July 2022 – Page 45 – Michmutters
Categories
Business

Inflation: NYC shop Duane Reade locks up Spam in antitheft cases

It’s the nation’s crises in a can.

Inflation and crime have gotten so bad in New York that even cheap meat like Spam has to be locked up, the New York Post reports.

At Duane Reade’s store in the Port Authority bus station, the shelf-stable product — only $US3.99 ($5.70) a can — is now being stocked in plastic, antitheft cases.

“I’ve never seen that before!” one cashier laughed while using a magnet to remove a can of Spam from its cage from him.

The cashier was among the employees, tourists and store regulars stunned that the iconic blue-and-yellow cans are now being kept under lock-and-key — some even poking fun at the sight as “a sort of Jeff Koons homage,” per one viral tweet.

Jenny Kenny, 43, who was visiting from Kentucky, was aware of the ongoing crime waves hitting cities like New York and San Francisco, but still couldn’t believe the sight of “so many things in boxes.”

“Some of these things are pretty ridiculous,” she said.

As prices and crime skyrocket, New York City stores have taken to locking up staples like toothpaste and soap to prevent crooks from stealing and then hawking the products on the sidewalk or online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.

Yet some shoppers were confused why Spam, along with $US1.89 cans ($2.70) of StarKist tuna, was enclosed under plastic, while pricier foodstuffs like $US5.49 cans ($7.86) of Amy’s soup sat unencumbered.

“To put Spam in a cage is stupid — and kind of insulting to the customers that would buy it,” said shopper Dennis Snow, 46.

Snow said he doesn’t think Spam is being stolen to “sell it for crack,” but rather because the homeless in the area are looking for a quick and easy meal.

“Someone is stealing this because they need it,” agreed Delia Kemph, a 28-year-old teacher.

Employees at the store said thefts have been surging over the past two-plus years, with one estimating a minimum of four shoplifters every evening shift.

“I don’t think they stop anything,” Iggy, 21, a store clerk, said of the antitheft cases. “It’s security theatre. If you really needed it, you would stomp on it.”

The employee’s complaints were prescient — at around 7pm on Thursday, a man in a black tank top and gray sweatpants had an employee unlock the glass case for a $US38 ($54.40) electric razor, and then bolted with the appliance past a yellow-shirted security guard and out the door.

With inflation out of control — the consumer price index spiked 9.1 per cent in June compared to a year ago, even as President Joe Biden this week refused to acknowledge the nation is in a recession despite the economy contracting two quarters in a row — emboldened thieves have found a ready market for discounted stolen goods among recession-weary consumers.

Petty theft complaints for the New York Police Department’s Midtown South Precinct, which includes the Port Authority bus terminal, have shot up 52 per cent — to 1,771, through July 24 — compared to the same period last year.

Hormel CEO Jim Snee told analysts last month that prices for their legacy product were set to increase in late July to cover increased transportation, packaging and meat costs.

A spokeswoman for Walgreens, which owns Duane Reade, refused to say why Spam was locked down at this particular location, and that installing antitheft devices is done “in response to theft data.”

Liz Tawfik, 57, a home health attendant, complained that the added security measures are hampering the once-smooth shopping experience — and annoying customers like herself.

“If you’re gonna catch a train you wanna grab something quick, it’s not quick anymore,” she said. “You might as well have someone take your order at the door and get what you want.”

Not all drug stores have put Spam under lockdown.

Two other Duane Reades and a pharmacy in the Times Square area, along with two other stores in Central Harlem, sold their cans of Spam, cage-free.

Dariel Cepin, 23, an employee at a West 44th Street Duane Reade, said, “Here, we lock up ice cream.”

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission

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Categories
Technology

Arlo Go 2 – a truly wireless security camera (review)

The Arlo Go 2 is a specialized security camera. While you can connect it to your Wi-Fi network, it has its own LTE (4G) connection as well. This means that you can use it in places where you might not have a Wi-Fi signal, such as on a far corner of your property, farmland, in boats and RVs, construction sites or even campsites. How you use it is up to you, and as it’s weather proof, you don’t need to keep it under cover. While it has a rechargeable battery, you can add an Arlo solar panel so you never need to recharge it or connect power cables. It will also keep working during a power outage. With all this in mind, we tested out the Go 2 to see how it worked on the, well, ‘go’.

first looks

First thing you’ll notice is that the Go 2 is fairly large compared to other Arlo cameras, such as the Ultimate, Pro or Essential models. This is likely because of its large battery rather than to make room for a 4G SIM card or LTE antennas. And it’s a good thing too, as you’ll want the battery to last as long as possible considering it might be far away or out of reach.

