Latest news with #Scala
Rhyl Journal
a day ago
- Sport
- Rhyl Journal
Prestatyn Running Club members celebrated at annual awards
A record 13 members were nominated for the main award for member of the year, all having contributed in different ways. The winner, and recipient of the Pat Evans Memorial Plate, was Jo Lewis, who has not only helped to recruit new members by setting up groups for beginners and those wishing to return to running, but has also been largely responsible for the new kit. The other nominees were Jo's daughter Meg, Ben Thomas, Clare Manley, Nem James, Debbie Jones, Julie Evans, Liz Martin, Lee Bailey, Jonah Armstrong, Nicki Triggs and Duncan Longley. Despite missing out on the main, award Nem James had a double success, picking up the trophies for most improved male and volunteer of the year. Another double winner was Marc Jones, voted the male road runner and winner of the Grand Prix. Other recipients were: Ally Reid (Female Road Runner), Gordon Jones (Male Cross-country Runner for the third consecutive year); Sue Hughes (Female Cross-Country Runner), Lee Bailey (Male Fellrunner), Ann Claire Jones (Female Fellrunner), Meg Lewis (Most Improved Female), Jonah Armstrong (Best Newcomer), Ben Thomas (Men's Captains' Award), and Nicki Triggs and Clare Manley (joint winners of the Captains' Awards). During the evening, held at the Scala, club captain Lee Bailey summarised the club's many achievements during the year, Ben Thomas outlined the structure of the club's training sessions and members enjoyed a sports quiz. The annual Deganwy Dash five-mile race, held on Friday (May 30), provided rich pickings for the club as members claimed 10 podium places. Among the age-group winners was Darrell Jones, who claimed his first victory since joining the club last year. The results were: 4 Jonah Armstrong 28.33 (1st SM), 16 Tom Carter 29.40 (2nd M40), 17 Oliver Birch-Jones 31.10 (1st U24), 21 George Williams 31.19, 25 Dave Ellis , 31 Lewis Pierce 32.59, 47 Darrell Jones 34.37 (1st M60), 58 Eve Manifold 35.55 (1st U24), 77 Lisa Lines 37.28 (3rd SL), 84 Simon Bonfield 37.57, 96 Meg Lewis 39.02 (2nd U24), 110 Keiley Roberts 39.55, 112 Steve Weedman 40.11, 119 Newm James 40.27, 165 Sue Hughes 44.01 (2nd L65), 172 Andy Scott 44.31, 223 Debbie Jones 48.42, 256 Mike Davis 51.13 (1st M75), 263 Debbie Weedman 51.39, 300 Clare Manley 54.44, 342 Julie Evans 68.21. The following day, 16 members supporting the Feel, Find, Mind breast cancer awareness campaign, travelled to Hope for the Park in the Past parkrun, North Wales' newest parkrun, though some took it easy after their efforts the previous evening. The placings were: 11 Dave Ellis 20.40, 49 Ben Thomas 23.47, 121 Steve Weedman27.12, 123 Ally Reid 27.20, 179 Andrew Carter 29.51, 205 Sophie Johnson 31.18, 215 Cara Jones 31.44, 247 Mandy Cartwright 32.45, 269 Debbie Jones 33.20, 293 Debbie Weedman 34.37, 302 Emma Birchall 33.02, 325 Clare Manley 36.32, 405 Suzanne Evans 52.39, 406 Julie Evans 52.40, 407 Nicki Triggs 52.41, 409 Liz Martin 52.42. On a "high" after his Deganwy run, Darrell Jones had another good run in the Nova parkrun in which supervet Roger Harrison-Jones made a cautious comeback after a lengthy lay-off through injury. Placings: 21 Darrell Jones 21.26, 30 Jamie Betts 22.48, 55 Philip Howarth 25.05, 58 Neil Davidson 25.33, 123 Grahame Shone 29.49, 274 Roger Harrison-Jones 53.47. Other parkruns: Greenfield Valley: 7 David Hudd 20.56 (pb), 40 Cath Wood 28.23 (pb). Marple: 72 Martin Cortvriend 25.21. Pont y Bala: 2 Dan Williams 18.17. Llangollen: 75 Glenda Roberts 28.58. Next weekend, the club will be one of four from North Wales taking part in the annual Welsh Castles Relay, a two-day, 200-mile event from Caernarfon to Cardiff. The Prestatyn squad has received a welcome boost in sponsorship by the Denbigh firm of Choice Handles, owned by the brother of club member Marc Jones, a significant contribution from Prestatyn Town Council and support from Mold Car and Van Hire.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Sex, sleaze and subversion: Inside London's new grindhouse cinema
