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Disclosure: Icrontic’s coverage of Computex 2012 was sponsored by ECS.
Another hot and humid day in Taipei brought me to Nangang Exhibition Center and a visit with ECS Marketing Manager James Lleverino, where he was showing off a massive booth full of new products. It became clear that the main thing ECS was focusing on is their Nonstop Technology; as we mentioned before they believe that consumers want ultimate stability over extreme performance, and they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is… They were showcasing a slew of Black Series motherboards featuring the hallmarks of Nonstop: Super Alloy Chokes, gold accents, gold-plated components, and 50c testing before shipping. They showed a heated chamber that was set to 50c, with a sealed glass door. Trade show attendees could walk in to the chamber to feel how hot it was; in the heat chamber was a full running system featuring an ECS Nonstop-certified board.
They also showed a couple of exciting FM2 boards featuring the AMD A75 and A85 chipsets, which will bring Trinity to the desktop. Trinity is AMD’s only exciting product right now, so if you want to get on the Trinity bandwagon, the ATX A85F2-AX Deluxe Nonstop board and the A75F2-M micro-ATX board are solid choices. They also showed a compelling demo station showing the Trinity APU combined with an AMD Radeon 7970 playing Dirt Showdown on three monitors, running on the A85F2-AX Deluxe.
Next I saw their new GeForce GTX cards, particularly the GTX 680 with a gold-plated heatsink and shroud. Can you tell someone loooovvveeesss goooooolllllddddd? Gold was everywhere. It’s what they’re doing. It would be interesting to see if someone could build an entirely gold and black or gold and white system.
Besides GPUs and motherboards, ECS was showing off some extremely nice touchscreen AIOs. We some some at CES but they were kind of chunky and bland. The new ones are actually very sexy and come in much more attractive bezel options. They showed one in pink brushed steel with floral designs and bright orange. Both featured an optical bay that could also be a removable SSD tray. They even had built-in TV tuners so they could be a perfect PC/TV for, say, a teenager’s bedroom… With Windows 8 just around the corner, touchscreen desktop computing is going to become more and more ubiquitous.
They were also displaying a few new laptops and a tablet that feature enhanced ruggedness; the ideal use case being schoolkids in developing nations.
While most of their motherboard and GPU lineup is on par with their competition, the Nonstop stuff is really exciting to me; particular the length they’re going to focus on stability over performance. The philosophy at ECS is that the majority of consumers are not going to care about a few percentage points in performance differences at the top end, particularly since everything is so fast right now…. but they will remember if a board crashes, freezes their system, or breaks. They want to be the board that just works, reliably, all the time, even in extreme conditions.
I’m not saying this because they sponsored our coverage: I believe that ECS has come a very long way in the last 10 years and they deserve a look from enthusiasts.


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It’s officially official now, folks. USA Today released an article on her today, including “never before seen pictures” (ha!) of the figure.
Some more information on her availability:The pony will sell for $19.99 at San Diego Comic-Con and this year’s My Little Pony Fair and Convention, slated for July 7-8 in Orlando. If you’re not going to either event, note that a limited number will be available at www.hasbrotoyshop.com after both conventions.
No official name was given in the article, so this toy is technically nameless as of right now, but you can call her by whatever name you wish!
You can read the full article and view more images here.
HASBRO, WE LOVE YOU.
409 notes (via xieril & myponynews)

domain: news


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WASHINGTON — The chief executives of Macy’s Inc. and the National Retail Federation are pressing President Obama to support retailers’ priorities, ranging from a Web tax bill to corporate tax reform in his State of the Union address.
Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s Inc. chairman, president and chief executive officer, and Matthew R. Shay, president and ceo of the National Retail Federation, sent a letter to Obama Tuesday night outlining the significance of retailers’ contributions to the overall economy, and pointed to specific policies that could help merchants expand and hire more people.
“As you prepare your annual State of the Union address, it is clear that our nation faces deep divisions over many key questions,” they said in the letter. “But there is one pressing issue that nearly everyone from every party, faction and interest group can agree on — the need for businesses of all sizes to create the jobs needed to put Americans back to work and restore the U.S. as the leader of the global economy.”
The two retail executives said it often takes the “power of the presidency” to move Congress into action and called on Obama to emphasize retail priorities in his speech, slated for Jan. 24.
They noted that retailers support 42 million American jobs and operate 3.6 million stores, distribution centers and corporate offices in the nation. While the country boasts large national brands, independent small businesses operating just one store represent 95 percent of all retailers, they said, citing a U.S. Census Bureau statistic.
The total industry contributes nearly $2.5 trillion to the gross domestic product, or one-fifth of U.S. GDP, and pays $31.5 billion, they said in the letter. They also emphasized that retail is one of the nation’s largest employers, with twice the number of workers in health care and four times the number in manufacturing. Retail has led the economic recovery, with 17 consecutive months of sales growth.
“America’s retailers want to continue growing our economy, but to do that we need Washington to embrace common sense economic policy, remove barriers to job creation and do so without asking for more tax dollars to foot the bill,” Lundgren and Shay said.
Their top priorities are a Web tax bill that they dub “sales tax fairness,” which would broadly enable states to collect sales taxes from out-of-state merchants for the first time, regardless of whether they have a physical presence in the state. The bill is backed by traditional retailers and has support from longtime opponent Amazon.com, which improves its chances this year.
“The lack of sales tax on most Internet purchases has put Main Street merchants who create local jobs and play major roles in their local communities at a huge price disadvantage,” they said. “Many are shedding workers as they struggle to keep their doors open and cash-strapped state treasuries faced with the loss of $24 billion a year are laying off essential workers like police officers, firefighters and ambulance crews and schoolteachers.”
Corporate tax reform is also a priority for retailers, and a key presidential campaign issue as many Republican presidential candidates have put forward tax proposals to cut the corporate tax rate from its current 35 percent. Last year, House Ways & Means Committee chairman Dave Camp (R., Mich.) proposed a plan that would lower the top corporate rate to 25 percent from 35 percent and eliminate certain tax deductions and credits. The plan was endorsed by NRF and other retail groups.
“In retail, lower corporate taxes would mean lower prices, resulting in increased sales that would create jobs at each stage of the supply chain from raw materials to the consumer product on the shelf,” Lundgren and Shay told Obama.
In the area of free trade, the two executives called on Obama to avoid “succumbing to pressure from those who would apply outmoded protectionist policies to a modern global economy” in future trade negotiations and to recognize the importance of imported U.S. goods. They cited the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations between the U.S. and eight countries. Canada, Mexico and Japan have also expressed interest in joining the negotiations.
Additional priorities, all of which are outlined in the NRF’s “Jobs, Innovation and Consumer Value” agenda, include improving the nation’s transportation infrastructure, addressing credit card “swipe fees” that drive up prices for consumers and mandates under the health care reform law that “threaten to cost workers their jobs.”
@margotrobbie steps out onto the red carpet wearing @miumiu. The actress is nominated for “Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role” in “I, Tonya” at the #SagAwards. (📷: Stewart Cook) #wwdfashion
For @massimogiorgetti of @msgm, the Nineties are his favorite decade. “They had a huge impact on my personal growth. What I like of the Nineties is that they are not so precise in terms of style as other decades…there was actually a bit of everything,” he said. As seen on MSGM’s Spring 2018 show: tie-dye and a bit of grunge, two styles that are synonymous with the decade #wwdfashion #wwddecades (📷: @kukukuba)
Breaking News: @hedislimane joins @celine as its new artistic, creative and image director. One of fashion’s preeminent image-makers and trendsetters, Slimane is to join the LVMH brand on Feb. 1 and unveil his first fashion proposition for men and women next September during Paris Fashion Week. It marks a major homecoming for Slimane, who cemented his reputation – and influenced men’s tailoring for more than a decade – as the designer of Dior Homme between 2000 and 2007. He went on to reinvent and ignite the house of Yves Saint Laurent, which he rechristened Saint Laurent, between 2012 and 2016 – all the while maintaining a close relationship with the Arnault family, which controls LVMH and Dior. Read the full exclusive story on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdnews #wwdfashion
“Personally I believe the Eighties have been the richest and more vivacious period for international fashion,” Giorgio Armani said when asked what his favorite decade of fashion is. It was a moment of disruption and experimentation and only thinking back to the first years of that decade is always an emotion for me, for what they have meant to me and my work.” The influence is clear in @giorgioarmani spring 2018 collection, pictured here, which was full of bright colors and unexpected prints. Read more about which decades designers loved most on WWD.com #wwdfashion #wwddecades (📷: @aitorrosasphoto)
For Lady Gaga’s only Italian show on her “Joanne World Tour,” the singer wore a range of @versace_official outfits. The standout piece: this custom-made bodysuit inspired by the brand’s spring 2018 collection. #wwdfashion (RG: @ladygaga)
@_camillaruth_ is expanding on the wellness-craze concept with @westbourne – a new NYC restaurant that’s both a healthy-minded café as well as a business that gives back to the community. Marcus works with the Robin Hood foundation to give back to The Door, a non-profit providing youth development services, and also hires employees through The Door. Read our full interview with Marcus on giving back through food on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: @lexieblacklock)


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DENVER (AP) - A proposed "cottage foods" designation allowing farmers to sell foods prepared right out of their kitchens is a step closer to approval in Colorado, where the state Senate signed off on the proposal Wednesday.
Supporters say the change would make it easier for farmers to make foods deemed low-risk for contagion at home, instead of renting a commercial kitchen for such foods as jams, jellies or roasted chilies.
"These are quite important local jobs," said the cottage food sponsor, Democratic Sen. Gail Schwartz of Snowmass Village.
The proposal passed easily on a preliminary voice vote, moving Colorado closer to joining about a dozen states with cottage food designations.
But the measure is not without opposition. A handful of Republicans argued unsuccessfully Wednesday that the designation simply creates red tape for home cooks who will have to file paperwork with local authorities. They argued that the designation is a step in the right direction, but doesn't go far enough because they said all home cooks should be free to sell their wares.
"Grandma knows what she's doing," argued Republican Sen. Kevin Grantham of Canon City.
The measure is also opposed by influential farming groups including the Colorado Farm Bureau, the Colorado Cattlemen's Association and the Colorado Egg Producers Association. Those groups have warned that food contagion from a home cooks could hurt all farmers.
The designation has also prompted several dozen home cooks who have signed a Facebook petition arguing that the cottage food exemption should be for all, not just farmers.
But those fears didn't come up on a floor debate Wednesday. Schwartz, who passed out recipes for homemade peach chutney and bragged that she's never made anyone sick, argued that the change could spark more people entering the food business.
"They'll be selling it by the jar, but eventually they'll be selling it by the pallet," she said.
One more vote is required before the measure heads to the House.
- By Kristen Wyatt, AP Writer
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
for more features.


