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Gov. Ned Lamont said Friday he was moving up the date to June 17 to allow the reopening of restaurants, movie theaters, gyms and hotels because Connecticut has continued to make progress containing the coronavirus.
Originally Lamont’s reopening strategy called for a phase two to begin on June 20, but that date has now been changed to June 17. The restaurant industry has pushed for an even earlier reopening, saying many locations are struggling to survive.
"It’s a head start on Father’s Day. It gives them a few extra days to prepare,'' Lamont said Friday. “Our [COVID-19] positivity rate has been very low over the last week.”
“It’s time to get our holiday season going,” Lamont said during remarks at a press conference outside St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center. Guidelines for restaurants and other businesses, which will be issued in coming days, will have limits on capacity and requirements for mask-wearing and social distancing, he said.
There have been 4,038 COVID-19 deaths in Connecticut and the state has reported 43,460 confirmed cases as of June 5. A steadily declining hospitalization rate has led Lamont to relax restrictions imposed in March, shutting down much of the state’s economy for months.
About 350 people are still hospitalized in Connecticut with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Lamont has ambitious plans to test 100,000 state residents weekly by June 20, but thus far has been unable to increase the number beyond about 40,000 tests per week.
Lamont’s new order does not permit bars to reopen, but the amusement parks, museums, zoos, bowling alleys, libraries, nail salons and all fitness and sports clubs will be allowed to resume business. The new plan also permits libraries and some youth sports programs to open up again.
Steve Matiatos, the president of the Connecticut Lodging Association, said it’s the “right time” to reopen the state’s hotels. He served as part of Lamont’s Reopen Connecticut advisory group, along with representatives from other business organizations.
“I think the hotels have taken this time to really plan effectively. We had to make sure we had all the right resources and right equipment in, so the time spent was well utilized,” he said. “We’ve all definitely followed the principle of health first, and making sure we’re well prepared.”
Restaurant owners said they were grateful for the earlier start but also wary that it would make a significant difference.
“Every little bit helps,” said Billy Grant, who owns Restaurant Bricco in West Hartford and Bricco Trattoria in Glastonbury. He also hopes to add outdoor seating in West Hartford, as the town plans to convert parking spaces to dining corrals.
“But we, as an industry, need to get back to as close to 100% as we can. ... The sooner we can get back to 100%, the closer we’re going to be able to get back to some potential profitability, which I don’t think is going to be until probably next year.”
The addition of outdoor dining has been helpful for both of his restaurants, he said, but at the same time, he’s noted a reduction in takeout.
Anthony Sullo, co-owner of Joey Garlic’s in Newington and Manchester and Joey’s Pizza Pie in West Hartford, said he’s excited to be able to open sooner. The Newington and Manchester restaurants are large, with 180 to 200 seats, so “we’re hoping to get half of that."
Sullo is appreciative of the timing, too, he said. Reintroducing indoor dining on a Saturday would have been difficult, he said, especially before Father’s Day, which is a busy holiday for his restaurants.
Phil Barnett, co-owner and co-founder of Hartford Restaurant Group, said he’s glad the June 20 date was modified.
“Trying to open a restaurant on a Saturday is near impossible,” he said, adding that his teams will have to adjust to new safety protocols when they move indoors. He said he would have preferred a Monday reopening date, as restaurants are slower on that day of the week.
Barnett said his restaurants, including nine Wood-n-Tap locations across the state and Que Whiskey Kitchen in Southington, will work toward opening for indoor dining. Guests have been enjoying themselves on outdoor patios where offered, he said.
In terms of customers coming back to dine indoors, “we won’t know until we see,” he said. “But we owe to our guests and our staff to make sure we’re practicing all our safe sanitary measures and have all our PPE."
“Where we currently are, we know that’s not a sustainable model for a long time. Every step toward getting back to 100% occupancy is a better step to knowing we’ll have longevity within the hospitality industry as a company.”
Scott Dolch, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, noted in a statement Friday that Connecticut restaurants have been closed for indoor service for more than 80 days.
“When COVID began, the restaurant industry did not ask or demand to remain open indoors. Rather, our owners understood the gravity of this problem, and they knew they had to step up and be part of the solution, even though it meant putting their businesses and their livelihoods at risk," he said.
"We’ve advocated for earlier dates than this, pointing to the incredible job restaurants have done to serve people safely and protect their employees. At the same time, this date will thankfully put us ahead of neighboring Massachusetts and New York in this regard. Given that Connecticut restaurants make up 10% of our state economy, it’s critical that we not fall behind regionally and every day counts.
''No one will know for some time what the true impact of this pandemic has been on our businesses or on our state economy -- only time will tell the full story,'' Dolch said. “What we do know is that throughout this entire process, Gov. Lamont has and his administration have remained responsive and open to our calls, even when we’ve disagreed. We appreciate their open door, and we thank the governor for providing clarity on this timeline. Connecticut restaurants are ready for this next step.”


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Paisley Business Moving Into Larger Building
Bruce County council is backing a plan to allow a Paisley business to move into a bigger store.
Council approved an official plan amendment to allow Allen’s Home Hardware to move into the former Hagedorn property on Bruce Rd. 3, about 1 km south of Paisley.
Planning staff had recommended refusal of the application, primarily citing the desire for commercial businesses to stay in downtown areas and because the Home Hardware business already owns an appropriately zoned vacant parcel of land in downtown Paisley.
Owner Quinn Allen says they’ve outgrown their two stores in the downtown area, pointing out they had been committed to a new build in Paisley until increasing costs caused those plans to go by the wayside.
“We’re seeing a big sales increase in the building sector right now, a lot of development, the new houses market is up, the agriculture market is on strong right now and renovation, with all the real estate sales is very hot,” says Allen. “We’re able to capture some sales and hopefully, continue in the future and gain more and more.”
Allen says now that they have the official plan amendment in place, they will work to close the sale on the nearly five-acre Hagedorn property, which has been largely dormant since 2014.
He says they will spend about six months converting the 30,000 sq ft building into their new retail store, adding they have not yet decided how to use a smaller building on the property, suggesting it will likely be used for storage in the meantime.
Allen says they hope to open in their new location by July of next year.

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Mexico’s digital economy has seen significant progress in recent years, in part driven by government initiatives seeking to boost the uptake of technology among businesses and the population. With increased digitisation, there is scope for the country to unlock further economic potential.
Google is already playing a key role in supporting this through its contributions to Mexican businesses and households. In 2022, Google generated MXN$266,000 million of economic activity for businesses in the country, while the Android ecosystem supported over 167,500 jobs in the app economy. Households also derived MXN$98,000 million from the use of Google Workspace tools, which have brought to their lives greater productivity and convenience.


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Five Micro Focus board members bought nearly £700,000 worth of shares in the technology company following a steep drop in its share price last week.
Stock market filings show that Micro Focus board members bought £694,342 worth of shares in the company on Wednesday and Thursday last week following a dip in its share price.
Last week Micro Focus announced that revenues were falling faster than expected in January and that its chief executive Chris Hsu was stepping down with immediate effect.
Shares fell by as much as 55 per cent on the news, wiping £4.5bn off its market capitalisation.
After the share price fall the company’s chief executive chairman Kevin Loosemore bought £203,000 worth of shares, non-executive directors Darren Roos, Richard Atkins and Karen Slatford bought nearly £350,000 shares between them while chief financial officer Chris Kennedy bought £92,800.
Former chief operating officer Stephen Murdoch, who has stepped into Hsu’s shoes, bought nearly £50,000 worth of shares in the company.
The collapse in the tech company’s share price follows bumper payouts for some of its top bosses last year.
In November Loosemore was paid £24m, making him one the FTSE 100's best-paid execs, while three other execs were also handed awards worth tens of millions of pounds.
The remuneration came as part of Micro Focus' $1.2bn (£850m) takeover of Attachmate in 2014.
Following the collapse in its share price AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: “It was not for nothing that Micro Focus used to be nicknamed ‘Hocus Pocus Micro Focus’ by analysts in the 1990s, as a result of its volatile earnings and reputation for dishing out profit warnings.”


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The date may or may not be the reported 4 October when Tim Cook gets on a stage and announces to the world that a new iPhone is upon us but either way, Samsung is reportedly planning to spoil the party for Apple’s long-awaited new iPhone 5.
According to the Financial Times, the Galaxy S II manufacturer is seeking injunctions to block shipments of the next iteration of the Jesus phone in several markets. The patents-related legal action is reportedly aimed at preventing the sale of the new Apple smartphone in Europe and in Samsung’s home market of South Korea.
Samsung declined to comment on any move against the iPhone 5 specifically, but said it was prepared to begin a new “aggressive” legal strategy after Apple had succeeded in several recent cases to block shipments of Samsung’s latest tablet device.
A German court this month upheld a complaint by Apple in which it alleged that Samsung infringed intellectual property rights with its Galaxy 10.1 tab, claiming it to be too similar to the iPad. The result was the banning of sales of the device in Europe’s largest market. The tablet’s 7.7-inch counterpart also had to be hastily removed from the Korean’s stand at the IFA trade show in Berlin, despite brandishing stickers that it was not on sale in Germany.
Relations between the two rival consumer tech giants have now deteriorated to such a level that reports are emerging suggesting that Apple is seeking to scale back its dependence on Samsung for components. Taiwanese IT news outlet DigiTimes reports that Apple has been speaking to Japanese firms to source flash memory and SSDs for its range of smartphones, tablets and notebook computers, as a replacement for Samsung.


