text:
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 21, 2018 – America’s pork producers, currently facing declining incomes, a growing labor shortage and market volatility caused by trade disputes, don’t also need to contend with red tape and unfunded mandates from Washington, the National Pork Producers Council testified today at a congressional hearing on the impacts of regulations on small businesses and farmers.
“Regulations add to the cost of doing business. And right now, the pork industry certainly doesn’t need more costs,” NPPC Past President John Weber, a pork producer from Dysart, Iowa, told the House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy, and Trade. “Because of trade disputes with China and Mexico and the tariffs they’ve put on U.S. pork, hog farmers could lose $2 billion this year.”
The U.S. pork industry has had to contend with several ill-conceived, burdensome and potentially costly regulations over the past 10 years, including ones related to the buying and selling of livestock, labeling meat, trucking, air emissions, clean water, antibiotics use and organic livestock production.
“Many of the rules we’ve seen coming out of Washington have had harmful unintended consequences, including stifling innovation and impeding the inherent motivation of farmers and small business people to get better and more efficient at what they do,” said Weber.
The Trump administration and Congress have done a good job of beginning to reign in the red tape from Washington – NPPC’s written testimony mentions the White House rescinding several burdensome rules and directing agencies to eliminate two existing regulations for each new one proposed – but “more needs to be done,” Weber told the small business panel.
NPPC is urging Congress to take steps to ease the federal regulatory burden, including updating the Administrative Procedures Act, which governs the rulemaking process; increasing public participation in developing regulations; and requiring congressional approval for all major regulations – those with an economic impact of $100 million or more.
“Certainly, there must be rules,” said Weber, “but eliminating expensive, confusing and time-consuming regulations and making sure the ones that are necessary aren’t too burdensome will go a long way to ensuring that farmers like me can continue to produce the safest, most abundant food supply in the world.
NPPC is the global voice for the U.S. pork industry, protecting the livelihoods of America’s 60,000 pork producers, who abide by ethical principles in caring for their animals, in protecting the environment and public health and in providing safe, wholesome, nutritious pork products to consumers worldwide. For more information, visit www.nppc.org.


text:
Coles expands its ‘Quiet Hour’ initiative
Coles has decided to expand its Quiet Hour program which was created to improve the grocery shopping experience for customers with autism.
Quiet Hour includes implementing a number of steps to help make shopping easier for autistic customers for one hour of shopping a week.
Coles began trailing Quiet Hour at two of its Victorian stores in August 2017. It now will occur at 68 Coles stores Australia-wide every Tuesday between 10:30am – 11:30am.
Quiet Hour initiatives include:
- Playing in-store music at the lowest level
- Dimming lighting
- Turning down register and scanner volumes
- Removing roll cages from shop floor
- Avoiding trolley collections and announcements
- Offering free fruit at the customer service desk
- Having trained team members available to assist customers
Quiet Hour was created in partnership with Autism Spectrum Australia.
Linzi Coyle, Autism Spectrum Australia Aspect Community Engagement and Operations, said Quiet Hour is about creating a non-judgement shopping space.
“Together with Coles, we’re achieving a ‘no-judgement’ shopping space where people on the spectrum and their families can feel comfortable and welcome whilst grocery shopping,” Coyle said.
ForPurposeCo, the innovation arm of food rescue charity OzHarvest, has launched Juice For Good an Au...
With 1 in 70 Australians diagnosed with coeliac disease and 14% reporting a sensitivity to gluten, ...
The Therapeutic Goods Administration is seeking comment on reforms to the regulatory framework for c...
The largest commercial kitchen in the southern hemisphere has opened at Melbourne Airport.
Chinese food remains Australia’s favourite cuisine four years running says a new report from Roy Mor...
Nespresso has launched a new range of barista inspired coffee capsules.
Deakin University has announced a new study which will explore whether traditional supermarket marke...
Fonterra has teamed with a New Zealand food start-up to invest in “state-of-the-art” technology that...

domain: news


text:
Get the police blotter every day in the Register.
August 2, 2013
Rumors have been swirling around all summer regarding the new Apple iPhone lineup after iOS 7 was announced in June.
August 12, 2013
7:10 a.m. — 500 block McDonough St., man argued with mother who told him what to pack for lunch.
August 10, 2013


text:
Hilton Worldwide has partnered with USA Today to offer all hotel guests free, 24-hour access to online content from Gannett publications, including USA Today.
Hilton HHonors members will also have exclusive access to the Hilton HHonors Guest Portal, powered by USA Today. Members will receive access depending on their tier status and the site will feature online entertainment, including books, magazines, games and other entertainment content. Online access to USA Today will start to become available this summer with a full rollout of online content expected this fall. Printed copies of USA Today will also be available to guests.


text:
PNG plans new trade policy
The Papua New Guinea government’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Trade, is developing a new trade policy for the country which will set the framework for maximising local content and build small and medium size businesses – the backbone of almost every country’s economy.<!--more-->
According to the government, the aim of the policy is to empower local entrepreneurs and to promote economic growth through export, enhancing competitiveness in PNG exports, increasing market access and improving the investment climate in the country.
One of the most aspects of the policy is a conscious attempt to broad base the economy, developing sectors other than the natural resources sector on which the country heavily relies. It encourages investment in sectors like fishing, agriculture and tourism – for all of which the country has tremendous potential but has been overshadowed by the race for minerals and natural resources for much of the past decade.
The policy will also take a look at its tariffs vis-a-vis global and regional trade regimes like the World Trade Organisation and other agreements in and around the Pacific Islands.
This is the first time that the country has planned such a comprehensive overhaul of its trade policy.


text:
Global fintech company Nium, powered by Ripple, has started collaboration with Volopay, headquartered in Singapore, to boost issuance of corporate bank cards for businesses.
Nium partners with Volopay to create solution for business spending
Asian-based fintech giant Nium has teamed up with the Volopay platform from Singapore. These two companies will together create a new solution to ease business spending.
Volopay intends to utilize enterprise-grade API solutions provided by Nium to issue individual corporate cards for employees of companies. These cards will be tracked by software and a mobile app in real-time mode.
Nium will also make sure that these corporate cards issued by Volopay are accepted in any part of the globe.
Users will be able to get real-time data insights regarding the expenses paid for with the cards and cashback on FX transfers. The latter will enable them to save more than they would with regular bank cards.
Previously, Volopay also joined Nium's fintech collaborative program in Southeast Asia.
Nium and Aspire launch virtual cards integrated with Google Pay
As U.Today covered previously, Nium fintech partnered with Singapore-based company Aspire to help it issue virtual corporate cards that are compatible with Google Pay.
Those cards are meant to be powered by the Visa payment giant.
Payments with these cards via Google Pay can be done at any PoS terminal that accepts Visa.
Prior to that, Nium inked a partnership deal with Visa Direct to set up infrastructure to conduct real-time payments from the European Union to Indonesia.


text:
Trade Secret Theft Victim Downplays Chinese Espionage Angle
The manufacturer, which recently won an intellectual property case involving the theft of proprietary algorithms, source code, and programming language scripts, doesn't deny it was a victim of corporate theft but disagrees with the implication it was "Chinese espionage."
Yet another supplier in the semiconductor industry has confirmed its fallen victim to corporate espionage, this time to former employees who stole “large files” on memory sticks, but the company disagrees with how some are reporting on the news.
ASML Holding, a Dutch manufacturer of photolithography systems for the semiconductor industry, confirmed last week that several of its former employees breached their employment contract by stealing and sharing data on the company’s software with a competing company, XTAL Inc.
The company took umbrage however with a report on the incident in Het Financieele Dagblad, a Dutch paper, that classified the theft as Chinese espionage. While some of the former employees happened to be Chinese nationals, individuals from other nations were also involved, the company said last Thursday.
“The suggestion that we were somehow victim of a national conspiracy is wrong. The facts of the matter are that we were robbed by a handful of our own employees based in Silicon Valley, who had broken the law to enrich themselves," ASML President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Wennink said.
In the semiconductor industry, via photolithography systems like those made by ASML, silicon wafers are patterned with a light sensitive polymer called a photoresist to aid in the creation of semiconductor chips and in turn circuits. ASML - which has offices in Europe, the U.S., and Asia - researches, develops, designs, manufactures, markets, and services these systems.
The company confirmed last week that in 2015, while still employed by ASML, some of its employees working in ASML's Brion division - a San Jose-based computational lithography company ASML acquired in 2007 - stole software for mask optimization from the subsidiary in hopes of creating a competing product. In lithography, mask optimization allows for higher resolution imaging; the technique relies on a set of mathematical and proprietary algorithms.
The news revolves around a case that ASML sought legal action around in 2016 and won last year against XTAL. In November, a Santa Clara County Superior Court jury found that XTAL, which makes electrical design automation for semiconductor systems, misappropriated ASML’s confidential and proprietary information and trade secrets.
The semiconductor space, rife with proprietary data, has seen its fair share of data theft as of late. Police in Taiwan arrested six suspects earlier this year over accusations they stole formulas for manufacturing chips. Another Dutch firm, Lumileds, was awarded $66 million last year after it was determined a Chinese competitor had stolen the company's trade secrets and used them to develop its own products.
According to a court filing, two high-level ASML employees, Hua-yu Liu and Song Lan, left the company for XTAL in 2015 but not before copying data, including trade secret information, from their work machines to external storage devices. In a complaint, ASML also accused the employees of taking ASML source code, programming language scripts and business information and not returning it.
XTAL was founded in 2014 by two former ASML employees but the company wasn’t a concern early on. ASML didn't believe XTAL’s business was going to include computational lithography. It turns out the company's business not only included computational lithography, it unlawfully capitalized on Brion's work.
The court awarded the company $223 million on the trade secrets claim, $135 million for inducing former employees to breach their contracts with ASML, $169 million for aiding and abetting former employees to breach their duty of loyalty to ASML, and $1.2 million in forensic investigation costs for breach of California’s computer fraud statute. It’s unclear if the sum will ever be collected following XTAL’s filing for bankruptcy last December however.
Key to the verdict was the fact that Bartko, Zankel, Bunzel & Miller, lawyers for ASML, were able to uncover evidence by "obtaining critical Court orders requiring XTAL to turn over its computers, devices, and source code for inspection, which exposed XTAL’s massive theft of intellectual property."
Despite the jury's verdict in favor of ASML coming four months ago, news of the case and subsequent trade secret theft gained renewed attention with Financieele Dagblad’s report last week.
In particular it was the Financieele Dagblad's reporting that XTAL’s parent company, China’s Dongfang Jingyuan, has ties to the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology that ratcheted up the Chinese espionage narrative. In defense, according to ASML, the company's funding came from both South Korea and China and the main goal of theft wasn't to benefit China, it was to create and sell a competing product to an existing ASML customer in South Korea.
ASML, which claims its substantially increased its efforts to protect its assets in recent years, used the story as an opportunity to laud last week's trade agreement between the EU and China.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the EU last week China will no longer force foreign companies to share sensitive data when operating in China.
"We do protect our proprietary knowledge carefully and are very sensitive to information security. We believe we can serve all our customers, including our Chinese customers, and help them build their businesses," Wennink said, "We are encouraged by the recent constructive talks and agreements between the European Union and China that China will step up its efforts to respect and protect corporate intellectual property of non-Chinese companies, including effective enforcement actions.


