text:
It's popular to bash the work ethic of millennials, but new research has found that 18-34 year olds establishing their own businesses are quite possibly Australia's hardest workers.
The NRMA Insurance Business Owner Sentiment Study (or BOSS for short) found that 27 percent of Gen Y business owners are working more than 50 hours a week – compared to just 24 percent of owners aged 55 and over.
Despite what Instagram pics at idyllic locations may tell you, millennial business owners were also least likely to take holidays, with more than 70 percent saying they take less than two weeks' break each year.
Compare that to owners aged 55 and over, where just under half (49 percent) took full advantage of their time off.
Of course, as enticing (or enraging) as the headlines sound, the study does have its limitations: BOSS only surveyed 1,500 people who owned their own business, which is by design an extremely demanding career.
If the study were to encompass everybody of working age irrespective of who they worked for, then we would likely see a different outcome.
Still, Executive General Manager of Business Insurance at NRMA Amanda Whiting believes the data shows an interesting trend of young people backing themselves in business.
"We know millennials are like no generation before them, seeking job environments that offer flexibility, autonomy and a sense of purpose, as well as the creative freedom to grow and move around,” Whiting said in a press release.
"While this often wrongly lands millennials the reputation as fickle or entitled, it is these qualities, coupled with Gen Ys and millennials being the most ambitious and tech-savvy generations, which makes younger people well-suited to running their own business."
Unlike their parents and grandparents before them, the study found that Gen Y business owners were much more likely to focus on the "me" – nearly one in three young business owners said they started their business to follow their passion, compared to just 23 percent of those aged over 35.
The primary reasons for taking on an entrepreneurial project included "becoming a household name" and "earning as much money as possible".
"It is particularly interesting to see that while millennial small business owners might be working longer hours and taking less holiday than their corporate counterparts, the sense of purpose and achievement which comes with being your own boss outweighs the hard yards," said Whiting.Despite overflowing with ambition, the BOSS study also found that Gen Ys were also the most likely to be stressed over the health of their business as they come to grips with cash flow and financial responsibilities.


text:
France recently passed an amendment to its Agriculture Bill. It prohibits any product that is largely based on non-animal ingredients from being labelled like a traditional animal product. This essentially bans product names such as "vegetable steak", "soy sausage", or "bacon-flavoured strips".
And the market is not just popular with vegetarians and vegans. The largest share of meat alternative consumers are people looking to reduce their meat intake and so-called flexitarians. There are growing health, ethical and sustainability concerns around animal farming and so every market forecast is highlyoptimistic that the market for meat substitutes will grow.
It’s easy to see how the meat industry might feel threatened: their market share is being eaten into.
In some countries, including Germany, the Netherlands and the US, the meat industry has realised the huge potential of this market. For example, some prominent manufacturers of meat-free products in Germany are meat processors. They argue that “if anyone can produce alternative products tasting like meat and sausages, it would be us”.
Due to their combined negotiating power with retailers and large available funds, they have an advantage over new entrants to the market. In North America, some of the world’s biggest meat manufacturers are investing in meat-freecompanies, aiming to keep up with changing times.
In other countries, such as France or the UK, this shift into the branded meat-free market still seems distant. One important factor is the fear of losing out on business by competing with itself. So it might not come as a surprise that the originator of the French amendment was a cattle farmer.
The influx of investment into lab-grown meats and the projected price drop have buttressed claims that synthetic meat products will be on sale within three years. Growing meat is a very different process from breeding and slaughtering animals...
This perceived threat is also an issue with dairy products. The French amendment draws a coherent logic to a ruling of the European Court of Justice in June 2017. This ruling prohibited dairy product names for non-dairy products, such as “soy yogurt” or “vegan cheese”.
It was based on EU legislation from 2013 which protected milk as “the normal mammary secretion”, and on that basis all dairy-related product names. Excluded are traditional versions, such as almond or coconut milk and peanut butter.
There has been no such legislation on meat and an EU commissar in 2016 replied to a parliamentary question saying there was no such legislation planned. But the meat industry is clearly getting protective over naming issues.
From the meat industry’s perspective, maybe similar regulations should exist elsewhere, as well. Debates and calls for regulation have been had in the US or Germany.
But so far only a Dutch company was called off by the national authorities for its labelling. It was told to make the non-meat origin of its products more clear, but meat-like names were not altogether banned.
The European Vegetarian Union discusses in a position paper that meat producers in countries with comparatively small shares of vegetarian products are more opposed to the current labelling of meat alternatives.
It is difficult to judge on the results of a forced change of names. In the PhD research I’m carrying out, I have conducted interviews with a number of UK manufacturers of meat alternatives. Most say that descriptive terms like “burger”, “steak”, “rashers”, “smoked”, or “succulent” give their products an identity. While they might largely be used for meat products, these terms create expectations about the product’s shape, smell, taste, texture, and other attributes.
People buy meat alternatives because they are familiar with meat and like something about it. Past research has shown that consumers – on the basis of name and appearance – categorise processed meat products as similar to their meat-free counterparts. So these meat-like descriptions are important as they give a sense of familiarity.
People eating meat alternatives like something about meat but they do not want to consume animals, for whatever reason. This means that meat alternatives can be a transition food, a comfort food, a convenience food, a healthy alternative, or maybe just another variety of sausage to them.
The legal change in France won’t be able to stop people’s desires to consume these products, but it might make them less visible. Instead of suppressing its opponent, the meat industry needs to wake up to the challenges and opportunities that meat-free diets bring. What seems here to stay is the move towards eating more healthy, ethical and sustainable foods, which the legislation will do nothing to stop.
The Conversation Africa The Conversation Africa is an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community. Its aim is to promote better understanding of current affairs and complex issues, and allow for a better quality of public discourse and conversation. Go to: https://theconversation.com/africa
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This Message Board accepts no liability of legal consequences that arise from the Message Boards (e.g. defamation, slander, or other such crimes). All posted messages are the sole property of their respective authors. The maintainer does retain the right to remove any message posts for whatever reasons. People that post messages to this forum are not to libel/slander nor in any other way depict a company, entity, individual(s), or service in a false light; should they do so, the legal consequences are theirs alone. Bizcommunity.com will disclose authors' IP addresses to authorities if compelled to do so by a court of law.

domain: news


text:
Hmart, the popular, upscale Korean market, has finally hit Northern California. The 35-year-old chain started in New York, and has slowly spread across the country. Now it’s hit the South Bay, with a bigger expansion planned for the area, including locations in San Francisco and Oakland in the next few years.
In addition to fresh meat, fish, poultry, and produce, the West San Jose (1179 S. De Anza Blvd.) market boasts a food court that includes Korean tofu house, as well as Chinese and Japanese dishes. The 28,000-square-foot market is chock full of high-quality pantry items, as well as ready-to-serve dishes.
Hmart president and COO William Choi told Mercury News that part of the reason for opening in San Jose was that it “is a very affluent area,” with at least 100,000 Asian-Americans living within a one-mile radius of the store. Yesterday’s grand opening drew hundreds of shoppers from the area, many of whom had been eagerly anticipating its opening for over a year.
The second Hmart location will be even larger at 43,000-square-feet, and take over a former grocery in North San Jose, with a planned opening in late summer.
San Jose and the South Bay already possess several popular Asian markets, including 99 Ranch and Japanese market Mitsuwa. Hmart operates 10 stores in California right now, including the just-opened location. “We tend to be regional draws,” Choi told Mercury News, “even from 20 to 30 miles away.”
Hmart is now open seven days a week from 8 a.m.- 10 p.m.
Hmart Opens First Norcal Location, Plans South Bay Expansion [Mercury News]


text:
This week on the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy, including Tesla smashing earnings expectations, announcing a new power increase through a software update, Tesla Solar Roof V3, and more.
The Electrek Podcast is me, Fred Lambert, editor-in-chief of Electrek, and Seth Weintraub, founder and publisher of Electrek and the 9to5 network, discussing all our top stories of the week while taking questions from our readers and highlighting the most insightful comments on the site.
The show is back live every Friday at 12pm ET on Electrek’s Youtube channel. As a reminder we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the Youtube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 1pm ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps through our RSS feed: https://viptest.electrek.co/podcastRSS. Grab the quick link to iTunes here.
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us to avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast today:
- Tesla (TSLA) releases Q3 earnings: surprisingly large profit, miss on revenue
- Tesla announces Model Y production is ahead of timeline, now aims for Summer 2020
- Tesla releases pictures of Model 3 production in Gigafactory 3
- Tesla plans to increase vehicle power, range, and charging through new software update
- Tesla is going to launch new version of its solar roof tiles tomorrow
- Tesla Semi electric truck production to start ‘with limited volumes’ in 2020
- Elon Musk: Tesla Full Self-Driving in early access this year, without supervision next year
- Elon Musk: Tesla Energy is becoming distributed global utility and could outgrow automotive business
- Tesla updates Autopilot safety numbers; almost 9x safer than average driving
- Elon Musk: Tesla electric ‘Cybertruck’ pickup is our best product ever
- Tesla owner becomes first to push Model 3 to 100,000 miles, here’s how it’s doing
- Tesla starts selling made-in-China Model 3 with Autopilot for ~$50,000
- Lexus unveils crazy-looking electric concept with giant gull wings, announces first BEV
- Mazda unveils their first EV, the MX-30; EU orders open now, delivery next year
- Nissan shows Ariya EV, their upcoming Tesla Model Y competitor
- Bollinger announces pricing for rugged electric trucks, and it’s shockingly high
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 12:00pm ET (or the video after 1:00pm ET):
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


