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The Fintech Times Bi-Weekly News Roundup sees a partnership for SunTec Business Solutions and Mambu, while Credorax rebrands to Finaro.
Mergers, acquistions and rebrands
Arteria AI, an enterprise digital documentation firm, has acquired selected financial services assets of H4, the contract lifecycle management platform. As part of the agreement, H4’s chairman and co-founder Joe Seifert will also join Arteria AI’s team as a senior advisor. Ateria AI helps large banks to accelerate their client documentation processes at scale.
Payments provider and merchant acquiring bank Credorax has unveiled a new company identity – Finaro. Founded in 2009, the company is based in Israel and Malta, with presence in China, Hong Kong, the US and Europe.
Our evolution from Credorax to Finaro reflects the revolution our business has undertaken since joining the payments world 15 years ago and our rebranding is the next step in our growth as a company and on our path towards realising our vision of commerce, untethered.
Meanwhile, Fortnox, a cloud accounting platform, has acquired 78 per cent of the shares in Capcito Finance AB, in a deal that values Capcito (including Monto) at SEK413million. Capcito’s subsidiary Monto is a modular platform for data-driven credit scoring and monitoring. Two of Capcito’s founders, Michael Hansen (CEO) and Henrik Dyberg (CTO), will keep their stakes and continue to lead the companies.
Republic, the US-based private investment platform, is to acquire Seedrs, the online private investment platform, in a deal that values Seedrs at $100million. The acquisition of Seedrs follows Republic’s recent $150million Series B financing announcement, led by Valor Equity Partners. As part of the new structure, Jeff Kelisky will join Republic’s leadership team and continue as Seedrs CEO.
Finitive unveils engineering and software hires to drive expansion and growth of its private credit marketplace. Steve Yampolsky is appointed head of engineering while Chris Benjamin is named principal software architect. Last month also saw the appointments of Jon Burlinson as chief information officer and Joshua Masia as chief product officer.
Tenet Group, the UK financial adviser support network, has announced Julie Woolmer as compliance operations director. At Tenet, Julie will be responsible for the first line of oversight of teams, with a focus on implementing and embedding the firm’s supervision and oversight plans.
NYMBUS, a provider of banking technology solutions, adds fintech advisor David Rabkin to its board of directors, representing Financial Services Capital. Currently, Rabkin serves fintechs and financial services firms, both directly and as a McKinsey Senior Advisor.
Meanwhile, digital transformation firm Excellarate has named Rob Howe as the company’s chief financial officer. Howe will be responsible for all elements of finance and accounting, business intelligence and overall business operations. Excellarate launched from the merging of Synerzip and Prime earlier this year.
Broadway Technology, a provider of fintech solutions, has promoted three staff to its leadership team. The promotions follow a number of executive hires, the expansion of Broadway’s global business development team plus a corporate rebrand. Eitan Reich is chief technology officer while Misha Weinberg is named VP of Engineering. Dario Gatta is also promoted to chief information officer.
Appital, the equity capital marketplace, has appointed Mike Wharton as head of product. The appointment follows the latest round of funding which will accelerate the development of Appital’s technology infrastructure. The company also recently unveiled a partnership with Turquoise as well as an integration with FlexTrade.
SunTec Business Solutions has partnered with Mambu to integrate its complete revenue management solution with Mambu’s cloud banking platform. As part of the partnership, SunTec’s pricing, billing and benefits management solutions will be available to banks for integration into the core banking platform.
Yapily, the open banking infrastructure provider, has partnered with checkout platform Sprinque. Sprinque lets merchants settle invoices via a B2B payment experience built into the Sprinque checkout. Using Yapily’s open banking infrastructure, customers can now pay outstanding invoices using their online bank account.
Crypto.com Exchange is working with Silvergate to introduce USD deposits and withdrawals to its institutional clients. This integration is an additional on/off ramp solution on the Crypto.com Exchange.
Global payments companyThunes has teamed up with Brazil’s Bexs Banco, an international digital payments firm. Together they will help global businesses and customers make real-time payments to Brazil, including payments to Pix, the instant payment system developed by Brazil’s Central Bank.
Reward has announced the extension of its partnership with Visa to cover all the markets across Asia-Pacific. Building from their partnership in Europe, this deal now lets Visa cardholders benefit from Reward merchant offer content, through Visa Offers eXchange. Reward aims to give £1billion in rewards to customers through bank customer engagement programmes by 2022.
Meanwhile, Finologee, a digital platform operator, has chosen Konsentus Verify to protect the institutions it serves with its ‘PSD2 for Banks’ platform. Konsentus Verify is an infrastructure platform enabling financial institutions to transact safely and securely within the open banking and open finance ecosystems.
Hub71 joins forces with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to accelerate development of Abu Dhabi’s tech startup community. The new partnership embeds Hewlett Packard Enterprise in Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem’s value-driven programmes and initiatives to increase commercial viability of Hub71 startups and tech talent.
Scienaptic has collaborated with the Dakota Credit Union Association (DakCU) to let the company offer its AI-based credit underwriting technology to credit unions throughout North and South Dakota. DakCU serves 69 credit unions with more than 520,000 members.
Blockpass has forged a partnership with FireStarter. FireStarter will use Blockpass’ proprietary KYC solution. Through its recent work with Animoca Brands, Blockpass is also developing the ability to provide KYC where the delivery of the verification result is provably sent and shown on a blockchain without sharing underlying data.
CSE, CBI and Nexi sign a partnership enabling payment service providers to offer a wider range of financial services. The first service stemming from this partnership is a solution that will allow CSE’s bank users to access all their bank accounts in different banks under a single platform.
Point Nine, a dedicated regulatory reporting firm, has announced a partnership with FIS. FIS Trade and Transaction Reporting Manager with Point Nine offers an end-to-end, cloud-based solution for improved trade and transaction reporting efficiency.
Meanwhile, TrueLayer, the open banking platform, has unveiled a collaboration with Spanish broker Ninety Nine. With instant payments delivered by TrueLayer, Ninety Nine’s customers can connect their primary bank account to the trading app. As a result, they can fund their investment account in a matter of seconds.
Finally, identity verification service provider iDenfy establishes a partnership with e-scooter company Wind. The aim of the partnership is to implement a solid age and ID verification method. iDenfy will now provide Wind with an ID verification service.
Funding and investments
De Nederlansche Bank has approved a €193million funding round between bunq and Pollen Street Capital, a private equity firm. The deal values the challenger bank at €1.6billion and also sets a new record for a series A investment in a European fintech company. bunq will use the injection of funds to fuel the company’s growth across Europe. The funds will also let bunq incorporate M&A into its business growth strategy.
Fintech startup Lamaa has secured a $5.5million seed round led by Raed Ventures and Saudi Aramco’s entrepreneurship arm Wa’ed. The investment comes in line with Saudi Arabia’s commitment to SMEs’ financial inclusion part of the kingdom’s vision 2030 push.
Abacum has closed a $25million Series A round that brings its total funding to $32million. The round was led by Atomico with additional participation from Creandum, FJ Labs and S16VC. As part of the investment, Atomico principal Terese Hougaard will join Abacum’s board.
Anchor, the autonomous billing platform, raises $15million in seed funding, led by Rapyd, Entrée Capital and Tal Ventures. It will use the funding to expand its team as well as extend its partnerships and marketing efforts. Anchor connects businesses and their clients through a ‘live online agreement’.
Tech firm cheqd has launched a mainnet network. The mainnet network is built for self-sovereign identity (SSI) vendors to disrupt established identity paradigms and create new authentic data marketplaces. cheqd’s mainnet is a public permissionless network built on interoperable and open standards so anyone can utilise the network to develop solutions.
Identity verification company iDenfy creates ‘Magic Link’ to further enhance its ID verification process. Using the tool, iDenfy’s partners can send one unique but universal link to every client. The client will then be instantly redirected to iDenfy’s identification page to follow the necessary steps.
While Nordigen has launched a suite of six new products designed to help developers build open banking-powered applications. The suite assists with data cleaning, enrichment and insights, and also allows developers to make sense of open banking data using APIs.
Global payments platform Transact365 has shifted its Asian headquarters to Singapore as it focuses on its international expansion. Transact365’s business development and Asian management compliance teams will be based out of the new office, located at Singapore Land Tower.


