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Cycle Country Accessories Corporation’s six-month search for a CEO recently ended with the hiring of Randy Kempf, whose background fits nicely with the company’s desire for more manufacturing expertise.
Kempf is a former executive of two Indiana manufacturing companies, including most recently as senior vice president of operations for Wessels Co., a maker of pressure vessels for fluid control applications.
“We wanted somebody that had pretty good experience in several areas. Manufacturing, obviously, was very important to us,” said Jim Danbom, the founder of Cycle Country and the chairman of its board.
The Iowa company dismissed its former CEO, Ron Hickman, in April, saying it wanted to increase shareholder value and growth. The company, which is traded on AMEX as ATC, has seen its shares drop from a high of $3.95 in the past 52 weeks to a low of $1.69. The share’s value has since rebounded somewhat to $2 as of Sept. 29.
Cycle Country, however, remains the market share leader in some aftermarket categories, saying it has more than 50 percent of the worldwide market in several product segments. So it’s not surprising that besides manufacturing expertise, Cycle Country also was looking for a CEO with a sales background and public relations skills.
“We wanted him to be a person that was able to deal with the public extremely well,” Danbom said, “and so far I’ve seen that happen.”
Among Kempf’s first goals will be concentrating on improving sales and streamlining the company’s manufacturing process. Danbom said Kempf will first “spend quite a bit time working with distribution and dealer channels. He has several trips planned that will be along” with Brad Danbom, the company’s national sales manager and one of Jim’s sons.
Kempf also held upper-level management positions at companies such as E-Lite Technologies, Inc, Molex, Inc., Brush Wellman, Inc. and Rockwell International, Inc. (Collins Radio).
At his last job, at Wessels Co., Kempf addressed the company’s supply chain management, implemented a lean manufacturing process and developed capital improvement and cost reduction programs, according to a Cycle Country press release.
With Kempf now at Cycle Country, Jim Danbom expects the company to broaden its product line and continue to look at possible acquisitions. The company added to its manufacturing capabilities by purchasing Simonsen Iron Works last year and has bought other accessory companies, including Weekend Warrior, previously.
“We’re excited about acquisitions,” Danbom said, noting the company is currently looking at a possible acquisition. “We would like to add as many products that are in line with what we’re doing.” psb
Copyright 2006 Powersports Business


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…and that vision is that the company isn’t doing too badly at all, with #1 brands in categories like bottled water (Dasani), O.J. (Simply Orange) and Enhanced Water (Glaceau) while it’s seeing growth in places like iced tea (Gold Peak) and even sports drinks (Powerade up 13 percent).
Story jumped into the paper likely on the rumors of Coke’s potential for a play for Monster Energy, but despite some analysts squawking that the company needs to take leadership in all categories, there’s an equal number of claims that the company, with 500 brands, has trouble focusing as well.
Read it all here.
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Netflix demand share on the decline as Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max and more make their mark on the industry.
Los Angeles (March 16, 2021) - Netflix original series continued to capture a majority of the world’s audience demand for the full year 2020, according to Parrot Analytics’ latest Global TV Demand Report. However, in the face of new competition from the likes of Disney+, Apple TV+, and HBO Max, Netflix’s 53.5% global share of demand for digital original series was its lowest in our history, and was a 6.3 percentage point decline compared to 2019.
The main reason for this decline for Netflix was the proliferation of new streaming services. In its first full year of availability, Apple TV+ established 3.9% global demand share for digital originals, while HBO Max and Disney+ followed close behind at 3.6% each. Other niche streaming services gained a combined 8.8% of global demand share, reflecting the proliferation and growth of streaming platforms around the world.
Parrot Analytics, the leading television data analytics firm focused on gauging trends and demand for content around the world, examined the demand share for global SVOD platforms, digital original series popularity, and market-specific genre demand shares for the full year 2020 in its recently released 2020 Global Television Demand Report. The report features market-specific analyses including the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Sci-fi dramas, Superhero series, and Crime dramas continued to captivate audiences worldwide. The Mandalorian dominated the digital original charts, and was the most in-demand digital original in nine of the ten countries analyzed.
“There is a clear contrast between the strategies employed by Disney+ and Netflix,” noted Parrot Analytics Insights Analyst Christofer Hamilton, who authored the report. “Disney+ has been dependent more on a global blockbuster like The Mandalorian while Netflix has developed a greater number of series that can be more targeted to specific market tastes.”
The Global Television Demand Report is available for free for DEMAND360LITE subscribers.
About Parrot Analytics
Parrot Analytics is the leading global content demand analytics company for the multi-platform TV business. With the world’s largest TV audience demand datasets, the company currently tracks more than 1.5B daily expressions of demand in over 100 languages from 200+ countries. With Parrot Analytics’ DEMAND360 platform, everyone from individuals to global media powerhouses can access tools to help better understand the global demand for content across all platforms, as well as drive better production, distribution, acquisition and marketing decisions, and in-creased subscriber growth and retention. The company has offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Mexico City, São Paulo, Sydney and Auckland. Connect with us on YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter. For more information, see www.parrotanalytics.com.
For Parrot Analytics, contact:
+1 310 651 8158


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Kevin Hart takes physical fitness very seriously. He enjoys working out and tries to do it daily. Over the past year, he has expanded his passion for health and fitness to his fans.
Source: Kevin Winter / Staff / Getty
Throughout 2015 and continuing into the new year, Kevin Hart and Nike teamed up for 5K runs and high-intensity events branded as “Move With Hart.” Kevin is adding a new dimension to his commitment to getting his fans in shape.
On Jimmy Fallon, Kevin announced a cross-trainer collaboration with Nike. His cross-trainer, which he named,The Hustle Harts, will release in April 2016.
“I want to inspire people, to motivate people, to become the best versions of themselves possible, through physical fitness.” – Kevin Hart
Hart wore his new shoe on Fallon for the world to get a sneak peek. The Nike is red with a gold shoe. There are inspiring quotes painted on the shoe that become highly visible when you take a flash photo.


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Amazon is infamous for copying hot product designs and selling cheaper versions under its own private labels.
The company’s private label biz is on track to hit $31B by 2022, up 98% year over year from its $2B earnings last year.
Allbirds, the $1.4B company behind Silicon Valley’s favorite lace-ups, is Amazon’s latest victim. Last week, Amazon released the Galen Wool Blend Sneakers under its private label 206 Collective, and they bear a not-so-sneaky resemblance to Allbird’s Wool Runners.
Where they lack resemblance is in price: Amazon’s copycats are $45. Allbirds sell for $95.
But Allbirds isn’t exactly flipping Amazon the bird…
Other brands have snagged Allbirds’ shoe designs in the past; the company has tried to litigate, with little success. Allbirds’ co-founder and co-CEO, Joey Zwillinger, says he’s more bothered by the sustainability implications of the Amazon-bird than the design ripoff.
“Given what I know about manufacturing, there is no way you can sell a shoe for that low while taking care of all of the environmental and animal welfare considerations and compliance we take into account,” he said.
Amazon has also been accused of juicing its own products
Brands selling knockoff products is nothing new. Retailers have been doing this for a long time, and it’s (generally) totally legal.
One-third of US retail dollars spent online go to Amazon, and the company now sells over 10k products under its own brands.
Some companies have reported selling their products on Amazon for years, only to see sales plummet after Amazon swipes their design and puts out similar, significantly cheaper products.
Recently, Amazon has also come under fire for allegedly skewing its product search algorithm to favor products that are more profitable for the company, including private label items, following a Wall Street Journal report. Spokespeople from Amazon, however, deny this claim.


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Spanish haulage association wants more monitoring of foreign hauliers
You can read this article in 3 minutes
The Spanish haulage association has called for increased monitoring of foreign hauliers, citing figures that show Eastern European haulage firms are gaining an even bigger share of Spain's domestic and international transport market.
Referring to a recent Spanish Ministry of Transport report, which included figures from 2019 and 2020, FENADISMER said that fleets from Eastern European countries transported 30.7% of all goods brought into Spain by truck in 2020. This is 2% more than it was the year before. When it comes to exports in 2020, the figure is a similar 28.8%.
Poland remains the biggest contributor, but the presence of haulage firms from Lithuania and Bulgaria is becoming increasingly felt in Spain (in the case of Bulgarian hauliers, 2020 saw growth of 140%).
FENADISMER said the data from the report once again shows “the need to approve, as soon as possible, measures to control the activity carried out by foreign transport companies within the European Union-approved Mobility Package approved in June 2020″.
Having analysed the report, the Spanish haulage association says it is certain that the presence of transport companies based in Eastern Europe will grow for another year. It says many of them will be “mailbox companies ” belonging to large Spanish fleet operators. The organisation argues this is true when it comes to both international transport into and out of Spain, despite the fact that the destination of Spanish goods is not often the countries where these fleets are based (the report found that 85% of Spanish exports are to western countries of the EU).
Moreover, FENADISMER writes the transport fleets from Eastern European countries “disproportionately transport imported goods” into Spain, and as a consequence also exports from Spain, which “clearly shows they are relocated companies for the sole purpose of obtaining lower tax and labour costs, but without any real activity in their own countries.”
Finally, FENADISMER claims there is also an increased increased activity from Eastern European countries in Spain when it comes to domestic road transport in the country. Here, it writes that the activity carried out in Spanish domestic goods transport by the fleets from Romania is especially significant – in 2020 only Portugal did more. It is said that Romanian hauliers are responsible for 28.5% of all cabotage transport carried out in Spain.


