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Austin-Webcor JV Team Delivers World’s 1st WELL Core Certified Airport Terminal at San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

Austin Commercial & Webcor Joint Venture

San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) Harvey Milk Terminal 1 Boarding Area B (BAB) is officially the world’s first WELL Core Certified airport terminal, exceeding the wellness-focused designation’s requirements with the highest available rating—WELL Certified Platinum. WELL Certification is administered by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI ), the world’s leading organization focused on deploying people-first places to advance a global culture of health. “This exceptional accomplishment reflects the entire design-build team’s steadfast commitment, in collaboration with SFO, to delivering a space that uniquely prioritizes occupant health and well-being,” says Webcor Project Director, Design Wayne Campbell. The project’s design-build team includes the Austin Commercial & Webcor Joint Venture, along with HKS / Woods Bagot ED2 International / KYA. This momentous achievement closely follows Terminal 1 BAB’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) BD+C v4 Platinum certification, which recently made headlines for becoming the world’s first airport terminal to achieve LEED BD+C v4 Platinum. These groundbreaking sustainability certifications are the culmination of years of tireless efforts made by the design-build team to meet both standards’ rigorous requirements. Setting a New Standard for Sustainable Airports While the LEED rating system examines whole building design, the WELL Building Standard focuses and expands on a space’s indoor environmental quality. According to the WELL Certification website, WELL represents “an investment in the world’s most valuable asset—people,” and was founded on the principles of being equitable, global, evidence-based, technically robust, customer-focused, and resilient. Being the first of its kind, Harvey Milk Terminal 1 BAB has become the foundation of WELL v2 ’ s current standards for airports and embraces the WELL Standard’s 10 concepts: air, water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind, and community. For this program, the air and materials concepts were rigorously integrated into the coordination of Terminal 1 BAB’s design and were weighted particularly heavily during the terminal’s on-site WELL performance evaluation. As outlined in SFO’s recent press release, highlights of the health and well-being measures incorporated into the terminal include: Highly efficient outdoor air filtration system to remove pollutants and odor to provide healthier indoor environments that meet WELL’s enhanced indoor air quality requirements as verified through third-party testing. Radiant heating and cooling to complement displacement ventilation to provide energy efficiency, improved indoor air quality, and enhanced passenger comfort. Online data provided by SFO that shows annual water quality test results, including enhanced taste properties. Dynamic glazed windows that change with the sun’s location to reduce glare and improve comfort. Large windows that harness daylight to reduce the need for electric lighting and to support occupants’ circadian rhythms. Building materials and furnishings with minimal human health impact based on Health Product Declarations (HPDs) and with low volatile organic compound emissions and content to support improved indoor environmental and air quality. Selection of products, systems, and materials with the least environmental or planetary impact based upon Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Green cleaning processes that support occupant and employee health during construction and after occupancy. Acoustic management through sound reducing surfaces, quieter mechanical systems, and the Airport’s ‘quiet airport’ program. “Unlike LEED, WELL primarily focuses on a building’s impact to the human experience (mind, nourishment, and community), which distinguishes it from the ‘traditional’ sustainability standard,” says Webcor Assistant Design Manager April Chang, who led the JV’s WELL Certification efforts. “Successful certification required third-party performance verification testing of water, light, and sound.” A Unique Partner in SFO From the beginning, SFO envisioned Harvey Milk Terminal 1 as a low-energy, low-carbon, LEED Gold-certified (at a minimum) building—a vision that eventually evolved into an even more innovative goal to reach Zero Net Energy readiness. “SFO’s Zero Energy and Resilient Outcomes (ZERO) Committee guided, supported, and collaborated with the project team to exceed LEED Gold certification standards through additional funding to support the additional Zero Net Energy and building health measures that were proposed after the original building program was completed,” says Austin Commercial Project Manager Kent DeRusha. “These measures enhanced energy efficiency and carbon emissions reductions and promoted improved human health in the built environment.” “The WELL Standard wasn’t originally designed for an airport setting,” Chang says. “Earning WELL Platinum Certification for this type of large-scale, 24/7 operation with multiple stakeholders was only possible because we had the support of SFO’s ZERO committee. SFO’s formation of a distinct committee, allocation of funds dedicated to achieving the terminal’s ambitious sustainability goals, and premium on improved human health in this airport terminal facility were key to our success. “It’s also worth noting that WELL is complementary to LEED certification; we didn’t have to modify the design to achieve WELL,” she continues. "The design-build team and ZERO committee had gone above and beyond to develop a design that outperformed LEED Platinum standards from the beginning.” "SFO's commitment to social responsibility and sustainability aligns with our mission to use research-proven strategies to positively impact occupant well-being for every project," says Allison Smith, Sustainable Design Leader at HKS, who also served on IWBI's Airport Advisory in 2020 and was the WELL Project Administrator for Terminal 1 BAB. "The process of pursuing and becoming the first to achieve this certification allowed our collective teams to better understand how to apply this people-focused standard to highly complex transportation projects and ultimately have a positive impact on the health and well-being of staff, tenants, and the traveling public." “We are honored to be the first airport in the world to achieve full WELL Certification,” says Airport Director Ivar C. Satero. “Harvey Milk Terminal 1 was designed with both our passengers and employees in mind… as a place to be relaxed, a place to be healthy, and a place to be inspired by the legacy of pioneering civil rights leader Harvey Milk. My sincere thanks go out to the entire project team for setting the new standard for how airport facilities can truly benefit the people who use them.” Ivar C. Satero, Airport Director, SFO and Dr. Matt Trowbridge, Chief Medical Officer, International WELL Building Institute accept the WELL Platinum Certification plaque for SFO Harvey Milk Terminal 1 BAB. Photo provided courtesy of Webcor SFO Harvey Milk Terminal 1 Boarding Area B (Credit: Kevin Meynell Photography) About Webcor Webcor is a premier provider of commercial construction services, known for its innovative and efficient approach, wide range of experience, cost effective design-build methodology, skill in concrete construction and expertise in building landmark projects. Webcor's mission is to build structures of superior quality with integrity, continuously improve its processes by employing the best talent in the industry and add social and economic value to its communities. Founded in 1971 and repeatedly honored as one of the Best Places to Work, Top California Contractors, Largest Bay Area General Contractors, Top Green Contractors, and Top Design-Build Contractors, Webcor has offices throughout the state in San Francisco, Alameda, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Diego. More information is available on the Webcor website and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. About Austin Austin Industries is one of the nation’s largest, most diversified construction companies. With more than 7,000 employee-owners, Austin Industries provides civil, commercial, and industrial construction services through the expertise of its operating companies: Austin Bridge & Road, Austin Commercial, and Austin Industrial. Austin Commercial is nationally recognized for delivering exceptional safety performance, innovative construction solutions, world-class diversity-inclusion program, and innovative construction solutions across several markets, including aviation, corporate/office, healthcare, hospitality, mixed-use/retail/residential, semiconductor and fabrication plants, sports/public assembly/themed entertainment, and university/education. Learn more at www.austin-ind.com. Contact Details Shel Holtz, Webcor Sr. Communications Director +1 510-517-3845 sholtz@webcor.com

