text:
Auction of Washington Wines announced its second annual virtual wine tasting series with Karen MacNeil, renowned wine expert and AWW 2020–21 honorary chair, according to a news release. With notable Washington state winemakers and vintners joining her, MacNeil will host four virtual wine tastings, each exploring different segments of the Washington wine industry.
The series begins June 30 with a focus on the geographic region of Horse Heaven Hills, featuring winemakers from Trothe, Passing Time and Chateau Ste. Michelle.
On July 14, the focus will be on Washington’s Syrah blends, featuring Columbia Crest, Tinte Cellars and Treveri Cellars.
On July 21, the session will focus on Bordeaux-style wines, and tastings will include Cabernet blends from Frichette Winery, Mullan Road Cellars and Co Dinn Cellars.
On Aug. 4, the final tasting will further explore the Cabernet blends of Washington wine country, with wines from Brian Carter Cellars, Owen Roe and Valdemar Estates.
There is no charge to attend the virtual tastings, to be held on Zoom. Prior to each session, participants can purchase the select wines from Esquin Wine & Spirits in Seattle, according to the release.
For more information and registration links for this and other AWW events, go to auctionofwawines.org.
Since its inception in 1988, AWW has raised more than $52 million to benefit Washington State University viticulture and enology research, Seattle Children’s hospital and the AWW Industry Grant. The annual Auction of Washington Wines weekend will take place Aug. 10–16.
—by Jonelle Mejica


text:
Vehicles Affected: More than 2,000 model-year 2015 Volkswagen Golf and GTI hatchbacks manufactured between Jan. 27, 2014, and May 12, 2014.
The Problem: The stabilizer link fasteners may come loose and possibly interfere with steering, requiring additional effort to control the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash. Volkswagen earlier this month issued a stop sale order to dealers on the 2015 Golf and GTI due to the stabilizer link fastener issue, covering about 700 vehicles in dealer inventory; the automaker said no accidents or injuries related to this problem have been reported.
The Fix: Volkswagen will begin notifying owners this month, and dealers will replace the front stabilizer links for free.
What Owners Should Do: Owners can call Volkswagen at 800-822-8987, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s vehicle-safety hotline at 888-327-4236 or go to www.safercar.gov for more info.

domain: news


text:
Santa Cruz is a magical place. It is one of those unique places that offers the mountains and beaches all within miles of one another.
Planning a bachelorette party? Why go to Vegas or some other slimy place? Take a tour of wine country. Enjoy a little class and style while still having fun with friends.
Lots of new things happening at Calwineries.com.
Check out our new Temecula Wine Tours.
Every year, winemakers, vineyard managers and owners answer the critical question; ‘when is the right time to pick?’ This decision can make or break the vintage. There are a multitude of factors that the winemaking team has to take into account, and all of them play a role in the decision.
There are only a handful of people in the world who have more experience making this decision than Heidi Barrett. Adopt a Grape recently published a video of Heidi talking about how she makes the decision to pick. Enjoy.
The 2008 San Luis Obispo Wine Industry Awards were recently announced at the California Mid-State Fair. The awards are organized by the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, Grape Growers of Paso Robles, and the San Luis Obispo Vintners Association. These awards are particularly prestigious in California Wine Country because the honorees are nominated and voted for by other members of the local wine industry.
For centuries, wine has been associated with regions because it is such a distinguishing factor of character and quality. Very few would argue that the location grapes are grown does not make a difference (except maybe Fred Franzia). The issue of labeling wine with a specific region has become a little contentious in California lately, and Calistoga is a major battleground.
According to the Wine Institute, sales of California wine reached another new height in 2007. Fueling this growth is America’s increasing taste for premium wine over the past decade.
Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D – Santa Rosa), chairwoman of the Assembly Select Committee on Wine, has introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 1964 to facilitate the sale of donated wine at non-profit events. State Senator Pat Wiggins (D – Santa Rosa) co-authored the bill. If AB 1964 passes, non-profits will be able to hold more wine events and bureaucratic red tape will be lessened.
The 1976 Paris Tasting was a defining moment is the history of California Wine Country. The performance of Chateau Montelena’s 1973 Napa Valley Chardonnay and Stags Leap Wine Cellars’ 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon brought California Wine to the world stage.
With California is facing a $14 billion budget deficit, politicians and public policy groups are looking for ways to make up for the shortfall. One proposal is to increase the tax on distilled liquor, beer and wine.
The Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watch-dog, is one of the major proponents of this plan. According to Bruce Livingston, the group’s executive director, “Raising the alcohol tax for the first time in 16 years is a commonsense and fiscally responsible option to help close the budget gap. A simple 25 cents per drink increase would generate almost $3 billion in revenue.”


text:
Saga shares not a steal says Lombard Odier’s specialist ‘Golden Age’ fund manager
- 23 May 2014
The pricing of the Saga IPO at the lower limit of the pricing range at close to 185p shows that the valuation of the firm has come under close scrutiny says one specialist fund manager.
Conditional trading on Friday saw the shares rise a little to 188p. Johan Utterman, manager of the $431m LO Funds Golden Age fund says: “The pricing of the Saga IPO at the low limit of the pricing range shows there has been valuation scrutiny. That said on 14.5 times earnings it is still not a steal.
Mr Utterman, whose fund invests on the theme that stocks exposed to ageing populations will grow faster than the remainder of the economy, says: “This is a company that focused on financial services, travel and healthcare to the over-50’s. Saga has built valuable brand equity. Its core businesses have the potential to grow somewhat faster than the market given the unique exposure to the over-50’s, a segment of the population that is not only growing faster than younger generations but also tends to be wealthier.
“Saga has the opportunity to further expand into healthcare and wealth management, two initiatives which could drive additional growth. However, the positioning of Saga as a “specialized consumer services” company may make the IPO more challenging to place with institutional investors since the vast majority of earnings come from financial services. UK non-life insurers trade on lower multiples than branded consumer stocks.”
“For this reason, we will watch the IPO but not take part for now. Retail and institutional interest in the IPO may mean there are better opportunities to get exposure to Saga in the months ahead.”
- The Battle of the Challenger Banks
- Brokers are tipping BT shares as the firm reveals solid first quarter profits
- UK economic growth picks up but exporters wary of strong sterling
- Tesco scraps hated “unexpected item in the bagging area” phrase from its self-service checkouts
- Britons spend £37 billion a year on holidays, and it's making us happier
- The Chinese market: “The ultimate battle between capitalist fear and a communist government”
- Confidence in UK economy falls but personal finances looking strong
- Forget the oil giants and buy into smaller energy companies, says GAM
- Is a September lift-off for US interest rates still likely?
- “Volatility and risk remain top of the agenda for fixed income investors”


text:
Taguig City business tax collection has improved following its implementation of a new system that is convenient and hassle free for business owners.
Taguig City on Wednesday announced it collected P4.38 billion business taxes, a P1.17 billion increase compared to ast year's collection.
The improved revenue collection was attributed to the city's new system of collecting taxes - the Business One Stop Shop (BOSS) - which enable business owners to apply conveniently for permits and pay taxes quickly, accurately, and hassle-free.
The Business Permits and Licensing Office and the City Treasurer's Office integrated the payment of Barangay fees where business owners no longer needed to secure clearances from the barangays separately.
Business Permits and Licensing Office head lawyer Tes Veloso said that new protocols for handling applications of taxpayers were implemented resulting in fewer requirements and faster and more convenient processing of permits.
City Mayor Lani Cayetano thanked the business owners for doing business in Taguig and paying their taxes, emphasizing that these taxes come back in the form of services and benefits for Taguigeños.
"Under BOSS 2023, business owners could process business permits at two convenient venues - SM Aura Satellite Office and the newly opened Convention Center at the New City Hall Building," the local government said.
Once applications are approved, business owners can have their permit sent via courier or print it themselves. The new system also allows applicants to view their billing statements online.
City Treasurer Voltaire Enriquez noted the marked improvement not just in collection of taxes, but in the overall operation of BOSS and customer satisfaction.
"Payment and releasing were fast, taxpayers did not line up until midnight to settle their taxes or wait for their business permits; there was no rush to beat the deadline; and there were no irate customers protesting," Enriquez said.
Tags: #taguigrevenuecollection, #convenientnewsystem, #newprotocols, #norushtobeatthedeadline


text:
Tax revenue to maintain growth momentum
China's tax revenue, which grew a year-on-year 27.1 per cent during the first 10 months of this year, will continue to grow at a fast rate next year, experts said.
Ni Hongri, a senior researcher with the State Council Development Research Centre, said the country's tax revenue is capable of achieving a fast growth rate.
"The country's economy will continue to grow at a fast rate, while the consumer price index will also remain at a higher level," she said.
She explained tax revenue growth was largely decided by economic growth and the consumer prices situation.
China's economy grew 9.5 per cent and its consumer price index rose 4.1 per cent during the first three quarters of this year. Tax revenue grew a year-on-year 26.3 per cent.
"The Chinese economy is expected to grow between 8.5 per cent and 9.2 per cent, and the consumer price index to grow less than 5 per cent next year," Ni said.
The country's economic development will become stable, she said.
The stable economic development would lay a solid foundation for the country's tax revenue growth, she said.
The government would also take a series of measures to beef up tax collection to increase tax revenue, she said.
"The country's tax revenue is likely to grow about 20 per cent next year," she said.
Gao Peiyong, a senior economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, agreed the tax revenue would continue to grow at a fast rate.
But he pointed out there were also factors which would result in a reduction in tax revenue.
"The government plans to steadily push forward the tax system reform," he said.
Premier Wen Jiabao said in March this year the government would cancel the agriculture tax within three to five years.
"The government is likely to speed up that process next year," Gao said.
This means the government would reduce more of the tax rate or completely cancel the tax, he said.
The government is also expected to spread trial reform of the value-added tax system next year, he said.
The reform, which allows companies in the old industrial bases of Northeast China to claim tax deductions when buying new machinery equipments, will expand, he said.
Zhang Peisen, a senior researcher with the Taxation Research Institute of the State Administration of Taxation, said the country's macro-control measures would also continue to have an impact on tax revenue.
The government has taken a raft of measures since the second half of last year to try to cool down the economy.
The measures include raising bank reserve requirements three times and curbing unwanted fixed asset investment projects.
"The measures have had a great impact on fixed asset investment and industrial output, which have a close relation with tax revenue growth," Zhang said.
Figures from the State Administration of Taxation indicate that tax revenue grew a year-on-year 25.8 per cent in the third quarter of this year, slowing from the 26.9 per cent growth in the second quarter.
However, Zhang said the macro-control measures would make the country's economy healthier.
A healthy economy would fuel the tax revenue to grow at a healthy rate.
The country's tax revenue would grow more than 25 per cent next year, he said.


