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Sony might be hitting headlines with new earbuds like the WF-1000XM4 but Bose might be about to launch a new pair of flagship over-ear noise cancelling headphones. Here’s what we know about the Bose QC 45.
These are also known as the QuietComfort 45 and will be a follow up to the QC 35 Mk II which arrived way back in 2017 so we’re overdue a replacement. Although, Bose did launch the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 in 2019.
They will go up against the Sony WH-1000XM4, Huawei FreeBuds Studio and Apple AirPods Max among others. Sadly, there’s not a huge amount we know about the new Bose headphones for 2021 just yet but the fact we have some news is a good start.
As spotted by WinFuture, an FCC (Federal Communications Commission) listing for the headphones provides us with the first details.
Firstly, they are listed at the ‘QuietComfort 45’ rather than, say, the QC 35 Mk III so this is a new model number.
However, you wouldn’t really know going by the images which show a pair of headphones looking awfully similar to the 35 Mk II. Sony hasn’t exactly changed the design of its latest pair either, though.
The FFC listing doesn’t reveal any specs other than this is a Bluetooth device, but that was a given really. We assume the QC 45 will also come with active noise cancelling (ANC) and long battery life.
Bose will have to add some smart features to keep up with rivals, though, as Sony and Apple both offer things like spatial audio and, for the former, things like Ambient Sound Control which can adjust the noise cancelling depending on where you are or what you’re doing.
As more information about the QuietComfort 45 becomes available, we’ll add it to this article. Check out our best headphones chart to see what headphones are the top buys right now.


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Vikram Handa, son-in-law of India’s biggest steel tycoon has set up Epsilon Advanced Materials Pvt — India’s first manufacturer of lithium-ion battery parts — in the southern state of Karnataka in August, sourcing the raw material, coal tar, from the largest steel mill in the country that’s owned by his father-in-law, Sajjan Jindal.
Epsilon’s parent company processes coal tar, mainly sourced from JSW Steel Ltd., into thick black pellets or liquid to be used in everything from automobile tires to fuels and paints.
The switch to battery materials would require the company to further process the coal tar. In addition, Epsilon has secured a patent for the furnace design and expects to file another three patents this year.
Currently, it’s exporting precursor anode material to China, Japan and Europe.
Handa plans to invest 60 billion rupees ($807 million) to produce 100,000 tons of synthetic graphite anode by 2030, or about 10% of estimated global demand.
Anode materials are the negative electrode in lithium-ion batteries and account for a quarter of a cell’s components.
China has been producing more than 80% of the world’s supply of these anodes, importing raw materials from countries including India.
By producing the anodes in India, Handa aims to transition the South Asian nation from a battery minerals centre to a battery materials hub.
India has great scope for the production of electric-vehicle batteries locally because it has access to the raw materials, a $20 billion manufacturing incentive plan, a proposed battery materials policy and improving prospects for demand.
Several Indian automakers have started producing or have announced plans to make EVs. The latest is Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. Aggarwal has said he expects the startup will be making 15% of the world’s e-scooters by the summer of 2022.
Then there’s Tesla Inc., which has picked Karnataka, the same state where Epsilon has its factory, for its first plant.
Reference- Bloomberg Quint, Aljazeera, Epsilon Advanced Materials Pvt PR, EV Obsession
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'Not advisable': Man brings baseball bat to confront alleged wallet thieves
Published Friday, January 17, 2020 6:52PM PST
Police released surveillance photos of the two suspects, but their faces cannot be seen in the images. (Nanaimo RCMP)
VANCOUVER -- Police on Vancouver Island are looking for help identifying a man and a woman suspected of stealing a 27-year-old man's wallet. They're also warning the public not to do what he did in an apparent attempt to get his wallet back.
The theft in question happened on Jan. 12, according to a release from Nanaimo RCMP, but the victim did not call the detachment right away.
Instead, he monitored his credit card for fraudulent transactions. According to police, he received notifications that the card had been used at a Co-op store on Victoria Crescent on Jan. 13 and at a 7-11 in Nanaimo's Harewood neighbourhood the following day.
After receiving that second notification, the victim drove to the 7-11 with a baseball bat and confronted several people sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot, police said.
When the vehicle fled, the victim pursued it in his own vehicle, and informed police that the two suspects had been dropped off at a location not far from the 7-11.
Officers searched the area with a police dog and found several pieces of clothing discarded by the suspects, but did not find the suspects themselves, nor their vehicles.
As of Friday, the stolen wallet and credit card had not been recovered, police said.
"We do not recommend any of the actions taken by the victim," said Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson Const. Gary O'Brien in the release.
"Confronting individuals is not advisable, and showing up with a baseball bat is never a good idea," O'Brien said.
Instead, he recommended victims of wallet theft contact their credit card companies to cancel the cards and then call police to report the theft.
Police released surveillance photos of the two suspects, but their faces cannot be seen in the images. They said the man is white and was wearing a blue jacket with brown sleeves at the time the photos were taken outside the Co-op around 11:35 p.m. on Jan. 13.
Police said the woman is also white, and can be seen in the photos wearing a white white winter jacket with black accents and black pants.
Anyone with information on the identities of the two suspects is asked to call the Nanaimo RCMP non-emergency line at 250-754-2345.


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Delivering the morning lecture at the 'Wakeup Call' session of Business Today's flagship event, MindRush, Dr. Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Managing Director of Medanta Hospitals, said discipline and control over the quantum and frequency of your food can make a lot of difference.
Demonetisation would pave the way for financial inclusion and brining the black money back into the formal economy, said Amitabh Kant, the CEO of Niti Ayog.
Don't just focus on the substance of the deal, focus on the economics of it, said Deepak Malhotra, Eli Goldston Professor of Business Administration.
Speaking on 'Why Positive Deviance Works', Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, declared that despite the increasing incidence of fake news sites across the world, Wikipedia has not been impacted. Interestingly, the authors of Wikipedia are 87 per cent. "It is a big problem," he said.
Anita Nayyar explaining the millennial mindset at Business Today MindRush 2016
"Patanjali did not happen because of meticulous planning; it happened because yoga guru Ramdev wanted to help a bunch of farmers," says Acharya Balkrishna.
"All the estimates that are being thrown around by economists on the impact on GDP growth are mere guesses. Economists make predictions based on past trends but there is no precedence to demonetisation in India," said Arvind Virmani.
At the Business Today Mind Rush event, four Dalal Street veterans gave their wisdom on "How to survive stock market in 2017". The advise: stay invested for the long-term.
To elaborate the shape and structure of the new workplace, C.P. Gurnani, CEO and MD of IT company Tech Mahindra laid out his thoughts at Business Today's MindRush 2016.
The issue of demonetisation was the topic of an exciting discussion at the 4th edition of Business Today Mind Rush with top economists presenting diverse points of view.
Speaking at the Business Today Best CEO's Awards, Venu Srinivasan said the automotive market will move beyond the current rage of electric vehicles, as software and hardware giants like Google and Apple going into the mobility mode.
Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group addressing the gathering at Business Today MindRush 2016
Union Minister of Law and Justice and Ministry of Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad addressing the gathering at Business Today MindRush 2016


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Bethesda news, restaurants, nightlife, events and openings, real estate, crime reports and more - the way only a lifelong Bethesda resident like Robert Dyer can bring it to you. Everything you want and need to know about Bethesda, plus special investigative reports you won't find anywhere else. The must-read blog for breaking Bethesda news, when you want to be the first to know.
Saturday, November 09, 2019
Montgomery Mall decorates for Christmas (Photos)
The holiday season is fully underway at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. They've broken out the Christmas decorations, and even Santa's photo area - though Santa himself wasn't on the premises yet. Some of the decorations return again from the last few years, like the giant "JOY" letters. But this year, there are some brand new, supersize ornaments scattered around the mall.


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Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
A look the hottest deals, business moves and upstart entrepreneurs for April 2 from around the country, as reported by The Business Journals and other local business publications.
Deals and money plays
Silicon Valley...Foresite's health care kitty: VC Foresite Capital pulls together $300 million to back health care startups.
San Francisco...Lyft's big lift: Lyft now has the cash to go toe-to-toe with Uber as the smartphone ride booking service hauls in $250 million from Coatue Management, a New York City hedge fund sponsor; Third Point, led by activist investor Dan Loeb; and Alibaba, the China-based group of Internet-based e-commerce businesses, as well as prior investors Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund and Mayfield.
Washington...LivingSocial retreats: The embattled daily deal company abandons Southeast Asia, selling its businesses there to iBuy Group for $18.5 million.
San Francisco...A Lovely deal: RentPath, a real estate search company, buys website for renters operator Lovely for $13 million.
Silicon Valley...Deals down, dollars up: Venture capitalists poured more money into fewer deals in the first quarter. Worldwide, VCs invested $15 billion in 1,348 deals.
Upstarts and bold moves
San Francisco...Zynga's legal woes: A group of investors claims Zynga founder Mark Pincus, among others, misled them about the gaming company's financial health in order to "pump and dump" stock, and they're suing. This is the second go-around for the investors, who had an earlier suit tossed.
Boston...Ethical dilemma?: Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe is must reading for the New England technorati. But his role as an entrepreneur raises ethical questions, writes Craig Douglas of the Boston Business Journal.
Sign up to receive Upstart Business Journal’s free daily email newsletter, weekend edition and breaking news alerts.


