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Fashion’s favourite game – musical chairs – has begun afresh.
The latest shift, however, is not to displace a precariously-placed designer, but to fill a place long left vacant: the role of creative director at Mulberry. Said seat is less cold, more frigid – empty for 18 months since the former head, Emma Hill, bowed out (bar her collaboration with the ubiquitous Cara Delevingne back in February).
Johnny Coca is the new main man at Mulberry. Never heard of him? Neither had most of the fashion fraternity. At first glance, his name looks like the moniker of a dodgy Elvis impersonator, or perhaps a pretentious east London hot beverage emporium. Nevertheless, you will know Coca’s work – at Céline and Louis Vuitton.
Coca is only the latest near-anonymous talent to be promoted to a major role. Julie de Libran, the former right-hand to Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton, is now head honcho at Sonia Rykiel, while Hermès’ new womenswear designer, Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski, comes via design director roles at The Row and Céline.
The message? Forget a headline-grabbing name, and go for a designer who can turn out desirable, saleable product.
LVMH has commented that Céline’s commercial performance last year was “exceptional”. No small part of that came from accessories – Coca’s area of expertise. Obviously, Mulberry is hoping to cadge some of the lust that so inflames Céline consumers (Mulberry’s share price plummeted 74 per cent over the past two years). It’s an interesting inversion of the strategy Mulberry has previously employed, enlisting mass-appeal names – the aforementioned Delevingne, alongside musician Lana del Rey and Alexa Chung – to “design” handbags bearing their recognisable, saleable sobriquets.
It’s a tricky gamble. Mulberry’s woes were only exacerbated when its former CEO Bruno Guillon gambled on increasing prices in an attempt to elevate the brand from the accessible to aspirational luxury. Nevertheless, as Hermès and Rykiel prove, times are changing. Mulberry’s now banking on design talent rather than name recognition. Hopefully, it will pay off.Reuse content


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Consumption of chicken meat products in the UAE has fallen but stabilised, and although Covid-19 impacted the industry negatively, poultry producers have been able to take advantage of trade disruptions and are expanding with increased government investment.
Due to its arid climate and nominal rainfall, the UAE is inhospitable to most forms of agriculture, and so the country relies heavily on food imports. Most poultry farms are in Abu Dhabi, which accounts for more than 70% of UAE agricultural production. Poultry production in 2021 in the country is forecast at 56,000 mt, a 12% increase from the 50,000 mt estimate for 2020 due to higher demand for UAE chicken meat products and increasing government support.
To achieve greater food security and due to import supply concerns heightened by Covid-19, the UAE government aims to double local poultry production soon. In this regard, the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority have announced a US$ 272 million investment fund earmarked for agricultural projects. There are currently ongoing investments in the renovation and expansion of an existing poultry farm and an entirely new poultry farm coming into operation in Abu Dhabi this year.
For the first half of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic challenged poultry producers in the UAE where poultry production is highly reliant on immigrant labour that became disrupted as travel bans were imposed. Lockdowns, curfews, and mask requirements also heavily disrupted production. For the latter half of 2020, UAE producers could take advantage of a temporary increase in demand driven by lockdowns which resulted in many wealthy expatriate families to remain home instead of traveling to cooler climates during the early summer months. Emirati poultry producers were able to capture this temporary demand increase and will not have any frozen carryover this year (usually 10% of UAE poultry production is frozen during the seasonal summer lull in demand). This boost in demand also pushed prices up – fresh chicken meat prices increased by 4.4% compared to the summer of 2019. Although only 10% of UAE chicken meat is sold to the food service industry, imported poultry prices for the hotel, restaurant, and institutional sector declined by roughly 30%.
Covid-19: Impact on the global poultry sector
The coronavirus has had a huge impact on daily life from the man on the street to businesses. And the poultry sector, even more essential than ever, has not gone unscathed. Keep up-to-date.
In 2021, consumption is forecast to remain stable at 408,000 mt as the overall economic situation in the UAE recovers from Covid-19. Most large events and tradeshows in 2020 were postponed to 2021 and will help spur a V-shaped recovery in consumption in the new post-pandemic normal. The UAE population is also expected to recover as immigrant labourers and expatriates return from abroad. It is interesting to note that in May 2020, roughly 260,000 labourers out of an estimated 2.3 million labourers left the UAE.
The UAE does not export significant amounts of local chicken meat and consumes most of its own domestic production. In terms of imports, it is reported that nearly 60% of imported chicken meat is destined for the HRI sector. 2020 chicken meat imports were adjusted downward to 407,000 mt, almost 16% lower than 2019 volumes, largely attributed to a loss of import demand from the HRI sector.
Brazil and the US continue to dominate the market, supplying 65% and 17%, respectively. US leg quarters were the predominant import due to a large drop in price. This was the lowest price in 7 years. Ukraine increased their market share to 10% in the first half of 2020. Ukrainian chicken meat exports to the UAE are increasing significantly due to a free trade agreement with the UAE, more competitive prices than Brazil, and expanded production for export by Ukraine’s largest producer.
The information in this article has been extracted from a USDA GAINS report prepared by Rana Tarraf.

domain: news


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For SMBs in Singapore, 5G is not as complicated as it seems
While large enterprises and manufacturers in Singapore have been exploring more 5G use cases, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are also hoping to make the most out of the network to enhance their business productivity.
For example, with 5G, SMBs in Singapore can look to use emerging technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality to create immersive experiences for customers. With e-commerce being a key sector for SMBs, 5G would also enable them to add more value to their products, especially when it comes to improving the customer experience.
According to Dennis Wong, Vice President, Enterprise 5G & Platforms at Singtel, as 5G in Singapore becomes more accessible, it is important to have an ecosystem that is not dependent on others, be it for enterprises or SMBs. He explained that Singtel is working with local SMBs in enabling them to be able to adopt 5G and also use the network as an arena for them to showcase their products as well as create new opportunities for them.
“As most SMBs are startups, I think this is the first step to creating a 5G ecosystem that enables more understanding of use cases for the integration. If you look at it, there are factories, and campus networks with different ecosystems or different entities in the entire chain. What we are doing is trying to make all these different parts of the industry work together, from logistics to manufacturing to the e-commerce industry.”
While SMBs and these industries probably use the same products or tools, Wong pointed out that they all have different sets of data. Hence Singtel hopes to provide them with a seamless flow in exchanging and making sense of this data. But when it comes to data, be it from SMBs or enterprises, there will issue with complexity, which leads to issues on data protection as well as cybersecurity. He added that Singtel is looking to ensure that their customers can use 5G with peace of mind.
In May 2022, Singtel partnered Allot, a provider of network intelligence and security-as-a-service to offer cybersecurity services to Singtel’s SMB customers. Allot’s NetworkSecure is a network-based solution that offers a zero-touch, clientless operation, that requires no application installation by the end customer. It also provides a unified user experience on all devices for cybersecurity and content filtering, including configuration, reporting, and alarm management.
When it comes to the pricing of the 5G network for SMBs, Wong explained that Singtel has a very granular, progressive payment system. As such, this would provide SMBs the opportunity to use 5G without having the break the bank to build a 5G network.
“Together with our network colleagues, we are actually building the nationwide coverage. All this is basically available with a monthly subscription. Certainly, for each of their use cases, they are going to make sure they have applications and AI.
And this is the reason why Paragon comes into play. SMBs don’t have to worry about the expensive design, to coordinate, onboard, or orchestrate the network including stitching everything together or system integration. Paragon can do this for them. Hence, in that sense, we have made it much more accessible and make it much more affordable for the SMBs.” Concluded Wong.
- Adobe’s Achilles heel: How InDesign became a hacker tool and what other options are out there
- Unprecedented data breaches of the last ten years – and their aftermath
- Adobe products continuously targeted for phishing attacks
- Singapore’s AI strategy 2.0 explained
- Can AMD disrupt Nvidia’s AI reign with its latest MI300 chips?


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For Alyssa Snyder, Margaret Thomas and Aron Shelton, flipping through photographs from the past four years serves as a reminder of just how far a single idea can evolve. And how a few people can contribute to raising the quality of life for many.
Their idea – Seeds That Feed, a Fayetteville, Arkansas-based organization committed to collecting and distributing fresh produce to those who need it – began with the desire to be a part of something that mattered in their community.
“Food banks need more fresh fruits and vegetables,” Snyder explained. “I thought back to growing up in a neighborhood with huge gardens and how people were always sharing bags of fresh vegetables they had grown. So we asked ourselves, what if we started an organization that asked Fayetteville residents with gardens to plant an extra row of seeds for us?”
Only, they never had to make that request, because they realized the network of farmers participating in the Fayetteville Farmers Market was an existing resource with a surplus of fruits and vegetables. After every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday market on the town’s downtown square, surplus produce was usually lugged back home and fed to livestock, or composted unnecessarily. So Seeds That Feed set out to coordinate with farmers to collect surplus to help stock the shelves of a local food bank.
Their first collection yielded a modest 35 pounds. But by the end of the first season, the organization was gathering up to 600 pounds of fresh produce in a given day, which was eclipsed by a record 772 pounds following a Tuesday market earlier this summer. Over the past four years, Seeds That Feed has grown to collaborate with a network of more than 40 growers at the Fayetteville Farmers Market and across the region, delivering more than 47,000 pounds of donated produce to more than 25 programs and organizations across the region.
“I remember getting on my phone the first time we hit 600 pounds and literally calling every food bank we could think of because we had more produce than just one could handle,” Shelton said. “Our idea had started to take on a life of its own.”
Through a recent grant from the Walmart Foundation, Seeds That Feed expanded its reach even further with the launch of its Mobile Food Network in July, including a mobile produce pantry. The pantry – a repurposed box truck retrofitted to bring a fresh market to low-income housing complexes, local churches and service organizations – offers free produce to food-insecure segments of the community. In addition, Seeds That Feed has begun assembling “cookboxes,” food packaged with recipe cards, to enable patrons to utilize donated produce to develop healthy meals.
“The Mobile Food Pantry really is like a dream come true,” Thomas said. “It's so far beyond anything we ever imagined this organization could become, and these farmers have become like family to us along the way. It's an amazing collaboration. When an 80-year-old woman talks about what it's like to eat fresh tomatoes for the first time since she was a kid, it motivates you to keep wanting to reach more people.”
And that’s precisely what Seeds That Feed plans to continue doing.
“Something as simple as having a meal with your family can change your day, and we’re working to make things like that possible every day,” Snyder said. “We’re proud of what this organization has become. It has all come together from learnings – and the beautiful thing is that it can all be replicated.”


