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US President Joe Biden (L) visits W.S. Jenks & Son, a hardware store that has benefited from a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, in Washington, DC, on March 9, 2021. - Biden met with Michael Siegel (R), co-owner of W.S. Jenks & Son, and Mary Anna Ackley, owner of Little Wild Things Farm, a business next door to Jenks & Son which also benefited from the PPP. (Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) (CNN)President Joe Biden on Tuesday visited a hardware store in Washington, DC, to highlight the changes his administration has made to the Paycheck Protection Program to help the smallest of businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic. The owners of W.S. Jenks & Son applied for a PPP loan during the two-week exclusive window Biden announced last month for small businesses with fewer than 20 employees, according to a White House official. The hardware store bills itself as the oldest in Washington. The President also met with the owner of another small business located on the same property, Little Wild Things Farm, who applied for the same loan, according to the official. "400,000 small businesses went out of business. They got in line but they couldn't get the help, and we found out that an awful lot of that went to bigger businesses that in fact weren't supposed to qualify," Biden said when he met with the owners. "Because there used to be a thing called an inspector general to see where the money went, and the last administration fired the inspector general so a lot of money went to people who shouldn't have gotten help," Biden added. Mike Siegel, co-owner of W.S. Jenks & Sons with his father, Jerry, told Biden that when the coronavirus pandemic hit the first thing the business did was to send all of his at-risk employees home. "We paid them through that process. That first wave of loans was very helpful to allow us to do that. Obviously that was not cost effective but we felt like we had to do that for our employees," Siegel said. The Biden administration also changed some eligibility rules for the program that went into effect the first week of March. The self-employed, sole proprietors and independent contractors can now qualify for more money. They previously were excluded altogether or received as little as $1 because the loan amounts were calculated based on the number of employees. The loan program also opened up to small business owners with non-fraud related felonies, those delinquent on their federal student loans and some non-citizen residents, such as Green Card holders or those in the country on visas -- all of who were excluded earlier. Congress created the program last March under the Trump administration to help small business owners hit hard by the pandemic and lockdown measures. The first round of loans was slow to reach the smallest businesses. Biden didn't answer shouted questions from reporters about the situation on the US-Mexico border during the visit. The number of migrants arrested on the southern border has been increasing in recent weeks, causing alarm among officials as they scramble to provide resources for the increase in minors and families who are unlawfully crossing into the US.

Internet is flooded with PUBG Mobile India comeback reports. However, there is a huge amount of speculation and it is causing a lot anxiety among fans. There are two sets of views—one that says the famous game can make comeback soon, while other opines that it is difficult road ahead for the makers of PUBG as far as relaunch of the widely po[CENSORED]r game in India is concerned. PUBG has even tried to shed the Chinese connection by breaking away from China-based Tencent Games. In September 2020, PUBG Corporation had said it has made the decision to no longer authorise the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile franchise to China-based Tencent Games in India, opening the possibility of the ban being lifted. However, even this move did not do any good to the South Korean gaming giant. Meanwhile, as per latest report PUBG Mobile India still has a chance to make a comeback. Krafton, the company behind the PUBG IP, had recently expressed optimism for the launch of the Indian version of PUBG Mobile. Speaking at a fireside chat with Nodwin boss Akshat Rathee at the Indian Gaming Show and Conference 2021, Krafton’s corporate development boss Sean Hyunil Sohn said that the company “will work hard to make it (the launch of PUBG Mobile India) happen.” "I cannot really tell timing or anything because we don’t know yet,” Sohn was quoted as saying in a report by the South Korean publication E Today. “We care about Indian market greatly. We will work hard to make it happen.” However, on the other side, in another setback to PUBG game lovers, Indian gamers will not be able to pre-register for PUBG New State, said a report by Sportskeeda, Krafton is waiting for a go-ahead from the Indian governments to relaunch PUBG mobile but it is not clear as to how long it will take for any confirmation. It is also to be seen whether the Indian government will allow the game to launch at all. Earlier, a new company called PUBG India Private Limited has been launched by the makers of PUBG mobile after seeking the approval of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The company, which is a subsidiary of Krafton Inc and PUBG Corporation, has been registered on the ministry’s website with a valid Corporate Identity Number (CIN).

Cela fait quelques années déjà que Volkswagen a noué un partenariat avec l’UEFA (Union des associations européennes de Football), une collaboration mise en place en 2017 et qui devrait s’étendre jusqu’en 2022. Outre les opérations de sponsoring entre la marque allemande et les différentes compétitions, dont l’UEFA Nation League ou encore la Coupe du Monde FIFA 2022, cette alliance s’est également concrétisée d’autres manières, parfois plus insolites. Car en plus de fournir les flottes de véhicules aux différentes compétitions, le constructeur met également en place de nombreuses opérations promotionnelles diverses et variées. On se souvient qu’en 2015, la firme de Wolfsburg avait par exemple lancé une série limitée de sa Golf nommée Borussia Mönchengladbach et profitant d’une décoration spécifique, rendant hommage au club allemand éponyme. Cette fois-ci, Volkswagen fait à nouveau parler de son partenariat, mais de manière un peu plus subtile. En effet, la firme a décidé de lancer une toute nouvelle fonctionnalité sur la 8ème génération de sa Golf. Cette application, baptisée We Score devrait une fois encore ravir les fans de football, qui pourront alors suivre tous les grands matchs directement dans leur voiture. Bien sûr, il n’est ici pas question de les regarder en direct, ce qui serait évidemment interdit, mais de recevoir en temps réel les scores, ainsi que les alertes à chaque moment fort de la rencontre. Les clients profitant de cette fonction inédite pourront donc s’abonner aux actualités de trois clubs des deux premières divisions (L1 et L2), ainsi qu’à celles de leur équipe nationale lors de la Ligue Europe et la Ligue des Champion. Les notifications lors des matchs sont alors affichés directement sur le combiné numérique de la voiture. Il s’agit des scores bien sûr, mais également des classements et des actualités du monde du football. Le constructeur souligne également que ces informations peuvent être lues via la fonction « text to speech ». une large gamme Pour rappel, la Volkswagen Golf 8 est arrivée dans les concessions au début de l’année dernière, et se décline désormais en une large gamme de versions et de motorisations, avec des blocs essence et diesel dont les puissances s’échelonnent entre 115 et 150 chevaux pour la gamme standard. Le tout est alors compatible avec une boite manuelle à six rapports ou DSG7 selon les versions. A noter que le catalogue s’est enrichit un peu plus tard d’une version GTI, forte de 245 chevaux, ainsi que d’une GTE et GTD, développant respectivement 200 et 245 équidés. Plus récemment, ce fut au tour de la Volkswagen Golf R de faire son arrivée au sein du catalogue, reprenant le quatre cylindres 2,0 litres TSI de la GTI, alors poussé à 320 chevaux pour un couple maximal de 420 Nm. La Volkswagen Golf 8 est disponible en concessions à partir de 27 540 €, avec une dotation de série incluant entre autres la navigation, la climatisation tri-zones ou encore l’aide au stationnement avant et arrière.

