In case you haven’t already seen the latest James Bond movie, No Time To Die, we won’t give away any spoilers. Needless to say, however, fans have been left with something of a superspy void – at least in the short term.

So, after all the build-up and excitement leading up to Daniel Craig’s last outing as 007, how do we fill the gap that has been left? Who will come and save us all from evil masterminds and foreign agents intent on taking us all down?

The answer may well come in the form of a diminutive, bespectacled bureaucrat, an Intelligence Analyst who is drawn into a dastardly plot to strike at the heart of the UK…

Brand new UK publishing house, Brindle Books Ltd have announced the imminent release of their debut title, a spy thriller with a new take on the classic secret agent format. The company have also released a dramatic book trailer on YouTube to promote the release.

Richard Hinchliffe, the Director of Brindle Books Ltd says: “We’re very excited about the release of our first title, Normanby, by P G Dixon, and we’re sure that the book will provide a much needed fix for spy fans, post-Bond.

“Although, and the book itself is probably better described as an IPCRESS File for the twenty-first century, and the central character differs in many ways from 007,  he is perfectly placed to become an iconic British spy hero.”

Normanby by P G Dixon will be released in eBook form from Amazon, Kobo, Nook and all other good ebook platforms from 12^th December 2021. The eBook version is already available for pre-order.  From the same release date, Normanby will also be available in paperback (ISBN: 978-1-7398648-1-1).

For information, please visit www.brindlebooks.co.uk or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SimplyCast’s President and CEO, Saeed El-Darahali has been awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship Award by the Rotary Club of Halifax Harbour.

The Paul Harris Fellowship award is an award presented by Rotary Clubs in recognition of recipients’ contribution and service to their community.

The award will be presented to recipients on April 20, 2022, during an event held at the Westin Hotel in Halifax.

Silicon Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, March 1, 2022 — SimplyCast, an ISO 27001, 27017, and 27018-certified leader in engagement automation for organizations in over 175 countries, is pleased to announce that its President and CEO, Saeed El-Darahali, has been named a recipient of the Paul Harris Fellowship award for 2022 by the Rotary Club of Halifax Harbour.

Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary International in 1905. Since then, Rotary has grown into an organization of 1.2 million members in 35,000 clubs around the world recognized for its humanitarian service.

The award is presented to recipients in recognition of their contribution and service to their community and is one of Rotary Club’s highest honors. It accompanies a donation of $1,000 US or more, in the recipient’s name, to Rotary International’s Annual Program Fund, which supports Rotary’s world-wide programs.

Past recipients of the award include former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, astronaut James Lovell, former Secretary-General of the United Nations Javier Perez de Cuellar, and polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk.

“I am both honored and humbled by this recognition,” said SimplyCast’s President and CEO, Saeed El-Darahali. “I accept this award alongside some very worthy women who have all made substantial contributions to our community, and I am proud to join this distinguished and renowned fellowship.”

Mr. El-Darahali is devoted to his work with youth in his community and is involved in various youth-centric organizations such as Junior Achievement Nova Scotia, the Sobey School of Business, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, and the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Network.

“I am, and will always be, a strong advocate for Nova Scotia’s youth,” said El-Darahali. “My goal is to continue to provide them with opportunities to grow and succeed within this province and help them overcome any challenges that may be standing in their way.”

Alongside Mr. El-Darahali, 2022 recipients of the Paul Harris Fellowship award include Dr. Margaret Casey (founder, North End Community Health Centre); Mary Ann Crowley (realtor); Sharon Davis Murdoch (founder, Health Association of African Canadians); and Adrienne Malloy (past president, RCHH).

About SimplyCast

SimplyCast is an ISO 27001, 27017, and 27018-certified, leading provider of engagement software for organizations worldwide. Providing both emergency and non-emergency communication technology, SimplyCast offers 20+ communication tools and channels to help organizations maximize their efficiency. The company's 360 engagement platform is a feature-rich solution combining marketing automation, inbound marketing, and interactive communication. With customers in over 175 countries, including many of the most recognized brand names around the globe in retail, non-profit and hospitality industries, SimplyCast provides organizations the ability to effectively reach customers on their preferred mode of communication.