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Samsung is organizing an event Galaxy Unpacked Up on February 9th to launch a series of high-end mobile phones Galaxy S22 (It is expected that there will be a Galaxy Tab S8 Series to jam as well), which previously had both rendered images + various specifications have come out to a lot of them … the latest also has a picture. The device of the Galaxy S22, all 3 models have come out, revealing a complete color scheme.
The leaked images of all three Galaxy S22 models have come from major news source Evan Blass (@evleaks) who has revealed the renders, which are believed to be official press images of the series of phones. Each model has 4 colors to choose from.
For the youngest model like the Galaxy S22, there will be a total of 4 colors to choose from: pink, black, dark green and white, but there is no name for each color that will come out.
As for the middle model, the Galaxy S22 + has a total of 4 colors and is the same color as the Galaxy S22 model: pink, black, dark green, white.
Galaxy S22 Ultra
The biggest senior Galaxy S22 Ultra, in addition to having a design that is different from the younger generation (Because it looks more like the Galaxy Note series) The device also has colors that look more taciturn and official, including black, crimson (or purple?), dark green and white. The S Pen The handle will be all black. Except for the bottom of the pen, there will be a color according to the device.
Samsung has confirmed that we will see the official launch of the Galaxy S22 Series on February 9, 2022, which is just a short time left…but who is aiming for which model? What colors are these?
Source: @evleakes (Twitter)


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Google is cleaning up its mess after the company says it mistakenly collecting browsing data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks as part of its Street View project.
Microsoft may be on its way to earning a percentage of every Android handset sold, something even Google hasn't accomplished.
Google Labs, a place for application and tool prototypes not yet ready for primetime, has welcomed in the past few months a group of newcomers. From Google's first foray into Twitter apps to a more visual way to peruse the best blogs and articles fro...
A few days ago, 10 privacy commissioners from Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Israel, Ireland, The Netherlands and New Zealand wrote an open letter to Google's CEO Eric Schmidt asking for more proactive privacy protections ...
Google says it doesn't want to be your Internet service provider; rather, it wants to make your ISP behave in a more Google-friendly manner.
Google's decision to stop censoring search engine results in China, announced in a blog posting Monday, flies in the face of common wisdom when it comes to doing business in the country.
With Google said to be working with Intel and Sony to develop a way to bring the best of the Internet to television, industry analysts wonder if the time for a smart TV has finally arrived.
Technology drives just about everything we do, and not just at our jobs. From banks to hospitals to the systems that keep the juice flowing to our homes, we are almost entirely dependent on tech. More and more of these systems are interconnected, and...
Microsoft's Bing search engine may still be a bit player in the lucrative online search business dominated by Google, but it's slowly and steadily gaining users.
Android users, get ready to give your phone the finger.
Google on Monday announced the acquisition of Picnik, a photo editing Web site.
It can't be easy being Ray Ozzie. Microsoft's chief software architect is just 18 months into the job as Bill Gates' handpicked successor, yet depending on whom you ask, his tenure will either signal a bold new era for the company or mark the beginni...
Apple, Google and Microsoft are locked in a three-way struggle for industry dominance, competing to varying degrees on hardware, computer and cell phone operating systems, applications, entertainment, Internet search and more.
Google on Wednesday announced that it wants to "build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States." Google's proposed networks would service anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 people with co...
Kaspersky Lab may not be a household name in the United States, but in some parts of the world, it's the most popular consumer antivirus software. In China the company boasts 100 million users, and the software is also popular in Germany, and, of cou...
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#Russian #Netflix #customers #sue #streaming #service
Russian customers of Netflix have launched a category motion lawsuit in opposition to the streaming large for leaving the Russian market, demanding 60 million roubles ($726,000) in compensation, the RIA information company reported on Wednesday.
Netflix Inc mentioned in March that it suspended its service in Russia and had quickly stopped all future tasks and acquisitions within the nation because it assessed the affect of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“In the present day, a legislation agency representing the pursuits of Netflix customers filed a category motion lawsuit in opposition to the American Netflix service with the Khamovnichesky District Courtroom of Moscow”, RIA cited legislation agency Chernyshov, Lukoyanov & Companions as saying.
“The rationale for the lawsuit was a violation of Russian customers’ rights as a consequence of Netflix’s unilateral refusal to offer providers in Russia.”
Netflix didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Scores of overseas companies have announced temporary shutdowns of shops and factories in Russia or mentioned they had been leaving for good since Moscow started what it calls “a particular army operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Ukraine and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked conflict of aggression in opposition to its neighbor.


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Don’t overlook the boring legacy companies behind Microsoft Stock
InvestorPlace – Stock market news, stock advice and trading tips
After 15 years of relatively stable performance, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stocks went into serious growth mode in 2013. Over the past nine years, MSFT stocks have returned over 960%. The company has a market cap of over $2.2 trillion. This is despite a pullback that has hit many tech stocks and reduced MSFT by 11% so far this year.
Source: Asif Islam / Shutterstock.com
Despite its stumble to start 2022, Microsoft stock remains a top pick. It gets a “B” grade in Portfolio Grader.
Investment analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal classified MSFT as a consensus “buy”. Among the 43 analysts, there is not a single opponent who suggests that you sell your shares. Their average price target of $369.83 has a 25% upside.
While the focus has been on Microsoft’s “new” lines of business, like cloud computing, driving that growth, here’s a reminder that the company’s old lines of business, like its productivity suite Office and Windows also continue to perform very well.
MSFT Stock: don’t forget Office and Windows
When it comes to Microsoft, many investors have focused on industries seen as the future. These are non-traditional areas where the company is enjoying considerable success. In its most recent quarter, Microsoft reported that revenue from Azure and other cloud services grew 46% year-over-year.
Meanwhile, the company continues to make headlines for its planned acquisition of the gaming giant ActivisionBlizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI). This purchase should strengthen the company’s position in everything from Xbox games to the Metaverse. He is seen as an important future driver for the growth of MSFT shares.
I can understand the excitement. However, from my perspective, the key to investing in MSFT stocks is not just the promise of cloud computing, gaming and the metaverse. It’s the economic reliability of the things Microsoft has been doing since day one: Office and Windows. They’re like insurance in case one of Microsoft’s big bets fails, but they also continue to be an important contributor to the company’s success.
Looking at Q2 earnings reported by MSFT in January, productivity and business process revenue grew 19% year-on-year to $15.9 billion. Much of this revenue was generated by consumer and commercial versions of Office products. This represents 31% of the company’s total turnover. The More Personal Computing division had revenue of $17.5 billion. This represents a 15% year-over-year increase and 34% increase in total company revenue. A lot of that was Windows and commercial Windows products. Windows OEM revenue (fees paid by PC manufacturers to install Windows on their computers) increased by 25%.
In short, boring old “legacy” companies like Office and Windows still made up a huge chunk of Microsoft’s revenue. And that revenue continues to grow – it doesn’t fade.
Conclusion on MSFT shares
When considering investing in MSFT shares, you should definitely look to the future. The company’s Azure cloud services and Xbox gaming division – and their combined ties to the metaverse – offer the promise of continued long-term growth.
However, what makes MSFT stock so attractive is that even if the Metaverse fails to reach its potential, even if Surface hardware does not sell as well as hoped, even if the popularity of Xbox games slows and even if Bing never manages to expand its search engine market share, Microsoft will remain a solid company. Because, despite the advances made by competitors, Windows still holds nearly 75% of global market share.
This means that the revenue (and profit) generated by Windows, Office, and related products and services will continue to flow, as they have for decades. Having this huge company in your back pocket is one of the main reasons why an investment in Microsoft is not a gamble.
Chances are, the company’s investments in cloud computing and other technologies will pay off big. The trajectory of MSFT stock over the past nine years shows that the company’s strategy is paying off. But even if things go wrong for a while, the reliable cash cows of Windows and Office will still be there.
With MSFT stock currently down 11% so far in 2022, there is an opening to pick up falling stocks with a high probability that they will generate impressive long-term growth. And little risk that a bad bet on technology will cause them to lose value.
As of the date of publication, Louis Navellier had a long position in MSFT. Louis Navellier has held (neither directly nor indirectly) any other position in the securities mentioned in this article. The InvestorPlace research staff member primarily responsible for this article has not held (directly or indirectly) any position in the securities mentioned in this article.
Louis Navellier, who has been called “one of the most important money managers of our time”, has broken the silence in this shocking “say it all” video… exposing one of the most shocking events in the world. history of our country…and the only movement every American must make today.
The post Don’t overlook the boring legacy companies behind Microsoft Stock appeared first on InvestorPlace.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.


