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Dollar stores have always been a popular choice for low-income shoppers, but recently, these ultra-budget chains have become a far larger part of the grocery landscape. Three dollar chains in particular -- Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar General -- have grown faster than nearly any other retailers in the U.S., opening thousands of new locations over the last couple of years. That's good news for underserved communities, right? Perhaps not.
While offering name-brand products for a value price sounds consumer-friendly on paper, these chains have a history rife with scandals. From countless safety violations to concerning levels of hazardous materials in their products to associations with particularly unsettling public health and social trends, dollar store chains may not be as helpful as they look. Whether dollar stores are truly a blight on poor communities or merely a symptom of a larger issue, there is no denying the sheer volume of bad situations they've been connected with. Maybe they're not bad places to grab a pair of sunglasses or a quick snack all the time, but regardless, we must address some of the most shocking scandals that have plagued the dollar store industry.
Read more: Famous Chefs Who Are Jerks In Real Life
Dollar Stores Have Contributed To Food Deserts
For those who don't know, a food desert is a region where fresh, healthy foods are unavailable due to economic or geographical limitations. The existence of food deserts is one of the major crises of modern society, and dollar stores have greatly exacerbated this issue. They contribute to the problem by saturating the market in underserved communities and pricing out full-service grocery stores that would otherwise stock more whole fruits and vegetables. This leaves the local residents with very few fresh, healthy food options since dollar store chains typically only stock processed foods.
Dollar General and Family Dollar have tried to combat this phenomenon by introducing fresh produce into their stores, but this is currently only the case for a small percentage of stores, and selection is limited. Elsewhere, the issue is serious enough that in 2019, the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, passed an amendment to prohibit further dollar store openings in an attempt to prevent the worsening of food desert conditions. As it stands, this is an ongoing controversy with no sign of a solution in sight.
Stores Were Fined For Selling Expired Medication And Motor Oil
A recurring theme of these scandals is that dollar stores have been accused of cutting costs in order to maintain a profit -- apparently, the big three have all compromised the freshness of their products at some point. In 2019, investigators in the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James discovered expired drugs on the shelf in Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar General, netting massive fines for all three companies. Dollar General was also fined for selling obsolete motor oil. And these are just the cases that got the stores reprimanded.
There have been plenty of other examples of dollar stores selling expired food that didn't elicit a response from authorities. For instance, one customer reported spotting a freezer full of two-year-old frozen pizzas at an unnamed dollar store chain in Ohio. But if anecdotal evidence isn't enough to prove how widespread of an issue this is, the fact that all three of the major dollar store chains have been busted selling expired products should certainly be cause for concern.
Dollar Stores Have Been A Hotbed For Violent Crime
Dollar stores are a surprisingly dangerous place to shop. Between the fact that they are common in low-income, high-crime neighborhoods and the fact that their minimal staffing makes them an easy target for theft, dollar stores see a disproportionate amount of violent crime. It is reported that more than 200 violent incidents involving guns occurred at Family Dollar or Dollar General stores from 2017 to 2020 alone, nearly 50 of which resulted in deaths (via ProPublica). And this figure only accounts for gun-related violence. The overall figures are likely higher.Though you can't directly blame dollar stores for attracting violent crime, there is a big enough link between the two that it suggests some level of negligence on the part of these chains. In spite of the obvious issue of violent crime, you aren't likely to see security at most dollar store chains. That's exactly the kind of expense that low-margin stores can't be expected to make. An activist group called Step Up Louisiana has identified several changes that Dollar General can make to promote safety in stores, including creating a new safety-focused staff position and allocating more hours and employees to stores so that no employee has to work alone.
The Big Three Have Had Widespread OSHA Violation Complaints Made Against Them
Yet another way that discount retailers can cut corners to boost profits is by piling stores as full of merchandise as they can get. This leads to blocked emergency exits, inaccessible fire extinguishers, and evidently, hundreds of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations. Dollar Tree and its subsidiary Family Dollar have collectively accrued over 400 OSHA violations and paid $13.1 million in fines since 2017 (via Reuters). Dollar General has been imposed $21 million in fines following 240 investigations for reported OSHA violations since 2017 (via OSHA).
While no corporation has a perfect track record for worker safety, the considerable volume of OSHA violation complaints made against the major dollar store chains has drawn outrage from both customers and employees alike. Additionally, the fact that this is an issue for all of the big three chains indicates that these safety concerns are endemic to dollar stores in particular. Those low prices may be tempting but they shouldn't come at the expense of anyone's safety.
Dollar General Has Been Called Out As A Terrible Employer
In addition to the fact that dollar stores have often failed to protect their employees from on-the-job hazards, these stores have earned further scorn from workers by offering low pay and understaffing their stores.
One former employee who managed a Dollar General in Detroit, Michigan, in 2013 recounted having to work 70 hours a week on average in order to complete all of her expected tasks -- and for a salary that was only slightly higher than that of the employees she managed (via HuffPost). This isn't an isolated incident, either. It is indicative of the average managerial experience at most dollar stores.
When the manager of a Dollar General in Eliot, Maine, quit in 2021, the rest of the store's small crew of employees were expected to run the store in their stead. This led to a walkout by the whole staff. They punctuated their exit with a few hand-written signs in the store's window. Grocery store employees already have it pretty rough, but it is clear from the abundance of testimonies from former workers that dollar store employees have it even worse.
Family Dollar Had To Close 400 Stores Because Of A Rodent Infestation At A Distribution Center
If you think that the average Family Dollar stores look a little run-down, just imagine what their distribution centers look like. Stories from these kinds of facilities rarely reach the public unless they are truly appalling. Like when a serious rodent infestation at a Family Dollar distribution center in Arkansas led to the temporary closure of over 400 stores across six states.
This issue was brought to light following a consumer complaint to the Food and Drug Administration in 2022. When the FDA inspected this facility, it reported finding more than 1,000 live and dead rodents, as well as evidence that they had been gnawing through and nesting in stored products. A review of the company's internal records further revealed that more than 2,300 rodents had been collected from the site in 2021, indicating that this infestation had been going on for an appalling amount of time (via FDA).
Following the closure of the impacted stores, Family Dollar issued a voluntary recall of all drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, dietary supplements, and food products to prevent the possible spread of hazards like salmonella. Thankfully, there were no reports of customers developing salmonella. Still, it is fair to say that this fiasco could be remembered as a major breach of trust between Family Dollar and its customers.
Dollar Stores Sold Products With Concerning Levels Of Hazardous Materials
Dollar stores sell products at extremely low prices, but that creates higher potential for compromises to be made on items' quality and overall safety. Most discerning customers are aware of this; however, customers may not be aware of just how many dollar store products exceed the safe level of hazardous materials set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
An independent study in 2015 revealed that 133 of 164 randomly selected dollar store chain products tested contained at least one hazardous chemical above levels of concern (via The Campaign for Healthier Solutions). That means 81% of products tested had concerning levels of lead, phthalates, polyvinyl chloride plastic, or other hazardous materials.
Exposure to such chemicals is linked to an increased risk of asthma, cancer, lead poisoning, and learning disabilities. Considering that this is an ongoing issue with all three of the major dollar store chains, it's bound to send health-conscious shoppers who can afford it to shop elsewhere.
Dollar Tree Raised Its Prices Past The Dollar Mark
In most contexts, inflation is a regular part of life in the modern consumerist world and, therefore, far from scandalous. However, even the smallest price increases in the dollar store industry have the potential to harm families living in poverty. That is why many shoppers across the country got angry when Dollar Tree finally raised their prices beyond the dollar mark in 2021.
Admittedly, Dollar Tree was the last of the big three chains to raise their prices, as both Family Dollar and Dollar General were already selling items priced over $1 prior to 2021. But when Dollar Tree raised the price of most of their items to $1.25, it changed the absolute price floor at which most goods could be sold. It also betrayed a promise from Dollar Tree chief executive Michael Witynski, who claimed that the dollar price was here to stay only three months before this change was announced.
Customers were upset, and rightfully so given that this price change flew against both Witynski's promise and 35 years of brand identity. One Twitter user commented, "Something about that $1.25 got me wanting to boycott Dollar Tree." Another Twitter user wrote, "Dollar Tree being $1.25 Tree is still not sitting right with me." However, those who rely on these budget retailers to survive are in no position to boycott or protest these stores. Instead, they simply have to deal with the 25% price increase.
Dollar General Was Sued For Listing False Prices On The Shelves
As if publicly raising prices wasn't already scandalous enough, Dollar General has recently come under fire for covertly charging customers more per item at the register than what was originally listed on the shelves. The chain was sued by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in 2022 when 20 stores in Butler County were caught exceeding the legal margin allowed for price differentials.
"Ohioans can ill-afford businesses that draw people in with the promise of low prices only to deceive them at the checkout counter," said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. "This seems like a company trying to make an extra buck and hoping no one will notice. We've not only noticed but are taking action to stop it."
Investigators with the Attorney General's Office found that between 16.7% to 88.2% of products showed a higher price at checkout compared to the price advertised on shelves. The Ohio Department of Agriculture permits stores to have a max overcharge error rate of only 2% (via Ohio Attorney General).
And while the company was thoroughly fined for its mistakes, there is a reasonable chance that this is still a persistent issue in other states and counties. That's why you should always double-check the prices at dollar stores.
The Stores Have Tricked Customers With Unusually Small Portions
We have identified countless examples of items that are regularly a worse deal to purchase at dollar stores compared to a normal grocery store. This is because dollar stores commonly offer products in comparatively smaller portions. For example, one source reported that in 2017, an Aldi's brand bag of potato chips was nearly twice the size of a dollar store brand, and it was only slightly more expensive at $1.49. Additionally, many canned foods can be found for under $1 in department stores like Walmart and Target, while dollar stores charge at least $1 for the same product.
The issue is only worse when a dollar store sells name brands. Breakfast cereal is a great example. A 3-ounce bag of Lucky Charms is $1.25 at Dollar Tree, while a 29-ounce bag of Lucky Charms is $5.48 at Walmart. That's 40 cents per ounce versus 18 cents per ounce. For those who can afford to buy cereal in bulk, Walmart is the clear winner. All this said, dollar stores have competitive prices for non-food items. If you aim to save money, you should always do the math.
The Big Three Got Busted For Selling Weak Vitamins
Not only do dollar store products have smaller quantities and lower quality, but they are also less potent at times. Major dollar store chains have been called out for selling multivitamins that test to have a different amount of nutrients than what is listed on the label. This was confirmed by Consumer Reports, which sent secret shoppers on dozens of trips to mostly big-chain dollar stores like Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar. The source didn't clarify which chains specifically sold the weak vitamins, but it is plausible that all of the big three are guilty.
Unverified dietary supplements pose a risk to customers because it is unknown if they were made safely and according to industry guidelines. Additionally, if their dosing is not consistent, it is possible that some units could have harmful levels of some ingredients. It is best to only purchase vitamins from companies that have gone through voluntary verification agencies like USP or Consumer Labs.
One Dollar Tree Store Rocked The Boat By Attacking Gen Z
Like plenty of other grocery store chains that are "too big to fail," Dollar Tree has come under fire for participating in some old-fashioned discrimination. Most recently, one store in Bremen, Indiana, made local news when a store owner included a tirade against Gen Z on a hand-written help wanted sign. The handwritten sign read: "I apologize for us closing AGAIN. My 2 new cashiers quit because I said their boyfriends couldn't stand here for their entire shift. Don't hire Gen Z's. They don't know what work actually means. NOW HIRING! *Baby Boomers ONLY, thanks!"
Thankfully, the manager lost their job over this fiasco, which sends a clear message from Dollar Tree that the manager's opinions do not align with the company's values. At least one confirmed Dollar Tree shopper didn't agree with the manger's message, either.
"You're going to get people from every group who are lazy and work hard," regular customer Lindsay Berger told WNDU. "I'm sure when baby boomers were young, they were probably also called lazy, and it just keeps going on from generation to generation."
However, the fact that Dollar Tree gave a somewhat high-ranking job to an individual with apparent bigoted tendencies reflects poorly on the company. This blow comes especially hard considering that younger people who make less money are the exact kind of customers that dollar stores aim to attract.
Read the original article on Mashed.


