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If one of two packages of, say, frozen edamame you are looking at on the supermarket shelf says, “partially-produced with genetic engineering,” which of those packages would you buy?
Because companies such as Monsanto, the nation’s leading producer of genetically-modified seeds, believe you would choose the non-GMO food, they are spending record amounts against Initiative 522, which would require labeling of genetically-engineered foods and seeds offered for retail sale in Washington.
That’s also the reason local and state groups supporting the initiative such as Label It WA. and GMO-Free San Juans want you to vote for the initiative.
Proponents address this issue directly: “We also should have a right to choose whether we want to buy and eat genetically engineered food. Labels matter. They ensure transparency and preserve the freedom to make our own decisions about the food we eat. I-522 is a step in the right direction,’ says the “pro” voters statement.
Opponents point to increased costs: from Washington Wire, “Advocates of Washington’s Initiative 522 say it won’t cost a dime, but a new opposition report says that if voters require warning labels on genetically modified food products, the typical family of four would pay an additional $490 a year for groceries.”
Local supporters of the voter-approved ban on use of genetically-modified seeds in San Juan County are hoping the 62 percent majority of county voters who supported Initiative 2012-4 last year will vote “yes” on Initiative 522.
But a local opponent of the GMO seed ban initiative, molecular biologist Larry Soll, says “there are bigger things to worry about” than a GMO label. Soll, reflecting on the fact that something close to 80 percent of food products now contain some element of GMO technology, points out that both the local and the state initiative are “a back door method of getting rid of GMO crops.”
The initiative imposes labeling requirements on genetically engineered foods and seeds offered for retail sale in this state. “Genetically engineered” is defined as foods or seeds produced by techniques that “insert DNA or RNA into organisms or that use cell fusion techniques to overcome natural barriers to cell multiplication or recombination,” according to the official statement in the voters pamphlet.
Genetically engineered agricultural commodities would be labeled “genetically engineered,” and genetically engineered packaged processed foods would be labeled “partially produced with genetic engineering.”
Many foods would be exempt, including alcoholic beverages, certified organic foods, foods not produced using genetic engineering, as certified by an approved independent organization, and foods served in restaurants.
Foods consisting of or derived from animals that have themselves not been genetically engineered, regardless of whether the animal has been fed any genetically engineered food, are also exempt. Processed foods containing small amounts of genetically engineered materials would be exempt until July 1, 2019.
The enforcement provisions, and costs, are highlighted by opponents, especially a provision providing that a private person could bring an action in superior court to stop a violation - and perhaps recover costs and attorney fees.
The voters’ guide explanatory statement points out that federal law regulates safety and quality of food shipped between states, and Washington law regulates safety and quality of food produced and sold within the state. Both federal and state law identify and regulate foods that are “misbranded” or “adulterated,” but neither state nor federal law requires specific labeling of foods produced using genetic engineering.
The “fiscal note” attached to the official explanatory statement says that the five-year regulatory costs would amount to about $3.4 million.
The state’s former Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Newhouse, a Yakima-area farmer, is a prominent opponent, as is the Washington Farm Bureau. State Senator Maralyn Chase, a Democrat from north King County, and State Representative Cary Condotta, a Republican from Wenatchee, are among the supporters.
— For more information, go to voteNOon522.com; yeson522.com; gmofreesjc.org/local-campaign/gmo-myths-and-truths/.


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“Innovation is really key to us and healthy innovation is really key to us,” CEO Richard Smucker told investment analysts June 4 during the firm’s fourth quarter earning call.
He explained, “Our innovation pipeline is pretty full right now,” and “a lot of them are around healthy alternatives” that consumers are demanding.
Mark Smucker, president of the firm’s Consumer and Natural Foods segment, added that a lot of the recent and upcoming launches also are “about clean labels,” including products that have been reformulated without undesirable ingredients, preservatives or additives.
For example, “four years ago, we took trans fat out of Crisco; it used to be the poster child for trans fat and now its without trans fat,” said Richard Smucker. He added earlier this year the company introduced its Purely Simple Pillsbury baking mixes, which have “very simple ingredients” and a line of fruit spreads sweetened with honey.
“A lot of our innovations [are] being driven by better ingredients, simpler ingredients and those have contributed about 7% of our sales this past year,” said Richard Smucker, who added the company hopes to repeat that level of sales success from new products in fiscal 2015, which began May 1.
The company’s Natural Food division also “has been growing fairly significantly over the past few years. And of course, [its] focus is on both natural and organic,” added Vice Chairman Vince Byrd.
The firm’s focus on healthier, simpler products reflects consumer demand and because the company has been moving in that direction for several years it is well positioned against “the challenge processed foods are under,” said Richard Smucker.
“Our portfolio, we feel very good about,” as “we’re in a lot of good categories that go against the grain, which in this day and age is where we want to be,” he added.
The firm’s innovation pipeline also will focus heavily on snacking, as it has for the past few years, Richard Smucker also noted.
“We’re also entering snacking in a big way,” such as with the launch of Jif To Go and Jif bars, he said.
As the firm’s focus on cleaner products and snacks demonstrates, the firm wants to make sure it launches quality and not necessarily just quantity new products, added Mark Smucker.
Reawakening coffee sales
One of the products the firm will launch this year is Folgers Perfect Measures, which are pre-measured coffee tablets with no additives, Mark Smucker added.
In addition to being very convenient for consumers, the tablets will compete directly with K-cups and will address a micro-trend the firm identified of consumers diluting their coffee and, therefore, buying less of it.
Competition in the coffee category, in addition to higher commodity costs, have caused sales of the firm’s coffee products to sag in the past year, resulting in the total company’s net sales and earnings per share falling short of its original expectations for the year.
Net sales for the quarter increased 17% to $1.45 billion and 1% for the full year to $5.69 billion, the firm reported. The adjusted earnings per share was $5.38 for the year, which was in line with previously adjusted expectations.
Despite the firm’s ongoing problems in the coffee segment, the executives predict the category will turn around thanks to several factors, including lower commodity costs, new packaging for Folger’s canisters, the launch of Dunkin’ Donuts branded K-cups and other upcoming innovations, such as Perfect Measures.

domain: news


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In one of his first interviews since he left the struggling social-networking company more than a year ago, MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe is pitching MindJolt, a popular computing platform for social games that he now heads as CEO.
"For me, it's all about working on the right platform for massive distribution, monetization and viral marketing," says DeWolfe, who acquired MindJolt for an undisclosed sum in March.
DeWolfe pored over 150 companies before zeroing in on MindJolt, which boasts more than 20 million unique users and is available through Facebook, MySpace and Mindjolt.com. He spent six months studying the San Francisco-based company before making a bid. "We saw a diamond in the rough, and we had the resources and experience to take it to the next level," he says.
Among immediate plans is to make MindJolt's 1,300 games from small developers available soon on iPhone, iPad and Google's Android platform. Ultimately, DeWolfe sees MindJolt in the same vein as MySpace Music: A place where small, independent developers can display their games and reach a large audience.
DeWolfe is among a handful of MySpace alum who are thriving at tech startups after leaving the struggling social networking service.
Former MySpacers have landed at:
· MindJolt. DeWolfe is joined by fellow former MySpacers Aber Whitcomb (chief technology officer) and Colin DiGiaro (senior vice president). It is funded by Austin Ventures.
· GoGoBot. A travel site founded by former MySpace Managing Director Travis Katz, with backing from Battery Ventures this year.
· BeachMint. An e-commerce company launched by MySpace co-founder Josh Berman this year, with funding from New Enterprise Associates and Anthem Ventures.
· Gravity. A site aimed at fostering online conversations among people with common interests was founded last year by MySpace alum Amit Kapur (chief operating officer), Steve Pearman (senior vice president) and Jim Benedetto (senior vice president). It received funding from Redpoint Ventures and August Capital.
They all rode the rocket the MySpace rocket, from its inception in 2003 to its rise to dominance, sale to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for $580 million in 2005, and through its troubles. Many have landed at startups, most of them with social media elements.
"I'm rooting for MySpace. I'd love to see a great turnaround there," says DeWolfe, who next week is scheduled to speak at Casual Connect, a social-gaming conference in Seattle. It is his first public appearance since leaving MySpace in April 2009.
By Jon Swartz
Technology Live covers computers, electronics, and the Internet, with a focus on cutting-edge technology that has a real impact on your life. Our reporters and editors -- based in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, and Washington – offer news and tips to help you make the most of your digital domain. More about the team
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Scott Rowe’s whole life changed overnight.
The military veteran was spending 120 days a year working overseas. So he made sure to make the most of his time at home before having to head out again over Christmas last year.
But it was one spontaneous Black Friday shopping trip to Old Navy that would alter Scott’s course forever. He was the lucky winner of the brand’s first-ever “Overnight Millionaire” giveaway. In an instant he went from packing his bags to doing what he couldn’t afford to do for far too long—spend Christmas with his two young daughters.
“Winning ‘Overnight Millionaire’ was an answer to all of our prayers,” said Rowe. “Last year was my first Christmas home in four years. I’m so grateful to have new opportunities that keep us bonded as a family.”
Since winning last year, Scott was able to quit his overseas job and pursue his dream of attending the Police Academy. He is now a police officer in Central Texas and has been able to build a college fund for his daughters and invest in real estate.
This year Old Navy is bringing back “Overnight Millionaire” with better odds of winning than the last go-round. The first 100 Old Navy shoppers at every North American store when it opens on Black Friday will be given a chance to win the $1 million jackpot.
“We are honored to kick off the holiday shopping season by giving back to our customers, who give to us all year long,” said Steve Stickel, Old Navy Head of Stores. "We look forward to changing the life of the Overnight Millionaire winner, treating 1,000 customers to an unforgettable shopping spree and making everyone feellike a winner with our best deals of the year.”
The “Overnight Millionaire” winner will be randomly selected on November 28 at 7 p.m. ET. Full rules can be found at www.oldnavy.com/million.


