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An online RSPCA conference exploring the impacts of climate change on animal welfare has today heard calls for a strengthening of laws to protect livestock from extreme temperatures. Key note speaker Professor Lesley Hughes, a Climate Council of Australia councillor and a distinguished professor of biology at Macquarie University, presented on climate change impacts on animals. In a Q&A session following her presentation she was asked if animal welfare laws for duty of care for protecting animals from extreme temperatures need to be strengthened. Professor Hughes said she believed stronger penalties were required, as many existing pieces of legislation governing animal welfare in Australia were written at a time when climate change was not a topic on everybody’s mind. Just as people were locked up if they left a child unattended in a car on a hot day, penalties for not protecting animals from extreme heat needed to be sharpened, she said. “Animals, especially captive animals in small places can’t adapt to extreme temperatures by changing their behaviour, because they don’t have the opportunity to do so, unlike humans, where we can retreat inside, wear a hat, put the air conditioner on, get a nice cold glass of water. “Often animals are in situation where they are not in control of all of those things. “So bearing that in mind I think it is just important to have an awareness raising campaign about animal welfare and extreme temperature as it is changing the laws. Both are important.” In her presentation Professor Hughes said atmospheric Carbon Dioxide levels have increased by nearly 50 percent since pre-industrial levels. Using charts to illustrate temperature anomalies since 1900 and projected temperatures under a mid-range emissions scenario through to 2090 (right and below), she said the basic message was that “it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, things are projected to get much, much hotter.” Impacts will include more extreme hot days, longer bushfire seasons, increasing flooding and intense rainfall events, more tropical cyclones and increased severity of drought. Impacts were already being felt with fires recently penetrating ecosystems that have never burnt before, she said. Climate change affects on livestock, wildlife and pets included direct impacts such as extreme heatwaves which could kill animals directly and impact on animal’s stress levels and rates of immune suppression. Indirect impacts included affects on the quality and quantity of food and drinking water, and the distribution, transmission and virulence of pests and pathogens. Climate change was also potentially affecting nutrition in both positive and negative ways, she said – on one hand plants grew faster and bigger when fertilised with CO2, which led to an increase in crop biomass. But on the other hand, crops that grew faster and larger tended to become less nutritious. Higher temperatures could also increase the incidence of fungal toxins and more parasites and vector-borne diseases, she said. A lot of these vectors moved southwards toward cooler areas as temperatures increase. A three degree increase in ambient temperature could be associated with a doubling of the extent of fly strike and the southern spread of cattle ticks. Earlier US ethicist Katie McShane, a professor of philosophy who is focusing her research on environmental ethics noted that impacts on animal welfare were “notably lacking” in existing reports and literature on impacts from climate change. As an example, the IPCC’s 5th assessment report discussed effects on the economy, on human welfare, on ecosystem services, extinction rates and biodiversity, the entire report contained only two mentions of animal welfare. https://www.beefcentral.com/news/climate-change-impacts-will-require-stronger-animal-welfare-laws-rscpa-conference-hears/

PHNOM PENH (The Phnom Penh Post/Asia News Network): The Ministry of Planning is set to conduct a once-in-a-decade survey beginning in March to gather more accurate data on economic entities in Cambodia, more than 745,000 of which were listed in official registries as of last year. Speaking at a training course on data collection for the economic survey on February 15, ministry permanent secretary of state Rin Virak on Feb 15 underlined the importance of training interviewers, supervisors and new trainers for the undertaking. He said data would be collected on businesses engaged in production and service activities, in fields such as minerals, manufacturing, electricity and gas, clean water and sanitation, and others as determined by UN international standards. Hang Lina, director-general of the ministry’s National Institute of Statistics, likened the survey to a po[CENSORED]tion census, saying officials will interview all economic entities that register by March 1, which she noted would be categorised by operations such as sales and by locality. The ministry recorded 745,141 economic entities as of last year, she said, adding that officials have been deployed to register more, with 150 interviewed for the upcoming survey. “The economic survey is indispensable, as the compiled data will facilitate the formulation of policies to address the 2030 sustainable development goals, as well as assessments of whether the Cambodian economy is able to fulfil plans of attaining upper middle-income status,” Lina said. Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng said the survey will provide essential information for domestic and foreign players to gain valuable insight into the state and direction of the economy, identify potentially lucrative sectors where resources are lacking, and more effectively determine what types of investments are needed. Businesses today tend to merely follow in the footsteps of others, leading to market disequilibrium, he said, adding that the survey could help highlight the strengths and weaknesses in each field, and provide a better guide for investors to study markets, by region, where demand significantly outstrips supply. The economic survey is conducted every 10 years, and results of this year’s will be compiled in 2023. Join our Telegram channel to get our Evening Alerts and breaking news highlights https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2022/02/17/march-the-start-date-for-cambodian-economic-survey

