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By Kami Navarro
Across the world, millions of people are spending more time inside their homes on an unprecedented scale. Unsurprisingly, this has translated into a 50-70% surge in Internet usage. Given the strict social distancing measures, many activities typically held in-person have been moved online. From visiting tourist attractions to hawking fresh produce — and of course, shopping—our new reality is increasingly virtual.
Just like how the 2002-3 SARS outbreak marked the beginnings of e-commerce in Asia, the current pandemic is set to permanently transform the retail landscape as we know it. Since the onset of COVID-19, e-commerce has soared. After all, shopping online offers plenty of benefits compared to physical retail: it’s easier to compare prices, it can be done anytime and most importantly—it can be done within the comfort of our homes, far away from crowded spaces where COVID-19 could be easily transmitted.
In this new virtual normal, e-commerce retailers are challenged to make the customer experience even more frictionless. On local shores, e-commerce logistics provider Parcel Perform hopes to help companies overcome the “last mile delivery problem.” In other words, the delivery journey of a product from the warehouse’s shelf to the buyer’s doorstep.
Southeast Asia is the fastest growing e-commerce region with a compound annual growth rate of (CAGR) of 62% over the past three years, as seen in a 2019 survey from Parcel Perform. And yet, delivery continues to be one of the biggest challenges faced by regional consumers. In the same survey, approximately 34% of customers in Southeast Asia indicated that they were unhappy with delivery service. Moreover, over 90% of customer complaints and negative feedback were found to be due to prolonged transit times and late deliveries.
According to Dr Arne Jeroschewski, Founder & CEO of Parcel Perform, this dissatisfaction could be traced back to the fact that many e-commerce retailers left their post-checkout delivery experience in the hands of logistics carriers. “This results in the retailers having little control over their customer’s post check-out experience and prevents visibility on their carrier’s performance,” explained Dr Jeroschewski. But consumers view delivery as the retailer’s responsibility and not the carrier’s, he added.
To improve customer experience post-checkout and provide more transparency in logistics, Dr Jeroschewski started Parcel Perform in 2016 with his co-founder & COO Ms Dana von der Heide. With over 600 carriers around the world on its platform, Parcel Perform is a software-as-a-service that aggregates logistics data to optimise performance.
Optimising logistics is especially important in scenarios such as cross-border deliveries, where parcels are handled by multiple carriers along the way. To make the journey as seamless as possible for both the retailer and customer, Parcel Perform is able to automatically determine all carriers involved in the delivery process and easily integrate data from these various carriers without any duplication. Moreover, the platform is also able to provide personalised updates in over 30 languages—further enhancing the customer experience.
With functionalities including the creation of fully-branded tracking pages and a comprehensive customer service toolkit, Parcel Perform has already attracted big-name clients including Nespresso, Decathlon and local fashion favourite Love, Bonito.
We want to ensure e-commerce businesses create an environment where their customers have a fantastic shopping experience and become lifelong customers.
Dr Arne Jeroschewski
Parcel Perform Founder & CEO
Part and parcel of innovation
Just two years after its founding, Parcel Perform cemented its place as a crucial player in Singapore’s logistics ecosystem by developing the interoperability platform of the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) Locker Alliance pilot. As suggested by its name, the Locker Alliance brings together local locker providers like Singapore Post and blu into one network, allowing online purchases to be delivered to convenient lockers nearby.
First rolled out to 78,000 residents in Punggol and Bukit Panjang in December 2018, the lockers were installed across 60 locations in the two towns. With so many moving parts, it was Parcel Perform’s job to create an effective infrastructure that could allow different locker operators, end-consumers and merchant partners like Lazada to use the network in a frictionless manner.
The pilot was a resounding success—resulting in a four-fold performance improvement and cost savings compared to traditional doorstep deliveries. Building upon the pilot, IMDA is now working on the nationwide rollout of 1,000 parcel locker stations over the next two years, with Parcel Perform powering its interoperability platform.
It’s an achievement that Dr Jeroschewski and the rest of the team is understandably proud of. “The Locker Alliance project enabled us to contribute our expertise in microservice design and platform architecture,” he shared. “Collaborating with IMDA over the last few years helped us tremendously to gain credibility as a young company. Beyond showing how we can support IMDA’s innovative initiatives in the logistics space, this experience has also given us inspiration for new use cases to support our customers.”
Gearing up for a post-COVID world
Given that COVID-19 is triggering a wave of digital transformation across the world, Dr Jeroschewski is confident of Parcel Perform’s place in the new normal. “There will be a growing need for expertise and resources in e-commerce logistics,” he said. “More retailers will increasingly shift to online-first behaviour and we need to make sure we can accommodate these growth opportunities.”
To this end, Parcel Perform already has a series of initiatives in place to prepare for the post-COVID world. This includes leveraging machine learning to predict delivery trends, refining their customer engagement processes and scaling their platform’s capabilities to accommodate the increase in user volume. They’ve also recently been accredited by the IMDA’s Accreditation@SGD programme, with the rigorous testing and feedback helping them refine their platform and build more future-proof processes.
With all these elements in place, Parcel Perform is set to not just reach the last mile in delivery, but even surpass it.
This feature is the fourth in a series of articles profiling accredited companies under IMDA’s Accreditation@SG Digital (Accreditation@SGD) programme. First launched in July 2014, Accreditation@SGD contributes to an innovative infocomm media ecosystem by accrediting promising Singapore-based tech product companies to establish their credentials, build business traction, and help them to grow and compete in the global market. The evaluation process provides an independent third party evaluation on the SGD-accredited companies’ claimed product core functionalities and ability to deliver.
As of February 2020, over S$430 million worth of project opportunities have been created for accredited companies. Close to 1,000 projects have also been awarded. For more information, please refer to this link: www.imda.gov.sg/accreditation
Five fascinating robots you can find in Singapore
Singapore's National Robotics Programme creates robots to increase efficiency and protect workers from repetitive or risky tasks.
Parcel Lockers go nationwide with Pick
Nationwide Parcel Locker Network operator Pick! has been established to accelerate parcel lockers rollout across Singapore.


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The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) has released the results of their fifth annual veterinary survey, which found 53 percent of adult dogs and 55 percent of cats to be classified as overweight or obese by their veterinarian. That equals 88.4 million pets that are too heavy, according to veterinarians.
As with humans, some of the common weight-related conditions in dogs and cats include osteoarthritis, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, breathing problems, kidney disease, and shortened life expectancy.
APOP founder Dr. Ernie Ward in the press release:
“The most distressing finding in this year’s study was the fact that more pet owners are unaware their pet is overweight. Twenty-two percent of dog owners and 15 percent of cat owners characterized their pet as normal weight when it was actually overweight or obese. This is what I refer to as the ‘fat pet gap’ or the normalization of obesity by pet parents. In simplest terms, we’ve made fat pets the new normal.”
Perhaps even worse was the finding that the number of obese pets, those at least 30 percent above normal weight or a body condition score (BCS) of 5, continues to grow despite 93.4 percent of surveyed pet owners identifying pet obesity as a problem. The study found 24.9 percent of all cats were classified as obese and 21.4 percent of all dogs were obese in 2011.
That’s up from 2010 when 21.6 percent of cats and 20.6 percent of dogs were found to be obese. “What this tells us is that more and more of our pets are entering into the highest danger zone for weight-related disorders,” says Ward.
Translation: our dogs and cats are getting fatter and fatter, and we’re not even noticing. Even worse? It’s our fault.
Orthopedic surgeon, APOP Board member and Director of Clinical Research at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Steve Budsberg says in the release:
“As an orthopedic surgeon I see, on a daily basis, the effects of obesity on dogs and cats with osteoarthritis. It is very frustrating to see how much pain and discomfort excess weight has on my patients. Veterinarians and owners have the ability to stop obesity in our pets. No animal goes to the refrigerator or the pantry and helps themselves. We enable our pets to get fat!”
Some interesting info:
- According to Dr. Ernie Ward, a 95-pound male Golden retriever is comparable to a 5’4″ human female weighing 184 pounds or a 5’9″ male who weighs 214 pounds.
- A 10-pound Chihuahua is comparable to a 5’4″ human female weighing 242 pounds or a 5’9″ male who weighs 282 pounds.
- A 15-pound domestic short-haired cat is comparable to a 5’4″ human female weighing 218 pounds or a 5’9″ male who weighs 254 pounds.
- A premium pig ear (231 kcals) fed to a 40-pound dog is the equivalent of an adult human drinking six 12-ounce colas (840 kcals).
- A typical dog biscuit (25 to 27 kcals) fed to a 20-pound dog is the equivalent of an average adult human eating two Keebler EL Fudge Double Stuffed Sandwich Cookies® (180 kcals).
According to the APOP weight and treat calculators:
- A Pedigree small/medium Jumbone has 295 calories; a large, 619.
- A Milk Bone large biscuite has 115 calories; an extra large, 225.
- A Purina Busy Bone treat for small/medium dogs has 277 calories; a large, 445.
- A Three Dog Bakery Roll Over Peanut Butter or Cheese 16 oz. treat has 400 calories.
- See more calorie counts for dog treats here.
And don’t forget the kitty! Only 49 percent of surveyed cat owners reported their veterinarian had discussed obesity and excess weight with them; compare that to 72 percent of dog owners. Even worse, only 46 percent of cat owners stated their veterinarian had reviewed nutrition or food choices, compared to 86 percent of those with dogs.
Here how about this cat treat calorie count? Fancy Feast Appetizer treats, 2 oz tray, ranged in calorie counts from 31.32 (White Meat Chicken and Flaked Tuna Appetizer in a Delicate Broth) to 39.34 calories (Steamed Tilapia Appetizer in a Delicate Broth).

