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The year is now 2021, in hindsight is so 20/20, but today we take a look at the potentially championship-caliber team the As could have put together still on a relatively modest payroll.

I dont think As fans are frustrated because Oakland didnt land Trevor Bauer. We know that the team operates on a modest payroll, that revenues are way down, and that the beauty of this organization is its ability to seek out and identify value without paying top dollar.

But this off-season, where are the deals for a hidden star like Ramon Laureano, the moderate commitments to sneaky good relievers like Yusmeiro Petit (which my speech-to-text program mistakes for use metal petite), and so on? So much absolutely nothing this off-season so far, with a middle infield and bullpen that needs some serious additions.

And then perhaps most aggravating is to see some players signing deals the As absolutely could have matched, if only they were willing to have a modest payroll, instead of the shoestring remnant of one, despite coming three straight 97 win seasons (prorating may apply) and being in the middle of a strong contention window.

As an example, the As could have bolstered their current $72M payroll with a handful of key affordable free agent additions whose price tags are now known, and called it a successful off-season.

Imagine that Oakland had committed $10.5M to Andrelton Simmons for one year, and $9M to Kolten Wong for 2-3 years, after adding non-tendered relievers Keynan Middleton, Matt Wisler, and AJ Cole, for a total of $3M.

Granted, Wong and Simmons are not heavy hitters but their presence in between the two Matts would have given the As one of the best defensive infields in, quite literally, history, while adding a couple strong contact hitters to a lineup with plenty of power, and too much swing-and-miss, in it.

Middleton, Wisler, and Cole represented opportunities to add appreciable bullpen talent at barely league minimum prices. These are the kinds of deals Oakland is supposed jump at. And while nothing is certain in the world of relievers, that trio, joining Jake Diekman, J.B. Wendelken, Lou Trivino, Nik Turley, plus depth of Jordon Weems, Burch Smith, Daulton Jefferies, and James Kaprelian, suddenly offers the strong chance to find a core of 8 solid relievers with enough depth to navigate a full season.

Just those moves would have greatly solidified the team for 2021, and solved second base for at least 2022, without hamstringing the organization on any long or unduly expensive contracts. And it would have brought payroll to all of about $93M, still comfortably under $100M but with many strengths, no holes, and a realistic path deep into the postseason.

Now the quickest rebuttal to this kind of analysis is that Oakland simply does not have $93M to work with for 2021, period, end of story. And that becomes less of a financial question than a philosophical one around how much of a 1-year loss is a strong long term investment.

And its not as if Simmons, Wong, Middleton, Wisler, or Cole represent star power. But they have ample talent, at positions of need for the As, and their asking prices were utterly reasonable both for AAV and length. There were also other cheaper options, including the trade market, thus far still unexplored by the usually creative Oakland front office.

Kozma to Kemp for one, relay to 1B on a couple of hops... Sigh.

Continue reading here:
Hindsight Is 2021 - Athletics Nation

CHICAGO, Feb. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

The APAC doors and windows market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 5% during the period 20202026.

Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

Key Offerings:

Get your sample today! https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/asia-pacific-doors-and-windows-market

APAC Doors and Windows Market Segmentation

APAC Doors and Windows Market by Product

APAC Doors and Windows Market by Type

APAC Doors and Windows Market by Material

APAC Doors and Windows Market by End-User

APAC Doors and Windows Market by Installation

APAC Doors and Windows Market by Operation

APAC Doors and Windows Market Dynamics

The market for uPVC doors and windows is expanding at a rapid pace in APAC countries especially in India, Indonesia, and Thailand, providing lucrative opportunities for growth during the forecast period. With the extensive usage of vinyl and its composite resins in Western countries, the nascent stage of usage of such materials in countries like India for its application in the doors & windows industry is expected to accelerate momentum over the next 5 years. The Southeast Asian countries, which are currently dominated by metal and wood, can face a competitive threat from the growing vinyl segment. Further, investments in PVC profiles in the region seems to offer valuable addition and returns for manufacturers. Access to other benefits such as low maintenance, durability, and noise insulation at low costs act as leverages as well. Going forward, plastic is expected to be the primary material of choice for renovation and remodeling activities in the developing nations of the APAC region.