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Ever wondered why some of us demolish a block of chocolate in a single sitting and others eat only a square or two before finding it too sweet and sickly?
Well, scientists have found the answer. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has discovered that our brain, and a wider range of genes than previously thought, play an important role in how sweet we find food and how much sugar we consume.
In other words, our sugar cravings are partly hard-wired.
The research looked at data from 176,867 people of European ancestry from Australia, the US and UK.
Scientists measured how sweet 1,757 Australians thought sugars (glucose and fructose) and artificial sweeteners (aspartame and neohesperidin dihydrochalcone) were. The sweetness perceptions (sucrose) of 686 Americans was also measured.
Postdoctoral Researcher at The University of Queensland, Daniel Liang-Dar Hwang, wrote in The Conversation:"We also calculated the daily intake of dietary sugars (monosaccharide and disaccharide sugars found in foods such as fruit, vegetables, milk and cheese) and sweets (lollies and chocolates) from 174,424 British people of European descent in the UK Biobank.''
Scientists then used a technique known as genome-wide association analysis to analyse the relationship between millions of genetic markers and sweet perception taste and sugar consumption.
What researchers found was that "several genes (other than those related to sweet taste receptors) have a stronger impact on how we perceive sweetness and how much sugar we eat and drink.
"Our study suggests the important role the brain plays in how sweet we think something is and how much sugar we consume. That’s in addition to what we already know about the role of taste receptors in our mouth,'' Liang-Dar Hwang said.
Sweetness perception also varied according to race, with people of African descent eating more sugar than people of European and Asian descent.
So what do these new findings mean for nutrition? One day there could be diets personalised around people's genetics.
But scientists are quick to remind us that genetics are not the only factor at play in sugar consumption, so put down that doughnut and stop blaming your mum.
Nutrition showdown: which fast food is the healthiest?0:56
We test five of Australia's favourite fast food fixes for nutrition: KFC, Domino's, McDonald's, Zambrero and Subway. The results might surprise you.

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Urging individuals to shun tobacco, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday stated e-cigarettes had been banned to forestall individuals from a brand new method of intoxication. These had been his first remarks on the difficulty of well being hazards linked to e-cigarettes after the Union Cupboard earlier this month banned its sale, manufacturing and storage by means of an ordinance. The ordinance shall be transformed right into a invoice within the subsequent session of Parliament.
The Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee (NDAC) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended the approval of the New Drug Application (NDA) from GlaxoSmithKline for an over-the-counter (OTC) nicotine mouth spray to aid in smoking cessation (9 to 6 vote). The nicotine mouth spray (NMS) delivers 1mg nicotine per spray; each dispenser would deliver at least 140 sprays, with a maximum of 4 sprays per hour and 64 sprays per day. The device includes an actuator press fitted to the spray pump and a press-and-push locking mechanism designed to be child-resistant.
In recent weeks, government officials across America and in other countries responded to legitimate, yet still poorly understood, health threats from vaping with immediate actions, moving toward limiting or even banning e-cigarettes. Given how slowly governments have responded to persistent and life-threatening social problems like climate change and gun violence, many of my high school peers and I have been wondering: Why the rush to action on vaping?
It has become a common coffee shop experience to get engaged in discussions concerning opioid and nicotine addictions, given all the frightening stories on overdoses and vaping. We wonder what can possibly be done to reduce the reported harms. After all, as we sip our lattes and cappuccinos; maybe a double espresso if we feel the need, we all have attitudes about addictions. Often, while possibly getting our cup refilled, we acknowledge that we cannot understand what could cause someone to use drugs. [...]
It’s been a rough year for the vaping industry. What began as a purportedly less harmful replacement for combustible cigarettes has become the focus of investigations into everything from lung disorders to fatalities. And now a new study has found concentrations of dangerous heavy metals like lead and copper in vapors produced by some types of tank-style e-cigarettes. Tank-style e-cigs, as opposed to the thinner (aka “cig-a-like”) and disposable styles, generate aerosol vapors using large capacity vape-fluid tanks and powerful batteries.
The Health Ministry on Tuesday said it was weighing a total ban on sales of e-cigarettes, following other countries that have sought to crack down on what has been described as a vaping epidemic.
The ministry said it was imposing an immediate ban on sales of flavored cartridges of oil used in the smoking devices. It was also considering imposing a blanket ban on sales via a temporary injunction, without waiting for the Knesset to pass new regulations.
Medical experts in the Pune have welcomed the ban on 'e-cigarettes'. According to the draft ordinance, the storage of e-cigarettes shall now also be punishable with imprisonment up to six months or fine up to Rs 50,000 or both.
Pulmonologist Vaibhav Pandarkar of Columbia Asia Hospital, said, "Every day there are 1-2 patients who are addicted to e-cigarettes. Symptoms are chest pain, cough, nausea, fever or vomiting. Mostly we have youngsters who are addicted to cigarettes or e-hookah."
The federal government may be getting close to cracking down on e-cigarettes amid concerns about the risks of vaping.
High schoolers rallying in downtown Los Angeles this week chanted “Fight the flavor” as they showed their support for banning the flavored tobacco products that health experts say are fueling an epidemic of nicotine addiction among youths. Governments around the nation are considering banning flavored tobacco products amid burgeoning e-cigarette use among youths and a mysterious outbreak of a serious lung disease that appears to be linked to vaping. The legislative efforts would eliminate the fruity e-cigarette pods with flavors such as mango, strawberry and mint, [...]
Smoking might be out of vogue, but flavored cigarette bans—like those of flavored vapes—are trending. Several cities in the United States, most recently San Francisco, have prohibited or restricted the sale of menthol cigarettes. [...] Major Franklin said banning the sale of menthols will not protect youth. “With a ban you will put more cigarettes into the hands of young people,” he said, explaining that the regulated market, which restricts sales and requires ID for purchase, protects youth more than the underground market—through which anyone can buy cigarettes on a street corner. [...]
Up until a month ago, it sometimes seemed like everybody vaped, from international celebrities to local teens. Now, it can feel as if everybody is trying to quit. “They’ve been touted as safer than cigarettes, even to the extreme of being safe, period,” said John Maa, a past president of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society. “But we don’t really know what the effects of chronic vaping is on your lungs.”
The general climate surrounding vaping and the vaping industry have appeared to turn hostile for the reduced-harm smoking cessation aid. Amid fearmongering reports of illnesses loosely attributed to “vaping,” likely caused by illegally produced cannabis oil cartridges, one representative is escalating misinformed hysteria to new heights.
Utah State Representative Paul Ray has called for a complete ban on all vapor products, citing “independent lab” testing and claims “roughly 84%” of products “tested positive for an illegal drug.” [...]
Philip Morris International CEO Andre Calantzopoulos joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss why Philip Morris International ended merger talks with Altria, Juul's future and vapings regulations.
The chief executive of e-cigarette maker Juul stepped down on Wednesday as merger talks between its biggest investor Altria and Philip Morris collapsed in the face of a regulatory backlash against vaping that could reshape the industry. Juul Labs, in which tobacco giant Altria Group Inc owns a 35% stake, is facing intense scrutiny in its home market as teen use of e-cigarettes surges. The company, which faces a U.S. ban on some products, said on Wednesday that it would suspend all advertising in the country.
Britain and America have been largely in step on regulating tobacco products since the mid-1960s, when they published their first tobacco control laws just months apart from one another. Now, however, a trans-Atlantic split has emerged. After six people died from vaping-related lung diseases in the US, Donald Trump has promised a ban on flavoured e-cigarettes. The UK’s public health chiefs, however, continue to downplay the risks. [...] Martin Dockrell, has said such a ban would be counter-productive since European vaping products are far safer than their US counterparts; [...]
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb blamed a sudden outbreak of what resembles a rare type of pneumonia in young adults on illegal and unregulated vaping products that have flooded the market in recent years.
“It’s not clear that these acute lung injuries are being caused by the legally sold regulated products, which FDA does oversee the manufacture of,” Gottlieb said Wednesday on “Squawk Box.” “It appears that many of these acute lung injuries are being driven by illegal products that have oils in them.”
States and local governments continue to push bans. Trump also now pushes to ban flavored e-cigarettes which will carry an economic toll. But, most importantly, an emotional one. Vape shop owners now assess the coming damage by making advanced plans to close their doors and layoff employees. The following is a dispatch from my travels across the United States. As I traveled to Washington, D.C. for the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum, my mind was unsettled. This is what happened, who I spoke to, and where my mind was in the days leading up to my arrival in D.C.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has called for a temporary statewide ban on the sale of all e-cigarettes and vaping products in response to a nationwide outbreak of lung injuries associated with vaping. "I'm officially declaring a public health emergency in the Commonwealth due to severe lung disease associated with the use of e-cigarettes and marijuana-infused vaping products," Baker said during a press conference on Tuesday.
The vaping health crisis is happening at a very bad time for the Canadian cannabis industry. With pot stocks already down over 40% since the end of the first quarter, news that an Ontario youth has been diagnosed with Canada’s first reported vaping-linked illness while hundreds have fallen ill in the U.S., is further battering the sector. It’s not clear what’s causing the illnesses or whether they’re tied to nicotine, cannabis or both. As long as that uncertainty persists, so will questions about whether the big bets many Canadian pot companies have made on vaping will pay off.
The number of people vaping in the UK has reached 3.6 million - about half the number of smokers - figures from Action on Smoking and Health suggest.
The data indicates most vapers are former smokers, with the main reason for using e-cigarettes being to give up tobacco.
The findings come as the US continues to investigate a spate of serious lung injuries linked to vaping.
India, meanwhile, says it will ban e-cigarettes as they pose a health risk.


