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This concludes the Bureau’s third investigation into claims made by manufacturers of ice hockey helmets that their products reduce the risk of concussions.
November 17, 2020 – GATINEAU, QC – Competition Bureau
Today, the Competition Bureau reached a consent agreement with TRUE Sports Inc. to resolve its concerns about certain performance claims made by the hockey equipment manufacturer about its TRUE Dynamic 9 Pro hockey helmet. As part of this settlement, TRUE Sports agreed to cease all claims and donate $100,000 in equipment to support youth sports.
The Bureau’s investigation concluded that some claims made on the company’s website, in-store displays and product packaging gave the impression that their helmet could reduce the risk of concussions. Although TRUE submitted the helmet to laboratory testing prior to making the claims, the Bureau concluded that the testing was not adequate and proper to support them. The Bureau determined that TRUE Sports marketing claims relied in part on brain injury studies that mostly focused on sports with fundamentally different patterns of injuries than those suffered while playing ice hockey.
The Bureau acknowledges TRUE Sports’ voluntary cooperation in resolving this matter.
As part of this settlement, TRUE Sports agreed to:
- Donate $100,000 worth of sports equipment to a charity that supports youth in sports or teams, associations or leagues for underprivileged children or youth hockey players;
- Cease making all claims at issue, and remove the remaining claims from all marketing material, including on packaging and online advertising;
- Implement an enhanced Corporate Compliance Program, and take steps to ensure that retailers do not make the unsupported claims; and
- Pay $20,000 to cover the cost of the Bureau’s investigation.
This is the Bureau’s third investigation into manufacturers of ice hockey helmets over claims that their products can reduce the risk of concussions. Bauer and Reebok‑CCM reached similar agreements with the Bureau in 2014 and 2015. The Bureau’s actions have led to over a million dollars worth in donation of sports equipment to charity.


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The last ever Richter Collective gig is on this Saturday with Not Squares, BATS, Enemies, Squarehead and The Redneck Manifesto, who have announced that they’ll be performing their Richter-released LP Friendship in its entirety.
[iframe width=”400″ height=”100″ style=”position: relative; width: 400px; height: 100px;” src=”https://thumped.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/linkcol=4285BB5″ allowtransparency=”true” frameborder=”0″ Friendship by The Redneck Manifesto]
The Richter statement on their closing from earlier this year:
It is with mixed emotion that we are announcing The Richter Collective will be coming to a close at the end of this year, December 2012. We are regretful that we will be losing the label but also very optimistic and excited about the future. The reasons for this are numerous and to go into in great detail would take far too long. In a nutshell it’s a decision that’s part based on money and part based on not wanting to compromise on the vision we had for the label when we started. It’s become increasingly difficult to apply new ideas within the constructs of a “traditional label” model and our label still falls within that remit. Instead of being doom and gloom about this decision we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped us along our journey, especially the amazing bands and artists we have had the pleasure to work with.
We started this label a mere four years ago and have had the pleasure of releasing over twenty seven amazing pieces of work.
The support that we have had in terms of coverage has been far beyond any expectation we ever had when we set the label up. We managed to get our releases into stores all around Europe, the US and Asia and (hopefully) helped the acts we worked with reach new audiences around the world. We came from a hobby label background and tried to build a new label to rival the larger Independents in term of reach and scale and we are so proud of what we’ve achieved in the last few years on a relatively small budget. Now, it’s time to move on for both of us, we started the label at a time when there weren’t many other options for Irish acts in terms of independent labels but now there are many amazing new independents in this country and it’s such a great time for new music.
We will continue to be involved in independent music in Ireland and hope to work on some exciting new projects in the future. For now we will continue to operate “as normal” and sell off all remaining stock we hold. We are planning a big Xmas bash for the end of year and have a few more bits and pieces up our sleeves. If you have been thinking of buying any of our music in the past we’re still open for business at http://www.richtercollective.com and http://richtercollective.bandcamp.com
The lineup for the gig is:
The Redneck Manifesto Not Squares BATS Enemies Squarehead The Continuous Battle Of Order And So I Watch You From Afar (DJ Set) Richter Collective DJs The Button Factory 7:30pm, Saturday November 24th Tickets are €15 from tickets.ie or on the door.

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Coca-Cola Enterprises has agreed a €28bn (£19.6bn) merger with fellow Coke bottles in Iberia and Germany to create a new $12.6bn (£8.1bn) Western European Coca-Cola bottler.
The second largest ever consumer deal in Europe will create UK-based Coca-Cola European Partners serving more than 300 million consumers across 13 countries with 50 bottling plants.
At closing, CCE will own 48% of the newly combined bottling giant, Coca-Cola Iberian Partners will own 34% and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke owner The Coca-Cola Company will own 18%.
Although domiciled in London for tax purposes, the company will not trade on the London Stock Exchange. Coca-Cola European Partners will be publicly traded on the Euronext Amsterdam, the New York Stock Exchange and the Madrid Stock Exchange.
In a release announcing the deal today, Coca-Cola called the deal “a transformational transaction that will create the world’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler based on net revenues”.
Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola, said: “The creation of a larger, unified Coca-Cola bottling partner in Western Europe represents an important step in our global system’s evolution.”
“We continue to adapt our business model to innovate, invest and grow along with the changing demands of the marketplace. With the strong leadership that will be assembled from across the three organizations, Coca-Cola European Partners will be well-positioned to deliver better and more effective service to customers throughout Western Europe and drive profitable growth across multiple beverage categories.”
Coca-Cola European Partners is expected to generate “substantial” synergies and cost savings, including supply chain benefits and operating efficiencies. These synergies are expected to result in pre-tax savings of approximately $350-375m within three years.
The new company will operate across Andorra, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands.
CCE chairman and chief executive John Brock commented: “The creation of Coca-Cola European Partners will build on each bottler’s capabilities to create more efficient operations in their respective markets across Western Europe.”
“This transaction offers clear synergies, along with the scale to better serve the needs of our customers and consumers in Western Europe, to become an even stronger partner to The Coca-Cola company and create increased value for CCE’s shareowners.”
Sol Daurella, executive chairman of Coca-Cola Iberian Partners, will become chairman of Coca-Cola European Partners, while Brock will become chief executive officer.
The deal is the largest European consumer deal of the 2000s and is only beaten in size by 1997’s Guinness/Grand Metropolitan merger which was worth €37bn at today’s exchange rates.
Lazard acted as lead financial advisor to CCE, Rothschild acted as exclusive financial advisor to CCIP, while Deutsche Bank acted as exclusive financial advisor to TCCC.


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Published: 18 Jan 2017
Felix relocates to his roots and pursues career in car sales at Jennings Ford
Jennings Ford, part of the multi-award winning Jennings Motor Group, has further expanded its sales force with a new addition to the team.
Felix Maughan, 23, from Hexham, has joined the group’s Eslington Park dealership in Gateshead as a sales executive.
At the age of 12, Felix moved from Corbridge in Northumberland to Croydon, South London, but last year he decided to move back to his Northumberland roots.
Felix said: “I always knew I wanted to move back to the North East, but I was also keen to pursue a career in car sales after working for two and a half years as a sales executive for a motor dealer in Croydon - so it was all down to finding the right job.
“I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to do so at Jennings Ford.”
In his new role at the Jennings Ford dealership, Felix will be responsible for selling the new Ford model line-up, in addition to quality used cars to customers in order to contribute towards achieving monthly and quarterly sales objectives.
Other aspects of the sales executive role include liaising with existing and potential customers, processing orders, delivering vehicles to customers within the allocated timescale, attending regular training courses to keep up-to-speed with new model launches
Welcoming Felix on board, Barry Fearon, sales manager at Jennings Ford in Gateshead, said: “Felix’s appointment is part of an on-going recruitment drive. The experience he has gained will contribute towards securing sales at the dealership.”
Jennings Ford sells the entire new model line-up with everything including the KA+, Fiesta, Fiesta ST, Focus, Focus ST, ST Line, Mondeo, C-MAX, Grand C-MAX, B-MAX, S-MAX, Galaxy, EcoSport and Edge, on display and available to test drive at the dealership.
Customers can also take advantage of a range of aftersales facilities, with a service, MOT, accident repair centre and parts department on site at Gateshead.
For more information about the range of products and services at Jennings Ford, call into the Eslington Park dealership, contact 0333 414 9750.
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The wait is just about over.
The iconic Butler’s Deli, reincarnated as Butler’s Market, is coming back to its original spot at 91 East River Road in Rumson on Monday.
It’s a day that many Rumson-Fair Haven area people have been anticipating for what has seemed like a local casual foodie eternity.
Owner Paul Stout is out of retirement and back to run the place, he says on the Butler’s Facebook page.
And, while people have been begging to know an opening date, he finally announced it would be June 1 and added a photo that officially signifies the finishing touches precursor to opening — the pastel Adirondack chairs loaded in a truck, all set to go back home to the townie chatting spot in front of the market.
Loyal longtime customers are doing a bit of online drooling over their favorites’ comeback, such as the chicken salad and corn chowder. And Stout has said they will return, as will all the classic breakfast sandwiches.
The lobster salad is another favorite, but Stout has not yet said whether or not that will be back.
One thing’s for sure: the longtime patrons will be back en masse. They are counting the hours until the doors open at this point.
And those hours are dwindling.
See you at Butler’s on Monday!
No one knows quite when yet, but Rumson’s iconic Butler’s is coming back soon.
The signs are up and the word on the deli’s Facebook page is that it will be any day now when fans will be able to once again, sit and chat on the Adirondacks outside and have any one of the sandwiches, from breakfast to lunch, for which the place has earned its high foodie and social place in Rumson history.
Owner Paul Stout says on the Facebook page that the coffee is brewing and so are some all-time favorites over which townies are still singing songs of tribulation.
Yes, Stout said on the Facebook page, the famous corn chowder will return. So will the chicken salad. Of course, the yummy lobster salad was mentioned as well.
We, at Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect, have made Butler’s our standard stop since high school days back in the 1970s and through the years after.
It has never disappointed. Fabulous bread always, our favorite, in addition to that lobster salad, was always a roast beef sub with pepperoni and provolone. The works, please!
Can’t wait. We will be there!
Just a side note that Butler’s is now Butler’s Market, rather than Butler’s Deli. No mind, all will be there!
What’s your favorite Butler’s sandwich?


