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Personal digital assistant maker Handspring Inc. began giving away its expansion cellular phone module for free on Tuesday, only weeks after slashing the price to $49 from $249.
The free offer only applies when the phone is purchased along with a handheld through Handspring’s Web site, and then immediately activated through a compatible carrier.
Customers in California and Massachusetts will have to pay taxes of $15 to $25 on the free module, based on respective state laws, according to the fine print on Handspring’s site.
Calls to the company for comment were not immediately returned.
The VisorPhone module, which runs on cellular networks using the Global System for Mobile (GSM) standard, slips into the proprietary Springboard expansion port on the back of Handspring’s Visor handhelds and turns the device into a cell phone, using an on-screen keypad and the handheld’s microphone as the mouthpiece.
When it announced the price cut to $49 on July 16, the company acknowledged that the device had underperformed expectations.
“It just hasn’t sold as quickly in the volumes we had hoped it would sell,” a spokesman for Mountain View, California-based Handspring said at the time. The VisorPhone began shipping on Dec. 18 of last year.
On August 2, developer AirPrime and cellular carrier Sprint PCS Group announced they would offer a phone module for the Visor that ran on CDMA networks. That module is expected to be available at Sprint PCS stores next month for $250.
This new offer comes on the heels of price cuts for most of its handhelds that Handspring announced on August 20. The company cut suggested prices on its devices anywhere from $20 on lower-end models up to $100 on its relatively new Visor Edge unit.
Handspring shares closed down 18.15 percent at $2.21 a share on Nasdaq. The stock traded as high at $99.31 during the past 52 weeks.


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The first line of inexpensive iPhones is set for an unofficial release this summer. Following a meeting with Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer, noted Morgan Stanely analyst Katy Huberty is more confident than ever that Apple will introduce the much-anticipated low-cost iPhone by July. She also mentioned that the tech giant
Apple is taking its next step forward with its iPhone products, hoping to unveil a $330 iPhone mini as early as this summer, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty. The low-cost iPhone will presumably add additional revenue in its international market, specifically China, expecting to draw in a 20
Although the Internet is ablaze over rumors of a cheaper iPhone, it seems like the device itself has originated from a game of telephone; it is still a bewildering process trying to piece together whether it will actually surface or not. Nonetheless, if it does indeed come into fruition, then it would more than likely borrow from the current iPhone 5, the designed-on-a-stricter-budget iPod touch, and journey back to take design cues from the classic plastic iPhone 3G. From this conglomeration of released designs and rumors comes a very realistic gallery of images depicting what a next-generation, yet cheaper iPhone could look like.
While rumors that iPhone 6 is being actively tested spread through the app developers’ communities like so much celebrity gossip, news has emerged that many iPhone fans may find just as exciting: the iPhone could be getting even smaller. Of course, there some potential catches involved. Appropriately dubbed the “iPhone

domain: news


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Employees of state-owned firms also expressed more satisfaction with their bonuses than those at private companies – and little wonder, as the average payout at the former was Rmb17,318, or about Rmb6,000 more than what their private-sector counterparts could expect.
May the New Year be a time of laughter and real enjoyment for you. Best wishes.愿新年不仅是你欢笑的时刻，更是你欣喜的日子。祝福你。
尽管英国商学院的排名平均上升了两位，但法国商学院的排名平均下降了一位——法国是商学院数量最多的欧洲国家。里昂商学院(EMLyon Business School)由于跌出MBA榜单之外，整体排名下降了15位，同时北方高等商学院(Edhec Business School)由于未能进入EMBA榜单，整体排名下降了8位。
In March, Ford completed its exit from the luxury car market by selling Volvo to China's Geely Automobile for $1.6 billion. Although the sale represents a sharp loss - the company paid $6 billion for the Swedish automaker eleven years ago - Ford posted an annual profit of $2.7 billion in 2009, its first profitable year since 2005. Assisted by the 'Cash for Clunkers' program (not to mention Toyota's accelerator woes), Ford recaptured its position as the nation's largest carmaker in February. Which is why Ford's CEO Alan Mulally can now look abroad, including big markets like India, where it recently introduced the compact Figo.
Mr. Nathan was among the few dealers actively bidding at the evening sales. Buying on behalf of a client, he paid 506,500, or twice the estimate, at Christie’s for Charles-Antoine Coypel’s 1737 painting, “The Destruction of the Palace of Armida.”
In a sign that civil service jobs may be losing their appeal, a report issued by recruitment website Zhaopin in late March said more than 10,000 public sector employees, including civil servants and staff members at public institutions, had submitted their resumes to potential employers through the site in just two months. The number was 34 percent higher during the same period last year, the report said.
GDP reached 74.4 trillion yuan, representing 6.7-percent growth.


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M&G Investments is to close its flagship UK open-ended property fund for retail investors after 18 years.
M&G has suspended trading in the vehicle which owns £565m (€651m) in UK property assets.
The M&G Property Portfolio, which was established in 2005, is being wound up due to “declining interest” from retail investors for open-ended, daily-dealing property funds.
In recent years, open-ended, daily-dealing property funds for retail investors have experienced a number of periods when trading in the funds have been ‘gated’, when redemptions have been too high – including after the Brexit vote and during COVID-19.
M&G said the funds were “once a popular type of vehicle for UK retail investors to access real estate”, but the sector had experienced persistent outflows over several years.
As the fund has decreased in size, it has reduced M&G’s “long-term ability to maintain a diversified portfolio without incurring high, ongoing transaction costs required to configure the portfolio – particularly against a backdrop of continued and potentially accelerating outflows”, the firm said.
Once given regulatory approval, M&G wil begin selling assets “with the objective of ensuring that fair market prices are achieved”.
M&G expects it will take approximately 18 months for the majority of the portfolio to be sold and money returned to investors. M&G has therefore reduced its annual charge by 30% as of today and abolished it entirely on cash. Income distributions will continue to be paid as normal.
Neal Brooks, M&G’s global head of product and distribution, said: “When we launched this strategy in 2005, we – alongside our peers – provided access to an asset class which had historically been unavailable to long-term savers in a pooled structure. The market has since evolved.
“Declining retail investor interest across the sector for this fund structure, alongside uncertainty around their future composition is posing challenges to the future viability of funds like the M&G Property Portfolio – particularly for those investors who require daily liquidity. We considered various options, but believe this is the right decision for our investors.”
To read the latest edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.


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Science has always made its greatest strides when spurred by powerful forces. Capitalism and global trade pushed the innovations of the Industrial Revolution. Global war efforts have led to advancements in food storage, aviation and communications systems. As it turns out, there are fewer forces greater than humanity’s thirst for beer.
By way of example, Danish brewing company Carlsberg first established a laboratory in 1876 in order to advance the science of beer. One of the lab’s first major breakthroughs came in the development of a purified yeast that is still used by many industrial brewers to this day. Another scientific breakthroughthe development of the pH scalehas found applications that stretch far beyond the brewing world.
Carlsberg continues its tradition of pairing science and brewing to this day. One of the most recent efforts of the Carlsberg Research Laboratory involves using Microsoft artificial intelligence software to predict the success of beers in development. They call it the Beer Fingerprinting Project.
The intent is not to take human expertise out of the brewing process. Rather, like many AI projects, the aim is to foster innovation. The sensors and software examine hundreds of micro samples of beer, looking at factors such as the viability of yeast strains and the types of flavors different combinations of ingredients would produce. The system can differentiate between pilsners and lagers, and predict with a great deal of accuracy how various fermentation scenarios would change the beers in question.
“The goal is to map a flavor fingerprint for each sample and reduce the time it takes to research taste combinations and processes by up to a third, to help the company get more distinct beers to market faster,” according to a post on “Transform,” an official Microsoft blog.
Of course, the Carlsberg Group is one of the world’s largest beer producerswith 140 brands distributed in 150 countries. But smaller breweries and taprooms are harnessing science and technology with the same focus and precision.
Silicon Valley’s rapidly expanding craft beer scene is propelled by an army of brainy brewers, early adopters and those who favor experimentation over the status quo. This year’s Silicon Valley Beer Week issue seeks to highlight the mad scientists of local beer.
Read on to learn about the math behind the malt, brewers’ obsession with water, a trio of tart entrepreneurs and the automated taprooms giving customers high-tech control over every pour.


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Fine watchmaking exhibition to take place in Riyadh from 8-11 May 2017
After three successful editions in the United Arab Emirates, Salon des Grandes Complications will premiere in Saudi Arabia from 8-11 May. Featuring an impressive line-up of some of the world’s most reputable and respected horological brands, the event is the first of its kind in the Kingdom.
Salon des Grandes Complications will run alongside the prestigious Jewellery Salon at Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh, and is set to include both well-known Maison’s and independent ateliers such as Breitling, Bulgari, Chopard, Czapek & Cie, Fabergé, Girard-Perregaux, Greubel Forsey, Kerbedanz, Lang & Heyne, Panerai, Rudis Sylva and Vacheron Constantin.
Between them these companies have crafted some of the most complicated and highly valued timepieces ever and won numerous awards such as Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève and Middle East Watch of the Year, continuously pushing engineering and design limits and never ceasing to surpass expectations with ever more innovative know-how.
Saudi Arabia‘s most prestigious jewellery exhibition, Jewellery Salon is taking place for the seventh consecutive year and attracts an impressive number of visitors including members of the royal family, distinguished VIPs and dignatiaries, and influential buyers from across the GCC.
Being held outside of the UAE for the first time, Salon des Grandes Complications will make an exciting addition to the Jewellery Salon with a wide-ranging display of ground-breaking innovations, novelties and unique timepieces.
The watchmaking exhibition premiered in 2014 with the aim of offering the world’s best horological brands a platform to engage with watch enthusiasts and collectors from across the Middle East, and has since become an annual event.
Salon des Grandes Complications is held with the full support of the Swiss Embassy in Saudi Arabia and social media partner Watch Anish.


