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This is part of our Road Trip 2016 summer series "Life, Disrupted," about how technology is helping with the global refugee crisis -- if at all.The main street in Mytilene, on the Greek island of Lesvos, wraps around the green-tinted Aegean like a horseshoe. Brightly painted buildings line the road while wooden sailboats bob near the pier. It's beautiful.It's also where I bump into Waleed, a young boy I'd met earlier that day at the gate of the Kara Tepe refugee camp just outside town.He was fishing with two other migrants.I ask where his mom is. He points back toward the camp. "Kara Tepe," he tells me.And his father?"Dad. Syria. Psh, Psh," he says, pointing a finger to his head while imitating the sound of gunfire.I say, "I'm sorry," but he shrugs it off. That's life in Syria, where he came from. It was another reminder of the pain refugees have faced both at home and in Greece, where they fled to safety. The pain often sits just under the surface, bubbling up after they talk about th,greece,greece map,greece flag,greece news,greece currency,greece islands,greece ridge mall,greece vacations,greece beaches,greece economy ...ادامه مطلب

RoadshowNewsCar IndustryAverage US fuel economy rises once again in July,average us fuel price,average us fuel economy,average us fuel price per gallon,average us fuel prices by year,average us fuel price per litre,average us fuel economy 2014,us average fuel price by month,us average fuel consumption,current average us fuel prices,average us auto fuel economy ...ادامه مطلب

Tommy Chong has all your pot and emoji needs covered. Neil Visel Tommy Chong's business has always been weed. Now he's hoping it'll grow like one too.You might remember the 78-year-old counterculture icon as the bearded half of the stoner comedy duo Cheech and Chong. In his decades-long career, he's become synonymous with cannabis. In the best of times, he was accepting a Best Comedy Album Grammy for the pair's 1973 album "Los Cochinos." In the worst of times, he was jailed for sending bongs across state lines.Today things are different. Tommy Chong is a lifestyle brand. His company Chong's Choice puts its stamp on pot paraphealia like THC-infused breath strips, prerolled blunts, oil, and of course, marijuana flowers. The selling point: All buds are Chong-approved."We're having a really good time -- at least I am -- testing the different products and seeing the industry grow, no pun intended," he says with a "get it?" laugh.Chong says he's glad to be done with all the "bogus stuff" he used to deal with. Not to mention, being aboveboard is good business these days.Case in point: SMOKEmojis, Chong's own set of celebrity-inspired emojis. (Remember how Kim Kardashian's emojis took the app store by storm?) His ultimate goal, aside from advocating about pot, is to make sure it takes only a tap to get your friends together for a toke. CNET spoke with Chong about the pot entrepreneurship scene, as well as the technology he has (and wishes he had). Edited excerpts follow.Q: So, why do we need SMOKEmojis?Chong: Emojis for the most part are very cheerful signs. That's how we communicated before we had the written word.Pot's gotten a lot more mainstream. In fact, you've got a lot of folks in suits investing in it -- do you have any conces about marijuana becoming a big, regulated business? Chong: Not at all. If the demand gets that great, then of course we need big business, because we're talkin, ...ادامه مطلب

Most people think of Greece as a great place to escape from the stress of everyday life. But not to the more than 57,000 people now trapped there. In 2015, thousands of refugees and migrants fled war and chaos in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and headed to Europe seeking shelter. A year later, many are living in squalid camps and abandoned buildings in Greece, waiting for asylum or a chance at legal residence in the European Union. During a 10-day trip in June, we talked to officials, migrants and activists in Athens, Lesvos -- the Greek island where most refugees first set foot in Europe last year -- and Thessaloniki, near the closed border of Macedonia, shutting migrants' way out. Our mission: to see if the technology that many of us use every day -- phones, the inteet, messaging apps, social networks -- is helping during this crisis. Or not. We met people from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco and Somalia, all on a jouey they hoped would take them to safer and better lives. Everyone (except the children) has a phone. All rely on the inteet to lea what's new and important. Facebook is a tool for escape and escapism. Power strips are the new watercoolers. Here are a few stories of their stories.Google it Five men sit around a battered, wooden patio table just outside the gate at Kara Tepe, an official refugee camp on Lesvos. All have their phones plugged into two power strips on top of the table. Smoke wafts from their cigarettes. Beko Al-Falahi, a 28-year-old from Iraq, tells us he used to work as a US Army translator. He's wearing a camo hat, flip-flops and a shirt that reads, "Grace isn't a little prayer you say before receiving a meal. It's a way of life."In April, Pope Francis visited migrant detention centers on the Greek island of Lesvos. Beko Al-Falahi shows a photo of the Pope holding his son Tayim. Richard Nieva He talks about his wife and son, Tayim, just 35 day, ...ادامه مطلب