Key Drivers and Trends fueling Market Growth:

APAC Doors and Windows Market Geography

China was by far the largest market for doors and windows in the APAC region and one of the largest manufacturers of steel and aluminum doors and windows in the world. Customization alongside craftsmanship is the factors promoting the export of these products. Further, Chinese manufacturers are increasingly dealing with global customers and clients to stay competitive in the market. Design aesthetics, budget, and purpose of installation play a key role in the installation of doors and windows in the country. The revival of the construction industry, shopping mall boom, and a significant number of hotel projects in the pipeline during the forecast period is expected to boost the momentum for new installations in the country.

Get your sample today! https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/asia-pacific-doors-and-windows-market

APAC Doors and Windows Market by Geography

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AriztonAdvisory and Intelligence is an innovation and quality-driven firm, which offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients across the world. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services.

We offer comprehensive market research reports on industries such as consumer goods & retail technology, automotive and mobility, smart tech, healthcare, and life sciences, industrial machinery, chemicals and materials, IT and media, logistics and packaging. These reports contain detailed industry analysis, market size, share, growth drivers, and trend forecasts.

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APAC Doors and Windows Market Size to Reach Revenues of around USD 196 Billion by 2026 - Arizton - PRNewswire

Although fewer of us are working out of airports, hotels, and coffee shops in these pandemic days, many of us are working outside of our employer's facilities. This, along with the ever-increasing levels of cybercrime and hacking, is inspiring many people to install VPNs.

In a home environment, VPNs not only secure your connection from home to whatever online service you're connecting to, but they also secure your connection from others on your Wi-Fi network. If you have confidential information you don't want to share with roommates, or you'd prefer your teenager doesn't have access to corporate, health, lifestyle, or financial information, a VPN will keep the connection from your computer, phone, or tablet secure from the prying eyes of the young digital natives in your midst.

In this article, we'll present a few general installation and configuration guidelines. Then we'll walk you, step-by-step, through the installation of four popular VPNs, one for each platform. We'll be demonstrating how to install and setup NordVPN on iOS, IPVanish on MacOS, ExpressVPN on Windows 10, and Surfshark on Android.

First and foremost, you must understand that your experience with a VPN will differ from others, especially those of us doing reviews. Every Internet connection performs differently, so even though we explored what VPNs are fastest, keep in mind that where you're connecting from and what you're connecting to will differ from the experience of other users. When choosing a VPN, make sure to take advantage of the trial time or the money-back guarantee. Definitely test before committing.

Second, you'll need to decide if you want your VPN to always be on or only turn on when you tell it. If you want your VPN to be active from the moment the device boots up, make that selection in the preferences for your VPN application. If you want your VPN to be active only on occasion, turn off the enable-on-startup option for the VPN you've chosen.

Most modern VPN services have what's called a Kill Switch. Some apps turn this on by default. Others have an option buried in preferences to enable it. What a kill switch does is disable your network connection if the VPN software fails. I generally recommend turning this on, because if you're using a VPN, you want it to prevent others from seeing your data. You don't want to take the chance that if it fails, your data will suddenly be unprotected.

As with all iOS apps, when it's time to install a VPN on your iPhone or iPad, you'll need to go to the App Store and find the application. For our iOS install example, we've chosen NordVPN. NordVPN scored our top slot in average aggregate scores amonga field of nearly a dozen VPNs. It was one of the fastest VPNs, and its score was consistent across most testers on the Internet.

Also:

Now let's look at the steps you'll take installing a VPN on iOS:

If you want to see this process with NordVPN, take a look at the gallery below. We show you screenshot-by-screenshot steps for setting up an iOS VPN.

