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Walmart, Todobebe Offer Integrated Hispanic Content
Walmart has revealed an integrated 360-degree marketing and media relationship with Hispanic family media company Todobebé, Inc. across the Todobebé, Viva La Familia and Blogs de Mamás properties. Walmart is now the sole, year-round retail sponsor for the company's multiple platforms, which target Hispanic mothers and families raising children under 5 years old in the United States.
Proprietary research from Todobebé shows that more than 90 percent of Hispanic moms with children under 5 want more information on health, safety, food, child behavior and products. To meet this need, the Walmart- Todobebé partnership offers relevant content integrations across all Todobebé platforms. An example is the “Soluciones para Mamá” segment sponsored by Walmart on the weekly TV show “¡Viva La Familia!”, which airs on the Spanish-language Univision Network. Further integrations will appear across Todobebé and Viva La Familia radio, online, events, print and mobile applications.
“At Walmart, we’ve always been committed to offering our moms the best available resources and solutions to help them save money and live better,” noted Carla Dodds, senior director, multicultural marketing, Wal-Mart Stores, U.S. in Bentonville, Ark. “Our relationship with Todobebé allows us to take it one step forward with Spanish-language, culturally-relevant content tailored to Hispanic moms. With our focus on everyday low prices, Walmart offers the most affordable options and brands to help moms who are looking to further stretch her dollar.”
“Walmart was the first national retailer to work with us in providing content and product packaging in Spanish for moms and families raising babies, and has been instrumental in making products accessible and affordable for Hispanic moms nationwide,” added Gillian Sandler, CEO and chairman at Miami-based Todobebé. “This relationship is important for delivering on our mutual commitment to serving Hispanic moms and their families.”
Walmart first teamed with Todobebé in 2003 for the launch of the first TV show for Spanish-speaking parents in the United States.


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NEW YORK, February 13, 2024 — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Royal Queen Seeds (RQS), a global leader in the cannabis seed industry, has unveiled an exclusive collaboration with TYSON 2.0, the premium cannabis brand co-founded by cultural icon Mike Tyson. This strategic partnership introduces a collection of unique cannabis genetics, enabling consumers to grow top-tier strains from seed to harvest through both direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels and retail outlets worldwide.
The initial release includes six distinctive strains – Gelato 44, Dynamite Diesel, NYC Sour D (autoflower), GOAT'lato Auto, Punch Pie, and Corkscrew (autoflower). These feminized and autoflowering seeds promise a consistently exceptional home growing experience, blending nostalgic and innovative genetics. The collaboration plans to launch an additional 12 strains over the next three years.
“Since our U.S. launch over a year ago, RQS has been on a quest for a partner who aligns with our commitment to delivering exceptional cannabis products. TYSON 2.0 consistently meets and exceeds our expectations,” stated Shai Ramsahai, President of Royal Queen Seeds. “Our belief is that everyone has the right to grow cannabis at home, and the seeds we're introducing with TYSON 2.0 showcase stunning plants in terms of appearance, flavor, and effects.”
Mike Tyson, Co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of TYSON 2.0, expressed the importance of growing cannabis at home in his personal journey. He highlighted the collaboration's commitment to delivering top-quality strains, stating, “These first six strains are a perfect taste of what’s to come.”
Operating since 2007, Barcelona-based RQS, a globally recognized cannabis seed bank, aims to bring Tyson-endorsed genetics to cannabis enthusiasts and home growers worldwide. TYSON 2.0 will leverage its extensive retail network, with potential market expansion anticipated in states like New Jersey and Washington, where bills for legalizing home grow have been filed, and New York is in the process of regulating home cultivation.
“Great cannabis flower starts with great genetics,” emphasized Adam Wilks, CEO of Carma HoldCo, the parent company of TYSON 2.0. “Our collaboration ensures consumers know they're buying seeds that produce the high-quality cannabis Tyson himself expects.”
The exclusive TYSON 2.0 strains are now available for purchase in the U.S. (excluding Kansas and Kentucky) and internationally, offering one-, three-, five-, and 10-seed packs.
About Royal Queen Seeds:
Established in 2007, Royal Queen Seeds (RQS) stands at the forefront of the global cannabis genetics industry. Known for meticulous testing of each seed for germination, vigor, yield, and recreational and medical efficacy, RQS offers a comprehensive range of modern genetics catering to growers of all skill levels. With a presence in the U.S., Thailand, and 28 countries across Europe, RQS has earned numerous awards, including multiple Cannabis Cup victories and prestigious “Best Seed Bank” honors.
About TYSON 2.0
Founded by legendary boxer Mike Tyson, TYSON 2.0 entered the cannabis market in 2022, committing to providing the highest quality cannabis products globally. Beyond conquering the cannabis market, TYSON 2.0 has expanded into various consumer product categories across the U.S. and 16 other countries. The brand, guided by Tyson's legendary mindset, is dedicated to offering premium products and unparalleled experiences, both in the realm of cannabis and beyond.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240213974658/en/

domain: news


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Florida has become going a Mecca for Bitcoin in the last few weeks. The world’s first Bitcoin Bowl was held in St. Petersburg; the Atlantic Coast Conference faced-off against the American Athletic Conference as millions of fans cheered on. In preparation for the event, BitPay, the sponsor for the event, signed up 100 merchants onto their platform. Trucoin, a Bitcoin selling service, added their custom Bitcoin ATMs so participants could easily buy and spend Bitcoin.
A few weeks after the bowl, the fourth North American Bitcoin Conference (TNABC)will be held in Miami. Last year, what conference organizers thought would be a small event turned out to be one of the largest Bitcoin conferences of the year. This year, they are making preparations for a bigger crowd and have gathered some of the industry’s leading minds to speak at the conference. People like Tally Capital’s Andre Filipowski, Bitcoin Core Developer Peter Todd, Liberty.me CLO Jeffrey Tucker and many more will be speaking at the conference.
“Blockchain Beach is proud to announce Miami’s inaugural Bitcoin Hackathon, a three-day event on the weekend of January 9th to the 11th. With prizes totaling over $17,500 USD in value.” – Blockchain Beach
Before the TNABC and after the Bitcoin Bowl, there will be all night Bitcoin hackathon, organized by Blockchain Beach. The hackathon is open to any kind of project that incorporates bitcoin, and will feature thousand prizes for the 1st, 2cd, and 3rd place.
Coinkite is be offering one year of Coinkite business membership ($3000 value) as an extra prize for anyone who makes it in the top three and builds with CoinKite’s API.
The hackathon is sponsored by Bitcoin businesses like BitPay, Trezor, Trucoin, Tally Capital, CoinKite, as well as, local businesses like the University of Miami, Jo Jo Tea, Wyncode and Refresh Miami.
The hackathon will be held at the TNABC and judged by serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Accredify.com Peter Martinez, Co-Founder of Bitstop Doug Carrillo, and 15 year veteran of the tech industry and founder of Pop.co, Thomas Lackner. They will be judging the participants’ projects on how unique their use of bitcoin is, the execution of the product and how well they present the project.
The event will begin on Friday, January 9, with networking and drinks, speeches, and registration. The next day, hacking will begin at 9 AM after a breakfast provided by the event’s sponsors. Hacking will continue throughout the day and night until 1 PM the next day, when participants will start preparing for presentations. After judging and distributing the awards, there will be an after party for everyone involved.
This event comes as an important time in the Bitcoin ecosystem; this year, we have seen about over $400m in venture capital go into Bitcoin startups — making 2014 the largest year ever for Bitcoin. More and more venture capitalists are seeing the opportunity of investing in the early infrastructure of bitcoin. Despite the large interest, there are more applications that still need to be built — privacy wallets, micropayment channels and scores of Bitcoin 2.0 applications. As tech industry veteran and Bitcoin investor Chamath Palihapitiya said at CoinSummit 2014, “This is the time to big and crazy sh*t.”
Even if you don’t want to start your own company, there are big employment opportunities as well. The newness of the blockchain and an eagerness to go start one’s own business has left startups without many people to hire who have knowledge about this new technology. As they put the venture capital to use and grow their companies, the problem is becoming more pressing than ever. Several bitcoin startups in San Francisco have started their own “Blockchain University” because they need talent that bad. Getting the skills of bitcoin and blockchain development can make you desirable to companies in this young industry.
The event is free for observers and participants, including the after party. Participants need to register before January 7 and can do so at their website.
What are your thoughts on the Miami Bitcoin Hackathon? Let us know in the comments below!
photo source: fortune.com
photo source: blog.newrelic.com
1 Hova Villas Brighton & Hove
BN3 3DH United Kingdom
All rights reserved by Bitcoinist Ltd. | 2016.


