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Tag: #9.9 Super Shopping Day
Over 45 million items were sold within the first 99 minutes!
The most thrilling year-end shopping season begins with the launch of Shopee's new brand ambassador, the legendary Jackie Chan
It was in 2016 when Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, revolutionized the year-end shopping season with the first 9.9 Super Shopping Day. Since then, it marks the start of a highly anticipated year-end shopping season across the region. This year, as the season begins, Shopee welcomes international superstar Jackie Chan to the Shopee family as it launches its signature 9.9 Super Shopping Day. Jackie Chan will be featured in a range of activities across Shopee’s end-of-year shopping festivals.


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Contributing Writer, [GAS]
Hannaford Brothers Supermarkets, a large New England grocery store chain, reported that they suffered a data breach. The store’s network was penetrated and hackers were listening in during credit card authorizations. Already, there are 1,800 confirmed cases of fraud associated with the breach. At risk are 4.2 Million additional credit card accounts.
From WBZ here:
A security breach at an East Coast supermarket chain exposed 4.2 million credit and debit card numbers and led to 1,800 cases of fraud, the Hannaford Bros. grocery chain announced Monday. Credit and debit card numbers were stolen during the card authorization process and about 4.2 million unique account numbers were exposed.
The breach affected all of its 165 stores in the Northeast, 106 Sweetbay stores in Florida and a smaller number of independent groceries that sell Hannaford products.
Hannaford became aware of the breach Feb. 27. Investigators later discovered that the data breach began on Dec. 7; it wasn’t contained until March 10, said Carol Eleazer, Hannaford’s vice president of marketing in Scarborough.
“We have taken aggressive steps to augment our network security capabilities,” Hannaford president and CEO Ronald C. Hodge said in a statement released Monday.
The company urged its customers to monitor their credit and debit cards for unusual transactions and report any problems to authorities.
I happen to speak fluent security-breach double speak. When Hannaford says that the breach began on December 7th, they mean they only have logs dating back that far. When the CEO says they are taking aggressive steps to augment their network security, he really means that they are going to get a firewall, an IDS, and start segmenting their database from the rest of the network like they are supposed to do.
And when the Vice President of Marketing gets quoted in the press talking about the security breach, it means that there is no CIO (Chief Information Officer) at the company. It means their network was designed haphazardly with only a minimal thought to security. What, they couldn’t get a quote from the President of Marketing? How does the dairy stocker in store 413 feel about the breach? He probably knows as much about network security as the Marketing VP.
All of this means that as the days go on, you will see more and more headlines talking about this breach being much worse than originally thought. The number of fraud cases will climb precipitously… and no one will be fired from Hannaford.
If you shop there and have used a credit card, get a copy of your credit report ASAP.
By law, you get one free credit report per year. You can contact them below.
Equifax: 800-685-1111; www.equifax.com
Experian: 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742); www.experian.com
TransUnion: 800-916-8800; www.transunion.com
If unauthorized changes in your credit reports are detected, you may be a victim of identity theft. A great resource to help guide you in recovery from identity theft is at the FTC here.

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Last week was a whirlwind for snack-lovers and feminists alike as news of the development of a “lady dorito” was the hot take across the internet.
In an interview with the highly-acclaimed and widely-downloaded economics podcast Freakonomics, Indra Nooyi discussed her role as the newly-hired female CEO of PepsiCo, one of the world’s largest producers of snacks and beverages. Hailing from India, Nooyi took on the role with lots of obstacles in her way, including the public’s changing attitude toward snack foods and global shipping puzzles.
She described during the interview one area that she’s been exploring for the popular chip, Doritos. Her experience and research have indicated to PepsiCo’s R&D department that women are apprehensive about eating Doritos in public. From the loud crunching that produces orange crumbs everywhere to the fluorescent orange “Dorito Dust” that sticks on fingers and lips long after the chips have been consumed, women shy away from eating the snack in public. Nooyi expressed that PepsiCo’s developers are exploring what it would look like to manufacture a dustless and quieter Doritos experience specifically for women.
Shortly after the podcast went live, the internet exploded with comments about the necessity (or lack thereof) of the “lady dorito.” Some commented factually on the remarks, while others took extreme views either in favor of or in opposition to the concept.
PepsiCo quickly released a statement about the lady dorito, saying that Doritos as they are currently manufactured are perfectly fit for women to consume and enjoy. In a few sentences, they reiterated that Doritos are not designed for one gender or another, and that people of all genders can enjoy the snack as they please.
The sudden reaction to the “lady dorito” issue was a generally innocuous lesson to everyone about the danger of specifying a gender for gender-specific projects. “Unnecessarily gendered products” have long been the butt of many internet memes and public ridicule. Ellen Degeneres took the mockery to the next level when Bic pushed their “Pens for Her” line of writing utensils that featured pastel colors.
Marketing to women in the modern era is a tough balancing act — while there are some products that are designed exclusively for women, they way they’re presented can’t be insulting or too sexist, or else they’ll lose the appeal altogether. Many advertisers have capitalized intensely on the move toward female empowerment and away from women as eye candy. The New York Times noted that searches for female stock photos have evolved over the past decades to be less “sexy” and more “adventurous,” including female rock climbers and rockstars.
The real lesson from the almost-fiasco of Lady Doritos is that there are ways to make room for demands that are not gender-dependent. The call for reduced crunch and cheese powder is not intrinsically linked to womanhood. Marketing snacks to women going forward is going to be tricky, and there will certainly be more faux-paux before we crack the code.


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Luxury intimate apparel company Wolford reported a reduced loss for the first quarter, with a sales increase of six percent driven partly by the expansion of the company’s own distribution network.
The company reported a loss of 1.75 million euros for the quarter ending on July 31, 2011, compared to a 2.51 million loss the previous year.
Pre-tax loss decreased to 1.74 milion euros, from 2.82 million last year, and EBITDA was 649 thousand euros, compared to a loss of 459 thousand euros in 2010.
Sales over the quarter rose by 6.4 percent to 31.78 million euros, with considerable growth across nearly all markets, particularly Spain, which saw an increase of 87.6 percent.
The first quarter is usually the weakest for the company due to traditionally lower sales in hosiery over the summer months.
Wolford chief executive officer Holger Dahmen said: "This positive development against the backdrop of an economically challenging environment is primarily the result of the targeted expansion of our own sales outlets."


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Häagen-Dazs releases new ice cream flavour for Valentine’s Day
By NewsDesk - Feb 12th 2018, 10:30
Ice cream company Häagen-Dazs has launched a new limited-edition Cherry Blossom ice cream for the UK market in the run-up to Valentine’s Day.
The limited-edition Cherry Blossom ice cream is made from milk and fresh cream blended with Sakura extract, cherry blossom flowers and a swirl of cherry sauce.
To help the new ice cream stand out, Häagen-Dazs commisioned British designer Kitty McCall to create a unique packaging design, which incorporates colourful floral details with the pink tub.
Arjoon Bose, head of marketing for Häagen-Dazs, said: “We are going through a very exciting time at Häagen-Dazs, which kicked off with our major brand reset last year."
“This limited-edition flavour epitomises what the relaunch is all about – exciting, adventurous flavours that appeal to a more diverse, younger millennial demographic, without alienating our loyal generation X customer base."
“The launch of Cherry Blossom is timed to capitalise on Valentine’s Day and, with its romantic pink hue and floral packaging, it will have great on shelf standout in store.”
The limited-edition Cherry Blossom flavour is available exclusively from Ocado for a limited time, with a suggested retail price of £4.20.© FoodBev Media Ltd 2017
IoT offers fast, effective control of every business resource
12/02/2019 - 22:51
Internet of Things (IoT) continues to make inroads into South African industries, and it is not difficult to see why. The fact is that with IoT, businesses will always know where everything is, they will be able to keep track of even more data, everything will be faster and remote work will be even more feasible. Another fact is that challenges associated with this technology, like security, connectivity and a sound business plan, are largely being addressed.
Brimstone to review Clover acquisition after boycott threats
08/02/2019 - 09:35
JSE-listed Brimstone said that it is reviewing its participation in a consortium seeking to acquire dairy producer Clover, due to protests over the participation of an Israeli company.
Mergers & acquisitions: How to manage growth with the right brand architecture strategy
14/01/2019 - 13:30
According to Reuters, there were over 50,000 merger & acquisition (M&A) deals announced in 2018. By May, R26.6-trillion had been spent on M&As, more than seven times SA’s annual GDP.
AB InBev to make Budweiser in the UK using renewable energy
08/01/2019 - 08:37
AB InBev’s Budweiser beer in the UK will be brewed with 100% renewable electricity thanks to a new deal with solar energy firm Lightsource BP.
SA food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation unchanged
20/12/2018 - 15:33
South Africa’s food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation has bottomed out and will begin an upward cycle in the coming months, supported by an increase in agricultural commodities prices. The headline number will probably increase marginally as we expect the uptick in cattle and sheep slaughtering activity to contain meat price inflation at fairly lower levels in the near term which will, in turn, influence the overall increase.