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BlackBerry announced today that it will open up its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) instant-messaging program to iOS and Android users for free, with new clients coming for those platforms later this summer.
We will make BBM available as the premiere multi platform messaging solution all around the globe, and even better, it’s free
BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said at the BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando, FL.
This is such a great experience, it’s just too good to keep it only to ourselves.
Because it’s a BlackBerry exclusive, BBM has only 60 million active users. It’s dwarfed by Android/iOS competitors like WhatsApp and Viber, which measure their user bases in the hundreds of millions. But BBM users are highly engaged, sending and receiving more than 10 billion messages per day
BBM for iOS and Android will start with messaging and groups features, but will roll out “feature parity” including voice calling, screen sharing, and video calling later this year, Heins said. It will be available for devices running iOS 6 and Android 4.0 or higher.
- DJ Baddo – All Of Me Remix ft John Legend [AuDio]
- Mani LaPussh – xClusive
- Rema – Woman [AuDio]
- Naira Marley – Koleyewon
- Wizkid – Wizzy Baby [AuDio]
- Basketmouth – Pepper Soup ft Duncan Mighty & Ice Prince
- Fireboy DML – Vibration [AuDio]
- Deejay J Masta – Boogie Down Mixtape
- Ice Prince – Kolo ft Oxlade [AuDio]
- Kizz Daniel – Madu [AuDio]
- Davido – Risky ft Popcaan [AuDio]
- DJ HM – Best Of Omah Lay ft Bella Shmurda [MixTape]


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UPDATE: planetarian ~The Reverie of a Little Planet~ has been officially delisted from Steam. Please note that users who already own the game on Steam will still be able to download and play it. The Steam Community Hub will also continue to be accessible.
It’s been a busy week for everyone what with both Thanksgiving celebrations (for those of you that celebrate) as well as the now recently concluded Steam Autumn Sale. With the rush of releases this month, a major piece of news got lost in the shuffle which was the announcement that the original planetarian ~The Reverie of a Little Planet~ will be delisted from the Steam store on December 1, 2022.
When we first announced the licensing of planetarian ~The Reverie of a Little Planet~ at Anime Expo 2014, we were just as surprised as everyone else who came to our panel. As some of you may have seen myself and my business partner muse about it on social media, it wasn’t that long ago that we started Sekai Project with the focus on doujin music. One thing lead to another and suddenly we were in the visual novel licensing and localization business while having the opportunity to work with a legendary publisher like VisualArts. There was always a notion that VisualArts would never consider the overseas market but through some lucky opportunities, we were able to have an audience with President Baba and the rest is history.
Flash forward to 2017 with the release of planetarian HD and we wondered internally if it would make sense to delist the original game in favor of this updated release from VisualArts. The question was brought up to them but they insisted that we be allowed to continue to sell the original release. At the same time, planetarian HD would be offered without English language support. Nothing else was brought up for the next few years until a couple months ago when we were told that English language support would be finally added to planetarian HD. To avoid the confusion of users not knowing which version to buy, we once again brought up the idea of delisting the original game and this time VisualArts agreed with our decision. At the end of the day, it is important for us to make the best product available to the user, even if it’s not necessary published by us.
Even though these plans were internally discussed and agreed upon, there is still a bit of melancholy to see planetarian ~The Reverie of a Little Planet~ no longer listed on our website or on Steam. This was a title that did much to put Sekai Project on the map when it comes to visual novel localization in the West. This release paved the way for CLANNAD‘s eventual release and further convinced developers in Japan to take notice of the appetite for visual novels in the overseas market. We aren’t foolish enough to think that we are the sole reason for the rise of other overseas visual novel licensing companies or the number of Japanese developers trying their hand at publishing on Steam. We are nevertheless content with at least being part of the catalyst to make that all happen. It’s honestly never been a better time to be a visual novel fan with all the content now available outside of Japan.
We owe a lot of our continued success to VisualArts for giving a no name foreign company a chance to bring this touching story to the West in an official capacity. planetarian will always be something we each treasure in our hearts and we hope that users old and new will continue to enjoy Hoshino Yumemi’s story in planetarian HD.
I also want to acknowledge the original localization team for their work in making an English release of planetarian possible:
Translation / Editing
Programming / Graphics
Wing On Chan
Release Engineering / Web Site
Historical and Technical Consultant
Patrick Seitzer, Ph.D
Univ. of Michigan Dept. of Astronomy
Lastly, we want to thank everyone who has had a chance to play planetarian ~The Reverie of a Little Planet~. It is for the fans that we do what we do. Till next time!
CEO, Sekai Project


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The highly anticipated event was scheduled to bring hundreds of hospitality workers together for a weekend of good times up in Pemberton at the end of this summer. As per the press release below, it is now on track for September, 2021.
However unfortunate this might seem, it is altogether understandable given the circumstances. Good things come to those who cook…and wait.
After careful consideration, the Chefs’ Table Society of BC (CTS) and the Cooks’ Camp steering committee have decided it is best to postpone Industry event Cooks’ Camp until September 2021. This decision was based on the CTS knowing our industry colleagues are focused on the well-being of their restaurants and employees. As well as, the recommendations of the federal and provincial governments regarding the risk of large gatherings and the need to continue to flatten the curve and slow cases of COVID-19 in Canada and worldwide.
Cooks’ Camp would have brought together over 500 cooks from across Canada to North Arm Farm in Pemberton, BC, for two days this upcoming September. The aim of the two-day event was to celebrate the hospitality industry and plan for a more sustainable future to drive the industry forward. The CTS, now more than ever, recognizes the importance of coming together. However, due to the continued spread of COVID-19, travel restrictions and the risk of large gatherings the CTS felt it best to postpone the event for a year. With this in mind, the CTS will be trying to organize another small event or series of events for the end of summer to try and help the industry navigate the comeback to the ‘new normal.’ These may be in-person or virtual depending on partners and government guidelines.
About the postponement, CTS President and Cooks’ Camp event Chair Robert Belcham stated, “It is disappointing for us to have to postpone such an important event for our industry, especially when chefs and restaurants across Canada and worldwide are directly feeling the impact of the pandemic. This pandemic highlights the need for change in our industry and we’ll continue having the necessary conversations online until it’s safe for us to have these conversations together in person.”
The Hospitality Industry worldwide has felt the impact of the pandemic extremely hard with many small restaurants already closing their doors indefinitely. The COVID-19 Pandemic has shone a light on important discussions and changes needed regarding the sustainability and future of the industry. These issues were slated to be discussed at Cooks’ Camp 2020 and will continue to be a focus of the CTS and Cooks’ Camp for the new dates in 2021.
Cooks’ Camp will now take place in September 2021 with date and locations to be announced. Tickets that have already been purchased for September 2020 will be honoured for the 2021 dates or a full refund will be provided for those who are unable to attend in 2021.


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At the Snapdragon Technology Summit held in Hawaii, Qualcomm officially released a new generation of flagship chip Snapdragon 888. At the technology summit, Qualcomm announced that it includes Asus, Black Shark, Lenovo, LG, Meizu, Android smartphone OEM manufacturers including Motorola, Nubia, Realme, OnePlus, OPPO, Sharp, VIVO, Xiaomi, and ZTE. All of these companies are developing smartphones based on that flagship.
The Snapdragon 888 uses 1 x 2.84GHz (ARM’s latest Cortex X1 core)+3 x 2.4GHz (Cortex A78)+4 x 1.8GHz (Cortex A55), Adreno 660 GPU, X60 5G modem baseband. It also supports WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, etc. The detailed performance parameters have been announced.
According to a Weibo blogger, the new Black Shark Snapdragon 888 phone, code-named “Emperor”, is ready for the launch. The design of fast charging performance is worth seeing. Redmi’s new Snapdragon 888 machine will come much earlier than last year.
Predictions for 2021
We learned that Black Shark Technology Co-founder and CEO Luo Yuzhou previously stated: “Black Shark will launch the first batch of its new products including Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 5G mobile platform in the first quarter of 2021.”
As mentioned earlier, the new Back Shark series will get a faster charging option. At present, the Black Shark 3 series already supports 65W ultra-fast flash charging. This time, the Black Shark 4 series may support 100W flash charging or higher.
Xiaomi has previously stated that the Xiaomi Mi 11 smartphone will first release the new flagship. And the source of the news is expected to be released at the end of December or January. And Redmi will also be the first to sport Snapdragon 888.
Xiaomi Lei Jun said, “The new flagship smartphone Mi 11 will be one of the first terminals to be released with the new flagship mobile platform. It will be a cutting-edge product full of many hardcore technologies.”