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Clint Hocking quits as LucasArts creative director
Clint Hocking has announced that he has left his post as the creative director at LucasArts.
Hocking took up the job two years ago after leaving Ubisoft where he had made considerable contributions to the Splinter Cell series and Far Cry 2 over a period of nine years.
He said on his blog, "I recently left my job at LucasArts and am moving on to something new. Unlike last time, (and mercifully less wordy) I already have something lined up and I am currently in the process of dealing with the living hell of relocation. I will let the world know where I am going once I get there. Unless you already know."
In his time at LucasArts he is believed to have been working on two unannounced projects.
- New Warframe update adds space-flight to the gameplay with Archwing mode
- New poll indicates that people believe online gaming is “the least welcoming space” for women
- CD Projekt RED releases The Trail, the opening cinematic from The Witcher 3
- New Project CARS trailer pulls up to the starting grid
- Far Cry 4 dev says linear games will suffer in the new world of gameplay video sharing
- Almost 1,100 developers, students and journalists sign the new #gamediversity petition embracing diversity in games
- Felicia Day breaks her silence about #Gamergate, is almost immediately doxxed
- Ubisoft announces PC specs for Assassin's Creed: Unity and they're killer
- Dark Souls 2 could see a fourth pack of DLC released


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Blockbuster was once a name synonymous with movie rentals. Then Netflix, the online DVD mailing service, came along and stole some of that luster. Recently, as the transition to digital distribution for home movie rentals/purchases has begun, Blockbuster has seemed almost comically behind. That reputation could get worse with the company’s offer today to buy number two electronics retailer Circuit City.
The $6 to $8 a share dollar cash offer, which could be worth as much as $1.3 billion, simply does not make a lot of sense. Blockbuster notes that the combination would make an $18 billion global enterprise, but a lot of companies can be crammed together and a big number thrown out there; it doesn’t mean they should be.
Both Blockbuster and Circuit City have been struggling amid strong competition from the likes of Netflix and Best Buy respectively. Both have stocks that have been bottoming out recently — Circuit City’s stock was trading at just under $4-a-share before the deal, Blockbuster’s was even worse, closer to $3. If stock prices are any indication, investors don’t understand this deal either — at least for Blockbuster. While Circuit City is soaring, up nearly 30 percent on the news, Blockbuster is tanking, down almost 13 percent right now.
Both companies had some positive news recently. Blockbuster finally appeared ready to take digital distribution seriously with talk about entering the the living room set top box game and saw profit climb on some cost-cutting the company has been doing. Circuit City also cut costs last quarter and pulled in a profit. This deal looks to negate these slight turnarounds.
A private offer is said to have been made before Blockbuster took a page from Microsoft’s book in its pursuit of Yahoo and took the deal public. Now, Circuit City seems just as confused as all of the analysts about the deal. Circuit City has issued a statement questioning if Blockbuster could even finance such a deal:
Among those questions are whether the proposed acquisition would require a refinancing of the existing Blockbuster debt, and if so, what would be the terms and structure of any new debt; how large a rights offering would be required to fund the transaction and what steps Blockbuster has taken to provide a backstop to ensure successful execution of the rights offering contemplated; and what precise internal and external approvals Blockbuster anticipates for a proposed transaction, including approval of the contemplated rights offering by Blockbuster shareholders and registration of the offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities also questions the financing of such a deal:
Our initial analysis of the deal leads us to tentatively conclude that Blockbuster intends to raise around $500 million through a rights offering, plus an additional $500 – 800 million in incremental debt. The combined company would have around $120 – 150 million of EBITDA before synergies, implying a debt to EBITDA ratio of 6 – 11x. It is not clear to us that Blockbuster will succeed in financing this transaction.
He goes on to note:
We think that Blockbuster’s move is premature, and borders on being reckless. Circuit City runs its business as a “big box” retailer, and its business is particularly challenged by a worsening economic environment, a well-run competitor, and a constantly changing product offering.
One major problem Blockbuster has had in the Netflix world is that its brick and mortar stores cost too much money to operate. That is exactly why it decided to close hundreds of them. Little did anyone know that the plan then included buying another company’s struggling brick and mortar stores.
[photo: flickr/Elise esq]
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LOS ANGELES Titanium sponge imports were flat in 2012, but a decline in fourth-quarter arrivals appeared to signal a period of lackluster domestic demand which has continued into this year.
The United States imported 33,600 tonnes of titanium sponge in 2012, down only slightly from 33,800 tonnes in 2011, according to data released recently by the U.S. Geological Survey. However, sponge imports reached 6,800 tons in the fourth quarter, down 23.3 percent from the previous quarter and down 31.7 percent from the year-ago period.
Buyers in late 2011 were scrambling to line up sponge for the coming year amid sharp rises in the cost of rutile feedstock, but the situation had changed dramatically as early as mid-2012, as falling scrap prices made secondary material more competitive against virgin raw material. Market sources noted that U.S. sponge buyers at the time were having second thoughts about the amount of sponge they needed in 2012 (amm.com, Oct. 5
People were taking any steps they could to push out or cancel sponge in order to reduce their reliance on virgin material, an industry source said. The source and other observers agreed that imports will likely fall this year from 2012.
U.S. sponge production reached 19 million tonnes last year, up from 14 million tonnes the year before, according to an industry estimate.
Japan was the largest supplier of titanium sponge in 2012, accounting for 18,900 tonnes, or 56.3 percent of the years total imports. It was followed by Kazakhstan, which supplied an estimated 8,030 tonnes, or 23.9 percent of the years total, and China, which supplied an estimated 3,510 tonnes of material.
Japanese imports rose 17.4 percent from the previous year, solidifying that countrys role as the top overseas source for U.S. sponge consumers. Kazakhstan, once the largest supplier, saw imports fall 6.7 percent year over year.


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Sep 14, 2012 Ned Campbell Uncategorized
The village of Fayetteville just got a bit more stylish.
That’s because on Monday, Danielle Marnell, a 2007 Fayetteville-Manlius High School graduate, opened Neenee’s boutique at 204 W. Genesee St. Marnell graduated with a degree in textiles from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology in May 2011.
She celebrated a grand opening of the store with family and friends on Thursday.
“Since I was a little girl I always wanted to open a boutique,” she said. “I love it. It’s a lot of work, but I love it.”
Marnell said Neenee’s offers “clothing, accessories and gifts that are vibrant and yet bow to classic styles.” As for the name — she didn’t have to look far.
“It’s my nickname,” she said. “My parents call me that.”
Marnell said she opened the boutique in Fayetteville because “Fayetteville needed something extra, something different.”
Neenee’s boutique, which showcases Marnell’s classic-contemporary style, is just that.
Neenee’s is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday.


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GM HOLDEN’S executive director of marketing Mark Harland has left the company after just 16 months in the role and will be replaced by Holden and Isuzu Trucks New Zealand managing director Kristian Aquilina.
Under Mr Harland’s direction, Holden launched the Astra sedan and Sportwagon, Equinox mid-size SUV, and the new-generation imported ZB Commodore, but the brand’s sales have slid a drastic 22.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2018 from 20,119 to 15,524 year-on-year.
Despite advertising campaigns such as the Commodore’s ‘For Sure’ and Equinox’s ‘Nothing to Prove’, Holden’s new imported Commodore has dipped a substantial 53.7 per cent year to date, while the brand’s crucial new medium crossover is being outsold by the segment-leading Mazda CX-5 by more than six to one.
Mr Harland was also responsible for Holden’s tie-up with Surf Life Saving Australia and Mardi Gras, while he also renewed support for the Collingwood Football Club, NRL State of Origin and the inaugural NRL Women’s Premiership League.
Holden chairman and managing director Mark Bernhard thanked Mr Harland for seeing the Lion brand through the shutdown of local manufacturing in October last year.
“Mark has brought a fresh perspective to Holden during a difficult period of transition,” he said. “We thank him for his passion and wish him well on his future endeavours.”
Mr Harland’s next move is currently unknown, but he leaves General Motors after 20 years that also saw him take on roles including Chevrolet regional marketing manager, GM director of connected customer experience, and GM director of marketing and customer experience prior to his appointment at Holden in late 2016.
His Holden predecessor, Geraldine Davys, served just 15 months in the job before returning to her previous role at iSelect. Ms Davys was announced as Nissan Australia’s new marketing director in February.
Mr Harland will be succeeded by Mr Aquilina, who will return to Holden Australia after three years and four months in the top job at the Lion brand’s division in New Zealand.
Mr Aquilina started his career at GM Holden in 1997 in corporate affairs before moving to roles such as manager of export sales operations, national manager of government relations and public policy, and general brand and product marketing manager.
Mr Bernhard said Mr Aquilina’s experience in New Zealand will be key in turning around Holden Australia’s sales fortunes.
“Under Kristian’s leadership, the Holden brand and sales have continued to strengthen in New Zealand,” he said.
“Kristian’s understanding of product, marketing, customers and the Australian motoring landscape is second to none. We are looking forward to Kristian advancing the Holden business in Australia.
“We’re passionate about our future and confident that our sales will improve. Marketing is a key part to ensuring this.”
Meanwhile, Mr Kristian said: “As a business and as a brand, we are in a period of significant transformation.
“I’m passionate about Holden and our products – they are the best we’ve ever had. My job is to bring people on the journey with us,” he said.
By Tung Nguyen