December 08, 2022 09:00 AM Pacific Standard Time

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DeFi Can’t Protect Your Crypto Either

Radix

Authored by Amy Wilkinson, Radix. “ Not your keys, not your crypto. ” If you’ve traded a token or two in your time, you’ve likely heard this phrase thrown around before. For those who haven’t, the six-word warning is often said in reference to the use of centralized financial (CeFi) products when storing your cryptocurrencies, and the contradictory position this leaves your tokens in. With the idea that crypto was born to decentralize the financial ecosystem and remove holding power over your assets from money-hungry authoritative entities, holding your crypto on a centralized exchange or application that simply leverages Web3 to offer their services does the opposite. The age-old battle has recently escalated thanks to the FTX scandal that felt ever-so reminiscent of traditional financial corruption, with many rattled crypto investors directing their attention towards the development pinned to kick centralized criminals once and for all: decentralized finance (DeFi). DeFi, by nature, is exactly what crypto was built for. Following the 2008 financial crisis, Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin as a new, decentralized monetary system that, if globally adopted, was intended to become a new financial system free of the flaws fiat currencies pose. Fast-forward 14 years, and the foundations set by Nakamoto have become a fully-fledged (albeit also flawed) industry. While many projects within the space fundamentally align with Bitcoin and maintain decentralization at their core, the wild pace at which they’ve been developed has resulted in an industry brimming with talent and opportunity that just isn’t quite mapped out for global adoption. As many have joined the scurry to pull their tokens out of centralized applications, fearful of the lack of ownership over their own holdings, there’s one fundamental issue with the migration of CeFi users to DeFi platforms: DeFi isn’t ready for it. Picture Eleven Madison Park – one of the best restaurants in the world – in its early days of growth. Now picture hundreds of hungry customers scrambling to the front doors of the restaurant following a less-than-satisfactory experience at an over-hyped restaurant down the street. It’s early. The lights aren’t on, the wine shelf needs a restock, the prep chefs aren’t finished, and the servers haven’t even arrived. Not only would it be absurd to expect a world-class dining experience under such circumstances, but a surge of demand in such a manner would most likely lead to an array of problems from an otherwise exquisite project and brilliantly thought-out plan of execution. This, on a much grander scale, is comparable to what we might come to see with a mass-migration from CeFi to DeFi. Crypto isn’t ready for mass adoption, but it will be (very) soon. Join over 10,000 others at RadFi2022 - hosted by the minds behind Radix DLT - on December 8 to find out how. Sign up for free to the virtual event here. Your Keys But… Still Not Your Crypto? To ensure you ‘own’ your crypto, you must ‘own’ your keys. ‘Keys’ in this case refer to a cryptographic sequence of characters known as a ‘private key’, which is generated by a decentralized crypto wallet and accessible only by the owner of said wallet. This ensures a wallet powered by decentralized software is non-custodial, meaning any big bad bosses who might have wanted to dip their mitts into your pot of honey are eradicated from the equation. While those who migrate their crypto holdings to a decentralized application (dApp) are right to assume whole ownership over their tokens, not all is quite as it seems when it comes to using dApps. Across virtually every smart contract platform, transactions are far from what they seem on the surface, and this is where a shift to DeFi really starts to get tricky. Although the user interface of a product may offer the feeling of security that your tokens are ‘in your wallet’, scratch beyond the surface and you’ll have a pretty tough time locating anything recognizable. Most smart contract languages used in DeFi today don’t actually know what an asset is. ‘Assets’ that exist on networks like Ethereum are actually just variable numbers on a list of balances maintained inside a smart contract, they’re not actually stored in a wallet. Essentially, on most existing networks in today’s DeFi, although it might look like you’ve got X amount of X token safely stored within your wallet - there’s actually nothing in there. Instead, your wallet simply knows from where to pull the numbers. This, in turn, makes what should be pretty simple concepts - like peer-to-peer transactions - become incredibly complex. Each time an on-chain transaction is processed, rather than one wallet sending tokens to another (as you’d expect), a message is sent to the smart contract that manages the list of balances instructing it to update the balance state for the two wallets involved. It sounds complicated, and it is - way more complicated than it needs to be. While the industry has moved at an incredible pace to develop innovative applications, areas for improvement of the underlying technology have been neglected, meaning more and more products are being built on inadequate foundations. The issue with how tokens exist on current networks cuts far deeper than inefficiency though. Having such intricate, long-winded, and convoluted processes for what should be a simple A to B transaction increases the risk of exploits and hacks within the crypto space. Since the set-up of a smart contract on networks like Ethereum boils down to how its developer has built it, the existing architecture for transactions on a decentralized network means the entirety of a financial ecosystem