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|XBOX 360||Europe USA|
By Ishaan . September 4, 2012 . 10:00am
Microsoft have released a developer diary video for Halo 4, that discusses the making of the game, including aspects like the world, voice-actors, motion-capture, and so on. You can watch it below:
Halo 4 will be released on November 6th. Microsoft have a special Xbox 360 bundle planned for release at the same time, which you can see here.


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Sales of new vehicles in Brazil fell in February, manufacturers told Reuters on Thursday, due to recent prices hikes, continued weakness of the economy, and fewer working days than in the same month last year.
The Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea), which represents key players like General Motors, Volkswagen and Fiat, reportedly said 104,800 new cars, buses, and trucks were sold in February, 11.3% less than in the same month in 2003 and 2.5% less than in January.
The association told the news agency there were fewer working days this February because Brazil’s pre-Lenten Carnival holiday had fallen in the month –Carnival fell in March last year.
Reuters noted that vehicle manufacturers raised their prices earlier this year to help compensate for increases in steel prices and prices may be reviewed again in March, as February was the last month the sector enjoyed a tax break on production.
Anfavea reportedly said manufacturers produced 154,600 vehicles in February, 1.8% less than in January but on a par with the same month last year.
The association also repeated its prediction of a 7.8% rise in vehicle sales this year, the report added.
Reuters said vehicle manufacturers saw sales drop 3.4% in 2003 as demand suffered from a hike in Central Bank interest rates in the first half of the year after Brazil’s gross domestic product shrank 0.2% in 2003, its worst result in more than a decade.
The Central Bank slashed interest rates by 10% in the second half of 2003 to 16.5% and predicts the economy will grow about 3.5% this year, the news agency added.

domain: news


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A policy limiting cars per family will need the Centre and the Delhi government to take on board the SC’s observation that the capital’s pollution levels require measures much more “substantive” than odd-even, which the bench critiqued as “half-baked”. If govts follow through what the court observed, Delhi will join a few Chinese cities in capping car buying.
Logistics forms the backbone of any modern economy and with the advent of ecommerce, demand for the logistics sector is bound to grow manifold, increasing the pressure on the existing infrastructure.
Recently, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman claimed that the mindset of millennials is one of the reasons for the drop in auto sector sales. ETAuto talked to the millennials to know their preferences of making a choice between ride-hailing services and buying their own car. Watch this video to know more.Ride Sharing vs Owning a Car: What millennials say
In a car leasing scheme, you can own a car by paying a fixed monthly fee, without having to worry about down payment or the hassle of resale when you want to switch to another model.
Nirala said around 42,000 persons would be provided financial assistance under the scheme.
About 50 per cent of search in auto space came from regional languages, while smaller cities making a strong contribution.


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As summer 2021 comes to an end, TravelBrands Cruises by Encore is offering agents’ clients a special offer as well as a little incentive for agents as well.
For agents looking to make their clients’ bookings a little more special, TravelBrands is offering free perks that include:
... more ›
Sandals Resorts is launching a new series of live, virtual training sessions that will debut on Fri., Sept. 17, 2021 with its highly-anticipated new resort in Curaçao (opening April 2022) as the first featured topic.
Created exclusively for the Canadian market, “Sandals and Beaches... more ›
Coconut Bay Beach Resort & Spa is celebrating the return of Canadian flights and travellers to Saint Lucia with up to triple booking bonuses as well as a free stay exclusively for Canadian travel agents as part of its CBAYREWARD$ program.
For every 7-night booking from now through Aug.... more ›
Baxter Media invites all travel professionals to attend an invigorating webinar with the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism on August 26 at 1 p.m. (EST).
The Cayman Islands has announced a plan for safely reopening the destination to international leisure tourism. Tune in for an update... more ›
Riviera River Cruises is gearing up to welcome travel advisors at the Cruise Lines International Association’s (CLIA) Cruise360 taking place at the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida from July 27 to Aug. 1, 2021.
During the event, Riviera will offer travel advisors the... more ›
Deals For Canadians, Incentives For Travel Advisors On Offer
While it was forced to suspend its entire 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rocky Mountaineer is back and, as you can imagine, is delighted to be able to get back to doing what they do best, which is welcoming guests on its trains.
This month, Rocky Mountaineer will be operating a... more ›
Last Thursday, Air Canada and the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) jointly hosted a webinar for all interested travel professionals. We had travel agents and consultants from all across Canada in attendance.
Acting as MC for the webinar was Mark Hashimoto, Specialty Sales Manager... more ›
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is gearing up for its inaugural Virtual Product Showcase for Canadian travel advisors.
Set for July 20 from 1 pm to 3 pm ET, the event will provide advisors with the opportunity to get timely destination updates, connect with travel suppliers and enjoy some... more ›
Ocean Hotels – which operates Sea Breeze Beach House, South Beach Hotel and, the soon to open, all-inclusive O2 Beach Club & Spa in Barbados – has launched a new rewards program for travel agents; along with chances to win trips and cash.
The new program awards agents 2 points for... more ›
Agents can win with Rail Europe.
The company has just released a new training module on its e-learning platform, The Rail Agent Course – which is designed to help agents learn about the Eurail pass in all its forms.
And Rail Europe is offering agents an added bonus.
For those... more ›


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It is no longer news that Patricia Technologies is a thought leader in the Crypto & Blockchain space in Africa and is gradually taking over the world at large. Asides from being Africa’s largest Crypto exchange by transaction volume, Patricia technologies is also championing the cause of increasing Crypto adoption by powering everyday transactional use cases one Crypto transaction at a time.
In the space of 5 years, Patricia has greatly increased the number of Nigerians & Africans who are crypto aware and has continued to foster Crypto & blockchain education amongst enthusiasts.
On May 21st, 2022, the COO at Patricia, Chris Izu Okafor bore the exchanges’ Crypto & blockchain education torch to Techpount Africa’s Blockchain Summit #TABS22. In a truly insightful impactful keynote speech delivered on “ Africa’s Future in the Web3Eera”. Chris touched on the possibilities, opportunities, and economic benefits that lie in Web3 for the African creatives, tech enthusiasts, and the general public.
Moderating the panel discussion on “Building a Career in the Blockchain Technology Space, was Patricia Technologies’ Brand Manager Rachael Akalia; conversations had by the panelists – Oluchi Enebeli (Blockchain Engineer, Founder of Web3Ladies, & Co-founder Crevatal), Njokwu Emmanuel (Founder & CEO, Lazerpay), Ayodeji Awosika (Founder & Program Director, Web3bridge & Blokeducare), and Hillary Omitogun (Web3 UX Research Lead, Nestcoin) touched on the necessity of building a skillset when pivoting into the blockchain space, creating a value flow system and equally backing up one’s effort with solid networking which is made achievable by joining communities.
Patricia is an alternative payment solutions company that facilitates the easy use of cryptocurrencies for everyday transactions.
Patricia prides itself on innovation, skills, and expertise with which they deliver successful projects in line with other service offerings, which include buying, selling, the ability to store, spend and swap cryptocurrencies, as well as the Patricia Refill services which cater to everyday activities like airtime purchase, cable subscriptions all with the use of cryptocurrencies. By harnessing the intrinsic power of Blockchain technology, Patricia has set out to make Crypto easy for mankind, hereby creating a new and sustainable path for the present and future generations.
For more information & inquiries visit www.mypatricia.co


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Apple has taken down its online store as it does every year in preparation for the unveiling of the new iPhone, Apple Watch and potentially other products later in the day. Apple is expected to unveil three new iPhones and the series 4 Apple Watch with a bigger display, other rumours about new iPads and Mac’s are rife so we will only have to wait a few more hours. You can watch the event live here.
Sponsored by Rubber Duck Hosting
According to alleged new leaks Apple will be calling the 6.1 inch iPhone “iPhone Xr” and will come in a total of six colours, Black, White, Red, Yellow, Coral and Blue. The storage sizes will be 64GB, 128GB and 256GB.


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Foxnews | Reports of a hidden iPhone feature that silently tracks its users' whereabouts prompted widespread unease from smart phone customers Wednesday. Now, Capitol Hill lawmakers are demanding answers from Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden on Wednesday released findings that Apple's iOS 4 software automatically tracks its users' locations, and stores that information in a file on iPhones and iPads. Privacy watchdogs say the unencrypted data could easily be compromised by third parties or hackers, especially when the devices are connected to a computer to "sync" music and other media.
"Anyone who gains access to this single file could likely determine the location of a user's home, the businesses he frequents, the doctors he visits, the schools his children attend, and the trips he has taken," Minnesota Democratic Senator Al Franken warned in a letter to Jobs. "There are numerous ways in which this information could be abused by criminals and bad actors."
Franken, recently named chair of a congressional subcommittee on privacy and technology, hinted that the iPhone software controversy could factor into hearings on Capitol Hill. "I haven't announced exactly when our first hearing is, but I will announce that very soon. And I certainly have been looking at mobile phones and privacy," Franken told home-state FOX affiliate KMSP.
Franken is asking Jobs to explain how and why Apple collects location data, citing concerns that "millions of children and teenagers" could be exposed to danger because of the tracking feature.