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Spanish authorities detected traces of unauthorized forms of genetically modified (GM) corn in U. S. soy shipments on August 25 and blocked the imports, a European Commission spokeswoman said on Sept. 19.
Traces of corn variety MON88017, which is yet to be approved in the EU, was found in different shiploads of soy from the same company and the shipments were sent back to the U. S., the spokeswoman said.
The MON88017 variety is manufactured by Monsanto, an official at the biotech company in Spain said.
Officials from the Spanish Agriculture Ministry were not able to give any details.
European Union buyers had moved to stop imports of U. S. soy after shipments to Spain and Germany were found to contain traces of GM corn, a spokesman for the EU in Washington had said on August 6.
The EU has approved a string of GM products, mainly corn and some soy types, but it does not permit the presence of non-approved types, even in tiny amounts, until it has assessed the safety of that product for health and the environment.
EU animal feeds groups have raised concerns that Europe could face a shortage of soybeans and soy meal that could cost its food industries billions of dollars because of the EU’s tough policy on GM imports.
They have said the risk of shipments being rejected because of the EU’s zero-tolerance rule on unauthorized GMOs is too high for many operators to even attempt to import from the United States.
Europe’s Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel urged the 27-member bloc recently to draw up rules by end-2009 to allow resumption of vital soybean imports from the U. S., one of its main suppliers.


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Cisco buying cybersecurity company Splunk for $28B
Cisco on Thursday announced an agreement to buy cybersecurity and observability company Splunk for about $28 billion.
- Expect a lot more of these sorts of mergers, even if the targets aren't AI-native.
Details: The $157 per share offer represents over a 31% premium to Wednesday's closing price for Splunk shares.
- The last time Splunk traded above $157 per share was in early 2021.
- It's the networking giant's largest acquisition. Cisco says the merger will add roughly $4 billion in ARR, boosting its subscription and recurring revenue efforts.
- The purchase price will be financed via a combination of cash and debt, with a final closing by the end of Q3 2024, the company said.
What they're saying: "This will help our customers move from threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention," said Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins during a conference call Thursday morning.
- "In terms of observability, our complimentary capabilities will offer observability for the full IT stack, from the application to the network, across hybrid and multi-cloud environments."
Editor's note: This story was updated with additional details about the deal.


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Energizer Holding Inc.’s previously announced restructuring will cost it $250 million in one-time charges and $50 million in incremental capital expenditures, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.
Of the one-time charges, $175 million will be cash, and $120 million to $140 million will occur in fiscal 2013, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The company also expects to incur additional incremental capital expenditures of $50 million, primarily in information technology. Energizer said it has not yet determined other costs, but it expects the majority of one-time charges associated with the restructuring to be recorded in the next year to 18 months.
The company, which is looking to grab more of the personal care market by expanding offerings under well-known brands such as Edge, Diaper Genie and Wet Ones, plans to reduce its global workforce by more than 10 percent, or about 1,500 people, as part of a restructuring it outlined in September and first announced when filing its third quarter results in August.
The company said the restructuring will save it up to $175 million to $200 million a year.
Energizer had indicated early last month that as part of its restructuring, it would close its battery manufacturing plant in Maryville, Mo.; its battery and lights manufacturing plant in St. Albans, Vt.; and its battery packaging facility in Tampoi, Malaysia. The company said at an investor conference Wednesday that those plants will close in 2013 by Dec. 31, Sept. 30 and March 31, respectively.
Town & Country-based Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR), led by CEO Ward Klein, reported fiscal third-quarter net earnings of $70.2 million on revenue of $1.1 billion. It reported net earnings of $408.9 million on net sales of $4.57 billion in fiscal 2012. Also in fiscal 2012, Klein’s total compensation increased by 47 percent to $9.5 million, and the company's other executives’ compensation also increased.


text: Not now, but by second quarter of next year(2009). Samsung will be introducing an Android phone in the US market. Last year was the year for iPhone. Now, it looks like the coming year 2009 will be an Android year. Samsung seems to be very serious with this as it has employed nearly 80 developers to work upon their Android phone, which includes many Java and Linux developers.


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The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which Eric Bleeker, senior technology analyst, and Jeremy Phillips, CTO, discuss topics around the investing world.
In today's edition, Eric and Jeremy continue their rundown of tech trends for 2012 by looking at the future of the tablet market. Last year opened with huge amounts of optimism surrounding tablets, but competitors were unable to undercut Apple's aggressive price point on the iPad. As the tablet market turns the corner, Amazon.com has found a way to cut into Apple's pricing advantage: Lose a lot of money and try making it up through follow-on sales. As Eric and Jeremy see it, this approach will create a two-horse tablet race in 2012. Apple has managed to hold onto its outsized selling price on iPhones as Android competitors entered the fray and took low-end market share. Will the tablet market play out the same way?


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The American Banker magazine has an article that asks “Can credit bureaus can finally be tamed?”
The article describes a “tough fix-it order” imposed by federal and state officials that was supposed to force the bureaus to clean up inaccuracies and better respond to consumer complaints. But that happened 25 years ago and the problems with the bureaus persist.
The article notes that lawyers, advocates and regulators agree that problems of accuracy and how disputes are handled continue to be problems. In 2012 the FTC found that one in four consumers have potential mistakes on their credit reports and one in 20 may have errors significant enough to negatively impact how much he or she pays for a loan, or whether credit is available. That means 11 million consumers have material errors on the reports that may affect whether they can get a mortgage loan, a car or even a job. In 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received 45,000 complaints about the credit bureaus.
Consumers have a right to dispute inaccurate or misleading information on their credit reports. The problem is the process does not work very well for consumers. Chi Chi Wu of the National Consumer Law Center describes the dispute process as a “Kafkaesque.” Instead of conducting substantive investigations when consumers lodge a complaint, the bureaus have typically relied on an automated system that boils down concerns into two- or three-digit codes that are sent to the creditors and others (the furnishers). Those furnishers often do little more than check to see if the data in their systems matches what’s in the report and, to compound the problem, the credit bureaus typically accept whatever the furnishers say. This practice, known as “parroting” is contrary to the dictates of the FCRA.
The three credit bureaus makes tons of money selling consumers credit monitoring and education products. In this business, the bureaus profit from consumer insecurity about stolen credit information and identity theft. Those fears, along with general concerns about credit reporting errors, drive the sale of monitoring products, which go for as much as $19.95 a month. The products can provide a false sense of security because they only monitor certain kinds of fraud. Experian boasted in an investor presentation in May that consumer monitoring and identity protection accounted for 21% of revenue last year. Equifax, meanwhile, reported to the SEC in April that its “personal solutions” segment — products sold directly to consumers, including monitoring services — earned the company over $65 million, about 10% of total operating revenue for the first quarter of 2015. In this way, the agencies profit from their own inaccurate information.
A major change is that the industry now has oversight from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB vows to force changes in the industry to protect consumers. One CFPB investigation is apparently underway concerning the industry’s sales of credit scores and credit monitoring products. Equifax disclosed to the SEC some months ago it received a civil investigative demand from the CFPB back in February 2014 “as part of its investigation to determine whether nationwide consumer reporting agencies have been or are engaging in unlawful acts or practices relating to the advertising, marketing, sale or provision of consumer reports, credit scores or credit monitoring products.” Experian told analysts last summer that it got a similar request.


