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Detractors need to understand that someone's basic rights cannot be challenged by archaic practices.
Check out these wild rituals that stem from bizarre legends and myths
Everyone associated with fashion waits eagerly for the Lakme Fashion Week, and even this year the show didn't disappoint. There were a wide range of designers w...
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's next production Fanney Khan has created ripples ever since it announced the reunion of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with Taal co-star Anil K...
Ayushmann Khurrana's films appeal to Indian audiences across social denominators, and the music in them is comfortable and romantic, with a touch of the 1990s. Does he lovingly remind India of its favourite decade?
Any sensible parent would any day want their kids to have role models like SRK and definitely not an alleged murderer
Be it health, be it education, the birthday boy has shown many in the country how it’s done during his ongoing regime as Delhi CM


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Go here to download IE10 Platform Preview 2.
Microsoft released the second “Platform Preview” of Internet Explorer 10 to early testers and developers this week, adding support for several new HTML5 features as well as other additions.
High on the list of updates is faster HTML5 performance, including technology called Web Workers, which enables compute-intensive tasks like heavy duty graphics processing to be offloaded to run in the background.
In the area of security, platform preview 2 adds support for HTML5 Sandbox and iframe isolation.
Another addition, called Positioned Floats, enables a user to drop a box in a field of text causing the text to flow around the box automatically.
The IE10 Platform Preview release cycle is very much like the cycle Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) followed last year when it began testing IE9. Microsoft released IE9 in early March of this year.
Just as with IE9 a year earlier, Microsoft chose its MIX Web developers conference in mid-April in Las Vegas as the place and time to release IE10 Platform Preview 1.
With IE9, the company rolled out a new Platform Preview about every eight weeks, until it began full-scale beta testing in September.
“With Platform Previews, developers and technology enthusiasts can try out new technologies and provide feedback without any confusion about which technologies are site-ready and which are experimental,” Hachamovitch said in his blog post.
“This approach enables the technical community to work through safety issues before putting any consumers at risk, and minimizes wasted effort re-writing consumer-facing sites,” he added.
IE10 Platform Preview 2 is available for download here.

domain: news


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Holiday shoppers who do most of their gift gathering on-line are saving more than wear and tear on their toes. They are also trimming emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by nearly half a million metric tons, according to calculations from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Carbon dioxide, a so-called greenhouse gas, is cited as a major contributor to the climate change scenario's increasingly warmer temperatures. Human activities release a significant amount of carbon dioxide into the earth's atmosphere, particularly the burning of fossil fuels for transportation.
Holiday internet shopping is also on the increase, with web-shoppers already representing a significant slice of holiday shoppers overall. According to the National Retail Federation, just over 30 percent of this year's holiday retail shopping will be done on-line.
Those desktop shoppers represent a corresponding reduction of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, said ORNL environmental scientist Jesse Miller.
"Using several assumptions and data from several authoritative sources, we can reasonably estimate that nearly half a billion kilograms of carbon dioxide are kept out of the atmosphere by shopping on-line," Miller said.
Here is their math, much simplified and based on publicly available statistics and some chemistry: The average shopper drives 6.7 miles on a trip. The average vehicle gets 22.9 miles per gallon. If that person makes an average three trips, that's 0.87 gallons of gasoline, which, being mostly carbon, contains 2.413 kilograms of carbon per gallon. (Incidentally, 2.413 kilograms of carbon equates to a five-pound chunk of black stuff.)
The United States' shopping-age population (15 to 69) is around 212 million. The three shopping trips by those shoppers amount to 444,780,000 kilograms of carbon emitted into the atmosphere.
However, if one assumes that 30 percent of these people shopped at their desktops instead, that figure drops by 134,323,560 kilograms of carbon, which converts to 492,519,720 kilograms, or nearly half a million metric tons, of carbon dioxide kept out of the atmosphere.
Which delays by that much the day that Santa delivers his goods dressed in a jolly red tank top.
"On-line shopping's reduction of carbon emissions would be equal to 63 percent of America's workers staying home for one day," Miller said, citing mileage stats and a 2001 National Household Travel Survey.
Granted, there are some offsets to the on-line carbon savings bonanza. For instance, in a carbon sense there is really no such thing as "free" shipping.
"Delivery trucks will run more," Miller notes. "However, these trucks make multiple deliveries per trip, so that impact is reduced. Also, while private parcel services add runs based on deliveries, the U.S. Postal Service makes the same number of runs regardless of package deliveries, so there is no net gain with them."
The energy-carbon cost in running a personal computer should also be factored.
"Broadband users now spend 48 percent of their spare time--about an hour and 40 minutes--on-line, with 12 percent of this for shopping," he said, citing marketing statistics.
PCs are powered by electricity, which may comes from a fossil fuel-burning plant. However, Miller notes, that PC was probably running anyway, and depending on where it is located its power could come from nuclear or hydro plants.
If the computer and screen are turned off or in sleep mode when not used, that further cuts the eventual emission by reducing power demand. Those who prefer to make their holiday shopping trips to the mall can still reduce their carbon debt to society.
"Plan your shopping so that you can combine several trips into one, or go shopping with your friends in a single vehicle," Miller suggested. "Good planning, along with cyber shopping, reduces traffic congestion, which is another carbon contributor."
Websurfers and store shoppers alike can also reduce power demand, and thus carbon emissions, by replacing the incandescent bulbs in their homes with energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs.
That's a handy gift Santa could deliver in his carbon-neutral sleigh.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy.


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The up and coming iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 Pro telephones will allegedly accompany Time of Flight (ToF) sensors for progressively exact profundity detecting. Notices of a 3D sensor have been seen in the code of iOS 14, and past reports have likewise noticed the consideration of a ‘world-confronting’ 3D sensor. On the off chance that these gossipy tidbits are without a doubt genuine, the forthcoming iPhone models will offer upgraded camera execution, and inspire the expanded reality (AR) encounters. The iPhone 12 Pro Max is additionally answered to accompany a quad camera arrangement at the back.
9to5Mac spotted references of the ToF sensor inside iOS 14 code. The new 2020 iPhones are potentially codenamed ‘d5x’, as the iPhone 11 arrangement was codenamed ‘d4x’. The code proposes that lone two models will accompany a ToF sensor coordinated, working up hypothesis that it must be on the most premium variations – the supposed iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. The detailed quad camera arrangement on the iPhone 12 Pro Max will probably incorporate a ToF 3D sensor, a wide-point sensor, a zooming focal point, and a ultra-wide edge sensor. The organization is additionally answered to be chipping away at an AR application for iOS 14, and this sensor will assist measure with bettering data.
This ToF sensor accompanies an infrared projector to catch point mists in the earth and create 3D models, and basically acquire progressively precise profundity data. An ongoing report additionally recommends that the iPhone 12 line-up will brandish a 64-megapixel principle camera, a major hop from the 12-megapixel sensors found on the iPhone 11 arrangement. There’s likewise supposed to be an enormous 4,440mAh battery this time around. Then again, individuals may need to stand by longer than anticipated for these telephones — there are reports of a postponed dispatch in the fall, since Apple engineers are confined from heading out to Asia due to the coronavirus episode.


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Neotel will offer three categories of services over time: whoelsale, business and consumer. As for its wholesale services, this is what Neotel has to say:
For the first time ever, the core of the Internet is now directly available to carriers in Johannesburg. Telecoms operators, service providers and resellers can finally experience the reach and performance of a global carrier combined with the local presence of South Africa’s new leading-edge carrier. Wholesale International services for voice and IP transit are now available on this network.
Its business services are going to be welcome relief to businesses who have been paying Telkom’s large prices for some time now:
Look forward to a telecommunications partner that will move your business ahead of the competition. Following the launch of national and international leased line services in December 2006, Neotel will, over the first few months of 2007, introduce a suite of leading-edge telecoms services for larger enterprises, including next generation voice and data services. To help manage business more efficiently, Neotel will offer world class managed services and hosting.
Neotel will also likely find open arms when it approaches consumers next year:
Neotel plans to introduce a variety of voice and data services (including high speed internet and broadband) for consumers in South Africa, with the first of these services targeted for availability in April 2007. However, consumers are already benefiting indirectly from the introduction of Neotel’s wholesale services through improved quality of international voice calls and more reliable internet bandwidth offered by their telecoms providers.
Ironically, Telkom is now upgrading its services and dropping its prices (as I anticipated) and users of Telkom’s 1MB ADSL service have been reporting that their connections are running as high as 4MB. The only difficulty at the moment is that Telkom still imposes a cap on bandwidth which limits the appeal of this improved offering.
I think we will see better offerings from Telkom as he works to get ahead of Neotel but ultimately Neotel is going to have some pretty compelling offerings by next year. Watch this space!


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According to Game Informer, “multiple” sources have confirmed the existence of an HD Wii successor, with an announcement coming as soon as E3 2011. Though the need for a high definition Nintendo console has in the past been denied by higher ups such as NOA president Reggie Fils-Aime, it seems that Nintendo has been exploring the option in secret, and is now exclusively showing the console to 3rd party developers to generate interest. This new direction for Nintendo is marked by graphics that are said to be competitive and in keeping with Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and is part of an overall effort to reach out to western gamers. As such, it may not even carry the Wii branding.
If this news is correct, then so too may be the detail that this new system would launch in late 2012. So, you know, right around the predicted Mayan apocalypse. Coincidence? I think not.