Bill Robinson’s automotive design career began in 1948 and included stints at Kaiser-Frazer, Briggs Mfg. (working on Packards), and Chrysler. Robinson taught “every car designer to come out of the College of Creative Studies (CCS) in the 1980s and ‘90s. It’s not hyperbole. He literally designed the design community,” Rivian’s Richard Vaughan said. Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, will host a memorial service March 4. Automotive designer Bill Robinson, who penned Packards in the 1950s and later educated a generation of automotive stylists shaping today’s vehicles, died Tuesday at a hospital in Pontiac, Michigan. He would have celebrated his 97th birthday in August. “As one of the thousands of industrial designers Bill Robinson looked after during his time as our transportation design instructor at the College for Creative Studies (in Detroit), I can tell you that he was not only our instructor but also our mentor, our coach, and ultimately our friend decades after graduation,” said Ralph Gilles, Stellantis’ chief design officer. Gilles will remember Robinson as a class act and a car enthusiast to the core who enjoyed racing on Woodward Avenue in Detroit as a young man. As recently as a few months ago, Robinson was still driving his Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat in suburban Detroit. Growing up on the east side of Detroit, Robinson was drawn to automotive design at a young age. One of his neighborhood friends was the son of Vincent Kaptor, who was a top assistant to General Motors design chief Harley Earl. Robinson remembered Kaptor bringing home a spectacular, luxurious white Cord that he was evaluating for work in the 1930s. “That car broke up our ball game because we just stood and stared at it,” Robinson said in an interview last year. “The price of that car was $2400 at a time when you could buy most cars for $1000.” At age 13, Robinson won the best design award for his soapbox derby racer that incorporated an adjustable suspension and a windshield. He attended Denby High School in Detroit for two years and then transferred to Cass Tech High School downtown for its product design curriculum. While in high school, he learned how to illustrate cars from a veteran designer who worked on catalogs with oil paint. After graduating, he wanted to attend art school and began building a portfolio of his drawings. He applied for a job at the Sundberg-Ferar design house in Detroit and intended to work there a few years, then attend art school. “They told me, ‘You don’t have to do that because this is the best portfolio we’ve ever seen,’” Robinson recalled. He declined that offer but instead took a job illustrating advertising brochures in 1948 before landing his first automotive design job at Kaiser-Frazer in 1948, where he designed early-stage proposals for 1950s Packards. After a few years, he moved to Briggs Mfg. Co. (a contract automotive body producer), where he worked more directly on forthcoming Packard models. At Briggs, Robinson designed the back end of the 1953 Packard Patrician, the brand’s flagship sedan. Robinson’s father worked at the Packard plant for 25 years, and the family owned six Packards. Chrysler eventually purchased Briggs, and Robinson went on to pen the 1954 Plymouth Belmont concept car and contributed heavily to the 1957 Plymouths, most notably the Fury. Plymouth sold 750,000 cars in 1957, and Robinson was proud to take some of the credit for his design contributions. He worked until the early 1980s on dozens of production Chrysler group vehicles—his last being the Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni. He attended more than 200 wind-tunnel tests in Maryland to achieve the proper aerodynamic profile for the compact cars. (See video below of Robinson talking about his career.) https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/influential-auto-designer-educator-bill-robinson-dead-at-96/ar-AATXbFn?ocid=BingNewsSearch

