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Clothier and actuality TV maven Kim Kardashian West was the recipient of the Style Icon prize on the 2021 Folks’s Selection Awards Tuesday night time. And Ye was amongst these she needed to thank.
Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross — final yr’s Style Icon awardee — launched Kardashian West with a tribute video devoted to a few of her most well-known seems to be. Then, Kardashian West herself took the stage.
“Oh my gosh to be receiving this award from a trend icon herself, Tracee,” started the 41-year-old dressmaker and mom of 4, who began her profession as a stylist for movie star mates like Paris Hilton. “I’m so honored.”
“I’m truthfully so humbled to be right here,” she stated. “I began off as a closet organizer and a stylist, so the truth that I’m profitable a trend icon award — it’s like a pinch-me second. I’ve these each single day that designers are keen to work with me.”
“Designers are keen to work with me,” stated Kardashian West, “and there was a time once they weren’t. So many wonderful designers, like Zac Posen, who actually believed me or most likely acquired talked into it by getting a name from Kanye.”
She then thanked her estranged husband, rapper-producer-designer Kanye West: “And thanks to Kanye even for introducing me to the style world. I fell in love with trend, and I’m so impressed by so many individuals.”
“This is sort of a dream,” she concluded, “to get up and put on these wonderful garments.”
The Wests are within the midst of a divorce however look like remaining amicable. They had been lately seen collectively on the Chicago memorial service for Louis Vuitton visionary Virgil Abloh.
The Folks’s Selection Awards was held on the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and was hosted by Kenan Thompson.
Kardashian West returned to the Folks’s Selection Awards stage later together with her sister, Khloé Kardashian, and mom Kris Jenner to simply accept the award for Finest Actuality Present 2021 for the long-running Maintaining with the Kardashians, which lately ended after 20 seasons. Jenner reminded audiences that the household will quickly star in a brand new actuality present on Hulu.
The Folks’s Selection Awards was held on the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and hosted by Kenan Thompson.Along with being a trend icon for carrying nice garments, Kardashian West can also be a designer and the founding father of SKIMS, a signature line of underwear, shapewear and loungewear that debuted in 2018.
The model lately launched its Cozy Assortment, with latest Dancing With the Stars winner Iman Shumpert, his spouse, Teyana Taylor, and their two daughters, Junie and Rue, because the fashions for the road.
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Since the beginning of this week, the news started appearing in the various media outlets. In the United States, Volkswagen decided to change its name to the Volkswagen VW, as it increasingly switched production to electric cars.
Several agencies reported that the company led by Herbert Des on a global scale, decided to change the name of its branch in the American Federation, in line with the new philosophy and the electric future of the ship owner, as the company has strong investments in this type of mobility, such as the electric ID.4 models.
But … don’t believe everything you read, because they don’t realize that this was just a joke that the company will reveal this week as part of its April Fools’ celebration, as April 1st is celebrated with jokes in the United States, as well as in Poland, France, Finland, Austria, Australia, Germany and Italy. And Belgium and the United Kingdom, among other countries.
It is a celebration equivalent to the Day of the Holy Innocents in Mexico, which is celebrated here on December 28 according to Spanish tradition.
Some people close to the company tell us that the automaker this Thursday will come out to clarify this situation, but at the moment they were already a “popular topic” on the many social networks in the many markets where they have a presence, including Mexico. This is called a good advertising strategy.
Kite, still far from the target
March is over and the Papalote del Niño is still far from its goal of raising 50 million pesos to survive.
The museum run by Dolores Bestigi has already collected 32 million 390,377 pesos, according to the website portal, meaning that they only carry 64.7 percent of the 50 million target to save themselves. Those responsible for this site, located in the second section of Chapultepec Park, decided to extend their collection program until the end of April.
They are optimistic that in April they can reach the goal and not disappear, as they are appealing to the goodwill of the citizens, who hope to be more active in providing this space as thousands of children annually have fun and learn new skills and knowledge.
So far, about 60 percent of groups come from Papalote’s popular partners Museo del Niño, which are companies like ADO, Herdez, Bimbo, GNP, Citibanamex, Bayer, Chedraui, and more. The path is missing.
CDMX gyms are up and running again a year later
Since this week, gyms in Mexico City have managed to reconnect treadmills, elliptical machines, bicycles and all equipment in the Cardio District, which has been discontinued for more than a year due to the pandemic.
The Mexican Association of Clubs and Gyms (AMEGYC), headed by Rodrigo Chávez, has finally celebrated with great fanfare the decision of CDMX Prime Minister Claudia Shinbaum to return this “air” to them.
The maximum length of stay in the gyms will last in 60 minutes, with the use of mandatory face masks, health distance scales with appointment system and capacity limit.
In the Mexico Valley metropolitan area, the association that integrates chains such as Sport World, Smart Fit, Nelson Vargas and others has 4,150 gyms and sports centers, which equates to 32 percent of the total. in the country.
Almost 20 percent of branches did not resume operations because cardio activities were the main attraction to them. We hope they get back their muscles.
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Standing in front of a map of Dallas-Fort Worth, Clay Smith placed his right hand along Route 75, his left hand on I-35, with his palms coming together to form a “V” on this city’s downtown. Then he ran his hands northward along those two highways.
“That’s the golden corridor right there,” Smith says. “That’s where all the high-dollar growth has been.”
As executive vice president of The Staubach Co., headquartered in Addison, Texas, in the heart of the “golden corridor,” Smith’s job is to help retailers find the best available real estate for new stores. And the real estate doesn’t get much better than the plains just north of Dallas – particularly, it seems, if you’re selling golf equipment.
Golf’s three largest specialty chains – Edwin Watts Golf Shops, Golfsmith and, just recently, Golf Galaxy – have established beachheads in this area, competing head to head in the same market for the first time. (In late March, Golf Galaxy opened its first stores in Dallas and Houston, the only other market where it now competes directly with Edwin Watts and Golfsmith.)
These retailers didn’t arrive here by happenstance. Demographics – household incomes, population growth and residents’ affinity for golf – made this area appealing to Edwin Watts and Golfsmith, and now to Golf Galaxy.
All three companies, backed by large investment funds, have grown in part by taking business from smaller, less efficient retailers. And the race is on to emerge through this consolidation as the golf industry’s first, true national retail power. Their aggressive expansion plans make it inevitable that Dallas and Houston are just the first of many markets in which all three will clash. What happens here likely will be a precursor of how their rivalry will play out over the next few years.
As is true in any major city, the population here has been extending outward to the suburbs and further, to the “exurbs.” More than 1 million people have moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in each of the past two decades, nearly doubling the metroplex’s total population to 5.2 million residents.
According to Staubach, the median household income in the northern suburbs of Plano and Frisco is about $85,000, more than double that of Dallas city residents.
Matt Corey, Golfsmith’s new vice president of marketing, says that “only three years ago, Frisco was out there in the cow pastures.” Now that town 30 miles north of Dallas is perhaps the region’s hottest shopping destination.
In addition, research commissioned by Golf Galaxy indicates that Dallas, with its 112 golf courses, is the nation’s 13th-largest market for avid golfers – that is, golfers who play 25 or more rounds annually. And 20.7 percent of Dallas residents, according to the company, play golf.
So it’s hardly surprising that the showdown between golf’s three biggest specialty chains would come on this terrain.
“Good retailers are going to follow the population density and the demographics,” Corey says.
His words could be heard over the sound of hammers pounding and fixtures being moved in Golfsmith’s Plano store, which was being renovated in anticipation of a re-grand opening this month. Over the past three years, the Austin, Texas-based chain has been undergoing a massive overhaul under chief executive Jim Thompson.
“We knew we had very good real estate, but we also knew that we had a somewhat outdated retail concept,” Thompson says.
Golfsmith has cut its typical store size in half, to about 14,000 square feet, seeking to generate a bigger return on investment. But it also has adopted what Thompson calls a “hub-and-spoke” strategy, renovating a handful of its large-format stores like the one in Plano.
Thompson says the volume and profit levels have improved at remodeled stores, helped along by synergies with its catalog and Internet businesses and services such as a 90-day playability guarantee. But Golfsmith, which had interest payments of $11.2 million in 2004, reported a $4.8 million net loss for the year.
Surveying the renovation-in-progress in Plano, Fred Quandt, Golfsmith’s vice president of merchandising, says, “Each department has been put on steroids.”
That includes an increased selection of brands, a much larger area for preowned clubs, a large club-building area in the center of the store – an homage to the company’s roots in club-making – an instruction area operated through a partnership with GolfTEC, a club-fitting section run through a separate alliance with Hot Stix Golf, and a large practice and short-game area. Corey describes it as an effort to “upgrade the entire shopping experience.”
It’s not been lost on golf industry executives that just a mile to the north of Golfsmith’s hub store on I-75, Golf Galaxy just opened a new location, presenting an immediate challenge. The same morning that Quandt and Corey were overseeing the store renovation, Ron Hornbaker, Golf Galaxy’s senior vice president of sales and operations, was handing out hats and golf balls to customers entering his company’s Plano store.
“This is what a typical Saturday would look like, and it’s a Friday,” says Hornbaker, clearly pleased with the store traffic.
That morning, Golf Galaxy had run a two-page spread in the Dallas Morning News trumpeting blue-light specials on old Adams, Nike and Callaway drivers for less than $100.
“We’ve got to get noticed and create some excitement, and there’s nothing better than great value,” says Randy Zanatta, Golf Galaxy’s chief executive, who emphasized that advertising closeout specials didn’t detract from the company’s in-store focus on new, name-brand products.
Golf Galaxy is in the midst of the fastest expansion in its eight-year history, with plans to open at least 15 stores during the current fiscal year after opening 10 and launching an e-commerce site the previous year. The privately held company does not disclose financial results, but Zanatta says the company has been profitable the past four years and is funding store openings from cash flow. A former senior executive at Best Buy, Zanatta talks of building the “dominant national retailer” in golf, pointing to Guitar Center’s position in the music industry as his model.
The company’s decision to take on its primary rivals clearly reflects its growing confidence.
“As a board, we decided that now was the time we could compete with them, and we were willing to compete with them,” said Howard Romanow, principal at FdG Associates, one of three investment firms backing Golf Galaxy.
Much like Golfsmith, Golf Galaxy subscribes to the theory that golf retailing, not unlike consumer electronics or home improvement, will undergo a consolidation, with the emergence of a small group of dominant national chains that will overwhelm local golf shops.
“The local neighborhood hardware store has diminished significantly over the past 10 or 15 years,” says Gregg Newmark. “And look at the local book stores that have given way to Barnes & Noble and Border’s. I see the same thing happening in golf.”
“This is a market-share game, big picture, in the U.S. market,” echoes Noel Wilens, managing director of First Atlantic Capital Ltd., which acquired Golfsmith in October 2002. “All the growth that we’ve had and Galaxy has had had to come from somewhere.”
When visiting these retailers’ stores, it’s hard to escape the differences between the new guard – Golfsmith and Golf Galaxy, both run by executives with extensive experience at big-box retailers – and the old guard at Edwin Watts, one of the original golf specialty chains, having opened its first store in 1968.
Though Wellspring Capital Management LLC, a New York private-equity firm, bought a majority stake in Edwin Watts in December 2003, the company still is run, as it always has been, by brothers Edwin and Ronnie Watts, with active participation of several family members and a team of long-time executives. By its own account and that of some of its vendors, Edwin Watts is one of the industry’s most profitable retailers, all the while clinging to a decidedly different approach than its competitors.
“We don’t believe you can open stores anywhere, a big box, and be successful,” Edwin Watts says. “The golf business is a limited sport business – only 5 to 10 percent of the population play golf. It’s a very specialized business, and you have to treat it that way.”
That became quickly evident one recent afternoon at Edwin Watts’ Alpha Road store in north Dallas, where manager Steve Stowe fielded a call from a customer, saying, “I got that Scotty Cameron putter. It’s the only one in the store. It’s got your name on it.”
Later, he waved to a regular customer, noting to a visitor that this man also shops at Edwin Watts’ Stemmons Trail store in north Dallas.
“If you don’t know 80 percent of your customer base, something’s wrong,” Stowe says.
Such a sentiment might seem outmoded in a world in which big-box retailers in many industries have made the idea of the neighborhood store seem quaint, even anachronistic. But it’s the central reason that Wellspring bought Edwin Watts. When assessing whether to make that investment, Greg Feldman, Wellspring’s managing partner, says he found that, on average, Edwin Watts store managers had spent 14 1/2 years with the company, assistant managers seven years.
“For a retailer of any kind, that’s extraordinary,” Feldman says.
That experience is one reason that Edwin Watts gives his store managers an unusual amount of purchasing autonomy, with minimal oversight from headquarters.
“It’s a very strange thing,” George Whalin, a retail consultant whose clients include Edwin Watts, says of that strategy. “I’ve only seen it in two companies. When it works, it works great, but I don’t think it works often.”
Feldman is the contrarian, challenging the theory held by the investors backing Golfsmith and Golf Galaxy that golf lends itself to big-box retailing and its economies of scale.
“If I thought golf was a self-service business, I wouldn’t be in it,” Feldman says. “Wal-Mart can do self-service.”
And he says that view has been reflected in the 10 stores that Edwin Watts has acquired over the past 15 months in Birmingham, Ala., Charlotte, N.C., Jacksonville, Fla., and San Antonio, Texas.
“We’re looking for guys who are simpatico to our way of thinking, which means they’re traditional retailers rather than big-box retailers,” Feldman says.
All three retailers are loathe to talk about one another publicly. They downplay their competition, insisting they simply are executing their game plans, not unlike coaches who are afraid to give opposing teams bulletin-board material.
“Our strategy in Dallas and Houston hasn’t changed from the onset of competition,” Thompson says. “I’m not going to lose sleep over competition. I’m going to lose sleep if we execute poorly.”
At Golf Galaxy, Zanatta says, “We focus on winning, we don’t focus on trying to make our competition lose.”
But in an industry constantly grappling with flat sales, there inevitably will be winners who capture market share, and many losers. Edwin Watts, Golfsmith and Golf Galaxy have grown at the expense of many small retailers around the country who have gone under in recent years.
Now, in this city, comes the bigger challenge for these three specialty chains. They have to beat up on each other.


