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In the face of challenging times, the global denim fabric industry has emerged as a symbol of resilience, adapting to volatile market conditions and embracing innovation to stay afloat. Despite encountering numerous hurdles in recent years, industry leaders have navigated through stormy waters, opening up new opportunities and exploring uncharted territories.
Sharp fluctuations in the price of raw cotton have been one of the primary factors negatively impacting the denim fabric industry. Seeking alternatives, manufacturers have cleverly reduced the proportion of cotton used in their denim products. This shift has not only cushioned the impact of the cotton price rollercoaster but also presented a unique chance to experiment with novel fiber blends, driving creativity in the industry.
A recently published report delves deep into the dynamics of the denim fabric trade, spotlighting the leading exporting and importing countries in this arena. Among the key players, China has emerged as the reigning denim fabric export giant in 2022, showcasing its continued dominance in the market. On the other side, Bangladesh, renowned for its textile prowess, has solidified its position as the foremost denim fabric importing country in the same year.
However, the report’s revelations do not end there. Bangladesh, it turns out, has further cemented its role as a major supplier of denim jeans to two of the world’s largest markets: the European Union and the United States. This newfound success has allowed Bangladesh to tap into fresh markets and expand its denim footprint worldwide, marking a significant milestone for the country’s textile industry.
Amidst the challenges faced by the denim fabric sector, 2022 saw a decline in both global imports and exports, keeping figures well below the peak reached in 2011. Nevertheless, industry experts remain optimistic, viewing this period as a catalyst for fostering resilience and stimulating further growth.
The plummeting trade figures have fueled discussions within the industry about the importance of fortifying partnerships among exporting and importing nations. Collaboration between leading countries like China, Turkey, Italy, and Bangladesh can pave the way for shared prosperity and sustainability.
In response to the ever-changing landscape, denim manufacturers have embraced technological advancements and sustainable practices. Innovative techniques in dyeing and finishing processes are not only environmentally friendly but also open up fresh possibilities for design and aesthetics. Consumers can look forward to a wave of denim products that exude both style and conscience.
As the denim fabric industry continues to navigate the waves of uncertainty, it becomes evident that adaptability and visionary thinking are the keys to success. The amalgamation of new fiber blends, exploration of untapped markets, and sustainable practices will undoubtedly define the future of this iconic fashion staple.
With the dark clouds of adversity gradually parting, the denim industry remains steadfast, reinventing itself to thrive in a dynamic global market. By embracing change and embracing a sustainable future, denim manufacturers are proving that this timeless fabric is here to stay, weathering all storms that come its way.


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Coca-Cola signs on Rekorderlig Cider
Keypoint Law has advised Chilli Marketing Group on Coca-Cola Amatil’s 28-year agreement with the company for the distribution and marketing of Rekorderlig Cider in Australia.
Firm: Keypoint Law and Addleshaw Goddard LLP (Chilli Marketing Group)
Deal: Keypoint Law has advised Chilli Marketing Group on Coca-Cola Amatil’s 28-year agreement for the distribution and marketing of Rekorderlig Cider in Australia.
Area: Food and beverages
Key players: Chilli Marketing’s team was led by its in-house legal director Andy Curtis, with Keypoint Law’s Douglas Linnette advising on the Australian components of the deal.
Addleshaw Goddard LLP advised on UK aspects of the deal.
Deal significance: Chilli Marketing holds the global distribution rights for the Swedish-owned Rekorderlig, and launched Rekorderlig Cider into the Australian market in 2009, according to a statement from Keypoint Law.
The firm noted that Chilli Marketing later cemented a five-year distribution and marketing tie-up with Coca-Cola Amatil.
The deal will see Coca-Cola Amatil assume full responsibility for the promotion and marketing of the Rekorderlig Cider brand in Australia.
Commenting on the deal, Keypoint Law’s Douglas Linnette said he had been “delighted to support Chilli Marketing since their launch of Rekorderlig in Australia”.
“We congratulate them on this transaction,” he said.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have announced a formal agreement to jointly oversee the production of human food products derived from the cells of livestock and poultry.
Meat products have been one of the main drivers of high pressure processing (HPP) technology in the last few years, spurred on by the need for improved food safety and demand for fresh, clean, ready-to-eat (RTE) foods.
Stino Da Napoli, a Rocky River, Ohio establishment, is recalling approximately 11,392 pounds of various meat products that were produced, packed and distributed without the benefit of federal inspection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced key 2018 achievements in protecting public health by ensuring the safety of meat, poultry and processed egg products.
The findings are of particular interest to meat and poultry processors looking to minimize the use of chemicals in their production processes.
May 11, 2018
Micreos, The Netherlands, released the results of a newly published scientific study that found PhageGuard S, a new treatment for Salmonella reduction on food products, to be more effective than lactic acid (LA) and peracetic acid (PAA).
A variety of pre-harvest interventions can significantly reduce the risk that bacteria harmful to humans will infect food animals.
July 24, 2017
Wider use of evidence-based food safety interventions on farms and feedlots would significantly reduce the risk of people getting sick from contaminated meat and poultry, according to a report released The Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia.


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On the Cover
Internet ‘finally’ reaches mass market
Wednesday, 23 May 2012 00:00
Written by Staff writer
The past year marked some significant milestones in terms of the Internet in SA, notably that of mass market adoption – due, largely, to the proliferation of mobile telephony.
According to World Wide Worx’s 2012 Internet Access in SA study, the Internet user base in SA grew 25%, from 6.8 million in 2010 to 8.5 million at the end of 2011 – a development underpinned by “the impact of both smartphones and ordinary mobile phones”.
As a result, says World Wide Worx, the Internet is “finally” arriving in the hands of the mass market. This is the key finding of the study, backed by the Howzit MSN online portal and undertaken using multiple methodologies – including primary research, interviews with providers and market intelligence.
With Internet penetration approaching 20%, World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says the Internet has finally awoken “fully” in SA. He says, for the first time, it is evident the mass market is using its phones to engage with digital tools.
The findings revealed that a total of 7.9 million South Africans access the Internet on their cellphones. Of these, 2.48 million do not have access to computers and log on to the Internet only on their cellphones.
The remaining 6.02 million users, the study shows, access the Internet on computers, laptops and tablets. “However, 90% of this number – 5.42 million – also accesses it on their cellphones. This means that almost eight million South Africans sometimes or regularly access the Internet on their phones.”
According to executive producer of Howzit MSN, Justin Zehmke, the findings have “huge implications” for media and social networks, in that all online services will in future also have to be offered on cellphones.
World Wide Worx forecasts that the current growth trend will continue during 2012, with the Internet user base passing the 10 million mark by the end of the year. Goldstuck says that, while smartphones are the main driver of Internet growth, the cost of data use is being driven down by the proliferation of undersea cables connecting sub-Saharan Africa.
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LONDON – Royal Wedding buzz is taking over social media, with new research showing that in the past seven days the nuptials are getting one new mention every 10 seconds.
The figure, which is expected to grow exponentially as the April 29 wedding date approaches, has already bulked up by 700 percent since measurement levels last month, according to London-based independent search marketing specialist and technology firm Greenlight.
Within the last seven days Greenlight reported an “accelerated flurry” of wedding chatter across online media – including news sites, blogs, forums, Twitter and Facebook.
The agency measured an average of 9,000 posts a day on online media relating to the Royal Wedding, with wedding “haters” outweighed by positive comment by a ratio of 6:1.
“Interestingly, Facebook (public posts only) and YouTube account for the smallest share of voice, just 8 percent and 1 percent respectively, compared to online news sources which currently account for the largest share of posts, 30 percent,” the research says.
Blogs follow closely with 29 percent then Twitter (17 percent) and Forums (16 percent).
As the wedding day approaches, predictions are that the nuptials will take over the top trend spot on Twitter, while the Royal Wedding channel on YouTube is inviting a tide of video comment, much of which is expected to come from the estimated 2 million people who are predicted to line the wedding route in central London.
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It’s crazy how fast the media landscape has changed in just a few short years. Not too long ago, Netflix was the bonafide king of streaming without a challenger in sight. These days, Netflix is seemingly under siege from all angles as the streaming giant faces competition from a growing array of media giants. Aside from traditional competitors like Hulu and Amazon, Netflix now has to contend with a new streaming service from Disney that offers up an impressive library of content at a remarkably cheap price point.
Meanwhile, Apple is also in the mix with Apple TV+. And though it’s no secret that Apple currently doesn’t pose much of a formidable threat given its paltry selection of media content, Apple undeniably has more money to spend than anyone else as it looks to shore up its media library with high-quality content.
With that said, a new report from The Hollywood Reporter relays that former HBO CEO Richard Plepler — who helped deliver a number of iconic HBO programs — may be joining Apple as part of a new development deal to bring exclusive and top-notch content to Apple.
Nothing is official just yet, but the report claims that a deal might be done and ready to go before the end of the year.
Plepler, one of the most respected and highly regarded executives in the industry, departed HBO earlier this year in a move that stunned the TV community.
Sources say Apple TV+ heads of worldwide video Zack Van Amberg and Jamie Erlicht are leading the charge to secure a production deal with Plepler, who has a long roster of ties to the industry’s most sought-after creators and stars alike. Plepler would be the latest high-profile production deal the duo made at Apple and join a roster that also includes the likes of Oprah Winfrey, A24, Sesame Workshop and the parent company of Peanuts.
There’s no denying that Apple’s current selection of content is laughable compared to almost every other streaming service on the market, but the company is apparently intent on embracing a ‘quality over quantity’ approach. What’s more, and as we’ve seen play out numerous times in the past, Apple is a patient company and will likely have no issue with taking the roll-out of Apple TV+ at a measured pace.
Thus far, the introduction of Apple TV+ has been met with lukewarm reviews. While shows like Morning Show and See aren’t quite as bad as some early reviews made them out to be, neither appear to be instant classics either.