Getting the Go 2 up and running was farily straight forward, provided that your 4G SIM is already working. We used one from Amaysim but first needed to plug it into our phone to get it registered on the network. Once that was done and inserted into the Go 2’s SIM slot, we ran the Arlo Secure app to add it to the camera dashboard. Here, you’ll be given a choice of connecting it to a Wi-Fi network or using a 4G / LTE signal. We chose 4G and were then shown a QR code to point the camera at. If it successfully ‘sees’ the QR code, which it did in our case, it connects to the app and finishes the process.

small and large security cameras
The Go 2 is quite a bit larger than the Arlo Ultra (on right)

Arlo Go 2 – Price and Features

  • RRP: $429
  • Warranty: 12 months
  • 1080P (full HD) resolution
  • Weatherproof case and seals
  • color night vision
  • Spotlight (illuminates up to 7.6 meters)
  • 2-way talk (full duplex)
  • Long battery life (13,000mAh)
  • Wi-Fi & 4G (LTE) network compatibility
  • mounting bracket
  • GPS location tracking
  • built in siren
  • MicroSD memory card for local storage

The Go 2 is packed with features. The key differences that separate it from other Arlo security cameras, such as the Ultra, Pro and Essential models are its 4G connectivity, large battery and GPS location tracking. The 4G provides the ubiquity to use it anywhere there’s coverage, while the huge 13,0000mAh battery maximizes time between charges. This is especially handy if you place the Go 2 in a remote location.

The GPS tracking is a great way to locate your camera if it’s stolen or you have multiple units on your property, such as a farm, and need to see where each is situated. You check the Go 2’s located by visiting a map in the Arlo Secure app.

Other than these features, the Go 2 has a spotlight that can illuminate up to 7.5 meters and motion tracking can be set to 7 meters away.

And like the top of the Ultra range, the Go 2 has its own MicroSD card, so you can store videos in the unit itself instead of in the cloud.

For images and videos, there’s a 1080p / full HD sensor. This is lower than the Pro and Ultra’s 2K and 4K respectively. The resolution choice is likely to keep image sizes small, so they require less bandwidth to send to the cloud via the 4G network. Otherwise, there’s a similar 12x digital zoom, night vision and two-way talk as found in the Essential and Pro models.

Subscribe for more features

While you can buy security cameras for less, the more premium brands such as Arlo offer a lot of advanced capabilities as part of a subscription service called Arlo Secure. This includes object detection, which uses AI to analyze what your camera is ‘seeing’. It can detect pets, people, packages and vehicles, so you can choose what events you want to be notified about. You can also assign activity zones in your image and exclude areas that you don’t want the camera to notice. This helps cut down simple ‘movement’ notifications where things like a tree blowing in the wind might trigger an alert. See too many of these and you’ll stop paying attention to the important ones.

The Arlo secure plan gives you 30 days worth of storage for your videos, along with interactive notifications that embed the video clip into the message. There’s even continuous video recording for an additional fee.

Arlo Secure costs $4.49 per month for one camera or $14.99 for unlimited cameras. Without the subscription you still get access to live video streaming through the app and motion notifications. More Arlo Secure plan pricing.

in-action

Using the Arlo Go 2 is quite straightforward. You can mount the camera on the included bracket, which allows for a wide range of motion, or it can be placed on a shelf, desk or some other unobtrusive place.

The camera’s settings can be configured in the Arlo Secure app. This includes doing a motion test to decide how sensitive it should be, along with tweaks to camera brightness, low light settings, enabling the floodlight and more.

We added the Go 2 to our other Arlo cameras, and can manage all of them in the Arlo Secure dashboard. As with the other cameras, there’s a 5 or so second delay for enabling the live feed or switching on the spotlight, etc., however, this is fairly standard for all security cameras.

