Agoracom Blog

Empower Clinics $CBDT.ca Subsidiary Sun Valley Health to Lead Sponsor the Arizona #Cannabis Expo and Empower Board Member Andrejs Bunkse to Speak at Cannabis Industry Event in Phoenix Arizona $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $HEXO.ca $OGI.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:53 AM on Wednesday, February 12th, 2020
  • Announced that its Sun Valley Health division will be a lead sponsor at the Arizona Cannabis Industrial Market Place expo February 13th & 14th, 2020 at the Phoenix Convention Center.
  • In addition, the Company will run an onsite Sun Valley Health POP-UP medical clinic, offering cannabis consultations, certifications and services by Sun Valley Health doctors.

EMPOWER CLINICS SUBSIDIARY SUN VALLEY HEALTH TO LEAD SPONSOR THE ARIZONA CANNABIS EXPO AND EMPOWER BOARD MEMBER ANDREJS BUNKSE TO SPEAK AT CANNABIS INDUSTRY EVENT IN PHOENIX ARIZONA

VANCOUVER B.C. FEBRUARY 12TH, 2020 – EMPOWER CLINICS INC. (CSE: CBDT) (OTC: EPWCF) (Frankfurt 8EC) (“Empower” or the “Company”), a vertically integrated and growth-oriented CBD life sciences company is pleased to announce that its Sun Valley Health division will be a lead sponsor at the Arizona Cannabis Industrial Market Place expo February 13th & 14th, 2020 at the Phoenix Convention Center. In addition, the Company will run an onsite Sun Valley Health POP-UP medical clinic, offering cannabis consultations, certifications and services by Sun Valley Health doctors.

“Our Sun Valley Franchising team has toured the U.S. over the past six months sharing our Scientific Approach to Alternative Medicine.” Said Dustin Klein, SVP Business Development and Director. “Being the title sponsor for the Cannabis Industrial Market Place national tour has brought us tremendous opportunities from around the globe. The upcoming Arizona CIMP Expo gives us the opportunity to share our growth and recent success with our dedicated community of patients, advocates, and business partners.”

The Company is also pleased to announce that Andrejs Bunkse, a Company Director, will be participating as an expert panelist in the “Growing Your Business in the Cannabis Industry” – Fireside Chat hosted by Rebel Rock Accounting of Phoenix Arizona.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/growing-your-business-in-the-cannabis-industry-fireside-chat-registration-89899753583

“Being an active participant in our industry is imperative to our growth, it provides us greater connections to patients, plus early access to trends and new developments that allow us to be progressive thought leaders” Said Steven McAuley, Chairman & CEO.  

“We are delighted to host this event, bringing together many of Arizona’s successful cannabis operators “ Said Melissa Diaz, CFO & Co-Founder of Rebel Rock. “Our women owned business is at the forefront in helping the cannabis industry become more mainstream and appealing to women consumers and entrepreneurs.” 

ABOUT EMPOWER

Empower is a vertically-integrated health & wellness brand with it’s first hemp-derived CBD extraction facility under development, the Company produces its proprietary line of cannabidiol (CBD) based products and distributes products through company owned and franchised clinics, with wholesale partnerships, online channels and with new retail opportunities nationwide in the U.S. The company is a leading multi-state operator of a network of physician-staffed wellness clinics, focused on helping patients improve and protect their health, through innovative physician recommended treatment options. The company has commenced activity on how to connect its significant data, to the potential of the efficacy of alternative treatment options related to hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) therapies.

ABOUT REBEL ROCK

Rebel Rock was founded in 2019 by three accomplished female entrepreneurs to fill a clear and vast void in the cannabis industry. Rebel Rock puts confidence in cannabis, by helping emerging cannabis companies manage all their accounting, tax and operational efficiency needs.   The Company offers customized cloud accounting solutions and business system implementations that provide peace of mind, streamlined operations and improved profitability.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Steven McAuley
Chief Executive Officer

CONTACTS:

Investors:      Steven McAuley

                   CEO

                   [email protected]

                   604-789-2146

Investors:      Dustin Klein
SVP, Business Development
[email protected]
720-352-1398

For French inquiries: Remy Scalabrini, Maricom Inc., E: [email protected], T: (888) 585-MARI