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Following a report that several HBO Max original movies have been cut from the streaming service — including shelving the nearly complete but still unreleased Batgirl film — fans are now mourning the former greatness of the streaming service and its apparent gradual downfall.
We’re not saying outright the future of HBO Max is doomed or anything, but it’s clear from people’s reactions to the recent cuts that a pessimistic view among the fanbase is beginning to take hold. Not only did Warner Bros. shelve Batgirl — a movie estimated to cost more than $70 million to produce — but Variety reported they have also quietly cut other original movies on HBO Max for the past several weeks, including Moonshot, Superintelligence, An American Pickle, Robert Zemeckis’ The Witches remake, Locked Down, and Charm City Kings, as We Got This Covered previously reported.
What’s more, Newsweek reported that there are also rumors floating around among entertainment insiders and journalists that HBO Max itself will eventually be put out to pasture, or possibly be folded into the Discovery Plus streaming service due to the recent merger and regime change that has birthed the newly minted company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
“HBO Max is by far the best of the streamers with a great catalogue of shows and movies – not sure what the thought process here is other than corporate greed,” one Twitter user remarked.
Another commentator said HBO Max was one of her favorite and most used streaming services and wasn’t looking forward to its potentially compromised future.
“If it gets ruined, I will be very upset.”
“HBO Max has turned out to be the best streamer, and yet it appears that this merger resulted in it being taken over by an exec who does not like anything that has been done with it so far,” remarked Rolling Stone critic Alan Sepinwall.
Another Twitter user said that if the rumors are true that WB is ditching all HBO Max scripted content and migrating the entire platform to Discovery Plus, that “might be the single dumbest decision made by any corporation in the streaming age.”
Another Twitter user felt that streaming service was like an injured companion they were trying to revive in their arms.
“HBO MAX STAY WITH ME.”
Another commentator imagined that the news of HBO Max’s speculated downfall would be music to the ears of rival streaming service Netflix, who has been in the red with their profits lately.
“This is such a blow to the filmmakers,” another Twitter user and self-described cinephile remarked.
Another casualty of the HBO Max original slaughter was the animated film Scoob: Holiday Haunt, which similar to Batgirl, never saw a release despite being close to complete.


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PC Utilities magazine
We are sad to announce that PC Utilities magazine will no longer be published — issue 154, which went on sale recently, will be the final issue.
Launched in March 2000, PC Utilities magazine was published every four weeks for more than twelve years, and was the ultimate guide to free Windows software.
Sadly over the last few years, there has been a significant decline in demand for printed monthly computer titles both in the UK and abroad. Whilst we have explored every avenue to keep the title running, recent store closures and low sales figures have meant it is no longer financially sustainable.
We'd like to thank all our readers over the years, and in particular our subscribers — who should be receiving a letter from us shortly — for their wonderful support.
— The PC Utilities team
2nd July 2012


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British retailer Sainsbury's has pledged to start price matching discounter Aldi on hundreds of products, firing the latest salvo in the UK's highly competitive grocery market.
Sainsbury's said on Wednesday it would match the German-owned discounter's prices on around 250 equivalent products, including meat, chicken, fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy. It follows a similar initiative from market leader Tesco last year.
Aldi immediately dismissed Sainsbury's move. "Shoppers know that the only place you can get Aldi prices is at Aldi," it said.
Sainsbury's said its price matching will cover both Sainsbury's and branded products.
The price initiative forms part of new CEO Simon Roberts' updated strategy, announced in November, to focus more on food.
Sainsbury's has a 15.7% share of the UK grocery market, according to the latest industry data, but it has been chipped away over the last decade by Aldi and rival discounter Lidl, who have been aggressively opening new stores and now have a combined 13.3%.
All of Britain's big four supermarket groups – Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons – have been cutting prices to narrow their price gap with the discounters.
Tesco launched its "Aldi Price Match" scheme last March.
In 2016, Sainsbury's abandoned a price matching scheme on branded goods ("Brand Match") that had run for five years.


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NEW DELHI: Google
and Tata Trust
’s ‘Internet Saathi
’ program which covers 90000 villages having 23000 internet saathis, has a target of reaching 300000 villages to cover 50% of India’s rural area by 2019, as told by Raman Kalyanakrishnan, Head – Digital Interventions, Tata Trusts in an interaction with ET.
The program is currently running in 12 states of India and has a target of expanding to 16 states by March 2018.
The initiative that The program was launched in July 2015 jointly by Google and Tata Trusts with the objective of improving internet literacy of rural women. The program identifies enterprising women in rural community who are called the internet saathi and are trained to use internet and digital tools.
As part of the program, the internet saathi is equipped with smartphone devices which are internet enabled. The internet saathis then add a chain to their own communities wherein they reach out to small groups of women and take them through a module which familiarizes them with the usage of the device and internet.
“One in 10 rural internet users is a woman. However due to barriers of content, connectivity, culture and availability of affordable device, they are not able to make use of the internet utility,” said Kalyanakrishnan.
“...about 20% people from rural areas access internet and 60% of the villages still rely on 2G coverage,” he added.
Talking about the impact internet saathi program has had so far, Kalyanakrishnan cited an internal study which showed that nearly 40% women exposed to internet saathi program continue to access internet post getting trained, at least once a week. Also, about 45% women who were trained by internet saathi believed that they have increased their income by learning new skills.
On being asked about telcos role to bride digital divide, Kalyanakrishnan said that it is important that telcos offer quality internet and reasonable speed in rural areas at affordable rates. However, not much has been done because of the way each of the operators might be looking at their business case in terms of how it makes sense to them.
Tata Trusts is working in Rajasthan on another project called ‘Druv’ which is about helping rural communities adopt digital content by providing curated content on a television screen without the need for a browser or keyboard. It is also supporting creation of service centers in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh which are run by women and helping them provide digital services to their community.


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In a statement issued from Apogee Electronics, the company states that as of 2009, it will no longer develop products for the Microsoft Windows platform. Apogee says that it “made this decision in order to focus all research, development and support resources on the Apple platform with its unparalleled power and stability. Apple offers a wide range of affordable, powerful desktop and laptop solutions ideally suited for music creation and audio production.
“Apogee will continue to develop and manufacture premium converters, microphone preamplifiers, clocking solutions, and supporting technologies that provide world-class solutions for Mac-based production environments.
“Windows users can obtain the Apogee sound by connecting Apogee converters to their Windows-compatible audio interface via AES, optical, or S/PDIF. Apogee technical support will continue to support legacy Windows configurations installed on Windows XP Service Pack 2.”
Any questions regarding Windows support can be directed to Apogee technical support, available Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Technical support can be reached either via phone at 310/584-9394, e-mail at [email protected], or fax at 310/584-9385.
For more information on Apogee products, visit www.apogeedigital.com.


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Sen. Schumer urges FDA action against filthy food suppliers
ALBANY – U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is urging the Food and Drug Administration to implement a plan to address recent reports of rat-infested warehouses that supply food to restaurants.
Schumer says Sunday that the FDA sent warning letters to 90 food facilities across the country in 2014, citing unsanitary conditions such as insects, rodent feces and dead rats and mice.
He’s calling on FDA to increase the regularity of inspections, increase fines for violations, and create an easily searchable database for restaurants and consumers to see which food processing and storage facilities have poor sanitation records.
Schumer said retail food vendors should have a clear way of knowing if the products they are buying are from a facility with known violations cited by the FDA.


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Intel's next-generation processors for the ultra-mobile, mobile, desktop, workstation and server segments will be based on the company's leading 45nm silicon process technology that uses its revolutionary high-k metal gate transistors.
During his Technology Insight presentation, Intel Senior Fellow Mark Bohr said the company now has working versions of its Silverthorne processor based on its 45nm Hi-k low power microarchitecture for MIDs and UMPCs. Silverthorne joins already working versions of its 45nm Hi-k Intel Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad and Intel Xeon family of processors. Today, Intel has more than 15 different 45nm Hi-k product designs in various stages of development, and will have two 45nm manufacturing fabs in production by the end of the year, with four in production by the second half of 2008.
Intel's long-standing research and technology pipeline has led to innovative advances in silicon technology that in turn allow the company to continuously deliver the cost and performance benefits of Moore's Law. In 2003, Intel was the first to introduce strained silicon technology to greatly increase the speed of its transistors on its 90nm process.
Intel is already working on technology for 32nm, 22nm and beyond. Bohr described several options that Intel is researching for future technology generations, including tri-gate transistors, Indium Antimonide quantum well transistors and carbon nanotube interconnects.