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NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday announced the highest-ever hike in the minimum support price of wheat for the coming rabi season, gave an incentive bonus on the support price for kharif rice and banned the export of non-basmati rice. Substantial hike in the support price of barley, gram masur, rapeseed/mustard and safflower were also declared.
The government also announced a relief package for the sugar industry, particularly to benefit the farmers. The package includes extending moratorium from two to five years on outstanding term loans.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved a Food Ministry proposal for setting the minimum support price of wheat at Rs. 1,000 a quintal against Rs. 850 a quintal (including a bonus of Rs. 100 a quintal) last year, in the face of criticism for importing wheat at Rs. 1,600 a quintal.


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News - Holden - Commodore - 4WD
It's go for Holden's 4WD!
General Motors gives the green light to Commodore "cross-over" 4x4 wagon
28 Aug 2001
By BRUCE NEWTON
HOLDEN has been given the green light to build a local contender for the booming four-wheel drive market.
To be based on the Commodore wagon platform, the new car will seat up to seven people and be powered by both V6 and V8 engines.
Holden will preview the wagon in concept form at the Melbourne Motor Show in March 2002, and it could be on sale as soon as late 2003.
The styling of the yet-to-be-named car has already been signed off.
The wagon will be a "cross-over" four-wheel drive, meaning it is intended to be at home on the tarmac, but also capable of performing limited off-road duties. Other examples of "cross-over" vehicles include the Subaru Outback and Volvo Cross Country.
The 4WD driveline is expected to eschew traditional mechanical low range gearing and differential locks in favour of high-tech electronic aids such as those employed by BMW's X5.
One of the beauties of Holden's system is it can be adapted to any of its locally-built cars, from the ute to the Caprice luxury car.
Holden is acutely aware of this and the driveline is eventually expected to spawn a whole family of variants in wagon, sedan and ute forms.
Holden is also considering installing the driveline under a compact off-road contender to take on the likes of the popular Toyota RAV4 and Subaru Forester.
Holden chairman and ceo Peter Hanenberger said the company initially expected to build 25,000 4WD wagons with some earmarked for export. The development cost would be more than $100 million.
"This market clearly requires a vehicle which is a four-wheel drive in a cross-over kind of a version and we want to respond to the customers on that," Mr Hanenberger said.
"This car will mean mainly additional sales for us and that is why we are doing it, because it's a totally different market, it's very sophisticated versus what we have now, which are workhorses or sport utility vehicles.
"The domestic market will be the backbone for this car, and any exports will be a windfall." Approval for the 4WD project came from General Motors Asia-Pacific strategy board in Singapore only last month after the Holden board had given the thumbs up to the business case.
In getting approval, Holden has beaten Ford Australia to the 4WD punch, as its biggest rival is currently seeking the go-ahead for its "Raptor" 4WD project from Detroit.
However, Mitsubishi could beat all the other local manufacturers into production with locally-built 4WD, with plans to have a 4WD Magna sedan on sale late in 2002.
Toyota is also considering adding a 4WD to its Altona production line, where it currently builds the Avalon and Camry.
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Focus group there liked Daytona better than Columbus
DAYTONA BEACH —Daytona Beach's tourism offerings got a mixed reception from focus groups in Cincinnati this week, but that's better than the chilly reception the city got up the road in Columbus.
So a local tourism committee wants to spend tax dollars in Cincinnati.
An advisory committee of the Halifax Area Advertising Authority, which ordered the focus groups, unanimously voted Friday to recommend spending more than $300,000 originally set aside for advertising in Columbus to promote Daytona Beach in Cincinnati.
“That would be such a great opportunity to develop that market,” said Susan Keaveney, who chairs the advertising committee and also works as marketing manager for the Shores Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach Shores.
“Demographically, it's a good fit,” she added.
The committee advises the ad authority's main decision-making board on the tourism organization's advertising efforts.
The ad authority board will consider the committee's recommendation at its monthly meeting Wednesday. If the board approves, the ad authority will begin advertising in Cincinnati in January.
Some of the 24 participants of three Cincinnati focus groups led Tuesday by Daytona Beach-based Mid-Florida Marketing & Research Inc. described Daytona Beach as having great waves and a nice beach. Still, others associated it with Spring Break and said it's too touristy and crowded.
“The destination did have its fans,” said Evelyn Fine, president of Mid-Florida Marketing. “Certainly a big difference between what happened in Columbus and what happened here.”
But ad authority Executive Director Jeffrey Hentz said the response from Cincinnati was too negative to justify advertising there and argued it would take a large investment by the ad authority to change perceptions of Daytona Beach.
Hentz said the ad authority should instead consider looking into advertising in the Northeast, along the Interstate 95 corridor and in areas close to speedways that play host to NASCAR events.
Committee members and Fine disagreed.
Fine cited Ohio's status as the No. 3 source of tourists for the Daytona Beach area — behind Florida and Georgia — while hoteliers on the committee pointed out that many of their guests come from Cincinnati and Cleveland.
The focus group results come about a month after two focus groups in Columbus slammed Daytona Beach, calling it “redneck,” “touristy” and “starting to fall apart,” and expressed indifference and annoyance at the ad authority's nearly year-old “Seize the Daytona” advertising campaign.
Earlier this year, the ad authority board, looking to expand Daytona Beach's appeal beyond its traditional drive-distance market, voted to spend $350,000 to advertise in the Columbus area. However, the board canceled those plans last month after reviewing the Columbus focus group results.


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Ever since Instagram began letting users post videos in June 2013, the length of those clips has been limited to 15 seconds. Starting today, though, Instagram’s video length is going to grow by four times.
Instagram will now let you post videos up to 60 seconds in length. The feature is rolling out starting today on Android and iOS, and Instagram says that it’ll be available to everyone “in the coming months.” Instagram is also giving iOS users the ability to make videos out of multiple clips in your camera roll.
This is a big update to Instagram, giving creators an additional 45 seconds to get creative with the videos that they post to the service. It sounds like the 60-second video feature will take its time to hit everyone, though, so don’t be flustered if it doesn’t appear on your device today.


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Ubisoft have released a brand new trailer for The Crew.
The featurette trailer takes a look at how players will adapt their ride for each terrain! Street, Performance, Dirt, Raid, Circuit… each specs has its own purpose. Every driver has the potential to customize, stand out and win out in the world of The Crew.
Enjoy the trailer and let us know your thoughts via the comment section below.


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The Nigeria-Ghana Business Council and the Nigeria Union of Traders Association Ghana (NUTAG) have commended the House of Representatives and its speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila over his visit to Ghana to intervene in the trade disputes with the Ghanaian authorities.
A statement issued on Tuesday by the Special Adviser to the Speaker on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi the Nigeria-Ghana Business Council had commended the speaker in a letter of appreciation, and conveyed through their president, Omo a Bambo Ademiluyi.
According to the statement, the letter notes that Gbajabiamila’s visit to Ghana has made positive impact and paved the way for an amicable resolution to the trade dispute.
According to the statement, the Nigerian Traders in a letter of appreciation dated September 5 and addressed to the Speaker, said: “It is on record that your trip brought about the highest involvement of both governments in this dispute that has been on since 2007.
“Your proposals and presentations have given rise to two very vital solutions to the problem: 1. The review of the GIPC Act demanding $1,000,000 deposit for foreign investors in Ghana as it concerns Nigerians. 2. The promotion of the Nigeria-Ghana Business Council backed by legislation to superintend on trade and business issues between the two countries.”
“Our objectives and activities align with the proposal which is being introduced to superintend trade issues of the two countries.
“It is, therefore, our wish to express support for the formation of this council and request that we work with your team to see to a successful emergence of a government-backed Business Council.”


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Time to add another post to the “Nintendo does not understand the internet” category: Nintendo of America has told the organizers of the upcoming Evo 2013 fighting game tournament that are not allowed to air any footage of Super Smash Bros. Melee on their livestream.
While a Smash Bros. Melee tournament will still be held at the event, the tournament will no longer be streamed online; if you want to watch it, you’ll have to be at Evo in person. The Evo stream will instead show footage from the Persona 4: Arena tournament instead.
Super Smash Bros. Melee was added to the Evo line-up following a charity fund-raising contest. Fans of the game donated over $90,000 to breast cancer research in order to secure a spot for Smash Bros. on the Evo 2013 schedule, beating out games like Skullgirls and Street Fighter 2 Turbo.
This is the second time this year that Nintendo has tried to limit online broadcasts of their games: earlier this year, Nintendo began to claim all ad revenue generated from user uploaded footage of their games on YouTube.
With the upcoming release of a brand new Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, you’d think that Nintendo would want to build some goodwill with the fighting community, but as always, it seems like Nintendo doesn’t quite understand how these things are supposed to work. Having Smash Bros. at Evo is the perfect way to promote the series, and by denying the tournament streaming rights to the game, they’re only hurting their most hardcore fans and themselves.
The Evo 2013 tournament begins this Friday and runs all weekend, and will feature tournaments for Street Fighter IV, Mortal Kombat, Injustice: Gods Among Us, The King of Fighters 13, and several other games. Smash Bros. will be the only game at the event that won’t be broadcast online.
UPDATE — Several people involved with Evo management are now tweeting that Nintendo has finally granted them streaming rights to Smash Bros. That was quick. This never should have been an issue in the first place, but hey, at least we know they’re listening now, right?