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The Xiaomi Mi 6 is expected to be one of the most exciting flagships that customers could buy next year, given the fact that this represents a huge bet from the Chinese smartphone maker in order to increase its power and beat its main competitor Huawei. Although one of the most uncertain details about this mobile device was its release, new rumors suggest that it could be launched sooner than expected.
Xiaomi Mi 6 Could Be Release On Valentine´s Day
According to Racing Junky, a Weibo user codenamed KJuma leaked an image that reveals what looks like the official release date of the Xiaomi Mi 6, suggesting that this event could be on Valentine´s Day, February 14. Of course, this information doesn't come from Xiaomi´s official page so its veracity is not completely verified.
Nevertheless, many believe that if the Xiaomi Mi 6 is released on this date, it would be a clever move from the Chinese company, to the point in which it could even determine the phone´s success in the market next year. Naturally, this would be extremely important for Xiaomi, given the fact that it will be competing in Asia against Huawei´s and Apple and Samsung´s smartphones.
Xiaomi Mi 6 Might Be Launched In Three Variants
As reported by BGR, Weibo user KJuma also revealed that the Xiaomi Mi 6 will be launched in three variants dubbed as Mi 6S, Mi 6E and Mi 6P. Apparently, the Mi 6S will be powered by Qualcomm´s Snapdragon SoC while the Mi 6P could be powered by Xiaomi´s own Pinecone SoC. Finally, the leak suggests that the Mi 6E might have a MediaTeK´s HelioSoC processor or even an Exynos chipset.
As reported in a previous article, the Xiaomi Mi 6 might run Android 7.1 Nougat or Android 7.0 Nougat update with the MIUI 0 operating system above. Also, this smartphone could support USB Type-C and boast up to 6GB of RAM. Although it´s too soon to make predictions, this mobile device promises to be one of the most incredible revelations in 2017.


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LeapRate's Daily Forex Industry Newsletter
Join now to receive first access to our EXCLUSIVE reports and updates.
Screenshot of a breaking news alert e-mail from Q2 2017
Total volumes for last year higher by 17% over 2012
Volume metrics during the last month of the year at KCG Hotspot have remained somewhat subdued when compared to November’s release, however that shouldn’t be a big surprise considering the broad industry slowdown during the holiday month, especially when it comes to institutional volumes.
Overall Hotspot performed rather well in 2013 with combined volume gains for the year rising by 17% when compared to 2012. KCG remains a key player in the forex ECN space as they turn their focus on core market making.
Recent trend has stalled its rebound from summer lows and the number released is actually the lowest since March last year. However since December is typically a month that marks general reduction in trading activity across the board we wouldn’t draw too many conclusions from this dip. Stay tuned to LeapRate for the latest volume numbers released by leading forex ECNs.
For the full press release visit KCG’s website.


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Canada-based Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) has been a disappointment among marijuana stocks, falling at one point to less than $3 per share. Even after a solid bounce, TLRY stock still is down more than 40% year to date.
By comparison, the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSEARCA:MJ), a marijuana-themed exchange-traded fund (ETF), is down about 12%.
Now that Tilray is back in double digits, I believe short-term profit-taking in the shares is likely as global equity markets may once again become more risk averse. Let’s take a closer look.
Tilray Earnings at a Glance
On May 11, Tilray released Q1 results. Management divides revenue into cannabis (about 60%) and hemp (about 40%). And the group has three segments of cannabis revenue:
- Adult-use (i.e., retail recreational in Canada) – about 68% of cannabis revenue.
- Canada (medical) – about 13% of cannabis revenue.
- International (medical) – about 19% of cannabis revenue.
Revenue increased 11% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Investors cheered the increase. Growth was driven by a 23% increase in adult-use sales and a 14.3% increase in hemp product sales.
Yet unprofitability has become the norm in the cannabis sector. And Tilray’s net losses widened to $184.1 million, or $1.73 per share. It also recorded another quarter of negative EBITDA. Management said the goal is to reach positive EBITDA by the end of 2020. Most investors realize that would be an over-ambitious aim.
The company has a cash balance of $167 million. Assuming sales numbers continue to come in as expected, it should be able to maintain production without much financial difficulty in the rest of the year.
InvestorPlace contributor Will Ashworth has written in detail about other metrics in the Q1 results. He concludes:
“If you’re an aggressive investor, TLRY stock is worth considering despite the significant GAAP loss in the first quarter. However, don’t be putting it in a tax-advantaged account. This is for your fun money.”
I also agree that Tilray stock is more appropriate as speculation. For TLRY stock to have a sustained rally that will keep it in double digits, it will need to deliver strong fundamental results in upcoming quarters.
2 Long-Term Headwinds for TLRY Stock
Cannabis is an agricultural commodity. Marijuana is an agricultural commodity whose production is capital-intensive. Pot firms, not unlike modern farming businesses, have had to make substantial initial and ongoing investments. Tilray and its peers are operating in an expensive commodity-based consumer market.
As a result, the Canadian cannabis industry has been struggling with supply-chain and debt issues.
In late 2018, during the early weeks following legalization, Canadians spent about $40 million on legal weed. It was rather easy to buy into prospects of a bright future for weed stocks like TLRY.
However, since then legal recreational pot sales have been treading water. On the other hand, the black market is still thriving in Canada. How can a producer like Tilray can maintain high margins in an industry that does not have meaningful growth levers?
Tilray trades at a price-sales ratio of 5. Although that number is much lower than 500 it had seen in September 2018, it is still rather high for a company that does not have a realistic path to sustained profitability in the short run.
U.S. federal legalization may not yet happen. Investors realize that it is still too soon to count on federal legalization to happen in the U.S. And other international sales outside Canada and the U.S. are not big enough to act as a substantial catalyst for the share price of Tilray as well as other pot stocks.
Big international expansion dreams for most pot stocks are at an end. Therefore, in the coming quarters, we are likely to see the industry in Canada to consolidate further and eventually to stabilize.
However, such consolidation may not necessarily be bad for the industry. After all, both the retail and the medical markets globally are likely to grow, albeit at a moderate pace, in the coming decade. As edibles and sodas hit the shelves, established cannabis groups with a range of product offerings may catch a new tide of optimism. Nonetheless, investors should be cautious about the growth potential of Tilray and hence its stock price.
Tilray’s Recent Price Action
Prior to the earnings release, TLRY stock was around $8. The next two days, it fell to $6.65 on the headline news. Then a fast rally kicked in and on May 26, it hit a recent-high of $11.60. Now, it is around $10.20.
Put another way, Tilray is a highly volatile stock that gets a lot of short-term trading attention. Therefore, long-term investors would need to proceed with caution.
The current share price of Tilray means an increase of about 300% from lows seen in March 2020. If you had been brave enough to buy TLRY stock around the 52-week low of $2.43 hit on March 18, you’d be rather pleased right now.
Yet if you have been a long-term investor in the cannabis stock, you probably still remember the day in July 2018 when it became the first cannabis stock to list on Nasdaq composite at an IPO price of $17. Then in September 2018 it hit an intraday all-time high of $300. That price marked the day of extreme exuberance in cannabis space and will possibly stay in memory’s rearview mirror.
That was then; this is now.
Although long-term investors would like to see TLRY stock stay over $10 in the coming weeks, short-term traders are likely to keep the price between $8 and $10. From a valuation standpoint, the stock is not necessarily a bargain at $8, either.
Investor Takeaway on TLRY Stock
Since the lows seen in mid-March, TLRY stock has roared back. However, that increase does not necessarily mean the shares will someday go back to triple digits again. Over the past year, rich valuations in the sector have taken a major hit. And most cannabis stocks like Tilray have fallen far from grace.
Almost two years into legalization, the Canadian market is still struggling. International markets, including the U.S., are not likely to develop much further any time soon. So long-term investors are even wondering which of the cannabis stocks may survive the next few years.
If you are already a shareholder who has paper profits since mid-March, then you may want to realize some of these gains.
Alternatively, you may also consider hedging your position with covered calls. For example, July 17 expiry ATM calls would decrease portfolio volatility and offer investors some downside protection. It’d also enable investors to participate in a potential up move.
At this point, I do not regard TLRY as a long-term investment. It’ll likely continue to trade on short-term sentiment in the foreseeable future. I’d not currently pay a premium to invest in this company.


