text:
December 28, 2016 11:36 ET
Change in regulation will spur investment, create jobs and modernize facilities
MITCHELL, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 28, 2016) - "Ontario's Fruit and Vegetable Processors Association (OFVPA) members are prepared to support Premier Wynne's going global strategy if key changes are made to regulations that will allow for a more competitive industry," said Karl Evans, Chair of OFVPA. "Our members completely support the Premier's global strategy. Our companies had made tremendous investments in being the best in the world at what we do."
"We are particularly interested in following up with the Premier on her idea of meeting new demand for multicultural foods," Evans went on to say. "Nobody understands the opportunity better than Ontario with our rich multicultural society. Success will come from how we process foods to meet the various distinct tastes that modern marketing requires. This is great socially; it is also great economically."
According to Evans, "We need greater flexibility and agility if we are going to capture market opportunities that the Premier has identified. Right now the only obstacle to capturing these markets is the antiquated system in place that allows the primary producer board (Ontario Processor Vegetable Growers) to unilaterally impose regulations to terms and conditions with processors and their customers. Our members are prepared to make the investments, create jobs and modernize facilities necessary to compete globally."
"The government's own independent Farm Products Marketing Commission has recognized the problem and recommended immediate changes," Evans pointed out. "These changes are being held up through an intensive lobbying effort by a small cartel of growers wanting to maintain an antiquated system that doesn't work."
"One of the greatest opportunities may come from trade issues between the US and its trading partners," said Evans. "We believe there may be excellent opportunities for new market growth in Europe and Asia."
"We are asking the Premier and the Minister of Agriculture to let us ignite the full potential of Ontario workers, growers and processors in capturing more world markets," said Evans. "To do this we need a very receptive and flexible system to market opportunities. Right now the system is a barrier to more good paying jobs. Ontario has a report from its own Commission that would allow us to immediately take advantage of the market. All they have to do is implement it."
Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Processors Association (OFVPA)Don EppExecutive Director519firstname.lastname@example.org
See all RSS Newsfeeds


text:
Check out appoLearning.com, because your kids deserve the very best educational apps!
While the next-generation iPhone will offer an assortment of new bells and whistles, one thing the device won’t have is a pre-installed version of YouTube.
Apple confirmed to The Verge earlier today that the license to include the YouTube app has expired and that the company has no plans to include the leading video distribution service in its upcoming iOS 6 operating system (which will power the next phone).
Does this mean that iDevice owners won’t be able to access YouTube on their iPhones, iPads or iPods? Far from it. YouTube will still be accessible via Chrome, and Google is reportedly working on a standalone version of the service that will be available to download from the App Store.
YouTube is not the first blue chip Google property to be removed from iOS 6. Apple will be replacing Google Maps with its own proprietary mapping app as well.
Last June, Apple unveiled many of the key features of iOS 6 during the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The company is reportedly ready to introduce a new iPhone (and perhaps an iPad Mini) next month.

domain: news


text: Celebrity Kris Jenner Kris Jenner Just Debuted a Sleek Bob After Years of Rocking Her Signature Pixie Cut New hair, who dis? By Averi Baudler Averi Baudler Instagram Averi is a Chicago-based news writer and has been at InStyle since 2022. She covers all of the latest happenings in the entertainment industry, focusing on celebrity style and breaking news. InStyle's editorial guidelines Published on April 6, 2022 @ 11:00AM Pin Share Tweet Email Photo: Getty Images While we're used to the Kardashian-Jenner clan constantly switching up their looks, Kris Jenner has long been considered ol' reliable when it comes to her signature pixie cut. Even when the matriarch tried on an icy platinum blonde color years ago (and almost instantly became a meme because of it), she still kept the same cropped cut we all know and love. Well, it seems the momager was finally ready to change things up during her last salon appointment, and — in true Kar-Jenner fashion — took to social media to debut her new 'do. On Tuesday, Kris posted an Instagram story ahead of daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner's launch party for their new Kylie Cosmetics collaboration. Always one to promote her children's business ventures, the mother of six swiped a layer of Kylie Cosmetics gloss across her lips while wearing a white robe as she prepped for the event. Although Kris looked gorgeous as ever in her Insta story video, we could only focus on one thing: her new sleek bob. Kris's nonchalant hair reveal actually featured two transformations in one: her chic bob cut was accompanied by wispy side-swept bangs. The 66-year-old finished the playful video by blowing a kiss into the camera. While we aren't sure how long Kris's new style will stick around, there's no denying that she's absolutely working it. Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson Are Reportedly Ready To "Take Their Relationship to the Next Level" The momager's fresh cut comes a week before the premiere of the family's new Hulu show, The Kardashians, on April 14. During a recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Kris said the new show is sure to deliver all of the drama fans are used to seeing from the famous family. "Of course, the minute we start filming, a million things are happening," Kris said. "Kylie's having a baby, Kourtney is dating Travis Barker and gets engaged, Kim gets SNL. I mean, every single day there was either drama or something crazy going on."


text:
Royal Caribbean on Tuesday announced plans to launch Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service across its entire cruise fleet.
The company will be the first in the cruise industry to install this service on its ships. He said satellite internet would be rolled out immediately and he expected installation on his cruise ships to be complete by April 2023.
The company said it conducted a trial on one of its ships, Freedom of the Seas, and determined that Starlink performed well enough to adopt internet service across its entire fleet. Previously, the company allowed customers to purchase VOOM Internet onboard its ships for approximately $19.99 per day per device. The cruise industry has historically poor WiFi options for guests.
“This technology will provide breakthrough internet connectivity onboard our ships, enhancing the cruise experience for passengers and crew,” said Jason Liberty, President and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, in the press release. . “It will improve and enable more high-speed activities like video streaming as well as activities like video calling.”
In June, the cruise line urged the Federal Communications Commission to approve SpaceX’s request for permission to use Starlink aboard moving vehicles, including ships and motor homes. Less than a month later, the FCC approved satellite Internet service for vehicles in motion.
SpaceX has also negotiated with several airlines to provide in-flight WiFi, including Delta Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and private jet service. Earlier this year, Musk said he tested Starlink on his private jet.
Last week, Musk announced that SpaceX is also partnering with T-Mobile to offer its users access to Starlink satellites starting next year.
Starlink currently has a user base of over 400,000 subscribers worldwide. The company has a network of more than 2,500 satellites in low orbit. The service is designed to provide high-speed Internet access of up to 200 Mbps to customers in rural areas and higher latitudes.


text:
Valuable new tool helping South Island businesses
Christchurch Airport is helping South Island businesses join global super app, Alipay, so they can more easily do business with the record numbers of Chinese visitors coming to New Zealand.
More than 300 South Island businesses have so far become Alipay merchants under the project – including Larnach Castle.
Alipay is the world’s leading mobile and online payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group. The Chinese smartphone app that has more than 520 million users and is used to pay for everything from street food to luxury merchandise all over the world. It is also a valuable marketing tool for its merchants.
Larnach Castle’s Marketing and Public Relations Manager, Deborah Price says their move to Alipay has been an easy one, and the app is helping attract visitors to the well-known attraction.
“We’re really thrilled with Alipay’s success in our business – it’s ticking over really well.”
“China has overtaken England, America and Europe to be one of our biggest international visitor markets. Our Strategy is to make it easy for Chinese visitors to come to us and enjoy the experience – joining Alipay was part of that.”
Price says Alipay is really easy to use and everyone’s excited about it.
“Even our older members of staff, who thought it was beyond them, are finding it easy.”
Christchurch Airport’s Chief Aeronautical and Commercial Officer Justin Watson says the Chinese trust and know how Alipay works and are therefore more likely to spend with a kiwi business that offers Alipay than one that doesn’t.
“Better still, being an Alipay merchant lets kiwis do business with these visitors before, during and after their holiday here.”
The app allows users to look up places to stay or eat and book activities before they leave China. Once in the country, visitors will receive notifications on their smartphone when they’re near any business that accepts Alipay.


text:
Two Woolwich shops have been fined more than £25,000 altogether for selling shampoos and cosmetics that aren’t approved for sale […]
Holiday Food and Fun, the Greenwich-wide scheme for children who receive free school meals, is returning this Easter. The scheme […]
Cars were set on fire in the car park of a residential block in Woolwich at the weekend in an […]
The Council’s plans to invest in the night-time economy in Greenwich have been praised by London’s Night Czar. Amy Lame, […]
Greenwich Council is inviting residents to have their say on parks and open spaces in the borough. The Parks and […]
© 2022 Greenwich Media CIC.
Registered in England and Wales number 09596570. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Prices are unfortunately expected to remain high as the program ramps up
Limited quantities of cannabis-infused gummy candy hit Ohio medical dispensary shelves late last week.
The initial price for Ohio’s first legal edible is steep: $80 for 11 gummies. Each candy contains 10 mg of THC. THC, short for tetrahydrocannabinol, is the compound that generates a “high.”
Similar strength gummies sell for about $25 for a pack of 10 in Illinois, which has a highly-regulated medical cannabis program similar to Ohio’s.
Prices are expected to remain high as the program ramps up. Fewer than half of the state-licensed 29 growers have cannabis flower or other products on retail dispensary store shelves.
Only two of the state’s 39-licensed cannabis product makers are operating. Grow Ohio Pharmaceuticals’ square-shaped gummies were first sold in dispensaries last week. Standard Wellness plans to sell gummies later this month, first in its Sandusky dispensary and then across the state.
To Read The Rest Of This Article On Cincinnati.com, Click Here


text:
FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2010 file photo released by the Utah Highway Patrol, a Toyota Camry is shown after it crashed as it exited Interstate 80 in Wendover, Utah. Police suspect problems with the Camry's accelerator or floor mat caused the crash that left two people dead and two others injured. The Wall Street Journal is reporting Wednesday March 19, 2014 the U.S. Justice Department may reach a $ 1 billion settlement with Toyota Motor Corp., ending a four-year criminal investigation into the Japanese automaker's disclosure of safety problems. (AP Photo/Utah Highway Patrol, File)
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has reached a $1.2 billion settlement with Toyota Motor Corp. and filed a criminal charge alleging the Japanese automaker defrauded consumers by issuing misleading statements about safety issues in Toyota and Lexus vehicles.
Under the agreement, announced today by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the company will admit that it misled U.S. consumers by making deceptive statements about two safety issues affecting its vehicles. As a result, Toyota will pay a $1.2 billion financial penalty under a “deferred prosecution agreement.”
It is the largest penalty of its kind imposed on an automotive company by the U.S., Holder said.