text:
However, other media including outdoor, radio and print may offer real
benefits and maintain the potential for faster growth in the future than in the recent past. This is especially true as they develop their own directly related digital assets.
Outdoor advertising is growing fast
Outdoor advertising is growing faster than the rest of the industry, aside from pure-play digital media. This trend has been affected by:
- out-of-home advertising's effectiveness being relatively undiminished by fragmentation or ad avoidance
- owners of outdoor-related ad inventory who have invested in digital infrastructure, and
- the widening availability of digital out-of-home inventory from niche providers, which encourages a wider range of advertisers to use the medium and provides some confidence in the long-term opportunities.
Outdoor is also benefiting because there are many fast-growing marketers who believe that the medium is a superior alternative to television when goals are focused around brand building, and target audiences are in geographically narrow areas.
Radio growth is more modest
Radio maintains wide reach and real impact, but growth is more modest; the industry is stable and it should grow by 0 – 1% each year into the future. This is according to GroupM's worldwide media forecasts report This Year, Next Year
Despite those tepid growth rates, innovation in radio, or 'audio', has recently achieved a more meaningful scale. The medium has the potential to benefit from advertisers looking to stray from pure-play digital and television-based advertising.
Traditional radio has arguably always been very effective, so long as an advertiser is willing to invest in appropriate creative content and manage what can be — in some countries — a relatively fragmented medium.
Podcasting, while modest in size, has seemingly captured the attention of marketers in a meaningful way as well, and programmatic buying of radio is helping to overcome some execution issues in some countries.
We are now at a place where audio can be judged on its own merits, which remains relatively healthy — given the medium's wide reach and high levels of consumption.
Print still sees opportunity despite struggles
Print still struggles, but there are niches with opportunities for long-term growth. While once dominant in almost every country, print now struggles selling advertising and trends look less positive in the future as they indicate a decline of 10% every year going forward.
Print has generally suffered because of the goals that it tried to help large brands meet. An example of this is consumer engagement, which was provided more
efficiently by digital media.
By now, what is left of print as a medium can still be very effective for marketers, but the scale is so different that it is best viewed as a niche platform.
Despite these generally unfavourable growth trends, all marketers should regularly assess opportunities to use media beyond television and pure-play digital in their campaigns. Just because a medium is growing slowly
or declining does not mean it cannot
be impactful for a marketer now or in the future.
What matters is whether or not the media owner is investing in opportunities to connect with audiences. Marketers also need resources to capitalise on opportunities involving media that are incremental to existing plans. Doing so likely helps to improve the overall impact of their efforts.
Moreover, ongoing investments into alternative sources of media inventory — and finding best practices that exist within them — may help improve the use of traditional TV and digital media; both of which are likely to persist as the dominant forms of media into the future.
For more information, visit www.groupm.com
. You can also follow GroupM on Twitter


text:
Apple Unveils Updates to iOS, Safari, and App Store in Anticipation of EU DMA Act
In a bid to enhance user experience while addressing privacy and security concerns arising from the DMA, Apple is introducing new controls, disclosures, and expanded protections.
Remarkable Surge: India's Direct Tax Collections Soar by 160% in a 9-Year Span
Additionally, the direct tax to GDP ratio has increased from 5.62% in 2013-14 to 6.11% in 2022-23. Meanwhile, the cost of tax collection has decreased from 0.57% of the total collection in 2013-14 to 0.51% of the total collection in 2022-23.
Apple Inaugurates New Office in India, Poised to Accommodate up to 1,200 Employees
Nestled in the prominent Minsk Square, this state-of-the-art office facility is set to accommodate a workforce of up to 1,200 employees.
Microsoft Surpasses Apple, Becomes World's Most Valuable Company
In early Thursday trading, Microsoft's shares rose approximately 1%, propelling its market value to $2.87 trillion, narrowly surpassing Apple.
Robust Growth: Direct Tax Collections Surge by 18% in the Current Fiscal Year
The net direct tax collection, excluding refunds, stands at Rs. 14.70 lakh crore, marking a substantial 19.41% surge compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. This amount accounts for 80.61% of the total Budget Estimates of Direct Taxes for the financial year 2023-24, according to the statement released by CBDT.
Apple Faces Patent Dispute Impact: Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 Unavailable at US Retail Stores
The removal of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from Apple's online store last week has now extended to its physical locations. The ITC ruled in October that the blood oxygen sensor in these smartwatches infringes on two Masimo patents, leading to the import ban.
Apple Reportedly Pursuing $50 Million Deals with News Publishers for GenAI Model Training
While Apple's approach has triggered varying responses among publishers, some express optimism about the prospects of a meaningful partnership.
Tata Reportedly Plans to Construct New iPhone Factory in Tamil Nadu, Aims to Employ 50,000 Workers
The proposed Hosur facility is expected to exceed the scale of Tata's existing Wistron-acquired unit, which currently employs over 10,000 individuals. Simultaneously, Apple aims to manufacture over 50 million iPhones annually in India, part of its strategy to reduce production dependence on China, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Apple 24‑inch iMac with M3 chip a huge leap in performance for all tasks
From editing films and documentaries to making sense of sensitive medical data at a hospital, from a working professional at a design startup to educational needs or seamless video conferencing, the new 24-inch iMac makes the machine even more powerful and more capable.
Thieves steal $100K worth of items from Apple store in US: Report
On October 24 morning, five suspects entered the Apple Store located on Burlingame Avenue, California and stole a number of undisclosed Apple items, reports Kron4. As per the Burlingame Police Department, the five suspects fled in a grey BMW X5 SUV with no license plate after stealing the products.


text:
On this photograph illustration, Twitter account of Elon Musk is seen on a smartphone display screen and Twitter emblem within the background.
Pavlo Gonchar | Lightrocket | Getty Pictures
Elon Musk says there are three important hurdles to beat earlier than he can full his buy of Twitter.
Musk is in search of to purchase Twitter for $44 billion, a mega acquisition with enormous implications for the social media world — not least given the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s contentious stance on content material moderation and freedom of speech.
However the destiny of the deal has grow to be extra unsure in latest weeks after Musk threatened to stroll away, citing considerations over the variety of pretend accounts on the platform. The billionaire may face a $1 billion breakup price and probably even lawsuits if he have been to desert the deal.
Talking at an occasion hosted by Bloomberg on Tuesday, Musk mentioned there have been a variety of “unresolved issues” that may want settling earlier than he can transfer ahead with the takeover.
Musk has made no secret of his considerations in regards to the variety of pretend accounts on Twitter. Makes an attempt to control social media platforms with pretend accounts and bots aren’t precisely new, however Musk says he needs extra readability from Twitter on what number of of its customers are real.
Public disclosures from Twitter place the variety of false or spam accounts at lower than 5% of its “monetizable” each day lively customers. Musk is uncertain. On Tuesday, he mentioned it is “most likely not most individuals’s expertise when utilizing Twitter.”
“We’re nonetheless awaiting a decision on that matter, and that may be a very important matter,” he mentioned.
Final week, Bret Taylor, Twitter’s impartial board chair, mentioned firm administration remained “dedicated to the transaction beneath the agreed upon phrases.”
The second main roadblock dealing with the Twitter transaction, in accordance with Musk, is the portion of debt required to finance it.
Musk in Could dedicated to paying $33.5 billion in money for the corporate. He has additionally acquired $7.1 billion in fairness financing commitments from buyers together with Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and the crypto alternate Binance.
Musk says the rest of the funding will come within the type of financial institution loans, however how precisely it will play out stays unsure. Regardless of being the world’s richest particular person, a lot of Musk’s wealth is tied up in Tesla inventory. He has bought and pledged billions in Tesla shares as collateral for the loans.
The ultimate hurdle for Musk to clinch his acquisition is approval from Twitter’s shareholders. Buyers are anticipated to vote on the deal in late July or early August.
Whether or not or not Musk will get sufficient assist for the buyout stays unclear. Final month, some Twitter shareholders sued Musk and the corporate itself over the chaotic dealing with of the method.
“Will the debt portion of the spherical come collectively? After which will the shareholders vote in favor?” Musk mentioned Tuesday.
These — together with the problem of pretend accounts — are “the three issues that must be resolved earlier than the transaction can full,” he mentioned.


text:
I’m sure you are aware of the RTX 3060 at this point, announced during NVIDIA’s CES 2021 conference with a leaked embargo stating for reviewers to receive their RTX 3060 units from February 19th along with reviews / “launch” date being set for the last week of the month.
However these plans have gone awry as it has been pictured that the Pakistani dealer known as ZAH Computers, an official distributor of Palit graphics cards have already listed and are selling Palit branded GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards for 120,000 PKR (Pakistani Rupees) which when converted equates to $749.40 USD.
This is absolutely beyond hysterical as ZAH Computers are selling plethora’s of RTX 3060 graphics cards more than half a month earlier than their supposed slated launch date for double the stated MSRP of which the RTX 3060 was announced at the fake price of $329 USD.
But we can’t deny that Pakistan would otherwise have additional taxes and fees when it comes to the sale of such goods but nonetheless $750 USD for a mere 3060 is fucking laughable.
In another case of “I don’t know who’s Grabblering who anymore” consumers are fighting miners who are buying up what little supply there is for RTX 3000 GPUs on top of the retailers who are stocking up and price gouging to increase their own profit margins.
Whereas the case with ZAH Computers is that they’ve purposefully stocked up on Palit and Zotac GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards while claiming to be the “official distributor” of their wares whilst completely disregarding NVIDIA’s own NDA policies selling such an entry level product weeks before launch for the barbaric price of $750 USD is downright usury.
Considering the fact that’s probably majority of the world’s initial supply of RTX 3060’s sitting somewhere in the middle of Pakistan while every other Ampere product is sold out, you can bet your ass that some retarded shitskins have already bought one just because of the fact that it’s there and available.
The fact that there’s an abundance of RTX 3060’s in a turd world country such as Pakistan confuses me, perhaps there’s something bigger going on here that we just don’t realize. Perhaps NVIDIA are getting larger kickbacks by providing more stock to markets that are rather uncontrolled and rampant with price gouging, I know for a fact that Indian retailers are incentivized to buy NVIDIA stock by receiving special deals, of which they then markup AMD products beyond the price of NVIDIA’s offerings.


