text:
- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.5T, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
170kW, 420Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 8.2L/100KM
- Manufacturer
- Transmission
- Warranty
5 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2017)
2019 Mazda CX-5 Akera Turbo review
Just as Subaru turns its back on mid-size SUV performance, Mazda snatches that turbocharged baton and runs with it.
It's been a long time coming – six years in this instance – but finally there's a performance-oriented CX-5.
For a handling-biased brand like Mazda not to have a high-powered answer to the VW Tiguan 162TSI or the (now-departed) Subaru Forester XT has always seemed slightly odd, though it's definitely a case of 'better late than never' for this turbocharged MY19 version. Finally, a CX-5 with the muscle to match its moves.
- Effortlessly strong engine
- Premium cabin details
- Enthusiastic handling
- Firm ride
- Slightly claustrophobic cabin
- Chintzy alloy wheels
Is it right for me?
If you want a medium SUV that has the herbs to equal what just about any medium-sized station wagon can manage, then the CX-5 Turbo's arrival should be celebrated. It's on a similar level, performance-wise, as a Mondeo Trend, Commodore RS or Superb 162TSI wagon, and miles ahead of the breathlessness of a petrol-engined Mitsubishi Outlander or Nissan X-Trail.
Wanna drag the whole family on a cross-country tour without raising a sweat? Then the turbocharged CX-5 could be your steed.
Can I afford it ?
Given that even the most expensive CX-5 Turbo variant – the flagship Akera tested here – comes in at less than 50 big ones ($49,170), that's a respectably priced wedge for a respectably premium product.
If you want your turbocharged CX-5 to look slightly less glitzy, there's a GT version for $46,970, which features sportier, dark-coloured 19-inch alloy wheels and less fruit inside. In each case, you'll be paying $2500 extra for a 30kW/168Nm boost in oomph.
What do you get for your money?
The CX-5 GT Turbo mirrors the equipment count of the regular petrol and turbo-diesel GT versions, which may or may not please you, depending on your opinion about shouting your performance. It'll be a long and fruitless attempt to find a 'Turbo' badge anywhere on this 170kW CX-5.
The GT's signifying features include 19-inch alloys (same design as last year's wheels), an adaptive front lighting system with LED daytime running lights, an electric glass sunroof, an electric tailgate, heated electric front seats (10-way driver; 6-way passenger) with two-position memory for the driver, leather trim (black or white) with perforated centre sections, and a 10-speaker (including subwoofer) 249-watt Bose stereo.
The MY19 CX-5 Akera scores new 'brilliant dark' 19-inch alloy wheels, a 360-degree camera, a 7.0-inch TFT instrument info screen, adaptive LED headlamps, a frameless auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror, ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, heated outer-rear seats, real wood door and dashboard inserts, LED ambient cabin lighting, black headlining, a unique overhead console and 'dark russet' Nappa leather trim.
How much does it cost to maintain?
Mazda recommends servicing every 12 months or 10,000km, with pricing starting at $315 for the first, third and fifth services. The total three-year tally is $973 (covering a maximum of 30,000km), while the five-year total is $1631 (for 50,000km). Cost-wise, that's highly competitive, but if you cover big distances, a 10,000km service interval is below par in 2018.
Mazda's main vehicle warranty covers the CX-5 for five years/unlimited kilometres, though you need to purchase roadside assistance separately (starting at $99 per year).
The Red Book's three-year resale estimate for the MY19 CX-5 Akera Turbo is a class-leading 65.0 per cent. Not only is that better than any rival, it's the strongest for the entire CX-5 range, demonstrating the richness of Mazda's model mix and Aussie buyer's premium perception of the Mazda brand.
Get a great deal today
Interested in this car? Provide your details and we'll connect you to a member of the Drive team.
Is it well built?
About as well as anyone could rightfully expect given the CX-5's non-premium pricing. Neat panel fit and a nicely constructed interior apply to even the base CX-5, but it's this Akera model's high-quality Nappa leather and real wood trim that give it a proper premium look and feel.
About the only negative is the slightly baggy carpet fit on the boot side of the rear-seat backrests but that's nit-picking.
What are the Standout features?
Finally, some proper performance. For too long the medium-SUV class has been restricted by the options available to anyone looking for a decent level of grunt, and with the departure of the Subaru Forester XT, the stealthy Mazda CX-5 Turbo has cunningly filled its slot.
What does it have that others don't?
The MY19 Akera's premium-brand features for a mainstream-brand price. Nappa leather, genuine wood trim, adaptive LED headlights, and heated/cooled seats aren't your everyday fodder in medium-SUV land.
And then there's the CX-5's driver focus. Compared to the drudgery of its chief Japanese competition – namely the X-Trail, Outlander and current RAV4 (an all-new one is due in May) – there's a definite spring in this SUV's step.
How practical is it?
More so than the original CX-5, not just because Mazda's second attempt is a better-packaged, more intelligent mid-sized SUV. But it's the torque of the new turbocharged 2.5-litre petrol engine that truly defines this vehicle – not because it is hair-raisingly rapid, but because it's such a terrific tool for lugging loads effortlessly.
Not only does the boosted CX-5's 420Nm at 2000rpm give it a muscularity quite foreign to the non-turbo petrol version, but its extra oomph increases the braked towing capacity by 200kg to an impressive two-tonnes. That's identical to the turbo-diesel, and a good 500kg better than a turbocharged Honda CR-V VTi-LX AWD.
Is it comfortable?
In isolation, on a smooth road, the CX-5 Akera does a decent job of pampering its occupants. That's mainly down to the quality of its tactile upholstery and the support of its seats, as well as its reasonably quiet ride. Being able to finitely adjust the Akera's electric front chairs majorly benefits the CX-5's driving position, even if the cushion could use greater length and increased tilt.
But it's the turbo Akera's ride that fails to support that impression on scarred, badly surfaced roads. There's a lack of suspension suppleness over such terrain, as if the CX-5 is tracing the topography with its tyres, and that'll be too much for anyone chasing a plush ride. This tautness benefits the CX-5's handling, of course, but its fixed-rate dampers are unable to pull off the jack-of-all-trades dynamic feat of a car with well-tuned adaptive dampers.
Easy in, easy out?
Not to the same extent of some of the CX-5's boxier competitors, though this style-driven SUV is hardly a chore to get in and out of. The raised hip point makes it easy to enter both rows, and the Akera's electrically operated tailgate lightens the load significantly because the CX-5's tailgate is normally quite bulky.
Space and versatility?
More so than you'd probably think, especially in terms of seating flexibility. The CX-5's rear backrests are split 40/20/40, allowing smaller sections to fold than a simple 60/40 backrest, and when they're dropped, the floor is almost flat (though CX-5's sloping tailgate does eat into ultimate cargo space).
The rear luggage cover can be attached to the tailgate itself, enabling hands-free access to cargo once the tailgate is open, and there are backrest release levers on either side of the boot.
Inside, rear passengers get a folding centre armrest with built-in USB ports, a pair of rear air vents, two-position backrest angle, and diagonal door-bottle holders capable of housing one-litre bottles in the rear (and 1.5-litre bottles, at a squeeze, up front). With its deeper rear cushion and much-improved amenities, the second-gen CX-5 is in another league as a four-seat family wagon than the flawed original.
In the front row, fully electric operation and the wonders of seat cooling give the Akera a bespoke feel when it comes to seating flexibility, and now that Apple CarPlay/Android Auto is available, there's less frustration with Mazda's so-so MZD Connect multimedia system.
The Akera (like the GT below it) gets a Bose stereo with 10 speakers but it lacks the audio depth for the sound to feel expansive in the CX-5's cabin. And the Akera's dark-coloured headlining underlines that impression.
Despite its raised ride height and the light-emitting benefit of having a (small) sunroof, the Akera Turbo's cabin feels quite closed in. That's the price you pay for the CX-5's curvaceous, youthful exterior styling … for a family wagon, at least.
What's the engine like?
The CX-5's newfound turbo-petrol muscle owes much to the same engine in the larger CX-9 SUV and facelifted Mazda 6 – it's identical. That means a relatively low-stressed unit producing 170kW at just 5000rpm and 420Nm at 2000rpm when running on regular unleaded, but able to spike to 186kW when fed 98-octane premium. That makes the CX-5 Turbo one of the most powerful SUVs in its class.
Tied to Mazda's own six-speed automatic transmission, the CX-5 Turbo doesn't really need any more ratios because it has so much torque to play with. And the switchable Sport mode seems to work best with the turbocharged donk because it doesn't need to make the engine rev to perform. That's what makes this SUV so deceptively brisk – quieter than the regular petrol, yet capable of so much more while seemingly doing so much less.
How much fuel does it consume?
More than the non-turbo 2.5-litre petrol but not by a huge amount. The official combined consumption of the CX-5 Turbo is 8.2L/100km – 0.8 more than its non-turbo relative. And that's drinking 91-octane. Feed it premium and that number will improve.
Compared to other similarly brisk medium SUVs, the CX-5 Turbo holds up well. It's marginally thirstier than the 162kW/350Nm top-spec VW Tiguan (8.1L/100km), but quicker and thriftier than the 188kW/353Nm Holden Equinox LTZ-V (8.4L/100km) and 178kW/345Nm Ford Escape Titanium (8.6L/100km).
Is it enjoyable to drive?
Providing you're comfortable with the CX-5 Turbo's taut ride and tight body control, this top-spec Akera is damn good fun on a twisty road. Mazda has made a number of subtle engineering tweaks to the MY19 CX-5's suspension and, in conjunction with the gutsy new engine, they make for a surprisingly adept driver's SUV.
Mazda has optimised the outer ball-joint location in the front suspension, increased the front anti-roll bar diameter slightly, lowered the firmness of the front anti-roll-bar bushes, decreased the rear anti-roll bar diameter, changed the material of the rear damper top-mounts to urethane, and revised the valving in the front and rear dampers, while adding a new generation of G-Vectoring Control (called G-Vectoring Control Plus) – all in the aim of honing the CX-5's dynamics even further.
In reality, it drives much like it did before, only better. There's improved connection and a more switched on feel in normal driving, backed by sweeter poise and greater cornering ability in hard driving. Right from the get-go, the CX-5 has always relished a twisty road and an enthusiastic driver, and this turbo-petrol version is the greatest of the lot.
Does it perform as you expect?
With instant torque response, there's a definite shove in the back when you flatten the Akera Turbo's right pedal, joined by a pleasantly subdued but purposeful induction note as the engine does its job. But its performance is deceptive.
The turbo engine upshifts at just 5400rpm, making it feel quite lazy. Yet if you actually measured how quick it is against the clock (I would say high-sixes from 0-100km/h should be a piece of cake, seeing we've seen 7.4sec from the heavier CX-9 with the same engine), you might be surprised at the pace of the CX-5 Akera.
But there's also much pleasure to be had in the ease of this car's driveability. It's a simple car to drive, yet also very satisfying in the way it requires minimal effort to maintain momentum.
We really like the points of differentiation in the MY19 CX-5 Akera too – finally distancing it from the same-engined CX-5 GT, while informing your neighbours that you bought the posh model. About the only negative, in my opinion, is the fact that the Akera looks so unsporting. Those 'brilliant dark' alloys are American-gauche, and the fact the Turbo version is otherwise visually identical to the non-turbo petrol undersells the praise this new drivetrain deserves.
Maybe that's what people want – not to be noticed – but in an age when Volkswagen's R-Line kit is selling its bosom off, and even Nissan's cringeworthy N-Sport model gives the depressingly unsporting X-Trail some visual toughness, I'd dare say this desirable new turbocharged CX-5 deserves a bit more.
Won't stop punters tripping over themselves to buy it though!
2019 Mazda CX-5 Akera Turbo price and specifications
Price: $49,170 (before on-road costs)
Engine: 2.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder
Power: 170kW at 5000rpm
Torque: 420Nm at 2000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic, AWD
Fuel use: 8.2L/100km