About Rotary Club of Halifax Harbour

The Rotary Club of Halifax Harbour was created in 2021 after the decision to merge two well established Clubs – the Rotary Club of Halifax Harbourside and the Rotary Club of. Halifax. Today ours is a vibrant Club of more than 70 members, representing a broad range of backgrounds and professions.  As a group, we are committed to doing good locally and internationally, to personal and professional growth and development, and to having fun in everything we do.  

Montreal, Canada ( release-news) March 1, 2022 - Future Electronics, a global leading distributor of electronic components, will offer a webinar about financial health and retirement on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 for employees at their Montreal headquarters.

'Having a Healthy Financial Relationship' is being organized by the Canadian Benefits Team and features Financial Education Specialist Maxime Levesque from Manulife. Employees will learn the importance of saving for retirement and about healthy financial relationships, including the links between financial, physical and mental well-being.

Levesque will also explain the benefits of the Future Electronics Group Retirement Plan and will offer an overview of financial wellness tools and other resources available through Manulife.

The webinar will be offered in both French and English and is open to all Montreal-based employees of Future Electronics and Future Lighting Solutions

For more information about careers at Future Electronics, visit FutureElectronics.com/careers.

About Future Electronics

Future Electronics is a global leader in electronics distribution, recognized for providing customers with global supply chain solutions, custom-tailored engineering services and a comprehensive suite of passives and semiconductor products. Founded by Robert Miller in 1968, Future Electronics has over 5,500 employees and operates in 170 offices in 44 countries around the world. Future Electronics is globally integrated, with a unified IT infrastructure that delivers real-time inventory availability and access to customers. With the highest level of service, the most advanced engineering capabilities, and the largest available-to-sell inventory in the world, Future's mission is always to Delight the Customer®. For more information, visit www.FutureElectronics.com.

Media Contact

Claudio Caporicci
Global Director, Marketing Communications & Advertising
FUTURE ELECTRONICS
www.FutureElectronics.com

514-694-7710 (ext. 4107)
Fax: 514-693-6051
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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SGS, the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company, is reminding stakeholders that Switzerland has further aligned its chemical regulations with European Union (EU) regulations.

The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FoPH), in agreement with the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and State Secretariate for Economic Affairs (SECO) published Official Collection 2022 1 (RO 2022 1) in January 2022. This amends Switzerland’s Chemical Risk Reduction Ordinance (ORRChem) and further aligns Annex 1.10 with EU requirements by adopting the list of carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) category 1A or 1B substances in Regulation (EU) 2021/2204.

Annex 1.10 of ORRChem prohibits the use of CMR category 1A and 1B substances that are specified in Appendixes 1 to 6 under entries 28 to 30 of Annex XVII of Regulations (EC) 1907/2006 ‘Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals’ (REACH). The restriction applies when the substance, individually or in mixture, is in a concentration that exceeds the ‘Cut-off Values’ under section 1.1.2.2. in Annex I to Regulation (EC) 1272/2008 ‘Classification, Labeling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures’ (CLP Regulation).

Switzerland also issued Official Collection 2021 927 (RO 2021 947) to revise its Chemicals Ordinance (ChemO), which stipulates the requirements for placing substances and preparations onto the market. The revision expands Switzerland’s Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHC) from 211 to 219.

Under ChemO Article 71, suppliers are obliged to provide the professional user or distributor of the article with sufficient information, available to the supplier, to allow the safe use of the article if it contains an SVHC on the Candidate List in a concentration of more than 0.1%. Equivalent information must be supplied to a consumer free of charge within 45 days upon request.  

Stakeholders should be aware of the following dates:

• February 1, 2022:
• RO 2022 1 entered into force
• RO 2021 927 entered into force (requirements for 219 SVHCs became applicable)
• March 1, 2022 – compliance date for the list of 17 CMR substances specified in the amendment (RO 2022 1)
• December 17, 2022 – compliance date for CMR substances other than those specified above (RO 2022 1)

SGS Chemical Testing

SGS offers a comprehensive range of testing services to help manufacturers and suppliers ensure their products are safe and comply with national and international regulations concerning harmful chemicals. In the end, it’s only trusted because it’s tested. Learn more about SGS Chemical Testing Services.

SGS SafeGuardS keep you up to date with the latest news and developments in the consumer goods industry. Read the full Switzerland Further Aligns Chemical Regulations with REACH SafeGuardS.

Subscribe here to receive SGS SafeGuardS direct to your inbox.