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India and New Zealand are discussing introducing Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in the island nation, which would promote ease of doing business, trade and tourism between both countries, the commerce ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Ministers (Indian and New Zealand trade ministers) welcomed early discussions between National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Payments NZ regarding the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system and agreed that both sides should continue deliberations on this issue,” the statement said.
“They agreed that introduction of UPI in New Zealand would promote ease of doing business between both the countries and promote trade and tourism as well,” it added.
At present, countries like the UAE, Bhutan and Nepal have already adopted the UPI payment system.
In 2022, the NPCI, the umbrella organisation offering UPI services, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with France’s online payment system, Lyra. In 2023, UPI and Singapore’s PayNow signed an agreement, allowing users in either country to make cross-border transactions.
As things stand, NPCI International is in talks to extend UPI services in the US, European countries and West Asia.
Meanwhile, both Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal and his New Zealand counterpart Damien O’ Connor have acknowledged the importance of cooperation between the two countries as members of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity across the supply chain, clean economy and fair economy pillars, the commerce ministry said.
On the trade facilitation side, (both) ministers acknowledged the joint effort to find a feasible alternative to allow import of wooden logs from New Zealand.


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Facebook Apologizes After A.I. Puts ‘Primates’ Label on Video of Black Men
Facebook users who recently watched a video from a British tabloid featuring Black men saw an automated prompt from the social network that asked if they would like to “keep seeing videos about Primates,” causing the company to investigate and disable the artificial intelligence-powered feature that pushed the message.
On Friday, Facebook apologized for what it called “an unacceptable error” and said it was looking into the recommendation feature to “prevent this from happening again.”
The video, dated June 27, 2020, was by The Daily Mail and featured clips of Black men in altercations with white civilians and police officers. It had no connection to monkeys or primates.
Darci Groves, a former content design manager at Facebook, said a friend had recently sent her a screenshot of the prompt. She then posted it to a product feedback forum for current and former Facebook employees. In response, a product manager for Facebook Watch, the company’s video service, called it “unacceptable” and said the company was “looking into the root cause.”
Ms. Groves said the prompt was “horrifying and egregious.”
Dani Lever, a Facebook spokeswoman, said in a statement: “As we have said, while we have made improvements to our A.I., we know it’s not perfect, and we have more progress to make. We apologize to anyone who may have seen these offensive recommendations.”
Google, Amazon and other technology companies have been under scrutiny for years for biases within their artificial intelligence systems, particularly around issues of race. Studies have shown that facial recognition technology is biased against people of color and has more trouble identifying them, leading to incidents where Black people have been discriminated against or arrested because of computer error.


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Orangutan at risk | HLN TV
Orangutans in Indonesia could be on the brink of extinction all for a product many Americans do not even know they are consuming. The Orangutans natural habitat in Indonesia are allegedly being burned down and decimated to make room for trees that produce palm oil.
Palm oil is a cheap ingredient that is used in almost half the items in American grocery stores. But because palm oil goes by so many different names it can be hard for consumers to identify it in the products they are purchasing.
Jane Velez-Mitchell spoke to Rolf Skar the Forest Campaign Director for Greenpeace USA. For more information visit Greenpeace.
To find out how you can adopt an orangutan check this link.
sign the petition at www.change.org/savetripa2
See the full story Friday night on Jane Velez-Mitchell at 7pm ET on HLN.


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NetworkNewsBreaks – ISW Holdings Inc. (ISWH) to Present at H. C. Wainwright Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & FinTech Conference
ISW Holdings (OTC: ISWH), a global brand management holdings company with commercial operations in telehealth and cryptocurrency mining, today announced that it will be featured as a presenting company at the H.C. Wainwright Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & FinTech Conference. The event is slated to be held virtually on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. Several members of ISWH’s management team will participate in the presentation to shine the spotlight on the company’s Proceso solution, the ISW/Bit5ive project in Georgia, as well as the company’s unique project as a comprehensive solution and a new model in the space at the intersection of mining, hosting, infrastructure, and design. Interested parties should visit https://nnw.fm/A7rxj
to register for the event, listen to the company’s presentation or book a one-on-one conversation. ISWH’s presentation and presentations for all participating companies may be accessed online starting at 7:00 a.m. ET on April 27 and will be available live, on-demand and archived for 90 days.
Please see full disclaimers on the NetworkNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by NNW, wherever published or re-published: http://NNW.fm/Disclaimer


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This article originally appeared on July 24, 2019 in Silicon Valley Business Journal. To view the original article, click here.
Silicon Valley is the high-tech capital of the world, which makes it a hot spot for adopting the latest technologies and cryptocurrencies.
Some companies are now using virtual currency as a recruiting tool, offering salary/bonus payment to their employees in this form. Others are accepting virtual currency as payment for goods and services, and charitable donations. One example of the latter is Chris Larson, co-founder of Ripple, who, with his wife Lyna Lam, contributed $25 million worth of the digital asset, XRP, to San Francisco State University earlier this year to support the Lam-Larsen Fund for Global Innovation, as well as two endowed chairs.
With a variety of use cases for virtual currency and the integration into businesses, Bay Area companies should start asking the following questions so they aren’t surprised on Tax Day: Would a payment of virtual currency trigger a W-2 or 1099 filing requirement? Is the payment subject to self-employment tax? What type of gain or loss does a taxpayer realize on the sale or exchange of virtual currency? Where can I get cryptocurrency?
Bitcoin ATM Machines
All around the Bay Area, you can see the rise in the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. It’s typically very subtle, but recently Bitcoin ATM machines have been popping up more and more. In fact, the number of Bitcoin ATMs recently surpassed 4,000 globally and about 100 of those are located in the surrounding Bay Area. That might give someone an idea for a fun weekend scavenger hunt game (www.coinatmradar.com).
Another trend to note in the cryptocurrency space is the rise of “stablecoin.” CEO Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase recently announced the banking giant was coming out with a stablecoin called the JPM Coin. Stablecoins are virtual currency that can be pegged to assets that hold value. These assets typically would be U.S. dollars or another asset that is relatively “stable” and can resist large fluctuations in value, hence the term. The idea of the JPM coin is to create efficiencies in the transfer of money, as the current system for sending money can be slow, tedious and expensive.
Facebook also announced its own stablecoin project called “Libra.” Think PayPal, but with cryptocurrency and on Facebook. The idea here appears similar to other stablecoin projects: make sending money quicker, cheaper and more accessible to the masses.
Bay Area residents have likely heard of a tech giant, local business, or friend, that has used virtual currency in some way. As the technology expands and its use cases become more practical, more businesses will likely look to virtual currency as a way to stand out from the competition, stay on top of tech trends or maybe even create a better world. The possibilities appear to be endless. However, one outcome is certain: the list of tax questions that will come up during tax filing season!
Cryptocurrency is often thought of as uncharted territory where no rules apply; however, if you look closely, there is a tax guidance that can be applied. The IRS issued Notice 2014-21 which states that virtual currency is treated as property and general tax principles applicable to transactions apply to transactions using virtual currency. Bay Area taxpayers should take the IRS’ approach to cryptocurrency seriously and seek out a CPA that has expertise in this area. It’s important to note that taxpayers may be subject to penalties for failure to comply with tax laws, including underpayment and accuracy-related penalties.
On May 16, the IRS published a letter acknowledging it is updating its cryptocurrency tax guidelines and making it a priority. Its urgency proves the industry can expect more changes in the near future. With further guidance on the horizon, Bay Area companies may be more inclined to adopting methods of using virtual currency, especially if it could provide a boost to their business.


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In a recent analysis, over 13 million users of the famous free webhosting provider 000Webhost have been compromised by the way of leaked passwords.
The founder of ‘Have I been Pwned?’ ,a site that serves to inform users of breaches into their personal cyberspace, Troy Hunt, was the first person to confirm this leak after having received it by an anonymous source.
Confirmation of the breach also came from five users affected by this event, after which Mr. Hunt blogged in hopes of warning the rest of the compromised users’.
It wasn’t until later that day that officials 000Webhost confirmed the leak, informing that the violation was due to the exploitation of an older-running version of the PHP servers. Despite the confirmation, the webhosting giant did not get into details regarding the leak of 13 million passwords, however, it did suggest users to update their credentials.
But the story does not end here.
Later on, several weaknesses were uncovered in 000Webhost’s network, like unencrypted HTTP communications in the login page of the site, as well as a piece of code that displayed a user’s password in the URL.
Having been the one to identify these weaknesses, Mr Hunt suggested that other websites might be affected as well as a result of their interaction with 000Webhost. It is indicative that these weaknesses are also a result of loosely-followed cyberspace guidelines in storing sensitive information, like in the example of the lack of security in storing the 13 million breached passwords.
As far as cyber breaches go, this certainly does not take the cake.
A recent breach of the Ashley Madison website caused over 34 million passwords to be leaked, despite their efforts in password encryption that might have given users extra time to update their personal information. In fairness, 11 million of those 34 million passwords were ‘hacked’ due to programming errors, but that is far from being compared to the use of plaintext passwords by 000Webhost, making it just as easy even for stronger passwords to be cracked.
To conclude, users related to activities within the services of 000Webhost as well as affiliated websites should be aware of this compromise and take further steps to eliminate chances of fraud or further breaches. The compromised users should immediately change their information and keep in mind that setting a stronger password always makes a difference.