text:
Remembering Thurl Ravenscroft at Disney World
Disney Legend Thurl Ravenscroft brought to life some of your favorite voices in Disney Parks and films. Can you guess where his voice shows up? What do The Haunted Mansion, The Grinch, Elvis Presley, and Tony the Tiger all have in common? Thurl Ravenscroft. Don't know who that is? Yeah, you do. You've probably already … Continue reading Remembering Thurl Ravenscroft at Disney World
Copy and paste this URL into your WordPress site to embed
Copy and paste this code into your site to embed

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Happy Wednesday, everyone, and happy last day of August! Before we get to the news, I encourage you to check out our Fantasy Football Today Draft-A-Thon from 6 p.m. to midnight tonight on CBS Sports HQ and YouTube. It's the perfect way to prepare for your fantasy draft, and it's raising money for a great charity: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. What could be better?
Ok, now let's get to the news.
Good morning to everyone but especially to...
The Eagles have pulled off yet another impressive move to cap an offseason that's been full of them. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, the do-it-all defensive back who spent his first three seasons in New Orleans, is headed to Philadelphia as part of a trade with the Saints. Here are the full details:
Eagles get:
- DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
- 2025 seventh-round pick
Saints get:
- 2023 fifth-round pick
- 2024 sixth-round pick
The move came in part because the Saints and Gardner-Johnson were having trouble reaching an extension and also just minutes after the Eagles released starting safety Anthony Harris. Gardner-Johnson, who has played both cornerback and safety, is expected to take over Harris' role, and he should be a solid upgrade.
- Last season, Gardner-Johnson tied for the team lead with three interceptions and had two sacks.
- He also allowed a 59.2 passer rating as the closest coverage defender, a number slightly better than his new teammate, Pro-Bowl cornerback Darius Slay.
For that reason, the Eagles earned an A- in NFL expert Jared Dubin's trade grades. The move also continues a highly productive offseason for Philadelphia that also included trading for A.J. Brown, signing Haason Reddick and signing James Bradberry.
Honorable mentions
- Clayton Kershaw will return from his back injury tomorrow.
- Baker Mayfield has expletive-laden revenge on his mind as he prepares to face the Browns in Week 1.
- Kenyan Drake, recently cut from the Raiders, found his new team.
- Jared Bernhardt, a former college lacrosse star who just started playing wide receiver, made the Falcons' roster.
- Tage Thompson got a big extension from the Sabres.
And not such a good morning for...
The final roster cut day of the preseason has come and gone, and nearly 900 players who started this week with a job no longer have one. Some will return to the practice squad or find a new home, but for many players, this is the end of the line. A dream they've been working toward for much of their life is over.
Don't get me wrong: There was plenty of joy on Tuesday, too. Those who were on the roster bubble and made it have fulfilled that dream. But they're heavily outnumbered by the players whose futures are uncertain. Among the most notable cuts from Tuesday:
- The Raiders waived OL Alex Leatherwood, their 2021 first-round pick.
- The Cowboys cut a pair of quarterbacks, as did the Vikings.
- Speaking of the Vikings, they also cut starting DL Armon Watts before trading for DL Ross Blacklock.
- The Browns cut QB Josh Rosen. It was his sixth team since being drafted in 2018.
- The Texans cut veteran RB Marlon Mack.
There's a long list of players who carved out solid NFL careers after being cut. Hall-of-Famers such as Johnny Unitas, Kurt Warner and Cris Carter are among them, though they're true exceptions. Even if there aren't any future Hall-of-Famers in this year's bunch, there are plenty of potential contributors now looking for their next opportunity, writes NFL expert Chris Trapasso. That includes...
- Trapasso: "In some certain NFL circles, Duke Johnson's been criminally underrated and underutilized his entire pro career. He hasn't received more than 100 carries in a single season since his rookie campaign, and since that first year in the NFL, he's averaged a healthy 4.4 yards per carry and more than nine yards per grab. This preseason in Buffalo, Johnson looked spry on his way to a 4 yards-per-carry average, and he scored twice on the ground."
You can see all the cuts from across the NFL here.
Not so honorable mentions
- Duke star freshman Dariq Whitehead underwent foot surgery.
- The Bills put star cornerback Tre'Davious White on the PUP list, meaning he'll miss at least four games.
- Rays ace Shane McClanahan was scratched from his start.
Cameron Smith among six more players joining LIV Golf 🏌
Win your first major one month, leave for a new league the next. That's what Cam Smith -- the reigning British Open champion and No. 2-ranked player in the world -- has decided to do. He's among the latest six players leaving the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. Here's the full list, along with their world ranking.
- Cam Smith (2)
- Joaquin Niemann (19)
- Harold Varner III (46)
- Cameron Tringale (55)
- Marc Leishman (62)
- Anirban Lahiri (92)
It's yet another impressive haul for LIV. Niemann is only 23 and Varner III is a fan favorite. Leishman has six career PGA Tour wins. But it's Smith, a star entering his prime, who is the crown jewel. Not only is it a huge loss for the PGA Tour, but the move makes sense, notes golf expert Kyle Porter.
- Porter: "Smith is the reigning Tournament of Champions winner, Players champion and Open Championship winner. The first two of those events are among the 13 elevated tournaments for the PGA Tour in 2023, and the defending champion won't be at either. ... With his Open win this summer, Smith is exempt into all the major championships for at least the next five years, and LIV gets the most recent major winner to add to its stable of players that already includes Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka."
These latest additions will make their LIV debuts in Boston starting Friday.
Mike Tomlin remains mum on Steelers' starting quarterback 🏈
There's one quarterback battle still left unsolved -- at least publicly -- and Mike Tomlin isn't budging on who will be behind center when the Steelers open their season at the Bengals two Sundays from now. The battle is between free agent addition Mitchell Trubisky and first-round rookie Kenny Pickett.
Mason Rudolph was also in the battle, but that's no longer the case, and Pittsburgh has fielded trade offers for him (though they plan to keep him).
- Trubisky got most of the reps with the starters throughout the preseason and completed over 70% of his attempts with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
- Pickett also played well, completing over 80% of his passes and throwing three touchdowns and no interceptions
While Tomlin hasn't declared a starter publicly, he didn't rule out that it has been decided internally. He added, "We... will disclose it to you at our leisure, to be quite honest with you."
MLB Free Agent Rankings: Judge an easy No. 1, but who's next? ⚾
We're one day away from the final full month of the MLB regular season, but before we get there, let's take a big jump ahead and preview the upcoming free agency class. This year's group is headlined by plenty of stars, and our MLB guru R.J. Anderson has ranked his top 20. Spoiler alert: It's no question who's No. 1.
- Anderson: "1. Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees -- He's in the midst of possibly the finest walk season in history, a campaign that could soon double as the league's first 60-homer effort in two decades. ... He isn't a one-year wonder, either. The only person to accumulate more WAR than Judge during the Pandemic Era is Paul Goldschmidt -- and he might win the National League Triple Crown. Judge can't change his age or his injury history, but he's done everything within his power (literally) to boost his stock. He should be rewarded handsomely for it come winter."
Speaking of Goldschmidt, his teammate comes in second on this list. Here's the rest of the top five.
- 2. Nolan Arenado, 3B, Cardinals
- 3. Trea Turner, SS, Dodgers
- 4. Jacob deGrom, RHP, Mets
- 5. Carlos Correa, SS, Twins
Coming off a strange, lockout-interrupted offseason, this year's Hot Stove could be absolutely scorching, and R.J.'s list shows just how deep the free agency pool could be.
What we're watching Wednesday 📺
⚽ Serie A, Noon and 2:30 p.m. on Paramount+
🏈 Fantasy Football Today Draft-A-Thon, 6 p.m. on CBS Sports HQ and YouTube
🎾 Serena Williams vs. No. 2 Anett Kontaveit, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Sun at Sky, 8 p.m. on ESPN 2
🏀 Storm at Aces, 10 p.m. on ESPN 2