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Published November 4, 2015, Los Angeles Daily Journal – There once existed a time when automobiles were the embodiment of society’s love of freedom. Cars represented more than ordinary utility. For many, they were the fundamental expression of personal choice, where personality reveled in the freedom to pick up and go. Few can forget James Dean’s love of Porsches or Elvis Presley’s collection of Cadillacs, making the cars nearly as famous as the celebrities who drove them.
We used to be a society where little boys daydreamed about what kind of car they wanted to own, igniting neighborhood arguments about which car was the coolest. At the time, budding teenagers waited with angst for the day they could get their driver’s license, transgressing through their first true right of passage.
But those days have given way to a new generation of drivers who are increasingly indifferent about what the automobile has to offer. With instant access to so much data, gaming and communication, teenagers have found freedom in their smartphones, leaving little room for excitement about daily transportation.
The automobile’s place in society has dramatically changed. To be sure, the automobile is still a necessity and has many passionate enthusiasts, but the attitude toward cars has experienced a fundamental shift. Schoolyard debates over whose car is fastest have given way to exchanges over whose phone is coolest. And gone are the days when the family car was ritualistically handed down to the first born — no one keeps a car for that long anymore. Now, cars are becoming short-term holds, thanks in large part to the modern-day automobile lease, with cars increasingly being kept for only two or three years. With 28 percent of all new cars being leased, frictionless car ownership has never been higher.
Confounding the issue is the proliferation of a new breed of cars that converse in a language many have never considered. Electric, hybrid and hydrogen technology have gained on market share once controlled exclusively by the internal combustion engine.
All of this raises the question of what is the future of the automobile? Many pundits opine that autonomous vehicles are the wave of the future. But considering the state of the technology, the regulatory framework that would need to be erected, and the dotted network of self-driving and consumer-driven vehicles, it may be optimistic to believe that autonomous vehicles are right around the corner. It is also worthwhile to note that manufacturers have been talking about self-driving cars since General Motors first introduced the concept at the 1939 World’s Fair, with the conclusion always being the same: They’re about 20 years out.
The car of our future is much more likely to be the “connected car” — a natural and fluid extension of the personal data devices to which we’ve become accustomed. Apple chief executive Tim Cook recently noted that the automotive industry is in for a “massive change,” and he could not have been more right. The industry is at an infliction point, where discussions of horsepower are being replaced with discussions of connectivity.
Apple is currently launching CarPlay, a system that connects iPhones to car interfaces, but expect this to be the beginning of the conversation. As consumers experience seamless transition between their computers, their phones and their televisions with more and more frequency, we should expect manufacturers to cater to this demand in a way that Adam Smith never could have imagined when he advanced the theory of the invisible hand.
In truth, improvements in technology have diminished the relative benefits of car ownership. We have seen this with the firestorm Uber has created, as consumers clamor for ride-share benefits, maximizing the use of vehicles in operation, while at the same time reducing the need for individual car ownership. We are advancing toward a world where car ownership is a choice — not a requirement.
Manufacturers can only combat this by introducing cars that are as advanced in terms of their connectivity as their drivability. Syncing your phone with your car will become passé, as cars begin to offer a host of new features such as real-time vehicle tracking, active window displays, remote vehicle shutdown and active health monitoring.
Consider a car that gives you the ability to track your teenager’s whereabouts at all times, or a car that can be shutdown in the event of a theft or a high speed police pursuit. Or consider a vehicle that can monitor your health and call the paramedics in the event of a heart attack or seizure, while at the same time slowing you to a stop. Imagine the benefits for fatigued driving alone. The National Sleep Foundation reports that 4 percent of all drivers have had an accident because of fatigue, resulting in 1,550 annual deaths and $12.5 billion in monetary losses.
In a joint study conducted by the University of Michigan and the U.S. Department of Transportation, vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems are being tested. These “V2V” systems emit a short-range safety signal 10 times per second, and detect signals from other vehicles to determine when a potential accident is imminent. Federal transportation officials estimate that V2V technology could prevent 76 percent of the crashes on U.S. roads, saving some 25,000 lives per year.
As manufacturers begin to roll out this new breed of automobiles, enthusiasm will return to the marketplace for this new embodiment of freedom. Luxury, fuel economy, safety and performance by themselves are no longer enough. Consumers have come to expect that of the modern day automobile —– a statement in itself about how well manufacturers have addressed consumer demand. But the game has now changed, with the market shifting toward keeping the consumer connected with all that is familiar.
Privacy rights over user data will undoubtedly be a concern, as automakers and telecommunication providers will have access to an unprecedented amount of valuable information. In this regard, federal legislation is certain to become hotly debated, with consumers ultimately winning out — as the connected car will change the way we approach daily life in the years to come.


