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UAE’s Gulftainer will celebrate next month its fourth anniversary of a 50-year concession agreement managing and operating the Port of Wilmington in Delaware.
Throughout the challenging times, GT USA Wilmington (GTW) diligently pursued new business through its global network and built new facilities to enhance customer services. It has ensured that cargos of fresh food and other necessities moved quickly, without disruption, onto supermarket shelves. Throughout the entire pandemic and beyond, the Port has remained fully functioning, with no delays, retaining all employees throughout.
Joe Cruise, CEO of GT USA Wilmington said: “Since taking over the leadership of the operation we have focused efforts on securing additional and new business from all corners of the globe, streamlining operations and improving productivity. Increased volume of clementines from Morocco, grapes from Chile and lumber from Europe, and new products of plywood from Chile, rice from Thailand, juices from China and Turkey, glycerin from Malaysia for manufacturing hand sanitiser, along with several other products. New cargoes were sourced from GTW’s global network and are being imported through Wilmington for the first time. Stay tuned for more new cargo announcements coming soon. No stones are being left unturned. Despite our challenges, business is growing, and jobs are being created. Delaware is quickly developing a reputation as an efficient international gateway to the Northeast US, allowing for competitive local jobs to be created.” he said, adding, “We take pride in our continuous environmental improvement efforts. In September 2021, we celebrated the commissioning of our five brand new zero-emission electric-rubber-tired gantry cranes (e-RTGs) significantly reducing pollution and increasing efficiencies as part of our new state-of-the-art refrigerated container racking station.”
Despite having unforeseen costs imposed upon it, GTW has made timely payments to its lenders and remains resolutely committed to Delaware.
The year 2022 has seen a robust increase in throughput. The Port’s 2021-2022 winter fruit season was highly successful with imports of both South American and Moroccan produce rising over 140 per cent from the previous season. Additionally, the Port of Wilmington recently received its first-ever shipment of summer fruit (establishing the start of the port’s year-round fruit services.) These recent successes have contributed to the increase in bulk cargo volumes by 56 per cent. These positive developments have been achieved by GTW’s highly productive operational and commercial abilities.
In the three years since accepting the challenge of operating the historic Port of Wilmington, GTW has incurred $251MM of operating expenses, including $202 million of direct labour costs.
The company has relieved the State of the need to annually subsidise the publicly owned port of between $15-18 million, assumed a rise of over $56 million of operating costs implemented a few weeks after accepting the concession, and paid over $10 million in royalties to the State and upgraded the port with over $88 million of investment in capital improvements and equipment. In just the first three years GTW has provided over $200 million of direct additional value to the State of Delaware by investing in long-term improvements and by bearing significant legacy costs, additional pandemic-related costs and an operating cost increase of running the port of over 45 per cent. This excludes the indirect value from the businesses in the community that are benefiting from the increases in volumes through the port.
The $88 million in capital improvement and equipment to upgrade the port includes extending the cranes rails, that the large ship-to-shore cranes ride on, from berths one to four through berths five and six. Port warehousing capacity now stands at over one million square feet. The yard densification program has increased yard container storage by over 85 per cent to 600,000 TEUs. In addition, the implementation of GTW’s state-of-the-art Terminal Operating System has greatly increased efficiency, transparency and customer satisfaction.
The post-sale services mid-range smartphone users and allows them to turn their old/ broken devices into a discount towards a brand-new smartphone
The state-of-the-art life support system will be initially focused on children and neonatal respiratory failure
The move will benefit the Indian diaspora in the GCC countries who can now remit money directly to 20,000 billers for domestic utility bill payments through any LuLu Exchange branch or through the LuLu Money app


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- One Planet Pizza partners with Violife for “UK’s first” plant-based pizza pockets
One Planet Pizza has launched a new plant-based product range in celebration of Veganuary 2022. The frozen vegan pizza specialist has announced its Pizza Pocket line in association with Violife to be available across the UK.
Available in Mediterranean Vegetable, Peppernomi, and Cheezeburger varieties, the brand claims the launch represents a UK first for plant-based pizza pockets. It also marks the brand’s first collaboration with alt dairy leader Violife. The calzone-style pizzas feature a stone-baked base, One Planet Pizza’s family recipe tomato sauce, and Violife Epic Mature cheese.
Founded by father and son team Mike and Joe Hill, One Planet Pizza plants trees with their global reforestation partners for every pizza sold, and the new Violife partnership is just the latest in a long line of successful collaborations. Others have included Derek Sarno, Meatless Farm, and VFC to name a few.
The frozen vegan pizza pioneer also revealed in a recent vegconomist interview that it is “seeking a mission-aligned partner” in the supermarket sector to increase its retail footprint in 2022.
“Our crustomers have been crying out for us to make pizza pockets! Whether it’s for them as devoted 80s fans or for their kids to get their hands on. To kick off the new year, our first collaboration with Violife is set to make their dreams come true – lunch has never been easier or tastier. You can thank us later!” stated Joe Hill, co-founder of One Planet Pizza.
One Planet Pizza Pocket in Mediterranean Vegetable, Peppernomi and Cheezeburger will be available for nationwide delivery, direct from One Planet Pizza as of January 20th from £2.99.

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Croda Cuts Profit Outlook on Strong Pound, Weaker MarginsAndrew Noel
Croda International Plc, the world’s second-largest supplier of cosmetic ingredients, cut its profit forecast amid a strengthening pound and subdued demand in Europe. The shares fell the most in almost three years.
Pretax profit for the year is expected to dip below the level of 2013, the Snaith, England-based company said today. Weaker sales of industrial chemicals and a “slightly less favorable” product mix in consumer care led margins to deteriorate in the second quarter, it said.
The dip in performance will heap pressure on Chief Executive Officer Steve Foots to reignite Croda’s growth after years of expansion and peer-group leading profitability. The company is suffering from a bigger-than-expected burden tied to currencies, while a slowdown in European markets is hampering sales of mid-priced ingredients for personal care and household products.
“Whilst the escalation of currency headwinds should come as no surprise, it is disappointing to downgrade forecasts again,” said James Tetley, an analyst at N+1 Singer. “It is clear that stubbornly subdued conditions in Europe are a factor.”
The stock fell as much as 9.5 percent, the biggest intraday decline since August 2011. The shares were down 8.2 percent at 2,208 pence as of 9:32 a.m. in London, taking the drop to 10 percent this year and giving the company a market value of 3 billion pounds ($5.1 billion).
Croda predicted second-quarter pretax profit will be 8 percent lower than in the first three months of the year, instead of holding steady as previously forecast.
“Costs are very tightly under control, it’s about sales being softer in weak markets,” Finance Director Sean Christie said on a call with analysts.
The U.K. company, which competes with No. 1 cosmetic-ingredient supplier BASF SE, said it remains confident in the long-term strategy of the group and medium-term targets are unchanged. Foots is expanding operations in Asia and other emerging markets to offset weakened European and U.S. demand.
The pound has climbed about 1.5 percent against the dollar this month, and its strength is hurting Croda’s personal-care division, which exports from Europe to the U.S., competing with local companies whose manufacturing costs are in dollars. That’s affected mid-price products, where competition is tougher, Christie said. Croda’s U.S. competitors include Ashland Inc.
“The key for us is to put a lot of effort into Asia and we’re scoring some goals there,” Christie said. While sales growth can be “frustratingly slow” at times, the quality of the orders is high, he added.


