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Whether people are staying home due to the COVID-19 coronavirus or due the summer heat, New Mexican bakeries are still selling their goods during the pandemic.
The American food services sector has been facing decline since March due to businesses operating either at limited capacity or closing altogether, as well as a shrinking customer base while people eat at home more and eat at restaurants less.
According a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, the pandemic combined with stay-at-home orders in many states led to a 19.3 percent increase in spending at grocery stores and retail stores for eating at home in March 2020 over the year prior, as well as a 28.3 percent decrease in food-away-from-home spending in that same timeframe.
Though grocery stores appear to be stocking up again on previously less accessible items like toilet paper and meat, food scarcity is still affecting bakeries across the country.
Walking into a grocery store today, it may be commonplace to find smaller bags of flour packaged by hand from bulk bags in the baking section or some items missing altogether, like yeast or certain egg or flour products.
Adrian Zavala, a manager at Busy B’s Bakery in Las Cruces, said the bakery has not experienced much difficulty finding ingredients since March. The bakery has only had occasional difficulty finding ingredients like eggs and confectioner’s sugar.
“Our grocery rep has been pretty stable as far as getting us the groceries I mean there’s been maybe a couple of incidents where they didn’t have like one certain item but we’ve been able to get it from our local grocery stores,” Zavala said.
For himself, Zavala said he recently could not find yeast at his local grocery store.
“We don’t use yeast in the bakery but I remember I went searching for yeast personally two weeks ago and I couldn’t find it anywhere, I finally found it at one store after searching at like four different stores,” Zavala said.
Bakeries that primarily sell cakes and dessert options may be experiencing less difficulty than bread shops in finding ingredients through suppliers or grocery stores due to bread bakers’ reliance on ingredients like yeast or specific types of flour.
Patti Stobaugh, president of the Retail Bakers of America organization, said her own businesses, Patticakes Bakery and Stoby’s Restaurant, initially had trouble acquiring certain ingredients.
“We did run into problems with yeast early on. However, our suppliers have been very good to take care of us. I know a lot of smaller operations have had trouble sourcing the type of flour they need, and yeast,” Stobaugh said.
Stobaugh said some of the organization’s members have reported experiencing similar challenges. This may be due to factory shutdowns after the virus spreading among employees.
But could another contributing factor be food hoarding at grocery stores?
“(It’s) also due to factories switching from having stocked up product to manufacturing as ordered. Along with the toilet paper scare, home bakers were stockpiling baking goods. The yeast shortage has affected us the most, but we never actually ran out. Egg prices quadrupled for a short time,” Stobaugh said.
Stobaugh said it is easier for bakeries to more consistently get ingredients when they order from bigger suppliers but this may not be enough if another wave of food shortages occurs.
“Concerning sugar, prior to COVID-19, industry experts have been warning of a sugar shortage hitting hard beginning this fall. Many people with adequate facilities began stockpiling sugar at the current prices,” Stobaugh said.
“We have been very thankful to own two restaurants and two bakeries. That purchasing power has no doubt attributed to this being less painful for us. Still, I feel for anyone not able to source ingredients right now. The typical margins in food service are tight under normal circumstances. I expect we will see a lot of hard-working food service people not make it,” Stobaugh said.
Bakeries adapt to new marketplace
These variable ingredient shortages may have more to do with the food industry adjusting to a new marketplace.
Nicholas Pyle, president of the Independent Bakers Association, said the organization’s members are wholesalers that sell to groceries and restaurants but even these food producers were seriously affected initially.
“The pandemic hit, so egg prices went to the moon and that was a little disconcerting for my cake guys and my doughnut guys, it was almost as bad as when we had the Avian Flu a few years back when all of a sudden a truck full of albumen (an egg product) was costing you a million dollars; not quite as bad as that but most of the supply chain issues, particularly on the flour side, have been ironed out,” Pyle said.
Pyle said a shrinking customer base threw off many bakeries in the aftermath.
“What happened was, there was a drop off in institutional baking, that would be baking for fast food, restaurants, schools, hospitals and things like that,” Pyle said. “So bread for sandwiches and buns and things like that because people were having their meals at home.”
According to another U.S. Department of Agriculture report, full-service and fast-food restaurants are the two largest commercial food service market segments and accounted for 73.1 percent of food-away-from-home sales last year.
Pyle said supply chains for bakery businesses shifted from larger scale to smaller scale markets.
“Everything from toilet paper had to go from institutional sizes of toilet paper to household size toilet paper, it was the same thing,” Pyle said. “Putting (flour) in five-pound sacks was a different thing altogether.”
Pyle said access to ingredients may be different for home bakers compared to professional bakery businesses. Bakeries more often have established access to larger suppliers to meet the needs of bigger customers, or institutions.
Pyle said he has not heard from the organization’s members about problems sourcing ingredients in the past several weeks.
“I haven’t heard anybody complaining about yeast or things like that. There are minor additives and dough extenders and things where there have been some anecdotal stories about problems there, particularly items sourced out of China,” Pyle said.
Some bakeries are thriving despite the virus. Stobaugh’s bakeries offered take-and-bake casseroles before the pandemic but today, she said that aspect of her business has exploded.
“After COVID hit, that exploded and in the early days of quarantine, the sales of savory items saved us,” Stobaugh said.
Some bakeries are still having difficulty consistently finding ingredients while some have said consumers have come into their businesses asking to buy baking ingredients instead of buying retailers’ goods.
Sarah Ciccotello, owner of The Burque Bakehouse in Albuquerque, said her business has managed by relying on local sources for ingredients and by operating a mobile business model that utilizes online ordering and curbside pickup.
“We spent a lot more time and energy sourcing ingredients so we try to use as much as we can that is local to the Four Corners region and that has been really helpful because that assures our supply chain,” Ciccotello said.
Ciccotello said she also uses homemade sourdough starter as a natural leavening agent to make her breads instead of store-bought yeast.
Since stabilizing her bakery’s supply chain, she has even supplied home-bakers with ingredients.
“We were actually able to supply a lot of our customers with flour and yeast and sugar for their home-baking needs,” Ciccotello said, adding that the practice was in high demand in March and April. “But there still seems to be a steady group of people who are looking for yeast and flour on a regular basis,” Ciccotello said.
The Burque Bakehouse is housed in a commercial kitchen with no storefront attached.
“So that made it quite easy for us to procure the baking facility and keep it sterile because customers don’t come in here anyway. We sold mobile at events and farmer’s markets in the city and state and in March when all of that was cancelled, we changed how our business sold goods,” Ciccotello said.
The Burque Bakehouse has expanded its online ordering and curbside pickup options.
“We feel very fortunate that we’ve been able to stay open and been able to survive,” Ciccotello said.


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Unfinished news about the iPhone 5S, the latest info is precisely focused on the iPhone 6.
Quoted from BGR, Wednesday (1/5), an analyst mentioned that this smartphone will be released in June 2014.
Analyst named Peter Misek it seems pretty confident [...]
Sony showed off its latest ultrabook Windows 8 operating system, Vaio T13 “Touch Screen”, Indocomtech exhibition in 2012 at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC).
With a 13.3-inch wide screen, users can enjoy a new experience with Windows 8 [...]
Help reveal the composition of the Earth’s core.
A number of Polish geologists managed to dig the largest meteorite ever found in Western Europe. They hope their findings could help reveal the composition of the Earth’s core.
“We know [...]
News of the warm coming from two future Samsung products mentioned in this release, the Galaxy Tab 3 and Galaxy Note 3.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Thursday (21/3), both rumored to appear first on IT exhibition IFA 2013 in Berlin, Germany.
This event is scheduled [...]
CloudFlare, a Web accelerator is having network-wide DNS problems as reported ubergizmo.com (03/03).
“We are experiencing a network-wide issue,” said the CloudFlare via the company’s official Twitter account.
For those of you who [...]
Map of Japan and Korea also did not show up.
Among users of Bing Maps in a number of countries, was shocked by the disappearance of the map of the three influential countries in the world, Japan, Korea and Israel from the map application.
After a long time not been heard, the latest info says that LG soon release updates to Jelly Bean Optimus 4X HD.
Quoted from Techradar, Friday (2/1), the site claims to have Italian named Caotic email updates about this from a LG spokesman.
The first [...]
Will spend 140 days in the mission.
A Russian rocket carrying two cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut blasted off into space on Tuesday (10/23). The three astronauts will be on duty on the International Space Station (ISS).
Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin [...]
ASUS recently launched the newest whiz graphics card designed for small form factor PCs.
GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini Series can be used for mini-ITX motherboards.
GTX 670 DirectCU Mini has a dual-slot with a length of only 17cm with NVIDIA GTX 670 [...]
AMD re-introduce the newest graphics cards in the Radeon HD 7000 series.
The product this time called the Radeon HD 7790 is for gamers middle class because the price is cheap, which is about $130,99 US dollars.
Although cheap, the graphics card is claimed [...]
Linux developers, Canonical, claims a new version of Ubuntu 13.04 or so-called Raring Ringtail more efficient.
According to the Canonical claim, Raring Ringtail has improved performance. Among other uses fewer resources, faster boot times, lower [...]

domain: news


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Happy New Year! The first episode of the year and we’ve played quite a bit! We have a ton of Microsoft news and a couple
Take a look at the new accessories that Nacon has coming out to enhance your Xbox experience.
#Microsoft has just picked up a HUGE acquisition!
#Bethesda #Xbox #ZeniMax
Xbox has really pushed the envelope when it come to Games Pass, and today they just made even more news with it! Games Pass will
The other day Xbox made some exciting announcements at XO18, which is an event that is all about the Xbox platform. Over the 2 hour-long


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These days it is quite common for publishers to create branded content. While the overall quality has certainly increased over the years, not many publishers believe as strongly in its quality as our partner NRC, publisher of the quality media NRC HANDELSBLAD and NRC.NEXT.
For in-house created branded content, NRC has come up with a 15 second rule: Advertisers only pay for those readers who invest at least 15 seconds consuming branded content.
It takes courage to offer such a business model. But NRC knows it has the in-house expertise to create quality content. And with a little help of analysing tools like Hotjar.com and Moat.com, NRC knows how to optimise both content and layout specifically for different devices.
Why 15 seconds you might wonder. NRC Key Account Manager Gertjan Dijkhuizen explains “We discovered that if people spend at least 15 seconds on an article, they’ll read it all.”