text:
A new Parkdale brewpub is on its way
Soon every Toronto neighbourhood will have a resto-retail-brewery complex to call its own. The next up is Duggan’s Brewery Parkdale, a reincarnation of the microbrewery that used to occupy the Beer Academy space at the corner of Richmond and Victoria streets. Canadian Beer News reports that the new west-end outpost will be a restaurant, retail store and “nanobrewery” in one, much like the upcoming Bellwoods Brewery facility on Dupont or the soon-to-open Louis Cifer Brew Works on the Danforth. The grand opening won’t happen until October, but the storefront at 1346 Queen West (previously home to Japanese restaurant Kanji) is already operating as a bar on select evenings (look for updates on Twitter).


text:
Apple iPhone's ancestral Lightning interface, which has been used for more than 10 years, is finally saying goodbye completely, according to EU requirements.From 2024, all kinds of electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets and digital cameras sold in the EU must use the Type-C charging interface.
This means that Apple needs to use the Type-C interface in its iPhone 15 full system in September, otherwise it will not be able to sell in the European Union in 2024.
A few days ago, it was reported that Apple may implement its MFi (Made For iPhone) certification program for USB-C accessories.As a result, charging lines and accessories are classified, but this may cause Apple to violate EU law.
Rdquo;, a digital blogger and ldquo; digital chat site, has previously said that the USB-C port on the iPhone 15 series is certain, but can it put a question mark with Android GM.
To put it simply, Android's C-port data line may retain the basic charging function on the iPhone 15, but there are no functions such as data transmission.
It is worth pointing out,It is worth pointing out,Apple has previously said that forcing the use of C port is to stifle innovation and harm the interests of consumers.
At the same time, more e-waste will be generated because more accessories in the Ligtning ecosystem will not be used.


text:
September brings a new round of negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). One group keeping an eye on how things progress is the American Trucking Associations. Bob Costello, chief economist and senior vice president, says the truckers have a big stake in the outcome. Since NAFTA was first implemented, truckers now move 71 percent of the total goods traded between the United States and Canada
While the trucking industry is an “indirect beneficiary” of NAFTA, it’s been a boon to the industry
Agricultural commodities are an important part of the products truckers move between the three countries. The trucking industry takes the same position as most of agriculture when it comes to the negotiations, which is “do no harm”
There are other tweaks to NAFTA the truckers would be in favor of
Adding that to the NAFTA agreement would allow trucking companies from all three countries to operate much more efficiently.
Audio with Bob Costello, chief economist and senior vice president of the American Trucking Associations
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.
Share this Post


text:
How will Microsoft address the perception that it’s not as cool as Apple or Google? That, in essence, was one of the questions posed to Steve Ballmer today during the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston. In an on-stage Q&A, the Microsoft chief executive said that it’s more a question of whether Microsoft can surprise people.
Brad Hem, a reporter for the Houston Chronicle, focused on that subject in this story from the conference. Here’s an excerpt from his report:
“We haven’t surprised people quite as much as we need to,” said Ballmer, speaking Wednesday to thousands of Microsoft partners in town for an annual conference. “What we need to do is have products that surprise people, that delight people.”
He disputed the idea that Apple or Google is cooler than Microsoft. “They’re more newsworthy,” he acknowledged.
But being cool isn’t necessarily what Microsoft is about, said analyst Sharon Mertz, a research director at technology research firm Gartner. Being on the “bleeding edge” doesn’t necessarily appeal to established companies, she said. They’d rather hear about practical ways to make money, and that’s where Microsoft has an advantage on Apple, which has a tiny fraction of Microsoft’s market share.
Having cool consumer products is one thing — and an area where Microsoft could improve — but when it comes to doing business, coolness doesn’t matter, said Mark Speaker, a director at Toronto-based Ideaca Knowledge Services.
“You don’t need to be cool on the business side,” he said. “You need to be useful. We want them to stay focused mainly on business.”
For that reason, Speaker said he hopes the ongoing rumors about Microsoft acquiring Yahoo or part of it don’t lead to a deal. He fears a merger would distract Microsoft from its core business, he said.
Also see the Microsoft transcript of Ballmer’s speech and Q&A session.


text:
Federal health authorities today urged consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream, and other foods that contain peanut butter until authorities can learn more about a deadly outbreak of salmonella contamination. Most peanut butter sold in jars at supermarkets appears to be safe. More than 470 people have gotten sick in 43 states, and at least 90 had to be hospitalized. At least six deaths are blamed on the outbreak.
Officials are focusing on peanut paste, as well as peanut butter, produced at a Blakely, Ga., facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. Its peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but distributed to institutions and food companies. But the peanut paste, made from roasted peanuts, is an ingredient in cookies, cakes, and other products that people buy in the supermarket.


text:
Lidl is accusing Tesco of pinching its identity in a high court case by using its yellow circle in a blue square to promote Clubcard, the current cornerstone of Tesco’s marketing policy. Lidl accuses Tesco of “deceiving customers” as part of a price war against the discounter. Lidl now has 7.2% of the UK market against Tesco’s 26%.
Tesco says Lidl’s claim is “without merit,’ going on (loftily) to say: “It would have been anathema to Tesco to allow the Clubcard brand and the new loyalty discount scheme to be muddied or polluted by association with any of Tesco’s competitors.”
Just in case, Tesco also says that to win its case Lidl must prove “not merely confusion” among consumers but deception.
On the face of it the two things look different when you see Lidl’s eccentric German typeface. Shut that out though and….
Lots more fun from m’learned friends (who probably don’t shop at Lidl or Tesco) to come, no doubt.


text:
SAO PAOLO, July 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Ronaldinho fans and soccer enthusiasts worldwide can connect with the famed footballer in a fun new way with the newly released Emojinho by Ronaldinho mobile app.
Available on both iOS and Android for $1.99, the official Emojinho app features hundreds of exclusive emojis inspired by the beloved soccer star, capturing his energy and allowing his huge fan base to breathe a bit of Ronaldinho into their texts, emails and favorite social media profiles. In Brazil and beyond, soccer legend and two-time World Player of the Year Ronaldinho is known for his dazzling skills and tricks, inimitable sense of style and unequivocal passion for the sport that's made him one of the most entertaining athletes to watch.
Emojinho users will love expressing themselves with emojis including:
- a huge emotional range of Ronaldinho facial expressions
- playful hand gestures - including classic Ronaldinho moves and exclusive new ones
- series of international soccer balls perfect for the Summer Olympics and Paralympics
- luxury images for that fun bling factor
With brand new Ronaldinho emojis launching monthly, the Emojinho match never ends! From showing support for their favorite Olympics teams and the always-inspiring Paralympics to enhancing boring text messages with Ronaldinho's sense of humor, the Emojinho app will charm anyone who loves the star – and the game.
"These emojis celebrate life the way I see it," said the legendary World Cup and Copa America winner. "I'm so happy to share my very own emoji adventure with my fans around the world, especially with the Paralympics and Olympics around the corner!"
With over 34M followers on Facebook and 13.4M on Twitter, there's clearly no shortage of Ronaldinho-hungry fans who will be using Emojinho to spread the Ronaldinho love via these custom emojis.
Engaging with the Emojinho app is easy; soccer fans globally can install the custom keyboard (iOS8 or higher) and use it within their favorite messaging apps or send emojis directly from inside the app. Other premium features that support the hundreds of Emojinho emojis include the flexibility to customize emoji size and regular updates of new emoji artwork.
"We are thrilled to bring Ronaldinho's singular style both on and off the field to the emoji marketplace," said Starmojis Founder Mike Bundlie. "Ronaldhino is one of the top soccer players in the world and there is a huge appetite from his fans to stay connected with his skills and spirit on every platform."
*Editor's note – link to images and screenshots http://bit.ly/29IX2L8
Starmojis is an international mobile entertainment company founded by sports and entertainment industry veterans. Emojinho is the first of many A-list athlete and celebrity apps the company will launch throughout 2016. For more information, please visit Starmojis.com.
Zella Panossian / Illume PR for Starmojis
[email protected] / 310.452.4446