is left in the hands of developers. This, paired with the issues developers face working with programming languages like Solidity creates room for a number of opportunities for exploits and hacks that can leave you high and dry. This isn’t even sustainable for the few using it right now – it certainly won’t be for a global economy. Decentralized Exchanges Can Be as Risky as Centralized Ones One of the major problems tied to developer dependency lies within exchanges. Exchanging cryptocurrency on a decentralized exchange (DEX) should, in theory, be quite simple. However, as transactions on smart contracts do not actually involve "sending" tokens from one account to another, DEX users require their wallets to follow the same steps as above, only, with the additional need for two smart contracts interacting with one another to actually record the exchange of tokens. There’s one big problem here though: smart contracts don’t know how to do this. A solution was provided to remove this bottleneck, but it opened the floodgates for hackers. If you’ve used a DEX before, you’ll be familiar with the step that asks you to approve the transaction you’re about to make before it goes ahead. With the complexities that come from smart contract limitations, for DEXs to fulfill a transaction, they require your permission to spend your funds for you with the expectation that you’ll receive back the token you requested in exchange. Unless users opt-in to cap the limit they’re allowing the smart contract to spend, when these spend approvals ask a user to authorize the smart contract’s spending of those tokens, they’re often giving access for the smart contract to spend an infinite amount of the user’s holdings of said token. With many top-tier DEXs you can expect the platform to do as it promised - provided the smart contract is implemented correctly. But, DEXs can be built by anyone who has the know-how - and when it comes to picking one from the bunch, there are a lot of them out there. While the process might feel decentralized, when you click ‘approve’ you’re essentially giving the DEX, the smart contract, and the often anonymous developer the ability to literally drain your wallet. Apply that logic to almost any other form of trade that currently exists, and the idea is completely ludicrous. It’s like giving Walmart access to your bank account when you buy a carton of milk. Crossing our fingers and hoping for the best like this is never going to be enough to support the $400 trillion industry that is global finance today, or even begin the drive to mass adoption of DeFi. Tomorrow’s DeFi is Not The Same As Today’s While the picture this paints might not be pretty, it doesn’t actually represent real DeFi. Radically improving a global economy is not an easy feat, nor one that can be accomplished overnight. While many of the products we’re currently armed with in Web3 might not convince us to upshift & move our entire life savings to Web3 just yet, there are innovations across the industry that are starting to provide the infrastructure that DeFi actually needs – the future that finance actually needs. Take Radix - a layer 1 smart contract platform embedded with the world’s first “ DeFi engine ” virtual machine built with the intention of obsoleting traditional finance. Projects like this have long addressed the issues preventing Web3 and DeFi from scaling, and have spent the best part of the past decade building technology designed at the core to enable a functional and radically better future for DeFi. Thrusting the responsibility to secure an entire financial infrastructure onto developers isn’t good for anyone – nor is the attempt to build a novel financial system that doesn’t know what assets are. Smart contract languages like Scrypto – Radix’s developer-first programming language – enable developers to seamlessly build code without having to spend all their time worrying about the underlying architecture. For the first time in crypto, this would allow Web3 developers to build innovative features fit for purpose on a global scale. In an asset-oriented paradigm like Radix’s, assets like tokens are native to the network. Unlike Ethereum, Solana, and most other networks, this removes the complicated and risky process of sending, receiving, and exchanging assets because transactions on Radix work exactly how you’d expect them to. If the crypto industry is ever to globally scale, it needs to be rebuilt. Too many crypto projects have flown to market without effectively addressing the technology needed for DeFi, leading to devastating hacks being seen time and time again across the industry. While the industry learns from its mistakes and evolves to the next phase of evolution, developments like Radix that have been years in the making are two steps ahead – laying the foundations for better global finance to finally exist. In 2023, after 10 years in the making, Radix plans to launch smart contracts live on its public network. To find out more about how Radix plans to radically change the future of finance, join more than 10,000 others at RadFi2022 on December 8. Sign up for free to the virtual event here. DeFi is young. While the kinks haven’t been straightened out yet, the critical problems with central governance over independent finances are only growing. DeFi has some work to do, but the global opportunity it will provide for everyone can’t be ignored any longer, and with projects like Radix redefining the landscape, it won’t be. Want to learn more about Radix? Visit the website here. DeFi needs to be better - and it’s about to get radically better with Radix. Get your free ticket to join RadFi2022 on December 8 and learn what the future holds for decentralized finance. Find out how. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Amy Wilkinson amy.wilkinson@rdx.works

