Amazon Adds Free Movie Trailers Lifestyle Content Sports Highlights And More To Fire TV TechCrunch
Amazon Adds Free Movie Trailers, Lifestyle Content, Sports Highlights, And More To Fire TV – TechCrunch https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/amazon-adds-free-movie-trailers-lifestyle-content-sports-highlights-and-more-to-fire-tv-techcrunch/
Amazon announced yesterday that Fire TV users in the U.S. can now watch thousands of hours of free, ad-supported content across sports news, cooking and travel, as well as movie and TV trailers from IMDb. No downloads, fees or subscriptions are required to watch the videos.
The new free content can be found in three new dedicated rows on the “Home” tabs for users to browse at no extra cost. The rows are titled “Sports News & Highlights,” “Trending Trailers” and “Food & Cooking.” Users can also select the “Search” bar to find a “Free” tile with access to the rows or the “Sports” tile, which has the “Sports News & Highlights” row.
In the “Sports News & Highlights” row, viewers can enjoy free sports coverage from NBC Sports, FOX Sports, MLB, CBS Sports HQ, Sports Illustrated, NASCAR, Sportswire, Stadium, ACC Digital Network and PAC-12 Networks. While users have to subscribe to Prime Video to see the full live sports events, viewers can watch short clips, news and highlights of their favorite teams.
Also, beginning on October 7, Fire TV will give Major League Baseball (MLB) fans World Series highlights, such as MLB game recaps, highlight compilations, must-see plays and more.
Fire TV’s new “Trending Trailers” row includes free IMDb trailers of the most popular TV series and films. For those who don’t know, IMDb is the Amazon-owned entertainment source.
Food buffs can go to the “Food & Cooking” row to stream free cooking shows and food travel series from channels like America’s Test Kitchen, GoTraveler and 5-Minute Recipes.
Charlotte Maines, Director of Fire TV Advertising, Monetization and Engagement, said in a statement, “Since launching the Amazon News App on Fire TV in 2019, we’ve heard from our customers how important free, easily accessible content is to them. In fact, thanks in part to content like this, engagement with free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) content on Fire TV is up over 50% this year compared to last.”
As streaming subscription prices continue to increase, more viewers are gravitating to free and ad-supported content. Fire TV’s new update will likely be a hit with consumers.
In 2020, Amazon Fire TV introduced a Free tab to the interface, which made it easier for users to discover 20,000 free movies and TV shows.
Introducing Polybius: Uncovering The Metaverse In Hospitality Hospitality Net
Introducing Polybius: Uncovering The Metaverse In Hospitality – Hospitality Net https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/introducing-polybius-uncovering-the-metaverse-in-hospitality-hospitality-net/
After the success of #HNmetameetup, the first-ever Travel and Hospitality gathering in the Metaverse, Hospitality Net and Simone Puorto, futurist and founder of the consulting firm Travel Singularity, are back with a brand new metaverse series: Polybius.
“I started thinking of a new name for a new metaverse series the exact same day we finished moderating the HN meta meetup.” Simone Puorto said. “I came up with probably 100 different monickers, but nothing seemed right until I remembered an urban myth from my childhood. The legend is about a mysterious arcade machine (Polybius), which is said to have psychoactive and addictive effects on the players. Polybius is also the name of a Greek historian, famous for inventing a cryptography tool. I thought: Bingo! Cryptography, gaming, mystery… All in one single word.”
“HN meta meetup was an unexpected success,” added Henri Roelings, founder of Hospitality Net. “We went live for ten straight hours, with 30 C-level speakers from all around the World, and thousands of participants, both in 2D and as avatars. We had five people moderating the event, plus a whole crew of metaverse tech people making sure everything was working fine. Up until the end, I kept thinking: something will break, something will break, something will break. But nothing did. We had a few glitches here and there, and one speaker got lost in the metaverse… But we were able to pull it off. When I removed my headset, I felt ten years older but excited. No one had ever organized anything like that before, at least not in the Hospitality space. I really felt like a pioneer. It was like setting up my first website in the mid-90s.”
Polybius: Uncovering The Metaverse In Hospitality
Polybius will be launched on October 19th at 5:00 PM CET.
Every month, three innovators from the travel and metaverse world will join Simone for a virtual roundtable about topics such as Web3, NFT, crypto, blockchain, DAO, XR, and their current and future applications in our industry. Polybius’ panelists are the very same people reshaping the metaverse economy: academics, researchers, entrepreneurs, and scientists from all over the World united to create the ultimate meta-all-stars-group.
Episode 1: October 19, 5:00 PM CET
Introduction to the Metaverse: from sci-fi to a 5-trillion-dollar industry
A recent report by McKinsey indicates that the metaverse’s economic potential could be up to five trillion dollars by 2030. However, while most people think the metaverse concept only started with Zuckerberg’s rebrand, innovators and visionaries have been flirting with the idea since the ’80s, first in the minds of cyberpunk novelists (such as Gibson, Vinge, or Stephenson), then in the ones of scientists and philosophers (Gelernter, Chalmers), and, eventually, technocapitalists. However, outside of the inner circle of the “usual suspects,” metaverse was a pretty esoteric term before 2021 (as this Google Trends proves). So how has a dystopian novel turned into a trillion-dollar industry almost overnight?
Episode 2: November 16, 5:00 PM CET
An open metaverse for an open, decentralized industry
According to the World Economic Forum, a working metaverse has three key components: presence, interoperability, and standardization. While virtual and augmented experiences get more immersive by the day, interoperability and standardization should be wired into the metaverse’s DNA from day one, to avoid silos and walled gardens. So how can we construct the foundation of an open, utopic metaverse in which the travel and hospitality industries can flourish without being paralyzed by the same Web 2.0 paradigms?
Episode 3: December 21, 5:00 PM CET
From “Avatar” to “Wallet”: the definitive metaverse glossary for dummies
If companies want to get into the metaverse business, they first must master the “metaverse lingo.” It’s easy to get lost in translation, with dozens of brand new mysterious acronyms (NFT, DAO, DeFi…) and business neologisms (mining, minting, dropping, burning…). We’ll go over all the main terms entrepreneurs need to understand to separate the hype from the business reality of the metaverse.
Episode 4: January 18, 5:00 PM CET
Business applications of the metaverse: what you need to know
In this episode, now that you know a little more about the metaverse, we’ll go over some authentic business applications. From i(immersive) Commerce, to B2A (Business-to-Avatar) marketing, from the “datafication of everything” to the “Infinity Marketing Loop.” Real case studies from the industry.
Episode 5: February 15, 5:00 PM CET
Marketing for Generation Alpha: how to position your brand in the metaverse?
Generation Alpha is the first to be born entirely in a digital world. Unfortunately, our current advertising paradigms won’t likely work with this demographic cohort. When, to paraphrase David Chalmers, the simulation is so good that it will be “indistinguishable” from physical reality, companies will have to adapt their strategies to target the traveler and consumer of tomorrow. Will hospitality be the “metaverse innovator” or the “metaverse laggard?”
Polybius: Uncovering The Metaverse In Hospitality— Source: Hospitality Net
Follow POLYBIUS on LinkedIn
Confirmed Speakers & Panelists:
Dr Mark van Rijmenam -International keynote speaker, 4x author, and entrepreneur.
Zoltan Istvan – Public Figure in Transhumanism
Arul Prakash – CEO, Buk.Technology
Gualtiero Carraro – Owner & Founder at Carraro LAB
Roberto Garavaglia – Innovative Payments and blockchain Strategic Advisor
Tibor Mérey – Managing Director & Partner at Boston Consulting Group
Riadi Piacentini – CEO & Founder ThinkLegal | TL Metaverse Accelerator
Hasan Algarhy – Founder at Duverse
Edoardo Maria Bisignani – Chief Operating Officer at Vision
Lior Nitzan – Co-Founder & CTO of GetSound.Ai & Soundscape.City
Andrea Brogni – VR/AR Project Manager at Alkedo
Mattia Papa – Web3 Island Makers DAO Co-Founder & Community Lead | New Governance Systems Pioneer
Luca De Giglio – Founder of Trips Community and Web3 Consultant
Eli Strzelecka – Co-Founder at Conspicuis
Pulidevan Prabakaran – Marketing Manager at Whoa Mama
Salman Halawi – Founder at Metadesignerz
Brian Vertone – Project Manager at Walcon Virtual
Julius Yls – CCO and Co-Founder at Spongelli
Sergio Schemeil – Metaverse creator specialized in Meta Horizon Worlds platform
Justyn Czekański – Strategic Innovation Lead at Si Consulting
Ludovic Baron – Digital Artist & Director
Michael Cohen – Managing Partner at GAIN Advisors
Celia Guimaraes – Journalist
Massimiliano Nicolini – Director of the Olimaint Research and Development Department and member of the Metaverse Standard Forum
Tracy Cosgrove – Hospitality Consultant
Ulrike Gretzel – Senior Research Fellow, Center for Public Relations, University of Southern California & Director of Research, Netnografica
Simone Puorto – Founder at Travel Singularity
Henri Roelings – Founder at Hospitality Net
About Travel Singularity
Travel Singularity is a consultancy firm for hotels and travel technology providers whose vision is to solve the growing need for connecting the dots between digital disruption and existing technology. Founded in 2017 as a partnership of educational consultants, the firm actively supports cooperation between biological and artificial staff and advocates for an open, collaborative, hyper-connected industry where humans can flourish and innovate, free from the repetitive tasks they are now obliged to perform daily. Its founder, Simone Puorto, is a journalist specializing in tech, keynote speaker, podcaster, consultant, published author of four best sellers on marketing, writer for the main industry blogs, Metaverse Ambassador, co-organizer of the first-ever travel and hospitality event in the metaverse (#HNmetameetup), crypto evangelist, MBA lecturer and CMO for TelltheHotel and E23 Delivery. He often refers to himself as a “Renaissance Futurist,” supporting post-human, anti-speciesists, and transhumanist values. Over his career, spanning over 20 years, he consulted for hundreds of international hotel groups, travel tech vendors, and startups. More information at www.travelsingularity.com.
About Hospitality Net
Hospitality Net is the #1 ranked website for the global hospitality community. Recognized as the most influential industry trade (B2B) publication, Hospitality Net attracts the largest number of unique visitors, page views and targeted subscribers through its unparalleled network of sites and partners. Since its inception in 1999, Hospitality Net has been regarded as the most trusted source for industry leaders and experts to connect, share, and learn. Content is distributed to a network of partner sites and associations including HFTP, HSMAI, and HITEC, and supports all facets of the business including opinion articles, press releases, appointments, events, job openings, webinars, reports, sponsored content, and digital advertising. Hospitality Net has the most innovative publishing and distribution technology, as well as robust reporting capabilities to ensure clients can maximize their marketing ROI and measure their success. To learn more, visit hospitalitynet.org.
Simone Puorto
Founder at Travelsingularity
Hospitality Net
Gotham Knights Isnt Trying To Be An Arkham Game And Thats Its Greatest Strength Video Games Chronicle
Gotham Knights Isn’t Trying To Be An Arkham Game, And That’s Its Greatest Strength – Video Games Chronicle https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/gotham-knights-isnt-trying-to-be-an-arkham-game-and-thats-its-greatest-strength-video-games-chronicle/
Batman is dead. What now? That’s the question at the heart of Gotham Knights [44 articles]”Gotham Knights, the newest game from WB Montreal. With “The World’s Greatest Detective,” gone, his proteges have united to look after Gotham in his absence.
This isn’t an Arkham game. It’s worth getting that out of the way first. While that series was incredible and paved the way for some parts of this game, Gotham Knights seek to prove itself, much in the same way that Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing and Red Hood seek to prove themselves, and emerge from the shadow of Batman.
Gotham itself is an absolute stunner. From high on the roofs of buildings, you’re greeted with what appears to be the product of the world’s largest smoke machine. The whole city is densely packed with fog, with bright neon signs emerging from the darkness, meaning that as you glide down to the street level, what should be a grim, dark city is full of light and life.
It’s a wonderful look, extremely evocative of the comics, and from what we got to explore, our favourite adaptation of the mean streets of Gotham we’ve ever seen in a game.
The whole game looks great, with the exception that the Batcycle didn’t feel particularity fast when we were belting down Gotham’s highways, but that feels like something fixable. The character models are distinct, with a realistic, yet clearly modern comics-inspired design.
Since there’s a fair amount of gameplay that focuses on actual detective work, such as solving puzzles based on in-world clues and examining small things on desks, a lot of care has been taken to make sure all of these details look crisp. It’s almost adventure-game-like in these segments, which is a nice respite before punching someone’s skull to a fine dust a few minutes later.
The missions we got to play largely centred around an escape from Black Gate Prison, where Harley Quinn, who has information that we need, is holed up in her luxury cell. Shockingly, things aren’t what they seem, and before long, a prison riot breaks out, which we, (Batgirl in this case) have to sort out, largely with our fists.
Before we talk about the combat, it’s worth pointing out that this preview was done remotely, and thus there is some room for some of the discomfort we felt with the combat being down to the inherent delay of playing the game streaming. This isn’t Arkham combat.
