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Saudi society is changing. Just take a look at these coffee shops
FOR insight into these head-spinning times in Saudi Arabia, where the ultra-conservative social and religious codes that micromanage daily life seem to spring a new leak every month - women driving! Movie theatres! Usher and Akon rapping to sold-out crowds! - it sometimes pays to read the Google Maps reviews of speciality coffee shops.
"I visited this place and was in a total shock!" Tarak Alhamood, a customer at Nabt Fenjan, a Riyadh coffee shop, raged online recently. "YOU r VIOLATING the rules of this country. I hope this place get closed permanently."
The blame lay not with the matcha iced tea and flat whites (good, other reviewers thought), the non-dairy milk options (appreciated), the chocolate cake (do not miss) or the prices (less popular).
The issue was the decision that made Nabt Fenjan a daring outpost of the new Riyadh: originally opened only for women, the coffee shop began allowing male and female customers to mix in late 2018.
The move propelled the cafe ahead of the law in the kingdom, where most restaurants and coffee shops are divided, by law and custom, into all-male "singles" sections and "family" sections for women and mixed family groups. Men enter through separate doors and pay in separate lines; women sometimes eat behind partitions to ensure privacy from male strangers.
In early December, however, the government announced that businesses would no longer be required to segregate customers - the latest expansion of the social reforms initiated by the de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Yet Nabt Fenjan was far from the only Saudi establishment to discreetly drop separate sections over the last few years, after the crown prince defanged the religious police, which once enforced conservative social norms. Nor was it the only place to thrive partly as a result.
"I think the reason coffee shops became a trend is because people are more open to change," said Shaden Alkhalifah, 30, who was studying at Draft Café in Riyadh on a recent evening.
"It has something to do with the current political dialogue," she added.
Notwithstanding Mr Alhamood's Google pan of Nabt Fenjan, even traditionalists have begun to unbend amid the general loosening-up, in larger cities if not yet in smaller ones or rural areas. Some women whose families might previously have allowed them to work only in the privacy of offices, if at all, now hold barista jobs.
Saudis can now mingle with the opposite sex not only at home but also at movie theatres, concerts and even wrestling matches. Young entrepreneurs are opening places where Saudis can meet like-minded people of both sexes, whether they are artists, filmmakers or entrepreneurs.
Most coffee shops are still gender-segregated. But many have other draws: imported Japanese brewing equipment, Instagrammable tarts and - more intangible, but mandatory nevertheless - good vibes.
Virtually none offer the golden, cardamom-infused Arabic coffee, poured from a curvaceous pot into dainty cups and served to guests with a hillock of dates, that traditionally defined Saudi coffee culture.
Instead, at Draft, which still separates single men and "families", there are quinoa salads and blonde wood tables illuminated by industrial-style bulbs.
And at Medd Café in Jiddah, the Red Sea city where social codes have long been more relaxed than elsewhere, the organic, fair-trade beans are roasted in-house.
On a recent Friday night at Medd Café, the outdoor patio was crowded with young men and women. Many of the women wore their hair uncovered and their abayas open over jeans and sneakers, styling them more like long, fluid jackets than the traditional all-covering gowns.
Still, Riyadh is starchier than Jiddah. It was only after much internal debate that Kanakah, a Riyadh coffee shop that spent three years proudly all-female, reopened last year as a mixed space. Patrons entered through the same door, stood in the same line and ordered from baristas of both sexes.
Khawater Alismaeel, Kanakah's owner, had noticed that men and women were publicly working together at a few other businesses. If it was not explicitly forbidden, she figured, she might as well try it.
"I wanted to prove that I could do everything on my own with an all-female staff," said the 23-year-old, who opened Kanakah at 19, with help from her family. "Now we're proving that it's possible for men and women to work together."
The change put off some female customers who preferred the old way. Others were scandalised, convinced the cafe had become what one reviewer slammed as a "boys and girls dating spot".
The reaction hurt, she said.
But she was after a larger, more inclusive vision - not only women working alongside men, but also women who wear the niqab, the veil that exposes only the eyes, working alongside women with bare heads.
The changes have unfurled so swiftly that, four months in, she is still not sure whether regulations forbid her from employing female baristas alongside male ones.
A municipal health inspector had visited the cafe after a customer complained about the situation, but left them alone. "I feel lucky to be part of this generation," she said. "Even five years ago, this wouldn't have been possible."
It can still go the other way. Tala Alzaid, 19, a Kanakah barista, used to work with an all-female crew at another coffee shop ("The whole woman-stays-at-home thing is so last year," she said), but the women were summarily fired in August after a customer complained to the government.
"I mean, equal rights! Why am I being fired when I did nothing wrong?" she said. "When it comes to the government, there's equality, but in the minds of citizens, maybe it's not equal."
With her family's support, she had embraced working with men, because "it's boring otherwise", she said. "The younger generation accepts change. It's the older people." NYTIMES


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updated 11:25 pm EDT, Wed April 23, 2008
ASUS EcoBooks launch
In an attempt to establish itself as an environmentally-friendly brand while offering a stylish and unique product, ASUS last year announced bamboo-covered notebooks. Recent reports cite that the laptops include the company's 11-inch S6 series and 12-inch U6 series, appear on the Chinese market by June at prices starting at an estimated equivalent of $1,600.
There is a possibility the notebooks will also be joined by desktop PCs and monitors covered by Bamboo wood, as ASUS recently showed such products, but has not revealed mass production plans.

domain: news


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Mini says its new-for-2022 Hardtop and Convertible lineup includes several significant updates to design, technology, options, and equipment.
The company says the updates advance Mini’s pursuit to deliver a “unique fun-to-drive experience.”
They added that all 2022 Minis now come standard with a digital instrument cluster, lane-departure warning, and a 12-month subscription to SiriusXM regardless of trim level.
“These updates advance Mini’s pursuit to deliver a unique fun-to-drive experience with Mini’s hallmark iconic design and compact dimensions as the definitive British premium small-car brand,” the company said.
Mini says the exterior changes new air curtains up front and removal of the fog lights “to further enhance the clarity of the front end and provide improved aerodynamics.”
The front end now also has a single, unbroken hexagon grille that extends down, with the safety bar now hidden under a body color panel. Cooper S and John Cooper Works get two air intakes with high-gloss black surrounds to either side of the central intake.
The rear apron picks up the hexagonal graphic from the front, and the John Cooper Works now has a rear diffuser.
The new Minis also have new side scuttle designs and wheel arch trims. LED headlamps are now standard.
Inside, the 8.8-inch center screen is now standard across the board and has a new user experience “with a completely modernized look and feel, configurable live widgets, and two available color schemes (Lounge & Sport),” the company says.
Mini has upped the standard safety equipment, making its driving assistant standard and having it include lane-departure warning and active cruise control.


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Firestone, Colo., August 7, 2012 –The National Honey Board (NHB) is pleased to announce that they will be providing 2012 press kits to industry members, in order to promote September as National Honey Month. September has been recognized as National Honey Month for more than 20 years. The press kit, intended for delivery to local media, will be available at no cost to beekeepers throughout the United States.
The 2012 press kit features information on the benefits of honey, a variety of honey recipes, and the NHB’s newest and most popular honey brochures that showcase honey’s versatility. Also included in the press kit will be a CD with several high resolution images that will be perfect for use by editors and journalists preparing for honey features and news stories.
The press kits are available mid-August and may be requested by calling Andrea Brening at the NHB office (800-553-7162), or by sending an email to Andrea@nhb.org.
The National Honey Board (http://www.honey.com/) is a federal research and promotion board under USDA oversight that conducts research, marketing and promotion programs to help maintain and expand markets for honey and honey products. These programs are funded by an assessment of one cent per pound on domestic and imported honey.


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The markets are buzzing, beaches are beckoning and baristas are serving your favourite brew. In what has been a difficult year, there is something familiar and comforting to experience the holiday mood currently washing over the southern Sunshine Coast.
We have nothing but the utmost admiration for the local businesses who have risen to the unprecedented challenge of coping with COVID-19, and we hope they are rewarded with the strong and ongoing support from locals and visitors alike.
Bookings are flooding through Henzells’ accommodation business, Accom Caloundra, to the point where we are nearly at Christmas levels in terms of occupancy!
Due to the current border restrictions in place, we have gone out of our way to tap into the Queensland market by driving our own travel campaigns and ensuring properties are presented and maintained to the highest levels of cleanliness and hygiene. These restrictions have also made some people decide to invest in a heavenly holiday at home as they have had to cancel their annual overseas or inter-state escape, while others are reacquainting themselves with our beautiful beaches having visited them in their childhood and are now building lasting family memories of their own.
Our Drive to Paradise campaign, which has been picked up by the Caloundra Business Alliance, has maximised Queensland visitors and, once again, we thank all local businesses for making everyone feel at home.
Accom Caloundra have the best properties in the best locations and holidaymakers can rest assured they are beautifully prepped and sparkling clean. This means the only thing left to do is unpack and unwind!


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You might want to think twice about downloading a pirated copy of the new Captain America movie — or any other film — thanks to a new federal piece of legislation that was quietly tabled in the Senate this week.
Bill S-4, the Digital Privacy Act, was introduced in the upper chamber on Tuesday, and privacy experts are concerned that the bill is carte blanche for companies to share Canadians’ personal information with big media companies who are trying to crack down on copyright infringement.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
The crux of the legislation, which tightens regulations on the steps that companies need to take if security breaches compromise their users’ personal information, has received some tepidly positive reviews from analysts. But it’s the section tucked in the middle that’s raising eyebrows.
Currently, under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) companies can only share their users’ private data with government and police, in limited circumstances, as they investigate a crime.


