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Enterprise resource planning (ERP) turns 21 today, marking its maturity amid evolving economic realities and enterprise needs which are changing the way ERP software is implemented in organizations. In particular, midsize businesses want more flexible, analytics-based deployments, according to market analysts.
John Brand, vice president of research at Springboard Research, noted that the desire for greater centralization and deduplication of common business functions within the enterprise, provided the basis for the rise of major ERP software suites in the late 1990s. Customer perception toward ERP, however, has changed over the past two decades, he said.
Midsize companies, for example, are "no longer as interested" in pursuing major ERP brands as part of their growth strategy, Brand told ZDNet Asia in his e-mail. Tier-two vendors that are more nimble and flexible are now favored by this market segment, as are integration strategies that revolve around "business intelligence (BI), reporting and analytics". This segment of users is also the primary driver of ERP today, the analyst added.
Brand explained: "These strategies enable companies to have a more comprehensive view of the combined organizational structure, but without the additional complexity of transforming and filtering data within an ERP environment."
Additionally, this trend has only emerged over the past four to five years, but Springboard Research expects to see more interest and activity in BI-centric integrations, particularly by more progressive, less risk-adverse companies, he said.
Yanna Dharmasthira, research director at Gartner, also singled out mid-market companies as growth drivers of the ERP market. She told ZDNet Asia that as these businesses enhance their competitiveness in line with the returns of economic growth, "more aggressive ERP growth" can be expected.
Within large organizations, customer needs have also been evolving. Brand noted that for those with existing ERP implementations, on-demand cloud-hosted "best-of-breed" software are deployed to augment these companies' existing systems.
"These discrete and hosted solutions can often penetrate the organization very quickly because they can be easily procured by business units without any involvement from its IT department," he noted.
While he does not expect any mass migrations from major ERP vendors' suites, Brand said such cloud or hosted applications will eventually erode the traditional footprint of ERP suites within the enterprise environment.
Evolution of ERP
To preserve their customer base, though, Dharmasthira said software vendors are raising the bar and enriching their product lines by embedding features such as analytics.
James Norwood, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing for Epicor Software, acknowledged the need to innovate and evolve together with its customers. This was partly why the vendor underwent a "painful" eight-year process of re-architecting its ERP products.
In an interview with ZDNet Asia, Norwood said its ERP suite has moved from being focused only on manufacturing-related business processes to now address a company's needs across its entire mission-critical platform.
Epicor also adopted "disruptive technologies" such as cloud computing and mobility, he revealed. "We chose to re-innovate our product right after we emerged from the dot-com bust and gone from multiple product lines to a single one," the executive recounted. "This experience is why our product is now built for change instead of building to last."
He pointed to the fact that Epicor, five to six years ago, had identified cloud computing as a technology that would be widely adopted once security concerns were addressed, leading to its adoption of a multi-tenanted architecture for its ERP product.
Now, with certain markets such as the United States moving past the security barrier, customers there are looking into choices of cloud deployment, such as on-premise or via a third-party cloud service provider--all of which Epicor's products are now built to run on, he explained.
SAP, on the other hand, is keen to emphasize its range of assets in ERP, customer relationship management (CRM), human capital management (HCM) and supply chain management (SCM), as well as the different deployment options available to its customers.
Simon Dale, senior vice president of solutions at SAP Asia-Pacific and Japan, said in his e-mail: "[Customers can] either get the whole functionality managed by a third-party vendor or consume specific functions on an as-needed basis in a private cloud arrangement, or delivered via the cloud.
"We are doing more of these kinds of arrangements and we expect this trend to accelerate," Dale added.
The software vendor is also looking to tap increasing customer demand for analytics-based offerings, he said, pointing to SAP's In-Memory Appliance as an example. The product offering, which is a big data engine that combines in-memory analytics with high-performance computing, allows customers to "pour through terabytes of data in seconds so they can drive the analysis around things such as managing global inventory and supply chain", he said.
Oracle, meanwhile, is focused more on alleviating application complexity and customization within the ERP space. Lim Teck Wee, country manager for applications at Oracle Singapore, shared that this was what customers were asking for.
"[Oracle has] standard, prebuilt integrations across our ERP, CRM and other industry-specific suites that will eliminate potential integration upgrade burdens," Lim said, adding that its roadmap of "next-generation applications" would assure customers that their investments can now be "future-proof".
Gartner's Dharmasthira noted that, ultimately, as vendors continue to innovate, ERP will retain its position as the largest software market compared to SCM or CRM.
She said that within the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, the ERP market is expected to grow by 14 percent this year and have a compound annual growth rate of 13.8 percent for the next five years.
ERP is also considered as one of the top 3 software purchase priority in emerging markets such as China and India, which bodes well for the industry as a whole, the analyst added.


text:
Bruce P. Mehlman
The Internet Innovation Alliance is a broad-based coalition of business and non-profit organizations that aim to ensure every American, regardless of race, income or geography, has access to the critical tool that is broadband Internet. The IIA seeks to promote public policies that support equal opportunity for universal broadband availability and adoption so that everyone, everywhere can seize the benefits of the Internet - from education to health care, employment to community building, civic engagement and beyond.
Here you'll find convenient research items culled from the best broadband data sources. If you need to find bite-sized talking points on a tight deadline, you're in the right place. We've already done the hard part for you!
Another recent report estimates that a “stimulus package that spurs or supports $10 billion of investment in 1 year in broadband networks will support an estimated 498,000 new or retained U.S. jobs for one year.”
According to Broadband for America, in 2008, the broadband/information technology sectors of the economy created nearly half of all the new jobs in America.
According to Broadband for America, the Internet directly employs 1.2 million individuals and supports an additional two million members of our country’s workforce, contributing nearly $900 billion annually to the economy.
Experian PLC’s Hitwise says that traffic to the top 500 retail Web sites was down 9% Nov. 30 compared with last year’s Cyber Monday, as shoppers shifted their browsing to larger retailers. Traffic at the most visited site, Amazon.com Inc., increased 44%, and visits to Staples.com increased 61%.
The total number of online shoppers increased 6% on Nov. 30 from a year earlier, even as the amount that each shopper spent declined 2% to $102.19.
According to Coleman Bazelon, an economist for the Brattle Group, the market value of the TV airwaves if used for wireless broadband would be about $64 billion. Those airwaves are worth about $12 billion if they remain devoted to TV broadcasts.
E-commerce sales grew 5% on Cyber Monday—the first Monday after Thanksgiving—compared with sales on Cyber Monday last year, and the day’s sales matched the single-day record for online shopping.
About 5% to 7% of U.S. shopping typically happens online, but this holiday season online may account for 10% of all holiday shopping, or about $44 billion, according to Forrester Research.
Overstock.com Inc. said that [Cyber] Monday sales were about 10% above their record-breaking Friday levels, as it offered free shipping on all purchases and a free car giveaway promotion.
ComScore reported that U.S. online shoppers spent $595 million on Black Friday, up 11% from last year.

domain: news


text:
Having sold off its handset business to Microsoft, Nokia gets into the tablet game with the new N1.
A cremation supplies company now claims to be selling 3D-printed memorial urns in the shape of your loved one -- or celebrity hero.
Don't want to wait for an update to hit your device? Here's the easiest way to do it yourself.
And how you can disable it.
The Audiophiliac reviews the Hifiman RE300, a new low price model from a high-end headphone-maker.
It's the latest from Google and Apple going head-to-head in a big screen tablet battle. Who will be crowned King of the Prizefight Ring?
Finnish company Nokia is set to reveal its new direction after selling its phone business to Microsoft.
The company's head of investor relations says the move is designed to make Samsung's smartphone business more efficient.
The latest flavor of Google's mobile operating system will start hitting LG's latest flagship phone this week -- albeit in Poland -- with other key regions slated for "the near future."
The Roku 3 and Roku Streaming Stick now let Android and Windows 8.1 users mirror their devices to their TVs. Here's what you need to know to set it up.