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Posted Tue Jul 27, 2010 at 10:15 AM PDT by Tom Landy
Seth MacFarlane's third and final chapter to his 'Star Wars' spoof trilogy will have a bad feeling about Blu-ray this winter.
In an early announcement to retailers, 20th Century Fox will release 'Family Guy: It's A Trap!' on Blu-ray this December 21.
“The fan base for “Family Guy” and Star Wars, both enthusiastic, have embraced the first two hilarious spoofs,” said Mike Dunn, President, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “Bringing the distinctive storylines together for the trilogy of parodies has been enormously successful and lends itself to create unique home entertainment releases.”
As an added bonus, “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” will also be available in Blu-ray and DVD triple-packs featuring all the “Family Guy” Star Wars spoofs…the perfect gift for the holiday season.
Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but the suggested list price for the Blu-ray will likely match the other editions at $29.99.
You can find the latest specs for 'Family Guy: It's A Trap' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under December 21.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.


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Using your smart phone camera, you could learn what factory made the ingredients in your heart medication, what country grew the corn in your breakfast cereal, or even how to recycle the phone. You could follow the whole life cycle of a product and everyone who handled it along the way to ensure that the medicine you’re taking isn’t counterfeit and the food you’re eating is safe.
This reality is on the horizon, said University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor Scott Morris, an expert on the history and evolution of packaging and the author of “Food and Package Engineering,” a new textbook published by Wiley Blackwell. Barcodes, the familiar black-and-white labels on packages that began as a means to scan prices or track inventory, are evolving into a broader class of identifiers in new and startling ways, said Morris, who also is a professor of agricultural and biological engineering.
As the technology advances, these electronic identifiers allow access to more information about the contents and history of products and are opening new channels of communication between buyers and sellers.
The QR code, a new species of two-dimensional barcode that can be scanned with a cell phone, increasingly supplies a direct link between the shopper in the store and information about the scanned product online.
“Customers’ experience and interaction with packaging are undergoing radical and unprecedented changes,” Morris wrote in an article in Packaging World Magazine early this year. “Emerging now is a more complex system that includes an entire peer group of customers giving continuous, real-time analysis of the product.”
Manufacturers and retailers are trying to take advantage of this new technology-driven interaction, but they are also struggling to cope, Morris said. The shopper has unprecedented power to identify the best products at the best prices he or she can find. And those who are unhappy with their purchases can let the world know about it in real time.
Companies have a lot at stake – and a lot to gain from more sophisticated barcodes, Morris said. Those who embrace the changes can quickly enlist the online crowd to help develop their products and packaging. Identifiers that capture the life history of each package and its contents can dramatically enhance the security, accountability and traceability of the items people purchase and use every day, he said.Most people are surprised to learn, for example, that pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. rarely track their inventory once it leaves the manufacturing plant, Morris said. This has resulted in a gray market of drugs that are stolen and redistributed. (In one famous case in March, 2010, thieves cut a hole in the roof of a warehouse owned by Eli Lilly & Co. and made off with $75 million in prescription drugs.) Some of these items go to other countries and some end up on pharmacy shelves in the U.S. via unscrupulous distributors, Morris said.
A more sophisticated system could help identify and isolate contaminated drugs, foods or other dangerous products anywhere in the supply chain, Morris said, limiting harm to customers and reducing liability for producers.
If used properly, a global identification system would increase efficiency and profits, expanding the “just-in-time” delivery of goods to retailers. It also would allow companies to get a more detailed picture of the locations, preferences and buying habits of customers, Morris said.
Even though barcodes, QR codes and even RFID tags (which are read by radio waves rather than scanners) are available, Morris said, the structure of the actual identifier is a work in progress. Several organizations, in particular GS1, the global consortium that allocates barcodes, are developing new standards for these identifiers.
“The format is not the issue here,” Morris said. “The issue is, what information can be carried with a physical object, and what use do we make of it? That’s where it really gets interesting. Because then you’re not just dealing with a can of soup, a bottle of pills or an aircraft part. You’re dealing with the whole global economy all at once.”Editor’s notes: To reach Scott Morris, call 217-333-9330;
Diana Yates | University of Illinois
Kidney tumor: Genetic trigger discovered
18.06.2018 | Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
New type of photosynthesis discovered
18.06.2018 | Imperial College London
Moving into its fourth decade, AchemAsia is setting out for new horizons: The International Expo and Innovation Forum for Sustainable Chemical Production will take place from 21-23 May 2019 in Shanghai, China. With an updated event profile, the eleventh edition focusses on topics that are especially relevant for the Chinese process industry, putting a strong emphasis on sustainability and innovation.
Founded in 1989 as a spin-off of ACHEMA to cater to the needs of China’s then developing industry, AchemAsia has since grown into a platform where the latest...
The BMBF-funded OWICELLS project was successfully completed with a final presentation at the BMW plant in Munich. The presentation demonstrated a Li-Fi communication with a mobile robot, while the robot carried out usual production processes (welding, moving and testing parts) in a 5x5m² production cell. The robust, optical wireless transmission is based on spatial diversity; in other words, data is sent and received simultaneously by several LEDs and several photodiodes. The system can transmit data at more than 100 Mbit/s and five milliseconds latency.
Modern production technologies in the automobile industry must become more flexible in order to fulfil individual customer requirements.
An international team of scientists has discovered a new way to transfer image information through multimodal fibers with almost no distortion - even if the fiber is bent. The results of the study, to which scientist from the Leibniz-Institute of Photonic Technology Jena (Leibniz IPHT) contributed, were published on 6thJune in the highly-cited journal Physical Review Letters.
Endoscopes allow doctors to see into a patient’s body like through a keyhole. Typically, the images are transmitted via a bundle of several hundreds of optical...
Light detection and control lies at the heart of many modern device applications, such as smartphone cameras. Using graphene as a light-sensitive material for...
Water molecules exist in two different forms with almost identical physical properties. For the first time, researchers have succeeded in separating the two forms to show that they can exhibit different chemical reactivities. These results were reported by researchers from the University of Basel and their colleagues in Hamburg in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
From a chemical perspective, water is a molecule in which a single oxygen atom is linked to two hydrogen atoms. It is less well known that water exists in two...
13.06.2018 | Event News
08.06.2018 | Event News
05.06.2018 | Event News
18.06.2018 | Life Sciences
18.06.2018 | Life Sciences
18.06.2018 | Automotive Engineering


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Nintendo has announced the latest spirit board event for Super Smash Bros Ultimate starting May 3.
This time, the event revolves around characters with long tails. While the event is live, players can defeat such spirits like Meowth and Meta Ridley to earn more SP than usual. Like the previous spirit board events, this one will last three days, starting this Friday.
— 大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ【スマブラ公式】 (@SmashBrosJP) May 1, 2019
We’ll report back the event goes live with more details.