December 08, 2022 09:50 AM Eastern Standard Time

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AmeriLife’s Agent Support Group Announces New Leadership & Company Name

AmeriLife

Agent Support Group (ASG), one of the oldest and most established life insurance brokerages in the U.S. and an affiliate of AmeriLife Group, LLC (“AmeriLife”), today announced the elevation of Jay Scheiner to CEO of the firm and principal with AmeriLife. Scheiner succeeds Sam Kaufman, who recently announced his retirement after leading Agent Support Group through 50 years of growth and innovation. Scheiner will take over day-to day operations while focusing on its core business of providing advanced case design and underwriting support for life insurance, long-term care and annuities. “Our core mission at ASG is to provide concierge-level service to life insurance agents, financial advisors, and professionals in other insurance disciplines, helping them develop and expand the life insurance area of their practice,” said Scheiner. “I look forward to continuing ASG’s strong legacy and accelerating our growth as an integral part of the AmeriLife team.” In a related decision, ASG Partner Gary Bleetstein also announced his retirement after 16 years with the firm and more than 45 years of success in key roles in the insurance industry. With Bleetstein’s retirement, ASG’s Mark Milbrod will assume the role of vice president and continue to assist ASG in providing unrivaled service to its client partners. Scheiner takes the reigns of ASG at a pivotal moment for both the business and its brand, as it re-introduces itself to the insurance market under the name ASG, An AmeriLife Company. The firm’s new name and logo reflect its legacy as one of the longest-serving life brokerages in the New York metropolitan area and its deep, long-held connection with AmeriLife, while also repositioning it as a forward-looking firm that supports the modern financial advisor. “Jay and Mark are the right leaders for the moment, and we look forward to working closely with them as they usher ASG into a new and exciting era,” added Mike Vietri, AmeriLife’s Chief Distribution Officer. “We’re also incredibly grateful for the leadership and contributions of both Sam and Gary over the many years, and wish them well in retirement.” ### About ASG, An AmeriLife Company Founded in 1973, ASG (formerly known as Agent Support Group) provides insurance services for professional advisors, including advanced case design for estate and business planning life insurance, impaired risk underwriting, and point of sale assistance for life, annuity, disability and long-term care insurance. ASG, which has its principal offices in New York City and Manhasset, N.Y., is a member of LIBRA Insurance Partners, assuring direct access to top-rated carriers and underwriting. For more information, visit ASGLife.com. About AmeriLife AmeriLife’s strength is its mission: to provide insurance and retirement solutions to help people live longer, healthier lives. In doing so, AmeriLife has become recognized as the leader in developing, marketing, and distributing life and health insurance, annuities and retirement planning solutions to enhance the lives of pre-retirees and retirees across the United States. For more than 50 years, AmeriLife has partnered with top insurance carriers to provide value and quality to customers served through a distribution network of over 300,000 insurance agents and advisors and more than 100 marketing organizations and insurance agency locations nationwide. For more information, visit AmeriLife.com, and follow AmeriLife on Facebook and LinkedIn. Contact Details Media Jeff Maldonado +1 321-297-1112 jmaldonado@amerilife.com Partnership Inquiries Patrick Nichols +1 727-726-0726 pnichols@amerilife.com Company Website https://amerilife.com/

December 08, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Houston’s Second Tim Hortons® Restaurant Set to Open on Richey Road

