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Star Wars Battlefront 3 has become very unlikely to happen according to industry insider Tom Henderson.
In a tweet, he mentioned that DICE pitched the title to EA. But ultimately they shot it down due to licensing costs. According to a past developer, “It got turned down because it takes 20% more sales to make the same money”.
Future of Star Wars Battlefront
DICE already had another game in development, which was revealed to be Battlefield 2042, when the idea of Battlefront 3 was pitched. While the future of Star Wars Battlefront seems uncertain, EA has two new Star Wars titles under development. But according to Henderson, those are story-driven and deliver a single-player experience. He also continued that, several key people engaged in the making of Battlefront 2 have left DICE, including creative director Dennis Bränvall, core gameplay designer Christian Johannesé, and lead hero designer Guillaume Mroz.
Most fans were sad at the news of a new Battlefront game not happening. Fans and critics both have praised Battlefront 2, which has come a long way after its disastrous launch and anticipated a new one.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 had an infamous launch in 2017 mainly due to the microtransaction controversy. This made the players more aware of the whole concept of microtransactions and lootboxes in general. EA pulled these mechanics from the game and has genuinely put effort to make it much more enjoyable.
The state of the game has been better than ever. It has a load of new content including new modes, balanced multiplayer gameplay, and incredible mod support on PC. There has been an influx of new players in recent years indicating its huge success. So, it was rational to expect a new Battlefront title from EA, seeing its post-launch success.
What do you think about this news? Would you play Star Wars Battlefront 3 if it was made? Let us know below!


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The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is home to some of the world’s toughest and most talented fighters. That being said, the world’s most famous mixed martial arts promotion has also garnered some serious talent in other fields.
Among them, the UFC is home to the octagon girls, ring card girls than span from talented musicians to professional models. Artist and model Jhenny Andrade has been an octagon girl for some time now, having garnered a dedicated following of fans along the way.
Now the talented model is getting some attention for a recent video. Taking to Instagram Live, as captured within the footage below, Jhenny Andrade recently decided to show off a new bikini.
Check out the stunning footage down below.
Here is a bonus collection of some of Andrade’s popular social media posts:

domain: news


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Google I/O: Google Home will now let you make voice calls, catching up to Alexa
LOS ANGELES — Google announced new features for its Google Home personal assistant product Wednesday, with one key catch-up to rival Amazon — free phone calls to the United States and Canada mobile and landline phones.
Google Home, which is a distant No. 2 in the personal digital assistant speaker market to Amazon's Echo speaker line, announced many new tools for the Home that tap into the Google Assistant. The assistant is Google's answer to Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Samsung's Bixby and looks to use voice computing for both search and daily tasks.
In Google's vision of the utopian world, we would use Google Home to answer basic search questions. We could control the living room entertainment experience by announcing shows and channels we want to watch via the additional Chromecast accessory dongle that plugs into the TV. Our queries would be displayed from Google Home on the TV visually.
At the Google I/O developer conference, Google showed examples of getting mapping and weather information from Google Home and showcasing it on televisions.
Google Home currently works with select partners to offer voice computing on their entertainment services. New ones added at I/O include Spotify's free, ad-supported music service, HBO Now, Hulu, SoundCloud for music and podcasts and the European music service Deezer.
The feature that many users will opt for is sure to be free phone calls, which will come to Google Home over the next few months, said Rishi Chandra, Google's vice-president of Home products.
Amazon added voice calling and messaging to Alexa earlier this month.


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A 26-year-old entrepreneur is shifting focus from product life-cycle management software to the fast-growing area of data integration software.
Renat Khasanshyn, founder of Chicopee-based PLM software maker and IT services provider Altoros Systems Inc., recently launched Apatar Inc., which develops software that moves data in and out of a variety of sources. The open-source application is designed for financial services and construction firms to aggregate customer information, said Khasanshyn.
Typical data managed by the software includes transaction information and construction project data such as task lists and milestones. For marketing, clients use the software to compile information about prospective customers, he said.
Khasanshyn founded Apatar in 2005, hired a developer last year and publicly launched the company two weeks ago. Although the software is a free download, Apatar plans to convert users to paid customers and has signed up three so far, he said.
The company employs seven workers and operates in the same Chicopee facility as Altoros, which Khasanshyn founded in Florida in 2002.
The need for data integration is increasing as businesses seek one outlet for all the sources of information, both internal and external, said Noel Yuhanna, principal analyst for Cambridge's Forrester Research Inc.
Major players in the space include Waltham-based software maker MetaMatrix Inc., which was acquired last month by Raleigh, N.C.-based Red Hat Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
Large vendors such as California-based BEA Systems Inc., Oracle Corp. and Microsoft Corp. all offer similar products. But about 60 percent of the sector is served by smaller companies, said Yuhanna.
"Right now, the (data integration) market is still evolving," Yuhanna said. "As the technology matures, you're going to see consolidation."
Khasanshyn, a native of Belarus, Russia, emigrated to the United States in 2001 and became the CTO of PriMed Inc., a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based insurance company, before starting Altoros the following year.
He's expecting Apatar to reach profitability within 18 months if he's successful in raising $3.8 million in venture capital. Without such investment, he expects the company to take 24 months to 32 months to reach profitability.
Customer Autodesk Inc., a California-based developer of design software for the construction and entertainment industries, has been testing Apatar's application since April, said Jason Pratt, Autodesk's vertical solutions manager for collaborative project management.
Apatar's product reduces the cost of integrating customer systems with Autodesk's application because it's "very visual, plug-and-play, drag-and-drop simple," he said.
Yuhanna said Apatar's flexible open-source design is one of its biggest attributes. Open-source software enables such startups to compete with more established players, he said.
Last month, the Mass Technology Leadership Council named Khasanshyn as one of five finalists for the council's "emerging executive" award. The recognition honors Massachusetts individuals who display leadership and excellence in business and technology.
Winners are scheduled to be announced in October.


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Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has launched a portal for the sale of its products. Along with Khadi, ready-made products will be available for sale in villages on ‘e-khadiindia.com’. With this, you will not have to go to the shop to buy Khadi products.
Companies will get incentives for mobile phone manufacturing in India The government will give subsidy to companies that produce mobile phones in India. Under this, these companies will be given...
A firm KVIC forces several e-commerce portals to
remove over 160 web links selling products in brand
name of Khadi:


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Schurman Fine Paper, the company that owns stationary and greeting card brand Papyrus, filed for filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday. All of the 254 Papyrus stores in the U.S. and Canada will close within the next few weeks.
More than 1,000 people will lose their jobs.
The company is currently offering steep discounts at its stores and on its website which reads “ALL SALES FINAL” up top.
“We hope that through our artistic, thoughtful greeting cards and our personal expression products that we were able to inspire you to celebrate and honor the special people in your lives, creating meaningful moments along the way,” the company said.
“We truly appreciate all of your business and will miss serving your needs. We will cherish the memories.”


