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Westpac's online banking customers have been left out in the cold with Australia's second-largest bank suffering a sustained outage this morning following problems understood to stem from a security-related system cutover over the weekend. The problem at time of writing appeared to be continuing.
The bank is currently steering online customers through its phone banking call centres with the Westpac Web site saying only that "Westpac Online and Internet Banking are currently unavailable. For Funds Transfers or BPAY payments call Telephone Banking," and provides a local toll call number.
There is no estimate on the Web site as to when the service will be restored. A Westpac call centre operator said she hoped it would be "very soon".
One Westpac customer said he had successfully started doing online transactions at around 8am only to return and find the system down at 10.30am. The customer said that until around midday there was no online notification that things had gone awry.
In July Westpac announced it was deploying the OneBank Platform, its next-generation application framework which is delivered over the Web.
Westpac spokesperson Julia Quinn confirmed the outage and said the bank was still "diagnosing what the issue is".


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American Baker’s Association’s FTRAC meeting took place on June 7 and 8, at the Covington & Burling Offices in Washington, DC. Over 50 representatives of the ABA’s baking and allied members were in attendance to participate in dialogue and listen to a variety of speakers and key presentations on top ABA issues. Speakers including Dr. Corrie Whisner of Arizona State University, Christine Cochran of the Grain Foods Foundation, Johanne Trudeau of the Baking Association of Canada, and lastly Darcy Pawlik and Ryan Findley of Syngenta.
This meeting gave members an opportunity for an eye-opening dialogue on the health benefit of grains for the human microbiome – debunking gluten-free myths. Other key takeaways included a legal analysis on the bottom line impact of the new nutrition facts label and lastly, bakers learned how ABA-AIBI’s Kill Step calculator will save them millions. More details on what attendees gained from attending this valuable conference are below.
After an opening roundtable to discuss key issues of concern to the committee, Dr. Corrie Whisner of Arizona State University spoke about the microbiome and how it affects grains and baking industry product opportunities. Her position was purely scientific, bringing biological facts about how certain foods affect the body. Some of these issues included studies about how whole grains improve health, grains improve bone health, and the popular topic of gluten-free products impacting health. She used biological facts to prove that unless an individual has celiac disease, there is no positive impact on an individual’s health by eating gluten-free products, in contrast to many marketing campaigns of misinformation.
The second speaker was Christine Cochran, Executive Director of the Grain Foods Foundation (GFF), who spoke about how the industry can improve on public relations, messaging and how GFF is already making strides to further improve public relations in the baking industry. Cochran made a point of starting a dialogue with the public health community and presenting some of the GFF’s new consumer research.
Next, a panel discussed nutrition policy and food labeling issues, led by ABA’s Lee Sanders and Mike Goscinski, as well as Miriam Guggenheim, ABA’s FDA counsel and partner with Covington & Burling. The panel updated the members on ABA’s leadership of FBIA and FDA meetings citing the recent quarterly meeting to review the nutrition facts panel compliance period, review of the term “healthy” and funding for FSMA activities. FDA is also now requiring added sugar labeling measured in grams and listing of percent Daily Value for added sugars in all FDA regulated food products. The nutrition facts label has also updated the serving sizes to more accurately reflects how much an individual consumes in a single eating period. FDA has also launched an initiative to reduce the country’s sodium intake. FDA plans to reduce the intake to 3,00 mg/day in two years, and 2,300 mg/day in ten years.
Johanne Trudeau of the Baking Association of Canada spoke next, beginning her presentation by stating that FDA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) signed an agreement recognizing each other’s food safety systems as comparable to each other. Trudeau then discussed nutrition labeling in Canada and ingredient proposals that have been made. One important topic was GMO labeling, that Trudeau stated was on hold while Canada monitored the U.S. stance on the issue. Trudeau also mentioned the voluntary initiatives that have been taken to eliminate trans-fat, with only about 3% trans-fat in Canadian foods. Trudeau ended her presentation by discussing the Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC), a council started to regulate transparency and coordination between Canada and the US and to align regulatory systems.
The first day of FTRAC concluded with Darcy Pawlik and Ryan Findlay of Syngenta discussing their new hybrid wheat technology. Pawlik pitched Syngenta’s hybrid wheat as bringing a new level of yield and consistency, as well as showing studies where hybrid wheat performing better under more adverse weather conditions. Findlay then took the time to discuss the National Association of Wheat Growers’ Action Plan. Findlay called for increased grower investment in and use of modern wheat production practices.
Day two of FTRAC opened with a review of the Vermont GE labeling requirements provided by Miriam Guggenheim, partner with Covington & Burling. Vermont’s GE Labeling Law compliance period begins July 1, 2016 with a transition grace period through Jan 1, 2017.
Terri Moore from The Center For Food Integrity (CFI) was the first presentation of the day. Her key topic of discussion was focused on the bias against conventional and commercial agriculture. CFI has created a website (www.bestfoodfacts.org) that proves that many marketing campaigns have targeted the organic food movement, but science demonstrates that organic food has no additional health benefits compared to non-organic food. She discussed that the only way to improve the public’s perception of non-organic food was to focus on trust through transparency.
AIB International has partnered with ABA and industry stakeholders and Kansas State University and the University of Georgia to develop kill-step validation (KSV) procedures for various bakery products. Some of the main objectives of this project are to develop KSV procedures for baker products, develop Baking Process Kill-Step Calculators, and to provide on-site support and training for the US baking industry to comply with the FDA-FSMA’s (117.160) validation and verification requirement. AIBI strongly believes that the baking process kill-step calculator’s will enable bakers of all sizes to meet requirements of the FDA FSMA without having to individually invest in costly and time-consuming microbial challenge studies.
The last presentation of the day came from ABA’s Rasma Zvaners, ABA’s Policy Director. Zvaners provided a timeline for FDA FSMA and Nutrition Rules to demonstrate the broad regulatory initiatives that FDA has pushed forward. Lee Sanders also reported that the FDA Reportable Food Registry’s Year Five trends and noted that FDA this year recognized ABA for its efforts in educating bakers about the importance of allergen labeling and use of good cGMPs to control cross contact. The last topic of discussion was FDA’s final rule establishing sanitary food transportation requirements. This rule applies to food transported by motor vehicle or rail vehicle (but not by barge or air). All vehicles and equipment must be designed, adequately cleanable and maintained for their intended use. All covered entities must retain certain records and make them available to FDA upon request. Most entities must come into compliance by April 6, 2017; small businesses must come into compliance by April 6, 2018.
The next FTRAC meeting dates will be November 9th – 10th, 2016 in Washington, DC; February 20th – 21st, 2017 in Kansas City, MO, and June 20th, 21st, and 22nd in Denver, Colorado. If you are interesting in being added to the FTRAC list to receive information and meeting announcements, please contact Lee Sanders, ABA Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs at email@example.com or at 202-789-0300.

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Boston-based Sapient's purchase of multicultural ad agency is latest in wave of deals
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Boston-based Sapient Corp. took one more step toward proving it has evolved into much more than just an IT consulting firm this week with the acquisition of ad agency La Comunidad.
The purchase reflects the growing importance of SapientNitro, Sapient’s digital marketing agency, to the overall company’s fortunes.
In this case, La Comunidad was founded in 2001 by brothers Jose and Joaquin Molla, and currently employs about 100 people in Miami and Buenos Aires. Gaston Legorburu, SapientNitro’s worldwide creative chief, tells me the two brothers will remain with Sapient and the company will keep the La Comunidad brand. Legorburu is hoping their best years are still ahead of them. “They’ve done a lot,” Legorburu says of the Molla brothers. “But I think their ambition trumps their accomplishments (so far).”
La Comunidad will give SapientNitro a greater connection with Hispanic consumers, an increasing focus among many ad agencies. (The deal's financial terms weren't disclosed.) La Comunidad’s staff will be expected to work closely with existing SapientNitro offices. “We don’t want to be a holding company,” Legorburu says. “Our intention is not to just amass a bunch of creative assets. That’s not the idea. The idea is to connect them and integrate them.”
This marks the latest in a string of acquisitions for Sapient in the digital marketing business, a wave that can be traced back to 2009 when the company acquired New York-based Nitro and merged the two firms’ creative staffs to form SapientNitro. Acquisitions in 2012 included marketing analytics firm mPhasize, consumer research firm Iota, and design studio Second Story. Sapient made another foray into the Latin American market in 2013, with the purchase of digital agency iThink.
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CMA imposes rare price cap on Motorola to end “supernormal profits”
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is limiting how much Motorola Solutions can charge emergency services to use its Airwave network, although the company says it will challenge such an “egregious overreach”.
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In the first quarter of this year, Apple has spent $500,000 on political lobbying in Washington, D.C., which is less than it spent on lobbying the year before, and a total that comes well short of the amounts spent on lobbying by rivals such as Google, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and more, reports Politico.
Politico's assessment is that Apple's refusal to engage the government on familiar terms when it comes to lobbying could become a roadblock for the tech company, which is facing increasing legal pressure from the Department of Justice in respect to its book publishing antitrust lawsuit, and from rivals with a litany of patent suits.
Jeff Miller, who served as a senior aide on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Subcommittee for eight years, said that Apple's lack of lobbying could hurt the company. "I never once had a meeting with anybody representing Apple," Miller said. "There have been other tech companies who chose not to engage in Washington, and for the most part that strategy did not benefit them."
On the other end of the spectrum, Apple's rivals have pumped comparatively large sums into the political machine. Google has spent $5 million on lobbying over the same time period, while Microsoft spent $1.8 million, Hewlett-Packard spent $1.6 million, IBM spent $1.5 million, Intel spent $882,000 and Facebook spent $816,000. Even Dell outspent Apple with $620,000. Apple does not have a political action committee, unlike Facebook, Google and Microsoft.
Despite the lack of apparent lobby funds, some Apple defenders say that the company prefers to work behind the scenes in a subtler fashion. An anonymous source familiar with Apple's D.C. operations said to Politico, "Yes, it is true that they don’t use the old Washington playbook. They don’t have a massive table of consultants and law firms. It is more low-key, but it is also respectful."
"They want to do this in a measured, respectful way," the source said.
Image Credit: Politico