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By Courtney Wentz
Alpha Beta Gamma, the business honor society, is looking for more students to participate in their activities.
ABG has been on campus since 1970, with accounting Professor Linda Bolduc as their advisor. Their new President is Tammy Goodgion who said, “ABG has a life-long membership that people will recognize on a resume because it’s known internationally.”
Recently, ABG joined the Gardener Chamber of Commerce as a business. This will benefit students a part of ABG by them being able to meet with CPAs, business owners, and helping out at these local businesses.


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Emaar mulls listings for hotels, Turkish and Indian businesses
Emaar Properties is considering the flotation of overseas units and its hotels arm to generate more growth capital and to return cash to shareholders.
The company has told investors that it is looking to “monetise core assets” through further initial public offerings of business divisions, such as its Turkish and Indian units, or through the creation of real estate investment trusts (Reits).
A spokesman for the company told The National that creating independent listed companies for individual segments or international arms of its group would “provide the businesses with appropriate financial and operational means to grow faster and become among the most successful companies in their industries”.
He added that the timing of such deals “will be dependent on market conditions”.
The company also filed audited accounts for 2015 on the Dubai Financial Market, which revealed that it paid Dh123.5 million for a 65 per cent stake in Mirage Leisure and Development – a development management company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Mirage Leisure & Development has been involved with several Emaar projects in the past and is currently working on the US$300m Opera House District for the developer in Downtown Dubai, as well as on Meraas Holding’s $2bn Bluewater Islands project and the $350m Phase IV expansion of Madinat Jumeirah for Jumeirah Group.
The Emaar spokesman said the purchase of its majority stake in Mirage offered “a good fit to Emaar’s strategy of developing premium assets in the property, malls and hospitality sectors”.
“Emaar is developing significantly complex projects, and the acquisition will assist in the timely delivery of quality developments and in optimising project management costs.”
Emaar Properties’ net profit in the fourth quarter of 2015 of $1.03bn was 1 per cent lower than in 2014, despite a 58 per cent uplift in sales to Dh3.8bn.
Full-year profit came in 24 per cent higher at Dh4.1bn on a 33 per cent increase in revenue to Dh13.7bn.
The percentage of sales generated via recurring revenues at its hospitality, malls and retail arm dropped to 42 per cent of the total, from 54 per cent in 2014. However, in absolute terms recurring revenue increased by 8 per cent to Dh5.79bn.
About 39 per cent of sales came from its UAE property development arm, which increased revenue by 67 per cent to Dh5.25bn during the year.
Revenue for its international development arm grew by 46 per cent to Dh2.6bn, but sales at Emaar Hospitality Group declined slightly.
Occupancy dropped by 1 per cent to 82 per cent, and revenue per available room fell by 9 per cent to Dh1,072.
Asjad Yahya, the head of research at Dubai-based Shuaa Capital, said that spinning off business units would be a continuation of a strategy that Emaar began in October 2014 through the listing of the Emaar Malls business and the subsequent flotation of its Egyptian arm, Emaar Misr, last August.
He said that Emaar’s hotels arm is the next-strongest target for a potential IPO. It has four new properties due to open this year – The Address The BLVD in Downtown Dubai and three Rove Hotels being delivered through a joint venture with Meraas Holding.
“I think they’re just waiting for the right time in the market, which is the appropriate thing to do,” said Mr Yahya.
“While a listing in the current market appears unlikely, if the oil price settles around current, or higher levels, and the macro environment stabilises as well, the IPO market could reopen.”
Follow The National’s Business section on Twitter
Published: March 20, 2016 04:00 AM


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A recent survey, completed on June 24th, 2010, sheds light on the latest trends in the smartphone world, some of which are downright shocking. Conducted by ChangeWave Research, an "independent research boutique," over 4,000 consumers were surveyed throughout June, in regards to their smartphone preferences. For comparison, the results for the June survey were then compared to a March survey, asking the same questions.
A quick summary, quoted from the report itself:
Let's go more in-depth with the findings. The first finding, which is rather innocuous and unsurprising: there is ever-increasing interest for consumers to purchase a smartphone. From January '08 to June '10, the percentage of people considering a purchase of a smartphone over the next 90 days increased from 8.4% to 16.4%, almost linearly, and from 10.8% in March 2010.
- Next 90 day projections show the most extensive growth in consumer smart phone sales ever recorded in a ChangeWave survey
- Big leaps forward for Apple and HTC are occurring at the expense of Motorola and RIM
- The accompanying transformation in mobile OS preferences is being led by a huge increase in demand for the Apple OS and an accelerating downturn for the RIM OS
The next finding is the change of Market Share between the top four smartphone companies, Apple, HTC, RIM, and Motorola. As you can see from the chart below, Apple's iPhone garnered the greatest jump of 21% in consumer interest from March (31%) to June (52%). The interest in HTC devices also increased in the same timeframe, from 12% to 19%. Unsurprisingly, interest in RIM fell substantially by 8%. And finally, how did Motorola fare? According to the chart, interest in Motorola smartphones plummeted from 16% to 9%. What could've caused such a drop-off?
With Motorola having released its Droid X today, and the Droid II being slated for sometime in August, you would expect that interest in purchasing a Motorola device would've increased, rather than decreased over the past few months. Maybe we Motorola fans live sheltered lives in these here forums. Or perhaps something is not right about the sample surveyed. Either way, I would suspect these statistics to change dramatically, when the survey is conducted again in a few months.
Also, remember the data don't take into account the recent events that have occurred since June 24th. First of all, Apple's "death grip antenna" fiasco would probably cause interest in Apple smartphones to decline somewhat. Also, remember the problems with Droid Incredible shortages, which would likely cause consumer interest to decline for HTC. However, any way you slice it, this news does not bode well for Motorola. And with the recent discovery that the Droid X's bootloader being locked-down, consumer interest may again shift away from Motorola.
For another pictorial comparison, here is the comparison solely between HTC and Motorola:
And what about overall satisfaction for the top smartphone brands? Apple leads the pack by far, with HTC and Motorola limping in second and third place:
To me, the above chart to me shows a clear Apple bias to this report. It seems highly unlikely that a 100% impartial sample group would have such an inclination toward Apple, and distaste towards every other smartphone brand. Therefore, I would take all these findings with a grain of salt. What do you think? Is this a doomsday prediction for Motorola? Or a worthless Apple-biased survey?
Source: ChangeWave Research


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The long awaited upgrade to SmartScore X2 Pro and SmartScore Lite is finally out. There’s a video and a 30 day demo
Finale and PrintMusic owners have always been eligible for the Pro edition at half price. Now other editions are also being offered to Finale users at a discount.
Those of us who own older editions of SmartScore or certain competitive products have our own upgrade pricing.


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AGCO to phase out orange tractor line
The rumor mill has been swirling with reports that AGCO Corporation will be phasing out its orange tractor line, and the rumors in fact are true, company sources told Agriculture Online Monday. The company confirmed its decision to phase out the AGCO brand of tractors over time and said it will be marketing AGCO tractors with dealer partners through 2011.
The driving force behind the decision is to fit its North American brands into the corporate strategy of focusing on fewer brands to increase market share, company sources say.
Recently, Martin Richenhagen, AGCO CEO, said that "we are pretty much on schedule with the reduction of our many brands in North America and we will bring it down to two only, and they are Massey Ferguson and Challenger. All the rest will be integrated into those two brands."
"By focusing resources on fewer brands, AGCO can improve the impact of its marketing and engineering, and also improve its global competitiveness," says Robert Crain, senior vice president & general manager, North America.
To accomplish this goal, AGCO says it will emphasize strong full-line brands and a realignment of its traditional brands through co-branding. This also means reducing the number of brands it offers in North America and phasing out certain brands like AGCO, with the ultimate goal being to have two full line brands-- Massey Ferguson and Challenger.
The strategy raises questions for farmers and dealers alike. What will become of AGCO dealers? Will you still be able to get customer support for your AGCO tractor? Does this mean other brands under the umbrella will follow?
Founded in 1990, AGCO Corporation was first called Gleaner-Allis Corporation, then renamed Allis-Gleaner Corporation, or AGCO. The design for tractors and combines was originally created by Allis-Chalmers Corporation before it was sold to Deutz-Allis. The Deutz-Allis tractor line was renamed AGCO-Allis, and Gleaner became a brand of its own for combines.
Once the A in AGCO disappears, it's only natural to wonder how long before the rest of the name might be eliminated.
While there are still many details to work out, company representatives make it clear that the orange tractor is the only brand that is going to be phased out.
"A lot of people believe the Gleaner combine is married to the orange tractor. However, that is not true. They are very different products. It's a unique combine that can offer features other brands cannot," says Phil Jones of AGCO. "The Gleaner brand and product line is not going away. In fact, it's an area we intend to grow in the future."
In addition, the company wants to emphasize that if you own an AGCO tractor or plan to purchase one in the near future, support for the line will not disappear.
"AGCO is going to do the things it has always done as far as support, and we fully anticipate the relationship between AGCO owners and dealers will be preserved," says Jones.
As the company works through all of the details to phase out its orange brand, dealers and customers will be involved in a comprehensive customer retention program. AGCO says it will work with all of its dealers on a case-by-case basis to find a workable solution. Every AGCO dealer will be given an opportunity to transition to one of the company's "go forward" brands and for the most part will be transitioned to Massey Ferguson and in a few cases to Challenger.