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Temporary 'community stores' to open at Lake Street, Broadway Ave Cub locations
[anvplayer video=”4930064″ station=”998122″]
Cub has announced it will rebuild its Broadway Avenue and Lake Street grocery stores damaged during recent unrest in Minneapolis.
In an update Friday, a store spokesman said while the work is being done to repair the stores, "temporary community stores" will be set up at each location.
Those pop-up, 13,000-square-foot community stores will sell fresh produce, meat, dairy and over-the-counter medicines.
At the Lake Street location, contractors have been working since last week, building shelving and moving refrigeration equipment into the space. Cub is planning to have the pop-up open on Wednesday, July 6th.
A spokesperson said the company is still assessing the damage at its Broadway Avenue store and would have a temporary option in place by the end of July.
Those wanting a more traditional store option will have the chance to take a free shuttle service to an alternative Cub store in the area. Those who visit the Broadway Avenue location will be shuttled to the Cub store on 36th Avenue in Crystal and those who visit the Lake Street location will be shuttled to the Cub store on New Brighton Boulevard in Minneapolis.
The shuttles will run seven days a week, picking up customers on the hour between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
"Cub is actively involved in our communities and it is our responsibility to roll up our sleeves and find solutions to help meet the needs of our neighbors, family and friends while our Broadway and Lake Street stores are under construction," Cub CEO Mike Stigers said in a statement. "We know that even though these two stores are closed, life events, activities and special occasions continue to take place and the community needs its neighborhood grocer to be there providing access to essential food and grocery items."
Meanwhile, as the rebuilding process takes place, the Cub spokesman said there will be community input sessions held, to allow local residents the option to share ideas and suggestions for what they want the new stores to bring to the neighborhoods.
Additional information on those sessions is forthcoming, the spokesman said.
Community members, like Renee Williams, said it's a relief to learn the grocer is planning on coming back.
"Not having this grocery store here is a disservice to the community," Williams said standing outside of the boarded-up Broadway Avenue location.
She explained many people in the North Minneapolis neighborhood the stores serve have been forced to turn to food pantries and other distribution avenues for essentials.
"We don’t want things to go back to the way they were," Williams said. "We want them to be better. And in order for it to be better, the service has to be here. The people have to be here."


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No kidding! RIM has officially announced the acquisition of TAT (The Astonishing Tribe) and part of the deal will be that the brains behind The Astonishing Tribe will work under the umbrella of Research in Motion. RIM is obviously excited about using this talent to enhance their PlayBook and Blackberry smartphone platforms and we are excited about some major changes in the regular looks of Blackberry interface that RIM has been using ever since my memory can recollect.
The Astonishing Tribe has been famous in working for different mobile and embedded platforms which has resulted in many astonishing user interfaces that have easily lured smartphone users. The design technology provided by The Astonishing Tribe is currently being used by variety of industries that includes the likes of consumer electronic giants and rulers of automotive sector.
One should not forget the contribution of The Astonishing Tribe towards the original Android interface that has become the root of what we see in every version of Android in literally every Android phone that is out there in the market. For a change, we are hoping that we will now get to see a lot different Blackberry user interface in upcoming days.


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Cadbury gives two fingers to Nestle by blocking its bid to trademark KitKat... and it could introduce a rival 'breakable' bar
- IPO rules that the bar's distinctive shape cannot be trademarked in UK
- Decision leaves the way clear for Cadbury to launch similar chocolate bar
- KitKat shape already trademarked in the EU, leaving tricky legal situation
For more than three-quarters of a century, a four-fingered chocolate bar meant you were eating a KitKat.
But shoppers could now be offered an alternative after a legal battle over whether the shape of the snack is a trademark.
Nestlé wanted to register the four-finger KitKat design in a bid that was resisted by Cadbury.
Iconic design: But Nestle has lost an attempt to trademark the four-fingered shape in the UK
However the Intellectual Property Office ruled against the Swiss firm on the grounds that consumers identified KitKats primarily by their bright red packaging.
It said the reason the chocolate-covered wafers were divided into fingers was to make them easier to break up and eat, making it a technical issue, rather than one of branding.
Furthermore, the ruling pointed out that the four-finger shape was covered up by the wrapper so any imitator would not confuse consumers.
This means Cadbury or another competitor could introduce a rival to the KitKat, first made as the Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp in 1935.
But the ruling is complicated by the fact that Nestlé does have protection for the four-finger design at European level after defeating another challenge by Cadbury.
A Nestlé spokesman said the firm was considering whether to appeal against the IPO decision.
Rival firm Cadbury, maker of Dairy Milk, said it welcomed the ruling by the Intellectual Property Office
He said: ‘KitKat was launched over 75 years ago and is one of the most iconic shapes of any chocolate bar, recognised around the world.
'In December last year, Nestlé won a EU ruling on the validity of their EU wide trademark registration for the four-finger KitKat shape so we are perplexed and disappointed with this national decision by the UK Intellectual Property Office.’
‘The UK is the birthplace of KitKat and we are assessing whether to appeal.’
Mondelez International, the new name of Cadbury’s American owners, welcomed the ruling but said they had no ‘immediate’ plans to launch a similar product in the UK.
FROM ROWNTREE'S CHOCOLATE CRISP TO THE CHUNKY: KITKAT HISTORY
Have a break... KitKat was initially called Chocolate Crisp and was launched in London in 1935
Initially called Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp, the four-fingered wafer crisp was launched in London and the South East in September 1935.
Renamed KitKat Chocolate Crisp two years later, it became KitKat after the Second World War. Noone is sure where the name KitKat came from, but its thought London's famous KitCat (aka KitKat) Club of the 1920s may have been an influence.
Within two years of launch, KitKat was Rowntree's leading product, a position that has remained unchanged.
During the Second World War it was marketed as a valuable wartime food with the slogan 'What Active People Need'.
KitKats have been produced in a red and white wrapper for most of their history apart from a brief spell from 1945-47 when it was covered in plain rather than milk chocolate because of a shortage of milk after the war - it then came in a blue wrapper.
It was first advertised on television in 1957 and the famous 'dancing panda' advertisement came 30 years later in 1987, followed by the 'Have a break' series of advertisements in the 1990s.
The two-fingered KitKat was launched at the same time as the four-fingered one, and the KitKat Chunky was launched in 1999.
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- June 9, 2022
New study identifies hundreds of harmful chemicals used in food contact materials
A new peer-reviewed study published by the Food Packaging Forum and others has found that food contact materials could contain up to 388 harmful chemicals, which should be phased out urgently.
The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, identifies 388 Food Contact Chemicals of Concern (FCCoC) that could be used in food contact materials. Of these 388:
(*) 352 are known to be carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic (CMRs);
(*) 22 are endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs);
(*) 32 are chemicals with persistence and bioaccumulation-related hazards.
CONTINUE READING ON chemtrust.org


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Debit transactions have become a more important part of banks' payment mix, and that is not likely to change even after the economy recovers.
Fiserv Inc.'s debit transactions have climbed sharply this year as consumers shift away from credit cards, and the payments company says its bank customers are issuing more debit cards.
In addition, younger consumers have grown up using debit and other forms of electronic payments, and will be more important debit customers for banks as they start to account for a larger share of the country's purchases. As a result, the changes occurring now in the payments market are going to have long-term impact.
"We don't think the debit trend is a temporary trend," Jeffery W. Yabuki, Fiserv's president and chief executive, said during a call with analysts Tuesday to discuss the company's third-quarter results.
He said that Generation Y, adults who are in their early 30s or younger, account today for 14% of all U.S. transactions by volume, but that figure will grow to about 40% over the next five years. This group "significantly favors debit," he said, and the banks that manage to attract them as customers will earn significant transaction fees from their purchases.
"Those who have planted the most debit flags will get the benefit of that macro tailwind," he said.
Patricia Hewitt, the director of debit advisory services at Mercator Advisory Group Inc., a payments research firm in Waltham, Mass., said Gen Y's purchasing habits could make them more lucrative to banks than their parents are.
"The younger generation in general prefers electronic payments," Hewitt said. Unlike the baby-boom generation, which came of age writing checks at the checkout counter and have had to change their payment habits, for Generation Y, "debit is something that has been present for them since the start of their financial lives."
The Brookfield, Wis., company signed 58 new debit customers in the third quarter, and won 164 new clients in the first nine months of the year.
Yabuki said debit transaction volume increased sequentially, both from the second quarter to the third, and in each month during the third quarter. Total transaction growth rates in the third quarter were the highest this year, he said, though he would not provide detailed volume statistics.
Fiserv serves mainly small and midsize financial companies, which Yabuki said are "earlier on the debit maturity curve than some of the larger institutions."
That means these banks are still developing rewards programs and other tools to encourage customers to use debit cards, and increase the banks' transaction revenues.
John Kraft, an analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co., said debit and other types of electronic payments are becoming a bigger part of Fiserv's business.
Fiserv's payments operations accounted for $474 million of adjusted revenue, on par with the $475 million that came from its financial institution segment, which includes core processing products and services.
"Payments is going to be the growth vehicle for these guys," Kraft said. "Debit is going to be particularly noteworthy."
Fiserv's net income grew 47% in the third quarter, to $115 million, though revenue fell 5%, to $992 million, compared with a year earlier.
The company is also taking steps to beef up its online bill-payment capabilities. On Wednesday it announced a suite of "feature packs" for its hosted CheckFree RXP service, enabling banks to offer their customers bill-pay widgets, tools for managing fee-based payments, and enhanced electronic bill activation and storage services.
Two weeks ago the company announced new e-mail and mobile capabilities for its Biller Direct HV service.
And while Yabuki noted that online bill-pay adoption is low — estimating that only two of the average of 14 monthly household bills are paid electronically — he said payments made through banks, rather than through biller sites, will eventually become the dominant model.
"There's plenty of room for everyone to survive," he said. "We believe the consolidator model will win over time, and obviously that's where we're investing the majority of our resources."


