text:
Mar 26, 2014 - How could the social media giant have missed the opportunity to own its most important asset at the registry level - its website? Here are a few ideas of what Facebook could have done with .Facebook. Comments
Mar 9, 2014 - ClickZ spoke to Kurt Abrahamson, chief executive of ShareThis, to discuss the new "sharing currency" and the implications that this has for brands and marketers. Comments
Mar 7, 2014 - China, Asia, and now what we call APAC have been ahead of the game throughout history and still are in so many big ways in digital. So, let us learn a bit from them to improve our future efforts here in the U.S. Comments
Feb 26, 2014 - Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has lashed out at the US National Security Agency (NSA) over the PRISM surveillance scandal, but said the industry is working better together as a result. Comments
Feb 24, 2014 - On the heels of its acquisition by Facebook, WhatsApp will introduce an Internet voice calling capability later this year. Comments
Feb 24, 2014 - The real reason for the acquisition is that any site that moves people away from dependence on Facebook also chips away at its ability to sell ads, which makes up most of the company's revenue. Comments
Feb 24, 2014 - Anyone not lost in the jungle believing World War II is still raging also knows that a successful software product is the key to riches almost unimaginable. Comments
Feb 21, 2014 - Was the whopping $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp a totally crazy move on Facebook’s part? Or was it genius? Comments
Feb 20, 2014 - A look at WhatsApp with infographics and numbers and how it compares to other social platforms such as WeChat, KakaoTalk, and Viber. Comments
Feb 19, 2014 - Facebook will acquire smartphone-messaging app WhatsApp for a $19 billion cash-and-stock deal. The move pushes the social network further into the fast-growing mobile messaging market. Comments
Marketing Apps for Landing Pages White Paper
Marketing apps can elevate a formulaic landing page into a highly interactive user experience. Learn how to turn your static content into exciting marketing apps.
Redefining 'Mobile-Only' Users: Millions Selectively Avoid the Desktop
A new breed of selective mobile-only consumers has emerged. What are the demos of these users and how and where can marketers reach them?
March 19, 2014


text:
Our #STYLEHUNTERS event at The Guildhall Shopping Centre from 30-31st May in collaboration with Stafford FM and Go Ape has proved ‘extremely popular’ with customers in Stafford and ‘hugely successful’ with the centre’s management team.
Last weekend #STYLEHUNTERS arrived at the Guildhall Shopping Centre where the team ran a treasure hunt and invited customers to follow a series of clues around the shopping centre that took them into twenty-four shops across the centre to seek the answers.
Anne Graham, Marketing Manager at the Guildhall said “We were absolutely thrilled with the response to the event. Over the course of the 2 days over 400 people followed the clues around the shops. The feedback from our store managers and our customers has been extremely positive and I think everyone has had a good time. We are very grateful for the support shown by Stafford FM who joined us for the 2 days and also to Go Ape who sponsored the event”.
First prize went to Kelly Bradley who completed the trail with her son Tyler and won the top prize of £100 of shopping vouchers. Two runner-up prizes of £50 of shopping vouchers went to Mark Davys and Kelly Griffiths and 4 prizes of £25 voucher went to each of people putting the best photos on the Guildhall’s Facebook page. They were Daisy Heys, Grace Hawkins, Aidan Doran and Holly. All of our winners come from Stafford and Stone.
Every participant received a free gift and there were spot prizes throughout the day including over £450 worth of vouchers to the Go Ape Forest Adventure and other prizes donated by Guildhall stores. A full gallery of the images from the event and snapshots of some of our spot prize winners can be seen here.
The #STYLEHUNTERS concept was developed by Hannah Jean of Find My Style and Laraine Robathan-Field of LRF Style as part of their Only On The High Street consultancy . We would like to thank everyone who make the event a success!

domain: news


text:
Few models have done more to change the image of a brand than the big Buick LaCrosse. Along with the Enclave SUV, the sedan marked a critical turning point for the General Motors marque which, many had come to expect, wouldn’t survive GM’s 2009 bankruptcy.
The LaCrosse injected Buick with a healthy dose of youthful style and showed that it actually understood that it was possible to deliver a bit of sporty performance without completely abandoning the quite, “boulevard” ride that once made Buick a star in the near-luxury market segment.
We’ve seen Buick roll out updates to the Enclave and several other key models but the debut of the new 2014 LaCrosse at the New York Auto Show – where it’s also previewing the updated Regal – could prove a critical moment for the marque.
“We evolved the interior and exterior design, increased luxury amenities and materials, and enhanced the safety and personal technologies to give customers more reasons than ever to rediscover Buick,” said Tony DiSalle, U.S. vice president of Buick Marketing.


text:
SSpurred by strong customer pull, Aryaka, provider of the world’s first cloud-based wan optimization and application acceleration solution, today announced its entry into Brazil to serve the country’s fast growing base of companies headquartered there while enabling multinational firms to better connect their Brazil presence with their locations in other regions.
The push into Brazil is part of Aryaka’s ongoing network expansion of a highly optimized architecture for delivered-as-a-service. Aryaka’s intelligent, high performing network ensures less than 20-millisecond latency for more than 90 percent of the world’s business users. Aryaka’s Points of Presence (POPs) are deployed worldwide and located in close proximity to global business hubs including Australia, Israel, China, Singapore, India and across multiple locations within Europe and North America. In addition to expanding its physical network location in Brazil, Aryaka has signed up a number of channel partners in the country and is conducting multiple trials with new prospects.
“Brazil is the center of gravity for doing business in Latin America,” said Ajit Gupta, Founder, President and CEO of Aryaka. “We’ve seen huge inbound demand from Brazil for our as-a-service because we offer a clear choice beyond dedicated MPLS links and costly hardware to optimize the WAN. For Brazilian companies and international companies doing business in Brazil, Aryaka places the network near the customer and connects them to wherever their offices are, worldwide.”
Brazil has emerged over the last twelve years as one of the world’s most attractive locations for foreign investment and new trade as more corporations open new offices in the country. Late last year, Brazil edged out Britain as the world’s sixth largest economy.
Aryaka’s presence in Brazil highlights the importance of investments in information and communication in the country. Aryaka provides a simpler and more affordable alternative enabling companies doing business there to collaborate and communicate more effectively.
Aryaka is the world’s first cloud-based WAN optimization company solving application and network performance issues faced by the distributed enterprise. Aryaka has been named to Dow Jones VentureWire FASTech 50 innovative startups for 2011, a “Cool Vendor” by a leading analyst firm and a GigaOm Structure 50 company that will shape the future of cloud computing. Aryaka eliminates the need for expensive and complex appliances as well as long-haul connectivity, and enhances collaboration across locations. It offers significant cost, ease-of-use and performance advantages, helping global companies achieve dramatic productivity gains and increased visibility into their WAN applications, locations and performance, while providing 24/7 world-class support. To learn more, visit www.aryaka.com. Follow us at Twitter, Facebook, and on Linkedin.
Aryaka is a trademark of Aryaka Networks, Inc. All other brands, products or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.


text:
Today shoppers demand beverages that can provide benefits beyond hydration. Beverages are no longer secondary to foods in terms of health benefits, nutritional value, and clean/natural. There is growing demand for better-for-you beverages that provide consumers with a convenient source of instant nutrition. This report from HealthFocus International takes a deeper look at opportunities in […]
New Global Topic Reports
We are seeing a global resurgence of the more traditional and holistic approach to health and wellness. Consumers are expressing a strong belief in the healing power of foods and many are actively using kitchen medicine, both for prevention and for specific medical purposes. This report takes a deeper look at the topics of food […]
The need for energy still exists even with all the high energy products on the market. Shoppers are looking for energy benefits that get them through their work day (mental energy) and energy to spend time with their families or workout (physical energy). This 2021 report from HealthFocus International takes a deeper look at the […]
Based on high costs and environmental impact, many futurists long-term projections include a world without meat. However, this is not the core driver behind the plant-based eating trend today. Shoppers’ primary motivations are less about the avoidance of meat or animal products, but rather to provide healthier alternatives and a path for improving their diets. […]
We know shoppers are actively cutting back on sugar, but how are they doing it? Findings show that when shoppers are attempting to cut back on sugar—they want to reduce, rather than replace with alternative sweeteners or other flavors.
Not all protein sources are equal according to findings from Global Opportunities in Protein: New Consumer Requirements for Success—the new global topic report from HealthFocus International. Despite the strong health halo of protein, protein in general is no longer enough, and many shoppers are paying attention to the sources of protein they consume. In the […]