New Delhi: This year’s Women’s Day theme ‘choose to challenge’ is bang on the mark. It is time to change the way we look at ourselves and begin practising more self-love. Simply translated: your needs matter more. One of the ways in which women often ignore themselves is in the way they eat. While some do pay attention to what they eat, most women might need the proverbial nudge to switch over to more beneficial food sources and focus on following the Indian ways of nutrition. Whatever may be the case, here are five simple challenges to take head-on today onwards, through your diet. These simple steps will substantially help you benefit from Indian food wisdom, boost your health, and make you feel all-powerful. Challenge Stress It is impossible to just cut stress off from your life, but you can learn to manage it by solving problems that are under your control. There are enough surveys proving women to be ace problem solvers. Now, use this skill for the benefit of your health, by changing your diet. The Solution: Besides the well-known benefit of boosting immunity, turmeric can help keep depression at bay too. Curcumin in turmeric is known to actually help lift levels of neurochemicals such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, which make us happier. Since curcumin is the all-important compound in turmeric that delivers these benefits, source turmeric from a brand that delivers the 3% curcumin guarantee. Challenge Insomnia Dark circles under the eyes, low energy, and fatigue are common telltale signs of wrong sleeping patterns. But the damage runs deeper. Chronic sleep deprivation can result in health issues like diabetes, blood pressure, heart problems, stroke, obesity, lower sexual drive, depression, and ultimately affect your work too. So, correct this imbalance the right way. The Solution: Always eat combinations of proteins and carbohydrates like dal chawal, hi-fibre poha and raita, or multigrain khichdi for dinner. These combinations not only give complete (all amino acids) protein, but also lead to better sleep and a calmer mind. That is because eating carbohydrates (from poha, rice, roti) with tryptophan-containing foods (lentils, dairy) makes this calming amino acid more available to the brain to manufacture sleep-inducing substances, such as serotonin and melatonin. Hi-fibre poha in particular has the additional benefit of being easily digestible and easy on the gut. Challenge Lethargy If lethargy and despondency are the bane of your life and are eating away your efficiency slowly but surely, it’s time to challenge and fix that immediately. The Solution: Begin your day with a high-protein breakfast like besan cheela or sprouts chaat. These protein-rich foods contain the amino acid ‘tyrosine’, which perks up the brain, busts the lethargy, and keep us charged for a long time. Always source lentils that are unpolished and so that they deliver higher nutrients, while besan should also be sourced from a trusted packaged brand to score maximum benefits. Challenge Skipping Meals Skipping meals serve no purpose and certainly do not deliver the aspirational thin waist coupled with a lower weight. In fact, it might lead to multiple deficiencies and prime you up for myriad disorders. The Solution: If time constraints or lack of preparation is the cause, then opt for healthy, packaged, quick-to-make options such as multi-grain khichri from a trusted brand that uses quality grains. It’ll get made in a jiffy and deliver oodles of good health. Challenge Heart Health It is imperative for women to get heart smart, as heart trouble is no longer just a ‘male’ problem. Even though breast cancer is considered to be a bigger threat, statistics prove that heart diseases kill more women every year, worldwide. So wake up and smell the reasons that are leading to it- modern-day stress – dual pressure of working outside and also at home, changing food habits, excess weight, and rising problem of diabetes - and begin taking care of your heart proactively. The Solution: Include chickpeas in your diet at least three times a week. The potassium, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, and selenium in chickpeas all support heart health. Plus, it is a nil cholesterol food that will keep your heart happy. Now, you are all set to challenge your lifestyle issues with a new approach- through your food!

RAMALLAH, Sunday, March 07, 2021 (WAFA) – Minister of Health Mai Alkaila said today that 2264 new COVID-19 infections, 13 deaths and 1446 recoveries were registered in Palestine during the past 24 hours. In her daily report on the coronavirus pandemic, Alkaila said 12 deaths were reported in the West Bank and one case in the Gaza Strip. She said no updates were available regarding the situation in occupied Jerusalem. In the West Bank, 2095 coronavirus tests came out positive, including 595 cases in the southern province of Hebron, followed by Ramallah (435), and Nablus (285). In the Gaza Strip, a total of 169 infections were registered. No updates were available regarding new infections in Jerusalem. The health minister said 146 patients of coronavirus remain under intensive care, of whom 40 are on ventilators. Alkaila pointed out that the recovery rate in Palestine has so far stood at 88.9 percent, while active cases scored 10 percent. Deaths stood at 1.1 percent of total infections.

OSAKA -- Panasonic is set to acquire U.S. software company Blue Yonder, which mainly focuses on supply chain management, Nikkei has learned. The deal is expected to cost about 700 billion yen ($6.5 billion). The Japanese company wants to expand hardware that combines software, sensors and other devices to help companies improve operational efficiencies. The move marks a major change in the business model of the manufacturing industry, which until now has been based on selling goods. Multiple sources familiar with the matter confirmed that negotiations are in the final stage, but added that there is still a chance the two sides will not reach an agreement. Blue Yonder uses artificial intelligence to predict product demand and delivery dates while reviewing supply chains to improve profitability. The company was founded in 1985 and has about 3,300 clients worldwide, including Unilever in the U.K. and Walmart in the U.S. Sales in fiscal 2019 were up 8% from the previous year, reaching about $1 billion. In 2020, Panasonic acquired a 20% stake in Blue Yonder for 86 billion yen. The rest of the shares are owned by U.S. funds Blackstone and New Mountain Capital. Shareholders are in final talks about the purchase. The deal would be Panasonic's largest M&A since it spent 800 billion yen to make Sanyo Electric and Panasonic Electric Works wholly owned subsidiaries in 2011. Panasonic hopes to leverage its hardware operations by combining them with software. The company has a large share of the market for security cameras used in stores and portable bar code readers used in logistics facilities. Selling them as stand-alone hardware devices without software would mean lowering prices to stay competitive. In addition, adding software support for supply chains will increase the value of its hardware products. The global market for supply chain software was estimated at around $15 billion in 2019, and it is expected to increase by about 10% annually. Demand for this kind of software is growing as hardware-centric companies digitize operations. Blue Yonder introduced demand forecasting and automatic ordering software for fresh and processed foods at Morrisons, a U.K. supermarket chain with about 500 stores. The change has reduced shortages by 30% and inventory by three days. Panasonic wants to offer other companies similar systems that combine its hardware and technology with software. It also wants to adopt a recurring revenue business model. Among major electronics companies, Sony and Hitachi are leading in developing this model: Sony with games and Hitachi through its proprietary IoT platform, Lumada. Panasonic is focusing on home appliances in this area. Its purchase of Blue Yonder will help it develop expertise in fields like demand analysis. The Blue Yonder acquisition is likely to come from Panasonic's own funds. Its free cash flow for fiscal 2020 ending March 31 is expected to top 300 billion yen. Capital investment has increased about 40% from the previous fiscal year. The company also has about 1.4 trillion yen in cash and deposits. However, since interest-bearing debt is about the same, loans or other financing may also be considered for the purchase. Manufacturers worldwide are trying to become less reliant on hardware. Germany's Siemens has increased profitability by combining its traditional strength of factory management equipment with services gained by acquiring other companies. U.S.-based Tesla is also winning customer support by updating vehicle software via the internet. But integrating acquired companies remains an issue for Panasonic. In 1991, it bought MCA for 780 billion yen but fumbled governance and was forced to offload its purchase to now-defunct Canadian beverage maker Seagram after only five years.