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Coca-Cola East and Central Africa Franchise Vice President, Debra Mallowah, has called upon MSMEs to focus on building a strong and consistent brand for their businesses amid the current tough economic times.
Mallowah was speaking during a mentorship session for MSME’s on COVID-19 recovery and resilience organized by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and Mastercard Foundation.
A survey conducted in April 2020 indicated that about 27% of MSMEs had already been forced to stop their operations, while another 44% required working capital financing to survive.
“The past one year has been tough for most MSMEs and a significant number have even gone out of business due to cash flow challenges and poor sales. My message to you is not to let failure define who you are but to let failure teach you. Position yourself as a powerful brand, be consistent and treat every day as a beginning of new possibilities,” added Mallowah.
She further urged entrepreneurs, especially women, not to fear failure, noting it as an obstacle that has kept most of them from venturing into business and succeeding.
Together with its partners, The Coca-Cola Company has over the last one year spent over Ksh. 125 million to support 18,000 trading partners, most of who are MSME’s, to recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative, dubbed Open Like Never Before, has seen the company’s trade partners who range from distributors to retailers, eateries, dukas and kiosks, receive various forms of support, ranging from access to financing, provision of Personal Protective Equipment and hand washing gear.


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SAN DIEGO – The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the traditional concept of work, illustrating that many jobs can be performed remotely without sacrificing throughput. The immense upsurge in the mobile workforce, spearheaded by entrepreneurship and small business, has led to increased use of personal phones for business communication purposes. Launching December 2021, ‘PhoneTAXX’, a mobile app that tracks phone call logs will automatically record and calculate business call expenses—essential data for any self-employed business owner or small business owner reimbursing employees. Available on Google Play Store marketplace first, then Apple App Store, the app can be downloaded at https://www.phonetaxx.com/.
The app features smart call log categorization technology intended for the accurate reporting and calculation of mobile phone calls without any human intervention beyond initial account setup. PhoneTAXX allows users to export expense reports directly from the app to a predesignated email for IRS-required documentation or accurate reimbursement. The app then generates a neatly organized call log summary for tax documentation.
“The current pandemic continues to demonstrate the growing demand for remote work requiring the current workforce to be more flexible and well-organized,” said Tiffany Rubin Johnson, Founder and CEO, PhoneTAXX, LLC. “Recent statistics by Upwork reveals that nearly 50 percent of the American workforce will continue to work remotely. It is projected that 36.2 million Americans will gradually shift to a remote model by 2025, a staggering 87% upsurge from the number of remote workers before the onset of the global pandemic. It is essential now more than ever that the ‘self-directed’ workforce (i.e., freelancers, independent contractors, gig workers, real estate agents, hair stylists, solopreneurs) leverage technology to track expenses and maintain documentation to receive every tax deduction they are entitled to.”
Self-employment requires dexterity, creativity, and unmatched organization skills. Usually, preeminent business owners and freelancers are their own accounting, operations, and advertising teams enveloped into one individual. As a result, administrative tasks often receive the lowest level of attention. Due to fragmentation of the global economy during the pandemic, PhoneTAXX has deliberately focused on mitigating time-consuming administrative burdens, so business owners can focus on value-added tasks without forgoing thousands of dollars in eligible tax deductions.
With a free introductory plan, the app will be offering the first 15 calls categorized for free. Users who wish to track unlimited phone calls can upgrade to one of the app’s unlimited subscription plans for $7.99/month or $71.88/year. The developers of the app utilized a Privacy-by-Design approach to ensure the app protects users’ privacy and security without compromising functionality.
To learn more and subscribe, visit https://www.phonetaxx.com/
About the Company:
PhoneTAXX, LLC, is an up-and-coming mobile app development company dedicated to empowering a self-directed workforce to manage their expenses more efficiently with smart call log categorization technology. The app will support the millions of business owners, independent professionals, and enterprising individuals who work in every imaginable industry—real estate, sales, services, finance, design, and more—empowering the success of those who constitute the lifeblood of the US economy.


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P.F. Chang's wants to mitigate the Tax Day damage by offering a 15 percent off discount for April 15.
That's 15 percent off the total bill, according to a press release, but we doubt taxes and gratuity are eligible for discounts.
Rick Tasman, COO for P.F. Chang's China Bistro said, "we are excited to offer our customers a great meal with great value and show that we appreciate their business."
FULL PRESS RELEASE:
Scottsdale, AZ. (April 9, 2009) - P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. invites guests nationwide to enjoy a 15 percent discount on April 15 in honor of Tax Day. The special one-day discount encourages P.F. Chang’s diners across the country to celebrate the end of tax season with extra savings.
“In the current economic climate, everyone deserves a break and that’s exactly what P.F. Chang’s is providing with our Tax Relief discount,” said Rick Tasman, COO for P.F. Chang’s China Bistro. “We are excited to offer our customers a great meal with great value and show that we appreciate their business.”
The Tax Relief promotion includes all guests of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and applies to every order. On April 15 only, the entire bill will be discounted 15 percent.
If only this discount covered Chang's other holding, Pei Wei. We'd be there for lunch and dinner, no joke.


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Yesterday’s gala opening was attended by TV3’s glamorous news anchor, Elaine Crowley and one of Xpose’s star presenters, Sybil Mulcahy.
The new store, located on Dublin Street, houses a range of brand new goods, donated by wholesalers and retailers, as well as top-quality once-loved treasures.
The bridal room will stock brand new bridal gowns and accessories at just a fraction of their high-street cost.
Barnardos’ shops development manager, Colette Miller, said their bridal boutique in Dublin had been a phenomenal success. Prices at the Dublin outlet range from €150 to about €900, with most dresses retailing for about one third of their standard price.
The store also stocks veils, bridal shoes and dresses for bridesmaids, with less ornate dresses costing about €150.
It was due to the popularity of Barnardos Dublin bridal show that the charity decided to open the outlet in Carlow.
“We have developed a winning formula that brides and their families appreciate — top-quality brand new gowns; cut-cost prices and a team of bridal experts on hands to help with queries, sizes and nerves,” she said.
Ms Crowley said: “Barnardos’ new store in Carlow should be on every bride-to-be’s must-see list. It’s the perfect combination of beautiful dresses at dreamy prices,” she said.
The bridal service is by appointment only to ensure that Barnardos can offer an exclusive bridal consultation service.
Money raised in the store goes directly to supporting Barnardos’ services in communities across Ireland.
To celebrate the opening, Barnardos have launched a competition offering brides-to-be the chance to win their dream wedding dress.
The competition invites entrants to tell the story of their most romantic moment — in 300 words or less.
Application forms are available in the store and the closing date is September 30.


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Controlling a crisis: We all think we get it but do we know what to do with it?
Crises Control was showcased for the first time this month to leaders of the business continuity industry in the UK. Our two days at the Business Continuity Institute’s conference and exhibition at Olympia was fascinating.
The industry is growing and it needs to. I don’t think there are many business out there now – whatever their size – which still fail to understand the importance of having standard operating procedures in place to counter a crisis. Even those companies which don’t need to keep their eye on a regulator (which is keeping its eyes in them) know they can’t survive without a robust and effective business continuity plan in place.
A fair number of our competitors and collaborators where at the BCI show – most of them appearing to offer a similar product with some nifty bells and whistles.
What was clear to me – and to many others at the show – was the big difference between Crises Control and the rest of the industry. Crises Control is the only mass access product in the market place. Crises Control is the easiest product to access and the quickest to get up and running. Our model is being adopted by big business with large numbers of employees spread across multiple sites but it is also the perfect fit for the smaller SMEs and even one person bands. A number of smallers companies we spoke to were excited by the way Crises Control can incorporate outside service providers into the crisis team of a small business.
Crises Control allows you to build the right teams within your business to handle a crisis. The process which helps you do this is deliberately simple and intuitive. Our technology allows you to ‘collect’ the details of employees into our database and then create teams and groups within the system for them and ensure they are able to get the right flow of information to deal with whatever crisis occurs.
However, although the BCI gathering was a great opportunity for us to do business it was an even greater opportunity to learn where this vital industry is going and what its thought leaders are most concerned about.
We spoke to hundreds of people at the show. Some of them even agreed to voice their thoughts on camera. One theme was a constant with we asked people about this business continuity business – preparations is everything and keep a vigil on the way you will handle a crisis is a constantly evolving process.
A big thank you to all who put their faces and opinions in front of the camera. What they had to say is well worth of your time.


