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On this episode of the Macworld Podcast, it’s all about your hot takes! You have thoughts on the latest happenings in the world of Apple! Let’s hear what you have to say! All of the comments mentioned in the show can be seen below.
A report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple is testing its upcoming M3 chip, with the possibility of it being used in new Macs by the end of this year or early next. That report generated a few interesting reactions.
Where’s the fun with the Mac?
Earlier this month, the iMac celebrated its 25th anniversary, allowing David Price to reflect on the state of Mac design. It’s not as fun as it used to be–Macs have gone from “groundbreaking aesthetically,” as David put it, to commodities. That spurred a mixed reaction from readers.
Apple subscription software
Apple released Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad Pro, but the pricing model got everyone’s attention. Those apps cannot be bought outright; you pay either $4.99 per month or $49 per year, for either app. It’s subscription-based, Apple’s first foray into that sales model. And it’s not making users happy.


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PALM BEACH, Fla. — Change, both confronting it and creating it, emerged as a powerful theme of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Annual Meeting, which was held here last month. The theme of change was clearly on display in the remarks made during the Business Programs by NACDS chairman of the board Alex Gourlay, who is also co-chief operating officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance and president of Walgreens; NACDS president and chief executive officer Steve Anderson; and incoming NACDS chairman Mark Panzer, who is also senior vice president of pharmacy, health and wellness at Albertsons Cos.
Gourlay reviewed “a year of progress for customers and communities” in a “massively changing and challenging world.”
“Change has accelerated from when we spoke last year,” he said. “In health care, it has been about restructuring our industry to become more efficient in the marketplace, and in retail it really is about empowering the consumer — to see the choices and products available to them.”
Throughout his year as NACDS chairman, Gourlay emphasized putting customers first by bringing new approaches to three areas: health care affordability and price transparency; fostering convenience, efficiency and experience; and building trust by emphasizing community engagement and corporate social responsibility.
“Redefining convenience has always been at the heart of the pharmacy model,” Gourlay said. “It’s about the marketplace that you create that brings it all together. As a pharmacist, I believe in the commitment to what we do.”
Noting NACDS’ 85th anniversary celebration, Anderson said, “Neither the past nor the future gives the complete perspective. What matters now is the transformation. We need to evaluate the power of the transformation of NACDS: our past travels, our trajectory, and what they mean for NACDS chain and associate members alike.
“NACDS is about chains and suppliers collaborating, to benefit the consumer, the nation, and the business. That is the infinite goal of NACDS, and doing that through the years requires an intentional, determined and spirited transformation. But that is not always easy. Associations are the intersection of business, politics and public policy. And those roads are surely not smooth and straight. Today’s it is white knuckle time, as our hands grip the wheel. So, like your business, associations need to adapt. They need to press forward, and evolve. Really, the transformation is constant.”
Anderson described elements of NACDS’ constant transformation that have kept NACDS ahead of the curves of change.
In his first remarks as chairman of NACDS, Panzer thanked those who have taught and collaborated with him throughout his 46-year retail career. He said that NACDS chain and associate members alike can rely on the same formula of “listen, learn and engage” to confront both rapid change and the timeless pursuit of serving the customer.
“As I start this chairmanship, it really is an extension of what I’ve been taught, and what I’ve tried to do throughout my career,” he said. “That’s taking care of the patient and the customer, working well with our partners, and taking care of all our team members along the way. I believe everyone in this room — retailers and suppliers — shares these goals. There is so much we can do, and specifically so much we can do through NACDS.”
Panzer focused on three topics: changes in retail; the importance of NACDS’ all-industry approach encompassing diverse chains and suppliers; and crucial public policy issues that NACDS is addressing.
He described rapid acceleration in the speed and scope of change — and the demand for speed in response — particularly as it relates to e-commerce and its relationship with brick-and-mortar retailing. He said the personal connection in retail remains essential. “We have better tools, better data, better analytical skill. We need to utilize all of these things in this rapidly changing retail environment. But native intelligence, gained through frontline experience and face-to-face customer interaction, is invaluable and must still play a critical role at the decision-making table.”
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Imagine this: you’re at the pub having a drink with your friends. You’re holding a cold tinny from an Australian craft brewery. It tastes pretty good and you’re having a nice time so you drink another (and maybe another…). You’re probably getting a little tipsy, and you might regret it tomorrow. But if you’re drinking the Quiet XPA from Heaps Normal brewery, you could still drive home and wake up without a hangover because the beer from this Canberra company contains zero alcohol.
And the best part? It tastes just like the real thing.
Andy Miller, Peter Brennan and Ben Holdstock met while working in craft beer breweries but for one reason or another they all decided they wanted to cut back on their alcohol. The problem? They still really loved beer, and non-alcoholic options just weren’t the same.
“We were looking for an alternative that allowed us to feel like we weren’t trying to convince ourselves we were enjoying a non-alcoholic option, when in fact it actually didn’t taste like beer at all,” Andy tells Region Media.
With the support of Peter’s childhood friend and pro surfer, Jordy Smith, they set out to find a solution. The more they looked into it, the more they realised there were lots of other people out there looking for an alternative to regular beer.
“We’ve got a role in normalising those non-alcoholic options by connecting with people who, like us, share our experience in still enjoying the occasional beer, but wanting to be more mindful about alcohol consumption in general,” says Andy.
It wasn’t easy though. Brewing is a science and while the team had a lot of experience making beer, doing it without creating any alcohol was a whole other challenge.
“It’s not easy, and our head brewer, Benny, spent a good six months solely focused on developing the recipe,” says Andy.
“He’s been a professional brewer for more than 10 years, and he really had to go back to square one and revise and tweak almost every step in the traditional brewing process in order to create a great tasting non-alcoholic beer that still only uses the same four ingredients as regular beer.”
Since Heaps Normal hit the shelves in 2020, they’ve been surprised by the range of different stories they hear from customers who have enjoyed their beer – from labourers who need to wake up early, and athletes such as Jordy, to people who are looking to improve their health or perhaps delay announcing a pregnancy.
Andy suggests the recent COVID-19 lockdown may have had an impact on the drinking habits of Australians.
“I think that’s been a trigger for a lot of people to reassess their alcohol consumption while being stuck at home,” he says. “I think that’s brought a lot of people to Heaps Normal.”
The team isn’t looking to convince people to give up on alcohol entirely, but to find ways to be a bit more mindful about it.
“It’s a way to make a drink together more inclusive,” says Andy. “And at the end of the day, that’s our goal – to make those social drinking occasions more inclusive, and to prioritise the stuff in our lives that’s too good to be wasted.”
The team is planning to release new styles of beer in 2022, and is even looking at opening what they believe will be the largest dedicated non-alcoholic brewery in the country.
The location is still to be decided, but Andy assures locals that the Canberra region is in the mix.
And after that? Andy reckons there’s heaps of potential.
“Looking at [international] markets and seeing that consumers in those markets are also demanding these kinds of options shows us that Australia is playing catch up,” he says.
“The intense growth in the non-alcoholic category in the past 12 to 24 months is just the beginning.”
This all means we can expect to see non-alcoholic beers such as Heaps Normal becoming heaps more, well, normal.
For more information, visit Heaps Normal.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Riotact.