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With the announcement of PUBG: New State, the expectations of Indian PUBG Mobile fans have reached the seventh sky. It has been made live on Google Play for pre-registration and will soon be available on the App Store. The game is developed by PUBG Studio and published by South Korean video game company Krafton, which is also the publisher of the main PC version PlayersUnknown Battleground.
When will PUBG Mobile India launch in India?
PUBG Mobile’s publisher was Tencent, a Chinese game company. Most publishers of banned games and apps in India were Chinese companies. These apps and games in India were banned by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under the provisions of the Information Technology Rules 2009. The government said that the banned games and apps were “dangerous for the sovereignty and integrity of the country”. After this, PUBG Corporation gave the responsibility of PUBG Mobile’s India operation to Krafton and announced a special PUBG Mobile India game for India. The company also released advertisements for the game along with several popular Indian PUBG Mobile eSports players. It seemed that the new game would not take much time to come, but the game has not yet been released, nor has there been a statement from the developer and publisher about the launch.
Recently some RTIs were put up, in which some questions were asked to MeitY about the return of PUBG Mobile. In response to this, MeitY had made it clear that the government has not issued any orders regarding the return of PUBG Mobile. Even the government had said that till that time there was no dialogue between him and PUBG Corp./ Krafton.
Will PUBG: New State be launched in India instead of PUBG Mobile India?
PUBG: New State will be published by Krafton and its developer is PUBG Studio. The game has no connection with Tencent. Now that Tencent was a major reason behind the ban on PUBG Mobile, it remains to be seen if this game will get an entry in India after the root cause of the problem is over. It may also happen that PUBG: New State came to India as PUBG Mobile India with some changes. However, so far PUBG Corp. Or there is no information shared by Krafton about the game’s India launch.
PUBG: What is New State Game?
PUBG: New State is a Battle Royale game similar to PUBG Mobile, but because it is based on 2051, everything from weapons to vehicles is modern. In this, players are landed in a place called ‘Troi’, which will probably be the name of the game’s map. Many gadgets also appear in the game with modern weapons and modern vehicles. The new game feels a lot like PUBG Mobile. It seems that the developers want PUBG: New State to have a popular PUBG Mobile experience even in games, so that players have no problem in adopting a new game.
The game’s graphics in the trailer look awesome. It also shows the drone and the rare shield. Many elements are derived from PUBG Mobile, such as M416 and SKS guns and Buggy cars. Right now the game is available for pre-registration on Google Play and will also be launched on the App Store soon.


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Harry's Beer is the brainchild of teenage entrepreneur Harriet Easton, who teamed up with Shropshire's Hanby Ales to brew a cask ale which is now on sale in just one Shropshire bar - The Salopian in Shrewsbury.
But Easton has big plans for the brew, including a move into bottles and the off-trade in the next few months, and adding a new flavour to the line in the summer.
Vanessa Fairfax-Woods, spokeswoman for the Jools Payne Partnership, which is promoting the beer, told OLN: "We are going to be seeing how it goes with regard to cask, and
put it into bottles
so it can be available nationwide."
Nineteen-year-old Easton came up with the idea for the brew after an unpleasant encounter with RTDs, and put it into practice during her gap year, before starting a politics degree at Newcastle University. She founded the Rushing Dolls Company, which specialises in products exclusively for women, in 2006.
Hanby Ales, she did in-depth research with women aged 18-60
to find out which flavours they preferred in beer. The result was 4.2 per cent abv blonde ale Harry's Beer, brewed with Maris Otter pale malt and Cascade hops, with essence
of sweet oranges.
Easton said: "A lot of women I know
think real ale is unsophisticated, fattening, unhealthy and unfeminine. None of that is true. Beer, drunk in moderation, is not fattening - pint for pint it's less fattening than orange juice.
"I n Harry's Beer we've got a product that women will
be seen drinking ."
Paula Waters, chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale, was the first to pull a pint of Harry's Beer. She said: "There is such a range
of real ales, women just need to be encouraged to sample them - and the way to do that is to market the beer in a more appealing way. Harriet Easton has spotted a great opportunity and is doing just that."


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Nearly one month since it first started rolling out, Amazon has finally made the Fire TV’s biggest software update official. After a second minor update, the official latest software version for the Fire TV is 184.108.40.206_user_511070220. We call this version official because, for the first time since the Fire TV launched, Amazon has updated all of their help articles and videos, including the software information page, to reflect the changes brought on by the recent updates. Additionally, the remote software page has been updated to reflect the new remote software that started rolling out 2 weeks ago.
Now that Amazon has made things official, we suspect the remaining Fire TV’s which haven’t received the update will all be updated very soon. Remember, you can always block the update or root your Fire TV and upgrade or downgrade manually.


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A family run North York Moors business have been crowned ‘Best of British’ at a prestigious awards ceremony in London.
Pickering based Cedarbarn Farm Shop & Café were crowned winner of the Yorkshire Bank ‘Best of British’ award as part of the seventh annual Red Ribbon Awards which celebrate the achievements of Britain’s finest family-run businesses.
Over 350 family business leaders and entrepreneurs descended upon Wembley Stadium for the ceremony which is hosted by Family Business Place which seek to recognise and honour some of the most exciting, innovative and longstanding family businesses around the UK.
After months of searching and interviewing, 11 family firms were crowned the winners of the UK’s most prestigious family business accolade. With over 3 million family firms in the UK as well as hundreds of entries for the Awards, the winners had to be exceptional.
Of Cedar Barns entry, the judges commented: “For over 100 years this family has grown a strong identity, evolving into an iconic local feature in the Northern community. They are passionate about British, local and home-grown produce and committed to supporting the local community, creating jobs and sourcing local produce in the area from businesses throughout Yorkshire. From a farming background four generations of ‘Avisons’ have built this business into a fresh and tasty showcase of the best British produce.”
Owner Mandy Avison said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have won this award, and honoured to have been in the company of some iconic national businesses such as Walkers Shortbread. We’re also so proud of our daughter Chloe who was also a regional finalist in the ‘One to Watch’ category – particularly as these awards recognise the thing most precious to us: our family as well as our extended family the amazing Cedarbarn team”
“Family businesses are the shining stars of the British economy and the beating heart of our local communities, employing 1 in 3 people” said Amalia Brightley-Gillott, Director of Family Business Place. “Despite their incredible contribution they are often modest and shy about publicising their achievements and so we founded the Red Ribbon Awards to celebrate them. This year’s winners are national champions who all excel in their field and are true beacons of British commerce.”


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PropertyPro, a Nigerian online real estate platform, has announced that it has opened offices in Kenya and Zimbabwe. According to Techzim, the property tech company is also eyeing Uganda and 5 other African markets.
On why they chose Zimbabwe, Property Pro reps told the Zimbabwean publication that: “Our goal at PropertyPro is to establish a solid presence and operate at maximum level in every viable market in Africa.
“Despite the internet penetration into Real Estate in Zimbabwe, we found a room for growth, for property developers, Agents to sell, connect to users hunting for properties easily.”
On what makes PropertyPro different from competitors like Property and PropertyBook, the reps said: “Our platform is our core product and that is the gospel. 2020 might have opened a lot of hearts to use the internet more but we have been doing this long enough especially in the real estate market to provide the best tool for Searching and Marketing of properties.
“We are going to cater the needs of Property Developers, Agents to manage their daily business efficiently, with proper listing catalogues while still giving them the chance to provide superb customer experience.”
The propertytech company started out as Estate Node and metamorphosed to tolet.com.ng in 2013. It was founded by by Dapo Eludire, Fikayo Ogundipe, Muyiwa Kolawo, Seyi Ayeni and Sulaiman Balogun.
Again, in 2018, it rebranded to PropertyPro from Tolet.com.ng. The previous year, it acquired Jumia House increasing the number of property listings on the platform to 600 000.
It raised US$1.2 million into its coffers in a Series A funding found from Frontier Digital Ventures in 2016.
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- #EndSARS: Soro Soke Online Radio Launched to Amplify Protest Message - 10/18/2020


text: Looking to reach a larger consumer base and offer online shoppers the opportunity to purchase its products from the comfort of their phones, laptop or PCs, personal care brand Cosmaline launched its e-store in March 2020. In Q3 vs Q2, the e-shop has seen an astounding growth of 388% in online sales. “We had been working to finalize our e-store when Covid-19 hit,” said Mhamad Nasriddine, E-Commerce Manager, Cosmaline. “We doubled our efforts, not wanting to leave our customers without the option to shop their favorite products. The site took off quite quickly and we’re now offering worldwide shipping,” he added. Purchases have been further personalized with newly designed collectible delivery boxes every few months. Intuitive and user-experience-friendly, Cosmaline’s e-store can be found on shop.cosmaline.com.