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Infographic: Lack of savings consumers' biggest financial worry
By Kristin McGrath and Juan Rodriguez
To kick off Financial Literacy Month, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) and the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA) released their annual Financial Literacy Survey.
The survey questioned 2,037 adults to gauge Americans' attitudes about personal finance. Although the percentage of Americans who say they pay bills on time and have no debts is up to 71 percent (from 64 percent in 2012), a strong majority (77 percent) say they still have financial worries.
The biggest worry is not having enough savings for emergencies or retirement, a worry more than half of Americans share. Meanwhile, 26 percent of Americans are apprehensive about not being able to meet their financial obligations, including debt. Credit is another source of worry -- about one in five Americans are anxious about their credit scores and lack of access to credit. Despite worrying about credit scores, the survey found that most consumers aren't doing much about it -- 65 percent failed to review their credit reports in the past year.
The graphic below shows the biggest financial worries on consumers' minds.
To use the graphic on your site, use the following code:
Published: April 2, 2013
- Survey: Slower EMV chip card transactions irk shoppers – Nearly one in five respondents said using the more secure cards takes too long, and frustration is likely to grow during the holiday shopping season ...
- Billing disputes lead list of credit complaints – Billing disputes lead list of credit complaints in latest monthly survey from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ...
- Younger borrowers closing delinquency gap – Younger people have higher expectations of missing a debt payment, survey finds ...


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Moderately prosperous China brings chances to world
Updated: 2012-11-23 16:04
BEIJING - The just-concluded 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) national congress has promised to build China into a moderately prosperous society by 2020.
The ambitious goal, if put in place, would create a golden opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors worldwide.
For 30 years, China has been steadfast in turning itself from an economically isolated country into a market-oriented and open economy, and has made rather laudable achievements.
China has become the world's second-largest economy, the biggest manufacturer and exporter, and the owner of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves.
As the world's major economies are still struggling to find a way out in the labyrinth of debts and fiscal puzzles, China has still managed to stay as an important engine to boost regional and world economic growth.
Moreover, once China completes its task of further expanding its economy, the consuming power of its 1.3 billion population will be substantially elevated.
It is the first time that China has specially detailed its objective on per capita income in the country's blueprint for future development.
And the emphasis on raising the income of average Chinese people in China's roadmap to prosperity is in line with the country's commitment to shifting its growth module to a more consumption-driven pattern.
As a result, some 600 million Chinese will join the rank of the middle-class by 2020, as was predicted earlier November by China Institute for Reform and Development, a government think tank.
With surging discretionary income, this expanded army of middle-class Chinese will carry out more aspiration-driven spending, including the buying of globally branded luxury goods.
According to the World Luxury Association, by the end of 2011, Chinese consumers' total spending on luxury market -- excluding the buying of private planes, yachts and limousines -- has reached 12.6 billion U.S. dollars, making China the world's largest luxury-goods consumer.
The Hong Kong-based investment bank CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets predicted earlier this year that Chinese consumers will buy 44 percent of luxury goods sold in the world by 2020, up from 15 percent in 2010.
Meanwhile, the CPC also promised to improve its social security system as it leads China forward. An ameliorated social safety net would also help to reduce the worries among ordinary Chinese for flaring costs on medicine and education, thus prompting them to spend more.
The booming purchasing power of the Chinese people would mean growing profits for both retailers and manufacturers in and beyond China, which in turn would further revive the slack global economic growth.
A moderately prosperous China will also mean a fairer and well-regulated market, and an improved financial system for foreign companies seeking business opportunities in the country.
Furthermore, as China strives to accelerate its urbanization process, its growing demand for energy and raw materials will also be a big boon to the world's sluggish commodity market.
According to a 2012 International Monetary Fund working paper, entitled China's Impact on World Commodity Markets, China's consumption in 2010 accounted for about 20 percent of non-renewable resources, such as metal ores, 23 percent of major agricultural crops, and 40 percent of base metals.
The paper concluded that the global commodity market developments will increasingly be determined by China.
The crisis-stricken world economy desperately needs engines of growth, and fortunately, a moderately prosperous China can provide that impetus.
China's power consumption to gain steam in Q4 2012-11-22 10:29
China: 'bigger role in global economy' 2012-11-20 14:32
Survey points to better prospects in 2013 2012-11-20 07:49
CCTV advert auction nets $2.55b 2012-11-19 23:30
Central bank warns of capital flows 2012-11-19 23:30
Import value booms during last decade: minister 2012-11-17 04:04
Economy still promising despite slowdown: Kong Quan 2012-11-15 23:45
China can avoid middle income trap 2012-11-15 10:16


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Friday 6th April 2018
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The New Zealand dollar fell as a perceived thaw in the US-China trade relations stand-off stoked demand for the greenback and renewed investors' appetite for risk-sensitive assets, pushing stocks on Wall Street higher.
The kiwi declined to 72.68 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 73.04 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index slipped to 74.84 from 74.97.
The Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of currencies, gained 0.4 percent after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said US officials will talk with China before imposing tariffs on goods from the world's second-biggest economy. Trade tensions between the two nations have spooked investors and the softer stance eased some concerns, helping push up stocks on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 1 percent. Gains were tempered by a wider US trade deficit in February.
"The market sees receding risks of an escalating US-China trade war, helping US equities extend their recovery yesterday," Bank of New Zealand senior markets strategist Jason Wong said in a note. "A receding of trade tensions sees improving risk appetite but in this case with the US at the centre of concern, higher risk appetite in this context means a stronger USD."
With no local data of note, US employment data will be the next major focus for investors. Analysts expect the world's biggest economy added 185,000 jobs last month.
The local currency decreased to 94.58 Australian cents from 94.77 cents yesterday, with the easing trade tensions seen as more beneficial to Australia, given its larger exposure to China. The kiwi slipped to 4.5808 Chinese yuan from 4.5832 yuan yesterday.
The New Zealand dollar traded at 59.37 euro cents from 59.38 cents yesterday and edged up to 51.89 British pence from 51.81 pence. It increased to 78.04 yen from 77.96 yen yesterday.
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Just seven months after whiskey specialist Bourbon & Black opened its Manchester bar, it has closed its doors.
The bar, owned by James Alexander and which has a sister site in Didsbury, opened on December 4, 2015 on the corner of Mount Street and Central Street close to Albert Square.
It announced on social media this week that it would immediately cease operating in the city centre.
In an apologetic post on Facebook, the owners promised to relocate any "pre-arranged booking" and to "be in contact with you personally to offer to relocate you and your guest(s) to our Bourbon & Black Didsbury site with a special offer to compensate for any inconvenience caused".
Despite posters in the windows claiming the space was "re-opening", it is clear that the restaurant has now closed for good. The front sign has been removed, and the furnishings inside have clearly started to be dismantled.
The Manchester site, formerly occupied by Velvet Central, was much bigger than the Didsbury bar-restaurant, and was set on two floors plus a mezzanine level reached via a spiral staircase.
The restaurant in the basement had 70-covers and a service bar, and the ground floor and mezzanine could accommodate around 100 drinkers.
The space had been completely restyled to fit in with owner Mr Alexander’s passion for blues music, American bourbon and deep south cuisine.
A live music stage, under the mezzanine was put in to accommodate weekend performances, and Mr Alexander hoped to put on live shows. The bar featured hundreds of bourbons from £4 up to £100 a shot.
The owners were unavailable for comment on the closure when contacted by the M.E.N.


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“Our results reflect the ongoing stabilization of the advertising market, the strength of our brands and our ability to successfully execute our strategy,” CEO Walter Ulloa told analysts in his quarterly conference call. Excluding the impact of retransmission consent payments and political advertising, he said Q4 core ad revenues were up 5%.
Radio revenues in Q4 fell 6% to $15.8 million, while operating expenses increased 7% to $13.4 million. Excluding political, core radio revenues were up 1%.
Television revenues were up 1% to $34.1 million and operating expenses increased 3% to $18.7 million. Excluding retrans and political, TV was up 8%.
Total revenues were thus down 1% to just shy of $50 million, while operating expenses grew 4% to $32.1 million. Throw in corporate overhead (which actually dropped nearly $3 million to $4.3 million) and adjusted EBITDA for the company was down 14% in the quarter to $14.3 million.
For the full year, revenues were down 3% to $194.4 million and adjusted EBITDA decreased 13% to $55.5 million.
As for the current quarter, through the end of February Ulloa said core ad revenues (excluding retrans and political) were up 8% for TV and 2% for radio.