Tim Hortons

Tim Hortons ®, – the beloved coffee and bakery shop, founded in Canada and popular in the northern US – is expanding its presence in Texas with the opening of its second Houston-area restaurant. On December 16 th, Tim Hortons will celebrate the grand opening of its location at 5312 W Richey Rd Houston, TX 77066. The popular chain famous for its iced and hot coffee, donuts, and breakfast sandwiches, opened its first Texas restaurant in Katy in September of this year. Tims is excited to bring back the fan-favorite, grand opening giveaway – the first 50 guests to arrive win free coffee for a year!* Beginning at 5 a.m. on December 16 th the event will feature fun prizes, food samples, and an official ribbon-cutting ceremony. Guests can also enjoy Timbits or breakfast sandwiches and get refreshed with iced beverages like Cold Brew or TimsBoost energy infusions. “We’ve received such a warm welcome from the Houston community since our grand opening in Katy earlier this year,” said Ekrem Ozer, President of Tim Hortons, U.S. “We’re excited to continue to grow our presence in this community and get to know more Houstonians with the opening of our Richey Road restaurant.” World-renowned for its Original Blend coffee, that is always brewed fresh every 20-minutes, Tim Hortons also serves a variety of beverage options, including Cold Brew with cold foam, hot and iced lattes, its famous Iced Capp® beverages, TimsBoost energy infusions, Tim Hortons Refreshers and more. Guests can also enjoy quality food options like made-to-order breakfast sandwiches made with freshly cracked eggs, hand-dipped and glazed donuts, and a variety of donut holes affectionately known as “Timbits”. Tim Hortons new Richey Road coffee shop will be open every day from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. and serve guests through its double drive-thru and dine-in seating. Tim Hortons also provides an integrated digital experience with mobile order and pay, delivery, and the Tims Rewards loyalty program, which allows guests to earn points and redeem on Tims favorites. Supporting the communities it serves is a key part of the Tim Hortons brand. Every year on Tim Hortons Camp Day, 100 percent of purchases from every coffee sold are donated to Tim Hortons Foundation Camps, which supports youth from disadvantaged circumstances. And its annual week-long Smile Cookie campaign donates 100 percent of the purchase price from Smile Cookies to local charities in every Tim Hortons community. To date, more than $235 million has been raised through Camp Day and Smile Cookie across North America. Tim Hortons was established in 1964 by its namesake founder and legendary hockey player, Tim Horton, a member of the official list of the 100 Greatest NHL Players. Since then, Tim Hortons has grown to over 5,000 locations across the globe and is already one of the largest coffee chains in the U.S., with over 600 locations primarily concentrated in Ohio, Michigan and western New York. From Tim Horton’s humble beginnings in Canada, he worked hard to become a world-class athlete and sought to have a big impact in his community by opening coffee shops to create “a place where anyone can go at any time and feel at home.” * No purchase necessary to enter or win a prize. Must be a Texas resident 18+ to participate. For “First 50 –Free Coffee for a Year” prizes, promotion ends sooner of December 16 th, 2022, at 11:59pm CT, or when first 50 participants visit the Tim Hortons at 5312 W Richey Rd Houston, TX 77066. “Free Coffee for a Year” fulfilled as equivalent of one, small hot or cold brewed coffee per day for a year. Prize redemption valid at Richey Rd location only. About Tim Hortons® Tim Hortons® is one of North America's largest restaurant chains operating in the quick service segment. Founded as a single location in Canada in 1964, Tim Hortons appeals to a broad range of guest tastes, with a menu that includes premium coffee, hot and cold specialty drinks (including lattes, cappuccinos, espresso, teas and our famous Iced Capp® Beverages), baked goods, hot breakfast sandwiches, breakfast snacking items, and other food products. Tim Hortons has more than 4,800 system wide restaurants located in Canada, the United States and around the world. More information about the company is available at timhortons.com. For more information, visit timhortons.com/texas and follow Tim Hortons on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Contact Details Alison Brod Marketing + Communications Adrianna Lauricella +1 212-230-1800 tims@abmc-us.com Company Website https://www.timhortons.com/

December 07, 2022 11:07 AM Eastern Standard Time

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'Tis the Season-ally Inspired Holiday Menus at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill

500NewsWire

Charlotte, NC ( 500NewsWire ) -- Firebirds Wood Fired Grill introduces new holiday lunch and dinner menus just in time to make any celebration a memorable one this holiday season. From hand-cut wood-fire grilled NY Strip, and certified Duroc pork chop with cognac cream sauce, to Bananas Foster Bread Pudding for dessert, Firebirds’ limited time scratch-made menus are available now through January 3. Firebirds Wood Fired Grill is known for its signature hand-cut steaks and fresh seafood hand-fileted in-house and seared over locally sourced hickory, oak, or pecan wood on Firebirds’ exposed wood-fired grill. Firebirds’ seasonal Lunch Menu includes suggested wine pairings, and features: NY Strip (10oz.) BLT butter / choice of side Suggested wine pairing: Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon Parmesan Crusted Mahi Coal-roasted tomato-basil sauce / “loaded “ember-grilled corn / fresh asparagus Suggested wine pairing: Decoy Chardonnay Lump Crab Cakes Bold remoulade / wonton slaw / seasoned steak fries Suggested wine pairing: Firebirds Private Label Chardonnay Guests can enhance their entrées by adding: Lump Crab Cake Lobster Mac & Cheese Dessert Bananas Foster Bread Pudding Vanilla bean ice cream / spiced pecans / crispy cinnamon-sugar tortilla Firebirds’ seasonal Dinner Menu includes suggested wine pairings, and features: NY Strip (14oz.) BLT butter / choice of side Suggested wine pairing: Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon Tomahawk Prime Pork Chop Wood-grilled, certified Duroc pork chop / cognac cream sauce / red wine-poached apples / green chile mac & cheese Suggested wine pairing: Acrobat Pinot Noir Parmesan Crusted Mahi Coal-roasted tomato-basil sauce / “loaded “ember-grilled corn / fresh asparagus Suggested wine pairing: Decoy Chardonnay Lump Crab Cakes Bold remoulade / wonton slaw / seasoned steak fries Suggested wine pairing: Firebirds Private Label Chardonnay Guests can enhance their entrees by adding: Lump Crab Cake Lobster Mac & Cheese Dessert Bananas Foster Bread Pudding Vanilla bean ice cream / spiced pecans / crispy cinnamon-sugar tortilla Many of the restaurant’s dishes are created using fresh seasonal ingredients. Gluten-sensitive menu items, such as Grilled Tenderloin Salad, Wood Grilled Salmon, and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes, are also available. Firebirds offers catering, online ordering for ToGo and delivery options. In addition, Firebirds is offering a holiday gift card promotion. For every $100 in gift cards purchased in-store or online, guests will receive $20 in “bonus cards.” This special offer is available now through December 31st and “bonus cards” are valid for redemption from January 1 through February 9, 2023. For more information visit firebirdsrestaurants.com/gift-cards/. Firebirds Wood Fired Grill’s FIREBAR® offers an impressive array of seasonal cocktails, craft beer, bourbon, after-dinner drinks, Firebirds’ private label wine, hand crafted mocktails and more. Popular specialties include Wine Down Mondays, and happy hour in the FIREBAR® and on the Patio every Monday through Friday from 4PM – 7PM. Happy Hour times vary. Visit FirebirdsRestaurants.com to make a reservation, order ToGo online, or register to become a member of Firebirds’ Inner Circle and be the first to hear about upcoming events, promotions, new menu items and exclusive offers. Members receive a gift for joining and a gift for their birthday. About Firebirds Wood Fired Grill Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, a polished casual American restaurant, is an energetic twist on the traditional grill featuring a boldly flavored menu in a stylish, fire-centric atmosphere. Signature menu items include hand-cut steaks and fresh seafood hand-fileted in-house and seared over locally sourced hickory, oak, or pecan wood on Firebirds’ exposed wood-fired grill. Complementing its inviting dining room, a patio with seasonal comforts and the award-winning FIREBAR® are additional gathering spaces inside the restaurant. Firebirds has been named one of ten ‘Breakout Brands’ by Nation’s Restaurant News, and the 2022 Diners’ Choice Winner awarded by OpenTable. Firebirds supports sustainability efforts and partners with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, having surpassed $3 million raised for childhood cancer research through the sale of fresh-squeezed lemonade. To become a member of Firebirds Inner Circle, order ToGo online or to make a reservation visit firebirdsrestaurants.com. Contact Details Firebirds Wood Fired Grill Lesley Gamwell +1 404-309-6915 lgamwell@rountreegroup.com Company Website https://firebirdsrestaurants.com/