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RESIDENTS of Thame can now examine the plans for the new Sainsbury’s after the retail giant put in its planning application for the Cattle Market site.
The proposal for the 22,000 square feet store includes the construction of a new roundabout on North Street, an increase of 138 parking spaces and a new community centre.
The bid has been controversial from the start with many people expressing concern for the impact it could have on the town centre.
The plans have been drawn up by the superstore in response to public consultation carried out earlier this year.
According to Sainsbury’s some of the issues raised included the need for community use, the need for additional car parking, traffic, the character of Thame and the store’s relationship with the town centre.
Sainsbury’s say they have listened and have tailored their designs accordingly.
According to the application the new store will bring more shoppers into the town and stop them from travelling to nearby Aylesbury, Risborough and Wheatley to do their weekly shopping.
In response to parking concerns Sainsbury’s states that 203 short-stay spaces would be provided on the site to serve the store and town centre. Overall, an additional 138 spaces would be created in Thame if you take into account the existing spaces on the Cattle Market and new long-stay bays the retailer plans to build elsewhere in the town.
The on-site car park will include the capacity for parents to drop-off and pick-up children from nearby Barley Hill School. The proposals also include a new community centre which will be large enough to accommodate up to 225 people.
Sainsbury’s development executive, Andrew Sanderson, said: “We are pleased to have been able to evolve our proposals which directly address many of the comments raised. We believe a new Sainsbury’s in the town would help keep people shopping locally and provide a long-term future for the Cattle Market.”
The controversial bid has been handed to South Oxfordshire District Council and residents can make their feelings known by writing to the authority. To view the plans visit www.sainsburys-thame.co.uk.


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This boosted Linux's market share on Steam to 1.82% while macOS dipped by 0.27 per cent to 1.57 per cent.
Neither tribe of fanboys wants to talk about the fact that Windows rose by 0.4 per cent to 96.61 per cent, they just reveal in their mediocrity.
The Linux August numbers were slightly down by 0.14% dip probably down to large swings in Chinese traffic.
SteamOS Holo which powers the Steam Deck gained another two per cent market share to now commanding around 44 per cent of the reported Linux gamers.
Among Linux gamers, AMD CPUs power around 71 per cent of the systems. In part due to the Steam Deck being powered by an AMD APU. Meanwhile Steam on Windows has the AMD CPU market share at around 33 per cent.


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Target is set to replace the PDA devices its floor staff previously used with a new product, according to an internal newsletter: Apple’s iPod touch.
The news, which reached us from 9to5mac, was disclosed to Target staff in an internal memo sent out to employees recently. Target explained that the PDA system it’s used for years is approaching retirement age, and that after testing a series of alternatives Apple’s iPod touch emerged as the best option for staff.
Target’s memo read:
Tests included putting more of our current LPDAs on sales floors, trying out a new LPDA model, comparing different brands of new devices, and allowing team members to use their own smartphones and iPods to help guests. With the help of our Target India team, they analyzed usage data and team member feedback on each option, and a clear winner emerged. Behold: the iPod Touch!
The publication explains, “Target employees will use the iPod touch to pull up product information and more when assisting guests, as they do now with the current PDAs in use.” Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen iPods used in this way; as 9to5mac adds, Old Navy has been using iPod touch devices in stores for some years.
Target is set to replace its PDAs with the iPod touch from this summer. Though whether Apple will bother upgrading its iPod touch line later this year still remains to be seen.
See also: Following Acquisition Rumors, Beats’ CEO Is Said To Be In Talks To Join Apple, California Senate Now Passes Smartphone Kill-Switch Bill, and Report: Apple Is Very Close To Acquiring Beats Electronics For $3.2 Billion.


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Danish valves manufacturer AVK Valves Southern Africa has officially launched its R200-million valves manufacturing facility in Alrode, Gauteng, with the manufacturer being the first in its sector to seek to take full advantage of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI’s) local content requirements for State-owned entities.
These requirements stipulate that following a particular product’s designation under local procurement regulations, such entities must, when procuring the item, ensure it is a locally manufactured, 75%-local-content product.
Speaking at the launch on Wednesday, AVK chairperson Paul Hubbard noted that the factory was dedicated to manufacturing AVK products that previously had to be imported from Denmark and other countries.
“We have changed the layout, improved the engineering process, and invested in computer numeric controlled machines,” he said.
AVK’s new plant comprises a 1 200 m2 training facility, a 2 500 m2 office area and a 2 000 m2 logistics and warehouse space.
Speaking to Engineering News Online on the sidelines of the event, Danish Ambassador to South Africa Rask Thygesen said she was impressed with the plant and that it was something she believed South Africa needed, especially in terms of the quality of valves that AVK manufactures and in terms of the facility’s ability to assist with job creation and skills transfer.
Further, Thygesen highlighted that South Africa was a big investment market for Denmark.
“It’s definitely a priority market. Predictability and transparency, however, is key for business and, at the moment, it is a concern for Danish companies wanting to invest in South Africa,” she said.
Hubbard added that the new facility had enabled AVK to achieve the scale and capacity to not only meet South African requirements, but also to expand in the sub-Saharan market.
“We recently mobilised an export sales team and they are looking at target markets reaching into Southern Africa.”
AVK Southern Africa emerged from Premier Valves Group in 2014, when the Danish valve manufacturer acquired a majority stake in Premier.
Since the acquisition, AVK Southern Africa Holdings has created 150 indirect jobs, and 114 permanent jobs, 84 of which employ artisans across the company’s value chain.
“Local designation rules apply specifically to government and State-owned companies (SoCs), although compliance [with designation regulations] does not necessarily flow automatically. However, for the private sector, which can be quite vocal about the need for supportive industrial policy, voluntary compliance with local content designation should be a priority,” said Hubbard.
He explained that this was essential as success began in the specification stage where engineers, designers and procurement departments needed “to ensure that they explicitly specify the requirement for local content of 75%”.
Moreover, Hubbard highlighted that there was already a local procurement accord in place through the National Economic Development and Labour Council and he appealed to businesses to adhere to it.
He further noted that local content designation had already seen a boost in investment and job creation in a number of sectors, including clothing and textiles, as well as bus and locomotive manufacture.
Hubbard stressed that the sustainability of local content designation regulatory policy not only needed public-sector compliance but also “active private-sector support”.
Also speaking at the event, DTI Consumer and Corporate Regulation division deputy director-general Zodwa Ntuli said that the launch of the facility was key for the diversification of South Africa’s economy.
“Our National Development Plan and the Industrial Policy Action Plan (Ipap) provides a clear direction for sustainable, long-term industrialisation and the diversification of the economy,” she said.
Ntuli added that AVK’s investment contributed to this becoming reality.
“Ipap has a key focus and that is to bring about structural change in the economy. We believe it is important to break out of commodity dependence and move towards a diversified economy, focused on value addition and exports,” she said.
Ntuli further noted that South Africa had become a close economic partner of Denmark and that many Danish companies were contributing to South Africa’s growth by offering growth and solutions, highlighting that it was a mutually beneficial relationship.
“We are proud that Denmark has decided to play such a significant role in the development of South Africa’s economy,” she said.
Ntuli pointed out that the eighth iteration of Ipap specifically called for SoCs to be monitored in terms of compliance with localisation targets.
“In this regard, we have passed a milestone of policy development and hope this can assist in bringing investment into the country,” she said.
AVK hopes to train 1 500 people this year through its training academy, also located at its Alrode facility, which will offer training to non-AVK employees from across the company’s value chain.
The training will include those with varying levels of experience to support skills development at all levels.
The core aim of the training programme is to help employees and industry insiders to understand how to advise on and install the range of valves correctly.
Original Article: Click here to download


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Singer, actress, and dancer Willow Smith has tried out more hairstyles by the age of 14 than most women will in their lives. She shaved her head back in 2012 (leaving her hair-whipping days behind her) and changed up her color at least three times — from neon-green, to yellow, to pink — in the same year. Since read
On the heels of her recent hair change, Chrissy Teigen has switched up her hue yet again. The hair-color chameleon took to Instagram — while posing with celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin and makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic — to reveal her new, light-again, highlighted tresses. While she's not nearly as blonde as she was read


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According to recent media reports, deliveries of the Hong Qi H7 sedan have already begun with 500 cars being delivered to Central and Provincial level leaders in China. The Hong Qi H7 comes at a time when the Central Government is pushing for more Chinese cars to be used in the gigantic Chinese civil service fleet, the H7 was developed as an Audi A6L rival which gives more impetuous to rear seat passengers in terms of comfort and refinement owing to the fact that the vast majority of government cars are chauffeur driven.
The H7 will be available for the public to buy from the middle of May this year, but in the meantime government and military orders are being given the most attention by FAW.
In June 2008, just before the Olympics, FAW started an internal campaign to get Hong Qi back to its former glory as the state limo of choice. FAW created a team of 1500 designers and engineers to create a ‘New Red Flag’ fit for 21st century needs and using the best trim levels available and of course developing a new independent Hong Qi factory. FAW are readying a war chest of 1 billion RMB to boost the Red Flag brand from 2012 to 2015 with 5.2 Billion RMB already being invested into the brand.


