On a crisp autumn night in central London a group have gathered to discuss an age-old Russian affair: A shared love of mayonnaise.
Europe's Russia Policy Pleases Nobody
For reasons that are understandable even to an arch-realist such as myself, increasingly large numbers of Europeans — including many people in countries that have traditionally been quite sympathetic to Russian concerns — have decided that Putin's Russia is not a "partner" to be engaged with, but an adversary to be confronted, isolated and eventually defeated.
While growing, the membership of the European Union's "hawkish" bloc is a bit of a moving target. A few years ago it would have clearly included both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and while it would be a gross exaggeration to call either country's current government "pro-Putin" there has been a noteworthy shift away from their more confrontational past positions. Hungary, too, has seen its government soften the rhetoric it aims at Moscow.
The core group of Russia hawks, which includes Poland, Britain, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, has not only become increasingly outspoken about the Russian threat, but has had real success in pulling formerly reluctant countries like Germany and France closer to its preferred approach.
The EU's approach might not have been entirely hawkish in orientation — given the time-consuming and inefficient way in which EU policy is created, this was never a possible outcome — but it is a lot tougher than many people, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, expected when the situation in Ukraine first started to go haywire.
For various reasons, most of the members of the core group of Russia hawks are also part of what, for lack of a better phrase, could be called the "monetary hawks." While they are not identical in their economic policies, monetary hawks are generally of the opinion that the best way out of the current slump is "structural reform" combined with sharp reductions in government spending.
Germany — rather moderate in terms of its foreign policy — is a loud and active member of the group, and has succeeded to a quite remarkable degree in enforcing an EU-wide policy of fiscal austerity.
The problem that is becoming ever clearer is that the two groups of hawks are advocating policies that are mutually exclusive. While in the past a confrontational Russia policy and an austere economic policy might have been possible at the same time, this is no longer the case.
In order for the EU to follow a Russia policy that would actually weaken the Kremlin's position in Ukraine and other countries in the region, it will have to spend enormous amounts of money. At an absolute minimum, maintaining the current — rather modest — level of economic sanctions will cost Europe billions of dollars.
Other proposals favored by the Russia hawks, such as creating an EU-run "rapid reaction force" capable of thwarting any potential Russian military incursion or buying the Mistral warships from France to prevent their transfer to the Russian navy, will cost several billion more.
The direct costs of a more aggressive Russia policy, while not insubstantial, are absolutely paltry in comparison with the costs of bailing out Ukraine — a necessary precondition for weakening Moscow's power within its self-declared "sphere of influence." Precise estimates differ significantly from economist to economist, but the damage to Ukraine's economy has already been so severe that the minimum cost of a bailout is calculated in the tens of billions of dollars.
Other policies that have been publicly advocated by the hawks, such as a modern "Marshall Plan" that would jump-start Ukraine's economy through massive infrastructure investments, would cost tens of billions of additional dollars. In the EU's current environment of budget cuts, unemployment and economic malaise, that is real money.
I won't pretend that I favor such a foreign policy approach, but many intelligent and capable people do. The problem for the Russia hawks is that the monetary hawks (who are often the very same people) have very loudly and very insistently repeated the claim that the EU is effectively broke and that there is an urgent need for governments across the continent to get spending under control.
I don't want to get bogged down in a stimulus-versus-austerity debate, but what does seem clear is that it is politically impossible to argue that the EU needs to radically cut government spending while simultaneously spending tens of billions of taxpayer dollars bailing out Ukraine so that it can stand up to Russia.
The idea that the EU takes from Peter to pay Paul — that it is taking "hard-earned" money away from people to pay shiftless foreigners — is precisely what has caused such an explosion of Euroskeptic parties like the U.K. Independence Party. By advocating both fiscal austerity and an aggressive — and extremely expensive — foreign policy, the hawks have left themselves extremely vulnerable to populist challengers.
So what is to be done? Hawkish political parties and politicians need to do some very hard thinking about what they value more highly. Do they want to see fiscal restraint and an effort to trim bloated public sectors? Or do they want to see an emboldened and aggressive EU force Putin to back down?
They are going to have to decide, as the continent's economy is in far too parlous a condition to allow both policies to be pursued at the same time. Hawks are in a strong enough position that they could prevail on either issue, but not on both.
