text:
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) in collaboration with the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai, India organized a Production Process Improvement and Market Penetration Programme for 10 export ready SMEs identified under 2000 New Exporters Development Programme, coinciding with “Annapoorana – World of Food India 2018” from September 26 – October 2, 2018 in Mumbai, India.
The EDB organized a seminar with Ms.Stella Photi, Founder & Managing Director of Wellbeing Escapes, London, on 31st of October from 9.00 am to 12.00 pm at the EDB. She is a renowned Wellness tourism expert on Wellbeing travel involved in many wellness tourism projects around the world and a much sought after guest speaker in international wellness forums.
The Boat Show & Boating Festival Sri Lanka 2018 is organised by the Boat Building Technology Improvement Institute (BTI) and Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), in association with the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade, the Ministry of Ports and Shipping, and Sri Lanka Ports Authority at Galle Yacht Marina, Port of Galle from 26–28 October.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), as the apex organization for promoting exports, has identified the Health/Wellness Tourism sector as a key focus sector in terms of foreign exchange earnings and as a key sector in the National Export Strategy (NES). There is a clear synergy between global trends and Sri Lanka’s traditional health approaches. The country has natural and traditional endowments that can be used to foster a sustainable wellness tourism value chain that is deeply rooted in local communities and traditions. The growing interest in and demand for wellness services is a favorable global trend for the development of this industry in Sri Lanka. Many countries and destinations are defining themselves as wellness tourism destinations but most do not have Sri Lanka’s rich cultural and wellness lifestyle based heritage. The Average spending of a wellness traveler is around US$ 250 which is far beyond the spending of a general tourist or backpackers.
Sri Lanka was well represented at the 15th International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair (CISMEF), held from 10-13 October at the Poly World Trade Centre in Guangzhou, by a 30-member delegation of Small and Medium Enterprises organised by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, with the active facilitation of the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Guangzhou.
The Ministry of Finance and Mass Media as envisaged in the Budget-2018 by the Minister Mangala Samaraweera has established a regulatory framework enabling Sri Lankan companies to initiate Business to Consumer (B2C) direct E-Commerce transactions with overseas customers.
Sri Lanka’s exporters have the opportunity to exploit the tariff war between the US and China to attract new foreign partners, the Export Development Board (EDB) said, noting that the environment for exports remained positive with 60% of the total export targets for 2018 being achieved in the first nine months.
The Export Development Board (EDB) is confident of achieving the export target of US$ 17. 5 billion by the end this year and the $ 20 billion by 2020, said EDB Chairperson Indira Malwatte on the sidelines of the 16th Exporter’s Forum held at the EDB auditorium last week.
The 16th Exporters Forum chaired by International Trade State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe was held on 16/10/2018 at the Export Development Board auditorium.
Over the last several months, the Export Development Board has developed a relationship with UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Global Access Program (GAP) with a view to strengthening Sri Lanka’s exports to the United States. The Export Development Board has worked closely with GAP Executive Director Dr. Fredrik Leuhusen, in addition to seeking external reference from agencies in New Zealand and Finland who have been among the most frequent GAP clients.
The Chairperson and Chief Executive, EDB Indira Malwatte together with the Sri Lanka Embassy in Germany had extremely fruitful discussions with officers from Import Promotion Desk (IPD), the German initiatives for import promotion of selected countries.
The EDB with the assistance of Sri Lanka High Commission in Malaysia organized a Technical Training Program for the latex rubber product sectors at the Academy of Hevea Malaysia of Malaysian Rubber Board recently, for twelve technical representatives of leading companies engaged in manufacturing and exporting latex rubber products.
The 22nd Presidential Export Awards Ceremony was held to celebrate the outstanding achievements of the Exporters at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo, on September 18, 2018, under the patronage of His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena the President of Sri Lanka.
Following is the address by Minister Malik Samarawickrama at the Presidential Export Awardson 18 September
Eight Sri Lankan companies are taking part under the Export Development Board (EDB) banner at Texworld/Apparel Sourcing Paris which commenced 17/09/2018 and will conclude on 20-09-2018.
2018-09-09/ /blog/polish-push-for-local-boat-building-industry.html http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2018/09/09/business/polish-push-local-boat-building-industry
The National Export Strategy (NES) has started sailing in the high waves after obtaining the Cabinet approval and the launch with all the stakeholders of the NES. The NES, a flagship development project spearheaded by the Development Strategies and International Trade Ministry and Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), together with the public-private partnership, commenced its implementation.
The Export Development Board (EDB) on 27-08-2018 announced the relaunch of the ‘1000 start-up’ initiative, an effort taken towards diversifying Sri Lanka’s export basket and market.
Sri Lanka Export Development Board (SLEDB) organized a one day seminar to educate the entrepreneurs of the North Western Province on the national program of developing the 2000 new Exporters for the North Western Province entrepreneurs on August 17, 2018 at Hotel Blue Sky, Kurunegala.
Sri Lanka Association of Printers (SLAP) regularly organizes regional seminars in outstation cities targeting the printers in the category of Small and Medium Enterprisesas well as the prospective youth who are interested in starting their career in printing industry. The regional seminar of the 3rdquarter of the year organized by Sri Lanka Association of Printers (SLAP) was held on Saturday, 18th August 2018, at “Saketha MeduraHotel”, Gampaha. The seminar was a huge success and over 60 printersin medium and small enterprise categories, in Gampaha district and over 50 youth who were interested in joining the printing industry attended seminar.


text:
KINGSPORT, Tenn. - Workers in a Kingsport office started Wednesday with a surprise.
A pickup truck crashed through the front wall of the offices of Healthcare Management of America in the 100 block of East Ravine Street.
Kingsport Police Officers say an elderly man was parking his truck when his foot slipped off brake and hit the gas.
Investigators say no one was seriously injured.
- Updated BREAKING: One person shot, flown to hospital in Washington County, Va.
- Tusculum and Mosheim voters must decide on liquor sales
- Bigger turnout in second year of Push! Film Festival
- Family Justice Center to open in Sullivan County
- Voting on wine sales in retail food stores in two Unicoi County towns

domain: news


text:
Russian dating site pays hacker to recover stolen emails, but don't call it a ransom
Russian dating service Topface has paid a hacker an undisclosed sum to return 20 million customer email addresses he stole -- but the company would prefer if you wouldn't refer to the exchange of goods for stolen information as a ransom, thank you very much.
The hacker is said to have made off with only the email addresses; he didn't get the passwords associated with those emails, nor did he compromise any payments data. Topface claims that it doesn't manage any of its customers' credit card information.
None of those email addresses were shared with others. The hacker simply didn't have a chance to sell them, because once Topface learned that he was planning to auction off the data, it decided to purchase the millions of email addresses itself.
Bloomberg reports that the hacker won't face any criminal charges, and Topface has decided to call the money paid out as "an award for finding a vulnerability," which is what I hear negotiators call paying kidnappers not to kill any of their hostages.
On a less facetious note: It's strange that Topface won't just call this what it is. The hacker didn't discover a vulnerability in the same way professional pen-testers do when a company hires them to break into their systems and steal sensitive data.
He stole millions of email addresses. That's not much in the grand scheme of things -- there have been plenty of instances where hackers made off with credit card data over the last few months -- but pretending it wasn't theft doesn't really do any good.
Unless the company thinks its 90 million customers will actually believe that paying someone not to release their personal information wasn't a ransom, in which case, good on Topface for managing to lock in the most gullible people as its customers.
[illustration by Brad Jonas]


text:
Lots of new wearable gear expected at CES 2014
CES 2014 is set to kick off next week and bring with it hoards of new gadgets and electronic devices. One of the big categories expected to be big at the show is for health and fitness tech. Lots of firms are expected to roll out wearable fitness devices that help track your activity level and other items.
Don't Miss: The hottest Apple Rumors for 2017
PC Mag reports that the digital fitness category is taking up 30% more space on the show floor than it did in years past. If you have ever been to CES, the show is massive and a 30% increase means a huge amount of products in the category will be there.
Many of the fitness devices are expected to be smartwatches. The smartwatch segment is expected to boom. There will be some big announcement in this segment this year so stay tuned for more details next week when the show kicks off. We may even see some new smart wearable categories with smart bras, socks, and more.


text:
Innovation is not enough
The consequences of any innovation depend on how quickly it diffuses through labour and product markets
We seem to be living in an accelerated age of revolutionary technological breakthroughs. Barely a day passes without the announcement of some major new development in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, digitization or automation. Yet, those who are supposed to know where it is all taking us can’t make up their minds.
Login to enjoy exclusive benefits!
- Unlocked premium articles
- Personalized news
- Market Watchlist
- Insightful Newsletters & more


text:
Well, the timing definitely isn't a coincidence. There's something kind of poetic in the fact that on the day of an expected Apple event announcement, Microsoft happens to mention that it's buying Nokia's cellphone business.
The $7 billion deal means we will soon have three major mobile operating systems with three official in-house hardware arms. More importantly, it proves that uniting hardware and software under one roof isn't just a strategy that proved successful for Apple. It's now mandatory if you want to stay competitive in the mobile business.
While the new deal clearly has other implications for Microsoft, it's also an acknowledgment that the company has been failing (pretty miserably) in both the mobile arena and on hardware side of things.
Both the Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets have been massive flops by most accounts. And with Windows Phone market share hovering around six percent, Microsoft and Nokia are light years behind iOS and Android in the mobile market.
Indeed, the deal makes perfect sense from this perspective. The two companies already have close ties. Nokia abandoned its own faltering Symbian OS and went all in with Microsoft and Windows Phone about two and a half years ago. Since then, they've even churned out some impressive hardware, most notably the Lumia 1020.
Still, despite selling 8 out of every 10 Windows 8 handsets, Nokia hasn't been able to move very many of them. Particularly in North America. The company sold a measly 500,000 during the second quarter of this year. Bringing together the hardware and software sides sooner in the development process could definitely yield better results for both companies.
It'll take time to see the results of the buyout though. Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion took nearly two years to bear fruit. And while it's still unclear how the Moto X will fare, one thing is certain: Unless they did something soon, both Microsoft and Nokia might not have lasted another five years in the mobile market.