RoadshowNewsCar IndustryGM to dole out debit cards, extended warranties as part of fuel-economy compensation planEnlarge ImageThis is a 2014 Buick Enclave, but the 2016 model included in this debacle looks exactly the same. Antuan Goodwin/Roadshow General Motors last week admitted to applying incorrect fuel-economy numbers to several new SUVs. For vehicles still in dealerships, that just means the cars can't be sold until the window stickers are updated. But for cars in owners' garages, it's a different story. Now, we've got an idea of how GM will make things right with those owners.For the 135,000 or so owners in the US (along with 11,000 in Canada), Reuters reports that GM will offer up two different methods of compensation. The first is a debit card worth between $450 and $900 ($1,000 and $1,300 Canadian), and the second is an extended warranty, good for 48 months or 60,000 miles, whatever comes first. The compensation amount was based on $3-per-gallon gas prices and an average annual driving distance of 15,000 miles. Considering gas is cheaper than that in most parts of the US, and many owners drive fewer miles per year, that's not a bad deal. Speaking to Reuters, unnamed sources claim this compensation should cost about $100 million. It doesn't take an unnamed source, though, to calculate that 135,000 owners all receiving an average of $740 in compensation multiplies out to $100 million. In an email, GM confirmed the package, saying letters to customers will be sent out via FedEx starting May 25.General Motors is one of several automakers to end up in hot water over fuel economy in recent weeks. Suzuki admitted to fudging numbers on some of its Japanese models, as did Mitsubishi, and both companies are currently dealing with the ramifications, which involve lawsuits and govement inquiries.Let's block ads! بخوانید, ...ادامه مطلب

RoadshowCar IndustryMitsubishi cheated fuel economy tests since 1991, report saysMitsubishi has admitted to falsifying fuel economy data on its cars for the last 25 years, the BBC reports.The reported admission was made a week after the Japanese car-maker admitted to cheating on fuel economy tests for over 600,000 vehicles, some of which were built for Nissan.The company confirmed that over half a million cars were tested using methods other than those required by Japanese law, in order to make those cars appear more fuel efficient than they actually were. Mitsubishi noted that affected cars were limited to sale in Japan.Mitsubishi, in a statement released today, said it's establishing a committee of independent investigators to "uncover the facts" around the company's cheating of fuel tests. The panel consists of three attoeys who, Mitsubishi claims, "have no conflicts of interest," and says it's also considering appointing technical experts to aid the investigation. The committee will investigate for three months, and Mitsubishi says it will disclose the verdict "in a timely manner."Mitsubishi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Let's block ads! بخوانید, ...ادامه مطلب

RoadshowAutomobilesMitsubishi admits falsifying fuel economy test dataMitsubishi falsified fuel economy tests on over half a million vehicles, the Japanese car giant has admitted.In a statement published online, Mitsubishi confirmed it had misrepresented fuel consumption rates on four models of car, two of which were Mitsubishi-branded, and two of which were built for Nissan. Over 600,000 vehicles in total were tested using methods other than those required by Japanese law."We express deep apologies to all of our customers and stakeholders for this issue," Mitsubishi says. "Taking into account the seriousness of these issues, we will also conduct an investigation into products manufactured for overseas markets."The falsified fuel economy reports follows Volkswagen's industry-shaking admission that it installed software that would curtail emissions during lab testing, making cars appear more environmentally friendly than they are.Mitsubishi did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.Let's block ads! بخوانید, ...ادامه مطلب