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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — December 18, 2020 — HanesBrands, a global marketer of branded everyday basic apparel, today announced that Tanya Deans has been named president of Hanes Australasia (HAA), effective February 8, 2021.
Deans, currently group general manager, Bras N Things, succeeds David Bortolussi, who in August announced his departure for another opportunity. Bortolussi will remain with HAA through January to ensure a smooth transition.
“I am thrilled to name Tanya as the new president of our Australasia business,” said Steve Bratspies, CEO of HanesBrands. “She is an outstanding people leader with deep experience building iconic brands. Tanya brings a clear vision for the future, and I look forward to working with her as we apply her experience and learnings to drive growth across our global organization.”
Deans will lead 4,400 associates and some of Australia’s most recognized apparel and lifestyle brands, including Bonds, Champion, Bras N Things and Sheridan. She will also be responsible for a rapidly growing e-commerce business and a network of more than 450 stores.
Deans has more than 25 years of experience with Hanes Australasia in a range of brand and product leadership roles. She has extensive knowledge of brand strategy, category management, product development and multichannel execution capabilities. Prior to her current role, Deans led the Hanes Australasia Apparel Group brand and marketing efforts. She has also held leadership roles with the Bonds and Berlei brands.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead Hanes Australasia,” Deans said. “We have an outstanding team, iconic brands and a deep commitment to sustainability. I look forward to working with our team and the HanesBrands global organization as we build a truly consumer-centric company and deliver long-term growth.”
Posted December 18, 2020


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Melania Trump wears pale suit to greet Polish president
Melania Trump looked ready for business in a pastel pink suit as she met with the President of Poland in Washington D.C. The US First Lady joined her husband, Donald Trump, 72, outside the White House to meet the Polish leaders. She appeared to take inspiration from the 80s in the pastel pink suit which she wore open. Melania completed the summery ensemble with matching nude nail polish.
Melania Trump style: Donald Trump’s wife stuns in pink power suit at the White House
The former model wore the suit which has two large lapels and had an oversized cut.
The jacket featured three large gold buttons down each side and Melania chose to wear the garment open.
She wore matching pastel pink suit trousers, which were also slightly loose fitting.
The jacket had detailing around the pockets and a white shirt could be seen underneath.
Melania gave the look a casual feel as she left top couple of buttons of the shirt undone.
Melania Trump style: She appeared to take inspiration from the 80s in the pastel pink suit
She was spotted waving as she stood next to Donald Trump and their guests.
Sticking with fresh pastels, Melania wore a pair of pink stilettos in the same shade.
She opted for glamorous make-up with black eyeshadow and lashings of mascara.
Melania finished the look with a slick of bronzer and a clear lip gloss.
The First Lady also chose to wear her hair down in a bouncy blow-dry which sat just on top of her suit.
The two leaders are scheduled to attends meetings at the White House before speaking at a Rose Garden news conference.
Last week, she visited the UK for three-days as part of a state visit.
During this time, she wore a number of stunning designer outfits which racked up the huge bill of £12,652 over the three-day visit.
Despite having a 24-year age gap with her husband, Donald and Melania have been married since 2005.
The First Lady is just 11-years older than her step-daughter, Ivanka Trump, 37.
Melania Trump: Five facts about the USA’s First Lady
Mum-of-one Melania can speak more languages than any other First Lady before her: English, French, German, Italian, Serbian and of course her mother tongue, Slovenian.
This also makes her the only First Lady whose first language is not English.
After Jacqueline Kennedy, Melania is the second First Lady who is a practising Catholic.
She met Pope Francis as part of a foreign tour with her husband and stepdaughter Ivanka last year.
Melania was a successful model, posing for Sports Illustrated, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and GQ.
Her skills aren’t confined to print, and she appeared in a commercial for Aflac, an American insurance company, in 2005.
Melania’s parents are Amalija Knavs and Viktor Knavs, and the couple live together in Washington.
She has one sister, Ines, who is reported to live in New York and work as an artist.
On May 7 2018, Melania launched her flagship campaign as First Lady, BE BEST, which The White House describes as “an awareness campaign focused entirely around the well-being of children”.
There are three main strands to the initiative: well-being, social media, and opioid abuse.


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New Honda Civic launch in India in 2017
Civic is a popular premiere car from Honda – All thanks to the eighth generation of the car that has made the “Civic” a tremendous success in India. The ninth generation of Honda Civic never made it to Indian market and now everyone’s eyes are on the upcoming tenth generation of Honda Civic as the Japanese automaker is now evaluating to introduce the car to India market in 2017. The price of upcoming Civic is expected to be around 15 Lakhs in India ( Petrol version).
Honda will be using their manufacturing facility present at Rajasthan to build the tenth generation of Honda Civic in India. It is very likely that Honda will be launching the Civic in the year 2017 ( atleast by the end of 2017).
The upcoming new Honda Civic will be filling the gap between Honda City and Accord. Honda might stick to petrol engine and might not venture to introduce diesel variant of Civic for its tenth generation. The all new Honda Civic will be offered in both manual transmission gearbox as well as CVT gearbox.
2017 Honda Civic Dimensions
Talking about the dimensions, the all new 2017 Honda Civic measures 4630mm in length, 1798mm in height, 1415mm in width. The Wheelbase of new Civic measures 2700mm. The new 2017 Honda Civic’s bootspace is large with 427 litres and the car’s fuel tank capacity is 47 litres.
2017 Honda Civic Power and Mileage
The petrol variant of new Honda Civic churns of a maximum power of 135 bhp and maximum torque of 170Nm. The car’s engine is mated to a 6-speed manual/CVT gearbox. The mileage offered by Honda Civic is 17 Kmpl.
2017 Honda Civic Features
The Exterior of Honda Civic features:
- HID Headlamps
- LED DRLs
- LED Tail lamps
- 17-inch alloys
- Coupe-like styling
- Chrome grille
- ORVMs with integrated turn indicators
- Touchscreen infotainment system
- Reverse parking camera
- Rear AC Vents
- Leather upholstery
- Auto-dimming IRVM
- Dual Zone Climate Control
What do you think about new Honda Civic? Let us know by commenting below.


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Bicycle Maker Faces New Suit
SAN RAFAEL, US (Feb 18) – A lawsuit filed yesterday accuses San Rafael-based Dynacraft Industries Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of conspiring to sell bicycles they know are defective and have caused injuries. The lawsuit was filed in Marin Superior Court on behalf of nine children from throughout the nation who were injured when the […]
SAN RAFAEL, US (Feb 18) – A lawsuit filed yesterday accuses San Rafael-based Dynacraft Industries Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of conspiring to sell bicycles they know are defective and have caused injuries.
The lawsuit was filed in Marin Superior Court on behalf of nine children from throughout the nation who were injured when the front wheel of the Next brand bicycles they were riding detached, sending them over the handle bars.
The lawsuit claims Wal-Mart and Dynacraft have sold millions of “death trap” bicycles with quick-release front wheels that were manufactured in China. The bikes were imported by Dynacraft and shipped to Wal-Mart stores unopened and unchecked for essential components.
The bikes were supposed to include warnings stating that the axle nuts or quick-release levers needed adjustment and could cause accidents if they were to become loose.
“It’s not isolated, and they are still selling them,” said San Francisco attorney Mark Webb, who represents the families. “We want it to stop. We want Wal-Mart to stop and say, ‘We’re going to do something about it.'”
Webb settled a similar lawsuit with Wal-Mart and Dynacraft last year. He said he was not at liberty to discuss the terms of the settlement.
Wal-Mart spokesman Gus Whitcomb said he could not comment on the lawsuit because he had not seen it. He said he was not aware of previous lawsuits concerning the quick-release bikes but confirmed the chain still sells the Next brand.
Whitcomb said the company does not sell products that are found to be unsafe.
“Generally, we are only going to sell products that we feel are safe,” Whitcomb said from the chain’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.
A Dynacraft representative could not be reached for comment yesterday.
In April 2004, Dynacraft recalled 53,000 BMX bicycles because the stems that connect the handle bars to the frame could loosen during use, causing riders to fall.
In 2002, Dynacraft and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled about 4,700 mountain bikes sold through the Target discount chain due to defective forks.
In 2001, the company recalled 38,000 boys’ mountain bikes because the front suspension fork could break, resulting in serious crashes.
According to the lawsuit, Wal-Mart and Dynacraft “knowingly and willfully conspired and agreed among themselves to commit fraud and deceit, misrepresentation and breach of both implied and express warranties by concealing and attempting to conceal the dangerous and defective nature of these front wheel quick release bicycles.”
The complaint maintains that Wal-Mart and Dynacraft have known about the bikes’ defects for years, and have avoided responsibility for the products. Families were told children were at fault because they had made “rider errors,” according to the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
Source: Nancy Isles Nation, IJ reporter


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A personal perspective on why a solar company could take on its rivals and thrive in a year full of disruptions to the industry but report record results and revenue growth that is unlikely to be topped by any other PV manufacturer in 2018.
SPONSORED: As inverters become smarter and more diverse in their function, so too must inverter manufacturers. Lior Handelsman, SolarEdge founder and the firm's vice president of marketing and product strategy, explains why.
An agreement to buy 75% of Korean battery manufacturer Kokam gives SolarEdge a level of vertical integration that could make the PV company a ‘one-stop-shop’ for customers, while SolarEdge could diversify into areas outside solar energy.
Lior Handelsman, VP of Marketing & Product Strategy and Founder of SolarEdge, discusses cloud-based grid services and VPP solutions that offer real-time aggregative control and data reporting while enabling the pooling of PV, storage, and EV chargers.
Israel-headquartered SolarEdge launched a software platform for aggregating household energy storage units - and other distributed energy equipment - into virtual power plants, last week. The company’s solution has already been chosen for a VPP project in Australia by AGL, one of the country’s biggest utilities. The commercial launch of the VPP platform direct to customers is now underway. Energy-Storage.News editor Andy Colthorpe spoke with Lior Handelsman, one of SolarEdge’s founders and vice president of marketing and product strategy.
Virtual power plants (VPPs) can greatly increase the value of home energy storage systems for a range of stakeholders including grid operators, utilities and their customers, according to SolarEdge, which has just launched a VPP software platform.