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European Commission member Mairead McGuinness has urged member states to agree on the EU’s unified cryptocurrency regulation draft ‘Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA)’.
The commissioner for financial stability, financial services, and capital markets union, made those comments during a video conference at the European Central Bank’s (ECB) fourth Forum on Banking Supervision Wednesday.
She noted that while the member states are “making progress in their negotiations on the draft regulation”, they are required to “keep up the tempo so we can get agreement on these new rules this autumn”.
“Cryptoassets are evolving fast, enabling innovation [and] homegrown firms to enter the market, but [they are] also attracting retail investors,” McGuinness noted in her speech. She added:
“Our framework for markets and cryptoassets will introduce a bespoke regime for previously unregulated crypto assets including stablecoins, and I think this will provide clarity, it will help to boost innovation, and, at the same time, solid rules for issuers and service providers will prevent abuse, fraud and theft, protecting investors and safeguarding market stability.”
In addition, the senior official noted that the EU commission will soon finalize its decision on the proposed regulatory sandbox, a pilot program for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology.
An abbreviation of “Market in Crypto Assets”, MiCA is a comprehensive cryptocurrency regulation proposal announced by the EU in September 2020. The commission made some revisions in June 2021, in which NFTs were exempted from regulations.
In addition, the new draft required companies that provide cryptocurrency services within the EU to set up their bases in EU member states. The ECB also noted that strict regulations are needed to regulate Stablecoins, such as allowing ECB to assess its risks and have authorization rights.


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WASHINGTON — A new industry initiative has been launched to change the way CPG products are packaged by manufacturers and stocked on store shelves.
The initiative aims to promote the use of “retail-ready packaging,” including ready-to-stock corrugated trayAnother is making cases s full of products that allow store employees to replenish display shelves more efficiently than the customary practice of filling shelves one item at a time. The trays are designed to feature product branding and meet recycling requirements, while the cases containing the trays are configured to be easy to identify and open.
In addition to expediting shelf replenishment, retail-ready packaging is expected to improve in-stock conditions, reduce back-room inventory and offer new marketing opportunities on the shelf.
But the industry faces major hurdles in implementing this initiative, such as the need for standard tray dimensions and enough buy-in from retailers to enable manufacturers to create a large-scale, cost-effective packaging process. There are also unanswered questions about how shoppers would react to revised shelf layouts.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association here and the Food Marketing Institute, Arlington, Va., are taking the lead in developing retail-ready packaging through their FMI-GMA Trading Partner Alliance. “The industry is looking for a common approach,” said Stephen Sibert, GMA's senior vice president, industry affairs, in a presentation last month in Phoenix at the Supply Chain Conference, sponsored by the Trading Partner Alliance. “We want to define one system across retail.”
Last year, the Trading Partner Alliance created a retail-ready packaging subcommittee that consists of a number of major manufacturers but is still seeking retail members. “We're recruiting Kroger,” Sibert said. “And we encourage anyone to get involved.”
Supplier members of the subcommittee include Georgia-Pacific, J.M. Smucker, Schwan's, Continental Mills, Mars, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. The subcommittee is developing a retail-ready-packaging resource guide expected to be completed in about a month.
The retail-ready packaging concept originated in Europe, where it has been adopted by Aldi, Tesco and Asda, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, said Sibert. It then gravitated to Canada, where “Wal-Mart and Loblaw are in the process of developing rollout timelines by category,” said Lesley McKeever, senior vice president, industry affairs, Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC), Toronto. Wal-Mart Canada and Loblaw declined to comment.
In the U.S., Kroger has met with suppliers to discuss the initiative and H.E. Butt Grocery has developed a resource guide for manufacturers, while Wal-Mart and Target are preparing programs, said Sibert. Aldi and Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores have begun to use retail-ready packaging on shelves, he added. Some retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Target, are dropping open cases of paper towels and toilet paper into display areas in a variation of retail-ready packaging, Sibert said.
GMA and FMI are collaborating on retail-ready packaging with the two major Canadian trade associations, FCPC and the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors (CCGD), North York, Ontario.
Retail-ready packaging is characterized by five traits intended to make the distribution process easier, or the “five easies,” said Ian Ricketts, director, operational excellence, Unilever, London, which has engaged in retail-ready packaging in the U.K. for five years. One is designing outside case packaging so that products are easy to identify in the back rooms of stores, and night stockers are not faced with a “sea of brown,” said Ricketts, who followed Sibert in the Supply Chain Conference presentation.
Another is making cases or secondary packaging easy to open at the shelf, so that it takes “five seconds rather than 25 seconds to open a pack and stock the shelf,” Ricketts said. The third trait is designing trays that allow easy replenishment, or transfer of products to the shelf in groups rather than individually; two trays would occupy the width of a shelf, one behind the other.
The trays are also intended to show branding information on the shelf to promote easy shopping. “It's one more shelf-based marketing opportunity,” said Sibert. And the trays are meant to be easy to recycle. “We want to be in compliance with environmental legislation and public policy concerns,” he said. To be more sustainable, for example, cases could be designed so that the upper part detaches and leaves a tray of products at the bottom.
But retail-ready packaging also faces a number of issues making its implementation hard rather than easy. For example, standard trays are difficult to develop because the depth of store shelves varies, from 17 inches for traditional shelving to 22 inches for newer shelving, among other variations. Manufacturers may have to create trays that can accommodate different shelving dimensions, adding cost to the process, Sibert noted.
While shelf-ready packaging makes the stocking process more efficient, retailers may have to deal with labor union restrictions on stocking activity, Sibert said.
Another challenge is understanding how shoppers react to trays. “If a tray has three items left, do they pick from the back tray? We don't have a lot of insight into that,” Sibert said.
“It's hugely important to make a solution for packaging with the eye of the consumer,” added Ricketts. “If you miss that part, you really miss the boat.” Trays need to be designed to be in harmony across a category, he said.
Moreover, not every category lends itself to retail-ready packaging, so retailers and manufacturers will need to assess each category, examining its profitability and sales velocity, said Ricketts.
The business case for retail-ready packaging is based on faster replenishment, greater in-stock availability and marketing opportunities at the shelf, said Sibert. Thus far, the case has been easier to make for retailers, who don't bear the additional packaging costs, though GMA is working on showing that it applies to manufacturers as well.
Economies of scale — getting a large number of retailers to accept the new packaging — will make it easier for manufacturers to benefit. “FMI and GMA are looking at this as an issue that needs to scale to find ROI,” said Sibert. “Anytime a manufacturer does this for just one customer, it adds to the expense.” Manufacturers are not currently passing the additional cost of retail-ready packaging to retailers, he added.
Collaboration between trading partners will be important as well, said Ricketts. “In the U.K., we failed to listen to our trading partners and ended up chasing our tail.”


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The famous red guide awarded a star to ONA, the vegan and organic restaurant that chef Claire Vallée opened in 2016 thanks to a crowdfunding campaign.
For the first time in France, a restaurant that doesn’t use any animal products whatsoever has snagged a star from the prestigious Michelin guide. It’s a crowning achievement for chef Claire Vallée, who opened ONA – an acronym of “Origine Non-Animale” (or Non-Animal Origin) in Arès, near Bordeaux. She has succeeded in introducing vegan cuisine into the most exclusive circle of French haute cuisine. At Claire Vallée’s ONA,
“vegan cuisine takes center stage for the first time in a restaurant to win a Star in France,”
the press release accompanying the publication of the 2021 guidebook announced.
She also received a green star – an idea launched last year –highlighting restaurants at the forefront when it comes to sustainable practices.
A former archeologist who became a self-taught chef at age 29, Claire Vallée opened her restaurant in 2016. The menu is 100% vegetable based, featuring dishes made from local, seasonal products from organic suppliers. There is a splendid array of original dishes, from Indian-style stuffed zucchini to raspberry humus and cabbage and lime salad.
“I chose to create a cuisine which reflects my character and values, avant-garde in a multitude of aspects. I believe in plants!” the 41-year-old explains on her restaurant’s website. “For me, it is undoubtedly the cuisine of the future, because it meets all of our needs effectively: ecology, biology, ethics, humanity, and health.”
A native of Nancy, in eastern France, she discovered and became enamored with plant-based cuisine while traveling in Thailand. Upon her return, she went vegetarian first, then vegan.
“The ONA project started because of how fed up we were of seeing junk food, industrial food (both animal and vegetable) everywhere, and because of our determination to refuse animal exploitation in all its forms, the chef reminisces.”
Starting her restaurant was a real challenge. When local banks refused to finance her project, she decided to try crowdfunding, where she collected €10,000 from 126 contributors. At that point, an ethical bank decided to support the establishment, which opened its doors on October 22, 2016.
Success came quickly, and in just six months, ONA won two chef’s hats and a score of 13/20 from Gault & Millau, then a plate and a fork from the Michelin Guide in February 2018.
The 2021 Michelin Guide for France features:
30 “three-star” restaurants, including one new one
74 “two-star” restaurants, including two new ones
534 “one-star” restaurants, including 54 new ones