DISCLAIMER FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain “forward-looking statements” or “forward-looking information” (collectively “forward looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements can frequently be identified by words such as “plans”, “continues”, “expects”, “projects”, “intends”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “may”, “will”, “potential”, “proposed” and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions “may” or “will” occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding; the Company’s intention to open a hemp-based CBD extraction facility, the expected benefits to the Company and its shareholders as a result of the proposed acquisitions and partnerships; the effectiveness of the extraction technology; the expected benefits for Empower’s patient base and customers; the benefits of CBD based products; the effect of the approval of the Farm Bill; the growth of the Company’s patient list and that the Company will be positioned to be a market-leading service provider for complex patient requirements in 2019 and beyond. Such statements are only projections, are based on assumptions known to management at this time, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including; that the Company may not open a hemp-based CBD extraction facility; that legislative changes may have an adverse effect on the Company’s business and product development; that the Company may not be able to obtain adequate financing to pursue its business plan; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; failure to obtain any necessary approvals in connection with the proposed acquisitions and partnerships; and other factors beyond the Company’s control. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this release, which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable laws.

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Fake news, deep fakes and fraud detection 2020 – addressing an epidemic – SPONSOR: Datametrex AI Limited $DM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:15 AM on Wednesday, February 12th, 2020

SPONSOR: Datametrex AI Limited (TSX-V: DM) A revenue generating small cap A.I. company that NATO and Canadian Defence are using to fight fake news & social media threats. The company announced three $1M contacts in Q3-2019. Click here for more info.

Fake news, deep fakes and fraud detection 2020 – addressing an epidemic

  • Online giants and regulators alike have taken up the fight against fake news and deep fakes. Simon Marchand says the answer has been on the tips of our tongues all along. 

Since 2016 when the Macquarie Dictionary named ‘fake news’ as its word of the year, the spread of misinformation online has only increased. Technology has become more sophisticated, giving rise to the production of ‘deep fakes’ and synthetic voices.

It’s no wonder the Analysis and Policy Observatory’s (APO) 2019 ‘Digital News Report’ for Australia found that nearly two-thirds (62%) of the nation is concerned about what is real or fake on the internet ― above the global average.

The lack of consumer confidence in online content is a major threat to marketers, with their brands’ success firmly embedded in establishing a trustworthy and authentic reputation – consumers are far more likely to purchase from, stay loyal to and advocate for brands they trust.

Introduce deep fakes into the mix and you’re looking at a far more sophisticated threat to brand reputation that demands an ultra-modern response. Big tech organisations, government bodies and social media platforms are fighting back against fake news with new policies, technology, litigation and more. However there is an existing, under-utilised tool that could have a major impact if employed by marketers – voice biometrics technology.

Deep fakes – how tech is propelling the issue forward

Deep fakes are used in the context of broad propaganda campaigns, intended to influence the opinion of groups of individuals. On a large scale, this can potentially have a dramatic impact, such as heavily influencing the outcome of a political election. Consumers are continuously warned to be sceptical and afraid; we’re in the middle of a fake news epidemic. The technology used to create this content has become more realistic and accessible, so it’s easy to see why. Effectively, anyone with a computer, internet connectivity and a bit of free time, could produce a deep fake video or audio file. As AI becomes more sophisticated, it’s become increasingly hard to discern what is real or fake.

This is compounded by the increasing reliance on social media for news―the APO’s report found almost half of generation Z (47%) and one-third of generation Y (33%) use Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social channels as their main source of news. Blind trust in social media platforms is enabling fake news to spread to masses in record time.

The rise of social media and influencer marketing in recent years has put brands in an extremely vulnerable position. A convincing deep fake of a company’s CEO, brand’s celebrity or an influencer ambassador can be created with ease. If their visual image were manipulated to depict them or even the brand itself in a way that is false or offensive, this would pose a serious threat to modern-day marketers.

The threat-level heightens when you consider that debunking fake news takes time, and content published for that purpose typically receives less coverage than the original, false article. As a result, misinformation can have lasting effects, even once discredited – it is a phenomenon researchers across the globe are investigating.

How social media and tech companies are fighting back

As AI becomes increasingly refined, big tech is racing to keep up. Twitter has announced it will add labels to or remove tweets carrying manipulated content, while Facebook has partnered with Microsoft and academics to create the Deepfake Detection Challenge, which seeks to better detect when AI has been used to alter video.

Google recently released more than 3,000 visual deep fakes to help inform a FaceForensics benchmark that is combating manipulated videos. This follows its earlier release of a synthetic speech dataset.