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Feb 19, 2018Michigan’s Black Star Farms vineyard celebrates 20th anniversary
This summer, Black Star Farms will celebrate its 20th Anniversary and invite the public to join the festivities.
The week-long celebration is scheduled for July 23-July 28, 2018, at the 160-acre winery estate a 15-minute drive north of Traverse City.
The International Award-Winning Winery — based near Traverse City, Michigan — crushed grapes for the first time in the fall of 1998, and the Farms’ luxury Inn opened that same year. A European-style distillation program began in 1999, followed by a second winery and tasting room on Old Mission Peninsula which opened in 2007, and a tasting room in Ann Arbor’s Historic Kerrytown District in 2014. Today, Black Star Farms has grown to produce 35,000 cases of wine annually.
The entire team, from winemakers to Innkeepers will be participating in celebration activities. Daily ticketed events will allow guests to learn about the farm and the industry, and taste what 20 years of experience has developed. Experts will educate guests on grape farming, from vine grafting to harvest. Daily tours will inform guests about the history of the farm, and how grapes grow from vine to glass. For those looking for a longer nature hike, there will be guided nature hikes and wine tasting through the trail systems. Wine and cheese tastings will be presented every day, all day, on the outdoor terrace. Special vertical tastings will be led by the winemaking team and a wine cocktail seminar by the farm’s own mixologist. The week will culminate with dining events highlighting Black Star Farm’s culinary team on Friday and Saturday nights.
A detailed schedule and ticketing information will be available at www.blackstarfarms.com beginning March 15, 2018.
Above: Black Star Farms’ flagship property near Suttons Bay, Michigan.


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SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Total cargo moving through Georgia's seaports dipped over the past 12 months after volumes reached record-smashing levels in fiscal 2015, the Georgia Ports Authority reported Monday.
The ports in Savannah and Brunswick handled a combined 30.8 million tons of imports and exports in the 2016 fiscal year that ended June 30. That's down 2.7 percent from the previous year. The Port of Savannah, the nation's fourth-busiest container port, moved 3.6 million container units — giant metal boxes used to ship consumer goods from electronics to frozen chickens — for a decrease of 1.6 percent.
Port expected a slowdown after cargo volumes soared to record highs in 2015, boosted by West Coast labor woes that resulted in cargo being diverted to Savannah and other East Coast ports. Griff Lynch, the port authority's executive director, said a relatively strong dollar also hurt demand for U.S. exports in the past year.
Lynch said he anticipates growth of 3 percent or more in fiscal 2017, with Savannah approaching a milestone 4 million container units just three years after the port first exceeded 3 million containers.
"It's going to get us awfully close," Lynch said. "What it will do is give us a record. We might be a hair short of the 4 million (container) mark."
Liquid and dry bulk goods such as vegetable oil and wood pellets used to fuel overseas power plants dropped 16.6 percent compared to the prior year, while automobiles and heavy machinery were down 8.6 percent. Port officials said the decline in automobiles was largely caused by the loss of 45,500 Volkswagens after the automaker decided to leave the Port of Brunswick for Jacksonville, Florida.
Still, overall tonnage at Georgia's ports remains up roughly 6 percent compared to two years ago, when import and export volumes reached a then-record 29 million tons.
And the port authority's governing board is still investing in sustained growth. On Monday, the board approved $20 million — roughly half from Georgia taxpayers and half from the ports' own revenues — to build an inland terminal north of Atlanta designed to move cargo by train more than 380 miles to the Port of Savannah.
Announced last year, the Appalachian Regional Port will sit on 42 acres formerly used to raise cattle in Murray County. Located about 90 miles north of Atlanta and 40 miles southeast of Chattanooga, Tennessee, the site is a short drive from carpet and flooring manufacturers in Dalton as well as poultry producers and chemical plants.
Port officials say the new terminal will save customers time and money by eliminating the need to haul cargo by truck through Atlanta to Savannah. They estimate the rail port will eliminate 40,000 truck trips through Atlanta each year.
Scheduled to open in 2018, the rail terminal is expected to directly employ 20 to 30 workers, Lynch said. But it's expected to spur more job growth by causing new businesses such as parts suppliers and retail distribution centers to open nearby.
"It's going to have far-reaching impacts," Lynch said. "Taking trucks off the road, for sure, and allowing us to service that market better."


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MasterCard plans to work with the Egyptian government to roll out a digital ID program that links citizens’ national ID to the existing national mobile money platform, allowing Egyptians to participate in the formal electronic economy through a single, easy-to-use cashless program.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology says the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is aiming to extend financial services to 54 million Egyptians.
MasterCard already has significant assets and partnerships in Egypt, and will leverage those to deploy the new cashless system. The system will allow the government to issue digital ID cards which can be used to pay for a number of services including government fees, mobile bills, merchant purchases and domestic remittances. In addition, salaries and social benefits will be electronically disbursed through the card. All transactions will be processed in real-time and will be fully secure.
Globally, the electronic distribution of payments has had a profound effect on increasing government efficiency and increasing transparency at the national level. As a technology company offering a wide range of payment technology, MasterCard has worked with governments around the world to deploy efficient and secure payment technology, resulting in significant savings and increased convenience.
According to the Minister, knowledge transfer will play an important role in the partnership and MasterCard’s global experience and expertise will also be leveraged to boost innovation efforts and enhance citizen engagement. In addition, the two entities will work together build an innovation center in Cairo that will leverage MasterCard’s latest technologies and make them available in the market.
For additional data on Egyptian Cards visit CardData®. For historical news and commentary on Egyptian Cards visit the searchable CardFlash® Library of more than 58,000 articles published since 1995. RAM Research® forecasts on Egyptian Cards are available exclusively through CardWeb.com.®


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Hard Rock Atlantic City comes with an internet casino platform today. The parent firm of Hard Rock AC, Hard Rock International, announced it entered to”a strategic partnership” with Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) on Monday. In 2017, Hard Rock bought this summer, the older Trump Taj Mahal, which it’ll reopen as its very own rebranded property. But Hard Rock n’t stopped with gaming. A report intimated that both Hard Rock and the newest Ocean Resort Casino had employed for internet casino licenses. Since Hard Rock declared who are taking care of its own iGaming offering the information continued to move on the planet of New Jersey online casinos. “We’re eager to become a part of Hard Rock International’s inspirational and advanced strategies to turn into a worldwide leader in the global online gaming room,” explained Robin Reed, CEO of GiG.
The option of GiG was rumored for weeks. In October, GiG declared a partnership using a”big, well-known global casino brand” Hard Rock is your spouse GIG teased. GIG will provide the platform to handle the operations, as well as Hard Rock using a state of the art virtual consumer portal. GiG has declared it’s kicked off the program procedure for its Casino Service Industry Enterprise License at New Jersey, moving the business to a third controlled industry. GiG was set and thus far has been concentrated on iGaming markets, even together with its headquarters at Malta and also other offices. This is its first foray to the US market that is still-developing. The market for internet gaming is going to expand.
Pennsylvania legalized iGaming at 2017. With 13 casino licensees at the country, that leaves. Today’s news comes on the heels of GIG performing a bargain using Perform its sport gambling offering. Should New Jersey triumph its own sports gambling case GiG would be the technician supporting Hard Rock’s possible online sportsbook. Designs for Hard Rock outside the NJ พนันออนไลน์ online casino? Its entrance into the online gambling industry was a foregone conclusion, when Hard Rock chose to get in the NJ market. 250 million in earnings this past year. Hard Rock was not going to go into NJ and only cede the market. But now this Hard Rock is at the company, it won’t attempt to prevent there. “Hard Rock has an ambitious strategy to be a worldwide leader in the global online gaming room,” explained Kresimir Spajic, the senior vice president of internet gaming in Hard Rock. Online casino and sports betting gambling legalization do not look imminent in Florida, in which the casinos operated and owned by Hard Rock International exist. But HRI is looking to expand to countries and other countries and does own other casinos.


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Gmail users love to kvetch about how bad ads on the service are. Ostensibly targeted to the content of an e-mail message, these placements are typically off the mark in terms of matching a person’s interests, her purchase intent, or even the context of a message she is reading.
Well, that may be about to change — if only slightly — as Google modifies its tactics for delivering these messages. From now on, the company plans to deliver some ads in Gmail based on the content of previous messages — a version of behavioral targeting it already practices in its search results. The move allows Google to dip into a larger pool of user data to match a consumer to potentially relevant ads.
This is something Google didn’t do before. For instance, a person who reads many e-mails on the subject of miniature trains is probably accustomed to seeing ads for toy freight cars and cabooses adjacent to those messages. But chances are he’s never seen them next to happy birthday messages from his great aunt Bea. Beginning over the next few days, that changes. That contextually pointless birthday message will in all likelihood contain the same train-related ads the other ones do.
In a blog post on the shift, Google sought to reassure Gmail users about the privacy risk associated.
“To show these ads, our systems don’t need to store any extra information — Gmail just picks a different recent email to match,” it stated. “The process is entirely automated: no humans are involved in selecting ads, and no email or personal information is shared with advertisers.”
Google also posted the below video to drive home the same point.
Despite the fact that it faces growing competition from Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, Google-owned YouTube is still one of the most popular ... read more
Amazon prides itself on being the most “customer-centric” company in the world, but according to investigative journalism non-profit ProPublica, Amazon’s algorithms are often anything but ... read more


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Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will give players an option play through at 60 FPS, Insomniac Games has confirmed.
The developers confirmed the detail in an interview with Weekly Famitus. For the Ratchet fans out there who don't speak Japanese, the studio also kindly shared the information in English on its official Twitter account.
In an interview with @WeeklyFamitsu today we confirmed #RatchetPS5 will offer an option to play at 60fps! https://t.co/HRFKHgDE3c pic.twitter.com/7TdyaTdtAvAugust 28, 2020
Since Insomniac is framing Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart's 60 FPS support as an option, that implies there will be other options to choose as well. That will likely include a mode that prioritizes visual detail and clarity over frame rate, as is the case for some PS4 Pro games. Some next-gen games are also promising support for 120 FPS or higher, so it's possible Rift Apart will follow suit with an option for that as well.
Whatever mode you'll play on, the power of PS5 (opens in new tab) will help you appreciate fine new details like the way shrubbery grows on your enemies once they fall victim to the Topiary Sprinkler.
"My favourite part about the weapon is that now that we have all this extra power and fidelity of 4K graphics on the PS5, you can make it actually feel like topiary sculptures, because topiaries have these tiny, little, detailed leaves that aren't just a flat mesh," game director Mike Daly told us in a new Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart interview (opens in new tab).
The Ratchet & Clank series has always been a visual showcase for PlayStation consoles, pushing refinements like impressive weapon effects and fur physics that make you want to pet Ratchet's big lombax ears so bad. The results were just as impressive when Insomniac went for a more realistic style with Spider-Man PS4 (opens in new tab), and it looks like Spider-Man: Miles Morales (opens in new tab) will somehow be even prettier when it hits PS5.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is easily one of the titles we're most excited about in our big list of upcoming PS5 games (opens in new tab).