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uBreakiFix Opens First Maryland Location In Bethesda
Fast-Growing Tech Enterprise Brings Affordable Device Repair and Exceptional Customer Service to New Market
March 22, 2017 // Franchising.com // BETHESDA, MD - uBreakiFix opens in Bethesda on March 22 at 8019 Wisconsin Ave. The growing technology repair brand provides same-day repair service of all electronics, specializing in cell phone repair and computer repair.
uBreakiFix Bethesda is the first location for owner Randall McKnight, an industry veteran with more than 15 years in IT Service Management, specializing in the implementation of software solutions supporting help desks, service desks and call centers for government agencies. McKnight chose to partner with uBreakiFix due to its customer service commitment, standard operating procedures, knowledge base and metrics to ensure consistency and quality.
“Technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, and when it breaks, we need a dependable, efficient way to get it working again,” McKnight said. “I hope to leverage the best practices I learned during my career in IT Service Management to further strengthen uBreakiFix’s focus on delivering world class customer service and quality repairs. I look forward to uBreakiFix Bethesda becoming the community’s go-to resource for all its tech needs.”
uBreakiFix was founded in 2009 by millennial duo David Reiff and Justin Wetherill, a 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. The pair later partnered with Eddie Trujillo to take their Internet-based brand brick and mortar. With keen attention to quality and experience, uBreakiFix has become an industry leader in value, efficiency and customer service. Since its inception, the company has grown organically without debt, investors or consultants.
uBreakiFix services all brands of electronics, offering phone screen repair, computer repair and more to consumers and businesses alike. The company repairs cracked screens, water damage, software issues, camera issues and most other technical problems at its more than 290 stores across North America.
uBreakiFix Bethesda is the brand’s first location in Maryland and fifth location in the metro Washington, D.C., area, joining stores in Cleveland Park, Eastern Market, Alexandria and Shaw.
uBreakiFix opened 114 stores in 2016 and plans to open 175 new stores in 2017 for a year end goal of 450 stores in operation. uBreakiFix is known for its timely service, focus on providing an exceptional customer experience and its ability to fix anything and everything with a power button. Each repair comes with a 90-day warranty and a price match guarantee.
“As we grow, we’re continually challenging ourselves to innovate and improve our systems to better serve the communities we call home,” said Wetherill, uBreakiFix CEO and founder. “We look forward to answering the Bethesda community’s tech needs with the reliable repair service and exceptional customer experience that our consumers expect.”
uBreakiFix Bethesda is located at 8019 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814 and can be reached at: 240-762-6555. For more information and to view a service menu, visit ubreakifix.com.
Founded in 2009, uBreakiFix specializes in the repair of small electronics, ranging from smartphones, game consoles, tablets, computers and everything in between. Cracked screens, water damage, software issues, camera issues and most any other problem can be repaired by visiting uBreakiFix stores across the U.S. and in Canada. uBreakiFix is the official walk-in repair partner for Pixel, a phone by Google. For more information, visit ubreakifix.com.
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Two weeks after the company admitted hackers breached their network, which resulted in information being compromised, Google announced it will scale back support for Internet Explorer 6 sometime after March 1, 2010.
According to a Google spokesman, Google plans to cease support
for older browsers for the rest of the Google Apps suite later this year.
Google also intends to cut support for browsers such as Mozilla’s Firefox 2.0, Apple’s Safari 2.0, as well as Google’s own Chrome 3.0 browser.
On Feb. 2, administrators of Google Apps accounts received an e-mail from Google directly explaining why the company was halting Internet Explorer 6 support for Google Docs and Google Sites.
Google has declined to provide a time frame for the cut-off date of support for Gmail and Calendar.
Gmail has an estimated 146 million users, according to data from Comscore. It is the third most-used email service in the world, following Microsoft’s Windows Live Hotmail, and Yahoo’s Mail services.
At the time of writing, Internet Explorer 6 is eight years old.
Web users are encouraged to update their browsers, regardless if you use these services, as newer versions offer higher security.


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I stumbled on to what seems like an amazing opportunity for budding Indian innovators who wish to showcase their innovation and implement it in real time- the DST-Lockheed Martin Indian innovation Growth Program, which as the name suggests has the Department of Science of Technology, Govt. of India as one of its key partners, besides FICCI and University of Texas IC2.
According to the official website, the objective of the Program is to accelerate the launch of early-stage Indian technologies into the global market place. The list of areas of innovation which are covered under the Program is available here.
The top applicants to the Program who will be selected through a competitive process will receive the following benefits:
- Attendance at an Entrepreneurial Workshop focused on technology commercialization.
- A detailed Quick Look© technology commercialization strategy and recommendations report prepared by the IC2 Institute. Participation in an Indian Technology Expo.
- Automatic enrolment in the DST - Lockheed Martin Innovator Competition, judged by an international panel of technology and business experts. Awards will be granted for the top prospects for commercialization in the coming year.
Also, according to the website- “The Gold Medal winners from the DST - Lockheed Martin Innovator Competition will be invited to work with commercialization experts from FICCI and IC2 Institute to pursue appropriate business engagements in the U.S., India and other global markets.”


text:
The leading franchise retailer in Saudi Arabia, Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair (Alhokair) and Kingdoms’ well-known owner, developer and operator of lifestyle shopping centers, Arabian Centres Company (ACC), will acquire a combined 51 percent stake in Vogacloset, a UK-based online fast fashion platform.
The buyers will acquire 41.2 percent of Vogacloset’s existing shares based on a pre-money valuation of $60 million, subject to an earn-out structure conditional on certain growth thresholds. In addition, $12 million will be introduced into the capital of Vogacloset to boost its presence in the Saudi market and to further pave the path for the Alhokair brands and ACC tenant brands to enter into the eCommerce platform.
“Our investment in an online fashion and beauty platform of Vogacloset’s caliber is a significant milestone in our transformation and represents an exciting opportunity. This strategic investment in a sizeable and profitable regional eCommerce player is the most direct route for Alhokair to extend its leadership position in its core Saudi market, from offline to the online space while safeguarding our competitive market position.”
The buyers’ principal objective for their investment in Vogacloset is to boost digital transformation and create a truly modern retail business in the region. By joining with a leading eCommerce platform they intend to create an industry-leading partnership in Saudi Arabia that utilizes Vogacloset’s customer-centric business model, efficient logistics chain and deep understanding of regional and global fashion trends.
The companies will integrate Vogacloset with a joint venture to support opportunities aimed at building the two Saudi retail players’ omnichannel capacities. The companies have already started working on plans to launch loyalty programs and consumer finance offerings.
“In line with our ambition to create Saudi Arabia’s first specialized digital retail platform, the partnership with Vogacloset will greatly enhance convenience and engagement for tenants and customers,” said Faisal Al Jedaie, Chief Executive Officer of ACC.
The deal is expected to be completed by end of June 2021, subject to the fulfillment of various conditions.
Also Read: Saudi’s SALIC unites with Brazilian meat giant Minerva to expand jointly into Australia


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WASHINGTON—Russian President Vladimir Putin's ban on many key food imports will further isolate Moscow, hurt Russia's economy and have an "insignificant" impact on U.S. growth prospects, senior Obama administration officials said Thursday.
The Kremlin this week imposed a total ban on poultry, beef, pork, fruit, and other agriculture products from the U.S. and European Union in the wake of the last round of escalating sanctions against Russia for its role in Ukraine.
"Retaliating against western companies or countries will deepen Russia's international isolation, causing further damage to its own economy," Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said on a conference call with reporters.
Although U.S. sanctions directly affecting Russian firms in June cover just a small share of the economy, the fear of additional sanctions often has a much broader impact on the economy. The combined effect of sanctions and declining investment has pushed the country into recession and sparked an investor exodus the International Monetary Fund says could translate into $100 billion in capital fleeing out of Russia this year.
The latest round of U.S. and European sanctions will only accelerate that capital flight out of Russia, "starving key sectors of the Russian economy of long-term financing and depriving the energy sector of key technologies that it cannot obtain elsewhere," Mr. Furman said.
In contrast, the U.S. economy is strengthening and Moscow's latest punitive measures only touch a tiny fraction of U.S. exports. U.S. agricultural exports to Russia totaled $1.2 billion in 2013. That is less than 1% of total U.S. agricultural exports and 0.05% of all U.S. international sales.
"The steps that Russia announced are likely insignificant as an impact on the U.S. economy," said David Cohen, Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
That doesn't mean some U.S. agriculture sectors won't feel pain. While the share of food exports to Russia represents a fraction of total U.S. international sales and an even smaller slice of the country's gross domestic product, the sudden drop in Russian demand for U.S. and European food exports could erode prices. The Kremlin's sanctions were cited as one reason hog and cattle prices continued to fall in commodity markets Thursday.
Poultry represents the largest share of U.S. agriculture exports to Russia. The National Chicken Council said in a statement that the Russian ban shouldn't have "a great impact on our industry." But Russia is the sector's second-largest export market, accounting for roughly 7% of U.S. poultry export volumes.
U.S. efforts, meanwhile, have had a much clearer impact: Western sanctions have helped push down the value of Russia's currency and are fueling a spike in prices in the country. "Prohibiting imports of various food products will only exacerbate that inflation," Mr. Cohen said, particularly as the country imports roughly 40% of its food needs.
The ban is "a cruel irony," he said, because Moscow has "essentially imposed sanctions on their own people."
As Russian forces build on the Ukraine border and military officials fear Moscow may be readying a military invasion, the administration reiterated that Washington may ratchet up the pressure on Russia.
"The U.S. remains prepared to take additional strong measures to impose increasingly painful costs on Russia if Russia does not change course," Mr. Cohen said.
Write to Ian Talley at firstname.lastname@example.org