text:
Eaton Finally Makes the Hard Call
Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE: ETN) bought Cooper Industries in late 2012 for roughly $12 billion. It was a huge deal for the power management company, vastly increasing its position in electrical products. It was so big, though, that the company swore off further dealmaking until the integration process was complete. At the company's investor day on March 1, it basically told the world that it was shifting to a new game plan. Here's what you need to know.
Nothing big coming your way
Cooper was a transformative acquisition for Eaton, which traces its history back over 100 years to the early days of the auto industry. Prior to that deal, the company's vehicle division was one of the biggest drivers of corporate performance. Its electrical products and electrical systems & services divisions were important, to be sure, but neither was as large of a contributor to revenue as was vehicles. Following the Cooper deal, the vehicle division is now roughly half the size of either of its two electrical operations.
To be fair, Eaton didn't swear off all deal-making following the nearly $12 billion purchase of Cooper, it simply wanted to avoid big moves so it could focus on successfully integrating the two businesses. That was a multiyear process during which it made small deals to fine-tune the portfolio. So, there was more going on than just Cooper, but all of the changes were really at the fringes.
The end result, though, was a shift away from the vehicle industry to what management believed would be a more compelling opportunity -- the ongoing electrification of the world.
Picking up the pace of change
That said, 2017 saw a slight shift in the company's approach. Eaton formed a joint venture with Cummins toward the end of that year, merging the two companies' automatic transmission businesses. Cummins was left to run the business. Not a massive move, but it was a notable change in direction.
It followed that up with the creation of the eMobility division at the start of 2018. Eaton cobbled this still-tiny business together from internal operations. But because supporting the electric vehicle market is very different from supporting the combustion-engine side of the auto industry, Eaton separated it out as its own division. It believes eMobility could be a $4 billion business some day, putting it in the same league as its aerospace, hydraulic, and vehicle operations.
These weren't giant changes, but they represented shifts that were larger than what had been undertaken in the years following the Cooper deal. This leads us up to the company's early 2019 investor meeting, at which it basically announced it was ready to throw off the self-imposed shackles: Management explained at the meeting that it planned to spin off its lighting business -- with $1.7 billion in revenue -- by the end of 2019.
For a number of years, the company has been dealing with questions about the lighting division. It isn't a bad business, per se, but falling LED prices have been a headwind and have resulted in intense competition for business. Eaton's focus isn't on producing LEDs, but instead working on massive installation projects (think stadium lighting systems) that use LEDs. However, it had been having a hard time finding deals that it believed were worth inking, and margins in the business had remained relatively weak.
These are key factors, here. Eaton has been working hard to improve its margins, and finding great success. The company's operating margin fell to 12.6% in 2016, a 50-basis-point drop from the previous year. Cost-cutting and efficiency efforts, though, were able to push operating margins to 15.8% in 2017 and 16.8% in 2018. At this point, the easy fruit has been picked, and the company needs to start making more notable shifts if it wants to continue to improve its performance on this metric. Eaton doesn't break out the lighting division, but it was pretty clear on the fourth-quarter conference call that neither growth nor margins in the group have been living up to expectations. And, looking forward, it was noted that growth might only be in the low single-digits, which is better than recent performance, but not as robust as the company's growth expectations in other divisions.
This move, then, will allow Eaton to jettison a lower-margin business that is constraining its performance and focus its efforts on businesses with better growth outlooks. The remaining operations should be more profitable as a whole. Perhaps more importantly, it also signals that the company is no longer holding back on the change front: Bolt-on deals in the hundreds of millions of dollars range are nice, but management is again willing to size up. It even laid out its criteria for acquisitions, spotlighting above GDP growth, average margins in the mid to high teens, and cyclical trough margins at least in the low teens. It's mentioned these before, but putting them on their own slide looks like a big hint that Eaton is in a buying mood.
Keep an eye on the transaction flow
At this point, Eaton says it is happy with its portfolio. However, with the lighting move, it has made a major statement about the future. Watch the news out of Eaton on the acquisition front. It will likely continue to focus on smaller, bolt-on deals. But with the Cooper integration process complete, it looks like management may again be willing to do something much bigger.
10 stocks we like better than EatonWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market.*
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Eaton wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
*Stock Advisor returns as of March 1, 2019
Reuben Gregg Brewer owns shares of Eaton. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Cummins. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


text:
Michael Strong, writing over at TCS Daily, has a good piece on the positive effects that Wal-Mart has had on the Chinese economy. Hat Tip to Pejman Yousefzadeh who points out that “this will certainly drive some people crazy.”
Update: This piece by Jonah Goldberg focuses on the political scene regarding Wal-Mart here at home. It has already driven some people crazy.
Update II: Another pro Wal-Mart analysis is found here.


text:
LONDON — Beirut’s fashion community is looking beyond the country’s latest tragedy to the runways of Paris and to helping one another — and Lebanon’s ravaged capital — return to work as quickly as possible.
With a humanitarian crisis looming, and Lebanon’s contentious political leaders refusing to take the blame for an explosion on Tuesday that killed at least 158 people and left hundreds of thousands injured or homeless, fashion figures are trying to plan for the future.
“Resilience is printed in our DNA, and we will not let this interfere with our plans going forward. Our business will go on. We have to be sensible, bring hope to people and lead by example,” said Elie Saab Jr., chief executive officer of the family fashion house, adding that the founder, Elie Saab, built the company during the civil war in Lebanon.
Saab said the company plans to show and sell the couture, bridal and ready-to-wear collections per its plan, which it had rejigged earlier this year in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
The house is looking to present couture online in September and will show rtw in Paris at the end of that month, although the format of the rtw event has not yet been determined due to the risk of a second spike in COVID-19 cases.
In an interview on Friday, a few days after multiple explosions tore through Beirut’s port and city center and damaged the fashion house’s building in the Central District, Saab was stoical.
“The damage is nothing compared to what happened to this country, and to the Lebanese people who have taken hit after hit after hit. Our hearts are bleeding for people who have no homes, no food,” he said.
The explosion was a further blow to a country undergoing a profound economic and political crisis that has caused food prices to soar and the currency to plummet. After a series of protests last year against a government that critics say is endemically corrupt, Lebanon went into lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Following last Tuesday’s blast, protesters took to the streets calling for a revolution, and blaming the country’s slow-moving, divided leadership for the explosion. There were massive protests throughout Beirut over the weekend, with some protestors occupying government buildings until they were pushed out by the police or military.
On Friday, Lebanon’s president Michel Aoun said the country was looking into the possibility that “a rocket or a bomb” ignited the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been sitting in storage in Beirut’s port for six years, after being seized and impounded from a cargo ship. No one knows why such a potentially toxic substance, a key ingredient in fertilizer bombs, had been stored there for so long.
Saab said his family’s business is fortunate as it’s diversified around the world, while the Beirut headquarters should be repaired by mid-August. “They’re starting work on it tomorrow, and we’ll be returning to our usual schedule soon,” he said.
Bridal, couture and rtw designer Zuhair Murad’s entire building, which was located 200 meters away from the site of the blast, was destroyed, and he’s since met with engineers who told him it will take a year to rebuild.
In the meantime, he has IT people working on what’s left of the server in order to salvage sketches for his spring 2021 collection.
Still, Murad is counting his luck: None of his 200 members of staff was hurt or injured despite being so close to the blast, while he and the staff can operate from home, or from temporary bridal and couture ateliers. “And we’re going to work day and night to ensure we’re ready for Paris Fashion Week,” he said.
Murad will certainly be busy: In the week before the blast, he showed and sold pieces from his bridal collection via Zoom, because he couldn’t make his usual trip to New York due to COVID-19.
Next week, the company will begin raising funds for the Lebanese Red Cross and the humanitarian organization Offre Joie with the sale of two T-shirt styles and a hoodie. The black tops read “Rise From the Ashes,” and will be sold on Represent.com for 25 pounds, with an accompanying social media campaign. Lebanon is often referred to as the Phoenix of the Middle East for its ability to rise up and rebuild after war.
Tania Fares, the Lebanese writer and philanthropist who cofounded Fashion Trust Arabia, has also come out fighting.
She witnessed Tuesday’s explosion and said the FTA’s Beirut headquarters has been completely destroyed, but now it’s time to rebuild. She said it was crucial to keep creative businesses operating in the city.
Fares said designers were pulling together to ensure there would be no “domino effect” on local artisanal, graphic design or other creative businesses that rely on fashion. “We need to keep the creatives working here,” she said.
There is an “incredible sense of community and solidarity right now,” said Fares, with designers and others volunteering to clean up the city. “We are lucky to have each other,” she said, adding that designers have just begun brainstorming about fund-raising, although it’s still early days.
Fares is confident that despite the political, economic, and financial challenges that Lebanon is undergoing — not to mention the COVID-19 crisis and protesters in the streets — her country will pull through.
“The Lebanese are incredibly resilient, and have always managed to emerge stronger” from their crises, she said.
While the FTA building has been destroyed, that show will still go on. The 2021 awards are still in the pipeline, as they recognize designers from across the Middle East and North Africa. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is the co-chair of the FTA.
The last awards were handed out in May, in an online event during lockdown. Among the winners was the Beirut-based footwear designer Andrea Wazen, who was named accessories designer of the year.
As reported, Wazen’s office was destroyed in the blast.
“We have nothing left. The store is completely broken down, and the office is destroyed. Our sales manager was injured, but luckily survived. Everything we have worked on has been torn apart,” said Wazen, who has spent the past few days helping to clear up Beirut’s streets.
Best of WWD
Sign up for WWD’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.


text:
Asus Rog Phone 6 is set to launch on July 5. We have seen a few of the phone’s specifications already, but we were yet to learn about the handset’s design. Thankfully, a recent TENAA listing has now filled in the gaps.
According to the images, Rog Phone 6 still has its traditional gamer aesthetics, but the camera and rear panel design have been updated. There is a horizontal triple camera setup on the back and one of the lenses has a blue ring around it which is likely the ultrawide unit. The tiny LED display on the back is still there as well, but it has moved to the side and is slightly bigger.
The Rog Phone 6 will be one of the first phones in the world to feature Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. This will be paired with up to 16GB RAM and 512GB storage and the display could be a 6.78-inch AMOLED panel with 1080p resolution and a 165Hz refresh rate for gaming and smooth scrolling.
Its battery will be a massive 6,000 mAh cell with support for 65W fast charging. There is no word on the camera setup yet.
Xiaomi 12 Ultra could also become the first in the world to boast Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, since it is also rumored to launch on July 5. However, the launch date has not been confirmed as of yet.