text:
VADODARA: If you are uncomfortable with the idea of wearing polyester fabric then this team of researchers from M S University (MSU) are all set to add comfort level to this textile. And, not just polyester, they are also working to improve other fabrics like cotton, wool and silk by giving them the nano advantage.
PhD research student and faculty member B H Patel under the guidance of Dr D P Chattopadhyay from department of textile chemistry from faculty of technology and engineering has been working on improving the textile by introducing newly synthesized nano-polymeric material.
Their research work not only will help in improving the quality of textile worn, but these will also be environmental friendly. Though the research is still on, the findings were applauded at the national conference on environmental sustainability of textile industry in Jaipur. Chattopadhyay presented the paper titled, "Nanotechnology in Textiles and Effect on Environment and Human Health" and was awarded for best presentation.
"In our laboratory, we have developed a nano material which when introduced into polyester fabric will improve its quality. The textile has low-moisture-regain quality which makes it difficult to wear, but when we introduce newly synthesized nano-polymeric material it improves the comfort property of the textile," said Chattopadhyay.
The researcher duo has also synthesized silver nano particles and its application into the textile materials particularly cotton, wool and silk have enhanced their resistance against microbial attack. "We have also gone a step further by developing copper nano particles in the reaction chamber in our laboratory. This synthesized particle is found to enhance the microbial resistance to a much higher extent than silver nano-particle," added Chattopadhyay.
Talking about the advantage of their study Chattopadhyay shared that when nano-particles are subject to washing treatment their impact to environment is far less than other nano particles.
"The highest risk for humans and environment are associated with nano materials contained in the product in the form of free particles. But, as long as nano particles remain formally embedded in materials, hardly any risk should be expected," explained Patel.


text:
The Sugar Association wants the FDA to require all alternative sweeteners to be labeled as such, providing consumers transparency about the amounts of sweeteners in the foods they eat.
The industry's science group filed a petition with the FDA on Wednesday, asking for several required changes to labels and claims when a product is made with a non-caloric sweetener, sugar alcohol, high intensity sweetener, artificial sweetener or novel sweetener. Currently, the chemical name of these sweeteners are included on ingredients lists, but there is no indication that they are sweeteners. Consequently, if consumers don't know that items including erythritol, rebaudioside A or maltitol are sweeteners, they are unaware of sweeteners in products.
"Consumers want and deserve more information," Courtney Gaine, president and CEO of the Sugar Association, said at a virtual press conference on Wednesday. "Many consumers are concerned about alternative sweeteners. Some want to reduce or eliminate them in their diets, but at the very least, most want to know if a product even contains them. However, this is very difficult to do under current food labeling regulations. Current regulations are incomplete. They lack transparency and can mislead consumers rather than clarify."
Use of these ingredients has exploded as the FDA's revamped Nutrition Facts label has rolled out. The new label tells consumers how many grams of sugar is in a product, and then breaks out how much of that sugar has been added as an additional sweetener. Many alternative sweeteners don't fit the definition of sugars on this labeling scheme, so manufacturers looking to reduce their sugar content on labels have gravitated toward them.
"Current regulations are incomplete. They lack transparency and can mislead consumers rather than clarify."
President and CEO, Sugar Association
The Sugar Association is asking the FDA to require that every alternative sweetener in an ingredients list is labeled in parentheses as a sweetener. The organization wants all kid-targeted items using these sweeteners to indicate the type and amount of sweetener on the front of food packages. For items with label claims touting no sugar, low sugar or reduced sugar, it wants disclosures saying what the items are sweetened with. It wants some disclosure of potential gastrointestinal side effects from sugar alcohols, as well as in general for all claims related to sugar and substitutes to be truthful and non-misleading.
Research conducted by the Sugar Association indicate this is the kind of information consumers want to know. In an online poll the group conducted of 1,002 adults — 471 of whom were parents — in the last month, 66% said it was important to know how their food is sweetened. Two in five consumers said it was very important to know if there are sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners in their food. When parents were asked, 73% said knowing the amount of sugar substitutes in children's food is important. This kind of disclosure was ranked as very important to more consumers than information about high fructose corn syrup, added sugars, artificial colors, monosodium glutamate and nitrates.
Much as consumers want to know more about these sweeteners, from the information available to them, many are unable to make those distinctions. In the poll, 80% of consumers indicated they were at least somewhat confident in their ability to determine whether sugar substitutes are in food and drinks. Yet when presented with a list of ingredients and asked to identify whether they were sweeteners, consumers were only correct on sweeteners 37% of the time.
Unaffiliated research also points to consumers being less interested in alternative sweeteners. A survey last year by Innova Market Insights found three in five consumers would rather reduce sugar intake than replace it with artificial sweeteners.
Current labels can be extremely misleading, Gaine said, presenting several images of packages for products with reduced sugar claims. A Snack Pack pudding cups package she displayed clearly indicates on the front that the pudding is sugar free. However, a look at the ingredients list shows it has four sweeteners: sorbitol, maltitol, sucralose and acesulfame potassium. The first two are sugar alcohols, produced by fruits, which can be difficult for the body to digest. The second two are artificial sweeteners.
Another package she showed for Hapi Water Pure Punch says on the front that the product has zero grams of sugar and is naturally sweetened. However, two of its seven ingredients — including the one just behind water — are alternative sweeteners erythritol and stevial glycoside Reb A.
And a reduced sugar Quaker Instant Oatmeal package she showed, which claims to have 35% less sugar than the regular version, uses monk fruit extract in addition to sugar. It also reduces serving size by 29%.
Gaine said as a consumer, she has been thinking about the importance of these labeling changes for a couple of years. The Sugar Association has been working on the proposal for more than a year. The proposal is about providing consumers with the kind of information they want, she said — not about helping the roughly 142,000 growers, processors and refiners of sugar beets and sugar cane who are members of the industry group.
"It's a natural extension of the FDA's overhaul of the Nutrition Facts label. And if I could rewind back to four years ago, we should have brought it up when there was the proposed rule for labeling," Gaine said at the press conference. "We see this as an oversight by FDA in proposing the new label to not have a comprehensive look at all sweeteners."
What happens next is largely up to the FDA and manufacturers. The federal agency has six months to respond to the industry petition, and the response may be a longer fact-finding period to do research and get comments from consumers and stakeholders.
The petition was first announced on Wednesday, and Gaine said the Sugar Association had not previously mentioned it to any consumer or industry groups. Manufacturers also hadn't been briefed on the petition until Wednesday's announcement. Gaine said there are a few products that already use this kind of labeling convention, including Pillsbury quick bread and muffin mixes and Target's private label oatmeal, so she is hopeful that more manufacturers will take this step.
"Consumers are confused about alternative sweeteners and want the industry to do better. And we know we can do better," she said.


text:
BioEquity Europe 2019
Join our team in Barcelona in May. Now celebrating its 20th meeting, Bio€quity Europe is the seminal industry event for financial dealmakers looking for investor-validated life science companies positioning themselves to attract capital, and for pharmaceutical licensing professionals to assess top prospects. Bio€quity Europe has showcased more than 800 leading European companies to thousands of investment and pharma business development professionals. Delegates from 24 nations attended Bio€quity Europe last year in Ghent.


text:
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
At SMX Advanced, Gary Illyes says Google will “communicate a lot” before rolling out the mobile-first index.
Bing Ads is actively working on building out its audience targeting capabilities.
Pinterest has been developing computer vision technology since 2014 and is now applying it to visual search queries and ad targeting.
Columnist Lori Weiman continues her series on search marketing growth hacks with an installment on improving organic search performance.
Have you experienced high growth from your Google Shopping ads? You’re not the only one. Columnist Andreas Reiffen looks at growth data for product listing ads and explains why even an 89% growth in revenue year over year may not be enough to outpace your competitors.
It’s time to think beyond the keyword, and tailor your PPC campaigns based on who is actually viewing or clicking your ad. With a people-based approach to your search marketing, you can improve the cross-channel customer experience, optimize PPC campaign performance, and ultimately re-acquire customers and grow CLTV. Join our paid search experts to understand […]
SEM / Paid Search
The post SearchCap: Google mobile index, Bing ads in-market targeting and Pinterest search appeared first on Search Engine Land.


