Tulsa, Oklahoma–(Newsfile Corp. – December 12, 2024) – Educational Development Corporation (NASDAQ: EDUC) (“EDC”, or the “Company”) ( http://www.edcpub.com ) today announces the time and date of their fiscal 2025 third quarter earnings call. EDC will host its Fiscal Year 2025 Third Quarter Earnings Call, including a live Q&A webcast, on Monday, January 13, 2025, at 3:30 PM CT (4:30 PM ET). Craig White, Chief Executive Officer and President, Heather Cobb, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Dan O’Keefe, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary will present the Company’s third quarter results and be available for questions following the presentation. Phone lines for participants will be available at (800) 717-1738 . The Conference ID is 64717 . Audio replays will be available following the event at www.edcpub.com/investors . About Educational Development Corporation (EDC) EDC began as a publishing company specializing in books for children. EDC is the owner and exclusive publisher of Kane Miller Books (“Kane Miller”); Learning Wrap-Ups, maker of educational manipulatives; and SmartLab Toys, maker of STEAM-based toys and games. EDC is also the exclusive United States MLM distributor of Usborne Publishing Limited (“Usborne”) children’s books. EDC-owned products are sold via 4,000 retail outlets and EDC and Usborne products are offered by independent brand partners who hold book showings through social media, book fairs with schools and public libraries, in individual homes, as well as other in-person events and internet sales. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/233521 #distro
MyMandi is a hyperlocal delivery service poised to disrupt the disruption brought by today’s quick commerce landscape. The brainchild of Mahanaaryaman Scindia (28) and Suryansh Rana (26), MyMandi aims to ensure that the underserved markets of tiers 2 to 4 in India can enjoy the convenience and accessibility offered by quick-commerce giants in tier 1 cities—without eliminating the local retailers from the supply chain. “Quick commerce has grown rapidly in India, but this expansion has come at a significant cost: approximately 200,000 Kirana stores have closed in the past year” says Mahanaaryaman. “At MyMandi, we believe in enabling, not disrupting, the local Kirana network. Our platform empowers these stores by bringing them online, enhancing their efficiency, and connecting them with more customers. Unlike others who rely on creating dark stores, MyMandi allows Kiranas to service customers directly using their own stock, offering self-pickup and delivery options.” With the highest density of Kirana stores located in Tier 2–4 cities, we see an incredible opportunity to form a symbiotic relationship rather than force change. While partnering with Kiranas may take longer, it fosters a natural, cost-free flow of loyal customers . In smaller cities, there is immense stickiness to transacting with local Kiranas, making them the ideal partners for creating a sustainable and community-driven commerce ecosystem. Backed by the late Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata and investors like Shiprocket, Tribe Capital, and Let’s Venture, among others, MyMandi, a grocery & D2C delivery startup, is rooted in the ethos of inclusivity as the startup’s mission is to optimize supply chains for daily essentials, fresh produce, and D2C brands in smaller cities via the traditional local Kirana ecosystem. How It All Works: “At MyMandi, we believe in democratizing technology. With this philosophy at our core, we aim to bring cutting-edge solutions—such as AI, IoT, and ERP systems—to the backbone of Indian retail: the Kirana stores” explains Suryansh “Our AI-driven tools will provide personalized marketing solutions and advanced recommendation systems to enhance customer engagement through our B2B app, integrated seamlessly with WhatsApp” he says “IoT and ERP technologies will empower the Kiranas to efficiently manage their vast and diverse inventory, ensuring faster delivery cycles and improved customer satisfaction.” “By offering the MyMandi platform as an open-source solution, we allow retailers to adopt and customize the tech stack at their own pace, enabling them to compete effectively with quick-commerce companies. Additionally, our unique QR code system helps kiranas onboard customers to their digital stores effortlessly, without any upfront acquisition costs” Overall, the MyMandi OS will tech-enable the local Kiranas in tier 2 / 3 cities to build a digital Bharat. As the retail landscape evolves, MyMandi is setting an example of how tech-driven innovations can enhance existing systems – i.e. merging traditional models with quick-commerce approaches - where socio-economic growth across levels becomes a product of a thriving symbiotic relationship between retailers and customers. How the simple QR-led initiative will shape the future of the local Kirana-walas is a story yet to unfold.Country star Morgan Wallen admits to chucking a chair off the roof of a Nashville bar nearly hitting two copsOff the couch and into the fire
United Airlines travelers with lost luggage have a new tool to track their bags. If the lost bag has an Apple AirTag in it, that information can now be passed directly to United, the airline announced Thursday. The new feature, called Share Item Location, allows travelers with an AirTag or other Find My network accessory to share the location with the airline’s customer service team to help locate their luggage in the event it’s misplaced. United says more than 99% of its customers pick up their luggage without a hitch. The feature is now available with iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 or macOS 15.2. “Apple’s new Share Item Location feature will help customers travel with even more confidence, knowing they have another way to access their bag’s precise location with AirTag or their Find My accessory of choice,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. People are also reading... Spreading kindness one butterfly