text:
“2011 is going to be a big experimentation year,” Ted Schadler, a principal analyst at Forrester Research who studies collaboration tools and team productivity, tells NextGov when it comes to tablets and the mobile workforce.
Consulting firm Deloitte agrees. In a report released last month, Deloitte predicts this it the year the iPad will make the leap from consumer driven to enterprise tool.
One possible fly in the ointment to slow that progress is how much data the tablets can hold. However, Eric Openshaw, vice chairman and U.S. technology leader at Deloitte told the Dorobek Insider, at agencies where email and document storage have moved to the cloud, the iPad offers an opportunity to replace computers, Openshaw said.
A bonus that comes with storage on the cloud is being able to share applications.
“Being able to source applications on demand,” Jeff Bergeron, the U.S. Public Sector Chief Technology Officer for HP explained to the Federal Drive, “in a mobile environment is certainly critical, so we’ll see the explosion of mobile and mobile workforce and mobile devices within the public sector market as cloud becomes more of a reality.”


text:
The future of one promising VR headset has been put into jeopardy, as StarVR has announced that it is putting the release of its developer headset “on hold”.
The news comes just a month after the company’s StarVR One developer program started accepting sign-ups.
StarVR’s woes appear to be due to the fact that Starbreeze, one of its main stakeholders, has filed for reconstruction – the equivalent of going into administration in Sweden – all while going through the process of the company going private. While the issues are ironed out, StarVR has delisted itself from the Taipei Exchange Emerging Markets.
A safer future?
Though it’s long been gestating, StarVR is one of the more exciting virtual reality headsets in development. Its advanced set-up includes a wider field of view than other headsets, as well as eye-tracking for more immersive interactions with its software.
StarVR has been focussing on public installations, such as arcades and galleries, rather than the home space – and if, as we’re regularly told, that’s where the future of VR sits, it could be a troubling development for the long-term, competition-filled health of virtual reality.
But all hope is not yet lost for StarVR – around two-thirds of the company is owned by Acer, which may yet be able to rescue the VR hopeful.
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more from the TechRadar team.
Gerald is Editor-in-Chief of iMore.com. Previously he was the Executive Editor for TechRadar, taking care of the site's home cinema, gaming, smart home, entertainment and audio output. He loves gaming, but don't expect him to play with you unless your console is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system. Before TechRadar, Gerald was Editor of Gizmodo UK. He is also the author of 'Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future', published by Aurum Press.


text:
What is In Taiwan's Huge Hardware Closet? I’ve made a record number of dead-end queries this month to find out who’s making wearable devices in Taiwan. Maybe the global tech hardware hub isn’t doing much with the fast-emerging consumer electronics sector that...
Apr 17 2014, 2:51am CDT
Best Laptops Around for Miles The best laptops include some truly remarkable models. The following laptops are the coolest deals you will find around for miles and miles.
Mar 24 2014, 3:46am CDT
Why Asustek Lags In Mobile Devices Despite Cool Designs Sales people at Taipei’s biggest consumer electronics mall look miffed when you ask to see the Padfone Mini, one of Asustek Computer’s trendier mobile devices. The smartphone that fits inside a tablet doesn’t stock...
Feb 19 2014, 9:11pm CST
2013 Represented Worst Decline In PC Market's History PC sales continued their downward spiral in 2013. According to tech research group Gartner, the 10% decline throughout 2013 is the worst in history for the worldwide personal computer market.
Gartner analyst Mikako...
Jan 9 2014, 5:06pm CST
The Curious Case Of The Chromebook: Is It Really A Hit? As 2013 closes, we are left with a bit of a puzzle in technology. The Chromebook, a browser-based, almost computer, designed by Google is definitely more popular than ever. But is it really catching on? And if so with...
Dec 31 2013, 8:26am CST
If Everyone Is Buying Chromebooks, Who Is Using Them? The rise of the Chromebook has Microsoft worried, as Forbes’ Jason Evangelho explains. A recent study by the NPD Group says that the Chromebook platform has reached 9.6% share in North American business and institutions...
Dec 30 2013, 7:41am CST
Here's Why Microsoft Is Worried About Google Chromebooks In 2012, Google's Chromebooks captured a laughable 0.2% of computer purchases within United States-based businesses and institutions. Thus far in 2013? Chromebook penetration has skyrocketed to a 9.6% share, and a...
Dec 29 2013, 12:36pm CST
China Chips Away At Taiwan's Prized Tablet PC Industry This threat to the Taiwanese economy, which depends on grabbing sizable shares of new IT hardware trends, has already hit contracts for lower-end tablets and begun taking aim at the premium ones, says Joen Yang, senior...
Dec 24 2013, 7:16pm CST
Best Black Friday Video Game Online Deals to buy Now We have collected the best 2013 Black Friday Video Game Hardware Deals. The Black Friday 2013 video game hardware deals are phenomenal this year because of the introduction of the new Xbox One and the Sony PS4. Retailers like Best Buy, Target and Walmart offer huge discounts on the Xbox 360 and the Sony PS3.
Nov 28 2013, 10:37am CST
Hot Black Friday Tablet Deals on Sale in Online Black Friday Sales We have picked the best 2013 Black Friday Tablet Deals you can get right now online. The Black Friday 2013 deals range from bargain Android Tablets to high end iPads bundle with big gift cards. Black Friday 2013 will be best ever for landing great tablet deals.
Nov 28 2013, 9:31am CST
Top 10 Black Friday Laptop Deals offered Online We have found the best 2013 Black Friday Laptop Deals you can buy right now in the Black Friday Online sales. There lots of hot Black Friday 2013 Laptop deals on sale online. See the Top 10 laptop deals.
Nov 28 2013, 8:59am CST
Read More Acer Inc. Stories
I4U News is feeding your Geek Mind. The Geek Mind is concerned with life, in all its different forms and facets.
The geek mind wants to know about societal and financial issues, both abroad and at home. If a Fortune 500 decides to raise their minimum wage, or any high priority news, the geek mind wants to know.
The geek mind wants to know the top teams in the National Football League, or who’s likely to win the NBA Finals this coming year.
The geek mind wants to know who the hottest new models are, or whether the newest blockbuster movie is worth seeing. The geek mind wants to know.


text:
Sony has won a landmark judgment against a man who sold modified PlayStation2 chips that circumvented copy protection.
The UK high court ruled on Wednesday that Sony's intellectual property rights were being violated by the practice of "modding", also known as "chipping".
Sony had brought its case against David Ball, a UK citizen, who was accused of selling some 1,500 mod chips. Users could install them in their PS2 to play imported games from other regions as well as pirated copies.
Like many console and DVD-drive makers, Sony uses regional encoding that prevents European hardware, based on the PAL standard, from playing software from the US or the Far East.
Mr Justice Laddie ruled that Ball had violated the European Union Copyright Directive, which came into UK law in 2003. He further found that the sale, advertising, use, or possession of such mods chips for commercial purposes was also illegal.
This is the first time that the UK's copyright laws have been used to prevent the circumvention of copy protection.
"We are sending a clear message to manufacturers and distributors of mod chips throughout the PAL territories that we will continue to pursue legal action against them," said David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
Sony recently won a similar case in Belgium, but has also lost cases in Spain and Italy. An Italian court ruled that console owners have the right to modify their hardware once they have bought it.
Sony is now expected to step up its fight against modding in other EU countries on the back of the UK ruling.
Back in 2002, Sony was awarded damages against Newport-based Channel Technology, which had been manufacturing the Messiah mod chip -- the same chip that Ball was accused of selling.
Messiah allowed owners of PlayStation2 consoles to play NTSC games on PAL consoles, allowed PlayStation2 owners to play DVD disks from any region, and provided colour correction for PAL consoles. It also enabled PlayStation2s to play backed-up copies of video games.
Critics of regional copy-protection claim it is actually a way of increasing profits by preventing consumers from importing a cheaper product from another territory.


text:
HTC announced a couple new devices this past week: the Desire HD and the Desire Z. Specifically when it comes to a release in Canada the closest hint was that “the HTC Desire Z shipping in North America later this year.”
Looks like we’re one step closer to a release as one of our tipsters sent us a Best Buy inventory screenshot that shows the “HTC Desire Z Leather Case-Black” to retail for $32.99. No word on when we’ll be seeing this officially launch in Canada or with what carrier or the price plans.
Specs have the Desire Z running Android 2.2 (Froyo), 800MHz Qualcomm 7230 processor with a 3.7 inch display (resolution of 480 x 800), a slideout QWERTY keyboard, 5 megapixel camera that records 720p HD videos.
More info soon!


text:
CVS pharmacy is bringing IBM's doctor-like supercomputer Watson into its 7,800 stores
Watson will watch data from what IBM describes as an "unprecedented mix of health information sources" including a person's medical health records, prescriptions, environment, even fitness devices.
It will then spit out suggestions on how to improve that person's health care to save the person money and help the person feel better.But the ultimate goal of this partnership is really pretty astounding: IBM and CVS hope to find people at risk for illnesses before they've gotten sick and create custom programs to help them avoid the illness.
Some examples of the type of conditions Watson hopes to help include hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
CVS has 7,800 retail drugstores with nearly 1,000 walk-in medical clinics, managing pharmacy benefits for more than 70 million people. So this partnership with IBM, puts Watson within reach of a huge number of Americans.
Rometty recently called healthcare IBM's "moonshot." In an interview with Charlie Rose, she said.
I'm telling you, our moonshot will be the impact we will have on health care. It has already started. We will change and do our part to change the face of health care. I am absolutely positive about it. And that, to me, while we do many other things, that will be one of the most important.She's also recently predicted, "In the future, every decision that mankind makes is going to be informed by a cognitive system like Watson," she said, "and our lives will be better for it."
She's extricating IBM from its dependence on declining markets and pushing into new growth areas, such as big data and analytics.
One of her main tactics is new-and-unusual partnerships, such as this one. Others include IBM's partnership with Apple for mobile, with Twitter for big data, with Tencent for cloud computing in China.