text:
DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. is preparing to eliminate its Pontiac brand, according to several industry news sources.
The automaker said Friday it wouldn't comment about widespread reports of the division's demise, but said it is continuing to review its restructuring plan."Additional information will be released as any decisions are finalized," GM said in Friday's statement.
"I've got to believe it's true," said Russ Shelton, a Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealer in Rochester Hills.
Shelton said he has been unable to order any 2010 Pontiac G6s, the division's best-selling model. But he said he has been able to order other Pontiac models.
Sales have been falling since GM announced Pontiac would become a niche brand in its federally mandated restructuring.
Pontiac is known for introducing the era of the muscle car in 1964 with the GTO and later the Firebird, both have been discontinued.
The Pontiac brand was first sold in 1926, and U.S. sales peaked at 896,980 in 1978, according to Automotive News. Pontiac's U.S. sales fell to 267,348 last year. Sales were down 43.5 percent through March.
"Any kind of news like that is going to devastate us," Shelton said.
GM has said it was focusing on four core brands: Buick, Pontiac, Cadillac and GMC.
The automaker also announced Friday it had received an additional $2 billion in working capital loan money from the federal government. That brings GM's total loans to $15.4 billion.
Under terms of a federal bailout, GM must win concessions from the United Auto Workers union and bondholders by June 1 or face possible bankruptcy.
E-mail Rick Haglund: firstname.lastname@example.org


text:
It’s really starting to look like December 14th as the final launch date, but lets not kid ourselves – we still haven’t a clue. Yet, we have come away with some very important information from all this. One, we know the device exists – and two, we know precisely where it is! The fact may be that Verizon didn’t want to launch three superior phones in such a short timespan. The Motorola DROID RAZR and HTC Rezound are amazing devices, and they may just want our Galaxy Nexus to shine on the pedestal it rightfully deserves. However, there’s no excuse for the lack of advertising and absence of information.
We shouldn’t have to piece together info for months that could easily be conveyed to the public in a matter of seconds.
- Verizon Galaxy Nexus to retail for $299 on contract (tech-gadget.co.in)
- Newest Verizon launch dates rumor: Galaxy Nexus December 9, Droid 4 December 22, and more (tech-gadget.co.in)


text:
Tag: International Womens Day
News Xbox Is Launching A Mentorship Program To Help Women Develop Careers In Gaming
In partnership with Xbox Game Studios!
To celebrate International Women's Day, Xbox has revealed a new program aimed at helping women build careers in the games industry. The program will offer access to 1:1 coaching sessions in a number of countries including the UK and US, with the aim of fostering career development in gaming. More details on...
News Xbox Celebrates International Women's Day With New Content, Tournaments & More
"We look forward to celebrating women in gaming"
In case you weren't aware, today marks International Women's Day, and as a result, Xbox has outlined its plans to celebrate the day - along with Women's History Month - in a variety of ways over the next few weeks. Firstly, a couple of tournaments celebrating the occasion will be held in Gears 5 and...


text:
Think finding arsenic in baby food is bad? Just the tip of the iceberg, according to former FDA investigator Dr. Renee Dufault
Garden City Park, NY: It was reported this morning (Wed., Oct. 25) that a major study, conducted by new nonprofit organization The Clean Label Project, has found alarming levels of arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals in approximately eighty percent (80%) of infant formulas sold on the market. Some of the baby food brands found by the study to have the largest amounts of these harmful toxins in their products include Gerber, Enfamily, and Plum Organics among others. According to the World Health Organization, arsenic in particular is associated with a higher occurrence of autism, ADHD, heart issues, diabetes, and cancer among children and adults alike.
If you are former FDA investigator and Unsafe at Any Meal (Square One, $16.95) author Dr. Renee Dufault, however, the results of this study only scratch the surface of a much more disturbing and far-reaching picture in consumer health. Her own research in this area actually dates back over a decade to 2005, when she was still working as a health investigator for the Food and Drug Administration. That was the year when she discovered that baby formula was comprised largely of corn sweeteners and vegetable oil. As she notes in chapter six of her book ("Spotlight on Autism and ADHD"), many baby formulas "contain corn sweetener in the form of corn syrup or corn syrup solids. Some formulas contain more corn sweetener than any other ingredient. I found one baby formula product in my local grocery store with a food ingredient label that claimed 54 percent of the product was made up of corn syrup solids and 26 percent of the product consisted of assorted vegetable oils."
Even though she has been aware of this problem for years and has worked diligently to alert the consumer public to it, she applauds the findings of The Clean Label Project and the force for change that the new study represents. "While they [The Clean Label Project] have tested and found results in cat food, dog food, and now baby food, the occasion of this study now sets the stage for further widespread mainstream investigation into more of our foods. This is only good news for the consumer. The more harm that we can find in processed foods, the more safety we can demand from the food companies . . . and provide to ourselves and our families."
Unsafe at Any Meal is now available wherever books are sold.


text:
SKYACTIV™-R and the Mazda RX-VISION
Powered by next-generation rotary engine SKYACTIV™®-R, the Mazda RX-VISION represents Mazda’s vision of the future.
Mazda Motor Corporation unveiled the rotary-powered Mazda RX-VISION sports car concept at the Tokyo Motor Show recently The rotary engine is a symbol of the company’s “never-stop-challenging” spirit.
Mazda RX-VISION represents a vision of the future that Mazda hopes to one day make into reality; a front-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car with exquisite, KODO design-based proportions only Mazda could envision, and powered by the next-generation SKYACTIV™®-R rotary engine.
Rotary engines feature a unique construction, generating power through the rotational motion of a triangular rotor. Overcoming numerous technical difficulties, Mazda succeeded in commercializing the rotary engine, fitting it in the Cosmo Sport (known as Mazda 110S overseas) in 1967. As the only automaker to mass-produce the rotary engine, Mazda continued efforts to improve power output, fuel economy and durability, and in 1991 took overall victory at 24 Hours of Le Mans with a rotary engine-powered race car. Over the years, the rotary engine has come to symbolize Mazda’s creativity and tireless endeavor in the face of difficult challenges.
While mass production is currently on hold, Mazda has never stopped research and development efforts towards the rotary engine. The next rotary engine has been named SKYACTIV™®-R, expressing the company’s determination to take on challenges with convention-defying aspirations and the latest technology, just as it did when developing SKYACTIV™®and SKYACTIV™®-R TECHNOLOGY.
“I look forward to talking with you more about this vision we have revealed here today at the Mazda stand,” said Mazda’s Representative Director, President and CEO, Masamichi Kogai. “Mazda will continue to take on new challenges in an effort to build a special bond with our customers and become their ‘one and only’ brand.”
In line with the company’s theme for the Tokyo Motor Show this year, “Accelerate toward our dreams,” Mazda will make an appeal for the brand’s unique approach to driving pleasure. In addition to the sports car concept, Mazda KOERU will be on display along with new-generation models featuring SKYACTIV™®-R Technologies and KODO-Soul of Motion design. A motor sports exhibit will feature racing-spec Roadsters and the Cosmo Sport will compliment a heritage display showing Mazda‘s history of convention-defying engineering.


text:
On July 26th, Hogan Lovells hosted another installment in its 2017 webinar series on emerging issues involving the Internet of Things (IoT). This webinar focused on potential legal issues with connected vehicles and smart cars, including in the areas of regulatory compliance, privacy, litigation, and intellectual property.
Lance Bultena, a partner in Hogan Lovells Washington, D.C. office, moderated the discussion. … Continue Reading
We are pleased to invite you to the next webinar in our Internet of Things series, taking place on 26 July at 12.00 P.M. EDT/5:00 p.m. BST, focusing on connected vehicles and smart cars. This session promises an insightful and comprehensive look at the most important legal issues involving connected vehicles, from autonomous driving to new mobility solutions. The discussion … Continue Reading
On 20 April, Hogan Lovells hosted the second instalment of the 2017 webinar series on emerging issues with the Internet of Things (IoT). This instalment focussed on the potential patent law issues presented by IoT technology.
Dr. Chris Mammen, a partner in Hogan Lovells San Francisco office, considered how these issues can impact companies in the IoT space, and discussed … Continue Reading


text:
What you need to know:
- A group of women in the semi-arid Baringo County pooled resources to invest in infusing honey.
- Almost seven years later, the empowerment program is proving to be a life changer to more than 50 members of Koriema Women.
When a group of women in the semi-arid Baringo County pooled resources to invest in infusing honey, they had no idea the deal would turn into a giant enterprise that would transform their socio-economic livelihoods. They made a resolve, and literally moved away from the traditional pastoralism culture of their people.
Almost seven years later, the empowerment program is proving to be a life changer to more than 50 members of Koriema Women. They sell honey along the Kabarnet-Marigat Highway realising economic empowerment to earn a living and educate their children.
They have debunked the myth that women from that part of the country depend on their husbands wholly.
To ensure they rip big from the honey business, the women in 2014, decided to form smaller groups with varying specialisations to expand the business.
“Koriema Women was established in 2014 as a table banking group for women who engaged in small business activities in the market. As time went by, however, we realised the need to come together, raise some money to use in the capital intensive honey selling business,” discloses Anne Ng’etich, the chairperson of Koriema Honey Packers.
At the beginning, they were only six, but as reality descended on most women, the group expanded. The women contributed Sh3,000 each, raising Sh20,000 as start-up capital to purchase honey from Tiaty in large quality.
“The initial capital from six women was Sh20,000 but this has gradually grown as we keep ploughing back our profits. Currently, we range between Sh500,000 to1,000,000,” says Lydia Kibet, another member.
“The idea was to create a platform to mobilise women and provide opportunities for them to start their own business and access market for the produce at competitive rates,” she adds.
The group attended a training offered by the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP) in 2016, where they learnt how to convert the traditional mode of selling honey to one that added value.
Prior to this, the women sold honey along the road at Koriema, Baringo, in ordinary water bottles. Unfortunately, this meant they sold it cheaper and only to clients plying Kabarnet-Marigat highway, hence little income.
“If you want profit, be ready to take risks,” explains Ms Ng’etich, one of the members.
The mother of five went against the odds to invest in honey production when most of the society valued livestock and five years later, the business is paying off.
Koriema Women have divided themselves into five groups; purifiers, packers and stage sellers. They say they have become financially independent and no longer depend on their husbands.
Although Ms Ng’etich works on orders from her clients, she has not completely done away with selling her product at the bus stop.
“This is the readily available venture that allows me to balance my house chores with my business,” says Felistus Kasitet, another member who does purifying.
Apart from empowering themselves, they have also created employment opportunities for other people who help in product processing and packaging.
Baringo honey is of quality according to the women group. They say the region has good trees and a favourable tropical climate ideal for bee-keeping. The bee species found in this region is Apis Mellifera Yemenitica, commonly referred to as honeybee. It withstands and survives drought conditions and has high honey yield.
When the Kenya Top Bar Hive was introduced in 1979, there was need for farmers to adopt movable bar technology as a transition hive between the traditional log hive and the Langstroth hive.
Unfortunately, technology adoption has been slow among Kenyan bee-keepers. In the past, farmers kept their traditional beehives (log hives), on trees in expansive areas, largely unsettled, tapping nectar and pollen from the wild plant sources. Most bee-keepers in Baringo are still in it.
The Koriema Women plan to come up with a cooperative hopefully by the end of this year to enable them manage table banking schemes, where they advance loans to members at low interest rates. This will also enable them sustain operations.
“Access to financial credit remains our main challenge since it is our wish that more women join the group or form similar associations to empower them economically and overcome socio-economic challenges at family level,” says Pauline Kangogo.
They say the main challenge facing them in the honey business is the scarcity of honey during certain periods of the year, affecting pricing. They, however, maintain that Baringo remains their source for honey.
The group’s main objective is to empower other Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the region to embrace a culture of accessing financial credit, for them to attain socio-economic prosperity.