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Moto G50 is now getting a new variant with the codename ‘Saipan’. There were official-looking images of this variant shared by the reliable tipster on Twitter. The Moto G50 with codename Ibiza will have 5G connectivity and a Snapdragon 480SoC is launching earlier this year in European markets. The image of the Moto G50 5G Sapian variant hints that the upcoming variant may intend to be in different global markets. Moreover, the design of both the Motorola smartphones seems to be identical, but they may have differences in housings for the camera and fingerprint scanner.
Leaked images of the Sapian variant of Moto G50 5G
According to the leaks of the official image of the Sapian variant shows that there is a slight difference in design as that of the Moto G50 5G came in March. As per the reports, the new variant Saipan will have a waterdrop-style display notch for the selfie camera. Moreover, the bezel on the three sides of the display is thick with an even thicker chin. Additionally, the right side of this phone will have a voice assistant button, a volume rocker. And a fingerprint scanner embedded in the power button. However, the size of the display is still a mystery yet. Furthermore, the back of the upcoming Sapian variant may get a triple camera in a square housing. It will have a 48MP Quad primary camera. There are two supporting lenses that are not verified yet. The Phone will get a 3.5mm headphone jack and USB Type-C port with a speaker grille. Moreover, there is no mention of the full specifications of this Sapian variant Moto G50 5G.
In addition, the tweet also mentions that there is a Motorola device with Codename Aruba. This may be the upcoming Moto E20 that will be next launch.


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CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (WFXR) – More than a dozen stores have been announced for Christiansburg’s multi-million dollar Marketplace renovation.
Those stores include: Mission BBQ, Starbucks, Chipotle, Elegant Nails, Aspen Dental, Harbor, Orange Theory, Sandro’s.
According to senior vice president of operations for The Morgan Companies, Luke Puccinelli said the brand expects those shops to open in the 3rd and 4th quarters of the year.
Pucinelli is looking towards the future, and said a bigger grocer could be considered. He stated “We’d love to have a grocer, and they’re in discussions with a few.” He admitted, it could be any grocery from Sam’s Club to Food Lion.
Harbor Freight, Jazzersize were already on the property and will remain.
Arby’s is in a brand new building on the property.
Their old location was torn down, and the space was transformed into a new entrance for the shopping center, which lines up to the New River Mall access point across the street.
There Marketplace property provides 150-200,000 square feet for new retail shops.
Other options being considered for a portion of the property are adding a hotel, or some multi-family housing, or both.
As it stands, the old Wal-mart space takes up a good portion of the back part of the Marketplace property, so the developer would demolish that building and create space for a hotel, or multi-family housing, or both. That decision should be made this summer.
Pucinelli said, the brand is still working on a lot of leases and letters of intent with many leasers, despite the pandemic.
He claimed the coronavirus has not set the project back. He did say it had impacted retailers from committing towards leases, but most retailers that are in discussions are looking 12 to 24 months down the road with optimism.
Pucinelli said there has been a lot of good activity on small shop leasing, multiple anchor stores are also in talks.
Later this summer and fall, some anchor leases will be announced.
The Marketplace is located off of North Franklin Street and Peppers Ferry Road.
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- Friday night fire intentionally set at vacant Danville house, fire officials say
- VDH reports more than 1,300 new coronavirus cases while total deaths climb to 2,322 as of Saturday


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EDINBURGH, Ind. - An Indiana family is searching for precious family photos stolen when thieves broke into their truck during a shopping trip.
Naomi Davis and her family were in Edinburgh for the weekend, shopping at the Outlet Mall. They stopped to eat lunch at the Montana Mike's Restaurant. Sometime while they were eating, Davis said thieves broke into the family truck and stole a laptop and along with it, hundreds of family pictures that cannot be replaced.
“Every holiday, every birthday, every basketball game," said Davis. "My daughter’s wedding. All the photos are there. And there’s no way to retrieve those photos."
Oddly enough, this was the second time the family car had been hit in just seven weeks. On Labor Day weekend, the Davis family car was parked in the same lot and broken into in the same way. They picked the lock instead of breaking the window. That time, the crooks stole a GPS device left out in the open. However, Davis said, her laptop was in the trunk of the vehicle and hidden behind coolers.
The car also has tinted windows. Davis said no one should have been able to spot anything by simply walking by.
Edinburgh police believe the thieves are part of a larger organized group who know how to break into cars quickly, without a trace. With the holiday season around the corner, they're reminding shoppers to never bring valuables with them and if they must, leave their shopping bags in the truck where they aren't visible.
Davis said she's willing to forgive and forget; she is even offering a $100 reward for the return of her pictures.
"That's my life. That computer's my life," she said.
Anyone with information about the laptop should call the Edinburgh Police Department or the CBS4 Problem Solvers at (317) 687-6541.


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Exciting things are happening for Purse, one of the more prominent Bitcoin companies in the world today. Not only have they released their iOS app just in time for Black Friday, but they also added official WikiLeaks apparel. An exciting development and all apparel purchases will result in a direct donation to the WikiLeaks project.
Two Big Milestones For The Purse Ecosystem
The first announcement made by Purse revolves around their mobile application. Even though Android users have been able to enjoy this offering for quite some time now, iOS users had to wait patiently. The long wait is finally over; as the Purse app has arrived in the Itunes App Store. Through this application, Apple users can shop online with Bitcoin and enjoy huge discounts.
As far as functionality goes, the purse app for iOS offers the same user experience as its Android counterpart. Users can shop across the world’s largest marketplaces, and enjoy discounts ranging between 5% and 30%. The platform is most notably known for their Amazon integration, allowing users to name their own discount, or save 5% when instantly buying items. A very useful tool to spread Bitcoin awareness on a global level.
Mobile shopping is taking off all over the world, and attracting new customer sis of the utmost importance. For Purse, having their app available to all the key mobile operating systems is a significant step in the right direction. With the added discounts, consumers may start to take Bitcoin a bit more seriously as a global payment option.
But perhaps the biggest announcement comes in the form of adding official Wikileaks apparel to the Purse app. T-shirts are the first items offered for sale in exchange for Bitcoin. Web users can check out the offering through the regular website as well. All shirts come in different sizes, and the prices are relatively inexpensive.
Every single Wikileaks apparel purchase made will count as a direct donation to the WikiLeaks initiative. It is good to see Bitcoin still play a role of importance for this initiative. After they had been cut off from PayPal for donations, Bitcoin made perfect sense for the WikiLeaks team. Now that their apparel can be purchased with cryptocurrency as well, these existing ties are reinforced.
Purse continues to make a name for itself by offering innovative features and focusing on mobile efforts. Adding new items is of the utmost importance to make bitcoin more appealing as a payment option. Bitcoin is slowly gaining more traction on a global scale, and through dedicated efforts, cryptocurrency can continue to grow as an ecosystem.
Header image courtesy of Shutterstock


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Even though Harold Singer isn’t concerned with his tour operator’s ethics, his recent email suggests we should be. And he’s right. “Is it ethical for a tour operator to make “such a large extra profit”?”
George Antoun is quoted a monthly rate of $59 for his Internet and phone service. So why is CenturyLink billing him $76? And can he get a price adjustment?
“CenturyLink backpedals on a price quote — how about a price adjustment?”
Do American consumers want to be deceived?
Do they like being lied to?
Those are the provocative questions raised by a recent debate about eliminating restaurant tips. It’s a discussion that rages on, particularly in the travel industry, where consumers are lied to without shame or legal repercussions every day.
“Please lie to us!”
Rick Hudnett recently pulled into a Chevron station near his home in Orlando. He wishes he hadn’t.
A $275-a-night rate at an all-suites hotel on Times Square is not a bad deal. But $255 is an even better deal, and Joan Kozon thinks InterContinental Hotels should honor it.
“Why won’t InterContinental Hotels honor its “best” price guarantee?”


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I was working with a client, expanding out his business idea, when I realized that with a slight twist, it could be promoted as an environmentally friendly. He actually told me that he didn’t think that investors would be interested in a Green project – that they wouldn’t think it was profitable.
I was surprised that anyone still thought that way. Green is good – Green is beautiful – green in the project means green in the bank – and anyone who doesn’t realize this by now is completely naive.
57% of Americans are very concerned about the environment and billions are being spent every year finding answers. Venture capital investments in alternative energy, biofuels and clean technologies, jumped 44.4% in 2006 to $884 million.
Citibank has committed $50 billion to environmental projects in the next 10 years, IBM is spending $1 billion on energy efficiency, and Wal-mart has implemented a new Lifestyle section of their store to bring affordable, environmentally conscious goods to the consumer.
“The message from Wal-Mart today to the rest of the business community is there need not be any conflict between the environment and the economy. We will find the way not only to reconcile (those), but to find new profits and new opportunities as we do the right thing.”
Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world, their interest in the environment signifies that eco-friendly is no longer the industry of tomorrow, tomorrow is today and today can be utilized for profit – because no matter what, Wal-Mart is Wal-Mart and they’re always focused on the bottom line.
“Now, mainstream giants in markets spanning consumer products, banking, airlines and chemicals have sweeping programs to shrink their companies’ impact on the environment – and cash in on consumers’ desire to go green”
– Paul Davidson, USA Today
Solar power, human power, wind power, these are not dreams of the future any longer; they are available now. I’ve worked on several exciting projects recently and when you work the long term numbers, the revenue potential is in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
Dow Jones Venture One and Ernst and Young  http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-04-18-getting-gold-green_N.htm


