text:
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
MANILA, Philippines – Poblacion’s Hong Kong street food joint Fook Yah has announced that it will be closing down for now.
Fook Yah’s last day of operations was on Wednesday, August 31. The small Cantonese-themed resto did not make an official social media announcement yet, but it recently shared an Instagram story of a customer, who posted a photo of Fook Yah’s facade with the caption: “End of an era!”
However, Fook Yah confirmed to customers that the Makati City’s branch closure will only be temporary, as they are set on relocating soon to a still unknown location.
Fook Yah is most known for its roasts, noodles, soups, and other Hong Kong-style dishes. Among the Signature House Specialties are the Cantonese Style Roasted Duck, Hong Kong Style Roasted Crispy Pork Belly, and Hong Kong Roasted Pork Shoulder Meat.
Fook Yah opened in October 2021 at Unit D 5666 along Don Pedro Street in Poblacion. Established by the Viray family, the Asian restaurant’s concept was inspired by the family’s own travels around Hong Kong. – Rappler.com


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Women in the rubber industry (Thailand)
Rubber plantations are rapidly spreading in Southeast Asia, due to the growing demands of the tyre industry, which use 70% of natural rubber.
As a result, large tracts of protected forest are disappearing in many of these countries, where forestry exploitation for raw materials like rubber generates huge profits for the companies involved and also paid employment for local people. Thailand preserves 50% of its forest mass.
Women are rapidly joining the industrial workforce for forest exploitation, such as these women at the Thai Hua Rubber Pcl, who are stacking sheets of rubber which have just come out of the washing machine.

domain: news


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BUSINESS BOTSWANA SAYS THE NEW ALCOHOL BAN WILL DEVASTATE THE ALCOHOL INDUSTRY
Written by admin on
Business Botswana says the recent alcohol ban is going to devastate the sector and delay its recovery further, following past similar bans. Business Botswana President Gobusamang Keebine says this time around, it is quite unlikely many players within the industry will survive. He also decried lack of consultation on the development, despite being the representative of private sector of the COVID-19 Task Force. Meanwhile Botswana Alcohol Industry Association BAIA says it will respect and abide by the decision, and lobby government through Business Botswana for alternative measures. Head of Secretariat at BAIA Jacob Sesinyi, said though such an abrupt disruption will have detrimental effects on the industry, he urged all players in the industry to observe the law. Meanwhile Botswana Beverage Association, BOBA has accused government of an unjustified closure of the industry. Spokesperson Tumelo Mmusi, says this is the way of government whenever holidays are on the cards, and believes there is no evidence, besides cooked statistics, to validate the ban.


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PERRYSBURG, Ohio — With the concern of COVID-19 still overhead, many events have been canceled or delayed indefinitely. But one event, a local tradition, is still on.
The Perrysburg Farmers Market officially announced the start of their season will be July 2. The market, which lines Louisiana Ave. and West Third Street, will run from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Thursday until Sept. 3.
Guidelines will be in place to ensure shoppers, vendors and food trucks can safely enjoy and operate during the market. The market will follow CDC and Ohio Farmers Market Network guidelines with some set in place by the city especially for the event.
“This year will be different but our vendors are taking up the challenge,” said Sandy Latchem, administrator of the Perrysburg Farmers Market in the press release regarding this year's market. “I believe we can operate safely, protecting our vendors and the public during this crisis. We want to be able to provide this service for our community.”
The possibility of the market this year was put up to vote, with City of Perrysburg Mayor Tom Mackin and the Board of the Perrysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau unanimously approving the reopening.
Vendors will be spaced along Louisiana Ave. and West Third Street, with food trucks parking along Louisiana Ave. as well.
Applications for vendors are closed for this year.
Customers are encouraged not to linger at the market or at booths and the following operating procedures will be in place:
- Portable restrooms with sinks will be provided.
- Vendors will be required to wear masks and have hand sanitizer available.
- Vendors will not be allowed to provide samples of their items.
- Customers will not be allowed to touch any products prior to purchase.
Additionally, Music at the Market has been canceled for 2020.


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Nokia SVP Says New Lumia 920 and 820 Aren't the Company's "Last Chance"
September 10, 2012 9:46 AM
comment(s) - last by
Is Nokia bracing for failure already?
Nokia is betting big on Windows Phone 8 to turn it smartphone fortunes around and many believe a failure with Windows Phone 8 could spell the end for Nokia. However, Nokia's senior vice president of smart devices, Jo Harlow, says that the new smartphones such as the
Lumia 920 and Lumia 820
aren't the only chance Nokia has to prove it can compete with smartphone rivals.
Harlow said, "This is a step in the journey. This characterization that it is the last step is not reality. These are two devices; they’re not all the devices that we’ll base on Windows Phone 8. This is our strategy and it’s a journey; there’s not one moment in time that defines everything."
Nokia Lumia 920
The two new devices from Nokia are some of the first Windows Phone 8 devices to be unveiled. Along with the new operating system, the phones also have improved cameras and wireless charging. While many were excited by the new devices, the unveiling of the phones saw Nokia's stock price fall by as much as 15% after analysts said the new devices lacked "wow factor."
An analyst from CCS Insight said, "It’s hard to see Lumia 920 beating the rival Samsung Galaxy SIII or expected iPhone 5 – success depends on keen prices, clear differentiation and defections from existing platforms iOS and Android."
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: How many last chances?
9/10/2012 8:19:04 PM
Oh yeah OK. Your 'field' day must be more like a field of dreams day lol and no one likes a Kevin Costner movie.
Ha now I join the other 99% of all posters here on DT as I am a troll to Parks HA
RE: How many last chances?
9/10/2012 8:42:54 PM
More like 15% of people here are idiot trolls, not 99% so stop lying. I have no idea what is this Costner movie about but you may continue entertaining me by lying about what I supposedly "said" :))) hehe
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heather bresch - search results
If you're not happy with the results, please do another search
Bresch pressured counterpart at Pfizer to drop competing product.
You would think the CEO of a company whose stock lost 63% of its value would be shown the door. You would be wrong.
Settlement for consumers pales in comparison to the compensation Mylan execs received while the scheme was ongoing.
Company does not admit to wrongdoing in settlement.
"To get into something you don’t understand and your daughter being in this type of industry – it was best I stayed away."
US District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled numerous lawsuits against the marketer and manufacturer of EpiPen may proceed as a nationwide class-action under a federal racketeering statute.
Both companies are subject of a suit alleging an illegal scheme to increase sales of EpiPen.
State prosecutors describe a price fixing scheme involving more than a dozen companies and as many executives responsible for sales, marketing, and pricing.
The four largest pharmacy benefit managers must face a class action over their roles in the price hikes.
“We’re talking about a workhorse drug. It is a matter of life and death for kids when they have emergency reactions."
12Page 1 of 2


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Google became the first smartphone company to support built-in eSIMs with its Project Fi (now Google Fi) network last year. Now, it’s expanding that even further with the announcement of several new carriers around the world that will support the feature.
Google addresses Pixel 3 RAM management, camera performance, and more w/ December security patch9to5Google
December 2018 Android Security Update Goes Live for Pixel, Nexus DevicesDroid Life
Comment: Real-time call-screening is one Pixel feature I’d love to see on the iPhone9to5Mac
SlashGear -BetaNews -Engadget -Phone Arena
all 86 news articles …read more


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Industry experts agree that over the next four years, data growth will expand far greater than what the Earth has seen in the last 2,000 years. And, with these enormous data surges, the demand for increased storage capacity will inevitably rise in turn. In preparation for this super data explosion, Hewlett-Packard Co. recently released a whack of new products and services designed around its much-hyped FSAM strategy, and the ability to scale storage to the highest capacity.
According to HP, FSAM (federated storage area management) revolves around the theory of having the ability to manage data from one central point. It also points in the direction where businesses will be able to increase storage capacity by a multiple of 10 using the same people print.
“I think what we are seeing in the marketplace today is that a lot of people are having to, because of business reasons, keep more information…,” said Paul Patterson, marketing manager for enterprise storage for HP Canada. “This is putting a lot of pressure on companies to come up with capacities and different ways to manage their business.”
HP, he said, is one of those companies. On the product side the company announced the HP OpenView Storage Accountant along with the HP OpenView Storage Allocater. Xing Zeng, software category marketing manager for HP Canada explained that Storage Accountant is software that allows enterprise customers and service providers to measure or meter storage assigned to any user.
“The product helps you understand what is the cost to provide (storage) per gigabyte, per hour to the customer,” Zeng said.
Through what HP calls charge-back and cost recovery, resources can be used more productively and services that are being provided but not being used are easily identified.
Storage Allocater v2 improves the ability to access control between hosts and storage. Zeng said the software allows customers to remove, reassign, or add storage from within a shared pool of multi-vendor JBOD, RAID and tape devices as well as manage hundreds of host devices.
On the hardware front, HP has released the compact HP Surestore 181GB disk drive, which it says offers high capacity in a small footprint. Patterson explained that currently drivers exist at capacities of 73GB or less. He added that 181GB is the highest capacity and the HP Surestore offering allows customers to increase their data, within the same physical footprint.
Also new in storage hardware is the HP Surestore Tape Library 10/100. Darren Hamilton, category business manager for networking and storage, said the 10/100 will help customers migrate from current storage capacities to higher density storage.
“The 10/100 gives our customers the ability to migrate to extremely large back-up capacity solutions,” Hamilton said. “We understand that there are still a lot of mixed environments out there, so it is available as a fibre-based device or SCSI. In typical HP fashion we have given customers the ability to choose their mechanism inside that library. They can go with the DLT 8000 or an Ultrium technology mechanism or a Super DLT.”
HP has also announced a new set of services that correspond with the product releases, Patterson said. HP Premier Storage Critical support guarantees qualified customers 100 per cent data availability and accessibility for the HP Surestore XP disk array family. HP Storage Critical Support for the HP Surestore XP disk array family has expanded to include analysis, design, implementation, and testing services. HP Storage Support for Virtual Arrays offers maintenance, technical analysis and change management services to anticipate and meet business information needs.
“What we are trying to do at HP is provide our customers with a sense of confidence,” Patterson said. “We have high quality products that we put out there, but also if something does go wrong they have the ability to have assistance to get that product up and running as soon as possible.”
According to Alan Freedman, senior analyst with Toronto-based research firm IDC Canada, HP is ranked fourth behind Compaq, EMC and IBM in terms of storage. Although he did not wish to speculate on whether these new offerings will put HP ahead of the competition, he did say that the company is certainly not limiting itself.
“What I think they are doing is positioning themselves to be able to capture that captive storage market, so that every time they go out and sell an HP system or server, they can go out with a quality storage solution,” Freedman said.
The HP storage products and services are available this month. For details, visit www.hp.com.