When you’re playing a game, the last thing you want is a dropping frame rate. If Discord is taxing out your CPU in the background, however, that’s exactly what’ll happen. You can overcome this by enabling hardware acceleration in Discord. Hardware acceleration is not necessarily the cure to all Discord issues. If your graphics card (or PC, more generally) is struggling under the strain of modern gameplay, hardware acceleration can cause even more issues, leaving you no option but to disable it. Whether you’re enabling or disabling hardware acceleration in Discord, the process is easy to do. You can only do this in the Discord desktop app on Windows or Mac, however, as hardware acceleration isn’t available in the Discord mobile apps or in the web client. To start, open the Discord app on your Windows 10 PC or Mac and sign in. Once you’ve signed in, click the settings gear icon displayed next to your username in the bottom-left corner. In Discord’s Settings menu, select the “Appearance” option in the menu on the left. You can find this listed under the “App Settings” category. In the “Appearance” menu, you can change various display settings, including Discord’s theme, message layout, and accessibility options. Under the “Advanced” section, click the slider next to the “Hardware Acceleration” option to enable or disable it. When the slider is shown in green with a check symbol, the setting is active and hardware acceleration is enabled. To disable it, make sure to shift the slider to the off position, shown in gray and with an “X” symbol. Changing the setting to enable or disable hardware acceleration will require the Discord client to restart. In the “Change Hardware Acceleration” pop-up window, click “Okay” to confirm and restart the client. Once it’s restarted, Discord’s hardware acceleration setting you selected will become active. You can enable or disable the setting at any point by repeating the steps above.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is an upcoming game that will focus on the god of all Pokémon, but there are other mysterious and powerful creatures that could be the titular focus of future Pokémon Legends games. Arceus is a Mythical Pokémon from Generation 4, hinted to be the creator deity of the Pokémon world, and other Legendaries have similarly intriguing premises worth exploring. Since it keeps growing with each generation, the cosmology of the Pokémon franchise has gotten quite odd over the years. It seems like every mainline Pokémon game adds an all-powerful Legendary Pokémon to the setting. The only reason the world isn't blown to pieces every day is due to the hard work of plucky Pokémon trainers with Master Balls, who bind these beings to their will. This includes Arceus, the godlike Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Arceus is said to have shaped the universe, yet it can also be caught in a Poké Ball. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is an open-world game that focuses on this particular Pokémon. It might seem there wouldn't be many interesting storylines to follow after facing the creator of the universe, but there are several great options for Pokémon to star in future Pokémon Legends games. The Pokédex is full of entries about the myths and legends that have built up around the Mythical Pokémon, and the Pokémon Legends series can give players the chance to write those fables. If Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a big hit for The Pokémon Company, then the next stop will likely be Kanto. Pokémon Red and Blue are still likely the best-selling entries in the series (according to date compiled by the Video Game Sales Wiki), and their Pokémon still see a ton of representation in Pokémon media. If the next Pokémon Legends game is set in Kanto, it will almost certainly focus on Mew, and if the game is still set in the past, then Mewtwo could not appear in this Pokémon Legends entry, as it was created using modern technology. Mew, on the other hand, would be a perfect fit for a Pokémon Legends game. Mew is the original Mythical Pokémon and is the stuff of legends in the Kanto region. It's said that Mew is the ancestor of all Pokémon, due to its ability to learn almost every move. Mew is so elusive that the latest Pokémon anime series' new character, Goh, has made it his goal to catch one. Mew has all of the qualities to be a perfect subject for a future Pokémon Legends game, and it seems like the most likely candidate for a sequel. After all, a visit to an ancient version of Kanto would give The Pokémon Company the chance to do another Gen 1 remake without it being too close to the original games. If the timeline was pushed forward a little, the protagonist could be a young Professor Oak, with the player guiding him to his ultimate goal of creating the Pokédex; the post-credits scene could even be the intro to Pokémon Red and Blue. Gen 2's Johto already has a feudal Japanese aesthetic, which would mesh perfectly with the style used in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Having Celebi as the mascot of the game works on a few levels, too, as it's just as mysterious as Mew, and it has time travel abilities. A time-traveling Celebi could bring Pokémon from different points in history to fight the player, bypassing the fact that the game would be set in the past. Deoxys might seem like a Pokémon that wouldn't fit the timeline of the Pokémon Legends series, as the player encounters this alien creature arriving to the world during Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Unlike the artificial Pokémon that were created in the modern era, though, there's nothing stopping a different Deoxys from arriving in the past. A Deoxys that crash lands in ancient Hoenn could act like Jenova from FF7, using its powers to take over the minds of wild Pokémon and set them against humanity. This would give players a set goal, as defeating Deoxys before it takes over the Hoenn region would take a lot of hard work. The challenge could involve sneaking through territories guarded by mind-controlled Pokémon, protecting the few outposts of humanity, and a climactic battle that involves calling on the aid of the mighty Legendary Pokémon Mega Rayquaza, weakening Deoxys to the point where it can be captured in a Poké Ball and sealed away for good. It's unlikely that a Pokémon X and Y remake will happen anytime soon, so this could be a way to bring the Kalos region back in a new way. It's also possible the story could be set during the Pokémon war that happened during AZ's era. The Pokémon Company might not be comfortable showing an actual, mass-scale battle between humans and Pokémon, but fans could at least see the aftermath of this conflict and be given a chance to help rebuild Kalos.

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NEW YORK: Antivirus software entrepreneur John McAfee was indicted on fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges alleging that he and cohorts made over $13 million by fooling investors zealous over the emerging cryptocurrency market, authorities said Friday. McAfee, 75, was charged in a newly unsealed indictment in Manhattan federal court along with Jimmy Gale Watson Jr., who served as an executive adviser on what prosecutors described as McAfee’s “so-called cryptocurrency team.” Prosecutors said Watson, 40, was arrested Thursday night in Texas and would make an initial appearance Friday before a federal magistrate judge in Dallas. McAfee, authorities said, is detained in Spain on separate criminal charges filed by the US Justice Department’s tax division. Attorney Arnold Spencer, representing Watson, said his client is a decorated former Navy Seal. “He fought for other people’s rights and liberties, and he is entitled to and looks forward to his day in court to exercise some of those very rights,” he said in an email. “Criminal indictments are blunt instruments, not precise scalpels,” Spencer added. “This is not the right place to debate whether cutting edge technologies like cryptocurrencies are securities, commodities, or something else.” It was not immediately clear who might represent McAfee. There was still no lawyer listed for him in the Memphis, Tennessee, federal court where tax charges were lodged against him in October. “McAfee and Watson exploited a widely used social media platform and enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deception,” US Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement describing crimes in 2017 and 2018. “The defendants allegedly used McAfee’s Twitter account to publish messages to hundreds of thousands of his Twitter followers touting various cryptocurrencies through false and misleading statements to conceal their true, self-interested motives,” she added. In October, McAfee was charged in Tennessee with evading taxes after failing to report income made from promoting cryptocurrencies while he did consulting work, made speaking engagements and sold the rights to his life story for a documentary. McAfee developed early Internet security software and has been sought by authorities in the US and Belize in the past. The Tennessee indictment said McAfee failed to file tax returns from 2014 to 2018, despite receiving “considerable income” from several sources. In July 2019, McAfee was released from detention in the Dominican Republic after he and five others were suspected of traveling on a yacht carrying high-caliber weapons, ammunition and military-style gear, officials on the Caribbean island said at the time.