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Many countries have declared a lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This means that people will be forced to stay home for the majority of the day. The pandemic appears to be slowly calming down. There are still more than 1,000,000 people infected. Nearly 90,000.
Different forecasts exist on the effects of isolation and quarantine upon all world economies. Everyone is aware of this serious situation. It seems like a large part of the global economy has stopped with very limited import and export. Every worker can’t work from home. This outbreak led to many people losing their jobs or staying home to get compensation.
The most affected are small and medium businesses, particularly tourist agencies, small restaurants, hotels, shops, and other outlets. Even though the impact on their business was smaller, online businesses have been able to operate without any problems. This is why so many people search for online work options, and are willing to travel to find them. You can apply for a job through an online platform such as Upwork if you are a designer, developer, or business professional. If you are a skilled trader,
We can also see the impact of large global market fluctuations on shares of corporations and funds of ordinary people. The growth of most economies has slowed down and countries are preparing strategies to recover their economies after the pandemic. We will be presenting to you the most pressing issues facing the global economy and the impact of COVID-19.
Covid-19: Going online and doing business under it
Many businesses that had already gone online to weather the storm did not survive the outbreak, but they still survived and prospered during the coronavirus pandemic. Companies that had an existing online business were able to maintain business continuity, weather the storms, and retain customers even during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The online market and eCommerce have experienced a dramatic increase in interest since WHO recognized the importance coronavirus pandemic. However, the internet and digital economy are still among the fastest growing sectors of the global markets. Those who started an online company to do business under COVID-19 are well-positioned to reap the rewards of an online enterprise well into the future. Additional information on doing business under COVID-19: Going online to weather the storm
- Production Impact
The problem with global production is that many fabrics are locked in China. This is where most companies around the globe import essential goods. The closing of many manufacturers has had a significant impact on the car industry, with sales dropping significantly. However, even manufacturers that are still producing cars will soon run out equipment and components they mainly imported from China.
Technology is facing a difficult situation, as China holds more than 30% of the market. The lockdown has impacted both the macro economy as well as small businesses, so countries will need to take delicate measures. Some countries have already come up with short-term solutions. For example, the United States is planning to spend 2 Billion dollars on their recovery.
- Travel restrictions
More than 100 countries have implemented travel bans. This has had a significant impact on the travel industry and the tourism and flight companies. The European Union introduced travel bans that prohibit anyone from traveling to the EU for more than 30 days. The United States, on the other hand, banned flights from Europe. Some researches show that the global number of flights fell from about 200,000 to close to 50,000 per day.
Many hotels and flight companies are having to layoff workers in order to avoid bankruptcy. Because many cannot bear to stay under lockdown for more than a month, smaller resorts, tourist agencies and restaurants face the most severe challenges.
- Global Market Impact
Experts warn us that there will be another recession in the world economy, possibly worse than 2008’s. There are many indicators that this is true, such as the fall in asset prices and decreased bond value. Global Economy is at risk right now, and there are three possible effects of the recession on it: The Real Recession which is caused lack of goods or production; Policy Recession where banks will have to increase their interest rates; and Financial Recession that will cause huge economic imbalances worldwide.
The global market could see major changes if the pandemic does not end soon. This includes a drop in prices for houses and apartments, poorer consumption habits, lower production and many other things. We can also see an increase in online shopping due to people adapting to the current environment. This is especially true for the largest platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and Ali Express. Many countries also have online platforms that allow students to keep up with their lectures. There are many other areas where digital technology can be applied.
The Biggest Repercussions and Recovery Methods
There are two main scenarios for recovery from the coronavirus epidemic. Both rely on the amount of time needed to make the virus less dangerous. The worst scenario, in which industry is kept locked down for longer periods, will have a much greater negative impact. More companies will be forced from production and trade. This could have serious consequences for companies that rely on imports.
We can see that things are improving and people are recovering quickly. The activity in many industries will increase if states remove lockdown measures before the end of the month. This is especially true in China, which is the largest producer of raw materials essential for production. The recession can be avoided with continued production and activation in all global economies. This is in addition to the planned measures taken by many countries to support their companies, economies, and small business.


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Lexology PRO | Asia-Pacific, Australia | 28 Sep 2021
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has said it needs more specific rules to address concerns about Google’s dominant position in digital advertising markets, after finding that competition in the sector is ineffective due to the technology company’s power.
Clayton Utz | Australia | 2 Sep 2021
Given its 2.3 billion users in 2021, attracting and maintaining an audience on YouTube requires setting yourself apart. But as comedians push…
Lexology PRO | USA | 24 Aug 2021
An updated Federal Trade Commission antitrust complaint against Facebook has added detail about the privacy impact caused by the company’s allegedly monopolistic conduct.
ASL Law Firm | Vietnam | 25 Jul 2021
On July 21, 2021, the Draft Decree modifying and supplementing several provisions of Decree No. 181/2013 / ND-CP dated April 14, 2013, regarding the…
RK Dewan & Co | European Union, Germany | 5 Jul 2021
Frank Peterson, a music producer, approached Bundesgerichtsh of Federal Court of Justice, Germany (German Court) suing YouTube LLC and its parent…
Lexology PRO | Belgium, European Union, India, etc. | 23 Jun 2021
The Competition Commission of India has ordered a full investigation into Google after making a preliminary finding that the company abused its dominance in the market for smart television operating systems.
Lexology PRO | European Union, France, United Kingdom | 22 Jun 2021
The European Commission has launched an in-depth investigation into whether Google anticompetitively favours its own services in the digital advertising sector.
Zuykov and partners | Russia | 17 Jun 2021
Thousands of videos are uploaded to YouTube every day. With so much content being uploaded, it is difficult for platform administrators to…
Lexology PRO | Australia, Canada, European Union, etc. | 14 Jun 2021
Patrick Henz, head of governance, risk & compliancee at a multinational engineering and plant construction company, discusses how QR codes, wallet cards and “micro-training” can help promote a culture of compliance during remote working.
Fasken | Canada, USA | 2 Jun 2021
A few months ago, my colleague Jay Kerr-Wilson published this blog post on the intellectual property issues surrounding the phenomenon of “Let’s…


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Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices are suddenly soaring, with bitcoin coming within touching distance of $50,000 for the first time since early September.
The bitcoin price has added 10% over the last 24 hours, gaining $5,000 within one hour this morning. Other major cryptocurrencies have also leaped higher, with ethereum jumping 9% and climbing back over $3,000 per ether.
The sudden rally—that's seen other top ten cryptocurrencies by value including cardano, Binance's BNB, Ripple's XRP, solana, polkadot and dogecoin all add around 10%—has once more pushed the combined cryptocurrency market over $2 trillion.
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The exact cause of the bitcoin and crypto price surge higher wasn't immediately clear, however, some pointed to comments made yesterday by the chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell that the U.S. wouldn't follow in China's footsteps in banning bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
"Digital assets will continue to integrate into the financial system, and also become an increasingly popular sector for the allocation of assets among large investors and institutions," Gregory Klumov, the chief executive of stablecoin platform Stasis, said in emailed comments.
Others crypto market watchers joked the sudden rally is merely a result of the bearish month of September coming to an end. September is historically a poor-performing month for the bitcoin price, with bitcoin dropping almost 10% through September this year, falling along with most financial markets.
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"At this point, buyers are starting to buy back bitcoin quickly, which gives some hope," Alex Kuptsikevich, the FxPro senior financial analyst, said via email.
"Over the past month, bitcoin has beat off attempts by bears in this area five times. Bitcoin has finally offset the Chinese news factor and further news from China is likely to have less and less influence on bitcoin price dynamics."
Earlier this month, it was predicted that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could greenlight a long-awaited bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) as soon as October—something that's thought could send the bitcoin price as high as $100,000.


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The Hobbit will be testing 48fps exhibition in 450 locations when it debuts on December 13. While test screenings have had mixed reactions to say the least, WB is taking a pragmatic move and limiting the release until they figure out what the masses think.
But what about the home theater? You need a 240hz TV to show native 48fps footage, and 48fps isn’t part of any of the existing specs for either TVs or Blu-ray Disc. The eventual Blu-ray 3D release will almost certainly be 24fps 1080p 3D, because it’s unlikely that they’ll take the resolution hit to 720p for the sake of frame rate. That doesn’t mean that a 720p/60 (using pulldown just like 24-29fps movies do) won’t be available on VOD or some other form of download, just that it won’t be on our favorite shiny disc.
But fear not, though, true believers: future 4K TVs will almost certainly support native 48fps output, assuming Peter Jackson’s experiment goes well, and Avatar 2, Star Wars: Episode VII, and a host of other in-the-wings productions will hopefully be around in some shiny new video format around the time that 4K TVs start costing less than a new car. So, just like you waited three years to finally buy Avatar at Best Buy, expect to do the same for The Hobbit in its intended frame rate.


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The Hong Kong bitcoin community, which includes individuals, meetups, events, and organizations, has strongly rejected the SegWit2x hard fork expected to occur on November 16 later this year.
Already, apart from four companies, most of the major bitcoin service providers in Hong Kong such as Bitfinex, BitMEX, Bitspark, Gatecoin, OKCoin, and Tidebit have clarified bitcoin will remains as “BTC” after the fork, and SegWit2x will be considered as “B2X.”
Hong Kong Bitcoin Community: Lack of Community Support
At this phase of development, the Hong Kong bitcoin community is particularly concerned with the lack of community support for the SegWit2x hard fork. While many miners and businesses have signed the NYA agreement earlier this year, it has been evident from the Bitcoin Cash hard fork in August that if users and investors remain on the original bitcoin blockchain, hash power cannot decide the majority chain.
More to that, the Hong Kong bitcoin community disclosed that the vast majority of users, investors, and businesses in the region are firmly against SegWit2x. The statement from the Hong Kong bitcoin community read:
“In our personal conversations at meetups and events as well as through a formal poll conducted in mid-October, we found that the vast majority of the Hong Kong Bitcoin community does not support the Segwit2X hard fork. While many have voiced clear and stark opposition to Segwit2X, the lack of enthusiastic support for this fork among the community is striking.”
Significance of Hong Kong Bitcoin Community’s Opposition Against SegWit2x
The original SegWit2x agreement was established in Hong Kong last year. Similar to the NYA agreement, miners, businesses, and some developers agreed to activate SegWit and increase the bitcoin block size increase to 2MB. Ultimately, the plan did not come to fruition and fell apart due to the resistance from the bitcoin community.
It is crucial that the Hong Kong bitcoin community is in strong opposition against the SegWit2x hard fork because the basis of the NYA agreement was the Hong Kong roundtable discussion held last year. More to that, given that the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in Bitfinex is also based in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong bitcoin community represents important voices within the global bitcoin industry.
The statement of the Hong Kong bitcoin community further read:
“SegWit2x does not include strong transaction replay protection, nor does it have widespread consensus across the community. Due to the combination of both a lack of consensus across the community and a lack of strong replay protection, we consider SegWit2x a reckless endeavor that will cause disruption and harm to the ecosystem. We therefore strongly oppose SegWit2x. This remains true even if the SegWit2x chain has the majority hashrate or a higher price.”
Over the past few weeks, it has been evident that the majority of the bitcoin community has been against the SegWit2x hard fork in November. If the fork is pursued, it is likely that the original bitcoin blockchain or the legacy chain will remain as the majority chain.