text:
Today, I was in the bathroom, and I thought, hey you know what'd be really weird. If the Fire Alarm went off. And guess what. The Fire Alarm went off twenty minutes later.
And, the day before, I randomly said the phone is going to ring. And it it rang, about two or three hours later.
And also, a lot of times, I have these weird visions/dreams.
For example, when I was younger, I had a dream of a room where me and my dad were killed by wolves. I don't want to go into details, but anyways, we went on a field trip and we went to that exact room.
And another time, I close my eyes and I saw a vision of a huge field with wheat that said in big white letters 'Half A Mile'
And today, it was REALLY weird.
I don't know if he was telling the truth or not, but my friend said, "I'm thinking of a number between one and one-trillion." and he thought of it. I told him somewhere along the lines of 635,000, and he said, no it was 600,000.
Still, I mean that is only like, what, 35, 000 off. And when you compare that to one-trillion, that's scarily accurate. I don't know. It's fun to do stuff like that, but sometimes it kind of frightens me, so yeah. I'm really not sure what else to write about, but I'm trying to think of stuff. Things like this happen to me all the time, and they could just be coincidences, but I believe otherwise. They just occur much to often to be coincidences. It's pretty scary, like I said. This is my first post, so don't get mad at me if I repeat myself to often or whatever.
Please reply, and God Bless You.
Jakeandleon =).


text:
Banks refused to lend to one-third of British small businesses who applied for a loan last year.
That means nearly one million businesses faced pushback from banks, according to research by open banking provider Yolt, with the main sticking points being timing, too much debt, and insufficient collateral.
Collectively, UK businesses missed out on £3.6bn worth of much-needed finance and of those businesses which did secure funding, only 20 percent said the process was easy.
According to research, the typical SME requested a £331,275 loan to assist their firm to expand, mostly for equipment, technology, and business growth. On average, small enterprises could borrow around £50,000 less than this.
According to the FSB, lending to small companies reached an all-time low in May, and fewer small businesses currently seek financing. The lowest application rate recorded was only 9% in the first quarter of 2022.
What are the alternative company finance choices for your small business to consider, given that receiving a beneficial boost from your bank is by no means a guarantee? Where can you go if you need an alternative for company funding?
Alternatives for financing businesses
Finance for invoices
Invoice finance may be useful to aid firms that often sell to other businesses on credit terms with their cash flow. With this alternative financing strategy, a lender pays you promptly for your outstanding invoices—typically within 24 hours—and gets a percentage when the cash eventually arrives.
This may hasten the expansion of your firm. However, you're betting (figuratively) that those customers will ultimately pay up.
It's important to note that this option is only accessible for B2B services, which means that your clients must be other companies and not the general public.
Finance for invoices comes in two flavors. Invoice discounting, where the provider still gives a portion of the invoice but the client continues to pay the company as usual, and invoice factoring, when the financing provider provides up to 90% of the remaining invoice and directly pursues payment from your customers.
Invoice finance providers
Provider | Advance rate | Requirements | Offerings | Service fee |
Lloyds | Up to 90 per cent, typically within 24 hours | Must have a projected annual turnover of £50,000 and over and sell to other businesses on credit terms | UK-based invoice finance team who can tailor a solution to match your trading patterns and business goals. Access to an intuitive online system, so you can easily manage your invoice finance facility | Request quote |
Novuna | Up to 90 per cent within 24 hours | Available to SMEs with a turnover of £500,000 and above | No hidden fees | Request quote |
Market Finance | Up to 90 per cent within 24 hours | Minimum annual turnover of £100,000 or annualised income from current year's trading. Limited companies and LLPs only. | Easy to use digital interface and real-time customer support. No hidden fees | 0.2 – 3.5 per cent |
Aldermore | Typically up to 90 per cent within 24 hours | Annual turnover typically above £250,000 | N/A | Request quote |
Close Brothers | Up to 90 per cent | Minimum annual turnover of £500,000 | N/A | Request quote (charged as a percentage of gross turnover) |
HSBC | Up to 90 per cent the next working day | A projected business turnover over £500,000 (including start-ups) | Ability to add credit protection to guard against late payment or bad debts | Request quote |
Metro Bank | Up to 90 per cent within 24 hours | Ability to end your contract with no penalty fee with just 28 days' notice | Request quote | |
Skipton | Up to 90 per cent within 24 hours | Invoice discounting deals for SMEs with turnovers as small as £100,000 | Free credit reports on your clients | Request quote |
Source SmallBusiness.co.uk
Alternative loan and debt providers
For small businesses, business loans can be a useful boost to buy stock, equipment, or assets. The monthly repayment period can span from one to 10 years and a fixed rate can be rubber-stamped before the loan is taken out.
There are two types of business loans.
Secured business loans require you to put up collateral as security, meaning the lender will take over the assets if you're unable to repay. That could mean your house or your car. The advantage of this route is interest rates are low.
Unsecured loans are easier to obtain, and don't require the risk of losing any assets but you can expect to pay more in interest.
With banks being increasingly cautious with their loans, alternative loan providers have seen a surge in popularity, with most giving approval within 24 hours.
Loan and debt providers
Provider | Funding | Approval turnaround | Rates | Repayment period | Requirements |
Funding Circle | £10,000 to £500,000 | As little as five hours | From 3.9 per cent per year | 2 to 6 years | Must have been trading for at least two years. £16,700 minimum turnover per year |
Capify | £5,000 to £500,000 | Approval in under 60 seconds | Flexible – request quote | 3 to 18 months | Monthly turnover of £10,000 and over and must be a limited company trading for at least 12 months |
Iwoca | £1,000 to £500,000 | 24 hours | Flexible | 0 to 6 months | N/A |
Fleximize | £5,000 to £500,000 | 24 hours | Rates of 0.9 per cent to 2.9 per cent (from 10.8 per cent per annum) | 12 to 48 months | Must have been trading for at least 12 months |
Cubefunder | £5,000 to £100,000 | Within 48 hours | Flexible | 3 to 12 months | Minimum turnover of £50,000 per year. Must be a limited company in England and Wales that has been trading for at least three months |
Source: SmallBusiness.co.uk
Advance on merchant credit
Using a merchant cash advance, you may be able to get your money more quickly if your company accepts credit card payments via a card terminal.
Unlike a conventional bank loan, there are no interest rates or regular monthly payments. Instead, you give the supplier a cut of any further card sales. If your company generates less revenue in one month, the payback will be reduced, and you will pay less. Be prepared to pay a little extra if the company has a month above typical.
This choice offers a quick route to finance. In the UK, it typically takes three business days for a payment processor to transfer money from a consumer who purchases a product to your bank. That money can be accessible in less than 24 hours using a merchant cash advance.
Merchant cash advance providers
Provider | Funding | Requirements | Repayment period | Approval turnaround |
365 Business Finance | £10,000 to £300,000 | Monthly card sales of £10,000 and over | Typically six to 10 months | Within 24 hours |
Newable Finance | £10,000 to £1m | Must have been trading for six months or more and receive a monthly card sales of £5,000 | Flexible | Within 48 hours |
Capify | £5,000 to £500,000 and over | Card sales of £5,000 per month. Majority of payments must be through a card terminal | Flexible | N/A |
Merchant Loan Advance | £3,000 to £300,000 | Must be trading for approximately three months and turning over more than £2,500 in card sales a month | Flexible | Within 24 hours |
SME Loans | £5,000 to £500,000 | The business must have been trading for at least six months. | Flexible | Within 24 hours |
Monthly average card sales must total a minimum of £5,000 | ||||
Nucleus | From £3,000 up to £2m | Must have been trading for a minimum of four months | Flexible | Typically within 24 hours |
Peer-to-peer lending
Peer-to-peer lending, often known as P2P lending, enables borrowers to be matched with specific lenders through a P2P platform for rapid and flexible loans at cheap rates.
Before connecting a borrower with a lender, the platform will conduct background checks, such as verifying credit scores, after the applicant has disclosed the amount they're trying to borrow and desired payback time.
Going the P2P method has the benefit that a financing decision may be made virtually immediately, and the loan is then made accessible in a couple of days.
Peer to peer lending providers
Provider | Loan range | Interest rate | Approval turnaround | Commitment term |
Funding Circle | £10,000 to £500,000 | From 3.9 per cent | As little as five hours. Funds within 24 hours | From 2 to 6 years |
Assetz Capital | Up to £2.5m (SME secured loan) | 5.75 per cent | Within 24 hours | Up to five years |
Crowd2Fund | £25,000 to £1m | 6 to 15 per cent | N/A | From 1 to 5 years |
Funding Knight | £250,000 to £1m | Typically between 8.75 per cent and 12 per cent | Within 24 hours | From 6 months to 5 years |


