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Abdur Rahim Harmachi and Farhan Fardous, bdnews24.com
Published: 2019-03-13 23:15:26 BdST
About 25 million customers of the private bank will not be able to make any transaction through its branches or ATM booths from 12:01am Friday to 6am next Tuesday.
The use of Dutch-Bangla credit and debit cards, agent banking and mobile financial service Rocket will also remain suspended.
The bank in a statement on Wednesday and SMS sent to its customers apologised for the inconvenience, but many of them have expressed ire as the bank has not kept any alternative.
“I barely make cash transactions as I always use Rocket and Dutch-Bangla debit card. A four-day suspension spells a big trouble for me,” one of them, Mir Rayhan Siddique, told bdnews24.com.
“From where will those people who have account with only this bank withdraw money to pay medical, hospital bills if someone gets sick?” an agitated customer asked.
“How will a customer abroad make transactions in these four days? Customers are notified four to five months before such incidents in any country in the world, but they (Dutch-Bangla) sent notice only two to three days ago,” another customer said.
Dutch-Bangla has not said anything about compensating the customers.
But its officials said they think the time for the suspension has been wisely chosen as it covers two weekly holidays and a general holiday.
Friday and Saturday are weekly holidays and Mar 17, Sunday, will be a holiday for Bangabandhu Sheikh Muhibur Rahman’s birthday and National Children’s Day. Everything will run as usual in Bangladesh on the next day, Monday.
Terming it a “temporary issue for better service in future”, Dutch-Bangla Managing Director Abul Kashem Md Shirin regretted any trouble the suspension of operation is going to create.
The bank is going to add a new Tk 2 billion data centre with improved technology to its system in this period of suspension to ensure fail-safe services, according to Kashem.
It took permission from the Bangladesh Bank before announcing the suspension decision, he added.
The private bank told the central bank that it had notified its customers about the suspension a few days ago, according to Bangladesh Bank spokesman Serajul Islam.
“The customers must have been prepared for this. But it’ll be a big problem for them that they will not be able to withdraw money from the ATM booths,” he added.
Having started operations in Bangladesh in 1995, Dutch-Bangla serves about 25 million customers now through its 184 branches, around 5,000 ATM booths and 800 fast-track service centres, according to its officials.


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Huawei CEO Richard Yu confirmed at IFA 2018 that the corporate continues to be within the smartwatch market regardless of not launching a brand new piece of wristwear for over a yr and a half, and now we might have a transparent image of the subsequent watch’s identify.
The Huawei Watch 2 could also be adopted up by the Watch X as the corporate has trademarked the identify in Europe.
In keeping with a trademark submitting from the EUIPO (European Union Mental Property Workplace) the corporate has listed the identify “Watch X”.
The itemizing was noticed by 91Mobiles, and it additionally says it is for “digital units comprised primarily of a wristwatch and in addition that includes a phone.”
When will it land?
This is not affirmation the watch is coming quickly. Corporations typically trademark a wide range of names for future use, so it could a brand new gadget from the corporate is in growth however is not able to be bought beneath the Watch X identify.
Yu stated in his interview at IFA 2018 that the corporate desires to rethink smartwatches earlier than releasing one other and guarantee there is a massive tech improve.
“We need to increase enhancements and make the expertise significantly better than right this moment. That’s my goal. We need to make the smartwatch extra helpful, extra intimate, extra useful, and with for much longer battery life.”
Then again, it could be Huawei has been engaged on this behind the scenes and we’ll hear extra in regards to the gadget we initially anticipated to be referred to as the Huawei Watch 3 within the coming months.

domain: news


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Canadian consumers are launching a “boycott” of American goods, The Wall Street Journal reports, in retaliation for Trump Administration tariffs and President Donald Trump’s words of disdain towards Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The only problem is that many of the consumer products Canadians believe are made in Canada are made in the United States, or by American corporations. Whoops, didn’t see that one coming.
The “boycott” officially began in July, in response to the Trump Administration’s new 20% tariff on Canadian steel and several other smaller tariffs, and after President Donald Trump called Trudeau “weak” at a meeting of the “group of 7.” Feeling disrespected, Canadians have pledged to rid their shopping carts of everything American.
Usually, we don’t pay that much attention to it,” one Canadian consumer told the WSJ. “You tend to buy the products that taste good, or you buy the products that are low in price where taste isn’t an issue.”
The Daily Wire reported:
“Most products assumed to be Canadian, though, are actually American. Old Dutch chips, for example, are mostly consumed in Canada, but are made in Minnesota. And, it turns out, Americans make a lot of products that people use every day. Canadians might be able to do without Heinz ketchup, but they probably won’t give up drinking Starbucks or Coca-Cola, using Apple and Microsoft technology, eating at McDonalds or wearing American-made clothing. If they do, they’ll hurt local Canadian franchise owners before they harm American business interests.
“And where brands are ‘uniquely Canadian,’ chances are they’re subsidiaries of global conglomerates headquartered in the United States. Unilever, Kraft, and Proctor & Gamble make most toiletries, packaged food products, and household goods sold in the U.S. and Canada.”
Nearly 20 percent of American exports go to Canada. And they like it that way.


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The Google Start-Up Network: Google Ventures Invests in AngelPad Companies
According to AngelPad founder Thomas Korte, whose start-up incubator has turned out a little more 20 companies, a significant number of AngelPad companies have taken funding from Google Ventures, though many of them remain unannounced.
That relationship is not an accident; Korte and the other AngelPad advisers were all formerly early Google executives. Meanwhile, Google Ventures has become a way for long-time Googlers to stay at the tech giant while changing careers and getting more involved with young tech companies.
Plus, Google Ventures has a very hands-on approach, said Korte, which appeals to many start-ups. And Google Ventures continues to add new partners and associates with valuable start-up experience, such as Sam Schillace, the founder of Writely, which became Google Docs, who now holds the title of “Googler in residence.”
Unlike many AngelPad start-ups, Crittercism’s and Astrid’s founders are not former Googlers too.
VentureWire reported yesterday that Google Ventures has made something like 60 investments since it started two years ago, though only 32 of them have been announced.
Crittercism and Astrid are both interesting in their own right, and are not that similar when it comes to what they actually do. (Though they both have cute mascots/logos, which are pictured at left and above.)
Crittercism offers a support platform for iOS and Android apps, allowing developers to get crash reports and other diagnostics as well as solicit feedback from within their apps. It’s free for apps with fewer than 100,000 monthly active users.
The San Francisco-based company has raised less than $2 million from the iFund, Google Ventures, Opus Capital, Shasta Ventures, AOL Ventures and angels.
Meanwhile, Astrid is a productivity app for Android — and soon iOS — that generates sleek to-do lists. It has been downloaded 1.5 million times in the past year and has 250,000 monthly active users.
Astrid’s seed funders include Google Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, and Jack Herrick of wikiHow and Jump Ventures.


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Each day TFO Canada publishes a sample of trade news on the Canadian import market along with any new, updated or changed regulations and legislations regarding international trade; countries in which TFO Canada offers services and on the export sectors which it promotes.
Colombia: Coffee Production and Exports Forecast to Drop in 2008/09Tuesday, December 02, 2008 > 09:54:23
(FlexNews via I.E. Canada)
Colombian coffee production is expected to fall to 12.2 million 60 kg bags in MY 2008/09 due to adverse climatic conditions, which include heavy and consistent rainfall problems which occurred in the coffee region.
Exports are also forecasted to decrease by 274,000 60 kg bags to 11.5 million 60 kg bags in MY 2008/09. The effect of the financial crisis on the coffee sector is likely to be reflected more in coffee quality than in volume of production. The credit crunch would reduce pest control, fertilizer application and labor expenditures.
The Colombian government and the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (Fedecafe) signed a new coffee agreement whic h includes an income - stabilizing provision for coffee growers which is a fixed price contract that will attempt to protect coffee growers’ income. The price was set at 474,000 pesos ($199.22), per 125 kg bag.
Colombian coffee production is expected to fall by 142,000 60 kg bags to 12.2 million 60 kg bags in MY 2009. This was partly due to the strong rainfall which occurred in the coffee region during the early months of 2008, which registered 48 percent higher than the historical average for the region. Excess and continuous rainfall reduces the caloric stress needed during the coffee tree’s blossom and, as a result, caused a reduction this year in the number of coffee beans produced by each tree.
The income of Colombian coffee growers in the past year did not reflect the higher international coffee prices that occurred in 2007 and the beginning of 2008. This was due to the fact that, while international coffee prices did increase, the peso was simultaneously appreciating against the dollar. The peso has since changed course and, like many other currencies, is weakening against the dollar.
However, a decline in international coffee prices recently occurred, which offset once again Colombian coffee grower gains. As a result of the income woes of the farmers, the government fixed a minimum coffee price to guarantee income to coffee growers.
Colombian coffee production volumes should not suffer directly from the current financial crisis. However, the lower credit availability could affect coffee quality as farmers invest less in agricultural inputs (fertilizers, pest control and labor related to crop management) due to the fact that farmers have less cash on hand.
Per-capita consumption of coffee is considerably lower relative to other coffee producing countries. The Coffee Growers Federation (Fedecafe) estimates total domestic consumption at around 1.2 million 60 kg bags, which has been stable for quite a few years. In recent years, with its “Juan Valdez” branding strategy, Fedecafe began offering export-quality coffee to the local market. This new local supplier has managed to expand consumption of highquality coffee, but has not been able to increase per-capita coffee consumption in .
GAIN Report: http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200811/146306442.pdf