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Vaping or more traditional approaches?
E-cigarettes have been around for some time, but a debate still rages over whether they are an acceptable option for smoking cessation. Kathy Oxtoby reports…
“The government must embrace the promotion of vaping as an effective tool to help people to quit smoking tobacco. We know vapes are not a ‘silver bullet’ nor are they totally risk-free, but the alternative is far worse.”
That was the message from a government-commissioned review into smoke-free policies published this June.1‘The Khan review: Making smoking obsolete’ makes 15 interventions to help the government meet its 2030 smoke-free target. The report recommends that if pharmacies sell vapes “they should do so alongside an offer of behavioural support for smoking cessation”.
The review is one of a number of recent recommendations and guidance concerning vaping and how it fits into the smoking cessation armoury A response to the review by ministers is expected to be published as part of the government’s Health Disparities White Paper.2
In October 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) updated its guidance for licensing e-cigarettes, paving the way in England for them to be available on NHS prescription for tobacco smokers who wish to quit.3, 4
The MHRA invited e-cigarette manufacturers to submit their products for approval to be medically licensed. If approved by the regulatory body, healthcare professionals could then decide on a “case-by-case basis” whether to prescribe the e-cigarette to NHS patients to help them quit smoking.4
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) - working with Public Health England - also updated its guidance on e-cigarettes in 2021.5 NICE found the evidence shows that nicotine-containing e-cigarettes can help people to stop smoking and are “similarly effective to other cessation options such as a combination of short- and long-acting nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)”.6
NICE now recommends that “people should be able to use e-cigarettes as one of several options to support smoking cessation, if they so choose”.6 It advises practitioners “give clear, consistent and up-to-date information about nicotine-containing e‑cigarettes to adults who are interested in using them to stop smoking”.
This includes explaining that “there is not enough evidence to know whether there are long-term harms from e-cigarette use”, and that use of these products is “likely to be substantially less harmful than smoking”.
People using e-cigarettes should also “stop smoking tobacco completely”. Length of e-cigarette usage and how to stop their use should also be discussed, NICE recommends.5
“E-cigarettes are one of several harm reduction options in the short-term to encourage smokers to stop using tobacco products, and they should be accessible to adults who smoke and wish to stop,” says Claire Anderson, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
“We should always have the ultimate aim of supporting the patient to stop using e-cigarettes and to be free of nicotine addiction. If e-cigarettes are chosen by the patient to support them to quit tobacco smoking, then it is important that they are informed that they are not risk-free until more is known about the potential risks of e-cigarette use,” she says.
However, there is an ongoing debate within the pharmacy profession as to whether pharmacies should be selling ‘vapes’ or sticking to more traditional approaches, such as nicotine replacement patches and gum.
Ade Williams, lead pharmacist at Bedminster Pharmacy, Bristol, who has helped design a smoking cessation service, views e-cigarettes as “an effective tool to reduce harm from smoking”. He says pharmacists should “accept the fact that these products can help our patients, and that it is incumbent on us to give them these options to help them to be ‘smoke-free’.”
However, Lila Thakerar, superintendent pharmacist at Shaftesbury Pharmacy in Harrow, chooses not to sell vaping products. “There are so many products and brands – it’s a minefield. And we need to ensure they are correctly marketed, regulated, and safe to use – some can catch fire or explode if left charging unattended,” she says.
The “correct smoking cessation support” is nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and monitoring people’s carbon monoxide levels on a regular basis to ensure that therapy support is working, she says.
Some pharmacists, like Lindsey Fairbrother, owner and superintendent pharmacist at Goodlife Pharmacy, Hatton, chooses not to stock e-cigarettes because she ‘doesn’t see people coming to us as their destination for such items, which are sold in supermarkets and garages," she says.
While the evidence from recent reviews suggests e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful than smoking tobacco, “they are not without risk”, says Ms Anderson. “The RPS supports the need for more research and safety data on the long-term risks and benefits.
“While many of the substances used in e-cigarettes may be considered safe for oral ingestion, little is known about the long-term effects of inhalation, or how the heating process can alter their chemical composition,” she says.
E-cigarettes “should not be used indoors, in enclosed places, or near children”, she advises. “This exposes other people to the negative effects of poorer air quality, particularly when groups of people are using e-cigarettes in the same place at the same time. Non-smokers should not have to inhale e-cigarette vapour without their permission.”
But as a quit smoking aid, e-cigarettes also have their advantages. “Making the switch from smoking to e-cigarettes has the benefit of harm reduction. And we can advise patients that if they can’t quit smoking without support, e-cigarettes have helped many people,” says Mr Williams.
Ms Thakerar says e-cigarettes have the benefit of being easy to use and easily available. “They also give that support of holding something that’s like a dummy cigarette, but without the same chemicals,” she says.
It would be “helpful if some e-cigarettes had a medicinal licence, as regulation of these products would allow healthcare professionals to safely recommend and prescribe e-cigarettes and offer another option for patients wishing to stop smoking,” says Ms Anderson.
Ms Thakerar’s advice on pharmacists stocking e-cigarette products is to “make sure they are safe to use and ensure that you are able to stand by that product if anything goes wrong. Stock a product that you are confident in selling. You have a professional reputation to maintain. And advise customers that they are not to smoke and vape at the same time.”
As a profession safeguarding the health interests of patients, pharmacy should be “part of the conversation about the standards of these products, across the board, including what needs to be improved”, says Mr Williams. And, crucially, pharmacists need to “keep reviewing the evidence” so that they can have conversations with patients explaining the harms and risks of these products, he says.
As to whether pharmacists should stock e-cigarettes - “they need to take a professional view on this”, says Ms Fairbrother. “It’s down to the individual pharmacist to do their research, to understand if a product is safe or not, and to decide if they feel comfortable advising patients about e-cigarettes.”
- Khan J (2022) The Khan Review. Making Smoking Obsolete. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1081366/khan-review-making-smoking-obsolete.pdf
- DHSC (2022) Government launches landmark reviews to tackle health disparities. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-landmark-reviews-to-tackle-health-disparities
- MHRA (2021) Guidance for licensing electronic cigarettes and other inhaled nicotine-containing products as medicines. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/licensing-procedure-for-electronic-cigarettes-as-medicines
- DHSC (2021) E-cigarettes could be prescribed on the NHS in world first. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e-cigarettes-could-be-prescribed-on-the-nhs-in-world-first
- NICE (2021) Tobacco: preventing uptake, promoting quitting and treating dependence. NICE guideline [NG209] https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng209/chapter/recommendations-on-treating-tobacco-dependence#stop-smoking-interventions
- NICE (2021) NICE and PHE publish comprehensive draft guideline to tackle the health burden of smoking. https://www.nice.org.uk/news/article/nice-and-phe-publish-comprehensive-draft-guideline-to-tackle-the-health-burden-of-smoking


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Instagram is looking to make its video content Reels much longer than before in a move to compete against TikTok. Soon, we will have up to 10-minute-long Reels, as pointed out by mobile developer and tipster Alessandro Paluzzi.
He also shared screenshots of this upcoming update, showing a side-by-side comparison of the current 3-minute limitation for Reels as well as the new 10-minute duration.
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) August 30, 2023
Meta and Instagram are yet to respond with an official comment, but given Paluzzi’s track record for leaks, there is a high chance that we will get this feature eventually. Plus, we know rival apps these days don’t take long to add competing features.
Increasing the length of Instagram Reels to 10 minutes brings them closer to a lot of YouTube videos and TikTok videos, which recently got an update to their duration limit too. TikTok even introduced 20-minute videos to the platform, but those are limited to paying users so fans can have longer videos from their favorite content creators.
YouTube, on the other hand, has been focusing on adding more to its short-form content. The video-sharing giant also started offering more monetization to YouTube Shorts earlier this year.
Instagram has been working on revamping Reels to boost engagement for a while already. A lot of these updates have been direct responses to TikTok’s features such as editing tools and templates to help you create viral content.