text:
Following reports earlier in the week that the father of Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister was traveling to Merseyside to finalize the deal for his son's transfer to Liverpool, Football Insider reported today that the transfer is all but done.
Quoting anonymous sources, FI claimed today that Liverpool have triggered Mac Allister's release clause with an offer between £55-60 million, and they have also now completed negotiations on personal terms with the Argentine. If the report is true, Liverpool are prepared to triple his wages with an offer of £150k per week.
The reporting on this potential signing is still mostly coming from less-than-reliable sources, but it really does appear as if this is one of those "where there's smoke, there's fire" situations. Mac Allister's post on Instagram today seems very much like a saying goodbye to Brighton without actually saying goodbye to Brighton post, and Seagulls manager Roberto de Zerbi has admitted he expects the midfielder to leave this summer.
Add in the fact that the current rumours are overwhelming pointing to Liverpool nearly having this wrapped up with no other potential landing spots getting much coverage, and it sure seems like Mac Allister to Liverpool is a question of when rather than if.


text:
Trials of Osiris is Bungie's competitive PvP playlist that pits the most hardcore PvP players against each other. There are not any objectives to play for – the team that gets the other team first takes the round. As simple as that! However, the map and rewards from Trials of Osiris rotate every week. Fireteams can expect to get loot such as high-stat armor, Ascendant Shards, Prisms, Adept weapons, mods, etc. In this guide, we have detailed all there is to know about the rewards and map for Trials of Osiris running from July 2-6 in Destiny 2: Season of the Splicer.
Trials of Osiris July 2-6 Map and Rewards
Before jumping into the ToO, make sure to grab bounties from Saint-14 in The Tower. Moreover, always turn in those ToO tokens before they disappear on Tuesday's reset.
With that out of the way, the map for ToO running from July 2-6 is Dead Cliffs. With things like Salvager's Salvo and shotguns being strong right now, they should absolutely shine on the map.
As for rewards that Guardians will be able to claim in ToO:
- 3 Wins: Messenger
- 5 Wins: Arms
- 7 Wins: Shayura's Wrath, Void SMG
- Flawless Passage: Sola's Scar, Solar Sword
Remember that there cannot be more than 3 losses on a card. If there are 3 losses, reset it and try your luck again. Travel to the Lighthouse, Guardians!
That is all we have got in our Trials of Osiris map and rewards for July 2-6. For more help on the game, feel free to check out our detailed Destiny 2: Season of the Splicer wiki guides.


text:
This tale at the start gave the impression on Zacks
Observe: The next is an excerpt from this week's Income Tendencies document. You'll be able to get entry to the whole document that incorporates detailed ancient precise and estimates for the present and following sessions, please click on right here>>>
It's nonetheless slightly early within the 2021 This fall reporting cycle, with the large banks skewing the mixture numbers. Effects are most commonly in-line with expectancies, without a primary surprises within the enlargement charges, beats percentages and control steerage that we've got observed so far.
With appreciate to the banks, higher-than-expected prices at JPMorgan JPM and Goldman Sachs GS haven't grew to become out to be an industry-wide pattern, as proven via effects at Financial institution of The us, Morgan Stanley and others.
The new uptrend in Treasury yields could have a really helpful have an effect on at the staff's effects in the end, however maximum banks did document favorable developments in mortgage call for and persevered power within the capital markets trade, even though under the previous quarter's document tempo. All in all, a combined begin to the reporting cycle for the Finance sector.
Having a look at This fall as an entire, overall income for the quarter are anticipated to be up +21.5% from the similar duration final yr on +12.0% increased revenues.
The expansion tempo decelerates considerably within the following sessions, as you'll see within the chart under that gives a big-picture view of income on a quarterly foundation.
Symbol Supply: Zacks Funding Analysis
The chart under presentations the entire income photo on an annual foundation, with the expansion momentum anticipated to proceed.
Symbol Supply: Zacks Funding Analysis
We stay certain in our income outlook, as we see the entire enlargement photo incessantly making improvements to, because the near-term logistical problems get addressed.
7 Highest Shares for the Subsequent 30 Days
Simply launched: Professionals distill 7 elite shares from the present checklist of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Robust Buys. They deem those tickers "Maximum Most likely for Early Value Pops."
Since 1988, the whole checklist has overwhelmed the marketplace greater than 2X over with a median achieve of +25.3% in line with yr. So make sure you give those hand-picked 7 your fast consideration.
Need the newest suggestions from Zacks Funding Analysis? Lately, you'll obtain 7 Highest Shares for the Subsequent 30 Days. Click on to get this unfastened document
The Goldman Sachs Team, Inc. (GS): Unfastened Inventory Research Document
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): Unfastened Inventory Research Document
To learn this newsletter on Zacks.com click on right here.
Zacks Funding Analysis


text:
Window Display Designs from 2022
On this page, we have compiled the window display designs created by Sergen Şehitoğlu in 2022, organized chronologically. These captivating and inspiring window displays were meticulously crafted to reflect the latest design trends and elevate the viewing/shopping experience.
Each window display design was carefully curated with selected products, colors, themes, and artistic elements to create a unique and attention-grabbing visual narrative. Every design was planned with great attention to detail to reflect the aesthetic of the brand and complemented with high-quality materials, lighting effects, and visual compositions.
Each design was conceived to tell our brand's story, inspire, and provide visitors with an unforgettable experience. We take pride in presenting you with the latest trends, innovative designs, and original artistic expressions. We are delighted to share with you the window display designs created in 2022. Enjoy your journey!
Creative Team: Tuba Şehitoğlu, Tuğçe Uysal, Handan Akyürek