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URAC gives accreditation to PBM-owned specialty pharmacy
LISLE, Ill. — Washington-based accrediting organization URAC has accredited pharmacy benefit manager Catamaran Corp.’s specialty pharmacy brand, Catamaran said.
The PBM said BriovaRx had been awarded URAC’s Specialty Pharmacy Accreditation. Catamaran said URAC offered the only third-party, voluntary accreditation program of this scope for the pharmacy benefit management and prescription services industry.
"BriovaRx’s robust offerings focus on the patient, ensuring one-on-one support and a personalized plan that addresses chronic conditions to help them lead healthy, vibrant lives," Catamaran chairman and CEO Mark Thierer said. "The URAC accreditation is a reflection of BriovaRx’s patient-centric approach that coordinates the efforts of providers, payers and manufacturers to keep treatments personalized and successful."
URAC president and CEO Alan Spielman said BriovaRx’s application for and receiving of accreditation demonstrated "a commitment to quality health care."
No comments found
Dr. Reddy’s launches generic osteoporosis drug
HYDERABAD, India — Dr. Reddy’s Labs has launched zoledronic acid injection in the 5 mg-per-100-mL strength, the Indian generic drug maker Thursday.
The drug, launched following its approval by the Food and Drug Administration, is a generic version of Novartis’ Reclast and is used to treat osteoporosis. Reclast had sales of $355 million during the 12-month period that ended in February, according to IMS Health.
The launch follows last month’s launch of zoledronic acid injection in the 4-mg-per-5-mL, a generic version of Novartis’ Zometa, which is another version of the drug used to treat the cancer multiple myeloma and cancers that have spread to the bones.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the strength of Dr. Reddy’s generic version of Zometa. The story has been corrected.
Rite Aid front-end comps up 3.8% amid shift in timing of Easter
CAMP HILL, Pa. — Same-store sales at Rite Aid decreased 2% in March, including a 3.8% increase in same-store sales on the front end and a 4.5% decrease in pharmacy sales due in part to new introductions of generic drugs, the retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.
The 4,621-store chain reported total sales for the month of $1.939 billion, a 2.5% decrease compared with $1.989 billion in March 2012, while same-store prescription count increased 0.3%.
The company said that of the 3.8% increase in front-end same-store sales, 3% came from a shift in timing of Easter, which fell on March 31, as opposed to April 8 last year.
Investment firm Guggenheim Partners maintained its "Buy" rating on Rite Aid’s stock, saying it expected the company to post strong and above-trend growth in EBITDA in its fourth quarter 2012 earnings, which it will report next Thursday. Guggenheim analyst John Heinbockel noted that script count was below the 1.5% recent trendline, and the reason was unclear but appeared to be due to a weakening of the economy, but the firm expects the meaningful generic drug benefit to GM to persist into the first quarter of fiscal year 2014.
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7 Cars Sold in Canada and Not in America
July 7, 2016
Canada has more than cold weather and friendly people. They also have a bunch of cars that we don't get.
2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI: New Car Review
February 17, 2016
The 2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI adds even more luster to what has become an iconic model over the years.
Good as New: 10 Must-Shop CPO Cars
January 6, 2016
We've listed 10 certified pre-owned vehicles that offer the same body style as a new model -- but with a less-than-new price. ...


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Weekend Discussion: Is Netscape Doing the Right Thing?
Friday May 12th, 2000
Netscape recently released its plans for the PR2 branch. Mozilla.org then released their tree plans for the next few months, and then followed up this evening with a more detailed position on tree management. The one thing that is clear is that Netscape is working on an accelerated schedule. Mozilla.org has yet to release a beta, and Netscape is currently working towards a second beta. Feature freeze for Netscape is coming much earlier than for Mozilla. This means that Netscape's feature list will probably be truncated somewhat (although the developers are trying mightily to get the remaining features in), and it also means that there might be changes to Mozilla before its release that impact its compatibility with Netscape's final release. Netscape has promised standards compliance, but there is also the serious question as to how bug-free that standards compliance will be by final release.
Is Netscape doing the right thing by pushing ahead and trying to get a release into the public's hands? Or will they just end up alienating Mozilla developers and website developers by rushing a product to market? Is it even fair to consider it "rushing"?
#34 You're too slow
Friday June 30th, 2000 12:43 PM
You are replying to this message
You nearly kicked InternetExlplorer with the version 4. But now Internet Exlplorer released the version 5 many month ago and your version 5 is still in alpha. I like NC (or mozilla) much better than IE, but the actual version doesn't even interpret the most StyleSheets.


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You can expect several things at Doral’s bustling Shoma Bazaar Food Hall: Ample food options for every taste. live entertainment. Crowds, especially on weekends or when there is a World Cup game.
Soon you’ll be able to find those same items in Hialeah.
Shoma Market, which opened in Doral in 2022 and features vendors selling pizza, pasta, sushi, arepas, poke, burgers and more, announced plans to open a second location in Hialeah. Expected to open later this year, the venue will anchor Shoma Group’s Shoma Village development, a luxury rental property.
Masood Shozai, founder and CEO of Shoma Group, said the food hall will highlight “a community of Miami’s most talented chefs and mixologists.”
“Hialeah is growing at a rapid pace, and we are very grateful to be a part of its growth,” said Shojai.
Diners gather at the main gate of Shoma Bazaar in Doral. The brand will open a second food hall in Hialeah.
Like its Doral counterpart, Hialeah’s Shoma Market will offer indoor and outdoor seating. The 10,440-square-foot space will host 10 vendors, with a bar and several cocktail stations serving beer, wine and cocktails.
Popular among suppliers are Arepa Bar of Doggy, a local Venezuelan local, and Shah of Kebab, which serves Persian street food. Both the businesses have counters in Doral’s Shoma Bazaar.
Shah’s founder Amin Avrahimi told the Miami Herald last year that opening in the Shoma market has helped his business tremendously. His first restaurant, a tiny joint in South Miami, was open for about five years without much fanfare. So he opened his counter in Shoma.
“Shoma ended up being a destination and the exposure we got from being here has been really nice,” he added. “The people who come here are familiar. This is the people of Doral. , , , And Doral is a tight-knit community. They come here, they fall in love with the place and they keep coming back. I have made many friends in Doral. He has adopted us.”
Hialeah Food Hall is still in the process of hiring tenants, but other confirmed vendors include La Macha, which serves tacos and other Mexican dishes; Sokai Sushi Bar, and the family-owned Italian restaurant Amor di Pasta.
Customers eat at the Shoma Bazaar Food Hall in Doral, which extends to Hialeah. The diners on the left are seated on swings, a quirky touch in the food hall design.
Stephanie Shojai, president of the Shoma Group, said the new food hall would echo the goals of the original.
“Our inspiration for Shoma Bazaar stems from a desire to create a community space that showcases the best of Miami’s culinary and entertainment scene,” he said. “We were sure the concept would be a good anchor for Shoma Village in Hialeah.”
The exterior of Doral’s Shoma Market, opening in 2022. The food hall will open a second location in Hialeah.


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FCC VOTES FOR NEW BROADCAST STANDARDS
FCC Approves New Broadcast TV Standards
On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission endorsed next generation TV broadcast specs. By a 3-2 vote, the FCC agreed to support ATSC 3.0, which some supporters say will enable radical innovation in video entertainment. The two Democrat commissioners dissented, citing concerns raised by activists over privacy and cost.
The new standards have already been endorsed by the National Association of Broadcasters. Most broadcast networks and station owners also support them.
The new specs have already been tested in markets all over the country. They are expected to make more bandwidth available for video. This is turn is expected to enable 4K video, better audio, and interactive functions.
Under ATSC 3.0, it may be easier for new networks to compete with ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. Channels reserved strictly for emergencies may emerge. The new standards may even help broadcast networks compete against pay TV and internet streaming video.
Friction Within the FCC
Ajit Pai, the commission’s chairman, said, “This is precisely the kind of technical innovation the FCC should champion.” Citing strong support by public TV outlets, Pai said the effort will bring “a wide range of benefits”.
Not everyone agreed. Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat commissioner, offered a blistering dissent. In it, she said the new specs “offer no benefit to consumers”. She said ATSC 3.0 will be “a tax on every household with a TV”, given the expense of new equipment. The changes, she said, were the result of intense lobbying by corporate special interests- nothing more. She summed up her statement with, “We don’t have a Congressional mandate; we have unelected FCC officials.”
Critics say consumers will need to buy new TV sets compatible with the new standard.
Pai argued that a five-year transition period will make it easier for consumers to adapt. “Current viewers with current TVs will be unaffected”, he said.
During the transition period, broadcasters will transmit video in both ATSC 3.0 and the current ATSC 1.0 format.
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The general point-to-point inflation rate has increased by 0.21 percentage point to 8.78 per cent in February this year, compared to this January.
In 2022, the inflation rate was 8.57 per cent in January and 8.71 per cent in December, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Rate and Wage Rate Index (WRI) in Bangladesh.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data revealed on Sunday, food inflation was 8.13 per cent, while non-food inflation was 9.82 per cent in February 2023. Food inflation was 7.76 per cent while non-food inflation was 9.84 per cent in January this year.
The BBS inflation data however did not fully reflect the ongoing situation in kitchen markets. Essential commodity prices are still soaring across the country.
After a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Sunday, State Minister for Planning Prof Shamsul Alam told reporters, “Bangladesh’s inflation rate has increased, but the wage index rate too is going up in the country.”
The country’s wage index rate stood at 7.11 per cent in February 2023, an increase from 7.06 per cent posted in January this year.
In September 2022, the inflation rate was 9.10 per cent, compared to 9.52 per cent in August – which remains the country’s highest in 11 years, show the BBS data. According to the budget for FY23, Bangladesh had set the inflation target at 5.6 per cent for this fiscal year.
The inflation in rural areas rose at a higher rate than that of the urban areas this February.