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VENN: Premium eSports and Gaming Platform
October 30, 2020 | Ashley Brindamour
The popularity of video games is at an all-time high, with nearly 2.5 billion people playing games worldwide and annual esports events attracting 456 million viewers. According to an article by TechJury, by 2025 the industry will have an estimated net worth of $256.97 billion.
Video Game Entertainment News Network (VENN), an Alumni Ventures Group portfolio company, is aggressively addressing this opportunity by offering 24/7 live entertainment and content for gaming, streaming, and esports audiences. VENN partners with some of the biggest names in the gaming, pop culture, and lifestyle communities to feature on its in-house produced shows. The company’s online platform seeks to be an authentic voice for hundreds of millions of fans who consume gaming content today.
A Platform for Major Advertisers
VENN’s multiple formats of entertainment, such as talk shows, news, game shows, and docu-series, offer a marketing platform for advertisers who have suffered due to the limited production of new shows and sports programs caused by COVID. The “watch everywhere, instantly” viewing experience (recently launched on Roku TV and all Samsung/LG smart TVs) benefits the viewers and offers a solution for advertisers looking to tap into a brand-safe industry.
About the Deal
Purple Arch Ventures deployed capital in the company’s $26 million Series A led by Bitkraft Ventures, a $170 million esports focused fund run by industry veterans. Other existing investors in the company include Bertelsmann Digital Media, Kroenke Sports, aXiomatic, and the co-founders of Twitch, Riot Games, and Blizzard.
Additionally, the largest TV station owner in the U.S., Nexstar, came in with $7 million for the round and will help distribute and sell advertising on VENN’s behalf.
What We Liked About the Deal
Substantial Company Momentum: Due to the high-demand for gaming content during COVID, the company accelerated its launch by three months. As a result, VENN now has more than $13 million in commitments from T-Mobile, DraftKings, and Subway, with $20 million more in the pipeline.
Hyper-Engaged Audience: Esports viewership is projected to grow to 650 million by 2023. The top four streaming platforms accounted for almost 8 billion hours of viewing in 2020, and Facebook claims that over 700 million users engage with gaming content in some fashion each month.
Expert Team: VENN boasts a powerful team of some of the most experienced leaders in esports. The company’s founders consist of 4-time Emmy Award winner and pioneer of televised esports, Ariel Horn, as well as Ben Kusin from EA Sports & Vivendi. Executive team members include the producer of BlizzCon and League of Legends, the former CFO of Discovery Network U.S. and the Oprah Network, the former CTO of Vice Media, and the former head of audience insights at Twitch.


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12 March 2014
Alaska Airlines, the official airline of Taste Washington, said it is inviting foodies to the Emerald City to experience Seattle´s premier wine and food event March 29 and 30.
The carrier launched an online sweepstakes inviting wine enthusiasts to enter for a chance to win a trip for two to Seattle, including roundtrip airfare on Alaska Airlines, hotel accommodations and admission to Taste Washington.
The two-day event held at CenturyLink Field Event Center will showcase more than 200 Washington wineries and 70 Seattle-area restaurants. The contest ends March 20 and two winners will be selected at random and notified on March 21. To enter and review complete contest rules*, visit www.facebook.com/AlaskaAirlines.
Alaska Airlines, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together with its partner regional airlines, serves nearly 100 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. With more nonstop flights to Seattle than any other carrier, Alaska is widely regarded as the West Coast´s major airline. Its website is at www.alaskaair.com.


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UK competition authority has identified 463 sites where the proposed takeover of Asda by Sainsbury could seriously lessen competition.
Last week the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) referred Sainsbury’s proposed £7.3bn takeover of rival Asda, the British supermarket arm of Walmart, for an in-depth, or “phase 2”, review, saying shoppers could face higher prices or a worse quality of service in places where both chains had shops.
“At a local level, the Parties’ stores overlap in several hundred local areas across the UK,” the CMA said. “The CMA believes that the merger may give rise to a realistic prospect of an SLC in many of these local areas if Sainsbury’s and Asda are insufficiently constrained by other local competitors.”
Both Sainsbury’s and Asda had requested a fast-track to a phase 2 process.
The watchdog has a statutory deadline of 5 March to reach a decision.


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Benchmark Capital opening Mid-Market office
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Underscoring the increasing importance of San Francisco in the Bay Area's current tech boom, Benchmark Capital is opening a new office on the top floor of the Warfield Theater in the center of the city's long dilapidated but reigniting Mid-Market Street district.
Benchmark General Partner Peter Fenton, in a statement provided by a spokeswoman, said the new office will be "a counterpart to our existing office on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, in keeping with the new spirit of entrepreneurship in the city."
Since 2009, two out of every three of Benchmark's new investments have been in San Francisco, including Twitter, Instagram, Yelp, Uber, NewRelic, Zendesk, Dotcloud, Asana, OpenTable, DemandForce, NextDoor, ServiceSource, Marin Software, 1Life, Second Life, Coverity, EngineYard, Couchsurfing, Grockit and Pipewise.
"Our center of gravity is no longer limited to the 5-mile radius around Stanford, and now includes fundamentally the 3-mile radius around Yerba Buena Gardens," Fenton states.
Fenton attributed San Francisco's tech rise to several major factors, particularly the fact that user interface designers want to live in the city, and these days product success is driven by consumer choice more than sales; an increase of local engineering talent; the ability of developers to access cloud computing resources from virtually anywhere; and the general trend of re-urbanization in the United States.
Finally, Fenton called out improvements in San Francisco's regulatory environment with the election of Mayor Ed Lee and activism of early stage tech investor Ron Conway, who started and chairs San Franciscans Initiative for Technology & Innovation, a new tech industry group that lists about 240 companies and organizations as members on its website.
Patrick Hoge covers technology for the San Francisco Business Times.
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We’re counting on Motorola to reveal the next-generation Moto 360 at the upcoming IFA in Berlin this September. But before the official launch, we’re anticipating more rumors, leaks, and early sightings just like this one from Gerrit Gödecke who shared what he believed could be the next model. He sighted this smartwatch while riding a commuter train in Chicago.
Mr. Gödecke noted that in Chicago, there is a big chance you’ll catch Motorola employees everywhere. One wearing a new smartwatch that only true geeks can recognize was seen wearing this one that matched the earlier leaked images and renders. It’s still the same round watch but with the button now found on top right.
The purported Moto 360 still seamed to have a flat tired based on the display sighted. Again, Motorola could still be in the testing phase so let’s not conclude that the flat tire will still be there. We’re actually expecting not to see that one during the official reveal (hopefully).
Meanwhile, someone took to reddit his excitement over seeing the Moto 360. Redditor 3htu3z shared some information he gathered including a new microphone hole on the left, a thicker bezel design, and the button on the 2 o’clock area. The new position of the button seems to be consistent.
There’s also a mention of external lugs that could probably work with 22mm watch bands, display will have a 45.5mm diameter, and phone is stainless steal with bead-blasted finish. The group who posted these details make protective phone cases, as well as, watchbands for Pebble so they have connections with the supply chain. They just happened to get their hands on the new watch case.


