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Tata’s beverage cos eye Russia
Addressing the 124th annual general meeting of Indian Tea Association (ITA) the Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh said: “Tata Tea, Tata Coffee along with some other institutions are planning to launch an Indian brand in tea and coffee for the Russian market. This is being done to increase India’s share in tea and coffee in the Russian market. In 2006, India has been able to export 32 million kg of tea to Russia, which is nearly 7 million kg lower than the volume tea exported in 2005.”
Russia is gradually embracing the premium orthodox tea. The average hot beverage per capita consumption mix in Russia is the following: the average Russian drinks three cups of hot beverages daily — half of the population drink daily two cups of tea and one cup of coffee.
Percy Siganporia, managing director of Tata Tea however, refused to divulge the company’s plan to come out with a brand aimed at the Russian market. “Right now, it will be too premature to comment about this. We always look at new countries to expand our global footprint.”
Incidentally, Mr Singaporia’s term as chairman of ITA ended on Saturday. Aditya Khaitan, managing director of Mcleod Russel, took over as the chairman of ITA. Aditya Jajodia, CEO and MD of Assam Company has been elected as the vice-chairman of ITA.
Earlier, Mr Ramesh, who has been taking active interest to reopen the closed tea gardens in West Bengal, said that the Central government will invoke section 16 (E) of the Tea Act, 1953 which allows it to hand over the management of the company to a new promoter if the tea garden remains close for more than three months. There are 14 closed tea gardens in West Bengal.
“We have given one month to the owners of closed tea gardens to reopen their estates. If they fail to take any initiative, we will invoke 16(E) and takeover the gardens. We will invite bids which will be evaluated by committee. The committee will have representatives both from the state and central government.”
Later in the day Mr Ramesh attended a seminar on agri-export zones (AEZs) where he said that AEZs have failed to take off in the country. “Rather than setting up AEZs, we should try to make an all out effort to export state specific agro products in the world market. For example, West Bengal should try to push pineaples. Similarly states like Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa should make an effort to export cabbage, litchi and turmeric repsectively.”
(This article was originally published in The Times of India)

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Apple is one of Amazon Web Services’s (AWS) biggest clients it has emerged. It spends over $30 million each month on the cloud service (via CNBC).
Reliant on Rivals
Apple’s AWS spend dwarfs that of other tech firms such as Lyft and Pinterest. The company is though putting evermore resources into its cloud infrastructure. Indeed, in December last year, it announced a $10 billion investment into U.S. data centers over the next five years.
However, for the moment it still heavily dependant on its rivals for cloud services, particularly AWS. The companies are understood to have a multi-year agreement. Microsoft and Google have also been known to provide cloud services for Apple. This was all demonstrated in a February job posting for a Senior DevOps engineer at the company. It said applicants should have “expertise with cloud architectures such as AWS, GCE, Azure, or similar.”


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You attach your lightweight, comfortable box-helmet to your head, hold the remote in your hand and press a button. A hovercraft rises into the air, buzzing over the bustling city streets. Through the glasses you see what the hover sees: a clear 360-degree view of ruined houses and uprooted trees. When you look down, you see what's under the hover. The full-color image does not stop. There is nothing hidden. You are actually transferring yourself by digital means to a natural disaster site.
At least that's the goal. Digital telephoto traffic, as they define this field, does not yet exist. But proponents of this technology, which some call Live Delivery, believe that in the coming years a virtual reality mix, high-speed wireless networks and machines like skiers and small vehicles will allow people to embed themselves in a real, real-time environment. "Live transfer is a new tool that reinvents how we experience the world, and allows us to be at the point where things happen," said Mark Karl-Billiard, senior director at Accenture Labs, which advises virtual and laminated reality businesses (VR and -AR).
While virtual reality presents the user with pre-recorded scenes, live virtual reality - which appears in study rooms and operating rooms - allows users to experience what is actually going on. Companies are already pinning down simple versions of VR to hover to give users the feeling of being elsewhere.
Since last May, Israeli soldiers on the Gaza border have been using a skimmer system for tracking explosives and enemy fighters in defined areas, and intercepting flying objects they launch, according to the IDF. Dangerous without endangering soldiers' lives.
For Extend, the manufacturer of this system from Tel Aviv, the battlefield is just the beginning. Ultimately, the company wants to build an easy-to-use 360-degree 3D video transmitter for a VR helmet that will embed the user anywhere in the world it wants to fly. Xtend founded by Mateo and Spring Shapiro, Intel gained the brothers behind Ripley Technologies, which allows viewers to watch VR sports events in 2016. The other founders are aeronautics expert Adir Toby and Robbie Liani, one of FPV's founders of the "Racing League in Israel" - a non-profit that promotes and organizes skating competitions.
"Serious safety and privacy concerns"
Significant technological obstacles are on their way to the big vision. The amount of data needed for a live 360-degree 3D video does not allow for significant uninterrupted transmission over time on existing wireless networks, says Jacob Chakersky, director of the Immersive Communication Lab at the University of Alabama. He says the helmets are cumbersome and expensive and the systems need more graphic cards and cables. Fifth-generation cellular networks and computing that will allow data processing closer to devices - and not the cloud - can help, but fifth-generation services are still in their infancy, especially in the US.
Today, there are some startups already developing live virtual reality without skating. Students at Fordham New York University, on two campuses, can use a service called Chimera developed by Pagoni VR of New York for sitting in a classroom on the second campus. Florida Immertec has partnered with J&J to develop a stream of real surgical procedures performed in dozens of US hospitals, including Baylor Scott and White Surgical Hospital and the Vitruvio Institute for the Advancement of Medicine in Dallas.
Living virtual reality can also give people access to places that cannot physically reached. Pyrus Medical from Seattle is developing a system that gives medical surgeons a look into patients' blood vessels. The system uses a head box and sensors connected to the catheters that are inserted into the body during surgery. This look into the body should reduce the need for surgical X-rays and minimize penetration procedures. The company has not yet tested the system on humans and has not received FDA approval.
Integrating live virtual reality with skiers is the next step. The technology comes from some small but growing world of professional skate racing. The "pilots" wear glasses during the races, giving them a "first hand" view of the skater's progress along the track. This system is hard to learn: the pilot needs full attention just to tip the skimmer. "Inexperienced pilots 'crash' most times," said Nicholas Horbachevsky, CEO and founder of the Skateboarding League. Pilots often prefer black-and-white photography because it allows the highest data transfer speed, but it does not detail this method enough for military use or other unsatisfied uses.
The large processing chips required for live streaming of assimilation scenes are burdensome on small hovercraft and require large battery power, said Millie Radovich, an analyst at "Insider Industry Insights" (DII). Many governments restrict skiers in populated areas, requiring operators to pass rigorous certification tests for flying out of sight, she said.
"There are serious safety and privacy concerns and a lack of awareness of the commercial value of hovercraft, so in many urban area's residents are still not receiving them," Radovich said.
But startups are moving forward: New Bee Drone from San Diego is working on a skimmer box for consumer use, with a first look at the pilot and HD pictures. "This is now more proof of concept," said Daryl Huang, CFO of the company. "But it shows people what it's like to fly."
45-minute flight capability at 160 mph
The Israeli Xtend Skylord system for military use includes a wireless headset and a semi-autonomous four-rotor Frisbee plate controlled by a hand-held device similar to a laser beam flashlight. According to the hovercraft company, it can fly 45 minutes at speeds of about 29 mph, reaching 160 mph or more. Soldiers can learn how to use it in a few minutes, and not in a few months, as required by a full manual skimmer.
"The panoramic capabilities of the Skylord system allow the IDF to scan a large geographical area and quickly neutralize threats without the need to deploy troops," said Lt. Col. Assaf Oren, commander of the IDF's optical warfare arm.
Xtend plans to sell a model in early 2020 that offers a 180-degree display that can change with operator head movements. "It would be like turning your head to look out a car window," said Matau Shapiro. The company also plans to add expanded reality components, such as a virtual cockpit to help reduce headaches' dizziness by reducing the need for movement, and providing a sense of orientation and balance.
Chinese skate giant DJI sells 150-degree video helmets with a time lag of just seven milliseconds, according to the company. The system also allows others who are not the operator of the skimmer to put on their glasses and enjoy the airline experience.
However, the technological advances needed for teleportation in the widespread use of skiers are still far from us for many years, Chakersky said. "Skimmers look like the best camera deployment technology that allows digital telephoto traffic," he said. "But the process of data collection and dissemination needs to redesign so that virtual reality will truly reach its potential and have a social impact."


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Yesterday, we reported that the Nokia Lumia 1020 and Lumia 925 are expected to launch in India by the end of this month. Well, the latter smartphone is now available to pre-order online, while there’s yet no sign of the former. Apart from this, the Lumia 920 which received a price cut to Rs 31,999 is now selling for Rs 30,999 and we’ve even spotted the largest member in the family, the affordable 4.7-inch 625 handset with a coming soon label on the company’s website.
The arrival of the Nokia Lumia 925 has been anticipated since May. The device is basically an enhanced version of the 920. Featuring the same technologies, the company has augmented the low-light capabilities to a great extent. It houses a 8.7MP camera on the rear with Carl Zeiss optics and six physical lenses, backed by the PureView technology. On the inside, Nokia has employed a dual core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and a 2000mAh battery.
Powered by the Windows Phone 8 platform, the Nokia Lumia 925 features an aluminum body which makes it lighter than its predecessor at 139 grams, while still packing in the same hardware. The handset is fitted with a 4.5-inch WXGA AMOLED touchscreen which is backed by technologies such as ClearBlack and super sensitive touch. There’s also a Corning Gorilla Glass 2 coating for extra protection. The device supports wireless charging through a clip-on back panel.
The Nokia Lumia 925 can be pre-ordered in black, grey and white through Flipkart for a price of Rs 33,999. The retailer notes that the release date is scheduled for the 4th week of August.