On an unassuming street in central London, a red-painted building peeks at passersby — its facade plastered with a close-up of The Man with the X-Ray Eyes. Inside, I'm watching Ruggero Deodato's The Washing Machine, an Italian murder mystery involving psychosexual mind games, fridge fornication, and bleeding appliances. It's the kind of filmic fever dream only The Nickel would dare to screen: a new micro cinema in London founded by filmmaker and programmer Dominic Hicks. Imbued with the frenetic spirit and sleazy charm of retro American grindhouse theatres, it's a shrine to the deranged gems of exploitation cinema: gritty, boundary-pushing B-movies. Or as Hicks puts it: 'A safe place for weirdos and outsiders.' June's inaugural screenings include everything from Todd Browning's silent horror The Unknown, to Roman Polanski's erotic thriller Bitter Moon, to David Winters' Cannes-set giallo The Last Horror Film. The programming embraces an anything-goes approach, inspired by the edgy offerings of London's infamous Scala cinema. 'I like films where the beauty in them comes through how the audience receives and nurtures them in their collective imagination,' Hicks tells Euronews Culture. 'Whether it's the practical effects, or the score, or the bad acting that they find really quotable — it belongs to the audience in the long run.' The Nickel might be small, but in an era of digital disconnection and algorithmic ennui, it's part of a growing movement across Europe: DIY film clubs and hyperlocal venues that counter the monoculture of streaming services and multiplexes. From Liverpool's trans-inclusive 'Paraphysis Cinema' to the feminist-themed 'Tonnerre' in Paris, these repertory pop-ups represent a desire among cinephiles to discover subversive oddities as intended: with an audience. 'These community spaces are an opportunity to bring people back together to have conversations about movies,' Hicks says. 'You don't have to all feel the same, but the idea of being challenged, or getting the giggles together about some strange little forgotten gem, is always going to be entertaining.' This idea of confronting discomfort together is key. Namwali Serpell, writing in the New Yorker, recently lamented the rise of 'new literalism' — a cinematic trend where movies like The Substance and Anora heavy-handedly spell out their meanings and politics. Exploitation cinema, in all its moral ambiguity and tonal absurdity, offers a thrilling antithesis. 'I actually prefer, particularly when you look at the films of the 70s, how murky those movies were — that it's not abundantly clear if the filmmakers had the right morals,' Hicks explains. 'For me, that doesn't mean it's actually promoting poor morals. I think audiences are intelligent enough to challenge what they're seeing.' Before raising nearly £14,000 (€16,640) for its permanent space, Hicks ran The Nickel as an event programme for his local pub and The Cinema Museum. Much of what he shared was on rare 16mm prints, tapping into the sensory ambience of physical formats. Similar to the revival of vinyl, the crackle and click of film reels have become a way for people to connect with art more tangibly. 'You can't come close to the aesthetic experience of watching an original film print being projected in public when you're streaming things digitally,' Hicks says, citing one magical moment at The Cinema Museum when the projector got stuck and burned a film print: 'Everybody was just delighted. It was like we'd seen a shooting star.' Though The Nickel is still under construction when I visit, the vibe already feels special. Obscure physical media lines the entrance's shelves, their lurid covers begging to be fondled. Meanwhile, the dimly-lit basement bar is set to double as a communal hub for film-related workshops. 'Ultimately the plan would be to have everybody create projects together, then we can screen them here,' says Hicks, excited at the prospect of working 'on weird shit' with others. At a time when cinemas face a precarious future, The Nickel's vision is ambitious and comfortingly optimistic. According to the Independent Cinema Office (ICO), almost a third of UK independent cinemas are under threat, with London institutions like The Prince Charles launching petitions against redevelopment. But Hicks doesn't believe cinema will die — just its commercial models of old. 'I think we're seeing a return to that neighbourhood, smaller, independent cinema, because multiplexes don't give people a compelling enough reason to leave their sofas,' he explains. 'But I have faith that people won't surrender something so essential as the experience of going to the movies. I really hope not, anyway. And if they do, it'll be a hill worth dying on for me.' As the end credits of The Washing Machine roll, the room fizzes with the excitable energy of a shared (and sordid) little secret. Away from the anodyne streaming output, there's a quiet rebelliousness in The Nickel's embrace of mess, madness and misfits — a reminder that cinema's darkened rooms are often where we feel most fully seen. The Nickel cinema opens in London on 11 June. An image of five elderly women having a giggle while sharing spring rolls in a quiet corner of Sichuan has been crowned the world's best food photograph. Titled simply as "The Elderly Having Delicious Food", the heartwarming photo by Chinese photographer Xiaoling Li has taken the top prize at this year's World Food Photography Awards, beating nearly 10,000 entries from 70 countries. Shot in Shuangliu Ancient Town, the image captures what Li describes as a 'Dragon Gate formation' - a Chinese phrase for neighbours gathering to chat, gossip, and share stories over food. 