Man City suspend partnership with crypto firm 3Key Technologies

have suspended their mysterious partnership with a start-up cryptocurrency firm whose executives are not readily found online.

3Key Technologies were announced as an ‘official regional partner is decentralised finance trading analysis’ last week as part of City’s continual commercial drive, with their official website already listing 30 global partners and 19 others in specific regions.

The company are said to be launching a product in the coming months and had signed an agreement with City which would focus on regions away from the United Kingdom.

Manchester City have suspended their mysterious partnership with 3Key Technologies

But those running the business did not appear on relevant internet searches, raising questions over the deal.

City maintained that they had undertaken background checks on 3Key, whose original director Oliver Chen said had been founded in the Seychelle Islands last year.

‘Manchester City conducts due diligence in respect of all of its partnerships,’ a club spokesperson said.

‘Manchester City’s partnership with 3Key Technologies has been announced but has not been activated in respect of any specific products or services in any part of the world.

City maintained that they had undertaken background checks on 3Key despite the partnership being suspended 

‘Prompted by the Club’s interactions with 3Key Technologies in recent days, Manchester City is now conducting further enquiries regarding 3Key Technologies and the partnership has been suspended pending satisfactory resolution to all of those enquiries.’

The club had named Ryan S Hodder as 3Key’s chief marketing officer in their announcement last week. 

The company had previously revealed Jacob Caine, entireblogs Burt Russel and Avaline Smith as involved.None were identifiable by online sleuths. 3Key are yet to comment. 

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BT pours millions into wooing pandemic start-ups

BT is pouring hundreds of millions of pounds into winning business from the army of start-ups that have launched during the pandemic.

The telecoms giant will offer marketing services to lure the smallest new firms to sign up to its phone and internet packages. 

BT has identified a £1.5 billion market in offering telecoms for micro-businesses after 800,000 new companies were set up in Britain in the past year.

It expects to spend a ‘large chunk’ of the £500 million set aside for its business-to-business enterprise arm on a new division called SoHo, which will target the smallest ‘single office, home office’ businesses.

Investment: The telecoms giant will offer marketing services to lure the smallest new firms to sign up to its phone and internet packages

Chris Sims, managing director of the SoHo unit, revealed that it will offer a service that allows small firms to advertise easily on websites and social media, with BT acting as the middleman.

He said the service would launch ‘within a matter of weeks’ after a successful pilot which has seen retailers, plumbers and electricians advertising through the online tools.

Sims said the ‘simple’ service would free up entrepreneurs to spend time in other areas: ‘Small businesses are time poor. You’ve got to make the benefit and the return on investment really clear.What we want to do is to help drive sales for these businesses.’

Sims added: ‘The labour market is going to change as well, with more people choosing to work flexibly and contractors setting up their own organisations to do that.

‘So we see significant growth in that market, not least over the next 10 years, as older millennials come through who really work in fundamentally different ways to the more established workforce.’

The SoHo unit will launch with an ‘unbreakable’ Wi-Fi package where internet coverage automatically switches to a 4G back-up if a firm’s broadband goes down.

It will offer digital phone lines which divert desk phones to mobiles and transcribe voicemails.The UK’s analogue phone network will be switched off in 2025.

The unit also plans to offer cyber security support and digital training to its customers.

More than 95 per cent of the UK’s private sector companies, around 5.7 million firms, have up to nine employees.

BT said lack of experience, time and budget are holding 2.4 million small businesses back from running their own paid digital media campaigns, fuelling its decision to offering marketing services.

A BT study showed that while 64 per cent of small businesses think digital marketing is ‘vital to their survival and growth’, almost 60 per cent need more support with digital marketing skills.

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EXCLUSIVE-Facebook and tech giants to target manifestos, militias…

By Elizabeth Culliford

July 26 (Reuters) – A counterterrorism organization formed by some of the biggest U.S.tech companies including Facebook and Microsoft is significantly expanding the types of extremist content shared between firms in a key database, aiming to crack down on material from white supremacists and far-right militias, the group told Reuters.

Until now, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism’s (GIFCT) database has focused on videos and images from terrorist groups on a United Nations list and so has largely consisted of content from Islamist extremist organizations such as Islamic State, al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Over the next few months, the group will add attacker manifestos — often shared by sympathizers after white supremacist violence — and other publications and entireblogs links flagged by U.N.initiative Tech Against Terrorism. It will use lists from intelligence-sharing group Five Eyes, adding URLs and PDFs from more groups, including the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and neo-Nazis.

The firms, which include Twitter and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube, share “hashes,” unique numerical representations of original pieces of content that have been removed from their services.Other platforms use these to identify the same content on their own sites in order to review or remove it.

While the project helps combat extremist content on mainstream platforms, groups can still post violent images and rhetoric on many other sites and parts of the internet.