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84% of Bulgarians Will Celebrate Christmas at Home.
84% of Bulgarians will celebrate Christmas at home, 11% intend to visit relatives, and just 2% are to celebrate abroad, according to data from a poll conducted by the Exacta Research Group and quoted by the Bulgarian National Radio.A
In comparison to the previous year, there is a 5% reduction in the number of those who will celebrate Christmas at home. Just 2% will celebrate Christmas in a restaurant or bar as these are mostly young people aged under 30. 2.5% say they will not be celebrating Christmas.
67% of Bulgarians will be staying at home on New Yearas Eve, 17% will be guests to somebody, 11% will welcome the New Year in a restaurant, and 3% will celebrate on the central square. 20 percent of the polled say they will not be buying gifts for the holidays.
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This Is the Biggest SEO Trend for 2014
Online marketing is constantly evolving. The same goes for search engine optimization (SEO). As major search engines like Google continue to tweak their algorithms, website publishers need to stay ahead of the curve so their sites don't fall in the search rankings.
So, what's the one big trend website owners need to pay attention to over the next six to 12 months? In this video, Rand Fishkin -- founder of online marketing and SEO firm Moz -- says it's Google's focus on highlighting the "natural" search experience. In other words, the way people naturally search for and interact with content, and then turn to social-media sites and other outlets to share it with others.
"Paying attention to how, when and why content is being amplified on the web can make you smart about SEO," he says.


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People around the globe are facing and battling the worst pandemic crisis along with the global economy facing massive downtime. Countries around the globe have posed severe stringent restrictions ranging from days to month of lockdown periods. Many businesses are halted waiting for the market conditions to improve and some have already sunk under the unforeseen brunt of pandemic. But, still there are several segments of industry which are still shining out and even looking at this period as an opportunity. EV Industry projects to be one those and promises even better growth post this period.
Changes in consumer behaviour and public transportation
In many countries, the entire public transportation has been halted due to increased risk of infection given the contagious nature of COVID 19. Once the lockdown will be lifted, many people will still avoid using these public media of transportation, including cabs, metro, and buses, as a precautionary measure. Since normalcy has been restored in Chinese cities, there are visible evidences confirming that private cars, walking, and biking have gained the most share since the pandemic began, while bus and subway ridership declined.
Given this future scenario, it forays a promising picture for the EV industry especially for the daily city commuters who travel shorter distances within the city such as people from service industries, homemakers, students etc. Being safer and more economical mode of transportation, the segment will gain traction in given days with enhanced demand.
Alternative Solution to Fuel Crisis
During the lockdown period, states were discouraging the general distribution of petrol and diesel to discourage city and cross-state commute. In such a situation where fuel supply is not available, this further provides opportunities to the EV industry. While the public is best advised to stay home, they can depend on electric mobility for emergencies such as food supplies or medicines.
Regulatory uncertainty could increase
As per a recent McKinsey report on the future of mobility solutions post-COVID 19. We believe that regulators will react differently across regions. Some might view the crisis as an inflection point to accelerate the transition toward sustainable mobility, while others could loosen regulatory mandates to prop up their ailing automotive industries. In some markets, potential support programs, including cash incentives for trading in old cars, could amplify the industrys focus on sustainability and increase electric vehicle (EV) sales above projections.
If physical distancing continues, city leaders might relax regulations for private mobility, at least over the short-term, because people feel less vulnerable to infection in individually owned vehicles. We assume that some of those measures might stay in place after the crisis. If they promote improvements, such as fewer accidents and less pollution, cities may decide to make them permanent.
EVs set to emerge stronger than ever
The Indian electric vehicle (EV) market will continue to be largely driven by the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segments as of now. As per EV market forecast by Frost and Sullivan, e-rickshaws, e-autos and e-two wheelers are the most promising segments for electrification in India and are expected to account for over four-million units by 2025.
The period post-COVID 19 will serve as a perfect chance for EV brands to connect with their customers from these segments. A lot of top brands are using this time to get in touch with customers through digital mediums to improve loyalty and sustain brand awareness. Since e-commerce is on the rise, EV brands may also use this downtime to create a stronger online presence for more visibility. By making the most of on the opportunities, EV companies will be able to recuperate their impetus once the contagion is confined. They will be back in action on the road to EV uprising in the country.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors’ and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house. Unless otherwise noted, the author is writing in his/her personal capacity. They are not intended and should not be thought to represent official ideas, attitudes, or policies of any agency or institution.


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The share price of Nokia has plummeted by over 11 per cent today, as they announced a new smartphone to take on industry giants Apple and Samsung.
More top news
Sunday will be dry and largely sunny, although there will be some patchy cloud, mainly across eastern Scotland and eastern England.
County lines crime is to be targeted in a new scheme designed to steer young people and children away from exploitative gangs.
Freezing temperatures, a biting wind and risk of snow into next week


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Tom Burke argues that a narrow cost-benefit analysis and an obsession with carbon pricing is steering politicians away from the action climate change demands
One of the more stressful moments in Britain's history occurred in the spring of 1940. Churchill had just become Prime Minister. Rommel's tanks were at Calais. France was about to fall. Over several days...
Environmental issues get only a fleeting mention in largely underwhelming TV debate between the two men vying to be the next Prime Minister
Cosmetics company inks 22MW Virtual Power Purchase Agreement to supply more than half its electricity needs
Luxury fashion chief says businesses should pump more cash into conservation efforts
Innovation in battery technology and economies of scale will make Volkswagen's latest electric vehicle significantly cheaper to produce, company claims


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Spotify plays host to over 40 million tracks and offers many exclusive content deals. With curated playlists, custom stations, offline listening, and more, Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services in the world. The Spotify service is currently available in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Spotify's lossless music offering might finally be on the way as part of the Music Pro add-on.
Spotify is reportedly ready to increase its prices in some key markets as it battles to pay for its venture into new audio categories.
Spotify wants to update its app according to the European Commissions court ruling — but Apple won't let it.
Spotify is rolling music video support out to 11 countries starting today, but there's one notable absence.
Opinion Apple has been fined $2 billion by the EU and its press release believes it's all Spotify's fault.
Spotify has launched a new audiobook-only subscription but it's barely cheaper than the one that gets you music thrown in.
Ahead of the DMA deadline on March 6, some big companies are queuing up to argue Apple hasn't done enough.
A new tool could be about to make moving music playlists and libraries to Apple Music easier than ever.
Spotify's complaints about Apple using its own platform to favor its own services may cost the tech giant a hefty sum.
YouTube and Spotify have confirmed that they won’t be bringing native Vision Pro apps to the headset - nor can you use their iPad versions on it.
Apple has said that it will allow apps to link out to third-party payment methods for the first time, but it's still going to charge a 27% commission on those payments.
After saying it definitely isn't bringing in-app purchases back, Spotify's app might have spilled the beans... again.
Opinion Apple Music got some decent upgrades in iOS 17, but it made liking a song even more confusing than it already was.
Opinion I’ve always had a Soundtrack playlist in Apple Music, but Apple’s Classical app expands that to new heights I hadn’t considered before — with a couple of concessions.
Despite reports, Spotify will not be adding in-app purchases back on iPhone anytime soon.
Apple's App Store subscription cut has stopped Spotify from offering in-app purchases, but something's changing.
Master your iPhone in minutes
iMore offers spot-on advice and guidance from our team of experts, with decades of Apple device experience to lean on. Learn more with iMore!


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The long wait could finally be over for Tesla fans in India as CEO Elon Musk says the company will launch into the market next year.
Responding to a tweet from Tesla Club India asking for an update on the company’s expansion plans, Musk said “Next year for sure.”
Next year for sure
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 2, 2020
The news has been a long time coming for hopeful Tesla owners in the country. In 2018 Musk confirmed his company’s desire to have an official presence in India, saying “challenging government regulations” were the reason for the delay.
Musk reiterated this point a year later, saying the electric vehicles would be unaffordable due to high import duties.
I’m told import duties are extremely high (up to 100%), even for electric cars. This would make our cars unaffordable.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2019
Tesla’s possible expansion into India comes at a time when the government appears to have a renewed focus on electric vehicles and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We recently reported on plans being considered to install EV charging stations at 69,000 gas stations across the country.
The automaker is also reportedly in talks to open up a research center in India.