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Yell's call for help as debt looms large and annual sales fall
Corporate rebranding successes and failures
Shares in Yell slumped 22 per cent after the directories firm which owns the Yellow Pages posted huge losses and warned that it may breach its banking covenants this year.
The firm blamed ‘increasingly difficult trading conditions’ but plans to win new digital revenues from small businesses.
Yell struggles under debts of £2.2bn built up through a string of online directory acquisitions made in the early part of the century.
The company swung to a fullyear loss of £1.42bn from a pre-tax profit of £66.3m, largely due to a £1.59bn writedown in the value of businesses it had previously bought in the US, the UK, Spain, Chile and Peru.
The firm said: ‘The decline in print and online directory revenues has a large adverse effect on the earnings of the group.’ Yell’s annual sales slipped 14 per cent to £1.6bn, though it did manage to pay down £565m on its debt pile.
The firm has appointed Goldman Sachs and Greenhill as advisers to open talks with its syndicate of 300 banks to address its debt burden, in a deal that could include a debt-for-equity swap.
The majority of Yell’s debt matures in April 2014, although it plans to reach an agreement by March 2013.
The firm also said it would rebrand itself as Hibu, which chief executive Mike Pocock said reflects its new focus on managing websites and other digital marketing for small businesses.
Shares in Yell fell 0.75p to 2.41p, valuing the firm at just £56.8m.
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FP TrendingJul 01, 2020 15:31:47 IST
Facebook has started making Dark mode available for some iOS users following its launch for Android devices.
According to a report in GSMArena, Facebook has revealed that a small percentage of users globally are getting the Dark mode in the Facebook app.
The report added that Facebook's Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp have all received the Dark Mode.
As per a report in MacRumours, select users are now able to activate the feature under Settings and Privacy within the Menu tab. The report adds that users are now able to choose from light and dark appearances, as well as an option to automatically change the app's appearance based on the device's system settings.
According to XDA Developers, the company hasn’t revealed any information regarding a wider rollout or when the new dark mode setting will be released for the Android app as of now. However, it is expected that the new dark mode will each all users in the coming week.
As per a report in 9To5Google, the main Facebook app is actually the last from the social networking firm to actually add an AMOLED-friendly theme.
It has been dark since yesterday. Since I have Universal Dark Theme enabled in Android 10, I didn't have to toggle the settings. It switched automatically after the update. #Facebook #darkmode pic.twitter.com/8xFqkKF2XW
— Kartyk (@SendTheFood) June 29, 2020
— Julian Kusanagi (@JulianKusanagi) June 29, 2020
Dark Mode coming to Facebook App.
Although, dark mode is already featured on the Facebook Lite.
Guess what, the dark mode would be rolled out to iOS users first but not for long. Android users will start seeing the update rolled in by the end of this week. pic.twitter.com/BGHAq2hdqY
— Femi Greaterheights ❁ (@greaterheights_) June 30, 2020
— 🐍🏀💜💛 (@NotFridayCraig) June 26, 2020
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ROLEX, CARTIER AND TIFFANY TOP LUXURY BRANDS IN NEW STUDY
A study of brand intimacy – defined as the emotional science that measures the bonds we form with the brands we use and love –found that jewelers have topped the luxury category. The MBLM’s Brand Intimacy 2019 Study also found that the luxury industry dropped one spot from 2018, ranking 14th out of 15 industries studied.
Jewelers Come on Top
Rolex topped the industry, followed by Cartier and Tiffany & Co. The rest of the top ten luxury list included: Chanel, Jaguar, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Land Rover and Burberry.
Rolex accounted for more than 22% of watch sales worldwide, raking in an estimated $11.6 billion in 2018. According to the study, the top intimate brands in the US “outperformed the top brands in the Fortune 500 and S&P indices in both revenue and profit over the past 10 years”.
Mario Natarelli, managing partner of MBLM, commented: “Luxury fell in our 2019 rankings, which continues to be a surprising finding because of the prestige and value of these time-honored brands. We believe that the brands in this industry will strongly benefit from shifting their focus and appealing to consumers’ emotions more”.
Indulge Yourself in Tiffany
The study found that Tiffany & Co. was the top-performing luxury brand for “indulgence”, defined as “moments of pampering and gratification”. Tiffany & Co. was also the #1 brand for users with incomes under $100,000.
In addition, among men users over 35, and those with incomes of $100,000 or more, Rolex ranked #1 in the luxury category.
Chanel was the top brand among women, while millennials favored Gucci.
Chanel and Tiffany & Co. improved their positions in the industry since last year, while Land Rover and Hermès fell in the rankings.
Another report published concurrently by MBLM stated that, while the number of intimate luxury users appears to be decreasing, “those that are intimate appear to be using their brands more frequently, seeing them as important parts of their life, and willing to pay more for them”.
MBLM concluded that “to succeed in the future, luxury brands will need to move beyond the rarified or the sensual, and begin to mine the deeper consumer bonds that endure in order to truly resonate”.


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Ribena manufacturer Suntory Beverage & Food Great Britain & Ireland (SBF GB&I) has announced that, following a successful trial, it is replacing plastic straws on Ribena cartons with 100% recyclable paper straws.
SBF GB&I stated, "The permanent move will eliminate a piece of plastic packaging that often goes unrecycled and save up to 16 tonnes of plastic from being produced per year in another step towards SBF GB&I's ambition to reach 100% sustainable packaging by 2030.
"Since the initial trial, Ribena has strengthened the straw further with a second improved version ready to hit the shelves. Consumers will be able to try the new straw themselves across all Ribena cartons from this month, with full roll-out expected by April."
SBF GB&I Transformation Manager Statement
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SBF GB&I transformation manager Jo Padwick stated, "It is great to see our years of hard work getting such positive reviews from Ribena drinkers. We have taken into account all of the feedback to help us improve the new paper straw that is now being launched on the range across all stores.
"Saying goodbye to the final plastic straw is a great step on our journey towards 100% sustainable packaging by 2030."
© 2021 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.


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In their coverage of Herman Cain's official announcement that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, Associated Press reporters Shannon McCaffrey and Greg Bluestein limited their description of Cain's tenure as chief executive of Godfather's Pizza to the following:
He worked at Coca-Cola, Pillsbury and Burger King before taking the helm of the failing Godfather's Pizza franchise, which he rescued by shuttering hundreds of restaurants.
That's all he did, eh? Guys, if that's all you could cobble together about Cain's time at Godfather's, you should have ended the excerpted sentence after "franchise" (for which a better word would have been "chain").
The AP pair also omitted a couple of key elements of Cain's resume, specifically his tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association and his involvement as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, where he ultimately was elected chairman.
Here is a description of Cain's tenure at Godfather's found at a site called PizzaDominoes.com:
... in 1986, several franchises of Godfathers Pizza plummeted. And the pizza chain struggled to beat its competitors. So, Pillsbury selected Herman Cain to be the new president of Godfather’s. Cain had previously rescued some Burger King chains from bankruptcy; thereby earning him a remarkable reputation. And with his leading abilities, he managed to settle some lawsuits, eliminated non-profitable units, introduced more products, and arranged for delivery services. As a result, the pizza chain gradually went back to its feet. Plus, newer pizzas attracted more customers. The mouthwatering bacon cheeseburger pizza and fruit-filled cherry and apple dessert pizzas were introduced.
Moreover, Godfather’s Pizza focused on a one-number delivery system to compete with other pizza chains’ home delivery systems. Fortunately, this system had worked and Godfather’s eventually expanded. Furthermore, several humorous commercials were aired. This was the pizza chain’s attempt to increase public awareness of its products and add a fun concept. Godfathers Pizza also introduced products to pubic schools. It developed fun games that were related to pizzas. So, teachers used these games to encourage young students to master mathematical basics. And the students who performed well were given rewards.
So you see, Ms. McCaffrey and Mr. Bluestein, Cain's success at Godfather's wasn't just about shutting down restaurants and (wink, wink) sending people to the unemployment line. It was about growth and innovation.
Here's what Cain's web site says about his Godfather's experience and the two significant resume items the AP reporters ignored, plus the 1994 encounter with Bill Clinton that first brought him to the nation's attention (and which the AP did mention):
I could have been content with my executive role with one of America’s biggest corporations. Instead, after consulting with my wife, we decided to take one of the biggest risks of our marriage: picking up our young family, relocating yet again and accepting the call to become CEO and President of Godfather’s Pizza, a company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.
In 14 months, we turned the company around and returned it to profitability, and I ultimately led my management team to a buyout of Godfather’s Pizza. The company never went bankrupt, and today, there are still hundreds of locations across the U.S.
My success at turning around Godfather’s got the attention of fellow restaurateurs around the nation who invited me to join the Board of Directors of the National Restaurant Association and later elected me its chairman. In 1996, they retained me as the full-time President and the CEO of the National Restaurant Association, working on behalf of thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs.
... In 1994, as chairman of the National Restaurant Association, I had the opportunity to speak with President Clinton during a nationally televised town hall meeting. Here, I challenged the President regarding the impact on businesses if his health care overhaul proposal were passed.
President Clinton attempted to assure me and the millions of viewers watching at home that his legislation would not harm American business owners and their employees.
I was skeptical. “Quite honestly Mr. President, your calculations are incorrect,” I said. “In the competitive marketplace, it simply doesn’t work that way.”
Through these and other appearances on behalf of the National Restaurant Association, I began working with business leaders across all sectors of the American economy. This led to my acceptance of a position on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and I was subsequently elected their chairman.
Cain's official announcement speech is at his campaign's home page.
Back in January, the Politico's Ben Smith characterized Cain's candidacy as "quixotic." In the same item, here's how he described the Godfather's chain: "Godfather's still exists, mostly attached to convenience stores." Uh, Ben, the chain has 620 stores, and "still exists" as the eighth-largest in the country (as of 2009). Though there aren't any Godfather's locations in Ohio, where yours truly resides, I tend to doubt that most of the chain's locations are "attached to convenience stores." And even if they are, being Number 8 hardly qualifies as "still exists."
One gets the sense that Smith's description of Herman Cain's prospects is as inaccurate as his breezy putdown of Cain's former company.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.


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Want to get bent out of shape real quick? Buy one of Apple's new iPad Pros, find out that it's slightly bent, complain about it and then be told – by Apple – that it's still within manufacturing tolerances and won't be replaced.
Cue the outrage from Computerworld Executive Editor Ken Mingis (a long-time Apple user) and Macworld's Michael Simon – both of whom were stunned at how the issue has played out. (Simon calls it 'gaslightling.')
Then last week Apple CEO Tim Cook sent out a 1,400-word missive about the company's latest quarterly revenues, which will fall short of earlier expectations. Cook noted that the economy in China is slowing, which has affected iPhone sales – leading to lower (but still incredibly healthy) revenue. Cook also pointed out that people tend to keep their phones longer than they used to, the dollar is strong, and Apple's product releases in 2018 affected shipping dates.
He did not, alas, mention high iPhone prices. (Simon and Mingis weighed in on that little development as well.)
All in all, this episode of Mingis on Tech could be summed as the Apple WTF discussion.
Oh, and we're still waiting for the AirPower.
For an audio-only version of this episode, click play (or catch up on all earlier episodes) below. Or you can find us on iTunes or Pocket Casts, where you can download each episode and listen at your leisure.
Happy listening, and please, send feedback or suggestions for future topics to us. We'd love to hear from you.
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.