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Aug 31 2012 11:15AM
The Labor Day promotion brings savings equal to a free balcony upgrade plus on-board credits.
Aug 31 2012 7:43AM
The 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation was delayed returning to the city by Hurricane Isaac.
Aug 30 2012 10:07AM
The three-day Hawaii Bonus Days promotion runs through Saturday.
Aug 30 2012 8:10AM
The 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation was scheduled to return to New Orleans today.
Aug 29 2012 9:05AM
The 3,600-passenger Regal Princess is scheduled to debut in spring 2014.
Aug 29 2012 7:46AM
The 'Miami New Times' says a passenger is claiming he burned his feet during the event.
Aug 28 2012 7:50AM
The new Star Clippers trips will be off limits to U.S. citizens due to U.S. embargo of Cuba.
Aug 27 2012 12:30PM
The 2,154-passenger vessel recently was overhauled to bring new restaurants, cabins.
Aug 27 2012 8:13AM
Vessels operated by Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line have been affected.
Aug 25 2012 4:52PM
The 150-passenger Queen of the Mississippi will sail on the Mississippi and its tributaries.
Aug 25 2012 3:06PM
Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas was scheduled to return to Florida on Sunday.
Aug 24 2012 11:33AM
The storm is expected to pass near or over Haiti later today before heading toward Cuba.
Aug 24 2012 7:18AM
Tour companies are moving quickly to add sailings along the full length of the river.
Aug 23 2012 9:48AM
The 'Signature Trio' package is rolling out fleetwide.
Aug 23 2012 7:52AM
The storm is expected to grow over the next 36 hours as it heads westward.
Aug 22 2012 11:54AM
The 2,092-passenger vessel will visit 24 countries on a new circumnavigation planned for 2014.
Aug 22 2012 7:27AM
John Wolfe, 74, of Dublin, says he was humiliated by Irish jokes on two vessels.
Aug 21 2012 9:44AM
The 'My Awesome Bar' package includes unlimited wine, beer and cocktails for a flat daily fee.
Aug 21 2012 8:02AM
The Pacific Jewel passenger reportedly is asking for more than $1 million in damages.
Aug 20 2012 9:56AM
Holland America's Volendam took aboard 70 passengers from a stricken tour boat in Glacier Bay.
Aug 20 2012 6:48AM
The Cruise for Beatles Fans 2013 is set for March on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas.
Aug 17 2012 12:14PM
The four-night sailing will kick off in March on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship.
Aug 17 2012 7:56AM
InnerSea Discoveries' new 'Alaska Unleashed' itineraries are aimed at multi-sport adventurers.
Aug 16 2012 1:23PM
Cruise lines have been offering deals in the Mediterranean, but have seen consumers balk due to the price of flying across the pond.
Aug 16 2012 10:26AM
Norwegian Cruise Line has introduced enhancements to its private Bahamian island, as part of an ongoing $30 million enhancement project.
Aug 16 2012 8:41AM
In celebration of National Relaxation Day, Princess Cruises has launched a six-day sale, offering as much as $2,000 off per cabin.
Aug 15 2012 1:03PM
The five-day promotion brings discounts on voyages from Asia to the Atlantic.
Aug 15 2012 7:13AM
The 86-passenger vessel takes adventure-minded vacationers around Southeast Alaska.
Aug 14 2012 4:08PM
Celebrity Cruises and Bravo Media have teamed up for a Top Chef-themed voyage in April.
Aug 14 2012 3:24PM
Compagnie du Ponant is offering $500 per person discounts on winter sailings.
Aug 14 2012 7:31AM
USA TODAY's VacationCruisesInfo.com offers a short list of things to do when visiting by ship.
Aug 13 2012 10:25AM
Abercrombie and Kent has signed geophysicist Henry Pollack for a December trip.
Aug 13 2012 7:56AM
The five-night sailing on a Carnival ship was scheduled to kick off in October.
Aug 10 2012 11:02AM
Local officials are cutting through red tape to make lobster easier for ships to bring aboard.
Aug 10 2012 8:36AM
Officials in Victoria, B.C. are cracking down on taxis that speed to and from the town's port.
Aug 9 2012 10:13AM
Local news outlets say an official in Nahant, Massachusetts found the waste on Saturday.
Aug 9 2012 7:46AM
Sally Ann Howes, Norman Lloyd and Arlene Dahl also will be aboard the second TCM Classic Cruise.
Aug 8 2012 2:59PM
Norwegian Cruise Line now charges the same cruise fare for kids under the age of two as it charges for older children.
Aug 8 2012 8:54AM
The cruise line is testing a new program that allows passengers to pay for perks such as priority embarkation, early cabin availability and express luggage delivery.
Aug 7 2012 8:50AM
Norwegian Cruise Line is testing a new chair saving policy on the Norwegian Star.


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Diesel has re-written history by reviving one of the oldest known jean fabrics in history. The end product of which will be displayed at the Genova Jeans summit.
The oldest known jeans also hail from the Italian city of Genoa — where the summit is held — and were worn by the local townfolk and laborers present there somewhere around 1760-1780. The oldest historical reference point seems to be a nativity figurine dating back to the 18th century depicting a man wearing denim trousers.
Replicating the same in a sense, Diesel has opted for handmade Italian textiles and workmanship to recreate a 300-year-old fabric and garment. The project is part of the Genova Jean’s summit, where Diesel was encouraged to celebrate the history and heritage of Made in Italy jeans. The label’s production has been deemed authentic by art, textile, and costume historian Marzia Cataldi Gallo.
Grab a look at the original pair from the 18th century and the re-created pair down below.
For further updates
At a time when the sneaker game is rapidly gaining popularity, and more and more resellers and collectors are becoming a part of this ecosystem, The lack of a proper Authentication system and resale forums have caused inconvenience to a lot of enthusiasts; but not…
As we step into 2022, the past year hasn’t exactly been a cakewalk. The virus continues its presence with habitual lockdowns and strict norms all over the country. Despite this, the sneaker culture slowly but surely experienced a good number of new collaborations, album releases,…


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Tesla Inc.promised to start delivering Model 3 sedans built at its new Shanghai plant within six to 10 months—and priced them well below the imported version—as the electric-vehicle maker races to capitalize on booming Chinese demand.
Offering up details on its China strategy, Tesla said prices for the locally built Model 3 will start from about $47,500 for the Standard Range Plus version. Chinese buyers currently pay $58,900 for a basic Model 3 imported from the U.S.
Initial orders are being taken for the local Model 3 with the first Shanghai-built cars scheduled for delivery late this year or early next year, the company said in a post on its social media account.
Getting China right, industry analysts said, is pivotal for Tesla, whose share price has halved in the past six months amid doubts about its ability to ramp up deliveries in the U.S.
“Tesla has struggled with the Model 3 launch,” said Bill Russo, founder of Shanghai-based consulting firm Automobility. “A repeat of this in China would put their timing at risk and place further stress on their cash flow.”View Article


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Given her eight years at the White House, it was little surprise that Michelle Obama knew precisely how to dress for the occasion.
Continuing her long tradition of championing emerging labels and young Black designers, the former first lady wowed at Wednesday’s inauguration in a head-to-toe plum and burgundy ensemble by LA-based Sergio Hudson.
The outfit comprised a turtleneck sweater and wide-legged bootcut pants, with a structured coat helping her strike the balance between understated elegance and power dressing.
She completed the look with a black face mask and one of Hudson’s signature handmade leather belts, fastened with a circular brushed brass buckle. Hers was, of course, in a matching purple shade, though black and leopard print versions retail on the designer’s website for $295 and $325 respectively.
The outfit – and Obama’s wavy, voluminous hair – generated significant buzz on social media as she arrived at the inauguration with husband and 44th president, Barack Obama. “I am LOSING IT over how good Michelle Obama looks!” tweeted writer and podcast host Tracy Clayton.
Author Roxane Gay meanwhile wrote: “Hi. I’m Michelle Obama. Yes. I am flawless with my hair laid right and my plum ensemble. Thank you.”
It was a huge day for Hudson, who reportedly also designed the pair of heels worn by Vice President Kamala Harris (she paired them with an outfit by another young Black designer, Christopher John Rogers).
Hailing from South Carolina, Hudson launched his eponymous ready-to-wear label in 2014. The brand describes its aesthetic as “immaculate tailoring and infusions of androgyny paired with overtly sexy silhouettes.”
This isn’t the first time Obama has worn Hudson and supported his brand. At 2019’s Essence Festival in New Orleans, she appeared in a sparkling jumpsuit with one of his signature belts – this time in navy.
The designer is yet to comment on the inauguration via social media, though he took to Instagram earlier this week to wish Obama a happy birthday. He posted a picture of her wearing a custom purple pantsuit by the designer, which she had worn on her Becoming book tour, alongside a caption describing her as “my forever FLOTUS.”
“Thank you for supporting the brand and doing it so fabulously!”