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The Nomading Film Fest in New York City this weekend showcases some of its much anticipated travel media.
With just a few days until the inaugural travel film fest in the Upper West Side, the four minds behind the event display some of the submissions one can expect to see. Much like the recent TBEX event uniting travel bloggers, this event promises to bring video ninjas from around the world together to share, discuss, and develop this industry that is constantly evolving. Who will be attending this weekend? Connect beforehand perhaps?


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Digital Download: Halloween searches, YouTube celebrity channels
Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:41:19 GMT —
Search giant Google reports that the most popular Halloween costumes this year included Angry Birds, a popular mobile game, Black Swan, after the Oscar-winning film, and a baby pig named Olivia after a popular kids TM cartoon. Other Halloween search trends included candy corn, Lady Gaga costumes, and Captain America.
In other Google news, theWall Street Journal reported that Google announced the creation of 100 Celebrity Channels which will feature original programming by involving celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Amy Poehler, and Madonna among others. The new channels are expected to produce about 25 hours of new, original content a day and are due out next year.
What celebries would you like to see with a Celebrity Channel on YouTube?


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Burglary reported at Embody fitness in Darien
Darien police are investigating multiple burglaries reported at Embody Fitness in the last month. The complainant stated that she had noticed the cash-drawer short at times over the past month, but assumed it was an honest error in accounting.
On the morning of Feb. 26 she came into work and found that the drawer was short $109, but this time she was sure the cash and sales matched when the store closed the night before.
Video surveillance showed a suspect wearing a gray sweatshirt and black ski-mask using what is believed to be a spare key to gain access to the business around 7:30 p.m. the evening prior. The suspect is shown in the video removing cash from the drawer before leaving.
The complainant later called the investigating officer and inform them that they had reviewed earlier surveillance footage and saw what she believed was the same suspect again using a key to enter the business and taking cash from the drawer on Feb. 18 at about 6 p.m. It is unknown how much was taken in this incident.
A canvass of surrounding business was conducted, with negative results.


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E cigarettes no longer available for under 18s
As of today e cigarettes are no longer allowed to be sold to people under the age of 18, under the new law e cigarettes will now have the same regulations as other tobacco products.
The new law means that e cigarettes and e cigarette liquids will now be regulated in the same manner tobacco products are regulated.
This means that e cigarettes can no longer be sold to people under the age of 18 and it will be illegal to buy the products for someone who is under the age of 18.
Retailers that are found to be breaking this law could face a fixed penalty notice of Â£50 or fined up to Â£2,500.
This new regulation also states that there is a restriction on the levels of nicotine that is allowed to be sold, as a way to help aid in quitting smoking. E cigarettes with the nicotine content of over 20mg/ml has been licensed by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which means it can be sold to people under the age of 18.
David Lodge, Head of West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service said, “As with any legislation it is necessary for everyone to be compliant. Trading Standards can provide information to retailers regarding age restricted products and advise on best practise to ensure businesses are doing all they can to prevent under age sales.”
This new regulation has come into force along with the new law that means it is illegal to smoke in a car with a passenger under the age of 18.
These new restrictions have come into force to help reduce the number of young people exposed to second hand smoking, as well as reduce the number of children trying e cigarettes.


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John Zimmer says improved customer relations also helped improve Toshiba's market share.
“It's important to think holistically as a business strategy,” said Hagemeyer. “The entire enterprise must have a single view of the customer.”
Other speakers agreed. Jeff Sopko, director of U.S. sales for BD Medical (Franklin Lakes, NJ), provided a real-life example. When BD launched a new product in the blood glucose monitoring market, the company expected exceptional financial performance, but it had a poorly prepared sales organization. “We had to build the infrastructure, deploy our resources, and deliver $98 million in a short time frame,” said Sopko.
BD implemented enterprise-planning software to get “information to the field organization in real time,” explained Sopko. Using a Web-based enterprise server, the company's sales force could access detailed information wirelessly.
John Zimmer, vice president of marketing for Toshiba America Medical Systems (Tustin, CA), had similar advice to share, but from a different perspective. Although the diagnostic imaging market was growing at about 11% per year in the late 1990s, Toshiba's business was flat. “With a customer retention rate of 50% over five years, we needed a new business strategy. We went back to square one and developed a new focus on customer satisfaction.”
“It was critical for us to tie our customer relations management (CRM) to financial compensation,” he said. The company surveyed each customer four to six weeks after installation of a Toshiba device to determine the level of satisfaction. “The benefit was a timely response to customer issues and improved market share,” said Zimmer.
“CRM is not a software purchase, yet it involves software, hardware, servers, etc.,” said Bill Kale, director of information technology for Sage Products (Cary, IL). “It's really a corporate strategy that affects a cross-section of the organization, and whoever touches the customer will benefit from a CRM strategy that delivers measurable results,” he said.


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Glaser pushing RealPlayer to industry
Updated 10:00 pm, Wednesday, April 7, 2004
Rob Glaser, chief executive of RealNetworks Inc., has been approaching computer makers to discuss boosting sales of its media player, after the European Commission's antitrust ruling against Microsoft Corp. last month.
RealNetworks spokeswoman Erika Shaffer confirmed a report in yesterday's Wall Street Journal that Glaser said the ruling could deepen the company's relationship with computer makers including Hewlett-Packard Inc. and Dell Computer Inc. The ruling ordered Microsoft to sell a version of its nearly ubiquitous Windows operating system without its Windows Media Player built in.
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That product competes with RealNetworks' RealPlayer.
The EU's ruling prohibits Microsoft from discounting Windows with the media player built in, but other software makers remain free to offer incentives to PC makers to install their products, The Wall Street Journal said.


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White Plains faces court battle with Battleground Zero
WHITE PLAINS — It began as a skirmish over a permit and appears to be ending with a $2 million court fight.
Battleground Zero, which was forced to ground its plans for an e-sport venue in the Galleria mall because of the White Plains ban on gaming arcades, is battling back in state Supreme Court.
In papers filed last week, the British-based company said it was unable to open its store after the city suspended its permit.
White Plains "was negligent in issuing the permit and subsequently suspending it without explanation," the legal papers say, adding that the city never provided "any formal communication to Battleground Zero explaining why the suspension occurred, or how to remediate the situation."
In seeking $2 million in damages, along with court costs, Battleground Zero said in its legal papers that it lost money renovating the Galleria site and in marketing and publicity costs. It said the White Plains episode also injured its business reputation.
The city had no comment, citing its longstanding policy of not discussing pending litigation.
Battleground Zero announced in February that it would be displaying and selling equipmenet and merchandise, hosting computer gamers and sponsoring international e-sport tournaments in a 4,000-square-foot space on the Galleria's food court level.
Store Manager Marco Monge said the company spent thousands of dollars on renovations and necessary electrical work, which he said was approved by the White Plains Building Department. The emporium was outfitted with game-playing booths, desks for personal devices and audience seats.
Battleground Zero began taking flak on April 7, when a soft opening and press event was shut down by Galleria management for apparently violating the city's ban on arcades. Monge said the power was cut and he and other employees were escorted from the mall by Galleria security.
Karen Pasquale, senior adviser to Mayor Tom Roach, said at the time that the issue was "a misunderstanding, based on the information contained in (Battleground Zero's) original permit application as to what the space would be used for."
She said the city's understanding was that the business would be primarily retail, not an arcade. The city banned video arcades in 1999, in response to lobbying efforts by a group of clergy who said many games were too violent.
The local law prohibits businesses from having more than three video game machines. Pasquale said the Building Department was looking at the issue and would be in touch with Battleground Zero.
In the meantime, the company declared all out war on White Plains, saying in a press release that the grand opening of its first U.S. store had been cancelled due to "weird behavior" by the city.
"I can't believe that a 'religious law' is stopping a hi-tech company from doing business in White Plains," Monge said.
Battleground Zero also launched a "Let Us Game" public relations campaign, selling T-shirts aimed at White Plains and encouraging supporters to call City Hall. A news release accused the city of being "against the internet, technology and American businesses..."
Company CEO Steven Christophersen said Battleground Zero's 'Let Us Game' initiative would cause "millions of gamers to make fun of the city, and I will sit down with my Captain America pajamas and my cat Bubbles to enjoy it."
Chrisophersen promised to "liberate (enthusiasts in White Plains) so you can leave the dark ages and game!"
By April 13, it was game over.
The Galleria terminated Battleground Zero's lease and the company removed its equipment from the mall. The company has since announced, via Twitter, that it plans to open in Stamford.
White Plains had no comment on the move.
In a parting shot, Monge said that until White Plains "gets rid of its odd ways and (stops) the religion vs. technology discussion, we advise all tech companies not to come to this strange city. Our sponsors are furious and amazed to believe that a city so close to New York City could be so behind in regulations."