text:
The Director-General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Osita Aboloma, has disclosed that over 70 per cent of the lubricants in the market failed the quality parameters of the Nigerian Industrial Standard.
Worried about the influx of substandard lubricants into the Nigerian market, the agency announced that it was collaborating with manufacturers and dealers of lubricants to stamp out substandard products in the sector.
Indeed, the standards body stressed the urgent need to checkmate the emerging trend of faking and cloning of successful brands so as not to short-change the unsuspecting Nigerian consumers while also preventing a drain on the Nigerian economy.
The SON boss, during an emergency meeting with stakeholders in the lubricant industry, said the development was a cause of worry to the agency. He noted that SON would also intensify its effort in constant monitoring of the people who manufacture or blend within Nigeria to ensure that they did not fall below the minimum requirement of the standards.
Source: The Punch


text:
Stunning Aegean Blue, Modded Civic Type R Is a Head-turner
Purchased ‘right off the truck’ last June, standout Type R hits the market with some ‘tasty’ modifications.
Do you ever wonder how a practically brand-new car winds up in the used car lot only months after it was purchased? In most cases, it’s likely due to either the previous owner biting off more they could chew monetarily, opting for the hottest new thing, or finding the car not to their liking.
This 2017 Civic Type R we found on Craigslist the other day falls into a couple of different categories, including being barely driven.
“Very clean, brand new condition. I never even installed the factory floor mats,” says the seller. “I barely drive the car, as one of the reasons I’m selling. But mainly selling as I have to help my family with some personal matters.”
The Aegean Blue Type R was the 1,204th built for the 2017 model year, and was purchased “right off the truck” last June. While the engine remains stock, the Type R “has some tasty modifications done to it,” including a new set of JDM aftermarket wheels, carbon fiber side skirts and rear facia, and a ceramic window tint.
Let’s hope things improve for the seller’s family so he can bring home a new Type R in the future.


text:
Several ASB customers have checked their accounts this morning to find multiple charges by Netflix, with one customer reportedly charged eight times.
An ASB spokeswoman said the bank become aware a number of customers had unauthorised transactions from Netflix appear in their accounts.
"We are working with Visa and Netflix to resolve and refund these charges," she said.
The bank was unable to comment on what caused the issue and would provide further updates to customers as the issue was resolved.
One customer reportedly had eight payments of $19.99 charged to their account.
It's not the first time Netflix customers have run into such problems.
In 2015 several New Zealand customers were overcharged soon after the service was launched here.
One Netflix customer posted a photo of his bank account showing seven debit transactions of $11.99 each on May 25, although he said it was actually 11 withdrawals.
Netflix issued an apology and promised to rectify the billing error.
Netflix issued a statement saying the over-billing issue was not widespread.
"We are aware a small percentage of Australian and New Zealand members experienced multiple credit card authorisations for monthly billing," the statement read.
"The issue has been resolved. While no extra money was withdrawn from users' accounts, it may take several days for the authorisations to drop from users' bank accounts."
One New Zealand customer confirmed to the Herald that he had been overcharged.
Other Netflix users took to Facebook and Twitter to complain about the overcharging.
"I got charged $11.99 11 times total $131.89 ... I hope you refund the amount soon," wrote one angry customer.
"Gotta say, very disappointing from Netflix. I was hit 10 times over the weekend. On top of that when I first called Netflix up i was told that the issue of multiple billing could not possibly happen under your automated system," wrote another.


text:
In May, we’ve started to see iPhone 6s rumors emerge at a breakneck pace teasing smartphone enthusiasts and smartphone buyers. With the month coming to a close, we want to take a look at the five most important things you need to know about the inevitable iPhone 6s vs iPhone 6 matchup.
Apple’s 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is still one of the top smartphones on the market thanks to its impressive array of features. And it will remain one of the market’s top smartphones for much of 2015 because Apple still isn’t ready to unleash a successor for it or the iPhone 6 Plus.
As we’ve moved deeper into the year, we’ve started to hear more about iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus successors and what the company has in store for the iPhone in 2015. iPhone 6s rumors are rampant in the build up to WWDC 2015 though the company isn’t expected to announce new phones there.
Apple’s new iPhone isn’t confirmed but thanks to these rumors and leaks, we have a pretty good read on what to expect months ahead of the device’s launch date. Nothing is confirmed until Apple takes the stage but we have enough to start making some early comparisons.
This comparison focuses on the most important things to know about how the current iPhone 6s rumors compare to the iPhone 6. The iPhone 6s vs iPhone 6 matchup isn’t set in stone but this quick outline of what we’ve seen in May will help set your expectations as we push deeper into the year towards a iPhone 6s release.
iPhone 6s Release Date Rumors
It's May and you're interested to hear how the iPhone 6s is stacking up with the iPhone 6 so far. Well, the first thing that we'll tell you is that we still have a long way to go before the iPhone 6s rumor cycle matures and a long way to go before the iPhone 6s is announced. It's still early.
Apple hasn't announced anything yet but it's clear that WWDC will be about products not called iPhone. iOS 9, iOS 8.4, a new Apple TV, and a new Apple Music streaming service are all but confirmed for Apple's June 8th keynote and there's virtually no chance that we'll see the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus arrive there.
Instead, May iPhone 6s release rumors have pointed to an arrival later this year, probably in the fall alongside iOS 9.
One rumor comes from the very credible KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who claims that iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus production will start in mid-to-late August.
Kuo believes that Apple will announce the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models in August and that they will arrive on store shelves in September. Not everyone agrees though. 9to5Mac claims that there is no truth to the August rumors.
August, September or otherwise, it appears that consumers still have a wait ahead of them. For those of you that are set on buying one or the other, it means several more weeks of iPhone 6s rumors and more enticing iPhone 6 deals.
This article may contain affiliate links. Click here for more details.


text:
Syms is cleaning out Filene’s Basement — but some apparel suppliers are still complaining about the mess.
Off-price clothing retailer Syms, which bought Filene’s Basement out of bankruptcy last summer for $65 million, has ousted Filene’s CEO Mark Shulman, industry sources say.
Shulman, a veteran of retailers including AnnTaylor and Brooks Brothers, couldn’t be reached for comment, although he told a trade publication yesterday he was “absolutely ready to take some time off and do something else.”
A Syms spokeswoman declined to comment. But privately, insiders say Shulman had locked horns with Syms CEO Marcy Syms — particularly over the two chains’ relationships with clothing vendors.
Shulman, who in recent years worked to give Filene’s Basement a more upscale image, has cultivated a rapport with high-end men’s labels like Brioni, Oxxford and Joseph Abboud. He was typically willing to pay more to secure merchandise than Syms, according to executives at several manufacturers.
Lately, that has resulted in a “chaotic situation.”
“We’ll get a phone call from a Syms buyer in the morning, offering one price for a lot of inventory, and then Filene’s will call in the afternoon, offering more cash for the same goods,” one executive said.
Pricing for excess inventory has become a key issue in off-price retailing, as competition has become fierce.
Web sites like Gilt Groupe are gaining market share partly because they’re willing to pay more, sources say. Meanwhile, luxury retailers like Saks, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom are increasingly shunting their excess inventory into their own outlets.
In addition to combining back-office and distribution infrastructure, Syms and Filene’s have begun to co-brand about a quarter of their 50 stores.
Syms and Filene’s also are looking to upgrade their Web sites.


text:
A 55-year-old man was arrested following the reported sexual battery of a 22-year-old woman working at a Ventura store that employs individuals with autism, police said Monday.
Police have not said whether the victim has autism but the store where the crime took place, clothing store “Industry Horror,” describes itself online as a nonprofit that “specifically employs autistic young adults.”
Ventura resident David Reich has been arrested as the suspect, police said.
Officers were called to the store located at 518 East Main Street about 12:50 p.m. on Sunday. The victim said a male customer, who she did not know, came and had a brief conversation with her before leaving, according to police.
The man returned a short time later and “approached the victim from behind and touched her inappropriately,” reads a news release from the Ventura Police Department.
He then left and said he would possibly return later to meet with the victim, according to police.
Later, about 6:30 p.m. that day, a police officer returned to the store and discovered the suspect had returned to the area, police said. He was identified as Reich and was cited on suspicion of sexual battery and released.
Police said the victim was not left with any physical injuries. No other details about the incident were released by authorities.


text:
Despite the fact that Federal Court Judge Justice Bennett has not yet given a full and final ruling in the Apple Vs Samsung patent case Florian Mueller, an intellectual property analyst is predicting doom and gloom for the Android platform in Australia.Writing on his blog, Mueller said: that after Justice Bennett’s recent decision that prevents Samsung selling their 10.1″ Galaxy Tablet in Australia untill a full hearing in November 2011 “no company in the industry be able to launch any new Android-based touchscreen product in Australia anytime soon without incurring a high risk of another interim injunction”.
Mueller says the two patents that he is basing his claim on are Australian Patent No. 2005246219 on a ‘multipoint touchscreen’ and Australian Patent No. 2009233675 on a ‘touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics’.
He claims the patent is the Australian equivalent of a US software patent that lists Steve Jobs as the first inventor (of many).”
He went on to claim “Whether Apple will aggressively pursue all other new Android product launches in Australia in the near term remains to be seen. At this point, Apple is in litigation with Samsung, Motorola and HTC, which are the three leading Android device makers. I believe any new Australian product launches by those vendors will be at considerable risk to say the least.
“But Apple may decide to focus on a few disputes since any action against other companies than the ‘big three’ would only increase the number of companies trying to bring counterclaims against Apple in different parts of the world, and Apple’s legal department is already plenty busy.” he said.