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Bologna, May 29, 2022 – The social storm That crashed against her in the past few hours Gianluca VacciAnd the L ‘Polish businessman It became famous all over the world as Mr. Enjoybetween Ballet and gags made too accompanied by maids From her ultra-luxury villas. And that was true one of them to turn it on prosecution For Faki, denouncing the years he spent in his service “Hell, insulted to dance”.
This all happened almost simultaneously with the release On Amazon Prime Video From the documentary “Gianluca Vacchi: Macho Mass”, Complete with premieres, important guests and of course the launch on the social networks of the giant streaming platform. And social media, which made Vaci a success over the years, is now returning insults and controversies from hundreds of people to the influential businessman.
Specifically, it is on Prime Video Italy Instagram page That users are going crazy, asking to pull the documentary. “delete this trashAnd the “Withdraw this massacre” These are just some of the comments that multiply in the framework of the video release of the documentary in which Faci responds to positive and negative comments from users.
Not better on Twitter and Facebook where you can read all kinds of insults with threatening users under the image of Vacchi Cancel Your Prime Video Subscription If the documentary about the entrepreneur is not withdrawn. But Prime Video has completely different plans, so much so that in the bio of the official Instagram page invites you to watch the film and at the launch event, she also offered Life size statue of Vacchiwith the original tattoo replaced with the more frequent comments he receives on his posts.
Vacchi did not reply. To do this, however, his staff were in a video saying that “The doctor is not bad” And that that maid was only talking about lies, a video that also collected a torrent of insults.
“Lifelong beer expert. General travel enthusiast. Social media buff. Zombie maven. Communicator.”


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Google-owned YouTube on Monday blocked Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo Show (which has a video screen) from its video-streaming service, while customers who own an Fire TV will lose YouTube access on Jan. 1.
It’s the latest retaliation in a tit-for-tat struggle in which Amazon removed Google's Nest smart home technologies from its online marketplace after YouTube pulled its service from Amazon’s Echo Show device three weeks ago.
“Companies have arch rivals and for whatever reason Amazon has apparently identified Google in that category,” said Joe Davey, director of technology and advanced analytics at West Monroe Partners, a business and tech consulting firm. “Less so than Microsoft and even Apple.”
In a move that likely stings Google, Amazon announced Wednesday that its Prime Video app is now available on Apple TV in over 100 countries
Google said one of the reasons it pulled YouTube from the Echo Show was because Amazon doesn’t make its streaming video service available to Google Cast customers.
While Amazon has partnered with Google on other devices – integrating Google G Suite into Amazon’s voice-controlled virtual assistant in the workplace Alexa for Business – Amazon’s new 3-D modeling tool Sumerian will interact with iOS devices and Oculus, but Google's Android devices remain in the pipeline.
“The brain trust that runs Amazon has apparently looked at Google and identified them as their nemesis for now,” Davey said, adding that of any firms that are out there, Google probably has the research and development function that maybe even eclipses what Amazon does.
“There might be a little bit of fear in Amazon," he said. “They probably look on Google as the one shop that could challenge them.”


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The Facebook Movie has a very unofficial casting call — Yesterday, top Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin let it be known he was working on a movie about the high-flying social network. Here’s a (rather entertaining) formulation of which actor might play which geek role. Yes, Michael Cera (a co-star in Juno) would be Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. [Michael Cera image via Radar Online.]
Linux rises to 13.4 percent of the server market — CNET’s Matt Asay examines the market share of open-source software Linux versus competitors like Windows.
Document-sharing site Scribd gets a redesign — The site gets more than half its traffic from search engines, according to Techcrunch. So the redesign includes a more prominent search box, in an effort to make it more of a destination site.
Yahoo shuts down social network Mash — It’ll be gone on September 29th.
IPhone factory cameo photo a “beautiful mistake” — At an iPhone factory on the other side of the Pacific, this picture was taken on an iPhone that went to a consumer — it has become an internet sensation. A factory spokesperson responded by calling it a “beautiful mistake. [Said photo via Macrumors.]
There’s no student version in the works for digital book-reading device Kindle — The rumor had gone far and wide in the blogosphere, but Kindle creator Amazon says there will be no new version of Kindle this year. Maybe next year.
Super Rewards: A company that makes money for top Facebook app games — We’ve covered how Mob Wars is making possibly a million dollars a month. Inside Facebook has a look a big monetization strategy — using cost-per-action incentive ads from a company called Super Rewards.
McCain uses Google to attack Obama — Tis the season for political attacks on the internet. Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign has purchased Google search ads that appear prominently next to searches such as “Joe Biden” — the Democratic vice presidential nominee. The Wall Street Journal has more.
Gory comic apps apparently not welcome on the Apple App Store — Apple has already put one, Murderdrome, down for the count.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.


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Madonna, fresh off a Super Bowl appearance and more aware of how to capitalize than possibly anyone in pop music, has just announced a massive 2012 tour. And just days before Madonna 2012 World Tour goes out in (presumably) a blaze of infinite production value in Miami, she'll make a stop here in St. Louis at the Scottrade Center (1401 Clark Avenue, 314-241-1888) on November 1. Tickets go on sale Monday, March 5th at 10 a.m through Live Nation or the Scottrade box office.
Update: Ticket prices have been announced. They start at $45 and go to $355 (before fees), and VIP packages will set you back anywhere from $250 to $1,250. Apparently she wasn't exaggerating about that $300 range; original post follows.
Madonna will release her twelfth studio album, MDNA, on March 26th. Its first single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," features Nicki Minaj and the officially obscene M.I.A. If you would like to assure yourself a pair of tickets to this thing, you might be interested in the pre-sale options available.
No prices have been announced yet, but tickets and VIP packages will start going on sale later this morning. Madonna fan club members (you can sign up here) get first dibs. Citi card holders will get the next crack at it on Wednesday, February 8 at 10 a.m. Once you've collected a password either way, you can certain packages through the Live Nation VIP site.
There may not be a dollar amount out there yet, but Madonna did drop a truly insane number in the course of making a point to Newsweek about the value of her show:
"So start saving your pennies now," she says, sounding annoyed that any-one would suggest these prices are prohibitive. "People spend $300 on crazy things all the time, things like handbags. So work all year, scrape the money together, and come to my show. I'm worth it."
So put that in your mind, and when the actual price comes out you'll feel much better about it. Hopefully. Video of her Super Bowl blowout (with surprise guests Nicki Minaj, Cee Lo, LMFAO, M.I.A. and M.I.A.'s middle finger) plus a full list of tour dates can be found on the next page.
MADONNA 2012 WORLD TOUR ITINERARY
EUROPE 29-May Tel Aviv, Israel Ramat Gam Stadium On Sale Feb. 10 3-Jun Abu Dhabi Yas Arena On Sale Feb. 27 7-Jun Istanbul, Turkey Turk Telecom Arena On sale soon 11-Jun Zagreb, Croatia Maksimir Stadium On Sale Feb. 17 14-Jun Milan, Italy Stadio San Siro On Sale Feb. 13 16-Jun Florence, Italy Stadio Franchi On Sale Feb. 13 20-Jun Barcelona, Spain Palau Sant Jordi On Sale Feb. 16 24-Jun Coimbra, Portugal Estadio Cidade de Coimbra On Sale Feb. 11 28-Jun Berlin, Germany O2 Arena On Sale Feb. 13 2-Jul Copenhagen, Denmark Parken Stadium On Sale Feb. 13 4-Jul Gothenburg, Sweden Ullevi Stadium On Sale Feb. 17 7-Jul Amsterdam,The Netherlands Ziggo Dome On Sale Feb. 11 12-Jul Brussels, Belgium Stade Roi-Baudouin On Sale Feb. 17 14-Jul Paris, France Stade De France On Sale Feb. 14 17-Jul London, UK Hyde Park On Sale Feb. 10 21-Jul Edinburgh, UK Murrayfield Stadium On Sale Feb. 10 24-Jul Dublin, Ireland Aviva Stadium On Sale Feb. 17 29-Jul Vienna, Austria Ernst-Happel-Stadion On Sale Feb. 24 1-Aug Warsaw, Poland National Stadium On Sale Feb. 17 7-Aug Moscow, Russia Olimpiski Arena On sale soon 8-Aug St. Petersburg, Russia SKK Arena On sale soon 12-Aug Helsinki, Finland Olympic Stadium On Sale Feb. 14 15-Aug Oslo, Norway Telenor Arena On Sale Feb. 20 18-Aug Zurich, Switzerland Stadion Letzigrund On Sale Feb. 24 21-Aug Nice, France Stade Charles-Erhmann On Sale Feb. 14
NORTH AMERICA 28-Aug Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center On Sale Feb. 13 30-Aug Montreal, QC Bell Centre On Sale Feb. 18 1-Sep Quebec City, QC Plains of Abraham Site On Sale Feb. 17 4-Sep Boston, MA TD Garden On Sale Feb. 13 6-Sep New York, NY Yankee Stadium On Sale Feb. 13 10-Sep Ottawa, ON Scotiabank Place On Sale Feb. 13 12-Sep Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre On Sale Feb. 13 15-Sep Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall On Sale Feb. 27 19-Sep Chicago, IL United Center On Sale Feb. 13 23-Sep Washington, D.C. Verizon Center On Sale Feb. 13 29-Sep Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena On Sale Feb. 13 2-Oct Seattle, WA Key Arena On Sale Feb. 13 6-Oct San Jose, CA HP Pavilion On Sale Feb. 13 10-Oct Los Angeles, CA Staples Center On Sale Feb. 13 13-Oct Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand On Sale Feb. 27 16-Oct Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center On Sale Feb. 27 20-Oct Dallas, TX American Airlines Center On Sale Feb. 27 24-Oct Houston, TX Toyota Center On Sale Feb. 27 27-Oct New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena On Sale Mar. 5 30-Oct Kansas City, MO Sprint Center On Sale Mar. 5 1-Nov St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center On Sale Mar. 5 3-Nov St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center On Sale Feb. 27 10-Nov Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena On Sale Mar. 5 15-Nov Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena On Sale Mar. 5 17-Nov Atlanta, GA Philips Arena On Sale Mar. 5 TBC Miami, FL To Be Confirmed On Sale Soon
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Never underestimate the power of the internet.
After a dry cleaning business lost newlywed Tess Newall's 147-year-old wedding dress, she turned to the only place she knew she could get help: Facebook.
For her June 2016 wedding, Newall wore a beautiful gown her great-grandmother made more than a century ago in 1870. The newlywed later dropped her dress off at Kleen Cleaners in Edinburg, UK for a dry clean.
The store, after falling into liquidation, left Newall absolutely devastated when they told her they had lost her dress.
"I have just found out that the dry cleaners have lost my much loved wedding dress," she wrote in a public Facebook post, "It was made by my Great Great Granny in 1870 (I altered the top) and I wore it in June 2016."
"Kleen Cleaners in Edinburgh used to be the best but recently fell into crooked hands and have gone into liquidation," she said, "It seems that the dress was taken to be sold so it could be winging its way anywhere."
Somewhere along the post's 301,000 shares, the landlord of the shop's property saw Newall's plea and searched through the old space.
It was during this search he came across a “crumpled heap of antique lace on the floor”.
The landlord called Newall's family with the exciting news that the dress had been located, and they were able to retrieve their gorgeous family heirloom.
We love a happy ending. The internet's done it again.
Mashable has reached out to Newall for comment.