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Staff at Copperfield’s Books in Petaluma are unionizing
Editor’s Note: This article was updated Friday, March 17, to include a comment from Copperfield’s Books.
Staff members at Copperfield’s Books in Petaluma are unionizing in an attempt to gain higher pay, better insurance benefits and a more stable work environment.
Robert Glover, a full-time book buyer and spokesperson for the Copperfield’s Books Union, said he and fellow staff members want the opportunity to retain knowledgeable employees, earn better pay and health care. They believe that can be achieved by forming a union.
“I’ve been here for almost seven years now and I’ve pretty much stayed at minimum wage,” Glover said. “My pay has only gone up when minimum wage has gone up.”
The state’s minimum wage was $10 in 2016 and increased to $15.50 as of Jan. 1.
Copperfield’s Books, a chain of bookstores based out of Sebastopol with nine stores across Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties, sells both new and used books with a book-buying program.
Efforts to unionize the Petaluma staff started in August 2022 when Glover reached out to the Industrial Workers of the World trade union and talked to fellow staff members about unionizing.
By March 1, Glover had received signed union cards from Copperfield’s staff and announced to both corporate and managing staff about the union.
However, the request to voluntarily recognize the union was denied by the corporate office in Sebastopol, so the next step is for staff members to vote for union representation. And Glover is confident that vote will pass.
Paul Jaffe, co-owner, founder and president of Copperfield’s Books, said in a statement Friday that the company is not denying the staff’s efforts to unionize and looks forward to working with staff and the National Labor Relations Board to “ensure that all voices are heard and that due process is followed.”
“We are not tone-deaf to the concerns of our employees, and know we can always try and do better,” Jaffe said in the statement.
“There are some things we just can’t accomplish, that speak more to the issues of trying to succeed as an independent bookstore business, to the entire economic system that we all try and grapple with on a day to day basis, that are much bigger than just Copperfield’s Books.”
The union plans to negotiate for better pay, better health care and more sick time and paid time off. Currently, non-management employees make minimum wage with few making just above that.
Glover said a majority of the full-time staff is insured by Covered California, a government agency and marketplace that provides Californians with affordable health care options, because the insurance offered by Copperfield’s is not affordable considering the workers’ current salaries.
“The 24 hours of sick time (we get) is the minimum required by the state of California,” Glover said.
“This is about a sense of dignity, you know, we feel that we are worth more than what is minimally required.”
Ellen Skagerberg, a part-time head buyer of used and rare books at the Petaluma shop, is one of the few unionizing employees that earns higher than minimum wage. She said it’s not fair that their younger employees have to choose between living at home or with a roommate or buying groceries for the week.
“And each of us having to go and ask for a raise and hearing no over and over again is so frustrating,” she said.
Skagerberg also wants the company to provide better guidance on how workers can protect each other from microaggressions and macroaggressions, along with better pay and benefits.
“If someone comes in to question an employee’s gender identity, I don’t know if I can turn to the sign on the door saying we can refuse service,” she said. “Management has not been responsive in giving us store training in how to protect each other.”
Jaffe said in his statement that he and co-owner Barney Brown don’t believe having a union makes sense because it has continued to be a family-run business that was able to navigate the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent spike in inflation.
“Not only are we still fully open for business in all our stores, servicing all the communities that we do, we have not laid off a single employee during that time,” Jaffe said in his statement.
The Petaluma unionizing staff members held a celebration Saturday to raise awareness about their efforts to unionize and gain community support, which Glover said was a success.
“It was an event that represented how far we’ve come and represented the beginning of a new chapter,” he said.
The best way for the public to show support, Glover said, is to continue to shop at Copperfield’s and follow the union on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
“We love the store and we’re not trying to boycott the business in any way,” he said. “We really want it to thrive because we work there.”
Jaffe added in his statement that internal discussions with employees have been scheduled to give employees the chance to be heard.
“I believe we are all better off working together and not be torn apart, not just store by store, but management versus staff,” he said in his statement.
“We strongly believe that these conversations will only make us stronger.”
You can reach Staff Writer Sara Edwards at 707-521-5487 or sara.edwards@pressdemocrat. com. On Twitter @sedwards380.
Small businesses are the bread and butter of Sonoma County. I cover a diverse group: Chambers of commerce and business groups, clothing shops, jewelry boutiques, hobby stores and more. Economic uncertainty is a high concern among Sonoma County consumers, and it’s my job to make sure shoppers know what’s happening in the local economy and how those trends and issues impact them.
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Blog: Tween Brands pins its hopes on Justice
Leonie Barrie | 14 August 2008
Plans by Tween Brands to convert its Limited Too stores to the lower-priced Justice format seem to have gone down like a lead balloon. Shares hit an all-time low yesterday, after analysts were less than impressed with the teen apparel retailer’s second quarter loss and asked whether it was being a bit impulsive in scrapping its 560 Limited Too stores.
The move was intended to appease the market after it swung to a second quarter loss of $7.6m from a profit of $2.1m last time. An 8% slump in same-store sales was also given as evidence that consumers are trading down to lower-priced goods. Same-store sales dropped 11% at Limited Too but rose 3% at Justice where price tags are 20-25% lower.
Tween Brands said the change is the right one in “tough economic times” when customers are trading down to lower-priced goods. But analysts aren’t so sure. They wonder whether the plan could be an over-reaction to the second-quarter earnings miss, whether Tween could have captured more value by selling the Limited Too chain, and whether Justice can drive the same mall traffic without the iconic 'Limited Too' brand name.
But most of all there seems to be concern over the disappearance of the Limited Too nameplate altogether. After all, the chain has nearly 600 stores compared to Justice’s 310. Quarterly sales at Limited Too were $145.0m while Justice generated $69.3m. A selective conversion of Limited Too stores and a smaller Limited Too chain would have been a less bitter pill to swallow.
It's easy to see why Tween wants to jump onto the Justice bandwagon, which has generated double-digit comp store sales growth year after year since the first store opened in 2004.
But it’s also worth noting that some of Limited Too’s problems are due to its merchandise, such as “a lack of spring colour within its sportswear assortment,” and “the absence of a meaningful casual bottoms business.” And that investments from fiscal 2005 to 2007 to differentiate Justice and Limited Too have suppressed operating income growth to just 2%, even though overall net sales at Tween Brands have increased 34%.
It’s equally important to remember that bad economic times won’t last forever – and that when consumers eventually decide to trade up they may well have to look elsewhere.
Confirmation that digital supply chains are top of mind for apparel industry executives came last week with the latest plans from global sourcing specialist Li & Fung....
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Black in Jewelry Coalition Launches ‘Together by Design’ Contest
It is the organization’s first contest and was created to celebrate Black love and jewelry design.
The two-part competition kicked off this week with a call for couples to share their love stories for a chance to win a custom engagement ring designed around a 1.31-carat diamond donated by Leo Schachter.
From now through Wednesday, Oct. 20, couples residing in the U.S.—including those who are already engaged—can visit the BIJC website to share how they met and what they believe makes their love story unique. (Couples who are already married are not eligible to enter.)
A panel of judges, all BIJC members, will decide on the most compelling love story.
The judges are: Guerdy Abraira, owner of Guerdy Design; Severine Ferrari, founder of Engagement 101; Michelle Graff, editor-in-chief of National Jeweler; Elyssa Jenkins-Perez, director of membership and digital content at Jewelers Vigilance Committee and vice president of BIJC; and Amina Sorel, Amina Sorel Fine Jewelry.
Once the winning couple is selected, the second phase of the competition will open, with jewelry designers invited to submit ring sketches based on the couple’s love story.
A separate panel of judges will choose the winning design, and the couple will then work with that designer to craft a one-of-a-kind ring that is a physical representation of their love story.
The designer will also receive:
— A $5,000 cash prize;
— Scholarship for one 2-hour GIA online Continuing Education Seminar;
— Scholarship for one basic tuition at GRS for engraving or stone setting;
— Scholarship for one basic tuition at the New Approach School in Tennessee;
— One year of Jewelers of America membership; and
— One year of JVC membership.
The judges for the design portion of the contest, also all BIJC members, are: Marla Aaron, Marla Aaron Jewelry; Jalnar Dhanani-Wade, owner and designer of The Benchmark Collection; Jennifer Gandia, co-owner of Greenwich St. Jewelers; Sheryl Jones, Sheryl Jones Inc.; and Ronke Nedd, founder and creative head at Rebecca Noff Designs Inc.
“The ‘Together By Design’ contest highlights, celebrates, and elevates Black jewelry designers and love,” BIJC President Annie Doresca said.
For full contest rules, visit the contest page on the BIJC website.
Launched in summer 2020 amid the social awakening over racial inequity, BIJC is a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of Black professionals in the gem, jewelry, and watch industry.
To learn more about the organization, visit BlackinJewelry.org.
Designed by Stephen Webster, it’s a ring-stack take on the toi et moi style.
A.I. technology is revolutionizing the jewelry business through more accurate and consistent diamond grading.
She previously served as its senior vice president of business development and beneficiation.
Combining thoughtful design and wearability, they were a standout of 2021.
Red Emerald Inc., which is under new ownership, started mining at the Utah site last spring.
Clarté's attainable fine gold and diamond designs are created for the modern, working woman.
The first session is scheduled for Jan. 19 and focuses on addressing racial justice and confronting one’s biases.


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Responding to NYC Animal Rights' plans to rally outside her Sept. 5 show, Nicole Miller took matters into her own hands Friday, spelling out her company's miniscule use of fur this year and plans to be fur-free starting in the spring.
NEW YORK — Responding to NYC Animal Rights' plans to rally outside her Sept. 5 show, Nicole Miller took matters into her own hands Friday, spelling out her company's miniscule use of fur this year and plans to be fur-free starting in the spring.
The designer and her company's chief executive officer Bud Konheim said in a statement that fur was never planned for the spring runway show. This year, the company will design, manufacture and market 150,000 pieces in 1,090 styles for its designer collection, but only 12 pieces will have fur trim. That amounts to 0.008 percent of the items the company sells, meaning 99.992 percent of its garments are fur-free, they said. Those figures are typical of the designer's collection.
NYC Animal Rights' Web site posted the "Nicole Miller Biography of Cruelty," superimposed on a close-up of the designer's face Photoshopped with what appeared to be blood on her cheeks. The group's multiple claims online Friday included, "For over 20 years, Nicole Miller has been a principal of American arrogance and greed. Her following is celebrity driven and far-reaching thanks to cruel designs that appeal to an array of selfish customers."
Another section on the site is called "Nicole Miller Animal Killer" and features an image of the designer wearing what looks like a Photoshopped fur coat and fur hat.
Miller and Konheim took issue with the claims. "The characterizations of us made by NYC Animal Rights on an insulting parody Web site that used our imagery without our authorization are unfair, misleading and in violation of the law," they said.
The pair described their company as "one of the few creative independent voices left in New York and one that continuously reviews its products and business practices with a socially-conscious eye."
The statement continued, "We do not intend for this statement to be seen as any endorsement of NYC Animal Rights nor any other organization using illegal, bullying, intimidating or violent actions in support of any cause."
Miller's legal team may take action, Konheim said Friday.
When told about Miller's statement, NYC Animal Rights founder Santos Lopez said, "The amount of fur she uses is not that relevant. That's a lot of fur for the animal it came off of. It shows no consent for the animals. Any amount of fur is a lot of fur."
"You start one way as a baby, but why shouldn't you be able to choose your own path as opposed to culturally people telling you which way to go?" - Thom Browne at his men's spring 2018 show, where he celebrated gender fluidity. #pfw #wwdmens (📷: @delphineachard)
"I think that all anyone really wants in life is to have people understand us for who we actually are, despite everything," says Ruth Negga. The actress talks "Preachers" season 2 and more on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: Dan Doperalski)


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Posted Nov 01, 2013By
From a cute potash miner to a baby Bruno Mars, Carlsbad families were pretty creative in coming up with Halloween costumes this year. Check out these Halloween trick-or-treating photos submitted by Current-Argus readers.
The High Times Cannabis Cup at Denver Mart in Denver, Colorado. Event organizers are expecting 37,000 people to att
The French Haute Couture shows are being held in Paris from Jan. 19-24.
(AP) American fashion designer Thom Browne's men's Fall-Winter 2014-2015 fashion collection, was presented Jan. 19,
The British Fashion Council is sponsoring shows during the London Collections: Men Autumn/Winter 2014 underway Jan.
The year 2013 was the start of comeback for architecture in the U.S., still lagging from the effects of the Great R
The Western-themed Chanel "Metiers d'Art" Show was held December 10 at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas.