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If the Spurs vs Warriors game is in your market, you can watch a live stream via FuboTV or Hulu with Live TV. If it’s out of your market, you can watch a live stream via Amazon Prime or NBA.com. More details can be found below.
The Golden State Warriors will try to move on in their first game following the loss of two-time MVP Stephen Curry as they host the 3-1 San Antonio Spurs on Friday.
The game is scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. ET. Here’s how to watch a live stream of the Spurs vs Warriors on your computer, phone or streaming device, with the options being dependent on whether or not the game is in your market:
If the Game is in Your Market
The game will be televised locally on either Fox Sports Southwest (Spurs market) or NBC Sports Bay Area (Warriors market). If you don’t have cable, you can watch either of those channels live online via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
For those who live in local markets, Fox Sports Southwest and NBC Sports Bay Area are among the 95-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which is largely tailored towards sports.
You can start a free seven-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the Spurs vs Warriors on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch the game live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which will allow you to watch any game on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
For those who live in local markets, Fox Sports Southwest and NBC Sports Bay Area are part of the 60-plus live TV channels included with Hulu With Live TV, which also comes with Hulu’s huge on-demand streaming TV and movie library.
You can sign up for Hulu with Live TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the Spurs vs Warriors on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch the game live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
If The Game is Out of Your Market
This is ultimately the same as regular NBA League Pass (more info on that below), but this is the preferred option because you can watch games on Amazon’s digital platforms rather than NBA’s. The latter has had user experience and buffering issues in the past.
Whether you already have Amazon Prime or you start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, you can watch every out-of-market, non-nationally televised NBA game via Amazon Prime’s NBA League Pass channel.
You can sign up for both Amazon Prime and the NBA League Pass channel right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the Spurs vs Warriors and all out-of-market games on your computer via the Amazon website, or you can watch on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or other streaming device via the Amazon Video app.
Again, this is mostly the same as the Amazon Prime option above, with the big different being you’ll watch through NBA’s digital platforms rather than Amazon’s. There are also a few different pricing options when signing up for League Pass through NBA.com, such as one-team pass, all-team pass or all-team, commercial-free pass.
You can sign up right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the Spurs vs Warriors and all out-of-market games on your computer via the NBA website, or you can watch on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or other compatible device via the NBA app.
Spurs vs Warriors Preview
The Golden State Warriors were already reeling when were dealt a massive blow last time out against the Suns, losing Stephen Curry to a broken left hand. The All-Star guard underwent surgery on Friday for the injury and the team said he will miss at least three months.
The Warriors are off to a 1-3 start, all of their losses coming by double-digits in games that were blowouts. Now with Curry on the mend, the team will have a hard time staying in contention in the competitive Western Conference. The team saw Kevin Durant bolt in free agency and Curry’s Splash Brother Klay Thompson is still recovering from an ACL tear he suffered in the playoffs. On top of that, versatile forward Draymond Green is dealing with a sore back.
“It’s been a tough start for us on many levels, so we’re just trying to find our footing,” coach Steve Kerr said. “This puts us in a tough spot, so we’ll assess it and go from there.”
Much of the leadership will now fall on newly-signed guard D’Angelo Russell, who the team acquired via sign and trade with the Nets in the offseason.
“Definitely trying to take on that leadership role and continue to get better every year with being able to lead guys on what I see and what I’ve been through,” he said. “It’s definitely a similar situation, but it’s going to be tougher. We’ve got a lot of young guys that are going to be forced to mature and step up, so I’m looking forward to it as well. … It’s an opportunity. Go back to the drawing board with the team and the coaching staff, and see what we can do to prepare for each game day in and day out. The big thing I see is just opportunity for a lot of people.”
The Spurs were off to a 3-0 start before losing to the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard last time out. DeMar DeRozan leads the team with 23.8 points per game, while four other Spurs (LaMarcus Aldrige, Derrick White, Bryn Forbes and Dejounte Murray) are averaging double-figures.
Murray, who is coming off ACL surgery, will be held out against the Warriors as the team looks to ease him back into action. He’s contributed a well-rounded stat line of 13 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Warriors are a 7-point home underdog to the Spurs and the total is set at 222. Golden State has won six of the last games played between the squads.
Disclaimer: Heavy Inc. has affiliate relationships with various streaming content providers and may receive a commission if you sign up for a service via a link on this page.


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Why You Should Keep an Eye on Yahoo!
It happened again. Yahoo! made a change to its system, and everybody freaked out.
Last week, the company revamped its email interface to complement the continuing internal edits being made to its system. The email change so deeply enraged some users that a petition has been created to change the system back to the way it was originally.
Not even two months earlier, the online masses raged over Yahoo! for a different reason: its new, slimmed-down logo, which the company had changed for the first time in its 18-year history, was apparently not up to the many users' liking.
Counterintuitive as it may seem, all of this misguided rage could actually be a positive sign. It means people are paying attention to Yahoo!, and that changes (even small ones) have the capacity to splash across headlines. Yahoo!'s quarterly earnings were released as its email drama unfolded. Let's see if the buzz is translating into dollar signs.
Optimism or obfuscation?
The hard facts of Yahoo's latest earnings call and CEO Marissa Mayer's related statements may read as though they are referencing two different companies. Mayer said she was pleased with the results, and emphasized that the site's 800 million monthly members reflected a 20% increase over the past 15 months.
The financial factoids, however, sing a not-so happy tune. Revenue dropped to $1.13 billion, 5% lower than where it was in Q3 of 2012, and while Yahoo!'s operating expenses are $3 million lower than they were last year during Q3, its operating profit is $59.4 million smaller. Even more shocking is its net income, which dropped 91%, from $3.1 billion in last year's Q3 to just $298.9 million.
These findings might not be very surprising, given that, at the moment, Mayer has admitted to placing more of a priority on revamping Yahoo!'s structure and culture than its profitability. Now, a year and a few months after Mayer's CEO appointment, the work culture has been reshaped, countless companies acquired, and several internal changes (like its logo, site appearance, and email system) made. With these changes in place, and the looming risk of progressively growing losses, now seems like the ideal time for Mayer to implement the next step in her "chain reaction" plan: effectively monetizing Yahoo!'s content for advertisers.
Alibaba and the indifferent market reaction
Did the market frown upon the disparity between Mayer's hopefulness and Yahoo!'s widening quarterly losses? Not especially. On the day following the earnings release, Yahoo!'s price per share dipped a mere 3% from $34.20 to $33.13, and by last week's close, shares were up to $33.43. Even at its lowest point, that price is still higher than Microsoft's intentions to buy out the then-beleaguered search engine back in 2008 for $31 per share.
One reason for the collective "meh" on Wall Street is that Yahoo! also just announced it has reduced the total number of shares it will be required to sell upon the much-anticipated IPO of e-commerce group Alibaba Group Holding Limited, from 261.5 million to 208 million shares. Yahoo! currently owns 523.6 million shares in the company, which, through its two marketplace and shopping websites Taobao.com and Tmall.com, brought in 1 trillion RMB (or $160 billion) year to date as of March 2013.
It also looks like Yahoo!'s remaining 315 million shares aren't going anywhere anytime soon. According to Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai, "Yahoo! has made a priority to build a good relationship with Alibaba." That's a good relationship to have: Yahoo's stock moved up to $34.54 on October 22, mainly on a report that Alibaba got a thumbs-up from the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange on how it plans to file its IPO. Should that company go on to be a Wall Street darling, the results could be worth a pretty penny to Yahoo! investors.
Cuckoo for Yahoo!?
As Marissa Mayer continues to rebuild Yahoo! into something more dignified than what it was just a few years ago, investor trust is a critical metric to keep. The company's claim in a promising soon-to-be IPO might help strengthen shareholder morale as Mayer and Co. continue to restructure, but the company will still need to eventually prove that it can put its money where its mouth is in its content and that all these changes weren't simply superficial.
Watching a once-depressed tech stock rise try to pick itself up out of the ashes isn't for the faint of heart, but at least it's never a dull moment. In announcing its updated stake in Alibaba, Yahoo! has at least bought itself a little more time to keep trying.
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The article Why You Should Keep an Eye on Yahoo! originally appeared on Fool.com.Fool contributor Caroline Bennett has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Yahoo! Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Asda welcomes new owners with lacklustre figures
The new owners of Asda have been urged to overhaul the supermarket’s strategy after its performance over the Christmas period lagged behind its rivals.
The Issa brothers and TDR Capital, their private equity partner, completed their £6.8 billion takeover of Asda this week after financing their buyout with the biggest sterling junk bond on record, a sale and leaseback of the grocer’s warehouses and the sale of Asda’s forecourts to EG Group, their petrol station and forecourt store empire.
Asda recorded a 5.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales during the fourth quarter and a 6.9 per cent increase in the shorter eight-week run-up to Christmas Eve. Despite increasing online delivery capacity by 90 per cent to 850,000 orders a week and recording a