Wordle. Whether you love it or you hate it, you can guarantee your Twitter feed will be filled with those green and yellow squares each morning as players share their results. The game, which ballooned in po[CENSORED]rity at the start of the new year, sees players vie to guess the five-letter word of the day in six attempts or fewer. It was created by software engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner and was recently acquired by The New York Times for a seven-figure sum. But since its move over to the publisher’s platform, the game has experienced a few teething issues, with users lamenting that it’s “too hard” now, and those playing Wordle 241 on Monday even realising that there were two different possible answers. Yet, it was today’s wordle answer (*spoiler ahead*) that has caused the most head-scratching from social media. The answer, caulk, resulted with many Wordle fans struggling to guess it, even Googling what the word meant after playing today’s game. So much so that “caulk meaning” had jumped to the top of Google’s trending topics by lunchtime. Many people were complaining about not knowing the word this morning, with one user saying “that’s not a word” and another added: “Whoever was responsible for today’s Wordle is sick and twisted. You will not see the pearly gates.” On the contrary, caulk is a word, and is much more common than you think. Caulk is the name of the white chalky substance used, much like polyfiller, for filling in gaps in building work and will be familiar to the likes of builders, handymen and anyone who has ever watched an episode of Changing Rooms or does their own DIY. While many of the words have been trickier to get (cynic) or esoteric (agora), today’s word is the first to have exposed the potential demographic of those who play the game. “Today’s Wordle was a win for the working class,” wrote one Twitter user. “Not surprising to see the London liberal metropolitan elite failing to get it.” At the time of writing, the tweet had been liked over 1,100 times. “No doubt if the word was ‘hegemony’ they would get it in three,” he added. Another user called Bethany said: “If you don’t guess today’s Wordle you are definitely upper middle class.” A third added that tweets about today’s Wordle “uncovered some fascinating class dynamics”. Who knew caulk could be so contentious? Another Twitter user said they guessed the answer after just three attempts, because it was the title of a New Girl episode in which two of the central characters with simmering sexual tension visit a hardware store to buy, you guessed it, caulk. Of course, with most of us renting for the foreseeable future, perhaps we’re less inclined to do our own DIY and so our collective need for caulk isn’t what it once was. Whatever the reason, if we can glean one thing from today’s Wordle it’s that players players will now know exactly what to ask for should their bathroom tiles crack, instead of having to wait for the landlord. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/today-wordle-exposes-class-divide-163230292.html

Storm Dudley latest as parts of the UK and Ireland lashed by strong winds; yellow and amber weather warnings in place; Storm Eunice to follow on Friday with 80mph gusts for southern areas and potential snow in the north. Dublin firefighters tweeted this picture of Church Road in Mulhuddart. Pic: @DubFireBrigade More info: https://news.sky.com/story/storm-dudley-live-news-met-office-warnings-as-strong-wind-hits-uk-and-ireland-with-more-dangerous-eunice-still-to-come-12543511

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(Pocket-lint) - Valve has announced that it is partnering with a well-known consumer electronics repair company to offer up replacement parts for its upcoming Steam Deck console. The company in question - iFixit - is arguably the most recognisable name in the repairs industry, having amassed millions of views and reads of its po[CENSORED]r gadget teardowns, where it shows all the internal components and how to replace them. In its announcement post in the Steam community forum, the company said it would be "one of the authorized sellers of Steam Deck replacement parts", suggesting there will be others too. There are still some details to be worked out, according to the post, and we're none the wiser as to which parts of the console will be offered in this program. This move follows on from the video in which the company showed how to tear down the Steam Deck, although with the explicit warning that you probably shouldn't try to do it yourself. The console itself isn't far away from launching now, with Steam Deck on track for first shipments this month. Saying that, if you do pre-order one at time of writing, you likely won't get it until the second quarter of the year; such is the demand for the device. With more than 100 games already certified as compatible with the handheld console, and with access to so many first-rate titles, it's easy to see it becoming po[CENSORED]r. Especially with PC gamers who want access to the same titles on the move. This latest news means that - if you do somehow break your Steam Deck - you'll be able to buy official parts and components and fix it yourself. https://www.pocket-lint.com/gadgets/news/steam/160061-steam-deck-ifixit-parts