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- 6 min read
Hyundai Creta most sought after model in the used-car market
5-seater SUV Hyundai Creta in the price range of INR 11-12 lakh has been the most sought after with an ownership of around 3.5 years.
NEW DELHI: Hyundai Creta has emerged as the most sold reusable car in the used car market as preference for personal mobility and second-hand cars continued to dominate 2021 and sales of pre-owned vehicles are expected to surge in 2022 too, shows data by used-car retailing platform Droom. Increasing urbanization, nuclearization and penetration into tier 2 cities are expected to provide further impetus to the need for personal mobility, thereby accelerating the demand for pre-owned cars.
Of all the cars, the 5-seater SUV Hyundai Creta in the price range of INR 11-12 lakh has been the most sought after with an ownership of around 3.5 years.
In the 7 Seater space, the most in demand in is the Toyota Fortuner with an ownership duration of around 4.5 years. Amongst the compact-SUV the Maruti Brezza is the most sought after with a price range of INR 8-9 lakh.
People continue to avoid ridesharing, public transportation due to the ongoing pandemic and the Omicron wave, which is why the preferance for used cars will remain strong even in 2022. Car buyers are focusing on buying personal vehicles for themselves and family. At the same time, a dilemma over buying a large ticket product like a car is something bothering them.
"Another trend we expect to gain momentum is increasing demand for used cars in tier 2 & 3 markets and increasing preference for larger vehicles like SUVs," said Akshay Singh, Chief Strategy Officer, Droom.
And, it is millennials who are leading the charge when it comes to purchasing a pre-owned vehicle in India. Young buyers, who account for 80 % of buyers’ base, are helping feed the growing field of app and web-based channels, according to research report by online used car marketplace Cars24 and research firm Ipsos. While the majority of buyers are young males, there has been an uptake in the number of women used car buyers, the report said.
From an industry average of 10 % last year, the number has increased by 50 %; and is likely to further amplify in the near future, it added.
The demand for petrol engines is also high among buyers but the condition of the car remains the most important factor for used car buyers.
Another upcoming trend is that the share of EVs in new car sales is expected to reach 20% by FY31, at which point in time, the share of EVs in pre-owned car sales is expected to be around 5%.
UVs in demand: The Crisil-Olx study also showed that more and more buyers are prefering to purchase utility vehicles in the pre-owned car market. The share of UVs is up from 18% in FY18 to 20% in FY21 in the used-car market. "Due to the intermittent launches, UVs are also seeing faster replacement cycles. Intermittent model launches and feature-rich competitively priced vehicles will aid the shift towards UVs in the pre-owned car space, whose share will cross 1/4th of the total market by FY26," it said.
During FY21, vehicles aged 5-7 years dominated the market with 31% share, followed by vehicles aged 8-10 years with a 29% share. Among large cars, the 8-10 years age-group dominated with a 40% share, compared to only 24% for 5-7 years.
And this preference for used cars in the pandemic, has already turned three used car platforms into unicorns. Droom, CarDekho and Spinny joined the unicorn club (over $ billion) in 2021.
In December 2021, Spinny announced the closure of a $283 million funding from new and existing investors, taking its valuation to $1.8 billion. In October 2021, CarDekho, an online marketplace for car sales, received $250 million in its Series E financing round, which valued the Jaipur-headquartered firm at $1.2 billion. The company has already expanded to over 100 markets. In July, Droom, another online automobile marketplace, closed the first leg of its pre-IPO growth funding round of up to $200 million at a valuation of $1.2 billion. Droom has filed its DRHP with markets regulator SEBI in November to raise upto INR 3,000 crore from an IPO.
But what is driving this steadfast growth in the used car market?
Though the desire to avoid public transportation has been the main driver of the uptick in demand for pre-owned vehicles, online platforms helped the boom by enabling more transactions to happen largely online.
"Data monetization, in-vehicle connectivity, subscriptions, rental, charging, and long-term maintenance packages are expected to command a large share in the profit pool. Reduced period of car ownership among the millennial demographic has also been observed, and is a key contributor to the growth in the used car segment. Other factors like the transition from BS-IV to BS-VI, and GST rates differential on purchase of used cars versus that of new cars are some of the growth drivers for increasing used cars," said market analytics RedSeer in a report.
One of the findings of the 2021 Indian Blue Book report is that the used car market will be approximately 90 per cent larger than the new car market, with total used car sales forecast at 7.1 million units, having a compounded annual growth rate of 11 per cent. The used car sales are forecast at 71 lakh units by 2026.
"If one looks at the used car to new car ratio, which is representative of the maturity of the pre-owned car industry, this ratio has held steady in India between FY2016-19 at 1.2x. FY20 was a tipping point and pushed the ratio to 1.5x, which signifies the beginning of a new era in the pre-owned car market in India. The trend has continued and FY21 is expected to close at ~2.2x," noted the Indian Blue Book report.
The volume of the used car market was 1.2x times that of new car volumes until FY19. While the used-car market has been historically larger in terms of absolute volumes than the newcar market, the jump has amplified in the past couple of years due to a shift in the consumer sentiment towards used cars. One of the leading factors for this change is the faster shift from unorganised to organised trade and offerings like warranties on used cars by the organised players. Hence, the used car to new car ratio increased to 1.5x for FY20. to 1.5x for FY20.
Considering the estimates for FY21, this ratio is at an all-time high at 2.2x. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, there has been a substantial decrease in new car sales. COVID-19 has clearly indicated that consumers in India are now amenable to buying used cars and consider it a smarter investment over a new car. The middle-class audience has also shunned the social stigma which was earlier attached to buying a used car, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations.
According to RedSeer, by the financial year 2025-2026, used car sales in India are expected to grow to 8.3 million units, posting double-digit growth each year.
And, digital pre-owned car platforms are gaining traction due to their wider reach, accessibility, and ability to provide a variety of options, as compared to the traditional offline pre-owned market. "Players like Cars24 and Droom have designed businesses around the key pain points of dealers/customers – Supply constraint, Transaction assurance, Price discovery and Qualified/validated lead generation," noted RedSeer.


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Nanotechnology has been keeping all of us up on our toes, in terms of how they were made and their components. This technology involves precise engineering and control of particles in the smallest scale. These Nanoparticles are measured in nanometers or billionths of one meter. So small that if a nano particle is a size of a football, a red blood cell would be the size of the whole football field, they are unbelievably small. Some nanoparticles have already been existing as part of the nature. A certain nanoparticles in carbon exist in a caramelized foods, but ultimately it’s the nanoparticles that are made in laboratories that post a threat to the environment and human health.
Recently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not specifically require nanoparticles to undergone studies on its safety integrity. The government is not uptight about the issue of nano, however it does require manufacturers to conduct a tests related to the products that are associated with nano —the results were favorable to them, and these particles are found to be harmless. However, there are recent studies that would linked nano to some health issues.
A new study now suggests that nanomaterials in food and drinks could interfere with digestive cells and lead to the release of the potentially harmful substances to the environment. The report on dietary supplement drinks containing nanoparticles was published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.
Robert Reed and colleagues note that food and drink manufacturers use nanoparticles in and on their products for many reasons. In packaging, they can provide strength, control how much air gets in and out, and keep unwanted microbes at bay. As additives to food and drinks, they can prevent caking, deliver nutrients and prevent bacterial growth. But as nanoparticles increase in use, so do concerns over their health and environmental effects.
To make life more complicated for consumers, many labels do not list whether or not the product contains nanomaterials and manufacturers almost never say whether their packaging contains these materials.
Harmful to the gut
Nanoparticle is truly an amazing discovery. How they were engineered is mind blowing. Its potential to be used in different ways is highly anticipated, thou they have not yet utilized in the fullest extent their effect on our health is still questionable.
Don’t forget to read the rest of the article at: Nyrnaturalnews.com