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NEW DELHI: Technology giant Google recently rolled out gbroad support for Wear the operating system and now it seems that the company is ready to introduce some new features into the operating system. As reported by Android Central, Google is conducting an online survey on Wear OS.
Some Wear OS users will receive this survey via notification on their Android smartphone. Tapping the notification takes users to the Wear OS app, where they can fill out the survey.
The survey asked users how satisfied they were with the Wear operating system. Google also encourages users to comment on what they like and dislike about the operating system. When the survey is complete, you will see a link to another survey that will ask more detailed questions.
The second survey focuses on smartwatch habits and asks users what are the key features of a smartwatch. Users are also asked to indicate their preferred fitness activities and the type of smart home devices they use.
The survey comes out shortly before Google’s annual developer conference, at which the company is expected to host a workshop on developing tiles. There are also rumors that the company is working on a Pixel smartwatch that is expected to work with the Google Pixel 6.
Pixel Watch is expected to have a circular dial and will be available in silver and black color options. The wearable should contain the company’s own chip. Otherwise, the smartwatch may come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100+ chipset. The Pixel Watch is also said to be equipped with a blood oxygen monitor and a sleep tracking function.


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Don’t look now, but a few Sony phones have reached the end of the road when it comes to updates. It appears owners of the Sony Xperia SP, Sony Xperia C, Sony Xperia M (and its dual SIM variant) and the Sony Xperia L will no longer be getting major upgrades. The phones are currently on variants of Jelly Bean between Android 4.2 and Android 4.3, so KitKat is seemingly out of the question.
Why? We’re not sure as some of Sony’s latest phones with similar (read: identical) specs are able to run KitKat just fine. It’s likely a product of them being spread so thin in their testing and certification department that it’s no longer economical for them to support these older phones. After all, Sony does introduce more phones than we can count on a yearly basis. Perhaps it’s time for them to realize that they’re releasing far too many phones.
We shouldn’t be that surprised that phones not considered “flagships” are being left in the dust, though it’s a sad reality of the smartphone world — support could end at the drop of a dime. Your only options are to upgrade to a more current handset or root and get the latest and greatest that the aftermarket community has to offer.
You should note that end of life doesn’t mean critical updates are coming to a standstill. Experience-breaking and security sensitive bugs will likely be ironed out if any arise, but don’t expect any major new features or upgrades to the latest version of Android.


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Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday announced that Jersey Shore beaches – as well as inland lakes and parks – are to open May 22, but with restrictions in place that will be decided upon by each individual town.
Most local communities have opened beach access in one way or another. Seaside Heights has put into place a detailed, two-phase approach that will bar swimming through June but gradually allow for activities such as sitting and sunbathing. Meanwhile, Brick has taken a more streamlined approach, announcing that the sale of daily beach badges would be limited. It is likely that some local communities will modify their beach access policies now that Murphy has announced his guidelines that will apply to municipal and private beaches across the state. The inclusion of private beaches in the plan may also be the go-ahead required for enterprises such as Jenkinson’s to reopen, however non-essential retail is off limits and bars remain shuttered.
Under Murphy’s order, rides and arcades will remain closed. Restaurants will only be able to offer to-go service. All organized activities on beaches are also banned.
Murphy’s specific requirements for reopening, in effect May 22, are:
- Capacity limitations decided upon by local officials. Specifically, limiting the number of beach badges sold or electronically monitoring the number of people present on a beach.
- Social distancing measures of 6-feet between groups will be required, except for family members, members of the same household or couples in a romantic relationship.
- No organized games, summer camps, contact sports or events such as beachfront concerts or festivals.
- Rides and arcades will remain closed.
- Showers and restrooms may open, but with strict cleaning standards.
“The Jersey Shore, after all, is where memories are made,” Murphy said. “The last thing any of us wanted was a summertime down the shore to be a memory.”


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Dojo Is Designed To Protect Your Smart Home From Itself
Natasha Lomas for TechCrunch: Israeli startup Dojo-Labs is launching out of stealth today after more than a year working on its connected home security device. No, not another Wi-Fi spy camera trying to engender a sense of vicarious paranoia in the buying public to convince folk with money to burn they need to ceaselessly surveil their property (and/or family).
Rather this startup has it eye on securing the connected smart home from the threat posed by, well, all the devices that comprise the connected smart home.
Dojo’s first (eponymous) device — available for pre-order now, with a shipping date of early March 2016 — aims to create a consumer-friendly security and control interface at the network layer that the company claims is capable of spotting and blocking anomalous behavior by connected devices on your home network. Whether that behavior is down to hackers trying to infiltrate your devices remotely. Or your devices trying to send your personal data somewhere they shouldn’t be, surreptitiously — perhaps by manufacturer design (hello smart TVs!). Cont'd...
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FLOWOOD, Miss., May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Local Mississippi resident announces his initial plans to open a Dickey's Barbecue Pit, the largest quick-serve barbecue chain in the country, in Flowood.
"After visiting Dickey's, having a good meal and seeing first-hand how everything was streamlined, I was impressed. Managing the business seemed like a tested process that worked flawlessly," said the new owner/operator Tim Earley, a graduate of Mississippi College who now lives in Pearl, MS.
This is the first Dickey's Barbecue franchise opportunity for Tim Earley.
"I am really intrigued by the opportunity to interact with the community on a daily basis and the challenge to earn their business by providing a quality product with exceptional service. I am very interested in the challenges of meeting the high demands and constantly seeking ways to improve our service for continued growth over an extended period of time," said Tim Earley, the owner/operator for the Flowood location.
Earley is eager to open the new location that will serve up 9 different meats slow cooked overnight, a vast array of home-style sides and complimentary ice cream for every customer.
"I have gained a new love for Dickey's since my research on opening my own began. I still can't believe the amount of support that I am getting from Justin and now the whole Dickey's Corporate Team. It really seems like you all are as interested in my success as much as I am," Earley said.
Texas-based Dickey's Barbecue Pit opened in 1941 and began franchising in 1994. Dickey's Barbecue Pit is well-known for their hot pit-smoked signature meats, complimentary ice cream and the big yellow cups.
"We are so thrilled Dickey's will be expanding in Mississippi to this fourth location. Flowood is a strong community and we are very excited to have a franchise here," President of Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. Roland Dickey, Jr. said. "As our company grows, we grow as a family. This is another great opportunity for the company."
Since early 2011, Dickey's has opened 12 stores nationwide and 60 are set to open before the end of 2011.
The preparation prior to opening a Dickey's franchise is extensive, ensuring that owner/operators are thoroughly prepared to hit the ground running.
"We have so many new owner/operators who are investing with us. With this economy, we are glad people trust us for success and we certainly don't take that for granted. Their victory is our victory and we don't plan on going anywhere but up," Dickey said.
The original Dallas location is still open for business and Dickey's Barbecue Pit is still owned and operated by the Dickey Family.
There are 146 locations in 33 states.
Even today, Dickey's still slow smokes all of their signature meats overnight in every restaurant.
More information on Dickey's Barbecue Pit is available at www.dickeys.com.
Franchising information is available at 866-340-6188.
SOURCE Dickey's Barbecue Pit


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The Farm Market at California State University, Fresno is toasting the new year with a 10 percent discount on student-produced Fresno State wines.
The discount is applied to all the vintages still in stock from Fresno State Winery, the nation’s first commercial winery on a college campus. The just-introduced Solaré, Fresno State’s first ice wine made from frozen grapes, is included. The Farm Market offers the broadest selection of Fresno State wines from an attractive cellar.
The Fresno State Farm Market also sells a wide variety of student-produced meats, dairy products, decorative plants, fruits and vegetables, nuts and such items as barbecue and spaghetti sauce and fruit syrups and jams.
Proceeds from the sales benefit students in the university’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.
Although the university itself will be closed from Dec. 23 through Jan. 1, the Farm Market will be open many of those days.
It will be open today from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and tomorrow (Dec. 23) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Farm Market will close Sunday, Dec. 24, through Tuesday, Dec. 26.
It will reopen at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27, and be open through Dec. 29 on a 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule. The market also will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 30, then closed Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
The Farm Market is at the southeast corner of Barstow and Chestnut avenues. For more information, call the Farm Market at 559.278.4511.


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The New York Fall/Winter 2010
When the tents folded up on Thursday evening immediately following the Tommy Hilfiger show, (the last of the fall 2010 season) it not only marked the end of another fashion week, or another fashion season, but the end of an era. Next season, as everyone knows, the fashion troops and a veritable army of fashionistas will march into their new home, Lincoln Centers Damrosch Park (and with all the military around, both on and off the runways, I can say that literally). Theres no doubt about it, a lot will change come September.
Leaving Bryant Park was hardly the optimum choice (nobody can dispute its amazingly convenient, practical central location; and weve all gotten so darn used to it through the years- its become like a home away from home). That said, the fashion world seems to have made peace with the move and unsurprisingly, most if not all have expressed a great deal of excitement and optimistic anticipation surrounding the prospect of being situated in such a symbolic, famed, and heralded piece of New York real estate as Lincoln Center, the iconic center (cultural epicenter actually) of the performing arts in Manhattan. Hopefully, this will help up the game, so to speak.


