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Good grief. Researchers at the San Diego State University and the University of North Carolina have been studying internet searches on vaping. I would actually find this interesting if they had attempted to learn something from the trends and find new insights, but they have just fabricated a cheap and deeply unconvincing scare, and that is based on a wholesale misunderstanding of the subject of their study.
Here is the press notice in italics annotated with my comments in dark blue.
Internet searches reflect vaping’s surge
A new study finds that people searching for vaping-related terms are interested in shopping, not health
The Oxford Dictionaries selected “vape”–as in, to smoke from an electronic cigarette–as word of the year in 2014. It turns out that Internet users’ search behavior tells a similar story.
Comment: it was the word of the year 2014 because it captured a moment of disruption of a major industry, rapid growth and rising prominence and great public controversy. It’s telling that this release can’t get beyond its first line without fabricating a propaganda falsehood: no dictionary uses the expression “to smoke from an electronic cigarette” to define the word vape (the whole point is that there is no smoke) – and certainly not the Oxford Dictionaries:
Vape: Inhale and exhale the vapour produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device
Between 2009 and 2015, the number of people in the United States seeking information online about vaping rose dramatically, according to a recent study co-led by San Diego State University Internet health expert John W. Ayers and University of North Carolina tobacco control expert Rebecca S. Williams as a part of the Internet Tobacco Vendors Study.
Comment: it doesn’t need public money to find this out. Google Trends can do it in an instant:
One finding from the story of particular concern to health officials and researchers is that when it comes to vaping, people are by and large searching for information on how and where to get vaping products, not for information on quitting cigarette smoking or the health effects of vaping.
Comment: isn’t it obvious that people try to find out about products and buy them? All this shows is that the authors don’t understand how vaping works for public health. It is not a smoking cessation treatment, the users do not identify as patients and they are not treating the vendors like clinics. It works for public health because it is an appealing alternative to smoking for people who like nicotine – it is a consumer product that rivals cigarettes and has grown as a market-based insurgency.
It is good that vapers don’t look for health information because most of what they would find is highly misleading and alarmist, designed to deter them from trying this much-safer alternative to smoking. The official and academic sources of information about health and risks are heavily contaminated with poor quality science, misinterpretation and hyperbole – of the type manufactured in San Diego and elsewhere in California.
E-cigarettes and other hand-held vaporizers began appearing on American shelves in the mid-2000s. Since then, they’ve quickly risen in popularity while regulators have been slow to adapt smoking legislation to account for these devices.
Comment: there is actually no problem for regulators to solve – and regulation of the type envisaged by the FDA is so destructive that it amounts to a form of protection of the cigarette trade. As vaping has risen, the harmful habit of smoking has declined rapidly in both US teenagers and adults, and this is consistent with vaping displacing smoking, and use being concentrated in smokers or people who would otherwise be likely to smoke. See my critique of the arguments of Matt Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for a simple guide to this.
“Big Tobacco has largely taken over the e-cigarette industry. Alongside unchecked marketing and advertising, e-cigarettes have exploded online,” Ayers said.
Comment: Show some market share data? There is a massive non-tobacco sector in the more advanced vaping devices. If they had been genuinely curious, then they could have looked at how non-tobacco owned brands compared to tobacco. This is US search data for Kanger (not tobacco-owned, advanced vaping products) and the leading brand of Reynolds and Altria. Kanger seems to be doing rather well compared to big tobacco brands.
Marketing and advertising of e-cigarettes is subject to the same constraints as other forms of advertising. But it should be realistically understood as anti-smoking advertising, promoting an alternative and technologically superior and much less harmful product. The authors haven’t found the self-critical awareness to consider that such advertising might be beneficial for health, and the more of it and the more powerful it is, the better.
Internet users’ search history bears this out. Ayers, Williams, and a team of colleagues from across the country examined search history from Google Trends, which includes statistics on what specific words people searched for, the search term’s popularity relative to all other concurrent searches in a specified time, date and geographic location. From this data, the researchers can find patterns that point to Internet searchers’ apparent preferences and attitudes.
Comment: they got paid for this? The problem here is that they are looking for a problem, but without first showing there is a public health basis for concern. This sort of judgemental patrolling of vapers’ online activity using public money needs a credible rationale to justify it.
When they looked at searches related to e-cigarettes starting in 2009, they found a sharply rising trend through 2015 with no end in sight. For example, in 2014 there were about 8.5 million e-cigarette-related Google searches. For 2015, their model forecasts an increase in these searchers of about 62-percent.
Comment: of course there is a rapid rise – it’s a recently introduced and rapidly growing product category. The same would be found for any new tech gadget. And why should there be an end in sight? The market for vaping products is about 4-5 percent of the tobacco market. If the growth stopped now, public health would have succeeded in protecting the cigarette trade: a national tragedy. These trends may be very positive – a sign that a new technology is making inroads into the cigarette trade. The fact that the authors think this growth is bad is a helpful, if tacit, disclosure of their biases.
Looking at geographic data, they found that e-cigarette searches have diffused across the nation, suggesting that e-cigarettes have become a widespread cultural phenomenon in every U.S. state. Over the same time period, searches for e-cigarettes far outpaced other “smoking alternatives” such as snus (smokeless tobacco) or nicotine gum or patches.
Comment: of course, because they are alternatives to smoking and smoking is ubiquitous throughout the United States. Vaping is where the smokers are, and smokers are everywhere. How hard can this be?
The researchers published their findings today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (Note: this URL will be active after the embargo lifts)
Comment: I hope the AJPH realises this study as about as weighty as a vapour cloud, and will, at least, allow some balancing commentary.
What most concerns the researchers, though, is that when people search for e-cigarette information, they’re using search terms like: “best e-cig,” “buy vapes” or “shop vaping.”
Comment: this is because one reason for the success of vaping products is the great diversity allowing users to find products that are just right for them, or to have fun exploring different flavours and devices. For obvious commercial reasons, it is not possible for every corner shop that sells cigarettes to stock the range of devices and e-liquids that smokers are seeking in this market: the diversity is too great and the density of users too low to justify the inventory costs in much of the country. So vapers go online to shop, and suppliers use the internet to concentrate their operations and reach large populations. You don’t see the equivalent internet behaviour for smoking because people are buying smokes in convenience stores, not on the internet.
“One of the most surprising findings of this study was that searches for where to buy e-cigarettes outpaced searches about health concerns or smoking cessation,” Williams said.
Comment: it’s only a surprise if you have no understanding of vapour products and vaping. All these researchers are doing is revealing their own biases – because they think people should want to look up smoking cessation and health information, they are ‘surprised’ that people who are nothing like them don’t do the same.
“Despite what the media and e-cigarette industry might have you believe, there is little research evidence to support the notion that e-cigarettes are safe or an effective tool to help smokers quit. Given that, we think it’s revealing that there were fewer searches about safety and cessation topics than about shopping.”
Comment: ah yes, the deliberately misleading use of ‘safe’. No one claims they are 100% safe, no one. It just that they are likely to be at least 95% safer than smoking (see discussion here) and this is the relevant knowledge. When will researchers stop pulling this cheap trick and when will they be called out for it by journalists? There’s plenty of evidence of low-risk and effectiveness in terms of people switching from smoking to vaping – it’s there if you want to look for it and understand it (try Public Health England’s evidence review).
In fact, she said, searches for e-cigarette safety concerns represented less than 1 percent of e-cigarette searches, and this number has declined over the past two years.
Comment: this is a good thing because a search on e-cigarette safety concerns brings up a pile of misleading claims and hype. It must be very disheartening for the propagandists who have diligently produced this junk science and misleading communication to find that it is largely ignored by people who are supposed to be dissuaded by it, but who are actually trying to improve their health and well-being without assistance from so-called experts in public health. I imagine it’s enough to make an ‘internet health expert’ feel frustrated that vapers are just not compliant. Very frustrated…
A linguistic trend also emerged from the study. The term “vaping” has quickly overtaken “e-cigarettes” as the preferred nomenclature in the United States. That’s important for health officials and researchers to recognize, the team noted. Surveillance of smoking trends is done primarily through surveys and questionnaires, and knowing which terms people use can affect the accuracy of this data.
Comment: yes, of course. This is because “vaping” is a more broadly applicable and accurate term than “e-cigarettes” and is more appropriately applied to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation vapour, tank and mod products that have grown rapidly in popularity and have also progressively looked less and less like cigarettes. ‘Vaping’ is a behaviour and ‘e-cigarette’ is a device – did I need to point that out?
Also, one of the major weapons anti-smoking advocacy groups have is counter-advertising. In the Internet age, advertisers look for specific keywords to target their advertisements. Knowing that more people use the term “vaping” than “e-cig” helps them be more targeted and effective, Ayers said.
Comment: why would “anti-smoking advocacy groups” be targeting a non-smoking alternative to cigarettes? Why would they want to stop people doing the sort of things described in these brilliant and moving CASAA testimonials (which these authors should read before they do any more harm)? Effective at what? Effective at persuading people to continue smoking instead of switching to vaping?
“Labels do matter,” Ayers said. “When you call it ‘vaping,’ you’re using a brand new word that doesn’t have the same historical baggage as ‘smoking’ or ‘cigarette.’ They’ve relabeled it. Health campaigns need to recognize this so they can keep up.”
Comment: half the time public health activists are claiming that ‘e-cigarettes’ are renormalising smoking, so moving away from ‘e-cigarette’ should be a positive thing, yes? But this asserts that ‘they’ve relabeled it‘ as if the authors have discovered some linguistic sharp practice or conspiracy. In fact, it is a better, more accurate description of the product: these products are not at all like cigarettes, and they should not carry the baggage of smoking and cigarettes because they are 1-3 orders of magnitude less harmful.
The study was funded by 5R01CA169189-02, RCA173299A, and T32CA009492 from the National Cancer Institute and U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products.
Comment: a waste of public money and a wasted opportunity to learn something useful.
Some of the reaction
- New FDA-funded @SDSU research establishes that public health researchers are remarkably dim – Carl V. Phillips, Anti-THR Lies
- Why people shouldn’t be searching for what they are searching for – Head Rambles
- Researchers – qualified or basically ****wits? – Dave Dorn, The sun also rises