text:
It's Official: Japanese Are The Best Tourists
The travel booking folks at Expedia have published the results of a large survey about the best and worst tourists. And it turns out that those bowing, camera-toting Japanese are officially the "best" tourists, mostly due to their politeness and tidiness. Americans and Swiss come in second and third on the overall scale.
In other awards ... the biggest spenders on holidays are Americans, followed by Russians and Brits. But Brits lose out in another category, being crowned the second-worst-dressed of tourists: after the worst dressed Americans. And when measuring the generosity scale, the Pfennig-pinching Germans came up as the least generous tourists.
And we can't leave you without whispering the results of who make the worst tourists: apparently the French are the worst, followed by Indians, Chinese and Russian. Of course, this is all a bit biased by the fact that the 15,000 respondents were hoteliers in Europe, so don't be offended. Unless you belong to a worst-dressed nation and then perhaps you need to spend more Euro shopping in stylish Italy.


text:
For those of you who love to “save money and live better,” Wal-Mart is now offering Microsoft’s Surface RT and Surface Pro devices. On top of the tablets, Wal-Mart is also offering the touch and type covers as well as other important accessories.
If you head over to Wal-Mart’s website, you will notice that the 32GB Surface RT is running for $349. If you add the touch keyboard, the price is bumped to $449. The 64GB Surface Pro runs for $899 while the 128GB Surface Pro runs for $999. The Type cover runs for $129 and the Touch cover runs for $120. These prices seem to be consistent with those at BestBuy and Staples. Of course, supplies are limited, so if you are planning on purchasing one of these devices at Wal-Mart, you may want to hurry.
Microsoft recently dropped the price of the Surface RT by $150, offering a better incentive for those who have been itching to get ahold of the Windows RT platform and a Surface device. Unfortunately, Microsoft recently revealed in its quarterly earnings that the Surface RT is costing the company money. Microsoft ended up $900 million charge related to Surface RT inventory adjustments.
Nonetheless, it is great to see yet another outlet offering the Surface RT and Surface Pro devices. As of right now, the Surface device is available in 29 different markets and in over 10,000 stores across the globe.


text:
Tech Companies: Chinese Hackers Target US Jet Data
- The US Department of Justice pressed charges against Chinese intelligence officers for hacking US jet engine data
- The data “could be used by Chinese entities to build the same or similar engine without incurring substantial research and development expenses.”
- T-Mobile has beaten the expectations of Wall Street in terms of phone subscribers and profit
TECH COMPANIES – According to the US indictment released on Tuesday, Chinese intelligence officers hacked US private companies’ computer system. Afterward, they stole information on a turbofan engine used in commercial jetliners.
Further, the indictment mentioned that a Chinese-state owned aerospace company is working on a comparable engine during the hack. This engine is for China and other countries manufactured aircraft.
Currently, the C919 and ARJ21, among the jets made in China, are using foreign engines. However, China has been attempting to create a competitive homegrown alternative.
There were 10 people who were charged conspired to sensitive data. As per the US Department of Justice’s indictment, the data “could be used by Chinese entities to build the same or similar engine without incurring substantial research and development expenses.”
Moreover, the indictment said that it targeted a dozen companies but the only one identified was Capstone Turbine Corp.
Meanwhile, among the hacked companies was a French firm co-developing a turbofan jet engine with a U.S. company.
Safran SA, which is the only civil turbofan engine maker in France, has co-developed with US-based General Electric Co. This was because of their longstanding CFM International partnership. Safran is the biggest jet engine manufacturer globally.
Meanwhile, LEAP was the recent engine of the venture. It can power the largest category of Airbus SE and Boeing Co jets.
Tech Companies: T-Mobile Beats Subscribers, Profit Expectations
On Tuesday, T-Monile US Inc surpassed the quarterly estimation of Wall Street on new phone subscription profit. Further, the competitive wireless plans and trade-in offers for iPhones, aimed to defend against biggest rivals, have lifted the T-Mobile.
In extended trading, Washington-based Bellevue increased 3% to $66.00.
Further, the T-Mobile is on the line for the regulatory approval for its deal on buying Sprint Corporation. This is amid the US wireless carrier’s efforts in scaling more to compete with Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc.
The company is confident that they would close the merger in the first half of 2019. So far, it has received approval coming from the half of the state commissions, reviewing the deal. This was according to T-Mobile Chief Executive Officer John Legere.
“As you can see, we are making progress,” Legere said.
T-Mobile has gained a net of 774,000 phone subscribers higher than the 595,000 net new subscribers it recorded in the same quarter last year.
- Trading Instrument
Get the latest economy news, trading news, and Forex news on Finance Brokerage. Check out our comprehensive trading education and list of best Forex brokers list here. If you are interested in following the latest news on the topic, please follow Finance Brokerage on Google News.


text:
Overview of the Market
The UK Hotels industry is estimated to be worth approximately £5.8bn in 2021. Industry revenue has shrank at a compound annual rate of (21.5%) over the five years through 2020-21. The Hotels industry performed well at the start of the past five-year period. The weak pound had made the United Kingdom an affordable destination for international tourists, while weak consumer confidence led to a rise in domestic tourism over the period. Families have increasingly forgone overseas holidays, instead favouring staycations, benefiting domestic hotel occupancy rates. However, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is expected to significantly disrupt the industry.
Lockdown measures have resulted in hotels closing for a significant part of 2020-21, contributing to an estimated 72.1% plunge in revenue. These forced business closures, combined with travel restrictions are expected to significantly reduce industry demand in the current year.
During the five years through 2025-26, industry revenue is forecast to rise at a compound annual rate of 26.9% to reach £19 billion. The vaccine roll-out and anticipated easing of restrictions from the start of 2020-21 is expected to support demand from domestic consumers. Improving disposable incomes and rising consumer and business confidence are anticipated to support revenue recovery over the period, although this could also encourage more overseas travel.
The end of the transition period is unlikely to deter inbound EU tourism, although the new immigration system could reduce the industry’s labour supply and weigh on margins. Websites such as Airbnb are anticipated to pose an increasing threat to industry operators over the next five years.
The industry is highly reliant on both labour and capital inputs. Using spending on wages as a proxy for labour costs and depreciation as a proxy for capital expenditure, it is estimated that for every £1.00 operators spend on capital, a further £4.88 is spent on labour, indicating that the industry has a moderate level of capital intensity.
The industry is characterised by a moderate level of technological change. Technology updates to hotels are often implemented to improve management and enhance in-room guest facilities. Most operators now receive a majority of their business through online booking platforms that allow guests to pre-book rooms and communicate additional needs.
The industry has displayed high revenue volatility over the past five years. It is sensitive to trends in both domestic and international tourism, which are themselves often determined by variable factors such as the weather and exchange rates. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused consumer and business confidence to plummet, reducing spending on industry services.
M&A Activity in the Sector
Market IQ data indicates a total of 537 significant deals, where data exists, in the industry from January 2011 to July 2021, with UK targets. Deals are only reported over a certain value threshold (c.£500k), therefore, it is likely that not all deals have been captured.
Upon breaking down the deal type, M&A activity within the sector is mainly categorised by acquisitions, with 501 since January 2011. There were also 18 MBIs and 15 MBOs. A geographical breakdown of the deals shows that London dominates M&A activity, benefitting from 76 deals in the time frame. The South West and North West were close behind, with 75 and 72 deals being completed respectively.
Deal flow has been significant in each year with a gradual upwards trend
through 2013-2017. This is likely characteristic of aggressive acquisition strategies from the larger players, as they attempt to fight off competition from the likes of AirBnB. With 16 deals through September 2021, forecasting the same rate to the end of the year gives 27 deals. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a strain on deals, causing the dip in market activity from 2019 onwards. If the trend continues, this data would show a lack of confidence on the part of acquisitive businesses. Alternatively, confidence levels could be reflective of a poor quality of targets currently available in the UK market.
Industry Benchmarking Information – July 2021
Hallidays’ client base consists of small to lower mid-market enterprises. Our benchmarking analysis reflects businesses with turnover below £20m, in line with the majority of our clients in this sector.
|Hotel Benchmarking Data||Mean||Median||Lower Quartile||Upper Quartile|
|Turnover Growth/Decline (%)||(8.36)||(2.54)||(29.49)||3.84|
|EBIT Margin (%)||2.60||3.10||(13.05)||15.50|
|EBIT Growth/Decline (%)||(23.31)||(19.77)||(118.20)||31.62|
|EBITDA Margin (%)||9.80||9.80||(3.31)||25.37|
|EBITDA Growth/Decline (%)||(17.18)||(11.76)||(83.43)||30.74|
|Total Net Assets Growth/Decline (%)||(9.67)||(2.68)||(24.78)||10.23|
Using full company accounts filed in the last two years under the SIC-Code “551 – Hotels and similar accommodation”. Excluding companies with nil turnover in either period, we have summarised key benchmarking information for businesses under £20m turnover in the table above. July 2021.
M&A Activity Source
Experian Market IQ (July 2021)
Search Criteria: SIC-Code “551 – Hotels and similar accommodation”


text:
Peter Ranscombe takes his weekly look at the latest whisky releases.
HIBS fans can now toast their team with the first exclusive whisky bottled for them by the club’s new spirits partner, Gleann Mòr.
The company – whose head office is just a few streets from Hibernian’s Easter Road pitch – has filled 350 bottles of its Whisky Row Smooth & Sweet blended malt for fans.
The Scotch is a mix of single malts from the Highlands and Speyside.
Greg Urquhart, manager at Gleann Mòr Spirits, said: “We are extremely proud to offer this first special edition Whisky Row as part of our exciting new relationship with Hibs.
“The whisky has been specially chosen for fans to enjoy, and the unique presentation box will make it a unique souvenir that we know supporters everywhere will cherish.”
Bowmore revs up Aston Martin link
As we explored in the latest issue of Cask & Still – the dedicated drinks magazine from the people who bring you Scottish Field – whisky companies just love forming partnerships with carmakers.
The latest link-up comes between Bowmore and Aston Martin, which together have produced Arc-52.
It features a rather groovy-shaped decanter, filled with 52-year-old whisky that’s aged in a fifty-fifty mix of American oak hogsheads and European oak butts.
One hundred of the decanters have been filled, and they’re going on sale later this summer at £65,000 each – plus duty and value-added tax.
Things that make you go ‘Mmmm…’
Staying firmly in the luxury segment of the market, and The Macallan has added to its “M Collection”.
New for 2022 is the “M Copper”, which joins the “M” and the “M Black”.
“M Copper” is designed to emphasise the influence of The Macallan’s “curiously small spirit stills” – which is reflected in the spirit descriptions “banana” and “pear drops” appearing in the distillery’s tasting notes for the new Scotch.
“M Copper” – which was aged in a mix of ex-bourbon and virgin oak casks – tips the scales at £6,250, followed by “M Black” at £5,700, and “M” at a slightly-more-modest £5,000.
You wait ages for an island rum – and then two come along at once.
Hot on the heals of the Vintage Malt Whisky Company’s release of Geal, Islay’s first rum, Isle of Barra Distillers last night released its Island Dark Rum.
Founders Michael and Katie Morrison used their signature carrageen seaweed as a botanical in the rum, alongside coconut, cardamon, cloves, lemon, and orange peel.
Read more news and reviews on Scottish Field’s food and drink pages.
Plus, check out Blair Bowman’s whisky column in the July issue of Scottish Field magazine.