'They eat the famous Sichuan snack 'spring rolls,'' says Li. 'Food makes these people happy; they enjoy a beautiful and joyful life.' The awards, sponsored by Tenderstem® Bimi®, were announced in a glittering ceremony at London's Mall Galleries, hosted by chef and author Yotam Ottolenghi. The competition spans 25 categories - from 'Bring Home the Harvest' to 'Food in the Field' - and celebrates the many ways food weaves through our lives, cultures, and stories. 'These Awards showcase the power of photography in telling incredible food stories from around the world,' said Dave Samuels, Brand Director at Tenderstem® Bimi®. 'No matter how the world changes, food remains at the heart of our lives.' A selection of the winning images will be on display at Fortnum & Mason from 2 June and the Museum of the Home from 3 June to 7 September. Below, feast your eyes upon a few of our favourite winning images from this year's competition.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scala introduces AI-driven restaurant automation solution
Scala has launched an AI-driven restaurant automation solution designed to revolutionise the quick service restaurant (QSR) sector. The solution, known as Scala Quintet, aims to enhance speed of service, order accuracy, back-of-house operations and sales conversion through an integrated platform of digital solutions. The Quintet platform is the result of Scala's expertise in visual display, AI optimisation and user experience design. It offers restaurant operators and managers complete control over digital menu boards, allowing for the creation, scheduling and real-time updates of content. This includes the management of product descriptions, category tags and limited-time offers to improve the customer experience and drive sales. The Scala Quintet solution comprises five key components that work together to automate and streamline restaurant operations. Street-facing digital displays are designed to capture the attention of passers-by and encourage restaurant visits with dynamic content that can be updated through the Quintet system. Indoor and outdoor digital menu boards at ordering counters and drive-throughs features clear, engaging content that can be updated in real time. Self-order kiosks integrate with Quintet's kitchen system and update orders in real time for customers and staff. Orders pop up on kitchen screens instantly, and progress is shown on menu boards. Kitchen displays give staff control over preparation steps, enabling efficient task distribution with designated zones. Digital displays for customer order pick-up enhance accuracy and service speed. Scala chairman Chris Riegel added: "Scala Quintet pairs the Scala heritage of using visual displays to convert sales for our customers with our ordering workflow and self-service capabilities to automate and enhance the efficiency of restaurant operations and drive greater profitability.' "Scala introduces AI-driven restaurant automation solution" was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scala Launches Quintet, an All-in-One AI-Driven Restaurant Automation Solution
Five Components of Quintet Deliver Self-Order Convenience, Improved Accuracy and Efficiency MALVERN, PENNSYLVANIA / / May 19, 2025 / Scala today announced a new all-in-one solution, Scala Quintet, which delivers improved speed of service, order accuracy, back-of-house efficiency, and significantly improved uplift and sales conversion for the QSR sector. Scala Quintet launches with a focus on quick service restaurants and will expand to additional sectors who have a need for self-service applications that optimize consumer service times, labor efficiency, and personalized guest experiences that help improve the bottom line. The Quintet platform was built leveraging Scala's extensive visual display and guided sales experience, AI optimization and best-in-class intuitive user experience methodology, giving restaurant operators, and managers direct control over the creation, scheduling, and real-time updates of digital menu boards. Quintet includes outward-facing attract window screens, self-order kiosks, kitchen order-management tablets, and order-ready screens/pickup systems. A built-in AI layer personalizes