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With an initial investment of 2.2 billion pesos (146.8 million USD), Grupo Modelo announced the construction of a plant in the municipality of Hunucmá in the state of Yucatan, with a production capacity of 130 million gallons of beer per year.
The new Yucatecan brewery will expand business in the region, increase production capacity and create jobs, says the company.
This will be the eighth production facility of Grupo Modelo in Mexico and the traditional Yucatecan beers “Montejo” and “León” will be brewed there. Others like Corona, considered the foremost beer brand in Latin America with presence in over 180 countries, will also be brewed in the same factory.
According to the brewery, the investment will create 700 jobs during the construction phase, at least 400 direct jobs in its operational phase, plus thousands of indirect jobs that will significantly activate the local economy.
The CEO of Grupo Modelo and president of the Mexico Area Anheuser -Busch InBev ( ABInBev ), Ricardo Tadeu, declared “We return to Yucatán to produce Montejo and other brands in the portfolio. We are determined to boost the regional pride and preference of the Yucatecans”.
He said that the plant will provide a better service to the Southeast Mexico market, and in the near future will be a platform to export beer to other parts of the world from Puerto Progreso.
According to the manager, the factors that led Grupo Modelo to choose the Yucatan for this strategic project were its political, social and labor stability, also the availability of human capital with the proper academic and technical preparation.
The investment, which is still subject to federal, state and municipal permits, licenses and authorizations, will also bring other commercial activities to the region, such as retail outlets, the promotion of small and micro entrepreneurs, marketing, logistics and distribution services, all of which will benefit the population of Hunucmá and the entire state of Yucatan.
With these actions, ABInBev and Grupo Modelo reaffirm their commitment to Mexico and recognize the country’s competitiveness as a producer and exporter of beer.
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domain: news


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Its was previously reported that ASRock is very optimistic about their growth in GPU sales and has made some very bold forecasts. Digitimes via TechPowerUp reports that ASRock is also seeing growth in GPU shipments in Q2 2021 despite the GPU shortage that the world is experiencing right now. ASRock is also forecasting that GPU mining will decline particularly in the Chinese market.
The company expects that GPU availability will improve in H2 2021. This is a bold prediction as the company is betting their standing on GPU availability, particularly AMD graphics cards which have not been as desirable as NVIDIA RTX 30 cards. ASRock is currently an exclusive AMD partner but has experienced a nearly 40% sales growth from last quarter owing great from GPU sales.
ASRock has had challenges keeping up their motherboard sales due to CPU shortages from both AMD and Intel but their GPUs are seeing a good upturn in revenue. With GPU demands for mining diminishing, supply are expected to improve which should in turn help in pricing.


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Great Wall Motors said on Monday it is to invest 3.7 billion yuan ($542.26 million) to upgrade its Russian plant in Tula, a city almost 200 kilometers south of Moscow, marking the latest move for China’s largest SUV producer in going global.
The investment is part of the special investment contract signed with the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The contract features a government policy designed to stimulate large companies to increase their investment in Russia, offering stimuli including tax incentives as well as eligibility for state procurement.
Great Wall Motors, the first Chinese carmaker to sign such a contract, said the money will be spent on improving the Tula plant’s capabilities in localized production of core components including engines, transmissions and vehicle control systems.
Denis Manturov, Russian minister of industry and trade, said a higher level of localization will help increase Great Wall Motors’ competitiveness in the Russian market.
The Tula plant, with an investment of $500 million, started production in June 2019. It is Great Wall Motors’ first wholly-owned overseas plant.
The company is producing several models at the plant, including the Haval F7 and the Haval H9. Statistics show that the carmaker’s sales in Russia in the first eight months grew 85 percent year-on-year.
Tony Guang Sun, vice-general manager of the carmaker’s international marketing arm, said, “Going global is an inevitable trend for Chinese brands.”
He made the remarks on Saturday at the opening of this year’s Beijing auto show.
Sun said the carmaker started to sell vehicles overseas in 1998, and now it has an international sales network of over 500 dealerships in over 60 countries and regions. Over the years, its accumulated overseas sales have totaled 700,000.
Sun said Chinese companies including Great Wall Motors can now compete with international rivals in terms of product quality, but they still have a long way to go in brand building.
“Now the biggest concern of our customers in overseas markets is not product quality, but how long we will be there,” he said.
Sun said one of the key solutions to dispel their anxiety is localization, including building production plants, as well as sales subsidiaries and spare parts warehouses, which can ensure the quality and speed of after-sales service.
Local employees account for usually 70 to 80 percent of Great Wall Motors’ overseas business.
Great Wall Motors has already built subsidiaries in key regions like Russia, Australia and South Africa. It is planning to set up such agencies in the Middle East and South America soon.
Sun said the company aims to sell 70,000 vehicles overseas this year, which will account for around 7 percent of its total sales.


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One of the ways government regulations foster retail bigness
1. The rough profit margin for a liquor store is 20% pre-tax. So why in the world retailers in Washington State agreed to pay a license fee of 17% of gross revenue as part of the legislation-referendum to privatize liquor sales is beyond me. Is it any wonder that many stores are closing? See "Squeeze on liquor retailers spurs review of high license fee" from the Seattle Times.
From the article:
Previously, stores were run by the state or through independent contractors. All liquor retailers, including supermarkets and big-box stores, now have to pay a quarterly license-issuance fee equal to 17 percent of all their liquor sales, a provision in the initiative to bring more money back to state and local governments. Many say the fee is too high and is driving them out of business.Only big box stores selling liquor without needing a dedicated sales staff can afford such a provision.
After the industry was privatized, some contractors purchased their stores; other state-owned stores were sold to private business owners through online auctions.
Of the 167 stores purchased from the state, 116 still have licenses, according to the Washington State Liquor Control Board. The Washington Liquor Store Association estimates 60 percent of the former state liquor stores have closed in the past two years.
2. Similarly, George Mason University did a study that found that community banks, which are smaller and tend to make more loans to local small businesses, are being weighed down for having to meet the same regulatory reporting requirements of the largest banks. See "GMU study says community banks need regulatory relief" from the Washington Business Journal.
One size fits all legislation preferences larger organizations at the expense of smaller businesses.


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Don’t Trust HTTPS
Cyber crimnals are now using the HTTPS to gain your trust in phishing campaigns. A public service announcement from the FBI is revealing the problem and urging individuals to go beyond simply trusting any HTTPS URL.
Just what is HTTPS? HTTPS is indicated by that lock icon in the address bar. It means you have an encrypted website connection. Once reserved primarily for passwords and other sensitive data, the entire web is slowly moving away from HTTP and switching to HTTPS. HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. The “S” stands for security. When you see a website with the HTTPS in the URL you know that you are securely connected and your data is encrypted. You’re safe to bank, shop, etc.
Or at least you used to be. According to the FBI and security experts, many people automatically assume that an encrypted site is secure from every sort of security issue. Not so.
The FBI’s PSA reveals that cyber criminals are increasingly deploying website certificates in phishing emails that impersonate known companies and individuals. These emails look legit but actually take the victims to pages that seek sensitive and personal information.
Kevin Bocek, vice president of security strategy and threat intelligence at Venafi explains, “This isn’t new; cyber criminals have been orchestrating these kinds of phishing campaigns for several years. Since 2017, security researchers uncovered over 15,000 certificates containing the word ‘PayPal’ that were being used in attacks. Since then it’s become clear that bad actors have an entire supply chain in place on the dark web to get trustworthy TLS certificates to use in all kinds of malicious attacks.”
The FBI’s PSA doesn’t recommend new technology. Instead they suggest a behavioral defense against these phishing attacks. The Bureau recommends questioning the intent of email messages, confirming the authenticity of messages before divulging sensitive information, looking for mis-spellings or domain inconsistencies, and not automatically trusting a website just because it displays a green lock icon.
Know you know.


text: Photo Gallery of Honda XL 500 Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest Uploaded by: unknown Date: 22.10.2018 Image "HEX" Code: #2542609 Image size: 800x485 You can download photo Honda XL 500 or use this pic as wallpaper or poster for desktop. Full size link https://cloudlakes.com/data_images/models/honda-xl-500/honda-xl-500-15.jpg We have more photo of Honda XL 500 in our gallery. If you interesting to view them, you can follow on links below. Also you can see full gallery of Honda XL 500 on this page. If you have your own good photos of Honda XL 500, you can upload them on our website and become one of our authors. See more photos Honda XL 500 from our users Recent automotive trends, reviews, test drives and the latest news from the world of cars Kia to launch coupe version of the Soul Kia is seriously considering to launch new versions of the Soul, including a coupe and a station wagon. Citroen DS3 Cabrio Racing launches for UK Citro?n Racing has presented a limited edition of only ten units of DS3 Cabrio Racing, especially to the United Kingdom. Although restricting production volume, Ferrari recorded record profits Ferrari has achieved impressive revenue of 2.3 billion euros in 2013, an increase of 5% over the previous year, although it sold less cars compared to the year 2012. Alfa Romeo's new platform will be called Giorgio Alfa Romeo is working on a new plan to revive the brand. And, according to a report published by the Automotive News website, one of the key points in this process is the development of a new platform, which, it seems, will be called "Giorgio".