Unlike iOS, few popular VPNs are available in the MacOS app store. Instead, you'll need to go to the VPN's website and download the app, open the archive, and install it manually. For our Mac install example, we've chosen IPVanish. While IPVanish didn't score near the top in terms ofoverall aggregate performance, we liked its relatively low ping time and quick time to make a connection. We also like the depth of control and options IPVanish offers, along with a very slick performance chart that constantly updates.

Also: IPVanish review: VPN delivers a wealth of options and browsing controls

Now let's look at the steps you'll take installing a VPN on a Mac:

If you want to see this process with IPVanish, take a look at the gallery below. We show you screenshot-by-screenshot steps for setting up a Mac VPN.

As with Mac, few popular VPNs are available in the Microsoft Store. Once again, you'll need to go to the VPN's website and download the app, open the archive, and install it manually. For our Windows install example, we've chosen ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN was near the top in terms ofoverall aggregate performance, we liked its wide selection of device support.

CNET:ExpressVPN review: This speedy VPN is worth the price

Now let's look at the steps you'll take installing a VPN on Windows:

If you want to see this process with ExpressVPN, take a look at the gallery below. We show you screenshot-by-screenshot steps for setting up a Windows VPN.

Although you can certainly sideload some Android apps, you're definitely safest (especially with VPNs) when you install a VPN from the Google Play store. For our Android install example, we've chosen Surfshark. Surfshark was a middle-of-the-road performer in our average aggregate scores amonga field of nearly a dozen VPNs, but was rated as blazing fast byCNET's review. This is why we always recommend you test to see how a VPN performs for you.

CNET:Surfshark VPN review: Competitive pricing and blazing speeds from this upstart service

Now let's look at the steps you'll take installing a VPN on Android:

If you want to see this process with Surfshark, take a look at the gallery below. We show you screenshot-by-screenshot steps for setting up an Android VPN.

And there you go. You've seen it's pretty easy to set up a VPN for all four of the major platforms. Yes, I know I didn't include Linux, but let's face it: If you're already running Linux, you don't need me to tell you how to install a VPN (or anything else for that matter).

Are you running a VPN? What service are you using, on what platforms? Let us know in the comments below.

You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.

Originally posted here:
How to install and set up a VPN on iOS, Mac, Windows, and Android - ZDNet

As cringingly bad as McGuires pride line was at the press conference last week, Sizer emerged as a balanced and intelligent voice of the club.

A criticism of Collingwood, even noted in the report, is that they have been more about image protection and spin than substance. The appointment of Sizer could - and doubtlessly would in some quarters - be challenged as being more brand protection and spin and not about meaningful change. It would be derided as tokenism. Something similar was said of Peggy ONeal at Richmond.

The criticism would be similarly misplaced.

Image and perception are often reality. The reality now is the perception of Collingwood as a systemically racist club.The reality is the report also found no incident in the recent past and the club, with Sizer on the board and new programs implemented, has been trying to make meaningful change.

The board will meet in coming days to discuss McGuires replacement and the two most likely candidates will be vice-president Mark Korda and Murphy.

Korda is hurt by the fact that after McGuire, he and Alex Waislitz are the longest-serving board members and so are more closely aligned with the period of history the report most scathingly dealt with.

Murphy has been the understated change agent at the club. He undertook the review of all operations in 2017 that ushered in fundamental football and administrative change. He was also one of the key drivers, with Sizer, of the need to commission the Do Better report. He is respected and very popular internally across the club.

Jodie Sizer. Credit:Joe Armao

McGuire arrived at Collingwood to repair a broke and failing club. He became the club.

When McGuire walked in the door at Collingwood, so too did sponsors. He was the young, enthusiastic face of a suddenly progressive club, who, through his popular TV role, could give those sponsors the eyeballs they craved. They wanted to attach themselves to McGuire as much as Collingwood.

As he walks out the door now it is partly because sponsors are now worried about attaching themselves to him and his club.

