunk 2077 will forever be remembered as a game that made a lot of hype due to the controversy over its quality. However, this is not the first and probably not the last such production, but it will remain in the memory of players for many years.
One of the Reddit users posted photos from the Museum of Failure in Minneapolis. As we learn from the description of the museum, products that turned out to be a flop are displayed there.
Cyberpunk has its place there
Funnily enough, Cyberpunk 2077 is in the museum. It took its place next to another game with a similar story, which only now resembles what was announced years ago – No Man’s Sky.
A description is added to each product.
Cyberpunk will definitely go down in history, but as you can see, it is unlikely to arouse too many positive emotions. Unless the next updates and extensions get the game back on its feet.


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WhatsApp has dropped support for a range of older smartphone operating systems, including BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone 8.
whatsapp said in a supporting note“These platforms do not offer the kind of features we need to extend the functionality of our app in the future. If you are using one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend that you upgrade to a version newer operating system or newer version of Android running OS 4.0+, iPhone running iOS 7+ or Windows Phone 8.1+ so you can continue to use WhatsApp.”
Once the dominant smartphone brand, BlackBerry has been overtaken by Apple’s iPhone and Android devices, and today the brand is licensed to TCL, which manufactures Android devices under this name. And Microsoft, which once had high hopes for its smartphone business, has now largely out of this market.
WhatsApp said that while there’s no way to transfer your chat history between platforms, it is possible to attach your chat history to an email.
The news shouldn’t come as a shock — WhatsApp informed users of its plan in February 2016. It has already dropped support for some older operating systems, such as Android versions older than 2.3.3, Windows Phone 7, iOS 6, and Nokia Symbian S60.
It’s still possible to use phones running some older operating systems: if your device is running Nokia’s S40 operating system, you still have until December 31 this year. And you can still WhatsApp your friends using an Android Gingerbread device (Android 2.3.7) and up until February 1, 2020, when this version of Android will be almost ten years old.
Recent and related coverage
Update: These and other apps apparently pose a serious security threat to businesses.
WhatsApp said 55 billion messages are sent on the platform every day.
WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook have been asked to meet with a data protection task force after an alleged breach of EU data laws.
Learn more about BlackBerry


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With the fall foliage arriving, it must be third-quarter earnings season on Wall Street. Analysts are not looking for a lot of cheer out of major companies releasing their financial results. The reporting starts Tuesday after the close of trading, with aluminum giant Alcoa expected to reveal a profit of perhaps 1 cent per share, compared with 15 cents per share this time last year.
While the major stock market indicies remain high, earnings performance across many sectors is suffering. Alcoa is something of a bellwether — like many big multinationals, it’s done pretty well in the recovery, but it’s also highly dependent on manufacturing and export markets, which have suffered from the global slowdown, led by Europe and China.
Overall, companies in the S&P 500 that have warned of a decline in third-quarter earnings outnumber those predicting an earnings improvement by more than four to one, according to Thomson Reuters. Chris Low of FTN Financial says that despite a strong stock market, “earnings forecasts this quarter are for the first decline in earnings since the recession ended.”
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, says corporate coffers are full of cash right now because companies downsized dramatically during the recession, cutting workers and costs, but earning more money at this stage in the recovery is difficult. “Historically, at this point in the business cycle, businesses start looking for revenue opportunities,” says Zandi. “They expand, grow, hire, invest. They get most of their growth from revenues, not from lower costs. So that’s the challenge for them.”
Zandi says companies face a host of uncertainties — from Middle East unrest to the looming U.S. ‘fiscal cliff’ of tax increases and deep across-the-board spending cuts. Those unknowns make taking the risk to invest and hire more workers even harder.
Global macroeconomist Rob Carnell at ING Financial Markets in London agrees with Zandi that U.S. multinationals will have a hard time generating significant revenue growth going forward. “If firms don’t know what the future fiscal layout is going to be, and don’t have any confidence in their export markets, they’re going to be reticent about moving forward,” says Carnell.
“But better to have strong balance sheets than not. So if we’re looking for a silver lining, that is helpful. But the share-buyers, the stock-pickers and asset-allocators, still want earnings growth. Because in the end, the stock market is only worth what the future stream of earnings is going to deliver, so they’ll still be disappointed.”


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Judge Rules Dow Is Not Liable for Implants
Published: March 29, 1995
HOUSTON, March 28— A state judge in Texas today removed the Dow Chemical Company from a $5.2 million verdict holding it partly liable for a woman's health problems that a jury said were caused by silicone breast implants made by a Dow Chemical affiliate, the Dow Corning Corporation.
The jury awarded Gladys Laas and her husband, Robert, $5.2 million last month after deciding that Dow Corning and Dow Chemical were equally responsible for Mrs. Laas's injuries. The verdict was the first to find Dow Chemical liable in a case involving breast implants made by Dow Corning, a joint venture of Dow Chemical and Corning Inc.
Corning was not found liable for damages.
But Judge Michael Schneider of Harris County District Court overturned the jury's finding, which had held Dow Chemical partly liable because it "gave substantial encouragement or assistance to Dow Corning" in marketing implants "that had not first been adequately tested." Dow Corning is now liable for the entire damage award.
Dow Chemical argued that it was not liable for the actions of an affiliate that it did not directly manage.
Dow Chemical has not joined in a $4.3 billion global class-action settlement of implant cases.


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Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Net profit fell 85 percent to $8.8 million for the year ended July compared with $57.6m the previous year.
Revenue was up nearly 50 percent to $801m, but this was bolstered by earnings from its recently acquired surf business, Rip Curl.
But the acquisition also cost $18m, which along with $4.6m restructuring cost, and $2.6m accounting costs dented the bottom line.
Kathmandu chief executive Xavier Simonet called the past year “transformational”.
“Unfortunately the Group faced significant unexpected challenges with Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns. We took decisive action early to reduce costs, adjust the operating structure of the business, and raised $207m of equity.”
Group sales were up 48.7 percent to $801.5m compared to $538.8m a year earlier, but that included nine months of earnings from Rip Curl.
Simonet said the pandemic and associated lockdowns had cost the company about $70m in sales, but it had been quick to lift its online sales capacity, which accounted for nearly 16 percent of group sales, and overall sales had rebounded strongly when restrictions were eased.
He said Kathmandu was strong financially and operationally, with the cash injection significantly strengthening its balance sheet.
“Beyond the short-term impacts from lockdowns, our long-term strategy remains unchanged. Product innovation, brand differentiation, a key focus on sustainability, and a step change in digital transformation, will enable us to continue answering the needs of our customers.”
The company did not pay a final dividend.
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Irish Distillers recently announced the details of a new €13 million investment plan which will see the redevelopment of its distillery experience at Midleton Distillery, Co. Cork.
The redevelopment plan will deliver new whiskey tours and experiences as well as new shopping, bar, café and restaurant facilities. Once completed, the space will be transformed into what’s described as a multi-sensory whiskey experience destination and will also feature a heat recovery system, meaning excess energy from the production of its Irish whiskeys onsite at Midleton Distillery will be used to heat the buildings.
Construction on the new facility will begin immediately and is scheduled to finish by 2025, known as the 200-year anniversary of Midleton Distillery. While construction is underway, organizers created an alternative purpose-built Irish whiskey attraction that will continue to welcome visitors during the redevelopment.
“Over the past 30 years, Midleton Distillery has become synonymous with Irish whiskey tourism, welcoming more than three million visitors from countries all over the world to our home in East Cork,” Conor McQuaid, Chairman and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “At Irish Distillers, we are always looking towards the future of Irish whiskey, which is why we are delighted to announce our plans for the redevelopment of the distillery experience at Midleton. Our ambition is to deliver an exceptional, world-class experiential offering which will bring whiskey lovers closer to the production process than ever before.”
“These exciting plans will ensure that the distillery experience offers visitors a unique insight into the whiskeys produced at Midleton Distillery in exceptionally beautiful and engaging surroundings. We are confident that we can further build upon the appeal of Midleton Distillery for both domestic and international visitors, cementing its position as one of the top tourism attractions in Ireland while supporting jobs and economic growth in the East Cork region,” McQuaid continued. “As we are committed to preserving and maintaining the beauty of the original distillery buildings, many of which date back to 1794, our redevelopment plan is centred around the conservation and restoration of existing structures, while transforming our visitor attraction to accommodate new and interactive whiskey tours and exciting tasting experiences. The redevelopment will therefore marry the old and the new, making improvements and upgrades to preserve the fabric of these buildings, all of which will ultimately contribute to an immersive and unique visitor experience.”
Hannah Kanik is a freelance writer from California. Two years ago, she found herself drinking Scottish whisky atop Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and found her love for whisky and its storytelling side-effects.