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Many of us are wearing face masks daily, and that comes with its own set of challenges and inventive solutions:
- Angie recently wrote about facial masks and foggy specs.
- As the weather heats up, some face masks can start to feel uncomfortable, so StyleCaster rounded up 10 breathable face masks to get us through a hot Summer.
- Face masks can trigger skin issues, here are some tips to avoid skin irritation.
- Some people find that a mask’s ear straps can cause pain and irritation, these clever ear guards can help with that.
- Refinery29 asked dermatologists if our skin care should change when wearing a face mask.
- I thought this was interesting: “Masks are here to stay. And they’re quickly becoming a way to express ourselves.”
Fab Links from Our Members
Minaminu directs us to this article about the future of fashion after lockdown.
La Belle Demimondaine loves the Kibbe info on Answearable. She says: “Now that I’m (finally) starting to understand Kibbe, I just can’t get enough.”
Nuancedream was shocked to read that Sies Marjan is closing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. She adds: “I hope the brand can reinvent itself much like Tracy Reese with Hope for Flowers.”
“This Is Not the End of Fashion,” slim cat wanted to share this hopeful article by Vanessa Friedman.
Suntiger liked this round-up of 10 black fashion luminaries who made history.
Runcarla is very interested in the slowing down/changing of the fashion show cycles. She wanted to share this article touching on Michael Kors decision to do two shows, and do them closer to the ‘wear’ season.
Shevia thought this was a very interesting analysis about how the business of fashion is changing and why.


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My Weblog: kutahya web tasarim umraniye elektrikci uskudar elektrikci umraniye elektrikci istanbul elektrikci satis egitimi cekmekoy elektrikci uskudar kornis montaj umraniye kornis montaj atasehir elektrikci beykoz elektrikci
Among the big holidays followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox church celebrate every year, Easter is considered as one of the most important one. Preceded by the longest fasting season of the Great Lent, followers fast 40 days to remind the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to redeem human being from sin, and they abstain from eating highly nutritious and energy rich foods like meat, eggs, milk and butter on the lent fasting season. But the deserted foods will become the main festive meals for Easter celebration. Oxen, sheep, goats, hens and roosters are the animals that are highly demanded for their meat during this holiday. Other ingredients as onion, garlic, edible oil, and butter are the main items that are needed to prepare tasty, festive dishes. Starting in the beginning of the week, markets are heavily congested with people buying such animals.
To evade the expensive eve market in her village, Etenesh Mamo, 39, headed to Merkato four days before Easter but her calculation was wrong. A young man selling chicken, offers a price of 170 birr. Etenesh argued ardently but the price does not change. Finally, she bought two and added 10 eggs, each priced 3 birr. “Ten years ago, hens were sold not for more than 50 birr, and eggs with 60 cents; now costs seem like a fancy tale. I need a kilo of butter and five kilos of onion and the cost totals 600 birr. That is the price to make Doro Wot. Anyhow, I pray not to spend more than this in the coming holidays,” Etnesh said worryingly of the usual price hikes during holiday seasons.
Compared with the last Christmas market, the price of poultry at Easter was almost equal to prices at Christmas for chickens that weight nearly a kilo and half and that has good flesh. Cocks are available from 150 birr up to 200 birr while hens can be bought from 120 up to 170 birr.
Hens and cocks are sold in any market, but the best markets to by oxen and sheep are Kerra, Adissu Gebya and Kotebe.
Oxen can be bought in the range of 10,000 birr up to 23,000 birr and the more one pays, the better ox he/she can find in the market. The same also works for sheep which are available from 1,000 birr up to 3,000 birr. And all of these festive meal products does not show significant price increase or reduction compared with previous prices four months ago around Christmas. But surprise is not stamped out altogether. An astounding increase is made on butter which went up by 50 birr, now selling for 220 birr a kilo. The 170 birr price endures until the last weeks of March but it started going up steadily a week ago. Asnaketech Ayele, who sells butter in Shoal Market blame the low rains around January and February. Shortage of rains in these months leave meadows dry and with less pasture for the cattle, and cows give less milk.
“The cows did not get enough grass and that affects the milk they give. Farmers sell a kilo of butter for 210 birr to us and we sell it here with 220 birr,” she explained the reason for the price increase.
To make Ethiopians, most favorite holiday dish – ‘Doro Wot’- one needs at least half kilo of butter to cook it well. And increased price of butter means increased cost in preparing Doro Wot. And this is definitely upsetting for many people as Ethiopians are largely synchronized to eating Doro Wot at big holidays, and even during marked celebrations like weddings.
Normally, butter is produced in most regions of the country but the Southern Nation, Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State is well known for its butter production. The product from Wolayita is the more preferable one.
Markets were also short of edible oil in the Easter week. People make long lines near consumer association’s shops to buy cooking oil.
“I cannot get the oil which is sold 72 birr per three liters. The shop attendants always tell us they have run out of stock. We usually urged the associations’ to store abundant amounts of cooking oil.’’
“The association sells onions with 11.50 birr and due to this there is no price hike in Atkelet Terra or Merkato, contrary to what used to happen during holidays. We want this in oil also,” a woman explained.
Economists argued that the price hike happen at holidays as suppliers could not handle the big demand. “We have many cows, poultry, goats, and sheep but the suppliers are very small in number. That leads sellers to offer high prices but if we multiply the number of suppliers, we can keep down the price and let more people to earn something,” comments Eyob Tamrat, an economist at Addis Ababa University.
Besides the food stuff markets that buzz up around holidays, bazaars and exhibitions displayed in halls and on streets have become a common scene during holidays in the past five or six years. A variety of items from eggs, home brewed drinks, spices to shoes, clothes, and accessories like belt and purse, from furniture to housekeeping materials are sold at the bazaars creating a nice frenzy holiday atmosphere.
Aman Legesse bought a belt and a pair of shoes at the Arat kilo Easter bazaar and he was delighted to buy local products. “You see people’s effort to sell cultural clothes. The clothes are testimonies that the designers have big potentials, the shoes they made is a good sign that our micro enterprises are understanding the concept of the industry.”
“We shouldn’t pass good entrepreneurs who are participating in the bazaars, we have to appreciate them,” Aman says.
He added that such bazaars should be held several times in a year to boost entrepreneurs’ morale.
But for a person like Yoseph Ayele, the Easter bazaar which is on display at the Addis Ababa Exhibition Center is an opportunity to sale outdated products.
“I think the term exhibition is not well understood here. I go around all the stalls and most of them increase the price but they said they have made a big discount and the other thing is that most of the imported materials seem like less likely to be sold in foreign markets.’’
“Exhibition is not a dumping place for old and cheap material, it is where new, more local products are introduced” he added.


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The online travel community has warned that members could receive spam email from malicious third parties as a result of the breach.
TripAdvisor says that while email address have been leaked, passwords remain secure and there is no financial information or credit card details at risk.
It follows the news earlier this week that online entertainment retailer Play.com’s customer database was leaked by a third party marketing communications agency.
TripAdvisor’s CEO Steve Kaufer sent an email to all the sites members yesterday (24 March) informing them of the security breach and giving information on how members could be affected.
In the email, Kaufer says: “We’re taking this incident very seriously and are actively pursuing the matter with law enforcement. We will continue to take all appropriate measures to keep your personal information secure at TripAdvisor.”
He adds: “Unfortunately, this sort of data theft is becoming more common across many industries, and we take it extremely seriously.”
Read Michael Barnett’s opinion on the need for data regulation.


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White House press secretary Sean Spicer is ready for some ice cream.
In his response late Monday to an open letter from ice cream company Dippin’ Dots, Spicer made it clear he is ready to put behind him years of quarrelsome tweets about the niche frozen treat.
The ice cream entered the news on Sunday when the AV Club published a story headlined “Trump’s press secretary has been fighting with Dippin’ Dots for 5 years.” It chronicled the sporadic and seemingly one-sided feud between Spicer and the company dating to 2005.
On Monday, the Kentucky-based company’s CEO, Scott Fischer, wrote an open letter to Spicer.
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“We understand that ice cream is a serious matter,” Fischer wrote. “And running out of your favorite flavor can feel like a national emergency! We’ve seen your tweets and would like to be friends rather than foes.”
In the letter, Fischer promotes his company as a job creator experiencing sales growth—something he says is on Spicer’s agenda too.
“We can even afford to treat the White House and press corps to an ice cream social. What do you say?” Fischer asks. “We’ll make sure there’s plenty of all your favorite flavors.”
The “favorite flavors” line is presumably a response to one of Spicer’s more pointed complaints about Dippin’ Dots.
Dippin' Dots did not immediately respond to request for comment.