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6.6 Trillion Reasons You Want a Hardline with China
Most Americans have never thought twice about intellectual property. But they should.
The US Patent & Trade Office estimates that the intellectual property associated with 81 industries added $6.6 trillion to global GDP in 2014, the last year there’s data. That same year, IP-intensive industries accounted for a staggering 38% of U.S. GDP, a figure that may approach 50% today thanks to the speed at which technology is advancing.
Our nation depends on it.
A recent CNBC poll found that 1 in 5 American companies have reported that the Chinese have stolen intellectual property from them over the past year.
Damages are hard to calculate but estimates range from $225 billion to $600 billion annually.
Not over time.
That’s why this is so critical and why – love him or hate him – the President must be tough on China when it comes to this issue.
Chinese officials don’t see it this way, of course.
They want the party to continue because accessing valuable intellectual property is what’s allowed that nation to come so far and grow so fast over the past 60 years. It’s also why China’s economy now threatens to overtake our own as the world’s most valuable.
Many Americans understand this instinctively because the concept of protecting innovation is as natural to us as watching the sun rise each day. Many Chinese, on the other hand, view the concept of intellectual property as a foreign imposition symbolic of Chinese exploitation in the early part of the 20th century.
Most intellectual property theft occurs in one of two ways – a) via dirty tricks like espionage or spying and b) forced technology transfer via tremendously one-sided partnerships favoring Chinese corporations, especially those acting in concert with the government.
The situation is so bad that more than half of all technology owned by Chinese firms came from or was obtained directly from foreign companies according to a 2015 paper on the matter by the Minneapolis Fed.
I think, incidentally, that’s conservative and the figure may be as high as 70%, especially if we’re talking about military or industrial property used in highly specialized processes and materials.
Here’s the “Redberry”, a Chinese knockoff fielded by Unicom on eve of RIM’s long-delayed 2006 Chinese debut there…
Figure 1 China Unicom, RIM, Michael Bissell
Here’s a BMW X5 and the Shuanghuan CEO…
What makes this so challenging is that “intellectual property” can be anything from manuscripts to engineering specs, from car parts to electronic parts, from graphic arts to digital code and more.
Some of the funnier knockoffs I’ve seen over the years include Tids laundry detergent, people wearing Mike shoes, Pizza Huh and, one of my personal favorites, Dolce & Banana.
Figure 2 Canyouactually.com
Effectively, intellectual property – “IP” for short – broadly includes anything resulting from uniquely applied creativity. It can be tangible – meaning you can touch it – or intangible – meaning you can’t.
Broadly speaking, there are four types of intellectual property:
- Trademarks cover everything from logos, words, symbols, names or colors. Walmart, for example, is a trademark. China has ripped off Walmart by opening a chain of superstores,Wumart, that a spokesperson said, will be “the Walmart of China.”
- Copyrights include software, graphic arts, architecture, books, videos, and databases. Frequently, Chinese companies will produce cars that look and work almost exactly like American models. The Chinese-made Geely GE looked eerily like a Rolls Royce Phantom, for example.
- Patents are another example of intellectual property, and they cover tangible inventions, ornamental designs on manufactured products, and new plant varieties. Chinese companies have famously copied Apple’s iPhone, producing the HiPhone, which looks almost exactly like the older versions of the iPhone.
- Trade secrets, the final type of intellectual property, are made up of formulas, patterns, or techniques not readily available to the public.
Interestingly, China is beginning to get the message.
Beijing issued a memo last year – the first and most detailed on protecting intellectual property to date – highlighting 38 different punishments for companies stealing IP or otherwise appropriating it ranging from a cutoff in government funding to restricted access to foreign companies and even a “blackmark” in official databases.
There’s also the “Rover case.”
This one’s a big deal.
Jaguar Land Rover won a landmark legal decision in Chinese court earlier this year that will force Landwind to stop selling a $22,000 knockoff of Land Rover’s $60,000 Evoque. And, importantly, pay damages.
Now for the tough part.
It’s easy to view China as the aggressor here in terms of who stole what from whom but that’s a matter of perspective. Many people are surprised to learn that the Chinese invented paper in 105 AD, gun powder in 1,000 AD, the crossbow as early as 2000 BC, umbrellas from around 2,500 BC, and booze almost 9,000 years ago. Same, too, with the compass, movable type, silk… centuries before that knowledge would show up in the west.
China could’ve easily smeared the West with the same allegations of intellectual theft centuries ago.
I’ve spent decades in the Far East, as a businessman, a father, an investor, and as student of history so I like to think that I’ve got the tiniest bit of insight here.
Confucian thought plays a huge part in Chinese culture. And that, by its very definition includes concepts related to mutual responsibility, natural harmony and moral uprightness.
China is waking up to these things. Perhaps not fast enough for Westerners, but the notion that strong intellectual property protection is essential for China’s ongoing development.
Forget about the government and, instead, concentrate on the rise of Chinese consumerism. My favorite choice – albeit a very controversial one at the moment – is Alibaba Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BABA).
Top line revenues are growing by 56% a year on average with cloud computing and digital media coming in at 70%+. Amazon.com Inc. (NasdaqGS:AMZN), by comparison, delivered just 25% fiscal year over year.
China’s Alibaba retail marketplace accounts for 654 million outlets, roughly twice the US population and an increase of more than 102 million. Mobile users are now 721 million and rising.
This is a numbers game pure and simple.
By 2020 – less than a year from now – the Chinese e-commerce market may be worth more than all the e-commerce markets of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany combined.
Trade war or not, buying Alibaba now is like getting the best of Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR), Netflix Inc. (NasdaqGS:NFLX), Paypal Holdings Inc. (NasdaqGS:PYPL), Amazon.com Inc. (NasdaqGS:AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (NasdaqGS:GOOG) and even eBay Inc. (NasdaqGS:EBAY) in a single stock worth nearly one-half trillion dollars.
BABA is trading at $164.05 a share as I type Tuesday morning and clearly under trade-related pressure. But I think that’s actually your opening.
I believe shares will rocket higher to $200+ dollars a share when a trade deal ultimately does get announced.
Likely before the ink’s even dry.
Until next time,


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AmeriLife Group LLC has new owners.
The company said in a release that it was sold by its founder to an investor group, which includes funds managed by Reservoir Capital Group LLC and Black Diamond Capital Partners I LP. Joining the investors in purchasing AmeriLife were Timothy North, chief executive, and other members of the senior management team, the release said.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
AmeriLife, based in Clearwater, develops annuity, life and health insurance products with its insurance carrier partners and markets the products through a distribution network. The company said it is largest organization of its kind focused on the U.S. senior market.
North will stay on as chief executive, the release said.


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Wawa to open first of 5 Tampa area stores at 30th St. and Fowler
NORTH TAMPA Wawa, a convenience store chain with deep roots in the Northeast, is hoping Tampa will play a major role in its expansion into the Sunshine State. Its first Tampa location is nearing completion at 30th Street and Fowler Avenue, a high-traffic intersection near the University of South Florida, Wawa spokeswoman Lori Bruce said. The store is set to open on Feb. 13. The company is planning five grand openings in the Tampa metro area in the next couple of months as Wawa extends its reach into West Central Florida.The New Jersey-based company targeted the 30th Street site because of its location in the heart of a major north Tampa urban area, Bruce said. In addition to USF, the new store will be across Fowler Avenue from University Mall. Wawa, a convenience store that sells fuel and fresh food, including built-to-order hoagies and hot breakfast sandwiches, celebrated its expansion into Florida by opening seven stores in the Orlando area last year. Its goal is to open about 100 stores along the Interstate 4 corridor from Orlando to Tampa and Pinellas County in five years, Bruce said. In addition to the 30th Street location in North Tampa, Wawa plans to celebrate store openings at 3101 Gandy Blvd. in Pinellas Park on Feb. 8; 8519 U.S. 19 in Port Richey, Feb. 20; 8330 Ridge Road in New Port Richey, Feb. 27; and 4028 U.S. 19 in New Port Richey, March 6. Wawa plans its first store near downtown Tampa at the former Giordano's pizza site at 401 N. Dale Mabry, Bruce said. It is scheduled for a May opening. Wawa and its rival, Louisville, Ky.- based Thornton's, plan to introduce a wave of new stores in the Tampa area within the next few years, a sign economic conditions are on the rise in the Tampa region. firstname.lastname@example.org
The Daystarter: Are you better off, candidates ask; Cuban diplomat says U.S. treated Cuba horribly; companies releasing quarterly reports today; will Rays buy or sell at deadline?


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Long Grove, IL (PRWEB) February 28, 2010
The centuries-old art of storytelling could put an extra $100 in your pocket this year. WarmlyYours, the electric floor heating industry’s leading product and support service innovator, just announced a brand new monthly competition where customers share their success stories with WarmlyYours products via an online form. Running throughout 2010, contest entrants are automatically entered into the monthly competition for the best story, garnering a $100 prize. Prize winners will be determined based on their story’s originality, creativity and clarity.
WarmlyYours encourages submissions to revolve around any of their personal heating products, including energy efficient towel warmers, floor heating mats and snow-melting technology for driveways, walkways, stairs and other outdoor areas.
Story entrants are encouraged to be as creative as possible in sharing the story of how they found WarmlyYours, how the installation went, how the technology is working for them, reactions from friends and family, etc. For extra points, participants can include fun extras like photos video, illustrations, cartoons—anything engaging and creative for the story’s readers. Various entries will be posted on the WarmlyYours website at the company’s discretion.
“We’re encouraging our customers to share their stories so other customers can benefit from their WarmlyYours experiences,” said WarmlyYours president Julia Billen. “At the same time, WarmlyYours benefits from the insight the stories will bring to our team. We’re always looking for ways we can improve our business, from more effective customer service to increasingly functional products.”
Questions regarding story submissions should be directed to TellYourStory(at)WarmlyYours(dot)com. For more information or to share your story, visit http://www.warmlyyours.com/tell-us-your-story/.
WarmlyYours manufactures premium home heating products that leverage radiant heating technology for maximum efficiency and environmental friendliness. Ultra-thin electric floor warmers, snow melting products, mirror defoggers and towel warmers are just a few of the applications for WarmlyYours technology. Based in Long Grove, IL, WarmlyYours has been an innovator in heating products for more than 10 years. For more information, visit: http://www.warmlyyours.com.


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About Chuck Vandenberg 4568 Articles
Pen City Current and pencitycurrent.com are products of Market Street Publishing, LLC, a multi-platform media company delivering hyper-local news, sports and advertising information to Fort Madison, IA and surrounding communities.
BY PCC STAFF FORT MADISON – The Fort Madison Area Chamber of Commerce made more visits this week to chamber members showing their appreciation for the support of the chamber and a commitment to the [Read More…]
Dear Editor, To all my friends and FMCSD, please make your voice heard at the polls April 3rd for the future of Fort Madison with a new elementary school. While my youngest is a student [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG PCC EDITOR FORT MADISON – According to information from Fort Madison Mayor Brad Randolph, Vikings Cruise lines has made a decision to halt discussions to build ships and offer tours in the [Read More…]


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Flying Brands warned that poor weather and increased grain and flower costs are hurting its Gardening Direct, Garden Bird Supplies and Flying Flowers brands and could lead to disappointing results for the year ending in December. To try to compensate, the company is raising prices on some products and implementing Christmas campaigns targeting non-Flying Flowers customers.
Furniture retailer MFI, which started out as a mail order marketer, has been saved from administration by a management buyout, according to The Press Association.
At number two, Alliance Boots is the top-ranked retailer on the Sunday Times’ Top Track 100 listing of Britain’s largest private companies. Others on the list include John Lewis Partnership, at number three; Littlewood Shop Direct, at 19; and Wilkinson Hardware Stores, at 29.
ASOS chief exec Nick Robertson tells The Times that he expects his company to overtake Next as the top fashion website in Britain within the next three years. ASOS currently has almost 5 per cent of the online apparel market, making it number two; Next has about 7 per cent.
The Times also speaks with Brent Hoberman, co-founder of Lastminute.com, about his latest venture, furniture etailer Mydeco.com.
The Guardian profiles the husband-and-wife team behind Pedlars, a cataloguer/retailer of home accessories and gifts.
From the Tell Us Something We Don’t Know department: “Attraction of web grows for bargain-hungry shoppers,” declares The Times.
The gardening column in The Independent recommended clematis from cataloguer Sherston Parva Nursery.