While it does support Amazon Alexa and Google Assistants, we were not able to add the Go 2 to Apple’s HomeKit smart home ecosystem. While most Arlo cameras are compatible, this feature may be added later with a software update.

Performance

Given that the Go 2 has a 1080p resolution, images aren’t quite as sharp as some of Arlo’s other cameras, and can’t zoom in to reveal quite as much detail, such as a car license plate number. However, for most purposes, the resolution is completely adequate. We tested the camera’s performance in direct sunlight, as well as in the dark. We did notice that when pointed into direct sun, the camera does struggle to show detail in darker parts of the scene, and it doesn’t support High Dynamic Range like other Arlo models. This isn’t a major problem as it happens only when the camera is pointing towards the sun.

With night motion detection and recording, the Go 2 can either rely on its IR vision or use the spotlight for night color vision. We found both to work quite well, and the spotlight’s intensity and range is impressive at over 7 meters.

You can also listen in to the camera’s surrounding via the built-in microphone, which picks up a reasonable amount of ambient noise. The 2-way-talk feature is full duplex meaning you can speak and hear at the same time, rather than a walkie-talkie like experience where you press a button to speak and then listen for a response.

Battery life should be quite long, even a month’s worth, however this is highly dependent on how it’s used. For example, how sensitive the camera’s motion detection is along with how often and how long it records. We didn’t test the camera long enough to drain the battery, however, as mentioned earlier, it can connect to an Arlo solar panel accessory if you don’t want to ever worry about charging.

GadgetGuy’s take

The Arlo Go 2 is a smart option for those who need to add security to wide open spaces or are not in range of a Wi-Fi network. It’s $429 price is higher than a standard ‘premium’ Wi-Fi camera, however, its 4G capability, larger battery, GPS and other features are what you’re getting for the extra money. Depending if you want to pay for a subscription to Arlo Secure, there are plenty of advanced motion detection features on offer as well. If not, there’s still plenty of quality features included for the price to help you keep watch over your valued items, property or even just to watch the apples in the orchard grow.

What’s in the box?

  • Arlo Go 2 Camera
  • wall mount screw kit
  • rechargeable battery
  • Mounting screws
  • Magnetic charging cable
  • Quick start guide

Arlo Go 2 – Specifications

Video resolution 1080p
Video format H.264
night vision 850nm LEDs: illuminates up to 25 feet
imaging 12x digital zoom
Audio Speaker, Microphone
Motion Adjustable up to 23 feet, instant email alerts and push notifications
Audio 2-way audio. Instant email alerts and push notifications
Battery 13,000mAh rechargeable battery. Battery life varies based on settings, usage, & temperature
Operating temperature -4° to 113° F (-20° C to 45° C)
Certification Weatherproof IP65
Dimensions 3.38″ x 2.53″ x 4.72″in (86 x 64.2 x120mm)
Weight 1.08lbs (490g) w/battery
app support iOS, Android, Fire OS, web browser

More Arlo news and reviews on GadgetGuy

The Arlo Go 2 is your go-to camera if you want to secure your outdoor space and don’t have a Wi-Fi connection. It’s built to survive the weather and has a long battery life and lots of features on tap.

Positives

4G/LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity so you can choose which to use

Large battery for long battery life

Easy to use Arlo Secure app

Option to connect a solar panel to eliminate charging anxiety

Easy to set up and get running

Advanced object, people, pet and vehicle detection if you want it

Negatives

Advanced image detection available as part of an additional cost / subscription plan

HD resolution is OK, nice to have a higher resolution to see more detail

Categories
Entertainment

‘Lost control’: Sticky Fingers storms off mid-concert in Melbourne

Controversial Australian band Sticky Fingers frontman Dylan Frost admitted he “lost control” when the lead singer sensationally stormed off in the middle of a concert last night in Melbourne.

The band was seven songs into its set when Frost appeared to become upset onstage. Video footage captured by a concertgoer and uploaded to social media shows Frost striking the microphone and throwing his guitar to the ground.

The rest of the band – Paddy Cornwall, Seamus Coyle, Beaker Best and Freddy Crabs – then followed him offstage.