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Is there a hotter rivalry in the premium car arena than Ferrari v Lamborghini? Buckle up, it’s only going to get hotter as this decade unfolds. Hot on the trail of its Purosangue, Ferrari unveiled the new Roma Spider. This stunning soft-top will replace the Portofino M in the line. Meanwhile, Lamborghini has unveiled the chassis and powertrain for its upcoming 1,000-horsepower hyper hybrid and confirmed plans for two more hybrids and then two battery EVs. Never a dull moment with these two Italian supercar superpowers.
Ferrari revealed its new F8 Spider and 812 GTS near the start of fall. Both are regular production Ferraris and the 812 GTS has no production limit and is based on the 812 Superfast.
There’s no denying the excitement when Ferrari unveils a new model. Maranello didn’t disappoint at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September when it introduced the 2018 Portofino, successor to the California model that had been offered since 2009.


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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Retail stocks rose Tuesday on a key report showing January home prices in 20 major U.S. cities rose more than economists expected, a trend that points toward more consumer spending on furnishings and appliances.
The S&P Retail Index $RLX rose 0.8% to 456.80.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, home prices rose 0.3% in January, according to the Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's. For the 20 metropolitan areas in which repeat sales of homes are tracked in the Case-Shiller index, prices were down 32.6% from the peak in 2006. Prices are now back to levels seen in the summer of 2003.
Still, David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said the rebound in housing prices seen last fall is fading. See full story on Case-Shiller report.
Also giving the sector some lift, the Conference Board said U.S. consumer confidence rebounded in March after falling sharply in the prior month. See full story on consumer confidence.
Sears Holdings Corp.
Talbots Inc. shares rose 2.4% after the women's clothing retailer said it's extending yet again the deadline for a warrant exchange offer to complete its merger with special purpose acquisition company BPW.
The company's stock had jumped in the previous session on hopes the deal, which would shore up Talbots' TLB balance sheet and reduce its debt, would be completed after it first extended the deadline till Monday evening. Talbots rises on deal hope, upgrade.
Meanwhile, retailers are on track to report March sales gains of 3% to 3.5%, helped by easy year-ago comparisons and a lift from the Easter shift in the calendar, according to Michael Niemira, International Council of Shopping Centers' chief economist.
Chain-store sales for the week ended March 27 rose 3.2% from the year-earlier period, according to a survey released Tuesday by the ICSC and Goldman Sachs.
"Sales posted a healthy gain during the past week but overall results were impacted by mixed influences with weather uneven across the nation," said Niemira. "Easter-related and other seasonal spending strengthened as consumers continued to release some of their pent-up demand."


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The time has come for Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) to do a “transformational” acquisition, UBS analyst Maynard Um asserts in a research note Wednesday morning. He thinks the company needs to reduce its focus on commoditized hardware and make a move into higher margin services and software.
This is not a new idea: back in December, Avian Securities analyst Avi Cohen weighed in with some acquisition ideas; his list included Sun Microsystems (JAVA), which of course has agreed to be acquired by Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), and Data Domain (DDUP), now the subject of a tug-of-war between EMC (EMC) and NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP). Names from his list that haven’t yet been swallowed include CommVault (NASDAQ:CVLT), Compellent (NYSE:CML) and 3Par (NYSE:PAR). Others have made alternative suggestions. Bernstein has proposed the company buy Acer, for instance. And of course, there have been rumors that they might buy Palm (PALM)
Um notes a series of signals that M&A is receiving new scrutiny at Dell:
- April 2009: Sells $500 million of 5-year notes, with proceeds targets for potential acquisitions, among other things.
- May 2009: Hires IBM M&A chief David Johnson.
- May 28, 2009: Says on earnings call that “asset prices are gettign pretty attractive.”
- June 10, 2009: WSJ piece quotes Michael Dell saying it expects to make a significant acquisition in the coming months.
- June 11, 2009: Sells $1 billion of debt, boosting cash to $11 billion-plus.
- June 16, 2009: Busienss Week piece says division heads asked to look for acquisition candidiates.
Um goes on to review a list of potential candidates, shooting many of them down:
- Computer Sciences (NYSE:CSC): Services provider could be good fit, but $8.7 billion enterprise value is pushing the limits of what Dell might be willing to do in terms of size.
- Affiliated Computer Services (ACS): Like, Dell, based in Texas. He thinks the services player could be a good fit, but again with $6.3 billion EV, size could be an issue.
- Perot Systems (NYSE:PER): Another services play, and another company based in Texas. About 50% focused in health-care sector. Ross Perot owns almost 25% stake; would likely want a big premium.
- Unisys (NYSE:UIS): Ewww. Another possible services deal. Um suggests finding a company with “a better mix of higher valued added services.”
- Citrix (NASDAQ:CTXS): Applications virtualization company has close ties to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), which could make an acquisition by a particular hardware vendor problematic. Also big, with $6 billion-plus market cap.
- McAfee (MFE): Large consumer focus - 40% of revenue - makes deal less likely. Um says Dell better off focusing on service than security.
- Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM): Web-based SAAS focus not compatible with Dell’s hardware focus.
- Acer: Buying Acer would add scale; but he thinks Acer’s management wouldn’t be interested, and that there would be cultural fit issues. Also, he thinks they should be diversifying away from PCs.
- Palm: Um says checks find Dell is developing a smart phone. But he thinks the company would be better off focusing on enterprise business. Also says a deal would likely NOT be accretive, and would not provide new channels for Dell hardware.
- CommVault: He seems to like this idea. It is modest in size - market cap $669 million - and the two are already closely tied, with Dell as a reseller already accounting for 23% of the company’s ‘09 sales.
- 3Par: Another storage play. Storage spending likely to fare better than PCs and servers. In size, comparable to CommVault.
Got any other ideas? Let’s hear them.


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Hosts Melissa Walch and Christopher Tomoche with Hospitality Coordinator Cameron Jenson work the lunch hour rush at Founding Farmers restaurant in Potomac. The restaurant boasts a menu featuring local ingredients sourced from sustainable producers.
Photo by Marilyn Campbell
Potomac Lunch hour at Founding Farmers in Potomac is bustling. Waiters hustle to serve ravenous midday diners. Orders for salads of Belgian endive and spinach sprinkled with blue cheese and balsamic onions roll into the kitchen. Pristine plates piled high with as much local and organic produce as possible roll out.
In fact, it was the eatery’s commitment to seasonal, local ingredients that earned it a spot on the list of the 10 healthiest restaurants in America, as compiled by Gourmet, a Conde Nast–owned digital offshoot of the now defunct magazine of the same name.
"It makes each one of us very proud to be recognized for the healthy options on our menu, which is composed of fresh, sustainably sourced and scratch-made items. It is great to be recognized for the healthy options we provide to our guests. It is a testament to what we have always known — you can have healthful foods that are also flavorful foods," said Dan Simons, concept developer and managing partner, Founding Farmers.
The honor, which was announced earlier this month, recognizes restaurants around the country that offer significant healthy eating options. New York, Texas, Utah and Californian were homes to other restaurants that made the list.
"One of the things that I hear from customers is that they like having a conveniently located place for food that is good for them," said Cameron Jensen.
Eric Crozier, who took his wife Nadine to Founding Farmers recently as a birthday surprise, agreed.
"I had heard good things about it, so I wanted to surprise her," he said. "The food was really, really good."


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Blog: A Dinner for Diageo's Johnnie Walker Double Black
Chris Mercer | 20 May 2011
Last night, just to prove that three days at an international wine show is not enough, just-drinks popped along to a Diageo-hosted dinner at Marcus Wareing's restaurant at The Berkeley to mark one year since the launch of Johnnie Walker Double Black.
As you've probably summised already, Johnnie Walker Double Black has proved a serious hit in the travel retail sector, where it was officially launched around a year ago. Well, it was hardly going to be a slap-up dinner to celebrate the brand extension's glorious failure, was it?
Some of Diageo's jubilation probably translates from relief. After all, it's not easy to extend a flagship brand, as the innovation team on Guinness has found several times to its cost.
Before we tucked into some seriously good food, accompanied by Johnnie Walker Double Black-infused sauce (and jelly), we chewed some numbers and heard about Diageo's plans.
We'll have more information for you next week, but here's a snippet. In the fourth quarter of calendar 2010, Johnnie Walker Double Black achieved net sales of GBP3m (US$4.9m), making it the eighth best-selling spirits brand by value in the global travel retail sector during the period, Diageo said last night. It had a value share of 1.8% for the three months.
The group's head of travel retail for Europe, Paul Downing, expects that Double Black's recent launch in Russia will significantly boost his corner of the Diageo empire over the next year.
Stay tuned for more.
The UK health lobby is always very vocal on alcohol at this time of year, predictably so, and this year is no different. ...
“Ah, yes, you've hit upon a very sensitive area,” says Thomas, my guide at the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen last Friday....
Experimentation has long been a watchword in the Scotch whisky industry. It is what has given consumers the huge range of ageing options, from refill hogsheads to virgin oak to Sherry butts....
Advertising can be a strange beast. ...
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German retail chain Lidl has secured a High Court order to stop the locks being changed on a Dublin premises where they plan to build a new foodstore.
A dispute over the freehold to the 2,264 square metres site at Terenure has emerged.
The High Court has heard Lidl bought the site where the offices of The Sunday World used to be located on the Rathfarnham Road in Dublin for €3.45 million last year.
If An Bord Pleanala gives the development the go ahead it will begin building a large foodstore and car park.
However 2 weeks ago Lidl received a letter from Noel O’Gara who says his company O’Gara States Ltd. has a claim on the freehold of the site.
Mr. O’Gara came to prominence several years ago when he bought the freehold on leafy Dartmouth Square in Dublin and upset residents by trying to operate it as a car park.
His claim in this case is disputed by Lidl but they say his letter threatened to repossess the Terenure premises and change the locks.
Lawyers for Lidl say the chain wants to avoid an unedifying episode and associated bad publicity and today they have secured a temporary order stopping any trespass at the site.