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WACO, Texas — Many small businesses took a hit in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year many are bouncing back and getting together to not only sell their products but to support each other.
“We both own small businesses and it’s hard to find events in waco that are catering to small businesses so we decided let’s just put one on and see how it does,” Sip N’ Shop Small Businesses Coordinator Abigail Lancaster said.
The owners of Charlie and Company and C.B. Beads had ten businesses at today’s Sip N’ Shop in Waco to not only promote their own businesses but to help those who are also local entrepreneurs.
One of the businesses present, M 3:2 Waco Soaps told Fox 44 how it felt to be included in an event like today’s.
“It’s a great feeling because small businesses here are starting to grow because of the support of the community,” Part Owner Vianey Botello said. “So an event like this one it’s really awesome and appreciated as a small business because we are seeing that community support.”
Every business at today’s event sold different products, from mugs and pens to jewelry and soap, there was something for everyone.
After many felt the squeeze from the pandemic, they are grateful to be back selling their work.
“Like every small business, we did take a hit, so we were closed for a little bit,” Botello said. “We couldn’t get to where we had our items and but now we’re seeing a turnaround and we’re seeing that we can actually go to different places and we have gotten good sales.”
And their message for holiday shoppers was: “Everyone here is your neighbor,” C.B. Beads Owner Sarah Robins said. “We’re all just trying to support our families and so shopping small when you can really goes a lot further for us, than it would like you said Target or Walmart.”
With only 13 days until Christmas, if you’re still looking for the perfect gift, maybe check your local stores before hitting the big box stores.


text:
Samsung has released the Android 12 update to couple more devices. The Galaxy A90 5G and Galaxy M52 5G are both now receiving the big Android update, complete with the Korean brand’s One UI 4.1. The initial release is limited to certain regions but it shouldn’t be long before the rollout goes global.
As of this writing, the Galaxy A90 5G is receiving the Android 12 update in Samsung’s homeland South Korea. The new firmware version for this 2019 premium mid-range smartphone is A908NKSU4EVC1. This should be the last major Android OS update for the phone. It arrived with Android 9 Pie and has received updates to Android 10, Android 11, and now Android 12. Samsung recently promised four major Android OS updates for its select phones but the Galaxy A90 5G doesn’t qualify for that.
The Galaxy M52 5G, on the other hand, is receiving its first major update. Launched last September with Android 11 onboard, the mid-ranger is now picking up Android 12 in India. The updated firmware version for this phone is M526BXXU1BVC6. It should get at least one more Android OS update in the future (android 13) if not more.
Galaxy A90 5G and Galaxy M52 5G are directly receiving One UI 4.1
Samsung’s initial Android 12 rollout came with One UI 4.0. But with the launch of the Galaxy S22 series last month, the Korean brand also introduced version 4.1 of its custom Android software. The company is currently in the process of rolling out the new One UI version to its eligible devices. And to make things easier, it has integrated One UI 4.1 with the original Android 12 build for devices that hadn’t received it yet. The Galaxy A90 5G and Galaxy M52 5G are both directly receiving this bundled package.
One UI 4.0 already brings a plethora of new features and enhancements to galaxy devices. The latest iteration further adds some goodies, including a bunch of camera features. Most of these should trickle down to the Galaxy A90 5G and Galaxy M52 5G.
Along with the host of new features, the latest update for these two phones also includes the March 2022 Android security patch. This month’s SMR (security maintenance release) contains fixes for over 50 vulnerabilities.
If you’re using either of these Samsung phones, you should be receiving the Android 12-based One UI 4.1 update very soon. Watch out for a notification once the OTA (over the air) release reaches your country. Since these updates are rolled out in batches, it could take a few days for the OTA package to show up for your phone. You can manually check for it from the Settings app, under the Software update menu.


text:
Belgium’s tomato growers in the red
25 August 2004
BRUSSELS – Belgian tomatoes and lettuce producers are facing a financial crisis following a drastic fall in the price of the two crops, it was reported on Wednesday.
The Belgian federation of distribution companies, Fedis, has met for crisis talks to thrash out a strategy to boost the home-grown tomato and lettuce market.
Fedis is responsible for the distribution of 30 to 40 percent of Belgium’s tomatoes and around 50 percent of lettuces.
It has planned promotional offers for the next three weeks and more visibility of Belgian products on supermarket shelves.
There will be an emphasis on “extra quality” tomatoes, that make up about five to ten percent of the market.
This year has been a particularly bad one for tomato and lettuce growers due to adverse weather conditions and more attractive prices for imported Turkish tomatoes.
Overproduction at a European level – due to the enlargement of the European Union – and circulation difficulties on the American market have all been contributing factors, said Jos Vanwezer, president of the Belgian auctioneers union.
Since the start of the year, revenue has gone down 25 percent for horticulturists, with tomato growers seeing a 40 percent drop and lettuce producers 50 percent.
[Copyright Expatica 2004]
Subject: Belgian news


text:
BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO
SOLOMON Islands economy can be improved through tourism activities in the country, it is reported.
This is according to the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Management (MECDM) and Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Management in Pacific Islands Country (MACBIO) latest economic report.
The economic report stated that Solomon Islands has a small tourism industry but is now expanding.
It furthers that tourism expenditures from foreign visitors amount to about SBD$514 million per year (US $ 68 million).
“This indicates that varieties of businesses and their employees in providing government tax revenue have benefited from this particular industry,” stated the report.
It further spells out that if this industry is managed responsibly it (tourism) can be a beneficial and sustainable ecosystem service.
This is because tourist generally seeks out healthy ecosystems in which tourism can create a motivation to protect and even rehabilitate marine ecosystem.
Besides the report said that if tourism is more developed and profitable there would be a higher motivation for locally and the national government of Solomon Islands to stop unwanted activities like illegal logging and some other destructive activities like mining and inshore fishing.


text:
May 9, 2017
Richard Branson supports the launch of Made By Dyslexia at the world's first "Dyslexic Sperm Bank".
Listen to him chatting openly to Roland Rudd & Kate Griggs about his experiences with Dyslexia and his inspirational advice.
Made By Dyslexia aims to help the world understand Dyslexia as a different way of thinking...not a disadvantage.
To find out more, visit @madebydyslexia or www.madebydyslexia.org


text:
Faulty Cooling Fan to Blame for Latest Fisker Karma Fire, Recall Initiated
August 18, 2012 6:39 PM
comment(s) - last by
(Source: Fisker Automotive)
Fisker Automotive pinpoints the cause of the blaze with the help of an expert
Last week we reported that a second Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid/electric vehicle
went up in flames outside a grocery store in California
. At the time, an exact cause for the flare-up was not immediately available, but Fisker Automotive was adamant that the fire
was not caused by the lithium-ion batteries
, the powerful electric motors, or the front-mounted turbocharged gasoline engine that serves as a generator.
Today, Fisker Automotive announced the final results of an investigation into the incident that was conducted in conjunction with Pacific Rim Investigative Services Group. It was determine that cooling fan located ahead of the left front wheel had an internal fault that caused the blaze.
As a result, Fisker Automotive is initiating a voluntary recall on all Karma sedans sold to date to replace the fan and install an additional fuse.
“We are committed to responding swiftly and decisively to events such as this to ensure total customer satisfaction,” said Fisker Automotive Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, Henrik Fisker. “This incident resulted from a single, faulty component, not our unique EVer powertrain or the engineering of the Karma. As this situation demonstrates, Fisker Automotive is dedicated to doing whatever is necessary to address safety and quality concerns.”
Interestingly, Fisker Automotive also included a quote from the owner of the self-igniting Karma. “I have been incredibly impressed with the way Fisker has handled this incident," said Rudy Burger. "Fisker is a great company and one that I am personally planning to invest in. I look forward to getting behind the wheel of my next Fisker.”
Hopefully Mr. Burger will have better luck the second time around.
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
nothing to see here
8/19/2012 1:10:59 PM
It's ok folks, nothing to see here.
It wasn't a REAL electric car fire, so it doesn't matter.
"My sex life is pretty good" -- Steve Jobs' random musings during the 2010 D8 conference
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text:
LG also joined the long queue of companies imposing sanctions on Russia and announced that it would suspend the shipments of its products to the country. The decision was made in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The company has published a statement on its website, saying, “LG Electronics is suspending all shipments to Russia and will continue to keep a close watch on the situation as it unfolds.”
LG has not yet specified how long the suspension will last and what products it will include. The company has said that it is deeply concerned about the health and safety of people.
So far, a long line of companies, including Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft, has suspended sales of their products in Russia. More and more companies are also blacklisting Russia. With a slight delay, LG finally decided to suspend the shipment of its products to the country.
LG won’t ship products to Russia anymore
LG’s delay in announcing its decision may be justified because the company has left the mobile phone market and focused all its resources on the production of electronics, including TVs and home appliances. Given the size of the Russian market, this decision will definitely have a big impact on LG’s revenue and market share.
However, the withdrawal of LG and Samsung from the Russian market could be good news for Chinese companies. Given the excellent relations between the Chinese and Russian governments, there is now an opportunity for Chinese companies to take over the Russian market.
But in the meantime, perhaps the Russian media, including RT and Sputnik, have suffered the most. So far, these channels have been banned from running ads and monetizing on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The European Union also recently asked Google to remove these websites from its search pages.
Moreover, RT and Sputnik are removed from the Roku streaming platform. In response, the Russian government has also blocked access to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
A few days ago, Sony also announced that it would cut Russian access to its entertainment platform. Thus, Russian users can’t watch and listen to the latest movies and music albums on the Sony entertainment platform. We have to wait and see which more companies will announce their withdrawal from the Russian market in the coming weeks.