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- Apple Maps vs Google Maps: Features compared
- Android might no longer be free, warns Google
- Google Chrome OS Canary channel receives a new UI, smart text selection to follow soon
- Google Chrome ‘Heavy Page Capping’ will alert users of heavy-data websites
- Donald Trump grabs the first spot in Google's Image search result for 'Idiot'
- Google acknowledges camera issues on the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL
Google has been around for the last 18 years and surely knows how technology is evolving around us. Started as a software firm, Google is much more than that today, and touches every aspect of our lives with its software products including the popular Google Search, Android OS, Google Maps, Gmail, etc.
However, Google now wants to step up the game and has laid out its plans to revolutionize the way we live with its latest product line-up. The company has unveiled an entire interconnected hardware ecosystem, which includes two top-of-the line smartphones, a VR headset, an intelligent speaker, a Wi-Fi router, and a media-streaming dongle.
These products, especially the Google Pixel phones and Google Home speaker are built around the Google's most ambitious project- Google Assistant. The others take advantage of Google's cloud-based intelligence to deliver a rich multimedia experience.
Google Pixel Phones- Designed to challenge Apple’s throne
Apple has emerged to be a leader in software and hardware world with its iOS, Mac OS and the ever popular iPhones. The search engine giant surely wins when it comes to the figures talking about Android users around the globe, but the sad state of Android fragmentation is the biggest headache for the company. The software adoption rate does not concern Apple because it manufactures its own hardware and pushes the software updates instantly to users around the globe.
Google can only compete with Apple if it also takes the command of the hardware part, which the company has done with the introduction of Pixel smartphones.
Pixel phones are a direct attack on Apple's iPhone reign and packs in all sorts of tips and tricks. The hardware is top-notch and at the core is Google Assistant, which has already impressed us with its abilities as showcased in Google Allo messaging app.
Google Pixel phones will waste no time in getting software updates and is an attempt to position Android as an iPhone competitor in terms of consumer experience, quality and sales. Besides, Pixel is the first phone to support Google's Daydream virtual reality and Google Assistant.
In terms of hardware, Google pixel smartphone offers 5-inch and 5.5-inch full HD displays with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 4. They run on the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 CPUs paired up with 4GB RAM. Besides, Google says that the Pixel camera is not only the best smartphone camera company have ever made, but it's also the highest rated smartphone camera anyone has ever made.
Priced at starting from Rs 57,000, Google Pixel will be available for pre-orders in India from October 13 onwards.
Google Home- The new age home accessory
Amazon Echo gave us a glimpse of what ‘Artificial Intelligence' and ‘Machine learning' is capable of. Google Home improves on Amazon Echo by integrating an improved design featuring high quality speakers, advanced microphones and the company's ‘Neural beam Forming' technology that takes advantage of computing in cloud to identify and process your speech.
As per Google, the company has simulated hundreds of thousands of different environments - noisy environments, quiet environments - and have applied machine learning to it. Just like Google Pixel phones, Google Assistant is the heart of Google Home and shows off how far ahead Google is compared to Alexa or Siri. You can ask Google Home to play a particular song from your favorite album and it will source it from YouTube. You can ask it to create an appointment, a list, book tickets, find recipe, read out news, switch on/off lights, tricks to win games and much more.
It utilizes the power of Google's knowledge graph and give results that no other artificial assistant is capable of. Google Home will work with a few services: YouTube, Spotify, Google Play Music, Pandora, iHeart Radio, Nest, Philips Hue, SmartThings, and a few more.
Google Chromecast Ultra- Stream 4K and HDR content on your TV
How about wirelessly streaming 4K content on your TV with just voice commands. No buttons, no touch inputs, just say ‘Ok Google' and give the command, it's that simple.
With new Chromecast Ultra, you can stream 4K and HDR and content on your TV and it even lets you use Ethernet for its connection.
The new Chromecast is also connected to Google Assistant and always waiting for Google Home to stream content on your TV. You can ask Google Home to play a YouTube video on your TV and it'll command the Chromecast to begin playing.
Google Wi-Fi router and Daydream VR
Besides, Google has also introduced Google Wi-Fi router to better manage all the devices on your network. It will help your devices communicate better with the network at your home and work place, so that you never experience a drop in internet connectivity. Google Wi-Fi router is priced at approximately Rs 7,800.
Last but not the least, Google has developed another VR platform- Daydream. This one comes with a VR device, priced at Rs 4,800 approximately and is compatible with Pixel smartphones. Google aims to make Daydream a standard Android VR platform. Daydream is actually a pair of goggles that turn phones into virtual reality headsets, combined with a custom controller.


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Google Glass is already banned in strip clubs, shutting down any chance of the company’s revolutionary headgear making an appearance at several local watering holes.
Along with strip clubs, the technology is already banned in theaters, clubs, and casinos.
Google Glass is a small display situated in a frame much like eyeglasses. But the device can pair using Bluetooth to your smartphone or tablet. It can also use WiFi to access the internet.
A camera is available at the touch of a finger or even your voice — a problem for places like strip clubs and theaters where cameras are not allowed. Video recording is also available.
Peter Feinstein, managing partner of Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club in Las Vegas, is one of the first to say that the new Google Glass won’t be allowed inside. Hosts are required to check in any electronics a patron brings that could potentially be used for filming. Feinstein explained:
“We’ve been dealing with the cellphone-videoing and the picture-taking over the years, and we are quick to make sure that that doesn’t happen in the club. If we see [Google Glass] in the club, we would do the same thing that we do to people who bring cameras into the club.”
And that would be a limo ride back to that person’t hotel. While the device will likely (understandably) be banned in theaters, casinos, and strip clubs, Google Glass may also be banned at the gym — at least in the locker room.
While smartphones are becoming more and more common, Google Glass is a whole new element. It seems that the main potential issue with the technology will be protecting privacy. NBC spoke with several different organizations about the new technology, the majority of which are not yet prepared to release statements about it.
Drew Donofrio, a private investigator in New Jersey, expressed his wariness about the new technology. Donofrio explained, “My immediate concern for [Google Glass] was from a sexual predator viewpoint. Locker rooms, bathrooms, playgrounds… all [Glass] requires is a line of sight.”
Are you disappointed you won’t be able to take Google Glass into strip clubs?
[Image via Antonio Zugaldia]


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Chelsea Kane of "Dancing with the Stars" helped Pedigree kick off its "Every Dog Deserves" campaign and the launch of its petfood formula, 4 Universal Needs.
Pedigree will donate more than 100,000 pounds of petfood to shelters across the country as part of its “Every Dog Deserves” campaign.
Chelsea Kane, of "Dancing with the Stars" fame, helped kick off the “Every Dog Deserves” campaign on June 1, by delivering the first 10,000 pounds of petfood donation to the Amanda Foundation in Beverly Hills, California, USA.
In conjunction with the campaign, Pedigree launched a new dry dog food formula based on a concept called 4 Universal Needs. The company says the formula is designed to support the skin and coat, oral care, digestion and immunity needs of all dog breeds, at all stages of life.
Throughout the month of June, Pedigree also wants dog lovers to log in to Facebook and Twitter to tell the company why they think that “Every Dog Deserves” the very best. For each "Like," comment, "@reply", re-tweet and photo upload directed at Pedigree, the company will donate 1 pound of food up to 100,000 pounds total.
Is the Proportions whole food nutrition program a healthier alternative to conventional diets?
The maker of raw and holistic diets seeks to help transform pets through its products, philosophy, education and research
We asked Carol Jones-Adams, who founded and runs functional treat maker Overby Farm with her husband and business partner, Bob Adams, to tell us more about her company
Tomato pomace has the potential to provide additional nutrition and health benefits
The lowly pea appears to be an effective ingredient for the next generation of dog and cat diets
5 small steps would streamline information on petfood ingredients to help communicate with pet owners
Why these companies lead the global petfood industry in
sales, growth and innovation
Learn about more companies and how they are lending a helping paw and claw to their own cause campaigns
The company builds on its boutique business with three new lines for pet stores, including baked dog food and treats
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The Justice Department is turning to a 225-year-old law to tackle a very modern problem: password-protected cellphones.
Prosecutors last month persuaded a federal magistrate in Manhattan to order an unnamed phone maker to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to unlock a password-protected phone that could contain evidence in a credit-card-fraud case, according to court filings.
The court had approved a search warrant for the phone three weeks earlier. The phone maker, its operating system and why the government has not been able to unlock it remain under seal. The little-noticed case could offer hints for the government’s strategy to counter new encryption features from Apple Inc. and Google Inc., say privacy advocates and people familiar with such cases say.
“It’s part of what I think is going to be the next biggest fight that we see on surveillance as everyone starts to implement encryption,” said Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at Stanford University’s Center for Internet and Society. Pointing to the phrase “technical assistance” in the order, she asked, “Does this mean you have to do something to your product to make it surveillance friendly?”
But Apple and Google complicated that process this fall by including new encryption schemes in their latest operating systems that the companies say they can’t unlock. If an iPhone user sets a password for the device, the data is encrypted when the phone is locked. The only way to decrypt it – even if police ship it to Apple – is to know the password, which Apple says it doesn’t record. That technological shift prompted tense private meetings this fall between Apple and Justice Department lawyers.
Amid that standoff, the government on Oct. 10 obtained a search warrant to examine the contents of the phone in the credit-card case. The phone was locked, so prosecutors asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein to order the manufacturer to unlock it. They cited the All Writs Act, originally part of a 1789 law that gives courts broad authority to carry out their duties.
Much remains unknown, including the maker of the phone, and what happened next. The language of the opinion suggests it could apply to a company like Apple. The order is directed at the “manufacturer of the cellphone,” and Apple is one of the few companies that produce both the phone itself and the software that would manage the encryption.
Apple declined to comment. Marc Zwillinger, a Washington-based technology attorney who has represented Apple, declined to comment. James Margolin, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York, said, “It’s not that unusual for the government to use an All Writs order to get a phone-maker to unlock a phone.” But Albert Gidari, a partner at Perkins Coie LLP who has worked with technology firms on surveillance matters, questioned the government’s approach. “There’s danger in this. How far do you have to go” to assist the government, he asked.
Rulings by federal magistrates do not set formal legal precedent like higher court rulings. But published opinions from magistrates often are used by other judges to aid their thinking in similar cases, Mr. Gidari said. Brian Owsley, a former federal magistrate familiar with surveillance issues, said it may be notable that Judge Gorenstein published an opinion for a routine matter. “Typically a magistrate is just going to sign it,” said Mr. Owsley, now a professor at Indiana Tech Law School. “He could have just had a sealed order.”