According to the Herald Sun, a faulty microphone may have triggered the tantrum during the song “Not Yet Done”. Boos could be heard from the crowd.

Another 10 minutes passed before it was announced that the show had been cancelled.

On Sunday afternoon, Frost posted a statement to Facebook apologizing to fans.

“I’m really sorry for last night in Melbourne,” he said.

“I’ve been working hard on myself and will continue to prioritize my health, but I still let a lot of you down.

“I want to apologize to the fans and my band, our crew and venue staff.

“The tour has been amazing so far and we wanted to end it big, but I just didn’t have it last night and I lost control. We’re working on a new date to make it up to everyone or refunds for those who want them and we will let you know plans soon.”

The Saturday night Festival Hall gig was the last performance of Sticky Fingers’ Australian tour. The band had played on Friday night in Melbourne without drama. It’s expected the band will still perform in New Zealand next month.

An audience member told the Herald Sun, “The atmosphere at the gig initially was great. But then we only got three songs in and Frosty cracked the s**ts, stormed off and cancelled.”

Other concertgoers took to Facebook to express their annoyance.

for the Herald Suna fan named Jordan Patrick wrote on social media, “Unbelievable, I’ve been waiting for tonight for years, was so excited and absolutely devastated they ditched the show like that.

“So disrespectful to the fans who have stuck by them and waited to see them after such a long time.”

Other fans said they had flown to Melbourne specifically for the show.

Sticky Fingers was previously engulfed in scandal when Indigenous artist Thelma Plum Frost allegedly had in 2016 racially abused and threatened her. The accusation sparked a raft of boycotts.

Frost and the band denied the allegations but later issued a mea culpa around unspecified “unacceptable” behaviors and claimed that alcohol addiction and mental health issues were contributing factors.

Frost wrote in 2016 that he would seek therapy and rehabilitation and that he was “truly sorry to the people who have been affected by my behaviour” and that he hoped to “one day make amends for my actions”.

Frost isn’t the only band member to be embroiled in public spectacles. Bassist Cornwall had to issue an apology for 2019 rantings against ABC’s youth station, Triple J.

He initially said in an expletive-laden video posted to social media, “Triple J, f**k you and your f**king artist repertoire. We don’t f**king need you. We don’t want you because you play your f**king bullshit and you’re a bunch of f**king maggots.”

A year later, Cornwall apologized for his words. I have conceded that the relationship between Sticky Fingers and Triple J had fractured due to his actions.

He said in May 2020, “I was outta my head, not dealing with personal battles of my own, I’m sorry to the people I hurt at the station, as well as my own team.

“I ain’t the same derailed, angry person you saw last year. I’m not where I want to be yet but I’ve been doing a lot better, dealing with my demons. I hope sharing this helps find a resolve on the situation.”

In 2019, Frost and Cornwall were arrested for a violent punch-up between the pair at Marrickville Bowling Club in Sydney. It occurred after the band members had been drinking for six hours.

Cornwall was in 2021 sentenced to 18 months, to be served in the community.

News.com.au contacted Sticky Fingers’ management for comment.

Read related topics:melbourne

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Categories
Australia

Police shoot man allegedly armed with knives in WA’s Wheatbelt

Police say a man allegedly ran towards an officer while carrying two knives before he was shot in the torso in a small Western Australian town this morning.

The man in his 20s is in a stable condition in hospital following the incident in the Wheatbelt town of Pingelly, about 150km south-east of Perth.

Police allege the man ran from a property towards the officer and was shot just before 5am.

Deputy Police Commissioner Allan Adams said a constable used a taser on the man, which was “ineffective”, before he shot him in the torso at a range of about 1 metre.

Deputy Commissioner Adams said police were called to the home after reports of a disturbance, including a call from a family member inside the house.

“Upon arrival, the man in his 20s ran from the address armed with knives towards police who told him to stop, deployed taser, which was ineffective, and then fired a single shot, which hit and stopped him from proceeding any further towards police, “he said.

Deputy Commissioner Adams said he had viewed the incident, which was recorded on a police body camera.

“Watching the vision I’m extremely thankful that their training came to the fore in their response to the incident,” he said.