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Saker's latest supercar has been caught testing and by the looks of things, the New Zealand-based sports car company has a new contender on its hands.
Just two weeks after we learned that Honda had suspended plans to introduce a new V10 NSX sports car in 2010 comes word that we may see the car anyway. Sort of. The production program is still dead, but it is being reported that the previously scheduled "concept" will appear at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in a couple of weeks.
- Volvo shoots for self-drivers by 2021
- Jeep spends $1 billion on factories
- Find Parts & Accessories for your vehicle!
- Obama rolls out new EV plan
- Infiniti dealers ranked best, Tesla worst
- Compare Volvo XC90 and Lincoln MKX


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Going into Apple’s fall, the excitement usually revolves around the new iPhones. This year, however, Apple Watch stole some of the iPhone’s Spotlight, due to reports, leaks and rumors that it was being significantly redesigned.
The biggest surprise during Apple’s “California Streaming” event was the new Apple Watch, not because of the features or design involved, but instead, the features and design that it didn’t.
Flat edge design? Not so fast …
In the weeks and months leading up to the event, credible reports from reputable journalists and writers suggested that the new Apple Watch would play a flat-edged design. The first time we heard about the redesign of the 2021 Apple Watch was from Apple analyst Ming Chi Koo, who came to Apple in September 2020, exactly one year before Apple’s “California Streaming” event. I said the new watch would get a “significant redesign”. “In 2021” as soon as possible.
In the months following Koo’s report, rumors about the 2021 Apple Watch were quiet and stagnant as the focus shifted to more immediate products to be released in 2020. The second time we heard or saw an alleged redesign for the Apple Watch, it was by Apple Pro June Processor. , Who introduced an Apple Watch in May with a completely flat edge, similar to the iPhone and iPad.
In a video shared with Renders, Prosser noted that he thinks Renders showcased the Apple Watch Series 7, provided Kou has previously mentioned a major redesign. The processor, at the time, however, could not confidently label the upcoming design of the Apple Watch, but became increasingly confident in doing so over the weeks and months.
A little later, in June, Bloomberg’s Mark Gorman reports on several aspects of the “Apple Watch Series 7” that turned out to be correct. In his first report for the new watch, Gorman noted that it would have a larger display with thinner bezels, a new lamination technology and a faster processor. Gorman pointed out that the Ultra Wide Band capabilities will be updated in the Series 7, but that doesn’t seem to be the case now.
Later in reports and newsletters, Gorman reported that the “Apple Watch Series 7” will feature flat edges, confirming the processor’s previously shown renders. However, Gorman rightly said that the Series 7 will be equipped with new watch faces, bands and will feature significantly more pixels with a redesigned display.
Is there a charge of improper communication?
Given Koo, Bloomberg’s Mark Gorman, and Laker-June Prosser, the most trusted source in Apple’s unreleased product plans, have all reported an Apple Watch, making it difficult to dispute its existence within the walls of Apple’s labs and offices. Is.
Apple Watch is a product that generates a lot of rumors and reports, especially targeting future health capabilities. Recent reports suggest that next year the Apple Watch, Series 8, will have more powerful health sensors and features. Our expectations and reports of a flat-edged design may have been mistakenly attributed to the 7 Series, whereas Apple’s full design was the goal of all 2022 plans.
Apple is a company that builds on annual repetitive improvements, and features to achieve even more comprehensive products, and that can’t be more accurate for the Apple Watch. With the Series 7, Apple is adding a larger display, better battery life and energy efficiency, and enhancing the Watch OS 8 experience. Seeds and advanced health sensors.
Alternatively, but most likely, Apple made last-minute design changes to the Apple Watch due to production issues. Two weeks before the announcement of the Series 7, a report revealed that Apple and its suppliers were struggling to reach the level of “satisfactory” quality of the device during “small-scale” production.
While some may speculate that with the small steps of the Apple Watch and the flat edges of the rumors, Apple may have to make sudden last-minute design changes, it is worth noting that Apple did not last years, but months. Plans and tests. Of course, it would be unprecedented and almost impossible for a company to change its plans so late.
One thing, of course, is whether or not the last-minute design changes in Series 7 are a special release. On Apple’s website, for example, the company lacks specifications for the new watch, with only marketing content boasting new and larger displays and features in the Watch OS 8.
The most surprising is the lack of information about the availability and pricing of the “Apple Watch Series 7”. Apple only says it’s coming at the end of this fall, with the door open for release until the end of November, and the lack of pricing information is beyond the starting price of $ 399.
Of course, we will never know what happened and whether Apple made last minute design changes, or whether all previous rumors and reports were for Series 8 instead of just Series 7. As mentioned above, Apple has not provided a date for availability or pricing for the Apple Watch Series 7 and could do so during its second rumor for the fall, now expecting the new Apple Silicon Max will be the headline.


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Housing prices in Israel have surged by 16.3 percent in the past year, according to a report released today by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the biggest uptick the country has seen since 2010.
The months of February and March saw housing prices climb 1.9%, the data show.
Governments have long promised to lower ever-climbing housing prices for over a decade. The sky-high costs have put home ownership out of the reach of many Israelis, hurting the middle class.
The statistics bureau also reports that the consumer price index rose by 0.8% in April. The index is up 2.3% since the start of the year and 4% over the past year.
The CPI measures the average cost of household goods. Notable rises were seen in fresh vegetables and fruits (5.5%), clothing and footwear (2.8%), transportation (2.3%), and culture and entertainment (1.5%).
However, communication costs dipped 1.2%, according to the data.


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Infinity Blade Dungeons, a title Apple used to demonstrate the power of the iPad last year, has officially been cancelled. Donald Mustard, co-founder of series creator Chair Entertainment, confirmed the news on the Epic Games podcast, saying that work stopped on the title when developer Impossible Studios closed doors in February. At the time, publisher Epic said the project was "on hold."
"more games, more books" on the way
Epic and Apple announced Infinity Blade Dungeons in March 2012 alongside the iPad with Retina display. The game was conceived as a hack-and-slash spin-off to the successful Infinity Blade sword combat series; the original entry has been described by Epic as "the most profitable game we've ever made." Despite Dungeons' cancellation, Mustard says that the franchise will continue with "more games, more books, maybe even other products."


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MILLIONS of eggs marked "free range" are laid by hens that rarely roam outdoors, animal welfare groups claim.
Humane Choice chief operating officer Lee McCosker accused big businesses of trying to hijack the term "free range" to jack up profits.
The welfare organisation and consumer body Choice are calling for a consistent national rule for genuine free range egg labels amid fears shoppers are being hoodwinked into paying a premium.
Producers can stock up to 100,000 chickens per hectare and still promote their products as free range, Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just warned.
"People are clearly paying a premium for these eggs, yet their expectations of contented clucking chooks roaming around open green pastures aren't always a reality," she said.
The comments follow an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission initial assessment rejecting an Australian Egg Corporation Limited push for a new free range egg certified trademark because it may mislead consumers.
A final decision will be made in coming months.
The watchdog said the proposal to cap outdoor stocking densities at 20,000 hens per hectare - compared with 1500 per hectare in several other voluntary schemes - clashed with community expectations and could mean only a small proportion of birds actually ventured on to the range at any one time.
The proposed rules also did not prohibit chicks having their beaks trimmed with a hot blade, laser or infrared technology.
Free range is the fastest-growing egg category. About 43 million dozen free-range eggs are sold in supermarkets annually, one-third of the market.
AECL figures show that 29 per cent of all free range eggs produced, including those sold to restaurants and other food services, were produced at farms with stocking densities of at least 20,000 hens per hectare in 2010.
AECL managing director James Kellaway denied claims its proposal would leave hens largely cooped up indoors.
"We will continue to work with the ACCC to ensure the trademark certification is achieved for the benefit of consumers, industry and hen welfare," he said.
Ms McCosker said a stocking density of 20,000 hens per hectare was about the equivalent of two birds in a shower recess.
There is no nationwide single definition of free range eggs.
Rather, a national model code for animal welfare adopted by some states, and a number of voluntary schemes, exist.
Originally published as Free range not all it's cracked up to be


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Calling Thailand’s brightest start-ups: entries open for Visa’s Everywhere Initiative
Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, has today launched the inaugural Visa’s Everywhere Initiative in Thailand, aiming to attract Thailand-based start-ups who are tackling some of the toughest payment-related problems in the commerce industry.
Visa’s Everywhere Initiative is a global innovation program that challenges start-ups to build the next big thing in payments and accelerate the future of commerce, leveraging Visa’s world-class network. The 2018 global program kicks off with the Thailand competition.
The competition is open for entries from today to February 9 via https://visa.co.th/everywhere. To enter, start-ups must submit a solution for one of the three challenge briefs incorporating Visa APIs, a suite of Application Program Interface available through Visa Developer Platform.
Suripong Tantiyanon, Country Manager, Visa Thailand said: "The goal of Visa’s Everywhere Initiative is to accelerate the digital economy by providing Visa capabilities to enterprising innovators in Thailand. Using Visa Developer Platform, Visa wants to enable co-creations among many of our banking and technology partners. We look forward to seeing many creative solutions in this year’s competition.”
The program’s challenges are:
- How can start-ups innovate to create relevant and rewarding digital payment experiences for international tourists visiting Thailand?
- How can start-ups leverage social media platforms to accelerate commerce and scale access to financial services?
- How can start-ups innovate to make digital payments easy to access and capable of adding value for merchants?
The finalists will be invited to pitch their solutions to a panel of industry leaders, including Visa executives, on March 9 in Bangkok. The grand prize includes THB 1 million in funding, mentorship, exposure to Visa partners and access to facilities and experts at Visa’s Innovation Center in Singapore. 1
Jessada Sookdhis, President of Thai Fintech Association, said: “We are delighted to support Visa’s Everywhere Initiative, which will help enrich the burgeoning fintech ecosystem in Thailand, bringing solutions to the greater population by solving real needs, and driving wider adoption of electronic payments.”
Visa’s Everywhere Initiative was created in 2015 to harness the creativity and talent within the startup community worldwide. To date, nearly 2,100 startups have participated, and have collectively raised over $2 billion in funding. The program has selected more than 131 finalists and 36 overall winners. More than 40 countries and regions that have hosted Visa’s Everywhere Initiative including the US, China, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Find out more about Visa’s Everywhere Initiative and how to enter: https://visa.co.th/everywhere.
1 Terms and conditions apply and are subject to change without notice.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit usa.visa.com/aboutvisa, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.