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Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) EPS Analysis
It improved, as 45 investors sold Foot Locker, Inc. shares while 189 reduced holdings.
Foot Locker Inc. shares are down 15.5% in Friday trading after the athletic shoe and apparel retailer said its first-quarter results were damaged by a delay in customer receipt of IRS tax refunds. The fund purchased 53,794 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $4,024,000. More interesting news about Foot Locker, Inc.
The company’s cash flows and earnings have risen steadily over the last years, and yet the company’s shares cratered after missing estimates just slightly. FBR & Co also issued estimates for Foot Locker’s FY2018 earnings at $5.28 EPS. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in Foot Locker by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter.
Depending on the earnings numbers reported, Foot Locker, Inc. (Symbol: FL) were yielding above the 2% mark based on its quarterly dividend (annualized to $1.24), with the stock changing hands as low as $58.13 on the day. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,028 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter.
Foot Locker seems to be in better shape than its peers and is looking cheap at a P/E of 12 after today’s sell-off. (NYSE:FL) rating on Friday, August 12. Foot Locker still is ahead of its 52 week low, but now trading at the lower end of the range it has been in over the past year. Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) has a Return on Assets of 17.60%, which is key indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.38 and sales of $2.02 billion. Revenues of $7.26 billion in the quarter also bettered estimates of $7.24 billion. The analysts estimated EPS for the higher end at 1.08 and lower end at 1 while the year ago reported earnings per share was 1.03.
Still, Harrison believes demand across sporting goods will grow over the rest of the year, and Foot Locker, he said, can capitalize. Instead of running down a quick checklist of a plethora of companies reporting, as in weeks past, we focus in on mechanical equipment major Deere & Company DE and specialty retailer Foot Locker, Inc.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 28th. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 12th. Foot Locker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.71%.
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FL shares. If you are viewing this piece of content on another domain, it was copied illegally and republished in violation of US & global copyright laws. The original version of this piece of content can be viewed at https://www.thecerbatgem.com/2017/05/20/russell-investments-group-ltd-increases-position-in-foot-locker-inc-fl.html.
“[Foot Locker’s] improving product offerings, excitement around Nike’s National Basketball Association sponsorship, remodel lifts, and overall high engagement with customers should continue to drive results and share gains”, Susquehanna analyst Sam Poser wrote in a note to investors Friday morning. Revenue estimates were missed by 1%, earnings per share estimates were missed by a little less than 2% – not great, but this doesn’t seem like an appropriate reason for a 15% share price cut.
The share price of Foot Locker, Inc. Canaccord Genuity reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Foot Locker in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.91.


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The different designs can be flipped between high- and low-resistance states at different rates, from picoseconds to microseconds, each preferable in different applications. For reading a hard drive, for instance, you’d want to sense changes in a magnetic field in a few picoseconds, whereas for something like a radiation sensor, you’d want a response time measured in microseconds.
And the devices are all relatively easy to construct. “We can easily integrate a magnetic device on top of a CMOS device,” says Chen.
Wang believes that a spin memristor can be more finely tuned and is more flexible than the device HP described, which was based on the movement of ions in a material. “It’s more broad in our opinion, more controllable,” he says. In part, that’s because of the variable switching rates, but it’s also because spin is not a binary condition—neither up nor down but rather existing along a continuum. So a device doesn’t need to make a complete change from magnetized to nonmagnetized to register a change in the resistance.
Stanley Williams, the HP researhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=17555522cher who first described a memristor last May, says he’s glad to see other researchers getting into the area. “I am delighted that people are now playing the game of finding different physical representations of memristance,” he says. “In general, I think linking memristance and other phenomena such as spin transport is a very excellent path forward to putting a lot of functionality into a small package. The thing that really differentiates a memristor is the fact that it has and remembers a state. That is tremendously powerful for a passive device, and the implications of that have barely been explored.”
A University of Michigan electrical engineer has built a chip composed of nanoscale memristors that can store up to 1 kilobit of information.


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India is a big continent and many areas still lack a lot of modern services, which is what a new wireless communication company is helping to solve. Around the world, especially in emerging economies, wireless communication is vital. With wireless communication, some of the remote regions in the world can be reached today. Wireless communication affects many lives and various industries and occasions, such as:
- Improving the dispersion of medical treatments and information, guidelines for the treatment of diseases in remote areas and the collection of medical and healthcare data
- Aid in early warning of impending catastrophes and rescue operations in their aftermath. Early warnings allow people in remote places to prepare for impending disasters, providing communication between survivors and rescue workers and contacting family members in affected areas
- Protection of the environment. Mobile phones enable environmentalists to observe and monitor wildlife in their natural habitat without disturbing them too much
- Business communication. Wireless communication allows businesses to communicate with partners and customers across the globe
- Reporting of news. Wireless technology enables broadcast stations and even citizens to bring news as it happens from many parts of the world
- Wireless technology brings entertainment closer to the people, by facilitating the fast downloading of books, newspapers, games, movies, music and sports
- Working together for social change. Wireless communication helps people to work together to support various causes
- With broadband connection, students and teachers can collaborate on projects and assignments outside of traditional classroom learning
The market for wireless communication in India is huge. And communication is vital to the continent’s economy and its people. One global company based in India, is making waves in the wireless technology, smart phones, information technology and other wireless communication-based services.
Telecommunication network in India
According to the press release of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the country has the world’s second largest number of fixed and mobile phone users. Did you know that as of July 31, 2018, the number of telephone subscribers in India has reached 1.179 billion? Out of this, 1.157 million are wireless subscribers. Due to the huge competition and the number of telecom operators in India, the call tariffs in India are one of the lowest in the world. In the same press release, India’s broadband Internet subscribers have reached 460.24 million, which is the second largest in the world.
The telecommunication industry in India serves the TV broadcasting, Internet and telephone industries. Their system is currently changing into the next generation network, employing various transmission systems for interconnectivity. Subscriber access to the network is facilitated by wireless technologies, fiber optic and copper-pair. India’s telecommunication services receive huge support from the country’s INSAT system. INSAT is a domestic satellite system, which is one of the world’s largest. Communication in India is made possible by satellite, television, radio, Internet and telephone.
The growth of the telecom industry in India is largely due to market liberalization starting in the 1990s. Today, India is one of the world’s fastest-growing market for telecommunications and is one of the most competitive in the world.
The socio-economic development in the country is largely supported by telecommunication. Telecommunication helped narrow the digital divide between the rural and urban areas. Educational programs of the government are delivered to the rural areas of the country through the various telecommunication facilities.
Future of wireless communication in India
India is fast becoming wired, with the annual increases in Internet and wireless subscriptions. It is also the second largest in the world in smartphone ownership. The projection is that by 2020, India will have about one billion unique mobile phone subscribers.
Investors looking for investment venues should look at India’s telecommunication market. By 2020, the telecom equipment business in India is expected to generate US$ 26.38 billion and attract investments in 2022 of up to US$ 100 billion, according to the industry analysis of India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF).
The rural areas will feature greatly in the development of wireless communication and the telecommunication industries in India in the coming years. The industry continues to upgrade their 3G (UMTS) and 4G (LTE/WiMax) coverage. India is already paving the way for the provision of 5G services soon. In 2020 the construction of telecom towers in India will have an expected increase of about 2.9 times due to the expansion of these cellular mobile communication networks.
Moreover, the demand for Internet and mobile communication services is expected to increase, as its middle-class society gets more affluent.
Addressing the issue of the disparity in the telecommunication services between the rural and urban areas is now a major priority in India. Right now, the teledensity is 88.73% for wireless and 1.71% for wired line. This means that wireless communication is fast gaining more ground in India’s telecommunication sector. In urban areas, the teledensity is 154.77%, compared to the rural areas, where the density only reached 58.09%. But in both sectors, wireless communication outweighs wired telephony.
The Indian government’s policy supports the robust growth of the telecom industry in the country. To help investors choose which areas to put their investments in, the industry is divided into different sectors:
- Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MNVO)
- Telephone service providers
- White space spectrum
By 2020, the continuous growth of the telecommunication industry in India will generate two million indirect jobs and three million direct jobs.
One of India’s new telecom providers
A new player in the mobile network services field with headquarters in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India is Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, or simply, Jio. The aggressiveness and forward-thinking policies of the company allowed it to be one of the major players in the industry sector, besting some of the more established competitors. It provides voice over LTE connection nationally, covering all 22 telecom circles across India. The telecom circles indicate the division of the Indian subcontinent into 22 sections. The service all across India was made possible when Jio acquired a 96% stake in IBSL (Infotel Broadband Services Limited), an unlisted company.
Jio made things different during its beta launch, releasing the 4G services only to the company’s partners, 35,000 worldwide employees and their families. They also invited several Bollywood celebrities for the launch. They named actor Shah Rukh Khan as their brand ambassador. Guests included Javed Jaffrey and Ranbir Kapoor (actors), Rajkumar Hirani (filmmaker) and A. R. Rahman (musician).
In the first month after its commercial launch in September 2016, it welcomed 16 million subscribers, which was the fastest in the world. It reached 50 million subscribers after nearly four months’ operation. They surpassed the 100 million mark within five months and within one year of service, about 130 million people enjoy Jio’s wireless communication service.
Jio is allied with global mobile network operators, such as:
- BT Group (UK)
- Millicom (Luxembourg)
- Deutsche Telekom (Germany)
- Rogers Communications (Canada)
- Orange S.A. (France)
- Telia Company (Sweden)
- MTS (Canada)
- Telecom Italia (Italy)
The company competes with other global telecommunication companies, offering affordable proprietary 4G phones, 4G broadband service, WiFi services, fiber optics and several multimedia apps available from Google Play. It has formed a partnership with Samsung to develop 5G and LTE-Advanced Pro. It also has a partnership contract with Google to manufacture cheaper 4G mobile phones and develop a smart-TV services software.
And get this! The company has surpassed several older providers such as Bharti Airtel, Idea and Vodafone India. They lost about 9 million subscribers while Jio gained 13.1million new subscribers, with most of them being heavy data users. From being a secondary SIM card, Jio is now fast becoming the first SIM card.
Wireless communication is a prime business in India, due to the size of the nation. India’s population in 2018 is about 1.359 billion, with an annual growth rate of 1.19%. Projections for the telecom industry include investments in AI technology for heightened user experience and enhanced business efficiency in their areas of service. Mobile operators will also be focusing on fiber. There will be less focus on fixed broadband services. With strategic partnerships, India’s wireless communication and telecommunication sectors are going to be major players in the world market.
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Dhaka Bank inks deal with IPDC Finance
Dhaka Bank has signed an agreement recently for providing online cash management services to IPDC Finance Ltd.
Under the agreement, Dhaka Bank Ltd will provide automated fund collection and payment service to the clients. Mentionable that Dhaka Bank as the first local bank has introduced automated fund collection service from other banks’ accounts.
Mr. Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO of Dhaka Bank Ltd. and Mr. Mominul Islam, Managing Director & CEO of IPDC Finance Ltd. signed and exchanged the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.
Mr. Emranul Huq, AMD, Mr. Md. Shakir Amin Chowdhury, DMD (Operations), Mr. A K M Shahnawaj, DMD (Risk Management) of Dhaka Bank Ltd., and Mr. Kyser Hamid, DMD & Head of Retail Banking Division, Rizwan Dawood Shams, DMD and Head of Business Finance, Nawed Wahed Asif, Head of Treasury and Acting CFO, Mahzabin Ferdous, Head of Corporate Communications of IPDC Finance Ltd. along with other high officials of both the organizations were present at the signing ceremony.