Could Saudi Company for Hardware (TADAWUL:4008) be an attractive dividend share to own for the long haul? Investors are often drawn to strong companies with the idea of reinvesting the dividends. If you are hoping to live on your dividends, it's important to be more stringent with your investments than the average punter. Regular readers know we like to apply the same approach to each dividend stock, and we hope you'll find our analysis useful. Investors might not know much about Saudi Company for Hardware's dividend prospects, even though it has been paying dividends for the last five years and offers a 1.7% yield. A 1.7% yield is not inspiring, but the longer payment history has some appeal. When buying stocks for their dividends, you should always run through the checks below, to see if the dividend looks sustainable. Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Saudi Company for Hardware! Payout ratios Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Comparing dividend payments to a company's net profit after tax is a simple way of reality-checking whether a dividend is sustainable. Looking at the data, we can see that 107% of Saudi Company for Hardware's profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, from the perspective of an investor who hopes to own the company for many years, a payout ratio of above 100% is definitely a concern. Another important check we do is to see if the free cash flow generated is sufficient to pay the dividend. Saudi Company for Hardware paid out 11% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservative and suggests the dividend is sustainable. It's disappointing to see that the dividend was not covered by profits, but cash is more important from a dividend sustainability perspective, and Saudi Company for Hardware fortunately did generate enough cash to fund its dividend. Still, if the company repeatedly paid a dividend greater than its profits, we'd be concerned. Extraordinarily few companies are capable of persistently paying a dividend that is greater than their profits. We update our data on Saudi Company for Hardware every 24 hours, so you can always get our latest analysis of its financial health, here. Dividend Volatility One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. Saudi Company for Hardware has been paying a dividend for the past five years. During the past five-year period, the first annual payment was ر.س1.3 in 2016, compared to ر.س1.0 last year. This works out to be a decline of approximately 5.6% per year over that time. Saudi Company for Hardware's dividend has been cut sharply at least once, so it hasn't fallen by 5.6% every year, but this is a decent approximation of the long term change. We struggle to make a case for buying Saudi Company for Hardware for its dividend, given that payments have shrunk over the past five years. Dividend Growth Potential Given that dividend payments have been shrinking like a glacier in a warming world, we need to check if there are some bright spots on the horizon. Over the past five years, it looks as though Saudi Company for Hardware's EPS have declined at around 11% a year. A sharp decline in earnings per share is not great from from a dividend perspective, as even conservative payout ratios can come under pressure if earnings fall far enough. Conclusion When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. We're not keen on the fact that Saudi Company for Hardware paid out such a high percentage of its income, although its cashflow is in better shape. Earnings per share have been falling, and the company has cut its dividend at least once in the past. From a dividend perspective, this is a cause for concern. In summary, Saudi Company for Hardware has a number of shortcomings that we'd find it hard to get past. Things could change, but we think there are likely more attractive alternatives out there. Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Without at least some growth in earnings per share over time, the dividend will eventually come under pressure either from competition or inflation. Very few businesses see earnings consistently shrink year after year in perpetuity though, and so it might be worth seeing what the 3 analysts we track are forecasting for the future. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our curated list of dividend stocks with a yield above 3%. Promoted If you decide to trade Saudi Company for Hardware, use the lowest-cost* platform that is rated #1 Overall by Barron’s, Interactive Brokers. Trade stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds and funds on 135 markets, all from a single integrated account. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim can attribute its long-time po[CENSORED]rity in part to its extremely involved community. With the addition of the Steam Workshop, the possibilities in Skyrim's game engine are now nearly endless. It seems a new overhaul or fan-made expansion is released every other week, and the game was released nearly a decade ago. For those who want to blend together their favorite games with Skyrim, the Steam Workshop hosts countless mods that add characters from games like Zelda, The Witcher, and even Crash Bandicoot. Just be sure to check the installation instructions for each mod, as some require script extenders or compatibility mods. In the original Playstation game Medievil the player takes control of Sir Daniel Fortesque, a skeletal risen knight hunting an evil sorcerer. The game was known for its unique art style and for making full use of the original Playstation's hardware. In Skyrim, the MediEvil: Hero of Gallowmere mod allows the player to play as Fortesque in the world of Tamriel. The mod boasts an entirely new area based on the original series, as well as new weapons, monsters, and revamps the questing experience from the ground up. For long-time Elder Scrolls franchise fans, the name Wizard Tarhiel probably rings a bell: he is the wizard that suddenly falls from the sky out of nowhere. In Morrowind, the dead-on-impact Tarhiel drops a Scroll of Icarian Flight, an extremely powerful jump spell and likely the way he got up there in the first place. The wizard makes a return in Skyrim in the mod Wizard Tarhiel From Morrowind. He falls from the sky right next to the Riverwood bridge, but be careful lest ye meet the same fate with this insane jumping scroll. Ever wanted to kill Nazeem with the Blade of Olympus or the Chain Blades of Athena? The God of War Mod lets the player play as Kratos himself and adds a significant amount of armor, weapons, and details to the game that references the mythic franchise. God of War debuted on the Playstation 2 and saw later success in the PS5 exclusive reboot – this mod specifically references the original trilogy, meaning players won't be able to kick Atreus off of High Hrothgar anytime soon. Bethesda is well known for being the company behind two mainstream franchises: The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. One modder on the Steam Workshop saw an opportunity to blend together the post-apocalyptic and fantasy worlds in a way nobody could have expected.While the Vault-Tec Balloon Companion mod is more of a reference to a meme than a game, it is surprisingly deep in scope. The mod lets the player create balloon armor for their follower, he has a custom skeleton for other armor, and the player can even... marry him... The Crash Bandicoot games are a well-loved franchise from the original Playstation era that recently saw a remaster and a traditional sequel after decades of fan anticipation. As the mod title suggests, this mod allows the player to hire Crash Bandicoot as a follower. While the mod doesn't add spinning animations or the classic "woah" voice lines, it is still worth installing just to see the hilarious contrast between Skyrim's subdued palette and Crash's vibrant fur . Long-time Zelda fans will recognize the moon from Majora's Mask for its terrifying expression and the feeling of dread that came with its slow descent upon Termina. While the moon won't fall and destroy Tamriel in the Majora's Mask Moon mod, it still adds a foreboding sense that the player is being watched... While players can't have the Moon as a follower or use its model for their character, it works exceedingly well with the variety of Link player model mods available on the Workshop. When the World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm was released, his unique design and shimmering lava armor plating made quite the aesthetic impact. While the in-game design for Alduin in Skyrim is certainly terrifying and extremely well-designed, one modder took it upon themselves to reskin the end-game boss entirely. RELATED:The Deathwing-Inspired Alduin mod turns Alduin into a true Destroyer of Worlds, capable of razing all of Azeroth and Tamriel under its black wings. Well, maybe that's an overstatement, but seeing the Black Dragonflight in a modern engine is something every World of Warcraft player should experience. The Legend of Zelda franchise often forgets that Link is an elf, not a human. In the Link Follower mod, Nintendo's most famous adventurer gets a re-skin as a wood elf. This is a mod that goes particularly well with the Majora's Mask Moon mod. One thing to consider, though, is that the mod does not give Link his iconic armor, shield, or sword. The follower is programmed to equip items normally, the player just has to install them separately first. The Witcher 3, like Skyrim, is one of few RPGs that has truly stood the test of time. The Witcher 3 Geralt of Rivia mod allows players to use Geralt's model for their characters at the character creation screen. This mod, like the God of War Mod, adds special abilities and items to the game. Included with the mod are the Witcher's signs, his iconic silver, and steel swords, and armor befitting the Butcher of Blaviken. The world of Skyrim mods would not be complete without modders blending together games that have nothing to do with each other. Dafini's Team Fortress 2 mod series allows the player to use character models such as the Spy, the Scout, the Pyro, and others in the world of Tamriel. These character models are fully voiced and each "class" has its own unique skills and spells. The Spy, for example, can go invisible as a racial ability, while the Scout is fast and an excellent pickpocketer.