text:
Rep. Ron Kind: American Rescue Plan Relief for Restaurants Available Starting Today
La Crosse, WI – Today, Rep. Ron Kind announced that Wisconsin restaurants will be able to apply for direct relief through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund beginning Monday, May 3.
The $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund was created by the American Rescue Plan that Rep. Kind helped pass last month. The law incorporated key provisions from the RESTAURANTS Act, which Rep. Kind also co-sponsored in the previous Congress.
“Our restaurants and small businesses are the heart of our local communities, but unfortunately, they’ve been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rep. Ron Kind. “Ensuring restaurants are able to keep their doors open and employees on payroll is crucial to our recovery as we continue to build back stronger than ever. I’m glad to see the American Rescue Plan working to deliver direct relief to them through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.”
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund will provide restaurants and other eligible businesses with funding equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss up to $10 million per business. The relief does not have to be repaid, provided that the funds are put toward eligible uses by March 11, 2023.
- Find a funding guide HERE and a sample application HERE.
- Visit SBA.gov/restaurants for more information.
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund application portal can be accessed at https://restaurants.sba.gov/requests/borrower/login/. Participating POS providers include Square, Toast, Clover, NCR Corporation (Aloha). Entities that work with Square or Toast, you do not need to register beforehand on the portal.
Entities eligible to apply:
- Food stands, food trucks, food carts
- Bars, saloons, lounges, taverns
- Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars
- Brewpubs, tasting rooms, taprooms*
- Breweries and/or microbreweries*
- Wineries and distilleries*
- Licensed facilities or premises of a beverage alcohol producer where the public may taste, sample, or purchase product
*Onsite sales of food and beverage to the public comprise at least 33% of gross receipts
Rep. Kind serves on the Ways and Means Committee, the most powerful – and the oldest - committee in the House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over tax measures, the management of public debt, trade and tariff laws, Social Security, Medicare, pensions, and many other economic growth measures.


text:
Picture MSNBC – without the MS.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer certainly can.
“If we were starting [MSNBC] now, as good as an operation as it is, I don’t think we would have started it,” Ballmer said at a conference Portugal.
MSNBC is a joint venture controlled by Microsoft and NBC that includes a cable news network and an online news site.
The venture has recently been rumored to be up for sale – as parent company NBC and other leading media conglomerates suffer through a downturn in the advertising market.
Some industry watchers have suggested NBC would sell off the venture in an effort to streamline its operations.
Ballmer’s comments would seem to contradict the buzz that Microsoft might be interested in buying out its partner.
While NBC chief Bob Wright has said the General Electric-owned network is not interested in selling off its half of MSNBC, the network was recently forced to fold its Internet operations – a Web portal and media company called NBCI – back into the NBC umbrella.
Microsoft made its foray into the media business five years ago but has not had much success as a big media player.
Microsoft created programming on its MSN Web service and developed a slew of content sites such as the online magazine Slate.com and the city guide Sidewalk.com. Those efforts never hit it big.
Further proof of Ballmer’s intention to get out of the content business is Microsoft’s MSN MoneyCentral Web site. The world’s largest software company announced in April that it would merge its financial Web site with CNBC.com.


text:
New option debuts on Metrolink’s Inland Empire-Orange County line
Metrolink, Southern California’s regional commuter rail service, which is based in Los Angeles, US, has launched the first version of its mobile ticketing app, which will allow its riders the option to purchase their ticket on a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device for the first time in the agency’s 23 year history. The app is available in both Google Play and the Apple App stores.
While the app is available for download by all riders, during the month of March only Inland Empire-Orange County Line riders will be able to use the app to purchase tickets and connect to local bus operators at no additional cost per the current policy. This gives Metrolink the opportunity to test the app and make any improvements before the app is implemented system-wide.
“This app means easier access for Metrolink riders,” said chair of the Metrolink board of directors, Shawn Nelson, who is also an Orange County Supervisor representing communities along the Inland Empire-Orange County Line. “The Metrolink Board of Directors is pleased to finally offer our riders this technology as an overdue option.”
Beginning in early April, mobile ticketing will be expanded to the entire Metrolink system and include free transfers to participating bus operators including Metro. Initially, riders who transfer to Metro Rail, Corporate QuickCard users and Metrolink riders who take part in the Rail 2 Rail programme with Amtrak should continue to use paper tickets from Metrolink’s ticket vending machines.
Said Metrolink CEO Art Leahy: “By taking a phased approach in the implementation of our new app, Metrolink intends to make regular improvements and upgrades based on feedback from our users. Our riders can look forward to continuous improvement of Metrolink service, including mobile ticketing.”
Metrolink will be implementing a variety of enhancements to enable these users to use mobile ticketing in the future. This autumn, barcode readers will be installed on the Metro Rail fare gates, enabling passengers throughout the Metrolink system to buy tickets through the Metrolink Mobile App and continue their commute on dozens of city bus, shuttle bus, light rail and subway lines seamlessly and at no additional cost. Metrolink is also working with Amtrak to allow mobile tickets to be scanned by Amtrak conductors.
The Metrolink Mobile App uses the Masabi JustRide mobile ticketing system, which is used by other transportation providers across the US and Europe.
Since the agency’s inception in 1991, passengers purchasing tickets and passes at stations only had the option of going to a ticket vending machine. Mobile ticketing is Metrolink’s first step toward revolutionizing how riders pay to ride the train.
In the coming months, Metrolink expects to deliver continued enhancements, such as the ability to buy tickets online for delivery to mobile devices. Tickets and passes will continue to be available at station ticket machines.


text:
COLUMBIA — Fraudulent tickets kept some spectators from Saturday's Missouri football game against Georgia.
There were errors in more than 400 ticket scans at the game, many of which MU director of athletic media Chad Moller attributes to fraudulent tickets.
"I do believe a large number of that total was fraudulent tickets," he said Thursday. "This is the biggest instance of it in a couple years. We are bracing for when Alabama comes for a lot of people to try using them again."
Spectators with invalid tickets were not admitted to the game.
The fraudulent tickets, which are nearly identical to the ones produced by MU, have the same design, picture, color scheme and correct disclaimers on the back sides.
"There is not any significant difference," Christian Basi, associate director of the MU News Bureau, said. "Typically, it's the bar code. The correct ticket has a bar code that will be authenticated through the scanners. The false ticket doesn't."
Invalid tickets cannot be read by the scanners and are recorded as a missed scan.
While the scanning errors could also be attributed to smudged or damaged bar codes, Moller said it is unlikely to be the cause of the high number of ticket errors.
"One of the only ways to check the validity of a ticket is through the scanning process," Capt. Brian Weimer of the MU Police Department said. "That is why we are not wanting spectators to purchase tickets from other sources."
An investigation regarding the fraudulent tickets is under way, Weimer said.
Spectators are advised to purchase tickets through MU, rather than other sources.
"You have to have a true ticket to be admitted to the game," Basi said. "That is why we are really concerned. We don't want people to go out and be a victim of the scam."
Supervising editor is John Schneller.


text:
The man who has the midas touch when it comes to creative collaborations, Travis Scott, was in Paris this week for the launch of his very own breakfast cereal. Yes: breakfast cereal called Reece’s Puffs. A collaboration with the delicious peanut butter infused treats from the Reece’s brand.
Reese’s Puffs says that, after going on sale Tuesday morning (June 25), the whole inventory of Scott’s Reese’s Puffs boxes sold out nearly immediately.
In 30 seconds apparently. It’s safe to assume these treats will be utter rubbish and full of sugar but — more importantly — was Travis’ watch of choice on the day.
Travis attended the event wearing a brown Reece’s Puff’s t-shirt (no doubt sold out too), jeans and… a heavily customised Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Skeleton embezzled (or is that bedazzled?) in hundreds of diamonds. We managed to track down a very similar specimen on sale at Chrono24.
Now, this timepiece won’t set you back Richard Mille type of money but you can expect to pay roughly $125,000 for this blinged up piece.
We love how the seller on Chrono24 has clearly noted that the watch is ‘very flash’. Thanks, we wouldn’t have worked that out had you not mentioned it.
Tempted? For the love of fashion: please read up on how to stand out in tasteful style, before you transact…


text:
With the growing appeal of digital entertainment, gaming and esports, it was only a matter of time before the innovation potential of Fantasy Sports or Fantasy Sports caught the attention of investors. The sector is now in the spotlight.
Its technology has featured a Portuguese startup bringing NFTs to fantasy football: its platform alone has won a round of $10 million. The Mexican League, which deals instead with American football, collected 20 of them. Let’s discover some of these platforms that are digitizing the traditional fantasy sports formula and re-proposing it in a new form, also through official partnerships with actors.
10 million for RealFevr bringing NFTs to fantasy football
Raised $10 million by Lisbon-based startup RealFevr, which in 2021 launched the world’s first NFT soccer video marketplace, announced IP partnerships with international sports properties such as Liga Portugal, Portugal Football Federation, Torino FC and Beach Soccer Worldwide, and many world-class companies have signed on. Athletes as ambassadors and official investors. The round, led by ADvantage, featured Semapa Next and Shilling Capital Partners as well as several football stars.
Cyber Security: Best Strategies for Protection and Continuity of Information Technology Services
Founded in Lisbon in 2015, RealFevr is a startup that aims to revolutionize the fantasy football market. The team has quickly established itself in the growing market of blockchain, NFT and crypto assets and is now ready for a new challenge: to become the leading realm of NFT sports videos and move into immersive digital collectibles.
Draftea, 20 million fantasy football in Latin America
Instead, American football is handled by Draftea, a Mexican startup focused on Latin America. The startup, which bills itself as the first daily sports fantasy company in Spanish-speaking Latin America, is spreading fantasy football to the region through a new partnership with the National Football League (NFL) and the NFL Players Association, a union that represents the league’s athletes. .
In addition to the new partnership, Draftea, which was Sequoia’s first investment in a Mexican company, has raised $20 million for a new Series A funding round led by new investor Stepstone Group, with participation from existing Sequoia investors Kaszek, Bullpen and Courtside. projects. In addition to venture capital firms, athletes including soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, Kansas City President Travis Kelsey, Brooklyn Nets basketball player Kevin Durant and Portuguese soccer agent Jorge Mendes have invested like the Angels on tour.
Sorare, a new game coming in partnership with national teams
Fantasy Sports Sorare, which offers a variety of fantasy games from football to basketball to baseball, is partnering with 18 national soccer teams to launch a new free game with social elements. The Sorare Global Cup 22 competition, as it’s called, will allow players to assemble a team of eight of their favorite players from these 18 teams, including the United States Men’s National Team, for free.
The platform uses Ethereum-based blockchain technology and was developed in 2018 by Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort.