text:
Nacha Extends Pilot For Debits by Phone
HERNDON, Va. - Nacha, the electronic payments association, has extended a pilot program under which a creditor can telephone consumers to get oral authorization for one-time-payment electronic debits.The test, which started in mid-1999, was to have ended in March but has now been extended to Sept. 14. Twenty-five banks are involved.
Debtors had been getting such authorization before the test started, but Nacha decided it needed to develop standards for the practice.
Authorization by phone would be acceptable only for payments to businesses with which the consumer already has a relationship.
"Telephone authorizations provide consumers with an easy and convenient method to make one-time payments," said Elliott C. McEntee, president and chief executive officer of Nacha, which develops rules for the automated clearing house. "The participation and success we have had with the pilot program signaled that an extension was appropriate while we review the development of permanent operating rules."Written authorization is required for recurring electronic debits, such as mortgage or telephone bill payments.
Industry Gets Its Own Electronic Language
NEW YORK - The financial industry now has its own version of the Internet communications standard, eXtensible Markup Language.The eXtensible Business Reporting Language, known as XBRL and formerly code-named XFRML, is an electronic language for financial reporting. It standardizes how to prepare, publish, extract, and exchange financial statements such as balance sheets and income statements.
Va. Tech Vendor Adds Electronic Bill Service
FAIRFAX, Va. - American Management Systems Inc., a systems integrator and computer services provider, has created AMS Open Financial Solutions, a technology service that can help banks develop electronic bill presentment and payment.The company said the service complies with the Open Financial Exchange data communications standards and is the first product to be certified by Spectrum, a venture of Chase Manhattan Corp., First Union Corp., and Wells Fargo & Co. that plans to facilitate electronic bill presentment and payments.
The AMS service is the result of its partnership with 1View Networks and Just in Time Solutions Inc., both of which are based in San Francisco.
B of A Hires IntraLinks For Syndication Messages
NEW YORK - Banc of America Securities LLC. has signed a contract with the secure messaging system service of IntraLinks Inc. for its online loan syndication services.Bank of America will pay New York-based IntraLinks a monthly subscription fee to exchange information about syndication loans with its clients in a secure online environment that can be accessed anywhere in the world with an appropriate password.
Bank of America Securities initiated its relationship with IntraLinks in June 1997, three months after IntraLinks was founded. Until recently customers paid it transaction fees; now payment is by monthly subscription.
Bank of America Corp is also one of the managing underwriters for InterLinks Inc.'s initial public offering registration statement, which was filed with the Securities Exchange Commission at the end of March.


text:
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. — Barnes & Noble Booksellers will open its new store at Kings Mall on Wednesday, followed two days later by a new Burlington clothing store in the space across the street that the bookstore formerly occupied.
The new Barnes & Noble store, at 1200 Ulster Ave., will open to the public at 10 a.m. Wednesday with a ribbon cutting by local author and historian Stephen Blauweiss, according to the company. The store will be managed by Denise Bonyeau.
“Barnes & Noble is so happy to be reopening here in the Hudson Valley,” James Daunt, the company’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “When the landlord opted not to renew the lease on our previous location, we knew we wanted to open a new store here as soon as possible. We are delighted to have found a new home so close by.”
The new Barnes & Noble is located in the Kings Mall space formerly occupied by an Olive Garden restaurant.
Olive Garden left the 7,656-square-foot space in February 2020 after operating there for 10 years. Barnes & Noble operated in a 24,636-square-foot space at the Ulster Crossing plaza, at 1177 Ulster Ave., from November 2004 until April of this year.
Burlington will have its ribbon-cutting ceremony in its new location on Friday, according to the company. The ceremony will mark the store’s move from its previous location at 1375 Ulster Ave., less than half a mile up the road from its new home.
“Our goal is to continue to offer communities great values on brand-name merchandise for the entire family and home,” Burlington Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Sullivan said in a statement. “We look forward to providing local customers with a refreshed shopping experience through which they can discover fantastic prices on a wide range of products.”
Following the ribbon-cutting at Burlington, the first 100 customers ages 18 and older will receive a $5 bonus card to be used toward a purchase, the company said. On Saturday, customers will receive a free Burlington umbrella, while supplies last.
The store will be open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
Burlington also said it will donate $5,000 to the nearby Chambers Elementary School through its partnership with AdoptAClassroom.org. The money will be used to support teachers and their classrooms so they can purchase materials for their students, the company said.
Burlington (formerly Burlington Coat Factory) had operated at 1375 Ulster Ave. since 2001 in a large space once occupied by discount retailer Caldor.


text:
Sainsbury buys another chain
ANOTHER family-run grocery chain has succumbed to a takeover by a supermarkets giant as cut-throat competition takes its toll.
Sainsbury is buying JB Beaumont which owns six stores in the Nottingham area and is part of the Costcutter buying group.
The firm, which had sales of £13m last year, is the latest convenience store deal for Sainsbury which bought Bells and Jacksons this year.
Independent shops are finding it harder to compete with Tesco and Sainsbury which have opened hundreds of small stores. Beaumont boss Louise Beaumont, 40, says: 'Projecting into the future, we felt things were going to get more difficult...We felt the offer from Sainsbury was a good one.'
The deal will lead to an estimated windfall of up to £5m for the Beaumont clan, which created its mini-empire from a butcher's shop opened by Louise's grandfather in 1887. Brothers Richard and Paul work as retail director and fresh food director respectively. Sister Alison Dove is human resources director.
Their 67-year-old father still works on the butcher's counter. Along with 190 employees, the family will keep their jobs.
Louise Beaumont's sentiments are echoed by Christopher Oughtred, the managing director of William Jackson, whose great-great grandfather founded the Jacksons grocery chain.
He says: 'We were fine until about three years ago, when Tesco and Sainsbury began to enter the convenience market. Then we found we were beginning to come up against the big multiples more and more and it is quite difficult to win.'
Many small retailers have decided to sell out in recent years. Tesco bought T&S Stores in 2002 and snapped up the Cullens and Europa brands. Ireland's Musgrave has bought Budgens and Londis, while the Co-op has bought Alldays, Balfour and Conveco.
Most watched Money videos
- Yo! promo shows how customers will be served post-lockdown
- Lamborghini teams up with Italian boat builder to create superyacht
- The all new Ford Puma is unveiled by Ford
- Brabus launches the Invicto - capable of withstanding explosions
- Jaguar car showrooms prepare to reopen after coronavirus lockdown
- Lamborghini unleashes the 217mph Sian Roadster hypercar
- Is Japan an investment opportunity in the coronavirus storm?
- Ineos reveals its brand new model Grenadier 4X4
- Aston Martin reveals sneak peak of its first ever motorcycle
- What next for shares after the post-crash bounce?
- The first Aston Martin replica from 007 Goldfinger ever made
- Robbie Savage swaps places with Margot Robbie to talk about scams


text:
Green chile mailed to CA should be labeled
Shipment inspections could delay mail's arrival
New Mexicans feeling generous enough to share their fresh New Mexico chile peppers with friends and family are being advised on how to label the packages they intend to mail to California in order to ensure prompt delivery.
Every year New Mexico Department of Agriculture receives notifications that shipments of fresh chile have been delayed due to improperly labeled packages.
California Department of Food and Agriculture staff routinely inspect shipments at the post office, FedEx stores, UPS stores, and the like in order to protect against plant pests and disease that could harm that state's agricultural sector. Although fresh New Mexico chile peppers are not considered such a threat, packages that aren't properly labeled are subject to delays if inspectors have to open them to determine their contents.
To minimize delays in the delivery of fresh New Mexico chile peppers to California, New Mexicans should clearly print the following on the outside of their packages:
Contents: Pungent Capsicum Peppers
Origin: New Mexico
"Adding the label is a simple step that will go a long way in ensuring that your out-of-state family and friends get their fix of fresh New Mexico chile," New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte said.
Witte added that New Mexico chile growers are increasingly shipping their chile into states such as California, where they're sold at grocery stores, at restaurants for seasonal dishes, and at festivals to celebrate their long-awaited arrival. Through its decade-old "Get Your Fix" campaign, NMDA has helped New Mexico's chile growers and shippers to develop new markets for their gourmet peppers as well as to expand existing markets.
For questions regarding shipments of chile or other New Mexico products to other states, contact NMDA at 575-646-3207.


text:
The 2016 annual EST Breakfast event was held at Gold Reef City Theme Park Hotel to thank the esteemed suppliers of EST for their contribution towards assisting the group with their stellar growth and success over the past years.
Guests excitedly arrived at the Hotel on Monday morning the 5th of December 2016. They were warmly received with great hospitality, early morning beverages and a few moments of casual socialising before proceedings commenced.
EST Directors Louis Greeff, Mohammed Varachia and Rob Suttle were on hand to welcome the attendees and share exciting information with them about the group, its direction and achievements.
The focus of the EST group is on sharing knowledge and margins with members, thereby enabling them to grow a national footprint that currently is impressive by any standard.
EST Building membership grew from 316 to 401 within a year. Suppliers stand at 190 and retail sales topped R11.5 billion with EST now aiming for even greater heights in the future!
EST negotiates favourable trading terms packages with preferred suppliers of quality and reputable products. These are pivotal to the success of EST members and great effort is put into expanding the supplier base all the time.
Members of EST Building all have the freedom to maintain their independence. This enables them to enjoy personal freedom in terms of how they trade whilst simultaneously benefitting from a voluntary buying group that gives muscle to both small and large independent retailers in a market which is increasingly being dominated by major chains.
EST also keeps a keen eye on the horizon and with its transparent and simple business formula aims to consistently benefit its members to reach their optimal potential and thereby to empower the group to expand their DIY footprint exponentially into the Southern African region.
EST understands and promotes the importance of both suppliers and members to conduct business with associations because of the scale of economics involved. It also recognises the pressure the current economic conditions as well as the consumer places on retailers to meet more realistic price points and the important role buying groups play in making this possible.
Notable guest who addressed the audience were Mr Sadiq Jaffer who represented the Department of Trade and Industry and Mr Ebrahim Fakir a Political Analyst who expounded on the political climate in South Africa and the economic future we could expect.
An inspirational pre-recorded video message was sent by Mr Ahmed Kathrada, renowned anti-apartheid activist and a very proud South African, in which he elaborated where South Africa had been and the journey that brought us to where we are today. He emphasised the importance of entrepreneurship and business and the role it must play in the future of the country.
Ultimately breakfast was enjoyedby all who attended and as usual the Hotel did not disappoint with their lavish and excellent buffet.


text:
Arbor Investment said Wednesday it recapitalized Concord Foods. Financial terms weren’t announced. Brockton, Massachusetts-based Concord manufactures and supplies food products and custom ingredients to the consumer, foodservice and industrial markets.
Arbor Investments, based in Chicago, Illinois, announced today the recapitalization of Concord Foods, Inc. Founded in 1968, Concord is a premier manufacturer and supplier of food products and custom ingredients to the consumer, foodservice and industrial markets. Chief Executive Officer Peter Neville and his management team will continue to lead Concord and it will continue operate out of its Brockton, Massachusetts headquarters. Terms of the sale were withheld.
Concord’s four divisions – Concord Foods, Oringer, Red-E-Made and Tempo – serve retailers, food manufacturers and food service establishments across the country. Concord’s retail division products include lemon & lime juice, caramel & chocolate dips and smoothie & produce seasoning mixes that are primarily sold under the Concord Foods brand. The Company’s ingredients division excels in manufacturing superior beverage bases, confectionary fillings, toppings, variegates, caramels, baking mixes and a variety of breaders and batters for seafood and poultry. Concord operates out of a modern facility that is SQF Level 2, OU Kosher and QAI Organic certified and has ample capacity for growth.
Peter Neville, President and CEO of Concord Foods, commented, “My family and our employees built Concord over the past forty-seven years into a highly-successful, entrepreneurial and results-oriented family business. As we continue to execute on our proven formula for success and look to accelerate the Company’s growth in the future, I believe Arbor is the ideal partner. Their knowledge and expertise in the food and beverage industry and demonstrated willingness to invest for growth will help us take advantage of Concord’s many opportunities for growth and expansion. There is a shared vision for Concord between our companies and we are excited to take Concord to the next level in our partnership with Arbor.”
“We are delighted to partner with Peter to continue his family’s legacy and the tradition of this fine company,” said Joseph Campolo, President of Arbor Investments. “Peter and his team will continue to run the Company and the Neville family will retain a significant ownership stake going forward.”
“We are very excited about our investment in Concord Foods,” said Alan Weed, Vice President of Arbor Investments. “Concord has a great reputation in the food industry and is widely recognized for its superior product quality, best in class research and development capabilities and unparalleled customer service.”
About Arbor Investments
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Arbor Investments is a specialized private equity firm that focuses exclusively on acquiring premier companies in the food and beverage industry. Please visitwww.arborpic.com to learn more about Arbor.


text:
A country fried steak ladled with sausage gravy has been a stick-to-your-ribs breakfast staple for generations, but has rarely, if ever, found its way onto fast food menus…until now. Hardee’shas introduced the Country Fried Steak ‘N’ Gravy Breakfast Platter, complete with a breaded beefsteak smothered in sausage gravy, Hash Rounds, eggs and a famous Made from Scratch Buttermilk Biscuit.
“Hardee’s has had a lot of success over the years introducing menu items that can usually only be found at traditional sit-down restaurants and the new Country Fried Steak ‘N’ Gravy Platter continues that fine tradition at breakfast,” said Brad Haley, chief marketing officer for Hardee’s. “We have offered several variations of Breakfast Platters in the past but this is the first to showcase one of the most craveable morning entrees of all, a Country Fried Steak with sausage gravy. While that alone is a delicious choice, we added all of your favorite breakfast sides, including eggs, potatoes and a Made from Scratch Biscuit for a complete meal. You definitely won’t leave hungry and at only $2.79, it’s a great deal for all that down-home goodness.”
The new Country Fried Steak ‘N’ Gravy Breakfast Platter is available at participating Hardee’s restaurants starting at just $2.79. Prices may vary by location.


text:
Learn to make smart food choices, eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and cut carbs where you can.
Chef Letícia Moreinos Schwartz is an acclaimed cookbook author, TV host, and spokesperson. She is passionate about food and cooking, particularly
1. Scrambled Eggs With Vegetables Ingredients: 4 large organic eggs 1/2 Red, 1/2 yellow and 1/2 green sweet bell peppers (You can use 1/4 each if you
A new study suggests that meals that include fresh avocado as a substitute for refined carbohydrates can significantly suppress hunger and increase
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new “added sugar” labeling policy for packaged foods and beverages are set to take effect
Allulose, a popular, low-calorie sweetener will not need to be included from sugar counts on nutrition labels in the U.S., according to new guidance
While some cereals may be the breakfast of champions, a professor at the University of British Columbia suggests people with Type 2 Diabetes should
By Lynn Prowitt Reviewed by: Constance Brown-Riggs, MSEd, RD, CDE, CDN Americans have a long history of nutritional faux pas. Not too long ago,
Sugar does not improve mood, on the contrary, it can make people less alert and more tired after its consumption – according to a new European
With the right ingredient swapping, you can indulge in most of your favorite foods without suffering the consequences. Below, you will find
Liquid meal replacements helped overweight diabetes patients lose an average of about five pounds more than others who tried a conventional
Get a little dLife delivered to your inbox every week.
Leave this field empty if you’re human:


text:
Prudent business owners are always looking for ways to cut costs. But there are a few critical areas where you should never trim your budget. Network security is one of those non-negotiables.
After all, it only takes one successful cyberattack to leave your company reeling. Even a small data breach can cost you thousands—not to mention the negative impact on your reputation.
Our network security experts can make sure you’re protected and secure.
If you keep up with the headlines, you already have a healthy dose of concern for network security. There’s another security breach or ransomware attack practically every week. It’s enough to make a business owner truly nervous . . . unless you have the protection you need.
Customer data is crucial. If it’s compromised or lost, you’re dead in the water. With solid protection, you don’t have to worry about that.
Network security breaches are big news—the worst kind of big news. No business owner wants bad press. Make sure your reputation is safe.
Running a business is hard enough without additional stress. When you know your data is protected, you can concentrate on other things.
Network security is proactive. It has to be. By the time you’ve suffered a data breach, the damage is already done. That’s why we put so much effort into making sure your network has world-class protection. We’ll stop cybersecurity issues before they start.
Here’s the candid truth. Network security doesn’t matter at all—until you need it. Then, it’s the difference between the businesses that make it and the businesses that don’t.
Don’t let your company’s legacy become a cautionary tale. Ramp up your cybersecurity now so you’re ready when you truly need protection.
As data breaches continue to occur through a myriad of exploits (both technological and through human error) the stakes are constantly rising. We’ve reached a level where careers are built—and lost—based on protecting corporate assets.


text:
Mellanox Technologies CEO Eyal Waldman (L) and Nvidia CEO Jason Huang.
(photo credit: OMER TAL)
American technology giant Nvidia’s $6.9 billion acquisition of Israeli chipmaker Mellanox Technologies earlier this month is a “milestone for the company, and a great milestone for the computer industry,” according to founder and CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang.
“Our intentions are that Mellanox is going to be a standalone entity here in Israel, and we will continue to grow it,” Huang, sitting alongside Mellanox founder and CEO Eyal Waldman, told reporters in Yokne’am on Monday.
“Every single one of Mellanox’s product lines, all of its businesses are coveted and treasured by us, and we will continue all of that. It is our intention and hope that Eyal [Waldman] will lead Mellanox Israel,” Huang added, emphasizing that the acquisition will not lead to any layoffs of company employees.
Mellanox, headquartered in Yokne’am, was founded in 1999 and is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It supplies end-to-end interconnect solutions and networking services for many of the world’s largest data center servers and storage systems.
Nvidia’s purchase of the company, acquiring all issued and outstanding common shares for $125 per share in cash, brought to an end the months of reported takeover attempts by some of the world’s biggest hi-tech firms, including Intel, Microsoft and Xilinx.
While reluctant to enter into the details of negotiations between the companies and rival bids, Huang said the process “was supremely competitive, but we had the best final offer so we won this privilege of building this great company together with Mellanox.”
Expressing his pride in building Mellanox over two decades, exceeding $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time in 2018, Waldman added his belief that he has “found a great house” for Mellanox.
“It’s not going to be an independent company anymore but it’s going to be Mellanox within Nvidia, which I think is a great achievement,” said Waldman. “And I think we’ll find the right way to continue building this entity called Mellanox.”
The transaction, the third largest “exit” of an Israeli company to date, has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close by the end of the calendar year.
“We see the future of the combined company as very synergistic. We’ve been working for many years together and this is the climax of getting the teams, two technologies and strategies together,” said Waldman.
Since its establishment two decades ago, Mellanox has been dual-headquartered in Israel and in the United States. Today, it boasts operations from Israel’s South to the North, with offices in Yokne’am, Tel Aviv, Beersheba, Ra’anana and Tel Hai.
“Nvidia is 26 years old and we rarely make acquisitions, because generally we like to build, create new markets and develop new technologies for markets that have never been explored. We tend to build from scratch and tend to innovate from within,” said Huang.
“However, Mellanox is a one-of-a-kind treasure that is not possible to rebuild. That’s one of the reasons why we did something quite extraordinary for our company, to make such a large acquisition.”
Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>


text:
Olive Oil, Honey Could Help Lift Greece Out of Recession
"Everyone was frightened and told me I was crazy to launch a store in the middle of such an unstable period,” he said. The success of his formula, where customers are encouraged to taste before buying, led to a new store in London’s Piccadilly neighborhood last year and plans for openings in Rome, Paris, Milan and the Middle East".
Kostas Kontopoulos, founder of Carpo talks to Bloomberg about recession, a healthier lifestyle and new baginnings. Read the article here!
Don't miss a thing: subscribe to Carpo newsletter!