Their jumper sponsor, CGU will part at the end of the year and not renew. Holden has not renewed its naming rights of the club and no one has rushed to fill the breach. COVID is a significant factor in a competitive market but the existing sponsors, McGuire acknowledged in his leaving statement, were suffering the pain of association with Collingwood at the moment.

McGuire did a lot of good at Collingwood that should not be ignored and in fact could not be ignored as he ran through the impressive list of achievements and social good the club has done in his time. But by staying, he was getting in the way of the very thing he was trying to do.

He stayed too long. As simple as that. The release of the report and its damning critique of a long period of his presidency made those achievements harder to remember.

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For someone so attuned to media, he lacked a self-awareness to appreciate that his time had passed until it was long past. He should have gone after the King Kong comment but stayed, believing he could ride it out because he was still doing more good than harm at Collingwood.

But as those years passed Collingwood was doing more good for McGuires reputation than he was doing for Collingwoods.

Now he leaves and it is a new Collingwood without McGuire as president. The New Magpies as it were.

As it was when he arrived at a dilapidated Victoria Park, it is time for progressive cultural change.

The Do Better report notes: Change needs to be driven from the top if it is to address racism and set the tone for the culture within the club. Making Sizer president or at least vice-president to Murphy - would set a new tone.

Michael Gleeson is an award-winning senior sports writer specialising in AFL and athletics.

Read more:
Sizer the ideal replacement for McGuire - The Age

Hoxton Farms, a U.K. startup that wants to produce animal fat without using animals, has raised 2.7 million in seed funding.

The round is led by Founders Fund, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel. Also participating is Backed, Presight Capital, CPT Capital and Sustainable Food Ventures.

Still at the R&D stage, Hoxton Farms says it will use the funding to grow its interdisciplinary science team in a new purpose-built lab in Londons Old Street. [We] will be working towards a scalable prototype of our cultivated fat over the next year to 18 months, co-founder and mathematician Ed Steele tells me.

He started the company with longtime school friend Dr Max Jamilly, who has two degrees in biotechnology and a PhD in synthetic biology (the pair met at pre-school). I spent my PhD using a genome editing technology called CRISPR to discover better treatments for childrens leukaemia, says Jamilly. Along the way, I learnt how to grow complex cells at scale a fundamental part of the scientific challenge that we face at Hoxton Farms.

Like other companies in the meat alternative space, the startup is founded on the premise that the traditional meat industry is unsustainable. This is seeing demand for meat alternatives soaring, but, argues Steele, these products still arent good enough. They dont taste right and they arent healthy. They are missing the key ingredient: fat, he says. And, of course, its fat that gives meat most of its flavour.

However, meat alternatives typically use plant oils as a fat replacement, which has a number of drawbacks. Some oils are bad for the environment, such as coconut and palm oil, and most lack flavour.

At Hoxton Farms, we grow real animal fat without the animals, explains Steele. Starting from just a few cells, we grow purified animal fat in bioreactors to produce cultivated fat, a cruelty-free and sustainable ingredient that will finally unlock meat alternatives that look, cook and taste like the real thing.

Furthermore, he says that current techniques for culturing animal cells are too expensive. Hoxton Farms is using mathematical and computational modelling to massively reduce the cost of cell culture, which the company believes will result in a production process that is cost-effective at scale.

Were combining the latest techniques from computational biology and tissue engineering to do science that wasnt possible a few years ago, says Steele. What sets us apart is the fundamental philosophy that the only way to grow cells cost-effectively at scale is to combine the power of mathematical modelling with synthetic biology.

Its envisioned that his computational approach will not only help it compete with other companies working on the same problem competitors include Mission Barns in the U.S. and Peace of Meat in Belgium/Israel but also enable it to customise fats for different manufacturers. This could include fine tuning the taste profile, physical properties (melting temperature, density, etc.) and nutritional profile (saturated/unsaturated fatty acid ratio etc.).