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Thursday, February 3, 2011
NAPA Hispanic Effort Ties Auto Parts To Pro Soccer
Auto parts distributor NAPA has a customer base that mostly comprises the people who fix cars for a living rather than people who fix their own cars for pleasure or savings. But the company is doing a number of Hispanic-market programs this year that look a lot like pure B-to-C grassroots campaigns. The reason, says Eduardo Perez, president of PM Publicidad, NAPA's Hispanic marketing agency since 2003, is that there are a lot of mechanics, professional and amateur gear heads who happen to be Hispanic.
"Hispanics over-index for do-it-yourself and, perhaps more importantly for NAPA, they over-index in the automotive service technical professions," he says. "Hispanics represent 12% of the working population in the U.S., but at least 17% of mechanics are Hispanic." According to Perez, only about 30% of NAPA business is retail, the other 70% is wholesale, "so their biggest consumers are professionals in places like shops and vehicle fleets."
Read full article
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AOC Was Right About Amazon's HQ2
Her critics have it all wrong.
Ever since Amazon backed out of putting part of its second headquarters in Queens, New York, a bunch of dudes (and it’s almost always literally dudes) have been blaming Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the deal’s demise. The latest is very rich Republican donor Stephen Ross (yes, the Trump-loving Equinox guy):
Q: Was that a mistake when AOC and her supporters, I guess, essentially made the case that Amazon wasn’t going to put its second headquarters here?
ROSS: Tremendously. I mean, who is she really representing? Herself, I think, and her own agenda and her popularity. She’s become, in a very short time, a very powerful person. I think she’s taking us in totally the wrong direction. I think if you ask the people in Queens and New York City, you know, her being against Amazon was probably something that was very detrimental to them and the city. But she wants to be out there, she wants to be up front to take us in a direction that I don’t think America, you know, is ready for or ever will be.
This line of criticism is always dosed with sexism. An entire community of activists and local lawmakers organized against the deal to bring Amazon’s HQ2, as it’s known, to Queens. At least a couple of presidential candidates were also opposed.
All of that gets erased, though, in favor of blaming HQ2’s collapse on the young woman of color who doesn’t even represent the district where the headquarters would have been. She gets labeled a “villain” and portrayed as a self-serving media-monger.
But to be clear, on the merits, AOC and the other HQ2 detractors were right then and are still right today.
To review, Amazon initiated a nation-wide auction in which America’s governors, mayors, and state legislators embarrassed themselves by pledging to throw gobs of money and other stuff at a huge corporation for the promise of some new tech jobs. Many cities, to this day, won’t disclose what they offered CEO Jeff Bezos and co.
After a year-long reality television show-style contest, Amazon decided to split HQ2 between the New York City and Washington, D.C., metro areas, two places that are very much in its interest to have a major presence, with or without subsidies.
But subsidies it would receive, anyway: $3 billion in New York and another roughly $775 million in Virginia.
On a grand scale, New York and every other city never should have played Amazon’s game. Cities shouldn’t be competing on who can toss the most money at a big corporation in the hopes that some benefits trickle down; they should be competing on having the best schools, infrastructure, and quality of life for workers. Criticizing the very existence of this state-versus-state-versus-city competition is spot on.
And then there are the details of the HQ2 package, specifically. A constant nitpick thrown at AOC is that it’s unfair to cite $3 billion as taxpayer money out the door, which could have instead paid for education and subways and whatnot, because some portion of that money would only have been granted if HQ2 actually created new jobs.
That critique is misguided in a couple of ways.
First, it yadda yaddas past the half a billion dollars that would have been spent on infrastructure and reimbursing Amazon for capital costs. That’s quite literally $500 million to Amazon’s benefit that could have been spent on anything else.
More importantly, Amazon’s backers act as if all the promises Amazon made about future jobs and economic growth in the area were ironclad and absolute, and would inevitably benefit local workers.
However, some portion of the jobs created would have gone to workers at other companies, meaning they were just shuffled around, or to existing Amazon employees who relocated. Some portion of the money generated would leak out of the community back to Amazon’s headquarters or Jeff Bezos’ tax haven.
Plus, a willingness to subsidize Amazon means a willingness to forego at least some amount of future revenue for those jobs specifically, compared to other jobs at other companies that have to pay full freight. That gives a competitive edge to Amazon over other local businesses, and means some of the jobs created would be offset by job losses elsewhere as competitors go under or expand more slowly.
Proponents of New York’s HQ2 deal act like it was a proposition without downsides. But as Northern Virginia is making clear, that isn’t true. In the D.C. suburbs where Amazon is headed, home prices have skyrocketed, meaning thousands of families are set to be displaced. Amazon is making the area’s home affordability crisis demonstrably worse, and no one is set to do anything real about it.
When Ocasio-Cortez criticized the effect HQ2 might have on surrounding neighborhoods, it’s exactly this sort of blunt force gentrification she presumably had in mind. And future revenue that would have come from those jobs, but instead was forgone due to tax breaks, can’t be spent mitigating those negative effects.
But the most damning bit of evidence in AOC’s favor is the simple fact that, despite losing out on the oodles of tax breaks that would have come along with HQ2, Amazon is looking to expand in New York City anyway. There are constant headlines to that effect. It’s simply not necessary to subsidize Amazon in the Big Apple. It wants to be there for good business reasons.
Yes, I know those proposed expansions are not in the same location where HQ2 would have been, but, as explained, there’s no guarantee future Amazon workers would have come from there either or that the money would have stayed in that part of the city.
The issue here isn’t just whether Amazon would bring benefits to New York City: It’s who those benefits would, well, benefit, and who has to deal with the negative effects of a major corporation reshaping the local economy. It’s about building a community that is attractive not just to CEOs and corporate boards, but workers and their families. It’s about making investments in broad-based economic growth, not one specific company that can break promises, change plans, or push residents out by making their communities too expensive to live in if you don’t make a six-figure tech salary.
So the sexist response to AOC’s case against Amazon isn’t just sexist. It’s wrong. Now if only Northern Virginia would come to the same conclusion.
Thanks for reading this edition of Boondoggle. If you don’t subscribe already, just click the button below. If you do subscribe, send this around to friends, family, neighbors, or whoever you think might like it, and tell them to sign up too. And if you’d like to pick up a copy of my book, The Billionaire Boondoggle, go here.


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Gupta, the second runner-up at the 2007 Femina Miss India contest who later took to modelling before venturing into films, was attending an event in the city when she held forth on the fashion scene in the country. 'I think India has great models. From Kamal Sidhu to Lakshmi, we have beautiful models in our country,' said Esha, who featured in the Kingfisher swimsuit calendar in 2010.
She said that foreigners often look at India for its beautiful models, and comment on how 'earthy' and 'different' they look. 'In fact, every girl is unique, whether it's a northeasterner, Punjabi or south Indian,' noted Esha, who made her Bollywood debut earlier this year with Mahesh Bhatt's crime thriller 'Jannat 2' opposite Emraan Hashmi and Randeep Hooda. She also featured in Vikram Bhatt's 'Raaz 3', starring with Bipasha Basu and Emraan, and Prakash Jha's 'Chakravyuh', with Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol and Manoj Bajpayee.
Pics: Prabhas, Tamannaah Bhatia at 'Baahubali 2' first look launch at MAMI
'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' photos: Aishwarya, Anushka, Karan get candid at MAMI
Photos: Huma Qureshi, Neha Dhupia and other celebs at MAMI
Flashback: When sexy models sizzled in bikinis at Tokyo fashion show
Photos: Amy Jackson, Daisy Shah at Mumbai airport


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The Export Council for Food Industries will participate in the International Dates Forum in Morocco in its eleventh session, which will be held in Erfoud, from 27 to 30 October 2022, at the invitation of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, with the participation of 5 Egyptian companies producing and exporting dates. During the opening ceremony, the Egyptian pavilion, Mohamed Seddiqi, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests in the Kingdom of Morocco, Maryam bint Mohammed, Minister of Climate Change and Environment in the United Arab Emirates, Dr. Abdel Wahab bin Zayed, Secretary General of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, and the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Kingdom of Morocco and President of the International Date Forum Association With the participation of Eng. Tamim Al-Dawy, Deputy Executive Director of the Export Council for Food Industries, representing the Council.
The importance of Morocco is due to being the largest market receiving Egyptian dates in 2021 with a value of 24 million dollars, representing 48% of the total Egyptian dates exports amounting to 50 million dollars at the end of 2021, and Morocco ranks second in the world in the list of the most important importing countries for dates in 2021. With a value of 202 million dollars, representing 10.4% of the total global imports of dates, Egypt occupies the fourth place among the most important countries exporting dates to Morocco in 2021, representing 12% of the total imports of Moroccan dates with a quantity of 20 thousand tons, according to the data of the World Trade Center of the United Nations.
The participation of Egyptian companies was characterized by displaying date factories in all its forms, in addition to a remarkable distinction in product packaging, which was praised by visitors.