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With credit card fraud reported by Japanese companies increasing by 30% year over year to USD 294 million, banks in the market are showing interest for biometric smartcard solutions, and especially metal cards. KONA I expects banks to begin offering high-technology biometric cards to consumers in the second half of 2024.
In response to the growing demand for cybersecurity solutions by governments, public and private sector entities KONA I and IDEX Biometrics will bring state-of-the art secure ID and biometric payment card solutions to market. KONA I and IDEX Biometrics smart card platform provides the cybersecurity market with an end-to-end authentication platform focused on digital security, and compatible with standard protocols such as FIDO2, as well as biometric payments cards. Both solutions are delivered with optimal customer experiences and security by design.
KONA I is a global smart card and technology platform leader, headquartered in South Korea, manufacturing smart card products with an annual production capacity of more than 60 million cards. The fast-growing market in Japan is set to reach 30% of KONA I’s business by 2025.
Asia, including Japan, is leading the way for fingerprint biometric innovation in the payments industry, with a high penetration rate of contactless payments. Credit cards are the leading cashless payment method in Japan, and the market growing at a CAGR of 8%, is expected to reach $870 billion by 2028.
“The partnership with IDEX Biometrics enables us to react to the fast-growing demand for biometric smart cards in Japan,” said Koichiro Sasai, Head of KONA Japan LLC as a subsidiary of KONA I. “We are proud to offer bank customers in Japan the most innovative access and payment solutions. There is a very strong demand from affluent customer who seek the highest security and unparalleled value and user experiences, as offered by biometric metal cards.”
“We are excited to enter Japan with technology innovations that meets the needs for increased cyber security together with KONA I,” said Catharina Eklof, Chief Commercial Officer at IDEX Biometrics. “Through this partnership with KONA I, we are bringing relevant solutions to the growing demand for frictionless payments and smart card solutions, enabling banks in Japan to differentiate and support loyalty and trust with their customers.”
About IDEX Biometrics
IDEX Biometrics ASA ( idexbiometrics.com) is a global technology leader in fingerprint biometrics, offering authentication solutions across payments, access control, and digital identity. Our solutions bring convenience, security, peace of mind and seamless user experiences to the world. Built on patented and proprietary sensor technologies, integrated circuit designs, and software, our biometric solutions target card-based applications for payments and digital authentication. As an industry-enabler we partner with leading card manufacturers and technology companies to bring our solutions to market.
About KONA I
KONA I Co., Ltd (konai.com), a company based in South Korea, is a global smart card and technology platform provider focusing on providing smart cards, payment solutions and services for the financial, banking and public sectors. The company aims to contribute to society with technology and innovation in the area where the security is most critical, including but not limited to IOT, smart cards, and authentication.
IDEX, IDEX Biometrics and the IDEX logo are trademarks owned by IDEX Biometrics ASA. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders.
About this notice:
This notice was published by Marianne Bøe, Head of Investor relations, on 8 February 2024 at 11:00 CET on behalf of IDEX Biometrics ASA.


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HANOI/BANDAR LAMPUNG, Indonesia — Vietnam’s local coffee prices remained unchanged from last week on Thursday in low trade, as farmers had almost sold out their stocks.
Farmers in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s largest coffee-growing area, sold coffee COFVN-DAK at 32,000 dong ($1.38) per kg, unchanged from a week ago.
“There’s not much coffee left and so we can’t clinch new deals during the rest of the current crop year,” said a trader based in the Central Highlands.
The current 2019/20 crop year will officially end at the end of September.
Farmers will start the new harvest in October.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday said coffee production in Vietnam was seen falling 3.5% to 30.2 million 60-kg bags in the 2020/21 crop, compared with the previous season due to unfavorable weather.
Traders in Vietnam said they also expected output of the next crop to be 10%-15% lower.
“Apart from unfavorable weather condition, consistent low prices have discouraged farmers from taking care of their coffee trees as they have switched to fruit trees for better gains,” another trader based in the coffee belt said.
September robusta coffee settled up $6, or 0.48%, at $1,253 per metric ton on Wednesday.
Traders in Vietnam offered 5% black and broken grade 2 robusta COFVN-G25-SAI at $200 premium per metric ton to the September contract, flat from last week.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia’s Lampung province, Sumatran robusta beans were offered with $350 premium to July contract unchanged from last week, one trader said.
Another trader said premium increased to $350 to August contract, compared to $320 on July contract last week.
Premium for exports rose as offshore buyers compete for beans with local buyers, the trader said.
“Local roasters are offering high price for beans,” the trader said. ($1 = VND23,215)


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Reliance Digital, part of the multi-format Reliance Retail Ltd, opened its 36th store in the country on Saturday. This is its eighth outlet in Hyderabad, and the company plans to set up 36 more during the year.
“While revamping the digital-store format, packing them with experience zones, we are also gearing up to launch private labels,” Mr Brian Bade, Chief Executive (Consumer Durables, IT and Telecom), Reliance Retail Ltd, said.
“Experience zones enable customers to touch and feel products and also try them out before finalising plans. All stores will have such zones. The purchase of products will be followed by installation and also an executive explaining its features, wherever necessary,” he said.
During an interaction with Business Line after the launch of their store in Hyderabad, Mr Bade said: “We are on an aggressive growth path and have added 14 stores in the last six months and have tied up to double the number during the year.
The growth will come mainly from four metros and Hyderabad, Pune, and other major cities,” he said.
“Soon we plan to introduce private labels in our stores. These products would be sourced from Taiwanese and Korean manufacturers made to our specifications. We will introduce TVs, DVD players, home theatres and other home appliances and follow them up with other products,” he said.
“The digital stores are now being set up in a format of 9,000-12,000 sq.ft. We are introducing Reliance ResQ, an exclusive service centre that provides service and extended warranty covering most of the leading brands,” he said.
Source : The Hindu Business Line


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Scholastic sales up 26%
In the US, Scholastic’s revenue grew 26% to US$1.6 billion (A$2.3b) in the year ending 31 May.
The company posted an operating profit of US$97.5 million (A$140.2m) after a loss of US$22.7 million in 2021, due to Covid 19 shutting down book fairs.
The company attributed its strong performance last year to increased in-person book fair attendance, record fair-revenue levels in the US and strong demand for its educational products, as well as on-screen adaptations of titles including ‘The Bad Guys’ and Heartstopper.
Scholastic expects this year’s revenue to grow between eight to 10%. It’s anticipating fair revenue to reach 85% of pre-pandemic levels, while its media arm, Scholastic Entertainment, has more than 35 projects in development.
‘As educators, parents and policymakers look to close the learning gaps exacerbated by the pandemic, Scholastic will continue to be a trusted and preferred partner,’ said Scholastic president and CEO Peter Warwick. ‘In addition, our popular and highly valued intellectual property will fuel our growth and financial performance, as we continually expand and refresh our deep library of content.’
Category: International news


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Stefan Jacoby, CEO of bought-by-Geely Volvo needs to bring down the cost of Volvo’s European-made cars.
So where will the new Volvo factories be? You have two tries.
China? Check. Volvo might actually open three factories in China, Stefan Jacoby said recently in Stockholm. Details should be forthcoming within the next weeks.
Ok, now for another country … (Read More…)
Toyota’s capacity utilization at U.S. plants dropped to 60 percent in the second half of 2008 after the economic crisis hit the U.S. Enough of this. Utilization is up to 90 percent already. Next year, Toyota plans to run its N.A. factories at full tilt. More than that: Workers will be doing overtime, work weekend and holiday shifts, says The Nikkei [sub].
Of course, the fact that NUMMI is off-line could also have something to do with it.
The German paper Rheinische Post runs an interesting op-ed piece today. Headlined: “Opel fights its demise,” the article concludes that Opel most likely won’t make it:
Opel CEO Nick Reilly is facing a dilemma. Even before the outbreak of the economic crisis, Opel was confronted with an overcapacity of 20 percent. The Abwrackprämie being behind us, sales will crater. This creates extra pressure to eliminate more jobs. If Reilly implements his restructuring program, then he will have to fight the opposition of the workers. For once, it is easy to put a number to this: €265m a year. The workers wanted to forgo this sum – if Reilly won’t shut down any plants. Now Reilly is €265m short – and has to cut more jobs. At that point, the governments, on who’s support Reilly counts, will call it quits. Whether Opel is kept alive with tax money, with funds from the parent, or with money from the workforce: an artificial respiration of a company is ultimately more expensive than anticipated. And it is almost never successful.
Toyota had slammed hard on the brake when it came to capital expenditures. So hard that ToMoCo (and Sony) were rapped on the knuckles by the Japanese Ministry of Finance for hobbling Japan’s economy. Suddenly, Toyota starts pouring concrete and installing machinery again. Not because of newfound faith in the auto market in general. Two factors made them do it: The Yen has become so expensive that manufacturing in the USA is cheaper. And China is gobbling up cars faster than Toyota can make them.
According to the Nikkei [sub], a Toyota plant in the US and one in China will increase ToMoCo’s annual output capacity by 200,000 units before the Japanese 2010 fiscal ends on March 31, 2001. The construction will cost Toyota a little over $1b, depending on the vagaries of the greenback and its pegged follower, the Chinese Yuan. Here are the blueprints:


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Is Google book deal a threat to privacy?
October 7 is shaping up to be a big day for bookworms. On that day, a federal judge is expected to rule on a proposed agreement between Google and book publishers and authorsthat has been called the “most significant book industry development in the modern era” by Berkeley Professor Pamela Samuelson. If the settlement is approved, Google will gain the rights to scan and index tens of millions of currently books to which it currently lacks access, and upload them to its Google Books site. In exchange, Google will make a lump sum payment to authors and share its future book search revenues with them.8/20/2009


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Last year tax incentives for investments in innovative start-up companies were introduced. With the end of the tax year approaching it is a good time to revisit the rules.
RBA holds rates steady; more concerned about the labour market but emphasises risks around household leverage.
Westpac’s weekly economic update video, and what is in the print version covering key issues, data releases and previews plus Westpac’s economic & financial forecasts.
Robert Rennie expects the A$ to slide towards US $0.7400 by the end of the year.
The issue of climate change is getting more and more focus, so what should directors be considering about the risks to their companies.
With favourable growing conditions forecast, 2017 is looking like a bumper year for many producers across Australian agriculture.
Westpac Markets Update: Martina Song
Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141 AFSL and Australian credit licence 233714. © Copyright 2017 Westpac Bank Corporation.