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Economic downturn drains Western Pennsylvania dairy farmers
Western Pennsylvania farmers trying to earn a living raising cattle or producing milk were hurt by a plunge in exports to other states and overseas when the world economy went into recession, state agriculture experts say.
Dairy farmers, who represent about 7,400 of the state's 63,200 farms, were hit the hardest, said Gary L. Sheppard, director of the Penn State Cooperative Extension office in Westmoreland County. The dairy industry in the United States was growing, with a surge in production of cheese and dry powdered milk, but that changed.
"When the economy crashed, we saw a drop in exports, and we have not recovered," Sheppard said.
Pennsylvania's farm exports declined almost 11 percent to $1.73 billion in the year ended Sept. 30, 2009, from $1.94 billion in the previous year, according to the Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. Milk exports plunged 43 percent to $81.5 million in fiscal 2009.
All dairy products accounted for 30 percent of the state agriculture industry's total revenue of $4.97 billion in 2009, federal data shows.
Pennsylvania has a strong dairy industry, ranking fifth in the United States in total milk production, according to the Pennsvylania Center for Dairy Excellence in Harrisburg. The state had 540,000 cows in 2009 that produced 10.5 million pounds of milk. The state ranked fourth in total cow numbers and 15th in milk production per cow.
Even so, the loss of export markets hit dairy farmers with a double whammy, experts said.
When exports dropped, more milk and milk products went to the domestic market, said John Frey, executive director of the Center for Dairy Excellence. In 2008, America exported 12 percent of its milk products — cheese, whey and powdered milk. That fell to under 9 percent in 2009, Frey said.
"All that milk placed back into the domestic market helped to drive the prices down," Frey said.
Those factors pushed prices for the dairy farmers in the state from $21.40 per hundredweight (11.63 gallons) in July 2008 to $13 by July 2009. It has recovered to $17.80 this July, according to the Center for Dairy Excellence.
Some dairy farmers have exhausted their financial cushions to remain in business, said Carl T. Shaffer, president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. Shaffer operates a farm northeast of Bloomsburg in Columbia, County.
"Last year and part of this year were very, very severe for dairy farmers. It's slightly improved over last year," said David R. Smith, executive director of the Pennsylvania Dairyman's Association.
To help the dairy farmer, "we need to change the pricing formula to bring it up to date," Shaffer contended. Dairy farmers can't just stop the production of milk to force an increase in price by restricting supply. "You can't turn off the cows from producing milk."
Pennsylvania's cattle farmers are facing their own problems, including lower production and higher feed and fertilizer costs.
"Agriculture is one of the bright spots in the national economy, particularly the beef industry," said Paul Slayton of Bedford, executive director of the Pennsylvania Beef Council, which represents cattle farmers. They pay a $1 fee for every head of cattle sold, split between the state and national beef councils, to support marketing and promotion of beef consumption.
The cattle industry is enjoying strong demand for beef among consumers, said Slayton, who has 50 head of purebred Herefords and Angus cattle at his farm in Bedford Township, Bedford County.
Even so, beef producers in the state sent 1.2 billion pounds of beef — cattle and calves — to slaughter in 2009, down about 100 million pounds from 2008.
Beef production was down and herds were smaller because of the higher expenses. "There is a lot of feeding capacity that is vacant because costs are so high," Slayton said.
The price of concentrated cattle feed, between 32 percent and 36 percent protein, rose to $455 a ton in March 2009 from $335 a ton two years earlier in the Northeast, according to federal data. At the same time, the average farm in Pennsylvania spent about $4,692 in fertilizers, lime and soil conditioner, up 30 percent from $3,625 for the same products in 2007.
For Pennsylvania cattle farmers, exports of meat and live animals, excluding poultry, decreased to $227.4 million in fiscal year 2009, from $243.6 million in 2008.
Demand for beef is biggest in Asian markets. But the United States has not been able to satisfy China's demands that beef exporters have the ability to track the source of beef to the processor and all the way back to the farm where it was raised, Slayton said.
"The U.S. really can't offer a full trace and has never really endorsed it. If we can open that door (to China), that will be a huge market," Slayton said.
Cattle farmer Frank Mutnansky, 55, who is raising 50 head of cattle at his 150-acre farm in the town of Phillips in North Union, Fayette County, said he is hoping the price of beef goes higher than the current 90 cents to 96 cents a pound he can get for the steers he is feeding.
At the same time, he hopes the $4 per bushel of corn the cows will be eating drops to last year's level of $3.50 a bushel.
"Farmers need to have the prices go up because the feed prices are going up. It's a real, real tight margin. You can only make a few bucks, or you're just trading dollars," making no profit at all, said Mutnansky, who is president of Keystone Farmers Cooperative Association Inc., a three-farm group that has close to 300 head of cattle raised without steroids or antibiotics.
While demand for beef remains strong, cattle farmers are reaping the benefits of a national cow inventory that is at a low point, Slayton said.
Jeff Johns of Mt. Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, sold a few hundred head of cattle this spring and is left with about a dozen heifers at his Lonesome Valley Farm that he will use to rebuild the herd.
At the time, Johns, who grows corn, oats and hay, said he saw only bad news on the horizon -- his supply of feed crops was running low and the price of feed was running high. The cost of keeping and feeding the cattle to fatten them for market looked too daunting.
"I missed the market," Johns said, adding that farmers, more often than not, miss the economic upswings. "That's the nature of farming," he added.Additional Information:
How it breaks down
Pennsylvania farm facts
Number of farms: 63,200
Farm size by percent: 96 percent under 499 acres
Average age of operator: 55.2
Male operators: 35,773
Female operators: 15,238
Farms by selected category:
Cattle farms: 19,764
Dairy farms: 7,400
Corn : 13,436
Soybean : 5,713
Wheat : 4,463
Sources: Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, 2007 Census of Agriculture and Pennsylvania Center for Dairy Excellence


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NETSUITE GOES PUBLIC Online software vendor NetSuite has gone public in an offering that raised significantly more money than the company originally planned in its offering of 7.3 million shares.
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The company, led by CEO Zach Nelson, had originally expected an offering price of $14 to $16 per share, but raised the price twice, finally settling to $26 per share. NetSuite used a modified Dutch auction to price the offering.
DELTEK EARNINGS RISE
Project software specialist Deltek reported net income of $5.8 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up 138 percent from $2.4 million, as the company issued its first report as a publicly held organization.
Revenue for the most recently ended period was $70.4 million, up 27.8 percent from $55.1 million for last year’s corresponding period. The improved bottom line came from holding the line on operating expenses, which increased by only 12.1 percent over last year. A 34.2 percent increase in consulting revenue and 28 percent increase in license revenue helped the top line.
INTUIT BUYS HOMESTEAD
Intuit has acquired Homestead Technologies, a company that makes Web design tools and offers Web management services, for $170 million.
Homestead, based in Menlo Park, Calif., specializes in helping small businesses design and run their Web sites.
INTACCT NAMES VPs
Intacct, which offers Internet-based financial applications, has named George Jaquette as VP of product management and Daniel Druker as senior VP of marketing and business development.
Jaquette was previously involved in product management for QuickBooks. Druker was previously EVP of worldwide marketing for Postini.
KINTERA CUTS LOSS
Nonprofit vendor Kintera sharply cut its loss in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 as its new management is working to get out of the red.
The recent loss was $1.7 million, down sharply from a loss of $8.2 million in last year’s corresponding period, and the company said it reached its goal of achieving a quarterly adjusted EBITDA break even in the second half. Meanwhile, revenue hit $11.9 million, up 17.8 percent from $10.1 million a year earlier. Quarterly operating expenses of $10 million were down 28 percent from the year-earlier total of $13.8 million.
BUYS BOOST BLACKBAUD
Acquisitions helped nonprofit software vendor Blackbaud to post $67.8 million in revenue for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up 37.3 percent from a year earlier.
However, the Charleston, S.C.-based company reported only a 4.4 percent increase in net income, which rose to $8.8 million in the most recently completely period, compared to $8.4 million in last year’s corresponding quarter. A factor in holding down earnings was a 42.6 percent increase in sales and marketing expenses, which reached $14.6 million.
SERENIC TURNS IN STRONG Q2
Serenic posted a sharp rise in net income on a 94.7 percent increase in revenue for the second quarter ended Aug. 31.
Net income was about $1.048 million in the most recently ended period, up from about $288,000. Revenue hit about $4.2 million, compared to about $2.14 million in last year’s corresponding period. Results are translated from Canadian dollars. The company said it had its first seven-figure transactions during the quarter and also had six-figure deals, both from direct and reseller sales.
DELTEK HIRES MACDONALD
Newly public Deltek has hired Taylor Macdonald, who led Sage Software’s channel efforts, to run its program.
Named to the new position of VP of worldwide channels and sales alliances for the Herndon, Va.-based vendor, Macdonald is in charge of building a program that currently has 45 resellers, out of a channel of 200 that includes ISVs and consultants.
A former Sage reseller, Macdonald was dismissed by Sage, along with three other top executives, in October.


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Harper’s Bazaar UK welcomes back Ashley Graham for its July 2020 issue exactly one year after her last appearance. With the original planned cover shoot scrapped due to social distancing and lockdown measures, Ashley was photographed by her husband Justin Ervin for the occasion captured among the golden grasslands of her childhood Nebraskan home resulting in fresh covers for both the newsstand (above) and subscribers (below).
For the cover story, alongside her son Isaac Menelik Giovanni Ervin, the American beauty poses in ensembles featuring designs from labels like Marina Rinaldi, Skims, Universal Standard and Good America.
- Sienna King by Ekua King for Elle UK July/August 2022
- Kim Kardashian covers Allure US August 2022 by Danielle Levitt
- Madison Headrick covers Vogue Beauty Greece July/August 2022 by Alvaro Beamud Cortes


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NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Magnetic (www.magnetic.com), the leader in search retargeting, announced today a fourth iteration of The Attribution Revolution (www.attributionrevolution.com), an upcoming event that will provide a deep dive into the probing questions that surround media measurement in today's digital age. The live event will feature a panel discussion with leaders in media measurement, providing an opportunity for attendees to learn and engage from top attribution experts.
"Attribution remains a heated issue in the industry as brands, agencies and digital companies continue to question which ads are most effective, and who should receive credit for sales," explained James Green, CEO of Magnetic. "As we see more brands shift their advertising dollars to the online space, it has become increasingly important to identify the right means of evaluating the performance of each media channel."
Moderated by Magnetic CEO James Green, the panel will feature Jeremy King, Senior Product Manager for Analytics at Adobe, Paul Pellman, CEO of Adometry, Jeff Greenfield, COO & Co-Founder of C3 Metrics and Stefan Schnabl, Product Manager, Google.
The night will begin with pre-panel cocktails, appetizers and networking with industry peers and digital ad experts. The panel discussion will delve into the variety of attribution models, and explain the benefits to each. The panelists will also share insight on viewability, how measurement varies across channels, and ways to make attribution actionable. The night will end with a networking cocktail hour.
The event will take place on Wednesday, March 20 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm CDT at the Wit Hotel in Chicago, IL. This event is the fourth installment of the Attribution Revolution events, with previous events taking place in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
For more information and to request an invite, please visit: http://www.attributionrevolution.com.
Magnetic combines the power of search with the scale of display advertising, reaching consumers who have signaled purchase intent where they spend 96% of their time – on news sites, blogs, e-commerce sites and social networks. As the partner of choice for hundreds of brands, Magnetic's search retargeting capabilities and proprietary keyword generation solution power both brand awareness and direct response campaigns, enabling advertisers to target and engage users outside of the search engine with creative messages.
Headquartered in New York City, Magnetic also has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit. For more information, please visit www.magnetic.com.