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Now that the downside threat of the WWDC keynote is past we can focus on the most exciting time of the year for Apple stock action. The aftermath of widely anticipated events like WWDC has not been good to Apple stock and typically results in a buying opportunity. On this particular occasion Apple dipped $17 from its intraday high on Monday but was able to finish +$5 on Tuesday. Some were disappointed that no iTV or iPad-mini was announced but in all reality the expectations for this event were low in comparison to past events and the stock was already $65 off its 52-week high. The strong action from Tuesday suggests there isn't much pressure to sell at current levels. We took the easy money off the table from the $40 pre-WWDC run up and now have 70% of the portfolio in cash. The big question is...when do we buy back in?
The stock is tracking closely with its 2011 trend. Last year investors were disappointed that WWDC didn't unveil an iPhone 5, they were worried about the health of Steve Jobs, and European contagion fears reached a mid-summer climax on June 20th when Apple hit its low of $310. This year investors are confident iPhone 5 and iPad Mini are coming in late September/early October, they are thrilled with the leadership of Tim Cook and European contagion fears are at a minimum following the $125 billion Spanish banking bailout. The uncertainty surrounding Greek elections on Sunday, June 17th still lingers over this market but the truth is that because of Greece's small size, the only reason investors have feared its debt collapse is because of the precedent it would set for larger euro zone nations like Spain and Italy. In the absence of this contagion fear, uncertainty in Greece doesn't carry as much weight as it did in 2011. The Spain bailout all but assures another Apple run; Apple stock will be the primary beneficiary of European stability just as it has for the last 10 euro solutions. For these fundamental reasons, the setup for an Apple July earnings run is even more appealing in 2012 than it was in 2011.
From a technical perspective, the 2011 run began at $310 on Monday, June 20th and finished up 30.3% at $404 on July 26th. Prior to this, Apple hadn't run since it hit $355 on April 21st which is similar to the 2012 stall out at $644 on April 10th. If we use 2011 as our guide, it suggests we be fully loaded in Apple calls by Monday, June 18th. Once the Greek elections are past, Apple will be completely free to run. The question is...will the hedge funds wait for the Greek elections or will they buy beforehand? To protect yourself, it makes sense to average in each day until Monday. At this juncture being in early is better than getting in late. If you would have waited until July 1, 2011 the stock was already up to $343. Current dips will be short lived.
What are the odds of a pre-earnings run? Consider that prior to the April earnings report Apple rallied from $516 on March 6th to $644 on April 10th. Prior to the January earnings report Apple rallied from $363 on November 25th to $431 on January 19th. Prior to the October report Apple rallied from $354 on October 4th (iPhone 4S disappointment) to $426 on October 17th. And as we've already mentioned, Apple rallied from $310 to $404 on July 26th. The pre-earnings run has become the top catalyst for Apple stock. Hedge funds do all they can to force a trading range bottom that allows them to ride the easy money slingshot into earnings. The current quarter is perfectly on schedule. Apple has become a stock that you want to own during these 'easy money' windows of opportunity when positive uncertainty is uninhibited by actual data.
As you know the July pre-earnings run is only the first stage of the remaining 2012 rally. Following a post earnings selloff and a subsequent August doldrum low, September is poised to be a month of Apple euphoria as investors anticipate iPhone 5 and iPad Mini. Last year's run off the August lows began at $355 on August 22nd and hit $422 on September 20th in anticipation of the iPhone release on October 4th. We want to make sure that the call options we own are able to benefit from the second run in case unforeseen economic variables derail the July pre-earnings run. October calls are the option of choice. By Monday, we plan to add a 30% allocation of the October options. It's buying time at EconomicTiming.com!
Disclosure: I am long AAPL.


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The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Thai Air Asia are delighted to announced a co-branding partnership as part of the broad strategy to promote the action-packed Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018.
It also incorporates the latest Amazing Thailand Go Local project as well as this year’s communication concept of Amazing Thailand’s ‘Open to the New Shades’.
Mr. Kitsana Kaewtumrong (7th from left), TAT Executive Director of Advertising and Publications Department; Mrs. Titiporn Manenate (6th from right), TAT’s Director of International Advertising Publicity Division; and Mr. Krid Pattanasan (6th from right), Thai Air Asia’s Business Relations Manager; and Thai Air Asia’s crew members at the press conference held on 27 April, 2018, to announce the ‘Shades of the River’ airplane painting
The co-branding partnership will see the airline brand its newest Airbus A320 aircraft with the ‘Shades of the River’ design, reflecting the Thai local way of life. The modern graphic and airline livery features a glimpse of the daily life of a Thai fruit vendor, who’s selling her goods out of a wooden boat while rowing past amazing scenes of natural beauty, complemented by Thai artisan design motifs.


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Musk has again become the world’s richest person with a net worth of 229 billion dollars. The soaring shares of Tesla are responsible for this, and there is every reason to believe that this will be higher in the coming days. Tesla sold over 240,000 cars in the last quarter and accounts for 79% of electric cars sold in the US in 2021. So, one can imagine this insane success as certainly translated into big money for the South African-born entrepreneur.
The constantly soaring share prices of Tesla did come as a surprise as the company’s market value has exceeded one trillion dollars. Is it still speculation as told by many critics over the past few years? Not really, but some industry pundits are still wary of the fact that the astronomical rise in the prices may come down sharply. Even the big investors are not buying the shares left and right, but the general public is reaping the benefits as 2021 has proved to be a bountiful year for them.
The price of Tesla cars is perhaps the only barrier that can make its business prospects curtail to an extent. So, in other words, only Tesla itself can stop the company from growing by leaps and bounds in the future. More on that later as now I will focus on the features of Tesla as why it has been enjoying insane success in the last few years, with 2021 as a dream year for the company and especially the investors.
Several features in a Tesla make it one of its kind. An electric Sedan was unheard of, but every other automaker has now replicated the term. Features like a single touch screen through which you can perform many actions, autopilot mode, supercharging, and key card access make Tesla a luxury car. That is what makes Tesla the go-to car with great features.
The company can be credited for making a Sedan look cool and resemble more like a sports car. The innovation in design has made sure that Tesla has seen the kind of success that was once associated with high-end sports cars like Ferrari and Lamborghini. And this is only the beginning as the company is expanding worldwide and the future looks rosier than ever.
It is now for other businesses which must play the catch-up game with Tesla as it is racing ahead. The modern design of the cars with innovative technology and high performance make them the poster boy for clean and green cars, along with style and substance. Electric vehicles will make a grand entry everywhere as this is what the future is promised by governments the world over. Carbon emission is responsible for greenhouse gases, and that is why businesses worldwide are trying desperately to make things work.
The company’s charismatic leader is always in the news, with his company SpaceX also making waves. Space X has invested billions of dollars in making space lights and tourism easy for the common person. While the higher ticket price is still a deterrent in making it affordable for everyone, this target can be achieved in the next five to ten years. And the investors are sure that if Elon Musk is saying something with such confidence, there’s every reason to believe him.
Some of you may be surprised to hear that because Tesla is synonymous with quality and substance in everybody’s mind, and it doesn’t need any marketing. But look around, and even the best companies need apt marketing based on extensive research and analysis of the market. Read on as I discuss this in detail.
Some models of Tesla are very expensive, and that’s where its rival companies can gain some space in the market. Tesla is aware of this fact, and it may reduce the price once the competition heats up. But for the time being, it is enjoying the limelight as currently; no other electric vehicle is looking to give Tesla any competition. As I have discussed above, Tesla cars are expensive, but the main reason is the battery pack that comes with it adding to the price.
Tesla and other companies are already working on new batteries that can be relatively cheap and compact. This will give Tesla more room for offering other features in its future cars. The need for aggressive marketing by big players like GM, Ford, and Toyota will make life tough for Tesla. But for this, they have to work extremely hard to dethrone it from the top position. After all, it is not easy to make a company go down when it has just about four-fifths of the market share!
But it is something that is a necessity even for Fortune 500 companies. For example, Unilever and Colgate Palmolive are the market leaders in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs), which market new and current products aggressively.
Similarly, Tesla also has to think about retaining its current customers and getting more based on new marketing strategies. The brand Tesla has been established around the world, and the company can bank on its success. It is easier to market a product that is already popular, and its entry into new markets in many Asian and South American markets will not be that difficult.
Toyota’s name is famous worldwide, and so are Ford and GM, but when it comes to electric luxury cars like Tesla, they have to work as a newbie in the industry. And the road to success can be determined by pricing, one thing Tesla needs to be wary of. Not many people will be willing to buy a 75,000 dollars electric car, which is the price of Tesla’s new model S.
The supply and demand gap currently Tesla is facing can deter its eventual success and retaining its number one position. But as all the Tesla cars are operated entirely on batteries, this is one advantage Tesla has over hybrid vehicles. And for a green future, Tesla is the go-to vehicle for everyone. So, if you think that the other big companies can have Tesla dethroned from the top, this will not happen soon.
What are your thoughts about Tesla, and do you own any of its cars or planning to do so?
Please use the comments section below.
You may also like: Amazon May Not Need Aggressive Marketing as We Head into the Holiday Season
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OnePlus will be launching its new OnePlus 7 series smartphones on 14th May that will include the OnePlus 7 Pro and OnePlus 7. Both the phones have made it through several leaks that include the phone specs and design, but now a new report suggests a new feature on the phone that shows the phone being dropped in the bucket filled with water.
OnePlus teased a video on Twitter showing the water resistance capabilities of the upcoming phones, but the water resistance won't be an IP rating that is seen on other flagship smartphones.
The video teaser on the twitter account reads 'Water resistant ratings for phones cost you money.', followed with 'We bought something less expensive instead.', which means it will have a good water resistance of sorts, but won't be like the ones you get in other expensive flagships smartphones.
Given the rumoured price of the OnePlus 7 pro, which has been leaked by tipster Ishan Aggarwal, the OnePlus 7 pro price is expected to start at around Rs 49,999 that hints to the Samsung Galaxy S10e and Apple iPhone XR category, which actually come with IP ratings. The Samsung Galaxy S10e comes with IP68 dust/waterproof rating while the Apple iPhone XR comes with IP67 dust/water resistance. It will be interesting to see what OnePlus has up its sleeves for water resistance technology in its upcoming OnePlus 7 series smartphones.
Last years, OnePlus 6 series had water resistance too, but wasn't IP certified that helped the phone stand against light rain and splash. This time the OnePlus 7 Pro is said to feature a pop-up camera, so it will be interesting to see the water-resistance capability of the upcoming smartphone.