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The last two years have been fantastic for AMD investors. The stock has jumped nearly 6-fold since the beginning of 2016 as AMD has shown that it is still capable of regaining some market share from Intel and Nvidia. The company has launched very competitive CPUs and GPUs in the last few quarters. For instance, its Ryzen desktop CPU has helped it gain market share this year and has led to a nearly 30% jump in its average prices. However, prior to 2016, AMD was struggling. It was consistently losing share to competitors and grappling with losses. Despite the recent turnaround, there is still some risk with the company. For instance, AMD has barely managed to remain profitable and lowered its Q4 2017 outlook during the last earnings announcement. In this note we take a look at the company’s previous struggles, how it overcame them, and the risks it faces going forward. For more details, see our interactive breakdown of AMD’s growth history.
Our price estimate for AMD stands at $10, implying a slight discount to the market price.
AMD’s Revenue and EBITDA Declined Sharply Between 2012 and 2016
Between 2012 and 2016, AMD’s revenue fell more than 20%, while its adjusted EBITDA declined nearly 45%. The company lost market share across key segments including CPUs and GPUs. Its PC CPU market share fell from 27.4% to 18.7%, while its server microprocessor share shrank to just 1%. In addition, the company lost GPU market share to Nvidia in both notebooks and desktops.
Computing and Graphics Division Suffered The Most
Between 2012 and 2016, AMD’s Computing and Graphics segment revenue fell 59% and the division went into the red. AMD lost significant share in the CPU and GPU markets to Intel and Nvidia, respectively. In particular, it fell significantly behind Intel in process technology, and faced numerous product delays which led to customers switching to newer and advanced Intel CPUs.
However, Embedded & Semi-Custom Revenue Grew Sharply
Amid this trouble, the silver lining was that AMD continued to expand fast in the Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom segment, where it saw its revenue jump from $700 million to $2.7 billion. The company benefited from growth in the number of connected devices and gaming console shipments.
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Nigerian software company, AppZone, says it is launching a new social mobile payment platform to enhance online payment service in the country.
Appzone says its new service, Zone will be a social mobile payment platform that makes payments ”friendlier and more interactive.”
The Nigerian tech company says the planned service will drive financial inclusion in the country and complement the cashless policy drive championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), the nation’s apex bank.
The introduction of electronic banking, online transactions, mobile banking through the CBN Cashless Policy has ushered in a new era where the need for physical cash is gradually declining but is yet to take full effect within the Nigerian economy, Appzone says.
[quote font=”georgia” font_size=”22″ font_style=”italic” align=”left” arrow=”yes”]Amid these challenges, AppZone says that its new service designed with unique features such as “Ask”, “Send” and “Check-Out”, will provide merchants with more effective ways of connecting with customers to generate instant new or repeat sales.[/quote]The tech company attributed the ineffectiveness of the Cashless Policy to the challenges that surround electronic financial transaction such as fraud, limited awareness, lack of trust in electronic systems, illiteracy, poor banking culture, system unreliability. For Appzone, the basic tendency to remain with the status quo continues to cause cash to remain the primary payment method of Nigerians.
Amid these challenges, AppZone says that its new service designed with unique features such as “Ask”, “Send” and “Check-Out”, will provide merchants with more effective ways of connecting with customers to generate instant new or repeat sales.
The “Ask” (Ask for money) feature allows users to send funds-transfer requests to friends or associates by selecting the target contact from a contact list and entering the requested amount. The specified contact receives the request as an actionable notification that can be accepted or declined, AppZone says.
The “Ask-to-buy” feature allows businesses broadcast requests to individual customers, to buy new services, renew subscriptions or settle invoices. Each customer receives the request as an actionable notification that can also be accepted or declined, AppZone explains.
According to Appzone, ”The “Send” feature allows a user initiate transfer of funds to a beneficiary without requiring their account number. Funds are transferred by selecting the beneficiary from their phone book, specifying the amount and initiating the transaction
Also the “Check-Out” feature in Zone enables users make payments for goods ordered in stores or on the internet by scanning a QR code.”
In addition, the “Check-out” feature provides mobile app developers with a simple means to accept payments for services rendered via their mobile apps that does not require typical rigorous certification and integration activities,
Zone also allows users top up airtime and make payments for major utility services like Cable TV, Electricity, Internet and post-paid mobile phone services.


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Dollars and sense: tech startups discover revenue is good
Open...and ShutDuring the dot-com bubble, making money was optional. Given enough eyeballs, all investors are shallow, went the refrain, and money poured into silly startups that had little chance of ever making money except in equally silly IPOs and acquisitions.
Sony NEX-5 interchangeable lens camera
ReviewI have to admit upon opening the box and finding a silver-bodied version of the Sony NEX-5 with the 18-55 zoom, my first thoughts were: this is the coolest camera ever.
HP tops Dell's offer for 3PAR
HP upped the ante in its battle with Dell last night- outbidding the direct seller's $24 a share offer for 3PAR with an offer of $27 a share - valuing 3PAR at $1.8bn.
RIM proposes crypto forum to dodge India BlackBerry ban
RIM has prosed that an industry forum be established to help governments manage lawful intercept, in the hope of forestalling India's threatened ban.
Half of UK road users support usage-based road charging
A Department for Transport survey has found that more than half of UK adults believe that road charging should be based on usage.
HP readies dual-core Atom netbook
HP is preparing a netbook based on Intel's new dual-core Atom chip, the 1.5GHz N550, and has posted a service manual on its website ahead of the as-yet-unannounced machine's release.
Holiday snaps? Er, no - criminal porn
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Nor is it especially clever, if you’re voluntarily handing your PC over to the police to assist them in their inquiries, not to understand the difference between “holiday snaps” and pictures of a criminally pornographic or indecent nature.
Sony exec forecasts physical media future
If in ten years we've all got diskless PlayStations and Xboxes, we'll all be able to jeer at Sony Computer Enterainment CEO Kaz Hirai who this week forecast such things are at least that far off, if not longer.
First Dreamliner delivery slips into 2011
Boeing will not deliver the first Boeing 787 Dreamliners until 2011, following yet another delay in the troubled programme.
Mail on Sunday inadvertently bolsters annual smutfest
A purse-lipped piece in the Mail on Sunday directed at politicians who dare to support the legitimate adult industry has backfired, with sex tradeshow Erotica 2010 turning the slagging to its own advantage.
Friday musings on HDS, NetApp, HP and Dell
Pigeons from the far corners of the storage empire have flown in to the El Reg roost dropping off their precious messages which may or may not be true, but we think they could be.
US colonel blasts PowerPoint bureaucracy in Afghan HQ
A US colonel serving at NATO's headquarters in Afghanistan has launched a blistering attack on the PowerPoint culture and top-heavy bureaucracy there.
iPhone hackers look to iOS 4.1
Upgraded your iDevice to iOS 4.0.2? Then don't expect to be able to jailbreak it, at least not from tools provided by hackers band the iPhone Dev Team.
UK biz buoys Computacenter
Computacenter's unaudited results for the first six months of the year show a decent performance all round - with even troublesome Germany showing signs of improvement.
Dell Streak GPL snub enrages Android fans
It seems Dell hasn't quite got used to working with the GNU General Public Licence - it has failed to release some of the core code used by its Streak tablet, much to the annoyance of the open-source community.
Apple releases third beta of 10.6.5 OS X
Apple slung out a third beta of Mac OS X 10.6.5 yesterday for coders to tinker with.
Danish rocketeers poised to reach for the skies
Danish rocket enthusiasts are poised for the first test launch of of a vehicle they hope will one day carry adventurous passengers on a sub-orbital jaunt.
Firefox 3.6.9 release candidate rocks up for sturdy testers
Mozilla pumped out a release candidate version of Firefox 3.6.9 yesterday.
Will IBM sideline XIV?
Mighty Moshe Yanai has left IBM for unknown reasons and regions unknown, with various bloggers suggesting his intensely competitive personality might have have something to do with it. That could leave the XIV product in a lurch.
ISPs - beware of paranoid bloggers
ExclusiveOfcom will encourage ISPs to be transparent about traffic management, but won't ask them to detail the information in a standard format, according to meeting notes seen by The Register.
Euro bell tolls for UK's data protection regs
The Ministry of Justice has said it has responded on time to the European Commission's request that it beef up British data protection to bring it into line with European law.
Boffin-botherer's LHC doomsday case thrown out on appeal
Eccentric botanist and soi-disant physicist Walter L Wagner of Hawaii, continuing his futile battle in the US courts against the Large Hadron Collider, has been handed another stinging legal bitchslap.
CTOs warned to prepare for Windows 7 budget squeeze
Businesses rushing to upgrade their computers from Microsoft’s Windows XP and Windows 2000 to Windows 7 can expect their budget purse to swell in 2011-2012, IT analyst house Gartner warned yesterday.
Fujitsu roadmaps Core i5 tablet netbook
We're nowhere near the end of 2010, but Fujitsu has already roadmapped what it hopes will be the killer mobile office computer of 2011.
Twitpic pulls 50 Cent bum burger snap
NSFW50 Cent is none too impressed that Twitpic last night objected to a snap of of his "Kim K burger" and decided it'd probably be better if they suspended his account altogether.
Gang get prison, face deportation for mobe thefts
Five men and a woman have been sentenced to prison terms for their roles in a series of burglaries of mobile phone shops.
Sony granted PS3 modchip dongle ban Down Under
Sony's Australian wing has successfully asked the Federal Court to ban the importation and sale of the PS Jailbreak USB dongle.
Netezza sees explosive growth in Q2
Momentum continues to build at data warehousing appliance maker Netezza, which posted 45 per cent growth in the second quarter of fiscal 2011, hitting $63.8m in revenues.
Nominet chief tells domainers to grow up
The chief executive of .uk domain manager Nominet has called for the "domaining" community to "grow up" and start looking more respectable.
Microsoft to slot ActiveSync into Hotmail
Microsoft will show some much-needed love into Hotmail next week, by adding Exchange ActiveSync to the webmail service.
Intel to get whacked in Q3 by PC slowdown
Wall Street got a shock this morning as chip maker Intel cut its guidance for the third quarter ending in September.
Colonel who slammed Afghan HQ PowerPoint culture is fired
A US Army colonel who published a splendid attack on top-heavy bureaucracy and PowerPoint culture at NATO's top headquarters in Afghanistan has been sacked.
Doc develops RSI-reducing rolling mouse
Could this mouse reduce your risk of developing repetitive strain injury? Creator SmartFish thinks so.
Once-prolific Pushdo botnet crippled
Security researchers have disrupted the botnet known as Pushdo, a coup that over the past 48 hours has almost completely choked the torrent of junkmail from the once-prolific spam network.
US gov slaps flack for fake iTunes game reviews
The US Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement with a California public-relations firm in which the company agrees to stop posting reviews on Apple's iTunes Store of their clients' games, and take down the ones already posted.
Fennec squeezes into Android users' pockets
Mozilla has pushed out another alpha version of Firefox for mobile phones, Fennec, and it's inviting Android, and N900, users to have a shot with the little fox.
Google ditches JavaOne over Oracle's Android suit
Google has said that due to Oracle's lawsuit against the company over the use of Java in Android, it will not be attending the annual JavaOne developer conference this fall. Following Larry Ellison's acquisition of Sun Microsystems, JavaOne is now run by Oracle.
British Airways sorry for 'landing on water' nonsense
British Airways has apologized for telling 275 passengers en route from London to Hong Kong that their Boeing 747 was in imminent danger of crashing into the sea.
Paul Allen launches patent broadside on world+dog
Billionaire Paul Allen on Friday became the latest tech titan to launch a major patent offensive, filing a far-reaching complaint against Google, Apple, Facebook, Netflix, and seven other companies over technology that was developed almost a decade ago.
VW to eliminate worst road hazard: drivers
Hot ChipsSoon you won't own a car, but one will come to you on its own when you call it, then whisk you away in perfect safety without you having to drive it — and that day may be closer than you think.
Dell data center biz invaded by California hippies
Dell has reinvented itself as a California hippie.
Porn and pirates hide Android's money maker
Android might be eating up smartphone market share, but Google's marketplace is leaving developers disgruntled.