These solutions are a work in progress, however. Voice biometrics technology – existing fraud detection tech – could have a major impact in marketing.

Voice biometrics to combat fake news

Banks, insurance providers and governments across the globe are already using voice biometrics as an easy and secure way to authenticate their customers, combat fraudulent activity and improve customer satisfaction.

A voiceprint includes more than 1000 unique physical and behavioural characteristics of a person, such as vocal tract length, nasal passage shape, pitch, cadence, accent and more. In fact, research shows it’s as unique to an individual as a fingerprint.

Where behaviours can be easily mimicked, physical voice characteristics cannot, thus preventing impersonators from ‘tricking’ the system. Voice biometrics could be monumental in verifying if a video or audio recording is legitimate, analysing if the voice is actually from the person the message claims to be, or has been manipulated, simulated, or created synthetically to create fake news stories.

The accuracy and speed with which voice biometrics can authenticate a person’s identity mean that harmful deep fakes be debunked with certainty – quickly mitigating the threat to a brand’s reputation.

Biometrics represent a new era of identity security, and given the dramatic influence fake news can have, combating deep fake videos and synthetic audio with voice biometrics is a natural progression for the technology.

Source: https://www.marketingmag.com.au/hubs-c/fake-news-deep-fakes-and-fraud-detection-2020-addressing-an-epidemic/

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#PGM demand, prices likely to remain high this year #Palladium #Platinum SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:46 AM on Wednesday, February 12th, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

PGM demand, prices likely to remain high this year

By: Marleny Arnoldi

  • After resurgent demand pushed the platinum market into deficit in 2019, with the total volume of platinum under investment coming in at a record 3.4-million ounces at the start of this year, speciality chemicals company Johnson Matthey says the platinum market could move back into surplus this year unless investor appetites are sustained.

Last year, more than one-million platinum ounces were added to exchange-traded fund holdings, outweighing a contraction in global industrial and automotive demand, as well as a double-digit drop in the Chinese platinum jewellery market.

Johnson Matthey notes in its latest ‘Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Market’ report that demand for platinum this year will be supported by rising PGM loadings on heavy-duty trucks in China and India, where stricter emissions legislation is due to be implemented.

However, it notes that this will be offset by a further erosion in platinum jewellery demand and a drop in purchases by the glass sector.

“With weaker primary supplies balanced by further growth in autocatalyst recycling, investment will again be the primary factor which determines the direction of market balance.

Platinum supplies in 2020 could fall below six-million ounces for the first time in six years, reflecting the impact of ongoing rationalisation programmes in South Africa, a lower contribution from the release of excess pipeline stocks and the depletion of PGM-rich surface materials that have supported PGMs output at Norilsk Nickel’s operations in recent years.

AUTOCATALYST DEMAND

Johnson Matthey explains that while autocatalyst recycling is expected to rise again this year, it will, at best, offset the decline in primary supplies.

Recent growth in platinum recoveries reflects the dramatic expansion in platinum use in diesel catalysts that occurred between 2000 and 2007.

Platinum consumption in light-duty vehicles peaked at around 3.5-million ounces in 2006 and 2007, but fell steeply during the global financial crisis in 2008; thereafter demand was also affected by falling diesel vehicle registrations and increased use of palladium in diesel catalyst systems.

Platinum recycling volumes are expected to reach a plateau in the next few years.

Combined platinum demand in the autocatalyst, industrial and jewellery sectors is not expected to change much this year. On balance, Johnson Matthey believes combined demand in these “consuming” applications is more likely to fall than to rise, but this will depend on factors such as vehicle production volumes and the timing of industrial platinum purchases for new chemical, glass and petroleum refining plants.

“In the light-duty diesel market, production volumes will be the principal factor determining the direction of platinum demand,” Johnson Matthey notes.

THE CASE FOR PALLADIUM

All-time highs were recorded in the palladium price last year as the market deficit widened to more than one-million ounces – demand reached an all-time high of 9.7-million ounces, despite demand for palladium falling in industrial applications.

Johnson Matthey says that intensifying use of palladium in gasoline cars in Europe and China pushed auto demand to a record level, despite lower vehicle output. It adds that the tightening emission legislation and stricter vehicle testing regimes are driving up the PGMs content of three-way catalysts in most major vehicle markets.

The palladium deficit is likely to deepen this year, as an increasing number of Chinese and European vehicles meet China 6 and Euro 6D legislation, respectively. This is expected to drive up global average loadings on gasoline catalysts and could lift world automotive demand above ten-million ounces.