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Globally recognised health club franchise Anytime Fitness are to further their support for Mike Epps in the 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Having supported Mike since they met in 2012, the long time partners are to venture into what would be his most exciting season yet. With Team Hard Racing’s proven VW CCs now upgraded to RML specification and mated with Swindon’s improved 2017 engine, the team have what could potentially be a very competitive package. Anytime Fitness are the worlds largest health chain, they were named the #1 Top Global Franchise by Entrepreneur magazine, surpassing well-known franchises like Subway, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut recently. Over 2.5 million people use Anytime Fitness clubs across the globe in over 3500 locations. Growing quickly, they opened their 100th club in the UK last year. Mike is proud to have worked with the franchise and to have them back onboard for 2017. “I loved the club when I first joined in 2012. They were offering far more than anyone else at the time – 24-hour access to all gyms in one standard price membership. It was no surprise at all to see how much the franchise had grown in other countries and I thought I’d best get in touch quickly while I was racing in Formula Renault. I’m really excited for this season with them in BTCC.”
Anytime Fitness UK Chairman Andy Thompson commented on the upcoming season: “ We are really excited to be continuing our support and sponsorship to Mike and his team. It looks like it will be a successful racing season and we are delighted to be continuing our partnership with him. Good luck Mike!“ Mike's new VW CC will first be unveiled at the BTCC Launch Day at Donington Park, 16th March. For more information on Anytime Fitness membership and franchise visit www.anytimefitness.co.uk. Find out more about the British Touring Car Championship – www.btcc.net.


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Are you being served? Here are 10 commandments of drink-ordering etiquette.
Carolyn Cummins The battle for supremacy in the cosmetics market, triggered by the recent arrival of Sephora, is in full swing, but analysts are already pointing to Australia’s department stores as the biggest...
Sue Mitchell South African retailer Woolworths is accelerating the transformation of its Australian retail businesses, lifting the profile of Country Road while shaking up executive ranks at David Jones.
CBD The new South African owners of David Jones didn't shoot the piano man at its flagship Sydney store when they took over the joint, but CBD was alarmed by rumours they were out to spoil Christmas.
Sue Mitchell The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has sensationally intervened in Woolworths $2.2 billion takeover of David Jones and $213 million mop up offer for Country Road, demanding an...
Elizabeth Knight With bruises still fresh from the lashing it received at a recent Senate inquiry, the corporate regulator appears to be working on an image makeover.
Elizabeth Knight Time's up for Solomon Lew if he wants to throw a precisely placed grenade at Woolworths of South Africa's $2.2 billion takeover of David Jones.
Sue Mitchell DJs expecting overwhelming support from minority shareholders on South African Woolworths' $2.2 billion offer, but will not know until a court hearing later this week whether the takeover will...
Sue Mitchell After almost 20 years being a thorn in the side of South African retailer Woolworths, rag trader Solomon Lew may have finally done his arch- enemy a favour.
CBD David Jones chairman Gordon Cairns was forced to make last-minute concessions to get investor approval for the takeover bid that will put the department store in foreign hands.
CBD The Johnny Farnham of Australian retail, Paul Zahra, has resigned from David Jones - again.
Alexandra Back, Eli Greenblat The grand piano at David Jones has kept alive an element of old-school glamour at the Elizabeth St building, long after it faded from other department stores.
Sue Mitchell ASIC has not ruled out further intervention in $2.2 billion acquisition of David Jones and $213 million offer for Country Road.
Rachel Wells A tough retail market has seen Australia's two big department store operators Myer and David Jones contemplate a $3 billion merger that proponents say provide opportunities to grow both brands.
Jessica Gardner As Myer tries to lure back online shoppers following its week-long website outage, David Jones is going on the attack with new online-only specials designed to thwart its rival's recovery.
Elizabeth Knight ASIC's verdict on controversial David Jones share trades is sure to disappoint some segments of the financial community.
Elizabeth Knight It's understood ASIC's investigation concluded there has been no wrongdoing, no evidence of insider trading.
Sue Mitchell and Matthew Smith Myer has argued a $3 billion merger with David Jones would have delivered compelling value for the shareholders of both companies, as well as providing strategic opportunities to grow both brands.
Carolyn Cummins David Jones is moving into the booming residential property sector.
Georgia Wilkins, Bianca Hartge-Hazelman The corporate regulator has ruled out reopening an inquiry into revelations two David Jones directors bought shares in the company a day after receiving a merger proposal from Myer.
Elizabeth Knight The David Jones board and particularly its chairman Peter Mason are under renewed pressure as some shareholders test the level of support for calling an extraordinary general meeting to change the...


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Small cap newsbeat
The FTSE Small Cap index hit 3,262.50 points at 1536 up 39.8 points or 1.2% and well clear of last October's trough at 2,600 points.
Top of the league was Osprey Communications , which jumped nearly 90% to threaten its mid-November peak after a large buy order prompted defensive marking up of stock, dealers said. Shares in the thinly traded public relations company rose seven pence or 87.5% to 15p at 1504 on volume of only 130,000.
Sanctuary Group also rose after a Sunday Times newspaper tip saying it as set to go further, boosting shares in the British media company by 17 pence or 31% to 72p.
Property firm Creston leapt despite a company denial late last Friday in response to speculation it had been in talks to buy an Internet-related company. Creston was up 55 pence or 25% at 272- 1/2p come 1548.
Israel's Geo Interactive Media , a London-listed provider of software tools for web developers, saw its shares up 26% or 497- 1/2 pence at 2390p after it said current trading levels were in line with expectations. Geo said it had acquisition targets in mind and would be 'actively seeking strategic alliances and acquisition opportunities'.
Also surging ahead was electrical firm Fortress Holdings up 11 pence or 30% to 47- 1/4p, and software company London Bridge, up 1287 pence or 27% to 6075p.
Heading in the opposite directionClinton Cards , whose shares fell as investors reacted to a company statement reporting sales below expectations following poor autumn trading conditions. The UK retailer's stock had slipped 72 pence or 31% to 161- 1/2p by 1549 .
Recent volatile trade in Engineering company Ferrum Holdings continued with a 25% loss in the firm's stock to leave it down 1- 1/4 pence at 3- 3/4p. Ferrum said last Thursday it knew nothing of rumours that a private U.S. optical company wanted to buy it as a vehicle for European acquisition. United Energy also dropped despite a company statement saying suitable acquisitions were being examined. Recent press speculation suggested the British oil exploration and electricity-from-waste generation firm company could become an investment vehicle for Internet ventures. Its shares fell 4- 1/2 pence or 14.5% to 26- 1/2p by 1614.
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text: Bucks guard Brandon Jennings will attend the launch of his new Under Armour Micro G Black Ice signature shoe this Saturday, October 23rd. The event will take place at the Mayfair Mall Foot Locker in Milwaukee, with Jennings on hand from 6-8 PM to meet and greet fans. The Under Armour Micro G Black Ice will be released in its first general release colorway of White/Black/Red. Retail is $110. Check out CounterKicks’ exclusive interview with Brandon Jennings here. Continue reading for a new look at the Under Armour Micro G Black Ice launch shoe.


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In stride with the growing popularity of virtual reality, Microsoft took a different approach on headset entertainment, focusing on augmented reality with HoloLens. The development kit for the device launched with a $3,000 price tag on Feb. 29 and will ship late March.
Augmented reality, unlike virtual reality, is all about holograms. Although, just like virtual reality, it requires a headset. The technology is already wildly popular in video games, making appearances on the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita with the use of the system and special cards.
HoloLens provides a more unique take on this concept. Instead of using a gaming device, it will come in the form of a headset. It’s completely self-contained, meaning it won’t require any other devices or wires to work. It will allow users to interact with 3D holograms with gestures, voices and gaze.
When it was announced and demoed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2015, the device was said to use a specific type of lens. This lens was placed over one of the cameras during the presentation and allowed holograms to be viewed by the person operating the device only.
As Microsoft’s technical fellow Alex Kipman explains in an announcement blog post, HoloLens operates by using a special sort of projection system to create the holograms in real time. Built-in sensors help detect the environment, and cameras will allow users to record mixed reality captures — videos and images of the physical world and the interactive holograms — that can be shared all over the world, even with those who don’t have a HoloLens.
As of right now, the HoloLens is still in development and requires an application. To apply, be sure you are a Windows Insider who lives in the U.S. or Canada. All apps and hardware are currently only being offered in English. Only those approved will be allowed to purchase the HoloLens at this time.
The HoloLens will officially start shipping March 30 for $3,000.