text:
Mega Man fans feel bitter
Their favourite protagonist has not starred in his own game for a while, and the cancellation of Nintendo 3DS exclusive, Mega Man Legends 3, cut deep. So naturally, when Capcom announced the inclusion of the rotund, 80's boxart Mega Man for inclusion in Street Fighter X Tekken, fans of the pint-sized hero had their pitch-forks at the ready. But chatting on Twitter,..
Sony's lined up another two exclusive characters for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions of Street Fighter X Tekken
As previously hinted, both Pac-Man and Mega Man will be entering the crossover fray — the latter of which sporting his awful 1980's boxart get-up. In the spirit of crossover fun, the dev team wanted both Capcom and Namco's mascots to join the fray in a slightly silly,..
Street Fighter X Tekken has one hell of a roster -- and it just won't stop growing
In a trailer released earlier today, Capcom's confirmed a bunch of new faces for the brawler, including Balrog, Juri, Vega, Paul, Law, and Xiaoyu. But while that's all fine and dandy, it's the teaser at the end of the trailer that's got our hearts pounding. We already know that the PlayStation versions of Street..
With Street Fighter X Tekken already confirmed for release on the PlayStation Vita, Tekken overlord Katsuhiro Harada has hinted that Namco's own brawler, Tekken X Street Fighter, may get a handheld release too
For those of you that haven't been keeping up, Capcom and Namco's crossover partnership will spawn two products — one created by Capcom, and the other by Namco. The game that's coming first..
Oooh, you gamers really are eagle eyed folk
A screenshot for Street Fighter X Tekken uploaded to the XBOX Live Market Place (we know!) has inadvertently revealed Tekken's jailbait hottie Xiaoyu and Street Fighter's trend-setting M. Bison for the crossover fighter. Joystiq reports that the new additions bring Street Fighter X Tekken'
As far as trailers for Street Fighter X Tekken go, this is one of the most conventional
Sure it features females fighting on top of moving trucks, but y'know, at least there aren't bears and stuff in it. The cinematic focuses on the females of Street Fighter X Tekken, with Cammy and Chun-Li duking it out against Asuka and Lili. It's a neat little short packed with bittersweet pop music and..
If you're the kind of person that constantly demands more, then this bit of Street Fighter X Tekken news should satisfy you no end
Capcom's released details about the game's alternate costumes — and they are amazing. Instead of changing each character's costume colours, Capcom has instead opted to dress the roster in clothes from other characters in the game. For example, above you'll see a..
Capcom is famous for re-releasing "updated" versions of its games
You only need look to this month, when it is scheduled to release Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. The non-Ultimate version released earlier this year. But chatting with Gematsu, Capcom fighting guru Yoshinori Ono has told the website not to expect any boxed versions of future Street Fighter X Tekken updates: "I would say that you..
Street Fighter X Tekken looks ace
But in a way, it feels familiar. The Tekken characters slip easily into Capcom's inky Street Fighter IV aesthetic, giving the game a generally cohesive look. Henceforth, we're more excited about getting our first glimpse at Tekken X Street Fighter — Namco Bandai's bite at the cherry. That game will see Street Fighter characters super-imposed into Tekken's 3D..
Going hand-in-hand with Street Fighter X Tekken's March 6th release date, Capcom has also announced a special edition for the crossover title
The limited edition package includes a variety of goodies, including a rather slick "build it yourself" arcade cabinet bank and a selection of in-game "gems" which can be used to customise your favourite character's fighting style. Also..
We're Tekken fanboys, so obviously the idea of being able to kick Ryu's head-in with our much-loved Kazuya is appealing on its own
But from what we've played of Street Fighter X Tekken, it's actually a genuinely brilliant versus brawler. And thus we've been hotly anticipating a release date for some time. Capcom's finally lifted the lid, revealing a March 6th 2012 release date for the bizarre..
A rougue Youtuber has uploaded a fresh gameplay video of inFamous protagonist Cole McGrath duking it out with Ryu and co in Capcom's upcoming crossover brawler, Street Fighter X Tekken
It's running on a PS Vita. The game looks a bit slower than its console counterpart, but we're not ruling out shoddy video encoding. Either way, fighting aficionados can feel free to examine the evidence after the..
Capcom doesn't always get DLC right
Overpriced costumes and on-disc content are just some of the controversies in the publisher's recent history. But it's doing right by Street Fighter X Tekken, announcing that any DLC purchased across the game's home console and portable SKUs will be cross compatible. "With the PS3 and the Vita, yes, they're different hardware, but they're part of the same..
If you though Street Fighter X Tekken was already pushing it with the inclusion of inFamous 2's Cole McGrath, Sony's has announced the inclusion of another of its mascots -- Toro (aka the Sony Cat) will enter the fray as a playable character, in addition to his neighbour, Kuro
Best news of TGS? We think so. [Thanks Joystiq]
Street Fighter's flabbiest fighter, Rufus, will form a portion of Street Fighter X Tekken's character roster if the game's latest trailer can be treated as confirmation
The stylish short focuses on much of the cast already confirmed for the cross-over brawler. Catch it after the jump.
In addition to two new character teasers, Capcom's released the boxart for its upcoming cross-over brawler Street Fighter X Tekken
The packshot focuses on Ryu and Chun-Li from the Street Fighter side, and Kazuya and Nina Williams from the Tekken side. It's embedded above, y'know, in case you didn't notice it while scrolling.
Capcom's teased another couple of characters for its upcoming PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita cross-over brawler, Street Fighter X Tekken
We've no idea who either of the characters teased are (Sean, perhaps?), so we'll leave the detective work down to you guys. Hit the jump for the trailers.
Super Street Fighter IV's multiplayer features were pretty comprehensive
Unfortunately, Marvel Vs Capcom 3 felt like a huge step backwards. So it's exciting to see Capcom tout that Street Fighter X Tekken will boast the entirety of SSFIV's multiplayer features in addition to "totally upgraded online functionality and some new surprises". Capcom's keeping a lid on what those new surprises..
Sorry Marvel, but this is the Street Fighter cross-over we've been waiting for
As hardcore Tekken fanboys, we can't wait to unleash our King/Kazuya combo against the Capcom characters that have overshadowed our favourite Namco Bandai brawlers for years. On topic though: this four-minute long Street Fighter X Tekken trailer is supremely exciting. It provides a detailed overview of every facet of the..
If you don't like Kuma -- Tekken's resident bear character -- then we don't want to be associated with you
Seriously. How can you not like Kuma? The dude's a bear for goodness sake. A bear. Anyway, it looks like the character's set to show up in Street Fighter X Tekken. This is good news for sane people that adore Kuma. There are more teaser trailers after the jump.
According to Street Fighter honcho, Yoshinori Ono, Street Fighter X Tekken's character roster has been finalized, with running Street Fighter joke, Dan Hibiki, kicked from the final roster
Speaking with Siliconera, Ono explained that Dan has been dropped due to being "killed by a Tekken character at Comic-Con last year". Also out of the picture is Tekken's Anna Williams. "As much as..
Capcom's released 30-minutes of Street Fighter X Tekken footage from its Comic-Con booth
We're loving the way Capcom's managed to merge Tekken's characters into the Street Fighter universe, and think the cross-over looks really fun. The game's due out on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita next year.
Capcom's confirmed Poison as a playable character in its upcoming cross-over brawler, Street Fighter X Tekken
The Final Fight bad-girl (bad-guy?) will join Yoshimitsu and Steve Fox when the game launches at an undisclosed date next year. The game itself is coming together brilliantly. We continue to be in awe of the way Capcom's managed to seamlessly integrate Tekken characters into Street..
Capcom has hinted that a new Monster Hunter title is in development for the PlayStation Vita, in addition to revealing that it has four titles on the horizon for Sony's new handheld -- one of which is set to be a launch title
In an interview with MEGamers, Capcom Europe boss (and former SCEE gaffer) David Reeves suggested that the company has lots to announce for the Vita. "There will be one..
inFamous protagonist Cole MacGrath's inclusion in Street Fighter X Tekken was announced at this year's E3 for both the PlayStation 3 and Vita versions of the cross-over brawler
Following up the announcement, Capcom's Seth Killian has told Siliconera that the "timing was right" for the inclusion and that the publisher is "excited" about the exclusive character. Discussions..
It's amazing how well Capcom's managed to get the Tekken fighters to fit into Street Fighter's aesthetic
The latest batch of Street Fighter X Tekken shots posted by VG247 reveal Julia and Hwoarang. Both look good, though Julia's biceps are a touch disturbing.
Capcom has claimed that the visuals in the PlayStation Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken are a "one-to-one match" with the home console PlayStation 3 version
Dare we argue that the PlayStation Vita version might look better thanks in part to the system's gorgeous OLED screen? "Right now, because we haven't finished tuning and optimising everything, the frame rate occasionally will..
Capcom has hinted that it is working with Sony on a new top-secret feature for Street Fighter X Tekken that sounds a lot like cross-platform play to us
At an offsite SCE event , Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono revealed that Sony is working with the publisher on a new feature for Street Fighter X Tekken that's likely to be announced at this year's...
Not content with announcing Street Fighter X Tekken for the PlayStation Vita, Capcom also confirmed that inFamous protagonist Cole McGrath will feature as a playable character in the PlayStation SKUs of the game
In the demonstration Cole looked like he'd spent a few months in the gym, with biceps bulging out of his trade-mark t-shirt. An unexpected but neat announcement, though.
Good news for fans of sumptuous posteriors, a new teaser trailer for Street Fighter X Tekken pretty clearly reveals Cammy's inclusion in the crossover's roster
Her opponent is less obvious, though we're assuming it's someone from the Tekken universe. Answers on a postcard please.
While development on Capcom's Street Fighter X Tekken is well under-way, Namco's Tekken X Street Fighter is still little more than a concept
We really havent started on Tekken X Street Fighter, said Tekken boss Katsuhiro Harada at Namco's big pre-E3 event in Dubai this morning. Things are going well with Street Fighter X Tekken and well have more on that at E3. We hope you look forward to..
Six fresh faces have joined the roster of Street Fighter X Tekken -- Capcom's unexpected but still mindblowingly awesome cross-franchise beat 'em up
We knew from the game's original announcement that Ryu, Chun-Li, Kazuya and Nina Williams would be duking it out when the game releases next year, but now we can add Ken, Guile, Abel, King, Marduk and Bob to the line-up. All we really needed to know..
Capcom is currently holding its Captivate press event in the US
But with information embargoed until April 12th, we still don't know exactly what the publisher's showcasing. Thankfully, this week's Famitsu magazine has a few hints . The menu includes: Street Fighter X Tekken, Asura's Wrath, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and the mysterious...
Capcom's Yoshinori Ono and Namco's Katsuhiro Harada are at GamesCom to talk about their upcoming colloboration, Street Fighter X Tekken
While the focus of the presentation was to show European fans the same demo that was at Comic-Con, Harada also revealed some prototypes for the other cross-over game in development, Tekken X Street Fighter. Harada stressed that the 3D model of Ryu was far from..
Siliconera's got hold of some brand-new shots of Street Fighter X Tekken
The shots, released by Capcom, show Ryu and Chun-Li kicking lumps out of Tekken's Nina and Kazuya. Still seems weird. Looks proper awesome, though.
Tekken producer, Katsuhiro Harada, has dropped a bomb regarding Street Fighter X Tekken -- namely that the game will get debuted at GamesCom
After the official announcement at Comic-Con, Capcom's Yoshinori Ono informed us that it would be the last we'd hear about the game until mid-next year. But apparently, he was lying through his teeth. Sort of. Invites have been going out for the European..
With all the excitement of Capcom's Comic-Con panel being attached to cross-overs, we almost forgot to mention the announcement of new DLC outfits for Super Street Fighter IV
The clothing pack is due this Fall and will feature a new alternative outfit for each character. Kotaku managed to snap a teaser of the new outfits which we've posted above. Catwoman Cammy? Sure.
As an onlooking Servbot watches Tekken's Kazuya kick the crap out of Street Fighter's Ryu, we can't help but feel that the upcoming Street Fighter X Tekken cross-over heading to the PlayStation 3 is probably the best announcement since sliced bread
Sadly, the producer of Capcom's game, Yoshinori Ono, reckons the project is still some time off - citing a 2012 release date is on the cards. Ono said..
Street Fighter X Tekken
It's a God-honest video game. T'was announced yesterday. For realsies. And here's the game's debut trailer. It shows Street Fighter's Ryu facing up to Tekken's Jin Kazama. It's all inky and blotchy. It looks amazing. Can we wait to play this? No we cannot.
Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono has put an end to rumours regarding a possible Namco and Capcom cross-over; by announcing Street Fighter X Tekken (pronounced Street Fighter Cross Tekken)
The game's in development for the PlayStation 3. Joined on-stage by Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada, the duo proved the game's existence by playing a round of the game live on a PS3. Interestingly, while..


