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Stick it to the Man is coming to the PC this month
Out of nowhere, Stick it to the Man was released last month on the PS3 and Vita, and captivated quite a few gamers with its endearing comedy and visual style. But it looks like PC users will get a chance to get in on the action as well, as publisher Ripstone has announced that the game will be arriving on Steam on December 13th.
I've had a chance to play it on the Vita, and it's just as charming as it looks. It also doesn't overstay its welcome, making it a great way to spend an afternoon.
You can find the game's Steam listing here. Setup email comments
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How you can help Myanmar's most vulnerable people today
Meals raised so far
8 February 2021
One in four people in Myanmar live in poverty. That means 15 million people struggle every day just to survive. COVID-19 has devastated the livelihoods of low-income families, and the military’s takeover of the government on 1st February 2021 has seen the situation become even more precarious.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen job losses and forced businesses to close
Over the past year, Myanmar’s economy has been shrinking, with exports falling and businesses being forced to shut. Thousands have been left without jobs, particularly across the manufacturing sector, one of the largest employers of blue collar workers. Small and microbusinesses have suffered, particularly during lockdowns, and the gap between the rich and the poor has risen.
In Yangon, income losses have meant families have had to sacrifice. With 400,000 people living in informal settlements throughout the city and limited welfare support, many have simply gone without food.
Political destabilisation is a threat to food security for Myanmar's most vulnerable people
Following the military’s recent actions, the economic and political uncertainty has grown and has seen further interruptions to everyday life for low income families. Many people were just starting to get back on their feet after two severe COVID-19 lockdowns and have now lost their incomes yet again.
Price hikes for basic goods as suppliers are forced to shut. Rice and oil prices have risen by up to 20%.
Many factories and businesses are shut, with concerns about security and the future of their operations.
Many micro and small businesses have been forced to close, anxious about their safety and those of their employees.
Many employees have lost their jobs and incomes and daily workers have been unable to earn wages.
Major disruptions as hundreds of thousands of protesters go on strike.
Communications have been severely hampered, with disruptions to phone and internet access, and social media having been temporarily banned.
Foreign investment has evaporated as investors take precautions in light of the political instability. This is likely to see an even further drop in economic activity.
We support families most in need
ZigWay is a social enterprise that aims to help people lift themselves out of poverty. We offer a monthly subscription service to ensure low income families can access household essentials affordably. We've already delivered enough food for 1.4 million meals with our service.
In these extraordinary times, we’ve dedicated ourselves to giving people an extra helping hand. We’re now co-operating with local community organisations in Yangon to arrange food package distribution to families suffering from economic hardships.
Our team is working tirelessly to battle stock shortages, labour scarcity, price hikes and safety concerns, but we are unrelenting in our desire to support people through this difficult period.
Update: 20 February 2021
Thanks to your generous donations, we've already delivered food packages to 600 households in conjunction with local community organisations set up by UN-Habitat. We've also provided 60 high-risk families with free medical consultations and medication, thanks to the kind doctors at Thway Thit (Better Burmese Healthcare).
Update: 15 March 2021
Your donations have helped over 1,300 of Myanmar's most vulnerable households to stay fed with bulk food packages. Also thanks to our friends at Soi.Ai who were able to provide 200 serves of curries and salads to complement. As the security situation becomes increasingly dangerous and unpredictable, ZigWay remains committed to helping communities in Yangon and beyond.
Update: 19 March 2021
Despite increasing food prices (see World Food Programme's announcement here) and continued security issues, your money has now made donations to almost 1,900 households across 11 townships in Yangon possible.
A little help goes a long way
Give: We've negotiated with our suppliers to purchase basic essentials at bulk wholesale prices. A 10,000 ks (US$7.50) donation will buy a food package (rice, oil etc..) for a family of five for an entire week.
Share: Spread our message to ensure the people most in need in our society are not forgotten.
Partner: Whether you’re a community organisation or a supplier of goods, let’s work together to support Myanmar's communities. Get in touch today!
How to transfer money: To maximise the impact of your funds, we have chosen the most cost effective methods for you to transfer funds (to eliminate fees for crowdfunding sites and transfers).
Wave Money: 09761 818 741
KBZPay: 09453 489 200
KBZ (MMK): 05710 30570 25915 01
(USD): 05710 90570 25915 01

domain: news


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Last year, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Loremo presented their super efficient concept car. And now it seems that the car gets closer and closer to production, because Loremo announced the car got a new design, which includes a restyled front and rear and larger tail-lights). The new Loremo significantly grew in height in width, offering a more spacious interiour for its passengers. However, despite the larger front surface, engineers at Loremo managed to keep the low air resistance level, very important for the fuel economy.
Weighing 450 kg, the Loremo is powered by a two-cylinder generating 20 bhp for LS (0-100 km/h in 20 seconds and 160 km/h top speed) and a three-cylinder producing 49 bhp for GT (0-100 km/h in 9 seconds and 220 km/h top speed), both turbodiesels. But really impressive are the fuel economy figures: the LS reaches 1.5 liters/100km (156 mpg), while the GT reaches 2.7 liters/100 km (8.7 mpg).
The Loremo is expected to go on sale in 2009 and it will cost 11,000 Euros (LS) and 15,000 Euros (GT). More photos after the jump.
Photo Gallery: Loremo Super Efficient Car


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There are very few sites with this potential remaining in South Beach and its ideal location will certainly generate a number of potential bidders, said Lamar Fisher, President and CEO of Fisher Auction Company
Miami Beach, Florida (PRWEB) December 04, 2015
Fisher Auction Company’s Executive Vice President, Francis D. Santos and Cushman & Wakefield’s Senior Director, Rosendo Caviero is heading up the team.
The property currently consists of a .321± acre site with a 45-unit, 22,000± SF multifamily building and additional commercial space built in 1960. It has 96± feet of frontage on world famous Ocean Drive and is across from Lummus Park on South Beach with direct beach access. The property’s neighbor to the north is the Crown Plaza Z Ocean Hotel and it is diagonally across from II Villagio.
The property has a minimum starting bid of $26 million. To participate in this exclusive auction, qualifying sealed bids are due on Friday, January 15, 2016. The top conforming bids will then participate in a live auction event.
“The live auction will be held Wednesday, January 20th at 11AM at the Victor Hotel, 1144 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139. Only the top conforming bidders will qualify for the live auction event,” explained Santos. "We have the bid package with terms and instructions available on our site at http://www.fisherauction.com."
"There are very few sites with this potential remaining in South Beach and its ideal location will certainly generate a number of potential bidders," said Lamar Fisher, President and CEO of Fisher Auction Company.
“The property is zoned Mixed Use Entertainment (MXE) and its location makes it ideal for a five-star luxury condominium project or boutique hotel,” said Caveiro. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to purchase ocean view Miami Beach real estate in one of the world’s most desirable, chic and popular markets.”
Numerous property tours are available; to date we have scheduled Tuesdays and Fridays; December 4, 15, 18 and 29, January 12 and 15 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. Please call Francis Santos directly at 754.220.4116 if you need a private tour.
Fisher Auction Company has previously handled numerous high-profile auctions including the former Versace Mansion just down the street, numerous private islands and multi-million dollar mansions of business executives, celebrities and professional athletes.


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You are here
NEW YORK -- Start spreading the news -- 7-Eleven can throw one heck of a party.
The Dallas-based convenience store operator last night hosted an Education is Freedom concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The sold out affair, hosted by Rosie Perez, featured musical artists including Chicago, Boyz II Men, the Riverdance troupe and international recording artists from England, Japan, Chile and Italy. The gala was part of 7-Eleven's ongoing 75th anniversary celebration. The concert also featured videotaped messages from Nelson Mandela and Elton John.
Jim Keyes, 7-Eleven's president and CEO, used the venue to thank all of 7-Eleven's suppliers and partners throughout the company 75 years and presented its first-ever Retailer Initiative award to St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., parent of the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light beers.
"7-Eleven is one of our most valued partners," said Patrick Stokes, who took the reins at Anheuser-Busch as president and CEO July 1. "Our top priority is to work with our partners to build the future, not the past."
Keyes was also honored by the Network of Executive Women for his work in advancing the careers of women in the convenience store and petroleum marketing industry.
Earlier Thursday, the c-store chain presented 7-Eleven University at Madison Square Garden before several thousand franchisees, licensees and suppliers, during which a string of company vice presidents and category directors emphasized that 7-Eleven sees its suppliers not as vendors, but as partners. The company also underscored efforts to work more closely with its franchisees and licensees by investing heavily in item level inventory that can be customized to particular locations.
Fundamentally, 7-Eleven, said Keyes, will continue to lead the industry in new products, while winnowing out slow-moving items. "I've learned to be open to change because our customers are constantly changing and so must we."
In other 7-Eleven news, the company yesterday signed a 40-month supply agreement with McLane Co. Inc., a subsidiary of Bentonville-, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., valued at nearly $2 billion per year.
McLane will supply substantially all grocery, frozen food, cigarettes, health and beauty products, general merchandise, and other products to 7-Eleven's network of 5,300 stores. The contract becomes effective Sept. 21 and will run until January 2006, 7-Eleven said.
ABOVE: Anheuser-Busch President and CEO Patrick Stokes, (left) with Joseph Vonder Haar, of Anheuser-Bush, and Mike Gade, senior vice president of merchandising for 7-Eleven.


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Digital Ad Revenues Hit an All-Time High of $32.7 Billion in First Half of 2016
Harmelin Digital Contributor: Mollie Dronson
Digital ad revenues have seen a 19% growth year-over-year in the first half of 2016, with mobile advertising revenues seeing the largest YOY increase from $8.2 billion in Half-Year 2015 to $15.5 billion in Half-Year 2016. Revenues across search, social and video have also seen significant increases over HY 2015.
What this means for marketers: With the digital ad space constantly changing, advertisers can feel more confident than ever in allocating budget to digital advertising. Because digital advertising has the ability to reach consumers directly across multiple platforms, marketers are able to connect and engage with consumers on a more personal level, whether they are at home, at work, or on the go. These increases in digital ad revenues across display, video, mobile, social and search show how now, more than ever, advertisers are relying on this type of advertising over traditional marketing to reach their target audiences. The steep increase in mobile advertising revenues from HY 2015 to HY 2016 also demonstrate how the mobile ad space is constantly evolving and improving, so much so that advertisers are putting more budget towards mobile now than ever before.


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Facebook's new app Whale lets you "make your own memes" with "pro tools." So why haven't you heard about it?
Well, the company apparently doesn't want everyone to know about it just yet. According to a report by The Information(opens in a new tab), Facebook's NPE (New Product Experimentation) group launched the app, and it's currently only available on the Canadian App Store(opens in a new tab).
The official description says the Whale app is free to use with "no hidden subscription pricing," and it allows users to create memes with their own images or pictures from the app's stock photo library. Once you choose a photo, you can then add text, and various effects, emoji, stickers and other meme-related shenanigans. When you're done, you can save your freshly created memes to the camera roll, and/or share them to social media and message threads directly from the app.
The app's description also states that it's been "developed by NPE Team, from Facebook."
We first heard about the NPE Team(opens in a new tab) this July. Facebook said it's a consumer-focused app group that focuses on "shipping entirely new experiences." The apps might change very rapidly, Facebook warned at the time, and might be shut down if Facebook decides they're not useful. The company also said that wider availability of the apps created by the NPE Team will "depend on the app."
The NPE Team previously built(opens in a new tab) two other teen-oriented apps, called Bump and Aux(opens in a new tab). The AUX(opens in a new tab) app is a party DJ app, while Bump(opens in a new tab) lets you start anonymous one-on-one chats with people in your community.


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HP Inc is accelerating plans to cut staff and trim costs, revealing that 3,000 workers will be let go within the next 12 months.
As part of the company’s restructuring plans, announced last year, the tech giant was expected to cut as many as 3,300 jobs over the next three years, with 1,200 staff set to leave in 2016.
But in a change of tack, HP Inc CEO, Dion Weisler, has pushed ahead with the layoffs, telling analysts that the company wasn’t going to wait and instead will make 3,000 cuts in 2016.
“We are accelerating the restructuring program also announced at SAM by increasing the fiscal 2016 employee reductions to approximately 3,000,” Wiesler sais.
“I believe there may be even more opportunity to reduce cost and streamline processes, and we will share details when finalised.”
Backing up Wiesler’s comments, HP CFO, Cathie Lesjak says the tech giant has already cut 400 people during its first quarter, meaning 2,600 more staff will be axed by the end of the year.
When speaking to analysts, Lesjak expects the layoffs to cost $US300 million and save the company the same amount starting next year.
“This move is basically HP Inc embracing the tough pricing environment and shifting their focus to building their portfolio,” said Shannon Cross, Research Analyst, Cross Research, when speaking with The Times of India.
The restructuring follows reports that HP Inc posted revenue declines of 12 percent, compared to the same period last year.


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By New Markets Advisors
Just this week, T-Mobile announced Binge On, a free addition to the carrier’s Simple Choice plan that will allow subscribers to stream unlimited video from providers like Hulu, HBO, and Netflix without it counting against their data usage.
T-Mobile Binge On is the latest piece of the company’s three-part strategy to take on market leaders Verizon and AT&T. In our recent piece for Forbes, we look at T-Mobile’s strategy for using its limited assets to make a play for more market share.
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|'s Blog|| | |
Technology Round-up 4/15
|Technology Round-up 4/15|
08/22/10 at 02:11 AM by CyberInferno
Facebook has acquired Instagram for $1 billion (yes, billion with a ďbĒ). The company has 13 employees (who are all super rich now) and earns no revenue at all. Do you think this was a smart decision? [Discussion only--no poll link]
The U.S. Government has filed an antitrust suit against Apple over their e-book pricing. Apple has responded to the allegations.
The iPad might be making its way into more cockpits.
Thinking about getting a new iPad with 4G LTE? See how AT&Tís and Verizonís iPad LTE offerings stack up against each other.
AT&T has started releasing unlock codes for out-of-warranty iPhones.
Why develop something when you can buy it? Apple is considering a serious investment in Sharp for their TV technology.
Apple has released a tool to remove the Flashback virus that has infected over 600,000 Macs worldwide.
Intel may already be shipping chipsets with second-generation Thunderbolt ports for new Macs. As further evidence that new Macs are on the way, several stores appear to no longer be stocking current models. Overall, it was another good quarter Appleís computer division: Apple claimed 10.6% of all computer sales.
Spotify has announced that they have a ďspecial announcementĒ next week. Free/cheaper mobile access? Or will Adelleís albums finally be streamable to free subscribers in the U.S.?
Facebook now allows people to download all their information for archival purposes.
New builds of Firefox feature the option to disable all plugins by default and re-enable them individually.
Wolfram Alpha now analyzes the content of books (no, it wonít help you write your papers).
Google has announced a $10.65 billion quarter. To celebrate, the company is splitting its stock price. Perhaps itís tired of losing to Appleís price?
The Republican National Convention has named Google as its official social platform. Considering most of the people on Google+ tend to be younger (and consequently more liberal), this could have interesting effects on the election.
Google+ got a facelift. Itís pretty nice, too. Perhaps it can sway a few timeline-hating Facebook users to jump ship.
Google Play Music has added labs that include an HTML5 player.
Google claims to be content fighting for low-end tablet sales and letting the iPad dominate the upper echelon of tablets.
They say the best form of flattery is imitation. Well, Google is complimenting Windows 7 with new builds of Chrome OS.
A new beta of Chrome 19 has live tab syncing.
See what Google would have looked like had it been released in the dial-up terminal days (via Engadget).
Dolby Labs and Phillips are working toward glasses-free 3D HDTVs.
Best Buy has released the details about which 50 store locations will close. This is actually not a sign of the company struggling; they are simply shifting their focus to smaller, mobile stores.
Audiophiles looking for the best portable music player need look no further than the Cowon Plenue Z2.
Check out Sonyís (really ugly) SmartWatch.
Time Warner and Verizon have started selling new bundled packages.
A new Kindle update provides additional translations.
AT&T is reportedly spending $150 million to promote the launch of the Windows-Phone-7-based Nokia Lumia 900. While this may be more expensive than their campaign for the iPhone, thatís really just an indication that the iPhone doesnít need as much advertising to sell. In further Lumia 900 news, the fix for data connectivity has been released. The device is now effectively free for AT&Tís new subscribers and upgraders.
Sprint plans to activate LTE on the 800MHz band by 2014. Is this an admission that WiMax is destined to fail?
Verizon will implement a $30 fee for customers to upgrade phones.
Republic Wireless, an innovative wireless carrier that expects users to place most calls/texts over WiFi and only charges $19/mo. for unlimited data/text/calls, will open up its reservation system next week to allow more people to join this summer. For people with WiFi access at home and school/work, this could be an ideal solution for saving some money.
Two more high-level executives have abandoned the RIM ship. Is the once iconic Blackberry doomed?
The LG Viper for Sprint has been announced.
The low-end HTC Golf will feature ICS and Sense 4.0.
If you have an HTC One S with chipping ceramic finish, HTC will replace it for free. And if you have an HTC One X with battery issues, an unofficial fix has been released.
Check out a review of the HTC One V and the HTC Titan II.
Sony has released details on when its Xperia phones will get ICS.
Test out Windows 8 on an iPad with a new Splashtop release.
Adobe Reader 10.2 for Android and iOS supports signing and filling out forms.
The Facebook app for PS Vita now supports photo uploading.
Netflix 2.0 for Windows Phone has been released.
ICQ has released a new mobile app for iOS/Android and an iPad version. Of course, ICQ hasnít been popular since Quake II was released (when AOL bought it), but good luck to the company nonetheless!
A 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 should be released this month with a 10-inch version coming out next month. Check out a review of the 7-inch version.
A roadmap for Microsoft Office 15, Internet Explorer 10, and Windows Phone 8 has leaked.
Kubuntu 12.10 has been released for PC or Mac users looking for a different OS.
Check out reviews of the super-slim Samsung Series 9 laptops.
Adobe plans for a massive release with Premiere Pro CS6.
Good news: an open-source Nvidia linux driver has finally been released. Bad news: the closed-source proprietary driver still kicks the crap out of it.
Got a screw with a stripped head? Learn how to remove it.
Hate shaving? Hate the price of razors? The $1/month shaving club can at least fix one of those problems for you.
Neighbors playing their music too loud? Let them know with this sample complaint form.
Hide iOS notification labels for apps you donít care about updating.
Check for updates of your jailbroken iOS apps with Curiosa.
Clean up your computer desktop by consolidating everything into three icons.
Remove whitespace from the new Google+ layout.
Access advanced Windows applications from your start menu with WinPlusX.
Learn how to ďBuild Your Own VPN to Pimp Out Your Gaming, Streaming, Remote Access, and Oh Yeah, SecurityĒ
Sony is cutting 10,000 jobs. Ouch.
Apple, Amazon, and Google have all been accused of dodging UK taxes.
Contributor: CyberInferno (Chad)


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To date, 3.66% of all the land in the world used for sugar cane farming has been certified as sustainable against the standard set by sustainability organisation Bonsucro, which is working at continuing to grow sustainability certification for sugar cane worldwide.
“The 3.66% figure might seem like a small percentage, but it equates to nearly 900 000 ha and 3.7-million tonnes of certified sugar,” says Bonsucro head of engagement Natasha Schwarzbach, adding that this number is steadily growing.
Four-fifths of the world’s sugar is produced from sugar cane, and sugar cane is one of the world’s largest crops, giving it great significance in the global economy.
Schwarzbach says the current sugar cane industry is realising the importance and urgency of being sustainable. “Sustainability is not only an imperative for environmental and social reasons – it also makes business sense. Bonsucro is noticing that more companies want to ensure that their sugar cane supply chains are sustainable, as a result of the array of benefits associated with sustainability.”
The sugar cane supply chain is complex and contains a diverse range of industry players, but Schwarzbach says sustainability is a uniting force behind all industry players worldwide.
“Bonsucro is also noticing a growing number of companies and organisations, which include buyers, millers, farmers and traders, working toward sustainable sugar cane production,” she says.
Meanwhile, poor health and safety conditions of workers, the conversion of high- biodiversity land into sugar cane farms, poor yields, pollution from fertiliser and runoffs, a lack of community engagement, adverse effects on water supply and land rights issues, as well as the failure of governments to enforce laws or international conventions, are only some of the potential consequences of growing sugar cane unsustainably, says the organisation.
The Bonsucro Standard for sugar cane enables producers to tackle these issues. The impacts of growing sugar cane can vary from region to region, and Bonsucro provides a standard that can be applied in any sugar cane region.
“We believe that, by considering all the rele- vant factors, such as water use for
sugar cane farming, producers can manage their crops, their mills and the environment in a sustainable manner. The Bonsucro Standard is a metric standard, and is the only one that exists globally for sugar cane,” says Schwarzbach.
Meanwhile, sugar cane has been produced commercially for hundreds of years and, for much of its history, it has been associated with bad practices such as forced labour, child labour or slavery.
While the industry has improved since the days of forced labour, any commodity that is produced on such a large scale will encounter significant challenges.
“Social problems, including forced and child labour, as well as poor working conditions, still occur in some countries,” says Schwarzbach.
She highlights that there are numerous agricultural challenges too, such as the overuse of pesticides and fertilisers, and the indiscriminate clearing of lands in areas of high biodiversity.
“Poisonous wastes, smoke and noise are all industrial problems, and technical inefficiencies can be economically problematic. All of these issues can be addressed through compliance with the Bonsucro Standard,” says Schwarzbach.
Meanwhile, Bonsucro’s ultimate vision is a sugar cane sector that is sustainable and continuously improving.
The organisation is collaborating with all relevant stakeholders, linking members so that key businesses in the supply chain can help one another ensure a sustainable supply chain.
Bonsucro has also established certification for sugar-cane-derived products, such as molasses, yeast, bagasse and fusel oil, making it the first and only full spectrum certification scheme on the market.
Sugar cane is a growing industry in Africa, particularly in Southern Africa, says Schwarzbach.
“South Africa leads the way, yet other coun- tries, such as Malawi, Tanzania and Swazi-land, have also attracted investment in their sugar cane industries over the past few years,” she says, adding that any growth will, however, bring a multitude of sustainability challenges.
Schwarzbach highlights that, as part of its efforts, Bonsucro is working hard to promote the sustainable production of sugar cane, particularly in Africa, and has hosted a two-day workshop, on March 25 and March 26, which comprised a free full-day training session at the Orion Hotel, in Wartburg, South Africa, where key stakeholders from all over the country gathered.
“We also work with our partner, international organisation dedicated to responsible food production Solidaridad, to provide support for their farmer support programme in Tanzania, Malawi and Swaziland,” she says.
The global multistakeholder nonprofit organisation is dedicated to reducing the environmental and social impact of sugar cane production, while acknowledging the need for economic viability.
Bonsucro links its name to a product or process that has been certified by an independent certification body as complying with the Bonsucro Standard.


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Russia’s war against Ukraine is in its second week, and cryptocurrency has emerged as an important element of the conflict.
The war has sent 1.2 million Ukrainians fleeing since Feb. 24, and more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the Ukrainian government. The human costs of the war are already steep, with no end in sight.
Those costs have inspired people across the world to help support Ukraine’s defense against Russia, and cryptocurrency has presented a novel way for them to do it. After the Ukrainian government tweeted a request for crypto donations, more than $50 million worth of crypto poured in. The Ukrainian government also announced plans to mint NFTs to fund its military. On the other side of the coin, there are growing concerns about Russia using crypto as a way to avoid sanctions, and the United States Treasury is concerned about Russian cyberattacks on crypto companies. Crypto scammers are also using Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to steal money from people looking to help.
The situation has brought even more volatility to the cryptocurrency market, and experts predict the ups and downs will continue. Cryptocurrency’s wider adoption and its recent alignment with the stock market make it even more linked with the international conflict. Bitcoin is hovering around $40,000 after dropping under $35,000 immediately following the attack, and Ethereum is back below $3,000. Either way, experts advise not to make financial decisions based on news-related panic.
“Your ability to stay disciplined and stay invested is ultimately what will lead to success or failure,” Douglas Boneparth, a certified financial planner and founder of Bone Fide Wealth, told NextAdvisor in recent days. Here are some more examples of how cryptocurrency is factoring into the fast-moving conflict:
- Crypto fraudsters are seizing the opportunity to take donations meant for struggling Ukrainians, according to research firm Elliptic as reported by The Wall Street Journal. A group pretending to represent the Ukrainian government reportedly solicited donations for the cryptocurrency Peaceful World, and the value rose to $50 million even after it was exposed as fraud. The crypto world is no stranger to scams, with $14 billion going to tricksters in 2021, according to blockchain researcher Chainalysis.
- An NFT of Ukraine’s flag brought in more than $6.7 million to help Ukrainians affected by Russia’s invasion. The effort was created by UkraineDAO, which is backed by a member of feminist punk band Pussy Riot. Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted plans to issue the country’s own NFTs to support the country’s armed forces. Efforts to help Ukrainians affected by the attack have already brought in more than $50 million in crypto donations since the invasion.
- The United States Treasury department told cryptocurrency companies to stay vigilant about cybersecurity, with concerns that Russia could launch a cyberattack to retaliate against U.S. sanctions. As the crypto industry grows and therefore poses more risk, officials have been talking with trade groups and exchanges to ensure assets remain safe and protected.
Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and a good indicator of the crypto market in general, since other coins like Ethereum (and smaller altcoins) tend to follow its trends. Even though Bitcoin recently set another new all-time high, it was a pretty normal uptick for the crypto, which is notorious for its volatility. That’s not to say investors should take swings in either direction lightly, and this is also why investing experts recommend not making any major investment changes based on these normal fluctuations.
Cryptocurrency is still very new, and everything from innovation to regulation can have outsize impact for investors. Here’s how you can invest smartly, regardless of what’s making news or Bitcoin’s price swings.
How Investors Should Deal With Volatility
Cryptocurrency volatility is nothing new, and you should be comfortable with this if you decide to invest.
Volatility can be attributed to an “immature market,” says Ollie Leech, learn editor at Coindesk, a cryptocurrency news outlet. Anything from a celebrity tweet to new federal regulation can send prices spiraling.
“If Elon Musk puts hashtag Bitcoin in his Twitter bio, it sends Bitcoin up 10%,” says Leech.
This unpredictability is part of the reason why investing experts warn against investing huge amounts of your portfolio into a risky asset like crypto. Many recommend keeping your crypto holdings to less than 5% of your total portfolio.
For new investors, day-to-day swings can seem frightening. But if you’ve invested with a buy-and-hold strategy, dips are nothing to panic about, says Humphrey Yang the personal finance expert behind Humphrey Talks. Yang recommends a simple solution: don’t look at your investment.
“Don’t check on it. That’s the best thing you can do. If you let your emotions get too much into it then you might sell at the wrong time, make the wrong decision,” says Yang.
This is the traditional “set it and forget it” advice that many traditional long-term investors follow. If you can’t get on board, and the extreme dips continue to cause you worry, then you might have too much riding on your cryptocurrency investments.
“The most important thing any investor can do, whether they are investing in Bitcoin or stocks, is not just to have a plan in place, but to also have a plan they can stick with,” says Douglas Boneparth, a CFP and the president of Bone Fide Wealth. “While buying the dip might be attractive, especially with an asset that you really like, it might not always be the best idea at the moment.”
Top Crypto News From Recent Months
Cryptocurrency stars in Super Bowl ads
Cryptocurrency made a splash at the Super Bowl this year, with multiple cryptocurrency exchanges airing ads. The crypto ads captured America’s attention, but not everyone loved them. Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown blasted them during a senate committee hearing last week, saying the ads lacked transparency and “left a few things out.” The hearing was another government meeting on stablecoins, where U.S. lawmakers echoed similar past sentiments about how more regulation is needed.
New York Stock Exchange wants to get in on NFTs
The New York Stock Exchange, the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization, wants to be the marketplace for NFTs just like with stocks. The exchange filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to provide an online marketplace for digital goods including NFTs, cryptocurrencies, digital media, and artwork. If the exchange’s plan comes to fruition, it would compete with other popular NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible.
Colorado will accept crypto for tax payments
Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced that the state will begin accepting crypto payments for taxes and other state-related transactions by the end of summer. Polis said during an interview with CoinDesk that Colorado will partner with crypto companies to effectively accept and convert Bitcoin into U.S. dollars. “We don’t want to take the speculative risk of holding crypto, so we will have a transactional layer there and it will be entered in our system as dollars,” he says. “For consumer convenience, we want to accept payment in a wide variety of cryptocurrencies, just as we do with credit cards.”
Proposed legislation weighs in on stablecoins
New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer unveiled an early draft of legislation that would place clear definitions around U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins. The proposed legislation would designate certain stablecoins as “qualified,” making them redeemable on a one-to-one basis for U.S. dollars, and institute traditional deposit insurance on stablecoin holdings. The bill also states that qualified stablecoins would only be issued by banks or non-bank institutions that satisfy certain regulations.
JP Morgan enters the metaverse
JP Morgan has officially entered the metaverse, opening a lounge in Decentraland, a virtual world based on blockchain technology. The “Onyx lounge” was unveiled along with a report from the bank outlining “limitless” opportunities for businesses in the metaverse and why there is “explosive interest.” JP Morgan is the largest bank in the U.S. and the first to participate in the metaverse.
Coinbase partners with Mexico for withdrawals
Coinbase announced it’s launching a service that allows cryptocurrency recipients in Mexico to cash out their funds in pesos. The service will be offered at over 37,000 locations across the country, free of charge through March 31, after which customers will be charged a “nominal fee that’s still 25-50% cheaper” than traditional international payment options, according to a Coinbase blog post. Cryptocurrency has drawn interest for cross-border payments and money transfers, because of its potential as a faster and cheaper method to transact compared to more traditional options.
Meta scraps stablecoin project
Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to launch stablecoin project Diem has hit a dead end. Meta, formerly branded as Facebook, announced this week it sold its assets and intellectual property to crypto bank Silvergate Capital. The bank paid $182 million for the project, according to a press release. Though Meta is no longer involved in the project,…


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Bay of Plenty residents spent more than $230m online last year, up almost 20 per cent in two years, and Kiwi businesses are benefiting, a New Zealand Post report reveals.
The Full Download 2019 report was undertaken by NZ Post because courier deliveries now surpassed mail as the largest contributor to NZ Post revenue, the report shows.
Bay of Plenty people spent an average of $98 each time and of the $234m spent online last year came from 2.4 million transactions, up 17 per cent.
Nationally, 1.8 million New Zealanders chose to shop online last year, spending a total of $4.2 billion.
NZ Post Chief Marketing Officer, Bryan Dobson, said the large growth in online shopping mainly comes from Kiwis shopping more often, with online shoppers now hitting that "buy" button 22 times each per year.
"We're also seeing an emergence of 'super shoppers' – with nearly one in 10 Kiwi online shoppers spending over $9,000 online," he said.
Dobson said the report was "good news" for Kiwi businesses.
"Spending with New Zealand online stores grew at nearly double the rate of growth for international online stores – encouraging news for our local e-tailers," he said.
"Although New Zealanders still enjoy shopping internationally with nearly one dollar in every three spent with an offshore online retailer, they also say that they prefer to buy from local retailers because they trust them and would like to support home-grown businesses," Dobson said.
There was also a rise in the popularity of Buy Now Pay Later Payment methods, such as Afterpay, with 12 per cent of shoppers using these payment methods last year.
Most were aged under 45 and over half of those were women.
Dobson said the most prominent online shoppers in New Zealand were women aged between 30 and 45 who lived in rural areas.
"NZ Post is delivering well over half of all parcels bought online in New Zealand and we're proud to be integral to that moment of joy when your online shopping parcel arrives.
"Customer needs are changing quickly, and they want speed, efficiency and convenience.
"Most online retailers in New Zealand use NZ Post to connect with their customers. With the leading delivery service we provide, and with the wealth of insights in this report, we are committed to helping online retailers to grow a better online business," he said.


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Goyal assures infra, export insurance support to Gems and Jewellery industry
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal also said that the government was willing to examine giving export insurance coverage for individual exports of gems and jewellery through the Export Credit and Guarantee Corporation (ECGC).
Mumbai: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has announced the government's full support for substantial investments in infrastructure for the gems and jewellery sector to establish Mumbai as the capital of this industry. The minister also said that the government was willing to examine giving export insurance coverage for individual exports of gems and jewellery through the Export Credit and Guarantee Corporation (ECGC).
He assured backing for the Indian Gems and Jewellery Park on a 21-acre site in Mahape, Navi Mumbai. Minister Goyal highlighted the readiness of the Mega Common Facilitation Center in Seepz, which is equipped with world-class machinery. The minister was speaking at the inaugural session of the 4-day IIJS (India International Jewellery Show) Signature 2024 Gem and Jewellery Trade Show.
"We have started giving ECGC (formerly Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India) cover for the whole turnover...we are keen to expand, and I ask the captains of the industry to see how we can have an industry-ECGC-government partnership, which will ensure the baggage of the past can be erased. If the industry and the government can come together and work together, I am sure we can look at individual policies also for individual exports," Goyal said.
Goyal declared India's commitment to becoming the global epicentre of gems and jewellery, specifically designating Mumbai as the industry's capital. He announced plans to open a Hong Kong Jewellery Export Council shortly, signalling an intention to expand the industry's reach across continents gradually.


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Grains started the month of August with a little oomph as the tension between Russian and the rest of the Western world continues to build. Moscow is building up its military resources on the eastern Ukrainian border, signed a five-year oil deal with Iran, announced a one-year ban on the import of various agricultural products including fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, milk and dairy products, and nuts from the U.S., E.U., Australia, Canada, and Norway. (Sidenote: there is also a proposed airspace ban for E.U. and U.S. airlines being tabled by the Kremlin). This is fairly significant as ag imports in 2013 from the E.U. totalled $15.8 billion and $1.3 billion from the U.S. For Canada, the pork sector looks to be the one taking the biggest hit as from January to May, Canadian pork exports to Russia equaled $207 million, an increase of 103 per cent of the same period in 2013.
While Russia was the second largest buyer of American chicken last year, they are now playing political chicken with the Americans. The ban on agricultural trade could send food prices inside Russia higher, given the fact that they import about one-third of their food consumption needs and are the largest food importer in the world. The benefactors will likely be Latin & South America (especially the Brazilian meat sector), as well as other former Soviet Union states like Kazakhstan & Belarus. Moving forward, both new and old trade partners watch Russia earnestly as the situation continues to unfold.
Heading east, since the beginning of the year, China has imported 41.7 million tonnes of soybeans (including a record 7.47 million tonnes in July), an increase of 20% year-over-year. Why do China’s soybean imports continue to grow? Simply because of the cost of buying imported soybeans and crushing them is churning out a much bigger profit than buying domestically (the cost of soybeans on the Dalian commodity exchange is currently about $19.60/bushel). Nonetheless, rapeseed imports by China grew by 44 per cent year-over-year in the first nine months of the 2013/14 marketing year to 3.84 million tonnes. China National Grains and Oils Information Centre is estimating that China will import 4.5 million tonnes of rapeseed this year (USDA is at four million tonnes) as demand for livestock feed (i.e. canola meal) is growing.
Although crop ratings remain above the average, August is a crucial month for soybeans for crop development. Further, there are some reports of corn tip back occurring in a few major U.S. corn growing regions, which could downgrade average yield and total production numbers (tip back is where the corn ear does not fill all the way to the end). Thus, while axles are getting greased up for harvest, the next two-to-four weeks will be a crucial period to watch for.
Wheat prices started to see a bit of a rally thanks to some drier conditions in the northern U.S. states, quality concerns in Europe, and the situation in Ukraine. However, prices have seen come back to late July levels thanks to non-geopolitical catalysts, like crop development here in Western Canada looking generally positive, with yields for spring wheat, canola, & durum reported to be all above their five-year averages. As your crop starts to come off, it’s important to keep focused on the realities. There’s still a lot of grain coming off in a lot of places so when there are some bounces in the market (i.e. durum looks “toppy” right now), make sales when you can, not when have to.


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Aldi sold more British apples than any other supermarket in February 2023, BAPL finds
For the first time this season, Aldi bought more British apples from UK growers than any other UK retailer in February, according to the peak industry body.
The latest data released by British Apples & Pears Limited (BAPL) shows Aldi at the top of the chart, ahead of Tesco in second place, Sainsbury’s in third and Lidl in fourth.
“This is the first time this season that Aldi has been at the top of the sales table,” revealed BAPL executive chair, Ali Capper.
“Lidl beat all retailers in September with the most British apples sold and are similarly outperforming against their market share, buying 15 per cent of all British apples sold between August 2022 to January 2023, when their market share is just 7 per cent.”
Tesco had been in the top spot since October 2022, but now Aldi is leading the way, she said.
”In February, Aldi bought 22 per cent of all British apples our growers sold to UK supermarkets, compared to their overall grocery market share of just 9.4 per cent,” said Capper.
This month, BAPL also released its four-year British apple sales data. The data aggregates monthly sales from August to January each year, from 2019 up to the current year and compares it to the retailers’ overall grocery market share (red line on following chart, source Kantar).
The four-year data shows which supermarkets are consistently under-performing or over-performing in terms of British apple sales, compared to their market share. Red lines above the green bars indicate that retailer is selling a lower percentage of British apples than their grocery market share.
The most recent BAPL sales data (February 2023) published on the BAPL website shows that Asda continues to be the least supportive retailer of British apples with a grocery market share of 14.3 per cent selling just 6.3 per cent of British apples. The UK’s two biggest retailers, Tesco (grocery market share of 27.3 per cent) sold 20.8 per cent of British apples and Sainsbury’s (grocery market share of 15.2 per cent) sold 14.7 per cent of British apples.
“We know that consumers want British if at all possible and with such great quality fruit available from British growers, we hope to see even more support from UK supermarkets,” Capper said.
Monthly UK apple sales data can be viewed at https://www.britishapplesandpears.co.uk/supermarket-sales-data. New monthly sales data is published in the third week of the following month.
BAPL is a grower-funded, not-for-profit organisation that represents all commercial apple and pear growers in the UK, whose ambition is for at least 60 per cent of apples sold in the UK to be British by 2030.


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This article is more than 1 year old
HP issues annual exploding battery recall
If you checked yours before, check it again
HP came thiiis close to getting out of the month without its traditional May laptop-battery recall – but it didn't quite make it.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced that HP is recalling another 162,600 lithium-ion batteries that shipped with HP- and Compaq-branded laptops.
These new recalls are in addition to the 70,000 that it recalled in May 2009 and the 54,000 that it recalled in May 2010.
According to the CPSC, since the 2010 recall, HP received 40 more reports of faulty batteries that overheated and burst, resulting in "seven burn injuries, one smoke inhalation injury, and 36 instances of property damage."
The May 2009 recall was instituted after a mere two ruptured batteries and no injuries. Between the 2009 and 2010 recalls, there were 38 failures with 11 minor injuries and 31 reports of property damage.
In case you're scoring at home, that's now a total of 80 reported exploding batteries, 19 injuries, 67 incidents of property damage, and 286,000 recalled bad boys. All of the suspect batteries, by the way, were manufactured in China.
Since the problematic-battery suspects keep increasing, the CPSC helpfully provides an updated list, and notes: "Consumers who had previously checked their batteries and were informed they were not included in previous announcements are urged to check again."
If your HP battery is on the list, you'll get a new one free from HP – find out how on the company's Battery Pack Replacement Program website, which also provides info about recalls in 2005, 2006, and 2008.
And perhaps it might be wise to check again come May 2012. ®


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The Farmers National Bank of Emlenton announced today the launch of their newly redesigned website, www.farmersnb.com.
“We are pleased to launch our redesigned website to the public. The site’s clean design and improved functionality supports our commitment to continuously improving our customer service experience,” said William C. Marsh, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Farmers National Bank of Emlenton.
Features of the new Farmers National Bank website include a fresh layout, streamlined navigation, mobile responsive platform, revised site content, enhanced financial calculators and updated product and service information. The redesign of the site will not affect online banking access for customers.
For additional information, please visit www.farmersnb.com.
The Farmers National Bank of Emlenton is an independent, nationally chartered, FDIC-insured community commercial bank headquartered in Emlenton, Pennsylvania, operating 16 full-service offices in Venango, Allegheny, Butler, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Jefferson, and Mercer Counties, Pennsylvania. The Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Emclaire Financial Corp (NASDAQ: “EMCF”).
For more information about Farmers National Bank, please visit the website at www.farmersnb.com or call 877-862-9270.


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Business visitors splurge in SA - four times more than average leisure visitor, Adelaide Convention Bureau survey shows
- From: The Advertiser
- February 12, 2013
INTERSTATE and international business visitors to South Australia spend up to four times more on average than leisure visitors, a new survey has found.
The average interstate business visitor spends $732 per day while visiting the state, according to data compiled by the Adelaide Convention Bureau as part of their 2012 visitor survey, while the average international business visitor spends $532 per day.
In contrast, national survey figures show the average leisure visitor spends $179 per day.
Compiled from data collected over six months, the 2012 survey also shows average spending has increased by $120 for international business visitors and $100 for those from interstate since the last survey was completed at the end of 2010.
"In terms of business visitors, the biggest difference we note . . . is the dollar spend per day by delegates has increased quite significantly and the gap between the daily spend per business visitor vs a leisure visitor is considerable," Adelaide Convention Bureau chief executive Damien Kitto said.
The survey provides a snapshot of international and domestic business visitors to the state. It finds that 62 per cent of international business visitors would not have visited the state if they hadn't attended a conference.
However, once here, 95 per cent of respondents rated SA as an excellent or good holiday destination, with the Barossa Valley the most popular destination beyond the CBD.
"The likelihood of having visited South Australia if not as a conference delegate was a new question on the 2012 survey," Mr Kitto said.


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"All the latest vegan news & interviews with thought leaders in the vegan movement"
(c) Plant Based News LTD - Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved.
Barely a week seems to go by without the Beyond Burger becoming more widely available.
The vegan Beyond Burger's likeness to meat has been much vaunted, with many believing this type of food is paving the way to a meatless future.
Watch the video above to see animal advocate Jane Velez Mitchell - better known as Jane Unchained - guided around the Beyond Meat facility by none other than company CEO Ethan Brown.
She describes the tour as 'an extraordinary inside look at the R&D [Research & Development], the headquarters, the labs at Beyond Meat where people are doing taste tests and trying to work out what the absolute best plant proteins are."
She told Brown: "Your products are astounding and they are changing the world."
According to Brown, taste testers were comparing their burger to animal proteins and 'trying to collapse more of the differences between a plant-based burger and an animal-based burger'.
He says this is the ultimate goal of the company: "To make sure there are no differences whatsoever."
Maria is a former magazine editor and newspaper reporter. She has specialized in writing content for the plant-based sector for several years, as well as reporting on agriculture, politics and regional news. You can follow her on Twitter @MariaChiorando and Instagram @mariachiorando.
Since you're here...
...we’ve got a small favour to ask. Plant Based News is a FREE service that receives millions of views each week across Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, our weekly newsletter and this website. This takes a lot of our personal time, money and hard work. But we do it because we KNOW it makes a difference. If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to support it, our future would be much more secure.
He says he's in pretty good shape for a 'little old guy'
The flavours have been spotted in Target stores in the US
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are prepared in the author's capacity and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Plant Based News itself.


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It was a hectic week that saw a handful of multi-million hackers step down and one of Bitcoin’s biggest advocates stepped down. Also, crypto regulations in the US have gone up another notch. lets take alook.
Michael Saylor, who was the CEO of business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, has Transformed into a main role After serving 30 years in leadership.
As the Ethereum-inspired rally continues, an image of Long dreamed of volatility He started talking about it again. An eth merger is also on the horizon and should it go well and a news sell-off take place, why shouldn’t the new high-strength Ethereum outperform Bitcoin in market cap?
Coinbase announced in a blog post published on Monday that Coinbase Prime was Adding Ethereum to its growing list of staking options for local institutional clients in the United States.
Featured bridge across the Nomad السلسلة series Suffered from exploitation on Monday, August 1, with the protocol’s attackers draining almost all of its money. The total value of cryptocurrencies lost in the attack was nearly $200 million. Nomad announced that it has recovered $22 million. Data from Etherscan shows Nomad has recovered About $22.4 million (11.4%) of $190 million Which dried up during the hack after the team announced a bounty.
After the attacks on Solana, he released the Near . protocol Official disclosure of details In a similar case, which it claimed was addressed and resolved earlier in June.
News emerged that many hackers Targeted Solana EcosystemLosses are approaching the billion dollar mark. Solana’s Million Dollars Wallet Has Been Hacked return it To exploit the private key associated with the Slope mobile wallet.
Its Web3 Alchemy platform Mark its entry into the Polkadot ecosystem, announcing an important partnership with Astar Network, a parachin of the Polkadot Network. Once the deal is completed and executed, Astar can take advantage of Alchemy’s contract infrastructure.
ZB Cryptocurrency Exchange advertises itself as one of the safest exchanges in the crypto space. However, despite the strong security measures in place, the exchange has become the latest crypto entity to fall victim to an ongoing series of hacks. According to the latest available details from PeckShield, the exchange has He lost about $4.8 million in a coordinated attack.
Fashion brand Gucci announced that it is Adding ApeCoin To the list of accepted cryptocurrencies.
The embattled crypto lender Voyager Digital was so Survey to return some customer money Locked up in Metropolitan Commercial Bank (MCB) by the judge presiding over the company’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings in New York. The ruling clears the way for Voyager Digital to return about $270 million in frozen customer funds.
According to an employee of the office of US Senator Cynthia Loomis, every exchange in the country, in addition to Binance, is said to be Investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Japan’s central bank has Putting a CBDC Pilot Program on Holdclaiming that it requires more exploration and understanding of the market.
CEO Zuckerberg announced that Meta is Expand NFT support For Instagram across international borders to reach users in more than 100 countries.
Jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. revealed. Unveils her diamond jewelry collection CryptoPunk pendants powered by NFT.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not provided or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.


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In March of 2019, the unthinkable happened to CBD Oil manufacturer, NuLeaf Naturals. Their one dominant rankings and search engine traffic sunk. In a matter of days, nearly 100,000/mo visitors were suddenly non-existent.
At one time, NuLeaf Naturals ranked #1 in Google for various terms like Buy CBD Oil, Pure CBD Oil, and others. Within days, those once top rankings fell deep into the Google abyss. But why?
Behind the scenes, a suspected competitor has been quietly executing an aggressive negative SEO attack against NuLeafNaturals.com. The attack was designed to simulate a poorly executed SEO campaign as well as flood anchors to remove value through anchor saturation. While Google claims negative SEO attacks are ineffective, and can potentially even help the targeted website, our data and test show the ladder.
In a matter of months, tens of thousands of links were pointed to NuLeaf for sexually related terms, competitors’ name, and even their digital marketing agency name.
Altitude Agency, our sister agency has crazy amounts of experience handling negative SEO attacks, and it’s a good thing. They knew exactly what to do to start the recovery which included first, researching and identifying the spammy links.
From the initial tank (March 2019) it took nearly 7 months for the website to start its recovery. Inbetween various updates, the site grew and also fell. The Altitude team had to work through the on-going negative SEO attack (which is happening still as we speak) as well as continue to manage in-house SEO efforts. In May, nearly 14 months later the site recovery has rebounded around 70%.
Because the attacks are still happening, the proactive negative SEO recovery has to work in tandem with on-going in-house SEO efforts which has proven successful. This is a prime example of why it’s critical to have ana agency with an in-depth understanding of how to deal with Negative SEO.


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Boardriders Parent Authentic Brands’ Debt Gets Ratings Upgrade
S&P was the latest to raise Authentic’s issuer credit rating from B to B+, with a stable outlook on the company indicating anticipated steady performance of the business. The ratings and research agency cited in a note Monday Authentic’s low leverage, notably using less debt than expected for the Boardriders purchase, among the reasons for the updates.
S&P said Authentic, which is privately held and doesn’t disclose financial details, has so far seen strong performance and profitability in the first half of this year, particularly with Reebok’s performance exceeding expectations.
“The company’s recent acquisitions and partnerships on top of closing Boardriders further reinforce ABG’s quickly growing scale, as the pace and size of acquisitions have increased over the past two years,” S&P said in its note.
The agency went on to say Authentic has a proven track record in its licensing model for brands “previously mismanaged or under financial duress.”
Authentic now has annual revenue in excess of $1 billion, with 40% revenue growth seen in 2021 and again in 2022, according to S&P. The growth was driven by a ramp up in larger purchases during those years, with the $1.2 billion acquisition of Boardriders a continuation of that more recent trend.
S&P’s actions follow those taken last week by Moody’s Investors Service, which upgraded Authentic’s general creditworthiness rating from B2 to B1. Moody’s also moved its outlook for Authentic from positive to stable.
Moody’s cited Authentic’s scale across the past few years as the reason for the updates, with the firm’s brand portfolio now totaling more than 50.
“Operating performance has remained solid, including continued profitable growth, strong margins and free cash flow, despite a challenging consumer environment,” Moody’s noted of Authentic.
Moody’s, like S&P, pointed to Authentic’s business model, which is built on a steady stream of royalties with guaranteed minimums from its licensee roster. It’s a model that offers predictability in its operations, Moody’s said.
Kari Hamanaka can be reached at email@example.com.


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Stamping yet another milestone in providing digital-led customer service, Mobitel, Sri Lanka’s National Mobile Service Provider marked its 2nd successful year in providing an unblemished customer service via a range of Over the Top Applications (OTP) such as WhatsApp and Viber.
Understanding the growth of technology and the dynamic needs of its customers, Mobitel launched Sri Lanka’s first digital-led customer service via WhatsApp and Viber in 2018. Mobitel’s pioneering move to provide customer touchpoints via OTT platforms has enabled customers to remain connected and address their queries to obtain guidance and solve their problems in a hassle-free manner.
Mobitel also offers other digital customer touchpoints such as a Chatbot, Self-Care App, DataMart App, Web Chat and E-mail, in addition to the traditional hotlines, frontline support and fax. By offering every possible touchpoint to its customer base, Mobitel has accustomed its customer base to its trademark prompt, warm and efficient customer service standards.
Mobitel regularly sets new benchmarks for the industry by demonstrating its market leading customer-centric products and services. Mobitel’s industry leading customer service breakthroughs have led it to win the ‘Service Brand of the Year’ award at the SLIM Brand Excellence Awards for two consecutive years in 2017 and 2018 and received an array of accolades at the recently concluded Singapore Customer Engagement Forum & Awards that recognised outstanding brands that have gone beyond the regular services to offer supreme customer engagement and Service.


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Truliant Federal Credit Union’s announcement last week that it plans to open additional branches in the Charlotte area underscores the rapid growth the U.S. credit union industry has been experiencing since the financial crisis, a UNC Charlotte professor says.
Tony Plath, who teaches finance at UNCC, told me the credit union industry is “on fire with growth,” thanks in part to consumer discontent with the banking industry – and, especially, big banks.
Last week, 63-year-old Truliant announced plans to open six branches in the Charlotte area over the course of this year and next. Those will join eight Truliant branches already operating in the area. Truliant is based in Winston-Salem.
Plath said Truliant’s expansion comes as credit unions have seen a fast rise in deposits and new customers every year since 2008.
“The demand's already present in the market,” Plath says. “Truliant's just trying to figure out how to service it.”
Credit unions aren’t challenge-free. The credit union industry has lobbied Congress in recent years for it to remove a federal restriction on the amount of small-business loans a single credit union can make, Plath said. Credit unions have pushed unsuccessfully for the cap to be raised from 12.25 percent of a credit union’s total assets to 25 percent.
Given the growing demand for credit union products and services, among other factors, “it's really only a matter of time” before credit unions persuade Congress to raise the cap, he said.
Truliant’s expansion also comes at a time when some big banks, like Bank of America, have been shedding large numbers of branches, which are expensive to operate. Those closures follow declines in foot traffic into branches as consumer transactions on mobile phones continues to rise.
In an era of branch cuts, Truliant’s plans for Charlotte might seem extravagant, Plath said. But they’re not, he said.
“Why? Easy answer: Truliant's retail footprint in the Greater Charlotte regional marketplace is really quite small, especially in comparison to the big banks from whom they're taking away large numbers of both customers and new deposits.”
The growth at credit unions also comes as consumers perceive them as a lower-cost alternative to bigger banks, which still have work to do to restore their post-recession reputations among consumers, Plath said.
“And until they figure out how to accomplish this job, the credit union industry is making proverbial hay while the sun shines.”


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The vertical farm is in a greenhouse on top of a parkade in downtown Vancouver.
“We believe this technology has the potential to transform Vancouver’s food system,” said Mr. Ng. “Vancouver produces a small percentage of its own food. We view Local Garden as a part of a transition to a more sustainable model of food production and delivery.”
He noted that produce trucked from California can spend up to four days in transit. By contrast, Local Garden produces a fraction of the carbon footprint of those imports and is picked, packed and ready for the dinner table the same day.
The City of Vancouver is partnering on the project by leasing an underused rooftop of a city-owned parkade to Alterrus.
“We’re very excited to work with Alterrus to create local green jobs and grow fresh produce right in the heart of downtown Vancouver,” said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, who attended the launch. “This project demonstrates the innovative spirit in our City’s booming clean tech sector. Transforming an underused downtown parking lot to create much-needed jobs and fresh, local food is a win-win-win.”
Rick Sielski, Chief Operating Officer of Vancity Credit Union, which provided Alterrus with growth-capital financing for Local Garden, was on hand to offer his congratulations to Alterrus and Local Garden. “It’s an innovative project that’s creating jobs, producing local food and reducing its footprint on the environment,” he said. “Projects like this are totally aligned with our vision at Vancity of building vibrant and sustainable communities.”
The Grand Opening, at the EasyPark rooftop in downtown Vancouver, featured Celebrity Chef Trevor Bird, who has been a participant on Top Chef Canada and is owner of Fable Restaurant in Vancouver, one of Local Garden’s customer’s. He presented the speakers with a salad of Local Garden greens and a special dressing he created.
Also on hand were students from Lord Strathcona Elementary School who used iPads donated by the Vancouver Sun and the Hearts of Gold Foundation through the Adopt-a-School campaign. Students supported their community and educated guests on what they have learned in their curriculum about urban agriculture, sustainable farming and healthy diets.
Alterrus’ vertical-farming technology produces the Local Garden crops hydroponically. The greenhouse is scheduled to produce up to 500 pounds of leafy green vegetables a day including leafy greens, lettuce, spinach and herbs. All produce is picked and packed onsite.
In the 6,000 square-foot Local Garden greenhouse, 4,000 square feet is dedicated as growing space while the remaining space is used for packaging. Produce is grown in trays stacked 12 high and circulating on conveyers to give plants even exposure to heat, light and humidity. The greenhouse produces significantly higher yields with less than 10 per cent of the water required for traditional field agriculture. Virtually all excess water is recycled.
The Local Garden vertical farm will operate year round. Its controlled growing environment shelters its produce from contamination and irregular weather patterns that are challenges for growers of traditional field produce.
Local Garden Vancouver Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alterrus Systems Inc.
The CNSX has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The CNSX does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.


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12 December, 2018
Embassy of the Republic of Poland to Lithuania together with The Polish Investment and Trade Agency awarded Maxima Grupė for the acquisition of retail chain Stokrotka. The prize was granted during “Polish Business Awards 2018” event that took place at the Embassy on December 11.
4 December, 2018
Retail chain Stokrotka, owned by Maxima Grupė since this spring, acquired Sano, another retail chain that is operating in the Polish market. The company was acquired from related shareholders. The merger of the companies is planned to be completed in the beginning of 2019.
29 November, 2018
Maxima Grupė has decided to establish the new company Maxima International Sourcing in which it will concentrate centralized purchasing competencies. The new company will provide agency services to the retail chains owned by Maxima Grupė in the Baltics, Poland and Bulgaria, develop private label brands, and engage in wholesale activities. The company will be established at the beginning of next year.
13 November, 2018
Maxima Grupė, which owns the Maxima retail chain in the Baltics, the Stokrotka chain in Poland and the T-Market chain in Bulgaria, plans to open 120-140 new stores in those markets during 2019. Many of them will be opened in Poland. The company plans to invest at least EUR 100 million altogether next year in the expansion and renewal of its chains of stores.
7 November, 2018
Maxima Grupė won a prize for successful acquisition of retail chain Stokrotka and further growth of the company during one of the biggest retail events “Food Market and Retail Forum” (Forum Rynku Spożywczego i Handlu) that was held on 5-6 November in Warsaw.


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Young Adults Used Less Tobacco And Alcohol After Cannabis Legalization
- A study found that cannabis legalization in California led to a decrease in tobacco and alcohol use among young adults.
- The study contradicts the belief that cannabis is a gateway drug that leads to increased use of other substances.
- Researchers analyzed data from two cohorts of 18-20 year old cannabis users in California before and after recreational cannabis became legal in 2016.
- The findings suggest that cannabis legalization may actually lead to reduced consumption of substances with well-established health risks.
A recent study found that cannabis legalization in California lowered the use of tobacco and alcohol for young adults, aged 18-20. Opponents of legalization have often warned of a “gateway drug” effect, where cannabis use is believed to lead to increased use of other drugs. Researchers still disagree on whether cannabis should be considered a “gateway drug.” But this recent study suggested that cannabis legalization actually led young adults to use less of these commonly consumed substances with well-established health risks.
The researchers, from Drexel University and The University of Southern California, looked at data from California’s transition to legal recreational cannabis in 2016. Before 2016, only medical cannabis was legal in the state. To determine the effect this had on young adult consumption patterns, researchers analyzed data from two cohorts of 18-20 year old cannabis users – including both those enrolled as a medical cannabis patient and those who were not. One group included 172 young cannabis users who were followed from 2014-2015.
– Read the entire article at Forbes.


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Tizen OS has officially reached Megazord status today, as Samsung plans to merge their Bada OS with the Intel-backed MeeGo successor.
A little bit of history: once upon a time, Intel and Nokia joined forces to combine Moblin and Maemo into a universal mobile operating system named MeeGo, which was designed to run on anything from smartphones and tablets to Smart TVs and in-vehicle entertainment devices. MeeGo development made decent progress, but it was recently announced that the MeeGo project would be merging—yet again—with the Linux-based LiMo platform to create Tizen, an “an open source, standards-based software platform supported by leading mobile operators, device manufacturers, and silicon suppliers for multiple device categories“.
Samsung has decided that they don’t want to be left out of this OS orgy, and will be merging Bada, their in-house mobile OS, with Tizen. This Frankenstein OS will be used for various systems and smartphones (once it finishes morphing), and like Android, will be Linux-based and open source. The OS will probably never attempt to compete with Google or Apple’s mobile operating systems on the consumer level, but companies like Samsung feel more comfortable having a backup-OS in their pocket just in case things go awry with Mountain View.


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Nearly half (44%) of UK consumers would consider switching to a bank with a subscription model in return for personalised service bundles.
Over half (52%) would be enticed to switch if banks if their subscription included an entertainment bundle. In addition, 33% would be tempted to switch for smartphone insurance and 31% would consider it for utility services.
This is big news for banks’ switching rates considering that 35% of all UK consumers have never switched their bank. However, tailored offers could change this and 60% of UK customers would allow analysis of their purchasing data to get this.
Nearly six in ten respondents wants to bundle their subscription payments and regular outgoings, and were willing to share transaction details to do so. Furthermore, 26% would be willing to pay between £5 and £10 for their bank account if it included these services.
This is according to a UK-wide study from CitizenMe and Zuora. Results also showed that 70% of consumers already subscribed to entertainment services, followed by insurance (52%) and grocery services (29%).
“Just like Netflix created new ways to consume television, the time is now for the financial services industry to shift to a subscription-based model. As younger fintech companies continue to disrupt the financial services industry banks need to re-establish their roles as trusted financial advisers. It’s clear the tides are turning and the survey results are evidence that banks will have to do more to earn loyalty now,” said Zuora Managing Director for EMEA, John Phillips.
“The interest from respondents in additional services shows the opportunity for these banks to invest in subscription services to secure recurring revenue stream, which serve not only to retain existing customers but also draw in those willing to switch. In return for loyalty, customers expect more value added services that are delivered in a personalised way, and the research shows they’re willing to pay for it,” added Phillips.


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The third generation Ford Focus has been launched in Thailand early in this year. The 2013 Ford Focus is fully loaded with ASEAN-specifications and will be launched in India soon enough. The features incorporated in the car are called as safety and smart technology features which will be the standard features in the top-end variants. The two features which are very alluring in the car are the Ac..
The official pricing of the 2013 Ford Focus ST for American shores is yet to be made public but from somewhere a leaked dealer document bearing the price of this car has been discovered. The document states that the hot 2013 Ford Focus ST hatchback would wear a price tag of $23,700 when it reaches the dealerships within next few weeks. The destination and handling fee of this hot-hatch is expect..
The auto maker from the United States, Ford Motor Corp has recently announced that in order to gain share in the Indian car market, the company is going to launch a series of cars by 2015. The first step intended in this direction is the launch of Ford Focus in India. The company is also planning on developing a smaller car than its favorite hatchback Ford Figo. In addition to these two cars the..


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Updating Android is a complicated process which in some rare cases can brick your phone. That's why less frequent OS upgrades could be seen as a benefit of unlocked phones. However, security patches are key to keeping your handset free of flaws like Stagefright, which allows malware in via multimedia messages.
Carrier-locked Android devices started getting their Android Nougat upgrades last November, which left unlocked Galaxy devices lacking up-to-date security. Monthly updates should put any apprehension to rest and keep your unlocked Galaxy devices safer.
Samsung confirmed the new release schedule in an email to ZDNet, saying that the March security update will come "soon," though it's unclear on exactly when, or whether that update will include Nougat. As the Galaxy S8 is due this month, it's good to see Samsung commit to protecting all its customers.


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http://www.flashcardexchange.com/cards/csc-100-test-one-chap-1-4-992930 Apple's suppliers in China mistreat workers, making them work overtime beyond legal limits, paying them low wages, and exposing them to dangerous working conditions, according to the report released Wednesday. The investigation of other Apple suppliers in China reveals that serious work-related injuries and worker suicides but exist throughout Apple's supply chain. The abuse of factory workers making Apple products came under scrutiny earlier this year following a New York Times story that described poor working conditions at the factories of contractors making the products. The Fair Labor Association conducted a month long investigation on Foxconn factories and worker abuse and health and safety risks for workers. alleged that the workers at Foxconn, which makes Apple products like the iPad and iPhone, worked up to 80 hours a week in April leading up to the release of the new iPad.
The investigation by China Labor Watch of 10 factories of Apple's suppliers from January to April also found the widespread use of "dispatched workers," which have no formal relationship with the factories but are under contractual obligation to intermediary companies called "dispatching companies.
The contract that workers end up signing is often not with their factory but with some labor dispatch company that they know little about. Many times they assume they are being hired directly by the factory. The use of dispatch workers allows factories to prevent them from forming unions, employ them short-term without having to pay severance compensation, and shift responsibility for worker injuries onto another party. Some have to work more than 150 hours of overtime every month, which is above China's legal limit of 36 hours of overtime per month.
Right to a safe workplace free of dangerous conditions, toxic substances, and other potential safety hazards; Right to be free from retaliation for filing a claim...
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The Tesla recruitment presentation ended Thursday night time when an individual in a good white go well with, their head encased in black, robot-walked onto the darkish stage. Techno music blared, and the individual started to Charleston. The individual did the working man. The individual waggled their shoulders and prolonged their arms into jazz fingers. “All proper. Thanks,” CEO Elon Musk stated, an eternal-seeming 40 seconds into the freestyle, slicing off the dance.
The individual represented a robotic, what Musk alternatively referred to as Tesla Bot and Optimus (“sub prime,” he joked). Sometime—“someday subsequent yr,” stated Musk, the eternal optimist—a prototype of the robotic will carry out “boring, repetitive, and harmful” duties. Musk stated the bot would use the identical superior artificial intelligence expertise that will in the future permit its cars to drive themselves—although as we speak they’re restricted to easy duties akin to altering lanes and navigating parking tons. The robotic would have “profound implications for the financial system,” Musk defined. Then he bought to the purpose: “Yeah, be part of our workforce and assist construct this.”
Thursday’s AI Day presentation, broadcast on the web from a stage in Palo Alto, had all the trimmings of prior primetime Tesla spectacles, which have included crowds of followers, free flowing alcohol, and many lighting gels. However AI Day was geared towards the geeky set, the parents who would possibly make the corporate’s tech work. Consider the entire thing as a really fancy job truthful. By minute two of the slide-laden presentation, Tesla AI director Andrej Karpathy was deep into the type of discuss often confined to college school rooms and company convention rooms, and had displayed a schematic of a neural net on display screen. Simply after the robotic’s debut, one other slide made the message express, pointing viewers towards a webpage the place engineers can apply for a job. But near 1,000,000 folks have watched the presentation on Tesla’s YouTube channel—although the present ended after 11 pm ET.
On this means, AI Day may need been the ur-Tesla occasion, combining intelligent, experimental expertise with the bombastic goofiness of an individual in a robotic go well with, hyping a product that gained’t exist for a while. Tesla hopes the combo will assist it finesse one of many hardest duties of all: attracting AI engineers in a stretched market.
Forgotten had been earlier guarantees from earlier shows. Greater than two years in the past, Musk stated that there can be 1 million Tesla robotaxis on the road by the top of 2020. However Tesla’s automobiles nonetheless can’t drive on their very own, and the tech depends on human drivers to oversee the machine’s actions on the street. In the meantime, a brand new and leading edge battery first detailed throughout last September’s Battery Day event has hit manufacturing velocity bumps, Musk stated on an earnings name final month, and might not be prepared for the debut of a brand new Mannequin Y later this yr. This is able to additional delay Tesla’s promised price reductions and its long-pledged dream of a $25,000 electric car.
The presentation additionally dodged point out of a preliminary investigation opened by federal regulators final week into Autopilot, Tesla’s controversial superior driving help characteristic. The Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration pointed to a minimum of 11 incidents since 2018 during which Teslas on Autopilot slammed into police, fireplace, or ambulance autos stopped on roads, killing one individual and injuring 17. The corporate’s driver guide warns that the system might not brake for stationary autos. Consultants say these features are trained to detect issues which are shifting, not issues that aren’t shifting, partially to keep away from false positives that may result in sudden stops. If the investigation results in a recall, it might have an effect on greater than 700,000 Fashions S, X, Y, and three on the street.


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By Isha Thakur, Advocate
email@example.com | Oct 18, 2021
“Bitcoin was created to serve a highly political intent, a free and uncensored network where all can participate with equal access” –Amir Taaki, British-Iranian Programmer
In the state of worldwide pandemic and imposition of subsequent phases of the lockdown, the country has witnessed tremendous economic changes with a fair share of individuals losing their jobs to the impact of it on the demand-supply chain and a wide range of commodities and services revaluating their prices unstably throughout the year. However, in such a succession of events, the majority of us came across frequent advertisements on cryptocurrencies or bitcoins. Virtual currency, popularly known as cryptocurrency, is based on blockchain technology and has become a global phenomenon known to the majority of the people in the world. This switch to virtual currencies qua ‘cryptocurrencies’ as an alternate source of income and investment showcased the immunization of it from the ongoing affairs of the pandemic. Admittedly, a recent report by broker discovery and comparison platform BrokerChooser, reveals India having the highest number of Crypto owners at 10.07 Crore.
Before overseeing the impressive user additions and the legality behind it, it is pertinent to note that cryptocurrency or bitcoins, or digital currency are not interchangeable terms. Digital currency is a broad concept, referring to all monetary assets that are in digital form. Virtual currency is a subset of digital currency and cryptocurrency is a subset of virtual currency. Virtual currencies (VC), being an unregulated form of digital currency, with minimum governmental inference and control and with cryptocurrency using cryptography technology to secure and authenticate currency transactions, Bitcoins (a form of cryptocurrency) has attracted an increasing amount of user additions which has just exponentially increased ever since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ban was lifted in March 2020.
The use of cryptocurrency has always been a point of debate with its legality being a mystery to the public. The lack of a traditional government or bank-backed system to regulate its use makes cryptocurrencies target several concerns such as it being a conduit to money laundering and promotion of terrorist activities. The RBI, being concerned about the same, had issued several advisories since 2013 informing various stakeholders about the negative ramifications of cryptocurrencies. Consequently, the RBI issued a circular dated 6th April 2018 which prohibited banks and other entities from trading in virtual currencies. The circular directed the entities regulated by RBI, firstly, not to deal in virtual currencies neither to provide services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with nor settling virtual currencies and secondly, to exit the relationship with such persons or entities, however, transfer of cryptocurrency from one person to another was not prohibited. At the time of issuance of the circular by the RBI, there was no specific legislation dealing with the transactions in virtual currencies.
The circular was subsequently challenged by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (“Petitioner”) on the ground that it was manifestly arbitrary, based on non-reasonable classification and it imposes disproportionate restrictions. The Petitioner contended that VCs are not legal tenders and do not qualify as money but tradable commodities/digital goods due to which they fall outside the regulatory framework of RBI. The Petitioner further argued that the circular violated the fundamental right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade, or business under Article 19(1) (g) of the Constitution, as it does not pass the test of proportionality vis-à vis the blanket prohibition imposed on the regulated entities.
The Supreme Court of India after extensively considering the legality of the circular along with relevant provisions and the international position laid down some essential viewpoints: –
Nature of Cryptocurrency
Various courts in different jurisdictions have interpreted cryptocurrencies in different categories ranging from property to commodity to non-traditional currency to payment instrument to money to funds. Though VCs are not recognized as legal tenders as contended by the Petitioner, they are, however, capable of performing most of the functions of real currency, and hence, they cannot be considered as just goods or commodities.
RBI’s power to regulate or prohibit Virtual Currencies
The Supreme Court laid down that the RBI has requisite power vested with it to regulate activities of such nature. The Court referred to the preamble, statement of objects and reasons, and various provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 to substantiate its stance that anything that may pose a threat to or have an impact on the financial system of the country can be regulated by RBI. The Supreme Court further noted that the term ‘regulate’ entails the word ‘prohibit’ in it. The court explained that the circular does not impose a prohibition on the use of or the trading in VCs. It merely directs the entities regulated by RBI not to provide banking services to those engaged in the trading or facilitating the trading in VCs. Hence, RBI has and shall have the requisite power to frame policies and issue directions to banks with respect to transactions relating to cryptocurrencies.
Infringement of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution
The blanket ban imposed by the RBI on providing banking services to cryptocurrency businesses was held to be violative of Article 19 (1)(g) of the Indian Constitution where the practice to carry on any trade or business was hampered by the circular. The Court opined that although the RBI is vested with the power to form regulations from an act formulated by the parliament, the regulations cannot supersede the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The Court, thus, accepted the contention of the Petitioner and held that the Circular was disproportionate because none of the RBI’s regulated entities had ‘suffered any loss or adverse effect directly or indirectly, on account of the interface that the VC exchanges had with any of them.
The Supreme Court’s aforesaid judgment in Internet and Mobile Association of India v. Reserve Bank of India (2020) is a very small victory in favor of the crypto entities in India. Though the aforesaid judgment doesn’t completely adjudicate on the legality of cryptocurrency, however, the Supreme Court has acknowledged that a prohibitory approach and a blanket ban on the trade of cryptocurrencies stand in stark contrast with those countries having the same constitutional values as ours. Countries like China, Bangladesh, and Algeria have placed a ban on the purchase, sale, and use of virtual currencies, specifically, cryptocurrency, however, there are countries like Singapore, Canada and UK that have adopted a regulatory approach towards the trade-in cryptocurrencies.
The Parliament of India, having taken consideration of the same, put a hold on Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 which was to be introduced aiming at prohibiting all the private cryptocurrencies and facilitating a regulatory framework for introducing the official digital currency which in turn would be issued by the RBI. Though Cryptocurrency is not illegal in India, however, nor is it regulated. The concern of the RBI and other stakeholders responsible for the financial stability of the country is justified and the need of the hour keeping in view the negative ramifications that cryptocurrency could lead to especially at the time where the country is fighting the Covid-19 pandemic as well as an economic downfall. India has a very good opportunity of studying the regulatory approach taken by other democratic countries and execute a regulatory architecture for a new digital world.


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Look what Japan’s NEC recently came up with: it’s a netbook called the LiteTouch Note. While it’s pretty hard to get worked up on new netbooks these days, but this one’s different from your typical Windows/Intel Atom-powered netbook. It runs on Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor and an Android OS, which is pretty rare. We’ve seen
NEC has launched two new projectors along their NP Short Throw series. Named the NP510WS and the NP610WS, the two new short throw projectors are built for small rooms and are designed to use less power that their predecessors.
NEC has just announced the MultiSync EA222WMe, a 22-inch LCD desktop monitor that’s highlighted by it’s eco-friendly features. Designed for businesses, the EA222WMe features a LED-backlit panel that keeps the brightness while lowering power consumption by 20% and heat emissions by 61%.


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The beauty was spotted leaving the gym with Jenkins on Tuesday, looking gym ready in grey sweats, black Nike sneakers and a Soul Cycle tank top.
And after keeping out of the spotlight through the holidays, Rowland announced in January that she’d be collaborating with Jenkins for her “Get Your Body Back Challenge.”
The plan kicked off on Jan. 12, and a month into the challenge, Rowland is looking great!
Rowland has been offering nutrition tips and workout exercises online as part of the system. It also includes several of the exercise videos she has created with Jenkins.
The new mommy is obviously practicing what she preaches. And seeing that she is known for amazing body, we’re sure her post-baby baby will be spectacular. Keep up the good work, Kelly! Would you participate in Kelly and Jeanette’s “Get Your Body Back Challenge?” Tweet us @OKMagazine or let us know in the comments section below.


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Sunfiber has discovered long-term business potential in plastic recycling.
Plastic waste pollution, which could take hundreds of years to decompose, is one of the most widespread environmental problems.
While many countries are seeing little success in tackling plastic waste, a Chinese businesswoman and her factory in South Carolina have found sustainable business opportunities in plastic recycling. During the 10 years of exploration, the company has become the leading manufacturer to promote the sustainability of mankind and found its own path for win-win cooperation between China and the United States.
About 10 years ago, a fiber mill in China developed advanced technologies to use recycled PET bottle flakes to produce polyester staple fibers for filling household products such as pillows.
However, the owner realized she couldn’t open a big market in China, where people commonly use organic fillings such as dried cereals, tea leaves and cotton for pillows.
In 2013, she decided to build Sun Fiber in South Carolina to explore the American market. Today, Sun Fiber can produce over 160 million pounds of recycled staple fiber products each year and has created over 200 jobs in the United States.
Sun Ya, owner of Sun Fiber, said the company was able to make profits in the United States not only because of the low cost of energy, but also the strong willingness of Americans to buy household products. eco-friendly.
The ability to earn money is the key factor for the company to continue exploring new technologies to promote plastic recycling for humanity and create new jobs for Americans.
In South Carolina, foreign companies play a vital role in its economy and China is the third largest provider of foreign investment after Germany and Canada.