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Previously, Datatilsynet considered Meta's behavior-based marketing practices illegal as they excessively monitored user behavior.
On Wednesday, the Oslo District Court sided with Datatilsynet, the country's data protection authority, affirming the legality of a daily fine imposed on Meta Platforms for invasive behavior-based marketing on Facebook and Instagram.
The court fully endorsed Datatilsynet's action, dismissing Meta's plea for a temporary injunction to halt the fine and stating that there was no cause to undermine the regulator's judgment.
In July, Datatilsynet said it considered Meta's behavior-based marketing practices illegal as they excessively monitored user behavior. As a result, it argued, the technology company must halt such practices in Norway immediately.
Meta faced a compulsory fine of 1 million Norwegian kroner (US$93,380) per day, starting on Aug. 14 following its failure to comply with the ban.
The tech giant subsequently filed for a temporary injunction in the Oslo District Court, asserting that Datatilsynet's directives were disproportionate, unfeasible and in conflict with other laws. Rejecting these claims, the court also ordered Meta to cover Datatilsynet's legal costs.
"We are very pleased with the court ruling and see it as a major win for privacy," commented Line Coll, director of Datatilsynet.
In a statement, the date regulator said it is now contemplating taking the decision to the European Data Protection Board to expand the scope of the ban to the entire European Union/European Economic Area region.


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Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has proposed rules to create a regulatory fintech sandbox for innovations which do not fit within the country’s current financial regulatory framework.
The proposed draft rules to enable the introduction and testing of financial technology (fintech) products such as peer-to-peer finance (crowd-funding), crypto-currencies, distributed ledger technology (blockchain technology), artificial (e.g. algorithmic trading), big-data, RegTech credit rating, online lenders, and online banks.
They give safe legal status and a safe space to investors and developers to confidently test and unlock these unique financial innovations tailored for Kenyan consumers. The draft rules were drawn after consultation and in lines with rules in Australia, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia and UK as guides.
The fintech tools must be ready for testing in a live environment; this will allow them to be tested for defined periods of time and for them to be reviewed by peer groups who work with the CMA. Once companies apply to the CMA, they are to get decisions within 21 days, and at the conclusion, they are to give the CMA a report of their outcomes.
• The CMA will have an annual fintech day that will feature all the sandbox participants.
• Participation in the sandbox can be revoked if a company does not do what it says it intended to, has a security breach, or harms the public, among other violations.
The sandbox rules aim to position Kenya as an investment destination of choice. CMA has in the past drafted rules on REIT’s, bonds and venture capital. Will these new fintech sandbox rules lead to more M-Pesa-like innovations? Will they enable the legal use of bitcoin in Kenya? Review the rules (download) and give the CMA feedback by July 26.
EDIT: In December 2018, The CMA published draft rules to access the sandbox space for the public to review and give feedback on. Some clauses in the proposed rules include payment of a non-refundable fee of Kshs 10,000 (~$100), submission of company registration documents, CV’s of all founders and key management personnel and list things like the customer acquisition plan, what they propose to test in a live environment and how that will help accelerate the depth of Kenya’s capital markets. During the sandbox phase, companies are to report on fraud attempts, customer complaints and lessons learnt and these shall remain confidential. They may also be suspended from the environment for things like data breaches.
EDIT: In October 2020, the CMA approved the exit of Pezesha Africa, granting it a ‘No Objection’ which allows it to .. operate its debt-based crowdfunding platform in the Kenyan capital markets, after a successful one-year testing period in the Regulatory Sandbox.


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The value of gold futures fell by 0.01 percent to reach Rs 47,891 and silver future prices fell by 0.96 percent to reach Rs 60,234, according to Multi Commodity Exchange data
The purchasing price of 10 grams of 24-carat gold today, 16 December, reached Rs 47,910 after witnessing a Rs 240 drop in its rate when compared to yesterday’s trading price which was Rs 48,150. Meanwhile, one kilo of silver is being sold at Rs 60,900 after seeing a Rs 600 fall in its rate from yesterday’s selling price that was Rs 61,500.
The price of the yellow metal alters daily due to factors including excise duty, state taxes and making charges.
Below is the list of gold prices in a few metro cities on 16 December:
In Mumbai and New Delhi, the price of 22-carat gold is Rs 46,910 and Rs 47,150 for 10 grams. For the same quantity, in Kolkata, the price of 22-carat gold is being sold at Rs 47,100. Whereas, in Chennai, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 45,190 for 10 grams.
According to the Good Returns website, the value of 10 grams of 24-carat gold in New Delhi is Rs 51,430 and in Mumbai, the same amount of 24-carat gold stood at Rs 47,910. Similarly, in Chennai and Kolkata, the selling price for 10 grams of 24-carat gold is Rs 49,300 and Rs 47,100, respectively.
Looking into other cities including Jaipur and Lucknow, 22-carat gold is traded at Rs 47,000 and Rs 45,700, today. Likewise, the rate of the same amount of 24-carat gold has touched Rs 49,200 and Rs 48,600 in both cities.
In Kerala, 10 grams of 22-carat of yellow metal is priced at Rs 45,000 while 24-carat gold is being purchased at Rs 49,100 for the same amount. Furthermore, in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, the price of 10 grams of 24-carat reached Rs 49,100. However, for the same quantity, 22-carat gold is being sold at Rs 45,000, today in both cities.
Coming to Chandigarh and Surat, the purchasing price of 10 grams of 24-carat gold stood at Rs 48,600 and Rs 49,480. Also, 22-carat gold in both the cities, is being sold at Rs 45,700 and Rs 46,380, for 10 grams, respectively.
Updated rates of gold from Ahmedabad and Coimbatore reveal that the price of 22-carat is currently being sold at Rs 46,380 and Rs 45,190. Additionally, for 10 grams, 24-carat is being bought at Rs 49,480 and Rs 49,300 respectively.
With the recent data from Multi Commodity Exchange (MCE), the value of gold futures fell by 0.01 percent to reach Rs 47,891.00. Silver future prices fell by 0.96 percent to reach Rs 60,234.00.


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U.S. bank fines have a record year in 2012
- Staff Nashville Business Journal
Bank fines paid to the United States government and states in the nation hit a record of $10.7 billion this year.
As CNNMoney notes, the fines come from cases ranging from "laundering money for Iran, to manipulating interest rates paid by consumers and businesses, to improperly foreclosing on homeowners."
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Licensed marijuana retail outlets can remain open on Thanksgiving, according to the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
“Cannabis sales at all licensed cannabis establishments are allowed on Thanksgiving Day”, according to a recent notice posted by the Department. “Consumers should check with retailers directly for holiday hours.”
The notice states that “Any reporting to the contrary is incorrect and should be disregarded.”
Despite allowing marijuana sales, liquor stores are prohibited from opening on Thanksgiving (tomorrow, November 23).
According to data released by the Connecticut Department, there was $24,865,870 worth of legal marijuana purchased in October. Although this is a roughly $340k from total sales numbers for September, recreational marijuana sales actually saw an uptick from $14.3 million to $14.7 million. Medical marijuana sales, however, dropped from $10.8 million to $10.1 million.
Connecticut’s recreational marijuana law was passed in 2021, with the first marijuana store opening in January of this year. Under the law those 21 and older can possess up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana which they can purchase from a licensed marijuana retail outlet. They can also grow up to six plants for personal use.
Earlier this month the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) announced that the state will be doubling its purchase limit for recreational marijuana, from a quarter of an ounce per transaction to half an ounce.


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The Trump administration placed Huawei on a trade blacklist in May, consequently limiting the Chinese company’s access to US technology. Google (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) have cut Huawei’s access to some of their software products because of its blacklisting. Therefore, Huawei’s new flagship smartphone, the Mate 30, will launch without Google apps such as YouTube or Facebook apps such as WhatsApp preinstalled.
Huawei looking for a work-around to trade blacklist restrictions
However, Huawei is exploring ways to overcome trade blacklist restrictions in order to continue accessing Google apps. According to a report from Android Authority, the company is looking at shipping its Mate 30 smartphone without Google apps. However, it wants to create a way to let customers easily install Google apps after they purchase the device. That way, Huawei hopes to continue complying with US trade blacklist restrictions without totally losing access to Google’s apps.
Google apps such as YouTube, Gmail, and Maps are widely popular with consumers. Therefore, a smartphone that comes to market without these apps could struggle to attract buyers. The Mate 30 will launch next week on September 19.
Ditching Android entirely in its next flagship smartphone?
Even as it looks for loopholes in the trade blacklist so it can continue accessing Google apps, Huawei is also exploring a future without Google. If access to Google apps continues to be difficult, Huawei may break free of Google as early as next year. According to a report from the Nikkei Asian Review, the company has a contingency plan to drop Google’s Android platform entirely and shift to its own Harmony platform in its next flagship smartphone, the P40. Huawei could unveil its flagship P40 smartphone in March 2020.
Samsung (SSNLF) and Huawei are the top Android manufacturers, together shipping 497 million smartphones in 2018, according to Counterpoint figures. Huawei alone shipped 205 million smartphones in 2018, and the company aims to ship 300 million smartphones in 2019. Therefore, Huawei plays an important role in helping Google distribute apps such as YouTube, which makes it money through advertising.
We believe Huawei’s ditching the Android platform over trade blacklist problems will be a huge blow to Google’s advertising business. Advertising is Google’s primary source of revenue. It contributed 84% of total revenue at Google’s parent, Alphabet, in the second quarter.