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Hyundai Australia chief operating officer John Kett has indicated that the South Korean brand will continue leaning into its developing specialisations in handling tuning, safety technology and electrification in the post-COVID car market. While aiming to maintain fleet sales of more affordable variants, Hyundai will more aggressively target private buyers with an aim of shifting the share of non-fleet customers upwards from their pre-pandemic levels of about 50 per cent.
The move is part of a push to help the Hyundai network – head office, dealers and suppliers alike – recover from the coronavirus-driven shock to the Australian new car market that saw sales tumble in April. Manufacturers with a heavier bias of fleet sales were left especially exposed: Hyundai sales dropped by 65 per cent on the previous year, compared to an industry-wide fall of nearly 50 per cent. By May, the market had stemmed the fall to 35 per cent, while Hyundai figures were 49 per cent adrift of their 2019 result.
While Mr Kett noted that a substantial recovery was likely in June due to an aggressive programme of buying incentives across the Hyundai brand, the feeling is that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed undesirable structural weaknesses for Hyundai in Australia, with an over-reliance on sales of less profitable lower-specification variants despite the Korean brand’s huge investment in recent times into high-technology products.
Mr Kett flagged a number of ‘shifts’ that Hyundai would be targeting in the post-pandemic space. Chief among these is a desire to enrich the proportion of high-specification variants sold on Hyundai vehicles. Before COVID-19, Mr Kett says that the lower Hyundai trims – commonly called Go, Active and Active X – contributed about 75 per cent of sales, while more profitable and highly-specified trims, usually called Elite and Highlander, were contributing just 15 per cent.
That’s a substantially different position to rival manufacturers Mazda and Volkswagen, who largely eschew large fleet sales in favour of pursuing mainly private buyers, who tend to see the emotional value in opting for leather-lined, higher-technology grades. Mr Kett says that during COVID-19 – when heavy fleets like rental car companies have effectively stopped buying – the share of these high-specification variants have jumped to almost thirty per cent.
“Some of this is impacted a little bit by the discount and heavy fleet channels not doing business, but it’s an incredible performance,” Mr Kett said. “The next evolution will be lifting our trim mix going forward. Along with the shift to SUVs and the shift to private, there will be a shift to a higher trim mix marginally.”
The impetus for this desire is to jointly lift profitability for the network as a whole, while also seeking to lock in greater brand loyalty in future. “We’re marginally driving an improved loyalty opportunity and collective gross [profit] with a meaningful understanding of what it will do to the network, and not just profit and loss … for [head office]”, said Mr Kett.
“We’re not walking away from existing customers, but evolving with the customer base is incredibly important. We’re not moving away from [private] consumers, as they have already moved away. We want to make sure we anchor [the Hyundai brand] where the demand is. We need to anchor around one truth: for us, that is product.”
Mr Kett says that Hyundai Australia will market the brand’s growing strengths in the areas of technology, green motoring and handling expertise – factors Kett says are “starting to resonate with consumers now”. Hyundai now offer the broadest range of electrified vehicles in Australia, with series-parallel hybrid, plug-in hybrid, full battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric offerings now available.
There is also a growing confidence at Hyundai with regard to performance. Substantially increased effort has been put into vehicle dynamics in the last decade, globally and in Australia. The launch of the ‘N’ performance sub-brand, with public recognition of vehicle tuning being completed at Germany’s Nurburgring circuit, and the continuation of the Australia-specific tuning programmes in Sydney that alter most Hyundai vehicles for local road conditions add substance to this view.
Communication of the three pillars, as Mr Kett labels them, will be combined with a thorough refresh of Hyundai’s lineup. Codenamed ‘18-in-18’ – for the eighteen model launches that will occur in the next eighteen months – nearly every vehicle in the Hyundai range will be given attention as the Australian economy recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Much of the attention will be focussed on new and updated SUVs, with Mr Kett noting that the march of private buyers from traditional passenger cars to crossovers continues. Hyundai will launch the Palisade, a new large SUV with up to eight seats, before the end of the year, while also updating the smaller three-row Santa Fe. In the first half of 2021, an all-new Tucson will be launched, while the Kona small SUV will receive its mid-life facelift.
“The industry already had structural challenges, way before COVID-19 hit,” said Mr Kett. “I’m incredibly pleased that Hyundai [globally and in Australia] have continually doubled-down on the evolution of this product.”


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Gionee Smartphones wants to reach the dominant position in India. The Chinese mobile phone vendor’s aim is to take on Samsung and Apple, and become the market leader in the country in the next five years.
The other target is to become a top five global brand in the smartphone business. This was revealed by Gionee Smartphones during a press event in India on 24 December.
The mobile phone vendor predicts that globally there will be three Chinese brands in the top five positions in the next five years. One brand will be Gionee Smartphones, which started global operations in 2002 and now has presence in 40 countries. The other two global brands will be Samsung and Apple.
Globally, ZTE, Lenovo and Huawei are strong smartphone vendors. Considering Gionee Smartphones’ predictions, one of these brands will not be in the top five ranking.
Lu Weibing, president of Gionee Smartphones, said: “Everything is possible in India. Few years ago, Nokia was the market leader. Like Nokia, several brands have faced challenges. Few brands have emerged as well.”
As per Gionee Smartphones’ predictions for India, smartphone vendors such as Nokia/Microsoft, HTC, Sony, LG, BlackBerry, Micromax, Karbonn, etc. will not be in the top position in India after five years.
Gionee Smartphones says it needs to focus on marketing and distribution in order to become the market leader in India, the second largest telecom market in the world, he said.
The phone vendor is ready to innovate and understand the market demands to become the top player.
Gionee Smartphones does not consider Apple as one of the main competitors because the American devices giant plays in the premium phone category. Samsung is its main challenge.
“We are ready to take on Samsung in India and globally.”
Gionee Smartphones in India
Gionee Smartphones’ India growth performance was impressive. In the first nine months of its operations, its India business generated revenues of Rs 250 crore. In the next three months, it will achieve Rs 250 crore. Hence, the full year revenue from smartphone business will be Rs 500 crore.The company is ramping up distribution and service centers in India.
“We are targeting Rs 1,800 crore turnover next year in India,” said Arvind R Vohra, director, Syntech Technology.
Gionee products are currently selling in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Russia, Middle East and Africa, with exports reaching 1 million phones per month for oversea markets.
Gionee currently sells over 23 million handsets per year in China mainland and has been ranked No. 2 brand in the GSM market. In 2006, the first phase of the project had a total investment of more than 1Billion RMB and covers an area of 500 acres of the Gionee Industrial Park. Production reached a capacity of 40 million units per year and will reach 80 million units per year, making Gionee China’s largest mobile phone production site.


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90 pct of Vietnamese willing to travel as Covid-19 outbreak contained
Nhận đường liên kết
Ứng dụng khác
An island in Nha Trang Town, central Vietnam, March 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Khoa Tran.
Around 90.6 percent of respondents to a survey said they are making travel plans for this year and early next year as the country's Covid-19 outbreak has been controlled.
Only 6.4 percent said they would travel again after being injected with Covid-19 vaccines while the remaining said they have no plans to do so, according to a recent survey by VnExpress which polled 3,508 Vietnamese.
Nearly 50 percent of respondents said they intend to make short trips of two to three days while 44 percent plan longer trips of four days to a week. Just 1.3 percent favor a one-day trip while the remainder are looking at trips of more than a week.
A dominant 65.9 percent said they would like to enjoy coastal resorts during their trip while 61 percent said they would discover food culture.
A total 34 percent favor mountainous resorts while 45.5 percent prefer eco-tourism activities.
The survey found 49.8 percent of respondents want to travel with their family, 26.4 percent with friends and 4.3 percent with their colleagues.
Around 4.6 percent prefer to travel alone while the remainder opt for tours.
Nearly 70 percent said they want to travel by plane, 29.4 percent by personal transport and 35.3 percent by rental car. Just 12 percent are considering train travel.
With local Covid-19 outbreaks under control, domestic airlines and railway operators have increased the frequency of flight and train schedules.
The survey also found 42.7 percent of respondents plan to book hotel rooms and tours through online platforms while 33.8 percent plan to contact tour operators directly.
Vietnam has contained its latest Covid-19 outbreak that reemerged on Jan. 28. All 13 affected localities including hotspot Hai Duong have passed many days without community transmissions.
With the Covid-19 outbreak contained, domestic air travel demand has almost returned to normal, with many cities and provinces, including Hai Phong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Quang Ninh allowing tourism services to resume.