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Death of dawa ya mende, panya na wadudu: Streets vendors face closure
The Pest Control Products Board (PCPB) has taken a significant step in regulating the sale of pest control products, and street vendors selling cockroach and rat poisons are on notice.
In an exclusive interview with Nairobi News, PCPB’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Fredrick Muchiri, revealed the board’s response to the widespread sale of dangerous and unregulated pesticides in Kenya.
This initiative is aimed at safeguarding public health and safety, especially for those who purchase these products, some of which are counterfeit and potentially hazardous.
Mr Muchiri acknowledged the presence of unapproved chemicals in the country, with some infiltrating Kenya through its neighboring countries’ borders.
To address this issue, the PCPB has proposed a plan to halt the sale and distribution of cockroaches and rat poisons on the streets.
While street vendors themselves may not be the primary focus of this crackdown, the board is targeting the suppliers as the source of these pesticides.
“We are targeting the source, where these chemicals come from. By addressing that, these unregulated insect pesticides will no longer be seen on the streets,” explained Mr Muchiri.
He emphasized the need for order and regulation, stating, “A vendor can sell you anything, but now it’s time to stop the indiscriminate sale of chemicals.”
To carry out this operation effectively, the PCPB will collaborate with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to dismantle the network of rogue traders who are illegally selling these chemicals.
This move by the PCPB follows recent revelations from a local Non-Governmental Organization about the presence of hazardous chemicals, particularly in the agricultural sector. Some of these chemicals, which are used to combat pests and plant diseases, have been banned but continue to be used in the country.
Kirinyaga County was highlighted as one of the regions heavily affected, with farmers using prohibited pesticides without reporting their use. The situation raises concerns about the safety and health of those exposed to these hazardous substances.
The PCPB’s efforts are aimed at ensuring that pest control products are properly regulated and that they do not pose risks to human health, the environment, or public safety.
The crackdown on illegal and unregulated pesticides is part of a broader initiative to enhance public health and safety standards across the country.


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Dissatisfaction with Kaseya’s auto-renewal policy has been a frequent topic of conversation in online forums ever since the company announced plans to acquire fellow managed services vendor Datto in April. Wagner emphasized that there have been no changes to Datto’s contracts or renewal terms since that transaction closed in June, and that the new rules announced today apply only to products from Kaseya and its other business units, including IT Glue, ID Agent, Graphus, and RapidFire Tools.
“There are no changes currently being announced for Datto products,” she says.
Wagner hopes that Datto partners worried that they too would be subject to three-year renewals find today’s news reassuring. “We believe that the change that Kaseya is making brings us much more in line to what they’re used to with Datto,” she says.


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A brand new article on the site Vkool.com exposes 20 worst foods to eat before bed that people should avoid. Is it believable?
Seattle, WA (PRWEB) June 11, 2014
The article on the website Vkool.com exposes 20 worst foods to eat before bed that people should avoid. Worst foods to eat before bed is a brand new article that is useful for people who want to keep their body healthy and avoid sleep disorder. The writer of this article – Lien Nguyen – indicates that if people feel hungry at night, they should never reach for 20 worst foods in her list due to their unhealthy effects. In the first part of the article, author Lien Nguyen introduce 10 foods and ingredients that are very unhealthy if people eat them late at night. She states that people should not eat chicken because protein in this food will be counterproductive if it is consumed right before bedtime. People should also avoid eating bacon cheese burger late at night. It is proven clearly that bacon cheese burger is actually a sleep killer due to its stratospheric fat content. Lien Nguyen states that people should stay away from sugary cereals if they do not want to get high level of sugar and cannot get a good night’s sleep.
Secondly, Lien Nguyen exposes 10 other foods that people should never eat before they go to bed. Lien Nguyen tells people not to eat too much fruits late at night. Fruits contain lots of sugar that can cause gas and even stomachache. Celery is also one of the worst foods to eat before bed that people should avoid. Instead of eating celery, people can opt for carrots, red bell peppers, and homemade hummus before going to bed in moderation. Green smoothie is also a smart choice. Finally, Lien Nguyen said that people should not stock pastries like donuts, fritters, turnovers, and sweets like cookies, cakes, and cupcakes in their house. If people do not want to get some extra pounds, or if people do not want to wake up hungry at mid-night because of low blood sugar, they should remember not to reach for pastries and sweets late at night.
Samantha from the site Vkool.com said: “This article is very helpful for me and people who want to get a goodnight’s sleep. Previously, I just wanted to find foods to eat at night. After reading this article, I thought that I should avoid eating unhealthy foods to avoid sleep disorder. Lien Nguyen states that people will be able to sleep better if they avoid eating the 20 worst foods before bedtime that she mentions in her article. I believe that this article will be helpful for everyone in the world.”
If people want to read the full article, they should visit the site: http://vkool.com/worst-foods-to-eat-before-bed/.
About Lien Nguyen – the writer of the worst foods to eat before bed article: Lien has been working for the Vkool for years. She is responsible for giving customers the most honest and informative overviews of many useful products. If people want to contact Lien Nguyen, they can send her an email.


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Obama’s executive actions on gun control has caused an enormous spike in gun sales, according to data from manufacturer Smith & Wesson and the FBI.
The sales have been so explosive that merchants are having a difficult time keeping guns in stock, the gun manufacturing company notes.
Some analysts speculate that there’s a definite link between Obama’s expected gun control announcement and increased sales, a trend which has periodically repeated itself through the Obama’s two terms in the White House.
Smith & Wesson confirmed in a press release that demand has shot through the roof since Obama took office in 2009. “We experienced strong consumer demand for our firearm products following a new administration taking office in Washington, D.C., in 2009,” Smith & Wesson said.
In 2015, the FBI processed more than 23.1 million firearm-related background checks – a record high in American history.
That figure is supported by a massive increase in background checks in December. In that month alone, there were 3.3 million background checks performed – a number almost a half-million higher than December 2012, the previous record.
The feds don’t track gun sales, but they do track the NICS background checks necessary to purchase a gun at a licensed dealer. Background checks are considered to be the most reliable gauge of how many firearms are sold in any given period of time — although the numbers aren’t perfect because checks aren’t required between private parties and one background check can cover the purchase of multiple firearms.
Management at Smith & Wesson released data Monday evening predicting an increase in sales from between $175 to $180 million, a shift upward from earlier expectations of $150 to $155 million, Business Insider reports.
Obama’s package of executive orders forces background checks for internet sellers and sellers at gun shows, requires background checks for guns purchased through corporations, increases the number of inspections of gun dealers, and budgets more money to track down gun-owning citizens.
Conservatives insist the president’s actions are an encroachment on the Second Amendment.
GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump told CNN on Monday during an interview that, “Pretty soon you won’t be able to get guns. It’s another step in the way of not getting guns.”


