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Mar 26, 2012
Neotel doubles consumer subscribers to 100 000Back
Africa|Cable|Neotel|Africa|South Africa|Network Infrastructure|Products|Retail Networks|Service|Services|Telecommunications|Infrastructure|Noel Studti|Cable
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Neotel, which generated 90% of its revenue from its business customer base, said the company was set to double its consumer customer base again over the next year, owing to its current network infrastructure and capacity for a million users.
Chief sales and marketing officer Noel Studti said that Neotel, which now covered about 2.5-million households, planned to launch new products in the next few months, as well as add new channel partners to sell Neotel products and services through various retail networks.
The company, in which Tata Communications holds a 56% interest, continued to pursue strong sales and market-share growth by offering competitive call rates in South Africa and focusing on customer service, he said.
“Through our focus on managing costs, we have been able to pass the benefits of these optimisation initiatives to our clients and customers, while giving them the efficiency of our fibre network and the unparalleled reliability of South Africa’s only converged network, with seamless integration into the largest undersea cable network in the world through Tata Communications,” Studti commented.
Neotel grew its revenues by about 25% in the first half of the 2012 financial year, compared to the same period last year, on the back of an increasing customer base and market share.
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Even big stars have to live the
Sure, they can spend loads of money anywhere they want, but sometimes they want to be just like US!
's no different as he was spotted hitting up a convenience store in El Lay. Justin Bieber
We're not sure what he bought there - although he could've bought the whole place - but we're sure it was all necessary fuel for his long day because the Biebs was headed to Smash Box Studios after…
apparently out with that night! Selena Gomez
We just hope those snacks weren't because he might have the
Selenita would NOT approve!
Image via Rayne/JFXimages/.]
convenience store, justin bieber, justin bieber photos, selena gomez, shopping, sighting, the biebs
A toddler stops breathing! A father panics! A crowd gathers!
But only one man's clear thinking can save the day!
Ch-ch-check out the video (above) to see the whole crazy amazing event unfold on the security cameras of an Australian convenience store!
It sure is a good thing this guy was on the scene! Talk about
australia, breathing, convenience store, hero, life, saves, toddler
So, this happened…
A guy dressed in a
Gumby costume had a major epic fail when his attempt to rob a convenience store went terribly wrong.
While fumbling around in his costume for his gun, he got all turned around and had to leave the store empty-handed.
Wow. For the lose, guy.
Although we do applaud you for making us laugh.
convenience store, costume, fails, gumby, gun, robs
This is so, so upsetting!
Check out this news report from Las Vegas featuring security footage of a group of teenagers who stormed a local convenient store and stole over $600 worth of merchandise, including the cashier's cell phone (above)!
We're absolutely appalled! What on Earth makes ANYONE think this kind of behavior is acceptable, let alone a whole group of young people?!
Here's hoping that they can use the security footage to identify at least some of them, and bring them to justice!
People need to know that this is NOT okay, and those responsible need to be punished accordingly!
convenience store, group, las vegas, legal matters, mob, robbery, sad, shameful, teenagers
This would have been so much more amazing if they had played the
Imperial March over the segment!
Check out (above) a news story about a man who robbed a convenience as a knife-wielding
The douchebag, however, didn't disguise himself using the Sith Lord's mask until he was already inside, where security cameras caught his face!
May the force NOT be with him!
clip, convenience store, darth vader, dumbass, force, news segment, robbery, sith lord, stupid people, wtf

domain: news


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Yellow gems prove popular
IT is not every day you sit down to breakfast and are shown rare and exclusive yellow diamond rings worth in the vicinity of $4 million.
Ellendale Diamonds Australia did just that recently when launching the stunning rare yellow diamond range, sourced from the Kimberley, at The Trustee Bar & Bistro.
Company director Chris Soklich said it was excited to be launching Ellendale Diamonds Australia.
“There is a strong demand for Australian diamonds within Australia and now overseas, due to the awareness of Argyle diamonds,” he said.
“We feel it’s the right time to make the public aware of the second mine operating in Australia, Ellendale Diamond Mine.
“The popularity of coloured diamonds is increasing rapidly in Australia and compared to pinks they are relatively well-priced and more affordable.
“Each precious diamond has a personality of its own that unfolds within its infinite depths and reflections.”
First discovered in 1976, Ellendale produces more than 50 per cent of the world’s yellow diamonds.
Each stone tells a story that embraces its distinctive character and no two yellow diamonds are the same.
Stockists at www.ellendalediamonds.com.au.


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In a outrageous blow to Uber in a UK London’s float regulator has deserted a focus to replenish a permit to work in a city.
In a matter currently TfL pronounced it has resolved that Uber is “not fit and correct to reason a private sinecure user licence”.
“TfL’s law of London’s cab and private sinecure trades is designed to safeguard newcomer safety. Private sinecure operators contingency accommodate severe regulations, and denote to TfL that they do so, in sequence to operate. TfL contingency also be confident that an user is fit and correct to reason a licence,” it said.
The regulator combined that Uber’s “approach and control denote a miss of corporate shortcoming in propinquity to a array of issues that have intensity open reserve and confidence implications” — including for a following issues:
- Its proceed to stating critical rapist offences
- Its proceed to how medical certificates are obtained
- Its proceed to how Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are performed — that relates to carrying out credentials checks to safeguard workers do not have a rapist record
- Its proceed to explaining a use of Greyball in London — module that could be used to retard regulatory bodies from gaining full entrance to a app and forestall officials from endeavour regulatory or law coercion duties
TfL records that the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 includes sustenance to interest a chartering decision within 21 days of it being issued, and reliable that Uber can continue to work until any interest processes have been exhausted.
Uber is approaching to appeal. A matter by a association is also approaching shortly — we’ll supplement it when we have it.
Update: In a statement, Tom Elvidge, ubiquitous manager of Uber in London, said:
3.5 million Londoners who use a app, and some-more than 40,000 protected drivers who rest on Uber to make a living, will be bewildered by this decision.
By wanting to anathema a app from a collateral Transport for London and a Mayor have caved in to a tiny array of people who wish to shorten consumer choice. If this preference stands, it will put some-more than 40,000 protected drivers out of work and dispossess Londoners of a available and affordable form of transport.
To titillate a livelihoods of all those drivers, and a consumer choice of millions of Londoners who use a app, we intend to immediately plea this in a courts.
Drivers who use Uber are protected by Transport for London and have been by a same extended DBS credentials checks as black cab drivers. Our pioneering record has left serve to raise reserve with each outing tracked and available by GPS. We have always followed TfL manners on stating critical incidents and have a dedicated organisation who work closely with a Metropolitan Police. As we have already told TfL, an eccentric examination has found that ‘greyball’ has never been used or counsel in a UK for a functions cited by TfL.
Uber operates in some-more than 600 cities around a world, including some-more than 40 towns and cities here in a UK. This anathema would uncover a universe that, distant from being open, London is sealed to innovative companies who move choice to consumers.
TfL pronounced it will not be commenting serve on a preference tentative any appeal.
In a statement, London’s mayor Sadiq Khan corroborated a regulator’s decision, writing:
I wish London to be during a forefront of creation and new record and to be a healthy home for sparkling new companies that assistance Londoners by providing a improved and some-more affordable service.
However, all companies in London contingency play by a manners and belong to a high standards we design – quite when it comes to a reserve of customers. Providing an innovative use contingency not be during a shortcoming of patron reserve and security.
I entirely support TfL’s preference – it would be wrong if TfL continued to permit Uber if there is any approach that this could poise a hazard to Londoners’ reserve and security.
Any user of private sinecure services in London needs to play by a rules.
Uber’s stream permit to work in London is due to finish on Sep 30. The association claims to have some 3.5 million users in London and around 40,000 drivers handling on a platform.
Its before permit lapsed in May nonetheless was extended by TfL for 4 months as a regulator continued to counsel over either it should extend Uber another full 5 year tenure in a face of rising critique opposite a business — including on issues such as workers’ rights and open safety.
Earlier this month a cross-party organisation of MPs wrote to TfL propelling it to frame a association of a permit to work in a UK capital, arguing a association has not shown itself to be a “fit and correct operator”.
This followed accusations done this summer by London’s Met Police that Uber has been failing to news sex attacks by drivers on a platform.
While, final year, a GMB Union helped move dual exam cases to a UK practice judiciary accusing Uber of behaving unlawfully by not providing drivers with simple workers’ rights like holiday compensate and a smallest wage.
In October a judiciary delivered a verdict, rejecting Uber’s evidence that a drivers in doubt were self-employed contractors — instead judging them to be workers, environment a authorised fashion for other Uber drivers to plea a company. (Although Uber has appealed a ruling.)
The GMB kinship handed a petition to TfL this month propelling it to insist on boundary to Uber motorist hours as a condition of renewing Uber’s license.
It welcomed a regulator’s preference today, describing it as a “historic victory”.
“It’s about time a association faced adult to a outrageous consequences of GMB’s landmark practice judiciary feat — and altered a ways,” said Maria Ludkin, GMB authorised director, in a statement. “No association can be act like it’s above a law, and that includes Uber.
“No doubt other vital cities will be looking during this preference and deliberation Uber’s destiny on their possess streets.”
The regulator has also been underneath vigour from London’s black cab drivers over viewed inequality in a regulatory regimes of private sinecure vehicles vs normal taxis.
London’s Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) pressed TfL to reject a full renovation of Uber’s permit — arguing that a indication is wrong and risks open safety, while also indicating to rising numbers of private sinecure vehicles (PHV) in London as contributing to a city’s overload and wickedness problem.
It has also welcomed TfL’s decision. In a statement, Steve McNamara, ubiquitous secretary of a LTDA said: “The Mayor has done a right call not to relicense Uber. Since it initial came onto a streets Uber has damaged a law, exploited a drivers and refused to take shortcoming for a reserve of passengers. We design Uber will again embark on a forged authorised plea opposite a Mayor and TfL, and we will titillate a justice to defend this decision. This incorrigible association has no place on London’s streets.”
Also commenting in support of TfL’s preference to frame Uber of a license, opposition ride-hailing organisation mytaxi — that in a works exclusively with protected black cabs in London and has a motorist network of over 17,500 — urged Uber passengers “back to black cabs” — and pronounced it would be undercutting UberX prices until a finish of a month with a smallest 30% bonus off a scale fare.
“Customers merit a seamless, technology-enabled swift of veteran taxis with drivers who are unapproachable to offer a higher use and have clinging a homogeneous of a grade to their trade. That’s what mytaxi is unapproachable to offer in London,” commented Andy Batty, UK ubiquitous manager during mytaxi in a matter responding to Uber being denied a permit renewal.
Earlier this week TfL announced a new pricing complement for PHV licenses, inflating fees for receiving a license. TfL pronounced cost rises are required to cope with thespian increases in a numbers of PHVs on London’s roads, observant it had not reviewed prices for PHV chartering given 2013.
According to TfL, there are some-more than 116,000 PHV protected drivers today, adult from usually 65,000 in 2013/14, while a array of PHVs has increasing from 50,000 to 88,000 over a same period.
Its new pricing regime brings in many some-more tiers, depending on a distance of a swift being operated. The many costly tier — for operators (such as Uber) that have some-more than 10,001 vehicles — has risen from around £3,000 underneath a before regime to £2.9M going forward.
Last year, Uber directed off what could have been a vital snag to a business in London when TfL forsaken a array of due changes to PHV rules — including commanding a five-minute smallest wait duration between grouping and receiving a ride.
Although a regulator did pull on with other new measures, such as a grave English denunciation requirement for drivers.
Uber went on to plea that in justice — a plea that was deserted in March (though Uber pronounced it dictated to appeal).
Zooming out to a European level, Uber is also available what will be a rarely poignant statute by Europe’s tip justice on a sequence of a business — to yield clarity to regulators on either it’s a travel association or usually an enabling tech height as Uber tries to claim.
Earlier this year an successful confidant to a justice deemed Uber’s activity is indeed to yield travel services, rather than merely being an intermediary platform. A final statute by a justice is approaching 3 to 6 months after a AG’s opinion — so expected by November.
While, in a U.S., Uber’s use of exclusive module to try to hedge regulators has also drawn a courtesy of US regulators — and is reportedly being investigated by a Department of Justice.
It’s also under review by a FBI for use of another module program designed to aim opposition ride-hailing startup, Lyft.
While a business has also been rocked by a array of additional scandals in new times — from accusations of an inner enlightenment of sexism and sexual harassment, to accusations of IP burglary from rival Alphabet, to an FCC review into remoteness and confidence failures that resulted in Uber similar to two decades of outmost audits.
It’s value observant that Uber is not a usually ride-hailing startup to tumble tainted of TfL. Earlier this month Uber opposition Taxify was told by a regulator to stop handling in a city roughly immediately after it had launched — carrying sought to fast-track a chartering estimate by acquiring an existent cab firm, nonetheless apparently but gaining capitulation for a change in a chartering conditions.
The GMB Union also wrote to TfL to censure about Taxify, and a association complied with TfL sequence to stop operating. Taxify says now that it still skeleton to launch in London when it has finished TfL’s regulatory capitulation process.
Featured Image: Carl Court/Getty Images


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CIM Group Inc. has sold the 460,000-square-foot retail and entertainment property at Hollywood and Highland, which attracts tourists and locals alike in the heart of Hollywood.
Industry sources say the deal was worth around $320 million.
DJM Capital Partners Inc. and Gaw Capital USA purchased the complex from CIM Group. The sale didn't include the Dolby Theatre, known for hosting the Academy Awards, which CIM Group will continue to operate.
The companies wouldn't disclose further details of the transaction, saying only that it was the largest single-asset retail sale outside of Manhattan in almost three years. DJM and Gaw Capital said they plan to upgrade the complex and add more events.
Natixis provided financing, which included an acquisition loan.
“The retail landscape has shifted, consumer tastes have adapted, and ‘New Hollywood’ is constantly redefining itself,” DJM Chief Retail Officer Stenn Parton said in a statement. “With Hollywood & Highland, we at DJM and Gaw Capital are eager to seize the opportunity to create, in the heart of Los Angeles, an environment where the iconic allure of ‘Old Hollywood’ meets the modern innovation of new media.”
Renovations will begin in 2020 and wrap up by the following year.
CIM acquired the complex — which included the retail center, the Dolby Theatre and a 632-room hotel in 2004. The Mid-Wilshire-based company sold the hotel in 2012 and recapitalized the retail and entertainment center in 2013.
“CIM’s repositioning of Hollywood & Highland increased its visibility and provided a stable anchor for the resurgence of Hollywood. The development was envisioned as a catalytic project that would propel private investment and development in the community. We believe we have fulfilled this mission,” said Shaul Kuba, co-founder and principal of CIM Group, in a statement.
Gaw Capital’s chairman and managing principal, Goodwin Gaw, redeveloped the nearby Hollywood Roosevelt hotel in 1995. He called the hotel a “one-of-a-kind lifestyle hotel forged with distinction in Hollywood’s history” in a statement.
“We look forward to working with DJM to enhance the asset by leveraging the digital content revolution and innovative technology, to re-imagine this complex to become the new ‘town center for the Hollywood community,’” Gaw added.
Commercial real estate reporter Hannah Madans can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow her on Twitter @HannahMadans.
For reprint and licensing requests for this article, CLICK HERE.


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The federal government has refused to say if compensation will be offered to producers affected by the suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia.
But federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig is confident the industry will be back on its feet before the end of the suspension of up to six months.
The government says it will lift the temporary suspension on live exports when it's confident safeguards are in place to ensure appropriate animal welfare in Indonesia.
"What we don't have is a supply chain that ensures that every cow that leaves Australia on a ship that ends up in a feed lock (a device to bulk feed cattle) then goes to an abattoir is accounted for," Senator Ludwig told reporters in Brisbane.
The suspension follows the government's earlier decision, to appoint an independent reviewer to assess the live export supply chain for all markets, not just Indonesia.
The measures follow community outrage over footage aired last week by ABC's Four Corners program that showed appalling animal cruelty at some Indonesian abattoirs.
Senator Ludwig said he was confident the industry had "a long-term future".
"There (have) been impacts to industry ... domestically and along the supply chain," he said.
"The end goal is to ensure that we've got animal welfare outcomes ... and that industry can continue to have live animal exports for the sustainable future.
"And I'm keen to work with the industry ... to look at how we can address it within the six months."
The trade with Indonesia was important and should continue, he said.