text:
June 16, 2020 at 08:31PM
Actress and sustainability advocate Emma Watson has joined the board of Kering, the French luxury group with designer brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga under its umbrella.
Announced in an online presentation of the group’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, Kering also confirmed that Watson would chair the board’s sustainability committee, which is focused on environmental matters.
Watson has long been a supporter of sustainable fashion, championing eco-conscious designers and brands both on the red carper and off. She is also a supporter of Good On You, a mobile app that allows consumers to check the sustainability credentials of clothing brands.
View this post on Instagram
Kering is proud to announce that Emma Watson is joining its Board of Directors, alongside Jean Liu and Tidjane Thiam. Their appointments have been approved by Kering’s shareholders during the Group’s Annual General Meeting, as proposed by the Board of Directors in March 2020. Emma Watson has also been appointed Chair of the Sustainability Committee of the Board of Directors. The combined wealth of experience and skillsets of these three well-known figures will be complementary assets to the Group, enhancing the quality of the work done by the Board of Directors. The latter will benefit from their contribution in defining the Group’s strategic orientations. “I am delighted to welcome Jean Liu, Tidjane Thiam and Emma Watson to our Board of Directors. Their respective knowledge and competence, the multiplicity of their backgrounds and perspectives will be invaluable additions to the reflections of Kering’s Board of Directors. The collective intelligence that comes from the diversity of point of views and the richness brought by different experiences are crucial to the future of our organization, and I am proud to add such impressive talents to the team.” François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering. Click on the link in bio for more info. Photo by Carter Bowman @emmawatson
“When fashion truly embraces transparency and sustainability, other spheres will follow,” Watson has said, and has long focused on shaping conversations about the fashion industry around issues of conscious consumption, ethical practices and environmental impact.
In addition to Watson, who will be a non-independent board member, Kering also announced two new independent board members—Jean Liu (President of DiDi Chuxing, a Chinese transport company) and Tidjane Thiam (former CEO of Credit Suisse Group).
“Their respective knowledge and competences, and the multiplicity of their backgrounds and perspectives will be invaluable additions to Kering’s board,” François-Henri Pinault, the group’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “The collective intelligence that comes from diverse points of view and the richness of different experiences are crucial to the future of our organization. I am proud to add such impressive talents to the team.”
The post Emma Watson Joins Kering As Chair Of Its Sustainability Committee appeared first on FASHION Magazine.


text:
The Milwaukee Bucks have taken analytics to the next level, and it's panning out for them so far.
Apple's Siri is changing from a voice assistant to more of a personal assistant.Read more about this at cnbc.com.
Maxim Group lowers its rating to hold from buy for Apple shares.Read more about this at cnbc.com.
The rapper said he and the president had become the focus of the summit.
Read more about this at huffingtonpost.com.


text:
On the heels of similar updates for its Mac and Windows clients, Microsoft-owned Skype has just pushed out version 4.2 for both iPhone/iPod touch and iPad, integrating Messenger, Hotmail and Outlook.com into the chatting fun.
There was much internet lamentation on the day Sparrow's CEO, Dom Leca, announced that the company had been purchased by Google. If you are one of Sparrow's devotees, you groaned along with us. Sparrow, for those not in the know, is a truly excellent mail app for the Mac and the iPhone that simply puts others to shame with its slick interface, its ease of use, and its outstanding implementation of nearly everything you could want in an email client.
With the development team likely being tasked with improving the Gmail app, it's unclear how long support for Sparrow will continue and if we will ever see the long-teased and longer-hoped for iPad version of the app or push notifications. While on the Mac and on the iPhone, Sparrow continues to shine, a day will come when you'll need a new email app on your iOS device. Here a few we've found to try to take the sting out of losing our favorite little bird.
Americans are so used to being the first to get iOS gadgets and the apps that run on them, we sometimes take it for granted -- such as when a high-profile app from someone like Microsoft makes its debut overseas before it hits the U.S., as was the case with the new MSN for iPad, finally available here for your downloading pleasure.


text:
In 2020, web, app and video accessibility cases are up almost 25% year-on-year. December saw an almost 100% rise over January.
Total digital accessibility lawsuits in 2020 exceeds 3,500. When you combine federal and state ADA lawsuits, the trend is moving upward.
Accessibility Cases citing the ADA Accelerate
Plaintiffs keep finding websites with lots of accessibility issues. (A 2020 WebAIM research report found that 98.1% of the top 1,000,000 websites’ home pages had detectable WCAG failures).
It is becoming easier for plaintiff firms to document issues and build their claim. It is fast and easy to visit a digital store, food delivery or financial service offering.
Companies are adding stores, websites and digital content at a rapid pace. Unfortunately, companies accessibility initiatives are not keeping up.
Plaintiff firms are getting more efficient when building and filing claims. Claims are rising at the federal and state level, especially in California with more filings under The Unruh Civil Right Act.
COVID Lockdown provided Short Pause
The lockdown in New York during April and May made a dent in the monthly filing numbers. But, after June, the lawsuits have come roaring back.
December will see a 100% rise over January.
Good Web Accessibility lacking in Retail
Retail was the main industry for digital accessibility lawsuits in 2020, with over 70% of cases.
In 2020, thousands or retailers have websites and apps. Those websites are complicated. For retailers, Web and app content changes happen often. At the same time, web teams have limited resources.
Fix web accessibility fast or get sued again
Another trend that continued, companies get more lawsuits if issues are ignored. There is a one in five chance that a company will receive a second lawsuit within 12 months of the first.
Lawsuits can be for the same website or for another digital experience, such as an app.
New York and California have the most Web accessibility lawsuits
New York and California are the top states for digital accessibility lawsuits. Both states allow plaintiffs to sue in federal or state court. These state courts favor plaintiffs.
Remember, plaintiffs can sue a company in any state where that company conducts business.
ADA lawsuits cover more than web accessibility
The type of digital experiences listed in ADA claims are starting to get broader. Video accessibility appeared in accessibility lawsuits more often in 2020. It's easy to argue that missing closed captions or audio descriptions violate the ADA.
The Unruh Act provides $4,000 for each violation, so using video is a simple and direct way to make a case.
Widgets and overlays fail to protect companies
More than 200 cases were against companies that used accessibility widgets or overlays. These solutions do nothing to make a website more accessible for the blind.
Because issues are not resolved and code is not fixed, plaintiff "testers" find violations. Widget and overlay vendors didn't protect companies from ADA lawsuits.
A Small Group of plaintiff Law Firms file most ADA Web Accessibility Lawsuits
The top ten plaintiff firms represent 70% of lawsuits, that’s over 2,500 cases across only ten law firms. Plaintiff firms specialize in ADA cases and represent only a few plaintiffs.
The defense side is more dispersed across over 1,000 different lawyers. The top ten law firms for defense represent about 20% of lawsuits.
More Digital Accessibility Lawsuits add to a tough year
The number of lawsuit, industries effected and digital experiences targeted rose in 2020. Fear or lawsuits adds extra costs and concerns for businesses already facing a tough year due to lockdowns.
Download our full 2020 Digital Accessibility report.
Note on Methodology
The UsableNet team monitors all ADA lawsuits filed at the federal and state level. This includes cases filed in California under the Unruh Civil Rights Act. (Unruh Act).
The research team reviews if lawsuit claims are for digital accessibility or physical. (The ADA still generates over 10,000 cases filed for physical violations each year).
The UsableNet team separates out any lawsuits related to digital accessibility. This means violations of the ADA based on content like websites, mobile apps or video.
The team logs any ADA lawsuits based on the digital accessibility. At year-end, we report on the top trends from the past several months. Our web accessibility report also looks at how the most recent year compares to past trends.


text:
One of the most significant obstacles to the general adoption of power meters by regular cyclists has just been that they just don’t come on new bikes when you buy them. Sure cost had been a big stumbling block for many years and isn’t going to disappear too soon, but with a lot more competition in the market now, prices have come down a lot. But power meters are complicated bits of tech that many cyclists either weren’t sure if they would benefit from, or weren’t sure if it was worth the hassle to ditch the cranks already on your bike to buy and install an expensive and complicated add-on.
Well, maybe SRAM has a better solution. Their Quarq brand was developing their next-gen DZero power meter platform and figured why not try to go one step farther and make it easier for cyclists to transition into tracking their power. SO they developed what they are calling the Quarq Prime Power Ready crankset in carbon & alloy, and they are getting it spec’ed as OEM on a bunch of new bikes for next season. Take a closer look at what companies will be putting the cranks on their bikes in 2017, and how they expect Power Ready to get more riders analyzing their power output to improve their performance…
Designed as a simple add-on power measuring spider, DZero is still going to require an additional purchase after you buy a new bike, so Quarq are being a bit sneaky when they talk about OEM spec. But the Quarq Prime Power Ready crankset is already being built up and shipped on 2017 bikes from Canyon, Felt, Fuji, and Trek in both a premium carbon version and a lower-priced forged aluminum set of arms. The idea is that the cranks have been designed specifically to bolt on the upcoming Quarq DZero Power Meter, which will simply replace the stock removable spider with the smarter DZero version.
While it isn’t a far cry from the removable spider cranks that you have already seen from SRAM, the thinking goes that for cyclists on the fence about whether or not to go down the path to power measurement, getting a bike with a set of cranks specifically designed and labeled as “Power Ready” will help them make a choice in a new bike purchase, and smooth the transition to the upgrade.
The cranks still perform well without adding on the power-metering spider, but buyers who want to make the upgrade can quickly have the Quarq DZero spider installed by the shop before they pedal out of the door, or can easily make the upgrade later down the road.


