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Robert Oatley (1928 - 2016)
By: Legacy Staff
3 years ago
Bob Oatley, the Australian billionaire sailor, winemaker, and owner of the record-breaking yacht the Wild Oats XI, has died at the age of 87 of unspecified causes, The Associated Press and the Guardian report.
Born in Sydney, Oatley embarked on his first entrepreneurial venture in Papua, New Guinea, launching a worldwide coffee and cocoa beans export business that flourished during the 1950s and '60s.
He translated the earnings of this success into the wine industry, planting the first vineyards in Australia’s Hunter Valley in 1969. By the mid-'80s, Oatley’s wines and his Rosemount Estate were celebrated worldwide. He sold the company in 2001 for $1.4 billion, then launched the Robert Oatley brand in the United States a year later. He and his family also purchased Australia’s Hamilton Island, launching a resort there that won Conde Nast Traveller's Best Resort in the World title.
Though Oatley was a lifelong entrepreneur, sailing was his passion. As his fortune increased, small boats grew into Cup-contending yachts, starting with the inaugural Wild Oats, which he obtained in 2005. His 100-foot supermaxi Wild Oats XI took line honors in the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race eight times. A generous patron of sailing, Oatley was known for his strong support of the Australian Olympic sailing team.
According to The Associated Press, Oatley is survived by his wife, Valerie, and three children, Sandy, Ian and Ros.
We invite you to share condolences for Bob Oatley in our Guest Book.


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Cerence’s $94.43 million in revenue very slightly beat analyst estimates of $94.38 million. Earnings of $0.59 came out ahead of..
Microsoft’s Azure AI platform will power the new voice assistant for XPeng, one of China’s largest car companies. Azure is..
Automobile giant Stellantis has teamed with Amazon to build and deploy Alexa-powered connected vehicle technology to millions of cars starting..
Google announced that owners of cars with Google built-in will soon be able to warm up, unlock, and check the..

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The Greater Fort Erie Chamber of Commerce is reaching out to the public and business community with a full lineup of events and educational seminars planned throughout the fall.
“Our hope is to attract a cross section of citizens, business leaders, and entrepreneurs to become more engaged with the Chamber, its members, and the community at large,” said Karen Audet, operations manager. “We have an active calendar of new events meant to provide educational, networking, social, and promotional opportunities that ultimately will help sustain and grow our business community.”
As a member of the Fort Erie War of 1812 Bicentennial Committee, the Chamber invites the public to a one-of-a-kind evening of full entertainment on Saturday, September 15 with the “Who Really Won the War of 1812?” Gala Dinner and Great Debate. This unique evening will begin with musical entertainment, followed by a full course prime rib dinner. The antics of comedian, musician and impersonator Tony Quinn (featured at other events such as the Halifax Comedy Festival and CBC’s Royal Canadian Air Farce) will warm up the crowd prior to debaters Roy MacGregor and David Frum taking the stage to settle the age old question of who really won the war of 1812. Tickets are by reservation only.
For those interested in an educational opportunity, the Chamber’s Education extends an invitation to attend a “Marketing Your Business to Boost Sales” luncheon seminar on Wednesday, September 19. Guest speaker John Young, owner of JCY Associates, APEC certified business counselor, author, and lecturer at Niagara College will help solve big marketing questions for small and medium business owners. The Lunch & Learn will take place at Kelsey’s Restaurant, 310 Garrison Road (upstairs banquet room) from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pre-registration is required.
If morning time is better suited to your schedule then take advantage of the Chamber’s brand new “Breakfast Series” initiative starting on Wednesday, October 10 from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at Rich Products of Canada’s board room. Breakfast, education, and inspiration are all rolled into one when plant manager Scott VeRost shares his corporate and personal story about the challenges and hurdles faced in the manufacturing industry, and the impact that their progressive leadership has had on the company. There is a nominal fee to cover the cost of a continental breakfast and pre-registration is required.
On Tuesday, October 23 the public and members are welcome to attend the Greater Fort Erie Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business After Five Trade Show at Buffalo Canoe Club, 4475 Erie Road, Ridgeway. This popular event incorporates a business trade show, business vendor booths, demonstrations, refreshments, door prizes and networking with extended hours from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is free to attend and it’s a great way to learn more about the products and services offered by Chamber members.
November is not too early to consider getting a jumpstart on holiday shopping at the Chamber’s 7th Annual Gala Auction fundraiser scheduled for Friday, November 16 at the Clarion Hotel, 1485 Garrison Road, Fort Erie. This fun evening of dinner, drinks, and hundreds of live and silent auction items up for bid has been a sell out each year. Be sure to reserve tickets early.
The Chamber will partner up with the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 230 Ridgeway to offer a Red Cross Personal Preparedness Workshop on Wednesday, November 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Legion at 228 Southmill Street. This Lunch and Learn Workshop, presented by the Canadian Red Cross (Niagara Area Branch) will teach about the various disasters than can affect our community, how to assemble an emergency preparedness kit, and how to develop an emergency evacuation plan to protect yourself and your family in the event of a disaster. Tickets by pre-registration only.
For more information about any of the events contact the Chamber office at 905-871-3803 or email email@example.com.


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Urgent Brand Launch for Chrysler Fiat
Trialing a new brand in South Korea for Chrysler Fiat Asia Pacific.
Principle works with Chrysler Corporate to manage and implement the Chrysler identification programme.
Chrysler embarked on a programme to present the new company and improve their image, concentrating primarily on signage and graphics.
Principle translated the design, prototyped several options, created a family of signs and graphics, and re-engineered the brand representative of the new “Millennium”.
Principle created a retrofit solution for the new image, eliminating the need for replacing existing signs, saving Chrysler millions of dollars annually in the process.
Over the past 5 years Principle has re-imaged over 1,200 dealerships across the U.S and the UK to the “Millennium” image.
Due to the success of the programme, Principle’s global reach and Chrysler’s desire to have a consistent brand worldwide, Principle has since been awarded further corporate identity programmes in Europe, Mexico, Ireland, Russia, Korea, Japan and Australia.


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Microsoft debuts smart phones running Windows Phone 7
Microsoft Corp., which has struggled for years to capture the attention and dollars of smart-phone users, debuted handsets Monday that will run on its new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7.
AT&T Inc. will be the first to offer the phones, starting with the Samsung Focus, arriving in stores Nov. 8. HTC Corp. and LG Corp. will each release a model “a few weeks later,” Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said at an event in New York to introduce the phones.
Each of the three AT&T handsets will sell for $199.99, Ballmer said.
T-Mobile will release an HTC handset in mid-November and Sprint will do the same early next year.
Microsoft has a lot of ground to make up in the burgeoning smart-phone market. Through the second quarter it had only a 9% share of the smart phones on the market. Android had 33%, ahead of BlackBerry with 28% and Apple’s 22%, according to data from NPD group.
The lineup of smart-phone manufacturers building hardware for Windows Phone 7 is encouraging, said Kim Caughey Forrest, an analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group.
“We’ll see how successful this whole thing is once the phones hit stores, but it really shows that Apple and Microsoft are two different ends of the spectrum,” Caughey Forrest said.
“Apple wants to control everything and Microsoft is giving a lot of leeway to manufacturers as far as features and the user interface experience.”
Microsoft demonstrated mobile versions of its Office software suite at the event, as well as video games from Electronic Arts Inc., which will offer mobile versions of it’s popular titles Need for Speed and Sims 3.
Both titles will be able to integrate with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video game console, which could be key to attracting new customers, said Mark McKechnie, an analyst at Gleacher & Co.
“You’ve got to respect Microsoft, you have to pay attention, but they clearly are coming from behind,” McKechnie said. “Apple and Google already have ecosystems of hardware and apps on multiple devices in place. Microsoft is trying to create that and they’ve done a lot to close the gap, but I do see them as competing for the third spot behind Apple and Android.”
Windows Phone 7 is a complete reboot from Microsoft’s current mobile OS. The new system — which will not be compatible with phones that now use a Microsoft operating system — uses a touch screen-based interface and web-connected apps, leaving behind software that relied largely on the consumer using a stylus to make choices.
The new phones are stylus-free and all will have at least a 5-megapixel camera capable of shooting high-definition video.
The Samsung Focus will feature 8 gigabytes of memory and will be the thinnest of the phones in the AT&T group. The HTC Surround, with a 3.8-inch screen and a kickstand on the back, will have Dolby surround-sound speakers and 16 gigabytes of storage. LG’s Quantum will include a horizontal slide-out keyboard & 16 gigabytes of memory.
The HTC HD7, a phone exclusive to T-Mobile, will come with a 4.3-inch screen and 16 gigabytes of memory. Dell’s Venue Pro, also on T-Mobile, will have a vertical slide-out keyboard.
The phones will come pre-installed with television apps as well. AT&T phones will come with the U-verse Mobile app, which will enable users to download TV shows for a undisclosed monthly fee.
T-Mobile phones will include the T-Mobile TV app, which will stream live TV for free. Some downloads of shows will be available for a $9.99 monthly fee.
One thing Windows Phone 7 won’t have until early 2011 is one of the tougher tasks for smart phones — a copy-and-paste feature. That capability wasn’t available on Apple’s first iPhone, either.


