If you're looking to grow profits next year, you've likely already made your plans for the new year. I get that. And it's the last days of this year, so you've stopped reading blogs. I get that too. But there's a good chance that while you've used one or a couple of the strategies below, ... Read more

The post Grow Your Business Profits in 2023 appeared first on Chris Lema.

Twenty years since he became the US Open boys' champion, Andy Murray is giving New York a miss and beginning retired life with a holiday in Spain.

How many priorities do you have in your business and life right now? If you’re struggling to gain traction, perhaps its your lack of focus that’s causing your lack of growth.

A look at the life of rugby player Rob Burrow as he and his family deal with his MND.

The Welsh Rugby Union admits serious failings in contract talks with the senior women's team.

Patient Doreen Adams of Aberdeen says she is grateful for the benefits of the new brain surgery.

Marty Hay says the geese can go through an acre of crops overnight, which can cost up to £700 to grow.

The Dons fan used a ministerial car to watch Aberdeen play at Hampden three times in six months.

Reports have suggested the plan was at risk after Transport Secretary Louise Haigh's comments.

Official data shows borrowing - the difference between spending and tax take - reached £16.6bn last month.

Exeter chief executive Tony Rowe feels the club's men's side can still make the Premiership top four despite their poor start to the season.

Bath lock Ewan Richards is growing "everything" about his game, says coach Andy Robinson after their second Premiership Rugby Cup win.

Civic leaders led tributes in scores of ceremonies to mark the occasion across north-west England.

A wildlife centre in Wrea Green says the council is "setting us up to fail" in a planning row over cladding.

Four Army teachers are preparing to row across the Atlantic in a 3,000 mile challenge for charity.

Preston is one of 23 councils facing legal action from a council in Essex over botched investments.

The Poole Pirates win speedway's SGB Championship after beating the Oxford Cheetahs.

Witnesses report overhearing the driver say: "I'm more concerned about the living than the dead."

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The back-row contenders come front and centre, Harlequins have a new Puma on the loose and more Premiership talking points

I wrote a blog on the WSO2 Corporate Blog on growing WSO2. Check it out!

In order to solve the problems of long prediction consumption time and many prediction iterations existing in traditional prediction models, an e-commerce growth prediction model based on grey Markov chain is proposed. The Scrapy crawler framework is used to collect a variety of e-commerce data from e-commerce websites, and the feedforward neural network model is used to clean the collected data. With the cleaned e-commerce data as the input vector and the e-commerce growth prediction results as the output vector, an e-commerce growth prediction model based on the grey Markov chain is built. The prediction model is improved by using the background value optimisation method. After training the model through the improved particle swarm optimisation algorithm, accurate e-commerce growth prediction results are obtained. The experimental results show that the maximum time consumption of e-commerce growth prediction of this model is only 0.032, and the number of iterations is small.