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As consumers face rising prices of gasoline, many have already abandoned their plans to purchase large vehicles such as SUVs and pickups in favor of smaller vehicles such as sedans and crossovers. This demand has led car manufacturers to invest in the research and development of alternative technologies to make their production vehicles as gas thrifty as they can while still offering a good level of performance.
For the past years, the hybrid technology has been the favorite of environment and gas price conscious car buyers. Aside from hybrid technology, flex-fuel vehicles also gained momentum. These vehicles are designed to run on gasoline or a combination of gasoline and bio-ethanol. While these vehicles are designed to be environment-friendly, the scarcity of refueling stations offering E85 has led flex-fuel owners to use plain gasoline thereby defeating the environmental purpose of their vehicles. In fact, in a recent study it was found out that 99 percent of flex-fuel vehicles on the roads of the United States are still using conventional gasoline for fuel. This issue has led to the rise in the popularity of diesel engines.
It can be remembered that the American public has shunned diesel engines since in the 1980′s diesel engines are known for their loud noise and huge amount of soot produced. In fact, diesel engines received a very bad reputation that it was even believed that diesel engines will not become popular in the United States. Overseas though, European car manufacturers have been investing in harnessing the power of the diesel engine and has succeeded in producing diesel engines with noise and emission similar to that of a gasoline engine.
The popularity of the diesel engine in Europe is evident in the fact that even the German luxury carmaker Audi has produced a diesel powered luxury car. The massive torque produced by these engines gives good acceleration which is common on high performance cars such as that produced by Audi. This acceleration provided by these new-generation diesel engines is not lagging behind the performance of gasoline engined vehicles that are equipped with aftermarket parts such as the Iceman cold air intake system.
After the European auto industry has succeeded in producing clean diesel engines, Americans’ view of the engine changed. In fact, Ford has introduced a heavy-duty pickup truck equipped with diesel engines. The diesel engine used by Ford on the Ford Super Duty is proven to produce gas emissions similar to that of a gasoline engine. Furthermore, precision engineering has led to a quieter operation for the diesel engine. Another good thing about diesel engines is that they consume less fuel than gasoline engine. Diesel fuel is also less expensive than gasoline which makes it more appealing as the prices of gasoline once again reached the three dollar mark.
The increasing popularity of diesel engines has led to European and Japanese car manufacturers expressing their intention to introduce diesel engined vehicles in the United States auto market come the year 2008. Mercedes-Benz is one of these car manufacturers set to introduce diesel versions of their models such as the M Class, R Class and the GL Class.
Another European car company in the form of BMW is also slated to introduce diesel vehicles in the United States auto market next year. Volkswagen, the German car manufacturer has already introduced diesel vehicles n the United States but is expected to introduce a cleaner diesel engine which it calls “Blue Motion”. As far as the Japanese are concerned, Nissan reported that they will be coming out with a diesel version of their best selling Altima sedan in the near future.
As the number of diesel powered vehicles to be released in the United States auto market increases, the oil industry is responding with positive support. The Marathon Oil Corp. recently announced that they will be investing a total of $3.2 billion in a refinery that will produce clean diesel. Currently, only 42 percent of the fuel refilling stations in the United States offer diesel. The investment made by Marathon shows that the oil industry is supporting the increasing popularity of diesel among the American car buying public. With the auto and oil industry working together it will only be a matter of time before diesel engines become more popular than gasoline engines.


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Just in time for the start of spring, a decidedly refreshing concept has opened a permanent location! Hanai, the evolution of an ongoing pop-up in the city, has moved into a new space on Commercial Drive. Details are scarce, but we know it’s going to be delicious. Here’s why.
First- they’ve got some backing, thanks to a new partnership with the folks behind the beloved Dachi and Elephant restaurants in the city. While the food menu will stay true to the owners’ Hawaiian roots, we can only assume that this is great news for the cocktail and wine program.
View this post on Instagram
As for the food itself, details are scarce. But, according to their Instagram account, we’re expecting a wide variety of dishes, ranging from hearty main courses to delicious sides and must-be-tried desserts, like a ‘miso tahini ginger cookie’. Sounds amazing, if you ask us.
And of course, now that their open, just the sound of it shouldn’t be enough! Make sure to check this new spot out when you get the chance, folks. You won’t regret it.
When: Now open!
Where: 1590 Commercial Drive


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Wareham seeks identity as vacation destination
WAREHAM — Just past the police station, a pair of miniature stone lighthouses stand on either side of Route 28, each with a white gate cocked open for incoming traffic to see.
On one side of the road, the gate has plaques that read "Welcome to Wareham." On the other, two other plaques — each painted the same shade of red — combine to spell out in gold, "Gateway to Cape Cod."
That slogan is a relic from the days when Route 28 — or Cranberry Highway, as it is known in Wareham — was the primary path onto Cape Cod, before the interstates and Route 25 allowed much of that traffic to bypass the town.
And yet, the Gatemen opened yet another season in the Cape Cod Baseball League earlier this month. Many businesses here belong to the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce. And on Saturday, Quahog Day was hosted in Wareham's bayside village of Onset.
For years, Wareham has found itself wedged in something of a no-man's land, close to but not quite a part of the Cape and the area extending to Fall River that's now called the "south coast."
As Selectman Peter Teitelbaum put it, "We're kind of like the bastard stepchild. ... We're neither fish nor fowl."
Ask residents about their town, population nearly 22,000, and they will describe it either as on-Cape, on the other side of the "ditch" — a reference to the Cape Cod Canal that in some eyes forever cut Wareham off from the Cape — or simply as the "gateway," never minding whether a gateway is actually part of a destination or just a doorstep.
On a few points, the answer to that question is clear. Wareham sits across the Cape Cod Canal, outside of Barnstable County. And it falls under the purview of the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District rather than the Cape Cod Commission.
Still, Wareham has been able to strategically — or, perhaps, selectively — use the Cape Cod brand.
"It's kind of a stretch of a definition that sometimes works and sometimes people scoff at," said Wendy Northcross, president and CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. "I just think that their desire to be more Cape Cod than Plymouth shows the strength of a good brand. They find it beneficial to ride in our draft, I guess, if you will. But the reality is they're not in the same regulatory environment that we're in. So that's the differential."
For the most part, the Cape has been "fine with that," she said, even if it means driving over the bridge to shop at one of Wareham's big-box stores, such as Wal-Mart or Lowe's Home Improvement.
"Some of that development could have been on the Cape, but they just took the path of least resistance and went to communities that made it easier for them," Northcross said.
But Alan Slavin, chairman of the Wareham Board of Selectmen, is hoping that more tourists will see Wareham as a place to stop and stay for a while.
In between the main thoroughfares lined with big-box stores and seafood restaurants, the town has winding rural roads that take visitors past cranberry bogs to stunning beaches. In Wareham Center, historic churches sit just a short walk away from the Wareham River.
In walkable Onset, visitors can rent a kayak for $15 an hour — $60 for the full day — from Nemasket Kayak Center and navigate the smooth waters of Onset Bay, or enjoy a day of sunbathing at Onset Beach. A short walk up Onset Avenue, the Pier View Restaurant serves up eggs and linguica as the smell of fresh-baked pizzas wafts out of Marc Anthony's Pizzeria.
"You need an identity. The identity of an alternative to Cape Cod is not an identity. That's a second choice," Slavin said. "We don't want to be a pass-through. To me, a gateway is a pass-through."
The town is building traction. In the past year alone, Wareham has established a beach and tourism committee to promote the town, aiming to end years of "inactivity" in marketing, Slavin said. Teitelbaum, Slavin's neighbor and fellow selectman, ran on creating that committee and said he hopes to eventually see it become a town department.
The town recently converted parallel parking spaces to angled spaces on Onset Avenue, clearing views of Onset Bay and making more "efficient use" of the main road through the Victorian seaside village of Onset.
"I think it changes the appearance for the better," Slavin said.
Later this month, the CapeFlyer tourist train is scheduled to roll into a newly built station off Main Street.
"I think they're saying, 'Come to us, we're the Cape,' especially now that we have the train," said Eleanor Martin, president of the Onset Bay Association, a nonprofit that works with small businesses in the village. "I'm assuming they're setting up shuttles from the station to Onset. That will be an absolute must."
And this summer, the town plans to begin providing mooring services in Onset, hoping to attract boaters to Onset Bay and drum up business downtown.
"There's definitely an uptick in Onset going on," Slavin said. "There's a nice buzz this year."
Teitelbaum is quick to boast that Wareham offers comparable beaches to those found on Cape Cod, but he sees a tourism opportunity in the water. With 54 miles of coastline spread along bays, beaches and brackish rivers, Wareham could establish itself as a regional, or even national, kayaking gem, he thinks.
"We would like to be the kayak capital of New England, if not the country," he said.
For homeowners, the town offers more open space and less expensive property, he said. For tourists, Wareham is essentially Cape Cod without the traffic, Slavin said.
"The difference is you don't have the bridge," he said, adding, "In our opinion, it's the good side."
But Marie Oliva, president and CEO of the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce — which includes Bourne, Sandwich and Wareham — said each town has "its own distinctive elements, but we promote it all."
"Geographically, no, it's not part of Cape Cod," Oliva said, of Wareham. "Wareham could be perceived as an alternative to Cape Cod. But the chamber itself doesn't buy into that. We don't promote one place over another. We, as a chamber, have been working hard to brand Wareham as a wonderful place to visit, to shop and eat."
After 35 years at the corner of Onset and Union avenues, Stephen Baptiste Sr. is still holding court at his table in the Pier View Restaurant, which he opened after leaving the Wareham Police Department. Behind the counter, the cook whips up what waitress Nicole Mott swears are the "most beautiful omelettes." (She admits her bias.) But the dish to order is the "JAG Plate," which comes with linguica, eggs in any style and a Cape Verdean rice and beans dish Mott makes herself. The "JAG" came with Mott after she was laid off from her nursing job at Falmouth Center. It has sold out quickly ever since. Burn off the calories with a paddle around Onset Bay, where the tranquil waters make a morning kayak trip enjoyable even for the novice. Or, throughout the summer, Nemansket Kayak Center offers three-hour tours of various harbors, ponds and rivers. The tours are $55 for adults - $40 for paddlers ages 13 to 17 - and typically begin at 10 a.m. Be sure to check the center's website in advance for a schedule of the tours at each spot. nemasketkayak.com. Water Wizz: It has been called "Cape Cod's only water park" and Wareham's version of Disney World. More recently, the Adam Sandler "Grown Ups" movies and "The Way Way Back," starring Steve Carell, have both filmed at the water park. On sunny days, the park can have long lines, but it has a few new attractions this year, such as Thunder Falls - one ride that gives riders the choice of a open or closed tube - and Devil's Peak, dueling 61-foot free falls "for the daring rider." For those less daring, there's always the wave pool, kiddie pool and the leisurely float down the chlorinated Herring Run River. After a day of slipping and sliding, Lindsey's Family Restaurant might do the trick for taming the wild spirit. Just a two-minute drive from Water Wizz, the restaurant is held in high regard for its reasonable prices - most seafood entrees hover around $20 - and food that has kept it around for more than 50 years. Try the seafood bisque, a 34-year-old recipe. Or, try a beer and bite at the Quahog Republic's raw bar. The sister restaurant of the popular bar in Falmouth, it offers views of the bay and fresh seafood. As part of a compromise with town officials worried about customers handing off beers to passing teens, the restaurant put up a plexiglass window that blocks the bay breeze but doesn't spoil the view. Kick off the night with a free outdoor movie at the Onset Band Shell. Scheduled for 8 p.m. every Friday, the movies on this summer's lineup include "The Incredible Hulk," "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Star Trek."