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News Aldi: Discounter to test new food packaging from today – “big step”
Aldi has made huge changes over the years to reduce its use of plastic packaging and become more environmentally friendly. The supermarket has been carbon neutral since 2019 and is on track to meet its goals, including reducing its use of plastic.
Store bought sandwiches, which come in a cardboard box with a thin sheet of plastic covering the sandwich, which cannot be recycled.
Some supermarkets, including Aldi, now have a flexible plastic recycling program, for items such as bread and salad bags, the plastic wrap from sandwiches always ends up in the landfill.
To achieve this, Aldi is introducing fully recyclable sandwich packaging as part of a trial with its supplier Greencore.
The discount supermarket said it will be tested on two sandwich products at a number of stores starting this month.
READ MORE: M&S makes huge changes to clothing section – ‘it’s a sad day’
âThe new sandwich packaging maintains product shelf life, while allowing customers to easily recycle the packaging.
âTake out food is one of our most popular categories and we are confident this initiative will be well received by our customers. “
Taking to social media to share their thoughts, customers were thrilled with the move.
One person said, “Big from Aldi, I love to see them make changes.”
Another wrote: âI love Aldi sandwiches, they are the best. “
“My concern is finding recyclable trash cans when I’m on the go, but I love to see the change,” tweeted a third.
Aldi has worked closely with its suppliers in recent months to develop other ways to reduce its use of plastic.
This includes removing single-use plastic from all of its branded tea bags by the end of this year.
Mr Gorman said, âBy the end of this year, all of our own-brand tea bags will be biodegradable and will be plastic-free.
âThe changes we have made to our tea line will help us reduce our environmental impact and provide our customers with even more environmentally friendly options when shopping at Aldi. “
Aldi also recently revealed that it will be implementing refrigerator doors in all of its new and recently renovated supermarkets to help save energy.
The new refrigerators will help reduce the energy consumption of each store by about 20%, saving up to 20 tonnes per store each year.
Other supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, have also taken huge steps to reduce plastic consumption and make changes to become more environmentally friendly.


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Published online on Sierra magazine’s Green Life blog, December 3, 2013
Give Green, Fight Waste, Make Change
Black Friday has made the news in recent years for the frenzied and sometimes dangerous enthusiasm it incites in the nation’s most devotedshoppers, many of whom gather outside malls and big box stores as soon as they’ve downed their turkey. But the Environmental Protection Agency gives us another reason to think twice about having participated in the biggest shopping day of the year: the estimated25 percent increase in household wastein the United States between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. That translates to about 1 million extra tons of gift wrapping and product packaging (including those endlessly frustrating plastic blister packs in which all electronics are packaged). A number of groups have come together to fight the waste that seems to come hand in hand with the Black Friday, claiming the holiday week for less wasteful and more sustainable causes. Here are a couple ways to give sustainably this month:
Giving Tuesday: #GivingTuesday began last year as a charitable response to Black Friday, and had a pretty big impact. According to event organizers, 100,000 people across the U.S. came together to celebrate the day after Thanksgiving by making charitable contributions to more than 2,500 participating organizations, donating an estimated tens of millions of dollars online.
This year, more than 7,000 charitable organizations will participate in #GivingTuesday, rallying their supporters to give generously on December 3. Charitable partners are listed online, and even sorted by cause and location, and you have almost 200 environmental partners to choose from. Help the Sierra Club Foundation fight dirty fossil fuels, protect ecosystems, and promote clean energy. Then check out the #GivingTuesday partner databaseto find more causes close to your heart.
Fair Tuesday: Another movement inspired by Black Friday, #FairTuesday aims to inspire conscious consumerism this holiday season by encouraging shoppers to buy fair trade, ethical, and eco-friendly brands this Tuesday. In its first year in 2012, the movement reached 3 million people and brought together 135 partners in 13 countries.
A searchable database of partners accompanied by a handy map allows participants to browse for fair-trade and eco-friendly gifts and services, and in many cases enjoy special #FairTuesday discounts. You’ll find everything from organic and sustainable foods to clothes and home goods, all gift-worthy and benefiting a worthy cause.
Read online at SierraClub.org
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Google will reportedly launch its subsequent Pixel gadget in June this yr. As per tipster Jon Prosser, who usually gives leaks and insights regarding the upcoming Apple merchandise, the tech massive will launch a Pixel gadget and the model new Pixel buds on June 11, 2021. The tipster moreover talked about that he is undecided which Pixel gadget shall be unveiled on the event.
Google launched its flagship Pixel 5 gadget in October last yr and is unlikely to launch its successor this early. Nonetheless, the gadget launching in June may presumably be the Pixel 5a which could nonetheless be just some months early.
Google stuff:- Advertisement-
New Pixel Buds coming mid-April.
New Google phone scheduled for June 11, 2021. Undecided exactly which one it is merely however. 🤔- Advertisement-
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) March 5, 2021
Simply these days, renders for Google Pixel 5a moreover surfaced. There have been barely any design changes from Pixel 4a 5G as a result of it appeared just about an equivalent to it. Nonetheless, the dimensions have been a bit fully totally different making the upcoming gadget a bit thicker and taller. The phone moreover had a 6.2-inch OLED show nonetheless the refresh price has not been revealed. Maybe the fairly priced mannequin borrows a 90Hz refresh price from the Pixel 5. The digicam moreover appeared similar to the Pixel 4a 5G. A cutout selfie digicam on the doorway and a dual-camera setup on the once more. There are no leaks regarding the processor will in all probability be powered by nonetheless it is susceptible to be one among Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 700 assortment.
Earlier, the tipster moreover revealed that Google is engaged on a Pixel smartphone with a foldable present. As per a report by The Elec, Google amongst totally different firms has requested Samsung to make the foldable panel. The report moreover reveals the dimensions of the foldable OLED show shall be 7.6-inch. The dimensions of the panel is analogous as a result of the one used on the South Korean smartphone maker’s Galaxy Z Fold 2.


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Perhaps you noticed the headline in the June 18 issue of SCTE SmartBrief that read, “Digital video advertising is becoming more popular.” SmartBrief was passing along a story published by MediaPost Communications that reported, “Amidst concerns about viewability of advertising on digital platforms, a new survey of advertising agency executives says that confidence in digital video advertising value has improved.”
SCTE, of course, got out in front of this realm of revenue-generating technology years ago when the ANSI-accredited SCTE Standards Program began developing what resulted in a suite of industry technical standards known as ANSI/SCTE 130, “Digital Program Insertion—Advertising Systems Interfaces.”
Perhaps your organization has contributed to these important standards developments. If not, SCTE invites you to join the effort to maintain and build upon them. SCTE’s Digital Video Subcommittee (DVS), which is chaired by Paul Hearty, Ph.D., of Sony Electronics, handles the ad insertion work program among many other endeavors. As outlined in the second-quarter issue of the SCTE Standards Bulletin on Page 3, DVS is breaking new ground in transport and video technologies, making this an opportune time to participate as the Society carries out its esteemed role of technical leadership for the industry in helping operators and vendors alike to capitalize on the potential of new technologies.
To what new or underdeveloped technology in need of standardization—in the digital video space or otherwise—might you and your organization lend its valuable expertise?