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Wednesday, July 26th
The Future Of War Is Now
For several years,
helped lead the hunt for some of the world's most dangerous terrorists using some of the world's most advanced technologies. Now he's telling his story in his new book Drone Warrior: An Elite Soldier's Inside Account of the Hunt For America's Most Dangerous Enemies. We talked with Brett about his time in war zones and you can also hear our entire interivew in the
WCBS Author Talks
Monday, July 24th
Hackers Are Taking Aim At Hotels
A group of hackers that focuses on cracking the security at hotels has come up with a new way to steal information from people using a hotel's wi-fi.
Tuesday, July 18th
Young Innovators To Watch Winner: MACAY Labs
This week on Dishin Digital we're talking with some of the Nwe York City area students who were honored at the recent
Young Innovators To Watch Awards.
at 18 years old, Abigail Brown is the oldest member of
and they've already come up with a mod for Motorola phones that audiophiles will love.
Young Innovators To Watch Winner: ADVISE
All week we're taking a look at some of the winners of the recent
Young Innovators To Watch Awards
. Today we're hearing from a
that's working on a way to help the visually impared avoid injuries. Congratulations to 14-year-old Deeya Patel, 13-year-old Nitin Seshadri, 12-year-old Divek Patel, 11-year-old Karan Keerthy, 11-year-old Sriram Pankanti and 10-year-old Srinath Duri.
Monday, July 17th
Young Innovators To Watch Winner: White Water
All week on Dishin Digital we're taking a look at some of the winners of the recent
Young Innovators To Watch Awards
handed out at CEWeek in Chelsea. Today we talked with Sharon Lin, a Stuyvesant High grad who came up with White Water: an app that can scan water samples for harmful bacteria and particles.
Thursday, July 13th
Computer Font May Have Raised Flags of Corruption by Pakistani Prime MInister
Could a computer font be key to taking down the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif?
Wednesday, July 12th
NASA Will Be Throwing DART at Asteroids
NASA is creating technology to save Earth from dangerous asteroids. Their Planetary Defense Team has come up with Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).
Tuesday, July 11th
Healthcare Over Skype
A Utah healthcare system,
, is putting tele-medicine to work to let doctors care for patients across hundreds of miles.
Monday, July 10th
A Camera Company Goes Full Smartphone
, the company known for making high-end movie cameras, is now getting ready to start making its own
Thursday, July 6th
A VR Playground Arrives In NYC
There's a new way to experience virtual reality in New York City.
is now open near the corner of 34th Street and 5th Avenue.
Wednesday, July 5th
unGlue Your Kids From Their Devices This Summer
is new way to help break your kids away from their phones and tablets while out on summer break.
Tuesday, July 4th
Big Data Is Making Twizzlers
, the company behind Twizzlers, has turned to big data to help make them even better.
Monday, July 3rd
New Ways To Protect Against Ransomware
As AI is being put to work to fight the recent spate of ransomware, Microsoft is also working a new way to protect the next version of Windows 10.
Thursday, June 29th
Jaguar Bringing Whole New Meaning to Gas and Go
A new system is rolling out the lets Jaguar drivers pay for gas right from their car's touch screen.
Wednesday, June 28th
Tech Companies Getting Together to Fight Hate Speach
Some of the biggest tech companies are getting together to fight hate speech. Youtube, Twitter, Microsoft and Facebook have created the Global Internet Forum to fight terrorism.
Tuesday, June 27th
Taking A Beta Bite Of The Apple
If you're just dying to try out the latest
beta of iOS
, then there are a couple you things you need to know about before taking the plunge.
Monday, June 26th
Facebook Takes On TV
Facebook may be ready to jump into television.
Thursday, June 22nd
Netflix Letting You Shape the Stories
Netflix now providing interactive stories that gives viewers a choice about what will happen next.
Wednesday, June 21st
Windows 10 Story Remix Helping You Sort Your Photos and Videos
Windows 10 Story Remix will help you make sense of the thousand of the photos and videos filling up your digital storage.
Tuesday, June 20th
Managing All Your Tech With IFTTT
If you have a whole bunch of tech that just doesn't talk to each other, then
may be perfect for you.
Monday, June 19th
Athletes Get The VR Edge
Some of the best soccer players in the world are now turning to virtual reality to get an edge on the pitch.
Thursday, June 15th
A Digital Native Takes Lessons To The Real World
A company that was born online and helped create a new way to buy mattresses,
, is now taking a lot of the lessons learned on the internet and moving into the world of physical stores.
Wednesday, June 14th
Lego is Helping Your Kids Turn Bricks Into Robots
Lego is ready to give building and coding a boost. Your child can learn to code. You can now buy the Lego Boost Kit.
Tuesday, June 13th
A Mousepad Does Double Duty
is ready to launch a mouse pad that does much more than just sit under your mouse. It'll be able to charge your mouse too.
Monday, June 12th
Soccer is Huge in Spain and So is Watching Game Highlights Online
Big week for Spain's popular soccer team La Liga with playoffs kicking off and that also means that it's a big deal for the tech team. The tech team caters to a new generation of fans follows the team by watching game highlights online.
La Liga Races Into The Digital Age
, the leading soccer league in Spain, is putting a lot of high tech to work, including artifical intelligence, to reach over a billion fans around the world.
Thursday, June 8th
littleBits Makes A Big Jump
A Chelsea-based company,
, has launched a new way for kids to build toys. Now, along with assembling their own electronic toys, kids can program them too.
Wednesday, June 7th
A Wall is Being Developed
A Silicon Valley designer is working on a virtual wall that may finally give Pres. Trump the wall he's been dreaming of.
Building a Virtual Wall
A VR pioneer is proposing a virtual wall along the Mexican border.
Tuesday, June 6th
You can get control of your inbox with a few tips and a little work.
Monday, June 5th
A Computer For Your Wallet
Intel is ready to launch a full-fledged computer that isn't much bigger than a credit card.
Thursday, June 1st
A Quck Way To Turn Your Bike Into An Electric Bike
If you want a little boost the next time you take a bike ride, the
bike wheel may be the best thing you can add to your bicycle. You can see pictures of the bike on the
WCBS Facebook page!
Wednesday, May 31st
On His Own
In today's edition of Dishin Digital Android's creator has set out to create a phone all his own.
Tuesday, May 30th
A New Phone....With The Kodak Name
A new device with the Kodak name raises an interesting question: is it a phone with a camera attached? Or a camera with a phone slapped on?
Monday, May 29th
A company called Inmoji has come up with the next level for emoji.
Thursday, May 25th
Lightning McQueen Drives Off The Movie Screen
The company that brought BB-8 to life has now turned its sights to Lightning McQueen.
Tuesday, May 23rd
Tesla's Still On Track For A Car To Drive Itself Across The Country
Tesla founder Elon Musk says his his company is still aiming to have a car drive itself completely across the country by the end of the year.
Monday, May 22nd
A Power Cables That Can Charge Your Phone AND Back It Up
Backing up your smartphone can now be as simple as plugging it in to charge it.
Thursday, May 18th
New Kindles For Kids
is out with several new Kindle Fire tablets including, for the first time, tablets geared specifically for children.
Wednesday, May 17th
HTC's New Flagship Phone Comes With A Squeeze
The new Android phone from
can do a whole lot with a simple squeeze.
Tuesday, May 16th
Google Is Giving iPhone Users Their Own Personal Google
Google is working on a verson of the Google Assistant for the iPhone. Instead of using Siri iPhone users would be able to use Google Assistant to lauch searches and conversations.
Monday, May 15th
A New Smartphone That Could Last Days On A Single Charge
A Chinese company is ready to roll out a new Android phone that could for several days between charges.
Thursday, May 11th
Fake News Hits USA Today
USA Today now says millions of its followers on Facebook were bogus accounts.
Wednesday, May 10th
Amazon's Echo Show Capitalizing on the Voice First Revolution
Amazon introduces the Echo Show. The company isn't the only one looking to let you get things done by talking to a device. Apple and Microsoft are jumping into the ring with their own devices.
Tuesday, May 9th
Get Active With a New Ring
that fits on your finger is coming soon.
Monday, May 8th
YouTube Vs. Netflix
YouTube is set to pour millions of dollars into original shows and movies this year to take on Netflix. Plus, we'll tell you how you can help convince Netflix to pick up your favorite show!
Thursday, May 4th
IBM's Watson Is Finding An Artist
has teamed up with artists to create a series of portraits on display at
in Lower Manhattan.
Wednesday, May 3rd
Enjoy reading by the pool? Paul Murnane introduces us to a new e-reader that will allow you do so without worrying about it getting wet.
Tuesday, May 2nd
A New High Tech Way To Carry Around Sheet Music
A Japanese company is ready to start rolling out a new way for musicians to carry around thousands of pages of sheet music.
Monday, May 1st
Printing a Building
Researchers at MIT have figured out a way to print a building.
Thursday, April 27th
Amazon's Echo Look Has a Hands Free Camera
Amazon wants to keep an eye on you with Echo Look.
Wednesday, April 26th
Fighting Fake News
Google and the founder of Wikipedia are each pushing forward on new ways to fight fake news.
Tuesday, April 25th
Controlling A Drone...With Your Head
Drone maker DJI is coming out with a headset that'll virtually put you in the cockpit of a drone.
Thursday, April 20th
Chrome Targeting Ads
Google is reportedly ready to make an ad-blocker part of Chrome.
Wednesday, April 19th
E-Sports Are Taking A Leap
E-sports are poised to become medal events at the 2022 Asian Games in China.
Tuesday, April 18th
Our Bandages Are on the Road to Becoming Smart
Reasearchers at Swansea University in Wales are putting together plans to test out bandages that could be created in a 3-D printer.
Monday, April 17th
Tech Hits Ohio
Ohio is home to a couple of weird tech stories.
Thursday, April 13th
Flying a Cell Tower
Verizon Wireless is now running tests on, essentially, a flying cellular tower that could be put in place over disaster zones.
Wednesday, April 12th
They Can Still Steal Your Cell Pin or Password?
Researchers now say it doesn't matter how good the pin or password on your cellphone is they can probably steal it and there's nothing you can do about it.