What I imagine will happen is that the Russia hawks will hold their noses and acquiesce to a slightly more Keynesian approach to the euro zone's economic crisis. This compromise is the only realistic way to convince highly skeptical countries in Southern Europe that they should go along with a more interventionist approach to the crisis in Ukraine.
Without some kind of compromise, however, the EU will continue to march on as fecklessly as it has in the past, writing rhetorical checks it has no practical ability to cash.
How MachineGames created Wolfenstein's new order
"This ain’t war, but the breaking of seals. The undoing of life itself.” BJ Blazkowicz mutters these words – or thinks them, it’s never quite clear – while clearing out a column of Nazi footsoldiers in the trenches outside General Deathshead’s Baltic compound.
The first level of Wolfenstein: The New Order is the only part of thegame that takes place during the Second World War. It’s both a sendoff to the old Wolfenstein and the introduction of the new, stranding the player on a beachhead and forcing them to fight past Nazi robodogs, electrocharged kommando squads, and a building-sized walking Tesla coil called ‘The Stomper’.
Beyond the beach is the compound itself, a gothic edifice that riffs on the mossy Teutonic fortresses beloved of the previous games. It’s a return to Castle Wolfenstein in all but name, a swansong for the series’ familiar milieu: a big man in a tan jacket gunning down fascists with a Thompson in hallways full of suits of armour and fading portraits of Nazi field marshals. After this there’s a run-in with an old villain, an explosion, and a 14-year coma. After this the game concerns an insurgency operating out of alt-’60s Berlin, becoming a game where a big man in a brown jacket sprays down Nazis with an upgradable lasergun in brutalist concrete megastructures and also on the moon.
The funniest patch notes in PC gaming
Fixed: Not having an article about PC gaming's funniest patch notes
Games are complicated things; often attempting to digitally replicate the systems and physics of our world. Sometimes this process goes horribly wrong. This leads to situations where developers are trying to fix familiar things that have broken in unusual ways: be it otherwise benign NPCs acting up, or objects doing what they were never designed to do.
As a result, we often get patch notes filled with things that, when taken out of context, are unintentionally hilarious. Here are some of our favourites, grabbed from genuine developer patch notes.
Argentina charges HSBC for tax evasion 'scheme'
Argentina's tax agency says it has charged British bank HSBC with helping more than 4,000 Argentines to commit tax evasion by stashing money in secret Swiss accounts.
The Argentine tax authority (AFIP) said on Thursday that it had searched HSBC offices in Buenos Aires before moving ahead with the charges.
"We have filed a charge for tax evasion and illicit association relating to bank accounts in Switzerland," said AFIP director Ricardo Echegaray.
He said three agencies associated with HSBC in Argentina were suspected of aiding the tax evasion scheme.
AFIP said it had identified 4,040 people who allegedly sent money to overseas accounts, and almost all of the transactions were supervised by HSBC representatives in Argentina, the United States and Switzerland.
HSBC said in a statement that it "emphatically rejects (the charges) of participation in any illicit association, including any organization allowing the transfer of capital in order to evade taxes."
The charges are the latest woes for the banking giant, after former employee Herve Falciani leaked to French authorities data on thousands of HSBC customers, saying he wanted to expose tax fraud.
The leak sent shockwaves through the world of Swiss banking, long valued by wealthy individuals for its stability and traditions of banking secrecy, and led to a French probe into HSBC to determine whether it had also helped French customers avoid taxes.
‘Smart’ drugs won’t make smart people smarter, research concludes!!![It is the FACT]
It is claimed one in five students have taken the ‘smart’ drug Modafinil to boost their ability to study and improve their chances of exam success. But new research into the effects of Modafinil has shown that healthy students could find their performance impaired by the drug.
It is claimed one in five students have taken the 'smart' drug Modafinil to boost their ability to study and improve their chances of exam success. But new research into the effects of Modafinil has shown that healthy students could find their performance impaired by the drug.
Dr Mohamed said: "We looked at how the drug acted when you are required to respond accurately and in a timely manner. Our findings were completely opposite to the results we expected."
In a randomised double blind study, 'Modafinil increases the latency of response in the Hayling Sentence Completion Test in Healthy Volunteers: A Randomised Controlled Trial', they administered 32 participants with the drug and 32 with a placebo. All the participants were given a famous neuropsychological task known as the Hayling Sentence Completion Test in which they were asked to respond both quickly and accurately. Dr Mohamed found the drug slowed down reaction times, impaired their ability to respond in a timely manner and failed to improve their performance of the task.