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Toyota Kirloskar Motor's Vikram Gulati: 'The biggest challenge now is going to be around the supply chain.'
Vikram Gulati, Country Head and Senior Vice-President, External Affairs, Public Relations, CSR and Corporate Governance, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, on the challenges that lie ahead in the Indian automotive industry.
As the Indian automotive industry gears up to resume operations with the government announcing relaxations for some small-scale sectors from April 20, ensuring a seamless supply chain is going to be a big challenge for OEMs and suppliers. Also, while companies are working on 'restart manuals' to practice the new normal and adhere to social distancing norms after the end of the lock-down, return of migrant labour to the shopfloor will be another key concern. Will production pick up and how will companies ensure employment during these troubled times? We check out how Toyota Kirloskar Motor, which has a 310,000 units per annum manufacturing plant in Bidadi, on the outskirts of Bangalore in Karnataka, is planning to come back to work after a month-long pause.
Vikram Gulati, Country Head and Senior Vice-President, External Affairs, Public Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance, Toyota Kirloskar Motor speaks to Autocar Professional's Mayank Dhingra.
What initiatives is Toyota Kirloskar Motor undertaking as its CSR to alleviate the coronavirus-driven crisis in India?
We are in close touch with not only the district administration but also the state government (Karnataka). Toyota's group companies in India including Toyota Kirloskar Motor, have collectively donated Rs 2.55 crore towards Covid-19 relief.
We have been getting requests for personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, gloves, hand sanitisers and hazmat suits. We have been providing these to the Karnataka state government, hospitals and also to the district administration.
We have also procured fumigators that have been made available to the Bangalore Municipal Corporation and to the district administration.
With the help of Toyota Mobility Foundation, we have provided 14 buses for healthcare providers to ensure that they have a sanitised option for their daily commute during these trying times.
In addition, what we have done is, with the help of our experts, have drawn the revised SOP called the 'Restart Manual' for a post-Covid scenario by benchmarking the best practices from our manufacturing plants around the world. We have created this manual and shared it with one of the ministries and have also made it available to our suppliers as well as to ACMA members. We also intend to do some webinars to educate more industry personnel on this subject.
We are also preparing to see if we can do a similar exercise with CII (Southern) to spread this message. So, that's how we are leveraging our expertise in trying to spread the word and spread good practices which will be very vital going forward after the lock-down ends. This is because the post-Covid scenario is going to throw up a new normal and within that the manufacturing practices will become quite different to what we have been used to practising before.
When do you think the industry will be able to resume operations and what will the initial challenges be?
Right now, what is happening is that the Central government has given a very clear direction and has allowed the local authorities to take their call as they have rightly understood that one size would not fit all. Based upon these broad guidelines, various state governments and local authorities would be coming out with their instructions and the next few days would see many districts giving clarity as to what activity is permitted in what location.
We also feel that this is going to be dynamic and an ever-evolving situation, given the state of evolution of the Coronavirus itself. The enabling environment and clarity would be available and most of the companies would start to work around and try to facilitate and stabilise the factors of production -- would employees be able to come back, how many have migrated to their native places and also if the supply chain is intact in terms of not being impacted by falling into a hotspot.
Once all of this gets sorted out, various degrees of manufacturing at various locations will take off. Of course, there will be no uniformity in terms of the percentage of capacity utilisation across India given the fact that the situation is going to be very diverse.
As far as automotive is concerned, I think the biggest challenge is going to be around the supply chain. It has to be seen how the centres of automotive manufacturing across the country are declared fit for operation by the respective local governments.
Would unemployment become a growing concern, given the economic implications of the lock-down?
As of now, as a responsible corporate, we are all committed to keeping our people with us, that is also a value at Toyota wherein we like to keep employment safe.
Going forward, the impact on employment would largely be dependent upon how protracted this disruption is going to be and what kind of countermeasures the government and industry can put together. Any estimates right now would only be guesstimates, given that nobody really knows which trajectory the spread is going to take.
Hopefully, it comes under control and the curve will flatten. If that be the case then the impact would be controlled. However, if it is more deeper, there is going to be an intense impact going forward.
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New Study Looks At Printing's Merger ManiaJanuary 1998
Printing companies that can afford the latest technology have troubles of their own. Once they install new equipment, they must contend with downtime.
"One of the challenges you have if you invest in new equipment is that you must keep that equipment busy," Scharfstein notes. "Sometimes that's difficult to do because a piece of equipment can double your capacity overnight."
Acquisitions can absorb that capacity. New companies provide new sales; new sales provide work to keep equipment running. That's one reason why printers buy other operations.
Not that printing companies are the only buyers in the marketplace. Scharfstein notes that outside sources also see printing as a lucrative industry worthy of investment.
"People are looking at this industry as having niches that can be profitable," he says.
By Jerry Janda


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Dish TV India adds 47,000 subscribers in 1Q 2019Friday, May 24th, 2019
47 thousand net subscriber additions during the quarter
- Closing net subscriber base of 23.7 million
- Dish TV continues to be the market leader in the DTH space in India
NOIDA, India — Dish TV India Limited (BSE: 532839, NSE: DISHTV, LSE: DTVL) today reported fourth quarter fiscal 2019 consolidated subscription revenues of Rs. 13,083 million and operating revenues of Rs. 13,987 million.
On March 22, 2018, Videocon D2h Limited had merged with and into Dish TV India Limited with the appointed date of the merger being October 1, 2017. Financials of Dish TV India Limited for the year ended March 31, 2018 thus represent 12 months financial performance of Dish TV India Limited and 6 months financial performance of Videocon d2h Limited.
Financial numbers for fiscal 2019 are thus, not comparable with the corresponding period last year.
New Regulatory Regime
The fourth quarter of fiscal 2019 witnessed pay-tv distribution platforms continuing the drive to migrate subscribers to the New Tariff Regime. However, with the Tariff Order deadline shifting from December 28 to January 31 2019, pay-tv subscribers remained sceptical about channel selection. An early believer of the Tariff Order, Dish TV India was the first in the industry to partially and voluntarily roll-out the provisions of the Tariff Order by offering a-la-carte channels to its subscribers at affordable prices.
Later, post notification of the Order, leveraging deep insight about the recharge history of its subscriber base, the Company also offered ‘Best Fit Packs’ to facilitate channel selection by its subscribers in addition to a-la-carte offerings.
Though subscribers remained undecided, the Company, true to the deadline, worked in overdrive to satisfactorily migrate its 23.7 million subscribers to channels/packages of their choice or to ‘Best Fit Packs.’
Dish TV’s fourth quarter revenues were impacted due to transition to the New Regulatory Regime. Revenues were down Y-o-Y notwithstanding a sharp turnaround in the third month of the quarter.
One Year of Merger
Dish TV India Limited completed one year of Videocon d2h’s merger with Dish TV in the fourth quarter fiscal 2019.
The Company grew in size during the year increasing its subscriber base by 700 thousand subscribers.
New HD set-top-boxes that are more economical yet offer better features than the outgoing ones were launched during the year.
Integration of headend infrastructure was planned to enhance the customer TV viewing experience and serve satellite operations for both its brands. During the year, Dish TV India upgraded and expanded its entire DTH platform to the AVP 4000 video processing platform. The award-winning compression technology enabled the Company to adapt to both traditional broadcast and multiscreen service delivery from a single platform.
The Year Ahead
The Company is excited about the future of Watcho, the in-house OTT app that was launched during the quarter.
The Watcho app is available to download and view on the Web, App Store and Play Store and has already crossed a hundred thousand downloads since its launch a few days back. The platform has over 20 original shows in Hindi and regional languages.