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We’re looking forward to our next Disney vacation — especially with the Miami-to-Orlando Brightline route now open — but one thing we’re definitely not looking forward to is an increase in prices. Effective immediately, Walt Disney World is upping the prices on annual passes and parking. This is also the case for Disneyland in Anaheim.
“We are constantly adding new, innovative attractions and entertainment to our parks and, with our broad array of pricing options, the value of a theme park visit is reflected in the unique experiences that only Disney can offer,” a Disney spokesperson shared in a statement.
Date-based tickets, which most visitors purchase, remains at $109 per day for Disney World, but their annual passes have increased. The park offers four levels of annual passes, varying on dates and parks. The Incredi-Pass is now $1,449, with a raise of $50. The Sorcerer Pass is now $999, with a raise of $30. The Pirate Pass is now $799, with a raise of $50, and the Pixie Dust Pass is now at $439, with a raise of $40. However, existing annual pass holders will have the option to renew at special, reduced prices.
In addition to these increases, the price of parking at Disney has gone up $5 to a total of $30. For guests staying at Disney’s resort hotels, parking is free.
Despite these changes, there’s still good news! Disney World is bringing back Park Hopper passes on January 9, allowing visitors to travel between parks at any time of day, instead of waiting until 2 p.m. Find out more about this here.
For more information on tickets, head over to the Walt Disney World Resort website here.


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If you had to nominate the travel destinations that make you go ‘wow’, what would they be? Strolling with a lover down the Champs-Élysées in Paris, perhaps? Or dining at René Redzepi’s Noma restaurant in Copenhagen? Or maybe it’s interacting with the dolphins at Monkey Mia?
The team at Flight Centre must have great fun coming up with their annual Wow List, a guide to their 50 hottest predictions for the year ahead. The list will be published in their magazine, Travel Ideas, due to hit the streets on Thursday and while we can’t yet reveal the full list, we’ve had a sneak preview and can tell you that these four destinations and experiences are on it:
* Great Barrier Reef – Heron Island
* Yukon, Canada
* The Grand Train Tour of Switzerland
* Avignon to Lyon river cruise
Flight Centre draws on its own employees to come up with the list – talented people like Isabella Modra, a manager at Flight Centre Marion in South Australia, who nominated the Yukon, Canada, for her ‘wow’ experience. She described travelling to the Yukon to see the northern lights as a “breathtaking” trip that “more than lives up to the slogan of “larger than life”.
“Every moment was a natural wonder, even as simple as the sunlight reflected on a frozen patch of snow… I had the feeling that is was on an entirely different planet,” she said. “The Wow List is designed to showcase unique, jaw-dropping places that promise to deliver not just a holiday, but an experience.”
The 50 experiences and destinations included in the Wow list are in no particular order, but they span the continents and include various modes of travel, from sky to sea, rail to road and treks to tents. The list is created from an analysis of customer data, collated from more than 800 Flight Centre stores Australia-wide, for insights into the travel experiences customers want.
According to Flight Centre’s chief executive officer and founder, Graham Turner, Flight Centre’s business is increasingly centred around complex international travel. “This is what our customers want and how they want to travel – for the experience.”
Luke Wheatley, Flight Centre’s head of brand marketing (creative and content), is the mastermind behind the creation of the Wow List. He was one of the Flight Centre representatives we met at Brisbane’s Donna Chang restaurant, where he revealed four of the destinations and showed them on video as we dined on a banquet of outstanding dishes such as raw kingfish with black garlic; fried calamari with native pepperberry; melt-in-the-mouth Wagyu scotch fillet with kampot pepper and dark soy; and a to-die-for dark chocolate mousse with Hennessy XO caramel.
Food and nature are among the highlights of the 2020 Wow List, so it was fitting to be enjoying such an experiential meal. “Each year’s list is inspiring,” said Luke. “We look forward to sharing engaging, evocative content to highlight our top picks for the year ahead.”
The release of the List is supported by both online content and a magazine that will be available from Thursday. The 50 destination stories in the magazine are written by Flight Centre staff including Yukon enthusiast, Isabella; Swiss train enthusiast Rylie Heathfield (St Kilda, Victoria); cruise specialist Anna Shannon (Top Ryde, NSW); and marine biologist turned Flight Centre travel expert Nicky Rundel (Claremont, WA).
The inclusion of Nicky’s selection, Heron Island, was a deliberate attempt to highlight the southern Great Barrier Reef. Having done some awesome snorkelling there last year (not at Heron, but at nearby Lady Musgrave Island) I heartily concur that it’s a ‘wow’ experience. “We want to show how amazing our backyard is,” said Luke.
I’m also pleased to see the Yukon on the list, after having been there a few years ago and being overwhelmed by its rich history and dramatic wilderness landscapes, particularly when flying over the Kluane glacier just as Flight Centre’s Isabella did in the video Luke showed.
It’s a long time since I’ve experienced the chocolate-box beauty of Switzerland so Rylie Heathfield’s recommendation is calling my name, as is the Viking River cruise from Avignon to Lyon, which takes in two of the most renowned food and wine regions in France and sounds like gastronomic heaven. These are definitely places we’d like to add to our ‘wow’ list. Which would you like to add to yours? For the full 2020 Wow list, go to Flight Centre online or pick up a copy of Travel Ideas from Flight Centre.
Here’s a taste of what the Wow List has to


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Google's Other Bad Idea: Offering 50 Million Euros To French Newspapers [Updated]
from the is-that-really-wise? dept
Earlier this week we wrote about a strange move by Google: apparently agreeing to pay the French telecoms company Orange extra to deliver its traffic — thus abandoning the principle of net neutrality it has championed for so long. And now here’s another dubious decision: allegedly offering to pay French publishers 50 million Euros in order to settle the dispute over the display of news snippets in its search results:
According to the report, French publishers turned down the €50 million (USD $66.6 million) offer and demanded a figure of €70 to €100 million instead. They also objected to the way Google proposed to disburse the money. The company reportedly offered to spend a third of the €50 million in the form of direct ad purchases while using the rest for commercial advertising partnerships between Google and the publishers. The publishers reportedly complained that too much of the proposed money was contingent on sales figures.
This suggests that Google is trying to frame these payments as more of a partnership with the newspapers than an acquiescence to their demands. That’s no surprise, because if it is seen to be paying a license to display copyright material in this case, the pressure to do the same elsewhere will inevitably increase. In fact, it has already adopted this “partnership” explanation for the deal it cut with Belgian publishers last month:
We have reached an agreement that ends all litigation and represents great news for both us and the newspapers. We continue to believe that our services respect newspaper copyrights and it is important to note that we are not paying the Belgian publishers or authors to include their content in our services. From now on, Google and Belgian French-language publishers will partner on a broad range of business initiatives
It remains to be seen whether publishers in France and around the world will be happy to “partner” in this way, or whether some will hold out for a formal recognition by Google that it is paying them for a license to display snippets from their publications. Let’s hope not: it would be a truly awful precedent that would undermine not only Google’s business model, but much of the Web as we know it.
Update: Right on cue, Eric Schmidt has just unveiled — you guessed it — a “partnership” with French publishers:
Today I announced with President Hollande of France two new initiatives to help stimulate innovation and increase revenues for French publishers. First, Google has agreed to create a €60 million Digital Publishing Innovation Fund to help support transformative digital publishing initiatives for French readers. Second, Google will deepen our partnership with French publishers to help increase their online revenues using our advertising technology.
So the price seems to have gone up slightly, from €50 million, to €60 million, plus unspecified amounts to “help increase” publishers’ advertising revenue. But no mention of the dreaded “licensing” word in there, so maybe the French publishers blinked, and Google won this time. But expect the issue to come up again in other countries — Germany, for example — where Google might not be so lucky.


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Almost two decades after launching in Vancouver—and seemingly transforming the city into the yoga-loving, fitness-and-health hub it’s known as today—Lululemon has refreshed the store that started it all.
Yes, following a lengthy renovation, the locally based company has finally unveiled its enlarged Kitsilano location (2101 West 4th Avenue). Originally opened in 2000, the boutique was Lululemon’s first standalone stop after its founding by Chip Wilson two years earlier.
Taking over the former Midas next door, the now 6,300-square-foot space features dedicated men’s and women’s departments. (The men’s side, which occupies Lululemon’s former Kitsilano space, will eventually be connected to the newly revealed expansion through the removal of a wall.)
The store stocks Lululemon’s full range of technical athletic apparel, which, in recent years, has moved beyond just yoga pants to include moisture-wicking tops, shorts, and on-trend accessories fit for both everyday and physical activity. The men’s department even offers kombucha—and occasionally beer—on tap.
Murals by local artists Kris Kupskay and Paige Bowman decorate the walls, while old photographs, event posters, and other images pay tribute to Lululemon’s origins in the neighbourhood. The exterior is marked by a refurbished auto-repair shop sign that, at the moment, displays the words, "You always remember your first".
In addition, the airy spot boasts a rooftop patio—decked out with a slick barbeque, lush greenery, and plenty of shade and seating—that will play host to fitness classes and community functions.
In celebration of its opening, the new store will be hosting a community party this Saturday (August 5), from 1 to 5 p.m., complete with snacks, live music, and a number of "surprises". Lululemon's Test Truck, a "portable innovation hub" that helps bring Canada's running community together by offering them the chance to test-drive the latest Lulu tech via treadmill, will also be making its debut in Vancouver on this day.
Check out the images below for a peek at Kitsilano's revamped Lululemon.