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Chalk up another game delay. This time, it’s LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. According to the developers, the game will miss its intended spring launch window, and we don’t yet know when it’ll be released. It’s the second time the game has been delayed, and we can only hope it’s the last.
Developers TT Games announced the delay on Twitter, saying: “All of us at TT Games are working hard to make LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga the biggest and best-ever LEGO game – but we’re going to need more time to do it.” They did not specifically say what’s caused the delay, but I think we can all make an educated guess based on what’s caused all the other game delays in the last year.
The game is intended to be a collection of all the LEGO Star Wars games in the titular Saga — nine in total. Seven of the games have so far been released, either on their own or in one of the other LEGO Star Wars compilation titles. The Skywalker Saga release would mark the debut of the LEGO-fied versions of The Force Awakens and Rise of Skywalker. It’s supposed to be the biggest, most ambitious LEGO game ever developed.
We also don’t have a new date to which we can look forward. TT Games simply said they’re working hard on the game and will let us know when the new date is coming. The game was originally supposed to be released last year, based on a date in a leaked trailer, before its Spring 2021 date was announced. It’s not the only game that’s been delayed with no fixed new date either. The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 have both been delayed to some nebulous future date.
Source: TT Games/Twitter


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TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (AP) -- Prestige Brands Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it acquired Care Pharmaceuticals, an Australian company that distributes over-the-counter health products.
Prestige Brands, which distributes over-the-counter and household cleaning products like Clear Eyes and PediaCare, said the deal closed July 1. It said Care Pharmaceuticals' main brand is Fess cold/allergy and saline nasal health products.
The company said Care's products are sold in Australia, New Zealand and other Asian and Pacific countries. Prestige Brands said Care has about 20 million Australian dollars, or US$18 million, in annual revenue.
Prestige Brands didn't disclose terms of the deal but said it should add to its profit in the current fiscal year. It had $623.6 million in revenue in its latest fiscal year, which ended March 31.
Shares of Prestige Brands climbed $1.92, or 6.3 percent, to $32.26 in morning trading. The shares have nearly doubled in value over the last year, and earlier Tuesday they reached an all-time high of $32.57.


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Incoming Interim CEO
2401 Utah Ave.
South Seattle, WA 98134
Dear Mr. Schultz:
As you prepare to head back into your former role as Starbucks CEO, I am writing to you with a simple request. Please respect the Constitution of the United States and do not illegally hamper the efforts of your employees to unionize. Like all workers in America, Starbucks employees have the right to form a union and collectively bargain for decent wages and benefits, safe working conditions and reliable schedules.
As you know, since Starbucks workers in Buffalo voted to form a union at two coffee shops in December, the movement to unionize Starbucks is spreading like wildfire. To date, workers have successfully voted to form unions at six Starbucks locations.
Further, employees in more than 140 other Starbucks shops in 27 states have filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold union elections which will take place in the coming weeks and months.
Instead of obeying the law, I am deeply concerned that Starbucks has engaged in a massive union busting campaign led by outgoing CEO Kevin Johnson. Workers have been fired for “the crime” of being pro-union. Pro-union employees have had their hours sharply reduced. Work schedules have repeatedly changed. Executives at Starbucks have intimidated and coerced workers into attending captive anti-union meetings. Starbucks has temporarily closed some pro-union shops and threatened to close others and has hired at least 30 lawyers from Littler Mendelson, a notorious anti- union law firm.
The NLRB has found that Starbucks unlawfully retaliated against two Starbucks workers in Philadelphia after attempting to unionize. Just this month, the NLRB issued a complaint against Starbucks for illegal surveillance and threats against union supporters in Phoenix, Arizona. Seven Starbucks workers in Memphis, Tennessee were fired in retaliation for organizing.
I am under the impression that Starbucks respects its “partners” and supposedly adheres to progressive values. If that’s the case, it should behave lawfully and respect the decisions of its employees as to whether or not they want to join a union.
And, by the way, it appears that Starbucks is in a strong position to provide the better wages and benefits its workers are requesting. Last year, Starbucks increased its net income by 561 percent to $4.4 billion and last quarter Starbucks increased its profits by 31 percent to $816 million.
In October, Starbucks announced that it would be spending $20 billion on stock buybacks and dividends to enrich its wealthy shareholders over a three-year period.
Last year, Starbucks gave its current CEO – who now makes over a thousand times more than its median worker – a 39 percent pay raise to $20.4 million.
The reality is that Starbucks could give every one of its 383,000 workers a $5,000 bonus and still keep $2.5 billion in profits from last year without raising prices by one cent.
During the pandemic, while Starbucks workers were exposed to COVID and many became ill as a result of the face to face contact their jobs require, you became $1.2 billion richer and now own $4.2 billion in wealth.
If Starbucks can afford to spend $20 billion on stock buybacks and dividends and provide a $20 million compensation package to its CEO, it can afford a unionized workforce that can collectively bargain for better wages, better benefits, safer working conditions and reliable schedules.
Mr. Schultz: This is a pivotal moment for Starbucks. As you return to the company, it is time to do the right thing: End the union busting and obey the law.


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polyester yarn Prices
Pakistan Yarn Prices Mid-July-2021
Pakistan yarn prices moving higher regularly due to short crop of cotton and devaluation of Pak Rupee. Post corona buying is also helping the prices to continue its upward rally. Pakistan cotton prices started with a historic high level as for the last few years crop size in also shrinking continuously. Looking at these factors Pakistan yarn manufacturers are increasing their asking prices every week. It is expected that globally prices for the textile goods will remain firm.


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Metal AM magazine was the first – and only media so far – to report on the upcoming EOS M 300, the successor to EOS’ best selling M 280 and M 290 metal 3D printers. According to Metal AM, the new system was teased during the recent EOS Technology Days at the company’s new headquarters in Krailling, Germany, on July 17-18.
The news is fairly significant since the M 280 and M 290 are among the most successful metal 3D printer models ever built, with possibly the largest global installed base today. The system is expected to make its official global debut at the upcoming IMTS show in Chicago (IL) next September. It is very likely that the European debut will take place at formnext next November. The system is currently scheduled for launching sometime in 2019.
Metal AM magazine reports that “the system will offer a productivity increase of 4-10 times that offered by the EOS M 290 through the use of four lasers (currently only available on M 400 model). The new design also offers full field overlap with four scanners, meaning that lasers can reach all spots on the build plate and full flexibility is possible with regards to build orientation.”
The EOS M 300 also features a gas flow optimized build chamber to ensure part reliability. This new gas flow design is will reduce the risk of condensate and ensure a strong flow of gas through the top and bottom of the build chamber, efficiently clearing smoke and debris generated during processing. Ensuring part reliability is key to EOS’ current focus on final part production, which also results in augmented automation and integration of the M 300 in current and future digital additive factories.
Thus the system will support the EOS Shared Modules concept, in which manual or automated peripheral modules and transport logistics supply several EOS metal AM system. Set-up, unpacking, transportation and sieving actions are going to be increasingly carried out independent of, and parallel to, the AM build process.
In this regard, Metal AM magazine also quoted Rüttermann, Director of Product Management at EOS, as he explained that “the EOS M 300 “is a response to customer demand for something close to the well-established EOS M 290, but scalable for a high volume production factory setting.”
Several more details on the system are described in the original article (which you can read here). One more very interesting element disclosed during the event is that EOS currently has an installed base of more than 3,000 systems around the world. While it took roughly 20 years to bring the first 1,000 systems into the market, EOS has installed the latest 1,000 of its AM systems at customer facilities just over the past two to three years, according to Thomas Weitlaner, Director Business Development.