text:
June 3, 2014
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) fired a shot into the mobile computing space with the impending release of several new 2-in-1 notebooks and Chromebooks, including a new notebook powered by Android. Coming on the heels of Microsoft’s (MSFT) Surface announcement in May, the news signals the beginning of a war for the hearts, minds (and wallets) of hybrid notebook users.
“Customers have made it clear that they need devices that better adapt to work and play the way they do,” said Mike Nash, vice president, Product Management, Consumer Personal Systems at HP, in a prepared statement. “Today, we are announcing the next generation of laptops and two-in-one PCs, along with a new Chromebook, that combine power, versatility and design for home and on the go.”
While we’ve seen hybrid devices on the market before, the recent announcement of the Surface Pro 3 has firmly placed notebook/tablet hybrids in the spotlight as users gravitate toward the portability of a tablet coupled with the benefits of a full physical keyboard. HP is serving up two similarly designed convertible PCs meant to cater to those wavering between a full notebook and a tablet with the HP ENVY x360 and the HP Pavilion x360, both of which switch quickly between notebook, stand, tent or tablet modes.
The HP ENVY x360 sports a 15.6-inch Full HD touch screen display, while the Pavilion x360 slims down with a 13.3-inch touchscreen, respectively. Both devices easily outmeasure the Surface Pro 3, which features a 12-inch HD display. HP also unveiled details on the HP Split x2, another 13.3-inch display with an optional dual battery system that also converts between tablet and notebook.
For Chromebook users, the latest HP Chromebook comes packed with a respectable 11.6-inch display and not much else, while the HP SlateBook is the company’s true answer to the looming threat of Surface Pro 3. Similar to the specs on Microsoft’s latest offering, the SlateBook is a 14-inch notebook with a full HD touch screen and integration with the Google Play Store. The device also features an NVIDIA Tegra 4 mobile processor and integrated GeForce graphics, making it a powerful competitor in the touch-screen notebook department.
With the Surface Pro 3 scheduled to launch at the end of August for $799, HP has announced it plans to release all of its new offerings by the end of July. The HP ENVY x360 is expected to launch next week with a price tag of $679.99, with the Pavilion x360 slated for availability in mid-July for $599-629.99, depending on the processor. The HP Split x2 is scheduled to hit shelves June 29 for $599, with the HP Chromebook and HP SlateBook landing in July for an MSRP of $279.99 and $429.99, respectively.
It remains to be seen whether HP’s offerings in the hybrid tablet space will measure up to or exceed the specs of the Surface Pro 3, but currently HP’s lineup has Microsoft beat when it comes to sheer pricing. Acer also revealed its own take on the hybrid notebook in April at its NYC Press Event, signaling that the spread of these hybrid devices is not reserved to just Microsoft and HP. If the popularity of hybrid notebooks is truly growing as rapidly as the industry would have us believe, expect a whole lot more 2-in-1 tablets to surface (pun very much intended) throughout the rest of 2014.
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like


text:
Supermarkets are cutting fuel prices in time for Black Friday weekend.
Asda has cut up to 1ppl off unleaded and 2ppl off diesel from its national price cap, across its 319 petrol stations following a further decrease in the wholesale cost.
The retailer’s new national fuel price cap means that drivers across the country will pay no more than 118.7ppl on unleaded and 129.7ppl on diesel, with the diesel price falling below £1.30 for the first time in three months.
This will be the fourth fuel price drop Asda has announced since October 26, dropping the price of unleaded fuel by up to 9ppl.
Asda’s senior fuel buyer, Dave Tyrer, said: " Our new national price cap of 118.7ppl on unleaded and 129.7ppl on diesel will be welcomed by the millions of drivers across the UK in the run up to the festive period.
“Further decreases in the wholesale market mean we are able to reduce our prices again with Asda’s unleaded price dropped by up to 9ppl since the end of October and now we’re seeing the diesel price drop below £1.30 for the first time in three months.”
Meanwhile from tomorrow (November 24), Sainsbury’s is cutting the price of unleaded petrol by 1ppl and diesel by up to 2ppl across its 313 forecourts.
David Pegg, Fuel Buying Manager for Sainsbury’s, said: “At this busy, festive time of year we are committed to helping our customers live well for less and that’s why we’re dropping the price of unleaded petrol and diesel from tomorrow. Whether in store or at the pumps, customers know they will get fantastic value with Sainsbury’s.”
RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said: “It’s great to see drivers benefitting from Black Friday too with this latest price cut at the pumps, which we now need to be followed swiftly by other retailers so the UK average price comes down.
“After so much of 2018 being characterised by rising fuel prices, it’s heartening to see prices falling just as we enter the expensive festive period.
“While this is obviously good news, it’s disappointing that it has not come sooner as the wholesale price of petrol has been falling for weeks.”


text:
"GTA 5" is, without a doubt, one of the games that made 2013 worth waiting for, at least for most gamers. But of course, being one of the "it" games of the year, the position also puts "GTA 5 Online" at an angle that many modders and hackers would tend to find attractive.
This is probably the reason why, despite the bug fixes that Rockstar Games has rolled out, there are still a couple of glitches and exploits in the game found by these certain individuals.
For instance, Xplore Gaming reports that a recent threat now seems to be the tendency of some players to hack into the GTA$ and then distribute them to random games via the servers.
While this seems like a Robin Hood in action, it does affect the economy of "GTA 5," especially when those who hack into the systems prove to be impossible to stop. It doesn't help that, according to the report, some players who may not be expecting the gift, can also be charged with the cheating. This is seen when the players end up in the cheater's pool for up to a month at a time, after receiving the large sums of money.
One tip that the report gives is to stay away from suspicious characters in "GTA 5 Online," so that players avoid becoming one of the hackers' targets.
*Telltale Games and its three games: "Tales from the Borderlands," "The Walking Dead Season 2" and "Game of Thrones." Check out what you should look forward to in these games.
'Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag' gets the PhysX Treatment
The world of pirates and stealth just got a lot smokier in "Assassin's Creed 4" as the latest NVIDIA PhysX patch was released for the PC version of the game.
According to the GeForce Web site, shadows were enhanced using the NVIDIA Percentage-Closer Soft Shadows, shading was enhanced with the NVIDIA HBAO + Ambient Occlusion and light rays were now included using the NVIDIA-developed DirectX 11, tessellated technique. And the NVIDIA PhysX effects were responsible for improving the realism aspect in the game effects.
GeForce provides a video demonstrating the changes in the effects, and as can be seen, there are noticeable effects in the smoke bombs, camp fires, torches and even firearms in "Assassin's Creed 4."
What also adds to the realism aspect is the Particle Shadow Mapping technology, which will let the effects cast shadows over one another for better image quality.
For those interested in "Assassin's Creed 4" and the changes in the game for the PC can get it in the NVIDIA GeForce GTX Holiday bundle, which lets buyers get three games and up to $100 off the cost of a NVIDIA Shield from any North American retailers. It's one of the games that gamers can expect to enjoy, along with the rumoured two more "Assassin's Creed" games in 2014.
*The Xbox One may need the promised eternal support for the hard drive a little earlier. Read here to know why.
$1M Loothunt for 'Borderlands 2' Gathers Stats
Gearbox Software and 2K Games have previously announced the "Borderlands 2" that took place from October to November. Now that the event is closed, with winners taking their respective rewards, the developers have released an illustrated stats count for "Borderlands 2."
IGN has the infographics at the link, but there were a number of interesting statistics gathered from the month-long event. For instance, Axton took the bag for being the character with the most number of players, followed by Maya, then Salvador, Zero, and Gaige, with Krieg taking the last spot at 7 per cent.
*The Xbox One and PS4 compared in terms of energy consumption: Who wins this round? Read here for more.
In terms of weapons, a whopping total of 28,651,011 guns have been looted, with the most popular being the Gunerang. Over at the enemy camp, 516,812,670 enemies have been killed, with Anchormen, Torgue Thrashers and Buzzards taking the top three spots in terms of most hated enemies.
A little something to look forward to for the Christmas season is the Christmas-themed DLC for "Borderlands 2," titled How Marcus Saved Mercenary Day, already out for download and featuring a couple of enemies and heads.