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After a long wait, the Ethereum Merge update is finally here, and it is working. Even though the deflationary aspects of this new and improved blockchain are yet to set in, the crowd is waiting patiently with the question – will Ethereum hit $10k post-merge?
It is natural to ask this question since, after many trials and errors, Ethereum has finally shifted to Proof-of-Stake. However, the performance of this crypto has been disappointing, to say the least – leading many to believe that this Merge might not be all it was cracked up to be.
Inflation and Dimmed the Excitement About Merge
Even though the crypto crowd was fairly bullish about the merge update, they weren’t oblivious to the recent rise in inflation. However, they continued to hope that this energy-friendly transition would bring more people to accept Ethereum. In all cases, that was a logical thing to expect.
However, that didn’t come to pass. The Ethereum price has taken a downward trend after the arrival of this update. Recent chart details suggest that the Merge has dropped by nearly 19% post the merge update, going below $1.4k, a price it dropped during the height of the crypto winter.
That said, it isn’t Merge’s fault. The entire crypto market is facing the same decline due to the rising inflation; The Federal Reserve has released data showing for the Consumer Price Index, which shows that the August inflation was 0.1% month over month. The year-to-year inflation currently stands at 8.35 – another concern investors must consider.
Interest Rates to Play a Big Role in Ethereum Price
There are rumors that the FED will increase the interest rate even more since the inflation rate has shown no signs of stopping. While the FedWatch data shows that the market is fully priced on 75 point basis, the current inflation has given a reason that the interest rates will rise to 100 points basis.
Another thing to note is that Ethereum has been trading below all major moving averages post Merge and has now fallen below the $1.4k level.
Ethereum Price Prediction
The full deflationary effect of this project will arrive in mid-2023. Till then, there is not enough data to make an accurate Ethereum Price Prediction. However, the post Merge daily chart suggests that Ethereum has likely found support at $1,276k and will retest the $1386 (0.786 fibs) soon.
The post-merge downtrend has put the market in disarray. However, there is still hope. The NFT market is still bullish. For instance, the sale of Bored Ape Yacht Club increased by 1,875% within only 24 hours. And the increase is not only limited to BAYC.
Magic Eden and Opensea also report that the activities on these platforms have increased by 77% and 86%, respectively. But why the sales of NFT are important?
Historically, the price of NFTs has always been closely tied to Ethereum’s market value. And if the NFT sale is any indicator, we can expect Ethereum to abandon this declining trend and go up soon.
Your capital is at risk.
Tamadoge – Play to Earn Meme Coin
- Earn TAMA in Battles With Doge Pets
- Capped Supply of 2 Bn, Token Burn
- Presale Raised $19 Million in Two Months
- Upcoming ICO on LBank, Uniswap

domain: news


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Disillusioned over high GST rate on ayurvedic items that give “care and cure to basic man at reasonable value”, Baba Ramdev-drove Patanjali Ayurved has asked the legislature regarding by what means can individuals feel and live ‘Achchhe Din’ without the privilege to great wellbeing.
In a comparable vein, industry body AMAM likewise said that while the administration is forcefully advancing ayurveda universally, high assessment rate under GST will make the characteristic prescriptions exorbitant and far from the average folks back home.
GST rate for established or non specific scope of ayurvedic drugs must be nil and 5 for each penny for licensed items rather than the proposed 12 for each penny, the Association of Manufacturers of Ayurvedic Medicines (AMAM) has said. At present the ayurvedic prescriptions and items have an aggregate expense frequency of 7 for each penny, including VAT, contingent upon the things. Under the GST administration, these things have been kept at 12 for every penny.
“Higher GST on ayurvedic classification has astonished us and is exceptionally frustrating and dampening,” Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and Patanjali Yogpeeth representative S K Tijarawala told PTI in a messaged reaction. He additionally said ayurveda, which gives care and cure to regular man at reasonable cost and is antiquated and demonstrated treatment for a very long time, doesn’t merit such treatment.
“Great wellbeing and sound living is regular man’s essential right and desire. Without all these, how might one feel and live ‘Achchhe Din’?” he said.
Resounding comparative suppositions, AMAM General Secretary Pradeep Multani stated: “The Indian government has been forcefully advancing ayurvedic items universally however what’s the purpose of doing these things when the duty rate is so high and the everyday citizens can’t bear the cost of it at home?” He additionally stated: “This is miserable and sad as the Prime Minister is doing his best to help the AYUSH framework.”
The past UPA government “regarded ayurveda industry as step tyke” yet this administration has found a way to take it forward, Multani stated, be that as it may, including the high assessment rate proposed under GST “will make Ayurvedic, Sidha and Unani drugs far from basic man and execute the framework”.
He said if homeopathic items could be put under 5 for each penny chunk under GST, ayurvedic items ought to likewise be kept under the rate. Tijarawala said the world is currently anticipating Indian vedic learning of Ayurveda. It has made new capability of over Rs 1 lakh crore advertise for such normal and sound items. Head administrator Narendra Modi had as of late even initiated Patanjali Research Institute (PRI) built up with cost of over Rs 250 crore for R&D in field of Ayurved, he included.
“We have made a lead being trailed by such a large number of different organizations. This has opened new roads of independent work era in field of herbicultutre, horticulture, ayurved specialists, naturopathy, ayurveda item producing,” Tijarawala said.
Prior, FMCG major Dabur India additionally communicated dissatisfaction with the new duty structure saying it will have unfavorable effect on the Ayurvedic meds class.


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- Over 10 million doorbells will be left unanswered this Halloween
- Scotland revealed as the biggest spender on Halloween treats
- 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin waste reported in 2016
Halloween is becoming more popular in the UK calendar, and is now reported as Britain’s third biggest commercial celebration after Christmas and Easter¹.
Short term loan provider Wonga has calculated the scariest night of the year in numbers; from the nation’s Halloween spending habits to the horror films making the most money, and even the most popular Halloween costumes.
When it comes to stocking up on treats for the night, a new study of 2,000 UK adults², reveals that Brits are set to spend an estimated £277 million³ on Halloween treats in 2017.
The UK regions that on average spend the most on Halloween treats per person are:
- Scotland (£8.20)
- Northern Ireland (£6.39)
- North East (£6.23)
- London (£6.14)
- West Midlands (£5.66)
Additionally, during October 2016, the amount spent on all Halloween goods across the retail industry was £30.8 billion, in comparison to £28.9 billion in October 2015⁴ – an increase of 6%.
Wonga’s research revealed that 40% of parents say they will be going trick or treating with their children this year, but more than a third of Brits (37%) say they don’t answer the door to trick or treaters; that’s 10 million doorbells left unanswered⁹.
So what are the nation’s other Halloween expenses?
In 2016 pumpkin carving resulted in 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin waste⁵ – with a pumpkin costing on average £2⁶, this is some very expensive waste, particularly when there are some fantastic pumpkin based recipes to enjoy.
For the adrenaline junkies, there are 59 Halloween attractions to visit throughout the UK⁷, with ticket prices ranging from £4 to £86 per person.
Spending the night in front of a scary film is one way to get into the Halloween mood. The best-selling horror films at the box office over the last decade are⁸:
- IT (£15,600,086)
- Paranormal Activity 2 (£12,887,058)
- Paranormal Activity 3 (£12,460,010)
- Insidious (£12,370,080)
- Alien: Covenant (£11,500,012)
As a nation that loves to document our celebrations on social media it’s no surprise that there are nearly 50 million #Halloween posts on Instagram and 1.3 million posts associated with #Halloweencostume¹⁰.
The most common Halloween costumes this year have been revealed as:
- One in 25 people will be dressed as a witch
- One in 25 people will be dressed as a zombie
- Three in 100 people will be dressed as a vampire
- One in 50 people will be dressed as a superhero
- One in 50 people will be dressed as a pirate
Five of the most random costume ideas based on characters and real people included:
- Doctor Who
- Freddy Krueger
- Morticia Adams
James McMaster, Head of Marketing in the UK at Wonga, said: “We carried out this research to find out the impact of Halloween on spending habits. It shows people enjoy getting involved in all kinds of Halloween fun, but the cost can soon build up.
“Our Cash Smart hub has budgeting and money saving information including tips on how to throw a great Halloween party on a budget.”
Visit Cash Smart to read the article in full: https://www.wonga.com/cashsmart/articles/image-articles/halloween-party-on-a-budget/


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Proactive, a digital financial news organization, will be showcasing four intrepid companies on the fast track to growth at its latest North American virtual investor conference.
The event will feature live webcast presentations and delegates will be given the opportunity to put their questions to the corporate presenters at a Q&A to be moderated by Proactive’s Christine Corrado.
Joining Proactive’s One2One Virtual Investor Forum at 1 pm ET on July 28 are:
- Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc (CSE:AGN) (OTCQB:AGNPF)
- Clean Seed Capital Group (CVE:CSX) (OTCMKTS:CLGPF)
- MamaMancini's Holdings Inc (OTCMKTS:MMMB)
- Alpine 4 Technologies Limited (OTCQB: ALPP)
Betting big on Ifenprodil
Algernon Pharmaceuticals has been nimble — and unusual — in its hunt for a coronavirus (COVID-19) drug. The company has taken a generic neurological drug that Sanofi developed in the 1970’s called Ifenprodil, which is approved for use in South Korea and Japan, and is attempting to repurpose it as a potential treatment.
The Vancouver-based clinical-stage pharmaceutical company is launching a multinational Phase 2b/3 human trial of its lead drug NP-120 (Ifenprodil) as a potential treatment for COVID-19 sufferers. Enrollment of the first patient for the multinational study is expected before the end of July 2020.
“It’s interesting that our lead drug NP-120 is a neurological drug that we are trying to repurpose for lung diseases,” Algeron Pharmaceuticals CEO Christopher J Moreau told Proactive.
“Interestingly, when we began this journey, we didn't know which of the 11 drugs we started investigating for new diseases would end up where we are today. Here we are with Ifenprodil as the lead,” added Moreau, who will talk about the company’s promising pipeline at the virtual investor event.
Algernon is also steadily advancing NP-120 (Ifenprodil) as a possible treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, acute lung injury, and chronic cough. Additionally, the company is focused on the areas of non–alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), chronic kidney disease (CKD) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Algernon’s key compounds were identified using a drug repurposing strategy.
Clean Seed’s SMART farming technologies
Clean Seed Capital Group is working full tilt at driving technology advancements in farming. The Canadian company has created the CX-6 SMART Seeder, a machine with the ability to plant six different crops, at three different depths with military precision.
The beauty of the CX-6 SMART Seeder for farmers and agriculture scientists is that the hulking high-output planter is wirelessly controlled through a tablet running on the company’s intuitive SeedSync software system.
Clean Seed has not stopped with the CX-6 SMAT seeder, but has just rolled out a highly advanced, lighter version of its planter. The company teamed up with joint venture partner North Dakota-based Norwood to give farmers the new Smart Seeder Max and Smart Seeder Max S.
“This partnership optimizes our ability to deliver growth, rapidly and reliably with an invested partner. Our teams are also collaborating on several additional opportunities that will further differentiate our offerings,” according to Clean Seed CEO Graeme Lempriere.
Serving up profits
MamaMancini's Holdings, a specialty Italian food company known for its signature beef, turkey, chicken, and pork meatballs with slow-cooked Italian sauces, is expanding into plant-based products by teaming up with Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND).
East Rutherford, New Jersey-based MamaMancini's said it has seen strong sales as Americans stocked up on packaged food products during the coronavirus lockdown. The company offers 20 products sold through 45,000 stores, including Whole Foods and Costco (NASDAQ:COST).
“Consumers are looking for delicious, plant-based proteins and our meatballs are the perfect solution as Beyond Beef’s high quality, texture, taste and nutritional profile meet all major consumer expectations,” MamaMancini’s CEO Carl Wolf told Proactive.
“As the country returns to normal activities, we believe the trend toward plant-based options will continue to grow,” he added.
For its fiscal first quarter ended April 30, 2020, MamaMancini’s posted $11.1 million in revenue, a 51% jump, compared to $7.4 million in the same period a year earlier. Gross profit increased to $3.7 million, or 34% of total revenues, in the first quarter of 2021, compared to $2.4 million.
Embodiment of Americana
Alpine 4 Technologies Ltd (OTCQB:ALPP) is a technology holding company that provides electronic contract manufacturing solutions in the US. It has business ventures in automotive technologies, electronics manufacturing, fabrication technologies and clean energy solutions.
The Phoenix-based group acquires businesses that fit into its disruptive “DSF business model” of “drivers, stabilizers, and facilitators.” Alpine 4 believes its holdings should be synergistic and collaborate across various industries spawning new ideas and competitive advantages.
Alpine 4 Technologies CEO Kent Wilson said: "We are delighted to present at the Proactive Investors One2One event. Alpine 4 will be conducting a series of interviews, and roadshow events in July, August and September and this event will kick off our Q3 corporate awareness campaign."
“Alpine 4 is the embodiment of 'Americana.' Our products and services are made in the USA and we are proud of it," he added.
The company has issued preliminary second-quarter revenue guidance of around $8.8 million, which is a 36% jump compared to revenue of $5.64 million posted in the same period in 2019.
Proactive is one of the fastest-growing financial media portals in the world, providing breaking news and analysis on companies across the globe. Proactive regularly organizes large investor events in London, New York, and Sydney.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at email@example.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive


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Altana‘s Atlas which applies AI to billions of public and non-public data points to provide governments with supply chain visibility and insights has found the apparel sector is particularly vulnerable to the ongoing Red Sea disruption.
The company has suggested Europe has a near total reliance on Asia for goods such as handbags with upwards of 90% coming from the region and transitting via the Red Sea in normal times.
Altana noted that while some firms are likely to see significant disruption, others whose supply chains depend more on suppliers outside of Asia will likely see minimal impact.
The organisation has teamed up with the UK Government’s Department for Business & Trade (DBT) to expand the scope of its Global Supply Chain Intelligence Programme (GSCIP) and use AI to make informed decisions related to the global supply chain.
The multi-year contract will allow Altana’s AI platform to be used as the basis of the GSCIP data model, which combines government data and private sector data with big data analytics to scale the connected and intelligent global supply chain map in a secure government cloud infrastructure.
Altana emphasised this partnership aims to provide the UK government with the capability to generate policy-informing insights as well as operational programmes to support UK national interests.
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Using Altana Atlas for supply chain insights
Altana pointed out its Atlas means member departments can make recommendations and develop public policies based on the latest changes to the supply chain such as the current disruptions in the Red Sea, allowing departments to get in front of issues before they disrupt national interests.
Altana has worked with the GSCIP programme for the past two years, which it added saw a “rapid increase” in results early in the partnership. The company believes that with Altana’s AI-powered platform, the UK’s Department for Business & Trade has significantly reduced the time it takes for a department to initiate a supply chain inquiry and disseminate the data’s actionable findings.
Altana shared that its propriety platform and visualisation tools have been used by the consortium of seven UK Government departments to investigate companies, products, trade lanes, and acute risks permeating the global supply chain.
The technical infrastructure for GSCIP is said to comprise Altana’s secure digital environment platform and UK Government datasets, which are all held on UK Government cloud infrastructure.
Altana noted that evolving from reactive national supply chain risk management will allow the UK Government to identify vulnerabilities in national supply chains and business networks of interest, streamlining quicker routes toward creating alternative pathways to overcome these vulnerabilities.
Evan Smith, CEO and co-founder of Altana, said: “The UK GSCIP is a visionary initiative to build supply chain resilience through a common operating picture between and among UK government agencies and the private sector. It is also a groundbreaking use of Altana’s supply chain data and AI platform, with both technical and non-technical users across the government working from and building on our supply chain map. We’re proud to provide the single source of truth for the global supply chain to His Majesty’s Government, unlocking economic security, procurement efficiencies, and business resilience for critical industries across the UK.”
Altana said it will continue to provide the GSCIP with a common operating picture of the global supply chain, facilitating proactive supply chain resilience planning and decision making.
Altana claimed its suite of tools has greatly benefited GSCIP participants by reducing operational costs and providing rapid insights from its Altana Atlas that are verifiable, citable, and sourced from a repeatable repository of information for informing public policy, such as the UK’s recently published report Critical Imports and Supply Chain Strategy which aimed to understand and build resilience in the country’s supply chains.


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Help for Import-Impacted Manufacturers
Lowell, Mass., June 6, 2005 The New England Trade Adjustment Assistance Center, Inc. (NETAAC), is a government funded non-profit organization that offers cost share assistance for imported-injured manufacturers through grants from the U.S. Department of commerce. NETAACs goal is to help New England manufacturers increase profitability and retain employees while competing with imported products.
Help for Import-Impacted Manufacturers
SoVerNet purchases Unicel's Vermont Long Distance Service
SoVerNet to continue competitive rates and local customer service
Bellows Falls, June 1 -- SoVerNet, Vermont's largest, locally-owned,
statewide telecommunications provider and Unicel/RCC Wireless (NASDAQ:
RCCC), have announced that SoVerNet has purchased Unicel's long distance
customer base in Vermont. This transfer ensures that Unicel's customers
will continue to receive local customer service and great low rates.
"Our companies have a terrific record of working well together and we
VEDA BOARD APPROVES $3.2 MILLION
IN PROJECT FINANCING ASSISTANCE
Montpelier, VT - Manufacturing, development, agricultural and travel and tourism projects totaling $6 million will receive $3.2 million in financing assistance from the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA).
"We are very pleased to be able to offer financial assistance to these business acquisition and expansion projects," said Jo Bradley, VEDA's Chief Executive Officer.
Approved for financing by the VEDA Board of Directors are:
Vermont Public Television Launches Rutland Digital Channel
Vermont Public Television's Rutland digital TV channel has made its debut. VPT's digital channel 9 will begin service officially on Wednesday, June 1, from atop Grandpa Knob. The new channel -- the second digital channel in Vermont -- will serve Rutland and Addison counties and parts of Bennington and Windsor counties. In neighboring New York state, the signal will reach Warren and Washington counties and some of Saratoga and Essex counties.
Professionals earn master's degree from Champlain College BURLINGTON, Vt.--Twelve area professionals were among the graduates of Champlain Colleges online masters program in Managing Innovation and Information Technology in May.
CHITTENDEN BANK APPOINTS NEW PRESIDENT
Burlington -- Chittenden Bank's Board of Directors announced
today, the appointment of John W. Kelly as President and CEO of Chittenden
Bank. As President and CEO, Mr. Kelly will oversee all aspects of
Chittenden Bank's retail, commercial and wealth management operations.
Mr. Kelly has been serving as interim president for Chittenden since
Lawrence W. DeShaw retired in April. Mr. Kelly assumes the role of
President and CEO immediately.
VTFCU President/CEO Elected to Board of Director's of America's Credit Union Museum
BURLINGTON, VT-Joseph M. Finnigan, President/CEO of Vermont Federal Credit Union was recently named to the Board of Directors of Americas Credit Union Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire.
The mission of Americas Credit Union Museum is to commemorate the founders and the site of Americas first credit union in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1908 and to educate present and future generations on the benefits of cooperative self-help efforts to promote thrift and sensible use of credit.
Dress for Success from the Inside Out:
Vermont Woman-Owned Business Sells Lingerie Online
(May 25, 2005) Proud to be a Vermont-based business specifically targeting the needs of working women, A Little Lingerie Company, LLC opened its doors to the public this month at www.alittlelingeriecompany.com.
IDX Systems wins Deane Davis Business of the Year Award
IDX Systems Corp of South Burlington was named winner of the Deane C Davis Outstanding Vermont Business Award during opening ceremonies May 25 for the Vermont Business & Industry Expo.
Green Mountain Power CEO says Utility Building To Power Vermonts future Vermont State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding Announces State Investment in Green Mountain Power Stock
COLCHESTER, Vt&. Christopher L. Dutton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power (NYSE:GMP), Monday told shareholders that the Vermont utility is committed to modernizing its electric infrastructure to assist in the effort to make sure our customers are empowered to compete in the global economy.
GBA wins national award
National American Institute of Architects Green Award for Waterfront Housing on Lake Street
Summer Tourism Outlook Survey Shows Trend Toward Last Minute Travel
A survey of Vermont Chamber of Commerce travel and tourism members conducted in the past week shows that the majority of businesses are expecting a positive summer season with many last minute reservations.
A total of 70% of respondents are looking forward to a business season that is the same or better than last summer: 30% of respondents said business is looking better than last year, while 40% said that they expect the summer 2005 season to be on par with last summer.