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Day has turned to night for NASA's Opportunity rover on Mars.A huge dust storm that's now 14-million square miles wide, covering a full quarter of the red planet, has blotted out the sun above Perseverance Valley, Opportunity's home.
The Apple iPad Mini 4 Wi-Fi is on sale at Walmart right now for $299.99. Normally, the tablet goes for $399.99, so $100 off is a welcome discount on the Apple device.SEE ALSO:
China, the largest gaming market, has not approved any video game licenses for at least four months due to President Xi Jinping's recent government shake up (read: power consolidation), reports Bloomberg.Although China is notoriously stringent with media censorship,
What's the only thing better than going on shopping spree to Sephora and buying things you definitely don't need? Having a shopping spree delivered right to your house and spending way less than you would in the store for the same amount of stuff.That's right, ya'll,
Designed by CRÈME, HyO-Cup is a completely organic, biodegradable cup that is made out of gourds which grow inside 3D printed molds to take their functional shape. Read more...More about Mashable Video, Organic, 3d Printing, Ecological, and Biodegradable
This post is part of Hard Refresh, a soothing weekly column where we try to cleanse your brain of whatever terrible thing you just witnessed on Twitter.We've all tried our hand at making shapes out of pancake batter — a first initial perhaps,
When a massive wildfire erupts in the United States today, it can leap over formidable rivers, produce whirling tornados of flame, and cause tens of thousands of people to flee.
From the half a billion dollars worth of art stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to the time an Irish assassin scammed his way into stealing the crown jewels at the Tower of London,
Back in April, YouTuber Jack Douglass (of jacksfilms) kindly asked the internet not to Photoshop his wedding photos. Of course, he knew what would happen, and it did: the internet Photoshopped his wedding photos.Now, Douglass is back for round two. On Tuesday, he tweeted a lovely photo of his wife,
Fortnite, the video game that's become a global sensation with more than 125 million players, launched in Sept. 2017.Epic Games celebrated that truly...ahem..epic player count in its announcement of the game's 2018-2019 season. It's one of gaming's more astonishing success stories.
Twitter, more than any other social media company, faces a unique challenge even after more than decade of existence: It still doesn't know how to explain what it is to new users.
苹果iPhone6一直都是媒体和大众关注的热点，有关该机的各种传闻和爆料更是层出不穷。日前，来自日本网站Mac Otakara的消息称，iPhone 6将采用曲面屏幕和弧形边缘设计，这与过去自iPhone 4以来的直角边缘风格有着明显的差异。
Android 目前支持三种处理器架构：ARM、Intel 和 MIPS。ARM 目前已经处于业界的领导地位，不过英特尔和 Imagination Technologies（设计 IMPS 芯片的母公司）都有能力提供替代方案。
sciencehabit writes: It's springtime on Titan, Saturn's giant and frigid moon, and the action on its hydrocarbon seas seems to be heating up. Near the moon's north pole, there is growing evidence for waves on three different seas, scientists reported at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Teppanyaki Restaurant Sazanka铁板烧餐厅获得一颗米其林星 阿姆斯特丹--(美国商业资讯)--Hotel Okura Amsterdam酒店的Teppanyaki Restaurant Sazanka日式铁板烧餐厅在2015年版米其林指南中获得一颗米其林星。
Every Friday is a holiday when you're a Destiny fan. That's when Xur, Agent of the Nine, appears in a random part of the game's Tower social hub to peddle his rare weapons and armor. As long as you have enough Strange Coins, a rare currency that can be earned by completing Weekly Heroic Strikes,
There’s gold in them thar’ space rocks, say the miners of the future. There’s also platinum, rare earth elements, and even water. Mining in space may sound like science fiction, but as the founders of two space mining companies recently told me, their plans are very real.Read more...
因為日本通勤族使用耳機的比例相當高，日本一直以來都是隨身耳機、尤其是入耳式耳機的重要戰場，繼幾年前 Shure 針對日本人的身高推出 SE215SP 特別版(主要將線材長度變短並些微改變反射腔體)， Westone 則發表了針對日本市場的 W30 日本特別版。


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BRAZIL: Economists Cut 12-month Inflation Forecast To 4.03%
(RTTNews) - The median forecast for Brazil's consumer price inflation in the next 12 months fell to 4.03% from 4.04% last week after six consecutive increases, according to economists surveyed by the South American country's central bank.
For 2018, the economists trimmed the median inflation estimate for the second consecutive week, to 3.84%, from 3.94% in the previous survey. For 2019, the forecast has been at 4.25% for 44 weeks.
The annual inflation rate in Brazil decelerated to 2.86% in January after closing 2017 at 2.95%, remaining below the bottom of the central bank's target for 2017, which ranged from 3% to 6%.


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Tesco has officially launched its new discount store Jack's and there is speculation as to where the next outlets will be.
Stores in Cambridgeshire and and Lincolnshire opened on Wednesday and the supermarket giant revealed there will be between 10 and 15 branches opening in the next six months.
They just won't say where they are going to be yet.
When asked, a spokeswoman for Tesco said they were not revealing where the new stores were going to be but some "could be in Wales".
The shops are likely to be an even cheaper alternative to rivals Aldi and Lidl with bananas priced at 13p and other prices including 55p for a box of cornflakes and 85p for teabags.
It has been revealed that jobs have been offered in:
- St Helens, WA9 4BZ
- Middlewich, CW10 9BL
- Edge Hill, Overton Street, Liverpool, L7 3HE
- Rubery, B45 9JL
- Castle Bromwich, B34 7EH
People have also been recruited to a site in Wandsworth, London.
No jobs for Jack's in Wales are being currently advertised on the Tesco recruitment website.
There will be a range of just 2,600 products at the stores if they do come to Wales – compared with 90,000 in a Tesco Extra.
Of these 1,800 will have Jack’s branding and include fresh fruit, veg, meat, dairy, ready meals, baby products, household cleaners, snacks, sweets and soft drinks.
Shelves will also have 700 branded items in areas where big names like Coca-Cola, Heinz and Cadbury are market leaders.
The remaining 100 will be non-food items – from newspapers and flowers to special buys such as irons and vacuum cleaners.


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WASHINGTON - Reveling in victory, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulations since the Great Depression, a package that aims to protect consumers and ensure economic stability from Main Street to Wall Street.
The law, pushed through mainly by Democrats in Washington's deeply partisan environment, comes almost two years after the near financial meltdown in 2008 in the United States that was felt around the globe. The legislation gives the government new powers to break up companies that threaten the economy, creates a new agency to guard consumers and puts more light on the financial markets that escaped the oversight of regulators.
Obama described them all as commonsense reforms that will help people in their daily life - signing contracts, understanding fees, being aware of risks.
He went so far as to call the reforms "the strongest consumer protections in history."
The president added to a burst of applause: "Because of this law, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street's mistakes." Republicans portray the bill as a burden on small banks and the businesses that rely on them and argue it will cost consumers and impede job growth.
The president said otherwise. He argued that a crippling recession was primarily caused by a breakdown in the financial system that cannot happen again. Obama sought to put the complex law in consumer-oriented terms for the nation. He said it would help root out fine print and hidden fees for people and provide deeper scrutiny of the sophisticated financial transactions on Wall Street. Highlights of the new regulations OVERSIGHT: A 10-member council of regulators will monitor threats to the financial system, deciding which companies were so big or interconnected that their failures could upend the financial system. Those companies would be subject to tougher regulation. If such a company teetered, the government could liquidate it, with the costs borne by its industry peers.
CONSUMER PROTECTION A new independent office would oversee financial products and services such as mortgages, credit cards and short-term loans. For community banks, the new rules would be enforced by existing regulators.
FEDERAL RESERVE Would lead the oversight of big, interconnected companies whose failures could threaten the system. Those companies would be identified by the council of regulators. The Fed also would have to set lower limits on the fees that banks charge merchants who accept debit cards.
DERIVATIVES Most trading moves to more transparent exchanges. Banks will continue trading those related to interest rates, foreign exchanges, gold and silver. Riskier ones would run through affiliated companies with separate finances. - AP


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You probably have come across or drove an EV before and well its a quiet car. However, there are new rules put in place to install artificial noise devices to notify pedestrians of an approaching EV. All new electric vehicles must be fitted with a noise-emitting device to warn other road users of their presence. This follows concern that electric cars and vans are too quiet, putting pedestrians, cyclists, and others at risk because they do not realize they are approaching.
All new types of four-wheel eco-friendly vehicles must be fitted with the device, which sounds like a traditional engine. From 2021, all electric cars must have an acoustic vehicle alert system, not just new models. The device must be activated when a vehicle is reversing or traveling below 12mph, but the driver will have the power to deactivate it.
This applies whenever the vehicle is driving below 19km/h (12MPH). The system will theoretically prevent pedestrians and cyclists from being caught unawares by cars that would otherwise be near-silent. It’s not a particularly irksome sound, but it could stop you from crossing the street when there’s a less-than-attentive driver.
All new EVs, including those from existing lineups, will have to include noisemakers by 2021. Cars already on the streets are likely to get retrofits. This could increase practical safety and help EVs gain acceptance from people worried they could become hazards.