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In 2013 she set up, and has since annually run, 'Steps for Jo's', on behalf of JCCT
, securing patronage from many organisations for the fun runs.
Overall the sample comprised 42 individuals divided into JCT group (n= 23; 20 females and 3 males) and JCCT
group (n=19; 14 females and 5 males) recruited in Fitness Centers of Porto, Portugal.
Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said the United States did not achieve all of its trade goals with China during the meeting, but she also described the JCCT
as a process that could result in future agreements.
During the December 2010 U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT
), (127) the Chinese government announced several new initiatives to improve its IPR protection regime, including boosting purchases of legitimate software by government agencies and 30 large SOEs.
"But a reality also is that many in the US, including the business community and the Congress are moving towards a more negative view of our trading relationship, and they question whether the JCCT
is able to make meaningful progress," said Bryson.
Although the JCCT
talks do not address exchange rate policies, U.S.
In October 2009, the United States and China convened the 20th session of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT
), co-chaired by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, U.S.
Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan co-chaired the 21st Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT
) meeting with U.S.
The U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT
) will continue talks on a variety of touchy of touchy issues.
and China can work together to achieve results from the JCCT
,'' Xinhua quoted Locke as saying.
The key China player at Commerce is Undersecretary for International Trade Frank Lavin, the Mandarin-speaking former Ambassador to Singapore, who will be in charge of the JCCT
[Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade] process.
Trade Ambassador Rob Portman met with Vice Premier Wu Yi of China recently for the 17th annual meeting of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT


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The largest U.S. automaker is taking another step toward broadening its portfolio as concerns grow that car ownership may wane. » Read More
By: Michael Sheetz
The highly profitable pickup truck market is the next to be revolutionized by electric vehicles, Morgan Stanley says. » Read More
The U.S. auto industry urged President Donald Trump's administration on Monday not to saddle imported cars and auto parts with steep tariffs. » Read More
Japanese automaker Honda confirmed Tuesday that it plans to close its Swindon car plant in the U.K., risking the loss of 3,500 jobs. » Read More
Falling car sales, sluggish retail sales data, a cooling housing market — those are all stoking fears of weakening consumer spending in China amid its slowing economy. But analysts say they're not concerned.
The U.K. lawmaker responsible for the region has appeared to confirm the move.
The manufacturing nation's employment would be the worst affected by a dip in British buying of foreign goods.
To find a place in a rapidly evolving auto industry, British-based Lagonda and Spain's Hispano Suiza are looking forward into the past, blending heritage with futuristic technology, including all-electric drivetrains.
While it doesn't have the best interior, the Levante GTS lives up to the driving experience that a Maserati badge promises with a roaring Ferrari V-8 engine under the hood.
A fire broke out at Tesla's car plant in Fremont on Saturday, but is now contained and won't impact production.
The Commerce Department is expected to deliver long-awaited report on auto tariffs to the president by a Feb. 17 deadline, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
In 2018, Khosrowshahi's first full year as CEO, Uber narrowed losses and continued to grow, though at a slower pace than in the previous year.
Michigan-based Rivian, which aims to market electric pickups and sport utility vehicles, has secured new funding from Amazon and existing shareholders.
Ford CFO Bob Shanks will likely stay on through the end of 2019, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Tesla officially introduced a new feature on Thursday called "Dog Mode" that aims to keep owners' pets comfortable while left unattended in the vehicle.
Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas says Tesla's biggest question is whether it can self-finance "where it doesn't need external equity capital to fund its very ambitious plans."
General Motors might be attracted to the platform as a way to sell a more profitable electric vehicle, while Amazon could use the basic platform for logistics.
BMW's North America CEO Bernhard Kuhnt said the company will deal with whatever tariffs are imposed, but that they are bad for consumers, dealers and the economy.
The automaker is particularly well-positioned to take advantage of a growing light truck market.
Ford is aware of five accidents involving a defect that can cause up to 1.48 million F-150 trucks to suddenly downshift to first gear, potentially causing whiplash.


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Saranga Sudarshan, Research Analyst, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan Australia & New Zealand says decentralization of the payments network will allow Fintechs to offer convenient and competitively priced payment solutions.
Sudarshan says new EFTPOS and online charging solutions will permit more credit card payments to merchants at a reduced cost of receiving payments. From 2016, digital payments will have steady revenue growth with the segment forecasted to be worth AUD1.897 billion by 2020.
Frost & Sullivan’s study, Fintech in Australia – Trends, Forecasts and Analysis 2015 – 2020 suggests as Apple and Google develop stronger ties with banks, they could bypass Visa and MasterCard’s global payments network. If Apple and Google expand their payments system beyond NFC and mobile apps, and enter online payments, Paypal’s online payments system will be threatened as customers will prefer integrating their mobile and online payment method under one system.
Smartphones allow the possibility of completely digital banks to operate internationally without any physical branches. Mobile applications are developed to be the sole platform for mobile banking and investment tools.
About 60% of the top 100 finance apps are Fintech and 100 most downloaded free financial apps; 65 on the Australian Google Play Store and 54 on the Australian Apple App Store, were for services offered by companies that are not established banking or investment firms. Mobile payment apps include PayPal, PayPal Here, Square Register and Woolworths Money.
Cryptocurrencies (CRCs) such as Bitcoin or XRP offer anonymity, accessibility and an unregulated low cost model payment method. The value of one Bitcoin grew 314.41% (CAGR) from 2011 to 2015; however this growth has been underlined with a high degree of volatility. With high volatility, low merchant acceptance and consumer confidence and no integration of cryptocurrency transactions into the settlement system of Australia’s new payments platform, coupled with security of an individual’s cryptocurrency wallet remaining a long-term issue with increasing levels of cybercrime, mainstream adoption is unlikely over the forecast period.
Key players in the digital payments segment include BitPOS, Coinjar, iDats, Tappr and Tyro Payments.
Frost & Sullivan predicts that these companies are poised for strong growth; with the next goal for Fintechs in the digital payments segment being to grow existing revenue streams.
For a complete archive of more than 60,000 articles published since 1995 search the CardFlash.com library.


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Interactive Intelligence to open East Coast regional HQ
- By David Hubler
- Jan 11, 2007
Interactive Intelligence, an Indianapolis-based developer of business communications software for commercial and government use, announced the opening of an Eastern regional headquarters in Herndon, Va.
The company said opening the Herndon office is part of its strategy to add education centers that supplement the company’s primary North American training facility in Indianapolis.
Interactive Intelligence’s government customers include the Defense, Energy and Homeland Security departments; the Army; the Air Force; the Environmental Protection Agency; the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Consumer Product Safety Commission; and the Customs and Border Protection agency.
The company said of its more than 2,500 customers worldwide, many commercial clients are located along the Eastern seaboard and throughout the Southeast.
The Herndon office will officially open Jan. 18, with tours and product demonstrations from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The company recently opened a Western regional headquarters in Irvine, Calif., and relocated its U.K. headquarters to larger offices near London last month. It said it plans to expand its Amsterdam sales and support office later this year.
David Hubler is the former print managing editor for GCN and senior editor for Washington Technology. He is freelance writer living in Annandale, Va.


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Shutl, the London-based startup that promises to enable the delivery of online purchases within minutes of sale, has secured $3.2 million in funding that it plans to put toward its upcoming debut in North America.
The new money was brought in by Shutl’s existing investors, which include UPS’s strategic venture arm and Hummingbird Ventures, along with the participation of two new backers, e.ventures and Notion Capital. Shutl’s last bit of funding was the $2 million raise it announced in August, which was also provisioned to be put toward the impending North American launch.
Over the past year, Shutl has expanded across the UK, where it says it can enable the delivery of goods purchased online either within minutes of them being purchased or inside a 1-hour window selected by the shopper. It does this with its web platform, which connects retailers to local same-day courier companies. The company claims its fastest delivery clocks in at just under 15 minutes from time of purchase. This apparently is good not only for the consumer, but also for Shutl — since it first came on the scene back in late 2009, the company has liked to compare its service to “Kozmo meets UrbanFetch, but with a profit made on every delivery.”
Shutl says it plans to launch stateside in the first quarter of 2013, starting with New York and San Francisco. After that, Shutl will commence “phase two” of its North American rollout which will include the likes of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, and Washington, along with Canadian cities Montreal and Toronto.
Coming to the U.S. is a big goal for Shutl, founder and CEO Tom Allason told TechCrunch’s Mike Butcher earlier this year. “We are ready for the U.S., a market that we estimate will be worth around $26 billion by 2016,” he said then. To address a market that large will take some strength — and, of course, there are already some US-based startups such as Postmates and TaskRabbit who are hustling hard to tackle the ultra-quick delivery space — so it makes sense for Shutl to take advantage of the chance to pad its coffers with a bit more cash before it crosses the pond.


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PLAINFIELD — Hanzo Logistics and Ambrose Property Group recently celebrated the groundbreaking of a new 403,200-square-foot headquarters office and distribution facility located at 450 Airtech Parkway in Plainfield.
This development will become the new headquarters for Hanzo Logistics, a logistics firm specializing in warehouse management, fulfillment and distribution, cold storage and transportation.
Cushman & Wakefield/Summit brokers, Cam Kucic and Matt McGrady, represented Hanzo in its search for a new distribution facility.
This facility will accommodate Hanzo’s expansion requirements and anticipated growth. Ambrose Property Group has hired Pepper Construction as the general contractor and JRA Architecture as the project architect.
Aasif Bade, President of Ambrose Property Group said, “We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Summit’s client, Hanzo Logistics, on this new development. We also want to thank the state and local officials who were instrumental in making this important development a reality.”
“We are delighted to see Hanzo be successful in Plainfield and go forward with this expansion,” Robin Brandgard, President of the Town Council said. “Growth of current businesses in Plainfield is important to us, and we’re pleased to be able to aid their expansion and the addition of new jobs in this new location.”
Brandgard continued, “Having Hanzo’s headquarters here is a testament to the dynamic atmosphere in our business parks, which now have over 33 million square feet under roof.”
The anticipated completion date for the project is September of 2014.