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March 2019 Sales Chart
PLANO, Texas (April 2, 2019)
– Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) today reported March 2019 sales of 214,947 vehicles, an increase of 0.1 percent on a daily selling rate (DSR) basis and a decrease of 3.5 percent on a volume basis versus March 2018.
For the quarter, TMNA reported sales of 543,716 vehicles, a decrease of 3.7 percent on a DSR basis and a 5.0 percent decrease on a volume basis.
Toyota division posted March sales of 185,698 units, down 1.6 percent on a DSR basis and down 5.1 percent on a volume basis. For the quarter, Toyota division reported sales of 476,925 vehicles, down 4.8 percent on a DSR basis and down 6.1 percent on a volume basis.
“Light trucks and SUVs continue to lead the way for our industry, and Toyota’s Tacoma and RAV4 first-quarter sales results are a reflection of the strong consumer appeal of these vehicles,” said Jack Hollis, group vice president and general manager, Toyota division. “Passenger cars, however, remain an important part of Toyota’s portfolio. Earlier in the month, we introduced the all-new Corolla — the world’s best-selling nameplate — now with a hybrid option, which comes on the heels of Prius AWD, Camry TRD and Avalon TRD introductions. While some of our competitors are abandoning sedans, we remain optimistic about the future of the segment.”
Lexus division posted March sales of 29,249 vehicles, up 12.2 percent on a DSR basis and up 8.2 percent on a volume basis. For the quarter, Lexus sales of 66,791 vehicles were up 5.4 percent on a DSR basis and up 4.0 percent on a volume basis.
“Lexus had a solid start to 2019. The launch of the all-new UX was a success in Q1, particularly with the introduction of the UX 250h,” said David Christ, group vice president and general manager, Lexus division. “We are looking forward to continued momentum next quarter with the updated Lexus RC F and limited-edition RC F Track Edition arriving at dealerships this month.”
March 2019 Highlights
- C-HR sales increased 8.1 percent; a best-ever March and first quarter
- 4Runner sales up 6.4 percent; a best-ever March and first quarter
- Tacoma up 12.6 percent; a best-ever March and first quarter; 17 consecutive months of increased sales
- Light trucks marked a best-ever March, with 114,844 in sales
- RAV4 posted sales of 33,166
- Mirai sales increased 112.0 percent; a best-ever March
- NXh sales up 21.2 percent; a best-ever March (18th consecutive) and first quarter
- LX sales up 4.5 percent
- ES sales increased by 25.0 percent
- RC sales up 55.7 percent
- Lexus Hybrid sales up 94.1 percent
*Note: Unless otherwise stated, all figures reflect unadjusted raw sales volume


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Chef John Surla, a local restaurant owner, will take over The Tipping Point, the in-store restaurant at Save Mart's flagship store in Modesto, California, on Nov. 7-8.
In response to the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on locally owned and operated restaurants, The Save Mart Cos. is developing an innovative guest chef program that kicks off this weekend at Save Mart’s innovation flagship store at 3401 Oakdale Road, in its hometown of Modesto, California.
On Nov. 7-8, from 8 a.m. to noon, Save Mart will turn over its in-store restaurant, The Tipping Point, to one of Modesto’s most popular restaurants, Surla’s, and its much-loved chef, John Surla. His pop-up brunch menu will feature three popular items -- Stuffed French Toast ($10), Eggs Benedict ($12), and Steak and Eggs ($15) -- all served with country-style potatoes and fresh fruits. One hundred percent of the brunch’s sales will go directly to the restaurant (less alcohol).
“Our intent with this pilot program is consistent with our evergreen focus on the local communities we serve, and we’ve extended that approach to neighborhood restaurants impacted by the pandemic,” said Hal Levitt, SVP of retail operations at Save Mart. “We developed a program to assist local chefs and their restaurants, at the same time, our guests can enjoy some of their favorite dishes, discover new ones and share in helping our local restaurants.”
Note Surla: “This Save Mart pilot program means the world to my staff and me, and we can’t thank Save Mart enough. It will help us financially, keep our staff employed, and keep us busy while we get to share our culinary creations and flavors with more people.”
The grocer said that it would reveal additional restaurant participants in the coming weeks.
The Save Mart Cos. operates 207 retail stores under the banners of Save Mart, Lucky/Lucky California and FoodMaxx. The company is No. 49 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.


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Leading law firm Roythornes has announced that its Charity of The Year will be St Barnabas...
Mike is executive chairman of Eider Vertical Farming, a business committed to growing differently and reimagining farming, creating perfect environments for plants to thrive. It produces fresh, nutritious and affordable food, supplying wholesalers with a consistent, high-quality and locally grown source of supply 365 days a year. Mike has a background in project and corporate finance and a proven track record in investing in and developing energy infrastructure projects.
One business success
- Eider Vertical Farming understands that consumers want great-tasting, locally sourced food but are reluctant to pay more. This is why we will not grow a crop unless we can do so at a competitive market price, in line with conventionally grown produce. Our business achievement of the last year has been proving that, by growing at scale with proven technology, this is possible. Unlike some vertical farming companies, we do not believe that consumers should pay a premium for vertically-farmed produce.
Two challenges for the sector
- Food security: shocks related to climate change, conflict, pests and emerging infectious diseases hurt food production, disrupt supply chains and stress people’s ability to access nutritious and affordable food. Agriculture, forestry and land use change are responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. Mitigation in the agriculture sector is part of the solution.
- Soil health is now a primary concern to farmers and the global community whose livelihoods depend on well-managed agriculture. The world has lost a third of its arable land due to erosion or pollution in the past 40 years, with potentially disastrous consequences. This trend is close to being irretrievable without major changes to agricultural practices.
Three forecasts for the sector
- Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) will be a game changer in the search for innovative and more efficient ways to meet the world’s food requirements. The techniques and technology used in vertical farming will continue to improve and advance. Over the last 10 years, the number and kind of crops which can be cultivated viably has already grown: from lettuces, leafy greens and herbs to soft fruits and vining crops. In the future, staple crops such as rice and wheat will become viable.
- Vertical farming will reinvent the agricultural sector for a younger generation eager to explore new methods and technologies. Outdoor farms have long struggled to recruit and retain seasonal workers to pick their crops – and this has been an even greater challenge during lockdown and post-Brexit. Vertical farming provides employment and training opportunities in design, research, manufacturing, robotics, data analytics, horticulture and food safety, which are higher paid, more rewarding and offer transferrable skills.
- Consumers are increasingly engaged with where their food comes from and how it is produced. Consumers who shop with their values and have an appetite for delicious, responsibly sourced and affordable food will actively request vertically farmed produce which doesn’t cost the earth.


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For most of the 20th Century, food was about convenience or nutrition; flavor seldom got a mention. Today, the techies are trying to undermine whatever progress we’ve made in learning to appreciate food.
Soylent, the nutritional sludge/food replacement powder created by LA-based software engineer Rob Rhinehart in 2013, has raised an additional and unprecedented $20 million in funding. Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is behind the bulk of the cash. In a blog post Soylent writes of the raise, “This is a huge leap forward for our company and we are humbled the the trust our investors and all of you have put in Soylent as we continue to grow.”
Soylent is a curious product. Created initially because Rhinehart wanted a “simpler, more efficient food source that could provide maximum nutrition for minimal effort,” it’s now been billed as the future of food. Its relatively low cost does not yet offset its unpalatable taste, however. The company has said it is looking into flavoring its powders.
When I think about what I’m craving today, flavored powder immediately comes to mind. Why is anyone giving this guy money?
But, not to be outdone, this “experience designer and researcher” wants us to eat without eating:
Project Nourished is an attempt to trick people into thinking they’re eating food they like when in fact they are eating multicolored translucent slabs of gelatinous…stuff. Essentially, it’s a fully interactive trickery experience: you wear a virtual reality headset, like (but not necessarily specifically) the Oculus Rift, you hear the sounds of crunching into, I don’t know, a pie (does a pie crunch?), you smell the pie, and you eat what looks like a pie-shaped Jello mold that theoretically tastes like pie, without the calories.
Can I get my steak-flavored pectin with Bordelaise-flavored water?
Virtual eating, the ultimate triumph of the simulacra. Fear of pleasure becomes fear of reality itself. I thought post-modernism was over.


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Stocks to watch
is slated to report its third-quarter results on Thursday. Wall Street expects to see a gain of 6 cents a share on just over $225 million in revenue. Dell Computer
After the bell Wednesday, Interpublic reported third-quarter revenue of $1.5 billion and earnings per share of 2 cents, well off Wall Street's 8 cents-a-share estimate, according to Thomson First Call. The company blamed "unanticipated charges at McCann-Erickson" for the shortfall and said it will delay a full earnings report until it can finalize the impact of a $181 million restatement. The company did not provide further details. Interpublic
Intuit, the tax and business software developer, on Wednesday reported a smaller first-quarter net loss from a year ago as revenue rose by 32 percent. The company reported a net loss of $54.7 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with a loss of $92.4 million, or 44 cents. Intuit said the first quarter seasonally incurs a loss as tax preparation revenues drop off. Shares of Intuit
Schering-Plough said late Wednesday that Richard Jay Kogan will retire as chief executive and president by April 22, 2003. The drugmaker added that, as of Wednesday, Kogan has resigned his position as chairman of the board. Board member Richard Osborne will take over as chairman and will oversee the search for a new CEO. "I will be turning 62 in June 2003, and now that Zetia has been approved I will step down," said Kogan in a release. Shares of Schering-Plough
Abercrombie & Fitch
Campbell Soup Co.
D&E Communications DECC added more than 25 percent after the company said it has inked a definitive agreement to sell the remaining assets of its PCS Wireless division, Conestoga Wireless, to an affiliate of PC Management, a privately held firm based in Fort Myers, Fla. Financial terms of the sale, which requires final regulatory approval of the Federal Communications Commission, weren't disclosed.
Kyphon KYPH shares added more than 14 percent despite the company's plans to buy back up to 2 million shares of its common stock. The Sunnyvale, Calif., medical device developer announced its board's approval of the repurchase program before the opening bell, saying that it will use working capital to fund the buybacks. As of Nov. 1, Kyphon, whose products use its proprietary balloon technology, had roughly 36.9 million common shares. The company's stock, which plumbed a 52-week low of $6.02 earlier in the session, has been in a downward spiral since the Food and Drug Administration placed a safety notice on its Web site on Nov. 1 warning about health risks related to leakage of the bone cement used in the Kyphon's kyphoplasty procedure for the treatment of spinal fractures.
soared nearly 60 percent after the company agreed to be acquired by Johnson & Johnson
rose more than 17 percent in late dealings. After Tuesday's closing bell, the Upper Saddle River, N.J., provider of biopharmaceutical sales and marketing services beat Wall Street's expectations for its third-quarter loss, and forecast a profit of 40 to 45 cents a share in 2003, well ahead of the current consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call for earnings of 10 cents a share. In addition, PDI said that it and Eli Lilly
Tiffany's TIF advanced more than 7 percent after the company reported third-quarter earnings of $35.2 million, or 24 cents a share, up from its year-ago profit of $24 million, or 16 cents a share. Excluding a nonrecurring tax benefit of $8 million, the New York-based jewelry firm earned 19 cents a share, a penny ahead of the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call, and in line with its own projection for a profit of 18 to 20 cents a share. Sales rose 10 percent to $366 million from $333.1 million in the same period a year earlier. Same-store sales rose 9 percent in the quarter. Looking ahead, Tiffany's forecast "relatively healthy" overall results with low-double-digit sales growth in the fourth quarter. The company sees earnings of 60 to 65 cents a share in the period, surrounding Wall Street's current consensus estimate for a profit of 63 cents a share.
TiVo TIVO added more than 21 percent after the company licensed its digital video recorder technology to Toshiba America Consumer Products, a subsidiary of Toshiba Corp.'s U.S. unit. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Products resulting from the licensing are expected to be available for the 2003 holiday season, the companies said.
Cable & Wireless
Multilink Technology MLTC fell nearly 24 percent after the Somerset, N.J., chip firm reported a third-quarter loss of $39.3 million, or $5.18 per share, down significantly from its year-ago profit of $1.4 million, or 15 cents a share. On a pro forma basis, excluding a number of items, the company lost $16.8 million, or $2.22 per share, narrower than Wall Street's consensus estimate for a loss of $2.40 per share. Revenue fell to $1.8 million in the latest three months from $37.6 million in the same period a year earlier.
Pathmark Stores PTMK lost more than 23 percent after the Carteret, N.J., supermarket operator said third-quarter results would fall short of previous projections due to weaker than expected economic conditions. The company now sees between a loss of 3 cents a share and a profit of a penny per share in the quarter, well below the current average estimate of three analysts polled by Thomson First Call for a profit of 12 cents a share in the period. Sales are expected to decrease 1 percent, and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) is pegged between $37 million and $39 million in the quarter. For the year, Pathmark sees earnings of 42 to 52 cents a share, before items, below Wall Street's consensus estimate for a profit of 68 cents a share. The company also said it has amended its credit agreement and that it expects to be compliance with all covenants for the rest of the year.
School Specialty SCHS lost almost 11 percent after Jefferies & Co. lowered its rating on the stock to "sell" from "hold" following the release of quarterly results for the Greenville, Wis., provider of direct marketing services for educational supplies. The firm called the company's second-quarter results "troubling," and said that its outlook for fiscal 2004 was below consensus "In our opinion, SCHS is clearly feeling the effects of greatly reduced K12 budgets and a more competitive environment," Jefferies said in a research note. The firm added that the company has become increasingly dependent upon acquisitions to fuel growth, and said that it believes this strategy merits a lower valuation.
Sea Containers SCR fell 6 percent after the company reported third-quarter earnings of $17.9 million, or 84 cents a share, up from its year-ago profit of $6.6 million, or 35 cents a share. Revenue at the Bermuda-based provider of passenger and freight transport and marine container leasing services rose to $547 million in the latest three months from $356 million in the same period a year earlier. However, the company also discussed its debt situation, saying that it has decided to sell certain assets in order to meet heavy debt repayments in 2003, including $158 million in senior notes due July 1. The company plans to reduce its stake in Orient-Express Hotels to slightly less than 50 percent, to increase borrowings at its Silja Oyj Abp operations, and to suspend payment of its common stock dividends.
Telik TELK tumbled nearly 8 percent after Lehman Bros. lowered its rating on the company to "underweight" from "equal-weight," citing an unfavorable risk/reward profile.
Wiser Oil Co.


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Russia’s decision to go ahead with a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine has been met with varying degrees of opposition. While the U.S. and its allies have imposed severe economic sanctions against Russia, others have responded by breaking off ties with them and speaking openly against Russia at international forums.
However, not all of the punitive action against Russia has come from nations. Several U.S. and international companies have also begun taking measures of their own to hit back against Russia.
These actions range from something seemingly mild as an official note of condemnation from senior company executives — to significant decisions that include dialing down operations in Russia and, in some cases, backing out of deals that could have million-dollar financial implications.
Let’s take a closer look at the measures that some of the major tech companies have taken against Russia throughout the past few days.
As reported earlier, a little less than a week after Russia invaded Ukraine, Apple has almost entirely shut down its business in Russia — save for the App Store, which continues to work for Apple users in Russia. Apple’s Russian website no longer sells products in the country — and all Apple imports to Russia remain indefinitely suspended. The company has also disabled the official apps of R.T. News and Sputnik – both Russian news agencies – for download outside Russia.
In addition, Apple’s payment service — Apple Pay — was reasonably popular in Russia, and it is almost entirely non-functional in the country. Apple C.E.O. Tim Cook has also made his position clear and has condemned Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine.
While Alphabet-owned Google’s Russian operations haven’t been affected by the U.S.-led sanctions, the company has taken several measures against Russian state-owned media outlets by demonetizing them. This effectively means that these outlets can no longer run ads on their YouTube videos and earn revenue from app downloads or websites. Apart from known Russian state-owned outlets, this demonetization drive has also affected several pro-Russian YouTube channels.
Content from many pro-Russian YouTube channels has also been flagged for spreading disinformation, with several of the videos already removed from YouTube citing similar reasons.
Google has also shut down its payment service Google Pay in Russia.
Meta (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp)
Meta — the parent company that owns social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp was among the first to take action against Russia. Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, the company’s Head of Security Policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, announced that it would disallow Russian state media from monetizing the content posted to their Facebook pages.
In a blog post, Meta also announced that it has rolled out a feature for Ukrainian citizens that gives them the ability to lock their Facebook profiles. Furthermore, the company also removed the ability to search friends lists for Ukrainian accounts. This is in addition to changes to Facebook Messenger, where users now get a notification if a disappearing message is screenshotted. Apart from these, Meta says it is also actively taking steps to prevent the spread of misinformation on its platforms. These steps are in addition to demoting posts that have links to Russian state-controlled media. All official state-owned media are also labeled as such.
In response to Meta’s (and therefore Facebook’s) action, on March 4, 2022, Russia announced it would block access to the platform.
Microsoft initially had a relatively muted reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and responded by acting against Russian state-owned outlets. First, the company removed Russia Today and Sputnik News apps from the Windows App Store. This was followed by a decision to de-rank search results of these two outlets on Bing. Microsoft has also stopped running ads for the Russian state media on Bing.
More recently, on March 4, 2022, Microsoft went a step further and announced the suspension of all new sales in Russia. While Microsoft’s blog post doesn’t make it clear what this entails for the average Russian Microsoft consumer, chances are, they will face issues with services like Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft 365, and Azure. In addition, Russia’s large and active box gaming community is also likely to be affected by this move.
In the blog post, Microsoft adds that the company may take additional steps if the current situation does not improve.
On March 4, 2022, Intel joined the list of companies that have taken action against Russia. The chipmaker confirmed that it will suspend all shipments to its customers in Russia with immediate effect. Along with Russia, Intel has added Belarus — a key Russian ally to its ‘ban’ list. In addition, the company has confirmed it will raise funds for relief efforts in Ukraine.
Intel’s archrival AMD announced that it has halted the sale of its products in Russia effective March 4, 2022. Along with Russia, AMD has also added Belarus to the ban list as it is a key Russian ally in the ongoing conflict.
While the company has yet to officially announce this via its website or social channels, an AMD representative has confirmed the development in an e-mailed response to PC World.
“Based on sanctions placed on Russia by the United States and other nations, at this time AMD is suspending its sales and distribution of our products into Russia and Belarus,” the AMD spokesperson was quoted saying.
Because Amazon does not have a massive presence in Russia, the impact of any possible actions on their behalf on Russia would be minimal. This is is probably why Amazon’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was to use its excellent logistics capabilities to get supplies to Ukrainians in need. Amazon has also said it plans to donate up to $10 million to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
With almost 70 million Russian users, TikTok is among the most popular social media platforms in the country. While the ByteDance-owned social media platform has not imposed any restrictions on its large Russian user-base, it has blocked the TikTok accounts of Russia Today and Sputnik — Russia’s state-owned media outlets.
A day after Apple’s announcement to dial down operations in Russia, BlackBerry also announced that it is ceasing “all business activities in Russia.” While the company no longer makes smartphones, it is still a well-known security software and cybersecurity company with its software used on automobiles and IoT devices.
Even though Tesla doesn’t have an official presence in Russia, its cars are pretty popular in the country. Following Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, there have been calls to disable all Tesla cars currently in Russia. Tesla obviously hasn’t heeded those calls as it would only make the lives of ordinary Russian citizens miserable. Tesla did, however, start offering all its Superchargers located in Ukraine free to use.
More than Tesla, the company that hogged headlines was Elon Musk’s other company, SpaceX, which sent over a shipment of its Starlink receivers to enable satellite internet to Ukrainian users. However, with the nearest base station for Starlink located in Poland, it remains to be seen whether the satellite-based internet connection would really work in all of Ukraine – which is the second-largest country in Europe by area.
Streaming giant Netflix doesn’t have a significant presence in Russia. However, the company has still announced the cessation of all future projects in the country — including the filming of an ongoing Russian language series called Zato.
Apart from these tech companies, several names in the gaming industry have reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. One of the biggest names in the gaming industry — E.A. — confirmed that it would remove the Russian team from FIFA and N.H.L. Meanwhile, CD Projekt Red, the developer of Cyberpunk 2077, has pledged to send $243,000 to aid Ukrainians in need. Another company called 11 Bit Studios has also pledged a share of its income from this week to the Ukrainian Red Cross. G.S.C. Game World, the Ukrainian studio known for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise, is seeking donations to be sent to an account belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces.
While it is too early to gauge the effects of these punitive actions against Russia, it is becoming more apparent that the list of tech companies joining in to boycott Russia will only increase in number in the coming days.
Read the original article on Digital Trends