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UK tabloid newspaper The Sun is reporting that production on the new Star Wars Disney+ TV series and the latest Jurassic World movie at Pinewood Studios has been halted with staff sent home for at least a month.
Disney is launching 'The Mandalorian' on free to air TV in Germany, as they get ready to launch the Disney+ platform in the country. However, with that good news comes the disappointment that support for Amazon Fire devices will be missing in the country.
This week in Star Wars, grab some snacks and settle in to watch Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker at home, get your first look at new Star Wars merchandise at New York Toy Fair from The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and join us as we celebrate the first episode from the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars coming to Disney+
Star Wars: The Clone Wars returns, this time on Disney+, on February 21st. That means you have very little time to marathon the entire run so far. However, D23.com have come to your help to pick some of the best episodes - with the help of the cast of the show!
The Mandalorian has led Disney+ to an impressive debut with 26.5 million subscribers just two months after the launch of the service. Disney CEO Bob Iger said the service has “exceeded even our greatest expectations.”
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The $200m project is under construction and planned for late 2024 completion.
Held Thursday and Friday at the Grand Lucayan Hotel and Resort, the introductory session updated the community about the project's progress and the jobs and business opportunities it will bring. A series of breakout sessions also took place to provide individuals and business owners with further details on construction, retail, food and beverage and shore excursion opportunities.
1,000 jobs projected
Carnival President Christine Duffy said the Grand Bahama Cruise Port represents a 'tremendous opportunity' to partner with the community to create jobs and build a business relationship that will have immediate and long-term benefits.
'We look forward to seeing the new port come to life, generating an estimated 1,000 local jobs throughout its development, construction and ongoing operation, and ultimately creating a one-of-a-kind experience for Grand Bahama visitors from around the world,' Duffy added.
Ground was broken in May on the south side of the island, where the port will serve as a gateway to Grand Bahama. The facility will offer cruisers a Bahamian experience with features and amenities including a one-mile stretch of white-sand beach, a nature reserve and an interior pool feature, as well as Bahamian-operated retail and food and beverage options.
Capacity for two Excel-class ships
The pier will be able to accommodate two of Carnival’s Excel-class ships simultaneously, such as the Port Canaveral based Mardi Gras, which debuted in 2021, and sister Carnival Celebration, set to begin sailing from PortMiami later this year.
Carnival said it will continue to keep local businesses informed about progress and opportunities via the project website.


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Paul and Maurice Marciano, the brothers who serve respectively as chief executive officer and chairman of Guess Inc., saw their collective compensation rise 70 percent last year, to more than $26 million, as their firm registered double-digit increases in sales and profits.
Paul Marciano, the Los Angeles-based company’s top earner, netted $15.4 million in total compensation, 57.4 percent above the $9.8 million reported for 2009, with his $1 million salary unchanged and his nonequity incentive plan compensation down 1.7 percent to $4.75 million from $4.84 million. His stock and option awards totaled $2 million, 39.7 percent above the $1.4 million reported for 2009.
Nearly all of the increase in Paul’s pay package was linked to a $5 million increase in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings, which grew 208 percent to $7.6 million from $2.5 million in the prior year. The company attributed the jump in the pension column to new guidelines affecting actuarial calculations tied to the company’s supplemental executive retirement program, or SERP.
Maurice Marciano earned a total of $10.8 million last year, 91.9 percent above the 2009 level of $5.6 million. His $1 million salary came against just $49,000 in 2009 pay as he voluntarily waived his base salary during the recession. Although the other component of his cash payments, nonequity incentive plan compensation, fell 15.6 percent to $1.9 million from $2.3 million in the prior year, his stock and option awards more than doubled, to $3.4 million from $1.6 million, and the change in pension value and nonqualified deferred compensation earnings more than tripled, to $4.1 million from $1.3 million, also as a result of a SERP adjustment.
Stock and option awards aren’t necessarily realized because of fluctuating stock prices and vesting schedules, but companies are required to report them at fair market value.
In the fiscal year ended in January, Guess’ net income increased 19.3 percent, to $289.5 million, as revenues grew 16.9 percent to $2.49 billion.
Eliminating overlapping stock holdings, the Marciano brothers own 30.1 percent of Guess’s outstanding common stock, according to their most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Assouline is paying homage to the late Azzedine Alaïa with a reprint of "Alaïa Livre de Collection.” The book is comprised of photographs of the designer's summer 1992 runway show with models Christy Turlington Burns, Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks, pictured here at right. #wwdfashion #alaia #tyrabanks
Fall 2018 accessories take on a painterly hue, with Nebulas Blue among Pantone’s top 10 colors of the season. (📸: @jonghyupstudio ; editor: @twallz21 ; stylist and set designer: @haideefindlaylevin ) #wwdaccessories
@americanapparelusa is relaunching the brand outside of the U.S. today, opening its online store to more than 200 countries. The company is also contemplating a return to brick-and-mortar, though details have not been confirmed. In tandem with the expanded distribution is a recasting of a social media ad campagn, called “Back to Basics,” pictured here, with a focus on diversity and a cast of models above the age of 21. Read more on WWD.com #wwdnews #wwdfashion
Exclusive: @britneyspears is continuing to expand her brand. The pop icon, who appears in @kenzo ’s latest campaign, is partnering with Epic Rights to launch a line of branded merchandise. Read @hernameislex ‘s story, link in bio. #wwdnews #britneyspears
The Duchess of Cambridge channeled Princess Diana’s look upon giving birth to Prince Harry, when she and the Duke of Cambridge departed the hospital with the new baby Prince this afternoon in London. #wwdeye #princeofcambridge
The new Prince of Cambridge has arrived! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posed with the 8-pound newborn. She wore a look from one of her go-to designers, @jennypackham. Tap link in bio for more. #wwdeye #princeofcambridge
Jewelry label @alisonlou has made a name for itself with fine jewelry that speaks to the Millennial market. Now @twallz21 reports that the label is bringing those playful ideas to a new affordable line of lucite hoops with the launch of Loucite by Alison Lou. Here’s a look from the line modeled by @emrata. #wwdaccessories
@sarahjessicaparker and @gilt are teaming up on a bridal ready-to-wear line. Tomorrow, Parker will launch SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker Bridal — and as part of the launch, Gilt will offer 15 exclusive styles from the SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker footwear collection that were designed to complement the new line. Made out of 10 styles, the line is designed for a variety of occasions, from bridal showers to receptions. Get more details on WWD.com #wwdfashion


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Nintendo E3 2017 Spotlight Presentation Trailers and Announcements Recap
From a new Pokemon to Metroid Prime 4, to Super Mario Odyssey and Fire Emblem Warriors, Nintendo had a little something for everyone at E3 2017.
With the debut of the Nintendo Switch earlier this year, Nintendo had plenty to show off at this year’s E3 2017 for fans new and old to look forward to, and as the last presentation of E3 2017, Nintendo managed to deliver quite a bit on expected titles and a few surprises along the way.
Nintendo’s Spotlight presentation for E3 2017 has concluded, and overall there is plenty for Nintendo fans to look forward to across this year, next year, and beyond from many of Nintendo’s most prominent franchises.
At the top of the pack came the big surprises of the newly-announced Metroid Prime 4 for Nintendo Switch now entering development, and while the game itself wasn’t actually shown, there’s still plenty to be excited about in the return of Metroid and Samus Aran. Other surprises from the presentation included a new Kirby title coming in 2018, the confirmation of a mainline Pokemon game for the Switch, a new Yoshi title, and the surprise reveal of Rocket League for the Switch.
Some of the more expected reveals included a new trailer for Super Mario Odyssey and a confirmation of the game’s release in October of this year, a new trailer for the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (arriving this holiday), a look at Fire Emblem Warriors, and much, much more.
In case you missed out on the stream – no worries, you can check out a recap of all of the major announcements below:


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Reuters - Lenovo Group Ltd is unveiling a new look for its classic ThinkPad line, and is including Advanced Micro Devices Inc microprocessors in the laptops for the first time.
The new ThinkPad Edge series, with a sleeker design, simplified keyboard and slightly larger keys, will come in three screen sizes, three colors and start at $549 in the United States.
The Edge line is targeted at small and medium-sized businesses, which tend to focus on design and aesthetics, according to Charles Sune, segment manager for ThinkPad.
The announcement was made ahead of the annual Consumer Electronics Show being held this week in Las Vegas.
China-based Lenovo is the world's No. 4 PC maker. Its PC shipments jumped 18 percent year-over-year in the July-September period, according to industry tracker IDC. The company reported revenue for the same time period fell 5 percent to $4.1 billion.
Introduced in 1992 by IBM, and hailed as a forerunner in laptop design, more than 30 million ThinkPad units have been sold. Big Blue sold its PC division to Lenovo in 2005.
The addition of AMD Neo chips to the ThinkPad family will let Lenovo offer lower price points, the company said.
ThinkPads running on chips from Intel Corp will still be offered.
The PC maker is also launching a new entry-level ThinkPad for commercial customers that Sune said will "bridge the gap between netbooks and laptops," and features a full-sized keyboard.
The 11.6-inch X100e, weighing less than 3 pounds, will start at $449.


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Globalization, for all its faults, has been good to many poor people living in developing countries. Millions in East Asia have escaped the threat of hunger by leaving the fields to work in factories producing manufacturing goods to sell in the West. But what happens to the prospects of the world’s poor when the West stops buying?
Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, Elihu Professor of Economics at Yale, returned to campus on February 27, 2020 to deliver the 30th annual Kuznets Lecture, presented by the Economic Growth Center. In her talk, “Poverty Reduction in the Era of Waning Globalization”, Professor Goldberg considered the effects of rising protectionism on poverty, and discussed approaches to poverty reduction in an era of high inequality and waning globalization.


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06:59MP's campaign to close down puppy farms
07:36Yorkshire travel: Delays and congestion on A1 as flooding causes closure of two lanes
08:52Waitrose recalls dessert due to plastic contamination
09:43TESTED: The best supermarket hot cross buns
09:48Closing the gender pay gap: should men take a pay cut?
10:09Channel 4's Food Unwrapped is looking for people who want to lose weight
10:26Ready meals are not always as bad as we think they are
11:20Can you join beach clean up?
11:28Over 55s and under 25s to be hit hardest by upcoming energy price rises
11:28Last minute Mother's Day gifts for under a tenner
11:56Worker caught URINATING in can at production plant which serves Coca-Cola, Carlsberg and Monster
13:20This is who will be cleaning up Yorkshire's beaches after millions of sea creatures were stranded
15:06Will the health secretary visit town hospital?
15:33VIDEO: Take a tour of the new Premier Inn
16:17PHOTOS: Inside Bridlington's new Premier Inn hotel
19:25Car mobile phone cases fall


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Revenue-based financing platform Klub on Monday said it has extended credit up to Rs 50 crore (around $6 million) to six companies.
These companies include vegan skincare brand Neemli Naturals, electric ride-sharing firm BluSmart Mobility, plastic-free toy store Ariro Wooden Toys, home decor brand Ecofynd, solar energy firm Freyr Energy and electric scooter company Hero Electric.
Revenue-based financing (RBF) is a model that involves getting returns based on the recurring revenue of the firm invested in. Startups that secure capital through this way pledge a percentage of their current gross revenue over periodic intervals as repayment.
The eco-friendly product market has grown geometrically over the last 7 years or so globally, and India is no exception, the company said in a statement elaborating on their investment. a research study by marketing company TerraChoice revealed a 73% growth in the eco-friendly product market over the last 5-7 years and more new companies and products are making entries.
“India is very different from the one that we knew ten years ago. Sustainable industry a decade ago was hardly spoken about, whereas today, at least 60% of Indians are ready to pay a premium price for a sustainable product,” said Anurakt Jain, Co-founder and chief executive at Klub.
“We want to support this new pendulum of change by helping sustainable brands grow in the Indian startup ecosystem, even more in 2023 and future years to come. We are aiming to have at least 40% of our portfolio with such brands,” he added.
Founded by Jain and Ishita Verma, Klub provides flexible growth capital ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 30 crore with zero equity dilution or personal guarantees. The company has funded more than 380 brands across sectors in India.
Last year, online furniture rental startup Furlenco, which is run by Bengaluru-based House of Kieraya (HoK), raised debt from Klub, against future recurring revenue.
Klub has secured funds for direct-to-consumer brands like SMOOR, The Label Life, Petsutra and Tjori, TagZ Foods, among others.
Since its launch in December 2021, Klub’s Aceler8 fund has disbursed capital to late-stage online companies for expansion and inventory purposes. The fund has an average ticket size of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 30 crore.
The firm provides funding for recurring marketing, inventory, and CAPEX spending to a wide variety of digital-first companies and SMEs. Klub uses its data-driven underwriting process to make faster funding decisions, with emphasis on the cost of capital appropriately reflecting the inherent risks in business across sectors.
It evaluates the risk profile of a brand by using APIs (application programming interface) to get data from third parties, like Banking and financial statements and GST among others.


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It’s no secret that the fashion world we all love has been guilty of excluding diversity when it comes to body types and ethnicity. But within recent years a movement for inclusion has begun to dismantle some of the standards that are associated with the industry. Whether it’s Vogue‘s inclusive cover or the rise of models like Ashley Graham, Winne Harlow and Madeline Stuart, it’s clear that the future of fashion is changing. And good news, Denver has been ahead of the curve on this.
Enter The Fourth Annual Native Fashion in the City, taking place on Friday evening, March 24. This event celebrates Native American fashion designers, stylists, models and photographers and we are delighted to get an exclusive look. The showcase began in 2013 as a collaborative partnership between Native Max Magazine and Rocky Mountain Indian Chamber of Commerce and grew into what we’re going to be seeing this weekend. Kelly Holmes, Native Fashion in the City’s founder sat down with us to tell us about the fashion that’ll be presented and how significant heritage and culture are as design inspiration.
303: How big of a part does Native American heritage play in what we will see?
Kelly Holmes: Pretty much all of the event you’ll see our Native American heritage shine through. The whole mission we had in mind when we set out to create Native Fashion in the City was to provide a platform to give up and coming Native American fashion designers, artisans, models, photographers, and stylists an opportunity to show their fashion talents to the world where cultural appropriation still runs rampant. We took it up a notch by planning this annual show almost parallel to a fashion week – we put the spotlight on the designers and models who are on the runway. We try to facilitate and foster partnerships with designers and attendees of our show.
Native Fashion in the City is an all-Native American produced event. All of our core team members are from different tribes all over the country. We come together every year to put on a show that’ll wow everyone. As a guest at our event, you’ll see your common fashion show with the runway and cameras flashing. But what makes our event different from the average catwalk presentation is that we have a touch of our culture infused into our show. The models are Native American, wearing designs by Native American fashion designers. The makeup looks you see on the models are all done by majority Native American hairstylists and makeup artists. The DJ playing the music is Native American and sometimes he spins music that is produced by Native American musicians. But the way we present the fashion show isn’t overwhelming or stereotypical at all. With Native Fashion in the City, we aim to break stereotypes.
303: Tell me about Native American fashion in Denver. How far has it come? How far do we have to go?
KH: It has definitely come far in the last nine years I lived here in Denver. When I first started modeling in 2007 when I was 16 years old, I was often told I was too exotic looking or not pale enough by Denver photographers and fashion designers. Then when I tried to dabble in designing and styling, I was told prejudicial things like “what do Native Americans know what’s in fashion?” or “What do Native Americans know what’s going on today?”And when I was booked for shoots I was asked to pose with stereotypical Indian Princess costumes and jewelry. It was frustrating but I still pursued my passion for fashion.
When I first hosted Native Fashion in the City back in 2014 I opened the invitation to anybody who was interested in attending. I had a few people attend, including the founder of Colorado Fashion Week Justice Kwarteng. Then whilst planning the 2nd Native Fashion in the City in 2015 I personally invited more influential people who were a part of the local Denver art and fashion community. Due to my personal experience with the local fashion community, I was nervous about the feedback I’d get. To my surprise, a lot of the guests who did attend were authoritative people of the fashion community such as Denver Style Magazine founders Heather Okimoto and Kelsey Bigelow, and fashion blogger Lacey of My Boring Closet. And last year, we had fashion designer Stephanie O. of Project Runway: Under the Gunn attend our event. She was super excited and was blown away by the event. We also had Jessica Montour of Fashion Forward sponsor the bags for our swag bags. We’re now starting to see that the local Denver art, fashion and entrepreneurial community is becoming more accepting to us and our culture. Definitely an obvious difference than what I first experienced almost a decade ago.


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Celtra Inc., a creative, analytics and optimization platform for display advertising, today announced the release of Programmatic Creative, a new addition to its AdCreator platform. Programmatic Creative allows advertisers to build and run data-driven dynamic creatives using leading information services and data analytics providers, such as Neustar, across mobile and desktop inventory. Utilizing this platform, brands and agencies can quickly and easily customize the ad creative to each type of customer and create consistency in current audience targeting strategies being applied today in programmatic media channels.
Even though the advertising industry is in a state of change, the objectives remain the same: delivering the right message, to the right person, at the right time. Celtra is the first to provide advertisers with a scalable solution to leverage audience data to build fully dynamic creatives for mobile display and video ads. Partnering with leading big data companies, such as Neustar with their thousands of customizable audiences, Programmatic Creative brings 1st and 3rd party audience data directly into its self-service platform where advertisers can easily define the rules that inform the creative.
“Programmatic Creative is more than just an enhancement of the platform; it is our new direction and strategy for growing the business to the next level,” said Mihael Mikek, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Celtra. “While it’s still early, we believe this is a pivotal moment in our evolution, which will change our business and the opportunities that lie ahead. This technology will power all of our ad products moving forward and will become the key value in all ads we deliver in the future.”
In addition to seamless access to audience data, Programmatic Creative also provides a plethora of situational data signals, such as location, weather or time, which can be used individually, or combined with audience data, into more sophisticated rules sets.
“Audience data has been traditionally used by advertisers for targeting audiences and measuring the reach of their digital campaigns,” said Lisa Joy Rosner, Chief Marketing Officer for Neustar Inc. “On mobile platforms the use beyond media has been limited and we are extremely excited to explore new opportunities of audience data use in mobile advertising. Creative ad strategies benefiting from increased access to audience data are widely seen as the next frontier in mobile display and video and high quality audience data will once again play a key role in making mobile advertising even better.”
By bringing audience data to mobile creatives, Celtra’s Programmatic Creative bridges the gap between cookieless mobile environments and the desktop. It also brings media buying and creative production even closer together by allowing advertisers to run dynamically customized audience specific creatives and match them with targeted audiences.
“Ever since the industry embraced programmatic media buying, the creative has largely been an afterthought for most advertisers. It’s been hard to automate and at the same time the efficiencies of audience buying offered enough lift to compensate for mediocre creative,” said Matevz Klanjsek, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Celtra. “Programmatic Creative is changing that by making the use of the same leading audience data providers and other data signals in creatives extremely easy and aligned with media buying processes and strategies, thus enabling advertisers to easily deliver the most relevant message to their targeted audiences.”