La plupart du temps, si vous souhaitez avoir une voiture à votre image, il vous suffit d’ajouter quelques options au configurateur, ou d’acheter des accessoires spécifiques une fois votre voiture reçue. Quelle banalité ! Car dans le monde des ultra-riches, personnaliser son véhicule prend un tout autre sens. Si certains se contentent de coverings complets plus ou moins originaux, d’autres vont encore plus loin, en faisant carrément fabriquer une voiture sur-mesure en fonction de leurs envies. Aujourd’hui, la plupart des constructeurs haut de gamme possèdent leur propre branche dédiée à la personnalisation poussée à l’extrême, qu’il s’agisse de MSO chez McLaren, Tailor-Made chez Ferrari ou encore Ad Personam chez Lamborghini. Et là, toutes les demandes sont traitées, de la simple création d’une couleur sur-mesure à la transformation totale de l’auto, au point de ne plus vraiment reconnaître la version de base. C’est d’ailleurs l’unes des spécialités de Bugatti, comme on l’a notamment vu avec La Voiture Noire. Après la Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport Alice, que nous vous avions présenté il y a quelque semaines, la marque de Molsheim dévoile aujourd’hui une toute nouvelle création, encore plus insolite : la Divo « Lady Bug ». Il s’agit donc de l’un des 40 exemplaires produits de l’hypercar française, passée au sein des ateliers de personnalisation du constructeur, afin d’adopter un look très spécial, inspiré de la coccinelle. Et l’auto, qui aura nécessité environ deux années de travail n’a pas été commandée par n’importe qui, puisque son propriétaire possède le concept Vision Gran Turismo, ainsi qu’une Veyron au sein de sa collection. Ce 3ème modèle se veut donc encore un peu plus exceptionnel, alors que son prix n’a pas été spécifié par la marque. Celui-ci doit sans aucun doute être totalement exorbitant, alors qu’il faut déjà compter 5 millions d’euros pour la version standard. Au terme de cette transformation de longue haleine, c’est en avion que la voiture a été livrée à son propriétaire, dans une caisse contenant également quelques goodies Bugatti réalisés en matériaux composite. On est loin de la casquette et du simple porte-clé promotionnel… Un travail difficile S’il aura fallu autant de temps pour réaliser cette Bugatti Divo « Lady Bug », c’est avant tout car celle-ci aura constitué un énorme défi technique pour les équipes en charge du projet, comme l’explique la marque dans un communiqué. « La recherche de solutions techniques et graphiques ainsi que leur mise en œuvre a occupé l’équipe pendant plus d’un an et demi. Avant le début du projet néanmoins, personne n’avait escompté qu’il serait à ce point difficile et complexe de peindre des losanges avec la plus grande précision sur la carrosserie. Car les motifs numériques du programme CAO n’ont quasiment rien à voir avec la réalité : en raison de la forme sculpturale et en trois dimensions de la Divo, avec ses cambrures, ses courbes et ses ondulations, les losanges en impression 2D se déformaient sur la surface de cette hypersportive exclusive. Ils ont donc dû être adaptés avec un procédé numérique […] en collaboration avec le client, les modeleurs CAO ont mis au point et simulé un design de motif de diamant comprenant près de 1 600 losanges. Un travail extrêmement complexe et coûteux en temps ».

Mind-body wellness coach and author Jaya Jaya Myra is known to share lifestyle tips to help you live better. You can catch her talking about the best and worst foods for a summer body or guiding you to living your purpose. We spoke exclusively to her when her new book, The Soul of Purpose, is just out. Here’s the lowdown Why do people feel unhappy with themselves? There are many reasons people think they are unhappy with their lives, but ultimately it comes back to not living your purpose. Every other possible problem is just a manifestation of not being true to yourself and your core identity, which your purpose is a large part of. Purpose is so integral to our lives that it shapes your thoughts, the way you interact with the world, and even is part of what determines your body type, shape and structure. It gives you your innate talents and gifts, and is foundational to your true identity. Whenever people are unhappy, something in life is not in harmony with living one’s true purpose. We see evidence of this in Ayurveda. Whenever someone does not live in alignment with their dosha or elemental constitution, their mental, emotional and physical health suffers. Why? Because it’s your life’s purpose that determines your Ayurvedic dosha and elemental composition to begin with. It’s the causal seed from consciousness that creates everything about you, and as such, it impacts all areas of life. It is said that stress can lead to health issues... Absolutely, 100% yes. Stress is well known even in the medical community to lower immunity, cause an imbalance in hormones, cause elevated cortisol (the body's stress hormone) and throw the gut’s microbiome out of harmony, which can also lead to mental health problems. Stress is linked with a host of other health problems as well, including heart disease. Managing stress is crucial for living a healthy life, mentally, emotionally and physically. Prolonged, chronic stress is one of the most insidious and detrimental factors of good health. Would you like to share tips on how people can handle stress? One, align with your innate talents and gifts. Whenever you do things you are good at, whether that is for work or a personal hobby, it elevates mood and helps create a healthy mindset. Your gifts are also a reflection of your core purpose, so the more you use them, the more you align with your life’s purpose. Second, learn to lengthen and deepen your breath. This in and of itself helps to diminish stress, fear and anxiety. A person who knows how to breathe deeply, into all parts of the body can learn to stay healthy mentally, and also physically. The mind is so directly connected with what goes on in the physical body that focusing on mindset is foundational to physical health. Third, keep your living and work space clean and tidy. Once you have it tidy, do something that evokes a sense of beauty and comfort. Your external environment is directly connected to your inner environment, as is evidenced by the ancient science of Vaastu Shastra. Start by eliminating clutter, which will also help you eliminate clutter in the mind and alleviate stress. Move on to instill a sense of beauty and calm, and from there, fine tune with other elements of Vaastu. Utilizing The WELL Method will help people create a healthy mindset and better manage stress, because it’s all about your lifestyle, and the small things you do each and every day. Small things add up to move mountains, so never underestimate the power of simple daily habits. What's the connection between physical and mental health? Mental health is the foundation of physical health. The mind and body are interconnected, and we see this through hormones, the microbiome, stress, happiness and so much more. What we do and think directly impacts what happens in the physical body. You can learn to control your health just by focusing on creating a healthy mind. It’s important to note that a lot of the things we do to take care of the body, like eating a healthy diet, exercise, getting adequate sleep and more, are all a huge part of creating a healthy mindset. Really, when you break it all down, there's very little difference between the mind and the body in terms of how they impact each other. One is just part of the other, and what happens to one will impact the other. What is The WELL Method? I created The WELL Method to help people create a mindset and ethos for healthy living. The beauty of The WELL Method is that it helps people establish guidelines without telling them what to do - it’s up to each person to create their own bespoke plan, based on what is most important to them in life. For example, the W in WELL stands for Work Life Harmony. What does this mean to you? Does it mean you have a job with a flexible schedule? Does it mean you are able to take time off whenever necessary to accommodate kids or family needs? Does it mean you get to work from home? Only you know what you most value out of your work life connection, and it’s up to you to advocate for these things, and align yourself with a job or career that will enable you to reach your goals. The E stands for Expect/Enable Excellence. Expect excellence in yourself and enable it in others. Expecting excellence is about setting yourself up for success and knowing that success in anything is your if you’re willing to put in the effort to get there. What daily habits do you have that empower you? What goals are you working towards? What are you doing to help other people succeed? Most importantly, what would you be doing if you knew you would not fail? The two L’s stand for Live your Purpose, and Love, Not Fear. Coming at life from a place of love is about being compassionate and realizing that no one is perfect, not even yourself. It goes hand in hand with enabling excellence in others. We are all connected and by showing a bit more love and compassion to others, you allow it into your own life too. The WELL Method establishes a solid framework of thought that will enable you to succeed and find joy in life. It helps people cultivate their deepest potential and make that potential a reality. We all have greatness inside of us, and we all have to work to find it and manifest it. The WELL Method will help you get you there. Anything you would like to share about your new book? This book is vastly different from most books out there because it explains the message in theoretical terms, but then walks you through, step by step, how to live this message in day to day life. Theory is vastly different than practice, and I believe more people need to know what living these principles really looks like in everyday life so that we can all benefit from the message.