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Story Contributed by Maddy Bierster (email@example.com) and Ashley Muller (firstname.lastname@example.org)
Each year on Feb. 14, many make their Valentine’s Day purchases a last minute endeavor. Certain shops in Oxford, like the Dollar Tree, are almost out of Valentine’s candy and gifts on their shelves.
Shopping last minute for Valentine’s Day gifts? Luckily some stores in Oxford still have holiday goodies available. Check out what locations will help you finish up your shopping.
Americans are expected to spend just under $21 billion on Valentine’s Day this year. That’s a 6 percent increase from last years spending, according to the National Retail Federation.
Even though Dollar Tree’s stock is depleted, Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS still have plenty on the shelves.
Last minute shoppers like student Davis Guile got what he needed for his girlfriend.
“(I got) chocolate of course,” he said.
Walmart greeter Jessica Jackson says she’s seen a lot of procrastinators today.
“We’re (still) selling flowers, teddy bears, and candy,” she said.
The National Retail Federation estimates the average person will spend more than $160 on Valentine’s Day – a sweet ending to the holiday for local stores.


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2Apple Has Updated Both Processors
No surprise here, but Apple has delivered new processors to the iPhone 6 Plus. First up is the A8 processor, featuring 64-bit architecture. Apple kept the specifics on the A8 close to the vest, but did say that the processor will easily outpace the A7 in the iPhone 5S for gaming and other resource-intensive exploits. The company said that, depending on the iPhone being put up against the A8, it can perform 50 times better on CPU performance and 84 times faster on GPU performance. Apple has also updated its motion coprocessor with a new chip it’s calling the M8. It now monitors variations in elevation so it can track when you’re climbing stairs.
3Finally, a Near-Field Communication Chip
It took a few years, but Apple has finally bundled a near-field communication (NFC) chip in the iPhone 6 Plus. With that chip now included, Apple can start offering its Apple Pay payments platform. Described at the Sept. 9 event, Apple Pay allows consumers to make payments directly from their iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. The technology requires the near-field communication chip and TouchID to work, and according to Apple, will deliver a more secure transaction than anything before it.
4Bring On iOS 8
Apple will ship every iPhone 6 Plus with iOS 8. No surprise there. In the past, Apple has launched new iPhones around the same time it offers its updated operating system. With iOS 8, customers will get better performance, improvements to key features like notifications and a wide range of health-related apps. It’s a free upgrade for those who don’t plan to get an iPhone 6 Plus just yet.
5It’s About Time Apple Improved Storage
At long last, Apple has upgraded its iPhone’s storage capabilities. Customers who pick up the iPhone 6 Plus will now be able to top out their storage at 128GB. There’s also a 64GB option available. Oddly, Apple’s lowest-end iPhone 6 Plus comes with 16GB of storage, rather than 32GB. Still, it’s nice to see the 128GB model available.
6Did We Mention It Has a Bigger Screen?
It took us this long to mention the big screen? Well, as expected, Apple is now getting into the phablet space with the iPhone 6 Plus. The device’s screen measures 5.5 inches diagonally. That screen size also makes the handset a bit larger. The device is 6.22 inches tall by 3.06 inches wide. However, it’s just 0.28 inches thick.
7There Is Also an Improved Retina Display
Following on that display talk, it’s worth noting that Apple has improved the Retina Display bundled with the iPhone 6 Plus. The device has an LED-backlit screen featuring a 1,920-by-1,080-pixel resolution. Apple said that its “typical” contrast ratio is 1,300:1 and it can pack 401 pixels per inch into the screen.
8An Improved Camera for Selfies and Photographers
Apple has boosted its camera capabilities ever so slightly in the iPhone 6 Plus. The rear-facing camera clocks in at 8 megapixels and includes optical image stabilization to take better snapshots. Apple said that the camera will also focus in on targets far more quickly, thanks to a feature called Focus Pixels. On the front, Apple has bundled a 1.2-megapixel FaceTime camera capable of delivering a 1,280-by-960-pixel resolution.
9It Supports Fast Wireless Where Available
Apple has boosted its iPhone 6 Plus’ wireless capabilities. For one thing, the device supports LTE Category 6, which can technically produce speeds of 150M bps. Apple also will allow for voice over LTE (VoLTE) to improve call quality. On the WiFi side, Apple has bundled an 802.11ac antenna into the iPhone 6 Plus. The device also supports WiFi calling for those who want to make calls over a wireless connection and not a carrier network.
10It Costs More for the Larger iPhone
While the standard iPhone 6 offered no surprises in pricing, taking on the iPhone 5S prices that range from $199 to $399 with a two-year contract, that’s not the case with the iPhone 6 Plus. That device starts at $299 for the 16GB model. The 64GB option goes for $399, while the 128GB version is available for $499. All of those prices are for two-year agreements. Off-contract pricing starts at $749 and goes to $949.


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Fred Segal and the Black In Fashion Council have announced the first winner of their inaugural Season Zero design contest. Selected from more than 100 indie designers and creators, Connor McKnight was awarded first place, securing a $10,000 cash prize, a pop-up at Fred Segal's West Hollywood flagship store for spring 2021, and a mentorship opportunity with Fred Segal and the Black In Fashion Council.
"Thanks so much to Fred Segal and Black In Fashion Council for selecting me," McKnight wrote on Instagram. "The last few months have been truly surreal, and I'm so humbled to have the opportunity to continue creating. Let's keep this conversation going, our work is far from finished."
Brands K.ngsley and House of Aama took second and third place, respectively, winning $5,000 each.
"We endorsed the Season Zero campaign early on in our relationship with Fred Segal as the brand had already created space to champion Black and Brown emerging designers," said Sandrine Charles and Lindsay Peoples Wagner, co-founders of the Black in Fashion Council, in a joint official statement. "With this in mind and careful assessment of the wealth of talent, the judges panel did an excellent job with the first Season Zero contest. We look forward to the next one and expanding this initiative collaboratively."
The Season Zero contest was set up back in October with the goal of supporting and showcasing emerging, diverse talent in the fashion industry. Read more about the three brands, below.
McKnight launched his label in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic while quarantined in Brooklyn. Prior to starting his own brand, he worked at Kith and Bode. Inspired by his childhood in Washington D.C., his debut collection explores the nuance of luxury and comfort as well as the hope "of reestablishing the Black mundane."
Founded in Brooklyn by Kingsley Gbadegesin, K.ngsley is a brand born out of and inspired by the Black, queer, femme, and trans communities.
"This collection — made for the girls, by the girls — is an active redefinition of what it means to exist as Black, and queer, and femme all at once," Gbadegesin said of his debut collection and his signature tanks have gained a cult following already. "Channeling the power of our community through the power of fashion, we are creating space and building community for those who have been pushed to the margins of the society and culture they’ve long influenced and inspired."
Led by mother-daughter duo Rebecca Henry and Akua Shabaka, House of Aama explores Black heritage of the American south through fashion. This is the second grant the brand has received in 2020, the first being the Designers Hub grant through the CFDA and Bethann Hardison.


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Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy will be released in just a couple of days. It is a highly anticipated game that has fans around the world waiting for it. Even before its release, it has become the best-seller on PlayStation 5 and Steam. Unfortunately, many of Harry Potter’s fans are being targeted by cybercriminals who are offering cracked versions of the game for download.
According to a recent study by Kaspersky, there are numerous websites that are offering to download Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy on PC. Unfortunately, instead of downloading the game, users are being infected with malware and unwanted software. Some of the programs that are being distributed by these websites include adware, trojan horses, and advertisements.
“The game about the world of Harry Potter hasn’t even come out yet, but it has already become a real phenomenon, talked about by many gamers around the world. It is especially popular among those who, like me, grew up with the books about the boy wizard, as well as among the younger generation. With such a huge fan base, the game has become a target for cybercriminals looking to cash in on the popularity of the world-famous tale. Our advice as always is to be alert and only download games from official app stores and don’t forget to use a trusted security solution,” comments Olga Svistunova, a security expert at Kaspersky.
Hogwarts Legacy and Gameplay
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world action RPG that takes place in the world that was first introduced in the franchise’s books. In Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy, players can attend classes at the wizarding school. The locations featured in the franchise’s books and movies, such as Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest, and Diagon Alley, will be available to players. Other areas that are yet to be seen in other media include Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff’s common rooms. Through the game’s progression, the castle’s exterior and interior will also change to match the seasons.
The story of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy takes place in the 1890s. During this time, a student starts attending Hogwarts. As players enter the school later than the others, the Ministry of Magic issues a field guide. The player character will also be able to use a mysterious ancient magic to destroy the wizarding world.
Increased attack on Gaming companies
There has been an increased number of attacks against gaming companies. Recently, a dark forum user under the alias ArkaT claimed to have access to the source code for League of Legends, a day after hackers reportedly demanded a ransom of $10 million from developer Riot Games. “The illegally obtained source code also includes a number of experimental features. While we hope some of these game modes and other changes eventually make it out to players, most of this content is in prototype and there’s no guarantee it will ever be released,” the company tweeted.
Gaming companies are also notorious for their cybersecurity practices. In addition to the game’s content, gaming companies collect various details about their users, such as their login credentials and financial information. This data can be very valuable to attackers.
Due to a large number of gamers, gaming companies are an attractive target for cybercriminals. They can easily access the data of their users, which include their financial information and login credentials. The high demand for gaming services is also a major concern for companies as it can lead to delays in their operations and financial losses.
Unpatched software is another security vulnerability that gaming companies can expose to attackers. Lack of security awareness is another issue that gaming companies face. Unlike other industries, they do not have the necessary resources and security measures to protect themselves against cyber attacks.