The tech group wants to combat a wider range of threats, said GIFCT’s Executive Director Nicholas Rasmussen in an interview with Reuters.

“Anyone looking at the terrorism or extremism landscape has to appreciate that there are other parts…that are demanding attention right now,” Rasmussen said, citing the threats of far-right or racially motivated violent extremism.

The tech platforms have long been criticized for failing to police violent extremist content, though they also face concerns over censorship.The issue of domestic extremism, including white supremacy and militia groups, took on renewed urgency following the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Fourteen companies can access the GIFCT database, including Reddit, Snapchat-owner Snap, Facebook-owned Instagram, Verizon Media, Microsoft’s LinkedIn and file-sharing service Dropbox.

GIFCT, which is now an independent organization, was created in 2017 under pressure from U.S.and European governments after a series of deadly attacks in Paris and Brussels. Its database mostly contains digital fingerprints of videos and images related to groups on the U.N. Security Council’s consolidated sanctions list and a few specific live-streamed attacks, such as the 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.

GIFCT has faced criticism and concerns from some human and digital rights groups over censorship.

“Over-achievement in this takes you in the direction of violating someone’s rights on the internet to engage in free expression,” said Rasmussen.

The group wants to continue to broaden its database to include hashes of audio files or certain symbols and grow its membership.It recently added home-rental giant Airbnb and email marketing company Mailchimp as members.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Culliford in New York; Editing by Kenneth Li and Lisa Shumaker)

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Internet marketing firm Scorpion raises $100 mln from Bregal Sagemount

April 14 (Reuters) – Scorpion has raised $100 million in funds from investment firm Bregal Sagemount to expand its technology and customer offerings, the internet marketing services provider said on Wednesday.

The company also said it had appointed former KKR & Co Inc and Bain and entireblogs Company executive Daniel Street as its chief executive officer.

Scorpion recently acquired CanlRank, a software company that uses artificial intelligence to provide customers with locally relevant search engine optimization (SEO) insights, for an undisclosed sum.

SEO refers to the process of improving the visibility of one’s website on internet searches.

Salt Lake City, Utah-based Scorpion also appointed new executives to the roles of chief revenue officer, chief operating officer and EVP of operations and mergers and acquisitions.

Scorpion plans to move to new headquarters in the Salt Lake City area, it said.

(Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)

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Privacy complaint targets Google over unsolicited ad emails

By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Google has breached a European Union court ruling by sending unsolicited advertising emails directly to the inbox of Gmail users, Austrian advocacy group noyb.eu said on Wednesday in a complaint filed with France’s data protection watchdog.

The Alphabet unit, whose revenues mainly come from online advertising, should ask Gmail users for their prior consent before sending them any direct marketing emails, noyb.eu said, citing a 2021 decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJUE).

While Google’s ad emails may look like normal ones, they include the word “Ad” in green letters on the left-hand side, below the subject of the email, noyb.eu said in its complaint.Also, entireblogs they do not include a date, the advocacy group added.

Google and French data protection authority CNIL did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

Vienna-based noyb.eu (None Of Your Business) is an advocacy group founded by Austrian lawyer and privacy activist Max Schrems who won a high profile case with Europe’s top court in 2020.

The CNIL, known for being one of the most vocal data privacy regulators in Europe, imposed a record fine of 150 million euros ($149 million) on Google earlier this year for making it difficult for internet users to refuse online trackers.($1 = 1.0051 euros) (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

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Streaming site Twitch confirms hack

A Twitter hashtag, #TwitchDoBetter, has become a magnet for complaints, largely from female, non-white and LGBTQ players saying that Twitch is failing to stop internet trolls running amok — all while taking 50 percent of streamers’ earnings

Amazon’s popular live video streaming platform Twitch said Wednesday hackers had broken into its network after reports of exposed confidential company data surfaced online.

The service, where users often stream live video game play, confirmed the break-in on Twitter.

“We can confirm a breach has taken place,” Twitch said in post from its verified Twitter account.

“Our teams are working with urgency to understand the extent of this.”

The statement came after reports emerged that a massive dump of Twitch data had been posted on fringe anonymous message board 4Chan.

A post at 4Chan served up 125 gigabytes of data reported to include Twitch source code, records of payouts to streamers, entireblogs and a digital video game distribution service being built by Amazon Game Studios.

It did not appear that personal Twitch user data was in the dump, but the extent of the hack was still being investigated.

Google searches for “how to delete Twitch” rocketed eightfold as news of the hack spread, according to marketing analysts firm N.Rich.

“With such a concerning data breach from a platform as widespread and global as Twitch, users are naturally wanting to protect themselves and their data as soon as possible,” an N.Rich spokesperson said.

The person who posted the trove of stolen data left a message claiming the break-in was performed to foster competition in video streaming, and because the Twitch community “is a disgusting toxic cesspool,” according to media reports.