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MUNDY TWP., MI -- General Motors isn't giving many details on the next-generation Chevrolet Volt, but a top executive for the company says to expect better "fuel economy and efficiency."
Appearing at a meeting of salaried Buick retirees here today, Aug. 7, GM Executive Vice President Mark Reuss said GM's electric car has already found a great audience, and said there will be more to like in the 2016 Volt.
Reuss' comments came on the same day Chevrolet Chief Marketing Officer Tim Mahoney announced the 2016 Volt will be unveiled at the North American Auto show in Detroit in January.
Reuss would not discuss any possible changes in store for Flint Engine Operations, which builds the gasoline add-on engine for the Volt, an engine that can be used if the car's battery loses its charging power.
"Flint remains an important part of that powertrain," the vice president said.
Reuss was expected to speak to Buick retirees for about 30 minutes today, July 7, an address that was mostly closed to the media.
Before the address, however, Reuss said:
- He's planning to drive a vintage Corvette to Flint's Back to the Bricks event next week. Buick is a


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A scheme to help households struggling with the cost of grocery shopping during lockdown has been extended till January.Advertisement
In July, Community Gateway launched a seven-week pilot of ‘The Purple Pantry’ – a food shopping membership scheme.
Following the success of the trial and overwhelming feedback from customers, the scheme has been extended until the New Year, so people can get food right up to and over the Christmas period.
Read more: Preston Community Support Hub comes to a close after a successful summer
During the seven-week pilot, 335 households signed up to become members of the Purple Pantry. As a result, the food outlet had a direct impact on 558 adults and 345 children.
Customers described The Purple Pantry as ‘the best thing to have ever ever happened on Moor Nook’.
One said: “With three kids it is helping me to budget and make my money go further. I couldn’t believe how much choice there was.”
The Purple Pantry is open to all Community Gateway customers, regardless of where they live. In addition, residents living in the Moor Nook local community who are not living in a CGA home are welcome to join.
The housing association works in partnership with FareShare Preston and James Hall & Co to offer tinned, fresh, chilled and frozen food and unlike foodbanks, customers can browse and select products of their own choice from a range of more than a hundred different items.
Membership is not means-tested, and packages are tailored to customers. All items have a points value between 1-5, to provide some context, 25 points provides around £30 to £40 of food.
The Purple Pantry is open from 1pm to 4pm Monday to Friday at Moor Nook Community Office, Langden Drive, Preston PR2 6HT.
Read more: Latest news from Blog Preston
What do you think of the Purple Pantry? Is there enough support for families who are struggling? Let us know your views in the comments section.


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It's more than a year since bloggers at Anandtech produced a definitive list of Android benchmark cheaters -- manufacturers who tweaked their devices to produce artificially high scores in GFX Bench, AnTuTu and other synthetic mobile benchmarks. (Recap: it was just a couple of little-known vendors like Samsung and HTC.)
The issue of cheating has lessened since then, but gamers are still getting gamed -- this time through a tactic that can best be described as "benchmark avoidance." Fortunately, GameBench has a solution to this issue, just as it did to the first cheating scandal, but first let's look at how the avoidance tactic works.
Benchmark avoidance is when hardware companies deliberately disable parts of the Android operating system in order to make a mobile device more inscrutable to the most revealing types of benchmarks -- particularly to real-world benchmarks like GameBench.
Take frame rates, for example: HTC has now made it very difficult to monitor the frame rate of a real, commercially available game while it is being played on an HTC-branded device. This used to be possible on both the One M7 and the One M8, until one day it was not.
At some point in the recent past, HTC suddenly decided to stop supporting an important bit of Google code called "Systrace" -- something that was specifically built by Google in order to allow greater transparency.
Why did HTC do this? Did it have anything to do with GameBench-based evidence about the underperformance of HTC phones? We cannot really say. But the direct impact was that game developers, product reviewers and phone buyers could not readily use GameBench to judge how well a particular game or app runs on an HTC device.
You could argue that HTC is under no obligation to open up its devices to public inspection. But then again, just imagine what would happen if a PC hardware company did this. If AMD or NVIDIA suddenly decided to prevent frame rate tools (such as FRAPs) from working on their graphics cards, there would be uproar. The move would rightly be deemed as going against the interests of consumers and the wider gaming ecosystem.
But mobile gaming is a less mature market, with a lack of consumer awareness about what benchmarks really mean and why the testing of real-world apps and games might be important.
That's why MediaTek has also managed to get away with removing access to Systrace on all phones and tablets carrying its chipsets. In this instance, MediaTek has told GameBench that it only removes Systrace in order to minimize the size of Android builds (because Systrace adds a bit of extra space -- a couple of MB). The chip maker has also promised us that it will add Systrace back on future chipsets, which should be taken as a sign of the company's good intentions.
It's important to say that GameBench has never been totally dependent on Systrace. It has always been possible to root a device in order to re-instate the necessary code. That's how we tested the MediaTek-powered Idol X+, which actually turned out to be a very strong gaming phone. But rooting is inconvenient, so root-only tools will only ever be of limited use in informing the Android ecosystem.
And that's why this last bit of good news is -- we hope -- pretty important: As of now, GameBench has been upgraded to Version 2.0. This major update finally removes any dependence on Systrace, even in unrooted devices, and regardless of whether hardware companies like it or not. Best of all, GameBench is still free and available directly from the Play store right now.


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The Doug Ford government is moving to temporarily ban commercial evictions of businesses that can’t pay the rent due to a large drop in revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The moratorium on evictions would stretch retroactively from June 3 to August 31.
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The move comes after Premier Ford repeatedly warned commercial landlords he would bring down the hammer if they didn’t opt into a ‘voluntary’ federal-provincial rent relief program.
“Our small businesses are struggling right now,” Ford said Monday.
“And for them, making rent is top of mind.”
NDP MPP Catherine Fife said her party and others have been calling on the Ford government to act for months now as business owners and workers faced evictions and the loss of their livelihoods.
“Now, the protection is too restricted – a business needs to have lost 70 per cent of their income,” Fife said in a statement.
“That’s excluding thousands of businesses that are in crisis and need help. As this measure only begins on June 3, this does nothing to save the business owners who have already been evicted by their landlord during the pandemic.”


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Best Syndications has posted an article on how hybrid vehicles are part of the demographic category Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) or "metrospiritual. " (Pictured is actress Gwyneth Paltrow, considered by many to be a member of said category).
The writer goes on to argue that hybrids are the four-wheeled embodyment of this $227 billion segment, which includes members shopping at Whole Foods grocery stores; drinking tea versus coffee or soda; and practicing yoga. To a metrospiritualist, a hybrid states that its owner cares about the world, just like a HUMMER broadcasts its owner's views.
The article continues by discussing how owning a hybrid can be cost-effective, with discounted insurance and free use of municipal parking spaces.
[Source: Best Syndication]


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How Hotels Manage the Recent Business Slowdown
The hotel industry is highly dependent on a complex web of socio-economic, political and environmental factors. Peace and stability are chief among the major factors that affect the performance of hotels since the business highly relies on the flow of tourists. Last year’s political instability in some states of Ethiopia has brought huge challenge to the industry. EBR’s Tamirat Astatkie spoke to stakeholders to understand the extent of the slow down and find out what alternative marketing strategies hoteliers used to cope up with the hard time.
At the time of growing political instability, the tourism industry faces tremendous challenges as political stability and safety are prerequisites for the sector. The political unrest existed in the country last year, especially in the states of Oromia and Amhara affected various development endeavours. However, according to industry insiders, the pressure has been more pronounced in the hospitality industry especially in the hotel business.
During his first press conference he held with journalists on January 12, 2017 for the first time after the declaration of the State of Emergency Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn did not deny that the hospitality and service sectors remained in a state of shock for some time. However, he said that the influence of the unrest on the overall economic performance of the country is minimal.
Data obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MoCT) supports the premier claims in that there is only insignificant difference between the number of tourists that visited the country in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year vis-à-vis the current fiscal year, accounting for 235,011 and 233,032, respectively. This, of course, manifests the decline of foreign tourists by 0.85Pct, which is negligible. The money generated during the same period also shows little reduction.
“We haven’t done any analysis to reach a conclusion yet on the economic loss of the hotel industry except assessing the damages inflicted during the riot to lodges,” explains Fasil Endale, Tourism Services Competency and Accreditation senior expert at MoCT. “The finding of the assessment indicates that there are six lodges inflicted damages.”
According to Fasil, Bishangari and Shalla lodges were completely damaged while African Vacation, Mamo Katcha, Sara and Simbo experienced only some damage. “The government has decided to compensate them, but it is not yet effective,” says Fasil. “A detailed assessment and analysis on the lose of the hospitality industry, especially hotels and tour operators are being undertaken by the Catering and Tourism Training Institute.”
On the other hand, owners and managers of hotels reflected their frustration on their loss due to the political instability. For instance, Sileshi Debebe, general manager of Harmony Hotel, a four-star hotel, explains a devastating blow the instability caused to the sector specifying the amount of lose his hotel experience. “We targeted to make ETB80 million revenue in the first six months of the current fiscal year, but we could only make around ETB60 million,” Sileshi underscores.
The business activity of Monarch Hotel, which joined the hotel industry four years ago, also suffers the downturn. “There was a lot of cancelation although it is difficult to put the exact loss in figures,” Yayirad Yemwedew, marketing manager of Monarch Hotel stressed.
Due to such losses, according to Fasil, hotels requested support from the government. “Granting grace period to settle bank loans, getting financial support in a form of loan to sustain in the business and maintain employees and tax reduction are among the requests proposed by participants in a consultative meetings that the Ministry organised to cope with the downturn,” Fasil explains.
Of more than 150 star-rated hotels in Ethiopia, nearly 60Pct are located in the capital. Just like in any country, a hotel business can be affected by a number of factors such as macroeconomic cycles, consumer trends, parallel sectors such as airlines and travel companies and seasonality of demand, according to a report published by Deloitte entitled ‘Adapting to Uncertainty.’
Since the hotel industry is highly dependent on a complex web of socio-economic, political and environmental drivers, the report suggests identifying and quantifying the principal threats helps hotels to develop a comprehensive risk profile specific to their business. This is the first phase of developing a risk management strategy.
The same source also recommends the hotel industry to adapt living with uncertainty. Preparation is a key to survive shocks, minimise fallout and maintain hotel performance. To succeed in this environment, companies will need to identify and understand the entire risk picture, to prepare for the unforeseeable and to be agile enough to respond to new opportunities.
In this regard, despite encountering a downturn in their businesses, Harmony and Monarch hotels claim that putting in place a new marketing strategy help them remarkably to sustain in the business as well as perform better than most of their competitors.
Sileshi, who most often prefers to use a ‘crisis management approach’ instead of introducing and executing the ‘plan B’ of his marketing strategy, lists a number of measures he has taken to rescue the business from further downturn and to enhance efficiency. “We optimise our services by capitalising on the seven meeting rooms we have at hand that host local and international meetings as well as big wedding ceremonies,” Sileshi explains. “In doing so, we increased our sales of foods and beverages as well as pastry. We have also reduced the price of our online room sales up to 50Pct.”
Furthermore, Sileshi implemented cost reduction strategies such as giving forced leave to his employees and delaying employment when there is resignation. “Cost reduction has a huge positive impact on net profit when sales are weak,” he says.
On the other hand, Yayirad says that even if the situation was dire and very difficult to restore the businesses, turning the attention to the local market as an alternative strategy is helping Monarch Hotel not only to managing its sustainability but also to be successful. “Unlike most of our competitors, we have been good at selling our foods and beverages. Hence we capitalise our benefits by optimising our service in this area,” Yayirad explains. “We also offer flexible price for our room service.”
Yayirad further explains that Monarch has also weekly entertainment nights with live music bands on Thursdays and Fridays. “The entertainment nights also boost our sales of foods and beverages,” he says. “What’s more, we bring international singers for big festivities such as the New Year Celebration. “Bringing international artist has a multiplying effect on the other services such as rental of rooms as well as sales of foods and beverages.”
As evidence for Monarch’s good performance during the slowdown [of hotel businesses], Yayirad refers to a survey they conducted on the Hotel Occupancy Rate (HOR) of their own and the competitors. “We exceeded our competitors on average by 10Pct in terms of HOR,” he claims.
One sales manager at an international hotel chain operating in Addis Ababa, who spoke to EBR on the condition of anonymity, agrees that the volatile situation during the riot affects the hospitality industry. “During the four weeks of last November our business suffered due to cancellation of bookings and also lost businesses in the pipeline.”
The sales manager prefers to focus on the distinct feature of his hotel. “First, our hotel is neither leisure nor a luxury hotel; rather it is purely business hotel where business people who come from abroad meet and stay for business purposes. Besides, for being an international hotel many of such people prefer to stay in our hotel.” He adds that due to high prices, hotels cannot generate much local demand.
Though he was not willing to disclose the marketing strategy they used, he pointed out that his hotel has optimised the already existing various means in which businesses are secured. “Although we were affected by the political instability, we are still successful and lead the market of both the luxury as well as business hotels in the city.”
Managing director of Ozzie Business and Hospitality Group, a consultant firm on hotel projects, tourism and hospitality, Kumneger Teketel, wonders whether hotel managers and owners disclose openly about their business performance: “Most of the information/data one may get from hotels tend to be counterfeit. Hence it is difficult to make sound analysis and reache to a certain conclusion.”
Exemplifying his line of argument, Kumneger has been adamant that room price rate of hotels in Addis Ababa is not known. “This is because a rack rate is totally different from what they actually offer. Therefore, the rates are informal,” he said. “On the other hand, price flexibility for room service existed. The price is hidden and they don’t give confidence on part of the customer, however.”
For Kumneger, the factors that influence the substandard operation of hotels in the country is mainly attributed to the absence of system-based operation and partly lack of professional leadership of the hotel industry.
Still, Silesh is confident about the bright future of the hotel industry if the government is able to ensure peace and stability throughout the country, lift the State of Emergency and restore the image of the country all over the world.
However, for Kumneger a lasting solution the hotel industry requires a paradigm shift to business tourism rather than leisure tourism. According to international experience the later is proved to generate meager foreign exchange income. EBR
5th Year • February 16 2017 – March 15 2017 • No. 48


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This has been a major year for virtual reality. Sony sold more than 2 million Playstation VR units, Microsoft released their mixed reality headsets, we saw many great game releases, and much more. Though some of the biggest VR games to release this year all came from Bethesda, who ported Skyrim, Doom, and Fallout 4 to VR.
These ports, while highly anticipated, did lead to some let-down under players who were expecting AAA quality games in virtual reality. And sure, the publisher did bring their AAA games to VR and succeeded in becoming the first publisher to fully port a AAA title to VR. They will always have that. But they will also always have the negative backlash from fans on the internet immortalized too.
Now don’t get me wrong, personally, I still think it’s great that Bethesda decided to do this because it’s a healthy boost for the VR industry as a whole. However, there’s some debate as to the quality of these ports. Sure, the amount of excitement and hype people have been building up for these releases are definitely influencing the general consensus. Which makes sense of course, because these are some of the most beloved games out there and people have certain expectations from a publisher like Bethesda. Which honestly might have set them up to fail from the start.
Because VR is an entirely new platform and just like all the indie studios and other relatively major studios out there who have worked on VR games, Bethesda has had to learn how to successfully translate their games into this new medium. Which isn’t exactly an easy feat, if I’m not mistaken. So this article explains what we learned after Bethesda’s major VR releases this year.
Bethesda Can Learn a Thing or Two From Indie VR Studios
If what I’ve seen of Doom VFR, Skyrim VR, and Fallout 4 VR has taught me anything, it’s that Bethesda probably could have learned a thing or two just by keeping up with the strides indie developers have been making with VR. Because while playing these games, I got the distinct sense that the developer/publisher was still stuck in the beginning, trying to find their own path of what works in VR and how to implement it, instead of keeping tabs at what other games have shown to be true and tested. While indie developers have been making strides with VR, creating delightful games like Job Simulator and Superhot VR.
Looking at those as an example, what makes VR so great is the ability to interact with your environment. But instead of actually being able to touch and pick things up in Fallout VR or Skyrim VR, you have to work through a series of menus just like in their originals. Which brings me to my next point: because these are ports, it makes changing the object and environmental interactions to something that would work well in VR just that much harder. Because, for instance, adding hands into the game that can interact with the hundreds of objects in the game, as well as new animations, would have been extra work. But for reasons unbeknownst to us, they decided to not spend the time, money, and effort to do this. So instead, the question becomes; should games be ported into VR?
To Port or Not to Port?
This exact question has led to a lot of debate on sites like Reddit. Obviously, there’s merit to both sides of the argument and Bethesda’s ports will certainly add more fuel to the fire. So I’m going to voice my opinion on the matter too because I just love getting into internet arguments. They always show what kind and considerate beings people are.
Now with that out of the way, let’s dive in shall we? The obvious answer against porting, which Bethesda’s work on Fallout 4 VR and Skyrim VR also shows, is that the game becomes stuck in the middle of both worlds. It brings the excitement of the flatscreen game to a whole new level in VR because of the scale and immersion but falls a little flat in terms of controls and interaction. The other issue is movement of course, but I believe that if developers just work on implementing this correctly, then it shouldn’t be a big problem.
All that being said, porting a large open-world game to VR is a huge undertaking and requires a lot of work. So after playing these games, it seemed – to me at least – that Bethesda tried to cut a few corners instead of making the experience unique to VR. Which would arguably have taken a lot more time and effort.
Then there’s the argument in favor of porting. Which, I’m going to be straight-up with you here, I do support. Because we’ve also seen some impressive ports to VR like Rez Infinite, and more recently, Overkill Software’s Payday 2. Both of which work amazingly well in VR and brings that sense of immersion we all crave. Payday 2, especially does this well when considering that there’s also a lot of object and environmental interaction, controls that needed to be reworked for VR and the need to implement movement and general gameplay systems that translate well in virtual reality. Yes, Payday 2 isn’t an open-world game and can’t entirely be compared to Bethesda’s titles. But it shows that a good port is possible.
Plus porting games to VR seems like a great option at the moment. AAA games take years to make and the return on investment with VR won’t be as big at the moment since the player base isn’t as large. So it’s kind of the best of both worlds – we get the games we like in VR now, which helps the industry as a whole too, and developers don’t spend millions on a game that won’t put that type of cash back in their pockets.
The Final Verdict
I firmly believe that Bethesda porting their games is a good thing for many reasons, but mainly because it shows that AAA companies are taking an interest in the industry and this injects more confidence into the success of VR as a whole. However, I also strongly believe that people shouldn’t just look to AAA companies to deliver awesome VR content because, right now, companies like Bethesda are still learning the ropes of this new platform.
Instead, we should keep looking to indies who are paving the way until bigger titles start getting developed, which takes years. Virtual reality is exciting but its still in its infancy as a platform. It will grow through the continued support of indies and through AAA studios porting their beloved games to the platform.


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Qualcomm's latest audio platforms support spatial audio with dynamic head-tracking and lossless audio quality, amongst others.
Lenovo, LG, Nreal, OPPO, Pico, and Xiaomi are all developing AR glasses using the AR2 chip.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is all set to support OPPO's plans for improving ray-tracing solutions.
Qualcomm has confirmed that future premium Galaxy smartphones will use Snapdragon processors as part of its partnership with Samsung.
Qualcomm reported its FY Q4 financial earnings, with positive growth largely across the board. However, the company gave a fairly negative outlook for the current quarter.
Qualcomm Technologies announced its new Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 1 chipset that will power future AR and VR headsets.
A new leak has surfaced, claiming the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 may launch with a higher-performing variant that could see speeds ranging from 3.4 to 3.5GHz.
Arm has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Qualcomm for allegedly using licenses granted to Nuvia prior to its acquisition.
After the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 spec leak suggests it'll bring some impressive budget phones.
President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, which will invest more than $200 billion into American manufacturing.
Qualcomm's fiscal year Q3 2022 financial earnings show a quarterly revenue of $10.9 billion, narrowly beating analyst expectations, while other big tech companies slip.
Qualcomm just announced its new wearable chipset with improvements across the board. This could mean big things for Wear OS.
The Snapdragon Tech Summit is slated for November 15-17, where we can expect the next flagship processor from Qualcomm.
Qualcomm has announced its all-new Snapdragon W5 platform for smartwatches and other wearables. These new chips could end up being the biggest upgrade to the space in years.
Samsung will allegedly skip its own Exynos chipset for all of its next Galaxy S flagship models in favor of Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor.
Qualcomm may have inadvertently revealed the date for this year's Snapdragon Tech Summit event, where the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform is traditionally unveiled.
A new report shows the rise of MediaTek's market share in the U.S. as Qualcomm's market share falls.
MediaTek has announced a trio of chipsets aimed at budget smartphones. This includes the Dimensity 1050, the company's first SoC to sport mmWave 5G support.
Instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
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In 2009, the first ridesharing service was born when “UberCab” landed in San Francisco. It offered a revolutionary way to get around town by allowing local drivers to earn a quick buck without going through all the hoops to become a taxi operator. Since then, Uber has spread out to 570 cities (and counting) throughout the world.
A few years later, Lyft broke into the market by offering more competitive pay and other features for drivers, and now operates in more than 300 cities across the United States. Other companies have tried to enter into the market, but Uber and Lyft remain the top ridesharing options for Floridians.
Throughout the country, including in multiple cities in Florida, there has been pushback against Uber and Lyft. Some locals are worried about the safety of having a random person driving them around in their own personal car, while taxi companies are concerned about their industry being killed off. However, ridesharing companies have won more and more of these cases, meaning Uber and Lyft are more prevalent than ever.
As a result of the new ridesharing phenomenon, a new branch of the insurance industry has emerged. Though insurance companies and ridesharing companies themselves have policies in place for car wrecks, they often feature criteria that are seemingly impossible to meet. That’s why it is vital to have a Lyft and Uber car accident attorney by your side if you are injured while utilizing a ridesharing service.
Because Lyft and Uber are still relatively new, Florida laws regarding ridesharing are scarce. Because of this, both riders and drivers potentially take on substantial risk when using Lyft or Uber. Though neither company provides comprehensive statistics when it comes to the number of accidents their drivers are in, there are websites dedicated to ridesharing horror stories, including car accidents.
For both riders and drivers, Uber and Lyft provide comprehensive coverage in the event of an accident. But getting that compensation can prove highly difficult. For instance, if a driver does not have a passenger in the car, Uber offers no assistance.
Ridesharing companies are able to get away with this lack of coverage by classifying their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees, which severely limits their legal liabilities. While there have been a few lawsuits to change this policy, they have mostly failed, allowing Uber and Lyft to reap the benefits of having drivers work for them without taking on much, if any, of the risk.
Uber and Lyft are here to stay in Florida. While that does mean transportation has been made more convenient, it also means that getting compensation after a wreck can be much more difficult. If you have been involved in an accident in a ridesharing car in Florida, contact the Lyft and Uber car accident attorneys at Steinger, Iscoe & Greene today for a free, no-obligation consultation. We have offices throughout South Florida, including:


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Maple bacon. S'Mores. Nestle Crunch. Salted caramel. Cookies and cream. Guava cream. Key lime margarita.
You can order all these doughnuts, and more, at the new Rhino Doughnuts and Coffee location in Boca Raton and at a third location slated to open this week in Sunrise.
The South Florida-based artisan doughnut and coffee shop has expanded into Palm Beach County, opening its second location at 126 NE Second St. in the Royal Palm Place shopping plaza south of Mizner Park. The 1,000-square-foot shop also serves specialty coffee roasted especially for Rhino.
The Sunrise store, which opens later this week, will be located at 8085 W. Oakland Park Blvd.
According to cofounder Tom Prakas, the Boca Raton shop has already experienced a successful soft opening.
"The first few days, we completely sold out by 10 a.m. and have already had to up our delivery from 800 to about 1,000 doughnuts for that store," says Prakas.
Rhino's doughnuts are prepared daily at an off-premises commissary kitchen located in Sunrise. The central hub allows Rhino to bake upward of 3,000 doughnuts each day, which are delivered to both the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and Boca Raton store, as well as several wholesale accounts.
"By not baking on-site at each location, it gives us more flexibility to open satellite stores and allows us to maintain consistency with our product," says Prakas, whose line of artisan doughnuts includes from-scratch ingredients like fresh frostings, toppings, and a number of fruit or cream fillings.
Moving forward, Prakas added that plans to offer doughnut and coffee delivery -- and open wholesale operations to additional South Florida accounts -- have been put on hold until the Sunrise kitchen can accommodate the growing demand for the chef-inspired selections.
"Since we bake fresh each day and only have a limited selection of each type, the earlier you get to the store, the better," says Prakas.
Rhino Doughnuts and Coffee Boca Raton is open daily starting at 7 a.m. Doors close when the store runs out of doughnuts, usually between 1 and 3 p.m.
Nicole Danna is a food blogger covering Broward and Palm Beach counties. To get the latest in food and drink news in South Florida, follow her @SoFloNicole or find her latest food pics on Clean Plate's Instagram.
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MasterCard holders to receive gifts from the Bank of the Republic on Valentine"s Day
By Day of Valentine, owners MasterCard from Bank Republic, committed non-cash payment in the stores 28 Mall will receive gifts. This promotion will run until February 14, 2013-year.
Under the terms of the campaign customers to make a payment card in the amount of not less than 30 AZN receive a free ticket for two in 28 Cinema. Gift giving can be a check card payment received at the box office in a stand of 28 MasterCard Mall. Gift certificates are valid until February 28, 2013.
Bank Respublika is one of the first in Azerbaijan banks offering plastic card payment systems MasterCard International for free and with no annual service fee.
Bank Republic plastic card can be ordered online at the official site or in the branches. -15D -


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Arnhem, the Netherlands, November 28, 2006 — Akzo Nobel’s Pulp and Paper Chemicals business, Eka Chemicals, has doubled its presence in China following the official opening of a new site in Guangzhou.
The facility—which will produce high quality paper chemicals for the rapidly expanding Chinese paper industry—is not only a key investment in one of the company’s main growth platforms for Chemicals, but also represents the latest milestone in Akzo Nobel’s growth strategy for China.
“Growth in emerging markets is fundamental to our strategic plan,” explained Leif Darner, the Akzo Nobel Board member responsible for Chemicals. “This investment in one of our core activities forms part of the overall growth plan for the Pulp & Paper Chemicals business, which already operates a Chinese facility in Suzhou.”
Added Pulp and Paper Chemicals General Manager, Jan Svärd: “The demand for paper and board in China is among the highest in the world, with the paper industry in Southern China having expanded rapidly over the last five years. With this trend expected to continue, we need to ensure that we remain a leading supplier in the market.”
He went on to explain that an additional benefit of the new Guangzhou facility is its strategic location close to the Pearl River Delta port area. “The new site will enable us to achieve a cost leadership position because our major raw materials will be sourced locally and our major customers are all located within a short distance of the location. We will also have a strong platform for export to other countries in the Asia Pacific region.”
Headquartered in Sweden, Eka Chemicals is a global leader in bleaching technology and paper chemistry, with manufacturing sites located all over the world.


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Convert Bitcoin To Us DollarThe exchange rate fell 23% to $37 on the Mt. Gox exchange but rose most of the way back to its prior level of $48. Up until July 2017, bitcoin users maintained a common set of rules for the cryptocurrency. On 1 August 2017 bitcoin split into two derivative digital currencies, the bitcoin chain with 1 MB blocksize limit and the Bitcoin Cash chain with 8 MB blocksize limit. The number of businesses accepting bitcoin continued to increase. In January 2017, NHK reported the number of online stores accepting bitcoin in Japan had increased 4.6 times over the past year. BitPay CEO Stephen Pair declared the company’s transaction rate grew 3× from January 2016 to February 2017, and explained usage of bitcoin is growing in B2B supply chain payments. In January 2015 Coinbase raised US$75 million as part of a Series C funding round, smashing the previous record for a bitcoin company. The exchange remained offline for several days amid speculation that customers had lost their funds. Bitstamp resumed trading on 9 January after increasing security measures and assuring customers that their account balances would not be impacted. On the downside of the chart, we can see the time metric. Put the cursor on the latest candle and to find the current BTC in USD exchange rate. This is an approximate price at which you can buy Bitcoins for now. However, keep in mind this value can change dramatically even the next minute. Bitcoin’s USD price changes constantly, as the asset trades on the market 24/7 without holidays. Yes, you can top up your CEX.IO balance with fiat funds using SWIFT, ACH, Faster Payments, and SEPA wire transfers. Just make sure this option is available in your country. Finally, make sure that the company can operate in your area. Some local regulations require platforms to obtain special licenses in their country while others are not crypto-friendly at all. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is an internationally recognized set of security requirements related to gathering and storing card credentials. It is a borderless asset that can be traded and transacted fractionally. Safeguarded by its open-source code, Bitcoin’s 21 million maximum coin supply makes the asset scarce and deflationary, unlike the U.S. dollar. Nowadays, cryptocurrencies are often called digital assets, because we can buy, sell, trade them just like traditional assets on the stock market. Thus, the majority of crypto enthusiasts are investors or traders who are trying to get a profit by speculating on crypto prices. Regulation continues to cast a huge shadow over Bitcoin in 2021. In particular, China has been consistent in its aggression towards cryptocurrency. The country instituted a ban on financial institutions and payment services companies offering crypto-related services and even made some mass arrests on people using cryptocurrencies in controversial ways. China is a significant country for Bitcoin, with almost 50% of miners domiciled there. The recent crackdown dented Bitcoin’s infrastructure, which subsequently weighed heavily on the price of the coin.
Bitcoin And Ether Give Up Gains As Tech Selloff AcceleratesSo the reliable crypto exchange should maintain the KYC checks and verify customers’ identity to prevent possible frauds. As a rule, verification takes a few minutes to provide necessary information and photos. And it keeps your account secure from unauthorized actions. A distributed ledger is a database, digitally recording transaction information using cryptography, making it secure and unforgeable. There are various places to buy bitcoin in exchanges for another currency, with international exchangess available as well as local. Popular international Bitcoin exchangess include Bitsquare, Coinbase, and Kraken. The premium on CME Bitcoin futures dropped to zero, but data shows pro traders are still bullish. Regulation will continue to be a mixed pill for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Good headlines will push the BTCUSD price higher, while bad headlines will pressure it lower. Investors who have their bitcoin on exchanges or wallets that support the new currency will soon see their holdings double, with one unit in bitcoin cash added for every bitcoin. But that doesn’t mean the value of investors’ holdings will double. Unlike US dollars, whose buying power the Fed can dilute by printing more greenbacks, there simply won’t be more bitcoin available in the future. That has worried some skeptics, as it means a hack could be catastrophic in wiping out people’s bitcoin wallets, with less hope for reimbursement. But even for those who don’t discover using their own high-powered computers, anyone can buy and sell bitcoins at the bitcoin price they want, typically through online exchanges like Coinbase or LocalBitcoins. In order to incentivize the distributed network of people verifying bitcoin transactions , a fee is attached to each transaction. The fee is awarded to whichever miner adds the transaction to a new block. Fees work on a first-price auction system, where the higher the fee attached to the transaction, the more likely a miner will process that transaction first. Supporters of the newly formed bitcoin cash believe the currency will “breath new life into” the nearly 10-year-old bitcoin by addressing some of the issues facing bitcoin of late, such as slow transaction speeds. But while fraudulent credit-card purchases are reversible, bitcoin transactions are not. Each bitcoin has a complicated ID, known as a hexadecimal code, that is many times more difficult to steal than someone’s credit-card information. And since there is a finite number to be accounted for, there is less of a chance bitcoin or fractions of a bitcoin will go missing. The process of requiring network contributors to dedicate time and resources to creating new blocks ensures the network remains secure. As of 2021, the Bitcoin network consumes about 93 terawatt hours of electricity per year – around the same energy consumed by the 34th-largest country in the world.
Fiat CurrenciesThese include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in oureditorial policy. Roughly speaking, M1—which includes M0 and is worth about $4.9 trillion as of 2020—will serve as our current worldwide value of mediums of exchange. In other words, the value of a currency is a measure of its demand and its ability to stimulate trade and business within and outside an economy. Initially, their value came from intrinsic physical properties. For example, gold’s value comes from the costs of extraction and certain qualitative factors, such as luster and purity content. CEX.IO LTD serves residents throughout countries all over the world in which it operates. CEX IO EU Limited provides its card processing services only to customers from the European Economic Area .
Tesla’s announcement that it had acquired 1.5 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of the digital coin as well as the IPO of the U.S.’ biggest crypto exchange fueled mass interest. The world’s most well-known cryptocurrency, however, suffered a notable correction in April after speculation on government regulation. Another reason, according to experts, was an electricity blackout in the Xinjiang region in China. This unexpected development led to a decline in the Bitcoin hashrate – how many Bitcoins are being mined – and potentially spooked investors into selling their assets. According to a 2020 research based off IP addresses from so-called hashers that used certain Bitcoin mining pools, more than half of all the Bitcoin mining occurred in China. John McAfee is best known as the creator of the popular McAfee antivirus software. He’s also become a Bitcoin aficionado over the past several months, and he never hesitates to voice his opinions on the cryptocurrency craze accordingly. For now, he’s pegging his short-term bitcoin price target at $15,000. That’s a reasonable figure, to be sure, especially with BTC’s parabolic price performance in Q3 and Q4 2017. These are the average exchange rates of these two currencies for the last 30 and 90 days. Also known as the ‘greenback’, the US dollar is the greatest reserve held currency in the world. The USD is also the denominator for major commodities such as gold, silver and crude oil in the global markets. As the official currency of the United States, also the world’s largest economy, the USD is the most stable and liquid currency in the world that has rightly earned the title ‘king of currencies’. Also, there was the May 2020 Bitcoin halving event that reduced the incentive to mine Bitcoin, further limiting the supply of the cryptocurrency. After hitting the $42,000 mark, BTC-USD pulled back to settle above $30,000 as of February 2021. In March, the bitcoin transaction log, called the blockchain, temporarily split into two independent chains with differing rules on how transactions were accepted. For six hours two bitcoin networks operated at the same time, each with its own version of the transaction history. The core developers called for a temporary halt to transactions, sparking a sharp sell-off. Normal operation was restored when the majority of the network downgraded to version 0.7 of the bitcoin software.
Bitcoin Prices Fall To Their Lowest In Almost 6 Weeks – Forbes
Bitcoin Prices Fall To Their Lowest In Almost 6 Weeks.
Posted: Tue, 23 Nov 2021 08:00:00 GMT [source]
- The anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies attracts scammers and bad actors.
- On Dec. 17, 2017, it reached $19,783.21, the all-time high that has yet to be broken.
- Those interested can also buy Bitcoin in other ways, such as in a peer-to-peer fashion.


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Jony Ive recently said that Apple’s new $5 billion Apple Park spaceship wasn’t for you or me. It was a gift to Apple’s own employees. Nowhere is that more evident than on Instagram. Our first look inside Apple Park isn’t from journalists, who have not been invited in, but from a few of Apple’s first employees to migrate to the new campus and post their snaps online.
Based on their Instagrammed shots, Apple’s ring is just as austere as advertised–and it’s already making the company’s employees proud.
Not everyone who has peeked inside the ring is a confirmed Apple employee, of course. Several people look to be Apple development partners or other visitors who are just plain lucky to be there.
One thing Ive neglected to point out is that Apple did build a photo opp for Apple Park–the Visitor Center. And you’ll see photos of that all over Instagram, too.
As you’d expect, Apple sweated every detail–and many visitors are clearly poring over the building’s finishes, wayfinding, and even its parking garage. Indeed, Apple Park comes off as the largest, most expensive Apple Product ever built.


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Rite Aid is ringing in the New Year by offering wellness+ members the opportunity to receive lifestyle and entertainment rewards for every $50 spent in stores on participating products now through Jan. 24.
The South is experiencing high flu activity as Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana lead the list of top 10 states, according to the latest Walgreens Flu Index, a weekly report developed to provide state- and market-specific information regarding flu activity, and ranking of those experiencing the highest incidences of influenza across the country.
In not-unexpected news, Family Dollar has delayed its shareholder vote on a potential acquisition by Dollar Tree.
Specialty pharmacy Diplomat Pharmacy has announced that it will stock Viekira Pak (ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir tablets; dasabuvir tablets), which was approved Dec. 19 by the Food and Drug Administration.
Spend on prepaid gift cards is on the rise this holiday season, as a significant majority (70%) of shoppers plan to purchase gift cards this season, according to an interim holiday spending report released by Stored Value Solutions, a provider of gift cards and stored-value services.
Walgreens expects to close its merger with Alliance Boots by the end of the year, pending shareholder approval on Dec. 29, the retailer announced Tuesday.
Shares of Walgreens were on the rise in pre-market trading Tuesday morning, as Walgreens reported a 16.4% lift in quarterly profit to $809 million that was credited to the 222 million prescriptions filled in the first quarter ended Nov. 30.
For the second year in a row, Safeway has received a perfect score of 100% on the Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices pertinent to LGBT equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
Stop & Shop is reminding shoppers that it is not too late to get a flu shot.
AB Acquisition LLC (Albertsons) and Safeway have entered into agreements to sell 168 stores across eight states to four buyers — Associated Food Stores, Associated Wholesale Grocers, Supervalu and Haggen.


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Following the news that Dick’s Sporting Goods would cease selling AR-15s and raise the minimum age to purchase a firearm, Walmart have also announced their decision to raise their minimum purchasing age to 21.
Walmart stopped selling Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) and AR-15s back in 2015, but has now confirmed that they will raise the minimum age for purchasing firearms and ammunition from their stores from 18 to 21. This is in line with the current federal minimum age to purchase a handgun. They announced decision through a post on twitter:
Building on our 2015 decision to not sell modern sporting rifles, we announced important changes today:
– Raising the age for purchase of firearms and ammunition from 18 to 21 years old
– Removing online items resembling assault-style rifles
See details https://t.co/K7wnc0XEwK
— Walmart (@Walmart) February 28, 2018
In a statement released on the supermarket giant’s website Walmart announced that:
In light of recent events, we’ve taken an opportunity to review our policy on firearm sales. Going forward, we are raising the age restriction for purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age. We will update our processes as quickly as possible to implement this change.
In 2015, Walmart ended sales of modern sporting rifles, including the AR-15. We also do not sell handguns, except in Alaska where we feel we should continue to offer them to our customers. Additionally, we do not sell bump stocks, high-capacity magazines and similar accessories. We have a process to monitor our eCommerce marketplace and ensure our policies are applied.
We take seriously our obligation to be a responsible seller of firearms and go beyond Federal law by requiring customers to pass a background check before purchasing any firearm. The law would allow the sale of a firearm if no response to a background check request has been received within three business days, but our policy prohibits the sale until an approval is given.
In an extra step the company also confirmed that they will be “removing items from our website resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys.” But the company was keen to stress that their ‘heritage’ has “always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way.”


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Although Apple is a US company, iPhones are assembled overseas and shipped to the US and other countries.
The ruling will not enter into force until the entire ITC panel and President Donald Trump review McNamara's decision.
In a case decided on Tuesday, the ITC ruled for Apple in a case dating back to 2017.
"We are pleased ITC has determined that Qualcomm's latest claims have been invalidated," Apple spokesman said in a statement. "This is another important step to ensure that American companies can compete fairly on the market."
Qualcomm was immediately available to comment on the ITC judgments.
In this long-standing feud, both companies were temporarily at the top.
But in 2017, Apple was released suing Qualcomm for $ 1 billion after the chip maker ceased to pay for the exclusive right to use its chips in iPhones.
Qualcomm refused to pay after the European Union started the investigation. The EU eventually considered the payments illegal, and in January 2018, the European Commission ordered that Qualcomm pay a fine of $ 1.2 billion for the matter.
Apple's share fell 1% on Tuesday. Qualcomm's share rose more than 2%.
– Julia Horowitz of CNN Business contributed to this report.


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San Francisco: Apple CEO Tim Cook who unveiled iPhone 7 yesterday at San Francisco, also gave Apple fans something to drool about as he revealed what the next offering of iPhone would offer.
Apparently, iPhone 8 will have Siri physically coming out of the smartphone and responding to user commands
Senior Developers at Apple say that the idea was to create a smartphone that would go beyond voice enabled response to questions. “We wanted the iPhone to make life easier for users. So we came up with the idea of having Siri come out and actually respond to commands,” said a senior developer at Apple.
“It will be something like Aladdin’s lamp. Users will have to scratch the back of the iPhone 8 and Siri will appear before them, in person. It will respond to your commands and do activities that you ask it to do. Now mowing your backyard, cleaning the utensils, babysitting and so on is just a scratch away,” he added.
Apple fans reacted positively to this news with many holding back iPhone 7 purchase, hoping to buy the next offering in six months.
As the company seeks to push technological boundaries, questions are being raised about ‘mis-use of Siri’.
“Apple needs to understand that if iPhone 8 falls in the wrong hands it could lead to disaster. God forbid if Trump becomes the President, he could use Siri to build a wall or worse still get his hair styled,” said a tech analysts and Hillary Clinton supporter.
But iPhone engineers allayed all fears by stating that all checks are in place to prevent mis-use.
Back home in India, a silent rebellion is brewing among domestic helps who feel Siri could take away their jobs. “If this Siri comes to India it will do all the cleaning and mopping and rendering us useless. We are not educated enough to find regular jobs. We will be forced to join politics. We want the Govt. to intervene,” said Gangubai, Head of Mumbai Kaamwalibai Association.
Political parties meanwhile are doing their best to milk the situation. On his latest campaign trail, Rahul Gandhi reportedly picked up a broom and started sweeping a random street in Delhi to express solidarity with domestic help community.


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In fact, Missha M. Magic Cushion SPF50+/PA+++ is the third best-selling product in the foundation category in March 2018. The product moves up 34 spots to become the highest ranked cushion compact we have seen to date, as more on-the-go consumers take note of the nifty travel-sized product. Even more notable is that the Missha M. Magic Cushion is sold only on Amazon.
In 2018, Amalgam captures several new cushion compact additions to the top 600 foundation products. Dior’s Capture Totale Dreamskin – Perfect Skin Cushion Broad Spectrum SPRF 50 Refill, launched in 2016, becomes the 406th best-selling foundation in January 2018. Yves Saint Laurent’s Touche Eclat Cushion Foundation, released in 2017, becomes the 451st best-selling foundation in February 2018. Maybelline Dream Cushion Fresh Face Liquid Foundation, launched in 2017, and PUR Air Perfection CC Cushion Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 50, released in 2015, become the 126th and 401st best-selling products in March 2018, respectively. These products’ debut and consistency on Amalgam through March 2018 is expected to grow the category for cushion compacts online.


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Denver’s Lower Highland is not getting a Rusty Bucket after all.
Ohio-based Cameron Mitchell Restaurants announced this week that it will open its Italian cafe concept Marcella’s on the ground floor of Centric LoHi, a 302-unit apartment complex at 18th and Central set to open to residents this winter.
Developers last year had announced plans for a Rusty Bucket Restaurant & Tavern, a casual American concept owned by a sister company of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, in the same space. Colorado’s first Rusty Bucket opened in Westminster’s Orchard Town Center this summer.
Southern Land Company confirmed the switch Tuesday, saying the Ohio-based restaurant company decided its Italian concept would be “a better fit.” The restaurant, Cameron Mitchell’s first Marcella’s in Colorado and third nationwide, will open in summer 2017.
“Expanding our Marcella’s concept is something we’ve aspired to do for a long time,” Cameron Mitchell president and COO David Miller said in a statement. “We waited until we found a location that would complement the concept and provide guests with a unique dining experience they didn’t have nearby.”
The first Marcella’s opened in Columbus, Ohio’s Short North Arts District in 2007. Menu items include wood-fired pizzas, pasta, lasagna alla Bolognese, chicken marsala, braised veal meatballs and a selection of 50 Italian wines served by the bottle or quartino.
The LoHi restaurant will be 5,250 square feet, seating about 200 inside and on the patio. The building’s other announced retail tenant is The Bindery, a sit-down restaurant, artisan market, cafe and bakery from local chef Linda Hampsten.
Built on the site of the former Mile High United Way offices, the apartment complex is currently pre-leasing, with plans to start move-ins this winter, according to a Southern Land spokeswoman.
Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, which operates 26 restaurants under 13 banners nationwide, also owns Ocean Prime in Denver’s Larimer Square.


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Tourism Thailand has launched a campaign titled, “Discover Thainess 2015” that aims to promote Thailand as a tourist destination.
As part of its marketing efforts for the campaign, Tourism Thailand used 3D effects in their advertising on SMRT Media’s City Hall platform.
The immersive experience allows commuters to picture themselves in Thailand, floating down the Chao Phraya River or enjoying Thai cuisine, at the platform of City Hall MRT Station. The campaign by Tourism Thailand features 3D Art which commuters can snap pictures with. To make the campaign interactive, those who take a photo with the 3D Art can redeem a free souvenir from 9 – 12 July.
The creative is done by Qio Cre8 and the media agency for this campaign is LH. M Advertising.
The campaign runs from 4 June until 1 July 2015.


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Crowds flock to Whitley Bay food festival
Thousands of people flocked to Whitley Bay as a popular festival drew in the crowds.
More than 60 stalls were set up on the Spanish City Plaza for the Proper Food and Drink Festival last weekend.
Glorious sunshine helped boost the attendance, with a host of refreshing drinks and food provided by local producers.
It was the fourth year organisers and Mark and Shelley Deakin have brought the festival to Whitley Bay.
Among the hits was sparkling lemonade, homemade by Nathan Bye of Tap Garden.
Nathan, from Whitley Bay, set up the business a year ago after years of travelling abroad.
He said: “We thought we would give it a go and it seems to be doing alright.”
Hatch76, the brainchild of Alex Hindson – the former head chef for the Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums – is another new local business with a distinctive presence at this summer’s festivals.
Alex, from Gateshead, says he is re-inventing the sandwich with the help of his refurbished and multi-functional 1976 Peugeot van.
“We spend millions and millions of pounds on sandwiches every year, but they’re mass produced, put in a box and stuck in a fridge,” he said.
“People want quality. People also want to support local businesses. That’s particularly true in the North East.”
Next up for the organisers and stallholders is the North East Chilli Fest. For its sixth year it has a new home – in-between Seaton Sluice and Blyth’s South Beach – and is taking place over an extra day, running from June 30 to July 2.
“It began life as a Chilli festival, but the music and entertainment aspect has grown and grown,” said Mark, who organises the event with his wife Shelley.
“We had five fantastic years in the grounds of Seaton Delaval Hall, but we needed more space for the stages, marquees, stalls and our camping area,” she said.
Hundreds of festival-goers are expected to stay on the site all weekend. A range of flexible tickets are still available, with options ranging from as little as £5 to £30. Tickets for children cost £3.
Further details and tickets are available through the 2017 North East Chilli Fest website www.chillifest-ne.co.uk