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PUBLISHED: Thu, 12 Jul 2018 09:10:25 GMT
Blockchain is revolutionising financial markets around the world. Binkabi, a blockchain based commodity trading platform, has launched a pilot program for agriculture commodity traders in emerging markets. Quan Le, CEO of Binkabi joins CNBC Africa to shed some light on how block chain can be applied to commodity trading.
Get the best of CNBC Africa sent straight to your inbox with breaking business news, insights and updates from experts across the continent. Sign up here.


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The Hearing Research Clinic, which will offer online screening and support for people with hearing loss concerns, will open on 16th July 2017 in Durban.
All posts tagged 'De Wet Swanepoel'
World Hearing Day aims to draw attention to hearing loss, its economic impact and the cost-effectiveness of interventions to address it.
hearScreen is now active in more than 25 countries across the world and plans to expand to a further 15 by the end of 2017.
The first day of the African eHealth landmark event, eHealthALIVE2016, has brought together key decision makers from across the SADC region.
Lead-inventor and Co-founder of hearScreen, Professor De Wet Swanepoel, talks about how his mHealth solution is addressing a global hearing loss crisis.
The University of Pretoria is hosting an Ear and Hearing Care mHealth Symposium to showcase solutions developed by the university.
hearScreen, in partnership with the University of Pretoria, will launch a National Hearing Test app, called hearZA™, on World Hearing Day.
The award winning hearScreen mHealth solution has won the first Philips South African Innovation Fellows Competition.
Following the announcement of the first Innovation Fellows Competition last month, Philips Africa is a step closer to revealing healthcare’s next big idea.
The award winning hearScreen app has been selected as one of the 30 next top impact start-ups to join the Global Impact Accelerator programme.
Audiologist at the University of Pretoria, Prof De Wet Swanepoel, has led development of an innovative app, called hearScreen, to screen for hearing loss.


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The operator Vodafone officially announces that it will add roaming tariffs in Europe for its UK customers from January next year. This may seem like “normal” news given Brexit, but it is not so much when the operator itself has said through active and passive that it will not add these tariffs to its customers.
In fact, all operators have announced in the UK that they will not change or add these roaming charges in Europe after Brexit, but the first to swallow these words was EE Mobile, and now Vodafone has followed in their footsteps
Tariffs applied in contract changes, new holders and from January 6
This announcement is official by Vodafone and any user who visits the company from August 11 of this year will be subject to these new rates, these They will start billing on January 6 of next year.
Customers who have contracted the “Unlimited Data Xtra Package” or the “Limited Data Xtra Package” from the operator Vodafone will be exempt from additional payments or roaming tariff changes which will affect other customers. It seems that these customers will not be so lucky and You will have to go through the box to make calls, send messages and more outside the country. The news has been published by various media and one of them is 9To5Mac.


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Research In Motion Ltd reported a narrower-than-expected loss on Thursday and the struggling BlackBerry maker said it increased its cash pile, a hopeful sign for the launch of its make-or-break line of revamped smartphones next year.
Shares of RIM rose more than 15 percent as investors were encouraged by indications the company will have sufficient cash to push ahead with a robust marketing campaign of its next-generation BB10 devices, due out in early 2013.
In another rare ray of optimism for the embattled company, RIM posted a loss that was smaller than expected and it generated more revenue than forecast.
“It’s still bad, but it’s a much smaller disaster than expected,” said Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu. “These stocks all trade on expectations. Expectations were really low, and they were able to beat that.”
The company has staked its future on BB10. A one-time smartphone pioneer, RIM has failed to keep pace with innovations by rivals such as Apple and Samsung. RIM’s share price has tumbled about 70 percent over the past year as the BlackBerry’s market share tumbled.
The Waterloo, Ontario-based company reported a net loss of $235 million or 45 cents a share, in its fiscal second quarter, ended Sept 1. That compared with a profit of $329 million, or 63 cents, in the same period a year earlier.
Excluding one-time restructuring-related items, the loss came in at $142 million, or 27 cents a share, in the quarter just ended.
Revenue rose to $2.9 billion, or 2 percent from the fiscal first quarter, but the latest result was down about 30 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Analysts, on average, had expected RIM to reported a loss of 46 cents a share, on revenues of $2.5 billion, according to Thomson Reuters


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Ad Deemed 'Too Controversial' for Trinity Groves Mall Alerts Top Beef-Producing State to Meat-Eating's Link to Impotence
For Immediate Release:
June 28, 2017
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382
Dallas – “Meat interrupts your sex life!” That’s the message on a new PETA billboard that just went up in Dallas and shows a cow lying in bed between the members of a disappointed-looking couple. The ad aims to remind residents of the country’s top beef-producing state that artery-clogging meat and dairy foods can have a major impact on what happens—or doesn’t happen—in the bedroom.
The billboard is located on Interstate 35 East, just off exit 429D. PETA tried to run the ad at the nearby Trinity Groves mall, but the facility’s media company rejected the campaign on behalf of the property owner, saying, “Trinity Groves is best known for it’s [sic] restaurants and unfortunately this message is too controversial given the products the restaurant serve [sic].”
“There’s nothing sexy about animal suffering and clogged arteries,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s cheeky billboard will have Dallas diners swapping that deadly date-night steak for a vibrant veggie burger in a heartbeat.”
The saturated fat in meat, eggs, and dairy foods can cause high cholesterol, which leads to plaque buildup and hardening of the arteries, slowing the flow of blood to all the body’s organs, not just the heart. Low-fat vegan meals have been shown to address the physical causes involved in the vast majority of impotence cases, including high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, prostate cancer or inflammation, and hormonal imbalances. And of course, each person who goes vegan saves more than 100 animals every year from daily suffering and a terrifying death in today’s industrialized meat, egg, and dairy industries.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—is running a similar ad featuring a pig in North Carolina, the country’s top pork-producing state, and another featuring a chicken in Georgia, the top poultry-producing state.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.


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A brand new smartphone from Oppo has finally arrived, the Oppo R1C has a 5-inch 720p HD LTPS LCD screen display with a 64-bit Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615. But the main and vast feature about the phone is the sapphire clad rear panel.
The Oppo R1c has a flat back and without the classic removable battery cover, however, there is a sapphire glass panel which protects the smartphone from scratches and maybe from shattering and the Oppo R1c is measured to 6.85mm thick with the help of the sapphire glass.
Back to the smartphone, the device has a 2GB RAM, a 16GB internal storage, a 13MP Sony Exmor RS (IMX214) primary camera and a 5MP front camera and including a 2420mAh battery. The device runs on ColorOS 2.0.1 on top of Android 4.4 KitKat. The Oppo R1c offers a 4G LTE connectivity for Asia and has dual-sim, one micro sim and one nano sim. The Oppo is expected to be at CNY2499 (MYR1446).
Let us know what do you think about Oppo’s new smartphone.
Source: Android Authority