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The head of Germany’s BSI admitted that since now there is no proof espionage activity conducted through Huawei technology.
US first, and many other countries after, have decided to ban network equipment manufactured by the Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
In November 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US Government is urging its allies, including Germany, to exclude Huawei from critical infrastructure and 5G architectures.
The United States is highlighting the risks for national security in case of adoption of Huawei equipment and is inviting internet providers and telco operators in allied countries to ban Huawei.
Chinese equipment is broadly adopted in many allied countries, including Germany, Italy an, Japan. Currently main mobile network operators in Germany use Huawei technology for their infrastructure.
Now Germany’s IT watchdog has expressed its opinion about the ban of the Huawei technology, it has highlighted that there is no evidence that the equipment could be used by Chinese intelligence in cyber espionage activity.
On Friday, the head of Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Arne Schoenbohm admitted that since now there is no proof espionage activity conducted through Huawei technology.
“For such serious decisions like a ban, you need proof,” Arne Schoenbohm, told news weekly Spiegel, confirming that the BSI had no such evidence.
Huawei was already excluded by several countries from building their 5G internet networks. The United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan announced the exclusion of Huawei technology for their 5G internet networks.
Schoenbohm explained that BSI experts assessed the Huawei products from around the world and hasn’t found suspicious components or backdoors.
BSI experts also visited a recently opened Huawei Security Innovation Lab in Bonn, a center that will work closely with German customers, partners, research institutions as well as government and supervisory authorities.
Commenting on the opening of the laboratory, BSI President Arne Schönbohm said: “We welcome the opening of this laboratory, which will allow further and deeper technical exchange between Huawei and BSI to address the future challenges of cyber security”.
Many security experts continue to express their concerns about Huawei products.
“I believe it’s wrong to suggest that the concerns about Chinese espionage are unfounded and easy to detect,” telecom security expert Ronja Kniep told AFP.
“Even if Huawei has no official relationship with the Chinese government, that doesn’t mean Chinese services aren’t using the company and its technology as vehicles for espionage.”


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Sea Beyond: Royal Caribbean Makes Waves at Duggal Greenhouse Tech Reveal
The innovative spirit of Royal Caribbean Cruises was on full display at the Duggal Greenhouse, where the global cruise company hosted its three-day “Sea Beyond” event sponsored by EY.
A former Navy shipbuilding facility transformed into an awe-inspiring events venue, the Greenhouse was a beyond-perfect match for Royal Caribbean’s invitation-only tech showcase. Guests were immersed in 34,000 square feet of digital technology, from augmented and virtual reality to facial recognition and, as Fast Company aptly described, “apps that can see through walls.”
“At the event, guests were asked to download an app, snap a selfie, and turn on their Bluetooth,” Fast Company reported. “Once those steps were taken, the techie magic took over. Guests were greeted by name, thanks to Bluetooth signaling. Pull up the app’s drink menu, make your choice, and a server delivers it wherever you are in the crowd thanks to a face-recognition system.”
The exhibition of technological leadership simultaneously served as a sneak peek into Royal Caribbean’s vision of “a world where travel frustrations have disappeared, erased by technology that is transforming cruise ships from stem to stern.” The app and other products seen at the Greenhouse will begin to appear on select Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise lines in 2018, and are expected to be fully integrated across the company’s 48-ship fleet by 2020.
“The pace of change is relentless—and so are we,” said Richard D. Fain, Royal Caribbean Cruises chairman and CEO, in a press release. “We are harnessing a range of technologies to enhance every facet of our business, every minute of our guests’ vacations, and every inch of the ships we build.”
Duggal Visual Solutions and the Duggal Greenhouse applaud Royal Caribbean’s ingenuity. In addition to hosting Sea Beyond, we also produced supporting graphics and signage to bring the event to life.Back to Past Events


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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sydney, NS – The Cape Breton Partnership, together with the Cape Breton Farmers’ Market, is excited to introduce the “Pop-up Bistro”, a new initiative that will offer food and beverage vendors the opportunity to participate in the weekly Saturday Market’s food-court area and make their tasty creations available to market-goers.
“We are excited to partner on this initiative and give local vendors in the food and beverage industry a chance to connect with their community, while promoting and marketing their business in a new and different way,” said Carla Arsenault, President & CEO of the Cape Breton Partnership.
The “Pop-up Bistro” is curated with the goal of showcasing a variety of vendors over the next several weeks while giving customers a chance to experience a variety of cuisines and products.
“This is a terrific offering for the Market and its customers and we hope to bring an array of vendors and flavours to customers in the local community,” said Brenda Donahue, Chair of the Cape Breton Farmers’ Market.
The “Pop-up Bistro” takes place weekly on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Cape Breton Farmers’ Market in Downtown Sydney, and is available to the local business community in the food and beverage industry. The $100+HST fee includes a booth, signage, access to the commercial Market Kitchen and marketing/promotion.
For more information, including food safety requirements, and to apply and participate, please visit: https://capebretonpartnership.com/farmersmarket.
Cape Breton Partnership
Cape Breton Farmers’ Market
About the Cape Breton Partnership:
The Cape Breton Partnership is Unama’ki – Cape Breton’s private sector-led economic development organization that supports companies and entrepreneurs by promoting our island as a great place to live and invest; growing a culture that values and celebrates creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship; and connecting entrepreneurs and companies to the resources they need to succeed. For more information, visit https://capebretonpartnership.com.
About the Cape Breton Farmers’ Market
The Cape Breton Farmers’ Market (CBFM) aims to facilitate economic growth and sustainability for local food and craft producers encouraging more people to live, work and grow in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. The CBFM is a not-for-profit co-operative that has been in operation for almost thirty years.


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Taiwan Semiconductor gives up the chip subsidy from the US, because the chip subsidy is less than 4 billion US dollars, even less than one tenth of the investment of Taiwan Semiconductor to set up factories in the US. If Taiwan Semiconductor takes this limited subsidy, then Taiwan Semiconductor will completely lose the initiative. Obviously, it is more appropriate to give up the chip subsidy from the US.
From the "trade war" to the "technological war", the US has been changing and upgrading the so-called "rules", trying to control the global chip industry chain. For this reason, they have also introduced more than 200 billion US dollars of semiconductor chip subsidy program to attract chip giants to build factories in the US.
As one of the biggest players in chip manufacturing, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has also announced plans to build a factory in the United States. Internet Fish notes that the investment has exceeded $40 billion since 2023, far exceeding the company's plans.
However, the Chip Grant Act introduced in America requires companies applying for more than $150m in subsidies to share 75% of any profits they exceed expectations.More exaggeratingly, it would also hand over key data such as capacity, utilisation and expected yield of wafer size categories, selling prices in the first year of production, and annual production volumes, which raised concerns at TSMC.
If such data is leaked to competitors, it will deal a heavy blow to manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. Intel, for example, has been trying to expand its wafer foundry market share over the past few years and has announced major investment plans in its wafer foundry business, Interconnection Fish noted. Intel has also expanded its manufacturing operations into other areas, setting up a joint venture, Intel Foundry Services (IFS), to provide more specialized foundry services for wafers.
Facing the tightening situation, Taiwan Semiconductor Chairman Liu DeyinImportant decisions were announced:It suspended requests for subsidies, slashed spending by $8 billion, slashed orders for DUV lithography machines by 40% and announced price increases for chips made in the United States.
This back-and-forth series of decisions may be that TSMC does not want subsidies, because cutting costs, cutting 40% of the EUV lithography machine order is actually reducing the size of the plant.
From an outsider's point of view, this is TSMC's response to US demands to share core data, a decision that will be a direct blow to US ambitions for a carefully laid out chip programme.
Because TSMC is the world's largest chip manufacturing enterprise, its production technology and scale can not be underestimated, the market appeal is still very strong. Moreover, Chang's status as the founder of TSMC was pivotal to the decision to build the plant, butMr Zhang's attitude to the "chip wars" is ambivalent.
For one thing,The United States intends to achieve more localization in the field of chip manufacturing and reduce its dependence on Asian chip manufacturing industry. When Taiwan Semiconductor Company was invited to build a factory, Chang expressed his negative opinion on the chip manufacturing industry in the United States, believing that it is impossible to build a complete chip industry chain, even if a lot of money and energy is invested in it.
Chang also pointed out that the United States has many weaknesses in chip manufacturing, including high costs, a lack of related technology chains, and a lack of talent. Chang therefore believes that the United States should prioritize the development of chip design technology, rather than blindly pursue the pursuit of making chips at home.
On the other hand,As the "chip war" intensified, Chang openly supported the chip restrictions and chose to take sides.
In addition, Chang also made a similar comment on the Chinese mainland market, in his opinion, "the gap in contract manufacturing is more than five years, focus on design". Not only is it pointing fingers at the Chinese chip market, but it has been using Taiwan Semiconductor's technological advantage to crush Chinese chipmakers like SMIC,Otherwise Dr. Chang would not have left SMIC.
From an outsider's point of view, there is no denying that Mr Chang has decades of experience in the chip industry, and he is well qualified to express his views on the field, butIn conclusion, his views are not a market issue or a technical issue, but based on Taiwan Semiconductor's own interests.
After allAfter the United States stirred up the chip industry, the global market started a wave of chip technology autonomy,In the long run this is the most negative for Taiwan Semiconductor company. In particular, from 2022 to 2023, the global market is pushing for autonomous chip technology,And countries that can are already doing so.
For example, Interconnect Fish notes that in March 2023, the European Union passed a 43 billion euro chip Act intended to revitalize the chip industry; Korean chip companies are also planning to localize chip materials and design and manufacturing. The Japanese market is also attracting chip giants such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Micron to build factories and manufacture in Japan through subsidies and incentives.
So in general, the US is trying to control the global chip industry chain through huge financial subsidies and data requirements, which has caused concern and opposition among some chip companies, especially the decision that forced Liu Deyin of Taiwan Semiconductor to announce the decision to abandon subsidies.
Give up the US chip subsidy, because the chip subsidy is less than 4 billion US dollars, which is less than a tenth of the investment Taiwan Semiconductor makes in the US. If Taiwan Semiconductor takes this limited subsidy, it will completely lose the initiative.Ditching America's chip subsidies would surely be a better option.
Recommended use China IT News APP
Download flyfish app to read news