Meanwhile, Hoxton Farms early customers will be plant-based meat companies who seek a more sustainable and flavoursome alternative to plant oils. Much further into the future, the startup will target cultivated meat companies that grow muscle cells but still need a source of fat, and other industries, such as bakery, confectionery and cosmetics.

Read the original:
Hoxton Farms raises 2.7M seed to produce animal fat without animals - TechCrunch

Its already been well known that the legacy version of Microsoft Edge will no longer be supported later this year in March, but Microsoft has just announced its plans for what will happen once that time arrives. In a new blog post, the company detailed that the new Chromium version of Edge will officially replace and remove the legacy version of the Edge browser on April 13, 2021, by way of Windows Update.

According to Microsoft, the new Microsoft Edge will come to all PCs as part of the Windows 10 cumulative monthly security updateotherwise referred to as the Update Tuesday (or B) releaseon April 13, 2021. Once this update is installed, the legacy version of the Microsoft Edge browser will be removed. The update will hit all the major versions of Windows 10, from the April 2018 Update onwards to the most recent Windows 10 October 2020 Update.

Note that if the new Microsoft Edge is already installed, applying this update will not reinstall the new Microsoft Edge and will only remove Microsoft Edge Legacy. Though you might be able to Skip the update, Microsoft recommends that you not skip it, as windows cumulative monthly security updates provide critical updates to the Windows 10 operating system.

As for developers and apps that use EdgeHTML, Microsoft notes that the rendering engine for Microsoft Edge Legacy will continue to be supported. They also note that enterprise or business users who are depending on Legacy Edges Kiosk mode should install the new Edge and set up its new Kiosk mode prior to April 13, 2021. This is to ensure no disruption in service.

It still remains unknown what will happen to legacy Edge in Windows Sandbox, however. We last noted that the legacy version of Edge is still present in Windows Sandbox, which is available in Windows 10 Pro.

View post:
PSA: The legacy version of Microsoft Edge will be removed from Windows 10 on April 13, 2021 - OnMSFT

The Microsoft Edge legacy browser is going to disappear from our windows machines. The Friday announcement made by Microsoft said that the Chromium-based Edge browser is set to replace the legacy browser.

The update itself is a security update set to release on April 13.

The Legacy version of Microsoft Edge will no longer be supported starting March 2021, as per reports. The company has also begun alerting users about the update. Users who do not want to wait until April can download the chromium version of MS Edge from the Microsoft website.

Microsofts decision to end support for the Internet Explorer 11 and Legacy Edge came back in August 2020. The company had planned to do so gradually, with the ultimate step finally lifting on April 13, 2021.

Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser first became available to the public as beta software in April 2019. Several months later, the new version made it into a stable phase in January 2020. While the browser is similar to Chrome at its base, there are several improvements added on by Microsoft.

While Microsoft has been very selective about browsers in the past, their actions surrounding the Edge suggest that it is evolving with time. The company took decades to improve/replace the Internet Explorer even though browsers like Chrome and Safari were changing desktop and mobile browsing alike. Finally, the switch to a Chromium-based browser came in as the completion of selective evolution.

Users who already have the chromium version of the browser do not have anything to worry about. The upcoming April update will only remove the Legacy Edge without affecting the chromium Edge. Browsing history, cookies, cached memory will be left intact.

Read more here:
Upcoming Windows Update Will Remove Legacy Edge Browser and Replace it With a New One! - Tech News Today

Google has decided to stop the use of web cookies to track users and provide a personalized advertising experience. Instead, Google would be using Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), a new system that respects individual privacy.

Google says that FLoC can effectively hide individual identities within crowds, addressing most privacy-based issues people have. It is also said to use on-device processing to ensure that an individuals web history stays within the browser.

This is not the first time Google is talking about FLoC in public, though. The company had included a mention of the new system when it was talking about the ways to improve the privacy standards on the internet. In light of the fact that Google cannot stop advertising altogether, the transition to FLoC seems capable of staying off criticism.