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Bexar County’s bar tab has risen quickly over the last 20 years, with a larger and larger portion going toward cocktails and other liquor drinks, according to state data.
Business owners and national experts say a “cocktail renaissance” was a major driver of rising liquor sales. Consumers have become more interested in cocktails over the past decade or so, and many of them are willing to pay $12 or more for well-crafted drinks with tongue-in-cheek names like Texecutioner and Killer Parties Almost Killed Me.
Alcohol spending in Bexar County and statewide more than doubled between 1994 and 2014, even when inflation is taken into account. During that time, the portion spent on liquor drinks in the county rose to 51.7 percent from 46 percent, while that spent on beer dropped to 35.4 percent from 42.9 percent, mirroring a statewide trend. The portion spent on wine rose slightly, to 12.9 percent from 11.1 percent.
That doesn’t mean Texans lost their taste for beer. Beer spending also rose faster than inflation between 1994 and 2014 in the county and statewide — just not as fast as liquor spending.
The cocktail renaissance helped spawn local bars such as the Brooklynite, SoHo Wine & Martini Bar and the Green Lantern. It helped bring about the San Antonio Cocktail Conference, which celebrates its fifth year when it begins Thursday.
“There is just a complete resurgence in interest in cocktails in the United States,” said David Ozgo, chief economist of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a trade association. “We’ve gone back to a cocktail culture.”
Liquor companies also have attracted drinkers by introducing a wider variety of flavored vodkas, whiskeys and other spirits, Ozgo said. Absolut lists more than 20 flavors on its website, for example, including the limited-edition Absolut Texas, with a cucumber and chili flavor.
While old-fashioneds and martinis have become more popular, there’s also been an explosion of craft beers. The trends have some of the same causes, experts said: Consumers are looking for more variety in their drinks and are more willing to pay for premium products.
Consumers also are less exclusive in their tastes these days, willing to switch between beer and cocktails, said Jody Newman, co-owner of the Friendly Spot, a Southtown bar that sells a large selection of craft beers.
“I’m not sure it’s affecting the beer business,” Newman said of the liquor sales increase. She added that “the traditional beer industry and the craft beer industry seem to be thriving.”
In Bexar County, and the state as a whole, alcohol spending rose every year between 1994 and 2014 except for recession-battered 2009, when it declined 0.5 percent statewide and 1 percent in the county.
About $5.89 billion was spent on alcohol statewide in 2014, a 223 percent increase from the $1.82 billion spent in 1994. The amount in Bexar County rose 229 percent, to $532.7 million from $161.7 million. The inflation rate between those years was 59.7 percent, while the state’s population grew by almost half, from 18.4 million to 27.2 million, according to the Department of State Health Services.
Bexar County is pretty much average in its drinking tastes, by Texas standards. County residents spent 35.4 percent of their alcohol money on beer in 2014, about equal to the state percentage of 35.1. They spent 51.7 percent on liquor, slightly more than the state average of 49.9. The biggest difference was in wine spending: 12.9 percent in the county, versus 15 percent statewide.
Some parts of the county stand out, though. Shavano Park is Texas’ most wine-craving city with a population above 5,000, with 71.1 percent of its alcohol money spent on wine, 23.4 percent on liquor and only 5.4 percent on beer in 2014. Bellaire, outside Houston, was second with 52.5 percent, followed by Highland Park, a wealthy suburb of Dallas, with 50.7 percent.
Leon Valley was in second place statewide in the liquor category, with 79.8 percent of its alcohol spending going toward liquor drinks. It came behind Fresno, southwest of Houston, with 84.7 percent. Olmos Park was in sixth, with 77.2 percent.
Texas’ largest cities have average drinking habits, for the most part. Austin shows a penchant for liquor, which was responsible for 53.7 percent of its alcohol spending in 2014. Fort Worth spent an unusually high portion on beer: 37.2 percent.
Dallas and Houston spent more than the state’s average on wine — 22.3 percent and 21.8 percent, respectively. They showed less preference for beer, with Dallas spending 27.7 percent and Houston 29.4 percent.
Texas’ most beer-loving county is Coke County, about 50 miles southwest of Abilene, where 96.7 percent of alcohol money went to beer last year. Hansford County, in the Panhandle 75 miles north of Amarillo, was the most liquor-loving, with 75.8 percent going to liquor.
Leaders in the liquor industry said they expect liquor’s growth to continue. Dan Garrison, who opened the Garrison Brothers bourbon distillery in San Antonio in 2006, is confident that his business will keep expanding.
The distillery, which opened in 2006, sells its products in 17 states and in the European Union. It hasn’t been able to meet demand for years, Garrison said. Craft distilleries are “just getting off the ground,” he said, as consumers become more selective in their drinking and more eager to try new brands of liquor.
“I think the momentum will continue,” he said. “People want to know what they’re drinking, and the people who are making it.”


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Tesla recently said it would implement a 5-for-1 stock split, making its wildly popular stocks even more accessible to individual investors. Trading on a split-adjusted basis will take effect from Monday.
So far, however, access to Tesla stock has not been a problem. Since August 11, when the company unveiled plans to divest, the shares rose 63%, based on an already impressive boom this year and a market value of over $ 400 billion. Tesla shares are higher than this year and closed at a record $ 2238.75 on Thursday.
Investors have scrutinized tied call options for the continued progress of the shares. The proportion of put options purchased relative to call options on Tesla hit a record low on August 21, according to Garrett DeSimone, head of quantitative research at data provider OptionMetrics. Mr. Dissimon analyzed Tesla options that are out of current stock levels or out of the money.
Some of the most actively traded option contracts in recent times have seen rapid calls soaring to $ 2400 or $ 2500, trade alert data show.


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- Plant-based dairy maker Miyoko’s Creamery is closing its Petaluma, California production plant as it looks to “increase production and efficiency,” according to a statement. The closure is slated for January 2024.
- Around 30-40 employees will be affected as the company is outsourcing its production to other parties.“The company will still be headquartered in Petaluma, we’re just ceasing the manufacturing at our own facility,” said James Joaquin, Miyoko’s Creamery board member.
- The company described the closure as a “difficult decision,” and one that was necessary in order to prepare for “more scalable production capacity and greater efficiencies” to better manage the challenging economic environment.
The plant-based category has had its challenges in recent months, with two California startups shutting down operations altogether in September. This latest move by Miyoko’s Creamery is part of a strategy the company says will help it enter its next phase of growth.
The plant-based dairy maker’s new CEO Stuart Kronague’s main goal in her new post was to focus on enhancing the consumer experience and go “back to the basics” by leading the company into its next phase of growth, she said to Food Dive in an August interview.
Miyoko’s has now seen double digit growth over the last few years causing it to search for ways to increase production to meet demand, according to a Press Democrat report.
Working with a co-packer can provide companies with supply chain relief, especially within the food space. Outsourcing the food production can allow for savings in equipment costs and labor costs.
The company said it is still committed to making its high quality dairy vegan alternatives.
“When we (Miyoko’s Creamery) first started … everything was coming out of here and as the brand has expanded … it’s time to onboard into bigger and broader scale opportunities,” Kronauge said to the Press Democrat.
Another focus of Kronauge since taking the helm is overcoming the confusion that is often associated with the plant-based arena by keeping things easy to understand.
The company first came to Marin County in 2014 before it expanded to Petaluma, California two years later.
Since then, Miyoko’s Creamery has gone through a lot of changes — including the ousting of founder and former CEO Miyoko Schinner, which culminated in a lawsuit.


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Company says it continues to support victims and their families as it works on a plan for the future.
Revenues were $475 million, down from $619 million in the third quarter of 2018.
Losing money since the 2013 closure of the nearby Brunswick Mine, which produced zinc and lead.
Rescue deal potentially protects some 4,000 jobs and safeguards a strategic asset as Britain prepares to leave the EU.
Rules review to ensure taxpayers aren’t stuck with the costs of cleaning up or caring for abandoned mines.
Raised costs for steel users and has done little to blunt China’s dominance of global steel production.
…but will determined pricing of fabricated steel from China and Mexico to be unfair, tariffs levied.
Company is investing $50.7 million in three facilities, creating 86 jobs.
Steelmaker cites destocking, falling market prices and the 232 tariffs imposed by the US.
Charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and international money laundering.
Repayable loan will be used to purchase and install digitally controlled production equipment.
Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia already have similar laws.
Part of an $85 million investment in cutting-edge technology that will increase lower cost aluminum production.
Provides customer projects with a range of capabilities from engineering to production.
Beijing says it could cut US off from exotic minerals widely used in electric cars and mobile phones.


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Author: Emma Beck
A growing number of drivers are turning to a high-tech solution for a low-tech problem — finding a parking spot in the nation’s congested cities.
From Pittsburgh to Los Angeles — and dozens of cities in between — mobile applications are becoming available to ease drivers’ search for a place to park.
The problem doesn’t always stem from too few spots, but from not enough information about where to find available parking, said Kelly Schwager, the chief marketing officer for Streetline, a smart parking provider.
Parker, Streetline’s integrated smartphone parking application, feeds users with real-time data of parking availability, pay-by-phone options and alerts for remaining meter times in more than 20 cities, including Reno, Nev., and Hollywood, Calif. Developed in 2010, the application combines pay-by-phone functionality with parking availability data for a “bird’s eye view of the city,” Schwager said.
Read the full article at http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/03/mobile-parking-application/1946323.


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When Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder on July 4th, he unwittingly started another (less loved) holiday. This new day is called “Thunder Independence Day” so called because Thunder fans are doing whatever they can to rid themselves of Kevin Durant memorabilia.
One group of hicks came up with an… interesting way of destroying a KD shirt and hat.
It’s pretty clear to me that these guys are lighting this shirt and hat on fire with bullets because they’re from Oklahoma, but one could argue that this is extremely threatening behavior. It’s not like they’re simply burning a shirt in the parking lot or something. They’re literally lighting up a shirt with three semiautomatic rifles.