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The global online poker industry is getting more competitive with every passing year as online gambling providers from all over the world continue to launch new products, apps and websites in an attempt to capture as much market share as possible. Playtrex, an Israeli social gaming start-up company recently released a new social poker game called ‘Wild Poker’ that brings a different perspective to social poker.
The company which is based in Tel Aviv carried out a detailed analysis of the global online gaming market for a period of twelve years and founds a number of gaps for a unique online social poker product to be developed. The Playtrex team developed a new freemium poker game that is very compelling and has an innovative twist that is designed to give social poker players a new online gaming experience. The company released ‘Wild Poker’ in open-beta mode on the 25th of August and the response so far has been encouraging.
The Wild Poker social game is similar to Texas Hold’em but comes with an extra layer of strategy that is still easy to understand. The extra features have been incorporated from popular digital e-sport games such as Hearthstone which has been a big hit with the global poker community. Wild Poker allows users to pick any one out of the number of special characters, bearing in mind that each character has their own individual and special ‘power up’. Players will have to practice trusting and developing their ‘special instincts’ to become specialists at Wild Poker.
In a statement, Daniel Kashmir, CEO at Playtrex said “Wild Poker is a new kind of social poker game offering a different experience. Wild Poker addresses a larger market by providing an added layer of strategy which is appealing to both strategy gamers and social poker players, resulting in a high monetization and in a journey that keeps players coming back for more.”
The global online mobile gaming market is estimated to be around $37 billion and increases by 15 percent every year. The social casino gaming niche contributes a total of $4 billion to the overall market and Playtrex believes that their Wild Poker game will revolutionize the social casino market which has become rather stagnant during the last couple of years. Wild Poker has been designed to increase monetization and high retention amongst players, as these were the gaps that Playtrex’s research discovered in the social casino market.


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The End of Hostess Twinkies
First and foremost… and I think THE most important surprise of them all… the loss of our beloved Twinkies!
Google+ Communities Rolls Out
Google+ Communities has made it easier for people to form their own interest groups by putting online community creation tools in everyone’s hands.
iPad Mini Introduced
Steve Jobs swore that Apple wasn’t interested in making a smaller tablet than the traditional iPad, but this year saw the release of the iPad Mini.
Charms of Windows 8
There were definitely a lot of mixed reviews of Windows 8, but in my opinion, they did a great job! You guys know I use a Mac. I love it. I surprisingly WANT to use both systems.
3D Printing Gets More Accesible
3D printing isn’t new this year, but I have been surprised at how accessible it got! It started with the Makerbot a while ago, and now everyone’s printing everything!
RIM Still Exists
Research In Motion and their BlackBerry platform used to own the enterprise phone market, but with more and more big corporations going iOS or Android, RIM is looking like an endangered species.


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Kaypro Corp. stepped into a new market Monday with the introduction of a desk-top computer engineered to be compatible with the IBM's powerful AT model and designed to lead Kaypro to a new era of profitablity.
Kaypro plans to begin shipping its new 286i computer by March 15 and could have 2,000 units a month in production by June, officials said. Within a year, the 286i could account for between 25% and 50% of all Kaypro sales, according to David Kay, director of marketing.
Dealers said the introduction of the the Kaypro unit comes while IBM's version is plagued by quality control problems that are limiting supplies in the field. The Kaypro unit, packaged with six programs, is intended to sell for $4,550, or about $1,250 less than a similarly outfitted IBM. The basic IBM PC AT unit, without software, sells for about $3,995.
Sales Force Regrouped
The introduction also comes while Kaypro is reorganizing its troubled manufacturing operation and regrouping its sales and marketing force. In the past several weeks, about 30 employees have been fired at the headquarters office following the appointment of new national and field sales managers. Kay said the firings at home were counterbalanced by the hiring of about 20 new field salesmen in the past several weeks. He said 50 additional salesmen could be hired in the next several months.
Kaypro reported a net loss of $267,683 for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, largely due to shrinking margins and inventory shortages. The loss compares to net income of $12.9 million in the previous year. In the first quarter of the current year, Kaypro reported net income of just $72,872, compared to $2.8 million a year earlier.
The importance of success for Kaypro in the IBM-compatible market was underscored by the hoopla and secrecy that accompanied the new computer's introduction. "There you have it, " said President Andrew Kay as the computer was unveiled at its headquarters for 60 of the company's leading dealers. "The computer for 1985."
Expecting Big Sales
That claim may be predictable hyperbole from the company's founder, but dealers said they too are expecting big sales for the 286i. "If they're only going to produce 2,000 a month, we'll be in big trouble in the field," said Peter Covin, owner of Computer House in Denton, Tex., echoing the beliefs of many dealers gathered here. "I could sell two of these today to customers waiting" for an IBM unit, he said.
The Kaypro 286i is based on the same 80286 microprocessor that is used in the IBM AT model. It has a standard 512 kilobytes of random-access memory and two double-sided, high-density floppy disk drives.
Dealers said they expect the unit to be purchased by "power users" including small businesses--typically those that need voluminous accounting applications--and by software programmers. David Kay said Kaypro is aiming at the small business market, while IBM is focusing more on the Fortune 500 market for its AT model. Kaypro, with its lower price, is also hoping to attract the growing number of personal computer users who have outgrown their initial units.


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Dover location among 180-plus Toys R Us stores set to close
The Toys R Us in Dover is among the up to 182 stores that are set to close after the company filed court documents late Tuesday outlining its plans, part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization efforts.
In total, the toy company will be shrinking its number of stores by around 20 percent.
"The reinvention of our brands requires that we make tough decisions about our priorities and focus," Toys R Us CEO Dave Brandon said in a letter posted on the company's website Tuesday night.
FULL LIST: See if your Toys R Us store is on the closure list
MORE CLOSINGS: Doors to shut at Prices Corner Sears in April
The closing of the Dover store, located at 1061 N. Dupont Highway, will leave the Christiana Toys R Us and Babies R Us as the company's only remaining stores in Delaware.
In addition to closing stores, the company intends to convert a number of locations into combined Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores.
Going-out-of-business sales are said to begin in February and run through April.
When Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in September, it faced a 120-day deadline for rejecting store leases. But in December, after the company argued that because of the timing of the bankruptcy filing it needed to focus on the holiday season, it won a ruling to extend the lease rejection deadline to April 16.
COMING SOON: 'Fast fine' pizza concept, MidiCi, coming to Christiana
Facebook user Annie Burns, reacting to the news on the DelawareOnline page, wrote: "This sucks as its the only close toy store in this area."
Her opinion was shared by most commenters, one of which also expressed disappointment in no longer being able to enjoy Black Friday sales at the Dover store.
Joan Verdon of The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record contributed to this report.
Contact reporter Jeff Neiburg at (302) 983-6772, email@example.com or on Twitter @Jeff_Neiburg.