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The publishing industry is changing quickly, and Jellybooks is helping it happen. The company gives out free e-books to readers in exchange for their consent to track their reading habits. This data goes back to publishers to be used in the market. Our own Nick Moran asks if e-readers are as green as we think.
“Our culture has focused so much attention on the most visible members of the Black Panthers that it has been easy to forget it was a nationwide organization — an entity that needed to attract ordinary people who believed in something and were also willing to work for it.” In the Times, Rembert Browne reviews two new books about the Black Power movement.
“Behind the collective feast and public ritual lies a personal dimension: the holiday as each of us has lived it, laughed about it, imagined it or reinvented it.” For their “My Thanksgiving” feature, The New York Times asked nine writers — including Parul Sehgal, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Emma Cline — how they celebrate the holiday. Pair with Nguyen’s 2015 Year in Reading.
I’ve been meaning to link to Ed’s review of Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story in the Philly Inquirer. Jenny finds that not everyone agrees with Ed. Previously: King tells the Paris Review the he sees Lisey’s Story as a “special book.”Why Levi won’t be reading Thomas Pynchon’s new book Against the Day. Michael, meanwhile, already has his copy.Former book columnist at the Dallas Morning News Jerome Weeks has started a blog, book/daddy. Weeks took a buyout from his paper and has been vocal about the downsizing of cultural coverage in newspapers. See Weeks’ comment on a recent post on this topic.Assigned reading too hard for schoolkids say experts.Google recently subpoenaed a number of companies – Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo and publishers Random House, Holtzbrinck, and HarperCollins – to collect evidence that will back its side in the copyright case against Google Books being brought by authors and publishers. Now, Amazon has rejected Google’s request, and the other companies are expected to follow suit.


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The end of Chinatown?
Australia’s restaurant industry has been devastated by lockdowns and the loss of international tourism.
Some of the hardest hit businesses are those in Chinatowns across major cities.
Even before travel bans and lockdowns, many suffered the brunt of anti-Asian racism.
Today, writer and food critic Jess Ho on what it could mean if we lose one of the oldest Chinatowns in the world.
Guest: Writer Jess Ho.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.


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Ford has announced that that its Sync 3 in-car infotainment system will be able to support both Google’s Android Auto and Apple’s CarPlay. The company added that for existing Ford’s car owners which car has been installed with Sync 3 in-car infotainment system, they will be getting an upgrade of the latest new features latest by the end of the year.
Sync 3 in-car infotainment system promises a lot of convenience features for the drivers. When it is paired with mobile devices, drivers will be able to access feature such as making or receiving a phone call or even music playback. On top of that drivers will also able to use the voice commands to talk to Siri, ask for direction and even stream music.
As it comes with LTE support, drivers will also be able to start their cars remotely, unlock doors, check fuel level or locate their parking location with their mobile phones. Ford also added AAA and CAA services which are useful in case if the drivers encounter an emergency situation then they will be able to ask for help immediately and the help will guaranteed to come to them wherever they are. A few other apps which added by Ford, for example, apps to log business trips (Concur), apps to alert drivers of the nearby performances and shows (Eventseeker) as well as app to direct drivers to the local attractions, nightlife as well as dining options.
Ford expects about 43 million of its car models will be equipped by Sync 3 car infotainment system released on public road by 2020.


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Sony engineered the PlayStation 5 with a 120mm fan that’s 45mm thick. By game console standards that’s enormous, but Sony did this to ensure the PS5 stays cool and quiet with all the graphics horsepower under the hook. Especially after so much criticism of the the jarringly loud jet engine that is the PS4 Pro (I honestly can’t wait to ditch mine). But a new interview contains hints that the new console’s noise levels and cooling performance could change substantially post-launch.
During Sony’s up-close and personal PS5 teardown earlier this month, we got a good look at that internal fan. Like the system itself, the fan seems comically large — at least when comparing it historically against prior consoles from Sony and its competition.
But a proper thermal solution is absolutely vital for this next generation of consoles because of the raw graphics power inside.


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AKRON—Goodyear's efforts at reducing costs and boosting productivity dragged down profits for the Akron-based tire maker in 1999's first quarter. Net earnings fell 85.6 percent to $25.5 million, for the period ended March 31, as the company took a $167.4 million rationalization charge as part of a plan to become the low-cost producer among the world's three largest tire makers.
That plan includes the layoff of an additional 1,500 workers worldwide, bringing to 4,200 the number of jobs that will be eliminated, a Goodyear spokesman said.
In 1998's first quarter, Goodyear had net income of $173.6 million.
1999's quarterly earnings before the charge would have been $141.5 million, the company said.
Sales fell 3.3 percent to $2.99 billion.
Goodyear's rationalization charges included $95.5 million to reduce employment by 1,600 and annual capacity by nearly 9 million units at its Gadsden, Ala., and Freeport, Ill., tire plants.
The company also took a charge of $42.5 million for productivity improvements in Latin America that will cut employment by 1,500 workers. Another $20.6 million charge was taken for programs under way in the company's engineered products, chemical and Asia tire segments and in corporate operations.
These programs will reduce employment by 800.
When fully implemented, the rationalization efforts should save $150 million annually, Goodyear said.
``Our cost leadership strategy is not only focused on better utilizing our low-cost manufacturing operations around the world, but also making our global production capability more cost competitive,'' said Chairman and CEO Samir Gibara.
Worldwide, Goodyear's tire unit sales grew 1 percent during the quarter, despite a 2.3 percent decrease in North America.
Goodyear attributed the downturn in North America to its strategy of emphasizing a more-profitable product mix.
Sales for the North American business unit slipped 1.1 percent to $1.51 billion in the quarter. Operating income declined 16.8 percent to $91.7 million.
``Our second quarter results will continue to be impacted by the completion of our inventory realignment program and the lingering weakness in emerging market economies,'' Mr. Gibara said.
``However, the benefits of our growth and rationalization initiatives, and the progressive economic recovery in emerging markets, should be reflected in the company's second-half results.''


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Designers and personalities including Haider Ackermann, Clémence Poésy and Charlotte Casiraghi attended the event.
From Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, buyers and media will find the American designers in a town house at 29 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoree.
The annual Dior-sponsored event will take place Nov. 15.
The Italian luxury brand will create the Caravaggio Research Institute with the storied Rome-based art museum and support its exhibitions for the next three years.
The season’s fundraising calendar unofficially starts with Rihanna’s Diamond Ball on Sept. 14.
The Olympian will be talking up his new Rizzoli-backed book “Russell Westbrook: Style Drivers,” which is set to hit stores early next month.
Actress speaks French for the first time on film.
The event, from Sept. 20 to Oct. 10, will include window displays, exclusive products and an exhibition of designs by the house’s founder.
The web site will offer each brand a special area on the site, and allow them access to the company’s international Millennial clientele.
They’re Chiuri’s first dance costumes designed during her time at Dior.
“Christian Dior, la France,” by Frédéric Mitterrand, screened on French-language network TV5 Monde to mark the house’s 70th anniversary.
The model-actress talks about getting lost in Luc Besson’s sci-fi fantasy, inspiring youth and the liberating feeling of shaving her head.


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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder believes Congress should make it mandatory for data-breach notification laws to better protect shoppers compromised by data breaches.
"As we've seen - especially in recent years- these crimes are becoming all too common," said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in a recent video. "And although Justice Department officials are working closely with the FBI and prosecutors across the country to bring cybercriminals to justice, it's time for leaders in Washington to provide the tools we need to do even more: by requiring businesses to notify American consumers and law enforcement in the wake of significant data breaches."
Everything federal government officials note about NSA and cyberdefense should be received with some hesitation - it was less than a month ago when Holder was defending the NSA's sweeping phone surveillance. However, any effort to make it easy for consumers to be made aware of security breaches should be well received, and would give law enforcement new abilities to investigate cyber-based data breaches.
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Ace designer Rajesh Pratap Singh will open the upcoming Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW), which is celebrating its silver jubilee in the latest edition.
The five-day extravaganza, commencing from March 25 at Pragati Maidan, will feature new as well as established designers from the Indian fashion industry.
Rajesh is excited to open the autumn-winter edition.
"We are looking forward to opening the India Fashion Week this year. Amazon's coming on board would give a much-needed shot in the arm to the industry; this association is bound to further expose designers and craftsmen to the strengths and realities of doing business in the digital world.
"I am sure that my colleagues in the fraternity would whole-hardheartedly support this partnership, keeping in mind, the boom in the online space," Rajesh said in a statement.
Announcing the participation of the veteran designer, Sunil Sethi, President, Fashion Design Council of India said, "The FDCI is honoured to announce Rajesh Pratap Singh as the opening designer for the AIFW-AW'15.
His creative genius resonates deeply with the audience and his understated design aesthetic has always been applauded. Singh's collection will elevate the India Fashion Week and lend a credible voice to the design spectrum."


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Europe’s "largest display" to debut this autumn
The "largest indoor LED screen in Europe" will be unveiled in the autumn.
The firm has been releasing small glimpses of the display since January, including a video of the screen being tested.
The 40m display – dubbed Waterloo Motion - was initially scheduled to launch this summer but it is thought the project has been delayed.
Details have been kept tightly under wraps by multinational advertising corporation JCDecaux, who claim the display will be the largest indoor LED unit in Europe.
The display to be unveiled at London’s Waterloo Station is an AOTO SMD LED unit with a 6mm pitch and resolution of 6720px x 480px, or 3.2 million pixels, boasting 4.4 trillion colours.
At the NEC Solutions Showcase held recently some details of the project did emerge. The challenges of installing and using a display of such a size in a public place were highlighted in a presentation and included getting the colours and brightness correct and maximising the field of vision. The expense of the project and the potential for motion sickness were also listed as challenges to be overcome.
The plan is to host interactive initiatives within the station concourse linked through to the 120m² screen to draw the interest of the 1.8 million visitors that JCDecaux estimates pass through the station every week, with an average of almost 300,000 on each weekday.
The company has just launched a 50 foot display at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the largest digital advertising sign in the building, as well as a network of 36 70” HD screens at Newark Liberty International Airport.


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Globally, illicit tobacco is a growing trade – some research indicates this could be up to 12% of world tobacco consumption.
The illicit tobacco market involves criminal gangs producing counterfeit cigarettes, cross-border smuggling and large-scale tax evasion. Read more about British American Tobacco’s view on illicit tobacco .
We see it as vitally important that governments establish workable tax regimes and economic policies that discourage illicit trade, with strong border controls and effective laws to combat the illegal black market in tobacco.
Tackling illicit trade requires co-operation and understanding between legitimate tobacco companies, governments and organisations such as the World Customs Organisation, World Trade Organisation World Health Organisation, and the European Union.
Globally, we have used our expertise and knowledge of the tobacco supply chain to help governments and law-enforcers fighting the illicit tobacco market for many years. British American Tobacco New Zealand actively engages with the New Zealand Customs Service to assist in addressing illicit tobacco trade issues.
The illegal ‘chop-chop’ tobacco trade affects everyone in the New Zealand community.
Illicit tobacco is a significant and growing problem for governments, law enforcement authorities and health agencies overseas. Once it takes hold, it's difficult to control.
Illicit tobacco traders do not pay tax. But, most importantly, they provide the cheapest available cigarettes, often at less than half the legal price, and have no qualms selling them to minors.
Two men were convicted in New Zealand in 2012 for the unlawful manufacture of ‘chop-chop’ (illicit loose tobacco). Almost 5,000 kilograms of tobacco leaf was seized, worth approximately $2 million if sold. [Source: New Zealand Customs Service “Tobacco grower found guilty” (11 June 2012), available here ]
Unlike legal tobacco, Illicit tobacco is not required to meet manufacturing standards or quality controls, is not subject to excise, and can be sold without health warnings or age verification.


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♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Japan at 5/07/2016 08:46:00 PM
|Watch out eBay, Japan's Mercari is out to beat you.|
The trip left him determined to start a company that would let people in different countries connect with each other. He saw that even the poorest villages had mobile phones and everyone craved technology for reaching the wider world. That led him to found Mercari Inc., a mobile e-commerce site that matches individual buyers and sellers and this month became the first Japanese startup worth at least $1 billion.
Though the valuation is an accomplishment for Mercari, it also highlights the dearth of major private startups in the world’s third-largest economy. There are 155 so-called unicorns in the world, according to CB Insights, with 92 in the U.S., 25 in China and seven in India. Japan has suffered from a lack of venture capital and a risk-averse culture where the best and brightest strive for stable jobs at big companies and then stay for life.To make a long story short, Mercari is a mobile marketplace app. While eBay and others also have apps of their own, the difference with Mercari is that its native interface is an app. Add this to understanding Japanese consumer habits better and you have a competitive advantage:
Yamada thinks the problem isn’t quite as dire as it may appear. Many tech companies in Japan go public well before they reach the $1 billion valuation mark because the country has lenient listing requirements for small, high-growth businesses. The TSE Mothers market requires just $10 million in capitalization and has no income prerequisite; companies going public on the tech-heavy Nasdaq must clear $50 million market cap or $750,000 in profit.
Mercari’s edge has been that it’s designed specifically for mobile phones and lets individuals easily browse through items for sale or post their own. People sell everything from clothes and electronics to baseball tickets. While its staying power remains unproven, the app has been downloaded 32 million times and generates 10 billion yen in monthly transactions, Yamada said. Mercari takes a cut of each sale.Users of Mercari laud its simpler user interface and not having to compete with big retailing operations in comparison to eBay. As the saying goes, competition improves the (e-tailing) breed.
“The market for business-to-consumer services is already quite developed, but user-to-user applications still have a lot of room to grow,” said Tomoaki Kawasaki, an analyst at Iwai Cosmo Securities Co. “Mercari is already in the lead in Japan. There are significant benefits for early movers.”


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Beverage Company coca cola is trying to rope in master blaster Sachin for their 2011 World Cup endorsement, as India’s cricket captain Dhoni is with Pepsi. It might create a stint of war between these two, as the world cup will begin by February.
But till now no deal has been signed between the two, and according to a management official, “Coke is very keen to have Tendulkar on board." Coca cola openly says they are in talks with lot others, and says, "We are always in discussions with any number of leading celebrities with regard to their support of our brands and initiatives, but we only announce formal agreements after they are signed."
World Sport Group (WSG) has so far declined to comment on this matter. Their senior vice president in India Harish Krishnamachar said, "We are not in a position to discuss commercial terms for Sachin. Once a sponsor is signed, we will let our client announce it." Singapore based WSG looks into advertisement deals of Sachin.
Very recently Dhoni has emerged as the world’s highest valuable cricketer and he does have more advertisement fee than any other cricketer in India. Earlier it was Sachin.
This proposed endorsement deal might not be that easy to get for coca cola. Very recently Sachin has said a big No to a high money advertisement deal, in which he would have had to endorse an alcoholic brand.


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The 2014 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament took the world by storm. Diehard soccer fans and newbies alike kept an eye on the matches day-in and day-out, at work and at home. The soccer-hungry audience searched for real time updates throughout the month-long tournament. They needed to know what happened on the pitch, and they wanted that info immediately.
Strategising for spikes in your online business is really important yet, astonishingly, many organizations are still not doing it effectively. I believe that ineffective preparation for online spikes is inexcusable with the technology available today.
Ask any business owner what they fear the most and the answer might be success. That’s right, success can be lethal to a business that isn’t prepared for an influx of customers. And this is especially true for businesses that rely on their website for revenue.
Super Bowl Sunday is fast approaching. Companies pay millions of dollars to get that coveted 30 second commercial spot—and that doesn’t account for the cost to create the ads. For many big name companies, Super Bowl Sunday breeds big traffic numbers. It’s imperative that their websites and apps can stand up to the traffic blitz that this global event implies.
I’m not going to lie: standing in front of Mark Cuban and the other sharks on ABC’s Shark Tank is intimidating. And standing in front of them – and up to 8 million viewers – in ugly Christmas sweaters is enough to make you, well, sweat.
As online businesses prepare for the holiday shopping season, it is imperative for them to understand the amount of traffic their website can handle. We spent last week’s Google+ Office Hour Hangout with Ragnar Lonn and Robin Gustafsson of Load Impact, a Cloud Tools Marketplace partner, to discuss their load testing tool and how it can help you prepare for high traffic events. Here are some highlights from the talk along with links to the part of the video that we discussed them. If you are looking for more information, I’ve embedded the video of the entire Hangout at the bottom of the post.


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Who’s Leaving Used Tampons In The Jones Apparel Offices?
Filed under unprofessional and just plain uncouth behavior: Someone who works at the Jones Apparel Group has been leaving used tampons in the hallways of one of its denim brands Energie. (And you thought the passive aggressive notes you’ve been leaving on the office fridge were bad.)
Jones, the clothing company that owns, well, everything (no really — from Rachel Rachel Roy to Jessica Simpson‘s jeans to Brian Atwood‘s overpriced diffusion line and beyond) has had its corporate offices blighted with the unsanitary sanitary products long enough to get the attention of Jack Gross, CEO of the company’s jeans division. Gross (great name, right?) sent the following email to his employees in an attempt to figure out just who in the office has decided to be nasty and inconsiderate.
From: Jack Gross
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2010 1:54 PM
To: Jones Jeanswear NY
It has been brought to my attention today that recently there have been numerous incidents of used feminine hygiene products being found in the hallways throughout the Energie office space and it appears that these were left intentionally.
Let me be perfectly clear, this behavior is unprofessional, unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
We will be conducting a full investigation to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. We are taking this matter very seriously and will take the appropriate disciplinary action upon completion of our investigation. If you have any information regarding these incidents I urge you to come forward to myself or Human Resources.
Gross is justifiably angry — and we’re going to hazard the guess that whoever’s been doing this is unhappy about something, too. But we’re not sure that a “full investigation,” whatever that might mean, is necessary here. You’d think they could just pop in the security tape from the days the offending tampons were found and figure out who did this lickety split. But hey — maybe that’s just not their style.


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DETROIT — As global pressure mounts for plastics recycling, North American automakers plan to heed the call by switching to instrument panels made entirely from one material.
Consider the array of current and upcoming products in an area once considered future fancy:
Engineers at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.'s Visteon parts-making unit said they plan within two to four years to have instrument panels on the road that are made entirely from thermoplastic olefins. Instrument panels are the largest interior system outside of seats.
Meanwhile, auto-parts interior supplier Textron Automotive Co. has developed the first instrument panel skin made from castable thermoplastic urethane. The panel, recently launched on Chrysler Corp.'s 1998 LH-series sedans, can be married to PU foam and a reaction injection molded PU substrate.
Auburn Hills, Mich., resin supplier Solvay Engineered Polymers teamed with GM's Saturn division to develop the first TPO cover skin on a North American vehicle. Those olefin-based skins could prime the pump for an all-TPO instrument panel.
Those projects and others point to a significant mind-set change, said Robert Pett, chairman of the Vehicle Recycling Partnership, a research consortium based in Highland Park, Mich., that is backed by the Big Three automakers.
``Automakers have shown much more awareness [of recycling],'' said Pett, senior staff technical specialist with Ford's research laboratory in Dearborn, Mich. ``Among their design guidelines is the need to have materials compatible with each other in a major chunk of the car. As long as they stay in one family, it's much easier to separate and reuse the material.''
The cause for the shift could be both regulatory and consumer-driven. Several European countries are reviewing end-of-life vehicle legislation designed to cut down plastic automotive shredder residue, called ASR, that goes to landfills, said plastics industry consultant Robert Eller of Robert Eller Associates Inc. in Akron, Ohio.
Some automakers in Europe, including GM and Daimler-Benz AG, are seeking one-material solutions, Eller said.
``An important share of global car designs originate from Europe,'' said Eller, who recently completed a study on skin, foam and substrate materials for interior systems. ``Both TPO skins and TPU skins will have significant penetration.''
At the same time, the ``X generation,'' or the next generation of car buyers, is more conscious of environmental issues, said Visteon materials engineer Anthony Brooks. Demographic studies have made automakers aware that marketing to those younger consumers requires a focus on green design, he said.
Visteon plans to make new TPO cover skins for instrument panels that better withstand temperature extremes without warping, Brooks said. The Ford-owned parts supplier is developing one-material instrument panels that include olefin foams, polypropylene substrates and even a paint material with an olefin base.
``We've been at this for seven years, and we're just beginning to understand the tiger we've got by the tail,'' Brooks said. ``We need to qualify and quantify the size of the beast.''
Other materials like PVC may not go away easily. The resin, used separately and with ABS as a skin substance, has advantages both in cost and fit and finish, said David Reed, staff project engineer at GM's Warren, Mich.-based North American Operations Materials and Fastening Center.
TPO skins cannot match the soft, luxurious feel of a PVC skin. A soft instrument panel, similar to leather, has become steadily more important to the car-buying public, Reed said.
Except for a few, scattered exceptions, TPO skins are not used now. And virtually no models have both a TPO skin and substrate.
``Right now, we're stuck with PVC because it has the designed combination of customer appeal and cost,'' Reed said. ``But we see real breakthroughs in TPO skins.''
Reed thinks Ford can develop a good all-TPO product within the next few years. ``First, we need to optimize the surface feel and make a good, harmonious combination,'' he said.
Some work already has been done by GM's Saturn division in Spring Hill, Tenn. In 1997, the carmaker replaced a painted instrument panel skin made from PVC with an unpainted TPO material. Now, the molded-in-color piece is used for all of Saturn's car lines, said Beth Wodrich, original equipment manufacturing marketing manager for Solvay Engineered Polymers.
Wodrich said the application, using Solvay's Sequel TPO, was the first hard TPO instrument panel skin in North America. The company is performing experiments to make soft instrument panels from TPO resins, Wodrich said. But cost is still a factor.
``Normally, PVC has a set of properties difficult to match,'' she said. ``It can be extruded in thin sheets and molded or thermoformed. We're trying to do the same process with TPOs.''
Textron is focusing on urethane, which can be matched to PU foam and a RIM substrate of similar materials. Other automakers plan to use the company's TPU-based castable instrument panel cover, now used by Chrysler, said Jeff Rose, vice president of technology for Troy, Mich.-based Textron Automotive.
Textron designed the panel to allow an air bag cover with an invisible seam to be rotationally molded with the part, Rose said. By doing so, Textron took about 30 percent of the weight from the air bag system and created a lower-cost panel, he said.
The part is used on the 1998 Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler Concorde, New Yorker LHS and its sportier European version. The soft-feel cover replaced PVC, a material that Chrysler was willing to forego, said Terry Anderson, Textron's director of research and development.
``In Europe, [automakers] don't see PVC as a friendly material,'' Anderson said. Several models there already use a RIM substrate and urethane foam, he said.
Yet, Anderson said recycling techniques for PU are not as refined as for TPOs. The material commonly is broken down into a liquid polyol by a chemical process called glycolysis that is still in its infancy.
That continues to fuel the debate over the future of instrument panels as a recycling target.
``The great dream of polypropylene suppliers is to make an olefin skin, foam and substrate,'' Eller said. ``However, it's not that simple. It's clearly going to have to evolve in stages.''