For further information contact:

Dr. HingWo Tsang

Global Information and Innovation Manager

Tel: (+852) 2774 7420

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.sgs.com/cgnr   

LinkedIn: sgs-consumer-goods-&-retail

About SGS

We are SGS – the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. Our 96,000 employees operate a network of 2,600 offices and laboratories, working together to enable a better, safer and more interconnected world.

Computing-in-memory technology is poised to eliminate the massive data communications bottlenecks otherwise associated with performing artificial intelligence (AI) speech processing at the network’s edge but requires an embedded memory solution that simultaneously performs neural network computation and stores weights. Microchip Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MCHP), via its Silicon Storage Technology (SST) subsidiary, today announced that its SuperFlash memBrain neuromorphic memory solution has solved this problem for the WITINMEM neural processing SoC, the first in volume production that enables sub-mA systems to reduce speech noise and recognize hundreds of command words, in real time and immediately after power-up.

Microchip has worked with WITINMEM to incorporate Microchip’s memBrain analog in-memory computing solution, based on SuperFlash technology, into WITINMEM’s ultra-low-power SoC. The SoC features computing-in-memory technology for neural networks processing including speech recognition, voice-print recognition, deep speech noise reduction, scene detection, and health status monitoring. WITINMEM, in turn, is working with multiple customers to bring products to market during 2022 based on this SoC.

“WITINMEM is breaking new ground with Microchip’s memBrain solution for addressing the compute-intensive requirements of real-time AI speech at the network edge based on advanced neural network models,” said Shaodi Wang, CEO of WITINMEM. “We were the first to develop a computing-in-memory chip for audio in 2019, and now we have achieved another milestone with volume production of this technology in our ultra-low-power neural processing SoC that streamlines and improves speech processing performance in intelligent voice and health products.”

“We are excited to have WITINMEM as our lead customer and applaud the company for entering the expanding AI edge processing market with a superior product using our technology,” said Mark Reiten, vice president of the license division at SST. “The WITINMEM SoC showcases the value of using memBrain technology to create a single-chip solution based on a computing-in-memory neural processor that eliminates the problems of traditional processors that use digital DSP and SRAM/DRAM-based approaches for storing and executing machine learning models.”

Microchip’s memBrain neuromorphic memory product is optimized to perform vector matrix multiplication (VMM) for neural networks. It enables processors used in battery-powered and deeply-embedded edge devices to deliver the highest possible AI inference performance per watt. This is accomplished by both storing the neural model weights as values in the memory array and using the memory array as the neural compute element. The result is 10 to 20 times lower power consumption than alternative approaches along with lower overall processor Bill of Materials (BOM) costs because external DRAM and NOR are not required.

Permanently storing neural models inside the memBrain solution’s processing element also supports instant-on functionality for real-time neural network processing. WITINMEM has leveraged SuperFlash technology’s floating gate cells’ nonvolatility to power down its computing-in-memory macros during the idle state to further reduce leakage power in demanding IoT use cases.

For information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the SST website.

Resources

• Application Image: [In development]

About Silicon Storage Technology (SST)

Microchip Technology’s SST subsidiary is a leading provider of embedded flash technology. SST develops, designs, licenses and markets a diversified range of proprietary and patented SuperFlash memory technology solutions for the consumer, industrial, automotive and Internet of Things (IoT) markets. SST was founded in 1989, went public in 1995 and was acquired by Microchip in April 2010. SST is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Microchip, and is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. For more information, visit the SST website at www.sst.com.

About Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology Inc. is a leading provider of smart, connected and secure embedded control solutions. Its easy-to-use development tools and comprehensive product portfolio enable customers to create optimal designs which reduce risk while lowering total system cost and time to market. The company’s solutions serve more than 120,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications and computing markets. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the Microchip website at www.microchip.com.

About WITINMEM (Zhicun)

WITINMEM (Zhicun) technology Co. Ltd. is a leading provider of computing-in-memory chips and system solutions. WITINMEM designs computing-in-memory technology for high-efficient AI computation. Its SoC chips and development toolkit help customers to develop low-power AI system. Headquartered in Beijing, China. For more information, please visit the WITINMEM website at www.witintech.com.

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Note: The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo, SuperFlash and SST are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. memBrain is a trademark of Microchip Technology Inc. in the U.S.A. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.