text:
Aristocrat’s financial forecast bumped up after strong digital performance
Australian gaming manufacturer Aristocrat’s digital arm saw strong growth in downloads of its social casino games in the first half of the 2021 financial year, according to analysts from JP Morgan Australia.
Asia Gaming Brief reports that not only have the number of downloads and number of daily active users held strong, in-game monetisation and bookings are also higher than initial expectations, pushing JP Morgan to upgrade its earnings forecast for Aristocrat by 5.8 per cent in the financial year.
“Industry feedback and discussions with ALL management suggests the number of downloads have decreased across certain casual games.
“This is consistent with our previous note, however, we acknowledge in-game monetisation and bookings have moved in the opposite direction and are higher than expectations.”
Aristocrat’s digital arm has been long seen by analysts as a beacon of growth for the company.
In the 2020 financial year, whilst casino closures and travel restrictions caused overall group revenue to fall to $4.1 billion, the company’s 29 per cent growth in digital went a long way to offset a 35 per cent drop in land-based revenue.
Last February, Aristocrat chief executive officer Trevor Croker said the company plans to “significantly escalate” its focus on convergence products and services, which may involve mergers and acquisitions.
JP Morgan said it expects Aristocrat to post NPATA of A$260 million, down 29.4 per cent year-on-year, with digital EBITDA up 22.7 per cent to A$364.8 million.
Aristocrat Leisure’s portfolio of social and casual casino games include Cashman Casino Las Vegas Slows, EverMerge, Lightning Link Casino Slots and Robot Showdown, among others.
JP Morgan said another four games are close to soft launch and that the company has anywhere between 12 to 15 games in the pipeline at any point in time.
Aristocrat flags new poker machine rollout
Australian gaming machine manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure has announced it will launch a new product with responsible gaming features.
GGR Asia reported in March that the digital games provider plans to launch its new product during the first quarter of 2021, with the product approved in some Australian states.
“We continue to bring forward options that have the potential to empower players and support our responsible game play commitments,” Aristocrat chief executive and managing director Trevor Croker said.
A second generation of electronic gaming machines with responsible gaming features, that the company calls Flexiplay, was trialled in 2019 and has been approved by regulators in New South Wales and Queensland.
“Flexiplay allows players to voluntarily set time limits and quarantine winnings from being played down, via the timer and piggy bank functions.” Mr Croker said.
He added: “We are preparing to place the first of these games in the market in the first quarter.
“We look forward to learning more from the release of Flexiplay, and to applying the lessons to further product-based responsible gaming innovation in the future.”
Aristocrat said its normalised profit for the 12-month period ended September 30 declined by 46.7 per cent.
The firm reported a normalised full-year profit after tax of A$476.6 million.
Aristocrat’s reported profit was up 97.2 per cent to almost A$1.38 billion, impacted by the recognition of a A$1.1 billion deferred tax asset.
Group operating revenue in the 12 months to September 30 decreased 5.9 per cent year-on-year to A$4.14 billion.


text:
Wall St slump continues amid record rise in British lending
Thursday 03 April 1997
A sharp rise in British consumer lending to a record pounds 1.22bn in February fuelled the concerns. The surge in UK lending, coming after an increase of pounds 844m in January, was much higher than expected, rekindling fears of a return to the 1980s consumer boom. But the FTSE 100 index largely shrugged off volatility on Wall Street, ending down just 11.5 at 4,236.6.
Analysts said the credit figures increased the need for the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, whoever he was, to raise interest rates after the election by as much as half a per cent. David Coleman, chief economist at CIBC, said: "Consumer borrowing continues to grow at quite a healthy pace. It keeps the pressure on whoever is the next Chancellor to raise rates just as the US has done." The US move to raise money costs by a quarter of a per cent last week raised expectations that further tightening may be necessary.
But observers stopped short of comparing current credit conditions with those of the 1980s, with many pointing out that in percentage terms the borrowing rise is still below previous peaks and savings remain high. They also drew some comfort from Bank of England money supply figures which showed M0 growing by 6.4 per cent in the year to March, just below expectations of a 6.5 per cent increase.
On the broader M4 measure, growth was revised down to 11.2 per cent from 11.3 for the year to February, but still up from 10 per cent in January.
- 1 Kylie Jenner challenge: Bizarre lip suction device inspired by Kardashian sister goes viral
- 2 Rarest Beanie Baby bought for just £10 at car boot sale could be sold for £62,500 on eBay
- 5 Giorgio Armani criticises the way some gay men dress saying 'a man has to be a man'
If I’m being racially abused I don’t need a stranger with a saviour complex to rescue me
The only black face in the Ukip manifesto is on the page about overseas aid
Ukip is the only main political party to not address LGBT rights in its manifesto
Food banks: One million Britons will soon be using them, according to Trussell Trust
Religion isn't growing, it is becoming vigorous in its demise, says philosopher AC Grayling
BBC election debate: The one photo that summed up the whole 90-minute leaders debate
iJobs Money & Business
£30 - 35k (DOE): Guru Careers: We are seeking a Pricing Analyst with experienc...
£24000 - £26000 per annum + benefits : Ashdown Group: A highly successful, glo...
£21000 - £24000 per annum: Ashdown Group: The Ashdown Group has been engaged b...
£45000 - £50000 per annum + benefits : Ashdown Group: A highly successful, int...


text:
Steel Authority of India Limited recently, commissioned two 853 tonnes-per-day air separation. The first unit went into commercial production in January, while the second one is expected to be operational before the first week of March, depending on the requirement of gas at Rourkela.
Moreover, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), earlier said it had posted 10 per cent growth in sales during January this year at 1.14 million tonnes (MT) up by 10 per cent compared to same month last year. The cumulative sales growth by SAIL for the April 2013-January 2014 period was 8 per cent, as sales rose to 9.84 MT from 9.09 MT in the corresponding period last year backed by a surge of 47 per cent in its exports. Most products in SAIL basket registered a decent increase in sales but the sale of flat steel grew by a whopping 23.5 per cent. Cumulative sales growth for flat steel in the ten-month period was 10.6 per cent, an official statement said.
The upsurge in sales registered by the company has been a result of concerted efforts made by SAIL towards producing tailor-made steel to meet customer requirement. The plants and units of SAIL kept pace with this aggressive sales strategy, by increasing production of saleable steel by 4 per cent in 2013-14, at 10.74 MT.
Increasing input costs have forced steel companies, including JSW Steel, SAIL and Essar Steel, to raise prices Rs.500-1,200 a tonne for the second time this year, in February, 2014.
JSW Steel has increased prices up to Rs.1,200 a tonne, or up to two per cent, across the board. Essar Steel has increased prices Rs.1,000-2,000 a tonne and SAIL Rs.300-500 a tonne.
In January, 2014, hoping demand for steel to pick up in the New Year, domestic producers had raised its price by upto Rs.1,500 a tonne to offset rising input costs and higher freight charges.
Steel makers had previously hiked the price in September by up to Rs.2,500 per tonne, but held on to it, till January, 2014, despite the NMDC hiking iron ore price by Rs.100 a tonne and the Railways imposing peak session charge from October.
Buy the scrip above Rs.63, for a very short term target of Rs.69. Also, kindly keep a SL of Rs.57.


text:
Starbucks is closing its stores to conduct the training after the arrests of two black men in Philadelphia last month at one of its stores. The session will take place in stores and offices and about 8,000 company-owned stores will close for the event. Many of the Starbucks locations in airports, on college and private business campuses and within grocery and other retail stores will remain open for regular hours Tuesday.
Each store will receive a tool kit which will allow for partners to learn together in small self-guided groups. Schultz, CEO Kevin Johnson and musician and activist Common will serve as virtual guides.
Calvin Lai, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Washington University, also says anti-bias training can sometimes backfire.
A store manager called the police because the two men were sitting in the store without placing an order.
Nelson immediately asked to use the restroom when they walked in, he said, but was informed it was for paying customers only.
This will mark only the second time that Starbucks has closed all locations for training efforts.More news: Gigi Buffon Bid Reportedly Submitted After Juventus Exit
More news: Rafa Nadal storms past Denis Shapovalov into the quarter-finals
More news: Behind the Push to Name Ireland’s Abortion Legislation ‘Savita’s Law’
A Starbucks spokesman said Tuesday's training is part of a bigger commitment to anti-bias education.
The company says employees going through the training will "move into a real and honest exploration of bias". "We've made it clear that we won't be a rubber stamp to validate their programming", McGhee said.
Starbucks apologized for the incident, which sparked protests, online outrage, and calls for both clarifications of the chain's policies and for new training for its employees. If customers are disruptive, employees have been advised to step in. Starbucks is asking customers to behave in a way that "maintains a warm and welcoming environment".
The company offered specific guidelines in a document shared with employees.
In the training, Starbucks' employees will use a Team Guidebook to follow a sequence of videos, including one that features the rapper Common discussing what he says is a life skill: how to make other people feel welcome. If a Starbucks employee thinks the situation isn't safe, he or she should call the police.
Starbucks said in a statement that the training content will be shared with these stores "so they may have the option to make it available to their employees at a later date".