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Watches of Switzerland ups FY revenue guidance after strong H1
Watches of Switzerland upgraded its full-year sales guidance on Thursday after a stronger-than-expected first-half performance and solid start to the third quarter.
The company said it now expects revenue for the year of between £900m and £925m, up from previous guidance of £880m to £910m.
In the six months to 26 October, revenue dipped 3.4% to £414.3m as stores were trading at 59% of total potential hours due to lockdowns and disruption. However, the group swung to a statutory pre-tax profit of £36.2m from a loss of £9m in the same period a year ago, helped by strength in the ecommerce channel, which saw sales surge 65.4% over the half.
Watches of Switzerland said the third quarter so far has been positive, with a stronger-than-anticipated start despite the impact of national lockdowns in the UK and reduced international clientele and shopping centre traffic. In the seven weeks to 13 December, group revenue was up 11.9% at constant currency, or 11.2% on a reported basis.
The company also said it plans to pay back furlough support received from the government, subject to no significant disruptions affecting its performance in the remaining months of the full year.
Chief executive officer Brian Duffy said: "Despite significant headwinds throughout the period, we achieved a good sales performance with domestic customers offsetting lower tourist and airport sales in the UK, and elevated momentum in the US. The group's ambition, adaptability and technical strength were positively demonstrated through enhanced digital activity, a step up in online, increased marketing, CRM and click and collect. With positive cash management, we have further reduced debt and have a significant liquidity headroom."
Duffy said the company’s guidance assumes some further negative trading impact from potential lockdown measures in January and February next year.
"We have also taken into account the removal of tax-free shopping in the UK from 1 January 2021. We believe that the UK Government has misjudged the impact of removing tax-free shopping for tourists and we will continue to support all efforts to have this changed," he said.
At 0940 GMT, the shares were up 3.1% at 538.00p.


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Items filtered by date: July 2021
All right folks, this is a day a lot of us have been waiting a very long time for. Let’s get right into what is arguably the year’s biggest news...
Our friends at The Criterion Collection have finally announced that their first titles on the physical 4K Ultra HD format will include David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr., Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, Jane Campion’s The Piano, Allen and Albert Hughes’s Menace II Society, Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes, and Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night! The first of these is expected to arrive in November (we believe it will be Mulholland Dr.) and will be officially detailed next week when Criterion announces its full November slate. The rest will follow in subsequent months (starting—we believe—with Citizen Kane in December, given that 2021 is the film’s 80th anniversary). Per Criterion, each of their 4K titles will include the film on both 4K and Blu-ray (with most extras on the Blu-ray, allowing the 4K disc to have maximum room for video and audio data). Select films will also feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos sound.
Any way you slice it, this is outstanding news. We actually knew (thanks to our longtime industry sources) about three of those titles and had a pretty good line on a fourth. But by our reckoning, the fact that the company has announced no less than SIX 4K titles tells us that Criterion is seriously ALL IN on the Ultra HD format at long last. And that is the best news we’ve had all year for physical media.
But that’s not all of the news we have for you today, so let’s keep going! [Read on here...]
Hope you’re all having a great week so far. I was buried in catch-up work yesterday after having a series of family visits here—our first in two years due to the pandemic—so suffice it to say that there was no news post yesterday.
However, I’ve been on the phone a lot in the last couple of days talking with industry sources, and we’ve got some great new Blu-ray and especially 4K catalog updates for you this afternoon.
FYI, there will be more new disc reviews coming later this week as well, so be sure to check back for those. But let’s get right into the 4K news...
First up, I’ve confirmed with multiple industry sources now that Warner Bros. will be releasing Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders (1983) on physical 4K Ultra HD in early November. Coppola and his American Zoetrope have recently been remastering several of the director’s films in 4K (Lionsgate is releasing a remastered Dementia 13 on Blu-ray and 4K Digital on 9/21 as part of their Vestron Video Collector’s Series, and Paramount is going to be releasing the complete Godfather Trilogy in 4K Ultra HD next year in honor of the original film’s 50th anniversary), so perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise. [Read on here...]
We’re wrapping up the week here at The Digital Bits with a trio of additional disc reviews and a bit more release news too. First up, those reviews...
Tim kicks things off with a look at Jacques Tourneur’s 1964 horror-comedy classic The Comedy of Terrors, starring Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorre. It’s coming to Blu-ray on 8/31 from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Now then, in terms of release news, the British Film Institute has just surprised us all by announcing its very first 4K Ultra HD release and it’s a good one: Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal (1957). You can see the cover artwork at the left there. [Read on here...]
We’ve got more great new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, as well as more release news too...
First up, Tim has posted his thoughts on Richard Alan Greenberg’s Little Monsters (1989), coming on 9/15 to Blu-ray from Lionsgate via their Vestron Video Collector’s Series.
Tim has also given William Witney’s Master of the World (1961) a look on Blu-ray, a hybrid adaptation of a pair of classic Jules Vern novels (Robur the Conqueror and Master of the World). That arrives on Blu-ray on 8/31 from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
And finally, Tim has taken Roger Corman’s The Raven (1963) out for a spin on Blu-ray, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff. That’s also coming from Kino Lorber Studio Classics on 8/31.
In terms of announcement news today, the big one is that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially revealed a title we’ve had on our 4K List here at The Bits for a while now: J. Lee Thompson’s The Guns of Navarone. Look for it to arrive on 4K Ultra HD on 10/12 in honor of the film’s 60th anniversary. [Read on here...]
All right, we’re starting today with a quick new disc review, and then we’ve got some big new release news to report on...
First though, I’ve just reviewed Rian Johnson’s excellent 2012 science-fiction thriller Looper on 4K Ultra HD, as recently released in the UK by Entertainment One. The title is expected on UHD here in the States from Sony later this year or early next, but in the meantime, if you’re willing to import for just the 4K experience, this eOne release is a great option.
Now then, the big breaking news today is that Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has finally officially announced their long-expected Universal Classics Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection for release on 4K Ultra HD on 10/5.
The set will include the 90th anniversary editions of Dracula and Frankenstein, along the 80th anniversary edition of The Wolf Man, and also The Invisible Man, all in 4K Ultra HD. There’s no indication of Dolby Vision, so we expect HDR10 high dynamic range along with the existing audio mixes. [Read on here...]
Today’s post here at The Bits is a quick one, as we have family visiting this week. However, we do have a little bit of release news and a couple more new reviews for you as well...
First up, I’ve given Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical love letter to rock music, Almost Famous, a look in a fantastic new 2-disc 4K Ultra HD Steelbook edition from Paramount. The remaster is gorgeous, the set includes two UHD discs—one each for the different versions of the film—it carries over all of the legacy extras, and it adds some new ones too. It’s a great set, so do give it a look if you’re a fan of the film.
Also, Stephen has reviewed Tony Scott’s True Romance as newly-released on 4K Ultra HD by Arrow Video, a UK import title that’s also apparently a pretty great remaster and worth considering.
And if you check back tomorrow, I’ll have a review of another 4K import title: Rian Johnson’s Looper from Entertainment One. [Read on here...]


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Celebrity styles pay off for ASOS
Sales at online clothing store ASOS are booming as shoppers shun more expensive rivals on the High Street.
ASOS, which reproduces affordable copies of clothes warn by celebrities such as Kate Moss, said sales rocketed 90% to £81m last year. The new year has also started well with sales up 80% in the past four weeks.
The update came less than a week after Primark reported stunning results to provide more evidence that 'value chic' is the new king of the High Street, drawing both the poor and well-heeled.
Primark is now rapidly closing in on Marks & Spencer to claim the crown of Britian's favourite clothes shop.
ASOS chief executive Nick Robertson today said his business was well placed to deal with the economic slowdown as shoppers seek out bargains.
'Despite the uncertain economic conditions, I remain optimistic about the prospects for ASOS,' he said.
'I'm not naive enough to think we won't be affected by the broader economic climate, I think we must be. But it just means if we were growing at 90%, we'll maybe grow at 70% or 80%.'
Shares in ASOS rose 6p to 305p today to value the firm at £75m. They have soared from 100p in 18 months.
City broker Seymour Pierce expects ASOS to make profits of £7m for last year compared with an earlier prediction of £6.7m.
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September 4th, 2011
This is according to KillerStartups:
While nobody in his right mind would think this new search engine would pose a threat to giants such as Google or Bing, there’s no denying it has come into the fold with some new ideas. And that’s always something worthy of a round of applause, and more than its fair share of respect.Continue Reading...
August 30th, 2011
Yesterday, on August 29th, Helioid was reviewed by Juan Diego Polo on Wwwhat’s New. Juan gives an example of Helioid’s usefulness when searching for cities:
“When searching for cities, for example, we see categories for hotels, guides, events, trips..”
Gracias por sus comentarios.Continue Reading...
August 19th, 2011
In a recent article entitled, “A Call to Rethink Internet Search,” New York Times
technology reporter, Steve Lohr, discusses the rising call for greater innovation and experimentation in web search. Lohr focuses on the criticisms voiced by University of Washington computer scientist, Oren Etzioni, in a recent essay
published in Nature
, concerning the need to move beyond keyword search to natural language search and question answering. Here’s an exciting prediction from the original Nature
“We could soon view today’s keyword searching with the same nostalgia and amusement reserved for bygone technologies such as electric typewriters and vinyl records.”Continue Reading...
August 10th, 2011
On August 4th of last week TechWeb.com.cn
released a review
of Helioid in Chinese (English translation
). Here’s a quote from the translation:
What is unique about it? Compared with conventional search engines, Helioid places search results on the left column with filtering options, users can choose which filter option, or simply show only some of the options. Provides fast and efficient search results. Support for Chinese search.
A day earlier, on August 3rd Winmani
also released a review
of Helioid in Tamil (English translation
). The translation quality is poor, so we’ve chosen what sounds like a complementary koan:
Search results are quickly and wisely.
July 6th, 2011
Review site for cool new web services, MakeUseOf, has published a review of our very own Helioid!Continue Reading...
From the article, “Helioid is a new entrant in the Google-dominated search engine space that wants to help you refine your search results by checking the categories it comes up with when you search for a query.”
June 5th, 2011
The Helioid team and collaborators have released a Europe Travel Guide for Android.
We’ve packed over 3600 European destinations in a tiny offline guide. It’s filled with great content from wikitravel and is the perfect guide for backpackers.Continue Reading...
May 16th, 2011
A few weeks ago we discussed a monograph by M. Wilson, et al., which elucidated the failings the modern search engines when it comes to exploratory search. Wilson and associates concisely characterize exploratory search as revolving around needs that are “open-ended, persistent, and multifaceted, and information-seeking processes that are opportunistic, iterative, and multitactical.” Back in [...]Continue Reading...
April 5th, 2011
The monograph From Keyword Search to Exploration: Designing Future Search Interfaces for the Web by M. Wilson et al. lucidly reviews the current state of search interfaces that move beyond the traditional list of results. We’ve included some choice quotations below.
On why we need better search interfaces and systems:
Even more recently, though, researchers have identified just how inadequate the familiar keyword search paradigms, provided by environments such as Google and Bing (Microsoft’s search engine), might be for users who need to do more than just find a website that answers a factual question. (p.9)


