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ANN ARBOR, MI – With the three-day festival come and gone, MLive/The Ann Arbor News
ANN ARBOR, MI – With the three-day festival come and gone, MLive/The Ann Arbor News photographers are taking a moment to reflect on coverage of Art Fair 2021.
The annual art festival once again drew hundreds of vendors and thousands of guests to downtown Ann Arbor July 15-17, making up for its cancellation in 2020 due to COVID-19, and bringing the city back into its usual summer swing.
Many artists said on Thursday, July 15, that they had their best-selling opening day in years – perhaps due to attendees eager for an opportunity to mingle in public post-pandemic. As in years past, rain arrived on Friday, July 16, to momentarily put a damper on the event, but customers and vendors alike returned Saturday, July 17, for a successful conclusion under sunny skies.
As always, the keystone of Ann Arbor’s summer season of festivities yielded bright, colorful visuals. Check out the moments below for a photographic recap of 2021′s Art Fair.
More Art Fair coverage:
What you need to know about the 2021 Ann Arbor Art Fair
Photorealistic painter brings glassware to life at the Ann Arbor Art Fair
Artists happy to return to post-pandemic Ann Arbor Art Fair after last year’s cancelation
Ann Arbor Art Fair ceramics artist uses lace designs, ancient techniques
‘We have seen worse’: Ann Arbor Art Fair artists, guests wade through wet weather
Crowds flock back to Ann Arbor for Art Fair Saturday
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Snapchat’s first foray into hardware was, well, disastrous. The company’s smart glasses, Spectacles, were priced at $130 and, at first, sold in pop-up vending machines around the United States. Lines were long. The hype was good. If you got your hands on a spare pair — the vending machines let each customer buy two at a time — you could flip them on eBay for a decent chunk of change. But the excitement fizzled after Snapchat started selling the glasses more widely and made them available online. Evan Spiegel, in a letter to investors in 2018, admitted that the company grossly overestimated demand for the product and lost $39.9 million in unsold devices. Today, Snapchat is trying, once more, to make Spectacles happen.
Specs 2.0 look pretty similar to their predecessors. The same rounded lenses with cameras mounted at each temple. They come in three colors, which Snap is calling onyx, ruby, and sapphire. (The previous version came in black, orange, and teal. The newer colors are more muted, which is nice if you want to wear something that doesn’t entirely scream, THERE IS A CAMERA BUILT INTO THESE!!) The new devices are water-resistant and operate entirely in HD, unlike Specs 1.0, which, well, weren’t and didn’t. Snap is promising four times faster transfer speeds when you want to download your content from the glasses to your phone. Spectacles 2.0 retail for $150 — $20 more than Specs 1.0 — and are available today in the United States, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. (More countries in Europe can expect Spectacles in May.)
Earlier this week, Snapchat reportedly began testing a roll back on its widely loathed app redesign. This couldn’t come at a better time if Snapchat really thinks it has a shot at getting people to spend even more money than before on its hardware. You can’t use Spectacle without the Snap app. And if users can’t, or won’t, use the Snap app, that doesn’t bode well for sales.

domain: news


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Should Congress allow a Chinese company to buy America’s biggest producer of ham, bacon and pork products?
The Chinese company Shuanghui has agreed to pay $4.7 billion to buy Smithfield Foods, out of Smithfield, Virginia. If the deal is approved, it could be China’s biggest acquisition in America yet.
Smithfield is the biggest pork producer in the world, raising about 15 million pigs a year.
Smithfield Foods ( SFD) is currently a publicly traded company, but this deal would reportedly take the food company private -- which, legally, means the company could keep information far more private than it does now.
Shuanghui has reportedly had a questionable safety record. It had to destroy thousands of tons of its pork after Chinese media reported that a chemical dangerous to humans was found in its meat -- a chemical that makes meat more lean, according to the Washington Post.
Many on Wall Street expect the deal to go through, though politicians will likely have concerns to address. Food safety and the passing of sensitive farming technology to a Chinese company are just two that may come up.
Perhaps most importantly, though, lawmakers will want to know how this deal sits with the American people. What do you think?


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Nashlie Sephus, a 35-year-old Black A.I. researcher, has a vision for transforming her hometown into a thriving center for tech entrepreneurs.
Nashlie Sephus's latest venture isn't just a moonshot. It's a homecoming. Her goal: Create a tech hub out of 12 abandoned acres of vacant lots and derelict buildings in the heart of downtown Jackson, Mississippi.
The 35-year-old has spent the past four years splitting her time between Jackson, her hometown, and Atlanta, where she works as an applied science manager for Amazon's artificial intelligence initiative. Amazon had acquired Partpic, the visual recognition technology startup where she was chief technology officer, in 2016 for an undisclosed sum. In 2018, she founded the Bean Path, an incubator and technology consulting nonprofit in Jackson that she says has helped more than 400 local businesses and individuals with their tech needs.
Her plan for the $25-million Jackson Tech District is a bold one for a place not known for its tech prowess. For Sephus, bringing investment to a community that's been left out is a big part of the appeal. "It's clear that people don't expect anything good to come from Jackson," she says. "So it's up to us to build something for our hometown, something for the people coming behind us."
The ambition of her undertaking notwithstanding, Sephus says the fact that the plan came from her is still wild. "It had never occurred to me," she says, "even though I had sold a company to Amazon and was working with some of the top people at Amazon and having led a whole startup, started our own nonprofit. It just never occurred to me that I, a young Black female, could buy a building in downtown Jackson, Mississippi."
Sephus plans to develop seven buildings, or roughly 500,000 square feet of workspace. With a construction timeline of three to five years, the area is to be transformed to include a maker's space, an electronics lab, a photography studio, apartments, restaurants, and a grocery store. The space will also contain an innovation center meant to help entrepreneurs learn technology skills.
"My goal is to turn this space into a self-sustaining village where people can live, work, play, and eat," she says.


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The NFL announced on Tuesday that the league and Garnet Jewelry will close its sale of Garnet’s jewelry, and will not be selling it.
The sale marks the second major jewelry store to close since the season began.
The NFL did not disclose when the store would reopen.
Garnet will continue to offer jewelry for sale through its online store and its retail stores, which will be open on Monday.
The NFL also said it will continue paying Garnet, a Chicago-based company that makes jewelry for men and women, more than $3 million annually.
The league paid Garnet $10.3 million in 2016.
The sale comes as the league has struggled to grow the sales of the NFL’s signature footballs.
The new balls have come under scrutiny over their durability and performance, with some players voicing concerns about the accuracy of the balls and other players accusing the league of trying to protect players from injury.


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Resident Evil Village to be featured at Tokyo Game Show 2020, Capcom sorry for delaying August update
What you need to know
- Capcom originally stated it would be sharing more about Resident Evil Village sometime in August.
- August came and went without any news or updates.
- Capcom has now confirmed that Resident Evil Village will be shown during Tokyo Game Show 2020.
After revealing Resident Evil Village during Sony's Future of Gaming event earlier this year, Capcom had previously promised to share more on the game in an August update. August came and went with no news or even small tidbits officially released and now, Capcom has explained why. The August update has been delayed and instead, Resident Evil Village will be featured in Tokyo Game Show 2020 on September 27.
Resident Evil Village will be part of Tokyo Game Show 2020 Online and Capcom's own TGS LIVE 2020!https://t.co/jXTSrLQqkI
We know that gamers were excited to learn more in August so we apologize for the delay. Stay tuned.#REVillage #ResidentEvilResident Evil Village will be part of Tokyo Game Show 2020 Online and Capcom's own TGS LIVE 2020!https://t.co/jXTSrLQqkI
We know that gamers were excited to learn more in August so we apologize for the delay. Stay tuned.#REVillage #ResidentEvil— Capcom Dev 1 (@dev1_official) September 1, 2020September 1, 2020
Resident Evil Village will be shown at 6:00 a.m. PT / 9:00 a.m. ET. We don't know exactly how much will be shown but it will presumably entail what the August update was supposed to be, with maybe even more than that. Resident Evil Village is currently surrounded by rumors, with credible sources stating the game is the longest-ever RE engine title and that there are vicious Goatmen enemies.
Resident Evil Village is a next generation-only title, currently announced for the PS5, PC and Xbox Series X. It's set to release at some point in 2021.
A swamp of horror
In this first-person entry in the Resident Evil series, you play as Ethan Winters, who is looking for his missing wife. His journeys bring him to the Baker mansion, where he must fight off a whole host of horrors.
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Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on PlayStation on Android Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert


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Autonomous cars are inching towards reality and trick laser technology is speeding up its development.
Lidar — Light Detection and Ranging — is one of the key components in how driverless cars “see” the road and vehicles ahead.
The tech uses light, in the form of pulsed lasers, to measure distances. The returned signals give a 3D representation of objects ahead.
But now Volvo and Luminar, an autonomous vehicle tech start-up, have demonstrated the most advanced version of the tech.
The new version of Lidar has an increased level of detailed perception that can detect objects up to 250m away — and render human figures, even down to individual limbs.
As the technology can read the road in greater detail at increased distances, it will enable driverless cars to navigate complex traffic conditions at higher speeds.
Volvo research and development Henrik Green regards the advancement in Lidar tech as a big step forward to making autonomous cars a reality.
“Autonomous technology will take driving safely to a new level, beyond human limitations,” Green says. “This promise to improve safety is why Volvo Cars wants to be a leader in autonomous drive. Ultimately, the technology will also create new benefits for our customers and society as a whole.
“Luminar shares our ambition in making those benefits a reality and this new perception technology is an important next step in that process,” he says.
The Swedish brand previewed its vision for the future of driverless cars earlier this year via its Volvo 360c concept.
The maker believes autonomous cars can be used for a wide range of functions — one of the most radical is the shake-up to the short-haul air travel industry.
Volvo believes that roving autonomous cars could work as mobile sleeping pods transferring passengers overnight to their destination.
Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson believes driverless cars equipped with a sleep cabin will revolutionise travel allowing for greater use of time and resources while reducing congestion.
“The business will change in the coming years, and Volvo should lead that change of our industry,” says Samuelsson.
“Autonomous drive will allow us to take the next big step in safety (and) open up exciting new business models and allow consumers to spend time in the car doing what they want to do.”