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As we've explained before, we have a soft spot for small, funky motorcycles. We've expressed our admiration for cafe racers and their culture, and while those modded bikes are extremely cool, we may have just discovered another niche of even more interesting two-wheeled contraptions, thanks to the team at Petrolicious.
The iconic British auto brand TVR will almost certainly not be making any more vehicles in the U.K. Instead, as the Independent reports, future models will most likely be built in Asia. Why? Because, Nikolai Smolensky, known as the "Baby oligarch," split off an administration arm from the company late last year. Just last Friday, that arm put the TVR name and some of it's tooling up for sale. Interested parties, apparently, include low-cost


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Nostalgia for the 80s is bigger than it’s ever been in 2017.
Netflix’s homage to the 80’s known as Stranger Things broke streaming records. People lined up earlier this year to watch the Stephen King thriller “It” which was also steeped in 80’s culture.
It seems Canadians are embracing other elements of the 80s as well. StatsCan reported that 66.8% of Canadians still had a landline despite 87.9% owning a cell phone.
In British Columbia, 61.4% of those that took the poll said they still have landlines while 89.7% also have cellphones.
Newfoundland and Labrador have the highest percentage of landlines in Canada, where 86.6% of people reported owning one.
Reasons for people not cutting the cord include a landline’s reliability during emergencies, using it as a more cost-effective measure than cellphones, and the comfort towards using it that familiarity brings.


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PETA and other animal rights organizations had long hounded Burberry, like many luxury fashion brands, for its use of fur. The fur ban starts with the first collection of Riccardo Tisci, who led Givenchy for 12 years and came to Burberry this spring. Burberry notes its use of fur had been limited for many years to rabbit, fox, mink and Asiatic raccoon, but going forward, these and Angora will be banned. Tisci’s first show for the 162-year-old fashion house will be at London Fashion Week on Sept. 17.
Burberry came under fire in July when an earnings statement disclosed that the fashion house had incinerated more than £28.6m ($37.6m) in unsold merchandise in the past year. The tactic, apparently common in the fashion industry, attempts to avoid flooding the market with marked-down products and to reclaim import taxes. But environmentalists don’t find it a suitable solution. Burberry, however, said it only destroyed items with its trademark and worked with companies to collect the energy.
Second-hand clothes market thredUp wrote a critical open letter to Burberry about the tactic in July. “We are in the midst of an environmental crisis exacerbated by the fashion industry,” the letter read. “Fashion is now responsible for 10 percent of global carbon emissions, and is projected to drain a quarter of the world’s carbon budget by 2050. We respect the desire to protect your brand image, but discounting your product shouldn’t be scarier than setting it on fire.”
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DC Comics comic game, Injustice: Gods Among Us, will be getting a new mobile multiplayer mode and tons of new characters, according to reports coming out of WonderCon.
Developed by NetherRealm and published by Warner Brothers, the fighting game is one of a very select few that gets it right on touch-based devices — faithfully translating the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 console game to Apple’s mobile operating system.
Until now, however, playing the game on iOS has been a solitary experience. That looks like it will be rectified in a future game update, as a video from DC All Access reveals a multiplayer mode in the works.
At the moment it’s not known whether this will include head-to-head multiplayer (although the video suggests it might), or whether this will simply be an online leaderboard-style competition.
What the video shows more clearly, though, is that a metric ton of new characters appear set to debut in Version 2.0 of the game, along with what appears to be new types of (possibly team-based) finishing moves.
Otherwise keep checking in on Cult of Mac where we’ll continue to bring breaking news about this excellent iOS battler.


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The Honda Civic Type R is an absolute joy to drive on-road, but this rally build looks mouthwateringly good from the limited photos available. Details are scant, but Honda reportedly collaborated with Ralph Hosier Engineering (RHEL) to build the car. Its name is the Honda Civic Type OveRland, and we're totally into it.
Apparently, Honda UK had a hand in this project, which isn't entirely surprising after seeing the other Type R builds they supported. Let us remind you of the Civic Type R pickup and the Type R wagon Honda UK built. This particular build uses the stock Type R powertrain, so it's still powered by the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. However, the suspension has been lifted a massive four inches, and the track widened considerably. A new bodykit allows room for the big knobby tires sitting at all four corners — it also creates additional cooling vents, and these are actually functional.
Japanese government statistics from the 30 years of the Heisei era highlight the country's population getting smaller and greyer, and the rapid spread of the Internet. The Heisei era, which started in 1989, will end on Tuesday with the abdication of Emperor Akihito.
Statistics from the internal affairs ministry show Japan's population has been shrinking since 2011, after peaking at 128 million in 2008. In 2015, the number of people 75 years old and above exceeded that of people 14 years and younger for the first time.
The new Nissan Sylphy has debuted at the Shanghai Motor Show. While the Sylphy name might not mean much to North American Nissan customers, it is highly likely the car will also serve as the new 2020 Nissan Sentra.
The latest iteration updates the Sylphy/Sentra to the current Nissan design language, complete with the C-pillar cut to achieve an illusion of a "floating" roof. The V-shaped, black-framed grille echoes the front end of the Leaf, for instance. Nissan says the new car's drag coefficient is 0.26, interestingly on par with the GT-R; the stance is now wider and the wheelbase longer, and it appears that the model takes a step away from the Versa's likeness towards the bigger Altima. Inside, there is a sporty-looking, driver-centric dash that is a clear improvement from the current car's cockpit, especially enhanced by the caramel-colored leatherette. The seats have a neat quilted pattern on them.
The 2020 Nissan Versa is here, and it actually looks pretty alright. Nissan totally re-did the sheetmetal on its subcompact car, giving it a sleeker profile that's less frumpy. Off-the-bat we see the signature V-Motion grille up front with sharp angles and striking lines. There aren't many curves on this face, but we're alright with that. Then, around back, Nissan went with its ubiquitous floating roof design, and it might just be the smallest car that this design has ever appeared. In general, the Versa has less of a "basic transportation" look, but it'll be interesting to see what the base trim looks like.
We wouldn't say the interior is pretty by any means, but it definitely looks better than before, too. The range-topping SR trim we see here has some cool contrasting color stitching going on, and it even has a flat-bottom steering wheel. Again, we wouldn't count on those being in a base Versa.
Toyota's 86 together with its Subaru BRZ sibling are arguably one (we won’t say two, since they’re identical) of the most celebrated, mainstream sports cars of our time, but they've been overshadowed lately. Why? Well the answer comes from within the Japanese manufacturer's own stables: the newly-revealed Supra.
Nissan has more in store for the Rogue Sport, after changes to the 2019 model added more standard and optional equipment. For 2020, the Rogue Sport gets its own design personality, instead of making do as a junior-sized Rogue. That means a new front fascia with a Vmotion grille that looks takes a distinct stand somewhere between the grilles on the Rogue and the Altima. Beside that, trim, elongated headlights get a fresh DRL pattern.
The whole shebang's topped off with a new hood, but nothing's changed underneath that hood. The 2020 Rogue Sport comes with the 141-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and Xtronic CVT transmission.


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Restaurant Brands International (RBI) has reached an agreement to acquire Firehouse Subs for $1 billion.
The company adds to RBI’s existing family of quick service restaurant brands, Tim Hortons, Burger King, and Popeyes.
Founded in Jacksonville, Fla. in 1994 by brothers and former firefighters Chris Sorensen and Robin Sorensen, the company has a well-known charitable reputation through the establishment of the non-profit Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.
Since 2010, the brand has increased its number of restaurants threefold to 1200 and its system-wide sales four times to an expected $1.1 billion for 2021. The company is also expected to generate roughly $50 million in 2021.
The company’s foundation has now granted $62.5 million in essential life-saving equipment and other support to public safety organizations.
“Firehouse Subs is a special brand with a talented team, impressive culture, and community focus that resonates with guests and closely aligns with our core values at RBI. We see tremendous potential to accelerate growth at Firehouse Subs with RBI’s development expertise, global franchisee network, and digital capabilities. We are excited to welcome the team to the RBI family and to continue our ambitious dream of building the world’s most loved restaurant brands,” said Jose Cil, CEO of RBI.
Don Fox, CEO of Firehouse Subs said, “We are united in our commitment to and passion for hearty and flavourful food, heartfelt service, and public safety. Joining the RBI family of brands provides an energizing opportunity to assist more communities, not only across Canada, but around the globe. The donations we generate for our Foundation through our restaurants means changing and saving lives, so we can’t wait to accelerate our journey at home and around the world.”


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Yahoo Catching Google
The Globe and Mail looks at how smart acquisitions are helping Yahoo stay competitive with Google.
“For a while, Yahoo may have lost its mojo,” Mr. Horowitz said. But the company has invested heavily in search technology, acquiring five companies in the sector during the last few years, including buying Overture Services Inc. for $1.8-billion (U.S.) in 2003. “Really, we’re just getting started,” he said.