“While there is an investigation still to be undertaken, my assessment of the vision [is] I don’t think I would’ve done anything any differently than the police in attendance.

“From the moment the man walked out of the front door to the moment the event was completed was a matter of seconds.”

The officer provided first aid before the man was transferred to hospital.

Shooting under investigation

Deputy Commissioner Adams said the incident was under investigation.

He said it was not “normal practice” to have one officer respond to a serious incident, but praised the constable’s response.

“There were some resourcing issues in the immediate vicinity at that time that precluded the attendance of more,” he said.

“Whilst it’s not desirable a single officer attend an event like this… I don’t sit here in any way saying that the police officer shouldn’t have gone.

“The officer made an assessment at that time that it was in the best interest of the community to attend straight away. He could not have foreseen what was to eventuate and I’m sure if he did, he would’ve waited a bit longer .”

Counseling has been offered to the officer and family members of the injured man.

Great Southern police were meeting with Indigenous community leaders in the town this afternoon.

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Categories
Business

Qantas nightmare: Australian traveller’s horror overseas flight saga

As I found myself stranded in Athens airport, surrounded by unsympathetic airline staff and forced to splash out an extra $2700 on new flights back home, I couldn’t help but feel this all could have been avoided.

Like thousands of other Aussies, I too had a nightmare experience flying with Qantas.

It’s amazing what can happen to a beloved national airline when it sacks 9000 staff, outsources thousands of jobs, moves customer service teams overseas and hands out millions in bonuses to executives.

My nightmare all started when I fell for the trap that is ‘frequent flyer flights’.

I applied for a credit card back in May (disastrous idea), splurged on a new laptop to secure 120,000 bonus Qantas points and booked my first overseas holiday in years.

There was a slight catch, my flights to Europe were from Adelaide – but given I had spent less than $1000 on taxes in addition to my points I thought I had scored a bargain.

I called up the Qantas helpline in a bid to see if they could help me book connecting flights from Sydney to Adelaide – mistake 1.

Instead of booking me a simple flight home from Adelaide to Sydney, they REPLACED my overseas return leg from Athens to Adelaide.

It wasn’t until a few days later that I noticed my overseas leg had vanished and been simply replaced with the domestic flight.

I spent over five hours that night on hold as I desperately tried to explain what had happened to call center workers who struggled to even speak to me let alone understand my complaint.

This is of course not their fault, they are doing the best they can in difficult circumstances. The blame lies with an airline that sacrificed quality, local customer service for cheaper labor.

Just one Qantas call center is located in Australia – and that Hobart team specifically services the airline’s premium clients (the big spenders).

I would wait two hours on hold, before finally getting onto someone – who would then spend 30 minutes attempting to understand my issue, only for them to hang up on me.

After over five hours I finally got onto someone who told me they could no longer get me on my original flight (Athens to Doha to Adelaide) as it was now full.

Qantas has since informed me that the domestic leg wasn’t ticketed correctly – which resulted in my overseas flight being cancelled.

With my trip approaching and still no return leg, I took matters into my own hands and booked another flight via Vietnam.

With so few options available I had to book the Vietnam to Sydney leg with a different airline – Jetstar.

I called up Qantas to make sure that I would be able to get a transit visa at the airport in Ho Chi Minh as I would need to check my bags in and out again during my short four-hour layover between flights.

A spokesperson told me there would be no problems getting a visa at the airport – mistake 2, blindly trusting Qantas again.

Three weeks of blissful travel – visiting my best mates in picturesque Switzerland, a romantic trip in Santorini – finished with me being stuck in Athens after Qantas’ advice was swiftly shot down.

Airline staff refused to let me on my flight as I had no visa – despite the assurances of Qantas it would be fine.

Ironically, the only option presented to me was to spend almost 2000 Euros to get back onto the Athens-Doha-Adelaide flight that I had originally booked months ago – only for Qantas to inexplicably cancel without telling me and then assure me there were no seats on the flight.

Turns out there were seats on the flight Qantas.

And while a seedy room above an Adelaide pub wasn’t exactly how I pictured closing out my trip – I was just glad to get home and be done with travelling.