text:
DEERFIELD, Ill. — In celebration of Earth Day this weekend, Walgreens will turn off select interior lights and lighted exterior signage at 1,415 stores across the country for one hour on Saturday.
In New York, the Walgreens billboard in Times Square also will go dark, the drug store chain said.
“We can all do our part to help the planet,” said Walgreens community affairs director John Gremer. “We’re proud to continue our participation in this global effort because it sends a strong message that every individual can make an impact on the world’s energy consumption. And when the lights come back on, we want everyone to think about how they can keep our planet top of mind in their everyday lives.”


text:
Apple has built up a large collection of Long Term Evolution (LTE) patents, possibly in preparation for future legal disputes with Samsung.
Korean publication The Chosunilbo reported that European Telecommunications Standards Institute data showed Apple, which had no LTE patents last year, now has 318.
This puts the company in the top ten patent holders, with 4.9 percent of total patents, according to the Korean Intellectual Property Office or KIPO.
Of the 318, Apple has developed only 44 itself. The rest have been purchased from Nortel and Freescale.
KIPO said Apple is taking strategic steps to acquire intellectual property in preparation for legal disputes before launching its own LTE handsets.
Apple also has a majority stake in Rockstar Bidco, a patent enforcement company that lists Microsoft, Research in Motion, Sony and Ericsson as co-owners. Through Rockstar Bidco, Apple has acquired a further 116 LTE patents.
Samsung meanwhile is a huge LTE patent hoarder, Chosunilbo reported, with 819 or 12.7 percent of the total.
US patent holder InterDigital is second with 780 LTE patents followed by Huawei with 402.
LTE is the next-generation mobile broadband standard, currently being deployed around the world and capable of delivering very high speeds.
Samsung and Apple have locked horns in court rooms around the world over patent issues, with the Korean company losing spectacularly against the Americans last month, after a US jury awarded Apple billion dollar damages.
The latest development in the patent war between the two electronics giants has seen Korean regulators investigate a complaint by Apple that Samsung is abusing its dominant position in wireless technology, Reuters reported.


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
Bluetooth bugs bedevil billions of devices
Baffling spec sinks security for short-range comms protocol
Security experts have long complained that complexity is the enemy of security, but the designers of the Bluetooth specification have evidently failed to pay attention.
Bluetooth is a wireless communication protocol for connecting devices over short ranges. It's used in mobile phones, wireless speakers, smartwatches, printers, and a variety of appliances, among other things.
It's also, according to Armis, a Palo Alto, California-based IoT security firm, too complicated. The Bluetooth specification runs over 2,800 pages compared to 450 pages to describe the Wi-Fi specification.
The spec's complexity, Armis contends, has prevented researchers from thoroughly investigating its various implementations for flaws, leaving it full of holes.
"The complications in the specifications translate into multiple pitfall junctions in the various implementations of the Bluetooth standard," the company says in a paper [PDF] describing a set of flaws referred to as BlueBorne.
"BlueBorne is a name we gave for eight vulnerabilities found in the common Bluetooth stacks of all the major vendors," said Armis co-founder and CTO Nadir Izrael in a phone interview with The Register.
The eight Bluetooth-related vulnerabilities affect an estimated 5.3 billion Android, iOS, Linux, and Windows devices, according to Izrael.
- Linux kernel RCE vulnerability – CVE-2017-1000251
- Linux Bluetooth stack (BlueZ) information Leak vulnerability – CVE-2017-1000250
- Android information Leak vulnerability – CVE-2017-0785
- Android RCE vulnerability #1 – CVE-2017-0781
- Android RCE vulnerability #2 – CVE-2017-0782
- The Bluetooth Pineapple in Android – Logical Flaw CVE-2017-0783
- The Bluetooth Pineapple in Windows – Logical Flaw CVE-2017-8628
- Apple Low Energy Audio Protocol RCE vulnerability – CVE-2017-14315
"Just having Bluetooth on puts you at risk," said Izrael.
Bluetooth is often turned on by default, or left on. And devices running Bluetooth turn out to be fairly easy to identify with network sniffing tools, even when set to be non-discoverable. This becomes a problem in light of the bugs in various parts of the Bluetooth stack, found in L2CAP, BlueZ, SDP, SMP, BNEP, PAN Profiles, and Apple's proprietary LEAP implementation.
Armis disclosed the flaws in April to Apple, Google, Linux maintainers, and Microsoft. Tuesday's announcement marks the agreed-upon coordinated disclosure date, with one exception: Armis says it attempted to contact Samsung – which makes the Linux-based Tizen OS and also uses Android extensively – on three separate occasions about the vulnerabilities, but did not hear back.
Ben Seri, head of research at Armis, offered a potential explanation for Samsung's non-responsiveness by noting that the company is a downstream vendor of patches issued by Google and Linux maintainers, which shapes how they respond to security issues.
All Android phones, tablets, and wearables, apart from those using only Bluetooth Low Energy, are potentially vulnerable to the four Android flaws. Google issued a patch to its partners on August 7, which it released as part of its September Security Update and Bulletin for Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and Android 7.0 (Nougat). It's unclear when its partners will distribute the patch, however.
Seri acknowledged that some Android vendors may be slow to deploy the fixes. "We are concerned about this," he said. "We tried to make this as coordinated as possible."
A video posted by Armis demonstrates how a Google Pixel can be compromised.
Armis offers a Google Play app to test whether Android devices are at risk.
All iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices running iOS 9.3.5 or earlier, as well as AppleTV devices running version 7.2.2 or earlier are potentially vulnerable to the iOS remote code execution vulnerability. Devices running iOS 10 and later should not be affected.
Linux devices running BlueZ are affected by the information leak flaw and those from version 3.3-rc1, released in October 2011, are affected by the remote code execution flaw. Among potentially vulnerable products are Samsung Gear S3 watches, Smart TVs, and Family Hub devices.
Every Windows computer since Windows Vista is potentially vulnerable to the "Bluetooth Pineapple" flaw, which can be used to conduct a man-in-the-middle attack.
Microsoft issued its regular set of patches on Tuesday, including a notification about an already deployed Bluetooth fix, which according to Seri was issued in July without any notice, to allow other vendors time to respond.
Given that some of these flaws have been present in Bluetooth for a decade, Izrael said, "We do fear that in some sense these vulnerabilities might have been found before by some actors and used."
However, he said he's not aware of any exploitation of these holes.
"We really encourage researchers and security experts to learn from them how these bugs were found and to find them in other stacks we have not studied," he said. ®


text:
Lunchbox founder Nabeel Alamgir has worked his way up from bussing tables at a fast food chain to being featured on Forbes’s ‘30 Under 30’ list and securing $20 million in VC funding.
Coming from non-traditional backgrounds, immigrant and minority VCs are open to investing into overlooked niches. Three newly-established funds are aiming to foster sustainability within the global supply chain, which has recently been disrupted by the pandemic.
Marvin Liao, a former partner at 500 Startups, has been a pre-seed and seed stage investor for more than seven years. In this article for The Vertical, he shares some tips for international founders on how to succeed in the U.S.
Is your small business struggling? These resources can help you get through this difficult time.
The crisis has either erased or is threatening to erase Latinos’ decade-long climb back to financial stability.
The founder of Aira offers his prescription for pulling through a potential coronavirus recession.


text:
Supporting fintech startups isn’t just for mature banking groups pondering what the future may look like – the time has come to put real money on the table. JPMorgan Chase has recently closed the deal to buy WePay, which provides payment mechanisms for companies like GoFundMe as well as any business trading online, after originally approaching the junior player a year ago.
WePay will continue to operate as a separate unit. “The fintech company will continue as a standalone entity, while also leveraging Chase’s broader capabilities and acting as a payments incubator for the firm,” the companies said in a statement that emphasised the synergies between the two groups. “WePay will continue to provide integrated payments to global software platforms like Freshbooks and Constant Contact. … [WePay] will provide instant merchant onboarding and give software developers and partners access to Chase’s network of four million small business clients.”
As we outlined in our recent Insight deep dive on the future of fintech M&A, JPMorgan’s move for the Redwood City startup is one of the first significant fintech acquisitions by a major bank. There’s been surprisingly little deal volume in this category, although the likes of JPMorgan Chase have long been facing up to a need to compete with innovative competitors such as PayPal, Stripe, and Square. The deal also proves that the time has come for large companies to start paying big numbers for strong fintech companies to safeguard their positions – TechCrunch reported the deal value to be at just over $300 million, and up to $400 million when including bonuses and earn-outs.
The WePay office in California will be used as something of a beachhead for strengthening the senior bank’s connections with Silicon Valley. “Part of thesis is to help Chase have a presence in Silicon Valley and be a top tech employer in the region,” WePay co-founder Bill Clerico said to TechCrunch, adding that WePay plans to double its employees to 400 in the next 18 months.
Major banks will be keeping their eyes on this deal to see whether it’s worth following suit. But in any case, what looks certain is that JPMorgan Chase is looking to expand further into the fintech startup world.