Although secondary recoveries from spent catalytic converters will continue to rise, primary supplies may fall slightly, reflecting rationalisation at South African mines and the depletion of palladium-rich surface materials at Norilsk Nickel.

Johnson Matthey notes that while the market remains in significant deficit, prices are likely to remain strong, stimulating efforts to thrift and substitute palladium where possible, and incentivising the mobilisation of market stocks.

RHODIUM

Rhodium moved into a modest deficit last year, as a small rise in combined supplies was not enough to meet a 10% increase in total demand.

Global consumption of rhodium on autocatalysts leapt by nearly 15% in 2019, following a step-change in loadings in Chinese vehicles.

Johnson Matthey says car companies in other regions also used more rhodium, in response to tighter emissions standards and more stringent testing.

“These gains offset a sharp fall in rhodium use in the glass industry, as capacity expansion slowed after two years of exceptionally strong activity.

“Although combined primary and secondary supplies rose by 2%, this was not enough to prevent the market moving into deficit,” the chemicals company explains.

The outlook for 2020 is a deepening market deficit with further strong gains expected in autocatalyst demand, albeit at a slower rate than last year.

Source: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/pgm-demand-prices-likely-to-remain-high-this-year-2020-02-12/rep_id:3650

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Central Banks Just Love Gold and It’s Going to Stay That Way SPONSOR: Affinity Metals $AAF.ca $SII.ca $TUD.ca $GTT.ca $AMK.ca $OSK.ca $RKR.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 7:16 PM on Tuesday, February 11th, 2020
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Affinity_Metals_Corp_Logo.png

Sponsor: Affinity Metals (TSX-V: AFF) a Canadian mineral exploration company building a strong portfolio of mineral projects in North America. The Corporation’s flagship property is the Drill ready Regal Property near Revelstoke, BC. Recent sampling encountered bonanza grade silver, zinc, and lead with many samples reaching assay over-limits. Click Here for More Info

  • A recent survey of central banks showing 54% of respondents expect global holdings to climb in the next 12 months.

A major gold-buying spree by central banks is likely to persist in the coming years, according to Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., which flagged the potential for further purchases by nations including China.

“In the current environment, where uncertainty in emerging-market currencies is high, we see good reason for countries like Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and China to continue to diversify their portfolios,” ANZ said in a note on Tuesday. Net buying by the sector is likely to stay above 650 tons, it said.

Central banks are likely to increase gold reserves, ANZ says

Central-bank accumulation of bullion has emerged as a increasingly important trend in the global market, offering additional support for prices that have rallied to the highest level since 2013 on rising demand. Authorities have been adding to reserves as growth slows, trade and geopolitical tensions rise, and some nations seek to diversify away from the dollar. Official purchases now account for about 10% of worldwide consumption, according to ANZ.

“The People’s Bank of China holds nearly 1,936 tons of gold, which equates to only 3% of its total foreign reserve holdings, giving the country plenty of room to increase its allocation,” ANZ said. China’s central bank expanded bullion reserves again in July, pressing on with a run that stretches back to December.

Spot gold traded at $1,531.45 an ounce on Tuesday after touching $1,555.07 on Monday, the highest in more than six years. The metal has surged 19% this year as the trade war flared up, bond markets signaled that a U.S. recession may be on the horizon, and the Federal Reserve cut rates.

‘Room to Run’

Central-bank accumulation of gold “has further room to run,” Deutsche Bank AG said in a report, citing factors including a gradual migration of reserve assets away from the dollar. “The stability of central-bank demand should help to bias gold prices higher over longer time frames.”

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also put the spotlight on the same trend as the bank outlined its bullish stance on gold this month. “Central banks in emerging markets are buying gold,” Jeff Currie, global head of commodities research, told Bloomberg Television. “Why? Because they don’t want to own dollars with sanction risk, geopolitical risk, trade-war risk out there.

Central banks added 374.1 tons in the first six months, helping push total bullion demand to a three-year high, according to the World Gold Council. The trend is expected to continue, with a recent survey of central banks showing 54% of respondents expect global holdings to climb in the next 12 months.