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Members of the public are invited to weigh in on San Joaquin Entrepreneur Challenge, helping choose which inventors, fledgling entrepreneurs or business startups will grab a share of $20,000 in cash and business services in the Valley's own "American Idol"-style competition.
Final rounds of the challenge are set for Wednesday in Stockton.
One winner and runner-up will be chosen from the eight contestants surviving an initial public event March 2 based on votes from a panel of expert judges as well as the audience. Those still in the hunt offer a wide range of products and ideas, everything from solar energy collectors to mussel-sniffing dogs for water pollution control and natural Mexican sauces to green graffiti removal.
While the Entrepreneur Challenge offers exciting entertainment and, for the winners, a chance at boosting their business dreams, it is part of a larger economic development strategy supported by economic and educational institutions in San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced counties.
"The challenge is a way to try to stimulate some more entrepreneurial thinking," said Mark Plovnic, president of the San Joaquin Angels and economic development director at University of the Pacific.
In its first two years, it has attracted about 150 entries, he noted.
"We like to think those are 150 folks that have taken the first steps toward creating their own businesses," Plovnick said. "If only a few of those follow through, it's a worthwhile endeavor."
This year's challenge received more than 65 business plans, which were screened by business and academic experts who selected the 20 best ideas. At the March 2 event, each contestant was given two minutes to describe his or her business, appealing for support from audience and judges. On Wednesday, the eight remaining entrepreneurs will have five minutes to make their pitches to be one of four to go on to the final round that same date. For the last hurdle, contestants will each be challenged to address a separate business problem.
The event will run from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at the Stockton Golf & Country Club, 3800 W. Country Club Blvd. A cover charge of $12 prepaid or $15 at the door will include entry and light refreshments.
For more information or to register to attend, visit online sjchallenge.com.
Event sponsors include San Joaquin Angels; University of the Pacific; NEC Small Business Development Center-San Joaquin Delta College; Business Council Inc.; Alliance Small Business Development Center; Merced County Department of Commerce, Aviation and Economic Development; Stanislaus Economic Development and Workforce Alliance; and the San Joaquin Partnership.


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(Baileux, BELGIUM) – Chimay Brewery is importing a brand-new beer to the U.S. this year.
For years, the brewery has only imported the famous trio: Blue, Red and Triple (White). Later this year, the brewery will ship a 150th anniversary edition, Chimay Spéciale Cent Cinquante, through Texas-based Manneken-Brussels Imports. The TTB approved the label at the end of April.
It will only be made available in a cork-and-caged 750ml bottle. A photo from Espace Chimay shows it packaged in a wooden box with a suggested retail of 15 euros. The back of the bottle reads, “To celebrate the 150 years spent at the Abbey of Scourmont, the Chimay Trappist brewery has developed this exceptional anniversary beer, brewed specially for the occasion.” As for what the beer is, there is a flavor profile here though no style is specified.
Of the 150,000 bottles produced, approximately half will be exported out of Belgium. The beer will debut in July in Belgium on a limited basis though it won’t be widely released in supermarkets until the end of the year. UPDATE: The U.S. release of 2,500 cases will take place in September.
Chimay is the largest of the world’s eight Trappist breweries. Wanonce’s Marc Beirens, the only distributor for all of the Trappist breweries in Belgium, says the company produced 168,490 hectoliters in 2011 and is up against capacity. That is the equivalent of nearly 145,000 barrels in the U.S., enough to rank the brewery just outside of the top ten when compared against the production of U.S.-based craft brewers.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports, “While Chimay produces a considerable volume of beer, it’s not driven by the same financial ambitions as other brewing businesses. Profits help support charitable institutions in Zaire, India and Wales, and the Chimay monks plough a lot of money back into the surrounding region.”
According to Shelton Brothers’ co-founder, Daniel Shelton, Chimay rep, Luc “Bobo” Van Mechelin, told him that Manneken-Brussels Imports only imports 350 containers of the beer each year. Shelton Brothers will import 100 containers this year in total for its dozens of brands.
The monks no longer brew the beer though they are still part of the overall process.


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Enormous quantities of food in many countries are needlessly lost or rendered less nutritious or less palatable due to inefficient processing, spoilage, exposure to heat, devastation by insects and rodents, and other avoidable factors.
The economic consequences of water stress are clear to the naked eye. Emaciated livestock, ravaged crops, and the exposed and cracked beds of lakes make for powerful images. But what can't be seen is equally menacing.
Food labeling isn't black and white and "organic" and "natural" labels are no guarantee of ideal quality. Thankfully, several experts, writers and small businesses have attempted to provide resources to help consumers make educated choices.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with the Academy for Global Citizenship's Sarah Elizabeth Ippel - the core of her amazing efforts have developed into a learning lab for broader systemic change in the community.
How could an ad celebrating the American farmer paint such a distorted picture of the people who actually work on farms today? The reality is that farmworkers are systematically underpaid and under-appreciated.
For many Americans, the higher price of chicken wings was bad news. But the good news that could emerge from food-price sticker shock is that more people will ask what we can do in agriculture to help stop climate change while still feeding the world.
If you want to listen to a funny story about tomatoes and group of hungry hippos, Ernesto Sirolli tells a great one. The story is as colorful as its teller, but the moral is sobering: if you really want to help people, you have to just shut up and listen.
Three square feet of growing space is estimated to produce 180 pounds of fresh vegetables a year, and researchers at Columbia University concluded a 30-story building could theoretically provide enough produce for 50,000 people.
The farm bill extension that passed was written behind closed doors and serves a few powerful interests -- not the interests of the average citizen, public health, and the environment. We should be outraged.


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Netflix raising its prices by $1 per month
New subscribers will pay more, but current subscribers will see price freeze for two years
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SAN FRANCISCO—Netflix is raising its Internet video prices by $1 per month for new customers and giving its current U.S. subscribers a two-year break from the higher rates.
The changes mean anyone signing up for Netflix’s video subscription service beginning Friday will pay $9 per month for in the U.S. The old price of $8 per month will continue until May 2016 for Netflix’s existing 36 million U.S. subscribers.
Canadian customers received an email Friday morning stating: “In order to continue adding more movies and TV shows, we are increasing our price from $7.99 to $8.99 for new members. As a thank you for being a member of Netflix already, we guarantee your plan and price (excluding tax) will not change for two years.”
Related: Netflix unveils a new user interface
The price increase, Netflix’s first in nearly three years, isn’t surprise. The Los Gatos, California-based company disclosed its plans to raise its rates last month without specifying the precise amount.
Netflix Inc. say its needs more money so it can afford to pay for more original programming along the lines of its Emmy Award-winning political drama “House of Cards.”
By delaying the price increase for current subscribers, Netflix hopes to avoid the backlash that it faced in 2011 when it raised its prices by as much as 60 per cent.
The company lost about 800,000 customers within a few months in an exodus that alarmed investors, causing Netflix’s stock to plunge by more than 80 per cent in a year. Netflix eventually lured back subscribers and revived its customer growth, lifting its stock to record highs earlier this year.
Subscription prices also will be increasing by the equivalent of about $1 month in Netflix’s markets outside the U.S, including Canada. The company ended March with nearly 13 million international customers in more than 40 countries.
- One Canadian couple's plan to feed Swaziland's children
- 40 years ago, Celsius came to Canada. Its reception? Brrrr
- Germanwings co-pilot urged captain to leave cockpit
- Oakville city councillor Max Khan dies
- List of protests tracked by government includes vigil, ‘peace demonstration’
- One person remains in hospital after Air Canada flight’s ‘hard landing’ in Halifax
- What the Leafs have left to play for in the final six games
- Homeless fear Toronto plan to open suburban shelters
All 133 locations across the country will be shut down as early as mid-April, a month ahead of schedule.


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He had set his focus on joining the global ranks with his brand of now popular bottled mineral water.
Haji Ahmed Mohamed, a father of six, is now the proprietor of Guru Mineral Water Company based in Mombasa that produces Jasmine Premium Drinking Water.
The former top police officer married to Aziza, had to quit disciplined forces job to pursue the business of his choice.
The company started in 2009 has surpassed owners expectations and is today one of first pioneer suppliers of bottled mineral water in Somalia.
“My enlistment in the disciplined forces prepared me well for life’s challenges ahead. I credit my tenure in the police service, where I served with dedication for more than two decades for the recent turn of events in my business venture,’’ he said.
An idea conceived
“I researched extensively prior to venturing into water business. In fact, at one time while still a serving police officer, I went on a 60-day annual leave and sought temporary employments with a reputable mineral water company in Nairobi,” he said.
Mohamed, who likes spending his free time in mosques and reading the Quran gained lots of experience in the short duration he spent at the Nairobi-based water company.
“I gained enough knowledge and when I returned to Mombasa, I had already coined an idea of going it alone in business,’’ he observed.
He left the police force on February 24, 2010. Since then, he has given all his best to the water bottling business. His initial start up capital, which he says came monthly savings was about Sh1 million.
He used it to buy water bottling and purifying machines from Davis and Shirtliff. He had the vigour and energy to excel and according to him nothing could stand on his way. “A business trip to Dubai served as an eye-opener. I saw some of the latest equipment used in water bottling and on return, I made orders that were delivered after making payment,” he said.
The company’s turnover is about Sh10 million. Mohammed said he makes a net profit of between Sh300,000 to Sh350,000 monthly. To date, his firm operates from a building in Bombolulu along the busy Mombasa-Malindi highway. The company has employed more than 30 workers. His products are to be found in homes, hotels and even airlines that use his branded bottled water in-flight.
Mohamed concedes the water bottling sub-sector is one of the most crowded with new investors joining the Sh12 billion industry each day.
It has attracted huge firm such as the Kenya Tea Packers Association ( Ketepa), whose core business is processing and packaging of tea.
Ketepa produces the Maisha water brand. SABMiller recently joined the fray by buying Crown Foods Ltd, the producers of Keringet bottled water. Kenya’s bottled water sub-sector has more than 350 players.
It is dominated by a half a dozen brands that account for more than 60 per cent of the total sales. Apart from those in direct employment, Mohamed says that there are close to 300 hawkers who sell his products in and around Mombasa city.
“I am proud to have been able to contribute to job creation in our beloved country,” he said.
Mohamed partly attributes his motivation to venture into business to the Kilome MP John Harun Mwau, who has built a vast business empire despite having served in the police service.
Source The Stander