The company says it would replace the web cookies technology using FLoC in the latter part of the year. Of course, Google Chrome would be the first to see the change, and the company has not confirmed whether it would expand the feature to other web browsers.

As said earlier, using web cookies to track users across the internet and provide a personalized advertising experience has acquired noticeable criticism in the past. Apart from the frequent lawsuits and remarks from organizations, the GDPR in the European Union countries forced Google and other tech giants to reconsider the methods.

Besides, the looming threat of Apples App Tracking Transparency feature is also evident in this move. Apple is all set to launch the latest version of iOS that would let users know when an app is trying to track them. In other words, apps like Google and Facebook have to stay transparent to their users regarding across-the-web tracking.

It is worth noting that Mozilla Firefox and Apples Safari have stopped using third-party web cookies to prevent the potential threat to privacy. Chrome is the last to join the list, although this Google-made browser handles the lions share of internet traffic.

Read the rest here:
Google to replace Cookies with FLoC to track users - TheWindowsClub

Google has announced that it intends to unify its Google Drive solutions for keeping files in sync on users' desktops.

Later this year, these two clients will become one: Google Drive for desktop. Google explains that for Drive File Stream users, this is just a name change, and all functionality will remain the same.

For Backup and Sync users, they will essentially be using Drive File Stream in all but name, except with the features they're used to incorporated into the one client.

The reason for the change is that some Google Workspace customers have deployed both sync solutions, which can be confusing for end users and challenging for IT departments to manage.

As of version 45, Drive File Stream is known as Google Drive for desktop, and the company will give three months' notice for Google Workspace admins and end users before the deadline to transition to Drive for desktop.

Google Workspace customers with end users who are currently using Backup and Sync can apply for a beta of the new unified Drive for desktop experience, which includes Backup and Sync features.

Google says it will announce when Drive for desktop is officially ready for all Backup and Sync users, and will also share more details later this year on how Backup and Sync users can get started with the new client.

See the original post:
New Google Drive Desktop App to Replace Backup & Sync and Drive File Stream Clients Later This Year - MacRumors

Katherine Gregg|The Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE On second thought, Lt. Gov. Dan McKee has decided to release the names of the 60 or so people seeking appointment as his replacement when Gov. Gina Raimondo leaves and he moves up.

On Thursday, McKee communications director Andrea Palagi told the media the lieutenant governor would not release the names of all 62 applicantsfor appointment, by McKee, that are being vetted by an advisory group headed by Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena.

"The transition is reviewing the submissions and verifying the authenticity of each application. The transition plans to release a list of candidates who are interviewed for the position,'' Palagi said.

That did not sit well in a state thatelects its lieutenant governors, by popular vote, except in the rare circumstance where the job opens mid-term, as is about to happen now with Raimondo's imminent departure for a cabinet post in Washington, and McKee's ascension.

The $122,740-a-year job comes with few statutory responsibilities, but a State House office, a$1,145,231 budget and sevenstaffers.

Facing pushback from the Rhode Island media and radio talk show nation, the McKee team announced a new and different plan on Friday.

Transition spokesman Mike Trainor announced that McKee had "directed his transition team to authenticate each of the more than 60 applications from individuals who are interested in becoming the next lieutenant governor.

"Calls will be made to each applicant to ensure the application is valid and was submitted with their knowledge. Once the authentication process is complete, the transition team will release the names of all validated applicants the team expects this will occur early next week."

Trainor said: "The incoming governor believes this process should be transparent; the delay is only based upon ensuring a valid list is provided to the public and the media."

He also said: "The incoming governor is laser-focused on the COVID-19 response and vaccine rollout. He will address filling the lieutenant governors position after he is sworn in as governor."

There is no firm date yet on when the U.S. Senate will vote on Raimondo's nomination to become commerce secretary. The Rhode Island Constitution bars her from holding state and federal office at the same time so she will have to resign her Rhode Island job before being sworn in to her new federal job.

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McKee to release names of Lt. governor applicants after all - The Providence Journal