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(This article was originally published in the May 2015 edition of the New Jersey Tech Council's TechNews)
New Jersey has made important investments in its innovation ecosystem over the last decade. However, further establishing the state at the forefront of the nation’s innovative economies requires thinking out along the development curve in order to identify and provide infrastructure for future disruptive technologies. In addition to providing resources for existing entrepreneurs, public and private groups should look to proactively fund the future tech that will push New Jersey forward. A good way to gauge the future of software innovation is to look at where the big investors are putting their money.
If you read what venture capitalists like Fred Wilson, Marc Andreesen, and Sam Altman have to say, there are a handful of important technologies that will be maturing in the next five years and that promise to have a major impact. Among these are "cryptocurrencies," most notably Bitcoin.
What is Bitcoin
Bitcoin has increasingly been in the news since first released in 2009. The core technology of Bitcoin, the "blockchain," is essentially a communications and coordination medium, a ledger system on which the anonymous transactions of the entire network are stored and verified. When someone engages in a Bitcoin transaction, that transaction is checked for authenticity, and is then published to the network. Subsequently, knowledge of the anonymous transaction is available worldwide and becomes part of the public ledger. The key takeaway from this technology is “anonymous distributed trust.”
Bitcoin - and any system relying on blockchain technology - provides an almost totally anonymous method of conducting business. Cash provides a good analogy for Bitcoin. In just the same way that a cash transaction is anonymous because there is no personally identifying information attached to the money you exchange, a Bitcoin transaction allows you to exchange funds between anonymous alphanumeric addresses. If one takes care not to generally reveal their address, there is no easy way for personal information to be associated with a transaction.
Bitcoin is distributed because there is no central authority. Software running on nodes connected to the network verifies the authenticity of each transaction. Further, each transaction is peer-to-peer in exactly the same way that cash is peer-to-peer. A buyer transfers a certain quantity of the currency to a seller without an intermediary involved.
In contrast to the distributed and anonymous nature of Bitcoin, consider the fragile nature of our traditional payment systems. When you slide your card at a retailer, your information passes through a number of intermediaries. This includes personal information like your name and zip code. Thus, a large amount of personally identifying information is stored in an ever widening circle of systems - each of which you need to trust. Bitcoin has no intermediaries, and requires no personally identifying information in order to work.
Finally, because of the technical implementation of the system, the ledger is essentially not forgeable. This means that every transaction that occurs using Bitcoin is verifiable and trustable because, given the foreseeable state of computing technology, the blockchain’s advanced cryptographic techniques are nearly impossible to crack.
Why you should care about it
Bitcoin has been steadily gaining credibility with large organizations. Recently Tmobile announced a major initiative in Poland that will accept Bitcoin for mobile minutes. Similarly, Microsoft now accepts Bitcoin as payment for its software and videos. Last summer, Dell joined other majors retailers, like Newegg.com and Overstock.com, in accepting online Bitcoin payments.
Cryptocurrencies are also making strides in the institutional setting. You can now invest in Bitcoin through a publicly offered fund. The Winkelvoss twins have also waded into the Bitcoin world, claiming that their new project will one day be the "Nasdaq of Bitcoin." In Spain, three companies have teamed up to begin offering Bitcoin withdrawals from 10,000 ATMs. Perhaps most interesting, IBM recently announced that it is working with the Federal Reserve to develop a digital currency based on the technology.
Not only has Bitcoin made strides with existing institutions, but also companies that develop with cutting edge implementations of blockchain technology have been raising a lot of money. Andreessen Horowitz recently became a major investor in 21, Inc., a bit coin start up. 21 Inc. has reportedly raised $116M to date, the most ever for a cryptocurrency startup. Coinbase, a major “virtual wallet” provider received the attention of Union Square Ventures. Starting from an initial A series of $5M, Coinbase went on to raise $100M in series B and C funding. All told, cryptocurrency startups received over $347M in funding in 2014 – more than triple from a year previous. And the pace continues to accelerate.
The Applications of Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s first and most obvious implementation is as a digital currency. Last year, Bitcoin transactions surpassed 100,000 per day. One merchant solution alone, reportedly processes over $1M in transactions each day. The financial applications of Bitcoin are manifold as it enables individuals to make anonymous transactions online. Of course there has been buzz around the potential facilitation of illicit purchases, however the legal opportunities are more compelling. Using Bitcoin, individuals could contribute to politicians and causes without fear of political repression or backlash for undesirable speech. More basically, individuals could also retain a sphere of privacy in their purchasing habits and spending preference – much as cash currently provides.
Bitcoin also opens up the opportunity to finally make the world of true micropayments a reality. Typically the overhead in fees associated with using third-party processors have made micropayments impracticable. However, as a peer-to-peer system, the overhead for an individual Bitcoin transaction is nearly nonexistent.
As a software system that is not dependent on central banks, Bitcoin also affords the opportunity for frictionless cross-boundary transactions. Individuals in countries that previously had trouble accessing capital for lack of financial infrastructure, now only need a smart phone with an Internet connection.
However, as compelling as the financial applications of Bitcoin are, blockchain technology promises a host of interesting nonfinancial uses. Simply for the sake of efficiency, the so-called “Internet of Things” will depend upon a decentralized, trustable transaction ledger of the vast quantities of information that connected devices will continuously generate. Blockchain poses one potential solution to this IOT dilemma, and also offers compelling applications in many more areas.
For instance some startups have begun using blockchain technology to enable alternatives to traditional contracting. Relying on publicly verifiable information, a blockchain-based contract can provide for absolutely known conditions, who agreed to them, and when they should be enforced. Taking it a step further, such contracts can also be made to self-execute, thereby reducing the transaction costs of the legal system that frequently disincentivize parties from fully vindicating their rights.
The fully secure audit-trail provided by blockchain technology would empower a whole host of applications for trust-based instruments. Blockchain technology could be used to create financial instruments, property registers, and any other ownership-dependent asset that can be absolutely verified for authenticity. Using such a system, the costs of enforcing owners’ rights would plummet.
There have been suggestions that small Bitcoin payments may have a place in SPAM prevention and also in unlocking the untapped bandwidth on home WiFi routers. There have also been experiments in using the blockchain to create tamper-proof voting systems. This activity isn’t constrained to simple online-polls either – in 2014 a political party in Denmark began using the blockchain as part of its own internal voting. As an absolutely trustable, publicly reviewable system, the blockchain can provide a whole new range of methods for transmitting information that is fraud-proof.
New Jersey: The Next Silicon Valley
Merely knowing that Bitcoin is a “next big thing” is insufficient – New Jersey need to be, if not the place, at least a major place where hot software startups want to be. With proper foresight, the New Jersey ecosystem can become a home to cutting edge tech like Bitcoin. New Jersey already leads in a number of areas, most-notably biotech, but the value proposition of software-based tech should be seriously considered. First, the overhead to get started, and the cycles of product development require much lower capital resources. A dollar given to a software startup stretches much farther - a $50K investment to a software tech startup can represent a serious infusion of capital that makes the difference between having a prototype and never getting off the ground. If you can seed enough software startups with relatively low amounts of capital, it becomes a numbers game - the investments nurture the entrepreneurial community and it becomes only a matter of time before you have a game changer emerge.
There are two important things that New Jersey can do to cultivate the kind of tech development that will differentiate the state. First, we need to ensure that angel and seed funders see New Jersey as a viable investment environment. The state has already made some strides in this area. For instance the 2013 Angel Investor tax program was used to support 181 investments in 2014. And public-private partnerships, such as that between the EDA and Edison Partners VIII, have allowed more than $40M to flow to innovative companies in the garden state.
The state should continue these efforts, and build on them by specifically identifying and attracting angels to form as a leadership network in the state. Coupled with this, the EDA should actively collect and disseminate metrics that help us understand the strengths of our investment community, and also to work on our weaknesses. Further work should continue to research the possibility of providing financial partnership with angels, including matching grants and conditional loans.
The second major thing to do to encourage software tech startups to take root in New Jersey is to actively focus on developing a close-knit culture of entrepreneurship in the state. Groups like LaunchNJ have begun this work, and the state should look for opportunities to consolidate this culture. To date, much of the EDA’s focus has been distributed throughout the state. This makes political sense as a general policy, but has some subtle problems.
Often the preferred destination for startups is Silicon Valley and a handful of other locales. One advantage that Silicon Valley, NYC, and Philadelphia have over New Jersey is geographic constraint. New Jersey is every bit as convenient as Silicon Valley in terms of access to workforce, transportation, and physical infrastructure. What New Jersey needs is a directed focus on a smaller geographic area in which to cultivate our software tech sector. We need a "scene" where the innovators go to collaborate and socialize. Although not a large state, having our innovation hubs spread out across a number of cities and suburbs is less than ideal. Newark and Jersey City have been making great strides toward revitalization in recent years. Trenton is also an obvious candidate for both a renaissance and a corresponding software tech boom. Since his election, Mayor Jackson has made a number of moves that suggest that economic development is on the forefront of his mind.
The state government also needs to scale up the scope of its economic policies to incentivize a much larger range of startups. Although undeniably positive, programs like the Grow NJ tax credits and the Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program are designed to assist relatively large companies when compared to the kind of startups that operate in the software tech space. In short, our law makers need to design economic policies that make it much more attractive for founders to start work on their ideas in New Jersey.
Software is eating the world – what can be digital will be digital. In the next five years we will witness a host of new technologies that transform important parts of our economy and daily lives. Bitcoin and the blockchain will certainly be a part of that transformation, and now is the time for the right investment to happen. New Jersey, already a leader in many ways, has an opportunity right now to expand its influence.
 The Bitcoin Investment Trust - http://www.bitcointrust.co/#About
 https://blog.coinbase.com/2013/12/12/coinbase-raises-25-million-from-andreessen/ ; https://blog.coinbase.com/2015/01/20/coinbase-raises-75m-from-dfj-growth-usaa-nyse/


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Tomorrow, 25 June 2015, the DA Provincial Leader, Jacques Smalle (MPL) will be meeting with the Loskop Business Chamber to discuss challenges that they are facing in their various businesses on a daily basis.
The meeting will be in the form of a breakfast session where the leader will listen to the concerns of the business community and also explain the DA’s recently launched Vision 2029 campaign.
The meeting will be held as follows:
Date: Thursday, 25 June 2015
Venue: Loskop Valley Lodge, (R25 Klein Plaas Loskop Noord, Groblersdal)