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What We’re Reading:
According to the DJC, Oregon Daily Journal of Commerce, we have been experiencing a shortage of trained and qualified skilled trade workers. This is good news and bad news. With the decline in skilled trade labor (including plumbing) a snowball effect has already been noticed by the industry. There is great concern that as many journey workers begin to retire, there will not be enough of a new workforce to take their place and the demand for new projects and skilled labor will not be met.
The good news is that many young people are beginning to see the potential of joining the skilled trade force. We are seeing a rise in the employment of apprentices that seems to be on-going.
According to this article, we still have some work to do toward the kind of growth required to rebuild our ranks in the long term.


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The duty-free access to 17 products was agreed in principle by the Chinese side at the 14th session of the biannual Bangladesh-China Joint Economic Commission, held at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) in Dhaka.
At the meeting, Bangladesh side said that through China provides duty-free benefit to 4,700 products, the list does not include the products of their (Bangladeshi businesses) choice. “Beijing has agreed in principle to widen its trade benefits,” ERD senior secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin said at a press briefing post-meeting.
The Chinese delegation led by vice minister for commerce Gao Yan requested Bangladesh to start the procedure for availing duty-free benefit for the 17 new products so that the benefits can be reaped at the earliest, Mejbahuddin said.
The visiting team also showed interest in investing in the apparel zone that is being set up in Munshiganj by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), he said.
Bangladesh's garment exports to China increased by 11.9 per cent year-on-year to $341.22 million in 2015-16. (RKS)
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A bipartisan group of state lawmakers want to cut state taxes on premium cigars, as small retailers that sell the high-end products complain that the 2013 hike in tobacco taxes has cut deeply into their profits.
"This would not be rolling back taxes on all smoking by any stretch," said Rich Lewis, who has owned and operated Lewis Pipe & Tobacco in downtown Minneapolis for 40 years. "It would give us a chance to get our business going again."
Anti-smoking advocates have started mobilizing against the measure, as they draw links between evidence that smoking rates have fallen in Minnesota since the 2013 tobacco tax increase, which amounted to about $1.60 additional on a pack of cigarettes.
"Minnesota has a history of being hard on tobacco," said Michelle Morris, manager of tobacco prevention programs at the state chapter of the American Lung Association. "We should be celebrating these policies, not undoing them."
Still, the cigar tax cut proposal has high-powered support at the Capitol. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, is a co-sponsor of the Senate bill. The Senate Taxes Committee reviewed the proposal Wednesday, and flagged it for possible inclusion in a broader omnibus tax bill.
Molly Moilanen, chief lobbyist for the anti-smoking coalition ClearWay Minnesota, said she thinks the cigar tax cut is likely to be included in the House's omnibus tax bill, making it a possible candidate for inclusion in the final tax bill that's sent to Gov. Mark Dayton. The House version of the bill is sponsored by nearly a dozen members of the Republican majority.
"They're going to decide if they want a tax break for tobacco companies and merchants at a time when they're proposing cuts to health care programs," Moilanen said of House Republicans. Preliminary estimates say it would cost the state about $1 million a year in lost tax proceeds if the cigar tax is reduced.
Sen. Dave Senjem, the chief Senate sponsor, said it's not a debate about the health implications of smoking. "That's a foregone conclusion," Senjem said. But as a matter of tax policy, Senjem said high-end cigars are taxed unfairly.
Every premium cigar, which is defined in state law as one that has been hand-rolled rather than machine-cut, is subject to a state tax that's 95 percent of its wholesale cost. That's capped at $3.50 per cigar, meaning every cigar that costs more than about $10 costs an additional $3.50 in taxes.
"So if you're trying to sell a box of 20 ten-dollar cigars, your customer is going to be paying $200 plus an additional $70 in taxes," Lewis said. Under the House and Senate bills, the cap would drop from $3.50 per cigar to 50 cents.
Increasingly, he said, customers have other options: they can go to cigar shops in Hudson, Wis., which already caps its per-cigar tax at 50 cents; or they can buy boxes of cigars online, where similarly low tax rates can be found.
"As it is now people just don't buy boxes of cigars anymore," Lewis said. He estimated his profits fell by about a quarter after the 2013 tobacco tax increase.


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Ford Motor Co.'s plant in Avon Lake, Ohio, worked only one of its usual two shifts the weeks of April 20 and April 27. The plant, which produces the Mercury Villager and Nissan Quest minivans, was down for two weeks in late January and early February because of slow sales and operated on one shift during most of those two months.
Chrysler Corp. built its 1-millionth vehicle of 1998 in North America on Monday, April 27, which was 10 days earlier than in 1997.
U.S. car and truck manufacturers assembled their 4-millionth vehicle of the year on Tuesday, April 28, one day earlier than last year. Truck production is up 8.0 percent, and car production is down 6.2 percent. North American car and truck production is 1.5 percent ahead of the year-ago period.
North American production shares for the year to date are: General Motors, 34.3 percent; Ford Motor Co., 27.2 percent; Chrysler Corp., 17.4 percent; Honda of America Manufacturing, 5.3 percent; Nissan Motor Manufacturing, 3.5 percent; Toyota Motor Manufacturing, 3.5 percent; New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., 2.3 percent; Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing, 1.3 percent; Volkswagen, 1.3 percent; Subaru-Isuzu Automotive Inc., 1.2 percent; and other manufacturers, 2.7 percent.


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The companies are offering dealers the chance to experience another high-octane driving experience in the company of celebrated UK racing driver Darren Turner.
The promotion will see five installers enjoy a day at the Oxfordshire home of Base Performance Simulators, where they will experience an authentic driving experience. Drivers will be sat in a racing car monocoque in front of a wraparound screen, with the massive video images provided by three seamlessly integrated PT-AE4000 projectors. Installers will also benefit from full support and one-to-one tuition from Turner.
The opportunity to win is on offer to those CI dealers who purchase Panasonic products through AWE any time from now until the end of February. Points will be awarded when installers buy Viera 3D screens, VX200 screens or PTAE400 projectors. These points add up to places in the grand draw and the more acquired, the greater the chance dealers have of winning themselves a drive.
“Following on from the success of the Motorsport Sensation day [in 2010], we wanted a fresh event to appeal to our customers and industry petrol-heads,” commented Stuart Tickle, managing director of AWE. “AWE has recently become an official technology partner of Base Performance and although everyone obviously find these events enjoyable, more importantly they are also extremely beneficial for both us and the installers. It gives us a chance to strengthen relationships and find out what our dealers require from us as a leading distributor.”


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Beijing encourages boycott of Lotte over ThaadTwo days after Lotte Group made its final decision to swap land that will be used for the American Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system, boycotts of the company began in China along with targeted cyberattacks.
JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce site, shut down a section dedicated to Lotte Mart products on Tuesday. In mid-January, Lotte.com, an e-commerce arm of the Korean retail giant, voluntarily closed its section on Tmall, an e-commerce site owned by Alibaba, citing sluggish sales.
On Tuesday, Lotte Group’s Chinese website abruptly halted operations and hadn’t recovered by Wednesday. A source at Lotte Group’s Chinese Office attributed the problem to an external attack via computer virus. The source of the attack had not been identified.
Lotte Duty Free’s account on Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter, was flooding with over 20,000 comments demanding Lotte “Leave China.” A posting on “What’s on Weibo” describing Lotte’s Monday approval to swap the land for the Thaad deployment was viewed over 9 million times.
Major media outlets in China predicted a national boycott after the group’s board of directors gathered Monday to approve the transfer of a golf course in Seongju to the government to be used as the home for Thaad.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese people would likely “share a stance against anyone who damages the security interests of their country.” The Global Times, also government-run, wrote: “Lotte Group’s development in the Chinese market should come to an end.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a media briefing Tuesday, “The success of foreign companies who do business in our country ultimately depends on China’s market and consumers.”
A Lotte Group spokesman said that the company had no further comment on the issue, adding, “The matter is already out of our hands.”
Lotte has suffered from unofficial sanctions from Chinese authorities: In November, over 150 of its factories, storage facilities and stores were hit with tax audits and safety checks.
Construction of the Lotte World Town in Shenyang was halted by Chinese authorities in December.
The 3-trillion won project includes a mall, hotel and theme park at a single site.
In China, Lotte runs five department stores, 99 Lotte Marts and 16 super markets. A total of 24 Lotte subsidiaries are doing business in China. Lotte is not the only Korean company anxious about a backlash in China.
On Wednesday, the Global Times pointed out that Samsung and Hyundai Motor have a lot of business in China, adding that Korean retailers other than Lotte Group “should be sanctioned by Chinese buyers.”
BY SONG KYOUNG-SON, JIN EUN-SOO [email@example.com]