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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The purpose of this article is to show with relatively simple logic that electric cars will not have a noticeable impact on air quality and so it is a complete waste of money to subsidize these cars.
Let's start with the objective of not only electrification but also of other alternative fuels: reduce emissions, so as to improve the air quality.
That's a laudable objective. There was a time, some 40 years ago, when the air quality in much of America's major cities was bad. The smog over Los Angeles was legendary.
So what happened over the last 40 years? The emissions standards for regular gasoline and diesel cars were changed dramatically, step by step, as technology allowed.
Over these 40 years, as the half-life of the car fleet turned over every decade, on average, essentially 100% of this bad air and smog went away. No, it did not decline 100% but a new 2014 car sold today has seen a reduction in emissions by almost 100% compared to the average new car of 40 years ago.
These days you could lock yourself in a small garage, turn on the engine and you would be fine for a very long time. You would die from dehydration or starvation before the engine's emissions killed you.
If a new 2014 car sold in the U.S. or Western Europe today is so clean, what is the remaining problem? Why are emissions not down 100% on an aggregate basis?
The answer is mostly twofold:
1. The average age of the car fleet is 11.4 years. This means the average car on the road today was made in early 2003. That car from 2003 still pollutes more than a 2014 car.
2. Some vehicles are not subject to the same emissions standards. You will likely notice this when a large truck or bus passes you by. They spew out massive amounts of (mostly) diesel emissions.
Let's say that we do nothing in terms of alternative fuels and tightening automobile emissions standards going forward -- what would happen? If we do nothing, the car fleet would become cleaner and cleaner every single year, as the car park rolls over. Within a dozen years, most cars would be as clean as the best new cars today.
What would remain is the issue of trucks and buses, and that is a separate track that could see a similar fix: Just keep tightening the standards from year to year.
Remember this: We are starting from a place today where the air is as good as it has been in a century. Essentially every single American today who opens the window or walks out the door is not suffering from an automobile emissions problem. This is obviously very different in many other countries.
With that in mind, it's comforting to know that if we here in the U.S. did nothing except for buying new cars every year to replace the old ones, the tiny remaining automobile emissions would be gone within approximately a decade.
So what could accelerate this improvement to stamp out the last 1% of automobile emissions? It's pretty simple, actually: We need to make new cars so cheap that the old ones -- the ones that pollute -- are replaced as quickly as possible. How do you do that? You focus on making the cheapest cars in the market, making them cheaper than they are today.
One way to make them cheaper is to not tax them as much. Let's say that the cheapest new cars on the market, such as the $14,000 Nissan (NSANY) Versa, would be sold tax-free,and have cheaper annual road taxes. Then you would maximize the rate at which the oldest clunkers would be replaced by those who could otherwise least afford to buy a new car.
Another way to make them cheaper would be to reduce all of the safety legislation that adds cost to manufacturing a new car. Well-meaning as it may be, to the extent that this additional equipment raises the price of a new car to the point where the driver keeps that old 20- to 40-year-old clunker, the result is this person ends up driving around in less-safe car that pollutes dramatically more than the new car would.
In contrast, today's policy of subsidizing $30,000-$130,000 mostly electric cars does almost nothing for the air quality. The people who can afford these cars probably weren't driving 20- to 40-year-old cars to begin with, and would have bought some other $30,000-$130,000 car anyway. In other words, no problem is being solved by subsidizing these buyers of high-end electric cars.
From an air quality perspective, when you subsidize someone to buy a plug-in electric Mercedes B-Class instead of a Mercedes C300, you have gained next to nothing. It's like arguing whether Cindy Crawford or Linda Evangelista is the more beautiful model. You are already in the 99.9999% territory, so squeezing out that last 0.0001% of emissions is not going to improve the air quality.
On the other hand, if the price of a brand-new Nissan Versa is reduced from $14,000 to $12,000, you have enabled millions of lower-income Americans to replace that 1974 Volvo, massively reducing emissions that impact upon air quality. That's how you fix the final decimal point of automobile emissions.
I am not saying that an electric car emits more pollutants than even the best gasoline/diesel car. The preponderance of the evidence suggests that on a lifecycle basis, the electric car emits less. However, a sense of perspective is necessary: A regular new gasoline/diesel car sold today in 2014 already has almost zero emissions compared to a car that is a 10-40 years old.
In other words, we are already deep into the 99%. We are arguing whether Shaq or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the best basketball player. One of them probably was, but does it matter? You don't improve public health by subsidizing one of those two already superb athletes. You improve public health by having the large masses of people exercise more and eat healthier foods.
This is not to say that electric cars don't have benefits and that there aren't good reasons to buy them. There are.
For starters, electric cars drive better in city/suburban traffic. They are smoother, providing linear power and have instant torque. This is a premium experience.
Electrics are also solving a very different kind of pollution: noise! Imagine city streets being a lot more quiet. That's a tangible benefit.
Plugging in the car at home overnight, as well as at the office during the day, is also a convenient solution for many people, especially those who live in single-family homes with garages and whose employers have invested in electric car charging infrastructure.
The good reasons to buy an electric car, however, are very different from the one being used to justify government subsidies and other forms of red tape favoring their production and consumption. Compared to allowing the cumulative car fleet to refresh with the regular new gasoline cars, electrification will make essentially zero difference.
As such, they should not be subsidized.
At the time of publication, the author held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned.
This article represents the opinion of a contributor and not necessarily that of TheStreet or its editorial staff.


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The Battle for Hermès (WSJ)
"'My job,' says the lean, formal 44-year-old and sixth-generation descendant of the company's founder, 'is to keep the strong creativity of Hermès alive. To nourish the rigor and the vision . . . to make these values vibrate. 'This,' he says, 'is the force of Hermès.' Those values—the dedication to rigor, vision and creativity—are what set Hermès apart from its competitors, what company executives mean when they talk about the 'culture of Hermès.'
Fashion's Better Halves (WSJ)
"Two days and a handshake later, a fashion empire was born. Today, the duo presides over two of the industry's biggest luxury labels: Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton, where the designer has been artistic director since 1997. Under Jacobs' often iconoclastic stewardship, Vuitton now does $5 billion in annual sales. At last count, Marc Jacobs has 239 retail stores in 60 countries."
Hundreds sick in mass fainting at Cambodian factory (Reuters)
"Nearly 300 Cambodian workers fell sick this week at a garment factory producing goods for Swedish fashion brand Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), police said on Thursday. A total 284 workers collapsed on Tuesday and Thursday at M&V International Manufacturing Ltd, a supplier for H&M, in Kompong Chhnang."
Look Back in Envy: The ’70s Take the Runway (NY Times)
"But the 1970s resonate most insistently on fashion runways, through a proliferation of languid fall looks inspired by the greatest hits of Halston and Saint Laurent, as well as those of style-world luminaries like Sonia Rykiel, Rosita and Ottavio Missoni, Claude Montana and Karl Lagerfeld, whose fluid dresses for the house of Chloé are still being emulated."
Zac's back (Vogue UK)
"Zac Posen is taking his show back to New York. He will show his spring/summer 2012 offering on September 11 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall... The NY-born designer moved to Paris a year agoto show his eponymous collection there, but still presented his Z Spoke by Zac Posen diffusion line in his hometown."


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An economic downturn and a safety test scandal linked to Toyota’s subsidiary have piled pressure on Toyota Vietnam.
Although Toyota, a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer, dominates the Vietnamese auto market and has gained the trust of consumers, the brand is facing huge challenges.
Toyota Vietnam remained the best-selling brand in the auto market, selling 59,207 units, including Toyota and Lexus cars, in 2023, while Hyundai Thanh Cong sold 57,683 autos last year, according to reports recently released by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) and Hyundai Thanh Cong.
However, if the number of Lexus cars finding buyers was excluded from Toyota’s sales, Hyundai’s turnover would exceed Toyota’s by nearly 300 units.
Despite the narrow gap, the ongoing global and local economic slowdown is expected to hamper the growth of Toyota Vietnam in 2024.
Dipping trade turnover, soaring debts, and geopolitical uncertainty have taken a heavy toll on the global auto industry, challenging giant Toyota.
In Vietnam, the 2023 sales of the Japanese brand plunged 37 percent, but the automaker topped VAMA members, outstripping South Korea’s Kia Motors, which came second with 16,640 cars sold.
Its Vios and Corolla Cross models were listed among the 10 best-sellers in Vietnam last year.
|A Toyota Vios car. Photo: Toyota
A safety test scandal associated with Toyota’s unit is another blow to the brand in the Vietnamese market.
Toyota affiliate Daihatsu, known for manufacturing small passenger cars, was found tampering with safety tests last year.
In particular, the misconduct at Daihatsu was brought to light in April 2023.
The Japanese automaker quickly established an independent third-party committee to investigate the case.
The investigation into its unit related to rigged collision-safety tests found issues going back decades, reported Reuters.
Production at Daihatsu's factories in Japan has been halted since late last month after the independent panel that had been investigating the company found issues involving 64 models, including almost two dozen sold under Toyota's brand.
Among scandal-hit models was Toyota Wigo.
It was not until June last year that the Toyota Wigo was manufactured, and no Wigo cars have been delivered to Vietnamese customers so far.
Meanwhile, Toyota Vios 2023 cars put on sale in Vietnam were the facelift versions, so they were not plagued by the misconduct.
In spite of no direct influence on Vietnamese customers, the scandal hitting Toyota has dented the Japanese automaker’s reputation and reduced trust in Toyota Vietnam.


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As the Wall Street Journal pointed out on Monday, iPhone users are bandwidth hogs. The comScore research firm reported in March that 80 per cent of UK iPhone users were accessing news and information through a browser – four times the rate for all mobile phone users. More than 18 per cent had bought and downloaded a game, compared to 6 per cent of other smartphone owners. Read more
© The Financial Times Ltd 2016 FT and 'Financial Times' are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.