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President Donald Trump took office almost four years ago, promising to tear up trade deals and negotiate new treaties better for American business.
He’s one for two.
Reading a column about the presidential candidate’s policies may seem quaint after Tuesday’s debate. I watched looking for insight into policy differences, and boy, that was a waste of time. But Americans should consider the economic consequences of their vote nonetheless.
While the president of the United States has little direct power over the domestic economy, Congress has given the White House enormous authority over foreign policy. The administration negotiates trade deals, which typically require the president to certify they are implemented fairly.
TOMLINSON’S TAKE: Trump must keep economy in mind when standing up to China
Trump made his intentions clear in his inauguration speech, declaring that: “We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.”
The president quickly withdrew the United States from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, a new treaty that could have marginalized China and expanded markets for U.S. goods. He then demanded a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which led to only minor tweaks.
Trump’s most significant transformation was moving away from big framework treaties that standardize rules among dozens of nations. Instead, he returned to old-fashioned, narrow deals with individual countries, closing two with Japan and South Korea. They only marginally increased U.S. exports.
The president’s trade failures, though, have been more hurtful to the U.S. economy. White House trade advisor Pete Navarro threw out years of progress on a European Union trade deal, sacrificing that opportunity. Trump then imposed new tariffs on European goods, including Scotch whiskey and French cheese.
Trump’s trade war with China has introduced new tariffs that have punished U.S. producers and consumers. To save the stock market, he managed to reach a first-phase trade agreement to boost Chinese imports of U.S. goods. But China is nowhere near meeting its commitments.
Talks with China are on hold until after the election, but so far, China has not given an inch.
Americans, meanwhile, have paid $80 billion in tariffs on foreign goods, according to the conservative Tax Foundation. No matter what Trump claims, foreign countries do not pay tariffs. American businesses pay them when the goods clear U.S. customs. Those costs are then passed to consumers.
The foundation estimates Trump’s tariffs have shaved a quarter percentage point off annual economic growth and have led to 180,000 American job losses. The trade deficit in manufactured goods set a record in August at $82.9 billion, according to the Commerce Department.
American farmers have suffered even more from losing their most important foreign markets. Trump has spent $28 billion in taxpayer money compensating them.
Former Vice President Joe Biden also promises new treaties for fairer, cleaner and more efficient trade. Instead of determining what tariff should go on each item, he will join the European Union and Pacific Rim countries in establishing common legal standards to qualify for free trade.
Business people would benefit from consistent rules for shipping, inspections, labor and pollution controls. Workers would know they are competing on a level playing field.
Environmentalists could feel confident that nations selling goods to the United States would have to meet similar standards. Labor unions could insist on fair pay and safe conditions overseas knowing that foreign governments do not want to lose their privileges.
Past U.S. presidents have led the world on these issues for decades, from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to the World Trade Organization. As with any political process, no agreement will ever be perfect, but people around the world, including Americans, have seen an enormous improvement in living standards from global trade.
TOMLINSON’S TAKE: Biden economic plan harkens to 1933 for inspiration
In many ways, though, Biden remains a mainstream Democrat loyal to labor unions. He is promising his own version of “America First.”
“I will not enter into any new trade agreements until we have invested in Americans and equipped them to succeed in the global economy.” Biden wrote in Foreign Policy magazine. “And I will not negotiate new deals without having labor and environmental leaders at the table in a meaningful way and without including strong enforcement provisions to hold our partners to the deals they sign.”
By partnering with the world to build a global trade framework that puts people first, Biden can rally other nations to oppose China’s predatory practices. President Xi Jinping has used Trump’s jingoism to rally the world around his authoritarian model at the expense of democracy.
Trump has failed to deliver for American businesses and workers. Biden’s plans make better sense.
Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy.


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While users’ concern about the use of online personal information is on the rise, other less obvious sources of data collection may remain unnoticed. As more and more people are committed to preserving a healthy lifestyle, wearables are making their way into everyday life. Fitness trackers, eyewear, modular wristbands, and smartwatches are used to monitor users’ movement and sports activities and help them improve their health. But wearable technology also comes with its fair share of negative effects.
New algorithms for wearable technology might seem basic tech when compared to other developments, but they also enable smartwatches to outline the user’s unique profile after receiving signals from the device, including data from accelerometer and gyroscope. Profiles may then be used to track users’ digital activity and communications. All this can be done through legitimate smartwatch apps that secretly send data to third-party apps. Companies all around the world have already started to implement wearable tech in the workplace as employees have been shown to be open to using them. But the personal privacy issue is becoming a growing cause for concern, with reverberations in government, healthcare, and even personal life. Employees may soon express doubts rather than enthusiasm when provided with new wearables.
So big is the government concern for personal privacy that lawmakers urge Google to break ties with partner Huawei after the heads of six major US intelligence agencies have already warned people to stop using Huawei products. The US intelligence community has voiced its concern about the risks of permitting companies controlled by foreign governments to obtain a position of power inside US telecommunications networks. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have signed the letter addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
“We write to express our concerns about Google’s ‘strategic partnership’ with Huawei Technologies,” the lawmakers wrote. “Chinese telecommunications companies, such as Huawei, have extensive ties with the Chinese Communist Party. As a result, this partnership between Google and Huawei could pose a serious risk to US national security and American consumers.” The letter is signed by Senators Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio and three members of Congress, Dutch Ruppersberger, Michael Conaway and Liz Cheney. The politicians provided evidence about Huawei’s ties to the Chinese government and quoted previous statements made by intelligence officials on how using the company’s products could expose Americans to surveillance by the Chinese intelligence agencies.
Closer to home
Politicians voice their concern about Huawei products and might impact people’s decisions to buy a smartphone or a wearable device from the company and even its partnership with Google. But that is not the only issue affecting wearable technology and its ties to telecommunications networks and security. New gadgets can track personal data and there is a lack of ground rules concerning their use. Moreover, wearables seem not only to disrupt the telecommunications industry but also normal communication.
Journalist Mat Honan documented his personal experience as a “Glass Explorer” while using a prototype of Google Glass. He noted that people seemed to be uncomfortable around those who wore the prototype and that “Glass Explorers” in turn seemed to favor self-segregated groups. “Wearing Glass separates you. It sets you apart from everyone else,” Honan wrote. And while the smart device utterly failed as a consumer product, Google did announce a comeback in 2017. “The future is on its way, and it is going to be on your face. We need to think about it and be ready for it in a way we weren’t with smartphones,” Honan concluded. Wearables are not just mini gadgets, they are also powerful systems that can record, store and process data and even influence our social behavior.
Personal privacy is a complex topic for companies and government in the digital age and nothing seems to be as personal as the new technology made available with wearables and other personal smart devices. People are not only concerned about their health and lifestyle, but they are also inherently attracted to all things new. As we have learned from recent experiences, this may provide others with the opportunity to learn a significant amount about them by tracking their activity and communications. Lawmakers, companies and even academia may soon need to develop codes of conduct about data collection in order to protect personal privacy.


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With the threats from data breaches and hacking attacks grabbing so many headlines around the world these days, it should come as no surprise that many small business owners might be thinking a little more pointedly about the ways in which they might be vulnerable. However, coming up with plans to more significantly protect a company from such incidents, and then putting those ideas into practice, isn’t always as easy as many entrepreneurs might like.
The fact of the matter is that because there are so many ways for data breaches to happen – either maliciously or even by accident – that it’s difficult for a company of any size to fully protect itself from them, according to a report from the Arizona Republic. But when it comes to smaller businesses in particular, the ability to build proper safeguards becomes even more difficult, because doing so is often expensive, and most firms of that size often don’t have the free money in their budget to improve in this way.
Today, the latest data suggests that nearly half of all small businesses nationwide have been hit with some kind of cyber attack, and many have been victimized more than once, the report said. The problem for many companies, though, isn’t necessarily the fact that the attacks happened, but more the costs associated with remediating the issues; the average incident costs as much as $9,000. Further, when personal or company data is exposed, the fallout can take a long time to even show up.
So what can be done?
These days, the simplest and most cost effective ways to make sure companies can keep themselves safe from these attacks is to use common sense, the report said. Make sure all systems are using security software, and that the networks on which operate are kept private. Further, companies should also try to limit access to devices and sensitive accounts to only the people who need to use them, and make sure they’re all heavily password protected. And often, a few rounds of employee training designed specifically to educate workers about the threats they face, and how to avoid being victimized by them.
Companies that are concerned about the costs associated with a data breach might also want to consider the ways in which small business insurance policies can help them deal with such costly potential issues. Tech insurance, for example, may be able to save affected companies thousands of dollars or more when an incident occurs.