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Tech billionaire and Tesla chief Elon Musk is a famous star on social media. He not only bestows the greatest memes, but Musk even offers his two cents on Major Techs’ latest privacy reporting.
Use Signal, he shares, which also received a retweet from CEO Jack Dorsey of Twitter.
WhatsApp has been part of the Facebook Businesses with records since Facebook purchased the company in 2014 for $19 billion. Facebook itself is a familiar face; millions of people are also upset by the current rules.
So, what’s the unique thing with Signal? And why did Elon Musk plan, out of the blue, to shade both Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook?
Long-Lasting Bad Blood
Elon Musk’s support of Signal is not the first time Tesla’s boss has found himself in the murky water of a Facebook feud. With a wide Twitter account, Musk uses his voice to support the stable internet and also uses memes as media for preaching.
In 2018, Elon Musk was suspended from his personal and his company’s Facebook profile after the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica fiasco where the British law firm gathered millions of Facebook consumer data for political purposes. Tesla and SpaceX, Musk’s well-known enterprises, were both included.
“It’s not a political statement, and I didn’t do this because someone dared me to do it. Just don’t like Facebook. Gives me the willies. Sorry,” Elon Musk says.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, later provided his evidence to the judges and apologised for the data mishap. This was a faith breach, and I’m sorry we didn’t do anything at the time,” Zuckerberg writes in a full-length newspaper ad.
What Is So Special?
Signal is a one-tap program. The said application is an open-source developed by the non-profit Signal Foundation, unlike other Major Techs, which ensures that the data stays safe. In addition to Elon Musk and Dorsey, Signal, like Edward Snowden, has also been used by many other high-profile names.
Facebook is actually more comfortable selling commercials than purchasing them, but when certain users check for ‘Signal’ in the App Store, they’ll do what they have to do to be the top score,” Signal’s Twitter writes.
It is easy to independently check the identity of Signal consumers through end-to-end encryption and phone number authentication. It does not retain the user info, let alone exchange it with a large parent corporation like WhatsApp. It also has on-screen protection solutions, such as app-specific locks, pop-ups of blank messages, deleted emails, and anti-surveillance facial blurring software.
Although the software itself, due to occasional glitches, is still far from the safest spot, Signal has gained prominence among tech-savvy citizens.


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Russia has removed several products from its list of agricultural products that may not be imported into the country, according to a decree issued by the Russian government.
The import ban has been lifted for lactose-free milk, lactose-free dairy products, seed potatoes, seed onions, seed sweet corn and seed peas, the BBC reports.
The ban has also been lifted for sports nutrition, biologically-active food supplements, and complexes of vitamins and minerals.
Russia has also allowed imports of Atlantic salmon and trout fingerlings.
But there's little hope for Latvian farmers despite the partial lift on certain products as they do not import such products, Latvia's agriculture ministry has said.
On August 7, Russia introduced an embargo on the majority of food products that come from the EU, the United States and other Western countries that imposed sanctions against Moscow.


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OSAKA, Japan (April 12, 2011)—Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. is buying a 75-percent stake in China's Shandong Silverstone Luhe Rubber & Tyre Co. Ltd., which it will use to supply its global operations with radial truck tires.
Toyo will acquire the stake for $21.6 million from Malaysia's Lion Rubber Industries Sdn. Bhd., which helped set up the factory in Luzhou, Shandong Province, in 2004. Toyo expects the deal to close by mid-year.
The Shandong Silverstone plant is capable of producing up to 400,000 radial truck tires a year with 500 employees, Toyo said.
The Shandong Silverstone plant will complement Toyo's passenger tire factory under construction in Jiangsu Province, the company said, allowing it to meet strong demand in rapidly expanding markets in China and elsewhere. The goal, it added, is to “establish an optimal tire supply system, not only for China, but for all of our overseas markets.”
The deal fits into the company's strategy of improving its corporate value, Toyo said.
The tire maker plans to commence production of Toyo-brand tires at the new subsidiary as soon as practicable.


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Sunderland have unveiled their new 2014-15 home kit, ahead of its launch on July 25.
The adidas shirt features the Black Cats’ traditional red and white stripes, along with black panels in the rib area and a gold trim, and for a second season carries the name of the club’s principal sponsor Bidvest.
The shorts and socks are black with with red trim.
Sunderland skipper John O’Shea said: “Wherever you go in the city you see the red and white stripes,
“Its evident for all to see just how proud the fans are of their iconic kit and we as players share in that pride every time we pull on the shirt.”
The new kit will go on sale on Friday, July 25, but can be pre-ordered now online for delivery - or collection from one of Sunderland’s official stores at the Stadium of Light or The Galleries, Washington - on launch day.
Pre-orders must be placed at www.safcstore.com by midday on Tuesday, July 22.
Sunderland’s blue away kit was launched last month and is on sale now.
A third strip has also been produced to be worn in the event of a colour clash, but this will not be sold in the club shops.


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Join senior executives in San Francisco on July 11-12 to learn how leaders are integrating and optimizing AI investments for success. Learn more
Zen office expands the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across its entire customer experience (CX) platform with the release today of a series of new features that the company is branding as Zendesk AI.
New features in Zendesk AI include advanced bots to handle customer inquiries across multiple industries. Customer service agents will now also have AI-powered assistance in responding to inquiries. Additionally, the system incorporates intelligent triage capabilities that use sentiment analysis and intent detection to help route requests correctly.
While many features of Zendesk AI have been developed by the company’s own teams, new services have also benefited from a healthy dose of Generative AI through a partnership with Open AI. The generative AI component will integrate into the Zendesk AI suite, helping to generate responses and summarize content.
>>Follow the news of VentureBeat Generative AI cover<
“We believe we need to make AI easy to understand and use and accessible to everyone,” Cristina Fonseca, head of AI at Zendesk, told VentureBeat.
What generative AI adds to Zendesk
Zendesk was no stranger to AI before its partnership with OpenAI.
Zendesk took a big step into AI in 2021 with the acquisition of a Portugal-based startup Cleverly AI, where Fonseca was previously CEO. In September 2022, Zendesk announced a major update integrating Cleverly AI technology to help speed up customer service responses. Fonseca said today’s Zendesk AI release is an evolution of what the company announced in September 2022, which was specifically aimed at the retail industry. She noted that the new version is available for a wider group of customers.
Zendesk has offered bot capabilities for a while, but Fonseca said OpenAI’s generative AI foundation has greatly expanded those capabilities.
“We believe software should be smart and plug-and-play, and for most bots to work, you need to spend a lot of time training them,” she said. “This is one of the main features we’re launching now – with pre-trained bots that already understand customers.”
Generative AI will also help power a revamped feature set for increased customer service agent productivity. Zendesk AI uses technology from OpenAI to support summation and sentiment analysis for requests which, in turn, helps agents respond efficiently. The ability to help agents create responses is also part of the new update.
Why Generative AI Alone Isn’t Enough for CX
Fonseca pointed out that while Zendesk AI uses OpenAI’s generative AI, it doesn’t abandon its Cleverly AI roots.
Intelligent triage, for example, is a fundamental element that the product uses and was developed by Cleverly AI to understand customer intent, sentiment, and language in order to direct a request appropriately. For this system, Zendesk has its own proprietary models that were trained on Zendesk data. Fonseca said these models understand customer service because they were specifically trained on customer service data and offer a high degree of accuracy.
“The way we see (OpenAI’s generative AI) is basically a tool to help us accelerate things that were already in the roadmap and make a ton of sense to add to our product suite,” said said Fonseca.
As an example, she noted that Zendesk is developing its own approach to suggesting new answers to customer service agents, as well as creating content for a knowledge base on different issues. Without OpenAI, she said the draft content Zendesk was able to generate wasn’t quite polished. Now, with OpenAI integration, data from Zendesk can be used to generate well-written answers and knowledge base articles.
“We try to take advantage of OpenAI and large language models (LLM) to help us perfect everything we do, in addition to the content,” she said.
With all the power that AI brings to Zendesk and its users, Fonseca cautioned that it’s important to realize that AI can’t and shouldn’t do everything when it comes to customer experience. She noted that CX is complex and includes workflows — and sometimes systems — that aren’t built into Zendesk.
“I think the first thing we should do for our customers is help them understand what should be automated and what shouldn’t,” she said. “Because if something can’t be automated, there’s no point trying to get a bot to talk to a customer if the bot can’t add value.”
VentureBeat’s mission is to be a digital public square for technical decision makers to learn about transformative enterprise technology and conduct transactions. Discover our Briefings.


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Sri Lanka is preparing to make its debut at the upcoming Expo 2020 in Dubai. The world expo is the world’s largest exhibition that offers a platform for 190 countries to showcase their culture and innovation for a span of six months. The main site of Expo 2020 Dubai will be a 438-hectare area located midway between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
This universal platform will provide Sri Lanka with the opportunity to promote the island as a tourist destination, facilitate international trade, and attract future investors to the country. The Sri Lankan pavilion will be named ‘Island of Ingenuity’ and will offer a range of services from merchandise trading to ICT services and tourism attractions. Sri Lanka also hopes to take this opportunity to showcase the country’s latest research and development in ingenious products and services providing insights into the local heritage.
The expo is scheduled to start on October 20, 2020 and end on April 10, 2021. The event hopes to draw over 200 participants and 25 million visitors, out of which 30 percent are expected to be UAE nationals and 70 percent international visitors. This is the first time the World Expo will be held in the Middle East, North African, and South Asian region and takes place once every five years. The previous Expo 2015 was held in Milan and Expo 2025 will be held in Osaka.