text:
With Ayala Malls Central Bloc set to open in the next few weeks, the mall and its tenants held a jobs fair in Ayala Center Cebu to sign up employees.
The jobs fair opened yesterday at the Activity Center of Ayala Center Cebu. Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella, who opened the fair, said it would provide much-needed work opportunities for Cebuanos. He asked the mall and its locators to prioritize Cebu City residents as a way to help uplift their lives.
The fair will end tomorrow, October 8.
CAREER FAIR OPENING. Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella leads the opening of the jobs fair to sign up workers for the Ayala Malls Central Bloc. With Labella are (from left) Ayala Malls VisMin Head Clavel Tongco, Ayala Center Cebu General Manager Bong Dy, and Ayala Malls Central Bloc Operations Manager Mabel Peñas. The career fair will be held from October 7 to 8 at the Activity Center of Ayala Center Cebu.
In opening the event, Labella said that Cebu City is booming and he hopes the opportunities can be spread among its residents.
The jobs fair makes available hundreds of openings for stores that will open in Ayala Malls Central Bloc at the IT Park. Job openings range from cashiers, engineers, plumbers, technicians, service crew, office workers, admin staff, among many others.
The jobs fair is conducted in collaboration with the Department of Labor and Employment, Public Employment Service Office, and the Department of Manpower Development and Placement of the Cebu City Government.
Holy Week is a time for silence, fasting and prayer. It is also an opportunity to reflect, take a break from the fast-paced life, and shift one’s focus towards faith and family.
Ayala Center Cebu, the region’s premier lifestyle destination, has lined up the following activities for mall-goers in this season of reflection and prayer:
Walkthru on April 13-17 and 20-21
Reflect on Jesus’ journey to Calvary in silence and prayer. Spend time with the Lord via the interactive Way of the Cross between 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at The Terraces.
Hop, Hop, and Away on April 21
Kids will enjoy egg-citing Easter-themed activities around the mall, such as arts and crafts, photobooths, an Easter egg hunt, as well as take home souvenirs.
To get an activity pass, present a minimum single receipt purchase worth P500 at the Concierge near Vero Moda. Purchases must be made between April 1 to 21, 2019 from any food merchants in Ayala Center Cebu. A total of 100 tickets will be given away every two hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The first 10 AMORE card Members, 10 ARC-card Members and 25 KIDDO Club members to present their membership cards at the Concierge may also get one activity pass. Each pass can accommodate one child and one adult companion.
Holy Week Mall Schedule
The mall will be closed on April 18, Maundy Thursday and April 19, Good Friday. Regular mall operations will resume on April 20, Black Saturday.
Easter Sunday Masses will be celebrated at the Mall Chapel near Beauty & Butter on April 21 at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
In partnership with Ayala Malls, 22 Tango Records’ Songs of Summer comes back on its 5th year with a major expansion. This time around, you can catch your favorite homegrown artists in two separate venues. Aside from the usual Ayala Center Cebu setting, Songs of Summer has a new site at Central Bloc, IT Park.
Songs of Summer started out as an intimate weekly folk fest that now grew into a bigger music show that caters to a wider pool of music genres.
The music series runs from April 10 to May 25, with 20 different artists on the lineup.
Come watch the shows on Wednesdays at The Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu on April 10, 17, 24, and May 1, 8,15, and 22.
Want more great music? Fill your weekends with the same energy by joining us on Saturdays at Central Bloc, IT Park on May 4, 11, 18, and 25.
Performing will be artists J Russ x DT, Mampor & Me, The Vast, Vincent Eco, Mary Anchit, Lourdes Maglinte, Oh Caraga, Intertwined, Route 83, Bethany, The Labrats, Jerika Teodorico, Mandaue Nights, Sepia Times, Thinking Chair, Duende, Wonggoys, Mother Folker, Ella Melendez, and Three Legged Men.
Drop by on these schedules and watch these artists play the night away.
Get ready for an all-nighter as the region’s premier lifestyle destination gives mallgoers great discounts of up to 70% off plus the chance to win exciting prizes at their midnight sale on Friday, August 31.
Shop and dine to join the raffle. At stake are two 2 sleep bracelets, a massage chair, and a mattress and two pillows when you present a minimum receipt of P500, P1,000 and P1,500 respectively to the concierge near Vero Moda.
Redeeming of raffle coupons is until 12 midnight only on August 31. Gift items will also be given out every hour starting 8 p.m. until midnight.
On the same day, enjoy live music at The Terraces. Performing at 8 p.m. are the young students of the Brown Academy of Music. Rocksteddy will then perform live at 10 p.m. (Press Release)
Filipinos love to eat and travel. Whether in the country or abroad, wanderlust drives the thirst for adventure and hunger for foodie experiences.
Diners at Ayala Center Cebu will get the chance to win one of 5 tickets for 2 to London and Paris including 5 days and 4 nights luxury accommodations, land transfers, a private tour, spa treatment and dinner at 3 Michelin-starred restaurants between the 2 destinations.
To join, present to the concierge near Vero Moda a valid transaction slip of at least P1,000 issued from August 17 to December 31, 2018 using a credit, debit or prepaid Mastercard from any participating or specialty restaurant to receive a raffle coupon. This Bon Appetrip promotion is ongoing until December 31.
The Mastercard cardholder is entitled to 1 raffle coupon for every transaction made at selected specialty restaurants, and 2 raffle coupons for every transaction made at restaurants who participate in the Buy 1 Get 1 promo of Bon Appetrip, where a complimentary dish is given when ordering the featured dish of the day on August 17, August 27, September 2, September 28, October 15, October 28, November 3, November 12, December 5 and December 18.
The school break promises to be a fun time for families as Ayala Center Cebu launches a plethora of activities to turn it into one #HappyColorfulSummer.
Cebu’s premier destination for shopping, dining, and entertainment has scheduled a lineup of entertaining pursuits for the whole family throughout the sunniest season of the year.
These include a range of play and learn activities for kids, fitness sessions, weekend fun events, and music fests.
Celeste “Bong” Dy, Ayala Center Cebu general manager, led the #SummerAtAyala launch where guests experienced a little of the enjoyable times ahead through craft flower assembling and a smoothie-making competition courtesy of Mooshi.
Kids’ workshops, play activities
The mall will offer voice, dance, painting, arts and crafts, sewing, and taekwondo lessons from April to May in the kids’ workshops. Children can also look forward to fun times at Bounce N Play Gleeful Moppets, My Little Craft Corner, Jumping Clay, Creative Minds, Hoverball, and KPUP Spritely Gym and Party Racer Go Carts. Kids who complete certain designated activities will get a premium prize.
For weekends, the mall will showcase marching bands and live mannequins, balloon twister and photobooth, bubble show, magic show, face painting and sticker tattoos.
Staying in shape will also be easier in the summer with Ayala Center Cebu’s zumba and capoeira classes as well as fitness bootcamp.
Nightly entertainment will come in the form of good music by local talents. It will be folk music every Wednesday from 8:00-10:00 p.m. at the Garden Area, and ACCoustic Sessions every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6:00-9:00 p.m. at Level 2.
You can now pay 50 stores in Ayala Center Cebu just by scanning a code via your phone using the GCash mobile app.
The digital and cashless Scan To Code payment system was launched yesterday afternoon by Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu, who bought coffee and pastries in Abaca Baking Company by scanning a QR or quick response code near the cash register area.
Among the 50 stores that can accept payments via QR code scanning are Bo’s Coffee, Chika-an, Casa Verde, and Rose Pharmacy. By the end of the year, more than 100 stores will be able to use this payment option, the company said.
Easy to set up
Officials said it is easy for vendors to integrate the payment system since all they need is the QR code.
“The people who have used it are amazed at the speed, amazed at the convenience of it,” Cu said in an interview during the launch. He flew into Cebu from Davao, where they also launched the system by partnering with the NCCC supermarket chain.
To pay using the system in partner stores, customers just need to open the GCash app then tap Pay QR, then choose Scan QR and then point the camera at the QR Code near the cash register then tap Pay.
“It is high time that our customers at Ayala Center Cebu experience the convenience of cashless transactions and offer scan to pay with GCash. This way, more people will have hassle-free options in making their transactions as they shop or dine at the mall,” said Ayala Center Cebu general manager Bong Dy.
Before the launch, Globe gave journalists and bloggers a preview on how to set up GCash and use the app to buy cellphone load. GCash allows its users to shop online, pay bills, and send money through the app.
Digital payments convenience
Cu highlighted the convenience of digital payments, saying cash “is a real burden for both the merchant and the buyer.”
“I heard a chain of 70 stores in the food business saying they accumulate 2 million pesos worth of coins before Christmas because they are afraid to run out. That’s a problem we need to solve,” he said.
Cu said he is “very confident” people will eventually adopt digital payments “because it solves a problem.”
“I personally have been using GCash for 4 years now. We started in the Globe tower. There was resistance in the beginning but then people used it and there was 99 percent satisfaction rating among employees,” he said.
Analytics for vendors
For merchants, satisfaction is even higher, said Cu.
“When merchants start the day, they just open up. There’s no need to prepare the cash register. And they get analytics, when is your heaviest transaction time? We can finetune the way we curate the vendors or the partners inside our food hall. Alam namin kung sinong malakas kung sinong mahina. Alam namin kung sinong malakas at the certain time of the day. We can do those analytics for them,” he said. “Which guy buys the most from you? Who are your repeat customers? You wanna do a campaign for them? Pwede rin. So many things we can do.”
He said digital payments create opportunities, especially for small business. “When I say small, I mean really small, kasi remember the GCash payment can be enabled for even your balut vendor, your cigarette vendor, your mais vendor. Kasi it requires no POS, just that particular QR code. That’s all you need,” Cu said.
He said the important challenge is to solve problems on cashing in. He said a key funder of GCash accounts are the more than 300,000 employees who receive their pay via the system.
Another key challenge is to raise awareness, he said.
“But we will hit the inflection point and it becomes the de facto standard of payment. I mean it happened in China, there was acceleration. It happened in India. Smartphones are coming with lower prices. A P3,000 gets you a decent Android now, which can make this happen,” Cu said.
He said the system is also a way to increase financial inclusion.
“As we gain records of your financial transactions, we are now able to give you a credit score. Together with your telco transactions, we can loan money in micro amounts, automatically. And say because of your transaction record you’re eligible for a loan of X pesos. You can also pay back through GCash. That way you don’t even have to enter a bank,” Cu said.
Make summer productive and creative by letting your kid join Rustan’s Supermarket’s paper flower art workshop on May 6 at 2 p.m. in Ayala Center Cebu. The workshop will be conducted by papercraft artist Stephanie Tudtud.
To join, present your Fresh Card at the customer service counter and register for P299 for two slots inclusive of workshop materials.
Rustan’s Supermarket’s Everyday Creativity workshops are exclusive to Fresh Cardholders, their loyalty program. The workshops are geared towards creating a community of shoppers and an avenue for the family and like-minded individuals to bond.
In Cebu, Rustan’s Supermarket is located in Oakridge Business Park, 880 A.S Fortuna Street, Banilad, Mandaue City; Paseo Arcenas Estate in Banawa; and Basement 1 of the Ayala Center Cebu expansion wing.
It is open daily from 8am-9pm, 8am-9pm and 9am-9pm respectively. For inquiries, contact (032) 262 0680 (Ayala), (032) 412 4146 (Oakridge). For updates, follow @RustansFresh on Twitter, Instagram and Rustan’s Supermarket on Facebook or visit www.rustansfresh.com. (Press Release)
BPI Family Savings Bank is again set to help fulfill every Filipino’s dream of getting their own car as it brings the second wave of mall-based Auto Madness sorties to the cities of Davao and Cebu this week.
The Davao leg will be held from Nov. 10-13 at the Abreeza Mall, while the Cebu event is scheduled to run from Nov. 11-13 in Ayala Center Cebu.