AMMAN: Palestinian political figure Nasser Al-Qudwa has said that he has “crossed the river” and will not reverse his plans to run on a list outside his own Fatah movement in the country’s elections. When Arab News asked whether he will continue his “Democratic Assembly” if imprisoned leader Marwan Barghouti does not support him, he said: “There is no turning back.” Al-Qudwa added: “There is a natural meeting between this movement and that of the imprisoned leader Marwan Barghouti, including that he leads this movement. “Sure, the results might be different if he doesn’t support it, but we are moving in a direction that makes it difficult to retreat. “We have crossed the river and there is no turning back.” In his first-ever press conference that was open to journalists, the former Palestine envoy to the UN and foreign minister warned of the difficulties facing Palestinians. He said that there are normal duties during a national liberation movement and a different set following the end of a conflict. “We have a mix of both, while national liberation is our priority. We need to deal with day-to-day issues that are the needs of our people. “We have to deal with issues such as health, education and good governance.” Al-Qudwa said that Israel’s actions in the region represent greed and an unwillingness to compromise. “They want everything. They are not even saying ‘we just want the settlements or the Jordan valley.’ They want everything.” Governments and international bodies retracting their support for Palestinian statehood is another cause for concern, he added. “Initially, they were saying we support the two-state solution. Now Europe and others are saying we support a negotiated two-state solution.” Al-Qudwa said that negotiations should be restricted to dealings between the occupied Palestinian state and Israel, and not on whether there should be a Palestinian state. He also rejected out of hand the idea of a single state, warning that it represents a dangerous notion of “Greater Israel.” Al-Qudwa said that he has not taken any positions in the Palestinian government for 15 years, and that he has no plans to take any money from outside Palestinian circles. “What we can raise from ordinary people and those who are well-to-do is enough, especially if there is no one stealing the money,” he said. Despite taking a different track, Al-Qudwa has been careful to avoid burning bridges with other longtime Palestinian political figures. “I am still a member of Fatah,” he said. He also refused to address rumors that he was threatened several times during his last meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “It was a closed meeting and what happens in closed meetings stays in those meetings.” However, he did say that the position of the president was “not very democratic.” While Al-Qudwa is counting on the support of fellow Fatah central committee member Marwan Barghouti, he rejected any cooperation with the UAE-based renegade Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan. “It is difficult to be with Dahlan, because the Palestinian people have rejected the position of the UAE,” he said in reference to the recent normalization pact that the UAE signed with Israel. Palestinian legislative elections are due to take place on May 22, followed two months later by presidential elections, and then the convening of the PLO’s National Council at the end of summer.

Par temps de pluie, et même si cela ne semble pas changer grand-chose pour vous en apparence, le risque d’accident est considéraient accru, du fait du manque d’adhérence et de visibilité. De ce fait, il convient de prendre ses précautions pour limiter le danger, en adoptant des bons gestes qui peuvent changer la donne en cas de conditions climatiques difficiles. Auto-Moto vous donne cinq conseils pour mieux gérer cette situation et éviter de prendre des risques. Avant toute chose, pensez toujours à adapter votre allure et ralentir si besoin si la pluie est trop forte. Tout d’abord en raison du manque de visibilité, qui nécessite donc une dose d’anticipation supplémentaire. Par ailleurs, qui dit intempéries dit adhérence réduite, d’où l’importance de réduire votre vitesse afin de mieux pouvoir réagir en cas d’urgence, alors que les distances de freinage sont largement allongées. Par ailleurs, une allure plus basse contribue également à réduire le risque d’aquaplaning et les dangers qui vont avec. En cas de forte pluie, et si la visibilité ne dépasse pas les 50 mètres, il est par ailleurs conseillé de ne pas dépasser les 50 km/h. rder ses feux éteints Même si vous conduisez en plein jour, pensez à toujours garder vos feux allumés, afin d’être plus visible sur la route. L’idéal reste encore d’utiliser vos feux de croisements, et non seulement ceux de positionner, ce qui vous permettra également de mieux voir les autres, ainsi que les éventuels dangers parfois rendus moins visibles par la pluie. Ralentisseurs, objets sur la voie ou encore nids de poule seront ainsi plus faciles à éviter. Si la pluie est trop forte, vous pouvez allumer vos feux de brouillards, mais uniquement à l’avant afin de ne pas éblouir les automobilistes autour de vous. L’usage des feux arrière sont quant à eux interdits, sauf en cas de brouillard épais et de chutes de neige importantes. Freiner brusquement Si cela reste un réflexe en cas de danger, évitez au maximum de freiner trop fort et trop brusquement lorsque vous roulez sous la pluie, au risque de faire déraper votre voiture et de provoquer un accident. Le mieux reste de réduire sa vitesse au maximum, et de ralentir en relâchant simplement la pédale d’accélérateur, en privilégiant toujours la douceur, afin d’éviter les risques inutiles. D’autant plus que le freinage est bien moins efficace sous la pluie, en raison de la chaussée devenue plus glissante. C’est d’ailleurs tout particulièrement le cas en début de pluie, alors que l’eau se mêle à l’huile et aux éventuels débris sur la route. Rouler dans les flaques On a beau avoir le permis depuis de longues années, on reste toujours de grands enfants, et cela se voit tout particulièrement quand il pleut. Qui n’a jamais été tenté de rouler dans une flaque d’eau au cours de sa vie d’automobiliste ? Mais outre le fait que cela salit la voiture et peut également éclabousser un piéton ou un cycliste, cette pratique est également dangereuse, favorisant les risques d’aquaplanning. Sans parler du fait que l’on ne sait pas vraiment où l’on met les roues, et que la flaque peut alors s’avérer plus profonde que prévu, ce qui risque alors d’endommager le véhicule ou de provoquer un accident. Le mieux reste encore d’éviter celles-ci, sans pour autant faire d’écart et en pensant toujours à mettre son clignotant. Ne pas augmenter les distances de sécurité Vous l’avez donc compris, conduire sous la pluie demande une certaine anticipation, en raison du manque d’adhérence. S’il est donc primordial d’abaisser sa vitesse, il est aussi très important de penser à augmenter la distance de sécurité avec les autres automobilistes, afin d’éviter une collision en cas de freinage brusque. Par ailleurs, rester à distance des autres voitures vous permettra également de ne pas subir les projections d’eau, pouvant faire largement baisser la visibilité et rendre la situation dangereuse. A lire également sur Auto-Moto.com : Voiture électrique : 3 choses à ne pas faire pour garder de l’autonomie Lavage auto : 3 choses à ne pas faire pour préserver votre carrosserie Diesel : 4 choses à ne surtout pas faire avec votre moteur

New York: While a balanced diet is advisable to provide the body with all the essential nutrients, customized diets and lifestyle changes could be key to optimising mental health, according to new research including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York. "There is increasing evidence that diet plays a major role in improving mental health, but everyone is talking about a healthy diet," said Begdache, an assistant professor of health and wellness studies at Binghamton University and co-author of a new paper in Nutrients. "We need to consider a spectrum of dietary and lifestyle changes based on different age groups and gender," she said. "There is no one healthy diet that will work for everyone. There is no one fix." Begdache, who is also a registered dietitian, believes that mental health therapies need to consider the differences in the degree of brain maturity between young (18-29 years old) and mature (30 years or older) adults, as well as the brain morphology among men and women. She and her research team conducted an online survey to examine food intake, dietary practices, exercise and other lifestyle factors in these four subpo[CENSORED]tions. Over a five-year period (2014-19), more than 2,600 participants completed the questionnaire after responding to social media posts advertising the survey. The team collected data at different time points and seasons and found important dietary and lifestyle contributors to mental distress -- defined as anxiety and depression -- in each of the groups. Key findings of this study are:- Significant dietary and lifestyle approaches to improve mental well-being among young women include daily breakfast consumption, moderate-to-high exercise frequency, low caffeine intake and abstinence from fast food. Dietary and lifestyle approach to improve mental well-being among mature women include daily exercise and breakfast consumption, as well as a high intake of fruits with limited caffeine ingestion. To improve the mental well-being of young men, dietary and lifestyle approaches include frequent exercise, moderate dairy consumption, high meat intake, as well as low consumption of caffeine and abstinence from fast food. Dietary approaches to improve mental well-being among mature men include moderate intake of nuts. Begdache and her team split the respondents into two age groups because human brain development continues into the late 20s. For young adults of both genders, quality of diet appears to have an impact on the developing brain. "Young adults are still forming new connections between brain cells as well as building structures; therefore, they need more energy and nutrients to do that," Begdache said. As a result, young adults who consume a poor-quality diet and experience nutritional deficiencies may suffer from a higher degree of mental distress. Age is also the reason high caffeine consumption was associated with mental distress in both young men and young women. "Caffeine is metabolized by the same enzyme that metabolizes the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen, and young adults have high levels of these hormones," Begdache said. "When young men and women consume high levels of caffeine, it stays in their system for a long time and keeps stimulating the nervous system, which increases stress and eventually leads to anxiety." The team also split respondents based on biological sex, since brain morphology and connectivity differ between men and women. Put simply, the male brain is "wired" to enable perception and coordination, whereas the female brain is built to support analysis and intuition. Begdache and her team believe these differences may influence nutritional needs. "I have found it in my multiple studies so far, that men are less likely to be affected by diet than women are," said Begdache. "As long as they eat a slightly healthy diet they will have good mental well-being. It's only when they consume mostly fast food that we start seeing mental distress. "Women, on the other hand, really need to be consuming a whole spectrum of healthy food and doing exercise in order to have positive mental well-being," she added. "These two things are important for mental well-being in women across age groups." According to Begdache, current recommendations for food intake are all based on physical health; there are no recommendations for mental health. She hopes that will change -- and that her work will play a role in making those changes. "I hope to see more people doing research in this area and publishing on the customization of a diet based on age and gender," she said. "I hope that one day, institutions and governments will create dietary recommendations for brain health."