The ability to rent all sorts of things is a logical step in the evolution of a subscription economy, but renting hardware wasn’t necessarily top-of-mind for startups until COVID-19 hit. Pre-pandemic, a common step in the onboarding process at many VC-funded startups in the Bay Area called for new employees to visit the closest Apple Store with a company credit card so they could pick up a new laptop. That practice stopped when offices closed, and as buildings sat empty, all those unused laptops, desktops, widescreen monitors and Aeron chairs began to look like a poor use of precious cash. At the same time, it became clear that remote work was here to stay – and that shipping devices to another country was expensive. Working from home during the pandemic created tailwinds for hardware rental companies. But even with the perspective of a hybrid return to offices, there’s a case to be made for renting not just software, but also laptops, phones, or even furniture. What should your early-stage startup do? OPEX versus CAPEX “Don’t buy, rent,” reads the flyer of Emendu, a startup whose founders I recently met at an event. But with SaaS now being mainstream, why does this need to be said? Because Emendu doesn’t sell software subscriptions; it leases hardware to a range of clients, including startups. From a financial standpoint, there’s a key difference between buying and renting: The former is a capital expense; the latter an operating expense. In some places, this makes a huge difference when it comes to the amount of value-added taxes a startup can deduct. Emendu’s home country, Spain, is one of the locations where renting hardware is fiscally advantageous for startups. This aspect is less relevant in the U.S, certified public accountant Paul Bianco told TechCrunch. “I haven’t seen the conversation come up from a tax standpoint here,” he said. Bianco is the CEO of Graphite Financial, which provides startups with outsourced accounting and CFO support. But most of its clients “owe little to no tax” because “VC-backed startups [are] in growth mode [and] they are not yet profitable,” he said. If renting hardware makes sense for them, it’s not for the tax deductions. If there are financial reasons for a startup not to buy its hardware, “it would be more about cash flow management,” Bianco said. But decapitalization is only a major concern “for very early-stage companies where cash is a scarce resource” or “if the amount of hardware being purchased is material to the company.” Add in options like credit and BNPL, and it appears that the main advantage of renting hardware may not be financial. “For companies that have raised money, it’s definitely more about [saving] time,” Bianco said https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/15/why-startups-may-want-to-rent-hardware-instead-of-buying-it/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAF7N8WWUBBsGNxWamMB1eofqURdUIYJX6SlvrkNyi1kke_PohN_VzK_MR2SrInh0NOIvsy9eF64cc48uSAPAgH27WF1BJ_z5HtooPcRZ_Vs91Z97nU85c9J1EUFaIktse80I8vL9pmcPO2V_DzyQ5hM7DSHyxQPwc84qBATvG336

TORONTO, Feb. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - SoftwareReviews, a leading source for insights on the software provider landscape, has published its Low-Code Business Process Management (BPM) Emotional Footprint Awards. Three providers have been identified as Champions. The best Low-Code BPM software providers for 2022 have been identified by SoftwareReviews based on verified survey data collected from real end users. These providers have received high scores on the organization’s Emotional Footprint Diamond. The Net Emotional Footprint (NEF) of each software provider is a result of aggregated emotional response ratings across the areas of service, negotiation, product impact, conflict resolution, strategy, and innovation. The NEF is a powerful indicator of overall user sentiment toward the provider and its product from the software user’s point of view. To learn more about SoftwareReviews’ Data Quadrant or Emotional Footprint, or to access resources to support the software selection process, visit www.softwarereviews.com and connect via LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. About SoftwareReviews SoftwareReviews, a division of Info-Tech Research Group, is backed by two decades of IT research and advisory experience. By collecting real data from verified IT and business professionals, the SoftwareReviews methodology produces detailed and authentic insight into the experience of evaluating and purchasing software. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/softwarereviews-users-identify-2022s-best-low-code-business-process-management-software-301483655.html https://apnews.com/press-release/pr-newswire/technology-business-software-751b6cf61f387c1505c2a61b28792728