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KUANTAN: Contractor Mustafa Mohd Nor Haizad, 35, started a small company in 2005.
To expand his business, the Felda Chini 3, Pekan, resident underwent electrical and electronic training under the Empower East Coast Economic Region (Ecer) Skills Training and Entrepreneurship programme, three years ago.
He was awarded a certificate by Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) in Pekan, where he trained.
“I used to depend on other people to do electrical work and they would sometimes take a long time to complete the job. Now. I do not need to hire anyone,” he said.
Another Empower Ecer participant Akmaliza Mahulud Nor, 31, said she was now more confident about accepting delivery orders after joining the cooking course held at Kolej Komuniti Kuantan.
"I came to know about the programme from a friend. I was called for an interview as they wanted to know whether I was really serious about attending the classes,” she said.
Rosmiza Ahmad, 42, too was grateful for help to expand her traditional cake business.
Sharifah Maziah Syed Omar’s from Sungai Karang, persistence in applying for the programme paid off.
The 58-year-old was initially rejected because of her age.
The most valuable thing she gained from the programme was online marketing skills.
“I have my own website now to promote my pizza. I decided to operate from home, which increased my income because I do not have to rent a shop anymore,” she said. — Bernama


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The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk had a "constructive conversation" on the agency's probe into a fatal crash involving a Tesla vehicle that was operating in semi-autonomous Autopilot mode, the agency said on Monday.
NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt "had what he described as a very constructive conversation with Mr. Musk over the weekend," agency spokesman Peter Knudson said. "They discussed the investigation of the March 23 Tesla crash, NTSB investigative processes, and Tesla's work to address the safety recommendations that were issued last year."
A Tesla spokeswoman declined to comment.
The crash has put a sharp focus on Tesla's Autopilot technology, which allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel for extended periods under certain conditions. Tesla requires users to agree to keep their hands on the wheel at all times before they can use Autopilot. Users, however, routinely brag they can use the system to drive hands-free.
Tesla said a week after the accident that vehicle logs showed no action had been taken by the driver right before the crash and that he had received earlier warnings to put his hands on the wheel.
The driver, who was 38, died at a hospital shortly after the vehicle hit a concrete highway divider near Mountain View, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The mishap involved two other vehicles.
"The NTSB is looking into all aspects of this crash including the driver's previous concerns about the Autopilot," Christopher O'Neil, another NTSB spokesman, said on April 1.
Last month, the company said that a search of its service records did not "find anything suggesting that the customer ever complained to Tesla about the performance of Autopilot. There was a concern raised once about navigation not working correctly, but Autopilot's performance is unrelated to navigation."
On March 30, Tesla disclosed that shortly before the crash, the vehicle's "Autopilot was engaged with the adaptive cruise control follow-distance set to minimum."
Sumwalt last year said that "operational limitations" in the Tesla Model S played a "major role" in a May 2016 crash that killed a driver using Autopilot.
"System safeguards were lacking," Sumwalt said in September. "Tesla allowed the driver to use the system outside of the environment for which it was designed, and the system gave far too much leeway to the driver to divert his attention."
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also investigating last month's crash. The two agencies are also probing a January crash of a Tesla, which may have been in Autopilot mode, into the back of a fire truck.
Reporting by David Shepardson


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MONROVIA – The Liberia Business Association (LIBA) and the United Kingdom-Liberia Chamber of Commerce, have brainstormed on trade and investments that could help boost the Liberian economy that is struggling for improvement.
Speaking via the Internet at the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday, March 25, 2021, the Director of Communication and External Affairs of the UK-LIBERIA Chamber of Commerce, Wofai Samuel, elaborated that the agreement seeks to promote education, health, agriculture and other useful businesses that could help to elevate the Liberian economy.
According to her, the agreement also highlights collaboration and partnership between the Liberia Business Association and members of the UK-Liberia Chamber of Commerce that could benefit the Liberian Government and its people who are eagered for huge and sustainable investments that might agument their living standards.
She mentioned that more interactions will be looked at between Liberian businesses and UK-LIBERIA Chamber to expand the partnership; thus showcasing the potential of Liberian businesses and their products that are more marketable at home and abroad.
Also speaking, the president of LIBA, James Strother explained that Liberian owned businesses are prepared to expand and display their products abroad through partnership and business collaboration with their UK counterpart.
According to the head of LIBA, the collaboration could strengthen partnership to enhance the promotion of trade and investments that the country presently yearning for.
He mentioned that local businesses in Liberia need to be more innovative, as the partnership gets underway to have a win-win benefit for everybody who envisages success for the business agreement.
For his part, the Head of Commerce and Trade of the Liberia Business Association, Dominic Nimely, expressed optimism that the partnership agreement could work, if collective effort is applied, but caution the banks and other financial institutions to create access to finance for credible and result- driven Liberian owned businesses.
He also renewed call to the Liberian Government to aid LIBA that is the backbone for all indigenous-owned businesses currently operating in every sector in Liberia.


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Source: Garrett Pierce
According to a recent article in the local paper, the first film show at the Maple City Drive In was "The Pony Express". The drive in is basically gone now, with only the projection house and the original fence still remaining. The rest, as seen in the photos below, has been razed. The last time I recall anything happening out there was back around 1990 when the then owner had car shows out front to help promote the business. It didn't help, and the property was sold soon after to a party unknown who uses it to store salt /minerals there.


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Nintendo seeks to trademark "It's on like Donkey Kong"
Only some 18 years after Ice Cube popularized the phrase “It’s on like Donkey Kong,” Nintendo has decided that it would now like to own it, please. The video-game makers have just filed a request seeking to trademark the saying that’s been used in everything from movie trailers (including the recent Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) to Jonah Goldberg columns, and which they claim “has a number of possible interpretations depending on how it's used.” Of course, perhaps the most important interpretation in this case is the one that “[points] to Donkey Kong's status as an enduring pop-culture icon and video game superstar”—a superstar who, not so coincidentally, also has a new game coming out that could use some extra publicity. While this is sorted out, you are, of course, free to continue saying, “It’s mine like BurgerTime.”