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Tesla cars don’t kill people — journalists do.
Tech titan Elon Musk accused reporters of “killing people” with their negative coverage of recent crashes by Tesla cars that were in autopilot mode.
That’s because Tesla’s self-driving technology — which got a boost Wednesday with a new, eight-camera, ultrasonic-and-radar hardware package that will be standard on all Teslas from now on — is actually safer than humans handling the wheel, Musk claimed.
“You need to think carefully about this,” Musk testily told reporters on a late-Wednesday conference call after announcing the new tech. “Because if, in writing some article that’s negative, you effectively dissuade people from using an autonomous vehicle, you’re killing people.”
Potentially killing about 600,000 people a year, Musk calculates, because there are currently 1.2 million car-related fatalities a year and Tesla’s self-driving tech is twice as safe as manual driving.
Musk was copping attitude despite the death earlier this year of Joshua Brown, who was killed when his Tesla Model S in autopilot mode failed to recognize a semi-truck trailer crossing in front of it on a Florida highway.
Tesla said it has since upgraded its software to prevent such an incident again. Periodic software improvements, added every few months, will eventually make Tesla cars 10 times safer than humans while in autonomous mode, Musk said.
“We find this announcement surprising given increased scrutiny following the Autopilot crash,” UBS analysts wrote in a Thursday research note. “Adding these capabilities too early and without enough testing could have negative long term consequences to adoption given the headline risk of AV crashes.”
Tesla shares on Thursday were recently off 1.8 percent at $199.98.
The electric car maker’s new, $8,000 hardware package will come standard on all new Teslas including the $35,000 Model 3, which is slated to hit the streets at the end of 2017.
By then, Tesla cars in fully autonomous mode will be able to not only make a trip “from home in LA to, let’s say, dropping you off in Times Square in New York” without a driver ever touching the wheel, Musk said — but then be able go “park itself.”
The new hardware package includes eight cameras that can see 360 degrees at up to 250 meters away, versus the current one-camera standard for Teslas.
The upgraded system also has 12 ultrasonic sensors and radar that can see through heavy precipitation — as well as other cars.
While software will continue to improve, the just-announced hardware package will be sufficient to eventually execute “Level 5” autonomous driving — that is, where human plays no role.
“It is not possible to know exactly when each element of the functionality described above will be available, as this is highly dependent on local regulatory approval,” Tesla said in a statement.


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Perhaps the reality has sinked into the senses of the National Telecommunications Commission. Instead of coaxing the mobile service providers to offer free SMS, it now opted to lower cross-network text and voice services by reducing the interconnection rates. But Filipinos are persistent. If we can’t uproot a whole tree, we’ll just chop it down.
So goes a new outcry around: If we can’t have free text messaging, then prepaid load must not have expiry dates. Seem simple? Well, not really. When that happens, the telcos may stop selling low-denomination reloads for cost-efficiency in their operations. As I pointed out in my previous blog entry, we can only look forward to lower charges for wireless services and longer prepaid load validity.
On a lighter note, Smart Communications will be pioneering Asia’s first ad-funded mobile phone network this month through its subsidiary Connectivity Unlimited Resourse Enterprise (CURE). CURE aims to provide mobile services for free by “pushing” mobile advertisements to its subscribers. The sponsoring brands or entities will “pay” for the charges that would otherwise be shouldered by the wireless consumers.
It is a promising venture and if it proves to be as successful as the free TV and free email that we enjoy now, we won’t get shocked by “Check Operator Services” or “SMS Barred” warnings from our phones again. Who would buy non-expiring prepaid load by then? That would be the time to afford ourselves an Apple iPhone, a Nokia 8800, or a MOTOROKR E8.


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Hollywood Bowl has reported a soaring profits after the bowling venue undertook a major refurbishment programme.
In the half year to March pre-tax profits were up by 12.5% to £16.8m, shares rose by 3.5% to 233.9p after delivering a 5.3% increase of revenue to £67m.
Customer sales were up as they are spending more on each trip to the venues with the average spend per game rising by 6.4%. Food spend is up by 3.9% after rolling out new menus, while drinks spend per game increased by 8.5% after IT systems investment.
Stephen Burns, chief executive said, “We are delighted at the strong start to the year, which puts us on track to deliver our expectations for the full year.
“We continue to invest in the quality of our estate, driving returns through our new centre openings and active refurbishment programme.
“There remains significant scope for further sustainable growth through the continued investment in the quality of our centres, our new centre pipeline as well as the introduction of new technology and initiatives that enhance our already industry-leading customer proposition.”
Analysts at JP Morgan said, “Hollywood Bowl have announced a strong set of results this morning.
“The company’s ability to generate superior returns and consistent like-for-like growth above other forms of leisure activities, both through the new centre roll-out strategy and continuous upgrading of the existing estate, keeps us positive on the company’s prospects.”


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CHICAGO and SAN DIEGO — August 21, 2017 – Interpreta, a population health enablement and analytics company that intelligently synchronizes healthcare data and enables population genomics, and higi, a population health enablement and IT company that operates the largest self-screening health station network in North America, are announcing a partnership to integrate biometric data from higi with clinical, claims and genomic data from Interpreta.
The integration will enable patients and their physicians to increase engagement and share healthcare data (on blood pressure, pulse, BMI, weight, body composition, and self-screening questions) gained at higi retail stations and prioritized within Interpreta in real time. This will enable physicians and insurers to leverage a patient’s biometrics data, alongside clinical, claims and additional genomic information a person may obtain from genetic testing services. For the first time, healthcare payers and providers will be able to jointly create a robust personalized care roadmap, inform care decisions, and more effectively close gaps in care with the help of engaged consumers at a retail setting.
With the growth in wearable devices and health apps, consumers are increasingly looking for greater options to take charge of their health. higi has the largest self-screening health station network with 43 million consumers having used its nearly 11,000 stations at leading food, chain drug, mass merchant and club locations (78 percent of the U.S. population is within five miles of a higi station) to capture biometrics during routine shopping activity. Consumers can access the information gained at higi stations (currently at select Ahold Delhaize, Albertsons, Fred’s, H-E-B Grocery Stores, Kroger, Meijer, Publix, Rite Aid, Sam’s Club, Shopko, ShopRite, SuperValu, and Wegmans) from its mobile and web app, helping them to measure what matters, giving them the option to share their data with their providers, and incentivizing them to transform their health.
“With higi capturing important consumer health data and Interpreta’s ability to interpret and integrate it with clinical and genomic data in real time, this alliance will be the first of its kind to bring such power to the retail setting,” said Interpreta CEO and Co-founder Ahmed Ghouri, M.D. “The integration will bring consumers and providers together like never before, giving them access to the same continuously updated healthcare information and non-latent interpretations to make the best choices for care.”
“The face of healthcare is changing, consumers are looking for more ways to communicate with their doctors and access important personalized medical information,” said Jeff Bennett, CEO of higi. “By partnering with Interpreta, we are enabling a fundamentally new consumer health experience. Healthcare providers and payers will now have more options to empower consumers and optimize care by identifying risks and intervention opportunities from data collected at our stations in retail settings across the country.”
Interpreta and higi made the announcement at the 2017 National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Total Store Expo.


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Apple unveiled its new iPhone 7 on Wednesday, which of course gave Jimmy Kimmel the perfect opportunity to do some trolling.
Although Apple’s latest creation won’t be officially released until Sept. 16, Kimmel’s crew took to the streets to give iPhone users a first look at the 7, with just one small catch.
Street goers exchanged their current phone for a chance to try out what they thought was a prototype of the new iPhone 7. Supposedly, the prototype came equipped with what the crew called “instant data transfer,” which would allow Apple users to immediately test out the new phone with all their old settings and data automatically installed.
Instead, the crew simply cleaned up the screen, slapped on a new case and handed the same phone right back to the unsuspecting volunteers.
Not knowing they were holding their current phone, Apple users commented on how much lighter the “new” phone was, the clarity of its screen, and even went as far as saying it had a faster internet connection.
The kicker comes near the end of the video, when volunteers jump at the chance to buy their own phone back for the low price of $49.99. The crew eventually lets these poor strangers in on the joke, but not until they’ve been thoroughly embarrassed on national television.
- Your Apple Music or Spotify subscription may cost more soon
- Transit directions in Tucson added to Apple’s Maps app
- Apple rumor suggests cheap iPhone SE returning with cool feature
- Could downtown Phoenix be the next major hub for high-tech companies?
- Apple says it plans to help parents manage their kids’ cellphone use


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German container line Hapag-Lloyd is determined to push ahead with its planned initial public offering (IPO) faster than expected, according to local press reports.
The company, which has Chilean shipping group CSAV as its largest shareholder, aims to complete its listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by the middle of November, Hamburg Evening newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt has reported, citing several sources claimed to be familiar with the matter.
Hapag-Lloyd’s management declined to comment on the report when contacted by IHS.
Although market conditions in container shipping remain challenging, the German carrier may have a convincing story for investors as it reaps the benefits of cost-efficiencies from its takeover of CSAV’s container shipping division and the drop in bunker fuel expenses over the past year.
For the first six months of this year, Hapag posted net profits of EUR157 million (USD177.3 million) against EUR173 million in losses during the corresponding period 2014.
The stakeholders hope to have the container line valued at over EUR5 billion in total, with 20% of its share capital initially being placed to investors.
Travel group TUI, which has been trying to exit from its involvement in shipping altogether, is to be given priority in selling its 14% stake.