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Bappi Lahiri, the famous singer of Bollywood films, has passed away today. The music world has lost a talented singer today. Let us tell you that the real name of Bappi Lahiri is Alokesh Lahiri but in the industry he is known as Bappi Lahiri. Bappi Lahiri was born in a Bengali family. His father was Aparesh Lahiri and mother was Bansuri Lahiri. Both were Bengali singers and composers in classical music and Shyama Sangeet. Bappi was their only child. Singer Kishore Kumar was also a relative of Bappi Lahiri. He looked like her uncle. Bappi also had an interest in music since childhood. He started learning to play the tabla at the age of 3. He was trained by his parents. West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee has also expressed grief over the death of Bappi Lahiri, she tweeted and wrote – Shocked to hear about the untimely demise of legendary singer and musician Bappi Lahiri. A boy from our North Bengal, he rose to all India fame and success by the strength of his talent and hard work, and made us proud with his musical contributions. Along with this, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu tweeted and wrote – The death of eminent singer-composer Bappi Lahiri is an irreparable loss to the Indian music world. My condolences to his family and fans in this hour of grief. om Shanti! https://english.newstracklive.com/news/political-world-mourning-the-death-of-bappi-lahiri-from-mamta-banerjee-to-these-leaders-expressed-grief-ta303-1212351-1.html

In the yards behind the slaughterhouses—also called abattoirs—of Ethiopia, an ecological shift is unfolding that has echoes of similar crises all over the world. Species with a clear and effective ecological role are in serious decline, and the less-specialized but more aggressive species that have moved in to take their place are not only less effective, but are harmful to their ecosystem which, in this case, includes humans. This is a story about vultures, feral dogs, rabies – and piles of rotting animal carcasses. Buckle up. But in the end, it’s about the power of conservation to keep ecosystems, even urban ecosystems, in balance, benefitting the people who live there. “Carrion consumption by vultures is declining, and increasing by most other scavengers, but that increase is not sufficient enough to make up for the loss of vultures.” says Evan Buechley, a University of Utah graduate now with The Peregrine Fund, “So there’s a gap there. And what happens with that gap is a bit of an unanswered question, but that’s where the problem lies.” The study is published in the Journal of Wildlife Management and is funded by the National Science Foundation, the University of Utah, HawkWatch International, The Peregrine Fund and the National Geographic Society. Vultures are awesome Worldwide, vultures are perfectly equipped to take care of the unpleasant remnants of death. Rotting carcasses can become hotbeds of disease, overrun by bacteria and insects. But vultures are an efficient clean-up crew. By eating carrion, they remove the carcasses and pass them through a highly acidic digestive system that wipes out disease-causing agents. And a diversity of vultures is better – some species are specialized to tear away hides and skin while others, coming in last, literally gulp down the bones. But vultures have been in trouble in recent decades. They’re susceptible to poisons in the carrion they eat, whether that’s lead ammunition, the drug diclofenac, or poisons used against predatory animals. And with vultures producing relatively few chicks and taking a relatively long time to mature, it’s harder for them to recover from po[CENSORED]tion declines. http://outbreaknewstoday.com/a-story-about-vultures-feral-dogs-rabies-and-piles-of-rotting-animal-carcasses-52292/

Shares of U.S.-listed Chinese tech companies advanced in Hong Kong on Wednesday, lifting the benchmark Hang Seng Index into positive territory. Stock Movement (+/-) Xpeng Inc. (NYSE: XPEV) +6.6% Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) +3.6% Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) +3.5% Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) +3.4% JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) +2.9% Tencent Holdings Limited (OTC: TCEHY) +1.2% The Macro Factors: The Hang Seng Index was up 1.3% at the time of writing, as stocks attempted a rebound after three days of losses. China inflation eased in January, raising hopes for more policy easing measures by Beijing. Risk appetite also improved amid easing worries about Russia-Ukraine tensions China’s official consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.9% in January from a year earlier, down from an increase of 1.5% in December, Reuters reported, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The country's producer price index (PPI) increased 9.1% in January from a year earlier, slower than a 10.3% gain in December. The data trailed analysts’ estimates. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the Hong Kong government should take up the “main responsibility” to stabilize and control the coronavirus pandemic as soon as possible, as per a report by Bloomberg. Companies In The News: Alibaba has entered into a collaboration with computer hardware manufacturer Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN) on artificial intelligence (AI), it was reported, citing CoinDesk. Cathie Wood-led Ark Investment Management has raised its exposure in Xpeng by acquiring shares estimated to be worth $3.2 million. Xpeng is the only other pure electric vehicle player besides Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) in Ark Invest’s portfolio. Shares of Chinese companies closed higher in U.S. trading on Tuesday after the major averages ended sharply higher on easing geopolitical concerns following news Russia is pulling back some troops from the Ukrainian border. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/why-alibaba-tesla-rivals-xpeng-li-auto-are-striking-major-gains-in-hong-kong-today/ar-AATUoH5?ocid=BingNewsSearch

