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Neo Cryptocurrency Latest News
Read the latest news about Neo to learn more about this altcoin.
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Neo News. Neo is a Blockchain platform and cryptocurrency created with the idea of establishing a scalable automated trading of bitcoins of. · China's president, Xi Jinping has made a shoutout about accelerating the blockchain adoption as a core innovation.
What’s new at NEO? The cryptocurrency is currently at its ...
This announcement made NEO surge up by 45% in the last 24 hours. The Chinese trading expert, Josh Rager points out that after this news surfaced all over, the trading volume of NEO increased by more than 1 billion USD. Google Trends Neo (NEO) Search Trends. There is a correlation between price appreciation and public interest in cryptocurrencies, such as Neo.
Many cryptocurrency investors use Google Trends, which measures the volume of web searches for a particular topic over time, as a tool to gauge whether public interest is increasing or decreasing for a particular cryptocurrency.
Latest Neo (NEO) News. Gold. The Monetary Logic For Gold And Silver. 2 weeks ago by Zero Hedge. Trading. Cross-chain Support: Game Changer for DEX Industry. 3 weeks ago by Coinspeaker. Bitcoin. Our website is purely informational that provides news about cryptocurrency & blockchain. None of the information you read on our website should be. Get the latest NeoGenomics, Inc. (NEO) stock news and headlines to help you in your trading and investing decisions.
Get the latest Neo price, NEO market cap, trading pairs, charts and data today from the world’s number one cryptocurrency price-tracking website. News; About Neo. Neo price today is $ USD with a hour trading volume of $, USD.
Xrp Analiz - Xlm Analiz - Neo Analiz - Dash Analiz - Chainlink - Ethereum - Cardano - #Bitcoin
Neo is up % in the last 24 hours. The current CoinMarketCap ranking is #23, with a market. NEO News In this world of cryptocurrency, now and then, there is a new project which offers something new, something exciting making this world very exciting and engaging.
The most recent one to join this race is NEO which people also call Ethereum’s killer. · Neo Latest Crypto News The NEO cryptocurrency project presented three new products during the NEO Community Assembly conference: the NEO • ONE developer framework, the NeoFS distributed file system, and the NEO Blockchain grha.xn----8sbelb9aup5ak9a.xn--p1aiing System: WINDOWS, OSX, IOS, ANDROID.
NEO is on the bullish side of their algo that sees it reaching $16,50 per coin by December Neo Coin Future:, NEO Price Prediction NEO has been one of the most hyped crypto projects that was a true media darling even during the peak of crypto frenzy that spawned thousands of new coins.
The cryptocurrency market is a mixed picture on Friday, with all top-3 coins mostly unchanged in the last 24 hours. The total market capitalization of all digital assets in circulation reached. NEO cryptocurrency news. Recently, NEO news has flooded the front pages of the major cryptocurrency resources.
The news about NEO’s price burst amid critical blockchain-related political announcements from China. In his speech last month, Chinese president Xi Jinping declared blockchain technology “an important breakthrough”. Get the Live NOE Price (in USD, KRW, EUR, JPY, INR, AUD), NEO News, Price Chart, Index &; Market Cap. Get the latest analysis of NEO Coin with hours, 7 days, 30 days, 90 days &; 1 year movements in NEO Price, Trading Volume and Market Cap.
Neo cryptocurrency latest news - How to mine neo
Compare the NEO Price across all Exchanges at the largest crypto exchange platform! Cryptocurrency News (CCN) offers breaking news, analysis, price charts & more on the most popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum & Ripple & emerging cryptocurrencies such as Monero, Stellar, Dash & EOS.
Cryptocurrency News offers something for everyone. Get the latest. The cryptocurrency is currently at its record high NEO reaches new records as all cryptocurrencies see a very positive month. The currency’s price reached the $80 dollars mark-putting NEO as the 12 th in the cryptocurrency market capitalization. NEO’s market value is at $5 billion dollars and its price currently sits at around $ NEO (NEO) prices - Nasdaq offers cryptocurrency prices & market activity data for US and global markets.
· Unlike most other cryptocurrencies, the NEO coin cannot be divided. So, you cannot make a transfer like NEO or NEO.
NEO (NEO) Latest Prices, Charts & Data | Nasdaq
NEO can be considered similar to the stocks of any company, which cannot be divided. There is a second cryptocurrency that can be used by the NEO. Neo is an open-source, community driven platform that is leveraging the intrinsic advantages of blockchain technology to realize the optimized digital world of the future.
- Latest Cryptocurrency News | Coindelite News
- Check out the Latest News on Neo | Cointelegraph
- Read Latest Cryptocurrency & Blockchain News | CoinNewsSpan
- Cryptocurrency News | Blockchain News
· Neo Coin Prediction NEO is a blockchain platform and cryptocurrency, which is designed to digitize assets using smart contracts, aiming to bring blockchain to the masses.
The smart contract systems of NEO has been supportive of programming languages which are familiar for the developers.
NEO Price Prediction 2020 And Beyond: What's The NEO Coin ...
Some of these advantages make NEO cryptocurrency popular among its counterparts. If you want to know any updates of NEO, then better be abreast with the latest NEO news. Articles You May Read.
Neo Coin News for the dark winter and other crypto readings
Neo Price (NEO). Price chart, trade volume, market cap, and more. NEO is a cryptocurrency and smart contract platform that supports applications written in a variety of programming languages. Fees for deploying and running smart contracts are paid with GAS, a separate token.
Don’t miss out on breaking news. Get the latest headlines on. Get the latest NEO coin news, NEO price prediction & price analysis, and the price chart of NEO to USD only at CryptoMoonPress. NEO News. Price Analysis NEO Price Records % Drop Over the Last 5 Days. Edward Scates-December 5, and market updates. With this website, one is supposed to have a bird’s eye view of various fields such as.
The technology behind the cryptocurrency NEO, formerly known as Antshares, will be completely reconfigured by this time next year. In April, NEO co-founder Erik Zhang announced that an optimized. Features the NEO USD price, real-time (live) charts, NEO news and videos.
Learn about NEO coin, NEO price, crypto trading and more. About our crypto currencies news NewsNow aims to be the world's most accurate and comprehensive cryptocurrencies news aggregator, bringing you the latest headlines from the best alt coins news sites.
Whether it's Bitcoin, Ethereum or Ripple, Monero, Litecoin, Dash or NEM, we've got it covered.
NEO Price Today | USD 0.0227 | Live NEO Price Chart ...
Real-time cryptocurrency market news, Bitcoin and Altcoins, and the latest trading updates. What you need to know now about the Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin, among other. · NEO Smart Economy Towards NEO3.
NEO are furthering on their new governance and economic model consisting of a voting-based incentive mechanism. NEO are hopeful that Neo3 will be the ideal next-gen internet infrastructure for mass adoption. A cryptocurrency is a type of digital or virtual currency that doesn’t need to exist in a physical form to have value. These days cryptocurrencies have become extremely popular due to their decentralized exchange system between peers, making it essential for everyone to stay up to date with latest cryptocurrency news today.
CryptoNewsZ is a one-stop platform that provides news stories on cryptocurrency & blockchain along with live coin prices, analysis, exchange reviews, & more. Friday, December 11 Breaking News.
Find the latest NeoGenomics, Inc. (NEO) stock quote, history, news and other vital information to help you with your stock trading and investing. Neo (NEO) is a blockchain-powered digital currency and a platform for creating a global network of decentralized applications.
Neo Cryptocurrency Latest News. NEO (NEO) - Curated Cryptocurrency News
The blockchain is powered by NEO coins, which themselves generate GAS tokens slowly over time. GAS is used as a transactional currency within the network, and the amount owned by a user depends on the amount of NEO they. · Cryptocurrency in Focus: China's NEO Snagged in PRC Crypto Volatility The team is building an open source, 'smart economy' by combining.
· Get the latest NEO news & stay tuned for the more updates of the NEO coin price analysis & prediction, NEO wallet & many more at grha.xn----8sbelb9aup5ak9a.xn--p1ai Thursday, December 10 Breaking News. About NEO: NEO is a cryptocurrency and smart contract platform that supports applications written in a variety of programming languages. Fees for deploying and running smart contracts are paid with GAS, a separate grha.xn----8sbelb9aup5ak9a.xn--p1ais of NEO are also rewarded in GAS for holding NEO and are eligible “claim” GAS via their NEO Wallets.
At the same time, GAS tokens are used as the incentive for NEO holders for the generation of each new block on the network. NEO coins can be bought on many cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance or HitBTC. NEO Crypto News. You can find the latest NEO coins news and developments by clicking here.
· Binance coin is currently the seventh biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap data, with a total value of $ billion. This is a far cry from bitcoin's lofty. · Given recent bans imposed by China, NEOhas the potential to emerge as the cryptocurrency of choice in the heavily regulated nation, and perhaps across the globe.
Since its inception, NEO’s Onchain. · Neo cryptocurrency latest news. Coin Insider is the authority on Neo. Insight into the latest breaking blockchain news; providing bulletins, incisive opinion, market analysis, and. Obtener Neo precio, gráficos y otras informaciones de criptomonedas.
Latest Neo (NEO) News - Latest Cryptocurrency News
News provided by Cointelegraph · NEO Founder Says Blockchain is a Remedy in a. should i buy bitcoin cash or bitcoin. · Most money that gets swapped around electronically is just credits and debits in accounts at different banks. China’s digital cash is designed to be an electronic version of a banknote, or a. Live Crypto News. Cryptoknowmics offers the latest cryptocurrency news to keep its users abreast of every crypto-related development.
As one of the most accurate sources of crypto news, Cryptoknowmics publishes live crypto grha.xn----8sbelb9aup5ak9a.xn--p1ai you are looking for cryptocurrency latest news today, Cryptoknowmics is the first place that you should start grha.xn----8sbelb9aup5ak9a.xn--p1aie the rapid growth in the cryptocurrency.
Read the latest blockchain & cryptocurrency news on Bitcoin & Altcoins. Stay tuned with Daily price analysis & predictions of different coin at CoinNewsSpan. NEO $ %. BNB $ %. XLM $ +%. MIOTA $ %. CRYPTOCURRENCY. Crypto News The definition of a cryptocurrency is a digital asset containing cryptographic protocols that make transactions secure and immutable.
Cryptocurrencies are built on top of distributed ledger technology, blockchain — which. Leader in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, NEO, ICO and Cryptocurrency News, Coinotizia covers all cyptocurrencies bringing you the latest news and analyses on the future of money. About million GAS, corresponding to the million NEO, will be generated through a decay algorithm in over 22 years time to address holding NEO. If NEO is transferred to a new address, the subsequent GAS generated will be credited to the new address.
Technology behind NEO cryptocurrency NEO is a blockchain-based protocol. Read the latest cryptocurrency news and updates here. We focus on the bitcoin news, ethereum news, NEO, ICOs, prices, blockchain technology, and smart contracts. learn about the cryptocurrencies over here. Cryptocurrency News. Visa and BlockFir Plans to Launch Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card. · NEO cryptocurrency has positioned itself continuously among the top 20 digital coins by market cap. GAS cryptocurrency is a fundamental element in the project, being the fuel that powers the NEO blockchain.
If more companies choose NEO to generate and store smart contracts, the power of GAS can only go up with the trend.
grha.xn----8sbelb9aup5ak9a.xn--p1ai, aka CCN - Capital & Celeb News, is a part of the media organization Hawkfish AS with offices in Norway, U.S., Canada, and India. Contact Founder & Chief Editor Jonas Borchgrevink: [email protected]ak9a.xn--p1ai or +47 98 48 24 · This new cryptocurrency, NEO, is dubbed the “Chinese Ethereum” and is touted to dethrone Western cryptocurrencies. While it may sound too.
Cryptocurrency News. Cryptocurrency News Wootrade Gets Funding from Krypital Group. Edward Scates-October 1, Cryptocurrency News OceanEx Unveils New Payment Project, OceanEx Pay.
Binance has Added NEO to its Borrowing Platform September