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Cooper sends subpoenas to seven gas retailers
Published 10:59 pm Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Price-gouging complaints are being investigated
By MIKE VOSS
Several gas stations were subpoenaed Monday for dramatically raising their fuel prices after Hurricane Ike, reportedly charging as much as $7.32 a gallon for regular fuel.
State Attorney Roy Cooper said seven retailers were targeted for charging more than $5.49 a gallon last week, though more subpoenas are being prepared. Retailers will have 10 days to explain why their prices went so high and could be fined up to $5,000.
Cooper took action after his office received thousands of complaints about price gouging, a large number from western North Carolina. The first round of subpoenas went to gas stations in Anson, Ashe, Cherokee, Guilford, Montgomery, Stanly and Transylvania counties. More subpoenas are on the way, he said.
The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in North Carolina is up to $4.085 a gallon, more than 50 cents higher that it was last week, according to auto club AAA Carolinas. Gas prices shot up shortly after Hurricane Ike struck the Texas coastline and its numerous oil refineries.
Gov. Mike Easley declared a state of ‘‘abnormal market disruption’’ on Friday and signed an order allowing Cooper to enforce the state’s anti-gouging law. The subpoenas represent the first time the anti-gouging law has been put to work since it was passed in 2006.
There’s no specific formula to determine what price is considered gouging, but Cooper said he’ll use several factors such as wholesale price and quantities.
The Consumer Protection staff at the attorney general’s office has fielded more than 2,800 calls from concerned consumers since Friday. Cooper said no calls have come in from retailers complaining about gouging from wholesalers.
Cooper’s Consumer Protection Division issued the subpoenas after getting more than 2,800 reports of possible price gouging from consumers across North Carolina. The subpoenas require retailers to provide documentation, including information on their costs, to the attorney general’s Office by Sept. 26.
Price gouging — or charging unreasonably excessive prices in times of crisis — violates North Carolina General Statute 75-38, when a disaster, an emergency or an abnormal market disruption for critical goods and services is declared or proclaimed by the governor.
The price gouging law, which Cooper helped beef up in 2006, also applies to all levels of the supply chain from the manufacturer to the distributor to the retailer.
Cooper encourages consumers who have complaints about price gouging to visit the consumer-protection section of the N.C. Department of Justice’s Web site (www.ncdoj.gov) and download a price gouging-complaint form. Fill out the form and mail it to: Consumer Protection Division, N.C. Attorney General’s Office, 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001. Consumers also may file a complaint by calling 1-877-5-NO-SCAM toll-free within North Carolina.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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Pop Brixton is a local business campus, which will soon open its doors in London, UK. It will house independent start-ups and small businesses from the area and the project managers estimate that it will create about 200 jobs by supporting around 80 local entrepreneurs, as well as create 12 apprenticeships being paid by the London Living Wage. The complex will be set up as a temporary shipping container village.
Pop Brixton will be built using 50 recycled containers, and it was designed by Carl Turner Architects. Shipping containers will be the main building blocks and will yield all the necessary business units, as well as a farm garden and a greenhouse area, along with exhibition space for local artists, workshop space and an event room with seating for more than 200 people. The event space will be constructed by stacking shipping containers three high, and removing their floors and ceilings to create an open and spacious venue. These spaces will be available for rent or for free to local people, artists and organizations.
Businesses renting space at Pop Brixton will consist mainly of independent start-ups. They will be chosen based on their area of business as well as on the benefits they bring to the local community. The village is considered temporary since it is occupying a lot that is slated for redevelopment by the city council later this year. The good thing about using shipping containers to build it is that it can be relocated much more easily than another type of structure would.
Judging from the renders and construction photos, the shipping containers used were left in more or less their original state, which does offset the carbon footprint of this type of construction. The village is set to open on May 29.


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- Honda Sony 50-50 venture will produce EVs first in North America
- The alliance is the first major collaboration between two iconic Japanese brands from different industries.
- The new firm’s goal is not to become an ordinary car manufacturer, but to become a new mobility tech company centered on software technology.
As previously reported on Carlist a couple of weeks ago, Honda and Sony are joining forces to cash in on the lucrative electric vehicle business. The two Japanese giants plan to produce jointly developed EVs at a Honda plant in North America and deliver to customers starting in spring 2026.
Registered as a 50-50 joint venture, the new company will be called Sony Honda Mobility Inc. and plans to export American-made EVs to Japan. The alliance is the first major collaboration between two iconic Japanese brands from different industries to take on the challenges of EVs in a rapidly changing auto industry. Only if firms of the caliber of Honda and Sony join forces can Japan hope to effectively compete with industry-dominating companies such as Tesla and Apple, which have not yet created cross-industry affiliations.
At a press conference in Japan this week, executives from both companies described the future EV models as high value-added vehicles that will feature lots of new technology from Sony, including entertainment systems, advanced software and sensors. While Honda boasts know-how on cars, Sony has the technological assets including imaging sensors and artificial intelligence key to developing next-generation vehicles. Sony Honda Mobility can also take advantage of Sony’s entertainment content to provide new in-vehicle experiences.
Customers will purchase or lease through online sales that follow similar web-based sales strategies we’ve seen from Tesla and others.
Sony unveiled its Vision-S 01 and Vision-S 02 prototypes a year ago to positive reviews and it is those cars that will form the base of the production vehicles that will be offered to the public.
The first batch of production models will be allocated to North America, Honda’s most important market, because the U.S. is speedily advancing its electric vehicle development and market acceptance. EV-friendly incentives and regulations, like those in force in California, also aided the new firm’s case.
“We would like to form this company as a whole new automaker completely different from anything else,” said Yasuhide Mizuno, CEO of the new joint venture. “Our goal is not to become an ordinary car manufacturer, but to become a new mobility tech company centered on software technology,” he said. Mizuno also explained that the reason why they chose North America as a launchpad was that it was more advanced than say, Japan.
Asked if the joint venture could compete with Tesla, Chief Operating Officer Izumi Kawanishi explained that the firm wants to succeed by leveraging its cutting-edge technology and software.
Sony Honda Mobility does also plan to produce in Japan in the near future but was remaining tight-lipped about details. But for now, North America will be the main production platform and sales hub, with European sales to follow later. Sony Honda Mobility will start taking orders for the new car in the first half of 2025.
It was only a matter of time before a carmaker and a tech giant would combine forces to build the next generation of EVs. We can expect big things from Honda–who will look after the vehicle side of the equation, and Sony–who will be responsible for the tech and entertainment aspects of the project. And keep an eye out for Google and Apple moving into the car space soon.


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TORONTO (AP) — Restaurant Brands International (QSR) on Friday reported second-quarter earnings of $142 million.
The Toronto-based company said it had net income of 55 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and amortization costs, were 71 cents per share.
The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 67 cents per share.
The operator of Burger King and Tim Hortons restaurant chains posted revenue of $1.4 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.39 billion.


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Kerala Tourism’s portfolio of impressive awards and accolades got more spectacular as the state’sfamedhill station Munnar was adjudged the First Runner Up in Mountain Destinations category in a nationwide poll conducted for the India Today Tourism Award.
Accepting the award at a function that took place as an online event yesterday, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said Kerala Tourism, as a global brand, has won many national and international accolades during its long journey. Noting that Kerala Tourism has scrupulously followed the sustainable development model for its tourism sector, the minister said Munnar, known for its unspoilt beauty and refreshing ambience, is the best example of this. Barely days ago, Kerala Tourism’s internationally-acclaimed ‘Human by Nature’ campaign had bagged the prestigious PATA Grand Award 2020 for Marketing at a virtual function in Beijing.
“This India Today Tourism award for Kerala has come at the most opportune moment when the state is charting out the future course of its tourism and travel industry, being devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This recognition will certainly encourage the partners of tourism in the state,” he pointed out in his video message. The awards, decided through a nationwide poll for choosing India’s Favourite Destinations, were presented as part of the India Today Tourism Conclave, where major stakeholders of Indian tourism industry converged to virtually deliberate on the post-pandemic course of this vital sector.
Surendran said the damage inflicted by the unprecedented health crisis is grim, but the state government is determined to revive tourism. “The government has already announced a massive financial package of Rs 455 crore for the revival of tourism. The entire spectrum of tourism down to local communities will benefit from this package.” “Kerala has bounced back from crippling natural disasters in the past like the 2018 floods that battered vast swathes of land, including tourism spots. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic is far more constricting. Still, we will overcome this testing and trying phase too and get back to the path of fast recovery and growth,” he asserted. “Much credit for preserving the natural allurement of this hill station goes to the industry stakeholders. Local community too is to be patted for guarding against degradation of nature. This is true of other destinations in the state as well, whether it is a hill station, backwater hub or seaside resort,” he added.