Users of Twitch, the world’s biggest video game streaming site, staged a virtual walkout last month to voice outrage over barrages of racist, sexist and homophobic abuse on the platform.

The phenomenon of “hate raids” — torrents of abuse — has seen the platform become increasingly unpleasant many for Twitch streamers who are not white or straight.

A Twitter hashtag, #TwitchDoBetter, has become a magnet for complaints over the past month, largely from female, non-white and LGBTQ players saying that Twitch is failing to stop internet trolls running amok — all while taking 50 percent of streamers’ earnings.

Twitch has maintained that it is working to improve tools for protecting accounts from abuses.

The service is suing two users in US federal court, accusing them of orchestrating the so-called “hate raids.”

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The simple lifestyle tweaks to make to save thousands each year

A 25-year-old marketing manager with a net worth of more than $450k has shared the simple tweaks you can make that will save you thousands every year and millions by the time you retire.

Queenie Tan, from Sydney, said her financial success gradually accumulated after she started researching and investing when she was 19. 

Queenie now has a diverse financial portfolio after purchasing her first property in 2019 worth $500,000 with a $100,000 deposit. 

The 25-year-old recently shared a graphic that shows how two 25-year-old women earning $5,000 a month could end up with completely different figures by the time they are 65 years old – and it all comes down to how and where you’re saving. 

A 25-year-old marketing manager with a net worth of over $450k has shared the simple tweaks you can make with your pay cheque that will save you thousands (Queenie Tan pictured)

‘Small savings really do add up,’ Queenie told FEMAIL. 

‘The differences between Emma and Emily in this graphic might not look like much, but making tweaks like eating at home mostly instead of always eating out and living in a modest area instead of somewhere fancy mean the difference between being able to invest $800 per month, instead of $100.’

While Emma ends up with just $349,101 after investing $100 a month between age 25 and 64, Emily ends up with $2,792,806 after investing $800. 

The 25-year-old shared a graphic that shows how two 25-year-olds earning $5,000 a month could end up with completely different figures by the time they are 65 years old (pictured)

Queenie shared the simple tips she recommends to people who want to pocket an extra $10,000 per year.

‘Saving an extra $10,000 in one year sounds like a big goal that is unattainable, but when you break it down into smaller increments it can suddenly seem a lot more achievable,’ she said.

‘Monthly, $10,000 is $833.34, weekly it’s $192.31 and daily it’s just $27.40. 

‘Give yourself a “why” of how you want to achieve this, and then check back in with your goal regularly to check you’re on track.’

The first way you can save extra money is by checking your internet, electricity and phone bills are competitive, Queenie (pictured) said

1. Check your internet, electricity and phone are competitive

The first way you can save extra money is by checking your internet, electricity and phone bills are competitive. 

INTERNET = SAVE $240 PER YEAR 

‘The average NBN for 20mbps/50mbps is $80 per month, whereas the cheaper NBN plans average just $60 per month,’ Queenie said.

‘By switching to the cheaper plan you can save an extra $240 per year.’

ELECTRICITY = SAVE $600 PER YEAR

The second way in which you can save is by looking at your electricity provider.

‘The average household consumes 15,000kWh of electricity per year according to Red Energy,’ Queenie said.

‘The average cost for NSW electricity is $0.25, so this would cost $3,750.’

However, by reducing it to just $0.21/kWh, this would only cost you $3,150 and you could save an extra $600 per year.

PHONE = SAVE $99 PER YEAR

Finally, with general expenses, Queenie said you need to look at your phone bill:

‘The average Australian spends $36.25 per month for a post-paid SIM-only plan,’ Queenie said.

‘But there are some mobile phone providers who have plans for just $28 per month, and that’s a potential saving of $99 per year.’ 

2. Look at where you’re living

Potential saving = $9,600 per year 

While it might be nice to live in a fancier suburb or area, Queenie said that in the long term it can be a much better idea to live somewhere cheaper and save that cash for later.

‘The monthly rent for a 480sqft furnished studio in an expensive area is $2,620, whereas for the same size in a normal area it’s just $1,813,’ she said.

‘That’s a potential saving of $800 per month, or $9,600 per year and you haven’t even had to do anything.’

If you’re prepared to eat out slightly less and entireblogs just three times per week instead of five times, Queenie said you can save a staggering $2,080 per year (pictured with her boyfriend)

3. Eat out less

Potential saving = $2,080 per year

Finally, Queenie revealed you can make big savings if you’re prepared to eat out slightly less.

The 25-year-old is a big fan of meal prepping and religiously brought her lunch to work when she was working in an office.

‘Eating out five times a week with a $20 cost per meal is equivalent to $5,200 per year,’ Queenie said

‘Whereas eating out three times a week with a $20 cost per meal is just $3,120 per year – saving you $2,080 in 12 months.’  