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GLOVERSVILLE — The third annual Salvation Army of Fulton County’s Christmas Toy Drive is still in need of toys — specifically for infants up to 3-years-old and 10 and up.
Ryan Lorey, operator of the Fulton County Area News Facebook page, helps coordinate the toy drive, which includes 50 collection boxes throughout Fulton County and locations in Montgomery County.
“We’ve started collecting some of the toys already and unfortunately we’re finding some shortages in some of the categories, so we’re looking for donations for babies-to-3-year-olds, both boys and girls and ages 10 and up both boys and girls,” Lorey said.
“Those two categories are very difficult to accommodate, because I think when you think of donating toys at Christmas, I think you think of that middle-age for children. Not everybody thinks about the baby-toys or the 10 and up.”
Lorey said the Fulton County toy drive uses the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program, which provides participating locations with Angel Tree Tags — paper tags that can be hung on Christmas trees that contain a specific child’s ID number, first name, age, gender, clothing sizes, and Christmas wish items. The tag has all the necessary information a sponsor needs to purchase the gifts for his/her assigned child.
According to Salvation Army Angel Tree literature, to qualifty for an Angel Tree Tag for one of their children, families must present several documents, such as proof of income and monthly bills showing the family and child meet these criteria:
• The family’s expenses exceed income.
• The family breaks even each month, so they
do not have the means to purchase gifts.
• The family is experiencing a crisis situation.
Lorey explained people can obtain tags at the customer service area of a participating store where they are shopping. After selecting a toy, it can be dropped off in a collection box at the customer service area. “The other way you can donate is simply buy any toy, pick something out, and put it into the box or take it into one of our locations,” Lorey said.
Lorey said there are about 300 children with Angel Tree Tags being served in this year’s toy drive.
People who are interested in donating, or know of a child who would likely qualify for an Angel Tree Tag, can call 518-725-4119.
“As long as you qualify, they’ll help you out. It may not seem like a lot of assistance, but if you can give families toys for Christmas that will free up money they need for other things,” he said.
Tuesday night, 12-year-old Bella Romano, who Lorey said has been an active volunteer for the toy drive, was honored with a proclamation from the Gloversville Common Council and Mayor Vince DeSantis. Romano served as the grand marshal during the Gloversville Christmas parade due to her efforts with the toy drive. DeSantis said a toy collection box has been set up at City Hall and they will present the results of the collection to Romano on Dec. 19.
“And I promise you at that meeting, all of the council members and the department heads will say, ‘We wish you a merry Christmas,'” DeSantis said.
Lorey said distribution of the toys usually occurs on Dec. 20, which makes Dec. 18 and Dec. 19 big days for last-minute giving.


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While the FOMC’s intention was clearly to calm investor fears, the emergency rate cut appears to have had the opposite effect.
While the Dow Jones initia lly rose higher , this optimism faded as the Fed’s concerns highlighted the negative economic impact of the coronavirus.
This weakness in the stock market festered as Powell hinted that additional stimulus was on the way from around the G7.
Stock Market Fears Demand Shock as Coronavirus Spreads
Helping to explain the Federal Reserve’s decision, economists at ING speculated that An anticipated demand shock jolted the crisis-level move from the US central bank:
The concern now is that the fear factor surrounding Covid – 26 will change corporate and consumer behavior and lead to a demand shock as well.
This is most likely through the service sector of the economy with travel, hotel accommodation, restaurants and leisure-related sectors looking vulnerable.
Add in the prospect of significantly weaker export performance, and a negative second-quarter GDP print is looking a distinct possibility.
A steady spread of the coronavirus in the United States persists, and New York announced its second case of COVID – 25 today. Six deaths have been recorded, with Washington State accounting for four of those fatalities .
Consumer fear seems to be very real, and Google searches for coronavirus symptoms are soaring .
Dow Stocks: Apple Rally Fades, Boeing Follows
A very rough day in the Dow 60 saw a sizable chunk of Monday’s gains erased.
Leading the decline were some of the index’s most heavily weighted stocks. Apple slid 2.9%, Boeing lost 2.2%, and Microsoft shed 3.9%.
Given the collapse in bond yields, it was unsurprising to see financial giants JPMorgan Chase ( -3.5%) and Goldman Sachs (-2.5%) losing ground.
A weaker crude price continues to weigh on big oil, and both Chevron and Exxon Mobil were also trading lower – with the latter down more than 4%.
This article was edited by (Josiah Wilmoth) .
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Port Workers Expected To Go On Strike
News: Israeli ports are expected to shut down in the week ending November 23 due to a strike by port workers, according to Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz. Port workers are protesting plans to increase competition in the sector. Katz added that the strike would adversely affect the economy as 90% of its international trade passes through the country's three maritime gateways. Despite the opposition by the port workers, the government intends to set up privately operated ports in competition with the state-owned facilities.


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Sales of maternity wedding dresses soar (in white of course) as more brides walk down the aisle with a baby bump
For decades it was one of society's biggest taboos: the bride with the baby bump having a shotgun wedding.
And of the avant-garde brides who would admit to being in the family way, few of them, if any, would have dared walk down the aisle in a white dress.
But times, it would seem, are a-changing. Last year, an estimated 20,000 brides in Britain were pregnant on their wedding day, accounting for 10 per cent of all first-time brides under the age of 45.
Brides with a bump: Tiffany London, founder of maternity wedding website Tiffany Rose, says she's seen a huge increase in pregnant brides. Dresses here are from tiffanyrose.com
And if soaring sales at maternity bridal boutiques are anything to go by, more pregnant women than ever are opting to wear a traditional white dress.
One person feeling the benefit is Tiffany London, founder of Tiffany Rose - a website selling wedding dresses solely for pregnant brides.
She has seen sales of her range of maternity wedding dresses, ranging from £135 up to £369, soar recently, reaching sales of 1,000 dresses in 2008 alone - 50 per cent up on 2007.
"It's been amazing to watch our maternity bridal range take off," she said. "We've seen a steady growth in over the last few years, and it's still growing. It's really a reflection on our society: we're much more open-minded than we once were."
Most of the brides are aged between 25 and 29, say the figures from the Office for National Statistics, and are around three to five months pregnant on their wedding day.
White wedding: Most pregnant brides are aged 25-29 and are on average three to five months gone on their wedding day. Dresses from tiffanyrose.com
And it's a trend among couples that shows no sign of slowing down.
"More and more younger couples are choosing to live together before they marry these days," adds Tiffany. "And when they do get married, it's more acceptable for the woman to wear white, even if she is pregnant."
Tracey Wilkinson, founder of Expectant Brides, a dedicated maternity wedding dress boutique in Chiswick, London, says her sales have been on the up ever since she launched her company in 2006.
"There's no doubt we're seeing more brides than ever. In summer 2007 we were seeing 30 brides a week. A year later in 2008, that number had risen to 40 brides. Right now as it's winter, we're seeing just 20, but we're expecting more than ever this summer".
Our ever-changing society, she agrees, has a major part to play in the increase.
"Before if a couple fell pregnant, they might have thought about postponing the wedding, but now there's so much pressure in our society, they don't think they'll have time after the baby to organise a wedding."
And, she says, there's much less stigma around wearing white as a pregnant bride.
"A few years ago you'd have struggled to find a white maternity wedding dress. Now, you can find one easily - and people are much less embarrassed about wearing one."
The dresses are specially tailored to accommodate the baby bump, and designers are trained to estimate how much a bump will have grown by the big day, with extra fabric added into the dress to help with adjustments if a bump grow faster than expected.
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Governor Whitmer says Michigan’s farmers are being hurt by the trade war with China. The trade problems are on top of spring flooding that have also wiped out crops statewide.
“We’ve got a lot of farmers that are filing bankruptcy because of not just the weather, but the man-made issues we’ve confronted on the trade side,” said Whitmer. She put the blame squarely on President Trump and his policies. “When there are trade determinations made via tweet, it creates so much uncertainty and so much stress, and of course, a backlash.”
The governor made her remarks at the auto industry’s Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, where she also called on auto industry leaders to help her in efforts to raise the gas tax to fund road repairs.


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The China (Nanjing) International Software Product Expo (Nanjing CIS) is sponsored by numerous Chinese organizations and Jiangsu Provincial Government and will be held between 23th - 25th September. It is held in September every year in Nanjing, a city that is gaining fame for its hi-tech IT industry. This expo which has been ranked among the “China Top 10 most Influential Expo Brands” by the China Exhibition Summit for two consecutive years, is among the top software expos boasting the highest standard, biggest scale and best effect in China. The expo, which provides both Chinese and overseas enterprises a platform for communication and business conference through exhibition, program discussion, high-level talent communication, seminars on hot topics, policy consulting and release presentations, etc, will attract more international exhibitors, and will play a positive role in establishing business relations.
News released from the recently-held press conference by Nanjing municipal government said that the Fourth Nanjing China International Software Product Expo would be held in Nanjing from this September 23rd to the 25th. Centering on the theme of Software Outsourcing & Digital City, a number of exhibitions and conferences such as the 12th Sino-Japan Information Industry Seminar, IT Outsourcing in Europe and North America Fair and Exhibition, 2008 China Internet Conference, as well as 2008 Global Searching Engine Conference would be organized for well-known Chinese and foreign software companies to participate.