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Gather ye memories while ye may: Fashion week as it has been for the last 50-plus years may, finally, be over. This is not crying wolf (pelts). This is real.
What are you talking about?
This season, for the first time, designers and brands have stopped debating (and complaining about and whining about) the disconnect between how the system has evolved — clothes shown to an inside few, with images widely disseminated to the many, who can’t buy what they see for six months; men’s and women’s wear by the same designer shown four months apart — and how we all actually buy: Now! When we want it!
Instead, a handful have simply decided to do something about it. But not the same thing. And not everyone.
Why do I care?
It is going to be even more complicated for armchair viewers and potential shoppers (that’s you) to parse what you see on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook as you dip in and out of the women’s shows for the next month to figure out what? Maybe what you can go online and get tomorrow. (Told you some things had changed.) Maybe what you could buy your partner (ditto). Maybe what to put on a wish list. Maybe what your favorite celebrity will be sporting on the red carpet before you can say “fashion week,” and what you could rush out and acquire for your own closet, instead of just fantasizing about and forgetting.
Plus, this is a season with, perhaps, more designer and brand switcheroos than ever before, which means the clothes you are about to see, and wear, may suddenly start to look notably different from what you may have expected.
O.K. Let’s start with the switcheroos. Who’s going where?
The biggest changes are taking place in Paris, where Anthony Vaccarello is stepping into the creative director post at Saint Laurent vacated by the marketing genius-control obsessive known as Hedi Slimane, who remade the brand in his own image in a short three years before departing in March. Also making their debuts are: Bouchra Jarrar at Lanvin, following the controversial ouster of its long-term designer Alber Elbaz; Maria Grazia Chiuri at Dior, where she will be the first woman to lead the creative team at the storied brand; and Pierpaolo Piccioli at Valentino, Ms. Chiuri’s former design partner, who is now stepping into the spotlight solo. Got that?
There’s also some city-hopping going on, with Albert Kriemler, recipient of the Couture Council’s award for Artistry in Fashion, bringing the Akris show to New York for the first time (and because his signature luxury architectural tailoring has a major American following in women in the C-suite). For his part, Olivier Theyskens — the longhaired, fragile romantic of the goth set and erstwhile Theory designer — is returning to Paris, a city he left seven years ago after stints at Nina Ricci and Rochas, to introduce a new namesake label.
Thakoon Panichgul and his Thakoon line are also back after a fallow season, and with a new owner (Bright Fame Fashion) and a new approach to business: straight-to-consumer e-commerce and his own retail store. And finally, also back on schedule in New York is Tom Ford, who introduced his own women’s line in New York in 2010, decamped for London in 2011, spent a season in Los Angeles and one in the digital space, and is now trumpeting a see-now, shop-now model (also known as see-now, buy-now and see-now, have-now), among other changes.
What is this see-now, shop-now thing?
Exactly what you think it is: See it on Instagram now, then buy it (or in some cases order it) hours later. In response to the brave new world of social media and e-commerce, and the way we have all been trained to insist on immediate gratification (and consumers’ increasingly short attention spans), a small group of companies has upended normal production schedules so that everything you see in its live-stream will be available to buy either in-store or online pretty much immediately. These include: Mr. Ford; Mr. Panichgul; Tommy Hilfiger, who is also creating a funfair around his presentation on a pier and opening it to the public, the better for them to play and shop at the same time; Opening Ceremony; and the big kahuna in London that led the charge, Burberry. In the same model, brands like Michael Kors and Prada are also offering select show accessories for immediate sale.
But wait: Isn’t this season spring-summer? Why would they sell spring clothes now?
It is, officially, the spring-summer season — unless you are Tom Ford, in which case you are showing fall-winter, because, well, it is fall-winter. But many of his see-now, shop-now compatriots are creating “seasonless” collections instead that include coats, cashmeres, silks and lingerie dresses, which is pretty much the panoply of options everyone needs anyway now that global warming has played havoc with predictable weather patterns.
Another old division fast going by the wayside in response to reality: The former divide between men’s wear and women’s wear, an increasingly passé fashion throwback to a more discriminatory time. Mr. Ford, Burberry, Rag & Bone and Bottega Veneta will all show collections for both sexes concurrently this month. This makes sense, given that they are all designed to express the same brand values, not to mention the fact that shopping is not a gender-specific pastime.
Anything else we need to know?
Because of all this change roiling the ready-to-wear waters, some designers and brands are sitting the season out, or almost. Calvin Klein, which hired Raf Simons as creative director last month, is having only a small presentation designed by its anonymous in-house team as a kind of placeholder, in anticipation of Mr. Simons’s big statement-making debut in February. Oscar de la Renta, which last week named Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia of Monse as creative directors to replace Peter Copping, who parted ways with the company in July, will likewise be designed by a team. (But watch the tea-leaf reading at the Monse show, as viewers attempt to parse the designers’ intentions for the bigger house.) And Diane von Furstenberg, where Jonathan Saunders is making his debut as creative director, is managing the transition with a series of appointments rather than a runway blowout.
Off the schedule entirely, because they decided to switch showing seasons, are Public School, Vetements and Cédric Charlier, all of which opted for January and June instead of September and February. So don’t freak out if you don’t read about them over the next few weeks. This does not mean they have shut down; rather, they have placed production and distribution demands over participation in the main show circus.
But what does it all mean?
To be absolutely honest, no one knows. Sartorial spaghetti is being thrown at the wall to see what sticks. But something will, and then the whole sparkly, chiffon-clad edifice could tip. In some ways, it depends on how you react. So be prepared. They’ll be watching.


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Epic seeks to use influencers to bring business to new store
Feb 7, 2019
Epic Games’ Support-A-Creator program is expanding.
The publisher announced on Twitter its plans to implement the crowdfunding tool outside of Fortnite, and to enable it across the entire Epic Games Store. The move ties into the company’s greater effort to expand the visibility of its new digital distribution platform.
Support-A-Creator was initially introduced in October and offered content creators across various social media platforms the opportunity to receive a cut of fans’ in-game purchases within Fortnite. By linking their Epic accounts to the system, YouTubers, Twitch streamers, cosplayers, and more were able to receive $5 for every 10,000 V-Bucks spent in Fortnite. Though the system was initially planned to only run for three months, Support-A-Creator was received so well that it was made permanent in December.
Not long after, Epic introduced the Epic Games Store, another in an increasing number of digital video game storefronts.
Though it was initially focused on Fortnite, it has since expanded to include several popular indie games and a handful of exclusive AAA titles like Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 and Metro Exodus. With the Epic Games Store’s inventory growing, expanding Support-A-Creator to other titles can drive sales, and encourages influencers to steer their followers towards Epic’s new platform and away from Steam.
This is yet another in a quickly growing list of examples of Epic Games trying to find footholds to compete against the monolithic storefront that is Valve’s Stream. The first real shot in the battle was fired when Epic paid for one year of exclusivity for Metro Exodus after the game had already been listed in Steam, a practice Valve publicly decried as “unfair.”
While the trial version of Support-A-Creator focused exclusively on microtransactions in Fortnite, the expanded version will include the purchases of games on the Epic Games Store. It is not clear if this will eventually apply to downloadable content purchases made through the platform.
Details on the program and eligibility requirements can be found on Epic Games’ website.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire trailer leaves fans concerned
Skar King, pink Godzilla, goofy aah running…
Dec 3, 2023
Here’s your first look at Drift, the latest Valorant map
It looks like Pearl…and Samoa?
Dec 4, 2023


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Back In The Office
Verizon Media: Israel office leading the return back to normal
CTech was invited to visit Verizon Media’s Israel office to understand how the company looked after its employees as they returned to the office following the Covid-19 pandemic
“From a Covid perspective, we returned to the offices in April and Verizon made some adjustments to Israel, because Israel led the return to the office,” explained Ephrat Carmel Mor, Head of HR at Verizon Media Israel. “We are actually one of the first offices that returned so fast.”
Verizon Media invited CTech into its office as part of a new series called ‘Back To The Office’, where companies share insights into how they navigated Covid-19 and prepared for a safe adjustment from remote working to hybrid models. Verizon Media was formed in 2017 when it merged its two acquisitions Yahoo and AOL, and Mor said it made the safety of each employee a priority.
“It was very smooth, working from home,” Mor told CTech. “They said immediately when it started that safety and health are first. Take care of yourself and take care of your families. Do your best, but if you cannot work as before, it’s ok.”
The Verizon Media team in Israel is made up of more than 200 software engineers and scientists working in their Ramat Gan and Haifa offices. They have a vast impact on the company’s core business, directly affecting the product experience of hundreds of millions of consumers across its products, as well as building the heart of its B2B products, from video streaming technology to ad platforms. Today, it has an impact on 900 million people around the world.
During the pandemic, Verizon was recognized by Forbes as the number one company in terms of supporting employees during Covid-19. For over a year, the team was working fully from home, and in recent months they moved to a hybrid model allowing employees the flexibility to work from either the office or home. Throughout this period the company was taking special care to maintain a healthy work-life balance across all teams, mindful of maintaining relationships, as well as company culture, relying on virtual means.
CTech’s visit to Verizon Media came at an exciting time for the company: it had recently announced that Apollo Funds will be acquiring 90% of Verizon Media, with Verizon retaining the remaining 10%. The resulting company will be known as Yahoo, which is one of the best recognized digital media brands in the world and the fourth most visited internet property globally.
“Yahoo, the iconic brand, is making a comeback,” Mor told CTech. She assured CTech that none of the 200 employees will be affected by the global change, and day-to-day operations will not change for the teams in Israel. “We are an industry that has things changing and moving fast all the time… There will not be an impact on employees in Israel. We're just looking forward to the next chapter.”