December 07, 2022 08:59 AM Eastern Standard Time

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This Project Might Give Web3 The Radical Refresh It Desperately Needs

Radix

Radix DLT is the world’s first full-stack for DeFi, with the team behind it set on building the foundations for Web3 to truly scale and obsolete traditional finance for good - a feat still to be conquered by those building in the space. While the project isn’t to be fully launched on the public network until next year, after 9 years of building, on December 8, the dedicated and focused minds behind Radix will be unveiling how they plan to radically change the face of finance at the free virtual event, RadFi 2022. Find out more here. Despite the impressive growth registered by DeFi throughout 2021 and beyond, Ethereum and other smart contract platforms have been beset with problems of security and scalability, which has made it difficult for platforms to develop production-quality DApps. The Ethereum network, which first launched smart contracts several years ago, uses its native programming language Solidity, which is fairly easy to learn for simple smart contracts but gets incredibly complex and difficult to make secure. Many who’ve tried it suggest it would take years of programming experience with Solidity before it can be used to create secure and stable code. As a result, it’s prone to hacks, exploits, and failures even when built by experienced developers. If DeFi is to go mainstream, it needs to be able to radically improve in order to support a global shift for the $400 trillion banking and financial system that currently hosts billions of users worldwide. Why Have Web 3.0 And DeFi Development Suffered? At the core of what it takes to enable a digital ecosystem to thrive is its developers - a demographic who, ironically, has had one of the toughest onboarding journeys into Web 3.0 so far. Despite the growth of developers in Web 3.0 continuing to somewhat increase, only a small percentage of the world’s software engineers currently work in Web 3.0. The number of developers working specifically on DeFi projects is even smaller, and there are nowhere near enough programmers to achieve the scale of DeFi envisioned by its proponents. Of the almost 30 million developers globally, those trying to break into Web 3.0 are just a fraction. Here are some stats from the Electric Capital Developer Report (2021) on Web3 developers: 18,000+ monthly active developers commit code in open-source crypto and Web3 projects. 34,000+ new developers committed code in 2021 alone, which is the highest so far. 2,500+ developers are working on DeFi projects. Less than 1,000 full-time developers are responsible for over $100 billion in total value locked in smart contracts. The team building Radix believes there are four major barriers DeFi developers face that are hindering the growth of DeFi. Its goal is to solve these problems through four crucial technologies that build the backbone of the Radix network: Achieve scalability without breaking DeFi composability, for which Radix developed Cerberus consensus protocol Avoid smart contract app hacks, exploits, and failures through its Radix engine Build interoperable DeFi dApps faster through the creation of a DeFi blueprint catalog of reusable code Incentivize the decentralized development community through its developer royalties program, which is directly managed by the platform After nine years of innovative development leading to an impressive roadmap, those behind the project are about to finally unveil exactly how Radix’s radically different infrastructure will finally take Web3 mainstream. Radix is building “the future of DeFi” on an asset-oriented approach, which is fundamentally different from Ethereum and almost anything else currently existing within the ecosystem. With Ethereum smart contracts, users don't actually hold or directly control their tokens, and instead rely completely on the smart contract and its ability to maintain a list of balances that defines the “ownership” of each token. Unlike most smart contract platforms where your tokens aren’t actually stored in your wallet, with asset-oriented DeFi built on the Radix Engine, users will actually hold their tokens within their own smart contract account on ledger and would not need the approval of other smart contracts to spend their own tokens. They can also define exactly how many tokens they intend to pass to or receive back from smart contracts - vastly improving security and enabling the concept of a “trustless” ecosystem to thrive. To make the advantages of an asset-oriented paradigm real and usable for developers, Radix has built its own custom programming language, Scrypto, which enables the Radix Engine’s unique features while maintaining a much-improved development experience with expressive logic. Scrypto’s asset-oriented features, and the lifecycle of a “component” (a Scrypto smart contract), would naturally allow developers to focus on their own business logic and lean on the Radix Engine for intuitive, safe handling of assets. Once the final deployment of Radix is complete, developers who build on the network will be able to build efficient, secure, and usable products much easier than ever before, and in a way that resembles the fast-adopted simplicity of traditional fintech. The team behind Radix doesn’t seem to do anything by halves. Ahead of the release of ‘Babylon’ next year – the DeFi ecosystem that will enable Scrypto “component” smart contracts to run on network – Scrypto was made available in a private environment earlier this year for developers to experiment with early builds & tests. Within mere months, excitement was buzzing among the developers who took up the opportunity, with many pointing out the considerably cleaner experience in comparison to other smart contract languages. Scrypto has been gaining more and more traction since, with more than 130 projects now having been built onto the platform before it’s even public. Here are some excerpts from those building on the project so far: “Using Scrypto is kind of like bowling with the bumper walls up so you can't hit the gutter (hacks, bugs, composability issues) and it's faster/easier to get a strike.” “Scrypto is a game-changer. Once folks from the other ecosystems figure it out, they will come to Radix to build. We'll see an explosion of DApps being built for the network.” One analogy is a visual comparison of a poor man's toolbox with a hammer, wrench, and ruler (solidity tools) vs a fully sponsored workshop with power tools, a lathe, a table saw (scrypto tools) Recurring events like that of FTX’s demise prove the crypto industry needs to migrate from trusting centralized institutions often held to little accountability, to public decentralized ledgers – where all holdings and transactions are transparent, and where users actually control their own funds. If the Radix technology roadmap is delivered, the project might just be the first to truly build what’s needed to enable a new, improved, financial ecosystem powered by Web3. On Dec 8, Radix is hosting a free virtual event — RadFi 2022 — with over 10,000 people pre-registered, where the minds behind the project will unveil how they plan to take DeFi mainstream. Find out more here. Read Radix’s whitepaper on DeFi here to educate yourself on the company’s ambitious and transformative project before heading to RadFi 2022. To read the most recent Benzinga articles on Radix click here and here. If you would like to know about Radix’s journey and its products, visit the company website. DeFi needs to be better - and it’s about to get radically better with Radix. Get your free ticket to join RadFi2022 on December 8 and learn what the future holds for decentralized finance. Find out how. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Amy Wilkinson amy.wilkinson@rdx.works