text:
The Solana-Polygon union for Web3 development
Polygonhas announced a shocking union. The instrument for scaling Ethereum Polygon has formed a new relationship with the technology firm Nothing to deliver Web3 to mobile devices, following in the footsteps of the Solana blockchain. Nothing has integrated the Polygon network into its new Android-based Nothing Phone to provide support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
According to Solana news today, the NFT initiative, also known as “Nothing Community Dots,” entails the distribution of airdropped tokens to Nothing community investors. These tokens enable investors to get benefits like early access to newly released goods and events. One of the first incentives is an invitation to the launch of Nothing Phone (1), which will take place in London on July 12.
The Saga device
The primary shareholder in the blockchain, Solana Labs, is releasing an Android device under the name “Saga,” which will be the name of the Solana network’s very own mobile phone.
An event on Thursday in New York revealed the future gadget, which was described as a modified OSOM phone with specialized crypto wallet functionalities and the “Solana Mobile Stack (SMS)” software development kit for Web3 apps. According to Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko, it will have a price tag of around one thousand dollars and will be ready for delivery at the beginning of 2023. This has become the highlight of Solana news today.
The phone represents Solana’s most significant wager yet on mobile-focused expansion. It will have a mobile wallet adapter, a “seed vault” that will store private keys deep inside the depths of the phone, a Web3 dapp store, which stands for a “decentralized app,” integrated “Solana Pay” to permit QR code-based on-chain payments, and a mobile wallet adapter.
Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal stated how the new technology incorporated in “Nothing” is extremely inspiring. By collaborating with Polygon, Nothing will embrace Web3 and provide direct access to it. But, of course, nothing is a company that provides direct access to Web3.
This news comes less than two weeks after Solana announced that it is developing its own blockchain phone, which will be called Saga. Saga will feature a Web3 dapp (decentralized app) store called Solana Pay, facilitating on-chain payments and a vault for storing private keys.
Polygon and Solana’s work represents a revival of attempts to design a phone native to the blockchain. In 2018, Sirin Labs made an effort to do the same thing; however, its plans did not gain pace, which resulted in layoffs and a lawsuit for unpaid manufacturing expenses. This has been obtained by all sources dealing with the Polygon latest news.
Should Polygon and Solana’s efforts prove to be fruitful, they may be able to realize their goal of making Web3 accessible to a large number of people by using the practicality of commonplace cell phones.
What is Polygon?
Polygon is a type of cryptocurrency that operates on the Ethereum blockchain. It is referred to as a “layer two” or “sidechain.” Polygon ensures that all transactions are completed effectively and at a cheap cost. The native cryptocurrency of the network is called MATIC, and it is utilized for various purposes, including fees, staking, and more. Exchanges like Coinbase allow for the purchase and sale of MATIC.
The Ethereum blockchain is the site of various financial transactions and activities, ranging from NFT marketplaces and games to the expanding DeFi ecosystem. Because it is compatible with smart contracts, which can be used to develop a wide variety of apps, Ethereum is an excellent choice for this endeavor because of its versatility. Consequently, transaction fees (also known as “gas”) may often climb to the point where it is economically unviable to make modest or frequent deposits.
What is Solana?
Solana is a blockchain platform that was created to host apps that are decentralized and scalable. It was launched in 2017 and is an open-source project managed by the Solana Foundation, located in Geneva. Solana Labs, located in San Francisco, developed the blockchain.
The number of transactions Solana can process is substantially higher than other blockchains. As a result, the costs associated with transactions are significantly cheaper. As a result, the value of the cryptocurrency on the Solana blockchain (SOLUSD) increased by almost 12,000% in 2021.
What is Web3?
Getting Started with Web3 Centralization has been crucial in onboarding billions of users to the World Wide Web and creating the solid and reliable infrastructure on which it runs. Yet, at the same time, a small number of centralized companies have a stranglehold on vast portions of the World Wide Web, making decisions about what should be permitted and what should not be allowed on their own.
The solution to this problem lies in Web3. Web3 promotes decentralization and is being constructed, managed, and owned by its users as opposed to the traditional Web model, which huge technological firms dominate. As a result, individuals, not large businesses, benefit from Web3’s power distribution.


text:
The deal between Igloo Books and Moonbug will see a CoComelon Storybook Advent Calendar join the publisher’s licensed kids’ portfolio.
Igloo Books, a global leader in mass market, value publishing, has signed a new licensing deal for Moonbug Entertainment’s hit kids’ show CoComelon, in a global deal arranged by its UK licensing agent The Point.1888.
The new deal sees CoComelon added to Igloo’s popular Storybook Advent Calendar range. The range currently includes the Disney Storybook Advent Calendar, Princess Storybook Advent Calendar and Marvel Storybook Advent Calendar. Each CoComelon Advent Calendar includes 24 story books – one to to unwrap every day in the run-up to Christmas – featuring popular characters from the CoComelon franchise.
CoComelon is owned by the award-winning global entertainment company Moonbug Entertainment. Founded in 2018, Moonbug’s properties can be seen on more than 150 platforms globally. CoComelon, one of its most popular titles, follows main character JJ and his friends and family as they enjoy adventures and sing catchy songs.
Paul Gregory, Igloo Books CEO, said: “We are incredibly excited to partner with Moonbug and its fantastic brand, CoComelon. The brand is a firm favourite with children and we hope that our best-selling Advent Calendar format will see strong success and form the foundations of a long-running partnership with the brand.”
Katie Wilkinson, head of Publishing at The Point.1888, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Igloo Books to the ever-growing list of CoComelon licensees. This is a fantastic opportunity to create a new publishing offering for the millions of CoComelon fans in the run up to Christmas.”
The CoComelon Story Book Advent Calendars are available now. To order, contact the Igloo Publishing sales team at firstname.lastname@example.org.


text:
Wednesday’s Gather Round keynote featured Lisa Jackson, Apple’s head of environmental initiatives. The annual iPhone unveiling is Apple’s biggest product event of the year. Every single word and image is carefully calibrated to do one thing, and one thing only: sell as many of the new products as possible. So why did Tim Cook turn over several precious minutes to Jackson to talk about renewable energy and recycling? Apple served up that news on Earth Day, but as Jackson said onstage: “We’re really, really proud of it.” Apple’s environmental efforts new iPhone XS models use recycled tin on the main logic board. “This one change will prevent the mining of 10,000 tons of tin ore in a single year,” she said. Apple is also getting better at using recycled or bio-based plastics, she noted, pointing out that the new phones contain recycled and bio-plastic. And lastly she spoke about how Apple is making its products more durable and … [Read more...] about Why it’s a big deal that Lisa Jackson spoke at Apple’s iPhone XS event
Closed loop supply chain
By Washington Post | PUBLISHED: September 11, 2018 at 11:16 am | UPDATED: September 11, 2018 at 11:29 am By Geoffrey A. Fowler | The Washington Post MADISON, Wis. – What happens to gadgets when you’re done with them? Too often, they explode. As we enter new-gadget buying season, spare a moment to meet the people who end up handling your old stuff. Isauro Flores-Hernandez, who takes apart used smartphones and tablets for a living, keeps thick gloves, metal tongs and a red fireproof bin by his desk here at Cascade Asset Management, an electronics scrap processor. He uses them to whisk away devices with batteries that burst into flames when he opens them for recycling. One corner of his desk is charred from an Apple iPhone that began smoking and then exploded after he opened it in 2016. Last year, his co-worker had to slide away an exploding iPad battery and evacuate the area while it burned out. Around the world, garbage trucks and recycling centers are going up in … [Read more...] about The explosive problem with recycling iPads, iPhones and other gadgets: They catch fire.
According to Apple’s most recent Environmental Responsibility Report, its "never wavering mission" is "to change the world". However, with the sheer quantity of harmful and volatile materials that go hand-in-hand with tech manufacturing of this scale, "changing the world" may not be the best phrase to use."We continuously strive to reduce our impact on the Earth we all share", the report continues, "today, we remain focused on three priorities where we believe we can make a big difference".These three areas include reducing impact on climate change, conserving precious resources, and utilizing safer materials in Apple products and processes, but how well does Apple answer its own calls?Climate changeWith the release of the 2018 Environmental Responsibility Report came the news that Apple had reached its target of 100% renewable energy used across all of the company’s operations, spanning 43 countries around the globe.The target was set over a decade ago and the company has … [Read more...] about Apple’s environmental initiatives: just how green is the big fruit of tech?
By Jesse Hollington @jhollington● Thursday, April 20, 2017 Apple has released its 2017 Environmental Responsibility Report, outlining details throughout fiscal year 2016 on the company’s efforts in making all of its operations more eco-friendly. In addition to Apple’s continued push toward completely renewable energy sources, this year’s report highlights a new ambitious area of environmental focus for the company — to end reliance on the mining of finite resources altogether in favour of using only renewable resources and recycled materials. The report outlines Apple’s goal for a “closed-loop supply chain” that would both eliminate the need to mine for new raw materials as well as getting rid of waste by recycling devices instead of having them end up in landfills. Apple has long had programs in place to ensure that finite raw materials are responsibility sourced, but this year the company has gone one step further, stating that … [Read more...] about Apple releases 2017 Environmental Responsibility Report
“Climate change is undeniable. Earth’s resources won’t last forever. And technology must be safe for people to make and use. We don’t question these realities — we challenge ourselves to ask what we can do about them in every part of our business.” Apple Apple has denied climate change denial as it commits to using 100 percent recycled materials to make its products. Greenpeace wants Apple to go a little further.Copy this“We’re moving toward a closed-loop supply chain. One day we’d like to be able to build new products with just recycled materials, including your old products,” Apple said.Greenpeace senior IT analyst Gary Cook welcomed the promise:“This commitment, and Apple’s recent progress in transitioning its supply chain in Asia to renewable energy, puts it far ahead of others in the sector,” he said, in a press release supplied to Computerworld.“Major IT brands such as Samsung, Huawei, … [Read more...] about Apple calls climate change ‘undeniable,’ Greenpeace says repairs matter too