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HAVING THEIR SAY Worker-owners can weigh in at Local Sprouts.
It's the Year of the Dragon (Chinese Zodiac), the Year of the Girl (Girl Scouts of the USA), and, perhaps less well known, the International Year of Cooperatives, according to the United Nations. Citing their capacity to empower member-owners, promote rural development, and offer an alternative to existing economic models, the UN is using its worldwide platform in 2012 to increase public awareness about, and economic investment in, cooperatives of all types.
And what better time to celebrate the International Year of Cooperatives than during National Co-op Month, organized by the Washington DC-based National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) to highlight the ways in which these business models can help combat big issues like the emergence of American food deserts (places without easy access to healthy food), growing obesity levels, and even unemployment.
Here in the United States, more than 29,000 cooperatives — businesses owned and managed by the people who use their services, who also share in the profits — operate in every sector of the economy, including childcare, banking, and agriculture, supporting two million jobs and generating $652 billion in annual sales, according to the NCBA.
There are 150 co-ops in Maine, of which about half are credit unions, says Larry Dansinger, a local activist who works with Cooperative Maine, the statewide organization dedicated to promoting and supporting cooperatives. In addition to several food co-ops (like the one we have in Portland or Rising Tide Community Market in Damariscotta), Maine is also home to housing, electric, fishing, and artists' cooperatives.
This month, Cooperative Maine and its affiliates are hosting several events around the state to make cooperatives more visible in their communities.
Take, for example, the Portland Food Co-op (PFC), which has been operating out of a warehouse on Hampshire Street in the East End for two years. The PFC, whose members take advantage of the co-op's wholesale prices to buy grocery items like grains and produce, now has 359 member-owners; the vast majority of those (89 percent) actually buy things through the co-op (the rest are simply investors). According to PFC board member Claire Houston, a full 50 percent of the items they buy are from Maine sources.
Always seeking new members, the PFC has grown steadily since its inception several years ago; the average monthly sales so far this year are $18,000, compared to $8000-10,000 in 2010. Within the next few months, member-owners can expect to see some commonly ordered items available for sale on co-op shelves (as opposed to having to pre-order them), and a five-year plan is in place to renovate and expand into a full-blown retail operation. The PFC will host a public potluck on October 26 at 6 pm in its Hampshire Street space (email email@example.com for more details). If you've been considering joining, now's the time.
The Local Sprouts Cafe — Portland's only worker-cooperative (meaning that the workers also own the business and all decisions are made democratically) — is also participating in National Co-op Month by screening the documentary Shift Change, which showcases worker-owned enterprises around the world, on Monday, October 22; later in the week, on October 25, they'll host an afternoon workshop, "Creating Worker Cooperatives in Our Community," through which they hope to provide not just information but also inspiration and practical resources for burgeoning entrepreneurs or businesspeople considering a transition to the worker-cooperative model. (See localsproutscooperative.com.)


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JioThings Partners With EESL To Deploy 1 Million Smart Prepaid Meters
JioThings, a Jio Platforms IoT solution unit, has announced a collaboration with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) to deploy 1 million smart prepaid meters in Bihar. The JioThings smart metering solution will be used by EESL, a joint venture of leading public sector enterprises under the Ministry of Power.
JioThings Smart Metering Solution
JioThings smart electricity metering solution provides a comprehensive suite of solutions for enabling AMI and automatic meter reading (AMR). Pre-paid and post-paid metering are possible with these solutions.
According to the company, the highly secure IoT-powered platform simplifies meter management by providing utilities with full visibility and control of their IoT-connected smart meters. This smart metering solution is hailed as India’s first and most revolutionary NB-IoT solution.
The solution ensures reliable data collection and instantaneous 2-way communication, resulting in cost optimization and a seamless experience by improving collections and efficiencies and eliminating service delays.
Regarding the matter, Kiran Thomas, CEO of Jio Platforms Limited, said,
JioThings Smart Electricity Metering solution offers a comprehensive suite of highly scalable, smart and secure solutions through a combination of IoT platform, hardware, nationwide connectivity, installation and after sales services.
We believe that the smart utility platform will bring transformational benefits of latest smart technologies to the power sector. By empowering enterprises with cutting-edge, plug and play, smart solutions, we aim to accelerate the adoption of smart IoT solutions by enterprises and enable their digital transformation.
Regarding the use of Smart Metering solution, Arun Kumar Mishra, CEO, EESL, said,
Smart Metering is the pivot around which India’s next chapter of energy security reliability and consumer-driven market will be written. We at EESL are committed to implementing innovative solutions to enable India in reaching its energy efficiency goals.
EESL has brought about a paradigm shift in Smart Metering by partnering leading digital technology companies. We were proven right by responsive digital companies like Jio and others. We are extremely pleased to have Jio as our IoT partner. With this success, we are certain that Next Generation Communication technology i.e. 5G will further boost the smart metering deployments as other AMI service providers gain confidence in outsourcing to technology providers.
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text:
Shares of Rogue Wave Software shed one-quarter of their value Friday morning after the company warned that a longer selling cycle for a new product and European weakness will push third quarter earnings below analysts' expectations. The company " said it will earn 4 cents per share, compared to projections of 12 cents per share. In a release, Rogue Wave said sales will increase 26 percent to $14 million. The stock fell 2 3/8 to 6 7/8.
Omtool sees second-quarter loss
Shares of Omtool dropped 20 percent after the company warned that it will lose 9 to 12 cents per share. Analysts expected the maker of fax software omtl to earn 3 cents per share, according to First Call. In the second quarter last year, Omtool broke even. Sales are expected to slide to $6.3 million to $6.7 million from $7.7 million last year. Omtool shares fell 5/8 to 2 1/2.
Aspect jumps on CSFB upgrade
Shares of Aspect Development jumped 17 percent after CS First Boston raised its rating on the company to "buy" from "hold." Analyst Brent Thill bumped up his sales projection for the current year by $5 million to $95.1 million; Thill also raised next year's sales expectation by $7.8 million to $141.3 million. Thill said that Aspect ASDV, -0.50% and makers of business-to-business procurement software are likely to begin reselling each other's products. Shares rose 3 3/8 to 23.
RealNetwork and Microsoft ink deal
Microsoft Corp. and RealNetworks Inc., often bitter combatants, agreed to a deal that will provide updated multimedia capabilities for users of Microsoft's WebTV Networks devices. The Wall Street Journal reported that RealNetworks RNWK, -4.12% which makes software used to play audio and video on the Internet, said it will adapt its technology for WebTV and Microsoft's Windows CE operating system.
WebTV, purchased by Microsoft MSFT, -3.12% two years ago, develops TV set-top boxes that provide Internet access and other services. They were originally capable of playing Internet radio broadcasts and other audio material distributed in RealNetworks' format. But those boxes haven't been able to play a newer version of RealNetworks' technology known as G2, blocking WebTV users from much of the multimedia information on the Web. Shares of RealNetworks spiked 10 to 87 7/8 and Microsoft slipped 7/16 to 90 3/4.


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A TikTok video gained over a million views after it was posted by the former assistant manager at a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant explaining how he spent months working 85 hours per week or more at a pathetic pay rate without help until they finally couldn’t take it anymore. The video appears to be a compilation of clips from videos the young individual took at work showing what looks like exclusively very young employees being overwhelmed with orders, receipts, and Post-it notes piling up and tired smiles all around.
Finally, TikTok user @mintjuul.666 explains over the clips, they reached the end of their rope and announced to their workers that they were quitting. The assistant manager took 17 workers with them when they did so, closing up the Wendy’s after making some food for themselves without cleaning up. At about 8 pm, they left a “we quit” note on the drive-thru box and went home.
The saga of this Wendy’s decline began with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting, the stress of which led many of the restaurant’s employees to quit, including both the general manager (GM) and assistant general manager (AGM). The TikTok user was promoted from shift manager to AGM soon after this, bumping his pay up to a paltry $14.77 per hour and landing him a workload more than double the standard 40 hours per week with little help.
“I had no GM for about three months and I was working 85 hours a week every week with no day off, basically the whole three months,” he said. “I made $14.77 as an AGM keeping this store up and running.”
Unfortunately, when they did finally get some help in the form of an actual general manager, this only made things worse.
“I eventually got a new GM. She came in and completely ruined this place within two weeks. The 34 people I had on my schedule all basically wanted to quit, and I was just tired of it.”
After three months of a workload that no human being should have to endure, basically living at work except to sleep for a quarter of the year while being given no help by upper management, this young person finally snapped and most of the remaining staff made a bit of a party out of quitting.
“One day I just came in and I said I’ve had enough and I couldn’t do it anymore, so I told everyone and about me and 17 other people quit that day. We didn’t clean up, we closed down about 8:00 at night, we made a little taco bar, and we left it a mess.”
This video comes as yet another example of service workers mass quitting due to increasingly poor conditions in the workplace paired with dwindling help all with no increases in pay or benefits. Signs at chain restaurants, grocery stores, and other establishments often owned by multi-billion dollar corporations like this have become a common sight across the country, either declaring that the staff had quit or asking customers to be patient due to short staffing.
The TikTok user posted a follow-up video after the one explaining how they quit, which actually happened back in June, showing one-star reviews from customers complaining that the restaurant had gone downhill recently, about after the time the new general manager was hired.
“This Wendy’s used to be on the top of its game,” wrote one reviewer. “Order always right, never forgot the sauces, Frosty machine never down, you name it. However in the past few months, quality has gone SHARPLY downhill.”
It’s almost like it’s the workers who make a workplace run and the entire company would fall apart without them because upper management can’t or won’t do their jobs.