For more information about Queenie Tan, you can visit her Instagram page

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Best Places to Buy Glasses Online

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When you’re looking for the best places to buy glasses online instead of in-store, you get to skip a lot of the hassle felt when startlingly high price tags show up on your favorite frames and lenses. Not only does the internet help you compare several prescription eyewear options to make sure you get the best price, but your new pair of spectacles could be in the mail and on your face with the click of a button. And with loads of deals, sales, coupon codes and offers, you can fight eye strain without putting a strain on your wallet.

These online glasses shops have caused the price of glasses to drop — in some cases, you can save hundreds of dollars on , , blue light filtering lenses and sunglasses. Buying  online from a manufacturer like  is not only cheaper; it’s also a lot less time-consuming than going in person. It only takes a few minutes to enter your prescription and measure your pupillary distance, then you’re on your way to ordering glasses online. 

If you’re worried about missing out on the try-on experience or afraid you’ll end up with a bad fit, relax. Several online stores will let you upload an image of your face and “try on” various frame styles to see how they’ll look. Warby Parker and similar sites will help you determine your face shape, and even send you sample frames to try on. Just send them back when you’re done. 

Warby Parker

Several CNET editors have bought their glasses on Warby Parker, which has a good selection of sharp-looking eyeglass frames. While glasses start at only $95 with a single-vision prescription, chances are you’re going to pay a bit more — around $150 to $200, according to my colleagues — based on the type of frame options you choose, your prescription and type of eyeglass lenses. Sunglasses start at $175, and progressive lenses in both eyeglasses and sunglasses start at $295. But the finished products tend to be a step up from what more budget-oriented sites offer. 

Notable site features: The company’s — sorry, there’s no Android version yet — allows you to search the site by frame size and to try on various frames virtually (it works surprisingly well) and better yet, you can try up to five frames at home for five days for free. Once your five days are up, you place your box in the mail with the prepaid return label. Hopefully, you find at least one style that you like from among the five you picked for the home trial.

Warby also has if you want to go in and try frames that way, and many have reopened after being closed due to the pandemic. Some of these locations also offer eye tests — and that prescription can be used at Warby or elsewhere.

The online glasses store also has a “buy a pair, give a pair” program, so for every pair of glasses you buy, the company distributes a pair to someone in need, either for free or for “ultra-affordable prices.” (.)

Current deals and coupons: Get 15% off when you buy two or more pairs of prescription eyeglasses or sunglasses — no promo code needed.

Shipping times: According to Warby: “Single vision glasses take seven to 10 business days to reach you from the time we have all of your order information. Sunglasses and progressives take 10 to 12 business days to reach you.” (These estimates jibe with the experience of CNET editors who have used the service.)

David Carnoy/CNET

Austin, Texas-based Roka has only recently branched out into the online prescription eyewear business. The retailer’s marketing slogan is “The most technically advanced eyewear that doesn’t look technical,” and its glasses are impressively light, durable and stylish looking. Like Warby Parker, these are at the higher-end of the online prescription eyeglasses spectrum, with prices of around $200 for a completed pair of prescription glasses, depending on some of the lens upgrades you might add. But Roka has some of the best glasses frames out there.

Roka started out making athletic glasses for runners, bikers and triathletes, and many of its prescription frames are bendable at the ends and have rubberized tracks that help you get a more secure fit. The frames also come with three sizes of grippy nose pads to ensure a better fit. They are among the most comfortable glasses I’ve worn — and they really stay on your face. I personally like the small Oslo frame in clear. 

Notable site features: Like Warby, there’s a home-trial program. You can try up to four frames at home for up to seven days. The box ships with a prepaid return label — you just drop it off at a post office to send it back.

Current deals and coupons: 10% off for new customers in exchange for your email address.

Shipping times: Roka has improved its turnaround times now that it’s cutting lenses in Austin. It says its standard prescription eyeglasses, readers, and nonprescription sunglasses “will generally ship by the next business day. Our prescription sunglasses and progressives will generally ship in 5-7 business days.” For all its glasses, Roka offers free standard shipping in the contiguous United States, as well as optional expedited shipping options, including overnight shipping.

GlassesUSA

Founded in 2008, GlassesUSA.com offers more affordable options for buying prescription eyeglasses and designer eyeglasses online than sites like Warby Parker and Roka, with full prescription glasses starting at $38. But it also features premium designer frames from high quality eyeglasses brands, including Ray-Ban and Persol. The designer eyewear lists for more — frames start at $89 for basic completed Rx glasses — but discounts can bring them down in price. 

The one-stop shop for stylish glasses offers a 65% discount off your first frames, as well as discounts on lens upgrades (photochromic, for instance), contact lens options and reading glasses. It also recently launched a landing page for . And around major holidays you can look for seasonal promotions on men’s eyeglasses, women’s glasses and entireblogs contact lenses.