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Like the high-tech plugs it makes in Painesville, Meritec is just waiting to be attached to an ultrafast computer. Working with a fresh infusion of capital, Meritec's new leaders aim to help the quiet, 45-year-old company grab a bigger piece of the market for high-performance interconnects, which move data from computers into cords. Meritec made its first growth move in August, when it acquired two other Painesville companies in the interconnect business. The two companies, Connectors Unlimited Inc. and Xponet/Mold-Tech, employ a total of 140 people. They both have roots that go back to Meritec. Meritec now employs 320 people and is looking for more businesses to buy with the help of a multimillion-dollar investment from company founder Jack Venaleck and CEO Ed Weinfurtner, who joined the company in February. Meritec also is creating a more aggressive marketing strategy, according to Mr. Weinfurtner and president Michael Cole, who was hired in August. Messrs. Weinfurtner and Cole joined the company to help it expand. They both said the business has a strong foundation of technical talent and products. During an interview with Crain's, Mr. Weinfurtner described how the company's Hercules-brand interconnect reliably can gulp down massive amounts of data. For instance, the thick plug could be used with military computers that record high-definition video in all directions at the same time, all while rolling down a rocky dirt road. “A tank could run over it. It would still work,” Mr. Weinfurtner said. Meritec, however, traditionally hasn't put much focus on sales and marketing, which represents an opportunity for growth, he said. There also are big untapped opportunities in the military and medical markets, which need high-performance computer equipment, he said. Meritec is “just scratching the surface” of those markets today, Mr. Weinfurtner said. They already account for about half the company's sales, which in past years have been in the range of $50 million to $100 million, he said, declining to be more specific. The other half comes from companies that make data and telecommunications products, and equipment used to perform tests on electronic products.
Capital, acquisitions help Meritec better connect to market
Painesville outfit employs 320, looks to
Mr. Weinfurtner has been familiar with Meritec for years; he founded Gateway Megatech Corp., an interconnect distributor in Highland Heights that he sold in 1998 to Heilind Electronics Inc., a larger distributor. After a few years helping lead companies in other sectors, Mr. Wein-furtner and a few other Northeast Ohio business executives formed private equity firm Blue Olive Partners LLC. He contacted Meritec while looking for investment opportunities for Blue Olive. Mr. Weinfurtner decided to join Meritec and invest his own money in it when he realized how much the company could grow with the right leadership. “The technology is great, but it's not as well known as it could and should be,” he said. Mr. Cole saw the same opportunity after he and Mr. Weinfurtner reconnected on the social media site LinkedIn. Mr. Cole, who years ago had sold interconnects through Gateway Megatech, most recently was head of the data communications business at TE Connectivity, a Swiss company that Mr. Weinfurtner described as the world's biggest maker of interconnects. Mr. Cole said he also was looking for investments when he decided to join the company. “Meritec's somewhat of a gem in the market that needs more visibility,” he said. As for Mr. Venaleck, his expertise is in developing new products, which is why the 75-year-old founder — whose nickname is “The Whiz” — is the company's chief technology officer. He remains majority owner.
The two recent acquisitions will allow Meritec to expand its talent base, acquire customers and build relationships in the medical market, Mr. Weinfurtner said. Connects Unlimited, which designs and makes interconnects, was founded by Marty Ignasiak, who years ago worked at Meritec. Xponet/Mold-Tech, which focuses on connecting cables to the plugs, began as a company that Meritec sold to 3M's electronic products division in 1986. 3M later spun off the company, which is led by Don Barber. Both Messrs. Ignasiak and Barber have stayed with the company to lead the new subsidiaries. This fall, all the employees of those companies are scheduled to move to Meritec's campus on West Jackson Street, which is about a mile from the two acquired companies.


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Articles tagged ‘angry birds’
HardwareZone had the opportunity to try out some of Samsung's latest Smart TV apps at their flagship store earlier today. Here's a quick summary of our thoughts and what you can expect from Samsung in the months to come.
- Huawei E5786 MiFi available tomorrow, first to support SingTel's 300Mbps 4G service
- Kingston introduces new 960GB SSDNow V310 SSD
- NVIDIA unveils the Shield gaming tablet
- Apple releases third quarter earnings report: iPhones up, iPads down
- LG unveils G3 LTE-A with Snapdragon 805 and LTE CAT 6 support for South Korea
- Apple to unveil ultra-thin iPad Mini Air this year, 12.9-inch iPad Pro in 2015?
- Xiaomi jumps on wearable bandwagon with S$16 Mi Band
- Netflix hits 50 million subscribers


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A Downtown Christmas links events, brings holiday spirit
From ballet to Christmas carols, downtown Evansville will be full to the brim with Christmas events and traditions this weekend.
Wrapping several of the events together is A Downtown Christmas, where patrons can enjoy afternoon and evening horse drawn carriage rides past historic buildings and the new developments of downtown Evansville. From 4:30-7 p.m. Saturday, visitors can ride through downtown past new businesses such as Arazu on Main, BRU Burger Bar at the Greyhound Terminal, Enjole Interiors and other notable locations including the Ford Center and The Victory. Carriage rides will be picked up at the corner of 4th and Main streets.
A Downtown Christmas connects activities with other holiday festivities happening downtown. Many patrons will enjoy a carriage ride or the live street musicians before heading to one of the many other events happening later in the evening.
Josh Armstrong, director of the Downtown Alliance, said the carriage rides are a great way to get a firsthand look at all the new development downtown while also getting into the holiday spirit.
"Downtown is really bustling. Yes there is a lot of construction but there are so many new businesses and restaurants with so much more to explore," he said. "It's pretty cool down here right now."
Other events happening in the downtown area include “The Nutcracker” with Evansville Ballet and the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra at The Victory, Candlelit Reitz Home Tours, Christmas Karaoke at WIRED and Faith Music Gospel Christmas at Old National Events Plaza.
If you're looking for more winter activities before headed downtown, Dickens Christmas will be taking place on Franklin Street. Live holiday entertainment, the Winter Bazaar and more carriage rides will be taking place from 1-4 p.m. Saturday on Franklin. Carriage rides will take place from 1-3:30 p.m. and tickets reserving carriage rides can be purchased at Eventbrite.
If You Go
What: A Downtown Christmas Carriage Rides
When: 4:30-7 p.m. Saturday
Where: 400 Main St.
Tickets: $10. Carriage rides can be reserved at eventbrite.com/e/a-downtown-christmas-horse-drawn-carriage-rides-tickets-29500546930?aff=ehomecard. More information can be found at the A Downtown Christmas Facebook page.
What: "The Nutcracker" with the Evansville Ballet and live accompaniment from the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra
When: 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: The Victory, 600 Main St.
Tickets: $20-$50. Tickets can be purchased online at evansvillephilharmonic.org, by calling 812-425-5050 or visiting the Evansville Philharmonic box office.
What: Faith Music Christmas concert
When: 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Dec. 10
Where: Old National Events Plaza
Tickets: $10 and can be purchased at Faith Music Studios, The Vineyard Bookstore, 5721 E. Virginia St. or online at faithmusicradio.com.
What: Christmas at WIRED
When:7 p.m. Saturday
Where:WIRED Coffeehouse and Music Venue, 111 NW 4th St.
Tickets:Open to the public.
What: Dickens Christmas on Franklin
When: 1-4 p.m. Saturday
Where: West Branch Library Lawn


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GrandVision suffered a drop of more than 80 percent year-on-year in revenues in the month of April, after already registering a severe decline in March, due to the lockdowns and restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of social distancing, moreover, the optical retailer does not expect a rapid recovery ...
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Facebook has revealed another step in its path to augmented reality Smart Glasses, a wrist-based controller that blends AI and nerve-tracking EMG to leapfrog traditional input systems. While the eventual goal is a super-smart artificial intelligence that instinctively intuits what you might want from your high-tech glasses, Facebook says, this wrist-based input controller is much more practical in the shorter term.
Earlier this month, Facebook discussed its roughly 10 year vision for smart glasses and augmented reality. Designed to be comfortable for all-day wear, as well as the technological advances of transparent displays, they’d also feature a new, proactive AI that would effectively be your co-pilot and personal assistant.
“The AI will make deep inferences about what information you might need or things you might want to do in various contexts, based on an understanding of you and your surroundings, and will present you with a tailored set of choices. The input will make selecting a choice effortless — using it will be as easy as clicking a virtual, always-available button through a slight movement of your finger,” Facebook explains. “But this system is many years off.”
In the shorter term, then, Facebook is working on a different approach. Its Facebook Reality Labs (FRL) Research team has been exploring how to combine a less all-encompassing AI with better ways to track and respond to human input, beyond keyboards, trackpads, and voice commands. A “usable but limited contextualized AI” could then basically fill in the blanks.
The system developed is worn like a watch, but uses electromyography (EMG) to track the electric motor nerve signals passing through the wrist. “The signals through the wrist are so clear that EMG can understand finger motion of just a millimeter,” Facebook explains. “That means input can be effortless. Ultimately, it may even be possible to sense just the intention to move a finger.”
Such a system could track the messages sent from the brain to the fingers when it intends to type, for example, or swipe across a touchscreen, and share those intents with the AI. Initially, FRL says, it’s looking at just one or two such interactions, the equivalent of tapping a button. Clicking fingers and pinching-and-releasing the thumb and forefinger are the start, though eventually the team plans to expand that to full control over virtual UIs and objects.
Other possibilities are typing on a virtual keyboard, with the EMG wrist sensor monitoring each finger movement and figuring out which imaginary key you’re likely to have wanted to tap. The AI, meanwhile, would contribute its own predictions and customizations, to improve accuracy.
The short-term goal is what’s being described as an “intelligent click”: effectively a limited AI that’s aware of environmental and situational context, and which presents its suggestion on the most likely predicted goal for a virtual EMG-powered click to confirm.
“Perhaps you head outside for a jog and, based on your past behavior, the system thinks you’re most likely to want to listen to your running playlist,” Tanya Jonker, FRL Research Science Manager, suggests. “It then presents that option to you on the display: ‘Play running playlist?’ That’s the adaptive interface at work.”
It’d be combined with haptics, with the wristband opening the way to giving a physical sense of feedback from a virtual interaction or object. “You might feel a series of vibrations and pulses to alert you when you received an email marked “urgent,” while a normal email might have a single pulse or no haptic feedback at all, depending on your preferences,” Facebook says. “When a phone call comes in, a custom piece of haptic feedback on the wrist could let you know who’s calling.”
Alternatively, AR games could use haptics to give the feeling of using a virtual bow-and-arrow, or other weapon or tool. “Haptic emojis” could map emotion emojis to different haptic feedback. FRL has developed a special wristband it calls Bellowband, named for the eight pneumatic chambers it consists of. These can be precisely controlled to deliver pressure and vibration to the wearer’s wrists. A second prototype, dubbed Tasbi (Tactile and Squeeze Bracelet Interface), uses six vibrotactile actuators, along with a different wrist-squeeze mechanism.
The end goal is a wearable computer that feels collaborative and useful, rather than omnipresent and demanding. Eventually, FRL predicts, a combination of smart haptics, virtual displays, and non-traditional input and control methods will allow for many of the interactions to be pretty much unconscious, less distracting than using a current smartphone or laptop. All the same, it’s doing that with the idea of ensuring “meaningful boundaries” between users and their devices too.
Any production version of the prototypes is still some way off, FRL concedes. Still, it insists that the technology using EMG is still relatively near-term in its potential, though exactly what that means in terms of a product roadmap remains a mystery.