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Swedish mobile operators Telia, Tele2, Telenor and 3 have formed a mobile payments joint venture. The new company plans to launch a mobile wallet by mid-2012 which will allow Swedes to pay for services such as public transportation and parking. All operators will offer the same product, making it easier for customers to switch providers.
- Vodafone Italia adds NFC mobile payments with PayPal
- ACI reports on mobile payments usage by Indian millennials
- OT works on mobile payments rollout in France
- Coinbase adds PayPal and credit card support
- RBI reveals framework for “less-cash” society


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Photo Credit: WinFuture
Honor 20 and Honor 20 Pro are teased to launch on May 21, and ahead of that the phones have been hit by an onslaught of leaks. The two phones have even gone on pre-orders in China, and now the Honor 20 has been spotted on Geekbench and photos and specifications have leaked as well. The Honor 20 is tipped to run on Android Pie, sport a Kirin 980 processor, a quad camera setup, a 48-megapixel rear sensor, and a 32-megapixel selfie sensor as well.
WinFuture has published photos and specifications of the Honor 20 ahead of launch. The phone is seen to sport a hole-punch display, a slight chin at the bottom, a quad rear camera setup at the back, and a gradient back panel. The report states that the Honor 20 sports a 6.26-inch (1080x2340 pixels) LCD IPS display with 412ppi pixel density. The phone is tipped to sport a fingerprint sensor on top of the power button at the side, and is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 980 octa-core SoC. It packs 6GB RAM and comes with 128GB of internal storage as well.
The cameras at the back of the Honor 20 include one 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor with f/1.8 aperture, another 16-megapixel sensor with 117 degree ultra-wide angle lens with f/2.2 aperture, and two 2-megapixel sensors – one with macro optics that allow users to take photos just 4cms apart and the other is used for depth effects. Up front, there is a 32-megapixel selfie sensor with f/2.0 aperture.
The Honor 20 is listed to pack 3,750mAh battery with SuperCharge fast charging support. It is touted to be able to charge 50 percent within 30 minutes. The phone runs on Android 9 Pie based on Magic UI 2.1, and come in two colour options – Sapphire Blue and Midnight Black. Connectivity options include dual band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C, and Virtual 9.1 Surround Sound.
The Honor 20 was also spotted on GeekBench with model number YAL-L21, and it is listed to run on Android Pie, pack 6GB RAM and be powered by an octa-core processor. The phone is set to launch alongside the Honor 20 Pro variant. The Honor 20 Pro has been tipped to feature a larger 6.5-inch OLED display and sport a pop-up selfie camera setup.


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If you are recycling mobile phones to generate cash for a Father’s day gift, the latest comments from About.com may be of interest.
This week Adam Fendelman wrote in a piece for the site that with the celebration coming up soon, there were a number of products from Sony Ericsson that could be ideal for a gadget-loving dad.
One of these was the manufacturer’s C902 Cyber-shot handset, which incorporates a five-megapixel camera with auto focus.
The device also boasts other photographic features like red-eye correction technology and a face detection setting – which Mr Fendelmen suggested could succeed in "satisfying his gadget fix".
"Dad might also be satisfied coupling a new handset like the C902 with a Bluetooth stereo headset like the Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800," he added.
Sony Ericsson recently made some improvements to the eight-megapixel C905+ model, that the 3g Blog said built on what had already been a successful device.
Sell your old mobile phone now http://www.mazumamobile.com/


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WASHINGTON, DC – Valentine’s Day is not just a celebration of affection; it is also an economic engine for businesses of all types, impacting communities across the country.
From its historical origins in Rome to the modern exchange of cards and romantic gestures, Valentine’s Day has evolved from an ancient tradition into a global celebration. However, beyond its sentimental value, this special day plays a significant role in boosting the economy.
According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), estimates show that 53% of consumers plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year. The total expenditure is expected to reach an impressive $25.8 billion, equivalent to approximately $185.81 per household.
Chocolates and sweets, classic symbols of love, dominate spending on this romantic occasion, representing a whopping 57% of the total. The National Confectioners Association reveals that 92% of Americans plan to purchase sweets, including 58 million pounds of chocolate—one of the most popular treats for the occasion. Overall, the Valentine’s Day season accounts for about $4 billion in confectionery sales each year.
In addition to sweets, flowers play an indispensable role in this festive celebration. Whether bought from a local florist, a flower delivery service, or a neighborhood grocery store, flowers remain an integral part of Valentine’s Day. The Society of American Florists reports that U.S. florists prepare an impressive 250 million roses for Valentine’s Day alone, making it the number one holiday for florists and floral purchases.
These economic data highlight not only the romantic aspect of Valentine’s Day but also its essential role in stimulating economic activity in local communities. As consumers express their love, they also drive commerce, making Valentine’s Day a celebration that warms not only hearts but also the economy.


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Raleigh, N.C. — Triangle Restaurant Week kicked off Monday with more than 90 restaurants offering lunch and dinner pre-fix meals.
Triangle Restaurant Week has been around for a decade and, in that time, the food scene has grown and the Triangle still isn’t full.
From the corner of Martin and Wilmington streets, Cara Hylton watched downtown Raleigh grow up.
“Even from our front door, you can see two or three new places that have opened,” she said. “There are people who want more options and they are getting them.”
As more people make their home in the Triangle, more restaurants have opened up to greet them. Hylton is an owner at Oro Restaurant and Lounge and she is not alone.
“Sure, there are other restaurants. Everybody’s got wonderful food and very different kinds of food,” she said.
Triangle Restaurant Week celebrates its 10th year in 2017. It’s a chance for chefs and owners to show off with special, multi-course menus at a fixed price.
“It’s a fun way to dine,” Hylton said.
Hylton said competition is growing, but as the Triangle gains a reputation as a culinary capital, everybody wins.
“Another one opened today and another one will open next week and Moore Square is starting to develop,” she said. “The growth is tremendous and exciting.”
Triangle Restaurant Week runs through Jan. 29.


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NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wouk, an electrical engineer and entrepreneur who developed the first full-size version of the modern hybrid car, has died. He was 86.
Wouk died of cancer at his New York City home on May 19, his son Jordan told the Los Angeles Times for a story in Sunday's editions.
Described as the father of modern hybrid automobile programs, Wouk held more than 10 patents, most of them related to hybrid and electric vehicles. In the early 1970s, he formed his own company, Petro-Electric Motors, to develop a hybrid vehicle for the federal government.


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Instagram has traditionally dominated the influencer marketing industry.
According to a study by Influencer Marketing Hub, 79 percent of brands in a survey said they predominantly go to Instagram for influencer campaigns. This is compared to 46 percent who go to Facebook, 36 percen who go to YouTube, and 24 percent who go to Twitter.
Social media is continuously evolving, of course, as are the trends and tastes of its users. In 2019, creative short-form video was the name of the game, and TikTok the platform that everyone was talking about.
With its selection of editing tools -- including copyright-free music, soundbites, filters, and AR effects -- TikTok has naturally borne a more stylised and slick style of content; designed to truly entertain rather than to portray a lifestyle that people want to emulate (or buy into). Now with TikTok now surpassing one billion global downloads, brands are naturally trying to tap into the platform's influencer opportunity.
So, what's coming in 2020?
Instagram will remain the preferred platform for influencer marketing but maybe TikTok will start to take some of their market share.
According to a recent report, TikTok analytics has surpassed 1.5 billion downloads around the world. When you compare social media apps, only WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have more downloads. That's an amazing feat for an offering that debuted in the international market in September 2017.
Next year, expect TikTok to continue its meteoric rise thanks to its aggressive marketing campaigns and investment in geographic expansion. This is the platform to watch in 2020 for a number of reasons.
Niche influencer content
TikTok started out as Musical.ly -- an app that largely featured teens lip-syncing to their favourite songs. In its reincarnation, TikTok still heavily revolves around music, but its content has expanded to a variety of niche interests including comedy, dance, beauty, and sport. An interesting element of the platform is that the best, most creative, and entertaining videos tend to generate the most reach, making the barrier to entry (for influencers) higher than platforms like Instagram and YouTube, where follower-size or fame hold more value. Another difference is that TikTok does not care who knows who on the platform, instead focusing on the content that people enjoy.
Consequently, rising influencers on TikTok are typically chosen for what they produce rather than the size of their following. This is the case at the moment, anyway, but it could change as the platform continues to grow.