content and order experience updates for digital menu boards and displays, including product descriptions for new and existing items, category tags, labels and bundles, limited-time offers (LTOs), and premium features. "Scala Quintet pairs the Scala heritage of using visual displays to convert sales for our customers with our ordering workflow and self-service capabilities to automate and enhance the efficiency of restaurant operations and drive greater profitability," said Chris Riegel, Chairman of Scala. The five components of Scala Quintet introduce fully integrated digital signs and solutions at key points of automation and efficiency for guests and crew: Street-facing digital displays: Attract attention and drive restaurant visits with attention-grabbing content on large-format digital displays, all powered by updates made in Quintet. Indoor and Outdoor Digital menu boards: Clear, compelling content on digital displays at the ordering counter and in the digital drive thru is easily updated in real time. Make full use of dynamic dayparting and AI automation options to drive more sales using Quintet's intuitive UI, regardless of technical design or content management skills. Self-order kiosk: Kiosks are fully integrated with Quintet's kitchen management application, ensuring that both guests and crew receive real-time order updates. Once an order is placed, it immediately appears on a kitchen-facing screen for processing, while guests can follow order progress on the menu board. Kitchen order management displays: Quintet allows you to optimize your fast-paced kitchen workflow, tailored to your QSR's specific operational needs. Your crew has complete control over every step of the preparation process. Additionally, Quintet lets you set up different task-preparation zones throughout the kitchen, streamlining task distribution to the right crew. Order-ready screen/order pickup solution: Customer-facing displays and fixtures, tailored to your restaurant pickup needs. Order-ready screens help the crew drive order accuracy, speed, and high value service experience that brings the customer back. Replacing cluttered, disorganized static fixtures, digital displays provide clarity and order status updates in real time - all customizable and seamlessly organized through Quintet's interface. "There is a need to streamline the disparate technology solutions that QSRs have been introducing to the customer experience since the opportunity with digital menu boards was realized," said Harry Horn, Vice President Marketing Global at Scala. "Quintet keeps the user experience at the core of its value for both the QSR customer and the kitchen crew. While integrating complex systems, Quintet remains easy to use, easy to update, and fully automated. The solution will benefit many industries looking to optimize efficiency and personalization." Scala, part of the STRATACACHE family of digital solutions companies, debuted the five-component platform in STRATACACHE's booth #8209 at the National Restaurant Association Show, being held May 17-20 in Chicago. Learn more about Scala Quintet at MEDIA CONTACT: Andrea Poley Director, Communications & Digital SOURCE: Scala Inc. View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire
India.com
02-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
Sachin Dixit: A Visionary Engineering Leader Driving Innovation in AI, Fintech, Data Engineering and Enterprise Applications
A well-known leader in technology innovation, Sachin Dixit puts him in a place to use his skill in AI and Machine Learning for the transformation of the Fintech sector. He has close to two decades of work experience and majorly worked on AI, fintech, data engineering and enterprise application. Sachin combines high technical prowess with strategy accrued from the heart of innovation, San Francisco Bay Area. He is postgraduate from IIT-Kharagpur, Masters in Computer science, NPU and specialisation in Machine Learning from UC Santa Cruz which more significantly add both technically and with respect to precedent. During this time in his career, he has had integral responsibilities in implementing high-value solutions across leading organizations, such as Stripe Inc., Yahoo Inc., Oracle Corporation, and Fidelity Investments. Some of his award-winning achievements include best team player at Stripe, star employee at Yahoo, and spot awards across the other organizations. His professional ties with the Institution of Engineers (India) serve to signify his commitment towards technology and engineering. He is a member of the Emerging Leaders committee, involved in Oracle Applications and Technology User Group (OATUG). A Senior Member