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The U.S. Postal Service chose Golin/Harris International as its agency of record.
Golin/Harris offices in Washington and Chicago will manage the account. The agency is part of Interpublic Group of Companies Inc., the New York advertising agency conglomerate.
The agency is to educate the public about the USPS as the postal service works to reform itself. The campaign will stress the postal service's strategic relevance in the $900 billion mailing industry.
Services offered to the USPS will include cause marketing, employee-counseling services and community relations.
Interpublic shops DraftWorldwide and Campbell-Ewald handle parts of the USPS account.

domain: news


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The New Water Misers—Farmers?
As urban Californians face mandatory water cutbacks and potentially huge fines for wasting an increasingly scarce resource, their ire has turned on farmers who use 80 percent of the drought-stricken state’s water supply.
Overlooked in the finger-pointing is that farmers are producing more revenues and more crop per drop thanks to new technology, according to Michael Cahn, an irrigation adviser with the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
“Water is starting to cost everyone more and more, so no farmer is willfully exploiting his supply or wasting it,” he said.
Cahn found that in the region surrounding Salinas, California, more than half the lettuce crop is grown using highly efficient drip irrigation. That has resulted in a 40 percent drop in water consumption by area farmers over the past 25 years.
By 2011, most tomato farmers had stopped flooding their fields with water and switched to drip irrigation that targets the roots of individual plants. That produced a 54 percent increase in water efficiency, while using similar techniques on much maligned almond trees led to a 33 percent rise in efficiency.
“Almonds use the same amount of water as wheat or lettuce, but almonds are in the ground the whole year, while lettuce is only in the ground 60 days,” Cahn said. “So lettuce uses about the same water as almonds would use in 60 days.”
Your average suburban lawn, he noted, sucks up as much water as lettuce if it covered a similar-sized area. “We have a choice on how to use that water—to grow food or to water lawns and wash cars.”
Heather Cooley, director of the water program at the Pacific Institute, an Oakland, California–based research organization, said it would be a mistake to villainize farmers.
“There’s a tendency to see this as cities versus farms, but in reality we are all eating the food, not just us but others worldwide, just as we eat food grown elsewhere,” she said.
So, Why Should You Care? California grows nearly half the United States’ fruits, vegetables, and nuts and supplies 80 percent of the world’s almonds.
But Cooley noted that many farms still flood their fields and have yet to deploy new techniques to save water.
To that end, Cahn has developed a web app that helps growers schedule when they irrigate particular crops and use water most efficiently, given local weather conditions.
“The reality is it takes a lot of water to grow crops,” Cooley said. “When people say clearly ag is not sustainable in California, to them I would say with our current practices it’s not, but if we make improvements, we can definitely sustain a vibrant ag economy.”


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Amazon 3D Smartphone Rumors
Various sources report that Amazon is working on a 3D smartphone to be released before end of 2013. More or less similarly to LG, Amazon's device is supposed to use "retina-tracking technology" to make images appear to be hovering above the surface of the screen from all angles, without requiring special glasses. So, it is not completely clear if the new phone will have a 3D autostereoscopic screen, or if images will be re-rendered in real time in 2D while following the user's head and eye movements.
Few details have been revealed, except than the new device will support 4G LTE connectivity and will be powered by chips from Qualcomm.
In the same rumor stream, we observed traces of a future Amazon set-top box that can stream Amazon Prime instant video content and of a new Amazon music streaming service.
Meanwhile, in Wall Street...
...Amazon's stock was up by about 1.5% on the day as of publication.


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For cyber security companies, this week provided a boost. Following an exposé from WikiLeaks, it was revealed that the US Central Intelligence Agency and Britain’s MI5 had built an arsenal of tools to exploit holes in ordinary citizens’ devices including iPhones, Android smartphones and Samsung smart TVs.
If these holes exist, governments are not the only ones targeting them — hackers will be equally wise. And if companies such as Apple and Google have chinks in their devices, other companies may decide to take a closer look at their own defences.
Next year, Britain will be subject to an EU-wide directive that will fine companies 4 per cent of their turnover if their data are hacked, stepping up the pressure to tighten cyber security. Reflecting this trend, many UK cyber security groups, such as the recently listed ECSC and Blancco, have benefited from rapid growth in the past year. But for others, such as the NCC Group, recent months have been more challenging.
Bradford-based ECSC helps customers to shore up their cyber defences. It counts 10 per cent of the FTSE 100 as customers, including Barclays, as well as government agencies such as UK intelligence service GCHQ.
With the acceleration of cyber threats worldwide, including recent hacks on TalkTalk and Yahoo, ECSC chose to list on London’s Aim in December 2016. The company raised £5m at 167p per share and had a market capitalisation of £15m upon admission. Since then, its shares have steadily risen above its float price.
ECSC, founded 16 years ago, provides responses to unexpected cyber incidents, such as hacks and leaks, reviews the cyber security of client organisations and provides “technical penetration testing” — or simulated attacks — to see how far hackers would get in a system.
The group recorded 15 years of consistent profit growth before listing. It will be announcing its results for the 15 months to December 31 2016 later this month and is forecast to have made £4.4m of revenue. The company expects to treble revenues to £15.5m by 2019.
Its share price has risen to 258p, 54 per cent higher than the float price of 167p, putting its market cap at £24.5m.
Blancco is not a traditional cyber defence company, but provides an unusual security service: secure data erasure. This means the company sells software that can destroy all electronic data on devices including hard drives and mobile phones without physically destroying the device itself. Its product ensures that deleted data cannot be recovered even by experienced hackers.
While data erasure is still a nascent industry, its importance is growing rapidly in light of large-scale data theft at corporations such as Vodafone, TalkTalk and Ashley Madison. The market is estimated to be worth roughly $2bn a year.
Blancco’s customers include global security agencies such as Nato, the US Department of Defense and companies such as eBay.
The company’s revenues of £22.4m were up 49 per cent year on year for 2016 and it expects similar growth this year. It narrowed its operating loss from £1.6 to £400,000.
Growth should be driven by regulatory changes, including EU rules that come into force in Europe next year and will fine companies that do not protect and dispose of sensitive data properly.
Blancco’s shares closed the week at 290p per share — almost a third higher than a year ago.
Manchester-based NCC Group has weathered a rough few months, despite its dominant position in the UK cyber assurance market, which tests cyber defences. Its market capitalisation reached £1bn in March 2016 and it entered the FTSE 250. Since then it has lost almost three quarters of its value.
Last week, the group’s chief executive Rob Cotton stepped down with immediate effect a week after a profit warning that caused the company’s share price to fall by almost a third. He will be replaced temporarily by Brian Tenner, chief financial officer, who only arrived on February 1.
NCC’s assurance arm counts most of the FTSE 100, many Fortune 500 companies and the British government among its customers.
The company warned that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation would be 20 per cent lower than the bottom of its previous forecast range of £45.5m-£47.5m after a disappointing third-quarter performance. It expected a reduction in sales and profitability in the UK, mainland Europe and North America.
Oliver Knott, an analyst at N+1 Singer, which downgraded its recommendation on the company from buy to hold in February, said: “The company has grown very fast through a mixture of organic and acquisitive growth, and maybe the back offices are not joined up enough.”
NCC shares ended the week at 110.5p, close to its all-time low after its profit warning in February.
Get alerts on Cyber Security when a new story is published