Qantas’ statement:

“Unfortunately, it appears that the additional domestic flight was not ticketed correctly when it was added to your booking which led to the Qatar Airways booking being automatically canceled by their system.

“Our agent was unable to secure you another seat on that Qatar flight as there were no more reward seats available on the flight.

Our contact centers are not trained to provide visa advice, rather they should direct you to the relevant consulate, and we apologize that this process wasn’t followed.

“We are following up your experience with a full review to help prevent it happening again.”

Read related topics:qantas

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Categories
Sports

Jake Stringer fires as Essendon Bombers prove too strong for struggling North Melbourne Kangaroos

Jy Simpkin (40 disposals), Jaidyn Stephenson (32) and Luke Davies-Uniacke (23) worked hard in a losing cause.

Essendon were best served by Zach Merrett (37 disposals, eight clearances), Mason Redman (32 disposals) and Nick Hind (22), while tall swing-man James Stewart played forward and kicked three goals – his first scores in two years.

Peter Wright, Kyle Langford and Harrison Jones kicked two goals apiece.

The only sour note for the Bombers was Jye Caldwell’s calf injury.

Already hit hard by COVID-19, North Melbourne lost Lachie Young and Jack Mahony as late withdrawals before the bounce.

loading

The pair joined teammates Aidan Corr, Paul Curtis and Aaron Hall on the sidelines through virus protocols.

Essendon also suffered a late blow when Dylan Shiel was ruled out with a hamstring issue.

Stringer’s big day began with six disposals, three tackles and three goals in the first quarter.

He would have had a fourth major for the term if a quick snap had not brushed a North defender’s finger on the goal line – a fact confirmed by one of three score reviews before quarter-time.

The Bombers led by 15 points at quarter-time, doubled the advantage during the second term and remained in control on the scoreboard throughout the second half.

ESSENDON 5.1 9.5 13.6 17.12 (114)
NORTH MELB 2.4 5.6 7.9 9.12 (66)

GOALS
Essendon: Stringer 5, Stewart 3, Langford 2, Wright 2, Jones 2, Redman, Guelfi, Merrett.
North Melb: Zurhaar 4, Anderson, Coleman-Jones, Scott, Goldstein, Turner.
BEST
Essendon: Merrett, Redman, Stringer, Zerk-Thatcher Laverde, Langford.
North Melb: Zurhaar, Simpkin, Stephenson, Horne-Francis, McDonald.
INJURIES
Essendon: Caldwell (calf).
CROWD 29,549 at Marvel Stadium.

AAP

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Categories
US

How much will Illinois win owe in taxes?

The billion-dollar Mega Millions jackpot has finally been claimed in Illinois after being purchased at a Speedway gas station in Des Plaines.

But how much of that will end up in the winner’s pocket, and how much will be owed in taxes?

The tax bill depends on whether the Mega Millions winner chooses a cash payout of $780.5 million or annual payments totaling $1.3 billion over 29 years.

Illinois currently contains 24 percent in federal taxes, and 4.95 percent in state income taxes, though that may not be the total tax obligation, depending on the winner’s financial situation.

If the winner decides to take the $780.5 million lump sum, approximately $187.3 million in federal taxes would be withheld, in addition to $38.6 million in state taxes. That would mean an estimated take-home payout of $554.6 million.

If the winner takes the full $1.337 billion in annual installments and tax rates don’t change over the next 29 years, an estimated $320.9 million in federal taxes would be withheld, and an estimated $66.2 in state taxes would be withheld. That would mean an estimated take-home payout of $949.9 million over 29 years.

After taxes, the winning Mega Millions ticket holder will either take a cash payout or annual payments totaling over the next 29 years.
After taxes, the winning Mega Millions ticket holder will either take a cash payout or annual payments totaling over the next 29 years.
Corbis via Getty Images

Although the cash option is more popular, the annuity payments are each 5 percent bigger than the previous one.

“This helps protect winners’ lifestyle and purchasing power in periods of inflation,” the Mega Millions lottery states on its website.

This Mega Millions jackpot is one of the biggest ever after the 2018 South Carolina winner who claimed a $1.537 billion pot.