text:
Central Kalimantan (Greeners) – Amid declining rattan production in Katingan district, Central Kalimantan because of market access and insufficient price, Sakariyas, head of Katingan district, said that they have yet to give up developing and improving its potentials.
Based on the recent survey in 2018 by Katingan administration and WWF Indonesia, the potential of rattan covers at least eight sub-districts with a total of 104,572.23 hectares, comprises of 41 types of rattan.
From the total areas, it is predicted to produce 136,028 hectares per year of wet rattan and 12,695 tons per year of dry rattan.
“All kinds of efforts we have taken to restore the essence of Katingan rattan. We have been instructing farmers to do innovation, such as village innovation, inviting instructors to produce [rattan] crafts but still insufficient. We are not giving up and still looking for ways out of these problems of rattan,” he said in Katingan, on Thursday (31/01/2019).
In addition, Katingan administration develops cooperation with rattan processing industry in Java island, provides facilities for rattan management, set up schools for rattan management, facilitate rattan crafts training, and establish rattan farmers association. The efforts are part to realize the district’s vision as the production center and trade of rattan in Indonesia.
“We have done all possible efforts however the access to the market is difficult, we are at loss here,” he added.
The 2011 Trade Ministerial Decree on Rattan Export and Rattan Product banned raw rattan, original rattan, washed and sulphurized rattan and semi-finished rattan for exports to meet domestic demands.
However, domestic market turns out to be limited. In addition, plastic mix rattan products are cheaper and similar to original rattan.
Sabtul Anwar, head of cooperation, small enterprises, trade and industry agency in Katingan, said that there is a plan to establish a warehouse in Cirebon of West java to cut distribution costs for rattan products aiming to expand their access to markets.
“Currently, Katingan has four warehouses for storing rattan, three in Kasongan sub-district and one in Marikit sub-district. The idea to built the warehouse in Cirebon is to cut distribution costs. If we rely only once in eight months delivery, the selling capacity of Katingan is very low. Hence, the warehouse in Cirebon for wet rattan or semi-finishing. We need to ensure craftsmen in Cirebon to buy our products as we will routinely supply Katingan rattan for them,” said Anwar.
Reports by Dewi Purningsih