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Large Tech has been fortunate sufficient to climate the current tumultuous markets comparatively unscathed — aside from poor outdated Meta (NASDAQ: FB).
Because the NASDAQ and S&P 500 flirt with bear market territory, can we rely on these few remaining dependable names?
David’s been clobbered, Goliath stands tall
Statistically talking, these corporations are literally buying and selling on the lowest multiples of their total inventory market careers. If we band the merry brigade collectively, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Fb have a mixed money pile of $138 billion readily available — that’s excluding the a whole bunch of billions every has in liquid brief investments.
One would assume that there are not any macroeconomic considerations in any respect the best way every of them has been performing both. A rising concern for the entire above is not profitable of their respective classes — it’s truly discovering new arenas to forged their market dominance upon. We will see this in respect to Amazon’s strikes in healthcare via its Teladoc partnership, Google’s curiosity in cybersecurity via its acquisition of Mandiant, and Microsoft’s curiosity within the gaming section via its buyout of Activision Blizzard.
These giants are looking for any means they will to extend market share and dominance wherever they will — and to be frank — it’s working.
Whereas the wheels are nonetheless in movement for a number of of those offers, you’ll be able to ensure that the merger and acquisition groups at every respective group have weighed out the probability that they’ll undergo. There are not any ensures, but it surely’s wanting comparatively secure in the interim.
So what can we take from that? Bear markets are a part of the cycle, and sure, Large Tech will most likely be affected no less than partially, however the long-term scope hasn’t modified even a bit, and barring Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Google are removed from unattractive investments. Talking for ourselves, we gained’t be straying from our funding technique as these leaders transfer additional into worth territory.


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Over the coming days, we’re revealing one tip / cool thing per day that you might not have known about our latest wearable tech, SmartBand and Lifelog over on our Facebook page… After each short tutorial, we’re also giving you the chance to win one – along with our new Xperia M2 Aqua – by […]
The 2014 FIFA World CupTM has finally arrived and at Sony we’ve been as excited as we have been busy, doing all we can to help you make the most out of the world’s greatest football festival. Oh, and there’s been some other pretty cool stuff going on as well.
Fancy winning two of our newest devices, showcased at this year’s Mobile World Congress?
With Kaz and Kuni just off the stage, and a fair few announcements under our belts, we thought it might be useful to provide a quick rundown of what just happened. First off we brought you more news about the new SmartWear Experience with SmartBand SWR10. Focusing on Lifelogging, flexible style and life tools, SmartBand […]
24 February 2014, Mobile World Congress, Barcelona – After introducing a new vision for smart, wearable technology at CES 2014, Sony Mobile announced that SmartBand and Lifelog application will be available worldwide from March 2014.


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Segments From this episode
The technology on a smart phone can show marketers everything you do, from your purchases to transactions made through online banking. But Stacey Vanek-Smith reports why that wealth of information has its limits.
President-elect Obama's team is doing what they can to monitor fundraising for next week's inauguration. But even though Obama is adamant against lobbyists, there are some big loopholes. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.
Aluminum maker Alcoa has announced a quarterly loss of more than $1 billion, and it plans to cut 13% of its workforce to balance it out. Jeremy Hobson reports why stronger demand could help the company.
When Commentator Joe Bevilacqua lost his six-figure job, he left the city lifestyle and went to live with his wife in the Catskills. Since then, they have made due with what they've had, and have lived richly.
In a survey out by the National Small Business Association, many members expect deteriorating sales and job cuts. Still, there's an undercurrent of tenacious optimism. Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman explores why.
The World Economic Forum kicks off in a few weeks in Davos, Switzerland, and an advanced report signals the outlook there will be grim. Stephen Beard reports what some of the main concerns will be.
Marketplace Morning Report for Tuesday, January 13, 2009


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Tomato supplies are light due to recent poor weather in Florida and Mexico. Prices are higher. Markon First Crop (MFC) Tomatoes are available.
- Florida’s recent poor weather has impacted supplies of round, Roma, cherry, and grape tomatoes
- Rain continued this week and forecast cooler temperatures (Evening lows 40s) this weekend will continue to affect an already light volume crop
- Smaller sizes of round tomatoes (6x7s) are scarce
- Expect historically low supplies the month of February due to bloom drops and fewer acres planted
- Mexico volumes are light from last week’s cold weather/frost conditions
- Increased demand from East Coast buyers has kept markets higher
- New crops in Culiacan have good quality
- Improved weather in Culiacan, Mexico this week (low 90s) will spur fruit growth for end of January harvest
- Grape and Cherry varieties continue to experience demand exceeds supply with elevated markets
- Expect continued higher markets over the next week
Please contact your Markon customer service representative for more information.
©2024 Markon Cooperative, Inc. All rights reserved.


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Published on August 13th, 2015 | by Subhash Nair0
Shell Redefines Hospitality on Malaysian Roads
Shell Malaysia today kicked-off “Welcome to Shell”, a multi-year transformational programme that takes its cue from the hospitality industry to treat motorists as “guests”. Through meaningful personalized service, it aims to deliver the highest standard of customer satisfaction and experience at Shell stations nationwide.
Malaysia is the first market in Asia to launch the Welcome to Shell programme, which will be rolled out in phases. The comprehensive transformation programme will include service and hospitality training for exceptional customer experiences, a host of enhanced offerings and upgrades to existing Shell Select stores, fresh food and beverage options under its deli2go brand, as well as improved facilities such as suraus (prayer rooms) and toilets. Shell aims to complete this three-year transformation programme by 2017.
As one of the leading fuels retailer in the country, Shell is dedicated to listening to its customers and constantly working to improve its service.
In May 2015, Shell conducted a survey , which gleaned insights that support the importance of the programme in transforming the business. The survey revealed that nearly three-quarters (72%) of survey participants planned stops at service stations during their journey to relax. An overwhelming majority of respondents (95%) also indicated friendly store staff as vital to a positive retail experience. Respondents also revealed that, as motorists, they wanted to enjoy fresh food and beverages (94%) and a welcoming area for them to sit and relax (90%) when they visited retail stores.
As part of Welcome to Shell, a comprehensive on-site training for over 8,000 service staff is being conducted in phases, which will be completed by 2016. It is the biggest ever training programme undertaken in the history of Shell, which aims to empower every staff member to make each and every visit a positive experience for customers.
Shell will also upgrade selected service stations by revamping current Shell Select stores to a new award-winning retail design as well as launching its own in-house food and beverage section under its deli2go brand, which offers freshly brewed coffee and pastries baked on-site.
New and improved facilities are further planned for particular stations from now until 2017. These include suraus (prayer rooms) and toilets, dedicated seating lounges with Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as device charging stations.
Shell will also continue its leadership in safety standards under Welcome to Shell. Motorists can confidently turn into Shell stations if they require assistance while on the road, as station staff are trained and equipped to respond to customers in a variety of emergency situations.
While Welcome to Shell will be an ongoing journey, Malaysian motorists will begin to see more of these new enhancements and improvements as the programme continues to roll-out across the nation over the next three years.


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2019
Re: New Store Opening
Ribbon-cutting ceremony planned, December 11
Astoria Co+op’s vision for a bigger new store becomes a reality as it opens the doors to its new space on Wednesday December 11 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m.
The co-op’s newly constructed 12,000 square foot building at 2350 Marine Drive will provide four-times more space, plenty of parking, and new amenities. Every department is expanding, with a focus on fresh and a deli which will feature a hot bar, salad bar, and made-to-order foods.
“Shoppers with any dietary restriction or preference will be able to find something they love. My busy family will be trusting the organic produce and quality meats we use in the deli when making dinner can’t happen,” Co-op General Manager Matt Stanley said.
The expansion fulfills a major goal of the co-op’s five-year strategic plan which aims to create a welcoming community store and thriving local economy. The plan, adopted by the co-op’s board of directors in 2014, included extensive outreach and reflected strong public support for expansion.
The co-op raised more than $2 million in local investments from its consumer-owners. This successful capital campaign was instrumental in leveraging additional financing to make the $10-million project possible.
The new location is the former home of Astoria Plywood Mill, a worker-owned co-op. The mill shut down in the late 1980’s and the City of Astoria embarked on a major environmental cleanup so the area could be redeveloped into a mixed-use neighborhood.
The co-op, formerly known as “The Community Store,” opened 45 years ago at a storefront near the Columbian Café on Marine Drive in Astoria. While the co-op has grown and evolved over the years, it’s focus on natural, organic and local foods remains the same. The co-op is a community-owned grocery store and all shoppers are welcome, no membership needed.
The co-op’s current location at 1355 Exchange Street in Astoria will close after Sunday, December 8. The co-op plans to hold a moving sale this week, discounting groceries, in order to sell down its inventory.
While the December 11 opening is considered a “soft opening” the co-op encourages everyone to come check out the new store. A grand opening celebration is being planned for January.
Media Contact: Marketing Director, Zetty Nemlowill


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Home Tags Amora Group
Tag: Amora Group
Standing strong as a beacon of familial values and international ambition in the vast sea of hospitality groups, Amora Group’s new group owner and executive director Earp Siriphatrawan highlights the unique blend of heartfelt legacy and strategic foresight
Family-owned Amora Group is ramping up hotel investments in Thailand and Australia with the refurbishment of Amora Beach Resort Phuket and Amora Hotel Brisbane. Its...