You’re not smashing X repeatedly, waiting for a reversal, then completing the sequence with a finisher. That kind of melodic, zen-like combat has been replaced with a combat system that gives you a far wider moveset, but doesn’t achieve that flow state that the Arkham games perfected.
Gotham Knights – Official Villains Trailer
Instead of the counter, we were largely dodging enemy attacks, which built up a meter that then let us use our bundle of gadgets. These gadgets and special moves have been implemented in a far more streamlined fashion than their Arkham counterparts, which is a nice change, especially with the variety of equipment across all characters.
Speaking of equipment, Gotham Knights also features a gear system, with each character able to swap out costume parts for stat boots, or even damage augmentations, such as infusing your punches with electrical charges. This is a cool change, and the ability to swap between the four on any mission essentially gives you a few loadouts to test out.
However, progression across the four isn’t universal, which we learned when we attempted to glide down from the top of a skyscraper, only to realise we hadn’t unlocked that ability with Robin yet, only Batgirl. Queue Robin plummeting to earth faster than The Flying Graysons.
There’s no avoiding it, this game is going to be compared to the single greatest superhero video game quadrilogy of all time, and while it’s hard to escape that, we’re impressed by how much Gotham Knights has been able to find its own footing, from what we’ve played.
Gotham is absolutely breathtaking and ripe for exploring. The characters are distinct and all play off each other well. From what we’ve seen of the story, including some brilliant teases at just who might be behind the story at large, we’re excited to get back to it.
There is something about the combat that leaves us wanting, however. This may be where the comparison feels the harshest, as although this game isn’t trying to do the Arkham combat, in the few hours we played, we weren’t quite able to dislodge the notion of pressing “Y” when an enemy attacks us in order to counter them.
Gotham Knights impressed us in our limited time with it, and made us desperate to prowl the rooftops of Gotham once again. It’s not Arkham, but it’s really not trying to be, which is the game’s greatest strength, but that doesn’t change the fact that in the eyes of many, the game has an almost untouchable gaming legacy to follow.
Christopher Sheehan On Paying Bills With Crypto And Spritz Finance | Ep. 162 Cryptonews
Christopher Sheehan On Paying Bills With Crypto And Spritz Finance | Ep. 162 – Cryptonews https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/christopher-sheehan-on-paying-bills-with-crypto-and-spritz-finance-ep-162-cryptonews/
In an exclusive interview with cryptonews.com, Christopher Sheehan, MIT Computer Scientist, repeat fintech entrepreneur, and Founder of Spritz Finance, talks about paying bills with crypto and more about on & off-chain finances.
About Christopher Sheehan
Christopher Sheehan is the Founder of Spritz Finance. He is an MIT Computer Scientist and repeat fintech entrepreneur. Chris’s previous company, WorldCover, was an international insuretech funded by Y Combinator, Index Ventures, Greylock and other global VC investors. The company developed parametric insurance products and software, and its IP assets were acquired in 2021.
Sheehan gave a wide-ranging exclusive interview which you can see below, and we are happy for you to use for publication provided there is a credit to www.cryptonews.com.
Highlights Of The Interview
Paying your bills with cryptocurrency
Lessons learned from Y-Combinator – doing things that don’t scale and growing 7% every week
Building on the Polygon Ecosystem – cheap and quick transactions
Creating a crypto lifestyle app – more than just technology and finance
Bridging traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi)
Full Transcript Of The Interview
Matt Zahab
Ladies and gentlemen, we’re back. We’re buzzing. As always, I’m super pumped to have today’s guest on the show. We have Christopher Sheehan, founder of Spritz Finance. Christopher is also an MIT computer scientist and repeat FinTech entrepreneur. Chris’ previous company world cover was an international insure-tech company funded by Y-Combinator, Index Ventures Greylock, and other global VC investors. The company developed parametric insurance products and software and its IP assets were acquired last year in 2021. Without further ado, I’m very pleased to welcome Christopher Sheehan to the Cryptonews podcast. Chris, welcome to show my friend.
Christopher Sheehan
Hey, Matt, how are you? Excited to be here.
Matt Zahab
I’m doing well and I’m pumped to have you on. In the bio, the one thing well, many things. But as a Y Combinator fan myself, I got to ask, what was that like? I’ve always wanted to sort of give that a whirl myself. I’ve got a couple of friends who’ve been through the world. I’ve heard mostly positive things. What was your take on YC?
Christopher Sheehan
Great question, Matt. Yeah, I mean, YC sort of formed and sort of instilled in me so much of the startup philosophy that, you know, I’m even bringing to this web three, startup. It’s a question I get a lot. And sometimes I joke that the answer is often correlated with how much money that particular project was able to raise after the program, you know, you raise a lot of money, awesome program, you don’t, and maybe not so good. And we were actually we’re fortunate enough to raise a nice round after YC. But I have to say it’s sort of the community of YC, that just kind of keeps on giving, whether it’s the forums and kind of the inside information that everybody shares to the events, and you know, in real life or virtual, and then the folks that have invested in my new company, as well. So, you know, I highly, highly recommend anybody consider YC. And it’s just a great and growing group of people. And, you know, I’m also part of the Orange DAO now, which is kind of the, it wasn’t affiliated but it’s the DAO that a lot of the alumni sort of formed afterwards and have I’ve sort of seen that process start from just an idea to now there are funds there are, you know, three or four different committees, there’s I went to the event in Amsterdam at Devconnect, hosted by orange DAO, they invested in Spritz. Amazing. And so it’s cool to see that community, I think, quite naturally map from kind of traditional startups into web three as well through the orange DAO. So yeah, two thumbs up for YC.
Matt Zahab
Wow, gotta love to hear that. What’s something non-obvious that you took away? Not like, work hard? Or use your network? Or none of that classic shit? I’m talking about? Like, were there any, you know, under the table, tidbits of goals from Paul Graham or anyone else at YC? Where you were just like, holy shit, that is non-obvious, but absolutely incredible advice or an incredible takeaway?
Christopher Sheehan
Yeah, I mean, I think there’s some big things and some small things. One big thing was, you know, do things that don’t scale, which is, you know, pretty common advice. But YC, really, you know, you’ve got to hit that week-on-week grow 7%. And when you’re, you know, you’re like, Hey, I just walked in here with my co-founders, all we have is an idea. And they say, Well, how are you going to grow 7%? In seven days, like, well, what number are we even tracking? Well, you know, whatever that number is, just do the thing that grows the number. And it’s sort of like these, these little itty bitty steps, kind of grinding it out. Even doing things like you know, just going to events and signing people up yourself. Right? That compounds, right. And the power of compounding is so powerful in startups. So do things that don’t scale. YC is super into that. And then kind of a small thing that was interesting is around communicating ideas and presenting, you know, when you apply to YC, you have to describe your company, and I think 50 characters or less, I mean, it’s you know, what is that? Nowadays? It’s like a quarter of a tweet or, or less.
Matt Zahab
It’s not even a one-liner.
Christopher Sheehan
Exactly. And then when you do, yeah. And then when you do demo day, it was at least in my time, it was a three-minute presentation. You know, your interview for YC is 10 minutes, when we’re taught to present where you were taught to use, like 130 Point type. So how do you get your ideas into the most crisp, brief, clear, simple frame as possible is really a skill. And actually, I think it’s a sign of a very thoughtful founding team to be able to do that. So that’s kind of another thing that YC that I think was very surprising and a skill I think that I’ve really tried to absorb and, and put out into the world nowadays too.
Matt Zahab
So well worth it. In summation.
Christopher Sheehan
Yeah, I mean, soak it up. Why not? I’m someone who, you know, I like to just learn and get all the help I can. So I sort of soak this stuff up, you know, other folks maybe just want to go and build and be left alone. And that’s cool, too. But, you know, I’m someone who loves the advice for sure.
Matt Zahab
I gotta, I gotta ask you, let’s go a little off topic here. Your camera. It’s a little trippy. But I like it, though. Like, again, for those who aren’t watching and are just listening, which I assume is most of you. Chris’ camera like sort of follows him but doesn’t it’s like it engages the viewer, like, you got to give a plug. What camera is this?
Christopher Sheehan
It’s a little. The cameraman is a little inebriated. Sometimes people say the features called cameraman. It’s another YC company called Lumina, L U M I N A, and it’s a 4k camera. It’s like 250 bucks. But they use AI to I mean, kind of just do the tracking. And do kind of the repackaging into a 1080p feed that looks great, but has the ability to kind of track and make adjustments because it’s 4k. So I know sometimes I turned it on. Sometimes it turned it off. To be honest. If it’s noticed, then I’ll usually just turn it off.
Matt Zahab
No, no, it’s not distracting. It’s cool. It’s just when I first was looking at you while you were speaking I was like, Is he like swiveling on a chair? Does he have I don’t know it was
Christopher Sheehan
I’m doing that too, though. So yeah.
Matt Zahab
You’re a multitasker. multitaskers so.
Christopher Sheehan
Yeah.
Matt Zahab
Let’s go back to your bio for a second here. Also, MIT computer scientists is that as grueling as it sounds? Was that just an absolute? Like head down 18-hour days, you know, caffeine dripping in at all times. You know? What’s, what are the other ones Ritalin, little Adderall, Concerta? That, then,
Christopher Sheehan
Yeah, it was like, you know, my days is more like Coors Light. And then, you know, coffee, you know, at night, and then cheap coffee in the morning. That was part of the fraternity system to at MIT, which is a great kind of release valve, you know, including sports and everything. So yeah, I mean, MIT will knock you down, you know, I think one of my best sort of, I guess academic performances was scoring something like a 40% on one of my final exams and having that be an A plus because it was graded on a curve. So it’s the type of place where you study the whole semester, you think you know, everything, and then you get to the exam, and you’re literally wonder to yourself, Is this even the right exam I’m taking, because I don’t recognize any of the problems. And you, so they’re just stretching you at every opportunity. And it’s so it’s wonderful for kind of brain growth, I say, and not so wonderful for, you know, psychology and confidence and everything, which is, you know, I think something they’ve worked on over time, but it’s, it’s quite an experience for sure.
Matt Zahab
They haven’t done your science 100%.
Christopher Sheehan
Yes.
Matt Zahab
Before we get into Spritz, which is the bread and butter of the show, besides yourself, I want to get in your head for a little bit. You seem like a very creative guy who loves to learn, I feel like you have a lust for learning, you’re a bit of a sponge or a huge sponge for that matter. Walk me through your morning or nighttime routines. Do you have any sort of daily disciplines or daily habits that really help you move the needle and become a very efficient learning version of Chris?
Christopher Sheehan
Yeah, interesting. You know, maybe it’s a surprise or...
US Says Hackers Attacked Defense Organization Stole Sensitive Info C4ISRNet
US Says Hackers Attacked Defense Organization, Stole Sensitive Info – C4ISRNet https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/us-says-hackers-attacked-defense-organization-stole-sensitive-info-c4isrnet/
A sign is seen outside the National Security Agency campus in Fort Meade, Maryland. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo/File)
WASHINGTON — Hackers infiltrated a defense industrial base organization, maintained “persistent, long-term” access to its network and absconded with sensitive data, U.S. government agencies said.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency responded to malicious activity from November 2021 to January 2022, according to an Oct. 4 advisory published by the Department of Homeland Security division and its partners at the National Security Agency and the FBI. A third-party response team was also engaged.
The targeted organization — most likely a defense contractor — was not named.
The unidentified intruders used an open-source tool kit called Impacket to gain a foothold in the organization’s systems, according to the government bulletin. They then used a tailored exfiltration tool known as CovalentStealer to make off with important files, it stated. Initial access was gained as early as January 2021.
The implications of the hack were not immediately clear.
RELATED
The Department of Defense’s pool of contractors and related resources is under constant threat of digital harassment and foreign influence campaigns. While international competitors may be deterred from directly fighting the U.S., the Pentagon’s 2018 cyber strategy noted, they are seizing the digital domain to take “our technology, disrupt our government and commerce, challenge our democratic processes, and threaten our critical infrastructure.”
In a joint cybersecurity report published shortly before Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, CISA, NSA and the FBI accused hackers backed by Moscow of targeting U.S. defense companies for years, saying that the data snaked away provides “significant insight” into weapons and communications infrastructure.
Russia has historically denied such claims.
Those targeted work on defense and intelligence contracts, including missile development and vehicle and aircraft design, the federal agencies said at the time. The compromised companies support the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Space Force and national security programs, generally.
During one high-profile transgression last year, “actors exfiltrated hundreds of documents related to the company’s products, relationships with other countries, and internal personnel and legal matters,” CISA said.
Defense News in June 2018 reported Chinese-sponsored cyberattacks breached a Navy contractor’s computers, jeopardizing sensitive information tied to secret work on an anti-ship missile.
Colin Demarest is a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covers military networks, cyber and IT. Colin previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a daily newspaper in South Carolina. Colin is also an award-winning photographer.
Tech InDepth: Understanding Cloud Gaming | Technology News The Indian Express
Tech InDepth: Understanding Cloud Gaming | Technology News – The Indian Express https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/tech-indepth-understanding-cloud-gaming-technology-news-the-indian-express/
One of the many use-cases of high internet speeds including those that the upcoming 5G wave in India will provide is cloud gaming. The term refers to a new way of enjoying games that, unlike regular gaming, doesn’t rely on powerful hardware that high-end phones, handhelds, desktops or consoles often possess.