Notable site features: A virtual “mirror” feature lets you upload your photo to the site and see what a pair of eyeglasses looks like on your face shape to help you find the perfect pair of optical frames. And the company is upping the try-at-home ante. Instead of just sending you the frames, GlassesUSA will send you the frame with your actual prescription in it so you can truly try it out for up to 14 days — though the feature is limited to certain frames and lens options. The site also offers a 100% money-back guarantee so you can return your eye glasses if you don’t like what you ultimately get. Lastly, you can download a for iOS or Android that allows you to “extract the optical parameters from your current glasses” using your phone and a PC (it works with relatively simple prescriptions, so read the fine print to see its limitations). While we’ve spotted a few negative online reviews for GlassesUSA, the company seems to diligently follow up and respond to each one.

Current deals and coupons: GlassesUSA is always offering various deals that don’t vary much from month to month but have different codes. You can see all current deals on the site’s , including 40% off eyeglasses and sunglasses with code SUMMERFUN40, buy one pair get one free with code BOGOFREE, 50% off lens upgrade with code LENSES50 and 40% off designer frames with the code DESIGNER40; and 65% off your first frame when you sign up to receive promotional emails. GlassesUSA is also offering one CNET-exclusive code: 60% off frames (excluding premium, sale-labeled items, contact lenses and kids frames) with the code CNET60. Coupon codes cannot be stacked. 

Shipping times: Expect seven to 10 days between ordering and arrival of GlassesUSA products, . 

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

As its name implies, Overnight Glasses can make you a new set of prescription glasses quickly — and really quickly if you’re willing to pay extra for it. If you buy a frame/lens package, fast three- to four-day service is available for $9. (It takes slightly longer for progressive and bifocal lens types.) The quality of the lenses I got was as good as that from other replacement-lens sites, so there’s no sacrifice on prescription eyewear quality for speed.

As for new lenses, you ship your frames to Overnight Glasses and they’ll replace your lenses with new ones in 48 hours. They can do polarized, blue light, Transitions and many other types, though progressive take an additional two days (so 72 hours total from the time your frames are received).

If you’re looking for a truly overnight option, its emergency,  costs an additional $59 for single vision. As noted, a progressive lens order can take an additional two days, so the fastest you can get new progressive lenses is three days.

Overnight makes lenses for Bose Frames and Amazon Echo Frames audio glasses.

Notable site features: The site has a clean look and is easy to use. Shipping options are one of the key focuses. 

Current deals and coupons: Look under the “Specials” link on Overnight’s website for the latest deals, which include 15% off your order (restrictions apply) with code fast15, 15% off designer frames with code lens15 or $90 off any order over $299 with code 90back

Shipping times: As fast as 48 hours from the time your eyeglass frame is received, while 24-hour rush service costs an additional $59 for single vision (progressives take an additional two days).

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

Eyeglasses.com’s huge selection of both frames and lenses is a big selling point, but it also has the downside of offering so many options that it can be a little daunting to figure out exactly what to buy. You can get budget options — lens prices start at $39 — but the site skews toward more premium options. The idea is to get a significant discount (upwards of $200) on a high-quality frame-and-lens combo that you’d spend big bucks for in a brick-and-mortar shop. “Our business targets the main part of the eyewear industry, to supply the same products that customers would get at the eye doctor, but at 50% lower prices,” CEO and Founder Mark Agnew told me.

The site carries over 300 brands and 200,000 individual models, which seems to be the largest catalog of any online glasses site. The filters are also decent, allowing you to filter by rim style, material, brand, price, category, eye size, clips and country of origin. There are advanced search options too, such as bridge size and temple size, and . There’s no virtual try-on feature, however, and many of the frames don’t have models to show you what the frames look like on someone’s face. 

Notable site features: Eyeglasses.com says it only sells “high quality, individually made lenses made in the USA” and the sample glasses I tried had excellent lenses that gave me a very sharp image. As I said, there’s a huge selection of lens options, and you get a “Perfect Lenses Guarantee” that allows you to send your glasses back if they don’t work for you — you can get a one-time free redo or a full refund on the frames and 50% cash back on the lenses, your choice.

The site also offers a lens replacement option for your existing frames (you send your frames in). Unlike Lensabl (see below), which highlights the feature, Eyeglasses.com doesn’t market the option front and center.

You can also get new glasses very quickly if you choose to pay extra for expedited shipping.

Current deals and coupons: 15% off for new customers in exchange for your email address.

Shipping times: Less than six days, according to the site. I received a new pair in a couple of days, but I had an expedited shipping option.