Dr Mohamed said: "It has been argued that Modafinil might improve your performance by delaying your ability to respond. It has been suggested this 'delay dependent improvement' might improve cognitive performance by making people less impulsive. We found no evidence to support those claims.
"Our research showed that when a task required instant reactions the drug just increased reaction times with no improvement to cognitive performance."
This backs up the findings of a previous study carried out by Dr Mohamed and published in September 2014 in The Journal of Creative Behaviour. The study: The Effects of Modafinil on Convergent and Divergent Thinking of Creativity: A Randomised Controlled Trial showed that the so called 'smart' drug impaired the participant's ability to respond in a creative way particularly when they were asked to respond laterally -- outside the box.
Does Modafinil benefit anyone?
When Dr Mohamed looked at participant's ability to problem solve in a creative manner he found that those who weren't particularly creative to start with were improved by the drug while those who were creative were impaired by the drug. He said: "Our study backs up previous research that suggests psychostimulants improve people at the lower end of the spectrum in cognition whereas they impair people who are at the optimum level of cognitive function -- healthy people for example. It looks like Modafinil is not helpful for healthy individuals and it might even impair their ability to respond and might stifle their lateral thinking, while people who have some sort of deficiency in creativity are helped by the drug."
What can make us smarter?
Ahmed Mohamed's research was carried out while he was at Cambridge University. He has since moved to The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus where he will be looking at the effects of non-pharmacological interventions, such as meditation, exercise and diet on the healthy brain. He is also currently using Electroencephalography (EEG) to study how mindfulness can affect the healthy adolescent brain.
Dr Mohamed said: "What I have found in my doctoral studies is that if you are already a healthy person and functioning at an optimum level, it is really difficult to improve your cognition. But the brain of the adolescent is still in development and you might be able to improve cognition at this stage of our development through positive interaction, healthy diet or mindfulness."
[Paul Walker Remembered] Actor's Dad Shares Heartwarming Memories of His Son, 1 Year After His Death
It's been almost one year since the tragic death of Paul Walker and his father, Paul Walker III, says he still feels his son's presence.
The Fast & Furious star, who sports his dad's bright blue eyes, died at age 40 in a car crash near Los Angeles on Nov. 30, 2013. He left behind a teenage daughter, Meadow.
Paul's father told E! News he sees the actor's face every day, hundreds of times. He also talks to his son.
"I feel his presence every day," he said.
"I miss talking to him a great deal," he added. "He had a good heart."
The actor spoke to E! News on the porch of his Southern California house—Paul's childhood home.
"There was always a lot of laughing in this house," the actor's dad said. "A lot of practical jokes."
He made comments just before Thanksgiving. During the holiday in past years, he would bring Paul and the actor's younger brothers, Cody and Caleb, to shoot arrows at an archery range near their house.
He said he remembered how Paul would sit on the benches with him on the porch and talk to neighbors that would walk past. When he was famous and people started recognizing him, the actor would graciously pose for photos and talk to them about their lives. He seldom discussed his own career or movies.
"He didn't like the limelight," his dad said.
"Paul said one time, 'I really don't like this business, but I can do a lot of good with the money I make,'" he added.
The actor is the founder of Reach Out Worldwide, a nonprofit foundation aimed at helping help mobilize aid workers when natural disasters strike.
"Paul just radiated love and you can't fake that," his dad said. "Paul had a really good heart. I thought, 'How did I deserve such a wonderful son?'"
Paul loved sports, action, adventure, cars and the ocean.
"That was his magical kingdom," he said. "The ocean, and the other was the racetrack."
Paul's father said he wanted to be by himself on the anniversary of the actor's death because he "didn't want to be around sad people." However, the phone calls have been pouring in.
"That's what helped me, my friends," he told E! News. "But the shock value is very much there."
Paul's father plans to go to the actor's gravesite on the anniversary of his death with some family members. He says he will bring coins with him to remember the times he and the actor played a made-up coin game during casting calls.
Meanwhile, he is also looking forward to January, when he is set to become a great-grandfather.
Paul also has two younger sisters. Cody is 26 and is the youngest sibling. Their father said the actor was almost like a second dad to him.