of the IEEE, he is on a number of committees, including Technical Community on Data Engineering, Technical Community on Cloud Computing, and Technical Community on Security and Privacy, and others. Sachin is a member of SigmaXI, an organization with a mission to promote excellence and meaningful advancements in the technology area. It, in effect, qualitatively confers free patent rights onto him in this domain. The patent specifies that the technique involves usage of AI technology in hoisting process performance from an AI and Enterprise perspective. Sachin records for Solutions Architecture at Stripe and specifically Venue Engineering for almost all projects that remain so contemporary with respect to financial systems. He has another major role in the redesigning of a financial data warehouse by bringing fragmented systems together, along the title – Lead Project Champion. He had driven the innovation project in the year 2023 using the latest technology stack with the awesome features offered by AWS, Airflow for workflow management, Spark, Scala, Python, and Golang with back S3 storage and querying all done by integrated custom batch-processing models for data engineering, as well as Kafka for real-time data solutions and personalized adapters for third-party applications and legacy systems. Security governance should be emphasized more with restricting access controls per limited access among several teams. An initiative was undertaken to create a common data warehousing system with the intention of achieving operational cost savings, process optimization, and capabilities for real-time reporting. It laid the foundation for collaborating on data while independently drawing insights of importance to all actors in the financial realm. It will serve to add further insight into business planning by CEOs, and its flexibility will never deter Stripe from growing with respect to stability or security. Sachin's quite the unsung value in the company, where every task he undertakes anchors the system, which then carries out in an utmost efficient way, saving millions while keeping that efficiency running with such high traffic. The program really is built on solid ground, and from here, everything else falls into place along trustworthy AI applications, predictive analytics, large-scale data processing, and auditing processes. So, Sachin keeps making Stripe leading in a fast-changing AI-Driven Fintech ecosystem. Well, Sachin keeps leading Stripe in a fast-evolving AI-driven fintech ecosystem. Among all the accolades and ranks he has earned during his corporate career, he has also managed to publish a few research articles in even more highly-sought-after academic arenas as evidenced from TechRxiv (IEEE), JISEM, and IJSRSET. The publication of the article 'AI Powered Risk Modeling in Quantum Finance: A New Paradigm for Enterprise Decisions Systems' in July 2022 has managed to raise eyebrows only with the title. The paper abstracts how very likely are the unimaginable fusion between artificial intelligence and quantum computing to modify the manner of financial risk modeling and enterprise decision-making occur. These ranges can vary from hybrid algorithms outperforming purely classical algorithms in precision, performance, and scalability to the applications such as financial model optimization or fraud detection. In every possible way, Sachin's leadership is beyond the technical achievements of his race. He creates an environment that holds bold ideas, mentoring engineers to link their work with business objectives, thereby incorporating security design ideals. His reach is global: judging tech competitions at Conrad and Globee Awards; speaking at ISMG events and IEEE conferences; sharing expertise through white papers on AI and security at such platforms as TechRxiv; member of Funds Grant committee at Sigma XI GIAR program, 'The more I learn, the more I share' adds an ever-expanding, crescent cycle of growth and innovation to a sustainable influence. With regard to his future, Sachin is considering agentive tools for AI, cloud-centered architecture, and process automation to augment engineering capabilities. He visualizes proactive real-time systems that would anticipate problems with AI to reduce cost-acquired overhead while enhancing performance. An innovator in his own domain, Sachin Dixit is a true man of past, present, and future with a tech lens so powerful that its view will change the future for AI and Fintech. In this way, his work will give visibility to a different kind of progress, while mentorship to today will provide a foundation for tomorrow's innovators. Disclaimer – consumer connect initiative