Instead, cloud gaming relies solely on a strong and fast internet connection. In today’s edition of Tech InDepth, we will look at how exactly this tech works and what powers cloud gaming.
What is Cloud Gaming?
Cloud Gaming refers to a game that runs on a data server, which players remotely access via their systems. While the input for the games is collected by the user and the output is displayed to them, it is the game’s processing that is not done locally and requires an internet connection to send data to the cloud, process it, and show an output back on the player’s display, all in real-time.
To understand this, imagine you’re gaming on a PC or a console and while your mouse, keyboard or controller and monitor are still at your desk, the CPU or the body of the console are situated elsewhere. Instead of wires, it is the internet connectivity that connects your monitor and peripherals to your CPU/console and back to your monitor.
While games are practically ‘streamed’ through the cloud, it is your inputs and actions that reflect in the game in real-time. You may have heard of many cloud gaming services Unsurprisingly, this requires a very fast and stable internet connection.
Benefits of cloud gaming
The primary benefit of cloud gaming is the lack of specific hardware to run games. This is great for casual gamers who may not want to spend thousands of rupees on high-end computers, irrespective of whether they get an assembled one or make a build themselves.
This factor alone was what got a lot of people into cloud gaming during the early COVID years, when GPUs were hard to come by and hence, building a gaming PC had become a costly affair. Moreover, newer consoles like the Sony PS5 were also low on stock pretty much everywhere across the world.
Support on multiple devices is another plus point. With all your game data and progress stored in remote data centers, you can game from anywhere in the world as long as your system has a fast internet connection. Many cloud gaming services like Google Stadia and Steam Link also let you take your game from one platform like your PC, to another like your smartphone.
Disadvantages of cloud gaming
Cloud gaming has its limitations. It doesn’t support all games, and even on the games that you can enjoy via cloud gaming, the experience will usually be inferior to that of running the same game locally on a PC or console. These limitations can be the max framerate, highest resolution settings, etc.
Another aspect is latency. Anything connected across the web is bound to have some form of latency in theory, even on very fast connections. Local, wired connections on the other hand, are much faster in transmitting and receiving data. This is why a lot of professional gamers out there choose wired peripherals like mice, keyboards and headphones as opposed to wireless solutions that run on Bluetooth or 2.4GHz WiFi.
Even the fastest internet connections are bound by latency, which is why limitations like that of resolution are set in place. Most cloud gaming platforms are also a subscription based service, meaning you have to keep paying to keep playing. Lastly, the service is also limited by internet connectivity. If you live in an area where fast internet is either hard to come by or too expensive, you may not want to get into cloud gaming at all.
Future of cloud gaming
Google recently announced that its somewhat popular cloud gaming service Google Stadia would be shut down in January 2023, due to not picking up the numbers Google desired. However, other services like Nvidia’s GeForce Now, Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and Sony’s own PlayStation Plus Premium continue to go strong.
Cloud gaming is expected to pick up pace in the years to come. A report by Grand View Research in fact suggests that the cloud gaming market, which accounted for $691.6 million in 2021 is anticipated to grow at 45.8% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) between 2022 and 2030, soon expected to be a billion dollar industry.
If you want to try your hand at cloud gaming, you can try out Sony’s PlayStation Plus Premium, Nvidia GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming, or even Steam Link.
Former Texas Deputy Fired For Beating Inmate Now Fired From New Job As Costumed Pig For Body Slamming Teen In Theme Park PINAC News
Former Texas Deputy Fired For Beating Inmate Now Fired From New Job As Costumed Pig For Body Slamming Teen In Theme Park – PINAC News https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/former-texas-deputy-fired-for-beating-inmate-now-fired-from-new-job-as-costumed-pig-for-body-slamming-teen-in-theme-park-pinac-news/
Brandon Doege when he was a deputy abusing an inmate, left, and when he was a masked pig abusing a teen, right.
A former sheriff’s deputy in Texas who lost his job for abusing an inmate was fired from his new job as a costumed pig at a theme park for abusing a 14-year-old boy.
Brandon Doege was arrested Sunday on felony charges following the incident at SeaWorld in San Antonio which led to his termination from the theme park.
Doege, 29, had been employed as a “scare character” at SeaWorld and claims the teen made “disrespectful comments” to him as he was working, resulting in him breaking character and body slamming the boy, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Doege is also accused of punching a 53-year-old male relative of the boy who confronted him following the body slam.
In 2019, he was fired from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office for striking an inmate in the county jail, then deactivating another deputy’s body camera before the incident was over.
He also failed to turn on his own body camera, claiming the incident with the inmate happened so quickly, he did not have the time to turn it on. He also claimed the camera was “shattered” during the clash.
But other deputies who witnessed the beating said he had plenty of time to turn it on and investigators determined the camera had not been shattered.
That incident led to him having to forfeit his Texas peace officer’s license and he was also ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
He was also placed on two years of probation on December 2, 2021 which will likely complicate his latest arrest in which he was charged with felony injury to a child with the intent to cause bodily injury.
One year before he was fired, he was involved in another incident where he shot an unarmed woman in her 50s named Inessa Batyukova after coming across her as she was parked in a median with her hazards lights flashing.
Doege claimed he shot her because she was acting erratically and would not show him her hands. Batyukova claimed he held her at gunpoint after shooting her rather than render aid. She filed a lawsuit which was dismissed on qualified immunity.
“I wish him to be in jail for the rest of his life, ” she told KENS 5 in 2018.
He is facing up to ten years in prison if convicted on the felony injury to a child charge.
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WATCH: Texas Cop Acquitted for Shooting Death of Jonathan Price who was Unarmed
A former sheriff’s deputy in Texas who lost his job for abusing an inmate was fired from his new job as a costumed pig at a theme park for abusing a 14-year-old boy.
Brandon Doege was arrested Sunday on felony charges following the incident at SeaWorld in San Antonio which led to his termination from the theme park.
Doege, 29, had been employed as a “scare character” at SeaWorld and claims the teen made “disrespectful comments” to him as he was working, resulting in him breaking character and body slamming the boy, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Doege is also accused of punching a 53-year-old male relative of the boy who confronted him following the body slam.
In 2019, he was fired from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office for striking an inmate in the county jail, then deactivating another deputy’s body camera before the incident was over.
He also failed to turn on his own body camera, claiming the incident with the inmate happened so quickly, he did not have the time to turn it on. He also claimed the camera was “shattered” during the clash.
But other deputies who witnessed the beating said he had plenty of time to turn it on and investigators determined the camera had not been shattered.
That incident led to him having to forfeit his Texas peace officer’s license and he was also ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
He was also placed on two years of probation on December 2, 2021 which will likely complicate his latest arrest in which he was charged with felony injury to a child with the intent to cause bodily injury.
One year before he was fired, he was involved in another incident where he shot an unarmed woman in her 50s named Inessa Batyukova after coming across her as she was parked in a median with her hazards lights flashing.
Doege claimed he shot her because she was acting erratically and would not show him her hands. Batyukova claimed he held her at gunpoint after shooting her rather than render aid. She filed a lawsuit which was dismissed on qualified immunity.
“I wish him to be in jail for the rest of his life, ” she told KENS 5 in 2018.
He is facing up to ten years in prison if convicted on the felony injury to a child charge.
Please Donate to PINAC
WATCH: Texas Cop Acquitted for Shooting Death of Jonathan Price who was Unarmed
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Help us build a database of bad cops
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Since we are forbidden from discussing social issues on social media, we have created forums on our site to allow us to fulfill our mission with as little restriction as possible. We welcome our readers to join our forums and support our mission by either donating, volunteering or both.
Our plan is to build a national database of bad cops obtained from public records maintained by local prosecutors. The goal is to teach our readers how to obtain these lists to ensure we cover every city, county and state in the country.
After all, the government has made it clear it will not police the police so the role falls upon us.
It will be our most ambitious project yet but it can only be done with your help.
But if we succeed, we will be able to keep innocent people out of prison.
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Carlos Millerhttps://pinacnews.com
Editor-in-Chief Carlos Miller spent a decade covering the cop beat for various newspapers in the Southwest before returning to his hometown Miami and launching Photography is Not a Crime aka PINAC News in 2007. He also published a book, The Citizen Journalist’s Photography Handbook, which is available on Amazon.
Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Cards From Chase Launch The Teach The Love Contest To Celebrate And Give Back To U.S. Bloomberg
Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Credit Cards From Chase Launch The Teach The Love Contest To Celebrate And Give Back To U.S. – Bloomberg https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/southwest-rapid-rewards-credit-cards-from-chase-launch-the-teach-the-love-contest-to-celebrate-and-give-back-to-u-s-bloomberg/
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Northwell Opens $1.8M Practice In Bethpage Long Island Business News
Northwell Opens $1.8M Practice In Bethpage – Long Island Business News https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/northwell-opens-1-8m-practice-in-bethpage-long-island-business-news/
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By: Adina Genn October 5, 2022
Bethpage is home to a new $1.8 million, 9,428-square-foot multidisciplinary practice at 4070 and 4072 Hempstead Turnpike. The Northwell Health Physician Partners practice provides specialty services that include obstetrics and gynecology, primary care and laboratory services.
“We are pleased to announce that along with providing multidisciplinary specialties at the Bethpage site, we also have a patient service center in our new facility in the community,” Joseph Castagnaro, vice president of Northwell’s laboratory services integration and operations, said in a statement.
Suite 4070 houses a full-service point of care testing facility where patients can have blood drawn and have other laboratory specimens collected.
“Our patient service center offers comprehensive services including COVID-19 testing as well as routine specimen collection bringing convenience to the level of care that Northwell Health provides,” Castagnaro said. “Our large multi-draw site with highly trained phlebotomists will ensure the specimen collection process is safe, quick and comfortable. We pride ourselves in ensuring that our patients and families always have a satisfactory experience with short wait times.”
Suite 4072 is a center for multidisciplinary care including OB/GYN, urology, endocrinology, primary care, general surgery, dermatology, x-ray testing, electrocardiograph testing, ultrasound testing, fetal biophysical profile testing and diabetes education. The suites have fourteen exam rooms in total, and one specialty room designated for chest x-rays.
“The new location in Bethpage is designed to meet many of the health care needs of the community,” Joseph Baglio, senior vice president of Northwell’s Eastern region ambulatory services, said in a statement.
“This site not only provides primary care, OB/GYN, urology and endocrinology specialists, but it also has a patient service center testing facility,” Baglio added. “This location gives patients a wide range of high-level medical care that’s close to home.”
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Improve Your Nutrition And Workouts With Coaching From This Pair Of Freeletics Apps MUO MakeUseOf
Improve Your Nutrition And Workouts With Coaching From This Pair Of Freeletics Apps – MUO – MakeUseOf https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/improve-your-nutrition-and-workouts-with-coaching-from-this-pair-of-freeletics-apps-muo-makeuseof/
In life, two things are essential: your health and fitness. Staying physically active and eating well have a number of fantastic benefits, and with smartphone apps, living, feeling, and looking better have never been easier. Here’s why you should download and use the Freeletics Fitness and Freeletics Nutrition apps to help you become the best version of yourself.
What Is Freeletics Fitness?
Using Freeletics Fitness is like exercising with a personal trainer on your phone when you can’t afford a real one. Forget about going to the gym or buying expensive equipment—Freeletics Fitness works around what you have access to and what your personal goals are.
The app learns and adapts according to your progress as you work toward your fitness goal. If you want to use all the features on the app such as the AI-powered personal trainer and mindset sessions, you’ll need to sign up for a subscription. But the app does feature some workouts and audio sessions so that you can get a feel for it before you pay.
Download: Freeletics Fitness for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Working out with like-minded people can help you stay motivated and consistent. That’s why the Community feed and challenges are such great features of the Freeletics Fitness app. The Community tab is where you can freely share your accomplishments with the community, comment on posts, and find new friends to follow.
It’s important to continuously challenge yourself. Otherwise, how can you push yourself and improve? Athletes create the challenges in the Freeletics Fitness app, but you also have the option to create your own unique challenge. All you have to do is pick between a consistency or repetition challenge, choose the workout or exercise, select the dates, and get to work.
Coaching Sessions on Freeletics Fitness
The standout feature of the Freeletics Fitness app is the customized training sessions. Your digital coach creates your training program based on your preferences, and you can make changes to them at any time if need be. There are several training journeys you can participate in, each with a different goal.
For instance, the Get Started training program is ideal for beginners while the Get Running training program is better for those who want to run and burn calories. Every time you complete a workout session, you have the option to give your coach some feedback on how well you did, and then your training plan is adapted accordingly.
Even better, you can tap Adapt session to let your coach know what your preferences are for the day, such as if you don’t have much time or don’t have access to equipment. Moreover, each exercise features a demonstration video from various angles, along with a breakdown of which exercises are included, the leaderboard, and the targeted muscle groups.
Exercise Achievements & Progress
On the Freeletics Fitness app, you can earn various badges as you hit milestones and master new skills. You can view the badges you’ve recently claimed and what else needs to be collected by tapping Achievements. Based on your personal training journey you can get badges for skill progressions, weekly streaks, and more.
On the other hand, you can track your various progressions when you tap Progress. These include which milestones you’ve reached for certain exercises, like knee jumps or pushups. Be aware that your coach may block some more of the difficult milestones for safety reasons.
The Freeletics Nutrition App
Like Freeletics Fitness, Freeletics Nutrition is like having a professional nutrition coach by your side. The app features tons of delicious recipes, an individualized meal plan, and a convenient grocery shopping list.
Based on what your goal is, whether you want to lose weight or gain weight in a healthy way, your Freeletics Nutrition coach does all the planning for you. To gain access to all the features on the app—including the nutrition coach—you need to sign up for a subscription.
Download: Freeletics Nutrition for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Freeletics Nutrition Coach
The key feature of the Freeletics Nutrition app is the digital nutritional coach. Simply answer a couple of questions to receive your personalized, balanced meal plan. A few of the questions include your goal, activity level, and food restrictions. Once you’ve completed the assessment, you’re ready to get started on your healthy lifestyle journey.
Your tailored meal plan includes typically includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack. If you feel like eating something different or don’t have the right ingredients, you can swap out each recipe for another equally delicious one. Additionally, you can enter your training activity for the day and your digital coach will recommend a post-workout snack.
Freeletics Nutrition Recipes
With over 300 recipes available in the recipe library, you’re bound to find something you love. Take your cooking skills to the next level with an advanced vegan meal or take it easy with a 15-minute dinner recipe. You can filter your recipe search based on your diet, budget, how much time you have, and other criteria.
Every recipe on the app includes an overview of the total calories, protein, carbs, and fat as well as helpful ingredient substitutes. All recipes are accompanied by a stunning photo as well as instructions that are easy to follow. Plus, you can switch to cooking mode to keep your device’s screen awake and make sure there are no interruptions during your cooking process.
Shopping List in Freeletics Nutrition
Another great feature of the Freeletics Nutrition app is the integrated shopping list. Having a convenient list on hand for each recipe is the best way to save time and avoid wandering around the grocery store aimlessly. Tap Add to Shopping List or tap the shopping basket icon on a recipe to add the ingredients to your list.
Once you’ve added all your recipes for the week you can check off items as you shop or delete any recipes you’re not making anymore. So throw away that crumpled piece of paper that you call a grocery list and use Freeletics Nutrition’s shopping list to simplify your grocery shopping.
What the Freeletics Fitness and Freeletics Nutrition Apps Can Do for You
Freeletics Fitness is the ultimate workout app if you can’t go to the gym or just don’t want to. And Freeletics Nutrition is an excellent app to help you make healthier food choices. While you don’t have to pay to download and use the Freeletics Nutrition and Freeletics Fitness apps, their free content is limited. To access all the key features, including coaching, you have to pay for a subscription.
However, for what you get on each app, the subscription price is certainly worth it. Moreover, you can try a free trial of the apps before you fully commit to a subscription. Overall, Freeletics Fitness and Freeletics Nutrition are two apps that pair perfectly together to help you prioritize healthy eating and good exercise habits.
Prep Boys Soccer Top 10 (Oct. 5 2022) | Sports | News-Gazette.com News-Gazette
Prep Boys’ Soccer Top 10 (Oct. 5, 2022) | Sports | News-Gazette.com – News-Gazette https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/prep-boys-soccer-top-10-oct-5-2022-sports-news-gazette-com-news-gazette/
RK., SCHOOL REC. PREV. COMMENT
1. Champaign Central 16-1-2 1 Maroons haven’t lost in their last eight matches, including Tuesday’s against Danville. A big tilt with Normal West awaits.
2. Urbana 13-2-2 2 Tigers haven’t allowed a goal in five-match win streak. They’ll get tested Thursday when Peoria Notre Dame pays a visit.
3. Mahomet-Seymour 13-4-2 4 Bulldogs took one-goal losses to Urbana and Champaign Central last week, knocked off Mattoon on Tuesday in league play.
4. Monticello 16-4 3 Sages suffered a shutout loss to Illini Prairie rival St. Joseph-Ogden on Tuesday, their first defeat in their last six outings.
5. St. Thomas More 12-4-1 5 Sabers have won just once in their previous five matches, cap their regular season Wednesday at home versus Unity.
6. Fisher/GCMS 16-4-1 8 Bunnies are in the midst of a five-match run of success that they hope stretches to six on Wednesday versus Blue Ridge.
7. Oakwood/Salt Fork 18-4-2 6 Comets were winners of five consecutive matches before being unable to find the net in Tuesday’s loss to Fisher/GCMS.
8. St. Joseph-Ogden 15-4-1 9 Spartans grabbed a huge victory over Monticello, close the regular season against Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond.
9. Uni High 8-5-4 7 Illineks dropped Cornerstone on Tuesday for a third win in a row. Major test upcoming at Bloomington Central Catholic.
10. Centennial 6-6-3 10 Chargers tied Normal Community on Tuesday to start a week that includes home matches against Peoria and Rantoul.
More boys’ soccer coverage inside: SJ-O boys’ soccer team’s impressive victory among the highlights from a busy Tuesday night of action — C-2
Colin Likas is the preps coordinator at The News-Gazette. He can be reached at clikas@news-gazette.com, or on Twitter at @clikasNG.
The Future Of E-Commerce Payments In The Metaverse E-Commerce Times
The Future Of E-Commerce Payments In The Metaverse – E-Commerce Times https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/the-future-of-e-commerce-payments-in-the-metaverse-e-commerce-times/
The metaverse is the latest buzzword everyone is talking about. However, is it an effective sales channel for retailers? The answer at the present time for most is no. To succeed, there are obstacles to get beyond. Payment processing is one of them.
In reality, all payments — aside from exchanging cash at the point of sale — are now virtual. Even though a business may believe it must accept alternative payment methods in the virtual world — such as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin — using cryptocurrencies for payment transactions in the metaverse is fraught with difficulties. Why?
Crypto and Other Digital Currencies for Payments
Working with cryptocurrencies can be trickier for businesses than with conventional payments. With cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the value changes. Additionally, they are unregulated; and many customers do not prefer using these as a form of payment because they are not widely utilized or trusted by consumers.
Digital currencies in the category of stablecoins have less volatility through backing with fiat currencies (although even this is questionable), but still no regulation, yet.
While many countries are developing central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and they currently appear to have the most trust of these types of payments, the Federal Reserve has not yet decided on whether to pursue or implement a CDBC.
Another digital currency that can be considered for the metaverse is a closed loop payment. These are payments by “coins” or “tokens” that would only work in this specific environment. The same principle exists in clubs and vacation locations, but, in the digital realm, they are also currently used in online games like Fortnite, where you can buy “currency” upfront and spend it only in this environment.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Closed loop payments are mostly offered to distract the user from the awareness of spending real money. This takes place in games where the user can buy gear and pay with game-only “currency.” While this payment is simple, it contradicts the general idea of the metaverse because it is only valid in special shops, not in the whole sphere.
Further, to make gamers spend more, typically there is a significant discount scale based on the amount someone buys. For example, spend $100 to get $1,000 worth in digital offerings. This won’t work in the case of real-world items being purchased in the metaverse because it is not feasible for merchants to offer these kinds of major discounts.
Traditional Payment Methods With Biometrics
When it comes to payments in the metaverse, traditional payment methods are a good option. Additionally, in this virtual environment, biometrics can be used to authenticate these payment methods.
By 2025, about 1.4 billion people are expected to use facial recognition technology to authenticate a payment, more than twice as many individuals who did so in 2020, according to Juniper Research. There are several good reasons why it makes sense to deploy biometrics technology, especially in the context of the metaverse.
In a virtual environment it is far simpler for consumers to pay with their voice than to determine how to type long passwords. Consumers value speed and convenience, and retailers want to satisfy their needs while facilitating secure payment transactions to reduce the risk of fraud. Therefore, it is clear that biometrics should play a significant role in facilitating payments in the metaverse.
What should retailers consider? Consumers will need to be able to complete payments easily and seamlessly. Here are some ways to accomplish this:
The payments platform underpinning the payments process should be able to recognize devices consumers are using in the virtual world.
Include payment methods with a straightforward user interface, such as Click-to-Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal.
Examine payment options that let users authenticate with voice recognition, eye scans, or both (once 3D goggles support this).
Consider payment options and providers that support delegated authentication. With this, retailers can take over the authentication process and inform the issuers that the authentication has been executed so they do not have to do it again. This can make it easier for merchants to handle the authentication somewhere else in the customer journey and not necessarily in the sensitive checkout process.
What Does the Future Hold?
Investments in this virtual world are growing. Mastercard recently announced that it is testing new technology that is intended to operate in the metaverse and allows customers to make biometric payments using their face or hand. Capital One’s recent announcement that it will enter the metaverse with virtual credit cards and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) further supports this.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Additionally, Meta has changed the name of its Facebook Pay service to Meta Pay, most probably with the intention of dominating the metaverse’s payment system. However, this could be combatted with companies like Mastercard being a member of the Metaverse Standards Forum, where many organizations are gathering to set the standards, not leaving them only with Meta.
With all this activity, vendors of payment solutions will undoubtedly travel the route to the metaverse as well. While it is conceivable to accept payments to increase the effectiveness of the metaverse as a sales channel, careful planning and implementation are required that are ultimately centered on the user experience — and biometrics will likely be a key factor in that.
Businessman And Artist David McCune Of Fayetteville Has Died The Fayetteville Observer
Businessman And Artist David McCune Of Fayetteville Has Died – The Fayetteville Observer https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/businessman-and-artist-david-mccune-of-fayetteville-has-died-the-fayetteville-observer/
David McCune, who spent most of his life in Fayetteville, died Sunday. The founder of McCune Technology was prominent in business and the arts.
In his 68 years, sculptor, author, businessman and entrepreneur David McCune left his mark on Fayetteville and elsewhere through his art, his hard work, his wit, his philanthropy and his many friendships.
McCune’s early work adorned sports cars in the 1970s — he made and sold metal louvers by mail order for their rear windows. Today McCune’s artwork is displayed in homes, businesses and public spaces around the city, around the state, and, he said in 2021, around the world.
Methodist University’s art gallery, which became Fayetteville’s de facto art museum after the Fayetteville Museum of Art shut down, bears his name.
McCune unexpectedly died of a heart attack on Sunday at home in St. Marys, Georgia, said his son, David McCune Jr. The senior McCune retired in Georgia several years ago after the sale of McCune Technology-Fayetteville Steel.
“He went peacefully,” David McCune Jr. said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the McCune family was still making funeral arrangements.
Numerous friends were posting to his Facebook page how much they will miss him.
A young inventor who flew mice on model rockets
David McCune Sr. was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He came to Fayetteville with his family when his chemical engineer father got a job at DuPont’s then-new factory, which opened in 1971, the younger McCune said. He graduated from Terry Sanford High School and taught himself how to work with metal, his son said.
McCune’s biography on Amazon.com, where he has seven books published, says that when McCune was a boy, he “was always building or inventing some kind of new gadget.” This included flying model rockets with mice in them.
In the ensuing decades, according to David McCune Jr. and news clippings:
In 1974, 20-year-old McCune designed, made, marketed and sold rear window louvers to owners of the Datsun 240Z and Bricklin sports cars who were eager to add panache to their whips along with shade to keep the interiors cool. His apartment was his factory.
In 1985, when McCune was 30, McCune Technology-Fayetteville Steel metal fabrication became the first tenant in Cumberland County’s then-new industrial park on Tom Starling Road. The company moved its operations from across town and McCune announced it would expand from 12 employees to 24. The company cut and manufactured steel parts and equipment for businesses and Fort Bragg.
In the 1990s, McCune was named Cumberland County’s entrepreneur of the year, had an unsuccessful run for the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, and was among a group of investors who bought and rehabbed the Prince Charles Hotel downtown. Further, McCune’s company was the subcontractor that fabricated and built Fayetteville’s “Ghost Tower,” a 35-foot-tall sculpture along the Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway that marks the location of the old Fayetteville Arsenal.
Into the 21st century, McCune made more public art and other sculptures. He built a social media following for his dog, Rufus. He wrote novels and books about his life and Rufus. And in 2010, Methodist University opened the David McCune International Art Gallery.
In addition to showcasing Methodist’s art students, the art gallery has brought to Fayetteville the works of Rembrandt, Rodin, Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso, the university’s website says. David McCune Jr. said his father had developed a relationship with Methodist University because he took classes there when he was in his 30s.
Finally, McCune Technology was sold in 2015 and McCune retired.
A modern-day Renaissance man who cultivated friendships
Downtown businesswoman Molly Arnold and Fayetteville Technical Community College President Larry Keen said on Tuesday they treasure their friendships with McCune.
He used to live in a downtown townhouse, Arnold said, and frequented her Rude Awakening coffee shop. Her shop is one of the businesses that helped bring life back to Fayetteville’s then-struggling downtown.
“We met about when Rude opened, because — you know he’s always been interested in downtown, sat on a lot of boards and commissions.
“And in the early years, when I was the night shift, I didn’t so much have customers as I had some people that would come in just to have a cup of coffee and talk, right? So David tended — tended to be one of those people.”
Arnold found him intelligent and well-read, she said.
“So there’s a myriad of topics to try to tackle, and problems to try to solve,” she said, laughing at the memories.
They didn’t agree politically, as Arnold swung left and McCune to the right. But they didn’t let their differences foul up their friendship, she said.
Now, one of McCune’s metal sculptures, Umbrella Man, stands in the corner of Rude Awakening’s courtyard. He also made signs for Arnold’s shop and designed and built a stand for her granita Italian ice machine.
“He took measurements, and I’m telling you, it fit to a T” in the confined space behind the counter, she said.
McCune served on the Board of Trustees at Fayetteville Tech from 2008 to 2016. Keen, the Fayetteville Tech president, said he knew McCune long before then from their work together on Cumberland County Workforce Development Board.
“Some people might call him a modern-day Renaissance man, in that he always looked for new opportunity and new horizons and new relationships,” Keen said. He always had what Keen called “a creative spark.”
This manifested in 2012 when Fayetteville Tech celebrated its 50th anniversary. McCune built a sculpture to mark the school’s history. Fifty steel pipes, some short, some long, symbolize the school’s growth over the years. It’s in front of the Tony Rand Student Center.
In retirement, McCune continued to create.
In 2021 he posted on Facebook photos of himself in his garage as he was using a machine called an English wheel to form a piece of metal for a piece of art.
Less than a month ago, on Sept. 11, the town of Sunset Beach on the North Carolina coast unveiled a monument that McCune made in memory of the terror attacks of September 2001.
David McCune Sr. is survived by his son, David McCune Jr., daughter Sarah Valentine and her husband, two grandchildren, his brother Robert McCune and Robert’s wife, and his former wife Sonya.
Senior North Carolina reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@gannett.com.
Billionaire Mike Novogratz Believes Bitcoin Price Will Surge If Fed Makes This Decision Cryptonews
Billionaire Mike Novogratz Believes Bitcoin Price Will Surge If Fed Makes This Decision – Cryptonews https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/billionaire-mike-novogratz-believes-bitcoin-price-will-surge-if-fed-makes-this-decision-cryptonews/
Mike Novogratz. Source: a YouTube video screenshot
Mike Novogratz forecasts a bullish takeoff for Bitcoin (BTC) once the US Federal Reserve eases down on its aggressive rate hikes aimed at taming inflation.
The current cycle has especially been tough for the firstborn crypto, as it suffers from both an unfavourable outlook, and the effects of growing correlation with traditional finance. As a consequence, Novogratz believes the asset will stage a comeback once the abysmal macro climate cools.
Novogratz disclosed these opinions while speaking on a CNBC Squawk Box episode Tuesday. The 53-year-old CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners implied that Bitcoin lost its status as a potent hedge against inflation when Fed Chair Jerome Powell began his campaign of interest rate hikes.
Bitcoin, often touted as an inflation hedge, collapsed in tandem with other risk assets as the Fed staged its response against inflation. The asset’s recent correlation with traditional finance contributed to its fall.
“When Powell started beating inflation over the head with a sledgehammer, of course, Bitcoin came back down as did lots of assets,” Novogratz remarked.
Notwithstanding, the American billionaire and investor argued that Bitcoin will likely see a breakout once Chair Powell “gives up the fight against inflation.” According to Novogratz, Powell’s moves towards combating inflation have a more detrimental effect to Bitcoin than inflation itself.
Last month, the Fed raised benchmark interest rates by another 75-basis point in its continued fight against inflation. The move marked the third consecutive 0.75% hike, and the central bank noted that hikes could persist going forward.
Hikes in interest rates do not come without their adverse effects on the economy and risk assets. In view of this, a UN agency recently released a report, warning the Fed against further hikes.
Anthony Scaramucci does not believe BTC is an inflation hedge yet
The “Bitcoin is an inflation hedge” narrative has seen some objections from crypto critics of late. This is due in large part to the asset’s struggles against the recent inauspicious macro atmosphere. While some crypto proponents have held on to this belief regardless, most have had to review the assertion.
Two months ago, CEO of SkyBridge Capital, Anthony Scaramucci argued against the assertion that Bitcoin is an inflation hedge. According to Scaramucci, the asset is not mature enough to serve as a powerful hedge against inflation. He noted that Bitcoin needs to reach a billion in wallet bandwidth to be able to hedge against inflation.
Scaramucci has, for some time, asserted that Bitcoin cannot hedge against inflation yet. Notwithstanding, the former White House Communications Director remains bullish on the assert in the long term.
Southeast Texas Man Recovering After Losing Leg To Flesh-Eating Bacteria Port Arthur News The Port Arthur News
Southeast Texas Man Recovering After Losing Leg To Flesh-Eating Bacteria – Port Arthur News – The Port Arthur News https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/southeast-texas-man-recovering-after-losing-leg-to-flesh-eating-bacteria-port-arthur-news-the-port-arthur-news/
Published 12:38 am Wednesday, October 5, 2022
BRIDGE CITY — Carlton “Tater” Abney has grown up in Bridge City near Cow Bayou. For 16 years, his family has lived in a house on the water. So heading out into the bayou on the weekend of Sept. 18 wasn’t unusual.
“That one weekend we went, he stepped on something and cut his foot,” said Carlton’s son, Colton Abney. “They thought it was a snake bite or spider bite.”
Two days later on Monday, Carlton was suffering but pushed through the severe leg pain.
By Tuesday, Colton took him to the hospital. Four hours later, he was in organ failure and needed to have his leg amputated.
And the family learned, had he not sought medical treatment, Carlton would have died within hours.
What was thought to be a bite was an infection caused by flesh-eating bacteria.
“It was crazy,” Colton said. “They had doctors that came down from Baylor because they hadn’t seen anything like this. It took almost five hours for his organs to start working again.”
While there are several strands of Vibriosis, Vibrio vulnificus can cause necrotizing fasciitis, otherwise known as flesh-eating bacteria, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control.
The bacteria is found primarily in salt or brackish water and is contracted through an open wound, which can be as small as an insect bite. Vibrio can also be spread through the body by eating undercooked shellfish and certain seafood.
According to Texas Health and Human Services, onset of symptoms typically occur from 16 hours to seven days of infection and can lead to sepsis and amputation.
In 2010, only 79 cases of Vibriosis were detected in Texas. That number grew to 289 by 2019, which is the most recent year reported on the state’s website.
The 2019 majority — 49 cases — were reported in Hidalgo County. Bexar County saw 27, while Harris County reported 33. There were no cases reported out of Jefferson or Orange counties.
“All waterways tie into Cow Bayou,” Colton said. “If it’s in Cow Bayou, it’s everywhere.”
The Orange County bayou empties into the Sabine River, which feeds into Sabine Lake, the Sabine-Neches Waterway, Keith Lake and Gulf of Mexico.
“They test the waters, they know this is in there,” Colton said. “We’re trying to get this out so it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Carlton is facing at least another six months in the hospital, said his son. And currently he’s trying to maintain a positive outlook.
“He knows it was life or death,” Colton said.
But with each day in the hospital comes more debt. Carlton has been administered hundreds of thousands of dollars in medications alone. And even after he’s discharged, the Abney family has to modify their home to meet Carlton’s needs.
Planning for a benefit for early November is underway, but for now those wanting to help can Venmo @Colton-Abney-1.
A Bucket-List Golf Trip ToGreece?! Yep Heres Why Thats Now A Real Thing Golf.com
A Bucket-List Golf Trip To…Greece?! Yep, Here’s Why That’s Now A Real Thing – Golf.com https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/a-bucket-list-golf-trip-togreece-yep-heres-why-thats-now-a-real-thing-golf-com/
By: John McAlley October 5, 2022
The Hills Course, a José María Olazábal design in Costa Navarino, sits 700 feet above sea level.
Courtesy
Why is there so little golf in Greece? Theories are as abundant as the olives in Kalamata.
“Too rocky, and water is scarce and expensive” is Tom Doak’s guess. The architect has not only never been approached to build a course in Greece, he’s also never set foot in the country.
“Golf isn’t a Mediterranean sport, it’s a northern European sport,” posits Robert Trent Jones Jr.
“Plus, it’s hot,” Doak adds. “And there aren’t many golfers!”
But there is at least one lunatic golf fan: the “guest service ambassador” who greets me at the Romanos. The luxury resort — all vaulted ceilings, marble surfaces, cerulean blue-tiled pools and curtain-billowing breezes — anchors Costa Navarino, a sprawling vacation spot set softly against the Ionian Sea in a remote region of the Peloponnese.
“I see that your passion is for golf,” he says excitedly, eyeing my Titleist cap. “Have you ever met the Gold Bear?! I believe he has won 117 tournaments on his career!”
This is the rare Greek with something of a grasp on the game. In a country of nearly 11 million people, there are only nine 18-hole golf courses, four of them at Costa Navarino. So it’s not surprising that the kid has never picked up a club.
“I think it is a demanding sport,” he says, shaking his head. “A lot of secret of techniques!”
The Dunes was the first course in Costa Navarino.
courtesy (both)
The Bay course soon followed.
courtesy
Costa Navarino has, until now, been something of a secret in itself, at least to American golfers. Its first course — the Dunes, designed in collaboration with Bernhard Langer — and its first resort — the family-friendly Westin, which seamlessly shares 320 acres of seaside property with the posher, couples-friendly Romanos — opened in 2010. A year later, Trent Jones Jr.’s Bay Course debuted six miles down the road on Navarino Bay, where a few centuries ago Greece gained its independence in a naval battle with the Turks. RTJ, a ravenous history buff, thinks of his windblown, beautifully sloping Bay Course as “a green apron to the sea.”
Brits, Germans, Scandinavians and the French have flocked to Costa Navarino for a decade, drawn by the relentless sunshine, high-quality golf (the Dunes and Bay perpetually flirt with the list of Continental Europe’s 100 best courses), easy access (affordable flights into nearby Kalamata International Airport) and first-class hospitality, an area in which the Greeks are scratch players.
What’s suddenly reshaping the perception of Costa Navarino as a dream-golf destination is the opening, in February 2022, of two new courses: mountaintop stunners courtesy of José María Olazábal’s design group; a sexy and chic, Mykonos-worthy W hotel opened its doors in August; and an ultra-high-end Mandarin Oriental arrives in the spring.
The two new hotels — the first W and Mandarin Oriental in all of Greece — are nestled into Navarino Bay and offer the most central access (via gratis, Mercedes Sprinter van shuttles) to Costa Navarino’s four golf courses.
There’s an audacious vision at work here; ambition that defies the region’s earthy, rural roots. And a fortune is being spent — all for an outpost a hefty three-and-a-half-hour drive from Athens. Plato would be perplexed.
The Romanos is long on views.
courtesy
Costa Navarino is the dream of the late shipping magnate Vassilis Constantakopoulos. Over a span of 20-plus years, “the Captain” used his wealth to scoop up large waterfront swaths of Messenia, the agriculture-rich southwest corner of the Peloponnese. The intention was to put his birthplace on the map, honor his up-from-nothing beginnings and give back to a region made up of small farms, olive groves for as far as the eye can see and young locals in need of opportunity and a future.
The Captain is celebrated as a local hero, but not every Messenian was ready to buy in. Jones remembers building the Bay Course over a decade ago: “We wanted to widen a fairway, but they hadn’t acquired a piece of the land in the elevation above the hole. The woman wouldn’t sell, and she kept coming out with a kitchen knife and threatening my shaper!”
She’s still there, Jones thinks. “Her property line borders the 6th hole, so if somebody hits it out of bounds it might be more than a few strokes penalty,” he says, chuckling.
RTJ likes a good quip, but he’s quick to praise what the Captain and his heir, Achilles, have achieved. He can’t think of another golf destination quite like Costa Navarino in all of Continental Europe. “You might better compare it to Bandon or Pinehurst or Pebble Beach,” he says. “And there’s lots to do there besides golf. Warm people. Nice people. Great food. Sea experiences. We like to joke that on the 2nd hole of the Langer course, right by the sea, if you’re playing double-bogey golf, you can just take off your shirt and go swimming.”
Robert Trent Jones Jr. can’t think of another golf destination quite like Costa Navarino in all of Continental Europe.
It’s not an exaggeration. The three hotels currently open are vast playgrounds for sun worshippers, spa lovers, kite surfers, tennis junkies, entry-level foodies. English is the common language, but multiculturalism is everywhere — particularly in the open-air, moonlit restaurants.
Classic steakhouse? It’s called Flame. Italian? Da Luigi. Traditional and modern Greek? There are several, including Armyra, Parelia (at the W) and, at water’s edge, Barbouni. Japanese? The nirvana called Onuki is legit world-class. Servers named Adonis and Babis bring you your pink grapefruit–infused G&Ts. Beauties named Paola and Afrodite (with an f) field your questions about the menu. Sotiris is the devil in your ear when choosing between the chicken and the Wagyu rib eye. Breakfast, free to hotel guests, is treated like the Last Supper. Imagine the opulence of HBO’s The White Lotus, but with a Euro beat and without the bickering Americans.