“Congratulations to the Illinois Lottery for selling the winning ticket for the $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot,” Ohio Lottery Director Pat McDonald said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history. We’re eager to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon! Better still, this exciting jackpot run has had a significant positive impact on the revenues for good causes raised by our member lotteries.”

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Categories
Technology

Motorola Moto G52: Price, Design, Battery Life and Much More

Motorola Moto G52 is a low-cost mid-range phone with an MSRP of USD 295. The Moto smartphone features an OLED panel with a fast 90-Hz refresh rate for its low price. The Moto G52 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB of flash storage, and a 50-megapixel main camera.

Motorola Moto G52: Price in India

The base variant of the Motorola Moto G52 costs Rs. 14,499 and comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The other variant is priced at Rs. 16,499 for 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. In addition, the phone is available in two colors: Charcoal Gray and Porcelain White from Motorola. For this review, I used the former.

Design

When holding the Motorola Moto G52, the plastic used for the back gives the impression that it is a cheap phone. Even with the white version we had with us, the back panel proved to be a fingerprint magnet, and white is usually the color where greasy smudges are least visible.

Motorola Moto G52

The volume rockers and a power button with a fingerprint sensor are on the right side of the device, while the SIM tray is on the left rim. Therefore, the device’s bottom edge houses a USB Type-C port, speaker grille, and 3.5mm headphone jack, while the top has another speaker. The top of the back panel houses a triple camera module with three lenses and an LED flash.

display

One of the most observable differences between the Motorola Moto G52 and the Moto G51 is the display, which has been upgraded from an IPS LCD panel to an AMOLED panel, which offers deeper blacks, and better colors, and more contrast.

The graphics had a lot of detail and were extremely clear. The device has a refresh rate of 90Hz, which is adequate for gaming, web browsing, and social media. In addition, the touch sampling rate of 360Hz ensured that the touch was ultra-responsive, while the peak brightness of 500 nits provided good indoor and outdoor visibility.

Motorola Moto G52: Performance

Performance is not one of Moto G52’s strong points. Occasionally, there was stuttering/lag while scrolling through the UI or browsing the web during my time with the phone. However, web pages and apps appear to load quickly.

The color profile of the display can be changed. By default, it was set to Saturated, which I liked. The 90Hz refresh rate makes scrolling appear smooth, and you can switch to 60Hz if you prefer. By default, it was set to Auto, and the phone adjusted the refresh rate based on what I was doing.

BatteryLife

Motorola Moto G52’s battery life was adequate, lasting about a day and a half with my usage. Therefore, the phone lasted 16 hours and 3 minutes in our HD video loop test, which is an acceptable result. Using the 33W TurboPower charger, the 5,000mAh battery charged to 51 percent in 30 minutes and 91 percent in an hour.

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Categories
Entertainment

British politician’s proposal to call the Queen ‘Elizabeth the Faithful’ via title addition knocked back

We know her simply as the Queen or Her Majesty, but if one British politician had got his way, the monarch might have become ‘Elizabeth the Faithful’.

Michael Farmer, former treasurer of the UK’s Conservative Party, called for ‘the Faithful’ to be added to Elizabeth II’s title in honor of her record-breaking reign.

Making his case in Parliament last week, he suggested the monarch’s unprecedented Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70 years on the throne, ‘demanded marking for future generations’. (Watch above.)

READMORE: Palace responds to report Prince Charles accepted $1.7m from family of Osama bin Laden

Queen Elizabeth II is given a tour during a visit to The Chelsea Flower Show 2022 at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on May 23, 2022 in London, England.
Queen Elizabeth II is the first British monarch to reach a Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years on the throne. (Getty)

“Adding ‘the Faithful’ to the Queen’s title, as in ‘Alfred the Great’, would make her stand out in the sweep of history,” Lord Farmer said, referencing the Saxon king who reigned from 871 to 889.

“This permanent and indisputable marker would acknowledge her constancy and outworked sense of duty.”

Though few would deny Her Majesty’s faithfulness to the throne, the proposal of an addition to her royal title was knocked back.

READMORE: Australian private investigator reveals why some people vanish without a trace

As reported this weekend by The MirrorFarmer was told there were “no plans” to advise the Queen to make such a change, which would require an amendment to the 1953 Royal Titles Act in order to happen.