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PIJAC and the pet industry must come together to fight harmful legislation in the upcoming year.
Mary Helen Horn, president of Ziwi USA, explains how the company is revolutionizing pet nutrition with its unique approach to crafting alternative-to-raw diets.
The intrinsic value of World Pet Association events is that they enable pet industry professionals to join their tribe and reignite their passions.
Eric Abbey, president and founder of Loving Pets Products, discusses how the company constantly invests in providing only the highest quality products for the benefit of pets and retailers alike.
John Howe, CEO of Manna Pro, discusses how his company continues to expand the diverse range of products it offers for nurturing animal health and enhancing the bonds between pets and their owners.
The Pet Leadership Council is playing a vital role in propelling the pet industry forward on a number of fronts.
Public education and improved care are two keys to the continued health of a vibrant and diverse pet industry.
The pet industry experienced both success and failure in fighting harmful legislation this year while building strong foundations for the future.
A new study conducted by the Pet Industry Distributors Association is revealing what retailers want from their pet product distributors.
Fabrizio Perez, marketing director at Snif-Snax, discusses the company’s commitment to producing only the highest-quality salmon treats.
As retailers satisfy consumer demand for pet products that are made in the USA, customers are discovering local sources for quality goods.
Dr. Dana Tomlinson, research nutritionist for Zinpro Corporation, discusses how the company is using key minerals to improve the health and performance of pets.
A pet industry veteran reflects on a long, successful career and offers his thoughts on how to ensure a bright future.
The pet industry can be proud of how we worked together to provide much-needed help to the people and pets impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Bryan Nieman, brand director for Fromm Family Foods, discusses the company’s growth, as well as its commitment to its community and independent pet retailers.
The ability to communicate with animal activists, government officials and the general public is vital to the continued success of everyone in the pet industry.
Joe Wallington discusses his new role as president of Jones Naturals, as well as the multi-brand strategy that the company is using to drive growth in the dog chews category.
Dan Schmitz, national sales manager for KLN Family Brands, discusses the company’s unsurpassed commitment to independent pet retailers.
For PetRageous Designs, keeping up with the latest trends and embracing the humanization of pets is at the core of the business’ success.
Conair, long a household name in human grooming products, has been gaining momentum in the pet products business.


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Thousands of Fortnite players have accidentally installed malware and risk cyber criminals stealing their bank account details, experts warn
- 78,000 Fortnite players downloaded software laced with malware
- The hack promised to unlock paid-for items inside the online game for free
- Security experts have cautioned players against installing unofficial programs
Thousands of video game players have accidentally installed malware on their PCs, after attempting to cheat during the hugely-successful multiplayer shooter, Fortnite.
More than 78,000 Fortnite players downloaded a hack to their computer which promised in-game currency for free – instead of using in-app purchases.
However, the free download was laced with malware which soon infected thousands of computers.
Hackers were then able to place their own advertisements inside players’ web browsers – making money each time they were viewed.
The attacks could also have been used to siphon private information from users' browsing history, like payment details.
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Fortnite (pictured) is one of the most popular online video games available. More than 78,000 players have downloaded a hack which promised to allow them to generate in-game currency for free – instead of using in-app purchases
The malware targeted at Fortnite players was unearthed by security experts at game-streaming platform Rainway. Pictured is the code behind the malware
Fortnite is a battle royale-style survival shooter where players create a superhero avatar and compete against each other on a dystopian island to be the last one standing.
According to the most recent update from the developer behind Fortnite, Epic Games, the title currently boasts more than 125 million players worldwide.
Fortnite is free to download, with additional content available via in-app purchases, including new skins, dance moves and accessories for in-game avatars.
The most expensive in-app item is £99.99 ($130).
The latest scam promised Fortnite players the ability to generate in-game currency for free, allowing them to purchase an unlimited number of items, including skins, dance moves and other items.
According to experts, the PC virus allowed hackers to execute a ‘man-in-the-middle’ attack, which allows a third-party to inject itself into the two-way secure connection between a player and the server.
The virus was unearthed by security researchers at game-streaming platform Rainway.
According to the most recent update from the developer behind Fortnite (pictured), which it shared at the start of February, the game boasts 125 million players worldwide
Writing in an official blog post, they said: ‘We finally found a match in a hack claiming to allow players to generate free V-Bucks and use an aimbot, two birds with one stone, how could someone resist?
‘We then spun up a virtual machine and ran the hack, it immediately installed a root certificate on the device and changed Windows to proxy all web traffic through itself.
‘A successful Man in the Middle Attack.’
These type of attacks allow hackers to insert themselves into the two-way connection established between a computer and the server.
Those who installed the malware had all of their web traffic passed through the software, allowing criminals to interrupt and monitor web traffic.
This could expose players' private information, including bank details.
It also enabled the hackers to run their own display advertisements on players’ computers.
From the outside, these appear identical to the online adverts that typically populate webpages online. However, these malicious adverts only generate revenue for the cyber criminals.
Game-streaming company Rainway has been able to remove hackers from the ad platform they were using – quashing any possible future revenue from the scam.
WHAT IS FORTNITE?
Fortnite is a game that originally launched as a disk back in July 2017 and was then turned into a free-to-download game by its developer, Epic Games, in September.
There are three forms of the game: 'Battle Royale', 'Save The World' and 'Playground'.
Save the world is the original form of the game and is currently not available to play as part of the free-to-download game, instead it comes as part of a £30 ($40) extra.
It is a co-op mode with a story that's playable solo or online with friends.
Fortnite is a battle royale-style survival shooter where players create a superhero avatar and compete against each other on a dystopian island
Users compete in teams of up to three to complete a variety of missions.
It is rumoured that the game will be added to the free-to-play version of the game in the future.
Whilst Save The World may be the original version of the game, its sister mode is by far the most popular.
Battle Royale is a game of survival where players create a superhero avatar and compete against each other on a dystopian island.
Each game, or 'match' as each competition is known, starts with 100 players.
The aim of the game is to be the last one standing. Users can form allegiances and play in small groups.
To enable this and the interactive experience, the game allows completely open communication between players.
Inspired by the Hunger Games novels and films, gamers search for weapons to help them survive.
Armed with quirky weapons and amusing dances, the game has swept across the gaming world, with children flocking to it.
While there is no exact figure on how many children play Fortnite, the game has so far pulled in an audience of over 125 million players.
Playground is the latest addition to the game and is a consequence free mode with more loot and unlimited respawning to allow players to get creative.
It involved groups of up to four people working as a team and the players can hone their skills as the practise in advance of entering Battle Royale where they will face better players.
They believe this will eradicate the ploy.
In a blog post on the scam, the company cautioned Fortnite players to avoid downloading any unofficial software that claims to enable paid-for features for free.
Rainway CEO Andrew Sampson warned: ‘While it should go without saying, I think you should not download random programs.
‘An excellent personal security tip is that if something is too good to be true, you’re probably going to need to reformat your PC.’
Last month, the World Health Organisation announced 'gaming addiction' will be added to the organisation's International Classification of Diseases, a compendium of medical conditions.
Governments around the world are expected to provide treatment for 'gaming disorder' and incorporate it into their healthcare systems - including the NHS.
As well as gaming addiction now being treated on the NHS, teachers have raised concerns that the game is affecting the concentration of children.
WHY HAS THE WHO CLASSIFIED INTERNET GAMING AS A MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER?
WHO classifies internet gaming as official mental health disorder
The World Health Organisation has classified playing video games on the internet as an official mental health disorder.
'Gaming disorder' is defined as 'a pattern of gaming behavior characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.'
To be diagnosed with gaming disorder, the individual must:
(1) Experience significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning
(2) Have experienced this impairment for at least 12 months
WHO advises gamers to be mindful of how much time they spend playing, especially if it is to the exclusion of other daily activities.
They should also be alert to changes in their physical or psychological health and social functioning which could be attributed to gaming.


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How Matters.News redefines the creator economy with its massively popular web 3 decentralized blogging platform
Web 3.0. Blockchain publishing. NFT collectibles. These are some of the biggest buzzwords disrupting the Internet today that young people are hyped about and for good reason: blockchain is shaping the future of just about every industry. The creators of Matters.News, an open-sourced, decentralized blockchain publishing community with 100,000 content creators, is the latest success in showcasing the future of Web3, the next evolution of the Internet.
The vast majority of blockchain projects today are flashy ventures to stimulate fear of missing out rather than investing in truly valuable services for its community. So far, Matters.News is the only platform to not only empower creators with financially viable and autonomous self-publishing, but will also be the harbinger of Web 3.0, a new era of the internet where users own a part of the services & networks they contribute to.
“Matters.News is just the tip of the iceberg, and our most successful experimentation with our web3 technology to date,” says Guo, co-founder and engineer behind Matters, “we hope that in the future we will create a freer and fairer digital economy for everyday content creators.
By November 1st, Matters.News will be also launching highly-anticipated NFT social media avatars that function as a logbook where every buyer can leave a message. A pipeline of exciting NFT experimental ideas are in the works: projects include the Public Space Project, which brings together NFT, Harberger Tax, and Universal Basic Income concept in an open-source community, and other Web3 products like crowdfunding with revenue sharing and decentralized personal page.
Matters.News is the biggest successful application of blockchain and IPFS publishing in the world today, with 100,000 content creators publishing an average of 300+ articles daily and 6 million page views every month. Currently, it is in the Chinese language, but that is about to change as Matters Lab, the backend platform powering Matters.News, opens up to investors, content creators, developers, and NFT enthusiasts globally.
Read on to learn more about Matters.News, and we’d love to hear what you think (Please send emails to email@example.com)
What is Matters.News?
Created out of an urgent need for open discussion and debate across the political spectrum in the wake of Hong Kong’s political protests, Matters.News began as a blockchain media experiment and testing ground to empower creators and artists in a public discussion space. Today, Matters.News has grown to:
How it works:
- An online web 3.0 publishing platforming that publishes 10,000 articles monthly from a community of 100,000 content writers
- Massive readership with 6 million monthly page views from Chinese speakers globally
- Integrated with LikeCoin: readers can “clap” which turns into LikeCoin that can be traded, transferred, or exchanged
- Users can support writers with both fiat currency and cryptocurrency, open to anyone with a credit card
- Content creators have a dedicated hub to build and monetize readership, including paywalls, broadcasting, and community space
- Writers have been awarded as much as USD$2,000 per article
- Powered by IPFS: this means the content is hashed with unique fingerprints and stored on peer-to-peer nodes rather than a central server, guaranteeing 24/7 accessibility, security, and inalterable content.
- Truly empowers content creators to be independent through decentralization, complete control and later, content as NFTs for readers to crowdfund content
- Completely open-sourced platform open to developers via GitHub
- A team of journalists and cyber anarchists/engineers committed to user experience, quality content, and free speech rather than crypto-trends of the moment.
“Matters.News is just the beginning and the harbinger for the full potential of our web 3.0 platform and framework, Presstack,” comments co-founder Guo, “there are so many powerful applications of our web3 platform to create a more equal, decentralized, trustless world.”
How Matters bring web 3.0 to life
Introducing Two NFT Projects: Traveloggers + Public Space Project
NFTs, which stands for Non-Fungible Tokens, are unique and non-interchangeable digital assets. If cryptocurrency is a store of value, then NFTs are a store of culture: photos, videos, and audio. Through blockchain technology, NFT establishes a public proof of ownership and has soared in value in recent months, with sales hitting $2.5 billion just during the first half of 2021.
We love the idea of developing NFTs because its application truly empowers creators by offering more autonomy for earnings and content rights. On November 2nd, we launched exclusive NFT social media avatars, Traveloggers: the first NFT artwork that can be directly integrated with social media profiles and features a logbook, in which every owner can add their message. With every successive trade of the NFT, the new owner of the avatar does not only own the artwork, but also the collective messages left on the logbook from past owners. This turns the trading of avatars into a mutually beneficial collaboration between content creators and collectors.
To learn more, visit: https://traveloggers.matters.news/
Other exciting NFT applications are in the pipeline, including NFT content that can be crowdfunded, tokenizing topic tags on Matters.News, and The Space Project, which brings blockchain applications to concepts like the Harberger Tax and Universal Basic Income (UBI). to solve the dilemma between public and private ownership.
The Harberger Tax is a clever system to optimize the distribution of public resources with the power of the market to increase the general welfare of society. Although widely discussed and admired, it has so far no real implementation with real users.
Our upcoming The Space Project will be the first large-scale experiment of the Harberger Tax. Combined with the idea of the Universal Basic Income, it transforms the community into a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) with minimal rules. Stay tuned on the development of this project by following us on Twitter, which will redefine “public” and “private” in Web3.
Awards + Media Coverage
Matters.News has been covered in Columbia Journalism Review, Rest of World, Protocol and more. Matters.News also won the Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge Award 2020 and received Flagship Grant for the Web by Mozilla Foundation and Creative Commons & Coil. Here are some things the media has said about Matters:
“Blockchain allows Matters users to collectively determine its rules, and to decide what content has value…Matters is one of the few remaining online venues where users from across the political spectrum can engage in discussion and debate.” — Rest of World
“Matters give Chinese citizens a way to speak out that cannot be erased by censors.” — Columbia Journalism Review
“The [Chinese-language media’s] attempts to adopt new technology to weather financial and political turbulence can inspire the West…allowing Matters users to trade NFT avatars empower users to independently open censorship-resilient sites, turning their work into a part of the Ethereum blockchain as a public ledger and selling it,” The Protocol
Who is behind Matters Lab?
Matters.News began when veteran journalist, Annie Zhang Jieping, became concerned about the rapidly diminishing space for free speech in China and especially in Hong Kong. She was intrigued by the idea of a decentralized platform that is easy for anyone to use, and hard for authorities to censor. Launched during the height of the West’s blockchain media mania, Matter.News went on to become a successful blockchain publishing platform while other similar platforms gradually closed down. Today, together with co-founders Guo Liu based in Los Angeles and Beryl Liu based in Hong Kong, the mission of the team is to create a freer and fairer creator ecosystem through the next evolution of the Internet, Web3.
Zhang Jieping (Annie), Founder, Taipei — Serial entrepreneur, award-winning journalist, influencer.
Guo Liu, Co-Founder, Los Angeles — Engineer, data scientist, cyber anarchist.
Beryl Liu, Co-Founder, Hong Kong — Operation, crypto finance management.
Get in touch
Email to us: firstname.lastname@example.org


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High Dynamic Range is set to be one of the big buzzwords on the display scene for the next few years, and Sony Mobile might already be on the bandwagon.
A leak from a source close to manufacturing is suggesting that the company might have a new phone in the works called the Xperia X Premium. That would be in line with the new naming convention introduced with the X range at Mobile World Congress 2016.
The report is also saying that the new handset could be the first in the world to feature a High Dynamic Range display. That technology essentially introduces more detail to light and dark areas for an image that looks like real life, as well as a wider range of colours.
The screen itself is a 5.5 inch panel that's designed to be the brightest in the world - up to a massive 1300 nits. The Samsung Galaxy S7 tops out at 855 nits and that's one of the best currently available. We're also hearing that the screen's colour depth will be in the region of 1.07 billion, far above the 16.8 million around today.
Of course this is all rumour at the moment and Sony has been quiet on the details of any new handsets beyond the X trio due for release in summer 2016. More as we get it.


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'The skirt felt like a Kleenex': Vlogger spends five days wearing clothing she bought for $5 or less, revealing how bargain-hunting on eBay can be REALLY hit or miss
- Blogger Mia Maples from Canada, posted the vlog to her YouTube channel
- She revealed that it took two months for everything to arrive from eBay
- Mia tested out most of the clothing while on vacation in Hawaii, but admitted she couldn't wear one item because it didn't fit her properly
- However, she was pleasantly surprised by several items and revealed she was going to buy one shirt in other colors
There's an old adage that you get what you pay for — meaning, if you buy cheap, you can't expect a superior product.
But one fashion-loving vlogger decided to put this idea to the test by spending five whole days wearing clothing bought for $5 or less on eBay.
Canadian blogger Mia Maples shared the results of her experiment in a video on her YouTube channel, taking viewers with her from start to finish to see how well her discount shopping held up.
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Challenge: Canadian blogger Mia Maples posted a video to her YouTube channel, in which she attempted to wear clothes from eBay that cost no more than $5 each for five days
Unboxing: At the start of the video, Mia went through each item and revealed that it took two months for everything to arrive
Surprises: Some of the items didn't look like they did online and one dress was completely sheer
Mia decided to plan five different outfits over the course of five days during a vacation in Hawaii.
Having already completed a similar challenge with clothing from budget retailer Wish, Mia explained that she wanted try another experiment in discount shopping with a discount shopping community.
A bit of planning was involved, as it took over two months for everything Mia bought to arrive. When they all got to her home, she began recording, starting off by unboxing her purchases.
Mia then revealed that the first outfit she planned was the one she was most excited about.
Featuring a $5.13 'imitation' Calvin Klein cropped T-shirt, $3.84 black shorts, and a $2.52 black suede effect baseball cap each piece fit her $5-or-less rule and added up to a grand total of $11.49 for the whole outfit.
After trying them on, Mia felt the outfit wasn’t ‘too bad,’ despite the shorts being too big and a bit ‘gappy.' But she predicted that nobody would be able to tell the fit wasn't perfect.
Moving onto her second look,Mia confessed that she was a little bit worried about how the tube top and skirt she picked would look like on her body.
‘This is not too bad but it’s so not my style at all so it’s going to be really weird to wear this,' she confessed.
The next outfit shown was a red floral off-shoulder dress that cost $5.63.
Pretty in pink: Mia was happy with some of her purchases including this pink crop top
Mind the gap: She wasn't happy with a pair of blue trousers that were much too big and gaped on the waist
Winner: Mia loved this black cami so much, she confessed she's going to buy more styles in different colors
While Mia thought it didn’t look too bad in person, it was completely see-through — so, she reasoned, it would be better used as a beach cover-up.
For her next two outfits, she said she was planning on wearing the same pair of pants for the bottoms but wanted to mix things up with different shirts.
Although she didn’t love the ‘unflattering’ pants which cost $6.09, because they 'gapped' around her waist, the first shirt, a pink off-shoulder crop top featuring ruffle detail, seemed to please the blogger. She described it ‘cute’.
The second shirt, a black silk effect cami, was her favorite purchase, and she confessed she would wear it again.
However, she concluded she wouldn’t be able to wear the pants as part of her experiment as they didn’t fit.
Next up, Mia put her new, limited, wardrobe to the test in Hawaii, filming the rest of the vlog on location.
The first item she showed off was the red floral dress. While it worked on the beach, Mia concluded it wouldn’t have worked as a dress, which is what it was intended for.
On the second day for a family hike, Mia wore the imitation Calvin Klein shirt and black shorts outfit.
Beach babe: Mia put the floral dress to the test on vacation and concluded it wasn't suitable to wear as a dress and was better suited to the beach
Mixed bag: The pink crop top worked under a pair of overalls Mia already owned, however the skirt with overall straps wasn't a hit
Better than the real thing: Mia loved the 'imitation' Calvin Klein cropped t-shirt but didn't rate the shorts as the waistband frayed after just one wear
While she told the camera she liked how the clothes looked on her, she felt that the hat’s ‘beak’ looked a lot longer than normal, and the shorts weren’t made properly, so the waistband detail was fraying after just a couple of hours of wear.
On the third day, she wore the black cami top with a pair of shorts she already owned.
Describing it as 'my absolute favorite thing’ thanks to the soft fabric and fit, Mia shared that she would be buying the same top in different colors.
For her fourth outfit, Mia wore the pink frill detail crop top with a pair of overalls she already owned. She commented on how it didn’t slip down as she wore it and said it was ‘top notch’ quality.
While she couldn’t film the last outfit in Hawaii due to illness, Mia did attempt to wear it back home.
‘I kind of feel like there’s always that one outfit that I didn’t really think through,’ she told the camera referring to the pink skirt with overall style straps attached.
Saying the straps were a 'weird' shape, she also revealed that the skirt felt like a Kleenex.
However, she did say the accompanying tube top was perfect and suggested it was a great option for anyone looking for an extra long style.
Most watched News videos
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- Moscow powerlifter suffers horror knee fractures during squat


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For the final week of the 2008-2009 ski season at Park City Mountain Resort skiers and snowboarders get reduced price lift tickets.
Beginning Monday, April 13, full-day lift ticket pricing will be as follows:
Adult tickets are $50, youth tickets are $30, and senior tickets are $35.
Purchase at any ticket window.
For more information visit ParkCityMountain.com.


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Sega has reset the online leaderboards for Sonic The Hedgehog 4.
According to a post on the studio's forum, players' record times for each level have been wiped due to hacker activity.
Several users posted impossible scores on the game's Xbox 360 leaderboards, claiming to have beaten stages in 0'00''00 seconds. Sega is yet to announce a fix for the issue, so the problem could recur, leading to a second reset.
Developed by Dimps and Sonic Team, the first episode of Sonic 4 was released as a download-only title in October. A launch date for episode two is expected to be announced soon.
Sega is thought to be working on a permanent solution to the hacker issue.


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Casey Askar reviewed the importance of diversification in business
NAPLES, FL, USA, January 26, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — The business world is more competitive today than it ever has been in the past. Companies that want to survive need to take steps to position themselves to meet the changes of the current environment. One of the ways to do that is through diversification. Diversification is the process of investing in new products, services, business partners, and customer bases. Casey Askar understands that many businesses want to focus on a single area; however, it is still important for companies to diversify. Why is this the case?
The Diversification of Suppliers
One of the most important diversification steps that businesses need to take is to diversify their suppliers. In the past, companies would stick with a single supplier because they believed developing a strong relationship with a single supplier was more beneficial than reaching out to multiple suppliers. Now, in the wake of the pandemic, businesses understand that it is possible for one supplier to be forced into a lockdown by the local government. This could lead to a breach of contract situation if the company is unable to collect its supplies. One of the ways companies can deal with this risk is to diversify with multiple suppliers. Casey Askar has seen successful companies hedge their risk through different supply chains.
The Diversification of Products and Services
Companies should also take steps to diversify their products and services. Even though companies do need to remember what they do best, they should also take steps to produce multiple products and services. If the market for one product begins to drop, the business can stay afloat by leaning on its other products. This is not something companies can do if they only provide a single product or service. Casey Askar understands that it can be difficult for businesses to figure out what products and services to produce, but the diversification of the product portfolio is important.
The Diversification of the Customer Base
Finally, companies should also find ways to diversify their customer base. Eventually, companies may feel like they have hit a limit regarding their customer bases. The only way for companies to continue to expand is to reach out to a new customer base. One of the ways to do that is through a new product or service. Companies need to do target market research to figure out what different customer profiles are interested in. Casey Askar understands that this is an important part of growing a new business in the modern era.
All Businesses Must Take Steps To Diversify
Ultimately, there are many reasons why businesses need to take steps to diversify. Businesses need to diversify their suppliers because they do not know if changing government regulations could cause one of their suppliers to shut down. Because the markets are more volatile than they were in the past, businesses need to diversify their products and services to hedge their risk. Even though it can be difficult for companies to diversify, Casey Askar understands that businesses do not have to go through this on their own. There are professionals who are willing to lend their services to companies in need.
Web Presence, LLC
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Ventura, California (Associated Press) – The Los Angeles County Police Department said three black teens were mistakenly detained at a Target store in Westlake Village during a major theft investigation last week.
The teens – 17 and two 16 – from Thousand Oaks were on their way home on Jan.17 after attending church with friends when they decided to stop by Target to buy snacks, the Ventura County Star. mentioned.
The teens said they were victims of racial profiling by Target employees and county representatives.
One boy told The Star newspaper that he and his friends were unaware of a shop robbery while at the store, as the suspects smashed glass in the electronics department and stole smartphones.
He said, “An employee was following us in the store and said to us,“ Hey, I can’t make you hang out, guys. ”He explained that the group decided to leave but found the outlet fortified with shopping carts.
The teen said that security personnel at Target did not allow the teens to leave despite other visitors leaving.
Three representatives then arrived and detained the teenagers in front of the store, including handcuffing one of them and placing him in a police car for up to 20 minutes before releasing him. Authorities later said that loss prevention officials at the store had identified the suspects.
Capt. Sal „Chuck” Becera said in a statement on social media on Friday that the teenagers had been released and an internal investigation had found no evidence of excessive force.
Target released a statement saying the company had apologized to the teens, fired a member of the security team involved and would ask store employees to retrain security and racial bias.
The mother of the teen, who has since been handcuffed, hired attorney Tony Germila to file a lawsuit alleging violation of her son’s civil rights. She objects to the deputies ’account stating not to use excessive force.
“The way they were arrested was very aggressive and was absolutely necessary for the situation,” Germila said.
„Creator. Amator de cafea. Iubitor de internet. Organizator. Geek de cultură pop. Fan de televiziune. Mândru foodaholic.”


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So-called “smart” clothing sales are forecast to top 10 million units in five years, a study from Tractica says. That doesn’t sound like a hit to me. Ten million over a half-decade is a relative drop in the bucket. For perspective, analysts expect Apple to sell between 8 and 14 million Apple Watches in year one.
Americans spend more than 36% of mobile data traffic use on real-time entertainment and 22% on social networking, per CTIA.
Periscope best practices need to be established and followed so we don't keep being asked to stop what we're doing to watch someone walk down the street.
The supposed death of the tablet is overblown. eMarketer forecasts use in North America moving from 174 million this year in 2019. That shows growth, just not on the hockey stick trajectory that we were on over the last five years.
Swatch says that it’s developing smartwatch batteries that last six months. Time will tell if this matters.
30% of those on Tinder are married, says GlobalWebIndex. My wife and I denied knowing what it is.
Four in 10 digital newspaper readers are mobile-only, according to the Newspaper Association of America.
Over one-third of marketers are selling or sharing customer data: Forrester. This topic is covered extensively in my The Art of Mobile Persuasion book that will be available in June.
Approximately, one third of Mother's Day gifts were to be purchased on a mobile device, Criteo predicted.
Consumers are 1.4 times likely to watch a video ad on their phone than any other channel: Google.
One more Google note - more searches are now conducted on mobile than desktop.
I saw a tweet that called BlackBerry an icon. Digging deeper, it was from a BlackBerry partner. That explains it.
A 98-year-old Melbourne woman conceived an app that gives players the task of listing a continuous string of interconnecting words until they have used every letter. Because of the backstory, Millie’s Game may be the most interesting in the app stores.


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A battalion of Danish designers descended on D&A and, true to their design-friendly homeland, they did so with flair.
Upon entering the Chelsea Art Museum, visitors may have been tipped off by the Arne Jacobsen-designed chairs loaned by Fritz Hansen. The 12 Denmark-based companies wanted to steer clear of being clustered together beneath generic-looking signs signaling a trade mission. Jack Renteria, senior trade adviser of the Royal Danish Consulate General, explained, "We didn't want to make it too governmental or official trade council stuff."
Cofinanced by the Trade Council of Denmark and the Federation of Danish Textiles, the Danish companies agreed to be interspersed with other brands. The only difference was that the Europeans had tasteful red signs above their booths. Appropriately so, given how this miniscule Scandinavian country introduced Danish Modern to the world.
Casch Copenhagen's designers, Gro Abrahamsson and Carsten Schlamovitz, said they are trying to make U.S. sales 50 percent of their overall business, compared with today's proportion of 40 percent. Having been in business for 20 years, the company has been selling in the States for six or seven years. Controlled growth has helped the label cultivate domestic customers who now buy collections as opposed to pieces, said Schlamovitz, who started out by lugging sample-filled suitcases up and down the streets of New York looking for the most suitable stores.
Marie Worsaae, who owns a signature showroom representing five Danish labels, said, "In Denmark, we try to aim for everyone instead of focusing on a specific customer. In the U.S., it seems the bigger the collection and the more Champagne at the booth, the more product they sell."
In June, D&A co-producer Barbara Kramer got a firsthand look at the way things work in Copenhagen, by biking — the city's preferred mode of transportation — with Worsaae from showroom to showroom. "Denmark has such a design aesthetic from its history. With its industrial design and architectural design, the fashion industry already has a template for good design. It's in their DNA," said Kramer.
At Baum und Pfergarten, Christian Hansen, public relations and marketing coordinator, said she had doubled the number of U.S. accounts to 25 or so. She said she encourages retailers to place smaller orders initially and to build relations with the company. Bestsellers at D&A included a $145 flounced purple blouse, a $140 straight gray skirt and a $185 jacket with puffy sleeves. Those items are also the most popular looks with European buyers.Designer Hellen Hesthave said, "I have been surprised how good they are at picking out the best pieces."
By Malene Birger is a $23.7 million sportswear label that sells to 17 countries and exports to 32. About 52 boutiques currently sell the collection here, said Niels Dam, international sales and retail director. The company has adjusted its shipping schedule so U.S. stores now get deliveries on the same days Europeans do, which has helped boost the brand's sales by 34 percent in the past year, he said.
"Americans are very obsessed with getting everything delivered and delivered on time," Dam said.
Mads Nørgaard, another sportswear label that also has a multibrand Copenhagen store, made "The Copenhagen Experience," a short fashion film featuring catwalker Freja Beha, instead of holding a runway show during last month's Danish Fashion Week. Screenings were held at the Danish Fashion Institute and the flick was beamed on the sides of buildings in Copenhagen. The company also bought the rights to the song "Copenhagen" used in the film and will release it on iTunes next month. The spring line is called the "mash-up collection" — as in the term used for mixing music. Public relations and marketing manager Christina Hee Colstrup also noted the line always has a lot of color "to keep a more positive vibe."
Tina Casmose, who has a signature collection of sportswear and dresses, said she picked up 15 new accounts at D&A, including Takashimaya in London. She was gearing up to show her collection in St. Petersburg, Russia, next month, as part of a Nordic Council-backed initiative. D&A showgoers gravitated toward a sleeveless dress, at $125 wholesale, and a silk and cotton blouse that can be worn with short or long sleeves, at $102. Many were looking for organic fabrics more for the comfort factor than the environmental one, Casmose said.
Another exhibitor, Gudrun & Gudrun, a handmade knitwear collection produced in the Faroe Islands, 18 tiny islands in the North Atlantic, played up its untreated organic yarns. The collection was particularly popular with Japanese buyers, and several American ones said they were interested in seeing the winter collection, since that is the more important season for the category.Iben Høj, a brand consisting of delicate tops, offered a few items blended with bamboo. The collection, which wholesales from $130 to $210, currently is sold in a few New York stores including fellow Dane Helena Christensen's Butik in TriBeCa. Jens Friis, director of sales and public relations, said the company wants to expand its U.S. business because "people here have good taste."
Alberta Ferretti's "Rainbow Week" sweaters are back. The designer closed her #MFW show with a few day-of-the-week sweaters, which first debuted on the catwalk last January as part of the pre-fall 2017 collection. #wwdfashion (📷: @delphineachard)


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Ericsson knows a thing or two about mobile. The company may have exited the handset business recently but it is still the largest manufacturer of telecommunications network equipment in the world. The firm on Monday released its annual mobile market forecast, in which it estimated that the total number of mobile subscriptions will balloon to 9.3 billion by 2019. Of those, Ericsson estimates that 5.6 billion devices will be smartphones, AP reported. The company also believes annual smartphone data traffic will grow to 10 billion gigabytes by 2019 and that videos will account for half of all mobile data traffic. Smartphones currently account for between 25% and 30% of total global mobile subscriptions, but Ericsson thinks that figure will grow to about 60% by 2019.
A federal jury in Texas on Monday found that HTC, Sony, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent do not infringe Wi-Lan’s technology, The Wall Street Journal reported. Wi-Lan, a well-known patent troll that uses litigation to generate revenue, had accused the companies of infringing on four of its wireless patents. The company previously filed a similar lawsuit against BlackBerry in December. A Wi-Lan spokesperson told The Journal that the company was “disappointed with the jury’s decision,” and it is now reviewing its options. Shares of Wi-Lan fell more than 30% to a three-year low of $3.27 on Monday, however they rebounded on Tuesday, jumping 13% to $3.70 per share.
Noted patent troll Unwired Planet made news last year when it filed patent infringement complaints against Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) and Research in Motion (RIMM). In an effort to beef up its portfolio, the company has now purchased more than 2,000 patents from Ericsson (ERIC) that will help it continue to pursue legal actions against a number of smartphone and tablet manufacturers. Ericsson will transfer 2,185 U.S and international patents and patent applications to Unwired Planet, a majority of which relate to 2G, 3G and LTE technologies. Under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson will also contribute 100 additional patents to the company annually beginning in 2014 and continuing through 2018. In return, Ericsson will have access to Unwired Planet’s patent portfolio and has also received an undisclosed compensation fee. Mike Mulica, chief executive of Unwired Planet, said the company looks “forward to leveraging a strong, multi-dimensional patent portfolio and furthering discussions with key industry players who are interested in licensing these inventions to protect and further build their product strategies.”
Samsung (005930) has filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission requesting an import and sales ban on a variety of Ericsson (ERIC) products. The company’s move comes after Ericsson filed a similar request with the agency last week. Samsung previously accused Ericsson of asking for “prohibitively higher royalty rates to renew the same patent portfolio” and that it will defend itself against a lawsuit. More →
Ericsson (ERIC) on Monday filed a request with the U.S. International Trade Commission in an effort to ban Samsung’s (005930) smartphones and tablets from the market. The Swedish company claims that Samsung’s products infringe upon its patents, Reuters reported. The two companies attempted to settle their disagreements, however they failed to reach a licensing agreement. Samsung said the company had asked for “prohibitively higher royalty rates to renew the same patent portfolio” and that it will defend itself against a lawsuit. Ericsson claims that an import ban is not the company’s goal, although it is part of the process of getting the South Korean manufacturer to sign a new licensing agreement.
The mobile phone industry is used to vendors flaming out, sometimes just a couple of years after companies peak. Yet few handset companies have self-destructed as spectacularly as Ericsson — particularly considering its pedigree in telephony. More →
Sony on Thursday announced the transaction to acquire Ericsson’s 50% stake in Sony Ericsson has been completed. Sony and Ericsson announced the deal last October, which was worth €1.05 billion in cash and made Sony Ericsson a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony. The company will be renamed to Sony Mobile Communications and will “further integrate the mobile phone business as a vital element of its electronics business, with the aim of accelerating convergence between Sony’s lineup of network enabled consumer electronics products, including smart phones, tablets, TVs and PCs.” Read on for Sony’s press release. More →
Verizon, AT&T and any other LTE providers currently rely on 3G networks to carry voice phone calls. In the future, carriers hope to use voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) technology, and Qualcomm recently reached an important milestone on the road to making VoLTE a reality. Qualcomm announced on Thursday that the company had successfully completed the “first voice call handover from an LTE mobile network to a WCDMA network using Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC).” The company, while working with Ericsson, used its own MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 chipset to power the test hardware, and the technology will be demonstrated live at this month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Read on for Qualcomm’s press release. More →
Earlier this week, an image of Sony’s upcoming ST25i “Kumquat” smartphone leaked onto the Internet. The Android-powered device is rumored to feature a 3.5-inch qHD display with a 1GHZ dual-core processor and 5-megapixel rear camera. It is also rumored that the handset will debut at next month’s Mobile World Congress in Spain. According to a document found on the website of Indonesia’s telecom authority (similar to our FCC), the ST25i Kumquat is listed as the “Sony Ericsson Xperia U” — although by the time it is officially unveiled, it will likely drop the Ericsson label and be known simply as the Sony Xperia U. More →
Ericsson on Thursday announced that it has agreed to sell its stake in Sony Ericsson to Sony Corporation for €1.05 billion in cash. The deal is in line with earlier reports. Sony will become the sole owner of the mobile company, and it will integrate Sony Ericsson devices into its “broad platform of network-connected consumer electronics products.” The deal also includes a cross-licensing and ownership agreement agreement whereby Sony will have access to a number of related patents. “This acquisition makes sense for Sony and Ericsson, and it will make the difference for consumers, who want to connect with content wherever they are, whenever they want. With a vibrant smartphone business and by gaining access to important strategic IP, notably a broad cross-license agreement, our four-screen strategy is in place. We can more rapidly and more widely offer consumers smartphones, laptops, tablets and televisions that seamlessly connect with one another and open up new worlds of online entertainment.” Ericsson’s full press release follows below. More →
Rumors of Sony’s plan to purchase Ericsson’s stake in the companies’ joint Sony Ericsson venture have come and gone over the years, but a new report claims the deed is nearly done. Sony is nearing a deal to take complete control of the cell phone vendor according to The Wall Street Journal, and analysts estimate that Ericsson’s 50% share of the JV could be worth between $1.3 billion and $1.7 billion. The report states that Sony intends to integrate the Sony Ericsson smartphone business with its tablet, gaming and computer operations in order to save on costs and create more complementary devices. Sony Ericsson reported a net loss of €50 million in the second quarter of 2011. More →
Earlier today we gave you a glimpse at Sprint’s Overland Park campus, its Usability Lab, the Sprint Technology Integration Center and the carrier’s Mobile Technology Lab. Within that Mobile Technology Lab is a huge amount of fascinating equipment that we were not allowed to photograph. One box Sprint was happy to let us snap, however, was the Ericsson E-Node Base Transceiver System (BTS) pictured above. These devices find themselves at the center of Sprint’s forward-looking network efforts. Dubbed “Network Vision,” Sprint is in the process of upgrading and future-proofing its network — at least, to the extent a network can be future-proofed at this point. The E-Node BTS you see above and in the gallery below is an amazing advancement that will enable Sprint to realize this vision. The vertical “cards” you see pictured can be inserted and removed as easily as servers in a rack. Each one of these cards enables a network technology and is connected to an antenna cluster. So, for example, if Sprint was to reach a deal that would allow a partner to build out 4G LTE on Sprint’s network, Sprint engineers could simply add the appropriate LTE card to the BTS and off we go. Of course this is a bit oversimplified as there is plenty of intensive testing involved, but this is a monumental leap forward, and one that we hope will be adopted by other major carriers in the U.S. Sprint’s Network Vision program really is the future of the carrier’s network, and the technology and facilities behind it are incredible. Check out the gallery below for a closer look at the E-Node BTS.
A group of companies including Apple, Microsoft, Research In Motion, Sony, EMC and Ericsson offered the winning bid in an auction that will net them Nortel’s extensive portfolio of patents. The bankrupt telecommunications company held roughly 6,000 patents, and the six-company consortium’s winning bid came in at $4.5 billion. Among the big losers were Google, which opened the bidding at $900 million, and Intel. Patents within the massive cache cover a wide range of technologies including wireless, voice, networking, optical data transmission and 4G LTE. RIM said it would be responsible for $77o million of the winning bid, and Ericsson separately stated it would pay $340 million. The rest of the companies in the consortium did not disclose their contributions.