Aim/Purpose: As smartphones proliferate, many different platforms begin to emerge. The challenge to developers as well as IS educators and students is how to learn the skills to design and develop apps to run on cross-platforms. Background: For developers, the purpose of this paper is to describe an alternative to the complex native app development. For IS educators and students, the paper provides a feasible way to learn and develop fully functional mobile apps without technical burdens. Methodology: The methods used in the development of browser-based apps is prototyping. Our proposed approach is browser-based, supports cross-platforms, uses open-source standards, and takes advantage of “write-once-and-run-anywhere” (WORA) concept. Contribution: The paper illustrates the application of the browser-based approach to create a series of browser apps without high learning curve. Findings: The results show the potentials for using browser app approach to teach as well as to create new apps. Recommendations for Practitioners : Our proposed browser app development approach and example would be useful to mobile app developers/IS educators and non-technical students because the source code as well as documentations in this project are available for downloading. Future Research: For further work, we discuss the use of hybrid development framework to enhance browser apps.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide an overview and analysis of the emerging research landscape surrounding the integration of ChatGPT into education. The main problem appears to be that this is a new, rapidly developing research area for which there is no comprehensive synthesis of the current literature. The aim of the article is to fill this gap by conducting a timely bibliometric study to map publication trends, influential works, themes, and opportunities, thus representing the growth and structure of ChatGPT educational research. Background: This article addresses the issue of the lack of a comprehensive synthesis of the new research on ChatGPT in education by conducting a bibliometric analysis. Specifically, the authors use statistical and network analysis techniques to examine the patterns of publication, citation, and keywords and map the growth, contributions, themes, structure, and opportunities in this evolving field. The bibliometric approach provides a comprehensive, evidence-based overview of the current state of the literature to uncover trends and gaps and help researchers improve their understanding of appropriate and effective applications of ChatGPT in educational contexts. Methodology: The authors used bibliometric analysis as the primary method to summarize the new research on ChatGPT in education. We searched the database of the Web of Science Core Collection to find 51 relevant documents from 2023 that included ChatGPT in the title and were classified as ‘educational research.’ The sample consisted of these 51 documents, including articles, early access articles, editorials, reviews, and letters. Statistical techniques examined publication, citation, and keyword patterns. Network analysis visualized citation and co-occurrence networks to reveal intellectual structure. The multifaceted bibliometric approach allowed a comprehensive study of the sample from a productive, conceptual, and intellectual perspective. Contribution: This article conducts comprehensive bibliometric analysis of this emerging research area and synthesizes publication, citation, and keyword data to map the growth and structure of the literature. The results reveal important trends, such as the rapid growth of publications since the release of ChatGPT, initial authorship patterns, the focus on higher education applications, and distinct research clusters around pedagogical, ethical, and assessment issues. Visualizing citation networks identifies seminal studies while mapping co-occurrence clarifies conceptual relationships between topics. The comparative analysis highlights the differences between document types, topics, and time periods. Knowledge mapping highlights gaps in the literature, such as lack of focus on K-12 contexts, and highlights opportunities for further research. Findings: Key findings from this bibliometric analysis of the emerging research land-scape surrounding ChatGPT integration in education include the following: • Since ChatGPT was released in late 2022, the number of releases has increased significantly, indicating rapid growth in this emerging space. • The most cited authors initially came primarily from Anthropic, but over time, the citations spread throughout the research community. • The topics focused primarily on higher education applications, with a clear focus on pedagogical strategies, ethical risks, and implications for assessment. • Citation networks visualized seminal studies, while the co-occurrence of keywords clarified conceptual connections. • Gaps such as applications in the K-12 context were uncovered, and opportunities for further research were highlighted. • The literature is rapidly evolving and requires ongoing monitoring of the development of this field. In general, the analysis presents the productivity, contributors, themes, struc-ture, and opportunities in this emerging area around the integration of ChatGPT in education based on current scientific evidence. The key findings focus on the growing early interest, gaps and developments that can provide insight for researchers and educators. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners should carefully integrate ChatGPT into education based on new evidence, carefully assess contextual applicability, and proactively develop guidelines for ethical and equitable implementation. Ongoing advice, impact monitoring, and research partnerships are crucial to informing best practices. Educators must be vigilant for risks such as privacy, student well-being, and competence impairment while staying abreast of advances in knowledge to dynamically adapt integration strategies. The introduction should empower diverse learners through measured, integrative approaches based on continuous contextual analysis and ethical principles. Recommendation for Researchers: This article recommends that researchers conduct more studies in under-researched contexts, use multiple methods to capture nuanced impacts, increase focus on responsible integration strategies, develop tailored assessments, conduct interdisciplinary collaborations, monitor long-term adoption, mix with interactive explain and publish open access technologies, help guide adoption pathways through actionable studies, and synthesize the exponentially growing literature through updated systematic reviews. Impact on Society: The rapid publication growth and prevailing optimism suggest that the integration of ChatGPT into education will accelerate, increasing the need for rigorous research that guides ethical, responsible innovations that avoid risks and improve outcomes in all educational contexts. The findings have broader implications for guiding adoption trajectories through ongoing evidence synthesis and expanded investigations in under-researched areas to address knowledge gaps. Ultimately, continued monitoring and updated guidance are critical to ensure that ChatGPT’s educational penetration progresses carefully by maximizing benefits and minimizing harms in rapidly evolving AI-powered learning ecosystems. Future Research: Based on the basic mapping provided by this paper, recommended research directions include longitudinal impact studies, research tailored to under-researched contexts such as K-12, qualitative research to capture stakeholder perspectives, development and testing of AI-calibrated assessments as well as explorations that combine conversational and interactive learning technologies, updated systematic reviews, and co-designed implementation research that explain pedagogical strategies that ethically unlock learning potential while mitigating risks in diverse educational environments. Such multilayered tracking can provide critical insights to guide context-specific, responsible ChatGPT integration and monitor impact within rapidly evolving AI-powered education ecosystems.