text:
At a time where Meryl Streep has brought attention to the power of women in the animation industry, and especially at Disney, this event couldn't have been more welcome or appreciated.
The crowd assembled for the Women in Animation event held Tuesday at the Walt Disney Animation Studios was wonderful to see, with a majority of women filling up the main screening room. Speaking on the panel was a power-house line up of creative women involved in the making of Disney's latest hit Frozen: Associate Producer Aimee Scriber, Character Supervisor for Anna Rebecca "Becky" Bresee, Production Supervisor Jessica Julius, Assistant Art Director Lisa Keene, Visual Development Artist Brittney Lee, Look Supervisor Michelle Robinson, and, celebrated for both writing the screen play and co-directing, Jennifer Lee.
Some of the most memorable moments of Frozen were discussed including Elsa's dress transformation scene. Apparently in visual development there was much discussion over the placement and height of the slit in Elsa's dress. "In Cinderella the dress transformation is happening to her, in Frozen the action is controlled by Elsa." The building of Elsa's ice palace also was considered carefully. Early tests showed the potential beauty and capacity of rendering ice, but the first tests of the palace were looking too plastic. By changing the colors and allowing more than whites and blues, the palace -which took three months to render- was able to achieve its believable design and feel that appears in the final film.
When the talk turned to the story process, Julius said "the process was like therapy". Another of the speakers shared that it felt as though someone was always having a panic attack. The secret though, was as long as they took turns and were not all panicking at once, it would be alright. Most inspiring to learn their belief in the importance of vetting each and every idea- they uniformly feel only by following each idea to its conclusion will the team learn why it either will or won't work.
"We're making films with multiple levels," explained Jennifer Lee. She went on to relay her thoughts on how to make a story work. "Have a simple idea. Have a simple idea, then make it clear and complex. It's about finding elegance." Elsa's main storyline is driven by fear where Anna's is ruled by love. By keeping true to those themes the story was able to connect to its wide audience, the filmmakers believed. It also allowed for finding the elegance within the story, and making the film a success in the best possible ways.
During the Q&A with the audience, the panelists regaled them with great behind the scenes stories. One story was of a meeting where John Lasseter confused Brittney Lee for a hair model (she does have long, beautiful hair!) Another told of all of the live action reference videos created by co-workers that included amusing costumes and positions, like the moment with Hans and Anna almost kissing.
The best words of wisdom: "be wrong fast" and "find a group to be honest with, where you can get constructive feedback in a supportive environment."
Producer Scribner said she has learned that those on the production side of the process need to allow those on the creative side to have time, to let it happen and not get too focused on deadlines. "I have a Plan B and C and D and go all the way through the alphabet."
All in all it felt like a very positive evening of encouragement from some of the best women in the animation field…. The closing statement was "Behind every great woman…is another great woman!"