December 07, 2022 08:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

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What Are Functional Beverages And Why Are They All The Rage?

Real McCoy Tea Company (DBA KombuchaTown)

Interested in investing in Kombucha Town’s campaign? Click here to get started. Functional beverages encompass a range of familiar drinks you can find in your local supermarket that includes dairy-based beverages, probiotic drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, meal replacers, caffeinated beverages and vegetable or fruit juices. Functional beverages are different from drinks like soda because they include desirable nutrients and bioactive compounds like antioxidants and vitamins. Functional beverages are designed to address different body concerns and improve overall health. Take kombucha as an example. Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage that, when done right, can have great health benefits. The tea is made by adding a symbiotic colony of good bacteria and yeast to sweetened tea. The culture feeds on the sugars during fermentation, which produces alcohol and amino acids. This process helps with gut health and digestion, among other health benefits. Functional beverages have been known to improve overall physical health and even decrease the risk of disease progression. Kombucha has been known to help with some of the neurological effects of Alzheimer's disease. COCID-19 accelerated an already-growing interest in the wellness industry, including functional beverages. According to Precedence Research, in 2021 the global functional beverage market was valued at $129.21 billion. The industry is projected to be worth $279.4 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate of 8.94% from 2022 to 2030. Digestive health products like kombucha are among the fastest-growing categories in the functional beverage industry. However, despite the interest in the functional beverage space, many of the products on the market may not be as healthy as they seem. Nutritionists warn consumers to be wary of brands offering healthy drinks and to always read the labels. The beverage industry is fraught with sugary drinks and artificial ingredients. Kombucha Town is a functional beverage company determined to back its health claims. It debuted its first kombucha product in 2011 and since then has expanded its product line to include kombucha, balanced energy drinks, seltzer and a sports drink line. Each product is designed to maximize health benefits and provide customers with functional beverages that actually work. What sets Kombucha Town apart is its isolated, highest-quality kombucha culture. The team chooses the healthiest cultures from each batch and between 170,000,000 and 240,000,000 live active cultures to thrive in each serving the company offers. Kombucha Town is also dedicated to helping the environment. Standing out from its competitors, Kombucha Town was the first kombucha brewery to package products in a 16-ounce aluminum can. This packaging is recyclable, lightweight and space efficient which helps cut down on distribution waste. The cans are also made in the U.S. The facility is 100% offset by renewable energy through Puget Sound Energy. Kombucha Town also has a partnership with One Tree Planted. When Kombucha Town has held investment raises, One Tree Planted has planted trees corresponding with different raise amounts. Could Kombucha Town Be Well-Positioned To Become A Leader In The Functional Beverage Industry? Kombucha Town reports flourishing and becoming a pioneering company in the kombucha space with its canned kombucha. Kombucha Town is sold in over 1,200 stores nationally, including Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, Safeway/Albertsons and Sprouts. In 2019, the company brought in $1.2 million in revenue. In 2021, the company had over $555,000 in sales. In 2022 Kombucha Town has sold over $850,000 they are on track to surpass their pre covid numbers in 2023 and do it profitably. Kombucha Town is holding a crowdfunding raise on Republic to help with its growth. Founder Chris McCoy is hopeful that Kombucha Town will continue to grow into even more of a leader in the functional beverage space. Having forecasted a return to pre-COVID sales in 2022, the company expects to keep growing from there. Click here to read more about Kombucha Town’s raise and how to invest! Founder & CEO Chris McCoy brewed his first kombucha in 2007 while studying Environmental Science and Economics in college. He founded Kombucha Town in 2011 to support his mother with early onset Alzheimer’s. Now he is on a mission to disrupt the toxic food system and repair environmental damage done by large manufacturers. Kombucha Town’s mission is to enable healthy and active lifestyles. We believe in being good for and good for the planet by being fair trade and organic certified. Kombucha Town is based out of Bellingham Washington where we do all our manufacturing with the natural ingredients to bring you healthy and delicious beverages. Kombucha Town is focused on doing business a better way by better good for consumers and good for the planet. We embody environmentalism in our partnership and certification such as 1% for the planet and 1 tree planted. This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice. Contact Details Chris McCoy Chris@KombuchaTown.com