After Paul died, his brothers filmed several of his character's scenes for the newest Fast & Furious movie, Furious 7, which is set for release in April. Their dad said the two did not jump at chance to do the movie.
"It's a hard thing to do to step in for your brother," he said.
Also following Paul's death, Cody joined Reach Out Worldwide. He announced this alongside a photo of the three Walker brothers on his Instagram page in January. Cody is now the group's CEO.
Sarukh khan new upcoming movie raees 2015 official news
Kriti Sanon to play Shah Rukh Khan’s leading lady in Raees?
We hear that the Heropanti actress is being considered for the role. Read on to know more…
After playing Charlie in Farah Khan’s multi starrer Happy New Year, Shah Rukh Khan will be seen in Raees directed by Rahul Dholakia. We hear that Farhan Akhtar who was supposed to star in the same which is also is home production, has opted out due to certain date issues. The actor has given his nod to work on the sequel ofRock On. The makers of Raees are reportedly looking for a male lead to replace Farhan.We hear that Kriti Sanon is being considered to play the female lead in the film. The Heropanti actress was earlier under speculations for being bagged opposite Sidharth Malhotra for Vikramaditya Motwane’s next. If the rumours of her starring in Raees are true, the babe is certainly on a roll!
Shah Rukh Khan once talking to a popular entertainment portal, had spoken about his role in the film.” Raees‘ it is a space I have never tried, it is a different film. Rahul Dholakia narrated the film to me and I liked it very much. They are cosy for me as an actor.”
Well the King of romance will surely sweep Kriti off her feet as well we bet! What do you think? Will SRK and Kriti make an appealing jodi? Post in your comments below!
Shah Rukh Khan to start shooting for Fan and Raees next year!
For quite sometime now, Shah Rukh Khan has been in the news for his two big films, YRF’s Fan and Rahul Dholakia’s Raees. Along with the completion of his home productionHappy New Year, SRK has been actively involved with the scripting of these two films. The films that were announced in early 2014, will go on the floors next year, we hear.
According to sources close to director Rahul Dholakia, SRK has allotted bulk dates forRaees. “SRK will first begin work on Fan. That’s his commitment to YRF. And Raees will commence early next year,” a source was quoted by a portal.
Raees will see the interesting combination of SRK and Farhan Akhtar onscreen for the first time. Besides that, Farhan’s Excel Entertainment that is producing the film, has confirmed that Sonam Kapoor will be paired opposite SRK.
As of now, there has been no update regarding Fan but the pre-production work is on in full swing. And if everything goes according to plan, King Khan will have two major releases in 2015.
Samsung Galaxy S VI Gives us a Glimpse of 2015… Or Even Further
Yes, you read the title right, it’s Samsung Galaxy S VI or Galaxy S6 if you want, not the Galaxy S IV launching tomorrow. Vilim Pluzaric imagined it and claims that he sees the newcomer as a cultural icon, that will replace the iconic nature of the iPhone, so he dedicated lots of hours to this project.
Vilim Pluzaric wants the design to be humane again and not so focused on crazy specs and advancements. The new Galaxy S VI design includes technologies that have yet to be launched, but they are truly a subject of innovation.
We return to the roots, to the 4.5 inch screen, a larger frame/edge around the display, that actually makes sense from the point of view of the ergonomics. Edge to edge is dismissed by the designer as not so viable.
There’s also a RGB wide gamut OLED display and a non rectangular surface of the screen. The Samsung Galaxy concept is very thin and also very smooth and it’s made of plastic, with a futuristic generation of nano coating called Hyperskin. Everything goes to wireless, so there are no audio jacks or charging ports or even USB.
The device runs Android 6.0 with Gravity UX, that actually looks to me as innovative as the jump from Gingerbread to Android ICS, frankly speaking, so it’s impressive. The battery is also next gen and should provide one week of heavy usage on a single charging, while the display supports a 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution. At the back we have an 18 megapixel camera with 4K high framerate video recording.
New upcoming Movie 2015 Furious 7
Furious 7 (previously known as Fast & Furious 7) is an upcoming American action film. It is the seventh installment in the Fast & Furious film series. The film was written by Chris Morgan and directed by James Wan. It stars Vin Diesel,Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Lucas Black and Jason Statham. It is the first film of the series to take place after the events in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, with the three previous installments being set between 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift. This will mark the final film appearance of Paul Walker who died on November 30, 2013, while the film was still in production.