text:
In the dying days of the second decade of the 21st century, the company behind the world's most popular smartphone operating system put out a plea for help.
Google's Android operating system, in use by one in every three people on the planet, was getting a little too successful, and the software-cum-advertising company needed ideas on how to wind it back.
It had already been conducting what it called "Digital Wellbeing Experiments", trying to come up with ways to mitigate the harm caused by excessive Android phone usage, and some of Google's ideas were novel, to say the least.
One of the Experiments, called the Paper Phone, was exactly that: an app that "helps you have a little break away from your digital world" by sending your important daily information to a nearby printer. So, instead of your Android phone, you would carry a phone made of paper. In a prior era, such a phone might have been known as a "booklet".
Other experiments included an app that helped families and friends all switch their phones off at the same time so they could spend "quality time" together; and an app known as Post Box that scheduled phone notifications so they all arrived together at pre-appointed times, minimising distraction between those data dumps.
But Google realised that these tools alone wouldn't be enough to overcome the lure of the modern smartphone, which had spent the past decade insinuating itself into every aspect of human life, from food and shelter (Uber Eats and Airbnb) to sex and relationships (teledildonics and Tinder) and everything in between.
And so Google did something unusual. It asked for help. It opened up itself to suggestions from anyone and everyone on the planet, hoping to answer a simple question:
How do we put the smartphone genie back into the bottle?
Google wasn't alone in asking this question, as it happens.
Recognising that there was a growing sense of unease about just how all-consuming its own smartphone had become, Apple had in 2018 introduced a feature known as "Screen Time" to its iPhone operating system, iOS, that would help users first identify whether they had a problem with excessive phone usage, and then help them set limits on that usage, to claw back time for other activities.
In the decade between 2010 and 2020, Android and iOS had swept all before them. So-called "feature phones" from the likes of Nokia and Motorola, as well as first-generation smartphones such as the BlackBerry, the Palm, and the various phones running the Windows and Symbian operating systems, had all but disappeared from the world by 2019, leaving Android and iOS with a combined global market share in excess of 98 per cent: 76 per cent for Android, and 22 per cent for iOS, according to figures from Statista.
(The analyst outfit IDC has Android and iOS even more dominant than that, with Android on 87 per cent marketshare and iOS on 13 per cent as of October 2019. By IDC's reckoning, every competitor to Apple and Google, including the emerging KaiOS operating system,which outsells iOS in India, is a mere rounding error.)
So it's fair to say that, by the end of the decade of the smartphone, the problem of being too captivating, of too many people spending too much time spent looking at their screen, was an acknowledged issue for almost every phone in the world.
And the captivating nature of the smartphone didn't only create problems for individual phone users, and for anyone trying to interact with someone whose eyes were glued to the tiny screen.
The 'techlash' blamed the phone for everything from traffic accidents to ethnic cleansing and the re-emergence of measles.
Between 2010 and 2020, the smartphone catapulted technologies such as social media and YouTube to such a position of influence that, by the end of the decade, the smartphone and the apps that came with it were collectively being blamed for all manner of social ills, whether they were responsible for them or not.
The "techlash", as the anti-tech backlash became known in 2018, blamed the phone, and the apps the phone made successful, for everything from traffic accidents to ethnic cleansing in Myanmar and Sri Lanka and the re-emergence of measles; from a global decline in civility, literacy and numeracy to government-backed political interference that may have swayed the course of at least one presidential election and one nation's referendum about leaving the European Union.
As Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey said, speaking of the abuse, harassment, manipulation and misinformation that Twitter has become synonymous with, "these are all dynamics which we were not expecting 13 years ago when we were starting the company, but we do now see them, at scale".
The smartphone changed the world, in ways that were predictable and in ways that nobody saw coming.
How on earth did we get here?
A lot of things had to go exactly right (or wrong, depending on how you now feel about your smartphone) to get the world to the point where the two big smartphone software makers felt they needed to add brakes to their devices, and encourage users to pump them for the sake of their own wellbeing.
Chief among those things is what's known as the "network effect", where the utility of a device that can communicate with its peers increases exponentially as the number of peers increases.
Without the network effect acting like Archimedes' lever, the smartphone could never have moved the world the way it did.
The classic example of the network effect is the fax machine. As the story goes, the first person to buy a fax machine essentially bought an overpriced paperweight, since there was no-one to send a fax to. But by the time the millionth fax machine was sold, that first machine, together with every other fax machine sold in the meantime, was invaluable.
(Of course, by the time the billionth smartphone was sold, that first fax machine, together with every other fax machine on the planet, was quickly on its way to becoming landfill. The fax machine is just one of dozens of technologies the smartphone has gobbled up and spat out this past decade. But, as we shall see, that's part of the problem Apple and Google are now grappling with.)
It's an axiom of the phone industry that users only care about three things when they're choosing a new phone: the price, the camera, and the battery life. So it's probably no co-incidence that, in the case of smartphones, two of the big factors that pushed along adoption in the early part of the decade, allowing for the network effect to kick in and exponentially increase their appeal, were price and cameras.
Smartphones had to get a lot cheaper, and their cameras had to get dramatically better, if users were going to benefit from their ubiquity.
And they did.
The story of the last 10 years is how Android phones have come down in price, and how they've become ubiquitous in a way we never expected.
— Hamid Fardoost
"Everyone thinks that everything changed when Apple came out with the iPhone in 2007, but that's not been the story of the last 10 years," says Hamid Fardoost, a former smartphone executive for both a telco (he did eight years as head of devices at Vodafone Australia) and a phone maker (he ran marketing for Samsung Australia's smartphone business for two years).
"The iPhone was never going to touch everyone's life," he says. "Apple was never going to come down in price far enough.
"The story of the last 10 years is how Android phones have so amazingly come down in price, and how they've become ubiquitous in a way we never expected."
Moore's Law, which states that the density of transistors on a chip will roughly double every two years – a corollary of which is that the price of chips of a given performance level will roughly halve in that same period – has been responsible for much of that price drop, of course, meaning that the price drop of phones was mostly predictable.
Many of the parts of a smartphone, including the main processor, the graphics processor, the memory, the storage and even the screen, benefit from Moore's Law to at least some extent.
(Conspicuously missing from that list is the battery. It's not made of transistors, and the lack of improvement in battery life remains the one big failure of the smartphone industry.)
Nevertheless, says Fardoost, the extent of the price drop, and the way the smartphone relentlessly replaced the feature phone at ever lower price points, took the phone industry by surprise.
"Apple and Samsung delivered the experience for the top end, for people who could afford it, but the thing that we didn't imagine back then was that within 10 years you'd be able to buy smartphones under $79.
At the same time that smartphones were dropping in price, the cost of connecting them to the network was plummeting, too. Or, rather, the cost was staying the same, but what users got for that money was an order of magnitude more data.
There was a clear moment in 2015/2016 when the data included in plans skyrocketed.
— Joe Hanlon
If there was a single inflection point in the story of the smartphone, something that guaranteed that the wellbeing of phone users was eventually going to come into question, this was it.
Cheap data flooded onto the networks.
Joe Hanlon, the publisher of the smartphone plan comparison site WhistleOut, saw it happening.
"There was a clear moment in 2015/2016 when the data included in plans skyrocketed.
"Whereas you might have expected plans to include 2GB or 3GB of data, we were suddenly seeing 50GB or 100GB for the same price," he says.
Rather than being encouraged to pay less for the same amount of data, users were being encouraged to pay the same but use their phone more than ever, and for data intensive apps (such as video streaming) they'd never considered before due to the high per-gigabit cost of data.
Just why this happened is something of a chicken-and-egg question, the chicken being the rise and rise of new smartphone operators in the middle of the decade; and the egg being the sudden popularity of video streaming services such as Netflix.
In 2010, WhistleOut had six smartphone service providers in its plan comparison database. By 2015, when the data explosion happened, there were four times that many, says Hanlon.
"Mobile data was the key lever the telcos used to lure customers to their services," he says.
"There really isn't much else to differentiate the majority of the telcos. All they can do is tweak the ratio between what you pay and how much data you get.
"This wasn't a dynamic unique to Australia," says Hanlon. "Mobile network operators in the US countered the flood of low-cost competitors into the market with unlimited data offers that the smaller companies couldn't afford to replicate, and it's a similar story in European markets with a strong reseller presence, like Germany, France and Spain."
Those three factors – price of phones, the price of data suddenly dropping by a factor of 25, and the constant improvement in digital camera technology – may well have been enough to guarantee the oversized success of the smartphone.
The rise of the app
But something else happened, too, that cemented that success, and all but cemented the smartphone to users' palms.
Apps got better. Way better.
That's due, at least in part, to the work of an Israeli-born American product design specialist, Nir Eyal, whose 2013 book Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products became, if not the bible of software designers trying to make addictive apps, then at least one of the books of that bible.
"The problem that we had in the tech industry was that nobody was using our technology," says Eyal. "Technology was not user friendly. It was only something that nerds and geeks could use, and there was a real Digital Divide. There was a whole segment of the population that couldn't figure out how to use technology, how to get on the web, how to send email."
And then, spurred on by books such as Eyal's, software developers started using psychological tools to make their apps not just easier to use, but harder to forget.
As Eyal explains, they went from relying on "external triggers", such as words on a screen to encourage people to use them, to relying on a user's "internal triggers".
Depending on how in control you feel about your phone usage, you could call those internal triggers "habits", or you could call them "addictions".
"As we move from desktops with big screens, to laptops that have smaller screens, to mobile devices that have even smaller screens, to wearable devices like the Apple Watch that have an even a smaller screen, the user interface shrinks and eventually disappears," says Eyal.
"What I could see back in 2012 was that, in order to build a consumer product that matters, you have to build a consumer habit, because very quickly there wouldn't be the real estate, the space on a screen in a consumer's day-to-day life, to tell them what to do.
"It quickly became very important to form an association with an internal trigger so that the product would be used out of habit."
According to some studies, the average smartphone user now unlocks his or her phone 150 times a day, mostly out of habit. "Nomophobia", the fear of not being able to access one's smartphone, was Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year in 2018.
And if you think your phone habits are verging on addictive, consider this: the generation of technology that's coming after the smartphone and the smart watch – the so-called "ubiquitous computers" that we are getting a very rudimentary glimpse of through devices such as Amazon Alexa smart speakers – will have no screen real estate whatsoever to remind you to use them. They'll be entirely habit-based.
However, there is a school of thought, which Nir Eyal happens to agree with, that says ubiquitous computing will ease the burden that many people now feel from technology.
Functions that are now on a smartphone, but which might be performed just as well or perhaps even better with some screen-free device, will eventually shift off the phone and onto those devices. Rather than digging out their phone to turn on their smart-lights, users will simply walk into a room to have the lights activate. Rather than looking at the weather on their screen, they'll just ask out loud, and the nearest voice-activated device will respond.
"It's almost like Darwin's tree of finches, where every finch occupies a specific niche. I think we'll carry around phones for what phones can do really well, and we'll have our Amazon Alexas for what they do really well, and we'll have a (digital) ring for what they do really well."
Or, to put that another way, the smartphone might have fattened out into the mother of all Swiss Army knifes, but ubiquitous computing will slim it back to a regular pocket knife before too long (hopefully before it kills you).
This year, Eyal published another book, a sort of follow-up to his groundbreaking book on hooking users.
The new book is called Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. It's about how to unhook yourself from your phone.
The answer to too much tech: more tech
Hamid Fardoost, the former Vodafone and Samsung executive, has changed his mind about smartphones.
Where once he bought them by the thousands and sold them by the millions, lately he's taken to preaching the benefits of not having a phone at all.
Or, at least, not having a phone on you at all.
With the advent of eSIM-enabled smart watches like the Apple Watch and the Samsung Galaxy Watch – watches that for roughly $5 a month can be connected to the same smartphone account as a smartphone, so they can make a receive calls on the same phone number – Fardoost has taken to leaving his phone at home when he heads out, relying instead on his watch.
"You go to the playground on the weekend, and all these parents who know better are sitting there, looking at their phones" rather than interacting with their kids or with each other, Fardoost told AFR Weekend.
"Do they not love their kids? Of course they love their kids. But they're in the habit of looking at their phones, and the problem is, it's a habit that's extremely difficult to break."
But smart watches, he says, break the habit of smartphones because they're nowhere near as good as smartphones. The screen is so tiny, and the keyboard so much tinier still, that you tend to use them for only the necessities.
You might fire off a quick reply to a WhatsApp message from your watch, but once you've done that, there's no temptation to linger, he says. You just get back to doing what you should be doing, like spending quality time with your friends and family.
"There's nothing else you can do," says Fardoost. "You can't go wandering around from app to app, like you can on a phone.
"I tell my friends, I'm going to the future."
Does it hurt?
Just how much harm the smartphone habit does is a matter of some debate.
Educators trying to understand why there's been a global decline in literacy and numeracy amongst school children this decade – a decline that was consistent regardless of education type and strategy – concluded this year that the only explanation could be the phone.
The uptake of the phone was the only consistent factor in all the countries where the literacy and numeracy tests were being conducted, the educators found.
Kids were using phones at night when they should be sleeping, and social media apps on the phones were creating heightened anxiety. Neither of those things were conducive to learning.
"I would say the biggest single factor explaining worsening academic learning is related to the smartphone," Pasi Sahlberg, professor of educational policy at the Gonski Institute for Education, told AFR Weekend in March.
But elsewhere, the evidence is more mixed.
Dr Tim Sharp, a clinical consulting psychologist who's also an adjunct professor in positive psychology at the University of Technology Sydney, says although the smartphone has been blamed for all manner of ills, longitudinal scientific studies about the wellbeing effects of smartphones are now starting to produce results, and the findings have been surprising.
"The research now suggests [the phone] hasn't had a negative impact on mental health," he says.
"The basic consensus now is it's neither been good nor bad. Or it's been both. We know when it comes to teenagers, that it hasn't had nearly as much of a negative impact as most people think."
Social media can create anxiety, to be sure, but it also can create connectedness, a feeling of belonging to a community that's enormously beneficial to mental wellbeing, he says.
Indeed, Sharp ranks connectedness as one of the greatest contributors to mental health, right up there with a sense of meaning and purpose, a sense of being loved, and physical health. And, if the network effect means anything when it comes to the smartphone, it means that humans are exponentially more connected to each other than ever before.
"Now that doesn't mean the phone can't be bad for certain individuals," he continues.
"It doesn't mean that for certain individuals, it might not be a healthy habit or that there might not be problems attached to being addicted to being online. But as general rule across the population, it's been both good and bad, or neither good nor bad."
But Sharp does agree with those educators about one thing: phones have been costing us sleep, and in the constellation of things that matter most to our mental wellbeing, sleep is one of the brightest stars.
"Most people underestimate the importance of sleep," he says. "And we certainly know that use of screens late in the evening can affect our sleep. And affecting our sleep can have very negative effects on our health and wellbeing more generally."
In his new book about unhooking yourself from your phone, Nir Eyal makes a similar argument: phones aren't inherently good or bad, it's just a question of whether we're able to make good use of them without falling into traps.
"It's not black and white," he says. "It's not good guys versus bad guys. It's how you use it, how much you are using it, and what you would be doing instead of using it.
"Two-thirds of people with a smartphone never change their notification settings. Can we really say the technology is hijacking our brains when we haven't even taken the time to turn off the notifications?
"We don't need all the notifications on all of the time," he says. "And guess what? Zuckerberg can't turn them back on. There's nothing Google can do to turn notifications back on once you've decided to turn them off.
Eyal calls it "hacking back".
"In computer parlance, hacking means to gain unauthorised access. If these companies are gaining unauthorised access to our time and our attention, that's hacking our attention.
"But there's no reason we can't hack back."
That people are unable to control themselves around phones "is not supported by scientific evidence, and in fact I think it is actually harmful to perpetuate that notion because it makes people less likely to do something about the problem. They don't even try. They give up. It's called learnt helplessness."
As it happens, he says, people have no trouble learning how to control themselves around phones.
"When I used to teach at Stanford, I remember the first few years I taught there half of my class would be on their phone in the middle of class and it was just what people did.
"Today when I teach I almost never see that because the message has spread throughout the student body; they've learnt that this is not going to be aiding them, it's not good for you to constantly be distracted when you're in the middle of class."
We clearly can moderate our use. We clearly can stop. The vast majority of us are not addicted. If anything, we are just distracted.
— Nir Eyal
Social norms are already changing. Mores are developing that help guide us when to use our phone, and when not to. Apple and Google are adding tools such as Screen Time and Post Box to their phones to help us stay connected when we need to, and disconnect when we need to. People are learning to use those tools.
"People aren't stupid," says Eyal. "We're not puppets on a string.
"We can't be so easily manipulated, and I know because I am a behavioral designer and I can tell you that while these techniques for getting people hooked on their phone are good, they're not that good.
"We clearly can moderate our use. We clearly can stop. The vast majority of us are not addicted. If anything, we are just distracted."
Fetching latest articles