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Brie Larson is a well-known actress who has worked in Hollywood since she was just a teenager. Now 34 years old, she has over a decade of experience and an impressive 77 acting credits, according to IMDb.
While she has plenty of roles to brag about, Brie Larson is best known for two major roles. Firstly, Brie Larson won Best Actress at the 2016 Oscars for her leading role as Joy (“Ma”) in Room.
This role cemented Brie Larson as a breakout star and set her up for her next big break. In 2019, Brie Larson once again graced screens worldwide in the titular role of Captain Marvel.
Brie Larson is best known for her role as Joy in the drama film Room and her titular role as Captain Marvel (Credit: Avalon / WENN)
After her appearance in “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019, Brie Larson reprised her role as Captain Marvel in the sequel “The Marvels.”
Contrary to initial plans for a February 2023 release as part of Phase Four, the film premiered on November 7, 2023, and was released in the United States on November 10, 2023, becoming a part of Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe is more than enough to launch any actor or actress into the spotlight, and her ongoing role guarantees that Brie Larson won’t be leaving the limelight anytime soon.
Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel character was marketed as the strongest avenger (Credit: Marvel)
While Brie Larson is booked and busy within Hollywood, she is a relatively controversial figure to the public.
Some fans were less than thrilled to accept that Larson’s character, Captain Marvel, was immediately marketed as the strongest Avenger, even when compared to ultra-powerful characters like Thor.
However, Brie Larson quashed that discussion in several public statements- she, alongside the actual creators behind Marvel, knew that her character was the strongest and didn’t shy away from sharing it. However, her manner of doing so rubbed some people the wrong way.
Brie Larson has absolutely no problem fighting for equality and feminism both in Hollywood and in society at large. While her actions are well-intended, she has alienated a certain sector of the public through her devout stance on social issues.
Brie Larson’s Work with Nissan
Thanks to her star status, Brie Larson has entered into a long-term partnership with Nissan and is the main face of the brand, having appeared in several commercials for them, with more still to come.
Brie Larson received backlash for starring in a feminist commercial for Nissan Sentra (Credit: YouTube / Nissan)
However, when Nissan’s first ad featuring Brie Larson was released in March 2020, it caused a bit of backlash, mainly due to her public statements on feminism.
Much of Nissan’s previous fanbase did not necessarily align with Brie’s values, and the ad itself featured Brie telling a woman never to compromise in the workplace.
Many angry fans found the video too “woke” and even threatened to boycott Nissan due to their work with Brie.
Watch the controversial video for yourself here:
However, as society progresses alongside Hollywood with movements such as “Me Too” and “Time’s Up” going viral in recent years, it makes sense that brands are looking to enhance their stance on gender equality- even if it doesn’t fully resonate with their entire consumer base.
Despite the initial backlash it received, Nissan maintained its commitment to working with Brie Larson and released another campaign with the actress in November 2020. Nissan even went so far as to enhance its commitment, and Brie Larson is now set to be the face of the brand for the next several years.
“The key thing with any brand-building is to build consistency,” Allyson Witherspoon, vice president and chief marketing officer of Nissan U.S., told Forbes in 2020.
“We’re on a path of massive transformation with these new models. Building that story over time is a key objective for any brand, and the use of a consistent personality can help tell that story. So we’ve entered a multi-year partnership with [Larson] that extends through our long transformation and the launch of these products.”
Representatives from Nissan told Forbes that the brand wants to remain consistent in its efforts towards diversity and inclusion and that working with an actress as outspoken as Brie Larson was one of the ways they plan to do so.
How Much is She Paid?
While Brie Larson’s main source of income comes from her acting credits and roles in major movies such as Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, her long-term partnership with a brand as well-known as Nissan is definitely earning her a pretty penny as well.
Brie Larson signed a multi-year contract with Nissan, which guarantees multiple appearances in their future ad campaigns (Credit: Nissan USA / YouTube)
Because Larson is such a household name and arguably an A-list actress, thanks to her involvement with Marvel, her retainer fee is undoubtedly quite high.
She made $5 million from the original Captain Marvel movie alone and has a reported net worth of around $25 million.
With her multi-year partnership with Nissan, Brie Larson has most likely earned a seven-figure income for her Nissan commercials (Credit: @Nissan USA / Youtube)
With Nissan committing to a multi-year contract with the actress guaranteeing multiple appearances in their future ad campaigns, it’s safe to assume that she has cashed in anywhere from the high six-figure range to the low seven-figure range from their deal- most likely the latter.
Nissan’s Actress Roster
While Brie Larson is the unmistakable brand ambassador for Nissan, she isn’t the only celebrity to have graced Nissan’s commercials in the past.
Amanda Booth is an actress and model who took on the role of a Runaway Bride in a recent commercial, where she escaped a supposedly psychopathic groom with ease in the 2021 Nissan Rogue.
Booth is 37 years old and is best known for her acting work in TV shows such as Community and her work as a model for several notable publications like Italian Vogue and Elle.
Dominican actress Sonalii Castillo stars in the 2021 Nissan KICKS commercial (Credit: @Nissan USA / Youtube)
Sonalii Castillo is another notable actress and model who has graced the Nissan commercial screen.
In her ad, she is seen grinning and having a great day, sending color and love to all those she passes while driving her 2021 Nissan KICKS.
Castillo first got scouted as a model, but over the years, transitioned to acting- she has appeared in several TV shows such as The Outpost and Variant.
New Girl star Hina Abdullah appears in Nissan’s Spy Thriller commercial for the 2021 Nissan Altima (Credit: iSpot)
Finally, actress Hina Abdullah appears in Nissan’s Spy Thriller commercial for the 2021 Nissan Altima. Abdullah has several minor roles to her name and has appeared in popular TV shows such as New Girl and Gossip Girl.
All in all, thanks partly to these talented actresses, Nissan’s general commercial strategy is shifting to promote more gender equality and showcase women in positions of power.
With the likes of Brie Larson and more, it will be exciting to see what they do next with the star power they have at their fingertips!


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December 9, 2015
After receiving great feedback for our last LTP9 report on the biometric authentication in the payments industry, we couldn’t wait to release the LTP9 report for P2P payments (person-to-person payments). The reason we chose P2P payments is because of the significant increase in the volume of P2P payments reported by leading players like Venmo, recent efforts put by top US banks and financial sector giants like FIS in the industry to execute real-time payments, and partnerships, mergers & acquisitions seen in the segment in the past couple of years. Financial institutions including banks are broadening their range of services on the way to becoming leaders in the FinTech industry while tech companies like Google, Facebook and Apple are entering the space. However, this leaderboard will give you an overview of the existing players in P2P payments and how well each of them is performing.
P2P payment, also known as person-to-person payment or peer-to-peer payment, has been a hot topic in the FinTech industry since the past five years. After an in-depth primary and secondary research of nearly 29 companies that included startups like Venmo, early players like Western Union and financial services providers, we shortlisted the top 15 companies in the market on the basis of numerous elements like market potential, past and present performance, popularity amongst different target segments and other quantitative and qualitative assessments necessary in the payments industry.
We further continued with a comprehensive and careful analysis to create our LTP9 leader dashboard for the top nine P2P companies in the industry. This filtration of nine companies from 15 was based on the three parameters put together by our in-house industry experts. These parameters are Focus, Momentum and Impact. While evaluating these companies, we considered all possible factors including transfer fee, transfer time, availability on apps and/or website, the number of users, the volume of transactions, market share, potential mergers & acquisitions, and drawbacks of each company. We also considered other critical elements such as the security associated with transfers by each company, the technology behind transfers, the social media element for each company, and views of opinion leaders and key industry stakeholders.
The LTP Canvas Report includes the raw data, industry overview & trends, US P2P payments market analyses, and comprehensive insights & understanding for the companies in the P2P payments segment. It also talks about the process through which the companies have been given their respective ratings—as per the framework—to arrive at the P2P Payments LTP9.
Highlights of the report:
- The US P2P payments space is broadly divided into three categories. P2P payment services are being offered directly to the end-user or to the end-users via financial institutions or both via financial institution and directly to the end-users.
- In terms of total payments value, PayPal, the early mover in this space is leading the segment in the B2C market while clearXchange is leading the B2B market by reaching around 7500 financial institutions and their 100 million online banking customers.
- Amongst the top nine companies shortlisted, we analyzed that the ninth position will be taken over by a tech giant in the US. Given the fact that tech giants have entered the space, the existing companies in the space do not have enough impact to be a part of LTP9. We predict Facebook or Apple to take that place as Facebook launched P2P payments few months ago while Apple filed a patent application titled Person-To-Person Payments Using Electronic Devices to the US Patent and Trademark office and is in talks with banks in the US for P2P payments.
- P2P payments will face fierce competition in the next five years with two big announcements from FIS and its partner The Clearing House and clearXchange and its partner Early Warning.
- The report includes a forecasted increase in total P2P payments volume from 2016 to 2018 based on existing industry announcements.
Brief Profiles of the Shortlisted "LTP9 P2P Payments Category" Companies
PayPal: PayPal is a global online payments company with existence in 203 markets and 169 million active customer accounts. Almost half of its customer base is in the US. PayPal’s P2P platform is one of the oldest in the industry. PayPal enables free money transfer between two PayPal accounts. Withdrawing money from your PayPal account is free of cost. In September 2015, PayPal also launched its new peer-to-peer service, PayPal.me in an attempt to make person-to-person payments simpler and social.
Venmo: Venmo is a payment platform used for peer-to-peer or person-to-person payments within the Venmo mobile app or within Venmo’s website. One can link their Venmo account to bank accounts, debit cards or credit cards. The money received via Venmo is stored as Venmo balance and it can be transferred to the bank account at any moment. A user can deposit the Venmo balance free of cost via the app or the website to his or her bank account. Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail, two freshman year roommates at the University of Pennsylvania in 2001, founded Venmo in 2009. Venmo was acquired by Braintree in August 2012. PayPal then acquired Braintree in September 2013.
Google Wallet: In September 2015, Google re-launched Google Wallet as a P2P payments mobile app. The old version of Google Wallet had let users use tap-and-pay using their phone. However, Google rebranded Google Wallet as an exclusively P2P payments app while it let Android Pay take care of the tap-and-pay NFC feature. While NFC didn’t go well with Google Wallet, P2P payments seem to be bringing success to Google Wallet. In fact, Google Wallet has more users than Square Cash on Android’s Play Store.
Dwolla: Founded in 2008, Dwolla enables real-time payments by offering a real-time payments system and payments network to participating individuals and financial institutions. In June 2015, Dwolla removed all the fees on P2P transfers with monthly limits for each account. While Dwolla has been somewhat popular on the B2C side, it seems to gain rapid momentum on the B2B side. In April 2015, BBVA Compass, a $75-billion bank with 688 branches in the US, launched real-time fund transfer using Dwolla’s payments system. Dwolla has also recently partnered with financial institutions like global payments company Seamless and mobile banking and payments service provider with 800+ financial institutions, mFoundry.
Square Cash: Square Cash is a free P2P payments platform owned by Square Inc., a credit card processing and payment solutions company for businesses. Square Cash is unique in a way because it has a feature called Cashtags. With cashtags, one can easily make a P2P transfer using the link: www.cash.me/$cashtag. The Nearby feature within the app allows a user to send money using Bluetooth low energy (BLE). In March 2016, Square Cash also announced a peer-to-peer option for small businesses to accept payments.
PopMoney by Fiserv: Popmoney is a P2P payments platform for consumers and a P2P payments integration solution for financial institutions. Popmoney P2P payments services for financial institutions are provided by Fiserv Inc. More than 2400 financial institutions are using Fiserv’s Popmoney services to enable P2P payments for their end customers. These 2400 financial institutions enable around 70 million US online banking customers to access Popmoney’s P2P payments service. The B2B offering by Popmoney enables financial institutions like banks and credit unions to incorporate P2P payments within their online banking and mobile banking system. The B2C offering is directly available for consumers to use on popmoney.com or Popmoney’s mobile app where users can send, request or receive money using an email or mobile number.
clearXchange: clearXchange is the first P2P payments network created by a few of the biggest banks in the US that included Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, US Bank and Capital One. Recently, it was announced that BB&T Group and PNC Financial Services Group will join the clearXchange network as Early Warning, a risk management collaboration owned by Bank of America, BB&T, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, BB&T and Wells Fargo, will acquire and own clearXchange. Around 7500 financial institutions are a part of clearXchange’s network and more than 100 million online banking customers in the US can access clearXchange’s P2P platform.
FIS’ People Pay: One of the leading global banking solutions provider, FIS, entered the P2P payments space in 2013 with its product People Pay, which uses PayNet, a real-time payments network owned by FIS and NYCE (the electronic fund transfer switch owned by FIS to help financial institutions make P2P payments available to their end customers). While FIS may be offering its P2P payments service to at least 40% of the 3000 financial institutions clients it has in the US, the biggest news from FIS in the P2P payments space came earlier in Q4 2015. FIS also announced a partnership with The Clearing House (TCH), the oldest banking association and payments company to execute an omnipresent real-time payments system in the US.
A lot is going to happen in the P2P payments space in the US in 2016 and 2017. With the US’ top banks coming together to form a large real-time payments network, Venmo’s future might be in danger. Will a real-time payments network erase the line between P2P payments and bank money transfers in the US soon? On the other hand, FIS and The Clearing House are warming up to compete with clearXchange. While residents of the industry are taking quick steps one after another, aliens from the tech industry are trying to enter the space. Facebook launched P2P payments in the US a few months ago and is silent about it right now. Does the silence indicate the big storm following it? Google and Apple’s competition will be soon seen in the P2P payments space.
To study the in-depth numbers in the space and what P2P payments in the US will look like in the next five years, buy this report at an introductory price of $750.