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

EyeBuyDirect is similar in many ways to a lot of its competitors. Along with an in-house frame brand (Rflkt Eyewear) it has some Ray-Ban and Oakley frames. I went with a more affordable Rflkt frame and paired it with a higher-end lens. The price came out to around $150 — you can go cheaper or more expensive. The frame quality was decent though not on par with, say, Roka’s frames. Lens quality was good and the ordering process was smooth, with a standard virtual try-on feature where you upload a photo of yourself to help you find the perfect frame. 

2016_08_25 | Pillowcases. I wrote a whole blog post just to \u2026 | Flickr

Notable site features: For an extra $29, you can get  with single-vision lenses (many frames are available for two-day delivery). It’s also worth noting that like Coastal (see below), with every pair of glasses you buy, you can opt to have EyeBuyDirect donate a pair to a person in need somewhere in the world — you pick where.

Current deals and coupons: 30% off orders of $100 or more with code SAVEBIG and 15% off and free shipping for new customers in exchange for your email address.

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

Zenni has been around for awhile, and it’s the first site I used to buy cheap prescription glasses and sunglasses online. It’s more of a budget-minded site, and over the years, I got some nice deals on cheap glasses, particularly when Zenni was running its occasional three-for-two glasses sales. I’ve had both standard eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses made here and so has fellow editor David Katzmaier, who has since graduated to Warby Parker (he said, however, he would still buy prescription sunglasses at Zenni because they’re cheap and decent enough).

In the last couple of years, Zenni has been subtly shifting its image, bringing in celebrities like Rashida Jones and 49ers tight-end George Kittle to give the brand a little more of a hip vibe. The lenses are good and these guys offer nice deals on upgrades to photochromic lenses.

Notable site features: There’s a Frame Fit “mirror” feature that allows you to upload a photo and see the frames on your face, as well as new “virtual” try-on feature (powered by Ditto) that allows you to see the glasses on your face as you move around using your computer’s webcam or your phone’s camera. This is similar to the virtual try-on feature that Warby Parker offers.

Current deals and coupons: Up to 50% off frames, 10% off for new customers in exchange for your email address.

Shipping times: “Your eyeglasses are delivered around two weeks from the time we receive your order,” says Zenni. In my experience, that sometimes stretches out closer to three weeks.

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

What do you do if you’ve already got a pair of eyeglasses frames you like but your prescription is old (or the lenses on your frames are scratched) and you just want to replace the lenses? Lensabl is one of the few sites that allows you to send in your own pair of frames and get a new prescription lens for them. Its motto is, “Your frames, our lenses,” with prices starting at $77 for buying a basic pair of single-vision lenses. A pair of tinted sunglasses lenses start at $97. 

You upload your prescription online, pick the type of lens you want, and then Lensabl sends you a box with a prepaid return shipping label. You simply mail them your glasses in the box (shipping is free). First-time customers get 15% off. This site is also a good option if you have an old pair of glasses that you want to turn into prescription sunglasses.

Recently, Lensabl also started offering full glasses packages with its own frames that start at $77 for a single vision Rx and $177 for progressive.

Notable site features: For $25, you can . Not everybody qualifies to take the online eye exam — you have to answer some questions to see if you qualify — but if you do, Lensabl says, “All you need is your computer, smartphone and about 15 minutes of time.” Your results will be reviewed by an eye doctor or optometrist licensed in your state who will then issue you a new prescription via email.

Current deals and coupons: 20% off clear lenses with code CLEAR20, 15% off contact lenses, frames and all other lens types with code SEE15 and 15% off Lensabl+ vision plans with code PLUS15.

Shipping times: Lensabl pledges “about two weeks” turnaround time from when you ship your frames to when you’ll receive them back.

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

As you’d expect, SportRx caters to people looking for sports-oriented prescription glasses, with a wide variety of options from big eyewear brands such as Smith, Oakley, Ray-Ban, Costa and Nike. Not all the frames it sells have an Rx option, but most do.

Although you’ll get a better deal here than you’d get from your local sunglasses boutique, this is not a budget site and you can end up paying upwards of $250 or more, depending on your prescription. But SportRx runs some deals on frames and also gives you access to a real optician to help you decide which glasses are right for your prescription and athletic pursuits. Making Rx lenses for sports glasses can be tricky.

Notable site features: SportRx says that instead of speaking (or live-chatting) to a run-of-the-mill customer service staffer hidden in some obscure call center, you’re speaking with a “friendly SportRx Optician in sunny San Diego” who’s gone through a rigorous training regimen (the SportRx Academy) and is well-versed in various aspects of optics: refractive light, myopia, presbyopia, astigmatism and everything else you can think of. “What’s more,” the site says, “they have extensive training on the best sports frame and lens options on the planet.”

Current deals and coupons: $60 off prescription glasses on orders over $300 with code SUMMER60. $75 off prescription eyeglasses with code EYEGLASSES75

Shipping times: Around 14 days.