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DigitalMailer Now Belongs to Doxim Family
FREMONT, CA: Customer engagement solutions provider, Doxim has announced the acquisition of Virginia-based DigitalMailer, a provider of digital communications products for financial institutions. DigitalMailer helps more than 200 credit unions and community banks interact with consumers in their preferred communications channel while driving growth and revenue. “We share the same mission, to help our clients better connect to their customers through digital channels, raising the bar on their customers’ experience. I am sure our clients will be well served going forward,” notes Ron Daly, Founder & CEO, DigitalMailer.
For Doxim, the deal with DigitalMailer further expands its footprint in the financial SaaS solutions sector, taking its consumer base over 16 million users. Moreover, Doxim has announced the incorporation of DigitalMailer’s communications solutions into its own Customer Engagement Platform (CEP). The integration of solutions like Leeflet, adEngine, and ARB+ will allow Doxim to bolster the CEP’s communications capabilities with state-of-the-art technology from DigitalMailer.
Doxim CEP helps financial institutions transform their customer experience, and enhance cross-sell and up-sell activities through digitization. In addition, the omni-channel solution automates many key challenges for customers including client onboarding, business analytics, loan origination, campaign management, campaign management, and more.
“DigitalMailer has a reputation for building products that consistently help its clients improve the quality and relevance of their customer communications,” says Chris Rasmussen, Founder & CEO, Doxim. “These solutions are extremely complementary to our existing Customer Engagement Platform, which is designed to help financial institutions automate customer interactions across all digital channels to compete more effectively in their core markets.”


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ABTA survey reveals 1 in 5 travelling uninsured
Wednesday 20, October 2010
19% of UK holidaymakers are running the risk of having to pay hefty medical bills by travelling abroad without travel insurance.
This alarming statistic was revealed in the 2010 ABTA Consumer Trends survey unveiled today at the Travel Convention in Malta. 17% also believe that it is not important to take out travel insurance and 16% are under the misapprehension that the UK government will cover their medical expenses with 26% of 15-24 year olds believing this to be the case.
In addition 55% of consumers do not purchase travel insurance when holidaying in the UK leaving them without cover for cancellation charges if they were to fall ill or lose their job.
Mike Monk ABTA Head of Finance said: “It is very worrying that almost 1 in 5 holidaymakers are going abroad without insurance and running the risk of substantial medical bills. Many of these believe incorrectly that the Foreign Office will pay their expenses. Also, well over half of UK holidaymakers are in danger of not being covered for cancellation charges due to illness or redundancy. In the current economic climate saving the cost of travel insurance could prove a very false economy.”
Lynda St Cooke of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Know Before You Go Campaign said: “Like ABTA, we are worried that so many British travellers are going abroad without travel insurance. It’s a false economy - we see many cases where holiday makers are faced with bills of tens of thousands of pounds for medical treatment and repatriation. Getting comprehensive travel insurance means that whilst an accident may disrupt your holiday, it won’t bankrupt you.”
The survey also revealed in the past 5 years 12% of people had claimed on their insurance with 3% claiming over £500.
More and more travellers think that researching and planning a European city break is half the fun and they're not interested in pre-arranged trips or escorted tours. Self-guided tours offer a lot of advantages but require some guidance and good resources.
With the recent wild fires, disrupting flights and increasing air pollution, environmental quality is a growing factor in attracting tourists.
The hotel price comparison site www.trivago.co.uk has put together a list of the fifteen most spectacular hotel rooftop terraces in the world.


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You are here
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Thu, 2016-03-10 19:21
Less is not more. That’s real “common sense.”
While the FCC obviously complied with President Obama’s call for regulating broadband as a Title II utility, the FCC obviously ignored President Obama’s 2011 call for a 21st century regulatory system, where he said we are “making it our mission to root out regulations that conflict, that are not worth the cost, or are just plain dumb.”
When the FCC reclassified broadband to be a Title II telephone utility last year in its Open Internet Order, the FCC trumpeted one of the great net benefits would be increased consumer privacy protection.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2016-03-01 13:38
Looking backwards makes it hard to see what’s right in front of you.
Looking backwards at 1934-era Title II telephone utility law, the FCC concluded in its 2015 Open Internet Order that only broadband providers could be “gatekeepers” warranting net neutrality regulation to “protect and promote the “virtuous cycle” that drives innovation and investment on the Internet.”
That’s because the FCC is apparently oblivious to the very different 21st century communications “gatekeepers” right in front of them that command dramatically more potential “gatekeeper” market power than any broadband provider.
The FCC should listen to what one 21st century communications provider, which commands well over a billion social and communications users globally, has to say about the dominance of edge platforms.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Wed, 2016-02-17 11:32
It’s the FCC-forcing-proprietary-video-to-be-free-to-Google stupid!
That’s a Jim Carville-esque paraphrase of the FCC’s AllVid commercial navigation device proposal to focus the mind.
The FCC spins its AllVid proposal as pro-competition in isolation when in reality the evidence will prove it profoundly anticompetitive overall.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2016-02-15 22:48
What’s a consumer to think about what the FCC’s responsibility is for their privacy protection?
Let me try to explain to a consumer what the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) arbitrarily has done, and apparently intends to do, for consumer internet privacy protection going forward.
By way of background, for the first decade of the Internet when consumers used dial-up technology, the FCC was responsible for protecting consumers’ private network information from commercial use without their permission.
For the second decade of the Internet when consumers came to use broadband technology, the FCC ceded its dial-up-Internet privacy protection authority to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which became responsible for consumer privacy protection from unfair and deceptive practices consistently across the entire American Internet ecosystem, regardless of who interacted with consumers’ private information.
Last spring, in order to assert legal authority to enforce net neutrality to protect edge providers from potential traffic discrimination in the FCC’s Open Internet Order, the FCC incidentally clawed back some privacy authority over Internet communications -- over the FTC’s strong objections.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2016-02-15 10:55
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Thu, 2016-02-11 15:56
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2016-02-08 22:45
Net neutrality absolutists are overreaching yet again in their push for a practical FCC ban of ISP zero rating offers under the FCC’s case-by-case “General Conduct Standard” review, by claiming violations of the “bright-line rules” in the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization.
The problem here is that net neutrality absolutists, in exploiting the political pejorative power of the word ‘discrimination,’ have politically oversold their Title II net neutrality policy as “bright-line” ‘non-discrimination’ bans, implying no discrimination allowed, when Title II actually only bans “unjust and unreasonable discrimination.”
This is a distinction here with a huge difference; and it apparently is giving the net neutrality absolutists fits. They want to imagine that Title II prohibits their absolutist ‘no discrimination’ frame when it clearly does not.
They want to find a technical “gotcha” in every zero-rating or sponsored data offering, no matter how unreasonable their conclusion, so they can politically ask it be banned by the FCC under their concept of what a ‘no discrimination’ principle should be.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Fri, 2016-01-29 13:22
While the PR cover story of the FCC’s AllVid proposal may be about more consumer choice and competition to reduce the cost of cable set-top boxes, don’t be fooled.
In announcing it, the FCC Chairman admits there’s already consumer choice aplenty: “American consumers enjoy unprecedented choice in how they view entertainment, news and sports programming. You can pretty much watch what you want, where you want, when you want.”
And the AllVid proposal is not about saving consumers money.
If it were, the FCC would not be shunning the obvious, best and cheapest solution of replacing the need for a set-top box entirely, by modernly and naturally transitioning them to the sector norm of easily-downloadable, cheap/free apps.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Wed, 2016-01-27 10:22
Square peg meet round hole.
The FCC is poised to try and force-fit inherently-irreconcilable, telephone closed-ecosystem privacy rules into a broadband open-system Internet. Good luck with that.
Expect the FCC to have fits trying to successfully craft workable, non-arbitrary, and legally-sustainable Title II broadband privacy rules in the year ahead.
It is a problem of the FCC’s own making.
In arbitrarily applying Title II telecommunications rules to only the ISP half of Internet communications, while politically exempting the entire edge half of Internet communications in its Open Internet order, the FCC has ensured that information that was proprietary and controllable in the closed telephone world becomes public and uncontrollable in the open Internet world.
Horses meet open barn door.
Net neutrality activists wrongly imagined that Title II was all-purpose-regulatory-authority to impose “the strongest possible” Open Internet rules they wanted, like bans on paid prioritization, zero rating or usage based pricing, despite decades of Title II and court precedents that determine many types of economic price discrimination and pricing flexibility to be just and reasonable.
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Wed, 2016-01-20 18:32
Always be careful what you ask for, because you might get it.
Net neutrality absolutists demanded Title II regulation of the Internet in hopes of getting the “strongest possible” net neutrality rules.
They imagined Title II to be their ultimate tool and power to enforce whatever they want to redefine net neutrality to be, whenever they want to redefine it: e.g. no paid-prioritization, no zero rating offerings, no usage-based pricing, etc.
Never mind the nettlesome fact, that net neutrality, as a term, principle or concept, can’t be found in U.S. law.
And never mind the nettlesome Title II reality, that decades of FCC/court precedents have established that economic price discrimination can be, and often is, legally just and reasonable.
Net neutrality absolutists had to learn in Comcast v. FCC that the FCC could not enforce net neutrality without prior net neutrality rules.
They learned the FCC did not have the legal authority to ban commercially reasonable market behaviors in Verizon v. FCC.