Social media does not disappoint its users when it comes to introducing them to new and interesting things. It is also a platform that is known for making things go 'viral' -- such as the 'custard toast', a delectable recipe that started trending on TikTok for its 'dessert for breakfast' appeal. Though the original recipe creator is still unknown, according to various reports, Moody Day was among the initial few social media users to call the recipe "an easy cheesecake copycat". Ever since, Twitter has been abuzz with posts about the the easy-to-make recipe. Also Read |Lizzo finally tries the viral Green Goddess Salad; have you? "Crispy on the outside and silky on the inside. Baked this custard blueberry toasts for breakfast and they are totally worth the hype," said one user while another commented, "Hmm I may be a little addicted to the new phenomenon that is #custardtoast! Thanks @thismorning and #tiktok for bringing that recipe into my life". Ingredients 1 - Egg 2 slices - Bread Yoghurt A dollop of honey or maple syrup Fruit of your choice Also Read |Wish to sample some po[CENSORED]r Kerala dishes? Take your pick on TikTok Method Use a fork to make a dent at the center of the bread, without cutting it. In a bowl, mix all the wet ingredients. Fill up the dented part of the bread with the mix. Top it with the fruit of your choice, or chocolate, and place in an air fryer for about 10 minutes, or in the oven at 400°F for a bit longer, until the bread is crisp and the custard is set. Garnish with powdered sugar, honey or maple syrup. Enjoy! https://www.msn.com/en-in/lifestyle/other/viral-food-recipe-would-you-like-to-try-custard-toast-today/ar-AATSEGQ?ocid=BingNewsSearch

"By this rationale, they could have cracked down on the civil rights movement. They could have arrested Martin Luther King," said law professor Jonathan Turley. A Fox News legal contributor offered a head-scratching take on Tuesday about the Canadian government’s crackdown on trucker convoys that have choked supply chains to protest measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. “I thought it was quite excessive,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said of the Canadian government’s actions. “This is an act of civil disobedience. That is a standard tactic of groups, going back to the civil rights movement, even earlier, to block bridges and streets to do what was referred to as, quote, ‘good trouble,’” Turley added, using the phrase famously coined by the late civil rights leader and U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). “And so the troubling aspect of what is coming out of the prime minister’s office is that by this rationale, they could have cracked down on the civil rights movement. They could have arrested Martin Luther King,” Turley said. Of course, those are things that actually happened. Police officers arrest Martin Luther King Jr. outside a courtroom where one of his integration lieutenants was on the stand. King charged that he was beaten and choked by the arresting officers. Police denied the charges. Before he was assassinated, U.S civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and jailed dozens of times in America, mostly on misdemeanors related to civil protest. King wrote his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after he was taken into custody for leading peaceful protests against racial segregation in the Alabama city. Meanwhile, months prior to his death in 2020, Congressman Lewis encouraged his supporters to “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America” while commemorating the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. In 1965, as nonviolent civil rights activists including Lewis himself attempted to march across the bridge to the state capital, police beat and attacked them with clubs and tear gas. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-news-jonathan-turley-mlk_n_620c2362e4b0685128aec08c?d_id=3170841&ref=bffbhuffpost&ncid_tag=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