text:
The SAP BusinessObjects (SAP BO) Dashboards is a tool used to create interactive dashboards, which can be displayed on desktop and mobile devices. In this chapter, we will cover an introduction to this tool first, and then learn how to download, install, and run this tool. After that, we will see some sample and template dashboards in order to get an idea about what we can do using this tool. Finally, we will discuss the tool interface to get more familiar with the tool and understand the basic use of each panel, menu, and toolbar.
There are many SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence tools, such as Web Intelligence (Webi), Crystal Reports, Dashboards, Explorer, Lumira, and Design studio. Each tool targets a specific audience; for example, Lumira is the best selection for data and business analysts, while Webi reports is the right selection for normal users who want to see static reports, schedule reports, or do their own analysis.
In this chapter, we will learn the following:
Introducing SAP BO BI platform and the Dashboard tool and an overview of SAP BO Dashboards' history
Downloading, installing, and running SAP BO Dashboards
Exploring SAP BO Dashboards' capabilities and features using dashboard samples and templates
Discussing the main use of SAP BO Dashboards' panels, toolbars, and menus
Let's start with an introduction to SAP BO Dashboards.
In this section, we will discuss the following topics:
BI tools included in SAP BusinessObjects BI platform 4.x
An introduction to SAP BO Dashboards
The history of SAP BO Dashboards
Different customers have different reporting needs, presenting information in a different format to different users. These can't be met by one reporting/BI tool, so SAP BusinessObject (SAP BO) offers its customers a wide range of BI tools to choose from.
Customers can choose one of the following tools as per their needs:
SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence (Webi): This tool is used to provide normal tabular and simple detail operational reports, interactive reporting, and ad hoc queries.
Crystal Reports: This tool is used to create pixel-perfect reports that are usually printed and shared with parties outside the organization, such as annual financial reports.
SAP BusinessObjects Explorer: This powerful tool is used to explore the data. It is very fast and you can get fast answers to your business questions.
SAP BusinessObjects Lumira: Lumira is a data discovery tool. It can be used to dynamically analyze your data with stunning visual representations. Quickly build beautiful visualizations with a few clicks, combine data sources, and get the big picture and granular details together. Visualize large volumes of data without having to sacrifice performance. Maximize data knowledge and drive immediate outcomes.
SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards: This tool is used to create a flash-based visual dashboard. This is our main topic in this title, so we will talk about this tool in detail in the next section.
SAP BO Dashboards, which was formerly known as Xcelsius, is a SAP tool used to transform raw data into flash-based dashboards. We can find the main features of this tool in the following list:
Flash-based visual representation
An easy way to link between components and data from the embedded MS Excel thread
There are many available ways to establish a data connection, such as Live Office, Web services, and direct Universe query; the data connection is used to dynamically load the data into our dashboard
The possibility to create a dashboard to be used on Mobile devices, such as iPad
The Possibility to present the data on a map, either from a set of predefined maps or using the Google maps add-in
An easy way to change style, colors, and themes
In the next section, we will talk about the SAP BO Dashboard history.
SAP BO Dashboards was formerly known as Xcelsius. Xcelsius was a design tool created by "Informmersion" in 2002. Three years later, in 2005, the company was acquired by BusinessObjects. Live Office was used to integrate Xcelsius with other BusinessObjects tools, such as Crystal Reports, Webi, and Universes. Simplicity and visually stunning results were the most attractive features of Xcelsius at that time. After that, BusinessObjects was acquired by SAP, and the product was renamed to SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards in the latest SAP BI Platform release 4.x
You can visit http://www.antivia.com/blog/?p=1081 for more information about the SAP BO Dashboards history.
In this section, we will learn about the prerequisites to install SAP BO Dashboards and how to download, install, and configure it.
In general, we would require the Windows operating system, MS Excel, and Flash Player as the minimum tools to support the SAP BO Dashboards environment.
SAP BO Dashboards is a Windows client that can be installed on one of the following windows operating systems:
Windows XP Professional SP2 and SP3
Windows Server 2003 Standard or Enterprise Edition SP1 and SP2
Windows Vista SP1 and SP2
Windows 7
SAP BO Dashboards is integrated with MS Excel to hold the data in an intermediate layer, which acts as a data model for our dashboards. This is why MS Excel is a prerequisite for the installation. We should have one of the following MS Excel versions installed on our machine:
MS Excel XP SP3 (or later)
MS Excel 2003 SP1, SP2, and SP3
MS Excel 2007 SP1 and SP2
MS Excel 2010
SAP BO Dashboards uses a flash technology to display stunning visual charts, gauges, dials, and many other components that are bound (linked) to Excel or external data sources. This is why Macromedia Flash player is a prerequisite for the installations as well. We should make sure that we have installed: Flash Player 10 (or later).
SAP BO Dashboards can be used as a standalone tool, or it can be integrated with the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform. Dashboards can be exported to the SAP BO repository and can be accessed by many platform users. Also, we can dynamically export the data from the Webi report, Crystal report, and Universes instead of having fixed (static) data in the dashboard. This will allow us to have a complete dynamic BI solution.
We will use some features that will require you to have access to a SAP BO repository in the following chapters:
Chapter 8, Exporting, Publishing, and Importing Dashboards
Chapter 9, Retrieving External Data Sources
Chapter 10, Managing Dashboard Security
Chapter 11, Creating Mobile Dashboards
So, we should have access to the SAP BO BI Platform server to practice the materials presented in these chapters.
Note that the SAP BusinessObjects BI platform version should be the same as the SAP BO dashboards version. Currently, there are two versions: 4.0, also known as 2011, and 4.1, also known as 2013.
We will introduce Live Office as one of the external data connections that we can use to populate our dashboard with data. Live office is a SAP plugin that can be installed on MS Office and used to retrieve data from the SAP BO BI platform repository, such as Webi report, Crystal report, and Universes. We need to install the SAP Live Office add-in as we will use it in Chapter 9, Retrieving External Data Sources.
Now, we are prepared to download and install the SAP BO Dashboards tool.
To download SAP BO Dashboards, you should have an S-user ID for the sap service marketplace with download access. We can use the following steps to download the SAP BO Dashboards tool
Open this link to access the SAP Support website: https://support.sap.com/software.html
We can see SAP support webpage in the following screenshot:
Make sure that the Software Downloads tab menu is selected.
Click on the Installation and Upgrades icon.
Select the A-Z Alphabetical List of my Products block and then click on the letter D.
Select SBOP Dashboards (Xcelsius).
Select the latest available version. Currently, it is 4.1 SP05. Then, click on Add to Download Basket.
Open SAP Download Manager, and you will notice that the SAP BO Dashboards is added to the download list.
After downloading the file, unzip it, and then move to the next section..
The installation wizard for SAP BO Dashboards is a straightforward process, and doesn't need much user interaction. We need to perform the following steps to install the tool:
Navigate to the extracted folder and double-click on the
file.Choose a setup language; here, I will select English.
Click on Next after you read the information presented in the welcome screen.
Make sure that all prerequisite tests have succeeded, and then click on Next.
Read and select Accept the License Agreement and then click on Next.
Choose a language pack. By default, English is selected.
Wait until the installation is complete.
Congratulations! We have completed the installation of the SAP BO Dashboards tool. In the next section, we will explore the tool's capabilities and features.
After successfully installing SAP BO Dashboards, now we move to the most interesting section of this chapter, that is, the capabilities of SAP BO Dashboards. In this section, we will learn how to access and use:
Dashboard samples
Dashboard templates
Dashboard samples are ready-to-use small dashboards that can be used to learn the usage of specific dashboard components and features. Each sample has its own dummy data, which can be directly previewed as the final output. In this section, we will select two dashboard samples to explore the tool's capabilities, but first, let's learn together how to access dashboard samples:
Navigate to the File menu.
Click on Samples…, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Samples window will open, as displayed in the following screenshot:
The samples window is divided into the following four main areas:
Category: There is only one User Guide Samples category available by the default installation.
Items: Here, we can select the required item or dashboard sample. There are around 38 items to select from. Each item will demonstrate a dashboard component or feature. You can use this sample to learn how to use a specific component, and to be familiar with how it will operate at runtime.
Description: This is normally empty, but it should provide information about the selected item.
In this section, we will learn how to use the following two samples. I will leave it to you to explore the rest:
Accordion menu dashboard sample
Chart Drill Down
Accordion menu is a two-level selector, which will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 5, Interactive Analysis with Dashboards. This dashboard component can maintain a two-level hierarchy. Let's open the dashboard sample and try to understand how it works:
Select User Guide Samples from the category area.
Select Accordion Menu from the items list and click on OK.
The accordion menu dashboard sample will open.
Click on the Preview icon, as shown in the following screenshot:
This will open the Preview window displayed in the following screenshot. Preview is a simulator for what exactly we will see when we publish or export our dashboard.
In this dashboard, we can see two main dashboard components:
Let's use this scenario to explore SAP BO Dashboards' capabilities, as follows:
Click on the Xcelsius – West Region category to expand sales repositories under this region.
Select Sales Rep 12 to display the sales information in the chart on the right-hand side.
Notice how the data and chart title are changed in the column chart.
Hover your mouse pointer on the "Apr" sales to display a pop-up box that contains the following information:
Sales – 000$: This is the measure name, as this chart displays Sales in Thousands.
"Apr" (x-axis value): Here, we have months on the x axis, so it will display "Apr" because we are hovering on an "Apr" column bar.
328 $ (y-axis value): This shows the exact sales achieved, 328 $ in our case. Remember that this number is thousands, as described in the chart subtitle.
We can see the steps highlighted in the previous screenshot. Try to repeat the scenario using other selections.
In this section, we will explore the Chart Drill Down dashboard sample. This dashboard sample is different from the previous "Accordion Menu" because this sample will demonstrate a feature (drill down), rather than a component.
Drill Down is also known as Master Detail. The main idea of the Drill Down feature is that you can use one chart as a selector (Master) to update the data in the other chart (detail). Let's open the dashboard sample and explore how it works:
Navigate to the File menu and select Samples….
Select User Guide Samples from the category area.
Select Chart – Drill Down from the items list and click on OK.
The dashboard sample will open.
Click on the Preview icon, as shown in the following screenshot:
In this dashboard, we can see the following two main dashboard components:
Pie chart (the upper side): This chart will display sales by branch, and it will act like the Master component, as you can click on a specific branch to show the monthly sales trend in the bottom column chart (the detailed chart).
Column chart (the bottom side): This chart will display the sales trend per month for the selected branch. This is the detailed chart in the "Master Detail" model.
We will use this scenario to explore SAP BO Dashboards' capabilities:
Hover on the "San Francisco" branch to display the following information:
San Francisco: This is the branch name.
332.3$: This is the sales of the San Francisco branch.
42.34 percent: Sales percentage achieved by the San Francisco branch of the total sales achieved by all the branches.
Click on San Francisco to display the sales monthly trend on the column chart at the bottom.
Note how the data and chart title are changed in the column chart.
We can see the steps highlighted in the previous screenshot. Try the same scenario using other selections.
Templates are complete dashboard projects that can be customized by sourcing real data to the right place in the Excel model, and we can directly start using it. Indeed, we can style it up to suit our organization's themes and colors. We can customize it as well, by adding or removing the dashboard components. In this section, we will select one dashboard template to explore the capabilities, but first, let's learn how to access the dashboard templates:
Navigate to the File menu.
Click on Templates… or press Ctrl + T to open the templates window, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Template window is exactly the same as the samples window. We have many categories to choose from: Finance, Government, HR, and so on. Under each category, we will see many related items.
The New From Template window will open, as displayed in the following screenshot:
In this section, we will learn how to use the US Sales Map template under the Sales category.
US Sales Map is a dashboard template that can be used to display the sales by states, divided by the product. We will discuss Maps in more detail in Chapter 4, Using Maps and Other Components. So, let's open the dashboard template and explore how it works.
Navigate to the File menu and select Templates….
Select Sales from the category area.
Select US Sales Map from the items list and click on OK.
The US Sales Map dashboard template will open.
Before previewing, let's have a look at the Excel model inside this dashboard. As we can see in the following screenshot, there are three Excel sheets:
Setup: This sheet will explain how to set up and customize this template.
How Do I: This sheet will contain quick answers to many questions that you may have on how to use this dashboard.
Display: This contains the current data displayed in the dashboard. Currently, this is static fixed data. However, you may use one of the external data sources to populate this dashboard and make it dynamic.
Now, after we have had a look at the Excel model inside this template, let's continue to preview it.
The best practice is to include one or two sheets in any dashboard you have developed in order to explain how to use this dashboard, customize it, answer the frequent questions, and add a legend for colors used in the Excel model.
In this dashboard, we can see the following as dashboard components:
US Map (the left-hand side): This map will display the sales by state, along with an alert indicator to indicate the sales performance
State YTD Sales by product (Pie chart): This chart will display the sales by product for the selected state
US Sales (Pie chart): This chart will display the total US Sales by product
State summary (Table component): This table will display the sales and product share for the selected state
Let's try this scenario to explore SAP BO Dashboards' capabilities:
Hover on the Texas state to display the sales information.
Click on Texas to display the YTD sales by product and state sales summary.
Note that US Sales is a fixed pie chart and will only change if we change the date. The date in this template is static but can be customized to be an input to this dashboard.
We can see the steps highlighted in the previous screenshot. Try to repeat this scenario using other selections.
Now, after we have an idea about what we expect to create using SAP BO Dashboards, let's try to be more familiar with the tool interface.
In this section, we will discuss the main interface panels, toolbars, and views. Let's have a look at the following screenshot, which describes the main interface areas in SAP BO Dashboards:
The main interface areas are:
Canvas: We will use this area to place our dashboard components, such as charts, maps, and selectors.
Excel model: We will use this embedded Excel model as a data container. Then, we will link our dashboard components to corresponding data cells in that Excel model. We can use this area exactly like a normal Excel file. We can add multiple sheets, use formulas, and use any Excel feature or option.
Properties panel: This is a special panel, so it is located on the right-hand side, without any other interfering panels, by default. This panel will be the most used panel once you start working with Dashboards. The properties panel will display the properties for the currently selected component.
Panel's area: We can access the remaining dashboard panels from this area. We can change the layout and order of these panels as we wish. We can also use the auto hide/pin feature to give us more space while working on the canvas and Excel model side. We have the following panels, which we will discuss in detail later:
Object Browser
Mobile Compatibility
Query Browser
Toolbars: We have the following toolbars:
Start Page
Menus: We can apply the same functions that are available through toolbars, using menus as well.
Here, we will focus on the dashboard panels, toolbars, and quick views.
We have five main dashboard panels that we will use to facilitate our dashboard creation process. These panels are:
Object Browser
Query Browser
Mobile compatibility
Let's explore them one by one.
The Properties panel, as we mentioned before, is the most important panel that we will use while creating our dashboards. We can use this panel to control the currently selected dashboard components' properties. For example, we can see the Properties panel for line chart component. I selected the line chart properties panel because it has almost all possible properties for a dashboard component. We should note that properties are common for many objects, and we can use them in the same way. So, we will try to understand how to configure each property, and this should work in the exact same way if you find this property in another component:
As we can see, properties are classified in tabs. Each tab contains some related properties, the Appearance tab for example, which contains all properties related to the layout, colors, size, and font. We will work through all the properties as we progress through the chapters. But for now, let's try to understand the main use of each property tab:
General: We can set the general component properties from this tab, such as a chart title. We can also use this tab to link our component with the data presented in an Excel model. We will talk about this tab in detail in Chapter 3, UI Components.
Insertion: This is an important feature that is available for some dashboard components. We can use this feature to interact with the dashboard and use one chart to drill to another. We already saw an example, while we were discussing the chart-Drill Down dashboard sample early in this chapter. We will talk in detail about this tab in Chapter 6, Advanced Interactive Analysis with Dashboards.
Behavior: We can use this tab to control the selected component behavior, such as dynamic visibility, chart scale properties, and animations and effects. We will cover this tab in detail in Chapter 6, Advanced Interactive Analysis with Dashboards.
Appearance: We can use this tab to control the look and feel of the selected components, such as the text color, background, and borders. We will discuss this tab in more detail in Chapter 7, Styling Up.
Alerts: We can use this tab to set and configure the Alert feature for the selected dashboard components. We can use alerts to add more insight to our dashboard by comparing the currently achieved value against the targeted value. The comparison result will be compared against Alert Threshold and based on that, we can use an alerting mechanism, such as traffic light colors or icons. We will cover Alerts in more detail in Chapter 6: Advanced Interactive Analysis with Dashboards.
Next, we will discuss the Components panel.
We can consider the Components panel as our dashboard components library. Here, we will find all the available components that we can use.
There are three main display views for the dashboard components library:
Category: The Components panel will display Dashboard components by category such as Charts, Selectors, and Maps. When you click on a category, it will expand to show the components under this category. A thumbnail will be displayed for each dashboard component, to give an idea about what that component is. This is the main advantage of this display view. On the other hand, thumbnails will take a larger space to display on the screen, and hence we can see a fewer number of components at the same time.
Tree: This display view is exactly the same as the previous one, but the dashboard components will be displayed in a Hierarchical folder tree structure. Each component will be displayed as an icon rather than a thumbnail. This view will give extra space to see more dashboard components at the same time.
List: All dashboard components are sorted alphabetically in this view and presented like an icon. We can use this display view if we know the exact name of our dashboard components.
If you are a beginner, then the Category view will be your favorite display view because it will give you a good idea about the Dashboard component, even before dragging it to the canvas. If you have experience, then the list view will be best for you, as you will be able to reach your dashboard component faster.
You can use Ctrl + 5 to open the Components panel or use the menu bar: View | Components.
We can use the component filter to display All components or Mobile Only components.
You can refer to the Appendix for a list of all the Mobile-compatible dashboard components.
You can add the most frequent dashboard components to your Favorite folder or category for fast access for future use.
We can see the steps to add dashboard components to your favorites in the following screenshot:
We can use the Object Browser panel to manage a large number of canvas's dashboard components. This panel is very common in graphic design tools, such as Adobe PhotoShop, and it is used for the same purpose. We can use Object Browser to execute one of the following actions:
To Select/Rename the dashboard components
To Delete the dashboard components
To Show/Hide a dashboard component at design time
To Lock/Unlock a dashboard component at design time
To change the dashboard components' display order
We can see the Object Browser window in the following screenshot:
This panel is used to manage direct Universe queries. Universe is a SAP BusinessObjects semantic layer, and it acts like an intermediate layer between database and business. We can use this panel to create a new query or manage existing queries, such as edit, delete, refresh, and reorder. We can see the Query Browser panel in the following screenshot:
We will discuss this panel in detail in Chapter 9, Retrieving External Data Sources.
We will use this panel to track our dashboard's compatibility with mobile devices. We need to note that "Mobile" here is not only referring to cell phones, but it is referring to all Mobile devices, especially tablets. We will cover this in detail in Chapter 11, Creating Mobile Dashboards.
We will use the Mobile Compatibility panel to get information and warnings on unsupported dashboard components, features, and connections.
We can see the Mobile Compatibility panel in the following screenshot:
In the next section, we will talk about dashboard toolbars and menus.
SAP BO Dashboards is a visual design program that contains many toolbars. A toolbar is a fast way to access different features and options, such as keyboard shortcuts. However, in toolbar's case, we don't need to remember the shortcuts. Also, keyboard shortcuts are not available for all options, and so toolbars are the easiest way to access options and features. We can show/hide a toolbar from the view menu, as shown in the following screenshot.
We have the following toolbars:
Start Page
So, let's discuss each one in more detail.
The Standard toolbars provide us with the standard options, such as new, open, and save. We can access the quick view menus from this toolbar as well. We will discuss the quick view menus in more detail later on. We can also use the Preview button to preview our dashboard. We can see the Standard toolbar in the following screenshot:
We can use the Themes toolbar to change the current dashboard theme or color pallet. We can see the Themes toolbar in the following screenshot:
We can use this toolbar to export our dashboard to PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, or PDF file, as shown in the following screenshot:
We can use the Format toolbar to group or ungroup dashboard components, dashboard components' alignment, and control components' order.
For those of you who have experience with Microsoft PowerPoint, this toolbar might look familiar.
We can see the toolbar in the following screenshot:
We can open the Start Page toolbar using the Start Page icon. Start page can be used to access recently opened documents, and access useful information about the main features of SAP BO Dashboards. We can see this in the following screenshot.
We can use a start page to access the recently opened documents, and to open the start page that contains much useful information about the main features of SAP BO Dashboards.
Quick Views are a very nice feature that can help the dashboard developer/designer focus on a specific area in the workspace. As we can see, we already have many panels, toolbars, and menus beside the Canvas and Excel model, which makes our workspace very crowded. In fact, you will not need to see all of them together most of the time. We can see the Quick Views menu in the following screenshot:
We have the following quick views in SAP BO Dashboards:
Show My Workspace: This quick view will display Canvas, the Excel model, and the Properties panel on the right-hand side, and the Components panel on the left-hand side
Show Canvas Only: This will display only the Canvas to help us focus on the design part, such as dashboard components place, alignments, and so on
Show Spreadsheet Only: This view will help us focus on the Excel model, formulas, and data
Show Canvas and Spreadsheet: This view will help us focus on both the Canvas and Excel model, and is a combination of the previous two options
We started the chapter with a general introduction to SAP BO BI platform 4.x and SAP BO Dashboards (formerly known as Xcelsius). Then, we walked through the process of downloading, installing, and configuring the tool, and finally, we worked on capabilities and features by accessing Dashboards samples and templates. We concluded the chapter with a discussion on toolbars, menus, and quick views.
In the next chapter, we will create a business use case to be used throughout the book as a project. Our focus will be to learn the process and best practice. After that we will go through the dashboard creation phases, and we will learn how to create dashboard prototypes in analysis phase. After that, we will prepare our environment to start building the eFashion dashboard (the project of the book).