BPI Family Auto Loan
Davaoenos and Cebuanos who dream of having their own cars get the chance to make it happen at the BPI Family Auto Madness, as BPI Family Savings Bank brings the car buying experience closer to everyone.
There are 20 car models to choose from all under one roof.
Owning your dream car is also made affordable through special rates and exclusive deals from BPI Family Auto Loan and partner car dealers.
BPI Family Auto Loan enables you one to own your dream car the soonest possible time through expert financial advice from BPI Family Loan Advisors present in any of the BPI Family Auto Madness sites, fast and easy application process, and affordable monthly payment terms.
With BPI Family Auto Madness, Davaoeno and Cebuano families may find the best way to make this Christmas season meaningful and complete.
For more details about BPI Family Auto Loan, visit bpiloans.com. (Press Release)
Ayala Center Cebu celebrates wellness this Pink October, now on on its 8th year, as it takes the first steps in promoting healthy living with “Think Pink, Live Pink.” The first mall to embrace the cause, Ayala Center Cebu is giving everyone a chance to help raise awareness and support hundreds of breast cancer patients nationwide this Pink October.
1) Have your car washed
Contribute to the pink cause by having your car washed at the Basement Parking this month. In partnership with NDG Valet Innovators & Specialists, a portion of every car wash during Pink October goes to the ICanServe Foundation. Coupons are available at the main mall concierge and start at P170 for compact cars with P70 out of each carwash fee going to the beneficiary.
2) Catch an exhibit
From October 1 to 15, revel in a showcase of pink apparel from Plains & Prints, a nationwide campaign in collaboration with Rhett Eala, Rajo Laurel, Randy Ortiz, Maureen Disini and Vania Romoff. Dedicated to help raise awareness and defeat breast cancer, “The Heart of Fashion Capsule Collection” is at Rotunda 2, fronting Marcella. From October 17 to 28 at Rotunda 1, The Department of Trade and Industry presents “Pink Exhibit”, a display of local handicrafts with 18 participating exhibitors for the benefit of ICanServe Foundation Inc.
3) Try out a new treat
Get special discounts on the featured beverage or dessert in select restaurants from October 14 to 31, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. This campaign encourages partners to support the cause and help raise breast cancer awareness by adding a pink treat to their menu.
4) Get in the pink of health
On all Wednesdays and Fridays of October, join the Pink Zumba movement with the Cebu Zumba Instructors Network at the Terraces from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. All proceeds of the P50 donation will go to ICanServe Foundation Inc. On Sunday, October 16, the annual Pink October Run will kick off at the Cebu Business Park at 5:30 a.m. Interested participants may register at the Think Pink desk located at the Active Zone near Krispy Kreme. Registration fee is P350 for the 3k, 6k and 12k distances. This is organized by The Philippine College of Surgeons – Cebu Eastern Visayas Chapter, and Philippine Society of General Surgeons Cebu – Eastern Visayas in cooperation with the ICanServe Foundation Inc., Rotary Club of Cebu Fuente, Rotaract Club of Cebu Fuente, Ayala Center Cebu, and Cebu Business Park. On Saturday, October 22, Crossfit Pintados, an all-in-one fitness center offering crossfit classes and mixed martial arts will hold a fitness competition that supports the breast cancer awareness campaign during mall hours at The Terraces. A part of their proceeds from the event will be donated to the ICanServe Foundation Inc.
5) Learn how to style a wig or donate your hair for a cause
Delight in a beauty and glamour workshop dedicated to people wearing wigs as Quota International of Cebu presents an afternoon of fun involving a talk on how to style your wigs with makeup artist and speaker Jessie Glova. Cancer survivors and wig owners are welcome to join the workshop on Thursday, October 20, 6 p.m. at The Gallery. The first 50 guests will receive a special giveaway. Bridges Salon will also be conducting free haircuts for those who wish to donate their hair to cancer survivors.
6) Get checked
Early detection is key. Together with its beneficiary, the ICanServe Foundation Inc., Ayala Center Cebu will be conducting the “Pink Check”, a breast-screening procedure and ob-gyne consultation for free at the Family Lounge on the 3rd level of the mall’s expansion on all Fridays of October from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
7) Celebrate Life
Learn more about health and good lifestyle changes at Cinema 1 on Saturday, October 29, 9:30 a.m. Before heading out to the forum, a Zumba session at 6 a.m. at The Terraces will take place. Apart from these events and activities, Ayala Center Cebu also held an informative talk on early detection and cancer prevention last October 1 at Cinema 1. The event was in partnership with the Philippine College of Surgeons, the ICanServe Foundation Inc., Rotary Club of Cebu Fuente, and Rotaract Club of Cebu Fuente. Join the Pink October movement to help in the fight against breast cancer at the region’s premier lifestyle destination for shopping, dining and entertainment. For the latest updates and promotions, like Ayala Center Cebu at www.facebook.com/AyalaCebu and follow @AyalaCenterCebu on Twitter and Instagram. For more information, contact the Ayala Concierge hotline at 231-5342 to 44 local 324 or 266-2535. (Press release)
Bigby’s Cafe and Restaurant features new dishes and brings back old favorites as it opens at a more visible location on the second level of The Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu.
Although smaller, the new spot beside BonChon Chicken provides better access to guests and can operate for longer hours because it’s no longer inside the mall, explained Henrik Yu, marketing manager of Bigby’s Quality Food, Inc.
He said the restaurant is bringing back the classic dishes it offered but later removed from the menu when it first opened at Ayala Cebu back in 1998, such as the seafood kebab as well as some salads and sandwiches and pasta.
Bigby’s bestsellers among others are still the ribs, which they gather all effort to get from suppliers in Cebu and other areas, fajitas and steaks.
“Our ribs are very choice cuts and you get only four pieces of such from one pig. We also get from suppliers in Cagayan de Oro,” Yu added.
Another favorite of diners – the Kimmy Chunky Stew – was introduced during Father’s Day in 1999 and remains among Bigby’s bestsellers.
Bigby’s sinuglaw – a dish made of raw fish and grilled pork belly soaked in acids like vinegar and kalamansi juice and seasoned with herbs and spices – is special. It has distinctive seasonings – such as the tabon-tabon and biasong (local lime) that are available only in Cagayan de Oro – that provide the dish an added zing.
If you’re into desserts, try the Titanic Treat, an assortment of about 30 scoops of ice cream and various toppings. Better still, if you can eat this monster of a dessert in five minutes or less, you won’t need to pay for it.
With so many restaurants cropping up all over Cebu, Bigby’s continues to be popular because of its reasonable price and big servings, cited Yu.
Also, he added, Bigby’s international menu has gained a reputation for being comfort food that one wants to eat all the time.
According to Yu, possible new sites for Bigby’s are IT Park and the South Road Properties (SRP).
Rustan’s Supermarket opens today, August 9, at its new Ayala Center Cebu location with 2,800 square meters of space and special grocery offerings.
The new Rustan’s store, which is at Basement 1 of Ayala’s expansion wing, displays its items by categories: poultry, meat, seafood, dairy, grains, pasta and the like.
“Rustan’s Supermarket is really a lifestyle and you can see it in the way we display and sell things. We don’t only sell local but we’re heavy on imported goods,” said marketing manager Selina Selma-Romualdez during a media tour on Friday.
According to her, there are many items at the store that can’t be found anywhere else. She cited as example their assortment of Italian brand Casale Paradiso’s products that include the risotto or rice varieties, polenta and cous cous, zuppa or soups, choices of salt, pasta and aromatic mixes.
The new supermarket features a delicatessen section and bakery. It also has shelves for cereals, baby care, pasta and noodles, cheese, yogurt and other items.
One innovation that Rustan’s has brought to its new supermarket is the presence of a consultant at the wine and spirits area. So if you’re confused over which of the top brands to pick, you can always get help from the wine consultant.
Romualdez said they will be carrying more imported items, adding the yogurt section will soon display products from the US and New Zealand.
Another special offering of Rustan’s Supermarket is the Gourmet To Go area, which ready to eat healthy sandwiches and salads. There are pre-prepared Russian and Greek greens, pasta with pesto, hummus, spinach dip, and quiches. Available sandwiches include hot ham and cheese, chicken galantina, seafood, deli sub and prosciutto with arugula.
Yesterday’s soups of the day were salmon n’ corn chowder and cream of wild mushroom.
At today’s opening and up to August 18, Rustan’s is providing big discounts and buy one take another one offers on many products.
Check out the new Rustan’s Supermarket at it’s opening today and avail of the special opening offers.
My first time at Pepper Lunch soon after it opened in Ayala Center Cebu, they brought my beef still very red and looking raw. When I told the waiter I wanted my steak well done, he explained I was still supposed to cook it on the hot plate.
This “zizzle-it-your-way” serving style is a distinctive Pepper Lunch feature and allows diners to have control over how their food is done and seasoned, explained chef Jeroen van Straten.
Straten’s company – Benmark Holdings, Inc. – holds the master franchise for Pepper Lunch Philippines. The Pepper Lunch in Ayala’s new wing is the 23rd and newest branch in the country, Straten added during a media get-together in Cebu this week.
The secret to the Pepper Lunch dining experience is the patented Iron Plate, which is heated up to 250 degrees Celsius using a special electromagnetic cooker in just 70 seconds. The plate remains hot for more than 20 minutes, ensuring that your food remains warm up to the last bite.
Straten said this do-it-yourself fast-service dining concept was created by Japanese chef and inventor Kunio Ichinose. His goal was to provide fast and quality food even without a trained chef, and he realized this with the establishment of Pepper Lunch in Japan in 1994.
Pepper Lunch servings also enjoy the advantage of the restaurant’s signature sauces, honey brown and soy garlic. Aside from beef dishes, other choices are chicken, pork and salmon.
At my first Pepper Lunch dining experience, I learned enough to grill the meat on the hot plate but I missed out on the sauce. The best way to have your beef pepper rice is to mix the steak with the rice with its pepper, corn and spring onion toppings and then season it with any or both of the signature sauces.
Not a fan of pepper? Just tell the restaurant crew to omit it from your dish.
I’m not a sauce person but they persuaded me to try it during Thursday’s media launch and it did go well mixed with the steak and pepper rice.
According to van Straten, Pepper Lunch delivers on its “fine steak, great value” promise through strict quality control standards on its imported US and Australian beef.
The restaurant also offers seasonal menus, and this time it’s carrying the typical Filipino fares of lechon and sisig.
Pepper Lunch Ayala
Van Straten said response of the Cebu crowd to Pepper Lunch has been favorable and two more branches are planned for next year. They’re also thinking of opening this year a Pepper Lunch Express, which is more like a food court stall where the portions are slightly smaller and prices cheaper.
The first Pepper Lunch branch in the Philippines was opened in 2008 in Rockwell and 22 others have been added since then. The latest one is the Pepper Lunch branch in Ayala Center Cebu’s new wing.
Although they wanted to put up a restaurant as early as two years ago in Cebu, van Straten said they weren’t able to find the right partner or place.
“Now is the perfect time for us to come to Cebu,” he cited, adding they found the perfect local partner in Pepper Up Cebu, Inc. led by Allen Arvin A. Tan.
Pepper Lunch at Level 4 Ayala Center Cebu is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday, and up to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Pepper Lunch has over 200 outlets in Japan and all over Asia, including China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
This year’s Balik Cebu program that is among Sinulog 2014 activities will serve as the launching pad for a Balik Balay campaign that aims to help one of Yolanda-devastated communities in Pilar, Camotes.
Balik Cebu committee members led by group chair, Tetta Baad, said their objective is to build 50 dwellings in the style of the bahay kubo in Sitio Esperanza in Pilar as soon as possible.
The Balik Balay campaign will be officially launched during the Balik Cebu welcome party on January 16, 2014 which has served to welcome balikbayans during the Sinulog celebration for the last 12 years.