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This phone uses gimbal-like stabilization for smooth videos (Update: More info)
Update, May 22, 2020 (6:22AM ET): After teasing its gimbal camera tech for the upcoming vivo X50 series, the company has now detailed how exactly it works. vivo has posted a teaser explaining the new stabilzation tech on Chinese social media platform Weibo (via Sparrownews).
According to a machine-translated excerpt of the post, vivo’s new camera module comes with a double-ball suspension that allows the image sensor to pivot roughly three degrees.
The five-axis video image stabilization tech is three times better than Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), claims vivo. The brand also promises that there’s no image distortion while using the new “Micro-Cloud Gimbal” system to record videos. The tech is also supposed to perform very well in low light conditions and the camera is said to have 220% better photosensitivity compared to the vivo X30 Pro.
The ribbon cable connecting the sensor to the phone is twice folded to allow for more flexibility of movement. The whole camera module is quite big, measuring 4.5mm thick and taking up 363mm² of space on the main board. That, according to vivo, is five times the average area taken up by any main camera.
vivo has also compared its new gimbal tech to typical OIS when recording videos. You can see the difference for yourself in the video below.
Original article, May 20, 2020 (6 AM ET): Vivo’s Apex 2020 concept phone packs gimbal-enabled stabilization, and it looks like the Chinese brand is bringing this radical camera tech to a production device.
vivo has posted several teasers on its Weibo account (h/t: The Verge), touting gimbal-style image stabilization. One video shows the phone’s camera lens moving around, capturing steady video and blur-free photos. Check it out below.
The above clip also gives us a better look at the vivo X50 camera housing, showing a square-shaped fourth camera that’s presumably a periscope lens. So you can likely expect the phone to offer improved long-range zoom as well.
Another teaser video posted by vivo suggests that gimbal-style stabilization will enable better low-light shots. Presumably the improved stabilization allows the phone shutter to stay open even longer than traditional optical image stabilization. Check out that clip below.
It’s also worth noting that vivo is calling it the X50 series rather than a single device, so we’ll likely see more than one X50 device. But it remains to be seen whether gimbal stabilization will come to all phones in the family.
We don’t know much else about the vivo X50 series, but a company executive was spotted talking about the newly announced 50MP Samsung Isocell GN1 sensor. This doesn’t necessarily mean the 50MP sensor will appear in the X50 series, but it certainly seems like the firm plans to use it in some form.
The vivo X50 series will be unveiled on June 1, so we’ll find out more about the devices and what you can do with gimbal-style stabilization then. But we’re glad to see tech from the Apex 2020 concept phone find its way into a commercial device.


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Caterpillar layoffs in South Milwaukee don't surprise Baird analyst
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The timing of Caterpillar Inc.’s announcement that it will cut 40 percent of its South Milwaukee production work force might have raised eyebrows among local labor officials, but the layoffs didn’t surprise a Milwaukee financial analyst who covers the company.
Peoria, Ill.-based equipment manufacturer Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), which has its global mining equipment unit based in Oak Creek, reportedly will lay off between 250 and 300 of its 810 unionized workers at Caterpillar’s South Milwaukee plant, according to United Steelworkers officials. Read more by clicking here.The announcement came five days before the union and Caterpillar are set to begin negotiations on a labor contract that expires at the end of April.
I talked with a local USW official Thursday who questioned the timing of the announcement and suggested it could be an intimidation tactic, although he said Caterpillar cited lower sales in the decision.
A Caterpillar spokesman wouldn’t confirm the specifics in South Milwaukee, but said various company locations are facing “short-term temporary layoffs and other actions” that “impact both production and support and management employees.”
The spokesman said the actions are meant to bring production in line with demand.
“I do not really find their announcement as being surprising,” Dobre told me by phone Thursday. “The difficulties in the mining space I think are widely known by now.”
Caterpillar’s mining customers shrank their capital spending budgets this year, and many have even been spending below that lowered budget line, Dobre said.
Jeff Engel is The Business Journal's reporter covering the manufacturing industry and technology.
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Ethiopian Airlines has expanded its partnership with travel payment solutions provider CellPoint Digital to add WeChat Pay and KNET as payment methods.
The move follows the integration of CellPoint’s Velocity payment platform with the airline’s mobile app last year.
The introduction of WeChat Pay and KNET is expected to enable Ethiopian Airlines to service the international travel market. Both the payment methods will be implemented through CellPoint Digital’s Velocity payment platform.
The African airline company has already added Alipay, a payment platform backed by China’s Alibaba Group.
The addition of WeChat Pay is aimed at catering to its customers in China, a key growth market for Ethiopian Airlines.
Introduction of KNET, a payment method in Kuwait, is aimed at enabling the airline company to expand into the Middle East.
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Ethiopian Airlines digital director Miretab Teklaye said: “As we expand into new markets, we want to ensure the payment process on our mobile app is as seamless as possible for our passengers.
“Working with CellPoint Digital as our technology partner allows us to quickly add new payment methods to meet the needs of consumers in these regions.
“The introduction of WeChat Pay and KNET is the first of many new payment methods we plan to roll out, as we look to expand further into the Middle East, India and Europe.”
CellPoint digital senior sales and account director for MEA Ciaran Wilson added: “Ethiopian Airlines is committed to providing the best possible digital experience for their customers, and our Velocity payment platform can introduce rapidly any global wallet or local payment method Ethiopian needs for their mobile app or other digital channel.”
Recently, CellPoint Digital partnered with UATP, a payment solution owned by the world’s airlines, to support Apple Pay acceptance at Southwest Airlines.


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Redbox Ups Matt James to SVP of Operations2 Sep, 2015 By: Erik Gruenwedel
Redbox Sept. 2 announced the promotion of Matt James to SVP of operations and merchandising. James most recently was VP of inventory and logistics.
James, who is based out of the kiosk-vendor’s Chicago headquarters, spearheads a team of more than 1,400 employees across Redbox's field operations, machine support, inventory, logistics, strategy and analytics teams. His team oversees inventory stocking and optimization, title merchandising, kiosk repair and preventative maintenance across the network.
"Over his past four years at Redbox, Matt has excelled across several leadership roles and we look forward to leveraging his diverse experience to constantly improve the customer experience," Redbox president Mark Horak said in a statement. "The exceptional customer experience Redbox brings every renter is only made possible through our highly efficient, world-class network.”
Indeed, Redbox operates more than 40,000 kiosks at nearly 34,000 retail locations nationwide. The kiosks’ operational network generated an average of two million rentals per day in 2014, or about 723 million rentals.
“When you're operating at the incredible scale Redbox does, it takes a highly effective leader like Matt and a passionate team to make the systems run like a well-oiled machine,” Horak said.


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Over at Mashable is a post about a marketing campaign Adidas is launching in January to promote their new Star Wars-inspired line. Instead of aligning the product with the positive, heroic figures in the familiar tale, Adidas is integrating Facebook with Google Maps to create a sort of ‘game’ called the Star Wars Death Star Superlaser, in which participants are encouraged to emulate the evil Darth Vader.
The game opens with a video in which you see the street you live on — thanks to the Google Maps app, you see the buildings on your actual street — reduced to rubble. The app then allows you to subject the streets your Facebook friends live on to similar destruction at your will. The cutesy-sociopathic tagline that appears at the video’s end: “Hitting your street in January 2010.”
It’s been less than a decade since the 9/11 terrorist attack reduced a significant portion of lower Manhattan turned to dust, with the loss of several thousand innocent lives. The vast majority of Americans consider this real-world act evil, just as they considered the imaginary, vicious actions of the fictional character Darth Vader evil.
Normal people find it troubling, not amusing, to contemplate the destruction of particular people and places they care about. Normal people don’t think it’s fun to visualize the destruction of their friends’ lives, homes, and neighbors.
If the market Adidas is going after consists of sociopaths and would-be terrorists, this is one dandy promotion.
If, however, Adidas hopes to sell sneakers to normal people who cringe at the thought of terrible things happening to their friends, they may want to use another approach. Unless and until they do, I can promise you that my kid won’t be wearing Adidas.


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Broadcaster BSkyB has now made available the Sky Anytime+ TV on demand service to Sky subscribers using any broadband ISP rather than Sky’s own service.
The service requires a Sky TV subscription, compatible Sky+ set-top box and a broadband connection. Formerly the service only worked on Sky’s own broadband, often aggressively bundled with TV subscriptions but now customers can pick and choose and still get access to the online service.
Last week at the Changing Media Summit, Sky chief Jeremy Darroch unveiled plans to launch a new internet TV service for those without an existing Sky subscription, dubbed Now TV. Launching later in the year, Now TV will provide access to popular Sky shows and Sky Movies.
"It will be available on a wide range of devices and offer instant access to a range of high quality Sky content, with no install and no contract," said Darroch.
"Starting with movies, it will soon expand to offer sport and entertainment as well. And customers will be able to pay monthly or rent a movie on a simple, pay as you go basis."
Darroch said that the service is aimed at 13 million homes in the UK that don’t currently sign up to any pay TV service.