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With still nothing to show for from the launch and the release of its first Android phone, Canadian gadget manufacturer BlackBerry is rumored to be launching a second Android smartphone in the wake of the launch of the BlackBerry Priv. This one is coded as “Vienna” for now, but these leaked renders may give us an idea of what the design will bring.
First up, these images were leaked to the people over at Crackberry, who are basically on top of all things BlackBerry. The main aesthetic detail is that from these purported renders, the Vienna seems to have done away with the Priv’s in favor a more traditional BlackBerry layout – this one with a front-facing physical keyboard.
From the renders, it looks like the keyboard takes its design from that of the Priv’s, but it’s early days, and we simply can’t tell from these renders alone. The size of the screen is another factor that we obviously would like to know, but that is not available for now.
The people at Crackberry are obviously positive about the company’s offerings these days, but we’re on a more reserved stance. The BlackBerry Priv might be a good phone, at the very least, but the USD$700 pricing is ridiculous at best. We hope BlackBerry takes a more sober stance with this next phone.


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Leading electronics retail chain Vijay Sales director Nilesh Gupta said this weekend sale was reasonably good even though the usual bouyant pick up before Diwali was missing. The retailer is one of the largest in New Delhi and Hyderabad.
The deal with the iconic Tamil Nadu restaurant, which started with just one outlet in a small town in 1957, will value it at close to Rs 600 crore which includes a share purchase from promoters besides fresh capital infusion for expansion.
Bretzel also noted that the company has also ensured that 50 per cent of the workforce in Ikea India will be women.
In a shift from their usual approach, the Swedish furniture maker is opting for a store rather than building their own stand alone space.
Amazon's campus was inaugurated by Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali.
Slowdown yet to have any impact on ecommerce — being a very small part of Indian retail.
The campus has come up on a 10-acre parcel of land at Nanakramguda in Hyderabad’s IT hub. The new campus building, which is over 15 storeys high, is learnt to have a built-up area of around 3 million sq ft, including 1 million sq ft parking area.
According to Dadu, the company is close to clinching a deal to acquire 2.5 acres of land on Hyderabad’s outskirts for its proposed centralised kitchen that will not only make ready-to-eat items like items like frozen kulchas, parathas, samosas, packaged chole, rajma chawal as well as long-shelf life products like pickles, relishes, snacks and sweets.
The Telangana government will be a setting up dedicated industrial park for furniture manufacturing here, a top official said on Friday.
South Korean tech major Samsung, which opened the worlds largest mobile experience centre in Bengaluru last year, is now actively hunting for sites to set up similar large-format experience centres in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.
In addition, the Netherlands-headquartered retailer will open small neighbourhood stores across India as part of its overall strategy to reach younger customers.
“Once we set up our facility in Hyderabad, the Vijayawada plant will cater to AP and Tamil Nadu markets and the Hyderabad plant will supply to Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra,” he explained.
Oyo Rooms and Udaan led the hiring with a 160% and 205% growth rate in the last three years, while Snapdeal and rival ShopClues have slowed down their recruitment. The data further noted that in 2018 alone, 4,680 new additions have been made solely by unicorns, and this year the projection is that they will recruit 9,200 more.
The E-commerce company also has close to 90 Amazon-owned and Service Partner delivery stations in the state.
Currently, the toy segment is the largest contributor followed by apparel segment and food and beverages.
The haleem business in the city during Ramzan is estimated to be worth nearly Rs 800 crore.
The Hyderabad headquartered retailer has acquired on lease around 2 lakh square feet of space in upmarket Bengaluru localities.


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The new Ford Fusion we won't get wears a sharp design
It looks a lot like China's Evos, but this Fusion replacement won't be for America as far as we know.
It all started with Gran Turismo. From those early PlayStation days, Sean was drawn to anything with four wheels. Prior to joining the Roadshow team, he was a freelance contributor for Motor Authority, The Car Connection and Green Car Reports. As for what's in the garage, Sean owns a 2016 Chevrolet SS, and yes, it has Holden badges.
Feast your eyes on a handsome new sedan. And since this Ford Fusion, or Mondeo as Europe knows it, is a sedan, you know it won't be heading to America. Nevertheless, this is a look at what could've been if Ford decided the Fusion was worth saving here in the US.
The photos you see here were posted to China's Ministry of Information and Industry on Monday and they show what will be known as the Mondeo in China. Ford plans to retire that car in Europe, a couple years after giving the Fusion the hook here in North America. With its newfound life in China, the Mondeo takes a heaping dose of inspiration from the recently revealed Evos, also just for China. While the Evos is a wagon of sorts, the Mondeo remains a traditional sedan. The front fascia, just like the Evos, remains seriously good-looking with a lot of sharp lines. The rear, meanwhile, definitely looks related to the Fusion with a light bar serving as the taillights and similar cues from the car once sold here.
We don't get a good look at the cockpit, but it's a safe bet it shares a lot with the Evos there, too. If that's the case, drivers will find a nearly end-to-end screen spanning the dashboard and, overall, a lovely design.
There've been rumors Ford has something cooking to replace the Fusion here in the US, and said rumors pointed to a high-riding wagon of sorts, kind of like the unloved and now-dead Buick Regal TourX. We'll need to see what plays out, but for now, we're staring at forbidden Chinese fruit.
2022 Ford Maverick: Low-buck truck with serious smarts


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The pair have signed a letter of intent regarding the "possible set up of a joint venture company in future specifically aiming at improving competitiveness of sheetfed offset printing machinery".
PrintWeek understands that talks have been going on for some time and have now reached the stage where the two Japanese manufacturers have decided to formalise the process. According to this morning's letter of intent, the pair have set a deadline of 30 June to conclude a final agreement.
This will establish the terms of any joint venture, including "significant synergy effects such as enhancement of product line-up, enlargement of product development capability, reduction of product cost, and improvement in sales and service networks".
"The plan is expected to enable the stronger presence in the global market," the statement said.
Bob Usher, managing director of Ryobi's UK distributor Apex Digital Graphics said that while the jury was still out on what shape any JV might take, one obvious area of consolidation would be in B1, where Ryobi lack a "big flaship B1 press".
"Ryobi brought their B1 to market just as the market was going into recession so they never saw the kind of sales that the other B1 press manufacturers benefitted from in the run up to the recession," he said.
"Mitsubishi has a well-established product in the Diamond, so you have two presses sitting on the block, one of which has a reputation for selling more into the market."
On the other hand Ryobi has a "huge installation base of B3 presses and a large B2 customer base", according to Usher, who added that one area where Ryobi has been getting a lot of traction is with its SRA1 format 920 series press, which has sold "several hundred around the world" since its launch in 2009.
"Mitsubishi has web presses as well, which Ryobi doesn't have, but then the web market is very difficult," he added. "The logical thing to do will be to develop the products that are successful and consolidate wherever possible."
He added that in terms of manufacturing capability, Ryobi was better invested, having recently spent "huge amounts of money on a new factory with a new production line".
Murray Lock, joint managing director of Mitsubishi's UK distributor M Partners, said: "From our side, strategically it makes sense. Obviously we'll keep all our customers involved, as and when we know more.
"Mitsubishi will make the right decision, based on business reasoning. The German manufacturers should have done something like this, but haven't."
According to an overview of both companies issued with the letter of intent, Mitsubishi's Paper & Packaging Machinery division had net sales of ¥43.6bn for the year ended 31 March 2012 and an operating income of ¥1.8bn.
Ryobi's net sales for the same period came in at ¥165.6bn, with an operating income of ¥7.7bn, although these figures cover the whole group, including sales from power tools, builders' hardware and die-cast products.
According to the investor section of Ryobi's website, it's printing equipment revenue has declined from ¥41bn in 2007/08 to ¥17.5bn in 2011/12. Its forecast revenue for the year ended 31 March 2013 is ¥15.2bn.Tweet


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Looking beyond the Android operating system, Micromax has come up with the Canvas Win series running on the Windows Phone operating system.
The company announced the launch of this series with two new smartphones, Canvas Win W121 and W902, at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday.
The Canvas Win W902 boasts a 4-inch touch display and is priced attractively at Rs 6,500. The smartphone runs on Windows Phone 8.1 operating system and packs in a 1.2GHz Quad core processor on Qualcomm 200 chipset. It is coupled with 1GB of RAM and comes with 8GB internal storage. Micromax has packed in a 5MP rear camera, 0.3MP front facing camera and a 1500 mAh battery to the W902.
The Canvas Win W121 is priced Rs 9,500 and features a 5-inch HD IPS display, 8MP rear camera with flash, 2MP front facing camera, proximity sensor, gravity sensor and up to 32 GB expandable memory. Even the W121 runs on Qualcomm 200 chipset with 1.2GHz quad core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal storage and Windows Phone 8.1.
Both the smartphones come with personalized user interface with LiveTiles, and has Internet Explorer 11 for web browsing. The Windows Phone App store has over 300,000 apps.
While Microsoft has a tie up with Nokia, HTC, Huawei and Samsung, only Nokia smartphones running on Windows Phone 8.1 are available in the market. However, earlier this year at Mobile World Congress, Microsoft has announced new hardware partners in addition including Foxconn, Gionee, JSR, Karbonn, Lava (Xolo), Lenovo, LG, Longcheer and ZTE. Amongst the few Indian handset partners, Micromax is the first Indian smartphone player to launch a Windows-based phone.
Sanjay Kapoor, Chairman, Micromax, said: "With our vision to democratize technology and belief in providing consumers with choice of platforms, we are pleased to introduce a new range of Windows-based phones. I am pleased that Micromax is the only Indian mobile phone brand to be present across the two most popular operating platforms in the world."