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As our preliminary data published on Friday indicated, rising interest rates and higher petrol prices didn't stop US light vehicle sales from rising in October. According to estimates from Edmunds.com, the average new vehicle finance rate was 6.21%, up from 4.95% in October 2017. It was the highest rate since the meltdown in 2009. The once fairly popular zero-percent financing offers have virtually disappeared from the market.
Higher interest rates meant that monthly payments increased an average of 5.0% to US$542 (GBP417).
Petrol prices were up about 12.5% for regular unleaded but jumped 19.9% for diesel. Diesels are a popular option for the big American.
Car companies delivered 1.36m cars and light trucks last month. Volume was up 5,244 units or just 0.4%. The seasonally adjusted annualised rate came in at 17.59m vehicles, the highest reading since November 2017.
Of special note was the end of Audi's long streak of sales growth. Nine years after its last finish in the red, Audi deliveries fell 17.3%, though the miss was fairly predictable. Subaru's streak continued with another record October.
While it is impossible to cite a specific cause, deliveries of passenger cars rose to 30.3% of total sales. Car share dropped to 28.5% in August and was only 29.4% in September. The crossover and SUV share fell from 48.1% in September to 46.5% in October.
Pickups missed their year-ago numbers by 1.7% due to a 4.4% slump in deliveries of full-size models. Of all the larger pickups, only the RAM pickup beat its mark from October 2017, knocking the Chevrolet Silverado out of send place for the second month in a row. It should be noted that all GM numbers are estimates; we won't know for sure until January 2019 when GM releases fourth-quarter results.
Mid-size pickup sales rose 13.2% as American commercial buyers may be shifting some of their fleet buys to smaller trucks that cost less to operate. The segment should show even more growth in 2019 with the addition of the Ford Ranger mid-size pickup.
Commercial van deliveries jumped last month, up 17.0% compared to the previous year. Big spikes in the sales of the full-size Chevy Express, compact Ford Transit Connect, Ram Promaster (Fiat Ducato) and both Mercedes-Benz vans fueled the surge.
Mercedes-Benz also had a good month in the upscale segment in spite of coming up short. Total car and SUV deliveries beat BMW with enough margin to open a nearly 4,600-unit gap in year-to-date totals.
Thanks to strong performances by every brand except Fiat, FCA finished October with a 15.7% gain and a 1.7% increase in market share. Jeep remained the most popular utility brand and appears to be on track to finish the year in the top spot.
Ford continues to stumble and Elon Musk's comments about the company's prospects weren't helpful. Add to that the fact that Land Rover brand outsold Lincoln last month and Volvo is less that 1,600 deliveries behind after ten months have to raise questions about the point in keeping the brand going. In fairness, the Lincoln Navigator seems to be selling well.
Ford's dependence on the F-Series pickup is another worry. For the first ten months of 2018, the F-Series has been responsible for 37.7% of total Ford brand turnover. The Ram comprises slightly more than a quarter of FCA's former Chrysler brand deliveries and GM's four pickups combined make up 32.5% of General Motors' volume.
Looking ahead, another increase in U.S. interest rates is likely come in December, but that may be coupled with a significant drop in fuel prices. Some oil-patch predictions say it is likely the U.S. will see a return to prices around US$2.00 (£0.41/litre).
* indicates a sales record.
Note: Monthly sales figures for General Motors are estimates.
**Volkswagen Group figures include Audi, Bentley, Porsche and Volkswagen brands
Other includes estimated sales for Aston-Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, McLaren and Rolls-Royce


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- Royal Enfield working on new motorcycles
- Could include a 650cc scrambler
Royal Enfield is working on a few all-new motorcycles as part of its long-term plan. Apart from the three motorcycles that are likely to be launched this year or early 2021, we also expect Royal Enfield to launch a new motorcycle in the 650 range; a 650cc scrambler.
The scrambler motorcycle trend has caught up in recent times with many different manufacturers taking that path. Besides that, we think that a 650cc scrambler from Royal Enfield makes sense because of two reasons. Firstly, the current 650 line-up has a street bike (Interceptor 650) and a cafe racer (Continental GT 650). Also, these motorcycles haven’t received any major updates apart from a BS6-compliant engine since their launch in 2018.
While a new version with modern equipment like alloy wheels with tubeless tyres and LED lighting is a possibility, a completely new model like a scrambler will surely bring a fresher appeal to Royal Enfield’s portfolio. Secondly, considering how the manufacturer has priced its current 650cc line-up, we can expect the new 650cc model to be more affordable and accessible than its competition.


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Loot boxes have been in video games for years and nobody had a word to say about their allegedly harmful effect on players until recently. Near the end of 2017, the Belgian minister of justice, Koen Geens, stated that loot boxes amount to a game of chance. It took at least 6 months for the Belgian Gaming Commission to investigate the problem, and by “problem” we mean such video games as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, FIFA 18, Overwatch, and Star Wars Battlefront II (by the way, we have already mentioned the issue with Battlefront II before in our news article). The latter stirred the Belgium pot - since its launch in 2017, miffed gamers around the world started complaining about the expensive loot boxes, and the overall situation, when you have to pay to win.
Whereas the fans of Electronic Arts’ creations were disappointed by the price of loot boxes, Koen Geens voiced a concern about their influence on a child’s brain, saying “It is often children who come into contact with such systems and we cannot allow that.” The situation escalated to an unpredictable level - Geens stated that, nowadays, these games violate the Belgium’s gaming legislation. Therefore, the developers will face fines of up to €1,000,000, and be put behind bars for up to five years, if they don’t remove loot boxes. Valve and EA seem to be ready for negotiations and will willingly answer all questions that the Belgian Gambling Commission may have.
If Belgium is still indulgently treating all that’s happening, the Netherlands are not so merciful - Holland has declared the aforementioned games as “games of chance” and gave the developers time, until June 20th, to change or remove the loot boxes. So, there’s that.
Come to think of it, loot boxes indeed resemble gambling in a way. Adults, as well as minors, (who spend lots of time playing video games) may become obsessed with an opportunity to win a valuable thing. While adults usually can control their impulses, it’s highly unlikely that the affected young mind will be able to overcome the obsession. Hell, even grown-ups sometimes need to be protected. That’s why they have all those Play Responsibly and BeGambleAware programs, which properly regulated casinos must employ.
Speaking of properly regulated casinos - have a look at our list of best casinos while you taking a break from CS:GO. Some of them may even turn out to be more exciting than hoping that new weapon skin you’ve been wanting randomly pops out of a loot crate.


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Garage sale to help Duncan walk
THE family of quadriplegic Tweed Heads man Duncan Sawyer are fundraising to send him overseas for treatment that could see him walk again.
The Sawyers will hold a garage sale this weekend to fund intense physiotherapy for the 20-year-old who was injured after breaking his neck in a bike accident 18 months ago.
They are appealing for donations of items to sell.
Donna Ford, Mr Sawyer's mother, said the money raised will get them one step closer to his treatment.
"The money we make will help to get Duncan overseas to a place called Project Walk," Mrs Ford said.
"We need to raise at least $40,000 to send him over for six months."
Project Walk is a not-for-profit organisation that has a 75% success rate of getting people with spinal cord injuries back on their feet.
Ms Ford said they were selling a large variety of items at the garage sale but would appreciate any donations the community could make.
"People will find lots of electrical stuff, car stereo systems, security camera and monitors, baby stuff, jewellery and lots more this weekend," she said.
"But any household goods that can be donated for this would be great," she said.
The garage sale is on Saturday and Sunday from 9am (NSW) at 28 Blundell Blvd, Tweed Heads.
To donate items contact 07 5524 1488 or 0447 899 784.


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WASHINGTON — Germany's new system of forcing manufacturers to pay for recycling their packaging has reduced the country's volume of trash-but at a high cost, an environmental researcher believes.
Bette Fishbein also said last week that Germany has accumulated far more discarded plastic waste than it can recycle. Its shipment of the material to other countries has led to charges that it is dumping used plastic outside its borders.
"There are lessons to be learned" from the successes and failures of the German system, said the author of "Germany, Garbage and the Green Dot," published by the environmental group Inform. She was in Washington to appear before a panel of environmentalists, government analysts and a spokesman for Procter & Gamble GmbH, the consumer product company's German affiliate.
U.S. manufacturers may soon have to shoulder at least part of the cost of disposing of the paper, cardboard and plastic in which they package their products, some panel participants suggested. The U.S. stands nearly alone among industrial nations in not considering or adopting a policy to require businesses to share the cost.
Germany in 1991 passed an ordinance making businesses responsible for discarded packages. In response, German industry created a private company, Duales System Deutschland, to handle the collecting, sorting and delivery to recyclers of containers such as cans, jars and boxes.
DSD, as the firm is known, must meet collecting, sorting and delivery quotas established by the government for glass, tin-plate steel, aluminum, paper, cardboard and plastics.
Companies pay the firm a fee to place a green dot on their packages, which is supposed to be a recycling guarantee.
Consumers discard the packaging in curbside bins for pickup by DSD. Industry also must take back and reuse or recycle packaging used to ship products to retailers.
In addition, companies must retrieve from retailers any secondary packaging such as outer boxes, foils and blister packs.
Retailers were required to install bins by April 1992 so consumers could discard such material in the store.
Fishbein, a researcher for Inform, estimated that German companies reduced their packaging by 600,000 metric tons, or about 4 percent, from 1991 to 1992 as a result of the new law or in anticipation of it. The law's provision affecting primary packaging did not take effect until January 1993.
The ordinance also prompted the development of reusable shipping containers and elimination of much secondary packaging material. Liquid and powdered concentrates replaced diluted products on store shelves, and the use of refillable containers for cleaning products picked up.
German auto and electronics manufacturers have begun designing their products for longer use and easier recycling in anticipation of another law that is expected to pass and will require such recycling, Fishbein said.
On the negative side, Duales System Deutschland has teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. German companies, utilities and firms that manage waste under contracts with DSD responded last June with cash infusions of $228 million.
Last September DSD was again close to insolvency. The company could not pay $384 million it owed to waste-management firms. The firms agreed to convert the debts to interest-bearing loans.
As part of the agreement, DSD had to give the firms a major role in running it.
Although 90 percent of the packages on the German market last summer carried the green dot, only 60 percent of the fees had been paid, Fishbein said.
Since then, DSD has put an enforcement system in place to increase fee collection.