at a time At the courthouse, Dec. 7, 2024 Camper total loss after fire north of Beatrice BPS receives a "good" classification Stabler scores 22 in Lady O's season opening win Holiday lights travel through downtown Beatrice for annual parade Hubbell native, Gage County Fair performer hosting Christmas concert Orangemen open season with win over Nebraska City P.E.O. sponsors Holiday Tour of Homes Early names to know as Nebraska begins early shopping in the open transfer market Lonnie Meyer 27-year-old Beatrice man sentenced for May assault Amie Just: This recruiting class marks the beginning of a new era — one without walk-ons Traffic enforcement campaigns net safety reminders, citations Orangemen wrestlers get their season started Travelers on United whose bags do not arrive at their destination can file a delayed baggage report with United and share the link to the item’s location either through the United app or via text message. After the report has been submitted, customer service agents will be able to locate the item on an interactive map alongside a timestamp of a recent update. The shared location will be disabled after a customer has the bag, and customers can also stop sharing the location of the item at any time on their own. The location link will also automatically expire after seven days. Using AirTags or other tracking devices on luggage is increasingly popular among frequent travelers, with a significant boom following the 2022 Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown , which displaced thousands of travelers over Christmas and into 2023, alongside much of their belongings. United says lost bags are rare, with more than 99% of its customers arriving with their bags. It says the new technology will help those with lost bags to recover them more quickly because the airline will have more information about them. Apple previously announced the new service will also be integrated at other air carriers, including Delta Air Lines. Others include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Vueling. 4 tips to help you experience exceptional cruise dining | PennyWise podcast Nat CardonaLee Media Studio Frontier Airlines introducing ‘first class-style’ seats By Marnie Hunter, CNN US budget airlines are struggling. Will pursuing premium passengers solve their problems? DAVID KOENIGAssociated Press Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!
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United Airlines travelers with lost luggage have a new tool to track their bags. If the lost bag has an Apple AirTag in it, that information can now be passed directly to United, the airline announced Thursday. The new feature, called Share Item Location, allows travelers with an AirTag or other Find My network accessory to share the location with the airline’s customer service team to help locate their luggage in the event it’s misplaced. United says more than 99% of its customers pick up their luggage without a hitch. The feature is now available with iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 or macOS 15.2. “Apple’s new Share Item Location feature will help customers travel with even more confidence, knowing they have another way to access their bag’s precise location with AirTag or their Find My accessory of choice,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. Travelers on United whose bags do not arrive at their destination can file a delayed baggage report with United and share the link to the item’s location either through the United app or via text message. After the report has been submitted, customer service agents will be able to locate the item on an interactive map alongside a timestamp of a recent update. The shared location will be disabled after a customer has the bag, and customers can also stop sharing the location of the item at any time on their own. The location link will also automatically expire after seven days. Using AirTags or other tracking devices on luggage is increasingly popular among frequent travelers, with a significant boom following the 2022 Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown , which displaced thousands of travelers over Christmas and into 2023, alongside much of their belongings. United says lost bags are rare, with more than 99% of its customers arriving with their bags. It says the new technology will help those with lost bags to recover them more quickly because the airline will have more information about them. Apple previously announced the new service will also be integrated at other air carriers, including Delta Air Lines. Others include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Vueling. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Since their debut in 2013, BTS has released many albums, but all seven members have also debuted as soloists. Which member, in your opinion, has the best title track of all? Vote now! Votes can be cast once every 2 hours until the voting period ends. Why does your choice deserve the top spot? Let us know on our social media, and vote for your favorite could-be couple here: Which K-Drama Couple Would You Like To See Become Dispatch’s New Year Couple? Vote Now! BTS BTS RM’s Inclusion On Organization’s Role Model List Sparks Heated Debate BTS’s V Dethrones Mariah Carey On Billboard Chart BTS Jin’s Comment About Red Velvet Wendy’s Voice Gains Attention Park Myung Soo’s Past “Shade” About HYBE Sparks Major Backlash See more BTS