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HONG KONG, July 30 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares will likely trade in a recent range on Tuesday as investors mark time until the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting and key U.S. jobs data later in the week.
Huaneng Power and Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical are among companies due to report their interim earnings later in the day. A weak mainland Chinese market may weigh on Hong Kong, with cash rates closely watched as the month draws to a close.
On Monday, the Hang Seng Index slipped 0.5 percent to 21,850.15 points, staying in the same 300-point range for about a week. The China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong Kong fell 1.2 percent.
Elsewhere in Asia at 0035 GMT, Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s KOSPI were each up 0.3 percent.
* Foreign carmakers are reaping exorbitant profits selling imported luxury cars in China and should face an anti-trust investigation, the official Xinhua News Agency said, in what may amount to a shot across the bow of foreign auto firms.
* Beijing Enterprises Holdings Ltd said on Tuesday it would buy from its parent company 22.01 percent of city gas pipelines operator China Gas Holdings Limited for HK$8.22 billion ($1.06 billion) to strengthen its position in the Chinese natural gas sector.
* Hong Kong’s securities regulator appointed a liquidator and applied to a court to wind up China Metal Recycling (Holdings) Ltd, the first time the watchdog has used its powers to try to force a listed company into liquidation.
* China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), parent of PetroChina , said on Monday it had raised its overseas oil and gas equity output by 6.5 percent in the first half of 2013 versus a year ago, with output in Kazakhstan and Iraq exceeding targets.
* Wynn Macau Ltd said it reached an agreement with Leighton Contractors (Asia) Limited for the construction works for its Cotai project, involving construction of an integrated luxury resort containing a casino, hotel and other facilities, for a guaranteed maximum price of HK$20 billion.
* Wynn Macau Ltd said its net prot attributable to owners of the company amounted to $227.3 million for the three months ended in June, up from $220.6 million the same period in 2012.
* Yanzhou Coal Mining Company Limited said it expects its net profit attributable to the equity holders of the company to record a loss of 2.35 billion yuan for the half of 2013 due to losses in exchange rates and a decline of in the sale price of coal.
* Shangri-la Asia Ltd said it expects to see a material decline in profit for the six months of 2013 due to a decline in operating profit of its hotels in China and an increase in pre-opening expenses for hotels.
* 361 Degrees International Limited said its same store sales for the second quarter fell 0.8 percent while the retail channel inventory at June 30 represented about 4.4 months of sales.(Reporting by Clement Tan and Donny Kwok; Editing by Eric Meijer)


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The newest creation in terms of cars produced in Belgium is known as the VDS GT 001 and it was recently unveiled with its Maserati sourced V8 engine.
According to its creator, Raphael Van Der Straeten, who has also named it, the VDS GT 001 is based on the Gillet Vertigo and the model is also coming with the same Maserati sourced V8 engine. The car company says that the Maserati engine is a 4.2 liter V8 which is producing a total output of 480 HP (358 kW), mated to a six-speed sequential transmission. The carmaker didn’t announce any performance figures yet but we know that the model will only be available in 22 units.
The VDS GT 001 is expected to be a fast sports car because most of its parts have been made form carbon fiber and the model on which this newest vehicle is based on, the Gillet Vertigo, is getting a chassis made from nomex/carbon which allowed the company’s engineers to keep the weight at just 990 kg (2,182 pounds). Additional details on the VDS GT 001 are limited for the moment and will be announced soon.


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Porsche Delays 2010 Panamera Debut to Shanghai Show in April
Porsche will debut its controversially styled 2010 Panamera four-door sports car at next April's Shanghai auto show rather than March's Geneva show, Automotive News reports. The decision was deemed better by company officials as a result of the region's increasingly influential car buying potential.
Although the debut has been altered, Chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking still maintains his goal of selling 20,000 Panameras annually. Furthermore, the brand will not overproduce the model if it fails to attain its sales target in the weakened world market.
"In that case, I would intervene myself," Wiedeking stated.
Last fiscal year, Chinese buyers took home 8,190 vehicles -- more than double the amount a year prior. When it hits North American dealerships next year, Porsche will offer three engines ranging from a base 300-hp 3.6L V-6 to the range-topping 4.8L turbo V-8 churning out 500 hp.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription required)


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Subaru Impreza Sedan Concept teased ahead of debut in LA
A new Subaru Impreza Sedan Concept will make its debut at the Los Angeles auto show on November 19, Australian time, and is said to preview the next-generation four-door sedan.
Judging by the darkly rendered teaser image that Subaru issued today, the new Impreza concept will feature smoothed out, jazzed up styling that's meant to be broadly indicative of the new Impreza sedan, which could debut as early as next year.
At the Tokyo motor show, Manoru Ishii, design and advanced product planning manager at Subaru, told CarAdvice that "the next Impreza needs to be more emotional" and that it "needs to be fun, sportier and faster [looking]".
Spy photos that we've recently published of both the next-generation Impreza sedan and hatch show that the upcoming production vehicles will be more practical than their concept counterparts, although many design details are still hidden behind layers of cladding and camouflage.


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According to Zacks, “Peloton Interactive creates fitness products. The brand’s content is accessible through the Peloton Bike, the Peloton Tread, and Peloton Digital, which provides a full slate of fitness offerings, anytime, anywhere, through IOS and Android as well as most tablets and computers. “
Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Peloton Interactive from $109.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Gordon Haskett initiated coverage on shares of Peloton Interactive in a research report on Friday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Peloton Interactive from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Capital increased their price target on shares of Peloton Interactive from $125.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Peloton Interactive from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Peloton Interactive currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.
Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:PTON) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $757.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.74 million. Peloton Interactive had a negative net margin of 3.93% and a negative return on equity of 4.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 232.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.29) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Peloton Interactive will post 0.25 EPS for the current year.
In related news, President William Lynch sold 169,424 shares of Peloton Interactive stock in a transaction on Monday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.11, for a total transaction of $16,961,036.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 129,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,006,691.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mariana Garavaglia sold 4,688 shares of Peloton Interactive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.08, for a total transaction of $572,311.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,721.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 597,197 shares of company stock valued at $70,605,456 in the last three months.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Peloton Interactive by 402.5% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,283,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $940,726,000 after purchasing an additional 13,043,301 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Peloton Interactive in the third quarter valued at $1,068,512,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Peloton Interactive by 104.5% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,422,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $835,895,000 after purchasing an additional 4,304,190 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Peloton Interactive by 227.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,759,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,915,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in Peloton Interactive by 344.7% in the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 1,598,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,450 shares in the last quarter. 59.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Peloton Interactive
Peloton Interactive, Inc provides interactive fitness products in North America and internationally. It offers connected fitness products, such as the Peloton Bike and the Peloton Tread, which include touchscreen that streams live and on-demand classes. The company also provides connected fitness subscriptions for multiple household users, and access to all live and on-demand classes, as well as Peloton Digital app for connected fitness subscribers to provide access to its classes.
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Formerly Known as Food (St. Martin’s Press, 2018) by Kristin Lawless picks apart the false sense of security with the food and agricultural industry – even organic and whole foods – and replaces it with a realistic perspective of the state of the plate as the deterioration of nutrition progresses. Lawless is a certified nutrition educator, author, and independent journalist whose works have been published in prolific newspapers and academic journals, including The New York Times. The following excerpt examines the state of the food industry and suggests how to address the problems.
Large-scale boycotts are far different from the food movement’s advocacy of voting with our dollars. In many cases, pressure from consumers results in only superficial victories that only perpetuate the destructiveness of the larger industrial system. These changes are often meaningless and sometimes actually strengthen the opposition. If we are satisfied with small tweaks to existing industrial products, the system continues to run and profit as is. For example, in April 2016, Walmart announced that it would only sell eggs from cage-free chickens beginning in 2025. Joel Salatin, a farmer, writer, and activist, relayed an important point in a Facebook post following Walmart’s announcement. He said that instead of changing its suppliers to local and regional farmers who are already raising chickens humanely and sustainably and could immediately supply Walmart with eggs, the company was going to retain its suppliers but give them time to adjust the way they house the chickens — hence the 2025 deadline. Yet we know that “cage free” means next to nothing if huge suppliers own the chickens. It means only that chickens are crammed into open-air barns, and each chicken has one square foot of space as specified by the regulations on cage free. The chickens still do not have access to the outdoors, which means no pasture, no fresh air, and no sunshine. Yet Walmart’s self-congratulatory announcement will lull consumers into the belief that significant change is afoot. Or, as Joel Salatin wrote, “The biggest problem with this is that thousands of people will feel like they’ve arrived at animal welfare nirvana, which will make consumers more lethargic about seeking out the real deal.”
Such announcements can trick consumers into thinking they have done the right thing based on marketing and label claims and not much else. Sadly the food movement has been integral to the creation of the entire industrial organic food industry, which profits off the cursory knowledge of many consumers about food, health, and animal welfare. We must remember that tweaking around the edges of an unsustainable food industry is a grave tactical mistake. Negotiation cannot replace mobilization.
Can we agitate to radicalize the existing food movement? That will be a key question as we move forward because, despite my criticisms of this movement, many people operating under the rubric of the food movement have helped to effect change. Indeed, this book builds upon the awareness around food and health that the movement has already raised. Even those I criticize for their shortcomings have had a large influence on how Americans now view and talk about food. But the food movement is still too narrowly defined and not inclusive enough.
That is why it is crucial that we continue to change the culture around food and that we continue to bring more and more people into the fold. This will mean that you, the readers, must demand better from our government and our food producers. It also means that you need to reach out to people across all socioeconomic, political, and geographic barriers to stress that a healthy food system directly benefits all of us. One way to frame this is that it is about protecting the young. Feeding our children healthy foods, breast-feeding them, and teaching them cooking skills has become nothing short of political work. This is work that protects our children and serves an enormous public health interest. Selma James made the important point that, given how our culture functions today, there is no sense that protecting the young is a crucial part of what our society should be doing. “Women are fed up and exhausted in industrial countries, and they want another kind of life and another kind of recognition, not only the recognition of pay equity, which is tremendously important, but also the recognition for caring as the priority,” she said. Wages for Housework and my proposed program, Pay People to Cook at Home, can help reframe the importance and value in the work of raising children and all that it entails — especially the work of preparing healthy meals for our families. James told me that men’s ability to spend time with the family and to acquire and use skills like cooking needs to become a priority as well. “Wages for Housework represents an anticapitalist framework in the sense that, instead of the market being central, which we all are slaves to, people have to be central and the market must answer our human needs rather than the other way around,” she said. “People have never even considered that they could organize their own lives in a collective way.”
Both mothers and fathers will need to be engaged with their families and engaged with the important skills of cooking for their families. Remember that this is not new — men, women, and children all were involved in and responsible for household work until fairly recently in our history. Yet we also know that the challenge moving forward will be to create a society in which actual family values matter, and household work, especially cooking, will not be based on regressive gender roles.
Collective action is also vitally important for demanding a say in the production of our food. Without food autonomy, creating change will be difficult. This does not mean we all need to grow our own food, but we do need to engage with our food supply and support those who do the growing. A large part of that engagement will be direct action protests to demand that Big Food and Big Ag respond to the needs of people before profit and stop producing harmful foods that are reliant on harmful chemicals. The reemergence of protest across the country (and world) is encouraging and a sign of an engaged populace fed up with the status quo. The protests at Standing Rock, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the counterprotests that have emerged in response to white nationalists and neo-Nazis serve as key examples of the tactical importance of direct action in the current political climate. It is becoming ever more apparent that we will need to organize and resist the status quo for real change in our food supply.
Member-owned and-run food cooperatives are an excellent model for collectivizing, and the Park Slope Food Coop provides a blueprint for doing so successfully. What other creative cooperative ideas can we come up with? How can we collectivize housework, cooking, and child care? These are questions we must seriously engage if we want to change our day-to-day lived realities.
Here is what we need to remember moving forward:
- Calls for better access to food and food education do nothing to address the predatory nature of Big Food and Big Ag marketing and the normalization of their unhealthy products.
- Calls to buy organic do nothing to alter the production and use of dangerous chemicals that lace the majority of our foods.
- Providing recipes for quick and easy-to-prepare meals does not address the problems of gender oppression, poverty, overwork, and too little pay.
- Pushing the food industry to make minor changes often undermines the possibilities for real, significant change.
The vast changes to our food system, and by extension our bodies, represent one of the biggest problems that we as a species must confront. Environmental and public health disasters are already upon us, and continuing on our current path is no longer an option. What we need is nothing short of a societal transformation — placing human needs above the needs of the market — and true human needs for good health are part of preserving and protecting the natural world. Adrian Parr, a professor of environmental politics at the University of Cincinnati, has said that climate degradation is akin to crimes against humanity, and one of the biggest perpetrators is the fossil fuel industry. “A crime against humanity is an action that causes severe and unnecessary human suffering, and environmental destruction unquestionably degrades the quality of human life,” she said.36 I would expand that definition to include the destruction of our food supply, which is ultimately destroying our bodies. Thought of in that way, Big Food and Big Ag companies are guilty of the same kinds of crimes against humanity as the fossil fuel industry — which, not coincidentally, enables both Big Food and Big Ag to function as they do.
Our efforts to “fix” the food system as it is will be futile — buying organic, pressuring food companies through what we buy individually, or making healthier individual choices to avoid various toxic environmental chemicals will never bring about real change. If using the existing framework of the current system to effect change is not possible, the only other option is to work together and demand it through direct action protests, large-scale boycotts, and rebuilding our communities. And we must do so while also figuring out how to restructure our day-to-day lives to include growing, producing, distributing, cooking, and consuming our foods, as well as feeding and interacting with our families and communities. We must begin to act as if our lives depend on it.
Excerpted from Formerly Known as Food: How the Industrial Food System Is Changing Our Minds, Bodies, and Culture by Kristin Lawless. Copyright © 2018 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Press.