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Federal Court Dismisses Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Petition Linked To Product Liability Lawsuits
When a business is facing lawsuits that could result in a judgment costing significant amounts of money, or that could result in settlement and other substantial costs, can that business file for bankruptcy and include the lawsuits in its repayment plan? In large part, that is a question that a federal court had to consider recently after Johnson & Johnson filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to a report from Reuters, the company developed a “strategy to use bankruptcy to resolve multibillion-dollar litigation over claims its talk products cause cancer.” The case went to a federal appeals court, and the court dismissed the bankruptcy petition.
This particular case was heard in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals — outside the Eleventh District where Florida cases would be heard on federal appeal. As such, the decision is not binding for similar bankruptcy cases that could arise in South Florida, but the decision ultimately may be persuasive for other courts considering similar questions. Indeed, if other courts find the Third Circuit’s decision persuasive, other businesses could be prevented from going through a reorganization bankruptcy in connection with legal claims the business is facing. Our West Palm Beach bankruptcy attorneys can provide you with more information about the case and its potential implications.
Why Did Johnson & Johnson File for Bankruptcy?
Johnson & Johnson is facing tens of thousands of lawsuits related to its talc products like Johnson’s Baby Powder, which allege that the products caused cancer. Before Johnson & Johnson filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy — a type of reorganization bankruptcy commonly used by businesses — the company was facing costs of approximately “$3.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including one in which 22 women were awarded a judgment of more than $2 billion, according to bankruptcy court records,” CNBC reported.
Johnson & Johnson created its LTL Management unit, which is the unit facing the lawsuits, and LTL is the party that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to the Third Circuit decision to dismiss the bankruptcy case, the court “dismissed the LTL Chapter 11 petition because the unit was created solely to access the bankruptcy system.” The opinion from the court reasoned that, “while LTL faces substantial future talc liability, its funding backstop plainly mitigates any financial distress on its petition plate.” In other words, the court suggested, LTL does not need bankruptcy protection and filed only as a way of handling the costly claims it is facing.
The CNBC article explains that Johnson & Johnson has been accused of using a legal move known commonly as the “Texas Two-Step,” in which a company establishes a new legal entity and transfers its liability to that company along with some of the business’s assets. Then, in the Texas Two-Step, the new entity is responsible for the lawsuits and files for bankruptcy, protecting the original company. In this case, Johnson & Johnson created LTL, protecting Johnson & Johnson from liability.
Contact a Bankruptcy Attorney in West Palm Beach
This recent decision ultimately could impact the ability for other businesses to engage in the “Texas Two-Step” and to file for bankruptcy in connection with liability from lawsuits. If you have questions, you should get in touch with one of the bankruptcy attorneys in West Palm Beach at Kelley Kaplan & Eller today.


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Caviar is highly susceptible to fraud. In one fraud study, 10 out of 27 caviar samples were found to be mislabeled, and three of them didn't even contain animal DNA but rather
a completely unidentified substance. The Russian mob controls the caviar supply for the illuminati and they have been passing off fake shit off as caviar for decades.
Organised criminal gangs are being blamed for a thriving trade in caviar imported illegally into the UK and the US.
Often the illegal imports breach food standards and an increasing proportion are found to be fake – roe from a lesser prized fish passed off as caviar. A caviar smuggler who passed off regular roe as caviar was recently fined
10 millioin by the US government.
A Maryland caviar importer who used a far-reaching smuggling scheme to skirt conservation laws agreed
to pay a $10.4 million criminal fine, the biggest ever in a federal wildlife case.
Federal prosecutors described a scheme of smuggling and product switching that violated "virtually every" import law regarding caviar. And court papers painted an ugly picture of how the glamorous appetizer, as synonymous with the good life as champagne and cigars, reached store shelves and first-class airline cabins.
Prosecutors said that between 1995 and 1999, U.S. Caviar smuggled black market Russian roe to the United States through the United Arab Emirates, where the company pasted forged Russian labels on the tins to make them look like legally exported caviar. The defendants also bought import permits that had been obtained by others through bribery and by supplying prostitutes to foreign officials.
In the United States, the Rockville-based company sometimes substituted tiny black eggs from the domestic American paddlefish and shovelnose sturgeon in tins purporting to hold authentic Russian caviar.
U.S. Caviar then sold the smuggled or fake Russian caviar to buyers such as American Airlines and upscale grocers Sutton Place Gourmet and Fresh Fields, "who had no idea they weren't buying a legitimate product," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard A. Udell.
Company president Hossein Lolavar, 46, of Bethesda, will spend 41 months in prison. His brother-in-law and lead supplier, Ken Noroozi, 43, of Silver Spring, will spend 15 months in prison, and U.S. Caviar secretary Faye Briggs, 53, also of Silver Spring, will spend 21 months in prison.


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State Representative Daymon Ely has raised the alarm that consumers have not been compensated for losses incurred from “illegal door-to-door sales tactics that allegedly ensnared uninformed consumers into binding 20-year power purchase agreements that ended up costing homeowners more than they were currently paying PNM.” Corrales attorney Ely has filed a complaint with the N.M. Attorney General saying that office has allowed private attorneys to receive $700,000 which could have gone to people who he thinks were victims.
“The Attorney General’s office is failing New Mexico’s consumers and the public’s right to transparency and open government,” Ely has written. “I do not say that lightly but, after months of reviewing pleadings and orders, talking to consumer advocates and hearing directly from the Attorney General, that is the inescapable conclusion. And, without a change in the culture at the Attorney General’s office, that failure will be hard-wired into the AG’s future prosecutions.”
That stems from complaints in 2017 that a solar power company was using high-pressure tactics when dealing with homeowners. “In 2018, on behalf of 2,300 consumers, the AG’s office filed a strong complaint against the company. Two years later, the case was resolved. As a result of the settlement, the consumers received no compensation and the long-term agreements remained.”
Ely said, the most shocking thing was that while the defendant company paid money as part of the settlement, that was not distributed to homeowners. “But instead of the money going to the consumers who had been allegedly bilked, $700,000 went to the private attorneys hired by the AG, and the remaining $1.2 million was used to help fund the operations of the AG’s office.”
Aly criticized the AG’s office for hiring private attorneys rather than conducting the action in-house. “This was the type of case that the AG’s office pursued in-house through its consumer division in prior years. Why are these types of cases now being sent to outside, private attorneys?” he asked. The House District 23 representative argues that the office should use “outside private attorneys sparingly, and only in those cases where the AG does not have the expertise or the resources to handle such cases.”
Attorney General Hector Balderas responded to Ely’s allegations in an op-ed article in the August 15 Albuquerque Journal saying the Corrales lawmaker has failed to support requests for better funding for the AG’s office. “Why has State Rep. Daymon Ely authorized the transfer of $85 million out of the consumer protection fund instead of directly spending it on consumer protection benefits?” Balderas asked.


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Global stocks dropped on Tuesday as investors braced for coronavirus to spread as hundreds of millions of people travel across Asia to celebrate Chinese New Year this weekend.
Travel, retail, and luxury goods stocks fell sharply on fears that the disease, which has already infected 224 people and killed four, will temper consumer demand.
Worry - SARS - Outbreak - Thousands - Hundreds
"The worry is this is another SARS, an outbreak that saw thousands infected and led to hundreds of deaths," one analyst said.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Stocks - Tuesday - Investors - Wider - Outbreak
Global stocks dropped on Tuesday as investors braced for a wider outbreak of the mysterious coronavirus as hundreds of millions of people travel across Asia to celebrate Chinese New Year this weekend.
China's National Health Commission confirmed cases of the SARS-like virus spreading between humans on Monday. The disease has already infected 224 people and killed four, according to the Financial Times. The World Health Organization will meet on Wednesday to discuss whether to declare the outbreak an international public health emergency.
Travel - Luxury - Goods - Stocks - Concerns
Travel, retail, and luxury goods stocks fell sharply on concerns that the disease will hit demand. Airlines slumped on fears of crimped travel plans. Pharma stocks in China rose by their 10% daily limit. A maker of face masks in China surged.
"Markets are worried about this spreading to more cities," said Neil Wilson at Markets.com.
Market - Roundup - Am - London - Am
Here's the market roundup as of 9:10 a.m. in London (4:10 a.m. ET):
Asian indexes slumped with China's Shanghai Composite down 1.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng down...
Wake Up To Breaking News!