text:
One of the reasons people appreciate Thanksgiving is because there is so much turkey available. You can also find some good sales, so it’s a good time to stock up and fill the freezer.
Although that has been the case historically, it may not be the case in 2021. Considering the fact that we are slowly coming out of lockdown, it was thought that meat would be more expensive this year than it was in 2020.
There were also some concerns that you may have had a difficult time finding meat in the first place.
As it turns out, the predictions are on target as there is a 20% increase in turkey prices this year. The US Department of Agriculture claims it is at an all-time high.
You might also find it difficult to purchase some of the trimmings, as everything from sugar and milk to alcohol prices are increasing.
According to Bloomberg, the senior director of institution credit at AgAmerica Lending, Kurt Covington said: “Nothing on that Thanksgiving table is really going to be spared.” AgAmerica lending should know because they loan money to farmers.
Covington went on to say that American families should expect to pay at least 15% more this year for Thanksgiving than last year. They may also find that smaller turkeys and turkey breasts are stripped from the shelves quickly.
In other words: “You’re already seeing that there’s not going to be the type of bargains that there were in the past.”
Thanksgiving is coming around the time of year when the perfect storm is occurring. Supply chains are weakened, demand is rising and inflation is out of control.
Inflation is not an issue that is only seen in the United States. But it has been worsening recently, as many transportation companies and meatpacking plants are seeing a shortage of workers. That is why you have been seeing some empty spots on the grocery store shelves recently.
Some of the prices for products used by farmers are also on the increase. This includes everything from fertilizer and animal feed to fuel.
We also are seeing something different than we saw in 2020 while the pandemic was at its height. Now that more people are vaccinated, they will be traveling and this increases the demand for food in many areas.
Unfortunately, there are also some families that are going to feel the strain of the situation. They are buying smaller birds because of budget restraints and are going with fewer side dishes.
Bloomberg reported that a financial analyst at Credible, Daniel Roccato, said: “Without a doubt, due to the highest inflation in 30 years, the tab for this Thanksgiving dinner will be the highest consumers have seen.” He went on to say that hosting Thanksgiving this year is going to cost your family more. It will also cost more to drive to Thanksgiving dinner.
To break things down on a smaller scale, a family of four will spend a minimum of $26.57 for Thanksgiving dinner. That is a 20% increase from 2020. You also need to consider the extra $18 that drivers are spending every week because of the increases at the pump.
They use the numbers from the American Farm Bureau Federation Survey in order to come up with those estimates. The figures include putting a turkey, stuffing, rolls with butter, sweet potatoes, peas, cranberries, a tray of vegetables, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Don’t forget the after-dinner coffee!
Rocatto went on to say that those hosting a Thanksgiving dinner in Manhattan will probably spend twice as much. That’s an additional $25 per person.SKM: below-content placeholder


text:
The humble Amazon Fire TV Stick is on sale for $20, representing a discount of 50 percent. This is the exact same price found during the Prime Day event earlier this month, so if you missed it then, now’s your chance.
This sale is for the latest generation of the entry-level Fire TV Stick, and not the often-discounted 4K Max edition. The standard Fire TV Stick offers streaming in Full HD and ships with an Alexa-enabled remote for voice controls. There’s Dolby Atmos audio support on select titles with compatible home audio systems and an easy plug-and-play installation process, which is the whole point of these streaming sticks. Just pop it into an available HDMI port and you’ll be good to go.
The streaming stick allows access to just about every platform out there, such as Netflix, Disney+, Hulu and, of course, Prime Video and the entire spate of Amazon channels. To that end, you also get six free months of Amazon’s in-house streaming service MGM+. At $6 per month, that’s a $36 value. MGM+ isn’t the most popular streaming site on the block, but does offer some unique original programming, like the surprisingly decent Lost-alike From, the crime drama Godfather of Harlem and the just-announced sci-fi vehicle Beacon 23.
This is part of a larger sale of Amazon-branded products. There are no 4K Fire TV streaming sticks involved, but there are plenty of smart TVs. You can snag a Fire TV 43″ Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV for $300, a discount of 25 percent, and an Amazon Fire TV 55″ 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV for $270, a massive savings of nearly 50 percent. Check the whole list here, as some TVs go as low as $110.


text:
US – The US-based consumer packaged goods holding company Post Holdings Inc. has invested in the expansion of its Michael Foods manufacturing and distribution facility in Norwalk, Iowa, to boost its egg production capacity.
Michael Foods produces and distributes value-added egg and potato products with its headquartered based in Hopkins in Minnesota.
Four of the unit’s brands, Papetti’s, Abbotsford Farms, Simply Potatoes and Easy Eggs, are distributed across the entire US.
The facility, which is currently 150,000 square feet, opened in 2019 and processes eggs and precooked egg products.
The project which is expected to begin in July and is expected to be completed in December 2024 involves the expansion of the facility with 132, 000 square feet.
“We are excited our continued growth led us to seek expansion in Norwalk, where we are an employer of choice. Once it is finished the expansion is expected to create approximately 186 new jobs,” Steve Schonhoff, senior vice president of integrated supply chain at Michael Foods said.
Mark Westpahal, the president and CEO of Michael Foods hailed the support from the city of Norwalk and the Iowa Economic Development Authority adding that the company will continue meeting the consumers’ demands as the nation’s leader in value-added egg products
The expansion represents a capital investment of $146 million, including acquiring machinery and equipment to increase capacity, according to the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
Of the 186 new jobs expected from the project, 25 will pay $30.38 per hour, according to IEDA. The agency’s board approved $4.27 million in tax credits for the project through the state’s High-Quality Jobs Program.
In 2021 Michael Foods acquired Almark Foods, adding new Hard Cooked Egg capacities and capabilities to an already extensive production network.
According to Almark Foods’ CEO Rick Anderson, Almark grew the retail hard-boiled egg business into a category leader and was pleased that Michael Foods would be able to take the business to the next level.
Upon completion of the acquisition, Almark was combined with Post’s existing Michael Foods egg business in which it had invested US$85m to build the egg and pre-cooked meat facility.
In 2022 Michael Foods entered into a partnership with Do Good Foods, a climate-forward food company that upcycles surplus food into nutrient-dense animal feed to create eggs that reduce greenhouse gases.
This partnership was able to give the two partners the capability to bring their customers to a truly sustainable solution without having to compromise on the nutrition, flavour or convenience of their eggs and egg products.


text:
Under the Taliban, the mannequins in women’s dress shops across the Afghan capital of Kabul are a haunting sight, their heads cloaked in cloth sacks or wrapped in black plastic bags.
After announcing skill labs for undergraduate medical students, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up similar labs for nursing students.
Lasting over 70 minutes, the ‘satirical comedy sadhya’ narrates the plight of the suppressed.
An annual academic fest at the IPGMER & SSKM Hospital showcased life-like models for training emergency life-saving procedures, surgical techniques and dissection to undergraduate students from Tuesday. More than 25 state-of-the-art models or mannequins - which replicate human skin, tissues, organs and flesh almost perfectly and can even respond through sensors - are demonstrated at the three-day fest, Perizia '22. The mannequins may soon be acquired for superior training, say doctors.
The Uttar Pradesh government will be setting up skill labs in all medical colleges and institutions of the state.
The city will have the country's first health education centre where interactive/virtual based mannequins and other science models will be used to enhance scientific temper of school students from classes I-XII in government schools, according to Rotary Club, Chandigarh, that has signed
Qtanea Solutions Private limited, a healthcare startup incubated at Dr DY Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre in collaboration with the microbiology department of the hospital, has designed and built a 3D printed model or mannequin for effective training of healthcare and newly
Motorists prone to cutting corners need to watch out. Bengaluru city traffic police are gearing up to bring back 250 mannequin-cops on roads.
Fifty mannequins resembling lady cops will be deployed at busy places like malls, theatres, hospitals, garment factories, schools and colleges that are frequented by women. The idea is to send a message that law enforcers are around.
Small fashion boutiques and designers could now virtually visualise a piece of fabric into any neatly sewn Indian garment on a mannequin or a model for sale on online portals by using a software developed by an IIT-M-incubated startup.
In a report published Tuesday in the US journal Physics of Fluids, researchers at Florida Atlantic University used vertical and horizontal laser sheets to track tiny droplets of distilled water and glycerin as they spread from a hollow mannequin head fitted with a plastic face shield or a mask with a breathing valve on it.
Masato Takemine's Chinese restaurant looks busy even as many businesses in the city deal with a dearth of clientele, with ladies in ornate Chinese-style dresses and a girl in a kimono among those seated at his tables.
The city police booked a garment trader from Kalupur who put mannequins to display his clothes near Panchkuva locality on Thursday.
Paris Fashion Week kicked off on July 6, 2020, with an interesting line of Dior collections. The French couture house Christian Dior replaced their traditional catwalks with these mini mannequins, in order to showcase their intricate designs and couture collection.
Scientists have experimented with non-medical grade masks, and found that well-fitted ones made from stitching two layers of quilting cotton fabric are the most effective in stopping the spread of cough and sneeze droplets, whereas bandana-style coverings "had little to no effect."


text:
Mozilla Firefox still remains my best PC browser since i refused to be bought over by Google Chrome. However, Firefox has announced it will soon end it’s browser support on windows XP and windows Vista operating systems.
Firefox users on Windows XP and Vista will be moved to the Firefox Extended support release (ESR) in March 2017.
An excerpt from the blog post by Mozilla reads thus:
Firefox is one of the few browsers that continues to support Windows XP and Vista, and we expect to continue to provide security updates for users until September 2017. Users do not need to take additional action to receive those updates. In mid-2017, user numbers on Windows XP and Vista will be reassessed and a final support end date will be announced.
Users still running windows XP and Windows Vista are advised to upgrade to Windows 8.1. Or possibly, windows 10 as soon as they can.
I personally upgraded one of my laptops from Windows Vista to windows 10 and another from Windows 8.1 to windows 10. I already published a detailed tutorial on how to upgrade to Windows 10. Hopefully, that should guide you through the process.
Although a deadline was set, there is still a way you can get windows 10. You should check out this post to find out more.


text:
Launching a business in the tech industry can be tricky for new entrepreneurs.
Learning how to invest in a business and finding and managing people are also strenuous tasks.
However, people of color are beating the odds of launching their own businesses in technology.
Monique Woodard, co-founder of Black Founders, is contributing to the increase of Black entrepreneurs in technology.
While at Blavity’s Summit 21, Woodard discussed the importance of the organization and its impact on people of color in the tech world for economic growth.
“Black Founders was founded in 2011. As a community of founders, we wanted to come together to support each other, but also wanted educational resources and access to a network,” Woodard said.
With a desire to build a network for Black entrepreneurs all around the United States to help grow their business, Black Founders’ ultimate goal is to help more successful Black entrepreneurs in technology.
The organization has done a lot of that since being founded and now Woodard has moved on to the venture capital side of the table.
“We can do … community building and education, but unless we’re able to control capital, none of that matters. I’m completely on the capital side of the market now,” she said.
For Woodard, technology has led to even more innovation.
“Everything you do touches technology in some way; for instance, working from home. Essential technology such as artificial intelligence and machine learning are going even further, changing the way we interact with technology in the workplace,” Woodard said.
Technology has made workers execute with less effort, and Woodard provides tools of information in a clear, direct way to those aspiring for tech entrepreneurship.
Along with being an entrepreneur comes a great deal of leadership.
Jacqueline Baker, innovation program manager for AARP, says that you must be a leader to lead others.
To grow as an entrepreneur, you must also take risks for your company to see endless possibilities.
However, Baker mentions that those risks don’t mean what you have already built for yourself and business should be put at risk.
“It’s up to you to take wise risks. Taking risks means stepping a bit out of your comfort zone. That doesn’t mean risk it all but make small changes day-by-day,” Baker said.
For those struggling with the idea of risk taking, Jewel Burks, co-founder and CEO of Partpic says that “you have to have confidence that you can execute the idea better than anyone else.”
Jacqueline Baker, Monique Woodard, and Jewel Burks continue to increase representation of people of color and access to the technology while helping mold a new generation of entrepreneurs and leaders.
See pictures below.