text: Recently there has been update release for Windows 10 and many of our users updated their computer system to Windows 10 V1809 and found scanner operation failure. There is already notification online that Windows 10 V1809 has defect. This affects Shining3d scanners. Only cure is full re-install of Windows and do not get update, or get another PC. This may also affect Steinbichler scanners. We had a bunch of people dead scanners after a November 14th Windows update ***UPDATE*** There is now a fix for shining 3d scanners and version 1809 of windows. No longer an issue.


text:
“We believe Tru Niagen is one of the most important new dietary supplements to emerge in many years,” says ChromaDex CEO Rob Fried. “We are grateful to Walmart in assisting in our quest to help as many people as possible to Age Better.”
The company will introduce Tru Niagen in two packaging options for Walmart customers, with distinct serving sizes and price points. In addition to in-store availability, these two options will be available online with same-day delivery and in-store pickup options for select locations, said ChromaDex in a press release.
In 2004, Dr Charles Brenner discovered that nicotinamide riboside (NR) is a potent precursor to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). NAD is an important cellular co-factor for improvement of mitochondrial performance and energy metabolism.
As organisms age, NAD levels drop, which leads to a decrease in mitochondrial health; this in turn leads to age-related health issues. By boosting NAD, NR may increase mitochondrial health and induce the creation of new mitochondria.
Niagen, ChromaDex’s branded nicotinamide riboside, has been shown to increase NAD+ levels safely and efficaciously in nine published human trials.
Irvine, CA-based Chromadex has been accumulating the IP surrounding NR for a couple of years, having licensed patents from Cornell University, Dartmouth College, and Washington University in St Louis.
Niagen is supported by two successful NDI notifications (NDIN 882 in 2015 and NDIN 1062 in 2018), as well as a successful GRAS notification (GRN 635).


text:
Boring, normal, same ol’ license plates are making a tech splash as of late! At a time when the world is embracing the “Internet of Things,” with “dumb” appliances getting smart, it’s great to see the un-exciting vehicle license plate stepping into the tech limelight. Appliances, buildings, vending machines, tractors and more are getting “smart” by becoming connected to the Internet and having a computer chip, sensor and an IP address attached. However, the license plate never got its 2.0 day in history; it has stepped into the spotlight all by itself without any modifications, update or upgrades.
To achieve this, license plates found an ally in big data. Since Massachusetts became the first state to issue its own required license plate, license plates have spread everywhere. A license plate was issued to one Frederick Tudor back in 1903 (license plate No. 1 – which still remains active) with every state in the Union following suit, with more than half asking for two plates per car.
With that law, Massachusetts not only manufactured the first porcelain-covered, iron-made license plate, but also created its second invention: vehicle registration logs. For more than 111 years, we have been logging owner and vehicle data on those logs in separate files everywhere; but, with sophisticated networks of computers and the World Wide Web, big data collection is now extremely affordable. The data gathered from these files is being turned into useable products and services for businesses, police surveillance, IRS and even the auto parts cataloging!
At one end of the spectrum there is controversy, as license plates and registration log-coupled surveillance cameras and scan technology everywhere are creating location-based identification systems for vehicles and their owners that are being scrutinized by the likes of the ACLU and Homeland Security.
In our current hyper-sensitive, post-Snowden privacy watch, many are questioning these practices while hordes of marketers are in a mad dash to accumulate this location-rich data and sell it to others so they can easily target products and services to us all. As stated by Jennifer Lynch, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a recent article in The Washington Post, “When all that data is compiled and aggregated, you can track somebody as they’re going through their life.” Tracking and studying our daily routines, coupled with our smartphones’ location data, credit card use and Facebook postings, can give the holders of that data an Orwellian insight into our behaviors and patterns never before thought possible. And what’s most interesting is that we are either clueless or willingly giving it all away.
Luckily for us in the auto parts industry, we can give Big Brother a small hall pass and thank big data for bringing us a solution to an age-old problem: Year, make and model, please? Since I was 11 years old, I worked behind a parts counter at my uncle’s dealership in Puerto Rico. Back then I learned that many parts customers don’t really know the car they own countermen everywhere have heard many a customers utter those dreaded words: “I can’t recall the year on my car, but aren’t they all the same?”
OE dealers tackled this problem early on by creating databases with the VIN number, but only for the vehicles they made; not a ton of help for the aftermarket. Soon after, electronic auto parts catalog data providers started offering accumulated VIN data for several vehicle manufacturers and identifying all vehicle brands for parts look up got a lot more precise. The problem was that no one could remember a lengthy string of 17 digits and letters to ID their cars if their life depended on it; not to mention what a drag it is to key punch VIN numbers into any computer. There had to be a better way!
Enter the new functionality of “plate to VIN” data lookups. Just this past February, the Automotive Distribution Network introduced this feature to its WebShop e-Commerce platform. The product takes vehicle registration data collected by Polk and decodes it to return specific Year/Make/Model/Engine info and jumps the customer directly to the Product Category selection view as published by WHI Solutions. As stated in the Network’s press release: “(this new functionality) not only saves a few mouse clicks but also reduces lookup errors.”
The technology works like magic. Our customers are embracing this functionality swiftly. They love the reaction they get from their customers when they look like David Copperfield or Chris Angel by gleaning the specifics of their vehicle information just from the plate. A very surprising fact that adds usability to the new functionality is that customers everywhere seem to know their plate number by heart; I never bothered to commit mine to memory, but apparently most customers do. Technological advances for the sake of technology usually doesn’t mean much, but tech advances for the sake of making us look good and empowering counterpros everywhere to look like magicians, now that’s the stuff of wonder! Can I get an Abracadabra for the other side of the counter please?


text:
2022 has definitely kicked off in style, as we welcome Nick Clarke to the Cyrus family. Nick has taken on the role of Managing Director, with Simon Freethy becoming Chairman.
Joining us from Harman International, Nick was the Senior Director of Global Engineering for the Luxury Audio business unit working on brands such as Arcam, Lexicon, Revel, JBL Synthesis and Mark Levinson, along with previous leadership positions at Arcam, IAG, TAG Mclaren and Audiolab.
Simon Freethy says “This is very much a strategic move for Cyrus. Nick brings a huge amount of industry experience, enabling us to improve in many areas. His product development expertise will enable us to launch even more exciting new products from our talented R&D team.”
Nick Clarke says, “This is an exciting opportunity for me to have a much more hands on role and lead the latest chapter in the history of a classic and well-loved British HiFi brand. I’m fully focussed on elevating the position of Cyrus as an industry leader that creates products that will excite the modern audio enthusiast.”


text:
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts launches signature tea fit for a king
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has launched the brand’s signature tea "Lot 35 Windsor Blend" to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III on May 6.
The tea will be available to purchase at Fairmontstore.com (affiliate friendly).
Windsor Blend is described as “a majestic combination of Darjeeling and black teas, offering a delightful combination of fragrant honeysuckle notes from Darjeeling and a refreshing taste from Sri Lanka’s high-altitude tea gardens.” Tea at the Fairmont blends a classic ritual with modern tastes through a broad selection of soothing teas. Meticulously sourced from the world’s finest tea estates, Fairmont’s Lot 35 tea transforms teatime into an international journey. Offered as loose leaf, pyramid tea bags and oversized bags for iced tea, Lot 35 teas are colourful, aromatic and flavourful.
As reported in the recently released Construction Pipeline Trend Report for Canada by Lodging Econometrics (LE), at the close of Q1 2023, the country’s hotel construction pipeline currently stands at 283 projects/37,683…


text:
Sony says the PlayStation Store and other services that have been down since the April hacker attack will be online by the end of the week. Will you buy games and downloadable content through the Store?
Tracking the hot trend of gamification -- using game-like elements to boost engagement in everything from social games, such as Zynga's FarmVille, to losing weight and staying on top of your finances.
<p>Texas native Libe Goad resides in New York City and has spent the past decade covering technology and video games for publications including Blender, PC Magazine, Bust, Seventeen and Sync. <p> Libe is currently the Editor-in-Chief of AOL's award-winning Games.com group, covering the growing social and casual games industry. Previously, she reported on consumer technology news for PC Magazine and other Ziff Davis properties and was the Editor-at-Large for gaming enthusiast site HappyPuppy.com. In 1999, Goad founded the one of the first women-targeted gaming/technology websites, GameGal.com. <p> A semi-regular TV talking head on CNBC, Bloomberg News, ABC, CBS, NBC and others, Libe has been named one of the 50 Most Influential Games journalists by Next-Generation, and has served as a judge for Spike TV's VGA awards, the E3 Game Critics Awards, and Independent Games Festival Awards.
One of the biggest hassles of modern life (aside from keeping up with a constant barrage Facebook, Twitter and text messages) is making sure your email inbox as clean and as organized as possible. For me, this task generally falls on the same level of desirability as plunging the toilet, attending long-winded conference calls and cleaning the cat’s litter box.
Certain Asian countries including Japan are going to get PSN access over the weekend, more than a month after the service went down following a hacker attack.
PlayStation Network users on Wednesday reported getting e-mails from Sony with details on how to enroll in a promised free identity theft protection program with insurance of up to $1 million.
Looks like the first mobile users to get a crack at Minecraft will be owners of Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play, exclusively. Considering the phone runs Android, we have to ask ourselves why.
Sony said in a blog post that the PlayStation Store will be online by the end of the month. Are you looking forward to buying new downloadable games and content for your PS3?
We’ve been hearing talk about the Facebook game publisher’s plans to go public for a while now, and according to Kara Swisher at All Things D , Zynga might be filing for IPO as soon as this week.
A leaked Sony memo indicates that the PlayStation Store will finally come back online starting May 24. Will you buy games, or are you done giving Sony your credit card info?
Zynga is having a banner week. Not only has the house of FarmVille managed to pull off a pop culture coup by partnering with Lady...
Sony had to shut down access to the PSN password system after hackers uncovered yet another security exploit. Can this company ever again get its act together to the satisfaction of security-conscious gamers?
Sony is offering PlayStation Network users in North America free games to keep, free virtual items for PlayStation Home and other goodies. Is it enough to bring you back?
Sony has finally brought the PlayStation Network back online. PS3 users need to install new firmware and change passwords before they can access the service. But will they bother?
Sony's protracted PlayStation Network outage is making gamers trade in their PS3s, and is affecting some games' resale value. Can Sony fix this mess in time, or is it already too late?
Over the past few years, Zynga has worked with several big-name brands to create elaborate in-game promotions. 7-Eleven was one of the earliest, followed by McDonald’s, Dreamworks, American Express, as well as celebrities such as Snoop Dogg and Dr.
Sony's self-imposed deadline to get the PlayStation Network back up and running has passed and now the company is saying that further tests are necessary. Even when PSN is back, will gamers trust it?