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Oi wins major global web creativity and digital award
08 August 2018
Leading Channel Island creative and digital marketing agency, Oi has won a top award at the 2018 global dotCOMM Awards. The agency won a Platinum Award in the Travel Website Category for the design and build of Aurigny.com, the website of Guernsey’s Airline.
Peter Grange, Oi Chief Executive Officer, said it was great achievement for both the agency and Aurigny to win what is one of the most prestigious awards honouring excellence in web creativity and digital communication.
‘The re-design and build of Aurigny’s website was a major, complex project involving a huge amount of user experience research, cutting-edge technology, and was over a year in the making,’ said Mr Grange.
‘This award is testament to our commitment as an agency to produce exceptionally high quality and effective work that is recognised globally.’
Malcolm Coupar, Aurigny Commercial Director, said the development of the new website was a vital project for us and its success means we now offer our customers a much better online experience.
‘I’d like to thank Oi and my own team at Aurigny for their hard work and dedication throughout the project and congratulate Oi on winning this prestigious award,’ he added.
The prestigious dotCOMM Awards is a global competition honouring excellence in web creativity and digital communication, administered by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (www.amcpros.com). The international organisation oversees awards and recognition programs and honours outstanding achievement and service to the profession.
Judges were industry professionals who looked for companies and individuals whose talent exceeded a high standard of excellence and whose work served as a benchmark for the industry. There were more than 2,000 entries from throughout the United States and many other countries. About 14 per cent of entries won Platinum, the top award, and around 15 per cent the Gold Award.
‘Being a Platinum or Gold Winner is a tremendous achievement that is symbolised by the intricately detailed platinum and gold statuettes. Again, congratulations on your achievement,’ said a dotCOMM Awards spokesperson.
You can view all the winners at www.dotcommawards.com and Oi's case study on the Aurigny.com project here
Oi has won a number of global awards in recent years including Best Brand Building Campaign at the 2017 Chartered Institute of Marketing Awards for its Visit Jersey brand launch campaign. It won Best Integrated Campaign at the 2016 Hermes International Creative Awards for its re-launch of Taj Hotels, London.
Oi’s Visit Jersey brand launch campaign has also been shortlisted for Best Digital Campaign for Tourism at the inaugural 2018 International Travel & Tourism Awards held in London this November.


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by MIKE ADAMS
Just days after Natural News revealed the presence of the heavy metals lead, cadmium and tungsten in rice protein products, the FDA has issued an urgent recall of Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice products sold to institutions like schools and nursing homes.
According to the FDA’s recall notice, “FDA’s Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network (CORE) was notified of a cluster of illnesses at three public schools in Katy, Texas. Thirty-four students and four teachers experienced burning, itching rashes, headaches and nausea for 30 to 90 minutes, before the symptoms went away. Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice Mexican Flavor with the lot number 351EKGRV01, made by Mars Foodservices of Greenville, Miss., was the common food item eaten by ill students.”
This wasn’t the only outbreak from Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice, however. The FDA also reports on several other outbreaks of strange symptoms among children who ate the rice:
“On Dec. 4, 2013, the Illinois Department of Public Health notified CDC of 25 children with similar skin reactions following a school lunch that served an Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice product. North Dakota reported a similar incident that occurred on Oct. 30, 2013. Three children in a daycare and one college student experienced flushing reactions 45 minutes after consuming an Uncle Ben’s Infused Rice product.”
The FDA recall covers:
– UNCLE BEN’S INFUSED Rice Roasted Chicken Flavor (5- and 25-pounds)
– UNCLE BEN’S INFUSED Rice Garlic & Butter Flavor (5-pounds)
– UNCLE BEN’S INFUSED Rice Mexican Flavor (5- and 25-pounds)
– UNCLE BEN’S INFUSED Rice Pilaf (5-pounds)
– UNCLE BEN’S INFUSED Rice Saffron Flavor (5-pounds)
– UNCLE BEN’S INFUSED Rice Cheese Flavor (5-pounds)
– UNCLE BEN’S INFUSED Rice Spanish Flavor (25-pounds)
This recall is just the latest in a steady stream of bad news about rice, most of which is grown in Asian countries that lack any real regulation of industrial pollution affecting agricultural regions where rice is grown. Click here to see my new video explaining how industrial pollution contaminates rice and other crops, even when those crops seem to be grown on “clean” farms.
In November, 2012, Consumer Reports published findings of arsenic in rice. Arsenic is a heavy metal linked to many types of cancer.


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FDA is limiting the amount of acetaminophen in prescription drug products, primarily combinations of acetaminophen and opioids.
The Food and Drug Administration is limiting the amount of acetominophen in prescription drug products, primarily combinations of acetaminophen and opioids. The new dosing limit is 325 mg per tablet, capsule, or other dosing unit. The opioid component of combination products is not affected by the new rule
FDA is also requiring new black-box warnings to highlight the potential for severe liver failure and the potential for severe allergic reactions. The new rules take effect in early 2014.
A recognized problem
"The problem is particularly severe in combination products and in patients taking multiple products that include acetaminophen," he added. "The risks of liver failure can be exacerbated as you begin to escalate dosage in order to obtain more opioid. The healthcare community has been trying to get its hands around this for some time." Calabrese is also clinical editor for Drug Topics' sister publication Formulary.
FDA panel recommendation
The new dosage limit falls short of a recommendation made by an FDA advisory panel in 2009 to ban combination products that include acetaminophen.
The panel has been evaluating the risk of liver failure associated with acetaminophen for several years. A scant majority voted to ban combination products entirely, while a wide majority favored a black box warning. FDA estimates that pharmacies filled nearly 200 million prescriptions for acetaminophen products in 2008, making them among the most widely used prescription drugs.
"Lots of people have taken them [combination products] and will continue to do so," said Sandra Kweder, deputy director of FDA's office of new drugs. "Our goal is to make them safer."


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PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — The NPD Group here reported recently there is a continuing growth opportunity, especially for supermarkets, for “eco-beauty” products, defined as being either natural, organic, green or eco-friendly, or socially conscious or responsible beauty products.
The report, “Natural-Organic Trends in Beauty 2008,” found that at least two out of three beauty product users say they are interested in some form of eco-beauty products.
Karen Grant, NPD's vice president and senior global beauty industry analyst, said there appears to be the greatest opportunity for supermarkets compared with other channels.?
For organic beauty products, just one in 10 (11%) of beauty product users state that they have ever shopped for these products at supermarkets/grocery stores. That is only slightly ahead of traditional department stores at 9%. And for natural beauty products, which eight out of 10 women who use beauty products are interested in, the opportunity for the supermarkets/grocery channel appears to be even more pronounced. For natural beauty products, person-to-person/home parties attracted 29% and traditional department stores were mentioned by 14% of beauty product users, while the supermarket/grocery channel was mentioned by just 13%.
Consumers appear to have a harder time finding natural or organic beauty products in supermarkets than they do in most other channels for beauty, Grant said.