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BUY: Argentex (AGFX)
The increased volatility of the British pound is proving positive for the forex trader, writes Julian Hofmann.
Argentex’s main virtue is that bumpy foreign exchange markets matter less to it than its stable of corporate and institutional clients who trade currencies, or underwrite hedges and swaps, more when times are uncertain. Being the middleman in this environment is proving to be a consistently profitable strategy for Argentex as companies deal with the declining value of the pound sterling by entering into forward contracts.
The trend was reflected in Argentex’s revenue stream split, where futures sales jumped 50% to £27.2m for the year as clients offset their currency risk . The increase in sales was partly reflected in higher personnel costs as Argentex strengthened the capacity of its trading and operations teams to increase its ability to manage new business with its customers. . This means personnel costs for the year rose by 20% to £15.2m. The slower cost growth means that the Argentex profit line clearly benefited from the operating debt generated during the year, in particular with a high cash conversion rate of 85%.
As Argentex’s revenue tends to be weighted in the second half, management said it is heading towards a calendar year-end for 2022 results and will release them for the nine months ended Dec. 31. 2022 no later than April next year.
The valuation has held up well in a falling market and remains stable at 11 times house broker Numis’ forecast for 2022. Its main issue will be achieving scale and dealing with emerging competition in what is a foreign exchange market. relatively unmarked, but the company seems well managed. .
HOLD: D4t4 (D4T4)
Even with economic headwinds, D4t4 revenue growth is still a little disappointing, writes Arthur Sants.
Like many B2B software companies, D4t4 is going through the expensive process of converting to a recurring revenue business. The company has a data marketing platform called Celebrus and the new fraud data platform Celebrus.
The premise of D4t4 is that these two products will receive regulatory tailwinds. The marketing product only uses first-party data, so increasingly stringent data regulation should give an edge over competing products that use second-party data. When fraud occurs, heavy fines are imposed on financial firms that fail to prevent it, increasing the need for D4t4’s product.
On paper, these arguments seem solid, but D4t4 is still waiting for growth to justify the price/earnings multiple. Revenue was up only 7.3% and higher costs due to increased investment in the sales team caused adjusted pre-tax profit to decline by 25%. The company explained this by saying that “the global economic situation has continued to slow potential customers’ purchasing decisions”, suggesting that the product could be a “nice to have” rather than a “need to have”. .
The good news, however, is that annual recurring revenue – the holy grail of software companies – has increased by 32% to £14m. It now accounts for 57% of total sales, compared to 47% last year. Management expects this ratio to increase to 65% in the medium term. There was also the first sale of the anti-fraud product within six months of its launch when it was sold to an existing banking customer.
The consensus of FactSet brokers is for earnings per share to increase to 11.45p by 2024. This would give a price to earnings ratio of 21 for 2024. However, the direction of travel is not favourable. The 2024 consensus has fallen from 13p in recent months – likely due to deteriorating economic conditions. Revenue growth is necessary.
HOLD: Saga (SAGA)
Regulatory reforms continue to affect the group’s important insurance business, writes Christopher Akers.
Saga is on track to turn a profit this fiscal year, despite struggling with the insurance side of its business in a business update covering the five months to July 4. Given that the specialist’s over-50 clientele is the most vulnerable to Covid-19, it’s no surprise the pandemic has been a disaster for the company (stocks have cratered nearly 75% since February 2020). But the company’s fortunes are improving as the travel industry recovers, and its target demographic has felt comfortable sailing back into the sunset on cruises.
An insurance environment with high claims inflation and many customers on fixed price policies is however a challenge, and a ‘decline in new business’ affected sales during the period. Total policy sales were down 2%, with auto and home sales down nearly a tenth and policies in force down 4% since January 31 of this year.
The impact of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) insurance rate reforms, which mean that repeat customers cannot be priced any higher than a new customer would be for an equivalent policy, “has been greater than expected” on Saga’s business performance according to Numis analysts. On the positive side, policy sales should be boosted in the second half by new products, including an offer of electric vehicles.
With punters again spending on vacations and cruise bookings, progress is being made in the company’s travel business. A cruise load factor of 75% is expected for the whole year, with an “exceptionally strong” summer performance, while bookings for the 2024 season are “well ahead of expectations”.
The company expects underlying pre-tax profit of £35m to £50m for the full year, in line with analysts’ expectations. While net debt is expected to be slightly higher at the end of July than it was in January, leverage is expected to decline in the second half. Saga shares look cheap at six times Numis’ adjusted earnings forecast for 2023, but insurance issues have added further pressures.
Hermione Taylor: Can household savings save the day?
The pandemic has seen household savings soar: it hit £30billion a month during the first lockdown, compared to a longer-term average of £5.5billion. It was thanks to what the ONS calls “forced savings” — the closures have significantly reduced our ability to spend, so we have saved more as a result.
Even as restrictions eased, households kept the belt tight and still put away more than they did before the pandemic. But the BoE’s latest money and credit report shows we’re saving less than last month. This has huge implications for the sequel.
The relationship between savings and economic performance is unclear. Sometimes, during bad times, savings decline because households choose to reduce their deposits rather than their consumption. During the Great Recession between 2007 and 2009, however, the savings rate began to rise – households were so concerned about unemployment and fluctuating house prices that they built up a reserve of savings and rather reduced their purchases.
UK economic growth is now stagnating, but we don’t know what path consumers will take. The answer will have important ramifications for the UK economy. When people save, it benefits them on an individual level: they build a financial safety net and sleep better at night. But saving can prove detrimental to the economy as a whole – if everyone cuts spending, total consumption falls – bringing economic growth with it. All in all, saving is not always a good thing. This, in a nutshell, is Keynes’ famous “thrift paradox”.
Recent research from Oxford Economics has highlighted the very real interplay between individual savings decisions and economic performance. US households have also been building up large savings reserves during the pandemic, and Oxford Economics has calculated a ‘baseline’ scenario which assumed households would spend $1.1tn (£900bn) of this by the end of 2023, which means real GDP growth of 2.3% this year. If households instead kept their savings (a Great Recession scenario), the resulting fall in consumption would depress real GDP growth by 1.2 percentage points in 2022. But if they exhausted their excess savings, the GDP growth would rise to 4.5% – a staggering 2.2 percentage points above the baseline.
What households do with these savings pots will also have microeconomic impacts. According to a study by Hargreaves Lansdown, businesses that sell non-essential goods saw their sales volumes plummet in April and May, with furniture sales particularly hard hit. “Over time, more and more of us have reduced our lockdown savings and are clinging to whatever we have left. . . There’s no room to splash out on new sofas and patio furniture right now,” said Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst. Expect stocks of companies specializing in consumer non-durables to see a bumpy ride over the next few months if consumers prove reluctant to dip into their savings pots.
Consumer savings decisions could impact a wider range of stocks. too. A NUMBER working paper by Robin Greenwood, Toomas Laarits and Jeffrey Wurgler examined the impact of US government stimulus checks on the stock market during the pandemic. Their research found that up to 33% of stimulus payments were used to increase savings and a good portion (perhaps 10-15%) ended up in the stock market. This led to an increase in retail trade and higher stock prices of retail-dominated portfolios. They found that stocks with high retail, small capitalization and low nominal prices were the most affected.
Demand for these stocks was in many cases a function of available cash – the same thing that led to high levels of savings. Commentators have even coined the phrase “the bored markets hypothesis” to describe the rise of investors trading meme stocks for fun when there was nothing better to do during lockdown. But as savings reserves are depleted, demand for these stocks could decline and prices should falter. Will these retail investors cash in to try to maintain their current standard of living, or will they hold on to their investments for the longer term? If there is a sell-off, we could see stock prices plummet — and some hard lessons learned by these bored pandemic investors.
Hermione Taylor is Economics Editor for Investors’ Chronicle


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Microsoft laying off thousands of workers in sales shakeup
REDMOND, Wash. - Microsoft (MSFT) is laying off thousands of employees in a shake-up aimed at selling more subscriptions to software applications that can be used on any internet-connected device.Most of the people losing their jobs work in sales and are located outside the U.S. The Redmond, Washington, company confirmed that it began sending the layoff...
I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its component fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers. That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark


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International research and consulting firm Gartner released the latest outlook report. In 2012, global semiconductor revenue estimates reached US$309 billion, and the annual growth rate was revised down from the previous quarter's forecast of 4.6% to 2.2%.
Bryan Lewis, vice president of research at Gartner, said: â€œThe growing concerns about the future of the euro area have affected global economic performance. Consumer and corporate spending has been affected by high economic uncertainties, all of which have impacted the semiconductor industry. The current revisions are not only It was due to the economic recession, at the same time due to inventory corrections, manufacturing oversupply and natural disasters."
PC production growth in 2012 was revised down from the previous forecast of 10.1% to 5%. Gartner said that although the weak economy has caused PC production to be the main cause of the expected decline, the floods in Thailand have resulted in shortage of hard disk supply and further slowed the growth of the PC market. Gartner believes that due to the disorder of the supply chain caused by the floods in Thailand, PC production will be limited to the supply of hard disks in the next few quarters until the hard disk is fully resumed.
Gartner's forecast released this quarter also increased the annual growth rate of mobile phone production in 2012 from 7% to 7.5%. In 2012, the production of media media (media tablet) was reduced from 110 million units to slightly lower than 107 million units, but still grew by 63% compared with 2011. Gartner analysts pointed out that the increase in the output of smart phones will support the growth of the semiconductor industry in 2012.
In 2011, the DRAM market declined by 26%, the overall market will resume growth in 2012, and global DRAM revenue will increase by 3%. The growth of NAND Flash is the fastest, and is expected to grow by 16.6% in 2012, driven by the popularity of consumer mobile devices.
Lewis said, "Gartner's latest forecasting analysis shows that by 2015, if the dollar-based pricing, smart phones, flat-panel media and solid-state drive (SSD) total contribution to the growth of the semiconductor market can reach 77%, obviously this is Business opportunities."