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Led by pork production increases, total weekly US red meat production is above last year but below the average of the previous five years, according to USDA data.
Total red meat production last week amounted to 921.8 million pounds, compared with 900.8 million in the same week a year ago and the 2009-2013 average of 960.04 million. This week will see a significant production drop as major slaughter and packing firms take a day off to observe the Labor Day holiday.
Weekly chicken production also is up this year, remaining above the 2009-2013 average for all but two weeks and above last year for all but three. In two of the weeks in which broiler production fell below previous years, the holiday weeks fell a week earlier than in previous years. Had they fallen in the same weeks, broiler production would have been below a year ago only once and been never below the average.
Broiler production rose last week to 1.022 billion pounds from 965.5 million in the same week last year and 926.5 million in the 2009-2013 average. Weekly production also was up from 1.008 million the previous week.
Despite common beliefs in the meat industries, consumers are slow to switch between their meats of choice. Price differentials over time may cause some long-term shifting, but it’s more common for beef consumers to switch to cheaper cuts or to eat less than to switch the type of meat consumed.
BEEF PRODUCTION FOLLOWING SEASONAL PATTERN
Weekly beef production is following the seasonal pattern, albeit at a lower level, USDA figures show. Weekly ups and downs have almost mirrored the average since April when accounting for the one week difference in holiday weeks.
This week’s beef production likely will be down because of Labor Day holiday plant closures. Once that is in the record books, the trend is for weekly beef production to decline slightly into year end.
PORK PRODUCTION CLIMBING
Pork production, however, is climbing seasonally and at a higher level than the average.
For traders, this presents a problem, as they see it as direct competition for consumer dollars. At the right retail price, it could be an issue since price always rules if the spread is wide enough, but consumers may simply eat a little more pork rather than switch much beef consumption to pork.
CASH FED CATTLE TRADE QUIET
This week’s cash cattle trading got started Thursday with widely scattered activity at $140 to $142 per cwt on a live basis, steady to down $1 from last week, and at $218 to $220 on a dressed basis, $2 to $3 lower.
The USDA reported lower boxed beef prices Thursday with its choice cutout down $0.41 per cwt at $239.06 and select off $0.60 at $228.10 with 114 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Wednesday was $205.54, down $0.17. This compares with the Sep settlement Thursday of $203.95, up $0.12.


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Last weekend, Kim Kardashian West hinted during one of her make-up masterclasses in LA that she had plans to venture into bridal make-up - and since the reality TV star's wedding to Kanye remains one of the most talked about affairs, it totally makes sense.
The former Harper's Bazaar Arabia cover star joined her trusty make-up artist of over a decade, Mario Dedivanovic, for a Q&A, and when a fan asked what her favourite bridal make-up look of all time is, Kim K replied with the most Kim K reply ever - her own, of course. The reality TV star cites her bridal beauty look from her 2014 nuptials, and, according to Harper’s Bazaar US, added, “My five-year anniversary is coming up so I might have a little recreation collection in the works.”
The news comes weeks after she announced the launch of three new red, nude and pink lipstick shades for her KKW Beauty Valentine’s Day exclusive drop.
Dedivanovic claims that there is so much interest around her wedding day make-up due to the short supply of photos made public. Kanye, who famously shuns the spotlight on and keeps out of any storyline on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, reportedly asked for no camera to film the ceremony.
From what we gather, though, it was an au natural make-up look created by Dedivanovic. The MUA has previously dropped a few hints around what products he used to create Kim's look for her big day, and despite Kimye's multimillion dollar wedding budget, the bridal beauty look included a L’Oreal Paris nude lipstick and Urban Decay eyeliner and mascara.
Whilst we’re still speculating as to exactly what the “recreation collection” will entail, we know for certain that Kimye’s wedding anniversary is only a few months away (May), so we don’t have long to wait!
Do you think Kim K is releasing a bridal beauty collection? Drop us a comment on our Facebook and let us know.
Press play to watch cover star Kim Kardashian West's interview...


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- News tagged "microsoft"
Tuesday, 29 Sep 2015
Activation helps verify that your copy of Windows is genuine and hasn’t been used on more devices than the Microsoft Software License Terms allow. And depending on how you got your copy of Windows 10, activation will use either a digital entitlement or a 25-character product key.
Lumia and Windows Phone fans, these are the handsets you've been waiting for so long. And it's hard to fault the specs.
Monday, 28 Sep 2015
Mac users who use Office but aren't interested in an Office 365 subscription, this is for you.
Microsoft has just confirmed that the new and upcoming iPad Pro will be too big to qualify for free Office apps.
Monday, 21 Sep 2015
At a Microsoft event last Friday on reinventing productivity, we managed to get a closer look at a working prototype of the Surface Hub, a huge display for group collaboration. Apparently, you can also run Minecraft on this thing.
Wednesday, 16 Sep 2015
If you've a Surface 2 or any Windows RT device, now’s a good time to hit Windows Update.
Tuesday, 15 Sep 2015
For those unfamiliar, the Microsoft Garage division has already put out an Android lockscreen called Next since last year. So why buy Echo?
Microsoft has sent out media invites for an event on 6th October in New York City where it is expected to unveil the Surface Pro 4 and two new Lumia smartphones.
Monday, 14 Sep 2015
This information was revealed by Cyanogen’s CEO Kirt McMaster during an interview with the International Business Times.
Microsoft has announced that Office 2016, the desktop version of its office productivity suite, will be generally available on September 22.


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Eurogamer reports that multiple developers have said Microsoft is no longer making them pay tens of thousands of dollars to patch their titles.
Until recently, Microsoft made developers pay when submitting games for certification but would then offer one title update free of charge, before making them pay for any further re-certification. This is apparently no longer the case for both Xbox Live Arcade games and full retail games.
The fee was originally introduced to try and discourage developers from releasing unfinished products that would require lots of updates. While Microsoft still reserves the right to charge any company deemed to be making excessive requests following a failed certification, the new normal is that no fees will be charged.While this is a good move in and of itself, could this mark the beginning of a shift in Microsoft's attitudes to indie developers? Until now the company has taken a fair bit of flack from the likes of Fez developer Phil Fish and the creators of Oddworld and DayZ, who have all said that the prohibitive costs associated with patching games is one of the reasons they're keen to work with Sony on the PlayStation 4, but not Microsoft.
If Microsoft is prepared to ditch this process, perhaps it's also prepared to allow indies to self-publish somewhere down the line? As it currently stands the company has said it intends to keep things the same for the Xbox One but with all the other changes that have hit the upcoming console in the last couple of weeks, could another one be coming soon?
IGN has reached out to Microsoft for comment and will update the story as soon as hear back.
Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Junior Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.
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The pandemic brought the global tourism industry to its knees last year. The sector in Switzerland was not spared. Travel restrictions saw a drop between 85-95% in overseas visitors, including short-stay Chinese, the Asian travellers the tourist industry had become increasingly reliant on. In the following article, Martin Nydegger, the CEO of the national tourism organisation, says the sector has learned its lesson and is now putting the accent on sustainability.
If we are to succeed in making Switzerland the world’s most sustainable travel destination – a goal for which we already have many assets – we need a long-term strategy, common goals for all players, and a holistic approach for all three pillars of sustainable development.
Ever since the arrival of the first tourists who began travelling in groups – what we would describe as the beginning of “mass” tourism in the second half of the 19th century – nature, our mighty mountains and very diverse landscapes in a small area - have always been the dominant motivation for a trip to Switzerland. Wherever they come from, today’s travellers still expect to be fascinated, energised and soothed by nature in our country.
I’m no different. As a young tourism professional in the Lower Engadin Region (Engadin Scuol) in the early 2000s, I was acutely aware that when it comes to tourism, nature is our most important asset. This region, which is not known for its spectacular sites or bold marketing campaigns, has always been an inspiration and a model for sustainable tourism, a model for a fine balance between all three pillars of sustainable development (people, planet, prosperity). Tourism in Lower Engadin is based on authentic experiences: exploring the wonders of the nearby Swiss National Park, enjoying the therapeutic properties of its mineral water springs, and discovering the many facets of the Romansh culture. The region always focused on long-term objectives for a balanced development of tourism, ensuring prosperity and social equity, while protecting the environment. This shaped my understanding of a “healthy tourism” and became an enduring aspiration.
And still, over 15 years ago, raising awareness about the challenges to come was the priority to help tourism providers realise how much concerns for nature – namely climate change – could completely upset their industry in Switzerland. In 2008, on behalf of Switzerland Tourism (ST), as Head of business development, I initiated and co-authored a study with the University of Bern on the possible impacts of climate change for the tourism industry by 2030. This was a wake-up call to clearly explain how tourism business models – in particular in lower altitude winter sports destinations – would have to be reconsidered and reshaped in the years to come.
However, fighting climate change should not be our sole concern. Nowadays, all aspects of tourism need to be examined to find out where and how improvements in terms of a more sustainable development can be made. And this doesn’t mean that we should privilege one aspect of sustainable development at the expense of others. Let me give you an example on a national scale. In 2015, ST launched the Grand Tour of Switzerland, a 1600 km-itinerary across Switzerland, our very own “Route 66”. Does that really make sense, when fossil fuels are known to impact climate change? Yes, it does, since the vision behind the Grand Tour was to help give guests who travel to Switzerland by car – they still make roughly 60% of travellers – inspiration to discover new and lesser-known places. In other words, to guide automotive traffic to “new roads” and to open up new economic perspectives for peripheral regions. In addition, just two years after – in partnership with a major Swiss electricity provider – we launched the world's first road trip for electric vehicles – the whole route was equipped with over 300 charging stations for electric vehicles – this, in a country where they were not yet common at all. The same year, to boost touring Switzerland by train, the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland was introduced.
So, for ST, sustainable tourism is about finding solutions on a national scale to improve the balance between the three pillars of sustainable development. But challenges that can lead to an imbalance are multiple. This was true a decade ago, when Chinese tourists started exploring the world and began visiting Switzerland in great numbers. They were eager to discover places they had never seen before, and so, destinations in Europe had to rapidly adapt to a new demand of huge proportions. Finding the right balance for tourism takes a bit of time and a lot of flexibility.
Hence, we need to think in the long-term and how we want our industry to develop in the next 10 years barring unforeseen events which can impact tourism like the current pandemic. For several years now, we have thus completely focused our promotional activities in China on individual travellers: guests who want to stay longer and visit relatively unknown places, as opposed to tourism hot spots. This means that many more destinations can profit from this type of tourism. Travelling by plane such a long distance is not good for the environment but staying longer and travelling mainly by public transport once in Switzerland makes their entire journey more sustainable.
Importance of Chinese visitors
Pre-pandemic, the Chinese (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) accounted for one in ten tourist arrivals in Switzerland, which placed them only behind Germans and Americans among foreign visitors. However, where Germans and Americans spent on average more than two nights in Swiss holiday accommodation in 2019, the Chinese stayed little over a day. Yet the strong growth in the sheer number of tourists arriving from China (accounting for a plus of nearly 400% in overnights between 2009 and 2019), coupled with the steady decline of overnights by European visitors (Germans –35% in the same period), kept China in the focus of tourism marketing activities as one of eight “priority markets”.End of insertion
Finding the right mix of guests is of utmost importance to ensure that local economies can still thrive and that tourism providers can invest in sustainable offers and infrastructure. Pre-pandemic, there was a balanced mix of visitors made of 45% from Switzerland, 35% from nearby countries and 20% from overseas. This shows how much tourism in Switzerland is dependent on its Swiss and European guests, a fact that will not change when international travel regains momentum.
I’ve been privileged to work in various countries (India, Africa, the Netherlands and, of course, Switzerland) and to travel in many others, collecting experiences on the development of tourism along the way. I am convinced that sustainable tourism can only stem from a holistic approach, which takes into account the fine balance between all three dimensions of sustainable development.
Sometimes great accomplishments are made to protect nature, but other aspects key to sustainability are often not taken into account. I was, for instance, deeply impressed by the strategic importance given to nature protection in Costa Rica. In 1948, the country abolished the army, but focused its budget on education, tourism and environmental protection. This had an enormous impact on preserving the natural habitat of plants and animals, but also on involving the population in caring for this habitat through education. Education in turn serves tourism, since providers in Costa Rica are extremely knowledgeable in nature conservation. However, in matters of mobility, development, at that time back was not so successful. Public transport was scarce and heavy truck traffic for the transportation of agricultural products clogged the road network. Still, empowerment of the population in terms of environmental protection is an aspect that I find extremely inspiring.
Indeed, I believe that change has to come from within. Learning, sharing experiences – successes as well as failures – making a whole community benefit from the knowledge at hand, is the only way to inspire and generate change. This is also the philosophy of the strategy for sustainable tourism we launched together with the Swiss tourism industry and the support of the SECO (State Secretariat for Economic Affairs) in February this year. This strategy – I prefer to describe it as a movement – called “Swisstainable”, aims at helping our country’s tourism industry in the implementation of sustainable solutions, while at the same time, showing our guests what suppliers have put into place in terms of sustainability. This is an ambitious programme – we hope to have 4,000 Swiss tourism providers on board by the end of 2023 – since all participating businesses make a commitment to take specific measures in terms of sustainability. With the Swisstainable movement, we share knowledge, create emulation among tourism providers and give our guests guidance on ways to travel more responsibly in Switzerland.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of SWI swissinfo.ch.
In compliance with the JTI standards