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There are some big changes coming to the McDonald's menu- from lighter lunches to a revamped breakfast classic.
The fast food giant will be launching five new and improved items (including the return of an old favourite) and as well as their recent paper straw initiative, they are also scrapping more plastic packaging in a bid to be more sustainable.
There are more than 20 McDonald's branches across Essex, including three in Chelmsford, five in the Basildon area and more scattered across the county.
These are the five new items McDonald's will be introducing this week:
This revamped breakfast classic is sure to get you ready for the day ahead.
The humble bacon roll is a new and improved recipe which includes not one, not two, but three rashers of bacon on a sourdough- style bun with your choice of brown sauce of ketchup.
Price: £2.75 RRP
The new Chicken Salad, on the Lighter Lunch menu, gives customers the choice of chicken; crispy (265 calories) or grilled (133 calories).
The salad will has a balsamic dressing on it and you can even add bacon.
Price: £3.49 RRP
‘The Hot Cajun One’ wrap
McDonald's have also expanded heir wrap selection.
'The Hot Cajun Chicken One', also featuring on the Lighter Lunch menu, will feature crispy chicken breast strips of grilled chicken with a cajun sauce, pepper jack cheese, tomato, jalapeno and lettuce in a soft, toasted tortilla wrap.
Price: £2.99 RRP
Smarties and Malteaser McFlurry
The Smarties and Malteaser McFlurry are back by popular demand.
Made with vanilla ice cream, crushed Smarties and chocolate sauce- the iconic flavour will now sit alongside the Maltesers and Oreo flavours on the permanent McFlurry menu.
But that's not all- McDonald's will also be removing the plastic lid, which will remove 383 metric tons of plastic annually.
Price: £0.99 RRP
Mini Smarties McFlurry: £0.69 RRP
When will the new items be available to buy?
The new items will be available from tomorrow, Wednesday June, 26 across the UK & Ireland.
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Do Kwon is facing Interpol arrest after a red notice was issued to locate him over Terraform Labs' collapse.
Terraform Lab's Do Kwon is fleeing after a warrant of arrest has been issued according to the prosecutors.
GameStop partners with Immutable Games Studio to offer collectible NFT trading cards to its reward program members.
Italian taxi fleet accepts bitcoin payments
Cooperativa RadioTaxi 3570, one of Italy’s largest taxi fleet, announced that it has started accepting bitcoin payments. Along with credit card, Bancomat, and PayPal, the company has listed bitcoin, under its ‘Payment methods’, bitcoin.com reported.
The company has partnered with Chainside, a startup enabling businesses to accept bitcoin, to offer wallet, invoice, and monitoring services. The Chainside platform is integrated into URI’s booking app for smartphones and tablets – IT Taxi – that is widely being used, including RadioTaxi 3570.
Customers who wish to pay through bitcoins after their trip can opt for bitcoin payments and will be redirected to a page on Chainside. Once payment is received, confirmation is sent back to IT Taxi.
Last year, RadioTaxi and Chainside co-hosted a hackathon for the industry in Rome – ‘TaxiHack’. It was the first hackathon for innovations dedicated to taxi service that saw BitTaxi, an app that allows customers to pay for rides in bitcoin, as the winner.
"Of course, to think that everyone can accept being paid in Bitcoin is hard to imagine, but what we want to walk from this initiative is that we are not as conservative and opposed to innovation as we often describe . We have always seen innovation as a growth stimulus. We want to give a strong signal to our competitors," the president of the cooperative Loreno Bittarelli commented after the event (loosely translated).
What is a semiconductor? An electrical engineer explains how these critical electronic components work and how they are made


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MBA, Trade Groups Urge FTC to Crack Down on Banking Scams
The Mortgage Bankers Association, the American Bankers Association and other banking trade associations urged the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on those who impersonate banks or government officials in scams.
The Dec. 16 letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan comes in response to a proposed FTC proposed rulemaking that that would prohibit impersonation of government, businesses and their officials, and to prohibit entities from providing the “means and instrumentalities” for another to impersonate a government or business.
The proposed rule would “codify the well-understood principle that impersonation scams violate the FTC Act, as do those who provide impersonators with the means to harm consumers.” It would allow the Commission to recover money from, or seek civil penalties against, scammers who harm consumers in violation of the rule.
While generally supportive of the proposed rule, MBA, ABA, ACA International, the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management, Credit Union National Association and the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions nonetheless expressed concern that the proposed rule’s provision that imposes liability on entities that provide the “means and instrumentalities” to impersonate another person could capture banks and companies like Zelle that provide payment services.
“[We ask the FTC] to state clearly that the mere provision of a payment service that is used by a bad actor to perpetrate the unlawful impersonation of a government or business would not constitute providing the ‘means and instrumentalities’ of the unlawful impersonation,” the letter said. “The FTC previously made clear that an entity may be liable for passing on a false or misleading representation only if it has ‘knowledge or reason to expect that consumers may possibly be deceived as a result.’ When a financial institution that provides a payment service has no knowledge or reason to expect that its customer is using the payment service to unlawfully impersonate a government or business, the institution is not providing the means or instrumentalities for the impersonation.”
Specifically, the letter urges the FTC to impose liability on telephone companies (Voice Service Providers) that provide consumers with unauthenticated and falsified Caller ID information in the consumer’s Caller ID display—i.e., those Voice Service Providers that “provide the means and instrumentalities” for another entity to impersonate a government or business. The letter noted in an effort to combat illegal call spoofing, the Federal Communications Commission recently implemented a call authentication framework – known as “STIR/SHAKEN” – that requires Voice Service Providers that originate calls using IP-based technology to attest to the authenticity of the telephone number that will be displayed in the recipient’s caller ID.
“Despite the FCC’s laudable efforts, the vulnerabilities in the current system continue to allow the impersonation of businesses using the Caller ID function,” the letter said. “Therefore…we recommend that the FTC take immediate action against telecommunications companies that provide consumers with unauthenticated and falsified Caller ID information in the consumer’s Caller ID display. When the authenticity of calls cannot be adequately verified through a direct and verified relationship with the call originator, the Voice Service Provider should not display data on the consumer’s caller ID device. Only those calls that demonstrate a verified relationship between the originating Voice Service Provider and the call originator should be allowed to display any data in the caller ID device.”
The letter expresses strong support for the proposed rulemaking. “We believe existing remedies are currently insufficient to stem the ever-increasing tide of impersonation scams,” it said. “Bad actors regularly impersonate banks, credit unions, other financial service providers, healthcare companies, and other legitimate callers by illegally “spoofing” phone numbers belonging to these businesses. A method used frequently is to cause the call recipient’s caller ID to display the name of a legitimate company instead of the name of the actual caller, who is seeking to defraud the recipient. Alternatively, the bad actor may send a text message from a number that appears to belong to a legitimate business, often including links to fake websites, or send a text message from the bad actor’s own number, making it appear that it is from a legitimate business, with the intent to defraud the recipient. The goal of both call and text spoofing is to lead the recipient to believe the call or text was placed by a company with whom the recipient is doing business and to induce the consumer to divulge important information, such as account numbers or log-in credentials, to the fraudster. Bad actors also have illegally spoofed phone numbers belonging to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, posing as employees of the agency, all with the intent to defraud consumers.”


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Yoggi Yalla becomes even tastier
- Read time:
- 1 min
- 28 February 2003
- Press contact
Sweden Division launches two new types of Yoggi Yalla
Arla Foods has launched two new varieties of the Swedish drinking yoghurt, Yoggi Yalla
"We know that consumers want new and interesting flavour combinations,” says Madeleine Gössner, Product Manager from Sweden Division’s Marketing Department. “This is precisely what the two new Yoggi Yalla products offer”.
Yoggi Yalla, which is produced at Brabrand Mejeri, was launched in 2001 and has become one of Arla Foods’ greatest successes in the Swedish market in recent years.
With a market share of 73%, Yoggi Yalla is spearheading the rapidly growing market for drinking yoghurt. The two new varieties, raspberry-pomegranate-guarana and mango-kombucha will help secure this position.
Yoggi Yalla is produced at Brabrand Mejeri.
Mango-kombucha combines the sweet taste of mango with the slightly bitter taste of kombucha, a type of tea which originally comes from China and Russia. Raspberry-pomegranate-guarana is in the same bitter-sweet category. Guarana, which contains caffeine, is extracted from the seed of the Brazilian liane plant.
Arla Foods is an international dairy company owned by 9,700 farmers from Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Arla Foods is one of the leading players in the international dairy arena with well-known brands like Arla®, Lurpak®, Puck® and Castello®. Arla Foods is focused on providing good dairy nourishment from sustainable farming and operations and is also the world's largest manufacturer of organic dairy products.


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Boston Celtics NBA $3B 20.
7 CBS • Super Bowl LVI SoFi Stadium Los Angeles Feb.
• Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote and the LeBron James led More Than A Vote said they would work together to provide information, transportation, food, music, personal protective equipment and other support at early voting sites nationwide from Oct.
22 Kansas City Chiefs at Las Vegas Raiders • Thursday Nov.
Quibi, short for quick bites, raised $1 billion from investors.
The custom team jerseys with Sock, who currently is ranked No.
It takes time on both sides to uncover the different opportunities that exist.
Topps will bring innovative, exciting and fun products to the marketplace to serve consumers and customers well.
Tracy McGrady .
8,; and in Chicago movie cinemas through Feb.
3 TBD Highest-Paid Athletes 1.
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers 10.
The 52-year-old Lowe is now back in a multi-media marketing push for Skechers custom basketball uniforms footwear, with the campaign set to launch in the spring.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is adored the world over and Turtles’ superfan Carmelo Anthony, with his incredible athleticism and illustrious career, is an inspiration to generations of fans, Durand Guion, Macy’s vice president fashion director of men’s and kids’, said in a statement.
Cristiano Ronaldo $105 million $60 million $45 million Soccer 3.
Chicago Bears NFL $3B 14.
San Francisco 49ers NFL $3B 13.
According to adidas, the theme The Blueprint came from conversations the company had with its NBA spokesman, including Derrick Rose, John Wall and Damian Lillard.
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees 3.
New England Patriots NFL $4B 8.
The synergy of music and sports has never been more prevalent, and the effect that music has on sports culture is never more present than in the NFL, Todd Kaplan, director of sports marketing for Pepsi, said in a statement.
Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies 4.
5 • Super Bowl LVIII Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans Feb.
27 Tennessee Titans at Green Bay Packers • Jan.
New York Giants NFL $3B 10.
20 San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys • Dec.