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One of Britain’s leading supermarkets Tesco is considering cutting its staff by 39,000 over the next three years, following a fall in profits.
The job losses would equate to one in every six employees being let go, either through cutting job roles or reducing hours, according to The Guardian.
The potential job losses were revealed in a leaked document, entitled ‘Project Pace’. An extract was posted on the website verylittlehelps.com, a forum used by Tesco staff.
Tesco confirmed the validity of the document, but stipulated that it had modelled various scenarios and had no near future plans to announce further job losses.
The group, which employs more than 300,000 people in the UK, cut thousands of jobs last year as its new boss, Dave Lewis, tried to turn around the company’s financial performance.
The retailer reported a £6.4bn pre-tax loss last year, one of the biggest in British corporate history.
The report says Tesco has modelled the impact of a £500m reduction in the amount it pays in-store staff. This cut would be after recognising the additional cost of introducing the “national living wage”, which means staff over the age of 25 must be paid at least £7.20 an hour from April.
According to the Guardian, roughly 45,000 people leave Tesco every year through natural wastage, meaning the cuts could be achieved without redundancies if the company chooses to not replace departing employees.
Britain’s big four supermarkets have already cut thousands of jobs in the last year as they adapt to falling sales in their supermarkets. Last year Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons closed dozens of shops.
In contrast, Aldi and Lidl, the German discounters, are hiring thousands of workers.


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Peloton has launched a new Corporate Wellness platform
Businesses in the US, the UK, Canada and Germany can sign up as Peloton Corporate Wellness partners
This will result in them being able to offer employees subsidised access to Peloton's services
Peloton says the new service is a "natural extension"
Peloton is expanding its reach within the online fitness market with the launch of a new Corporate Wellness platform.
The service will be made available to businesses and organisations operating in the US, the UK, Canada and Germany – with Australia to be added "later this year".
From today (22 June), businesses can sign up as Peloton Corporate Wellness partners.
This will result in them being able to offer employees subsidised access to Peloton Digital and All Access Memberships, as well as exclusive benefits on Connected Fitness products.
Corporate Wellness partners will receive access to tailored features and will be able to measure the impact the service has.
They will also benefit from Peloton’s brand and marketing expertise, knowledge of member engagement, and community-building tools.
Cassidy Rouse will lead the new team as Global General Manager of Peloton Corporate Wellness, reporting to Tim Shannehan, Peloton’s chief revenue officer.
In his role, Rouse will lead the team helping make Peloton "more accessible".
Peloton's president, William Lynch, said: "Introducing Peloton Corporate Wellness is the latest step to making the Peloton experience more accessible.
"The new service is the natural extension for us to be able to scale our offering.
"Together with our Corporate Wellness partners, we’re now able to share the experience with millions more, while also driving stronger culture and community within the workplace.”
Companies that have signed up to the new service in the US include Wayfair, Samsung, SAP and Accenture Interactive.
Among the first Peloton Corporate Wellness partners is UK broadcaster and telecommunications giant Sky.
Stephen van Rooyen, CEO, for Sky UK & Europe, said: "We’re excited to expand our partnership with Peloton to make fitness more accessible to our thousands of employees.
"They already love the Peloton bikes we provide in our gym, and we look forward to working with Peloton on making a lasting impact on their wellbeing."
During the first three months of 2021, total workouts on the Peloton platform grew to 171 million, an increase from 48 million in the same time period last year.


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The European Commission is seriously considering abolishing a certain practice used in cars forever
The automobile industry is facing a major revolution that will see traditional fuels disappear forever. Goodbye to diesel and gasoline, but not before 2035 for Europe, where the first step in this process will be to ban the sale of cars that run on this type of fuel.
Manufacturers have already begun to move in this direction, expanding their offer of hybrid and electric models that will completely replace vehicles with internal combustion engines in the coming years. The goal is to eliminate polluting emissions from cars, so they will be more efficient and environmentally friendly in the future.
In this context, the new procedure desired by the company is included commission EuropeanWhich launched the proposal last July 14 Eliminate the use of chromium In cars starting next year. It is potential material Very harmful For humans and nature, as it can cause health problems and diseases, even serious ones, and it is difficult to get rid of it once it is used.
Cars, goodbye chrome: we won’t see them anymore even in Italy
Chromium has been used to give a so-called chrome effect to car paint since the 1950s for two basic reasons. On the one hand, the more technical chrome plating protects the car body from bad weather and rust, and on the other hand, it is a simple personal taste of the person buying the car.
In fact, chrome plating gives a more elegant look than traditional paints. However, by using it, we risk the lives not only of those who carry out the process in the factory (exhalation of chromium can lead to cancer), but also of the entire ecosystem that surrounds us. Once it reaches the soil or recycling centers, this material is disposed of It’s hard to get rid of them With the risk of seriously polluting water and plants.
So, Proposal from the European Commission Banning chromium in cars would be a way to make the sector more responsible in combating pollution, and encourage the use of more sustainable and safe materials. Some manufacturers such as Audi, Mercedes and Volvo have already started working on this technology and have chosen less harmful alternatives.
Moreover, even in the United States, something is moving in this direction, as evidenced by the choice of Tesla, which has already introduced models with environmentally friendly paints to the market. In fact, the state of California has already submitted a proposal to ban chromium with a positive outcome, even if the ban is not before 2039, barring surprises.
“Infuriatingly humble social media buff. Twitter advocate. Writer. Internet nerd.”


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Women are entering the global labour force in record numbers, according to a new report from the International Labour Office, but they still face higher unemployment rates, lower wages and make up 60 percent of the working poor. They are overwhelmingly represented, and some would say, exploited, in low-paying jobs in the garment industry – but that may change with a little help from Cambodia’s Government and some star power. ILO TV reports:
Paris? Milan? Try Phnom Penh. It’s a fashion show with a Cambodian twist. Not only because the models wear the latest Western styles, but also because they made them themselves.
They’re all garment workers and their fashion statement is about fair trade, decent working conditions. It’s a cause celebre that has caused some celebrities like Minnie Driver to ask the fashion labels to reconsider their buying practices…
…How every time they squeeze to get lower production costs, faster production, it’s nobody but the working women who suffer…
Cambodia’s economy is heavily dependent on the garment sector. Ten years ago, there were only two or three factories. Now there are almost 200, providing jobs for 230,000 mainly female workers.
According to a report from the International Labour Organization, or ILO, 1.1 billion women had work, more than ever before. But while they have access to more work, it doesn’t always translate into decent work. Labour-intensive jobs like those in the garment industry are primarily held by women. They are often the first to suffer when stiff competition puts pressure on companies to scrimp on pay and working conditions.
Cham Prasidh, Cambodian Minister of Commerce
We are going to compete with China, we are going to compete with India, we are going to compete with Pakistan…Who have already spent billions to prepare for that challenge. Whether we can keep the jobs for those 230,000 people who are now working in the garment industry, this is the big question…
To help find an answer to that question Cambodia turned to the ILO to act as a neutral third party to monitor and suggest ways to improve working conditions in nearly all of the country’s garment factories. The program has become a model for the region.
Lejo Sibbel, ILO Expert
We feel that the approach taken by the ILO and its partners in Cambodia can serve as a model. We feel it demonstrates that improving working conditions does not necessarily lead into increasing costs and therefore erodes your competitive position. We feel that improving working conditions the way it was done in Cambodia shows that it can lead to having a better competitive position.
For Cambodia, that advantage has meant increased export quotas to the West and better conditions for women to whom rights at work are more than just a passing fashion.


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Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Stocks to Watch - a preview of key events scheduled for the next week. Follow this account and turn the e-mail alert on to receive this article in your inbox every Saturday morning.
Like action? What a week ahead with a cavalcade of companies due to present across what's considered the Super Bowl of healthcare gatherings, highly-anticipated conferences in the technology and energy sectors and the largest consumer electronics show on the planet. Investors can forget about DC drama and analyst reports for a few days as the spotlight turns to preliminary earnings announcements, guidance updates, product reveals and M&A news. There's also a little talk by Federal Chairman Jerome Powell at the Economic Club of Washington D.C. on January 10 and a trip by a U.S. trade delegation to China for an early round of talks that could spark some headlines. Happy hunting.


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Gearbox Software co-founder and Chief Creative officer Brian Martel referred to the Wii U, in a recent interview with IGN AU, as a “stop gap” between consoles, but assures us he still thinks it’s fantastic:
Right now we’re still finding out what kind of final tech specs the Wii U is going to have,” he said.
“But we like the system a lot; we think it’s going to be a really cool stop-gap in between this generation and the next generation. We think it’s really smart of Nintendo, and the fact that as a platform it’s a lot more capable for hardcore first-person shooter-style gaming – for us that’s fantastic.”
“But the thing we’re most excited about is: what can we do with the controller? So the obvious thing for us is that we can do the motion tracker [on the controller screen], or the sentry gun information – all that kind of stuff. That stuff is really sexy for us. Getting the information off the screen and onto this device is a fantastic idea, right? So can we have a HUD-less environment? Yeah, probably. That would be fantastic, right?”
Thanks to IGN for the info.