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A Georgetown used-car dealer who specialized in buying and selling expensive imports was being sought yesterday by D.C. police, who said he recently sold at least two cars without the permission of owners.
The dealer, Steve Moin, described only as an Iranian national, operated Georgetown Quality Imports at Wisconsin Avenue and Q Street NW. Police said they charge Moin with felony larceny in one case and that he is under investigation in several others, in which owners left cars with the dealer for minor repairs, but returned to find their vehicles had been sold.
Hashem Ghaidi, a co-owner of the Luieli hair salon across the street from the car lot, said his 1978 Porsche 924, valued at about $9,000, was sold in late May for $8,800 after he took the car to Moin for new tires and a car wax. "I think it was sold with the new tires in the back seat," Ghaidi said. w
Saeed Mannanyha, who also works at Luieli, said his 1977 MGB sports car was sold without his permission in late May when he took it to the dealer to get a broken window handle repaired and to have the car cleaned. Mannanyha said he went to Dallas on business and returned to find the car sold.
Both men said Moin promised to reimburse them but gave no reason why the cars had been sold. Mannanyha said Moin gave him a $3,700 check for the car, but the check bounced when he tried to cash it.
Mannanyha said he previously had left his car at Moin's shop without problems. "I have lived in Georgetown seven years. Sometimes they washed the car or polished it. Never did such a thing happen," Mannanyha said. "He seemed like an okay guy. There was nothing weir about him."
Police said Moin sold the cars to unsuspecting buyers who were told they would get their titles within 30 days. Police said two buyers have been located and are cooperating with them in the investigation. D.C. police Capt. Clarence Dickerson said one of the buyers complained to police after she failed repeatedly to get her title from Moin.
Ghaidi said he confronted Moin after learning that his car had been sold from the tiny Wisconsin Avenue lot, which holds fewer than 15 cars. "He asked me for the title," Ghaidi said. "I told him, 'You've go to be kidding.'" Ghaidi said Moin thought he should be happy that his car was sold at such a high price. "I didn't want to sell it," Ghaidi said. "I want my car back. If I could go take it myself, I would."
D.C. police Det. Richard Ragsdale of the Consumer Fraud Unit was called into the case after Ghaidi and Mannanyha complained to the Automobile Owners Action Council (AOAC), a 7-year-old, nonprofit organization that mediates disputes between dealers and buyers.
Archie Richardson, head of the D.C.-based AOAC, said "four or five open complaints" are pending against the dealer involving unauthorized selling of cars, including a Mercedes and a Cadillac. "You're talking aobut $20,000 to $30,000," Richardson said.
Richardson said an employe of the dealer also was having trouble getting title to a car that he had bought from Moin.
Fred Goldberg, general counsel of the D.C. Office of Consumer Protecttion, said his agency also is investigating the dealer's business activities.
Moin, who gave one of his customers a phone number and an address in Arlington, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Moin closed his business about two weeks ago after complaints from the owners of the cars that had been sold. A neighboring service station operator said a wrecker came and hauled away several cars from the lot. The space, in the heart of the congested Georgetown shopping district, had been taken over by commuters and shoppers happy to find new places to park.


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EAST MOLINE - Police in East Moline have arrested four people who allegedly used counterfeit credit cards at a local Walgreens.
Jerame Moore, 26 of Chicago; Mercedes Brown, 22 of Calumet City; Shaun Smith, 33 of Atlanta, Ga., and Felicia Jackson, 26 of Chicago, were each charged with possession of a counterfeit credit card and theft. They are being held on a bond of $75,000 each at the Rock Island County Jail.
On Tuesday, Walgreens workers in East Moline reported the group had tried to use counterfeit credit cards to buy Visa gift cards, police said. Officers from the East Moline Police Department stopped the four people in a car as they were leaving the store.
Around 65 counterfeit credit cards reportedly were found in their possession. Police said stolen credit card numbers had been encoded on the fraudulently manufactured Rush Card Live and Green Dot credit cards.
The counterfeit cards were being used to buy valid Visa gift cards which the group planned to sell on the streets in Chicago, according to a news release from East Moline police.
Police said an investigation is continuing to identify possible victims of financial identity theft linked to the scheme.
Today is Monday, March 10, the 69th day of 2014. There are 296 days left in the year. 1864 -- 150 years ago: Numerous counterfeiters are around, taking advantage of the influx of currency to pass their worthless trash. 1889 -- 125 years ago: J.J. Reimers, secretary and treasurer of the Rock Island Lumber and Manufacturing Co., on behalf of that firm, contributed $500 toward construction of a new Methodist church. 1914 -- 100 years ago: Samuel Ryerson, county recorder, was re-elected president of the 19th District of Knights of Pythias. 1939 -- 75 years ago: Three condemnation suits have been filed by the city of Rock Island to acquire property needed for an approach to the Rock Island-Davenport bridge, which has been under construction since March 6. 1964 -- 50 years ago: Plans for an eight-story Sheraton Inn in downtown Rock Island were announced today at a luncheon meeting at the Gay Nineties sponsored by the Rock Island Chamber of Commerce. Cost of the structure is estimated at $2.5 million. 1989 -- 25 years ago: Representatives of the Hardee's Golf Classic and tournament sponsor Hardee's Food Systems may meet next week with PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman to discuss a possible change in the tournament dates.


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Nikon has signed a patent licensing agreement with Microsoft that will give them access to the company’s broad portfolio of patents for use with certain Nikon cameras that use the Android platform. A press release noted the contents of the agreement would not be disclosed but Microsoft could receive royalties from Nikon.
Microsoft general manager of intellectual property licenses said the two companies have a long history of collaboration and this latest agreement further demonstrates the value you place on both IP licenses responsible.
If you remember, Samsung and Nikon announced Android both cameras around the same time last summer. Shooter Samsung Galaxy known as the House, includes a quad-core 1.4 GHz, 8 GB of internal storage and an SD card slot – all powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. One of the key selling points is the ability to share photos wirelessly via Wi-Fi or 3G to social networks and other services.
Nikon S800c arrived on the scene a few months later, but with an updated version of Android – Gingerbread 2.3.3. The camera has the same basic capabilities as the Samsung unit, allowing photographers to instantly share your creations via email, Facebook or simply transfer it to a laptop, smartphone or tablet for editing. The shooter received mediocre reviews in general, as the old operating system, poor battery life and picture quality could have been just half all improved.
With this new agreement, it is quite clear that Nikon is planning to expand its line of Android-powered digital cameras.
Samsung introduced a new Android-powered set-top box at the Mobile World Congress this week. It is an unlikely event to show a box television, but that has not stopped the Korean electronics giant to unveil the box HomeSync.
The company says the device provides a cloud house to store, share and stream content to multiple devices. The HomeSynch lets you stream videos, photos and applications from your wireless device to your television Galaxy. The device can also access the store to download Google Play your own applications and you can still use your smartphone to control the box.
The device is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core processor along with 1GB of RAM and 8 GB of solid state storage. There is also a 1 TB hard drive in the traditional tap, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz, Gigabit Ethernet, optical audio and HDMI 1.4 outputs. Samsung says the device can support up to eight user accounts, each password protected and encrypted for privacy and security.
Interestingly, despite the fact that it has all the features you find with Google TV, there is no mention that the real mark anywhere on company literature or real cash. At least one publication believes that Samsung may simply be trying to distance himself from a brand that has never really been able to achieve stardom.
We are told that HomeSync will be released pre-installed with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Samsung said the unit will be available for purchase starting in April in the U.S. before expanding to other regions. Pricing remains unknown at this time.
Windows Phone continues to creep in terms of market share of UK smartphones, but new research suggests that Android is losing the majority of users of Microsoft’s mobile operating system.
Data Worldpanel ComTech Kandar Phone claimedWindows added 700,000 new users in the UK during 2012, representing an increase of 240 percent in the last 12 months.
However, research indicated that 17 percent of these new users reportedly changed phones like the Nokia Lumia 800 and HTC Windows Phone 8X of those in the Google Android operating system.
That’s more than any other platform other than Symbian (26 percent), which is easily explained by simply updating Nokia loyalists from their older devices running the operating system doomed.
By contrast, 6 percent of Windows Phone BlackBerry jumped ship sinks, while only 2 percent of newcomers to Microsoft’s mobile operating system iOS came through. The other 47 percent were buying their first smartphone.
Android did not suffer too much from the loss of an estimated 119,000 or so users of Windows Phone in 2012, increasing its market share to 56.2 percent. iOS ended 2012 at 30.6 percent, while WP was in third place with just over 6 percent, according to the study.
However, it is interesting that most users apparently lost Android Windows Phone iOS despite their total earnings.
Elemental analysis of the results suggests that iPhone users are more loyal to the platform and less inclined to leave for pastures new, while Android users are less attached and ready to change things up a bit if a new platform intrigues.
Of course, there are more people using Android than any other platform, so that more people can possibly be left for Windows Phone, but the numbers still seem a bit out of place.
Today we have been bringing a lot of new information on the Sony Xperia Tablet Z. We are seeing the benchmarks, sample photos and a hands on, and now we have the really important information: when you will be able to buy and how much the tablet will cost. Just a warning, Sony suggests that it is a high quality compressed, and that means a special price.
Sony says that the tablet will be available in Q2 2013, and so far only U.S. models have achieved prices. In the U.S., there will be models in both white and black, and has two levels of storage – 16 GB and 32 GB. For WiFi-only models will be $ 500 for the 16GB and $ 600 for the 32GB, which is quite expensive, even if we consider the tablet has a 1920×1200 screen, 8 megapixel rear camera, Snapdragon S4 Processor Pro, and is waterproof.
LTE is also a model in the works, but so far this is only for Europe, and that is good value for it.
What do you think? Tablet Is Xperia Z worth the price premium?
Android has pulled ahead of Apple’s iOS in smartphone sales in the U.S., according to data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech out today.
During the three months ending in January, Android gained 49.9 percent of all smartphone sales in the U.S., an increase of 6.4 percent over the same period last year. During the same time, iOS came in second with 45.9 percent cut of smartphone sales, down 4.7 percent from a year ago.
Microsoft Windows Phone earned his own slice of growth, taking home 3.2 percent of smartphone sales in the United States.
The latest results mark a return to Android. During the three months ended in December, the iPhone won 51.2 percent of all smartphone sales in the United States, leaving Android with 44.8 percent and Windows Phone with 2.6 percent, Kantar said the month past.
Android phone manufacturers can thank Sprint for much of its profits on sales, according to Kantar.
For the three months ending October 2012, sales of smartphones through Sprint were divided almost equally between Android and iOS. But for the last three months mobile, Android’s share of sales increased to Sprint 71.9 percent from 49.3 percent previously.
Sprint customers are also paying less money for your Android phone.
“The 50/50 was seen in the period ending in October 2012 was a result of both iOS and Android share the same level of average price paid (iOS and Android at $ 130 to $ 127),” Kantar analyst Mary-Ann Parlato, said in a statement. “However, this latter period there was a significant drop in prices to $ 95 for Android, iOS, while it increased slightly to $ 146.”
Samsung Galaxy S3 shown great seller, thanks in part to a more tempting price. In the period from October, the S3 took only 14 percent of all smartphone sales through Sprint. But after a subsequent price drop to $ 99 from $ 199, the S3 went on to win the 39 percent of all sales of Sprint smartphones.
Overall, Samsung accounted for 60.3 percent of all smartphones sold by Sprint in January period. And that number could rise in the spring. Samsung is set to unveil the Galaxy S4 in a special launch event on March 14.
Kantar statistics come from its U.S. consumer panel, which interviewed more than 240,000 people each year on purchases of mobile phones, use and bills.
Details on Sony Xperia SP have appeared again in the World Wide Web, with an apparently new source confirming midrange various specifications.
The details were sent to Xperia Blog by a “reliable source”, which apparently was unable to confirm the features such as screen size, materials of the case and the camera in the Xperia SP. According to the source, the Sony Xperia SP sport a 720p display of 4.6 inches, 8 GB of internal storage, 8 megapixel Exmor RS and feature an aluminum frame surrounding a plastic rear and front glass cover . Previous rumors suggest that SP Xperia also feature a 1.7 GHz dual-core processor and running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. We have also seen leaked photos purporting to show the SP Xperia sporting a design similar to the Sony Xperia flagship Z, which was launched at CES 2013.
The Sony Xperia SP is expected to be announced at MWC 2013 weeks to come, and will come into force on TechRadar Barcelona to bring you the latest in the Japanese firm.
The LG Optimus T has finally made its way to Europe, but it may be too late for this 4G smartphone to succeed.
LG launched the Optimus G in Korean and then the States last year, but has only had time to take her to Europe now.
It comes with a card Jelly Bean triumph, however, with the same phone in other regions continue running Ice Cream Sandwich.
The G Optimus also offers up a 4.7-inch HD IPS display, 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, 4G connectivity and a range of enhanced features of the user interface. They QSLIDE improvements include allowing you to use multiple applications at the same time, like Samsung, multi-window options, and you may also have video playback and other applications of set in a smaller window – very similar to the Game Pop-up found in the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2.
The moment seems so. More strange considering that the company has just announced its natural replacement in Pro LG Optimus T, we expect to see in more detail at MWC 2013. LG has confirmed that the Optimus G make its European debut in Sweden in late February, after which it will go to other markets such as France, Germany and Italy.
TechRadar contacted LG about availability in the UK and a company spokesperson told us. “We have no further information on the availability and range of G Optimus in the UK”