The courses are just as diverse and tasty. No Doak or Coore-Crenshaw designs here. The place courts tourists, not purists. But the golf is still first-rate. The Langer course, which wraps around the Romanos and the Westin, is considered Costa Navarino’s championship course — and its toughest because of diabolical bunkering. The whip-smart kid who wiped down my clubs after a round called Jones’ Bay layout a “holiday course,” meaning it epitomizes resort golf: friendly fairways, large greens, killer vistas (of Navarino Bay). But that’s like calling Marilyn Monroe cute. Typical of a RTJ II track, it’s wily; a chess game waiting to be taken on in two-club winds and with thrilling elevation changes.
To play the two new Olazábal loops — the Hills Course and the International Olympic Academy Golf Course — you’ll shuttle 20 minutes into the mountains, 700 feet above sea level. Jones likes to rib the work of players-turned-designers like Langer and Olazábal for what he calls their “straight-line” architecture. But the Ollie courses are precocious; a feast of doglegs, blind tee shots and bending fairways dotted with rocky outcroppings and archly placed olive trees. The Olympic — a collaborative enterprise with Greece’s IOC and a place where the hope is to spark the talent of young Greek golfers — is the only Costa Navarino course with black tees, which tip out at just about 7,000 yards. Although its front nine is the least memorable of the four tracks, its back nine is a mindblower, a string of testy holes that ride along tiered cliffs high above the bay.
Several holes on the Olympic course run along the cliffs.
courtesy
Because it’s the only layout without water views, the inland Hills might, you’d think, be a comedown. But it’s entrancing. Its cart paths, dusted with red clay, move like copper ribbons through native areas populated with aromatic jasmine, rosemary and fruit trees. Cradled in the folds of the mountains, the course is eerily hushed and strangely lush. Off the tee, it’s even more beguiling. In golf operations manager Adam Kritikos’s estimation, it’s the gnarliest of the layouts for those hitting from the tips.
Kritikos had the best explanation for why golf in Greece has been so slow to gain traction — and why it’s Greek to most Greeks.
“The perception here is that it’s a rich man’s sport,” he says. “The first four golf courses in Greece were built at the same time: the 1960s to 1970s, during the military occupancy of Greece. We had a small dictatorship. And the old prime minister used to play golf, so the perception became, Ah, it’s a sport for the rich. That thinking is still not so up to date.”
For Americans, the price of putting it in play at Costa Navarino begins with the not-insignificant expense of getting there: a flight into Athens (there are none from the States into Kalamata) and a car rental for the journey to the coast. Once you’re there, the numbers fall a little more in line: a standard room at the W goes for roughly $375 a night; at the Romanos, $340; at the Westin, $320.
Poolside at the W.
courtesy (both)
A villa at the Romanos.
courtesy
Greens fees for the four courses are identical: about $190 in the peak golf season, which emphatically is not the peak summer season. Costa Navarino’s busiest months are July and August, but you’d rather walk the surface of the sun than play midday in that heat. Early-morning and late-afternoon rounds, when the sun loses its bite and breezes pick up, are more common. If you like to feel as if you own a place, by all means get out in the summer, when each course books maybe a dozen rounds a day. Kritikos says the number jumps to 150 per course in the temperate months of February through May and September through November....
AP Top Business News At 6:27 A.m. EDT – WTMJ https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/ap-top-business-news-at-627-a-m-edt-wtmj-2/
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Consulate Bridges Health Gap In Mexican Immigrant Community KVEO-TV
Consulate Bridges Health Gap In Mexican Immigrant Community – KVEO-TV https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/consulate-bridges-health-gap-in-mexican-immigrant-community-kveo-tv/
Binational Health Week stresses prevention, education among population often uninsured and in need of care
by: Julian Resendiz
Posted: Oct 5, 2022 / 06:00 AM CDT
Updated: Oct 4, 2022 / 03:45 PM CDT
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Some 200 El Paso residents got free health screenings, flu and COVID-19 booster shots Tuesday at the Mexican consulate. It was part of Binational Health Week, which for the past 22 years has bridged the gap between local health providers and the immigrant community.
“Basically, what we do here is take their blood pressure, offer different tests so if they have any problems, they can be referred to low-cost clinics or hospitals or we can help them navigate the insurance system,” said Consul General Mauricio Ibarra Ponce de Leon.
Twenty-one El Paso hospitals, nonprofits and insurance companies are partnering with the consulate to promote healthy living. The El Paso Food Bank donated 200 boxes with food staples that were distributed to participants in a Tuesday health fair in the consulate’s parking lot.
Ibarra said talks about cancer, high blood pressure, mental health and others would take place throughout the month in Spanish online and in-person at the consulate. The U.S. Census July 2021 population estimate shows that nearly one in four El Paso County residents were foreign-born, and that 69.8 percent speak a language other than English at home.
Those numbers make the consulate a key player in community health education.
“We need to raise awareness of the importance of having good physical and mental health and that everybody knows they can reach out to a health provider regardless if they have insurance or not,” Ibarra said.
All of Mexico’s 50 consulates in the United States are observing Binational Health Week, though some may have it on a different date.
Maria Estrada (Border Report photo)
Maria Estrada, a Mexican national who says she has lived in El Paso for many years, was among the first in line at the screening tents. “I’m here for the tests, medical insurance information, everything they have here,” she said.
Others came for the flu and COVID-19 shots and the free foodstuffs.
“This is the first time I come to these fairs. I came here for the flu vaccine. I have all the COVID vaccines and all,” said Ana Lilia Perez.
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Dave Reardon: Thankfully Aaron Judge Brings Good News To Sports World Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Dave Reardon: Thankfully, Aaron Judge Brings Good News To Sports World – Honolulu Star-Advertiser https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/dave-reardon-thankfully-aaron-judge-brings-good-news-to-sports-world-honolulu-star-advertiser/
Thank you, Aaron Judge. We needed that. While waiting for you to hit home run No. 62 yesterday, the other “sports” stories I scrolled through included Tom Brady filing divorce papers and reports of Herschel Walker apparently being a bad husband and father. Read more
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Asus Worlds 6th Largest PC Vendor Enters Metaverse With NFT Platform The Tokenist
Asus, World’s 6th Largest PC Vendor, Enters Metaverse With NFT Platform – The Tokenist https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/asus-worlds-6th-largest-pc-vendor-enters-metaverse-with-nft-platform-the-tokenist/
Image courtesy of 123rf.
Taiwanese electronics maker Asus unveiled a new web3 arm and launched an NFT platform to dive into the metaverse.
Published on October 05, 2022
Neither the author, Tim Fries, nor this website, The Tokenist, provide financial advice. Please consult our website policy prior to making financial decisions.
With a market cap of roughly $5.7 billion, Asus is the world’s sixth largest producer of personal computers. As of October 5th, 2022, Asus becomes the latest major company to join the Web3 space after launching an NFT platform. However, Asus’ new NFT marketplace allows only a group of invited artists to list their NFTs at the moment, with plans to launch a secondary market soon.
Asus Unveils ‘Art Black hole’ as it Enters the Metaverse
Asus, a Taiwan-based electronics and hardware maker, announced the launch of its non-fungible token (NFT) platform Tuesday. The move marks the company’s first push into the growing Web3 space, following the footsteps of other Taiwanese manufacturers Foxconn and Ennoconn Corp.
The platform, named ‘Art Black hole‘, was launched under Asus’ new Web3 business Asus Metaverse. The Ethereum-powered NFT platform is currently open only to a select group of artists, the company’s spokesperson said in a statement.
Also, Art Black hole does not support secondary trading at the moment, but the laptop maker plans to launch it soon, according to the official website. Buyers can purchase NFTs in New Taiwan dollars, the spokesperson added.
“Asus pays close attention to the latest developments of emerging industries, and we’re particularly drawn by the potential of the Web3 industry.”
– Joe Hsieh, chief operating officer of Asus
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Metaverse Welcomes More Major Players
The launch of the Art Black hole comes with Asus’ new Web3 arm, Asus Metaverse. Asus’ new subsidiary seeks to integrate the company’s cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain capabilities to dive deeper into the metaverse.
Earlier this year, Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, which produces Apple’s iPhones, also forayed into the metaverse by partnering with and investing $100 million in XRSPACE, the maker of virtual reality (VR) devices.
More recently, Facebook owner Meta Platforms has also been focused on bringing NFTs to its two biggest platforms – Facebook and Instagram. As of Sept. 29, Facebook and Instagram users are able to link their wallets and cross-post NFTs to both platforms.
“In order to post a digital collectible, all you need to do is connect your digital wallet to Instagram. As of today, we support connections with third-party wallets including Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet and Dapper Wallet coming soon. Supported blockchains at this time include Ethereum, Polygon and Flow.”
Introducing Digital Collectibles to Showcase NFTs on Instagram
The tech giant has rebranded from Facebook to Meta in 2021 to focus on building the metaverse and “the next chapter of social connection.” The company also unveiled a $50 million fund in September 2021 to research and develop the metaverse.
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About the author
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird’s US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.
42 People Share Their Cooking Cheats To Save You Time And Energy In The Kitchen Bored Panda
42 People Share Their Cooking ‘Cheats’ To Save You Time And Energy In The Kitchen – Bored Panda https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/42-people-share-their-cooking-cheats-to-save-you-time-and-energy-in-the-kitchen-bored-panda/
To gain some more cooking tips and insight about how to improve your cooking skills, we reached out to Trevor and Brittany of Mediocre Chef. First, we wanted to hear what inspired them to start their own cooking blog and what being a mediocre chef means to them. “We started getting together once or twice a month to try new recipes back in 2017,” the told Bored Panda. “For a lot of the recipes we tried, we found ourselves asking questions like, ‘Wait, what does this mean?’ or we would make something and go, ‘We really wish we had done this instead’ or, ‘Next time we should do this differently’. We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if someone who was just a normal, average cook, annotated some of the recipes to give guidance for other normal, average cooks?'”
“To us, being a mediocre chef means just being a normal, average person who wants to get better at cooking,” they shared. “Neither of us went to culinary school, neither of us were food prodigies or anything. We’re just two normal people who wanted to get better at cooking and really like food. Being a mediocre chef is having the skills to go a bit above ‘normal’, but also being cool with eating frozen pizza from time to time.”
We also asked Trevor and Brittany what their favorite thing about cooking is. “Getting a chance to try out new dishes from different cuisines. There’s so much good food that we missed out on for a long time simply because we didn’t cook enough/weren’t comfortable enough with our skills to try.”
And their least favorite? “Doing the dishes. Dishwashers were the best thing ever invented,” they shared.
“Another contender for least favorite: Trying to interpret old family recipes that have no measurements for ingredients or vague instructions,” they added. “What do you mean by one onion? What size of onion? When a recipe just says ‘simmer’, am I supposed to simmer that covered or uncovered?”
I boil water in my electric kettle instead of in a pan on the stove. Saves time and also money on gas (which is going to cost us 1.5 as much as of next month)
Celestina-Warbeck , cottonbro Report
We also asked Trevor and Brittany if they could share some of their best lazy cooking tips. “OP in the Reddit thread talks about using jars of pre-minced garlic because they hate mincing garlic by hand. We hate mincing garlic too, but the jarred stuff tastes a lot different versus freshly minced garlic,” they explained. “We don’t usually like one-trick gadgets, but a garlic press is great if you’re a garlic lover! It makes mincing garlic a breeze.”
“Using frozen puff pastry,” they added. “Nobody has time to make puff pastry from scratch. It’s exhausting, and butter is expensive.”
“If a recipe calls for wine, cheap wine will almost always do. If your dish needs to be simmered (soups, stews, etc) it can almost always be turned into a slow cooker recipe.”
“Air fryers are your best friend if you’re cooking for one (or two) and want food fast,” the Mediocre Chefs told Bored Panda. “They take way less time to cook versus an oven. We love potatoes (wedges, fries), chicken wings, and veggies (broccoli, brussel sprouts) in the air fryer!”
Frozen puff pastry even though I love to bake. As long as it’s made with all-butter then it’s good enough for me. Making puff pastry from scratch can be such a hassle. Plus, I don’t even like puff pastry all that much anyways. I much rather be making a tart or pie crust because I like them way more.
Darwin343 , Veganbaking.net Report
Trevor and Brittany also shared their tips for people who want to learn how to cook but just don’t know where to start. “Choose a dish that you really like, and make it regularly to build your confidence. Love macaroni and cheese? Practice making macaroni and cheese a lot. Adapt and change the recipe you start out with to fit your tastes — this will also help you gain confidence and learn what works and what doesn’t work when trying to alter recipes.”
“Out of our friends that don’t cook, we find the biggest obstacle is lacking confidence,” they noted. “Practice makes perfect. You won’t become a master cook overnight. Additionally, start small. If you’re a beginner, don’t try to cook a 5 course French meal from scratch. Simple is best.”
I love to bake but I don’t like to reinvent the wheel. If something is great, why make it from scratch? So I unapologetically use brownie mix. Also, anything Krusteze brand.
jmac94wp , Teresa Trimm Report
“Try to find a video of the recipe on YouTube (or Facebook, or Reddit),” the Mediocre Chefs recommended. “Sometimes chefs aren’t the best at describing what they mean when they write recipes, so having a visual aid helps. Plus, we all learn differently!”