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January 14, 2013 — Go Red for Women is the American Heart Association’s campaign to raise awareness regarding cardiovascular disease in women. Feb. 1, 2013 is National Wear Red Day.
Thousands of individuals are raising awareness about heart disease by wearing red on this day. Carlson Laboratories is proud to be supporting this event by providing red aprons to health food store owners and their staff to wear.
Carilyn Anderson, president of Carlson Laboratories, states, “We are proud to support the ‘Go Red for Women’ campaign by helping to spread awareness about cardiovascular disease and the importance of taking preventative measures for our health. At Carlson, educating our customers has always been of the utmost importance to us. ”
Carlson will provide a free red apron for health food store owners to wear Feb. 1, 2013. Contact a Carlson customer service representative to request your free apron. Wear your red Carlson apron on February 1st, and support “Go Red for Women”!
Source: Carlson Laboratories, carlsonlabs.com


text: Zero smartphone battery is no less than a nightmare to us, while finding a socket to charge the smartphone anywhere is also a test. If you want your phone’s battery to last longer, be sure to read this, and by trying these methods you can get rid of your smartphone’s battery running out quickly. Hamilton, director of customer service at a leading mobile company, says that if you want your smartphone’s battery to be durable and not run out quickly, always charge it to 85%. He said that never let the battery of the phone run out completely, but as soon as the battery of the smartphone is 25%, put it on charge immediately, but as soon as it is 85% charged, take it out of the socket. “Many of us make the mistake of charging the phone’s battery to 100 percent,” he said. Hamilton, Director of Customer Service, added that for a durable phone battery, never leave the phone on charge as most users do not remove the mobile from charging even after 100% charging, which is detrimental to the phone’s battery. Proven. In addition, to protect the phone’s battery, always keep the ‘brightness’ of the screen light, by taking care of these things, users can use their phone’s battery safely and for a long time.


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Gentle Monster's CEO Hankook Kim recently announced the news that it is working in collaboration with Huawei in developing a series of smart glasses. This was announced at Huawei's #RewriteTheRules event located in Paris, where Gentle Monster unveiled its 'Once Upon a Future' collection of frames.
The design language of this collection is what should be expected for the collaborative series to come soon. In terms of the eyewear's functionality, users will be given the opportunity to answer their phones by tapping the glasses arms. The arms will also incorporate speakers, directional microphones, and a 2,200mAh battery that can be charged with the glasses case. Huawei also unveils that the eyewear will feature voice assistance, set to officially launch in July this year.


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EMI look like they have found a buyer. Iím no financial analyst so Iím not even going to attempt to say whether it is a good deal or not for EMI or the buyer. However from an industry perspective this does have the important distinction of reducing industry consolidation (or at least delaying it) by the mere fact of the buyer not being WMG. Of course the prospective buyers could simply buy and then sell onto WMG at a later date for a premium, and WMG could yet end up buying them directly. If EMI did end up hooked up with WMG there would be significant disquiet from the indie sector, much of whom who say the trend of major label consolidation as a major (no pun intended) threat to their businesses. It would also prick the interest of the EU.
However, despite the monopolistic implications of further consolidation, there is no getting away from the fact that the music industry is contracting and will continue to do so for some time yet. So labels need to work out how to do business more effectively and more efficiently. Joining forces is one tactic to implement that strategy.
The market will turn around though and digital will eventually offset physical declines, but not quite yet. EMIís early results show that digital growth (79.7 percent) was not enough to counter balance the decline in physical sales (11.8 percent) and that total sales declined by 8.8 percent.
Of course EMI is not all about recorded music. In fact EMI publishing is arguably the robust part of the business. There are rumours that the two divisions could be broken up and EMI recorded music sold onto WMG. That would be a missed opportunity. The bigger trend of the music industry is the lessening importance of the CD as the bed rock of revenues. Synch revenues are finding an ever growing number of digital and traditional outlets. A joint music publishing and recorded music outfit has increased ability to compete across all evolving revenue streams.
A final potential twist is the question of what will happen to EMIís DRM free initiative if EMI music got sold to WMG. It is possible that it might get reversed. It would be a shame if that happened. Digital music needs DRM free as part of the online mix. EMI have been brave enough to put the first foot forward, now there is the waiting game to see whether any others feel compelled to follow suit. The industry needs brave moves such as EMIísÖeven if it was forced by necessity rather than choice.


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Representatives of four major publishing houses and international media conglomerate News Corporation announced last Tuesday, Dec. 8, that they will launch a joint venture to develop a digital storefront and a set of standards for the sale and distribution of media content. Condè Nast Publications, Hearst Communications, Meredith Corporation, Time, Inc., and News Corp. were rumored to be preparing such a venture since November, when early reports of the collaborative effort first surfaced.
Details about the venture remain relatively scarce, but a press release issued jointly by the companies laid out four distinct creative goals for the project: a "common reading application" that would maintain the look and feel of publications, a publishing platform that would span multiple devices and operating systems, a unified storefront for content, and an accompanying advertising system.
Between the five participants, the venture potentially encapsulates many of the country's highest-profile magazines and newspapers, including Time, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Vogue, and GQ, as well as representing an audience of nearly 145 million, according to figures provided by Mediamark Research & Intelligence. The press release also indicated that the digital platform the companies seek to create would potentially feature content from other publishers not currently involved in the venture. Revenue will be generated by both advertising and content sales, as well as from subscriptions.
Heading up the venture is John Squires, currently an executive vice president at Time, Inc., where he manages the company's digital business models, a role he was placed in earlier this year by company CEO Ann Moore. Squires will reportedly serve as the interim manager for the venture, while a permanent CEO is sought.
In the past few weeks, several of the companies involved with the partnership revealed projects of their own that overlap with the new venture's stated goals. Time, Inc. recently revealed a prototype for a "digital magazine" touchscreen tablet device that ties together traditional print-based magazine layouts and video, while earlier this month Wired reported on a tablet-based content application developed by parent company Condè Nast. Hearst likewise released information about a digital content distribution platform named Skiff, which also boasts various advertising features.
In an interview last week with The Guardian's paidContent.org, Squires-who was unavailable to comment for this story-indicated that these parallel efforts were not immediately involved with the venture, but broadly characterized them as "very much the projects we want to enable for the industry."
Reactions to the new venture have been varied. Some, such as the Associated Press's Ryan Nakashima, cast it as an attempt to directly compete with Amazon's increasingly popular Kindle e-reader. Erick Schonfeld of the blog TechCrunch, on the other hand, opined--in a post that bluntly declared "It's All About The Data"--that the real motivation behind the joint venture was an attempt by the publishers to retain access to the customer data that forms the basis of marketing efforts and ad sales.
Kirk Biglione, a new media consultant and co-founder of the blog Medialoper, expresses a mixed reaction to the announcement. "It's an interesting approach, but the devil is in the details," Biglione says, noting that things like the technical implementation of the system and the exact nature of the standards it develops will have a significant impact on the outcome of the joint venture.
According to Biglione, one of the most significant challenges will be the task of convincing consumers to use the service. "Unlike Amazon and Apple, these publishers don't have the same sort of billing relationship with consumers," he explains. "When Apple launches a new device or service they can market directly to 75+ million customers who already have their credit cards connected to the iTunes store. This new content start is essentially starting from scratch."
Although Biglione sees benefits for the publishers if they succeed in striking out on their own without third-party distribution from companies like Amazon.com and Apple, he isn't optimistic. "Ultimately if they succeed they'll have more autonomy and control over their own destiny," Biglione says. "That seems to be the big dream for everyone in print. Unfortunately, I think we're beyond the point where that's a reasonable expectation."
Biglione also thinks that the effort is long overdue. "This is the sort of venture they should have been talking about ten years ago."
(www.newscorp.com, www.amazon.com, www.timeinc.com, www.hearst.com, www.meredith.com, www.condenast.com)


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Deal suggests America is logical next step for Ocado
Ocado is moving closer to launching in the United States after signing a deal with a leading logistics company.
The Times understands that Ocado has hired Mace to advise it on how it should it make its American debut. This could come ahead of a licensing deal to supply online shopping for a US retailer.
Mace beat competition from rivals including Jacobs Engineering Group, Arup, CH2M and Aecom. The engineering and infrastructure groups were asked to tender to provide advice and support to Ocado on where and how best to roll out its logistics and technical operational functions along US east coast.
Ocado is thought to be considering expansion either across the Atlantic or over the English Channel in Europe. The appointment of Mace will