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Impulse shopping could soon be a thing of the past, according to research by Iris Worldwide, which found that 0% of Generation Y and Z shoppers surveyed admitted to making spontaneous purchases while shopping in a store.
They appear to be so caught up in both gaining approval and exerting influence on social media that every purchase comes in the context of a whole cycle of posts, likes and tags.
Peter Wilson, planning director at Iris London, said, "It's claimed behavior. But the important thing is that it's true in their eyes. It even applies to relatively disposable, trivial purchases like choosing KFC over McDonald's – everything needs to be pre-validated. The attitude was, 'No. I don't do that at all.' And why would you? They are wary of making a purchase that doesn't meet the standards of their peer group or is culturally out of step. It's too big a risk. And it's easy to mitigate that."
Iris Worldwide London carried out quantitative online research among 900 respondents in the U.S., the U.K. and Brazil, backed up by a six-week qualitative study of 45 respondents. This was combined with social intelligence listening to around 1.1 million interactions, covering Gen Y and Gen Z, two groups born roughly in the years between 1980 and the mid 2000s. Four retail categories were included: consumer tech, fashion, food and leisure.
Attitudes were similar across the three countries surveyed, although social media use varied widely. Americans favored Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, Brits chose Snapchat and Instagram, and Brazilians preferred WhatsApp and email.
Despite all the pre-validation, the anxiety loop extends beyond the act of buying. Qualitative research found that Gen Z consumers were reluctant to share purchases once they had made them, because this is the time when the need for validation reaches its peak. One young woman surveyed in Brazil said she spent $1,000 on a SLR camera but didn't want to share it on social media because she hadn't figured out how to use it and still wasn't sure she'd made the right choice.
Generation Y more frequently display their spoils on social media, although this is likely to be done carefully, in context, like wearing a new dress to an event.
Mr. Wilson said, "In many ways they are not unlike young people from previous generations. Their motivations and insecurities are similar: they are figuring out who they are and they need support and approval from others. But previous generations just got laughed at in the playground; they didn't have the ability to post something that can be seen by the whole world. What's changed is that their behavior is enormously influenced by their use of digital technology, and the social media that is ingrained in their lives. Make no mistake – they are the mouthpiece for the internet and increasingly have the power to make or break your brand."
Brands, Mr. Wilson suggests, should establish themselves as culturally relevant. This can be done by picking the right partnership, often through influencers, but also by choosing relevant collaborators. In the case of Iris client Samsung, the launch of the Serif TV -- created with Paris design duo and brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec -- matched consumer tech with interior know-how to create something that is almost a work of art.
Physical retail experiences are still critical to both Gen Y and Gen Z. About 50% of those surveyed in each group said they prefer to make a purchase in-store. Despite the dominance of social media, for about a third of shoppers in both cohorts (29% i the U.S., 34% in the U.K. and 22% in Brazil), the in-store experience is still the most important factor in influencing their final purchase.
"The physical retail experience still plays a critical role. It's where expectation needs to meet reality," Mr. Wilson said. "It's similar to online dating, where you go through profiles and do a lot of curating before you eventually meet the person. It's accepted that you get a glossy perception beforehand, and you need to make sure that the reality fits. Of all the stages, this was the one [where respondents] most often felt let down... although fashion retailers are most likely to live up to the expectations they set on social media."


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After launching 5 Android smartphones in Pakistan, iNew Pakistan continues to expand its presence by opening the first Customer Service Center to provide after-sales support for all users in the provincial capital. The premise is strategically located in the heart of Lahore on the ground floor of Hassan Tower, near Hafeez Center, Gulberg.
Revealed at IFA, Berlin, Huawei significant flagship smart phone, Mate S has got a plethora of unique features. The Human-device interaction has been made more interesting and creative with the latest pressure sensitive touch and advanced fingerprint technology. The users can now control their smart phones, using their knuckles or fingerprints.
With the recently launched iPhone 6S smart phone, it was surely quite known that Apple would deliver the Force Touch as the premium feature of 6S. But, in for the long run, Chinese technology based company, Huawei has deprived Apple of its glory by introducing Force Touch in its latest flagship smartphone Mate S, at IFA, Berlin.
As the latest Microsoft Windows 10 solution was launched in Pakistan recently, the global leader in information technology – Microsoft held an insightful event “Windows 10 Enterprise Summit” in Karachi on 29th of September, 2015, to inform its customers about the advanced features of the new solution.


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NEW YORK Smelter-grade aluminum scrap prices remained mostly steady during the past week, as limited volatility on the London Metal Exchange coupled with tepid trading activity has led to a "wait and see" attitude among buyers and sellers, traders said.
Prices for aluminum used beverage cans (UBCs) inched up to 68 to 70 cents per pound Sept. 26 from 67 to 69 cents and aluminum-copper radiators rose to $1.61 to $1.66 per pound from $1.60 to $1.65 per pound.
Prices for mill-grade aluminum scrap also moved higher, in step with a slight LME uptick.
Prices for 5052 segregated low-copper alloy clips rose to 84 to 86 cents per pound Sept. 26 from 83 to 85 cents previously, 3105 clips to 76 to 78 cents from 75 to 77 cents, mixed low-copper alloy clips to 73 to 75 cents from 72 to 74 cents and painted siding to 71 to 73 cents from 70 to 72 cents per pound previously.
The primary aluminum cash contract on the LME ended the official session at $1,761.50 per tonne (79.9 cents per pound) Sept. 26, up slightly from $1,754.50 per tonne (79.6 cents per pound) Sept. 23.
All other secondary grades were unchanged.
Prices for twitch, or high-quality nonferrous auto shred, this past week also rose a penny on the low end to 79 to 80 cents per pound from 78 to 80 cents previously, as market players said strong demand from the automotive sector had caused sellers to take a harder line with price quotes (amm.com, Sept. 26).
Sellers of twitch have seen an unexpected increase in consumption over the past two weeks, one trader said. "I got a call from someone who said he had run through his loads sooner than he thought," he said. "I guess the auto guys are running really hard and demanding more material than was initially forecasted."


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Apple stores prepare for iPhone and Apple Watch launches with new graphic panels, 3D feature bays
Sunday, 16 September 2018 () Ahead of next Friday’s iPhone and Apple Watch launches, Apple is rolling out fresh new artwork and eye-popping displays to its retail stores. Vivid graphic panels promote the upcoming iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and Apple Watch Series 4, while feature bays showcasing Apple services, apps, and third-party accessories are headlined by unique new molded iconography.
While standard Apple retail locations around the world have been receiving new graphic panels and 3D Feature Bays for the launch of the Apple Watch Series 4,... 9to5Mac - TechnologyAlso reported by •GlobeNewswire •MacRumours.com
While we wait to see if Apple's AirPower mat will ever make an appearance, owners of new iPhones and Apple Watches who want to charge both at the same time could... engadget - TechnologyAlso reported by •MacRumours.com •9to5Mac •Macworld


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What an awesome way to kick off the week...JLab Audio's Epic2 Bluetooth Wireless Sport Earbuds were featured in the September issue of Maxim magazine. Special guest writer, and top Victoria Secret Model, Alessandra Ambrosio mentions our Epic2's as her favorite beach earbuds in her article "Fun In the Sun".
Be sure to check it out in stores now and online!
Sign up to get the latest on new releases, sales and more …
© 2018 JLab Audio UK


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MUMBAI: Asian Paints today reported a 28 per cent year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended September to Rs 595.96 crore, which was sharply below analysts’ estimate.
The company’s bottomline performance missed expectations of all eight brokerages polled by ETMarkets.com.
The paint manufacturer’s consolidated revenues in the quarter grew by 32.6 per cent on-year to Rs 7,096 crore, which was sharply above Street’s estimate.
The company’s board also approved an interim dividend of Rs 3.65 per share at its meeting held earlier today.
The decline in the company’s bottomline was largely due to a sharp spike in expenses during the quarter. Asian Paints’ total expenses jumped 49 per cent on-year to Rs 6,418.2 crore led by a 73 per cent rise in the cost of raw materials.
The decline in bottomline came despite a 25 per cent on-year fall in tax expenses and 67 per cent jump in other income during the reported quarter.
“Steep inflation seen in raw material prices, since the beginning of this calendar year, has been phenomenal and has impacted gross margins across all businesses in the quarter,” said Amit Syngle, managing director and chief executive officer at Asian Paints in a press statement.
Syngle said that the company will look at further price increases going ahead to mitigate the impact of “this persistently high inflation”. He said the company is confident of turning around the situation in the coming quarter.
The impact of the surge in input cost was felt in the company’s operating performance as consolidated operating profit sank 28.5 per cent year-on-year to Rs 904.4 crore. The country’s largest paintmaker saw its consolidated operating margins shrink 1,080 basis points on-year to 12.8 per cent.
However, the comfort for Asian Paints came in the form of strong demand as the reopening of the economy and restart of construction activity boosted volumes. “The domestic decorative business continued to move ahead on its high growth trajectory with an unprecedented 34% volume growth in the quarter and a strong compounded growth rates over the last 2 years,” Syngle said.
Shares of Asian Paints reacted negatively to the results as they sank 5.6 per cent to Rs 2,991.8 on the National Stock Exchange.
"Following the transaction, majority Indian ownership will create the regulatory space to even convert the operations into a B2C entity. It will provide a better shopping and pricing experience. But it's a call that has to be taken," said a source familiar with the transaction.


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Woody had been out of school and underwent chemotherapy in 2012 for Ewing’s Sarcoma which is where cancer is localized in the bone and soft tissue. He wished to go shopping at his two favorite stores, Finish Line and Journey’s.
“I have never been able to go into a store and just pick out whatever, and now I have that chance,” Gavin said.
Woody’s family attended his shopping spree and his sister helped him pick out his purchases. Woody showed his benevolent spirit that afternoon; instead of only picking items for himself he also shopped for his younger siblings and relatives.


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The Company: About Merrow Sewing Machine Company
When a small, family-owned business in Fall River, Massachusetts makes a big impact on the literal fabric of people’s lives around the world, people pay attention. Such has been the case for the Merrow Sewing Machine Company, in one incarnation after another, ever since the company began as Merrow Mills back in 1838 — the country’s first manufacturer of knitted cotton goods — some 175 years ago. A few years later, the company invented the overlock stitch — and the sewing machines to mass-produce it — which is what still holds together most of the garments we wear in the 21st century.
The Situation: Seamless Order Tracking
Now, by teaming with Kenandy for all its ERP needs, Merrow has been able to continue to innovate in amazing new ways, most recently by inventing the world’s first branded stitch-the ActiveSeam — that is revolutionizing the manufacture of textiles and clothing of all shapes and sizes, including in the multi-billion-dollar activewear industry.
ActiveSeam is not only a brand new stitch, it’s also an entirely new business model for the textile world, requiring customers to license its use. Well-known customers are signing up in droves, customizing the stitch to suit their own brands, requiring Merrow to have better-than-ever ERP functionality — seamless order tracking, robust reporting, and tight inventory control, for example.
The Solution: Kenandy ERP Software
“As an innovative company itself, Kenandy has been a great part of our successful innovations with ActiveSeam and other exciting business opportunities,” says Merrow CEO Charlie Merrow, who, with brother Owen, is the sixth generation of Merrows to run the pioneering company.
For a small business, Merrow is a complicated one. In addition to manufacturing thousands of different sewing machine parts that are distributed in 65 countries, it also is continually building custom sewing machines for a variety of customers and applications. The high levels of complexity and costs of customization were becoming economically challenging.
“Kenandy has made it possible for us to deal with all the challenges of a major, multinational company but with the structure of a small business,” says Charlie Merrow. “It’s been an unbelievable change for us — a game change. We’ve been able to improve performance with a small staff, which simply wasn’t possible with our prior ERP systems.”
The Results: Kenandy ERP Implementation Benefits
With Kenandy, programmers also aren’t necessary. Says Merrow, “With Kenandy, I don’t need a C+ or a PHP guy — I just need someone smart. Kenandy not only lets us see our data more clearly, it lets us quickly react to things and customize the system ourselves. That’s real value.” So much focus on innovation and customization means continual problem-solving and iterating new ideas. Failure is an inevitable part of the process that leads to success. “We get things wrong all the time, and that’s just fine,” says Merrow. “The amazing change with Kenandy is that it lets us iterate through the failure points.” As an example, Merrow mentions a repair program the company recently built on the Salesforce Platform and integrated with Kenandy. “It was a disaster in the beginning, but one of our smart guys, who doesn’t have a programming bone in his body, easily made adjustments and it’s now turned into an enormous asset for the company.”
A Single System for Running and Growing Multiple Businesses
Merrow’s success with Kenandy has been a significant factor in the decision to invest in other business opportunities under the Merrow Global banner — companies such as HydeStore.com, Boston Thread, and Patch Light, for example. “The Merrow Global investments in these businesses are driven in large part by our confidence in Kenandy,” says Merrow. “Because Kenandy is so easily extensible, we can build out the backend support for these new businesses quickly at a relatively low cost. This is, in fact, why these businesses are launching.”
Rather than being constricted by the limitations and unwieldy requirements of their prior on-premise ERP systems, Merrow can use Kenandy to seamlessly leverage information and resources that enable the company to grow and prosper. “Kenandy enables us to focus on the business challenges that allow us to grow and make money rather than on the problems of dealing with software,” says Merrow. “For eight years after Owen and I took over running the company, it was hard to focus on anything other than what we had to do. Now, since we’ve implemented Kenandy, we’ve spent the last year focused on growth. It’s a very different use — a far better use — of our resources, of our people.” Kenandy is the perfect fit for Merrow — with plenty of room to grow.


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Our latest FICO UK Credit Market Report looking at UK card trends for June 2021 shows that average card spend continued to increase compared to 2020. As the UK was only just coming out of lockdown in June 2020, this rise in spend is unsurprising, but the fact that average spending was 3.5% (£23) above 2019 levels suggests that, for those who have been able to save through the pandemic, there is confidence in their future financial stability.
However, the percentage of accounts missing payments reflected the fact that not everyone has been able to accrue savings during the last 18 months. With the end of lockdown across the UK and summer holidays prompting spending in the next months, and government support for furlough payments reducing from 1st July, lenders will need to be vigilant for those already facing financial pressure who could struggle further to stay on top of debts.
Spend on UK cards continued to increase, along with the percentage of payments
The average spend on UK credit cards increased year-on-year for the fourth consecutive month, by £40 to £691, a larger increase than seen in May. It also exceeds the June 2019 spend by £23 with the sunny weather and the Euro 2020 competition likely to have contributed to this uptick.
Average card balances marginally increased month on month. They are 4% lower than a year ago and 12% below June 2019 levels, suggesting that households are trying to manage their spend in the face of a still-uncertain future.
Mixed picture on payments
Whilst average spend increased year-on-year, the FICO data reveals mixed fortunes when it comes to payments.
The growth in the payments-to-balance ratio started to slow in June 2021, increasing by just 2.5% month on month. Year-on-year it is 45% higher, although that is unsurprising as some businesses were still arranging furlough and loan support in June 2020. However, it is 18% above June 2019 levels, suggesting the use of savings as well as continued government support.
The number of accounts paying the full balance stabilised in June and was 16% higher than June 2020. Despite the percentage of accounts paying the minimum payment increasing by 3% in June, the proportion is still 11% below that seen in June 2019.
Missed payment rates remain low
The percentage of accounts missing one payment increased in May. A proportion of these were unable to make a payment in June, which resulted in a 15% increase in the percentage of accounts missing two payments and a 9% increase in their balance compared to total balance.
All average balances on accounts missing payments decreased month-on-month again in June. However, all balances are higher than a year ago, and 2, 3 and 4+ missed-payment accounts are higher than June 2019, prior to the pandemic with 3 and 4+ balances over 18% higher.
Cash usage continues to slowly grow but remains below pre-pandemic levels
Cash as a percentage of total spend fell month on month and is 8% lower than a year ago and 37% lower than June 2019, highlighting the change in attitudes towards cash.
Whilst the percentage of consumers using cash on their credit cards increased for the third consecutive month, it is 16% lower than June 2020 and 62% lower than June 2019.
FICO July data will reflect the initial impact of the last stage of the re-opening of high-risk retail and entertainment sectors, as well as the start of the school holidays. It is expected that spend will continue to increase, although levels may not be as high as anticipated because of the ongoing confusion around foreign travel rules. Higher levels of savings may also continue to blur the picture of those negatively impacted by the winding down of the furlough scheme and further business closures.
Lenders will be keeping a watch on the impact all these factors have on their customers and any changes in payment trends as early indications of financial stress. Those that act quickly, offering the most appropriate options, will be viewed most positively by their customers and the regulators.
These card performance figures are part of the data shared with subscribers of the FICO® Benchmark Reporting Service. The data sample comes from client reports generated by the FICO® TRIAD® Customer Manager solution in use by some 80% of UK card issuers. Issuers wishing to subscribe to this service can contact me at email@example.com.


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The term cloud computing remains the buzz phrase in the IT industry, with vendors of all shapes and sizes looking to push cloud services and entice firms to this new form of technology delivery.
The likes of Google and Samsung are set to unveil their own public cloud storage services to compete with the success of Dropbox, while cloud giant Amazon Web Services recently announced it now stores almost one trillion objects on its S3 cloud product.
While such firms generate headlines due to their wider impact on the market, there are other, smaller firms also highlighting the shift to all things cloud.
UK firm Interoute is a good news story for the UK IT market, having announced positive financials on Monday thanks to the increased take-up of its cloud offerings.
It revealed profits of €7.8m during 2011, led by revenue growth of 24 per cent on the previous year to hit €366m.
Such growth demonstrates that beyond the hype at the high end, smaller firms are seeing genuine growth from cloud technology, proving the cloud is becoming an established part of firms' IT estates.
Interoute chief executive Gareth Williams explained to V3 that the firm saw many customers move to the cloud during 2011 as they realised the benefits on offer.
"Some 55 per cent of our revenues are now coming from cloud services, with notable customers such as Deutsche Post and UEFA, the latter of which is using our services for everything from hosting their internal IT applications to their public facing website," he said.
"There is definitely a strong move towards the use of cloud computing among businesses for the scale and flexibility it can offer."
One area of the cloud that Williams said is expected to increase further in the coming years is that of video delivery, which led Interoute to purchase Swedish firm VCG in March last year.
"Video accounted for some 15 per cent of revenue last year and we expect that to grow in 2012 as firms look to save money on travel costs and increase productivity, by using systems that enable staff to conference from any location."
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TSMC’s Statement Strongly Hints at 5nm Chips in Next Year’s iPhones
While there have been a few reports in the past suggesting the use of 5nm chips in next year’s iPhones, a new statement by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has provided further support for the idea of 5nm chips in 2020 iPhones (via 9to5Mac).
Earlier this year, the A-series chipmaker said it had hit a significant milestone in its journey toward the development of 5nm chips, creating design infrastructure which can be used by Apple and other clients to work on their chip designs.
Now, TSMC’s CEO has told its investors at a shareholder meeting that the company is on track for 5nm chip production as early as the first half of next year. It must be noted that 2020 is also the year in which Apple is expected to add 5G capabilities to the iPhone.
Below is the summary of TSMC’s statement (via Digitimes):
Because of strong demand for 5G-related solutions from some major clients, Ho continued, the pure-play foundry’s Capex this year will outpace the high end of its previously-estimated US$10-11 billion. TSMC plans to spend more to expand further its 7nm process production capacity and build up capacity for its newer 5nm node, according to Ho.
TSMC has become “a little bit more aggressive” with regards to its 5nm production ramp-up, said company CEO CC Wei during a Q&A session at the investor’s conference. The foundry is on track to move the node to volume production in the first half of 2020. An acceleration in the worldwide 5G development will lead to an increase in demand for TSMC’s 5nm and 7nm processes, Wei believes.
Earlier reports had also suggested that TSMC would be ready for volume production of 5nm chips in 2020.