text:
The sun's energy will replace natural gas as the fuel for drawing more oil from the ground in Oman. GlassPoint Solar yesterday announced that it has signed a deal to install a 7-megawatt solar power system for Petroleum Development Oman to aid oil extraction. The solar system, which is essentially a glass house with solar concentrators, will generate the steam needed to pump oil from existing fields. In many existing oil wells, there is a substantial amount of oil underground, but it has become more expensive to pull out. In an enhanced oil recovery field, steam is pumped into wells to free that trapped oil. Typically, natural gas is burned to make the steam. GlassPoint Solar's system creates steam using trough-shaped mirrors about 20 feet wide that concentrate light onto a tube carrying water. When heated by the concentrators, the water turns to steam. The solar system will supplement Petroleum Development Oman's current natural gas system and use its steam pipeline. Using solar energy instead of natural gas will allow it to use the gas for other purposes--or export it, according to the company.
According to a report out on Wednesday morning from Dow Jones VentureSource, with analysis by Ernst & Young, cleantech venture capital investing dropped 44 percent to $1.1 billion, compared to the same quarter a year ago. The number of cleantech VC deals were also down by 12 percent to 68 for the quarter. Similar numbers were reported by the Cleantech Group last month, which found that cleantech VC investing had dropped by a third in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year. The second quarter fall follows some mixed signals for cleantech VC investing from the first quarter of the year, but also some solid signs that cleantech investors have been pulling back on new investments. While the first quarter of the year produced an almost record amount of cleantech VC funding according to numbers from the Cleantech group, a deeper dive into those numbers revealed that the bulk of those fundings were follow-on rounds for capital-intensive companies like Miasole, BrightSource, Fisker Automotive, and Bloom Energy. However, Dow Jones VentureSource reported first quarter numbers more conservatively than the Cleantech Group, at actually 8 percent lower than today’s second-quarter numbers.
Several major auto makers on Friday embraced the Obama administration's proposal to push the industry further away from once-dominant gas guzzlers to more lean and efficient vehicles. The proposal, which is the result of months of negotiations between the Obama administration and auto makers, would require the companies to reach an average fuel efficiency across their U.S. fleets of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. "This agreement on fuel standards represents the single most important step we've ever taken as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Obama said at an event announcing the new standards. Flanked by top auto maker executives, Obama said the new rules would lower the country's oil use by 2.2 million barrels a day over the next 15 years. The rules will cut more than 6 billion tons of carbon emissions for the duration of the program.
Here are 5 of the entries in this years Solar Decathlon for your interest and enjoyment. More to come in future issues. These students have earned the support of us all. Thanks for giving us your view of the future!
We've cobbled together some great factoids from the Apricus website to create this overview of Solar Thermal systems. Why are we not using this technology on every home that is exposed to the sun?
There are a myriad of communications players (technologies) that can be deployed across the smart grid applications layers. The "best fit" technology for any one layer or overall system. The first thing to drive the communications technology decision is the objective for the system. Add in the risk profile of the company and the communications requirements start to take shape.
GlobalData has released its research on the Alternative Energy Industry. Please see below for key findings from the study.
Our strategy is focused on being close to the market. For the last 25 years the photovoltaic sector has operated mainly in a horizontal fashion. Now the time for vertical integration has come, and we are well positioned for this change. With this in mind, the recent joint venture Espe-SunParc will allow Silfab to be completely involved in every segment of the downstream market, including Solar Farms.
SolarCity said today that it will begin to offer installation services for solar-powered EV chargers compatible with any electric vehicle currently on the market. To do so, the company is partnering with EV charger manufacturer ClipperCreek, which will supply chargers that use the standard SAE-J1772 charge cable. Installation of a 240-volt Level II charger, which typically charges an EV battery to full capacity in about four hours, for a home or business will start at $1,500 including the price of the charger, according to SolarCity. SolarCity said the offer is not just an add-on for customers who have the company install solar panel systems, but that it's also willing to install a standalone EV charger.
The worldwide renewable energy boom continues. Now, the euphoria has also arrived in the American solar market. This is what DEGERenergie reports from the Intersolar North America. What surprises recently is the diversity of the demand in the United States. Not only potential investors and solar park operators were interested in information about the most efficient technology DEGERenergie offers for medium and large-scale solar projects – more than ever, specific inquiries also came from individuals wanting to benefit from the advantages of MLD tracking. Michael Heck, Vice President Marketing & Sales at DEGERenergie, puts it like this: "The issue of self-supply is rapidly gaining importance – not only in Germany."
A startup offering Groupon-style group discounts for solar panel roof installations is now looking to connect with potential solar customers nationwide. On Monday One Block Off the Grid (1BOG) plans to expand access to its group solar discounts, installer recommendations and solar information services to another set of almost two dozen states across the U.S. 1BOG works by using the power of the group to leverage a low-cost solar deal in certain areas. Similar to Groupon, 1BOG collects a critical mass of interested solar customers in a given area and uses the volume of people to make deals with local solar installers. Think of the service as a way for entire neighborhoods to go solar in one fell swoop.
General Motors and grid equipment supplier ABB this week showed an early version of an energy storage system using battery packs from the Chevy Volt electric car. The two companies are partnering to build a prototype which they say can be used either for large-scale grid storage or back-up power for consumers. They estimate that 33 repurposed Volt battery packs could supply 50 U.S. homes for four hours during an outage or brownout. Batteries lose their storage capacity over time, but used car batteries are still viable for grid storage. GM estimates that once used car batteries have 70 percent of their initial charge, they can still be suitable for grid storage. Finding a viable method to repurpose used EV batteries after seven to ten years of driving isn't just a question of consumer convenience and driving range. Because batteries are the most expensive component of electric cars, car companies and battery makers are trying to ways to draw more money from that asset with grid storage.
No thicker than a piece of paper - because it practically is a piece of paper - a solar panel created by an MIT researcher can be shoved into a pocket or made into a paper airplane, and it will still create energy when exposed to sunlight. The trick is in the way it is made. The panel is printed like ink onto a sheet of paper. Even folded up like a letter, it retains its ability to convert light to electricity. With her colleagues, Karen Gleason, a professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published a paper last week in the journal Advanced Materials, demonstrating how they created a solar panel by printing tiny, lightweight layers of electrodes and semiconductors on a piece of paper.
Intersolar promotes the development of business opportunities throughout the North American solar industry. There are 800 exhibitors and 22,000 trade visitors expected at the 2011 exhibition, co-located with SEMICON West. The accompanying conference expects 1,600 attendees. Since its establishment in 2008, the exhibition and conference have developed into the premier platform for the solar industry in North America. Intersolar North America focuses on photovoltaic and solar thermal technology and has quickly established itself among manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and service providers as a vital international industry meeting point.
China fully intends to make its automotive industry one of its pillar industries; and those who do business there must be ever mindful of that reality. China appears determined to segue from "Made In China" to "Made By China". The profundity of that change in preposition should resonate even among those doing well in China.
Records 1876 to 1890 of 3113
Solar & Wind - Featured Product
The most compact versatile rail-less PV mounting system under the sun. Instead of placing solar panels on top of long rails, simply attach E Mount AIR to rafters or the roof decking. Once panels are fastened to the roof, the system array is electrically bonded. The result is a visually seamless PV installation that stands the test of time. - Truly "One With The Roof". - PE stamped cert. letters available, UL 2703 Classified, ASTM 2140 fully waterproof. The one and only with integrated flexible flashing certified by the ICC! All the best quality. Only from Roof Tech


text:
The new format stores are 20% — or 3,000 square feet — larger than existing stores, allowing for more displays. These include an enhanced wine section up front, which leads into a bigger-than-before baked goods section. Produce – which is getting more real estate and new organic lines — is more prominent, as are meats.
A store employee told Forbes that customers' common first reaction to the new format is, “Oh my God, the store is so beautiful!” Aldi already attracts 40 million shopping trips annually, and is aiming for 60 million by 2020.
Have no doubts about it: ALDI is marching to a different drummer — one whose leader sharpened up the uniforms, added new players and is telling the world, “We're different and better, and we're a champion band!”
And while already walking over competitors in comparison contests and grabbing more market share wherever they march, Aldi is aiming to keep the parade going as they do what CEO Jason Hart described in the company statement as continuing "to invest in ALDI customers.”
Adding stores at a rapid pace — 650 by the end of next year, bringing the total to at least 2,000 — and other initiatives like enhancing its product lines are Aldi's way of building a strong competitive defense against Lidl, another discount grocery chain from Germany that's about to invade the U.S.
While Aldi would love to have every American as a customer, its stores' new look and feel is aimed at that huge swath in the middle – those who are less likely to turn to expanded-range dollar stores, or those who will forever be drawn to fancier and more selectively stocked stores.
Competitors will need to sharpen their pencils — and their swords. It would be foolish to bet Aldi won't hit their growth targets. The upcoming battle is going to be an epic one. There are already a lot of players in food retailing. With both Aldi and Lidl planning on massive growth in the U.S., and with dollar stores expanding into fresh grocery ranges and opening new stores daily, something has to give.