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Trends in trucking industry may keep prices higher for foreseeable future
Leaving aside the still-high price of diesel, a backlog in new trucks and a difficulty in finding younger drivers could mean an already-stressed industry will remain that way for months, and possibly even years.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — In the nearly 40 years she’s spent in the trucking industry, Shelley Koch has seen many cycles.
In 1980, one year after her parents founded K&J Trucking, deregulation in the industry drastically lowered the barriers to entry for trucking companies, leading to an explosion in competition. For a smaller company like theirs, interest rates on a truck ran above 20%, which made turning a steady profit nearly impossible.
After her father died suddenly in 1991, Koch, then in her twenties, took over the Sioux Falls-based company. Since then, every five or six years, the industry experiences a downturn: tightening margins, raising prices economy-wide and often predicting a recession.
Talk to anyone in the trucking industry: It’s happening again.
“My youngest son asked me recently how this year compares to the 2008 recession, when things were really bad,” Koch said. “And I told him things weren’t great in 2008, but they actually weren’t as bad as they are today.”
Though the cyclical nature of these swings tells Koch that the business will get better sooner or later, a combination of trends could mean the rebound in trucking — and, by extension, the wider economy — will take months to materialize. On top of widespread elevation in fuel prices, businesses are struggling with backlogs and shortages in materials as well as difficulties finding younger drivers to compensate for an aging workforce.
“Everything in the transportation world is cyclical, so it'll come back,” said Larry DeGroot, president of Sioux Falls-based freight company Western Provisions. “But the thing is, are certain people going to be able to hang on long enough?”
Elevated input costs could last for years
It almost goes without saying that high fuel costs reverberate throughout the transportation industry like nothing else. Despite a modest drop in price over the past month, the average cost of diesel sits at about $5.43 per gallon, a full two dollars more than one year ago. The math of how this cost bleeds into the wider economy is simple.
“Say you get paid $2.20 each mile. You take one dollar off of that for the fuel, you take 80 cents per mile off for your driver,” DeGroot said. “You don't have much left to operate your equipment, make payments, insurance, all that. So it's a real tough go right now.”
While fuel costs are something that can be factored into freight rates and passed onto customers, another pressing concern less easily fixed is the rapidly increasing cost in new trucks, as well as a parallel cost increase and shortage in parts required for maintenance. According to Koch, a refrigerated trailer has shot up in price around 25% over the last year.
“The current supply chain demand is driving a lot of the price increases,” said Greg Budde, an account executive at Cummins, which specializes in diesel engines. “The competition for parts drives the prices of trucks because they end up paying a lot of money to try and get the parts they need to be able to build on time.”
Like most industries, innovation in the trucking industry has meant a more complex vehicle that is more reliant on electronics and more difficult for a driver to repair on their own. According to Adam South, who works in parts at Zomer Truck & Trailer in Sioux Falls, these factors have led some buyers to seek out used trucks.
Say you get paid $2.20 each mile. You take one dollar off of that for the fuel, you take 80 cents per mile off for your driver. You don't have much left to operate your equipment, make payments, insurance, all that. So it's a real tough go right now.”
“I've noticed that people are pulling a lot of older equipment out of the weeds and trying to get them running because the cost of the new stuff is going up so high. The newer models don’t seem to have the same longevity, and they’re breaking down more often,” South said. “Parts for the new stuff are really difficult to find, too. So a lot of people are going back to the older stuff that is easy to work on and has parts that are still available.”
Multiple sources estimate the backlog in new trucks to be nearly two years. Budde said he expects the backlog to begin subsiding as companies are either priced out or begin canceling orders, a planned tightening of emission standards by the EPA by 2027 could lead to another bump in demand for new trucks.
The rule , as part of a strategy to reduce the output of greenhouse gasses, requires a further lowering of allowable output of nitrogen oxides. Meeting that requirement will require updated engines and electronics, meaning some of the problems in longevity, complexity and part shortages already present in newer trucks may become worse.
Diesel exhaust fluid scare may be fixed
Tom Murphy pulled into a truck stop during a recent haul through southern Georgia.
“Not only was the fluid not available at the pump, which it normally is, they also sell it in one gallon jugs in the truck stop,” said Murphy, the operations manager at Parker Trucking in Sioux Falls. “And here you had two pallets that were completely empty. So guys are starting to be concerned about that.”
The fluid he’s referencing is diesel exhaust fluid, known as DEF, a substance that converts the emissions from the diesel engine into nitrogen and oxygen. Ever since 2010, when the Environmental Protection Agency began enforcing more stringent emission standards, DEF has been an indispensable input in the industry.
Lucky for him, Murphy had been carrying extra DEF onboard. Without it, an updated, computerized engine would not allow speeds over 5 miles per hour, rendering the truck useless.
DEF is a mixture of two components: two-thirds water and one-third urea, a chemical compound high in nitrogen, which makes it highly sought after as a fertilizer. The United States is a net importer of urea; between January and April of this year, trade data showed overall imports of the compound down 13% compared to the same period last year, led by a 46% drop in imports from Russia, a major exporter of the substance.
Another wrinkle adding to the shortage scare was a planned reduction in rail cars by the Union Pacific Railroad. In April, Shameek Konar, the CEO of Pilot Flying J, a major chain of truck stops that distributes approximately 30% of DEF nationwide, warned that the planned restrictions would “keep Pilot from keeping many markets adequately supplied with DEF, likely causing shortages that will sideline trucks and reduce trucking capacity.”
A statement from Pilot Flying J to Forum News Service on July 20 said the company now has “a strong supply of DEF and, due to productive conversations with Union Pacific, we have been able to continue to utilize their rail services to provide DEF to our customers and guests.”
Though it appears there is still enough DEF to go around, the widely circulating rumors of the material’s shortage reverberated around the trucking industry. It’s another example of a recurring theme among industry insiders: Federal regulations can alter the business almost overnight.
An aging workforce
Though input costs and availability are something that most people in the industry expect to rebound within a few years, there’s one underlying issue that may continue to strain supply chains: the difficulty in replacing older drivers as they enter retirement in greater and greater numbers.
The refrain of the inability to find younger people willing to take on the demanding lifestyle of driving a truck is a familiar one among those who run trucking companies. But the instinct to blame the specter of a lazy upcoming generation may not tell the full story.
A 2019 report by the American Trucking Association estimated the average age of a driver at 46 years old. The same report estimated that, over the next decade, more than half of all new vacancies in the industry would come from retiring drivers, putting more pressure on an industry already experiencing chronic understaffing. One issue in recruitment mentioned by these reports was the poor work-life balance inherent to the industry.
“You get paid well for what you do, but it's hard work. My trucks are usually gone five or six days a week, mainly on long-distance hauls,” said DeGroot, the Western Provisions president. “It's a tough life, you miss out on a lot of birthdays, anniversaries and family time.”
Outside of work-life balance, the difficulty in finding willing insurers for younger, inexperienced drivers as well as new training requirements present added obstacles for those trying to enter the workforce.
Koch says hiring new drivers has always been difficult; the only difference in the industry, she says, is in the sheer numbers of new drivers required to keep up with ever-increasing demand. But K&J Trucking has been quite successful in attracting younger drivers.
“I just totally disagree with the idea that kids don't work anymore,” she said. “I'm sure my parents said that about me, so that's generational.”
The approach she has found to be most successful is meeting drivers halfway, although she acknowledges that not every company has the schedules or makeup to honor certain work-life balance requests. Still, Koch rejects the idea that drivers should have to entirely surrender their personal lives to be efficient and profitable.
“I have a couple of young guys that started with us when they were 24 or 25. They're extremely profitable, extremely successful, but what's important to them is to be home every weekend,” Koch said. “Now, that's not how they started. They started running the gamut, right? But as our freight changed, we had opportunities to have them home at least part of every single weekend, so we did that.”