“The Platinum Jubilee demonstrated the affection this country has for Her Majesty; it may be left to history to accord titles to past monarchs, but the Government have no plans to make a change,” Lord True replied, according to the Hansard transcript Farmer shared on Twitter.

Another member of parliament, Lord Lexden, suggested it might be unwise to decide on a single epithet for the Queen at this stage.

Queen Elizabeth II (as Princess Elizabeth) writing at her desk in Windsor Castle, Berkshire.  (Photo by Lisa Sheridan/Studio Lisa/Getty Images)
The Queen has resigned since she was 25, ascending the throne upon the death of her father in 1952. (Getty)

“As people in the years to come look back on this extraordinary and glorious reign, they are likely to subscribe to it all manner of suitable loving and respectful epithets … it might perhaps be wrong to single out any one term,” he said .

Queen Elizabeth II is Britain’s longest-serving monarch, and the second longest-serving monarch in world history. She’s also the oldest current monarch.

Her Majesty ascended the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father King George VI in February 1952, and was 27 when she was coronated in June 1953.

The Duke of York (later King George VI) competing in the All-England tennis championships at Wimbledon, 1926. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A snapshot of the British royal family in 1922

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Australia

Parents fight to identify teenage murderer

A teenage boy who murdered a 15-year-old girl as she was walking home from school almost two decades ago will be released from Cessnock Jail in Sydney on Monday.

The parents of Tania Burgess are now fighting to change the law, which has kept the identity of their daughter’s killer a secret from the public.

Tania’s parents are pushing harder than ever to make his identity known.

A teenage boy who murdered a 15-year-old girl as she was walking home from school almost two decades ago will be released from Cessnock Jail in Sydney tomorrow.  The parents of Tania Burgess are now fighting to change the law, which has kept the identity of their daughter's killer a secret from the public.
The teenage boy who stabbed Tania Burgess 48 times is now a man who is about to walk free, 17 years after the frenzied attack at Foresters Beach on the NSW Central Coast. (Nine)

The teenage boy who stabbed their daughter 48 times is now a man who is about to walk free, 17 years after the frenzied attack at Foresters Beach on the NSW Central Coast.

Only known by his initials, “DL”, the 32-year-old has had his identity sealed because he was just 16 when he committed murder.

“He gets to take no responsibility for anything that he’s done,” her father, Chris Burgess, said.

Tania’s mother, Mandy Burgess, said she would never forget the face of her daughter’s killer, and says she has not had justice.

“Whether he was a youth at that age or 16 or now in this thirties as a man. I’ll never forget it,” she said.

A teenage boy who murdered a 15-year-old girl as she was walking home from school almost two decades ago will be released from Cessnock Jail in Sydney tomorrow.  The parents of Tania Burgess are now fighting to change the law, which has kept the identity of their daughter's killer a secret from the public.
Only known by his initials, ‘DL’, the 32-year-old has had his identity sealed, because he was just 16 when he committed murder. (Nine)

“What I care more about is that he will not hurt any other family again like he did to us.

“There’s no justice. It’s just a legal system we abide by.

“What happened to Tania, there is no justice. Nothing to what happened to her and what we saw that day is justice.”

A teenage boy who murdered a 15-year-old girl as she was walking home from school almost two decades ago will be released from Cessnock Jail in Sydney tomorrow.  The parents of Tania Burgess are now fighting to change the law, which has kept the identity of their daughter's killer a secret from the public.
The parents of Tania Burgess are now fighting to change the law, which has kept the identity of their daughter’s killer a secret from the public. (Nine)

Victim’s advocate Howard Brown believes people convicted of murder, rape, and gang crimes where kids are between 14 and 18, need to be named.

“When they hide under a veil of anonymity there is no encouragement for them to participate in rehab programs because as far as they’re concerned no one knows, so no one cares,” he said.

A petition for law reform which would see exceptions made for the most heinous of crimes now has almost 150,000 signatures.

Once released, “DL” will be under intensive supervision.

A total of 15 bail conditions including wearing an electronic monitoring ankle have been considered “imperative” by the state Parole Authority for the protection of the community.