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There's overwhelming evidence showing that antibiotic use in livestock is driving the rise in antibiotic resistance, and many poultry producers — including Tyson Foods,1 Perdue2 and Pilgrim's Pride — have taken steps to curb antibiotic use in their live poultry production.
In recent years, a number of grocery and restaurant chains have also vowed to stop buying and selling chicken raised with antibiotics. Examples include Whole Foods Market, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Panera Bread and even McDonald's.
Six of the largest school districts in the U.S. (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Miami-Dade County and Orlando County) have also switched to antibiotic-free chicken in their cafeterias.
In contrast, Sanderson Farms,3 the third-largest poultry producer in the U.S., has stood firm against the tide of calls to reduce antibiotic use, vowing to continue using the drugs in their chickens, going so far as to use it as a selling point,4,5 while simultaneously advertising their chicken as "100% Natural."
A lawsuit filed against the company last year, charging Sanderson Farms with false advertising, is now moving forward. At the same time, Sanderson has announced it will discontinue using antibiotics deemed important for human health for disease prevention purposes in their production — a radical change in stance that shows public pressure is paying off.
For Years, Sanderson Farms Has Refused to Yield to Call for Antibiotic-Free Chicken
Remarkably, Sanderson Farms' CEO Joe Sanderson Jr. has actually gone on record saying antibiotics don't cause antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and that the shift away from antibiotics is nothing more than a marketing ploy to justify higher prices.6
Lampkin Butts, president and chief operating officer of Sanderson Farms, has also stated "There is not any credible science that leads us to believe we're causing antibiotic resistance in humans."7 In a 2016 press release, the company said:8
"While Sanderson Farms recognizes that antibiotic resistance is an issue that must be taken seriously, many industry experts agree the issue is related to the overuse and over-prescription of antibiotics in humans, and more closely linked to medical institutions such as hospitals and nursing homes, rather than agricultural processes that have been in place for decades."
All of this despite ample amounts of research demonstrating the very real dangers of agricultural antibiotic use. Sanderson has also attempted to confuse people by pointing out that no commercially sold chicken — whether treated with antibiotics or not — will contain antibiotics by the time you buy it since the antibiotics must be stopped in time before slaughter to ensure the drugs are no longer in the animals' system.
However, this doesn't address the actual concerns about antibiotic use in chickens, because even if the antibiotics are no longer present in the meat, the resistant bacteria are present and they are the primary problem.
When animals are given antibiotics, it promotes drug resistance in the microbes found in and on the animal, and those drug-resistant bacteria can then be spread to those who handle or eat the tainted meat. This is true whether the chicken contains traces of antibiotics or not. So, while eating trace amounts of antibiotics is a concern,9 it's not the most significant one.
How Sanderson Defended Its Continued Use of Antibiotics
In 2015, Food Business News quoted a statement from Sanderson Farms that said:10 "[A]fter doing our homework, we do not plan to withdraw antibiotics from our program, and there are three main reasons.
1. Animal welfare — "We feel like we need to take care of the animals in our care … There's one thing that you cannot take care of if you don't use antibiotics and that is enteritis in the chicken... Particularly when there's no evidence whatsoever that using these antibiotics really does cause antibiotic resistant bacteria."
2. Sustainability and environmental responsibility — "It's going to take more chicken houses, more electricity, more water, more acres of corn and more acres of soybeans ... So you're going to have to grow these chickens longer and use all that to achieve the same market weight."
3. Food safety — "We have all been busting our behinds to reduce the microbiology loads, the microorganism loads, on these chickens coming to the plants. And everybody knows what happened in Europe when they took antibiotics away.
All those loads went up on the chicken. So you're talking food safety. You take antibiotics out, and you're going to have more campylobacter, more salmonella ..."
Sanderson's stance clearly flies in the face of science. If you cause antibiotic resistance to develop in the animals, you're inevitably causing it in humans. Recent research11 has even linked drug-resistant infections in more than 100 people to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in puppies given antibiotics prophylactically!
Lance Price, head of George Washington University's Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, called the findings "shocking," saying,12 "This is an important study that's shining a light on something that we need to spend more time on." According to the authors of the report:
"Outbreak isolates were resistant by antibiotic susceptibility testing to all antibiotics commonly used to treat Campylobacter infections. This outbreak demonstrates that puppies can be a source of multidrug-resistant Campylobacter infections in humans, warranting a closer look at antimicrobial use in the commercial dog industry."
Drug-Resistant Bacteria in and on Food Can Have Very Real Impact on Human Health
A 2015 mortality and morbidity report13 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed just how difficult it's been to curb these pathogenic bacteria, with prevalence of some types of drug-resistant bacteria falling while others are taking over in their stead.
In 2014 alone, more than 19,540 Americans contracted confirmed drug-resistant infections from food, and 71 of them died as a result. A report commissioned by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron estimates that by 2050 antibiotic resistance will have killed 300 million people; the annual global death toll reaching 10 million.14
In November 2017, a report15 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also revealed the number of Americans infected with multidrug-resistant Salmonella via contaminated food is on the rise, increasing from 9 percent in 2014 to 12 percent in 2015, and poultry is a primary source of these infections.
According to the FDA, the Salmonella was resistant to as many as four first-line antibiotics. So, for Sanderson to claim that antibiotic use in their poultry production has no bearing on human health is a shameful denial of scientific facts.
Tests Reveal Sanderson's 'All-Natural' Chicken Is Anything But
Adding insult to injury, Sanderson Farms advertises their chicken as 100 percent natural, its slogan being that the only thing in their chicken is chicken.16 However, last summer, tests conducted by the National Residue Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service revealed a number of questionable and potentially hazardous drugs in Sanderson's chicken, including but not limited to:
- Ketamine (a hallucinogenic party drug)
- Prednisone (a steroid)
- Ketoprofen (an anti-inflammatory)
- Penicillin (for which the residue regulatory limit is zero)
- The synthetic growth hormone melengestrol acetate and the beta agonist ractopamine — two substances banned in poultry production
Sanderson Sued Over Their Use of '100% Natural' Claim
In response to these findings, Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth filed a lawsuit against Sanderson June 22, 2017, alleging the company's "100% Natural" claim is false and misleading, as testing reveals their chickens contain human and veterinary antibiotics, tranquilizers, growth hormones, steroids and pesticides.17
The plaintiffs seek "accounting of profits, injunctive relief, corrective advertising and attorney's fees." At the time, a representative for the Organic Consumers Association said,18 "Sanderson's advertising claims are egregiously misleading to consumers, and unfair to competitors. The organic and free-range poultry sector would be growing much more rapidly if consumers knew the truth about Sanderson's products and false advertising."
Since its filing last year, the lawsuit has been dismissed twice. It turns out the third time was the charm. Meat + Poultry recently reported19 Sanderson's motion to dismiss the case, filed for the third time, was denied and the case will finally move forward. Kari Hamerschlag, deputy director of Food and Agriculture at Friends of the Earth, commented on the judge's decision:20
"After years of misleading the public and denying the public health risks associated with overuse of antibiotics in animal production, we welcome the judges' decision to allow our lawsuit against Sanderson Farms to continue."
Meat + Poultry further reports:21
"Sanderson argued that the plaintiffs' allegations were insufficient to support the litigation, and that the plaintiffs cannot challenge the company's '100% Natural' slogan without considering the full context of an advertisement in which the slogan is used.
But U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg disagreed, writing '… Review, to the contrary, is limited to the four corners of a specific webpage at issue. No authority suggests a reasonable consumer is expected to search a company's entire website (or certainly all of a company's statements across all forms of advertisements) to find all possible disclaimers.
This is not akin to disclaimers being adjacent to the challenged statements. Although the reasonable consumer standard demands that a plaintiff must show 'more than a mere possibility' that a challenged advertisement might conceivably mislead a few consumers … it does not ask they be private investigators as defendant appears to suggest.'
Writing about Sanderson's 'Bob and Dale' commercials, Seeborg wrote: 'By criticizing its competitor's advertising as misleading to consumers, Sanderson's commercial is likely to mislead reasonable consumers into believing that Sanderson products were no different than its competitors who never used antibiotics in their chicken production.
Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged Sanderson's actions are likely to mislead reasonable consumers to believe Sanderson's products are the same as competitors that never administer antibiotics during their production, for which a reasonable consumer is willing to pay a premium.'"
Years of Public Pressure on Sanderson Farms Is Paying Off
In May 2016, I urged you to pressure Sanderson Farms to come to its senses and join other major poultry producers in taking proactive steps to reduce its antibiotic use. Earlier this year, investors also started applying pressure, urging Sanderson Farms to reconsider their routine use of the drugs.
According to Reuters,22 a proposal to end the use of medically important antibiotics for disease prevention in chickens "received the support of 43 percent of votes cast at the company's annual meeting," held February 15, 2018. That's 13 percent higher than a similar proposal presented in 2017, when only 30 percent of investors voted to end the company's use of antibiotics.
It now seems all this pressure is finally starting to pay off. November 30, 2018, Sanderson announced23,24 it will discontinue two antibiotics deemed "medically important for humans for disease prevention" by March 1, 2019. The antibiotics in question are gentamicin (used in chicks) and virginiamycin (added to chicken feed).
According to Sanderson's press release,25 "The change follows the completion of an independent study the Company commissioned earlier this year on its antibiotics program for its live operations."
While the company-commissioned study "found no misuse of antibiotics at Sanderson Farms or other deficiencies in its program," the advisory board concluded that "[a] move by [Sanderson Farms] to a system where nonmedically important antibiotics . . . can be used for prevention, and medically important antibiotics can be used for treatment and control of disease, could represent a responsible compromise to better preserve efficacy of antibiotics important for human health, while also avoiding the adverse impacts … on chicken health and welfare."
For clarity, Sanderson will still use antibiotics to treat and control disease. It is not a blanket elimination of antibiotics from their production; they just won't use these two medically necessary antibiotics for the prevention of disease. Still, it's a small step in the right direction.
Rebecca Spector, west coast director at Center for Food Safety, commented on the judge's ruling to proceed with their lawsuit, and on Sanderson's decision to stop using medically important antibiotics:26
"We are pleased that this lawsuit can now move forward and believe that Sanderson Farms is taking a good first step toward eliminating the use of medically important antibiotic use in livestock production.
We hope Sanderson will utilize a third-party certifier to verify these production practices so that consumers can be assured that these chickens were raised without routine use of antibiotics."
Tell Sanderson What You Think of Their 100% Natural Claim
Sanderson Farms is the lone holdout for routine antibiotic use in poultry production. Considering they're the third largest poultry producer in the U.S., they can have a big impact on antibiotic-resistant disease and human health. While it's great news that the lawsuit against the company is moving forward, you can still push for change by contacting Joe Sanderson directly, to let him know that antibiotic-free does indeed matter.
You can use their online Contact Page to write them an email or, better yet, call them at 1-800-844-4030, or write a letter to:
Attn: Joe Sanderson, CEO
PO Box 988
Laurel, MS 39441
Strategies to Protect Yourself and Limit Spread of Drug-Resistant Bacteria
For years, experts have warned we may soon be at a point where virtually all antibiotics fail, and once that happens, it will be devastating to modern medicine. What can you do to minimize your risk? Three key recommendations that can help reduce your risk for antibiotic-resistant infections include:
- Avoiding antibiotics unless your infection is severe enough to warrant it
- Staying out of hospitals as much as possible — Treatment using medical scopes is particularly risky.27 Also remember that antibiotics do not work for viral infections such as cold or flu
- Buying only organic or biodynamic grass fed meats and animal products — Remember nearly all meat served in restaurants and on planes are raised in factory farms and therefore more prone to contamination with potentially drug-resistant bacteria
The following practical in-home suggestions will also reduce your risk:
1. Avoid antibacterial household products such as antibacterial soaps, hand sanitizers and wipes, as these promote antibiotic resistance by allowing the strongest bacteria to survive and thrive in your home.
2. Properly wash your hands with warm water and plain soap, to prevent the spread of bacteria — Be particularly mindful of washing your hands and kitchen surfaces after handling raw meats, as about half of all meat sold in American grocery stores is likely to be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria. Avoid antibiotic soaps that typically have dangerous chemicals like triclosan.
3. Take commonsense precautions in the kitchen — Kitchens are notorious breeding grounds for disease-causing bacteria, courtesy of contaminated meat products, including antibiotic-resistant strains of E-coli. To avoid cross-contamination between foods in your kitchen, adhere to the following recommendations:
• Use a designated cutting board, preferably wood, not plastic, for raw meat and poultry, and never use this board for other food preparation, such as cutting up vegetables. Color coding your cutting boards is a simple way to distinguish between them.
• To sanitize your cutting board, use hot water and detergent. Simply wiping it off with a rag will not destroy the bacteria. Coconut oil can be used to clean, treat and sanitize your wooden cutting boards. It's loaded with lauric acid that has potent antimicrobial actions. The fats will also help condition the wood.
• For an inexpensive, safe and effective kitchen counter and cutting board sanitizer, use 3 percent hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. Keep each liquid in a separate spray bottle, and then spray the surface with one, followed by the other, and wipe off.
Source: mercola rss


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Chevron Oronite S.A.S. appoints Nigerian distributor
Chevron Oronite S.A.S. announced the selection of Gapuma UK Limited (Gapuma), supported by its local Nigerian subsidiary, GLB Chemical Services Limited (GLB), as its authorized distributor for the Nigerian market beginning 1 January 2020.
Chevron Oronite, which is headquartered in San Ramon, California U.S.A., is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of fuel and lubricant additives. Chevron Oronite is comprised of numerous affiliates that are indirect, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Chevron Corporation.
The agreement includes the sale of OLOA® additives and PARATONE® viscosity modifiers, as well as the requisite technical support to customers.
“Gapuma and GLB have received extensive training, and will operate within the Oronite culture of building enduring relationships through a total commitment to serve Nigerian customers,” said Alain Robert, general manager, Sales and Marketing, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Chevron Oronite S.A.S.
GLB will primarily assist with products in the automotive, specialties and industrial application market segments, said Daren A. Barnes, IEng, MIMMM, MIET., account manager, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Chevron Oronite S.A.S.
“GLB is a trusted partner of Oronite through their association with Gapuma. They have a team of experts that have been working within the petroleum/additive sector in Nigeria for many years.”
Leveraging a committed team of professionals that offer technical and logistical solutions, Gapuma and GLB promise to maintain a strong customer focus. For more information, visit the GLB website www.glbcsl.com.


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LSI Corp.'s LSI, +0.52% fourth-quarter loss narrowed as the storage-chip maker's sales and margins improved.
Shares rose 7.9% to $7.64 in after-hours trading as the company gave upbeat first-quarter guidance. Through the close, the stock is up 19% this year.
For the current quarter, LSI forecast per-share earnings from continuing operations excluding items of nine cents to 15 cents on revenue of $550 million to $590 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently expected earnings of 10 cents and revenue of $511 million, respectively.
LSI has gone through a transformation in recent years, moving away from its diverse offerings and manufacturing operations to focus on providing chips for networking and storage, including hard-disk drives.
In October, LSI unveiled plans to acquire privately held flash-storage-processor provider SandForce Inc. for roughly $322 million in cash in a bid to strengthen its presence in the fast-growing market.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, LSI reported a loss of $1.8 million compared with a year-earlier loss of $13.4 million. On a per-share basis, the company reported a break-even result for the latest quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of two cents a share. Excluding restructuring and acquisition-related impacts, earnings fell to 10 cents from 14 cents.
Revenue increased 11% to $523.1 million. In October, the company said it expected adjusted earnings of six cents to 14 cents on revenue of $500 million to $550 million.
Gross margin rose to 45.3% from 47.4%.


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Due to Gov. Mike DeWine’s orders to shut down Ohio restaurants and bars on March 15, The River Merchant had to close its doors for indoor dining nearly a week after their grand opening.
When the announcement was made, owner Cameron Thomas and his management team had meetings to discuss changes. Thomas opened for to-go sales of both food, beer and wine from their retail section.
“It shocked everyone, there weren’t too many people that I talked to in the industry that had any idea that was coming ahead of time,” Thomas said.
Retail specialist for The River Merchant, Lauren Straubhaar said, “It was crushing to be told that we couldn’t operate in the capacity that we had begun.”
During this time, business was a lot slower since there was only carryout, and many people were staying at home because of COVID-19.
“The road in front of us that usually had a lot of traffic was almost empty,” Thomas said.
Straubhaar, who curates the wine being sold at The River Merchant, shared the challenge of ordering wine during COVID-19 shutdowns.
“Some of the international wines we carried became a little harder to get a hold of, or keep stock of,” Straubhaar said.
Other countries had shut down trades for products like wine, and it was harder to get imported products during this time.
After Gov. DeWine announced restaurants and bars were allowed to reopen on May 7, Thomas made sure to take the necessary steps before opening indoor dining again. The River Merchant reopened its doors on May 21 for both patio and indoor seating.
The indoor seating was rearranged to keep proper spacing for COVID-19 regulations, and Thomas walked through the restaurant with the health department to make sure it was within guidelines.
“It almost picked up right where that first week left off...,” Thomas said, “We are seeing a lot of the same people that were there the first week, feeling comfortable to come back out.”
Gina Schlegel covers downtown and construction. Contact her at email@example.com.