SOURCE: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-27/central-bankers-new-found-love-of-gold-seen-bolstering-demand

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INTERVIEW: $HPQ.ca Game Changing Silicon Process For #Lithium-Ion #Battery Market Is Just Months Away $FSLR $SPWR $CSIQ $PYR.ca $XMG.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:59 PM on Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

When a globally renowned technology partner – who supplies plasma torch technology to US Aircraft Carriers – says the following about your company, you are forced to stand up and take notice:

“We never thought, when we first embarked on this project, that we would be developing game-changing technology sought after by the Lithium-ion battery market.”

– Peter Pascali, President and CEO of PyroGenesis Canada Inc. 

There is no shortage of small cap companies claiming they want to supply materials to the Lithium-Ion battery market …. but only one of them is pursuing the material that can increase capacity by as much as 10X ….. Silicon. 

HPQ Silicon (HPQ:TSXV) isn’t just pursuing Silicon, they are on the verge of providing the market with multiple high-value silicon products sought after by Corporations building the next generation of Lithium-ion batteries, including one undisclosed company that is already under NDA with HPQ Silicon.

One of the best parts?  HPQ Silicon doesn’t have to worry about capital expenditure barriers that come with mining battery metals …. because Silicon is manufactured and HPQ has a patent pending process to manufacture Silicon at some of the lowest prices in the world.  A process that is fully funded all the way through to their pilot plant launching this year. 

If you believe in a future driven by electric vehicles and renewable energy, grab your favourite beverage and watch this video interview with CEO Bernard Tourillon.

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Accessibility of Raw Materials for EV Batteries Is A Pressing Issue Says EESC SPONSOR: Lomiko Metals $LMR.ca $CJC.ca $SRG.ca $NGC.ca $LLG.ca $GPH.ca $NOU.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 2:30 PM on Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

SPONSOR: Lomiko Metals is focused on the exploration and development of minerals for the new green economy such as lithium and graphite. Lomiko owns 80% of the high-grade La Loutre graphite Property, Lac Des Iles Graphite Property and the 100% owned Quatre Milles Graphite Property. Lomiko is uniquely poised to supply the growing EV battery market. Click Here For More Information

  • The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has singled out accessibility of raw materials as a pressing issue, warning that a prompt solution for the development of batteries is needed to make electric mobility and sustainable transport possible.

The European Union needs to secure permanent access to raw materials as soon as possible in order to develop a strong battery industry for electric vehicles. The alarm was sounded at the debate held in Brussels on 5th February 2020 by the Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN).

Widespread e-mobility, with zero COâ‚‚ emissions, is the next key step towards making sustainable transport and climate neutrality happen. Nevertheless, only by having ongoing access to raw materials for batteries will Europe be able to move away from fossil-based fuels and embrace electrification.

Colin Lustenhouwer, rapporteur for last year’s EESC opinion on batteries, pointed out that it was vital to raise awareness of the urgent measures needed.

“We must take immediate action” said Mr Lustenhouwer. “The accessibility of raw materials is an ongoing issue in an area where Europe has few resources and would like to guarantee supply. Electrification is the only solution for sustainable fuel and this requires batteries.”

Pierre Jean Coulon, president of the TEN section, added that for Europe’s sustainable future, the whole battery lifespan needs to be considered and that European countries need to equip themselves with the resources needed. European businesses can only become a major player in battery development and deployment in the global market by taking a huge leap forward over the next few years.

Car batteries are a crucial issue for Europe’s future and should not be taken for granted. They account for 40 percent of the cost of an electric vehicle, but 96 percent of them are produced outside Europe. The raw materials are not available in the EU to the extent needed and have to be imported. Lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt mainly come from South America and Asia. This means that if the EU does not act, it will become increasingly dependent on third countries such as Brazil and China.

Furthermore, the need to secure the supply of raw materials for batteries is leading to international competition that may well affect the geopolitical balance and cause political tensions in exporting countries. The EU therefore needs to act swiftly to ensure that it has access on the global market and so will not be vulnerable as a result of the imminent race for raw materials.

The European strategy for batteries must be comprehensive and allow for their entire lifecycle, from creation to deployment and recycling. All actors have to be involved and pull together, in line with the principles of the value-chain approach which factors in every stage.

The EESC flagged up the importance of material recycling in its 2019 opinion on batteries, where ‘urban mining’ was promoted as a possible way to build new batteries by recovering elements from used products and waste, such as discarded electric and electronic devices.

In the opinion, the Committee called for a strong European battery industry and supported the Strategic Action Plan presented by the European Commission, emphasising two priorities: on the one hand, heavier investment was needed to achieve the necessary level of technological expertise while on the other, solutions had to be found to secure the supply of raw materials from third countries and EU sources.