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The group of water boys who started hustling together on Atlanta's Northside Drive turned their work selling bottles on the corner into a full business.
The White House used the visit to say that there have been 16 million applications to start new businesses during the first three years of Biden's presidency.
Surveillance footage captured the bold thefts, with an ex-employee allegedly involved in the second incident.
Retails at Forsyth County's Halcyon are ready to make holiday shopping a breeze for customers this season.
Still need a few spooky supplies for your Halloween celebrations? We found a shop in North Georgia where it's Halloween 365 days a year!
Atlanta's oldest roller skate and skateboard shop is planning to close its doors for good after 44 years in business.
As National Black Business Month comes to a close, FOX 5 is taking a look at the state of Black-owned businesses in the metro Atlanta area.
There may only be one more night of Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour in Atlanta, but the pop star has already made a big impact on a dozen of the city's small businesses.
Brides and grooms getting ready to tie the knot are now in a bind after a well-known wedding dress and tuxedo business went under.
There's a new task force in Roswell that will take a closer look at a plan to turn a part of Canton Street into a walking promenade.
Customers are left scrambling after a local mom-and-pop jewelry shop shuts down.
The plan to turn a busy section of a Roswell street into a walking promenade has been paused.
“I always try to bring international flavors into my bakery," says Rana Obeidat, owner of Sugar n' Proof in Braselton.
Business owners and other stakeholders along Canton Street are rejoicing over news that traffic will keep flowing.
An Austell business was forced to close its doors Tuesday after heavy rain moved through the area.
It’s been two weeks since a West Midtown bridal store announced its closing.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend a record $35.7 billion on Mother's Day this year. And the most popular gift? Flowers.
“We have been eating those cost for so long, and now it was clear that we couldn’t eat them any longer,” the Manuel's Tavern owner Brian Maloof told FOX 5.
"It is not about padding our pockets, but ensuring our future survival," the tavern's owner said in an open letter posted online.
Chantel Powell, who is the CEO of Play Pits, still remembers the 3 a.m. phone call that changed her life in early September 2022.


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PARAGOULD, Arkansas -- A 65-year-old Arkansas man was arrested last week after he urinated on the carpet and electronics in a local Radio Shack store.
After first denying the act, John Posey, whose pants were unzipped, confessed to police saying, "I had to pee bad,” according to a Huffington Post report.
Posey, who had "bloodshot eyes, was unsteady on his feet, and smelled of intoxicants," is accused of unzipping his pants inside the Paragould, Ark. store while shopping and urinating in the store, the Smoking Gun posted from the Paragould police report.
He apparently didn’t think he would be allowed to use the store’s bathroom so he didn’t bother asking.
Posey was charged with public intoxication and criminal mischief. He is accused of causing $795.25 in damages to the carpet, a 32" television, two Bluetooth sound bars, a microphone mixer and other merchandise.


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Stu Sweetow wrote an article about professional audio equipment that was published in the August, 2006 issue of Camcorder & Computer Video magazine. The article discusses techniques to connect pro microphones to consumer camcorders.
Pro Digital Imaging magazine’s September issue includes a digital camera review written by Stu about Canon’s new S3 IS digital still camera. Included in the article are photos that Stu took with the 6 MP professional camera.
These are just two of the many articles that Stu Sweetow has had published in video and photo magazines throughout the years.


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Black cab company LEVC gives green light to new electric fleet
The London taxi factory in Coventry is to increase production sevenfold in the next three years as it begins assembly of a plug-in hybrid electric delivery van.
Jörg Hofmann, chief executive of the London Electric Vehicle Company, said that the van, based on the new black cab, would be marketed to the Royal Mail postal service and to large fleet users, such as BT.
LEVC was formed from the 2013 buyout of the collapsed London Taxi Company by Geely, the Chinese carmaker. It began production in 2017 of redesigned, re-engineered hybrid black cabs capable of running on an electric charge for 80 miles, to meet rules that all new London taxis must be capable of operating on zero emissions.
The company built and delivered


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How ASOS increased its sales by 30% in the last quarter of 2017
ASOS is soaring with a stellar last quarter in 2017.
We may be making strides well into 2018, but ASOS is definitely still thinking about the tail end of 2017 – and for good reason. The online retail giant reported a huge hike in figures over the last four months of 2017 and looks to be on the rise.
According to Inside Retail, ASOS saw a growth in sales across all its major markets, both in the UK and internationally. With an approximate 30% rise in figures, ASOS reported that sales internationally had increased to upwards of 489.5 million pounds (roughly $850 million Australian dollars).
Meanwhile, in the UK market, the sales increased to approximately 300 million pounds (roughly $521 million Australian dollars), largely attributed to the introduction of Try Before You Buy and ASOS Instant – two initiatives that are yet to reach Australian shores.
Regarding the UK figures, ASOS CEO Nick Beighton told Inside Retail, “We acquired 2.6 million active customers year on year and saw encouraging movements across all key customer KPIs.”
“Following this strong start to the year, we remain confident in our full year guidance and delivery of our planned investments in infrastructure to support our global ambitions.”
We're not surprised to see ASOS increasing its sales over the period, especially given the array of limited edition drops and new releases we saw last year. From celebrating inclusivity with the GLAAD collaboration; to embracing pop culture with a Need For Speed Payback tee and an exclusive Hello Kitty collaboration; to launching an affordable makeup line – let's just say, the brand definitely made headlines.
ASOS has long been a popular destination for fashion-conscious Australian online shoppers and has become a veritable household name over the past couple of years. These collaborations and collections have likely gone a long way in establishing that brand recognition, combined with a number of customer-centric tactics including offering Australian customers free returns.
With such an increase at the end of 2017, ASOS has set a large precedent for the year ahead. We're expecting more collaborations with big name brands, and as always, countless pieces of affordable fashion, shoes and accessories.
Stay tuned to @finderstyle on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more!