text:
Kia's sporting ambitions for Geneva
At the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, the Korean car company will be unveiling a new GT model line that it hopes will add a little more heat to its current Cee'd range.
Kia has taken its time in entering the hot hatchback market and its first genuine attempt, the Pro_cee'd GT wasn't a bad effort at all.
Trending CarsFind More Cars
It lacked some of the out-and-out performance the segment's leaders offer but what it lacked in output it made up in looks and standard specification.
The idea behind the GT Line is to bring those great styling cues and the sporty feel to the standard Cee'd model line for those consumers that crave the looks but not the lifestyle. But as well as new looks, Kia will also be coming to Geneva with new engine technology in the form of an all-new 1-liter, 3-cylinder turbocharged unit and its first dual-clutch, paddle shift seven-speed transmission.
The new, diminutive engine has been built to offer the same levels of performance and acceleration as a 1.6-liter engine but with even greater fuel economy. It produces 118bhp offering 172Nm of torque, and, although the company hasn't published its official fuel consumption figures, expect to get at least 50mpg (5.6l/100km).
The hot hatch market -- especially within Europe -- has never been in better health. Despite ever stricter legislation regarding safety, emissions and fuel consumption, companies such as Ford, VW, Renault, Peugeot, Audi and Seat have somehow found the engineering and technological wherewithal to keep producing smaller cars that are as thrilling to drive as they are practical to own yet still meet all of the legal criteria.
Therefore it should come as little surprise that new, even hotter hot hatchbacks are expected to be one of the biggest draws at this year's Geneva Motor Show. Ford will be officially unveiling a 315bhp, four-wheel-drive Focus RS, Honda will be showing off its new 167mph (269kph) Civic Type R and Audi will be wheeling out the RS3, which boasts a 0-100km/h time of just 4.3 seconds.
However, by offering the styling, plus the acceleration and performance levels needed to navigate the inner-city urban jungle, Kia could be onto something with its new GT range. Just as crossovers are popular because they look like SUVs but don't handle like them, the Cee'd GT Line could be the first of many warm rather than hot hatches to come.


text:
Not that the company is in the clear. According to a report from Merchant Link, which provides secure systems for retail outlets, the breach has cost the company more than $130 million to secure its infrastructure, there have been 19 lawsuits filed and there are investigations underway by the Federal Trade Commission and 37 state Attorneys General.
All this seems to have driven the message home to retailers, including TJX itself. "TJX accelerated their security program and implemented the improvements needed to become PCI (Payment Card Industry)-compliant, including upgrading their wireless security and eliminating the storage of sensitive authentication data. In fact there is some discussion about TJX becoming a 'spokescompany' for PCI security," said Avivah Litan, senior security analyst for Gartner.
Perhaps, but TJX was not keen on discussing its new security plans in detail, as it did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. TJX is the parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and A.J. Wright stores in the U.S., as well as Winners and HomeSense in Canada. Revenue for its most recent fiscal year ended January 2007 was $17.4 billion. For so large a company, though, the breach started small, with crackers hacking into wireless networks at two U.S. stores.
The stores were using the relatively weak Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol instead of the stronger Wi-Fi Protected Access (WAP) protocol, but what really hurt is that the intruders were able to access the TJX internal systems and move around freely for almost two years. The breaches occurred from mid-2005 and ran through December 2006. It is estimated 47.5 million records were stolen.
That was TJX's bigger problem, letting the intruders roam freely for 18 months. Dr. Anton Chuvakin, a security expert with LogLogic, said TJX didn't have decent traffic logs. "What took TJX months was looking at all their systems and determining who took what data, from where, where it was sent, etc. The investigation took them months. They likely didn't have any logs, because they had to do system forensics rather than log analysis to arrive at their conclusions about who stole the data and how. If they had collected and analyzed log data centrally, the investigation would have been a piece of cake," he said in an e-mailed comment to InternetNews.com.
Brian Cleary, vice president of marketing for the enterprise access governance firm Aveksa, concurred. "They didn't have good access controls, they were not auditing access on a regular basis and not checking log files and access. It was really poor security governance," he said.
TJX's second mistake was storing vital credit card information, such as the data hidden in the card's magnetic strip, on local machines. This is particularly frustrating to banks, according to Litan, because it allows counterfeiters to make perfect duplicate cards.
Merchant Link's report specifically recommends to all clients that they eliminate the storage of sensitive personal data wherever possible by using secure third party services to keep the point of sale clean, and "certainly" do not store the data collected from a credit card's magnetic stripe.
Litan said TJX was certainly at fault for storing the magnetic stripe information but she also think banks have a bigger role to play in the design of the payment systems. "They rolled [payment systems] out before there were cybertheives and no one thought about security," she said. "The payment system architecture is legacy, outdated. They could update the arch and make them more secure or just require a PIN on every transaction. Instead, they'd rather keep it as business as usual


text:
In the heart of NSW’s Northern Beaches, a snazzy new co-working space is being launched for fast-growing technology and web companies to get their creativity flowing.
While Manly has long been a popular tourist destination, web and technology entrepreneurs are quickly embracing the space for its stunning coastal views – the perfect environment to drive creativity.
The new hub couldn’t come at a better time. For those who want a stylish and flexible co-working space and a beachside lifestyle, Manly Emporium is a great option.
Manly Emporium Co-Founders Darren Younger and Luke Bridges identified a need for a large collaborative co-working space in the heart of Manly and secured a lease for the entire second floor of the historic Manly Emporium building – used previously for many years as a pool hall.
“It was a perfect opportunity to create a large co-working space when it became available,” says Younger who is the Chief Innovation Officer at IPScape and has recently secured international contracts with British Telecom.
“We made extensive renovations and are really happy with the result.”
Located at 6 The Corso, the floor has undergone an impressive transformation. Renovators have restored the building’s iconic multi-paned and curved windows, while accentuating the original brickwork, timber beams, and polished hardwood floors.
Bridges, who has a corporate background as an accountant and has run his own bricks and mortar retail business for many years, says Manly Emporium is “a chance to create new opportunities, close to home, and with some really clever people”.
The co-working space offers desks, meeting rooms, boardrooms, high-speed internet which can be hired under a casual or month to month contract, allowing entrepreneurs to choose from a number of flexible plans and the option to scale their business as fast as they need to.
The Manly Emporium will officially launch on 22 August 2013. Entry is free and tickets can be booked at Manly Emporium website www.manlyemporium.com.au.