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Klüber Lubrication and Wilhelmsen Ships Service have signed a close distribution partnership, with Wilhelmsen becoming a global partner for marine lubricants from Klüber Lubrication.
With the deal, signed at the maritime industry’s largest exhibition SMM Hamburg, Wilhelmsen will strengthen its existing product portfolio in a key area, adding high-performance speciality lubricants to its global offering.
Kjell Andre Engen, EVP Marine Products, said: “Joining forces with Klüber Lubrication is a real coup for us, it enables us for the first time to offer customers market leading lubricants and a wealth of in-depth product specific expertise. A key area previously missing in our portfolio, we are thrilled to also now be able to provide customers lubricants, and the world’s most sophisticated ones for that matter, through our unrivalled global network.”
Combining quality products, innovation, and dedication to developing environmental and sustainable solutions offered by Klüber Lubrication, with Wilhelmsen’s enviable distribution network, industry-defining customer service and forward leaning solutions portfolio is seemingly a match made in marine products heaven.
“We always had an eye on each other since we both met at the last SMM. With mutual admiration we observed the successes and outstanding performances which both parties brought to the market with passion and dedication,” said Dieter Becker, Head of Global Business Teams at Klüber Lubrication.
Providing assured performance and reliability, along with maintaining compliance, the marine specific global product portfolio Klüber Lubrication offers is comprehensive, benefitting from numerous OEM approvals.
To this end, despite the ink being barely dry on the agreement, training on speciality lubricants has already begun for Wilhelmsen staff.
Pictured are: Kjell Andre Engen, EVP, Marine Products, Wilhelmsen Ships Service; Nakul Malhotra, VP, Technical Solutions & Marketing, Wilhelmsen Ships Service; Christoph Köhler, Head of Global Business Team Marine, Klüber Lubrication München; Dieter Becker, Head of Global Business Units, Klüber Lubrication München


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Intel is pessimistic: the chip crisis could continue until 2024
The CEO of Intel Pat Gelsinger declared, last Friday at the CNBC, that the semiconductors industry will suffer a deficiency of supplies until 2024.
In an interview on “ Techcheck ”, Gelsinger said that the global chip crisis could drag on it due to the limited availability of key tools for production.
“ this is part of the reason why we believe that the overall lack of semiconductors will continue until 2024, contrary to our previous estimates that spoke of 2023 ” said Gelsinger.
The CEO comments come a day after the chip manufacturer based in California offered a tax forecast for the second lighter quarter of expected to Wall Street. However, the profits and tax revenues of the first quarter have passed the expectations of analysts. Intel shares dropped by over 6%.
The request for semiconductors has been growing for years, as the world becomes more digital and the processing chips become an integral part of any product, from smartphones to cars to washing machines.
The pandemic caused by Covid-19 involved a deficiency of the chips, however, this is due to the fact that the factories were interrupted at the same time when the demand for consumer electronics has taken off. The deficiency had significant economic consequences and contributed to the United States, which are experiencing one of the economic inflations “ more hot ” from the beginning of the years ’ 80.


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FRENCH sports car maker Alpine - part of the Renault Group - has unveiled ambitious expansion plans as an all-electric brand.
Relaunched in 2017 with the A110 and following a 2021 reorganisation, Alpine is gearing up for a new growth phase.
The launch of its new 100 per cent electric models from 2024 will enable the brand to boost its revenues so that it can be at break-even from 2026.
From 2027, a world expansion phase will begin, backed by a line-up tailored to new markets including the USA, that will help improve Alpine financial performance and brand value.
Its plans include an electric, sporty and urban A290 small car based on the Renault 5 and Renault 4 CMFB-EV platform to be available from 2024.
That will be followed in 2025 by a larger Crossover GT that will be manufactured in France at the Manufacture Alpine Dieppe Jean Redel plant.
And by the end of 2026 it plans a new A110 which will be 100 per cent electric.
Under the programme set out by Luca de Meo, chief executive of Renault Group, and Laurent Rossi, chief executive of Alpine, at the company's F1 racing headquarters in Enstone, Oxfordshire, Alpine wants to have two billion euros in revenue in 2026 and to have a constant increase in revenue of eight billion euros in 2030.
It says it will have a 100 per cent electric car range by the end of 2026 and will be net-zero carbon in production during 2030.


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According to the statistics from Statistics Canada, Canada’s volume of goods trade was USD451.08 billion from January to July in 2016, down 8.3% year-on-year (the same below). Exports fell by 9.4% to USD219.81 billion, and imports fell by 7.2% to USD231.27 billion. The trade deficit was USD11.46 billion, up 76.3%.
In July, Canada’s volume of goods trade fell by 9.9% to USD62.22 billion. Exports fell by 11.4% to USD30.16 billion and imports fell by 8.4% to USD32.06 billion. And the trade deficit grew by 94.4% to USD1.91 billion.
Since January to July, bilateral trade volume between Canada and China fell by 8.4% to USD35.13 billion. Canada’s exports to China fell by 6.8% to USD8.6 billion. It accounted for 3.9% of Canada’s overall export, up 0.1%. And Canada’s imports from China fell by 8.9% to USD26.53 billion. It accounted for 11.5% of Canada’s overall imports, down 0.2% over the previous year. Canada’s trade deficit with China fell by 9.8% to USD17.93 billion.
China was the second largest export market of Canada and its second largest source of imports up to July in 2016.


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New Delhi, PTI / Business Desk. The domestic spot market recorded a fall in gold and silver prices on Tuesday. In the national capital, on Tuesday, gold fell by Rs 114. According to HDFC Securities, the spot price of gold in Delhi on Tuesday declined to Rs 49,996 per 10 grams. Domestic gold prices fell on Tuesday due to the fall in gold futures prices globally and strengthening rupee. Earlier in the previous session, gold had closed at Rs 50,110 per 10 grams on Monday.
According to HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel, on Tuesday, the spot price of 24-carat gold in Delhi was also trending down by Rs 114.
The price of silver has also declined on Tuesday. Silver declined by Rs 140 per kg on Tuesday. The fall brought the price of silver to Rs 53,427 per kg. Earlier in the previous session, silver had closed at Rs 53,567 per kg on Monday.
Talking about the international market, on Tuesday evening, the global futures price of gold was down by 0.57 percent or $ 10.30 on Comex at $ 1803.80 an ounce. At the same time, the global spot price of gold was trending at $ 1803.24 an ounce, rising by $ 0.03 or $ 0.48.
At the same time, the global futures price of silver was down by 1.73 percent or $ 0.34 on Comex on Tuesday at $ 19.45 an ounce and the global spot price of silver was up by 0.11 percent or $ 0.02 at $ 19.10 an ounce.


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The city of Modesto, Calif., agreed to pay a $165,000 fine...
Inlet filter company now part of ADS
Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. (ADS) has acquired Inlet & Pipe Protection Inc., manufacturer of Flexstorm storm water inlet filters. The products will now be marketed under the ADS Flexstorm brand.
“Since 2009, Flexstorm products have been part of the ADS catalog," stated Ron Vitarelli, chief operating officer and executive vice president of ADS, "and now we will increase production and distribution to meet the escalating demand for the inlet filters.”
"Prior to our 2009 agreement with ADS, our distribution was focused on the Midwest,” said Jamie Ringenbach, president of the Naperville, Ill.,-based Inlet & Pipe Protection. “Because of the distribution strength of the ADS network, during the past several years we have been supplying more of the United States, Canada and Mexico. We are very pleased that joining ADS will provide the wherewithal to increase manufacturing to meet that growing need."


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Bank commits to triple the amount raised via its SocioBiz channel.
Kuala Lumpur, 23 December 2021 - Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad (“Alliance Bank” or the “Bank”) has committed to triple the amount raised for its Flood Relief Fundraising campaign on its social crowdfunding platform, SocioBiz, to benefit families impacted by the floods.
The funds collected will be distributed in the form of cash, essential supplies and daily necessities such as food items. SocioBiz is Alliance Islamic Bank’s Shariah-compliant social crowdfunding platform that deploys social funds to help individuals and businesses in need.
“Due to the recent floods, many Malaysians face financial, physical and emotional impact. We want to do our part to help them recover from this disaster and would like to encourage the public to partner us in this campaign to rebuild lives,” said En. Rizal IL-Ehzan Fadil Azim, Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Islamic Bank.
The Flood Relief Fundraising campaign is an extension of the Bank’s Flood Relief Assistance programme announced recently to help ease the financial worries of individuals and businesses impacted by the flood.
Flood-affected customers can opt for loan/financing moratorium of up to six months and loan repayment modifications.
The Bank will also waive finance and fee charges for selected services such as the replacement of debit card and ATM card.
If you would like to contribute to the Bank’s Flood Aid Fundraising campaign, please scan the QR code or visit https://gsdq.co/alliancebank-floodrelief.


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It’s not often we will call for an additional federal tax, so mark the date. We’ve found one we think just about everyone can agree is for the best. And it has everything to do with spam calls.
You know the drill. Your phone rings or buzzes. You look down and it’s either a number you don’t recognize or, if you’re lucky, something your phone has already flagged as spam.
Robocalls are a booming business. According to the YouMail Robocall Index, a widely cited industry standard, Americans have received 38.7 billion robocalls this year, through September. We’re on pace to exceed last year’s total of 45.9 billion. The problem is particularly bad in North Texas. According to YouMail, Dallas was the second-most robocalled city in the nation in September, trailing only Atlanta.
There are many reasons robocalls are exploding. A series of legal decisions has untied the hands of spammers, and the ones who break the law are hard to track down. These operations are often based in other countries, and the advent of new technologies means they don’t need a large call center staffed with hundreds of people or even hundreds of phones. According to a recent report by Insider, a single person can be responsible for millions of untraceable robocalls. Plus there are, believe it or not, pro-robocall lobbying groups that combat the efforts of consumer groups.
Not all robocalls are scams, though scams are the largest segment of these calls with 33%, according to YouMail. Legal and legitimate telemarketers make up 26% of these calls, matched by alerts and reminders that customers have opted into (think doctors appointment messages or attendance reports from your kid’s school). Payment reminders make up the last 14%.
To date, efforts to slow the madness have mostly focused on enforcement.
Between 2009 and 2018, the Federal Trade Commission filed 45 cases against 163 companies and 121 individuals responsible for billions of illegal robocalls, according to an April 2018 report to the U.S. Senate. In 2017, the FTC and Department of Justice won a $280 million judgment against Dish Network for its telemarketing practices. More judgments are being won every month. And other agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission, also pursue robocallers.
Last month, we talked with Mitch Katz, a spokesperson for the FTC, who pointed to a decline in the YouMail index over the last few months as the FTC has taken aim at Voice over Internet Protocol providers. Indeed, the numbers declined 12% from June to September, but that still means Americans receive almost 4 billion calls per month.
In the long run, enforcement seems like a losing game. It’s too easy for bad actors to move locations, change tactics, and hide from agencies. And whenever one is busted, more will pop up to replace it. The FTC lacks jurisdiction overseas, where many of these calls originate. And the do not call list only prevents live telemarketers from calling you.
Phone carriers are hesitant to shut down a business unless they’re absolutely certain its activity is illegal.
So we propose a different solution. The reason this industry thrives is that its economics are sound. Insider explains:
The economics of phone spam are incredibly favorable. For perspective, 125,000 minutes of robocalls from Message Communications Inc — which sustained a $25,000 penalty in 2015 for what the FTC described as “willful, repeated” violations — has sold for a mere $875. Assuming a consumer listens to the call for an average of three seconds, that $875 would translate into 2.5 million calls, with 1 cent getting a buyer 28 spam calls.
Even if just one out of every 10,000 calls turns into a qualified lead, at a going rate of $7 per lead, an hour of robocalls will pull in $1,750 in revenue, neatly doubling their investment.
Insider describes the industry as “an engine that turns phone calls into money with a byproduct of distributed annoyance.”
If we’re ever going to escape the onslaught of robocalls, we will need to disrupt the financial incentives that keep them coming at us. We propose a tax on sales leads generated by robocalls.
Businesses like Dish may be willing to pay $7 for the name of someone who is in the market for their products. But if that price shot up to $10? Or $50? The robocalled business model could become less attractive.
Officials have been tiptoeing near this idea already. Last year, Vermont introduced a bill that would impose a $1 tax on every illegitimate robocall. But that’s not likely to be effective because it’s limited to one state, because it only targets illegal calls, and because it seeks to tax an activity (a call) rather than a product (a sales lead, in our proposal).
Our solution also avoids some of the tricky aspects of regulations in this industry: things like allowing robocalls to customers who have explicitly opted in.
We acknowledge that some businesses use robocalls for legitimate sales purposes. But there are hundreds of other sales and marketing avenues available to modern businesses, ones that don’t come with the side effect of widespread annoyance.
This is a nonpartisan issue because robocalls impact everyone equally. A February Insider survey found little difference in the number of reported calls between Democrats and Republicans, men and women, old and young, rich and poor. We’ve spoken with congressional staffers who say this is an issue about which they regularly hear from constituents.
There’s an old saying: If you tax something, you get less of it. We support higher taxes on robocallers in hopes of hearing from them less often.