December 07, 2022 08:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Holiday Cheer gift ideas with Chassie Post

News Media Group, Inc.

Contact Details Karl Wayne +1 334-440-6397 karl@newsmg.com Company Website https://newsmg.com/

December 07, 2022 06:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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CleverTap Unveils RenderMax

CleverTap

CleverTap, the World's #1 Retention Cloud today unveiled RenderMax – a proprietary technology that can increase mobile push notification render rates up to 90% on low-end Android devices. Push notifications have the power to increase customer retention rates anywhere from 3 - 10 times. Most marketers just focus on their push notification delivery rates, but a “delivered" notification that doesn't render on the user’s device is a wasted effort. For those who equate delivery and rendering as equal, render rate is the percentage of the number of push notifications the end user received (and were rendered) on the user’s device compared to the total number of push notifications that were sent. All Chinese OEM devices use a custom variant of the stock Android OS. To optimize battery consumption, these OS variants are configured to bypass the Google/Firebase push delivery service, resulting in low delivery rates and even lower render rates. RenderMax gives CleverTap customers a significant competitive advantage as they can now engage users they could not before and elevate the ROI from their push campaigns. This is especially true for devices that are in battery saver mode or cannot be reached due to inactivity. “RenderMax is a testament to our continued commitment towards product development and innovation. Low render rates stifle the true potential of mobile push notifications. We are confident that with RenderMax, brands will be able to harness the full power of push notifications. What’s interesting is that we are offering RenderMax to all customers at no additional cost to any brand that wants to try it out.” said Anand Jain, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, CleverTap. Betterhalf, India's first and only marriage super app was provided an early access to RenderMax and their push notification render rates more than doubled! Shankar Krishnamurthy, Group Product Manager, Betterhalf said, “At Betterhalf, mobile push notifications are critical for our business. With CleverTap’s innovative RenderMax solution our push notification render rates have skyrocketed to 85%.” RenderMax powers up the render rates of customers’ push notifications, amplifies the push notification reach, and maximizes user engagement. Enhancing the reach of push notifications can help CleverTap customers lower costs, increase engagement and conversion rates, and reduce churn. “The CleverTap platform has a great breadth of capabilities, and this innovative mobile push solution will certainly help them stay much ahead of the competition,” Shankar added. CleverTap RenderMax works with Android OEMs such as Oppo, Xiaomi, Vivo, One Plus, POCO, Realme, and Samsung. About CleverTap CleverTap is the World's #1 Retention Cloud that helps app-first brands personalize and optimize all consumer touch points to improve user engagement, retention, and lifetime value. It's the only solution built to address the needs of retention and growth teams, with audience analytics, deep-segmentation, multi-channel engagement, product recommendations, and automation in one unified product. The platform is powered by TesseractDB™ - the world’s first purpose-built database for customer engagement, offering both speed and economies of scale. CleverTap is trusted by 1500 customers, including Gojek, ShopX, Electronic Arts, TED, English Premier League, TD Bank, Carousell, AirAsia, Papa John’s, and Tesco. Backed by leading investors such as Sequoia India, Tiger Global, Accel, and CDPQ the company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, with presence in San Francisco, New York, São Paulo, Bogota, London, Amsterdam, Sofia, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, and Jakarta. For more information, visit clevertap.com or follow on LinkedIn and Twitter. Forward-Looking Statements Some of the statements in this press release may represent CleverTap's belief in connection with future events and may be forward-looking statements, or statements of future expectations based on currently available information. CleverTap cautions that such statements are naturally subject to risks and uncertainties that could result in the actual outcome being absolutely different from the results anticipated by the statements mentioned in the press release. Factors such as the development of general economic conditions affecting our business, future market conditions, our ability to maintain cost advantages, uncertainty with respect to earnings, corporate actions, client concentration, reduced demand, liability or damages in our service contracts, unusual catastrophic loss events, war, political instability, changes in government policies or laws, legal restrictions impacting our business, impact of pandemic, epidemic, any natural calamity and other factors that are naturally beyond our control, changes in the capital markets and other circumstances may cause the actual events or results to be materially different, from those anticipated by such statements. CleverTap does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or updated or revised status of such statements. Therefore, in no case whatsoever will CleverTap and its affiliate companies be liable to anyone for any decision made or action taken in conjunction with the information and/or statements in this press release or any related damages. Contact Details Sony Shetty sony@clevertap.com Company Website https://clevertap.com/

December 07, 2022 05:07 AM Eastern Standard Time

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