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The bad guys have found new vulnerabilities. It's time to secure your weakest links.
By ZDNet Staff
| March 8, 2005 -- 21:03 GMT (13:03 PST)
| Topic: Security
Digital Health and Wellness
How technology can save the NHS
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is official: Here's what's new
Photos: BlackBerrys through the ages
The scariest tech of 2017, period, end of sentence
TPM-FAIL vulnerabilities impact TPM chips in desktops, laptops, servers
TPM-FAIL lets attackers steal private keys from TPMs. Attacks take from minutes to a few hours.
US Court rules travellers' phones and laptops cannot be searched arbitrarily
Any searches conducted at the US border without reasonable suspicion will now be a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Microsoft's November 2019 Patch Tuesday arrives with a patch for an IE zero-day
The November 2019 Patch Tuesday fixes 74 vulnerabilities, of which 13 are rated "Critical."
Intel, Mozilla, Red Hat, and Fastly partner to make WebAssembly a cross-platform runtime
The Bytecode Alliance's main goal is to promote the use of security-hardened WebAssembly tools.
The /e/ Google-free, pro-privacy Android phone runs well -- for a beta
Flaw in Intel PMx driver gives 'near-omnipotent control over a victim device'
Intel released an updated version of pmxdrvx64.sys and pmxdrv.sys; however, patching might take a while.
Intel's Cascade Lake CPUs impacted by new Zombieload v2 attack
Zombieload v2 impacts Intel CPUs released since 2013, if they support the Intel TSX instruction set.
Manual code review finds 35 vulnerabilities in 8 enclave SDKs
All issues have been privately reported and patches are available.
Twitter is asking for your help in the battle against deepfakes


text:
By The Sea Festival news: Tickets are now on sale for Hot Chip: Live in Streamland…
Latest update from By The Sea Festival
Tickets are now on sale for Hot Chip: Live in Streamland 🚨
Hot Chip will be coming to Dreamland to perform an exclusive, globally streamed, live gig on Saturday 5th September! 🔥 This is set to be an incredible event with high quality stream technology and spectacular festival stage production.
Limited tier 1 tickets are now on sale and tickets will increase in price after the first release sells out, so be quick and grab your tickets here 👉 https://bit.ly/3gNxApe
[custom-facebook-feed id=247930755250102 masonry=false number=4]


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IBM Using Internal Kickstarter-Like Crowdfunding System
September 4, 2013 12:11 PM
It's to encourage collaboration and innovation within IBM
has been using a Kickstarter-type method of crowdfunding, and it's been so successful that the company is currently preparing its fourth effort.
IBM calls this enterprise crowdfunding, where it happens internally and is not open to the public. It was put in place to encourage IBM employees across the globe to innovate, and many internal departments have collaborated to create projects. Proposals have ranged from 3D printers to setting up a disc golf course.
IBM tested the crowdfunding technique in the third quarter of 2012, where 500 Watson Research Center employees were each given $100 to invest in proposals. IBM employees and investors could access the statistics of each project -- such as the funding goals and amount funded at that point (much like Kickstarter) -- through internal social software.
The results showed that about 46 percent of the employees involved actually participated by investing, viewing projects, volunteering to participate in projects, etc.
IBM Research member Michael Muller said that other testing beyond that was even more successful. In a later crowdfunding effort at IBM, which involved an IT department and a research center in California, participation was high and there were "dozens" of funded projects. Some even reached as high as $35,000. It also showed heightened collaboration, with as many as eight departments working together on a project.
But crowdfunding does have its limitations, such as government regulations and human imagination, according to crowdfunding author Daryl Montgomery. Crowdfunding also takes a lot of work; you can't just throw an idea out there and watch the money roll in. You have to reach out to contacts, talk to the community most interested in the topic, and invest in marketing the idea
, presentations, etc.
However, Muller believes IBM is the first to conduct internal crowdfunding efforts, and says it has had a positive effect on the company. In fact, he said employees participating in the crowdfunding programs liked that they were able to seek peers for funding rather than looking to expense controls, and that they were able to propose projects that improve corporate culture and staff morale.
"I mean, if you wanna break down someone's door, why don't you start with AT&T, for God sakes? They make your amazing phone unusable as a phone!" -- Jon Stewart on Apple and the iPhone
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text:
If you've been following anything technology,you know that virtual reality and augmented reality have been trending for years. But at some point, something’s got to stop trending and just become the way things are. Case in point: owning a cell phone. Used to be a trend, now everyone has one. So what's the deal with AR and VR? Is 2020 the year it finally takes over and goes mainstream?
So here's the big skinny: for a while, VR was the leading tech. But now the chatter is really about AR. The expectation is AR use will surpass VR tech in 2020. Forbes says the AR is going to potentially be a $133 billion market by 2021. You better believe that commercial real estate is going to have a good piece of that pie if our chats with the industry movers and shakers are anything to go by.
What makes AR the big winner here is its accessibility. People like the merger of the real world and the digital world that AR creates. For VR applications, you still need special equipment for a fully immersive experience. But for AR, you don't necessarily.
Apparently, over 100 million people will shop using AR by next year. This is a real testament to its accessibility to the common person.Forbes says, ”according to a soon to be released JLL consumer survey, 75 percent of consumers want interactive technology like AR in their stores.”
Clearly, the market is going to continue growing through the next decade. One projection has the total VR and AR Market equaling $35 Billion by 2025. Compare this to the 2017 market volume, which was estimated at 9.1 Billion.
The total audience is anticipated to be 315 million users. And those use cases are not exclusive to the entertainment industry. Most market experts think that the business-to-business segment will be 46% of the AR & VR industry.
So what's it going to take to stop being a trend and start being normal in the next decade? Essentially three things:
#1-Accessibility. It has to be affordable and easy to get. The reason why AR is taking over is that you only really need your smartphone to use it. In some cases,it's as simple as downloading an app. Hello, Pokemon go! For VR technology,those headsets still need to come down in price.
#2-Ease-of-use. User experience is a big deal with any new software product. Anyone needs to be able to pick it up and use it pretty quickly.
#3-Common-sense application. How the VR/AR is used should make sense for the purpose. And, the applications are pretty obvious for commercial real estate and the digital marketing industry. We are using them for marketing, navigation, and sales.Forbes found, “conversion rates have soared as high as 80 percent in some cases when it comes to AR advertising and numerous brands are actively testing it.”
Our industry is really at this unique crossroads in using AR and VR technology. We can clearly see how these can be applied for the benefit of our consumers. We can also see their marketing opportunities especially in commercial buildings and retail centers with high traffic. We have providers innovating in the space working to make the technology more accessible.
Overall, it's been an exciting time to see this technology grow, and I expect the next decade is when it will really come to shine.
Looking to incorporate AR/VR into your marketing strategy for 2020? Let's start the conversation on how we can help.


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Skip to comments.Obama’s Latest Victory Tour Could Hurt Auto Makers
Posted on 06/01/2011 12:52:15 PM PDT by TheConservativeCitizen
INDUSTRY EXPERT: REMINDS PUBLIC OF UNPOPULAR BAILOUT
- Barack Obama, who recently stopped by the CIA to thank the agency for its part in the bin Laden mission by referring to himself 35 times, is firing up his next victory tour: Taking personal credit for the unpopular bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler.
Ironically, Obamas latest brag-fest may actually end up hurting the two firms, an industry expert told CNSNews.com.
While hailing Chryslers repayment of 2009 bailout loans last week, the O-man couldnt help but take credit for the automakers revival. Obama said it was because of his own action that Chrysler was able to rebound from bankruptcy, and ultimately be acquired by the Italian automaker Fiat. (No word yet as to Obamas executive position at Fiat)
Supporting the American auto industry required making some tough decisions, but I was not willing to walk away from the workers at Chrysler and the communities that rely on this iconic American company. I said if Chrysler and all its stakeholders were willing to take the difficult steps necessary to become more competitive, America would stand by them, and I we did.
The O-man, (or should I say, the I-man?) left a tiny bit of information out of his I saved the American auto industry speech: The Treasury Department says it is unlikely that taxpayers will recover their outstanding $1.9 billion investment in Chrysler.
According to the expert interviewed by CNS, if the Obama Administration is serious about breaking even on the bailouts of GM and Chrysler, bragging about them for political purposes wont help. Polling data indicated at the time, (and still does) that the bailouts were unpopular and had a stigmatizing effect on automakers, added the expert.
So heres the $64,000 ($110 billion) question: With an unemployment rate of 9%, angry labor unions, and the 2012 election right around the corner, is Barack Obama more concerned with personal political gain, or recovering the taxpayers money?
Not to be outdone, Joe Biden claimed Saturday that the Obama Administration saved the American auto industry from the brink of extinction.
Because of what Barack and I we did, the auto industry is rising again, Biden said.
The White House also announced that Obama will visit a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, Friday to continue to brag about himself discuss the carmakers recovery. Uh huh.
The merits and wisdom of the governments bailout of GM and Chrysler will be debated for years to come, as they should be. What is clearly not debatable, is this:
The Barack Obama I saved the American auto industry brag-fest victory tour is just beginning. The I-man and his minions (including the sock puppets in the mainstream media) will pull out all the stops on this one. Would you really expect anything less?
The bailouts that weren’t.
Paid for by taxes that’ll never be recovered.
Bragged about by a president who isn’t.
Any Obama victory is a setback for America and the American people.
It is definitely already hurting GM and Chrysler. I own a 2003 Chevy truck and I will never buy another GM or Chrysler car because of the government bailout.
How can Obama take credit? I thought Romney already said the bailouts were his idea.
Seriously, how out of touch does a pol have to be, to think it’s a PLUS to be credited with such a disastrous economic policy? Maybe in Democratland it’s a resume enhancer, but for conservatives??? Romney is delusional.
I don’t understand how selling Chrysler to Fiat is “saving” the American automotive industry. That just makes them the same as all of the plants around the US that are foreign owned. If “Buy American” means where the car is built, and not where the money stays, I can buy American made Toyota, BMW, Honda, Mercedes ... etc.
His current blather about saving the two companies is not influencing my auto purchases one bit.
From the minute the bailout was passed I vowed to never purchase a GM or Chrysler ever again.
I have a Chrysler I purchased in 2004. I would like to look at the new ones but will never set foot on a Chrysler dealership let alone buy one.
I read somewhere on FR that Ford took a “backdoor” loan from the Government. I will research that before I think of them too. I may have to buy another foreign auto. I just have to find one that can haul a small, lightweight Jay Feather trailer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