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Attendees will connect with customers, partners and employees in entirely new ways with social and mobile cloud technologies.
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) May 21, 2015 (PRWEB) May 21, 2015
Buan Consulting today announced it is a silver sponsor at the Washington, D.C., stop on the 2015 Salesforce World Tour. The event will be held May 28 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
Buan Consulting is a Registered Salesforce Cloud Alliance Partner and Certified SteelBrick CPQ Partner with expertise in delivering customized cloud-based solutions for government and commercial markets.
“Buan Consulting helps our clients capitalize on social and mobile technologies from Salesforce,” says Dan Buan, CEO – Buan Consulting. “Connecting clients with their employees, partners and products helps them build stronger relationships and refine their service.”
The Salesforce World Tour helps companies tap into the power of social and mobile cloud computing and connect with their customers in a whole new way. Attendees will learn how to connect everything to revolutionize the way they sell, service, market and innovate, creating deeper connections with their customers and unlocking greater potential for growth, innovation and success.
The Salesforce World Tour DC will feature live keynotes from Salesforce.com executives, specialized breakout sessions for sales, marketing, service and support, IT, developers and more, live demos of cutting-edge technologies and real customer success stories from around the world.
- Connect with Salesforce on Facebook: http://facebook.com/salesforce
- Follow Salesforce on Twitter: https://twitter.com/salesforce
- Connect with Buan Consulting on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/buanconsulting
- Follow Buan Consulting on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BuanConsulting
About Buan Consulting
Buan Consulting is an experienced, award-winning team of Salesforce CRM experts headquartered outside Washington, DC, in Annapolis, MD. As a Salesforce Registered Alliance partner, Buan offers strategic consulting and CRM development services and products to businesses looking to streamline processes, track data and garner powerful insights. In eight years, Buan Consulting has implemented over 350 Salesforce solutions for clients in industries spanning the commercial, government, economic development, IT and construction sectors.http://www.buanconsulting.com


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Whether someone is buying a product, attending a concert or renting a truck to move furniture, there’s some level of customer service involved. It’s the one major thread running through nearly every business.
Over the past few decades, we’ve seen some form of chatbots being used by businesses to better enhance the customer service experience. Today, through the use of smart devices and interactive chatbots, businesses are able to gather deeper insight into consumer details at the micro level to provide a higher level of personalized service offerings.
Now while Facebook initially launched its Messenger chat service in 2011, it wasn’t a major hit right away and the social media giant continued to refine its offering. As recently as earlier this month, we reported on the possibility of Facebook’s Messenger losing steam due to fuzzy listed new features and business departures.
Like all new technologies, chatbots are facing challenges. It wasn’t until 2016 that we saw the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI)–enabled chatbots bring about a necessary aspect of the technology via a conversational interface. Through both AI and natural-language processing, computer engineers now have the capability to develop chatbots built directly into the Facebook Messenger chatbot to bring a new level of customer service convenience to their nearly 2 billion active monthly users.
Rather than jumping on the custom app development bandwagon that often performs poorly due to lack of consumer downloads, businesses have been increasingly making the move to partner with Facebook’s Messenger chatbot. Earlier this year, we shared the news of Domino’s Pizza offering its full menu and ATB Financial making it easier to conduct bank transactions through integrating its services with the social media giant.
It seems businesses are being drawn to chatbots like Facebook’s Messenger as an easy way to directly communicate with their core target audiences. Likely, we’ll see more businesses choosing to partner with Facebook’s Messenger chatbot this year over developing their own app.
One surprising industry that’s entering this market is insurance. Once thought of as a stodgy industry that rarely sees innovation, there is a company that’s looking to change that perception.
Cambridge, Mass.–based virtual insurance agent company Insurify announced it’s leading the industry charge with its decision to embrace the chatbot trend. Through its $4.6 million round of funding led by MassMutual Ventures, it hopes to revolutionize the insurance shopping experience with the addition of AI capabilities. First up on the company’s growth plan is its U.S. car insurance comparison tool that’s now being made available via Facebook Messenger. Insurers can now compare insurance quotes and receive recommendations through messaging.
Insurify’s CEO and founder, Snejina Zacharia, shared how this partnership will benefit and evolve the insurance industry. She said, “Our Facebook Messenger virtual agent experience is faster than any website or mobile app and easier to use than any online form. It’s a powerful example of how our technology will work on all other messaging services. Our vision is to continue to enhance the artificial intelligence and data integrations behind our virtual agent and train the algorithms to pass the insurance licensing exam.”
Infusing chat into the customer experience aspect of businesses is likely to help elevate the quality of service provided.
Today’s always-on consumer wants the ability to have access to companies 24/7, whether it’s to share praise, complain or simply make a last-minute purchase. The way in which businesses chose to interact with consumers delegates how their reputation will be managed and whether consumers will remain loyal. Implementing a chatbot feature ensures that people are receiving a high-quality level of service that’s controlled by companies’ chatbot developers at a level that once was not possible.
Removing the shackles of the traditional 9-to-5 hours typical of a telecommunications customer service center, chatbots seem to be leading the charge for a business operations revolution.


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In the complex world of wireless pricing, AT&T just eliminated a popular perk from its premium unlimited data plan. The company retired its top-tier Unlimited Elite plan that charged customers $85 per month for unlimited voice, data and text and included 40 GB of hotspot data and a free subscription to HBO Max. In its place, AT&T introduced a similar plan, called Unlimited Premium, that offers unlimited data, talk and text with 50 GB of hotspot data for $85 per month. The free HBO Max subscription is no longer offered but customers who currently subscribe to the Unlimited Elite plan will not be impacted. NextTV first reported AT&T’s retirement of its Unlimited Elite plan.
The elimination of HBO Max was probably prompted by AT&T’s spin off of HBO parent company WarnerMedia. In April AT&T and Discovery closed on the deal, which called for WarnerMedia to be combined with Discovery. According to Corey Chagnon, general manager at Navi, a company that monitors the daily pricing and promotional activities of wireless carriers, offering free HBO Max to its top tier customers likely was no longer profitable for AT&T.
But competitors Verizon and T-Mobile are still offering free streaming services as a key perk for customers on their premium unlimited data plans. Verizon offers free Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ plus 50 GB of hotspot data with its Get More Unlimited Data plan that costs $90 per month and T-Mobile bundles in a free Netflix subscription plus 40 GB of hotspot data to its Magenta MAX that costs $85 per month.
The operators have carefully crafted these additional perks as a way to upsell customers to the pricier plans and it’s unclear whether AT&T will be at a disadvantage by no longer offering its HBO Max subscription.
AT&T’s changes to its top tier unlimited plan comes just a month after AT&T and Verizon revealed plans to hike the prices of some of their wireless rate plans. Those changes are expected to occur this month.
AT&T CEO John Stankey told investors during the company’s Q1 earnings call that AT&T will raise the prices on some of its older wireless plans by up to $6 per month for single-line users and up to $12 per month for families. To avoid those price hikes, customers can move to the company’s new unlimited plans.
Likewise, Verizon said it is raising the prices on some of its wireless plans but the company called these price hikes “fee adjustments” and said that it will come in the form of an administrative charge that will be about $1.35 per voice line.
Chagnon also said that the big three operators are pushing promotions more than ever right now. He noted that on June 2 Verizon reinstated its $200 switcher credit for customers that switch to Verizon and finance a device, which he said was likely in response to T-Mobile’s $200 switcher credit that it gives customers if they switch to T-Mobile and sign up for the Magenta Max plan.


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What's open and closed in Toronto on Christmas Day 2022 is important information to navigate the city on a day when it seems like the city is paused. December 25 is one of the few days of the year when most of the city shuts its doors. There are, however, a few exceptions.
Here's what's open and closed on Christmas Day 2022 in Toronto.
- Government offices
- Mail delivery
Locations of Summerhill Market will operate on reduced hours on December 25. Photo by Hector Vasquez.
Food and Drink
- Most major grocery chains will be closed on Christmas Day with a few confirmed exceptions listed below
- The Beer Store
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada will be open with reduced hours. Photo by Andrew Williamson.
Malls and Attractions
- Most shopping malls and city attractions like the Distillery Winter Village, and the Toronto Eaton Centre will be closed on December 25 with a few confirmed exceptions listed below.
- CN Tower (301 Front Street West) - 9:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- Movie theatres
- Ontario Place (955 Lake Shore Boulevard. West) - 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
- Outdoor skating rinks like The Bentway and Nathan Phillips Square
- Pacific Mall (4300 Steeles Avenue East) - 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- Ripley's Aquarium of Canada (288 Bremner Boulevard) - 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- Toronto Zoo (2000 Meadowvale Road) - 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.


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New Kingdom Hearts 3D Screens
So, according to a press release sent out by Square Enix, today commemorates the ten-year anniversary that the first Kingdom Hearts game was released in Japan. That is CRAZY. But I guess it must be true. Good God, I’m getting old.
Anyway, these screenshots are taken from the opening CG movie for Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, which is by far one of the silliest game names I’ve heard in a while. Even still, the graphics look really solid.
This has been a pretty Mickey-centric couple of weeks, too. Man. Get outta my grill, Mickey. Also, is it me, or does all that anime-hair look like it’s made of plastic? That must be a bitch to wash.
Here ya go:


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02/20/2013, 09:02 am
Apple manufacturing Partner Foxconn has halted recruitment of new hires until the end of March, but the decision was not made related to production of the iPhone 5.
02/11/2013, 09:02 am
A new series of over a dozen photos that showed up on a Chinese technology website last week are claimed to show both the internals an externals of an unknown iPhone model rolling off the assembly lines at Apple's Taiwanese manufacturing partner Foxconn.
12/27/2012, 03:12 pm
After intense scrutiny of its factory working conditions, Foxconn — which builds most of Apple's products — has made significant changes for its workers in China.
12/19/2012, 10:12 am
A new, questionable rumor claims Apple's manufacturing partner, Foxconn, is testing televisions for the company sized between 46 and 55 inches.
12/07/2012, 08:12 am
Though Apple will be bringing production of one full Mac lineup to the U.S. next year, it's likely that the primary supplier will be Taiwanese company Foxconn, which is planning an expansion to America.
12/06/2012, 10:12 am
As Apple plans to begin building one full line of Macs in the U.S. in 2013, the company's primary assembly partner, Foxconn, is working to expand its operations in America.
12/06/2012, 07:12 am
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has revealed that he plans to bring production of one entire line of Macs to the U.S. next year.
11/08/2012, 10:11 am
Foxconn, Apple's Taiwan-based manufacturing partner, is said to be planning to establish manufacturing plants in America, and is evaluating sites in Los Angeles, Calif., and Detroit, Mich.
11/08/2012, 09:11 am
Despite recent comments from Foxconn admitting difficulty in manufacturing the iPhone 5, there are reportedly signs that Apple's capacity is "much improved."
11/07/2012, 08:11 am
Apple's annual capital expenditures report came in $2.3 billion higher than anticipated, which has led one analyst to believe Apple could have put a significant amount of money into key but struggling supplier Sharp.
11/07/2012, 08:11 am
Crushing demand for the iPhone 5 has proven to be too much for Apple's manufacturing partner, Foxconn, to handle, as it continues to struggle to produce the device.
10/22/2012, 09:10 am
Difficulties in manufacturing the iPhone 5 are expected to affect Apple's gross margins for the near term, as the company is predicted to absorb some of the quality control costs associated with producing its latest handset.
10/17/2012, 08:10 am
An official with Foxconn has explained that Apple's new iPhone 5 is the most difficult device the company has ever had to assemble, leading to constraints in production.
10/16/2012, 08:10 am
Foxconn on Tuesday revealed an internal investigation found the company illegally hired some underage workers as young as 14 years old, and said that immediate measures have been taken to resolve the issue.
10/11/2012, 11:10 pm
Foxconn International Holdings, a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology and the largest cellphone manufacturer in the world, will reportedly take orders to build certain iPhone models in the company's first-ever Apple partnership.
10/06/2012, 09:10 am
Foxconn officials on Saturday issued a statement denying a strike hit the company's Zhengzhou iPhone plant on Friday, claiming instead that the factory was the site of two small altercations days earlier which had no impact on production.
10/01/2012, 03:10 pm
With an official unveiling expected this month, Apple is said to be currently building "iPad mini" units at a Foxconn factory in Brazil.
09/25/2012, 01:09 pm
The exact cause of a riot at a Chinese Foxconn factory Sunday night remains under investigation, but employees at the Taiyuan facility returned to work on Tuesday after a one-day shutdown.
09/24/2012, 01:09 pm
After a riot occurred in one of Foxconn's manufacturing facilities in China, the company issued a statement on Monday to say there were no employee deaths, and that production will resume on Tuesday.
09/23/2012, 08:09 pm
Reports of a "mass disturbance" at Foxconn's Taiyuan factory surfaced early Monday local China time, with the purported 2,000-person riot having caused damage to the plant's infrastructure.


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Follow the latest news about coronavirus and its impact on hotels, airlines, cruise lines, tourism destinations, and other sectors of the travel industry.
The circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic are continuously evolving. We are constantly updating this page regularly with breaking news to help tourism businesses and others stay up-to-date on how the coronavirus is impacting the tourism industry. You can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive the latest coronavirus updates and other industry news in your inbox.
The travel, tourism and hospitality industry has been decimated by the impact of the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. Countries are still actively battling the deadly virus but societies and industries are now also looking to rebuild and re emerge from the crisis.
We have been following all coronavirus-related developments affecting the tourism industry with a particular focus on the African Tourism. Our sources range from exclusive insights courtesy of our extensive network of members to stories reported by trusted media outlets.
1 week ago
FAAN Releases Standard Operating Procedure
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has released a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) aimed at protecting all stakeholders and preventing further spread of COVID-19 as flight operations recommence gradually at the nation’s airports effective July 8. Read
1 week ago
South Africa is tops for tourists Post COVID-19: whenever that day comes
South Africa is the most popular destination for travellers in a post-Covid-19 world, according to Tourlane, an online travel website. The survey solicited views of international tourists via Tourlane's newsletter and social networks and counted the number of responses in the company's four main languages: German, French, Dutch and English. It received some 600 answers, with SA, New Zealand and Canada topping the list of preferred destinations. Read
2 weeks ago
Air Cote d'ivorie resumes domestic flights after weeks of shutdown.
Air Cote d’Ivoire has resumed domestic flights following a government bailout, three months after COVID-19 suspension of operations. The national carrier said last week it had received 14 billion CFA francs from the government to keep it afloat as the pandemic shut down flights. Read


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iPhone and iPad apps tagged "emoticons."
Typing Genius Update Puts Emojis on Your iPhone or iPod touch
Typing Genius-Get Emoji is aimed at people who want to get smart about text entry on their iPhone or iPod touch.
No doubt about it: Entering text into Apple's versatile and ubiquitous handheld is its biggest shortcoming.
iPhone partner to deliver TV Tuner to Japanese users
Earlier today, Apple’s exclusive Japanese mobile carrier Softbank announced it will sell a TV tuner add-on for the iPhone. The TV tuner add-on for this handset is a noticeably missing feature from the already technologically sophisticated Japanese cell phone market.
| Next Entries »


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Creating a vibrant, winning chemistry for a brand can be tricky business. The process depends on a company’s creative impulse quickening at just the right moment to pick up on the consumer’s latest whim or fantasy or fit of angst. The right mixture of inspiration and daring can reap a golden payoff or turn into dread, as nagging existential questions creep in, like “Are we delivering real innovation? Are we pursuing the customers we will need in the future? Are we keeping pace or just sleepwalking? Are we losing our edge?”
“You have to have a vision of where you want to be,” advised Leonard A. Lauder, during the sweeping, landmark speech he gave at the recent WWD Beauty Summit in Manhattan. Lauder, who is now chairman emeritus of the industry giant he built, delivered arguably the most-quoted line of the summit: “A business without a vision isn’t a business, it’s just a pastime.”
He gave the keynote address during a day and a half of cogent, analytical and thought-provoking speeches. One prevalent theme was that the beauty industry, which prides itself on continuous innovation, can never take its foot off the gas. In fact, it needs to push harder on the accelerator right now. Much harder.
Deb Henretta, group president of the Global Beauty Care Group at the Procter & Gamble Co., called for a digital revolution. She sized up the beauty industry’s level of achievement in the world of digital and found it sorely wanting. The industry may “evangelize” the digital way, “yet still under invests. The music does not match the words,” she said.
Invoking memories from beauty’s revolutionary past, like the advent of metal lipstick tubes and at-home hair dye, she declared, “We have to step it up and innovate at the speed of digital, lest we risk becoming the Polaroid camera, the analogue telephone or the business pager of our industry.” Her solution is a fundamental shift, from thinking of digital technology as purely a marketing tool to it being fully integrated into all phases of brand building. She calls it General Purposes Technology. “Digital must become integral to everything we do—how we think, how we design, how we manufacture,” she said. “The world is no longer moving at a linear rate, but an exponential rate. It is the pace of Generation Y and all generations to come.”
Speaking of generations, Julia Goldin, Revlon’s chief marketing officer, harkened back to the golden era of Charles Revson in the Fifties—pointing to seismic shifts triggered by provocative products like the Fire and Ice and Cherries in the Snow makeup collections and Charlie fragrance, which trumpeted women’s liberation. Goldin then compared that era to the present mood. “The beauty industry has been very safe,” she said. “Are we ready to shock?”
Taking a page from her prior experience at Coca-Cola, Goldin stressed that long-standing brands have “an enduring perspective.” For marketers, it’s no longer about having a point of difference. “It’s about a point of view,” she declared. “If you don’t have a strong perspective of who you are as a brand, that’s when things start falling apart at the seams. Brand point of view sits at the heart of cultural relevance, universal values and consumer relevance.”
Individual brand identity is a subject dear to the heart of Wende Zomnir, chief creative officer and cocreator of Urban Decay. She found cause for complaint in the number of documented times that her best-selling Nakeds eye shadow palette appears to have been copied by her competitors. But Zomnir came up with a universal suggestion. “I propose using all the creative bandwidth of the beauty business to create something fresh and new and forge a genuine connection with your customer,” she said. “If we all stay true to our individual brand positions, there’s plenty of room for everyone to create an original that’s a home run.”
Few topics are more relevant than the world we live in. “There used to be a very narrow definition of success, which was being number one, no matter what the cost,” said Gina Boswell, executive vice president of personal care, North America, at Unilever. “It’s our belief that that model doesn’t work in today’s world....Businesses have to learn to be successful while contributing to society and supporting ecosystems and biodiversity and livelihoods.”
Unilever took action by unhooking financial performance from environmental performance and creating a “plan for sustainable living” with three goals: to halve its environmental footprint while doubling the size of the business; to help one billion people worldwide improve their health and well-being, and to sustainably source 100 percent of its agricultural raw materials by 2020.
What Boswell called “purpose-driven brands” are at the back-bone of the plan, because social consciousness is built inside the brands. “It’s always been imperative that businesses create value,” she said. “It’s now even more critical that we create value for the communities where we operate.”
Listening to consumers enables companies “to empower consumers to own our brands and adopt our brands,” she said.
As an example, Boswell showed Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches spot. It shows a police artist drawing pictures of seven women based on their own descriptions and those of others. The video has become the most-watched on the Internet, and led to a key insight: “Only 4 percent of adult women think they are beautiful,” Boswell said. “We also learned that this is a universal truth,” she said, “and a universal truth is the best basis for any kind of brand campaign.”
Now is the time to reinvent the very nature of marketing for the post-sustainability, post-developing and post-emerging markets, and the post-digital world, Boswell believes. “We must help people tell their brand stories rather than simply listening to ours,” she said.
The one speaker who has both the experience and insight to bridge the generation gaps was Lauder himself. His speech—Tomorrow is Today—was structured to demonstrate that the events of today can be used to read the future. He described how the creation of interstate highways and the invention of third- party credit cards ripped the supports out from under the cozy world where big, established department stores long ruled. “No one at the time realized what was happening,” Lauder said. “The concept is tomorrow is today and today is tomorrow. The things that happen today inform us for the future and where we are going.”
He illustrated the last point by recalling a Neiman Marcus buyer who tipped him off to how powerfully Lauder’s Youth Dew bath lotion was selling. That inspired Lauder to gamble all the money the company had to turn the fragrance into a sensation that rocketed Lauder into orbit. “There are opportunities everywhere you go,” he said, “if you just listen.”
EXCLUSIVE: @tomford is opening its first-ever beauty store. The boutique, which opens November 20 in London’s Covent Gardens, was designed with the over the top glam Ford is known for. Read the full story on WWD.com, link in bio. #wwdbeauty #wwdnews (📷: Simon Wagner) #TomFordBeauty
New York-based DJ @harleyvnewton threw a party to celebrate the holiday collection of her dress and pajama line @hvn at the Ladurée Beverly Hills. It Girls @katebosworth, @rashidajones and more joined in on the fun, which included cocktails, croque monsieur sandwiches and a photo booth. #wwdfashion (📷: Owen Kolasinski/BFA.com)
For the holidays, @Burberry partnered with 20-year-old artist @blondeymccoy on a series of three outdoor murals in downtown Manhattan. The murals are McCoy’s interpretation of a Christmas eve party, the idea of charity and the spirit of family. His third mural, pictured here, is the most personal. The image depicts McCoy’s grandparents and father in London’s Trafalgar Square in the Seventies. “My work often features lots of sentimental objects.” #wwdeye
For spring 2018, designers applied bold colors and cartoonish motifs on everything from sneakers and belts to key chains. See all the top men’s accessories trends on WWD.com. #wwdtrends (📷: George Chinsee; Prop Styling by @rnasti; Market Editor: @luiscampuzano)
The @dior-sponsored @guggenheim international gala pre-party has a history of drawing cool-girl musical acts to serenade the crowd –– and last night was no exception. @haimtheband performed songs both new and old, and lured a star-studded audience with the likes of Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Mamoudou Athie and more. #wwdeye (📷: @lexieblacklock)
In a partnership between the @metopera and the @englishnationalopera, “Marnie” was born. The opera, with costumes sponsored by @mrporterlive, is an adaptation of the 1961 thriller by Winston Graham. Arianne Phillips, who created the costumes, is no rookie: She’s styled Madonna for her tours and created costumes for a myriad of films in the past. Read WWD’s interview with Phillips, where she talks about her inspiration for the opera’s costumes on WWD.com #wwdfashion
@barneysnyc took a different approach to their holiday windows this year. Instead of Christmas decor, Barneys tapped @thehaasbrothers to tell a story of positivity, gratitude and inclusivity via heartwarming silliness and humor. “It’s about kids and it’s about coming together and being family and loving each other,” said Simon Haas. #wwdfashion (📷: @joshuascottphoto)
Beauty influencer @kandeejohnson makes her foray into hair care with a collaboration with @ogx_beauty — making it the first time that OGX has teamed up for a product creation. The collab includes shampoos and conditioners in three scents. At 39 and a mom, Johnson is a different profile than the emerging social media stars, but is considered one of the pioneers of the digital beauty influencer world. Read WWD’s interview with her on wwd.com, including the strangest beauty product she’s ever tried #wwdbeauty