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The sportiest version of Audi's 2nd-largest SUV: the SQ5 is stands out from the "normal" Q5. Along with a suspension that's 30-mm lower, it has a fast, comfortable eight-speed Tiptronic transmission.
Flying taxis are set to soar over Ingolstadt, Germany, as part of a project backed by the German government, Audi and Airbus. Hamburg is also working on incorporating drones as a mode of transport.
Prosecutors and police officers have extended their raids on Audi facilities in the German cities of Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. The carmaker is suspected of having manipulated more cars than hitherto acknowledged.
The German carmaker has confirmed reports that police raided its headquarters and several offices in Germany. They were searching for clues about the role Audi played in the VW diesel emissions scandal.
Audi also installed emission-cheating software in some 24,000 luxury models, according to German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt. His admission follows ructions at Volkswagen over health-damaging exhaust gases.
© 2018 Deutsche Welle |
Legal notice |
| Mobile version


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A recent report has claimed that Apple is going to drop the Lightning ports in favor of the USB Type-C connectors on its newer iPhones including the iPhone 8.
Apple is going to drop the iPhone’s signature lightning port for charging, and is going to replace it with industry standard USB Type-C port. Apple has been using its signature lightning ports for charging the iPhones since it introduced it with iPhone 5. USB Type-C on the other hand is being used extensively in the mobile industry. Apple itself also even introduced it in its MacBook series.
“USB-C port for the power cord and other peripheral devices instead of the company’s original Lightning connector”, read the report.
Alternatively, Apple might also go on and replace USB-A plug on the end of the iPhone power cable with USB Type-C. This would enable the users to charge their iPhones from the newer Macbooks as well.
The report from the Wall Street Journal further went on and affirmed many of the already circulating rumors. There would be atleast three iPhones launching this year and atleast one of these smartphones would be going to have an OLED display.
The report also confirmed that Apple would most probably be using curved displays on its 10th anniversary special iPhone. Samsung is already making curved displays for Apple. We have also been hearing that there won’t be physical home-button atleast on one of the iPhones, the Wall Street Journal also claimed the same. Apple is going to replace the physical buttons with a touch-enabled ‘function’ area.
As far as the rumors are concerned, the next iPhone looks great. We will certainly have to wait till fall this year, to see that on its 10th anniversary, what Apple has in store for its fans.
Image — BGR


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Analysis by the government shows that the United Kingdom economy could get a 3.4 billion GBP boost from a US FTA.
The objectives also cover a digital trade chapter, including provisions on data flows, data localization and the moratorium on custom duties. Access to the telecommunications market, protection of intellectual property rights as well as provisions for financial services are also included in the objectives.
Furthermore, the document published today by the government contains an economic impact assessment and the public consultation response. Actual negotiations are expected to begin next month.
Commenting on the release of the objectives, Antony Walker, deputy CEO techUK, said:
“We welcome UK government’s negotiating objectives for a free trade agreement with the United States. We are particularly delighted to see that both the UK and the US have ambitious digital trade objectives, in line with the global gold standards. The UK and the US are the world’s leading exporters of digitally-enabled services. They are also leading global digital innovators and critical players in the supply chain of digital goods and services. The nature of this relationship, as well as the protectionist headwinds that currently shape the international trading relations, make it imperative that the U.K. and the US work together to promote open, rules-based digital trade principles through the bilateral FTA.”


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The cat is out of the bag so to speak when it comes to the dangers of lithium-ion batteries.
Samsung’s ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 has brought the issue right into the public spotlight.
But, according to Duncan Geere, science writer for online magazine TechRadar, the Samsung is “only the latest in a long line of gadgets spontaneously catching fire.”
And Duncan explains just why this happens.
He said: “To understand why those batteries keep catching fire, first you need to understand how a lithium-ion battery works. On each end there's an electrode - one is positive (the anode) and the other is negative (the cathode). In between is a liquid called an electrolyte. When charging, the lithium ions move to the anode and when discharging they move to the cathode. Pretty simple.
“The problem comes when they move too fast. The rate at which lithium-ion batteries charge is carefully limited so the lithium doesn't move too quickly which, incidentally, is why batteries take time to charge.
“If it moves too fast, lithium plates begin to form around the anode, creating a short circuit and generating heat. That heat, if it builds up, can ignite the flammable electrolyte and you've got a battery fire.
“That's not the only thing that can cause a short circuit. If, during the manufacturing process, small holes are created or fragments of metal are left behind in the casing, then the same thing can happen.”
So now you know!
* People take e-cigarettes and their lithium-ion batteries on board aircraft. A pioneering invention called an AvSax (www.avsax.com) can minimise the fire danger on board aircraft in seconds with its unique use of water.
Simply pour at least two litres of water into an AvSax and then drop the burning device into the bag. The water activates a polymer gel inside the bag’s lining causing it to expand around the device. Should the device keep on burning then the AvSax is tough enough to absorb the force.


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Is this a sign of AT&T (NYSE: T) preparing for the day it loses its exclusive hold on the iPhone in the U.S.? The operator has become the latest carrier partner for GetJar, which runs a store that offers a catalog of 75,000 mobile apps covering just about every other major device – except Apple’s.
The AT&T agreement is the third for GetJar in North America, where it has had a long-running relationship with Sprint (NYSE: S) and a deal with Rogers Wireless. In an interview, GetJar’s CEO Ilja Laurs said that the deal makes the U.S. second-largest market – India is the first. Here’s what else he told me:
— Android apps downloaded in the GetJar store have doubled over the last year. “It’s at the expense of Java,” he said. “Java was dominant last year but that has completely changed.”
— While Android has had the most traffic North America and the UK; elsewhere Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is leading the pack. “Seventy percent of traffic in North America and the U.K. has been on smartphones; everywhere else feature phones make up 70 percent of the traffic, with Nokia Series 40 phones particularly strong in India.”
— GetJar’s business model is to charge app publishers for placement in the GetJar store, using a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) AdSense-type of model, rather than charge for apps. It also runs advertising within apps. GetJar is sharing with operators the revenue it makes off these services but Laurs would not specify the split.
— GetJar is seeing around 100 million downloads per month, still a far cry from Apple’s 300 million but more than Nokia’s 60 million per month.
The GetJar app, which gives users access to the store, is now live on AT&T’s AppCenter, and can be used on some 50 devices, ranging from feature phones to smartphones, that AT&T currently offers. iPhone users can theoretically still access the store via their phone’s web browser, but they cannot download the app.
Yet despite the continuing attention that publishers, operators and handset makers are giving to apps, there remain lingering questions about how effective apps really are for a business. A study released today from Harris Interactive and EffectiveUI found that 38 percent of mobile users surveyed have been disappointed with branded apps. A further 32 percent have told others about a bad experience with a mobile app, and 13 percent have avoided downloading applications from a brand name company or organization after a previous bad experience with another app from by that brand.