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More than 5,500 items recovered from the famous shipwreck -- valued at nearly $200 million altogether -- will be auctioned in April.
|Apple iPhone 6S photos have been leaked|
|Why isn't the middle class earning $156,000 a year?|
|'Dukes of Hazzard' episodes pulled from TV Land|
|Greek leader flip-flops on bailout - again|
|Retirement advice from a Boomer to a Millennial|


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APRIL FOOLS — In the wake of several reports of large fines levied by homeowner’s associations, Lakewood Ranch HOA leaders announced plans to launch a new program that will simplify the payment process.
Under the new Fine Unbind program, residents will be able to store their checking account information with their respective HOAs. In the event of a rule violation, HOA leaders will be able to assess the fine and automatically debit the amount from the homeowner’s account.
The new F.U. program, leaders say, will help eliminate situations in which exorbitant interest accrues because of non-payment.
When a participating homeowner is found in violation of an HOA rule, the HOA will send one notice via certified mail of the violation and the fine. The money will be automatically deducted within five business days of the postmark date of the notice.
If the debit is rejected because of insufficient funds, the homeowner will be responsible for any and all bank fees as well as a $500 convenience fee in addition to the original fine.
HOA leaders also are making fine payment easier for homeowners leery of supplying their account information. Using fines already collected, Ranch HOAs will be installing ATM-style kiosks at Town Hall. Homeowners will be able to pay their fines conveniently through these machines, which will take check, debit and all major credit cards.
The new payment options come after several reports of Lakewood Ranch residents paying fines of more than $1,500 because of HOA violations such as having too many decorations in the front yard and placing a small sign on the front of the home. Leaders said the new payment options are the simplest and fairest way to enforce the HOA codes.
Homeowners wishing to take part in the F.U. program can pick up a form at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall.
For more on this story, click here.
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- $500 "Convenience Fee" ????
22 Gingerbread Houses
23 Cooking Class: Nuts About Holiday Cookies
24 Cooking Class: Crazy For Cookies
26 Kids 3-Day Cooking Camp
26 Teens 3-Day Cooking Camp
30 Italian Wine and Dine
31 Cooking Class: World New Year's Celebration
26 Devereaux-Kaiser Collector Car Meet
8:00 am - 3:00 pm
Coats for kids
Knights of Columbus Councils are helping children in need by providing coats to children in their communities through the order’s Coats for Kids program.
Santa and his elf made a surprise stop Dec. 13, at WineStyles, in San Marco Plaza, by Harley-Davidson motorcycle, during the store’s weekly Friday night wine-tasting event.
Members and guests of the Lakewood Ranch Women’s Club ventured Dec. 4 to Orlando, to view holiday decorations at the Grand Floridian and to have lunch at Downtown Disney.


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We’re proud to be ranked as the #1 embedded analytics solution by Dresner Advisory Servers in their latest Embedded BI Market Study published in November 2018. Similar to previous years, the market study scores embedded analytics solutions based on product architecture and features, and JReport ranked highest in both categories. This is further validation on JReport’s position in the embedded analytics market, which by all accounts is growing substantially.
Most software vendors indicate embedded analytics as an extremely important part of their business goals. These vendors are seeing real benefits of embedding analytics into their software products compared to building their own capabilities, which they need to maintain and scale over time.
Dresner Advisory Services is an independent advisory firm led by Howard Dresner, a business intelligence and performance management thought leader who authored books on BI and originally coined the term “Business Intelligence”. This year marks Dresner’s 11th anniversary and their 6th annual Embedded BI Market Study publication.


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Ten years ago this month twentysomething technology graduates Larry Page and Sergey Brin joined the throng hoping to make it big on the internet and incorporated their company in a garage in Menlo Park, California. They succeeded in spectacular fashion. The full details are readily available on Google, the company they created.
In its first decade Google has become part of everyday life - 722m people visited a Google site in July this year.
No company has been so dominant in its sphere since Microsoft took ownership of computer desktops with its Windows software - but even mighty Microsoft didn't see its trade name transformed into a verb.
By placing relevant advertisements beside its search results, and on other websites, Google has built a business…


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Nokia has announced the 108, an ultra-affordable handset for emerging markets, featuring a 1.8-inch colour screen, up to 31 days of standby time and a VGA camera, for just $29 USD.
A week of Windows 10 news, Apple allegations and Sony's week of hell
Nest Learning Thermostat: The Next Generation, review
Microsoft's low end smartphone strategy needs a reboot
The latest table for Pinball FX2, Venom, reviewed
Hands On: Preview of HP's new $200 laptop
Latest deals in the Steam Holiday Sale 2014
Steam Holiday Sale 2014


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While most five star apartments and hotels in Switzerland have closed their doors, the Swiss hospitality company, Le Bijou, has recently launched a new package for guests in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Covid-19 package offers more than just shelter for quarantined locals and international guests who are following social distancing guidelines because guests can now live in hotel-like luxury.
With limited human interaction, Le Bijou’s modern apartments in Switzerland offer perks and services including a private gym, sauna, spa, kitchen, and an option for grocery delivery.
The hospitality company is also offering Covid-19 tests and nurse care for symptomatic individuals.
A statement released on their site said: “You don’t need to expose yourself to infected patients and hospital infections: Together with our healthcare partner Double Check, we provide medical check-ups and coronavirus tests inside your Le Bijou apartment.”
The Covid-19 medical services, have partnered with Double Check, an exclusive private health clinic in Switzerland. The test costs $500 which includes lab costs, related administration, the in-room doctor visit and results.
But it still remains unclear how long these tests will carry on for. People who do test positive for the coronavirus are transferred to a hospital with proper medical care.
As rates have dropped and travel has come to a halt, medium-sized apartment which usually cost around $1,000 per night now cost $500-600 a night.
CEO and co-founder of Le Bijou, Alexander Hübner, said they are using a lot of technology to reduce staff costs as much as possible. He also told guests: “You don’t need to interact with anyone you don’t want to.”
More and more guests have been opting out of daily cleaning services to reduce social interaction. But they are requesting cleaning supplies on their grocery delivery list.
Hübner said many customers are treating Le Bijou as a temporary home since their stay is ranging from 14 days to two months. Before the pandemic, guests would ussually stay for only two or three nights.
Although people were generally relaxed when the pandemic hit Italy, Le Bijou were still paying attention to the Coronavirus and began providing additional options and services to guests.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus is highly contagious and spreads from one person to another. Therefore people shpuld avoid groups to stop the contagion. The agency recommends staying 6 feet from other people as the disease can be passed when someone who has COVID-19 coughs or sneezes.