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Jeff Buckey’s former manager Dave Lory, author of the new book Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah to the Last Goodbye, recently sat down with New Musical Express to talk about the possibility of turning his latest book into a movie. According to Lory, Jared Leto is interested in playing Jeff Buckley. You can read the full interview below:
Who We Are
Post Hill Press is an independent, selective publishing house dedicated to the vision and curatorial skills of publishers with over twenty years of experience as well as 20 NY Times bestsellers, both fiction and non-fiction.
The authors and titles selected by Post Hill Press adhere to two basic principles: authentic storytelling and exceptional craftsmanship.


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London Block Exchange (LBX), a cryptocurrency exchange platform, is going to add a selection of new cryptocurrencies for trading this week, according to a company press release.
LBX offers an application through which customers can sell and purchase pound sterling against Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Ethereum Classic, Bitcoin Cash. The company is based in Canary Wharf and is regulated by the FCA.
It will be adding one new coin every day. In no particular order, these are Basic Attention Token, STATUS, Golem, OmiseGo and 0x. These coins have market capitalisations of 362.6 million, 445.7 million, 494 million, 1.4 billion and 856.3 million dollars respectively.
CEO Benjamin Dives said: “By the end of the week London Block Exchange will have 11 tokens on offer through its user-friendly app. All five coins offer unique and exciting prospects as well as reputable backing, and we’ll be educating our customers about their offerings throughout College of Crypto so they can make informed choices. We’re also committed to adding more coins onto the exchange to give our customers as much choice as possible.”
The firm will also be releasing its application on the Android operating system this week.
Can You Trade Cryptos Like Any Other Currency?Go to article >>
OmiseGo is an Ethereum-based blockchain which runs on the more-scalable Plasma architecture.
STATUS is an application that turns your mobile phone into an Ethereum node.
Golem, which raised 8.6 million dollars in 29 minutes during its 2016 ICO, is a peer-to-peer market that allows you to sell your computer’s excess CPU power for other people to use.
Basic Attention Token uses blockchain technology in the realm of online advertising,
0x is an “open, permissionless protocol allowing for ERC20 tokens to be traded on the Ethereum blockchain.”
LBX recently announced that customers will be able to use the Faster Payments Service, which is an electronic payment service for pound sterling invented by some major banks. LBX allows transfer of pounds to cryptocurrencies and vice versa through FPS.


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If you’re looking for a big, powerful gaming laptop, the MSI’s GT72 Dominator has always been a solid choice — but it’s never been really interesting . The Dominator is known for a strong build, powerful internals, good speakers and a superb keyboard, but it never offered anything unexpected. Now it does. Later this month, MSI will be updating the Dominator with a fancy new gimmick: an integrated eye-tracking camera. Technically, we’ve seen this machine before: MSI showed off a prototype eye-tracking Dominator in Taiwan last year . It… sort of worked. Eye-controlled gaming can be finicky if not implemented correctly. At the time, we had trouble controlling the Assassin’s Creed in-game camera by just looking at the screen, but logging into Windows with the camera was relatively easy. The technology has potential, even if it only has limited support at the moment. Now that it’s officially available, that support could be on its way. MSI says the GT72S Tobii will be available for purchase later this month, and will ship with a Tobii-enabled copy of Tom Clancy’s The Division.
Originally posted here:
MSI’s flagship gaming laptop gets an eye-tracking upgrade


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Big news in the beer industry as Sapporo shutters Anchor Stream Brewing. Marcum’s Food & Beverage Leader Louis Biscotti dives into what happened to the cherished craft beer brand.
By Louis Biscotti, Food and Beverage Services Leader
Sapporo blames a pandemic, inflation, and tough times. And rising freight and materials costs, rent, labor, taxes, and fees certainly didn’t help. Anchor workers unionized and Sapporo, founded in Japan in 1876, said sales continued to slip. But what happened at the brand famous for Anchor Steam beer and Christmas ale, among others? The goal had always been growth. How had it gone so quickly from high hopes to the end of the road?


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With Sonic Force’s release now just three weeks away, SEGA is now finally showing off new parts of the game. Today’s trio of videos center around the game’s Avatar character, a boss battle and a somewhat new stage: Space Port.
I say somewhat because Space Port is technically the frozen-over Chemical Plant level we got our first screenshots of last week. It would appear the plant has been converted into launch base of some sort, with the chemicals now frozen solid in their tubes and vats. The “Rental Hero” feature allows you to rent other player’s heroes, and switch to them mid-level. SEGA also showed off a boss battle between the Avatar character and Force’s new antagonist, Infinite.
You can check out all three videos below:


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Bad NIH, good NIH (digression to Poettering, new Godwin's Law?)
Posted Mar 6, 2013 0:41 UTC (Wed) by man_ls
In reply to: Bad NIH, good NIH (digression to Poettering, new Godwin's Law?)
Parent article: Canonical reveals plans to launch Mir display server (The H)
Sure, why not. For instance:
Ubuntu has now become an island that is growing more or more apart from any other bigger commercial Linux. [...] Canonical contributes barely anything to the Linux plumbing layer, much the same way they stay away from the kernel. (Source).
Ultimately, this move of Canonical will be one more step towards splitting up the ecosystem. (Source).
For more, just google "Poettering Upstart" and have fun.
to post comments)


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Coke’s Hybrid Conversion
Coca-Cola recently purchased 100 2014 Chevrolet Express vans for its service fleet. But as part of the company’s efforts to, in the words of Bruce Karas, Coke vp of Environment and Sustainability, “reduce the carbon footprint embedded in ‘the drink in your hand’ by 25% by 2020,” it is having those brand new vans converted into hybrid-electric vehicles.
It is using technology from XL Hybrids, a Boston-based developer of hybrid technology (yes, these guys came out of MIT).
The XL Hybrids conversion process includes the addition of a 40-kW permanent magnet motor, a 1.9-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, and the control software necessary to blend the motor’s output with the existing powertrain setup. The system depends on regenerative braking to charge the battery; the battery then releases the electrical energy to the motor to help propel the vehicle.
In Coca-Cola testing, the hybrid setup provided a 15 to 20% improvement in fuel economy.
So to the point of reducing carbon emissions, they’ve calculated that by running the 100 service trucks for 10 years, they will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by some 4,000 tons compared with conventional vans.
One interesting aspect of the XL Hybrids approach is that they’ve specifically targeted the fleet market with hybrid technology rather than trying to provide an all-things-for-all-people solution. Explained Justin Ashton, vp of Business development and co-founder of XL Hybrids, “Our company’s goal is to accelerate fuel and emissions reduction at a large scale. To accomplish this, we had to design and commercialize technology that provides a solid economic return on investment to corporate customers.”
Presumably, even if companies don’t have a stated environmental goal like Coca-Cola, they can still gain economic advantage via hybrid technology for their fleets.
GM gives its mid-size pickup customers what they’ve been clamoring for, a clean and quiet, high-torque, fuel-efficient diesel.
The Mazda CX-5 first appeared on the scene in 2012, and for 2017, the vehicle has undergone some major transformations, to enhance what was already a notable small crossover.
The thing about the Wrangler Willys Wheeler: It is a toy for a grown-up boy.


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Ep.1311 : Facebook's not building a phone, or is it? Video
Ep.1311 : Facebook's not building a phone, or is it? Video Transcript
Google TV uncovers an update, something is sucking the life from the iPhone 4S, and evil robots cannot be stopped by Captcha...or at least some of them.
Check out the competition from Legoland's Model Builder Search Finals in Carlsbad, Calif. Twenty-three finalists from around the country got two hours to build what they thought would be a great addition to the park. CNET News.com's Daniel Terdiman was on hand to talk with the winner, Jason Poland.
We all really hope this isn't our last show ever, but if it is, we can apparently join a bunch of other Facebook hoodlum types and go loot the Apple store. Or, as one caller brilliantly renames them, the Apple Chapel. Also, sad news from China's Foxconn Plant, Comcast continues its parade of breathtakingly evil activities, and nothing's wrong with Georgia on Computer Love. --Molly
We've heard stories about 3D printers being used for both good and evil, but we're not sure how to categorize a company in Japan offering pregnant women a 3D-printed model of their unborn fetuses. Gross. Other stories on today's podcast include a crowdsourced funding site for porn, Amazon accidentally shipping assault rifles, and a sealed first-gen iPhone hitting eBay for $10,000.
The Solar Decathlon, in which 20 universities build a solar-powered home, is a showcase for energy-efficient and solar technologies--some of which are available now, while others are invented for the event. Andy Karsner, the U.S. assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, says the competition is a way to educate both students competing in the event and the general public who can see the modular houses on the National Mall in Washington.
Who to call when your phone breaks down, Android integration in HP printers, and a whole slew of tablet news. Plus, a Car Dock replacement app and Senior Editor of Androidguys.com Scott Webster covers some key features of the new Gmail update.
A phone with the soul of a tablet, Google TV a flop?, and our required App list, All that and more on this week's edition of Android Atlas Weekly for Thursday, December 2nd, 2010. Join Justin Eckhouse along side Senior Associate Editor, Nicole Lee!
Facebook's official Android app is clunky and basic compared with Facebook on other mobile phones.
The Samsung SCH-V770 is a 7-megapixel camera phone that looks like a camera on one side and a cell phone on the other side.
The colorful Lumia Windows phones put a twist on photos, the FBI denies AntiSec's hacking claims, and be sure to brush up on your Gangnam Style dance moves.


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Mayfair Collection opens to thousands of excited customers
WAUWATOSA (WITI) -- The Mayfair Collection kicked off its much-anticipated grand opening in Wauwatosa on Thursday, April 3rd.
The cold, wet and downright dreary weather did not dampen the spirits of the thousands of people who ventured there to shop.
Sue Binter joined a steady stream of shopping visiting the new collection of shops near Highway 45 and Burleigh.
"I'm thrilled to see all the cars that are here, all the people that have come," said Binter." "People in Wauwatosa, I think, are very excited to see this."
But the Mayfair Collection is not important just for Wauwatosa, it's important to Milwaukee County as well because it'll generate significant sales tax from the stores.
FOX6 News has been told 60 percent of the Mayfair Collection's Phase One retailers are up and running. Other merchants are in negotiations to fill the remaining space.
By the end of May, Phase Two of the collection's construction gets started. It'll include three Bartolotta restaurants -- the first which is set to open by the end of 2014.


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In 2014, on a work vacation, Javid Parsa had an epiphany, a sudden realisation to start a venture in Kashmir. It was a difficult decision, but he finally sent a resignation letter to his employers in Amazon India. Then began the journey of Parsa foods, to create a food-joint that has become a hub, for many other ventures led by young Kashmiris.
Javid’s tied up with a lesser known Kathi Junction fast food franchise in 2014. By 2016, Javid’s Kathi Junction restaurant had outperformed every other franchise of Kathi Junction. A success that takes years to create, especially in a conflict zone like Kashmir, Javid made it possible.
His biggest marketing tool was his iPhone and his social media channels that he used creatively. He incidentally became the first ever social media influencer of Kashmir, a feat that not only brought success to his venture, but also to many other people who became his closest friends.
In 2016, two teenagers Furqaan Qureshi and Amir Dar would frequent Kathi Junction, a small 260 square feet space. Javid’s infectious ability to make friends brought them together. For them, this friendship would change their lives. During Javid’s frequent conversations, he kept motivating them to create something of their own. In 2016, under Javid’s mentorship, Furqaan and Amir would start Kashmir’s first ever food delivery service. A service that has grown in scale in just a single year. Furqaan Qureshi, who is running the operations out of a small room at Lal Chowk says, “Javid is more like a brother, a guardian and a perfect teacher one can ever have.”
The small space became a virtual start-up hub, with a few more ventures that were created by youngsters who continue to be under the mentorship of Javid. His style of marketing continues to be emulated by bigger restaurants in Srinagar.
During the seven months of the uprising, when Kashmir continued to remain under curfew. Javid was on the verge of closing his venture, to stop the losses that he was enduring like many others. In a conversation with the author, Javid spoke of how it was getting difficult for him to run the operations. But for him the only motivation, as he said over a cup of tea during in the curfewed Srinagar, “the people who love this space, that’s the only thing that stops me from giving this up.”
Javid has had his fair share of controversies too owing to his bluntness. His outspokenness that turned a student in Hyderabad, into becoming the first ever Kashmiri President of a student association in India. His association with the political movement and also his honesty on social issues would have brought the ire of authorities as well as the society. Instead, it helped develop debate and discussion. Javid’s peculiar nature would make him invite his online critics to his restaurant, and they would leave the place as his friends.
Javid participated in many protests, social discussions and even started initiatives such as protecting Chinar trees who were being culled. He has given support to many ventures started by many youngsters who sought his mentoring. At any launching of a venture, you will see Javid uploading his trademark selfie.
In 2015, Javid was awarded with the Youth Icon award, by a little-known organisation in Kashmir. That organisation was said to have contacted by the Indian Home Ministry, who would give awards to those who had won again. After consulting with his friends, Javid threatened to give his award up, if the news was true. The organisation rejected the offer.
One of his frequent customers and friends, “this person has the ability to create the best from the best, in such a way due to his ambience that radiates with compassion and hope.”
In an increasingly repressed, and closed society, Javid has swum across the tide. Due to his success, more people in Kashmir started opening restaurant joints and cafes. He maintains contacts with most of them, sharing advice and tips to develop their ventures.
By early 2017, Kathi Junction became synonymous with Parsa. Javid had found the moment that he was waiting for, to end his franchise and create a brand of his own. Parsa.
Ruhan Madni Naqash, co-founder of a million-dollar startup the Climber based in Bangalore, India says, “Javid’s rebranding has an impact on the youth in a way where they can see Kashmiris and Kashmiri change makers as strong individuals, who have their own powerful presence.” He continues to say about Javid’s ability to combine social change and food, “I have always believed that if both these segments can come to one platform and exchange ideas, we can make the best out of our political, economic and social aspirations.”
The rush on his launching of the Parsa brand was a testament to his abilities that have built a network of Kashmiris in thousands. Among them could be many who would create another startup, with Javid’s mentoring.
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Sony Corp.'s Project Morpheus may not be "The One" that turns virtual-reality video games into ... um, reality. But when top Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida revealed a prototype virtual reality headset at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, the global electronics giant instantly boosted a technology beset by decades of big promises and disappointing failures.
"No, this was not the holy grail of an announcement I was looking for," said gaming analyst Brian Blau, a former virtual- and augmented-reality developer and entrepreneur. "But this is a big step forward because it is another major company that has a lot of influence with developers that is getting behind virtual reality," he said.


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You may have noticed that adidas has been on a roll lately. A bevy of pros have worn the company's golf shoes while marching to victory in recent months, including Tim Clarke (The Players), Adidas Kinderschoene`n Justin Rose (The Memorial), Tom Lehman (Senior PGA Championship), Jason Day (HP Byron Nelson) and Se Ri Pak (Bell Micro Classic).
The venerable brand isn't resting on its laurels, though. This week, Adidas Schoenen Dames made two announcements it hopes will boost its profile and profits.
First off, the company unveiled a limited edition of its TOUR360 4.0 shoe in a "USA Flag" design, which will be worn by its stable of American pro golfers at the 110th U.S. Open – June 17-20 at Pebble Beach Golf Links – and the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales.
The shoe features a red, white and blue color scheme and an American flag on the rear quarter. Only 3,500 pairs will be available for retail purchase at a manufacturer's suggested retail Adidas Sale (MSRP) of $180.
Players scheduled to debut the TOUR360 4.0 USA Flag shoe at the U.S. Open include Sean O'Hair, Kenny Perry, Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, Fred Funk and Matt Bettencourt. All Yanks, of course.
"Our team of designers and engineers wanted to make a bold statement and showcase to the world the style and innovation that exists behind every adidas golf shoe," said Dave Ortley, Senior Director of Global Footwear.
"Thanks to tremendous tour validation, the adidas golf TOUR360 4.0 is already revered as one of the most successful golf shoes in the industry and we believe this limited edition version will help to build the legendary franchise even more."
Adidas calls the TOUR360 4.0 "the lowest shoe in golf" thanks to its THiNTech cleat and attachment system. The company says this technology is 32% lower than conventional systems, improving stability, balance, power, footwork and feedback.
In addition, adidas has expanded its adiPURE line of apparel and footwear to include women's items. For now, the offerings are limited to shirts, pants, skorts and sweaters. No word yet if and when adiPURE golf shoes for women will be added to the mix.


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Students from Bedworth’s Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology College met their Conservative MEP, Anthea McIntyre, last week whilst on a visit to Stratford.
The pupils, aged 11 and 12, took the opportunity to present Miss McIntyre with a petition calling on the EU Trade Commissioner, Karel de Gucht, to remove the trade preference for Uzbekistan.
“The petition cites the human rights situation in Uzbekistan, including state-sponsored child labour, and I found it both very moving and encouraging to see so many young people interested in a global issue and taking this civic action” said Miss McIntyre.
I will certainly pursue their concerns with the Trade Commissioner.”
The students also learnt more about Anthea’s work as an MEP and how the EU works.
“I am always especially delighted to have the opportunity to meet groups of school students – they are normally keen to explore how the Parliament works and how decisions are made, and their questions are often very penetrating.”
(Photo shows pupils from Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology College presenting Anthea McIntyre with their petition.)
One of Herefordshire’s leading farmers gave evidence this week to the European Parliament’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee on the issues facing the horticulture industry.
Anthony Snell of Herewood End, who is also Vice-Chairman of the NFU Horticulture Board, was invited to Brussels by local MEP Anthea McIntyre to a special hearing considering the future of Europe's Horticulture sector.
During his detailed presentation, Mr Snell explained that the West Midlands produces 13% of the UK’s potatoes, 20% of its soft fruit, 35% of its blackcurrants, 60% of its cider apples and 65% of its asparagus and that half of the total production came from Herefordshire.
The West Midlands horticulture sector is worth some €350 million at the farm gate, which is more than either the dairy or cereal sectors.
Mr Snell expressed his optimism for the sector’s future but cautioned that climate change and the issues around water security could not be overlooked.
He also called upon the EU to base decisions such as the two-year ban on the use of neonicitinoides on hard scientific evidence rather than emotion.
Summing up the evidence presented by Mr Snell and other industry experts, Anthea McIntyre stressed the need for research and development work undertaken by various bodies to be translated into practical applications that the sector’s farmers can use.
She also urged the industry to work harder to demonstrate the varied career opportunities that horticulture offers: “There is tremendous potential for our brightest and best young people to make a great career in horticulture but, like much of the farming industry, more needs to be done to highlight those opportunities.”
(Photo shows (l to r) Julie Girling MEP, Anthony Snell, Anthea McIntyre MEP, Richard Ashworth MEP and Jim Nicholson MEP following Mr Snell’s evidence to the European Parliament’s Agriculture & Rural Development Committee.)
Horticulture - a question of growing potential
Plans for boosting the horticulture sector across Europe were under discussion in Brussels this week at a hearing called by British MEP Anthea McIntyre.
Miss McIntyre, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands, is lead negotiator for the European Parliament on plans to introduce new strategies in the sector to boost productivity, competitiveness and income.
She called the hearing, along with the chairman of the Parliament's Agriculture Committee, in order to hear the widest possible range of expert advice before drawing up her initial report.
In advance of today's meeting at the European Parliament she said: "Horticulture is an important and expanding part of agriculture right across Europe, but we believe it has the capacity to contribute even more to the overall food-production mix.
"Changing technology is leading to rapid advances to do with growing conditions and husbandry, which means the potential for further expansion and better yields is huge. This sector can start to play a hugely important role in addressing issues of food security and affordable nutrition."
Above is a link to the Public Hearing on "The future of Europe's Horticulture sector - strategies for growth"
The future of Europe's Horticulture sector - strategies for growth (INI). The hearing took place in the Committee of Agriculture and Rural Development and was organised by Anthea as the draftsman (Rapporteur) of the Committee report on horticulutre, also entitled "The future of Europe's Horticulture sector - strategies for growth".
The Indian economy is one of the world’s fasted-growing and, as the country becomes richer, its huge population offers British companies a massive trade opportunity.
As negotiations to introduce a comprehensive free-trade agreement between the EU and India draw towards a close, West Midlands MEP, Anthea McIntyre seized the opportunity to visit India and promote the West Midlands region.
“I had meetings with Mr Shanta Kumar MP, the Chairman of the Indian Parliament’s Committee on Commerce; with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and the local Chamber of Commerce in Bengal and all were very keen to increase trading links with the UK and West Midlands region in particular,” Miss McIntyre said.
“There is a huge market for high-quality goods and services in India and it is a rapidly expanding market that local firms should regard as a prime target for new exports.
“I had an especially useful meeting with the European Business & Technology Centre staff in Calcutta and learnt about their support for companies looking to sell in the Indian market. I would strongly recommend that any local business looking to export to India get in touch with them at an early stage.
“Another key contact would be the British High Commission office. They have a huge amount of information and local knowledge which British exporters will find invaluable.
“The UK’s historical links with India are important to much of growing Indian middle-class and the appetite for British goods and services is huge.”
(Photograph shows Anthea McIntyre MEP with Leena Pishe Thomas, Regional Manager of the European Business and Technology Centre, Calcutta.)
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Privately-held electronic medical records provider eClinicalWorks is committing $25 million to fund the first year of operations for a new mobile health business unit designed to improve quality and lower costs by driving consumer engagement.
Girish Navani, CEO of Westborough, Mass.-based eClinicalWorks, said he expects the unit - called Health & Online Wellness, or “healow” - to be profitable by 2014. About 85 workers have already been hired to staff the new unit, and he said the team would expand to 100 by the end of this quarter. The company’s total head count is 2,300 workers, including 850 in Massachusetts.
The first product developed by the new unit, a free mobile app for patients, will be launched later this month on the Apple iTunes store. The app allows patients to access their electronic health records and those of their family members.
Other consumer-driven so-called “personal health record” systems have failed in the past, but Navani said his solution is different.
“Google Health and GE Healthcare failed because they did not include the health care provider,” Navani said. “That is like trying to get consumers interested in using Amazon with no books or (in using) Priceline without including hotels.”
More than 8 million patients currently use the eClinicalWorks patient portal that is available for computers, Navani said, and there is demand for a mobile option.
The healow app will allow patients to make appointments, check test results, or ask their doctor a question on the go. Navani said doctors are increasingly being incentivized to interact with patients online, both through federal guidelines tied to financial incentives, and by emerging insurer payment systems that reward doctors for keeping patients healthy in the most cost-effective manner possible, rather than rewarding them for ordering more visits or procedures.
While the new eClinicalWorks unit will leverage internal innovations, it will also partner with outside companies. Navani said the company has already been contacted by firms that make home monitoring devices who want to use the healow platform to communicate data from the devices to patients' health care providers. Navani says he envisions creating an ecosystem around patient engagement that can lead to better health outcomes.


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This one has a ton of preview art!
More pundits and creators weigh in on where they see the comics industry going, what inspires them and maybe a hint of news or two.
Are comics sales slipping or stagnating as we enter 2017? Some signs point to yes, as you can see from the November sales figures released earlier today. While the sales decline earlier in the year has been reversed to a net positive thanks to the Rebirth surge, as retailers Joe Field of Flying Colors tweeted earlier this week, there is a sense of worry out there.
More thoughts on the future of comics, the intersection of media, conventions and just sitting at a table drawing, by folks ranging from publishers to creators to journalists. What will 2015 bring? Surprises, like yesterday IDW/Top Shelf deal, which no one saw coming.


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Amazon India has intoxicated ads opposite heading newspapers this morning, that explain Amazon.in is a many visited ecommerce website in India.
Data from analytics websites Alexa, Websiteoutlook and SimilarWeb bear out Amazon’s assertion, with any putting it forward of a rival, homegrown ecommerce vital Flipkart.
The US-based Amazon launched in India in 2013. Since then, Amazon and Bengaluru-based Flipkart (founded by dual ex-Amazon employees) have been sealed in a tough conflict for supremacy.
The draft next shows how trade has trended for both Flipkart and Amazon, with a latter racing forward of a opposition Oct onward, in terms of estimated monthly visits. (Chart courtesy: SimilarWeb).
However, it contingency be mentioned that over a past year or so, Flipkart has focused a energies on posterior a mobile plan (earlier this year, it close down a mobile website, opting to continue usually with mobile app).
So while a analytics information is a website-to-website comparison, both Amazon and Flipkart record a infancy of their exchange on phone. (While information is not clear, Flipkart expected has extremely some-more app installs compared to Amazon.)
As a result, it can't be insincere that some-more website trade automatically leads to some-more revenues for Amazon vis-a-vis Flipkart.


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Are laptops a back-to-school necessity for American students? Not until high school, according to a new poll from SodaHead: A plurality (33%) of Americans say laptops should be allowed into classrooms when students reach high school, 25% say it's OK for laptops to be used in middle school, and 18% say laptops should be allowed in class when students reach elementary school.
Similarly, 17% of Americans are OK if kids use tablets in elementary school, 20% say kids should wait until middle school to use tablets, and 31% say high school is the right setting to introduce tablets in the classroom. Some 13% say it's not appropriate for tablets to be used in class.
Below, other findings from SodaHead.
Most (41%) Americans say smartphones should be allowed in school, as long as they are turned off. Even so, 28% say smartphones should be banned altogether.
Opinions on texting are slightly more pronounced: Only 18% of Americans say texting in school is OK, whereas 53% say texting should not be allowed. Some 29% say texting should only be allowed in cases of emergency.
With e-Books gaining popularity, the public is still hesitant to make textbooks digital, but there are signs of a gradual shift. Though 36% of Americans don't want to shift to e-books in the classroom, 28% support a shift to digital and 36% are ready for e-books to be in some classes.
Favorite Academic Subjects
SodaHead also asked people about their favorite and least favorite high school classes. The least favorite class was overwhelmingly math, which garnered 40% of the vote. Physical education and English followed, with 17% and 16%, respectfully. English took the title of favorite class with 22% of the vote, followed by history at 21% and science at 18%.
Is College Still Important?
Though 70% of high school students and 74% of college students do feel college is important to get a good job, only 50% of full-time workers and 48% of those unemployed say college is important for getting a job:
About the data: Findings are based on a poll of 2,500 users of SodaHead.com, conducted in August, 2012.
Continue reading "Back-to-School: The Scoop on Technology, Texting, and Algebra" ... Read the full article
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In times of crisis, people still prefer phone calls for customer service interactions, according to research from CGS.
B2B technology marketers say they want martech solutions to provide simple integration, the option to try before buying, and clear value, according to recent research from Sonus Research and the Tech Marketing Council.
How do you determine when a customer is loyal to your brand? This article breaks down customers into five levels of loyalty, and outlines how to market to each level.
Evolutionary psychology and digital marketing expert Tim Ash shares insights from his book 'Unleash Your Primal Brain: Demystifying How We Think and Why We Act.'
In the era of "fake news," getting someone to trust your content is not an easy task. But customers are more prepared to trust brands and businesses than other sources. Here's how to take advantage of it.
Unlocking the nuances of the human brain in relation to marketing is a fascinating area of study. Nancy Harhut joins us to talk psychology, behavioral sciences, questionable experiments, and how these all relate to marketing.


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Dollar edges higher
Investing.com — The Dollar edges higher in early Asia on Wednesday with the manufacture of measuring devices, which are expected from Australia, Japan, and China, among others, that the sound.
In Australia, the AIG Manufacturing index due to a previous reading of 54.2. As well, the seen in Japan, manufacturing PMI, with a reading of 52.5, together with the China Caixin/Markit PMI is more with a steady reading of 51.0 expected.
AUD/USD 0.7656, flat, while USD/JPY changed hands at 113.68, up to 0.03%.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last up quoted by 0.07% to 94.45.
Overnight, the dollar traded modestly higher against a basket of major currencies, driven by a pair of economic reports on manufacturing growth and consumer confidence exceeded expectations, the underlying strength of the US economy.
Investors-Outlook on the US economy continue to be bullish, as consumer confidence rose to the highest level since 2008, while the economic activity in the Chicago area jumped to a six-and-a-half-year high in October.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence gauge rose to 125.9 in October to EUR 119.8 in September, beating economists forecast for a reading of 121.
The consumer confidence spending is a leading indicator of the consumer, which plays an important role in the economic activity.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) increased to 66.2, the September reading of 65.2. The exceeded expectations for a reading of 61. As an early indicator of the U.S. economy, the Chicago PMI economists measure helps the business activity and new orders.
The duo reports to come, as the Federal Open Market Committee two-day meeting began on Tuesday with an interest rate decision scheduled for Wednesday.
The dollar has struggled to add to recent gains as investors expected more hints on the monetary policy of the Fed and President Donald Trump on the election of the candidate at the top of the Fed in February.
A rise in the pound, meanwhile, covered the head in the greenback amid growing expectations that the Bank of England Hiking interest rates for the first time in more than a decade on Thursday.


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Headlines about Skechers USA (NYSE:SKX) have trended somewhat positive this week, according to Accern Sentiment. The research firm scores the sentiment of media coverage by reviewing more than 20 million news and blog sources. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Skechers USA earned a news impact score of 0.16 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave media headlines about the textile maker an impact score of 47.0646322638845 out of 100, indicating that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the near future.
These are some of the news stories that may have impacted Accern’s analysis:
- Higher Sales and Cost Control Drove Skechers’s 4Q17 Bottom Line (finance.yahoo.com)
- Skechers Stock Soared after Strong Fourth-Quarter Results (finance.yahoo.com)
- Skechers Delivered Solid Top-Line Growth in Fiscal 2017 (finance.yahoo.com)
- Skechers: What Drove Its 4Q17 Top Line? (finance.yahoo.com)
- Under Armour Returned to Growth in 4Q17 (finance.yahoo.com)
Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Vetr upgraded Skechers USA from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $39.03 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Skechers USA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Skechers USA from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Skechers USA from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, B. Riley set a $50.00 price objective on Skechers USA and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.34.
Skechers USA (NYSE:SKX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The textile maker reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.08. Skechers USA had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 4.30%. The company had revenue of $970.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $881.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. sell-side analysts forecast that Skechers USA will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.
Skechers USA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 8th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the textile maker to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
In other Skechers USA news, Director Morton D. Erlich sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.66, for a total transaction of $134,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $403,920. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Rappaport sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total value of $38,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $726,560. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 580,750 shares of company stock valued at $21,665,988 in the last quarter. 21.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Skechers USA
Skechers U.SA, Inc is a designer and marketer of Skechers-branded lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, and performance footwear for men and women under the Skechers GO brand name. The Company operates through three segments: domestic wholesale sales, international wholesale sales, and retail sales, which includes e-commerce sales.
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Morning to all the PR lovers and haters out there. Here we are again, a week before the big day of love and I must admit, I'm not angry, I am just disappointed to have seen very few Valentine’s Day campaigns kick off… keep me posted please.
Here we go then, another ripsnorter of a week in serious comms land, so let’s get to it and start with a large dollop of Bad PR, or should that be “not reading the room” PR.
Whilst the rest of the world struggles to cope with the soaring cost of energy and fuel, BP managed to just about eek through the cost-of-living crisis by announcing a $27bn profit. Yes, you read that right.
Energy giant BP's profits double to $28bn https://t.co/E5IkNQhjYA— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 7, 2023
The oil energy giant doubled its profits and not content with that possibly leaving a bad taste in consumers mouths, it also announced it was scaling back its climate targets. You cannot make this up. Whilst the Russia vs Ukraine war is being used as a reason for many companies losing profits, it actually helped BP as it pushed energy and oil prices up.
I can’t help but feel that were the UK not presently crippled by strikes and a Government in, seeming, pre-general election limbo, there would have been more unrest from consumers at the profit announcements by the likes of BP and Shell very recently. Again though, someone always seems to profit from war and once again, it is the oil companies.
Sticking with Bad PR and Lidl vs Tesco promises to be another pointless legal scrap over something that consumers really don’t care about and would probably prefer that the legal fees be instead translated into lower prices on the shelves.
The discount supermarket stores love a legal battle. Let’s not forget, nothing usually raises consumer awareness more than two brands going into battle and the likes of Aldi and Lidl have mastered the art of this. This week it is Lidl’s turn, taking on Tesco for daring to use a yellow roundel in its on-shelf Clubcard prices promotional marketing. Really? Yes really.
Lidl, not one consumer cares about this and dare I say it, there is now becoming legal-battle fatigue in the media over these cases. The first, Marks and Spencer and the caterpillar cake, was quite amusing, but fast forward to a few weeks ago and Aldi losing a legal case of the similarity of its gin with M&S’s and really, no one cared.
Being provocative to raise awareness (copying big brand designs) is all well and good and a tried-and-tested marketing tactic, but I feel this is going too far now. Dear discount supermarket brands, we all love you, we all love your low prices, but have a week off on the drama front, no one cares.
For the first time in a long time, I had to do an emergency re-write of the next story. Originally I had Google down for Great PR after it announced it was entering the AI market. The reception it initially received over the launch of Bard was phenominal in terms of wall-to-wall positive write ups.
But then… it went wrong. Google did a live demo of Bard in a big, very public show and tell, and all did not go to plan. It went so badly in fact that it immediately wiped $120bn off Google’s share price. Ouch.
Google’s much-hyped new AI chatbot tool Bard, which has yet to be released to the public, is already being called out for an inaccurate response it produced in a demo this week https://t.co/dmsHaoBhFp pic.twitter.com/FIXQ2llQNi— CNN (@CNN) February 8, 2023
I am sure that the share price will recover, just as sure as I am that it will go on to be a major player in the AI world, but right now, it gets Bad PR for a very rocky launch demo.
The final Bad PR of the week goes to Zoom of “can you all see my screen” fame. It announced this week that it is laying off 15% of its workforce, around 1,500 staff. We all know why, because the post-pandemic WFH era is slowly drawing to an end.
Zoom said it will lay off about 1,300 employees, or approximately 15% of its staff, becoming the latest tech company to announce significant job cuts https://t.co/ACCGlgA3WS— CNN (@CNN) February 7, 2023
It is another example of a tech company that over-resourced thinking that WFH was here to stay and to try and cope with the Covid-tech boom, but has struggled to maintain momentum and is now having to scale back. There is no doubt that the technology platform has contributed heavily to the revolution in working practices and it will be interesting to see how the next 18 months pans out for the brand in terms of it getting snapped up by another giant or slowly shrinking back to where it was pre-pandemic.
Let’s end on a positive story.
HM Treasury and Bank of England
HM Treasury and Bank of England emerge with the final Good PR of this week thanks to the announcement that they plan to have a “Digital Pound” in place by the end of this decade. One of the core reasons this gets Good PR is because both organisations quickly moved to address the historical issues associated with crypto currencies and that is their volatility.
The Treasury neatly nipped that potential worry in the head by saying “Ten digital pounds will always be worth the same as £10 cash”. With other countries like USA and China also considering digitising their currency this is a strong move by the UK to try and steal a march on other currencies and put itself at the forefront of this technology.
I want to end this week by asking you to donate to the Turkey-Syria earthquake appeal. No one can fail to be touched by the graphic images that have been shown in the media since the disaster struck. Times are tough I know, but just giving £1 could help. Here is a link to ActionAid which is one of a few places that have appeals live: https://www.actionaid.org.uk/donate/emergency/turkey-syria-earthquake-appeal
Written by Andy Barr, owner of 10 Yetis Digital. Seen any good or bad PR lately? Abuse and contradictory points welcomed over on The Twitter @10Yetis or andy@10Yetis.co.uk on email
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Goose Island’s 2018 Bourbon County Beer Labels Promise Exciting New Flavors Sure To Sellout Quick
Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Stout is a very big deal in the beer world. In fact, the release of the Goose Island’s BCBS is such a big deal that they release their new brews on Black Friday as if it was a highly coveted sale at Best Buy on the biggest retail day of the year. After making an agreement with Booker Noe, the grandson of Jim Beam, Goose Island has been making beer aged in precious white oak barrels from Knob Creek since 1992. Goose Island’s 2018 Bourbon County bourbon barrel-aged beer labels have been released and they sound sumptuous.
While you’ll have to wait until the Friday after Thanksgiving to experience these one-of-a-kind brews, they sound worth the wait. The 2018 labels have been revealed and try to not be too excited.
- Bourbon County Brand Stout
- Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout, aged in bourbon barrels with Intelligentsia dark roast coffee beans
- Bourbon County Brand Reserve Stout, aged in 12-year-old Elijah Craig bourbon barrels
- Bourbon County Brand Neapolitan Stout, aged in bourbon barrels and blended with strawberry puree, chocolate, vanilla and lactose
- Bourbon County Brand Proprietors Stout, aged in bourbon barrels with cocoa nibs and chocolate added
- Bourbon County Brand Bramble Rye Stout, aged in rye whiskey barrels and blended with raspberries and blackberries
- Bourbon County Brand Vanilla Stout, aged in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans
- Bourbon County Brand Horchata Stout, aged in bourbon barrels and flavored with Ceylon cinnamon, vanilla, and lactose
- Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine, aged in bourbon barrels


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Do Kwon, co-founder and CEO of the company behind the Terra blockchain, confirmed it had bought over $1 billion in bitcoin since the end of January, Bloomberg wrote.
That includes $135 million in four purchases Monday (March 28).
Kwon said the Bitcoin address used by the Luna Foundation Guard, out of Singapore, was used to buy the crypto.
Bitcoin has been seeing a comeback over the weekend compared to losses earlier this year.
Kwon announced earlier this month that the UST stablecoin would be backed by a reserve of bitcoin which could hit $10 billion.
Kwon tweeted on March 22 that he had $3 billion in funds ready to buy assets to back the stablecoin.
Terra’s buys are partly in response to criticism surrounding UST, which is not backed by a fiat currency like centralized stablecoins such as Tether.
The coin has been able to maintain its link to the dollar by issuing and destroying Luna tokens, the native crypto for Terra, and for every UST created there will be $1 worth of Luna burned on the Terra blockchain.
A bitcoin reserve for UST will help UST’s ability to keep the dollar peg – helpful particularly for when Terra faces a short-term demand in redemption of UST.
In other news centered on digital currencies, PYMNTS wrote that the Bank of England published a report saying there might be more regulations coming for crypto and stablecoins.
The report notes that the BoE describing the role of crypto and decentralized finance in the financial system, saying that they’re still too small to cause much disruption.
However there could be more growth that could necessitate more regulations.
For stablecoins in particular, though, the BoE seemed to have a clear idea of what the risks are, writing that there needs to be a way to ensure that the risks are managed for the good of the payment system.


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It’s time to think about how you’ll manage data from the Internet of Things.
I’m not being trendy. I know it seems too new to be possible, but actually the Internet of Things is a simple concept. Sensors + Wi-Fi = Device. It will quickly take root like kudzu, overwhelming your systems, particularly your data systems.
Consider this: Cisco states that what it calls the “Internet of Everything”—people, process, data and things using network connections—will reach an additional $544 billion in profits this year alone, according to CNET. By 2020, the GSM Association’s Connected Life predicts growth to 24 billion connected devices, Wired reports.
The reality is that the Internet of Things actually already exists. Each day, people use wireless sensor devices in cars, on manufacturing floors and even in swimming pool pumps. Several companies offer Internet of Things devices and technology solutions, including Cisco, IBM (it even offers a data solution), Zebra Technologies and start-ups Twine and SmartThings.
As Dr. Seuss might say, “From there to here, from here to there, Internet things are everywhere.” And all of them are sending or using data, and lots of it. “Big data like you’ve never seen before,” notes InfoWorld writer Bob Violino.
Given the wide use, it will be tempting to leave each department to manage their own Internet-enabled devices within a company, but that’s a mistake for several reasons. Think of these devices more like miniature appliances than your run-of-the-mill automation technology. These items will need security and they’ll produce data that must be managed. Also, you will deal with versioning, stress tests, performance and scalability issues.
In some ways, you’ll need to think through the usual IT problems: security, data integration, quality and governance, and so on. But the Internet of Things will put its own spin on each device.
Gartner contends that IT leaders are a “natural entry point” for the Internet of Things, IT Pro reports. CIOs and other IT leaders need to tackle managing these devices now, before adoption overtakes them.
“By understanding the various classes of devices that will likely populate the Internet of Things, the CIO will be well-placed to spot additional opportunities or see similarities that business colleagues may overlook,” vice president and Gartner Fellow, Stephen Prentice, told IT Pro.
In my next post, I’ll share the unique issues IT must consider as CIOs prepare for the Internet of Things.


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ATLANTA — The Coca-Cola Co. is adding ginger flavor to the lemon-lime base of its Sprite soft drink with new Sprite Ginger.
The beverage was developed in response to growing popularity of ginger-flavored sparkling drinks, Coca-Cola said. Sprite Ginger is available in 20-oz and 2-liter bottles as well as 12-oz can 12-packs. Sprite Ginger Zero Sugar comes in 12-oz cans.
“With every sip, you’ll get the crisp, refreshing cut-through of lemon-lime up front, balanced with a hit of ginger on the back-end,” said Mark Shorey, brand manager for Sprite. “The Sprite Ginger launch is all about reinvention … reimagining the signature attributes Sprite fans know and love, with something new and unexpected.”
Sprite Ginger follows a trail of past flavor extensions for the brand, including Sprite Cherry, Sprite Tropical Mix and Sprite Winter Spiced Cranberry.
“Sprite provides a versatile canvas for a variety of flavors to interact with,” Mr. Shorey said.
In 2019, Coca-Cola launched Sprite Lymonade, a mashup of Sprite and lemonade that “helped fuel the trademark’s sixth consecutive year of growth,” Coca-Cola said.
“And we’re confident Sprite Ginger will continue this momentum by tapping into consumers’ desire for beverages that defy categorization,” said Aaliyah Shafiq, brand group director for Sprite. “This trend crosses over to pop culture, too, where artistic collaborations continue to pique curiosity.”


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As consumers begin to show more confidence in the economy, small U.S. retailers are likely to see higher sales levels in the near future. But in order for sales to rise, these businesses will need to have more customers frequent their stores.
While every small business owner wants more sales, additional customers on the property can lead to greater risk, which is why general liability insurance policies need to be revisited before sales growth is expected.
Consumer confidence surges in June
June proved to be another strong month for Americans, as The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index hit 81.4, up from 74.3 in May. Consumers showed improved sentiment toward current and future prospects as well, with increases to the Present Situation Index and the Expectations Index.
“Consumers are considerably more positive about current business and labor market conditions than they were at the beginning of the year,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. “Expectations have also improved considerably over the past several months, suggesting that the pace of growth is unlikely to slow in the short-term, and may even moderately pick up.”
Spending rises with higher incomes
The spike in confidence during May led to increased consumer spending that month as well, and the same trend could occur in June.
Following a 0.3 percent dip in April, spending increased 0.3 percent in May, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The major factors that are leading to heightened spending levels include rising home prices, a better jobs market and bigger income gains, all of which have helped offset the pick up in income taxes.
“As we get further out in time and the fiscal drag fades, spending can do better,” Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, told Bloomberg. “The second quarter is looking a bit softer, but the economy should show some improvement.”
Should higher confidence and spending levels lead to additional sales at small retailers in the U.S. , owners of these companies would be wise to look over their liability insurance policies to ensure they are adequate.
With more customers in the store, the risk of a fall that leads to an injury increases, and a single incident can be damaging for a small business. Liability insurance can help small business owners defend against these claims, and potentially prevent the doors from being closed for good.


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20 July 2018 – Eje Prime
Torre Sevilla is getting ready to open with almost a full house. The complex in the city of Sevilla, which will open its doors in just two months time, has commercialised 92% of its space. In recent weeks, the managers of the complex have agreed the entry of several new operators.
In the field of fashion, H&M, Parfois and the jewellery chain Time Road are going to open stores in Torre Sevilla, following in the footsteps of other groups such as Primark, Mango, Women’s Secret, Springfield, Calzedonia and Foot Locker, amongst others.
The shopping centre has also announced the arrival of the supermarket chain Día, as well as several telecoms operators, including Movistar and Vodafone. The gastronomic offer is going to comprise companies such as Udon, Vips, La Tagliatella, Burger King and the bakery chain Granier.
The opening of the complex will complete the Torre Sevilla architectural project, in which CaixaBank has invested more than €320 million. In addition to a shopping centre, Torre Sevilla contains an office block, the Eurostars Torre Sevilla hotel, CaixaForum Sevilla and Magallanes Park.
Designed by the Argentinian architect César Pelli, the retail complex comprises two large buildings, which span a gross leasable area (GLA) of 26,700 m2 and a constructed surface area of 43,000 m2.
Original story: Eje Prime
Translation: Carmel Drake


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A new charge at the Orokonui Ecosanctuary is angering a tour operator who claims the fee discriminates against her customers.
Orokonui has made it compulsory for visitors on cruise-ship tours to pay a minimum of $5, for staff members to show a 15-minute educational DVD and talk about the ecosanctuary.
It kept a register of tour members and invoiced operators fortnightly.
Orokonui general manager Chris Baillie said the charge only applied to people on paid tours which targeted cruise-ship passengers and included the ecosanctuary in marketing.
Ms Baillie said it affected fewer than 20% of visitors to the ecosanctuary and there was no intention of charging individuals, most of whom were Dunedin residents.
''This charge is just for cruise-ship tour operators that include Orokonui in their itinerary. They are using Orokonui to help sell their tours.
''We are charging $5 per head for the talk and DVD, because we want visitors' experience of Orokonui to be meaningful - we want them to know what the ecosanctuary is about and what we are doing here,'' she said.
It was a way for visitors to contribute to the facility, which would be less reliant on grants as a result, she said.
Ms Baillie said the $5 fee was ''tiny'' and she did not think it would deter visitors or stop tour operators including Orokonui in their itineraries.
At present, four operators used Orokonui, two of which had signed its cruise-ship tour operator agreement, she said. Only one operator had opposed the charge, Ms Baillie said.
That person contacted the Otago Daily Times saying the charge was discriminatory and unfair.
The tour operator asked to remain anonymous to protect her business.
She said it did not make sense to charge cruise-ship passengers on paid tours $5 to visit Orokonui's visitor area, cafe and gift shop - where others could go for free.
''It seems unreasonable for tourists off a cruise ship to be charged for a compulsory minimum tour option when any other tourist or local is not forced to take a minimum tour option; they can simply look around and have a great coffee if they wish.''
The operator said 75% of her customers spent money in the cafe and gift shop, and Orokonui was driving people, and business, away.