RoadshowAutomobilesMitsubishi admits falsifying fuel economy test dataMitsubishi falsified fuel economy tests on over half a million vehicles, the Japanese car giant has admitted.In a statement published online, Mitsubishi confirmed it had misrepresented fuel consumption rates on four models of car, two of which were Mitsubishi-branded, and two of which were built for Nissan. Over 600,000 vehicles in total were tested using methods other than those required by Japanese law."We express deep apologies to all of our customers and stakeholders for this issue," Mitsubishi says. "Taking into account the seriousness of these issues, we will also conduct an investigation into products manufactured for overseas markets."The falsified fuel economy reports follows Volkswagen's industry-shaking admission that it installed software that would curtail emissions during lab testing, making cars appear more environmentally friendly than they are.Mitsubishi did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.Let's block ads! بخوانید, ...ادامه مطلب

On-demand startups are facing hard times, begging the question: Is the push-button economy going to collapse? Gail Mooney/Corbis I'm not going to say that SpoonRocket's food deserved to win any awards, but it got to me fast.For the last three years, the Berkeley, Califoia-based startup delivered a rotating selection of carb-heavy comfort foods to your door in under 15 minutes. That speed couldn't save it. The company on Tuesday said it's closing up shop. Too much competition and too little cash made it impossible to keep going. Goodbye, $8 pulled-pork smoked Gouda mac 'n cheese, a recurring customer favorite. I'll miss you.Brazilian-based iFood reportedly bought SpoonRocket for its delivery tech. The company didn't respond to a request to confirm the acquisition.SpoonRocket is only the latest on-demand startup to fall on hard times. Earlier this month, Instacart said that it's slashing the pay of people who deliver store-bought groceries to customers. In February, on-demand parking valet Zirx closed its doors, while food delivery startup DoorDash had to lower its own value to raise more funds. On-demand companies have defined this decade's tech boom. Ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft and delivery apps like Instacart have made patience an overrated virtue. They've also caught the attention of venture capitalists, who have poured more than $9 billion into those three companies alone.But the recent troubles of several on-demand startups begs the question: Is this the end of the push-button economy?"It's certainly a wake-up call for on-demand companies," said Matt Wong, a senior analyst at CB Insights, a venture capital research firm.SpoonRocket was one of several startups -- Sprig, Munchery, Caviar -- targeting the food market, said Wong, who argues that failures should be expected in an intensely competitive market. Even so, investors aren't as willing as they used to be to thr, ...ادامه مطلب

RoadshowCar IndustryFebruary sees new-car average fuel economy holding steadyNew car buyers aren't looking at fuel efficiency like they used to.Enlarge ImageIt'll be interesting to see what happens when gas prices head back upward again. Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak, University of Michigan Every month, researchers at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) track the average fuel economy of vehicles sold in the previous month. The information for February 2016 is now out, and it's exactly the same as it was in January, which is still lower than it was last summer.The researchers, Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle, rely on the EPA fuel-economy data and sales figures to create what they call the "sales-weighted fuel-economy rating of purchased new vehicles." February 2016's rating is 25.2 mpg, which is the same as January's, and also the same as it was last February.While the average has been more or less on the rise since this rating began in October 2007, we've seen a fair bit of drop-off since August 2014, when the number peaked at 25.8 mpg. December 2015 was the lowest-average month since January 2014, dropping under 25.0 mpg. Cheap gas has since spurred buyers to splurge on larger, thirstier vehicles, likely contributing to this fuel-economy stagnation.We've been on a bit of downward trend since late 2014, but as gas prices slowly begin to creep upward again, and as the govement discusses levying additional gas taxes during times of low prices to contribute to infrastructure improvement, it will be interesting to see if the average once again creeps upward as each fill-up requires a bit more coin than before.This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers., ...ادامه مطلب