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SpongeTech Delivery Systems, which makes soap-filled sponges in such shapes as (appropriately) SpongeBob SquarePants and whose advertising has dazzled fans at sporting events, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
According to Crain’s New York Business, the Manhattan sponge maker’s demise began after the company’s chief executive was charged with fraud in May. Prosecutors said CEO Michael Metter helped to fake 99% of the company’s supposed sales, and he was charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said that Metter, a former stockbroker, and Chief Financial Officer Steven Moskowitz ran a classic “pump and dump” stock scheme, going so far as to create a website and office space for fake customers. According to the SEC, the company spent some of their profits to advertise with professional sports teams in baseball, football and hockey.


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With its latest charitable initiative, Klarna is supporting efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
On Wednesday, April 29, the shopping service and payment provider will hold an Asos “Giveback Day.” For each Klarna transaction made at Asos across Germany, Finland, Norway, the U.K., the U.S. and Sweden, Klarna will provide $1 (or currency equivalent) to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“These are challenging and worrying times for us all and we are incredibly proud to be supporting the ICRC alongside our friends at Asos,” said Luke Griffiths, commercial VP at Klarna. “We look forward to enabling our customers to directly support the international fight against the virus and demonstrate how all of us can contribute, wherever we are.”
Money raised by the ICRC will go to support activities such as ensuring access to clean water, building hospitals and creating sanitation services to assist the world’s most vulnerable people. Klarna has placed no limit on the amount it will donate as part of the Giveback Day.
Last week, David Sykes, head of Klarna U.S., spoke during FN’s “Leading in a Crisis” webinar alongside Fila North America president Jennifer Estabrook.
According to Sykes, there have been four key spending patterns amid the coronavirus outbreak, and the company has been “surprised by how quickly spending patterns have changed, not just pre- and post-COVID but week to week.” The initial phase was stocking up on essential items, such as groceries and pet food, Sykes said, and was followed by spending increases in “work from home” items. More recently, Sykes described a shift to more activity-based spending.
“We then moved to the ‘let’s do something phase,’” he said. “Individuals who are facing long periods of quarantine at home are trying to work out how they can make the best of that time. So there were real spikes in athletics, whether that’s running shoes or at-home fitness equipment.”


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Federal excise duty on small cars abolished, Suzuki Alto, Bolan, and United Bravo now how many will get in Pakistan?
The Federal Minister for Finance has announced tax reduction in 850 cc vehicles locally in the financial year budget. According to the details, tax duty on small vehicles has been removed after which sales tax on these cars has been reduced from 17% to 12.5%. After this reduction, the prices of Suzuki Alto, United Bravo and Prince Pearl will be lower, and the cars will be cheaper. The old price of Alto VX was 11.98 lakhs which will be reduced to 11 lakhs 24 thousands. Thus, the old price of Alto VXR was Rs. 14.33 lakhs which will be reduced to Rs. 13.45 lakhs. The price of Alto VXL was 16 lakh 33 thousand which will be reduced to 15 lakh 30 thousand. In addition, the price of Bravo was one million ninety-nine thousand, after the tax deduction will be one million thirty thousand. On the other hand, in the budget for the financial year 2021-22, a holding tax of Rs 50,000 to Rs 200,000 was proposed on new vehicles ranging from 1,000 to 2,100 cc. According to the budget documents, Rs. 50,000 with holding tax has to be paid on the purchase of 1000 cc vehicles. In addition, Rs. 100,000 on vehicles up to 2000 cc and Rs. A holding tax of Rs. 1 lakh has been proposed. On the other hand, the budget proposed exemption on federal excise duty on locally manufactured vehicles up to 850 cc. Exemption from customs and regulatory duties on vehicles up to 850 cc. Sales tax has also been reduced from 17 per cent to 12.5 per cent. Manufacturers of existing vehicles and new models are being exempted from advance customs duty. The budget proposes to reduce taxes on certain types of locally manufactured heavy motorcycles, trucks and tractors. In addition, customs duty on electric vehicles is being reduced for a year. Talking to media, Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen said that with the help of technology, tax evaders will be brought into the tax net. This year, 300,000 new taxpayers will be brought into the tax net next year. ۔ He said that 60,000 shops in the market are within POS and it would be increased. He said that monthly rewards of Rs. He said that the customer will grab the shopkeeper by the throat and take the slip. This work was successfully done in Turkey. The reward scheme will be started from August. The reward scheme will be increased to one billion rupees per month


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Video sharing platform Vimeo unveiled its rebuilt Roku app on Thursday, marking the first major overhaul of the channel since it debuted on the set-top box in 2011.
“We really took it as far as their device will go with a custom UI and experience that feels right for a Roku user,” said Nick Alt, Vimeo’s VP of mobile and TV, in an email.
The update features a new user interface designed to make content more discoverable on the homepage and reduce the number of clicks it takes to play a video by half.
Vimeo has over 30 million users, and the new app expands that reach by allowing non-registered users to access content. It also has built-in support for in-app purchasing of its 11,000-title Vimeo On Demand catalog, a feature set to debut this fall.
“Given it was our first significant refresh, we really wanted to blow it out of the water and spent a considerable amount of time working on the new channel, including ample testing in partnership with Roku to ensure it’s a seamless experience for consumers at launch,” explained Nick Alt, Vimeo’s VP of mobile and TV, in an email. “Roku brought us a few interesting opportunities to customize our channel beyond the templates they provide, and we really took it as far as their device will go with a custom UI and experience that feels right for a Roku user.”
Parent company IAC recently disclosed that Vimeo achieved 45% revenue growth in the second quarter, with 170 million monthly unique visitors, and nearly half a million paid subscribers to the platform.
“According to recent reports, Roku is the #1 connected TV device in the U.S. for usage and purchases, so we have high hopes for its usage,” Alt said.


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With the Festival of Lights just around the corner, it's no wonder so many brands are releasing Hanukkah collections in celebration of the holiday. Most recently, Susan Alexandra, a NYC-based lifestyle company, just released a new Judaica collection that's full of rich colors and quirky shapes.
"I felt there was a hole in the market for fun, vibrant, color-saturated Judaica, so I decided to fill it," Susan Korn, founder and creative director of Susan Alexandra, tells Hunker.
Video of the Day
"Watermelon is my signature fruit. I adore everything about it: the taste and the aesthetic," explains Korn. "I've dedicated many products to the watermelon and when it came time to make my first menorah, it just made sense. Also, a menorah and a watermelon wedge look so similar."
While the brand was initially just jewelry, Susan Alexandra has evolved into the home space over the past couple of years. Korn's goal is to elevate experiences with the acknowledgement that everything in life should be dazzling, colorful, and spark joy. Particularly at a moment when anti-semitism is rampant, the Jewish community deserves to celebrate and be celebrated.
"Visibility is so important," says Korn. "Right now, when anti-semitism is so prevalent, it's a proud symbol of courage. I thought a lot about how during the Holocaust, Jews were forced to wear Jewish stars to make them visible to hate groups and how today, we wear those same stars with pride."
You can shop the full collection on the Susan Alexandra website or at its flagship store on Orchard Street in Lower Manhattan.


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electric carmanufacturer Tesla has abruptly laid off hundreds of workers following an email from CEO Elon Musk to implement a hiring freeze and cut 10% of salaried staff.
Now, Tesla must notify those same employees of a proposed class action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to give proper notice.
Maybe this is why Musk wants to
replace human workers with robots.
To learn more about the recent layoffs, the proposed lawsuit, and Tesla’s ongoing employment woes, read on with the car ownership experts at Jerry to learn more about the recent layoffs, the proposed lawsuit, and Tesla’s ongoing employment woes.
Tesla’s massive layoff mess
According to Reuters, Tesla Inc. must notify workers who were laid off in the last three months about the proposed class action lawsuit. The ruling was made by U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower and could apply to hundreds of workers who have recently left the company.
Hightower said that separation agreements that Tesla asked workers to sign were possibly misleading, and led employees to waive rights they’d otherwise be entitled to.
Under federal law, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act employers with 100 or more employees must give 60 days notice of layoffs. The law does not apply in cases of a natural disaster or unforeseeable business circumstances.
Hightower also denied a request to bar the company from communicating with potential class members and strike down separation agreements Tesla has accrued since the lawsuit was first filed.
Were former Tesla employees robbed?
According to Shannon Liss-Riordan, a representative of the plaintiffs, Tesla employees who were entitled to 60 days of pay were manipulated into signing away their rights, instead only receiving a week or two of pay.
The lawsuit is being spearheaded by two former employees of the Sparks, Nevada gigafactory, which laid off over 500 workers.
In spite of the implications of this case, Musk seems unphased. In an email from Liss-Riordan, he allegedly called the case “trivial.”
Tesla is hoping to settle any disputes among workers in arbitration rather than in court.
What this means for Tesla
Many of the reasons for the layoffs, such as inflation, supply chain issues, and shortages of raw materials are out of the control of the company. How ethically layoffs are handled, however, does have not only material and legal impact, but it affects how the company is viewed by the public.
Tesla cars remain some of the
best-selling modelson the market, but some consumers may be turned off by the company’s ongoing, high-profile legal troubles. As other automakers continue to add EVs to their fleet, the competition is heating up for the nation’s top EV manufacturer.
If you’re shopping around for a new Tesla, look to Jerry for the best deals on car insurance. A licensed broker that offers end-to-end support, the
Jerryapp gathers affordable quotes, helps you switch plans, and can even help you cancel your old policy.