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Hatchimals and Fitbit maintained their spots at the top of our Hot Holiday Products the week ending October 3, which included Cyber Monday. That said, both items saw their search share decline considerably week-over-week. That could be due in part to shoppers having purchased more Fitbits during Black Friday sales as well as parents coming to the realization that even Santa himself may have a hard time getting his hands on a Hatchimal. That said, Yankee Candles were burning up the list last week moving three spots up the ranks. LEGO, having taken a week off from appearing in the top 10 over Thanksgiving week, is back at number seven resulting in Xbox One powering down to number 14.
Beyond the top 10, here are some other trends we saw last week: Elf on the Shelf more than doubled search share as Santa’s rascally watchdog returned to spy on American children. Riding the coattails of the Nintendo 3DS—one of Black Friday’s hottest items—the Nintendo 2DS rose to the number 12 spot last week nearly doubling search share from the week prior. And finally, Apple Watch is gaining interest with a 32% increase in search share week-over-week, though searches are still just a quarter of what Hitwise registered for “Fitbit.”
Hot Products by Audience
Hot holiday products, by nature, generally enjoy popularity across wide swaths of the population. However, understanding the specific products that are darlings of your target audience can help ensure you continue to develop engaging and relevant product offerings. Using our AudienceView platform, we looked at hot product searches this week for a number of common audiences to better understand what items they’re likely to be searching for online.
For starters, Hatchimals and Fitbit are the top searches for affluent adults (those with annual household income of $250,000 and above), but these pricier items (assuming you can even find one in stock) are about 30% more popular among this set. Affluent Americans are also more than 50% more likely to be searching for Bose and Amazon Echo—a fact that suggests they’ll be doing a lot of their holiday shopping on Amazon.
The top hot holiday product searches among Gadget Gurus, those men and women who say they’re always the first to have the latest technology, are the Google Pixel and the Google Home. Hitwise estimates that 1 in 202 Gadget Gurus searched for “Google Pixel” during peak week. While Google products are at the top of the list, Gadget Gurus can also be Mac fans as evidenced by the presence of the Macbook Pro and iPhone 7 on the list a few places down.
Teenagers are notoriously difficult to buy for, but AudienceView can help keep the eye rolling to a minimum on Christmas morning. An Apple TV, a Nintendo mini or an iPad Mini 2 are more likely to appeal to households with teens. Teens looking for a gift for mom should consider a ring from Pandora.
While the items above appeal to households with either teenage boys or teenage girls, the items below are uniquely popular among those with teenage boys, including Roomba, Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Harry Potter movies.
Meantime, Nike ID, Ninja blender and Apple Watch series 1 appeal disproportionately to those with teenage girls.
Toy searches are also widely different depending on who is doing the searching. For instance, Grandparents are more likely to be searching for “tablets for kids,” while parents are more likely to search for specific tablet makes and models. Grandparents are also more likely to search for things like “puzzles” and “adult coloring books.” Parents meantime are searching for “Beats headphones,” “Oculus Rift” and this season’s must-have game, “Speak Out.” In general, grandparents use fewer brand names and search for more traditional gifts while parents, who are constantly bombarded with requests from their kids, know exactly what they’re looking for and use more branded terms and even model numbers.


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Lidl Recalls Hemp Products Across EU Due To Elevated THC Levels
Retailer Lidl is recalling hemp products sold across the EU which contain elevated levels of THC, warning consumers that consumption may cause “undesirable health effects, such as mood swings and fatigue.”
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With no CBD product yet approved under Europe’s novel foods regulation, Belgium is cracking down on unauthorized supplements and alerting its neighbors, an analysis by HBW Insight reveals.
A recent court case and an upcoming federal election promise movement in Germany's cannbidiol market, stated Joscha Krauss, CEO of local manufacturer MH Medical Hemp GmbH, at the 18th European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) Annual Conference.
Virus-blocking compound Carragelose, out-licensed to major consumer health players such as Perrigo and Reckitt for use in OTC respiratory nasal sprays, is being adapted for use in the dry eye and allergy categories.


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NEW DELHI, MARCH 20: In a bid to streamline the process of clearance for imported foods, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI ) has notified import regulations. The regulations include provisions for risk-based framework under which the food regulator may review risks associated with articles of food imports from time to time, besides adopting a risk-based inspection process.
After two-year long consultations with the stakeholders concerned, the Food Safety and Standards (Import) Regulations, 2017 has been notified. The regulator said the comprehensive regulations would facilitate ease of trade and ease of doing business while ensuring that the health of the consumers is not compromised. The regulations have laid down procedure for clearance of imported food products into India and include various provisions related to licensing regime for food importers. It also includes provisions for food import clearance for specific purposes, storage, inspection and sampling of imported food articles and prohibition and restriction on food imports, besides labelling provisions for import of food products.


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In a corner of north London, a new gleaming butchers is preparing to open.
The only thing it lacks is meat.
To coincide with World Vegan Day, Britain’s first permanent vegan butcher, Rudy’s, is opening, set to sell meat-free versions of traditional products such as baycon, soysage and turk’y.
Demand for vegan products has surged in recent years in Britain, with increasing numbers of people cutting out animal-derived ingredients completely, while others reduce the amount of meat and dairy they consume each week.
“People understand what it is that we’re selling,” co-founder Matthew Foster told Reuters.
“It’s all designed to emulate meat. It tastes like meat, it’s got meat-like texture.”
Law firm EMW reported a 128% jump in new trademarks registered for vegan food in the UK last year, with both large corporates and small companies registering such trademarks as vegan ice cream and pastries.
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The team behind the new butchers started out in 2017 with a vegan diner and are now looking to offer goods, including whole dinner kits to be made in the home.
The substitutes, set out in the brightly lit shop with white walls and sketches of animals on the walls, are made from soya and seitan.
The surge in demand for alternative food products has recently sparked a debate over whether restaurants and shops should be allowed to label products as “veggie burgers” or “vegan sausages” or whether it can confuse the consumer.
Lawmakers in the European Union ruled earlier in October that banning such terms, as advocated by farmers, would discourage consumers from shifting to more plant-based diets.