text:
(BRENDAN MCDERMID, REUTERS)
(Reuters) - Capital One Financial Corp, one of the largest U.S. credit card issuers, reported lower-than-expected quarterly results as net interest income fell in both its credit card and consumer banking businesses.
The company's shares fell about 3 percent in trading after the bell.
Capital One's credit card and consumer loans held for investment fell in the fourth quarter ended December 31, dragging down overall revenue by 1.4 percent to $5.54 billion.
Total net revenue from the bank's credit segment fell 10 percent to $3.40 billion.
However, rival American Express Co's quarterly profit more than doubled as customers spent more in the holiday season in the United States, its core market.
"AmEx is really exposed to the affluent transaction-oriented customers," KBW analyst Sanjay Sakhrani said. "Capital One is focused on the lending side and what we are seeing in the world of lending is consumers continue to be conservative resulting in weaker loan growth."
Capital One has spent much of the past decade transforming itself from a specialty credit card issuer, dependent on bond market funding, into one of the top 10 U.S. banks by deposits, with more than a thousand branches nationwide.
The company's net income rose to $859 million, or $1.45 per share, in the fourth quarter from $843 million, or $1.41 per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on an average had expected earnings of $1.55 per share on revenue of $5.47 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
McLean, Virginia-based Capital One's net charge-off rate, the percentage of loans written off as unrecoverable, was 2.01 percent, a decrease of 25 basis points from the year-earlier quarter.
Capital One shares closed at $76.44 on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Avik Das in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)


text:
Apple Watch Pride Edition bands celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.
Matter is the new IoT connectivity standard (was Project Connected Home over IP CHIP) backed by hundreds of smart device makers.
The Amazon Echo (4th Gen) smart speaker is the latest smart speaker that can rock the room while putting Alexa at your beck and call.
Over 100 free and paid health, fitness, fertility, diet, sleep, yoga, and cycling apps collect way more data than they need to do the job.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is the brand's ultimate. Buy it if you want the best Android camera, screen, processor, and everything.
The OPPO trade-in program makes all OPPO handsets more available and makes OPPO a safe buy knowing there is a decent resale value too.
Apple's Spring Loaded event will take place on April 20. A new iPad and possibly AirTags will be revealed.
The Plugable USBC-VAMETER Gen 2 is an inline Volt/AMP meter that measures the charge speed or power use of a connected USB device to 100W.
QD OLED is Quantum Dot OLED. It will turn the premium TV sector on its head, making OLED, mini-LED and micro-LED so 'yesterday'..
The Motorola Moto g10 and Moto g30 have a $50 price difference. Apart from a different processor and camera, they are almost identical twins.


text:
Ten indie games are headed to Steam via Project Greenlight, among them American McGee's recently-Kickstartered Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, according to a press release from Valve released today.
The fourth round of games from Project Greenlight includes:
- Akaneiro: Demon Hunters
- DLC Quest
- Eador. Masters of the Broken World
- Leisure Suit Larry
- The Age of Decadence
- War For The Overworld
The games above, which are in "varying stages of completion," will be released "independently in the months ahead," according to the press release. Joining them will be two non-game software titles: articy:draft, a game design tool and GroBoto, a modeling app.
Announced last July, Steam Greenlight allows users to vote on games they'd like to see on Valve's digital distribution service. The initative went live in August with nearly 300 games ready for voting. Valve announced the non-gaming software component in October, alongside a change that allowed games currently in development and even game concepts to be submitted for consideration. Previous games given the Greenlight treatment include the unofficial Half-Life remake Black Mesa and McPixel.
Another Valve project, a series of "Steam Box" prototypes designed to connect with televisions using Steam's controller-friendly Big Picture Mode, was in the news last week at CES. In the trade show's first days, Xi3 announced a partnership with Valve to create its version of a modular "Steam Box" codenamed "Piston." Valve head Gabe Newell later confirmed that the company is also developing its own hardware.
- My mother made me a gamer, and gave me the skills to deal with her death
- Play Mass Effect 3's ultimate space battle with this Homeworld 2 mod
- MLB The Show's neatest trick was not as easy as it looks
- Conception 2 review: bad romance
- A look back on Harvest Moon, the unlikely console farming simulator
- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn on PS4 - Overview video
- OlliOlli developer Roll7's next trick, the kill combo-based shoot 'em up Not A Hero
- Two more videos show off Ultra Street Fighter 4's characters, opening cinematic
- Easter eggs? Here are two in Garden Warfare — including the Slender Man
- See Star Citizen's dogfighting, and more, in action


text:
All Good Release Dates Are 3: Path Of Exile Is Now Really On PS4
As it looks like, the PS4 version of Path of Exile’s odyssey will soon be at an end. Even the last skeptics are now apparently convinced of the release date. Until recently that was different.
Many fans have been waiting for this:
Path of Exile is scheduled for PS4 on Tuesday, March 26, 2019.
But after the third announcement of a release date, not everyone believed that it would work this time.
But a tweet from the developers probably took the last skeptics doubt.
This tweet goes: Yesterday, Grinding Gear Games announced on Twitter that there will be an AMA Q & A session (ask me anything) with the developers for the upcoming PS4 release in the PS4 sub-Reddit on Thursday, 9:00 pm today ,
On Thursday at 1pm PDT we're hosting an AMA on the PlayStation 4 subreddit to answer your questions about our upcoming PlayStation release! We look forward to seeing you there. https://t.co/26en3NKKAL
— Path of Exile (@pathofexile) March 20, 2019
The fans can ask all sorts of questions they have about this topic. The developers will try to answer as many as possible.
Why were so many fans skeptical?
While announcing the current release date, there were plenty of fans looking forward to the appointment, but there were also a lot of skeptics who just shook their heads or smiled at the new appointment.
Because after so many shifts, many players did not really believe that the new date would be held by the developers. Numerous fans were more likely from a new shift at the last moment.
For example, Path of Exile on PS4 was initially scheduled for December 7, 2018, then a release was scheduled for January 2019, until the game was postponed to mid-March.
Now it will finally work on the 26th of March at the end of the month.
That’s the mood after the recent tweet:
The reactions of the fans are now significantly different than when the official announcement of the current release date.
Now it looks as if even the last skeptics convinced of the observance of the start date on the PS4. In contrast to the actual release announcement, there are hardly any critical votes – either in the social media, on Reddit or in the official forums.
The fans diligently gather questions that they want to address to the developers during the question round.
The mood is positive, players are looking forward to the PS4 launch of Path of Exiles and are eager to finally plunge into virtual monster slaughter.
Now even the last skeptics no longer reckon with a new shift. After a large question-round just a few days before the release, this option seems almost impossible.
Stay Tuned For More Updates


text:
Central Depository Services subsidiary gets CCA approval for eSign services
Central Depository Services (India) Limited said that The Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) has granted approval to the company’s fully-owned subsidiary — CDSL Ventures Limited (CVL) to provide eSign services.
Furthermore, CCA has empanelled CDSL Ventures as an eSign service provider (ESP) to provide eSign services to application service providers (ASP) based on online Aadhaar eKYC.
CDSL Ventures’ Aadhaar-based eKYC services combined with the eSign service will enable intermediaries to provide seamless online account opening, said Central Depository Services (India), a Mumbai-based central securities depository.
Additionally, CDSL Ventures has launched an online account opening (OLAO) software to let intermediaries carry out online KYC and open demat and broking accounts of their clients.
The company’s OLAO is claimed to offer a thrust to seamless online account opening using online Aadhaar-based eKYC and eSign.
Sunil Alvares — MD and CEO of CDSL Ventures said: “The Government of India’s initiatives towards transforming the digital infrastructure is taking constructive shape and CDSL Ventures Limited is honoured to be an eSign service provider in the country as part of this vision. Our eSign services will accelerate the pace of change in ushering a paperless revolution in India.”