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The Kentucky Attorney General has filed suit against Johnson & Johnson and its Ethicon Inc. unit in state court, accusing them of deceptively marketing transvaginal mesh (TVM) devices and hiding from women and their doctor’s risks such as chronic pelvic pain. Attorney General Andy Beshear said in the complaint, which seeks millions of dollars in civil penalties under the state’s Consumer Protection Act, that J&J misrepresented that its products were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), when in fact they had only been cleared by the agency under its 510(k) process, which evaluates whether a product is substantially equivalent to one already on the market.
FDA-approved products undergo about 1,200 hours of review for their safety and efficacy, whereas the review for an FDA-cleared device only takes about 20 hours. J&J knew that representing that a device that had received FDA approval leads doctors and patients to believe that the product has been well-studied and scrutinized, the state attorney general said. The following is alleged in the complaint:
More than 15,000 women in Kentucky had transvaginal mesh implanted, but J&J and Ethicon failed to provide sufficient information about known risks so they and their doctors could make informed medical choices. In addition to chronic pelvic pain, those risks include urinary dysfunction, pain from sexual intercourse and the loss of sexual function entirely. J&J’s own staff urged the company to include more complete disclosures of the risks of the transvaginal mesh, but the company failed to do so. In 2005, Axel Arnaud, J&J’s medical director, proposed stronger warnings on the device in an email. Arnaud proposed including this disclosure: “WARNING: Early clinical experience has shown that the use of mesh through a vaginal approach can occasionally/uncommonly lead to complications such as vaginal erosion and retraction, which can result in an anatomical distortion of the vaginal cavity that can interfere with sexual intercourse.”
J&J never included the needed disclosure in its marketing or promotional materials. A J&J medical director noted that after their surgeries patients were reporting that they didn’t believe they had been provided adequate information before surgery on the possible complications, and that additional disclosures might be needed. But the company continued to conceal risks of those possible complications, according to the suit. Attorney General Beshear said in a statement:
The way this company clearly chose profits over people is outrageous. My office has talked to victims whose lives have been devastated by this company’s deceitful practices. We may not be able to give them back the lives they once had, but my office will do everything we can to hold this company accountable.
Seven separate multidistrict litigations (MDLs) comprising 70,000 cases against J&J and other companies are pending in West Virginia over the allegedly defective products. The FDA recently reclassified pelvic mesh devices such as those at issue in the suits as high-risk devices that must undergo the agency’s most stringent safety evaluation before hitting the market.
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Top Coca-Cola executive makes career change to teacher at business school of local university
After nearly 30 years in the beverage industry, David Yantes is stepping into the classroom as the first Executive in Residence at the Herberger Business School at St. Cloud State University.
Yantes served as vice president of sales and marketing at Viking Coca-Cola before his career path shifted from salesman to teacher.
“I look back to when I went to college and I had fond memories of a couple of my instructors that had a lot of experience in the real world and I felt like I learned more from them than any other instructor," Yantes said. "I’m hoping that’s what I can bring."
Yantes planned on retiring from Viking Coca-Cola in the summer of 2017. He knew he wanted to shift careers and try something else, so when the opportunity to teach at SCSU presented itself, he knew it was going to be a great fit.
“It’s actually worked out perfect for what I was looking for at this point in my life," Yantes said.
He comes from a family of educators — both parents and his sister are teachers — and after being invited to speak to a handful marketing classes during his sales career, he started to realize he could use his work experience to help a new generation of business people.
Yantes isn't new to campus. He completed his undergraduate degree at St. Cloud State in 1981 before earning his MBA at the University of St. Thomas.
"It was actually 40 years ago that I had my freshman year here," Yantes said. "Just walking around campus brings back all kinds of memories from when I went to college here.”
Dr. Dennis Bristow, professor and chair of marketing at the Herberger School of Business, said Yantes bringing his on-the-job experience to SCSU is an asset to every student he teaches.
“One of the things that we really focus on here in the HBS — especially in the marketing department — is giving our students every opportunity to gain a comparative advantage when they hit the marketplace,” Bristow said.
“With Dave’s vast experience in sales and marketing… we thought this was a great opportunity, let’s bring that expertise into our classrooms,” Bristow said. “That’s what this EIR program is all about.”
Since joining the faculty roster at the Herberger Business School last fall, Yantes has taught marketing courses focused on digital advertising, promotion and distribution. He is focusing on showing his students how to utilize paid search marketing, search engine optimization and other digital tactics to gain brand awareness.
“I’m teaching electronic marketing… that didn’t even exist 40 years ago and that’s by far my most favorite class to teach," Yantes said.
Yantes not only shares his knowledge, but also brings his extensive network of business professionals to help his students find internships and jobs. He said while his focus is on teaching, he wants to do more to prepare students for life after college.
“I want to do what I can to help mentor students,” Yantes said. “That’s the thing I really enjoy, just talking to students about what their path is.”
Yantes is also sharing advice with his students on how to land one of those coveted marketing jobs when it may look like there are not a lot available. He suggests getting into sales to learn more about a company and the products they could be potentially marketing in the future.
“There’s so many more opportunities to get into some of these companies through a sales path and then work your way into marketing,” Yantes said. “They may have some preconceived notions of what sales is, but I feel like today’s selling is really about helping customers maximize their profits and what they’re trying to do.”
That kind of experience, Yantes said, can help students gain important on-the-job experience and access to marketing careers.
“Because marketing is around us all the time, sometimes you take it for granted,” Yantes said. “But when you start breaking it down, you create an awareness and open their eyes to their surroundings.”
Have a tip about an innovative, unique or new business in the St. Cloud area? Contact Business Reporter Anna Haecherl at email@example.com or 320-259-3662. Follow her on Twitter @AnnaHaecherl.


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With all of the hype about Swine Flu coming into this country through infected Mexicans slipping over the border, one forgets that a worse malady, the “British Disease,” is being promoted by the Obama administration as an economic cure. If there ever an occasion to call out, “Not so fast, my friend,” it is this one.
In the years after World War II, the British government went on a binge of nationalization, and after the economy became even more tenuous and less competitive, the government nationalized failing firms, an action dubbed “lemon socialism.” Now, one would think that with this sorry example being available, U.S. policymakers might try to refrain from allowing the British Disease to slip into our body politic, but apparently arrogance is overshadowing good sense and the understanding of history.
The latest government caper is the attempt to nationalize General Motors and Chrysler, with the government taking large ownership shares in each company, along with the United Autoworkers. Taking up the rear are the people who actually lent money to those companies and who now are being given the back of the hand. When some Chrysler bondholders recently balked at the government’s “permitting” them to gain about 30 cents on the dollar, President Obama denounced them as “speculators” and worse. Even though Chrysler right now is in bankruptcy court, I suspect we are looking at a fixed outcome based on what the government wants.
For all of the talk of calamity if GM and Chrysler shut down for good in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy (which the government will not permit to occur, unfortunately), we have to remember that the losses being sustained by these two companies mean one thing and one thing only: their continued existence in their present state is destroying wealth. That makes the economy worse not better.
Supporters point to the millions of people employed in the GM and Chrysler production and sales chains and then claim that if the companies went under, the job losses would be “devastating.” That is true, but only partly true. The job losses would be devastating to those individuals and regions connected to those companies.
However, the net effects of a shutdown of these firms would be positive, and they would be realized at various margins throughout the economy. Contrary to Paul Krugman’s “Depression Economics” view that an economy gains when government “stimulates” the use of “idle or underutilized resources,” in truth, the Law of Scarcity does not disappear. There is a reason as to why these resources are “underutilized,” and it has nothing to do with an alleged fall in “aggregate demand.”
Instead, it has everything to do with the fact that American consumers prefer the vehicles made by GM’s and Chrysler’s competitors. Furthermore, the extravagant labor packages that these companies had with the UAW highlights the further irony: the two entities that had the most to do with the demise of the domestic auto industry, government and labor unions, now are taking charge of GM and Chrysler.
Obviously, the only way that these companies can survive now is through massive taxpayer subsidies, which further will destroy wealth and make our economy worse off. I cannot imagine the government permitting GM and Chrysler’s competitors to go unmolested, so look for all sorts of contrived action against the U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies such as government probes and union-organizing attempts. The last thing a government firm is going to tolerate is competition, and honest competition at that.
Thus one charitably can say that this new edition of Government Motors is going to be an economic disaster. The venture will destroy wealth and make it even harder for people who are not politically connected to make a decent living. It certainly is not a recipe for economic recovery, but somehow, I doubt that the powers that be in Washington really care. They are going to have their very own “lemons” as socialist play toys. O joy.