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Forget helping kids in poor countries … Michael Blackson says Odell Beckham needs to spend that new NFL jack on something even more important — “I’ll be your personal comedian!” Blackson — whose nephew, Eli Apple, is a starter for the NY…
However, Apple gives more details in its official product page for iOS 12. On top of that, developers already have the beta software and are sharing some of the things they’re seeing.
From what’s being talked about, iOS 12 has a bunch of little features that fix annoying issues issues, add something extra, or make an existing feature better. Here are our favorites so far: Read more…
Content creation has seen immense growth in recent years, with a shift in focus from mainstream content providers such as traditional television studious to internet-era startups either seeking to expand their portfolios or seeking to increase premium user memberships through exclusive content introduction.
In America, this scene has been predominately owned by Amazon, Netflix and Hulu, introducing critically acclaimed titles such as The Man in the High Castle, Orange Is the New Black and The Handmaid’s Tale, respectively, with many other industry giants scrambling to catch up (with Apple already signing a deal with Steven Spielberg to produce an Amazing Stories-reboot, Facebook spending as much as $1 billion on original content, Google announcing plans to potentially spend up to $3 million per drama episode and even Disney with their purported streaming service, among many others).
Similarly, in China’s growing television industry, a select few, namely Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, continue to dominate the marketplace in terms of original TV content production. However, the vast majority of Western consumers have never heard of these internet giants or their respective subsidiaries and series, although this is set to change very soon, particularly with Chinese content currently in the early stages of global distribution.
What distinguishes China from the rest of the Asian market?
There are a variety of unique factors that distinguish China from other marketplaces around the globe, as well as in Asia. These factors include but are not limited to things such as increasing use of mobile devices for media consumption, increasing numbers in television consumption and a booming film/television industry primed for explosive growth.
According to eMarketer, Chinese adults will spend nearly three hours a day using their mobile devices, representing 41.6 percent of their total daily media time, with this same population spending nearly 40 percent of their daily media time specifically watching television. This heavy emphasis on mobile device usage, combined with an expected jump in digital video time in the next several years, creates a perfect environment ripe for increased video consumption by China’s growing population.
Furthermore, the Chinese television industry has experienced unprecedented amounts of growth in recent years. In fact, the Chinese television sector represents 88 percent of the combined film and television industry’s economic contribution to China, being valued at more than $35 billion dollars. Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) usage in China is also rapidly increasing, exceeding 100 million users in 2017, further fueling growth in television content creation. Other indicators of Chinese TV industry growth include the December 2017 formation of the Chinese TV Drama Export Alliance, a conglomeration of Chinese entertainment studios aimed at growing the presence of the Chinese TV productions worldwide, as well as increasing Chinese-language content being acquired by popular internet video-streaming companies such as Netflix.
The Chinese TV content producing behemoths
Chinese internet conglomerate Baidu is one of the primary drivers of growth in terms of Chinese television content, particularly with its iQiyi video-steaming platform. Gaining enough traffic for a U.S.-based IPO raising more than $2.25 billion, iQiyi is one of China’s largest and most popular video-streaming platforms, with more than 421 million monthly users and more than 126 million daily users. This high usage has allowed iQiyi to develop extremely popular original television content.
iQiyi has already developed TV hits such as Rap of China, Street Dance of China and Hot Blood Dance Crew, three extremely popular reality series watched by millions of Chinese amidst a government ban on hip-hop culture and tattoos on television. In fact, Western audiences may now begin to see these shows soon, particularly given a recently announced partnership between Rap of China and American hip-hop trio Migos.
Original content programming has also extended to scripted series, with detective dramas such as Burning Ice and Tientsin Mystic being renewed for second seasons while simultaneously being picked up by Netflix for American distribution just this year. Other extremely popular shows produced by iQiyi include The Lost Tomb, Evil Minds and Unforgiven, among countless others, with each of these shows being watched by millions of Chinese viewers. (Note: The Lost Tomb and Evil Minds have since been censored by the Chinese government.)
The growth of original content, particularly in China, has huge potential for other technologies such as virtual reality machines and artificial intelligence.
Alibaba is another powerhouse driving growth within the Chinese TV content industry, with its Youku video-streaming service. Youku currently boasts more than 500 million unique users, along with a powerful distribution network that includes Youku-branded hardware such as tablets, routers and IPTV boxes. Youku’s heavy daily presence in Chinese consumers’ lives allows for Youku-produced original content to have a wide audience across China for distribution.
One of Youku’s most popular series, Day and Night, partnered with Netflix for distribution in late 2017, with this partnership being the first Chinese-language series to be distributed globally. Other popular content includes historical dramas The Advisors Alliance and Oh My General, as well as fantasy drama Rakshasa Street, based off of a popular comic. Youku’s immense popularity in both short video clips, as well as in original content, make it a leader in producing original Chinese television content.
Internet giant Tencent is a third organization driving television growth in terms of creating original content in China. With Tencent fame originating from the ever-popular WeChat platform, Tencent Video currently claims an average of more than 137 million daily active users, making Tencent-produced content important as this original content arms race develops.
Popular shows produced by Tencent Video include action-adventure drama Candle in the Tomb, with a record 200 million views in one day and billions of views since, as well as historical romance Rule the World, based off an already extremely popular book of the same name. Tencent Video has even played a role in producing popular variety shows such as The Tomorrow Children. Television series slated for Tencent Video production in the immediate future include TV-adaptations of novels The Tibet Code, Mystery of the Antiques and manga Prince of Tennis. Tencent has committed to investing in further original content production, growing its portfolio of television content in the years to come.
However, the Chinese market does not solely consist of productions by iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video. Popular content provider Sohu TV has also forayed into the original content sphere, producing popular drama Indelible Designation and detective series Medical Examiner Dr. Qin, as well as attempting to develop a Chinese version in a Saturday Night Live-style format.
Mango TV, another popular Chinese video platform, has also self-produced a variety of shows, including comedy Fashion Rivers and drama Gold Matchmaker, as well as an interactive Big Brother-styled show called Perfect Holiday. These two content providers, Sohu and Mango, and their respective offerings are simply additional examples of how original television content growth is playing a huge role in enhancing digital China.
Elsewhere in Asia…
However, China is not the only country that has invested significantly in original television content infrastructure (although it certainly is the largest). Other Asian countries have also taken a mobile-first approach to internet access, and, thus, also have rising rates of television viewership by mobile device.
In Thailand, LINE app’s LINE TV has dominated the mobile television landscape, launching a video-streaming service with original content development plans already underway. In addition, LINE TV has already secured partnerships with local television production studios and channels, marking a shift from its roots as a streaming service akin to YouTube to one more similar to Netflix and Hulu.
In Indonesia, even transportation giant Go-Jek is entering the content creation landscape, announcing a content creation production company called Go-Studios to support their content subscription model named Go-Play. In fact, Go-Jek even announced a partnership with VICE Media to produce original content, in light of a successful collaboration set for debut in 2019, entitled When We Dance by Joko Anwar.
Implications of original content growth for startups
The growth of original content, particularly in China, has huge potential for other technologies such as virtual reality machines and artificial intelligence. With Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent making known investments in these specific industries, it would not be a far reach to see both hardware and software integration within a television program for individual home consumption. Such examples might include a virtual reality headset to view a character’s perspective in a television series, or an artificial intelligence automatically suggesting a specific Halloween clothing outfit based off of a consumer’s preference of television series.
These implications make the increase in Chinese original television content a milestone, emphasizing both the strength and reach of top Chinese internet conglomerates, as well as the growing Chinese television industry.
There is immense potential in the original TV content sphere, with this ecosystem growing increasingly large in parallel with the rate of television being watched on mobile devices in Asia. This has resulted in China’s top internet conglomerates being forced to not only pay attention, but participate in the original content creation sphere, releasing high-quality episodic content in order to attract more viewers.
The release of online-exclusive series and their expanding Chinese audiences have grown to astronomic proportions, with hundreds of television shows being released yearly, with billions of views to match. Only time will tell if these Chinese dramas will achieve the same levels of popularity they enjoy at home, but for now, original Chinese television content is here to stay, and represents huge monetization potential for Chinese companies on a global scale.
Apple is invading Snapchat’s territory with new effects that let you embellish what you shoot through the Messages camera. Today at WWDC, Apple announced that iOS 12’s Messages camera will offer a variety of sticker packs, style transfers like a “comic book” filter, drawn shapes, and both Animoji and the new personalized avatar Memoji.
These effects will also be available in FaceTime, which now supports group video conversations with up to 32 people. That could spell trouble for dedicated group video chat apps like Houseparty and Facebook’s Bonfire, as well as bigger apps that offer it like Snapchat.
These effects could make people who want more visual communication choose Apple’s native messaging app rather than third parties like Snapchat, Instagram Direct, or Facebook Messenger. The new features will be available in iOS 12 that launches today.
Stickers were previously only available in message threads where they’d appear on a white background. But now you can overlay them on photos, videos, and FaceTime. That opens opportunities for new fashion stickers that let you add sunglasses, hats, mustaches, clothes, and more that only make sense when stuck to your selfie.
Apple is starting far behind here. Snapchat’s been adding creative features since 2013, and Instagram joined in with its clone of Stories in 2016, followed by Facebook in 2017. They’re all now equipped with GIFs, color filters, augmented reality, and more. Animoji and Memoji are the Messages camera’s biggest differentiators, so Apple may need to aggressively promote the ability to overlay these on imagery if it wants to steal attention from Snap and Facebook.
On a mild Thursday night at the Los Angeles Forum, Nike’s public relations team and a group of journalists from some of the country’s leading lifestyle, tech, and general interest websites gathered to see the debut of Nike’s most ambitious SNKRS stash drop.
The combined effort is the first capsule collection that Nike has done with a musician. It’s also the first time that anyone currently working at the company can remember the apparel company signing on with a musician for select tour merchandise, and the debut of the stash drop through the SNKRS app was the largest the company’s tech had tried to tackle.
For concertgoers, rolling up to the concert in Supreme sweats, Yeezys, Adidas, Pumas… and, of course, Nikes, the SNKRS stash drop would be a surprise. For folks who had downloaded Nike’s SNKRS app, they’d be able to buy and reserve a pair of Kendrick Lamar’s limited edition Cortez Kenny IIIs at the concert.
At least on the first night, things didn’t go as planned.
Working with live events like concerts, where timing is less regimented than at a typical sporting event (which are marked by tip offs and halftimes that adhere to a pretty regimented schedule), proved too much for the initial rollout of the company’s stash drop.
Select NikePlus members received an initial push notification of the Stash drop and a card in the SNKRS feed also advertised the special stash drop, in addition to a notification that flashed onscreen between the (amazing) SchoolboyQ set and SZA’s (equally amazing) performance.
There will be other chances to get the timing down, but for the first concert in Los Angeles, concertgoers were prompted to launch the SNKRS app and try and snag a pair of the limited edition shoes well before the activation actually went live.
Once the shoes did go on sale, the user interface for finding and reserving the shoes didn’t work for everyone there — in fact, only one reporter from the group was able to reserve a pair of the shoes (since that reporter hadn’t saved payment information onto the SNKRS app, those shoes were released).
“I can’t get the app to do what I need,” said one concertgoer trying to snag a pair of shoes.
The team at Nike said the concert’s late start caused the miscue. Roughly 30 minutes after the sneakers were supposed to onsale, the activation went live — something journalists were only made aware of when notified by Nike’s public relations team.
Once the sale did go live, the shoes sold out within the first five minutes, although it’s unclear how many were made available through the stash drop (Nike declined to provide a number).
Nike’s repeating the stash drop for shows in Houston, New York, Boston and Chicago.
Unveiled earlier this year through a collaboration with the NBA, the NikeConnect app allows users to access information on players and stats through a label enabled with near field communications chips.
Nike’s Air Force Ones enabled with the NikeConnect tech will open a special limited release sneaker sale opportunity called “The Choice”, but Nike has higher hopes for the technology.
“We would love to be able to award sweat equity with access to exclusive products or a partnership,” said a spokesperson for the company in an interview last year.
“NikeConnect [is] a great way for us to get interesting data about our members and deliver unlocks that are relevant to those members,” the spokesperson said.
Beyond the unlocks for exclusive sneaker offers, Nike is thinking about ways to include all of its technology partners in ways that benefit NikeConnect, NikePlus, and SNKRS users.
“We’re excited to learn how unlocks are being received right now,” said the spokesperson. “There is a pretty comprehensive ecosystem of value that we’ve been building for our members… Members who are really active with us are getting rewards or achievements [and] that could include partners like Apple… that we’ll be bringing to the table to round out your whole holistic sport experience.”


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Tesla has announced plans to build a gigafactory, a massive battery plant which will bring with it supply constraints in the lithium markets. With demand for lithium-ion batteries expected to grow in the coming years, Lithium Exploration Group (OTCQB: LEXG) is working hard to be in a position to supply part of this demand.
To address the supply issue, Tesla is scouting sites for the gigafactory to cut their production costs by 30 percent. "We're actually quite comfortable that we're heading toward a final agreement sometime later this year," stated JB Straubel, Tesla's Chief Technology Officer, on their earnings call. "Groundbreaking could begin as early as next month," said Elon Musk. Tesla has named Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas as possible factory sites and said it will break ground in at least two of these states.
Elon Musk has stated that he believes that more than 50% of all vehicles sold by 2030 will be fully electric. If his prediction is correct, this will equate to 75 million vehicles requiring nearly 3,000,000 tons of lithium per year. The worldwide production of lithium in 2013 was around 160,000 tons.
"We have two active facilities that are bringing brine water in every single day. We have already begun navigating the regulatory requirements to produce minerals from these brines; we are merely waiting for the field testing data from our Ultrasonic Technology to determine the optimal salinity level for the unit so that we can move to bench scale testing and begin small production batches of lithium carbonate," commented CEO Alex Walsh. "We have known that there is lithium in the Alberta brine for years; the only questions are: how much can we capture and at what price is it profitable to produce. We believe our technology will be game-changing as it pertains to those metrics."
About Lithium Exploration Group
Lithium Exploration Group is a US-based exploration and development company focused on the acquisition and development potential of lithium brines and other precious metals that demonstrate high probability for near-term production. Currently the company is focused on its Western Canada lithium assets, testing its Ultrasonic Generator Technology and the acquisition of oil and gas related assets in Western Canada. Lithium Exploration Group is a fully reporting company traded on the OTCQB under the symbol LEXG.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains "forward-looking statements." Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future testing of the ultrasonic technology.
Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with mineral exploration and difficulties associated with obtaining financing on acceptable terms. We are not in control of lithium prices and these could vary to make development uneconomic. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements.
Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our most recent annual report for our last fiscal year, our quarterly reports, and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE: Lithium Exploration Group, Inc.


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Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) overcame strong challenges to become a finalist in the prestigious Travel Trade Gazette Awards within the Destination of the Year category.
Joining some of the travel industry’s biggest players, our destination - Sarawak - was celebrated for its significant achievements in the trade at the winners’ ceremony on 10th September.
2013 marked Sarawak Tourism Board’s first year at the awards and the first year to be named – a clear indication of the Board's consistent presence in the UK market. The arrival statistics indicated a double digit growth of 11.89% from 2011 to 2012, and the results from January to July this year, shows a healthy 19,526 arrivals from the UK.
Sarawak Tourism Board stood alongside other leading destinations including Brand USA, Tourism Australia, Barbados Tourism Authority and Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in the final round of selection.
TTG’s editor and Brand Director Daniel Pearce presenting STB Regional Marketing Manager, Maurice Balang, with the finalist certificate.
The evening was held in the heart of the city of London at the Odeon in Leicester Square.
Sarawak Malaysia Borneo... where adventure lives


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taiwan tech news search results
Developer news items we found relating to taiwan tech
Memory module XRDIMM gets aviation equipment certification
Friday, September 13, 2019 by Christian Hargrave
Apacer announces the release of the XR-DIMM. This rugged memory module is the first on the market to meet the exacting standards of the US RTCA DO-160G test, an aviation equipment certification that marks the XR-DIMM as resistant to high levels of vibration and therefore ideal for defense and aeronautical applications.
Since 2018, Apacer has been manufacturing DDR4 X...
The Taiwan Tech Arena returns to CES 2019
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 by Richard Harris
A new epicenter of advanced consumer technology research and development will take center stage at CES 2019 when the Taiwan Tech Arena returns to CES 2019 to introduce the world to 44 of the most promising Taiwanese technology start-ups in the Taiwan Tech Arena located in the Eureka Park Marketplace in the Sands Expo & Convention Center at Booth #52443.


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Currently, both companies use their skilling platforms – Infosys’ Lex and TCS’ Ion — to train over 700,000 employees, as they look to reskill their workforce.
“If you take the Wingspan-Lex story, there is a very small amount of work to be done to make it a consumer platform....We are not blind to it,” Salil Parekh, CEO of Infosys, told ET in a recent interview. “Our main focus is still the large enterprises, but we are looking at some of these things which might morph into it over time,” he said.
The company’s mobile-based skilling platform – which measures the time spent by an individual in learning a new software programme, identifies gaps and prods further learning — has been rebranded as Wingspan to sell it to its existing enterprise customers.
The plan is to now explore options beyond to create a consumer-facing business, top executives said.
Industry leader Tata Consultancy Services, which employs over 446,000 people, is also looking to make its learning platform available to consumers at large. In 2019, it opened up the platform to students who had failed to make the cut on the national qualifier tests that it conducts while hiring freshers.
Turn: Hot Topic in India
“The opportunity is there to… open it up to others, beyond the talent pool and the supply chain that we have,” Ganapathy Subramaniam, chief operating officer, Tata Consultancy Services told ET.
Skilling is a particularly hot topic in India. The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) estimates that a tenth of the users on skilling platforms globally are from India. As technology becomes an increasingly key part of all industries, the demand for skills has sky-rocketed.
The reskilling and certification market in India was estimated to grow to $500 million by 2021, according to a 2017 report by Google and KPMG. It accounts for a quarter of the $2.1 billion online education market.
Experts are of the view that IT services companies will likely require a different group (of executives) to run a consumer-facing business.
“They would need a separate subsidiary in order to focus on consumer needs or license out a joint venture,” said Ray Wang, founder of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research.
Infosys has a team working on a consumer strategy for Wingspan-Lex and a commercial model.
Typically, consumer-focussed edtech platforms are venture-capital funded and are initially unprofitable as they spend money to scale. That is not a model that Infosys will consider, Parekh said. “We are not in the business of scaling things by making huge losses. That is not something we are good at. So we are looking at different ways of scaling it,” he said.
TCS has been in talks with publishers and IIT professors to host content on the platform and is looking at building a payments layer on top of the skilling platform, ET had previously reported.
Though it is not yet clear whether the platforms would focus just on India or other markets as well, IT consultants said the companies would have to consider different strategies to run a consumer business.
“Their challenge is to uncouple them from their internal operations and make them standalone. This presents challenges in both developing better and more resilient UX capabilities as well as developing a new commercial operating model which fits the learning and development market place,” said Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of Everest Research.
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- RBI may Opt for a Smaller Rate Hike this Week: Experts
Easing inflation expectations both in India and abroad, indications of slower rate hikes in the US and worries over a global economic slowdown are likely to ensure a smaller interest rate increase by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) this week, bankers and economists expect.Rules for Indian Financial Sector Need to be Reviewed
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules restrict Indian banks from lending to companies for takeovers. The Indian central bank always viewed lending against shares as a risky activity because a sudden collapse in stock prices could leave banks holding worthless paper. They can lend only up to Rs 20 lakh, a rule that was set after the so-called Harshad Mehta scam of 1992.Deadline for Filing Charge Sheet in Focus
A special CBI court judge, while dealing with a bail application in India’s biggest bank fraud case, called for legislation to extend the deadline for filing of charge sheets in “highly serious” cases, highlighting the difficulties faced by investigating agencies in completing complicated case probes.
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A global analysis of IoT use in home networks
A study conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Stanford University, and Avast Software, analysed the use of Internet of things (IoT) devices in homes around the world. According to the findings of the study, the leading continents in IoT use are North America, Western Europe and Oceania (50% and more), followed by South America, East Asia (30%), Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, (20%-25%), North Africa and the Middle East, Central Asia (17%-19%), and finally South Asia (less than 10%). The continents also differ in the popularity of various IoT devices. While in North America, Internet-connected television or streaming devices are the most popular ones, in South Asia, most IoT devices are surveillance devices. Although in all regions the security of these devices is lacking, there is still a variance in the level of security between them. In North American and West Europe, the study revealed less security related issues, in comparison to Central Asia, South America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Researchers also discovered that most of the devices are manufactured by a handful of popular vendors in all regions. The full study will be presented at the upcoming Usenix Security Conference 2019.


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Hotels Embrace Text Messaging
Photo courtesy Thinkstock.
Has your hotel been reaching out to you via text message?
An article in USA Today notes that the texting trend is becoming more popular in the hotel space.
Hotels are increasingly finding that the best way to talk to their hotel guests is to not actually talk to them—but to text with them,” writes Glenn Haussman for USA Today. “Guests can now request amenities and alert hotels to problems via text at a number of hotels throughout the country, from big cities like New York and smaller towns like Bend, Ore.”
Text messaging is the preferred mode of communication for many in younger generations.
“Some people, especially in today’s age, prefer to text rather than have face-to-face communication,” says Rick Takach, CEO of Vesta Hospitality, a hotel ownership group, in USA Today. “It is a convenience for the guest. Many times guests do not want to get on the phone, or have a hassle with talking to people, so they send a text.”
Text messaging is an ideal way to communicate directly with guests in a hotel space that is more and more driven by tech, meaning less direct communication with visitors.
“One thing we noticed is guests are interacting with us less and less now that they can check in online and use their Smartphone as a room key,” he says. “We wanted to make sure we wouldn’t lose valuable personal connections with guests while they were here.”
Find out more on how hotels are using tech to interact with guests.
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2021 was primed to be quite the big year for gaming handhelds, with the release of a new Switch revision, the OLED version which we thought was a solid update even if not what many hoped for, the Steam Deck and Panic’s quirky Playdate, the very small handheld that had a crank and a slate of smaller, experimental titles. The keyword, of course, is was. While the Switch OLED did make it out this year, the Steam Deck saw a delay earlier this week. Now it seems the Playdate is next.
In an email sent out to buyers, it was confirmed that the system would not be making its 2021 date. While many buyers were already in line for 2022, initial buyers who got in early were scheduled to get the Playdate in “late 2021.” Considering how little information had been out there since pre-orders went live, it’s not a huge surprise. According to Panic, the issue stemmed from a battery issue that saw a lot of units unable to power on and charge, thus making them decide to replace the battery in all the units. They also point to the global chip shortage, which is impacting other platform holders, as another issue.
The Playdate 2021 pre-orders sold out in just the span of a few minutes, but now they will have to wait to see how the little handheld fares in early 2022. Pre-orders that happened afterward are still slated for the second half of 2022 and groups after 50,000 units in 2023.


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EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — Police are investigating two separate hacks where multiple items were purchased through a victim’s Walmart accounts.
According to Pennsylvania State Police, in Schuylkill County, troopers were told of a theft where an unknown suspect accessed the victim’s Walmart account.
PSP says the hacker was able to place an order through the victim’s account. It was unclear the number of items ordered.
In a separate investigation, police were told of a hack on a victim’s Walmart account in Union County.
The victim told troopers that someone was able to purchase $229.99 worth of times through his account.
State police in Union and Schuylkill counties are continuing to investigate the incidents.


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Collar Company has partnered with retailer Ferplast.
The collaboration means that Collar Company’s dog fitness toy, Puller, available in many countries, will now also be available through Ferplast in Italy.
Maksym Pylypenko, head of the foreign trading department of Collar Company, said: “We are sincerely happy to collaborate with Ferplast company and believe that our partnership will bring lots of joy and new products to the pet owners all over the world.”
Collar has also unveiled its new ‘light and ergonomic’ Waudog retractable leash. It has a ‘useful and reliable’ control system with four levels and the leash is sewn with a reflective thread. It is available in three and five metres and designed for dogs up to 50kg.