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Post a New Topic
Closing the book on Borders
Original post made
on Apr 24, 2011
The Borders at the Shops at Bishop Ranch officially closed its doors on Wednesday afternoon, after almost two months of closeout sales. Borders has been an anchor store in the shopping center since 1999 and employed 36 people, some of whom worked till midnight boxing the remaining merchandise.
Read the full story here Web Link
posted Thursday, April 21, 2011, 4:52 PM


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A new survey shows that Irish shoppers care more about the availability and quality of products, not how low their prices are.
According to Nielsen’s Global Retail-Growth Strategies survey, 60 per cent of those polled cite products they want regularly stocked as "highly influential" in determining which retailer to buy from.
Over 30'000 respondents from 61 countries were polled online about their grocery shopping habits.
The poll also found that having high quality fresh produce was the second most important factor, just shy of the top spot at 59%.
Straight after that was good value for money at 58% and the convenience of the retailer's location at 55%.
For those polled, having the lowest prices only came in sixth in terms of priority, at 52%.
Ireland is apparently still more influenced about having the lowest prices compared to the UK (39%), across Europe (47%) and globally (48%).
Matt Clark, Nielsen Ireland's commercial director has said that the findings were a good thing, saying that "Irish consumers are more interested in the right ranges of quality products than pure low prices.”
He points out that value for money is more important than price and says that discounters who offer both would do well.
There was also the importance of convenience. According to Clark, "Nearly four-in-10 Irish consumers regard grocery shopping as a chore that they try to spend as little time on as possible."
As such, the survey also asked respondents what sort of in-store services customers would want in retail stores.
Services already in most stores that are widely-used by the respondents include banking services (used by 37% if available), petrol stations and pharmacy services (34%) and prepared food services (32%).
Of services not in stores, respondents said they would like to see postal services (36%) and health clinic services (29%).
“Grocery retailers need to think about what extra services they can provide," Clark said.
"To help shoppers kill two, or even three, birds with one stone when it comes to a single supermarket visit.”
How do you decide where you shop? Let us know in the comments section below


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Exactly 7 years ago today, Microsoft officially launched Xbox Live for the original Xbox.
At first Xbox Live wasn’t such a hit, but that all changed with the release of Halo 2, where Xbox live’s popularity soared up. That only increased with the release of the Xbox 360.
Counting today, there have been over 20 million active users on the online service, and the record breaking 2 million users signing in simultaneously. Xbox Live has seen some pretty big upgrades over the years, with the most memorable being the Dashboard Upgrade, and there are more to come.
Xbox Live’s latest update will be available on November 17th and will add Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm to your Dashboard.
Let’s see how many people tweet stating that they’ve “Owned some friggin’ noob”.
Article from Gamersyndrome.com


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Tuesday , March 18, 2014 - 3:41 PM
OGDEN — ENVE Composites, Inc., which makes high-end carbon fiber composite products for the cycling industry, announced today it is bringing manufacturing of its products from China to Utah and hiring 324 new workers.
Michael Sullivan, from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, said the company will expands its manufacturing facility in Business Deport Ogden using tax incentives based on the number of jobs it brings and the wage it pays.
"These jobs will pay wages at a minimum of 125 percent of the Weber County average wage, including benefits," Sullivan said. "Over the seven year life of the project, ENVE will pay over $63 million in new wages. During the same time period, the company will pay $5.3 million in new taxes."
Sullivan said that means the company agrees to pay at least $43,452 a year in wages for the new jobs.
ENVE Composites, Inc. manufactures wheels, forks, seat posts, handlebars and stems along with composite tubes for custom bicycle frame builders. Because of ENVE’s patented technology, they produce 100 percent of their bicycle rims in the United States and are known for the highest strength- to-weight ratio on the market.
Sullivan said the company has seven years to complete its expansion and decide whether to build or lease a new building, but said the company started hiring for the new jobs today.
Sign up for e-mail news updates.


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Volkswagen won't advertise during 2015 Super Bowl
NEW YORK -- The Volkswagen brand, which made a huge splash with its â€œThe Force“ Super Bowl spot in 2011, will be sitting out the big game this year, the company confirmed.
â€œVolkswagen is a great fan of the Super Bowl, and it has been a strong platform for our brand and our campaigns,“ a spokeswoman said in an email. â€œHowever, for 2015 we have opted not to participate due to other priorities and initiatives.“
â€œWe will consider rejoining when it is right for our brand,“ she added.
Volkswagen is the latest automaker to say it will not advertise during the Super Bowl.
Jaguar and Lincoln, both of which advertised in the 2014 game, also will stay on the sidelines. And NBC said last week that, so far, automakers have purchased about half the number of spots they did in 2012, when the network last aired the Super Bowl.
VW had been a regular Super Bowl advertiser since 2010.Its commercial featuring a child in a Darth Vader costume using â€œthe Force“ to start a Passat was a hit. Volkswagen decided to release the commercial ahead of the game, helping it generate buzz on social media.
Ultimately, it became the most-viewed Super Bowl ad online that year. The YouTube version of the ad, as of today, has received more than 60.7 million views.
In VW”s 2014 spot, â€œWings,“ a German engineer gets his wings every time a Volkswagen reaches 100,000 miles, but it didn”t live up to the hype of â€œThe Force.“
Contact Automotive News
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Players in Thailand report that the country’s local markets for homo-PP and PVC have increased their premium over import prices following a period in which prices had traded close to par while local PVC had actually traded at a discount relative to import materials, as per ChemOrbis. From late April until the end of May, local PP prices in Thailand carried a significant albeit steadily declining premium of around US$30-70/ton over import cargoes. For the month of June, Thai homo-PP held a small premium of around US$10-20/ton over imports, with import cargoes even briefly gaining a premium over local cargoes towards the start of the month. However, strong increases from local sellers pushed the premium for local cargoes over imports back above US$50/ton during the past week.
A distributor based in Thailand commented, “Domestic PP producers are seeking higher prices this week and are unwilling to concede to discounts given their lack of stock pressure. Demand is not all that great, but the tightness in supply is balancing out the effect of sluggish demand.” Another distributor added, “Domestic producers are seeking increases and we believe that lower priced cargoes are already disappearing from the market.” In the PVC market, local cargoes in Thailand regained their premium over imports after trading at a discount throughout the month of June. In late April, local PVC had been trading with a US$90-110/ton premium over imports, but this premium faded rapidly over the course of May and by the start of June, import prices had gained a premium of around US$30-60/ton over local prices. At the start of July, local prices regained a $60/ton premium over imports as local increases were announced well above the increases seen in the import market. According to ChemOrbis, distributors and converters reported seeing THB3000/ton (US$96/ton) hikes on local PVC prices at the start of July. “Producers raised their prices owing to limited supply and the depreciation of the Thai baht against the US dollar. We are not very optimistic about the demand outlook for the next few weeks as we think that buyers will offer resistance to higher prices,” a distributor reported. A converter manufacturing plastic pipes said, “We have been successful in reflecting higher raw material costs onto our end product prices for the last few months. However, we are cautious about purchasing now as it is currently the low season for our end products. We are feeling comfortable with our stock levels and we plan to observe the market for a while before making our next move.”