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Shares of electric-car company Tesla (TSLA -4.59%) jumped on Friday, marking two days in a row of meaningful gains for the stock. Shares rose as much as 5.1% today and were up 4.5% as of 1:30 p.m. EDT.
The stock's gain follows news that Tesla increased the amount it was raising in a debt and equity offering -- a move that credit rating agency Moody's supports.
Tesla said Friday morning it was increasing the total amount of capital it was raising in a stock and debt offering to as much as $2.7 billion -- up from a previous target for as much as $2.3 billion. In addition, CEO Elon Musk expressed interest in buying up to $25 million worth of Tesla stock, an increase from a previous plan to buy up to $10 million.
Moody's senior vice president Bruce Clark was pleased with the news, noting in a tweet from the agency's official Twitter account that the offering "is credit positive and it will boost the company's liquidity profile by taking its cash position to over $4 billion."
Also helping the stock may be that the company reiterated its guidance for 90,000 to 100,000 deliveries in Q2.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla indicated it would use the cash to strengthen its balance sheet and for general corporate purposes. But Musk said during a call with investors yesterday that it would also serve as a buffer if a recession occurs.
The fresh capital will build on a cash position of $2.2 billion at the end of Tesla's first quarter.
As of 1:30 p.m. EDT, Tesla shares are up about 9% over the past two days.


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Land Rover of Redwood City, CA Sells First Land Rover with Bitcoin Using BitPay
ATLANTA--Jan. 29, 2014: BitPay Inc., the world leader in business solutions for virtual currencies, announces that Land Rover of Redwood City California is it’s most recent business to start accepting bitcoins using BitPay . Serving the San Francisco metro area, Land Rover of Red wood City is the first Land Rover Dealership to accept bitcoins.
“Realizing we need to be ready to accept change in this constantly broadening virtual community, we agreed to our first Bitcoin sale”
The dealership was approached by a prominent Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist wanting to purchase a new vehicle with bitcoins. The team had very little knowledge of bitcoins to draw from.
“Realizing we need to be ready to accept change in this constantly broadening virtual community, we agreed to our first Bitcoin sale,” said Doug Doyle, General Sales Manager with Land Rover of Redwood City. “Although the concept of Bitcoin is hard to grasp, the process as put forth by BitPay is quite simple. Just send an invoice and the money shows up in your account. Simple and seamless just as they said.”
Land Rover Redwood City has been a proud member of the Qvale Automotive Group since 2000. The Qvale family sold their first car in 1947,and now owns a chain of luxury dealerships throughout California and Florida.
Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer payment network and digital currency, has substantially lower payment processing fees than those of credit cards or money transfers with the opportunity of true flat rate pricing. BitPay’s Bitcoin Payment Gateway API is the most advanced and most reliable bitcoin-processing platform, which is one of the reasons that Land Rover of Redwood City chose to partner with BitPay. BitPay enables them to receive payment next-day into their bank account.
“We make it easy for businesses like Land Rover of Redwood City to accept bitcoin as a form of payment,” said Tony Gallippi, co-founder and CEO of BitPay. “For businesses who don’t want the challenges of holding and managing bitcoins, we can settle their account in dollars so they never have to account for the bitcoins.”


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TransEurope Marinas has recently partnered with Pick a Pier: a technology company that specialises in creating software solutions for the recreational boating industry.
Their custom-made membership system is designed to issue personal digital cards for TransEurope Marinas berth-holders from an inclusive automated platform, offering accurate insights and activity reports for managers, while boaters will enjoy the benefits of a new online platform.
Rewardingly simple to use despite its complexity, the innovative programme is now being trialled by a group of TransEurope members who are providing useful feedback.
All members will soon receive an invitation to join the system along with instructions, full support and one-on-one sessions for marina operators and managers. 2020 will see all marinas engage with the new system so that in 2021 TransEurope can eliminate the need for paper membership cards.


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The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the U.S. economy grew 0.7 percent at the annual rate in the first quarter, starting 2017 off on a soft start as expected. This follows real GDP growth of 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter. Weaker consumer and inventory spending in the first quarter could explain the lower figures, with government spending also serving as a drag on the headline number.
To be fair, this is just the first estimate, so there is a chance that future revisions might show better growth, particularly if incoming data for March are better than expected. In addition, we traditionally have a sluggish first quarter followed by a strong rebound in the second quarter. My current forecast is for 2.8 percent growth in real GDP in the second quarter, with the economy expanding 2.1 percent for 2017 as a whole. Of course, these estimates might drift higher with passage of more pro-growth policies, especially in terms of the outlook later this year and into 2018.


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Grocery shoppers will tell you that their bills are getting bigger from week to week.
Many are already bargain hunting, buying store brands and using coupons for the best deals.
PORTLAND, Ore. - College can cause sticker shock....
PORTLAND, Ore. - Dillard's Inc. department stores reported Friday that its first-quarter sales fell 12 percent, though it posted a $7.7 million profit because of a one-time gain....
PORTLAND, Ore. - Nike Inc.'s profit fell 10 percent in its fiscal first quarter as a special gain in the prior year did not recur, the company said Wednesday. Sales rose, however, with help from international operations....
BEAVERTON, Ore. - It's gotta be the shoes, right?...
Savannahnow.com, Savannah Morning News ©2015. All Rights Reserved.


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Corporate responsibility | mcdonald's new zealand mcdonaldsconz/about-maccas/corporate-responsibility. Csr, mcds, mcdonalds csr, csr initiatives, by nishtichka in types school work. Mcdonald's south africa, today announced the launch of worldcoaches johan van geijn, coordinator international csr projects for knvb worldcoaches. Corporate social responsibility (csr) or corporate citizenship entails companies behaving in a socia.
The april 14th mcdonald's report on corporate social responsibility www mcdonaldscom/corporate/social/report/indexhtml is a low water. Maybe mcdonald's shareholders have seen the corporate-social-responsibility light and want to make sure poor people can afford coffee and. Findings: since last year's mcdonald's has been seen to adopt a more proactive strategy on csr mcdonald's has set good examples of social responsibility. As mcdonald's ramps up its corporate social responsibility efforts, it's trying to figure out a way to put the 40-year-old ronald mcdonald house front and center.
For the first time, mcdonald's corp is placing an emphasis on of global csr, sustainability and philanthropy at mcdonald's, noted in the. We worked closely with mcdonald's to help them develop and finalize a global corporate social responsibility & sustainability report, including the. The ajyalona initiative is an umbrella for all mcdonald's corporate social responsibility initiatives and activities. We pride ourselves on being a founding pillar in creating stronger local communities we believe in the importance of giving back to our community, and .
Mcdonald's is a good example for implementation of the csr strategy and for that reason it was chosen for in-depth analysis in the article. In its brand new 2012-2013 corporate social responsibility & sustainability report, mcdonald's published its global corporate social. Ronald mcdonald house charities (rmhc), the charity of choice of mcdonald's philippines, is a global organization on a mission to make a difference in the. Figure 2 – food purchase of mcdonald per week figure 3 – consumers awareness of mcdonald's csr initiatives figure 4 – preferences of consumers .
On august 26th, 2015, burger king ran a full page ad inviting mcdonald's to create something special together, the mcwhopper (a blend of mcdonald's big mac. At mcdonald's®, giving back to the community has always been a key mission and part of our heritage and in hong kong, we are proud to be part of the. Oak brook, ill, apr 30 /csrwire/ - mcdonald's corp today announced its first corporate social responsibility & sustainability framework.
The corporate social responsibility and sustainability framework focuses on goals mcdonald's aims to achieve by 2020 in five areas — food,. Mcdonald's corporation corporate social responsibility news, reports and events on csrwirecom. It may be a case of corporate social responsibility gone awry mcdonald's briefly offered step-it activity bands in happy meals they were. Mcdonald's csr report a nutritious meal, but critics want more “mcdonald's unveiled a state of the art corporate responsibility report in 2008,” commented.
What happens when control over communication is lost – a case study of mcdonald's and its csr communication strategies - student name:. 976 results we take our social responsibilities very seriously you can find more information on our environmental initiatives, football initiatives and charity. One of the most well-known examples of a csr program is the ronald mcdonald house, a charity created by mcdonald's to support the. Our values include making quality food, practicing sustainable sourcing, and committing to a healthier planet learn more.