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Handset distributor recruits former LG UK retail sales manager Steve Fraser as sales director and former Carphone Warehouse procurement head Greg Gilmurray as head of purchasing
Brightstar Europe has appointed Steve Fraser as UK sales director.
Fraser has previously held roles as LG retail sales manager, Carphone Warehouse director of indirect distribution and Three UK dealer sales director.
It has also brought in Greg Gilmurray as UK commercial manager, to head up local manufacturer relationships.
Gilmurray joins from Carphone Warehouse, where he was head of purchasing. He also spent seven years as Orange UK head of purchasing.
Both roles report to UK and Ireland managing director Richard Turner.
Turner said: “Greg will manage all vendor relationships and working closely with our UK IPP team and the European vendor and purchasing team.”


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In downtown San Francisco, there is a pilot production plant for Wildtype, one of the few cell-cultured seafood companies in the United States. Inside, it raises sushi-grade coho salmon in tanks similar to those found at breweries – no fishing or farming required.
Culture begins with the collection of a small sample of a live fish species. The cells then multiply as they would in nature in the large vessels and eventually become fat and lean parts of a fish fillet.
Depending on who you talk to, fishless fish could be the next big thing in seafood production. While plant-based seafood in the United States accounts for just 0.1% of seafood sales seafood – less than 1.4% of the U.S. meat market is occupied by plant-based alternatives to meat – venture capitalists are taking cell-based seafood seriously. San Diego-based BlueNalu has raised $84.6m (£74.8m) since its founding in 2018, and Wildtype has received $100m (£88.4m) in funding from Series B with investments from Leonardo DiCaprio, Bezos Expeditions and Robert Downey Jr’s FootPrint Coalition, among others.
Entrepreneurs and advocates say cruelty-free cell-cultured seafood is a solution to the seafood industry’s many environmental problems, including overfishing, health risks from mercury and microplastics, and the lack of traceability. The current unsustainable seafood supply chain typically has up to 10-15 intermediaries between the fishermen or farmers and the person who ultimately buys them.
Wildtype co-founder and CEO Justin Kolbeck, a former diplomat who worked on food insecurity overseas, worries about how current practices would fuel a population’s growing demand for seafood. .
“The scope of what we face is so huge that if we don’t all succeed, we will collectively fail as a species,” he said. “We can’t solve this problem when we’re at this stage – we have to solve it now, while there’s still time for the oceans to recover.”
In many cases, seafood products travel several times around the world before reaching the final consumer.
“We are one environmental disaster away from extraordinary supply chain disruption and global seafood consumption is at an all-time high,” said Lou Cooperhouse, founder and CEO of BlueNalu, which is initially focused on the growth of bluefin tuna toro. Over the next decade, he envisions the construction of factories around the world capable of meeting consumer demands and says they are ready to scale rapidly.
Sustainable sources of seafood are needed to meet the demands of a growing global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. As plant-based alternatives that look and taste like fish gain traction, cruelty-free seafood could be on dinner plates within a year or two, pending regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
But critics say that for cell-grown seafood to be a better bet for the planet than fishing or farming, the industry would have to make its expensive products competitive and get consumers to voluntarily replace them with wild-caught fish. .
It must also be eaten in large enough numbers to replace wild fish. Researchers say this is unlikely, given that aquaculture, the farming of aquatic organisms, has failed to replace global wild fisheries but only adds to seafood production.
“I’m really skeptical of claims that cell-based seafood companies will make a difference to fisheries and ocean conservation,” said Benjamin Halpern, a marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who studied the ability of cultured seafood to reduce fishing. pressure.
The State of California recently made the largest investment in alternative protein research of any US state. The $5m (£4.4m) funding is split between three University of California schools: UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UCLA. And the Biden administration supports lab-grown meat, as outlined in a recent executive order.
When grown indoors, cell-cultured seafood like salmon and tuna can be optimized for taste, texture and nutritional content, and cooked like traditional fish or eaten like sushi. But it remains unclear whether consumers will embrace lab-grown fish.
“We talk a lot about price, taste and convenience, because the three main things the alternative protein industry needs to focus on,” said Marika Azoff, corporate engagement specialist at the Good Food Institute, a group advocacy non-profit that promotes alternatives. proteins. “They have to taste the same or better, they have to cost the same or cheaper, and they have to be widely available.”
Even cell-cultured skeptics agree that high-tech seafood has huge market potential, but they say it will always be an expensive commodity, even if costs come down over time. They also note that species such as salmon and tuna are not particularly at risk globally.
“It feeds the rich another food item,” said UCSB’s Halpern. “Even at the cheapest level – and it will never be that cheap – it will not be the food product that most people eat in the world.”
BlueNalu recently announced that it has cracked the code to generate significant profitability in its first large-scale installation, in part through technologies that reduce operating and capital costs. When combined with the company’s premium products and market focus, the company says they will enable an expected gross margin of 75%.
“I see a role for alternative seafood production in the sustainable seafood equation, just as I do for sustainably harvested wild fisheries and sustainable aquaculture,” said Rob Jones, Global Head of aquaculture at the Nature Conservancy. “Cell and plant-based seafood can be part of that future.”
Jones said alternative seafood could reach 1% to 2% of the overall market, similar to plant-based meats, but any environmental and social effects of production methods, such as carbon emissions and environmental policies. supply of ingredients, must be considered.
Most alternative seafood companies won’t share their intellectual property, and it’s unclear how energy-intensive cell culture is at this point. BlueNalu’s Cooperhouse compares it to beer or beverage production and says it’s important to remember that today’s seafood industry is incredibly resource-intensive.
“Your resources are labor on ships, oil, massive transport and the many animal lives lost for a very inefficient yield of 50% to 70% depending on the species,” he said. “Let’s tackle the problems of the global supply chain and solve them one species at a time.”
BlueNalu and Wildtype say there is no one-size-fits-all solution to meeting global seafood demand, but believe their presence can lead to greater sustainability in the industry.
“Fish farms recognize their current practices need to change and commercial fishing operations know something needs to change,” said Wildtype co-founder Aryé Elfenbein, who is also a cardiologist. “Our role is to help with that transition – that’s really what we’re here for.”


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The Governor of Edo, state Godwin Obaseki has commissioned a cashew factory in Benin
The factory which is to generate 5,400 metric tons of cashews per annum factory and is estimated to support over 2000 smallholder farmers.
Speaking with the Governor, he reassured that the government will support businesses in Edo and create the enabling environment for them to thrive by assisting them to reduce risks, ensure that they make profits and advance their services in the State.
He also noted that, “This is the second or third time I will be commissioning a facility that is owned by a group of dynamic young men called Farmforte. About a year ago, I had the honour of opening one of their flagship stores in Lagos State and a remarkable architectural piece in Lekki where they sell only agricultural produce.”
“My administration will continue to encourage more investments in Edo State as an investment does well here because it is a State of the progressives. Investments here are protected by the people themselves. I encourage younger men and women to come into agriculture as there are immense opportunities in the sector.”
According to him, “with the facility in the state, the government will encourage farmers in Edo North and other areas where cashew is grown to farm and harvest the fruits, while the nuts will be processed.”
The Governor noted, “We want Edo to be number one when it comes to cashew production. It is just one of the many products that we will be supporting because it has an easy market. We are proud of what you are doing here in the State, as we encourage more young people to be enterprising. My administration is ready to continue to support you as you do your businesses and grow wealth.”
In his statement, the Co-Chief Executive Officer, Farmforte, Mr Osazuwa Osayi said the facility will produce 5,400 metric tons of cashew per annum, noting that the product will be processed in the factory in Edo State and will positively affect between 2,000 and 3,000 smallholder farmers that grow cashew in the State.


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WEB BROWSER Chromium along with its Google cousins Chrome and Chrome OS will block local extensions.
The previously announced move will begin starting with Chrome 33 Beta, with extensions not sourced from the Chrome Store being marked with "suspicious extension blocked" and disabled.
The reason for the decision is attributed to concerns about the dominant Windows PC operating system, which does not have sandbox capabilities and therefore is particularly vulnerable to embedded malicious code.
Developers are advised to migrate their extensions to the Chrome Store immediately. A FAQ on the Chromium Project website explains options for restricting specialist extensions for closed user groups.
For testing purposes, the rule will not apply to developers using Chrome in Developer Mode, which could lead to it being used as an equivalent of Android "rooting", with local extensions being available with extended functionality but at end users' risk.
Also excluded will be Chrome browsers running in an enterprise environment, where bespoke extensions for internal business use might be necessary.
Google said that there will be no visible change for the end user - browsers will automatically update the extension to the Google Play store version and it will be updated from there from then on.
Chrome engineering director Eric Kay said at the time of the original announcement, "Protecting our users is a key priority, and we believe this change will help those whose browser has been compromised by unwanted extensions."
Chrome Beta 33 is already live, with a stable version expected towards the end of the month. µ
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Video shows off upcoming handset in Rose Gold compared to iPhone 6S predecessor