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Astonishing haul of food grabbed from supermarket bin in just 10 minutes by 'skip divers'...
Published: 17 Feb 2014
- EXCLUSIVE: Students grabbed haul of meats, ready meals, fruit and even 'fresh' roses from a supermarket bin
- The group go 'binning' every week and grab up to £50 worth of free meals
- They say they do it in an ethical stand against supermarket waste... but turn their noses up at fish fingers
- Campaigner says he lived off one shop's bins for six months, taking £890
- Students spoke out after charges dropped against skip-divers last week
- 'Romantic' student gave the flowers taken from a bin to his girlfriend..
This is the astonishing haul of free food that a group of student 'skip divers' snatched from a supermarket dustbin.
The group scaled a 10ft metal gate before taking the food which was past its sell-by date out of a stinking bin compound.
More or less weekly the environmental activists visit their local supermarket, netting up to £50 of luxury food on each trip - and insist it is all good to eat.
The students claim they take their meals from dustbins in protest at the amount of good food that is thrown away by big stores - though they do turn their noses up at fish fingers. One said: 'Do you even know what's in those things?'.
MailOnline joined the group in a midnight raid on some supermarket dustbins and watched them take thrown-out rolls, sausages, microwave meals, pizza and even flowers, all in original packaging.
The group are all highly-qualified students who go to one of Britain's top universities and claim that 'binning' is driven by anger at the supermarkets.
Last year Tesco threw away almost 30,000 tonnes of food in just six months, 41 per cent of it from the bakery. Across the UK an estimated 15 million tonnes are discarded a year, including by customers.
Despite this many supermarkets are hitting back at skip-divers, the students said.
Some pour bleach or blue dye on their products, while others slap 'not for human consumption' stickers on them.
Big stores have compounds protected by razor wire or padlock heavy chains around their bins.
At small, neighbourhood supermarkets, however, they said 'skipping' - also called 'skip-diving' or 'binning' - is booming.
Armed with bags, head torches, spanners and radiator keys to unlock the bins, the students rifled through half a dozen containers at their local store.
The whole operation took less than 10 minutes. One 'romantic' student handed the flowers lifted from a bin to his girlfriend.
After the raid, Amy, 26, a bin-raider for seven years, told MailOnline: 'That was a good one. Sometimes it's all bloody spring onions'.
However, the students face the threat of arrest.
Last week prosecutors dropped a controversial case against three men arrested for taking £33 in tomatoes, mushrooms and Mr Kipling cakes from an Iceland in north London.
They were held for 19 hours before being charged under a little-known section of the Vagrancy Act 1824. However, even Iceland's boss Malcolm Walker questioned the decision, and the charges were eventually withdrawn.
Criticised by some as a licence to steal, the incident was nevertheless rare.
There have been only a handful of documented cases since 1877, when a butcher ordered his staff to bury three diseased pigs but instead they dug them back up and sold them as meat.
Without today's public health laws, they were convicted of theft.
'Things are different now', said Amy. 'It's just sitting there going to waste. There's no moral argument about it at all in my mind and I've never had to question myself doing it, "is this right or wrong".
'I've never been sick from binned food. There aren't many rules - just don't take fish or seafood, avoid frozen stuff and trust your nose.
'I started several years ago and like all things, it got fashionable. There are students doing it all over the country.
'When the freezers break, that's when the jackpots come in. The time before we got a whole leg of lamb. It was two days out of date and it was fine - it was delicious.'
Ben, 23, who joined the group last year and goes 'shopping' with them almost evey week, added: 'The spectrum of people doing it is huge. I know people who went to Eton who've done it.
'There'll be one egg broken in a packet of 15 and the supermarket will just chuck the whole thing away. It's just wrong.'
The students, who asked not to be identified, defended themselves against the suggestion they were taking food wanted by more needy people or doing it to save on bils.
Chris, 25, admitted 'there is a money issue as well' but added: 'I lived in one town where homeless guys would go to a particular branch of Tesco. So we wouldn't go there if we could help it. Instead we would go to the suburban Co-Ops where nobody else bothered.'
The groups also insisted bin-raiders do not just take food, but also campaign for it to be re-used through 'official' channels instead of being thrown away.
One, the charity FoodCycle, launched in 2009 and has since expanded to 15 British towns and cities.
It claims to have served more than 85 tonnes of 'reclaimed' food to people who cannot afford to feed themselves.
Another, a campaign called Feeding the 5,000, has cooked up 5,000 free meals at a time from discarded vegetables for passers-by in London, Bristol and Manchester.
The publicity stunts were arranged by an organisation called The Gleaning Network, which enlists volunteers to pick unwanted 'wonky' vegetables from farmers' fields, with their permission.
One volunteer for The Gleaning Network, Leejiah Dorward, 26, said he lived 'almost 100 per cent' from bins for six months when he was volunteering full-time for a wildlife charity.
The environmental activist, from Ashford, Kent, launched his experiment after first taking food from bins six years ago.
He said he wanted to speak out in favour of the practice after last week's controversy - adding food waste was a far bigger crime.
'I kept a spreadsheet and at the end I'd taken 238kg of food,' he said. 'It was worth £890, all of it good food and all of it from one tiny branch of one supermarket.
'If people look at me funnily I turn round and offer them some food. I say, "these crisps went out of date today - they're fine". Or I'll fish in and pull out a bag of bananas that are still green.
'I would always wear hi-viz as I didn't want to be seen as that person going round the back of the shop. In my view I've got nothing to hide.
'Once I had five police cars with lights blazing turn up on me. They mounted the kerb and were shouting "stay still!"
'They went through my bags, took all my details - then checked everything was out of date, which it was, and just said "good on you, nice one".
'I think if the case last week had gone to court it would've made me more wary talking about it. There's a limit to what I'm going to do for what I believe is right.
'But there's nothing immoral about it, whereas some things are legal but immoral.'
He added: 'This is just a tiny fraction of it. You don't see the stuff that's left in fields - misshapen veg that the supermarkets don't want. About 30 per cent of food globally doesn't end up on our plates.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2551810/Astonishing-haul-food-grabbed-supermarket-bin-just-10-minutes-skip-divers-tempted-eat-it.html#ixzz2taZGoHdG
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook


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ONTARIO: Southern California Software Services Company Is On The Internet Cutting Edge.
PhD Labs, headquartered in Ontario, California,is a premier service provider for social media, mobile, and web development solutions.
PhD Labs began as a PhD Computing and specialized in Web site development, said Robert Patrick, PhD Labs’ founder and chief architect. In early June, PhD Computing acquired Organic Sales, a Chino Hills based company that specialized in social media and mobile applications.
The result of that transaction is PhD Labs, one of the few businesses in the Inland region that specializes in Social, Mobile, and Web applications. “That’s the digital trinity of this decade,” says Patrick, who started PhD Computing in the late 1990s as a Web site development and hosting business. “We needed to expand our social media offering to compliment our web and mobile app development services, so I went looking for the best local group I could find in that space, which led me to Organic Sales. They complimented our expertise, creativity and culture very well, so it was a natural fit.”
John Driscoll, who founded Organic Sales, said he uses social media to drive traffic to Web sites to increase their sales. The Internet, he said, is entering a new era. “The Internet used to be just about websites, now through Social media and mobile applications, it’s a part of everything you do in daily life,” Driscoll said. Driscoll said he started Organic Sales because he sensed that social networking would change the face of digital communication.
Patrick said he will apply the same successful approach to PhD Labs that he did to his first company: provide an exceptional experience through high-quality service and high-touch client interaction to achieve our clients business goals.
“We know how to utilize technology as a differentiator for our clients, and we can now do this across the board with Social, Mobile and Web,” Patrick said. “We’re experts at what we do, so our clients don’t have to fully understand the digital landscape. We design solutions and strategy that they can easily conceptualize and see tangible results from. ”
Social Media, Mobile Software and Web Application technologies have forever changed the way we interact, live and communicate – and PhD Labs are the experts leading the charge.


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Outdoor apparel brand Patagonia Inc will pause its ads on Facebook Inc and Facebook’s photo-sharing app, Instagram, making it the latest company to join a boycott campaign organized by U.S. civil rights groups.
Facebook on Thursday launched a catalog feature for its WhatsApp messaging app, building out the service's e-commerce tools as it moves slowly toward monetizing the app it bought in 2014 for $19 billion.
The president of luxury group LVMH has become the world's second-richest man, overtaking Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates but ranking behind Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, according to Forbes and Bloomberg.
Facebook Inc on Tuesday debuted an overhaul of its core social network and introduced new business-focused tools, the first concrete steps in its plan to refashion itself into a private messaging and e-commerce company.
Facebook is preparing for a record-setting fine from U.S. regulators over privacy issues, but Wall Street shrugged at the looming penalty after the company added users and beat profit expectations for the first quarter.
Facebook intentionally breached data privacy and competition law and should, along with other big tech companies, be subject to a new regulator to protect democracy and citizens’ rights, British lawmakers said on Monday.


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Here are the basics to get you started on the right foot in Madden Ultimate Team for Madden NFL 22, giving you some direction as you begin your grind.
We put our thinking helmets on to pinpoint the six best Madden NFL releases in the franchise’s history.
The developers of NBA 2K22 are looking to honor the sport’s past and present with a collection of unique covers.
With Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes as featured athletes, where does Madden NFL 22 rank in terms of all-time covers?
For EA Sports’ 2021 release of its popular Madden NFL franchise, developers looked to honor two of the sport’s greatest of all time.
As EA Sports and 2K work on tweaking their current franchises for new consoles, what else could they consider if they want to truly be “game-changing” in the next-gen era?
The NBA 2K franchise made a massive stride when they added WNBA players and teams into the game for NBA 2K20. For NBA 2K21, developers took it a step further … Continue Reading NBA 2K21 adding WNBA-centered game modes is a huge ‘W’
As gamers prepare for a new era, 2K released a trailer to give fans a sense of what NBA 2K21 will look like on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
Here are the basics to get you started on the right foot in Madden Ultimate Team for Madden NFL 21, giving you some direction as you begin your grind.
Midway through the month of July, EA Sports began to release ratings for “Madden NFL 21,” starting with the “99 Club.”
As the NBA copes with the impacts of the COVID-19-related postponements, the league’s players are flocking to unique platforms to kill their free time and connect with their fans.
Many of today’s gamers haven’t lived in a world where EA Sports isn’t the top dog when it comes to football games, but that may soon change.
What if there was a way to spark some interest in football video games again? What if there was a way to tackle the industry head on and add a new flavor to the gaming world?
It’s officially Madden season, with the release of “Madden NFL 20” just a few weeks away and football fans already in a frenzy. EA Sports released all of the ratings … Continue Reading ‘Madden NFL 20’ ratings: How did your favorite players and teams turn out?
Which sports video game sticks out among the rest as the best of all time?