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First-of-its-kind integration helps retailers simplify and maximize Gadget Guard screen protection sales with GuardPlusISM—lowering carrying costs, increasing profits and delivering customized insurance coverage for customers NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah, February 15, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gadget Guard and iQmetrix introduce GuardPlusISM—a point-of-sale integration that allows wireless retailers to sell a variety of screen protection insurance coverage levels from one single SKU. GuardPlusISM was designed to integrate, simplify, and maximize Gadget Guard screen protection sales, improve inventory levels, reduce carrying costs, increase profit potential and satisfy customers. In 2021, more than 50 million mobile phones broke in the U.S., and Americans spent $3.4 billion replacing those screens. Gadget Guard is the first wireless accessories company to focus on two-way protection—science-backed products that protect devices and the people who use them. Its products reduce the harmful effects of mobile device use—such as radiation exposure—and provide industry-leading device protection. Gadget Guard is so confident in its screen protectors that it offers GuardPlusISM, an insurance policy that will cover repair costs if a customer’s device screen breaks. The new GuardPlusISM integration is an extension of that insurance offer. With GuardPlusISM, retailers can stock non-insured Gadget Guard screen protectors and then add GuardPlus insurance coverage for the customer at the point of sale, instead of purchasing multiple SKUs for the different coverages available. GuardPlusISM is now seamlessly integrated into IQmetrix’s RQ point-of-sale software solution. "GuardPlusISM simplifies a retailer’s product inventory while maximizing their ability to sell our unique screen protector insurance coverage," said Brandon Bowen, sales manager at Gadget Guard. "The integration will offer incremental sales opportunities and access to exclusive products. We are excited to offer it to retailers, so they can better serve their customers and maximize their revenue and profit." Joanne Helm, Vice President of Partner Management at iQmetrix, said, "We’re extremely happy to welcome Gadget Guard to our iQmetrix Partner Ecosystem. They’re pushing the boundaries of how brands are operationalizing their business to work in tighter parallels with retailers, and we’re thrilled to be a key part of bringing that to market." About Gadget Guard Gadget Guard fosters a healthy relationship between tech and humanity with products that improve the performance, aesthetic and lifespan of mobile devices. We are the first tech accessories company to provide two-way protection—guarding humans from their devices and devices from their humans. Since 2009, the company has produced innovative, science-backed technologies and received 17 unique patents to reduce the harmful effects of mobile devices, progressively raising the bar for the safe and healthy use of mobile devices. For more information about Gadget Guard, visit https://www.gadgetguard.com/. About iQmetrix iQmetrix’s intelligent retail management software is designed to power sales of connected devices. Our software is built around enabling telecom retailers to deliver a buy-anywhere strategy through multi-channel inventory management and digital retail solutions; make data-driven decisions using robust reporting; and unify storefronts and digital channels for a consistent customer experience—in-store, online, and anywhere else. For 22 years, we’ve been passionate about helping the leading brands in telecom to grow by providing best-in-class software, services, and expertise that enables them to adapt and thrive. Our solutions powered $16.4BN in sales last year, and are used by 300,000 telecom retail professionals across 1,000-plus clients. iQmetrix is a privately held software-as-a-service (SaaS) company with offices in Canada and the U.S. For more information, please visit www.iqmetrix.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220215005412/en/ More info: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gadget-guard-iqmetrix-introduce-guardplusism-120000853.html

The Tom Price Mitre 10 has been added to the list of exposure sites Credit: Supplied/Facebook/Facebook A Tom Price hardware store and pharmacy have been added to the growing list of COVID-19 exposure sites with visitors told to monitor for symptoms. Tom Price’s Guardian Pharmacy was added as a COVID-19 exposure site on February 15, with people who visited the venue on February 9 between 12.00pm and 12.30pm told to monitor for symptoms unless directly advised otherwise by the Department of Health. The town’s Mitre 10 store was also added as an exposure site, with people who visited the site on February 12 between 9.00am and 9.30am also told to monitor for symptoms. It comes after Rio Tinto confirmed a residential worker at its Tom Price site had tested positive for the virus and was isolating at home along with two close contacts. The East Pilbara and West Pilbara are the two least vaccinated regions in the state as of February 14 with 61.4 per cent and 58.7 per cent respectively of the po[CENSORED]tion above 12 years of age double dosed. https://thewest.com.au/news/pilbara-news/tom-price-hardware-store-and-pharmacy-added-as-covid-19-exposure-sites-c-5706920