text:
Hatsune Miku is no stranger to the video game world, but the virtual pop star will soon be entering a new frontier: virtual reality. Sega has announced that a new Miku game is coming to PlayStation VR when the device launches in October. Called Hatsune Miku: VR Future Live, the game attempts to re-create the experience of a Miku concert set in a packed virtual stadium. (There’s no word on whether Anamanaguchi will be the opening act.) “As the lights dim and Miku gets ready to take the stage, the player's controller transforms into a glow stick,” Sega explains. After that, you’ll be treated to a one-on-one performance from the vocaloid on stage.
Unfortunately, we don’t know much else about the game, as Sega hasn’t revealed the price, nor any screenshots or video. But it won’t be too long before we find out: VR Future Live is launching on PSVR on October 14th.


text:
Apple announced on Monday that it would be missing its second quarter guidance due to the coronavirus outbreak hitting its iPhone supply chain and a lowering demand in China following the temporary closure of its stores in the Middle Kingdom.
Following the outbreak of coronavirus in China, Beijing extended the nation's Lunar New Year holiday, with factories being slower to reopen across the country.
The tech giant said on Monday its guidance that was issued alongside its first quarter earnings is now incorrect since it is taking longer for its supply chain to return to normal.
One factor impacting its guidance was a temporary drop in iPhone supplies.
"While our iPhone manufacturing partner sites are located outside the Hubei province -- and while all of these facilities have reopened -- they are ramping up more slowly than we had anticipated," the company said.
"These iPhone supply shortages will temporarily affect revenues worldwide."
The other factor cited by Apple was reduced demand in China, with all of its stores and many partner stores having been closed over the break, it said.
"Stores that are open have been operating at reduced hours and with very low customer traffic. We are gradually reopening our retail stores and will continue to do so as steadily and safely as we can," Apple said.
Outside of China, Apple said it is seeing the customer demand it had expected.
The company said on January 28 it had expected second quarter revenue of between $63 billion and $67 billion with a gross margin between 38% and 39%. For its first quarter, Apple reported revenue of almost $92 billion, up 9% year on year.
"We do have some suppliers in the Wuhan area. All of these suppliers, there are alternate sources, and we're obviously working on mitigation plans to make up any expected production loss," Apple CEO Tim Cook said when delivering the Q1 results last month.
Last week, MWC was cancelled in Barcelona due to coronavirus concerns, while Black Hat Asia 2020 was postponed for similar reasons.
The death toll from the virus, at the time of writing, sits at 1,800 persons.
How to track the coronavirus: Dashboard delivers real-time view of the deadly virus
The live dashboard pulls data from sources like the World Health Organization to show all confirmed and suspected cases of coronavirus, along with recoveries and deaths.
South Korea sees rise in smishing with coronavirus misinformation
There have been 9,688 smishing attempts so far that exploited the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Black Hat Asia 2020 postponed due to coronavirus concerns
Conference joins lengthening list of events taken out by virus.
Mobile World Congress canceled due to coronavirus concerns
The announcement comes after several major exhibitors decided to withdraw from the mobile industry's largest event.
LG withdraws from ISE due to coronavirus concerns
Despite this, MWC organiser GSMA said its Barcelona event will still go ahead as planned.


text:
Snapchat becomes more funky. Recently it has deployed for a funky new augmented reality (AR) feature in the form of a new World Lens.
This new 3D Friendmoji Deluxe World Lens paves the path of Snapchat’s growing push into AR by allowing users to not only transpose a 3D virtual version of him/her into the real world, but also adds one of the user’s friend.
Initially, Snapchat has began its journey as an app for sharing self-deleting ephemeral photos, which has taken on a whole new life in recent years. Parent company Snap launched its machine learning-based Lenses feature back in September 2015, providing users with the mechanism for sharing photos of themselves with special effects superimposed on their faces.
The company has later rolled out World Lenses so users could also augment their environment with funky animations, before adding 3D Bitmoji to the World Lenses mix last year. Last month, Snap has also launched Bitmoji Deluxe, offering more customization options for the user’s personal Bitmoji avatar.
With this 3D Friendmoji Deluxe World Lens, Snapchat is also adding more “social” to its AR toolset, as it is trying to keep intact its social network virtue at the core.
To add a friend to a scene, users first need to open a chat with a friend and hit the “capture” button to launch a direct-reply Snap. Then users would have to just point the camera at the environment in front of the user, choose the Friendmoji Lens from the carousel, and position the Bitmojis where the user wants to place them. Now, users would be only able to add a friend to the scene if they have already created a Bitmoji of themselves and linked their Bitmoji account to Snapchat.
Snap has started Bitmoji as part of its $100 million acquisition of Bitstrips in 2016, and of course it has been a success. Apple revealed in December that Bitmoji was the most-downloaded app in the U.S. App Store last year, with Snapchat taking the second place.
The new 3D Friendmojis are available within the main Snapchat app on Android and iOS from today.


text:
Sounds of the Elite Jazz Band and new Kid Zone attractions will add to the traditional excitement of antiques and collectibles hunting at the upcoming Martinez Peddlers’ Faire.
“There will be 100 booths with antiques, collectibles, arts, crafts and commercial vendors,” said Leanne Peterson, Martinez Main Street executive director.
Adults may enjoy perusing the array of antiques, collectibles or visiting John Humphries to have a family heirloom appraised, while kids visit self-described “Dumpster Diva” R.C. Ferris’ Green Generation booth.
Just like “Antiques Roadshow,” radio and TV talk show host and antiques author Humphries will provide evaluations of up to three carry-in items for a $3 donation to the Martinez Historical Society. He will be at the information booth on the corner of Main and Ferry streets from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Ferris teaches kids of all ages how to use imagination to create art made from discards. Items such as old labels, Christmas garlands, leftover gift wrap and old greeting cards can become new works of art.
The Kid Zone is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Castro Street.
Bargains and trends
Martinez antique and vintage collectibles shops will open early and many plan to set up special displays.
“Each of the Antique Corner dealers usually offer discounts of around 10 to 20 percent for the Peddlers’ Faire,” said dealer Beverly Johnson.
Peddlers’ Faire sellers say, “Why pay retail?”
Several dealers said that it does not make sense to pay for a new foreign-made replica when a high-quality “after market” original can sell for a fraction of the price. A well-cared-for antique may also be more likely to hold, or increase in value.
Dick Kernan of Olde Towne Antiques explained his view of local trends in the antique marketplace.
“Costume jewelry has taken a nose-dive ever since e-bay, but there is always a demand for good American pottery, and we sell a lot of art and books.”
Kernan said many of the paintings are by recognized artists and some are oils by talented amateurs.
“There is a big demand for minerals and prehistoric fossils. One of our dealers has a fantastic collection with specimens ranging from $2 to $1, 000,” he said.
Other values at the fair include handcrafted jewelry, handmade lamps, graphics and posters and Native American wares.
The Elite Jazz Band will perform from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Main Street near the plaza.
Featured singer Kit Nelson said, “I think it’s going to be fantastic. We will be doing New Orleans style music, some country, Beatles, blues and Dixieland.”
Music director Jack Convery, who has performed with greats Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby and Perry Como, said the band recently recorded a new CD live in Berkeley, and several band members also belong to the East Bay Banjo Club.
Drummer Bob Scott has toured and recorded with Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Dan Hicks and other nationally known musicians.
Restaurants will be open and Peddlers’ Faire refreshment booths include snow cones, Italian ice, shaved ice, corn dogs and french fries.
www.mainstreetmartinez.org and click on Peddlers Faire for more details


text:
The public knows Pasadena as the site of the annual Rose Parade or perhaps as the hometown of chef Julia Child. A lesser known fact: It also lays claim to being the birthplace of the cheeseburger.
In 1924, teenager Lionel Sternberger topped a hamburger with the stuff at his father’s roadside stand, the Rite Spot, at 1500 W. Colorado Blvd. and called it “The Aristocratic Burger.” Since 2011, Pasadena has celebrated the event with the annual Cheeseburger Week.
Forty Pasadena restaurants will pay homage to the cheeseburger with signature offerings and special combos during the Jan. 8-13 event, presented by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce as part of California Restaurant Month. The event will kick off at 11 a.m. on Jan. 5 when officials unveil a commemorative plaque at the former Rite Spot site now occupied by LA Financial Credit Union.
A week of cheese not only will add calories to your burger, but also will beef up the local economy, says chamber Chief Executive Paul Little.
“Restaurants that take part see a pretty good uptick in business,” he said.
Pasadena’s 53-year-old Pie’n Burger diner will offer food truck service at the plaque unveiling, with 20 percent of proceeds donated to the city’s Ronald McDonald House. Owner Michael Osborn said his restaurant, usually serving up between 500 and 600 pounds of ground meat a week (2,000 to 6,000 burgers), saw a 15 percent increase during the first Cheeseburger Week and about a 10 percent jump over usual sales in more recent years.
Clearly, Sternberger was on to something – Osborn said 75 percent to 80 percent of burger customers ask for cheese.
– Diane Haithman
For reprint and licensing requests for this article, CLICK HERE.