RAMALLAH, Thursday, March 4, 2021 (WAFA) – Palestine recorded 2300 new coronavirus cases, 18 deaths, and 1694 recoveries in the last 24 hours, today said Minister of Health Mai Alkaila. She said in her daily report on coronavirus in Palestine that the West Bank had 1721 new cases, 12 deaths, and 1250 recoveries. East Jerusalem recorded 423 new cases over two days, five deaths, and 291 recoveries, while the Gaza Strip had 156 new cases, one death, and 153 recoveries. Alkaila said 135 patients remain in intensive care, among them 32 are on respirators. Total active coronavirus cases reached 9.4 percent of the total cases recorded since the outbreak in Palestine in March of last year, while 89.5 percent have recovered, and 1.1 percent have died.

Keeping the software up-to-date on your digital devices will improve performance, but more importantly, it will provide enhanced security. “The longer your leave software unpatched, the more likely someone is going to use what’s being patched to get in,” said Bree Fowler, a senior tech writer at Consumer Reports. “It’s like leaving a window open. You’ve got to make sure you close all of those holes.” Fowler says this should be the standard operating procedure for all of your connected devices. “Computers, phones, anything that connects to the internet can be updated and should be updated. That also goes for your antivirus software which is one of your lines of defense against problems like this,” she said. The most efficient way to do this is to enable automatic updates. “Automatic updating is great. It will basically run the updates, usually when you’re asleep, so they cause minimal disruption. And the less you have to think about it, the more likely it will actually get updated,” Fowler told me. Hang on to any device long enough and it will no longer be able to use the newest security updates. That would be a good time to get a new one.

Last week Zwift posted a slate of new job positions, notably around supply chain management. Included within that, the company listed that they’ll not only be making three specific models, but that they’ve also selected their hardware production partners already. At a high level, the position postings themselves would be expected. Zwift has been more open in the last few months about their hardware ambitions, in numerous statements from the CEO and PR teams. They’ve openly discussed their plans to bring hardware into a market currently occupied entirely by their partners. All of these positions are part of Zwift’s hardware division, which is called FitTech, and appears to be largely based out of London (since that’s where all of the FitTech engineering/test/etc positions are showing from). This matches with the first round of positions about 16 months ago. However, most of the more interesting tidbits here come from the Supply Chain positions, which are able to work mostly anywhere (according to the descriptions). Props to Tariq Ali of SmartBikeTrainers.com for his tweet catching a couple of key words in one of the listings for the Director of Global Supply Chain Planning, specifically, this sentence: “we are now expanding and are in the process of launching three at-home fitness products, that Zwift will manufacture and deliver directly to customers all over the world.” And more specifically, the part where it says “three at-home fitness products”, as previously they haven’t really disclosed just how many products they’re working on. Of course, Zwift already makes one physical hardware product – the Zwift Running Pod, though, I’m not sure they’re actually even making that anymore, as it’s been sold out on their site for a while. That’s the pod they bought from Milestone a few years back. (Above: The insides of a prototype Tacx Flux S smart trainer, prior to release) Before we talk about the Zwift hardware threesome, there’s also a slightly different listing which details another element that might give clues to who their partners are. Inside the posting it says: “You will work closely with our manufacturing partners in China to ensure production can run efficiently, and all component parts are delivered to them on time.” While most job listings might allude to a region for partners (such as Asia), this is actually direct in two manners. First, it states that they’ve already selected partners in China for production, and two, that they’re going to produce these in China, specifically. At first glance you might shrug this off. But a bit more understanding of the sports tech landscape makes this interesting: A) It means they’ve gotten far enough down the road to choose a manufacturing facility B) This means they aren’t planning on acquiring an existing player in the market (who almost exclusively produce outside of China) C) It means they aren’t going to leverage existing 3rd party manufacturing powerhouses like Giant, which makes their stuff in Taiwan D) It calls into question leveraging Specialized facilities based on that investment round, as some had speculated, which are largely in Taiwan, Cambodia, and elsewhere E) It puts Magene as a viable manufacturing partner on the table F) It uses the plural of partners, which might imply more than one manufacturing facility (potentially for different products) Around this point in the post, many of you are like “Who is Magene, and how’d they end up in this post?!?”. Magene is a Chinese-based sports tech company that’s made trainers for a number of years, and has more recently dabbled in power meters. I reviewed one of their trainers a few years back, and found them actually surprisingly accurate and well done for a company that at the time didn’t have much experience/history. In many (most?) ways, they duplicated the Wahoo designs of the time, though recently they’ve gone their own route a bit on designs. Though their most recent T300 direct drive trainer seems a lot more variable, and drifts considerably, based on the testing that GPLAMA has done. Beyond Magene, most other trainer manufacturing partnerships within Asia tend to fall to Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Though interestingly, Magene actually lists Wahoo Fitness as an investor and their own Alibaba page lists them as Wahoo’s supplier – so whether or not that would preclude a partnership with Zwift is unclear (since helping make trainers for Zwift would obviously not be in Wahoo’s competitive interest). Though, Magene (which goes by half a dozen corporate identities in China) does have OEM manufacturing partnerships for a few different product categories including rocker plates, bike lights, smart trainers, power meters, and more. Obviously, manufacturing goods in China isn’t news per se, but the Magene angle gives one pause – as they’d have experience in this sector already. And as much as bean counters who haven’t built trainers and smart bikes want to believe manufacturing is interchangeable, the reality is that having an experienced partner in this sector will save many months of ramp-up struggles. THREE FITNESS PRODUCTS: But let’s back up a second to the “three at-home fitness products” part of this job description. That’s obviously the most important part of today’s post. In fact, it’s so important that Zwift has realized it was a poor strategy to include that in the job posting itself. Since Tariq’s initial tweet, that wording has since been changed to remove those words. However, you can’t remove anything from the internet – it’s still everywhere: Assuming this isn’t just three new footpods, which obviously, it isn’t – then the question is to what level do these three new products rise to? One could assume a smart bike, a trainer, and perhaps a KICKR CLIMB like accessory with steering built-in. Or, it could be three ‘trainers’/’bikes’, such as a low-end trainer, a mid to high range trainer, and a smart bike. Or, it could be steering products of their own, not requiring dependence on companies like Elite and their Sterzo Smart. Now Zwift’s CEO Eric Min has already confirmed they’re building a smart bike, so that takes one of them off the listing. Here’s that exchange from this past fall: Bloomberg: “So does that mean there’s going to be a smart bike, a Zwift branded smart bike?” Eric Min: “That’s right, we’ve been telling our partners for many years now that this is really the future of growing this entire category. And we’ll continue to work with our partners, and in the current environment our partners cannot make enough hardware.” [He goes goes on to note that the shortages have impacted many different fitness companies beyond Zwift.] Bloomberg: “So when can we see that Zwift branded smart bike?” Eric Min: “Well I wish…yesterday. We’re working as fast as we can, but these things do take time. We’re certainly not going to come out with a product that is just a, you know, just another piece of product. I think we have an opportunity to really innovate. And really further enhance the experience that we promised ourselves to deliver on.” And while a so-called Zwift Bike makes a ton of sense (and what I’d focus on as well), it won’t move the needle in subs. That’s because Zwift won’t be able to make meaningful quantities for years. That manufacturing capacity doesn’t exist to the degree Zwift wants it to. Even if we combine all of the smart bikes made monthly by Wahoo, Tacx, Wattbike, and Elite, that’s not even a drop in the bucket. Low single-digit thousands (units), give or take, in total. Instead, Zwift needs to make tens of thousands of units to have even a start at meaningful impact on their growth numbers – and it will take years to reach that for smart bikes, due to the complexity of what they’re designing. So, smart trainers it is. The only question is: What’s it gonna cost, and what features will it have? My bet is simple: Good: Wheel-on smart trainer at ~$399 price point (or under) Better: Direct drive smart trainer at $999 Best: Full smart bike in the $2,500-$3,000 And all of those would have some initial Zwift subscription probably baked in to entice people further, over their competitors. Ideally they’d find a way to get a $1,800-$2,400 smart bike, to roughly match Peloton’s two-tier pricing, but I think that’ll be challenging at launch. Or, they could do something completely off the rails and build a rower or treadmill. But neither is in line with Zwift’s very clear stance in recent months that they’re focusing on cycling, and just cycling. In fact just last weekend they had to walk back a tweet where they implied rowing was about to be added to the game. In reality, according to Zwift’s CEO, any focus on rowing has been tabled – likely because they and their investors have realized there’s no meaningful amount of new subscriptions to be made there from a growth standpoint, relative to cycling. And the same would largely apply to running, since it doesn’t appear treadmill availability is really the limiter on Zwift’s running growth. In any case, as I’ve said before – I certainly wouldn’t hold back any purchases waiting for Zwift’s hardware. There’s simply no way hardware availability is coming anytime soon. My best guesstimate is that they could potentially announce a product portfolio at the end of summer, around the Eurobike timeframe, but that it probably won’t be available until at earliest the end of the year, or likely not till 2022. There are exceptions to that, such as by purchasing another brand – but that also seems less and less likely now. The more complexity Zwift tries to chew off, the longer the timeframes are, because ultimately, Eric Min said it best himself as part of that November interview:

Sony revealed several new games coming to PSVR in a special showcase. It’s an unusual crop of games, including a VR port of Doom 3, survival games, a first-person-shooter, and an espionage puzzle thriller. It’s a strange mix, to say the least. While we know that Sony is working on the next generation of PSVR, it’s been clear that it’ll be a long time before we see this new headset. In the meantime, it’s good to see it supporting the current version of PSVR. Out of all the reveals, probably the most interesting is the Doom 3 VR port, if only because it was, in retrospect, a good candidate for the VR treatment. The port redesigns some aspects of the game — for example, parts of the UI are now visible in-game as a wrist-mounted Pip Boy-looking thing. This is also the only game with a specific release date, coming out on March 29. Other titles might not be as recognizable but are no less exciting. I Expect You To Die 2: The Spy and the Liar, for example, was announced for PSVR, having been previously confirmed for PC VR systems. Zenith, a JRPG-inspired fantasy MMO, was also shown, as was Song in the Smoke, a survival game set in a mystical, primitive world. After the Fall is a zombie co-op shooter in which players can team up to fight the undead in a frozen, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Perhaps the strangest title announced was Fracked, from nDreams, the creators of Phantom: Covert Ops. It can best be described as a skiing shoot-em-up in which the player takes on some kind of interdimensional beings in a remote mountain fracking facility. It’s about as unusual as that description implies. All of the games, except Doom 3, have general 2021 release dates, with After the Fall and Fracked due out sometime in summer.

Ça y est, les beaux jours reviennent tout doucement, alors que le printemps pointe le bout de son nez. Et il est vrai qu’après plusieurs mois d’hiver, de couvre-feu et de restrictions en tout genre, nous n’avons envie que d’une chose, sortir à nouveau et profiter du soleil. Cela se voit, alors que les parcs et jardins se remplissent au moindre rayon, et que les passionnés ressortent leur voiture pour partir en balade le week-end. Et alors que le beau temps semble de retour, les cabriolets se font de plus en plus nombreux sur les routes, après des mois de sommeil pour certains. Mais alors que le choix est aujourd’hui de plus en plus restreint, alors que subsistent de rares modèles tels que les les BMW Z4 et autres Mazda MX-5, un constructeur réfléchit à investir ce segment pourtant en perte de vitesse. Il s’agit de Volkswagen, qui commercialise déjà le T-Roc cabriolet, et qui souhaite lancer un tout autre modèle, encore plus insolite. quiet, smooth, open: We‘re thinking about an e-convertible, maybe an #VWID3 convertible. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/cfLHu3OGa9 Et pour cause, il s’agit de la Volkswagen ID.3, qui pourrait bientôt être déclinée en une inédite version découvrable. Ce n’est une blague, alors que le 1er avril n’est que dans un mois, alors que le patron de la marque lui-même à publié deux images officielles sur son compte Twitter. Sur le réseau à l’oiseau bleu, Herbert Diess se dit en effet « ouvert à une voiture cabriolet électrique, peut-être une ID.3 cabriolet ». Si l’idée paraît totalement farfelue, et ressemble presque à un étonnant pari fait lors d’une réunion chez le constructeur, il n’en reste pas moins qu’elle pourrait faire son chemin. Mais à une seule condition : que le public soit d’accord. Encore sur Twitter, c’est cette fois-ci le compte officiel de Volkswagen qui a partagé une illustration de cette hypothétique nouveauté, demandant alors l’avis des internautes sur le sujet à travers un sondage. Et au vu des premiers résultats, ces derniers semblent pour le moins enthousiastes ! Il faut dire que l’idée- certes saugrenue- d’un cabriolet électrique peut être quelque peu séduisante, et pourrait plaire à certains clients. Une espèce rare Car des véhicules découvrantes zéro-émission, ça ne court pas vraiment les rues, le dernier exemple en date étant alors la Citroën E-Méhari, qui n’aura pas vraiment laissé de traces dans l’Histoire de l’automobile. De son côté, le Tesla Roadster, aussi prometteur soit-il n’est toujours pas arrivé, et ne devrait pas le faire avant l’année prochaine, alors qu’il ne concurrencerait de toutes façons pas cette Volkswagen ID.3 cabriolet. Pour l’heure, vous vous doutez bien qu’aucune informations technique à son sujet n’a encore été révélée, mais nul doute que les motorisations devraient être identiques à la version standard. Pour rappel, la compacte électrique est alors déclinée en deux niveaux de puissance, à savoir 150 et 204 chevaux, tandis que trois tailles de batteries sont disponibles, allant de 45 à 77 kWh, offrant alors des autonomies comprises entre 330 et 500 kilomètres en une seule charge. Déjà disponible, la version standard de la Volkswagen ID.3 est actuellement affichée à partir de 33 890 €, avec une dotation incluant entre autres l’écran tactile de 10 pouces, le chargeur à induction, le régulateur de vitesse adaptatif ou encore les sièges avant et le volant en cuir chauffants.