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Just ahead of CES 2016, Lenovo has sent a teaser email with some new commercial product announcements, including new premium X1 products and Think devices.
Products introduced today include:
– X1 Yoga, X1 ThinkPad and X1 Tablet
– ThinkPad T460s, T460, T560, T460p, X260, L460, L560 and X24 Pro
– ThinkPad 13 Windows
– ThinkPad Stack Mobile Projector
– ThinkCentre-in-One 22 and 24
– Lenovo YOGA 900 BE
– MIIX 700 BE
Specs and additional info will be learned as CES 2016 progresses. Stay tuned.
Remember, you can contact us via @LifeOnMyMobile Twitter with questions you have about CES 2016.
Let me start with admitting this… I am a watch snob. I really like expensive watches, and not just for the name brand, but I prefer the styling and quality.
I personally have a TAG, and let me tell you, I was super excited when this announcement was made.
TAG Heuer has entered the SmartWatch arena! But… It’s primarily an Android Wear device, but a slight catch is that there is an iOS Android Wear app that will also make this watch work with Apple devices. Sorry Windows Phone users… seems you are out of luck.
I will be looking for this watch at CES next week to get more information about it, but in the meantime, you can check out the TAG Heuer Connected website to learn more.
Once again to coincide with CES timing, AT&T is holding the 2016 AT&T Developer Summit from January 2-5, 2016 at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
January 2-3 is scheduled to be the Hackathon, and Jan 4-5 is the conference. As in the years past, Life On My Mobile will be present during the keynote session on Janauary 5th to hear the latest and greatest from AT&T. Past keynotes have revealed upcoming devices and projects from AT&T, and I’m sure this year will be no different.
Photos from the event and updates will be sent our via our Twitter account: @LifeOnMyMobile
Well hello there friends and neighbors. We are days away from the crazy time of year that is CES. A gathering of tech companies and geeks from around the world in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Your staff from Life On My Mobile will be on hand to check out all the latest and greatest in the tech world, and we will pass that information on to you. We may not be the first to get things posted, but it will get done. For quicker updates, please follow our Twitter account at @LifeOnMyMobile.
If you follow Qualcomm on Tweeter you would’ve seen the tweet they posted of their new Snapdragon 800. In the image you will notice the Qualcomm chip inside of a smartphone, what smartphone that might be, who knows? The tweet “A new #Snapdragon 800 powered smartphone is launching next week at @intlCES – here’s a first look.” Guess we will have to wait until CES 2015 (which is days away) to find out which smartphone the Snapdragon 800 finds a home in. Make sure to follow the team of Life On My Mobile for what’s in store at CES.
It’s almost that time of the year when all tech geeks travel to Las Vegas and get lost in a sea of technology and people for several days.
CES 2015 officially starts on January 6, 2015 and your team from Life On My Mobile will be on-site to cover all the new technology as it is unveiled. If you want to keep up with what’s happening at CES, make sure you follow @LifeOnMyMobile on Twitter.
In this day and age, almost everyone is looking for a gadget that can tie into their smartphone that will make their life easier in some way. The folks at BACtrack have come up with a small portable Bluetooth breathalyzer that will accurately measure how much alcohol you have in your system. This may help you make an educated decision about when you have had too much to drink.
While at CES this year I had a chance to pick up a new case coming to market from NueVue. What sets this case apart is that it cleans your screen every time you remove it from the sleeve. Its microfiber lining on the inside of the case is also treated with BioCote, an antimicrobial technology that will eliminate 80% of bacteria in 15 minutes, and if you leave your device in the case longer, it will clean 99% of those pesky bacteria away in under two hours. The case also offers some protective qualities as it has anti static and shock resistant capabilities. NueVue is currently only available for your iPhone, iPad, or iPad Mini but products for additional smart phones and tablets are in the works.


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A year in review, top three 2015 trends
Drones have to be one of the biggest technologies that really took off in 2015 – although the technology has been around for years it really hit the retail markets in 2015 and has been a massive success.
3D printing really blossomed in 2015, again hitting the retail markets by storm and coming to the end user in many different forms ranging from home 3D printing kits to 3D printing pens.
One of the most interesting technologies of 2015 was wireless payments – the ability for consumers to pay for goods using wireless technology. This started off with wireless enabled credit and debit cards and was further developed when Apple introduced Apple pay which employs a similar concept but direct from the users mobile phone.
Image Source: Pixbay


text: For nearly a century, convenience store chain 7-Eleven has been quenching consumer thirsts with Big Gulps, Slurpees, and other refreshments. Worldwide, there are more than twice as many 7-Eleven stores (71,100 and counting) as there are McDonald’s restaurant's (an impressive 34,000). As the world celebrates 7-Eleven Day on July 11, take a look at 11 times the company has served up some controversy. In 2020, 7-Eleven locations in Japan drew fire on social media for what some consumers alleged was a misleading sandwich. In 1984, the National Federation for Decency picketed 7-Eleven locations with signs reading “Slurpees yes, porno no,” a response to the chain's distribution of Playboy magazine.


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Finally, a Lego version of the International Space Station (ISS).
Lego this week announced the latest addition to its wonderfully diverse collection of special builds, with the 864-piece kit slated for release on February 1.
The toy-brick company selected the ISS for the Lego treatment after the orbiting outpost won a contest in 2019 in which fans could vote on their favorite suggestions for future kits. Tesla’s Cybertruck arrived too late for the vote.
A basic brick-built ISS submitted as part of the contest by Christoph Ruge is clearly a valiant effort, but the final Lego product (below) is a sight to behold, and one that’s sure to delight both space fans and Lego builders when the $70 kit goes on sale at the start of next month.
The level of detail is impressive, with the entire kit comprising not only the space station, but also a Lego brick-built NASA space shuttle, three mini cargo spacecraft, and two astronaut microfigures.
The set also features a Lego version of the Canadarm2, a remotely controlled robotic arm that performs maintenance and other tasks on the ISS. In the box, you’ll also find two rotating joints and eight adjustable solar panels that hint at the complexity of the real space station.
The Lego construction measures about 7 inches (20 cm) high, 12 inches (31cm) long, and 19 inches (49 cm) wide, and comes with a 148-page illustrated instruction booklet that should mean easy assembly at a safe blood pressure.
While some builders might want to find a way to suspend the finished product from the ceiling for a more space-like appearance, the kit also includes a special stand for a more secure set-up.
“For over 20 years, the International Space Station has welcomed cooperation from different nations to achieve common goals that benefit all mankind,” Lego says on a webpage touting its latest kit. “The largest spacecraft ever built, it continues to unlock discoveries not possible on Earth — and push the boundaries of human space exploration further than ever before.”
If you have a fascination for the ISS and fancy taking a peek inside, be sure to check out this wonderfully cinematic video tour of the interior released by NASA a couple of years ago.
- NASA’s record-breaking astronaut arrives home safely
- Chocolate mousse in space is more important than you think
- Space station’s new robotic arm springs to life
- Watch SpaceX’s Crew-4 astronauts arrive at new home in space
- SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts are on their way to the space station


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22 January 2020 - 23 January 2020 | Turku, Finland
The Finnish maritime industry is founded on world-class expertise and innovations.
Once again, the NaviGate expo will offer up an interesting and interdisciplinary look into the sector’s industry and logistics in Turku, Finland on the 22nd and 23rd of January, 2020. Navigate, organized bi-annually, will feature topics such as maritime industry, maritime logistics and shipping.
2018 event brought together about 200 companies showcasing their expertise. The expo attracted 1271 visitors and totally almost 2500 professionals met face to face.
About 100 participants from 6 countries participated in 2018 Matchmaking event.
Our partner Fraunhofer CML participated with a booth in the exhibition presenting Salvinia plants and AIRCOAT prototype.


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Finally, over the last four years, through the leadership of Speaker Chris-tine Quinn, City Council has provided more than $1 million of funding tomake Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) machines available to food stamp
recipients at city farmers’ markets.
Yet, on Forsyth Street in Chinatown, in what is certainly the busiest fruitand vegetable market in any low-income New York neighborhood, the
city’s police and health departments are undermining access to healthy
food through strict enforcement of vending regulations and near-dailysweeps, resulting in ticketing, arrests, and the confiscation and destruc-tion of fresh produce and vending equipment.Data recently released by the Environmental Control Board (ECB) revealthat 949 ECB summonses were issued to fruit and vegetable vendors atthe street market on Forsyth Street between Canal and Division Streets in2009 and 2010, an average of 1.3 tickets per day. When criminal court,parking and sanitation summonses are added in, we estimate ForsythStreet Market vendors have received more than 2,000 total tickets over the past two years.Our three-month investigation reveals that this aggressive enforcement has driven vendors out of business, diminished themarket, and curbed access to healthy food for Chinatown residents.The Forsyth Street Market started in 2005, when a group of vendors were relocated from Division Street to the then-desolate, curved block along the base of the Manhattan Bridge. The vendors had gained popularity for their exceptionally
low prices, which catered to ―elderly people and poor workers‖ in the neighborhood.
However, their presence had also
drawn complaints from the managers of Confucius Plaza, the large housing complex nearby. After coaxing from the Mayor’s
and, finally, the construction of bollards that blocked their access to the curb
the vendors moved to Forsyth Street.
―At first, there was nobody here. It was a public toilet, ‖ said Paul Valentino, 75, the market’s elder salesman. ―We cleaned
up.‖ Gradually, with more space than on Division Street, the market grew. Currently, about twenty vending stands sell nearly
every kind of fruit and vegetable imaginable, including Chinatown favorites like bok choy, bitter melon, and bitter squash.With each stand employing an average of three workers to manage the brisk stocking and selling, about 60 people are em-ployed at Forsyth Street, all immigrants from countries as diverse as China, Korea, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hondu-ras, Mexico, and Ecuador.
The vendors’ low
-margin, high-volume model has proven popular to customers, 94% of whom are Asian-American, mostlyfrom the immediate neighborhood and also Flushing and Sunset Park, both of which have nearby service via commuter van.
Many local restaurants buy wholesale at the market each morning. All this activity has helped cause a resurgence onForsyth Street. Foot traffic is up and new restaurants have opened.Over time, however, the Forsyth Street Market also became a favored place for police and health inspectors, who visited themarket and wrote tickets on 231 separate days - an average of once every three days - during 2009 and 2010. Indeed, the949 ECB tickets given out on that single city block represent more than 2% of all summonses issued to mobile food vendorscitywide during that period. These 949 tickets, by comparison, were also 19% more tickets than the 795 tickets issued dur-
ing the same period at the city’s four wholesale public markets
In fact, 470 of the 949 ECB tickets, or 50%, were written for a single violation - §17-315(c) of the New York City Administra-
tive Code, which states that ―no items.. shall be placed upon any public space adjacent to a vending vehicle or pushcart.‖
This rule, which requires that vendors store all their produce on a regulation-size, six foot pushcart, is often flouted on bus-
tling Forsyth Street, which resembles a busy marketplace more than a row of sidewalk fruit stands. ―To sell at these prices,we need more than six feet of space‖ said vendor Ali Mohammed.
The second most common ticket written was for §17-311, or failing to display a license. This ticket, which vendors receivewhen they keep their license in their pocket, or when it is obstructed by heavy winter clothing, was cited 50% more oftenthan not having a license and not having a permit combined.Just as they are concentrated among a few regulations, tickets written to Forsyth Street Market vendors were written by afairly small group of police officers. In fact, six officers from the 5th Precinct
officers Murdocco, Zhang, Dunbar, Valitutto,Hamlin and Center
wrote 362 tickets, or nearly 40% of the total ECB tickets written on Forsyth Street in 2009 and 2010.
How relentless enforcement and $1,000 tickets are ruining
Chinatown’s largest fruit & vegetable market
Council Speaker Christine Quinn Food-Works Presentation,December 7, 2009.2.
et. al, ―Disparities in
NeighborhoodFoodEnvironments: Implica-tions of Measurement
Geography 86(4):409-430, 2010.3. According to the 2000Census, 31% of allChinatown householdslive below the federalpoverty level, comparedto 21% of all NYChouseholds.4. Denny Lee, China-town: At a Street Market,Bruised Fruit, Sum-monses, and Rats,
, March 10, 2002.5. According to an SVPsurvey conducted July 8,2011.6.
Management Report, FY2010, page 176.7.
World Journal,http:/www. ourchina-town.org/2011/06/29/the-daily-five-june-29-2/Photo © Nathan Smith
New York City is in the midst of a health crisis. Fifty-eight percent of New Yorkers are overweight or obese, and more than half-a-millioncity residents have been diagnosed with diabetes.
In recent years, social scientists and public health officials have linked many health
problems geographically to ―food deserts‖ –
neighborhoods where access to fresh and healthy food is limited. Studies have shown thatfood deserts are found almost exclusively in low-income neighborhoods of color.
In recent years, New York City government officials have taken bold steps to address this problem. For example, in 2008, the City createdthe FRESH program to promote the establishment of grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods through the use of zoning and financial
incentives. The same year, the Mayor’s new ―food policy coordinator‖ spearheaded an innovative program to allow 1,000 new fru
it andvegetable carts to open in neighborhoods deemed food deserts.