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With consumer and industry anticipation for the Apple Watch continuing to grow, tech pundits and financial analysts are clamouring everywhere to estimate the number of devices Apple will sell, both in the first 24 hours after release, and in the time before the Sun turns into a red giant and converts the Earth into a molten ruin.
Wall Street analysts are already predicting Apple will sell at least nine billion devices in the first 24 hours. While Apple has remained tight-lipped and refused to provide their own forecasts, analysts interpreted a slight twitch of Tim Cook’s eyebrow three days before Thanksgiving to indicate their expectations are in fact highly accurate.
Meanwhile, renowned IT pundits with a success rate bordering on zero for predictions of Apple sales are confidently quoting Apple will sell negative numbers of the devices. Said Guy Lamé at Self-Declared-Analysts:
We here at Self-Declared-Analysts believe the Apple Watches will not only be highly unpopular, selling only a few dozen, but they’ll subsequently be determined to be highly radioactive, killing those same dozens of people and necessitating an immediate refund to their next of kin. This of course will result in a massive class action lawsuit which will bankrupt Apple and cause them to go out of business. It’s time to sell that stock, folks, and buy into a reputable and safe firm like Blackberry.
Guy Lamé was unfortunately interrupted by his mother asking him to take the bins out before he could provide more insight.
Analysts have however expressed some concern about Apple’s ability to produce enough watches using red-giant-star-proof glass, which neither Corning nor any other company on the planet have been able to invent yet, and believe this may affect the long-term viability of the product.


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OVO Energy and Kaluza are partnering with Volkswagen UK and smart charging company, Indra to launch a Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) trial.
The UK government and Ofgem have released a plan that would benefit drivers by making it cheaper for them to run their electric vehicles.
Aqua superPower, Indra, Cenex and the University of Plymouth are developing a UK demonstrator of bi-directional boat charging.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is seeking customers interested in joining its upcoming Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) pilot programmes.
Revel, NineDot Energy and Fermata Energy have launched the first Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) programme connected to New York City's grid.


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Great Gatsby New Year’s Eve Dinner and Party on Friday (Dec. 31) from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Madam’s Restaurant and Coffee Shop at 51 E Therma Street in Eagle Nest. Prices vary. For more information, visit Madam's Restaurant & Coffee Shop on Facebook or visit livetaos.org.
The show, titled "Pop Chalee: Yippee Ki Yay," opened to the public Sunday (Sept. 12) and will continue through March 2022. The show especially makes note of Pop Chalee's induction into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, Oct. 26, in Fort Worth, Texas, along with country music star Miranda Lambert of Texas, and Western wear hat designer and former rodeo performer Lavonna "Shorty" Koger of Oklahoma.


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Today more than ever, there is a need for well-informed journalism to help make sense of fast-paced change and worrying events around the globe. It may be 175 years old and have been blessed with a rather dry name, but The Economist hopes that in these uncertain times, “globally curious” readers across the English-speaking world and beyond will turn to it for analysis of the news.
In the year to 2018, The Economist Group recorded an operating profit of £47m on revenues of £367m – an all-time high in revenues, but slight decline of 2% in profit. Of these revenues, £221m came from subscriptions and circulation, highlighting the importance to the group of focusing on increasing its readership.
Marina Haydn, managing director, global circulation at The Economist, explains the group is firmly focused on increasing circulation as the main driver of revenues. She says: “We see readership of The Economist as being the primary revenue driver because of the close relationship that our readers have with us and the sustainability of that revenue stream. It’s very clear to the industry that the advertising model has changed and has become less of a factor on the revenue side due to structural changes and we decided to pivot to a readership focus.” She is careful to add, however, that: “There are many positives on the media side. The Economist is not saying ‘no’ to advertising.”
What’s in a name
Does The Economist have an image problem? “With people who know The Economist, absolutely not,” says Haydn. “Our name is not indicative of the breadth of journalism that we provide and that has been a challenge over the last four to five years to ensure that our marketing is underlining the breadth of our content.” She insists: “We are an ongoing advocate for positive change. We can be a smart and helpful guide to the forces that are shaping people’s future; be that place where someone can come for a distilled interpretation of the week’s events.”
Three years ago, the group’s board set a goal of higher circulation and instigated a marketing push to achieve this. The result has been to increase the number of new subscribers by 18%. When existing subscribers leaving are taken into account, this amounts to an increase of 36,000 subscribers in the past year to a total of just over 1.1m full-price subscribers, with a worldwide print and digital circulation of 1.4m.
This rise in subscriptions comes despite a 20% increase in the magazine’s cover price introduced two years ago and has seen revenue per copy increase by 10%. However, the cost of acquiring these new subscribers has also risen by an average of 22%. As the outgoing chairman Rupert Pennant-Rea states in the 2018 annual report: “For the circulation strategy to succeed in the long term, this cost must be tightly controlled.”
So how is Haydn, an Austrian based in Geneva alongside The Economist’s finance team, going about increasing circulation whilst reining in costs? Digital marketing is at the heart of her strategy. The Economist has a well-established paywall which allows registered readers to access three articles for free each month before they must subscribe. The trick then is to convert these registered readers into subscribers. Registered readers receive daily and weekly email updates from The Economist, which act as a spur for them to become paid subscribers, with an introductory offer of 12 weeks for £12.
Haydn says: “We are growing digital subscriptions at 25% and we are now moving towards a print / digital split of 69% print / 31% digital.” But she points out that what this figure does not show is “that the majority of our consumers choose premium bundles, so 75% of our readers have a digital component [to their subscription package] and only 25% are pure print or digital”. She adds: “The majority of our consumers like reading both, with digital growth fastest.” In terms of cost control, she says: “We are ensuring overall efficiency is increased by using data insight tools and ensuring that every pound we spend is delivering a lifetime value.”
The group has worked hard to improve the digital experience for readers, recently launching a new app, which together with the main weekly edition offers a daily selection of articles from The Economist’s print and digital output including news articles, blog posts and features from the standalone 1843 magazine. The new app also introduces readers to the audio edition and the daily app Espresso. “Our ambition through this app is to provide more of a native mobile experience,” says Haydn.
The Economist has identified its key target demographic as “the globally curious”. Haydn says: “These are people who are interested in the world around them; they have high levels of education and are profoundly interested in travel, education and the arts. There are 132m globally curious individuals in the world and 72m of them are English language speakers. Of those 72m who have the psychographic features to be interested in The Economist, there’s clearly room for growth.”
She adds: “The US, the UK and Australia are our three key growth markets which we are really focusing on to grow our readership.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, in the US, The Economist has seen its best results in urban areas such as New York, Washington DC and Chicago.
Social media is a crucial marketing tool. The Economist’s social media reach is now 55.6m, up 24% year on year. The title has embraced Snapchat Discover and Instagram Stories, with projects such as “Puteen” featuring interviews with Russian teenagers. “Snapchat Discover and other formats are about developing this next generation of readers. We want to be speaking to the younger audience and engaging with them in a way that’s new to them,” says Haydn. She adds: “We see social media as being the best form of brand marketing in the digital marketing age and a key vehicle for us.”
At the other end of the spectrum, The Economist has created fun experiential marketing campaigns. Its #feedingthefuture campaign saw food trucks in New York, London and Sydney handing out burgers and tacos made from man-made meat as part of “Fast Forward Food”, while “Waste Not, Want Not” offered smoothies to passers-by in San Francisco made from produce that would otherwise have been thrown away. Another project gave away ice-cream and crepes topped with insects to show these are an alternative source of protein. Haydn says: “We have built out an extensive experiential marketing team in the US, Australia and the UK, engaging with people on the street, delivering experiences which are surprising. That’s been a very successful field, bringing in more than 100,000 subscribers over three years.”
Events is another way in which The Economist is targeting a new generation of readers, actively partnering with universities to attract more students to the magazine. Haydn says: “We launched an event series around the future of work to reach and engage millennials in the UK and Germany and found we had great interaction with the audience. The only unfortunate learning was that the students who were most keen to attend were already avid readers, so from that perspective, we used it as satisfaction engagement.”
She adds: “We are making sure to cover topics that are really important to a generation that is forward looking: a discussion on open markets, why the world should adopt the basic income or the future drug market. That type of content will pique the interest of the younger generation who are concerned about these things.”
The gender gap
As well as younger readers, the group is keen to attract more female readers. The title has not been as successful in converting women into paying subscribers. Only 25% of the paid readership is female and those women who do subscribe are less likely to stay with the magazine. Haydn recently led a research project entitled, “The World When” to explore why this is the case and analyse what can be done about it. She sees encouraging female readers as vital to increasing circulation, admitting that The Economist has been missing a huge group of potential subscribers. Aside from the strong business case, she believes that it is simply “the right thing to do”. The project group found that The Economist’s marketing around being “authoritative” was not resounding with women, who potentially saw it as “haughty”. As a result, the brand has shifted its tone and way of communicating to put itself on an equal footing with the reader by talking about concepts such as “trust” and “helping the reader to make sense of the world”. Since they introduced this nuance in approach, they have seen new female subscribers increase at double the rate of new male subscribers.
This year, to mark its 175th birthday, The Economist launched “Open Future”, which it describes as “A global conversation on the role of markets, technology and freedom in the 21st century”, with articles, videos and online debates about the future of the liberal values on which the magazine was founded, in an age of populism, culminating in a festival in September taking place simultaneously in Hong Kong, London and New York. “We are making the case for the newspaper’s founding principles,” says Haydn. “We’re creating a conversation across digital and real-life platforms, speaking to a new type of reader and bringing them on board.”
According to Haydn, The Economist is still doing exactly what it set out to do in 1843 – championing liberal values, promoting open societies, challenging special interests and reaching conclusions on the basis of cold, hard facts. It is the way in which it is doing this that has changed. She says: “Our core product has stayed largely the same; everything around it is full of innovation and creativity and that’s the key to our success.”