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EA and Respawn Entertainment have three new Star Wars games in the pipeline
EA has confirmed via a blog post that it is working with Respawn Entertainment to make three new Star Wars games. The first is a Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the second an FPS title and the third a turn-based strategy game.
EA's exclusive access to the Star Wars franchise is due to expire next year (2023). That opens up possibilities for Star Wars-themed games from Ubisoft and Quantic Dream, both of which are in varying stages of development. However, EA is not done making Star Wars games just yet, as confirmed by an official blog post stating that it is working on three new titles.
The first game is likely a Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sequel that has been doing the rumours of the internet. Respawn Entertainment is also working on an FPS-themed Star Wars game. A turn-based strategy game is also in the pipeline, developed by Bit Reactor Studios. The blog post claims that all three games are in development but neglect to mention a launch date.
We should see more of these titles, especially the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sequel, make an appearance at E3 later this year. Fans and reviewers received the game well, so its sequel will generate some much-needed hype for others that come after it.
Anil Ganti - Senior Tech Writer - 1375 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2019
I've been an avid PC gamer since the age of 8. My passion for gaming eventually pushed me towards general tech, and I got my first writing gig at the age of 19. I have a degree in mechanical engineering and have worked in the manufacturing industry and a few other publications like Wccftech before joining Notebookcheck in November 2019. I cover a variety of topics including smartphones, gaming, and computer hardware.


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The Apple Tuesday notebook event, where new MacBooks were announced, and drove traffic to a lot of gadget focused sites and blogs. One of those are Engadget, which got a mammoth 14 million pageviews on that particluar day, according to a leaked internal mail reposted by TechCrunch. They reported 1.3 million uniques, so that’s almost 11 pageviews per person. That’s a record for the site.
Weblogs Inc. as a whole served 23.9 million pageviews, and 3.4 million uniques, another all-time high according to the internal email.


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SALT LAKE CITY — Has your kid been called a “default?” Turns out it’s an insult that could lead them to spend more money on ‘Fortnite.”
According to Polygon, Paul Towler, a middle school teacher, found students would bully others over the virtual skins their characters wear in “Fortnite.” As the game grows more and more social, in-game premium skins become more prominent.
Players who use default appearance — referred to as “defaults” or "no skins" — can allegedly be pressured to spend money on new skins to stop the bullying.
Here are some highlights from the article:
- Skins in “Fortnite” can be earned through the $10 battle pass or by connecting your account to other services. Other skins have to be purchased and can cost up to $20.
- Some skins are only available for a limited time, encouraging players to spend money quickly.
- The “default” insult is similar to “noob,” which refers to people with little experience.
- Guy Diep, a parent, said his son asked for money to buy “Fortnite” skins so he wouldn’t be called names.
- Videos on YouTube with millions of views show people being bullied and bullying others over default character skins. One target asks, “Why are you ruining the game?” after being harassed. Another kid describes how he was beat up for not having skins in the game.
- Costumes don’t affect or represent player skill — they’re just meant to look cool and express personality.
- Sameer Hinduja, the co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Centersaid individuals can sometimes attempt to find value and worth in superficialities, which could lead to more spending or bullying in games.
In other news, I recently reported that Epic Games is teasing a futuristic theme for ‘Fortnite’s” ninth season. New legislation introduced on May 8 could also lead to a ban on loot boxes and microtransactions in video games aimed at children, according to Variety.


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Star Pisces will become the first cruise ship to resume sailings in Malaysia with plans to restart from Penang Port on May 13.
Global domestic air demand declines largely due to weakness in China travel; Genting Hong Kong reveals $1.72 billion annual loss.
The Hong Kong-listed firm announced in August that it was temporarily suspending all payments to the group’s financial creditors in order to preserve liquidity.
The company is optimistic about future cruise bookings from North America, Europe and the U.K. as well as other countries to China.
Stalled holiday travel worries Chinese airlines on profits; Trip.com Group "more confident than ever" in China’s long-term travel recovery.
MSC Cruises will be the first major international cruise line to deploy two flagships in China, marking the start of a new age of “double flagship deployment” of the Chinese cruise market.
Norwegian Cruise Line is still being cautious about overmarketing, despite the amount of pent-up demand for cruising.
Although the resumption will encourage more domestic and international cruise operators to apply to resume trips, the industry needs to move slowly and carefully as there is still a risk of infection.
ChinaTravelNews is a wholly owned subsidiary of
©2022 TravelDaily Inc.


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Miley Cyrus Takes Sis Noah Out Shopping in LA (PHOTOS)
The “Can’t Be Tamed” beauty was spotted taking her sister Noah Cyrus (who recently got a cute new pair of bangs) out shopping in Los Angeles over the weekend. Miley, 18, looked extra casual in a gray t-shirt, black leggings and running shoes.
Maybe Miley’s extra-casual look had something to do with the fact that she recently cleaned out her closet for a good cause: The former Disney star auctioned off her clothes on eBay to raise funds for Youth Service America, a non-profit that encourages young people to get involved in their communities.
Check out more photos of Miley and Noah and be sure to visit Miley’s Celebuzz page for the latest news and photos!


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At the same time, the chain will unveil plans to reduce sodium levels in its three signature items -- rotisserie chicken, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes — by 20% in the next six months. Signs at tables -- where salt shakers used to be -- will explain the sodium-reducing effort and note that some shakers are still available at beverage stations.
Pushed by consumers and health advocacy groups, the move by Boston Market comes at a time many big restaurant chains and major food makers -- from Burger King to Disney -- have recently announced plans to reduce sodium.
If Americans cut their intake of sodium by about 50%, that would save up to 100,000 lives per year, says Michael Jacobson, executive director at Center for Science in the Public Interest. He applauds Boston Market's move. "I haven't heard of any other restaurant doing that. That said, many of Boston Market's offerings are loaded with sodium."
A large meatloaf order at Boston Market has 1,640 milligrams of salt. "That is outrageously high," says Jacobson, "but it gives them a great opportunity to improve."
Some sodium reductions on tap:
• Rotisserie chicken (quarter white) goes from 710 to 568mg.
• Macaroni and cheese goes from 1,100 to 880mg.
• Mashed potatoes go from 820 to 607mg.
Boston Market sells 48 million servings of rotisserie chicken, 24 million servings of mashed potatoes, and 21.6 million servings of macaroni and cheese each year.
CEO George Michel says Boston Market will reduce sodium levels by 15% menu-wide by the end of 2014. "It's time for us to focus on making our food better," he says.
It's already testing lower-sodium salads and sandwiches, he says. A new sandwich bread being tested has 50% less sodium.
Some consumers have asked the chain to lower its sodium, Michel says, and the banishing of salt shakers is mostly a bid to "raise awareness of salt intake."
To boost flavors in foods with less salt, Boston Market is adding garlic and herbs, Michel says.
Even then, notes chief brand officer Sara Bittorf, taste is king, so Boston Market is not about to become a "better-for-you" food specialist.
"We don't want it to be misconstrued that Boston Market is becoming a 'healthy' fast-casual chain," she says. "We're never going to have the healthiest mac and cheese on the block."


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This particular Chevelle has the rare and expensive 450 horsepower LS6 engine option. Driven by Ray Allen, it won a number of drag races including the NHRA U.S. Nationals, Super Nationals and World Finals. It was sold by Barrett-Jackson in 2006.
Europe's premier auto show held in Frankfurt, has more than its share of head-turning vehicles.
|Microsoft introduces Windows 10|
|Hackers stole $100 million of U.S. military and Xbox tech - FBI|
|Investors are scared out of their wits|
|Top 10 companies lobbying Washington|
|People are now bending iPhones in Apple Stores|


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The Tire Industry Association (TIA) has named LeAnn Harley as its director of marketing and communications.
The Tire Industry Association (TIA) announced that Caesars Palace in Las Vegas is the host hotel for the 2014 Global Tire Expo (GTE) – Powered by TIA. The GTE is part of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show Nov. 4-7, 2014.
TIA's pre-show events take place Nov. 3.
The early bird rate for rooms in the hotel’s Roman Tower is $185 and expires June 27, 2014. After the early bird date, the room rate is $215. The final cut-off date for the room block is Sept. 12, 2014.
To reserve a room by phone, call 800-221-3531. Reservations may also be made online.
To download a special events registration form, visit www.tireindustry.org.
Modern Tire Dealer’s European Writer John Stone visited the recent Tire Technology Expo in Hanover, Germany, where the latest tire production innovations were on display.
Bear’s Tires Inc. in San Diego, Calif. won the first place prize in the fourth-quarter Nexen Next Level sweepstakes. Owner Mike Power's tire purchases earned him a $30,000 award.
The leader of the United Steelworkers union says the International Trade Commission has made "a huge mistake" in not imposing tariffs on truck and bus tires from China. And based on early feedback from Modern Tire Dealer readers, tire dealers and particularly retreaders agree.
Tireco Inc. has added six sizes to its commercial van lineup, which features the new Milestar Steelpro MS597S.
No tariffs will be assessed on truck and bus tires manufactured in China and imported into the U.S. The International Trade Commission (ITC) has upended the tariff investigation by voting today against imposing tariffs on these products.
Tyrexpo Asia 2017 and the inaugural edition of GarageXpo Asia will be held in conjunction with each other March 21-23, 2017, in Singapore. The events are organized by SingEx Exhibitions Pte. Ltd.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has been named the world’s most admired tiremaker by Fortune magazine for the fifth straight year.
Allpart Supply Inc. has opened a training facility in Arlington, Texas, for wheel balancing and automotive lift owners and operators.
Colleen Horn Doyle, a fourth-generation member of the McCarthy family, is the new corporate attorney for McCarthy Tire Service Inc.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is recalling certain Discover M+S Sport tires in 15- through 19-inch sizes. The potential number of units affected is 7,067.
Tire Factory Inc. members have rebranded the vast majority of their 206 stores to the Point S banner at a breakneck pace. And leaders of the Oregon-based cooperative are unveiling new programs with two big hopes: the momentum of current members continues, and more independent tire dealers join their network.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. posted net income of $69.3 million on net sales of $783.9 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016. That compares to income of $59.2 million on sales of $775.5 million for the same period in 2015.
ATV Inc. has acquired six stores in the greater Los Angeles metro area. The purchase expands ATV's network of American Tire Depot stores to 98 outlets, all in California.
The Mid-America Tire Dealers Association (MATDA) has joined the social media content platform developed by the Tire Industry Association (TIA) and the Automotive Marketing Foundation (AMF).