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Photo: Courtesy canfitpro
Twenty years ago, the lights went dark in Toronto. On August 14, 2003, more than 50 million people went without electricity after a huge power outage toppled grids. The blackout spanned roughly 24,000 square kilometers.
Inside the Metro Convention Centre, fitness professionals from around the world were gathered, straddling up and over benches, learning new choreography, racing in imaginary Tour de France rides, and getting the latest exercise science research. Suddenly, everything went dark – with no music, we fumbled around to get outside only to discover the chaos.
Who could predict this would only be one turbulent moment in our industry’s future.
This weekend, as fitness professionals gather in Toronto for the 30th anniversary of canfitpro, we are coming together as an even stronger version of ourselves. Fitness Industry Council of Canada (FIC) will be presenting the State of the Industry session, gathering data from global partners, surveying members to bring the latest research and findings, and looking ahead at what is shaping and will shape our industry.
What we have discovered is that resilience runs deep in Canada. In spite of having the longest lockdowns in the world, losing members, taking on massive debt to stay afloat, and making the word “pivot” central to our business plans, Canadian gyms are still standing.
FIC, the not-for-profit trade association of the Canadian fitness industry, will present data from global partners, as well as insights from our members, on where the Canadian fitness industry stands midway through 2023, and where we are heading in 2024. The State of the Industry will feature a panel of experts who will share their expertise into the labor shortage gripping the fitness industry, the CEBA loans, how technology is changing and shaping our industry at a rapid pace, and much more.
Here are a few sneak peaks, and research FIC has gathered for the session:
- At least 10 percent of fitness businesses closed between March 2020 and July 2023,
- Many fitness businesses continue to grow, attracting more members than pre-pandemic. According to a July 2023 ABC Fitness Solutions report, gyms experienced record new sign ups in the first half of 2023.
- According to an FIC survey, 58.4 percent of respondents say they have less members now than before the pandemic.
- The CEBA loan deadline is a pressing concern for Canadian business owners
- According to both the FIC survey and a 2022 industry survey from Two-Brain Business, most gyms have less than 300 members, with an average of 152 members
- In a predictions report from Mindbody, fitness consumers will be seeking a more “whole-human” experience from their gym, taking into account wellness, recovery, mindfulness and much more.
- Wearable and technology advancements, including AI, continue to trend.
- While Generation Z is leading the way in membership sign-ups, older members (55+) spend on average much more each month in the gym.
- Members use the gym as much for mental health as they do for physical health. In fact, since COVID, mental and social motivators, as well as well-rounded physical health, are top priorities for Canadians.
FIC will also provide updates on our lobbying efforts, including the continuing campaign to revise line 33099 of our tax forms to allow Canadians to claim gym memberships on their taxes as a medical expense.
As we come together in Toronto this weekend, the message stronger together has never been more relevant. Join Fitness Industry Council of Canada on Friday, August 18th at 4:00 PM for the State of the Industry presentation, and join the FIC today!
Fitness Industry Council of Canada (FIC) is the not-for profit trade association that represents the voice of fitness facility operators across Canada. Representing more than 6,000 facilities with more than six-million members nationwide, FIC pursues a legislative agenda in the hope of bettering the fitness industry for both consumers and operators. FIC aims to work with both industry and government to improve the health and physical activity levels of Canadians.


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Nest has a large selection of smart home devices, ranging from thermostats to cameras and smoke alarms. According to a source for 9 to 5 Google, they will soon be getting a rebrand. The discussions are still in a very early phase, so it's not clear if or when we can expect these changes.
Nest has a long and complicated history with Google. The smart home company was first acquired by Google in 2014, but a year later its status was changed to an independent Alphabet (Google's parent company) subsidiary. This year, Nest returned under the Google umbrella again.
This was an expected move, as the search giant has been focusing on hardware more heavily in recent years. According to them, tens of millions of Google home devices were sold in 2017 alone. Last year was great for Nest too - they had more sales than the two previous years combined, thanks to adding more products to their hardware line.
What would a rebrand achieve in this case? “A key part of bringing together our work across Nest and Home in order to build a more thoughtful home is developing a cohesive vision that informs a robust and strategic roadmap across our teams,” Google Hardware SVP Rick Osterloh said earlier this year.
This means Google's goal is to make it easier for customers to recognize the products as part of one family. Branding uniformity will put customers who are not familiar with smart home installation at ease - one ecosystem for all of your devices is a lot less daunting than multiple when you're first starting out.
So if the rebrand does occur soon, it is not out of the question for Nest devices to receive the Home name, associated with the new Google Home Hub. For now, this is just speculation, however. We will have to wait and see.
What do you think? Will the rebrand spell success for Google and Nest? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: 9 to 5 Google


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- Digital retail finance and payments company Zip Co (Z1P) has launched Tap & Zip, a feature which allows Zip Pay to be used anywhere which accepts visa
- The new feature for Zip's buy now, pay later (BNPL) offerings can be used either online or in-store, competing with credit cards
- Zip Co has been granted a principle issuer licence by Visa and will use Marqueta's tech to generate a virtual card in real-time for users
- The virtual card can also be added to certain digital wallets and is compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Co-founder and CEO Larry Diamond expects Tap & Zip will streamline in-store payments and bolster transactions
- Zip Co shares are up 4.46 per cent at market open, worth $7.49
Digital retail finance and payments company Zip Co (Z1P) has launched Tap & Zip, a feature which allows Zip Pay to be used anywhere which accepts Visa.
The new feature for Zip's buy now, pay later (BNPL) offerings can be used either online or in-store, competing with credit cards.
Zip Co has been granted a Principle Issuer Licence by Visa and will use Marqueta's open-API card-issuing platform to allow Zip Pay users to generate a virtual card in real-time.
This virtual card can be added to certain digital wallets and is compatible with both Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Co-founder and CEO Larry Diamond expects Tap & Zip will streamline in-store payments and bolster transactions.
"This is a huge day for Zip and the Australian retail sector. Tap & Zip is a new way for customers to pay that will dramatically increase instore transactions and conversion rates for thousands of retailers and merchants around the country, many of whom have been significantly impacted over the past year," he said.
At present, only 24 per cent of Zip Pay transactions occur in-store compared to around 87 per cent of transactions more broadly in the retail sector.
"BNPL has seen phenomenal growth over the last few years, as customers switched traditional forms of credit for flexible, digital alternatives. However, until now that growth has been restricted by a clunky instore checkout experience and limited acceptance," continued the CEO.
"We continuously hear from Zip customers that they want to use their digital wallet to pay for everyday purchases like groceries and petrol, or to buy products and services from merchants that don’t accept BNPL. Everywhere Australians can pay with a Visa contactless card, they’ll now also be able to Tap & Zip, interest-free," he added.
Additionally, Zip will earn interchange revenue from transactions on its virtual cards as a principal member and partner of Visa.
Visa Group Country Manager for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific Julian Potter said Visa is proud to support the growth of Zip and other fintechs.
"Tap & Zip customers can enjoy the choice and flexibility that Zip provides, and know their transactions are backed by Visa’s global acceptance and multiple layers of security. Visa is proud to bring its scale and capabilities to enable fintechs like Zip to develop new payment solutions and to reach their global potential," Julian added.
Zip Co shares are up 4.46 per cent at market open, worth $7.49 at 10:32 am AEDT.


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|Source: Eurogamer US|
SEGA have this week announced several new details on their upcoming pair of TV tie-in games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog and his faithful band of re-designed pals. Collectively titled Sonic Boom (which is also the name of the upcoming TV show that is set to establish a whole new narrative continuity for the publisher's mascot), the products will launch exclusively for Nintendo consoles later this year and will be showcased for the first time at E3 2014 from June 9th-12th.
Before this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo kicks off, however, there are a few new snippets which we can reveal regarding both the WiiU and 3DS versions of Boom. The former will be titled Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and will focus on co-operative puzzle-platformer gameplay, whereas the latter will go by the name Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal and will instead harken back to Sonic's roots, reprising the classic 2D side-scrolling game-play and combining it with multiple paths for players to explore in order to discover new secrets and foes to battle.
As the first promotional image (above) suggests, younger gamers (who these two games are primarily aimed at, before series veterans start to take offence) will take control of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy in their campaign to end the schemes of the evil snake-esque villain Lyric, a new antagonist created specially for Boom whom we suspect will appear in episodes of the programme itself when it premières not too long after these titles launch. More details and in-game footage are expected to land at Nintendo's E3 Digital Event next week, so stay tuned to On-Screen for all of the news as it comes.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal will dash onto Nintendo WiiU and Nintendo 3DS consoles respectively this November.