text:
|A customer completes a cashless payment with Viettel Money in Hạ Long City. — VNA/VNS Photo
QUẢNG NINH — Since the start of the month, shoppers at two markets in Hạ Long City, in the northern province of Quảng Ninh, have been able to pay for their products without using cash at all, as part of the province's plans to embrace financial technology products.
The "technology market - market 4.0" model has been applied to Hạ Long 1 and Hạ Long 2 markets. Instead of cash, people use digital payments for shopping activities and service fees.
Viettel Quảng Ninh implements non-cash payments for the two markets.
All small traders in the two markets accept digital payments via Viettel Money. Payment can be via the phone number, QR code or bank transfer.
Fees for electricity, water and environmental sanitation can also be paid with a Viettel Money account.
Lê Việt Hà, deputy director of the Viettel Quảng Ninh, said that to achieve the goal of electronic payment rates reaching 50 per cent by 2025, following the Government’s direction, digital payments must become part of daily life, in urban and rural areas.
Therefore payment digitisation in markets was one of the solutions to achieve this goal sustainably, said Hà.
The Viettel Quảng Ninh has readied technology and human resources to coordinate with Hạ Long City to deploy cashless applications.
In April this year, Hạ Long City issued a plan to develop non-cash payments by 2025.
Under the plan, the city strives to have 90 per cent of people aged 15 and over with transaction accounts and have non-cash payments in e-commerce reach 50 per cent.
The number and value of non-cash payment transactions will increase by 20-25 per cent per year. All tuition fees in schools are paid with non-cash methods.
The Hạ Long City Public Administration Centre guided and supported citizens in making payment transactions on the National Public Service Portal.
By July 14 over 1,400 citizens had paid taxes and other fees through the system, with a total amount of nearly VNĐ17 billion (US$730,400), accounting for 84 per cent of total transactions.
Online payments are providing people with more choices about payment methods, contributing to reducing people’s travelling time and saving costs for people and society. — VNS


text:
Paysafecard is a prepaid online payment solution which anyone can use.
Paysafecard can be used at thousands of online shops.
The company samsung galaxy camera ek gc100 цена has sconti acquisto auto 2018 become the European market leader in prepaid payment solutions with the brands paysafecard, my paysafecard, paysafecard Mastercard and yuna.Paysafecard has received numerous awards over the years.No bank account or credit card is necessary.Also, a retailer engagement programme is being undertaken throughout August to provide outlets with new point of sale merchandise and information about paysafecard for their customers.With paysafecard, retailers and partners attract consumers who want to benefit from the extensive offerings and global presence of paysafecard as well as the greater choice of thousands of online shops where paysafecard is accepted.Paysafecard, the global market leader in prepaid online payment methods and member of the international Skrill Group, announces that from 31st August 2015 onwards, Ukash vouchers will be replaced by paysafecard vouchers at retailers across the.(Moderators: Smiley Cyrus, hilariousandco ) Author, topic: Selling ukash and PaySafeCard Vouchers (Read 1896 times).1 gpb -.95 lr, wmz.
We have brought together the best of the prepaid technologies from both Ukash and paysafecard to give consumers a safe and easy way to make online payments and we are now embarking on a nationwide campaign to ensure the retailers and users are aware.
Presa Altcoins (Monede Alternative) Anunturi Monede Alternative Skandinavisk Türkçe (Turkish) Bitcoin Haberleri Pazar Alan Madencilik Ekonomi Servisler Fonlar Proje tariffe tim smartphone ricaricabile Gelitirme Alternatif Kripto-Paralar Madencilik (Alternatif Kripto-Paralar) Duyurular (Alternatif Kripto-Paralar) Konu D Yeni Balayanlar Yardm Bulumalar Other languages/locations.Udo Müller, CEO of paysafecard, comments: The acquisition of Ukash has given us the opportunity to expand the choice for consumers wanting to make secure online payments.A comprehensive campaign has been launched to ensure that retailers currently selling Ukash and consumers holding Ukash vouchers are aware of upcoming changes.Like paysafecard on, facebook, visit us at, google as well.These include the Paybefore Award in the categories of "Best Digital Currency "Best Virtual or Digital Program" and "Top Digital Dollars as well as in the newly created category Consumer Value in early 2015.A consumer promotion is also being launched in August offering current Ukash customers the chance to try out the paysafecard service with a free 5 paysafecard PIN.


text:
Residential digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising company Vertical Impression has entered an exclusive sales partnership with Rogers Sports & Media.
According to the agreement, Vertical Impression’s ad inventory and advertising analytics will be offered as part of Rogers Sports & Media’s omnichannel advertising offering.
“This partnership presents an amazing opportunity for both organizations,” said Vertical Impression’s co-founder and CEO, Fouad El-Masri. “Our platform plays very well with mixed media buys and our residential positioning has proved to be extremely resilient to the many changes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought.”
“We are aggressively expanding in the DOOH space,” said Rogers Sports & Media’s senior vice-president of revenue, Al Dark. “This collaboration will give our customers the ability to reach audiences across various locations at different times of day and complements our robust suite of offerings.”


text:
Franchising offers first-time business owners guidance, support and a proven business model. And in today’s economy, starting a business can provide more stability than a job in corporate America. Franchises in particular can be see as lower risk. A report by research firm IHS Global Insight conducted for the International Franchise Association estimates that after […]
Tag: "new opportunities in franchising"
Home health care and related businesses have been a growing area for franchises during the past decade. The next wave might be drug and medical testing. Two local businesswomen are pursuing this business niche, one as a franchisor, the other as a franchisee. Lynette Crow is a former registered nurse who started Conspire, which provides […]


text:
After enjoying an impressive run through much of last year and the first couple months of 2021, several popular growth stocks have seen a significant pullback. Tech stocks, in particular, have fallen out of favor as investors have prioritized reopening plays, but the cool-off is also creating the opportunity to build positions in hot companies at now-attractive prices.
Backing leaders in growth industries can be a path to explosive gains, and staking long-term positions in just a handful of big winners can play a defining role for your overall returns. With that in mind, read on for a look at three growth stocks that have big potential and are worth adding to your portfolio today.
1. The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk's (TTD 4.97%) digital advertising platform uses data analysis and artificial intelligence to make targeted ad campaigns more effective across a variety of channels. The stock trades down roughly 40% from its lifetime high following sell-offs for the broader technology space and shifts in attitude regarding user privacy from popular user platforms like Alphabet and Apple that could hinder growth for digital advertising companies.
However, the long-term demand outlook for the company's services remains encouraging, and The Trade Desk stock could bounce back and go on to reach new highs.
Despite still growing last year, the digital advertising market faced significant headwinds related to the coronavirus pandemic. Companies cut down on growth initiatives, consumers were spending less, and advertising rates generally came under pricing pressure due to weakened demand.
The Trade Desk provides programmatic advertising services for streaming video platforms, and near-term growth in the category will likely be significantly weaker following the massive engagement surge driven by social-distancing conditions. However, the company's potential to benefit from improving economic conditions may also be underappreciated.
The Trade Desk has gotten crushed like many growth-dependent technology stocks amid the market's pivot to value-focused reopening plays, but the company stands to enjoy some significant benefits from renewed commercial activity. With consumer spending increasing and businesses restarting growth initiatives, momentum in the digital ads market could pick back up.
Growth for programmatic advertising in streaming video and other markets is still in early innings, and The Trade Desk is poised to be a long-term winner in the space.
2. Electronic Arts
Top video games post levels of engagement and monetization that surpass leading releases in nearly every other entertainment medium, and strong players in the space could deliver great returns for shareholders. For nearly 40 years, Electronic Arts (EA 0.50%) has been shaping the development of interactive entertainment, and the company's growth story is still just getting started.
The video game industry is relatively young in the scheme of things, and EA's collection of development studios, marketing expertise, and bankable franchises including FIFA, Madden NFL, Battlefield, and Apex Legends put it in a good position to benefit from the growth of the medium. The company is looking even stronger following its recent acquisition of Glu Mobile.
As someone who owned Glu Mobile stock prior to the buyout and thought it had the potential to see big growth, it looks like EA got a good deal with the $2.4 billion purchase. Increasing adoption for powerful mobile hardware and the growing availability of high-performance internet connections are expanding the reach of the global games industry, and Glu could play an important role in powering EA's growth push in the mobile market.
EA stock has climbed just 6% over the last three years, but it looks like the company could be primed for a rally. With its stock trading at roughly 23 times this year's expected earnings, shares look non-prohibitively valued and could deliver a big upside.
3. Match Group
Match Group (MTCH -2.58%) is another technology stock that should see benefits as some territories begin to move past pressures created by the coronavirus pandemic. The company owns a portfolio of dating apps that includes Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, OkCupid, and Match, and engagement for its services will likely climb as the world moves closer to a state of normalcy.
Match has shown it can post profits and increase sales even as it's faced headwinds and continued to make substantial investments, and the business has a favorable growth outlook. Even with major pandemic-related challenges, Match was able to grow its annual revenue 17% in 2020, and sales growth accelerated from that level to hit 23% in the first quarter.
More people already meet new romantic partners through dating apps than through any other channel, and the online dating industry still has big room for growth. Tinder ranked as the top-grossing non-gaming application worldwide through the 12-month period ending in March, and the service's massive draw combined with the strengths of the other dating apps in its arsenal make Match the clear leader in the online dating space.
The company estimates that roughly 60% of relationships started through an online dating service begun on one of its platforms, and it's positioned to benefit as people increasingly get back out in the world and start looking for love again. Trading at roughly 59 times this year's expected earnings, Match has a growth-dependent valuation, but the company is a clear category leader and looks primed for strong performance.