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Ad blockers gain ground as consumers say ‘Enough’
The use of ad-blocking software is growing as Internet users try to deal with the swelling number of ads delivered programmatically and the pervasive tracking of their online behavior.
This growth has set alarm bells ringing within the online advertising industry, with concerns that the use of ad blockers could damage publishers’ online revenues. Just last week it emerged that two groups of publishers in France are considering a lawsuit against, Eyeo GmbH, the maker of AdBlockPlus.
While behavioral advertising ideally makes advertising more relevant to viewers, some people find it “creepy”; data shows that last year’s revelations of the National Security Administration’s attempts to track citizens online has made them warier than ever.
Sarah Baehr, group director of digital strategy at Carat USA, says ad blocking is not one of her major concerns: “Everyone is caught up with bot fraud and viewability right now.” However, if agencies see ad blocking as a consumer demand for better online advertising and respond, Baehr sees it as a positive development. “Will it prompt Creative to think differently about what is appropriate or valuable based on the screen being viewed? I hope so,” she adds.
Randy Giusto, who analyzes advertising, ad tech and media as VP-Practice Leader at Outsell, agrees that ad fraud and viewability issues justifiably concern agencies, but he sees ad blocking as part of an issue that he predicts will become more important in 2015—online privacy. “Privacy has a lot of different faces and advertising is connected to it,” he says. “People are worried that information collected while they are online is being sold to advertisers, and, on the flip side, the result of that is being inundated by ads.”
Avoiding the annoying
The prevalence of ad-blocking increased 69 percent worldwide between the second quarter of 2013 and Q2 2014, according to the recently released report “Adblocking Goes Mainstream” from Adobe and PageFair, a two-year-old Irish company that measures the use of ad blocking by visitors to publisher websites and provides technology to display “non-intrusive” ads to those users.
Although the study did not break out growth in ad blocking by country, Adobe and PageFair surveyed a sample of 1,621 U.S. Internet users to find out their characteristics and ad-blocking motivations. More than one-quarter of respondents, 27.6 percent, reported using ad-blocking software, although only 45 percent installed an ad blocker because they did not want to see any advertising.
Of the remaining respondents, 49 percent wanted to “remove ads they found especially annoying,” and 31 percent expressed concerns about their online behavior being monitored, saying they had installed ad-block software to prevent third-party cookie tracking or “remove ads that seem to know which websites I visit.”
Of men and millennials
Demographically, the survey found that men and millennials are most likely to use ad blockers. Men are 48 percent more likely than women to block ads, and 41 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 reported using the software. “This shows a generational mindset shift,” Giusto says, pointing out that young people will likely continue their ad-avoidance behavior as they grow in buying power and influence — a serious problem for the advertising industry in the future.
The Adobe/PageFair study drilled down to see which types of advertising ad-blocking consumers found most and least acceptable. Two-thirds of consumers using ad blockers were willing to view display ads with text and/or still images, but display ads with audio, non-skippable ads within videos (mid-roll) and popovers were the most unpopular, with 78 percent, 81 percent and 83 percent, respectively, reporting they were “completely unwilling” to view them.
“There have always been and always will be annoying ads; the irony is that they sometimes work,” points out Andrew Frank, vice president-distinguished analyst at Gartner. “Changes in consumer behavior are already forcing ad agencies to evolve and consider new approaches to engaging consumers with compelling content,” he says, adding that the use of data in decision-making will enable agencies to respond effectively whenever their target audiences are not engaging with their advertising.
While Frank does not expect ad blocking, by itself, to have much effect on the performance of advertisers or agencies, “the larger trend of ad avoidance may be cause for concern.”


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Toyota has released more details on its 2013 Toyota Avalon flagship, which debuted earlier this year at the 2012 New York Auto Show.
Read This Article
“Hot” and “hybrid” aren't usually words that go together, although that's beginning to change.
Consumers may be scrambling for last minute holiday gifts, but our attention is already focused on the new year.
It was another forgettable month for automakers from the Land of the Rising Sun.


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|By PR Newswire||
|January 14, 2014 05:00 AM EST||
WAYNE, N.J., Jan. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Babies"R"Us®, the nation's leading dedicated juvenile products retailer announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with TheBump.com, a leading pregnancy and parenting website that offers advice, ideas, resources and support to first-time parents as they navigate pregnancy. Used by more than 18 million parents to date, the Babies"R"Us Registry will now be available to a new, expanded audience of moms-to-be who can create and share their registry directly from TheBump.com via its Gift Registry Center. With more than 5 million monthly unique visitors toTheBump.com, moms-to-be visit the Gift Registry Center for advice on where to register. In addition, the patented registry search tool on TheBump.com allows friends and family to easily find Babies"R"Us registrants' lists and buy them a gift. The partnership will continue to evolve and develop over time.
"When a mom-to-be learns she is expecting, she is eager to obtain information and recommendations from trusted parenting resources. Time and again, millions of moms have turned to both Babies"R"Us and The Bump throughout their journey to motherhood," said Peter Reiner, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Toys"R"Us, U.S. "Through this partnership, we are pleased to extend the reach of our Babies"R"Us Registry even further, and allow parents convenient and efficient access to create, build and share their registries with their loved ones through a respected and reputable site."
"Our members rely on TheBump.com for its expansive content, resources, interactive tools and online community, which essentially equips them with everything they need to know about becoming a mom," said Kathleen Kimple, Executive Vice President of e-Commerce and Registry, XO Group Inc. "That's why our partnership with Babies"R"Us, the most widely-used baby registry, is so fitting, as moms-to-be will be able to secure information and advice to then create a registry with a retailer they trust."
The two brands will support the partnership with a comprehensive cross-promotional program, inclusive of digital advertising, signage, registry materials and via The Bump My Pregnancy Calendar mobile app and newsletters, among other avenues.
About Toys"R"Us, Inc.
Toys"R"Us, Inc. is the world's leading dedicated toy and juvenile products retailer, offering a differentiated shopping experience through its family of brands. Merchandise is sold in 879 Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, and in more than 705 international stores and over 180 licensed stores in 35 countries and jurisdictions. In addition, it exclusively operates the legendary FAO Schwarz brand and sells extraordinary toys in the brand's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. With its strong portfolio of e-commerce sites including Toysrus.com, Babiesrus.com, eToys.com and FAO.com, it provides shoppers with a broad online selection of distinctive toy and baby products. Headquartered in Wayne, NJ, Toys"R"Us, Inc. employs approximately 70,000 associates annually worldwide. The company is committed to serving its communities as a caring and reputable neighbor through programs dedicated to keeping kids safe and helping them in times of need. Additional information about Toys"R"Us, Inc. can be found on Toysrusinc.com. Follow Toys"R"Us, Babies"R"Us and FAO Schwarz on Facebook at Facebook.com/Toysrus, Facebook.com/Babiesrus and Facebook.com/FAO and on Twitter at Twitter.com/Toysrus and Twitter.com/Babiesrus.
The Bump is the only multiplatform resource giving first-time moms the inside scoop on fertility, pregnancy and new mommyhood, reaching millions of moms each year through TheBump.com and The Bump local guide. The Bump editorial team, "born" from The Knot, provides new moms stage-by-stage advice, stylish ideas, local resources, interactive tools and a savvy online community whose members are obsessed with knowing about everything baby. The Bump is a part of XO Group Inc. (NYSE: XOXO), a global media and technology leader devoted to weddings, pregnancy and everything in between. Follow The Bump on Twitter @thebump.
SOURCE Toys"R"Us, Inc.
SYS-CON Events announced today that Pulzze Systems will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Pulzze Systems, Inc. provides infrastructure products for the Internet of Things to enable any connected device and system to carry out matched operations without programming. For more information, visit http://www.pulzzesystems.com.
Sep. 25, 2016 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,799
SYS-CON Events announced today that Commvault, a global leader in enterprise data protection and information management, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Commvault is a leading provider of data protection and information management solutions, helping companies worldwide activate their data to drive more value and business insight and to transform moder...
Sep. 25, 2016 06:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,395
Fact is, enterprises have significant legacy voice infrastructure that’s costly to replace with pure IP solutions. How can we bring this analog infrastructure into our shiny new cloud applications? There are proven methods to bind both legacy voice applications and traditional PSTN audio into cloud-based applications and services at a carrier scale. Some of the most successful implementations leverage WebRTC, WebSockets, SIP and other open source technologies. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Da...
Sep. 25, 2016 05:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,535
SYS-CON Events announced today that Secure Channels will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. The bedrock of Secure Channels Technology is a uniquely modified and enhanced process based on superencipherment. Superencipherment is the process of encrypting an already encrypted message one or more times, either using the same or a different algorithm.
Sep. 25, 2016 05:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,517
Traditional on-premises data centers have long been the domain of modern data platforms like Apache Hadoop, meaning companies who build their business on public cloud were challenged to run Big Data processing and analytics at scale. But recent advancements in Hadoop performance, security, and most importantly cloud-native integrations, are giving organizations the ability to truly gain value from all their data. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, David Tishgart, Director of Product Marketing ...
Sep. 25, 2016 05:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,744
SYS-CON Events announced today that Bsquare has been named “Silver Sponsor” of SYS-CON's @ThingsExpo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For more than two decades, Bsquare has helped its customers extract business value from a broad array of physical assets by making them intelligent, connecting them, and using the data they generate to optimize business processes.
Sep. 25, 2016 04:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,552
DevOps at Cloud Expo – being held November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA – announces that its Call for Papers is open. Born out of proven success in agile development, cloud computing, and process automation, DevOps is a macro trend you cannot afford to miss. From showcase success stories from early adopters and web-scale businesses, DevOps is expanding to organizations of all sizes, including the world's largest enterprises – and delivering real results. Am...
Sep. 25, 2016 03:15 PM EDT Reads: 4,384
Almost two-thirds of companies either have or soon will have IoT as the backbone of their business in 2016. However, IoT is far more complex than most firms expected. How can you not get trapped in the pitfalls? In his session at @ThingsExpo, Tony Shan, a renowned visionary and thought leader, will introduce a holistic method of IoTification, which is the process of IoTifying the existing technology and business models to adopt and leverage IoT. He will drill down to the components in this fra...
Sep. 25, 2016 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,574
The vision of a connected smart home is becoming reality with the application of integrated wireless technologies in devices and appliances. The use of standardized and TCP/IP networked wireless technologies in line-powered and battery operated sensors and controls has led to the adoption of radios in the 2.4GHz band, including Wi-Fi, BT/BLE and 802.15.4 applied ZigBee and Thread. This is driving the need for robust wireless coexistence for multiple radios to ensure throughput performance and th...
Sep. 25, 2016 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,509
SYS-CON Events announced today the Kubernetes and Google Container Engine Workshop, being held November 3, 2016, in conjunction with @DevOpsSummit at 19th Cloud Expo at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. This workshop led by Sebastian Scheele introduces participants to Kubernetes and Google Container Engine (GKE). Through a combination of instructor-led presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on labs, students learn the key concepts and practices for deploying and maintainin...
Sep. 25, 2016 02:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,602
Enterprise IT has been in the era of Hybrid Cloud for some time now. But it seems most conversations about Hybrid are focused on integrating AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google ECM into existing on-premises systems. Where is all the Private Cloud? What do technology providers need to do to make their offerings more compelling? How should enterprise IT executives and buyers define their focus, needs, and roadmap, and communicate that clearly to the providers?
Sep. 25, 2016 02:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,515
SYS-CON Events announced today that SoftLayer, an IBM Company, has been named “Gold Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 18th Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York, New York. SoftLayer, an IBM Company, provides cloud infrastructure as a service from a growing number of data centers and network points of presence around the world. SoftLayer’s customers range from Web startups to global enterprises.
Sep. 25, 2016 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 827
There is little doubt that Big Data solutions will have an increasing role in the Enterprise IT mainstream over time. Big Data at Cloud Expo - to be held November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA - has announced its Call for Papers is open. Cloud computing is being adopted in one form or another by 94% of enterprises today. Tens of billions of new devices are being connected to The Internet of Things. And Big Data is driving this bus. An exponential increase is...
Sep. 25, 2016 12:45 PM EDT Reads: 2,457
Digital innovation is the next big wave of business transformation based on digital technologies of which IoT and Big Data are key components, For example: Business boundary innovation is a challenge to excavate third-party business value using IoT and BigData, like Nest Business structure innovation may propose re-building business structure from scratch, as Uber does in the taxicab industry The social model innovation is also a big challenge to the new social architecture with the design fr...
Sep. 25, 2016 12:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,113
DevOps at Cloud Expo, taking place Nov 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with 19th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. The widespread success of cloud computing is driving the DevOps revolution in enterprise IT. Now as never before, development teams must communicate and collaborate in a dynamic, 24/7/365 environment. There is no time to wait for long dev...
Sep. 25, 2016 12:15 PM EDT Reads: 3,380