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

FramesDirect is similar to a lot of the other online glasses retailers out there, but it focuses more on offering decent discounts on premium brand frames, claiming to have the largest selection of designer glasses online. This eyewear retailer is also one of the few places that offers  and other VR headsets.

Finally, the site has .

Notable site features: Like Coastal (see below) and others, FramesDirect has a philanthropic to improve the sight of people who can’t afford glasses. FrameDirect says that “for every pair of glasses bought, we will donate a pair of glasses to someone in need,” and you can select the region for the donated pair. 

Like Zenni, Warby Parker and others, it now has a virtual try-on feature.

Current deals and coupons: 60% off lenses and add-ons with code SUNNY60. Up to 50% off designer brands at ongoing sale.

Shipping times: Expect around 14 days. 

Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

One of our editors recently used glasses.com and reported a good experience. She said that glasses.com accepts a lot of vision insurance plans and automatically handles payment if your insurance provider is in their network (you can usually get one pair of glasses free). If your vision insurance plan is out of network, like VSP and Spectera, the site automatically generates a bill (via email) that you need to submit to get reimbursed.

Notable site features: Glasses.com is a pretty no-frills site. It does have a quiz you can take that recommends what frames are right for you. You can also return frames and lenses within 60 days if you have an issue with them.

Current deals and coupons: 50% off selected frames and prescription lenses (restrictions apply).

Shipping times: Expect around 14 days with free shipping option or around eight days with expedited shipping ($15). 

What do I need before I buy prescription glasses online?

You’ll need to know your prescription and pupillary distance from your optometrist before you use an online glasses retailer — so make sure you get a hard copy the next time you get your vision checked. Be aware that sometimes optometrists won’t give your pupillary distance because they’ll say they want to measure you for a specific set of glasses. But insist on getting one. You can also measure PD yourself using an app on your smartphone or download a that most online stores have with instructions on how to use it. Pupillary distance is key because when lenses are made it’s important to know where your eye is in relation to the center of the lens.

Once you have all that, most of these sites will let you input your numbers or upload a picture of the prescription from your phone the first time you buy something.

You can also pick up a device like the $99  to use your smartphone to check your vision and create a prescription that many online glasses stores will accept (some do require an Rx from an optometrist). 

What can I expect to pay for a pair of prescription glasses online?

You can often get glasses with basic frames and lenses for less than $100 and sometimes even less than $50 during certain promotions. (I once bought a pair of prescription glasses for $9 that I can’t say were all that good, but I’ve kept them in my car as an emergency pair.)

More premium lenses made of lighter and stronger materials, with additional scratch resistance and anti-glare coating or photochromic lens that change from clear to tinted, cost significantly more. But a pair of premium RX glasses that might cost you $300-$400 online would probably cost double that or more in a brick-and-mortar shop.

Note that some online glasses shops do accept vision insurance, though even if they do, you’ll have to check whether they accept your specific vision insurance.

Can I return prescription glasses I buy online?

Yes, sometimes prescription glasses don’t end up being perfect and may end up bothering your eyes. I once had a certain online store screw up the prescription in the left lens while the right one was correct. In many cases, you can return the glasses if you’re not satisfied, but make sure to read the fine print on the store’s return policy. Often, the store will remake the glasses for you or give you a full refund. However, certain sites only offer partial refunds.

What kind of deals can I find for prescription glasses online?

Most sites offer 15-20% off your first purchase if you provide an email address. Many sites also offer additional deals with certain codes at checkout, whether it’s discounts on frames, lenses, lens upgrades and sometimes you’ll see a buy-one-get-one-free deal. However, typically restrictions apply, which can mean you can only use the code for certain frames and less complicated prescriptions (single lens as opposed to progressive lenses). Look for sales and new codes to crop up around various holidays.

More online buying advice

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

US STOCKS-Nasdaq futures rally as Alphabet, AMD jump after results

Feb 2 (Reuters) – Nasdaq 100 futures jumped on Wednesday, after a choppy start to February, helped by a near 10% surge in Google-parent Alphabet and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices following strong fourth-quarter results.

Alphabet Inc reported record quarterly sales, as its internet advertising business surged on consumers using Google search as they shopped online and advertisers upping their marketing budgets.

The company also said it will undertake a 20-to-one stock split.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc rose 11.3% after it forecast 2022 revenue above expectations on Tuesday on strong quarterly demand for its semiconductors, despite global supply snags.

The chipmaker’s strong outlook lifted shares of peers Nvidia Corp, Qualcomm Inc and Micron Technology Inc between 2.7% and 5.3%.

At 5:45 a.m.ET, entireblogs Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 224.75 points, or 1.5%, Dow e-minis were up 55 points, or 0.16%, and S&P 500 e-minis were up 35.75 points, or 0.79%.