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Guests who book a stay directly through five-star hotel group Corinthia Hotels’ own website will be rewarded in the form of a room upgrade, extended check-out or a discount in its restaurants and bars.
The move is a bid from Corinthia to boost direct bookings online, encouraging customers to turn away from the OTAs and in turn, rewarding customer loyalty.
Complimentary treats on offer include free room upgrades, discounted meals and spa treatments at the luxury European hotels.
Guests booking through corinthia.com will also be given the chance to ‘Win Back Your Stay’ by using Facebook connect upon confirmation of booking. The cost of the winners’ reserved room nights will be fully refunded upon their arrival at the hotel.
The group is also encouraging guests to visit its website to find the best Corinthia promotions, including its annual sale, which offers 50% discount on room rates across its five-star hotels for stays, meaning guests could save over £150 a night.
“We’re thrilled to announce the launch of this new reward scheme across Corinthia Hotels. It’s our way of thanking our loyal customers booking through the website, as well as incentivising those not yet doing so. With hundreds of websites through which people can book a stay, we’re making it easier for Corinthia guests and giving them the best value on – corinthia.com!” says Brian Pratt, Senior Vice President of Loyalty, Distribution, Partnership & MIS at Corinthia Hotels.


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The U.S. auto industry is bouncing back, and according to Moody's Investors Service, that will be good news for media industries this year and next, and for broadcast television in particular. Among media companies, CBS Corp., with its heavy reliance on advertising, can expect to see the biggest boost in revenue.
In a report Tuesday by analyst Neil Begley, Moody's forecast a 9.3% increase in auto sales this year over last, fed by pent-up demand following the recession. Japanese automakers are also expected to step up advertising in an effort to recover market share after the disruption caused by last year's earthquake.
Auto ad spending totaled $13.9 billion in 2011, according to Kantar Media, and accounts for 20% to 25% of total ad revenue for cable systems and local TV stations, Tuesday's report stated. Combined with the summer Olympics and the November elections, higher auto sales could lead to a record upfront advertising market in May, and a strong market for spot advertising in the second half of the year, according to Moody's.
“Higher automotive spending will lift rates across categories,” Mr. Begley wrote in the report. “Those rate increases will be compounded when combined with heavy political and Olympics-related ad spending in 2012.”
Auto sales momentum will continue into 2013, the report said.
CBS Corp. is poised to reap the greatest benefit since it gets 63% of its revenue from advertising, nearly twice the percentage of rivals NBCUniversal and Viacom, which collect substantial subscription revenues from their cable networks.
CBS CEO Leslie Moonves has already thrown down the gauntlet with media buyers, saying that he expected to get double-digit increases in ad rates in the coming upfront, just like the network did last year. Some marketers have responded that single digit increases are more likely, given the slowly recovering economy.
Moody's report hasn't changed their minds. “General Motors cut second-quarter [advertising] budgets,” pointed out Jason Kanefsky, executive vice president of strategic investment at media buying agency MPG. “I don't think we will see a record upfront.”


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When many people think of weddings, they think of lush greenery, warm sunshine giving way to cool evenings and twinkling stars, abundant flowers.
They think of summer.
Not so for Jamie and Myles Sibley of Vail.
When they decided to tie the knot this year, it was a winter wonderland they envisioned.
“We’re both very much winter people,” Jamie Sibley said. “We love skiing and nordic skiing and the snow and everything Colorado winters are about.”
They chose April 6, a Sunday in the not-quite-winter, not-quite-spring shoulder season. They and their 85 guests had Devil’s Thumb Ranch, a popular and picturesque resort outside Winter Park, virtually to themselves.
The day of the wedding, they awoke to bluebird skies, and guests went skiing in T-shirts. That evening, as temperatures dropped, an alpenglow sunset kissed the mountain landscape. During dinner, it started to snow.
“It was like a fairy tale,” Sibley said. “It was really the perfect day.”
For couples like the Sibleys, saying “no” to summer in favor of a winter, spring or fall wedding can result in a more personal, unique celebration.
And for many, the potential savings are another major selling point. They pick off-season for multiple reasons — to stay within a tight budget, to invest their savings elsewhere in the festivities (a perfect dress, anyone?) or to put the money toward other goals.
Many wedding venues and vendors offer off-season discounts to entice couples to book during slower months. At some big-name locations in Colorado, the savings during late fall, winter and early spring can be as much as 50 percent, according to wedding professionals.
“In general, it is smart to look at different seasons,” said Jamie Miles, editor of TheKnot.com, the popular wedding planning website.
“In summer, demand is high, supply is lower and venues have the ability to demand a higher asking price,” Miles said. “But if you’re looking to get married in the winter, you have more of an upper hand with your vendors and wedding professionals. You may be able to negotiate.”
Summer is still the most popular time of year to get married in Colorado and nationwide, but the gap between it and other seasons is shrinking, Miles said.
In The Knot’s 2013 survey of brides, 35 percent said they walked down the aisle during June, July or August.
Fall won over 32 percent of couples, while 26 percent chose spring and 7 percent winter.
Just four years earlier, 41 percent of couples reported summer nuptials, according to The Knot. Fall accounted for 30 percent of 2009 weddings, spring 23 percent and winter 6 percent.
“(Summer) is slowly going out of style as the wedding season of choice,” Miles said. “More couples are deciding to get married in the fall, in the winter, in the spring, venturing outside the norm.”
Colorado brides, in the same 2013 survey, chose summer 47 percent of the time, with fall coming in second at 30 percent. Sixteen percent of couples chose spring for their vows, to winter’s 7 percent.
Locally, the off season for weddings typically runs November through April, planners said. By far the most popular months are June and September, but off-season inquiries are on the rise, they said.
Often the biggest off-season savings come in the form of lower venue fees or food and beverage minimums, said Heather Dwight, owner and principal stylist of Calluna Events in Boulder.
“The rates do go down on venues,” Dwight said. “There is incentive to have your wedding in the off-season if your priority is to save money.”
That said, there are other factors to consider before you rush to put a deposit down on a March date.
Factor No. 1: The weather, said Honey Ahijevych, owner and lead consultant of Seize The Day Event Plannersin Boulder. Seize The Day assisted in planning the Sibleys’ wedding.
“Off season, you should definitely consider the weather,” Ahijevych said. “It could be cold. It could snow. Blizzard conditions. But at the same time, since it’s Colorado, it could be sunny, too. You just have to be prepared for any kind of weather.”
Also, not all Colorado venues are budget friendly during the winter months, particularly if you’ve got your eye on a ski resort, Dwight said.
“If you’re going to a ski town like Vail, Beaver Creek or Aspen, you’re not necessarily going to get a break on site fees. Andthe lodging will definitely be more expensive,” Dwight said.
But if you’re having an indoor ceremony or aren’t dreaming of a lush, green backdrop for photos, an off-season wedding can definitely have its perks, Dwight said.
“Quite honestly, it can be a lot nicer in those off-months because you’re not competing with, ‘Is the photographer that I want going to be available? Is my vendor going to be available?’ ” Dwight said. “If you have it during the off months, you can almost guarantee that your first-choice vendor is going to be available.”
Those vendors — wedding planners and photographers included — may also be willing to discount their rates or tweak their standard packages to stay busy, Ahijevych said. They just may not advertise it upfront.
“I always tell my brides the first thing you need to do is figure out your budget. Then, when you approach the vendors be absolutely frank and honest. Tell them about your vision and then be frank about your budget,” Ahijevych said. “Most vendors are willing to help.”
And if you’re dead set on a flower-filled garden wedding, you’re not totally out of luck, either.
One way to save during the summer months is to pick an “off-peak” day or time, Miles said.
The most popular day and time to get married is Saturday evenings. But you can save in venue fees (and bar tab) by throwing a morning wedding, for example, Miles said.
Sundays and Fridays are another option for cost-conscious couples. Many venues offer discounted fees on less popular days of the week year-round, Miles said.
And while off-season savings weren’t a priority in the Sibleys’ plans, it is “potentially a very nice perk,” Jamie Sibley said. Having their pick of weekend and vendors — without the long lead time couples see in summer — wasn’t bad, either, she said.
“It was a more economically friendly time of year for a lot of guests who were flying in from the coasts,” Sibley said. “It was nice to not have to force them to come out during the peak time of the year when things are so expensive.”
If you’re planning to say “I do,” but not “I’m made of money,” you’ve come to the right series.
Aug. 25: How do you start the conversation about money with your future spouse?
Today: Break with tradition and (potentially) save by booking your wedding in the off-season.
Tell us your stories: Emilie Rusch — who’s planning her own wedding — wants your money tips and story ideas. Get in touch at firstname.lastname@example.org, 303-954-2457 or twitter.com/emilierusch
The Knot editor unravels her wedding budget tips
Booking your wedding during the off-season can mean big savings. But it’s not the only way to slim down your budget, said Jamie Miles, editor of TheKnot.com.
1 Venue. Decorating a blank space can add up quickly. Look for a venue with built-in decor — “a garden or vineyard or somewhere you don’t need to import too many flowers, a place that looks beautiful without more adornment,” Miles said.
2 Flowers. Choose flowers that are in season for the best prices, Miles said. Also, don’t be afraid to repurpose ceremony décor at the reception — a bridesmaid bouquet in a vase becomes instant reception décor.
3 Cake. After a big meal, many guests won’t want a giant slice of cake. Order half as much cake and serve “secret” half slices, Miles said. Or buy a small display cake and then serve most guests from a much less expensive but equally tasty sheet cake hidden behind the scenes.
4 Attire. Sample sales at bridal boutiques can offer savings up to 80 percent, Miles said. For fall and winter brides, keep an eye out for sales in April or May. For spring and summer brides, sales are often in October and November.
5 Invitations.Do still send out printed, mailed invitations. But electronic Save-the-Date cards are totally fair game, Miles said. Online stationers, such as Paperless Post, have a number of stylish options for e-mail Save the Dates, many of them free or low-cost.