text:
In response to Scottish Power raising its gas prices by an average of 8.5% and electricity bills by an average of 9%, Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said:
“Scottish Power’s announcement means that now four of the Big Six energy companies have hit their customers with inflation-busting price rises. The Prime Minister is right to carry out a review of competition in the energy market but that won’t help cash-strapped consumers who are struggling this winter.
“Rising energy prices are consistently one of the top worries for consumers so everything possible must be done to ensure competition is working and prices are kept in check. We need to break the stranglehold of the biggest energy companies by separating domestic supply from generation and the Government must make sure its own policies are not adding unnecessary costs to consumers’ bills.”


text:
Most electronics companies approved by India under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware say they will not be able to meet their first-year targets due to global supply chain disruptions and “inadequate incentives” under the scheme.
They have now reportedly asked the government to almost triple the total incentive corpus to around Rs 20,000 crore ($2.67 billion) and increase the average rate of incentive from 2.3% to 5%.
The Indian government has approved 14 companies under the PLI scheme with an incentive corpus of $980 million.
According to a report by the Economic Times, Dell and domestic vendors Micromax and Dixon are expected to meet their first-year targets for the fiscal year ending March 31.
However, global players like Wistron, Flextronics and Foxconn’s Bharat FIH that were approved by the government to make laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers (PCs) and servers will not be able to meet their targets.
India had also approved ten companies under the domestic category. Players like Lava, Infopower Technologies (JV of Sahasra and MiTAC), Neolync, Optiemus, Netweb, Smile Electronics, VVDN and Panache Digilife are unlikely to meet their targets.
As per the scheme, global players need to show net incremental sales $134 million to be eligible for the first-year incentive of 4% in cashbacks, while for local companies, the target was $6.7 million.
The India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) and Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT) have informed the government regarding the demands.
Both associations have said that the incentives “do not compensate for the disabilities of shifting production to India” of duty-free products like laptops, tablets and data servers from countries like China, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of ICEA, which represents Apple, Lava and Foxconn, among others, said that IT hardware as a manufacturing category performed “very poorly” and the PLI scheme has had limited success.
Mohindroo, however, added that all efforts were being made to energize global value chains (GVCs) such as Apple, HP, Dell and Acer to make India a global manufacturing hub with output reaching $30 billion by 2026.
MAIT president Nitin Kunkolienkar told the publication that the government needs to do more to incentivize manufacturing of electronic hardware in the country.
According to the report, all companies approved under the scheme cumulatively pledged to produce goods only up to minimum eligibility threshold or goods worth $21.33 billion, including $8 billion in exports over the scheme’s four-year period.
Their commitment was far lower than expected by the government, which had initially made the estimate of achieving production output worth $43 billion, with exports expected to be worth $32.6 billion.


text:
FFCM, LLC, the parent company of ETF issuer QuantShares, announced it will shutter three of the firm's ETFs next month due to limited demand and low volume. The funds being closed are the QuantShares U.S. Market Neutral High Beta Fund (NYSE:BTAH), the QuantShares U.S. Market Neutral Anti-Momentum Fund (NYSE:NOMO) and the QuantShares U.S. Market Neutral Quality Fund (NYSE:QLT).
QLT has average daily volume of just over 2,700 shares while NOMO's daily turnover barely eclipses 1,400 shares. Just over 2,000 shares per day change hands in BTAH.
Continue Reading Below
"As a result of lower than anticipated levels of institutional and retail demand, the trading volume in their shares has been less than expected. As a result, liquidity in such shares has lagged, and FFCM believes that closing the Liquidating Funds and liquidating their portfolios is in the best interest of shareholders," the firm said in a statement.
The last day of trading for the ETFs will be November 2 and the funds will be fully liquidated by November 19. The closures will leave QuantShares with four ETFs, but the firm has filed plans with the SEC to possibly introduce as many as six new funds.
Eighty-nine exchange-traded products have closed this year, a record for the still new industry. Thirty funds have been shuttered in October.
For more on ETFs, click here.
(c) 2012 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


text:
Beyond is a new mobile app that allows users to know who their celebrity friends are, what they’re up to and how close they live from your current location. They’ve just announced the first ever Olympic gold medalist as their godmother. Beyond’s success in this category could serve as an example for other companies looking to tap into the lucrative world of athletics marketing.
“Who is the godmother of celebrity beyond” is a question that has been asked by many people. Celebrity Beyond, which was founded by Olympic Gold Medalist named Godmother, is an app that helps users find celebrities to follow and connect with them.
Celebrity Cruises has revealed the godmother of Celebrity Beyond, its newest Edge-class ship.
Simone Biles, a 19-time World Champion and seven-time Olympic medalist, will be the ship’s godmother and will officiate the christening ceremony on November 4, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale.
“I’m honored and happy to welcome Simone as godmother of our newest ship, Celebrity Beyond,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises.
“While I admire her gymnastic talents and historic achievements, it is Simone’s bravery to speak up and her capacity to assist others improve in sport and in life that has most impressed me.” She has often risen to the occasion and surmounted obstacles. She is a role model.”
(Celebrity Cruises provided this image.)
Celebrity has picked “transformational and daring” godmothers for its Edge-class ships, who are “shattering boundaries and advocating change” in their industries.
Biles will be joined by Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Reshma Saujani, the creator of Girls Who Code and the Marshall Plan for Moms. They are respectively the godmothers of Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Apex.
MORE: DINNER MENU: Celebrity Beyond at Rooftop Garden Grill
“I have many fond memories of sailing with my parents as a child, so I am thrilled to be serving as godmother of Celebrity Beyond,” Biles said. “I am pleased to be among such an illustrious group of game-changing women, and I value the critical message this recognition sends in acknowledging our achievements and, ideally, motivating the future generation of women.”
(Photo courtesy of Celebrity Cruises/Steve Dunlop)
Celebrity Beyond features British designer Kelly Hoppen CBE, American designer Nate Berkus, Paris-based design studio Jouin Manku, and British architect Tom Wright, as well as Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud’s culinary abilities.
Celebrity Beyond sailed from Southampton, England to Barcelona, Spain for the first time on April 27, 2022. The ship will now spend the balance of the spring and summer in the Mediterranean, sailing on nine and ten-night itineraries.
Beyond will arrive in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in November to spend the winter cruising the Caribbean for five to nine nights.
READ NEXT: Viking’s New Expedition Ship, Viking Octantis: My First Impressions
- cruise line news
- us cruises