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One hundred days. That’s how long Jim Greco gave himself to right the sinking ship that was Sbarro when he took over as president and CEO in February.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2011 and emerged from it in November, having shed $200 million in debt and 25 underperforming sites. But jiggering liabilities on a balance sheet had not addressed the limitations—which ranged from a subpar pizza recipe to an overreliance on mall traffic—that had caused Sbarro to drown.
“I recognize that Sbarro had, over the last several years, lost its lead in the space it operates,” Greco says. “Sbarro is an iconic brand with name recognition. And that is something that’s really hard to create and is very valuable. So I thought that it was a great place to start to build something back.”
On February 1, Greco stepped into Sbarro headquarters to recast the brand as a fast-casual contender. He concocted a formula called the 100 Day Plan, detailing how the Italian quick serve would leverage people, place, product, and positioning to enact its resurrection.
The changes debuted in June, when Sbarro rolled out 10 test units showcasing an updated pizza recipe, open-flame ovens, and a made-to-order pasta station, all rolled into the brand’s new motto, “Hands On Italian.” Team members now undergo cultural hospitality training, and an outside firm holds the blueprints for a next-generation design to be unveiled in November.
Five months into his reign as CEO, Greco says everything is going according to plan.
“We wanted to settle on a vision, we wanted to design a strategy to realize that vision, and we wanted to create the 100 Day Plan that called for a number of initiatives to be accomplished,” Greco says. “And everything that we sought to accomplish in the 100 Day Plan has, in fact, been accomplished.”
In 1967, seven years before the first successful mall food court was built, Sbarro engineered a mall location in Kings Plaza Shopping Center in Brooklyn, New York. The idea was simple: cook fresh, Italian food in an open kitchen and serve it quickly. Consumers ate it up, and the modern Sbarro concept was born. The brand became a staple as food courts boomed throughout the ’80s and ’90s.
But the quick serve that once offered “tastes to fit every palate” fell into troubled waters in the ’00s as rivals rose to challenge Sbarro’s offerings. Pizza Hut began peddling calzones in 2003 and pasta in 2008, and Domino’s stepped up to bat with a flashy new pizza recipe in 2011.
Consumers, meanwhile, were slowly slinking away from Sbarro in favor of a rising restaurant sector: fast casual.
“Fast casual was getting a really good grip on the consumer,” says Anthony Missano, president of business development for Sbarro. “It had done a great job of educating the consumer about quality and what to expect for a reasonable price, so the value equation was very strong, and I think at Sbarro we just were not consistent with that trend.”
Part of the trouble was the brand relied heavily on locations in malls, and as the recession hit around 2008, consumer confidence dropped and once-vibrant malls became ghost towns.
“If you look at what real estate costs were and construction costs in that 2005–2008 time period, they were extremely inflated,” says Dave Bagley. Bagley is a principal at MorrisAnderson, an operational and financial turnaround firm that has led bankruptcy recoveries for Sonic and Popeyes, among others.
“These malls that Sbarro was placed in were in geographic areas where there was a lot of continued growth during that period of time,” he says. “They were based on continued growth, and as we know now, some of those things didn’t come to fruition.”
Coupled with real estate costs were rising commodity costs. While corn and protein prices skyrocketed, inflation drove up price tags on cheese and flour. Gas prices grew faster than sales of the Apple iPad, and suddenly every input entering the store was costing exponentially more.
Coming in, Greco says, he noticed Sbarro was purchasing costly ingredients but charging low prices.
“I saw a company that was using costly ingredients to produce food that’s much better for you than typical fast food,” he says. “And, as a result, to cover the cost of materials we need to charge prices that are above fast food. But we weren’t delivering the whole fast-casual experience that we could.”
The Turning Point
In 2007, private equity firm MidOcean Partners bought Sbarro for $417 million. In 2010, it installed a new management team and appointed one of its managing partners, Nicholas McGrane, as CEO.
The changes were not enough. By 2011, Sbarro had accumulated more than $350 million in debt.
“The biggest enemy of a company that’s in financial trouble is time,” Bagley says. “If they have cash, they have time. But they need to generate some liquidity to give themselves time to turn around their operations.”
Sbarro, submerged in debt, had no choice but to file for Chapter 11 on April 4, 2011, and attempt to reduce its debt by half.
Bagley says a turnaround involves three steps: assessing the situation, identifying the biggest risks to the business short-term, and making changes so the company arrives at a stability point.
“In a turnaround, there are things you can do that don’t affect the customer, right?” Bagley says. “If I renegotiate a lease, if I cut a deal like Sbarro did with its lenders, that doesn’t affect the customer experience at all. That enables the company to be on more solid financial footing, which over a period of time, will improve the customer experience.”
Sbarro’s stability point arrived seven months later, at the end of November, when the brand emerged with reduced debt and an infusion of $35 million in capital from its lenders.
Greco Steps In
Greco enjoys puzzles. But we’re not talking about 100-piece jigsaw puzzles. His puzzles of choice are closer to $500 million on a balance sheet, and his quest is to arrange the pieces so they stop bleeding red.
Greco has led four previous financial turnarounds, most recently at Bruegger’s. His plan at Sbarro focuses on four areas: product, place, people, and positioning.
In terms of product, Sbarro reformulated its pizza recipe using all-natural ingredients, from whole milk mozzarella cheese to whole peeled tomatoes. It is working with manufacturers on original sauce recipes and styles, and it installed open-flame ovens that “give us a lot more theater than we had before,” Greco says.
The new pasta station, meanwhile, allows guests to build personal noodle dishes within 45 seconds.
The new positioning, “Hands On Italian,” is reflected in the food, PR, and point-of-sale materials. Greco also implemented a cultural hospitality program that teaches management in how to hire for attitude, train for skill, and empower for teamwork.
Executives are closely monitoring the aforementioned changes at 10 nationwide test units unveiled in June. All 10 were converted overnight in a “Mission: Impossible”–style adventure, with teams moving in at 9:30 p.m., dropping in the 6-foot-long pasta station, muscling the 5,000-pound woodstone pizza oven over the counter, and fashioning murals and menuboards so the stores could open the next morning.
While they reflect an updated design, the test units are not representative of the ultimate blueprint. Those will come in November, when Sbarro unwraps five units renovated in the next-generation design.
The Next Chapter
Greco’s team will analyze sales and conduct customer intercepts to gauge opinions at the test units. Customers, meanwhile, can look forward to the nationwide rollout of the new pizza recipe at the beginning of September.
Missano says Sbarro’s changes are not a one-shot process, but will continue to evolve over time. Next, the brand will take a closer look at its salad, dessert, and handheld offerings, and Greco hopes improvements will be made to them by the time the five next-gen units arrive in November.
As Sbarro plans for its future, Bagley warns against changing too much or too swiftly.
“In a turnaround situation, you’ve got to really convince everyone that while you’re doing things better, it doesn’t mean you were doing them poorly before, because maybe they liked the formulation of the coffee or the formulation of the pizza,” he says.
Rebranding as a fast-casual concept also requires a different management style, experts say.
“When you start talking about fast-casual types of concepts, that’s almost a whole different process [than a quick serve],” Bagley says. “There are multiple more touch points, which makes managing those locations a little bit different, and that’s one area where we see some of our clients in the past who try to change their concepts really struggle with that.”
But Greco isn’t worried.
“[The changes] will, once again, establish Sbarro as a leader in this space,” he says. “The things that are coming will be so far and above what others here in our space do, and for that matter, it will be so compelling that it will make us a strong competition for folks in other types of fast-casual spaces.”


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Ford Motor last week estimated financial outcomes for 2017 and 2018 that fell short of investor expectations, in a downbeat projection that contrasted with a more favorable outlook from competing automaker General Motors.
Ford Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks informed experts at an investor conference in Detroit that greater expenses for steel, aluminum and other metals, in addition to currency volatility, might cost the company $1.6 billion in this year. Cost-cutting actions are under way and will have the greatest impact “in 2020 and later,” Shanks stated.
“We are not pleased by our performance,” he stated. “We are thrilled about our future.”
Ford’s president of global markets, Jim Farley, stated the company’s organisation structure was “out of sync with our income,” and pledged to cut costs by sharply lowering the variations of high-volume Ford models and cutting marketing expenses by $200 million a year.
Farley hinted at possible substantial changes in the structure of Ford’s money-losing South American business.
“We are checking out every option you can think of,” Farley told experts and investors at a conference on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show.
To improve revenue, Farley stated Ford would reduce its passenger-car models and create more trucks and sport utility vehicles targeting profitable niches such as rugged off-road models.
Ford shares dropped over 2 percent in extended trading after the release of the projection, but later on recuperated the majority of the losses. Ford said it would pay investors an additional dividend of $500 million, or 13 cents a share, for the first quarter.
Varying outlooks for 2018 from GM and Ford highlighted how the two biggest U.S. automakers have been on diverging roads for the last year.
GM CEO Mary Barra has led a significant overhaul of the automaker, selling its unprofitable European operations, leaving troubled Asian markets and giving the green light to investments in self-driving cars and an expanded portfolio of electric automobiles.