text:
A new King Soopers opened in downtown Denver on Wednesday and offered an oasis to what is called a “food desert.”
This Wednesday a new King Soopers will open in downtown Denver. The store is located at 20th Avenue and Chestnut Street. It’s expected to solve one of downtown’s biggest problems.
Colorado may now be seeing lower gas prices but one method of payment may drive some prices back up.
Food scores are designed to help people make healthy choices, but now the way food is scored is coming under question.
There’s only one grocery store in the town of Carbondale that now has to abide by a ban on plastic shopping bags, and now it’s got a problem on its hands.
The owner of the King Soopers supermarket chain in Colorado has agreed to pay $80,000 to settle a complaint of discrimination against a former employee with a learning disability.
King Soopers is hoping to lure more parents in for grocery shopping. The chain is now offering carts packed full of entertainment for the kids.


text:
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - A new development in the works on LSU's campus was designed to beef up the Nicholson corridor.
Crews broke ground on the 28-acre development known as The Nicholson Gateway Project.
If all goes as planned, the project will include retail space and thousands of new places for students to live.
They will improve those empty useless areas found on Nicholson Drive right now. It is happening quickly.
The Nicholson Gateway is slated to be completed by the fall of 2018.


text:
March is generally a very busy month whether it be in the new or the used car market.
Focus tends to be on new car sales as the new registration plate is launched and that affects both the retail and fleet markets.
Private buyers seek to show off a new plate on their purchase, and fleets like to defer sales to March to get the latest plate on the asset for a better return on investment come sale time.
New car registrations for March 2018 endured a 15.7% drop over the bumper March 2017 figure that was an anomaly due to the impending VED changes that came into place on April 1, 2017.
Last year dealers and manufacturers worked hard to clear stocks of cars that were to be adversely affected by the increase in car tax rates.
As such a drop of such magnitude in March this year should have been expected, although the national press are enjoying over playing the position.
By the end of the year the UK market will have balanced from it’s 12.4% year-to-date decline in registrations to a more reasonable 6.5% fall as predicted by Cazana last year.
Diesel versus petrol
The diesel debate continues to rage and the 37.2% drop in new diesel car registrations in March has not helped speculation over the future of diesel despite commitment to the fuel type from many key manufacturers that are prepared, and financially able, to invest in the future of the technology.
The used market is under close scrutiny from all angles with concern over current and future values but at the moment the market is stable.
The chart below shows activity in the fleet sector for typical younger ex-fleet cars :-
Data from Cazana.com
The above chart demonstrates that a year ago diesel cars enjoyed a 3% premium over petrol as a % of original cost new and in the last 12 months the position has shifted to show 1% premium for petrol cars.
This is an upward shift of 4% and is interesting because it now shows a premium of 3% for petrol powered vehicles over diesel.
Anecdotal market discussion has suggested that the influx of ex-PCP product at this age and mileage might have damaged values of petrol cars.
However, the reality from live retail based data is ultimately contrary, although prices have been volatile during the course of the last 12 months.
It is also worth considering the fact that diesel cars rest just 1% lower than at the same point last year and following a drop from late spring, showed a solid consistency which highlights the fact that the retail consumer is still happy to buy diesel cars.
Premium versus volume in the lower medium sector
This month we also take a snapshot comparison of the premium lower medium sector against the lower medium sector.
The shift of private demand and fleet user preference away from volume manufacturers has been ongoing for some years and this chart shows the lack of impact of this trend in the used market.
Values are expressed as a % of original cost new based on the Cazana remarket price which is derived from retail data :-
Data from Cazana.com
The above chart clearly depicts a high level of consistency in both sectors which is important given the volume of cars that filter back to both markets.
A year ago the uplift for the premium lower medium sector was 11% and in March 2018 this figure is now 9% points.
This suggests that reduced volumes of lower medium cars in the market have resulted in a minor improvement in retail and therefore wholesale values.
Given that a high proportion of lower medium used cars have been owned by fleets this is a trend to be watched in the future as the lower medium sector may see a greater resurgence in values.
To summarise, March 2018 has been a difficult month for new car sales but good for used car dealers. Fleet car values for the sectors reviewed have been reliable and robust and there is no clear evidence from the data that this will change in the short term.
Consideration must be given to the impact of volumes going forward in the mid to long term but it would appear consistency and positivity is the order of the day.
Clearly there is more insight to be gained from looking at more specific information and Cazana can assist with detailed analysis.
Author: Rupert Pontin (pictured), director of valuations, Cazana


text:
Sterling Generators on Monday announced a strategic partnership with Moteurs Baudouin, a French manufacturer of power generation diesel and gas engines.
Sterling Generators Pvt Ltd (SGPL) — a Sterling and Wilson Group Company and one of India’s leading genset players — is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Moteurs Baudouin, a French manufacturer of marine and power generation diesel and gas engines, a company statement said. The partnership is expected to accelerate growth for both companies in the auxiliary power category.
The partnership will leverage Baudouin’s legacy of designing and manufacturing the highest quality diesel and gas engines and Sterling Generators’ fuel-efficient, smartly designed auxiliary power solutions that are compliant with the latest emission norms, the statement noted. “With Baudouin’s global presence, fine legacy, and engineering expertise, it is strategically beneficial for us to have them as an engine partner. We are confident that we have a superior product in hand in terms of technology compared to other players in the industry.
“This collaboration will personify our commitment to providing discerning power consumers with a smart, eco-friendly, cost-effective product backed by strong aftermarket support,” Sanjay Jadhav, CEO, Sterling Generators. said in the statement. According to reports, India’s prime power diesel genset market size is predicted to grow at a 10.6 per cent CAGR during 2022-2030, as per the statement.
“India being a strategic market, we are delighted to join hands with Sterling Generators. With a well-established distributor network and state-of-the-art genset manufacturing facility, this partnership is the right platform for us to increase our footprint in India. “We are confident that we will be able to serve our customers with the latest technology products backed by robust on-ground support and are fully geared to launch our next emission compliant Power packs,” Gurunath Kulkarni VP India Operations Moteurs Baudouin said.
The government’s emphasis on Make in India, backed by sustained economic growth, continues to drive high power demand in India. The extraordinary global development in residential, commercial, and industrial sectors across regions has increased the demand for uninterrupted power, the statement said. SGPL along with Baudouin is perfectly poised to meet the growing demands in the genset industry, it noted.


text:
No. 10 Yao sister valentine’s Day resources online, big trick special effects beauty cry, open black section skin degradation, armored cry
Valentine’s Day is only a week away, valentine’s Day limited skin is about to hit the shelves.In accordance with the past convention, valentine’s Day limited skin will generally be in the 10th or so, so before this Friday, Yao and Yunzhongjun’s Valentine’s Day limited skin is estimated to be disclosed.And in the recent netizens also broke the suspected yao this Valentine’s Day limited skin special effects, it is said that this skin special effects is Q version of the big trick.Then on Valentine’s Day, there may be a skin encore, the skin is Zhuge Liang’s Wuling Xianjun, the reason for the encore is said to be related to the glory collection.Finally is the news of the shard mall, it is said that this year the new skin shard mall shelves is the dawn guardian of armor, what is going on, let’s look at it together.Last year Mulan and Lanling king’s Valentine’s Day limited skin in February 10 ushered in the news, this year would like to be no exception.And now it is February 7, February 10 is Also Thursday, the general King of Glory revealed the new skin is indeed this time, so this year is estimated to be the time to reveal.Before these skins are revealed, there is another in-game change that will be on the air, and that is the change to the meat and wild knives.Meat and wild on the experience server is no longer suitable for ranged heroes, because the revenue is only half, so Irene smite is a thing of the past.Meicry Yao this valentine’s Day limited skin has now gained a lot of attention, many players are looking forward to the specific image of the skin, the skin is also placed high hopes, and even hope that the quality of the skin can exceed the glory of Zhuge Liang skin.The design of this skin has been revealed before, and in the recent skin special effects have also been revealed by players.In yao’s skin design draft, in addition to yao form and deer form two images, there is a Q version of the image, which is not in other skin.So there are players guess this may be the skin of an egg special effects, when yao use big trick, will appear Q version of the image of yao.This year zhuge Liang’s glory Collection skin sales are not very high, so in this case, wuling Xianjun this skin is very likely to return.This skin was optimized last year, and it has not been played back since then. It is reasonable to say that there will be an opportunity to play back, and it is likely to be this Valentine’s Day.Kai Cry kai this hero’s skin is not much, only a 50/50 black section skin, a direct sale legend skin and a limited epic skin.That legendary skin is not very good among players, many players think that the quality of this skin is not high, especially when the mecha can only be opened up, so it is not a qualified mecha skin.And another skin dawn guardian although wind reviews good, good quality.However, it was recently revealed that this skin story will be put on shard, and if it is put on Shard, then the skin will be greatly reduced, and players who buy this skin directly will cry to death.In addition to the above skins, Kai is said to be coming with a new skin. This skin is the same as mulan’s youth final season and was also featured in the original poster for the final season, though it is unknown when this skin will be released.Kerr said yao mei valentine’s Day limited skin attention than five years of skin may be high, after all, is the first auxiliary hero of the legend of the skin, but also yao this popular hero.Net friend break the big recruit has Q version special effects may be true, otherwise the design draft will not appear Q version image, so this is also a bright spot of this skin, is not know the cloud jun’s skin has Q version image, think it should also have.The first 55/50 black section skin has been online in the shard mall last year, so it seems that after the estimated 55/50 black section skin will be put on the shard mall.