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BMW CEO Casts Shade All Over Elon Musk and Tesla
Tesla can be credited for igniting this full-on electric car movement we’ve been witnessing over the past couple of years, with Dieselgate acting as a catalyzer for Volkswagen AG but also for other German brands, BMW included.
Well-established carmakers have been on a spending spree trying to develop electric powertrains and EVs and BMW CEO Oliver Zipse believes they will soon catch up with Tesla and even get ahead of it.
Is The Karma GS 6 The Perfect Middle Ground Between Full-Electric and Gas-Powered Cars?
Karma Automotive is back in the news, this time for the introduction of its latest vehicle called the GS-6. The GS-6 is essentially the Revero GT that the company revealed in the past, but with few significant changes. Karma plans to use the Revero moniker for a future, upmarket product.
Anyway, the GS-6 is a plug-in hybrid vehicle that debuts in the “new luxury” segment; a term coined by Karma to perhaps create a new niche. The GS-6 is not priced as exorbitantly high as the previous products and starts under $100,000.
2021 Mercedes-Benz EQA - Quick Review
First was the EQC and now Mercedes-Benz is writing another file in its all-electric history with the GLAbased EQA. At some point in the future, the Germans will release an EV version of the S-Class, dubbed EQS. Until that happens, let’s take a closer look at the EQA.
2021 Audi E-Tron GT
Update 2-9-2021: Audi has finally revealed the E-Tron GT and RS E-Tron GT. While we update this review with all the finer details, check out the important information and new images below!
Announced at Audi’s Annual Press Conference in Ingolstadt earlier this year, the Audi E-Tron GT is a new all-electric four-door coupé destined to hit the market in 2020. Offered as part of the Audi electric onslaught in which the Ingolstadt-based company will reveal 20 new electric models by 2025, the Audi E-Tron GT will sit at the top of the Audi Sport division, and will be responsible for constructing an all-new character trait for Audi’s line of Sport vehicles. With models such as the Audi A5 Sportback and Audi A7, the company obviously has some proper knowledge of the four-door coupé design. The E-Tron GT will act as a flagship for this intriguing car segment.
Given the E-Tron GT will take technology, design features, cabin specs, and possibly drivetrain hardware from other E-Tron vehicles, we already know a thing or two about the new car. Marketed to fight against the likes of the Tesla Model S and similar entries from other manufacturers, the Audi E-Tron GT could be even more impressive than the recently introduced E-Tron Quattro SUV.
2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E by Motion R Design
The deliveries for the Mustang Mach-E have begun and even aftermarket customizations are available. Motion R Design has announced a kit for the Mach-E under its new range of modified vehicles called ‘E Series’. The Mach-E will be the first vehicle in this range and will come with a host of exterior and interior customization options.
2021 Mercedes-Benz EQA
After launching the rather expensive EQC, Mercedes has now come up with a slightly more affordable EV that could be a game-changer for the brand. Called the EQA, it is essentially a GLA that comes with some cosmetic changes and of course, a heart transplant. Interestingly, Mercedes has used a different approach for this car.
The EQA isn’t a wild-looking electric vehicle with radical styling cues and neither is it a rocket off the line, which seems to be the norm in the segment. Not everyone likes to take off the moment you press the A-pedal, after all. So, if the quick, push-you-back-in-the-seat cars are not your thing, here’s a refreshing electric vehicle that will make you smile and let you drive it calmly.
2020 Citroen Ami
The 2020 Citroen Ami is an all-electric vehicle based on the Ami One concept that the French company unveiled in 2019. Only 95 inches long and 55 inches wide, the Ami is in fact an elecric quadricycle rather than a full-blown car and it can be driven without a driver’s license.
This makes it accessible to people as young as 16 in most European countries (and 14 in France). Developed as a solution for city commuting over relatively short distances, the Ami is named after the original Citroen Ami, an economy car that the French firm produced from 1961 to 1978. What’s it all about and should you buy one? Find out in our review below.
2021 Cupra el-Born
The SEAT brand we know now is very different from the SEAT we knew a decade ago. The wind of transformation has been blowing over the Volkswagen Group-owned carmaker lately and SEAT has been enjoying a new life thanks to a revised lineup brimming with good-looking cars.
In the process, the Cupra nameplate - used to designate the sportiest models of the SEAT bunch - evolved into a standalone brand and without wasting any time, it has come up with an electric car, albeit with a little help from the VW ID.3. Let’s check out the Cupra el-Born EV.
2021 NIO ET7 EV
In the first quarter of 2020, Chinese EV automaker Nio had almost gotten knocked out of the auto scene. But, thanks to an investment of $1 billion from the local government, Nio managed to get a second lease on life. It revealed the updated version of its electric, the ES8, and there’s no looking back ever since. Nio is growing leaps and bounds and the launch of its latest EV is a testimony to that.
The new electric sedan is called ET7. It will be offered with three different battery sizes, with the biggest of them all claiming to deliver 620 miles on a single charge! With pretty decent performance figures and tech features, can the ET7 take on the Tesla Model S successfully?
2021 Bentley Bentayga Hybrid
Ever since the uber-luxurious automakers ventured into high-riding vehicles, they’ve become less niche and more mainstream. Just like the Urus and the Cullinan have raked up big numbers for Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce respectively, the Bentayga has done that for Bentley. While you can maintain exclusivity and uniqueness at that price point, you still have to keep your finger on the pulse; the case in point here being the hybrid technology.
Bentley introduced the Bentayga Hybrid in 2020 and it soon became one of the most popular variants in the SUV’s lineup. Within a year, the British automaker has introduced the facelifted version that comes with refreshed styling inside out and updates on the tech front. The 2020 Bentayga Hybrid was the company’s first hybrid ever; so, does the 2021 model overcome any shortcomings?
You Might Want to Think Twice About Putting Big Wheels On Your EV
Since electric powertrains have started crawling inside our cars, manufacturers had to find ways to make said powertrains as efficient as possible. Aside from battery chemistry, size, and other such factors, an EV’s ability to travel more miles on a full charge is also an affair of aerodynamics and rolling resistance.
In the video below, Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained shows why big wheels impact an electric car’s driving range.
Ford Unveils The 2022 E-Transit Electric Van
In an interview recently, Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley said, “There’s been a lot written about the electrification of our industry and Ford’s bet is different. We’re betting on a full lineup of commercial electrified vehicles.”
Well, it looks like the company has started its journey in the segment by unveiled the electric version of the world’s best-selling cargo van, the E-Transit. The van comes with connected services, an on-board generator, a range of 126 miles, and most importantly, a starting price of under $45,000. Will the E-Transit be as successful as the standard Transit?
Can You Guess What Cars Inspired the Beijing Radiance?
Beijing, touted as a new brand under the BAIC umbrella, has unveiled the Radiance at the 2020 Beijing Auto Show, which kicked off on September 26. Instantly, the back of our minds flashed back to 2019, when Infiniti revealed the Qs Inspiration prototype, meant to preview a sporty electric sedan aimed at the Chinese market.
The 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe is the fastest, most powerful Wrangler ever produced
The Jeep Wrangler is legendary for its rugged design and impressive capability on the unbeaten path. And that’s mostly why the idea of an electrified Wrangler seemed ridiculous until recently. But Jeep is slowly electrifying its lineup and, somewhat surprisingly, it picked the Wrangler as the first nameplate to benefit from a full-fledged hybrid setup. And the result is the fastest and most powerful Wrangler developed so far!
2021 Skoda Enyaq iV
After a long wait, the Skoda Enyaq iV is finally here. The company has revealed its first all-electric SUV. The Enyaq draws inspiration from the Skoda Vision iV concept. The latter had an SUV-Coupe like body style, but the Enyaq will be a traditional SUV. It is also the company’s first vehicle that’s underpinned by Volkswagen’s MEB architecture. Everything on the Enyaq iV seems top-notch in terms of quality and design. In fact, the electric SUV also holds the record for being the most powerful Skoda ever built! Although it seems very impressive as of now, will it be able to draw volumes for the Czech automaker?
The Enyaq iV is Skoda’s First Electric SUV And Its Most Powerful Vehicle Yet
Once a company that built a handful of compact cars, Skoda has recently expanded to include a midsize sedan, and since 2016 it entered the SUV market with no fewer than three models. Come 2020, and Skoda is taking yet another step toward new heights with the Enyaq iV, an all-electric crossover. Although this isn’t Skoda’s first EV, being preceded by the tiny Citigo iV, the Enyaq iV is the company’s first vehicle built on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, which is dedicated exclusively to zero-emission models. The Enyaq iV is essentially Skoda’s own variant of the upcoming Volkswagen ID.4.
The First Electric Rolls Royce Has Arrived Thanks to Lunaz
Electrification has taken over almost every brand and every segment. The very few that are left are now on the verge of going through the same process. One of those few brands left untouched was Rolls Royce, but not anymore. Lunaz, a U.K.-based tuning and conversion company has laid its hands on a 1961 Phantom V and given it the electrified treatment. Lunaz will be building just 30 iterations, but is restoring a classic car like this one in an electric avatar a true celebration?
Porsche Just One-Upped Tesla’s Cheetah Mode With the Taycan’s Launch Control
Porsche has updated the Taycan for the 2021 model year and announced a bunch of changes. The update includes new exterior shades, convenient charging, flexible convenience upgrades, a better head-up display, and so on. The most noteworthy change on the list, however, is the upgraded Launch Control. Launch Control has made the Taycan even quicker, and it takes the Taycan one step ahead against Tesla’s Cheetah Stance. How about that!
The Mercedes EQS Could Eat The Tesla Model S with 435 Miles of Electric Range
Mercedes isn’t holding back with its EQ lineup of electric vehicles. The EQC compact electric SUV is so close to hitting the market you can practically smell the odor of new electric motor. The EQS – basically an electric S-Class — is set to come to the market soon too, after being previewed in 2019 as the Vision EQS Concept We learned earlier in 2000 that AMG would build an S65 equivalent, and now we’re learning that the EQS in base form will walk all over the Tesla Model S in terms of range. If you weren’t into electric cars before, now’s probably the time to start paying attention.
The Audi E-Tron S Is Still Heavy, But It Makes Up For That Weight with Ample Amounts of Power and Torque
The Audi e-tron has been on the market since last year, and it’s received positive feedback overall. This was the German automaker’s first mainstream volume EV and the company managed to cover all the bases quite well, except for the range. Earlier this month, the Audi unveiled the ‘S’ version of the e-tron that comes with more power. The ‘S’ badge is slapped on the SUV as well as the Sportback body type. It comes with better performance specs, an extra motor, and a few dimensional tweaks.
The BMW iX3 Joins the EV Ranks with 286 Miles of Range
While the whole world has been busy gossiping about the all-new Ford Bronco, BMW has quietly launched its second electric model, the iX3. Based on the third-gen X3, the model was first previewed at the 2018 Beijing Motor. Two years later, the automaker has launched the production version of its electric SUV that isn’t a whole lot different from the concept. With a single-motor setup and a 285-mile range, can the iX3 stand out, or will it be lost in the mix?
2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime
Toyota introduced the RAV4 Prime in Los Angeles as the most powerful and quickest RAV4 ever built. At the same time, the Prime’s powertrain makes it the most frugal RAV4 out there, so it’s safe to say that Toyota check a lot of boxes with this one. He’s your guide on the 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime.