text:
Spring’s fresh produce includes carrots and asparagus, both perfect for salads and sides, and cost less as they hit their prime at the top of the season. Another fresh ingredient, herbs, are also becoming a big trend in cocktails. Southern Living’s Norman King is interviewed by TODAY’s Lester Holt.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cut fruit and vegetable prices in half and people will load up on them, according to a new study that suggests price regulation may play an important role in future public policy. Full story
KANGERLUSSUAQ, Greenland (Reuters) - On the Arctic Circle, a chef is growing the kind of vegetables and herbs - potatoes, thyme, tomatoes, green peppers - more fitting for a suburban garden in a temperate zone than a land of Northern Lights, glaciers and musk oxen. Full story
Author Dan and Annie Shannon give some of Betty Crocker’s classics a vegan twist, making dishes like pesto chicken and vegetables and sweet potato risotto that are perfect for a tasty winter dinner.
Healthy Harvest is helping those who can’t afford fresh produce by gathering surplus fresh fruits and vegetables from fields and orchards and redistributing them. NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.
As the freeze in California is ending, vegetable prices are rising, reports CNBC's Jane Wells.
Chef Lidia Bastianich demonstrates how you can cook up a moist and flavorful meal of chicken in beer or beef braised in Barolo wine. Both recipes can be found in her new cookbook, “Lidia’s Favorite Recipes: 100 Foolproof Italian Dishes.”
TODAY nutritionist Joy Bauer tackles viewers’ diet dilemmas, including whether frozen yogurt has fewer calories than regular ice cream and whether marinating meat makes it less carcinogenic when placed on the grill.
A woman uses an umbrella as she sells vegetables during heavy rainfall in a market at Yangon May 22, 2013. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun (MYANMAR -Tags: - Tags: SOCIETY)
People reach out to take fruits and vegetables, distributed for free by farmers selling their produce, during a symbolic protest against the government's plans to liberalize their profession, in Athens May 15, 2013. The plans include ending the permanency of vendor permits, which will allow others
People reach out to take fruits and vegetables distributed for free by street market vendors, who sell produce from their farms, in a symbolic protest against government plans to change the status of their permits, in Athens May 15, 2013. REUTERS/John Kolesidis (GREECE - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS
REFILE - CLARIFYING CAPTIONPeople reach out to take fruits and vegetables distributed for free by street market vendors, who sell produce from their farms, in a symbolic protest against government plans to change the status of their permits, in Athens May 15, 2013. REUTERS/John Kolesidis (GREECE -


text:
Nintendo has previously confirmed that returning characters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will each get their own amiibo figures alongside the new characters such as Ridley, and Inkling.
Today, we get to take a quick look at one of the returning Smash veteran, Wolf, in amiibo form. The amiibo will be released on the same day as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, on 7 December 2018, and will be priced the same as Ridley, and Inkling, at $15.99.
Ridley, Inkling and Wolf are coming to the Super Smash Bros. series of #amiibo! These amiibo will arrive 12/7 and will retail for $15.99.
Looking for an original Super Smash Bros. amiibo? Many of these will also be re-released starting later this year and will be $12.99 pic.twitter.com/Pd32ehkuCZ
— Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS) July 12, 2018


text:
Rapunzel Creative Marketing, based in Ridgewood, N.J. has been named a finalist in the 51st Annual NJ Ad Club Jersey Awards. The agency is being recognized for a video campaign created for Conrad’s Confectionery in Westwood titled, “If You Stack ‘Em They Will Eat.” The entry category is “Video-Campaign, 3 or More Elements.” The campaign was created to promote ice cream pies and sandwiches as must-serve desserts during the November-December holiday season. The copywriter and creative director of the video campaign was Lynn Gregorski, founder and president of Rapunzel Creative, with videography by Adam Boyer. “We are thrilled to be recognized among New Jersey’s top advertising agencies and award-winning marketing firms,” said Gregorski.
If You Stack ‘Em They Will Eat
Conrad’s Confectionery / Conrad’s Candies / Conrad’s Ice Cream
An established regional confectionery asked the Rapunzel team to create a digital plan to build product awareness and boost sales of ice cream pies and sandwiches for Nov-Dec holiday gatherings. Good-bye pumpkin pie, hello pumpkin ice cream pie! This simple campaign showed holiday hosts that you CAN service ice cream for Thanksgiving, offering ideas like stacking a variety of ice cream sandwiches to create a stunning dessert.
“Conrad’s asked us to create and execute a digital marketing plan that would build product awareness and boost sales of its ice cream desserts as alternatives to the usual holiday pies and cakes,” said Gregorski. “This simple social media campaign showed holiday hosts that instead of the typical pumpkin pie, you can serve ice cream for Thanksgiving.”
A social media campaign was created featuring three (:15) videos promoting the products. Supplemental, low-budget video boosts were added, but most audience engagements were organic.
Combined with a series of three other social media videos and a contest, the business garnered the following Facebook results:
Post reach 43,138, up 884%
Page LIKES, up 588%
7,782 post engagements, up 231%
12,427 video views, up 53,929%
The companion contest resulted in over 1000 combined comments and shares in the first 24 hours. 33,246 people were reached with 3,283 post clicks.
The client reported a 30% increase in sales over previous seasons. “The posts dramatically increased follower engagement and generated buzz about the products,” said Gregorski.
About Rapunzel Creative
Rapunzel Creative is a results-driven strategic marketing firm and advertising agency that builds innovative brands and drives sales through imaginative campaigns, digital marketing, and advertising. It specializes in helping corporations gain market share by reinventing existing brands or developing new brands that are value-centric, distinctive, and memorable. Rapunzel Creative’s portfolio includes B2B and B2C brand advertising in a wide range of industries, including technology, insurance, automotive, financial services, real estate, law, manufacturing, health and wellness, hospitality, tourism, and nonprofit.


text:
Situs RERC 3Q Preliminary Findings
Each quarter, Situs RERC surveys regional and institutional investors across the country about key investment criteria in their local marketplace and national investment trends. The results are collected, averaged and then included in our quarterly report. The title this quarter is “Reshaping the Landscape.”
This quarter, survey respondents noted an increased level of caution as the recovery lingers, and several markets appear to have peaked. Many investors are taking more risk-averse positions and moving to asset classes such as the apartment and industrial sectors where there is high demand. In addition to the risk of rising interest rates, investors are concerned with political uncertainty, increasing construction costs, labor shortages and potential changes to the tax code.
Despite these challenges, CRE continues to be a preferred asset class. Investors are seeking income yield and CRE has a favorable relative income yield compared to other fixed-income investment options and can serve as an inflation hedge. Although stocks are at new highs, there is less risk of a market correction for CRE than for stocks.
The full report is coming soon; look for more coverage when it is released. To learn more about Situs RERC click here.
House Panel Approval of Rate-Cap Workaround a Win for Online Lenders
A House panel on Wednesday approved legislation that would ensure online lenders can continue to partner with banks to make loans at interest rates that exceed state caps.
The measure, sponsored by Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and co-sponsored by two Democrats, passed the House Financial Services Committee by a 42-17 vote. A key legislative priority for the online lending industry, the bill has drawn strong opposition from consumer advocacy groups.
read more: American Banker
Amazon’s Cashierless Store Is Almost Ready for Prime Time
For the past year, Amazon employees have been test driving Amazon Go, an experimental convenience store in downtown Seattle. The idea is to let consumers walk in, pick up items and then pay for them without ever standing in line at a cashier. Amazon is vague on the mechanics, but the store relies on a mobile app and some of the same sensing technology that powers self-driving cars to figure out who is buying what.
Employees have tried to fool the technology. One day, three enterprising Amazonians donned bright yellow Pikachu costumes and cruised around grabbing sandwiches, drinks and snacks. The algorithms nailed it, according to a person familiar with the situation, correctly identifying the employees and charging their Amazon accounts, even though they were obscured behind yellow polyester.
Amazon Go represents Amazon.com Inc.’s most ambitious effort yet to transform the brick-and-mortar shopping experience by eliminating the checkout line, saving customers time and furthering the company’s reputation for convenience.
The push into groceries is a way for the company to get consumers to shop at Amazon more often. In September, the e-commerce giant acquired Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion and has been cutting prices at the upscale grocery chain to drive traffic. On Wednesday, Whole Foods began offering deep discounts on Thanksgiving merchandise, including antibiotic-free turkeys, and signaled that the markdowns will get more aggressive as it adopts Amazon’s Prime subscription service. Shares at Kroger and Sprouts tumbled after the announcement.
Amazon unveiled Amazon Go last December, saying it planned to open the store to the public early this year. However, the company encountered technical difficulties and postponed the launch to work out the bugs, The Wall Street Journal reported in March.
read more: Bloomberg
Hudson’s Bay Investors want Debt Reduction, Payouts from Real Estate Proceeds
Corporate America has been giving way for several decades to uncorporate America — pass-through entities that don’t pay corporate income tax and now account for close to 40 percent of the revenue and more than 60 percent of the net income of U.S. business. The earnings of pass-throughs flow to their owners’ individual income tax returns, and the current House and Senate tax plans both include big tax cuts (around $450 billion over 10 years) for those owners. These have usually been pitched as tax breaks for “small business,” which isn’t entirely wrong but is misleading. More than 95 percent of businesses in the U.S. are pass-throughs, and the vast majority of those are small. But most pass-through revenue flows to a small minority of relatively large entities, and most pass-through earnings flow to people in the top 1 percent of the income distribution. There’s another question to ask, especially when proponents of the pass-through tax cut bring up manufacturing as a likely pass-through endeavor: What do pass-throughs do? That is, what industry sectors are they most likely to be in, and how does that compare with conventional “C corporations.
First, a quick taxonomy: The four categories of pass-through are sole proprietorships, partnerships, S corporations and real estate investment trusts. The first two have been around forever, although in recent decades partnerships have taken on new form with the rise of limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships and limited liability companies. The latter two were created by Congress during the Eisenhower administration as alternatives to the C corporation.
read more: NREI
CRE Market Outlook Takes Slight Dip Nationwide
The supply-demand outlook in commercial real estate markets took a slight dip nationwide for the first time since early 2016 and financing for some CRE property types is getting more difficult to arrange.
“For a property type like multifamily there is plenty of financing, but I think if you have a product type such as office and retail it becomes more challenging,” said Mitch Paskover, president of Continental Partners, a company that provides advisory services for real estate capitalizations.
The overall near-term outlook for new construction and space absorption across all commercial property types dipped slightly in the Moody’s Investors Service Red-Yellow-Green report. The CRE benchmarking tool uses a 100-point scale and color coding to assess growth in supply relative to demand and vacancy rates for CRE property types both nationally and within individual markets.
These real estate market supply and demand variables “determine the outlook for the commercial properties that support the majority of the collateral backing commercial mortgage-backed securities,” Moody’s said.
read more: National Mortgage News
We will be on hiatus next week for the Thanksgiving holidays. The Situs Newswatch will return on Nov. 27.
Click here to subscribe to Situs Newswatch.
Thank you for choosing the Situs Newswatch. If you want to see your company here or have an idea for coverage, please respond to this email or email firstname.lastname@example.org for more information.