text:
WASHINGTON - Federal regulators warned Tuesday that more than a dozen manufacturers, distributors and retailers that they are endangering children by marketing e-cigarette liquids to resemble kid-friendly products such as juice boxes, candy and whipped cream.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission said the packaging of the products - some of which feature cartoonlike images - could mislead children into thinking the liquids, which can be highly toxic if swallowed, are actually things they commonly eat and drink.
"E-liquids," as they are called, are typically a mix of nicotine, flavors and other ingredients. Ingesting them can cause nicotine poisoning - and even death - for small children. The government cited a recent analysis that found there were more than 8,200 e-cigarette and liquid nicotine exposures among children younger than six between January 2012 and 2017.
The products being targeted include: "One Mad Hit Juice Box," which resembles children's apple juice boxes, such as Tree Top-brand juice boxes; "Vape Heads Sour Smurf Sauce," which looks like War Heads candy; and "V'Nilla Cookies & Milk," which resembles Nilla Wafer and Golden Oreo cookies; "Whip'd Strawberry," which resembles Reddi-wip dairy whipped topping, and "Twirly Pop," which the FDA said, "not only resembles a Unicorn Pop lollipop but is shipped with one."
The warning letters cover eight different products. Not all e-liquids contain nicotine; the government action Tuesday targeted only items that have nicotine.
The agencies told the companies that the products are "misbranded" under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act "because their labeling and/or advertising imitating kid-friendly foods is false or misleading." In joining the FDA, the FTC cited its authority under the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising.
The companies have 15 days to respond to the FDA on how they will change the labels and packaging of the products. Failure to make changes "may result in further action such as seizure or injunction," the FDA said.
"It is easy to see how a child could confuse these e-liquid products for something they believe they've consumed before - like a juice box," said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. "These are preventable accidents that have the potential to result in serious harm or even death. Companies selling these products have a responsibility to ensure they aren't putting children in harm's way or enticing youth use, and we'll continue to take action against those who sell tobacco products to youth and market products in this egregious fashion."
"Protecting young children from unwarranted health and safety risks is one of our highest priorities," said Acting FTC Chair Maureen K. Ohlhausen. "Nicotine is highly toxic, and these letters make clear that marketing methods that put kids at risk of nicotine poisoning are unacceptable."
Several of the entities also were cited for illegally selling the products to minors, the FDA said.
FDA commissioner Gottlieb said the letters were one part of the FDA's new Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan. Last week, the agency announced a nationwide undercover "blitz" to crack down on the sale of e-cigarettes - particularly the hugely popular Juul products - to children and teenagers by regular and online retailers.
The agency said it had uncovered dozens of violations of the law and issued 40 warning letters related to Juul e-cigarettes.
Juul e-cigarettes resemble a USB flash drive but contain high levels of nicotine. They come in such flavors as mango, creme brulee and cool mint, and their emissions can be virtually invisible, making it difficult for teachers to spot and stop use of the product.
Gottlieb, as part of a comprehensive tobacco policy announced last summer, pledged to reduce the level of nicotine in conventional cigarettes to minimally addictive levels and said he believes e-cigarettes could be an important tool in helping adult smokers switch to less harmful nicotine-delivery products. The policy also delayed for several years a requirement that e-cigarette makers get agency approval for their products. Health groups have sued the agency over the delay.
Gottlieb said last week that while e-cigarettes could be helpful for addicted adults, the viability of the products "is severely undermined if those products entice youth to start using tobacco and nicotine."


text:
With design improvements and certain quality-of-life upgrades, YouTube Music is continuously becoming better, and it shows: over time, it has grown to be a strong rival to Spotify for many users. Although the update isn’t yet live for everyone, the most recent modification to the music streaming service aims to enhance and harmonize the casting experience across iOS and Android.
When you hit the cast button in most Android apps, casting choices always appear as a floating window in the center of your screen. However, as programs like Spotify, with its unique implementation and extra features, have long demonstrated, it doesn’t have to appear that way. Not much can be done with YouTube Music on Android because it’s still a Google app with Google’s own standards more prominently.
Redditor u/notjhoan (via 9to5Google) posted pictures indicating that Google is testing a new bottom-based sheet for cast targets. It’s more packed than the old overlay, so you might be able to see more casting targets at once. At the top, albeit not entirely new, is a section with suggested objectives. For some time now, the business has been trying a similar interface modification to the previous overlay.
As part of the revamp, the active casting interface itself is also modified. The volume slider is also shown in a bottom-based card rather than an overlay. It appears that there isn’t currently a way to cease casting using that interface, which is a strange omission. It’s conceivable that the updated user interface is still being worked on and isn’t quite ready.
The interfaces for YouTube Music for iOS and Android are now more similar thanks to the redesigned bottom sheet. While YouTube Music for iOS has long had a similar appearance to the Android version, not everyone has been able to see the suggested targets. We haven’t yet noticed the updated casting UI on our phones. It’s a gradual rollout that hasn’t been made generally available just yet as noted by 9to5Google.
With Nest audio devices or screens, Google has recently made it simpler to switch between voice control and touch screen control with ease. The YouTube Music app on your phone instantly connects to the speaker you’ve started listening to when you initiate a voice session. From there, you may manage playing, the queue, and other features. When combined, the controls on YouTube Music are not nearly as good as those on Spotify Connect, but they are getting there.
RS News or Research Snipers focuses on technology news with a special focus on mobile technology, tech companies, and the latest trends in the technology industry. RS news has vast experience in covering the latest stories in technology.


text:
January 12th, 2012
This week’s perspective is provided by Mike Sullivan:
As we are now two weeks into 2012, the obligatory year-end reports are arriving seemingly on a daily basis. While everyone can relate to shopping to one degree or another and given that the health of the retail sector is a leading indicator of the general health of our economy, the retail reports being released are of particular interest.
I recently read in National Real Estate Investor that the 2011 holiday shopping season resulted in some relatively strong sales forU.S. retailers which should promise a stable year ahead. The article stated “same-store sales forU.S. chains posted an increase of more than 3 percent during the November/December period, a performance comparable to 1994.” This is obviously good news, but like the theme in several posts we have written recently, there is more to the story. Much of the revenue during the holiday period was the result of extreme promotions or significant discounts. So while retailers were still able to post strong sales despite unemployment over 8.5% and a stagnant housing market, much of it was event driven.
Given our investment real estate perspective, we’re wondering what this news means for the market. Based on a few recent retail investment transactions in our market and on a few national retail deals, including the $1.4 billion acquisition by a Blackstone/DDR joint venture of 47 properties in 20 states totaling 10.4 million square feet, we believe the trending good news in sales is providing comfort to investors. We anticipate the interest in retail deals by investors to increase through the year as the economy continues to gradually inch its way to a full recovery. Sellers, including special servicers, are recognizing this as well and are bringing more opportunities to market. Retail investment sales should be on the rise – a refreshing change as compared to the last few years.


text:
At this past February’s Toy Fair in New York, NECA announced a trio of new A Nightmare on Elm Street action figures detailing the first three looks of slasher Freddy Krueger in New Line Cinema’s infamous franchise:
* Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy with outstretched arms, regular arms, removable hat and interchangeable heads (classic and skinned face with exposed skull)
* Freddy’s Revenge Freddy with bladed finger nails, removable hat and interchangeable heads (regular and screaming face)
* Dream Warriors Freddy with ripped sweater revealing Freddy’s victims, Elm Street house accessory and interchangeable heads (grimacing expression and crucifix damaged screaming face with a port hole that light can shine through)
This morning NECA revealed the best of ’em all in a surprise announcement — a hi-res look at the “Dream Master Freddy”, arriving in stores this fall. Click here for a look at the “Dream House” accessory, along with an interchangeable Freddy’s head featuring his exposed brain.
AROUND THE WEB
this week in horror
This Week in Horror - December 3, 2017 - Halloween, Friday the...
Danny McBride reveals more about the tone of the upcoming Halloween sequel, new details on the Friday the 13th Blu-ray Collection, and Tom Hardy's trainer reveals details about Carnage in the upcoming Venom movie! It's THIS WEEK IN HORROR with Whitney Moore!Posted by Bloody Disgusting on Wednesday, December 6, 2017


text:
(Pocket-lint) - As Ikea furniture continues appear in a large percentage of homes in the UK, it only seems fitting that it should fill our virtual homes too.
Well players of the Sims 2 will soon be able to do just that, following a marketing deal between the Swedish company and Electronic Arts, the game's producer.
The unusual partnership will see a selection of Ikea furniture and home furnishings available to players of The Sims 2 via an add-on software package.
EA releases three such packs a year to meet the demands of Sims players who just can't get enough of expanding and personalising their virtual worlds.
"The success of The Sims has generated a number of online communities committed to the game and eager to share content they have created inside the game", said Nancy Smith, the EA global president for The Sims label.
"As a result, we know not only players' passion for creating their own content but their desire to interact with brands. It's an environment in which players like to blur the line between the digital and real world."
Just last year, EA partnered with another Swedish company, H&M, which allowed Sims 2 players to dress their characters in the retailer's clothes.
The H&M fashion pack reached sales of 1 million in its first year.
The Ikea add-on pack will be available from 27 June.