text:
WASHINGTON (AP)– Slowed Down in a sprawling trade conflict with U.S. competing China, President Donald Trump took actions Friday to relieve stress with America’s allies– raising import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and postponing car tariffs that would have harmed Japan and Europe.
By eliminating the metals tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump cleared an essential roadblock to a North American trade pact his team negotiated last year. As part of Friday’s arrangement, the Canadians and Mexicans consented to ditch vindictive tariffs they had imposed on U.S. products.
” I’m delighted to announce that we have actually simply reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico, and we’ll be selling our item into those countries without the imposition of tariffs, or major tariffs,” Trump stated in a speech to the National Association of Realtors.
In a joint statement, the U.S. and Canada stated they would work to avoid inexpensive imports of steel and aluminum from entering The United States and Canada. The arrangement appeared to target China, which has long been accused of flooding world markets with subsidized metal, driving down world costs and hurting U.S. producers. The nations could likewise reimpose the tariffs if they faced a “surge” in steel or aluminum imports.
In Washington, some were prompting Trump to make the most of the truce with U.S. allies to get back at tougher with China.
” China is our adversary,” stated Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. “Canada and Mexico are our friends. The president is ideal to increase pressure on China for their espionage, their theft of intellectual residential or commercial property, and their hostility toward the guideline of law. The president is also right to be deescalating stress with our North American allies.”
Previously Friday, the White Home stated Trump is delaying for six months any choice to slap tariffs on foreign automobiles, a relocation that would have hit Japan and the Europe especially hard.
Trump still is hoping to utilize the danger of vehicle tariffs to press Japan and the European Union into making concessions in continuous trade talks. “If contracts are not reached within 180 days, the president will figure out whether and what further action needs to be taken,” White Home press secretary Sarah Sanders stated in a statement.
In enforcing the metals tariffs and threatening the ones on autos, the president was depending on a hardly ever used weapon in the U.S. trade war toolbox– Area 232 of the Trade Growth Act of 1962– which lets the president impose tariffs on imports if the Commerce Department deems them a danger to national security.
However the steel and aluminum tariffs were likewise developed to persuade Canada and Mexico into agreeing to a reword of North American open market pact. In truth, the Canadians and Mexicans did go along in 2015 with a revamped regional trade offer that was to Trump’s liking. But the administration had declined to raise the taxes on their metals entering the United States till Friday.
The brand-new trade offer– the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Arrangement– requires approval from legislatures in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Several key U.S. legislators were threatening to decline the pact unless the tariffs were gotten rid of. And Canada had recommended it would not validate any deal with tariffs still in location.
Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, stated the lifting of the tariffs “will bring immediate relief to American farmers and producers. Seriously, this action provides a welcome burst of momentum for the USMCA in Congress.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau credited his government for holding out to get the tariffs got rid of.
” We stayed strong,” he stated. “That’s what workers asked for. These tariffs didn’t make good sense around nationwide security. They were harming Canadian consumers, Canadian workers and American customers and American employees.”
Trump had actually dealt with a Saturday deadline to decide what to do about the auto tariffs.
Demanding auto tariffs would mark a major escalation in Trump’s aggressive trade policies and most likely would satisfy resistance in Congress. The United States in 2015 imported $192 billion worth of passenger vehicles and $159 billion in auto parts.
” I have major questions about the authenticity of using national security as a basis to impose tariffs on automobiles and vehicle parts,” Iowa Republican Politician Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Financing Committee, stated in a declaration Friday. He’s dealing with legislation to scale back the president’s authority to enforce nationwide security tariffs under Area 232.
In a declaration, the White Home stated that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has actually identified that imported lorries and parts are a danger to national security. Trump deferred action on tariffs for 180 days to provide mediators time to work out offers but threatened them if talks break down.
In validating tariffs for national security reasons, Commerce discovered that the U.S. industrial base depends upon innovation established by American-owned car business to keep U.S. military supremacy. Because of increasing imports of cars and parts over the past 30 years, the market share of U.S.-owned automakers has actually fallen. That has triggered a lag in research and advancement costs which is “weakening innovation and, appropriately, threatening to hinder our nationwide security,” the declaration stated.
The marketplace share of vehicles produced and offered in the U.S. by American-owned car manufacturers, the statement said, has declined from 67%in 1985 to 22%in 2017.
But the statistics do not match market share figures from the industry. A message was left Friday seeking an explanation of how Commerce determined the 22%.
In 2017, General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler and Tesla integrated had a 44.5%share of U.S. automobile sales, according to Autodata Corp. Those figures include cars produced in other countries.
It’s possible that the Commerce Department didn’t consist of Fiat Chrysler, which is now lawfully headquartered in The Netherlands but has a substantial research and development operation near Detroit. It had 12%of U.S. auto sales in 2017.
The Commerce figures likewise do not account for research by foreign car manufacturers. Toyota, Hyundai-Kia, Subaru, Honda and others have considerable proving ground in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Trump is locked in a high stakes rumble with China. The U.S. implicates Beijing of stealing trade tricks and requiring American business to turn over technology in a head-long push to challenge American technological dominance. The 2 countries have actually slapped tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in each other’s items. Talks broke off last week with no resolution.
The hostilities in between the world’s two biggest economies have actually weighed heavily the previous couple of weeks on the U.S. stock market, threatening a long rally that Trump promoted as a vindication of his economic policies. Opening a new front in the trade wars against EU and Japan likely would have stressed financiers a lot more.
Rob Gillies reported from Toronto and Tom Krisher from Detroit. Darlene Superville, Deb Riechmann and Martin Crutsinger in Washington and Geir Moulson in Berlin added to this story.


text:
First HD Interactive TV Experience Begins With Live Strikeforce Challengers MMA Event Friday, Feb. 26th
Showtime Networks and Verizon announced today the launch of the first nationwide, high-definition interactive television application (iTV) using EBIF (Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format), with the new SHOWTIME Sports Interactive. Verizon’s FiOS TV customers will have the first look at the network’s interactive experience — including voting and polling functionality and fighter profiles — during the live Strikeforce Challengers mixed martial arts telecast, Friday, Feb. 26 (11 p.m. ET). All FiOS TV customers with a high-definition set-top box who subscribe to SHOWTIME will have access to the interactive experience.
“SHOWTIME has been leading the industry with digital enhancements and Interactive TV for over a decade. With the launch of SHOWTIME Sports Interactive, we are excited to be joining Verizon at the forefront, bringing this state-of-the-art feature to SHOWTIME HD,” said Robert Hayes, senior vice president and general manager of digital media at Showtime Networks. “SHOWTIME continues to innovate and provide value-added features to our subscribers and our sports programming provides the perfect setting for the ‘lean forward’ experience that is now possible with Interactive TV.”
Shawn Strickland, vice president of consumer strategy and planning for Verizon, said, “We’re thrilled to partner with SHOWTIME and offer more value to our FiOS TV subscribers. With custom stats, voting capabilities and more, combined with FiOS TV’s amazing picture-and-sound quality, our customers will get a truly high-def, real-time interactive experience. Once again, Verizon is first to offer our customers the most value for their premium subscription.”
SHOWTIME Sports Interactive will enable subscribers to access fighter stats, records, bios and quotes; vote in interactive polls; test their knowledge in a trivia game; and check out a fight calendar—all on their TV screen while watching SHOWTIME. Viewers will respond to an on-screen prompt by clicking “OK” on their remote control. Unlike static on-screen stats displayed during traditional televised sporting events, these features are interactive.
Verizon was the first company to deploy a nationwide EBIF iTV application to all of its subscribers. Showtime Networks is the first programmer to launch a high-definition EBIF application and the first to do so with voting and polling functionalities. EBIF, which is capable of running on all Verizon FiOS set-top boxes, is the accepted platform for the delivery of interactive services across the cable industry.
The latest roll-out from the EMMY Award winning Interactive TV group at SHOWTIME, the enhancement will be included in the SHOWTIME HD MPEG-4 feed for select MMA and Boxing telecasts beginning with the February 26th Strikeforce Challengers event.
SHOWTIME Sports Interactive joins Verizon FiOS TV’s growing interactive offerings, which includes an extensive selection of social TV, news, sports and entertainment widgets; an advanced interactive media guide; remote DVR management; multi-room DVR; FiOS Mobile Remote; and more. FiOS TV also offers a broad collection of programming, with more than 560 all-digital channels including up to 138 HD channels.


text:
Watch as this driver manages to set an impressive Nissan GT-R R35 world record time of 7.49 seconds ...http://www.msn.com/en-in/autos/news/driver-sets-nissan-gt-r-r35-world-record/vi-AAaEriR?srcref=rss
Recovering Europe and regulatroy issues in Sri Lanka and Algeria affected shipments of cars Passenger car exports from India declined... ...http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-car-exports-from-india-slumps-166-due-to-challenges-in-overseas-markets-2080815
Mexico City: Jaguar Land Rover is considering building a plant in Mexico, following other luxury car makers lured by cheap labour and free trade... ...http://www.livemint.com/Companies/j6Ln5jTKSLCVl4jYt2YrcI/Tatas-Jaguar-sees-Mexico-as-strong-option-for-Land-Rover-pl.html
Source: Wochit News - 5 days ago Nissan Playstation GT Academy Ramping Up For 5th U.S. Season: Video 01:00 With gamers turned racers taking... ...http://newsr.in/n/Sports/754zwstva/VIDEO-McCoy-bows-out-in-final-race.htm
The past year has been kind to us all, thanks to the regular reduction in fuel costs. The good news continues this year as well, with car makers... ...http://www.indiatimes.com/lifestyle/technology/15-new-cars-coming-in-2015-that-you-just-have-to-wait-for-232149.html
Used Nissan Trucks for sale by...
I was really happy to have new Nissan...
Nissan Micra will be launched in...
The Nissan Skyline GTR is usually a...


text:
Sign up to watch our free industry webinars.
Sign up to our free email to get the latest news.
We have recently upgraded our technology platform.
Due to this change if you are seeing this message for the first time please make sure you reset your password using the Forgot your password Link.
The UK government provides guidance on how businesses should prepare for Brexit online but many businesses have struggled to find the advice they need (Credit: HM Government)


text:
Do you feel you're expressing yourself as an individual because you have the same smartphone as everyone else?
That's the message being promoted in the latest not-so tongue-in-cheek ad created by Nokia and AT&T. Trying to drum up interest in the new Lumia 900 Windows Phone, the two companies are hard at work unleashing a series of ads aimed at deriding the competition.
The latest ad (also seen below) starts off by calling other smartphone users beta testers and proclaiming that all other smartphones look alike. To prove the point, the gentleman portrayed in the ad seems content that his smartphone is the same as everyone else's. But he becomes a bit less content when a nerdy-looking girl runs up to him with the same smartphone in tow, sqwaking as she compares hers with his.
And of course, the usual well-dressed spokesman ends the ad by touting that Nokia designed the 900 because all smartphones don't need to look alike.
The ad is clever. But will it sell the phone?
Mocking other smartphones and by extension other smartphone users is a risky approach. But when battling for share in a market dominated by Apple and Android, Nokia and AT&T do need the big guns, which includes an aggressive and even risky marketing campaign.
The two players have already lampooned the iPhone over last year's antennagate issue. So now they're just expanding their horizons to cover the rest of the industry.
And how has the Lumia 900 been selling so far?
Paul Roth, AT&T's president of retail sales and service, announced last week that sales of the phone had "exceeded expectations," according to AllThingsD.
The Lumia 900 topped phone out of stock.list last week. And a scan of AT&T's online store shows the
We don't know if the phone is out of stock due to hot sales or other reasons. The 900 faced an early challenge as many users ran into, prompting Nokia to offer to replace the defective phones with new ones.
As AllThingsD points out, the rush to get replacement phones could have affected existing stock, causing AT&T to run out of supply. But Nokia is citing customer demand as the reason.
In a statement sent to CNET, a Nokia spokesman said that the reaction to the 900 has been very positive, and so some of the retail outlets are sold out. "But we are producing more units as quickly as possible, and new devices are being continually shipped out to fulfill the demand," he added.
Updated 10:35 a.m. PT with response from Nokia.
Nokia's latest Lumia 900 ad