text:
At this point, surely you’ve heard of Bitcoin and its magical money making powers. But, its rise to stardom and baller like value may continue on… in a very strong way.
Former Fortress hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz said Monday that bitcoin can multiply more than four times in roughly the next 13 months.
“Bitcoin could be at $40,000 at the end of 2018. It easily could,” Novogratz said on the CNBC show Fast Money, Monday. “Ethereum, which I think just touched $500 or is getting close, could be triple where it is as well,” he added.
At the writing of this story, Bitcoin (BTC) is at a staggering $11,915.00 USD. In the last 12 months alone, Bitcoin has gone from approx. $750 to nearly $12,000!
“There’s a big wave of money coming, not just here but all around the world,” said Novogratz, formerly a macro hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group. He is planning to launch a $500 million digital assets fund through his new firm, Galaxy Investment Partners.
“What’s different about these coins than other commodities … there is no supply response here,” Novogratz said. “So it’s a speculator’s dream in that as buying happens there’s no new supply response that comes up. So every price move gets exaggerated. It’s going to get exaggerated on the way up. There will be 50 percent corrections. It will get exaggerated on the way down.”


text:
Automakers Complain EV "Noisemakers" for the Blind Are Too Loud
March 19, 2013 9:22 AM
comment(s) - last by
Some sports cars won't pass minimum noise rules according to automakers
The Obama administration instituted a so-called "quiet cars" rule that would force automakers to add noisemakers to electric and nearly silent vehicles to
help alert blind pedestrians
. However, major automakers are now complaining that the ruling would result in warning sounds that are too loud.
Two major automotive trade groups to represent the big three in Detroit, Toyota, Volkswagen, and other major Asian and European automakers have voiced concerns about the proposed rules.
According to Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Association of Global Automakers, the rule, "is too complicated and is unnecessarily prescriptive. If implemented as proposed, it would result in alert sounds that are louder than necessary, create driver and occupant annoyance and cost more than necessary."
Tesla Model S EV
The proposal by the NHTSA would set minimum sound levels for both hybrid and electric vehicles for pedestrians, and specifically to alert visually impaired people. According to automakers, the rules as they are proposed would create electric vehicles that are louder than some high-performance sports cars.
The NHTSA wants to add these noise rules for silent vehicles because the odds of a hybrid vehicle being involved in a crash with a pedestrian are 19% higher compared to vehicles with traditional gasoline or diesel engines. The likelihood of hybrid vehicle being involved in an accident with a bicyclist is reportedly 38% higher. The new rules set forth by the NHTSA are supposed to begin implementation in September 2014.
If the NHTSA refuses to change the rules, auto manufacturers want the phase in to be extended to 2018. Adding the noisemakers is estimated to cost an additional $35 per vehicle and to cost automotive industry $23 million the first year. As the rule stands now the minimum sound requirements would apply at vehicles at speeds of up to 18.6 mph.
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Lets think a bit
3/19/2013 10:31:47 AM
As someone who was once an esteemed parking lot attendant I have to say that the quiet car thing is an issue for more than just blind people. I have been hit and almost hit by cars (silent or otherwise) several times. It is not so much an issue of the car being quiet or not, and has more to do with the fact that most people are oblivious to their surroundings. But, the fact is that noisy cars can be more easily avoided.
Rather than installing some sort of annoying backup siren, lets just have them make a variable amount of noise just like a gas car does. If you are 'on' but parked, then it makes a little noise. When you are driving in a parking lot situation then it makes more noise the more you press on the gas. Then when you start hitting higher speeds for main roads (lets just say 35mph+) then the noise can turn off.
Point is that the car making some sort of noise gives people no information about the behavior of the vehicle. Having a different noise for forward vs reverse, and having a variable volume gives people some information to work off of. Having less noise pollution is a GOOD thing, lets not ruin it by making EVs something that people resent. At the end of the day it is the driver who needs to pay more attention, not the pedestrian. Pedestrians just need enough noise to have fair warning as to whether or not the driver is a moron.
I am hoping my next car will be an EV, and if it makes annoying sounds then it does not take a rocket scientist to clip a speaker wire, or to wire it to a switch so that I can turn it on and off at will.
RE: Lets think a bit
3/19/2013 10:51:00 AM
Oh man. Do you know how annoying it's going to be to sit in traffic on the "Hybrid Highway" (HOV Lanes) with all those hybrids making their alert sounds.
"Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." -- Steve Ballmer
Blind Advocates Upset About Nissan EV's Warning Noises
June 21, 2010, 2:15 PM
Man Arrested for Using 5 Cents Worth of Electricity to Charge Nissan Leaf at Middle School
December 4, 2013, 8:00 PM
Volvo to Test Self-Driving Cars on Public Roads in 2017
December 3, 2013, 8:17 PM
Survey: EV Buyers Scoff at Price Tags Over $25,000
December 2, 2013, 12:26 PM
GM Compares Cadillac ELR's Pricing to BMW 6-Series Grand Coupe's
November 29, 2013, 3:10 PM
Quick Note: Nissan's Autonomous Leaf EV Hits Japanese Streets
November 27, 2013, 10:36 AM
Ford is Ready for Aggressive Rollout of Fuel Saving Start-Stop Technology
November 25, 2013, 9:40 AM
Most Popular Articles
NSA Snares Americans' Porn Viewing Histories in Effort to Target Muslims
December 1, 2013, 9:00 PM
Coalition of 20+ Tech Firms Backs MRAM as Potential DRAM, NAND Replacement
November 29, 2013, 11:59 PM
Dow Chemical to NYC City Council: You Don't Even Know What Styrofoam is!
December 2, 2013, 8:30 PM
Fed Up With Cheating OEMs, Microsoft Trolls Chromebooks in New Ad
November 27, 2013, 4:09 PM
OCZ Goes Bankrupt, SSD Assets are Targeted by Toshiba
December 1, 2013, 9:58 PM
Latest Blog Posts
Global Cyber Espionage Concerns Reveal Growing Cyber Armies
Nov 29, 2013, 11:04 AM
Is The Period Becoming an Expression of Anger?
Nov 26, 2013, 2:02 PM
NSA and Congress -- You Will Never Kill the Constitution, It's an Idea
Nov 10, 2013, 2:00 PM
AT&T Explores $100B+ USD Deal to Acquire Vodafone's European Operations
Nov 4, 2013, 7:34 AM
U.S. Army Developing Cyber, Electronic War Arsenal
Oct 31, 2013, 4:49 PM
More Blog Posts
Copyright 2013 DailyTech LLC. -
Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information


text:
Health Highlights: July 25, 2007
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Medicaid Law Aimed at Illegal Immigrants Isn't Working: Report
New rules designed to curb the numbers of illegal immigrants who file for Medicaid coverage appear to be affecting more people who are actually eligible for Medicaid, a federal assessment found.
The law, which took effect July 1, 2006, required states evaluating Medicaid eligibility to obtain proof of citizenship and nationality, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO), in a survey of 44 states, found that 22 states reported enrollment drops after the rule came into effect. But most of the declines involved delayed coverage or loss of coverage entirely among eligible citizens, the AP said.
Of the 22 remaining states, 12 said the new rules had no effect on enrollment and 10 others said they didn't know.
In response to the report, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services -- the federal agency that oversees the program that provides health coverage to the poor -- said the states did not document their conclusions, the AP reported.
The GAO conceded that its review represented the views of state Medicaid officials, the wire service said.
Bus Passengers May Have Been Exposed to TB
A dozen or more passengers who took a Boston-to-Montreal bus in May might have been exposed to tuberculosis, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
While the Massachusetts Public Health Department said it is trying to find fellow passengers on the May 5 bus trip, a spokesman called the incident "a low-risk situation" because the unidentified passenger had a form of TB that wasn't drug resistant, the wire service reported.
Public Health Department spokesman Alfred DeMaria conceded that the American public has been on heightened alert since the high-profile case of Atlanta attorney Andrew Speaker, who flew to Europe for his wedding despite having been told he had a highly drug-resistant form of the disease.
Speaker's diagnosis was later downgraded to a slightly less severe strain of TB.
The Massachusetts man traveling on the bus discovered that he had TB a week after returning from Montreal, the AP reported. State health officials said they've since tracked down 10 fellow passengers and additional bus workers, and none has tested positive. The wire service report did not identify the bus company involved.
Discard Any Cans Linked to Botulism Outbreak: FDA
Consumers who have any of the 90 canned products linked to a botulism outbreak involving Castleberry's Food Co. should throw out the cans immediately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.
"You're talking tens of millions of cans that may have been involved," Robert Brackett, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, told the Associated Press.
Castleberry's, which on Monday announced the closing of the Augusta, Ga., plant at the center of the outbreak, has hired an outside company to help rid the nation's 8,500 retail outlets of any affected product. A list of recalled items is provided by the FDA here.
Four cases of botulism -- two in Texas and two in Indiana -- have been linked to Castleberry's Hot Dog Chili Sauce Original. Other products, including additional brands of canned chili, beef stew, and corned beef hash, were produced at the same plant and are being recalled as a precaution, the company said.
The chili sauces are the only products that have tested positive for the bacterium Clostridium botulinum that causes botulism, a rare but deadly illness that can paralyze the breathing muscles. Symptoms, including blurred vision and slurred speech, generally begin within 36 hours of eating contaminated food, the AP said.
Botulism is normally prevented in canned food by sufficiently heating the product to a high enough temperature. Castleberry's Senior Vice President Dave Melbourne acknowledged that botulism developed in the chili sauce products because they were undercooked, the wire service reported.
Castleberry's said consumers should throw away any of the recalled product in doubled plastic bags. They should not bring the recalled product back to the grocery store, but instead should contact Castleberry's for a refund at 1-888-203-8446.
Latest Echinacea Study Finds It Fights Colds
The latest in a recent series of conflicting studies of echinacea finds the herb does have a substantial effect on preventing colds or limiting how long they last, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The latest findings, published in the July issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, combined the results of 700 prior studies to come up with a larger patient sample.
The analysis found that echinacea reduced a person's risk of catching a cold by 58 percent, the Times said. While the herb also shortened the duration of the average cold, the University of Connecticut researchers said they couldn't extrapolate by exactly how much.
"Our analysis doesn't say that the stuff works without question," said UConn professor of pharmacy practice Dr. Craig Coleman, senior author of the study. "But the preponderance of evidence suggests that it does."
The study authors said they had only evaluated echinacea's effectiveness in preventing colds, not the herb's overall safety.
Pottery Barn Recalls Crib Bumpers
Pottery Barn is recalling 31,000 Matelassé crib bumpers, which include decorative edge stitching that can come lose and pose an entanglement hazard to infants, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday.
Pottery Barn Kids has two reports of the stitching coming lose, but neither involved an injury, the CPSC said.
The product, made in Portugal, was sold online and at Pottery Barn Kids stores nationwide from February 2003 through June 2007 for about $90.
Consumers are urged to stop using the bumpers immediately and to contact Pottery Barn Kids for a refund. The toll-free number is 877-800-9720.
Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.