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With the recent announcement that Amazon will be releasing a new gaming console before 2014 comes to a close, it's probably no coincidence that Google has dropped some gaming themed news today as well.
An experiment by Google, Five Games, is meant to attract video game developers to start taking Google Glass as a serious platform for future games. Using a combination of motion control, voice commands, and Glass' built in camera players are shown chopping, swiping, and shooting using only the Glass headset.
While the games may be bare bones in their presentation, they're meant to show off the potential of Google's hardware. The second iteration of which, Explorer Edition, has just begun shipping to prototype participants. It's elegant, and teaming with possibilities.
RELATED: 15 Ways Nintendo Can Save the Wii U


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RI to maintain CPO export taxes
Rabu, 27 Februari 2013 | 08:55
The Indonesian government will consistently implement its progressive crude palm oil (CPO) export taxes in an effort to boost the development of CPO downstream industry at home. The government`s determination to consistently implement the policy was reaffirmed by Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan on Monday amid calls by oil palm farmers that CPO export taxes should be cut.
Farmers said the CPO export taxes of between 7.5 percent and 22.5 percent per metric ton would reduce their competitive edge in the face of Malaysia`s CPO in the world market. Malaysia has cut its CPO export taxes.
The Indonesian Oil Palm Farmers Association (Apkasindo) said the government should lower its export taxes. Tax cut is needed to maintain Indonesia`s CPO competitiveness against that of Malaysia.
Apkindo asked that the government should this year reduce CPO export tax to 4 percent only. At present, the government is imposing CPO taxes at a range of between 7.5 percent and 22.5 percent.
The 7.5 percent tax is imposed on CPO with a reference price of between 750 and 800 US dollars per ton. The highest level tax of 22.5 percent is imposed on CPO export with a reference price of over 1,250 US dollar per ton.
Fadhil Hasan, the executive director of the Indonesian Oil Palm Producers Association (Gapki), also urged the government to evaluate the CPO export taxes.
He said that the export taxes were no longer relevant as Indonesian exporters had to face competitors from Malaysia which had cut its export taxes. "If the government maintains the taxes at that level, we would not be able to compete with Malaysia`s next year," Fadhil said.
However, the government is consistently maintaining its policy of imposing the progressive export taxes. It hoped that with the policy, a balance between exports and downstream development would be achieved.
"We will consistently implement it and will not be affected by Malaysia`s step (to cut its CPO export taxes)," the minister said after attending a coordination meeting at the office of the chief economic minister here on Monday.
He said that Malaysia already had many different downstream industries but the number of industries in its upstream area was small. "So, they have the courage to cut their export taxes and exports their upstream products," he added.
Gita said that the government had the interest to develop the palm oil downstream industry so that it decided to raise CPO export taxes. "With the policy, we are convinced that a balance would be achieved between the downstream industry development and increase in palm oil product exports," the minister said.
The minister explained that Indonesia and Malaysia had very different interests with regard to CPO export taxes. The Malaysian decision to cut its CPO export taxes would not affect Indonesia`s CPO industry.
"We have to support the development of downstream CPO industry. The CPO export tax should be implemented consistently," the trade minister added.
Moreover, the Indonesian government hopes 70 percent of its crude palm oil production could be processed at home. "The target is 65 to 70 percent of production which could be processed at home this year," the director general of agro-industry, Benny Wachjudi, meanwhile said recently.
He said investment in the CPO processing industry has kept coming to increase refinery capacity. "Several years ago the refinery capacity only reached 50 percent but now it has jumped to 75-80 percent," he said.
He said that Indonesia would therefore consistently implement the progressive export tax system for plantation commodities to encourage development of downstream industries.
Following the implementation of the system, development of CPO downstream industries has risen and exports of CPO products have also increased unlike in Malaysia where its refinery capacity has dropped to between 30 and 40 percent only, according to Benny.
In 2011 Indonesia`s exports of CPO derivative products were recorded at 9,026 tons while CPO at 7,646 tons but in 2012 they respectively rose to 10,964 tons and 5,592 tons, he said.
The CPO industry had recorded a good performance in 2011 when palm oil production increased by 7.3 percent, reaching 23.5 million tons, of which 16.5 million tons were exported.
Now the price of CPO in the world market is at a low level although demand for this commodity is growing.
The CPO price in export markets is around US$835 per ton for delivery in February and March, the North Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Association of Palm oil Companies (Gapki) said.
Association secretary Timbas Prasad Ginting said the price on the domestic market is around Rp7,425 per kilogram. "The price is still low although demand is on the increase as a result of less successful harvest in a number of countries of soybean," Timbas said.
The CPO price is expected to increase with the rising demand but the Gapki did not hope for too much, he said. The economic crisis is still besetting Europe and the United States keeps the price fluctuating, he said.
Chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Council Derom Bangun said it is difficult to predict the trend of commodity market including CPO price amid the prevailing global condition.
He said that the CPO price should increase with the shrinking supply of that commodity and soybean in the world market. CPO supply is shrinking as harvest period has been over from August to November, 2012, but the price remains low.
"If the price did not improve until the end of the year, the average selling price this year would be lower than last year or would be low US$900 per ton," Deerom said.(*)


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Friday, September 13, 2013
Rockman Ultrabooks Just Got Cancelled
Our little blue robot just can't catch a break. Today, Rockman Unity announced the cancellation of Capcom of Japan's Rockman Ultrabook project. We actually haven't heard a peep from this thing since Spring, so... there you go.
As one might recall, the Rockman Ultrabook was intended to be a Rockman-themed notebook PC released in Japan. Fans could vote on some of its features, like pre-installed desktop wallpapers and the packaging.
In all, this is not a huge loss. But it is once again another Mega Man/Rockman product that thrived on fan-feedback to bite the dust.
Source: Rockman Unity (via The Mega Man Network)


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The 3D printing market will grow rapidly in the next few years with demand for machinery expected to reach $5 billion in 2017, according to a forecast from U.S. research group Freedonia. This would represent an annual growth rate of 20.7 percent from a level of $1.9 billion in 2012.
The use of 3D printers for prototyping will continue to account for the majority of demand, but the more rapid growth will be seen in production and consumer applications, said Freedonia. 3D printers will increasingly be used to manufacture direct production parts and finished goods in a wide variety of applications.
Freedonia analyst Pauline Tung said she expects "greater adoption of additive manufacturing technologies as 3D printing speeds and material quality improves."
The largest region is expected to be North America, with sales likely to be $2.3 billion in 2017, according to Freedonia. Demand for 3D printers in Western Europe is forecast to reach $1.2 billion in 2017. In Asia-Pacific, demand will increase by the same amount.
Freedonia said: "Rapid gains are expected in China, where most applications (especially in large markets such as consumer products manufacturing) centre on design, sample testing, or prototyping."
Plastics will account for the major share of materials demand, but Freedonia expects faster growth for metals, based on their greater strength and resistance, as well as rapid gains in markets such as aerospace.
In terms of market sectors, some of the fastest growth will be seen in the dental market, in applications such as braces, prostheses, crowns, bridges, dental aligners, and models for dental restoration procedures.
Other significant markets for 3D printing products include consumer products, such as jewelry, toys, fashion clothing, consumer electronics, as wells as automotive and aerospace.


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Made in America
Director, EU Automation
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Managing the Big Data Flood
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Oct 10th, 2019
Improving Small Batch Efficiency
Demand for greater customization continues to grow, but finding cost-efficient ways to change production in meeting these demands remains a challenge.
Aug 29th, 2019
Food & Beverage
Customization Creating Change in Food Manufacturing
This trend has created a growing need for automated machinery that can output customized products at high volumes.
Jul 10th, 2019
VR, AR to Improve Safety, Productivity
Virtual reality used to be something that only existed in our minds, but now AR and VR have practical applications for forward-thinking manufacturers.
Jun 13th, 2019
Sensors As a Service
A sensor subscription model would allow manufacturers to pay a regular fee for the deployment of sensors - covering maintenance, support and upgrades.
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The ability to improve automation, generate real-time data and reduce inventory is making it a more valuable tool.
Feb 21st, 2019