Stressing that the EU needed to do more and adopt a structural approach to batteries, the EESC was one of the first institutions to bring together all the social partners to point out that batteries are one of the main challenges for Europe’s green and prosperous future.

SOURCE: https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/electric_hybrid_vehicles/accessibility-of-raw-materials-for-ev-batteries-20200210

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A new supertool fights fake images – SPONSOR: Datametrex AI Limited $DM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:45 PM on Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

SPONSOR: Datametrex AI Limited (TSX-V: DM) A revenue generating small cap A.I. company that NATO and Canadian Defence are using to fight fake news & social media threats. The company announced three $1M contacts in Q3-2019. Click here for more info.

A new supertool fights fake images

A new supertool fights fake images, plus the Economist’s guide to Instagram and a new way to pay for journalism

  • How can technology strengthen fact-checking? Jigsaw, a nonprofit division of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, asks and then answers its own question with the announcement of Assembler, an experimental detection platform that aims to help fact checkers and journalists identify manipulated images.

The platform pulls together several existing technologies — for example, one that spots copy-and-pastes within images and another that detects image brightness manipulations — into one supertool. Right now, Jigsaw is working with a group of global newsrooms and fact-checkers to test Assembler’s viability in real situations. That means, unfortunately, it isn’t available for the rest of us yet.

This new tool can show you what journalists are writing about on a large scale. MuckRack Trends (log-in required) is a lot like Google Trends, which shows you what people are searching for on Google, but it’s specific to news articles. You can use it, for example, see how many news articles have been written about Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho over the past week (5,733, as I write this) and compare it to someone like, say, Martin Scorsese (5,612). There are SO MANY great uses for this. I wrote about some of them here.

The Economist makes charts … for Instagram. The visual social media platform is a natural home for informative and interesting infographics from one of the world’s most prestigious media brands. Charts like “Who is more liberal: Uncle Joe or Mayor Pete?” and “Interest in veganism is surging” perform well between the organization’s beautiful photos and illustrations. The Economist offers a few tips for others willing to try putting info on Insta, including: Keep colors consistent so that fast-scrollers know who they’re looking at, rethink charts and graphs to fit into a small space and cater to your audience, which is probably younger on Instagram.

If you need a new online publishing system, start here. Content management systems, or CMSs, are the engines that run our online journalism. A good engine works without you having to think much about it. A bad one — and I’m just making things up here — takes forever to load, formats text in unexplainable ways and occasionally deletes your stories outright. Together with News Catalyst, Poynter put together a guide on how to get a new CMS, along with a look at five of our favorite modern CMS choices and live demo opportunities for each.

SPONSORED: It takes a village to publish a story. That’s why Trint’s collaborative speech-to-text platform lets newsroom teams work on the same transcript at the same time. Trint’s Pro Team plan means editing, verification and exporting happen simultaneously — stories are published in near real time and with 100% accurate information. And with Trint’s Workspaces, you can choose who has access to what data through custom permissions. Journalists, editors and producers from different teams instantly get access to the transcripts they need as soon as they’re uploaded. Start your Pro Team trial today.

Here’s a map that shows stunning satellite images of locations across the globe. From school bus assembly plants (so much yellow) to airports (kind of meta!), from iron ore mine ponds (so much pink) to man-made islands that depict a pair of dolphins circling each other (‘nuff said), this map is fun to explore and might offer a story idea or two. 

Don’t call it a paywall. It’s more of a parking meter. A company called Transact has joined the fight to get people to pay for journalism. Transact’s transactions work similarly to micropayments, in which readers pay for articles from across the internet à la carte instead of a flat-rate subscription, except that users load up lumps of money at once and spend as they go. Transact calls it a “digital media debit card.” The Santa Barbara Independent, an alt-weekly newspaper in California, is one of the first to implement it. Transact joins a growing list of alternative payment schemes for journalism, including Blendle (which made a pivot away from micropayments not long ago) and Scroll (which kills ads and provides a better user experience).

Source: https://www.poynter.org/tech-tools/2020/a-new-supertool-fights-fake-images-plus-the-economists-guide-to-instagram-and-a-new-way-to-pay-for-journalism/

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PRIMO Nutraceuticals $PRMO.ca – Consumers Clamor for #CBD as More Novel Uses are Purported $CROP.ca $VP.ca NF.ca $MCOA

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:15 PM on Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

SPONSOR:  PRIMO NUTRACEUTICALS INC. (CSE: PRMO) (OTC: BUGVF) (FSE: 8BV) (DEU: 8BV) (MUN: 8BV) (STU: 8BV) provides strategic capital to the thriving cannabis cultivation sector through ownership and development of commercial real estate properties. The company also offers fully built out turnkey facilities equipped with state-of-the-art growing infrastructure to cannabis growers and processors. Click here for more info.

Consumers Clamor for CBD as More Novel Uses are Purported

  • CBD products overall are having a major impact on the global industry because they offer a number of therapeutic benefits without the psychoactive effects of THC
  • Currently, this segment of the cannabis industry is also gaining prevalence for its potential to treat serious medical conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, depression, and anxiety.

NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2020 — Earlier in 2018, the Farm Bill restored industrial hemp to nationwide legal production for the first time since World War II. Removing hemp from the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA) also helped create a financial domino effect – eventually leading to mass-market retailers CVS Health, Rite Aid, and Walgreens Boots Alliance to carry hemp-CBD brands. Notably, cannabis-based oils have become widely popular because of their potent and immediate effects.

In fact, CBD products overall are having a major impact on the global industry because they offer a number of therapeutic benefits without the psychoactive effects of THC. Currently, this segment of the cannabis industry is also gaining prevalence for its potential to treat serious medical conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, depression, and anxiety. And as the U.S. hemp industry matures, it is expected to transition from being a seed, textile, and industrial product importer to a global exporter. And according to data compiled by Hemp Business Journal, a division of New Frontier Data, the total sales for the U.S. hemp industry totaled USD 820 Million in 2017. The research also suggests that the industry is expected to grow to USD 1.9 Billion by 2022 and at a CAGR of 14.4% during the 5-year period.

The 2018 Farm Bill, however, explicitly preserved the FDA’s authority to regulate products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds under the FD&C Act and section 351 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act). This leaves a lot of uncertainties regarding which products can be sold legally. According to the FDA, it treats products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds as it does any other FDA-regulated products – meaning they’re subject to the same authorities and requirements as FDA-regulated products containing any other substance.

This is true regardless of whether the cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds are classified as hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill. And despite the federal regulatory uncertainties, at least 70% of the 2019 U.S. hemp harvest is intended for extract production, with Colorado leading the nation in hemp cultivation and processing land area with over 80,000 acres reported.

“The 29 U.S. states reporting licensed hemp cultivation acreage total almost half a million acres in combined cultivation land area, which is a massive increase compared to 2018 figures of a total land area barely over 100,000 acres. While there continues to be uncertainty and a healthy amount of confusion around hemp cultivation for CBD production, it is clear that demand is nonetheless continuing to rise across the U.S.,” noted Giadha Aguirre de Carcer, New Frontier Data CEO and Founder. “As states issue more licenses, consumer demand increases, and mass-market retailers such as CVS and Walgreens continue to expand their own product offerings, we expect the FDA may be forced to provide further regulatory clarifications sooner rather than later.”

Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/consumers-clamor-for-cbd-as-more-novel-uses-are-purported-301002483.html

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Mining Stocks Are Setting Up For Another Run SPONSOR: Loncor Resources $LN.ca $ABX.ca $TECK.ca $RSG $NGT.to $GOLD $NEM

Posted by AGORACOM at 1:10 PM on Tuesday, February 11th, 2020
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Loncor-Small-Square.png

Sponsor: Loncor is a Canadian gold explorer that controls over 2,400,000 high grade ounces outside of a Barrick JV. The Ngayu JV property is 200km southwest of the Kibali gold mine, operated by Barrick, which produced 800,000 ounces of gold in 2018. Barrick manages and funds exploration at the Ngayu project until the completion of a pre-feasibility study on any gold discovery meeting the investment criteria of Barrick. Newmont $NGT $NEM owns 7.8%, Resolute $RSG owns 27% Click Here for More Info

The Fed is trapped.  If it stops adding money to the money supply, the stock market will crash.  It’s already extended the repo money printing program twice. The first extension was to February and now it has extended it again to April.

What was billed as a temporary “liquidity problem” in the overnight repo market is instead significant problems developing in the credit and derivative markets to an extent that it appears to be putting Too Big To Fail bank balance sheets in harm’s way.  That’s my analysis – the official narrative is that “there’s nothing to see there”.

The delinquency and default rates for below investment grade corporate debt  (junk bonds) and for subprime consumer debt are soaring.   Privately funded credit,  leveraged bank loans,  CLO’s and subprime asset-backed trusts (credit cards, ABS, CMBS)  are starting to melt down. The repo money printing operations is a direct bail out of leveraged funds, mezzanine funds and banks, which are loaded up  on those subprime credit structures.    Not only that,  but  a not insignificant amount of OTC credit default derivatives is “wrapped around” those finance vehicles, which further accelerates the inevitable credit meltdown “Minsky Moment.”

The point here is that I am almost certain, and a growing number of truth-seeking analysts are coming to the same conclusion, that by April the Fed will once again extend and expand the repo operations. As Milton Friedman said, “nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”

Gold will sniff this out, just like it sniffed out the September repo implementation at the beginning of June 2019.  I think there’s a good chance that gold will be trading above $1600 by this June, if not sooner.

Eventually the market will discover the junior exploration stocks and the share prices will be off to the races. This is part of the reason Eric Sprott continues to invest aggressively in the companies he considers to have the highest probability of getting enough “wood on the ball to knock the ball out of the park” (sorry, baseball is right around the corner).

Precious metals mining stocks are exceptionally cheap  relative to the price of gold (and silver).   Many of the junior exploration stocks  have sold down to historically cheap levels  in the latest pullback in the sector.   As such, this is a good opportunity to add to existing positions in these names or to start a new position.

 SOURCE: http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1581435213.php

Dave Kranzler

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New Graphene-Based Material to Increase Recording Density of Data Storage Devices SPONSOR – ZEN Graphene Solutions $ZEN.ca $LLG.ca $FMS.ca $NGC.ca $CVE.ca $DNI.

Posted by AGORACOM at 12:58 PM on Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

SPONSOR: ZEN Graphene Solutions: An emerging advanced materials and graphene development company with a focus on new solutions using pure graphene and other two-dimensional materials. Our competitive advantage relies on the unique qualities of our multi-decade supply of precursor materials in the Albany Graphite Deposit. Independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada confirm this. Click here for more information

Image result for graphene storage density

An international group of Russian and Japanese scientists recently developed a graphene-based material that might significantly increase the recording density in data storage devices, such as SSDs and flash drives. Among the main advantages of the material is the absence of rewrite limit, which will allow implementing new devices for Big Data processes.

The development of compact and reliable memory devices is an increasing need. Today, traditional devices are devices in which information is transferred through electric current. The simplest example is a flash card or SSD. At the same time, users inevitably encounter problems: the file may not be recorded correctly, the computer may stop “seeing” the flash drive, and to record a large amount of information, rather massive devices are required.

A promising alternative to electronics is spintronics. In spintronics, devices operate on the principle of magnetoresistance: there are three layers, the first and third of which are ferromagnetic, and the middle one is nonmagnetic. Passing through such a “sandwich” structure, electrons, depending on their spin, are scattered differently in the magnetized edge layers, which affects the resulting resistance of the device.

The control of information using the standard logical bits, 0 and 1, can be performed by detecting an increase or decrease in this resistance.

The international group of scientists from National University of Science and Technology MISIS (Russia) and National Institute for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (Japan) developed a material that can significantly increase the capacity of magnetic memory by increasing the recording density. The scientists used a combination of graphene and the semi-metallic Heusler alloy Co2FeGaGe.

“Japanese colleagues for the first time grew a single-atom layer of graphene on a layer of semi-metallic ferromagnetic material and measured its properties. The Japanese team, led by Dr. Seiji Sakai, conducts unique experiments, while our group is engaged in a theoretical description of the data obtained. Our teams have been working together for many years and have obtained a number of important results,” comments Pavel Sorokin, Sc.D. in Physics and Mathematics, head of the “Theoretical Materials Science of Nanostructures” infrastructure project at the NUST MISIS Laboratory of Inorganic Nanomaterials.

Previously, graphene was not used in magnetic memory devices as carbon atoms reacted with the magnetic layer, which led to changes in its properties. By careful selection of the Heusler alloy composition, as well as the methods of its application, it was possible to create a thinner sample compared to previous analogues. This, in turn, will significantly increase the capacity of magnetic memory devices without increasing their physical size.

Next, the scientists plan to scale the experimental sample and modify the structure.

https://www.graphene-info.com/new-graphene-based-material-increase-recording-density-data-storage-devices

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