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but jobs saved A Carlisle supermarket is to close but a bargains chain is taking on the site, saving the jobs of nearly 30 staff.
The Co operative store in Wigton Road will shut its doors next month, after bosses decided to pull the plug as part of an ongoing review at the company. The burberry skirt move is the latest development in Carlisle's ever changing supermarket scene and represents another expansion in B slice of the retail market in the city. It already has burberry sale on black friday stores in the city burberry mall centre and on the St Nicholas Gate Retail Park, off London Road. A spokesman for The Co operative Food said: "I can confirm that we have agreed to sell our food store in Wigton Road to B "All 27 employees will transfer to the new store when it re opens as B "The decision to sell this store has been made as part of our on going store review process." He said there were no current plans to burberry cap sell any more stores in north Cumbria, adding: "This store is scheduled to close on February 20." It comes days after Lakes Dales Co operative announced its store in Burrowgate, Penrith, will shut for good on Friday, February 12 A B spokeswoman said: "The store on Wigton Road will undergo a comprehensive internal and external refurbishment programme.
" This site has changed hands a number of times since the 1990s, having previously housed a Kwik Save store and a Safeway shop. The supermarket options in this corner of the city were transformed by the arrival of Sainsbury's in 2012. Aldi's third Carlisle store also began trading in July in Dalston Road.
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Good news, everyone! A new patch has come out on PC for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive adding a deathmatch mode as well as the usual weapon balances and bug fixes. Deathmatch will be available for matchmaking and offli... read
GameBattles, which allows users and teams to sign up and compete in tournaments, is adding Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and League of Legends to its fall lineup of online ladder tournamen... read
Hey gang! It's that time again.
Today, we've got a great video showing off Dishonored's stealth kills, some more Grand Theft Auto 5 screenshots, showing off cropdusters and cars and stuff, a review of Counter-Strike: Global ... read
It has been barely a year since the official announcement, but it's already here! Valve's answer to the tactical/military team-based shooter of today, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, has just been released to the ... read
You can put money down on your Steam download of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive today, ahead of the August 21 release date. Why would you do that? Well, pre-purchases on Steam get both a 10 percent discount and early access... read
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will arrive on Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, PC, and Mac, August 21 for $15.
Seven months after the closed beta began, Valve finally has set a date for this much anticipated FPS. Personally, I've bee... read
Valve has announced that cross-platform play has been taken out of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, meaning that PS3 and PC users will no longer be able to play together. The decision was made so that the game could receive ... read
Minh "Gooseman" Le is a guy you may not have heard of, but you probably know about a little game he co-created with Jess Cliffe called Counter-Strike. Well, Minh has unveiled his latest game and wouldn't you know it, it's a t... read
Did you get your hands on a beta key for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive? Go you! You'll be able to play soon enough. Next Wednesday, November 30 is when Valve plans to initiate the closed beta.
The company has been quick to... read
Valve says that their approach to cross-platform play is a lot like Sony's. Portal writer Chet Faliszek says that they don't think 'platform,' and that they're glad that Sony thinks along the same lines.
Faliszek g... read
The worlds largest video game broadcasting community TwitchTV -- home to a whole slew of great Destructoid shows -- announced today a partnership to bring even more of the rapidly growing eSports sensation to its network.
Okay, maybe not an entire playthrough - but hey, it's a guaranteed ten minutes! If you've been curious how the Diablo 3 beta is stacking up, Max led us through the first ten minutes of it today while I had a discus... read
Here are some new screenshots to coincide with the news that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is getting new Arsenal modes. There are guns, people wearing masks, and buildings in these screens, so you know that they are genui... read
Valve has announced that they are working on new Arsenal Modes for the upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, set to release on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Steam in Spring 2012. The mode is largely based on ... read
Hot out of the oven, here's a bunch of Counter-Stike: Global Offensive screenshots, courtesy of the game's Steam page. There are pictures of terrorists and guns! Terrorists and guns!
As you can see, the game is certainly not ... read
Counter-Strike: GO was on full display at PAX. Jim, Max, and Tara got their hands on it and, no surprise, it's exactly what Counter-Strike fans want from a sequel to the legendary shooter. As you might expect, Valve has reta... read
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is easily my most anticipated shooter. Modern Warfare and Battlefield will both do phenomenally this fall, but GO will definitely be my shooter of choice when it finally drops; in Valve time, ... read
If you were at PAX and you met someone who played Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, they will describe it in one very simple way -- it's Counter-Strike!
Seriously, that's all you really need to know. It's obviously better loo... read feature
The trailer for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has a few expected bullet points: new visuals, more maps and weapons, support for ranked matchmaking, and ... cross-platform play? Huh? Won't that be laughably unbalanced?
Unlike the last few years, Valve had a massive presence at this year's gamescom. In celebration of their newest game, Dota 2, they held a massive tournament called "The International." During this contest, we were able to ta... read feature
[Update: L'fakery. I am a bad journalist, etcetera. Sorry guys, my mistake. Please proceed to tell me how you could do my job better.]
There's no gameplay on offer in this short Counter-Strike: Global Offensive trailer but re... read
The university of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, has made public the results of one of its latest studies: Players of so-called 'Killerspiele' like Counter-Strike actually don't like the military or war more than those who don't.... read
First and foremost, a tremendous thank you to everyone who tuned into yesterday's live show. Between The Destructoid Show and Mash Tactics, your afternoons must be as unproductive as the day is long. Yesterday, we had a laun... read
There were some recent teases for the next Counter-Strike game, and now it's official: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has been announced by Valve for release on Steam (PC and Mac), PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade ... read
Rumors of an all-new Counter-Strike game have been whirling around this morning, with word that top CS players have been flown to Valva's offices for top secret shenanigans. Amid fan speculation on Steam's forums, a name was&... read


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The healthymagination Mother and Child Programme announces its second cohort of social enterprises that will receive training and mentorship aimed at improving and accelerating maternal and/or child health outcomes in Africa. The programme – launched in March 2016 by GE and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship – aims to continue to accelerate health innovations in
You might have heard that the first Cholera outbreak in Nairobi happened in Karen during a wedding ceremony. That the Karen Cholera outbreak saw no less than 5 people hospitalized in Nairobi hospital. You may also have heard that one month later, a cholera outbreak happened in a Nairobi’s five star hotel, the Weston Hotel.
Consumers’ priorities when buying new television sets have changed noticeably over the past few years with smartTV gaining popularity. According to a survey on the usage and attitude (U&A) of consumers conducted by Samsung Electronics between 2014 and 2016, the importance of smart function doubled from 15.1 percent to 29.6 percent within the two years.
Tuesday 30 May is a big day on the MNet 101 calendar. That’s when the television channel known for its best of the best programming, and 18:00 CAT to midnight prime time without repeats, will boost its schedule with four new acclaimed shows, three of which are hot new items from Hollywood. This is Us, the
MultiChoice hosted over 200 subscribers and sports enthusiasts to an exclusive screening of the 2016/17 Emirates FA Cup season finale in Nairobi this past weekend as Chelsea and Arsenal battled it out at the Wembley Stadium in London to lift the FA cup. Dressed in their favourite teams’ jerseys, each of the attendees showed emotion


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Tagstand’s NFC Task Launcher app has been used to execute over one million actions, reports Techcrunch. “Users changed WiFi and Bluetooth settings 300,000 times, 176,000 applications were launched, phones were set to silent or vibrate 150,000 times, 12,000 songs were played, 10,000 alarms were set, and mobile hotspots were set up 8,000 times,” says the tech publication.
- Wells Fargo adds support for Fitbit Pay
- Apple details Apple Pay Cash in updated iOS Security guide
- India to add face recognition to Aadhaar biometric ID system
- Bank of America reports 84% rise in P2P payment transactions
- One in five Brits to make mobile payments in stores this year


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Electric vehicles don’t have to cost an arm and a leg, insists Indian automaker Tata Motors.
Its research arm, Tata Technologies, has unveiled a prototype for a $20,000 electric car that can carry four passengers without adding to the pollution in crowded cities around the world.
“The eMo project symbolizes the coming of age of Indian automotive engineering,” said Warren Harris, Tata Technologies President and Global COO. “It is a tangible example of the capability of Tata Technologies to engineer a full vehicle – a first for any India-based engineering services company,” added Harris during a press conference at the North American International Auto Show.
Harris added, “Because we are India-based, Tata Technologies is intimately familiar with developing markets. Additionally, our experience and presence in Europe and North America means we also have an understanding of developed markets. It’s a combination that provides a competitive advantage to our clients,” added Harris, who noted the company also does extensive work for clients such as Ford Motor Co and Chrysler Group in the U.S.


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The trade show specializing in denim has commemorated its latest edition in London. The next show will take place in land in Milan (10 and 11 June).
Denim Première Vision continues its journey across Europe. The French fair specialized in denim has decided to celebrate its November edition, which will take place between 24 and 25, in Berlin. The show will be housed in the Berlin Arena.
“This new destination is well-suited to the show’s evolved and now roving positioning, and in line with the areas of strategic development initiated two years ago,” the organization said in a statement.
Denim Première Vision has chosen Berlin for its “unique mix of creativity, art, music and history”. The city is home to 2,800 registered fashion companies, from luxury brands to sustainable companies, including eight hundred design labels and eleven fashion schools.
Denim Première Vision has chosen Berlin for its “unique mix of creativity, music and history”
The show initiated ten years ago and, however, in its latest editions, it has altered its strategy to get to catch up on the luxury sector. In 2018, the event organizer launched a roadshow which led him to hosting the show in cities such as London and Milan.
In its latest edition, which took place at the London Printworks London, Denim Première Vision fell short of 15.5% visitors, up to 1,979 exhibitors participated in the event.