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Facial recognition software is coming soon to a schoolyard near you. The Lockport City District of Niagara County, New York, will soon become the first in America to install biometric cameras throughout campus buildings, thanks to a state “Smart School” grant aimed at countering the threat of gun violence. The high-tech change has been criticized not only as “inefficient and expensive,” but also as an unprecedented invasion of students’ privacy.
“Normalizing mechanisms of surveillance and control catalyzes the criminalization of the school environment,” notes Toni Smith-Thompson, an organizer of the New York Civil Liberties Union, “and could make school hallways feel more like jails.”
Schools aren’t the only place where surveillance methods are becoming more sophisticated, and traditional privacy expectations more endangered. Facial recognition cameras are already being used by law enforcement at stoplights, sports stadiums and airports to target administration critics and nab criminal suspects, despite their propensity for false matches disproportionately affecting people of color.
While public agencies justify ramped up surveillance in the name of security, private tech companies do it for ad revenue, refining their abilities to psychologically profile — and maximize profits made off — every individual consumer. Retailers like Target and Walmart use in-store Bluetooth tracking to record our buying habits and send advertisements to our phones accordingly. Now it’s not just your favorite websites or Google Home device that record and store your every preference and vocal command indefinitely; it’s your fridge, your thermostat, your children’s dolls.
These companies collect and hoard increasingly unfathomable stores of personal information with little to no accountability for how it’s handled, leaving users vulnerable to third-party trackers, targeted misinformation campaigns and data breaches. Hacking risks are especially high in the cannabis space given its spotty legal status and retailers’ tracking of sensitive medical and financial info, with one breach exposing 4,500 orders from Canada’s Ontario Cannabis Store last November.
If anything, though, the developing cannabis industry is held to a higher standard of consumer protection than most. A far larger breach went unpunished, for example, in the case of political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica (CA), which harvested data from millions of Facebook profiles without consent to aid in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential bid. While former CA employees moved to Trump’s 2020 campaign under the new banner of Data Propria, Facebook similarly got off scot-free for illicitly sharing users’ info and private messages with more than 150 other partnered companies, among them the Russian search engine Yandex and Chinese telecom giant Huawei. Despite repeated promises to “do better,” Facebook’s actions indicate their opposing commitment to ever-expanding surveillance, taking out preliminary patents to analyze your facial expressions, determine what shows you’re watching, guess your socioeconomic status and predict when your friends will die.
When private companies abuse users’ ignorance about data protections without suffering consequences, it sends a message that it’s up to users to protect their own privacy in a realm persuasively designed to strip them of it, abdicating the public sector’s imperative to protect consumer rights against predatory companies when mere market competition isn’t enough.
In the narrative of these data-gathering conglomerates, so-called “surveillance capitalists,” this is all a good thing. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed privacy was no longer a “social norm” in 2010, a sentiment echoed by international security professor Richard J. Aldrich’s 2015 TEDx Talk titled, “Privacy is Dead: The Future is Fabulous.” The year before, Google’s then-CEO Eric Schmidt voiced another common argument against privacy protections, saying, “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”
Yet a majority of Americans feel differently, according to PEW Research, and consider it “very important” that they maintain their privacy. So why hasn’t it stopped us from entrusting the same few untrustworthy companies with virtually all of our most personal information and correspondence? No doubt ignorance and convenience play a part, incentivized as we are given rewards discounts and free access – one part of the online realm that was always too good to be true – not to mention the impenetrable legalese of their terms and conditions. But as the internet has become increasingly essential for everyday life, there’s been little choice for many but to accept the likelihood that everything we do online or in public is being watched, with the immediate gains of the global community and professional opportunity outweighing obscure and widely-distributed consequences down the road.
Now, in civil society as in elementary schools, we’re seeing on a massive scale what loss of privacy looks like. In one recent study, teens’ fear of being tracked discouraged them from seeking out sexual health information online, a stark contrast to the assumed anonymity of the web’s early days. The algorithms that determine what we see online have deepened social divisions by creating “filter bubbles” that insulate us from opposing viewpoints, while giving governments and companies the tools to discriminate on any criteria they choose, like excluding older populations from job ads. In China, the ruling Communist Party (CCP) utilizes AI-powered DNA databases and mandatory surveillance apps to preempt dissent and intern political opponents or religious minorities.
Instead of any liberalizing effect, data collection gave the CCP a previously unimaginable means of social control to serve their goal of “stability maintenance.” This is because, far from existing in a vacuum, privacy is foundational to most basic human rights, like freedom of speech, association and thought. Without it, we’re constrained from exploring ideas outside the mainstream and voicing private criticisms by the fear of judgment or public censure from all directions. Just like carrying a smartphone or being in a crowded room, the knowledge of being watched takes up mental energy, leaving less of what psychologists call our “cognitive load” for creative or independent thought. A world in which every private company, public organization and person can know anything about anyone else wouldn’t be a utopia – it would be exhausting.
To avoid this, Americans need to stop letting innovation lead them by the nose to a new age of “privacy nihilism,” letting the security and advertising industries that stand to profit most from new tracking technologies define the conversation and accelerate their adoption. With the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California’s Consumer Privacy Act last year, the Western world is moving towards a more advanced understanding of data as a new kind of currency – like paper currency, defined by our own valuation of it – and institutional transparency as essential to personal privacy. We can’t control what others know about us if we don’t know what info companies collect, or how they can use it.
While there’s no one paranoid ruling organization driving surveillance expansion in the United States as in China, it could be that the presence of such technologies makes paranoids of us all. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and in the wake of Cambridge Analytica, it’s hard to deny the immense power amassed in personal data – the power to change how people see the world, and thus, to change the world. Even if Facebook and Google launched with good intentions and behaved as any other profit-driven company would be expected to, their vast archives of data have become like enormous power vacuums, bound to be abused if left unchecked. We always assumed Big Brother would create the surveillance state, but what if the surveillance state could create Big Brother?


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After the Conservative party fell eight seats short of an overall majority, resulting in a hung parliament in the general election, the FTA has called for a new government to review its decision to leave the EU customs union. James Hookham, deputy CEO at the FTA, said that leaving the customs union “threatens the imposition of tariffs, border checks, Customs declarations and huge amounts of bureaucracy” for logistics firms and their customers that trade in the EU. “Negotiating a replacement […]
Drivers benefitted from above-average, above-inflation wage increases this year as operators looked to secure a labour force against the background of the driver shortage.
Frank Zapper once commented that the world might not end in fire or ice, but in paperwork. For much of the international logistics sector, January felt exactly like slow death by paperwork, with customs clearances piling up in their software systems, and the freight piling up in the warehouses.
Backload rates are so bad that some operators are wondering if they’re worth taking. Is the era of backloads coming to an end? It certainly sounds like it for some operators, judging by comments MT has heard recently. The issue, of course, is that the rates being handed out for many backloads simply aren’t high enough for the job to be worth taking. It’s a long-standing problem voiced most recently by Matthew Kibble, MD of Lancashire-based Matthew Kibble Transport, who […]


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Businessman Max Mqadi scooped the mayor’s special achievement: hospitality award at the inaugural Durban Business Tourism Awards held in Durban on Wednesday night.
The awards aimed to boost confidence and pride in the recovering tourism industry, which took devastating blows when the Covid-19 pandemic reached local shores, and when the floods battered parts of KwaZulu-Natal in April and May.
Miseni Duma from Durban Tourism said: “We decided to recognise and reward tourism and hospitality businesses who overcame the triple challenge of Covid-19, July unrest, and the recent floods.”
Mqadi wrote on social media that he is grateful for the award, saying although his establishment has won many accolades in the past, he is grateful to be honoured at home (KwaZulu-Natal).
“If we can do it as a world-class hospitality product that started from humble beginnings as a normal butchery and scaled the heights of global tourism excellence, you can also do it,” he wrote.
Other winners of the mayor’s special achievement awards were Oceans Umhlanga in the investment category, Wushini Pan African Art Centre for township economic development, SABC1 drama series Uzalo for creative industry, Max’s Lifestyle in hospitality, and The Octavia Boutique Hotel in the rural development investment category.
Filmmakers: Trinity Pictures
Entrepreneurship: Wish on Florida
Sustainable & accommodation: Oyster Box
Accommodation (non-hotels): Ekhaya Boutique Hotel
Meetings, exhibitions & special events: Pencil Club
Rickshaw: Mfanafuthi Nxumalo
Visitor experience: Zulumoon Gondolas
Tour operators: Khubs Tours
Tour guides: Durban Walking Tours
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.


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From ExtremeTech: Intel recently announced its lineup of Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPUs for workstations. They’re still a month or two away, but in the lead-up to the on-sale date, Intel invited German overclocker de8auer to its labs for a quick overclocking test. That some Sapphire Rapids workstation CPUs are overclockable is both a first for Intel and a big selling point. To demonstrate the possibilities, de8auer and an Intel employee showed some impressive preliminary results, despite it being on pre-release hardware. However, the performance comes at the cost of serious power consumption.
The chip being tested here is the flagship W9-3495X, which has 56 cores and 112 threads. The motherboard is an Intel validation board, so it’s fairly pedestrian as far as VRM cooling goes. The CPU is cooled by a 360mm AIO made by Cooler Master. There’s 192GB of DDR5 running at 5,600MHz across eight channels. As the host notes, a system like this would probably start at around $10,000.
View: Full Article


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Can exports save the U.S. economy?
One of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy lately has been the fact that we’ve been exporting a whole lot of goods abroad. According to the Commerce Department, U.S. exports hit $180.4 billion in September, a record high. Overall, exports have risen 23 percent since the end of the recession in 2009 — a better performance than in any of the previous four downturns. The trade deficit is shrinking. For all the talk about decline, America still produces a lot of stuff that people want. So what can this tell us about the economy?
For one, it’s another piece of evidence that lack of demand — and not taxes or regulatory uncertainty — is the main thing holding back growth. As Georgetown business professor Jay Shambaugh notes: “In foreign markets where economies are growing quickly, U.S. exports are rising fast. American businesses do not seem to be held back by fear of taxes or regulation; they are hiring and increasing production for sale where there are customers.” Exports are outperforming the rest of the economy because there’s demand for those goods (as Shambaugh notes, the weaker dollar has only played a partial role here). At home, meanwhile, demand is still weak: Consumers have lost a lot of housing wealth since 2007, which has held back spending, and the government isn’t filling in the gap. Big difference.
The other thing to note is that we probably can’t count on exports alone to lift the United States out of its doldrums. Gennaro Zezza of the Levy Economics Institute draws up a chart, using IMF numbers, showing that America’s trading partners are expected to hum along at a steady — but not accelerating — pace for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the euro zone, which buys up about 16 percent of U.S. exports, is going to slow down and possibly enter a recession soon. That alone probably won’t be fatal to the U.S. economy, but it’s not good news, either.