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Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (NYSE: FDP), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated producers, marketers, and distributors of high-quality fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, announced the launch of its latest pineapple innovation, the Rubyglow® pineapple – a red-shelled pineapple. This pineapple has a red outer skin, bright yellow flesh, and a new, sweet flavor similar to Del Monte pineapples. The Rubyglow® pineapple is first being launched in China, in time for Chinese New Year as part of the company’s grand debut in the Chinese market. A waitlist is available for consumers in other countries.
“We are proud to unveil our latest pineapple innovation to the world, the Rubyglow® pineapple. This Del Monte exclusive pineapple further cements our global leadership position in the pineapple market,” said Mohammad Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and CEO of Fresh Del Monte. “Our scientists continue to elevate the bar by creating new pineapple varieties, with varied tastes and colors, that cater to more and more consumers worldwide. We believe that the Rubyglow® pineapple is the perfect product to build our market presence in China.”
With around 5,000 pineapples available worldwide in 2024 and 3,000 in 2025, the pineapple’s rarity and limited inventory make Rubyglow® pineapple a highly coveted item. This holds particularly true in the Chinese market, where consumers wield significant spending power and value luxury novelty items.
Grown in Costa Rica, the Rubyglow® pineapple has been in development for more than 15 years and has a registered plant patent in the United States. It is a cross between a traditional pineapple and a Morada pineapple — which is typically inedible — making the Rubyglow® pineapple a hybrid fruit produced through traditional crossbreeding techniques. Rubyglow® pineapples are naturally ripened in Costa Rica on the plant and sold crownless in elegantly designed packaging.
Fresh Del Monte has been leading pineapple innovation since the 1990s with the debut of the Del Monte Gold® Extra Sweet pineapple, the first of its kind. The pineapple has a golden color and, at that time, was much sweeter than any other pineapple on the market. Since then, the company’s robust pineapple program has released the Pinkglow® pineapple, the Honeyglow® pineapple, the Del Monte Zero™ pineapple, and now the Rubyglow® pineapple.


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German discounter Lidl is preparing to launch an online delivery service as early as next year.
The supermarket chain, which has more than 760 stores in the UK, said the service would not be a direct replication of its online operations in other countries.
Lidl already offers an online service in a string of European countries where customers can purchase items such as alcohol and general merchandise products including clothing, children's toys and DIY tools for delivery.
Speaking at a conference in London this week, Lidl’s UK digital director Alex Murray said: “You can’t take a model you have elsewhere, and just drop that into the UK and hope that works. That’s not a good idea.”
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By Redacción PortalPortuario.cl
DFDS announced the launch, as of June 1, of a new unaccompanied maritime transport service of Sheerness a Calais.
It will be operated by Gothia Seaways, It can carry up to 165 unaccompanied cargo units (driverless trailers or containers).
The Port of Sheerness, part of the London Medway cluster of Peel Ports, is located in North Kent and operates 24 hours a day and is fully open seven days a week. This flexibility gives our customers congestion-free access to drop off and pick up trailers, with no standard charges for the first 48 hours.
The port benefits from the proximity to the M25 orbital ring (approximately 40km closer to the M25 than to Dover), which is ideal for freight heading to the London and Midlands area.
Wayne Bullen, Director of Cargo Sales, He said that “we are very excited to add a new unaccompanied freight service to the extensive route network that DFDS already offers. Sheerness benefits from excellent road links with close proximity to the M25 orbital ring, which is ideal for freight heading to the London and Midlands area. ”
“Sheerness promises to be a great ‘partner port’, with an ambitious plan to grow its services over the next decade. We also continue to consolidate our partnership with the Port of Calais and are excited to expand our services to the port as it marks the completion of their multi-million pound expansion project, ”added the executive.
The new route expands the existing network of services between the UK and Europe and arises in response to the growing demand for unaccompanied cargo services.
It is the latest in a series of investments DFDS is making “to improve our services.” A new cargo and passenger ship, the Cote d’Opale will join the Dover to Calais route in July this year, increasing capacity and enhancing the passenger experience aboard its fleet.


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The Tata Motors CSR Activities For FY19 lay emphasis on the four key pillars of Health, Education, Employability…
Castrol India and 3M India would soon bring out a wide range of car care products through this collaboration
The 2019 Range Rover Sport in its petrol guise can do the 0-100 run in 7.1 seconds !
The flair-flaunting cabin makes it evident that the first Kia SUV in India is aimed straight at the millennials!
Dealer liquidity and access to working capital remain negative, thus affecting the automobile sales adversely
The MG Hector is being manufactured in the manufacturer's newly built assembly in Gujarat
Over 2000 people booked the Hyundai Venue on the first day, around 84 bookings per hour, to be more precise!
JK tyre & industries ltd has equipped the facility with end-to-end tyre care solutions for trucks and buses
Bookings are now open and the deliveries would begin by early May...
Available to BMW car owners, the Joy Rewards becomes the first of its kind aftersales benefit programme in the…


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AMD Shipping Free APUs to Customers to Address Firmware Update Issue
It's not unusual for new CPUs to require UEFI/BIOS updates in order to function properly, but AMD's solution to this issue is some next-level-excellent customer service.
Some Ryzen Motherboards With Older Firmware Won't Boot With Ryzen APUs
AMD's new Ryzen 5 2400G is a great chip, but if you're looking at buying one, check to make sure the motherboard you buy will be compatible first.
Leaked Benchmarks Show AMD's Raven Ridge Offering Much Stronger Performance Against Intel
AMD's upcoming Raven Ridge APUs should give the company much better performance than anything it saw from Carrizo or Bristol Ridge -- but will it match Intel's latest Core family?
Microsoft leaks Secure Boot credentials, shows why backdoor 'golden keys' can't work
Microsoft accidentally shipped a security policy that destroys its own Secure Boot system -- and demonstrates in the process why security that relies on so-called "golden keys" can never work.
Microsoft's new Windows 10 build can tie licenses to your online account
Microsoft has a new Windows 10 feature in the works -- one that'll tie your license and product key information to your Microsoft account. In theory, this could make swapping hardware or reinstalling the OS simpler.
New Windows 10 update will change hardware requirements for the first time since 2009
Microsoft is rolling out the most significant set of hardware changes that it's made to Windows in almost a decade. Most of these will only impact system builders, but there's increased RAM requirements, support for larger screens, and mandatory support for the secure computing TPM 2.0 standard.
Lenovo laptops can reinstall bundled crapware, even if you load a retail copy of Windows
Lenovo is back in the news again, this time for shipping laptops that would reinstall an OEM's bundled software -- even if you dropped a fresh copy of Windows on the machine.
Linux's worst-case scenario: Windows 10 makes Secure Boot mandatory, locks out other operating systems
With Windows 10, Microsoft will mandate Secure Boot -- and the ability to turn the feature off has gone from mandatory to optional. This could cripple the ability to install any other OS on OEM hardware.
New Apple malware is undetectable, unstoppable, and can infect any Thunderbolt-equipped device
A new flaw in Apple's EFI firmware allows attackers to load a bootkit malware that can't be removed, bypassed, or blocked, save by physically swapping components in the system -- and it takes minutes and minimal intervention to run.
This is my rig: 3D designer Rich Ackermann
In ExtremeTech's latest This is My Rig build, we run through Rich Ackermann's liquid-cooled hexa-core workstation. This 75-pound monster runs 64GB of RAM, dual 120mm radiators, over 6TB of storage, and still looks better than any computer you've ever built.