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How often do you think about electric cars? If you’ve thought about them at all, you probably only considered the lower fuel costs, great tax credit and lessened impact on the environment of the cars, not the entrepreneurial opportunities in the industry.
Despite existing for decades, the electric car market is only now gaining traction in the United States. One of the most challenging barriers to the universal adoption of electric cars has been the fear of getting stuck in your vehicle without power. In a country obsessed with driving, “range anxiety” has been a substantial challenge to conquer.
But, in the last few years, that has started to change.
Conquering range anxiety
The world is moving away from the traditional gasoline-powered car. Electric vehicles (EV), a punchline for many car enthusiasts as recently as ten years ago, have never been more popular. In 2010, there were just 17,000 electric vehicles on the road worldwide. Fast forward to 2019, and that number increased to 7.2 million electric vehicles in use—including 1.4 million in the U.S. The trend toward electric cars has become so powerful that California and 11 other states have signed on to a program to ban the sale of new internal combustion vehicles by 2035.
To achieve anywhere close to that goal, the issue of range anxiety must be solved. The solution is simple: more electric vehicle charging stations. Electric vehicle charging station locations have been slowly added to our nation’s infrastructure in the last ten years, but most experts agree we’re behind the curve.
We may not have moved forward quickly, but the balance has started shifting. Electric car charging stations are more accessible, and as a result, drivers are overcoming range anxiety. In 2021, the market for EVs has never been better.
Demand for electric cars is increasing…
Right now, electric car consumers are motivated by a desire to lower their carbon footprint and to take advantage of the attractive tax incentive. Demand for EVs has never been higher..
Buyers of new hybrids, plug-in hybrids or fully electric vehicles are eligible for a tax credit of up to $7,500. The total amount of credit begins at a base of $2,500 and increases with every additional 5 kWh of battery capacity, maxing out at $7,500. A Chevy Volt with a 16 kWh battery, for example, qualifies for the full $7,500 credit. In 2016, 57,066 individual taxpayers cashed in on $375 million electric vehicle tax credits.
According to Cairn Energy Research Advisors, demand for electric vehicles will reach an all-time high this year. They believe global sales of EVs will increase by as much as 36% in 2021, topping 3 million cars for the first time.
…and so is the need for electric car charging stations
Of course, the more EVs on the road, the more electric vehicle charging station locations we need. This unprecedented growth means the market for building electric vehicle charging stations is poised for significant disruption in 2021, and there is both public and private money to be made.
Some drivers opt for electric car home charging stations or a portable electric car charger, but every user also needs access to public charging stations. Demand for electric car charging stations is expected to increase by almost half before 2027. A recent study by McKinsey noted that while global EV charging-energy demand was about 20 billion KWh in 2020, they expect demand to grow to about 280 billion kilowatt-hours by 2030.
Private sector support is on the rise
More and more companies are supporting this growing industry. ChargePoint, one of the first charging station companies in the U.S., started up in 2007 with just a handful of stations. Today, they’ve set up more than 30,000 spots worldwide (each with one or more charging stations) where electric car charging is available. These stops have cumulatively helped drivers avoid using more than 107 million gallons of gasoline.
But ChargePoint isn’t the only electric vehicle charging company anymore. Today, similar businesses are working side-by-side growing this vital industry. They are:
- Electrify America
- FordPass Charging Network
Each of these companies is supporting the availability of electric vehicle charging stations around the globe. But given the amount of need, the market is far from saturated. Opportunities to join the electric car charging station movement are out there. If you’re interested in building electric car charging stations locations, get a feel for the strength of the infrastructure where you live first by checking out this map of EV charging spots.
Incentives for growing electric car charging station infrastructure
The U.S. government has started shifting away from directly incentivizing electric vehicle sales and started focusing on the much-needed infrastructure to power this industry. Electric car charging station installation cost starts at about $3,000 for a level 2 station but can be as expensive as $25,000 depending on the type and amount of chargers. And who pays for electric car charging stations? The public and private sector share costs, but every EV charging station project is different, so the source of the investment varies.
As of February 2021, there are about 100,000 electric vehicle charging stations in the U.S., nearly a third of them in California alone. The City of Los Angeles has installed electric vehicle charging stations on 431 of their streetlights. But even with the growth in the last decade, there’s much more work to be done.
In April 2021, the Biden Administration doubled down on its commitment to alternative energy in its American Jobs Plan. This initiative consists of $15 billion to increase the nation’s electric vehicle charging station infrastructure. The goal is to build about 400,000 new charging stations, bringing the total to 500,000 stations across the U.S. in the coming years. Recently, the Electric Vehicles Freedom Act was introduced to create a network of public charging stations across the country. In a bid to truly eliminate range anxiety, the network would allow electric cars to travel anywhere in the U.S. without fear of running out of power.
At the same time, the U.S. Department of Energy is initiating a series of grant and incentive programs. These will allow state and local governments, in addition to the private sector, to begin the important work of increasing the availability of public electric charging. The goal is to improve accessibility by building electric vehicle charging stations in apartment buildings, public parking facilities and other areas close to the busiest roadways.
If you’re interested in contributing to the electric car charging station infrastructure, start by getting the coverage you need. Contractors building electric vehicle charging stations need special insurance. Fortunately, NIP group has you covered—literally—with PowerPro®.
PowerPro® by NIP Group includes general liability insurance all-lines coverage (including Workers’ Comp and Umbrella) for electrical contractors. This plan also features coverage enhancements explicitly tailored to the needs of commercial electricians.
Learn more about PowerPro® today by clicking here or calling 732-641-4179.


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EU backs down on doubling US yacht import tariff
The European Union has halted plans to double the tax on yachts and engines imported from the US following industry criticism.
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The PS5 DualSense controller and haptic feedback will be supported by the new iPad Pro, Apple has announced.
Search Results for Dualsense
Tales of Arise for the PS5 will support 4K and 60 FPS via choice of a Graphics and Performance mode, Famitsu magazine has revealed.
How to update the PS5 DualSense manually. Find out how to update ps5 controller software with these steps.
Check out the latest details on Hood: Outlaws and Legends, which goes into detail on how the game supports the PS5 DualSense.
In our interview with the dev team behind forthcoming WW1 FPS title Isonzo, we talk improved visuals, PS4 and PS5 crossplay, Dualsense and much more.
Genshin Impact on PS5 has been officially confirmed by Sony. miHoYo’s title will arrive on the console with various new features, including DualSense support.
Auto Chess is getting a PS5 release next week, with a number of DualSense enhancements and improved loading times for the game.
Immersion Corp has said that the positive reception to the PS5 DualSense controller has lead to a major surge in interest for haptic technology.
Having problems using the DualSense to turn on your PS5 from rest mode? Is it not responding to the PS button? Read our guide as we explain how to fix the issue!
The PS5 DualSense controller shows no significant difference in latency when using a wired or wireless connection, a new test has found.


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Seasonal cold weather heralds the onset of a host of ailments and can also make some conditions worse. Experts give their advice so you can win the winter health war
Winter is traditionally a time when we succumb to colds, coughs and flu but we can also fall victim to other conditions or see existing health problems worsen as the temperature drops.
"Now the clocks have gone back, we know winter is well on its way and with it comes shorter, darker days and a sharp drop in temperature and light," says Kate Butler, a nutritionist at Holland & Barrett.
"Just like our surroundings, the human body reacts to this change in conditions, causing the predictable health problems like colds and sore throats, but many people don't realise that others such as acne can be worsened by the cold weather.
"While we're probably prepared to do battle with coughs and sneezes, we may overlook ways to help ourselves avoid an allergy, or to help our skin and bones weather the winter."
Experts give their advice on coping with seven common conditions that can strike at this time of the year:
The lack of natural sunlight following this year's summer washout could lead to an increase in bone-related problems. "When people aren't getting out in the sun, there's going to be an increase in the amount of vitamin D deficiency-related illnesses," says Dr Nicola Balch, an associate specialist in child health.
People make 90% of their vitamin D naturally from sunlight exposure on their skin. Without sunlight, the shortfall must be made up with a healthy diet and, if necessary, with supplements.
Balch predicts more children might suffer from rickets, a softening or weakening of the bones caused by a lack of vitamin D, and those with weaker bones may be more likely to suffer fractures.
Holland & Barrett's Vitamin D3 Tablets (10mg), €4.39 for 100 tablets.
For children: Disney Multivitamin Gummies, a multivitamin and mineral food supplement, contain 2.5mcg of vitamin D, priced €8.99for 60 chewable tablets. Both available from www.hollandandbarrett.ie
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of winter depression which affects around adults every winter between September and April.
This year, due to the extended poor weather, GPs have noticed sufferers reporting symptoms, which can include anxiety, loss of libido and motivation, and sleep problems, earlier than usual.
The condition is thought to be caused primarily by a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus due to the shortening of daylight hours and the lack of sunlight in winter.
"Due to the unseasonably poor weather in the summer, we have seen an increase in those people who already have a vulnerability to depression reporting problems, and there's been a rise in patients reporting fatigue and low mood," says Dr David Edwards
Lumie products mimic sunlight to help combat the effects of SAD. Lumie Bodyclock Go Wake-Up Lamp, From €74, available at Argos and Boots.
BANISH THE BLEMISHES
For those with acne and other common skin conditions, such as eczema, rosacea and psoriasis, the onset of winter can be particularly unwelcome
Moving between different temperatures - the hot, dry air of air conditioned or centrally heated rooms contrasting with the biting winds of the cold outside - can aggravate skin.
"Many patients find that their acne improves during the summer when their skin has been exposed to sunlight," says Dr Aamer Khan, clinical director of Harley Street Skin Clinic.
"The theory behind it is that ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the sunlight kills the bacteria beneath the skin that causes acne and therefore helps to reduce spot inflammation."
"Unfortunately, sunlight also contains ultraviolet (UVA, UVB) light which can damage skin and even cause skin cancer.
"Scientists have found that visible blue light is effective in killing the bacteria which causes acne. Blue light has been used by leading dermatologists for many years to treat acne," he says.
:: A Lustre Pure Light, designed for mild to moderate acne, claims to deliver acne-destroying light but doesn't contain skin-damaging UVA and UVB rays. It is a portable home-use device available from specialist skin care clinics following a consultation. It costs from €375. For more information, visit www.lustrepurelight.com Clinics throughout Ireland.
Raynaud's affects around one in 20 people and occurs when the extremities of the body, usually the fingers and toes, change colour and may become painful on exposure to cold.
Although it can be caused by stress, the condition is often linked to temperature. The small blood vessels of the fingers become narrow and sometimes other extremities such as the toes, ears and nose are affected.
In many cases it may be possible to control the symptoms using self-care techniques such as avoiding the cold, wearing gloves and using relaxation techniques when feeling stressed. Sufferers with severe symptoms may need medication.
"Keep your hands and feet warm with warm gloves, socks and shoes, essential when you are out in cool weather," says Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP and blogger on www.patient.co.uk.
"Also, although your hands and feet are the most important, symptoms are less likely to occur if you keep your entire body warm as well, so wear layers of clothing and hats and scarves."
:: Best4feet Silver Fibre socks,€22.70 (P&P included). For more information: www.irishraynauds.com
Every year the highly contagious 'winter vomiting bug' - known as Norovirus - affects between 600,000 to a million people.
The sudden onset of gastroenteritis normally occurs 12-48 hours after being infected, and can last up to 60 hours.
While there's no instant cure for the virus and sufferers are advised to let it run its course, it's essential to keep fluid levels topped up to minimise the danger of dehydration, in particular with the young and elderly who are at greater risk.
Family GP Dr Roger Henderson says: "It's dehydration rather than the virus itself which is particularly dangerous, as the loss of water and essential minerals prevents the body from functioning normally and can cause potentially serious or even fatal complications."
He advises using oral rehydration therapies, but says people should always consult a doctor about persistent symptoms, particularly in the elderly and children aged under two.
Snuffles, sneezes, itchy eyes and wheezing are characteristic of the summer hayfever season, but the same symptoms can strike again due to an increase of allergens in winter, warns Susanne Haar, homeopathic pharmacist at Nelsons
"As the weather gets colder, more and more people dry their clothes over radiators or indoors," she says.
"This creates more moisture in the air and the ideal conditions (hot and humid) for dust mites to thrive and populate.
"The fecal matter (dust) they produce is irritating to sufferers of dust allergies, causing symptoms such as sneezing, runny noses, itchy eyes and wheezing.
"Moisture in the air can also lead to increased mould which can irritate breathing conditions such as asthma."
Dust mites are also a common cause of skin conditions such as eczema, she points out. Additionally, because pets are indoors more, there can be a build-up of pet hair on furniture, clothes and carpets, which affects those with a fur allergy.
:: Nelsons Pollenna, €5.39, is a non-drowsy homeopathic remedy which may provide relief for symptoms associated with allergies. It is available from Boots, Holland & Barrett, and www.evergreen.ie.
As Christmas looms with the necessity for preparations and pressure on budgets (as well as coping with everyday routines), stress levels can begin to ratchet up.
"Stress is very common and affects both men and women, of all ages, in different ways," says stress expert and Oxfordshire GP Dr David Edwards.
"Stress can have many different triggers for each individual, from money worries to family problems, as well as work or home pressures, all which can cause considerable strain on the body.
"Exercise and maintaining a healthy diet are crucial to maintaining a relaxed mind and body," says Edwards.
He recommends that patients take Rhodiola rosea as a short-term option when suffering stressful periods. "Taking 200mg twice a day could help to control the release of stress hormones while improving energy and concentration levels, which can reduce symptoms of stress," he says.
:: Vitano, which contains 200mg of Rhodiola rosea root extract. Available from Boots, pharmacies and health food stores. For more information, visit www.vitano.co.uk.


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Comcast to turn doctor, working on new in-home device to track your health
The company will begin pilot-testing the device this year.
According to CNBC, Comcast will begin pilot-testing the device this year, with an expected launch next year. The said device will use ambient sensors to monitor people's basic health metrics such as frequent trips to the bathroom or spending more time than usual in bed.
The company is also building tools for detecting falls, which are common for seniors. Unlike smart speakers, the Comcast device won't be able to control appliances or smart lights, but it will feature a voice-enabled assistant to make emergency phone calls.


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Your stop at Starbucks this morning may have cost a bit more than yesterday. The Wall Street Journal reports that the coffee chain increased prices for some drinks by as much as 30 cents.
According to the WSJ‘s report, the average customer will see their bill increase by about 1%. Certain brewed coffees will cost 10 to 20 cents more, depending on the market, while espresso drinks and tea lattes could cost as much as 30 cents more than they did yesterday. The company states in a release that 65% of beverages will not face a price increase.
The change takes effect in U.S. stores. According to CNN Money, Starbucks has raised prices every summer since 2013.
Some customers were mistakenly charged the higher prices before today. On Friday, the company released a statement admitting that some Starbucks stores jumped the gun and customers were overcharged because of a computer glitch.


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Christchurch City Council’s draft 10-year budget outlines an intention to increase on-street parking from July from $3.10 an hour to $4.50 – a 45 per cent increase.
The cost to park at the council’s Lichfield St car park building could also rise from $2.80 an hour to $4 – a 43 per cent increase. The rate at the Art Gallery car park could double from $2 an hour to $4.
In a bid to cut operating costs the council is also proposing to reduce library hours, permanently shut the mobile library and close the Akaroa and Lyttelton service centres, as well as the Riccarton Rd bus lounges.
Read more here and tell us what you think of the council's proposals in the comments below.
The proposed Smokefree 2025 Action Plan includes significantly reducing the number of retailers able to sell tobacco, limiting the nicotine content of cigarettes, and raising the age of purchase every year, so that anyone born after 2004 could never lawfully be sold tobacco.
Columnist Mike Yardley says most lower-income earners who smoke shell out more money in tobacco excise than they do in income tax.
"They should be vigorously urged to switch to vaping as a smoking cessation alternative, given it’s not just far less hazardous to their health, but also to their back pocket," he says.
What do you think of the proposed Smokefree 2025 reforms? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Workers use hand-held tools to construct Summit Rd on Christchurch's Port Hills in 1910.
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For now, all things seem to be coming up roses for the new Wyndham Rewards program. Provided their program stabilizes and builds trust with travelers, the loyalty members should come.
Think of any hotel loyalty program off the top of your head and chances are that you’ll come up with either Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt or Starwood, four of the behemoths in the industry.
They’re popular for a reason: they’ve got award-winning loyalty programs with cobranded credit cards and they have a wide spectrum of hotels all over the United States. But is there space for another player within that scrum? Wyndham thinks so, and they’re retooling their loyalty program to prove it.
The crux of Wyndham’s changes come down to how they price out their award stays. For the last several years, the group used to break out award stays into categories, casting out least expensive stays into an inexpensive bucket at 5,500 points and making the most expensive stays — say, at a Dolce or a Wyndham Grand — more expensive at 30,000 points.
With the new program they launched this week, all reward stays will now be 15,000 points. This means that the 15,000 points that you earned at a Days Inn or a Super 8 could be applied equally to a Howard Johnson or a Wyndham Grand. More simply, the most expensive hotels under this program are much cheaper and the least expensive hotels are much more expensive.
While on the surface this may seem like a boon to travelers looking to redeem points for high-end Wyndham properties (what else do you save up points for?), what’s still unknown is how much capacity those properties are going to release. Advertising rates of 15,000 points at the Wyndham Grand in Orlando but only making one room available at that property per year, for example, is still “offering rooms for 15,000 points.”
It’s also worth pointing out this program recalibration comes on the heels of a massive loyalty program restructuring that led to consumer backlash in 2013.
Either way, Wyndham seems to have their heart in this loyalty program overhaul, so much so that they’ve created an entirely new ad campaign around it. And to be clear, the changes from last month’s program look great. High-end hotel rewards are now cheaper. A test booking we did for a summer weekend in New York City even yielded numerous award options for 15k rewards — right in the city.
Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch
Photo credit: Along with its new loyalty changes, Wyndham launched an ad campaign featuring The Wyndham Rewards Wyzard. Wyndham Hotel Group / Wyndham Worldwide