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Appointment-Plus CEO and Founder Bob La Loggia Featured on Cover of July 2013 Scottsdale Airpark News
The magazine details the history of Appointment-Plus, its current success, and how Bob La Loggia’s focus and commitment to clients and staff alike has made the company the number-one provider of online scheduling solutions for businesses and organizations worldwide.
Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) July 09, 2013
Appointment-Plus, the worldwide leading provider of mobile and online scheduling software, is pleased to announce that CEO and founder Bob La Loggia is featured on the cover of the July 2013 edition of Scottsdale Airpark News.
The magazine details the history of Appointment-Plus, its current success, and how La Loggia’s focus and commitment to clients and staff alike has made the company the number-one provider of online scheduling solutions for businesses and organizations worldwide.
Read the complete article here.
“We’re thankful for the opportunity to share our story with fellow businesses and professionals who operate out of the Scottsdale Airpark and surrounding area,” said La Loggia. “Our company’s narrative is another example of the important role the Airpark plays in the Valley’s economy and the state’s tech sector.”
Scottsdale Airpark News has served as the business voice of the Scottsdale Airpark for over 30 years. The award-winning publication has a monthly circulation of over 25,000 copies.
Learn how Appointment-Plus can help your business improve its appointment-scheduling. Click here for a free guided tour. Call 800-988-0061.
About Appointment-Plus: Launched in 2001, Appointment-Plus was the industry pioneer in online scheduling software, utilizing the software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model since its inception. Today, Appointment-Plus is the worldwide leader in mobile and online appointment scheduling software with over three million appointments booked every month and nearly a billion dollars in commerce conducted annually through its system. Its Scheduling Cloud™ API also enables larger organizations to build custom applications on the powerful Appointment-Plus engine, while its integrated Marketplace allows businesses to easily interface with Microsoft Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar, Constant Contact, QuickBooks and other popular business tools to help businesses and organizations manage their operations more effectively, productively and successfully.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/7/prweb10912330.htm


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Bitcoin and Space: Genesis Mining Sends Bitcoin to Space
Genesis Mining, as a part of its promotional campaign has successfully made the first Bitcoin transaction to space. Read more…
If not the price, there is something else that has already inched Bitcoin towards its ideal holiday location – the moon.
Genesis Mining, a Bitcoin cloud mining provider, sent Bitcoin to space. As a part of its promotional campaign, the company conducted two successful Bitcoin transactions from the earth’s surface to somewhere 20 and 34 kilometres up in the sky, respectively.
Genesis Mining’s ‘To the Moon!’ campaign saw the company sending a 3D model of Bitcoin and a Bitcoin paper wallet to space on a weather balloon. Genesis Mining has recorded the journey using a GoPro camera placed inside a Styrofoam box. The camera was focused on the Bitcoin 3D model with paper wallet address written on the other side.
This post was published at NewsBTC on 9:30 pm September 18, 201.


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Piaggio helps autorickshaw drivers with 10,000 free ration kits
Vehicle maker Piaggio on Thursday said it has distributed over 10,000 free ration kits along with face masks and soaps to 3-wheeler drivers and their families, in the wake of their earnings getting impacted due to the lockdown, which will ensure their basic food safety at least for two months.
The free ration kits, containing dry ration as well as face masks, soaps and sanitisers as per the average requirement of four family members, were distributed on Wednesday across the country with the support of Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd (PVPL) nationwide dealership network, the company said in a release.
The increasing number of Covid-19 cases has resulted in an extension of the nationwide lockdown with a few relaxations in certain areas. This protracted lockdown has terribly affected the auto rickshaw drivers, who largely depend on daily earnings, affecting the livelihood of many families, the company said.
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"In these exceptionally difficult times, we stand with the auto driver and transport worker community to provide our support. They are facing difficulties in this unprecedented Covid-19 situation. We now decided to support the most needy households of this community by taking care of their basic food security for a period of two months.
"Our dealers are also partnering with us and supporting us voluntarily in this distribution to reach out to the underprivileged drivers and their families," said Diego Graffi, MD and CEO, PVPL, said.
PVPL, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Piaggio Group of Italy, has presence in small commercial vehicles and premium scooter segments in India.


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Willow Glen is a great place to live for a variety of reasons, but few would deny that the downtown business community is right up at the top of a list for people who choose to live here.
One reason downtown businesses thrive is the Willow Glen Business Association which actively promotes downtown businesses with special events throughout the year. Now those downtown businesses are coming together for a Business Expo, an opportunity for local residents to get to know the owners and staff of businesses along Lincoln Avenue, on Feb. 14.
The event is being organized by the B2B Committee of the WGBA and will include a Red Cross Blood Drive adjacent to the expo.
To sign up to give blood, visit redcrossblood.org and enter sponsor code: WGBA, or call 1.800.REDCROSS (1.800.733.2767).
The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the Willow Glen Community Center, 2175 Lincoln Ave.


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The European Commission (EC) has officially accused Google of anticompetitive behaviour by abusing its dominance in the search market in Europe. Google has already said that it "strongly disagrees" with this assessment.
The decision - officially called a Statement of Objections - marks the latest stage in the EC's long-running investigation into Google, and could lead to major fines if the company does not make changes that satisfy the EC.
The EC has also confirmed that it will open an investigation into Google's Android operating system after concerns that the firm unfairly unbalances the market by using the platform to favour Google services at the expense of others.
Margrethe Vestager, EU commissioner in charge of competition policy, said it is vital that the EU is able to apply its rules to major firms to ensure that the market is not unfairly balanced.
"In the case of Google I am concerned that the company has given an unfair advantage to its own comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust rules," she said.
"Google now has the opportunity to convince the Commission to the contrary. However, if the investigation confirms our concerns, Google would have to face the legal consequences and change the way it does business in Europe."
Specifically the EC has concerns over the way in which Google displays its own shopping results in search results.
“Google artificially favours its own shopping service and this constitutes an abuse," she said at a press conference announcing the EC's decision.
Google has 10 weeks to respond to the EC's Statement of Objections.
In response, Amit Singhal, senior vice president of Google Search, wrote a detailed blog post outlining why Google believes the EC stance is wrong.
“We respectfully but strongly disagree with the need to issue a Statement of Objections and look forward to making our case over the weeks ahead,” he said.
Singhal also used several detailed graphs to show that Google believes its entry into the shopping comparison market - the main thrust of the EC’s complaint - has not unbalanced the market, and that it continues to thrive.
“Companies like Axel Springer, Expedia, TripAdvisor and Yelp (all vociferous complainants in this process) have alleged that Google’s practice of including our specialised results (Flight Search, Maps, Local results etc.) in search has significantly harmed their businesses," he wrote.
"But their traffic, revenues and profits (as well as the pitch they make to investors) tell a very different story.”
The graph below shows visitor traffic data for key shopping sites in the UK, shared by Google, to outline its argument. It also shared similar data for Germany and France.
On the decision to open a probe into Android, Vestager said it was important to ensure that devices used by millions of people do not unfairly favour one firm at the expense of others.
"Smartphones, tablets and similar devices play an increasing role in many people's daily lives and I want to make sure the markets in this area can flourish without anticompetitive constraints imposed by any company," she said.
One area of concern is the way Google puts pressure on manufacturers to include Google apps within Android when adding the OS to smartphones, specifically search services, and not being able to use rival services.
The move by the EC comes after years of back and forth as Google attempted to allay Europe's concerns and avoid formal action. However, this has proved difficult to achieve.
The EC told Google in September that it needed to make more search concessions to appease concerns that the firm abuses its dominant market position by placing search results for its own services higher than rivals'.
This was a marked change in stance after the EC had originally accepted Google's third round of concessions. But others, such as European publishers, voiced their fears that the concessions would not improve anything.
A group of MEPs even tabled a resolution for companies with web and search offerings, e.g. Google, to be broken up if their market dominance becomes too great.
This is unlikely to happen to Google, but the vote will have put more pressure on the EC to act against Google with a firm hand.
In a speech last week Vestager, while not commenting directly on the Google case, did outline her desire to take a tough stance against any firm that infringes on the rights of consumers in Europe, regardless of location.
"We are indifferent to where the companies involved happen to be headquartered. This is the important part: that the same rules apply to all," she said.
"This is how we have traditionally enforced competition rules in Europe and this is how we will continue to enforce them on my watch."
The EC has long had concerns about Google's dominance in the European market. Oettinger noted last year that he wants to rein in the firm's power in key areas of the market.
The former employee says that Tesla fired him for bringing the accusations to management internally
Insecticides based on sulfoxaflor might be as bad for bees as neonicotinoids
Intel teases forthcoming new graphics card accompanied by the text "We will set our graphics free"
Think your password manager is completely secure? Think again...


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Shares of Outback Steakhouse OSI, +7.14% are down $1.53, or 4.3 percent, to $34.09, after the Tampa, Fla., restaurant firm siad that same-store sales for the five weeks ended Dec. 28 fell 3.1 percent at its flagship restaurants in the U.S., and 2.3 percent at its Carrabba's Italian Grill domestic locations. The company said that its performance was hurt by the timing of the Thanksgiving holiday.
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