Soporific. Tedious. Platitudinous. Benumbing. These pejoratives condemn former German Christian Democratic Union Chancellor Angela Merkel’s overweight 700-page memoir as not worth the price of admission. Merkel served 16 years as chancellor from 2005 to 2021 before voluntarily bowing out. The high-water mark of intellectual stimulation in her memoir is reached with Merkel’s forgettable, “We can do this” in referencing a flood of immigrants. The reader waits in vain for something as electrifying as President John F. Kennedy’s, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Born in the communist German Democratic Republic and trained as a scientist, Merkel drifted into politics less because of deep philosophical convictions than faute de mieux. She was not at the barricades participating in the destruction of the Berlin Wall. She was not steeped in political philosophy, including separation of powers touted by Montesquieu and James Madison. She has little or nothing to say about Nazi Germany, the Nuremberg trials or the dynamics that gave birth to the Holocaust. Her understanding of human nature is Pollyannaish, refusing to accept Immanuel Kant’s dictum, “From such crooked timber as humankind is made nothing straight can be made.” Merkel’s attempts to broker peace in Ukraine predictably proved fool’s errands. Thuggish Russian President Vladimir Putin ignites her anguish. But she is unable to suggest a superior replacement. Self-government and the right to march to your own drummer have been alien to Russia since time immemorial. Dictatorship is all Russians know and accept as superior to the alternatives. Alexei Navalny perished on that brute fact. Merkel also neglects that NATO expansion up to Russia’s borders — akin to Nikita Khrushchev’s installation of Soviet missiles in Cuba and the 1962 Cuban missile crisis — made Putin’s attack on Ukraine inevitable to prevent Russia’s encirclement by hostile powers entering her traditional sphere of influence. Consider the following. The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, ending any military threat to NATO members, which then numbered 16. Since then, while the Russian economy and military profile shrank, NATO mushroomed to 32 members creating an equivalent or greater threat to Russian security than the Cuban missile crisis posed for the United States. Further, in 1990, the United States implicitly promised Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand forces eastward if East and West Germany were permitted to unite — a promise with a truncated shelf life. Additionally, on March 26, 2022, in Warsaw, Poland, President Joe Biden exclaimed with reference to Putin, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” The United States had previously orchestrated regime change in Ukraine featuring Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and her memorable vulgarity, “F— the EU.” Putin reacted like the United States reacted in the Cuban missile crisis amid the Soviet Union’s penetration of our traditional sphere of influence in the Caribbean and Central and South America. Remember the Roosevelt corollary to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine: The United States was saddled with the responsibility to preserve order and to protect life and property in all nations in the Western Hemisphere. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine equaled or bettered our instruction not only in the Western Hemisphere but elsewhere as in Libya or Iraq. Merkel understands none of this. She is bereft of ideas for ending the war in Ukraine. She is unable to conceive that Putin could retreat from Ukraine and proclaim victory if the United States withdrew from NATO, removed its troops and weapons from Europe and left the remaining 31 members to defend themselves if attacked without American training wheels. Without the United States, NATO would still eclipse Russia in economic and military strength. Russia is no juggernaut, as its quagmire in Ukraine proves. Merkel also displays naivete over global warming. She chronicles countless international meetings and infinite hours over two decades in which countries repeatedly sally forth with meaningless pledges to plunge greenhouse gas emissions in order to forestall the species’ suicide. Nations, however, are not philanthropies. They act only in short-term self-interest. None have or will handicap economic growth and prosperity to diminish emissions in the hope that other nations will follow suit. Why should they? Other nations can do nothing and take a free ride on the nation that goes first with emissions reductions. All this Merkel-like gnashing about global warming has accomplished nothing. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels and cement will rise around 0.8% in 2024, reaching a record 37.4 billion tons of CO2, the 2024 Global Carbon Budget report by the Global Carbon Project. This is 0.4 billion tons higher than the previous record, set in 2023. Merkel exemplifies the absence of inspiring leadership or statesmanship anywhere on the world stage. The commanding heights of power are populated by pedestrian thinkers as technology, including artificial intelligence, continues to outrace moral or philosophical wisdom. H.G. Wells observed more than a century ago, “Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.” Has the race been lost?WASHINGTON — The House passed a bill Thursday that would create dozens of new federal district court judgeships for the first time in decades, although the Biden administration has threatened to veto it. Supporters of the legislation, which passed the House 236-173 on Thursday and the Senate via unanimous consent in August, say the bill is aimed at addressing case backlogs in the federal court system. The measure would add 63 permanent positions to the federal judiciary and three temporary positions. The permanent positions would be created in phases between 2025 and 2035. In total, 207 House Republicans and 29 House Democrats voted for the measure. Members of both parties agreed the federal judiciary needs more judges. But the timing of the vote drew opposition from the Biden administration and some House Democrats, who said Republicans were playing political games by refusing to bring the bill up for a floor vote until after the November general election. By waiting to vote on the bill until after the election, there is no longer uncertainty over which presidential candidate would get to appoint the first two tranches of judgeships, which would come in 2025 and 2027, Democrats argued. New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, argued that when the bill arrived