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COINBASE, the San Franciso-based cryptocurrency exchange, was catapulted up among the biggest US companies today as shares rocketed 52% in value on its Wall Street debut.
Going on sale via a direct listing rather than a traditional float - the biggest company so far to take this route to market on the Nasdaq - shares pegged at the estimated reference price of $250 started changing hands at $381.
Within minutes the price had risen to a high of $429, putting the company’s market cap in the region of $105bn, before easing back a little.
While high-volumes and accompanying volatility is expected to see the firm’s market cap swing widely for the next few days, the early valuations will put it at level-pegging with a host of giant US corporations.
It is still some way off top tech dogs Apple ($2232bn), Microsoft ($1929bn), Amazon ($1698bn), Alphabet/Google ($1541bn) and Tesla ($649bn).
But for a 10-year-old company in a relatively little-understood field of finance to rank alongside the likes of Uber, 3M, American Express and oil major Total on its debut is a landmark moment for the still relatively youthful world of crypto.
It will be far larger than the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq and made instant multi-billionaires of co-founders Brian Armstrong (ex AirBnb) and Fred Ehrsam (ex-Goldman Sachs).
Last year’s biggest tech float saw shares in Armstrong’s former firm AirBnb shoot up from $68 to $146 at opening, before rising to around $178 in the following months taking the room-booking platform to a value of $100billion.
Shares in 3D gaming platform Roblox, which earlier this year took the direct route but onto New York’s main exchange, opened at $64 before shooting up 42%. They now sit at $82, valuing the company at $45bn.
And the hype and frenzy around the latest IPO to rock Wall Street has fueled demand for the underlying crypto-dollars themselves: Bitcoin was approaching a record $65,000 today while Etherium was up at $2356 (up from $140 last March).
Coinbase was founded by CEO Armstrong and Ehrsam back in 2012 when only a few people had heard of bitcoin.
With the nascent industry a wild-west of garage start-ups run by enthusiasts and amateurs they distinguished the operation by making regulatory compliance the foundation stone of the operation.
The trust thus engendered proved critical despite bumps along the way.
User numbers have risen and fallen with the often wildly fluctuating crypto market and it has weathered a series of controversies over system outages, claims over inaccuracies in its trading data and the defection of a third of its workforce during the ‘cryptowinter’ after 2017’s bitcoin crash.
But the company has rallied alongside the latest bitcoin boom - which has seen the digital currency rise from around $20,000 to upwards of $60,000 since December.
There were 43 million verified Coinbase users in 2020, with 2.8 million making transactions monthly. Its revenue more than doubled to $1.14 billion last year and the company swung to a profit of $322.3 million after losing tens of millions in 2019.
It now expects to report a first-quarter profit of some $800million - more than double its 2020 earnings.
Armstrong’s stake was valued at $15bn on today’s pre-market price, with Ehrsam - who left the company in 2017 - owning around $2bn in stock.
Sceptics remain. Earlier this month, Isabel Schnabel of the European Central Bank told Der Spiegel that Bitcoin is a: “speculative asset without any fundamental value.”
While David Trainer, CEO of investment research firm New Constructs, said Coinbase has "little-to-no-chance of meeting the future profit expectations that are baked into its ridiculously high valuation."
But those voices are being drowned out by a growing chorus of institutional backers from Elon Musk to Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which last month said it was looking to offer a "full spectrum" of cryptocurrency investments for its private wealth clients within the next few months.
Asen Kostadinov, of London crypto custody provider Copper, said: “Arguably, this is the most important IPO in crypto to date. Coinbase is a credible, regulated, profitable blue-chip tech stock, which is also a pure-play crypto company.
“As such, it will be a likely holding for every tech investor/ETF fund and it will also be the best crypto market proxy investors have had.
"The IPO will result in new types of investors entering the crypto space, some of whom will recognise the benefit of owning crypto assets directly as opposed through a proxy.
"Institutional adoption of crypto has clearly gone through a major inflection point since the last quarter of 2020 which speaks to the maturity and credibility of the space. The growth the sector has experienced over the past year is a lot more sustainable than in 2017.
"The indicators are that this bull market has further to go and we are not at the top yet with such strong liquidity, transactions at a record high and institutions buying as much as they are."


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Last week, the online bus ticketing service redBus established a collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) to offer online tickets. With the help of this alliance, travellers will have more 24-hour options for purchasing bus tickets on routes within Uttar Pradesh as well as those that depart from the state and travel to other states like Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Bihar, according to a statement from redBus.
Over 11,200 bus routes are served by 1,50,000 seats on more than 35,000 daily journeys by the UPSRTC.
Over 11,200 bus routes are served by 1,50,000 seats on more than 35,000 daily journeys by the UPSRTC. “We want to provide customers more options so they may reserve bus tickets when it’s most convenient for them. As part of this endeavour, it is now also possible to book UPSRTC bus tickets using the redBus platform. By collaborating with redBus, UPSRTC will also have access to the largest online booking client base,” Additional Managing Director Annapurna Garg of UPSRTC said.
Manoj Agarwala, the chief business officer of redBus, stated that the company sees a sizable possibility for private online ticketing companies to service thousands of bus passengers through digital ticketing.
The MakeMyTrip Group, one of the biggest travel aggregators in India, now includes redBus.
redBus, which was founded in India in 2006, has expanded its operations to Singapore and Malaysia in 2015 and bought the majority of Busportal, a Peruvian bus ticketing website, in 2016. RedBus began operating in Peru, Colombia, and other markets in Latin America as a result of this acquisition. The MakeMyTrip Group, one of the biggest travel aggregators in India, now includes redBus.


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New Zealand consumer confidence fell to a 10-month low in August, suggesting rising interest rates, weaker commodity prices and waning house price inflation are denting sentiment in an economy that may be growing at a slower pace.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index fell 7 points to 125.5, snapping two months of gains. The current conditions index eased to 123.4 from 126.3 and the future conditions index dropped to 126.9 from 137.
Confidence dipped across all indicators in the survey. Those saying they were better off financially than a year ago fell to a net 7 percent from 9 percent, while those expecting to be better off in a year's time fell to 35 percent from 40 percent. The survey comes after the Treasury this week shaved its forecasts for economic growth, while still seeing enough tax revenue to return to surplus next year.
"The economy may be moderating from a gallop to a canter but we're still growing solidly," said Cameron Bagrie, chief economist at ANZ New Zealand Bank. "Various leading indicators of momentum - the tightening in financial conditions and lower commodity prices - foretell a deceleration in growth. Conversely, lagging indicators such as employment growth remain more robust."
The August survey shows those expecting New Zealand as a whole will enjoy good economic times in the year ahead fell to a net 20 percent from 34 percent, while looking five years out, it fell to a net 26 percent from 38 percent.
Asked whether it was a good time to buy a major household items, a net 40 percent said yes, down from 44 percent a month ago. Those expecting prices in general to rise in the next two years fell to a net 3.3 percent from 3.9 percent. Those seeing a rise in house prices in that period slipped to a net 3.6 percent from 4.1 percent.
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JAPAN: Honda names new chairman
Honda on Tuesday said it would promote its executive vice president Satoshi Aoki to chairman and has nominated senior managing director Koichi Kondo to replace Aoki as executive vice president in its upcoming management reshuffle.
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India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) will launch two new models next fiscal, a top company official said. The auto major, which has introduced two models in the current fiscal so far, is also in the process of upgrading its current portfolio to have safety features like airbags, seat belt reminder and reverse parking sensors by June to comply with new safety norms.
'(There are) two new product launches in 2019-20,' MSI Chairman RC Bhargava told PTI. He further said one product would be launched in the fourth quarter of 2018-19. It is understood that the product will be launched later this month and is the new version of the company's popular compact car WagonR.
MSI has already launched new versions of its multi-purpose vehicle Ertiga and sedan Ciaz in 2018-19. It had also introduced new Swift in February last year. According to industry sources, while one of the brand new models could be retailed through the company's premium chain Nexa, the other could be introduced in the mass market Arena outlets.
Besides, models which have been in the market will have to be equipped with anti-lock braking system (ABS) with effect from April 2019. On the other hand, all new models were mandated to have ABS from April 2018.
Other upgraded safety regulations like frontal, offset and side impact in existing models are scheduled to come into effect from October 1, 2019. New models are already compliant from October last year. Pedestrian safety regulations for passenger vehicles will kick in from October 2020.