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Washington, DC – The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) and Vote Hemp have announced the dates for the 9th annual Hemp History Week, to be held June 4-10, 2018. During 2017, over 25,000 acres were planted and harvested in the U.S.—a record number since the passage of the 2014 Farm Bill. Over half of all U.S. states have lifted the ban on industrial hemp farming at the state level, however federal law still prohibits commercial industrial hemp cultivation due to outdated and inaccurate drug policy. With momentum building across the country, and increasing consumer awareness about the health benefits, economic opportunities, technological innovation and sustainability advantages of industrial hemp, advocates and organizers are eager to see 2018 be the year industrial hemp farming expands across the American agriculture landscape and sets deep roots in American soil once again.
To help inform Americans about the agricultural sustainability of industrial hemp, the Hemp History Week campaign has released a new short video, Deep Roots, titled after the 9th annual campaign’s educational theme. Filmed at the Rodale Institute Experimental Farm in Pennsylvania, Deep Roots documents the research of Rodale Institute agronomists on cultivating hemp within a regenerative organic no-till agriculture model. Specifically, the video presents the researchers’ insight on hemp’s role in sustainable agriculture, soil health, mitigating climate change, and incorporating hemp into crop rotations and weed management methods. An interview with Rodale Institute farm manager Ross Duffield emphasizes how industrial hemp could play a key role in rejuvenating the soil and economic health of American farmlands, and research technician Tara Caton discusses the attraction pollinators demonstrate toward hemp. To view the new video for the 9th annual campaign, visit: https://youtu.be/wCcTYPQLk8s.
Legislative Challenges and Opportunities in 2018
When the 2013 Farm Bill was signed into law in February of 2014, it allowed for states that have legalized the crop to cultivate hemp within the parameters of state agriculture departments and research institutions. Read the full text of the Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research amendment on the Vote Hemp website: http://www.votehemp.com/PDF/Pages_from_farm0127.pdf.
Despite federal progress toward commercial hemp farming since 2014, the hemp industry faces a number of challenges and barriers to full scale farming of industrial hemp, including: inability of hemp farmers to obtain crop insurance and financing, difficulties involved with sourcing certified hemp seed, lack of adequate processing infrastructure in the U.S. for raw hemp materials, illegal government interference with interstate commerce of U.S. grown and manufactured hemp products, and the mis-regulation of CBD products.
The 34 states that have legalized industrial hemp farming, per provision Sec. 7606 of the farm bill, include: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.


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We previously reported that Hasbro and Paramount will attend this year’s Brand Licensing Europe Expo. We also speculated that there is a chance to see Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts content at the 2022 event.
Happily, we can now confirm that Hasbro will indeed showcase Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts at BLE 2022.
Speaking to the press, Hasbro had this to say:
“Key brands on display will include Transformers, with the new animated kids’ series [EarthSpark], [and] Transformers: Rise of the Beasts due for release in 2023, as well as the first Transformers and My Little Pony hotel coming soon.”
In the UK, we have a licensing programme lined up for the upcoming Transformers: EarthSpark series, including the new pocket money partner RMS International, as well as Hunter Price with a line of fidget toys, arts and crafts, plus more.”
Brand Licensing Europe 2022 Expo will take place from September 20th at ExCel London.
Hasbro booth can be located at A211.


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Nissans new super height wagon type minicar will be known as- Nissan DAYZ ROOX
Nissan today announced the name of its second new minicar, a super height (tall) wagon, Nissan DAYZ ROOX. Nissan is currently planning and developing this new minicar, which is slated for launch in early 2014, in partnership with Mitsubishi Motors through a minicar joint venture. The first model created by this joint venture, Nissan DAYZ, will begin sales in June 2013. Nissan DAYZ ROOX is the successor to the current Nissan ROOX and will become the second minicar created by NMKV, and will go on sale in early 2014.
With Nissan participating in the development of minicars from the onset of product planning, development and design phases, the new DAYZ ROOX will reflect Nissan’s brand identity in exterior design as well as features that will be inherited from the know-how cultivated from Serena, the No.1 minivan in Japan in 2012.


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20 junio 2022
Lleida.net to distribute dividends for a third consecutiveyear
Madrid, 20 June - Lleida.net (OTCQX:LLEIF) (BME:LLN) (EPA:ALLLN) will distribute dividends of 247,000 euros net among its shareholders.
This is the third consecutive year the company has distributed profits, and it will do it with the same amount as the previous year, or 0.0125 euros per share.
Currently, the company has 16,049,943 shares listed on BME Growth in Madrid, Euronext Growth in Paris, and OTCQX in New York.
The distribution decision was approved last Friday at the company's Ordinary General Shareholders' Meeting, at the proposal of the company's Board of Directors. "Even though the stock market context is complex for the technology sector, Lleida.net is committed to its shareholders, and not this commitment is manifested, once again, in a generous distribution of dividends among them," explained Sisco Sapena, CEO and founder of the company.
The corporation paid dividends for the first time in 2020, in which Lleida.net was one of the main success stories of the European stock market, spurred by the change in the behavioural habits of companies and users as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has one of the industry's most significant international intellectual property portfolios, with more than 60 countries recognizing its inventions with more than 210 patents. Its intellectual property portfolio is one of the largest in the industry worldwide.
The company was founded in 1995 and has offices in 18 countries and clients in more than 50.


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July 31, 2010
July 31, 2010
Researchers in New York studied the diets of older men and women and found that certain foods may be especially effective in helping to protect against Alzheimer’s. The findings appeared online in the Archives of Neurology, a medical journal from the American Medical Association.
These brain-healthy foods include:
- salad dressing
- cruciferous vegetables (such as mustard and cabbage)
- dark and green leafy vegetables
Conversely, particular foods may be bad for brain health and be linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. Such foods, the researchers found, include high-fat dairy products, red meat, organ meat and butter.
The researchers studied the dietary habits of 2,148 older men and women living in northern Manhattan. At the study’s start, all the participants were age 65 or older and free of memory loss or other symptoms of Alzheimer’s. They were given follow-up exams every one-and-a-half years for an average of four years.
Earlier research, including research done by the Columbia group, have shown that a Mediterranean-style diet rich in fish, olive oil, fruits, vegetables and red wine and low in red meat and butter may help protect against Alzheimer’s. But many Americans, including the older Caucasians, blacks and Hispanics included in this study, do not follow a Mediterranean style diet.
“Epidemiological evidence linking diet, one of the most important modifiable environmental factors, and risk of Alzheimer’s disease is rapidly increasing,” wrote the researchers, from Columbia University Medical Center in New York. “However, current literature regarding the impact of individual nutrients or food items on Alzheimer’s disease risk is inconsistent, partly because humans eat meals with complex combinations of nutrients or food items that are likely to be synergistic.”
Instead, the researchers this time studied the diet in terms of seven main food groups and nutrients that have been tied to Alzheimer’s risk. They looked at these key food groups, all of which have been linked to an increased or decreased risk of Alzheimer’s.
Foods that may be linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s include total fats, particularly:
- Saturated fatty acids: Fatty acids are the building blocks that the body uses to make fats. Eating foods high in saturated fats, like red meat, butter and dairy products, are associated with the development of degenerative diseases, including heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Increased intake of polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats, on the other hand, may be protective against Alzheimer’s:
- Monounsaturated fatty acids: These heart-healthy fats lower cholesterol and may also be good for the brain. Nuts, including walnuts, peanuts, almonds and pistachios, are high in monounsaturated fats. Avocadoes and canola and olive oils are also high in these fats.
- Omega-3 fatty acids: These polyunsaturated fats have increasingly been tied to heart and brain health and a lower risk of Alzheimer’s. They include eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA), both found primarily in oily cold-water fish like tuna, salmon, sardines and mackerel. A third omega-3, called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is found primarily in dark green leafy vegetables, flaxseed oils and certain vegetable oils.
- Omega-6 fatty acids: These unsaturated fats tend to be much more common in the American diet than their cousins, the omega-3 fatty acids. Most vegetables oils contain omega-6s, as do avocadoes, nuts, poultry, eggs and other foods. Eating them is not unhealthy. But eating omega-6’s at the expense of omega-3’s, in vastly higher proportions, has been linked to higher levels of inflammation that may be bad for brain health.
Additional nutrients that have been linked to better memory and thinking skills as well as a lower risk of Alzheimer’s include:
- Vitamin E: This powerful antioxidant vitamin has been linked to a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s in some studies. Good food sources include wheat germs, vegetable oils, nuts, leafy greens and whole grains.
- Vitamin B12: Most people get plenty of B12 in their diets, but older people may lose the ability to absorb it properly. Foods like organ meats, oysters, fish, eggs, meat and cheese, as well as fortified breakfast cereals, are high in B12. The vitamin, along with folate, helps keep levels of homocysteine, an amino acid tied to inflammation, in check.
- Folate: Foods are fortified with this B vitamin to prevent birth defects, and it is also tied to heart and brain health, including a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Excellent food sources of folate, or folic acid as it is also called, include green vegetables, beans, whole grains and orange juice.
In the New York study, older men and women were given extensive questionnaires asking about the specific foods they ate daily. During the study follow-up period, 253 of them developed Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers controlled for variables like smoking and alcohol use (moderate drinking, for example, may be good for the brain, whereas excessive drinking is not). One dietary pattern was significantly associated with a reduced risk of the disease. This pattern involved high intakes of salad dressing, nuts, fish, tomatoes, poultry, fruits and cruciferous and dark and green leafy vegetables and low intakes of high-fat dairy, red meat, organ meat and butter.
The combination of nutrients in the low-risk dietary pattern reflect multiple pathways in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the authors noted. For example, they write, “vitamin B12 and folate are homocysteine-related vitamins that may have an impact on Alzheimer’s disease via their ability of reducing circulating homocysteine levels, vitamin E might prevent Alzheimer’s disease via its strong antioxidant effect and fatty acids may be related to dementia and cognitive function through atherosclerosis, thrombosis or inflammation via an effect on brain development and membrane functioning or via accumulation of beta-amyloid.”
“Our findings provide support for further exploration of food combination–based dietary behavior for the prevention of this important public health problem,” they conclude.
Yian Gu, Ph.D.; Jeri W. Nieves, Ph.D.; Yaakov Stern, Ph.D.; et al: “Food Combination and Alzheimer’s Disease Risk: A Protective Diet.” Archives of Neurology, Vol. 67(No. 6):(doi:10.1001/archneurol.2010.84), April 12, 2010.


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The HTC Bolt has been rumored quite a bit recently, and is supposedly destined for Sprint's network – hopefully not as a carrier exclusive. Many are thinking it'll be a successor to the HTC Thunderbolt that was exclusive to Verizon and one of their very first 4G LTE smartphones (that tells you just how long ago that smartphone debuted). Now, thanks to VentureBeat, there is a new image of the device in the wild. And it looks, a lot like any other HTC smartphone with a metal unibody.
According to VentureBeat, the device is slated to be released later this month and will be running Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. Additionally, while it looks similar to the HTC 10, it is a bit larger. We're looking at a 5.5-inch display here, although the resolution is not mentioned. It is likely going to be a 1080p panel judging by the other specs that have surfaced. The report notes that it'll be sporting 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. There is a micro SD card slot available, so you are able to add additional storage. Worth noting is the fact that HTC does support Adoptable Storage on their smartphones. Finally, the camera on the backside is slated to be a 18-megapixel shooter with a f/2.0 aperture. No mention of the front-facing camera, but it'll likely be an "UltraPixel" camera. A few other specs worth mentioning is the fact that it has USB-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It also has a physical home button, but it's unclear whether that is a fingerprint sensor as well, it likely is, though.
This report mentions that HTC will have the Bolt available globally, "including on Sprint in the United States". That doesn't confirm that it will indeed be an exclusive to Sprint, but it doesn't say that it won't be. So we'll have to wait until HTC makes the device official. And with the month already roughly being half over, it's likely that we won't have to wait much longer for the device to be made official. Especially since HTC is going to want to get this device on shelves before the holiday season begins which is just a few weeks away. You can check out all of the images of the HTC Bolt in the gallery below.


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DAYTONA BEACH -- The operators of the Ocean Deck Restaurant & Beach Club, one of this city's oldest beachside mainstays, have long sought to make the venue exude comfortability.
From its second floor overlooking the beach to the live reggae music, it's one of the places tourists think of when they visit the World's Most Famous Beach.
The restaurant is under new ownership for the first time in 32 years, but it would be crazy, its new proprietors say, to change the Ocean Deck's vibe. Not much has changed in the three months since the restaurant/bar's three new co-owners took over, and that's exactly how they and the previous owner want it.
"You've got to try some things but I don't want the guests to say, 'Oh my gosh, you changed the Ocean Deck.' That would never happen," said Matt Fuerst, one of the new owners. "This is too legendary to mess with. Mr. Keough, we're just trying to carry on his legacy."
Dick Keough bought the business in 1980 and continued to run it until he sold it to the trio, which includes his longtime general managers Ken Bots and Vernon Kuftic, on Feb. 16.
Prior to taking it over, Keough said the business just was a small beachfront beer and hot dog stand.
Over the years, it has grown to become much more.
Keough, who proceeded to expand the beachfront bar and restaurant, said the Ocean Deck has become a Daytona Beach institution where a number of longtime customers met their future spouses, became engaged and/or got married.
Keough said he is proud of what he has accomplished as owner of the Ocean Deck, but added that at age 68 he decided it was finally time to sell the business so he could have more time to spend with his grandkids and to travel.
That meant that Bots and Kuftic could finally realize their 20-year dream of becoming the Ocean Deck's owners.
Bots and Kuftic have been the restaurant's general managers since the mid-1980s.
The partners said they made their first pitch to buy the Ocean Deck in the early 1990s. Keough at the time declined their offer.
"He was still pretty young," Fuerst said of Keough. "He was intrigued by our offer, kept it in the back of his mind for a long time. Every five years Ken and me would hook up, even though I was living in North Carolina or Orlando, and we'd talk about it. All of a sudden last May, after our third or fourth attempt of trying to buy the Ocean Deck, Dick was finally ready to move on."
Keough already knew what Bots and Kuftic could do. Part of what got him to change his mind was the decision by Bots and Kiftic to take on Fuerst -- a restaurant industry veteran who has worked with national chains -- as a partner.
Fuerst has known Bots since 1988, when he was running the Olive Garden restaurant near the Daytona International Speedway. They became friends, their wives became friends, and their kids were the same age. Fuerst moved up the chain from dishwasher to regional director of operations at Darden Restaurants, Olive Garden's parent company.
He moved around the southeastern U.S. in that role with Darden but continued to stay in touch with Bots and Kuftic.
"That was part of the whole allure of selling, that it would be in good hands," Keough said. "I had heard about Matt and he's got a good reputation, and I certainly didn't want to sell it to somebody who would do wrong to it."
It took about nine months to get the money and paperwork together to buy the restaurant -- banks don't easily lend money these days, especially to restaurants, Fuerst said -- but the trio took over in February.
Paros Properties still owns the lot that the Ocean Deck restaurant sits on at 127 S. Ocean Ave.
Spring Break, the Daytona 500 and Bike Week brought hundreds of thousands of people to the area just a month after the three partners purchased the Ocean Deck.
The switch from corporate restaurants to three-man independent ownership has taken some adjustment, Fuerst said, but Bots and Kuftic's experience helps. They are thrilled to finally call themselves owners.
"All of us, this has been our dream for a long time," Fuerst said. "You wait around and work hard enough and your dreams can come true. We fulfilled what we wanted to do over 20 years ago. Patience -- it happens."
The biggest change Fuerst has made at the Ocean Deck, he says, is changing a light bulb.


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Following a $46 million renovation and conversion, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel on Hawaii's Big Island will become The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, owner Prince Hotels & Resorts announced yesterday.
The hotel -- which will continue to be operated by current operator Prince Resorts Hawaii -- will complete its transformation in February 2018, but will begin participating next month in the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) loyalty program, of which Westin is a part.
Along with a new name, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel -- which is part of the Big Island's famed Mauna Kea Resort -- will boast "reimagined guest rooms, fresh new food and beverage concepts, and invigorating wellness options," according to its website. Highlights will include a new lobby design featuring interactive check-in pods instead of a traditional front desk, a new lobby bar, a recast breakfast restaurant, a new adults-only swimming pool, and a new wellness center with a Crossfit studio, a gym, and a spa.
The resort's meeting space, totaling over 18,000 square feet, already was updated with new carpeting, wall sconces, wallcoverings, and banquet seating last year.
The hotel said its ethos perfectly complements that of the Westin brand, whose focus is health and wellness.
"Westin's history of delivering a best-in-class product is perfectly suited for Hapuna and will reposition the hotel as a top competitor on the Kohala Coast," said Craig Anderson, vice president of operations at Mauna Kea Resort.
"Well-being is a big part of the local culture here, so we couldn't be more excited to bring the Westin brand to the island of Hawaii," added Donn Takahashi, president of Prince Resorts Hawaii. "With longtime Westin-veteran Craig Anderson at the helm, we're confident that his leadership will allow us to leverage the brand's successful lifestyle positioning and elevate the guest experience."
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