in the House, Republican leadership refused to touch it. “If Republican leadership had brought the bill to the House floor in September, we could have passed it on suspension in no time,” Nadler said. “Back then, the president would still have been unknown, and the underlying promise of the bill was still present.” Speaking on the floor, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., acknowledged the bill would have passed by unanimous consent had it been brought up sooner. “I apologize to everyone here for the hour we’re taking for something that we should have done before” the election, he said. But Issa said it would only be “pettiness today if we were to not do this because of who got to be first.” He compared the situation to a coin flip at the start of a football game, where the flip winner gets to decide whether they kick or receive the ball. “Afterwards, it will go back and forth for a very long time. This is a very long time, and we should be the long thinkers on the most permanent body in government,” Issa said. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said on the floor that sudden opposition to the bill from Democrats was “nothing more than childish foot-stomping.” The Biden administration threatened to veto the bill earlier this week, saying in a statement of administration policy that the bill is “unnecessary to the efficient and effective administration of justice.” The statement said the bill would add new judgeships in states where senators “have sought to hold open existing judicial vacancies.” “Further, the Senate passed this bill in August, but the House refused to take it up until after the election,” the statement read. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said when the bill arrived in the House, Republican leadership injected politics into the legislation. He argued bringing the bill to the floor until after the election isn’t fair. “You don’t get to pick the horse after that horse has already won the race, but that’s exactly what my Republican colleagues are seeking to do today,” he said. Issa weighed in after Johnson’s speech. “We often hear the term here in the House and throughout our country: ‘country before party.’ It’s clear we didn’t hear that here yet today on the other side of the aisle,” Issa said. Congress has added a relatively smaller number of district court judgeships since 1990, created using appropriations or authorization bills, but the federal courts say they need much more based on an increase in caseload over the years. The Judicial Conference in 2023 called for 66 new district court judges and seven temporary judges to be made permanent. Gabe Roth, the executive director of Fix the Court, said in press releases that Biden should reconsider his veto threat given “the bill’s bipartisan origins, its broad support among Democratic judicial appointees and its importance to Delaware, whose federal court would get two new judgeships — a 50 percent increase.” “As someone who’s worked for years on adding judgeships, I know how difficult it is to get to the right formula of which judgeships to add when, how much money is needed for appropriations and when in an election cycle to move legislation,” Roth said. “We finally had each of these things in place and now comes a veto threat? That’s a slap in the face to our overworked federal judges, Democratic and Republican appointees alike, who say they desperately need the help,” Roth said.Nearly three-quarters (73%) of U.S. small business owners are optimistic about their economic viability in 2025, according to NEXT Insurance research. Despite challenges like rising business costs and shifting consumer trends, the economic outlook paints a complex picture of adaptability and vulnerability. NEXT surveyed 1,500 small business owners aged 18–64 across industries and regions in late October and November 2024 to reveal how economic factors are shaping business in the new year. The NEXT economic survey reveals a complex view of the economy. 57% of respondents state the economy is weaker than it was a year ago. This mood highlights ongoing challenges such as inflation, unemployment, and unpredictable market conditions that affect businesses nationwide. At the same time, the data shows diverse perspectives about the viability of their small business among owners. While 27% are not optimistic at all about the future of their business, about 3/4 of entrepreneurs report they are very optimistic (23%), optimistic (26%), or cautiously optimistic (25%) about their business's viability in the coming year. NEXT saw similar upward thinking about business owners' expected profits in the first six months of 2024. NEXT's survey highlights several challenges that may be shaping a business's outlook for the future. Rising costs have forced 17% of businesses to increase prices in the last six months. Another 15% reduced operating costs. Some industries, such as technology and health care , have shown resilience due to the demand for innovation and essential services. But others, such as retail and hospitality, are more vulnerable to fluctuating consumer spending and labor shortages. For example, an Intuit holiday shopping report reveals that 23% of consumers are reducing their holiday spending due to the rising costs of essentials like groceries and gas. This holiday season, consumers plan to spend an average of $294 at small businesses, compared to last year's $485—a 40% decrease. While NEXT data found that 12% of respondents closed all or part of their business, these closures were outweighed by growth. 