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Apple has acquired music analytics company Asaii after the company announced it planned to shut down in October. Asaii focuses on helping record labels find promising emerging artists before they make it big.
Verizon is offering customers the option to purchase the new Palm smartphone, an "ultra-mobile" device that features a 3.3-inch display and runs a full version of Android 8.1. The phone is envisioned as an "add-on" device that shares a number with a primary phone for users who want to spend less time on their smartphones without sacrificing the functionality that comes with apps.
Tampere, Finland, is sharing smart city best practices in the form of a 56-page, downloadable book, "Smart City Cookbook." The manual is based on Tampere's experiences adding and integrating various internet of things technologies and "hopefully it inspires people working with this theme both in Finland and cities internationally," Nick Cotton, the book's author and Tampere's smart city project manager, said.
Johns Creek, Ga., won an award in the Amazon Web Services City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge and is using the winnings to provide residents the ability to use virtual-assistant Alexa to find city information. Nick O'Day, Johns Creek head data officer, said residents can verbally issue more than 200 commands requesting city data that Alexa "understands" -- such as "Do I need a building permit?"
Google announced a plan to curb data sharing with outside developers whose apps do not provide email or productivity services. Effective next Jan. 9, the new rule will also restrict developers from selling data or using sensitive customer information for marketing research or targeted ads.
Apple users have been more receptive to the iOS 12 update than they were to iOS 11, with more than half of all Apple devices running the latest upgrade, according to ZDNet data. The iOS 12 update prioritized stability and improved performance over added features.
The California Consumer Privacy Act allows the state's 39.5 million residents to control whether their personal data can be used by businesses and enables them to sue over data breaches. In a report that surveyed 300 executives at high-revenue companies, PwC found that many respondents are "considering whether to extend CCPA's rights to all of their US employees and consumers for operational simplicity and long-term readiness for potential federal privacy legislation."
Widespread breaches of Social Security numbers make it necessary for the US to move beyond basic Social Security cards to cards with chip-and-PIN technology, McAfee and the Center for Strategic and International Studies write in a newly released report. A digital smart card could provide better security by including two-factor authentication or other biometric technologies, the report adds.
The US Chamber of Commerce and FICO have developed a system to provide scores on the extent to which businesses and sectors have secured their networks. The Assessment of Business Cybersecurity score is based on a range of factors, such as the degree to which networks are exposed to the internet.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are highly convenient for many consumers looking to buy items for the coming holidays, but they are also prime times for hackers to reach those customers' data. Garry McCracken advises retailers to check where their shoppers are from, assess risk exposure, encrypt their data, streamline their data security and get their employees involved in the process.


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Google is currently leading a technology community that has moved away from a mobile-first strategy to one characterized by artificial intelligence interactions, regardless of device. The general idea is to create AI experiences that then become the enabler of monetization, locking users into platforms that will allow them to do everything from easily discovering information to making transactions.
The hope for the future is that AI mechanisms will learn our preferences, wants, and needs before we do and make useful suggestions and transactions. Third-party business partners will be able to engage directly with consumers to harness the commercial conversation and drive it to a sale or increase advertising revenue.
We aren’t there yet. Although AI assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa are getting smarter, they still are largely relegated to answering simple inquiries such as accessing calendars, setting timers, and playing music.
Google ups the ante on conversational language
Google has been working aggressively to create smarter conversational language capabilities to increase the scope and capabilities of AI-powered products and services. As such, Google introduced LaMDA, a conversational language model build on the search giant’s neural network architecture known as Transformer. While other language models are trained to answer queries, LaMDA is trained on dialogue and is designed to engage in free-flowing conversations.
During its Google I/O event in May, Google offered up a demonstration of LaMDA acting as the planet Pluto and a paper airplane, which were akin to talking to a human. While impressive, LaMDA is still in development and is a long way away from understanding the complexity of human language. The real test of the platform will come when it gets into the hands of the general consumer, but the eventual goal is to create a conversational interface that allows users to obtain any kind of information—text, visual, and audio—across all of Google’s offerings by simply asking.
Competition will lead to artificial intelligence breakthroughs
The race is on to develop more advanced conversational artificial intelligence platforms. Some of the highest-profile language models include OpenAI’s GPT-2 and GPT-3, which are also generating impressive information. Microsoft exclusively licenses GPT-3 to incorporate into products it has yet to announce.
Facebook recently announced what it calls a major breakthrough in speech recognition and learning. The social media company said it has built a type of speech technology that isn’t reliant on speech translation to recognize speech. Rather than humans transcribing sets of data, Facebook says its new unsupervised system learns directly from audio recordings of human speech.
Facebook’s new speech model is named Wave2vec-U, and is currently in testing with the hope that the new model will replace the current supervised model in a few years’ time. To accelerate development Facebook has made the code for Wav2vec-U available on GitHub.


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Analytics is expected to play a larger role for CRM leader Siebel.
For the rest of the December 2002 issue of CRM magazine please click here
It's been a little over a year since Siebel Systems Inc. acquired nQuire Software Inc. to help beef up its analytics presence. At the time of the deal, Siebel chairman and CEO Tom Siebel said, "By embedding next generation analytics in every Siebel application, we will provide the right intelligence to the right person at the right time."
Since its debut in late 1999, the nQuire Suite has been deployed at Global 2000 companies including CSX Transportation, McDonald's/Perseco, Simon Property Group, and Union Pacific Railroad.
Renamed Siebel Analytics after the acquisition, the product is now sold as both a standalone product and with Siebel 7.5 and has become the third largest revenue-grossing product for the San Mateo, CA, company. It has also garnered more than 200 new customers over the past four quarters, and like Siebel's flagship CRM product comes in more than 20 vertical versions.
Siebel claims the product optimizes customer acquisition and retention by providing users with a better understanding of customers, partners, and employees. "Analytics is one of the most important things happening in CRM this year," says Larry Barbetta, vice president and general manager of Siebel analytics. Barbetta is the former CEO and president of nQuire.
Aberdeen Group Inc., an IT consultancy based in Boston, has also recognized the drive toward the analytical side of CRM, and as a result started tracking the analytics market last year. In 2001 corporations worldwide spent more than $4 billion on analytical CRM, which includes infrastructure, tools, and applications, according to Aberdeen Group. It expects that number to grow to nearly $11 billion by 2005.
Following the trend of companies to collect huge amounts of data, the next logical step was to analyze that data. Analytics is considered to be an inexpensive way to quickly measure, evaluate, and improve all aspects of sales, marketing, and service operations across all channels.
However, Barbetta says, there is a misconception about exactly what analytics can do for businesses and who should be using it. "This is useful for people, but it is not voodoo," he says. Analytics can offer views of the past and present, but it gets a little trickier to predict the future, he says.
There are predictive analytics packages in the market, but it's now important to get a real-time view of the state of business and what's in the pipeline, then have humans take course-correcting actions on issues that will impact the future of business, Barbetta says.
Barbetta also says that analytics, which has primarily been sold to into sales and marketing groups, is ready to branch out to service organizations and call centers. "Analytics is relatively inexpensive and pays for itself in a short amount of time," he says. "There isn't a customer out there that doesn't see it as a win all the way around."
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The Immersion Approach That Helps Customers Make and Implement the Right Technology Decisions


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“This business will be commoditized,” says New Constructs CEO
Coinbase (COIN), the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, could see its profits come under pressure as more companies embrace blockchain and competition in the trading space increases, according to at least one strategist.
“This business will be commoditized,” David Trainer, CEO of research firm New Constructs, told Yahoo Finance on Friday.
“The underlying goal of blockchain technology is not to make money for businesses, but to improve the prosperity of society,” he added. “I think it’s a disintermediation technology that won’t make companies like Coinbase rich. It will do the opposite. And Coinbase’s margins should be drastically reduced.”
Coinbase shares fell to an all-time low on Monday, following a drop in bitcoin and other major cryptocurrency prices and extending the declines after its first-ever quarterly report as a public company last week. The stock fell 7.7% to $ 238.37, falling below its benchmark price of $ 250 per share for the first time since Coinbase’s direct listing last month.
However, even with the decline, Coinbase shares still had a market cap of around $ 50 billion. While that valuation has halved since Coinbase’s direct listing, it remains around double the market capitalization of peer exchange firm Nasdaq (NDAQ).
“We believe the valuation remains extremely high,” Trainer said, adding that he believed Coinbase would be fairly valued in a “best case scenario” between $ 5 billion and $ 10 billion.
For Trainer, Coinbase’s first quarter results reinforced the fact that competitors could disrupt Coinbase’s business, given the company’s reliance on retail investors. Coinbase’s retail transaction revenue totaled $ 1.5 billion in the first three months of the year, comprising the vast majority of its $ 1.8 billion total revenue during the period. The majority of the platform’s assets, however, were held by institutional investors.
Other cryptocurrency exchanges, including Gemini, Bittrex, and Binance, have also gained traction, although many analysts have warned that these companies’ need for scale could mean transaction fees would be reduced to attract new users. This in turn could adversely affect operating results, which depend on transaction fees. Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas, however, said during the company’s earnings call last week that Coinbase was “not focused on competing with fees.”
“You don’t make a lot of money trading things,” Trainer said. Most people, he noted as an example, don’t realize that the forex market overshadows the volume of the stock market. “But we never talk about it. Why? Because there is no profit. Just because there is a big market for something that there is profit to be made. ”
“I think that’s the point people are missing about blockchain,” he added. “Yes, it’s going to disrupt really big markets. But what it’s going to do is shift the role of corporate intermediary in a lot of those markets. So corporate profits as a percentage of societal gain go decrease because of the blockchain. ”
“And so companies like Coinbase kind of make you think, oh, because we’re blockchain we’re going to be really profitable,” he said. “Well, the real truth about blockchain is that businesses are going to be less profitable.”
However, other Wall Street analysts have been more bullish on Coinbase shares. According to Bloomberg data as of Monday, eight companies rated the stock as a buy and four companies rated the stock as owned. None have rated Coinbase stocks as Sell.
Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @emily_mcck
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By: Follow Local News Staff
Open For Business is a series about small businesses who are adopting unique and creative business practices to keep things going during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you have a business or know of one doing things differently, please send an email to email@example.com.
PITMAN, N.J. — During this time of social distancing, many people are looking for creative ways to fill the void created by closed down malls, movies theaters, and other forms of entertainment.
One of those forms of entertainment is Fahrenheit Ceramic Studio, a family owned and operated business, that has been providing materials, instruction, and space for individuals, groups, and even parties to create hand-painted works of art since 2014.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the business to close its doors to walk-in customers, furlough its staff, and leave customers without a creative outlet.
“As I watched how other businesses, like restaurants, continued to serve their customers and stay afloat, I wondered if I could do the same,” owner and operator Patti Forte said. “I called our mayor, and he contacted the Gloucester County Economic Development Committee, and I received permission to operate as a ‘take out only’ business.”
Forte said she stocked up on supplies, containers, and paintbrushes and then put her strategy into place and began offering “To Go” kits with paint-at-home pottery.
“The To Go kits come complete with everything you need to have the pottery painting experience in the comfort and safety of your own home,” Forte said. “Our customers choose pottery from our current inventory which is posted on our Facebook page and updated weekly.”
Forte and one other full-time employee pack up the pottery, paints, brushes, and instructions. The kit is then placed outside for curbside pickup. They also offer free delivery within a 3-mile radius of their studio.
“Once the pottery has been painted, it can be returned to the studio and placed in a drop-box, located outside our door,” Forte said. “We will then glaze and fire the pottery and call them when it is ready to arrange curbside pickup. There is no customer contact. It is a streamlined process and it is currently working for us.”
Customer reaction has been positive according to Forte.
“It has been beyond amazing,” she said. “Our customers are so grateful that we are providing this service. They thank us daily, especially parents who are looking for fun things to do with their children while they are quarantined. We’ve also had customers tell us they are doing Zoom pottery painting events, family paint nights, ladies nights, date nights, and even virtual birthday parties from home. Some are buying To Go kits as gifts for friends, relatives, and neighbors and dropping them off at their doorstep. Pottery painting is great therapy during this difficult time when stress levels and anxiety are high.”
When stay at home orders are lifted and businesses are allowed to reopen, Fahrenheit Ceramic Studio plans to continue offering their “To Go” kits for customers who want them.
“And when we do decide to reopen safely, and pivot our business model, we will stay socially distant by removing some tables and limiting the number of customers painting in our studio. We may even require appointments,” Forte said. “We will not be booking large groups or parties until further notice, basically taking it one day at a time, grateful that our loyal customers will continue to support us.”
Forte said that opening the studio was a dream that became a reality because of her passion for pottery painting. Her love for ceramics began in her late teens when she signed up for weekly ceramic classes that were held in someone’s basement.
“That was back in the ’70s,” Forte said. “The industry has changed so much since then, attracting people of all ages, men, women and children. Pottery painting is a fun activity and lets people express themselves.”