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Business payments and financial services startup Razorpay has acquired artificial intelligence, an UK based risk analysis platform, TERA Finlabs.
TERA is an Indian subsidiary of UK based digital lender GAIN Credit which was launched in 2018. And, it is an artificial intelligence based platform based in Bengaluru that facilitates digital financing solutions for businesses.
The AI-based platform is expected to help RazorPay in scaling its B2B SME lending segment that entered in 2019 with the launch of its Razorpay Capital. Financial services startup Razorpay marks its third acquisition since its foundation in 2019.
RazorPay said that with AI-based platform TERA Finlab’s technology capabilities, they would be able to service the credit needs of over ten thousands of businesses in India by the next year.
Razorpay said that this acquisition is aligned with strategy of financially supporting as many MSMEs as possible by building core-competencies in capital solutions, credit underwriting and data driven risk management capabilities.
Razorpay further added, "TERA will provide its entire technology stack, risk management capabilities, and onboarding solutions to create and enable a credit line for Razorpay's merchant network."
Razorpay claims 40 to 45 per cent growth month on month and has achieved USD 40 billion total payment volume (TPV).


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New swappable batteries consortium announced | NEWS
Yamaha has announced today that it has signed a letter of intent, along with Honda, Piaggio and KTM to bring about a standardised swappable battery consortium for motorcycles and electric vehicles. This will enable batteries to simply be swapped over for a fully-charged one, increasing range and making electric much more viable for the real world.
The consortium will work together to define the technical specifications for the swappable battery system for electric vehicles in the L-category; mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles. They’ll be working closely with European and international standardisation bodies in the creation of international technical standards. Activities will start in May.
Executive Officer Takuya Kinoshita, Chief General Manager of Motorcycle Business Operations, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.: “I believe the creation of this Consortium holds great significance not just for Europe but the world as we move towards establishing standards for swappable batteries for light electric vehicles. I’m confident that through work like this, the technical specs and standards, that currently differ by regional characteristics or the state of the industry in different markets will be unified, and, in the future, will help lead towards maximizing the merits of electric power for customers on a global level.”


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The conventional wisdom last year as it related to the “dollar” was that its ascent had to be confirmation of the divergence between US economic fortune and the continued and even growth misfortune of the rest of the world. That is pretty much standard orthodoxy as it seeks to align financialism with a generic view of the economy. On its face, such assumptions are already weakened by the idea that the “dollar” is both the domestic currency of the United States and the world’s “reserve.”
In the 1950’s and the 1960’s this contradiction was already proving difficult by what was labeled, by orthodox economists struggling to come to terms with rising financial factors, Triffen’s Dilemma or Paradox. The irreconcilable position, allegedly, then was how the US could effect a neutral enough monetary policy domestically while still allowing enough monetary growth overseas to placate trade expansion. Under the gold standard as it was determined by the Bretton Woods framework, this seemed to be unworkable – and became increasingly so throughout the 1960’s (though for reasons that still escape econometrics).
Thus, that meant that an increase in “money printing” was necessary in order to finance the global economic expansion, which very much complicates any idea about what the dollar may say about the financial relation of the US economy to the rest of the world. But no such complexity had been acknowledged last year, as there was indeed a rush to use the “rising dollar” as confirmation of every backward-looking interpretation that could be unleashed.
In October, JP Morgan Funds issued exactly that (an edu-tisement to be sure) checking almost every single box about how the “dollar’s” movement could not be anything other than a huge positive for everyone on the planet.
First, compared to other major economies, the U.S. is currently displaying the best momentum relative to its trend growth pace. Following a 4.6% real GDP surge in the second quarter, the U.S. appears to have grown by a healthy 3% in the third. This is in contrast to the eurozone, China and Japan which, while not in recession, have shown signs of relative stagnation over the summer. Traditionally, fast-growing economies have rising currencies due to capital inflows.
The author of this article was no doubt further intrigued by the 5% growth in US GDP that came out only a few weeks after its publication. It certainly does not hold up so well at the moment, especially the idea about “momentum” here, but it was this suggestion that is completely out of place (more so than even the above):
Most importantly, however, a higher dollar effectively transfers demand from the U.S. economy to economies around the world. At this stage of the global business cycle, this is a welcome development. The U.S. unemployment rate is now below its 50-year average and falling fast, highlighting the limited remaining capacity for the U.S. economy to absorb extra demand without generating inflation. By contrast, other economies such as Japan, emerging Asia and Europe could do with a boost to their exports, which should be the result of a higher dollar. In the long run this should lead to a healthier, more balanced global economy.
There isn’t anything particularly controversial about writing something like this, but it should be. It exactly conforms to every idea orthodox economics has about currency and global trade as the rising dollar purportedly means cheaper imports for US buyers. In the most important respects, this is exactly the same as the idea that the rising dollar is great for US consumers as it introduces a “windfall” to consumers via lower prices, especially energy. Both of these are but conventions that confuse cause and effect, and thus interpret only effects without as much as a minor examination into their cause.
As the Chinese will fully attest, there has been no “demand transfer” to anywhere, a fact repeated by Japanese and Europeans. Import activity into the US has been declining, and precipitously, throughout the “rising dollar” period. The past three quarters in the GDP figures have been adamant about no “demand transfer” except in reverse (especially Q1).
Again, this is not a surprise to most import-oriented economies around the world, as they have become more conditioned by the 2012 slowdown that most economists aren’t aware took place. First among those are the Chinese, and they continue to suggest that the “rising dollar” has been a marker of ill omen.
The latest indication of deepening factory woes raises the risk that second-quarter economic growth may dip below 7 percent for the first time since the depths of the global crisis, adding to official fears of job losses and local-level debt defaults.
The HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 48.9 in April – the lowest level since April 2014 – from 49.6 in March, as demand faltered and deflationary pressures persisted…
Both input and output prices declined for a ninth month, while manufacturers shed jobs for an 18th month, auguring poorly for an economy that grew at its weakest rate for six years in the first quarter.
These were PMI figures (for the HSBC version as opposed to the official government PMI released last week), so take them for whatever they may be worth, but they are at least consistent with a broad survey of the Chinese economy apart from GDP. China’s economy was built as the ablest expression of the modern “dollar”, freed from, supposedly, Triffin’s Dilemma, only to capture China within the modern adaptation of the activist central banking globally. It is there that all this confusion about finance and economy is generated, as central banks act and pronounce as if it were still the 1960’s; as if the “dollar” were still somehow the dollar.
Such lack of recognition about the bypass of the financial “economy” leads to contradictions such as this (from the same article about China’s PMI):
Millions of workers lost their jobs when China’s growth tumbled to 6.6 percent in early 2009. A massive stimulus package pulled the economy out of the slump, but at the cost of saddling local governments with a mountain of debt.
It is hard to define “stimulus” where the “solution” creates a greater problem. In that sense, what the PBOC did in 2009 was simply transfer the direct existence of the prior problem but leaving it pure and undeterred overall. That is the “dollar”, where finance and bubbles seem to be a cure in the same respect as a “strong dollar” once was; but the difference between them is enormous and even dangerous. To view the rising “dollar” as something stable, just as the Chinese (and every other monetarist textbook) once viewed a new bubble as a stable solution to the growing recession, misses the idea about so much fungible currency because it applies anachronistic views upon 21st century function.
Stability is not something that can be conjured by monetary activism, though it is all taken as the same thing in mainstream interpretations. That is especially true when central bank activism is the greatest and most visible agent of instability itself. That helps to explain why not only do economists continue to be far too optimistic about the “recovery” but also why they can’t even figure out currency.


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NBA’s senior vice-president of global media distributions Matt Brabants has pushed for sporting organisations to learn from the esports industry to help engagement with younger audiences.
Esports has rapidly been entwined with the traditional sports industry, as organisations such as NBA and FIFA have invested in dedicated online leagues to break into the competitive gaming sector.
NBA currently runs its own esports league the NBA 2K League in which professional eBasketball players compete for a chunk of the $1.4m prize pool.
FIFA has also launched its new eSeries scene in which some of football’s top leagues such as the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A organise and monitor independent FIFA 20 leagues.
Brabants feels that building a sustainable relationship between sports and esports could be the key to bringing newer generations into the sporting fold.
The NBA vice president told delegates at the Sportel conference in Miami: “The market is becoming more fragmented with cord shaving and cord cutting happening. I think we’re going to take best practices from other platforms and other sports that provide those insights and we’re going to have to apply them to create a more compelling product.
“Half of the NBA’s fanbase is 35 and under, which makes us susceptible to a lot of these trends you’re seeing – one of our biggest strengths could also be one of our biggest weaknesses.
“We’re trying to figure out how we can use those innovations to reach that audience and I think that’s going to be an industry-wide phenomenon.”
In recent years, athletes have started to use social media platforms and esports to boost their reputation and global appeal, increasing the player’s marketability. The most recent example is Gareth Bale launching Ellevens Esports, the Real Madrid footballer’s new esports team.
Bale joined the likes of Leicester City player Christian Fuchs who created No Fuchs Given, while former NBA player Rick Fox previously owned Echo Fox which participated in game titles such as League of Legends and CS:GO. Despite Echo Fox’s disbanding, the former Boston Celtics player remains a vocal advocate of esports development.
Insider Insight: Matt Brabants’ comments portray how traditional sports are worried about losing a younger generation of viewers. Esports is an incredibly easy market for sports to transition marketing strategies towards, and the hope is that by building a bridge between the two sectors, both industries will benefit from a new audience demographic.