text:
Hyundai, Kia Recall Protest Unprecedented
Automakers typically comply with recalls, but Hyundai and Kia have refused to do so on a recall of 250,000 of their vehicles. The vehicles were recalled because of defects that a whistleblower reported to the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The whistleblower reported 32 such defects, the Ministry ordered the recall of 10 models in March and April to address five defects that could affect safety.
The Ministry is now reviewing the automaker’s refusal to comply. The company disputes that there is a safety issue, despite the Korean government’s assertion that the defects pose a fire hazard and stalling risk.
The first hearing was held yesterday, with independent mediators holding the session.
The Ministry suspects Hyundai/Kia would argue the defects aren’t enough to warrant a full recall and that the company would offer free repairs as a way to get around the recall order. The Ministry already ordered Hyundai/Kia to offer free repairs to address seven other defects that didn’t require a recall order.
This move is unprecedented in Korean history, and automakers usually comply with U.S. regulators when a recall is warranted, as well. However, news reports suggest many American recalls don’t get addressed because automakers have inaccurate compliance records. Consumers also sometimes fail to bring their vehicles in for repairs.
Why Would Hyundai Push Back?
Hyundai and Kia’s pushback is unusual, and perhaps short sighted, since the alternative would still involve offering repairs to customers. It appears the automaker is trying to avoid a financial hit, it already took a first-quarter hit due to another recall of 1.4 million vehicles in the U.S., Canada, and Korea.
If that’s the case, it doesn’t make much sense – it would almost certainly be better PR for the automaker if it simply took care of the recalls instead of fighting to maintain its image for reliability.
Or perhaps Hyundai/Kia has a reason to fight. We will see soon.


text:
On its centennial, the rehabilitation hospital is showing us just how far we've come in the world of rehab.
Love us or hate us, no generation in history has garnered more praise, criticism, controversy, or attention than the Baby Boomers. Why? They changed the world—including Westchester. Today, our local Boomers continue to create, innovate, ...
The Westchester-based actor has been in hits like American Sniper and Fringe, but still finds time to be an active part of the county community.
A look at the prestigious record labels that call Westchester home—and why they love recording in the county.
A new book reveals the good guys and bad guys of the shopping aisle.
The history behind one of America’s first outdoor shopping malls.
The Tavern at Croton Landing’s spinoff eatery doesn't fit neatly into any dining classification—but don’t let that dissuade you from dining there.
In many county towns, the struggle to staff an ambulance 24/7 with volunteers has led to the rise of a new service to ensure 911 calls get answered.
For seniors in the county, there’s no place like home.
Where to find great hot buns around the county this year.
Why a wine preservation system should be at the top of every oenophile’s wish list.
Two new county restaurants you really should get to know ASAP.
The website Burbio—the brainchild of Pelham's Julie Roche—helps you make sense of your hectic schedule(s).
The county native filmmaker on what she learned while shooting a documentary about the Israeli army.
Meet Matt Levy, Peekskill Brewery’s new wunderkind brewmaster—and learn about the beers that have influenced him most.
Iconic cartoonist and comics editor Bob Mankoff on what makes stuff funny, the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and more.
Chef Eric Korn’s cozy, no-pretense restaurant has generated a lot of buzz. Here’s what we thought of it.


text:
in the German Financial Times claims to corroborate reports circulating earlier this week –
– that Microsoft will cut the price of the Xbox 360.
Reportedly ahead of Microsoft’s official confirmation on Monday morning, the paper says that the price of the entry-level Arcade SKU will be dropped to €199 while the Pro will cost €299.
These are bigger drops than the €50 per SKU reductions reported earlier this week.
The Arcade pack features no HD and a disc of Xbox Live Arcade titles, and was introduced last year as a response to the widening demographic of the games audience. The Pro, meanwhile, comes with a hard drive and wireless controller.
According to the Financial Times report the repricing, which makes the Arcade the cheapest of the three current gen consoles available on the market, was motivated by the success of Nintendo’s Wii.
The report, however, does not disclose what change in price is due for the Elite model of the 360, saying Microsoft is ‘still deciding’ whether or not to change the price of the high-end version of the console, which boasts a bigger hard drive and is coloured black, and was introduced last year also.
Meanwhile other reports on the web say Dutch retailer Bart Smit has confirmed the SKUs’ repricing, claiming a drop from €549 to €399 for the Elite, a €299 bundle (including Viva Pinata and Forza 2) for the Pro, and the €199 Arcade bundle.
In pounds sterling, the new prices would be around 150 (Arcade), 230 (Pro), and 300.
It’s not yet known if the price drops, if true, will be comparably implemented in North America, or if they will remain exclusive to Europe, a territory previously referred to by Microsoft execs as crucial for growing the 360 installed-base.
Official word from Microsoft is expected Monday morning.


text:
JAKARTA. Sinarmas Group through its Singapore-based Sinarmas Land Ltd. has acquired a property in Central London worth £ 188.6 million (US$ 42.56 million).
Sinarmas acquired the property, 33 Horseferry Rd, owned by Horseferry Property Ltd. through share purchases on June 29.
“We are optimistic about the property market in London. It is an interesting opportunity as 33 Horseferry Rd is full of well-known tenants,” Sinarmas Land Ltd. chief financial officer Ferdinand Sadeli said in a statement on Monday.
The building is six stories, has a basement and a total area of 16,778 square meters, comprising 15,223 square meters of office area and 1,564 square meters of retail space.
The UK Department of Transport has a 17-year lease for the office area. Retail tenants include National Westminster Bank, Pret a Manger sandwich shop, Starbucks and William Hills bookmaker.
Tenants are on full repairing and insuring leases, which require them to carry out maintenance and insure their respective space.
With the acquisition, Sinarmas Land now controls 46,000 square meters of commercial space in Indonesia and abroad.
Source : The Jakarta Post


text:
Supply chain crisis casues profit warning for Morrisons Daily operator
The operator of Morrisons Daily stores, McColl’s Retail Group, has been forced to issue a profit warning after it continued to see “significantly lower revenues” caused by supply chain issues.
Retailers have been particularly badly hit by the Brexit-related problems, and the issues continue to affect getting products onto the shelves.
McColl’s said the ongoing nationwide shortage of delivery drivers, labour shortages at distribution centres and insufficient supply of key products, has continued to impact the supply chain nationwide and have intensified in the fourth quarter.
It now forecasts adjusted EBITDA – which is a measure of operating profitability – to be between £20m-£22m for the full year. That would be significantly down on the two previous years, when it achieved £29.1m and £32.1m.
Jonathan Miller, chief executive of McColl’s, said: “It is disappointing to see supply chain issues worsen through the second half, but external factors have not eased, and continue to impact much of the UK economy.
“We are working collaboratively with our wholesale partner Morrisons to restore in-store product availability as quickly as possible.”
However it is making much more progress with its store conversion plans, and expects to have more than 150 shops in the Morrisons Daily format by the end of this month.
It expects to be smash its original target of 350 stores by November 2022.
Its acceleration of the conversions is also boosting its expectations on the return on investment after raising funds in the summer. At the time it had indicated a 2-3 year payback on investment, but now expects “a return towards the shorter end of this range”.
Miller added: “This new format is showing strong sales growth and is delivering better ROI than we expected. Our conversion programme is moving at pace, ahead of time and on budget, and we anticipate reaching 350 Morrisons Daily stores well in advance of our original target.”


text:
The Winter Farmers Market returns for a sixth year this November, continuing a mission to provide access to locally grown and crafted eats long into the winter season. With food trucks, samples and over 20 hyper-local vendors and farmers, there is sure to be a diverse selection to enjoy.
This event has grown from humble beginnings to a popular winter event, expanding from a few vendors to a community staple that brings hundreds together in a celebration of local foods and goods. “People love it, they really look forward to it,” organizer Michelle Bruhn says. Even when the market moved outdoors, crowds turned out to support vendors despite the winter cold. As things change throughout the years, so does the market, and adaptations to the community-honored event only make it more exciting. “I have lots of big plans,” Bruhn says.
All ages. Free. 10 a.m.–2 p.m. second Saturdays from November to January. Normandy Park Education Center, 2482 County Road F East, White Bear Lake; forksinthedirt.com


text:
Sad news for all of us who loved the cheap and inventive menu choices at Japadog. The NYC outpost of the popular Vancouver-based chain has closed. Blame rising rents on St. Marks Place, which is slowly but surely going more upscale.
Thanks to the website EV Grieve, which tracks comings and goings in the East Village, for this sad news about Japadog.
photo by Bobby Williams