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Concern about the future of computer entertainment specialist Game has intensified after the retailer acknowledged doubts over its future, and the business may well be worthless.
Game has been hit by supply problems after being unable to strike terms with developers such as EA and is locked in discussions with lenders about its financing.
The retailer reported this morning: “The board of Game is working actively to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.
“This includes ongoing discussions with suppliers, seeking access to the original facility or alternative sources of funding, and reviewing the position of all of its assets in the UK and international territories.
“It is uncertain whether any of the solutions currently being explored by the board will be successful or will result in any value being attributed to the shares of the company.”
The Sunday Times reported that the computer games specialist has put itself up for sale as it scrambles to pay its quarterly rent bill which is due in the next two weeks. Rothschild has been appointed to find a buyer, while Deloitte’s services have been sought to deal with an insolvency, including a possible pre-pack administration.


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Segment Manager Bill Laverty was recently published in Today’s Motor Vehicles addressing the need for the auto industry to condense their forecasting models and improve ROI. Read the full piece here.
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Day the music died (Virginia Gazette)
ith the closure of Plan 9 at Monticello Shopping Center earlier this month, the community is without an indy store for the first time.
TowneBank starts division to facilitate community projects (Virginian-Pilot)
TowneBank, whose nonbank activities range from insurance sales to property management, has created a unit to line up tax credits for community-development projects.
W&L students invest in microfinancing (Roanoke Times)
Three students and a professor at W&L have started a club using small loans to help communities improve economically.
$75 Million in Pills Stolen in Connecticut (AP)
In a Hollywood-style heist, thieves cut a hole in the roof of a warehouse, rappelled inside and scored one of the biggest hauls of its kind — not diamonds, gold bullion or Old World art, but about $75 million in antidepressants and other prescription drugs.
More employers use tech to track workers (USA Today)
Managers use technological advances to capture workers’ computer keystrokes, monitor the websites they frequent, even track their whereabouts through GPS-enabled cellphones. Some companies have gone as far as using webcams and minuscule video cameras to secretly record employees’ movements.
Three Best Ways to Export (WSJ)
International customers can be a source of growth that businesses can’t find on U.S. soil when domestic spending slows. But the process of selling goods and services outside the U.S. remains foreign to many small-business owners concerned about trade and financial regulations, shipping costs and more work.


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Production of Sony Computer Entertainment's (SCEI) PlayStation 2 games console has passed the 50 million unit mark.
Total worldwide production of the console, first launched in March 2000 in Japan, stood at 50.03 million units as of January 15, SCEI said in a statement. Of that, 43 per cent of all consoles produced were models for the North American market, 32 per cent for the European market and the remaining 25 per cent for the Japanese and South Korean markets.
Production of the PlayStation 2 reached the 50 million unit mark after 2 years and 10 months from its initial debut - one year and two months faster than it took the original PlayStation console to get to the same point.
It also comes just 4 months after PlayStation 2 production passed the 40 million unit mark; the quick jump was helped by record sales of the console over the holiday period. SCEI said it sold 8.5 million PlayStation 2 consoles during November and December, a jump of 24 per cent on the previous year. Of those sales, 4 million were in the North American market, 3.4 million were in the European market and 940,000 units were in the Japanese market. End of year domestic sales were down 27 per cent however those in North America and Europe were up 42 per cent and 27 per cent respectively.
There were also more than 1500 software titles available, production of which has passed 300 million units, SCEI said.
The company recently began selling network adapters for an online gaming service. Sales of the PlayStation 2 network adapter in North America had reached 400,000 units by the end of December 2002 while production of adapters for SCEI's service in Japan stood at 190,000 units.


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What We Learned About Sparking Innovation From An Electric Vehicle Designer
Insights from a leader in innovation
“Innovation” gets thrown around as a buzzword a lot these days. But when it’s done right, and businesses invest in new ways of thinking and developing new products, they can set themselves ahead of the competition, supercharge revenue growth, and exceed customer expectations. Sounds good, right? However, if you’re at a large organization shaped by legacy practices, seeding innovation can feel like pushing a boulder uphill. So, where do you start?
This was the question posed by Modus’ Chief Innovation Officer, Jay Erickson, during a fireside chat with Jason Castriota, an award-winning automobile designer and brand strategist, at a recent Modus gathering in NYC. Castriota is renowned for his role in shaping Italian icons Ferrari and Maserati, and as a driving force behind Ford Motors’ historic metamorphosis from delivering the world’s first affordable car in 1908, to being at the forefront of today’s electric car landscape. Formerly Chief Designer of the groundbreaking electric vehicle (EV) the Mustang Mach-E, Castriota is embarking on his next contribution to the planet's evolution.
Our event brought together digital leaders for an afternoon of sailing around New York Harbor for a carbon-free start to our event. Modus also purchased carbon offsets to compensate for guests’ travel to the event. At dinner, Erickson and Castriota’s conversation centered on how to inspire a jumpstart to innovation at your organization. Here are some highlights:
Analyze what’s missing from your customer experience — or disruptors will get there first
“The car as we know it today…is a degrading asset,” said Castriota. “You buy it, and as soon as you drive it off the lot, it loses value. It doesn’t get better over time, and there’s no way to actually improve it.”
What Tesla introduced, with the EV revolution, was much more than just a change in propulsion technology. The real transformation that Tesla ushered in is “a smart connected device on four wheels,” said Castriota. “It’s not just smart in the sense that our calendar’s hooked into it, or we can cast our apps on screen, it’s really about how this is a product that can actually improve over time, because now, we have hoards of data, and by leveraging our fleet of users, we can make the product better. We can learn what customers are actually using and not using. And then ask how we can improve the product — such as performance or efficiency, and/or how can we deliver surprise and delight?”
Over-the-air updates to a vehicle’s software not only allows carmakers to upgrade features that keep consumers happier for longer, they can also introduce new revenue streams, such as monthly subscription fees.
Keep an open mind toward change
As a global brand director at Ford charged with EV brand strategy, Castriota initially faced doubt over the appeal of electric vehicles.
“No one in the industry thought we would be pivoting to build electric vehicles,” he said. “Very few people thought Elon was going to figure out how to build cars at scale. He himself called it “hell” and famously tweeted “Manufacturing is hard!”
Castriota said Tesla’s Silicon Valley approach — embracing risk, experimentation and failure to push innovation, and hiring great talent to accelerate their learning curve in manufacturing — has greatly paid off. Tesla sales nearly doubled between 2020 and 2021, and the company expects 50% year over year growth.
Moreso, Tesla has sold its customers a unique value proposition of a fast, smart, connected EV. “The customer has spoken,” said Castriota. “Tesla is going to deliver over 1.3M cars this year. The customer is saying, ‘I believe in this vision of the future that he’s selling.’”
Rally around a story for your future customers
How do you convince other leaders to invest in your ideas? Appeal to their emotions with the story you are selling. At Ford, Castriota faced tough questions from colleagues that had spent decades building best-selling vehicles, like Ford’s F-class trucks.
“‘Why would anyone want an electric truck?’ ‘Can it be better than an ICE truck?’ ‘How can we entice people to buy an electric truck?’ ‘What's the value add?’ These were provocative conversations we had to have,” said Castriota.
He recalled a scene from the 2019 Ford vs. Ferrari movie where Lee Iacocca is making an appeal to Henry Ford, saying the carmaker needs to be more emotive and tap into the hearts and minds of customers to grow the brand. That emotional connection and standing for something is so critical to winning the customer of tomorrow, he said.
“The cohort of tomorrow is growing up with iPhones in their hands. They research everything, and they know everything about everything,” said Castriota. “Apple ushered in what I like to call ‘and, and, and,’ NO compromise products. Customers now expect products that deliver great design, great reliability, great experience, great tech, and great value. The fact is other brands — even automakers — now need to live up to the same promise.”
For Ford, it came down to uncorking the new value behind the product. “Ultimately, we had to focus on the unique benefits and experiences that were highly differentiated and desirable versus what was found in traditional trucks. For example, with no motor the size of a washing machine up front, we added a huge workspace. With tons of power on board, we gave customers the ability to harness the battery power and use their truck as a generator. The team ultimately embraced that this is a product that’s going to be better for the world, better for the customer, and ultimately better for the company. And if Ford wanted to thrive in the new paradigm, they had to make this pivot.”


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A short while before NBA Playgrounds arrived on Nintendo Switch the developer's representatives told us that an update adding online play would come a 'few days' after launch. Not an ideal scenario, but reasonable - we can practice for a few days and then play online, right?
We're pretty sure 'a few days' doesn't equate to a couple of weeks, yet here we are with no update as yet to enable online play on Switch. The last status update we had when we chased last week was that there'd be more information soon, which hasn't come as yet. To be fair whoever runs the game's social media account does answer questions on this and other things, but has no real details to give. The latest relevant replies are below.
No real change, then.
It has been rather frustrating for those that have bought the game on Switch, especially as the offline Tournaments get teeth-gnashingly tricky late on, to the point that getting thrashed by 13 year-old Jimmy from Arkansas online will be a change of pace. It's easy to lose track of days and weeks when busy, but this feels like an excessive wait for a core feature of the game on Switch. Meanwhile the developers have found the time to improve the fully-featured PC version while Switch owners wait for basic online play.
Not exactly a slamma jamma.