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Sundar Pichai, the product tsar of Google, took the stage at MWC today to talk about Google’s vision for the mobile word in 2015 and beyond. Here are the essential points of the keynote.
At MWC 2015 in Barcelona, Sundar Pichai has confirmed that Google is gearing up to launch its own MVNO mobile network in the “coming months”.
If a new report from Re/Code proves correct, Google is making a pretty significant leadership change by placing Sundar Pichai as the head of nearly all of Google’s core products.
Google IO 2014 will stand as a historic event in tech. In the midst of it all stands Sundar Pichai, an iconic Google personality. What does he have to say?
A new report claims that Google’s head of Android Sundar Pichai is a favorite candidate for the position of Microsoft CEO. Read on for more info!
Google has invited the press to attend “breakfast with Sundar Pichai” on July 24 – are Android 4.3 and the new Nexus 7 going to be unveiled?
It’s a great interview, and definitely worth a look. Sundar is pretty candid and forthcoming, sharing both fact and his feelings on subjects. Watch it here!
We love Android, and would really like to see a little levelling in the market. HTC makes fantastic devices, and the LG Nexus 4 is brilliant. Those two are, unfortunately, satellite manufacturers in the Android space. They make great devices, but rarely have the presence or impact Samsung does.
The mere fact that two programs, which we all love using, will be cross referencing each other is amazing. It goes to show that there is space for both in the mobile landscape, and that worlds can mesh rather than collide.
It led some to speculate as to whether or not Google was done making Nexus hardware. That’s a fair question, considering we’ve not seen this kind of thing from Google before. Is it a sign of changing tides, or Google being smart about what consumers want?


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North American distribution center produces Triple Crown Custom products
Fred Hunneke would be proud.
In 1999, the founder of Domestic Fabrics & Blankets who produced the patented Wick A’Way fabric used by NASA, encouraged Horseware Ireland to open a plant in his former textile building in La Grange.
After the company, which produces Triple Crown Custom horse blankets, outgrew the factory, Hunneke began the process of selling another of his buildings on Cunningham Road and N.C. 11 to Horseware shortly before his death in August.
By next week, the company should be fully transitioned into its 100,000-square-foot plant, which features an outlet store with discontinued products and seconds. The La Grange building will be placed on the market.
Nearly $1 million was spent to purchase and renovate the building, said Elizabeth “Betsy” Boykin, the North American accounting and human resources manager.
A monument dedicated to Fred Hunneke now faces N.C. 11 near the flagpole that hails the American and Irish flags.
“Fred was aware, before he passed on Aug. 9 of 2013 that we had purchased his building,” Boykin said. “So it was just very special for him to know that it had been sold.”
In 1985, Tom and Carol MacGuinness founded Horseware in their basement in Dundalk, Ireland, creating the first waterproof, yet breathable, horse blankets.
They had a plant in the Atlanta area, but wanted to relocate to a less expensive, less populated area, Tom MacGuinness, managing director, said through real-time video conferencing from Ireland.
The then-Chamber of Commerce director put him in touch with Hunneke, who showed him his factory.
“So then I had a very good relationship with Fred over the years,” MacGuinness said.
Before starting Horseware, MacGuinness, a polo player and riding instructor, had no experience in textiles, manufacturing or running a corporation.
“Horse blankets at the time were just not fit for purposes. They just did not work,” he said. “The materials being used were very old-fashioned, like jute, canvas. I had a very simple philosophy: If you could send a man to the moon, we can do a better job than this. So that was my business plan.”
MacGuinness redesigned the shape at first. About five years later, he discovered hydrophilics, substances that attract water.
He began producing polymer blankets that draw perspiration away from the animal and keep rain from soaking all the way to the animal, as well. He said it was a “massive break-through.”
“That then allowed me to make a blanket which was all-weather so you could use it in the stable,” he said. “You could use it outside the stable.”
The $50 million company does about 20 percent of its business in the U.S., MacGuinness said.
The North American distribution center in Kinston got off to a rocky start in its first year. Hurricane Floyd dampened the company’s activities by soaking containers loaded with finished product that were waiting for transport in the parking lot.
While some of the blankets were destroyed, others were cleaned and sold, said Operations Manager Sandy Weaver, who has worked at the Kinston firm since it opened.
“Triple Crown Custom is more like accessories,” she said, “— like your helmet bags, your boot bags, trunk covers, things like that, and they’re done in custom colors. We do not, at this time, make anything that’s waterproof. Whereas Horsewear makes turnout. ... We’re more of the pretty stuff, so to speak, than Horseware is.”
There are about 25 employees at the local facility, which wholesales Horseware products to retail stores throughout North and South America. The company sells Triple Crown directly to customers. Monogramming, logos and special colors are available.
Horseware Ireland and its divisions in China and Cambodia produce and sell a wide variety of products, including the original Rambo horse blankets; bridles; Ice-Vibe leg wraps; dog and goat blankets; Horsewear for men, women and children; handbags and other accessories;. It’s in the process of patenting medical-grade ointments.
“They’re breaking into not just covering the horses, but also looking at the physical needs and the more therapeutic portion of the equine industry,” Weaver said.
Most of the product is sold by retail stores or online. The local showroom carries a select supply of overstock and will soon be open to the public from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.


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Google’s parent sees big rise in profits and revenue, but costs rise dramatically as workforce balloons
Alphabet has posted a strong set of first quarter financial results amid concern at the rising costs at Google’s parent firm.
Revenue grew 26 percent and profits soared by 84 percent thanks in part to strong advertising demand.
This was despite the current debate surrounding online privacy following the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal.
But Alphabet seems to have shrugged off these concerns after it posted a net profit of $9.4bn (£6.7bn) for the quarter ending 31 March, compared to $5.4bn (£3.9bn) a year ago.
That $9.4bn profit blew past Wall Street estimates of $6.56bn (£4.7bn), according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Sales meanwhile were equally healthy at $31.1bn (£22.3bn) compared to $24.7bn (£17.7bn) in the same year-ago period.
This was (again) well above average analysts’ estimate of $30.3bn (£21.7bn).
Alphabet said that much of the growth was down to higher pricing for online ads on its Google search engine, YouTube, apps and websites.
But total costs and expenses rose from $18.2bn (£13bn) a year earlier to $24.1bn (£17.3bn) in this past quarter.
Matters were not helped as the number of staff rose from 73,992 last year, to 85,050 currently. This was in part because in the first quarter Nest joined forces with Google’s hardware team. Google also acquired 2,000 employees in Taiwan from HTC Corp.
“Our ongoing strong revenue growth reflects our momentum globally, up 26 percent versus the first quarter of 2017 and 23 percent on a constant currency basis to $31.1 billion,” explained Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet and Google.
“We have a clear set of exciting opportunities ahead, and our strong growth enables us to invest in them with confidence,” she said.
“The strong economy has companies spending more on advertising,” analyst Ivan Feinseth from Tigress Financial Partners was quoted by Reuters as saying. “Google continues to dominate both mobile and desktop search” and there will be “very little effect” from Facebook privacy data fallout, he said.
Nevertheless, the arrival of the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 25 May, does have some investors worried.
The GDPR rules will give ordinary people more control over their data.
The rules also significantly increase the fines companies will have to pay for data breaches.
Quiz: Are you a Google expert?


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A blockchain technology firm, Yosemite X has recently released an open-source public blockchain that operates without a native cryptocurrency to enhance the transparency and lower the cost of data security measures. The founder of Yosemite X, YT Kim said, “Yosemite X has implemented a new way of designing a scalable public blockchain for enterprises, without needing a native cryptocurrency.”
The post Public Blockchain Without Native Cryptocurrency Launched by Yosemite X appeared first on Incrypts.
A Blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked using cryptography. Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third party adversaries. Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses encryption (cryptography) to regulate the generation of currency and verify the transfer of funds, independently of a central bank.
Blockchain 101 · Crytpo Currency Market
Trezor: Hardware Wallet
Binance: Exchange for Traders
Ledger Nano S: Hardware Wallet
Coinbase: Exchange for Investors
CoinSwitch: Wallet-to-Wallet Exchange


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COMPANY NEWS; Gillette to Buy Stake In Wilkinson Sword
By ANTHONY RAMIREZ
Published: December 21, 1989
The Gillette Company, which has about 50 percent of the United States blade and razor market, said yesterday that it planned to buy the American operations of Wilkinson Sword Inc., which has about 3 percent. It will also buy an ownership but nonvoting interest in much of Wilkinson's larger European operations.
Andrew Shore, a Gillette analyst with Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc., said Gillette was probably more interested in Wilkinson's operations in other countries than those in the United States.
Under the deal, Gillette will pay $72 million to Wilkinson's Swedish parent, Swedish Match A.B., for all of Wilkinson's blade and razor business outside the European Community. That business, whose 1989 revenue is expected to total $46 million, includes the United States, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and Austria.
Mr. Shore noted, for example, that Wilkinson has an 8 percent share of the Brazilian market in terms of units, and Gillette has 82 percent. ''They are buying additional mass under a different label,'' Mr. Shore said.
Gillette will market Wilkinson blades and razors in the United States as a separate brand, a company spokesman said.
The deal is part of a complex $600 million transaction by Gillette, Swedish investors, and J. P. Morgan & Company which is providing most of the financing. They will acquire razor, match and disposable lighter businesses from Swedish Match, a unit of Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags A.B. of Sweden, a pulp and paper producer. Gillette plans to spend about $155 million as its share of the total transaction.
Gillette, the personal-care products company based in Boston, and its partners appear to be getting a good price for these businesses, which have total revenue of about $619 million and a book value of $323 million. The matches and razor blade businesses are profitable and the lighter business is approaching profitability, a Gillette spokesman said.
A new concern to be based in the Netherlands, called Swedish Match B.V., will acquire Wilkinson's European Community business, which is expected to have 1989 revenue of $130 million. The company will also buy Swedish Match's worldwide match and lighter business, which is expected to have 1989 revenue of $443 million.
Gillette will have a 22.9 percent equity but nonvoting stake in this new concern. The investors owning 52.2 percent will be principally Swedish insurance companies. Swedish Match executives will hold an eight-tenths of 1 percent stake. In addition, J.P. Morgan will own 24.9 percent.
Gillette will spend $14 million for its stake and provide $69 million for half the subordinated debt financing.
Shares of Gillette rose $1, yesterday, to $46.625, in New York Stock Exchange trading.