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Norwood village hosting fall festival Saturday
NORWOOD -- The village is sponsoring its fall festival Sept. 16, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Vendors will feature antiques and crafts, quilted products, maple syrup, jewelry as well as bake sales from various local churches.
Live entertainment will include Margarita Mike’s Blue Moon Café, Father Dennis & the Faithful, an open mic from 1-2 p.m. and Micro Burst.Activities include a petting zoo, touch-a-truck, a car show and the Kiwanis Duck Pluck.
The Masons will sponsor a child identification booth at the Norwood fire station.
Food vendors will include the Kiwanis hot dogs and hamburgers, cabbage roll sale at St. Andrews Church followed by the Norwood Volunteer Fire Department chicken barbecue.
Vendors are still welcome up until the event begins.


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The Latest from Anna Heim
What’s going on with an IPO that was expected to be a key moment for Brazilian tech companies in particular, and fintech upstarts more broadly?
To find out why voice AI company SoundHound is set to go public via a SPAC at a nearly $2.1 billion valuation, let's have a closer look at its history, and the case for its double unicorn valuation.
More dollars, rising deal sizes. What's going on in Canada?
Learn more about OpenView's annual Financial & Operating Benchmarks report, which looks into numbers and best practices behind top of class SaaS performance.
To better understand Sequoia's new model, The Exchange reached out to a number of publicly listed venture capital groups from the United Kingdom.
New data from CB Insights details a global AI funding market replete with activity, sharply divided by geography.
Given that VCs are putting more money to work in Africa this year as the quarters tick along, it’s reasonable to anticipate that 2022 could bring even greater total venture investment.
The Exchange gained early access to pi Ventures' Deep Tech Shifts 2026 report, which identifies 15 deep tech subsectors the firm believes will reach an inflection point by 2026.
QED's first investment in the region was Nubank, a deal that is set to pay off handsomely.
We interviewed Jamie Shostak and Michael MacRae, co-founders of Australian agency Appetiser, which focuses on designing, building and growing mobile and web apps.
Let’s explore just how much more money fintech startups in Latin America are raising this year before turning to discuss the logic behind the influx.
Has usage-based pricing gone mainstream? Out of nearly 600 SaaS companies surveyed, 45% said they are using this flexible pricing model, up from 34% in 2020.
TechCrunch held events in China as recently as 2019, following several years of hosting conferences in Shenzhen. In the wake of today’s news, TechCrunch.com is no longer available in China.
Denver-based startups raised around $2.7 billion in all of 2020. The same data set says that startups in the city have raised $3.1 billion through Q3 of 2021 — more capital in less time.
The Midwest could sustain its results at present levels. If that comes to pass, the region would no longer be a place to fly over, but a location to Zoom into.
Arbisoft is the latest addition to our series profiling startup software consultants. Its CEO Yasser Bashir shared thoughts on agile development, data science, customer and employee satisfaction, etc.
We’re digging into the data about Q3 2021 venture capital flowing into Chinese startups, with some help from TechBuzzChina’s Chinese technology analyst and angel investor, Rui Ma.
We held a panel during Disrupt with Jean-Denis Grèze of Plaid, Stephanie Mencarelli of InVision and Pete Thompson of eBay on being data driven, segmenting your user base, iteration speed and more.
Despite the Series B and C crunch, there’s plenty of evidence that India’s latest venture capital results are not the high-water mark of this startup era.
As we get into our dive into Q3 2021 venture capital numbers, one region in particular has our attention: Europe.


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The previously announced takeover of Trelleborg Wheel Systems by Yokohama has been delayed by regulatory requirements
B.D. Dhalla Chooses Netradyne Fleet Management
Netradyne, an Indian industry leader in fleet safety and management solutions, has announced a five-year contract with B.D. Dhalla Transport
Netradyne Gains Prestigious Indian Award
Indian IT Solutions provider Netradyne gains a logistics award from the Confederation of Indian Industry for its work on fleet management
Goodyear Sustainability Survey Results - Spain
Goodyear has released the results of its annual survey on the reality of sustainability
Bridgestone and Bia Aim to Improve Mobility Solutions
Bridgestone Mobility Solutions and Bia have joined forces to enter a partnership to help power and optimise fleet electrification
Goodyear Backs Team de Rooy in Dakar 23
The 2023 motorsport season is about to start, with one of the world’s most prestigious races already getting underway while New Year’s celebrations are going on around the globe
Continental Awards Scholarship to Trainee Farmer from the Göttingen District
The campaign is intended to highlight the attractiveness of agricultural apprenticeships and promote the next generation of farmers.
Asian Truck Tyre Imports in Spain Grew by 42% up to September 2022
September registered a significant growth in truck tyres compared to 2021.
NTDA Returns to Automechanika Birmingham at NEC
Targeting visitors from across the UK, the 2023 event will be the first UK based event since 2019.
YOHT Appoints New Country Manager Iberia
In his new position, José Miñarro leads the aftermarket business in Spain for the Yokohama Off-Highway Tires’ (YOHT) Alliance and Galaxy brands plus Yokohama industrial tyres


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Lenovo might no longer sell netbooks online
Lenovo has recently decided to stop selling Netbooks through its website. However they are yet to decide if they will start to sell them again in the future.
According to Ray Gorman, Lenovo spokesman, the models that were available on their website were already sold out and will not be replaced in the near future as he commented via an email. However he has not commented on the distribution of the Netbooks at retail shops.
He also added that Lenovo is having a great success with the IdeaPad Tablet K1 and IdeaPad Tablet A1, and are generating good traffic on their website for those. Lenovo’s decision might have come to such a conclusion because of the tablets or the low priced Notebooks, which are outshining the Netbooks.
Lenovo earlier offered S-series Netbooks with Intel’s Atom processors. Now they only have the ThinkPad X130e ultraportable notebook with an 11inch screen that could come in size of the Netbooks. However the price of this particular device is about $469.
Dell has also stopped offering Netbooks and it also seems that HP and Acer also scaling down their offerings. According to Jay Chou, an IDC analyst, Netbooks sales have declined since the second half of 2010. Apple’s iPad reached the market on April 2010, so we may say that tablets are the major factor in declining the sales of the Netbooks.
All the Netbooks shipped by major manufacturers have shown a drop of 30 percent during the fourth quarter of 2011 adds Chou. Lenovo also reported a drop of 43 percent. Although they are dropping in their sales but these Netbooks are also reported to be making a good business in emerging economies which mainly includes the counties of Asia and Latin America.


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Sleeping Dogs Definite Edition is launching on the next-gen consoles next week, bringing its brand of open-world Hong Kong action to the modern video game scene.
Although it might not have the sales figures nor the marketing campaign to back it up, Square Enix’s action game will forever be compared to Ubisoft’s Watch_Dogs thanks to the similarities between their names and approach to the open-city sandbox genre. Now that both are available on all the same consoles, which will emerge as the “top dog?”
See what I did there?
This new version sports 1080p graphics at 30fps and includes all of the game’s DLC packs that have been released to date, including “Nightmare in North Point,” “Year of the Snake,” and “Dragon Master.” Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition will be released on the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One next Tuesday, Oct. 14.