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Amid the budding legal cannabis marketplace in New York, Republican state lawmakers are advocating for a ban on smoking and consuming marijuana in public spaces. Their proposed measure would empower local governments to enact laws prohibiting public cannabis consumption, citing concerns over public exposure to marijuana smoke and its effects.
New York first legalized cannabis in 2021, but retail sales have been slow to take off. Supporters of legalization framed the issue around reversing the impact of previous stringent marijuana laws. Recently, state lawmakers and Governor Kathy Hochul took steps to regulate unlicensed cannabis sales, resorting to civil fines and potential business closures.
Despite the Clean Air Act and local smoking bans already restricting public marijuana smoking, Republicans argue that the public consumption of marijuana, due to its psychoactive effects, presents a unique hazard requiring similar public restrictions to those on alcohol. The proposed penalties for violations include fines up to $125.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].


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The webinar will take place on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, at 10 a.m. CDT.
If you’re not measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of your public relations efforts, you are missing out on a huge opportunity.
Google Chrome is saying goodbye to third-party cookies, and they’re already working on different replacements.
Apple’s update is causing an understandable uneasiness among advertisers because there’s a real possibility that this new precedent will negatively impact the effectiveness of their digital ad spend.
Use search engine optimization (SEO) to get your website noticed in 2021.


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In a press release, Epic Games announced that it has purchased a 980,000 square-foot and 87-acre Cary Towne Center mall which will become the new Epic Games campus by 2024. This includes plans to create both office buildings and recreational spaces for long-term use.
Development on the new HQ will begin later this year and in the meantime, Epic Games will remain at its current Crossroad Boulevard location in Cary, the city Epic Games has been based for over 20 years.“We’re extremely proud that Epic has chosen to call Cary home for their new global headquarters, and we greatly appreciate the company’s recognition of Cary’s existing assets as well as the unlimited potential of the area for their growing business,” Cary mayor Harold Weinbrecht said in a statement.
Epic maintains over 50 offices worldwide, running local and global aspects of its business. But the HQ in Cary will serve as the company’s base of operations.Unused malls have actually become a popular target for companies looking to create new office space and headquarters. Companies like Google and WeWork have converted abandoned malls across the country for office use. So if you happen to live in Cary and wondered what happened to that old town mall, Epic owns it.
Check out IGN’s Fortnite guide for the latest tips and walkthroughs on the latest season. Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.


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With the official signing of Phase 1 trade deal between US and China today, we may have seen the worst in Soybean’s market at least in the short term. This of course assumes that China can commit to the agreement and US doesn’t take another measure. However, it seems safe to say that the tit-for-tat trade war should cease for the time being. With Phase 1 trade deal, China’s soybean import should revert to normal and may even rise significantly. China has also scrapped the import tariff for Soybean.
China is the world’s largest soybean importer, requiring more than 100 million tons of soybeans every year. Other than Soybean, other US agricultural and meat products such as wheat, corn, and pork should also see a jump. The US Trade Representative (USTR) office said the deal includes a commitment by China to buy at least $200 billion of US exports over two years. The purchase include manufactured goods, food, agricultural, energy products, and services.
China has started to increase soybean imports since the end of last year. China’s soybean imports in December rose 67% year-on-year and jumped 15% from November 2019 to 9.54 million metric ton. It processes 80% of the beans into high protein animal feed. Last year was especially a tough year on the American soy farmers. In addition to the tariff war affecting Soybean, China also lost 40% of its pig population from August 2018 due to the outbreak of African swine fever. Thus, the country’s demand for soybean-based animal feed plummeted drastically. However, China has since been able to control the outbreak, and pig numbers have started to recover in 2020.
With the phase 1 trade deal and recovery in China pig numbers, the worst in Soybean is likely over. American farmers can now look forward to export soybean again to the world’s largest buyer. Soybean’s price has scope to gradually recover from years of depressed price.
Soybean (ZS_F) shows a 5 swing sequence from May 2019 Low
Daily Chart in Soybean above shows a 5 swing bullish sequence from 5.13.2019 low. This suggests as far as the pullback stays above wave (X) low on Dec 2, 2019 at 867.4, it should extend higher again to end 7 swing structure towards 1021 – 11116 area.
Alternate Soybean (ZS_F) Shows a 5 Waves Diagonal Rally from May 2019
In the alternate scenario, Soybean has ended cycle from 5.13.2019 low as 5 waves diagonal. In this case, it should correct cycle from May 2019 low in larger degree 3, 7, or 11 swing before the rally resumes. In this scenario, it still remains bullish against May 13, 2019 low (792.6) although the pullback can potentially become deeper.
For more updates on Soybean or other commodities, forex pairs, and Indices, feel free to try our service 14 days –> 14 Days FREE TrialBack


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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had earlier this month floated a consultation paper seeking public comments on a proposal suggesting service providers should compensate mobile subscribers for call drops and poor quality of services.
This proposal of Trai has so far seen hundreds of individuals commenting through MyGov portal to protect their interest.
Citing the losses incurred to them due to call drops, people demanded that they should get double the cost for each lost call.
"Calls if dropped should not be charged because many times our villagers make call and it get dropped due to a lack of connectivity... they pay money without talking. It comes out to be a harassment," a consumer commented on the proposal.
Many others complaint about absence of mobile towers around their villages. There are hundreds of comments from people seeking compensation for failure in mobile internet connection as well along with call drops.
Telecom operators, industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified Telcom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) have opposed the proposal to compensate consumers.
"We do not agree that calling consumers should not be charged for a call that got dropped within five second or any time later. The subscriber should be charged for the duration of the call session," AUSPI Secretary General Ashok Sud said.
COAI, which represents pure play GSM mobile companies like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Uninor etc, said, "We are of the view that consumer compensation will not resolve problem of the call drops, since the key factors resulting in the call drops such as non-availability of sites and spectrum constraints will still remain."


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Fortnite announced the mode a few days ago Impostors which, as many had already guessed, alto is nothing more than a mode inspired by the famous party game Among Us of the boys of InnerSloth. The problem is that Epic Games did not consult the development studio for the creation of this new game mode, which aroused the ire of InnerSloth.
Fortnite copia Among Us con Impostors?
The new game mode is quite clearly a reference to the inspiration of Among Us. This diatribe has sparked the web why Epic Games has been harshly criticized by Innersloth developers and fans on social media, as the company did not originally credit Among Us as sources of inspiration for Impostors in any way. Which is funny, as the name of the mode is a direct reference to the alien infiltrators of Among Us, called impostors in the game.
“We have not granted the rights to use the mechanics of Among Us,” the co-founder of Innersloth tweeted in August. Marcus Bromander. “I don’t think these practices lead to a healthy industry. Is it really that hard to put 10% more effort into creating a game mode that isn’t 99% copied? “
Many fans of Among Us on social media pointed out the sheer size of a company like Epic, compared to Innersloth’s small studio. In reference to the new mode of Fortnite, the programmer of Among Us Adriel Wallick wrote that she was “pissed off” by Impostors mode: “This is just another fun reminder of how small we are compared to the industry giants.”
We hope this problem is resolved without causing too much damage to the two parties involved. Epic Games for its part, however, pay more attention to its initiatives, especially of a matrix similar to that of Impostors, also because it is currently involved in problems with Apple and Google, and certainly a lawsuit by InnerSloth would not improve the situation.