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Luxurious Cruise Ship Docked at Brunei Darussalam
The capital of the country Negara Brunei Darussalam is called Bandar Seri Begawan.
On July 17th 2019, Genting Dream the name of the ship stayed in Brunei. It is part of the third stop of a five night round trip cruise from Singapore,and Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia).
The Genting Dream docked at the Muara Port , and departed the very same day.
The ship was carrying 3,000 international passengers from Singapore, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Australia, Taiwan, and others from across the region and globally.
Deputy Permanent Secretary of Tourism from Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) as well as Wardi bin Haji Mohammad Ali hosted a welcoming reception for the arrival of the Genting Dream at the Cruise Ship Centre in Muara.
The deputy permanent secretary and his delegations were taken on a tour of the cruise ship, where they were briefed on its facilities and activities.
Genting Dream was launched on November 2016. It was the first ship built for the Asia and China market. It provides guests with the outstanding level of service and adequate amount of comfort on board in the region.
The cruise ship has a capacity of 3,300 passengers, 1,900 crew members, and 18 decks measuring 335 metres in length and 40 metres wide.The luxury cruise line is also equipped with a plethora of onboard facilities such as six waterslide parks, a rock-climbing wall, a 35-metre zip-line that sways above the open waters, and more.
The Dream Cruise adds authentic international and Asian cuisine, including a section at the Lido offering Halal cuisine options certified by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM).
The passengers from the cruise ship enjoyed various tours offered by local tour agents, while they were in the country. On average, there are 15 cruise ships that will stop by the Sultanate via Muara Port each year. This would accumulate to 400 to 3,000 passengers for every call.
Earlier this year, the Tourism Development Department of the MPRT launched the ‘Discover Muara’ package as part of its efforts to introduce more attractions in Pekan Muara, close to the Cruise Ship Centre and Ferry Terminals, to create more offers and options for tourists arriving at Muara Port.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Brunei Darussalam, Tourism Development Department and the local travel agents work closely together with cruise owners and shipping agents to attract more tourist arrivals at Muara Port, with the main objective of increasing overall tourist arrivals in Brunei Darussalam.
Due to Brunei's ideal location as a transit hub in the region, the cruise tourism industry can benefit. It will help to expand Brunei’s economy by diversification and create jobs for fresh graduates as tour guides, coordinators, transportation providers, tour operators and souvenir retailers.
According to statistics gathered by the Tourism Development Department, between 2014 until 2018, there have been more than 130,000 arrivals via cruises and ferries into Brunei. Statistics from the Department of Immigration and National Registration show that between 2014 to 2018, more than 264,000 passengers entered Brunei Darussalam via the Serasa Ferry Terminal.
In conclusion, it shows that Brunei Darussalam definitely has a great potential in expanding their outreach via tourism.


text: As the government deliberates allowing mobile phone companies more time to prepare for number portability, consumer watch group Public Trust, or Emun Hatsibur, has called for its implementation, as scheduled, on September 1 as a first essential step to opening the market to competition. "There are some very loud voices advocating competition in the Israeli cellular market but they are not dealing with the main issues as far as the consumer is concerned," said Ronen Regev Cabir, head of research at Emun. "After identifying the non-competitive nature of the market and the reasons for the lack of competition, we concluded that number portability is essential to opening the market. But this alone is not enough, it's just one of a number of important problems that we need to solve." Emun prepared a report on competition in the cellular industry in light of the current debate surrounding number portability whereby the cellular companies have requested a delay to the scheduled change. With implementation of number portability, customers would be able to keep their phone numbers when they switch service providers - because of the inconvenience in changing numbers, many customers are loath to make a move to a new provider. If the extension is granted, it would be the second as the move initially was slated for February. Under the law, the Communications Ministry can grant a three-month extension to December 1, which it is expected to provide although the cellular companies say they need even more time. The three providers - Cellcom, Partner Communications and Pelephone - claim their systems would only be ready between June and September next year and market sources indicate that they would take their case to the High Court if not granted adequate time. A spokesman for the Communications Ministry said Minister Ariel Attias would make his decision on the issue shortly. Meanwhile, Emun compared Israel's reluctance to other countries in Western Europe where "the whole process took a few months to a year-and-half to implement in markets much larger than Israel," Regev Cabir noted. Bottom line, he added, is that it's in the cellular companies interests not to have number portability and they will do what they can to delay it. The carriers fear they will lose customers who, with the change, may be less hesitant to to switch providers if they can keep their phone number. For this reason, Emun prepared its report, to provide the regulators with a reference point to what is blocking competition in the market and, according to Regev Cabir, stress to them that the issue of number portability is the start of the process and not an end- point achievement. Some of the other issues dealt with in the report include a called for changing the companies' pricing structure by obliging each to set one price for calls within their network and calls to other networks. "This way you make the interconnect fees redundant because it is a part of the standard price of the calls," Regev Cabir said. The report also tackled the confusing marketing strategies of companies and the difficulty involved in taking one's handset along when changing providers. "What is clear is that it is in the interest of the cellular companies to make sure that the market remains as uncompetitive as it is now, so there is no point in waiting for them to solve these problems because their marketing strategies are what cause most of the problems," Regev Cabir said.


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BMW Rises on Report of Plans to Cut Costs by $5.4 BillionElisabeth Behrmann
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world’s biggest maker of luxury autos, gained after Manager Magazin reported the company plans a cost-cut drive of as much as 4 billion euros ($5.4 billion).
BMW rose as much as 1.5 percent to 92.13 euros and was trading up 1.3 percent at 3:14 p.m. in Frankfurt. The stock has increased 7.8 percent this year, valuing the carmaker at 59.1 billion euros.
The manufacturer of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars plans to maintain profitability with a program intended to reduce spending by 3 billion euros to 4 billion euros annually, the magazine said today in its online edition, citing unidentified people in the company. Munich-based BMW hired McKinsey & Co. as a consultant on the project, which runs until 2020 and stems from disappointment with earnings from the BMW 1-Series and Mini small cars, Manager Magazin said.
“We work constantly on the topic of cost management in order to maintain and further strengthen the competitiveness of the company,” spokesman Nikolai Glies said in an e-mailed statement. He declined to comment on the report’s details.
BMW Chief Financial Officer Friedrich Eichiner reiterated last month that the carmaker plans to rein in expenditures this year and move research and development spending as a proportion of sales “closer in line” with a target range of 5 percent and 5.5 percent from the 6.3 percent posted in 2013.
The company has forecast a “significant gain” in pretax profit this year, helped by new and refreshed models such as the 4-Series Gran Coupe and the X4 mid-size sport-utility vehicle. The company targets keeping profit from automaking in a range of 8 percent to 10 percent on an ongoing basis.