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Chinese trade negotiators suddenly canceled a visit to meet U.S. farmers after they wrapped up trade talks in Washington this week.Marketsread more
President Trump also said he is "not looking for a partial deal" with Beijing, moving away from his suggestion last week that he would consider an "interim deal."Politicsread more
For investors taking a breather from the chaos in August, buckle up as the market is about go crazy again, Goldman Sachs warned.Marketsread more
Progress on trade talks will determine how far market will move above new highs.Trader Talk with Bob Pisaniread more
With "tariff man" President Trump waging a tariff war and Democratic candidates pushing against big international deals, free trade has become politically homeless, writes...2020 Electionsread more
Canadian trade union Unifor said roughly 4,500 of its members have been temporarily laid off because of the GM strike so far.Autosread more
Since the Cambridge Analytica scandal in March 2018, Facebook has suspended tens of thousands of apps stemming from an investigation into its developer ecosystem.Technologyread more
Uber Technologies Inc sued New York City on Friday over a new rule limiting how much time its drivers can spend in their vehicles.Transportationread more
The former top aide of retired United Auto Workers Vice President Joe Ashton, a former member of the GM's board, was charged Friday with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and...Autosread more
Stocks fell to their lows of the day on Friday on news that Chinese trade officials are cutting short their visit to the U.S.US Marketsread more
The wearables company has retained advisors to consider exploring a sale of the business.Technologyread more
Hundreds of thousands of UnitedHealthcare customers who participate in a health rewards program can now "walk off" the cost of an Apple Watch, essentially getting a $300 version of the device for free. The program could potentially encompass millions of new customers.
Apple is increasingly in talks with insurers about getting the cost of its Apple Watch subsidized, as it moves more deeply into the health and wellness space. It held meetings in August of last year with another insurer, Aetna, to discuss ways to bring the device to its more than 20 million members.
The integration with UnitedHealthcare, which is the largest U.S. health-care company, could mean a boost in sales of the Apple Watch as more people are able to buy it at an affordable price.
UnitedHealthcare, which is part of UnitedHealth Group, covers around 50 million people. Since 2015, it has been investing in its program called "Motion," which provides rewards to those who walk more than 10,000 steps per day. Hundreds of thousands of people are enrolled in Motion through their employer, said a UnitedHealthcare spokesperson.
Employers can opt in by turning on the Motion program.
Their workers can request an Apple Watch (up to a Series 3), if they don't have one already, and they pay taxes and shipping for a device. Once they receive their smartwatch, they get up to $4 per day toward the price of the watch by achieving certain activity milestones. Those who already have an Apple Watch, including the newer Series 4, can integrate it with the program to earn cash rewards for activity.
Within six months, members can essentially earn the device for free and get extra rewards on top of via their health savings account. The Apple Watch Series 3 retails for less than $300, and the maximum amount offered through the program is $540 within a six-month time frame.
The "FIT" program requirements laid out by UnitedHealth are as follows:
Those who don't complete enough goals to earn the cost of the watch within six months will be liable for a percentage of the cost of the device.
Apple did not return a request for comment on the program.
Some health-care advocates fear that wearables are designed for the "worried well," the young and healthy population that can afford smartwatches and gym memberships. But this program is designed to be accessible to a broad population, and not just the super fit and healthy, a UnitedHealth spokesman told CNBC.
"It's not marathon running," said Paul Sterling, the company's vice president of emerging products. "We start and stop at a basic of activity type, walking, which most of us can engage in and then we layer in a program structure."
UnitedHealth is conducting studies of its own employees to determine whether it saves money if its members are using wearable devices, like the Apple Watch.
The company told CNBC that its internal analysis found that employers who joined its Motion program spent less per member during the first year than those without the program, with a year-to-year savings of $222. It also found that the highest participation rates were among people with chronic medical conditions. People with diabetes, it said, were 40 percent more likely to opt in to Motion than those who did not have a medical diagnosis.
People with one or more serious medical conditions represent the highest cost burden for employers and the country at large. Chronic disease represents $126 billion in costs associated with lost productivity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. Employers face a cost of $245 billion in managing diabetes alone.
Reducing these costs represents a huge opportunity for wearable computing, if companies across health and technology can figure out a way to bolster access and engagement and lower the cost of the devices. UnitedHealthcare is already integrated with other device makers, including Fitbit and Garmin.
"Some [wearable devices] are expensive, quite frankly, and they provide meaningful benefit in terms of someone wanting to participate and engage in their health," said UnitedHealthcare's Sterling. "We recognize that and so we're trying to reduce the cost burden."
Meanwhile, Apple has been looking to target an older, sicker demographic with its device. It introduced several features in recent months, including a fall detection service and a new sensor to detect a type of heart rhythm abnormality called atrial fibrillation, which is most common among seniors.
It also announced a partnership with medical device maker Zimmer Biomet to study whether the smartwatch could help people recover more quickly from hip and knee replacement procedures, which are also more prevalent among its older users.


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WOODSTOCK — Thursday morning's downpour proved a literal washout for half the vendors gathered in the Woodstock Square to launch this year's string of semiweekly farmers markets.
Of the 10 who had set up shop before the rain began, only five remained after it subsided.
But Sue Rekenthaler wasn't complaining. With her organically grown vegetables spread before her, Rekenthaler philosophically observed after the storm abated that: "I'm going home with more money than I had when I came. Actually, business has been surprisingly good, considering the weather."
Sponsored by the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce, the farmers market is now in its 25th year and will be open every Thursday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through Oct. 28.
Featured are locally grown produce, plants, cut flowers, herbs and the locally legendary peanut brittle made by the ladies of the Ringwood Methodist Church.
Launched as an ongoing fundraiser in 1994, the homemade confection has been a staple at the farmers market, county fair and other popular venues.
"No, I don't know how much money we've raised," said Doris Cristy as she packed away her wares before the storm broke. "But we put up a three-car garage at the church."
Keith and Nancy Johnson of Woodstock have been selling their produce, wool and knit products at the market since 1992, longer than any of the other vendors.
With his seniority, Keith Johnson was tapped as market manager, "which only means I get to put out the signs" drawing attention to the market, he said.
He's also there to assist new vendors and field questions from the customers.
Initially the Woodstock farmers market was staged only on Thursdays but a few years ago the chamber experimented with the idea of conducting Saturday markets at the Metra train station. It proved to be a good idea set in a bad location.
So last year the Saturday market also moved to the square.
"Saturdays have been much better here on the square," Johnson said. "People can see us here. At the train station, they weren't even aware we were there."
Although only 10 vendors were represented during Thursday's season opener, more will show up during the weeks ahead, Keith Johnson said. "Normally we have 14," he said, adding that this early in the season not all of the vendors have crops ready for market.
But if all of the vendors aren't quite ready, the regular customers are.
"I've had lots of customers tell me that they have been looking forward to the market's opening," Rekenthaler said.


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Every year thousands of knives, forks and spoons disappear from the canteens on campus. The caterers can’t replace the cutlery fast enough to keep pace. Much to their annoyance.
illustrations Pascal Tieman
Be honest, now. Have you ever taken cutlery from one of the canteens on campus? The editors at Resource posted this question on our Facebook page last week. Just one Master’s student confessed to once having taken a tray. That was in 2011. ‘The tray was lying around somewhere it didn’t belong and I thought it would come in useful,’ she emailed guiltily. She made a Sinterklaas ‘surprise’ with it. ‘I hope you get some more responses for a nice article.’ No such luck. Yet she is certainly not the only one. In fact, judging by the figures provided by the caterers, thousands of students and staff must have taken some cutlery from the canteens at some point over recent years. Pinching cutlery is very common. Yet Cormet restaurant manager Jannes Kamp is reluctant to call it stealing. That sounds so hard. ‘And in some cases the cutlery might have been accidentally thrown out with the leftovers.’
Of the 750 sets of cutlery in circulation at the Cormet outlet in the Forum, 600 disappear every year. So in the course of this academic year, Cormet decided to stop replacing them. For months now, students and staff have had to make do with simple white, breakable plastic cutlery. Until last week, that is. Critical comments in Resource’s Canteen Test changed the caterer’s mind and there are now 750 new sets of cutlery ready for use.
Cormet is not the only caterer with a cutlery problem. It is no different for OSP, the caterer in Orion. Manager Hans Budding started the academic year with 950 sets of cutlery. Now, towards the end of the year, he has about 200 left. ‘Already 750 forks and 750 spoons have disappeared. Strangely enough, only 100 knives. About 100 plates have gone too.’ All in all, ‘an awful lot’, observes Budding. ‘The stealing has increased massively this year. It’s been much more than in previous years.’
And it’s not just cutlery either. If you order a beer at the bar in The Spot you get a cheap glass with it nowadays. ‘At first we had nice Jupiler glasses, but they’ve all gone. I’m not ordering new ones. If people want a particular beer in a particular glass, they have to hand in their WUR card as a deposit.’ And even that is no guarantee. ‘Some students come to borrow something at the end of the year, but don’t come and pick up their WUR card afterwards. I ended up with 20 WUR cards last year.'
To the office
The worst culprits are the diners in the canteen at the Leeuwenborch. Owner Jeroen van Rosevelt of Good Food Catering estimates that as many as 1250 sets of cutlery disappear there every year. That is at least six times the number of sets (200) in circulation at any given time. But he adds, ‘It isn’t all theft. Some of the stuff stays in the building because people take their trays to the office and don’t bring them back. Some of it disappears at catered events and when people clear away too. But most of it is just not brought back. It goes in waves. There was a lot last month.’
In the Leeuwenborch too, there is obviously less of a market for knives. ‘Knives and teaspoons. If only they took those sometimes,’ jokes Rosevelt. ‘I buy the stuff in complete sets and I now have a huge surplus knives and teaspoons.’ Nor is the pilfering limited to cutlery. ‘Packets of salt, sugar and creamer get pinched too. And serviettes, paper cups, ketchup. These are all items people think it’s okay to walk off with.’
Restaurant manager Kamp of Cormet plans to hang up a sign at the tills politely requesting that people bring things back. Budding of OSP is doubtful whether that will help. In the Leeuwenborch, Van Rosevelt put up a sign by the cutlery long ago. ‘Asking people to bring the stuff back because otherwise prices will eventually have to go up. I don’t get the impression that it’s helped much.’
Thousands of euros
‘The biggest problem is,’ thinks Van Rosevelt, ‘that students don’t see this as theft. They see these as things you can just take if you want. The story goes in the student houses: if there’s something missing from the kitchen, you can replace it at the canteen. I’ve heard students say that several times.’ Van Rosevelt thinks the cost of theft runs to a couple of thousand euros a year. And that in a place like the Leeuwenborch, full of socially concerned people, he comments dryly. ‘They get worked up about fair prices for products coming from abroad but when it comes to the catering in their own environment they don’t have a problem at all.’
What can be done about the theft of cutlery? Hang up cameras, maybe? Install metal detectors? Resource challenges readers to come up with solutions. Restaurant manager Jannes Kamp comes up with the first idea. ‘Twenty years ago when I was at school, every student was issued with a plastic cup with a lid. You could do that with cutlery. Wageningen UR could give every student one set of cutlery, perhaps with a nice logo on it.’
Send in your ideas to firstname.lastname@example.org.