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NATIONWIDE--The U.S.D.A. issued an urgent recall of some meat products.
Chicken, ham and beef products made by Reser's Fine Foods are being recalled because of possible listeria contamination.
The items include 12 oz. and 5 lb. packs of pre-made chicken salad, ham salad, potato salad and baked beans. They were sold under the brands Cobble Street, Cross Valley Farms and Millers and distributed to stores across the country, including New York.
List of Products Recalled


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Reuters this evening reports that Apple is investing $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing. In a statement, CEO Tim Cook explained that the investment will give Apple a chance to learn more about certain segments of the Chinese market, while it will also deliver a strong return.
“We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market,” Cook said. “Of course, we believe it will deliver a strong return for our invested capital over time as well.”
Additionally, Cook noted that this is simply what Apple is doing currently in the car market, teasing that “we will have to wait to see what the future holds.”
Read the full story at 9to5Mac.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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According to Catalin Cimpanu of Bleeping Computer: Since mid-September, a new IoT botnet has grown to massive proportions. Codenamed IoT_reaper (Reaper for this article), researchers estimate its current size at nearly two million infected devices. According to researchers, the botnet is mainly made up of IP-based security cameras, network video recorders (NVRs), and digital video recorders … Continue reading Is a virus infecting millions of internet-connected cameras coming to a construction job site near you?
Apple’s Tim Cook has been unusually candid in recent months about some of what lies ahead in the company’s normally secretive pipeline. Besides empowering the Internet of Things (IoT) as part of a home automation play, Apple has invested substantial R&D resources in developing the best Augmented Reality (AR) experience possible, the way only Apple … Continue reading You will soon be able to measure objects with your iPhone camera using Augmented Reality
Construction tool manufacturer DEWALT announced a new WiFi mesh platform for networking construction job sites and improving asset management, while enabling the future of construction technology by empowering Internet of Things devices. Continue reading “DEWALT’s WiFi Mesh technology will connect job sites, enable IoT”
Internet of Things, or IoT, is the concept in which everyday objects such as lightbulbs, thermostats, garage door openers, etc. are imbued with network connectivity and the capability for communicating with other devices. But just as is the case with our computers and other networked devices, security is an increasingly critical factor. This was made … Continue reading Another reminder of the potential risks associated with the Internet of Things (IoT)
Brave New World, indeed. One of the drawbacks to the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling devices to communicate with other devices, is that connected devices could be compromised and controlled by folks with nefarious motives.
But what if that nefarious actor was the device’s manufacturer reacting poorly to a customer’s negative review? Continue reading ““Smart” garage door opener manufacturer remotely disables customer’s equipment over dispute”
Property Brothers, Jonathon and Drew Scott, are jumping from the fire of the small screen into the frying pan of real estate development and custom homebuilding with their latest venture, Dream Homes by Scott Living. Lucy Cohen Blatter, of Mansion Global, has more in an exclusive interview with the brothers: Jonathan, a professional contractor, takes … Continue reading TV’s Property Brothers launch new venture to explore the risky world of custom homebuilding
Smart homes of the future may just as readily respond to instructions sent by text, as the voice-powered interfaces that dominate the early entrants to the market for the Internet of Things in the home. Amazon, Google and Apple all have technologies largely relying on speech recognition, but as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg discovered after … Continue reading Solving the User Interface problems associated with Smart Home technology
The upside to using modern electronic/smart door security systems in hotels across the globe is that it is really easy to check guests in and out, replace lost keys, and prevent former guests from reusing their key to gain unauthorized access.
The downside is that the smarter these security systems become, the more susceptible they become to hacking. Continue reading “Building security and safety susceptible to attack by hackers – this time it was a luxury hotel”
As the construction industry becomes more reliant upon technology, we must follow the proven examples of other industries and adopt standards for exchanging information.
It started with CAD. All of a sudden there was a way to create drawings electronically that could improve the precision of the design process and reduce the repetitive labor associated with manual drawing/drafting. As software developers saw the opportunity for creating CAD programs for the AEC industry, a bunch of different options sprouted up, each with its own unique file format. Quickly it became apparent that it was in the industry’s best interest to standardize those file formats to make it easier for design teams comprised of multiple distinct entities to collaborate. Continue reading “The Construction Industry is (finally) developing its own standards for exchanging data”


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NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 5W Public Relations, one of the largest independently-owned PR firms in the U.S., announces today that it has been named PR Agency of Record for Vetster, an innovative pet wellness platform that virtually connects pet owners to a marketplace of licensed veterinary professionals for video, chat and phone appointments.
Vetster is dedicated to building a more accessible healthcare option for pets and their owners, currently connecting users to thousands of veterinarians ready to take virtual appointments across North America. The team will be responsible for Vetster's media relations strategy, working to build consumer knowledge surrounding the brand's offerings.
"There couldn't be a better time for consumers to be introduced to Vetster," says 5WPR President of Consumer Practice, Dara A. Busch. "We believe there are fantastic opportunities for the brand's growth, as telemedicine, as well as pet services, have been trending in recent months. With a surge in new pet parents, Vetster satisfies a growing need for veterinary care that's convenient, safe, and affordable."
"Vetster is very proud to be working with the talented team at 5W promoting health and well being for pets across North America. With their help, we'll alert pet owners everywhere about our proactive on demand pet care service," said Mark Bordo, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Vetster
5WPR has added several pet services clients to their growing Pet PR division throughout 2020.
As one of the agency's fastest growing sectors, 5WPR's Health team has displayed a knack for identifying and fearlessly taking advantage of trending areas and emerging industries, including parenting & health technologies, pet wellness, and CBD. The practice was named a 2020 Top Healthcare Practice by O'Dwyer's.
About Vetster: Vetster is an innovative pet wellness platform that virtually connects pet owners to a marketplace of licensed veterinary professionals for video, chat and phone enabled appointments at any time. Using the sophisticated Vetster telemedicine technology, pet owners take a proactive approach to managing their pet's health and well-being. Whether it's for a simple pet check-up or an urgent care need, Vetster has thousands of veterinarians ready to take virtual appointments 24/7 across North America.
About 5W Public Relations 5W Public Relations is a full-service PR agency in NYC known for cutting-edge programs that engage with businesses, issues and ideas. With more than 175 professionals serving clients in B2C (Beauty & Fashion, Consumer Brands, Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, Travel & Hospitality, Technology, Nonprofit), B2B (Corporate Communications and Reputation Management), Public Affairs, Crisis Communications and digital strategy. 5W brings leading businesses a resourceful, bold and results-driven approach to communication. 5W was awarded 2020 PR Agency of The Year and CEO Ronn Torossian, was named 2020 Entrepreneur of the Year by the American Business Awards.


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HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE
KATHMANDU: Motif Engineering Pvt Ltd (MEPL), the authorised dealer of Novo7 Tablet for Nepal, has brought three of its models in the domestic market — Advanced II, ELF and Aurora. Novo7 is manufactured by Chinese company Ainol Electronics Co Ltd. Surendra Manandhar, managing director of the company says, “Novo7 targets tech enthusiasts, Android app developers and the young at heart. It also aims to attract customers who do not like to compromise on quality.”
Although the three models were introduced during the Samsung Mobile Expo and International Trade Fair, they are gaining popularity now. The tablets let users adjust between eight different languages — English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Czech, and Chinese. Most popular among the three is Advanced II, which has features such as seven inch screen size, capacitive touch screen, Wi-Fi, video recorder, external storage card, MP3 player, external port, Android market, gravity sensor, 8GB internal memory card, 300 hours standby and six hours of video playing.According to Manandhar, Advanced II, ELF and Aurora are priced at Rs 12,500, Rs 5,000 and Rs 16,000 in the Nepali market. The company also provides a year’s warranty on all its products.


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4 suspected package thieves arrested in Yakima during USPS sting operation
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Some Grinches seem to be making their way through Yakima neighborhoods.
And the United States Postal Service and Yakima police are doing something about it.
Four suspected thieves have been arrested, this week during sting operations carried out by the US Postal Service.
"We do have packages that we put out. We’re doing surveillance and some other things in order to identify these people who are stealing these packages, and then we’re making arrests based on that information we obtain," said Postal Inspector Anna Weller.
According to reports, on Tuesday morning, the post office placed GPS trackers into two packages, and left them on the doorsteps of homeowners, with their permission.
Sure enough, they say two men stole the packages from Gilbert Drive and West Yakima Avenue, and YPD was able to track them down.
32-year-old Robert Wentz and 33-year-old Joshua Schroeder were arrested and face charges of theft and possession of stolen property.
Police say they admitted to stealing other packages, too.
Bing Holm who has lived near Yakima Avenue since 1971, says package theft isn’t something new in his neighborhood.
"We’ve had several incidents like that happen, not too long ago. And, its hard to sometimes express to the drivers to put the packages in a safe, guarded place, and they’ll put them right on your front step, and all of a sudden, they might disappear," said Holm.
Holm says he tries to be the eyes and ears of the neighborhood, and looks out for his neighbor’s deliveries.
"We’ve found packages of our neighbors and we would take them and hide them till they got off work to get home, because you never know who might be dropping by and pick that package up," he said.
Holm’s neighbor Jim Grippin says while he hasn’t been a victim of package theft, he has had Christmas decorations stolen.
"We had some lawn decorations out. The aluminum deer that you can buy at a hardware store. They came and stole a couple of those and some of the laser projector lights," said Grippin.
To prevent yourself from becoming a victim of mail and package theft, the post office says retrieve your mail and packages as soon as possible, have the post office hold your mail, or ask that they leave your delivery behind a bush or in your backyard.


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Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investments Holdings (ZCCM-IH) says it is currently offering a very competitive price for buying gold in the country at K1,150 per gram (about K1.2m for 1kg of gold), which is in line with global gold prices.
ZCCM-IH public relations manager Loisa Mbatha-Kakoma told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that ZCCM-IH’s pricing has been competitive considering its presence in the market since it started and has raised the prices from the previous prices of about K250 per gram to have more market reflective pricing.
“Our pricing has actually been competitive considering our presence in the market since we started; we raised the prices from the previous unofficial exploitative ones of K250 per gram to have more market reflective pricing. We reached as high as K1,150 per gram from December 2020 to early this year,” she said.
Meanwhile, the price of gold being offered on the black market or by private buyers is currently K1,100 per gram.
Mbatha-Kakoma said in addition, ZCCM-IH does not charge any tax when buying the gold as it pays the tax on behalf of the artisanal small-scale miners.
“We do not charge any tax when buying the gold, as a matter of fact; we actually pay the tax on their behalf. Therefore, our pricing still remains competitive on the market and reflective of the global prices,” she reiterated.
Mbatha-Kakoma said the buying programme of gold is ongoing, and that ZCCM-IH has continued undertaking stakeholder awareness and engagement on the program. She said further, the company has so far set up gold-buying centres in strategic panning areas such as Lumezi, Vubwi and Rufunsa districts.
She also disclosed that from June 2020 to March 2021, the Zambia Gold Company, which is part of ZCCM-IH, has produced cumulative of 91 kilograms (KGs) of gold. Mbatha-Kakoma said that monthly production of gold varies depending on the availability of ore material.
She said in terms of formalizing artisanal small scale miners, ZCCM-IH’s role is working with licensed artisanal miners. Mbatha-Kakoma said so far, it was working with registered and licensed cooperatives in Rufunsa, Vubwi and Lumezi.
In March 2020, ZCCM-IH started buying gold from artisanal and small-scale miners in the country. However, some artisanal gold miners had complained to ZBT stating that the black market prices were more attractive, leading to most Gold not being mopped up by the formal market.