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The Covid-19 vaccine does not generate magnetic properties in the human body. Lemon juice up the nose won’t kill the coronavirus. Nor will keeping bundles of cloves, cardamom, camphor and mace in the pocket.
Two anti-virals — remdesivir and Favipiravir — and Tocilizumab injections being used in Covid treatment have witnessed massive shortages over the last few months.
Antibiotics like Azithromycin and Doxycycline, steroids, including dexamethasone, methylprednisolone and prednisolone, anti-fungal injection Liposomal Amphotericin B, and commonly used vitamin C and zinc medicines are in huge demand with Covid infections surging. The shortage is more acute in small towns, with rural areas being the worst-affected.
Amid rising cases of not just Covid-19, but complications such as mucormycosis or black fungus, several pharma companies, including Cipla and Bharat Serums, are scrambling to ramp up production.
‘Shortages could be due to hoarding, panic buying’
Complex injectables such as Amphotericin B used in its treatment are out of stock in several cities, including Delhi and Mumbai. The “unprecedented” demand has outstripped supply multiple times and it would take at least 15-20 days for new stocks to hit the market as the product requires a lead manufacturing time.
“Active pharmaceutical ingredients of the injection are limited, and it involves a complex manufacturing process,” a manufacturer said.
Rakesh Bamzai, president, India, Emerging Asia & Access Markets at Viatris, said his company and Gilead are closely working with the government to accelerate supplies of AmBisome to help meet the needs in India. Viatris imports and distributes the drug from US firm, Gilead Sciences.
“Demand has surged and we are supplying and operating at 100% this month,” a spokesperson from GSK Pharmaceuticals, which markets one of the top-selling paracetamol brands, Calpol, said.
The shortage has stretched in certain pockets to products that have several hundreds of brands in the market, like in the case of fever and pain-relief medicine paracetamol, with 400-odd brands, and others like Doxycycline, vitamin C and zinc.


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for many former users, BlackBerry telephones invoke nostalgia for actual keyboards and its once usual BBM messaging provider.
As iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, and different swish touchscreen smartphones became ubiquitous, BlackBerry could not keep up. In 2016, it announced it will cease making its personal contraptions.
however that doesn’t mean BlackBerries don’t exist anymore. Key2, the newest BlackBerry cellular device, became unveiled at an adventure in big apple metropolis on Thursday.
youngsters the Key2 has the seem to be and suppose of a normal BlackBerry cellphone, it has modern twists, in particular when it involves safety. It points a browser that does not tune your internet undertaking, virus scanning and secret folders for personal pictures and files.
Of course, it still has a physical keyboard, however that you would be able to do more with it, like scroll up and down on a web web page by way of swiping your finger. The gadget has up to 2 days of battery existence, a dual-lens camera on the lower back for the first time, and standard camera points like Portrait Mode. It runs the newest Android operating gadget, eight.1 Oreo.
related: BlackBerry’s application wager continues to repay
The Key2 builds on ultimate year’s KeyOne, which changed into the primary BlackBerry cellphone launched beneath a licensing contend with chinese language manufacturer TCL verbal exchange. In 2016, BlackBerry announced the partnership with TCL, which now makes and sells BlackBerry-branded cell devices. For its half, BlackBerry offers the software and services.
“We’re committed to the keyboard class,” Alain Lejeune, president of BlackBerry mobile and senior VP at TCL verbal exchange, instructed CNNMoney forward of Thursday’s experience. “We’re retaining that very potent BlackBerry DNA, however including more to that with new facets addressing contemporary needs.”
The partnership with TCL is meant to be a revival for the storied manufacturer, which as soon as made the mobile of choice for Wall street bankers, politicians and celebrities like Kim Kardashian.
but the Key2 isn’t presupposed to have mass appeal. or not it’s aimed toward a business-oriented viewers who needs a communique machine first, as opposed to a cellphone for enjoyment and video streaming.
“BlackBerry phones at this aspect are a relic and a spot product,” observed Marcelo Ballvé, VP of research company CB Insights’ intelligence unit. “They enchantment certainly to a small company viewers who feel attached to the layout of a actual keyboard, and tend to recognize the company’s air of secrecy as a white-collar energy tool with good security elements.”
Its constructed-in Dtek app indicates your safety settings at a glance, so that you can straight away view and manipulate app permissions, comparable to which ones can entry your place, camera or microphone. which you can additionally scan your equipment for capabilities vulnerabilities and safety optimizations.
meanwhile, the Locker function lets you create inner most folders for sensitive files and photos, which won’t be uploaded to the cloud. that you would be able to additionally access Firefox center of attention, a private browser that may not music your information superhighway background. Locker can most effective be accessed along with your fingerprint or passcode.
The mobile starts at $ 649 and will start delivery globally this month.
connected: BlackBerry’s turnaround is complete
David McQueen, research director at ABI analysis, pointed out the smartphone market has moved on “immeasurably” in view that the manufacturer’s heyday.
“Many BlackBerry clients have when you consider that moved on to other platforms and devices that deliver a a great deal richer smartphone event while also offering ‘smooth’ QWERTY keyboards and potent mobile protection solutions,” he spoke of.
McQueen observed it could be a problem to persuade users to sacrifice some machine performance and efficiency for a tough keyboard. BlackBerry additionally has to compete with market leaders Apple and Samsung, apart from a slew of Android vendors within the mid and entry-stage smarphone market.
TCL’s Lejeune noted BlackBerry has a “very potent fan neighborhood” that has been reenergized. He stated the KeyOne bought “in reality effective” reception out there.
however it’s doubtful how successful the KeyOne definitely cell turned into. TLC doesn’t free up income figures, but the enterprise mentioned it sells BlackBerries in over 50 nations.
BlackBerry also lacks a standout, marquee function — equivalent to an excellent digital camera — that consumers can aspect to as a major advantage over their current gadget, in accordance with Chris Silva, research VP of business cellular approach at Gartner.
“it is unlikely that the upcoming equipment will seize the attention of a majority of users,” he mentioned.
Technology news – CNNMoney.com


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Phone Call Conversation Tracker Scores $30M Funding Round
This year, around 100 million phone calls and data on what they were about will run through a call tracking system from Invoca, which has just scored $30 million in a Series D funding round led by Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners. The company, which counts SunTrust bank and manufacturing firm Brady Corporation among its clients, has received a total of $60 million in funding.
Invoca's technology acts like a tracking URL, generating unique phone numbers for specific web pages, emails or mobile apps. When a call is made from a landline or mobile phone using an Invoca-generated number, the system presents information about the individual making the call, tracks location data and other information, and digitizes the contents of the conversation. When a call is made, the system in real-time can identify connections to marketing automation platforms and match information about the caller to first-party data a company might already have stored about a customer, or can retrieve additional demographic data via third parties such as WhitePages.
"That little widget is … sniffing around the web page for any other marketing tags that might exist," said Kyle Christensen, VP-marketing at Invoca. "This pool of data and pool of customer interactions is just getting bigger and bigger and bigger."
Clients use the information flowing through the Invoca platform to measure digital ad or email conversions, better route phone calls from customers, and keep track of what is actually discussed during a phone call with customer support.
"We're actually digitizing and transcribing those conversations," said Mr. Christensen. If, for example, a customer asks about a specific product during a phone call, that information might be used to send a follow-up email promoting the product.
When a customer calls SunTrust about a loan, the system can detect that the person dialed a unique number generated on a page about mortgages and route them to a customer service person specializing in home mortgages. It can also ping other marketing platforms where SunTrust stores customer data to find information it already has associated with that person.
"We're trying to create a profile for that person in real time," said Mr. Christensen.
It all happens through integrations Invoca has with 30 digital advertising, marketing and marketing automation platforms through partnerships with companies including Adobe, Marketo, Oracle, Google and Salesforce. In fact, Salesforce Ventures contributed to this most recent funding round, along with Accel Partners, Upfront Ventures, Rincon Venture Partners and Stepstone.
Of course, conversations between financial institutions or retailers and their customers can include sensitive information such as account or credit card numbers. Invoca allows clients to scan for personally-identifiable data such as credit card numbers, and if they choose, automatically redact that information from call records.
"We have clients who opt to not to scan or record any conversation data at all, and instead just use attribution data about where calls are coming from and who is on the phone. A lot of healthcare or financial services companies chose to go this route," said Mr. Christensen.


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Airtel offers up to 30GB free 4G data to postpaid usersShare:
Almost every telecom service provider is offering special discounts and freebies this Holi season. Now, it looks like it is time for Airtel to come up with its offer in order to compete with the other operators.
Earlier, the CEO of Bharti Airtel, Gopal Vittal, stated that the company will offer a surprise to its postpaid users on March 13. Going by the same, the company has started offering free 4G data for its postpaid subscribers via the MyAirtel app. To get this free data offer, the Airtel postpaid need to go to click on the banner stating claim offer as shown in the image above. Hold on, there is a catch.
Not all the postpaid users of Airtel will get the same amount of 4G data. Airtel gives up to 30GB free 4GB data for three months, which accounts to 10GB data per month. We at GizBot tried our luck with the MyAirtel app and we were fortunate enough to get 30GB free 4G data.
We have also received a confirmation SMS from Airtel stating that the free data has been credited to the specific Airtel postpaid number. The same reflects in the MyAirtel app’s welcome screen too.
Undoubtedly, Bharti Airtel is introducing a lot of such free plans in order to compete with Reliance Jio and tackle the customers from choosing the Jio Prime membership. For the uninitiated, Airtel recently introduced the Rs. 145 and Rs. 345 plans in order to compete with the Jio Prime subscription with similar offers.
Source by gizbot….