If the gains hold, this will be fourth straight session of gains for the tech-heavy Nasdaq index, which started the year with investors dumping highly valued growth stocks on rising prospects of faster-than-expected rate hikes.(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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Inside Russia's wedding of the year – a £3M ceremony in Zambia

With sommeliers flown in from , black caviar on every plate and an after party that included white water rafting, it’s no surprise Maria Solodar’s £3million nuptials to Joan Schnelzauer has been dubbed the wedding of the year.

With a picturesque ceremony by the banks of the Zambezi, close to Victoria Fall in Zambia self-made millionaire bride Maria flew all the food, chefs, pop stars and most guests from her homeland to Africa by fleet of private jets for a five day nuptials extravaganza at The Royal Livingstone Hotel.

The internet marketing specialist wed Luxembourg-based international business entrepreneur Joan, 33.

The couple bought their own  wines and sommeliers from France, with Russian newspaper Komosmolskaya Pravda branding it the most expensive wedding of the year.

Maria Solodar’s £3million nuptials to Joan Schnelzauer has been dubbed the wedding of the year.The couple are pictured in front of giraffes

With a picturesque ceremony bythe banks of the Zambezi, close to Victoria Fall in Zambia self-made millionaire bride Maria flew all the food, chefs, pop stars and most guests from her homeland to Africa by fleet of private jets for a five day nuptials extravaganza at The Royal Livingstone Hotel

The internet marketing specialist (pictured) wed Luxembourg-based international business entrepreneur Joan, 33, and the wines and accompanying sommeliers were delivered from France

The web guru began her career selling backpacks on a market in Ukraine, and is now one of Russia’s most spectacular internet success stories.

The five-day event included stag and hen parties, a dinner with African delicacies, white water rafting, a safari and a huge party.

The stunning bride wore a Vera Wang outfit for the ceremony before changing into a Zuhair Murad number for the party. 

‘Absolutely everything needed to be brought on private jets from Russia to South Africa, from decor to dishes,’ Komosmolskaya Pravd reported.

The web guru began her career selling backpacks on a market in Ukraine, and is now one of Russia’s most spectacular internet success stories.She is pictured before her wedding

The five-day event included stag and hen do’s, a dinner with African delicacies, white water rafting, a safari and a huge party with black caviar jetted in from Russia – the couple are pictured at the altar

The stunning bride wore a Vera Wang outfit for the ceremony before changing into a Zuhair Murad number for the party.She is pictured at the altar

The Ukrainian-born bride who had forged her meteoric career in Russia boasted: ‘Many said it was the wedding of the century… but I would say it was the adventure of the century.  

‘I never wanted a magnificent wedding.I am not about dressing up and putting makeup on, it’s just not my style.

‘I chose one of the first dresses for fitting, and I took the second one without even trying it on.’ 

‘The country refused to let such a big stage in, the kitchen had to wait at the border for three days and arrived only three hours prior to the banquet,’ she said.’We brought everything, everything.

‘Food, drinks, chefs… we organised breakfasts with black caviar from Russia, cheeses and the best wine from France, we had sommeliers, cooks, make-up artists, all the guests had their individual styles, every day had its own dress code…the amount of work was heroic. 

The Ukrainian-born bride who had forged her meteoric career in Russia boasted: ‘Many said it was the wedding of the century…but I would say it was the adventure of the century.

Jet-set lifestyle: The couple reportedly met in Dubai and say they are ‘very down to earth and simple’ despite often flying across the world and the extravagant party 

Making the most of the wedding shoot the bride posed on a bed of watermelons (left).The couple also posed aboard the train

‘This is a talent and a genius.

‘The event was organised in a way that everyone cried, even callous European men… those who never previously cried before our eyes.’

She later posted online: ‘I knew how important it was for our family.

‘So everything was done for them, in order to unite them all, our family members and friends.

‘This is why we chose such an inaccessible place and also one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen – a safari in the wild, a hotel where zebras, giraffes and roe deer roam freely, and a wonder of the world, the Victoria Falls.’

She said the two families were ‘very down-to-earth and simple’.

The couple reportedly met in Dubai. Guests were serenaded by Russian 1990s band Ivanushki International, along with French stars Helena Segara and Damien Sargues.

Guests were serenaded by Russian 1990s band Ivanushki International, along with French stars Helena Segara and Damien Sargues – the couple are pictured in front of a train

Getting ready: Maria says she isn’t into make-up and clothes an got ready in just one fitting – despite two dresses on the big day

Maria added that everyone ‘including callous European men who had never cried before’ shed a tear at the beautiful ceremony 

Picture perfect: The bride had two dresses for the big day and posed in front of a train in her wedding pictures 

Maria (pictured) added the amoungt of work going into the wedding was ‘heroic’ and every guest had their own dress code for entireblogs the big day

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