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PORTLAND — Residents are now able to put large items out for street-side garbage collection with a special tag from the city.
The city’s new Tag It-Bulky Item Pick-Up program allows residents to order tags from www.recycle.portlandmaine.gov. Tags are available for free for bulky items weighing less than 30 pounds, like chairs, cribs, or toys. Residents will be allowed 10 tags per year for light items.
Tags for items heavier than 30 pounds will cost $40. Electronic waste, like televisions and computers, is not eligible.
City staff will confirm tag orders via email, and the tags will be delivered by U.S. Mail.


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Both Dutch operators KPN and T-Mobile have slashed the price of their OTT TV services to EUR9.99 per month.
Vodafone has confirmed that it will sell its Dutch fixed-line business, known as Vodafone Thuis, to T-Mobile Netherlands for an undisclosed fee.
T-Mobile Netherlands has selected Ericsson to provide the online video platform for the new over-the-top (OTT) TV service, Knippr.
Stoneroos has developed the Apple TV4 application for T-Mobile’s Dutch OTT service Knippr.
T-Mobile has launched its a la carte OTT service Knippr in The Netherlands following a beta test with 1,5000 friendly users.
T-Mobile is looking into the possibility of launching a TV channel in the Czech Republic offering mostly content supplied by viewers.
T-Mobile Netherlands has launched a beta test of its OTT TV Everywhere service Knippr beta test with 1,500 friendly users.
Deutsche Telekom has narrowed the bidders for its T-Mobile Netherlands division to US private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Apollo, reports Reuters.
Following the news that Liberty Global is talking to Vodafone about a possible JV in The Netherlands, the company is withdrawing from its T-Mobile Nederland bid, according to De Telegraaf.
T-Mobile is now launching the best test for its OTT streaming video service launches Knippr.


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Trade for quality cattle remained firm around rings across the country this week, with forward bullocks and heifers being highly sought after.
As is the trend over the past number of months, lighter and plainer types and out-of-spec entries are remaining at the bottom of the price table, with a limited number of customers displaying interest in these entries.
Several managers reported increased farmer activity at marts this week; this led to a slight increase in some prices. In terms of sale sizes, cattle numbers continued to drop off as the festive season approaches.
Some 750 cattle were offered for sale on Saturday (December 8th), at Balla Mart according to a spokesperson for the mart.
“It was a fine sale for the time of year, with great demand for anything nice.” The spokesperson outlined.
Bullocks hit €1,490; heifers reached €1,525; cull cows topped out at €1,735 and springers peaked at €1,615 - sample prices can be accessed here.
There was a firmer trade for all classes with more farmer customers and improved demand from farmers at Carnew Mart’s cattle sale on Saturday (December 8th), according to David Quinn - Manager.
Some 820 lots went under the hammer - an entry that included 100 calves, with sample prices available here.
Some 450 cattle were offered for sale at Ennis Mart on Tuesday (December 11th), according to a spokesperson for the mart.
“Trade holding very good and even a slight increase in some prices, again quality lots a very fine trade.” The spokesperson outlined.
Again, a small entry of suckler stock with pairs topping out at €1,990. Moving to other rings, Runner heifers sold for up to €685 and runner bulls pushed up to €810 - read more here.
The second last sale of the year at Kilkenny Mart on Thursday (December 13rd) attracted 680 cattle with trade remaining steady, according to George Candler - the mart's auctioneer.
More customers made their presence felt for bullocks in the 370-kilo to 430-kilo bracket; overall, trade remained steady as 680 cattle passed through the ring.in the 370-kilo to 430-kilo bracket, with some quality Aberdeen Angus and Hereford-types in this sector breaching €2/kg on a number of occasions, George said.
Cull cows peaked at €1.90/kg for continentals, while forward store heifers topped out at €2.55/kg and forward stock bullocks fetched up to €2.60/kg; both beef bullocks and heifers were in short supply, the auctioneer said - sample prices can be found here.
760 entries were offered for sale at Kilmallock Mart on Monday (December 10th), according to a spokesperson for the mart.
Bullocks sold for up to €1480/head or €2.27/kg and dry cows (130 on offer) pushed up to €1190/head or €1.64/kg, while heifers sold for up to €1100/head or €2.28/kg.
Moving to the other rings, weanling bulls peaked at €880/head or €2.69/kg and weanling heifers realised €665/head or €2.17/kg.
Dairy stock (18 on offer) fetched up to €1050, while young calves topped out at €350/head and runners made up to €420; suckler cows climbed to €1100/unit - see more here.


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Reading’s foodbank passed a milestone moment early in December – it placed an order for its 10,000th emergency food parcel. It has taken less than two years to reach this figure.
Like most foodbanks, ReadiFood provides emergency food parcels that contain enough food to feed the recipient for three days. Parcels are tailor made to suit the recipient, be they a family, couple or individual. Each person receiving the parcel has to be referred by a range of organisations.
ReadiFood has seen demand soar over the past couple of years and is now averaging around 110 food parcels every week.
In Feeding Britain, a report published by an all-party Parliamentary inquiry, ReadiFood’s director Malcolm Peirce explained how demand has soared.
He is quoted as saying: “We had 2,220 plus names on our old database, built up over more than 10 years. We had a new database designed for us in the spring of 2013. We have already added 2,200 names to that database in just one year.”
Foodbanks rely on donations of food to keep going and ReadiFood has just received a top-up from collections held in Tesco stores, run in conjunction with FareShare and The Trussell Trust.
For more details, visit www.readifood.org.uk or 0118 987 2672.