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Even though it seems that we just posted the news that mobile hotspot would not be a feature of the HTC Thunderbolt on launch day, Verizon seem to have already changed their minds. According to this internal document, the Thunderbolt – the first 4G device to land on Big Red – will indeed come out-of-the-box ready to provide hotspot access for up to 8 devices. This is definitely good news for those considering the upgrade, especially when combined with the fact that the Thunderbolt is the only CDMA phone on Verizon to handle both voice and data at the same time.
Black Friday 2017 Deals: Find Great Deals on Android Smartphones, TV’s, Smart Speakers, Chromebooks and More.
No word yet on whether they’ve also done a 180 on the inclusion of Skype, but we’ll keep you posted.


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Small towns were hit hard by the recession, but many were already struggling long before that. Once a bustling seaside resort, Margate degraded over time. The pier was lost to a storm, the economy took a turn for the worse as holidaymakers went abroad and, finally, Dreamland, its trademark theme park, closed its doors. Hopes for that reopening ever again were nearly dashed after the listed Scenic Railway, the only thing stopping the area being developed into flats, mysteriously caught light despite sitting alone and unused on empty concrete. The high street shop windows slowly replaced displays with wood and it increasingly took on the persona of a post-apocalyptic, desolate and abandoned town.
With economic degeneration came the usual associated problem. Anti-social behaviour, crime and drugs have all been issues that have affected Margate for some time. This in itself causes an amplification loop wherein they cause themselves to rise as more people are dragged in.
This obviously has a negative effect on the economy as does the encouragement young people get from these problems to move away and leave the town. It is a spiral that is seen all over the country and one that can be incredibly hard to stop. It seems though that Margate is beginning to fight back. There has always been a glimmer of hope there and just recently it was on a list of top 10 places to visit in the world. The turnaround has not come at super-speed, but at the same time there has been no major overhaul of the town infrastructure, so why is this happening?
Margate previously tried to cling to its history as a seaside resort, but its beautiful Blue Flag beaches were just not enough any more. Foreign holidays have become increasingly affordable and so sunnier weather pulled potential visitors away. The recently built Turner Centre and the town’s artistic history (TS Eliot wrote some of The Waste Land here, J. M. W Turner painted in Margate and Tracey Emin also hails from the town) has helped to bring tourists, but it alone could not invigorate the place.
An art gallery is not enough to make people stay for a proper visit and so, without support, it would never attract people from all over the country. What has truly made Margate what it is today is the incredibly diverse collection of local businesses who are driving Margate forward and re-establishing it as a place to go. The Old Town has transformed over recent years and this new found prosperity is spreading back to the High Street, all in the face of an ever-expanding shopping centre situated one town over containing giants like Primark, Topshop, Burtons, TK Maxx and many more.
Some of the longest standing stalwarts of Margate’s Old Town have been the shops selling vintage clothes and furniture including Madam Popoff, Junk Deluxe and Helter Skelter (there are many, many more. A quick Google search of “Margate vintage shops” will give you all the information you need). They play off the history of Margate and its link to past youth cultures. The town was once a favourite of mods, rockers and skinheads among others. The Emporium (located on the High Street rather than in the Old Town) also taps into this culture with plenty of clothes aimed at skinheads and mods, but it also caters for the more modern scene with plenty of clothes aimed at dance music and rave fans.
The cafes and bars are also what makes Margate unique. The Cupcake Cafe and The Greedy Cow, sit alongside institutions like The Lifeboat and Mad Hatter. Margate now has something to offer most people whether you’re after a cream tea or ten shots of Jaeger. This is all the while more galleries are popping up too, such as the Margate Gallery, which are pulling in more artists who are taking advantage of the cheap studio space and accommodation in the town. The question is though, are the benefits that strong for Margate and its population? The answer is yes, that the current changes in Margate are some of the best to happen to it in decades.
It has started to give Margate a new identity. It is no longer that grey, poorly-kempt, salty town where there’s nothing to do. People are beginning to recognise that Margate is vibrant and alive. This new found pride will begin to rub off on the inhabitants and encourage them to take advantage of what is on offer. It will bring interest from outside and thus new investments which will help to give more jobs to locals. It will encourage school leavers to stick around and find their way in the world through local means rather than being dragged away to places like London, Brighton and Manchester. It will also offer newer opportunities outside the usual of working in a clothes shop or fast food chain. Margate is becoming a place to create in rather than get away from, and nearly all the praise can be put onto the ingenious entrepreneurs who live and work there.
It is through the encouragement of local businesses that towns can begin to fight off the recession and return to past glories. Councils might espouse big redevelopments or big cuts to save their communities, but that just does not work. The power is in the hands of the locals, they just need the push and the support. Once they’re given that, they’ll build something to be proud of.


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When 4J Studios’ upcoming Xbox One version of Minecraft releases later this summer, the game will allow up to eight players to join single multiplayer sessions. However, Microsoft Studios’ Roger Carpenter revealed on July 7 that the developer plans to increase that number after the game launches thanks to the help of future title updates.
Carpenter has served as the lead producer on both the Xbox One and Xbox 360 editions of Minecraft. His announcement that the maximum player count of the upcoming new-gen version of the block-filled title cold be increased with future updates isn’t the first time that fans have been told that the game will be improved post-launch. Developer 4J Studios has previously informed players that they will work to continually increase the game’s overall world size through upcoming patches.
When the Xbox One and Playstation 4 editions of Minecraft launch this August, the new-gen platforms will be able to support Minecraft worlds that are 36 times larger than what can currently be found on the existing console versions of the game. Even with plans to further increase the map size in the future, the upcoming games will likely never feature infinite worlds like the PC version. This may seem odd as even the smaller Pocket Edition of Minecraft will be getting endless worlds thanks to a new update releasing this Thursday.
Currently scheduled to release later this summer, the Xbox One and PS4 versions of Minecraft look to be on track for their August launch date after 4J Studios confirmed earlier this week that they are making good progress on the new editions of the game. Mojang recently revealed that Minecraft has now sold over 50 million copies across all platforms and that console sales have now surpassed sales of the original PC game. With the game coming soon to a new generation of platforms, those sales figures are expected to reach new milestones.