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Apple rolls out a new game for iPhone recently that features Warren Buffett. You can think of this game as a hybrid of Angry Birds and Paperboy where you have to deliver paper by shooting it to the houses. The more accurately you shoot the more you generate Warren Bucks (a special coin).
The boy which you see in the Game delivering the newspaper is actually Warren Buffett, the third richest man on the planet. Apple made this game depicting the life of Warren Buffett of his early days when he was selling the newspaper. Do note that Apple and Warren Buffett recently partners with each other and it seems like the game is the result of that partnership.
Right now, the game is available on Apple App Store and you can access it via this link. In the game you have to toss a newspaper to the houses present in the streets of Omaha, Nebraska, Cupertino and California. The game will test your paper flinging skills as well as will increase the difficult of it by bringing vehicles and birds.
In the App Store you will see Wildlife Design Inc. as the developer of the game but inside the app you’ll see several Apple Inc. embracing. May be Wildlife Design Inc. corresponds to Apple’s official game developer.
Apple has made an iPhone Game in a long while as its last made game was launched on 2008 called Texas Hold’em. Also note that this game is playable only on iPhone as apple has not integrated the Game Center.


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|By Marketwired .||
|March 11, 2014 10:03 AM EDT||
BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/11/14 -- Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:NSP)(FRANKFURT:50N) - The Company is pleased to announce the achievement of a significant milestone in the product development and scale up production of Boreal Technology's HempOmega(TM) and H2Omega(TM). Boreal has successfully completed the first pilot scale production run of HempOmega(TM). The success of this pilot scale production run enables Naturally Splendid the ability to offer commercial sized production quantities of HempOmega(TM) and H2Omega(TM). Naturally Splendid has exclusive rights to market Boreal's full range of plant based omega products throughout North America.
"This latest development signals our first foray into the ingredient market for Naturally Splendid" states CEO, Craig Goodwin. "Up to now our focus has been on our NATERA(TM) retail product, but this exciting announcement now means we can broaden our own retail product line to include this sophisticated technology as well as make it available to ingredient suppliers across North America. This is a very exciting and pivotal day for both companies."
Naturally Splendid has begun the development of a retail plant-based omega line centered on the Boreal technology, which will compete in the lucrative omega nutrition market. This addition to the Company's existing line will be marketed and distributed through the distribution network, which includes internal sales, Purity Life (with a reach over 7,000 retail outlets) and Summit Specialty Foods (who service over 900 clients). In addition, Naturally Splendid will facilitate discussions between Boreal's scientists and the end use marketplace to begin customized product development utilizing Boreal's encapsulation process.
The Products - Plant Based Omega Nutrition
The products covered in the Exclusive Sales Agreement between the parties are HempOmega(TM), H2Omega(TM), FlaxOmega(TM), CanolaOmega(TM) and ChiaOmega(TM). These novel products utilize microencapsulation as well as liposomal formulation and will be available in both the powder format and an aqueous solution for increased flexibility with regard to ingredient applications and/or stand-alone products.
Developed by Boreal, these proprietary omega formulations utilize both microencapsulation as well as liposomal formulation in the delivery process to the human digestive system. Preliminary testing has confirmed that these products offer increased bioavailability and sustainability by encapsulating lipids and transforming the insoluble ingredients into a stable aqueous suspension. The suspended particles can then be used in a liquid state or converted into a fine, flour-like, dry powder ingredient. This procedure allows for multiple methods of product implementation: capsules, powders, baked goods, beverages, etc. with precise control over formulation, dosage and uptake. This technology creates value-added ingredients and expands the market potential for oil-based substances which can prove challenging to formulate.
The Nutrition Market
The omega nutritional market is arguably the largest supplement market category in terms of dollars generated annually.
According to Nutrition Business Journal data, raw material sales are hovering around the $250 million mark thus far in 2013.
Packaged Facts puts the omega-3 products market at about $24.4 billion (EUR19 billion) in 2011.
According to Packaged Facts, a 2010 Gallup study of nutrient knowledge and consumption found that in 2011, 34% of shoppers chose products because of their omega-3 content.
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting firm, believes the global omega-3 ingredient market grew to $1.89 billion in 2011, up from $1.68 billion in 2010. Double-digit growth is forecast from 2012 to 2016.
According to Euromonitor International, the retail value sales of foods (including milk formula) and drinks with added omega fatty acids reached $30 billion in 2012.
Sales of foods/beverages carrying an omega-3 claim reached $1.8 billion in U.S. supermarkets in 2011 (Nielsen, U.S. Healthy eating trends: part 1. Jan. 26. 2011.)
In an Ipsos Reid survey conducted by BioAccess, Canadian respondents showed that a full 80% of Canadians are influenced to buy a product if it contains omega-3 fatty acids. Additionally, the survey found that 45% of all Canadians have used, or are currently using, omega-3 fatty acids in a natural health product format. And in the U.S., the Hartman Group found that 52% of Americans stated that they are attempting to increase omega-3 ingredients in their diets.
Craig Goodwin, Naturally Splendid CEO summarizes, "Consumer demand for omega-3 fatty acids has increased substantially since 2005. In Canada alone, there has been a 1,766% growth in consumption of omega-3 natural health products since 2005 according to studies conducted by Ipsos-Reid. Naturally Splendid has the right product, for the right market at the perfect time".
About Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd.
Naturally Splendid's 100% owned NATERA(TM) line of hemp-based superfood products are carried nationwide by Canada's leading health food distributors and a network of retail stores across Canada including major retailers and specialty stores. Naturally Splendid's recently rebranded "NATERA(TM)" line of products includes natural and flavored shelled hemp seeds as well as natural and flavored hemp protein powders.
Naturally Splendid has an exclusive sales agreement to market and distribute, in North America, the full complement of patent pending, plant-based omega products created by Boreal Technologies. The products include HempOmega(TM) and H2Omega(TM), as well as the FlaxOmega(TM), CanolaOmega(TM), and ChiaOmega(TM) plant based omega products. These novel products utilize microencapsulation and liposome technologies and are available in both a powder format and an aqueous solution for increased flexibility in ingredient applications and stand-alone products.
About Boreal Technologies Inc.
Boreal Technologies Inc. ("Boreal") is a privately owned Canadian company located on the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, B.C. Boreal provides pilot manufacturing and process/product development for Omega fatty acids with an initial focus on industrial hemp. These technologies have been developed from active studies over the past few years and Boreal has been able to identify commercial applications for these technologies in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries. This has led to new applications for selected food products that can incorporate these new forms of industrial hemp and other omega rich oils.
Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Naturally Splendid cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Naturally Splendid's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Naturally Splendid's ability to complete sales of and develop new products of HempOmega(TM) and H2Omega(TM) and successfully incorporate HempOmega(TM) and H2Omega(TM) in its existing product line. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Naturally Splendid undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
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category-/Games/Computer & Video Games Category
GamesBeat Summit 2019 will feature more than 90 speakers, including talks on gaming communities related to refugees, peace, climate change, and accessibility.
Microsoft announced a new batch of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass throughout April, including some third-party heavy hitters like Monster Hunter: World.
Nomadic has unveiled a sequel to its virtual reality arcade first-person shooter game Arizona Sunshine. The new title is dubbed Arizona Sunshine: Rampage.
Kabam announced today that it is partnering with NetEase to bring the mobile fighting game Marvel Contest of Champions to China.
Tilting Point takes existing mobile games and uses its expertise to acquire users efficiently with big marketing campaigns.
Unlike most horror games, the asymmetrical multiplayer game Last Year: The Nightmare leans more to the campy vibe of ‘90s slasher flicks.
Ian Howe, CEO of Skybound Games, talks about how the company rushed to acquire Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season and published it.
Nielsen’s SuperData said it has created a tool that enables game developers and publishers to predict the future digital sales of a game.
Ubisoft Winnipeg’s Darryl Long details how his studio uses AI and cloud computing to help the French publisher make massive games — quicker and better.
Sony has updated its refund policy for its digital gaming store. The PlayStation Store will now allow refunds for preordered digital games.
Quest is due to launch this spring too, so it’s likely Rec Room will arrive alongside it.
Remedy launches its Control supernatural third-person action adventure game on the consoles and PC on August 27. Dean Takahashi played it at PAX East.
Razer is launching the Razer Turret, a wireless keyboard and mouse for the Xbox One video game console.
We knew that Robo Recall was coming to Quest and we assumed that it would have to be a heavy downgrade, but seeing it in action was still a bit of a shock.
Good news: the Dreams Early Access launch is just a few weeks away. Bad news: it definitely won’t support PSVR. For now, at least.
Kati Levoranta, CEO of Rovio, wants to take Angry Birds beyond the 4 billion or so people that it has already reached.
We may all be looking forward to the day HoloLens and Magic Leap are affordable, but smartphone AR still has plenty of room to grow.
Bit Brigade performs classic video game soundtracks while someone speedruns the title live, and it’s awesome.
Abstraction Games announced today that Shadowgate will release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on April 11.
The accidental game companies — big tech companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple — have now become intentional game companies.
Phil Harrison, vice president at Google in charge of the Stadia cloud gaming platform, will be a speaker at GamesBeat Summit 2019.
Nintendo Switch Online is already a pretty affordable service, but now Twitch Prime members can try it at no additional cost.