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I missed the Outlier’s Guild Moto Show last year because it was the same weekend of the Quail, but yesterday I got to check out a preview event and I have to say I’m impressed. If you’re local to LA and have an opportunity to go today (Saturday, March 31st), I’d say it’s well worth the $10 ticket at the gate ($5 if you bought it in advance). I asked Nathan to snap some photos of a few of my favorite bikes from the event for those of you that can’t make it…
Photos by Nathan May
A Yamaha WR450F that’s been given a classic Paris-Dakar treatment. It was built by Evan Scott of Iron Cobras in a partnership with Answer Racing, and it’s awesome. More information in this story on BikeEXIF.
There’s a little bit of everything. Kawasaki brought out their 2016 Flat Track Grand National Championship Winner.
Max sits on his creation.
JSK Moto brought a couple of bikes, but “Project Rhodium Omega” stands out because it’s so unique. Starting with a Yamaha GTS1000 (which came from the factory with James Parker’s “RADD” front suspension design, this bike requires multiple walkarounds to appreciate fully.
I’ve just been sharing photos of entire motorcycles, but some of the coolest stuff is in the details, like this sissy bar topper.
The show runs from 12pm-9pm today and there are a ton more bikes to check out, including part of the MotoDoffo collection, a helmet showcase, and an art gallery. What are you still doing here? Go head on over!


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Australian Franchise News – 09-11-11
Nanotek Car Cleaning has scored a place among Anthill’s Top 50 in its 2011 Annual Cool Company Awards, a national program developed in 2006 to recognise Australian companies that are doing things differently to bring about positive change.
Over 700 aspiring ‘cool companies’ were nominated for the 2011 awards, making ‘The Cools’ one of Australia’s largest business awards programs. The winners will be announced at an award’s function on Thursday 24 November 2011 and published on AnthillOnline.com.
“Judging takes into account far more than mere business variables, such as revenue and wealth.” said James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine. “The criteria is geared to consider other qualities, from the disruptive nature of the product or service to the culture of the organisation.”
“A field of hundreds was examined (and cross-examined) before our judges were able to isolate three Finalists for each of our seven categories.”
“The recognition just keeps coming!” said Nanotek CEO, Jim Cornish. “This is great for our franchisees and really confirms the validity of our new brand and it’s positioning.”
And that positioning is reflected in Nanotek’s latest print campaign which is due to hit newstands in the latest issue of Top Gear Magazine in December.
“Our franchisees are around ‘cool cars’ a lot, which I guess goes hand in hand with being a ‘Cool Company’!” said Jim. “Because of the superior finish of the Nanotek service, we get to do a lot of motor shows and new model launches for manufacturers, so if you love cars it’s definitely a ‘perk’ of owning your own Nanotek franchise.
Nanotek’s ‘Cool Company’ listing follows being named earlier this week as ‘The best innovative technology in auto business’ at the largest motor show in Southern Russia, ‘MOBI 2011’.
Nanotek Car Cleaning
Nanotek uses spray-on liquid polymer nano technology that encapsulates, lubricates and lifts dirt from the paint surface resulting in a high quality finish and a protective polymer coating that lasts up to six weeks. The process requires no water which means that Nanotek can clean a car anywhere (and saves 180L of water per wash based on Sydney Water figures).
Originally founded in Australia in 2004, Nanotek now operates in more than 12 countries around and the world (most recently launching in Belgium and Luxembourg) and is one of the most awarded franchise systems in Australia.
Request information on franchise ownership of Nanotek franchise


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If pessimism among small business owners is any indicator, the U.S. economy has not merely derailed. It has hurtled over a cliff and lies in smoking ruins at the bottom of a deep ravine.
"Every day is a struggle and if we were not strong people, I see how people can just give up," said Sheri Wolfe, who had to close her struggling business in smalltown Missouri over the summer.
Wolfe's words underscore sentiments expressed by business owners in a host of recent surveys as well as e-mail and interviews with msnbc.com. But solid evidence that small businesses are hurting on a wide scale, especially as a result of the credit crunch, is harder to come by.
“Confidence about the economy for small business is low,” said Bill Rys, tax counsel with the National Federation of Independent Business. In fact, as measured by a monthly survey of federation members that goes back 22 years, “If it’s not at an all-time low, it’s near an all-time low.”
The NFIB survey from September is echoed by other recent polls. Concerns about the economy have reached “an all-time high,” according to the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, a semi-annual survey of business owners in its seventh year. Pessimism also “is at an all-time high” in fifth annual PNC Economic Outlook survey. And respondents to the National Small Business Association’s Midyear Economic Report are “extremely anxious” about the U.S. economy, with nearly 80 percent expecting it to flat-line or enter a recession over the next 12 months.
Small is big
Small business is important to the economy because small business is Americanbusiness. The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy notes that “small firms,” defined as employing fewer than 500 employees (and most employ less than a tenth that many), make up 99.9 percent of the 27.2 million businesses across the nation. They provide about half of all private-sector jobs, generate up to 80 percent of new jobs each year and create more than half of non-farm gross domestic product.
The SBA and the business associations lack the ability to give a real-time picture in empirical terms about how small businesses are faring nationwide. “We can tell you generalized survival rates of business, but it won’t be relevant” to what is happening right now, said SBA spokesman John McDowell. That information does not appear until months or years after it was collected.
While studies show that, over time and across different industries, 66 percent of new businesses survive at least two years, 44 percent last at least four years and 31 percent are still around seven years later, “we have no way of knowing about the current situation,” McDowell said.
So trade associations, companies like American Express and journalists are left to surveys and anecdotes to fill in the blanks. In responding to such inquiries, the concerns of business owners often focus on weaker sales, higher costs and taxes.
These days, given the meltdown in financial markets and the wrangling on Capitol Hill over how to fix it, the credit crunch is getting more attention. But there are wild differences in the various polls and anecdotal accounts from business owners.
For instance, 67 percent of businesses surveyed by the National Small Business Association in August said they had been “impacted by the credit crunch,” more than double the 33 percent of a year earlier. But in the PNC survey, taken about the same time, just 25 percent said they were finding it harder to obtain credit, up from 18 percent in the spring.
And NFIB’s September survey found that “no evidence of serious credit problems has appeared on Main Street. Regular borrowing activity was reported by 34 percent of the owners, unchanged and typical of readings for the past 15 years.” Also, “Only 2 percent of the owners cited the cost and availability of credit as their No. 1 business problem (down 1 point), far from the record 37 percent reached in 1982.”
The American Express study, conducted by a credit provider that is currently tightening its lending practices, does not address the crunch.
Scores of business owners who e-mailed msnbc.com offered widely differing accounts of the impact of the financial crisis on their operations.
Wolfe shut the doors of her soy-candle gift shop in tiny Hillsboro, Mo., because “we could no longer get credit to survive this economy.” In business for three years with four part-time employees and sales of about $100,000 a year, Wolfe, 42, was braced for the “drought” that has always hit her shop in the summer. This year, however, with gas prices soaring above $4 a gallon and flooding from the nearby Mississippi River wreaking economic havoc across the region, it was too much.
“We always have enough money to get us through” the summer, she said in an interview, “but we really had to start hitting the savings earlier because of the flooding and stuff. … We had a line of credit with our local bank, but we started using it more and more, and we couldn’t get more credit. Then we started living off the credit cards, and then nothing was working.”
Wolfe, now selling real estate, and her husband, a graphic artist, are working to pay off $40,000 in debt from the failed venture.
His road is paved with credit
At the other end of the spectrum is Jim Roemer, who runs a chauffeured car service in Kaukauna, Wis. He said he has had no trouble obtaining financing to add three vehicles to his fleet this year, including the purchases of a new $46,000 Cadillac DTS and a new Cadillac Escalade on which he received 100 percent financing from GMAC. The deal on the Escalade, valued at $75,000, was finalized Sept. 30.
“It seems hard to believe that the credit markets are so tight based on my own circumstances,” Roemer said. “I do not have the greatest credit” after declaring bankruptcy in 2005. “Since then I have gotten four credit cards plus three loans for my business.”
Somewhere in between Roemer and Wolfe is Utah baker Brian Smith, who said the credit crunch is “really hurting” his family’s business but not threatening its survival. With his parents, Smith operates Pierre Country Bakery, which sells natural breads and pastries to retail customers and 55 wholesale accounts in the Salt Lake City area. The business garners $1 million in annual sales and employs 25 workers.
With prices from suppliers up and sales dropping, Smith, 30, went looking for financing that could help fund expansion and tide the business through its fall slowdown. “We have perfect credit, a score of 770 and you cannot get anything,” he said. “They’re just kind of like, ‘Well, we’ll get back to you.’”
He said the tightening credit markets have also made it impossible to consummate a deal to sell the bakery because the prospective buyers, who already own about half the business, cannot obtain financing for the rest. He finds that a real puzzle since the well-known bakery has been in business for 20 years and churns out 500 loaves of bread and 350 pastries a day.
J. Michael Feeks, who spent 30 years in the banking industry and is now a principal in the Bank Experts Group consulting firm, said he doesn’t put too much credence in “anecdotal stuff going around” about the impact of the Wall Street meltdown on small business credit lines.
“I’d be very careful of that,” he said. “Bankers are very reluctant to do anything that is going to make a situation worse. I just can’t imagine too many banks pulling back on the credit lines that are financing receivables, inventories, things like that. That would really hurt the business of the customer and you’d end up with a bad loan.”
Location, location, location
Geography also plays a key role in the fate of small business. Credit and revenue concerns are not the same in an Idaho boomtown as they are in a Detroit suburb.
Feeks, who also is the chief financial officer of the tech firm Concurrent Technologies Corp., with 50 employees and $10 million in annual revenue, said his own company has an ample credit line that has not been affected by the economic turmoil.
That’s no consolation to former candle maker Wolfe, who said that until she can get up to speed with her real estate career, the credit crunch has moved from the business realm to the home front.
“We are $1,500 in the hole every month,” she said. "We are trying desperately to work with our mortgage company to get some relief until this crisis is over.”
© 2013 msnbc.com Reprints