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Paris is a city of fashion, no doubt. But does it take itself a little too seriously? It depends who you ask. One Parisan comedian, Marie S’Infiltre, stepped onstage in a vintage Chanel outfit during today’s runway show at Paris Fashion Week, which was attended by lumineries like Anna Wintour and Cardi B.
S’Infiltre brought an unexpected touch of comedic performance art by strutting down the runway alongside the models. It wasn’t a prank, though, but a tribute to the iconic fashion brand.
“I’ve always dreamed of becoming a Chanel muse,” said S’Infiltre. “Chanel is eternal, my tribute was a desire to take part in this eternity for a few minutes.”
Unexpectedly, she climbed onstage at the Grand Palais runway show dressed in a black-and-white skirt and jacket. It was a vintage Chanel suit from 1986, which she got from her mother’s closet.
“That’s why I look like a grandma on the catwalk,” says S’Infiltre.
She may have brought a slapstick Gonzo edge to an otherwise very ordinary fashion show. However, it came swiftly to a halt when one of the Chanel models, Gigi Hadid, approached her.
“Gigi was quite nervous, by all means, and reacted quite aggressively to me,” said the comedian, artist and writer. “She clearly did not understand my comic approach, and at some point, I thought she was going to pull my hair and yell, as if we were school girls.”
Hadid led her backstage off the runway. “Gigi is obviously sublime and a fashion icon,” she said. “I understand her reaction and continue to love her, in spite of that.”
Shen she got backstage, she was not met with applause.
“Let’s say that the way it happened was probably not the smoothest, but I have known worse,” said the popular YouTuber, who has interrupted political rallies for her comedy. “When I went on Marine Le Pen’s stage during the presidential campaign, it also did not end well.”
S’Infiltre’s appraoch is part-comedy, part-public art and part-performance for what she calls “an exhaustive satire about our society.”
Since 2015, she has created and starred in over a hundred YouTube videos where she makes sharp, comedic commentary at public events. She also performs a one-woman, arty stage show in Paris.
“I am not making fun of people, I am pointing how silly some people can be when they lack distance and thinking,” adds S’Infiltre. “Sacha Baron Cohen is my ultimate reference, I think he is by far the funniest person alive.”
She isn't the first, nor will she be the last, to fake her way to the top of fashion week. One journalist named Oobah Butler pretended to be a designer in a video posted last year, which got him a nomination for a Webby Award.
And earlier this year, a YouTuber in London brought a non-model friend who faked being an up-and-coming talent, who blended into the fashion scene with a silver purse and pink outfit.
Paris Fashion Week will certainly not forget this runway show. “Maybe its a Parisian thing, but everyone looks pretentious and sad,” she says. “Let’s reveal joy and fun, even just for a little bit.”


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Iowa Senate passes various regulations on meat alternatives
Members of the Iowa Senate voted unanimously on a bill on Feb. 27 that would require cultivated meat and plant-based meat alternatives be labeled as “meatless” or “imitation” when selling the products in the state.
The proposed legislation, Senate File 2391, passed 49-0, and now moves onto the Iowa House.
State Senator Dawn Driscoll was a vocal supporter of the legislation and received support from various groups across Iowa, including the Iowa Cattleman’s Association.
“This legislation protects against nefarious labeling of fake meat and keeps petri dish proteins out of supplemental nutrition programs and Iowa,” Driscoll said on Facebook.
As part of the bill, food processing companies could not label meat alternatives, including plant-based and insect-based products, as meat. Similar rules would apply if a business wanted to use common words on packaging like “bacon” and “burger” unless the label also included “veggie,” “plant-based,” or “meatless.”
If passed, food processors and restaurants could face civil penalties between $500 and $10,000 per offense.
Another measure in the bill stated that if the Supplemental Nutrition Association Program (SNAP) allows for cultivated meat to be purchased in the United States, Iowa must file a waiver or other exception that excludes the product from program eligibility in the state of Iowa.
The proposed legislation directs the Iowa Board of Regents to instruct school districts, community colleges and other institutions not to purchase cultivated meat.


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During the Summer of 2010, DVS Shoe Company announced they had comes to terms with Nicky Diamonds on an exclusive licensing agreement allowing them to produce a new line of skate shoes under Nicky’s Diamond Supply Co. brand name. Today we get our first clear look at one of the sneakers that’s been developed in the line. The shoe, which is currently unnamed, has a not-to-high not-to-low, mid-cut shape to it which is constructed from premium materials, such as tumbled leather and suede, in Diamond Supply Co.’s signature black and tiffany colorway. Diamond Supply Co. branding comes into play on the tongue tag of course, and on the midsole where a small rubber stamp of diamond appears near the heel.
Stay tuned for further details in the near future as the Diamond Supply Co. Footwear line is scheduled for a Spring 2011 launch. Don’t forget either, there’s rumored to be two more Nike SB x Diamond Supply Co. collaborations coming sometime this year too. Via: HighSnobiety


text:
Moodle HQ’s Sander Bengma has announced via the Moodle Forum that Moodle 3.5 and the accompanying minor releases Moodle 3.4.3 and Moodle 3.3.6 will not be available by the initially scheduled date of May 14.
This major release comes with major new features, and, for the sake of ensuring a smooth experience, the decision to delay the release was made. Most likely responsible for the delay is the implementation of GDPR features and the “Privacy API.” It is unclear whether the GDPR compliance development goes beyond the Data Privacy and Policies plugin.
Other possible reasons include the transition to Bootstrap 4, the latest version of the visual layout development framework, or the completion of the QA stage, which came closer than usual to the launch date and includes a larger number of tests than usual due to an extra set of Bootstrap-related tests. Bengma does not give an exact number, but confirms the passing rate to be under 100% at the scheduled time of release.
It is also unclear whether this will also affect the completely retooled Moodle Mobile 3.5 and Desktop.
Moodle 3.5 is now rescheduled for Thursday, May 17, 2018.
Read Bengma’s statement here or below (emphasis his):
This is an update to the earlier post regarding the Moodle 3.5 release.
We’ve decided to give ourselves a few extra days to ensure a few last issues for GDPR and the bootstrap 4 upgrade can land safely. As a result Moodle 3.5 will be released on Thursday May 17th.
We’ve been working around the clock to finalise these issues and our QA cycle. The QA tests are looking good with only a few more to go and we’re including a recently spotted performance improvement for the GDPR data export. I appreciate this slight delay is not ideal and apologise for the inconvenience, but on balance we believe it is worth it.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank the community for their feedback and their contributions to the code and QA testing; many thanks to all – your input is highly appreciated!!»
So far, Moodlers have responded to the announcement with understanding and suggestions that the testing version, Moodle 3.5 beta, needs some polishing.


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UTRUST Switzerland AG is excited to announce a new partnership with the leading blockchain security protocol, Trustroot (www.trustroot.io).
With this partnership UTRUST is doubling down on security and validity of transactions between individuals and companies who send payments on the platform. The addition of Trustroot’s verification will provide customers peace of mind while protecting them from phishing attacks, malware, and other advanced cyber security threats.
Nuno Correia, CEO of UTRUST, said “The partnership with Trustroot will provide our users with an additional layer of protection and security when making online payments. At UTRUST, customer protection is our highest priority, and we are excited to be partnering with Trustroot to keep our customers safe.”
Commenting on the partnership with UTRUST, Shayan Zadeh, CEO of Trustroot, said:
“The partnership with UTRUST is exciting because it allows us to greatly extend the number of transactions that we secure and advances our goal to create a safer environment for all cryptocurrency users.”
About UTRUST Switzerland AG:
UTRUST is the world’s first payment platform for cryptocurrencies featuring Buyer Protection and Instant Payments. The company is building a global PayPal-like payment platform with extensive cryptocurrency support. Providing faster, safer and more convenient payments is the platform’s ultimate goal, which will ensure large-scale adoption and user acceptance.Learn more about the project at www.utrust.com.
Trustroot is a blockchain protocol that protects individuals and businesses from fraud and theft within the cryptocurrency community. The protocol verifies the identity and trustworthiness of the blockchain business users interact with to help avoid scams, phishing attacks, and other fraudulent activity. Learn more about the project at www.trustroot.io.