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In Goa’s capital, Panaji, on Rua São Tomé, not far from the main post office, is a shop that offers packaging services. For a small fee, they will wrap your parcel in a sheet of muslin sewn with precise stitches to protect its contents from being damaged in the post.
It started as a sideline to the main business of the store, but now it is the main earner for Luis Francisco Miguel de Abreu as he struggles to maintain one of the last typewriter repair shops in this Indian state.
Inside the shop, several typewriters sit in various states of repair, looking much like museum pieces. There is a Hermes, a Remington and a Godrej Prima, from the Indian manufacturer that was the last company in the world to make typewriters.
Abreu, 78, sits in a chair surrounded by paperwork, spare parts and memories. His father, Domingos Abreu, was employed by the US typewriter manufacturer Remington Rand in Mumbai before he moved back to Goa and started his own servicing and repair firm in 1938.
“My older brother wanted to study engineering and there were no schools or colleges here, so he had to go to Portugal,” says Abreu. “You needed good marks and money. I could have also gone but I stayed back to study and help my father in the shop.”
When his father opened the shop, Goa was still controlled by Portugal, which colonised the territory in 1510 and held power until 1961. “We moved here, to this location, I think, in 1953,” says Abreu. “At that time there was nothing here. We had one muddy road here with horses and bullock carts. There was one restaurant selling rice, curry and vegetables, no fish.”
Today the state is a busy tourist desitnation, where there is a trendy restaurant or fish curry joint on every street and selfies being taken at every colourful doorway.
In December 1961, the last ship left Goa for those who wanted to return to Portugal after it was annexed by the Indian military and the state became part of the republic. “We got the news that the João de Lisboa [a Portuguese warship] had come and whoever wants to go [to Portugal] can go,” says Abreu. “I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to leave my establishment and my father.”
The shop, named Domingos Abreu after Abreu’s father, was the bustling go-to place for typewriter sales and repairs. “All the big mining companies – the Dempos, the Chowgules – the government departments, even the military: they all came here,” says Abreu, “But business has stopped now.”
Typewriters were once the backbone of India’s famed bureaucracy. From government offices to law courts, they were the essential symbol of modernisation in independent India.
Typing and shorthand schools churned out thousands of graduates ready to take on secretarial work. Some of these still exist in rural areas, teaching shorthand along with keyboard skills for computers. “I feel it was a mistake to close the institutes,” says Abreu. “If they had remained open, things might have been different. Many people tell me that our children can’t type fast – they’re typing with one finger; the speed is just not there.”
In the Goan town of Ponda, Milagres D’Costa, 70, has been running D’Costa Commercial Institute since 1977. He offers classes in shorthand and typing for computers and manual typewriters; he has no takers for the latter. “Nobody wants to learn on typewriters now,” he says.
While brands such as Remington and Olivetti were popular in India, Godrej & Boyce made India’s first locally produced typewriters from 1955 until 2011, when the increasing reach of mobile phones and computers made that part of the business obsolete. The lack of new typewriters and spare parts, however, has not dampened the enthusiasm of those who love the sound of the keys. Abreu still gets requests to repair and service machines, and the business enjoyed an increase in customers after the first Covid lockdown was lifted in Goa.
The state is now in a second partial lockdown, which means the workshop is closed. Abreu says Covid has been “a boon and a bane” for his business.
“Everyone was cleaning things during the lockdown and we got several machines to look at,” says Natasha, Abreu’s daughter, who helps out at the shop. “We get clients from all over the country. Many are tourists who come across our shop while walking around. They go home and bring back vintage typewriters that they want to use or keep as showpieces.”
But there is little profit in typewriters. “To secure the dealership of one large company I lost a lot of money,” says Abreu. “The company took a deposit from me but they have now disappeared. There is no refund, nothing.”
Spare parts are also difficult to find, and Abreu’s fading eyesight and other health issues make repairs tricky. “I can do basic repairs,” says Natasha. “Things like changing the ribbon and oiling the parts. The rest is a little more intricate for me to do.” A local man, Anton Rebello, has also been trained to make some repairs.
The parcel service is now the main earner. “What else could we do?” says Abreu. “There were no sales or service [work] so we started packaging. It was a good business at the beginning, but now they have introduced new rules, which mean you have to go to the post office, show what is in the package, declare it for customs, and then stitch and seal the package in their presence. My daughter does that work now.”
But the future is uncertain. “I am only one Luis Abreu. How long can a person continue? As long as the main door is open, I will have to do it. I prefer to go till the end.”
The UK capital was the only European city to make the top ten in Startup Genome’s ranking, tying with New York in second place for the second year in a row.
London is Europe’s number one start-up city, according to a recent report by Startup Genome. The research and advisory body which specialises in start-ups released its ‘Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021’ report today (22 September).
The report identified London and New York as joint second-best cities in the world for start-ups. London was the only European location to make it into the top ten. The city is attractive to founders thanks to its educated workforce and tax incentives, the report found.
Silicon Valley in California took the top spot, unsurprisingly. This year’s global rankings were dominated by the US, with half of the top 30 ecosystems coming from this region, followed by Asia with 27pc and Europe with 17pc of the top performing ecosystems globally.
Silicon Valley, New York City, Boston, and Los Angeles alone contributed more than 70pc to the US’s total ecosystem value.
Paris made the top 20, coming in at number 12. The Amsterdam-Delta region followed in thirteenth place. Dublin improved its rank from the previous year’s report, coming in at number 36 this time.
Beijing, Boston, Los Angeles, Tel Aviv, Shanghai, Seattle and Stockholm also made the top ten best start-up cities.
The global start-up economy is currently worth more than $3.8trn in ecosystem value. There are 79 ecosystems generating over $4bn in value, which is more than double the number identified in 2017. This time last year, 91 ecosystems had achieved unicorn status.
“Entrepreneurs, policymakers, and community leaders in Europe have been working hard to build inclusive innovation ecosystems that are engines of economic growth and job creation for all,” commented JF Gauthier, founder and CEO of Startup Genome on the report’s release.
“The Global Startup Ecosystem Report is the foundation of knowledge where we, as a global network, come together to identify what policies actually produce economic impact and in what context,” Gauthier added.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
Facebook’s semi-independent oversight board says it will review the company’s “XCheck” system, an internal program that has exempted high-profile users from some or all of its rules.
The decision follows an investigation by the Wall Street Journal that revealed that reviews of posts by well-known users such as celebrities, politicians and journalists are steered into the separate system.
Under the program, some users are “whitelisted”, or not subject to enforcement action, while others are allowed to post material that violates Facebook rules pending content reviews that often do not take place. The Xcheck system, for example, allowed Brazilian footballer Neymar to post nude pictures of a woman who had accused him of rape, according to the report.
Users were identified for additional scrutiny based on criteria such as being “newsworthy”, “influential or popular” or “PR risky”, the Wall Street Journal found. By 2020 there were 5.8 million users on the XCheck list, according to the newspaper.
The oversight board said Tuesday that it expects to have a briefing with Facebook on the system and “will be reporting what we hear from this” as part of a report it will publish in October.
The board may also make other recommendations, although Facebook is not bound to follow these.
The Journal’s report, the board said, has drawn “renewed attention to the seemingly inconsistent way that the company makes decisions, and why greater transparency and independent oversight of Facebook matters so much for users”.
Facebook told the Journal in response to its investigation that the system “was designed for an important reason: to create an additional step so we can accurately enforce policies on content that could require more understanding”. The company added that criticism of it was “fair” and that it was working to fix it.
A representative for Facebook declined to comment to the Associated Press on the oversight board’s decision.
The Philippines has become the latest nation to impose a digital services tax.
Such taxes require the likes of Netflix and Spotify to pay local sales taxes even though their services are delivered – legally, notionally, and physically – from beyond local jurisdiction.
The Philippines has chosen a rate of 12 per cent, mirroring local value added taxes.
“We have now clarified that digital services and the goods and services traded through digital service providers should generally be subject to VAT. This is just a matter of common tax sense,” said Joey Salceda, a member of the Philippines’ House of Representatives and a backer of the change to the nation’s tax code.
Salceda tied the change to post-pandemic economic recovery.
“If brick and mortar establishments, which are the hardest-hit by the pandemic, have to pay VAT, the giants of e-commerce shouldn’t be exempt,” he said.
However, local companies that are already exempt from VAT by virtue of low turnover won’t be caught by the extension of the tax into the virtual realm.
Salceda’s amendments are designed to catch content streamers, but also online software sales – including mobile apps – plus SaaS and hosted software. The Philippines’ News Agency’s report on the amendment’s passage into law even mentions firewalls as subject to VAT.
But the taxes are controversial because they are seen as a unilateral response to the wider issue of multinational companies picking the jurisdictions in which they’ll pay tax – a practice that erodes national tax bases. The G7 group of nations, and the OECD, think that collaborations that shift tax liabilities to nations where goods and services are acquired and consumed are the most appropriate response, and that harmonising global tax laws to make big tech pay up wherever they do business is a better plan than digital services taxes.


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The next two years are likely to see an avalanche of mobile-friendly applications as enterprises, network operators and handset makers struggle to beef up their margins.
Just how important the application market is becoming can be judged from Vodafone's tie-up this week with Israel-based Nexperience. The world's biggest mobile carrier will use Nexperience's system to provide its business partners with a secure online environment to pre-load applications onto Vodafone handsets and test them prior to distribution.
The Mobile World Congress, the mobile industry showcase that opens next week in Barcelona, is expected to reveal a battle for developers' minds and money. The protagonists are Symbian (ex-Nokia/Ericsson), Android (Google), iPhone (Apple), Microsoft and Blackberry (Research in Motion).
Symbian is using MWC to announce that 78 industry partners have now pledged their support. These include Atelier, Bank of America, Gemalto, Hewlett-Packard, Imagination Technologies, Mobica, MySpace, Nanoradio, Omron Software, Qualcomm, SanDisk, SESCA, SiRF Technology and VirtualLogix.
They have an attractive market to aim at. Symbian runs on more than 250 million mobile phones in use on more than 250 networks. It already has "tens of thousands" of third-party applications written, says Symbian.
Most of the applications developed to date have been consumer-oriented. However, the number of business applications available or in development is rising quickly. This is expected to accelerate as the security and speed offered by handsets and mobile networks improves.
Driving the development is the need to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU). This lies behind Nokia's shift into selling services and content, and its donation of the Symbian and S60 operating systems to the Symbian Foundation, with the instruction to make it an open source platform by 2010.
This was in response to Google's Android, an open system development platform that currently runs on T-Mobile's G1 phone. Google was answering the phenomenal commercial success of Apple's iPhone, which was itself a reaction to the proprietary Blackberry, still the mobile of choice for many executives, including US president Barak Obama.
Android is highlighting the ease with which developers can string together each others' applications. Writing on the Android developers' blog, Jason Chen says once Shazam identifies a song, the user can search for the artist's official MySpace profile page or buy it via an Amazon MP3 app.
Meanwhile, Ericsson will unveil its Connected Home Gateway software at MWC. This lets users interact with their home computer, TV or media player, services and media, wherever they are. The gateway also enables one single entry point for IPTV and multimedia telephony services into the home.
As business apps migrate onto mobile phones, enterprises will start to use them as the primary corporate interface device. Already most network operators will offer to switch internal corporate calls between company mobiles. This allows firms to ditch their pbxes, desk phones, and cabling.
And if workers will let the company communicate with them via their personal mobiles, which are likely to be a higher specification than the corporate ones, firms might even save the cost of the phones.


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Eat & Drink
From the Magazine
Find a Restaurant
Crack a brew and join the crew for an hour of Wisconsin beer talk.
The difficult decision was made as a result of events related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s a busy beer week. Start it by hitting up The Brass Tap on Thursday for some of the best barrel-aged stouts in the Midwest.
Kick-off the holiday season by entering a pie in this pie championship
The Riverwest brewery is planning a second taproom and pilot brewery in the Flour & Feed food hall and marketplace in the Kinetik development near the top of KK Avenue.
Celebrate this important holiday with fresh, local cheese curds.
You’re going to have to add this date night to your Milwaukee bucket list.
A slew of beer releases, National Curd Day and a beer pairing with Rice Krispie treats. It’s a good week in a craft beer.
Blind Horse Restaurant & Winery is using light to help fight the spread of pathogens and viruses.
A quick glance at restaurants serving tamales in Milwaukee.
Looking for some new eats? Crafty Cow has two new ghost restaurants coming to our area.
We’ve all paired wine and cheese, but this fall let’s try pairing beer and cheese.
Oktoberfest celebrations are winding down, but a few new releases this weekend should soften the blow.
DanDan is opening its doors for the first time in months.
There’s not a lot of places where you can get a Scandinavian brunch.
Take a look at the new offerings at Fairgrounds.
Join the fight against hunger this October with Milwaukee Empty Bowls.
The culinary podcast featuring 88Nine’s Tarik Moody and MilMag’s Ann Christenson talking about all things dining-related.