text:
Manny Pangilinan's MPIC Will Open a 1,000-Cow Dairy Facility in Laguna
Metro Pacific Investments Corp, the holding company led by businessman Manny Pangilinan, is building a 1,000-cow dairy facility in Laguna through unit Metro Pacific Agro Ventures (MPAV) in partnership with an Israeli company.
During a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony at the 20-hectare lot in the municipality of Bay, Laguna, officials led by MPAV CEO Jovy Hernandez said the company is investing an estimated P2 billion on the Metro Pacific Dairy Farms that is expected to produce as much as 6.5 million liters of fresh milk annually.
MPAV inked a 60-40 joint venture with Israeli company LR Group for the facility, which Hernandez said will be financed through a 70-30 debt-to-equity ratio.
About 600 of the 1,000 cows will be milking cows. Officials said a majority of the first batch of cows will be flown in from New Zealand. The facility hopes to produce an average of about 11.4 liters of fresh milk per cow per day. The global average for dairy facilities is about 40 liters per cow per day.
MPAV said it was targeting the so-called “import substitution objective,” or to essentially reduce the country’s reliance of imports for the country’s dairy needs. Currently, the Philippines imports about 99 percent of its milk products.
Metro Pacific Agro Ventures CEO Jovy Hernandez speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Metro Pacific Dairy Farms in Bay, Laguna
Hernandez said MPAV is targeting to supply 25 percent of the country’s dairy needs, though he tempered expectations by saying the facility might not be enough to reach that number.
MPIC first announced it was entering the agriculture business In June this year when it acquired a majority stake in homegrown ice cream brand Carmen’s Best founded by businessman Paco Magsaysay.
Pangilinan himself was expected to attend the groundbreaking event, but officials said he sent his regrets at the last minute to deal with an “emergency board meeting.”
One of MPIC’s core businesses—telco giant PLDT—is dealing with the fallout of a reported budget overrun of P48 billion incurred over the last four years. The company said it found no evidence of “fraudulent transactions” related to the capex spend and blamed the irregularity on heightened spend during the pandemic and Typhoon Odette that did not go through standard checks.


text:
A new Atascadero brewery is set to open Wednesday, bringing small-batch beers to the downtown area.
Dead Oak Brewing Co., located just off Sunken Gardens at 5925 Entrada Ave., took up residence in the old Pet Department space in February. It is the first establishment opened by Nikki and Jesse Kaltenberg — who moved to Atascadero from Anaheim last year.
“We went all in for our first go-around,” Nikki Kaltenberg said Monday.
Jesse Kaltenberg, a former civil engineer, started home brewing in 2008 and began taking classes and getting more serious about the business in 2016. The couple told The Tribune in February they budgeted $260,000 for the project.
Nikki Kaltenberg said they want Dead Oak to be more like a winery or tasting room than a bar. The 2,400-square-foot space won’t have televisions and will be targeted at older millennials and families, she said.
The brewery will also offer “personal experiences” to customers, such as opportunities to learn about beer and help name new varieties.
“You tailor the in-tasting-room experience to a particular group of people,” Nikki Kaltenberg said, referring to Dead Oak’s plan to set itself apart from other breweries.
Initially, Dead Oak will offer five beers on tap, though a rotating menu of 10 beers will eventually be available, she said.
The brewery won’t serve food, but customers are encouraged to bring their own. Nikki Kaltenberg said an alley behind Dead Oak might also offer a place for food trucks to park, and customers could also purchase food from Dark Nectar Coffee Roaster, located right next door.
Danny Jones, who owns Dark Nectar, is also applying for a liquor license to sell Dead Oak beer.
Dead Oak will open its doors at noon Wednesday and close at 9 p.m. The brewery will be open Wednesday through Sunday.
Submit news and notes items for Biz Buzz. Email: email@example.com; on Twitter @SLOBizBuzz; phone: 805-781-7902; fax: 805-781-7905; mail: Biz Buzz, The Tribune, P.O. Box 112, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406-0112.
Tell us your best business advice
What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve ever received? And how has it helped make you more successful in your business/professional life? Tell us in 100 words or fewer, and send it to firstname.lastname@example.org. We will publish them in future Biz Buzz columns.


text:
Inno Matijane Drops His Own Perfume Brand. A lot of our celebs are ending the year on a high. One of them is Inno Matijane who made waves for the most part of 2019.
The TV host and comedian has announced the arrival of his own perfume brand called Siege. “Hey guys, super excited to announce I now have mu own parfumerie called Siege. It will be available from Friday live on the website, he shared.
Congratulations are in order for the hardworking star.


text:
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through the Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), together with the Export Development Council (EDC) and Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PHILEXPORT), recognized the country’s top exporters highlighting the Philippine’s potential to be an agile export powerhouse during the National Exporters’ Week on 07 December 2023, at the Sheraton Manila Hotel.
The highlight of the event was the National Export Congress (NEC), which focuses on the public and private sectors’ shared vision for the Philippines’ export industry. This year’s theme, “Agile Philippines: Empowering Exporters towards Global Excellence,” underscores the importance of developing and capacitating exporters to be dynamic and resilient exporters capable of achieving worldwide excellence and recognition.
Following the launch of the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2023-2028 this year, the NEC complements the PEDP’s goals of utilizing and expanding the country’s capabilities in capturing opportunities in current and emerging global trends.
Further, the NEC is also aimed at recognizing and addressing the obstacles that make it more expensive and difficult for exporters to compete in international markets and considering the various levels of development and needs of the export industry, as well as the varying levels of exporter’s readiness.
DTI Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo, who delivered the message on Secretary Fred Pascual’s behalf, highlighted this overall goal: “We recognize and acknowledge the relentless efforts of Philippine exporters to survive and thrive amidst an increasingly challenging business environment. There is no scarcity of challenges that we need to address and surmount. But I am confident that with our shared aspirations, dedication, and a whole-of-nation approach to export development and promotion, we will achieve the desired outcomes.”
Meanwhile, Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr., President of the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PHILEXPORT), shared that PHILEXPORT’s work plan includes advocacies and programs that hope to ease the flow and cost of doing business in the country.
“This is a big part of our efforts aimed at opening and expanding more export markets and contributing to sustainable exports while generating jobs to help improve the quality of life of our people,” he said.
Exporters, members of the diplomatic corps, business partners, and various government agencies attended the said event. Likewise, the businesses were honored for their contributions to Philippine export development and growth on the night of the Export Congress event. The awardees were chosen based on their track record, recent export performance, and innovation in service delivery, among others. Despite continuous global challenges, these exporters have maintained competitiveness and boosted Philippine export revenues. The Top Exporters Award was created to honor and appreciate exporters’ exceptional contributions to economic development and inspire the exporting community to seek greater success.
DTI Undersecretary Ana Carolina P. Sanchez PHILEXPORT President and CEO, Mr. Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr., along with PHILEXPORT Chairman Mr. George T. Barcelon conferred the awards to the 16 top-performing exporters of the country, this year, they also awarded six (6) product diversification and new market diversification awards. They also recognized 55 Trade Regulatory Government Agencies (TRGAs) for their contribution and continued commitment to address export-related initiatives.
Top Sectoral Awardees were TEXAS INSTRUMENTS PHILIPPINES INC for Electronics; PHILIPPINE ASSOCIATED SMELTING AND REFINING CORPORATION for Minerals; YAZAKI-TORRES MANUFACTURING, INC. for Transport; AMERICAN POWER CONVERSION for Electricals; DOLE PHILIPPINES INC. for Food; PILIPINAS KAO, INC. for Chemicals; CARGILL OIL MILLS PHILIPPINES, INC. for Oils, Fats & Waxes; EHS LENS PHILIPPINES, INC. for Fashion Accessories; SANYO DENKI PHILIPPINES, INC. for Machinery; and L AND T INTERNATIONAL GROUP PHILIPPINES, INC. for Garments and Textiles.
For the Services Sector, Awards were given to DIGITEER, INC. for Software Development; POINTWEST TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION for Healthcare Information Management System; THINKBIT SOLUTIONS for Game Development; WIPRO PHILIPPINES INC. for Knowledge Process Outsourcing; TRANSCOM WORLDWIDE (PHILIPPINES) INC. for Information Technology-Business Process Management; TOP DRAW ANIMATION INC. for Animation.
The Product Diversification Awards were given to PIXCEL TRANSGLOBAL FOODS INC., GEM FOODS INTERNATIONAL, INC., UNIVERSAL ROBINA CORPORATION, and IBIDEN PHILIPPINES INCORPORATED while the New Market Diversification Awardees were given to DOLE PHILIPPINES INC. and ALRIVER EXPORT CORPORATION.
In his message, Secretary Pascual stressed, “The DTI is steadfast to our commitment of strengthening the country’s export sector by capacitating industries to be globally competitive ad innovative. Through a strong public and private partnerships, we are confident that we can make Filipino products and services known to the world.
The Exporters’ Night is part of a week-long celebration of the 2023 National Exporters’ Week, an annual celebration of the public and private sectors’ shared commitment to continuously develop and promote the Philippines as a dynamic force in the global export market.


text:
Amazon will make one of its US-based customers extremely happy, thanks to a new "Beat the Heat" sweepstakes where the lucky winner will get $2,500 in Amazon gift cards.
That amount of credit should be enough to buy a bunch of the company's Kindle Fire tablets or its Fire TV set-top box. It can even let the winner buy a few unlocked units of the newly launch Amazon Fire Phone. Of course, the gift cards can be used to buy anything that's sold on Amazon's website.
The contest runs from now until August 3. Eligible contestants can enter by following the official Amazon Twitter feed or by liking its Facebook page, along with the name and address on their personal Amazon account. If you live in the US do you plan to enter this contest?