Smart home devices are vulnerable to various attacks, including distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Current detection techniques face challenges due to nonlinear thought, unusual system traffic, and the fluctuating data flow caused by human activities and device interactions. Identifying the baseline for 'normal' traffic and suspicious activities like DDoS attacks from encrypted data is also challenging due to the encrypted protective layer. This work introduces a concept called synoptic crow search with recurrent transformer network-based DDoS attack detection, which uses the synoptic weighted crow search algorithm to capture varying traffic patterns and prioritise critical information handling. An adaptive recurrent transformer neural network is introduced to effectively regulate DDoS attacks within encrypted data, counting the historical context of the data flow. The proposed model shows effective performance in terms of low false alarm rate, higher detection rate, and accuracy.

This study is unique in how it looks at how crowdfunding on the recurring pledge platform Patreon is associated with the frequency of video creation. It analyses factors that make video creators on YouTube more likely to crowdfund on Patreon. It finds channels that upload more frequently, younger channels, channels with more subscribers and views per video, and channels that shared their Facebook pages were more likely to crowdfund on that platform.

In order to improve the speedup and recognition accuracy of the recognition process, this paper designs a data mining method based on label mapping for long-term and short-term browsing behaviour of network users. First, after removing the noise information in the behaviour sequence, calculate the similarity of behaviour characteristics. Then, multi-source behaviour data is mapped to the same dimension, and a behaviour label mapping layer and a behaviour data mining layer are established. Finally, the similarity of the tag matrix is calculated based on the similarity calculation results, and the mining results are output using SVM binary classification process. Experimental results show that the acceleration ratio of this method exceeds 0.9; area under curve receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) value increases rapidly in a short time, and the maximum value can reach 0.95, indicating that the mining precision of this method is high.

Aim/Purpose: Although cassava is one of the crops that can be grown during the dry season in Northeastern Thailand, most farmers in the region do not know whether the crop can grow in their specific areas because the available agriculture planning guideline provides only a generic list of dry-season crops that can be grown in the whole region. The purpose of this research is to develop a predictive model that can be used to predict suitable areas for growing cassava in Northeastern Thailand during the dry season. Background: This paper develops a decision support system that can be used by farmers to assist them determine if cassava can be successfully grown in their specific areas. Methodology: This study uses satellite imagery and data on land characteristics to develop a machine learning model for predicting suitable areas for growing cassava in Thailand’s Nakhon-Phanom province. Contribution: This research contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a novel model for predicting suitable areas for growing cassava. Findings: This study identified elevation and Ferric Acrisols (Af) soil as the two most important features for predicting the best-suited areas for growing cassava in Nakhon-Phanom province, Thailand. The two-class boosted decision tree algorithm performs best when compared with other algorithms. The model achieved an accuracy of .886, and .746 F1-score. Recommendations for Practitioners: Farmers and agricultural extension agents will use the decision support system developed in this study to identify specific areas that are suitable for growing cassava in Nakhon-Phanom province, Thailand Recommendation for Researchers: To improve the predictive accuracy of the model developed in this study, more land and crop characteristics data should be incorporated during model development. The ground truth data for areas growing cassava should also be collected for a longer period to provide a more accurate sample of the areas that are suitable for cassava growing. Impact on Society: The use of machine learning for the development of new farming systems will enable farmers to produce more food throughout the year to feed the world’s growing population. Future Research: Further studies should be carried out to map other suitable areas for growing dry-season crops and to develop decision support systems for those crops.

A general belief is that Mobile Money (mMoney) has the catalytic effect of spurring mCommerce growth and driving financial inclusion in developing nations like Nigeria. In Nigeria, mMoney service is certainly a new financial service innovation in the country, and as a result critical issues surrounding its early critical mass adoption, including its perceived usefulness, remain largely opaque. In this paper, our aim was to explore factors influencing perceived usefulness of mMoney by using the extended technology acceptance model (TAM) as the theoretical underpinning of our work. This work is based on a usable sample of 127 respondents from two major cities in Nigeria. Overall, the study’s results indicate that perceived regulator assurance, service affordability, convenience, proximity to the nearest bank branch, and worry over ease of use are significant predictors of mMoney perceived usefulness. The work helps shed new insights about the significant factors that are closely related to the consumer’s perception of the relevance of mMoney services (to his/her financial needs). In sum, the study is an initial step to addressing the issue of perceived usefulness of mMoney service, including its pivotal importance to laying a solid foundation for mCommerce growth in Nigeria and similar sub-Saharan African (SSA) coun-tries.

Maxthon Cloud Browser is a powerful web browser which has a highly customizable interface. The browser has multiple tools that make your web experience more enjoyable, such as resource sniffer, screen capture tool, night mode and cloud functionality...

Avast Secure Browser strives to offer a ‘private, fast and secure’ service for Windows users. Simply put, this product has been built for privacy by security experts. It boasts an array of features to make sure that all cybersecurity bases are more t...