Development
On April 4, 2013, Justin Lin, the franchise's director since The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), announced that he would not return to direct a seventh film, as the studio wanted to produce the film on an accelerated schedule for release in summer 2014 which would have required Lin to begin pre-production on the sequel while performing post-production on Fast & Furious 6 which he considered would affect the quality of the final product. Despite the usual two to three year gap between the previous installments, Universal chose to pursue a sequel quicker due to having fewer reliable franchises than its competitor studios.[21] However, subsequent interviews with Lin have suggested that the sixth installment was always intended to be the final entry directed by him. In April 2013, James Wan, predominantly known for horror films, was announced as the sequel's director, with Moritz returning to produce and Morgan returning to write the script, his fifth in the series. Diesel and Walker were also confirmed to return to star.
Johnson said that if Universal pursued the accelerated development of a seventh film with a summer start date, he would be unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts with filming on Hercules. However, as production for the film commenced in September, he confirmed his return for the film as Hercules would complete production in time for him to film a significant part. On April 16, 2013, Diesel announced that the sequel would be released on July 11, 2014. In May 2013, Diesel said that the sequel would feature Los Angeles, Tokyo and the Middle East as locations. In August 2013, it was reported that Denzel Washington had turned down a small role in the film, and that Universal was looking for another big star to take the part which would play a larger role in an eighth film. In August 2013, Kurt Russell was confirmed to be in talks for joining the seventh film playing an unknown character. Diesel confirmed his involvement in the film through a production photo on his Facebook page in September 2013. In August 2013, mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey was confirmed to be in negotiations to join the cast, Thai martial arts actor Tony Jaa has been confirmed to join the cast, making his Hollywood debut.
It was also confirmed that Lucas Black has signed on to reprise his role as Sean Boswell for this film and two more installments.
Filming
Principal photography began in the beginning of September 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia, with a casting call issued. Abu Dhabi has also been confirmed as a filming location, as the production crew chose it over Dubai and will benefit from the Emirate's 30% rebate scheme. Pikes Peak Highway in Colorado was closed in September to film some driving sequences.
On November 30, 2013, while on a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, Paul Walker, the actor playing Brian O'Conner, died in a single-vehicle accident, One day later, Universal announced that production would continue after a delay that would allow the film makers to rework the film. On December 4, 2013, Universal Pictures put production on hold until further notice. Director James Wan has confirmed that the film is not cancelled. On December 22, 2013, Diesel confirmed on his Facebook page that the film would be released April 10, 2015. On February 27, 2014, The Hollywood Reporter has reported that filming of the film resumed on April 1, the cast and crew have headed to Atlanta for about six to eight more weeks of shooting. Principal photography ended on July 10, 2014
Redevelopment of Walker's character
On January 6, 2014, it was reported that Walker's character will be retired instead of killed, new scenes will be developed to retire his character and also will allow the franchise to continue.[48] However, writer Chris Morgan denied any decisions have been made and stated that all options on how to proceed are still being considered. On March 21, 2014, The Daily News reported that the studio has hired four actors with bodies very similar to Paul’s physique and using his face and voice with the use of CGI. On April 15, 2014, it was announced that Walker's brothers, Caleb and Cody, will be used as stand-ins.[51]
Music
Brian Tyler, who scored the third, fourth, and fifth installments of the series, has been confirmed to compose the musical score for Furious 7.
Release
The film was originally scheduled to be released on April 10, 2015. In July 2014, it was announced that the film's release date had moved forward to April 3. In October 2014, Universal revealed that the film was official titled Furious 7. In October 2014, Universal revealed that the debut trailer would be released during an interactive fan event over social media. In the days leading up to the event, seven-second, behind-the-scenes videos were released, titled "7 Seconds of 7". The official trailer was released on November 1, 2014.
How astonishing visuals are revolutionizing concert experience
(CNN) -- Take away the 100-foot screens, the blasting lasers, and the holographic projections, and what do you have left? Tens of thousands of screaming electronic music fans with nothing much to cheer except a solitary figure, twiddling some knobs and occasionally raising his hand.
For EDM fans across the world, the festival and concert visual performances can be almost as crucial as the music -- transforming a DJ-set into an unforgettable, transcendent, multi-sensory experience.