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Lotte Chemical won the first prize at an international communications competition.
The company announced on November 14 that it received the first prize at the Spotlight Awards, an international competition for printed and publicity materials, sponsored by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP).
Lotte Chemical has been awarded the grand prize in the sustainability management report category for three years in a row. In particular, this year’s report ranked first in the top 100 in the entire printed publicity materials sector.
Lotte Chemical’s 2015 sustainability management report included its efforts to accomplish the vision of a global top 10 total petrochemical company and strengthen the global competitiveness as well as all information for interested parties.
The company’s sustainable management was selected as the best performing chemical company in the nation at the 2016 Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) on October 19 and DJSI Asia –Pacific company for the sixth consecutive year.
The Spotlight Awards has been hosted annually since 2001. To select the winners in 19 categories, such as brochure, publication, annual report and sustainable management report, a panel of communication professionals affiliated with the LACP reviews entries from 300 firms around the world. The most excellent works are chosen and awarded as the top 100.


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2018’s economic drivers and spoilers
Economic momentum slowed down in the third quarter of 2018, with the underperformance of agriculture and the unprecedented increase in inflation, along with weaker exports and declining competitiveness, becoming growth spoilers.
The third-quarter growth rate at 6.1 percent was the slowest since 2015. This brought the average growth rate to 6.3 percent. To reach the government’s low-end target of 6.5 percent for 2018, the economic managers were hoping the economy would grow by 7 percent in the last quarter.
After a strong performance in 2017, exports contracted by 1.2 percent from January to October 2018. Electronic products, the country’s main exports, continued to grow, but failed to offset the contractions in almost all other top commodities, such as other manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, ignition wiring sets, mineral products and coconut oil. Banana exports, however, increased by 17.5 percent for the first 10 months of 2018, with increased receipts from China.
Exporters attributed the contraction to both internal and external factors, such as the higher costs of raw materials and production resulting from increased salaries, the US-China trade war, volatile global oil prices and the government’s tax reform program. Imports, on the other hand, expanded by 16.8 percent for the first 10 months of 2018, with the increased inflow of capital goods and raw materials and intermediate goods.
Foreign direct investments have so far been the biggest contributor to growth, growing by more than 24 percent in the first three quarters of 2018—higher than the 6.9-percent growth rate for the same period in 2017.
While the government remains optimistic that the country will reach at least 6.7 percent in 2019 because of the midterm elections in May, an international credit rating agency and some multilateral lending institutions have downgraded their Philippine growth forecasts for 2018 and 2019. The World Bank trimmed its growth projections to 6.4 percent from 6.5 percent in 2018, and to 6.5 percent from 6.7 percent for 2019. Fitch Solutions, on the other hand, lowered its forecast for gross domestic product growth to 6.2 percent in 2018, and to 6.1 percent for 2019, from the previous 6.3 percent. The Asian Development Bank also revised its initial expectations from 6.8 percent to 6.4 percent in 2018, and from 6.9 percent to 6.7 percent for 2019.
The economic managers’ optimism is anchored on the legislative reforms they have been pushing, and the positive developments in the global oil market. The passage of the Rice Tariffication Bill and the Ease of Doing Business Act, and the approval of the 11th Foreign Investment Negative List, are crucial reforms that can bring back the economy on track. The Rice Tariffication measure is aimed at reducing rice prices by up to P7 per kilo. Meanwhile, the Ease of Doing Business Act and the 11th Foreign Investment Negative List are expected to improve investor confidence and the business environment.
The economic slowdown in 2018 was a wake-up call for the Duterte administration. The situation has stabilized somewhat, but it remains a challenge to the country’s economic managers, business sector and policymakers that the economy requires constant boosts in productivity. Moreover, there is a need to urgently address structural weaknesses that have hampered sustained growth, among them low agricultural productivity, weak export growth and an undiversified export base.
The World Bank has recommended that the Philippines focus on three areas of reforms: improving market competition through regulatory reforms, simplifying regulations for trade and investments, and reducing labor market rigidities and costs.
The positive positioning for an economically productive year lies in between regulation and nonregulation, in between state and market collaboration. The expansion of market forces can be facilitated directly by government policies, which open institutional and territorial levels of engagement where action-oriented responses to economic governance can be realized. However, only with a consistent policy environment will big investments for job-creating enterprises thrive.
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Dindo Manhit is president of Stratbase ADR Institute.
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.


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Countries most dependent on global remittance transfers will face credit risks in 2020 due to the expected drop in such inflows, according to Moody’s In
In a tit-for-tat move, Egypt canceled all its Kuwait-bound flights after the Gulf nation included Cairo on the list of 31 coronavirus “high risk” countr
Petrofac’s Engineering and Production Services (EPS) business has announced the award of a two-year contract with UK’s NEO Energy.
Remittances from the Middle East to Asia are expected to fall by $22.5 billion during 2020, accounting for 41.4% of the total remittance loss in Asia, s
Coffee chain Starbucks swung to a loss, according to its quarterly report, after seeing comparable store sales decline by 40 percent globally.
McDonald’s Corp reported a broad drop in global same-store sales and missed profit expectations, as its restaurants were shut due to the COVID-19 pandem
Turkey's central bank on Wednesday revised its year-end inflation forecast to 8.9% for 2020, up from 7.4%.
Turkey’s parliament passed a law regulating social media on Wednesday, that critics said will increase censorship and help authorities silence dissent.
Panama hats and designer sunglasses, champagne buckets and luxury cars: in the mountain resort town of Faqra, Lebanon's economic crisis is not immediate
Honeywell’s aviation parts e-commerce platform, GoDirect Trade, has enabled a new leasing inventory listing feature, with the Honeywell Engine and APU R
CEOs and executive leadership positions should be filled by people with technology career backgrounds, such as app or software development, if businesse
Middle Eastern fund managers plan to increase investments in Saudi Arabia in the current quarter, betting on the kingdom’s ability to bounce back from t
Rapid changes in the world require an open attitude towards initiating changes in the way we carry out all sorts of tasks, especially in a vital workpla
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) will lay off around 400 staff, and projects certain number of redundancies every year as part of normal course of busin
Domestic equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 100 points in opening session on Wednesday tracking positive cues from Asian peers.
The World Bank granted $30 million to West Bank Palestinians made economically vulnerable by COVID-19 or whose impoverished situation was worsened by th


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It's no secret that onmi-channel retail is no longer the future...its the now. As online-only giants like Amazon continue to guzzle up the business of brick-and-mortar stores, it's becoming increasingly obvious that retailers have to keep up, or else fall victim to the retail apocalypse as so many others did in 2017.
On February 1st, after 47 years being known as Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer will officially change it's name to Walmart Inc.
The year of 2017 was a big one for e-commerce. From Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods, to the partnership of Google Home and Walmart to ship items to people via Google Express, to Everlane's decision to open its first brick-and-mortar store, e-commerce has found itself in the midst of some of the newest technology and biggest business, and we don't expect this theme to end in 2018. From the advances in artificial intelligence, to augmented reality, e-commerce is utilizing and being influenced by the most cutting edge technology. So, without further adieu, here are the top trends we expect to see in e-commerce this coming year.
If you've ever had a full time, nine to five office job, you have probably fantasized about skipping the morning commute, staying in your pajamas till noon, and working from home. Sounds nice, right? Well, the growth of technology in the past decade has made this fantasy a reality for an increasingly large number of people. In fact, according to the Work Foundation, 30% of office workers worked from any location for at least part of their working week in 2016, and this figure is expected to rise to 70% in the next few years.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know that net neutrality died last week, and you probably have some sort of opinion about it. Between those celebrating the Federal Communications Commission's vote, and those who believe this marks the end to free speech and the internet as we know it, everyone seems to have a strong opinion about the results of this vote. While it's easy to get caught up in your own opinion, and the heated debates seem to only enforce people's pre-established beliefs, I'm going to take this time to do a comprehensive overview of both sides to the situation, and what this vote really means for the future of the internet.
In 1843, Ada Lovelace published a translation of an article on the Analytical Engine, to which she added extensive notes which described how codes could be created for the device to handle letters and symbols along with numbers. She also theorized a method for the engine to repeat a series of instructions, a process known as looping that computer programs use today. She introduced many computer concepts a century before the development of the modern computer, and though her article got little attention while she was alive, Ada Lovelace is now considered to be the first computer programmer. That’s right, the first programmer was a woman!
The Holiday Season is rapidly approaching, which means it's time for the US to kick it into high gear and do what we do best: shop! With the gross sales and number of Black Friday shoppers increasing steadily every year, we are poised to have one of the biggest Black Fridays on record. The holiday promotions continue to start earlier and earlier each year, which means retailers need to do everything possible to stay ahead of the competition and make the most of this season.
Even with the vast growth of online retail in the past decade, one of the biggest barriers that online merchants face today is low conversion rates. The ease of online shopping is what has made e-commerce so successful, but it also breeds an environment in which customers feel less pressure to buy. While conversion for brick and mortar shops average around 30%, online conversion rates of 5% or above are considered extremely good, as most online merchants average around 3%.
Black Friday is just around the corner, and as a retailer you know that this is the time to start kicking it into high gear. You probably wont be surprised to learn that mobile sales are expected to be be a huge part of Black Friday this year, so if you are a mobile retailer...be prepared! Being mobile already gives you a leg up, because most customers would rather stay home on their phone or laptop than battle the in-store crowds. This gives you the chance to launch campaigns that catch the eye of new users, which paired with a compelling mobile experience, can help build relationships with new users which will increase sales way beyond the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.
The value of one bitcoin recently hit a record high of 5,500 U.S. dollars, a staggering rise of over 200% in value this year alone. So, if you haven’t been paying attention to the rise of cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology, it’s time to take notice.