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Choose an article from the archive listing on this page or refine your selection using the controls in the gray box below.
SETI@home 3.0.3 posted
Berkeley has posted SETI@home 3.0.3 for Mac OS 8/9. Changes are detailed here, and include adding a new scientific calculation as well as bug fixes. There is no mention as to when the 3.0.3 version for Mac OS X will be released. (Join Team MacNNour SETI@home teamand show your support!)
Office Manager 9 posted
Microsoft has released Office Manager 9.0, a freeware utility that allows for Office components to be launched from the from the menu bar.
Chicago Sun Times reviews G4 Cube
The Chicago Sun Times has a positive review of the G4 Cube. "Three weeks with the Macintosh G4 Cube in my office, and I'm still blown away by its appearance. When paired with its companion Studio Display and clear keyboard and mouse, you've got the sort of computer you'd see in a commercial for breath mints."
Business Week: Jobs, Apple will survive
Just days after Business Week published a scathingand somewhat inaccuratereview of Apple's current situation, a Business Week article today explains that CEO Steve Jobs will be able to get Apple through its recent troubles. "What really counts here is Jobs's ability to stay nimble, changing direction quickly with the market. Nimble companies survive difficult times. After that, success is pretty much up to the company's customers."
Games: editorial, Sim Theme Park ships, more
games.macnn.com has published an editorial that discusses the lack of realistic blood and gore in action games and the impact it has on such titles. In addition, the site has news that Sim Theme Park for the Mac begins shipping today in the U.S. while Heroes III Complete for the Mac is currently in duplication and expected to be released by The 3DO Company on December 19.
MacInvoice 1.0 released
MacInvoice 1.0 is a new billing application targeted at small-to-medium sized business. Among its features is support for email billing, reminders, report creation, and expense tracking. The $40 shareware title has a 10-day evaluation period.
.mail.it 1.0 for Mac released
.mail.it for Mac is a FileMaker Pro plug-in that allows users to add full email functionality to any FileMaker database. The software offers support for many features found in email clients, including the ability to send and receive attachments, multiple account management, and full HTML support. A trial version of the $59 plug-in is available. Discounts are available for multiple licenses.
Son of Evangelist mailing list launched
Son of EvangeList is a new discussion list for Mac users. "All replies are sent back to everyone on the list promoting free discussion. The lax moderation can lead to heated debates with just enough moderation to keep it rated kid safe."
Extension Overload 5.6 posted
Extension Overload 5.6 adds information for more than 100 new extensions, control panels, control strip modules, and contextual menu items, bringing the total up to more than 4,100. The $20 application also now features a companion control strip module, and several other new features.
Interarchy 4.0 released
Stairways Software has posted Interarchy 4.0, a new version of the popular Internet multi-tool best known for its $35 FTP capabilities. The new version features a revamped interface and several new features (which are not yet explicitly documented). Upgrades are $10.
QuicKeys 5.0 plug-in suite released
CE Software has released QuicKeys 5.0 plug-in suite for its automation utility. The suite includes four new plug-ins, including: spell checking, compression, and dispense text, which copies and pastes the content of multiple text fields without repeatedly switching between applications. The suite costs $15 and is available to all registered 5.0 users.
Novatel announces PC card for Ricochet
Novatel Wireless today announced Merlin for Ricochet, the first PCMCIA card for accessing Metricom's Ricochet 128 Kbps wireless network. The $480 Type II card allows users to access the Ricochet network, which is currently available in ten metropolitan areas. Readers should note the price of the card varies significantly with promotions. [updated]
Party list for Macworld SF posted
Ilene Hofffman has posted the Hess Memorial Macworld Events/Party list for Macworld San Francisco. "Anyone who hosts an event or knows of an event is requested to please let me know, so that it can make the list."
MacDesktops: 14 new pictures this past week
MacDesktops, which recently added a plethora of customizable options, added 14 new pictures this past week, including: American Beauty (Movies), Glow (Landscapes), Matrix wall (Landscapes), Natalie Portman (Portraits), and PowerBook G3 composite.
Macs in space
Apple has posted a story on independent research scientist Andrew Santangelo, who uses Macintosh hardware -- Power Mac G4, iMac and iBook -- in his work as an aerospace contractor researching, designing and developing tether-based technologies for space exploration.
OmegaWindow+ 1.3 posted
OmegaWindow+ 1.3 adds several features to the $25 utility that allows users to resize and manage windows from their keyboard.
VolumeRocker 1.5 posted
VolumeRocker 1.5 is a $5 alternative control strip module for adjusting your Mac's volume using a rocker-like switch. This version adds more customizable options.
Font-a-Log 1.0 now available
The Mac-Stacks Emporium has released Font-a-log 1.0, a free font cataloging utility.
Early morning tech news 12/13/00
Early morning tech news: Microsoft has agreed to pay $96.8 million to former temporary workers who sued for benefits; Ask Jeeves has laid off 25 percent of its work force; and Acer has reduced the number of its overseas manufacturing plants to 12 from more than 20.
There could very well be a new king of the hill for Bluetooth speakers, with Sound Blaster's recent entry into the marketplace. Bring ...Kenu Airframe Plus
Simple, stylish and effective, the Kenu Airframe + portable car mount is the latest addition to Kenu's lineup. Released earlier this ...Plantronics Rig Surround 7.1 headset
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HP Ink Cartridges Achieve Sustainable Product Certification
HP has confirmed that its Latex and A50 Inkjet Web Press ink cartridges are the first water-based inks to pick up the Sustainable Product Certification from UL Environment.
This certification shows that these products have met a range of stringent criteria related to human health and environmental considerations.
Sara Greenstein, president of UL Environment, said: "We applaud HP for pursuing and becoming the industry’s first printer manufacturer to achieve certification under the UL 2801 standard.
"For every step a company takes toward greening its products and processes, the marketplace advances its overall sustainability practices."
Christopher Morgan, senior vice president of graphics solutions business at HP, said that the ink cartridges will help customers gain a "competitive edge".
News of this certification comes after Ameinfo.com reported that HP will exhibit a number of products and services at the Gitex 2012 event.
Those who visit the company's stand will be able to choose from a range of consumer and commercial products.
Posted by Barry Ashmore.


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VR HMDs are nonetheless fairly costly, however some fanatics are giving them a go. Actually, throughout the third quarter of this 12 months alone there was a serious milestone hit with the quantity of VR headsets which have shipped out throughout the PlayStation VR, the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, totaling 1 million models shipped within the third quarter of 2017.
Canalys is reporting that, for the third quarter of 2017, 1 million HMDs have been shipped. The breakdown sees Sony with the lead, delivery greater than 490,000 PlayStation VR units all through the quarter, which was adopted by Oculus Rift’s 210,000 units. Valve’s HTC Vive managed to maneuver 160,000 models. The three headsets dominated 86% of the full market spend on VR HMDs all through the third quarter.
The market report notes that the rationale the Oculus Rift managed to take a lot of the pie was as a consequence of the truth that Oculus discounted the Rift all through the summer time and fall by a reasonably important mark. Actually, all through the summer time the Rift was obtainable for $399, whereas throughout the fall the headset was marked all the way down to $350.
In line with Canalys, the researchers consider that the true take a look at of market saturation will come within the type of the Oculus Go, which is the upcoming miniature standalone that can be obtainable for less than $199, which is able to undercut the strong-selling PlayStation VR by $150. I think about that can be a make or break second for Oculus, provided that $199 additionally makes it much more engaging for individuals who really feel as if PC gaming is exterior their funds.
Actually, the Oculus Go is reasonable sufficient to compete for shopper spend on merchandise just like the Nintendo Change, which is presently promoting fairly strongly at $299. In fact, the massive distinction is that the Oculus Go nonetheless has the issue of being a singular person expertise, where-as the Change is designed for native multiplayer, tabletop multiplayer and on-line multiplayer, which has made it an especially wanted system for households and associates.
Canalys additionally notes that market consciousness for VR is rising because of VR zones, just like the one in Shinjuku, Tokyo that Bandai Namco opened up. The VR household zone lets customers expertise theme-park fashion rides, or shoot physics-based fireballs from a Dragon Ball Z simulator. Whereas the ticket fare might be considerably costly, the concept of individuals going to a VR park as a substitute of an actual life theme park has opened up numerous potentialities for the adoption of VR within the informal shopper market.
As a result of development of VR all through 2017, the market researchers consider that this adoption will proceed all through 2018, and that past gaming we’ll start to see extra purposes of VR within the well being, manufacturing and schooling programs. Microsoft can be getting in on the gig with a line of AR/VR headsets designed to simply combine into Home windows 10 working programs.
Different high tech corporations are additionally anticipated to unleash extra devoted VR headsets all through 2018. Software program remains to be trailing behind the , nonetheless. Whereas extra video games are popping out for VR headsets, they’ve but to come back near gross sales of conventional video games.