text:
Stricter controls can streamline sugar sector in Kenya
By Christopher Onyango
| August 18th 2015
The importance and sensitivity of the sugar industry the world over cannot be overstated.
In Kenya, the sector contributes over 15 per cent of the agricultural GDP, provides income to about 250,000 small-scale farmers and supports an estimated 10 million people.
It is partly for these reasons that sugar is listed as a sensitive product that attracts relatively higher tariffs in the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) trade regimes, among other products including milk and other dairy products, wheat, maize, fabrics and cement. The EAC region generally pursues a self-reliance trade strategy with regard to these sensitive products.
This means the EAC maintains some level of domestic production but at the same time allowing for importation to meet deficits. The same strategy applies to all those products designated as sensitive in both the EAC and Comesa protocols.
The agitation for continued protection of sugar is not unique to Kenya.
In the European Union (EU), there are fears that countries with comparative advantage in production of sugar, including Brazil, US, Russia, China and South Africa, are likely to expand their production and flood their markets when the supply quota system comes to an end in 2017.
Even more worried are the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) which supply up to 3.5 tonnes through a quota-free and duty free access into the EU market.
The ACP countries supply close to 60 per cent of the EU's import demand for cane sugar. The removal of the quotas implies there will be stiffer competition in the regional sugar markets.
Thus, the calls for replacement of cane growing with alternative profitable crops and/or stoppage of importations from Uganda and other trading partners appear far-fetched but are reflections of the challenges facing the global sugar sector.
Kenya has been imposing safeguards on sugar imports since March 2002, courtesy of Article 61 of the Comesa Treaty that provides for safeguard measures for domestic industries that need international protection until they become mature and stable.
The most recent extension given in March 2015 allowed Kenya to maintain a 350,000 tonnes ceiling on duty-free sugar imports from Comesa countries.
Beyond the stipulated threshold, tariffs of 35 per cent on imports of raw sugar and 100 per cent or $200 per tonne on imports of refined sugar from the rest of the world are imposed.
A closer look at the sugar sector reform proposals dating back to 1990s reveals actual implementations have been painstakingly slow and the sector still remains closely linked to the Government.
The reforms targeted the entire value chain, namely the production, processing and distribution components.
Currently, production is dominated by small-scale farmers, with only a few factory-owned farms. The poor state of infrastructure, including feeder roads and cartel-like harvesting and transportation systems significantly raise production costs.
It is not therefore surprising that harvesting and transportation alone account for over 45 per cent of total production costs.
These costs are borne by farmers who apparently have little or no control in making decisions. The processing component consists of 11 factories of which six are privately owned and the rest public and/or mixed-owner factories.
High levels of indebtedness of the sugar millers - at Sh59 billion - coupled with obsolete technologies remains a major challenge in this component.
Finally, the distribution component, which is highly integrated between wholesalers, retailers and importers is weakly regulated and under the tight grip of unscrupulous business people and cartels. As a result, smuggling and hoarding of sugar to create artificial shortages keep retail sugar prices high, well above the international prices. In a nutshell, the argument that cane farmers should turn to alternative crops is pre-mature and ill-informed.
Indeed, reforming the agricultural sector and the sugar sub-sector in particular should neither be driven by profit motives and economic growth, but rather the quest for inclusive development. Given the state of the sugar sector and considering the socio-economic and political implications of its collapse, the immediate measures should be to curtail the activities of cartels controlling cane transportation and distribution segments of the sugar value chain.
This requires strict enforcement of competition regulations coupled with good corporate governance in all the three components of the sugar value chain.
A fair and transparent management and allocation of Comesa sugar quotas, including staggering the same throughout the year to avoid speculations in the retail markets, is equally critical.
The other remedy would be to review the taxation structure of the sugar industry, which partly contributes to the high domestic prices, making it unaffordable to consumers. Again, prompt payments to farmers for cane deliveries should be streamlined to win back their confidence for sustainable supply of cane.
Above all, Parliament should give fresh impetus to ongoing long-term restructuring processes of the sugar sector.
Beware whims draped as public interestI have a genuine question, one not borne of malice or designed to mask facetiousness. And I feel inclined to ask it because I need to know if the status quo is ever likely to change or whether we need to permanently adjust how we operate. But before I ask it, I need to put my question in perspective.
Opening Ceremony: Kenya takes her pride of place as 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games beginTeam Kenya Paralympics strolled majestically into the Tokyo Olympic Stadium led by captain Rodgers Kiprop and Powerlifter Hellen Wawira for the Openin
Kongowea traders want Ruto's Sh2 million donation probed
By Patrick Beja
- Governor Waiguru joins UDA
By Betty Njeru
- Mau Mau Road construction triggers property value rise
- Supreme Court stops Kananu swearing-in as Nairobi governor
By Paul Ogemba
- Man Utd-Liverpool match protests lead to 14 arrests, closure of school
By Moses Baya
- Rise in human bird flu cases in China shows risk of fast-changing variants: experts
HEALTH & SCIENCE


text:
Windows 8 RTM Build Reportedly Confirmed As 9200, Default Lock Screen And Desktop Wallpaper Available For Download
With just days left ahead of Microsoft’s promised release window for Windows 8 RTM*, the company is going through the very final steps of the software development cycle – involving things like checks and verifications. We’ve received news from TheVerge that the final build of Windows 8 will be 9200.16384.WIN8_RTM.120725-1247 (or just 9200) and not 8888 as it was previously being reported. TheVerge cites their own sources as well as Win8China for the story.
Just five days ago, WinUnleaked released more leaked screenshots of the RTM build of Windows 8 which showed new wallpapers, lack of Aero Glass, UI changes in Internet Explorer 10 and an all new, very minimal boot screen. Win8China has released two cool new wallpapers from Windows 8 RTM which will act as default for the lock screen and the desktop.
Apart from the lock screen wallpaper, Techit also revealed the official Windows 8 wallpaper and is now up for grabs.
Unlike Windows 7, the default wallpapers lack any sort of Windows branding which is a surprisingly pleasant change, and we welcome it fully.
Windows 8 will be released to OEMs in the first week of August so they can do testing and install their own bloatware before putting the OS on retail laptops and desktops. Those of you who are subscribed to TechNet or MSDN should be able to get access to Windows RTM in about the same timeframe, but Microsoft is yet to confirm this.
In any case, Windows 8 public release is all set for October 26th, and I’m quite certain that every geek is looking forward to its release. Will it be as big a success over Windows 7? Or is Windows 8 with its radically different approach to desktop computing going to be Windows Vista 2**? Only time will tell.
While Windows 8 looks like a really enticing upgrade, I intend to stick to Windows 7 until the bugs and quirks that accompany the new OS get ironed out by Microsoft themselves. That may take over a month or a year depending on how the community reacts to it.
For more information on how you can upgrade to Windows 8 from XP, Vista or Windows 7, read our article here.
*Release to Manufacturing: the final code-complete version of a software that is tested before public release.s
**By that I mean purely in terms of how people reacted and adopted to it.
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.


text:
Often times the fashion bloggers, editors and store buyers attending the presentations and shows during New York Fashion Week display a personal style as alluring as anything seen on the runway. Here is what we spotted on the streets yesterday when Perry Ellis, Linder, Suit Supply and Oak showed their men's collections for SS17. Check back daily for more images from attendees at NYFW Mens.
All photos taken exclusively for Fashion Times by Paige Campbell Linden.
This will be the first time in decades that iconic street style photographer Bill Cunningham has not been a presence at the shows. He will be terribly missed.
A familiar figure in New York, Cunningham rode a bicycle in all weathers, the better to spot what he loved to shoot -- someone wearing something he found interesting. As Jacob Bernstein of The Times points out, Cunningham "turned fashion photography into his own branch of cultural anthropology."
Originally Cunningham made hats under the name William J. and later started writing, first for Women's Wear Daily, and then for the Chicago Tribune.
However, he will best be remembered for his New York Times column "On The Street."
In a career that spanned over 40 years, long before the advent of the Internet, bloggers, and other street style photographers, Cunningham was documenting the ever-changing shifts in fashion and style as seen on the streets of Manhattan.
His life and work came to the attention of a wider audience when filmmaker Richard Press and Philip Gefter of The Times produced a documentary about the photographer called "Bill Cunningham New York."
The film was released on March 16, 2011. It shows Cunningham traveling through Manhattan by bicycle and living in a tiny apartment in the Carnegie Hall building. The apartment had no closets, kitchen or private bathroom and was filled with filing cabinets and boxes of his photographs. The documentary also detailed his philosophy on fashion, art and photography. The documentary was a huge hit but apparently Cunningham was not thrilled about becoming a recognizable figure. Dressed in his blue utilitarian jacket and khaki pants, he preferred life behind the camera, not in front of it.
Click through the slide show for all the looks seen outside the Skylight Studios in New York.


text:
Landowners were caught unaware by retailer Kaufland's sudden announcement it would exit the Australian market, saying they needed to speak to the German company to understand its intentions for the portfolio of properties it has acquired in its short time in the country.
David Hall, the chief operation officer of MAB Corporation, on whose Merrifield Business Park Kaufland is building an 115,000sq m distribution centre, said he was disappointed the retailer hadn't contacted the Melbourne developer to inform it of the plans to quit Australia before making the announcement.
"We haven’t been advised," Mr Hall told The Australian Financial Review. "We just need to find out more what it means for our project."
Construction on the vast logistics warehouse started last year.
"If you fly over it, it’s coming out of the ground," he said.
Mr Hall said, however, that the fate of the $459 million distribution centre – which occupies 28 hectares of MAB's 300-hectare business park in Melbourne's north – would make no difference to the viability of the park.
"Not at all," he said.
Kaufland, which has turned sods with politicians and started building stores in a blaze of publicity as it sought to take on rivals including German retailer Aldi, gave little detail in a statement on Wednesday announcing its "orderly" withdrawal.
"The future of Kaufland’s existing Australian investments, including properties purchased for retail outlets and distribution infrastructure, will be discussed with the relevant parties in coming days," the company said.
The company declined to give any details on Wednesday about the size or value of its real estate.
In September last year, Kaufland turned the sod on a planned new 4000sq m store site in the inner-northern Adelaide suburb of Prospect, one of two initial stores the company said it would open – the other being in south-eastern Melbourne's Dandenong.
At the time Kaufland Australia head Julia Kern declined to say how many retail stores the company – owned by German world’s fourth-largest retailer, privately owned Schwarz Group – intended to open.
"At the moment we're at the early stages of our expansion so it's hard to comment on the number of stores that we'll have in total,'' Ms Kern said.
"We are able to take our time, we're able to really get the model right.''
Wednesday's statement was issued in the name of Frank Schumann, acting chief executive of Kaufland International. Ms Kern's name did not feature.
Leading property coverage delivered to your inbox
Sign up to our new weekly Inside Property newsletter
- Ingrid Fuary-Wagner
- Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd
- Larry Schlesinger
- Property development
- Larry Schlesinger