text:
WASHINGTON — President Obama laid out new initiatives aimed at boosting trade and investment and expanding a high-level economic dialogue with India in a speech in New Delhi on Monday.
Speaking at a U.S.-India Business Council Summit, Obama said the U.S. is keen on increasing the $100 billion in bilateral trade it has with India. He is on a three-day visit to New Delhi with several U.S. lawmakers and Cabinet officials and has held several meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior Indian officials and business executives.
“In the last few years, we’ve increased trade between our countries by some 60 percent,” Obama said, according to a transcript of his speech. “Today, it’s nearly $100 billion a year, which is a record high. And this is a win-win. It’s a win for America and our workers because U.S. exports to India are up nearly 35 percent, and those exports support about 170,000 well-paying American jobs.”
Obama said Indian investment in the U.S. is also growing and supporting jobs in the U.S. While he noted the relationship is “moving in the right direction,” he also spoke of “untapped potential between the two countries.
“Of all America’s imports from the world, about 2 percent come from India,” he said. “Of all of America’s exports to the world, just over 1 percent go to India — 1 percent to over a billion people.”
He compared the $100 billion in trade the U.S. has with India to the $560 billion in trade the U.S. has with China.
“That gives you some sense of the potential both for the kind of growth that India might unleash, and the potential for greater trade between our two countries,” Obama said. “So I think everybody here will agree, we’ve got to do better.”
To that end, Obama revealed a series of U.S. initiatives that he said would generate more than $4 billion in trade and investment in India and support thousands of jobs in both countries.
Specifically, over the next two years, the U.S. Export-Import Bank will commit up to $1 billion in financing to support “Made-in-America” exports to India. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. government’s development finance arm, will also support lending to small and medium business across India, which the U.S. anticipates will result in more than $1 billion in loans in underserved rural and urban markets. And the U.S. Trade and Development Agency is set to leverage nearly $2 billion in investments in renewable energy in India.
The U.S. and India also said they will step up their efforts by expanding the current U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue into a new high-level “U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.”
U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, who is in New Delhi with a delegation of U.S. government officials, said the two countries “elevated” the current dialogue to the new Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, which she will cochair with Secretary of State John Kerry on the U.S. side.
“While we use this dialogue to produce concrete results, we will also use the dialogue to ensure that the United States and Indian businesses small, medium and large are in a position to capitalize on abundant opportunities that exist in both of our countries,” Pritzker said. “We’ll also use the dialogue to promote more trade and investment between our two nations and to identify new opportunities for economic and commercial cooperation that will improve the lives of both our peoples. And we’ll continue to use this dialogue to address the many strategic and political challenges that the U.S. and India must face together in the years ahead.”
Obama and Modi also addressed concerns about barriers to investment and trade in India raised by the business community at a roundtable earlier in the day. U.S. chief executive officers from Honeywell, the Walt Disney Co., PepsiCo and Westinghouse participated in the roundtable. Indian ceos from Cyrus Mistry, Tata Group and Mahindra Group also took part.
“Now, here in India, as the Prime Minister just discussed, there are still too many barriers — hoops to jump through, bureaucratic restrictions — that make it hard to start a business, or to export, to import, to close a deal, deliver on a deal,” Obama said. “Prime Minister Modi has initiated reforms that will help overcome some of these barriers, including a new government committee dedicated to fast-tracking American investments, and we enthusiastically support these efforts. We need to be incentivizing trade and investment, not stifling it. We need to be fostering a business environment that’s more transparent and more consistent, and more predictable.”


text:
HouseCanary CEO Jeremy Sicklick insisted that the rise of automated valuation models, or AVMs, is akin to a hidden iceberg, saying during an Inman Connect panel Tuesday that the real estate industry wouldn’t see it until it was too late — a comment that prompted a brief, heated rejoinder from a fellow panelist.
Sicklick predicted that more than half of all properties and transactions eventually would be evaluated through automation, but he acknowledged that widely differentiated properties are yet impervious to models designed by his own company or Zillow’s Zestimate. Nonetheless, his comments in Las Vegas struck a chord.
“Our view is probably about 70 percent of properties and transactions will be evaluated in an automated way,” Sicklick said during Inman Connect Las Vegas‘ CEO Connect panel discussion titled, “A Home Valuation Standard – Bot v. Human.” He added that HouseCanary’s model has a 2.5 percent error ratio.
In a back-and-forth, Douglas Elliman President Scott Durkin dismissed Sicklick, telling attendees such valuation models belong “in the back of the house, and not the forefront.”
The markets in which his company operates — like New York City, where little uniformity exists — don’t often emphasize AVMs.
“Data is data. It’s just what we do with it,” Durkin said. “It has no personality. It has no heart. It has no blood. Just don’t let it take over your business and don’t let it paralyze you.”
Durkin, however, took his argument one step further and went after tech companies that make money off data that agents generate.
“At the end of the day, we’ve created the data, we sold the property, we created the photographs, we created the floor plan,” Durkin said. “Everything we created, we’ve given away for free and now you’re getting a piece of it.
“You want a piece of our commission, I get it: That’s capitalism,” Durkin added. “At the end of the day, we created it all and everyone out there is trying to get a piece of it.”
Durkin even slammed HouseCanary for having a broker license, which he claimed was because they “want a piece of our commission.”
Debra Beagle, CEO and co-owner/managing broker of RE/MAX Advantage in Tennessee, landed on a middle ground, acknowledging that AVMs aren’t a magical formula in her home market of Nashville because of the idiosyncrasies of each home — but they certainly have their place.
In Tennessee, it takes 2,000 hours as an apprentice before you can become an appraiser, Beagle noted. In the past three weeks, they’ve heard from lenders that closings are being delayed by 15-20 days because appraisers are in short supply.
“I think it can be a partnership with the AI side, and the industry has to find ways,” Beagle said, adding that the industry needs to pivot and improve the customer experience.


text:
Economists expect shortfall in GST collections to be around Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The budgeted collection was Rs 7.44 lakh crore.
New Delhi: Shortfall in tax revenues, particularly from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), will pose a massive challenge for the Modi government ahead of Union budget 2019 as it looks to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP in 2018-19.
While direct tax collections are expected to meet budgeted targets, with the taxmen working aggressively to achieve the same, it is unlikely to compensate for the massive shortfall in GST collections during the year as frequent rate cuts and massive tax evasion have impacted tax buoyancy in this new indirect tax regime.
For the 2019-20 fiscal as well, the government will be constrained from setting aggressive collection targets under GST as implementation of anti-evasion measures — like the e-way bill and tax collection at source — have also not been able to prop up collections.
Economists expect the shortfall in GST collections to be around Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The budgeted collection was Rs 7.44 lakh crore.
Also read: Utilise Budget session for constructive debate, Modi urges ahead of his govt’s last session
‘Worries come to pass’
In a note released Wednesday, economists Sajjid Z. Chinoy and Toshi Jain of JP Morgan Chase said the fiscal challenge this year is real.
“We had worried on Budget day itself last year that GST revenues had been budgeted too ambitiously and, unfortunately, this has come to pass, compounded both by repeated tax cuts by the GST Council in 2018-19 and patchy GST compliance throughout the year,” said the note.
“Therefore aggregate GST revenues have only grown by 6.6% over a year ago period between August and December, much below nominal GDP growth. Consequently, we expect gross GST collections to be short by about 0.8% of GDP,” it said.
The economists said that since 42 per cent of the divisible pool goes to states, the net impact on Centre will be close to 0.5 per cent of GDP — an anticipated GST revenue shortfall as high as Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2018-19.
Also read: Nothing easy about GST’s e-way bill, it’s fickle & breeds corruption, truckers complain
State Bank of India’s group chief economic advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh said in a note that Rs 8.71 lakh crore have been collected under GST in FY19 so far.
“Adjusting for SGST component and share of states in IGST collections, the total GST collections for the Center amounts to Rs 4.44 lakh crore,” he said in a note released on 30 January, adding that some of this shortfall could be reduced by higher excise duty collections.
With only one quarter left, the government is unlikely to significantly close the gap.
The government had budgeted central GST collections at Rs 6.04 lakh crore and the total GST collection, including integrated GST and compensation cess, at Rs 7.44 lakh crore in 2018-19, budget documents showed.
On the direct tax front, the government claims that the taxpayer base has expanded.
However, the tax collections have not kept pace. The e-filing website of the tax department shows that till December 2018, 6.24 crore taxpayers filed their tax returns, as against 6.74 crore taxpayers in the entire 2017-18.
Direct tax collections was at Rs 5.42 lakh crore as of November end, data from the controller general of accounts showed. The full year target is a daunting Rs 11.5 lakh crore, but the tax department is confident of achieving it.
Smoke and mirrors.
Comments are closed.


text:
Consumer Reports, in addition to rating consumer products and services, has set its sites on the Obamacare website, and has concluded that anyone who wants to successfully register on Healthcare.gov should just wait for the glitches to be fixed.
The criticism first kicked off with a piece written a week after the website launched, calling it a “near-certainty” that people have been unable to enroll on their own.
The title of the piece said the health care site is “barely operational,” and it calls out the Obama administration for not disclosing how many people have actually managed to successfully enroll.
It concludes by recommending that people should wait a few weeks for the kinks to get sorted out.
Well, Consumer Reports is still pretty pessimistic about the site itself. It recommends a few ways to successfully enroll including careful following of the site’s instructions and clearing browser cookies. But at the end of it, the post basically admits it’s still a big headache.
If all this is too much for you to absorb, follow our previous advice: Stay away from Healthcare.gov for at least another month if you can. Hopefully that will be long enough for its software vendors to clean up the mess they’ve made. The coverage available through the marketplaces won’t begin until Jan. 1, 2014, at the earliest, and you have until Dec. 15 to enroll if you need insurance that starts promptly.
The post has already been picked up and touted by a number of Republicans, with the National Republican Congressional Committee saying it’s “beyond telling” how they’re detailing exactly how to sign up for a website account, one of the simplest things to do on the internet.
[photo via screengrab]
Have a tip we should know? firstname.lastname@example.org