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Google today has announced that it is launching a brand new training facility for Google Fiber in Atlanta, Georgia. In a blog post on the official Fiber blog, Google announced that it is introducing the Google Fiber Academy in Atlanta…
The Fiber Academy will allow for Fiber vendors to send in-home installers from around the country to Atlanta to take courses on topics such as how to provide quality customer service, the best techniques for installing Fiber, and how to best demonstrate Fiber to potential customers.
Google also notes that its customer service strategy for Fiber is to simply “treat people with respect.” Google says that installers working with Google Fiber show up on time for appointments 96 percent of the time.
Google Fiber’s customer service is based on one simple principle—treat people with respect. That means showing up on time for appointments, which installers working with Google Fiber do 96% of the time. It means taking care of people’s homes, like planting new grass seed after digging, when needed. And it means never treating people like a number. Take, for example, the contractor who found a customer’s lost puppies and watched them until the owner returned.
Google goes on to note that the average wait time for customers trying to speak to a representative is just 33 seconds, while people who visit a Fiber service center wait in line for less than 60 seconds before being helped. Google says that the Fiber Academy will only help these statistics get even better.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.


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WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) –
This week, you have the opportunity to enjoy a gourmet-level luncheon, and then to vote for your favorite local restaurant and chef.
And it’s all to raise money for Crittenton Services, which has been helping young people and babies in the Ohio Valley for more than 130 years.
It’s this Thursday at noon in the McLure Hotel ballroom.
In the past, local chefs have made things like clam chowder, Italian wedding soup, chili and stuffed pepper soup.
But this year they’re upping their game and planning some new creations.
All you need to do is show up with $15 dollars and enjoy.
“People can pay $15 just for a ticket, they can come in, they can sample the soups that local chefs in the area have been kind enough to donate. We also have salads that have been donated by local businesses and restaurants and we also have desserts as well as beverages.”Aleece Abell
Marketing & Development, Crittenton Services
“We won two years in a row. I did sausage tortellini and stuffed pepper soup. So this year the cheeseburger potato is gonna win this year. I know.”Christopher Burress
Owner, Tito’s In The Market House
We hear that Market Vines is doing a dill pickle soup. And the culinary students at West Virginia Northern are doing a French onion soup.
Crittenton Services offers residential care for moms and babies, and mental health services for West Virginia families. You can help their mission and have a great lunch.


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For centuries, individuals and nations alike universally recognized gold as a stable and consistent store of value that could be exchanged between two parties as a form of payment, and it even eventually went on to be the asset backing various paper currencies. Despite this, governments across the ..
Ever since it was first announced back in August 2018, Bakkt has been the talk of the cryptocurrency community. Crypto traders and investors were expecting Intercontinental Exchange’s first-ever Bitcoin futures trading platform to have such an impact on the market and Bitcoin’s supply, that it would..
Prime XBT is a relatively new trading platform that lets traders take advantage of the ability to trade major cryptocurrencies with leverage. This makes it possible to trade crypto without having to invest a great deal of money. The exchange aims to overcome the common problems of other platforms, ..


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For those shopping for some cheap wireless noise cancelling earbuds for Christmas, Amazon just dropped one heck of a deal that you can't miss. A solid pair of wireless earbuds that compete with Apple AirPods, the Echo Buds have just dropped to their lowest price ever thanks to this deal.
On sale for $69.99, Amazon is offering their 2nd Gen pair of wireless noise cancelling headphones for a massive $50 off. That's a 42% price drop at the moment, and a drop to their lowest price ever – including Black Friday and Cyber Moday.
Competing with some of the best wireless earbuds available, the Amazon Echo Buds come with all the tech you'd expect a modern pair of earbuds to feature. Dynamic audio, active noise-cancellation and an impressive battery life all combine to provide a solid pair of earbuds at an already affordable price.
Add on the $50 discount these things are getting and you've got an unbeatable deal on a great pair of earbuds. Over in our Amazon Echo Buds review, we break down what makes these things such a solid competitor for the ANC market, but alongside Bose' noise cancellation technology and an incredible sound quality, the low price tag of just $69.99 make these a must buy.
- PS5 restock: here's where to get a PlayStation 5 console this week
- Xbox Game Pass rival PS5 Spartacus shows how far behind Microsoft Sony has fallen
- Sony's PlayStation VR 2 will be like strapping a 4K OLED TV to your face (but a lot lighter)


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European Netflix users, breathe easy: The video streaming service can keep operating as it always did now that Dutch patent lawsuit has been thrown out of court.
Google and YouTube have been sued in Germany for allegedly infringing on a video streaming patent owned by U.S. software company Max Sound. The case could lead to sales bans on several Google Android products.
There's blood in the water and it comes from Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone maker that risks becoming a target for patent holders that want the company to pay up.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission can take action against patent trolls when the patent-holding firms engage in unfair business practices, even as the agency works to complete a study on their business model, a commissioner said.
So-called patent trolls may not be as big of a problem as some advocates of U.S. patent reform make them out to be, some conservative patent experts say, in a split with many Republican lawmakers.
Few have probably heard about Digione, but one of the Chinese company's latest products looks quite similar to the iPhone 6, and could potentially spark a patent dispute with Apple.
Samsung Electronics has accused Nvidia of infringing its patents in an apparent response to a September action by Nvidia that accused the South Korean company and Qualcomm of infringing patents related to its GPU technology.
Chipmaker Qualcomm is facing regulatory investigations in the U.S. and Europe in addition to an ongoing anti-monopoly probe in China.
The U.S. tech industry scored a victory this week when President Barack Obama nominated former Google lawyer Michelle Lee to lead the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Patent disputes between Apple-backed Rockstar and Google's Android licensees will be first decided in a California court rather than in a Texas court seen to be more favorable to patent holders.
Samsung has been paying Microsoft US$1 billion a year in royalties to use its technology in Samsung's Android smartphones and tablets, according to a court document filed Friday.
BMC Software has filed a patent infringement suit against ServiceNow, claiming its patents are violated by the rival's IT management technologies.
A U.S. appeals court has thrown out a US$368.2 million award against Apple in a patent infringement case brought by patent-holding and software company VirnetX.
Qualcomm is being urged by a top Chinese regulator to make money in the country in tandem with its local partners.
While Samsung Electronics infringed on Apple's slide-to-unlock patent, that infringement was not willful, a U.S. court has ruled.
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The Huddle Board’s built in program; Sharp Touch Viewing software allows us to easily manipulate and edit our documents (jpegs and PDFs) all at the same time on the dashboard.
The biggest perks for me would be that it comes with easy to use and comprehensive programs that make the collaboration process a whole lot more intuitive and organic
I rate the printer as a 5 out of 5 stars as it has been able to fit seamlessly into my busy and mobile lifestyle.
It’s perfect for mobile workers. Just take it out — it’s small enough to sit anywhere — turn it on, load a sheet of paper, and start printing.
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Card-not-present fraud increasing in dollar amounts but not necessarily in quantity of fraud instances
The story is not untrue. Card-not-present fraud has indeed been growing year-over-year at a significant clip. In 2011, CNP fraud totaled $2.1 billion, according to financial research firm Aite Group. Just five years later, CNP fraud volume had ballooned 57 percent to $3.2 billion.
But what is seldom reported in tandem with CNP fraud numbers is the rate at which digital commerce as a whole is growing. During the same time period – 2011 to 2016 – Aite reports that retail digital commerce in the U.S. had more than doubled, from $198 billion to $402 billion. That’s a 102 percent increase in e-commerce versus a 57 percent gain in CNP fraud.
Put another way, while the absolute dollar amount of CNP fraud is rising every year, the percentage it represents of all digital transactions is shrinking. In 2012, CNP fraud constituted 1.15 percent of total digital retail volume. But by 2016, that percentage had dropped to 0.82 percent.
Aite Group’s research was based on interviews with 16 large U.S. card issuers, four issuing processors and two payment networks in 2016, representing approximately 70 percent of the credit and debit card issuing markets. An original report containing data through 2015 was released in May 2016, with follow-up data for 2016 supplied to CreditCards.com in May 2017.
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Apple is set to reopen their lone Apple Store in Austria, Apple Kärntner Straße, in Vienna on May 5th.
The store will operate on limited hours, and like Apple’s other reopened store in South Korea, the focus will likely be on repairs and purchase pickups rather than standard shopping and browsing.
All of Apple’s stores outside of Greater China have been closed since March 14 due to the ongoing health crisis. Apple on April 16 reopened its sole store in South Korea, located in Seoul’s Gangnam district.
During last Thursday’s earnings call covering the second fiscal quarter of 2020, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple planned to reopen stores in Austria and Australia within one to two weeks, so we can expect to see Australian Apple Stores reopening next.
MacDailyNews Note: Last week, in an interview with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, Tim Cook said that the company plans to reopen retail stores in Austria and Australia beginning “in the next one to two weeks.” Apple has more than 20 retail stores in Australia. Cook also said that he believes that “just a few, not a large number” of stores in the U.S. will reopen in the first half of May.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]