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Forget gathering around the hearth this holiday season. Epson America wants to start a new tradition: gathering the family around the computer.
Epson will team with Hearst Magazines for advertorials that introduce two new printers priced under $200. The family-friendly price is just in time for the Christmas retail season.
Epson's latest models--the Stylus Color 640 and 740--extol a computer's ability to "unite the family."
Hearst produced a four-page insert for Epson that will run in three of its titles in December: Country Living, Good Housekeeping and Redbook. This is the first time the marketer has introduced a product through women's magazines.
The strategy fits in with Epson's larger plan to target families with children, said Eric Timperman, senior planning supervisor on Epson at agency DDB Needham Worldwide, Los Angeles. Until now, the company usually relied on business publications to reach tech-savvy home computer users.
The insert lists 10 computer activities families can do together--and, of course, print together on an affordable ink jet printer.
One activity: plucking pictures from photo albums, scanning them onto the computer and e-mailing them to distant relatives.
The insert will appear only in editions going to cities considered Epson's top 15 markets.
Hearst executives realized that full-run circulation didn't fit the needs of all marketers.
"This is a category where we needed to recognize that our out-of-pocket cost is out of reach for certain marketing budgets," said Kathryn Barr, executive director of marketing for Hearst Corporate Sales.
Hearst packaged the customized ad pages with a retail program to win the Epson business.
The publisher also brought in Tech Corps, a non-profit organization that trains teachers and parents to integrate technology into classrooms. Tech Corps will hold training seminars at CompUSA stores in 10 cities. The seminars will offer pamphlets for Epson Stylus Color printers and will provide on-site demonstrations of the new printers.
The in-store events and demonstrations appealed to Epson, said Mr. Timperman, because one of the goals of its campaign is to get across the message that although the printers are affordable, they produce high-quality images.
"The retail events are [designed] to generate store traffic and get people in to actually see and test the product," he said. "The fact that the printers are so high-quality means you have to see it to believe it. Having a sample of the output is one of the best ways to sell the product."
Copyright November 1998, Crain Communications Inc.


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Genesis’s new G90 flagship is getting a makeover for 2023.
The South Korean luxury marque offered up a first look at the redesigned version of its commanding saloon on Monday. The newest iteration of the G90 isn’t just better looking than its predecessors, it’s also longer.
To be sure, the original G90, which was introduced in South Korea in 2016 and worldwide in 2017 (and underwent a facelift in 2018), was a handsome car. But the new version is sleeker than its predecessors. The new four-door’s lines have been refined from front to back, with any harsh edges replaced with soft contours, giving it a smoother side profile. The highlight is the new front fascia. The brand’s trademark wide-mouth grille is still there, but it’s now winged by two rows of ultra-thin headlights that travel to the wheel well and continue on the other side, up to the first set of doors.
The updated saloon looks decidedly more modern. This is due in no small part to a stretched-out design that reduces visual bulk. It has a long hood and a ducktail-style trunk lid like the G80 sedan, but thanks to a longer wheelbase, those elements look now more harmonious. The automaker has confirmed that it will also build an even longer wheelbase version, thought to be a similar size as the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class.
Beyond the exterior, Genesis is keeping all other details about the G90 close to the chest. This includes what kind of powertrain will lurk underneath its elongated hood. A twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 will almost certainly be an option, but it’s unclear if a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V-8 will be as well. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the G90 become the latest addition to the brand’s battery-powered Electrified line, either.
More will be revealed closer to its launch next year. Either way, it’s clear Genesis isn’t afraid of a little reinvention.


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Sales exec Brad Elders has been named group publisher of Time Inc.'s Sports Illustrated group.
Effective May 9th, Elders will be responsible for sales and marketing efforts across the group's portfolio, which also includes Golf, SI Kids, FanSided, and 120 Sports. He'll report to Rich Battista, president of Time Inc.'s entertainment and sports group.
The appointment fills a vacancy left by Brendan Ripp's shift to president of technology and telecommunications within Time Inc.'s sales and marketing division in February.
"Brad is one of the most highly respected, innovative, and versatile sales leaders in media, and we are thrilled to have him join us," wrote Battista in a prepared statement.
With print revenues in decline, Time Inc. has been aggressively investing in online media through acquisitions, partnerships, hires, and internal reorganizations since the company was spun off from Time Warner in June, 2014, so it comes as no surprise that Brendan Ripp's replacement has a robust background in digital media sales.
Elders spent the last four years at AOL as SVP of sales for the East region and, most recently, as general manger of Partner Studio by AOL, the company's branded content arm. Prior to that, he spent about a year as SVP of sales for digital media company Function(x), and also brings sales experience from 5min Media, Live Nation, and Yahoo. The new role signifies a homecoming for Elders, who spent four years as an account manager for Sports Illustrated in the mid-1990s.
"SI has such incredible brand equity and sets the standard for quality and compelling sports storytelling," wrote Elders. "They have done a tremendous job leveraging its success in print to build vibrant products and consumer experiences across all digital platforms, including video, mobile, social, and experiential."


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First Solar Inc., the world’s biggest maker of thin-film solar panels, said first-quarter revenue will fall short of analysts’ expectations after it shuttering a plant in Germany. The shares fell 7.3 percent after the close of regular trading.
Net income was $154.2 million, or $1.74 a share, compared with a net loss of $413.1 million, or $4.74 a share, a year earlier, Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar said today in a statement. Excluding costs related to restructuring, the company earned $2.04 cents a share, exceeding by 27 cents the average estimate of 21 analysts. Sales rose to $1.08 billion from $660.4 million.


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Marking a third consecutive month, new home sales fell over July, the ""Commerce Department"":http://www.commerce.gov/ reported Tuesday. The drop in new home sales reflects still-weakening consumer confidence as new fears about a global economic slowdown continued to rattle stocks and markets worldwide.[IMAGE]
According to a ""Census Bureau"":http://www.census.gov/ ""release"":http://www.census.gov/const/newressales.pdf covering new residential sales, new single-family house sales dipped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 298,000 over July, reflecting a downward shift in estimates that fixed these numbers at a 0.7 percent decline from 300,000 homes sold over June.
Seeing an increase, the median sales price of new homes sold over July amounted to $222,000, contrasting with $272,300 in sales figures over the same month.
Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted estimate for new houses on sale over July leveled out at 165,000, according to government data, reflecting a 6.6-month supply at existing rates.
In a report, research firm ""Capital Economics"":http://www.capitaleconomics.com/ signaled that the number of new homes fell 10 percent below previous levels over the same period last year.
It said that revisions over July would have shown a plunge by sales to 7 percent month-over-month, hitting 279,000, a record low.[COLUMN_BREAK]
""This shows that the recent economic slowdown, rebound in the unemployment rate and fall in consumer confidence has more than offset any boost from lower mortgage rates to put a dent in households' ability and willingness to buy,"" Paul Dales, a U.S. senior economist with the firm, wrote in a U.S. Data Housing Response. ""Even if the economy were to avoid another recession, a prolonged period of weak economic growth will mean that there will be no real recovery in home sales for a few years yet.""
├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£There is no upside momentum at all in housing,├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø ""_Bloomberg News_"":http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-23/u-s-new-home-sales-fell-in-july-to-lowest-level-in-five-months.html quoted Eric Green, chief market economist with ""TD Securities Inc."":http://www.tdsecurities.com/tds/content/HomePageTemplate?command=doHome, as saying. ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£Without any meaningful job growth, we├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬óre going to continue to look at a housing sectors that is moribund.├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø
In the report, he added that a ""surge in homebuilding won't happen until demand recovers, which is not on the horizon. The upshot is that the state of the housing market will continue to undermine the wider economy both this year and the next.""
Not all parts of the country registered dips in new home sales. From its place in Massachusetts, the Warren Group said that single-family homes had risen in the Bay State. According to a release, some 3,847 single-family homes statewide underwent the purchase process, jumping up from 3,590 over the same period from 2010, the year of the federal homebuyer tax credit, and pushing back a trend of year-over-year decreases.
""While it's encouraging to see sales rise in July, we're comparing statistics to a very rough month of July last year,"" said Cory S. Hopkins, managing editor of Banker & Tradesman, a publication made available by the Group. ""The expiration of the homebuyer tax credits hurt sales volume a year ago, which is skewing the actual picture of the market now.""
Nonetheless, analysts predict continued pains for housing as overall economic doldrums persist.
""The incoming news have really confirmed that the economy is really in a very weak state, and the hopes that this would be a short, temporary slowdown seems to be fading by the day,"" Dales tells _MReport_. ""It seems like it's here to stay for sometime.""