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In September 2016 real GDP growth pace (according to preliminary estimations) made up 1.5%. The figure marked 2.2% in the third quarter of 2016, while January to September growth made up 2.6%.
This figure slightly exceeds the IMF forecast, under which Georgia’s economic growth in 2016 was fixed at 2.5%. At the same time, the World Bank prognosis totaled 3%.
It should be also noted that GDP quarter growth dynamics for several years shows declination trends. Economic growth in the 4th quarter of 2013 made up 7.6% compared to the same period of 2012. Over the past 6 quarters, this indicator made up only 2.6% and this is very low figure for developing countries like Georgia.
Crediting volume also shows that economic activity is declining. In 2016 commercial banks have shrunk crediting volume. In 2015 averaged annual growth in loans in national economy made up 31.9%, while in January-July 2016 the growth pace marked only 9.3%.
It is worth noting that crediting volume was quickly rising in development sector (31.2%) and hotels and restaurants sector (18.5%), while crediting volume sharply dropped in commerce and transport and communication sectors, by 8.5% and 11.4% on average, respectively. Consumer loans growth pace also extremely decreased – the averaged figure was 21.3% in 2015 and in the reporting period the indicator recorded only 1.6%.
Crediting volume also significantly declined in healthcare and social services, but the contraction in absolute indicators was insignificant, because their ratio in loans of this category is very low. It is worth noting similar contraction tendency continues throughout the year (excluding the development sector, which recorded 22-25% upturn at the beginning of the year and 41-45% growth in July-August).
As reported, this year government of Georgia forecasts 3% upturn. This prognosis seems questionable, but National Bank of Georgia makes optimistic forecasts anyway. According to the November monetary policy report, economic growth will mark 3.5% in 2016. Despite risks exposed in the third quarter, the upturn may be lower than the announced indicator.
According to the forecast, economic growth is planned at 4.5% for 2017 thanks to higher investment inflows and increased consumption amid normalization of monetary policy and fiscal stimulus.
According to weak joint demand among trade partners, it is expected that in 2017 net exports have a little negative contribution as a result of slight growth in goods exports and increased demand for imports. The mentioned forecast implies that, along with improved economic conditions among trade partners, in 2017 money inflows and revenues from tourism sector will increase.
The NBG optimistic forecasts are encouraging our society, but it is doubtful whether these forecasts will be fulfilled in reality. Even the planned monetary policy could not be maintained within planned indicators.
As reported, the NBG expected 5% surge in inflation, while we have deflation, according to October indicators. According to the NBG forecast, low inflation indicators will be maintained in fourth quarter of 2016. However, the figure will increase stage by stage starting 2017 and will remain within target indicator in midterm period.
Starting 2018 the NBG target indicator will be 3% instead of current 5%.
The 2016 budget policy is the result of low economic growth. The budget spending priorities show that no special economic breakthrough is expected. For example, according to January to June final report, social allowances constituted a major part of state budget expenditures – 37.4%, while expenditures on wages made up 17.7%, and on goods and services – 12.6%. To put simply, more than 67% of budget funds were spent on directions that give no economic return. State budget is 10 billion GEL and 6.7 billion was spent without economic return. Naturally, GDP growth would be low.
Finally, neither economic growth nor priority of budget spending nor economy crediting indicators give ground to talk about significant economic progress in 2016.


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The 70 Series Land Cruiser is immortal, apparently. With four facelifts since its introduction in 1984, the 70 Series is like Toyota’s secret Mercedes G-Class. Unlike the G, unfortunately, most of the world doesn’t get the 70 Series; only Japan, Australia, and the Middle East enjoy the privilege of buying the massaged and carefully updated old Land Cruiser. But even fewer get to buy the ultra-cool three-door short-wheelbase variant announced with the 2024 facelift.
Yes, this is just a dream for those of us in the U.S. According to Carscoops, only folks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will get to order the short-wheelbase 70 Series, at least according to Toyota’s UAE website. Historically, the three-door variants have been available wherever the 70 Series was sold, but with recent crash and emissions regulations, the market has narrowed considerably.
That’s not to say Toyota won’t expand the domain of the three-door Land Cruiser. The automaker has made considerable effort to keep the 70 Series alive despite all manner of regulatory roadblocks. In 2015, Toyota stopped selling the truck in Japan due to crash regulations, while emissions laws have globally tightened. With this facelift, the truck returns to Japan thanks to improved crash safety. There’s also a new powertrain option, in the form of a 2.8-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder that outperforms the old 4.5-liter turbodiesel V8, though the V8 is still available for most of the range.
For the UAE, the short-wheelbase truck will be available with a 4.0-liter gasoline V6 and six-speed automatic transmission. There aren’t many options besides four matter-of-factly named colors (white, silver metallic, gray metallic, and beige), and just a single interior color option. It’s no frills, as a Land Cruiser should be. We’ll just have to enjoy the 70 Series’ retro-nouveau aesthetic from afar. At least the one we're getting next year, mechanically worlds apart though it may be, borrows inspiration from the proper place.
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On the 12th of November, 27 Kiwi creatives got together in front of a few hundred people at Auckland’s Aotea Centre to discuss their work, their lessons and their insights.
Except it was never meant to happen.
Semi Permanent Auckland, one stop of a global series of events aimed at promoting the creative industries, was meant to be a day where people could hear from some of the best in the business. But because New Zealand’s event was originally scheduled to occur during lockdown, postponement was a given and new dates for 2021 were announced.
Our creative community effectively sucked it up and got on with life. But then on the 16th of October everything changed again.
“Semi Permanent Aotearoa is coming back and it’s FREE.”
Opting to host the entire day both online and in-person opened the floor for everyone to attend. And for us in the Garden City, being able to watch the first-of-its-kind livestream without the usual cost of flights, accommodation and the steep (but worth it) ticket prices is just what many of us needed.
Without going into detail of every speaker, here’s a few excerpts and ideas that might inspire you to get over to their stream (which is still free in its entirety) and hear from the speakers themselves.
Even if you’re not the ‘creative’ type: anyone in business can learn a thing or two from each of them. In fact, many of the speakers are successful business owners themselves.
Kate Sylvester – fashion designer
Originally shying away from putting her name to her clothes for fear of coming across as pretentious, when Kate eventually bit the bullet due to copyright issues she did it in the best way; taking out an obituary in the Herald that announced the death of the old brand, it’s succession, and even including a plug for the sample sale. It’s some seriously good copy, and you can see it right there 👉.
Mike Jensen – industrial designer
Slaving over which knobs and handles go on your oven might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Mike made it sound like the most interesting thing in the world. He’s GM of Industrial Design at Fisher & Paykel Appliances, and he gave a seriously good talk on the importance of taking time to create things people want to use for a long time. His best anecdote, however, was on being the right amount of different. He likened it to three vegetables.
Jamie McLellan – product designer
Head of design for Allbirds, Jamie started his talk by saying, “we’re going to look back at wearing petrochemical synthetics the way we look at smoking on airplanes.”
It’s a big call, but it made sense. What used to be glamourous and commonplace is now, well, disgusting. And for a brand who are now looking way past the merino shoes that put them on the map, the way they share a huge chunk of their R&D for free went to show how much they’re committed to bringing the rest of their industry with them.
Kelvin Soh – graphic designer
An acclaimed graphic designer who knows his way around strategy, Kelvin had perhaps the quote of the day for me. When it comes to branding, he thinks of it as “creating the unique character that sits within an ensemble cast.” He also figured out how to use a handful of individual colours across a range of skincare that enables any product to sit perfectly with another – considering thousands of combinations to create a seamless execution.
Deadly Ponies – fashion brand
Saving the best for last (I watched this one twice), what struck me about this high end brand was the way they think of their own success in relation to their competition. Up against names like Hermès and Louis Vuitton – established in 1837 and 1854 respectively – after 15 years of acclaim they see their journey as one that’s only just beginning. The other thing that stood out was the meeting they had with a business adviser. I won’t spoil what she said, but it’s seriously worth a watch.
For info on all 27 speakers and performers, click here.