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Gathering analytics and business metrics from digital signage just goat easier. Artificial intelligence and analytics provider AdMobilize has partnered with display maker media mea to offer off-the-shelf digital signage with built-in audience analytics solutions.
The companies are offering digital signage solutions with fully-integrated, easy-to-use audience analytics functionality, according to an AdMobilize press release.
The AdMobilize-equipped media mea solutions will debut in Q1 2018, making it easier and more affordable than ever for brands and agencies to utilize real-time analytics to better understand their audiences, says AdMobilize CMO Mike Neel.
AdMobilize made a splash at InfoComm 2017 where it presented digital signage integrators with AI and analytics solutions to help their customers better understand the impact of their digital advertising and communications solutions as well as create more informed strategies.
AdMobilize CEO Rodolfo Saccoman, during a MyTechDecisions podcast, discussed opportunities for better business metrics to be gathered from digital signage.
The partnership with media mea “meets a very real demand from DOOH customers for an ‘off the shelf’ digital signage solution that comes enabled with sophisticated audience analytics capabilities,” says Neel in the press release.
Inside the Off-the-Shelf Audience Analytics Solutions
“Now, media mea customers can, with the touch of a button, turn on audience analytics functionality. There is no need for a complicated installation, which, as a result, lowers the barrier to entry for users to take advantage of this cutting-edge audience analytics technology.”
The AdMobilize audience analytics platform can track real-time ad performance and customer engagement; segment campaigns and content by hour and site; target content by both audience demographic and emotion; and optimize store traffic flow, and more, according to the press release.
All captured analytics are fed to a cloud-based dashboard or API that allows end-users to assess results and performance, identify trends, and make any necessary adjustments to the displayed content.
Beginning in Q1 2018, all of this audience analytics functionality will be available through media mea’s suite of custom indoor and outdoor digital signage displays and kiosks – through integration with a media mea-supported content management system.
“We understand that data analytics are a critically important component of the future of the digital signage and DOOH advertising markets; brands don’t just want to display advertisements and content, they also want to better understand those who are viewing it and engaging with it,” says media mea GM Mohamed Ghalayini.
“Through this partnership with AdMobilize, we’re now able to provide our global network of customers with market-leading custom digital signage solutions that come fully-equipped with audience monitoring and reporting capabilities.”
“Plus, because AdMobilize supports a variety of signage formats, we’re provided the flexibility we need to include analytics in all of our custom display projects.”
The integrated solutions will be available in Q1 2018.


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I will always remember going to visit my niece in hospital when she was born very premature. The staff at the hospital were unbelievable and the knowledge, understanding, technology and medicine that they were able to use quite literally saved her life and she is now a thriving 13 year old, full of opinions and intelligence. It’s quite simply amazing. I have a wonderful friend who has gorgeous twins that came too early, and thanks to the treatment they received at birth, they are now advancing, growing and my friend’s pride and joy is unending.
So, when I heard that Elave Skincare and TinyLife had joined forces to launch the annual #Premvember campaign as part of the premature baby charity’s 30th Anniversary celebrations, I really wanted to make sure I shared it on my blog because just like mine, so many families are affected by premature birth.
Every day in Northern Ireland six babies come into the world too soon, some arriving as early as 24 weeks and weighing as little as 1lb. That is 1,800 premature babies born every year!
TinyLife CEO Alison McNulty says: “Thirty years ago, 70% of premature babies didn’t make it – today around 88% survive and TinyLife funds vital research to give these babies the best start in life.
“We also provide a range of family support services, including breast pump loan, hospital to home volunteer programme, family activity groups, support for dads, baby massage and baby sensory.
“This year, we are partnering with specialist skincare range Elave Baby in a joint effort to encourage the public to get behind TinyLife’s #Premvember campaign & 30th Anniversary celebrations to raise awareness and funding for premature babies.
“We are delighted to confer Approved By status on Elave Baby and to recommend the product range, which banishes harsh ingredients that trigger sensitivity such as soap, sulfates, MI, parabens, alcohol, perfumes and colours, for use on baby skin.
“The skin of prem babies is extremely sensitive, making it prone to dryness and itchy skin conditions like rashes and eczema, so knowing a clinically proven, completely ‘free from’ product is available can alleviate worry about what to use.”
The Gardiner family’s apothecary skincare creams were created in Newry over 80 years ago. Elave Baby, now produced in Co Louth, is available from local pharmacies, online at or via Amazon. A donation of £1 from every Baby Essentials Pack sold goes to support the work of TinyLife.
Joanna Gardiner, CEO of Elave Skincare, said: “We are very impressed with TinyLife and what the organisation has achieved, so we are delighted to be able to support their work in the run-up to Premvember and over the 30th Anniversary year.
“Parents of premature babies are already experiencing a lot of stress, anxiety and trauma, so the last thing they need to worry about on top of that is what they are putting on their child’s skin.
“Baby’s skin barrier is not fully formed until they are three years old so how we treat skin, especially skin which may already be dry and sensitive, can have health implications for the rest of our lives.
“The incidence of baby eczema in Northern Ireland and across the island has risen from 3% to 25% inside two generations, a statistic which medical experts put down to harm caused by environmental pollutants and harsh chemicals.
“It is clear, in the run-up to National Eczema Week, that we need to be more mindful about how we prevent and manage sensitive skin conditions like eczema and dermatitis. Using the purest products, from top to toe, is where you start.”
#Premvember invites people to arrange a Tea Party at their home or workplace, or an event or their choice, anytime during the month of November.
Events to celebrate #Premvember include a Family Fun Day at Mossley Mill on World Prematurity Day (17th Nov) and an 80s Tribute Band in David Lloyd Clubs, Belfast (30th Nov).
The TinyLife 30th celebrations will conclude next Spring with an Anniversary Pearl Ball sponsored by Kennys, Elave Baby and Malone Lodge Hotel, Belfast.


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Police have arrested a 54-year-old man for his suspected involvement in a case of shop theft at a supermarket in VivoCity.
On 21 January 2015, Police received a report on a case of shop theft at a supermarket in VivoCity, where six cans of abalone amounting to $416.80 were stolen. With the aid of CCTV footage, officers from the Crime Strike Force (CSF) of Bukit Merah West Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) conducted extensive ground enquiries to establish the identity of the suspect and arrested him in Tampines on 26 January 2015 at 9pm.
The suspect will be charged in Court on 28 January 2014 for the offence of Theft in Dwelling, which is punishable under Section 380 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. The offence carries a maximum jail term of seven years’ imprisonment, or fine, or both.
Police would like to remind all retail outlets to be extra vigilant against shop thieves during the festive period, especially when large crowds throng the shopping malls and supermarkets for festive goods. Such offences can be prevented if adequate measures are put in place. Retailers should:
Display expensive items in locked display shelves, which are only accessible by the staff;
Enhance the store’s security system by installing CCTVs and convex mirrors. Ensure that the cameras are in good working condition;
Avoid displaying expensive goods such as canned abalone near the store’s entry and exit points. They should be placed at strategic locations within your premises where they can be monitored by staff or placed under CCTV surveillance. Use empty cans for those near the entry and exit points;
Use an electronic tagging system;
Display advisory signage or warnings against shop theft; and
Advise all staff to be observant and vigilant.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
27 January 2015 @ 9:30 PM


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Job opportunities are increasing for the Lake Nona region in Orlando, which provides vacancies for health technology company Protean BioDiagnostics Inc. The new positions will include laboratory technologists, scientists, specialists in digital pathology and artificial intelligence, scientific coordinators and traditional business functions, such as customer service, sales and marketing and graphic design.
With the available laboratory space, proximity to an airport and close to other companies, the Orlando community has several of the characteristics that the owner, Dr. Anthony Magliocco desired for the company’s new location, so much so that he transferred the operations of his company and 15 employees for the University of Central Florida’s Lake Nona business incubator, according to the Orlando Business Journal.
Protean opened its new headquarters in Lake Nona in July and will more than double in size in the coming years, hiring mainly in the medical field, developing new testing and diagnostic procedures.
Salaries for these roles vary, with technicians starting at $ 20 or more an hour and pathologists earning more than $ 95 an hour, according to Biz Journals. In Orlando, most of these jobs pay more than the local average annual salary of $ 46,140, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.