text:
Xiaomi announces new Mi CC series of smartphones aimed at the young generation
Render of the first Mi CC smartphone is now out
Xiaomi has announced the launch of a new series of smartphones called Mi CC. The new Mi CC series of smartphones will be aimed at the young generation that wants trendy, cool looking smartphones.
According to an official blog post, the letters ‘CC’ in the Mi CC series have multiple meanings. Elaborating on this, Xiaomi said, “Besides standing for camera+camera, a dual-camera setup on Mi CC, CC also refers to a variety of meanings including chic, cool, colorful and creative, aiming at the global young generation with its trendy design and camera features.”
While Xiaomi did not announce any new smartphone in the Mi CC series, a render of the Mi CC9e has been leaked. It shows off a simple and minimalist design with a waterdrop notch instead of the Dot Notch that smartphones like the Redmi K20 and Redmi Note 7 Pro have.
The Mi CC9e render also shows off the triple camera setup on the back. Previous reports suggest that the Mi CC9e could sport a 6.39-inch display, with the Snapdragon 712 chipset powering the smartphone. In terms of imaging, the front of the phone could house a 32-megapixel selfie camera. On the back, there could be a 48-megapixel primary camera, along with a telephoto and a wide-angle lens.
Some reports had suggested that Xiaomi could launch the Mi CC9 with a flip-up camera module ala the Asus 6Z. However, we don’t know much about that yet.
Given that Xiaomi is focusing on the aesthetics and the imaging capabilities with the Mi CC series, these smartphones may not have the best hardware specs. However, the Mi CC series could offer some advanced imaging features like filters, beauty modes and more.


text:
You think goals, you think strikers. Center forward is arguably the most glamorous and high-profile position in soccer.
So it should come as no surprise that the biggest story revolving around Chelsea during the 2012 Herbalife World Football Challenge centers around how the club will replace Didier Drogba’s colossal contributions up front last season which helped them become European and FA Cup champions.Read More
Germany is one of the top teams ever and they will play the US on Sunday.
Barcelona will wear this new home soccer jersey next season. They also have a new away jersey. Get them both.
The hoop soccer jersey is classic and cool. The USA hooped jersey is perfect for every fan. Get in the Gear.
The USA will wear their blue away jersey against Jamaica in their World Cup qualifier on Friday night.
Manchester City will try and win back the Premier League title with this new soccer jersey from Nike!
Jamaica is in need of a win against the U.S. Get the jersey of the Reggae Boyz.
Support the USA national team with an official 2013 Centennial soccer jersey from Nike. Its Official.
The Nike Hypervenom is the latest cleat silo from Nike. It will change your game and is worn by the game's top players.
The adidas Nitrocharge is the most talked about new cleat in years. It was released on May 15 and will take your pitch by storm.
England will debut their new away jersey against Brazil at the Maracana Stadium on Sunday. Get in the Gear


text:
PokitDok Helps Patients Connect the Dots in a Fragmented Healthcare System
(Page 2 of 2)
physicians. And people talking to each other about what works and what doesn’t.”
PokitDok makes its money by charging a flat transaction fee on services listed on the site. Providers aren’t required to list the cost of their services, but they can sell directly to consumers at a discount. And the site includes both medical and non-medical services, so users can find nutrition counselors and acupuncturists right alongside orthopedic surgeons and dermatologists.
“We are completely unbiased,” she says. “We aren’t pushing medical over alternative. We want you to see all your options.”
At first, naysayers were concerned that medical doctors wouldn’t want to show up on the same page as alternative medicine practitioners. But so far, Maki says, it hasn’t been a problem. They’ve mostly been growing by word of mouth, and providers have been signing themselves up.
“Everyone said what we have done is not possible,” Maki says. “We need to give consumers best possible information at the right time. They see this as a super efficient way to do it. Proving that this would happen was our first major obstacle.”
In July, PokitDok raised $1.3 million in seed funding from investors including Charles River Ventures, led by George Zachary. Also joining the round were Jonathan Sposato, Geoff Entress, the Ballast Fund, Albert Prast, Jason Portnoy, and Zach Zeitlin. The Menlo Park-based company has grown to 12 employees.
Going forward, Maki and Tanner will keep an eye on how health legislation changes as well as how state insurance exchanges are set up to see if there is an opportunity to help consumers with their insurance needs. “We do see insurance companies as ultimately participating in PokitDok down the road,” she says. “We could show them as one of your options.”
They’ve also had some interest from insurance companies, with “occasional calls from Blue Cross and Blue Shield curious about what we’re up to.”
But for now, PokitDok is focused on its original mission—helping consumers become more informed about their health options. “I’m a consumer. I’m trying to make what I wish I’d had when I went through that,” Maki says. “What I really want as a consumer is to find the best health for me.”


text:
There is good news for the southwest Donegal area as well as for the workers and customers of Snáth Kilcarra Teo., Cill Charthaigh in the announcement by Údarás na Gaeltachta that the business is to be taken over by a group of businesspeople with the assistance of Údarás na Gaeltachta.
Údarás na Gaeltachta has approved a package of assistance for the group which include:
to enable them to take over and develop the Snáth Kilcarra business in Cill Charthaigh, Co. Donegal. Údarás executives and the Board and management of the company had been actively seeking new owners for the company for some time. Údarás Chief Executive Pádraig Ó hAoláin said “we are very pleased that our efforts in securing new owners for the Snáth Kilcarra business have been successful and that this long established Donegal yarn brand is being secured into the future.” The new company aims to continue to supply the knitwear and weaving industries in Donegal and throughout Ireland, develop new products over time, as well as developing export markets. It is expected that it will employ upwards of 25 people over the next three years.


text:
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands sold more than 3.7 million copies in its first full day on sale, Blizzard announced today.
That topped the company's previous day-one high, Diablo 3's 3.5 million copies sold upon release in 2012, and prompted Blizzard to label it the fastest-selling PC game of all time, based on internal sales figures and "reports from key distributors."
Beyond the sell-through number, Blizzard said the eighth full expansion to World of Warcraft also led to some of the strongest engagement figures the game has posted in the past decade. Specifically, "the game reached and has sustained its highest number of players on monthly or longer-term subscriptions compared to the same period ahead of and following any WoW expansion in the past decade, in both the West and the East."
Beyond that, Blizzard reported that players have combined to spend more time in World of Warcraft this year-to-date than in the same stretch of time for any of the past 10 years, with total play time nearly double what it was at this point last year.


text:
SG Edge, an Indian machine manufacturer and supplier based in Noida, has partenered with Korea-based Dilli to represent its digital label press in India. The digital press, NeoPicasso 350W2, was displayed jointly by SG Edge and Dilli at Labelexpo India 2018.
“We are one of the biggest digital press manufacturers in Korea, now looking to expand our business worldwide. India is a growing market and the market here for digital labels is growing too. We have partnered with Noida-based SG Edge to sell our digital label press in India. SG Edge has a very good market experience and we hope to work together to find innovative and effective ways to increase our footprint in India,” said Geun-Sung Lee, general manager, Dilli.
The UV inkjet digital press, NeoPicasso 350W2, comes with web width up to 324 mm and can print CMYK + white. With 1200 dpi print resolution, the press also provides an option for variable data printing.
Speaking about the experience at the Labelexpo India 2018, Lee said, “It was a very good event and we were able to meet some serious customers.”
–Dev Kumar Dutta


text:
Capcom announced earlier today at E3 all new DLC for their Xbox One launch exclusive Dead Rising 3. Exhausting their entire wordbank, they’ve cheekily titled it Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus APLHA calling back to some of the tiresome Street Fighter titles of days gone by. We’ll just all it Super Dead Rising and call it a day thankyouverymuch.
Anyways this whole post really is all about the new Original Soundtrack to the game. And you can download it right now thanks to Sumthing!
From the release:
“The Super Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix soundtrack explores classic sounds, memorable themes, and frenetic beats, mixing them all together into an arcade soundscape of old and new”, revealed Oleksa Lozowchuk, Dead Rising composer and soundtrack producer. “It’s music made to strike a chord of Capcom nostalgia and put a smile on your face!”
If you were a big fan of beating down zany zombies while dressed as Chun-Li then now this OST should keep you pumped. And free is a pretty sweet deal. Enjoy!


text:
Australia's largest cattle company, AACo, has turned its finances around, delivering an after-tax profit of $31.3 million just a year after it announced $148.4 million in losses.
However, the size of its herd has fallen nearly 20 per cent to around 346,000 head, which is understood to be the smallest numbers AACo has controlled since joining the ASX in 2001.
- The net profit of Australia's biggest cattle company improves nearly $180 million in the past year
- AACo's cattle herd drops nearly 20 per cent to 346,000 head
- Its abattoir near Darwin continues to cost it millions, nearly two years since its closure
The company also flagged "uncertain times" ahead because of COVID-19 and some immediate challenges from China's snap import ban on four Australian abattoirs.
AACo delivered a statutory EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) profit of $80.1 million, a 144 per cent change from the previous year's loss of $182.7 million.
It said the turnaround was "largely attributable to the $254.6 million swing in the value of livestock herds", with live cattle markets recovering from sharp price declines last financial year.
"The whole company is really starting to come together well," chief executive Hugh Killen said.
"The issue we've got is the strong performance this year is probably going to be overshadowed by COVID-19 and the pandemic."
Chinese suspension of beef plants
Earlier this month, China announced import suspensions on three abattoirs in Queensland and one in New South Wales.
AACo said the Chinese market represented about 15 per cent of its total meat sales and that one of the banned abattoirs was responsible for nearly two-thirds of those sales.
Mr Killen said the company was confident it could redirect that meat into other export markets such as South Korea and the United States.
"AACo's global footprint and customer base enables us to divert product to other markets if required," he said.
"About half of what we put in China is trim, and the trim market in the US is very buoyant at the moment given the challenges they're having in processing, ironically enough, so there's opportunities to redivert to markets like that."
AACo's meat sales fell slightly year on year to $229.6 million.
Sending more beef into supermarkets
As hospitality venues around the world closed due to coronavirus restrictions, Mr Killen said AACo moved to increase sales to the retail sector and had been working hard to find markets for its high-end Wagyu products.
"While food service remains an important sales channel for the business, in this current environment we are increasing focus into retail sales channels while protecting the brand development made to date in the food service sector," he said.
"Retail has always been a strong component of AACo's channel mix, representing approximately 40 to 50 per cent of overall meat sales in 2019-20.
"We are now doing further work with our distributors and wholesalers to accelerate our supply of products into some of the world's largest supermarkets, gourmet butchers and direct to consumers online."
In April, AACo reduced the salaries of its managing director and chief executive by 20 per cent for three months, as well as cutting the board of directors' fees by 20 per cent over the same period.
A number of sales and marketing staff were temporarily stood down, and corporate staff were asked to reduce their working week to four days from May 1 to July 31.
Darwin abattoir still costing millions
It has been nearly two years since AACo closed the doors of its Livingstone abattoir near Darwin, but the $100 million facility continues to cost the company.
Operating costs there were more than $5.8 million over the past 12 months, a sum Mr Killen said he was keen to see the back of.
"It's important to note the abattoir is not mothballed, it's just not operational," he said.
"We've had people on site doing capital improvements, so we can start it up again if we need too ... and there are some other costs attributed to all of our licensing.
"It's a number we don't particularly want to carry with it, so it would be good to get it up and running."
Mr Killen said the company had been in "discussions with a number of parties" about how to get the abattoir back up and running.
"While our herd numbers will probably go up again in the next little while, AACo's big mega numbers before my time was probably too many," he said.
"So I think we will moderate around these numbers, but we'll see what happens."