“Try to sample as many different styles of food as possible. If you want to be a good writer, you should read a lot of different books. If you want to be a good musician, you should listen to a lot of different music. If you want to be a good cook, you should eat a lot of different cuisines. You’ll probably find a bunch of flavors that you really like, and it helps to develop your palate.”
If you’d like to learn even more tips from Trevor and Brittany, be sure to check out their blog Mediocre Chef right here.
We also reached out to Reddit user ChallengeLate1947 to hear what inspired him to start this conversation in the first place. “Mostly I was looking to still make quality food without taking hours to do it,” he told Bored Panda.
“I spend roughly 3 hours a day cooking for my household, and as much as I love it, some time saving tips are always welcome,” he shared. “I enjoy baking primarily — I do pastry and make all my own bread. I have a fondness for dumplings.”
And as for what he learned from this list, he told us, “I mainly learned what not to cut corners on.”
Cheap rotisserie chicken, at least once a week. I break it down and serve it for a couple meals, use the little bits stuck on the bones for salads, and I save the bones for stock. I could roast my own, sure. But the rotisserie chicken is
a) already done and
b) cheaper than I can buy raw.
Wins all around.
MelMickel84 , Phil Gwinn Report
Cooking is one of those things that most of us wish we were better at or had more time for, but it can easily be put on the back burner time and time again. Why spend time learning how to cook when frozen foods and takeout exists? But the thing is, a delicious meal does not have to take hours to make. In fact, even spending 15-30 minutes preparing dinner will likely result in a more fulfilling and wholesome meal than spending 15 minutes running to the nearest takeout joint.
If you’re short on time, the tips on this list can go a long way in your kitchen. Don’t get enough vegetables in your diet? Keep bags of frozen ones on hand to eliminate the time it takes to wash, peel and chop. In certain recipes, you won’t even be able to tell the difference once it’s finished. I make curry at least once a week using whatever fresh veggies I have on hand, but I always toss in some frozen ones as well to bulk it up. And I assure you, I cannot tell which is which by the time everything has soaked up the liquid. Plus, I save myself valuable time by simply dumping out a bag rather than spending time fussing with produce.
Never waste a precious drop of your Nutella again. Instead, pour warm milk into the dregs of the jar to create Nutella hot chocolate and happiness.
klaraclarkk , Denys Almeida Report
On a similar note, pre-prepared seasonings and broths can be a godsend. Curry paste? My best friend. Mushroom or vegetable broth? My right-hand man. I have various seasoning mixes as well that I rotate through depending on what culture of food I’m making that evening. Many people who responded to this thread also mentioned the value of having a handy-dandy bouillon on hand, and I could not agree more. A cube of stock or a splash of broth concentrate adds so much flavor and salt that it can be a huge shortcut in cooking many dishes.
We all know meal-prepping can save lots of time and energy as well, but themed days of the week can have the exact same effect. In my humble opinion, half of the struggle of cooking every day is just deciding what to make. 6 days out of the week, this can be a problem. On Sundays, however, my partner and I always make pizza for dinner. We mix up the type of crust and the toppings of course, but Pizza Sunday is a beloved tradition that saves us both time and energy. We usually have most of the ingredients on hand already, and the process runs smoothly because we’ve got it down to a science. If you’re too exhausted to think about what to make each day, consider introducing Taco Tuesday, Pasta Saturday or Pizza Sunday to take the guesswork out.
Giving things that take forever to heat through (especially roasted/baked items) a running start in the microwave. Frozen lasagnas and casseroles, potatoes, carrots, whatever.
The microwave gets the inside hot first (or at least warm) in a few minutes, then the oven or pan finishes the outside in about half the normal time, and with zero mushy, microwaved texture left at the end.
theBodyVentura , Chris Bloom Report
Another time-saving tip that is mentioned several times on this list is having ingredients that can be used many different ways. For example, rotisserie chicken, tofu, a vegetable that can be used alongside many dishes like peas, etc. Rice is a great food that can be used in many ways as well, as a side, in a stir-fry, in a risotto, in burritos; the possibilities are endless. So when you make rice, prepare more than you need and use the leftovers throughout the week. If I make a curry with rice one evening, I can use that same rice for a completely different meal the next day. I’ll prepare a different protei...
Bitcoin Miners Selling 50% Less BTC Compared To Last Month End Of Bear Market? Cryptonews
Bitcoin Miners Selling 50% Less BTC Compared To Last Month – End Of Bear Market? – Cryptonews https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/bitcoin-miners-selling-50-less-btc-compared-to-last-month-end-of-bear-market-cryptonews/
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Bitcoin (BTC) miners are now selling off fewer of the coins they mine compared to last month, signaling a more optimistic outlook on the future among some of the network’s most important players.
The finding that miners are selling less bitcoin was shared in Glassnode’s latest The Week Onchain report, where the crypto analytics firm said that the 30-day change in miner wallets shows that 50% fewer coins are now being sold by miners compared to in early September.
Source: Glassnode
Digging further into the data, however, Glassnode found that a “great majority” of the selling by miners was linked to miners associated with the major mining pool Poolin.
Poolin was until recently one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools, accounting for 12% of the hashrate at the start of September. However, its hashrate started plummeting shortly after, when the mining pool admitted that it was experiencing “liquidity problems due to recent increasing demands on withdrawals.”
Today, Poolin accounts for only 3.7% of the Bitcoin network’s hashpower, Glassnode’s data showed.
The net position change by miners is seen as a key on-chain metric to watch for Bitcoin investors, given that it gives a clue about the conviction of some of the most heavily invested market participants. However, selling by miners has also been seen as necessary before a new bull run can begin, and many traders have patiently waited for a so-called ‘miner capitulation’ to happen.
“Notably stable” bitcoin price
Commenting on the state of the bitcoin market more broadly, Glassnode said in its report that the price has remained “notably stable” in the face of a challenging macroeconomic environment.
“Such quiet periods are very uncommon for Bitcoin, with semblance to both pre-crash November 2018, but equally to pre-rally March 2019,” the report said.
U.S. Senators Ask Starbucks For Information About Union Dealings Reuters
U.S. Senators Ask Starbucks For Information About Union Dealings – Reuters https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/u-s-senators-ask-starbucks-for-information-about-union-dealings-reuters/
Starbucks employees who support unionization protest in the company’s hometown ahead of Investor Day, in Seattle, Washington, U.S. September 12, 2022. REUTERS/Hilary Russ/File Photo
NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters) – Four U.S. Senators have asked Starbucks to disclose how much the coffee chain has spent on lawyers and consulting fees to counter the growing union membership at hundreds of its locations in the United States.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal, all Democrats, and independent Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, sent their request in a letter late Tuesday to Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz and its board of directors.
According to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters, they cited “reports that Starbucks is engaging in illegal union-busting tactics” and asked Starbucks to respond within a month.
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“We appreciate every opportunity to share the facts and address inaccuracies about our company and our partners, and we are confident in our stringent compliance with federal labor law,” Starbucks said in response to the letter.
Employees at about 245 out of Starbucks’ nearly 9,000 company-owned U.S. locations have voted to unionize in just over the past year.
The Senators also said in their letter that they want to see the guidance Starbucks gave to managers about how to deal with workers organizing unions and whether its spending expenditures to counter unions were listed in its tax filings.
They also asked for a list of changes the Seattle-based chain has made to benefits for non-unionized employees.
The company has been boosting benefits – including expanded coverage for adoption services on Monday – but only for employees not in a union.
Starbucks is “weaponizing benefits and wage increases to discourage workers from organizing,” Warren said in emailed remarks to Reuters. Bargaining is tentatively set to begin on various days this month at some stores.
August, the National Labor Relations Board accused Starbucks of illegally withholding raises from unionized workers.
Starbucks said on a company blog that labor law requires it to negotiate any changes in benefits or working conditions with the union representing those employees.
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Reporting by Hilary Russ
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Mosaic Adds Technology E&O To Cyber Exposure Protection Captive Insurance Times
Mosaic Adds Technology E&O To Cyber Exposure Protection – Captive Insurance Times https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/mosaic-adds-technology-eo-to-cyber-exposure-protection-captive-insurance-times/
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05 October 2022
Bermuda
Reporter Lucy Carter
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Mosaic adds technology E&O to cyber exposure protection
Specialty insurance firm Mosaic Insurance (Mosaic) has launched excess technology error and omissions (E&O) as a companion cover to cyber for companies in the technology sector.
Tech E&O protects companies from risks associated with cyber exposure, including cyber warfare, data breaches, and ransomware.
The product is available globally, through the company’s cyber hubs in London, Bermuda, and the US. It is underswritten through Mosaic’s Syndicate 1609, and requires a minimum attachment point of US$10 million.
Yosha Delong, global head of cyber at Mosaic, comments: “We are excited to announce the progression of our cyber strategy and product offering. The ability to offer technology E&O and cyber on an excess basis is focused on providing needed solutions to the challenges faced by our clients in an increasingly interconnected world.”
James Tuplin, head of international, cyber, at Mosaic, says: “I have been writing technology E&O for nearly 15 years and while today’s headlines are focused on cyber, the underlying need for technology companies to purchase protection has also increased. Clients and brokers are asking for more capacity, but have been unable to find it. We are happy to support them with this new excess capacity we are bringing to the market.”
Alert: Yankees Star Aaron Judge Hits 62nd Home Run To Break Roger Maris 61-Year-Old American League Record San Antonio Express-News
Alert: Yankees Star Aaron Judge Hits 62nd Home Run To Break Roger Maris’ 61-Year-Old American League Record – San Antonio Express-News https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/alert-yankees-star-aaron-judge-hits-62nd-home-run-to-break-roger-maris-61-year-old-american-league-record-san-antonio-express-news/
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Alert: Yankees star Aaron Judge hits 62nd home run to break Roger Maris’ 61-year-old American League record
GOPs Kalus Waged Battle Against $15k Fine For Alleged Violation Of Key West Rental Rules The Providence Journal
GOP’s Kalus Waged Battle Against $15k Fine For Alleged Violation Of Key West Rental Rules – The Providence Journal https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/gops-kalus-waged-battle-against-15k-fine-for-alleged-violation-of-key-west-rental-rules-the-providence-journal/
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8181277001 PFO 1006 Ashley
PROVIDENCE — When Republican candidate for governor Ashley Kalus describes herself as a “fighter,” she is not over-stating her response to the $15,000 fine that county officials in Florida slapped on one of her companies for violating local vacation rental rules.
The legal fight that Kalus and her husband, Jeffrey Weinzweig, launched in the spring of 2018 went on for more than three-and-a-half years, with Kalus alleging “retaliation” by county officials because she questioned their rules.
The fight began with a February 2018 investigation of an online ad for what, county officials deemed, was an attempt to illegally rent one of her Key West homes.
It ended on Nov. 1, 2021 with a settlement requiring Kalus’ company to pay the county a reduced $5,000 fine, little more than two months before Kalus registered as a Rhode Island voter for the first time, on the way to announcing her GOP bid for R.I. governor.
Why should a Rhode Island voter care about this legal tug of war over a house on Summerland Key, Fla.?
Here’s one possible reason:
The tangled tale shines a light on Kalus’ life before she arrived on the Rhode Island political stage this past spring with a voter registration in Florida, and a tax break reserved for residents on her Illinois home.
Here’s another:
The court file contains allegations that Kalus and her husband Jeffrey Weinzweig knew the county’s vacation rental restrictions when they purchased 885 E. Shore Drive, Summerland Key in 2015 – and flouted them.
Instead of following the rules, the lawyers for Monroe County alleged in a court filing that Kalus “decided to engage in illegal vacation rentals of the subject property with the intention of not getting caught.”
According to the filing, her company – Sirena Key LLC – “filed the action only after choosing to engage in illegal vacation rentals of the subject property and getting caught.”
A Kalus spokesman told The Journal: ‘The allegation is absurd.’
“Ashley and Jeff have always followed the law, and the claim was made by the county in retaliation for Ashley highlighting injustices being perpetrated by the government against working people in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma,” said spokesman Matt Hanrahan.
But the Democratic Governors Association suggests:
“Ashley Kalus’ repeated, blatant disregard for the law shows Rhode Islanders exactly who she is: someone who puts her own self interests ahead of standards and ethics,” said DGA spokeswoman Christina Amestoy.
What was at stake?
“Monroe County faces a critical affordable and workforce housing shortage, and the further conversion of available local housing into vacation rentals will substantially and adversely impact this shortage,” the county argued in a court filing.
Beyond that, “there are a number of problems attendant with vacation rental use including increased noise and traffic impacts, and Monroe County’s zoning and vacation rental use regulations … [mitigate] these impacts,” county officials argued.
Sound familiar?
The concerns raised by Monroe County, Fla. officials echo those raised by locals in Rhode Island.
Providence, in 2019, limited many short-term rentals to owner-occupied units. Newport this year banned short-term rentals in areas zoned residential. Warwick.is the latest city to contemplate banning all but owner-occupied short-term rentals
County fines for violation of rental rules
This Florida story begins in 2015 when county officials came across rental postings for the Weinzweigs’ recently purchased house on Summerland Key on Vrbo and HomeAway.