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Another week, another round of Stadia news. This week, Google’s platform saw the release of Life is Strange: True Colors as Stadia also saw a surprise new Pro game, several free-to-play weekends, and more.
Stadia Changelog is a weekly series on 9to5Google where we round up some of the Stadia news that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to talk about. This includes a roundup of which new games were released on Stadia during the week, which games saw updates and patches, new games either confirmed or speculated for the platform, and more. Come back every Friday, and don’t forget to check out Bandwidth, our weekly look at the rest of the cloud gaming world, including GeForce Now, Luna, and more.
New games on Google Stadia
There were two surprise releases on Stadia this week. First, the horror game Darkwood, then Katamari Damacy Reroll, which is also on sale for Pro members for just $9.89. Finally, the scheduled release of Life is Strange: True Colors hit Stadia on September 9. The Life is Strange release comes with two versions on Stadia.
- Katamari Damacy Reroll
- Life is Strange: True Colors
As of this week, Google has added 73 games to Stadia in the calendar year 2021 on its way to the promise of at least 100 titles added this year.
Games coming to Stadia
Skyclimbers is coming to Stadia second
Skyclimbers, the upcoming indie game that the Stadia fans rallied behind, has just confirmed some good news regarding its release order. The game will still be coming to PC through Steam first, but Stadia will be its second platform.
Free Play Days
Two new games are available for free to Stadia Pro subscribers this weekend: Madden NFL 22 and Rainbow Six Siege. Both games are free from September 9 to September 13.
PGA Tour 2K21 goes Pro
Surprisingly, PGA Tour 2K21 joined Stadia Pro this week, with the game being available to claim for free to all Stadia Pro subscribers.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla v1.3.1
Ubisoft has released another update for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla with new River Raids, various improvements, and more. The update is now applied to Stadia’s port.
More of this week’s Stadia news
- Stadia loses upcoming exclusive Tchia, which will now be only on PlayStation/Epic Games
- Stadia exec Jack Buser moves to Google Cloud to lead further gaming ambitions
- Katamari Damacy Reroll is now available for Google Stadia
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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“I’m just not a believer in saving money,” Corcoran. . . .
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday that it had awarded more than $100 million to a dozen airports to help prevent accidents after a series of near collisions this year.
May 19, 2019 · Day 3: Day Trip To The Mezquita De Córdoba.
. government has spent $ 3. . ”.
. I’ve already paid for accommodations, how much spending money would I need? I would like to do it as. Plaza De Espana Timing: 08:00 am - 10:00 pm.
A three-course 'menu del dia' can cost anything from 6€ to 15€. Florida Gov.
16 hours ago · Data shows beef steak prices are up more than 50 cents a pound from last year. Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo – Free Tuesdays after 6p.
75% to 4.
A three-course 'menu del dia' can cost anything from 6€ to 15€. The real estate entrepreneur and star of ABC’s “ Shark Tank ” says her best advice for making money is to just “spend it.
As returns remain an expensive headache for retailers, they could start turning to a new solution: withholding deals from frequent returners.
. . m. May 9, 2023 · Biden’s proposal relies primarily on new taxes to generate enough money to pay for new spending while reducing the deficit.
Cathedral and Giralda – Free Sundays 2:30p. Joe Raedle/Getty Images and AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images. Buying currency in the US. .
When it comes to sides Cannuli says deviled egg fans may be in luck. . .
. Jun 8, 2021 · Money-Saving Tips. Dec 25, 2022 · I recommend spending 1-2 hours here to explore the entire complex.
Try the best online travel planner to plan your travel itinerary!. May 13, 2023 · Consumers intend to spend $274. Much of that would come from hiking the corporate income tax rate from. McCarthy wants to cap future spending and grow federal spending by just 1% each year.


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In honor of Black History Month, Makeup Artists (MUA) of Kent State hosted an event in Bowman Hall introducing members and attendees to black-owned makeup supplies.
“This is an issue that definitely needs talked about more, not just in makeup. Black-owned businesses don’t get as much exposure as they need and because of this people do not know about their businesses, products and services,” Dominique Gordon, vice president of MUA of Kent State, said.
According to Gordon, the Feb.23 event was controversial. Students argued the issue of exclusion when talking specifically about black-owned makeup brands.
The group’s purpose behind holding the event was to highlight and discuss the lack of diversity in beauty stores, specifically in black-owned cosmetic lines.
“Because black-owned makeup is hard to find in stores, we had to do a lot of online shopping in preparation for this week’s meeting. We had to order the product, but we were unsure of what the colors would look like and how they would look on people of different skin tones since we weren’t able to see them in person first,” Gordon said.
During the meeting, Gordon presented a power point with statistics about black-owned businesses and a list of beauty lines that are black-owned. In addition to the power point, people in attendance participated in an online trivia game with a chance to win free beauty products.
Among the beauty prizewinners was Neariah Ross, a freshman business management major.
“I’ve been wanting to come to these meetings for weeks and finally came because the topic of black owned makeup brands sparked my interest. I have a YouTube channel, and I plan to do a review on the product that I won at tonight’s meeting,” Ross said.
In addition to prize giveaways, MUA of Kent State also brought in guest speaker Marisa Meeks. Meeks is an African-American, freshman fashion merchandise major who recently started her own business.
“Marisa’s Minks” is a mink lash company that Meeks started in January 2017. Meeks talked about her business’s start up and her lashes.
“As a black women I already have to work three times harder for my business,” Meeks said. “With black owned businesses, people don’t really trust the brand right away and automatically think that if it is by a black woman that it is only for black women.”
“I like to see everyone do well, and I think a lot of the time black owned businesses don’t support each other as much as they should,” Meeks said.
She said her goal for her lash line was to mix luxury and price to appeal to a college student’s price range, using the term “balling on a budget.”
Olivia Williams is the African-American student life reporter, contact her at [email protected]


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3d printing - News, Features, and Slideshows
3d printing in pictures
One of the limitations of 3D printing has been its inability to use different types of materials while printing one product. This has been an obstacle for 3D printing in space travel, which sometimes requires parts composed of several different materials.
The University of Wollongong (UOW) has turned to 3D printing to gain the racer's edge in the annual Formula-SAE race car engineering competition.
3D printed guns, candy and cars top the list.
Sydney startup Sneaking Duck has announced it will personalise glasses frames for customers by using 3D printing.
Here are the nine most common 3D printer technologies
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By: Hillary Chang, FCSN Voices Senior Youth Reporter
After the shift to online learning during March 2020, Sufen sought ways to help out during a time of crisis. She was alarmed when she saw news of disposable masks posing a threat to marine wildlife. She discovered another problem with masks when she encountered children who didn’t want to wear uncomfortable, disposable masks. When she saw a YouTube tutorial illustrating how to make window masks in an effort to help deaf people who communicate by reading lips, she decided to experiment with making lighter, better fit, reusable masks.
Sufen spent days at the sewing machine, working late into the night to bring her ideas to life. Because she was completely new to mask making, she initially followed YouTube tutorials to create her face masks. She started with a simple design using a single cut of fabric. However, through feedback from others, she realized masks made out of a single cut of fabric weren’t very comfortable, as they fit too tightly on the face. Therefore, she changed her design, sewing two pieces of fabric together to create a mask more curved around the nose like a bird’s beak, which she received a lot of positive feedback for. Not only did Sufen experiment with various designs, but she also tested different materials. When she realized certain materials were difficult to breathe through, she chose to use cotton and nonwoven materials for her homemade masks.
Sufen’s homemade masks, which are made to be adjustable with a bead that can tighten the ear loop—and are also reversible, as they are sewn in a way so they can be worn on either side—have garnered popularity amongst users. Within two years, she has made around 2,000 masks. She separates each mask into individual Ziploc bags and distributes them to schools, grocery stores, and other public centers. While she was delivering masks to those around the community, word of Sufen’s masks got around and friends began requesting them as well. Sufen began shipping masks to people from all around the world: sending shipments of homemade masks to Europe, Mexico, Japan, and Taiwan.
By staying up late at night to make masks, Sufen has gained a lot from her experiences ideating and creating. Not only has she learned more about sewing, but she has also had a lot of fun brainstorming various mask designs. As Sufen selects different fabric patterns for her masks, she considers different themed patterns, choosing seasonal, holiday, cartoon, and cultural based designs.
As she continues making masks, Sufen also strives to explore other creations, potentially experimenting with soap and lotion making. Although she initially doubted her abilities with mask making, after making thousands of masks, she now sees mask making as a piece of cake. As a result, Sufen encourages others to try out their own interests—whether it be designing, building, or even mask making.
Even though several have insisted on buying her masks, Sufen stands firm with her decision on giving away the masks rather than selling them. “Giving and selling are totally different. Giving makes people warm. When we give, we give not the thing, but our heart,” Sufen said. She emphasizes the joy she derives in giving masks, and hopes her story will inspire others to also value the concept of giving.