10% say they've expanded their products or services, and another 7% opened a second location for their business. Despite difficulties, many business owners are holding steady: 17% expect no major changes in the next six months. And as planning for the first half of 2025 planning begins, business owners are thinking about growth. Some entrepreneurs will focus on expansion, with 14% planning to launch new products or services and 8% preparing to open second locations. These proactive efforts indicate confidence in the economy and market potential. Cost management will also play an important part, with 12% of businesses increasing prices to offset rising expenses and 11% expecting to cut costs in the coming months. However, not all businesses are as confident in their resilience; 12% are concerned about possible closure due to persistent financial difficulties. Regardless of the economic climate, businesses can focus on innovation strategies to propel them forward, such as adopting emerging AI technologies , diversifying products and services , and protecting their investment with business insurance to help mitigate the risks of growing a business. Small businesses can weather economic challenges long-term if they stay flexible and prepare for the unexpected to build a solid foundation for success. This story was produced by NEXT and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
‘Just enjoy the holidays’: National Grid donates 14 meals for Hope 7’s ThanksgivingASPI Investors Have Opportunity to Lead ASP Isotopes Inc. Securities Fraud LawsuitSAN FRANCISCO — A former OpenAI researcher known for whistleblowing the blockbuster artificial intelligence company facing a swell of lawsuits over its business model has died, authorities confirmed this week. Suchir Balaji, 26, was found dead inside his Buchanan Street apartment on Nov. 26, San Francisco police and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said. Police had been called to the Lower Haight residence at about 1 p.m. that day, after receiving a call asking officers to check on his well-being, a police spokesperson said. The medical examiner’s office has not released his cause of death, but police officials this week said there is “currently, no evidence of foul play.” Information he held was expected to play a key part in lawsuits against the San Francisco-based company. Balaji’s death comes three months after he publicly accused OpenAI of violating U.S. copyright law while developing ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence program that has become a moneymaking sensation used by hundreds of millions of people across the world. Its public release in late 2022 spurred a torrent of lawsuits against OpenAI from authors, computer programmers and journalists, who say the company illegally stole their copyrighted material to train its program and elevate its value past $150 billion. The Mercury News and seven sister news outlets are among several newspapers, including the New York Times, to sue OpenAI in the past year. In an interview with the New York Times published Oct. 23, Balaji argued OpenAI was harming businesses and entrepreneurs whose data were used to train ChatGPT. “If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company,” he told the outlet, adding that “this is not a sustainable model for the internet ecosystem as a whole.” Balaji grew up in Cupertino before attending UC Berkeley to study computer science. It was then he became a believer in the potential benefits that artificial intelligence could offer society, including its ability to cure diseases and stop aging, the Times reported. “I thought we could invent some kind of scientist that could help solve them,” he told the newspaper. But his outlook began to sour in 2022, two years after joining OpenAI as a researcher. He grew particularly concerned about his assignment of gathering data from the internet for the company’s GPT-4 program, which analyzed text from nearly the entire internet to train its artificial intelligence program, the news outlet reported. The practice, he told the Times, ran afoul of the country’s “fair use” laws governing how people can use previously published work. In late October, he posted an analysis on his personal website arguing that point. No known factors “seem to weigh in favor of ChatGPT being a fair use of its training data,” Balaji wrote. “That being said, none of the arguments here are fundamentally specific to ChatGPT either, and similar arguments could be made for many generative AI products in a wide variety of domains.” Reached by this news agency, Balaji’s mother requested privacy while grieving the death of her son. In a Nov. 18 letter filed in federal court, attorneys for The New York Times named Balaji as someone who had “unique and relevant documents” that would support their case against OpenAI. He was among at least 12 people — many of them past or present OpenAI employees — the newspaper had named in court filings as having material helpful to their case, ahead of depositions. Generative artificial intelligence programs work by analyzing an immense amount of data from the internet and using it to answer prompts submitted by users, or to create text, images or videos. When OpenAI released its ChatGPT program in late 2022, it turbocharged an industry of companies seeking to write essays, make art and create computer code. Many of the most valuable companies in the world now work in the field of artificial intelligence, or manufacture the computer chips needed to run those programs. OpenAI’s own value nearly doubled in the past year. News outlets have argued that OpenAI and Microsoft — which is in business with OpenAI also has been sued by The Mercury News — have plagiarized and stole its articles, undermining their business models. “Microsoft and OpenAI simply take the work product of reporters, journalists, editorial writers, editors and others who contribute to the work of local newspapers — all without any regard for the efforts, much less the legal rights, of those who create and publish the news on which local communities rely,” the newspapers’ lawsuit said. OpenAI has staunchly refuted those claims, stressing that all of its work remains legal under “fair use” laws. “We see immense potential for AI tools like ChatGPT to deepen publishers’ relationships with readers and enhance the news experience,” the company said when the lawsuit was filed. Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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