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Lordstown Motors, Hyperion See Valley as ‘Epicenter’ for Electric Vehicles
WARREN, Ohio – If a deal can be completed to acquire the General Motors Lordstown Complex, Lordstown Motors has its eyes set on starting production by the end of 2020, the company’s CEO said Tuesday.
Negotiations are ongoing, said Steve Burns, and have been muddied recently by the United Auto Workers’ national strike against GM. Lordstown Motors has been in talks with the Detroit automaker since early this summer to acquire the 6.2 million-square-foot plant.
The company is “at the ready to do it and we expect to” take over the plant, Burns said.
“We are designing trucks that can be built in that plant. We’re assuming we’re going to get it, but it’s not 100%,” he said. “It’s used to building smaller vehicles and we’re going to build full-size pickup trucks. We don’t feel there are any pinch points there.”
Beyond just an assembly line at the plant, the startup automaker also envisions an “epicenter” in the Mahoning Valley that would include the company’s headquarters, from sales to human resources to some engineering positions.
“Every person won’t work it, but it will be the majority. This will be our headquarters,” Burns said. “We want to build an epicenter here: wire harnesses, motors, battery cells and all the new components. We want those in our building if possible. We’re not just bringing a vehicle to Lordstown that can run its five-year course.”
Should a deal with GM not come to fruition, the company remains committed to building its product here.
“Our company name is Lordstown Motors Corp., so we’ll either have to buy a town out in the desert and name it Lordstown or do something here,” he said with a laugh. “The workforce is here, so we have to be here.”
Burns made his comments ahead of the keynote panel at the Energy Storage Building Efficiency conference hosted by Brite Energy Innovators, formerly Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center, Tuesday at Packard Music Hall. Joining Burns were Hyperion Motors CEO Angelo Kafantaris and Tesla business development manager Tiara Thurston.
For Hyperion, which two weeks ago signed a partnership agreement with Brite to bring some engineering operations to Warren, the move here resulted from a similar motive, said Kafantaris, a Warren native who founded the company in Los Angeles. The company is developing electric cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
“If we develop these things here, we can keep them forever. It’s not just developing technology. If we do that here, whether with us or Lordstown Motors or even someone like Tesla, we can build a hub of people who are familiar with the electric powertrain,” he said. “If you have expertise, you can bring more talent together and that builds an ecosystem that doesn’t require you to go to California to pursue your passion.”
Also a driving factor is the ecosystem around the automotive industry that exists here, from the supply chain to the workforce.
“There is a supply chain that’s already in existence, not just from GM but also from many other companies,” he continued. “That’s something that’s going to need new projects. … We can take advantage of the supply chain, of experienced workers and there’s a lot of talent over here that we can develop.”
Likewise, for Lordstown Motors, the existing infrastructure was a draw after the initial conversations with General Motors about the plant here, Burns added.
“What attracted us was the plant, but the workforce and people are the secret weapon,” he said. “A lot of people are available and they have the skillset to do the work. It’s very difficult to find that in quantity.”
Burns pointed to Tesla’s repurposing of a former Toyota plant in California to build its cars, which not only retained workforce numbers at the plant, but increased them. Lordstown Motors is aiming to do something similar with the Lordstown Complex, he said. Noting the current contract discussions between GM and the UAW, he said his company plans to use union labor at the plant, although no discussions have taken place.
While not a startup like the other two companies represented at the panel discussion hosted by City Club of the Mahoning Valley, Tesla is nonetheless excited about new players in the electric vehicles field, Thurston said.
“The biggest misperception in the marketplace is that we’re trying to put competitors out of business. [Founder Elon Musk’s] core mission is to transition the world to sustainable energy,” she said. “As we sit here and talk about an electric pickup truck that’s built in the Midwest that can bring jobs to communities that can benefit from this technology, that excites him. Tesla’s really trying to achieve sustainability at all levels.”
While Lordstown Motors has a definite plan for starting production – test cars will be hitting the road in the coming months – Hyperion is still preparing to unveil its first model. Two prototypes have been built and two more are on the way. They are expected to be shown to the public for the first time early next year, Kafantaris said. Those vehicles will eventually likely include other technologies working alongside electric power.
“Autonomous vehicles are one component of the future of technology. I believe that for hydrogen, that’s where we excel because these can run 24/7, unlike battery cars that need time to charge,” he said. “The critical question is what other technologies can we tie in. It’s autonomous and other things that we can’t talk about yet, but some really exciting stuff.”
Pictured: At the keynote panel of Brite Energy Innovators’ Energy Storage Building Efficiency conference were Tesla business development manager Tiara Thurston, Hyperion Motors CEO Angelo Kafantaris and Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns. City Club of Cleveland CEO Dan Moulthrop moderated.
Copyright 2023 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.


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SILER CITY — Mountaire Farms has been processing chicken for distribution since 1964, but company officials say its first foray into selling directly to the public — which it did here Sunday in …
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SILER CITY — Mountaire Farms has been processing chicken for distribution since 1964, but company officials say its first foray into selling directly to the public — which it did here Sunday in response to the COVID-19 pandemic — was a “learning experience.”
Traffic in Siler City snarled to a near stop as people tried to purchase chicken from the Mountaire employee parking lot off East Third Street. The company operates as a wholesale poultry producer, selling its chicken in bulk to other food companies and grocery stores to sell. But on Sunday, it offered its product directly to the public — selling 10-pound bags of chicken for $10 and 40-pound boxes for $40, with a limit of five cases or 200 pounds.
“We don’t normally sell chicken like this so it was a learning experience for everyone,” Mark Reif, Mountaire’s North Carolina community relations manager said.
Reif said the demand was much higher than anticipated. An hour before the noon start time Sunday, traffic had grown around the plant, backing up on Eleventh Street (U.S. Hwy. 64) in both directions and on Raleigh and East Third Streets into downtown Siler City. With lines of cars growing, the company decided to start early to try to ease traffic. As the sale continued, though, more and more drivers found themselves caught in the gridlock.
“It was impossible to anticipate the amount of interest for this truckload sale,” Reif said. “We alerted the police in advance and asked for their help with traffic flow. We appreciate the Siler City Police Department and their cooperation to allow us to help the community purchase chicken.”
Cars entered the Mountaire employee parking lot through the entrance on Raleigh Street. Cones and workers, with the assistance of Siler City Police Department staff, led the incoming vehicles through a labyrinth in the parking lot, fitting as many cars as possible into each of the lot rows. At the end of each row, workers allowed cars, one row of cars at a time, to merge into two lanes to where drivers made their chicken order. Patience wore thin with some drivers with one shouting, “This line has not moved at all!”
Workers and volunteers greeted people in their cars, with one writing the Post-it note “ticket,” while another would collect payment. Credit cards were accepted, but Mountaire staff were only collecting exact cash amounts to avoid making change to protect drivers from contamination from cash, according to Reif.
The two rows of cars then continued around the lot to the trucks where their chicken was loaded into the cars by workers. “Two cases,” one would shout while another would confirm “two cases” while pulling the 40-pound boxes from the truck. The vehicles were then directed to an exit that allowed only right turns, pushing all traffic into downtown.
“We organized the event so people never had to get out of their vehicles,” Reif said. “Our teams volunteered their time and worked quickly and carefully to minimize exposure to the community.”
Shortly after 1 p.m., the chicken supply in the trucks had run dry — having sold the full allotment of 80,000 pounds of chicken in just a couple of hours. Mountaire did not anticipate the “high demand,” according to Reif. He noted Mountaire originally planned to only have one truck of chicken available at the sale, but brought the second out in “just in case.”
“We want to thank all those customers we were able to help [Sunday],” Reif said. “We are grateful for every one of our employees who volunteered their time on their day off to help fill a need in the community.”
Mountaire is working to find ways to do additional truckload sales in the coming days based on the lessons learned from the weekend, Reif said. The company will host truckload sales from 9 a.m. until noon on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Saint Julia Catholic Church, located at 210 Harold Hart Rd., off U.S. Hwy.64, in Siler City. The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office will manage the traffic along U.S. Hwy. 64 while the Siler City Police Department will handle traffic on the Church property, according to Reif.
“This will keep the trucks and the traffic outside of downtown Siler City,” Reif said.
Reif said Mountaire wants to continue to help families in the community and distribute food.
Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.


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By Planet Retail2011-08-04T07:00:00
Grocery retailer Spar has launched a convenience store pilot intended for busy inner city locations in Vienna. The 2,690 sq ft store is located right in Babenbergerstraße 9, and employs a staff of 22.
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Kanye West, one of the most popular, influential and commercially successful musicians of the past 20 years — who has effectively set his businesses and career on fire with a series of indefensible anti-Semitic comments — is now without a record label or music publisher, reports ‘Variety’ in a detailed analytical piece.
Universal Music’s Def Jam Recordings and Sony Music Publishing are both out of contract with him, and many of his other business partners have broken ties in the wake of his recent behaviour. On purely music-business terms, the situation is unprecedented.
Def Jam, which owns the copyright to his recordings up to some time in the mid-2010s and has distributed his subsequent releases up to last year’s ‘Donda’ album, has confirmed his deal with the company ended last year. (The copyright credits on some albums have changed in recent weeks; it now appears that West owns his masters from the 2013 ‘Yeezy’ album onward.)
As with RCA Records and R. Kelly, the company will continue to own and/or distribute his catalogue, and profit from it, per the terms of their contract, according to ‘Variety’.
Def Jam presumably owns the recorded-music rights to his earlier recordings for decades to come, although it is unclear when the post-2013 releases will be up for a new distribution deal.
Sony Publishing confirmed that his administration deal with the company ended earlier this year, although it will continue to administer his work, per the terms of the deal, for an unspecified time.
So what happens when Kanye wants to release new music? He has released three songs in collaboration with other artists this year (all before his anti-Semitic comments), but all were on his collaborators’ labels — a scenario that is less easy to imagine now.
Presumably, based on his recent comments about launching his own apparel lines, the rapper will put the music out himself. But releasing music at Kanye West’s level requires major business partners — who will work with him?
The majors — Universal, Sony and Warner Music — are likely out of the equation for the foreseeable future, says ‘Variety’, but it is possible he could strike a deal with a large indie like the hip-hop powerhouse Empire, Create Music Group (which distributes Tekashi 6ix 9ine releases) or France-based Believe, which is one of the few western music companies that did not shut down or reduce its operations in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine).