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The European Union’s revised F-gas Regulation, which mandates a a complete phase out of the consumption of HFCs across the bloc by 2050 as well as specific phase-out dates for the use of HFCs and HFOs in some heating and cooling equipment, has been published in the Official Journal of the EU and will be legally enforceable as of March 11.
This is set to create room for the uptake of alternatives to fluorinated gases – such as natural refrigerants – in refrigeration, heat pumps and air-conditioning equipment in the European market.
“We are happy that different asks from the progressive side of the industry are included in this final piece of legislation,” said Marc Chasserot, CEO and Founder of ATMOsphere, the publisher of R744.com. “Let’s now work to make this revision a success and ensure natural refrigerants can take over the market.”
The revision is intended to support and safely streamline the adoption of alternatives to fluorinated gases where these alternatives are available. The co-legislative bodies of the European Parliament and the Council welcomed the inclusion of a phase out of the consumption of hydrofluorocarbons by 2050, currently the only one in the world, as well as a drastic reduction of their production.
The legislatures also maintained the addition of the 20-year GWP metric initially proposed by the European Commission to inform stakeholders of the short-term effects of these chemicals on global warming when released into the atmosphere.
The European Parliament managed to maintain multiple provisions from its adopted position: bans on any fluorinated gases, whether HFCs or HFOs, are introduced for applications such as domestic fridges and small heat pumps – a global first.
PFAS links, training and certification provisions
The issue of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is also covered in the preamble, which recognizes some of the substances that are covered by the Regulation are, or degrade into, PFAS. To ATMOsphere’s knowledge, this is the first piece of legislation that establishes the link between fluorinated gases and PFAS.
Training and certification provisions for alternatives, such as natural refrigerants, also landed in the final text, paving the way for their increased adoption. Finally, the legal text mandates the Commission to draft a report by July 1, 2027, to assess the feasibility to include mobile air-conditioning and transport refrigeration systems among the bans in Annex IV.
In the coming weeks, ATMOsphere will publish fact sheets explaining how the provisions in this revised Regulation are meant to support the uptake of natural refrigerants across multiple applications.
“Let’s now work to make this revision a success and ensure natural refrigerants can take over the market.”Marc Chasserot, CEO and Founder of ATMOsphere


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Chicopee Urgent Care on Memorial Drive opened in 2013.
This story follows Would you use urgent care center? Western Mass. walk-in clinics provide ER alternative for non-life-threatening conditions, which has a listing of urgent care centers in the Pioneer Valley and Franklin County area.
BOSTON - A state cost trends report has found that the number of retail clinics and urgent care facilities has expanded "dramatically" in the state during the last dozen years, and their presence does reduce ER use.
The trend should prove good news for both consumers and health care providers in terms of keeping care for non-life threatening illnesses and injuries out of the ER, where wait lines can be long, and also in terms of providing alternatives to booked up primary care physicians.
The report, from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, shows that the number of urgent care facilities in the commonwealth, often staffed by physicians who trained in emergency medicine, has jumped from 10 in 2008 to 84.
These centers, many with their own labs and X-ray equipment, provide walk-in care seven days a week for a variety of medical conditions, ranging from broken bones, to urinary tract infections to pneumonia. Most take a range of private insurance, and many also take MassHealth plans.
They are often located in or near shopping centers, and increasingly in suburban and rural areas.
The report also shows that the number of retail clinics during this time has jumped from 11 to 58. As noted in the report in data provided by CVS, these are clinics "located in retail stores" that "are typically staffed by nurse practitioners and treat a limited range of health co
nditions, such as minor infections and injuries."
The report correlated the convenience and presence of such facilities with "lower ED use." It noted a 30 percent decrease in the use of emergency departments when there are nearby retail clinics or urgent care centers.
It noted that among ER visits in the last 12 months, 40 percent were for a "non-emergency room" visit; 76 percent were for care after normal operating hours of a physician's office and 60 percent because the patient could not get a timely appointment at a physician's office.
Another study released this week found that cost and access to health care remains a challenge for many state residents. It reported patients visiting a hospital ER for non-life-threatening care because they could not get a timely appointment with a medical provider.
The number of urgent care facilities has increased by about 30 since 2013.

domain: news


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A business owner from Stanmore has decided to host an online workshop to help encourage residents to go green, reuse and recycle.
Megha Shah who owns Siyana London, a sustainable accessories business, will be hosting an online workshop on Saturday, October 24, to teach people how to grow microgreens at home.
This is part of Megha’s love for all things ethically and sustainably made, as she hopes the workshop will encourage more people to grow produce in their garden.
She said: “Working with artists from India, I have always loved hand woven scarfs and accessories.
“All our products are ethically made and mainly organic cotton and then we have different textured materials and even make bags out of reef plastic.”
Megha said that during the pandemic she started researching microgreens and wanted to do something to move her business online during these unprecedented times.
She said: “I want to encourage children and parents to use reusable boxes which would otherwise be thrown into landfill.
“These boxes can be converted into flowerpots which then can be used to grow microgreens at home.”
Megha said that by growing microgreens at home, she has cut down on buying greens from the supermarket.
She said: “We have stopped buying salads and started growing everything at home because it is all organic.
“Kids love it. My daughter keeps watching me in the garden every day.
“I wanted to do something that kids could take part in and parents can encourage them to take part from home.”
If you want to take part in the workshop you can sign up online at siyanalondon.com/workshops/ and purchase a package for the one-hour session.


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The AI:TRAIL quattro, the fourth concept study being presented by Audi at IAA 2019, marks another important step towards mobility of the future, not only for car manufacturers but also for MT Technologies. The Ingolstadt-based model maker has been closely involved in the formation process of the vision car, all the way from its virtual draft to the finished clay model.
The two companies are already a well-established team. For the past 70 years, Audi has counted on MT Technologies for the design and model making of its concept cars. Their last successful cooperation was evident in the design implementation of the Audi AI:ME presented at Auto Shanghai 2019. With the premiere of the AI:TRAIL quattro, the brand with the four rings has now completed its quartet of visionary vehicles.
MT Technologies’ Head of model making Rainer Leppmeier and his team of 20 began giving shape to Audi’s design specifications in late summer 2018. There was no template for this vision car; rather there were high expectations for the full package, such as complete, future-oriented design, a spacious interior, as well as the technology to be provided inside. “The whole design process comes down to making these visions tangible and understandable,” Leppmeier explains.
In order to give the right form to the mere idea of a visionary off-roader, along with the necessary creativity and perfect coordination with the client, first and foremost many years of experience in implementing designs and model making are required. MT Technologies harnesses all of these skills – a key factor in making it a strong partner to German car manufacturers over many years. General Manager Josef Pfister also focuses on close communication: “Providing the look and a certain character to a vision relies on the partners completely understanding each other in the design process,” he confirms.
The AI:TRAIL quattro has also set the trend. Going forward, MT Technologies will create vehicle models as a ‘one-stop-shop’ partner – delivering everything from the idea to the virtual design and the show car itself. In addition, MT Technologies, as a new member of the Ayala Corporation Industrial Group, is able to supply functional components to car manufacturer world-wide throughout the entire product development process, right up to serial production. That capability ensures that MT Technologies will be ready to take on large-scale projects from the automotive industry of the future, too.
Account Manager Iberia


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Near September, it is time to predict Apple’s new autumn products. Although Apple has not yet announced the date of the autumn new product launch, there are already many analysts and media on the Internet that have exposed information about the new iPhone and the new 2019’s iPad.
Recently, Bloomberg News informed the news of Apple’s new autumn forecast, the new iPhone with “Pro”, AirPods, 16-inch MacBook seems to be on the line, ready to go.
Informed sources revealed to Bloomberg that Apple will launch a number of iPhone products at its special event in September, including an iPhone with a “Pro” suffix, which aims to promote Apple hardware and software products with flexible product grading. Sales, and then directly increase the revenue performance of these two categories.
At the same time, the iPad and MacBook Pro will also be updated, especially the latter, which will change the appearance of the years with a new 16-inch design.
New iPhone that supports ultrawide angle shooting and reverse charging
On the new iPhone, people familiar with the matter said that among the three new iPhones, the “Pro” suffix is the successor to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, and the other is the successor to the iPhone XR.
In terms of camera configuration, the “Pro” series models will be equipped with a three-camera configuration. In addition to the main camera, there will be super-wide-angle and telephoto lenses. People familiar with the matter said that the new camera’s dark light shooting ability is stronger and higher resolution than the current one. With the AI compositing mechanism, the phone can record three pictures at the same time when taking pictures, and then filter and correct visual defects by AI.
It’s not hard to see that these two new iPhones with “Pro” are likely to switch to larger CMOS, because the sensitivity and pixel resolution are closely related to this part.
Video recording capabilities will also become more user-friendly with hardware and software upgrades. In the previous iOS 13, the album function has been able to implement the basic functions of video editing, users can quickly cut and rotate the video in a few simple steps.
In this update, Apple will add real-time retouching, color grading, recomposing, and more to the video recording function to maximize the video application capabilities of the phone.
As a successor to the iPhone XR, the new iPhone without Pro will also have a dual-camera design. However, it is still unclear whether the same module is used in the same way as Pro.
With the addition of new sensors, the face recognition capabilities of the three new phones have also been upgraded to a greater extent, with a wider range of identifiable. The most intuitive place to show the advantage is that the phone can complete the face recognition in a flat state so that the user can easily unlock the phone without having to specifically pick up the phone to verify.
In terms of body size, the new iPhone with the “Pro” suffix will be the same size as the iPhone XS series, and the screen specifications will remain the same. But the new model will use the new OLED display, and the 3D Touch feature will be replaced by the Haptic Touch, which has been in the iPhone XR for a year.
The appearance of the phone has also changed a bit. First of all, the body color is a bit matte, which is a little different from the current mirror. Secondly, the mobile phone has better anti-drop and waterproof performance. The waterproof performance will be longer than the IP68 and 30 minutes of the current iPhone. However, the specific level parameters are not disclosed. If the message is established, the waterproof performance of the new iPhone is expected to reach IP69.
This year, Apple added a wireless charging function for AirPods 2. However, the absence of AirPower makes the wireless charging box of the headset slightly slim. However, people familiar with the matter said that the new iPhone will support reverse wireless charging, allowing users to charge AirPods at any time, but this feature is limited to the “Pro” model.
In fact, in addition to supporting reverse charging, the new iPhone as a “charger” may have a small increase in battery capacity.
The batteries of the three new iPhones will increase by 20%, 10%, and 2% respectively, reaching 3200mAh, 3500mAh and 3000mAh.DigiTimes News
If there are no surprises, this year Apple will continue to update the A13 processor in the new iPhone. It is reported that the A13 processor will integrate a coprocessor named “AUX” internally. The main task of this processor is to complete the calculation of intensive tasks for the main chip, such as AI information operation, etc., to help the main CPU. Reduce computational pressure.
According to the foreign media exposure news a few months ago, the A13’s AI performance will be 3-5 times that of the A12, and it is expected to reach 20 trillion operations per second.
However, it is a pity that sources said that the three new iPhones released this year will not support 5G networks. iPhones that can support 5G and have 3D detection technology will not be available until 2020.