text:
MOTOR equipment supplier Gott Technical Services is generating excitement once again as North East mechanics eagerly await a special visit from the glamorous ‘Gott’s Girls’.
To celebrate the completion of Gott’s five-part video demonstration series aptly named ‘Gott’s Guides’, its very own Charlie’s Angels will be making surprise visits to garages across the region to hand deliver complimentary copies of the informative DVDs.
The video series, which has already received in excess of 2000 views on YouTube, was created to help garage owners and mechanics make better informed choices when purchasing equipment and toprovide essential ‘how to’ safety information.
Gott Technical Services Managing Director Ian Gott said: “I’m delighted to see the video guides now complete after just finalizing our fifth edit, and so far they’ve proven to be extremely popular.
“Communicating product information is an essential part of the buying process but it doesn’t need to be done in a dull or dreary way, so we’ve made the video guides as interactive andentertaining as possible.
“We also wanted to make every part of these videos as fun as possible and that’s why we’ve hired our fabulous Gott’s Girls and guys to hand deliver them to garages.”
The video series opens with a demonstration on how to safely maintain a two and four post vehicle lift and the second video dicsusses the Rotary SPOA40NB two post vehicle lift. There is also a special three-part Trademaster MOT Bay mini series which talks the mechanic through the product specifications of the Trademaster lift and jacking beam, headlamp tester and brake tester.
Gott, which supplies, services and maintains MoT and body shop equipment to the car service and vehicle repair industry, currently has more than 500 active clients from small garages to large multi-site motor retail groups. It also operates as a consultancy in the public transport, haulage, local government and emergency service sectors
To view the entire five-part video series for free on YouTube visit: www.youtube.com/gotttechnicalsvces
Viewers are encouraged to complete an online survey about the Video Guides to pass on their thoughts and feedback. The survey can be accessed via: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VideoGuides and all comments are appreciated.
For more information: www.gottservices.com


text:
It appears that Apple is for the first time considering making significant changes to iOS and the App Store as a result of intense pressure from the European Union and other governments around the world. The company intends to make even more iOS features, such as the browser engine and NFC, and access to third-party apps.
Apple has been working to make its private APIs—application programming interfaces—available to outside developers and applications. This would have a significant impact on how iOS functions.
One of the major limitations that may soon be eliminated has to do with browser engines. Currently, WebKit, Apple’s engine for running Safari, is a requirement for all iOS apps. However, Apple is already working to make iOS accessible to other browser engines in order to comply with the new Digital Markets Act in the European Union.
The report also states that additional private iOS APIs will eventually be made available to the public. The iPhone’s NFC chip and additional camera controls are accessible through this. Despite the fact that third-party applications can currently read NFC tags. Apple forbids them from functioning as a rival to Apple Pay. The EU has already criticized Apple for only allowing its own services to use the NFC technology in the iPhone.
Apple is reportedly considering further opening up the Find My network to third-party accessories in addition to these changes. Competitors like Tile assert that there are still numerous drawbacks when compared to Apple’s own accessories like AirTag. Despite the fact that third-party manufacturers can already make their accessories compatible with the Find My network.


text:
ReTargeter.com recently released a social media retargeting platform called ReTargeter Social that helps brands target their biggest online advocates, find key influencers and embed social media content into ads.
Retargeting involves placing a cookie on the computers of people who visit your site. Then as they continue browsing the Web, you can serve them ads. It’s like following around someone who took an interest in your brand as a way to convert him or her into a customer.It lets you segment out the top social influencers who are engaged with your brand and retarget them with specific ads and rewards. For instance, you can hit them with messages like “ReTweet this and win” or “Like us on Facebook and get 20% off.”
ReTargeter Social also uses a unique algorithm to help you identify, reach and retarget key social influencers and their audiences. It works by indexing the top Twitter users within an industry and serving them a combination of e-mail and display advertising.
It can also take your static online banner ads and make them interactive by including a live Twitter feed, or Facebook wall posts, videos, polls or forum comments.
ReTargeter says it only takes a few clicks and two lines of code to implement its Social platform. If you already have creative to use, you can be up and running in under an hour.
It starts at $500 a month and includes the cost of the ads, as well as the ReTargeter fee.


text:
Exploding cellphones are not an urban legend. In fact, another exploding mobile phone battery has killed another man (yes really). The incident, which happened over the weekend in China, is the second time in a bit over a year that a cell phone battery has exploded and killed someone. The last time that a cell phone battery exploded and killed someone, the force of the blast broke their ribs.
In stark contrast to the United States, where mobile phones for kids seem routine, and cell phones designed for children are seeing increasing marketshare, the government of France has decided to ban cell phones for children.
Every day, dozens of people realize “Oh no, I’ve lost my cellphone!” A lost cellphone or a missing or stolen cellphone can be more than just an inconvience. Particularly these days, with email, text messages, and more on one’s cell phone, losing a cell phone can be a big security issue.
A new free service has the answer to avoiding talking to people you really have to call, but would rather not actually talk to. It’s called Slydial, and it deposits you directly into their voicemail, without their phone ever ringing.


text:
As it typically does with many major Google algorithm updates, Searchmetrics has released of the top losers from the Google Penguin 2.0, which the search engine rolled out this week. Based on this list, some big brands like Dish and Salvation Army were hit, as were some porn sites, travel sites and game sites. Even the Educational Testing Service was hit.
“My first analysis shows that many thin sites, sites with thin links and especially untrusted links face the problem,” says Searchmetrics founder and CTO Marcus Tober. “In addition, some small business sites were hit because they haven’t taken SEO serious enough.”
Here’s the list:
Back in April of 2012, after Penguin 1.0, Searchmetrics put out one of these lists. Google’s Matt Cutts spoke out about it, saying it was inaccurate, because there had also been a Panda update, and the list was likely more indicative of that. The fact is that Google puts out algorithm changes every day, and any of these can potentially play into analysis like this.
In fact, Google recently transitioned Panda into a rolling update, meaning it is being pushed out regularly, rather than coming in big waves like it used to. We’re not trying to discredit Searchmetrics’ list here. It’s just always best to take these things with a grain of salt.
It’s worth noting that Searchmetrics put out an updated list after Cutts’ comments.


text:
Battlefield 3 Premium Service Outed
Update: An EA representative has commented on the leak, telling us: "Looks like the excitement for Battlefield Premium cannot be contained. For details, please visit Battlefield.com on June 4."
It seems a slip up on the European PlayStation Blog revealed early details of EA's rumored Battle 3 premium service. According to reports, the service will launch on Monday, June 4 for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.
Pricing across North America, Australia and Europe are listed as $49,99, £39.99, €49.99, and AU $79.99. A purported fact sheet for the service also surfaced, which says users get access to all future Battlefield 3 expansions two weeks early, unique in-game content, and additional bonus content.
For now, this information is still unconfirmed. Game Informer has reached out to Electronic Arts for comment.


text:
The percentage of online retail sales made through tablets and smartphones fell in the first quarter of 2016, the first decrease since etailing association IMRG’s records began in 2010.
Just under half (49.6%) of online retail sales were completed through mobile devices during the period, down from 51.3% in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to the IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmark.
There was also a slight dip in the percentage of visits to online retail sites through mobile devices, down from 65.6% to 64.6%.
IMRG said the fall was likely due to the difference in growth rates between smartphone and tablet use. Sales through smartphones were up 83% in April, while through tablet devices they were up just 3%.
Tina Spooner, chief information officer at IMRG, said: “Back in 2010 mobile devices accounted for less than 1% of online retail sales and this increased rapidly over a few years to exceed 50% in the last quarter.
“However, these latest results appear to track the effects of some displacement activity we are seeing in relation to sales made through mobile devices.
“While the majority of these sales still come through tablets, shoppers are increasingly using their smartphones in situations where they would previously have used a tablet – the screen sizes have become larger, retailers have focused on optimising the experience for smartphone users and consumers are becoming increasingly confident in using these devices for a wide range of activities.”


text:
In a statement Airbnb Inc stated it was hiring former Apple designer Jony Ive and his firm to design new Airbnb products and services, under a multi-year contract agreement,
Incidentally, Ive was a close creative collaborator with Apple Inc’s co-founder Steve Jobs and has spent nearly three decades in Cupertino leading the design of the candy-colored iMacs that enabled Apple to re-emerge from its near death in the 1990s; he was also part of the design team of the iPhone.
He left Apple in 2019.
Airbnb also announced that Chief Design Officer Alex Schleifer would be moving to a part-time role and that the company would be looking for a permanent replacement, said a source source close to Airbnb.
Airbnb’s deal with Ive and his firm, LoveFrom, comes at a time when it is trying to raise nearly $3 billion through its initial public offering.
The company’s IPO is expected to be one of the largest and most anticipated U.S. stock market listings this year, which so far has been a blockbuster for IPOs.