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It’s the end of an era: America’s gold standard for delicious pancake-topping goodness is getting a makeover.
That’s right — the iconic Aunt Jemima syrup will be renamed.
So pancakes and syrup are racist now. Goodbye Aunt Jemima, you had a good run.https://t.co/13XQKsH6Ne
— Mister Toxic (@MisterToxicMan) June 17, 2020
As reported by The New York Times, the brand — which was begun in 1889 — “is built on images of a black female character that have often been criticized as offensive.”
Over the years, there’s been a series of updates:
Evolution of Aunt Jemima's appearance (2) at African American Heritage Museum pic.twitter.com/mbw670KGAt
— JerseyArts.com (@jerseyarts) November 25, 2013
We learned how @thejemimacode defines this code, and why it matters. [Image 1] Take for example the evolution of the Aunt Jemima advertising trademark [Image 2] compared to how this history is visually represented on the company website today [Image 3]. pic.twitter.com/cj12POTGYT
— Emily Contois (@EmilyContois) November 12, 2019
But it appears they’ve been deemed insufficient:
Even after going through several redesigns — pearl earrings and a lace collar were added in 1989 — Aunt Jemima was still seen by many as a symbol of slavery.
AJ’s produced by Quaker Foods, the company responsible for the whitest man in America — and who, despite an online conspiracy, is not singer Harry Styles:
— 💙 (@dazzleharrys) November 28, 2014
As per a statement by Quaker Foods North America VP and Chief Marketing Officer Kristin Kroepfl, the company’s determined to move in only One Direction — forward:
As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations. We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype. While work has been done over the years to update the brand in a manner intended to be appropriate and respectful, we realize those changes are not enough.
We acknowledge the brand has not progressed enough to appropriately reflect the confidence, warmth and dignity that we would like it to stand for today. We are starting by removing the image and changing the name. We will continue the conversation by gathering diverse perspectives from both our organization and the Black community to further evolve the brand and make it one everyone can be proud to have in their pantry.
So how will the redesign look? That remains unclear, but — according to NBC News — it’ll debut in the fall.
And “a new name…will be announced at a later date.”
As for the new packaging, satirical site The Onion made a progressive proposal:
— The Onion (@TheOnion) June 17, 2020
However it turns out, it won’t be your kitchen cabinets’ only familial change — on the heels of NYT’s syrupy story, Mars Inc. made quite the announcement itself.
Say goodbye to both your aunt and your uncle:
Uncle Ben’s announces plan to change branding of the rice, a move that follows a similar announcement from the company that owns Aunt Jemima’s syrup. https://t.co/U83iI34NdA
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 17, 2020
A suggestion for that one: Fight the patriarchy and introduce Condoleeza Rice™.
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It looks like Adidas is gearing up to launch a new fitness tracker. Over the past week countless little tidbits about its new tracker have appeared online. We’ve seen the device pop up for certification at the FCC and have even spotted it at retailer Keller Sports. This is pretty much proof enough that Adidas is about to launch this device soon. It is called the Adidas miCoach Fit Smart. Even though it looks a lot like a conventional smartwatch its more likely going to be a bona fide fitness tracker.
Instead of the LCD display that was found on the Adidas Smart Run the miCoach Fit Smart appears to have an LED dot display. That’s the same display as the Nike FuelBand, a similar fitness tracker that the miCoach may compete with at launch.
Leaks reveal that the Adidas miCoach Fit Smart is going to have a heart rate sensor built-in apart from a pedometer and perhaps a couple of other sensors for fitness related data gathering. The FCC filing showed that it will use Bluetooth 4.0 LE to beam information to a connected device.
This timing of these leaks are interesting given that at the I/O 2014 keynote yesterday Adidas was named as one of the initial Google Fit partners. Google Fit is a new platform that aims to be the primary source of health related data for users. Developers and manufacturers will be able to use its APIs to send data to Google Fit.
Since this is also the first time that Adidas has used the word “Fit” in a wearable, this may very well be one of the first Google Fit compatible fitness tracker. Adidas hasn’t revealed as yet when the miCoach Fit Smart is going to hit the market and for how much, but I suspect it won’t be too long before that information is made public.


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All posts tagged: subscription management
New client, World Business Media (WBM), has adopted the Webvision Cloud DXP platform for their leading publication.
Long-time Abacus client, who has been on the Webvision platform for more than 18 years, has adopted our CXM platform to continue to grow their digital business.
With fake news constantly appearing in our daily headlines, the growing need for quality content and information provides brands with the opportunity to build trusting relationships with their audience that rewards them with financial benefits.
Long-time Webvision CMS client, Newsquest, has adopted our DXP and CDP platforms for its B2B and B2C titles.
Long-time Webvision CMS client, MBI, has adopted our DXP platform to relaunch their B2B titles with a fully responsive design.


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We are so excited to start 2019, this will be the Vault12 product launch year with so much to look forward to
September 13 2021
We are so excited to start 2019, this will be the Vault12 product launch year with so much to look forward to. Our engineering team is busy incorporating feedback from last years alpha program into an upcoming beta release. Later in the year, we will be listing on the first security token exchanges, making it possible to incentivize Guardians to protect your crypto assets.
1. Product. Our engineering team has been hard at work building out the first beta release of the product. In addition to filling out the feature set beyond what was available in the alpha release, the most visible change is a completely new interface for the mobile app, you can check out the new design on our website today.
2. Tokens. As announced last year, the details on how we executed Token Generation, is available in our Token Distribution Summary Report. Today, the smart contract security audit report conducted by PepperSec is available here.
3. Exchanges. We are actively talking with potential Security Token Exchanges around the world. Our goal is to ensure that customers will be able to easily acquire VGT, as the product launches. This means qualifying exchanges based on customers and jurisdictions they serve, in other words ensuring that our initial list of exchanges caters to residents of, say, Korea, as well as US residents.
Note: Most exchanges do not handle security tokens, and/or this capability is not live today but expected in the future. If you have contacts at an exchange that can do security token listings, please let us know via our Telegram channel.
*** UPDATE: A recent illegal exchange listing of VGT has been removed. VGT is designated as a legal and licensed security offering, and can only be traded on exchanges supporting security tokens with permission from Vault12 ***


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DALLAS – Southwest Airlines Co.’s website is slowing to a crawl, and the airline blames heavy response to a sale on fall travel.
Visitors to southwest.com late Wednesday afternoon saw a “system alert” warning that “you may experience difficulty” on the site. When one visitor tried to book a trip, there was no immediate response from the site, and eventually the screen flipped to a “Gateway Timeout.”
Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said the airline added capacity to the website in anticipation of high demand from a 3-day sale that began Tuesday, but the response was bigger than expected. King said workers were trying to restore the website’s functions. She said customers could try later or call the airline for help.
The sale included prices as low as $49 one-way on short trips to $149 each way for long trips, and covered travel between Aug. 25 and Dec. 16. Like most airline sales, there were many conditions including blackout dates around Labor Day and Thanksgiving, and Southwest didn’t say how many seats would be available at the sale prices.
American Airlines and United Airlines confirmed that they matched Southwest’s fares on routes where they compete.
Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com, said Delta, Alaska, Virgin America and Frontier also had fares matching Southwest on overlapping routes, although he added that it was “hard to tell who matched and who initiated” because there were so many new fares filed on Tuesday. The first week in June is a perennial time for fall-travel sales, he said.


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Netflix has a lot of exciting programming that it is working on in an effort to keep subscribers and gain new ones in the wake of the Disney+ launch last month. One of the shows they are working on is a reboot of a very popular cartoon from the 1980s. “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” will be coming back. However, this time it will look much different than it did before. The animation will be rendered by computers in 3-D. The show will premiere at some point in 2021. However, an exact release date has not been revealed as of yet.
“Masters of the Universe” was one of the most popular cartoons of the early 1980s. There was a very successful line of toys and a theatrical movie. The toys were created by Mattel. The company also owns the rights to the characters. The partnership between Mattel and Netflix has been rumored for a long time. However, it took a long time for the deal to be worked out. Netflix knows that it must increase the amount of children’s content that is on their platform in order to compete with all of the cartoons offered by Disney+.
Netflix snapped up the rights to “Masters of the Universe” because the streaming giant knows that there is a very big fan base for these characters. There are many kids who will want to watch a show featuring He-Man. There are also many adults who will want to watch because they are feeling nostalgic. There has not been any info about the voice actors who will be used in the show. Those parts have not been cast as of yet. Netflix said in a statement that there will be other animated shows on the horizon. However, they did not give any indication as to what those might be.
Netflix is already home to a new version of “She-Ra: Princess of Power.” This was a spin-off of “Masters of the Universe.” The original series is considered a classic. The new version produced by Netflix is done in a much different style of animation as the original. However, it has received very good reviews from fans and critics. Netflix said in their statement announcing the new “Masters of the Universe” show that they are very excited about the project. They are looking forward to very big things. They are confident that the show will be a hit.


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CARACAS, Jan 10, 2010 (AFP) - President Hugo Chavez warned Sunday that any price speculation by shopkeepers will trigger business seizures, and called on the National Guard to help people fight price gouging.
"To those gentlemen, let's call them looters of the people... If they want to, go ahead and do it, but we'll take their business and hand it over to the workers," Chavez said on his weekly radio and television talk show "Alo Presidente."
|Venezuelans crowd together inside an electrical appliance store in Caracas on January 9, 2010 (AFP PHOTO)|
The firebrand leftist president was tackling fallout from his announcement Friday to devalue the local currency for non-essential imports to 4.30 bolivars per dollar -- double the present rate -- but to just 2.60 bolivars for basic goods to help poorer Venezuelans.
"If tomorrow a butcher shop opens its doors with a price increase, report it and let the National Guard step in," Chavez said.
"I'm even capable of taking the butcher shop away (from its owner) and turn it over to the people working in it."
Economists predict a devaluation-induced spike in inflation, which last year already hit 25 percent. Thousands of people descended on local shops Saturday, hoping to buy imported goods ahead of imminent price increases.
"There's no reason prices should go up," Chavez said, warning Venezuelans to beware of scammers.
"We're going to launch an offensive against speculation... I want the National Guard to help people on the street fight speculation."
Chavez gave a special warning to banks who fail to serve their customers properly.
"There's a bank out there that's treading dangerous ground. It knows who I'm talking about. They're not going to blackmail me. Any banker who slips up, I'll take the bank away from him, no matter how big it is," Chavez said without naming the institution.
The bolivar's devaluation was the first since 2005, and was designed to aid public finances that have withered amid dwindling oil revenues and a rapidly contracting economy.
Critics said the move would allow Chavez to boost public spending ahead of elections in September, but would severely damage the health of the economy.
Since coming to office, Chavez has sought to remake the Venezuelan economy, vowing to create a more equitable, socialist model.
He has initiated a string of nationalizations of foreign firms, banks and measures that have sent inflation soaring.


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The recent developments in digitalisation have been quite significant because there has been a lot of movement in cryptos. Recently, we have seen that China put a ban on cryptocurrencies like bitcoin within the borders of China, and people were entirely away from the touch of digital tokens. However, the future cannot remain all the same. We need to understand that if a country wants to progress in finance, it definitely has to involve some digital currencies, and China has also seen this view. Therefore, China has developed its digital currency, which is central and controlled by the Chinese authorities. It is the digital yuan. However, to date, it is not completely clear the future of this new digital currency of the Chinese government. But, it is said that there will be a different mechanism for using this digital currency for the general public. So, like Digital Yuan, Bitcoin is another option for investment and if you are planning to trade Bitcoin you may also consider knowing What Is Bitcoin Taproot Upgrade?
Moreover, things took an exciting turn of events recently when the Chinese government decided to keep the digital currency the government limited only to a few cities. Therefore, it is not available in every city in China, and you will not get access to it very quickly. As you are an international citizen of China, You would be kept out from using this digital currency by the Chinese government. But, we never know about the future. However, there could certainly be a lot of predictions about this new digital currency in China. So, today, we will have some possible outlook on the Chinese digital yuan to know if the future will be pretty good for this new currency or if it will be doomed.
You might be pretty familiar with the fact that China has always been under the dictatorship of its president. The leader of China is someone who does not follow democracy at all, and he loves to control whatever is elaborated within the borders of China. Therefore, you need to be quite familiar with the fact that there is a dictatorship in everything, also in finance. The country’s financial sector has also not been entirely independent of the control of the government, and therefore, there are going to be some serious drawbacks. For example, if the Chinese government does not open the central currency of China, like the Digital yuan, to the whole world, it will face many sanctions from different nations. It is going to be a hindrance in the path to success.
Controlling and manipulating the prices of anything that is evolving in China is the nature of the Chinese government. It cannot let anything out of the government’s control, and therefore, it is also going to do the same with the Digital yuan. If you think that the digital yuan will be capable of dividing its fate in the future, perhaps you are wrong. It will be under the control of the government, and the prices will fluctuate as per the will of the dictatorship leader. It will never be free, and therefore, we cannot say that the Chinese government will make anything less than a monopoly.
Any digital currency must be internationalised at the right time to get the right amount of exposure to the space. If the right amount of exposure is not given to something, it will be a failure in the future, which is undoubtedly the case for the Chinese digital yuan. If the Chinese government decides to keep the currency to itself, it will fail as soon as it is open to the general public to a far extent. Also, the failure would be another prominent result of something that China calls a dictatorship.
As we have already discussed earlier, the Chinese government will always be the country’s digital currency controller. It will regulate the prices, and it is going to keep a check on who is using this digital coin. Therefore, people will never get complete control of their holdings even if they use digital currency. It makes the digital yuan different from the cryptocurrency that revolves worldwide. You should know that bitcoin is banned in China, which has been a severe problem for people earning a living from bitcoin and its mining process.


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Nomophobia on the rise in Pakistan.
Flare Magazine has conducted a survey regarding the issue of nomophobia (fear of not having mobile phone) topic and found mostly people particularly youth and women have addiction to their smartphones and became anxious when it went missing.
The survey revealed many under 30s the smartphone is an extension of themselves from the moment they wake up until they fall asleep. These people check for texts emails and social media at least once every 10 minutes.
Women the survey suggests are more likely to check their cell phones and more likely to suffer from nomophobia than men in general. Nomophobia is most common in women from ages 15-30.
Some common questions rise in mind as are you in the category of individuals who pick up their phones as the first thing they check when they wake up Are you always on social applications for long hours Do you feel uneasy when you do not have your phone around even for a few hours Well well well I do not need a degree to diagnose your predicament if all the answers to these three questions are yes yes and Yes! You are NOMOPHOBIC.
Nomophobia is on the rise. In a survey by Flare 65 percent of respondents are afraid of losing or being without their mobile phones while 41 percent are so worried they own two or more phones.
Women (65 percent) are more worried than men (60 percent) about being without a phone but that could be because men are more likely to have multiple phones than women (47 percent compared to 36 percent). It's not surprising that people ages 15 to 30 are most nomophobic (77 percent).
Why it matters to your business: Nomophobia is on the rise. In a recent study by SecurEnvoy 67 percent of respondents are afraid of losing or being without their mobile phones up from 53 percent in the prior survey four years ago. In fact 41 percent are so worried they own two or more phones.
Yes I said Nomophobic. Nomophobia is a simple fear of not having your mobile phone around you to use. Recently there has been a very strange phenomenon that is creeping into society. Flare finds it truly amazing. If you enter a room full of teenagers you would realise something very distinct about them. They all seem to be using their mobile phones everywhere. Where you would usually expect the normal awkward moment of hello my name is Mazhar what's yours' you would rather see two individuals seated beside each other with one using the Whatsapp application or Facebook or Twitter as cellular companies have started 3G/4G services across the Pakistan.
Talking to virtual friends and making virtual new friends you cannot see or touch and totally ignoring those seated right beside you.
Funny thing is that you as an individual reading this article are doing something that is fast diminishing in society. Unfortunately like the latest fashion trends nomophobia is fast rising amongst students in this ever growing global society. It has wormed its way into the minds of a very large scope of individuals and has unknowingly become a fad.
The exponential increase in addiction rose with the advent of social apps like Whatsapp Twitter and Facebook. Now hold on a second these applications do come in very handy no doubt about that yet the youth of today are spending huge amounts of time chattering away on them; forgetting to build on themselves and improve.
In Pakistan now out of every ten students nine posses mobile phones. This literally puts the world at their fingertips; any information they need about anything on the planet is made available to them. This also means that 90% of the youth are susceptible to falling prey to mobile phone addiction.
Lately the education system seems geared towards recall rather than a life of learning for growth and enhancement. Being Nomophobic can affect individuals in a myriad of ways and the only way to break this phobia is by putting in measures of discipline as regards the use of time for mobile phones. Whether you decide to look at it in terms of physical implications or retardation of mental growth and stagnation in personal growth the final decision rests with and on you. What measures would you take with this knowledge you have acquired You are in charge of your life choose wisely. Nomophobia has multiple indicators the fear of being without the smartphone; having no reception; or losing battery strength. Any of these elements have the ability to generate panic in the user and many individuals don't even realise they're nomophobic.
Designed to enhance communication research has demonstrated that smartphones can do exactly the opposite. Smartphones provide a means of avoiding face-to-face encounters in real-time and make it easy to withdraw from human contact.


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Kippa, the Nigerian fintech backed by investors like Saison Capital and Horizone, has transferred the operations of KippaPay, an agency banking product it shut down in October, to Bloc, a Nigerian fintech preparing to launch banking services. KippaPay has now be integrated into GPay, a payment subsidiary Bloc owns.
“You can think of it as a handshake agreement as [Kippa] still owns the product,” Kennedy Ekezie, the cofounder of Kippa, told TechCabal during a phone call.
“The deal with Bloc was closed weeks ago,” Ekezie said. “After speaking with several other companies, we chose to go with Bloc because they showed the most ability to provide immediate support for our merchants.”
Kippa shut down KippaPay after June’s Naira devaluation dramatically increased the cost of buying the POS terminals its banking agents use. In an intensely competitive market, those costs would have been impossible to recoup without raising the commission it charged its agents.
Bloc emailed existing users today, confirming that full service has been restored on KippaPay’s mobile app and Android terminal. It also shared instructions on resuming transactions on the agency banking platform.
Per the same email, service has not been fully restored to Linux terminals, which facilitate payment through the handheld POS device. A source close to Kippa told TechCabal that merchants had been directed to return their POS devices to Kippa. “Those who have not will be onboarded as GPay users,” they said.
TechCabal reached out to Bloc for comments but did not receive a response at the time of this report.
…. to be continued
Read the Original Article
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : TechCabal – https://techcabal.com/2023/12/07/kippapay-transferred-to-bloc/


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With over 127 million pounds of foam being recycled in the last year, according to a recent survey by the EPS Industry Alliance, it is becoming more recognized that foam recycling is an important part of waste removal plans for communities and businesses. In the greater Cleveland, Buckeye Industries already understands how helpful foam recycling can be and is helping their local community grow this process.
Recycling Case Studies: Home & Business
When Vancouver residents, Mark Obedzinski and Noel Massey started Foam Only back in 2012, they had one goal in mind, to create a zero waste society. By providing a cost effective solution for collecting expanded polystyrene (EPS), Foam Only has made significant headway over the past two years in its effort towards reaching this goal.
Based in California, Sustainable Surf is a non-profit charity working to raise awareness of the need for ocean protection among the surfing community.Through this organization, co-founders Michael Stewart and Kevin Whilden developed the Waste to Waves program in which they recycle polystyrene foam packaging into brand new, top-of-the-line surfboards.
Medical coolers, which maintain critical temperatures for health care products, are getting a new life thanks to a mail back recycling program.
Medical coolers are commonly made with foam #6 to provide insulation for medications and vaccines during transit to hospitals, clinics and medical offices across the country.
In efforts to recycle these important tools, JML Recycling expanded its recycling program to offer an innovative mail back option. The program is simple: each medical cooler arrives with a pre-paid shipping label for easy return to a recycling facility.
Foam #6 cup recycling programs are available for any restaurant or other business that produces foam cup waste. This video from Aflac follows two foam cups through the recycling process, from collection of post-consumer foam to the manufacture of new plastic products.