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When Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced the third and fourth phases of his administration’s plan to reopen Alaska’s economy in the wake of the ongoing global novel coronavirus pandemic, businesses began preparing. As with the first phase of reopening, Homer businesses are taking things at their own speed.
The state has changed all mandates for businesses and some other entities, like places of religious worship, to advisories only. Mandates are still in place for certain groups like commercial fishermen, and the mandate requiring a 14-day self quarantine for anyone entering the state is still in place until June 2.
Meanwhile, businesses like restaurants, hair salons, tattoo parlors and retail shops can reopen to full capacity, if they so choose. Some Homer businesses that have remained closed through the state’s earlier phases of reopening are now taking the opportunity to open their doors, like AJ’s OldTown Steakhouse and Tavern.
The restaurant staff posted on the business’s Facebook page that the popular eatery will now be open on Fridays and Saturdays at 70% occupancy. This will increase to five days a week in June and then seven days a week starting June 28, according to the announcement.
Others, like the Alibi Bar and Cafe, have remained open but only in a take out capacity. Now, the bar is poised to open to dine in customers at 50% capacity in June, according to owner Nelton Palma, but the restaurant will remain very fluid in its plans.
Duncan House Diner was an early convert to online ordering in Homer. According to owner Luke Gamble, the restaurant is not expanding its occupancy at this time. Staff will continue to maintain social distancing of 6 feet between tables and workers.
“We will continue to wear face coverings,” Gamble wrote in an email.
He said the business will suggest that customers follow suit, but will not require it.
Additionally, tables will no longer be limited to those living under a single household, Gamble said. However, the restaurant will continue to only accept card payments, rather than cash.
Gamble said Duncan House suggests that people continue to use the online ordering tool, but that a guest list for walk-in diners is no longer required. He does suggest making a reservation, though, if you plan to dine in.
“Thank you for your patience and support throughout the last couple months,” he wrote. “Without all of you we would not be here.”
Grace Ridge Brewing, which had previously been open for to-go orders of beer only, is now opening its outdoor seating area, according to co-owner Sherry Stead. The brewery will host a First Friday event in June for artist Lydia Johnson, and will allow people into the taproom for that event in a safe manner.
“We are encouraging masks,” Stead wrote. “We will be wearing masks as we serve all our customers.”
The tap room will remain closed, except for special events.
“Our concerns are the health of our community, our local and visiting beer drinkers and having beer all summer long for our Homer enjoyment,” Stead wrote.
Retail stores like Moore Music are also able to return to business as usual. Ashley Moore said business hours at the music store will be 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, and from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.
“We continue to offer hand sanitizer at the door, and our restroom is available for a hand washing station,” he wrote in an email. “Instruments continue to be cleaned after being tested by customers and we encourage customers to wear masks at their discretion.”
The store also usually offers summer music lessons. When those start, Moore said customers will be given the option between in-person lessons or virtual lessons via Zoom.
“Additionally we continue to rearrange the shop to allow for plenty of room for customer movement while social distancing, especially as we continue to get new drum sets and keyboards in stock,” he wrote.
Another entity that is figuring out how and when to reopen to the public is the City of Homer. City facilities were ordered closed to the public in March. In an update to the Homer City Council at their Monday meeting, Emergency Operations Center Incident Commander and Homer Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mark Kirko told council members that the heads of each city department are working on a plan for how to reopen those departments to the public.
Public Information Officer Rachel Tussey said in an email that those plans have to be approved by both Kirko and the interim city manager, Marvin Yoder. The goal is to have plans in place in June for how to reopen those city departments.
For the Community Recreation department, Director Mike Illg has been working to find ways to safely reimplement indoor activities like pickelball, Kirko told the council on Monday. The Public Works department has been continuing its outdoor duties as usual, but their office remains closed to the public.
The same goes for the Homer Police Department, which is still providing its regular services to the community but is not allowing members of the public into its main entrance and lobby. Instead, a police officer is meeting people outside the building.
Kirko said the public won’t be allowed back into the main lobby of the Homer Volunteer Fire Department until they can reconfigure that space to make it safe for the staff members working there.
As for the Homer Public Library, Kirko said he got confirmation that the drop box is open again for books, and computers are in service inside the building again for people who need to use them. The library is considering allowing a small amount of walk-in traffic in June, Kirko said.
Opening Homer City Hall will be another story. While departments that house fire and police services are limited to just those services, city hall holds a number of different departments, which Kirko said makes reopening it to the public more difficult.
For more information about businesses that are changing their hours, services or capacity in Homer, visit the HOMEr-to-go Facebook page, or look up an individual business you are curious about on the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center business directory, at web.homeralaska.org.
Reach Megan Pacer at email@example.com.


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Along with big names like Chanel and Dior, a number of other brands showed their vitality on Tuesday, with Julien Fournié, Stephane Rolland, Alexandre Vauthier and RVDK all presenting their contemporary twist on couture.
If any designer can be said to be unquestionably in the zone this month in Western Europe, it has to be Clare Waight Keller, who staged a triumphant couture collection for the house of Givenchy Tuesday night.
One of the key arguments for attending the haute couture shows in Paris in January is that one can get a first hand look, a sneak preview, at what movie stars may be wearing at Oscar time one month later.
Chanel couturier Virginie Viard went back to the roots of the house for inspiration this couture season, back before Coco imagined she would be a designer – all the way to her convent school deep in rural France.
Premium-contemporary brand Tiger of Sweden has announced the departure of its creative director Christoffer Lundman, saying the company and the designer “have mutually agreed to part ways after two years”.
Furla has tapped supermodel Irina Shayk and Argentinian model Nicolas Ripoll for its SS20 ad campaign, with the images shot by photographer Giampaolo Sgura and creative direction by Magnus Berger and Tenzin Wild.
The panel, which includes the likes of Carine Roitfeld, Elie Saab, Naomi Campbell, Pierpaolo Piccioli, and Yoon Ahn, will assemble in Doha, Qatar to choose five winners from five womenswear categories.
The Detroit-based “stock market of things” has announced that it surpassed $1 billion in gross merchandise value in 2019 alone, as the platform pushed forward with international expansion, especially in Europe and Asia.


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We've increased our GDP forecast.
Robust e-commerce sales by traditional retailers during the COVID-19 pandemic create a lasting role for physical stores.
Supply-side pressures are behind our increase for this year.
We expect a mid-single-digit impact to average U.S. equity valuations.
We've increased our U.S. GDP growth forecast.
Consumers are ready to spend.
Productive capacity, not stimulus, is what drives the economy’s long-term potential GDP.
Despite stubbornly high unemployment, we have reason to believe fiscal stimulus has helped household finances hold up across all income levels.
The U.S. economic recovery paused at the end of 2020, but it will soon be ready for liftoff.


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Spending, deficits higher in countries where voting system used
“I beg you to start a process to put a stick in the wheels and slow these people down.”
Advocates say the black market will continue to thrive until small retail shops and craft growers are included in the regime.
The Canadian Press Baloney Meter is a dispassionate examination of political statements culminating in a ranking of accuracy on a scale of “no baloney” to “full of baloney”.
State emergency management officials said some 124,500 customers across the Panhandle were still without power Wednesday morning and 1,157 remained in shelters.
Saudi Arabia, which initially called the allegations “baseless,” has not responded to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press over recent days.
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Trudeau government will streamline pardon process for Canadians convicted of simple possession of marijuana in the past
Ministry has limited cannabis use for caregivers, stating it may “pose a risk to children and youth.”
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Google Photos has just gotten two brand new features. The app now allows users to free up storage space on their devices. On top of that, there is a new ‘Recover Storage’ option that lets users downgrade their photo quality to save space.
Users just need to open up the app’s settings page and select “Free Up Space”. It will then crosscheck photos and videos you have on your phone with the ones backed up to the cloud. If everything checks out, the app will then delete files that are already backed up online, so you do not need to worry about Google deleting your only copy of the files you have. In addition, the app will reconfirm the deletion of these files to prevent any user misclicks.
Besides that, the other feature is called “Recover Storage” and it is only available on the web version of Google Photos. It allows users to downgrade the quality of the photos they have uploaded to the service. Original Quality backup setting lets users upload large files with full resolution, while the High Quality backup option allows users to upload smaller files to save space. The difference is that the former counts against Google’s storage quota while the latter does not.
Not only that, the Assistant in Google Photos will notify users to delete their photos when the device is nearing its storage capacity. Assistant is the feature that helps users make GIFs, create short clips as well as montages.
The update is rolling out to Android users as well as the web version, so you should see it soon. iOS users will have to manually delete their photos to reclaim storage space while waiting for Google Photo’s new features.
(Source: John Elstone (Google Photos))


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Thieving Gangs, Free Covid Testing Overshadow Walgreens' Rosy Outlook
(Bloomberg) -- Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. faces threats from widespread theft by organized gangs, free government Covid-19 tests and rising labor costs, casting doubt on its rosy outlook for the coming year.
The drug-store chain on Thursday raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook to low-single-digit growth from flat following a fiscal first quarter that crushed Wall Street analysts’ expectations. The shares fell 1.4% at 11:19 a.m. in New York.
Covid vaccines and tests propelled Walgreens’s quarterly beat, but its forecast implies a lower profit than Wall Street expects, Raymond James analyst John Ransom wrote in a note to clients. The chain also faces a potential hit from the Biden administration’s plan to send 500 million tests to Americans free of charge.
It could be months before the government program begins, Walgreens Chief Financial Officer James Kehoe said Thursday on a call with analysts. But that could still hurt a business that brought in $200 million in the quarter, Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut said.
Meanwhile, Walgreens faces a steep rise in theft at its stores. Shrinkage, the metric retailers use to quantify lost inventory, jumped 52% over the last two years, according to Kehoe.
“This is not petty theft, it’s not somebody who can’t afford to eat tomorrow,” the CFO said. “These are gangs that actually go in and empty our stores.”
Theft poses an “enormous problem,” Kehoe said, calling on Congress to step up with legislation. Chief Executive Officer Rosalind Brewer said she’s personally involved in getting the issue under control. Still, it may take time to resolve, according to Tanquilut.
“While some of us knew, we didn’t appreciate how big of an increase and how big of a headwind that is,” he said in an interview. “How do you deal with that?”
Walgreens is also trying desperately to hang onto employees and attract new ones in order to keep pace with demand for vaccinations and other services. Already, staffing issues have resulted in cutting store hours at some locations. The company will invest another $120 million in wages, Brewer said.
Sensing frustration among customers, Walgreens issued a targeted apology via email this week. The message applauds the chain’s employees for administering more than 55 million Covid shots and more than 23 million tests in the past two years while filling more than 1 billion prescriptions annually. Yet it recognizes negative feedback from some customers regarding longer lines, out-of-stock items and delayed appointments.
“Now more than ever, we owe it to you to recognize the challenges we as a company have faced during the pandemic,” reads the email co-signed by Walgreens President John Standley and Chief Customer Officer Tracey Brown. The company plans to share the message further through in-store signage and audio recordings, according to a spokesperson.
Still, Walgreens saw a resurgence across the retail segment in the quarter, including in over-the-counter, beauty and personal care products, Standley said on the call. He described it as a “halo effect” from vaccinations and testing. Walgreens’ updated forecast includes administration of 30 million Covid shots, 5 million more than previously anticipated.
Demand for at-home virus tests also helped Walgreens, as the chain captured about 45% of share for at-home tests, CFO Kehoe said, much higher than its typical share of about about 18%. He attributed Walgreens’ success to keeping the products in stock as they fly off shelves at retailers across the country.
Availability of tests from Walgreens should improve significantly by the middle of the month and stay sufficient for the next three months, he said.
“Beyond that, nobody can tell,” Kehoe said. “It’s all on where are the variants at a particular point in time. I think testing is here to stay for a considerable amount of time, but our full-year forecast is not riding on this I can assure you of that.”
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.