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Forget Bruce Oldfield, Sarah Burton and Victoria Beckham. Kate Middleton‘s bridal gown is being designed by Sophie Cranston of the Libelulu label.
Cranston, 34, has been a rising star but… READ ON
Legendary fashion designer Oscar de la Renta has taken First Lady Michelle Obama to task because of the gown she wore to the state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao,… READ ON
Less than a month shy of the one-year anniversary of Alexander McQueen’s death, First Lady Michelle Obama hit the state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday night, wearing… READ ON
Celebrities attend a memorial for Alexander McQueen including Sarah Jessica Parker who shed tears during the event.… READ ON
Anna Paquin dropped jaws at the 2010 Emmy Awards on Sunday night, walking down the red carpet in a Grecian inspired gown from Alexander McQueen. Because the gold embellished number,… READ ON


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With the flurry of high-profile hip-hop albums arriving today (The Game, Fat Joe) and in the next few weeks (Eminem, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, Young Jeezy, The Clipse and Nas), the questions about how well Jay-Z's return-from-retirement album, "Kingdom Come," will do have been flying for months.
Show us what you got, young H.O.V.A.
Well, if the marketing campaign is any indication, Jay has them all beat. His record is so hot, he has other people paying for its advertising.
The ad for Budweiser Select--which, by the way, recently named him co-brand director--is essentially a video for "Show Me What You Got" with a few beers thrown in. And the tagline isn't about the beer, it's the release date for "Kingdom Come," which is Nov. 21, in case you've been skipping commercials again.
In TNT's campaign for the NBA, Jay talks about competition. The final image, however, isn't related to games on the cable channel, but to "Kingdom Come" and its release date.
Other musicians have done this kind of trade-off before. Heck, RadioShack is still running commercials that let people know The Rolling Stones are on tour. But Jay-Z has taken this sort of marketing campaign to a new level, seemingly without even breaking a sweat. Hands up and wave. And wave. And wave.


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LINWOOD — The Exchange at 2010 New Road is a gathering place for taste buds of all kinds with its concept of having different restaurants under one roof along with the Ex Bar, but developers and owners Gerald and Lorey Bird are working to create a welcoming community space that keeps evolving.
The holiday season will feature shop and dine partners where patrons can grab a drink, dinner and maybe a unique gift all in one swoop. "Our goal is to to continue to grow community spirit," said Lorey Bird. "We welcome the community and offer our space for exhibits, music, games, schools, fundraisers, meetings and just about any good idea that allows us to grow in the spirit of a safe community."
Through Dec. 22, there will be different vendors offering something special including LuLaRoe, Biana del Mar, Salty Sea Monkey, Live Boldly Caps, Nina's Unique Boutique and many others, according to Bird. The Shop and Dine Holiday Mart runs 4 to 7 p.m. each Friday through Christmas and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Kicking off in ghoulish style, Saturday, November 3 is a celebration of Dia De Lost Muertos with sugar skull face painting. For the kids, sugar skull face painting is from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. and adults from 4- 6 p.m. by local artist Heather Deegan Hires. There is a charge. Ruben Garcia will doing group photos.
To join the Exchange Shop and Dine Holiday Mart or to make plans for the community space contact Bird at email@example.com


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CompStak launches new analytics platform
CRE data firm launches new product ahead of VTS rollout
CompStak has launched a new analytics platform that allows users to compare its crowdsourced leasing and property information in real time.
The platform, dubbed CompStak Analytics, launched Monday, giving the company a head start over rival VTS, which is planning to launch a similar product in coming months.
Last year, analytics giant Moody’s bought a minority stake CompStak, with the intent of using its lease data to help its clients — banks, insurance companies and asset managers — in managing risk.
CompStak, which launched in 2012, has raised $21 million from investors including Canaan Partners and Camber Creek. Its clients include Wells Fargo, Boston Properties, Tishman Speyer and Carlyle Group, who reportedly pay around $50,000 a year for its service.
In October 2017, the firm branched into sales, and began aggregating public records, as well as crowdsourcing net operating income and cap rates from brokers.
This June, VTS said it had begun testing a beta version of its own analytics platform that would also give subscribers the ability to monitor leasing and asset management data in real-time and make comparative data sets.
‘We have a lot of data that they don’t have,” Michael Mandel, co-founder and CEO of CompStak, said of VTS. “And our scope is broader than theirs.” But, he added, both analytics platforms could “live side-by-side” and mutual customers have expressed excitement about both companies products.
The two companies have previously engaged in a data-sharing partnership, when in 2016, users of VTS and Hightower could access lease comps from CompStak respective platforms.
Nick Romito, VTS’ chief executive, said the two platforms would offer separate insights to individual datasets.
“The actual deals themselves originate in VTS,” he said. “That’s the entire leasing of the space, through the actual negotiation, until it becomes a tenant.”


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Avian flu cause egg shortage in major supermarkets
Supermarkets have been hit with an egg shortage after avian flu wiped out a major producer last year.
Source: 7pm TV News VIC | Duration: 2min 5sec
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEDT = Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time which is 11 hours ahead of UTC (Greenwich Mean Time)


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April 08, 2014
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Issues Recall on Organic Black Peppercorns Due to Possible Health Risk
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services received information regarding a recall of multiple lots of Natural Grocers brand Organic Black Peppercorns as the product has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
The recalled product is packaged in clear plastic bags with Natural Grocers label notating Julian pack on dates and pricing per pound. The lots identified by Julian packed on date include: 28-14, 13-14, 351-13, 336-13, 322-13, 305-13, 290-13, 281-13, 266-13, 252-13, 245-13. The product was distributed to Natural Grocers' 80 stores located in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
The full recall including a list of products can be found at www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm392330.htm.


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Lowe’s Cos. Inc. posted net earnings of $747 million, or 64 cents per diluted share, in its second fiscal quarter ended Aug. 3, down from $830 million, which also equated to 64 cents per diluted share, a year earlier.
The home-improvement retailer’s sales in the latest quarter totaled $14.1 billion, down from $14.5 billion a year ago. Sales at stores in operation for at least a year declined 0.2 percent.
“Our results fell short of our overall expectations,” Lowe’s Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Niblock, says in a news release announcing the earnings results. “However, I have confidence in our strategy and in our employees, and while we recognize the significant magnitude of change that we’ve asked the organization to absorb as we transform our business, we fully understand that we must improve our level of execution.”
Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) operates 1,748 stores North America and is the chief rival to Atlanta-based The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD), which reported its second-quarter profit was up 12.4 percent to $1.5 billion.


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Work to Live 2.0 from IAA
The International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter has launched its second edition of what is well known as the Work to Live Campaign.
Says Punit Goenka President IAA India Chapter, "The concept of flexi-timings for a city like Mumbai was always a good idea. Now it assumes even more importance. In fact our campaign stresses the points that while flexi-timings are a win-win situation, it must be implemented with a sense of discipline."
Adds Nandini Dias IAA Mancom member and CEO Lodestar UM, India, who conceived this idea "After a personal tragedy, I initiated WorkToLiveToWork with the hope that decongestion of the rush hour through flexi-timing will ensure that commuting becomes less fatal. Over the last two years, many corporate leaders and trade bodies have seen the concept working and adopted it. The pandemic has made social distancing a must. But with limited space, overburdened transport network, the need for flexi-timing or time distancing is an absolute must, and workplaces that adopt it will keep their workforce safer.


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RIM is probably hoping this isn’t becoming a trend, but after the UAE and Saudi Arabia said that BlackBerry was a security liability, Lebanon may be following suit. Those countries have decided that BlackBerry services are a risk because of the potential use by militant forces or terrorists, and that the governments have no way of monitoring or accessing those services due to RIM’s strict security measures. If there is ultimately no solution to this problem, will it become a huge mess for RIM?
Right now, nothing is set in stone for Lebanon, but Reuters reports:
“We are studying the issue from all sides — technical, service-wise, economic, financial, legal and security-wise,” Hoballah told Reuters. “We are discussing this with the concerned administrations and ministries.”
RIM is in an unusual position of having to deal with government requests to monitor its clients because it is the only smartphone maker which manages the traffic of messages sent using its equipment.
With enterprise users heavily reliant on BlackBerry services, shutting down those services could hit the economy pretty badly. Users in other countries are already beginning to show concern for this particular issue since they do business in the UAE, India, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. The governments should strongly consider that it this wouldn’t just affect their citizens.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, but as of now countries that have already decided to shut out RIM will be disabling e-mail, web browsing and BlackBerry Messenger. BlackBerry handsets will be rendered virtually useless with the ability to only make calls and send text messages when that happens, and soon it may be the case in Lebanon, too. The only viable compromise, it seems, is for Research In Motion to grant access to its system so these governments can monitor and track usage. However, the Blackberry maker has made it pretty clear that governments should have their own security measures in place without having to rely on the smartphone company.


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The rising demand from the construction and automotive industries around the world has propelled the global coil coatings market at a rapid pace in the last few years. The market was valued at more than US$4 bn in 2014 and is expected to rise to a valuation of US$6.3 bn in 2023. This projected expansion translates into a CAGR of 5.2% from 2015 to 2023.
Sherwin Williams’ Acquisition of Valspar Set to Shake Up the Competitive Landscape?
Competitively, the global coil coatings market is relatively consolidated, with the top four companies accounting for a 55% share in the global market in 2014. However, the competitive scales of the market may have been unsettled in a big way when, last month, Sherwin-Williams Co. announced its plans to acquire paints and coating giant The Valspar Corporation in a massive US$11.3-bn deal. The all-cash deal – the largest in Sherwin-Williams’ history – works out at US$113 per share. The global reach of Valspar Corporation is a crucial reason why the deal could work out immensely well for Sherwin-Williams and alter the global coil coatings market, as it could open up lucrative sales channels in the dynamic economies of Asia Pacific and the Middle East for Sherwin-Williams Co.
The construction and automotive industries in these two regions have experienced massive growth over the last decade. These two industries, being the two major application segments of the coil coatings market, will play a crucial role in the development of the coil coatings market in these two dynamic regions. Sherwin-Williams’ activities in these two industries in the coming years could go a long way in determining the global coil coatings market’s future.
Polyester Coatings to Dominate Global Coil Coatings Market
There are several types of coil coatings available in the global market, polyester, silicone modified polyester, plastisol, polyurethane, and polyvinylidene fluoride being the major ones. Of these, polyester coil coatings took up a dominant volume share of 60% in the global coil coatings market in 2014. Even though the polyester coil coatings segment is expected to remain dominant in the global coil coatings market, the polyvinylidene fluoride segment is expected to exhibit a faster growth rate in the aforementioned forecast period.
Construction Industry to Remain Dominant Application Segment of Coil Coatings Market
The construction industry accounted for two-thirds of the global coil coatings market in 2014. The rising nonresidential construction in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, with the latter benefitting massively from the 2022 FIFA World Cup being held in Qatar, will keep the share of the construction industry dominant in the coming years, though the application of coil coatings in appliances will increase at a higher rate.


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New York Yankees all-star Derek Jeter recently announced his retirement from the MLB. This type of news usually makes a New Englander like myself very happy, but even as a Red Sox fan, there is a certain amount of #RE2PECT you have to pay such a talented player. The Nike Jordan team created a tribute video titled RE2PECT where fans and a few familiar faces tip their hat to The Captain. Jeter’s last appearance on the field will be at the 2014 All-Star game airing tonight.
You can pickup RE2PECT branded apparel over on Nike’s online store.


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Why John Lewis ‘won’ Christmas TV by going early
The retailer John Lewis benefitted from a ‘response halo’ by going heavy and early.
In most businesses, anyone spending tens of millions of pounds without being able to prove impact would be summarily laughed out of the boardroom. Yet that is exactly what TV advertisers do every day.
With scant means to close the attribution loop, TV has always been a medium for brand-building; campaign impact is measured only qualitatively and buyers continue spending as long as sales are growing.
For the brands whose media buyers just spent a record sum during the year’s biggest ad season – £7.9bn this Christmas – that represents a problem. If the effectiveness of TV cannot be proven, more budgets will this year drift, often unwisely, to digital channels.
Proving the point
But TV’s impact does not have to go unattributed. By harnessing technology to measure audience activity all the way from exposure through to response across channels, it is possible to accurately measure the outcomes of TV ads.
Through November and December, ViewersLogic recorded and analysed viewer-provided data on the consumption of major retailers’ seasonal TV ad campaigns, as well as their subsequent website visits.
ViewersLogic panellists use their smartphones to connect with and automatically capture their TV viewing, as well as their online browsing behaviour and other activities – creating deterministic, single-source data.
Here is what we found:
TV’s impact can be evidenced
By comparing visits from ad-exposed users with those from a non-exposed control group, campaign impact can clearly be seen. While all brands saw seasonal web traffic growth, there is a quantifiable uplift from ad-exposed viewers.
For example, at its height, Currys’ campaign saw 9.1% of ad viewers visit its website, compared with just 4.3% of non-exposed consumers – a 84% jump over the baseline of 4.9%. What’s more, this response curve clearly maps to both the duration and the daily intensity of Currys’ 47-day Christmas campaign.
Christmas ad buyers shouldn’t stick their finger in the air, they should put it in the data.
TV’s impact is rarely immediate
TV attribution technologies have emerged in the last couple of years, but early methods have been problematic. With big brands buying ads across multiple overlapping networks in the same daypart, vendors commonly resort to attributing impact to individual ads by correlating website visits within a five-minute window of a given airing.
But our research shows less than 1% of in-campaign web visits come from viewers in this short space of time. Instead, the window between ad exposure and a website visit can be quite long indeed.
For example, John Lewis began its TV activity in early November – but the uplift in web visits from those who saw its ads persisted for around three weeks after ad deliveries tailed off. John Lewis benefitted from this response halo by going heavy and early, earning the most effective campaign per 10 million impressions despite dialling down spending a full two weeks before Christmas.
More brands should follow its lead. Don’t base 99% of your spending decisions on 1% of your traffic – instead, understand how, as has always been suspected, viewer consideration percolates in the days after exposure.
Rebooting ad buying
Proving TV’s effectiveness isn’t just for Christmas. The loudest call from marketers lately has been to move away from “probabilistic” and fragmented, second-hand data, towards holistic cross-channel measurement that reflects audiences’ real behaviour. This “deterministic” data will change TV ad-buying in three ways:
- Media buyers become accountable
TV planners and buyers should not be hiding from their clients under the veil of John Wanamaker’s famous quote. TV is the lion’s share of many ad budgets and must be held to account.
Agencies have noted this demand, developing a host of algorithms to measure their own plans. But agencies marking their own homework won’t be tolerated for long. Brands will insist on better, more empirical indicators.
- Fairer attribution
It is no wonder media budgets are moving down the funnel to prove impact. But the “last click” is taking way too much of the credit. The truth stands that many visits through a Facebook page are initially primed by a TV ad. By unquestioningly pumping more money instead into Facebook, buyers may be rewarding the wrong driver.
By actually quantifying other channels’ role in audience response, though, media planners can more appropriately apportion attribution across the whole customer journey, knowing with more certainty where to re-invest.
- Insights from actions
More marketers are coming to understand the unsuitability of traditional measurement methods, like surveys. The best way to understand the actual impact of an ad is to also monitor audiences’ downstream actions across their actual media and buying habits.
But doing so won’t just support attribution insights at the individual level. It will also allow brands to reverse-analyse whole cohorts. For example, winding back a particular group of online buyers to understand which media exposure they may all have had in common.
Empirical data can show that, depending on your strategy, investing heavily in TV, at Christmas or any other time of year, can yield real returns. But brands cannot hope for this evidence to fall into their lap.
They need to prepare themselves for enhanced TV attribution by examining and understanding all the potential touchpoints along their customers’ journeys, and by assessing their best path to deployment.
Not all data is equal. Options which take disparate data – like ad exposure, web visitation and ecommerce outcomes – from diverse sources may be disadvantaged when compared against single-source, straight-from-the-horse’s-mouth indicators.
For ad buyers which take the right approach, Christmas can’t come soon enough.
Simen Moen is head of data analytics at ViewersLogic. Prior to ViewersLogic, Moen was a senior data analyst at media agency the7stars for several years, where he used ViewersLogic’s data.
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Crown Laboratories Expands Aesthetics’ Portfolio with Acquisition of Eclipse MedCorp, LLC Assets
May 24, 2022 (Johnson City, TN) – Crown Laboratories (“Crown”), a leading, fully integrated global skincare company, has finalized an agreement with Eclipse, a medical technology company, to acquire its global, aesthetics-focused assets. The acquisition expands Crown’s aesthetics’ product portfolio and enhances Crown’s overall value proposition as a global leader in science-based aesthetic skincare solutions.
“We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of today’s aesthetics market by developing and delivering best-in-class medical technologies and products that are exceptionally safe and effective,” said Jeff Bedard, President and CEO of Crown. “This strategic acquisition furthers Crown’s mission to drive innovation and provide superior products and customer service to aesthetics providers around the world. Eclipse’s excellent products will broaden our product line and customer base, domestically and internationally.”
“We are thrilled to have completed this transaction with Crown,” added Paul O’Brien, CEO of Eclipse. “The combination of Eclipse’s innovative product offerings with Crown’s leadership position in the aesthetics market will undoubtedly expand the reach and optimize the range of services health care professionals can provide to their patients.”
As an innovative company focused on skin science, Crown will integrate the Eclipse products into the Aesthetics business unit of Crown to complement its award-winning SkinPen® Precision and other brands. Eclipse customers can expect to continue receiving superior customer service, medical education, and access to Crown’s expanded range of highly effective aesthetic products.


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In a continued trend of life imitating art, rapper and producer Daz Dillinger has a bone to pick with Rockstar Games, the creators of the record-setting video game, “Grand Theft Auto V.” According to TMZ, the DPG star says the makers jacked him for his music like it was a mission in the popular game.
In a letter to Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games, Daz and his attorney say the songs “C-Walk” and “Nothin’ But the Cavi Hit” are used in the game, even though Daz turned down the company’s “offensively low offer of $4,271.00 for both songs.”
Daz is calling for the game company to recall the 15 million copies sold, cease and desist with any further sales–or come up with more money. They have 14 days to comply or the grand theft audio will be taken to the next level.
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I’m not sure how I missed this news, because it was apparently announced more than a month ago, but Cantillon’s Zwanze Day 2015 will be held at 56 different locations throughout the world on Saturday, Sept. 19.
If you’re unaware, Zwanze Day events are held in bars across the globe once a year, and the Belgian brewer o’ spontaneous beers always unveils a sour ale that’s specially made for the occasion. This year, it’s a sour stout, according to Jean Van Roy, Cantillon’s brew maestro. Cantillon occasionally posts updates and images to its Facebook page, and way back in March of 2013, it hinted that a sour stout it was working on could end up becoming the 2014 or 2015 Zwanze beer.
Here’s a quick description of the 2015 Zwanze libation, from Van Roy:
“I fermented some raw wheat to improve mellowness and enhance storage characteristics and did not use roasted barley to avoid further accentuating the dry aspect, which was already present as a result of spontaneous fermentation.
“The recipe is that of a stout, the colour is that of a stout, and spontaneous fermentation followed by 28 months of maturing in a cask has given birth to a ‘surreal’ stout. The dry and tart notes of a spontaneous fermentation beer combine with the roasted, slightly burnt and delicate chocolate flavours sometimes found in certain stouts.
“For the 28 months of maturing we used three types of casks: 50% of the casks had already contained lambic, 25% had already been used for CoÌ‚tes du RhoÌ‚ne wine and 25% had already been used for Cognac. Beers that have matured in old Cognac casks take up the warmth of the alcohol while those from casks having contained red wine adopt winey and fruity characteristics.”
The French word “zwanze” refers to “humor typical of Brussels,” according to OxfordDictionaries.com, and it’s used to describe the Cantillon brews, because many of them are kind of odd and experimental.
Check out the Cantillon website for more details. And here’s the list of the 26 U.S. venues serving Zwanze 2015 on Saturday, Sept. 19. (You can find the full list of the other 30 venues outside of United States in the related Facebook post.)
- Anchorage Brewing Co. — Anchorage, Alaska
- Apex — Portland, Oregon
- Armsby Abbey — Worcester, Massachusetts
- Avenue Pub — New Orleans, Louisiana
- Bagby Beer — Oceanside, California
- Beachwood BBQ — Seal Beach, California
- Blue Monk — Buffalo, New York
- Brouwer’s Café — Seattle, Washington
- ChurchKey — Washington, D.C.
- Crooked Stave Barrel Cellar — Denver, Colorado
- Fool’s Gold — Manhattan, New York
- Hill Farmstead Brewery — Greensboro, Vermont
- Holy Grale — Louisville, Kentucky
- Jester King Brewery — Austin, Texas
- Lord Hobo — Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Monk’s Café — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Novare Res Bier Café — Portland, Maine
- REAL a Gastropub — Honolulu, Hawai’i
- Redlight Redlight — Orlando, Florida
- Russian River Brewing — Santa Rosa, California
- Schera’s — Elkader, Iowa
- Side Project Cellar — Maplewood, Missouri
- Spuyten Duyvil — Brooklyn, New York
- The Birch – Norfolk, Virginia
- The Trappist — Oakland, California
- West Lakeview Liquors — Chicago, Illinois


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Apple has launched an official page in Russian social network “Vkontakte”. It is available at vk.com/apple, however, is still closed.
Apple representatives in Russia have confirmed that this page is indeed official. The question of when the public will be available to all, the company has not responded. The press service of the social network also confirmed the membership page vk.com/apple Apple.
The public is not marked by the blue tick, which usually confirms the authenticity of the account. Since Apple is a closed community, see the contents or the number of approved participants is impossible.
As it became known, earlier at this address “Vkontakte” there was a community of Apple online store Jesus. According to media reports, the head of service sold to the group address of the Corporation from Cupertino, but the former owner could not confirm or deny this information. Members of the Apple also refused to disclose the details of the transaction. Public Apple now Jesus is at a different location.
At the moment the official Apple community in “Vkontakte” closed: most likely, there is nothing published. At the moment of the options available, click “Apply”.
The iPhone maker also has official pages in Facebook and Twitter, and in the latter network, the company provides guidance to users and provides advice of a technical nature.


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OnePlus has today launched a series of new products, including the OnePlus 7 Pro that marks the start of a new journey for the company.
Vodafone has confirmed July 3rd 2019 is switch-on date for its 5G network, which will begin with coverage in seven cities (rising to 12 by
Anker has today announced its latest fast-charging technology, Power IQ 3.0, allowing its next generation PowerPort+ Atom III charger to fast charge Qualcomm Quick Charge
If you want in on the wireless earbuds game without spending a fortune, Swedish audio brand Urbanista has launched the Stockholm earbuds that will set
May is set to become a very busy month for Honor with the release of not just one, but three (and possibly even more) handsets
A couple of weeks ago I was one of a privileged few to travel to Switzerland for the official launch of Europe’s first 5G network,


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In a first of its kind case, state consumer officials are pursuing criminal charges against a Waterbury heating oil dealer who allegedly stiffed as many as 50 customers out of $57,000 worth of oil purchased through pre-buy contracts.
Monday's arrest of Robert Desiderio, owner of Express Oil, by Waterbury police marks the first time criminal charges were sought against a dealer by the state Department of Consumer Protection, and is part of the fallout from last winter's high fuel prices, the department said.
Additional investigations into other heating oil companies are in progress by the department, said Frank Greene, director of the food and standards division. State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday said he intends to seek refunds for customers by filing civil action against Desiderio.
Desiderio was arrested by Waterbury police on a warrant Monday and charged with five counts of second-degree larceny. He was released on $200,000 bail.
Officials said Desiderio and some other heating oil dealers in Connecticut bet last summer that high oil prices would eventually come down. So they offered heating oil contracts to customers at lowball prices, but did not back up their offers with actual purchases of oil.
When the prices remained high, they could not cover the contract purchases. Customers either did not get their oil, or got only partial deliveries, and the state revoked the company's license, Greene said.
The consumer protection department worked out a voluntary compliance agreement with the company under which the company could resume operations if it honored its pre-paid contracts or found a buyer. However, in a press release issued Tuesday, the department said the company did not comply with the agreement.
"I am unhappy to see this company fail, its customers left uncompensated, and its owner facing criminal charges," Consumer Protection Commissioner Edwin R. Rodriguez said. "My agency acted with patience and in good faith, hoping that Express Oil would ultimately meet all of its obligations. Unfortunately, we have been consistently disappointed by Mr. Desiderio's lack of commitment."
Desiderio could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
To protect heating oil customers, the legislature passed a new law this year requiring heating oil dealers to back their pre-buy contract offers with either wholesale oil contracts covering 75 percent of the gallons they sell, or bonds covering half of the cash value of the contracts.
Gene Guilford, executive director of the Independent Connecticut Petroleum Association, said the law should not have a chilling effect on pre-buy heating oil offers from reputable dealers. Most already back their retail contract offers to consumers with other oil contracts.
He said it's the suspiciously lowball offers -- say $1.35 a gallon when other dealers are charging more than $2 a gallon -- that consumers should watch out for, and that the new law should help prevent.


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Yamaha EMF Electric Scooter to Launch in March 2022: Check Specifications
Yamaha EMF electric scooter comes with swappable battery system.
The Quint DAILY
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Yamaha has revealed its new electric scooter EMF in Taiwan. According to the official press note released by the company, the scooter will be launched in Taiwan in March 2022.
Yamaha EMF will come with swappable battery system powered by Taiwanese battery giant Gogoro. It will be the second electric scooter in collaboration with Gogoro Inc., the first one being Yamaha EC-05, which was launched in Taiwan in 2019.
"The EMF will be able to use the many GoStation battery-swapping stations installed throughout Taiwan by Gogoro Energy Network," reads the press note released by the company.
Here are some details about specifications of the upcoming Yamaha EMF electric scooter.
Yamaha EMF: Specifications
Yamaha EMF is powered by a electric motor, which comes with a maximum output of 10.30 PS and 26Nm peak torque. According to the company claim, EMF can reach from 0-50kmph in 3.5 seconds.
In terms of design, Yamaha EMF comes with a minimal front apron with vertically stacked LED headlight at the centre. At the back, it sports dual LED tail lights.
It also comes with digital instrument console and will be available in three colour variants: Dark Black, Light Blue, and Dark Green.
Yamaha offers some connectivity features with EMF such as turn-by-turn navigation and last parked location. A small storage space is also provided at the centre on the floorboard.
Yamaha EMF electric scooter comes with a 200mm disc brake at the front and 190mm rear disc brake.
Follow this space regularly for further updates about Yamaha EMF and other electric vehicles.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)
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On Tuesday, the company notified regional authorities in California that it would lay off about 260 workers at various facilities that employ data scientists, software engineers and other corporate workers. Those job cuts would be effective beginning on Jan. 17.
Amazon would not specify how many more layoffs may be in the works beyond the ones confirmed through California's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, also known as WARN, which requires companies to provide 60 days' notice if they have 75 or more full-time or part-time workers. Amazon employs more than 1.5 million workers globally, primarily made up of hourly workers.
The Seattle-based company reported two consecutive losses this year, driven mainly by write-downs of the value of its stock investment in electric vehicle start-up Rivian Automotive. The company returned to profitability during the third quarter, but investors were gloomy about its weaker-than-expected revenue and lacklustre projections for the current quarter, which is typically good for retailers due to the holiday shopping season.
To cut back on costs, Amazon has already been axing some of its projects - including subsidiary fabric.com, Amazon Care, and the cooler-size home delivery robot Scout. Its also been scaling back its physical footprint by delaying - or cancelling - plans to occupy some new warehouses across the country. And Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky has said the company was preparing for what could be a slower growth period and would be careful about hiring shortly.
Mass layoffs are rare at Amazon, but the company has had rounds of job cuts in 2018 and 2001 during the dot-com crash. On the warehouse side, the eCommerce giant typically trims its workforce through attrition.
A few days before, a media company attributed the reduction to the uncertain macroeconomic environment faced by Amazon and other companies. The news follows a wave of layoffs across the technology sector, which is wary of recession after years of rapid hiring.
Just last week, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc said it would cut more than 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce, to rein in costs.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is going to lay off more than 11,000 of its employees. CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that the layoffs are "the most difficult changes we've made in Meta's history."


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Despite bowing out of the mobile market, NVIDIA truly became an exemplar within the Android community, a minimum of when it involves software support. Years after it launched in SHIELD TV boxes, NVIDIA continued pushing big and little updates beyond what most OEMs would have wiped out in the past. Sadly, goodies do come to an end, and therefore the graphics tech giant has just confirmed that the SHIELD TV won’t be getting Android 10, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be getting updates either.
The first SHIELD TV Android TV device launched back in 2015, and unless you’ve been keeping tabs on the Android TV market, you’d have expected these to possess to be abandoned by now. In 2019, however, even those boxes got updated to the newest Android 9.0 version of Android TV and continued to receive feature updates. However, with Android 12 just around the corner, owners have started asking about an Android 10 update for their faithful devices.
The official answer, unfortunately, is a no. To be more precise, NVIDIA says that it had been a “no-op” for the corporate, meaning they decided to skip it. They decided that Android 10 for Android TV didn’t carry big changes that might have benefited users but still required tons of labor to release.
That’s not to say NVIDIA is completed with the SHIELD TV, especially since its last SHIELD Experience update was released just last May. An equivalent NVIDIA staffer hinted that there’s still tons of development happening for the platform, which may be a touch surprising for a line of devices whose latest model was launched back in 2019. but, with NVIDIA pushing its GeForce NOW streaming service, it’s not that unexpected either.
There may be a little chance that NVIDIA will jump to Android 11, which probably accumulates tons more substantial changes to the platform than Android 10. That, however, might be an illusion, but SHIELD TV owners won’t be missing much from the newest Android TV releases, especially since NVIDIA provides its own experience on top anyway.


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It appears the gold rings worn by General Motors workers are no longer highly valued! BusinessDay.com has an article that discusses the “STEADY trickle of gold rings bearing the letters “GM” has found its way into the Main Street Pawn Shop in the heart of the scruffy carmaking city of Pontiac.”
They go on to say that, “GM veterans have been pawning once treasured company rewards in distress or disgust at the state of the biggest American car manufacturer, which is expected to declare itself bankrupt tomorrow.”
“They have such a bad taste in their mouths that they don’t want them,” says Shelby Berger, co-manager of the family-owned shop. Mr Berger says he has handled more than 25 rings since Detroit’s motor industry went into a tailspin.
In a practice long since abandoned, GM awarded the ornaments for sales excellence, loyal service or for graduation from the company’s engineering academy. They now fetch more than $US200 ($A250) each. Mr Berger’s pawn shop is one of the only prospering businesses in Pontiac, a city of 65,000…
Read the Article in full Here: BusinessDay.com