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CEO of Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) Heyward Donigan, said she believes retailers will be forced to take on a bigger role regarding the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines as the need for a faster delivery becomes more prominent. At the moment, vaccines are being delivered to top priority citizens such as health-care workers and nursing home residents.
Donigan revealed that with the incoming Biden administration could come changes on vaccine rollout.
“I can’t predict what is going to happen,” Donigan said. “They have reached out to us and we are in contact to them.”
Rite Aid along with other retail pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens have partnered with the federal government to distribute vaccines as needed.
“One thing for sure it is going to be pretty chaotic for the next few weeks as people try to move through this,” she said.
The company is anticipated to be part of phase two, when shots will be widely available to those that don’t qualify for phase one due to age, occupation or lack of underlying medical conditions, according to Donigan.
“I believe this is going to be ramped up more expeditiously and faster than that,” she said.
Though the pace of Covid Vaccines has been slow, it is said that some eligible recipients have declined their shots or skipped appointments altogether, meaning Covid Vaccines have wound up in the trash.
“If you open up a bottle and you only get one person who wants a dose that day, you’ve got to figure out what to do with the rest of the vial,” she said. “It is extremely complicated to figure out how to find the right people, the most vulnerable, in that moment, in that day without having things go to waste.”


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Global nutrition company Herbalife has been the subject of countless headlines since activist investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square fund announced a $1-billion short on the company’s stock. At the close of 2012, Ackman launched a public campaign to drive down Herbalife’s stock price, attacking the company’s business model and how it presents itself to potential distributors and consumers.
The subsequent involvement of prominent hedge fund managers such as Dan Loeb, Carl Icahn and George Soros has prompted a wider conversation about what comprises legitimate sales practices, in contrast to how illegal schemes conduct business.
Our September issue of DSN offers further insight into The Difference Between Legitimate Direct Selling Companies and Illegal Pyramid Schemes and an informative point of view by MLM Legal’s Jeffrey A. Babener on Herbalife: What the Short Sellers Missed on the Way to the Press Conference.
Despite seeing shares fall 43 percent following Ackman’s initial accusations, Herbalife bounced back with record Q1 earnings in 2013. In July, the company reported record, double-digit sales growth for the second quarter, propelling Herbalife shares to a 52-week high of $66.23.
Earlier this month, Herbalife shares jumped 22 percent when Bill Stiritz—who has spent 54 years in the food industry and currently serves as CEO of Raisin Bran maker Post Holdings Inc.—disclosed a 5.2 percent stake in Herbalife. Stiritz knew little about Herbalife before viewing a televised debate between investors Icahn and Ackman earlier this year. After researching the company, including signing up as a distributor to personally investigate the products and process, Stiritz told Bloomberg he considers Herbalife a “national treasure” and plans to buy more shares in the company.
Last week, Herbalife stock climbed further to hit a new all-time high—trading up more than 3 percent at about $73 a share—amid speculation that Herbalife will soon announce a leveraged buyback of its stock. Upon receiving certified financial documents from new auditor Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), Herbalife could choose to conduct a large share repurchase—a program which one analyst estimates could amount to $2 billion.
Despite Ackman’s ongoing attempts to discredit Herbalife, including petitioning the SEC and writing a cautionary 52-page letter to Herbalife auditor PwC, Herbalife has seen stock prices soar more than 66 percent since Ackman announced his short last year.


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To celebrate our dedication to data we’ve launched our inaugural Data Awareness Week from February 20th to 24th. The week kicks off a company-wide discussion on all our data points, manifesting itself in a week-long conversation about what data means to us.
At eShopWorld, we work with data every day across all our departments and business functions. From payment methods to logistics to marketing insights, everything we do is data driven. Much of our success is due to the close attention given by our experts to make sure data is clearly defined and aligned across the entire business.
Anne-Marie Ramsay, Business Intelligence Manager at eShopWorld, commented on the event,
“So, delighted to be a part of a company who understand the importance of clear data definitions and alignment. Our Data Awareness Week is in full swing and sparking great conversations!”


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18 March 2020, 12:11
This solo mode is designed for the fiercely independent who are "true mercenaries".
16 March 2020, 11:11
Meanwhile PC and console gaming is putting a strain on Italy's broadband network.
10 March 2020, 12:11
Free to play game goes live today and promises to be 'Bigger and Crazier' than genre rivals.
12 February 2020, 14:31
It joins Konami, Remedy, Rockstar, Capcom, EA, and Square Enix in pulling out post-beta.
13 December 2019, 11:21
Stealthy third person action adventure game beat Control and Death Stranding to the prize.
27 November 2019, 14:31
Season One MW content revealed. Including new maps, experiences, modes, and weapons.
10 October 2019, 11:11
And PC rec-specs have been shared for; Call of Duty: MW, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
31 May 2019, 10:11
Game features a new engine with DirectX Raytracing (PC), 4K HDR and more.
15 October 2018, 12:31
And it set a new record for day 1 digital full game sales on the PlayStation Store, globally.
14 September 2018, 18:38
For Call of Duty®: Black Ops 4.


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Holmes Lofstrom PC Has a New Name, Logo, and Website!
Holmes Lofstrom, PC is pleased to announce it’s new name, logo, and website. We are starting off 2021 with exciting news and a new look. We have re-branded ourselves with a new name and logo. We’ve also launched our brand new website at www.lofstromlc.com.


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Days after the release of rival console PS4 Pro, Microsoft execs have been discussing their own upcoming games machine, Project Scorpio.
The console may not be due to arrive until this time next year, but that hasn’t stopped Aaron Greenberg, Head of Xbox Games Marketing, from declaring that Scorpio will be capable of delivering ‘really true 4K’. Which is a technical term, we assume.
He made the statement at Mexico City’s Xbox FanFest, where he said:
This will really bring the most powerful console you’ve ever seen. It will bring these really true 4K, really incredible visual games that we’ve never seen before on the console. People who have spent thousands of dollars on a high-end PC are getting that experience. How do we bring that to scale in a console in your living room? That’s a big part of what Project Scorpio is about.
Greenberg’s promise of true 4K jives with what others at the Redmond-based company have been saying, including Shannon Loftis, Microsoft Studios manager, who said back in September that, ‘any games we’re making that we’re launching in the Scorpio time frame, we’re making sure they can natively render at 4K.’
4K gaming is likely to form a key part of the marketing battleground, as both Sony and Microsoft vie for the attention of graphic-lovin’ gamers – although question marks hang over both consoles’ ability to replicate visuals only seen on seriously top-end gaming machines.


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Impartial international advert server Flashtalking mentioned on Tuesday that it has acquired Israeli-based advert fraud detection specialist Protected Media because it makes an even bigger push into the OTT area.
Phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed, however the acquisition was made with a mixture of money and inventory.
The deal permits Flashtalking to supply verification, fraud detection and viewability companies globally throughout desktop, cell internet, in-app and CTV/OTT.
Protected Media, which has workplaces in Tel Aviv and New York, obtained Media Score Council accreditation for fraud detection in OTT final 12 months, enabling advertisers that buy OTT stock to implement verification safeguards.
“CTV is such a sizzling area proper now and has a variety of distinctive challenges that Protected Media’s know-how can actually handle,” Flashtalking CEO John Nardone instructed AdExchanger. “We’re actually excited to convey built-in knowledge by means of the verification service into our built-in knowledge merchandise, a simplified workflow and now actually deepening our capabilities in CTV.”
Protected Media’s 17 staff will be a part of Flashtalking, and the corporate can be hiring seven new verification specialists. The combination course of will happen over the subsequent six months.
The acquisition marks Flashtalking’s fourth M&A deal over the previous a number of years, which included dynamic artistic optimization firm Spongecell and attribution analytics supplier Encore Media Metrics.
“Before you purchase the media you’ve bought to have the artistic, and after it’s a must to measure it,” Nardone mentioned.
Till now, although, Flashtalking didn’t assist consider stock high quality, and the advert server’s purchasers discovered it cumbersome to combine numerous verification companions.
Talks with Protected Media started in 2019, however Nardone mentioned the acquisition took on added significance final 12 months with the shift to streaming through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This reinforces for the business that Flashtalking is enjoying huge within the OTT area and is investing and bringing distinctive capabilities to the desk that folks don’t have, and it’s a part of a long-term technique to win in that area,” he mentioned.
The OTT increase has created extra alternatives for fraudsters, significantly large-scale “spoofing” assaults, wherein scammers use server-side advert insertion to generate faux CTV stock throughout a lot of apps, IPs and units, which might value advertisers and publishers tens of millions in advert spend.
“We’ve seen good publishers get fully thrown off platforms, get blacklisted for issues which don’t have anything to do with them,” mentioned Asaf Greiner, CEO and founding father of Protected. He added that Protected Media is working with publishers to assist clear their names with teams which have accused them of fraudulent actions.
Protected Media may even assist Flashtalking to speed up the set-up and administration of verification processes, because it’s an automatic device and doesn’t depend on error-prone shared spreadsheets.
Flashtalking had already been investing in its OTT and CTV partnerships and platform integrations with different verification companions, together with DoubleVerify and Oracle Moat, and Nardone mentioned Flashtalking will proceed working with them.
“However at the moment, as we exit the door, Protected Media is the one a kind of that has an MRC-accredited OTT resolution,” he mentioned. “Flashtalking can be certain that purchasers won’t ever need to doubt the standard of their impressions, particularly costly, high-value OTT/CTV impressions.”
Final 12 months, Protected Media uncovered an advert fraud scheme dubbed Hydra that stole tens of millions from advertisers by impersonating app site visitors. The corporate labored with Google and the Reliable Accountability Group to close the rip-off down.
But it surely’s an ongoing course of.
“On the finish of the day, the takedowns of many of the assaults should not very helpful, since you take down the assault however you don’t take down the attackers – their group continues to be there,” Greiner mentioned. “In the event you take away one in all their strategies, they’ll return with a brand new one. What’s necessary for us isn’t the precise takedown – it’s offering the business and the advertisers with instruments to cooperate with each other and take care of the assaults as they materialize.”


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© 2020 Avaza Limited 016285V (UK VAT Number GB005300150)
Welcome to the Avaza Blog
Insights, tips, and features to help your team work together beautifully and get more done.
Since this article was published, we have updated Timesheet Approvals. You can get updated information here. We’re pleased to announce the launch of Avaza’s powerful
We’re excited to announce the launch of Avaza’s android app! The app includes full desktop-level functionality for managing projects, timesheets, expenses and invoicing. There have been no
We are delighted to announce our support for Google Apps. Signing up for your Avaza account with your Google Apps domain couldn’t be easier. Avaza
Since this article was published, we have updated our Estimates module. You can get updated information here. We’re excited to announce the release of the
We’re excited to announce support for Paypal among Avaza’s invoice payment providers.Paypal is one of the more popular payment providers that doesn’t require you to set


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Families test out their skating skills in Lacock
4:28pm Wednesday 11th December 2013 in Latest News
HUNDREDS of people have been enjoying a cool Christmas at Lacock’s Whitehall Garden Centre, as its annual ice rink again proves popular.
The centre’s ice rink has returned for a third year, and is already attracting people from all over the county.
Whitehall marketing manager Sue Hardy said: “It’s been fantastic, everybody is having a good time.
“We have been holding parties out on the ice.
People can book a room to host their event, and they’ve been having beautiful weather out there.
“It’s right next to our café as well, where people can come and get hot food and drinks, or a nice slice of cake.”
The centre has run the ice rink for the past two years, and it regularly attracts large crowds throughout Christmas and New Year.
Ms Hardy said: “It’s been really popular, we’ve had people of all ages – even some of our older visitors have been having a go.
“We expect it will be busy right up until the kids go back to school, then the rink will close on January 7. The store’s fairly busy most of the year, but those three months from October to December are always our busiest times.
“We have Father Christmas here at the moment, and the Christmas shop is open.
“There are also some reindeer and other animals in, so there is a lot going on. It’s all fantastic.”
The rink is open from 9am to 7.45pm while the store is open late in the run-up to Christmas, and until 4.45pm afterwards.
Tickets start at £1.99 for under-threes, £5.99 for children and £7.99 for adults.
A 45-minute slot on the ice can be booked at www.white hallgardencentre.co.uk
Comments are closed on this article.


text: Scalpers are gonna make a killing on these. Oh wait, they already are. With the hype and pre-release samples selling on ebay for over $80, scalpers will be buying up as many as they can afford, or can carry home. Even if by chance there are any left for the hasbro website store, that still means non-US residents have to pay scalper prices, or online stores that are already charging scalper prices. Because Hasbro don't sell to foreigners. Here's hoping Takara ends up releasing their black version, like the way they held off and then finally released BT Convoy. Even if it doesn't have diecast parts, it would still be cheaper these Alt scalper prices.


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Fortune 500's aren't the only businesses being targeted. Here's how you can protect your small business. Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you'll find interesting useful.
Continuing the discussion about cybersecurity and how to implement measures to keep oneself and those they love secure for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM), but moving into the Protect IT
It's impossible to predict whether you'll be the victim of a cyberattack, but you can drastically reduce the odds of one in a few simple steps. The vast majority of people whose accounts are hacked don't
Google Says 66% of Americans Still Do This 1 Thing That Puts Their Personal Information at a Huge Risk. Here's How Google
According to a Harris Poll study conducted in partnership with Google, the average American has 27 different online accounts that require passwords. Ideally, you should use a different password for each
Google has a password manager that syncs across Chrome and Android, and now the company is adding a “password checkup” feature that will analyze your logins to ensure they haven’t been part of a massive


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Delhi. Minku spends most of his time near the charging point. He keeps checking the battery of his gadgets, even at night. He has developed sleeplessness disorder due to this. In an interview given to Faking News reporter, his mom revealed the problem. According to her, the situation was normal till Minku used to charge his smartphone and laptop only.
Things started to go wrong after he bought a power bank. He started spending more time near the charging point, checking how much time is remaining for the full charge. Things worsened when he bought a fitness band and a wireless headphone in the sale.
Minku had the habit of sleeping late since his engineering days. But this time he has developed a sleeplessness disorder. In the initial stage, Minku showed symptoms of waking up at night and checking for the battery in gadgets. Gradually his frequency of waking up at night increased. Slowly he became Insomniac.
His mom told our reporter “Minku kept on buying new gadgets in big billion day sale. He said more shopping means ‘more savings,’ a concept which no one in our family could understand except Minku.” She further added, “There is a strange looking watch called fitness band, bought by Minku. He says that the watch will tell the number of steps he walks. The wireless headphones were bought for the morning jog. But there is no use. Minku does not go anywhere these days. He keeps charging his power bank, watch, headphones, in addition to phone and laptop that he already had. Minku’s problem is getting adverse day bay day. He keeps things on charge and forgets to switch on the charging point. Later he becomes mad at himself.
Minku’s treatment has already been started at Agra’s famous hospital. We wish Minku a speedy recovery.


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Iconic Brands of India: Indigenous brands step into the spotlight
As Indian companies and brands nurture global ambitions, they face a plethora of choices and challenges. Understanding new markets, new sets of customers wi...
Talcum brand Nycil gets into Sanitiser business
The sanitiser product is also the first big launch on the Heinz portfolio after its acquisition in 2018. Ahmedabad-based Zydus Wellness with Cadila Healthcare added brands like Complan, Glucon-D and Nycil to the portfolio after the acquisition of Heinz India.
Big brands unmask a hot new sales category
Amazon and Flipkart have asked apparel brands and suppliers to up their production of masks. For apparel companies, this huge demand for masks comes as a boon as their core products may not see an uptick in demand anytime soon, two industry executives said.
COVID-19: Lifestyle brands seek to make WFH fashionable
As the boundary between work and leisure becomes porous, websites of fashion brands have added similar WFH pop-ups that direct shoppers to browse outfits for conference calls, Zoom-ready dressing and loungewear.
After retail stores, fashion brands’ online sales drop, too
While ecommerce sales of essentials like foodstuff and personal care items surged amid fears over the spread of the coronavirus, those of fashion and lifestyle goods are taking a beating as fashion brands from jeans to shoes are reporting a 10-20% drop in online sales in the last two weeks.
How brands are trying to woo millennial consumers
Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, had talked about the theory of Survival of the Fittest. Well it appears that in this rapidly evolving world of marketing, only those brands will survive, which are the ‘Useful-est’!
CCI launches ‘Hira’, new brand of Indian cotton
Cotton Corporation of India launched Indian cotton brand named Hira in Mumbai today.
Realme names Salman Khan as brand ambassador
This is the first time Salman Khan has collaborated with a smartphone brand in India. Other popular brands such as Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi had roped in various celebrities to advertise theirproducts.For example, Oppo signed actors Ranbeer Kapoor, Katrina Kaif andsinger-rapper Badshah to endorse its Reno series.
Star FLOW: Panels discuss marketing, brands and sustainability
Industry leaders exchanged ideas on what it will take to succeed in a difficult economic scenario. Speakers discussed the impact of a difficult and deceptive slowdown, with multiple aspects — such as savings being down but an exponentially growing gig economy at the same time.
As India's economy sags, even the Trump brand is struggling
The Trump brand once seemed promising to Indian developers. But it, too, is struggling to surmount one of the country’s worst economic slumps in years. “In the past, the Trump name may have helped attract investors, but gone are those days,” said Pankaj Kapoor, the managing director of Liases Foras, an Indian real estate research company.
Brands may look to flood market with smartphones, offers after Covid-19 restrictions ease: Analysts
“When the markets reopen, all the major OEMs will rush to address the latency in demand by heavily incentivizing both offline and online channels,” said Neil Shah, Research Director, Counterpoint Research. Almost all major phone brands have suspended launch of their latest offerings including Oppo Enco M31, Vivo V19, Realme Narzo and Xiaomi Mi 10 while keeping stocks on hold.
Realme names Shraddha Kapoor as brand ambassador of smart products
“We are thrilled to partner with Shraddha in this exciting journey as her ability to strike a real chord with the masses and undeniable charm will cement realme’s tech trendsetter positioning among the target audience,” said Madhav Sheth, Vice President and CEO of Realme India.
The art and science behind rebranding and renaming a brand
It is quite common for established companies to have their names changed for reasons varying from business expansion and mergers and acquisitions to new identity and brand crises.
Corteva Agriscience introduces new Brevant brand seed to rice farmers in India
Managing Director of South Asia, KV Subbarao said, “I am pleased to announce the introduction of Brevant rice seeds for this upcoming sowing season. We are committed to serving our farmers by providing more choice through multiple brands and channels.
Copyright © 2020 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service


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A little over two years ago, Ford announced that it would be investing billions in three new EV and EV battery production facilities in Tennessee and Kentucky – one at BlueOval City, and two at the future Ford BlueOval SK campus, with production slated to begin in 2025. The automaker began hiring for these new under-construction plants just a few weeks ago, though last week, FoMoCo announced that it it’s pushing back $12 billion in EV investments – and is delaying its second Ford BlueOval SK plant – as it faces weaker-than-expected demand, and may even ditch plans to invest that money altogether. However, it seems as if construction at the second BlueOval SK plant will continue, regardless.
We’re building TWO battery plants at BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, KY! Kentucky 1 will begin production in 2025. Production at Kentucky 2 is paused, but construction is being completed. #BlueOvalSK will provide batteries for future @Ford and Lincoln EVs! #BlueOvalSK_KY pic.twitter.com/62QHwh8hcL
— BlueOval SK (@BlueOval_SK) October 31, 2023
BlueOval SK posted this interesting tidbit of information on X, confirming that even though it has paused production at the second EV battery plant, it will still finish construction of the facility, regardless. “We’re building TWO battery plants at BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, KY!” the tweet reads. “Kentucky 1 will begin production in 2025. Production at Kentucky 2 is paused, but construction is being completed. #BlueOvalSK will provide batteries for future @Ford and Lincoln EVs!”
Ford BlueOval SK Battery Park is being built as part of a joint venture between FoMoCo and SK On, the South Korean battery manufacturer. For now, it seems as if production at the first plant will in fact kick off in 2025 as planned, but it’s unclear what the future holds for the second plant. It stands to reason that BlueOval SK will in fact expand its operations to include that building if/when EV demand calls for it, which aligns with the automaker’s recent change of plans, too.


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USA: Frisch's Restaurants declares quarterly dividend
Frisch's Restaurants has announced a US$.09 per share quarterly dividend.
The company's board of directors declared that this will be payable 10 April 2002 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 29 March 2002.
This will be the 165th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by Frisch's.
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Online alcohol delivery startup Drizly has told customers that it was hit by a data breach.
In an email to customers obtained by TechCrunch, the company said that a hacker “obtained” some customer data. The hacker took customer email addresses, date-of-birth, hashed passwords, and in some cases delivery address, the email read.
Drizly did not say when the hack occurred or how many accounts were affected, but did advise users to change their passwords. We reached out to the company for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.
The company said that no financial data was taken in the breach. But a listing on a dark web marketplace from a well-known seller of stolen data claims otherwise.
The listing, which we are not linking to, claims to have “fresh hacked” [sic] Drizly accounts. The seller did not say when the breach took place, but the listing appears to have been posted on February 13. The listing also did not say how many accounts were for sale. Although no sample of data was offered, the listing claims to have valid Drizly credit cad numbers and users’ order history.
The data is for sale for $14, the listing says. TechCrunch has questions in to the seller.
Drizly has become one of the biggest online alcohol delivery services in the U.S. and Canada, raising over $68 million to date, rivaling Minibar and Delivery.com.
Send tips securely over Signal and WhatsApp to +1 646-755-8849, or email: email@example.com


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The general points of The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) were assessed in the Digital Journal article “European business needs to get smart about data protection.” However, there are choices that businesses need to consider in terms of practical application.
There are also a range of data privacy issues for global business to consider. Spencer Kimball, who is the CEO of NYC-based Cockroach Labs, spoke with Digital Journal about rising data protection regulations and what companies need to do to prepare. Kimball notes that with even the smallest start-ups launching globally from day one – data privacy is not just an issue for large companies.
Digital Journal: What are the main issues facing businesses today?
Spencer Kimball: Businesses are increasingly leveraging the public cloud to increase agility, cut costs, provide a better customer experience and expand into new markets. By 2019, it is predicted that more than half of IT infrastructure spend will be in the cloud technologies — including public, private and hybrid cloud technologies.
However, the reality is that this golden promise of the public cloud is often not achievable because complexities around developing solutions for multi-regional latency, data integrity, and policy problems that threaten to stall those plans.
DJ: Does this present challenges?
Kimball: Companies face two main challenges as they transition to the cloud:
First, maintaining compliance with international data privacy regulations. More so than ever, companies are looking to expand to other regions in the country and Internationally. However, the process of building a distributed data architecture that spans different regions and countries, keeps track of where each customer’s data lives and complies with a growing list of data privacy laws from the EU, China, Brazil and others is extremely complex. With even the smallest start-ups looking to operate globally from day one, this is no longer exclusively a big enterprise problem.
Second is with rising customer expectations. Engineering teams need fast, scalable, and predictable performance to meet the increasingly high expectations of their global customer base.
Businesses need enabling technologies to help with this transition. The current crop of databases are falling down in this new environment.
DJ: What complexities does the digital landscape add?
Kimball: Up until now all public cloud providers and private cloud management providers offered distinct capabilities for operators. As a result, businesses have had to contend with too many technologies with very little standardization. For example, there has been a huge proliferation of technologies to support operations for deployment in this new and rapidly expanding and evolving ecosystem.
On the database side we have MongoDB, Cassandra, Postgres and traditional enterprise databases including Oracle, SQL Server and cloud databases like Azure, Oracle as a Cloud and new entrants like CockroachDB and Aurora. On the orchestration side we have Docker, Mesosphere, Kubernetes – which has the most momentum – and Cloud Foundry. While all of these tools make things easier by making what were unretractable problems retractable – the sheer number of tools adds to growing complexity and cost.
DJ: Why are governments pushing through more data privacy legislation?
Kimball: From Snowden’s revelations, Facebook’s recent data privacy scandal, to Russian hacking it has become clear to consumers and governments alike that privacy of digital information cannot be taken for granted. There is a general feeling that even good actors can’t be trusted.
As a result, governments and companies need to put a premium on protecting consumer data. In some cases, companies will do this on their own accord when it is a foundation of their value proposition but in most cases history has shown that regulation is a more effective way to guarantee compliance with big stick regulations. The EU has long been at the vanguard of protecting its citizens’ data but fast evolving digital threats has led EU to put sweeping a new regulation — GDPR — in place.
DJ: What are the implications of GDPR for a typical business?
Kimball: New government regulations like GDPR put significant financial and organizational pressure on companies. They also impose restrictions on companies who do business in their geographic zone, regardless of where the company is located. The GDPR explicitly acknowledges the protection of natural persons in relation to the processing of personal data as a fundamental right.
As such it imposes a number of restrictions on companies such as obtaining legal consent to process personal data, appointing a data privacy officer, privacy by design, and a number of other data subject rights. Companies can face fines of 4 percent of annual global turnover or €20 Million (whichever is greater) for the most serious infringements (e.g., not having sufficient customer consent to process data or violating the core of Privacy by Design concepts). It is important to note that these rules apply to both controllers and processors — meaning ‘clouds’ will not be exempt from GDPR enforcement.
DJ: Do the responses need differ between major corporations and new start-ups?
Kimball: The dream for start-ups and growing enterprises alike is global expansion, opening the company to new revenue and new markets. GDPR will make the dream of global expansion more difficult — and more expensive. While we can assume that the EU will be scrutinizing large enterprises more closely than small start-ups, a start-up that quickly amasses customers in the EU will be lucky to escape without censure if they don’t follow the rules. As a result, we are expecting that the responses from both start-ups and enterprises will be similar.
DJ: How about companies that provide business-to-business services, like database vendors?
Kimball: All of the same rules apply. Business to business service companies will be required to not only comply with GDPR regulations themselves, but will need to help their customers comply with GDPR. For example, a US-based SaaS company will need to make sure that data is stored in the right country.
DJ: How should companies be responding to such data privacy legislation?
Kimball: Organizations that have multi-region or international customers will be challenged to find ways to keep data near their customers. They will be forced to sort out where all of this data resides, then keep track of it and secure it by industry security best practices. This will be no simple task – in many cases, enterprises will need to redesign their database architectures.
They will increasingly turn to distributed databases and inexpensive cloud services that are popping up in regions around the world to bring order to consumer data and bring, and keep, data closer to the customer. Open source tools and frameworks like Kubernetes and Docker will put these capabilities – that were once the domain of only the largest companies – within everyone’s grasp.
DJ: What services does Cockroach Labs provide to aid businesses?
Kimball: CockroachDB 2.0 helps organizations to simplify and automate the process of building multi-regional or global data architectures. A new feature called geo-partitioning gives developers the ability to direct the movement of data across servers at the database, table, and individual row level. For example, data from German customers could be directed to only exist in and be accessed from Germany. This update keeps data close to customers and presents a foundational building block for helping companies comply with data regulations like the GDPR.
DJ: Which types of businesses do you work with?
Kimball: Our customers span many industries including tech, financial services, online gaming; they come from countries around the world and include startups and large enterprises alike. Some of our customers include Mesosphere, the cluster management platform building DC/OS; Tierion, a blockchain company building a global data verification platform; and Kindred, one of the world’s leading gaming companies, with more financial transactions per year than household names like PayPal
DJ: As a final question, which types of technology most interest you?
Kimball: The most exciting technologies in the horizon are blockchain and machine learning-based technologies that push the boundaries of what can be automated. The advancements we are seeing from self-driving cars to medical diagnostics is just the tip of the iceberg.


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There is hardly an industry that does not use the word customer centricity. Especially in e-commerce, the customer experience plays a central role in offering online shoppers an unforgettable shopping experience. A study explains why personalization is becoming increasingly important.
The past two years, shaped by the pandemic, have shown that external influences have accelerated the digital transformation. Online retail, as well as companies from other sectors, have recognized that customer centricity makes the decisive difference as digitization increases. Siemens subsidiary Mendix, a specialist in enterprise application development, has researched the challenges they face when trying to create a better digital customer experience. To do this, the company hired the market research company at the end of last year reputation leaders commissioned a survey of 522 senior IT professionals in Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. A third of them are responsible for positions at C-level.
Challenge customer centricity
But the perfect customer experience doesn’t just happen that way. This requires in-depth knowledge of how customers behave, what they want and how they can be inspired again and again. Digitization is the magic word here. But even that alone is not enough. 88 percent of those surveyed agree that an excellent customer experience is an essential corporate goal. A goal that is associated with great challenges, as 90 percent of the study participants confirm. Almost half list cybersecurity (49%) and data integration (42%) as the top challenges. Due to the current Ukraine crisis, it is conceivable that the result in terms of IT security has made another leap upwards.
Customers are demanding
Online retailers know that customers expect quick help when they need service. So it’s certainly not surprising that customers (28 percent) are annoyed when there are long waiting and response times. 27 percent are frustrated when problems cannot be solved.
Companies try to counteract this. 63 percent therefore improve communication and make digital selection easier. They hope that this will increase customer loyalty. Ultimately also the turnover, as confirmed by 38 percent of the study participants.
Chatbots and AI
Digitally intelligent solutions such as chatbots and AI are not only used in e-commerce as tools to increase customer satisfaction. This enables online retailers in particular to react quickly to customer inquiries. According to the study, 29 percent are already using chatbots and virtual assistants. An overwhelming majority of 91 percent plan to do so in the future.
Customer centricity in omnichannel
However, a consistent positive customer experience is important across all channels. That’s why almost half of the companies surveyed are determined to also improve the mobile experience this year. This works best with personalized offers. Perhaps it is therefore not surprising that the study participants assume that the demand for individual online offers will increase in the next five years. In order to implement this, however, in addition to huge amounts of data, fast editing times of the applications are required. Hyper-automation that uses AI for customer analysis is needed. According to Deloitte, this is the most advanced method for online retailers and brands to tailor their online offerings to customer needs.
Immersive customer experience
Thanks to technologies such as augmented and virtual reality, but also the metaverse, customers are increasingly confronted with virtual realities. A third of the companies interviewed stated that they were already using AR and VR. Almost half intend to use them in the future. This means that holistic experiences and omnichannel approaches are getting closer and closer.


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BAL HARBOUR SHOPS HOSTED THE OFFICIAL MIAMI SUPER BOWL HOST COMMITTEE VIP PARTY
Miami, FL (January 31, 2020) – Bal Harbour Shops hosted The Official Miami Super Bowl Host Committee VIP Party as Miami celebrates its 11th time as host to the Super Bowl. Bal Harbour Shops, the nation’s top shopping destination, closed its doors to host this truly one of-a-kind, high-profile, private celebrity-styled affair with the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee. Event Honorary Chairs Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Tommy Lee Jones and Dawn Jones, Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras and Delfina Blaquier, Christine Lynn, Miami Super Bowl Host Committee Chair Rodney Barreto and Bal Harbour Shops CEO and Chairman Matthew Whitman Lazenby along with notables from the worlds of sports, media, fashion and entertainment indulged and reveled in this VIP experience including a Musical Performance by The Pointer Sisters.
Event Partners Christine Lynn, Brodson Coastal Tishman, Bal Harbour Village, Tiffany & Co., Adonel and University of Miami Health System teamed up with Bal Harbour Shops to deliver this one-of-a-kind bash on all three levels of Bal Harbour Shops. Guests enjoyed interactive entertainment and the evening’s over the top Candy Factory, danced salsa in the Conga Lounge and witnessed the LED Robot stilt walkers. Invited partygoers feasted on phenomenal fare by the evening’s Culinary Partners including Bal Harbour Shops’ Makoto, Le Zoo, Carpaccio and Barton G., The Restaurant, Estefan Kitchen, Chica, Marky’s Caviar, Beaker & Gray, Grand Havana Coffee, Nave, Bourbon Steak and Corsair. Bal Harbour Shops hosted the famous “Too Good to Keep Silent” Auction during the evening featuring donated exquisite items from Bal Harbour Shops’ luxury stores which raised funds for The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis. Bal Harbour Shops chose The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis as its charity partner and paid tribute to the father-son bond of Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker and two-time Super Bowl Champion for the Miami Dolphins Nick Buoniconti and his unwavering commitment to finding a cure for paralysis after his son, Marc’s accident.
During a week of non-stop action, one event stood out and will continue to Stand Up For Those Who Can’t.
The Miami Super Bowl Host Committee VIP Party presented by Bal Harbour Shops @BalHarbourShops @BalHarbourFlorida @builtbycoastal @brodsonconstruction @AECOMTishman @Adonelconcrete @Univmiami @TiffanyandCo #ChristineLynn @buonicontifund
About Bal Harbour Shops
Opened in 1965 by retail visionary Stanley Whitman, the family-owned Bal Harbour Shops was the first all-luxury fashion center in America featuring high-end retailers in a tropical, open-air setting. The first to make lush landscaping a key part of the design, Bal Harbour Shops features tropical plants and orchids, waterfall features and koi ponds and a variety of palm trees for shade. Bal Harbour Shops is uniquely positioned across from the Atlantic Ocean offering a serene visual aesthetic like no other luxury shopping destination. The historic Bal Harbour Shops, known for its curated retail as well as the emotional connection to its tenants and customers is the global leader in luxury shopping destinations. @BalHarbourShops
About Miami Super Bowl Host Committee
The Miami Super Bowl Host Committee brings together our community’s top local business leaders, community representatives, tourism officials and football personnel around a common cause – making Super Bowl LIV a historic experience both for visitors and for locals across South Florida. On February 2, 2020, South Florida will host its record-breaking 11th game at the newly renovated Hard Rock Stadium. Additionally, Super Bowl LIV will mark the culmination of the 100th season anniversary of the NFL and will feature special events and activities throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties as part of the festivities. For more information, visit MIASBLIV.com.
About The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and The Buoniconti Fund
In 1985, Barth A. Green, M.D. and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti helped found The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis after Nick’s son, Marc, sustained a spinal cord injury during a college football game. Today, The Miami Project is the world’s most comprehensive spinal cord injury (SCI) research center, and a designated Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The Miami Project’s international team includes more than 300 scientists, researchers, clinicians and support staff who take innovative approaches to the challenges of spinal cord and brain injuries. Committed to finding a cure for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury and to seeing millions worldwide walk again, the Buoniconti family established The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis in 1992, a non-profit organization devoted to assisting The Miami Project achieve its national and international goals.
New York Style Guide


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In the case of RIM, that's Alec Saunders, its enthusiastic veep of developer relations and ecosystem development.
Reprising his Myth Busting performance from BB DevCon Americas in October 2011, Saunders fired out stats that he said proved many urban myths about BlackBerry were incorrect.
- 2 billion apps downloaded from App World by January 2012
- more than 60,000 available apps
- App World available in 164 market
- 26 currrencies supported
- 40 operators support carrier billing in 34 countries
This later case is important because carrier billing is much easier for users, driving paid downloads.
It's now the default option in App World, wherever carrier billing is available.
"We've see a 125 percent uplift in monthly sales from carrier billing, and it accounts for 34 percent of total App World revenue," Saunders explained.
"What's also great is that carrier billing means users bought 70 percent more paid apps than before."
This behaviour is even more noticeable when it comes to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
"PlayBook users download three times as many apps as BlackBerry [phone] users," Saunders revealed.
Indeed, of the 60,000 apps on App World, four of the top 10 top grossing apps are currently native PlayBook games, partly because game prices are relative higher on the store.
"People say that BlackBerry users don't download apps but we're seeing 174 million downloads per month. That's almost 30 downloads per user per year," Saunders said.
Of course, he was also keen to get to grips with the competition.
Apple's App Store is untouchable in terms of volume and revenue, but Saunders was happy to stick the boot into the Android Market.
Quoting various third party analyst reports, he said App World has more paid downloads than Android Market, it was the second most profitable app store after Apple, and that App World apps generate 40 percent more revenue than those on Android Market.


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Revealed last week during the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, the Apple CarPlay immediately got under fire by security professionals.
The application, which allows you to use your iPhone through your car’s dashboard, is intended to prevent distractions while driving, as per the claim of Apple’s Vice President of iPhone and iOS Product Marketing, Greg Joswiak. However, the reality may be otherwise.
David Teater, the Senior Director of US National Safety Council does not agree with that rather making drivers concentrate on the job in hand, this application may distract them and increase the number of road accidents.
Teater believes that automobile manufacturers should focus only on enhancing driving experience rather working hard to enable drivers to do other things.
Bruce Hamilton, the Manager of Research and Communications at the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, expressed similar concerns and feels that the CarPlay is merely a motivation for drivers to use their phones more while on the roads.
Questioning the intention of Apple and car makers regarding the safety of their customers, Hamilton believes that this application is intended only for people who want to be on their iPhone all the time even while driving. The desire comes prior to safety in this case.
CarPlay is currently available for Ferrari, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz vehicles, while many other renowned automobile manufacturers such as Honda, Mitsubishi, BMW, Chevrolet, Citroen, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, etc. are in line to get this technology in a few months.
CarPlay possesses several features such as text message dictation, Siri voice control system, access to iTunes Radio and hands-free calls, so that you can focus more on the road while driving.
So, what’s your opinion; do you love Apple’s CarPlay or you are against it?


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Communications accessories outfit Plantronics has terminated Siemens Australia as a distributor of its products.
The 25-year distribution relationship officially ends on 6 November, Graeme Gherbaz, managing director at Plantronics told CRN on Friday morning.
“We no longer feel that our businesses are aligned. We don’t feel we have necessarily the same focus,” Gherbaz said.
Siemens had access to Plantronics’ range of enterprise headset and other telephony products.
The move follows Plantronics’ announcement in January that it had appointed Anixter as a distributor of its enterprise products.
Anixter is carrying the company’s range of contact centre, VoIP and mobile headsets. ATD Technologies also distributes Platronics’ products to enterprise customers.
Anyware Computer Accessories and Roadhound cover the retail market, said Gherbaz.
A Siemens representative could not be reached for comment at press time.
Plantronics terminates Siemens
By Byron Connolly on Oct 13, 2006 10:38AM
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Marriott reports “unauthorized access” to customer database since 2014, exposing data of 500 million guests
Earlier this month, hotelier Marriott International reported that data on roughly 500 million customers staying at hotels operated under Starwood had been compromised in a breach that gave unknown attackers access to the hotel chain’s network since 2014.
Details of the breach are still emerging - there is of yet no word if this is related to another breach from 2015 or what infection vector was used, however it has been pointed out that Starwood had hundreds of instances of RDP (the computer’s “gateway” to the network) exposed to the internet, many using an outdated version of Windows.
- In an email released to customers December 9, Marriott stated while it had not completed identifying duplicate information, the hotel believes the database contained information on approximately 500 million consumers who have made a reservation at a Starwood-owned hotel.
- Marriott was alerted to the issue on September 8 from an internal security tool regarding an attempt to access the Starwood guest reservation database. Marriott said it “quickly engaged leading security experts” to conduct an investigation, which found unauthorized access to the Starwood network dating back to 2014.
- Guests who made a reservation on or before September 10, 2018 at a Starwood hotel likely had their information compromised to some degree.
- For approximately 327 million guests,compromised information included some combination of name, address, phone number, email address, passport number, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date and communication preferences, as well as Starwood Preferred Guest account information.
- For some guests, the information also includes credit card numbers and expiration dates.
- Credit card numbers were encrypted using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-128), requiring two components to decrypt the data; however, Marriott has not been able to rule out the possibility that both were taken in the breach, meaning credit card information may have been exposed.
- For remaining guests, the information was limited to name and other data such as mailing address, email address, or other information.
- Starwood brands include Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton, Westin Hotels & Resorts, W Hotels, Design Hotels, Aloft Hotels, St. Regis, Element Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio and Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts.
- Marriott has reported the incident to law enforcement and continues to support the investigation.
Source: Security Week
Vulnerability in postal service site left 60 million customers exposed for more than a year
Heading into the busiest time of the year, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has finally patched a critical security vulnerability that exposed the data of more than 60 million customers to anyone with an account on the USPS.com website. An unnamed cybersecurity researcher discovered the vulnerability over a year ago and promptly reported it, but USPS declined to address the problem until a journalist recently asked for a comment:
- The vulnerability stems from an authentication weakness in an application programming interface (API) for the USPS "Informed Visibility" program, designed to help business customers track mail in real-time.
- The API was programmed to accept any number of "wildcard" search parameters, enabling anyone logged into the USPS website to search the system for account information of any other user.
- Any user, including those with malicious intent, could have extracted email addresses, usernames and IDs, account numbers, street addresses, phone numbers, authorized users and mailing campaign data from as many as 60 million USPS customer accounts.
Source: The Hacker News
Third-party vendor breach exposes data of millions of healthcare patients
Hospital network Atrium Health informed 2.6 million patients that their personal information was compromised following a breach at technology solutions provider AccuDoc, which provides billing and tech services to the healthcare industry. AccuDoc claims there is no evidence that any data was actually stolen, or that any of the compromised information was misused, despite the fact that unauthorized users had access to its databases for about a week in September of 2018.
- Atrium Health, formerly Carolinas HealthCare System, is a network of healthcare providers throughout the Southeast United States with more than 40 hospitals and 900 locations.
- Atrium Health learned on October 1, 2018 that AccuDoc had detected unauthorized access to its databases containing information related to payments made at several healthcare locations within the Atrium network.
- AccuDoc’s investigation revealed users had unauthorized access to its systems for about a week between September 22 and September 29, 2018.
- Compromised databases contained personal information on patients and guarantors including names, dates of birth, addresses, insurance policy details, medical record numbers, invoice numbers, account balances, dates of service and in some cases social security numbers.
- AccuDoc claims there was no evidence that any data was taken or misused.
Source: Security Week
New report profiles notorious MageCart cyber criminals
MageCart is a broad term given to at least six cybercriminal groups, according to a new report from security firms RiskIQ and Flashpoint, with a common goal of skimming credit card information from compromised online checkouts.
In a few short months, MageCart has gone from relative obscurity to dominating national headlines and becoming public enemy number one for the online retail industry. Recent high-profile breaches of global brands, including Ticketmaster, British Airways, and Newegg, as reported in a previous Threat Intelligence article, have made MageCart a household name. However, its activity isn't new and points to a complex and thriving criminal underworld that has operated in the shadows for years.
RiskIQ and Flashpoint profile six leading MageCart groups in their report, highlighting each group’s tactics and targets, and what makes them unique:
- Groups 1 & 2 target broadly, likely using automated tools to breach sites and skim customer information, and uses a sophisticated “reshipping” scheme to profit.
- Group 3 targets high volume sites, going after as many victims as possible, using a unique skimmer.
- Group 4 is extremely advanced, blending in with victim sites and employing methods to avoid detection.
- Group 5 targets third-party suppliers, such as Ticketmaster, to breach as many targets as possible.
- Group 6 is extremely selective, targeting top-tier victims, such as British Airways and Newegg, to secure a high-volume of traffic and transactions.
Source: Bank Info Security
Court documents reveal first-ever indictment on ransomware charges
On November 28, 2018, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges brought against two Iranian citizens for their involvement in creating and deploying SamSam, ransomware notorious for targeting hospitals, cities, and public institutions.
Involving over 200 victims and $36 million dollars in ransom and damages, this is the first ever indictment issued by the U.S. involving responsibility for ransomware:
- Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah, 27, have been charged on several counts of computer hacking and fraud charges.
- According to unsealed court documents, Savandi and Shah used SamSam ransomware to extort over $6 million in ransom payments since 2015, and also caused more than $30 million in damages to over 200 victims, including cities like Atlanta, GA, and public institutions, such as the Colorado Department of Transportation.
- Living in and operating from Iran, neither has been arrested by U.S. authorities; the FBI has added both Savandi and Shah to their list of wanted hackers.
- Unlike most ransomware attacks, SamSam victims were hand-picked and selected systems were infected manually.
- Attackers first compromised the RDP on targeted systems, using either brute force attacks or stolen credentials, then attempted to strategically deploy SamSam throughout the network by exploiting vulnerabilities in other systems.
- Though Atlanta city officials refused to pay the ransom, efforts to recover systems and records cost the city an estimated $17 million.
Source: The Hacker News
Bundled pack makes SamSam and other ransomware easier for hackers to obtain and deploy
Ransomware-as-a-service has become a rapidly growing business model, with a particular dark web seller offering a package of highly effective encryption malware, including SamSam, one of the more troubling forms of ransomware to hit the market this past year:
- Available for $750, the 2018 ransomware pack includes other well-known ransomware such as Magniber, Satan, CryBrazil, XiaoBa, and more.
- Bundled packs also include tutorials and how-to guides for exploiting vulnerabilities and deploying attacks.
- The cost of the pack is more expensive than individual malware kits, but provides hackers with a wider range of options to ensure a greater likelihood of success,
- The inclusion of SamSam came as a surprise to many in the cybersecurity industry, as it was believed to be unique to the hackers recently indicted by the DOJ, and not widely available.
- The seller advertised in its forum post that it will remove the kit for sale after the first 25 kits have sold.
How safe is your organization? Take the Cyber Risk Scorecard survey to assess your current cybersecurity standing and find additional steps your organization can take to protect against common cyber threats.
Source: ZD Net