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Stricter regulations on place of origin certificates would protect the reputation of Taiwan’s products, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday as the Executive Yuan unveiled draft amendments to the Foreign Trade Act (貿易法).
“A minority of unscrupulous businesses will not be allowed to jeopardize the image of Taiwan or act in ways that compromise the interests of other enterprises,” Su said at a Cabinet-level meeting in Taipei.
The proposed bill aims to deter the practice of labeling Chinese imports as being made in Taiwan, which has caused material harm to the reputation of Taiwanese products and its businesses, he said.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
Due to the growing intensity of a US-China trade dispute, the US and Europe are expected to increase their regulation of Chinese imports and be less tolerant of the gray area in trade, he added.
The Cabinet has requested that the ministries of economic affairs and finance step up inspections of exports and enforcement of regulations against dubious labeling practices, Su said.
The bill aims to increase fines for breaking the law and rewards for whistle-blowers, as well as establish safeguards for the export of strategically valuable technologies, he said.
Those measures would prevent Taiwan from becoming embroiled in the US-China trade conflict, and maintain the reputation and competitiveness of products made in Taiwan, he added.
The Bureau of Foreign Trade has found that several Taiwanese enterprises have circumvented US tariffs on Chinese products by passing them off as being made in Taiwan, bureau Executive Secretary Nick Ni (倪克浩) said.
In response, the EU has launched an investigation into Taiwanese businesses and products, which has disrupted trade and damaged the nation’s reputation, he said.
The ministry from September last year to last month identified five products with misleading place of origin labeling and 10 incidents involving falsified product certificates, Ni said, adding that authorities have launched inquiries into those cases.
Should the bill pass into law, the fine for forging or tampering with place of origin certificates would be increased to NT$60,000 to NT$3 million (US$1,925 to US$96,262), from NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 at present, he said.
The increased fines would also apply to businesses that tamper with other trade certificates, contravene export restrictions on strategically valuable technologies or issue certificates in ways that are not in compliance with established standards and procedures, he added.
Food delivery provider Foodpanda had 564 consumer disputes from January to last month and failed to attend many mediation sessions with local governments nationwide, the Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Committee said. In a news release earlier this month, the committee said that it investigated consumer complaints and mediations for Foodpanda and rival Uber Eats during the period, when the number of delivery orders jumped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Uber Eats had 80 consumer disputes, the committee said. Of Foodpanda’s consumer disputes, 368 resulted from delivery drivers canceling orders after customers could not be reached, 108 were related to the quality or quantity
PILLAGING PENGHU: A 7,539-tonne Chinese ship found mining sand in the Formosa Banks area was escorted by several CGA ships to a Kaohsiung harbor The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday announced that it had dispatched ships to intercept Chinese dredging vessels operating in the nation’s territorial waters near Penghu and detained 10 crew members, who were transported to Kaohsiung. A coast guard patrol discovered more than 20 dredging vessels in an area known as the Formosa Banks, 46 nautical miles (85km) southwest of Penghu County’s Cimei islet (七美) at about 5am on Wednesday. The agency responded by dispatching two patrol boats, the 3,000-tonne Kaohsiung and the 500-tonne Penghu, along with two frigates, to intercept the Chinese vessels, while an airborne observation unit was used to monitor
‘HONEYMOON’ IS OVER: A political science professor said that the Tsai administration’s popularity peaked after it successfully contained COVID-19, but is waning President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) approval ratings fell significantly this month in the wake of the government’s handling of the distribution of relief funds and stimulus coupons to people and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a poll released yesterday by the New Power Party (NPP) showed. The poll showed that 68 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Tsai’s performance, down 8.9 percentage points from last month, while 21 percent said they disapproved of her performance. Her approval among respondents aged 20 to 29 fell 14.7 percentage points, the largest decrease when compared with other age
Passengers arriving at Taoyuan International Airport will find that most entrances to both terminals have been sealed off as part of its COVID-19 prevention efforts. Follow the signs and directions posted on the doors to find the nearest entry point. The airport has installed infrared cameras and thermometer guns at all open entrances, and all persons with a temperature of over 37.5 degrees Celsius are prohibited from entering the terminal. In addition, staff will take the temperature of those checking in to their flights in advance at Airport MRT stations A1 and A3. In accordance with the Centers of Disease


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After he lost a U.S. Senate race in Maryland as an independent in 2012, Montgomery County businessman Rob Sobhani looked outside the realm of public service for a way to bring about change.
Sparo, Sobhani's latest business venture, was born.
An online application, Sparo is designed to "transform the way we give and the way we buy," and works like this:
Customers of online merchants that partner with Sparo will see a Sparo bird icon at checkout. Shoppers are given a chance to select a charity, and the retailer donates a portion of the purchase to the charity, in a range from 4 percent to 10...


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Joe Sullivan, the previous Uber safety chief, was discovered responsible on Wednesday by a jury in federal court docket on expenses that he didn’t disclose a breach of buyer and driver data to authorities regulators.
In 2016, whereas the Federal Commerce Fee was investigating Uber over an earlier breach of its on-line techniques, Mr. Sullivan discovered of a brand new breach that affected the Uber accounts of greater than 57 million riders and drivers.
The jury discovered Mr. Sullivan responsible on one depend of obstructing the F.T.C.’s investigation and one depend of misprision, or performing to hide a felony from authorities.
The case — believed to be the primary time an organization govt confronted felony prosecution over a hack — may change how safety professionals deal with information breaches.
“The way in which obligations are divided up goes to be impacted by this. What’s documented goes to be impacted by this. The way in which bug bounty packages are designed goes to be impacted by this,” mentioned Chinmayi Sharma, a scholar in residence on the Robert Strauss Middle for Worldwide Safety and Legislation and a lecturer on the College of Texas at Austin Faculty of Legislation.
Mr. Sullivan’s trial concluded on Friday, and the jury of six males and 6 girls took greater than 19 hours to achieve a verdict.
“Whereas we clearly disagree with the jury’s verdict, we admire their dedication and energy on this case,” mentioned David Angeli, a lawyer for Mr. Sullivan. “Mr. Sullivan’s sole focus — on this incident and all through his distinguished profession — has been making certain the security of individuals’s private information on the web.”
Stephanie M. Hinds, the U.S. legal professional for the Northern District of California, mentioned in an announcement: “We won’t tolerate concealment of necessary info from the general public by company executives extra occupied with defending their repute and that of their employers than in defending customers. The place such conduct violates the federal legislation, will probably be prosecuted.”
Uber didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Mr. Sullivan was deposed by the F.T.C. because it investigated a 2014 breach of Uber’s on-line techniques. Ten days after the deposition, he obtained an e mail from a hacker who claimed to have discovered one other safety vulnerability in its techniques.
Mr. Sullivan discovered that the hacker and an confederate had downloaded the non-public information of about 600,000 Uber drivers and extra private info related to 57 million riders and drivers, in keeping with court docket testimony and paperwork. The hackers pressured Uber to pay them at the very least $100,000.
Mr. Sullivan’s workforce referred them to Uber’s bug bounty program, a approach of paying “white hat” researchers to report safety vulnerabilities. This system capped payouts at $10,000, in keeping with court docket testimony and paperwork. Mr. Sullivan and his workforce paid the hackers $100,000 and had them signal a nondisclosure settlement.
Throughout his testimony, one of many hackers, Vasile Mereacre, mentioned he was making an attempt to extort cash from Uber.
Uber didn’t publicly disclose the incident or inform the F.T.C. till a brand new chief govt, Dara Khosrowshahi, joined the corporate in 2017. The 2 hackers pleaded responsible to the hack in October 2019.
States sometimes require firms to reveal breaches if hackers obtain private information and a sure variety of customers are affected. There isn’t any federal legislation requiring firms or executives to disclose breaches to regulators.
Federal prosecutors argued that Mr. Sullivan knew that revealing the brand new hack would prolong the F.T.C. investigation and harm his repute and that he hid the hack from the F.T.C.
“He took many steps to maintain the F.T.C. and others from discovering out about it,” Benjamin Kingsley, an assistant U.S. legal professional, mentioned throughout closing arguments on Friday. “This was a deliberate withholding and concealing of data.”
Mr. Sullivan didn’t reveal the 2016 hack to Uber’s normal counsel, in keeping with court docket testimonies and paperwork. He did focus on the breach with one other Uber lawyer, Craig Clark.
Like Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Clark was fired by Mr. Khosrowshahi after the brand new chief govt discovered concerning the particulars of the breach. Mr. Clark was given immunity by federal prosecutors in alternate for testifying towards Mr. Sullivan.
Mr. Clark testified that Mr. Sullivan had advised the Uber safety workforce that they wanted to maintain the breach secret and that Mr. Sullivan had modified the nondisclosure settlement signed by the hackers to make it falsely appear that the hack was white-hat analysis.
Mr. Sullivan mentioned he would focus on the breach with Uber’s “A Group” of high executives, in keeping with Mr. Clark’s testimony. He shared the matter with just one member of the A Group: the chief govt on the time, Travis Kalanick. Mr. Kalanick permitted the $100,000 cost to the hackers, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
Legal professionals for Mr. Sullivan argued that he had merely been doing his job.
They argued that Mr. Sullivan and others had used the bug bounty program and the nondisclosure settlement to stop person information from being leaked — and to determine the hackers — and that Mr. Sullivan had not hid the incident from the F.T.C.
After the trial, one of many jurors, Joel Olson, mentioned that the in depth array of paperwork introduced by the legal professionals within the case, together with edits to the nondisclosure settlement, made it clear that Mr. Sullivan had hidden the breach from authorities. “It was all dated and timed and documented very clearly,” he mentioned.


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- For Bill Johnson, chief executive officer of the iconic ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co., the battle for shelf space never ends.
He makes regular stops in the company's hometown of Pittsburgh at Costco, Wal-Mart and the regional grocer Giant Eagle. Even abroad, he'll visit food stores in London or Milan. It drives Heinz managers nuts. At times, even his wife, Susie, complains.
Johnson meticulously checks to make sure Heinz products are well-stocked and well-promoted. If there isn't enough Heinz ketchup on the shelves, or a scarcity of Smart Ones meals or Ore-Ida potatoes in the frozen-food section, he calls a company manager.
It's a "dreaded moment for anyone who works for me," according to Johnson, who pours Heinz's Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce on just about everything he eats. "Our people just pull their hair out."
Years ago, he took an entire sales team on a late-night run to a Giant Eagle when Heinz refashioned Smart Ones to revive the faltering Weight Watchers brand. As Johnson placed mock packages in the freezers, a Giant Eagle employee eyed the group suspiciously.
"The store manager almost kicked us out," recalled Gary Stibel, who runs the New England Consulting Group, which has done work for Heinz and other big food producers over the years.
In a brutal year for virtually all asset classes, Johnson's focus on business fundamentals has kept Heinz HNZ among the top performers. Heading into the final month of the year, shares of Heinz had fallen 15% in 2008, compared with declines of 22% in the Dow Jones Food & Beverage Index, 23% in the Food Products index, nearly 35% in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and nearly 40% in the S&P 500.
Managing that performance in one of the roughest business environments ever seen and at the same time boosting profitability in the face of skyrocketing commodity costs, continuing to open the company's operations to shareholder scrutiny and pursuing improvements in global nutrition all serve to make Johnson a finalist for the 2008 MarketWatch's CEO of the Year award.
Flurry of activism
Known for a blunt, lunch-pail demeanor, Johnson has put Heinz on a profit path as pledged two years ago when a mudslinging proxy fight rattled the 139-year-old company. That spat put an agitated shareholder on its formerly clubby board and Johnson on notice.
Barely 24 months later, in the toughest year packaged-food companies have faced in decades, with prices for food commodities and fuel soaring, Johnson and Heinz have delivered.
"There is no doubt the commodity pressure is an issue we've never had to confront to this degree," he said. "We saw it coming quickly and reacted fairly well."
Heinz was able to raise product prices and increase sales volume -- a key barometer of brand power in the packaged-food business. Profits and sales jumped even as the company boosted its marketing investment to support 200 new items, dealt with surging agricultural-commodity costs, and sought to maintain favor with cash-strapped consumers.
The food giant -- whose brands, in addition to the Weight Watchers line, the frozen potatoes, the Worcestershire sauce and, of course, the ketchup, range from Classico pasta sauces to Bagel Bites snacks and Nurture infant formula -- pulled it off while doing little damage to its gross profit margin or lowering profit projections.
Heinz's sales grew to a record $10 billion for the fiscal year that ended in May, while earnings climbed 11% to $2.63 a share. Sales excluding gains from acquisitions and currency fluctuations -- a closely watched metric in the food business -- rose almost 7% as volume growth kept up with price increases that covered the rising costs of ingredients and energy.
The company posted a 22% jump in profit for its second quarter but acknowledged gains built on higher product prices and currency hedges have been clouded by slower sales overseas and declining demand for the company's core ketchup, sauce and soup brands from the domestic food-service sector.
"There is no such thing as a mature brand," said the 59-year-old Johnson, who keeps his pantry stocked with U.K.-market-targeted Heinz Baked Beans.
Banking on that philosophy, he heads out the door each day, climbs into his Lexus SUV, and drives himself to work, typically to the strains of the Police, Hootie & the Blowfish or the Rolling Stones. He unabashedly loves popular music and has been known to make associates wince when he sings along to his iPod in the office or on the corporate jet. "Werewolves of London" is his theme song for trips to Britain.
Johnson, who regularly reads People magazine and USA Today's lifestyle section to gain consumer insights, credits innovation for the recent success of Heinz. A ketchup purveyor for more than a century, the company has had to be creative to maintain sales momentum for its 15 brands in 200 countries across the globe.
These days the package can be as important as the content.
When it learned that consumers stored ketchup upside-down in their refrigerators, Heinz reformulated bottles as top-down containers, in the process moving away from the classic narrow-neck design so that ketchup flows easier. It broke from tradition by selling its baked beans in microwave-ready "snap pots" instead of tin cans; single-serving packaging limit leftover bean cans in the fridge.
Heinz broadened its Ore-Ida frozen-potato line, adding microwaveable steamed mash potatoes. In Australia, Heinz launched steamed fresh vegetables as an improvement over the frozen version.
"We've been very pleased," said Matt Kaufler, portfolio manager at Clover Capital Management, which first bought Heinz shares three years ago. It now holds 457,100 shares.
In the not-too-distant past, some shareholders were skeptical Heinz, and Johnson, could grow the business.
When Johnson became CEO in 1998, he wrestled Heinz into a painful restructuring that included the sale of manufacturing plants and company brands, such as 9-Lives cat food and Starkist tuna -- two businesses he had resuscitated years earlier, a feat that helped establish him as CEO material.
But the downsizing effort struggled to produce the results some investors wanted, and Heinz shares languished. The restructuring entailed a difficult balancing act. While Heinz pruned brands, it also acquired others to keep competitive with rivals, industry observers recalled.
"He was his own worst enemy," said Clover's Kaufler.
Investor Nelson Peltz grew frustrated with Johnson's act by early 2006. Fresh from his successful turnaround and lucrative sale of the Snapple juice business, Peltz publicly lambasted Heinz. He called on the company to shed additional product lines and focus more on ketchup.
The activist investor demanded five board seats, too.
Throughout the proxy fight, Johnson said he listened to "Tubthumping," a 1997 hit by the English band Chumbawamba. The lyrics go: "I get knocked down / But I get up again / You're never gonna keep me down."
Ultimately the proxy dispute landed Peltz and two of his associates on the Heinz board. And it forever changed Johnson's perspective.
The football coach's son found out who at Heinz had the mental toughness he needed, and he learned that even critics can bring benefits to a corporate boardroom.
Today, he embraces investor activism, he said, and this year he even accepted an invite to speak at a shareholder activist forum.
Recalled Johnson: "The biggest thing I learned is you can work with people who bring a totally different perspective if you are all ultimately heading for the same goal."
Johnson, whose office is adorned with the helmets of the hometown Pittsburgh Steelers and of the Cincinnati Bengals, whom his father, Bill "Tiger" Johnson, coached in the 1970s, has turned Peltz into a cheerleader.
"Under his stewardship, Heinz remains a great investment and I am very supportive of Bill's plans to continue increasing shareholder value," Peltz said in an emailed statement. His Trian Fund owns 8.8 million Heinz shares.
An avid fantasy-football player who likes to read books by Tom Clancy and Winston Churchill, Johnson didn't have his mind set on running a global corporation when he left his native Palo Alto, Calif., in the late 1960s.
After graduating from UCLA, he ventured to Texas for law school as a first step in what he thought would be a career in politics. Johnson's father, who had played for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1940s and 1950s, knew the speaker of the house in Texas. But Johnson's political ambitions were short-lived. He didn't want to deal with constant compromises.
He went to business school instead and got his first job selling Endust furniture polish before Heinz recruited him in 1982. He quickly moved up the ranks, catching the eye of then-CEO Tony O'Reilly, a knighted Irishman whose lavish European suits, jocular disposition and lavish parties -- at his Irish castle -- stand in stark contrast to Johnson's demeanor.
But even if, as his Heinz colleagues report, Johnson is far from flamboyant, he did manage a hula at a company party and also flipped burgers at a Pittsburgh-area McDonald's in a ploy to win business from the fast-food chain.
He's called intense, punctual and attentive -- associates say he won't check his BlackBerry during business meetings. And the coach's son values teamwork.
Johnson said he rewards results, not personalities. Heinz, in his view, is egalitarian in its decision making. It's also well-balanced, as international sales make up 55% of revenue.
Few Americans run an overseas Heinz business, and Johnson said he defers to managers outside the U.S., especially in the event of a conflict with headquarters. This, he said, promotes accountability and ownership and helps boosts morale.
Picking a team
Since 2003, he has cleaned house, replacing 75% of the company's 100 senior managers. Almost a third of the current generation of division leaders have been recruited from outside the packaged-food business, including from such places as General Electric Co. and McKinsey & Co.
"One of the great dangers in any business is to become so inbred and insular that you aren't looking at looking at new ways to do things," Johnson said.
Heinz tailors its sales tactics to individual markets. In China, it gave freezers to small-town grocers to display its Long Fong dumplings and rice balls, while bicycle salesmen push Glucon-D energy drinks in India, educating potential customers about dehydration.
As chairman, a role he added in 2000, Johnson isn't afraid to take risks. In August, he made the singular decision to lock in Heinz's currency trades to protect profits. It was the right call. The U.S. dollar subsequently strengthened against the euro and British pound.
Climbing the rungs at Heinz, Johnson earned a reputation for wringing out excess costs to keep product prices steady. In the past year, though, he turned his back on that philosophy when commodities surged too fast for Heinz to compensate through cost cutting.
Despite the boost in retail pricing, Heinz managed to weather the storm and keep demand up for its products. As measured by consumer satisfaction, Heinz still leads the pack in the food sector, according to the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Heinz is best known worldwide for its ketchup. But it's developed other products to help combat infant malnutrition and improve family diets, which helped Johnson earn China's Marco Polo Award and Heinz the inaugural Helen Keller Global Visionary Award.
Johnson established the Heinz Micronutrient Campaign in 2001 to combat iron-deficiency anemia in kids. The program has distributed vitamin and mineral supplements to more than 2.1 million children in 15 developing countries. The goal is to reach 15 million kids by 2010.
Johnson is keen to train subordinates and is receptive to criticism.
In 2004, he launched an in-house "CEO Academy" that convenes twice a year. The nine invited midlevel managers bring quick strategy pitches they would make to the board if they had the opportunity. Anonymous suggestions are tacked to a white board. The notes tell Johnson what he is doing right and wrong as CEO. He's acted on a few ideas, he said.
Johnson can't shop at his neighborhood grocery store anymore. His managers stocked it with every Heinz meal and condiment imaginable. So now he gets in the SUV, singing along with Sting or Willie Nelson, and makes his rounds throughout Pittsburgh. He has to be sure the competition isn't putting the squeeze on Heinz.


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Toyota will unveil a family of Priuses at next week’s Detroit auto show—but that’s just the beginning of its big plans for the quintessential hybrid. The company is planning to make Prius its top-selling line of vehicles by the end of this decade.
“We will end the decade with Prius being the number one nameplate in the industry,” said Bob Carter, Toyota’s group vice president for U.S. sales, in a Bloomberg report. Carter said that Camry, Toyota’s long-time top-selling U.S. model, will fall behind Prius by 2020.
Toyota Prius sales were down by 2 percent through November, and could end the year basically flat compared to 2009. But with the introduction of several different versions of the Prius—and with rising gas prices and increasing government pressure on automakers to increase fuel efficiency—the line of Prius models could sell at much higher numbers.
With the introduction of plug-in cars—the Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF—the 50-mpg Prius is no longer the most fuel-efficient model available in the United States. Yet, the Volt and LEAF are expected to sell in relatively low numbers, even with generous government incentives.
Meanwhile, Toyota sold approximately 150,000 units of the Prius in the U.S. in 2010, and more than 315,000 in Japan—making it the number one seller in Japan for the past 19 consecutive months and the biggest seller in a single year ever in Japan.


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According to research reported on NPR (National Public Radio) over the weekend - There are farming games on the networking site Facebook that are becoming more popular than many of the war games.
With many thanks to Emily, Pearson's town now has a Facebook account. Now we are growing healthy community, healthy food, and healthy pixels!!
Come check us out!!!


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Cheddar is a live and on demand video news network focused on covering the most innovative products, technologies, and services transforming our lives. The network covers this news through the lens of the companies and executives driving these changes. Cheddar broadcasts from Post 10 on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ Marketsite. The company was founded by Jon Steinberg, President and Chief Operating Officer of BuzzFeed from 2010 to 2014.
Washington Examiner breaks down Donald Trump Jr.'s Russian email scandal. Cannabis Now explains why Sin City is running out of weed. Automobile Magazine explains why France wants its auto industry to go 100% electric by 2040.
May 4, 2017: Neil deGrasse Tyson joins us! Also, Apple plans $1 billion manufacturing fund, and Verizon strikes deal with the NFL. With Investigation Discovery, Popular Science, Major League Soccer (MLS), Entrepreneur, Science Is Awesome, Overtime, The Kicker, Akbar Gbajabiamila, and more.


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‘Hate speech’ stopped Disney from buying Twitter
The Walt Disney Company is home to many properties on several different platforms.
In addition to Disney Parks around the world, including Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, Disney owns Marvel Studios, LucasFilms, Pixar Animation Studios, ESPN and many other properties.
Disney is currently in the process of acquiring Hulu as a full owner, but there is another popular platform that was almost owned by Disney.
In a recent interview, former CEO Bob Iger shared that Disney was close to acquiring Twitter in 2016 before ultimately choosing to pull the plug.
The reason? “Hate speech” and “bots”, according to Iger.
“We intended to get into the streaming business,” Iger said. “We needed a technological solution.
“It was considered a kind of social network,” recalls Iger. “We saw it as something completely different. We could put news, sports, entertainment, [and] reach the world. “And frankly, that would have been a phenomenal solution, in terms of distribution,” Iger said.
However, after Iger returned home and contemplated the weekend, he ultimately made the decision not to proceed with the acquisition.
“Then of course you have to look at all the hate speech and the potential to do as much harm as good,” he said. “We are in the business of manufacturing Disney fun – of doing nothing but good, even though there are others today who criticize Disney for the opposite, which is wrong.
“It was just something that we weren’t ready to take on and I was not ready to take on as the CEO of a company and I thought it would have been irresponsible,” Iger explained.
Ultimately, it was Tesla billionaire Elon Musk who bought Twitter, although the deal has yet to be fully closed.
What do you think of the fact that Disney has tried to buy Twitter in the past? Let us know in the comments!


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Ackman: P&G unlikely to keep CEO McDonald
An “unnecessary distraction” is how a Procter & Gamble Co. spokesman describes the latest commentary from Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager who told CNN Money this week that CEO Bob McDonald has lost the confidence of his senior managers and is running out of the time with P&G’s board.
“I don’t think that the senior team frankly at P&G (NYSE: PG) has confidence in the CEO of the company. We’ve heard that time and time again. And I think once you lose the confidence of the senior executives it’s hard for him to be effective.”
Cincinnati-based P&G is the parent of well-known consumer brands, like Tide and Pampers.
Ackman said he has “some ideas” on suitable replacements for McDonald and thinks P&G’s board “has candidates in mind” too. He said the board has given McDonald time to reduce costs and improve P&G’s performance, but, “I don’t think they’re giving him three years.” He offered no timeline on when he might take future action on P&G. Some have speculated that Ackman could launch a proxy fight in advance of the company’s annual meeting this fall. Ackman said he doesn’t see the need for a break up of the company, just improved results.
“The business needs to be fixed first,” he said. “Are there some businesses that maybe they should sell over time? Perhaps. If you hired an incredible CEO and he couldn’t fix the company, after Bob, that’s when you’d say, ‘Wait a second. It must just be too big to fix.’”
Monk covers downtown Cincinnati economic development, Hamilton County commercial real estate, government, politics and Procter & Gamble Co.
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Study: ‘Breakthrough’ infant formula protects immune system like breast milk
A new infant formula infused with prebiotics protects a baby’s immune system like breast milk, according to a new study.
The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Nutrition, studied 200 babies over six weeks, divided into three feeding groups: breastfed, formula-fed and formula fed with specific prebiotics. Multiple immune markers of breast-fed babies and babies using the prebiotic formula were nearly identical, the study showed. Prebiotics are fibers that support good bacteria in the body.
“This is the biggest breakthrough in the last decade” for Abbott formula, the owner Similac, said Dr. Rachael Buck, one of the study's researchers who works for the company.
The new formula contains 2’-fucosyllactose human milk oligosaccharide, prebiotics found naturally in breast milk.
The HMOs used in the new formula aren’t from human breast milk, but are created like vitamin supplements to have similar properties. They are absorbed into the baby's circulation to boost health, Buck said.
The formula, Similac® Pro-AdvanceTM and Similac Pro-SensitiveTM, is shipping to national retailers this month. It has a suggested retail price of $28.99, about two dollars more than Similac Advance.
While the new formula is advertised as the company's closest product to breast milk, Buck said it's not identical.
"Nothing can replace breast milk," Buck said. "But for those moms who need or choose to use formula, we are committed to providing the most scientifically advanced nutrition."
Follow Ashley on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets


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A new rock and roll-themed alcoholic drink hasn't gone down well with Guns N' Roses' lawyers...
We look at some of the best, most sustainable sportswear trends around, from Kevlar to 4D printing.
Here’s our guide to protecting unusual trade marks, such as colours, shapes, patterns and smells.
Trade mark filings across the beauty sector are increasing to combat counterfeiting.
Fashion's shifting from an ownership to a rental model — and brands must be prepared for the future.
Every business has a valuable brand that should be protected. Here are six key steps to take.
As the world moves beyond the 'no logo' trend, we ask — can brands be a force for positive change?
Santa's fed up of people exploiting his image each year. What IP rights and options does he have?
From the boxing ring to The Lion King, obtaining a trade mark can be extremely profitable...
There's a trade mark for the term 'Black Friday' in Germany. So can you use it without infringing?
Discover the importance of registering trade marks to protect your rights.
Here’s a look at what’s happening to help the fashion industry move towards sustainability.
An explanation of protected names of food and drink products under EU law in light of Brexit.
EU customs warehousing provides no safe harbour for ‘debranding’ importers.
Following an exciting World Cup, here's a look at the relationship between football and IP.
A flurry of marketing is underway even before a football has been kicked, but is it all above board?
What makes up the concept of a shape? Sakura Proctor examines a case involving red-soled shoes.
What makes a sorbet a Champagne sorbet? We explore regional trade mark protection.
Explore Red Bull's rights when it comes to blue and silver colour combinations for energy drinks.
A lesson in why you should always seek professional advice before launching a new trade mark.
Elvis and Elvis are in the (brew)dog house...
Can a supermarket trade mark the name of a country? The answer: maybe...
The EU trade mark registration for the shape of the Rubik's Cube has been cancelled.
Having a trade mark does not automatically give you the right to the associated domain name.
Here's what happened when the trade mark 'SKYPE' was opposed by British Sky Broadcasting Group.
How can you prove acquired distinctiveness in the EU?


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Bitcoin Cash hard fork: hash war ABC and BSV
The recent Bitcoin Cash hard fork has left the entire crypto world wondering about the fate of the controversial cryptocurrency. Gladly, ChangeNOW is here to clear up some of the doubts.
Bitcoin Cash hard fork updates
On November 15th, a major event in the cryptocurrency world has taken place. Bitcoin Cash hard fork made the fourth largest cryptocurrency split into two chains – Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin SV. This happened on the block number 556767. The events surrounding the split have been named “BCH hash war” in crypto community. Indeed, there was everything – scandals, threats, Twitter propositions and angry emails thrown from one side of the split to another.
Majority of the users and companies supported Bitcoin ABC which resulted in 74% in favour of this chain compared to the 8% for Bitcoin SV. According to this, the starting price of the coins was $320 for BCHABC and 80% for BCHSV. The main BCHSV supporter and ideological leader Craig Wright stated that Satoshi’s Vision is going to use the hash power of former Bitcoin Cash for chain reorganisation and empty ABC block mining. According to Wright, this will make Bitcoin ABC supporters change the sides. Roger Ver, head of Bitcoin.com and equally controversial leader of Bitcoin ABC, made a decision to use the BTC mining hash rate to support the update and resist SV attacks. As of printing time, the main cryptocurrency exchanges have already made BCH market unavailable and converted the balances of their users to Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin SV.
ChangeNOW, a leading non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange, has been monitoring the hard fork with great attention. We are planning to list both Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin SV for the convenience of our users. Both coins will be available for buying, selling and trading at the greatest rates.