The property was owned by Sirena Key LLC, which at that time was listed by both Kalus and her husband as principals.
They were not fined that first time, after deleting the advertisements, according to the Code Compliance case file.
In February 2018, county officials conducted another vacation rental inspection.
The upshot: the county fined Sirena Key LLC for violating local vacation rental rules by advertising their house at 855 E. Shore Drive, Summerland Key for rent for fewer than 28 days. The fine: $15,000.
Kalus accused the county officials of “retaliation.”
It went like this, according to comments in the “Code Compliance” file compiled by inspector Francie Boellard, who retired last year.
March 20, 2018: “Ashley called me. Wanted to know more about the case as she is the one [who] placed the advertisement & thought she had removed all her advertisements.”
She “wanted to know when the the case was created. I gave her the date…[and] she said there is a law about retaliation.
“I told her I had no idea what she was referring to. [She] said she called county administrator’s office on 3/15 to find out about vacation rental law in legislature to see if the law changed & property owners can do what they want with their homes.
“Feels since she called the administrators office, I opened a case against her.”
“She asked if there was a way to resolve this without going to a hearing. I discussed a stipulated agreement. She said she would get back to me,”
That same day, “Dr. Weinzweig called to say they can’t come to a hearing. Felt they complied & the case should be closed…”
“I explained the process…He said I am squeezing him to come to a meeting & the case should be closed. Then stated the advertisement was not theirs….[The house still] has $1 million in damages [from Hurricane Irma].
“He called back wanting a copy of the file… Stated that he is a highly skilled plastic surgeon & just can’t fly in for a meeting. Wants the case to be closed as there is no way he can be renting if he sustained a million dollars worth of damage.”
In another call that same March day, “Dr. Weinzweig left message on my [voice] mail stating it was ludicrous I would ask for photos from them with damages from IRMA.”
A special magistrate conducted a hearing on April 26, 2018, rejected the Weinzweigs’ arguments and fined them $15,000.
On Sept. 21, 2018, Sirena Key LLC – the company created by Ashley and Jeffrey Weinzweig, that by this time named Kalus alone as an officer – filed suit in the Circuit Court of the 16th Judicial Circuit for Monroe County.
Among their arguments: State law “pre-empts municipalities and counties from regulating vacation rentals,” with limited exceptions.
And to the extent regulation is allowed, they argued: the county exceeded its authority by imposing “prohibitions against advertising vacation rentals…as opposed to solely and exclusively prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating the frequency or duration of vacation rentals.”
Circuit Court Judge Luis Garcia rejected two of their three arguments for a summary judgment.
A third was in limbo when the two sides reached an agreement on Nov. 1, 2021.
The county agreed to reduce the $15,000 fine to $5,000 and Kalus’ company – Sirena Key LLC – agreed not to rent or advertise the property for rent for less than 28 days, without a special vacation rental permit.
How does Kalus explain what happened?
“She listed the property on a travel website as a draft. Unbeknownst to her, the posting went live, but by that point, Hurricane Irma had hit, and the property was not in a livable condition,” Hanrahan said.
Another problem: “The text of the listing stated that the property could not be rented for less than 28 days, in accordance with county regulations, but due to a glitch on the site, people were able to try to book for less time.”
But “no request for less than 28 days has ever been accepted at the property.”
Retaliation? For what?
“Following Hurricane Irma, Ashley was a very vocal, public critic of the county commissioners because the county was charging permit fees on insurance settlements for hurricane victims,” Hanrahan said.
“Ashley’s concern was that individuals could not afford the county fees for rebuilding as the insurance money could only be used for repairs,” Hanrahan said.
She believed “what the county was doing was immoral, and it hurt working people in trailers the most.”
“Only after she brought concerns to the county did they cite her with a technical violation for the rental – hence it was very clearly retaliation for her making light of the county’s immoral acts,” he said.
How Technology Is Helping Truck Drivers IoT Business News
How Technology Is Helping Truck Drivers – IoT Business News https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/how-technology-is-helping-truck-drivers-iot-business-news/
Introduction
The heavy transportation and trucking industry walk a fine balance to not only maintain client relations but profit. Often this fine line can be tricky at best to navigate successfully, fortunately, the adoption of specific technologies is helping business owners and their employees find success in a stressful industry.
Real-Time Location Tracking
In 2021, there were over 21,000 supply chain disruptions globally which placed a massive amount of stress on logistics companies in general, let alone trucking companies, and sadly resulted in some of them folding. Being able to see potential disruptions then has become a priority for the industry. One overlooked technology that has enabled this is real-time location tracking.
This is done by providing fleet managers the ability to see where each truck is at any given time. This information can then be used to provide customers with real-time updates so all parties involved can make better near-term decisions an asset for any CDL job. For those about to enter a truck driver job, the technology will help plan better routes and driver behaviors that will help them succeed in their new profession.
Predictive Maintenance
With the combination of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) the trucking industry now can better predict when vehicles need maintenance to avoid costly breakdowns. IoT sensors in the vehicle can provide information to fleet managers. The collected data can then be combined with predictive AI algorithms to generate predictive models and set up better maintenance routines.
This can be leveraged to better use a mechanic’s time and with trucking forecasts for 2022 not inspiring confidence and further staffing shortages expected, your staff’s time and how it’s used is more important than ever. It also almost goes without saying that preventing costly breakdowns has an incredibly positive effect on the bottom line.
Driver Safety Monitoring
The current workforce shortages alluded to above, and the forecasts that predict it’s only going to get worse, are a crisis for the trucking industry waiting to happen. Any leveraging of technology to improve personnel safety and work conditions can then be seen as mission critical. Again, IoT sensors can provide important information that can be used to improve driver security and behavior for the better.
Typical information that can be provided to fleet managers comprises instances of harsh braking, taking corners too quickly, and speeding. Curbing these behaviors is not only important for driver safety but also for the load being delivered. Over the years, ignition locks relying on a successful breathalyzer test and an onboard camera to check safety measures like seatbelts are adhered to have all been proven in preventing accidents and more importantly fatal accidents. In the coming years, AI will better refine these technologies.
Conclusion
To overcome both the current and future challenges facing the trucking industry, advanced technologies will need to be adopted. These technologies can be leveraged to improve all facets of the business, from keeping staff and loads safe to the continued efficient use of the fleet. Ultimately, these technologies will keep companies competitive in a crowded market. While technology often requires a significant capital outlay in the three instances listed above, that outlay will provide a return on investment and improve the overall profitability of the company. In this sense, IoT tech and future AI improvements are an investment rather than an expense.
The Wind Down: Sleep Researcher Wendy Troxel, Ph.D. | Mindbodygreen – Mindbodygreen https://bexarcountynewsonline.com/the-wind-down-sleep-researcher-wendy-troxel-ph-d-mindbodygreen-mindbodygreen/
Our new sleep series, The Wind Down, provides a minute-by-minute peek into the wind-down routines that get well-being experts ready for bed. Today, we’re relaxing with Wendy Troxel, Ph.D., a sleep researcher and clinician who ends every night with small, sweet gestures—and starts every morning with an ice-cold shower.
For roughly the past 20 years, I have spent most of my waking hours thinking about, studying, and coaching people through sleep. It stands to reason then, that sleep is a non-negotiable priority for me. I know—not only from the strong scientific evidence, but also from my own personal experiences—that sleep is truly the foundation on which healthy lifestyles and health itself rests. Science clearly demonstrates that chronic sleep loss or poor quality sleep is directly linked with increased risk for mental and physical health problems, and cognitive decline (which is something I am increasingly more wary of as I get older).
The consequences of disturbed sleep go well beyond the individual, also affecting our closest relationships. As I write in my book, Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep, if you’re not going to sleep for yourself, then do it for your partner and everyone else around you! Frankly, we are all just better human beings when we are well-slept.
Frankly, we are all just better human beings when we are well-slept.
As for my personal relationship with sleep, I almost always fall asleep quickly, and most nights, I get good quality sleep. But there are some nights when I wake up around 3 or 4 in the morning and I can’t fall back to sleep. Generally, this happens when I am feeling a lot of pressure at work, or I am feeling worried about how one of my kids are doing. Like so many other women of a certain age, I am also rapidly approaching the menopausal transition and am finding that these middle-of-the-night awakenings are happening more frequently than they used to.
The good news is, I practice what I preach. If I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep, I don’t just lie there and wish I could fall back to sleep. Rather, I do exactly what I teach my clients to do, which is to get out of bed, go to the living room, and read a book until I find my eyelids getting droopy and I feel sleepy enough to return to bed. This teaches my brain that the bed is for sleep, not for frustration, worry, or “working” to fall asleep. Knowing that I have this backup strategy of what to do if I wake up and can’t fall back to sleep gives me a sense of control and reduces the chances that I will start feeling anxious or nervous about the consequences of not sleeping. Having a go-to strategy of what to do when you have “one of those nights” is a great way to avoid catastrophizing about the consequences of not sleeping, which will only lead to more anxiety and sleepless nights.
I know that most of the time, I get good sleep because I practice a variety of healthy sleep behaviors, like having a consistent bedtime and wake-up time, keeping the room cool and dark, and keeping my phone out of the bedroom. Here’s a peek into my go-to habits and routine.
8 p.m.: Fasting begins. Intermittent fasting (typically a 15/ 9 schedule) is helpful for me because I know nothing I consume (food or drink) after 8 p.m. is ever healthy or good for my sleep.
8:30 p.m. Returned home this afternoon after a weekend in Santa Cruz, watching my son compete in a half Ironman. Even spectating these endurance events is exhausting! I am definitely feeling fatigued from the weekend and the travel, but I know I may need some extra wind-down to help shift my biological clock an hour later (from PST to MT).
8:35 p.m.: I close the blinds in the living room and turn down all the lights in the house to help cue my brain that it is nighttime.
8:40 p.m.: After some discussion with my husband about what show we should watch, we land on a documentary about the tennis player Mardy Fish on the “Untold” series. Documentaries are a pretty safe bet for us for nighttime entertainment, because we both enjoy them, and it’s a good way to avoid watching anything too disturbing, like “Ozark” or the news, which tends to keep me up at night.
9:43 p.m.: I rouse the dogs from the couch, and let them outside one more time before bed, then send them to their doggie beds in the laundry room. (I am not one to let my dogs sleep with us, as much as I love them, I care about my sleep too much!).
9:47 p.m.: I plug my phone into the charging station we keep in our kitchen (and out of the bedroom).
9:50 p.m.: I put on my pajamas, brush my teeth, wash my face, moisturize, and fill my water bottle (which I place on my bedside table) and set my running clothes on my dresser, so I’m ready for my run tomorrow.
9:55 p.m.: I spray my sheets and pillow with rosemary scented pillow spray, climb in bed, and grab my kindle. Technically speaking, the bed is supposed to be used for sleep and sex only, but for me, reading is soporific and it’s part of my ritual. I am currently reading Stephen King’s “Fairy Tale”. I love his storytelling, but I will need to be careful if this particular story gets too disturbing or scary. If that happens, I’ll have to make this a daytime-only book, so that it doesn’t keep me up at night or give me nightmares. So far though, it’s a nice story about a boy and a dog and a somewhat mysterious old man.
10:17 p.m.: I’ve only made it through a handful of pages and my eyes are starting to go half-mast. Time for bed.
10:20 p.m.: Kiss my hubby goodnight and enjoy a few minutes of cuddling. As I discuss in my book, it’s really important for couples to punctuate the starts and ends of their days with small, but sweet gestures. Even a quick cuddle is a great way to connect and personally, gives me a wonderful sense of comfort. Then, I turn over to my side of the bed and take a moment to just experience how good it feels to be in bed, in my comfy sheets. I love this moment before falling asleep. I savor it, knowing it won’t be long until I drift off to sleep.
6:43 a.m.: I wake up on my own. I check the clock, and realize I have a few minutes to cuddle with my husband, which feels especially good on this chilly morning. I’m feeling a bit groggy, but that’s probably just due to the busy weekend, not a reflection of my sleep. I rouse myself out of bed.
6:47 a.m.: I grab my toothbrush and bring it into the COLD shower with me. I take a deep breath and submerge myself in the cold water. It’s definitely a shock to the system. I do a little jogging in place to help myself cope with the temperature, and I brush my teeth while singing the alphabet song to help pass the time.
6:50 a.m.: By the time I finish singing the alphabet song, that’s my cue that I’ve endured the cold long enough, so it’s time to get out of the shower. I am now wide awake. As I am engaging in this bit of self-torture, my husband starts brewing the coffee for us.
7 a.m.: Coffee in hand, I grab my dogs from the room where they sleep and take them to our backyard, where I throw the ball for them, and get my 10 minutes of sunlight exposure and do Wordle. I really look forward to this ritual now. I know it’s good for my dogs and it’s good for me, as getting sunlight first thing, is one of the most effective strategies for setting my circadian rhythm, which in turn, sets me up for sleep success at night. I relish this peaceful time to myself, before diving into work or family responsibilities.