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For 20 years, the workers at Pumphrey's Farm have watched customers essentially try to juggle an armful of bowling balls.
The farm off Veterans Highway in Millersville sells pumpkins, all you can carry for $20. The price has changed since the tradition started, but the deal has stayed the same.
Brandon Cook, the general manager, enjoys watching customers attempt to get their arms around several at once.
How many do they usually walk away with?
"Depending on the size of the pumpkin, anywhere from five to 22," Cook said.
Picking a pumpkin is a fall tradition that has become an agritourism draw. The activity is often paired with hayrides and corn mazes at farms and garden nurseries. With a little less than two weeks until Halloween, the patches are getting picked clean.
Luckily for local farmers, retailers and customers, this year's harvest has been good. The high yields translate into lower prices, said Mark Powell, chief of marketing and agribusiness development for the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture market reports for the Virginia region show a 36-inch bin of 30 to 45 pumpkins going for $80 to $90 this year; last year it was $90 to $125.
Cook said Pumphrey's tries to keep the price stable, no matter whether it has been a good or a bad growing season.
"We just keep the price the same to get the customers in here," he said. "The more we sell, especially in a good year like this year, it helps them out and it helps us."
A good pumpkin crop means hardy stems, a thick, durable rind and a nice bright orange color. That only happens when the weather cooperates. Pumpkins need a mild summer and not too much rain.
Since "a pumpkin is already basically a big bucket of water," there's trouble if they get too wet, said Ray Greenstreet, owner of Greenstreet Gardens in Lothian. Oversaturation leaves them susceptible to diseases and rot.
Although it has a pumpkin patch where families can shop, Greenstreet Gardens doesn't grow pumpkins. Some pumpkins come from the Eastern Shore or Western Maryland, and a few are from smaller growers throughout the area.
"A lot of people don't realize this, but in Maryland it's particularly hard to grow pumpkins here because of the soil," Greenstreet said.
Pumpkins aren't a major crop in the state. Only about 870 of the state's 2 million acres of farmland grew pumpkins for sale in 2012, according to the national agricultural census. In Anne Arundel County, there were about 19 acres of pumpkins grown for sale.
At Greenstreet Gardens, the prices this year range from 50 cents for small ones to $95 for giant "prize winners" from Amish farms in Pennsylvania.
Compared to a few years ago, pumpkin sellers have many more varieties to hawk. There are white pumpkins, and knuckleheads with wart-like nubs.
Anne Sloan, of Annapolis, who was roaming a pumpkin patch Tuesday, said because she doesn't carve jack-o'-lanterns, she likes to buy varieties that are already unusual-looking. At St. Martin's Lutheran Church, Sloan picked an assortment to create a collection outsider her door.
"I like the bumpety, funny ones," she said.
That same evening, four boys played tag amid the wooden pallets. One pulled another boy in a worn green metal wagon. It was really for hauling a load of pumpkins, but hey, why not?
Nickolas Yotter, a 5-year-old volunteering with his mother, Sara Yotter, helped identify the weirdest-looking pumpkins for visitors. The church fundraiser was selling them at 80 cents per pound, with all of the proceeds going to the Light House homeless shelter.
The pumpkins came from Farmer John's Produce on Kent Island.
"This one looks more like an oversized cucumber," Nickolas shouted.
Another boy volunteer found a split-open pumpkin that was attracting bugs. He helped an adult put it in a black trash bag, like a body bag, then carted it to the trash in a wheelbarrow.
When Jenny Dell'Oro of Annapolis brought her three children — Melissa, Brooks and Casey —to the patch, she allowed them each to choose their own.
Casey, 2, liked the mini-pumpkins the best but was contemplating putting one back. He wound his arm up, as if considering a quicker way to get it in the bin where he found it.
"Be gentle, be gentle," Dell'Oro called. "Don't throw it!"
Casey rethought his idea, then put it down.
"Good boy!" mom said.
Garden growers and sellers like Greenstreet know chucking a pumpkin is more a recreation this season than a necessity.
"We've only had to throw out, like, two bad pumpkins this year," he said, "which is just unheard of."


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Meanwhile, Epic Games has Fortnite. The online battle royale game has exploded in mainstream popularity, generating $2 billion in 2018 alone, and helping transform Epic into an $8 billion company.
Epic Games is actually older than Valve by five years, and its engine, Unreal, is a cornerstone of modern video game development. It's the software that powers hundreds of games and franchises, including Mortal Kombat, Mass Effect, Tom Clancy, Batman: Arkham, Borderlands, Rocket League and BioShock.
"You can't walk into a Gamestop and throw a rock without hitting a game made in the Unreal Engine, so it's pretty safe to assume they are going to be around for a long time," Refenes said. "Just with the Unreal Engine alone, Epic is as important to the gaming industry as Valve is. So right there you have a solid foundation to build a store on."
"What happens when the Epic Games Store gets its footing?"
This month's Valve-Epic rivalry isn't a matter of life or death for either company. The Epic Games store can't cannibalize Steam with a few exclusives, and Steam can't stop Epic from snagging new games by offering a better revenue share. Both companies are bigger than their launchers: Steam is the sole proprietor of a handful of illustrious franchises, plus it's dabbling in hardware development and VR, while Epic has the Unreal Engine and Fortnite. This is a battle between two multi-billion-dollar companies. However it shakes out, they'll both likely be fine.
But, with billions behind it, the Epic Games store represents the first real competition for Steam in more than a decade, and that means PC gaming is about to change in a major way.
"Competition is good, but the PC market has no competition. There is only Steam," Refenes said. "But what happens when the Epic Games store gets its footing and grows into a PC marketplace powerhouse? What would that force Steam to do? It would force them to improve. Then that would, in turn, force Epic to improve, and then you have two large companies fighting to retain customers and developers. That's going to motivate innovation. That is a healthy marketplace, and that is good for everyone."


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Nokia and Samsung have agreed to expand the cross license agreement covering patents, extending said coverage over additional patent portfolios of both parties. This newly acquired access on both fronts will enable Samsung and Nokia to further develop, launch and support more advanced technology.
While the exact list of patents already covered by the license, as well as the new specific listings, are rather vague Nokia did note in its press release the company expects revenue from patent and brand licensing to hit a combined total of approximately €950 million (just over $1 billion).
Nokia and Samsung expand their intellectual property cross license
Espoo, Finland - Nokia and Samsung have agreed terms to expand their patent cross license agreement to cover certain additional patent portfolios of both parties. This agreement is in addition to the outcome of the arbitration between the two companies that was announced on February 1, 2016.
The agreement announced today expands access for each company to patented technologies of the other and reinforces Nokia's leadership in technologies for the programmable world. With this expansion, Nokia expects a positive impact to the net sales of Nokia Technologies starting from the third quarter of 2016.
With this expanded agreement, Nokia Technologies' annualized net sales related to patent and brand licensing is expected to grow to a run rate of approximately EUR 950 million by the end of 2016.
"With intellectual property portfolios from Nokia Technologies, Nokia Networks and Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia has a wealth of technologies relevant to mobile devices and beyond," said Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies. "We welcome this expanded agreement with Samsung which recognizes the strength of our assets, and we continue to pursue new licensing opportunities across a number of diverse industries."
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Mobile phone carrier Verizon Wireless has yet to confirm a specific release date for the latest Google phone on is airwaves, but those who would like to reserve a unit before it goes up for sale can now do so courtesy of online retailer Negri Electronics.
The new mobile phone is now available for pre-order on the company’s website, where it features an estimated shipping date of December 9th.
The handset is listed contract free, with a price tag of $678.50 attached to it, which might seem quite a lot for some.
However, considering the fact that this is the first handset in the world to arrive on shelves with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, it sounds like a deal.
What remains to be seen is when the mobile phone is launched on shelves at Verizon. Recent reports on a December 8th launch seem to have been confirmed through the December 9th shipping date that Negri Electronics lists on its website.
The new mobile phone arrives at Big Red with a large touchscreen capable of delivering an HD resolution, complemented by a fast 1.2GHz dual-core application processor, and 32GB of internal memory.
“The Samsung GALAXY Nexus for Verizon is the first Android Ice Cream Sandwich handset to land on US soil, and it is packed with droolworthy specs to boot, like a 4.65" HD Super AMOLED display with 1280x720 pixels, and LTE connectivity,” the retailer notes on its website.
The Galaxy Nexus also sports a 5-megapixel photo snapper in the back, with support for full HD video recording, and a front-facing camera for video calling.
When made available at Verizon, the handset will deliver support for the wireless carrier’s CDMA2000 and LTE 700 networks, as well as WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity capabilities, Wi-Fi Hotspot, and more. It is powered by a Li-Ion 1850 mAh battery.


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Apple and News Corp launched The Daily, an iPad-only newspaper, Feb. 2 in New York City. Priced at 99 cents per week (and $39.99 per year), the publication enters a complicated and dynamic media environment that seems to take special pleasure in crushing upstarts.
The question is whether the iPad's popularity and News Corp's production muscle can translate into an offering with marketplace endurance. In addition to created-from-scratch news content, The Daily offers built-in games, weather updates, a customizable sports dashboard, interactive video and photos, and stories read aloud.
"The Daily is a manifestation of what can be called the Flipboard revolution. Flipboard, launched in 2010 and listed as an app of the year for iPad, offers a blend of visually striking and relevant content with significant social overlay," Allen Weiner, an analyst with Gartner, wrote in a Feb. 2 posting on his corporate blog. "Pilot season for Flipboard newspapers has just begun. The New York Times, AOL and others will soon be out with similar products. Is being first an advantage?"
In a Nov. 9, 2010, interview with The Australian Financial Review, News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch suggested that The Daily would need a circulation of around 800,000 readers to become economically viable -- a number he believed achievable in the context of the iPad's sell-through rate. "By the end of the next year there will be 30-40 million iPads," he said at the time. "I believe every single person will eventually have one, even children."
For more, read the eWeek article: Apple, News Corp Launch iPad-Only Daily Newspaper.
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