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Clarivate Analytics Unleashed India’s Innovation Growth Path
NEW DELHI: Clarivate Analytics has unveiled its ‘India Innovation: Trends’ report analyzing the patenting activity in India from 2013-2015. The report briefly touches upon the innovation landscape in Asia and takes a deep dive into key technology sectors of the country.
While the number of patent publications in China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia has steadily increased, there has been a downward trend in patent publications in Japan and South Korea as reﬂected by the compounded-annual-growth-rate. As per the report, India has the highest growth of 26% in terms of published patents amongst the analyzed countries.
Data in the report is compiled using Thomson Innovation, Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI), Derwent Patent Citations Index (PCI) and Thomson Data Analyzer.
Speaking about the report, Arvind Pachhapur, South Asia Head, Clarivate Analytics, said, “It is encouraging to witness that innovation in India has gained momentum and grown more diverse over the past few years. India has become a preferred destination for multinational companies to power their R&D. India headquartered companies are also increasingly proactive in protecting their intellectual property. Several initiatives by the government aimed at promoting innovation and intellectual property promise to amplify this growth trend.”
Key Insights of the Report
Further, India has become a key player in the world in terms of exporting goods and services and this has made the Indian companies to realize the importance of protecting their inventions in various geographies.
Polymers & Plastics, Computing, Pharmaceuticals and Telecommunications are the top 4 DWPI categories under focus for the India priority patents published during 2013-15.
- Polymers & Plastics: This contributed 18 percentof the total patents published in the top 10 DWPI categories in India. Under this category, ‘medical, dental and veterinary application’ is the key area of focus
- Computing:This contributed 17 percent of the total patents published in the top 10 DWPI categories in India. In this category, software products and database applications are the key areas of focus
- Pharmaceuticals: This contributed 15 percent of the total patents published in the top 10 DWPI categories in India. Innovation in the Pharmaceutical category is focused mainly on Drug combinations, anti-inflammatory drugs and natural products made of plant extracts. Indian headquartered pharmaceutical companies top the list of key assignees with India priority patents in the pharmaceutical sector.
- Telecommunications: This contributed 11 percentof the total patents published in the top 10 DWPI categories. Activity in the Telecommunications category is driven by handheld mobile communication and digital radio link communication.
Apart the above mentioned top 4 categories, other key categories contributing to the patents published in the top 10 DWPI categories in India are Electric power engineering (9%), Food and fermentation (8%), Automobiles (7%); Semiconductors and electronics (6%); Instrumentation and measuring systems (5%); Metallurgy (4%).


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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the world’s largest consumer technology exhibition and showcases the products likely to appear in our shops in the coming months. While CES 2017 was considered revolutionary due to the Alexa digital assistant popping up everywhere, this year is more of a continuation of last year’s trends but with improved capabilities. This includes some helpful improvements for people with disabilities and some innovative proof-of-concept products that are likely to lead to digital access improvements in the future.
The announcement that received the most attention was LG’s rollable 65” OLED TV. As noted in the video below, the prototype could be useful in a house with limited space whereby you could use it as a full-sized TV for watching movies or shrink it down to be used as a computer monitor.
While this model is only for demonstration purposes as critical features such as how to connect devices to it is still being worked out, this may prove to be significant in a few years’ time as the technology becomes more defined. From a vision impairment perspective there are significant benefits to making a TV screen instantly bigger to see text and images on the screen, then instantly put the screen back to a smaller size for other users. However, the implication I see as being particularly exciting about this is its portability. Imagine having a mobile phone that can fit in your pocket, but with the press of a button turn into a screen the size of a home TV. As a vision impaired person, I see this as a great step forward and I’m looking forward to seeing how this proof-of-concept evolves.
Digital assistants are now getting screens
At last year’s CES Amazon’s Alexa stole the show with the digital assistant being integrated into a variety of different devices. This year Google has struck back with its integration of its Digital Assistant now reaching 400 million different devices. While Alexa-based digital assistants such as the Amazon Echo have had tremendous success in the US, it’s Google that has been the winner this year due to its international push, beating out Amazon in markets such as Australia where the Amazon Echo has only just been released.
In terms of access potential, the convenience of using a digital assistant has been available for a few years now. If you have a mobility impairment, being able to simply speak to a Google Home or Amazon Echo to turn on a light switch or play music has been a significant step forward, and likewise for people with a vision impairment, home automation using a digital assistant makes it much easier to achieve things. In the video below, the Google booth at CES 2018 even demonstrated the ability to connect a device that cooks popcorn!
However, while the ability to provide hands-free and non-visual commands to achieve everyday tasks is a fantastic thing for people with vision and mobility impairments, the new trend in digital assistants which is likely to provide an improvement is the addition of screens. While it’s great to make popcorn, ,the video about the Google booth also highlights that several manufactures are providing displays for digital assistants to show information such as recipes while cooking. Although this feature is available in a limited form already using the Google Chromecast, the version of Alexa on Amazon’s Fire TV and some other Echo devices, the integration of a screen will have tremendous benefits for people who are Deaf or hearing impaired as they will be able to visually see the information provided by the digital assistant. This opens new possibilities such as the use of a Google Home-type device for an office reception desk whereby the results can be conveyed using both audio and visual feedback.
While there were many other products that are likely to have a profound impact on people with disabilities such as driverless cars and drones that deliver people to their destination rather than packages, their availability to the public is unlikely to be this year. However, there are a few minor improvements to existing products which will have a benefit to people with disabilities such as the domination of wireless charging for mobile phones and improvements to Virtual and Augmented Reality.
While wireless charging may not seem particularly exciting and not particularly new, its inclusion in the latest iPhone models has been flagged as a time for industry to include the feature in more affordable devices rather than just the high-end phones. The other good news is that the charging technology is standard across different devices meaning that charging mechanisms are likely to become more affordable. From a digital access perspective wireless charging can be very helpful, especially for a person with a mobility impairment as the phone can just be place don a table to charge rather than having to find and plug in a cable.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are also not exactly new concepts, but their move towards affordability and as a standalone experience not requiring a computer or phone to be attached is a notable trend from CES this year. Benefits in relation to digital access are particularly notable in terms of simulation of real-world environments for navigation and mobility, as a rehabilitation device and a good way for people without a disability to get a better understanding of a physical limitation. As these devices continue to be less cumbersome and more affordable, its significance will continue to grow.
Overall this year’s CES is more about evolutionary benefits rather than revolutionary with improvements to digital assistants, wireless charging and virtual reality all likely to trickle into our homes during the course of the year. However, concepts such as the roll-up TV demonstrate that exciting things are on the horizon, and I’m still excited about the driverless car when the time comes that I can get one. Additional information on CES products can be found at the CNet CES 2018 news website.


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* Ring members worried digital success will make ring redundant
* Dealers shift ring trades to phone bartering
* LME dropped planned electronic matching system
By Eric Onstad
LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - Wheeling and dealing that used to take place in the London Metal Exchange ring - the last open-outcry floor in Europe - has shifted to the phone as dealers resist an advertised shift to electronic trading in a fight for their jobs.
The 143-year-old LME temporarily closed its ring, a circle of padded, red-leather benches, on March 23 when the coronavirus lockdown began.
It was the first closure since World War II at the world’s biggest market for industrial metals and ended the theatre of arcane hand signals and frenzied shouting by ring traders.
The LME said it will re-open the ring, but many worry that the closure will become permanent if digital trading succeeds.
So to stay relevant, dealers have shifted trade to telephone bartering. At the same time, leading members have managed to axe a new electronic system for closing prices.
“The floor was quite quick to react to say okay we’re going to work as if we’re in the rings so we’re going to be calling around,” a trader at a ring firm said.
“Although it’s working without the floor, a lot of these trades are being done manually.”
The trader and other sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
The LME is unique among exchanges in that it allows users to lock in prices for individual days for the first three months forward and weekly up to six months - meaning there are hundreds of potential dates to trade and adjust.
Many of those trades, referred to as carry trades, are being matched through inter-office business and later entered in the LME’s electronic Select system.
“Select is not made for those kind of trades. The thing that the ring is good for is allowing you to shout out a random carry date order and that gets voiced all the way through the eco-system,” an analyst said.
The ring closure has prompted the bid-offer spreads to widen, especially on further forward contracts, an executive at a ring-dealing firm said, which can mean customers have to pay more.
Already the ring is a small club with only nine LME Category 1 members allowed to trade in the arena, where the complex trades to adjust contracts generate extra revenue.
Worried a successful shift to digital trading would kill the open outcry ring, top LME members prevented the use of a new Trade at Settlement (TAS) system during the closure, industry sources said.
“I think the fears of the ring dealing members were if the TAS started working correctly and everyone was using that, what is the use for the floor then?” one trader said.
The LME, owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. , conducted a trial of its TAS electronic order book system last year but decided in February to retain floor trading to set final prices of the day.
The exchange was set to revive the system in March when it closed the ring.
“Following a comprehensive discussion at the LME User Committee, the LME is now not proposing to proceed with this TAS deployment,” the LME said in a statement, adding the committee believed the current pricing mechanism was working.
The ring has its roots in the early 19th-century when the Royal Exchange, the world’s first commodities market, became so crowded that metal merchants gathered at the Jerusalem coffee house on Cornhill in the City of London to conduct business.
Britain this week began cautiously to ease lockdown measures, but there are no plans yet to re-open the ring.
“We – with the support of the majority of our ring dealing members – do not currently plan to re-open the ring until such time as it would be consistent with the government’s social distancing guidance,” the LME said. (Additional reporting by Pratima Desai; Editing by Veronica Brown and Barbara Lewis)