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Sony Ericsson has confirmed rumours Pocket-lint first covered in August, that it is working with Sony to expand its cooperation beyond cell phones to mobile and broadband TV.
Per Nordlof, Ericsson's director of product strategy and portfolio management, said the companies will together develop software to link their products through wireless networks.
The news comes on the back of an interview with Pocket-lint which hinted Sony Ericsson using Sony's WEGA television branding for its mobile phones geared towards watching television.
"We have plans", Rikko Sakaguchi, Senior Vice President of Product and Application Planning told Pocket-lint in Malmo, Sweden, earlier in the year.
"There is a strong confidence between Ericsson and Sony after the success of the handset business and we will work to develop software that connects the gadgets in the homes with the outer world", he told journalists at a news conference.
"We see a mass market for mobile TV within 2 years", said Nordlof. "Broadband TV will be an important factor. Most telecom operators realize they will have to offer TV in order not to lose customers", Nordlof said.
In August, the company ruled out the possibility of launching a handset with a DVB-H tuner that allows you to watch digital television on the go.
It is expected that Sony will use its LocationFree TV offering which launched earlier this year and can also be found in its new console - the PS3.
The technology allows users to stream programs from a PVR at home to anywhere in the world via an internet connection to a users PSP.
If Sony and Sony Ericsson used the same technology, there is no reason the two could offer a similar service via a 3G or HSDPA connection.


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BOSSIER SHERIFF: “DO NOT HARASS, BULLY OR THREATEN”
Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington warns students, parents and teachers about a troubling trend involving a mobile app being used by young people to make supposedly anonymous online postings that could be criminal and lead to arrests.
“For young people or anyone who think they can harass, threaten violence or bully others online, know this – there is nothing anonymous for law enforcement about anything you post online that breaks the law,” emphasized Sheriff Whittington. “You will be actively investigated by our detectives, we will get your user account information, and you could be charged criminally with cyberbullying or even terrorizing.”
Investigators will also work closely with SROs and school leadership to investigate any posting on Burnbook or other sites, which could result not only in legal action by law enforcement, but disciplinary action by school officials.
The idea of Burnbook appears to originate from the movie “Mean Girls” in which students developed an actual book to write mean things about other people. Now, however, the cruelty and threatening remarks have escalated to online posts where people think no one will know who they are.
Bossier Sheriff’s Office investigators have a stern warning, though, and caution that anything you do online can and will be tracked for criminal activity, whether it’s Facebook, Burnbook or any other social media, online or mobile app platform.
Sheriff Whittington encourages parents to not only monitor their children’s social media and online activity, but to have a conversation with their children, enforcing the notion that once they post something online, whether it’s a comment, a photo or a video, it can’t be taken back.
“We want young people to enjoy social media…just do so responsibly,” Sheriff Whittington said. “If you wouldn’t say it in person, then don’t say it online.”


text: Reuters Holdings Plc has launched what it claims is the first full news service over the internet, with its web-enabled Business Briefing, the successor to the news service Textline. The Business Information division of the media company hopes the service will provide personalized news services across the corporate intranet and the internet, for companies or individuals that do not need the real time Financial Services that Reuters also offers. The main use it proposes is for businesses to track the news that affects them and their market sector. It believes the abundance of free news on the internet is driving forward the use of paid-for subscription services, and it expects businesses to pay a premium for high quality news. Business Briefing is the three year-old successor (CI No 2,392) to Textline, which Reuters has been lukewarm about for a while, and according to Michael Foster, the director of business information, Reuters is taking a business view as to whether Textline is a worthwhile service. The reciprocal news service agreements with media firms that currently operate with Textline will be also be re-negotiated and companies must have actual news to trade. Reuters expects significant double digit growth of around 20% in this sector of its business in the next year, which turned over 54m pounds last year. Reuters has had problems this year financially, with a profit slowdown announced in March (CI No 3,142) which, like many others, it attributed to the strength of sterling.


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Detroit wants to maintain control of technological advancesFri, 09, Dec 2016
Detroit is willing to let Silicon Valley into the car, but it’s not ready to hand over the keys. Automakers and suppliers said today that while the technology coming from the West Coast has been key to industry advancement, traditional companies still will control the fate of future vehicles.
Michigan governor signs bill allowing self-driving cars on public roadsFri, 09, Dec 2016
Ford leads automakers in patents for first timeFri, 09, Dec 2016
'Mystery device' helps thieves steal cars with push-button ignitions, report saysWed, 07, Dec 2016
The National Insurance Crime Bureau today said it obtained and tested a so-called “mystery device” that can allow a thief to break into a vehicle without leaving behind any of the traditional pieces of evidence such as broken glass.
Ford's futurist foreshadows consumer trends to watch in 2017Wed, 07, Dec 2016
As the in-house futurist at Ford, Sheryl Connelly's job is to predict the future -- not necessarily about driving or cars, but about how consumer behavior is changing. Connelly's findings, however, often have a bearing on how the automaker designs, builds and markets cars.
Harman's first bet after Samsung deal is car dashboard projectorTue, 06, Dec 2016
GM expands rear-seat reminder technology to 20 modelsTue, 06, Dec 2016
In an effort to prevent child heatstroke deaths, General Motors' new Rear Seat Reminder technology -- which made its debut in the GMC Acadia this year -- will become standard on more than 20 models that account for about two-thirds of its U.S. sales.
Toyota will expand development of hybrid technologyTue, 06, Dec 2016
Toyota will expand the development of its gasoline-hybrid technology to speed up the introduction of lower-emission engines. The automaker will increase staffing of its hybrid tech team by 30 percent through 2021.
Apple signals a readiness to join the self-driving car raceSun, 04, Dec 2016
Apple is wading in to the debate over regulation of self-driving cars, declaring it is excited about the potential for automated transportation and calling on U.S. regulators not to restrict testing of such vehicles.
Denso to help study car-sharing technologies in Mich.Thu, 01, Dec 2016
Delphi taps Intel for chips in self-driving technologyTue, 29, Nov 2016
Delphi Automotive has formed a partnership with Intel Corp. to use Intel chips for a technology package being developed for self-driving vehicles. Late next year, Intel will start delivering computer chips to run Delphi's decision-making software .


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The Birmingham-based company saw an 11 percent growth in net sales, posting nearly $105 million in business over the 13 weeks ending Oct. 27. But operating, selling and administrative expenses surpassed gross profit by a few hundred thousand dollars.
Comparable store sales shrank by 3.6 percent relative to the prior year, the company said in a release.
Through the first 39 weeks of the year, Books-A-Million has lost nearly $5.6 million in net income. Last year, the company posted nearly $10.4 million in net losses over the same time frame.
Books-A-Million currently operates 257 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Shares of the company's stock (NASDAQ: BAMM) are down nearly three percent over the past year. A buyout offer filed by the family of Chairman Clyde B. Anderson pushed the stock above $3 a share this past summer, but the family withdrew its offer in July.


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Net income was $161,621,000 for the final quarter against a loss of $384,611,000 last year that included a $457 million deferred tax asset writedown, as revenues were 8% higher at $1,768,301,000 vs. $1,645,175,000 on strong Champion brand growth in the Activewear and International segments. Direct-to-consumer, including company-owned retail stores and all online sales, increased 23% in the fourth quarter and represented about 25% of total sales. Gross margin expanded 180 basis points to 39.9%. For the full year, net income was $553,084,000 up from $61,894,000 on a 5% top line increase to $6,803,955,000 from $6,471,410,000.
Activewear segment sales increased 14% in ... Log in to view full article.