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MUMBAI: Insurance companies, which have seen digital sales constitute only a miniscule portion of overall income, expect a jump in online sales following government incentives for promoting new modes of payment after demonetisation.
Private sector players also feel that they will have to explore if they need to come up with some common products for online and offline so as to provide identical products cheaper when sold online.
Following the November 8-9 demonetisation, the government over the weekend asked public sector insurers to provide discounts of up to 10 per cent on the premium amount for general insurance policies and 8 per cent in new life policies of Life Insurance Corporation sold online.
LIC sells only two policies online now -- a term-policy 'E-Term' and a single-premium policy Jeevan Akshay.
A senior Corporation official told PTI that "even though we are yet to receive details from the government, we still believe that the move will give a push to digital sales of our two policies."
LIC could sell only 8,000 plans through its customer portal, out of the total of 2.6 crore policies sold by it last financial year, he said.
Life insurers need the regulator Irdai's approval to sell online and therefore most of the products are not compatible for digital sales. So the government move will allow them to have a common product that can be sold both offline and online.
However, private sector life players, despite their technology adoption, have not developed any product that can be sold through both the modes.
Private sector player SBI Life said even though it has similar products, it does not have any identical products now.
"We don't have any such common products that can be sold online now but will be exploring this option now," SBI Life chief executive Arijit Basu said.
SBI Life earned total premium of Rs 7,100 crore last year, of which merely Rs 25-30 crore came from online sales. The company sold merely 15,000 policies online out of 13 lakh it sold last year, he said, adding that "if policies are sold online, they become cheaper by 10-12 per cent".
Largest non-life insurer New India Assurance expects the government move to help it double its online sales this year.
"We believe that the government move will encourage more people to buy policies online and we hope it will result in an increase in online by over 100 per cent in a year's time," New India chairman G Srinivasan said.
He maintained that the government move will be applicable on retail products only which include motor, health, personal accident and household segments.
New India is looking at achieving 100 per cent growth in online sales which stood at Rs 150 crore last year. "We are selling 30,000 policies every month online. Currently, our online sales are clipping at 15-20 per cent which I expect to clock more than 100 per cent growth now," Srinivasan said.
Among the private sector general insurers, the market leader ICICI Lombard said it has no plan to offer any additional discount to online customers as already it sells three to four products online.
"We are already selling three to four retail products through our customer portal, known as E-Channel. We provide small discount for online sales. Despite so many products only 5 per cent of our sales are online," ICICI Lombard's Sanjay Datta said.
SBI General said it gives some discounts to policyholders who buy online. "Right from the start, we have been offering 10 per cent discount on car and two-wheeler policies, as well as retail health policies bought online," Gunjan Ghai of SBI General said.
"We are happy to support a cashless economy, as it will result in direct customer acquisitions and a seamless system for conducting business. In fact, online customers have higher ticket sizes and better renewals due to ease of transaction," he added.


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Apple reportedly is in talks with Microsoft to make Bing the default search engine on the iPhone's Safari Web browser, according to Business Week. The idea may sound surprising, but it shows how deep the ongoing battle between Google and Apple (which...
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Google boosted its efforts to boot out rogue and malicious advertisers in the fourth quarter by going after them more aggressively and making it more difficult for them to weasel their way back into its AdWords system.
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Australian ISP Internode has launched a battery-operated, portable 3G Wi-Fi modem called MiFi.
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VG247 is reporting that a "concrete source" at Sony has confirmed that the company's upcoming unnamed motion controller will be dubbed "Arc." The product, which was shown at Sony's E3 press conference last June, has been dubbed "The Magic Wand" by th...
HTC has launched its latest Windows Mobile smartphone in Australia, the HD2. Boasting one of the largest screens on a smartphone (4.3in), the HTC HD2 is the first Windows Mobile phone to feature a capacitive display and a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU.
Attention Apple fan-boys and -girls: Read no further. But if you run a small business and want to avoid wasting money and brain cells on superfluous technology, forget about the iSlate or whatever Apple is going to call its tablet computing device. I...
Fox News posted an article Monday claiming that not only will next week's now-confirmed Apple event play host to the long-rumored tablet unveiling, but it will also see the next iteration of Apple's iLife software on show. Fox's report also claims th...
The long-awaited depletion of the Internet's primary address space came one step closer to reality on Tuesday with the announcement that fewer than 10% of IPv4 addresses remain unallocated.
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“Over the next year,” Heiko Hubertz, founder and member of the Supervisory Board of Bigpoint, expects, “Mobile games will continue to be one of the industry’s biggest drivers. The reshaping of the online games industry and strategic decisions made this year, especially by the larger companies, will be factors that influence how the next several years will look.”
“The industry is now in a consolidation process.” Hubertz evaluates, “Bigpoint made major decisions during the past year that have placed it in an excellent position, both financially and on an organizational level, for the coming years.” He continues, “Each market competitor will make or choose not to make strategic and organizational adjustments; adjustments which together will determine the market for the future.”
The only constant is change…and a love of games
“Reshaping your approach is a natural part of every business,” Hubertz tells us. “Entrepreneurs should always be asking themselves how to deal with mistakes. Although it is necessary to passionately follow your persuasion, it is also necessary to be flexible enough to make adjustments as soon as you discover a strategy is not working.” Hubertz cites the example of his company stopping their mobile games program last year. “Even though mobile was a hot segment, we simply realized we were not experienced enough in this business area. It became clear that we could be more effective cooperating with experienced developing partners than developing internally.” He explains further, “Instead, we shifted back to our core competencies: Ten years of developing for the online games market, and international distribution of online games by our network of more than 1,000 partners worldwide.”
Hubertz derives great satisfaction from seeing how encouraged Bigpoint’s teams are and how much they share his passion for games. “One of the most outstanding moments of my career was signing the deal for Battlestar Galactica Online,” he remembers, “We were the first online gaming company in the world to acquire a Hollywood license for a very successful global TV series.”
A love of football creates an online game leader
Heiko Hubertz is founder of Hamburg-based Bigpoint GmbH, and Bigpoint Inc. in San Francisco, but 11 years ago, Heiko was working with some friends, developing his first game: An online football manager. “It was done out of pure necessity,” he says, “since my friends and I wanted to pursue our love of football online, but there was no such game on the market at that time. The game spread, and we recognized the economic potential arising from the free-to-play business model.” Soon thereafter, Hubertz founded Bigpoint in Dusseldorf in 2002, and it has since become the world’s largest portal for browser games, as well as one of the top three gaming portals worldwide.
Today, Bigpoint’s place in the games industry ecosystem derives from its success as an in house developer of online gaming titles; titles which have inspired many other developers to move to the online business. Some of these internationally successful titles, played by tens of millions of gamers every day, include Farmerama, Battlestar Galactica Online, Drakensang Online, Dark Orbit and Seafight.
Catherine Quinton is a staff writer for www.gamesauce.org. Catherine loves her hobby farm, long walks in the country and reading great novels.


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Contaminated food causes 600 million cases of foodborne disease a year and over 400,000 deaths, demonstrating the clear connection between food safety and public health. Yet the importance of food safety goes beyond direct impacts on health. It is also fundamental for developing market economies, maintaining livelihoods, and increasing trade – especially for developing countries trying to break into growing global markets in food and agriculture.
International trade in food and agriculture more than doubled in value between 1995 and 2018 to US$1.5 trillion when technological improvements and lower trade barriers spurred the growth of global value chains. This explosion in trade has widened supply and boosted opportunities to improve livelihoods. But it has also put a renewed focus on food safety standards as higher volumes of perishable goods move across borders. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has further highlighted the connections between health, the environment and development, food safety concerns look certain to become a growing international priority.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission, established in 1963 under the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, is where food safety regulators from all over the world convene to set food safety standards based on scientific principles. Originally, countries applied their own individual, national standards. But with the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, Codex gained more importance thanks in the main to the Sanitary Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) agreements that set norms on the safe trade of food and agricultural products worldwide.
Even though Member State engagement has improved in recent years, many developing countries still struggle to benefit fully from Codex membership, both in terms of involvement in the standard-setting process and in their ability to implement its standards and guidelines. This is because as science evolves, countries with already limited capacities are often unable to address more complex, increasingly stringent food safety requirements and regulations set by more developed countries.