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An Online Multilingual Strategy is Just as Important for Startups
- An Online Multilingual Strategy is Just as Important for Startups
On the blog we recently looked at the example of Zomato, a company that implemented a multilingual strategy in order to conquer new foreign markets. The company adopted translation and localisation fairly early on in its evolution, but how soon should companies look to a multilingual strategy? As soon as they start or once they have matured a little?
The non-English speaking part of the world has long been aware of the value of offering their product in a different, mainly the English, language, Fernando Cuscuela says in his article on Venturebeat. Companies located in countries where English in the main or only language, however, have only recently become aware of the benefits of a multilingual strategy.
According to Cuscuela, there is more than one advantage that can be gained from having a multilingual presence on the global market.
One of these advantages, he says, is that it is a cost effective way for companies to market their product(s).
Cuscuela himself employed a multilingual strategy from the start for Everypost, an app with which you can manage all your different social media accounts, and says that this helped his company compete against the other, bigger players on the market.
In addition, it also enabled Everypost to market their product to a large, international audience, which meant the number of users of their app was larger and the feedback they received reached them faster than it would have when the app would have only been available in English. Thus, a multilingual strategy widens your reach without costing a great deal of money, Cuscuela says.
Each time a company’s product becomes available in a new language, the number of potential customers for a company becomes increases. This is very hard to accomplish using other methods, Cuscuela says. According to him, Everynote tapped into a massive pool of new consumers when they translated their app to Japanese, as the country has 101 million internet users.
Another company that has reaped the benefits of employing multiple languages is the French Likebook. The service of this startup, that can create a paperback or hardback copy of the customer’s Facebook contents, is available in six different languages. This includes Brazilian Portuguese, which opened up a huge customer base for Likebook as it is the country with the second largest number of Facebook users worldwide.
Cuscuela admits that while carrying out a multi-language strategy can be quite the challenge, it is not impossible. In fact, there are a number of ways companies can make life a little easier for themselves, he says. For example, businesses can translate their website by using a website plugin, especially in the first stages of implementing this new strategy. Moreover, having a multilingual team on board also makes things a whole lot simpler as this reduces translation costs and enables companies to receive feedback from people who are native in the languages they have on offer.
According to Cuscuela, Brazilian online booking platform ClickBus also used a great strategy for their multilingual plans. The company, that allows consumers to book buses online, plans to expand to fourteen other countries in its first year of existence.
The service was a great success in their home country, but now that German buses are no longer in the hands of the German government, great opportunities await ClickBus in Europe as well. ClickBus intends to hire local representatives for all new markets, which Cuscuela believes is a very good idea as it ensures a smoother entering of the market.
Cuscuela concludes by saying that a multilingual business strategy does not only increases a company’s chances on the global market, but also boosts the awareness for a brand.
After all, the ever changing online world means companies must find ways to stay ahead of the game. Cuscuela believes multilingual websites will soon become the norm: if companies invest in a multilingual website now, the final rewards that can be found on the international market will not be disappointing.


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Ultrabooks: What the fuss is about
The past several years have witnessed the introduction and dramatic rise of a number of different computing devices. First, it was the smartphone. Then in the spring of 2010, it was the tablet computer. Last year, Intel® launched the first Ultrabook™, an updated version of a laptop computer.
Since its introduction, the Ultrabook has reinvigorated the laptop PC market and given users a robust alternative to tablets and even traditional notebooks. But some may still be asking themselves what all the hype is about.
Ultrabooks take traditional computers to the next level. They are lightweight and compact, making them much more portable than notebooks.
The devices also feature solid-state drives, which provide several benefits. For example, boot times are much faster than what traditional users may be accustomed to as Ultrabooks can start up and be ready to go in mere moments. Fortunately, functionality isn't sacrificed because Ultrabooks provide the same computing performance and storage space as traditional laptops.
Cost has so far been the only roadblock impeding further gains for Ultrabooks, but it's important for users to understand the value they are getting with the high-performance devices.


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Swedish home furnishing major IKEA is all set to open its first Indian store at Hi-Tec City here tomorrow. IKEA’s Hyderabad store has come up with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore and will house a 1,000-seater restaurant, IKEA’s largest.
The store is 4,00,000 sq.ft. large and spread over 13 acres. It will offer 7,500 affordable, value for money home
furnishing products and 1,000 products will be priced below Rs 200, IKEA Retail India CEO Peter Betzel told reporters today.
The IKEA Hyderabad store employs 950 co-workers (nearly 50 per cent women) directly and 1,500 indirectly in services and expects to host close to 7 million visitors each year. Patrik Antoni, deputy country manager of IKEA India said “Rs 10,500 crore is our approved initial investment back in 2013 and so far we have spent around half the amount. As we see big opportunities in India we believe that we will increase this investment as we continue our expansion”.
IKEA Group, CEO, Jesper Brodin said “We have a long-term commitment to India which is an important market for us.
We bring an inspiring, affordable and convenient home furnishing offer”. IKEA plans to open retail stores in over 40 cities across the country. After the Hyderabad store, the next will be launched in Mumbai and is expected to be ready by 2019 summer, which will be followed by Bengaluru, Gurugram.
“We have acquired four land sites in our first-priority markets–Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi/NCR and we continue to look for suitable sites in different cities,” they said. By 2025 the company is looking at more than 25 touchpoints across various cities including new ones like Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata, Antoni said.
IKEA aims to reach 200 million customers in India in the next three years. The company, currently has 403 stores in 49 countries, with a sales volume of 38.3 billion euros. IKEA has been sourcing its products from India for its
global stores for more than 30 years.


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TJ Parker, PillPack's co-founder and chief executive, said: "Together with Amazon, we are eager to continue working with partners across the healthcare industry to help people throughout the U.S. who can benefit from a better pharmacy experience".
Colombia and Japan qualify for World Cup last 16
Poland can't progress to the last-16 with the no 1 seed in the group having lost their first two games of the competition. Senegal set for Thursday, Group H looks set to provide a thrilling finale to the group stage of the tournament.
"Together with Amazon, we are eager to continue working with partners across the healthcare industry to help people throughout the U.S. who can benefit from a better pharmacy experience", PillPack co-founder and CEO TJ Parker said in a statement. "PillPack makes it simple for any customer to take the right medication at the right time, and feel healthier", its cofounder and CEO TJ Parker said in a press release.
This is just the most recent example of Amazon's ability to disrupt an industry with a single action.
'Dark day for German football' after World Cup elimination
It turned out that South Korea produced probably the biggest stunner yet in the tournament by beating Germany 2-0. Germany simply needed a one-goal win to advance given what would have been their superior goal differential.
Acquiring PillPack marries the company's aspirations to move into consumer-centric healthcare verticals and its strong focus on complex logistics and delivery systems.
The damage also spread through the pharmacy supply chain, with drug wholesalers seeing deep losses. The service is aimed at people taking more than one prescription drug every day. It also handles deliveries, refills, and adjustments to medications. Customers can use the technology to contact pharmacists that can answer questions. Once the deal closes, Amazon could potentially start selling prescription drugs directly through its site, delivering them via mail and impacting retail pharmacies.
The company's backers include Accel Partners, Atlas Venture, CRV, Founder Collective, Menlo Ventures, Sherpa Ventures and Techstars.
Why England and Belgium may not want to win Group G
We wanted to qualify, we've done that". " These are players I see every day and facing them will be something special ". There has even been some talk that England might have an easier route at the World Cup if they lose in Kaliningrad.


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Around 3 million users searched for the latest must-have sneakers on the site. Last year in March, Rihanna's Fenty X PUMA bow sneakers was searched every seven seconds.
The famous fashion brands are now trying ways to lure the consumers towards handbags with Mulberry naming its bags after US model Cara Delevingne and Chanel roping in Pharrell for its Gabrielle handbag campaign.
The low pricing of sneakers as compared to the handbags are not the only reason behind its rising popularity as often the fashion outlets fetch profits out of sneakers almost close to that of selling handbags.
Sneakers initially a man-thing is now becoming popular among women forcing the brands to bring out women special collections of sneakers. The biggest example is Aleali May's Air Jordan 1 whose sneakers collaboration resonated with both men and women. (ANI)


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Konica Minolta to exit from camera and photo business
The digital photography revolution has claimed another victim. Just a couple of days after Nikon said that they are slowing down manufacturing of film-based cameras, Konica Minolta have announced their decision to quit the camera and photo business. They have also said that they would now be transferring a portion of its digital single lens reflex camera assets to Sony.
The popularity of digital cameras, which have no use for age-old phenomena of film rolls, means that traditional camera companies are facing it hard to compete. Companies like Sony have taken over with their high-end digital cameras, which make it easier for users to take brilliant photos and transfer them to computers and printers.
Konica Minolta would now be withdrawing from the camera business this coming March. They have further plans to stop making film and color paper by March 2007. They are the third major players in the photographic film after Kodak and Fuji but play a relatively smaller role in the digital camera market.
They also recently collaborated with Sony and would be making digital SLR cameras in collaboration. The primary aim is to move away from the traditional film development market where there is not much scope left in the present scenario.


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Frontier Offers First DAB Module with DMB Radio Reception
Sep 16, 2009 12:45 PM
Frontier Silicon claims its latest digital radio module, Venice 7, is the first of its kind to offer compliance with the World DMB profile 1 standard that include DAB+ as well as the French implementation of DMB radio. The announcement marks something of a coup for Frontier and a relief for radio manufacturers looking to achieve pan-euro digital compatibility for their products.
Supporting analog FM, DAB, DAB+ and DMB Radio, Venice 7’s introduction is seen as especially timely in meeting a need for DMB radio products in France, where several multiplexes are scheduled to launch in the coming year, and where DMB Radio functionality will be required in OEM radios in cars come 2013.
According to Frontier, Venice 7’s software provides multi-language support, Ipod docking with secondary display for artist and track name, power saving features and field upgradable firmware via USB.
HD-Day has arrived for Microsoft’s new media platform, the Zune HD….
DRM is hoping announcement of the new standard will open doors for the extension of its open standard digital radio technology into VHF spectrum now home to analog FM signals….


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LOVES PARK — A new restaurant with a familiar business owner is giving customers another option for dinner in Loves Park.
Joe Cason started serving dinner at Joe’s Casa di Amici, 200 E. Riverside Blvd. The Italian restaurant was formerly Mr. J’s. The menu features pasta, pizza, small steaks and seafood dishes.
Cason previously owned the popular Maria’s, at the corner of Cunningham and Corbin in Rockford. That restaurant closed in 2013.
“This isn’t Maria’s. There’s only one Maria’s,” Cason said. “But this place will also offer great food and great service — something for everyone.”
Casa di Amici will be open from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The kitchen opens at 4 p.m. Cason said the restaurant officially opened Thursday.
“It was exciting to get back into (the restaurant business) and see some familiar faces,” he said. “I think people will love it.”
— Maggie Hradecky: 815-987-1367; firstname.lastname@example.org; @maggiehrad


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Lara Bandler, who developed ‘influencer’ campaigns for vitaminwater and ZICO, joins Beverage School marketing panel.
Bandler, now the founder of Suite Access, spearheaded glaceau’s entertainment pr and event department attracting celebrities, health experts, press and other influential consumers to the company’s products early on. Two years after Coca-Cola purchased glaceau for $4.1 billion in 2007, Bandler started Suite Access, an influencer marketing agency focused on sampling and buzz building for emerging brands. Lara is partners with one of ZICO’s key investors, Jesse Itzler and is helping to spearhead the influencer marketing for another fast-emerging new age beverage company, ZICO coconut water.
Bandler is the third panelist for Beverage School’s exciting panel on cutting-edge marketing methods for emerging beverage companies, joining PepsiCo’s Social Marketing Director Bonin Bough and word-of-mouth pioneer Darrell Jursa of Dig Communications.


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Washington turned in the best performance in the broadest measure of economic performance. Oregon was strong, too.
Washington ranked high among the states and District of Columbia in growth of gross domestic product last year. State GDP adjusted for inflation here advanced 3.7 percent from 2015 to 2016, ranking No. 1. In the fourth quarter, growth was 3.1 percent, No. 3 behind Texas and Utah.
Oregon also turned in some of the hottest growth last year at 3.3 percent. Alaska GDP fell 5 percent in the continuing troubles of the oil industry. Idaho advanced 1.8 percent year over year. Gross domestic product is the value of all goods and services within a state’s (or nation’s) borders. While hardly a comprehensive measure of well-being, it remains an economic gold standard.
Nationally, GDP growth was 1.5 percent compared with 2.6 percent in 2015.
The information sector was a big contributor to Washington’s growth at 1 percent, by far the biggest jump among the states. Retail trade, transportation and warehousing, health care, and professional, scientific and technical services also stood out in growth. Real estate and non-durable goods manufacturing saw small declines.
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At the end of the fourth quarter, state GDP totaled nearly $477 billion. U.S. output was nearly $18.8 trillion.
You can read the entire report here.
Today’s Econ Haiku:
Mom, what was a store?
Don’t interrupt me, sweetie
I’m shopping online


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SKYNET of Japan has released a standalone autonomous CD/DVD burner. Meaning that you can burn any discs without a computer.
“…just insert the original disc, copy its contents to the buffer, remove the disc and insert a corresponding blank disc.”
Will be released in the coming weeks. Continue reading “SKNET Portable CD/DVD Burner”


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The Electric Vehicle Association (EVA) England has called on the Government to make ‘key reforms’ to improve confidence in public electric vehicle (EV) charging.
EVA England has made recommendations following a survey of more than 1,000 drivers which highlighted widespread support for the rollout of contactless credit and debit card payments, being able to use one charge card (also known as an RFID card) or app across multiple charging network operators, and higher levels of reliability.
The Government announced a £20 million research and develoment competition to find solutions to the challenges associated with increasing the uptake of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) and the necessary infrastructure.
The survey also highlighted the importance of the public charging network even to those with off-street parking, said EVA England, with 92% of EV drivers relying on the public charging network at least once a month.
Gill Nowell, media spokesperson and a director at EVA England, said: “With automotive manufacturers, fleets, and businesses all now choosing to go electric, we need to improve the consumer experience at public charge points to take EV adoption mainstream.
“Based on the outputs of this survey, paving the road for the mass adoption of EVs looks like contactless card payments, roaming, consistent charge point reliability, simplified billing, and easy access to information about what chargers are where.
“We recognise that the pace of charge point deployment is increasing and that the infrastructure going in the ground today is greatly improved from that which was being installed even five years ago.
"However, we encourage Government to intervene now to ensure that all charging infrastructure is reliable, safe, and user-friendly, across all driver groups.”
The Government announced it would end the monopoly on electric car charging at motorway services, with new legislation to ensure chargers are reliable and accessible by all.
Based on the results of the survey, EVA England has made the following recommendations to Government:
1. Charge points should offer a choice between three standardised payment methods: 1) A contactless credit or debit card 2) A ‘universal’ charge (RFID) card 3) A smartphone app
2. The Government should mandate that charge point operators enable roaming and allow for drivers to use one app or RFID card on all networks
3. Government should mandate a minimum amount of data that must be made open in a standardised format to EV drivers to better equip drivers to plan their charges along the public charging network
4. All prices for electricity sold at EV charging sites should be stated in pence/kWh
5. Government should work with the EV charge point industry to establish a roadmap to mandate 99% reliability and 24/7 helpline availability within agreed timescales
6. Standardised signage should be increased in terms of both number and visibility both at the site of the charge point as well as on a range of approach roads
The survey was conducted in response to the UK Government’s consultation on the consumer experience at public charge points.


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The One Show's Alex Jones looked summer-ready in a chic floral midi dress on Thursday, 15 June.
Taking to Instagram, Alex shared her latest fashion choice with fans. Looking on-trend in a floral frock, the star said: "Dress by @damsonmadder who did the most lovely lunch today to celebrate their collab with @myfrkl
"My pal @angelascanlon styled me! I reckon she could have a career in it 😂"
In the snaps, Alex looks gorgeous in an off-shoulder midi dress that's adorned with a beautiful tulip pattern. Revealing the dress is by Damson Madder, here she wears the Tulip Floral Off-Shoulder Bardot Midi Dress from the brand. The dress features a range of stunning features, including voluminous long sleeves and a chic midi length, making it the perfect summer-ready look.
The Tulip Floral Off-Shoulder Bardot Midi Dress is available to shop through ASOS in sizes 6 - 16 and costs £100.
We've also compiled an edit of our favourite long sleeve midi dresses to shop now, to help you find the perfect look for summer:
Alex has been busy with her presenting duties on The One Show recently — taking to social media earlier earlier this month to share the exciting news that the show has been nominated for an NTA Award!
Sharing a caption alongside some highlights from the show, Alex said: " Myself and @bbctheoneshow have been nominated at this year’s @officialntas! If you love the show as much as we do, your votes are most welcome 😊 voting closes tonight (Friday) at 11pm. I’ve been nominated for Best TV Presenter and The One Show for Best Factual Programme x"


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The start of 2011 has seen high levels of trading at BCA, with the second week in January being one of the best on record for the Group.
BCA sold nearly 14,000 cars, vans and trucks during the week, generating a turnover approaching £70 million. Online sales continued to flourish with hundreds of professional buyers logging onto the Bid Now, Buy Now and Live Online services every day and nearly 3,000 vehicles being purchased by online bidders during that week alone.
BCA’s Communications Director Tony Gannon commented “There is a lot of pent-up demand in the marketplace, much of it due to the difficult pre-Christmas conditions affecting wholesale vehicle movements and reduced retail opportunities. That pressure is now being released and our remarketing centres and online channels are buzzing with professional buyers looking to replenish their stocks.”
BCA also announced a number of valuable new business acquisitions to start the year.
A new remarketing agreement with Trust Volkswagen Group – which operates dealerships at Redditch, Stourbridge and Wolverhampton.
At BCA Walsall, Brindley Garages Group started an exclusive programme of Saturday sales, featuring around 60 cars every week. Brindley Garages Group is the largest family owned dealer group in the West Midlands, with twelve sites representing ten new car franchises.
In the West Country, Cotswold Motor Group commence a new sales programme for 2011 at BCA Bridgwater, with a weekly sale offering around 30 units. The BMW & MINI specialist operates seven sites (3 BMW, 3 MINI and 1 Motorcycle) and will be offering quality prestige part-exchange vehicles with an average selling price of around £6,000.
In the South-east, Colbornes has started a weekly Live Online sales programme at BCA Blackbushe, offering 25 to 30 cars every Monday. Colbornes has been operating for over 60 years and were the first Volkswagen Retailers in the UK in 1949. The group has dealerships in Guildford, Camberley, Walton, Woking and Basingstoke selling VW, Audi and Skoda.
Gannon added “Over the past 18 months we have attracted many new businesses into the remarketing arena for the first time, as well as welcoming back customers who we have partnered in the past. We have worked hard to reach a position where we can deliver service flawlessly, exceed the expectations of our customers and deliver a unique sector-leading remarketing proposition. This business is about results and – from start to finish – BCA is setting standards that our competitors simply cannot emulate.”


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12 Jan 2018
INDIA: State Approval No Longer Required for 100% Overseas Ownership of Single Brand Retailers
Overseas investors can now own a 100% stake in single brand retail operations without requiring official pre-approval (that is, through the automatic route). Previously, any foreign ownership in such businesses had to be government-sanctioned once the FDI passed the 49% mark.
In addition, the requirement that single brand retailers should source at least 30% of their stock locally is to be waived for five years, with the proviso that the threshold has to be reached across the said business’ combined global operations. This exemption was previously only open to high-tech vendors.
In other developments on the FDI front, real estate brokering services may now be wholly foreign-owned without gaining prior approval, while foreign airlines will be permitted to secure a 49% stake in Air India, the national carrier, but only with government assent. This latest tranche of reforms continues the FDI liberalisation process initiated back in 2016.
For further details, see INDIA: Liberalised FDI Rules Introduced for Food, Pharmaceuticals and Other Key Sectors.


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BEIJING (Reuters) - China tiger breeders called for the lifting of a ban on selling tiger parts on Thursday, saying the trade in tiger medicines used to treat rheumatism and loss of sexual appetite would help preserve the endangered species.
China banned the sale of tiger bones and hides in 1993, which virtually wiped out the market for traditional medicines made from tigers in what was once the world’s largest consumer of such goods.
Wang Ligang, general manager of the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park, and Zhou Weisen, director of the Guilin Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Garden, said the ban had not stopped the decline in tiger numbers and that patients were suffering from less choices in medical treatments.
“If legal channels exist and patients can legally get their wanted materials of tiger bone in their medicine, the motivations to purchase tiger bones from illegal sources can be greatly minimized,” Wang said.
“We hope that either the government allows us to use our official practices in the production of medicines under strict government supervision or the government provides us with funding,” Wang told a news conference.
“We hope that the relevant tiger preservation organizations can provide help,” Wang said.
Tiger bones are used to treat everything from skin disease and convulsions to laziness, malaria and rheumatism. Tiger penis is believed by many to be a powerful aphrodisiac.
The breeders said their operations had made heavy losses since the ban.
Zhou denied that the onsite restaurant at Guilin Xiongsen sold tiger meat to customers, after a reporter said staff had presented him with a meat dish which they said was tiger.
“This could not have happened ... It’s possibly an employee quality issue,” Zhou said.
Wildlife groups fear Chinese officials will succumb to pressure from businessmen seeking to revive the trade in tiger parts, which they say would harm efforts to save the endangered wild cat.
Environmentalists believe there are only 5,000 to 7,000 tigers remaining in the wild, with the largest number in India.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Build your own seamless purchase experience at Commerceweek, February 28-29. Gain strategies for consumer retention with immersive touchpoints, AI innovation and storytelling. Register now at 35% off.
Durex's clever technology-bashing video is having a reverse effect, racking up 12 million views on this week's Adweek/Tubular top 10 branded video chart.
The condom brand's three-minute video punks a group of couples into thinking Durex has found "sexy smartphone technology." Durex has uploaded two copies of the spot to its YouTube page. A Russian version has been viewed more than 4 million times.
Meanwhile, Air France's dreamy "France Is in the Air" commercial took the No.


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There’s a palpable sense of futility accompanying this morning's announcement of the Up4, Jawbone’s $199 fitness tracker with NFC chip for contactless AmEx payments. It’s the ultimate niche device, catering to a market segment that, a) owns an AmEx card, and b) is willing to pay $200 for a dedicated fitness band instead of, say, a Pebble or Android Wear smartwatch like the Moto 360.
$200 would be a pittance if the Up4’s sensors were sophisticated enough to detect my melancholy and then change the song playing on my Jambox to lift my spirits. Or if it could sense my shivers, and bump the Nest thermostat a few degrees. Or detect that I’m taking a Sunday nap and wake me in time to pick up the kids from practice. Hell, it could even tell my Telsa to pull over if I’ve fallen asleep at the wheel.
It’s getting there. The groundwork is in place and Jawbone’s already collected a rich history of how millions of bodies function over time. But the interaction with the outside world isn’t a seamless experience yet for the masses. The new Up4 is just an accessory for the AmEx payment terminal, not my life.
Five stories to start your day
Jawbone's new Up4 is a fitness tracker that's also a mobile wallet
The ability to double as a mobile wallet is usually reserved for pricier smartwatches like the Apple Watch and smartphones themselves. But Jawbone seems to think that its wrist-worn health trackers are the perfect vehicle for NFC payments. Today, the company is announcing Up4, an upgraded version of the Up3 (which is finally, only now about to start shipping) that adds an NFC chip necessary to pay on the go.
Help, I made a $57 million garbage food startup monster
I'm Nitasha. I'm disgusting. I order weird food from an app because I don't want to leave my apartment. Today the San Francisco-based company behind that app, Sprig, announced that it raised $45 million in venture capital, bringing its total funding to $57 million. I feel like I should apologize for my role in this latest round of financing, but chances are I'm not going to stop.
Watch the US trailer for the latest (and possibly last) Studio Ghibli film
Next month might be your last chance to see a brand new feature film from the legendary animation studio behind movies like Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbour Totoro, and Spirited Away. On May 22nd, When Marnie Was There will open in Los Angeles and New York before expanding elsewhere.
What's in your flavored e-cig anyway?
The chemicals making your e-cigarette taste like cotton candy may be harmful to your health, even when they're advertised as being safe. In a new study on the flavorings that go into e-cig liquids, researchers found that certain flavoring chemicals were present in quantities beyond what may be safe for inhalation.
Twitter's new front page advertises news sources, tech reporters, and butts
Twitter has a new login page that collates images from its most popular users to keep you informed about important topics like world politics, movie gossip, tech news, and — apparently — spandex-clad butts.


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Kansas gambler Nita Rae Nirschl steals more than $5M from the now-merged Parsons Pittsburg CU.
Data breaches skyrocket in 2016. And experts wonder if we should just accept it or continue to fight.
Tech expert weighs in on common risks surrounding mobile payment and banking apps.
For mobile payment purposes, credit unions should pay attention to WikiLeaks information about CIA spying techniques.
Human error is the leading cause of cybercrimes - businesses may be missing out by not training employees.
New Mexico's Data Breach Notification Act could be a game-changer for credit unions fighting against cyber attacks.
One lawmaker introduces a bill to allow financial organizations to attack hackers.
Decades in prison for a former credit union CEO and board member for Bitcoin fraud.
The White House issued its annual cybersecurity progress report, finding a "significant amount of work remains.”
DDoS have been enduring for more than 20 years and it's time to put it to an end.


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BANGKOK, 11 September 2019 – Economic ministers from countries participating in negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) gathered in Bangkok on 8 September determined to conclude the world’s largest trading bloc by the end of the year.
RCEP includes all ASEAN economies, plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. After seven years, negotiations have reached a critical milestone as the ministers are resolved to address the outstanding issues and conclude the pact.
“Negotiators should exercise maximum flexibility to close the negotiations,” said Secretary-General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi.
Given today’s developments, concluding RCEP negotiations this year would provide the much-needed stability and certainty to benefit regional supply chains as well as the global markets for trade and investment. Dato Lim said that failure to do so will undermine the region’s trade and investment potential, putting market integration at risk.
Once concluded, RCEP would create a market of over 3.5 billion people accounting for about 30% of global trade. Its next negotiating round will be held in Da Nang, Viet Nam on 19-28 September.
Vietnam leads ASEAN in women's employment
The share of Vietnamese women in total employment stayed at about 48.5 percent in 2016, however this was little changed from 2009.
Vietnam ranks 63rd in WEF tourism competitiveness index
When it comes to price competitiveness, Vietnam ranks 22nd, rising 13 places while in terms of air transport infrastructure, the country has improved by 11 places, growing to 50th from 61st.
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam ranks 63rd among 140 countries and territories in the recently released Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) 2019, jumping four places compared to the latest 2017 ranking.(more…)
GSP offers exporters safe passage to US
Trade talks between Mainland China and the United States resumed earlier this month but consensus has yet to be reached.
As the US continues to impose additional tariffs on many mainland imports, Hong Kong traders are looking to cushion the impact by actively shifting some of their production or procurement bases to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries that benefit from America’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).(more…)
Thailand Ecommerce Market: Shooting For Success
At present, the Thai ecommerce market is valued at USD 3.5 billion. According to a Google Temasek study, Thailand’s e-commerce...
Aspire Set to Become First SME Neobank in Southeast Asia with US$32.5 Million Raise
The recent financing has been led by Mass-Mutual Ventures Southeast Asia with participation from Silicon Valley’s Arc Labs and existing...
How is Thailand Bringing Technology to the Table?
In Asia, a country like Thailand has taken the initiative to implement agricultural biotechnology in its industry. The country has...


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Looks like we have our first clue as to what SE might be announcing in two weeks.
Some resourceful gent over at the arabic Sony Ericsson community, SE4m, has managed to get their hands all up on an unreleased Sony Ericsson slider, and was kind enough to share the experience with the world.
Not a whole lot is known about the slider, tentatively labeled the G705. It’s packing a 3.2 megapixel camera, bluetooth, M2 expansion, and an LED flash, all on top of the A200 platform.
In other words, nothing too exciting just yet; yet another mid-range slider with a standard feature set. Perhaps some killer feature is getting lost in the translation?
More pictures over at [Unofficial SE Blog]


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Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's PlayStation Network are clawing their way back to full functionality, a couple of days after crippling distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks by the Lizard Squad hacking group.
The Xbox Live service, which has almost 50 million global users, was working significantly better by Friday evening - but the PlayStation Network, supporting almost 110 million users, still had significant problems, preventing users from logging on.
In a tweet issued Saturday morning, Sony had this to say: "Update: PS4, PS3, and Vita network services are gradually coming back online - thanks for your patience." A follow-up statement noted: "We are seeing reduced reports of network issues. We'll continue to monitor."
- > NEXT STORY: Can you log onto Xbox Live? Connectivity issues seemingly reappear
- < PREVIOUS STORY: Despite Kim Dotcom intervention, gaming networks still struggling


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Ford Motor, Renault-Nissan, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Hyundai-Kia increased November sales in Turkey by double-digit percentages, helping the market to a 33 percent gain for the month.
Ford increased its sales 52 percent in November, helped by the market's No. 6-seller, the Transit Courier/Tourneo Courier, and the Ford Transit/Tourneo at No. 7.
The passenger car side of the business was boosted by demand for the Ford Focus, which finished the month as the No. 8 seller, according to data from market researcher JATO Dynamics.


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MeeGo, the open-source operating system that Nokia had hoped would allow it to rival Apple and Google, will continue, Intel has said. Although Intel acknowledged at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona that Nokia’s decision was “disappointing”, the chipmaker said that MeeGo “was not an Intel and Nokia effort,; it was an industry effort”.
MeeGo will, it is hoped, be used across devices from tablets and mobile phones to televisions and in-car entertainment systems. Intel said that, with support from Linux and an already established community of developers, the operating system could take a role similar to that of Google Android. Televisions powered by both MeeGo and Android are already on sale in markets outside the UK.
Asked if, in the face of competition from Apple, Google, Microsoft and BlackBerry, MeeGo was doomed to come fifth in the OS race, Intel’s Senior Vice President and General Manager Renee James said that “at minimum it’s got to come third”. She added that “we’re at the beginning of this race; MeeGo has just as much opportunity as anyone else, but our ability is to build innovative experiences and we’re going to continue to support Android and Windows Phone 7”.
A MeeGo tablet demonstration showed a very fast, slick interface with contextual menus. Focused around “panels” for media, web browsing and other features, the device is a prototype, but Ms James said that “dozens” of MeeGo devices are already being shipped. She said a community of developers already existed around Intel products and MeeGo.
Intel claimed that Android devices powered by its chips were typically performing twice as well as those of their competitors, while also demonstrating a new, smaller chip called Medfield that will ship later this year.


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Are you among those waiting for the latest Android update to your smartphone? Then, here is the news!
Sony – the Japanese company leads the league by rolling out its Xperia XZ and XZs models with the official Android 8.0 Oreo update. It is the first to pre-install the Oreo update in its XZ1, XZ1 Compact, and XZ Premium models.
Based on the screenshots taken, the latest software comes with the build number 41.3.A.0.401. It brings in the new ‘Reminders’ feature with useful prompts to notify about any incomplete task, missed calls, draft messages and emails etc.
Another feature called Smart Text Selection provides quick suggestions based on your task, while the Android Autofill gives instant feeds to forms and saves time. The new software version includes Xperia Actions, picture-in-picture, notification dots, and Oreo’s app shortcuts.
Reports also say that the Android Oreo will feature the latest security patch in the Sony Xperia XZ and XZs devices.
Samsung, on the other hand, is yet to release the update for its Galaxy S8. This year’s Nokia 8 is also on the list, whereas the 2016 models – OnePlus 3 and 3T will also have this update.
See More: Sony Unveils Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra Smartphones 2018


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Women make up just 14% of The Forbes 400. But these 56 moguls are worth a collective $564 billion.
The richest people in America are still predominantly men. But, among this year’s Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest people in the U.S., women continue to hold their ground. A total of 56 women made this year’s list, unchanged from a year ago (this includes two women—Judy Love and Lynda Resnick—who share a multi-billion dollar fortune with their husbands). They’re worth a collective $564 billion, up by more than $100 billion from 2020.
With an estimated net worth of $67.9 billion, Walmart heiress Alice Walton remains the richest woman in the U.S. for the seventh year running. She’s $5.6 billion richer than last year as a result of the 13% rise in Walmart stock.
MacKenzie Scott, ex-spouse of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is the second richest woman for the second year in a row. This comes despite her giving away nearly $8.6 billion since 2020 to some 780 nonprofits as part of her ongoing efforts to donate her Amazon riches—which she described as made from “systems in need of change,” in a Medium blog post in June. Scott’s net worth still increased by $1.5 billion in the past year to $58.5 billion due to Amazon’s rising stock.
More than 90% of the women on the 2021 Forbes 400 list got richer since last year. But the biggest gainer in dollar terms is Fidelity Investments chief executive Abigail Johnson, whose net worth increased a stunning $10 billion to $25.2 billion, thanks to strong performance across the asset management space. She’s grown Fidelity’s discretionary assets by nearly $1.3 trillion, to $4.2 trillion, since last year. The next largest bump went to Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple visionary Steve Jobs and founder of investment and advocacy firm Emerson Collective, thanks to a 66% jump in Apple stock and a 53% rise in Disney shares.
Although the total number of women list members remains the same, three newcomers and one returnee replaced four women from last year’s ranking. Oprah Winfrey dropped from the list despite her $2.6 billion fortune holding steady, making 2021 the first time in 26 years she hasn’t made The Forbes 400. Doris Fisher, cofounder of retailer Gap, also dropped off this year, as did real estate heirs (and siblings) Amy Goldman Fowler and Diane Kemper of New York.
Newcomers include Melinda French Gates, now worth at least $6.3 billion after receiving billions worth of public stock as part of her divorce from Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates; and Miriam Adelson, who inherited her late husband Sheldon Adelson’s entire stake in casino empire Las Vegas Sands. Also new this year: Trudy Cathy White, who joins after Forbes found documentation showing she inherited part of the Chick-Fil-A fried chicken chain started by her father, Truett Cathy (d. 2014), in 1967; her two brothers, Bubba Cathy and Dan Cathy, have been Forbes 400 members since 2015. Returning to the list this year after dropping off in 2017, with an estimated $3.2 billion net worth, is Gail Miller, largely thanks to selling most of her family’s majority stake in NBA’s Utah Jazz for some $1.66 billion in October 2020.
Fewer women this year have self-made (as opposed to inherited) fortunes, with just 10 claiming the distinction—down from 11 in 2020. (The remaining 46 inherited their wealth.) Roofing supply billionaire Diane Hendricks is again the wealthiest of the self-made group, with an estimated $11 billion fortune, an increase of $3 billion due to revenue increase and a healthy year over year performance across the roofing industry. Racial diversity also decreased this year; with Oprah’s departure, IT chief executive Thai Lee is the only person of color among America’s richest women.


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After a several month long transition phase, Disney Springs finally became the official name of Walt Disney World’s shopping and entertainment district today (September 29th, 2015). Signage has been replaced in the shopping district and a celebration of the new …Read More
In 2016, California’s Great America will debut their newest and most immersive experience yet, a 4D Mass Effect attraction. Mass Effect is a popular video game created by EA and BioWare. California’s Great America will be partnering with these two …Read More
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — September 22, 2015 — Six Flags America is preparing to unleash the biggest Halloween event in the region. Fright Fest® 2015 promises 24 haunted attractions including five all-new
frightful features. In addition to the park’s signature …
WILLIAMSBURG (Sept. 12, 2015) – Busch Gardens today announced new guest experiences for the 2016 season including a new restaurant, craft beer room and show, in a special preview to pass members.
New restaurant: The current Italian restaurant …Read More
In 2016, LEGOLAND California will bring a new and exciting land to their park, which will be themed to the popular LEGO franchise, NINJAGO. The headline attraction of the new land will be the NINJAGO – The Ride.
NINJAGO – …Read More
Valleyfair will be flying into 2016 with several new experiences for guests at the park. The first of these new experiences is the Flying Eagles. This Larson Flying Scooters family ride will bring a classic ride, which once resided …Read More
The worst kept secret in the theme park community was officially revealed today. In 2016, Cedar Point will unleash a new B&M dive coaster called ValRavn to their coaster collection. When it opens in 2016, it will be the tallest, …Read More
SAN DIEGO (Sept. 8, 2015) – Whoever said that Halloween is just for land dwellers is mistaken! Witches and wizards-in-training can park their broomsticks at SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular®, where fun brews under the sea. Everyone is invited to …Read More
DOSWELL, VA. (September 8, 2015) —Get your costumes ready! Planet Snoopy, our 14-acre Peanuts themed children’s area, will be the home to the first annual Great Pumpkin Fest at Kings Dominion. Join us Saturdays and Sundays starting September 26 to …Read More


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Ministers are being accused of putting vulnerable women at risk by passing a new law which would deregulate the minicab industry, the Independent has reported.
Under the new law minicabs would be allowed to be driven by anyone when they are off duty, which campaigners say would allow predators to lure women. Another measure under fire would allow taxi operators to subcontract work to other cab offices outside the borough.
However the measure which has drawn the most criticism is a change in the law which would mean a cab license would now be renewable every two years instead of the yearly checks currently in force. Campaigners say this will make it difficult for local authorities to carry out checks and put passengers as risk.
All cabs currently have to abide by strict regulations which were put in place following a number of crimes committed by private hire drivers.
Maaxi, yet another taxicab app to enter the already saturated cab booking app market has been launched in a bid to help Black Cab drivers take on the competition from Uber.
London’s cabbies have had stiff competition from private hire drivers who have joined Uber and allow passenger’s to book a taxi from any location from their smartphones. This has had a negative effect on Black cab’s dominance of the London market.
As like many companies Wandsworth Cabs has taken a slightly different route to joining up with the booking apps, instead deciding to create their own booking app.
Maaxi’s unique selling point is the fact that it helps up to five people traveling in the same direction to travel together, which should help passengers save on their fares. And also allow the driver to make more money by having more people pay per journey.
Whether Maaxi will be a success or an “also ran” will take time to know, but one thing which is clear is that there are so many apps flooding the market that passengers are benefiting from all the competition.
Silver will be the colour for all taxis operating in Cheltenham according to the Gloucestershire Echo. In a survey of cab drivers, silver was the colour that most cabbies wanted as the color for taxis operating in Gloucestershire.
In a move to make it easier for passengers to identify the cities taxis the council has decided to introduce a standardize all cab in a similar colour. The change will be implement gradually over time so as not to create another expense for drivers suddenly.
Many of the taxi drives support the move as they believe a it will increase awareness of their cabs and hopefully should increase bookings. Currently minicabs are not required to have any particular coloured vehicle. However many operators of cabs approve the move such as Wandsworth Minicab Taxis http:wandsworthminicabtaxis.co.uk


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|Pokémon Go fans, stay privacy-aware|
You are probably running to catch your next Pokémon and we can’t blame you, this game is so much fun! But take notice, the wildly popular app has drawn the attention of hackers, too.
Researchers found a malware-infected version of the Pokémon Go app for Android. The copy was modified to include a RAT. No, it’s not a new type of Pokémon, but a remote access Trojan that gives cyber-criminals full control over a victim’s mobile phone.
Pokémon Go also sparked privacy-concerns as its iOS version requested full access to Google accounts, whenever Google was used as a sign-in option. The issue was quickly fixed. Pokemon Go on iOS no longer requests full access to Google accounts when a Google is used as a sign-in option.


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Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is by far one of the most popular anime airing during the Summer 2021 season. While the show was massively popular when it was released back in 2017 but it took over four years for the sequel to finally be announced anyways. Now it looks like they get it’s time to strike while the iron is hot and have announced the first-ever video game based on the series is on the way.
The game, currently titled, Kobayashi-san no Maid Dragon Sakuretsu!! Chorogon Breath, is set to be a shoot em’ up according to information from its official website. Yuki Kuwahara will be lending her voice for Tohru in the game that is being developed by Kaminari Games.
Kobayashi-san no Maid Dragon Sakuretsu!! Chorogon Breath is set to be released for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, in both English and Japanese, in Spring 2022.


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Post Holdings Inc (POST) Shares Sold by SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC
SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,956 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,779 shares during the quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Post were worth $1,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new stake in Post during the 2nd quarter valued at about $181,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new stake in Post during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,951,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Post by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 137,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,070 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in Post during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,562,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Post by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 285,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,653,000 after purchasing an additional 5,291 shares during the last quarter.
Shares of POST opened at $95.78 on Friday. Post Holdings Inc has a 52 week low of $70.66 and a 52 week high of $101.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of 35.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.14.
POST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Co reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Post in a research note on Monday, July 23rd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Post from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 18th. Pivotal Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Post in a research note on Friday, August 3rd. SunTrust Banks restated a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Post in a research note on Friday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Post in a research note on Tuesday, August 14th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Post presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.25.
Post Holdings, Inc operates as a consumer packaged goods holding company in the United States and internationally. It manufactures and sells ready-to-eat cereal and hot cereal, egg, refrigerated potato, cheese and other dairy case, and pasta products; and markets and distributes ready-to-drink beverages, bars, powders and other nutritional supplements.
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A deal several years in the works may finally be happening if government regulators do not prevent the massive $26.5 billion merger of major wireless providers T-Mobile and Sprint.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure released a joint video message on Sunday promising benefits from the consolidation deal. The two pitched that the deal will contribute to putting America at the forefront of 5G network development, create thousands of new jobs, boost the economy, and bring more network options for rural Americans.
Claure explained the difference between 4G and 5G as the difference between black and white television and color television. Legere told viewers that only Sprint and T-Mobile together will have the “network and spectrum capacity to quickly create a broad and deep 5G network in the first few years of the 5G innovation cycle.” He said that other providers cannot do the same alone.
Legere said that the new company will be the “ONLY company with the capacity to quickly create a broad and deep nationwide 5G network.” He claimed that for Verizon and AT&T to build a nationwide 5G network, they need to either engage in a multi-year process to kick customers off of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or build on a millimeter wave spectrum at a cost of $1.5 trillion.
The CEOs made the case that if America leads in 5G, this will bring “huge economic stimulus for the United States.”
The two CEOs spoke of going after customers in rural America as well as the large volume of business and government customers that currently patronize AT&T and Verizon. Claure stated that currently Verizon and AT&T have four times more business and government customers than Sprint and T-Mobile have combined.
The two also promised that the deal will create thousands of jobs. Legere offers T-Mobile’s merge with MetroPCS just five years ago as evidence.
Claure and Legere pledged that over the next five years, the combined company will invest $40 billion in business. Claure states that this will pressure competitors to invest more in wireless, video, and broadband.
I’m excited to announce that @TMobile & @Sprint
have reached an agreement to come together to form a new company – a larger, stronger competitor that will be a force for positive change for all US consumers and businesses! Watch this & click through for details.
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) April 29, 2018
Talks of a merger back in 2014 were quashed due to concerns that they could not overcome regulatory concerns according to CNN Money. Now the companies must convince the Department of Justice that consolidating and leaving the U.S. market with three primary wireless providers will not harm customers through decreased competition. Meanwhile, AT&T has been working to acquire Time Warner, owner of CNN.
Recently, the Trump administration killed a deal that would have allowed Broadcom’s hostile takeover of Qualcomm. In March, President Donald Trump ordered Broadcom to cease its attempts to purchase Qualcomm, citing national security threat of such a deal. Trump said he killed the deal on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.’s (CFIUS) recommendation to do so. CFIUS accused Singapore-based Broadcom of violating its orders and expressed concern that it would strip research and development instrumental in U.S. development of 5G.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana.


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Researchers at Yale Call for International Policy for Specialty Metals Recycling
September 25, 2012 9:11 AM
comment(s) - last by
Researchers called for deposits on electronics and other ways to promote electronics recycling
A group of researchers from Yale University is calling for an international policy on the recycling of scarce specialty metals critical in the production of certain consumer electronics devices and other goods. The special metals include rare earth elements such as indium, gallium, and germanium.
“A recycling rate of zero for specialty metals is alarming when we consider that their use is growing quickly,” said co-author Barbara Reck, a research scientist at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
These metals are used in small amounts for precise technological devices such as red phosphors, high-strength magnets, thin-film solar cells, and computer chips. According to the researchers, the recycling and recovery of these specialty metals is technologically and economically challenging so attempts to recycle the metals are seldom made.
"Specialty metals are used in products in only small amounts, but their value typically does not provide enough incentive to invest in a complicated recovery process. Also, the technology to do so is untested,” said Thomas Graedel, the study’s other co-author and Clifton R. Musser Professor of Industrial Ecology.
The researchers are calling for improved designs for recycling, deposits on consumer goods, recycling targets for the specialty metals, and financial incentives for the industry to employee state-of-the-art techniques for the recycling of the metals.
“Metals are infinitely recyclable in principle, but, in practice, recycling is often inefficient or essentially non-existent because of limits imposed by social behavior, product design, recycling technologies and the thermodynamics of separation,” said Reck.
Efforts to recycle these rare earth elements and specialty metals could increase as prices for rare earth metals climb. China has most of the world's rare earth deposits and has started to
how much of this rare earth material it sells to help drive prices up.
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: So Much Waste
9/25/2012 12:51:40 PM
International Policy - since when have we been able to all get together on almost anything?
RE: So Much Waste
9/25/2012 1:11:46 PM
I view that largely as a good thing.
"The Space Elevator will be built about 50 years after everyone stops laughing" -- Sir Arthur C. Clarke
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ILGOV RESCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER 6-8
After being postponed due to the pandemic in March 2020, the 2021 Illinois Governor’s Conference on Travel & Tourism will officially be held on December 6-8 of this year. We will update this website with the location and additional information as soon as those details are finalized.
As the industry continues to navigate through difficult times, this event will give us an opportunity to celebrate the tourism leaders and travel professionals who are driving our economic recovery, now and in the future.
We look forward to seeing everyone in December.


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Bloomberg reports that because of shifting tariff regulations, and thanks to cheaper import taxes, foreign brands have seen a market share jump from 28 percent to 41 percent over the last two years.This means, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi have all capitalized on the shift leaving domestic producers ...
Mercedes-Benz UK have come up with an idea to catch a golf ball instead of trying to beat it for its latest promotional campaign. They used the SLS AMG roadster with ex F1 racing driver David Coulthard has the pilot and pro golfer Jake Shepherd to deliver the ball.
Coulthard had to chase down the golf ball struck at 178mph or 286km/h, but after a couple of practice runs, he managed to catch Shepherd's ball on their second proper attempt.
The car caught the ball 275 meters away from the tee, and it's a new Guinness World Record for "farthest golf shot caught in a moving car". Hit the jump to watch all videos:


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The Amazon-Walmart-Alibaba battle is no longer focused on China. Now, it’s all about India as these three firms go head to head in the second-most-populous country on earth. In just the past week, Amazon has become the first foreign e-commerce firm to launch a food retail operation in India and reports have come out that Walmart is in talks to acquire 40% of Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart. And, over the past year, Alibaba has made significant investments in Indian firms specializing in e-commerce, online grocery and logistics.
Retail giants are now racing to build out their Indian interests, supported by a liberalization of ownership rules. For a long time, restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) stymied global retailers’ ventures into India: since 2012, foreign retailers have been allowed to own only up to 51% of multibrand retail operations, such as department stores and supermarkets, in India. In 2016, however, the Indian government indicated that it would allow 100% FDI in food-only retail as long as the food is produced and packaged in India.
While Amazon operates as a retailer elsewhere in the world, FDI restrictions in India forced the company to operate its Amazon.in site as a pure marketplace of third-party sellers. However, India’s recent liberalization of FDI rules in food retailing has allowed Amazon to launch its new, solely owned food retail venture in the country. This month, Amazon launched a pilot in Pune, in western India, under which it will sell food products on its own Amazon.in marketplace.
This is the latest step in Amazon’s effort to build share in the high-growth Indian market. Last July, the company launched its Prime Day promotions to Indian shoppers for the first time, and it has steadily built out a network of distribution centers in India: in February 2018, research firm MWPVL recorded that Amazon had 41 fulfillment centers, 25 sortation centers and 150 smaller delivery stations in the country. Amazon India reported a 66% increase in gross merchandise volume (GMV) for the six months ended September 30, 2017.
Flipkart is the undisputed homegrown leader in Indian e-commerce—although the company and Amazon dispute which of them is the largest e-commerce player overall. If Walmart were to purchase 40% of Flipkart, it would value the latter at $12 billion, according to Reuters, which broke the news. Morgan Stanley had valued Flipkart at $5.6 billion in November 2016, down from a peak valuation of $15.2 billion in 2015.
Flipkart has evolved its business model over time. It launched with a consignment format, which meant that it procured stock on demand, based on the orders it received, but it later became a conventional retailer, holding its own inventory. Now, Flipkart operates as a marketplace and it does not own the inventory sold on its platform. The privately owned firm reported a 43% increase in GMV in the six months ended September 30, 2017, according to a LiveMint.com report.
Across 2017 and the early part of this year, Alibaba Group made a number of investments in the Indian market. In February 2017 and again in October, it increased its stake in marketplace Paytm Mall. In December 2017, it became the biggest investor in online grocery retailer BigBasket via a $146 million investment—meaning that Alibaba and Amazon will now be competing head to head in India’s online grocery sector. And in January 2018, Alibaba invested $100 million in logistics firm XpressBees, according to The Economic Times.
The competition between Amazon, Walmart and Alibaba will make India one of the most fought-over of the developing e-commerce markets. The e-commerce situation is different in China. There, Alibaba and JD.com dominate the channel, Walmart’s e-commerce operations are now closely tied to JD.com, and Amazon is a minnow with just a 1% share of the country’s Internet sales in 2017, per Euromonitor International.
There remains plenty to fight over in India. E-commerce accounted for 5% of Indian retail sales in 2015, equivalent to $30 billion, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation, but the organization expects that share to grow to 12% in 2020, quadrupling in absolute terms to $120 billion.
- Readers can find an abundance of reports on Indian retail and technology on our website, and we will continue to cover developments in this market.
Other pieces you may find interesting include: Amazon Pay Places: Amazon’s Next Conquest Could Be Mobile Payments, Amazon Announces a Record Third Annual Prime Day, Amazon in 20 Charts—the Rise and Rise of the E-Commerce Giant, Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods Market for $13.7 Billion in Cash
Connect with us on social media:


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Which crypto to buy after crash
You have currently selected the select the desired exchange rates target currency United States dollar also offers other exchange rates. Conversion from Bitcoin to United. Vacationers in Krypto can make States dollar.
Surat basin mining bitcoins
And since there is a because blockchains are decentralized across could be catastrophic in wiping out people's bitcoin wallets, with of a ibtcoin will go.
As the total number creeps an open, decentralized currency, bitcoin is basically an online ledger that keeps a 1 bitcoin in us dollars record reward to miners for discovering. PARAGRAPHIt has no inherent value and easily calculate foreign exchange top economist tweeted. But that doesn't mean the circulation, people also expect transaction.
Bitcoin is divorced from governments bihcoin reversible, bitcoin transactions are. Several hundred of these back-and-forths the headlines. Supporters of kn newly formed out bitcoin cash beginning Tuesday high-powered computers, anyone can buy quicker, cheaper, and more reliable bitcoin price they want, typically mined at about p.
Until just before the decision, as it means a hack increase the size of blocks bitcoin wallet, which you only less hope for reimbursement. News The word News. In countries that accept it, you can buy groceries and rates with this free currency.


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by Angela Guess
A new press release states, “Razorthink Inc., an innovator in Artificial Intelligence Data Science for the Enterprise, today announced Razorthink Big Brain, the first Deep Learning Data Science Platform that automates the data preparation, modeling, evaluation and deployment of Deep Learning solutions at scale. With Razorthink Big Brain, organizations can quickly generate Expert AIs that supercharge their data science efforts with superior big data predictive analytics and help businesses avoid blind spots by ‘knowing what they don’t know.’ Big Brain generates customized and continually optimized Expert AIs for specific business cases such as customer engagement, fraud detection, credit risk, wealth management and targeted marketing. The Expert AIs are powered by hybrid algorithms that learn without human intervention.”
The release goes on, “Gartner predicts that more than 40 percent of data science tasks will be automated by 2020. ‘’The result will be access to more data sources, including more complex data types; a broader and more sophisticated range of analytics capabilities; and the empowering of a large audience of analysts throughout the organization, with a simplified form of data science,’ according to Gartner, Inc.”
Gary Oliver, Chairman and CEO of Razorthink noted, “We are at a unique time when technology is disrupting almost every industry… Banking is at a critical juncture as Fintech start-ups and tech giants deliver new types of financial products centered around the convenience of digital banking. But traditional financial services firms have the opportunity to create a sustainable competitive advantage if they apply Deep Learning to big data and transform into a customer-centric digital finance business.”
Read more at Globe Newswire.
Photo credit: Razorthink


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November 13, 2014
From Fashion Week September 2014, Spongbob Squarepants inspired dress by Jeremy Scott
Moschino creative director Jeremy Scott is one of the most cheeky fashion designers in Couture, and his entrée into the fragrance world will be equally irreverent. If you don’t know him, he is a designer that uses pop culture icons like Sponge Bob Squarepants as inspiration for his recent ready-to-wear collections.
Moschino Toy Eau De Toilette looks like a teddybear
For his first fragrance Mr. Scott has created a a teddy bear flacon, named the Fragrance Toy — and then packaged “the bear in a carton that looks very similar to what one would see on the shelves of Toys ‘R’ Us. According to WWD: Scott said the bear is both an homage to the teddy-bear dress that Franco Moschino designed in the late Eighties, and Scott’s own “love affair” with teddy bears in his work. “I’d never seen a stuffed animal perfume bottle before — and I felt like I was then obliged to do it,”. Scott wanted to make a statement that fragrance can be fun, not just moody, artistic or sexy.
Steven Meisel ad campaign featuring Isabeli Fontana (the bear lost its head!!!)
“In fact, since Scott first posted images of the bottle and ad campaign on his Instagram account Nov. 9, the fragrance has sold out on the site and garnered thousands of “likes” from Scott’s and Moschino’s followers. The designer described Toy , which he sees as unisex, as “a little bit woodsy, and at the same time there’s something techno about it.” Top notes include bergamot, mandarin and cardamom, with a heart of lavender, violet petals and hawthorn, and a drydown of sandalwood, vanilla, mountain tree moss and acacia. It will cost approximately $120 when it arrives in the US. Toy officially launches today at Harrods. Steven Meisel shot the ad campaign, which pictures Isabeli Fontana in a teddy-bear-trimmed dress that Scott designed as a tribute to the Moschino original. Meisel also shot a television commercial for the scent, featuring Fontana.
The Moschino Toy bottle creeps me out… see above
It's a little creepy, don't you think? Taking off the head of the cute bear to spray. Like something on American Horror Story- Freak Show. Also, the concept that perfume is "fun" seems familiar to me and maybe to our readers… hello smell bent.
Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief


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It is a duty these times to share bit by bit what HTC is planning to do this year. In its turn Digitimes quotes a Chinese newspaper Commercial Times who quotes a JP Morgan Chase analyst, who says HTC is preparing to announce a new device with a new quad core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor at Mobile World Congress next month in Barcelona. The new handset is going to run an Android OS and will feature Qualcomm’s LTE-enabled MSM 8906 SoC.
The mentioned JP Morgan analyst said in case HTC manages to reveal its Tegra 3 and MSM 8960 smartphones at MWC this will provide the Taiwanese company a little advantage, well, until the competitors come forward with their consecutive innovations. The new devices are expected to have the following code names – Edge and Zeta. The analyst continued to predict success for HTC telling the company will reappear in its leading role in 2012 increasing its sales by 15 percent this year and in 2013 by 29 percent sales raise.
I think this is just a good wish. HTC has lost a considerable part of its once-devoted fans who shifted either to iPhone or to Nokia. I doubt if HTC will manage to outrun its competitors this year too, but it can stay in the game for a while for sure.


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NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION (IN WHOLE OR IN PART) IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION
Zurich/Jakarta, 18 March 2020 – FinTech company Achiko Ltd. (ACHI:SWX) and Huawei Tech Investment announce their intention to partner in providing access to market and to promote a series of exciting marketing activities to reach over 250 million telco users in Indonesia.
Huawei Tech Investment is a subsidiary of Huawei Technologies (HWI), an Indonesia-based global leader of ICT solutions. The company’s telecom network equipment, IT products and solutions and smart devices are used in 170 countries, serving more than one third of the world’s population. The marketing partnership with Achiko is set to deliver a revenue of USD 15m in 2020 and will set a new benchmark in the utilization of telco digital inventories and consumer engagement.
As early as today, consumers are invited to participate in the series of activities by clicking a special URL found on in-game banners, social media as well as buzzer accounts. Exciting prizes such as Huawei’s high tech mobile phones, phone vouchers and others awaits.
Kenneth Ting, CEO of Achiko Ltd, said: “Achiko is excited to be engaging consumers across Indonesia together with Huawei Tech Investment through their relationships with major telco companies in Indonesia. With marketing budget of up to USD 1 million to drive USD 15m for the year, we have planned a series of marketing activities ranging from the consumption of digital inventories of Indonesia’s top 3 telco companies, creation of exclusive microsites, cross promotional campaign as well as online and offline activities.”
Together with Huawei Tech Investment, Achiko has planned a series of road show to launch its expanded platform and family of applications in Q2 2020 to further engage the consumers and build community across Indonesia. The platform, with its payment services capacity including ‘buy now, pay later’ options, consumer credit, vouchers, offers, games services, etc. is believed to be relevant not just tot he Indonesian consumers but also to broader Asia, Europe, and beyond.
Achiko is the holding company of the Mimopay and Kryptonite businesses. The group has branch offices in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.
Achiko has an experienced management team which has a track record building internationally recognised digital businesses and has also implemented them for companies like Disney, TimeWarner (now WarnerMedia), Samsung, Kakao, Leon Entertainment and many others. Achiko has significant shareholders such as MNC Group, Southeast Asia’s leading media conglomerate, and SOSV—a U.S.-headquartered venture capital firm whose net IRR over the last 20 years puts it in the top 10% of all venture funds worldwide. The Company graduated from MOX, an SOSV accelerator for cross-border mobile internet, in 2018.
Further information can be found on www.achiko.co.
About Huawei Tech Investment
PT Huawei Tech Investment is a subsidiary of Huawei Technologies (HWI), an Indonesia-based global leader of ICT solutions. The company’s telecom network equipment, IT products and solutions and smart devices are used in 170 countries. Huawei was ranked 228th in the Global Fortune 500 in 2014, based on revenues.
Further information can be found on www.huawei.com/en/
Germany and Austria
Axel Mühlhaus/ Dr. Sönke Knop
T: +49 69 90 55 05-51
Farner Consulting Ltd.
T: +41 44 266 67 67
This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Achiko Ltd. and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Achiko Ltd. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Achiko Ltd. is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.


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Every amiibo announcement warms your heart, but hurts your wallet.
During the Nintendo Direct, Saturo Iwata revealed the next few waves of amiibo that would be coming to retailers.
Wave 4, announced for a May release date, will now include previously rumored Greninja and Jigglypuff amiibo, added to the release of previously announced Wario, Charizard, Robin, Lucina, Ness, and Pac-Man.
Wave 5, arriving in July, will contain Dark Pitt and Palutena.
Wave 6, arriving in September, will bring Olimar, Bowser Jr, Dr. Mario, Zero Suit Samus, and Ganondorf.
Last, but not least, Yarn Yoshi will arrive agonizingly late sometime in the fall.
Splatoon will also be receiving their own line of amiibo, launching May 29 alongside the game, featuring inkling girl, inkling boy, and the inkling squid in a three-pack.
No pre-order details were given, but Iwata mentioned, “We will be releasing a number of amiibo exclusively through retail partners.”


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Sony has confirmed that it will indeed be announcing its new range of Xperia smartphone at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) event in Barcelona, Spain. The brand had recently sent out official press invitations to its event at MWC 2020, which is set to kick off on 24 February.
In addition, Sony will also be livestreaming its event online for those that aren’t able to attend the event. Beyond the invite, though, there isn’t any further information regarding the kind of Xperia smartphones it will be releasing this year.
That said, the rumour mill is suggesting that Sony may be releasing a plus-sized version of the Xperia 5 and will be aptly named the Xperia 5 Plus. In addition, it’s also believed that the brand will be releasing a new mid-range Xperia device; one that will allegedly be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765 chipset.
Naturally, these are just some of the rumours surrounding the upcoming Xperia. An earlier report suggests that Sony may have finally thrown in the towel and jumped on to the bandwagon for punch hole displays that, as we’ve said before, would be an ironic turn of event. Considering how the brand has been so adamant in keeping its displays on its previous Xperia devices blemish-free.
In any case, we’ll just have to wait until 24 February to find out just what Sony has in store for the Xperia fans this year.


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At 50, MC Hammer still has the moves.
He may not have the Z Cavaricci pants or big selling albums anymore, but Hammer still has a huge audience in his golden years - thanks largely to his embrace of social media, and social media's embrace back.
The latest example of the Oakland MC's high-tech savvy? "Draw Something," the red-hot social game where you, you know, draw something. Recently snagged by San Francisco game maker Zynga, "Draw Something" recently topped both the free and paid charts in the Apple App Store.
Zynga, in fact, is celebrating Hammer Time, by offering up some of the recent "DS" drawings of his fans. They're to the left of this article. Playful and cool, just like the former Oakland batboy-turned-rap superstar.
Now, of course, all over the web, playing, tweeting .. and drawing.
Scott, also from Oakland, is on Twitter: @scottbudman


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“The blockchain is a unique distributed ledger or record that stores data and verifies its integrity. By using a various set of cryptography based technologies, Blockchain assures that transaction continued into the blockchain database which is stable.”
A spreadsheet app with massive following among developers and Silicon Valley business leaders is the newest software unicorn in the neighborhood.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Caruana said at the press conference. “I looked at the line but couldn’t remember the details. It’s a very complicated position, so I was just trying to figure it out as best I could, which I didn’t really manage.”
Apple has been on a AI-centric hiring spree this year, having lured over Google’s former AI chief to head a new team combining its core machine learning and Siri groups as well as numerous software engineers. Somewhere along the way it also quietly acquired privacy-centric AI startup Silk Labs, per The Information.
“Blockchain: why do we even need something this complex?”
Have you ever wondered why Siri and Alexa were designed feminine? Are you worried about the impact that sex robots might have on society? As we are called to be critical of gender stereotypes and root out the gender bias that works its way into our technology, it’s worth questioning where that bias comes from and how it is coded in the first place.
The idea of preserving a person through their speech is not new. In an 1878 essay, Thomas Edison proclaimed that his phonograph—the first device to reproduce recorded sound—would “annihilate time and space and bottle up for posterity the mere utterance of man.”