text:
BBL: Perth Scorchers Sign Up Star Batter Faf Du Plessis For First Half Of The Season
BBL: Perth Scorchers, the reigning Big Bash League champions, have replaced Laurie Evans with former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis for the upcoming campaign. Du Plessis has participated in numerous international T2O competitions and managed the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the IPL 2022. While playing for the Proteas internationally in Australia, he scored some notable runs. And averaged above 50 in Tests and ODIs.
Although he hasn't played much T20 cricket in the nation, Du Plessis has benefited from Perth's plethora of bumpy tracks. Du Plessis will only be available for the first seven games, which is notable.
Pick of the Day
India dismissal. Innings #1.Over #4: YES
BAN vs IND | 4 Dec 11:30 AMBet ₹500, payout ₹3100
BBL: "Perth Is Four-Time Champions": Faf Du Plessis
Du Plessis said by Perth Scorchers' official website"I'm excited to be signing with Perth Scorchers. I think the first thing that jumps to mind is that Perth is four-time champions, which is very impressive. I'm also keen to come in and learn. I'm also excited to share my experiences and the things I've learned, and hopefully, that can be a great combination. The wickets in South Africa and Australia are quite similar, with more pace and bounce than spin, so it is something I've grown up with."
Du Plessis expressed his excitement at joining the four-time BBL champions, the most successful franchise in league history. And said it was a blessing in disguise. Faf du Plessis said he wanted to talk about his experiences playing for various teams worldwide. And that he would probably soon get used to Perth's bumpy conditions.
BBL: Faf Du Plessis's Career
Du Plessis was not selected in the initial draft despite being a platinum player. Before departing for his home country for the SA20, Scorchers anticipate that he will be available for the first seven games of the tournament. Du Plessis, who has 8074 T20 runs, participated in one BBL game for the Melbourne Renegades back in 2012.
He has been particularly consistent in the format since 2018, recording three of his four hundred. With an average of 35.45 and a strike rate of 137.47. The Scorchers were thrilled to sign a player of du Plessis' caliber at such short notice, according to Kade Harvey, General Manager of High Performance of WA Cricket.
Perth Scorchers Squad: Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Faf du Plessis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Peter Hatzoglou, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Mitchell Marsh, Tymal Mills, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Phil Salt, Ashton Turner (captain), Andrew Tye.