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If you follow gadget-bloggers on Twitter like some of us do, then you know that the biggest hit out of this year’s consumer electronics show in Las Vegas so far is something called the Nvidia Project Shield.
It’s a hand-held gaming system – a modern day Gameboy, so to speak – powered by Google’s mobile operating system Android.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
We slot it in as a competitor to the iPod Touch for one segment of users: teenage boys.
This is what it looks like:
The Verge does a great job of going over speeds and feeds and features and whatnot:
The processor is capable of pushing 4K resolution video over HDMI to external displays. It includes advanced sound processing that Nvidia says rivals Beats Audio-equipped laptops, and a 33Wh battery that provides five to ten hours of play time or 24 hours of HD video playback. It features a 5-inch, 720p Retinal multitouch display with 294ppi pixel density, and has a slot for micro-SD card expansion. The Shield runs Android — pure Android without a skin, as Nvidia insists — and includes Google’s apps for Gmail and the Play Store.
Big picture, this is another sign that one strength Android has over Apple’s operating system, iOS, is that it can fit into all sorts of handheld gadgets – from phones, to tablets, to “phablets,” to cameras, and now, to portable gaming systems.
One more picture:


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Tagged Enterprise Holdings
June 25, 2014 in Rental Operations
Based on early rental reservation data from all three Enterprise Holdings’ brands — Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car — there is an 11% year-over-year spike in advance reservations at the airport.
May 28, 2014 in Rental Operations
Using five of its major U.S. airport locations, Enterprise Holdings — owner and operator of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands — compares its refueling fees to five other major car rental companies.
May 23, 2014
Enterprise Holdings took part in a White House meeting discussing the development of airport-specific plans to maximize the economic impact of travel and tourism.
April 29, 2014
For the ninth year, the Arbor Day Foundation will use funding from the Enterprise Holdings Foundation to plant 1 million trees this year throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. By the end of 2014, Enterprise will have helped plant 9 million trees.
April 23, 2014
From now until August 15, golf fans can register daily through National Car Rental‘s Facebook page for the chance to win a four-person VIP package to the 2014 PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Southampton, Bermuda.
April 16, 2014 in Rental Operations
Enterprise Holdings has recently purchased OccasionalCar, a Denver-based car-sharing company. OccasionalCar will operate under its current brand through the end of the summer.
April 15, 2014
After first trying out new technology in a rental car, about half (49%) of car rental customers have added features or technology to their "wish list" when purchasing a car, according to a Enterprise Holdings survey.
April 9, 2014 in Mobility
At this year’s Car Rental Show in Las Vegas, keynote speaker Pat Farrell, chief marketing & communications officer for Enterprise Holdings, discussed how car rental businesses need to adapt to innovative technologies and changing customer preferences, according to a press release by Enterprise Holdings.
April 3, 2014 in Rental Operations
Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental will launch a 25% discount off daily rates for all car rentals at participating locations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Promotion is valid on rentals picked up after April 21 and returned by June 30.
April 1, 2014
Enterprise Holdings is hiring college-educated, career-oriented men and women throughout the United States and Canada for its management training and internship programs. These locations were recently recognized with a Founding Values Award.
Auto Focus Blog: A blog covering fleets, auto rental and the business of cars
Some say this attitude is more prevalent in the millennial generation. Trend or not, your focus should be on dealing with it effectively.
Our survey of small commercial fleets reveals their top pain points, but also shows that just a little more focus on fleet could drive big improvements.
An event at Chrysler’s Chelsea Proving Grounds offered a walk-around of the new Ram ProMaster City, a Ram ProMaster test drive, a test of diesel fuel economy and, finally, a worthy trial for a Power Wagon.
Job Finder: Access Top Talent. Fill Key Positions.


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Apple Store a Big Source of Cellphone Sales; Best Buy Is Key for Carriers
The carrier stores are still the dominant place for Americans to get their new cellphones, but two other retailers — Apple and Best Buy — have emerged as significant channels.
Apple, of course, sells only iPhones, but accounts for about 11 percent of retail phone sales, according to a survey from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. Best Buy, which sells phones from all major carriers and all the big operating systems, accounts for 13 percent of sales.
“Surprisingly, in light of its recent financial troubles, Best Buy has significant power,” CIRP’s Michael Levin said.
Because they work with all the major operating systems and carriers and the big phone brands, Best Buy has emerged as one of the few places to really see it all.
“So, all major manufacturers and operating system producers, and even the major carriers, need Best Buy,” Levin said, noting the moves by Apple and Samsung to build store-within-a-store outlets inside Best Buy.
Mass merchants such as Target, Walmart and Costco are also worth noting, collectively accounting for 12 percent of sales — that’s about as much as Best Buy and Apple sell individually. According to the survey, Amazon makes up seven percent of sales; eBay, two percent.
Of the carriers, Verizon gets the biggest proportion of sales — 57 percent — from its own stores, while the other three major carriers each get roughly half of their sales from their own stores. Both Verizon and AT&T have been working on plans designed to make their stores even more of a destination.
When it comes to the iPhone itself, Apple accounts for about a quarter of iPhone sales, with AT&T generating 21 percent and Verizon 18 percent. Sales of the iPhone at Best Buy account for 13 percent, while Sprint, Amazon and the mass retailers each account for five percent.


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PATTAYA, Thailand – In a vibrant celebration of lights and culture, the Diwali Festival 2023, organized by the Thai-Indian Business Association Pattaya (TIPBA) and the Indian Community Pattaya (ICP), in collaboration with the Pattaya City, took center stage on November 18. The festival, strategically planned to promote tourism and raise awareness of Diwali, captivated both Thai and international tourists.
The event featured a tapestry of activities, enticing visitors with booths showcasing exquisite Indian jewelry, a gastronomic journey of Indian flavors, and vibrant Diwali-themed light and sound displays. The ground came alive with intricate rangoli art, and the air was filled with the warmth of Diya decorations.
Mayor Poramet Ngampichet, a fervent advocate for cultural exchange, underscored the event’s cultural significance. He spoke about the festival’s role in fostering beautiful ties between Thailand and India, expressing hope that it would not only showcase Indian traditions but also provide support to local SMEs presenting Indian products. Moreover, the festival aimed to actively engage the Indian tourist demographic, recognizing their pivotal role in boosting tourism in Pattaya.


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All non-passive YouTube users (ie: anyone who wants to leave or reply to comments on videos) must now create a Google+ identity and link it to their YouTube channel.
Cynics (such as myself) are seeing this as a nasty piece of *evil* blackmail on the part of Google as it attempts to boost the numbers of G+ users and the levels of activity within the G+ community.
Unfortunately, in doing this, Google seems to have completely forgotten the KISS strategy that made their search engine so distinctive and a darling of Net users everywhere. The YouTube comments system was also very simple, very clean and surprisingly effective.
Now however, users must fight their way through the acres of dross that are associated with a Google+ account and although the new system offers a few extra features, much of the essential core functionality of the previous YouTube comments system has been destroyed.
There are presently several online petitions demanding that Google reinstate the old comments system and numerous "rant videos" from upset YouTube users but perhaps the best demonstration of how poorly this forced change has gone down is the like/dislike ratio and the nature of the comments on Google's own YouTube promotional video for these changes.


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Crown Paints has donated a bench made from recycled paint containers to celebrate the first year of a safety partnership with Derby Homes and Bell Group.
The Clinical Pharmacy Congress 2017 will see Abloy UK showcase its range of high security solutions for the pharmacy and healthcare sectors.
Twycross Zoo has turned to programmable mechatronic CLIQ keys and cylinders from ASSA ABLOY for improved security and access.
The SMARTair KeyPad Escutcheon adds PIN-powered control to any door, protecting areas from unauthorised users without needing wires or software installation.
Keyless entry systems are becoming more popular in the UK. Everyone needs a secured home, but not everyone knows how to best protect their building.
Schueco UK has announced its new and updated version of the Schueco ASS 77 PD.HI, its manually operated panoramic sliding door system.
The former Terry’s chocolate factory in York has undergone a £38 million conversion, transforming it into a development of 173 luxury apartments.
The Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) has announced it will be exhibiting at the Security & Counter Terror Expo at the Olympia London.
Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool recently sought an upgrade to its access control following a £35 million refurbishment.
GEZE has introduced a ‘touchless’ manual activation solution for automatic door operation.


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Vide e Caffè CEO Darren Levy reveals product delivery at South Africa’s largest coffee chain soared during the pandemic, underlining a global trend towards digital coffee shop transactions.
South Africa-born food chain Galito’s will soon have 20 outlets located in Kenya, as the piri-piri chicken brand eyes further growth on the African continent.
Ayummy innovation from Lancewood – the dairy company in the Libstar stable… With convenience and taste in mind, it has launched ‘Piece o’ Cake, a ready-made cheesecake mix for an effortless, mouth-watering alternative to baking a traditional cheesecake.
Food Lover’s Market has announced expansion plans for 2021 which will see the grocery retailer spend R250 million on a number of new locations and refurbish older format stores.
The restaurant and bar sector has been absolutely slammed by the Covid-19 lockdowns and draconian policies such as prohibition. The data on income generated by the sector make for reading so grim it could drive one to drink. But takeaways and fast food are showing signs of recovery.
With the brakes applied in lock-down and a nationwide ban on alcohol spilling over into the New Year, letting your hair down flamed by one’s favourite tipple was turned on its head as spare rooms, car boots and garden sheds were hastily converted as ‘stocking up’ was adopted overnight as a national pass time.
With hard seltzers now a buzzword on the South African drinks scene, Freely has been launched in step with the growing global trend towards alternative refreshment for a lighter, more balanced lifestyle.
For the past century, Kellogg’s has grown from creating the first-ever breakfast cereal and being known as a Corn Flakes company, to shaping an industry and offering a range of innovative food products. Kellogg’s continues this spirit of innovation with two new local launches, designed to tap into the snacking craze.
Good-quality tomatoes have been tough to find in recent weeks, as heavy rains at the start of the year in the Limpopo valley wreaked havoc on harvests.
The strengthening of food systems must be an integral part of efforts to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and to build resilience in Africa, said African Development Bank (AfDB) director-general for Southern Africa Leila Mokaddem.
The Poultry Master Plan, as implemented by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), is propelling new entrants and emerging role-players in the industry to build their businesses and expand markets, according to South African Poultry Association broiler organisation GM Isaak Breitenbach.
The group is now also ‘reviewing’ its stores outside of SADC as part of its turnaround plan, which it says is still on track despite Covid-19.