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Plivo Is the Momentum Leader in G2 Cloud Communication Platforms Grid
- 18 Feb 2021
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Plivo, the cloud communications platform that enables businesses to engage with their customers, is a Leader in the G2 Cloud Communication Platforms Grid® for Winter 2021 and the Momentum Grid® for Cloud Communication Platforms Leader. Plivo received the highest Satisfaction score of any vendor on the Cloud Communication Platforms Grid and exhibits the strongest growth trajectory based on user satisfaction scores, customer adoption, and digital presence.
Plivo offers a communications platform with carrier connectivity in more than 190 countries. Its API platform represents a simple, quick, and scalable way to modernize customer communications.
“Plivo congratulates the other organizations highlighted on the G2 Grids and is proud to be considered a Leader,”” said Venky B, co-founder and CEO, Plivo. “Along with being recognized as a Leader, Plivo also had the highest growth trajectory of any product on the grid during the reporting period. Seamless cloud communications are becoming more and more crucial in today’s business environment, and we intend to continue setting a positive example for the industry.”
G2 releases quarterly reports by category, ranking vendors across a variety of factors. To develop its scores, G2 applies an algorithm to reviews from its user community and data from social networks and other online sources. Satisfaction scores are based on end-user satisfaction and customer review quality and quantity. Market Presence scores are based on public information, including company growth and other metrics. Momentum scores are calculated based on growth of customer adoption, digital presence, and customer satisfaction scores.
Plivo is a communications platform that enables businesses to connect, engage and interact with their customers in more than 190 countries. Thousands of businesses — like IBM, Workday, Nutanix, and Gojek — rely on Plivo to deliver better customer experiences globally. The Plivo team brings deep experience in communications and modern software to address the needs of today’s businesses — quality, scale, innovation, and agility. Founded in 2011 and with global offices, Plivo is backed by investments from Andreessen Horowitz, Qualcomm Ventures, Battery Ventures, and Y Combinator.


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Praey for the Gods Gets Early Access Trailer
No Matter Studios has released a new trailer for their action-adventure survival game Praey for the Gods.
You can view it below:
Praey for the Gods – Early Access Trailer
In Praey for the Gods, players will be transported to a desolate frozen island, and set out to solve the mystery behind a never-ending winter. To get ahead, players must find items, survive dynamically generated weather, and climb onto massive bosses to take them down.
Fans can learn more on the official site here.
Rockstar Games announced today that this week is Freemode Events Week in GTA Online, which brings with it 2x GTA$ & RP on all Freemode Events
Rockstar Games announced today that The Diamond Casino & Resort in GTA Online will open later this summer
Creative Assembly announced today that the Reign of Blood Effects Pack for Total War: Three Kingdoms will come out on June 27


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The Seagram Company will record a gain of about $60 million in its second quarter related to the settlement of a 15-year-old tax case with the United States Government, a company executive said on Friday.
The tax ruling was made in 1981 when Seagram exchanged its shares in Conoco for common stock in E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Seagram appealed the ruling.
It finally was settled in our favor," said Joe Fitzgerald, vice president of investor relations at Seagram in New York. While the company's head office is in Montreal, most of its senior executives work from an office in New York.
Seagram's beverage businesses include liquor, wine and juices. The company also owns 80 percent of entertainment giant MCA Inc. Seagram sold most of its shares in Du Pont last year and used some of the proceeds to finance its purchase of the controlling interest in MCA.Continue reading the main story


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Android tablet being tested by GameStop
Besides offering a small number of mobile titles, the tablet is expected to allow you to stream console games from the cloud, which is where the dedicated game controller comes into play since it is hard to play console-style games using a finger, according to Bartel. And while GameStop is no longer owned by Barnes and Noble, the latter has actually been able to make some waves in the tablet and eReader market with its Barnes and Noble Nook devices, so there is precedent for GameStop to deliver a branded tablet.
Obviously, with the tablet still being tested, it is way to early to consider pricing. The trend toward low-end Android tablets has recently picked up momentum with the Lenovo A1 IdeaPad priced at $199 as we reported, and the upcoming Amazon 7 inch tablet which is due out next month as we informed you.
source: GamesIndustry.Biz (subscription req'd) via Thisismynext


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#GBK85: A retrospective on Singapore Artist Goh Beng Kwan
20 May @ 11:00 am - 29 May @ 9:00 pm
Cultural Medallion Recipient and Pioneer Generation Artist Goh Beng Kwan celebrates 85 years with 85 works in solo exhibition #GBK85. In celebration of his 85th year of life, #GBK85 will be a revolutionary presentation of Goh’s traditional and digital works. It will be the artist’s first solo exhibition since 1991.
An entire floor of Conrad Centennial Singapore will be transformed into a physical and AR immersive experience. The exhibition will take you on a journey through time, where attendees will be able to see Goh’s wide spectrum of art, including never-before-seen works under Goh’s Covid-19 Series, documenting specific events and his emotions experienced during this historic period.
This is the first time a local artist is exhibiting on a whole floor in a hotel – attendees can expect to view Goh’s artworks in physical form, as well as in the form of Augmented Reality, where art pieces come to life through a dedicated ArtAF app.
In addition, Samsung is also offering an opportunity for visitors to win 10 NFTS from four selected artworks that have been minted for this exhibition via a contest. The partnership allows visitors to view a curation of 11 artworks in moving visual and audio details with the help of Samsung Galaxy S22+ or S22 5G smartphones through the ArtAF app.


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There has been much speculation in the news about Oracle buying Sun today. Unlike the potential IBM acquisition, this seems like a better, if unexpected, fit.
For a number of years now, there has been a large amount of consolidation in the tech business. The goal of most of these consolidations has been to create vertically integrated companies that were capable of meeting the end-to-end needs of their customers. Novell had this idea years ago when it bought Cambridge Technology Partners, but the ball really got rolling when Compaq bought Digital, largely for it’s consulting business. More recent consolidation has seen HP buy EDS, but this has not been the only way vertical integration has been created. Microsoft followed the route of expanding it’s software offerings to the high-end, while IBM built a large services business.


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Bill Hutchison has seen vending machines broken into with blowtorches. He’s seen machines vandalized and robbed in police stations. He’s seen would-be thieves who have unwittingly gotten their arms stuck inside machines and had to call 9-1-1.
“It really doesn’t matter what type of machine it is,” said Hutchison, a longtime bulk vending operator and current supplier. “If there is money or product that they can steal, and there is an opportunity, they will try it.”
Hutchison, who owns The Vending Center in Birmingham, Ala., said in most cases, the monetary damage wrought by vending machine vandals far exceeds the amount of money or product they’re able to steal.
“Usually, I’ve found that they do five times the amount of damage than they take from the machine,” he said. “Sometimes, they even total the machine. If they don’t know what they’re doing, they can do a lot of damage.”
Vandalism of bulk vending machines is an ongoing problem, despite the increased presence of security cameras and enhanced features on machines. According to Fred Chiang, owner of Blue Bar Vending in Irwindale, Calif., it is a common problem that has a common motivation.
“Vandalism is a serious problem in our business,” he said. “In my experience, 99 percent of the time they’re trying to get the money or products out.”
Chiang, whose business consists of a wide variety of candy, gum and toy machines, said the toy machines tend to fall prey to vandalism most often. He said although he sometimes builds protective cages around machines or uses padlocks, these measures are worth little without the cooperation of the location’s owner.
“We do rely on the store owners to help us watch the machines and prevent vandalism,” he said. “If they ignore the machines, or leave them outside, we’re limited in what we can do to stop it.”
Occasionally, there may be the so-called “inside job” – vandalism of machines by employees at a location. Benjamin Wilson, owner of Your Choice Vending in Central Square, N.Y., faced a unique variation of this problem after acquiring used machines from other operators.
“I got into business by buying out other vendors, and I’ve had situations where the owner hasn’t turned over all the keys to me,” he said. “We have caught people on video breaking into the machines using keys.”
Wilson said replacing the locks on his 100 machines at $17 per machine would not have been cost-effective.
“That would have cost me more than $1,700,” he said.
For Joseph Goulazian, partner/owner of Snack King in Trenton, N.J., the location of the machine is a very important factor. Goulazian said the few experiences he has had with vandalism have occurred in secluded or unsupervised areas.
“You want to go for more upscale locations that are within view of an attendant,” he said. “We had one machine that was at an outdoor location, and we pulled it after the second time it was vandalized. If a machine becomes too much of a liability, we will just pull it out.”
Unfortunately, some vendors can’t afford to be particular about location, Chiang said.
“We’re on the West Coast, and there’s a lot of competition in this area,” he said. “We can’t be picky about location.”
According to David Rich, general manager of Acme Music and Vending in St. Joseph, Mo., precautions such as mesh screens or cages do at least make vandalism more difficult.
“A mesh screen makes it harder to get to the machine itself,” he said. “We also have haps with locks at some of our locations, such as rest areas that aren’t as supervised.”
According to Hutchison, such security measures might not stop the most determined vandal, but they may cause the casual thief to think twice.
“There are a lot of security measures now, and there are even ‘vandal resistant’ machines, but nothing is 100 percent vandal-proof,” he said. “However, these types of security measures can be very effective in stopping spontaneous, random vandalism.”
John Sayers, operations manager of KSA Vending in Conshohocken, Pa., agreed that locks and cages may be limited in their power, but they do have benefits. “A lock can only do so much, but in some cases, they stop people from getting ideas,” he said. “A lock keeps an honest person honest.”
Security cameras seem to serve a similar function, Sayers said, acting as more of a deterrent than as means of catching vandals after the fact. Particularly in areas that are less supervised, the knowledge of a camera nearby can have a watchful “Big Brother” effect.
“If a thief is about to break into a machine and they look up and see a camera, it will usually stop them,” he said. “So if there’s a security camera available, that can be a huge help.”
However, security footage of vandalism does not always lead to catching the culprit or recouping the losses, Chiang said.
“We’ve had video of people vandalizing machines, and usually, we file a police report and that’s the end of it,” he said. “The police never seem to catch them.”
So powerful is the deterrent effect of security cameras that some operators use them in theory only.
“We don’t actually have cameras, but we put up signs saying ‘this machine is being monitored by a security camera,’ ” David Rich of Acme Vending said. “We don’t know whether this has worked or not, but we thought it was worth a try.” –
Bay Tek Entertainment, an industry leader in games and entertainment, is pleased to announce the...