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Gamers and musicians alike now have the chance to create the next great racing anthem and win big with the new Overdrive Creator Contest from Xbox and SoundCloud.
To celebrate the latest release of the hugely popular Forza Motorsport game series, Xbox has partnered with music platform SoundCloud on an exciting contest for creative fans. Launching today, the competition invites SoundCloud users to craft an original song using stems from the Forza Motorsport soundtrack for the chance to have their remix featured across Xbox and SoundCloud channels.
Contest Prizes Include $10K and Custom Xbox Series X Console
The rewards up for grabs make entering worthwhile for any ambitious music producer or Forza fan. The winner of the Overdrive Creator Contest will take home an incredible $10,000 cash prize. On top of that, they’ll receive a customized Xbox Series X console styled after the 2023 No.01 Cadillac in the new Forza Motorsport game.
Access Sound Pack and Submit Tracks Until December 18
From now until December 18th, contestants can head to forza.soundcloud.com to download the official Forza Motorsport stem pack. Comprised of select music and sound elements from the title’s home environment, entrants can use the pack to build out an entirely new composition. Completed tracks can then be submitted directly through the contest website.
Top 5 Featured on Xbox and SoundCloud Channels
A panel of expert judges from Xbox, SoundCloud and the Forza Motorsport team will assess all qualifying contest entries. The top five remixes will gain prime exposure by being shared across Xbox’s and SoundCloud’s official social media profiles. Of these five finalists, a single winner will then be selected in January 2024.
For budding music creators and Forza lovers alike, the Overdrive Creator Contest offers an exciting chance to highlight skills and passion for the franchise.


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Foot Locker posted weaker-than-expected earnings and sales for its first quarter after high promotional activity and getting off to a slow start in February.
Net income for the company’s first quarter ended April 29, 2017 was $180 million, or $1.36 per share, compared with net income of $191 million, or $1.39 per share in the year-ago period.
First quarter same-store sales increased 0.5%, lower than expected. Total sales increased 0.7%, to $2 billion, compared with sales of $1.98 billion last year. Excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations, total sales for the first quarter increased 1.8%.
On the company’s quarterly earnings call, chief executive Richard Johnson said Footlocker plans to open a flagship in Los Angeles in the fourth quarter.
“The first quarter was one of our most profitable quarters ever, but it did fall short of our original expectations,” stated Johnson in the earnings release. “The slow start we experienced in February, which we believe was largely due to the delay in income tax refunds, was unfortunately not fully offset by much stronger sales in March and April. Nonetheless, we believe our banners remain at the center of a vibrant sneaker culture. We are confident that our customers have not lost their tremendous appetite for athletic footwear and apparel and that our position in the industry is stronger than ever.”
The company’s gross margin rate decreased to 34.0% of sales from 35.0% a year ago, and the selling, general. Administrative expense rate increased 30 basis points to 18.5% of sales.
During the first quarter, Foot Locker opened 30 new stores, remodeled or relocated 61 stores, and closed 39 stores. As of April 29, 2017, the company operated 3,354 stores in 23 countries in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. In addition, 62 franchised Foot Locker stores were operating in the Middle East and South Korea, as well as 15 franchised…


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They say that to truly successful, you need the freedom to fail. So it’s no wonder that Google is such a giant success. When you look at the many gigantic flops that the company has produced over the years you can’t help but marvel at audacity some of them have had.
Among these few have been so poorly-received as Google Glass. A product perceived to be so obnoxious that it created the word “Glasshole” to describe the people who took part in the initial beta program. In 2015 Google stopped selling the Glass.
Yet now we hear that Google is having another go with a second-generation Google Glass and this time the angle is going to be different. Are we in for another wave of Glassholes or is this something truly new?
An Eye for Detail
With systems such as Microsoft’s Hololens, the monocular Glass projection system may seem a little quaint, but for AR that isn’t trying to make an immersive projection it’s an affordable and practical solution.
Think of it as trying to give someone Robocop vision, rather than making them see a bunch of realistic renderings in their environment.
Pros and Cons
Google (or more accurately Alphabet) is aiming this new generation of Glass not at regular folks looking for a digital fashion statement, but at professional use cases. The goal of this new project is to provide workers with a tool that will speed up and improve their job performance.
In the two years since Google put an end to the Glass’ public beta they’ve been working with experts in various fields to build custom apps for specific applications in the work environment.
In a blog post detailing this new phase of Glass, project lead Jay Kothari uses the example of General Electric, who now use glass to give employees immediate access to instructional material in their line of sight instantly. So that they don’t have to spend time looking through binders of reference material as they work.
This is probably a good move for Google, since this sort of monocular AR device has already found a home in the manufacturing industry and other industrial, scientific and technological businesses would have multiple uses for these devices.
However, this also means that Google is going head-to-head with existing AR solutions in those areas and not carving out an entirely new product category in the consumer space.
This time Glass may actually have some staying power, since the strategy and context of the product is much different than before. To be honest, the biggest problem that Glass had during its initial run is the lack of killer applications. No one really knew what they would do with it or what it would be useful for.
This time Google has a clear market, clear use cases and solid stats to back up the benefits of Glass to its business clients. Will we as consumers ever care about Glass? It’s clear mixed reality devices are going to play a big role in the consumer space, but that doesn’t mean Google’s take on the technology is going to win out in the end. So for now we aren’t getting a new wave of Glassholes.


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Fiat Chrysler Recall
When we purchase items or food products, we expect them to be safe for our consumption and use. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and sometimes the products were purchase can cause safety concerns. A type of item that frequently recalled is automobiles. Recently, Fiat Chrysler has issued a recall for some of their vehicles.
The recall comes after the discovery that a fastener that grounds the battery was not secured properly during the manufacturing process. Because of the improperly secured fastener, the battery connection can become loose. If the battery connection becomes loose, it can disable the power steering on the vehicle. If the power steering function goes out on the vehicle, the driver of the vehicle will still be able to steer, but steering will take more of an effort and it will not be as consistent as when the power steering is operational.
The recall encompasses Ram 1500 pickup trucks from the 2019 model year. The trucks included in the recall have been sold worldwide. The recall includes 182,000 of the vehicles. Most of the recalled trucks are in the United States or Canada. One third of the recalled trucks are still on Fiat Chrysler dealer lots.
The company states that it has not received any reports of accidents caused by the power steering issue. The company has stated that it does not have a date that the recall will officially begin, but under U.S. law the recall must begin within 60 days. Ram dealers will secure the fastener at no cost to the vehicle owners.


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The Global Wellness Summit, a global organisation who every year predict trends in the world of wellness explain how COVID has impacted on what’s coming next.
The Global Wellness Summit publish the trends in The Future of Wellness 2021 report, based on what they and thought leaders, medics, business owners and policy makers believe will have the most meaningful impact on wellbeing in 2021.
According to the Global Wellness Summit, Editorial Director, Beth McGroaty, the value of wellness has “skyrocketed” due to the pandemic and it’s a watershed moment for wellness with lots of opportunities. (Tune in to Beth’s overview of the trends here).
Wellbeing can no longer be ignored, says McGroaty (a woman reads about wellness trends, news and research every morning for two hours, all year round) summarises some of the changes she and her team have observed for 2021.
Here’s the nine Global Wellness Summit’s wellbeing trends
- Hollywood Comes To Wellness – a rise in the big techs streaming wellness.
- The Future of Immune Health: Stop Boosting, Start Balancing, the need for evidence from the wellness industry.
- Spiritual and Numinous Moments in Architecture.
- Just Breathe! Breath coaches, communities, and books.
- The Self-Care Renaissance – where wellness and healthcare converge.
- Adding Colour to Wellness – it’s time to make wellness diverse.
- Resetting Events with Wellness – incorporating treadmills to conferences instead of chairs.
- Money Out Loud – Financial wellbeing: influencers, apps and money therapists.
- The Year of the Travel Reset – manic getaways are replaced by slower, closer and more mindful experiences.
Here’s i-wellbeing’s summary of some of the key trends.
Pre-pandemic wellness was associated with elites, the rich and the white. That’s all set to change, and there’s now an “aspirational vibe” says Beth McGroaty. The tech giants are getting in on the act with wellness and a growing wellness music sector and as our lives have shrunk to screens the big winners are the streaming media services, a perfect format for wellness.
The health space has been digitised and in 2020 Calm and Headspace were thriving enabling them to launch TV shows on HBO and Netflix respectively.
Apple, Samsung and Amazon have all connected wearables to TV – it’s a story of reach.
Balanced immunity trend
Say goodbye to pop-it, guzzle-it supplements and hello to evidence-backed immune health. COVID highlighted a fact that McGroaty is keen to emphasise, we cannot boost the immune system – if we do our body’s attack themselves. She points out that preventative wellness practitioners need to lean into science, and we need to start talking about balancing immunity and focus on immune modulation and not boosting immunity.
Metabolic health, microbiome, and personalised nutrition are identified as key pillars in relation to immunity.
More research into gut health will be done, partly driven by the fact that bad gut health was found to be directly related to COVID deaths and 70 per cent of our immune system is in out gut.
Spaces and wellbeing
Senses, Space and Sleep is a sector of the market said to be worth $49.5 billion in 2020. The space we occupy has moved beyond functional – buildings have soul.
Wellness kitchens and wellness bathrooms are set to become the norm as we’ve had time to reflect on the space we occupy, for example the bathroom will become the bathing room for a detox salt bath, introspection and rejuvenation.
Wellness meets basic human needs
With religion taking a step back, wellness now fills the spiritual space, what McGroaty calls the “empty soul space”. COVID put death on the agenda and death and dying are a part of the wellness industry with the growth of services such as death doulas. There’s an “ache for nature” and in the midst of a climate and natural crisis there’s an almost psychic desire to get in touch with nature, says McGroaty (as witnessed with the rise of wild swimming, for example). And mental health is a global priority, with commonplace stress being replaced by post traumatic stress disorder and grief.
COVID has left us vulnerable and there’s a new openness and transparency where finances are concerned.
Financial therapists, Tik Tok Influencers and apps to help you save are there to prop up our financial wellbeing.