text:
Google’s policy counsel gave a compelling argument against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act in Wednesday’s hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, but there were multiple other witnesses who testified in support of the bill’s passage, saying it is necessary to protect American intellectual property and American jobs.
Four of six total witnesses argued in favor of the bill, countering the criticisms of those who weren’t represented at the hearing, including many Web companies, consumer rights advocates, lawyers and other groups who say SOPA, as it is abbreviated, is ill-advised and would damage the Internet economy.
Maria Pallante, the U.S. Registrar of Copyrights, started things off with a bang, saying in her prepared statement: “It is my view that if Congress does not continue to provide serious responses to online piracy, the U.S. copyright system will ultimately fail.”
“The response provided by SOPA is serious and comprehensive. It requires all key members of the online ecosystem, including service providers, search engines, payment processors, and advertising networks, to play a role in protecting copyright interests - an approach I endorse,” Pallante continued, also praising the legislation for its “measured” approach.
Pallante also praised the bill’s restriction of legal action against websites accused of hosting or facilitating the acquisition of pirated content to the Attorney General’s office (rather than individual copyright owners), saying it was the “right calibration at this time.”
Under SOPA, the Attorney General can initiate action to order an Internet Service Provider to forfeit, takedown, or block any website’s domain name service (DNS) once that website has been accused of being a pirate haven by a copyright holder.
During the questioning period, Pallante argued vehemently against Google policy counsel Katherine Oyama’s contention that DNS blocking of foreign “rogue” or pirate websites, as outlined in the bill, would actually make the Web less safe for users overall, based on those who chose to circumvent the block using offshore ISPs.
“Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has already been using DNS takedown on U.S. websites without problems,” Pallante said.
This was argument was backed by another high-profile and articulate witness, Michael O’Leary, an executive with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), who pointed out that “sixteen other countries currently practice website blocking,” though he declined to say exactly which ones he was referring to. Previous studies by the OpenNet Initiative have found the most pervasive blocking in more socially conservative countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria.
“The truth of the matter is if we don’t step up and deal with these problems, we’ll be left behind,” O’Leary said. “The United States leads the world in the production of intellectual property, but we’re not leading the world in protecting it, and we should be.”
O’Leary’s full prepared testimony included an appeal to the most important topic on lawmakers and voters’ minds this season: jobs. As O’Leary said, the motion picture industry “includes more than 95,000 small businesses across the country that are involved in the production and distribution of movies and television, the vast majority of which employ fewer than 10 people.” O’Leary said that every day, Web users committed theft against these businesses and their employees with “the click of a mouse,” putting their jobs and livelihoods at risk.
On that same note, Paul Almeida, president of the Department of Professional Employees, a coalition of 22 unions of artists, craftspeople and manufacturers, referred to a May study from the U.S. International Trade Commission, which found that the U.S. in 2009 lost 923,000 jobs ant $48 billion to intellectual property infringement in China. That report, though, covers physical counterfeiting as well as digital content and online-facilitated purchasing of physical counterfeit goods. In addition, the report notes: “the majority of Web sites offering infringing goods and digital content are hosted in the United States and Europe.”
Still, Almeida added that “estimates of the number of jobs lost to digital theft in the arts, entertainment, and media sector alone run to the hundreds of thousands.”
Almedia also sought to the highlight the risk to general safety posed by counterfeited goods sold over the Web. He recalled an incident in May when the Atlanta, Georgia Fire Department was forced to recall some 18,500 smoke detectors it had distributed for free to homeowners in 2006, after finding out that they were counterfeited and didn’t sound their alarms properly. Although those smoke detectors weren’t purchased over the Web, Almedia used the example to say “We should not allow rogue websites to facilitate the distribution of counterfeit goods.”
He also lashed out at one major opponent of SOPA, Techdirt blogger Mike Masnick, who earlier in November ridiculed a firefighters union for supporting SOPA’s Senate counterpart, the PROTECT-IP bill. Almeida called Masnick’s post a “defamatory blast.”
Another strong proponent of SOPA who submitted testimony at Wednesday’s hearing was John Clark, the chief security officer of multibillion-dollar drug company Pfizer, who warned lawmakers on the dangers of counterfeit pharmaceuticals sold over the Web.
Citing a recent report from the World Health Organization, Clark noted that customers who buy drugs online from websites lacking physical address information have a 50 percent chance of buying a counterfeit drug.
Clark also endorsed SOPA’s harsher penalties for those found to be trafficking in pirated goods online, with maximum fines for individuals at $5,000,000 and the maximum prison sentence set at 20 years. As proof that such legislation was necessary, Clark pointed to the example of a major counterfeit pharmaceutical trafficker who was caught with the help of Pfizer and received “only” a six year prison sentence.
“This is a good example of the punishment not rising to the level of the seriousness of the crime and why we need stronger penalties,” Clark said.
Interestingly, one witness that was expected to be in favor of the legislation, Mastercard executive Linda Kirkpatrick, actually came out fairly strongly against the bill, saying there were at least six key areas affecting payment providers in the legislation that needed to be re-written before the company would be fully onboard.
Currently, SOPA mandates that payment providers, including Mastercard and the other large U.S. cried card companies, sever their ties with websites that have been accused of facilitating piracy, and that they do so within five days of being notified that the website has been accused.
But as Kirkpatrick noted, “there are many circumstances that may arise which make a five-day window to complete the required actions not workable.”
In addition, SOPA requires payment providers to submit a receipt that they’ve received the court order of a website takedown within 7 days of receiving the order. Kirkpatrick said that this time frame “would require additional employee resourcing, the retention of qualified local counsel, and the payment of any applicable court fees,” and potentially open any credit card companies that failed to meet the deadline open to being sued by rights-holders, i.e. accusers.
Still, there’s no denying that the majority of witnesses called to testify were in favor of the legislation, at least broadly speaking. We’ve reached out to the House Judiciary Committee for more information regarding today’s hearing, and we await their response.


text:
As more employees use their personal computing devices at work, companies have to ask some questions about their rights to manage a gadget that someone else owns.
While many of BYOD’s complex legal questions have yet to be answered by laws or court decisions, there are two rules experts say companies should keep in mind when they start allowing users to bring in personal smartphones and tablets:
- Don’t access more data than you need to, and
- Inform employees about what you’ll be able to do with their personal property.
To minimize the security and other risks of employees’ personal devices, companies are beginning to write BYOD policies that outline what people are allowed to do with devices that are also used for work. But to avoid lawsuits and employee gripes, those rules should also make clear what the company is and isn’t allowed to do with a personal device.
One of the key features that should be included in a BYOD policy, according to management consulting firm Janco Associates: Prohibit IT staff and management from accessing an employee’s personal social media accounts that employees may be logged into on those devices.
Janco cites the Stored Communications Act (SCA), which prohibits unauthorized people from accessing password-protected accounts and data. In one 2009 court case, two employees successfully sued their former employer after their boss forced them to hand over passwords for a MySpace page they had created.
A similar complaint could be made, Janco warns, if a manager uses the company’s access to an employees smartphone to get into one of those accounts.
Inform employees before they sign up
There are also activities that companies are within their rights to do but that might lead to complaints from employees. That may include remotely wiping a personal device if it’s lost or stolen.
To avoid problems if and when that must be done, experts say companies should include in their BYOD policy everything the company may do with a personal device, and have employees sign off on the policy before they’re allowed to participate in the BYOD program.


text:
Makeup Monsters Cosmetics to Launch Mini Liquid Lip Bundle on 4.28.17
Makeup Monsters Cosmetics is known for there super bold liquid lipsticks. Now they are launching a mini liquid lipstick bundle. They are launching this bundle in their brand new packaging. The bundle will come with 3 mini liquid lipsticks in the shades Spell (soft satin), Bloom (soft satin), and Sandtrap (matte). The soft satin shades are not transfer-proof, but the matte is transfer-proof. The bundle will retail for $25. The launch for the bundle will be on 4.28.17 at 11am PST and 2pm EST at makeupmonster.net.
Also they will be restocking all of their current full-sized matte liquid lips and releasing their soft satins in full-sized on 4.28.17.


text:
Well Pharmacy expects to dispense about 43.2 million prescriptions annually via a central hub based in Stoke-on-Trent.
An export ban on colestyramine sachets and fluticasone propionate nasules came into effect on December 5.
The team behind an online job booking platform for locum healthcare professionals have secured £1m in equity funding.
Some contractors are “losing tens of thousands of pounds” due to errors made when submitting EPS claims.
Dr Richard Torbett takes over as ABPI chief exec in Jnuary 2020.
Scottish Government continues with £800 funding for pharmacy staff training.
LloydsPharmacy parent company McKesson UK has said it plans to double its automated dispensing capacity by June 2020.
Thirteen LloydsPharmacy stores are now offering a private HPV vaccination service to customers aged between 12 and 45.
An online pharmacy's decision to cut emergency contraception prices has sparked calls for other pharmacies to reduce theirs.
A smartphone app to detect urinary tract infections (UTI) will be launched in 285 Day Lewis Pharmacies across the UK.
Boots UK has begun phasing in compostable pharmacy bags for repeat prescription deliveries to cut back on plastic.
AAH is developing a real-time messaging system that will tell customers if their delivery is likely to be delayed.
Former NPA board member Mike Hewitson has called on the government to tighten its regulation of pharmaceutical wholesalers.
Liam Anstey appointed as GPhC's director for Wales.
Despite some negative headlines the Royal Pharmaceutical Society is fit for purpose and looking to the future, insists Sandra Gidley.
Greater Manchester LPC completes a UK community pharmacy first by appointing a director of pharmacy transformation.
Walgreen Boots Alliance has reportedly been “formally approached” by New York-based private equity firm KKR & Co.
Labour Party clarifies that bringing pharmaceutical provision in-house referred to hospital services.
Walgreens has held preliminary discussions with private equity firms claims Reuters
AIMp's strategic priorities for 2020 include being the voice of independent multiples and leading independents.