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Mexican breadmaker Grupo Bimbo said on Sunday it has temporarily suspended operations in its Dnipro plant to ensure the safety of its 150 workers, all of whom are Ukrainians, citing the ongoing crisis with Russia.
MEXICO CITY, Feb 27 (Reuters).- One of the world’s largest breadmakers, Grupo Bimbo said in a statement that it operates in Ukraine under the brand of Bimbo QSR, providing baked goods to quick service restaurants. It said it had suspended operations in Ukraine four days earlier.
Grupo Bimbo also operates in Russia though the statement did not mention whether its presence there would be affected.
Earlier this week, Mexican tortilla-maker Gruma suspended operations at its plant in Ukraine, local media had reported.


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Berlin foodtech startup Perfeggt has just closed €2.5 million for its chickenless egg product.
The company, founded in 2021 by Tanja Bogumil (CEO), Gary Lin and Bernd Becker (CPO), have released this as their first product, consisting of a protein-rich, complex, plant-based system, including fava bean, that can be prepared as a scrambled egg or omelette in the pan.
The forward-thinking startup has raised €2.5 million during this first seed round. Backers include leading AgriFood investors from around the world such as EVIG Group, Stray Dog Capital, E²JDJ, Tet Ventures, Good Seed Ventures, Sustainable Food Ventures and Shio Capital, early investors in global companies like Beyond Meat, Gorillas and Good Catch.
Plant-based products, such as oat milk and vegan sausages, are on the fast track to becoming a booming global market. Many consumers now find themselves opting for these plant-based options, regardless of their general dietary restrictions. Plant-based is becoming the norm, rather than the exception. The market for alternative eggs remains untapped until now, and it is a product that consumers find the most difficult to replicate.
Worldwide, over 1.3 trillion eggs are consumed annually with 110 billion eggs in Europe alone. The plant-based liquid egg alternative from Perfeggt is formulated from field bean proteins and can be fried in a pan just like the traditional egg.
Tanja Bogumil, CEO of Perfeggt, said: “With Perfeggt, we are offering a real alternative for one of the most popular animal proteins in the world, we’re more than convinced that it’s about time to rethink the egg as part of our daily diet with plant-based proteins and data-driven technology.”
The foodtech company is on a mission to bring sustainable, plant-based products to everyone’s kitchen table through dedicated research and development into the best alternatives. They are researching plant-based protein sources and the combinations that come closest to the nutritional and functional properties of the original animal product, ensuring that the plant-based proteins become foods that are similar in texture, smell and flavour.
Bernd Becker, Perfeggt’s Chief Product Officer, explained: “We are aware that taste and texture are key. That is why we are laser-focused on matching the right plant-based proteins and lipids that allow us to replicate the exceedingly complex multifunctional and versatile characteristics of an egg and its indistinguishable taste.”
Perfeggt’s debut product will initially launch in early 2022 in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with further European expansion in the coming months.


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An iguana called Ralph has landed Hewlett-Packard (HP) in hot water in Australia. The creature is being used by the computer giant to front a marketing campaign there, but a conversation group says it could create a new demand for the banned animal and have asked HP to think again.
The online campaign, which goes with the tagline #HelpFindRalph and includes a 60-second ad featuring the green iguana (above), is offering various HP tech prizes if people can guess his location based upon photos posted on the company’s Twitter and Instagram feeds. Up to now Ralph’s been spotted at the famous Twelve Apostles rock stacks 100 miles or so west of Melbourne, as well as in the Whitsunday Islands in the north-east of the country.
Ralph, who features prominently in the ad, may look docile enough, but Australia’s Invasive Species Council insists iguanas will cause serious damage to the country’s natural landscape if they’re ever allowed to establish themselves in the wild.
The organization’s chief executive, Andrew Cox, berated HP, saying the company “should have done their homework.”
“We don’t want to create a new demand for this species and for people to buy them on the black market,” Cox told the Guardian this week.
According to Cox, Ralph and others like him can weigh as much as 9kg and grow up to two meters in length, a factor he believes will panic some owners into dumping them in the wild.
He added that having launched the potentially damaging campaign, HP should run another one making it clear to the public that the animal is banned in Australia and that they pose a threat to the nation’s environment.
Despite the ban, the authorities have uncovered a number of cases in recent years where people are keeping the lizard as a pet, with Cox suggesting there could be “hundreds” across the country.
And with HP putting one front and center in its nationwide marketing campaign, he fears the problem could be about to get a whole lot worse. However, the tech firm has informed the Guardian that Ralph won’t be getting the boot, and will continue to play a leading role in its latest publicity push.


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Cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes discovered a malvertising campaign exploiting Google Ads to redirect users to Windows support scam sites.
The attackers display fake alerts from Windows Defender requesting visitors to contact Microsoft support agents after searching certain popular keywords.
Malwarebytes described the campaign as spectacular because it exploits a typical browsing behavior of searching a website by name instead of typing the URL on the browser’s address bar.
For example, when someone intends to watch youtube videos, they search “youtube” instead of typing “youtube.com” on the browser’s address bar.
The threat actors capitalize on this behavior and display realistic ads matching users’ expectations but redirecting them to malicious websites.
Google Ads malvertising campaign uses cloaking techniques for tech support fraud
The threat actors redirect users to different content depending on their UserAgent and IP information.
They check the validity of the browser string and IP address to determine the legitimacy of the target and evade web crawlers, bots, and VPN users.
This strategy allows the scammers to submit legitimate content for review but load different content to actual users. Google considers this behavior a violation of “Google Webmaster Guidelines.”
If the scammers determine that a visitor is a real person, they redirect them to pages with tech support scams. Otherwise, they redirect them to the legitimate content. They redirect their targets several times before landing them on the fake support page.
The first redirect is to a cloaking domain that determines whether to redirect the visitor to the malicious Windows support scam pages or the legitimate content.
On target acquisition, the second redirect is to a browser locker that loads malicious content on an iframe from a disposable CloudFront URL. Malwarebytes warned that removing individual URLs would not disrupt the malvertising campaign.
The iframe occupies 100% width and height of the page and displays a security alert from Windows Defender. The iframe also hides the suspicious URLs, so the user only sees the more common ‘.com’ domains.
Besides the redirection and cloaking mechanism, the malvertising campaign bears the hallmarks of a typical Windows support scam.
Users are connected to an overseas tech support center after calling the support numbers listed on the malicious website.
The threat actors behind the malvertising campaign request their targets to download remote administration tools such as TeamViewer.
Windows support scam has affected many internet users
Malwarebytes predicts that the Windows support scam malvertising campaign has affected many internet users.
The cybersecurity firm based its assessment on the use of popular keywords and typos. The Windows support scam malvertising campaign targets popular websites such as Amazon, Facebook, Walmart, and YouTube, searched by millions of people daily.
Given an average of 5.6 billion Google searches per day, the Google Ads Windows support scam malvertising campaign has likely maxed out.
Additionally, the researchers can replay the malvertising chains multiple times, which is usually impossible with such campaigns.
Similarly, the Google Ads displayed in the malvertising campaign are too realistic to raise any suspicion. They also display the correct URL and typical elements users expect from the website they intend to visit.
The strategic placement of Google Ads makes users more likely to click them than scroll down for the direct link. Some of the Google Ads appear before those of the legitimate websites.
According to Malwarebytes, most users click on the first search result, whether paid promotion or organic.Windows support #scam #malvertising campaign targeted popular keywords and typos to display malicious #GoogleAds matching the user's expected search results. #cybersecurity #respectdataClick to Tweet
Malwarebytes reported the implicated Google Ads for violating the advertiser’s policies. Additionally, the company listed indicators of compromise associated with the Windows support scam malvertising campaign.


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Disabled Walmart customer says worker tried to keep him from using motorized cart
CORNELIUS, Ore. -- A disabled man says a worker at a local Walmart store tried to keep him from using a motorized shopping cart, and he is not happy with Walmart's response.
The disabled man, Michael, says a friend experienced a similar situation. Walmart says it's addressed Michael's concerns but is questioning the second man's story.
"I was in tears. I was embarrassed," said Michael while describing the incident, which he says happened at the Walmart in Cornelius last month.
"It's embarrassing enough," Michael said. "I'm 30 years old having to use a wheelchair!"
Michael says he has spina bifida, a birth defect.
"It's a protrusion of my spinal cord," Michael said, describing a part of his spine as not being straight but "kinda like a big bowl of spaghetti."
Michael wears leg braces and has a hard time walking and standing.
He says he was picking up some prescriptions and asked a worker if he could us a motorized cart.
"She says, 'you're not disabled. You don't need one,'" Michael recalled, "and I'm like, 'excuse me, I'm here all the time. I use them all the time when I shop and yeah, I am disabled.'"
Michael says after arguing with her, he used a cart anyway and wound up complaining to a manager who apologized and told him he would talk to the employee.
A few weeks later, however, Michael says a similar incident happened to his friend, Michael Frick.
"It's painful. I wear a knee brace," said Frick, describing his torn meniscus and torn ACL.
Frick says he limped into the store earlier this month and was told the only cart available was out of electricity, which he says was untrue.
"I ended up having to walk through the store," Frick said, "and was in a lot of pain by the time I got home afterwards."
Walmart is looking into his claim but says it has video of Frick in the store using a cart around the time he says this all happened. Frick says the incident he described happened during a second visit to the store that week.
"It was very upsetting for me," Frick said.
State and federal laws do not require stores to offer motorized shopping carts to disabled people.
A Walmart spokeswoman sent us the following statement regarding this story:
"A cornerstone at Walmart is respect for the individual. We want all of our customers to have an enjoyable shopping experience, and we have addressed this complaint with our associate."
The spokeswoman would not say how the complaint was addressed with the worker, who is still employed at the store.