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Kerala might be the most significant travel destination post-COVID
In 2019, the flood events struck again here, with the same kind of intensity. But after the second flood, the tourism industry in Kerala posted an increase of 17.2%, the highest in the quarter-century. By the end of 2019, total revenue had increased to Rs 45,000 crore.
And in the blink of an eye, an industry that had accumulated itself into a great force which could not be affected by some of the worst catastrophic events had been destroyed by an invisible microscopic virus. COVID 19 destroyed the engine of tourism: travel With all means of transportation like air, rail, and roads completely restricted, the tourism industry, its attractions, and destinations have been left to rot and rust. The crumbled society, in the first stages of a disaster, is already spreading the whole of Kerala.
The unofficial estimate of the financial losses accumulated in the tourism industry between February and April is over Rs 15,000 crores. Official data claim that more than 1.5 million people are either directly or indirectly dependent on the tourism industry for their livelihoods.
Near infinite restriction on travel
COVID-19 had a very devastating impact on the tourism industry and this would be the longest hit that the industry has ever faced.
President and founder of Air Travel Enterprises, E M Najeeb, also said that tourism would be the last to stand up after the end of the COVID-19 menace. All of Air Travel Enterprises' strong market and tourist destinations were the severely impacted areas such as the United Kingdom, USA, Spain, Germany, France, the Middle East, and South Asia. Kerala should play host to India in tourism, he added.
Travel within national borders is also at significant risk. Kerala may be safe, but it could not be the same for other states. And just because we're safe and secure doesn't really mean that we can permit people from other states to travel to Kerala.
How long this lockdown will be extended
In the present situation, the tourist industry would have to be temporarily suspended in the best interest of public safety. According to very generous predictions, the industry would commence by the end of 2020. Even so, practically speaking we assume the industry to brighten up only by December 2021.
K V Ravishankar, the managing director of Tourism India Publications and Tourism Advisory Board member said that it took 2 years for the tourist industry to fully recover in China, Thailand, and Indonesia after the Sars pandemic in 2002. So we have to prepare for the possible outcomes.
But even the recovery from this situation will depend upon a number of possible factors. Traveling is a natural human instinct, as basic as a child crawling out of her crib. But COVID is all set to fully reconfigure this human instinct.
The economic turmoil caused by COVID is one major consideration that might totally change the nature of traveling. The wages have frozen and the withdrawal of benefits is becoming the necessity. And the travel decisions will rely entirely on what remains after meeting those necessities.
COVID induced behavioral change
The complete lock-down caused by COVID 19 has taught people to adjust, adapt, and change. Virtual meetings have already shown corporate executives around the world that they can get around each other easily and comfortably at virtually no cost without ever really leaving their house.
The MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) segment used to generate huge revenue and profit for Kerala. They have now started to realize that online meetings are almost as successful and effective. Companies are now planning to try to cut back on transportation.
Flight ticket fares will be the other decision-maker. The ticket prices to Kerala are already high these days. It could cause problems for Kerala if it appears to be going up even higher.The assertion on social distancing guidelines in the kitchens of hotels might also force the owners to cut their staff. Precooked food or microwave-heated food would become a common practice for every eaterie.
There are also immediate survival consequences. Almost all the tourism entrepreneurs in Kerala are in the micro small and medium enterprises sector. Perhaps all of them continue operating on bank loans. And if there is no bank bailout program, it is not going to be simple for them to hang on for a long period of time.
The responsibility of job support is also intense in the industry, like a brood of kids on a malnourished mother. The government has done an outstanding job of saving people's lives, and now it has to take any action to save livelihood opportunities.
A series of Zoom meetings have been conducted with the planning commission and the Chief Minister to inform them about the present situation. The sector supports over 1.5 million people. Wages in the month of March have also been paid but it is unlikely to come for April and the industry may have to go through at least October of this year without any revenue. The Labor Department informed the industry to keep paying the wages.
The industry has now suggested "subsistence disbursements" in which a basic income of Rs 9000 per month should be given in order to enable basic necessities like food for people dependent on the tourism sector for their livelihoods. The government said that the state did not have enough money to satisfy the requirements.
If no subsistence or loan package is approved, there might be massive layoffs, particularly in the MSME sector. It was evident from now that there would be no business for an indefinite period of time. A fair amount of payments the firms have to get from buyers, both domestic and international, that are not even coming in the nearby future. They are not open to discuss money right now. Now everyone has to keep on paying salaries and also preserve the properties in order at a relatively large cost.
Time to go local
It will take quite a while for the sun to sparkle on the tourism sector, but industry leaders agree on one thing. Instantly after the lockdown is removed, the best way to rebuild tourism is to become highly-local. Now that traveling in and out of the state is subject to uncertainty, Kerala's tourism potential exists within itself, since we have done a brilliant job of containing the spread of the virus.
If you are a person from Kochi, and you might consider walking through the fascinating Jew Town Street, witness Chinese fishing nets, or go up to the Hill Palace in Tripunithura. You don't have to take any risks and meet people who are coming from dangerous zones. The government really should encourage local transportation by raising leave transport concession to government employees.
Advantage of Kerala
It is like a short term fix money-making scheme or a warming up before the grey clouds open up. It is starting to feel that, as the fear of the virus gradually fades because of the truly admirable way of managing COVID-19 which will function to its extra benefit.
The new tourism motto should be 'safety from disease', and here Kerala will succeed seamlessly. Now, in tourism communities, Vietnam and Kerala, both of which had contained the deadly virus quite successfully, are the two safest destinations in the world.
Seasonz India Holidays hopes that we will all be able to overcome this catastrophic situation and the tourism industry will come back ardently with maximum potential.
Best 20 Places to visit in India in December 2019
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text: Bombardier Recreational Products of Valcourt, QC has signed an agreement with the Canadian Football League to become the official recreational vehicle sponsor of the league. The company will use the agreement to promote its Ski-Doo, Sea-Doo, Evinrude and Can-Am brands. Product samples will be displayed at CFL games nationally, including at the last three home games for each team. Bombardier will also conduct a contest called "The Ride to the Grey Cup," the winner of which will receive a trip to the Grey Cup game in Edmonton, a choice of Bombardier vehicles and a pair of 2011 CFL season tickets. "Being a sponsor of the CFL and the Grey Cup really hits home for BRP," said Yves Leduc, vice-president and general manager of the company's North America division. "Our recreational vehicles are very similar to a CFL football player. They are tough and powerful yet nimble and swift. Furthermore, CFL fans and powersport enthusiasts share the same passion for adrenaline, be it on the field, riding off road, on road, on water or on snow. It makes sense to partner together."


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Rucker Performance will be showing off several new products at the V-Twin Expo, including a new wide tire kit built for the home bike builder. But perhaps nothing will garner as much attention as the Texas manufacturer’s custom Harley-Davidsons.
The Fort Worth builder this summer signed an agreement with a large Harley-Davidson dealer to provide preowned custom touring bikes.
“I’ve started to look at what’s going on in the market and a large percentage of the riders right now are riding baggers,” said Bill Rucker, founder and CEO of Rucker Performance and former American IronHorse executive. “They ride Road Kings, Electra Glides, Road Glides.
“And there’s not a lot of people who try to sell to that market specifically. So I started looking at it as a market, how I could make an impact in it and what was the best way to do it.”
Rucker approached Bruce Rossmeyer, CEO of 13 Harley-Davidson locations, and the two, along with one of Rossmeyer’s bike designers, worked out a plan to build 120 customized, wide-tire baggers.
The preowned 2005 and 2006 Harley-Davidson Road King Police, Fire and Rescue motorcycles feature a number of upgrades, including a wide tire 200 mm conversion kit (from the standard 130 mm), a Screamin’ Eagle Big Bore 96 cubic inch motor, chrome handlebar package and chrome 18-inch wheels. The customized Harleys also will feature customized fabrication work (extended fuel tanks, front and rear fenders and saddle bags), a custom-fitted seat, painted front end as the color of sheet metal, a headlight molding and a graphics package.
Rucker said he’s already delivered more than 20 such custom Harleys and sales have been “very good.”
“We had a really good response at Biketoberfest and they’ve have good response since then,” he said, noting Rucker also is looking at other ways to customize Harleys.
Rucker Performance, which started in 2004, also introduced fuel injection to one of its four models this year. The company in October became the first manufacturer to pass emission standards and receive EPA certification for the S&S T-Series 124 closed loop, a fuel-injection engine used in its Assassin model. It took more than two years of development and calibration research for the Assassin to pass EPA standards.
“We’re trying to make (fuel injection) available for some of our other bikes for next year, but it’s not a priority,” Rucker said, noting his customers “aren’t really demanding fuel injection.
“The reason we did it on the Assassin is because I believe it’s cutting edge and it’s next generation technology. And at some point in time, you’re going to have to (have) it. But even our carbureted bikes are meeting all the emission standards that they need to meet.”
Plus, Rucker said, “there are a lot of guys that like the carburetors instead of the fuel injection.”
Rucker Performance also is developing a dealer network for its 200 wide tire kits, which are designed for Road Kings, Electra Glides, Road Glides and Ultra Classics for 2002 and later models. The kit includes a swing arm, steel rear fender and saddlebag supports and brackets for OEM saddlebags.
“We have built a system that’s simple enough that a guy with limited mechanical ability can do the work,” Rucker said of the wide tire kit.
Also at the V-Twin Expo, Rucker Performance will be handling the marketing, public relations and sales for Hallcraft Industries’ wire wheels. Hallcraft was recently purchased by NTQC, a Texas company that is owned by a group of investors, including Rucker’s daughter, Erin.
“Because we’ve been real aggressive with these new projects, we’ve been really busy,” Rucker said. “Our bike sales have basically maintained their level from last year. We’re not off any on our bike sales, but then again we’re a very niche manufacturer and we don’t have a lot of numbers in our bike business and our customers are much less affected by the economy factors that are affecting everybody else.”
Copyright 2006 Powersports Business