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JJB Sports CEO steps down
Struggling sportswear retailer JJB Sports has announced that CEO Keith Jones is to leave the business.
The company said in statement that Jones will be stepping down from the board with immediate effect but will stay with the business in an advisory capacity until the end of August to ensure an orderly handover of his responsibilities.
The company is currently in discussions to appoint an interim CEO.
Earlier this month JJB announced that like-for like sales in the 24 weeks to 15 July had dropped 8.7%. In addition, the company confirmed that it had entered discussions with "strategic partners" to accelerate the timing of additional funding required to implement its turnaround plan. In April JJB was brought back from the brink after receiving a £20 million investment from US retailer Dick's Sporting Goods.
JJB has recently appointed US retail veteran Robert Corliss as its new chairman. Corliss will take over formally from former chairman Mike McTighe on 1 September.
Commenting on the announcement Corliss said: "On behalf of all the Board I would like to thank Keith for his tireless efforts to rescue JJB and return it to commercial health. During his time at JJB, Keith helped to secure vital additional funding for the business and significantly strengthened relations with our major supplier partners."
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Boggabri woke to blue skies on Saturday – perfect weather for the spring fair and food festival.
The CBD was closed to traffic and stall holders set-up shop in Merton Street, selling everything from jewellery to baby clothes to reclaimed metal art work and craft.
Visitors came from Narrabri, Gunnedah and Gulgong for the annual event, which is hosted by the Boggabri and Community Progress Association.
The association’s Donna Turner said it was a great day.
“We had a lot of visitors,” she said.
“Some of the mine employees brought their wives up for the weekend to show them what it was like.
“There was a great variety of food stalls and having the area set-up with the shade and everything for them to eat at. They thought that was a really good idea because they could sample the food and sit there in the shade and enjoy it.”
The fair also marked the official opening of the new Art Shed, next to Boggabri Hardware and Rural Supplies.
It was a vision realised for hardware owner Jo Bell who wanted to create a space for artistic works to be exhibited. Artist Tammey McAllan, photographer Dave Chappell and the Men’s Shed all had works on display on Saturday.
Ms McAllan said Roger Hollingworth cut the ribbon.
“He put so much work into that shed we thought we'd let him do the honours,” she said.
“It was really quite special.”
Ms McAllan said the fair was a great way to launch the shed and brought “new faces to the town”.
“I'm actually surprised how many people I had through [the shed] and I ended up giving away a piece of my artwork to a girl from Baan Baa, so that was pretty exciting,” she said.
“We got so much positive feedback on having the art shed there.”


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PORTLAND, United States — Adidas reported a 26 percent rise in North American sales, underscoring a comeback that has seen the athletic-shoe maker reclaim market share in the US from Nike Inc.
Second-quarter sales in North America were €788 million ($878 million), Herzogenaurach, Germany-based Adidas said in a statement Thursday. Greater China was the company’s fastest-growing region, with revenue increasing 30 percent. Adidas last week published preliminary second-quarter earnings, raising its full-year sales and profit forecast for the fourth time in 2016.
Chief executive officer Herbert Hainer has stepped up the sportswear maker’s presence in the key American market by bolstering product design and marketing. The rejuvenation comes as he prepares to hand the top job to Kasper Rorsted on Oct. 1. Adidas and Under Armour Inc. are growing fastest in the US and taking market share from leader Nike, Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Juergen Kolb has said.
Shares of Adidas had gained 65 percent this year through Wednesday, making the stock the DAX’s best performer after being its worst in 2014. The most recent boost to its forecast came after Adidas got a lift from the Euro 2016 soccer tournament and a payment to bring an early close to a sponsorship deal with England’s Chelsea club.
Adidas also reiterated its forecast that currency-neutral sales growth this year will increase in the “high teens," while profit from continuing operations will increase as much as 39 percent, approaching €1 billion.
Second-quarter operating profit rose 77 percent to €414 million and sales increased 13 percent in euro terms to €4.4 billion, Adidas said, reiterating last week’s preliminary numbers.
By Aaron Ricadela and Sam Chambers; editors: Matthew Boyle, Nate Lanxon and Phil Serafino.


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LONDON (AP) — The United States wants to put tariffs on $11.2 billion worth of EU goods — from airplanes to Gouda cheese and olives — to offset what it says are unfair European subsidies for plane maker Airbus.
While the size of the tariffs is small compared with the hundreds of billions the U.S. and China are taxing in their trade war, it suggests a breakdown in talks with the European Union over trade at a time when the economy is already slowing sharply.
The U.S. and EU have been negotiating since last year about how to avoid tariffs that President Donald Trump has wanted to impose to reduce a trade deficit with countries like Germany. But experts warn that tariffs lead to higher consumer prices in countries that impose them and can hurt overall economic growth.
The U.S. Trade Representative's office released late Monday a list of EU products it would tax in anticipation of a ruling by the World Trade Organization this summer. The U.S. had in 2004 complained to the WTO, which sets the rules for trade and settles disputes, that the EU was providing unfair support to Airbus. The WTO ruled in May last year that the EU had in fact provided some illegal subsidies to Airbus, hurting U.S. manufacturer Boeing.
The U.S. expects the WTO will say this summer that it can take countermeasures to offset the EU subsidies. It will now start a consultation with industry representatives on the list of EU goods it wants to tax so that it can have a ready list.
"The EU has taken advantage of the U.S. on trade for many years. It will soon stop!" Trump tweeted Tuesday. The U.S. move, while following international trade rules, appears to reflect broader U.S. frustration at the slow pace of talks on trade with the EU.
Trump in June last year imposed tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on imported aluminum from the EU in a move that seems aimed at helping the U.S. industry but has also raised costs for many businesses that import these products.
The EU responded with tariffs on about $3.4 billion of U.S. steel, agricultural and other products, from Harley Davidson bikes to orange juice.
The U.S. and EU have since July been in talks to scale back the tariffs, with Trump holding out the bigger threat of slapping tariffs on European cars — a huge industry in the region — should the negotiations not yield a result. U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed frustration at the slow pace of the talks.
The EU responded Tuesday to the U.S.'s latest call for new tariffs by noting that it was based on its own estimate, not anything it had been awarded by the WTO. It also said the EU is preparing its own retaliation based on a separate WTO case, in which U.S.-based Boeing was found to have received illegal support from the state of Washington. It did not say how big that retaliation might be.
The U.S. attempt to tax Airbus jets comes just as Boeing is facing broad challenges over the global grounding of its 737 Max airliners amid concerns that technical problems could have contributed to two crashes in five months. Tariffs on European airplanes could in theory help Boeing and hurt Airbus, whose shares were down 1.7% on Tuesday on a day when stock markets were mostly higher.
The U.S. announcement also comes as China's prime minister meets top European Union officials to discuss thorny issues, including trade.
Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.


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Walmart is cutting its relationship with Paula Deen.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced that it has ended its relationship with the Southern celebrity chef, part of the continuing fallout in the wake of revelations that she used racial slurs in the past. The world’s largest retailer, based in Bentonville, Ark., currently carries a variety of products under her moniker, including food items, cookware and health and wellness products, at all of its 4,000 U.S. namesake stores. The retailer began selling her merchandise several years ago.
"We will not place new orders beyond those already committed," said Dave Tovar, a Wal-Mart spokesman. "We will work with suppliers to address existing inventories and agreements."
Tovar said the retailer is still working through the details with suppliers.