In the hands of specialist artists, the lights, images and physical environment around the DJ are becoming an art form in their own right. Buoyed by the explosion of popularity of live electronic music -- plus technological advances like projection mapping, innovative VJ (video jockey) software, mushrooming visual computing power, andthose famous holograms -- these artists are now getting the chance to display their creations on a spectacular scale.
Here, we look at six of the names working behind the stage to turn festivals and concerts into unforgettable immersive experiences.
Comix -- Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, Alesso
Avicii's 2014 arena tour was a jaw-dropping spectacle -- glittering with laser-fire, pyrotechnics, and epic on-screen visuals -- that promised that the young artist could pack out arenas across the world just as well as more established names. The company behind everything on screen are London designers Comix, and for sheer mesmerizing hypnotism, give Avicii a miss and look at their work onSwedish House Mafia's ultimate "One Last Tour."
Strangeloop -- Flying Lotus, Skrillex, Erykah Badu
If anyone was born to take music visuals to cinematic new heights, it was David Wexler, AKA Strangeloop. The grandson of Academy Award-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler and the son of Oscar-nominated production sound mixer Jeff Wexler, the L.A.-born artist has worked with dubstep star Skrillex (whose spasmodic performance visuals have also seen him recreated movement-for-movement as a giant robot), and "soul goddess" Erykah Badu. But it all started with his art school classmate Flying Lotus -- Wexler and the experimental music idol have worked together since 2008.
12% of Black Friday Shoppers Will Be Drunk (and More Crazy Facts About the Holiday Frenzy)
How many people will go shopping this weekend? What day actually has the best deals? How much will the average shopper spend? How many of them are tipsy while they're browsing for gifts?
Less Than 5% The average discount on Black Friday for 6,000 items tracked last year by the deal-hunting site ShopAdvisor; researchers found that the average discount during the holiday period was highest on December 18 (17.5%).
5 Number of hours that RadioShack will shut down on Thanksgiving (noon to 5 p.m.); it had originally planned to stay open from 8 a.m. to midnight, but decided to close during the middle of the day after receiving complaints from employees.
10 Number of employees at a Virginia Best Buy whose sole job is to restock items as soon as there are gaps on store shelves on Black Friday.
12% Proportion of Thanksgiving Day shoppers who admit to hitting the stores on the holiday while under the influence of alcohol, according to a survey conducted on the behalf of the coupon site RetailMeNot.
16% vs. 50% Respectively, the percentages of shoppers ages 55+ and 18 to 24 and who think it’s “a great idea” for stores to be open on Thanksgiving.
22 Number of days before Black Friday that two women in California began camping out at a Best Buy in order to be first in line for deals. They hope to buy a cheap TV.
25% Amount of extra trash thrown away by Americans during the Thanksgiving-New Year’s period, compared to any other time of the year.
28% vs. 32% Percentages of women and men, respectively, who plan on spending $250 to $500 on Black Friday (yes, more guys than girls).
At Least 3 Dozen Number of national retailers, including Costco, Bloomingdale’s, Dillard’s, and Nordstrom, that have decided to stay closed on Thanksgiving.
38% Percentage of shoppers who plan on purchasing holidaygifts with credit cards, up from 28.5% last year and the highest level recorded since the National Retail Federation has asked the question in surveys.
39% Proportion of Americans who feel pressured to spend more than they can afford during the holiday season.
42 Number of consecutive hours that Kmart stores will be open, starting at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving and lasting through midnight on Black Friday.
70% Percentage of consumers who say that stores should beclosed on Thanksgiving this year, up from 60% in 2012.
70% Percentage of consumers who say that Black Friday is meaningless because “there will be more sales throughout the holidays.”
71% Percentage of consumers who say they may not like the giftthey receive over the holidays.
96% Percentage of consumers who say that discounts are important to their shopping decisions during the holidays, up from 94% last year—and three in ten say that they’ll hold out for discounts of 50% or more before making a purchase.
$407 Average amount spent by consumers over Thanksgiving weekend in 2013, down 4% compared to the year before.
$450 Minimum you must spend at one of two malls in southern California in order to receive a free Uber ride home, starting on Black Friday and stretching through Christmas Eve.
140 Million Estimated number of consumers who will shop in stores or online this weekend, according to the National Retail Federation, roughly the same as the expectations leading into the 2013 Thanksgiving-Black Friday period.
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