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As the timeline for international tourism’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic remains a big question mark, Indonesia is shifting its full focus to boosting the domestic tourism market, zooming in on pursuing quality tourists.
Indonesia’s vast collection of natural attractions is the country’s trump card to woo higher quality travellers as part of efforts to rebuild the domestic tourism sector amid the pandemic, Wishnutama Kusubandio, minister of tourism and creative economy, said during a recent webinar.
Amid lingering virus fears, he said, higher quality tourists would be more attracted to low-risk nature-based tourism in super priority destinations like Bali, Toba Lake in North Sumatra, and Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, as opposed to urban tourism product offerings in Sydney, New York, and Singapore when international travel resumes.
As part of its new tourism push, Wishnutama recently earmarked 24 billion rupiah (US$1.6 million) in financial assistance to six tourism and creative economy sub-sectors, which includes an incentive of up to 200 million rupiah for each hotel and homestay in tourism villages, particularly in super priority destinations.
Last month, the government, in collaboration with state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, kick-started the construction of ten new tourism villages spread across 279ha of land around Toba Lake in North Sumatra.
Ahead of the reopening of international borders, Wishnutama is upbeat that nature-based experiences in tourism villages will draw more quality domestic tourists, with plans for more tourism villages underway.
“In 2018, eight million tourists from Indonesia spent US$9 billion overseas. That is a potential. If they spend (that amount) in Indonesia, Indonesia’s tourism will rebound,” he said.
To lure quality tourists, the central government has earmarked 3.8 trillion rupiah to develop quality destinations and launch new marketing initiatives. These include social media campaigns with the hashtags #DiIndonesiaAja and #IndonesiaCARE, as well as various promotional programmes, such as Bali Rebound on July 7-15, Mandalika Rebound on July 16-17 in West Nusa Tenggara, and Likupang Rebound on July 22-24 in North Sulawesi.
In addition, Wishnutama said, his office has forged partnerships with Garuda Indonesia and the Association of State-Owned Banks (Himbara) to craft good deals and discounted airfares to those destinations. “Right now, tourism players can also get a bailout amounting to 10 billion rupiah from Himbara,” he added.
I Wayan Koster, governor of Bali, urged tourism stakeholders to shift their mindset to tap on Indonesia’s vast domestic tourism market. An increase in purchasing power of citizens, coupled with the country’s huge population, means that the potential of the domestic tourism market should not be underestimated, according to the governor.
Koster said that last year, 6.3 million foreign tourists visited Bali and contributed 116 trillion rupiah to the island. However, that total revenue was nearly matched by the receipts generated from domestic tourist arrivals, thanks to 9.8 million domestic tourists.
“Our economy will be stronger and more sustainable if we (Indonesians) visit (tourist destinations within the archipelago), rather than if the country depends on the arrivals of foreign tourists,” he said.
Agreeing, Rizki Handayani, deputy of tourism products and events at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, urged regional governments across the archipelago to focus on luring domestic tourists this year as uncertainties abound concerning international travel.
Coordinating maritime affairs and investment minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that 55 per cent of total tourism receipts in 2019 came from domestic tourists. In Q3, the government would try to gradually increase the contribution to 70 per cent.
“I want (tourist destinations) in regions to implement health protocols because the trend shows that (domestic tourists) will go to buffer cities that have beautiful and clean nature, such as Puncak (in Bogor, West Java), and Banyuwangi and Mount Bromo (in East Java),” he said.
Luhut has also issued a circular this month to instruct public officials from its seven subordinate ministries, including tourism ministry and creative economy, to spend a total budget of 4.1 trillion rupiah to host meetings and business events at the country’s priority destinations, such as Bali, Toba Lake, Labuan Bajo, Likupang and Mandalika.
According to Luhut, the government has seen an almost 100 per cent drop in foreign tourist arrivals and a 97 per cent year-on-year decrease in foreign exchange earnings from the tourism sector.


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But as the name implies, the SLS AMG GT Final Edition will be the last of its kind.
Unveiled this week at both the Los Angeles Auto Show and Tokyo Motor Show, the Final Edition is as gorgeous and powerful as its siblings.
With a 6.3-liter V8 engine, it can go from a standstill to 60 mph in just 3.4 seconds, and its top speed is electronically limited to 197 mph.
Mercedes hasn't announced pricing yet, but previous versions have cost over $200,000. Since the Germans will build only 350 units of the Final Edition, expect getting one of these to cost you a bit more than that.


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Apple Announces iPad Air & iPad Mini With Retina Display
Apple unveiled what’s next for their tablet devices at the tech company’s fall event in San Francisco on Tuesday – an iPad Air and the much-anticipated iPad Mini with Retina display.
The iPad Air, Apple’s latest model of their full-sized tablet, maintains its screen size (9.7-inch Retina display with 2048×1536 pixel resolution) while trimming the device’s overall size and weight. At 7.5mm thick, the iPad Air is 20% thinner than the previous model, reported The Verge. It’s also 28% lighter, weighing in at just 1.0 pound. The new iPad retains its screen size via a smaller bezel.
As far an interior specs, the iPad air features the iPhone 5s’ 64-bit A7 processor and M7 motion coprocessor. The software upgrade will make the iPad 8 times faster and equipped with 72 times better graphic performances, according to Apple. Boasting 10 hours of battery life, the iPad Air also has a 5-mexapixel iSight Camera and FaceTime HD front-facing camera.
The upgraded iPad Mini, as expected, will come with the Retina display and the new A7 Apple Chip, according to Apple executive Phil Shiller.
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The iPad Air, which will be available Nov. 1, will cost $499 for the 16GB version. The new iPad mini, due out later in November, will cost $399 for the 16 GB version.
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text:
(Bloomberg) -- From event cancellations to consumer behavior, there are growing signs the coronavirus delta variant risks slowing the pace of the U.S. economic recovery.
Because any effect from the delta variant will take time to emerge in traditional monthly indicators, economists and policy makers are closely watching a mix of anecdotal and high-frequency data for any signs of impact.
Some events, like the New York International Auto Show, are being canceled due to virus concerns. Companies including Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL ) Inc.’s Google, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN ). and BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK ). have all recently pushed back plans to return to the office as well.
But trying to decipher the impact of delta from a plethora of other cross currents in the economy in high frequency data is challenging.
Total spending using Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC ). debit and credit cards “decelerated meaningfully” last week, economists Michelle Meyer and Anna Zhou wrote in a note Thursday.
While the moderation is likely partly noise -- reflecting the timing of the pay period and the mid-July boost from Child Tax Credit payments -- the pullback in spending on air travel and entertainment could be a result of the variant, the BofA economists wrote.
Looking at the U.S. as a whole, the improvement in OpenTable restaurant bookings has largely stalled in recent months, holding below its 2019 levels. But reservations in virus hot-spot states like Florida and Texas remain above levels seen during a comparable time frame in 2019.
Meanwhile, a back-to-work gauge from Kastle Systems, a company that tracks electronic access to office buildings, showed a slight pullback last week from its pandemic peak a week earlier. But it’s unclear whether that’s weekly volatility or the start of a broader trend.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
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Farmers' markets cropping up
When they do, the faithful customers of the Georgetown Farmers' Market will be glad.
"They use gases to ripen supermarket tomatoes,'' DiNucci, of Ridgefield said. "I pick mine the night before or the morning of the market. So it's like getting them out of your own garden.''
Throughout the region, the farmers' markets are gearing up to open. The Kent and New Milford markets have already begun, the Georgetown market started Sunday.
Others in the region - in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown, in Bethel and Danbury - will open in late June and July.
Their continued success - the Bethel market is about 25 years old and going strong - is a testament to the quality of the goods sold, and the customers who look beyond standard supermarket fare for home-grown crops.
"Everybody has corn and squash. We grow a lot of greens, and do leeks and scallions and onions,'' said Don Taylor of Taylor Farms in Danbury, who organizes the Bethel and Danbury markets.
"The crops these farmers grow can be heirloom varieties,'' said Linda Piotrowicz , spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture. "Maybe they don't have the consistency of size and appearance of what you can buy in the supermarket. But they have great flavor.''
This year, Piotrowicz said, there are 82 farmers markets in the state. It's a nearly four-fold jump since 1986, when there were 22 markets in the state.
One reason for their growth has been a program that issues vouchers to the women enrolled in the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. The women get coupons for farmers' market fare, in addition to their regular WIC benefits.
In turn, the farmers redeem the coupons from the state Department of Agriculture. The U.S. Department of Agriculture pays 70 percent of the costs of the program, and the state pays 30 percent.
The program helps support farmers' markets, especially in urban settings like Danbury.
"And they get good, fresh food in return,'' Taylor said.
As the farmers' markets become more established, more people sell their wares at them. Gail Brookover of Redding, who organizes the Georgetown market, also owns Blackbird Baked Goods, which sells bakery goods to local restaurants and stores.
Looking for another outlet, she decided the Georgetown region needed a farmers' market.
Now, eight years later, people come to it to buy vegetables, herbs, fruit salsa, as well as Blackbird pies and apple dumplings.
"For me, it's a bonus," Brookover said. "I'm baking anyway."
The markets are also a good place for farmers to actually meet the people they're selling to. They can tell them about what they're growing, tell them how to cook it, and tell they what they'll have in the weeks to come.
"We have a very loyal customer following,'' Taylor of Danbury said.
"It's so nice to meet the customers,'' Brookover said. "Its gives them an appreciation of what we're doing. and its gives farmers a chance to explain why this tomato is a lot more flavorful.'' Contact Robert Miller
or at (203) 731-3345.