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The full list of submissions for new internet address endings, allowing firms to create their own ‘.brand’ on the web, has been published.
Requests to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the global organisation co-ordinating the expansion, include .porn, .ninja, and .ferrari.
Several top-level domains have been applied for by more than one party, including .sex, .home and .diy.
The list reveals that Google has applied for a number of top level domains (TLDs) including .android, .chrome and .fun, although the latter has also been applied for by two other companies.
Google also made unexpected inclusions such as .and, .boo, .dad and .new.
Domian name battles
The search giant has also requested .music, which has been claimed by seven other organisations including the online retailer Amazon.
In addition, the TLD .cloud has been applied for by seven different companies, for example, including both Amazon and Google.
Both the US drugmaker Merck & Co and its German rival Merck KGaA appear to have applied for the .merck ending, which may trigger an auction process.
Other gTLDs attracting multiple requests include .art, .book, .news, .play, .shop and .vip.
The most contested name is .app which received 13 applications.
However the .uk manager, Nominet, looks likely to secure .wales and .cymru after no-one filed identical claims.
Likewise the Dot Scot Registry was the only organisation to apply for .scot and the League of Arab States the only body to claim .arab.
The list also reveals that Apple applied for .apple, Intel for .ultrabook and Microsoft for .hotmail.
Out of the 1,930 submissions ICANN received, 750 were for the same 230 domains. 166 of them were in alternatives to the Latin alphabet.
Rod Beckstrom, CEO and president of ICANN said, “This is a historic day for the internet, because the internet is about to change forever. We’re standing at the cusp of a new era for online innovation, including new jobs, new businesses and new ways to share information.”
“If even three quarters of these applications are approved, the number of top level domains will expand four-fold”, he added.
Cost of a .brand domain
Applicants had to pay a $185,000 (£118,800) fee to take part in the application process. They also face a minimum $25,000 annual renewalcharge to keep their suffix once it has been granted.
Critics have attacked the plan, noting the costs involved and the fact that bodies in the first batch to be processed may gain an unfair advantage.
Nations including Brazil, China and Russia have also suggested Icann’s functions be passed to the UN or another body more under governments’ control.
Samsung – which had objected to the process – has taken part, applying for both .samsung and its equivalent in the Korean alphabet.
Coca-Cola and the cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s, which also signed a petition in protest, have abstained from the bidding process.


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PETA sells anti-fur message to holiday shoppers
PETA activist David Simon passes out literature in front of the South Coast Plaza Macy's department store Friday. Simon was joined by about 20 other activists who were out to educate people about the presence of fur products at several mall department stores during Black Friday's rush.
JOSHUA SUDOCK, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
COSTA MESA - About 20 PETA activists were at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa on Friday as the mall was filled with holiday bargain hunters.
The activists stood n front of Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's department store with signs that read, "Fur is dead," and passed out literature to Black Friday shoppers.
Click on the Photos tab to see a slide show.


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It’s launch day for Bless Unleashed – the PC version, that is – and it’s been a long, long time coming. Readers will recall that Bless Online originally launched in the west on PC back in 2018. It didn’t go well, and after several server closures and a corporate merge, Bless Online itself was sunsetted in 2019. But just a few months after Bless Online launched, Neowiz and Round8Studio announced a console version of the game that shared the IP but little else. That version of the game launched in early 2020, and then the company spent the better part of that year and this one testing and retesting a PC version of the console one that was spun off from the closed PC MMO. It’s been a ride.
Round8 told players on Steam today that it’s “preparing various updates in the future to keep up the expectations of [its] users,” such as “new characters, dungeons, regions, and contents such as Guild Vs. Guild.” The studio also maintains that “over 40,000 global users” joined in on the game’s final test, and that includes us. MOP’s own Chris found the game to be surprisingly decent and an improvement over the original game, although he also didn’t find much to recommend it over other titles. “It’s a decent and routine little themepark MMO that doesn’t really buck a lot of trends, and on PC it looks great while feeling a tiny bit weird in some places in terms of controls,” he opined.
Finally, Bless Unleashed PC is officially launched on August 6th on Steam.
A new journey of Bless Unleashed PC, fighting against giant enemies with your mates throughout the Lumios world, is beginning now.https://t.co/jJSjUunqS1#BlessUnleashed #MMOPRG pic.twitter.com/iVlp5IuyKN
— Bless Unleashed PC (@blessunleashedp) August 6, 2021


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How I Made It: Joey Sahni, founder of Touchstone Retail
ON A placement at his father’s company, the 19-year-old Joey Sahni realised that a lucrative opportunity was going begging.
Touchstone Accessories sold jewellery wholesale, and it could be hard work. “I got fed up trying to sell something to buyers who didn’t know what they were doing,” Sahni said. “I was always going to be at their mercy and felt that to grow, we needed to launch a brand.”
Using industry contacts built up over the next few years and his entrepreneurial flair — first demonstrated by selling cigarettes in the school playground — Sahni set up Touchstone Retail in 2007 to sell jewellery direct in shops.
Sahni convinced the high street chains Debenhams, New Look and Superdrug to give him space and today Touchstone


text: Microsoft will promote Andrew Lees to senior vice president and task him with gaining a stronger foothold for Microsoft in the consumer market for mobile devices. That means taking on Apple's iPhone. According to the WSJ, Lees replaces Pieter Knook, who shuffles into retirement on today's news. Perhaps this is because Knook last year allowed Steve Ballmer to say "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance."


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Bargain-hungry shoppers have besieged the new Konga retail store located at Saka Tinubu, Victoria Island, Lagos; for a taste of the pre-Konga Yakata shopping experience.
The eager shoppers who came out in their numbers; were eager to be the first to get their hands on the amazing price slashes and discounts; which Konga had extended on a wide assortment of products available on its platform.
Konga Yakata, widely regarded as the biggest sales event in the annual shopping calendar in Nigeria; kicks off formally on Monday, November 11th, 2019. The month-long shopping fiesta will run until December 12th, 2019 across its online platform and retail stores nationwide.
Equally important, the commencement of Konga Yakata coincides with the globally-celebrated Singles Day sales popularized by China’s retail giant, Alibaba.
In @charlesinojie voice, “Na Dem dey rush us”…👍🏼👍🏼
All roads leads to Konga Store at Saka Tinubu , Lagos …. Massive price crash, freebies, giveaways and many more…. It’s only 2days to Yakata and we can’t wait 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻…. #ShopKonga #Yakata #EarlyBirdSale pic.twitter.com/1PkXNY49dV
— Konga (@ShopKonga) November 8, 2019
“From the turnout at Saka Tinubu, you can see that Nigerians are ready for an unforgettable experience,” disclosed Chidalu Ekeh; Head of Marketing at Konga. “Konga Yakata is set to feature lots of amazing activities including Flash Sales, Treasure Hunts for the fastest fingers. Also, there are amazing travel discounts and deals to exotic destinations through Konga Travel; walk-in discounts across all Konga retail stores nationwide and Social Media giveaways.
Konga Yakata offers shoppers so much more…
“Furthermore, there will be a Live sales show on DSTV Channel 369 every Saturday from the 16th of November; until the 7th of December 2019. Most importantly, every Friday throughout Konga Yakata is Black Friday, so you are guaranteed unbeatable prices.”
Furthermore, Chidalu affirmed that shoppers are in for a mega sales extravaganza at Konga Yakata.
“We are ready to deliver the biggest discount sales ever, beginning from Monday, November 11th or 11/11; which also represents the very popular Singles Day sales. Konga Yakata is by far, the biggest discount sale in the annual shopping calendar and this year; we intend to make it even bigger than before.
“We are anticipating a 600% increase on sales recorded in 2018 and this is down to the increased shopping appetite among our customer database, which has grown exponentially. Our retail stores have also grown to cover more locations across Nigeria. Furthermore, there are more merchants on the Konga platform today, many of whom have increased their product assortment through the soft loans and credit facilities we graciously extended to them,” she disclosed.


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Sharing Economy, Cost of Parking and Underutilised Resources sparked Parking Made Easy
Online services are all the rage in the startup space at the moment as entrepreneurs find missing services which would make people’s lives much easier, cheaper or more efficient.
We spoke with the founder of a service that matches parking spaces in people’s homes with commuters wanting to rent their space.
This Interview is now only available to enrolled students in the Small Business Startup Course.
The Australian Small Business Blog
- New course content for each of our online courses (Accounting, Marketing, Sales, Operations, Support)
- Free training videos and content that we release — and there's lots of them!
- Free tips ‘n’ tricks relating to the content in our courses


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Coinciding with this anniversary, its chairman, Cirilo Arnandis, is very positive about the current campaign.
The recently initiated season is being marked by high quality, with very commercial sizes and the fact that the produce has reached the markets a week early.
“In the Ribera region, we continue growing due to new plantations that are starting to produce. This area represents around 280 million kilos, meaning 80% of the national production. The volume of the operators registered on the D.O. is around 160 million kilos.”
An early harvest
Last season, the high temperatures, both day and night, made the fruit ripen later. On the other hand, this year during the first fortnight of September, night time temperatures dropped considerably and this difference caused a change in the colour of the fruit that has meant it could be sent to the markets earlier.
“We started on the 2nd of October and this always represents an added advantage. One of our goals involves lengthening the campaign, not only the start, but also the end. All of this means significant research by our technicians and by the IVIA itself, but it is feasible since the persimmon is the only fruit with a constant flavour, which does not disappoint consumers,” the chairman explains.
But above all, Arnandis comments that “with the production thresholds planned for the next few years, we are going to need a calendar of at least five months. Added to this circumstance, at the D.O. we are planning some important promotion campaigns, such as this year’s one, with a budget of one and a half million euros.”
Regarding the voices that have been talking about a persimmon bubble, the president of CANSO, explains that “the production must be conciliated with the increase in consumption, but there are some strange circumstances in our favour, such as the little knowledge consumers have about this fruit, but which means that as it becomes known, its consumption will increase. And on the other hand, we have a very strong quality brand, to which is added the fact that it cannot be marketed by just anyone, as a very specific technology and particular know-how are needed.”
And on this point, he adds “I am very optimistic because we have a long way to go to reach 50% of apple or orange consumption. Now we are beginning to see the results of the work we have carried out for years, where even the chains have opted for significant promotion of the produce, emphasizing its source, as has already occurred in Germany.”