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Industry Insider: SF's Pacific Union Acquires The Mark Company
Today, Pacific Union International announced the acquisition of The Mark Company, the premier marketing and residential sales firm in San Francisco. Having represented more than 10,000 homes and boasting more than $5 billion in sales, The Mark Company will still continue to operate under their own branding (with a Pacific Union banner).
"This will be a powerful, game-changing partnership," says Alan Mark. "We share a strong aligment of values and culture within our respective organizations. By leveraging each other's strengths, our services and global reach to buyers will be enhanced for our developers, while our internal team will benefit from the Pacific Union International's depth of resources."


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Shoppers are increasingly turning to resale retailers for gifts for loved ones as they seek more cost effective and environmentally friendly options.
"It's depressing because they only live a few minutes away from me," Anna Shields, 23, says. "They're so close but we don't see each other at all."
Ina Garten's go-to holiday beef brisket could feed a whole family.
Retailers from Costco to Tiffany's are dropping seasonally appropriate Advent-style calendars to attract customers during the holiday season.
The holiday bonuses will be handed out to drivers, maintenance technicians, and other full-time hourly employees, J.B. Hunt said.
Dr. Francis Collins spoke with CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday morning and said those traveling this winter "should do so very carefully."
As online shopping surged this year, retail experts predict at least $66.7 billion worth of product will be returned by the end of 2021.
Retailers will have a choice to make come January: pack everything and hold it until next year or sell it at a deep discount.
Don't be surprised if your favorite whiskey costs more than ever this holiday season, as the ongoing supply chain crisis is helping drive up prices.
Insider spoke to Angel K. Lee about her professional gift-wrapping tips. She recommends using quality paper and avoiding gift bags at all costs.
If you want to avoid drinking alcohol through the holiday season, define your risks and allies, and plan out your strategies for following through.
Standing at 32 feet tall, New York City's Hanukkah menorah is the largest in the world. Setting it up in midtown Manhattan is expensive and hard work.
While many parents used the pandemic as an excuse to quarantine their elves, the author has fully embraced the tradition. It's now a family favorite.
The recommended dates come amid an especially turbulent holiday shopping season marked by the impacts of the global supply chain crisis.
Reports show a mixed performance for the annual shopping holiday, as retailers struggled because of factors including the supply chain crisis and labor shortage.
After record resignation rates in September, retail employees are continuing to quit en masse ahead of the holidays, citing poor working conditions.
Despite the pandemic and being closed on Thanksgiving last year, Target saw a 17% jump in sales during the holiday season.


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For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Bob Cooper
Date: July 21, 2008
Wasden Stops Deceptive Solicitation Practices by Three Telemarketers
(Boise) – A California charity must stop telephone fundraising in Idaho and two other telemarketers must change their business practices, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden announced. Those are among the terms of legal settlements with the Coalition of Police and Sheriffs (“COPS”), Elite Sponsors and Quality Aire Systems.
“It is unlawful for a company to send an invoice for payment when the customer has never agreed to make a charitable contribution,” Attorney General Wasden said. “Additionally, it is a violation of the Idaho Consumer Protection Act to use a survey as a guise to generate sales leads.”
The terms and conditions of the settlement agreements with the three companies are:
Idaho consumers complained that they received a bill for $20 from COPS, a charity located in Santa Ana, California, even though the consumers never agreed to contribute money. Another consumer complained that COPS continued calling her 93-year-old mother despite her requests to stop calling and sent the elderly woman a $20 invoice.
COPS claimed the invoices were part of a mass mailing the company initiated but that another business, Elite Sponsors, LLC, was responsible for COPS’ charitable telephone solicitation activities.
As part of the resolution of the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office, COPS agreed that it will no longer conduct charitable solicitations in Idaho. The business faces a civil penalty of up to $10,000 if it violates the settlement agreement.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the company must register to telemarket, comply with the National Do Not Call Registry, discontinue its invoice solicitations and disclose its physical address in all of its written charitable solicitations. Elite Sponsors maintains a mail drop box in Boise but is located in Vancouver, Washington. When calling Idahoans, Elite Sponsors must disclose all terms and conditions of the solicitation, and, if it is calling on behalf of a law enforcement organization, it must disclose that it is not affiliated with any Idaho law enforcement agency.
Elite Sponsors paid $1,500 to reimburse the Attorney General’s Office for fees and costs. The business faces a $10,000 penalty if it violates the settlement agreement.
QUALITY AIRE SYSTEMS
Quality Aire Systems, a Garden City, Idaho, business that sells vacuum cleaners and air-purifying systems, agreed to change its business practices. Consumers complained that Quality Aire Systems claimed it was conducting a health survey when its actual purpose was to generate sales leads. Consumers also complained that the company kept calling them despite requests to stop and that it called consumers whose telephone numbers were registered on the National Do Not Call Registry.
Quality Aire Systems was required to reimburse the Attorney General’s Office $1,773 for fees and costs and faces a $5,000 penalty if the company violates the settlement agreement. The company did not admit any wrongdoing.
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Coinbase Ventures, the funding arm of the San Francisco-based digital foreign money change, has thrown its weight behind a layer-one blockchain designed to deliver full-service DeFi to the Polkadot ecosystem.
The investments are targeted on Acala, the Ethereum Digital Machine-compatible blockchain that’s constructing a bunch of DeFi capabilities on Polkadot, in addition to Karura, which is constructing a DeFi ecosystem on Kusama. Acala has already constructed 4 core merchandise for the Polkadot ecosystem: Liquid DOT staking, a stablecoin, an automatic market maker decentralized change and a sovereign wealth fund.
The quantities allotted to Acala and Karura weren’t disclosed.
In line with Dan Reecer, Acala’s VP of development, each Acala and Karura are launch-ready, which suggests the aforementioned functions will probably be out there to customers on day one. He explains the launch course of as follows:
“The Acala group’s path to launch is multi-fold and incorporates the help of its group. The group will first have to win a parachain slot public sale on Kusama to launch Karura, then might want to win a parachain slot public sale on Polkadot to realize a slot for Acala to launch.”
Polkadot and Kusama are each nearing the public sale part for his or her first parachain slots.
Receiving backing from Coinbase Ventures is considered as a big achievement, given the array of profitable initiatives the VC has supported previously. A few of Coinbase Ventures’ most outstanding investments embrace BlockFi, Compound, and Etherscan.
Polkadot and Kusama have attracted considerable attention from retail investors over the previous 12 months. DOT, the native cryptocurrency of the Polkadot ecosystem, is a top-ten challenge with a complete market capitalization of $35 billion. Kusama, in the meantime, is ranked thirty second by market cap with a complete worth of $3.9 billion.


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Timken Presents Awards to Manufacturer’s Reps
Bearings and power transmission firm Timken Co. recognized its manufacturer’s sales representatives for outstanding service this year with Automotive Aftermarket Manufacturers’ Representative Awards during the 2018 Automotive Aftermarket Week. Timken presented the awards at the start of the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) in Las Vegas.
Timken honored Glenn Cattanach of Kitchin & Sons as the 2018 Representative of the Year. According to the company, Cattanach’s organization, focus and customer service resulted in year-over-year sales growth in Timken products.
“His excellent relationships with customers are based on trust and ability to get things done,” said Brett Blauner, Timken national sales manager for the automotive aftermarket. “We appreciate all of Glenn’s support.”
Timken recognized Connolly Sales and Marketing as the 2018 Manufacturers’ Representative Agency of the Year based on the agency’s dedication to growing Timken’s business.
“One customer recently recognized the Connolly team as exceptional,” said Blauner. “Their work ethic, attention to detail and customer focus are key to their success.”
Connolly Sales and Marketing (CSM), headquartered in Mendon, New York, serves the Northeast region. The CSM team continues to support Timken growth, according to the company, with a focus on professional installers and on representing the Timken brand well throughout various markets.