A man threatened to push a nine-year-old girl in the Union Canal as she cycled home from football training.

PETALING JAYA: TM Global, the wholesale business arm of Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), will expand its Klang Valley Data Centre (KVDC) in Cyberjaya and Iskandar Puteri Data Centre (IPDC) in Johor, addressing the growing demand for domestic and international data hosting services.

This is the next phase in TM’s strategic roadmap to grow its infrastructure ecosystem and position Malaysia as a preferred digital hub in Southeast Asia, aligning with its aspiration to become a digital powerhouse by 2030.

These expansions and TM’s partnership with Nxera to develop a hyperconnected, artificial intelligence-ready data centre, lays the foundation for digital services such as cloud, advanced analytics, AI and the Internet of Things.

Scheduled to begin commercial operations in 2025, the second phase of both KVDC and IPDC will deliver a combined IT load of about 20MW. The expansion will meet Uptime Institute’s Tier-III standards, and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver Rating for long-term sustainability, a globally recognised green building certification.

TM Global executive vice-president Khairul Liza Ibrahim said, “KVDC and IPDC are integral infrastructures in Malaysia’s digital ecosystem, serving as international gateways and interconnected points to support 5G networks. This second phase of our data centre expansion will feature sustainable designs, boosting our capacity to support hyperscalers,

OTT players, cloud and next generation AI providers, as well as enterprises.”

TM Global’s data centres are complemented by seven regional Edge Facilities located throughout the country. These support high-performance computing and co-location services to bring content closer to end-users with minimal latency.

“We have enhanced our data hosting services with a recent acquisition of the Facilities-Based Operator licence in Singapore, allowing us to provide seamless, secure data centre-to-data centre connectivity through our extensive domestic fibre optics network and international submarine cable systems. This enables us to meet the growing connectivity demands across the region, linking data centres from Thailand to Malaysia, Singapore, and Batam in Indonesia,” Khairul Liza said.

TM Global offers a comprehensive suite of platform-based services, including multi-edge computing and content delivery, to elevate data hosting solutions. These services are tailored to optimise performance and efficiency, ensuring a robust and reliable data-driven network for customers. Leveraging its extensive network infrastructure, TM Global equips carriers, enterprises, hyperscalers, over-the-top services, and next-generation AI application providers with the tools necessary to drive innovation and seamless digital integration.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah-based beverage manufacturer Life Water Bhd’s new manufacturing plant in Keningau, set to begin operations by December, is projected to increase the company’s annual production capacity to 448 million litres of drinking water, with plans to double this output by 2027.

Managing director Liaw Hen Kong said, in addition, the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Zone 8 Plant 2, planned for completion in 2027, will support the company’s transition to more advanced manufacturing processes, including relocating existing lines and expanding plastic packaging capabilities.

“These investments and expansion reflect our confidence in the market and our ambition to meet future demand. We are not just expanding capacity. We are laying the foundation for a sustainable future by integrating advanced warehousing systems and leveraging modern technologies.

“Beyond manufacturing, we are also exploring new market opportunities in Sarawak and Brunei. Our goal is to replicate our success in Sabah by bringing the same commitment to quality and customer service to new markets,” he said at Life Water’s listing on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market today.

He said Life Water has strong logistics and distribution capabilities, with a fleet of 75 trucks, ensuring that beverages are delivered efficiently to over 3,250 retail outlets, 520 food service outlets, 150 wholesalers and 100 hotels across Sabah.

“Additionally, with distribution centres in Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Kota Kinabalu and soon in Tawau, we are well-positioned to expand our reach and serve our growing customer base.

“This strategic network supports our goal of making our products accessible to consumers everywhere,” he said.

Liaw said over the past three years, Life Water achieved a compounded annual growth rate of 17.2%, with total revenue rising from RM103.5 million in 2021 to RM166.5 million in 2024.

Similarly, Life Water’s customer base grew from 2,815 to 3,460 customers, highlighting the steady expansion of the company’s footprint in the region.

Liaw said the implementation of the sugar tax announced in Budget 2025 will not affect the carbonated beverages manufactured by Life Water.

He explained that the sugar content in Life Water’s carbonated drinks is below 5g per 100 millilitres (ml). “Our recipe (for the carbonated drinks) is below the threshold of 5g per 100 ml. So we are not affected by the sugar tax.”

Life Water opened at 77 sen in its market debut, a 12 sen or 18.5% premium from the initial public offering price (IPO) of 65 sen. It closed at 94 sen, 29 sen or 44.6% above the IPO price on volume of 233.4 million shares.