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Following the release of his EP on the label back in 2020 Andrea Mancini, aka Cleveland, has announced the release of a new record via the Amsterdam based record label. It features three original tracks and a remix from Berlin based producer Junes.
The record sees Cleveland showcase his glitchy, wandering approach to stray melodies across the top of broken techno and disjointed bass. The record is being teased online via Bandcamp and will be available from the 15th of September next month.
This will be Cleveland's first release of the year.
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RCC Advocacy Works: Feds/Provs Commit to Cut Unnecessary Regulatory Requirements Between Provinces in New Agreement on Internal TradePrint
Regulatory Inconsistencies Between Provinces:
If your retail company is operating in more than one province, you have no doubt experienced the challenge of complying with varying standards, rules, regulations and testing requirements across the country. Retailers are principally impacted by regulatory inconsistencies in three broad categories: labour and employment, food and product regulations and environmental/stewardship regimes. In many cases, these regulations are different between provinces for no good reason and they simply cost retailers time and money.
On July 22, 2016, Premiers passed the new Agreement on Internal Trade which contains a commitment to address regulatory barriers for retailers. The commitment centres around three principals:
1. Regulatory conciliation – eliminate barriers caused by inconsistent regulations. A process will be established were stakeholders can identify regulations that should be harmonized.
2. Regulatory notification – all new regulations will be published for comment by individuals, businesses and governments.
3. Regulatory co-operation – all jurisdictions have committed to developing a common set of regulations.
RCC received a high-level briefing from officials prior to the announcement confirming the above and will be watching closely to ensure that a solid plan and timelines are put in place immediately. Our advocacy efforts will continue to ensure quick implementation.
RCC will keep members informed as more details from the new agreement emerge.


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A new revolution in online learning has quietly been taking place in the UK in the last 18 months and this week the main provider, FutureLearn, announced they had already recruited over 1 million students.
The concept is the MOOC — Massive Open Online Courses which are free, short courses you can join throughout the year.
Continue reading Are you missing out on the new social learning? (And, it’s free)
When did Alan Turing set out his proposals for the first computer? Frederick Taylor publish Scientific Management? When was the Institute of Public Relations founded and when did the Institute of Marketing receive its Chartered status? When did Maslow publish Motivation and Personality? When was the first mobile phone? Which company was founded first: Adobe, Apple, Microsoft or Google? Which was launched first: Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter?
Continue reading Milestones in marketing, management and world events
Statistics show that more and more people are dying by being tangled in their sheets in bed as the number of people eating cheese rises. View the statistics here.
Is this the end for Wallace and Gromit?
Continue reading Can eating cheese increase your chances of dying in bed tonight?
The latest research statistics from Google Consumer Barometer suggest the UK is leading the US in a lot of online consumer behaviour, a surprising conclusion, perhaps, considering how many businesses still seem to find the online environment challenging.
Continue reading UK leads USA in many online indicators according to latest Google research
Hardly a day goes past without me getting an email from somebody claiming to be able to guarantee that they can get my site to number one position on Google or wanting access to my site so they can do a ‘review’.
Beware if you get these emails, and report them: they are not just spam, but will almost certainly be phishing attempts — an attempt to get your personal details so they can carry out fraud or infect your computer.
Continue reading Beware the SEO and website scams: and report them


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Visitors to the capital will soon be able to rock out as they check in now that plans to open a Hard Rock hotel in Abu Dhabi have been revived.
Hard Rock, best known for its chain of cafes filled with music memorabilia featuring pop stars past and present, plans to open a 378-room luxury hotel on the Corniche, it announced yesterday. The hotel is slated to open in 2014.
The venue is being built by Aabar Properties, which is part of Aabar Investments. The deal marks Aabar's entry into the hospitality sector.
"Aabar Properties is committed to developing real estate opportunities that directly contribute to the long-term strategic development of Abu Dhabi," said Khalifa Al Mehairi, the acting chief executive of Aabar Properties.
Abu Dhabi is aiming to attract 7.9 million hotel guests a year by 2030, up from the 2.1 million guests the emirate attracted last year.
A wave of luxury hotels have opened in the emirate in recent months, including the Jumeirah Etihad Towers and Sofitel hotels along the Corniche. The Eastern Mangroves hotel, which is managed by Anantara, launched yesterday. Plans to open a Hard Rock hotel in Abu Dhabi, as well as one in Dubai, were originally announced in 2008.
There was a Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai, which opened in 1997, and then closed its doors in 2009. A new Hard Rock Cafe opened in Festival City in Dubai last November.
Some 7,000 rooms are scheduled to open in the capital over the next two years, research by Christie + Co, Mena, showed this week.
The Hard Rock hotel planned for Abu Dhabi is designed to include a number of restaurants, including a Hard Rock Cafe. It will also have 12,000 square feet of spa and fitness facilities. The hotel will also have events and business facilities, including a 5,200 square foot ballroom.
Hard Rock has 16 hotels worldwide in locations including Las Vegas, Bali, and Thailand.
"We are looking forward to collaborating with Aabar Properties to complete the design process, embarking upon the development and construction, and, upon completion, extremely excited to manage the day-to-day operations of Hard Rock Hotel Abu Dhabi," said Michael Shindler, the executive vice president of Hard Rock Hotels.
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VOLUNTEERS stamped 50 farm vehicles with their owner's postcodes as a new crime prevention initiative got underway.
Meirionnydd Young Farmers teamed up with Crimebeat Wales to launch the Marcio Metel (metal marking) scheme at Dolgellau livestock mart. Farmers were invited to have trailer roofs stencilled with permanent paint. Postcodes were also hammered onto quad bikes.
Details: PC Mike Owen, 0845 607 1002. Contact manager Dave Evans if you have other crime prevention ideas on 01745 588516.


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THE magic has gone for Harry Potter publishers Bloomsbury.
They revealed pre-tax profits tumbled 67 per cent to £1.8million for the six months to June.
That's down from £5.4million in the first half of last year - when paperback copies of JK Rowling's Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows were flying off the shelves.
But chief executive Nigel Newton said yesterday: "Despite the high comparative figure due to the timing of last year's release of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows in paperback, we have enjoyed strong underlying growth.
"The balance of the group's business has shifted as we maintain our expansion in academic and specialist publishing which is less susceptible to the vicissitudes of the consumer market and less risky for the group."
Last year's figures also included strong sales of Khaled Hosseini's books A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner.
In the first six months of 2009, UK revenues were down 25 per cent on last year at £22.2million, while total sales fell 16 per cent to £35.2million.
Bloomsbury said The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale buoyed sales in the period as it topped the UK paperback best-seller list.
The publishers are pinning hopes for a strong second half on books from some of their highest selling authors including Margaret Atwood, John Irving, William Boyd, Elizabeth Gilbert, Heston Blumenthal and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
They said the book market had suffered in the recession, with volumes down three per cent across the industry and margins under pressure.
The firm plan to focus more on academic, professional and specialist publishing in the future, building on recent buys including law, tax and accountancy publisher Tottel.
Across the firm's divisions, specialist publishing revenues rose 34.2 per cent in the first half to £10.2million, helped by acquisitions. Trade publishing fell 29 per cent to £16.4million.


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Google Android’s Play Store is a phenomenal place with millions of apps that is something Apple’s App Store can hardly compete with. Irrespective of the quality of content being served, Android continues to be world’s favorite OS and Whatsapp, one of the most popular messaging app and an equivalent of iMessage has touched a milestone of 5 billion installs this year.
Touching a five billion mark is no easy task because Google’s own apps that are pre-installed on millions of smartphones globally are the ones that manage to touch these numbers. Some of the popular choices are YouTube, Gmail, Maps and other utility services that help people on a daily basis.
Most users won’t consider uninstalling these applications because they are useful and are part of the Android OSes ecosystem. They make life easier and also keep you entertained on the go. For a third party app like Whatsapp, the chances are thin as users have to manually search for it and install it.
Besides, there is also the catch that there are plenty of messaging apps out there like Telegram, Hike, Kik among many others. While all these apps put together do have their respective user base in specific countries, somehow Whatsapp managed to beat them all to be the only sought after messaging app that can also be used to send files, photos, make calls and even send payment in some countries like India.
Some versions of Whatsapp are pre-installed on specific Android models but overall, the 5 million milestone has been achieved with the help of its massive fan following. The app is now owned by Facebook along with Instagram and it is a milestone the social networking giant can celebrate because they not only own FB but also the other popular options available on different platforms like Android and iOS.