text:
- Cultivation specialist Floriculture
- Technical Sales Specialist - Canada
- Crop Supervisor - Australia
- Senior Business development- / Sales Manager - The Netherlands
- Global VP of Sales & Marketing
- Product Manager - Europe
- Product Manager, Horticulture - De Lier, the Netherlands
- Chief Executive Officer - Tropical North Queensland (Tully) Australia
- Head Grower in USA
- Commercial Manager | Cut Flowers - Kenya
Top 5 -yesterday
Top 5 -last week
- Coronavirus creates demand for New Zealand organic apples
- Tight avo market but Fuertes from Tzaneen will start picking up
- Chinese exports and imports feel the impact of coronavirus
- Avocado's water consumption is proportional to its nutritional value
- Saturated citrus market causes falling prices in US
Top 5 -last month
Rwanda potato farmers count losses as prices drop
“Retailers from Kigali are currently buying the crop at between Rwf70 and Rwf100 compared to Rwf120 in August,” Tuyizere Innocent, a farmer in Shingiro sector, Musanze District, said.
A kilo of Irish potatoes is currently at between Rwf150 and Rwf170 in Kigali markets compared to Rwf250 and Rwf300 three months ago.
Tuyizere said besides the seeds, farmers bought fertilisers at Rwf650 per kilo. He added that the price of fertilisers has gone up from between Rwf320 and Rwf400 a kilo to Rwf650 in the past one year.
He said farmers like him who invested a lot of money in the crop could lose their investment, adding that farmers should at least be paid Rwf150 per kilo so farmers can earn some profit.
“I leased one-tenth of a hectare (isolo) at Rwf40,000 per season, bought four sacks of seeds worth Rwf150,000 and applied 100kg of fertilisers worth Rwf55,000, plus other costs. But I fear that I will not be able to recoup all the money I invested in… I won’t even get Rwf250,000 from the two and half tonnes of Irish potatoes I have harvested if I sell at Rwf90 a kilo,” lamented Tuyizere.
Pascal Twizerimana, an agronomist with Imbaraga Farmers Association in Musanze District, attributed the low prices to oversupply, saying it is currently a harvesting season for Irish potatoes.
Theogene Nzabanita, a farmer in Kinigi sector, said most small farmers are forced to sell all their produce at giveaway prices to cater for their families’ needs and pay school fees for their children.
Theophile Ndacyayisenga, the in charge of research of Irish potatoes production at the Rwanda Agriculture Board (Rab), advised farmers to form groups so they can be able to market produce collectively and get better prices. He noted that when they are in groups they can also be able to build storage facilities to store the produce until there are better prices on the market.
Ndacyayisenga, however, said they are sensitising farmers on how they can guard against price fluctuations to earn better from their efforts.
He said the government gives farmers a fertiliser subsidy, where they buy each kilogramme at Rwf550 instead of Rwf650 on the open market as part of efforts to increase crop production in the country.
However, this support does not apply to seeds.
Agriculture ministry officials are hopeful that farmers will be able to get a steady market and better prices when the potato processing plant being set up in Musanze District starts operations by June next year.
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2020-02-21 Cyprus: Prices of vegetables and pulses soaring due to bad weather
- 2020-02-21 "Sweet potatoes suddenly gaining in importance on the wholesale market"
- 2020-02-21 Ireland: Potato farmers in fear of pasta, rice and poor prices
- 2020-02-21 Potatoes USA - exports show strong growth
- 2020-02-21 Kenya approves 13 high yielding potato seeds from Holland
- 2020-02-21 Early potatoes to appear on the Ukrainian market in the first half of April
- 2020-02-21 World revised figures show halt in rise of potato production
- 2020-02-20 Indian growers and traders seek lifting of onion export ban
- 2020-02-20 Ukrainian potato producers encountered difficulties entering EU market
- 2020-02-20 Sweet potato cultivation regaining ground in Manikganj
- 2020-02-20 US chipping potatoes can now enter Japan year-round
- 2020-02-20 New potato virus strains are troubling Maine farmers
- 2020-02-20 "Northwest demand has been light but 'normal for this time of year' ”
- 2020-02-20 Ireland: Demand and price remain strong for Kerr Pinks and Golden Wonders
- 2020-02-19 French fries in China: Great possibilities, but obstacles as well
- 2020-02-19 Idaho: Galena Russet potato ready for release
- 2020-02-19 New potato campaign wants to reclaim the attention of millennials
- 2020-02-19 Quikgro develops potato varieties suited to sub-Saharan conditions
- 2020-02-19 Current US potato storage stocks down 3% from this time last year
- 2020-02-19 NEPG: "Potato season 2020/21 will be challenging"


text:
Presale tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on November 20 through 22 for Phoenix New Times' fourth annual Tacolandia. Tickets are on sale starting November 23 at 10 a.m. for the general public. The event returns to Margaret T. Hance Park in downtown Phoenix from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 25.
Tacolandia is known for serving unlimited taco samples from more than 50 of the Valley’s top taquerias. Taco slingers have included Los Jeztecos, Mr.Mesquite, Dilla Libre, Jamburritos, Bao Chow, and many more. The event will also feature live entertainment, cash bars selling cocktails and beer, and awards for best tacos in various categories.
General admission tickets are available for $25 and include entry into the event, unlimited taco samples, live entertainment, and access to cash bars. And yes, VIP admission tickets are also available for $45 and will include all general admission benefits plus a separate VIP entrance, access to the VIP lounge, and two drink vouchers.
Tickets and more information are found at the Tacolandia 2020 website. For presale tickets, use code: TACOPHX.
Editor's note: This article has been updated from its original version.


text:
The Cannabis Control Board, in a virtual meeting on Wednesday, approved 212 new licenses for cannabis-related businesses in New York State, increasing the total number of CAURD licensees to 463. Of the new licenses, nine were awarded to applicants from the Finger Lakes region and one from Western New York.
The Finger Lakes recipients include GreenlakesDispo, LLC, Daniel S. Dennis, Kimberly Baldwin, JTCC NY LLC, Swan Lake Equity LLC, Jacob Calabria, 718 Equity Enterprise Inc, D’Amico Group LLC, and Evergreen Retail 1, LLC.
The approval of these licenses is part of the state’s ongoing expansion of the cannabis industry. Currently, there are 20 active retailers across New York State, with over 40 still in the process of development. Additionally, a laboratory testing license was granted to an applicant in Johnson City, elevating the total number of such licenses to 15.
The board also authorized partnerships between retailers, cultivators, and processors for events showcasing state cannabis products, pending approval from the Office of Cannabis Management. In parallel, inspections of unlicensed cannabis businesses commenced at the beginning of June, with the Office of Cannabis Management reporting 53 inspections and seizures amounting to approximately $11 million in products so far.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].


text:
In the latest leak, a new Samsung device with model number Galaxy M04 appeared on Google Play Console. The new phone will have an Helio G35 chipset and it will have only LTE connectivity, no 5G.
The phone will have 3 GB of RAM and will come with Android 12 preinstalled. But, we are hoping by the time of release the device will have Android 13 pre-installed. The listing also confirms the 720p resolution of the screen and screen density of 300 DPI.
There is no update on when Samsung will release the phone.


text:
SERVICE-sector firms in the north west have been hit badly by the foot-and-mouth crisis.
The sector suffered more than manufacturing in the second quarter - sales and orders have plummeted to a five-year low - according to a report by the Royal Bank of Scotland and 17 Chambers of Commerce, which quizzed 1,326 companies in the region.
Businesses in the financial and public services, retail, distribution, transport and communications sectors were among those to respond.
A total of 31 per cent of the 835 service sector companies taking part said sales fell between April and June, compared with 20 per cent in the first quarter.
Thirty-two per cent said orders declined compared with 19 per cent in the previous three months. Of 491 manufacturers questioned, 31 per cent said sales had fallen, fewer than the 33 per cent between January and March, while 32 per cent said orders dropped, almost the same as the 33 per cent in the previous quarter.
The report said the results were disappointing.
''Demand has fallen in domestic and overseas markets. Confidence and investment intentions are down as a result. The foot-and-mouth crisis has hit the north west particularly hard, and this may help explain the sharp deterioration in service sector results which is not borne out in some other UK regions.''
The Royal Bank of Scotland's Ged Keary said: ''The north west is enduring testing times.''
Companies seeking to recruit continue to suffer from a shortage of suitable staff. A total of 72 per cent of service sector respondents and 61 per cent of manufacturers said they had difficulty finding qualified employees.


text:
Oct 12, 2017
By Jane Brown
How have beauty standards changed over time?
It turns out that in 2017 a wider variety of skin colours and older age groups are increasingly considered the most beautiful.
Researchers at Boston University Medical Center conducted a study to compare standards of beauty in 1990 with today.
They compared People Magazine’s World’s Most Beautiful list from 1990 to the list they published in 2017.
The 2017 issue featured a greater variety of darker skin complexions and also a significant increase in celebrities 35 years and older.
This may indicate that standards of beauty change over time, especially as people are exposed to new cultures and different norms in the media.
You can read about the study in JAMA Dermatology.


text:
(WTNH) -- The grocery chain Big Y has announced a voluntary recall of some of its ground beef products because of E.coli concerns at one of their supplier's factories.
Below is a statement from Big Y , with the information you need about the recall:
"We have just been notified that our supplier National Beef Packing Company, LLC has issued a voluntary recall on product that was produced in the same facility as our ground sirloin. Because one of their ground beef samples tested positive to E.coli 0157:H7 and our product was produced in the same plant, we are voluntarily recalling all of our fresh ground sirloin labeled as fresh ground sirloin 87% lean or sirloin steak patties 87% lean sold between 7/18/13 and 8/1/13, even though none of our product tested positive.
"This recall does not affect any other ground beef items sold at Big Y other then the ground sirloin.
"Keeping the well-being of our customers in mind we urge them to check their freezers and refrigerators for this product. If you have any of this product return it to Big Y for a full refund. We thank everyone for the corporation with this recall.
UPC Item description
2-03359-00000 NATURAL SIRLOIN STEAK PATTY
2-03680-00000 ANGUS SIRLOIN PATTY 90%
2-03681-00000 NATURAL GROUND SIRLOIN 87%
2-03761-00000 NATURAL GROUND SIRLOIN 87%
2-10995-00000 NATURAL GROUND SIRLOIN 87% VALUE PACK
2-10996-00000 NATURAL GROUND SIRLOIN 87% VALUE PACK
Stamford police are looking for a 16-year-old girl and her one year old son.
A gun buyback program sponsored by Hartford police and area hospitals collected 181 guns, including seven assault weapons.
New Haven police are investigating the death of a man who was found with a gunshot wound to the chest.
Police in Waterbury are looking for clues to solve a late-night homicide where a man was shot in the neck.
A two-alarm fire destroyed a church in Pomfret Saturday afternoon.
Connecticut U.S. senators are stepping up pressure on Metro-North Railroad to revamp safety systems after federal transportation regulators ordered the commuter train operator to take emergency measures in the wake of a derailment that …
A 23-year-old Uncasville man has been arrested on assault and drunken driving charges related to a Halloween crash in Ledyard, police said.
Registered dietitian Pat Baird joined us on Good Morning Connecticut Saturday to share some tips on healthy eating while out holiday shopping.
Lifestyle expert and author Mar Jennings is the author of two books, the latest titled "Life on Mar's: Creating Causal Luxury." on Sunday' he's opening up his home to visitors.
Newtown groups and members of Connecticut's Congressional delegation are kicking off a week of "acts of kindness" to honor the victims of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.