Global spend on enterprise software was expected to reach $599 billion by the end of 2021, and new forecasts say it is now projected to grow 11.5% year over year to nearly $700 billion in 2022. The average company can have more than 100 software contracts, and Tropic’s technology not only brings a click-and-approve approach to buying and managing all of that software, it also helps customers uncover savings on purchases — an average of 23%. We last checked in on the company last August when it raised $25 million in Series A funding. The company is back six months later with nearly double the investment, a $40 million Series B round of capital led by Insight Partners, to raise a total of $65 million. Since we spoke to CEO David Campbell, Tropic has continued its busy streak. At the time of the Series A, the company saw 100% quarter-over-quarter revenue growth and added more than 60 customers. In the past four months, Campbell said the company more than doubled its revenue and has 150 customers, including Notion, Nextdoor, Faire and Flatiron Health. It is also up to 85 full-time employees after starting with 15 in 2021. He revealed that the new funding round took the company by surprise — the result of standard check-ins by investors — in a deal that came together quickly. He attributes Tropic’s growth to companies like his that are raising money and expanding. The global pandemic also put the need for better software procurement processes at center stage as uncertainty grew around software costs, sometimes the biggest spend behind payroll, and how to control them. “We’ve tapped into a need that is prevalent, and awareness is growing in our space as companies try to get a handle on software spends,” Campbell added. “Procurement was traditionally led by legacy playing and initially designed for hardware, not software. However, there has been tremendous proliferation of the need in software, and with the market catching on, we have been in the right place and the right time for that.” The new funding will go into R&D for major software elements, like automation, as the company aims to be an end-to-end procurement system of record. Campbell will also begin making key executive hires and expand in different areas across the product. Meanwhile, the company is preparing for another product release and expansion into North America and internationally to increase the size of the market in the next two quarters. Teddie Wardi, managing director at Insight Partners, said that when he met the Tropic team, he was “not only impressed by their vision for the platform, but how they were building the product.” He saw what they were doing as an opportunity to replace traditional pen-and-paper methods and the use of legacy platforms meant for other things than software. “Procurement doesn’t have to be all about the cost center, but the topline driver is to reduce the time spent doing this and ensure everyone has the right tools,” he added. https://news.yahoo.com/tropic-takes-more-capital-demand-130047963.html

Leo Lewis in Tokyo A relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions prompted a boost in consumer spending and a rebound in Japan’s economy during the last three months of 2021, though the bounce was less strong than in the US. Japan’s gross domestic product rose by an annualised 5.4 per cent during the October to December period, according to figures released by the cabinet office on Tuesday. A consensus of analysts polled by Reuters had expected 5.8 per cent. But analysts warned that the rebound was likely to have lost steam after December, when the Omicron variant of the coronavirus began to take hold, the yen softened and rising oil prices began to weigh on a Japanese economy dependent on energy and food imports. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the Japanese economy posted a rebound of 1.3 per cent after a fall of 0.7 per cent in the July to September period. The government lifted a state of emergency at the end of September, triggering a return to workplaces for many employees and a revival of lunchtime and post-work dining © Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg Consumer spending, which makes up over half of Japan’s GDP, increased by 2.7 per cent, as restaurants, entertainment and travel sectors benefited from what were historically low rates of new Covid-19 infections. That took it to a level higher than it was in the final three months of 2019. In the whole of 2021, the country’s economy rose 1.7 per cent, turning positive for the first time in three years. “Omicron has since taken the wind out of the economy’s sails,” said Tom Learmouth, Japan economist at Capital Economics. “But with daily cases now falling and the booster rollout finally up to speed, fair winds should return in the second quarter.” He added: “Assuming no new variants of concern emerge, we’re expecting a 1.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise in GDP in the second quarter and a further 1% rise in the third quarter to put the economy back on its pre-pandemic path.” https://www.ft.com/content/8b70b14a-30c5-4507-a233-69040ffb905d