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U.S. Spends $1 Billion to Contrivance More Home COVID Tests On hand
Oct. 6, 2021 — Discovering an at-home COVID-19 test has been mission now not seemingly for heaps of recently, but that search will soon rep more straightforward, thanks to the FDA authorization Monday of a brand novel at-home test and today’s announcement that the federal government will utilize one other $1 billion to crawl up manufacturing of these tests.
The White Condominium said this will furthermore double the choice of pharmacy areas in the federal government’s free checking out program to 20,000. With the choice of neighborhood-based free checking out sites, that could make 30,000 areas the set Americans can rep a COVID-19 test free of cost.
The inch, blended with vaccination efforts, will abet corporations and faculties relief cases down and relief working safely and easily, said Jeff Zients, the White Condominium COVID-19 response coordinator.
“Together, the steps we’re taking will be particular each American, no subject their income level or ZIP code, can rep entry to moral, convenient, and no more dear checking out,” he said.
The announcement aligns with the administration’s February commitment of $1.6 billion to design snappily tests to faculties and underserved communities.
The rise in rep entry to to at-home tests can’t come soon enough. President Joe Biden and his predecessor maintain both been criticized for the dearth of licensed COVID-19 tests compared with various developed international locations. There are barely a half of dozen licensed to be used in the United States, compared with 30 licensed in the European Union. Home tests cost extra in the U.S., too.
That lack of provide and increased query can make the attention for tests traumatic. I know first-hand. I’m fully vaccinated, but I significant to test after a recent flight, so I checked for the tests on-line at Amazon and at CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid shops in my set of abode, 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
Time after time, I purchased “out of stock” messages, both on-line and available to purchase. Finally, I learned a provide at a CVS about 8 miles away and known as to envision. First, I changed into as soon as educated they had been in stock. However that immediate modified to, “No, sorry, we’re out.”
Then, my nearby Rite Aid said they’d rep a provide in 2 days and to reveal up at 7 a.m. After I did so, the retailer clerk educated me the shipment had now not come — and the supplier did not name or show why it did not advance. Finally, one other CVS shut to me said they did indeed maintain some and would relief two kits for me — their restrict per buyer. I drove to rep them ethical away. I examined myself twice. Each had been negative, fortuitously.
Recent at-Home Take a look at Will get Authorization
The FDA granted an emergency spend authorization, or EUA, to a brand novel at-home test, Flowflex. Like various at-home tests, it is an antigen test, which appears to be for fragments of protein learned on or throughout the virus. It’s carried out, esteem various tests, by collecting a nasal pattern the spend of a swab. However unlike most various at-home tests, the novel test is completed most effective as soon as. Others suggest serial checking out, with a 2d test carried out within 3 days of the first.
By the stop of the three hundred and sixty five days, the maker of the novel test, Acon Laboratories, says this will design extra than 100 million tests a month. The quantity will upward push to 200 million a month by February, the FDA says.
The novel Acon test could even be used for self-checking out by somebody 14 years or older, and also will be carried out by adults in adolescence as young as 2. Particulars on costs had been now not readily on hand from the company.
White Condominium to Pledge More Cash
The White Condominium on Wednesday announced one other $1 billion investment in at-home snappily tests. In September, the administration pledged $2 billion for home checking out.
“It sounds esteem a significant investment, and I mediate that is a factual thing,” says Emily Volk, MD, president of the College of American Pathologists and chief scientific officer at Baptist Successfully being Floyd in Recent Albany, IN. While at-home checking out can abet name these infected, Volk and others reveal that it is now not most though-provoking, as recent FDA safety guidance suggests.
Making an strive out Glitch
On Tuesday, the FDA announced the get of one at-home test, the Ellume COVID-19 Home Take a look at. A manufacturing boom resulted in seemingly pretend obvious ends in particular plenty of the tests. More info is on the company internet location about serial numbers and reveal if your test is included in the get.
The FDA is working with Ellume to repair the misfortune.
The affected tests most effective increased the probability of pretend obvious results, now not pretend negatives.
Making an strive out Caveats
It be predominant to prepare the instructions on the house tests to the letter, Volk says. As an illustration, the BinaxNOW test instructs customers to position 6 drops of the checking out chemical substances right into a hole on the test card. Then you with out a doubt want to swab both nostrils carefully, inserting the swab tip ½ to ¾ of an trot into the nostril and rubbing the swab against the nostril partitions, making 5 mighty circles and swabbing for approximately 15 seconds on each facet.
The swab is then inserted right into a hole in the test card, and customers wait 15 minutes, but now not extra than 30, to read the final consequence. Adversarial results will reveal one line on the cardboard; obvious results maintain the regulate line and one other line below.
Volk suggests doing the test when there are no distractions from phones, doorbells, pets, or family. She has used home tests and is aware of or now not it is easy to position too many drops of the chemical substances, let’s boom, in the pattern.
When selecting a test, she advises making obvious the field says the test has the emergency spend authorization from the FDA. Hear to the instructions about conserving the test at a particular temperature fluctuate before spend. The test supplies need to embrace a toll-free quantity to rep extra info or to position a question to questions.
And, Volk says, need to you test negative but level-headed maintain symptoms, “please inch to an licensed lab and rep examined with a PCR test.”
These tests, on the total considered as extra ethical than the antigen tests, work by detecting genetic material from the virus.
Lindsay Kalter contributed to this represent.


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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Unionized workers at Volkswagen's Mexico plant, hit by a drop in export demand, have agreed to cut their work week to four days from five to avoid 2,000 layoffs, Volkswagen Mexico said on Friday.
The company said its 9,800 unionized workers accepted the plan after negotiations between union leaders and the plant's management.
The company said in June it planned to cut 2,000 assembly line workers due to slowing demand in export markets, the destination of more than 80 percent of the vehicles produced at its plant in the central Mexican city of Puebla.
Union leaders said that rather than lose jobs, they would prefer to reduce their members' hours and salaries until demand picks up again.
According to the agreed plan, workers with lower seniority will take additional temporary pay cuts, the company said in a statement.
In the first half of 2003, Volkswagen Mexico, a unit of German automaker Volkswagen AG, produced 152,000 vehicles at its Puebla plant. Volkswagen's last-ever classic Beetle rolled off the assembly line there last month.
Total production of vehicles this year is forecast at 285,900, down from an original target of 320,000, as the economy struggles to rebound in the United States, Mexico's main trading partner.
Labor relations at the Puebla plant are seen as a barometer of union negotiations in Mexico.
There were strikes at the plant in 2000 and 2001 but a walkout was avoided last year when workers agreed to a salary increase of 5.5 percent and an increase in benefits of 1.5 percent.


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A toast to Chicagoans making waves this week
It’s a girl! Congrats to Kevin Krasney and Sacha Katz Krasney on the arrival of their daughter, Tybee Rose. Sacha is the creator of BeUWeddings.com, a website that features all things for the stylish bride, and Kevin is the owner of Cole’s Appliance & Furniture Co. at 4026 N. Lincoln.
Talk about big time: local developer Richard Zisook was recently inducted into the Chicago Association of Realtors Hall of Fame. He’s the man behind local buildings such as The Whitney and a redevelopment of the old Lincoln Park Hospital.
We’re thrilled for J. Lynne Bredfeldt, director of public relations for Park Hyatt Chicago, who was one of six executives from across the country featured in the fall fashion campaign from Bebe and Marie Claire. The shoot had execs posing in chic workday attire, with Bredfeldt looking adorable in a turquoise jacket and a pair of leather skinny jeans. Not that we’re surprised — she’s always dressed to the nines.


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Verdura Launches Limited-Edition Ring for Ukraine
Storied jeweler Verdura has announced the launch of a new, limited-edition ring that has been created in charitable support of Ukraine.
The three-stone design features a blue topaz center and yellow citrine side stones in 18k yellow gold, and will sell for $14,500. All proceeds from the ring’s sales will go to World Central Kitchen, which has been providing meals to those displaced by the violence in Ukraine.
For more information on the ring, visit verdura.com.
Jewelers for Children Announces 2022 JFC Day
This year, Jewelers for Children’s JFC Day will be Saturday, Sept. 24.
In its fifth year, JFC Day asks the industry to come together in celebration of its success in providing support to organizations that benefit children facing life-threatening abuse, neglect, and catastrophic illness, among other challenges.
Over the last several years JFC Day has grown with support from retailers across the country, including Day’s Jewelers, Reeds Jewelers, and Fred Meyer Jewelers, who run promotions in their stores. The day also gets support from JFC charities, such as the National CASA/GAL Association for Children, the staff and volunteers of which visit jewelers to give thanks.
“JFC Day is a day for a true celebration,” said Alan Zimmer, JFC board chair, in a statement. “For nearly 25 years the industry has supported JFC and allowed us to donate more than $60 million to help thousands of children.”
Anyone can participate in JFC Day, and those interested are asked to use their social media presence to promote the day, while suppliers and retailers are asked to reach out to their customers to educate them about JFC.
JFC is offering a planning guide, which includes ideas on how to participate, social media materials, sample emails, press releases, and videos, on its website, jewelersforchildren.org.
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