text:
Installers Identify Lpg for Growth
A recent survey by Flogas at InstallerLive has revealed that growing numbers of gas installers are identifying the off-grid market as a key area for future business growth. Three quarters of lpg registered installers surveyed confirmed that they were aware that the off-mains market presented opportunities for business growth, whilst 71 per cent nominated lp gas as their fuel of choice for off-grid homes.
The research highlighted engineers’ increasing interest in the off-grid sector, with 81 per cent of installers questioned already lpg qualified, of which 82 per cent wanting more training in the area, and 69 per cent of those not currently certified for lp gas interested in securing their qualifications. Over half of the installers questioned had seen a rise in enquiries from consumers about lpg gas in the last 12 months.
Lee Gannon, sales & marketing director at Flogas, said: “Traditionally, the non-mains fuel industry has tended to be a self-sufficient one. Lpg, coal and oil suppliers have all opted to manage each aspect of their own supply chain, meaning there has been little need for any contribution from installers on a large scale.
“However, with energy efficiency ever present at the top of the news agenda, more and more homeowners – both on and off the mains gas network – are becoming increasingly eco-savvy and cost conscious. As a result, non-mains homeowners have been carefully reviewing their heating needs which, in turn, has broadened the role of the energy installer.
“Confusion over the many different energy sources available to them is leading homeowners to turn to installers for guidance as to which fuel will meet their needs, which is generating business growth for fuel installers themselves. For example, at Flogas, we have launched our Cash Flo rewards scheme, which sees installers financially rewarded for supplying domestic and commercial bulk leads.”
Contact Flogas UK Ltd on 0800 574574 www.flogas.co.uk


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THE deal struck last month between the Chinese government and Japan's NEC to build a $1 billion chip-making factory in Shanghai could have a startling effect on China's struggling young high-technology industries. IBM, Rockwell, Texas Instruments and Siemens had all turned down the Chinese government's invitation to bid for the business. The other big high-tech firms were all worried both about China's cavalier treatment of intellectual property and the difficulty of extracting export approval from their own governments for the advanced equipment needed to produce modern semiconductors.
NEC, which has had the full backing of Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), has similar qualms. But it believes it can prevent blueprints of its microchips from slipping out of the back door. Although the Japanese firm will own only 28.6% of the joint chip-making venture with Shanghai Hua Hong Microelectronics, the Chinese authorities have given NEC complete management control, including having its own man in as boss. As far as the Tokyo-based firm is concerned, the new “fab” in Shanghai will be run strictly as a Japanese undertaking.
In exchange, the Chinese will get some of the best semiconductor manufacturing know-how around. Chief among the benefits of doing a deal with NEC is the firm's knack of making chips ever smaller—and hence cheaper. The Shanghai fab will start off by producing chips with internal wiring only 0.5 micron wide (half a millionth of a metre)—pretty standard stuff these days. But the aim is to move quickly to the more advanced 0.35 micron processing. When it opens in early 1999, China should have a world-class chip-making facility.
The Chinese are luckier than they probably realise. Lately, NEC has learned to cram more DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) devices on to a wafer of silicon than any of its leading rivals. The company is well into the fourth “shrink” of its basic 16-megabit DRAM design, getting upwards of 700 chips on to a standard eight-inch wafer. Firms still using third-shrink designs have to make do with around 450 chips per wafer.
In return NEC gets a secure foothold in what may become the biggest chip market in the world. China bought some $7 billion worth of semiconductors last year for its surging computer and telecoms industries. Dataquest, a market-research firm, reckons that the figure will be $17 billion by 2000. Given the size of this market, who cares if a few illicit copies of semiconductor designs find their way to pirate chip makers?


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“There is a need to enhance exchange of knowledge between India and Bangladesh in order to promote rice seed trade between the two countries”, said Bipul Chatterjee in a conference jointly held by CUTS International, India, and its partner Unnayan Shamannay, Bangladesh, on 22nd December, 2013, in Dhaka. The conference was held under the project titled ‘Addressing Barriers to Rice Seeds Trade between India and Bangladesh’, implemented by CUTS and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The conference also marked release of the publication by CUTS International titled ‘Potential for Trade in Seeds between India and other SAARC Countries.’
Earlier, Mr Bipul Chatterjee in his intervention suggested that harmonisation of standards, streamlining of certification process and quarantine laws can further enhance bilateral cooperation between India and Bangladesh on rice seeds trade. He opined that several steps can be taken at institutional level to increase the cross border trade on rice seeds such as developing regional/bilateral seed bank; establishing joint body for research and development in agriculture; allowing seed trade in border haat, amongst others.
While making the opening remarks, Mr Anwar Faruque, Additional Secretary, Director General, Seed Wing, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Bangladesh, mentioned that several issues related to Intellectual Property Rights restrict formal trade of rice seeds between the two countries. In order to increase formal trade of rice seeds, it is important to tackle existing trade barriers by harmonising the policies on one hand, and on the other hand efforts should be taken to minimize the creation of new barriers. He further stated that this can begin with rice seed and eventually can be extended to other relevant sectors.
Mr Swapan Kumar Datta, Deputy Director-General (Crop Sciences), India Council of Agricultural Research, opined that principally there should be much more trade between India and Bangladesh and there should not be any place for trade barriers.
Mr Mahbub Hossain, Executive Director, BRAC, Bangladesh, in his intervention highlighted that rice seed is a sensitive issue as it is not only an input but is a subject matter of farmer’s livelihood. He further suggested that, in this context, public private partnership can play a vital role.
Mr Mahfuz Kabir, Senior Research Fellow, BIISS, underlined that several barriers exists in smooth flow of rice seed trade such as issues related to intellectual property rights, lack of harmonisation in laboratory testing and chemical testing; labeling requirements; registration of trading permits; quarantine requirements; sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) requirements. He further elaborated that India needs several bio-security and import permits, which are complex and difficult to obtain for exporters from Bangladesh. Hence cooperation in customs administration and banking relationships at the border is much needed to enhance rice seed trade between the two countries.
The conference was participated by several experts and relevant stakeholders to discuss ways in which an enabling environment can be developed to promote seeds trade and knowledge-sharing on HYV rice seeds between India and Bangladesh. It is well known that there exists a thriving informal trade in rice seeds between the two countries, which is disadvantageous for farmers on both sides, particularly in terms of quality of rice seeds and in the context that it has a direct implication on the food security of two countries.
It concluded by mulling over several initiatives that can be embraced to influence changes to policies and practices to facilitate formalisation and expansion of bilateral trade and knowledge-sharing on improved varieties of rice seeds, particularly HYV rice seeds, between Bangladesh and India.
For more information, please contact:
Bipul Chatterjee, +91(0)9829285921, firstname.lastname@example.org
Suresh Prasad Singh, +91(0)9460736459, email@example.com
Saurabh Kumar, +91(0)7891469886, firstname.lastname@example.org


text:
Cisco wants option to contest decryption notices in court
Nestlé draws consumer consent out from system silos
Finance reveals fresh APS-wide digitisation push
Facebook tentatively concludes spammers were behind recent data breach - WSJ
Australia's encryption-busting bill also after PINs, passwords
Don't have an account? Register now!
NPP opens API sandpit for independents to play
SIBOS puts global eyes on Australia’s payments rehab.
Oct 17 2018 6:36PM
CBA, Data61 build prototype app for blockchain-based NDIS payments
To bring 'smart money' to participants.
Oct 9 2018 11:02AM
Royal Commission scorns banks' compliance tools
Senior execs were flying blind, regulators turned blind eye.
Sep 28 2018 4:11PM
CBA says consumers dumping dumb plastic cards for device payments
Sep 17 2018 12:02PM
CBA's ex-CIO David Whiteing lands on his feet
Makes international move.
Sep 10 2018 11:58AM
ANZ looks to Atlassian for mojo transplant
Analysis: Agile becomes corporate behavioural therapy.
Sep 6 2018 4:16PM
CBA's IT security chief makes exit
Acting appointment made while replacement sought.
Sep 6 2018 3:35PM
NAB pumps up its Ventures funding to $100m
Hedges against rival start-up investments.
Sep 5 2018 11:58AM
Aussie corporates in govt cyber war games named
Public vs private in Operation Shell Breaker.
Sep 5 2018 6:01AM
CBA goes infrastructure-as-code
Private cloud cheaper than public cloud, dual use Azure and AWS for same workloads.
Aug 29 2018 12:00PM
RBA wants new online fraud strategy deployed ASAP
Backs Australian Payments Network push.
Aug 28 2018 7:00AM
CBA's blockchain bond raises $110m for World Bank
Two weeks after bond-i launch.
Aug 24 2018 10:55AM
Retailers demand banks share $476m online fraud hit
Contest massive liability shift.
Aug 23 2018 7:00AM
Online payments fraud in Australia explodes to $476m
Liability for losses still unclear.
Aug 22 2018 6:50AM
CBA blames day-long outage on data centre
Apology as pressure for intervention mounts.
Aug 21 2018 7:00AM
RBA system chief blasts NPP laggard banks
“Pull your socks up”.
Aug 20 2018 4:49PM
CBA suffers online banking outage
Merchants also affected.
Aug 20 2018 11:15AM
CBA, Microsoft and KPMG startup Wiise unveils pricing
Consists of “joining” and monthly fees.
Aug 15 2018 1:19PM
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‘Bond-i’ built on Ethereum.
Aug 10 2018 11:26AM
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CEO lights fire under Project Ignite.
Aug 9 2018 3:05PM
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Bio-plastics are a great complement to our more traditional petrochemicals products to meet the rising demand for polymers while contributing towards reducing end-of-life concerns.
The bio-based sector is set to experience a boost after oil giant Total and Dutch biochemicals specialist Corbion recently announced that they have started operations at their new bio-plastics plant in Rayong, Thailand. The facility, run by the joint venture named Total Corbion PLA, will be able to produce 75,000 tonnes of polylactic acid (PLA) per year.
The products will meet customers needs in a wide range of markets, including packaging, consumer goods, 3D printing fibres, and the automotive industries, Total Corbion PLA said in a statement.
According to the joint venture, PLA is experiencing strong global demand. PLA products can be mechanically or chemically recycled, or in some cases composted and returned to the soil as fertiliser.
Total Corbion PLA will leverage on the integration with its lactide plant, the monomer required for the production of PLA, that has simultaneously been expanded to 100,000 tonnes per year production capacity. In addition to this, the companys 1,000 tonnes per year PLA pilot plant, which has been operational since the end of 2017, is located on the same site and will be used for product development.
The start-up of this state-of-the-art plant establishes Total Corbion PLA as a world-scale PLA bio-plastic producer, ideally located to serve growing markets from Asia Pacific to Europe and the Americas, said Stephane Dion, CEO of the joint venture.
She added: The subsequent increase in global PLA capacity will enable manufacturers and brand owners to move into the circular economy and produce bio-based products with lower carbon footprints and multiple end of life options.”
“Im very pleased that the joint venture has started-up the second-largest PLA bio-plastics plant in the world. This achievement is fully in line with our strategy, to expand in petrochemicals and, at the same time, innovate in low-carbon solutions. Bio-plastics are a great complement to our more traditional petrochemicals products to meet the rising demand for polymers while contributing towards reducing end-of-life concerns, added Bernard Pinatel, President Refining & Chemicals at Total.
This is good news for consumers and producers who want to make a conscious choice to improve their carbon footprint and make their contribution to a circular economy. A world of innovation and business opportunities has opened up while contributing to a better world, explained Tjerk de Ruiter, CEO at Corbion.


text:
I suppose a $9.25 million restitution fund for mis-led students is better than nothing, but for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to proudly announce a pitiful penalty of $1 million for Career Education Corporation’s blatant fraud on placement rates in their marketing materials is just embarrassing.
And to require no admission of wrongdoing just adds insult to injury.
$1 million for a company of this size is a rounding error - where are the sanctions? Where are the moratoria on enrolling new students until the company cleans up its act?
At the very least they should have hit them for $1 million for everyone of their 90 campuses and refunded the money to the students who were given false information.
Too harsh of a penalty? Wouldn’t that be a novel idea!


text:
John Quinn, Tullamore D.E.W.’s first ever Global Ambassador was inducted into Whisky Magazine’s Hall of Fame.
Quinn who has worked within the industry for the past 40 years, is the first Irish Whiskey Global Ambassador to be inducted into the Hall of Fame since its inception in 2004.
Speaking of his most recent accolade, Quinn said: “It is an incredible honour to be selected. I am truly grateful."
The Hall of Fame was inspired by the top 100 greatest whisk(e)y figures in history who appeared in the 100th edition of the American spirits magazine.
Now the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame is a permanent tribute honouring those individuals who have made a lasting contribution to the world of whiskey.
Tasked with travelling around the globe, Quinn works closely with the bartender community, brand managers, sales teams and consumers.
"This is often described as the best job in the world and it’s been my privilege to proudly spread the gospel in markets across the world." He added.
Experience To Date
In December 2018, Quinn was appointed Vice Chairman of the Irish Whiskey Association.
And in 2016, he was named ‘Whiskey Brand Ambassador’ of the year by Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky Awards.
He was also named one of the Top 10 most influential people in Irish whiskey by The Spirits Business in 2016.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.


text:
HENRICO, Va. -- The Henrico Planning Commission voted Thursday against a plan to build a proposed Dollar General Store on Mountain Road.
The unanimous decision came after more than 200 people spoke out against the store during a meeting.
Members of the planning commission said the developer's plans did not fit with the style of the area.
Hundreds of members of the historic Glen Allen community banded together to try to stop the store from being built in their neighborhood.
Many living nearby were worried the new construction would ruin their historic neighborhood, and bring down their property values.
Rhonda Abernathy, who owns the Glen Allen Supermarket across the street from where the Dollar General would go, helped orchestrate the effort to stop the store from coming.
Abernathy said Dollar General can operate more cheaply than she can, and “it’s possible” the store would force her to close her mom and pop store.
Residents also complained about the “traffic, the hou rs, the people.”
The developers can still appeal the decision.


text:
More Car Loans Going to Borrowers With Bad Credit
The report also found that the number of borrowers defaulting on their loans declined in the third quarter, saving the industry $6.4 billion.
During the third quarter, new loans to nonprime customers (those with credit scores in the 620 to 679 range) rose to 10.86% of all loans from 9.79% in Q3 2009. Loans for subprime customers (with credit scores from 550 to 619), increased to 6.61% from 5.66% in 2009, and loans to deep-subprime customers (credit scores below 550) rose to 1.59% from 1.46%.
"With delinquencies down and less money in their portfolios at risk, lenders can be a little less conservative in their lending strategies," said Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive credit for Experian, in a statement. Zabritski also said that lenders were now offering a greater variety of loans to meet the needs of a wider group of consumers.
The relaxing of credit standards is expected to help keep up the positive sales momentum that the auto industry has seen this year. Morgan Stanley's Auto Industry Outlook for 2011 calls for auto sales to rise about 10%.


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“The year is 3015. The battlefields are dominated by war machines known as BattleMechs. Level entire cities and decimate the enemy in your BattleMech,” reads an official pitch of the game. “Follow a quest for glory and revenge. Manage an expanding mercenary company. Fight alongside your friends with a four-player PvE co-op.” A BattleTech mecha game, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is notably the first single-player MechWarrior game since 2002. Despite this distinction, it hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, earning a 74 on Metacritic. As for how it faired commercially, we don’t know. Presumably, it did well enough in this regard, otherwise, it wouldn’t be getting PlayStation ports, but for now, this is just an assumption.
For more coverage on all things PlayStation — including all of the latest on the PS4 and the PS5 — click https://comicbook.com/category/playstation-generic/?Page=2 or, alternatively, check out the relevant links right below:
News Highlights Games
- Headline: PS4 and PS5 steal new Xbox exclusive next week
- Check all news and articles from the Gaming news updates.


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News technology is the modern “white collar” work that has been expanding its influence into every sector of our society. The invention of the cell phone and the corresponding explosion of texting while on the job has created a news tech in a short time that is sweeping across the land like a wildfire. In fact, many businesses that were not even considered newsworthy are becoming relevant through the rapid spreading of blogs and vlogs (videos and audio podcasts).
With new technologies such as text messaging, blogging, and videocameras, it has never been easier or more cost effective for the media to get their stories out to millions of people quickly and easily. This bodes well for the news industry. For one thing, there is no longer a need for journalists to report for traditional media outlets such as radio, television, and newspaper. Now, anyone with a computer and a cell phone can be a journalist.
As new technologies further fuel their growth, these same technologies are becoming increasingly accessible to the general public. This is good news for the consumer, who can now shop for and purchase news from just about any location and at just about any time. As this type of news tech grows, more consumers will turn to online sources for their news. More businesses are beginning to see the advantages of having a team of reporters dedicated solely to creating business news stories.
Of course, not all news businesses have embraced this new model. Still, the ones which have seen the value in this new model and which have launched their own news technology are seeing results that support this growing trend. Many of the most popular online business news sources are actually dedicated to the business industry, providing reports and videos directly to consumers and businesses.
A great example of a business news source that is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel is CNET. While many people still think of CNET as a tech site, the news company is starting to do more than create video news for businesses. The company recently launched a mobile application that allows the CNET reader to get breaking news wherever they are. This news technology was created in partnership with AT&T. Now any iPhone or Android phone with a cellular network can access the company’s unique iPhone news reader.
In the future, mobile tech may completely revolutionize how we receive news. When devices equipped with new software become available, it will change how news is delivered to people everywhere. It will likely take several years for this new format to reach its full potential. However, even if it doesn’t completely change the way the news is distributed, it will serve as a huge step forward in terms of convenience. Mobile technology is changing the way that news is created and delivered and it is only a matter of time before we see even more incredible changes to come.


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E.l.f. Cosmetics is kicking off the holiday season with a brand new campaign informed by insights from The Weather Channel and brought to life with the help of Grammy Award-winning artist Meghan Trainor.
Titled as a special radiance report, Trainor will break news on an e.l.f.ing glow storm on the way, which was inspired by the return of the brand’s Halo Glow Liquid Filter, which has been out of stock and had a waitlist of more than 75,000 names, the company said.
“We are bracing for the first glow storm this holiday season,” said Patrick O’Keefe, vice president of integrated marketing communications for e.l.f. Beauty. “e.l.f.’s glow is fueled by force multiplying and delivering the unexpected. By tapping into The Weather Channel brand’s rich legacy coupled with Meghan Trainor's brilliance in this campaign, we are reaching new audiences and showing that beauty is in the eye of the… glow storm.”


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All fields are required.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) last week began rolling out its "Key" card fare payment system to the general public following a months-long pilot program.Riders can now buy the Key cards with the purchase of a weekly or monthly pass at the 69th Street Transportation Center, which serves more than 36,000 passengers daily. Starting today and through early March, additional Key kiosks will be activated at all Market-Frankford and Broad Street line rail stations."The SEPTA Key is making travel more convenient for our riders, as reloadable cards are replacing outdated fare instruments such as magnetic-stripe passes, tokens and paper transfers," said SEPTA General Manager Jeffrey Knueppel. "We look forward to welcoming more riders to the future of fare payment with this latest program expansion."The Key card system allows riders to load value online, over the phone and at kiosks. Passengers also can have the cards automatically reloaded from their bank accounts. SEPTA in June 2016 launched an "early adopter" program for the system, which allowed 10,000 riders to try the cards.
FTA pulls some WMATA funding for now »
Alaska Railroad cuts employees, costs to address operational losses »
CSX extends board nominee deadline for 2017 annual meeting »
CTA to build new rail station near Chicago's United Center »
Short Line Safety Institute launches safety tip program »


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Gearing up for KITE
A three-day programme of seminars is planned for the KwaZulu-Natal Industrial Technology Exhibition (KITE), which is billed as the province’s ultimate interactive expo for the industrial sector. The event, which will be held from July 24 to 26, is said to offer an impressive showcase of opportunities for visitors interested in sourcing industry technology solutions, from light to heavy industry, as well as printing and packaging equipment.
Apart from the exhibits, the expo includes three days of industry-related seminars. Highlights include:
Day 1, July 24
10.30-11.30 Economic Insights: Implications for the KwaZulu-Natal manufacturing sector;
11.30-12.30 Fighting the supply chain skills crisis;
12.30-13.30 Embracing Industry 4.0: Reshaping and redefining industrial manufacturing;
13.30-14.30 Waste reduction versus waste disposal: Enhancing manufacturing and reducing the carbon footprint;
14.30-15.30 Growing your business: Asset finance and risk mitigation.
Day 2, July 25
09.30-10.30 Next-generation technologies shaping the South African manufacturing sector;
10.30-11.30 The path to technology commercialisation — bridging the innovation gap;
11.30-12.30 The five-year plan: opportunities and challenges facing South Africa’s manufacturing industry – a government perspective;
12.30-13.30 The South African manufacturing landscape, 2019 – 2021;
13.30-14.30 Reducing unemployment through training – learnerships, apprenticeships and other vocational skills development;
14.30-15.30 Achieving operational excellence in manufacturing using 4IR concepts.
Day 3, July 26
09.30-10.30 Funding 101for small and medium enterprises: Accessing Department of Trade and Industry grants and finance;
10.30-11.30 Key industrial automation trends for 2019 and beyond;
11.30-12.30 Skills for success in engineering;
12.30-13.30 Industrial development think tank: Key insights on structural transformation and industry 4.0 opportunities;
13.30-14.30 Enhancing manufacturing capability: What, why and how?
14.30-15.30 The value of safety – risk mitigation for informed decision-making.


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French car manufacturers Citroen and Renault are in the news again, but this time for the wrong reasons. According to a media report, Citroen and Renault will face investigations for the Diesel emission scandal on cars. Reports suggest that the Citroen diesel-engine vehicles sold between 2009 and 2015 are under the radar. Renault vehicle sold between 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2017 are also under investigation.
The Dieselgate Scandal
Approximately six years ago, German car manufacturer Volkswagen admitted to using cheat devices on their cars. These devices show false carbon dioxide emission readings during tests. Volkswagen equipped more than 11 million Volkswagen cars with the devices. These would lower the emissions during the trial while actual results were 40 times higher. The company was later guilty of the trickery and had to pay compensation of EUR 32 billion for recalls, refits, legal fees, compensation and fines.
As per reports, Renault is under investigation, and the judicial courts in Paris have ordered the brand to pay EUR 60 million as a bank guarantee. The bank guarantee will cover potential damages and compensate for losses and fines. The brand has also been ordered an additional EUR 20 million as bail money.
Citroen, another French car manufacturer, has been ordered for a bank guarantee of EUR 25 million. The judicial courts in Paris also ordered an additional 8 million Euros as bail. The brand is under investigation for diesel-powered vehicles that it sold during 2009-2015. The bank guarantee will also go towards compensation for potential damages in case the debtor fails the obligation.
Peugeot is another French car manufacturer that French authorities have ordered to obtain a bank guarantee of EUR 30 million for the potential compensation. In addition, authorities ordered the company to pay EUR 10 million in a bailout. Out of this, EUR 2 million is to ensure company representation and EUR 8 million for potential compensation.
Another brand that is likely to go under investigation is Fiat Crysler. Peugeot, Fiat and Citroen are all under the umbrella of Stellantis N.V., a Dutch-domiciled multinational automotive manufacturer.
The companies have denied the charges of “causing harm” to French consumers. Companies also believe that their vehicles meet all emission control requirements.


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A new digital camera may change the meaning of bug-eyed. Inspired by the compound eyes of certain ants, beetles and flies, engineers have developed a digital camera that, thanks to 180 tiny lenses, is capable of panoramic views. Such cameras might soon bedeck tiny flying robots that could scour a disaster site for survivors or conduct other aerial surveillance.
When light strikes the new camera, it passes through a curved rubber compound lens about the size of a dime. The surface of the lens is actually 180 smaller lenses that guide the light to a layer of detectors at the camera’s back. Each lens gathers a portion of the scene and these segments combine into one panoramic image with everything in focus.
Constructing the camera is relatively straightforward and doesn’t require special materials, the team reports May 2 in Nature. While the lenses on the current version approximate the relatively low resolution achieved by a fire ant’s eye, the 20,000 lenses of a dragonfly eye should be doable, says study coauthor John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Rogers has his sights set even higher: “There’s no reason to stop at what’s been demonstrated in the biological world,” he says.


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Soccer game based on blockchain technology Sorare has expanded its influence after signing a successful cooperation with the most attractive football tournament on the planet.
Since the Paris-based gaming company, Sorare announced a successful partnership with the Premier League, the highest division of the football league system in England.
This game introduced digital cards representing players playing in the Premier League. This has created a great attraction for players when they can own famous player cards in the UK on a digital platform.
Through these partnerships, Sorare players will be able to choose to own the most famous stars of English football, such as Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane or Manchester City striker Erling Haaland
Sorare's terms with the Premier League have so far not been revealed. However, the estimated value of this deal is much higher than the original deal of £30 million shared by the two parties at the end of 2022. Currently, the Sorare football game is valued at around approx. 4.3 billion dollars.
In terms of game mechanics, football fans worldwide can collect, buy, sell and trade technical cards representing players from 20 Premier League teams. From there, players will build and compete with other teams to win great rewards.
In addition, the NFT Sorare card is also available to basketball and baseball fans through partnerships with the NBA and MLB leagues.
Besides tracking information related to the football blockchain game, you can also access reputable bookie To be able to participate in cryptocurrency betting!


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Smith & Wesson gunmaker American Outdoor Brands (AOBC) posted its third-quarter 2019 results on Mar 7, post the closing bell. Quarterly net sales for AOBC slipped 2.9% to were $162.0 million. Non-GAAP net income was $8.9 million or $0.16 per diluted share.
However, the stock slipped slightly in after-market trade following the announcement — possibly on a downgrade in GAAP earnings outlook for fiscal 2019 by the company, along with the effect of Electro-Optics impairment on the currently reported quarter.
The ballistics parent incurred a net loss of $5.73 million or 10 cents in loss per diluted share, compared to the year-ago profit of $11.4 million or $0.21 per share.
According to Zacks Research, the ballistic giant was expected to generate earnings of 12 cents a share on revenue of $162.6 million. According to the company outlook announced earlier, American Outdoor Brands expected to post adjusted earnings between 9 to 13 cents per share on estimated revenue of $155-165 million.
According to AOBC, “Based upon long-term sales forecasts for its Electro-Optics operating unit, the company has decided to restructure and combine that business with its Outdoor Products & Accessories operating unit in order to drive efficiencies and increase operating performance.”
“As a result of those forecasts, the company conducted an evaluation to assess the fair value of the Electro-Optics operating unit and, as a result, recorded a $10.4 million partial impairment of the goodwill in that operating unit during the third quarter,” read a company statement.
CFO Jeff Buchanan weighed in, “For the nine months ending January 2019, we had positive operating cash flow of $20.7 million, as compared with cash outflow of $4.5 million for the nine months ending January 2018.”
“During the quarter, we had $25.0 million outstanding on our $350 million line of credit, which is expandable to $500 million,” the CFO added.
For the fiscal fourth-quarter, the Smith & Wesson maker is looking at net sales of $162-172 million, generating an expected GAAP diluted income between 3 cents and 7 cents a share.
On a non-GAAP basis, AOBC is expected to earn $0.11-0.15 per diluted share in the upcoming quarter.
“The ramp up of initial operations at our new Logistics & Customer Services facility in Missouri is well underway and on track. This 633,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility will serve as our centralized logistics, warehousing, and distribution operation for all of our products, facilitating our growth, enhancing our efficiencies, and allowing us to better serve customers across our entire organization,” CEO James Debney added.
The semiconductor industry is a rapidly growing business segment that currently thrives on the digital transformation wave. The demand for memory chips and other semiconductor products increased over the years,
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) were up on Friday, a day after the company delivered disappointing results for the second quarter of 2022. The company reported a
Nike, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) has reported a decrease in net profit for the first quarter of 2023, despite a modest increase in revenues. The company's stock suffered a big loss


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News broke overnight that Google is finally closing the long-running joke called Google+ (or “Plus” for short). Billed as an alternative to Facebook, this was yet another attempt by the search and services giant to tap into social media. And like all their previous social services (Orkut, Buzz), it failed spectacularly.
Having been a Google+ user since day 2 of the Beta period, I have learned several useful lessons.
1. Do not build a business (or personal brand) on Google services
The first few weeks of Google+ were genuinely exciting as people piled into the network to try and make sense of the platform. In true LinkedIn style, marketers began branding themselves as Google+ experts – and no one knew enough to challenge their BS.
Hell, even I managed to attract an audience of over 10,000 people.
But the excitement died as soon as people realised there was nothing new on offer. Why leave Facebook for Facebook?
Over the years, a few people have built large communities to become Google+ famous. But the hundreds (thousands?) of hours they have poured into the platform will be wasted once the service closes next August. These people are virtually invisible on any non-Google platform so they’ll have to start from scratch next year.
It’s not just individuals who have been burned through reliance on Google platforms either. Just ask travel search websites like Kayak and Skyscanner whose services were badly damaged after Google closed the QPX API on which they completely relied on. Both sites have had to significantly re-engineer because Google pulled the plug.
Google has a long history of pulling products and services – often with no visible reason – so using their tools and platforms is a strategic risk.
2. A large social audience does not guarantee sales
Despite having 10,000+ followers, I have had just one sales query from Google+. One query in eight years. Mileage may vary for others though, because there are some successful copywriters hawking their services there. But there’s no evidence that their investment of time and effort has paid off.
Obviously there are communities to suit most tastes, but the site is very heavily biased towards a few high-profile Google/Android fans. Content is biased in that direction as a result. Ironically, if you’re not selling Google, you’re not selling (see observation 1 above).
Without any commissioning editors or agencies looking for technical copywriting services on Google+ it was like shouting into the void. The same is true of selling on any social network or online service though. A large audience will always perform worse sales-wise than the right audience.
3. What are you for?
The Plus platform went wrong as soon as no one could figure out what it was for. Simply proclaiming “we’re not Facebook” was a pretty crappy strategy in 2010 – and probably no better now. People arrived on the platform, looked at the heavily biased content and left again.
Google themselves were no better. Had Plus built up a massive user base, it could have become another advertising powerhouse like Facebook. But that multi-billion subscriber list never appeared.
Later Google decided they might be able to enhance their creepy data collection using insights generated from Plus. But for whatever reason, this also failed miserably. Possibly because Google+ is populated by people obsessed with free goods making for rubbish customers that no one wants to market to.
As it became apparent Google had completely lost interest in Plus, even hardcore veterans started to desert the sinking ship.
When I started my freelance copywriter journey, I used to offer technical consultancy services on the side. I wanted multiple income streams just in case the writing gig fell through. So I advertised them all on my website. But this made it unclear exactly what I was offering and damaged my personal brand in the process. Cutting the extra crap off my website reaped instant rewards – customers could see exactly what I was offering – and sales of copywriting services soared.
Closing Google+ is a PR manoeuvre
Closing Plus looks like a basic failure to understand social networking – and that is exactly what Google wants you to believe. But why would they take a hit on their reputation?
The closure of Plus has nothing at all to do with the failure of the social network. The real reason can be found in Google’s new Project Strobe initiative which is supposed to identify security failings in their many products and services. Project Strobe researchers discovered a software bug that could have exposed private data belonging to 500,000 Google+ users.
Apparently Google has known about this potential security breach for several months, but chose to do nothing – including alerting affected users. In a high-risk PR gamble, they have taken the decision to shutter Plus rather than fix the problem and face the consequences. Still smarting from their $2bn+ fine for anti-competitive behaviour in the EU smartphone market, it is little surprise that Google wants to deflect attention from a security breach that could attract a series of fines from various privacy regulators. Germany and Ireland are already investigating, and the US states of Connecticut and New York are also looking into the breach.
Perhaps most concerning was the internal memo from Google’s lawyers about how to manage disclosure of the breach. Senior Alphabet executives were warned that admitting the problem could have thrust Google “into the spotlight alongside or even instead of Facebook despite having stayed under the radar throughout the Cambridge Analytica scandal.”
The same memo warns of “immediate regulatory interest” once the breach was announced.
Google is clearly hoping that the storm surrounding the closure of Plus will obscure their dodgy handling of the underlying data breach. And with a new product launch taking place later today, they seem to believe that the additional hype from new Pixel handsets will add another layer of obfuscation.
The Google+ legacy may not be what they expected
Will the Information Commissioner be so easily distracted? Who knows – but it will be interesting to see how this PR gamble plays out.
As a niche product that was broadly ignored, the biggest marketing lesson from Google+ may yet come at its death. I for one will be watching closely to see if sleight of hand PR tactics still work – and what the eventual fallout from this colossal waste of time will be.


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A SPATE of data yesterday confounded gloom-mongers about the economy, painting a more upbeat picture than expected about the continuing strength of the housing market and consumers' enthusiasm to spend money.
A spate of data yesterday confounded gloom-mongers about the economy, painting a more upbeat picture than expected about the continuing strength of the housing market and consumers' enthusiasm to spend money.
House prices continued to grow steadily in January, rising 1.7 per cent during the month, according to the Nationwide Building Society's latest survey.
The rise in January was just behind the 1.8 per cent average increase recorded in the preceding three months. It meant that average annual house price inflation continued to grow at 26.5 per cent – lower than the peaks seen last summer when prices were rising at 33 per cent but reflecting more modest growth in prices this time last year.
Dismissing talk of a housing crash, the Nationwide said that the outlook for the market remained good – with average inflation staying at about 25 per cent for the next couple of months – even in the face of potential conflict in Iraq.
Data from the Bank of England showed that the robustness of the housing market was accompanied by strong spending. The Bank said total lending, including mortgages and unsecured loans, rose by £9.4bn in December, the highest monthly increase since records began in 1993. The increase represented a 13.6 per cent jump on an annual basis. Consumer credit accounted for £1.9bn of that amount, stronger than the £1.6bn analysts had expected.
The raft of upbeat statistics came as the stock market made another cautious foray into positive territory, after ending a record-breaking 11 days of successive losses earlier this week.
Individuals nevertheless appeared to be increasingly anxious about the global economy due to the prospect of a war with Iraq and slumping stock markets, according to the latest survey by GfK, a research company. GfK said its consumer confidence index jumped only one point to minus 3 in January. It hit minus 4 in December, its lowest point since October 2001. Economists had predicted a rise to minus 2 in the scale.
But analysts pointed to evidence in the survey that consumers were much more sanguine about their own financial situations.
John Butler, an economist at HSBC, said: "The response to questions about how people feel about their own situation was strong. What that shows and the figures on borrowing from the Bank of England is that what would affect spending is either an increase in interest rates or the risk of more unemployment."
Separately, data from the main organisation representing retailers and from the economic forecasting body, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), showed consumers have been more determined to spend money than many had predicted.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) saw a slight uptick in its index measuring demand on the high street. The Retail Confidence Indicator notched up to 38.6 in January compared with 38.3 in December.
However, the BRC was keen to downplay the improvement. Bill Moyes, the director general, said: "The sales trend remains downwards. These figures only serve to reinforce our view that the next move in interest rates should be down."
The NIESR said consumption remained strong, if slightly down on last year. It forecast consumer spending growth of 3.2 per cent this year compared with 3.7 per cent last year.
But the think-tank warned spending could not continue at current levels. Professor Ray Barrell of the NIESR said: "People have been saving about 10 per cent of their income. That has now come down to 5 to 6 per cent. It needs to return to 10 per cent at some point."
The organisation said that while UK consumers were still proving resilient, the continuing weakening of the global economy would undermine the country's growth. It downgraded its GDP estimates, predicting the UK economy would grow by 2.2 per cent this year, compared with its estimate in October of 2.5 per cent. It believes the economy will expand by 2.4 per cent next year.
It added that the Chancellor would be unlikely to meet his target of bringing the Budget back into the black to the tune of £5bn by 2006 to 2007. The NIESR estimates there will actually be a deficit of £35bn.
The European Commission yesterday also warned that Gordon Brown's forecasts of 2.75 per cent growth next year could be overoptismistic, and predicted Britain could come close to breaching EU rules that require members to keep budget deficits at less than 3 per cent of GDP.
But Pedro Solbes, the European Commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, declined to call for spending cuts in the UK and took pains to point out that the rise in the deficit "is due, to a large degree, to the welcome reversal of the historic decline of net public investment relative to GDP". He added that UK public finances are "overall judged to be in a sound position".Reuse content


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One of the most awaited advancements in technology is the cellular industry. With its monthly updates on software, model and other details, cellular technology is always on top of the list in the market. Everything about mobile phones is a priority on people’s purchasing power whether in Asia or Europe, it will be always on the lead in technological advances.
One part of innovation in cellular technology is jumping from 4G to 5G. According to Verizon CEO, Hans Vestberg, 5G has the greatest potential in transforming the advances in technology even if will take so much on innovation; It will still be every developer’s priority since the direction on cellular innovation is through it.
Today, we have been taking advantage of 4g LTE which offers two of its main capabilities or what they call currencies: throughput and speed which has given businesses and consumers the ability to upload and download large amount of data at a faster speed than the usual 3G. This has allowed users to do work in a fast pace.
Meanwhile, 5G is a lot more different than 4G. It does not only offer a two-capability network but accordingly, it will serve its users four times than 4G. Moreover, it includes faster speed and throughput, low latency, more improved web browsing, and improved app experience for people who uses smartphones.
The future is bright with 5G as it is anticipated to have the capability to control and allow almost everything in telemedicine and self-driving vehicles which has been talked about in the last few years. In a just a little while we will be seeing all of these unfold as developers have been doing extra effort in technology and 5G will just be a part of it.
The availability of 5G has not yet been used by everyone according to the market industry. In addition to this, 5G connection and proper wireless 5G will be fully out in the market for consumers later this year, said Vestberg. He also added that they will be releasing two phones this year with 5G, one with Motorola and the other one will be with Samsung. Although the dates are still not out.
It has also been a headline in discussions in the technology industry. This advancement in technology will soon be a normal thing with companies and businesses and will also soon be a requirement for all innovations with technology.


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Viacom plans to launch a standalone online streaming subscription for its Nickelodeon channel, aimed at children's programming. The media company wants to adapt to changing times before it is potentially left behind as viewer habits continually head to streaming content. Nickelodeon content is currently available on Amazon, while Viacom also released new apps and original series for Internet and mobile users.
"We want to satisfy the demand that is coming from the viewers out there," said Philippe Dauman, CEO of Viacom, in a statement published by the New York Times. "They have an insatiable appetite for great content. They want to view that content on every device that they own."
Cord cutting is becoming increasingly appealing to viewers tired of paying large amounts for cable and satellite subscriptions - and there are a number of standalone streaming services. CBS has a monthly subscription offering, while HBO is expected to release a standalone streaming service later this year.
Islamic extremist groups still enjoy using the Internet and social media to spread propaganda and recruit, but are becoming more skilled in flying under the radar. Intelligence experts are collecting information from previous reckless Internet posts, and that is something the terrorists want to avoid in the future.
To help share propaganda, the groups are largely turning to the Dark Web - and using Skype, WhatsApp, and software that isn't as open. ISIS went a step further by issuing guidelines to its members posting on social media, such as blurring out faces, ensuring geographic tagging is disabled, and being careful what information they are providing on current operations.
"We realize that the people we are interested in are increasingly specialized in computing," said Philippe Chadrys, the head investigator of France's judicial police responsible for fighting terrorism, in a statement to the AFP. "They master encryption software and methods to better erase data. That makes our probes much more complicated."
A new cyber threat victimizing users is the 'RansomWeb' attack, which leaves compromised websites encrypted - and they will remain that way until the victim pays a ransom to cyberattackers. The threat was first detected by cybersecurity firm High-Tech Bridge, investigating a client website, which displayed a database error.
The cybercriminals demanded a $50,000 ransom in exchange for decrypting the database, despite it being compromised six months prior. A closer inspection found that several server scripts were edited so data was encrypted before it was submitted to the database, and data was decrypted after being pulled from the database.
Instead of an immediate ransom demand - like ransomware attacks against business users - the cybercriminals patiently waited until backups were also overwritten.
By now I'm sure you've read about the VRAM issues surrounding the GeForce GTX 970, and AMD taking a stab at NVIDIA because of it, but now the former is offering gamers special discounts if they return their GTX 970s and pick up a Radeon card.
AMD's Roy Taylor has taken to Twitter, offering GTX 970 owners who return their cards special discounts if they swap them out for Radeon cards, including the R9 290 and R9 290X. Taylor tweeted "Anyone returning their GTX970 and wanting a great deal on a Radeon with a full 4GB please let us know" and even tagged the @NVIDIAGeForce Twitter account at the time.
Are you a GeForce GTX 970 owner? Will you be trading in your GTX 970 for the Radeon R9 290X?
Microsoft has released a native Outlook app for Apple iOS and a preview mode for Google Android, as the company continues to embrace change. The successful launch was courtesy of Microsoft's previous acquisition of Acompli, with both sides integrating the teams while continuing to develop the Outlook app.
The Outlook iOS version requires iOS 8.0 or newer, and is a 22.5MB download.
"Microsoft is absolutely doing the right thing putting these important and popular applications on Android and iOS," said Al Hilwa, analyst at IDC, in a statement to PCWorld. "An increasing number of users of these products already use multiple devices, and it is valuable for them to be able to move across platforms with the same tools."
Featuring some of the best teams in the world across two gaming titles, the Intel Extreme Masters is currently running their Taipei contingent of Season 9 - featuring thousands of dollars in prize money and being hosted at the Taipei Game Show, 2015.
Although the League of Legends part is now finished, StarCraft II players are still battling out for top spot. Without spoiling any of the results here, you can view all the results, placings and tournament information on the official landing page.
Seeing players and teams travel from Korea, Australia, Europe and America - this event is sure to tickle your fancy if eSports or competitive gaming is something you're interested in.
All live streams are available on the official website, check it out and enjoy - there isn't long left! If you have missed the action however, all content will be uploaded for private viewing in the near future.
NVIDIA has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons this week with the GeForce GTX 970 VRAM issues, and now someone has played around with NVIDIA's G-Sync technology and got it working on every eDP display thanks to the use of a very special driver.
The driver has come from an ASUS Nordic Support representative, who leaked the internal driver (346.87) that included hidden G-Sync support. The driver itself was issued to fix a totallyt different issue, with the rep not aware that G-Sync support was added. Well, when the person received the driver and installed it, they were met with a popup saying that a G-Sync display had been connected. The leaked driver has been adding support for G-Sync to some notebooks, with the ASUS G751 being one of those.
NVIDIA confirmed with PC Perspective that this technology is still in a very early stage, with the G-Sync support not meant to be added anytime soon. NVIDIA had inadvertently confirmed that a G-Sync module is not required to enable G-Sync, which is where the excitement should begin for most.
The UK may have anywhere from 4 million up to 5.9 million CCTV cameras in use, but many of the cameras are useless and there must be concern so the region doesn't 'sleepwalk' towards becoming a surveillance state, according to UK Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter.
"You can still maintain the balance of excellent surveillance but not have a propagation of surveillance that is actually useless," Porter recently said on BBC Radio 5. "Surveillance can be an extremely good thing and run well, it's a useful tool for society. But to quote a former information commissioner, 'we should not sleepwalk into a surveillance society.'"
Broken, damaged and older analog cameras aren't effective to enhance public safety and deter crime, Porter also added. In the future, Porter wants better interaction with the public, especially regarding regulation so cameras are not simply being added just for the sake of purchasing and installing new cameras - especially if there is no benefit to the public.
Chinese drone maker DJI is planning to release a firmware update so its drones will no longer be able to fly inside of restricted airspace in Washington, DC. The update would also prevent aircraft from crossing the US-Mexico international border, after two recent high-profile incidents.
The first incident was when suspected drug smugglers working for a Mexican cartel crashed a DJI drone with several pounds of methamphetamine. In a separate incident, a drunk government employee accidentally crashed his drone onto White House property in an early morning accident.
With the unmanned aerial systems community growing on a daily basis, we feel it is important to provide pilots with additional tools to help them fly safely and responsibly," said Michael Perry, a spokesman for DJI, in a statement to reporters. "We will continue cooperating with regulators and lawmakers to ensure the skies stay safe and open for innovation."
Mobile payments at checkout in retail stores has a lot of work left before going mainstream, but mobile is becoming increasingly popular among online transactions. More than a quarter of online global payments were made via smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices during Q4 2014, according to a report from Adyen.
The 25.8 percent figure is an 11 percent increase over Q3 2014, and retailers are finding new techniques to turn mobile users into paying customers.
"Across all industries including retail, gaming, ticketing, and of course digital goods, we see the emergence of successful businesses offering a mobile-only experience," said Roelant Prins, chief commercial officer of Adyen. "For many companies, mobile is now the primary sales channel, rather than simply a key sales channel, aided by the accelerated growth of mobile payments globally in the last quarter of 2014."


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Snitching on traders, retailers and suppliers was the only way to beat excessive pricing of goods and ensure that outlets adhere to the Competition Act’s amended regulations.
Since the announcement of a national shutdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Competition Commission have been collaborating with the National Consumer Commission (NCC) to deal with exploitative practices and abuse of dominance relating to the virus.
There has, however, been a steady decline in the number of reported cases to the Commission.
While the commission has received over 800 complaints of excessive pricing since the start of the lockdown, the daily reports had gone down from about 100 per day to somewhere in the 50s, spokesperson Sipho Ngwema says.
The NCC has received 335 complaints relating to price hiking of goods and services essential in combating Covid-19, acting commissioner Thezi Mabuza said. This after the NCC established a toll-free number dedicated to such complaints which started on 23 March and only operates on weekdays.
Those found to have transgressed the regulations were immediately pounced on, resulting in reversals, reimbursements and freezing of price increases by companies such as Massmart, Ngwema said.
“We have directly intervened, instructed traders and suppliers to cease and desist while we continue to investigate. We are about to prosecute some of them fairly soon. We are quite content with the response to our interventions.”
Mabuza said the NCC would take the supplier to the National Consumer Tribunal for prosecution should they be found to unfairly and unreasonably hike prices.
Suppliers could be fined up to R1 million or up to 10% of their annual turnover or even face 12 months imprisonment.
Sticking to the regulations requires retailers, traders, and suppliers to be reported should they flout the rules, said Nick Altini, partner at competition law firm Herbert Smith Freehills SA.
“The effectiveness of the excessive/unfair pricing regulations depends upon consumers being willing to report retailers, and retailers being willing to report their suppliers, to the Competition Commission and/or [National Consumer Commission]. From there, the relevant regulator will investigate urgently and if there is a need for prosecution, then this will also happen very quickly,” said Altini.
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Looks like the Mercedes A-Class is about to get even smaller.
2021 is going to be a very busy year for Mercedes. Thanks to a recent leak, we know that Mercedes is planning to launch as many as seven new models this year, including the EQS flagship electric sedan, the next-generation C-Class, and the upcoming CLS facelift. Looking further ahead, German publication Autobild has outlined Mercedes' upcoming model lineup in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and there are a few surprises.
While some of the models in the report have already been announced by Mercedes, the publication claims that the A-Class and GLA will be getting unannounced baby brothers in the future.
Slotting below the A-Class, the Mercedes A City will reportedly be a small city car that will serve as the German automaker's new entry-level model. Allegedly, the city car will be a shortened version of the A-Class with a three-door bodystyle inspired by the stunning EQA Concept that debuted at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show. In contrast, the production EQA is a compact crossover instead of a three-door hatchback. The Mercedes A City will reportedly arrive in 2020 priced at around 20,000 euros ($24,070).
US availability hasn't been confirmed, but we aren't expecting it to be available in America since the A-Class hatchback isn't sold here, only the A-Class sedan.
Potential powertrain options were not mentioned, but an all-electric powertrain would be ideal for a compact city car designed for urban driving.
Joining the A City will be the A Adventure. Slotting below the Mercedes GLA crossover, the A Adventure will be based on the A City with a more rugged exterior featuring plastic cladding and roof rails. Don't expect it to be a true off-roader, however, because the baby crossover reportedly won't have all-wheel drive. Allegedly, the A Adventure will arrive in 2023 and probably has a better chance of being sold in the US. Mercedes hasn't officially announced either model, however, so these are just rumors for now.


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ROCKFORD —Employees at Big Lots, 6363 E. State St., will be looking for a new job in the new year.
Employees at the Forest Plaza closeout/discount store received notice a few weeks ago that the store would close sometime after the first of the year. A manager at the business told the Rockford Register Star that an exact closing date has not been set.
No reason was given for the closing, and a call to the Big Lots corporate office was not returned.
For more information: 815-394-3950.
— Maggie Hradecky: 815-987-1367; firstname.lastname@example.org; @maggiehrad


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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced counter-sanctions against Western nations with a year-long import ban on a variety of agricultural products and foodstuffs.
The move targets all countries that have taken punitive measures against Moscow, meaning Spain will be affected.
According to the Kremlin, food products will be directly targeted by the ban. The Kremlin’s statement said that Putin's executive decree "either bans or limits… the import into the Russian Federation of certain kinds of agricultural products, raw materials and food originating from countries that have decided to adopt economic sanctions against Russian entities and (or) individuals".
Russia will reportedly publish a full list of banned products by Thursday evening but sources have reported that the list will include all fruits and vegetables produced in the 28 EU nations. According to Reuters, Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev said meat, fish and dairy would also be banned.
Spain stands to lose hundreds of millions of euros under the sanctions regime.
The country exported €581 million ($775 million) in foodstuffs to Russia in 2013, according to preliminary figures supplied to The Local by Spain's economy ministry.
This included €312 million in fruit and vegetable exports, €112 million in meat exports and €13 million in exports of fish products.
The sanctions are the first official reprisal by Putin in response to the crisis in Ukraine. The EU and US have accused Moscow of destabilizing the situation in the country by supporting separatists in Donetsk and Lugansk.
The EU on Friday said it regretted "the announcement by the Russian Federation of measures which will target imports of food and agricultural products."
"We underline that the European Union's restrictive measures are directly linked with the illegal annexation of Crimea and destabilization of Ukraine," said the EU in a statement.
The 28-member bloc said it was committed to the de-escalation of the situation in Ukraine.
Spain was backing the EU's position on this matter, a spokesperson for the country's foreign ministry told The Local.
Spanish trade with Russia has boomed in recent years.
According to figures from the Spain's Embassy in Russia, bilateral trade with Russia was worth €11 billion ($14.7 million) in 2013.
That was 37 percent up on 2010 figures, and 18 percent up on the number in 2012.
Russian sanctions could hurt this strong relationship and could have a knock-on effect on Russian tourism in Spain.
Some 1,581,785 Russian tourists visited Spain in 2013, up 31.6 percent on 2012, according to figures from Spain's official tourism research centre Frontur.
Russian tourists also boosted spending by the greatest margin, boosting expenditure by 29 percent to €2.35 billion in 2013, accounting for four percent of total tourism spend, figures from the country's Industry, Energy and Tourism ministry show.


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Do you remember the cries at the time the auto industry was bailed out, about government interference in private business? Ford was able to go it alone, but both GM and Chrysler filed for bankruptcy and sheepishly applied for federal loans. During the last days of 2008 and the Bush administration, the president pushed through temporary measures to keep the car makers going, against the protests of senior Republicans in Congress, who held up the assistance and demanded bigger wage concessions from the auto unions. The fate of 3,000 parts suppliers was also tied up in the GM and Chrysler aid.
Now Chrysler is about to pay back its $7.5 billion loan several years ahead of schedule, saying that they've found better interest rates in the public capital markets. (It's ironic that the loan repayment from Chrysler, which itself is fairly fresh out of bankruptcy, will provide a few hours of spending cash to the U.S. government, since our borrowing lines are full.)
Was it right to ask U.S. taxpayers to bail out GM and Chrysler? Of course it was. Foreign manufacturers sell about half of the cars in the U.S. these days, and employment in the industry is down to about 700,000 -- not even one percent of the U.S. private work force -- but it's nonetheless an important manufacturing sector. See below, the blue line: jobs are coming back.
Auto sales have recovered to an annual pace of about 13 million, although that is still slow. The automakers are showing profits again, and Chrysler has reported sales gains in 2011 of 18 percent through April. Chrysler today employs about 51,000 people, although the company is owned primarily by the Italian company Fiat.
On its investment in saving the auto industry, the U.S. government will probably lose money, as Treasury Secretary Geithner said last week on a visit to Detroit:
Still, Mr. Geithner said, the Treasury was working to get the best possible return on taxpayers' investment.
"We didn't do these things to maximize return. We did them to save jobs," he said. "The biggest impact of these programs was in the millions of jobs saved."Looking back to late 2008, not only were the 700,000 directly auto-related jobs at stake, but many of those in places where car factories are situated, too.
More recently, manufacturing jobs are returning to Michigan, some of them as suppliers of technology for auto innovations. Recently I wrote that Michigan showed some of the largest gains in jobs in March, much coming in manufacturing.
Our economy is still very fragile, and even though corporate profits are at all-time highs, new jobs are hard to come by. The Senate Republicans' view that government shouldn't get involved looked foolish then, and in view of business's weak response since, looks just as foolish now.
Was it right, and worth the risk, for the U.S. taxpayer to bail out the auto industry? Of course it was.


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Marc Schröder, currently managing director of RTL Interactive, will take over Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s newly established strategy and diversification division as chief strategy officer at the same time.
Wachtel, currently chief operating officer of the Bild group of companies and also its managing director digital, and Schröder will both report to Anke Schäferkordt, CEO of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland.
As managing director of RTL Interactive, Wachtel will be responsible for the media group’s digital content on all online and mobile platforms. This includes the catch-up services under the TV Now brand, video portal Clipfish, Wetter.de and other digital services.
In the run-up to the realignment, Matthias Büchs, currently in charge of RTL Interactive’s online and mobile division, decided to leave the company at the end of 2016 in order to take on new business challenges.
In his new role as chief strategy officer of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s management team, Schröder will not only head the strategic business development/M&A and smart data divisions. He will also be responsible for the diversification business with particular emphasis on the shareholdings in the Sparwelt and Gutscheine.de e-couponing businesses.


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One of the few dairies allowed to make Stilton said it has had to stop sales to the European Union (EU) since Brexit.
Hartington Creamery at Pikehall, Derbyshire, said the paperwork needed for each order was costing too much.
It added, however, that sales have “surged” in the US and Canada.
The government said it was working closely with traders adjusting to the new arrangements.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: BBC


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Amazon.com, Inc. today announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2022.Read More
Royal Mail today announced it has passed the milestone of 3,000 electric vehicles across its delivery and collection fleet. The roll-out includes many cities where low emission zones are in force, including London, Bristol, Glasgow, Cambridge and Oxford.Read More
Just as things seemed to be getting back to normal and our industry could finally take a breath, the military conflict in Eastern Europe has again brought certain levels of uncertainty as it is still not entirely known how it will affect the CEP (Courier, Express and Parcel) sector, or how long this new ‘transitional’ period may last. All this is covered in Escher’s Future of Posts Survey 2022.Read More
Pitney Bowes has announced the expansion of its Designed Delivery service into the Canadian market. The new service will enable Canadian brands and retailers to reach consumers throughout Canada and the US.Read More
DHL Express Germany today marked the official start of construction of the new building at Munich Airport with a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony, which will be built on the area of the two parking lots P 80 and P 80 West and will cover a gross floor area of more than 11,000 square meters.Read More
Post & Parcel speaks to Matteo Del Fante, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, Poste Italiane on celebrating the company’s 160 year’s anniversary and how it has evolved.Read More
The Mail & Express Review (MER) Magazine is our quarterly print publication. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, MER is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.


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Toys 'R' Us Creditors Call for Jury Trial on Executive Stay Pay
By Peg Brickley
Bankruptcy administrators for defunct retailer Toys "R" Us Inc.
are trying to put its former top leaders on trial before a jury
over the millions of dollars in bonuses they pocketed days before
the company's plunge into bankruptcy.
The proposed jury trial concerns the practice of corporate
executives collecting bonuses shortly before their businesses file
for bankruptcy, leaving debts unpaid and employees at risk. While
the Toys "R" Us bonus payments occurred in 2017, a range of
businesses paid similar bonuses during the Covid-19 pandemic as
they teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.
Companies including rental-car giant Hertz Global Holdings Inc.,
department store chain J.C. Penney Co. and oil-and-gas driller
Chesapeake Energy Corp. all dispensed bonuses shortly before they
filed for bankruptcy last year as Covid-19 upended the U.S.
economy. The stated rationale for the bonuses was retention -- to
persuade top executives to stick in their jobs despite their
By paying bonuses before bankruptcy, the companies got around
legal restrictions on such "stay pay," which kick in once a
business files for chapter 11. Creditors largely grumbled in
private, but few took action in bankruptcy court to try to get the
Now, however, the practice is being hotly disputed in the
aftermath of the 2017 bankruptcy of Toys "R" Us -- one of the few
times the legality of retention bonuses has been seriously tested
in bankruptcy court. Although the company's once-mighty fleet of
toy stores is long gone, a bankruptcy trust set up to scrounge up
money for unpaid suppliers is still around, as a vehicle for
The goal of the litigation trust: recover money for suppliers
that shipped goods to Toys "R" Us after it filed for bankruptcy and
are still owed roughly $800 million. Litigation targets include
former Toys "R" Us executives led by former Chief Executive David
Brandon. The trust is asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond
to examine the prebankruptcy bonuses they collected, along with
other alleged wrongdoing.
Mr. Brandon received $2.8 million as part of a program that
handed top executives 75% of their annual salary three days before
bankruptcy, according to the trust's court papers. The executives
have denied wrongdoing in their own court filings and said the
trust isn't entitled to put its claims before a jury.
Jury trials are rarities in corporate bankruptcy disputes, which
are usually decided by judges alone. A jury trial would allow
members of the public to weigh the executives' bonuses against the
31,000 people who lost their jobs and didn't get the severance pay
they expected because Toys "R" Us failed to reorganize.
Last year, the proliferation of retention pay among distressed
companies generated enough blowback for the Government
Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to begin
gathering data as part of a funding recommendation for the Justice
Department. The GAO report is due in October.
Rep. W. Gregory Steube (R., Fla.) introduced legislation in
January to ban executive bonuses for a year before and a year after
a bankruptcy filing.
But aside from some isolated cases, creditors of bankrupt
businesses have shown little appetite to demand that executives
return some or all of the retention pay they received. Only a
handful of creditor groups have raised formal objections to bonuses
paid out after Covid-19 hit by companies that later went bankrupt,
a review by The Wall Street Journal found.
They include West Texas fracker Sable Permian Resources LLC and
natural gas producer Gulfport Energy Corp., both of which improved
the treatment of their creditors after objections were filed around
retention bonuses they paid.
Corporate leaders' eagerness to collect stay pay from their own
troubled companies is an embarrassment to many bankruptcy
professionals, generating "widespread frustration over how this
practice has emerged and been tolerated," said Jared Ellias,
professor at University of California Hastings College of the
"It's usually a bad negotiating tactic to go after the wallet of
the person that you need stuff from," he said.
Write to Peg Brickley at firstname.lastname@example.org
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 05, 2021 19:26 ET (23:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.


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It’s been 12 years since the first Make Your Own Havaianas event was held in the country, but its popularity continues to grow.
For 2017, the theme looks back to the 1990s. At the recent VIP launch, guests—many of whom had yet to be born or were toddlers at the time—flocked to Cable Car
The bar that had its heyday also in the ’90s had rainbow-colored Slinkys and confetti while one wall was papered with magazine tear sheets, including one of supermodel Cindy Crawford blowing a kiss for Revlon.
Near the entrance were a couple of clear-plastic spinning wheels mounted with this year’s selection of rubber soles and colored thongs.
The commemorative pair was black with colored pixels inspired by 8-bit video games.
Guests jazzed up their pairs with a pin selection featuring such throwback icons as a vintage TV, cassette tape, boom box and video game icon.
There were also glow-in-the-dark pins (lightning bolt, smiley, star, lips and the letters MYOH) and 3D-printed designs like a Lego-inspired brick, peace sign, and 8-bit heart.
“The Philippines really goes all out when celebrating this annual event,” said Manisha Khemlani, marketing director of Terry S.A., Inc. “The MYOH is also held in other countries, but seldom in such a big way.”
The kickoff event will be held this weekend, May 12-14, at the SM Mega Fashion Hall.
Other dates and locations: May 18-21 at All Flip-Flops Bonifacio High Street, SM City Tarlac and SM City Iloilo; May 25-28 at the Alabang Town Center Activity Center, All Flip-Flops SM City Naga and SM City Cabanatuan; June 1-4 at All Flip-Flops Robinsons Place Ermita and Sole Patrol Robinsons Calasiao; June 8-12 at All Flip-Flops TriNoma and Ayala Center Cebu; June 15-18 at All Flip-Flops SM Mall of Asia, SM Seaside City Cebu and SM Lanang Premier; June 22-25 at CommonThread Powerplant Mall, Rockwell; and June 29-July 2 at All Flip-Flops SM Megamall, SM City Cagayan de Oro and Red Dot Robinsons Place Ilocos.
Follow Havaianas Philippines on Facebook and
@havaianasphils on Twitter and Instagram for updates on #MYOH2017. Mix and match the different combinations


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While a few towns like Sudbury and Weston represent strong opportunities for buyers, the advantage lies with the sellers as prices continue to rise and buyers are acting fast.
Month after month this year, we’ve seen the New England housing market bounce back incredibly. This trend shows no sign of slowing down, especially in MetroWest. While a few towns like Sudbury and Weston represent strong opportunities for buyers, the advantage lies with the sellers as prices continue to rise and buyers are acting fast.
For homeowners looking to sell fast, the closer you live to Natick, the luckier you are. This town has the area’s lowest months’ supply of inventory (MSI) at 0.9, and home prices are up 10 percent with a median of $425,000 as sales continue to increase.
Homes are also flying off the shelf in Framingham, Shrewsbury and Franklin. Framingham’s MSI in May was one month, while sales were up 50 percent year over year to 78. Meanwhile, median home prices in this town have escalated to $315,500 from $274,000 this time last year. Shrewsbury could be MetroWest’s hottest market, as sales have more than doubled year over year and MSI has gone down from 5.3 in May 2012 to 1.5 this month. A further advantage to sellers in this town, the median home price in Shrewsbury has increased by 24 percent and now stands at $373,000. Franklin, meanwhile, has experience a modest increase in median home price, which is now $329,900, compared to $314,250 in May 2012. But with MSI down year over year to 1.5 from 5.5 and sales jumping 43 percent, it’s clear Franklin is becoming a highly coveted town.
Newton and Needham are also becoming hot sellers’ markets, albeit more expensive options for buyers looking to move into MetroWest. Newton experienced a 20 percent price increase to $780,000 (from $651,988 in May 2012). Despite the price increase, sales are up over the 100 mark and MSI has gone down by 61 percent. Meanwhile in Needham, the median home price is up nearly 13 percent year over year to $782,500, while, similar to Newton, inventory has decreased and sales are up. Always desirable residential towns, these market figures show that prices may continue to rise as more buyers are competing for fewer homes.
Homeowners in Wrentham looking to sell were pleasantly surprised this month, as the median price catapulted 62 percent, up to $457,500 this month compared to $281,750 in May 2012. Sales have remained consistent for the most part, but, like most towns, Wrentham’s MSI has also dropped, giving sellers leverage in this up-and-coming town.
Northborough is also on the rise, as the median home price is up 39 percent to $361,200 and sales have increased by 57 percent. The MSI is 2.5, currently giving buyers more wiggle room here than in other MetroWest towns; however, that’s more than a 50 percent drop from May 2012 and market indicators show that MSI could continue to drop in the coming months.
Weston, one of the most expensive towns in MetroWest, has a median home price of $1,215,000. However, the town experienced the largest year-over-year price drop, 28 percent, down from $1,689,265 in May 2012. MSI has decreased to 2.6, but sales have increased year-over-year by 63 percent. Buyers who have a larger budget should look to Weston for great home opportunities.
Southborough and Sudbury have also seen median home prices drop steeply. In Southborough, the median home price in May was $445,000, down from $533,500 in May 2012. As a result, MSI has dropped about 82 percent to 1.2 as buyers are eager to capitalize on more affordable pricing in the area. In Sudbury, the median home price is $567,500, down 18 percent from $689,500 this time last year. Sales remained largely the same, but MSI is down to 1.3, so buyers interested in these towns should act now to get better pricing before competition pushes home prices back up.
One of most affordable MetroWest communities we looked at this month is Marlborough with a median home price of $264,000. This is actually a 32 percent increase from the May 2012 home price of $200,000, but that has not deterred buyers from looking to Marlborough, as year-over-year sales have almost doubled. Ashland still remains one of the more affordable towns in this area with a median home price of $300,250. Sales have increased to 28 in this area, compared to 23 in May 2012, and with an MSI of 1.4, sellers are still at an advantage in this market as inventory is moving fast, and buyers must make fast decisions and present their strongest offer if they are serious about a property.
Buying in MetroWest communities is a great investment, and those investments continue to pay off.
Dan Breault is the executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX of New England in Natick. For more information, visit www.REMAX-NewEngland.com.