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Coca Cola goes green to attract older consumers
Coke is going green in Britain. The American soft drinks group will today announce plans for a UK launch of Coca-Cola Life, a low-calorie version of its core brand that is sold in green rather than red packaging.
The new variant, first piloted in Argentina and Chile last year, has 36 per cent fewer calories and sugar than regular Coke and is partly sweetened with stevia, a naturally sourced leaf extract that is used by the company in Sprite.
Although Coca-Cola GB recently announced the launch of a new water, Glacéau vitaminwater, the new green Coke is the first Coca-Cola drink to be introduced here since the arrival in 2006 of Coca-Cola Zero, which is both calorie and sugar-free.
While Coke Zero is aimed at


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In response to Byron Burger's recent immigration controversies, activists released thousands of cockroaches, crickets and locusts into two of its restaurants on Friday night, causing them to close its doors.
But are they missing a trick? After all, insects are currently being heralded as the next big thing in the post-workout muscle-building world.
And why's that? Well, we're glad you asked. Here's why crickets and roaches could be crawling into a burger near you.
Ditch the steak and pick up the crickets. That’s according to a new study published in European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Why? The world’s highest-quality protein source lives underground. And by that we don’t mean some new hipster joint but literally souterrain.
Nutritionally speaking, the benefits of eating insects outstrip those you’d associate with anything reared in a barnyard, says Dr Arnold van Huis, etymology researcher at Holland’s Wageningen University. Before you bug out, consider the facts: ounce for ounce, crickets provide more than twice the protein of beef. And that protein happens to be the best kind, delivering the nine essential amino acids your muscles require to get bigger and stronger.
The flavour is nothing to sniff at, either – most grubs are nutty, while crickets have a taste uncannily similar to shrimp, making them perfect for stir-fries. If going whole-bug gives you the creeps, you can get cricket flour (perfect for Paleo-style snacks and bulking out porridge) for around a tenner (amazon.co.uk), plus we’d wager it’ll be crawling into your local Wholefoods isles soon enough. So what are you waiting for? Here are three reasons it's time to time to get a bug in your system.
1. Insests contain more energy
You'll get 200% more iron by swapping crickets for red meat
2. They taste better than meat (seriously)
In Dr van Huis’s experiments at Wageningen University90% of people trialled preferred the taste of insect meatballs to regular beef ones.
3. It build up your muscles faster than meat
There is five times more muscle-fixing magnesium is found in crickets compared to cow
How to make: Buffalo Worm Burgers
Curious? Let insects worm their way onto your dinner plate with Eat Grub’s protein-packed burger recipe.
Ingredients (serves 2)
Minced beef, 700G
Cayenne pepper, pinch
Worcester sauce, 1tbsp
Buffalo worms, 100g
Place the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with your fingers. Mould into patties and cook in a large saucepan for five minutes. Finish under the grill for a further two. Serve in seeded bread buns with a garnish of your choosing. Lots of it.


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With the first legal recreational marijuana set to be sold January 1st, the city of Denver has launched a new marijuana website to explain their new marijuana laws to residents, businesses, and tourists alike.
You go can go to www.colorado.gov/marijuanainfodenver to get most of your questions answered regarding what is and is not allowed within the city.
Denver is the biggest city in the state and one of few large localities to not put in place a temporary moratorium against retail marijuana stores. As a result it will likely get much of the early pot tourism to the state.
The new site answers many of the questions that would be most important to tourists. Ranging from how much a non-resident can buy at a time, “Non-residents can purchase up to ¼ ounce at a time.” to whether or not you can smoke at a hotel, “It is up to the discretion of the hotel if it allows marijuana smoke to be consumed in their smoking rooms.”
It is a useful resource for anyone planning to visit the Denver next year.


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A new VMware and Novell partnership will eventually push all VMware virtual appliances onto Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES).
The deal, announced today, brings much-needed consistency to VMware's virtual appliances and gives SUSE a competitive boost against the Red Hat and Ubuntu Linux distributions.
"This is a very good move," said VMware customer Mark Vaughn, an enterprise architect for a large information services firm. "Novell is a large company. It has a strong focus on security and a quality product."
VMware-Novell deal details
The new pact gives VMware the right to distribute the update stream for SLES to customers with active vSphere 4 support and subscription (SnS) contracts. At the same time, VMware is now authorized to support SUSE Linux.
VMware already distributes vCenter CapacityIQ, Update Manager and many other products as virtual appliances. The company will eventually add more, including Zimbra hosted email, to its virtual appliance portfolio, said Bogomil Balkansky, vice president of product marketing.
Before now, VMware had not been systematic about which Linux distributions underpin its virtual appliances, delivering one on Ubuntu, for example, and another on Debian.
"This OEM agreement gives us a good vehicle to standardize all the virtual appliances that VMware distributes," Balkansky said.
The shift to SLES will be gradual, he said.
"There will be no big bang," he added. "Chances are, different products will do the conversion on their own timeline."
Novell SUSE Studio already makes it easy to output a SUSE-based appliance to VMware, Vaughn said. In his own practice, he already moved to OpenSUSE after years as a Red Hat user, citing superior hardware drivers and easier setup and administration.
Why not Red Hat?
Red Hat still leads Novell in terms of Linux market share by a wide margin, leading some to wonder why VMware didn't partner with that company instead.
SUSE's main appeal is its broad range of independent software vendor certifications, not the least of which is SAP, Balkansky said.
"SAP is a beachhead application for us," he said. "We have a very good relationship with SAP, and SUSE is the preferred Linux distribution for SAP."
At the same time, Red Hat has been pursuing its own virtualization strategy -- first with Xen, and more recently with KVM -- putting it directly in VMware's crosshairs.
Furthermore, Red Hat licensing policies aren't as virtualization-friendly as Novell's, Vaughn said. Red Hat's continued push to offer platform virtualization and its virtualization-unfriendly licensing policies are driving large organizations to Novell, he said.
VMware-Novell: A boon for SUSE Linux?
VMware administrators stand to gain from standardization, but Novell is perhaps the biggest beneficiary of this agreement.
"Our goal is to be the more interoperable and performant Linux OS across a variety of virtualization platforms," said Joe Wagner, Novell's senior vice president and general manager of global alliances. "Teaming up with VMware hits all those points."
The VMware-Novell deal does not affect Novell's commitment to distributing virtualization software based on Xen and KVM, Wagner said.
"Our strategy is still to distribute and support popular open source virtualization environments," he said.
Beyond providing foundational virtualization technology -- where the company has had middling success -- Novell's aim is to "be the best guest that we can be," he added.
Some solutions providers said this VMware-Novell deal will boost SUSE's profile relative to other enterprise Linux distros.
"This is a coup for SUSE Linux, because they've been blessed by the leader in virtualization," said Frank Basanta, director of Systems Solutions, a national systems integrator that partners with VMware and Novell, as well as Red Hat.
Questions about Novell's long-term viability swirled this winter, capped by a $2 billion buyout offer in March that the company rejected. But when it comes to its SUSE business, some Novell partners said the company has been proactive and aggressive.
"I've seen dramatic changes in Novell's marketing approach and how they handle the channel," said Gregg Rosenberg, owner and chief technology officer at RICIS, Inc., a professional services organization in Tinley Park, Ill.
For example, the SUSE license activation process used to be a "nightmare," but it's now "almost a trivial process," he said. RICIS' Red Hat sales fell in the past year, while SUSE sales rose, he added.
However, it remains to be seen whether VMware's blessing will have a material effect on SUSE license sales.
Novell has made a legitimate push for the software appliance business with SUSE Studio, said Bill Claybrook, president of New River Marketing Research and a former Novell executive.
However, "I never thought they would make a lot of money off of software appliances -- unless they sold an awful lot of appliances," he said.
There's a reason that Red Hat hasn't pushed in the software appliance business, he added: "because they don't see that as a money-making proposition."
So, is VMware's blessing enough to turn Novell's fortunes around? Maybe, maybe not, Vaughn said.
"It won't necessarily be a financial boon, but it's definitely a hearts-and-minds win," he said.
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By Jeff Parr
When I began my solar business 12 years ago, I felt good about helping customers to save money while also saving our environment. I made it my life’s mission. Today, I am concerned that an upcoming California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) decision may severely harm my livelihood and end the good we’re doing for the planet, for working class families, for businesses, for everyone – all because utilities are aiming to force an end to rooftop solar growth in California.
Later this year, the CPUC will decide the next phase of net energy metering (NEM). NEM is the policy that enables consumer solar; it has made rooftop solar affordable and accessible in the Golden State. But the state’s largest utilities are lobbying hard to lower the benefits of rooftop solar, proposing changes that will make consumer solar nearly twice as expensive as it is today.
Their proposal would make it such that low- and middle-income families wouldn’t be able to see a reasonable return on their investment.
The utilities claim solar panels can only be afforded by the wealthy, causing lower income Californians to pay more for traditional energy on the backs of the rich. I can tell you from first-hand experience in this industry that this is not true.
Today, nearly half of the homeowners we work with are working families. Other clients include schools, houses of worship, non-profits, multi-family housing, affordable housing and others. In the past five years, my company has installed solar panels on 19 schools, 15 houses of worship, and 20 non-profit organizations – places where money is better spent helping our community rather than footing high energy bills.
Just as the solar market is shifting to hard-working, average California households and businesses because of its affordability under the current NEM policy, the utilities want to remove those benefits. Now that solar is a less expensive cleaner alternative than the utilities – now that it’s democratized and affordable for everyone and can become ubiquitous technology – the utilities are making a false argument about it only benefiting the wealthy. In reality, for the past five years it’s been working families driving my business.
My company is able to employ more than 80 hard-working individuals in well-paying careers with benefits, supplying solar systems to our customers of all income levels throughout the Bay Area. As an employer, I’m concerned about what a future CPUC decision on NEM will mean for my employees, some of whom have been with me for 10 years.
NEM helped more than a million Californians become solar customers because it makes solar energy more affordable, allowing customers to see a return on the investment of adding solar panels and battery storage to their homes and businesses. These Californians have helped our state become one of the greenest in the world.
Especially given the threats we’re facing now, like climate change induced wildfires, the CPUC must ensure that the next iteration of NEM promotes continued growth in the distributed solar market, protects solar careers, and enables future consumer solar opportunity for everyone.
Jeff Parr is the founder and CEO of Solar Technologies in Santa Cruz.