The company raised RM63.42 million through a public issuance of 97.56 million new ordinary shares, priced at RM0.65 each.

From the total proceeds, Life Water has allocated 30.0% or RM19 million to set-up an additional drinking water production line at its Sandakan Sibuga Plant 1, 18.9% or RM12.0 million for purchasing a new drinking water manufacturing line at Sandakan Sibuga Plant 2, and 19.9% or RM12.6 million will go toward setting up a second distribution centre in Sandakan.

Furthermore, 15.2% or RM9.6 million is designated for expanding the existing plastic packaging facilities in Kota Kinabalu.

The remaining proceeds of 6.6% and 9.5% or RM4.2 million and RM6 million, respectively, are allocated for working capital and to defray listing expenses.

Holding an 11% share of Malaysia’s bottled water market, the company is also putting focus on automating key manufacturing processes to boost efficiency, reduce wastage, and ensure quality consistency.

The company’s shares are classified as syariah-compliant by the Shariah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission Malaysia.

The company’s public issue portion, made available to the Malaysian public via balloting, was oversubscribed by 32.2 times.

MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd is the principal adviser, underwriter and placement agent for Life Water Bhd’s IPO exercise.

PROTON achieved notable success in October 2024, with total sales of 12,799 units, reflecting a 13.6% increase from September. This brings the year-to-date (YTD) total to 125,557 units, reinforcing the brand’s goal of securing a sixth consecutive year of growth. With a projected market share of 18.1% for October and a YTD share of 18.9%, Proton stands firmly as Malaysia’s second most popular automotive brand.

The automotive industry as a whole rebounded in October, with estimated total industry volume (TIV) reaching 70,668 units, marking the fifth time this year that monthly sales have exceeded 70,000 units.

Key Model Highlights

Proton Saga: Delivering 6,112 units in October, this model’s YTD sales reached 60,178 units, securing its spot as the third highest-selling vehicle in Malaysia. Proton aims for the Saga to surpass 70,000 units by year-end.

Proton X50: Leading the B-segment SUV market, the X50 maintained its popularity with 2,122 units sold in October, showcasing a blend of style, performance, and advanced features.

Proton S70: Regained its position as the top C-segment sedan with 1,432 units sold, boosting its YTD tally to 16,200. The upcoming Proton S70 R3 participation in the Sepang 1000km Endurance Race is expected to further enhance its appeal.

Proton X90: Delivered 245 units in October, holding the top position in the D-segment SUV category with a YTD total of 2,969 units.

Other models also posted solid performances, with the Persona and X70 recording 1,520 and 989 units, respectively, while the Iriz sold 379 units, placing it fourth in the B-segment hatchback category.

Outlook and Strategy

Proton anticipates strong competition in Q4 2024 due to increased market offers from various brands. However, the company remains focused on long-term value by enhancing product quality and customer service through its 157 3S/4S outlets, aiming to preserve residual values amid market challenges.

Seminar titled 'Challenges for Modern Parents' addresses concerns related to children’s mental, practical abilities

This video tutorial is going to show you how to change browser pages titles in Shopify templates.

The post Shopify. How to change browser pages titles appeared first on Template Monster Help.

A representational image showing people wearing costumes during a Halloween parade. — AFP/File

DUBLIN: In a rather intriguing yet disturbing revelation, a Pakistan-based artificial intelligence-powered website has been found to be behind a hoax Halloween parade in Dublin that led to...

HBO boss defends J.K. Rowling amid her divisive views

A new series about Harry Potter is in the works. However, questions have been raised over J.K. Rowling's involvement in the making amid her controversial views on gender.

HBO chief Casey Bloys, meanwhile, set aside these concerns...

IAF capitalises on anger over Israel and new laws, securing historic gains in a changing political landscape

Pirate streaming site Braflix burst onto the scene last year, offering a vast library of movies and TV shows via a user-friendly interface. With millions of monthly visits the site was destined to profit from the demise of several large competitors. The opposite happened. Facing legal pressure, Braflix has decided to throw in the towel instead.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

The turn of events altered the medal standings, upgrading the silver medal of India’s Navdeep Singh to gold.

John Krasinski crowned as 2024's ‘Sexiest Man Alive'

John Krasinski, who is best known for his role in famous sitcom The Office, has been named as People Magazine’s 2024 "Sexiest Man Alive”.

According to People, the 45-year-old actor’s name was revealed in a...

Shehbaz expresses optimism that interest rate cut will boost investor confidence and increase investments in Pakistan