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The unprecedented cyber attack on iOS devices revealed last week went well beyond iPhones and was used for surveillance on Uighur civilians.
Recent Articles By Charlotte Henry [RSS]
The Apple Card is made out of titanium, but just how much? Bloomberg Businessweek wanted to know, so they sent one off to an expert to find out.
A Bloomberg Businessweek reporter sent his card to a mineralogist, University of California, Berkeley professor Hans-Rudolf Wenk. Professor Wenk used what’s known as a scanning electron microscope, or SEM device, to determine the card’s atomic makeup. He found that the answer is about 90%. The rest of the card is aluminum, according to the analysis. The Apple Card isn’t the first credit card to be made with metal, as both American Express and Chase offer their own heavy cards, but Apple’s stands out, given the company’s push to market its metallic essence.
Apple is set to announce a new sleep tracking feature for the Apple Watch, perhaps as early as its media event next week.
It is not entirely intuitive how to move a standalone window onto a window with multiple tabs in Safari, so Charlotte explains how.
The U.S. is a long way behind when it comes to mobile payments. A report by CNBC found that Apple Pay made up just 9% of payments in the U.S.
“The U.S. is not a leader when it comes to mobile payments — at best, it’s the middle of the pack compared to other countries,” said Gerard du Toit, partner and head of the banking and payments sector of Bain’s financial services practice in North America. It seems odd considering the ubiquity of iPhones and Androids in the United States. More than 81% of Americans own a smartphone, up from 35% just eight years ago, according to Pew Research Center. While experts say mobile payments in the U.S. will eventually close the gap, they see legacy financial systems, a lack of a need for other options, and rewards cards as major headwinds.
We are only starting to understand the full extent of the iOS hack revealed Friday by Google researchers. At Wired, Andy Greenberg and Lily Hay Newman argued it changes everything we know about iPhone hacking.
The attack is notable not just for its breadth, but the depth of information it could glean from a victim iPhone. Once installed, it could monitor live location data, or be used to grab photos, contacts, and even passwords and other sensitive information from the iOS Keychain. With such deep system access, the attackers could also potentially read or listen to communications sent through encrypted messaging services, like WhatsApp, iMessage, or Signal. The malware doesn’t break the underlying encryption, but these programs still decrypt data on the sender and receiver’s devices. Attackers may have even grabbed access tokens that can be used to log into services like social media and communication accounts. Reed says that victim iPhone users would probably have had no indication that their devices were infected
Two of techs’ biggest names, Elon Musk and Jack Ma, had a head-to-head debate at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Bloomberg News laid out some of the highlights from the billionaires’ discussion.
Musk: People underestimate the capability of AI. They sort of think like it’s a smart human. (But it’s going to be) much smarter than the smartest human you will ever know.
Ma: I never in my life say human beings will be controlled by machines, it’s impossible…Human beings can never create another thing that is smarter than human beings.
Musk: I very much disagree with that. The biggest mistake I see people making is to assume they’re smart.
Ma: My view is that computers might be more clever, human beings are much smarter.
Major U.S. firms, including big tech companies, look set to stay in China for the foreseeable future, according to a new survey.
Users are tired of the sniping, arguing, and fake news on Twitter, so for one day they are making it a happier place – #positiveTwitterday.
Pokémon Masters on iOS is now available to download, although there were some server problems when the game arrived a day early.
When the new iPhone is released next month it will almost-certainly be powered by Apple’s A13 chip. As such, it will be the result of years of research into mobile silicon, not to mention customer dollars. Daniel Eran Dilger explained the development in an in-depth piece for AppleInsider.
In an interview with Ars Technica last year, Apple’s head of marketing Phil Schiller noted that the company’s silicon designers regularly meet with other groups to explore how their needs can be accommodated in future hardware designs… While Google got more sympathetic media coverage, Apple has been building an ISP into all of its iPhones for years now. It effectively works as part of the camera system, both for users and third-party apps. Every new iPhone delivers further advancements in the ISP, allowing every new generation to capture better photos, higher frame rates, improved exposure and a variety of other advancements that enhance imaging inside and outside the camera app.
While we may be cynical about much of what Google does, it is easy to imagine it being a fairly pleasant place to work. According to report on Business Insider, away from bright colours and free food, there is another, less pleasant, side to things. The sex and politics apparently resembles the goings of a popular HBO television show.
Google is a hotbed of sex and political infighting. And it always has been. A source who spent most of his career at Google put it this way: “Inside Google, it’s a Game of Thrones.” Game of Thrones is a series of novels and an HBO television show. The plot is wildly intricate, but the main story is about how several families from all over the Kingdom are competing to take over the throne. The show and books are full of violence, sex, and political intrigue. There is no violence at Google. But sex and politics? Oh, yes.
Apple will provide independent repair firms with the same resources it provides to Apple Authorized Service Providers.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said he wished “split up a long time ago,” but it was stil “the best” of the big tech companies.
Football Manager 2020 will be released in early November, with a pre-release Beta avaialble and fully playable now.
Facebook announced additional requirements for political advertisers Wednesday, The Verge reported. Those who want to run political ads will have to provide more information such as government-issued identification numbers.
Today’s changes mark an evolution in the political ad disclosure requirements that Facebook introduced last year. Beginning last spring, the company began to require anyone buying political advertising to verify their identity and location. Now they will have to go a step further, offering proof they’re part of the organization they say they represent. For commercial businesses, nonprofits, and nongovernmental organizations, that will mean providing a tax-registered organization identification number. Government and military advertisers will have to provide a web domain and email address that ends in .gov or .mil. Political action committees and parties will need to provide their Federal Election Commission identification numbers.
Forthcoming Apple TV+ show Dickinson will headline the Tribeca TV Festival in September, Deadline reported. A trailer for the show landed Tuesday.
The premiere of Apple TV+’s fall comedy series Dickinson starring Hailee Steinfeld will headline the New York fest, which takes place September 12-15. The half-hour series will screen ahead of its September 14 TV premiere and will be followed by a discussion with Oscar-nominated actress Steinfeld, who plays the titular writer; Jane Krakowski; and series creator, showrunner and executive producer Alena Smith (The Affair, The Newsroom). Toby Huss, Anna Baryshnikov, Ella Hunt and Adrian Blake Enscoe also star. Dickinson isn’t a normal historical series with bonnets, corsets and proper ladies. The comedy subverts all of that as it audaciously explores the constraints of society, gender and family from the perspective of the rebellious young poet, Emily Dickinson. Set in the 19th century, Dickinson is a coming-of-age story that finds the author to be an unexpected hero for our millennial era.
Apple CEO Tim Cook received 560,000 of Apple shares on August, 24 2019, in a windfall worth about $114 million.
With reports of increased spending and siginficant hires, it looks like Apple is ready to compete seriously against the likes of Netflix.


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The RevenueCat Making Purchases Objective-C Sample Code demonstrates how to process a transaction with Apple or Google. Purchases SDK has a simple method, purchasePackage, that purchases the underlying product with Apple or Google. Additional samples available in Swift, Kotlin, Java, Flutter, React Native, Cordova, and Unity.
An independent, open source platform aimed at making it easier for governments and businesses to publish open data has released a new version of their API. The CKAN API allows access to catalog listings of open datasets, full-text searches, and sharing of statistics on open data usage.
Online video is a widely used marketing tool and a great way to interact with customers, but with the lack of accurate analytics tools, many video campaigns have been a bit of a guessing game. That's where Vidyard comes in. It's a video marketing platform designed to give users the tools to see exactly how their videos are working, providing them with the valuable insight required in order to make the most of their video investment. Vidyard also makes this functionality available to developers via the Vidyard API.
WeatherBug announced the winners of its recent WeatherBug API Excellence Contest. As we reported last month, prizes were offered for applications developed on different WeatherBug API platforms (PHP, Java, Ruby, Python, etc.).


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Best Buy Europe – a retail project jointly owned by US consumer electronics merchant Best Buy and UK-based mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse – has signalled its intention to grab more market share in the United Kingdom’s electronic retail landscape by launching an e-commerce platform this week, even as the subsidiary group incurred a £29 million loss for the six months to 30th of September this year.
All the tech products (including flat-screen HDTV sets) and services found in Best Buy retail outlets throughout the UK will be available at the same price on the newly launched BestBuy.co.uk web store. The online shop will also offer some exclusive items and discounts that cannot be picked up in the company’s brick-and-mortar stores.
The BestBuy.co.uk web shop comes with a price promise – customers who manage to find a stocked item at a lower price will be eligible for a price match plus a refund of 10% of the difference between Best Buy’s price and the cheaper price. However, there are a couple of catches: Best Buy will only price match a limited number of competitors such as PC World, Comet, Currys, Argos and John Lewis. Also, the company’s price match policy specifically excludes promotional or sales offers, which drastically reduces the potential savings.
UK customers will receive free delivery when buying from the BestBuy.co.uk website. They can also choose to take advantage of the Reserve and Collect option where they can reserve a product at their nearest local store, and pick up the item within an hour of being notified (either by SMS text or email) that it’s ready for collection.
Best Buy Europe posted an operating loss of £29 million for the six months ending 30th of September according to Carphone Warehouse’s latest interim results, with the full-year losses estimated to reach between £50 and £55 million. Unconcerned, the group put the loss down to first-year startup and launch costs with a significant sum of once-off investments in retail and online infrastructure.