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Coronavirus infections would plunge if 80 percent of people wore masks, study says 2 face mask emoji
Infections would absolutely plunge if 80 percent of people using masks, research claims– New york city Rouses Factor–.
face mask levels.
In the air, there are different bits of dirt and also allergens that can create major damage to the body. Although nobody can manage this, they can take preventative measures to handle the scenario. PPE masks can filter out greater than 95% of air particles, vapors, and also smells. It likewise aids address the issue of the coronavirus medically. Individuals that have symptoms of the illness will usually cough and sneeze. A face mask to shield versus viruses will certainly avoid the launch of breathing drops right into the air or spread to an additional person.
On the internet face mask sell store.
Be sure to use a mask when you are in a crowded area; You should also maintain it while you exist. If you respect an ill loved one, after that you should likewise safeguard yourself with a mask. You need to additionally utilize one if you recognize that you are sick to prevent the transmission of the virus to your liked ones.


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NEW YORK, April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Rebag, the authority for buying and selling luxury, debuts the Rebag Style Assembly, a new program highlighting a collective of industry leaders and experts whose distinct perspectives and eye for style will inspire customers to make informed shopping decisions.
The Rebag Style Assembly launches with a lineup of notable tastemakers including:
- Nicky Hilton, Designer and Entrepreneur
- Laura Brown, Editor in Chief of InStyle
- Danielle Prescod, Author and Co-Founder of 2BG
- Bryanboy, Content Creator & Creative Director
- Lauren Singer, Founder & CEO of Package Free
- Summer Albarcha, Modest Style


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Saturday, September 8, 6pm-9pm – Soho Studios, 2136 Northwest 1st Avenue, Miami Wynwood Arts District
Thrillist presented Miami’s inaugural Cuervo Tradicional Taco Takeover and Cocktail Competition at Soho Studios. Taco enthusiasts had a chance to cool down, and sip on 10+ creative Cuervo Tradicional cocktails from local favorite masters of mixology. The best local restaurants presented their A-game, serving original tacos and Latin-inspired dishes for the chance to win guests vote. The event restaurants lineup included: Taquiza, Cancun Grill Doral, Hotlime Craft Tacos and Ceviches, Banko Cantina, Plomo Tequila & Taco Bar, Cabo Flats, 222 Taco, Best Chefs Catering By Chris Valdes, E11even, and Santo Dulce! Any leftover food will be donated to the homeless through Forage Forward.
View this post on Instagram


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More Articles for Jim Hebe
James L. Hebe, Navistar's senior vice president, North America Sales Operations, will retire from Navistar, the company announced today. Hebe, 63, has led the company’s North American Truck sales and marketing efforts since re-joining the company in 2008. Hebe began his career ...
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British food and drinks exports fell for the first time since 2015 in the first half of the year, with pork the only product to see a jump in sales due to massive exports to China.
A new report from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) showed that exports fell 13.8 per cent year-on-year to £9.7bn.
Only three of the UK’s top 20 export markets saw sales increase. China saw growth of 0.3 per cent, Canada 6.7 per cent, and Norway a whopping 46.9 per cent.
China’s sales increase was largely driven by its taste for British bacon, with pork sales of over £132m in the first half of the year.
This accounted for over a third of the UK’s total pork exports, which grew 17.5 per cent in the period to hit £300m.
Since 2018 China has been ravaged by African swine fever, a viral disease which has swept through the country’s farms and decimated its pork output.
The outbreak is one of the biggest animal-borne epidemics in history, and has killed over 100m pigs.
The disease has proved a boon for UK food producers. In its annual results, FTSE 250 firm Cranswick said that exports to the far east saw revenues increase 122 per cent last year.
The FDF said that the UK-Japan preferential trade agreement, which was announced earlier this month, presents a key opportunity for exporters.
Japan is currently the world’s largest net importer of agrifood and drink, and was the UK’s 19th biggest market in the first half of the year at a value of £124.5m.
Dominic Goudie, Head of International Trade, FDF, said: “A fall in exports in the first half of 2020 demonstrates the huge challenge currently facing UK food and drink exporters.
“We also have serious concerns about our access to existing EU trade agreements, with more than £1.7bn of UK exports at risk where continuity deals haven’t been agreed.
“However, there remain many opportunities overseas as we navigate our way through economic recovery, strengthen our resilience as an industry, and build relationships through new future trade agreements such as with Japan – the world’s biggest net importer of food and drink.


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Cheaper and better ways of filling a prescription are coming as pressures to squeeze medical costs continue.
The traditional retail pharmacy is being flanked by companies that dispense drugs through the mail, and by companies such as ProxyMed, a small Davie-based company.
Volume, computers and health maintenance organizations are the three legs of ProxyMed's strategy to make prescribing drugs cheaper and faster for patients and more intelligent for doctors.
"Managed health care has catapulted pharmacies to the forefront," said Harold Blue, 33, chairman of ProxyMed. He said pharmacy costs are the third largest cost center for HMOs, after hospital stays and the bills of medical specialists.
To cut costs, ProxyMed starts with pharmacies that can do nearly wholesale volume and are stripped of other products. "No ice cream, no sunglasses," said Chief Financial Officer Bennett Marks.
That lets pharmacists focus on what they do best and helps cut down waiting time.
ProxyMed then contracts only with HMOs. That helps assure a flow of patients that makes the wholesale pharmacies feasible. Currently it works with Humana and Care Florida, two large plans in South Florida.
What makes ProxyMed unique, Blue said, is the proprietary computer software that links doctors in the HMO to ProxyMed and its wholesale pharmacies.
The computers let providers write and send most prescriptions electronically. They also provide updates and comparisons on drugs, recordkeeping on patients, cost data and various ways to keep track of things.
"We're an information gatherer for the doctor. Our whole process is educational," Blue said.
So far, the education is free. Doctors get computer services at no charge when they agree to funnel patients to ProxyMed's 14 pharmacies in Tampa, Orlando and South Florida.
ProxyMed's 1993 revenue of $6.6 million came solely from prescriptions, but Blue said this year the company will begin charging about $250 a month for its computer services.
He projected that revenue will grow to $30 million this year, partly as a result of the acquisition of six pharmacies in central Florida and of Scripts, a company in Miami that provides drugs to nursing homes and does home infusion therapy.
Rapid growth has not yielded profits. In its first year as a publicly traded company, ProxyMed lost $926,760, and Blue expects losses to continue this year as expansion costs exceed revenue.
In a market that has been kind to initial public offerings, but harsh on medical issues, Proxy-Med shares doubled after their August offering at $6, but had eased to about 9 1/2 last week.
Blue and co-founders John C. and Maria Fandetti retain about 40 percent of the stock.
This April, ProxyMed hopes to take delivery of a robotic drug mailing machine that will be only the fourth one of its kind in operation and the first in the private sector.
Called an AutoScript II, the device costs several hundred thousand dollars and is capable of filling 5,000 prescriptions a day, Blue said.
ProxyMed also plans to continue to build its base of providers. It has about 100 doctors' offices signed up so far. An office can include half a dozen physicians, Blue said.
ProxyMed is the third company Blue has started. He built a chain of six pharmacies in Hollywood right out of high school, then founded Best Generics, a generic drug distributor that he sold to Miami-based Ivax Corp. in 1988.
He left Ivax for ProxyMed in 1991, after signing a consulting agreement. The agreement expired on Aug. 5, 1993, which was, by coincidence, the day Proxy-Med launched its public offering, Blue said.
By using ProxyMed's system, HMOs can cut 20 percent to 30 percent from the price of drug prescription, making membership more attractive to both patients and doctors, Blue said.
If the group of 42 million people who now belong to HMOs expands, so will ProxyMed's reach. "As that number grows, it will change the way people buy pharmaceuticals," Blue said.


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Marlins Park expo: 7 hot tech, entertainment products -- slideshow
Tigerdirect.com's second Miami Tech Summit and Holiday Bash will be 8 p.m. to midnight on Thursday, Nov. 7 at Miami Marlins Park, 501 NW 16th Ave., Miami.
TigerDirect.com is transforming Miami’s Marlins Park into a hot spot for technology innovation at the second Miami Tech Summit and Holiday Bash on Thursday.
TigerDirect.com has partnered with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to feature previews of products that will be featured at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, interactive games, food, cocktails and entertainment.
See the attached slideshow for seven of the hottest products that will be at the show. Sony also will reportedly unveil a new laptop at the show.
Entertainment will include a tech circus with the help of LAB Miami, complete with clowns and stilt walkers. A team from Florida International University will give demonstrations of robotics. The Miami Science Museum is bringing some of its tech exhibits.
The show opens at 8 p.m. and the first 5,000 consumers and first 1,000 business customers will receive a complimentary “swag bag” from TigerDirect, a press release said. All attendees will be eligible to participate in various additional giveaways throughout the night.
Participating exhibitors include Intel, Western Digital, Alienware, HP, Kingston, Microsoft, Seagate, Patriot, SMS Audio, ASUS, Discount Laptop Shop, Centon, CoolerMaster, Sony (VAIO), eBay, Tripplite, Epson, Thermaltake, TCL (TTE), Swann, Planar, PayPal, Night Owl, LG, Belkin/Linksys, AT&T Wireless, United Stationaries, NZXT / iBuyPower, Kensington, Autodesk, Squaretrade, Verbatim, XFX, Viewsonic, TrendMicro, Sandisk, MSI, EVGA, OCZ, Drobo and Actiontech.
The park is located at 501 NW 16th Ave., Miami, and the event is from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Kevin Gale is editor in chief of the South Florida Business Journal
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