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MORE THAN 13,000 single proprietorship businesses were created last year in Cebu, the second highest registered in the past 14 years, the Department of Trade and Industry said.
According to data recently forwarded by DTI Cebu to Sun.Star Cebu, there were 13,770 business names issued in Cebu in 2014. This is more than the 12,261 business names issued in 2013. The year 2011 registered the highest at 14,050 business names.
“We have actually reached our target in 2014, which is to register 13,000 businesses,” said Zaide Bation, DTI Cebu consumer welfare and business regulation division chief. This is equivalent to a total capitalization of P5.42 billion and 29, 221 jobs, still higher than the P1.01 billion capitalization and 22,064 jobs generated in 2013.
Business name registration since October 2008 for single proprietorships only as corporations are no longer required to register their business names with DTI.
Although there’s no official analysis made yet to study the growth, Bation said DTI Cebu’s Business Name (BN) Mobile last year helped a lot and allowed the informal sector to be recorded in DTI’s database. During BN Mobile last year, DTI officials went around different cities and municipalities in Cebu to register unregistered business establishments.
Late last year, DTI Cebu Provincial Director Nelia Navarro advised entrepreneurs to register their businesses. She said that if people register with DTI, they can get access to trainings, seminars and programs as they will be placed in the agency’s database.
The month of January last year registered the highest number of business names at 1,546, while the lowest recorded was in the month of December at 669.
Bation has not identified which sectors the businesses come from, saying they have not included that in their study. However, she said DTI will be including it for this year’s data.
Meanwhile, DTI business development chief Elias Tecson said the implementing rules and regulations for the Go Negosyo Act or RA 10644 of Senator Bam Aquino already came out.
Under the law, Go Negosyo centers will be placed in all provinces, cities, and municipalities under the supervision of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development (MSMED) Council through the regional offices of DTI. The centers shall have the following functions: business registration assistance, business advisory services, business information and advocacy and monitoring and evaluation of business processes for MSMEs.
DTI, along with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and other relevant agencies, are mandated to develop a unified and simplified business registration form based on the current form being used for the business process and licensing system.
“Should the concerned business permits and licensing offices fail to process the application within 15 days, the MSME shall be deemed registered for a period of one year,” it states.
However, any BPLO will have the authority to revoke the permit or license within 30 calendar days from date of application upon failure of MSME to meet the requirements.
The Go Negosyo Centers will be linked to the Philippine Business Registry System (PBRS) to make it easier and faster for entrepreneurs to start and register their businesses at the local level.
In an addition to easier business registration, the Go Negosyo Centers will also allow entrepreneurs to avail of other services such as technology transfer, production and management training programs as well as marketing assistance from the DTI, Department of Science and Technology, University of the Philippines – Institute for Small-Scale Industries, Cooperative Development Authority, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and other agencies concerned.


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INGLEWOOD — Two former Target employees are suing the retail chain for racial discrimination, alleging their ethnicity played a role in their being falsely accused of thefts that led to their firings.
Aaliyah Shepherd, who is Black, and Sierra Vidal, of Dominican/Pacific Islander descent, brought the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuits on Dec. 13 and 15, respectively, seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. A Target representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Shepherd, then an 18-year-old incoming student at San Jose State University, was hired for a part-time seasonal job at Target’s Inglewood store in late October 2020, the suit states. She was given cashier training and an employee handbook, but was not instructed on Target’s loss prevention policy, the suit states.
Two months later, a Target loss prevention employee told Shepherd that store security cameras showed she had either given away or voided merchandise for a customer, the suit states. Shepherd had processed a merchandise return and had given the customer a refund, but forgot to put the returned item in a bin to be later put back on a store shelf, the suit states.
“Defendants falsely accused plaintiff of conspiring with the customer to return his/her payment and allow the customer to keep the merchandise,” the suit states. “Plaintiff was shocked and immediately denied the conduct, denied conspiring with anyone and demanded to see the video that (purported) to depict plaintiff’s dishonesty.”
Pressured by the loss prevention officer and an Inglewood police officer to sign a document admitting to theft, Shepherd did so in fear she would otherwise be arrested and prosecuted and that her college career would be jeopardized, the suit states.
Shepherd was immediately fired after signing and later received letters from law firms representing Target seeking restitution and civil damages stemming from the transaction with the customer, the suit states. She paid part of the money demanded and believes her treatment was racially motivated, the suit states.
Vidal, a 21-year-old student at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, had been employed with Target store in Westwood for a little more than six months when the store security manager, Kyle Kurtz, told her to come with him to the human resources office on Jan. 13, the suit states. Vidal had applied for a human resources job and believed that she was brought there to discuss her application, the suit states.
Instead, Kurtz asked Vidal about a voided transaction, an inadvertent failure to return merchandise, incorrect use of price matching and permitting a friend to use her employee discount, the suit states.
Kurtz said he had video footage of the transactions, but never showed it to Vidal, the suit states. He then told her to write a statement admitting to all of the conduct and to apologize in the hopes that Target would forgive her and not take her to court, according to the suit.
Fearing possible criminal charges and civil damages, Vidal wrote astatement as outlined by Kurtz, the suit states. She believed she would receive no more than a warning, the suit states.
However, Vidal was instead fired and forced to sign a second document agreeing to repay the money Target allegedly lost in the applicable transactions, the suit states. Her final pay check included a $54 deduction to make that payment, according to the suit.


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After months of high expectations and countless teasers, the next generation consoles are finally here. Despite serious usability challenges, the PlayStation 5 finally arrived in select markets last week for sale worldwide.
The Sony console has been released with some very interesting games, among them the remake of Demon’s Souls. Developed by Bluepoint Studios, known for the remake of the Shadow of the Colossus, the game has been completely artistically redesigned, but retained almost all of the code used in the original 2009 game.
However, the developers took the freedom to give players a little surprise. Last week, a hidden door was found that wasn’t in the original game. The gate was locked and there was no obvious way to open it. Bluepoint even provoked the public with a message about the item hidden in place.
— Bluepoint Games (@bluepointgames) November 17, 2020
Today, after much effort, the publisher Distortion2 has finally solved the mystery and was pleasantly surprised: The item stored here was the full armor of one of the game’s bosses, the Penetrator. To earn it, it is necessary to collect 26 new Sparkly Ceramic Coins in Fractured Mode and exchange them for a rusty key that opens the secret door to Sparkly the Crow. You can see the moment the Distortion opens the door in the video below:
Demon’s Souls Remake is exclusive to a PlayStation 5 and may remain so if rumors of Sony will buy the Bluepoint. The game is available for R $ 349 on PlayStation Store and at major retailers in the country.


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Once upon a time—wait, no. There was no happy ending. It was a tragedy.
It all started after the Rana Plaza disaster on the 24th of April in 2013, when an industrial complex in Bangladesh, housing five large garment factories supplying global brands, collapsed, killing over 1,000 people – and causing uproar from around the world, as citizens massively questioned the ethics of the clothing industry, and urged major companies to take action in assuring a safe, equitable, and humane fashion revolution. The week of April 24th is now international Fashion Revolution Week, part of a year-round initiative.
“The global fashion industry is opaque, exploitative and environmentally damaging and desperately needs revolutionary change. Fashion Revolution wants to ignite a revolution to radically change the way our clothes are sourced, produced and purchased. We believe transparency is the first step to transform the industry, and it starts with one simple question: who made my clothes? Join us by showing your clothing label and asking brands #whomademyclothes, to show that you care and demand better for the people who make our clothes.” – www.facebook.com/fashionrevolution.org
Here at Vanier, students and staff had the chance to participate by partaking in the college’s first clothing swap hosted by Student Services, on April 25th and 27th. A number of clothes were donated, though mostly women’s – a point which will hopefully improve next year, with plans to publicize the event more. None the less, it provided a great opportunity for students to learn about sustainable consumerism, all while doing a little free shopping/swapping!
Besides the swap, one could also pick up a few basic sewing and mending skills through the workshop on April 27th, in Jake’s Mall. Two women from The Common Thread, a cooperative sewing studio that provides a workspace for full and part-time members, as well as public access to sewing tools, resources and education, assisted students in repairing garments and creating some nifty DIY projects. They provided everything – including sewing machines – and are so sustainable that they biked in, pulling their equipment on a mini trailer! Find out more about The Common Thread at www.thecommonthreadmtl.ca.
Written By Katherine Willcocks