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Average prices fell 4.3% in May and declined 3.6% in April compared to 2019. The most significant but foreseeable shift in the latest surveys shows prices for inland waterway services are only down 3.7% as compared to last year. These prices trends were expected to happen so the projections for the 2020 and 2021 forecast are still showing a never before seen recession.
China-US West Coast prices fell 2% since last week to $2753/FEU. This rate is 72% higher than the same time last year and China-US East Coast prices dropped 3% since last week to $3353/FEU, and are 17% higher than rates for this week last year. Ocean rates from China to the US West Coast declined slightly last week, but remain 68% higher than the end of May and 72% higher than last year.
The June demand surge meant very few canceled sailings in July compared to the previous month. The increase in volumes has been a welcomed development across the supply chain, with June US import volumes improving by an estimated 10% as compared to May. Volumes and capacity are still not at equilibrium, keeping rates up, with reports of some carriers even requesting premiums to prevent rolled shipments. However, June volumes are still down 6% compared to last year. Even with volumes down and available capacity approaching normal, rates remain extremely high.
The last time ocean rates were at this level was November 2018 when US importers raced to ship as many orders as possible before new US tariffs were introduced on Chinese goods. Even in that peak demand, rates for China-US West Coast FEUs were still 7% lower. We expect to see a fluctuation in demand and prices in response to the new tariffs placed on Hong Kong.
As infection rates, closures, and restrictions grow in the US, these freight rates may be pointing to the urgency importers are feeling to ship as soon as possible as the latest updates in the pandemic mean an already shaky consumer confidence could plummet again with a moment’s notice.
U.S. owned airliners were down 11% in May and 19% in April as compared to last year’s prices. Thankfully for air cargo companies they only saw a 0.1% drop after coming off of a steady price increase in the four months prior to catastrophe. However, with fewer planes leaving the ground there will be a possible rise in belly capacity prices as space becomes tight.
The air industry like the rest of the markets saw a hard hit in March as global demand dropped 15% compare to 2019 with international belly capacity dropping 44%. However, air cage held up in April and May due to air carriers addressing shippers’ needs with regards especially to personal protection (PPE) shipments. In April, demand continued to decline making it 27.7% less than April of 2019. This is the sharpest fall in air demand history. Belly capacity has dropped by 75% compared to the same month in 2019.
Experts foresee that the market volumes will remain erratic in the foreseeable future as the wake of COVID-19 continues to cause havoc. Global desperation for PPE and other medical supplies have pushed airlines to adapt passenger planes to all-cargo aircrafts. In late April, Icelandair Group and DB Schenker signed an agreement to use Icelandair aircraft for 45 cargo flights in order to transport medical equipment across Europe. This agreement resulted in hundreds of seats being removed from three aircrafts in order to accommodate over 7,000 square feet of capacity on each aircraft. Many flights are now simply becoming “ghost flights” or flights holding cargo but no passengers.
These flights are serving as buffers for the gap between capacity and demand right now. Many companies (an estimated 150 across the world) are converting passenger planes into air freighters and the change is keeping planes that would otherwise be on the ground in the air. The FFA helped this transition as they have approved the use of overhead bins, storage closets, and under seat areas for lightweight freight on ghost flights only.
The big question for everyone is if there is any sign of recovery yet. The answer is a mixed bag with some practices helping the markets and the future of an impending recession painting a less desirable picture. What hasn’t changed is that trade organizations are still demanding the support from governments to make sure the supply chain continues to be open, efficient, and COVID-19 safety measures managed properly.


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Norton UK Blog
Mobile Apps and IoT Devices are an Overlooked Security Risk by Consumers – and That’s a Problem
By Kevin Haley, Director, Security Response, Norton by Symantec
Today, Norton released findings from a survey of more than 5,000 consumers from the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Japan about their fears of and forays into the connected world. The survey makes it clear that there are two types of people: those who understand smartphones and IoT devices come with risks, and those who do not.
More than half of respondents globally (56 percent; 52 percent in the UK) say the prospect of the financial and banking information stored on their phone being hacked is upsetting. What is more striking is that nearly half either do not care about their information being hacked or they are less concerned about financial hacks than other information being compromised.
For nearly 10 percent of smartphone users around the world, there is not a single thing a hacker could take from their phone that would upset them. This includes text and voice messages, pictures and videos, mobile app-controlled home security cameras and appliances. They see it as a device they talk to friends with and check on social media. They use it to easily manage their money. They don’t think anything bad could happen on a smartphone.
We are seeing this split with IoT devices in the UK as well.
Globally, consumers feel just slightly more comfortable using banking and financial apps (56 percent) than apps for home entry (44 percent). We have seen an endless array of IoT devices present severe security weaknesses. Yet in the UK, 23 percent of consumers say they would feel secure using a home entry app that allows them to open the door remotely for friends and family.
Getting hacked is not something consumers worry about with the devices they use to monitor their children or to lock their front doors. Most of the research into attacks on IoT devices has focused on attacking the device directly, but there is another way these devices are at risk: many IoT devices are controlled by mobile apps. Control someone’s phone and you can control their IoT devices. The risk to consumers moves from online and into their home – it’s personal.
The point is not to panic, nor is it to stop using these devices. Mobile apps and IoT devices aren’t going away. In fact, 53 percent of UK respondents use mobile apps to manage both connected devices and their personal finance. 21 percent control their home entertainment components with a mobile phone, and 14 percent have connected home devices such as security cameras, alarms, home entry systems, baby monitors, light bulbs, light switches and appliances.
We want the people who are not concerned about hacking to understand the risk.
In January 2016, Norton scanned the approximately 25 million Android apps in our database. 40 percent of the 94 app stores we scanned exhibited malicious behaviour. We identified more than 9 million malicious apps and found more than 16 million apps with potential privacy or intrusive behaviours. These apps can send sensitive information from your phone, including your account and device details, browser history, location and call logs from the device without encryption. The intrusive behaviours include adding browser favourites, putting up big banner ads, or changing desktop images or ringtones.
Staying Safe with Mobile Apps and IoT Connected Devices
Whichever kind of person you are, you need to stay safe. And whatever type of IoT device or mobile app you want to use there are some simple, best practices you can adopt.
Protecting Mobile Devices
- Use a reputable mobile security app. Norton Mobile Security pre-scans apps and identifies potential vulnerabilities before downloading an app. You should know what you’re downloading before it gets on your device.
- Download apps from official app stores. Third-party app stores may not put apps through the same rigour as official app stores such as the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store.
- Be mindful of your app settings. Beware of apps that ask you to disable settings that protect you from installing unsecure apps. This makes your device more vulnerable and opens you to attacks.
Protecting IoT Devices
• Keep your device current. Make sure you install the latest updates on your device, whether automatically or when sent from the manufacturer.
• Protect your device. Set strong and unique passwords on these devices. Use a combination of at least eight letters, numbers and symbols.
• Be stingy with your device. Protect the communication shared between your device and network by using encrypted communication on your home Wi-Fi (like WPA2) to connect the device. Better yet, use a hard-coded network connection, such as a LAN connection. If you have a feature on your device, you don’t use, turn it off.
Stealing your identity can be easy. Good thing calling us is too.
Help with identity theft starts here. Trusted by millions of customers around the globe. Get Antivirus, Online Privacy, and in case of identity theft, Identity restoration support.
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The plan comes following the company’s recent investment from Apple
Citing a person ‘familiar with the matter’ that refused to be named, Didi Chuxing is claimed to look for IPO in early 2017, with the exact timing depending on how the competition with Uber plays out.
The move is believed to put the company ahead of its rival in the timing of going public, as Uber had said it wants to hold off on IPO plans for as long as possible.
Didi Chuxing reportedly declined to comment on any potential IPO.
The same source also claimed Didi Chuxing is in the process of raising about US$3 billion of funding, including Apple’s US$1 billion contribution, which has swelled the company’s valuation to about US$26 billion. The source also said the company has reached the ‘break even’ mark in about half of the 400 Chinese cities in which it operates.
With the company’s current valuation, it is believed that a US IPO could be the biggest by a Chinese company since Alibaba’s record offering in 2014.
Image Credit: Jordan McQueen on Unsplash
The post Watch this space: Didi Chuxing reportedly eyes for US IPO in 2017 appeared first on e27.
from e27 http://ift.tt/1OugzAl


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Dublin, Ireland -- Multiple reports on Thursday said that search giant Google plans to open its first stand-alone retail store, at its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.
The company last year in London tested a 285-sq.-ft. in-store shop where consumers could try out and buy Chromebooks and a few accessories. Located in a computer store, the in-store shop was open for approximately three months.
According to the reports, the Google store would be open to the public and would sell various Google merchandise.
Google has not yet confirmed the reports that it will open the Dublin.
“While we do have the option to open retail space, we are examining all potential uses,” Google said in an e-mailed statement, released by Bloomberg. “No final decision has been taken.”


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USA: MESTER READY TO SUPPORT A RISE IN FED RATES IN MARCH
(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) may need to raise interest rates at least three times this year, starting in March, to respond to labor market tensions and persistently high inflation and wider, Cleveland Fed chairman Loretta Mester said Tuesday.
“If the economy in March looks like it is today and the outlook is similar (…) then I would support a rate hike at this meeting [la réunion du Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)-NDLR] and the removal of some of the extraordinary devices that were needed at the start of the pandemic, ”she said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
The Fed’s final monetary policy decisions will depend on the economic situation and will be based on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, she added, however.
She notes, however, that Fed officials may have to recalibrate their policy now to deal with inflation “well above” the US central bank’s target.
The consumer price index (CPI) in the United States for the month of December will be released on Wednesday and is expected according to the Reuters consensus up to 7% year on year.
(Report Jonnelle Marte; French version Claude Chendjou, edited by Sophie Louet)