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Court Rules for Dish Network AutoHop and PrimeTime Anytime Are in the Clear
Several months ago Dish Network unveiled a slick new DVR that had some very interesting features that allow you to skip all commercials on prime time programming. The commercial skipping tech was called AutoHop and it worked in conjunction with PrimeTime Any time to allow you to automatically remove commercials from primetime programming on the four major networks.
Those commercials were completely removed and the programs were stitched back together so you didn't even have to use fast-forward. That didn't set well with television studios who filed suit against Dish trying to ban the feature on grounds of copyright infringement and other things. However the court has ruled For Dish Network on all charges finding that there is no copyright infringement or violation of federal laws with either feature.
Bitcoin prices have declined $100 in the past week, about 17%, to $488, according to CoinDesk. The news comes despite announcements last week that Overstock.com was now averaging $15,000 a day in Bitcoin sales, and that DISH Network had officially begun accepting the cryptocurrency. Some analysts are blaming the plunge on a "margin call" at Hong Kong exchange Bitfinex, which is one of the only platforms that allowed users to borrow funds from peer liquid ... Source: Business Insider
Full article at: Business Insider
5 days ago, 6:33pm CDT
Want to Trade Bitcoin? ForexNews RecommmendsClick Here To Learn More.
After a 5 day losing streak, everyone’s favorite cryptocurrency is finally catching a break. Today bitcoin prices rallied 7 percent off the daily low. On BTC-E, the day started off as usual, with BTC/USD falling 9 dollars to hit a new low of $480. But by mid-day, prices started to recover and eventually hit a high of $518.98. One BTC is currently tra ... Source: Forex News
Full article at: Forex News
6 days ago, 6:59pm CDT
Is the fact that you are a business accepting payment in a crypto-currency of uncertain origin, with a highly volatile exchange rate, something to brag about? Dish Network seems to think so, and it’s in league with its first — and, at this point, apparently only — customers to pay in Bitcoin. This week, Dish accepted... Read more ... Source: variety
Full article at: variety
Aug 15 2014, 1:53pm CDT
Shane McGlaun Leading our review center, Shane McGlaun (Google) knows technology inside out. His
extensive experience in testing computer hardware and consumer
electronics enable him to effectively qualify new products and trends. If you want us review your product, please contact Shane.
Shane can be contacted directly at firstname.lastname@example.org.
The “geek mind” is concerned with more than just the latest iPhone rumors, or which company will win the gaming console wars. I4U is concerned with more than just the latest photo shoot or other celebrity gossip.
The “geek mind” is concerned with life, in all its different forms and facets. The geek mind wants to know about societal and financial issues, both abroad and at home. If a Fortune 500 decides to raise their minimum wage, or any high priority news, the geek mind wants to know. The geek mind wants to know the top teams in the National Football League, or who’s likely to win the NBA Finals this coming year. The geek mind wants to know who the hottest new models are, or whether the newest blockbuster movie is worth seeing. The geek mind wants to know. The geek mind wants—needs—knowledge.


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Apple is once again supporting Code.org’s “Hour of Code” initiative by offering a range of workshops and other special events for kids aged 6 and above at Apple Stores around the world.
Other participating tech companies include Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon. Apple is presenting a range of interesting sessions, including a free one-hour introduction to the basics of computer programming taking place on December 10 at local Apple Stores.
Apple announced today that in support of Computer Science Education Week, anyone can come to an Apple Store on December 11th for a free-introductory course on how to become the next great iOS developer.
The free coding workshops are part of Code.org’s Hour of Code initiative, that seeks to make coding a little less intimidating by educating people of all ages on the basics of computer programming, because like Steve Jobs once said, every American should learn how to code.
While all of us aren’t destined to get our heads buried deep in lines of programming languages, chances are that most of us, and especially our children, will benefit from knowing the basics of how the most ubiquitous devices in our world operate.
Despite the current backlash against the “coding for all rhetoric,” teaching kids the basics of programming can’t be a bad thing. Heck, teaching ourselves to code may be a fantastic lead in to a rewarding hobby, a new career path, or both.
That’s the idea behind the “Hour Of Code,” a national initiative set to run December 9 – 15, 2013 that’s designed to take kids through the basics of programming in their schools. This new app from Codeacademy is specifically tailored to the process, so even if your kids (or you!) don’t have a school that’s participating in the Hour of Code, they can still get the benefit.


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Officials estimate there are 30 to 40 thousand undocumented immigrants in Central Ohio who could be spared deportation under President Obama’s reform order.
The Columbus-based shopping mall developer says sales finally cracked $400-per-square-foot in the final quarter of last year.
The 35-year-old Eastland Mall is getting a new lease on life. Columbus based Glimcher Realty Trust announced today it will buy Eastland Mall from the Cleveland-based Richard Jacobs group. Glimcher also annouced Eastland will soon have a fourth anchor store.


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|By Marketwired .||
|February 21, 2013 09:00 AM EST||
MIAMI, FL -- (Marketwire) -- 02/21/13 -- Alternet Systems, Inc.'s (OTCQB: ALYI) subsidiary, Utiba Americas, a leading provider of mobile financial services solutions, and Credencial Argentina, a financial payment solutions company, have partnered to provide enhanced mobile financial services in the Americas region. The partnership with Credencial Argentina gives Utiba Americas (UA) customers the ability to issue a card, both physical and virtual, that expands the use and acceptance of UA's mobile wallet at ATM machines, retail points of sale (POS) and for online purchases. These card products can be debit, credit and prepaid.
UA's customers -- financial institutions, mobile network operators and payment service providers -- will benefit from increased end user adoption and usage, increased transaction revenues and an enhanced user experience. In the Americas region, UA's customers are located in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru, with additional countries in deployment. UA expects to have broad regional coverage in the Americas by the end of 2013, serving a potential market of over 600 million mobile and internet users and a population of over 900 million people.
The relationship with Credencial Argentina is another integral piece of UA's Converging Payments Strategy which was launched earlier 2012 with the announcement of the company's participation in MasterCard's Mobile Money Partnership. UA's strategy calls for the expansion of mobile financial services beyond a basic tool of financial inclusion for the "unbanked," a population estimated by the World Bank at 2.5 billion people worldwide. Partnerships with companies like MasterCard, Validsoft, and, now Credencial Argentina, permit UA to extend the acceptance of the mobile wallet and create more sophisticated mobile financial services, both of which increase mobile wallet adoption and transaction rates.
"Issuing a companion card linked to the mobile wallet expands the payment network to include existing points of sale (POS), ATMs and other outlets. This helps UA's customers to provide their end users with an existing payment ecosystem and acceptance network while building out their own agent networks. UA's relationship with Credencial Argentina is designed to give customers the shortest possible time-to-revenue and growth," noted Alternet Systems, Inc.'s CEO Henryk Dabrowski.
"This alliance will allow us to offer full mobile and web solutions to different clients. In our view financial institutions, governments, and retailers are looking for mobile solutions complemented by companion cards in order to cover all of the possibilities of access to goods and services by customers. We are willing to contribute with our technology and experience for the success of this relationship," said Carlos Gorleri, President and General Director of Credencial Argentina.
About Credencial Argentina
Credencial Argentina is a certified Main Member and Global Processor of MasterCard International products, developing processing solutions for financial, retail and health markets for more than 30 years. The company is recognized as a leader in the development of prepaid cards, with special focus in non-banked global markets. In the Americas region, Credencial's customers are located in more than 12 countries, with operations in Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia.
About Alternet Systems, Inc.
Alternet Systems, Inc. (OTCQB: ALYI) is an investment company that focuses on the mobile value added service industries of mobile financial services and mobile security. Both industries spring from the exponential and unparalleled spread of mobile communications of the past few decades which have put low cost cellphone communications in the hands of more than 70% of the world's population. Utiba Americas is a 51% owned subsidiary of Alternet Systems, which concentrates on financial mobility solutions in the Latin American region. Utiba Americas has partnered with MasterCard, Validsoft, Credencial Argentina, Oracle and others to develop and deploy sophisticated mobile financial services.
Corporate website: www.alternetsystems.com
For more information about Alternet Systems and its subsidiary, Utiba Americas, contact Rich Kaiser, Investor Relations, 800-631-8127 and/or email [email protected], or visit our web site at www.alternetsystems.com.
"SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT" UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
The increasing popularity of the Internet of Things necessitates that our physical and cognitive relationship with wearable technology will change rapidly in the near future. This advent means logging has become a thing of the past. Before, it was on us to track our own data, but now that data is automatically available. What does this mean for mHealth and the "connected" body? In her session at @ThingsExpo, Lisa Calkins, CEO and co-founder of Amadeus Consulting, will discuss the impact of wea...
May. 1, 2016 07:00 PM EDT Reads: 737
SYS-CON Events announced today that Peak 10, Inc., a national IT infrastructure and cloud services provider, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Peak 10 provides reliable, tailored data center and network services, cloud and managed services. Its solutions are designed to scale and adapt to customers’ changing business needs, enabling them to lower costs, improve performance and focus inter...
May. 1, 2016 06:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,140
We’ve worked with dozens of early adopters across numerous industries and will debunk common misperceptions, which starts with understanding that many of the connected products we’ll use over the next 5 years are already products, they’re just not yet connected. With an IoT product, time-in-market provides much more essential feedback than ever before. Innovation comes from what you do with the data that the connected product provides in order to enhance the customer experience and optimize busi...
May. 1, 2016 05:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,002
In his session at @ThingsExpo, Chris Klein, CEO and Co-founder of Rachio, will discuss next generation communities that are using IoT to create more sustainable, intelligent communities. One example is Sterling Ranch, a 10,000 home development that – with the help of Siemens – will integrate IoT technology into the community to provide residents with energy and water savings as well as intelligent security. Everything from stop lights to sprinkler systems to building infrastructures will run ef...
May. 1, 2016 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 915
So, you bought into the current machine learning craze and went on to collect millions/billions of records from this promising new data source. Now, what do you do with them? Too often, the abundance of data quickly turns into an abundance of problems. How do you extract that "magic essence" from your data without falling into the common pitfalls? In her session at @ThingsExpo, Natalia Ponomareva, Software Engineer at Google, will provide tips on how to be successful in large scale machine lear...
May. 1, 2016 01:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,223
Digital payments using wearable devices such as smart watches, fitness trackers, and payment wristbands are an increasing area of focus for industry participants, and consumer acceptance from early trials and deployments has encouraged some of the biggest names in technology and banking to continue their push to drive growth in this nascent market. Wearable payment systems may utilize near field communication (NFC), radio frequency identification (RFID), or quick response (QR) codes and barcodes...
May. 1, 2016 01:30 PM EDT Reads: 804
SYS-CON Events announced today that Stratoscale, the software company developing the next generation data center operating system, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Stratoscale is revolutionizing the data center with a zero-to-cloud-in-minutes solution. With Stratoscale’s hardware-agnostic, Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) solution to store everything, run anything and scale everywhere...
May. 1, 2016 01:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,569
Angular 2 is a complete re-write of the popular framework AngularJS. Programming in Angular 2 is greatly simplified – now it's a component-based well-performing framework. This immersive one-day workshop at 18th Cloud Expo, led by Yakov Fain, a Java Champion and a co-founder of the IT consultancy Farata Systems and the product company SuranceBay, will provide you with everything you wanted to know about Angular 2.
May. 1, 2016 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,744
You think you know what’s in your data. But do you? Most organizations are now aware of the business intelligence represented by their data. Data science stands to take this to a level you never thought of – literally. The techniques of data science, when used with the capabilities of Big Data technologies, can make connections you had not yet imagined, helping you discover new insights and ask new questions of your data. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Sarbjit Sarkaria, data science team lead ...
May. 1, 2016 12:45 PM EDT Reads: 808
SYS-CON Events announced today that Men & Mice, the leading global provider of DNS, DHCP and IP address management overlay solutions, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. The Men & Mice Suite overlay solution is already known for its powerful application in heterogeneous operating environments, enabling enterprises to scale without fuss. Building on a solid range of diverse platform support,...
May. 1, 2016 12:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,323
You deployed your app with the Bluemix PaaS and it's gaining some serious traction, so it's time to make some tweaks. Did you design your application in a way that it can scale in the cloud? Were you even thinking about the cloud when you built the app? If not, chances are your app is going to break. Check out this webcast to learn various techniques for designing applications that will scale successfully in Bluemix, for the confidence you need to take your apps to the next level and beyond.
May. 1, 2016 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,492
Whether your IoT service is connecting cars, homes, appliances, wearable, cameras or other devices, one question hangs in the balance – how do you actually make money from this service? The ability to turn your IoT service into profit requires the ability to create a monetization strategy that is flexible, scalable and working for you in real-time. It must be a transparent, smoothly implemented strategy that all stakeholders – from customers to the board – will be able to understand and comprehe...
May. 1, 2016 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,092
Increasing IoT connectivity is forcing enterprises to find elegant solutions to organize and visualize all incoming data from these connected devices with re-configurable dashboard widgets to effectively allow rapid decision-making for everything from immediate actions in tactical situations to strategic analysis and reporting. In his session at 18th Cloud Expo, Shikhir Singh, Senior Developer Relations Manager at Sencha, will discuss how to create HTML5 dashboards that interact with IoT devic...
May. 1, 2016 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,013
Artificial Intelligence has the potential to massively disrupt IoT. In his session at 18th Cloud Expo, AJ Abdallat, CEO of Beyond AI, will discuss what the five main drivers are in Artificial Intelligence that could shape the future of the Internet of Things. AJ Abdallat is CEO of Beyond AI. He has over 20 years of management experience in the fields of artificial intelligence, sensors, instruments, devices and software for telecommunications, life sciences, environmental monitoring, process...
May. 1, 2016 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 924
SYS-CON Events announced today that Ericsson has been named “Gold Sponsor” of SYS-CON's @ThingsExpo, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York, New York. Ericsson is a world leader in the rapidly changing environment of communications technology – providing equipment, software and services to enable transformation through mobility. Some 40 percent of global mobile traffic runs through networks we have supplied. More than 1 billion subscribers around the world re...
May. 1, 2016 07:30 AM EDT Reads: 975
There is an ever-growing explosion of new devices that are connected to the Internet using “cloud” solutions. This rapid growth is creating a massive new demand for efficient access to data. And it’s not just about connecting to that data anymore. This new demand is bringing new issues and challenges and it is important for companies to scale for the coming growth. And with that scaling comes the need for greater security, gathering and data analysis, storage, connectivity and, of course, the...
May. 1, 2016 07:00 AM EDT Reads: 843
SYS-CON Events announced today that DatacenterDynamics has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 7–9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. DatacenterDynamics is a brand of DCD Group, a global B2B media and publishing company that develops products to help senior professionals in the world's most ICT dependent organizations make risk-based infrastructure and capacity decisions.
May. 1, 2016 06:30 AM EDT Reads: 2,500
Machine Learning helps make complex systems more efficient. By applying advanced Machine Learning techniques such as Cognitive Fingerprinting, wind project operators can utilize these tools to learn from collected data, detect regular patterns, and optimize their own operations. In his session at 18th Cloud Expo, Stuart Gillen, Director of Business Development at SparkCognition, will discuss how research has demonstrated the value of Machine Learning in delivering next generation analytics to im...
Apr. 30, 2016 04:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,701
This is not a small hotel event. It is also not a big vendor party where politicians and entertainers are more important than real content. This is Cloud Expo, the world's longest-running conference and exhibition focused on Cloud Computing and all that it entails. If you want serious presentations and valuable insight about Cloud Computing for three straight days, then register now for Cloud Expo.
Apr. 30, 2016 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,732
IoT device adoption is growing at staggering rates, and with it comes opportunity for developers to meet consumer demand for an ever more connected world. Wireless communication is the key part of the encompassing components of any IoT device. Wireless connectivity enhances the device utility at the expense of ease of use and deployment challenges. Since connectivity is fundamental for IoT device development, engineers must understand how to overcome the hurdles inherent in incorporating multipl...
Apr. 30, 2016 02:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,473


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Minecraft is the best-selling sandbox game in the decade. The game has loyal fans and claims to have 100 million active players each month. In the last few days, we heard a rumor that Minecraft will shut down in 2020.
One of the things that make Minecraft loved by many people is simplicity. Released in 2011, Mojang keeps doing regular updates and give us new things that can be done in the game. In fact, the game also gets new features like Ray Tracing on Nvidia RTX Graphics Card.
Minecraft Will Shutting Down in 2020?
Some reports said that the game server will be shutting down in December 2020. If so, this year will be the last year Minecraft communities play the game.
The rumor appeared when the Story Mode in Minecraft was pulled in June 2019. For your information, Telltale Games is a developer that handles the mode. The developer has experienced serious financial difficulties several years ago. Even though, they were pulled many games from the digital stores like Steam and GOG.
The Rumor is Fake
According to Polygon, Minecraft isn’t shutting down its servers on Dec. 21, 2020. As a publisher, Microsoft community manager Helen Zbihlyj clear up the rumors. Took to her Twitter, Zbihlyj says “Minecraft is NOT Stopping, Mojang is NOT closing.”
The prank was carried out by Channel45news by sharing hoaxes via Twitter. The website actually has a banner “You’ve been pranked!” But the “news” in the URL may convince a lot of people in a passing glance.
After Microsoft confirmed the rumors are fake, Minecraft players can be happy now. At least, the game won’t shut down in the near future. Are you the one who panics when you first heard the rumor? Let’s comment below!