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PR Newswire | October 26, 2023
Databricks, the Data and AI company, today announced it has agreed to acquire Arcion, a Databricks Ventures portfolio company that helps enterprises quickly and reliably replicate data across on-prem, cloud databases and data platforms. This will enable Databricks to provide native solutions to ingest data from various databases and SaaS applications into the Databricks Lakehouse Platform. The ...
Big Data Management, Data Science, Machine Learning
Aimpoint Digital | January 10, 2023
On January 9, 2023, The pioneer in decision intelligence technology, Gurobi Optimization, announced the introduction of version 10 of its popular mathematical optimization software, Gurobi Optimizer. As a result, Aimpoint Digital, an analytics company committed to redefining businesses with data, will be able to use the power of mathematical optimization and prescriptive analytics to unlock client value by utilizing the significant features of Gurobi Optimizer version 10.
ForMotiv | June 13, 2022
ForMotiv, a leading behavioral data science and intent scoring platform, announced that the company has joined Guidewire’s Insurtech Vanguards program, an initiative led by property and casualty (P&C) cloud platform provider Guidewire (NYSE: GWRE), to help insurers learn about the newest insurtechs and how to best leverage them.
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Hightouch | June 14, 2022
Hightouch, the premier data activation provider, has extended its relationship with Snowflake, the Data Cloud business, to give joint clients seamless access to data activation in the Snowflake Data Cloud. Hightouch's platform is natively accessible inside Snowflake, allowing clients to launch Hightouch directly from their Snowflake account.
Hightouch is a Snowflake Partner Connect-enabled Data Activation partner. Moreover, Hightouch has been designated as a Snowflake-ready an...
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Unfortunately, the long-awaited next installment of the Uncharted franchise, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, has been handed down another delay. The highly anticipated sequel has now had its release moved back another month from March 18 to April 26, 2018. Naughty Dog and Creative Director Neil Druckmann and Game Director Bruce Straley confirmed the news in an official statement to the PlayStation Blog. You can read the full statement below:
Let’s start with the good news: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is wrapping up production and is shaping up to be the proper send off for Nathan Drake that we’ve promised you. The bad news is that we need a bit more time to finish the game so that it meets our standards and vision. Let’s cut to the chase, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has a new release date in North America of April 26, 2016.
This is our largest Uncharted game to date, and the team has been working incredibly hard to meet the challenge of closing out the game’s development in a timely manner. However, as we approached our final deadlines and started wrapping up the game’s levels, we realized that several key sequences needed extra resources to bring them to the finish line. After carefully considering all of our options, we decided to extend our schedule, making sure that we get a few more polish passes before submitting our gold master (the final disc for manufacturing).
Pushing the date is not an easy choice, and we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t feel in our hearts it’s the best course of action for the game. To you, our loyal fans, we hope you’ll accept our sincere apology. We know many of you have been waiting patiently for Nathan Drake’s final chapter, and now we humbly ask you to wait a bit longer.
On April 26, 2016 the most ambitious installment in the Uncharted series will be in your hands.
Hopefully, this latest delay will provide the juice that is worth the squeeze. Obviously, waiting longer for the game is disappointing. However, getting a broken or bugged out game full of glitches at launch would be even worse. Look no further than at how the Windows PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight was virtually unplayable and had to be pulled from the market.
However, if Naughty Dog is taking the delays that means the final product should be very polished, and fans should not have to suffer through major first day patches at launch. This takes into account how much fans invest into new games.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will apparently be the final quest in the story of adventurer and treasure hunter Nathan Drake. The game will now hit the shelves on April 26, 2016. It will be available exclusively for the PlayStation 4.


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The Budget 2023 was released yesterday. Here is the announcement made by Minister for Pacific Peoples, Hon Barbara Edmonds on what’s in store for Pacific Peoples with a strong focus on youth, skills and learning, and promoting cultural connections. Click here to view the Minister’s announcement.
“Budget 2023 builds on the $683 million that has been invested since 2019 meaning more than $734 million has been invested over successive Pacific Budget packages.”
Below is a short breakdown of the Budget 2023 Pacific package including investments over four years:
$13.3 mill – to implement the Pacific Languages Strategy
$14.1 mill – investment in Pacific Community Resilience and Wellbeing
$12.8 mill – to implement the Pacific Employment Action Plan
$3.1 mill – to support the growth, resilience and sustainability of Pacific businesses
$1.7 mill – for one year for initiatives to enhance Pacific data and digital inclusion efforts, and a Pacific data equity work programme
$1 mill – for one year for the Tupu Aotearoa Programme to enhance employment and education pathways for Pacific people
$5 mill – to support Pacific Early Childhood Education
Click here to view the overall Budget 2023.


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Trending: Branded Architecture
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 | CHICAGO, IL —
Over the past few years, you’ve likely walked by at least one pop-up shop in your city. They started with the rise of social media and changing retail landscape, and have since grown into an increasingly popular marketing tactic for brands across the globe. Last November, we discussed the impact Instagram has made on architecture, driving businesses to create spaces that are “Insta-friendly.” With an increasing focus on experiences and social sharing, Millennials have forced everyone from local restaurants to large CPG brands to create aesthetically pleasing spaces for consumers to interact with. And with the rise of pop-up shops, branded hotels and other unique design collaborations, companies are tapping into this consumer need to experience a brand’s identity before becoming a loyal buyer.
We’ve seen plenty of examples in our hometown of Chicago, including a recent Louis Vuitton “Chicago Residency" to celebrate Virgil Abloh’s upcoming collection. In addition to a bright facade, the brand completely transformed the interior of a blank gallery space using art pieces to create a monochromatic orange background that reflected the artist's new collection.
On the flipside, Taco Bell opened a temporary Taco Bell-themed hotel in Palm Springs, California this summer, selling out rooms in just two minutes and drawing national media attention. In addition to serving all the fan-favorites, the brand completely outfitted an existing hotel to create a “taco-asis” that reflects the brand's true identity. This included a Mountain Dew Baja Blast lounge, Taco-Bell nail art salon, and branded art throughout the space.
While pop-ups are an important part of this trend, we’re also seeing more brands using architecture and design to create even more unique retail environments to showcase their products. Lululemon recently flipped their traditional retail approach on its head, creating a Chicago location that features a full-time gym and cafe. This is another great example of how brands are using retail spaces to lure Millennials with experiences that online shopping simply can’t offer. Similarly, Crate & Barrel is opening a full-service in-store restaurant in a Chicago suburb, using the space to showcase their kitchen tools and tableware. While the idea of bringing restaurants into your retail space is not entirely new (think of the old school department store), the way that brands are doing it on their own is definitely a nod to the changing consumer culture.


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Supply to large institutions and restaurants to lessen slowdown effects.
TajSATS – a joint venture between Indian Hotels Co Ltd (IHCL) and SATS, formerly Singapore Airport Terminal Services (Tata Group’s airline catering arm) – is planning to diversify into supplying large institutions and restaurants in an effort to lessen the effects of the slowdown in the travel and hospitality industry.
TajSATS has been providing in-flight catering services in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Amritsar, Goa and Bangalore, and manages airport lounges in Mumbai and Chennai. It is also looking at expanding services to cities such as Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Kozhikode and Kochi.
With its new venture, the company will supply food to corporate entities, outdoor events and coffee chains such as Costa Coffee and Tata Starbucks (a joint venture between Starbucks Corp and Tata Global Beverages).
TajSATS Air Catering Ltd is also planning to set up QSRs banking on its experience both in the hotel and catering business. However, this is at a nascent stage said the company’s source. In an e-mail the company said, “The entire foods sector is growing at a healthy pace and TajSATS is in a position to… tap this opportunity.”


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- Apple is rumored to be asking $100 more for its latest iPhone 6.
- This is a problem, because Apple has lost its ecosystem advantage and its phones are already too expensive.
- While the larger display is welcome, a larger price will make the share problem larger at a point where Android is already dominating.
- There seems to be no way out for Apple. Either it sacrifices margins or volume, and both are bad outcomes.


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Shares of Visa climbed in Thursday trading after the credit card company reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that handily beat analyst estimates.
Who you start and who you sit in week 9 of the fantasy football season could have playoff implications. Choose wisely. See Cramer's picks.
Owners of Tesla electric vehicles in Shanghai can reportedly now register them for free -- instead of paying the typical $12,000 fee for a license plate.
Shares of Hershey melted in Wednesday trading after the sweets maker reported net income that fell 4 percent on increased costs.
Shares of Whirlpool climbed in Tuesday's session after the company posted a higher quarterly profit but trimmed its full-year profit outlook.
Health insurer Aetna reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter and raised its 2014 forecast.
As the price of crude oil remains volatile, Dividend Stock Adviser portfolio manager David Peltier focuses on the safety of high yields in the energy sector.
Twenty percent of adults in the U.S. already own a wearable device -- and that number is quickly expected to rise, according to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Who should you start and who should you sit on your fantasy football team this week? Jim Cramer has thoughts.
Jim Cramer weighs in on how to adjust your fantasy football team for week eight of the NFL season.