text:
Welcome to the Washington County Parks online registration site!
How to Register
Helpful Information
Consider the gift of nature by purchasing a Washington County Parks gift card. Cards can be loaded with any custom amount and used toward camping, programs, vehicle permits, merchandise, and more. Cards have no expiration date.
Easy to buy
Gift cards can be purchased:
Please allow up to 2 weeks for delivery.
Cards are sent through the US Postal Service and are mailed out on a weekly basis.
Use throughout Washington County
Cards can be used for various activities and merchandise at select parks and online. This includes:


text:
Font Size:
Detroit Man Charged In Non-Fatal Shooting
Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy has charged Michael Joseph Brown, 26 (DOB: 2/2/89) of Detroit, in connection with a non-fatal shooting incident. On July 7, 2015 at 10:30 a.m., in the 14300 block of Cruse in Detroit, Brown ordered the mother of his five-year-old son to turn the child over to him. When she refused, it is alleged that the defendant got in his car and pursued the woman while she was driving in her car with her child and a 24-year-old man. Brown shot at the car, wounding the woman and the 24-year-old man. They both sustained non-fatal gunshot wounds. Brown left the scene and was later apprehended by the police and charged with three counts of Assault with Intent to Murder, three counts of Felonious Assault, and one count of Felony Firearm. He is expected to be arraigned this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in 36th District Court. Please contact the Detroit Police for a photograph of the defendant.
# # # # #


text:
At InfoTrust, we know and love analytics. From being a Google Analytics Certified Partner to writing a whole lot of content on web analytics, we like to consider ourselves thought leaders on the matter. Many clients ask us, "what can we expect from the web analytics world in 2013?" to which we can now respond "just check out this infographic!"
With search engine traffic on the rise, visitors spending less and less time on your website, and many companies still not properly analyzing their data, we're optimistic this year will be the year of web analytics. The year that the few naysayers remaining take a look at themslves, their competition, and finally think "okay, let's give this whole analytics thing a try." Because it's not just about beginning to gather data, although that's half the battle, but rather understanding your data and making improvements to your site that lead to more traffic, conversions, and ultimately sales.
Without further ado, the 2013 State of Web Analytics Infographic, as presented by InfoTrust:
Let us know what you think, and please like, tweet, and share this infographic to your following.
Article written by James Love


text:
Piece description from the artist
This painting revisits my early adolescent memories of going to water parks with my
friends. I'm interested in the way our perception of beauty is manipulated in the media and how we remember. The three graces in the painting are not quite real; fantasies or dreams, floating just above the earth. The embroidered silk was bought in a small shop in Calcutta, India and brings an element of underlying pattern and texture. I am interested in the way that the flatness of the printed pattern interacts with the form of the painted figure.
Nathan Florence has always loved to draw. When he was a kid, he would save his sketchbooks for doing drawings that were really good. As a result they didn't get used, but Nathan drew on everything else; his shoes, his pants, the door of his bedroom, and the walls. For Nathan, this wasn't that important as his career aspirations at the time went from being a rock star to being a reconstructive surgeon and an architect.
Florence grew up in Denver and then Salt Lake City, leaving for the east to go to college and thinking he would never be back; moving on and up. He studied engineering thinking he would be an industrial designer and loved the projects, but when Nathan found out he didn't need the degree to be a designer he switched his focus to a premedical track, taking art classes on the side. The design and surgery directions appeared to be roundabout ways to do art in a more practical way.
With some sage advice and a great professor and mentor, Nathan dropped the premedical studies -well into his study of organic chemistry and physics -and switched to studying art full-time. In spite of finding his inspiration in music, films and pictures for Nathan, being an artist somehow did not seem like it was a valid career choice. Nathan currently lives and works in Salt Lake City, Utah.
An Art Advisor will get in touch with you today to schedule a free consultation to discuss your artwork needs.
Get Started


text:
Tate & Lyle PLC has announced an addition to its sweetener portfolio: ERYTESSE Erythritol. Through a strategic partnership distribution agreement with a leading supplier of erythritol, this addition expands its ability to help customers deliver on consumer demand for healthier sugar- and calorie- reduced products.
ERYTESSE Erythritol has 70% the sweetness of sucrose and a similar temporal profile, with zero calories. It can be used in a range of categories, including beverages, dairy, bakery, and confectionery. Erythritol fits well into the brand's existing portfolio and can be used alone or in combination with natural sweeteners, like stevia and monk fruit, and high potency sweeteners like sucralose. It offers a full sugar-like taste experience and helps customers formulate sugar reduced foods and beverages at an acceptable cost in use. It can also be used to create sweetening solutions for manufactured food products, including bulking and mouthfeel when sucrose is reduced or removed. In addition, it offers good stability in high levels of heat or acidity during processing, making it suitable for a host of formulations.
The Compound Annual Growth Rate for all new product launches globally with low/no/reduced calorie claims containing erythritol (either on its own or in combination with other sweeteners such as stevia and sucralose) for the last five complete calendar years was 22%, indicating strong and consistent demand for erythritol. The strategic partnership agreement will provide security of supply and can meet both the short-term and long-term demands of the company's customers.
The perception and awareness of the benefits of erythritol are increasing, with 67% of industry professionals feeling positive about the ingredient, and an increasing number of U.S. consumers likely or very likely to buy a product which contains erythritol now at 23% (up from 6% in 2020).
"Consumers are increasingly switching to sugar reduced products, so manufacturers are looking for more sweetening solutions that will help them reformulate and still deliver the taste and texture consumers will love," said Abigail Storms, global head of sweeteners, Tate & Lyle. "ERYTESSE Erythritol has a clean taste and bulking properties that make it perfect for helping manufacturers meet this demand, and as such it strengthens our existing sweetening toolbox, as well as our overall portfolio.
"It forms part of our commitment to transform lives through the science of food and helps our customers to meet consumer expectations for making healthy food tastier and tasty food healthier," Storms finishes.


text:
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update.
Stay up-to-date
You won't have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.
Join the crew
Be part of a community of people who share your interests.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
Subscribe to R.F. Kuang
Rebecca F. Kuang
writing and researching Asian American lit @ Yale. The Poppy War trilogy, BABEL, YELLOWFACE, and more to come…