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A new report released by the Commerce Commission looks at how New Zealand compares with the rest of the world for how much we pay for broadband and mobile phone data. And, how much prices for broadband have changed since 2019.
The Commerce Commission's Annual Telecommunications Monitoring Report 2020 revealed big changes in the way we live and work. Both internet and mobile phone use jumped during lockdown periods and beyond as we all adjusted to new ways of working-from-home.
Our average monthly mobile data use jumped up 22% and broadband data use jumped 37% compare with 2019. But how about how much we’re paying for broadband and mobile data?
When we compare the price of fixed line broadband to 2019 the report shows some interesting trends:
The report looked at how much New Zealanders pay for the most common type of broadband plan - unlimited data on a 100Mbps speed connection.
And New Zealanders pay more than the OECD average, but significantly less than Australia which pays the most out of the countries compared.
We compare a bit better when we look at the price Kiwis pay for mobile data use. The average cost for a mobile phone plan with at least 2 gigabits of data is cheaper than the OECD average, but above Australia.
Given that high speed broadband plans have become more affordable from 2019 to 2020, this is a good time to compare plans and make sure you aren’t paying more than you should for broadband.


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Keeping Up With The Kardashians star Kim Kardashian treated her fans with a casual mirror selfie on Instagram recently. Her outfit included a bodysuit from her own brand, SKIMS. She paired it with a brown mermaid-tailed skirt and a matching handbag.
The bodysuit costs approximately Rs 4650 while her reflecting sunglasses from the Kim Kardashian x Carolina Lakme 2019 collaboration cost around Rs 6600.
Kim was recently in the news for her recent SKIMS ad which went viral after an editing fail. The ad showcased a distorted finger allegedly resulting from a photoshop failure and went viral online. That directly added to the discourse on the unrealistic beauty stantards and body images of Hollywood.
“The SKIMS commercial that aired last week featuring the Fits Everybody collection did initially have an error as a result of the video losing its quality during the uploading process,” a spokesperson of SKIMS said.
“Immediately after it was noticed by the team, the video was pulled, and the glitch-free version was uploaded and ran for the remainder of our time on air. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused Kim and our customers.”
Kim is currently busy filming the last season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. It will premiere is September, 2021.


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Agri-Tech Innovation Hub
Part of Agri-EPI, the Northern hub offers office, lab and workshop spaces for startups and SMEs, providing necessary resources and industry connections.
Meet Beta Bugs Founder
Behind the scenes of insect genetics firm, Beta Bugs, with founder & CEO Thomas Farrugia talking about the journey so far, recent funding round and why he chose to locate company in Midlothian, Scotland.
Roslin Technologies has found a way to grow sausages from animal cells in the lab at Roslin Innovation Centre and this technology is reported on BBC Click.
A Beta Bugs bug breeder talks about insect breeding, such as black soldier fly, as an alternative protein source for animal feed. Part of EIT Food ‘Day in the Life’ video series.
UKTI: Farm to Fork
UK businesses are leading the way with world class scientists and researchers; a forward thinking agriculture community; cutting edge manufacturers and processors; and passionate producers and retailers.


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As we get ever so close to the next generation iPhone launch event next week, more and more leaks are coming out. Thanks to plethora of iPhone leaks and news, we known almost certainly know everything about iPhone 7 (or whatever Apple decides to call it). Appearance-wise iPhone 7 look almost identical to the current Apple flagship devices iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Only change, according to rumors, is going to be realigned antenna band on the back of the iPhone 7. Apple will surely try to compensate for this lack of design change by introducing new colors to lure in customers. Rumors suggests that Apple is all set to launch a Space Black iPhone 7 model.
As you can see in the picture from Macotakara, that Apple will keep space grey color but add a new space black to the lineup as well. This means Apple is going to sell five different colored iPhone devices.
The Space Black color iPhone, if you look closely resembles the Space Black Apple Watch or Mac Pro 2013 in color and shades. Black metal clearly looks different from space grey and people should not have any difficulty in differentiating between the Space Grey model and the Space Black variant that has a glossier touch.
If you remember iPhone 5 came in Slate shade but the Space Black on iPhone 7 looks a lot darker and glossier. From the SIM trays in the picture we can also see the matte Space Grey model will also be slightly darker than the once on iPhone 6S models but it can be said with surety since its only a picture and lightening makes it tougher to decipher the exact color contrast.
The Macotakara article that we shared above also alludes that the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will come with optical image stabilization feature, which is a departure from current lineup in which on the larger phone model has optical image stabilization. If rumors are true, the CMOS sensor will also be getting a bumper increase in the new variant.
See all purported iPhone 7 SIM Trays side-by-side: Space Black, Silver, Space Grey, Rose Gold, Gold.
As we saw in previous leaks that iPhone 7 Plus 5.5-inch device will support a bigger camera with dual-camera sensors, first time in any Apple iPhone device. You will now be able to optical zoom on iPhone using dual camera.
Apple is going to launch iPhone 7 devices on September 7 at a press event in San Francisco. Stay tuned to get live updates of the event, who knows Apple might throw in Macbook update surprise during the event.


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Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas tells The Verge that many people are using chatbots like regular search engines. It makes sense to offer information on things they look for, like restaurants, directly from the source. So it’s integrating Yelp’s maps, reviews, and other details in responses when people ask for restaurant recommendations.
“Our underlying motivation is that we started off as this tool that appealed to people doing fact checks and research. But research can be on anything, like what if you’re a coffee addict, you’d want to know where the good coffee shops are,” says Srinivas.
As The Verge’s David Pierce recently pointed out, how Perplexity mixes text and links when answering questions was already a selling point compared to…


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Google’s new Chromebook Pixel has one particular spec that betters Apple’s Retina MacBook Pro, and it’s led to a change in the way the Cupertino computer maker markets its notebooks.
Apple, never shy in touting the specifications of its devices when they are at the top of industry offerings, used to market its 13- and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros as “The highest-resolution notebook ever. And the second-highest.” That’s no longer the case, though, and the product page for the Retina MacBooks has changed to reflect that.
While the product page still features a blurb that says the MacBook is the “highest-resolution notebook”, it’s no longer the main item on the page. The language is also reserved for the 15-inch model. That model has more than five million pixels, while the 12.9-inch Chromebook Pixel has just over 4.58 million.
The Retina MacBook page is now headlined by: “High performance has never been so well defined.”
Google has made sure to focus on the Chromebook Pixel’s high-definition screen when promoting it. The device, introduced in February, has a 2560×1700, 12.9-inch, touch-enabled LCD display with a pixel density of 239ppi. Apple’s 15-inch and 13-inch Retina MacBooks respectively have 220ppi and 227ppi densities.
In place of a traditional OS such as OS X, or Windows, Google’s Chromebook lineup of computers run a browser-based operating system developed by Google. While Google has been working to upgrade the Chrome OS since its initial release, it still lags far behind OS X, Windows, Linux, and even Google’s own Android in terms of capabilities.


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WomenTechOver intends to change the ‘face’ of the tech sector
SAN JUAN – WomenTechOver will launch at this year’s edition of Animus, Women’s Innovation Journey, with the purpose of increasing opportunities for women in the tech industry.
For Sofia Stolberg, founder of the Piloto 151 coworking space and the Codetrotters software-programming academy, the statistics on women’s participation in the sector speak for themselves. According to the National Center for Women and Information Technology, women hold only 25% of computing jobs, 11% of executive positions at Silicon Valley companies and own 5% of startups. In addition, they earn just 28% of computer science degrees.
“It’s high time for these statistics to change. The opportunities that the tech sector offers are unique and global in nature and we need more female representation in the industry. WomenTechOver launches as a platform to amplify women in tech providing them with a much-needed space to talk about their tech projects, to educate and inspire more women to venture into the sector, and to work with employers who understand the benefits of a more diverse leadership and tech team,” Stolberg said.
The WomenTechOver initiative had already experimented with events and workshops, but the concept took flight after the so-called Google Manifesto sexist memo went viral and mounting news of sexism at Uber.
“It was interesting to witness how broader awareness of the underrepresentation of women in the tech sector on a global scale suddenly translated into an increased interest in the WomenTechOver offering. We had an intro to a coding workshop this past August that sold out immediately and even had a waitlist. That’s when I knew we were ready to launch WomenTechOver officially and that we were one step closer to fulfilling our vision,” Stolberg added.
For Animus founder Lucienne Gigante, the WomenTechOver launch aligns with the conference’s goals.
“Supporting women’s economic development is our mission, especially in scalable and global industries like technology. This year, many of our speakers come from the tech world and we hope to inspire more women to take advantage of the opportunities in this high-potential sector,” Gigante said.
For more information on Animus or to purchase event tickets, visit www.animussummit.com. To sign up for WomenTechOver’s newsletter and receive more information on upcoming events, visit www.womentechover.com or write to firstname.lastname@example.org.