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The first female vice president in the U.S
Joe Biden, the candidate for the US presidential election, is sure to be elected, and a victory declaration has been issued, showing the appearance of the birth of a new president.
Senator Kamala Harris, who Mr. Biden will nominate as Vice President, is a woman of color and is expected to be the first female president
She is a Converse enthusiast, and she actually wore it during the election campaign.
Needless to say that “Chuck Taylor”, “Chucks”, and “CONVERSE” are trending on Twitter in the United States.
According to the article , it looks like this.
“This is minuscule in the grand scheme of things, but seeing Kamala Harris campaign in Converse makes me smile.https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kamala-harris-converse-shoes_n_5f56e5d4c5b6578026d212ac
Women were not allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor until 1993.
We’re taught to push through the pain of wearing heels.
Now our VP candidate is rocking sneakers.”
I see, she’s won freedom and liberty.
“Converse” between Japan and the US are completely different companies
By the way, Converse, which is familiar in Japan, is not the same brand as the product that Senator Harris wears.
Converse Japan Ltd, which sells just toward the market of Japan, is a competitor to Converse, a subsidiary of Nike, in the U.S.
There is a domestic (Japanese / US) trademark issue between the two companies, and there is no capital or business alliance.
The reason for this is that Converse in the U.S went bankrupt once.
Well, if you’re not a Japanese Converse enthusiast, it’s just a confusing story though…
So, briefly, it’s like shoes that have grown in the mainstream US and the split Japanese market.
This is also a Kaizen and “Galapagosish” evolution …
The movement of “KuToo” fight to “unhealthy” high heels as well
There was a social movement called #KuToo since 2019.
The value of shoes was often despised because Japan has a culture of putting on and taking off shoes, when Japanese go to and out home, but there was room for consideration not only in terms of discrimination against women but also in terms of shoes and health.
But in Japan it’s strange because foot massage is so well known, but don’t they care about shoes？
However, there is an opinion that Japanese “Converse” has a thin sole and it hurts when walking for a long time.
This is also reproduced with a quality higher than that of the U.S in the MADE IN JAPAN model etc. (That’s a “Japanish”, just a little expensive though).
It’s hard to be Karima Harris, but…
The sneaker style that was highly evaluated in this election campaign, so it is a little difficult to imitate in Japan.
The reason is that it’s a little troublesome to get the U.S’ Converse with a thick sole.
However, it may be difficult for Senator Harris to use Japanese Converse as well.
Rather, she may even admire it.
You can do what she can’t do, and when you think about it, it’s faster to become yourself for Japanese that she can’t imitate, rather than being like her.


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Alipurduar, 06th May: Sensation prevailed after a liquor store located at the Samuktala area in Alipurduar was robbed last night amid the ongoing lockdown.
According to sources, the incident came to light after the shop owner noticed the door locks broken, this morning. He then entered the shop and was startled to discover that liquor worth 60 thousand rupees, 1.30 lakh rupees cash, CCTV cameras, and the computer parts were stolen in the incident.
The incident was reported at the Samuktala Police station. The police have launched an investigation into the incident.


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
J. Rinehart Gallery announces the opening of its exhibition space at 319 3rd Avenue South in Pioneer Square on October 1, 2019. The inaugural exhibition, Introductions, featuring works by the gallery artists, opens on Thursday October 3, 5-8 p.m. and runs through November 9, 2019. A special Grand Opening celebration will be held October 12, 2019 from 1-5 p.m.
(Seattle, WA) - September 3, 2019 - After launching J. Rinehart gallery online earlier this year and coming off the heels of exhibiting at the Seattle Art Fair, Judith Rinehart has sought out a brick and mortar location to better showcase the work of the gallery’s represented artists. In locating the gallery in the Pioneer Square neighborhood, Rinehart continues the long-held tradition of art galleries clustering in this vibrant and growing community.
In keeping with the gallery’s mission to create an environment where anyone can feel comfortable visiting the gallery and not feel intimidated by the experience of purchasing fine art, the gallery set up is that of an inviting living room. Guests are invited to take a seat, have a cup of coffee and enjoy being surrounded by a variety of artwork that they can envision in their home.
The gallery will be open Tuesday – Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. beginning October 1, 2019. The inaugural exhibition, Introductions, featuring a variety of works by the gallery’s represented artists, opens on Thursday October 3, 2019 with an opening reception from 5- 8 p.m.
Highlights include works by 2018 Neddy Award winning painter, Lakshmi Muirhead, master printmakers Kelda Martensen and Kim Van Someren, local art collector, curator and contributor to the forthcoming Museum of Museum’s project, Shaun Kardinal, lush paintings by Daisy Patton, and floral infused photographs by Jennifer Zwick and Meggan Joy along with many others.
For more information, contact Judith at firstname.lastname@example.org


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Epic Games v. Apple trial reveals emails detailing Walmart's Project Storm cloud gaming service
Walmart expected to bring Fortnite to Project StormBy Joao Silva
In brief: The Epic Games v. Apple trial keeps revealing more than some companies might have wanted. In an exchange of confidential emails between Walmart and Epic, the multinational retailer pitched the Project Storm cloud gaming service intending to bring Fortnite into the yet unreleased platform. Moreover, the emails also describe how the service works and show a glimpse on the Home menu UI.
The first rumors surrounding Walmart's cloud gaming service came from 2019, a few days after Google Stadia's announcement. Since then, Project Storm hasn't been mentioned that often, but an exhibit in the Epic Games v. Apple trial brought its name back up.
The emails exchanged between Epic Games and Walmart included a presentation with some details about the Project Storm platform. A slide titled "How we are building it" shows Walmart planned to support multiple 3rd party launchers inside the cloud gaming platform, including Uplay, Origin, Steam, Battle.net, Epic Games Store, and Bethesda Launcher.
Another slide of the presentation shows a glimpse of what the Home menu would look like. The UI would include a list of 'Recently Played' games and another one for 'My Games.' Users could also choose games by genre or use the search function.
In the emails, Walmart described its platform as an "open ecosystem," allowing users to play locally after downloading a game or through streaming from the cloud.
"I played Walmart's demo on an Android phone (with an Xbox controller) and the experience felt like playing on PS4 and superior to playing on Android or iOS," wrote Epic Games co-founder Mark Rein in an email from April 2019. This email also contained a photo of Rein with other members of the Epic Games executive team and a game clip that would be used to attach a controller to the phone. This clip would be available at Walmart for $2.
The beta period of Project Storm was slated for July 2019, but the service has never undergone such a phase. Reports claim Walmart had already secured some partners, but the launch was put on hold last year when the Covid-19 pandemic started. It's still unclear if we will ever see Project Storm reaching end customers.
Image credit: The Verge


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A benchmark like WTI, light mild Cheddar cheese prices are determined by commodities markets that responded to pandemic changes in supply and demand.
Global lockdowns have created supply problems for Belgian French fries and French cheese because households cannot make up for decreased commercial demand.
From changing tastes to tariffs to the number of dairy cows, changes in demand and supply have created a massive cheese glut.
Russia has committed fromagicide. Our (vastly simplified) story can start with Russia’s policy in Ukraine. Next we had trade restrictions from the U.S., EU, Australia, Canada and other nations. Then Russia responded with new trade rules that banned a long list of…


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After being teased through a number of renderings and sketches, the Kahn Design WB12 Vengeance has just been previewed in the flesh as testing of the vehicle kicks off.
Based around the Aston Martin DB9, the Kahn Design WB12 Vengeance features a completely bespoke exterior to ensure it is immediately distinguishable from the DB9. As the teaser video shows however, it sounds just like the DB9 as it uses the same 5.9-litre V12 as the DB9 without any modifications.
Kahn Design claims that it will begin producing the Vengeance in limited numbers later this year with the firm focusing heavily on radically modifying the exterior appearance of the luxurious British Gran Tourer. With that in mind, the Kahn Design Vengeance features an entirely new front grille incorporating prominent vertical slats. Elsewhere at the front, modifications have been made to the headlights while a new bonnet has been installed complete with a prominent power bulge and subtle air extractors. Wrapping up the front fascia changes is a new bumper and splitter package.
Generally speaking, the same basic shape of the Aston Martin DB9 is featured meaning the car’s prominent rear haunches have been maintained. While the changes adopted at the front and sides are comprehensive, it is the rear-end where things get even more interesting. Gone are the British automaker’s traditional taillights in favour of two simple circular units. Additionally, a prominent bootlid lip spoiler is featured as is a carbon fibre rear diffuser and dual tailpipes.