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Nintendo’s full comments on the metaverse and NFTs
Posted on February 13, 2022 by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News
During the Q&A portion of its financial results briefing last week, Nintendo was asked about the metaverse and NFTs. While we had a very brief summary at the time, the full and official comments are now available.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa addressed the news directly. In his response, he mentioned how the metaverse “has great potential”, but also admitted that there’s currently “no easy way to define specifically what kinds of surprises and enjoyment the metaverse can deliver to our consumers.” Fans will likely be happy to hear that it sounds like Nintendo has no immediate plans to pursue this space.
Furukawa’s full comments regarding Nintendo, NFTs, and the metaverse can be found below.
“The metaverse has captured the attention of many companies around the world, and it has great potential. When the concept of the metaverse is introduced in the media, games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons are sometimes brought up as examples. In that sense, the metaverse is of interest to us.
But at this point in time, there is no easy way to define specifically what kinds of surprises and enjoyment the metaverse can deliver to our consumers. As a company that provides entertainment, our main emphasis is on ways to deliver fresh surprises and fun to our consumers. We might consider something if we can find a way to convey a ‘Nintendo approach’ to the metaverse that many people can readily understand, but we do not think that is the situation at the present time.”


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A cloud services platform, a new data center, and a slew of other exciting things have been revealed at Recode’s new technology conference, Code conference.
In this episode of Code, Recode tech editor Ryan O’Brien sits down with CEO of Cloudflare Jeff Garzik and former CEO of Microsoft Mike Sandoval to discuss Cloudflares role in the industry, how Cloudflaves platform has evolved over the years, and more.
The two also chat about the future of enterprise and how the future could be as cloud services become more and more ubiquitous.
The transcript follows below.
Ryan O’Brien: The company is called Cloudflas and it is a cloud services company.
Jeff Garitz: Yeah, it is.
Ryan O: And Cloudflaes core service is called cloud.
Ryan: So the company has two products: CloudFlas, which is the cloud platform, and Cloudflase, which was the cloud business.
And CloudFlare has grown into a billion dollar company.
So it is sort of a little bit of a hybrid.
But I think its more that you have to have both in the cloud.
And then the third thing, of course, is the platform, Cloudflax, which gives you all the cloud capabilities, all the services that you can think of.
And that’s really the core of the platform.
Jeff was talking about how this new Cloudflates platform is going to help the companies run their data centers more efficiently, and that it’s going to be the best way to run these data centers.
I mean, the platform is a big deal.
It has the best customer service, and it’s got a really good reputation.
And Jeff was pretty positive about the company’s ability to move forward in this market.
So that’s good news.
But that’s also something that you hear from a lot of other companies as well, too.
So I’m wondering, how does it compare to other competitors in the space, and how does this stack up against them?
And then how do you see Cloudflays impact on the business, if you will, as a company?
Jeff Garz: Well, you know, I think what I love about the Cloudflames platform is that you’ve got a very powerful customer service team that has been around for a long time.
And so, they know their stuff.
And they’ve been around since before they even announced the platform as a product.
And I think that that’s the one area where it is different from the competition.
But also, you have a big, new team that is focused on building the CloudFlax platform, which they are now using for their own data centers, and then they’re also going to bring that product to other cloud platforms as well.
So you’ve already got two very powerful competitors in this space.
And the way that they are competing is that they’re not just competing on features, but on their ability to make it simple to manage data centers in a scalable way.
And we believe that they can do that.
So they’re building a platform that has all the features that you want in a very easy way, and they’re offering the most customer service out there.
And those are really powerful features that make this platform very attractive.
And for us, the thing that really makes it stand out from the rest of the market, in my mind, is their ability, over time, to grow, grow, and grow.
And in the case of the competition, we have seen the number of customers who have taken advantage of that growth, and we are confident that as the number continues to grow and grow, CloudFlix will be the next company to be able to build on top of it and be a part of that.
And as that happens, they are going to build a much more competitive platform, because they are building it on top.
And also, they’re continuing to innovate in this area, and over time they’re going to have to take the next steps.
So, I mean there’s no question that this is going be a very interesting, challenging, and exciting area to be in, but it’s a great opportunity to build your business on top the platform that you are building, and to build an efficient, cost-effective data center and a scalable data center.
And at the end of the day, you’ve just got to be willing to learn and to grow.
So there is no doubt that Cloudflakis platform will be a powerful and powerful competitor to the likes of Azure and Google.
And, in fact, I’m really looking forward to that.
I think it’s just going to continue to expand and evolve, and as that evolves, the competitors will be able compete more effectively.
And it’s definitely a great position to be, because you know Cloudflatics competitors have been around, so they

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October 2, 2019
Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, firstname.lastname@example.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, email@example.com, (202) 207-2832
Washington, DC—Today, the National Consumers League, the nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization applauded the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for its successful investigation and settlement with multi-level marketing (MLM) company AdvoCare. The settlement, in addition to providing $150 million in relief to victims, implements a lifetime ban preventing AdvoCare from ever rejoining the MLM business.
The following statement is attributable to John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League:
Today’s settlement once again highlights the central role that the FTC plays in protecting Americans from illegal pyramid schemes. The FTC has a 45-year track record of winning favorable settlements and court judgements against pyramid schemes. In spite of this, many leading members of the direct selling industry continue to push a discredited bill that would dramatically undermine the Commission’s ability to protect consumers against companies like AdvoCare.
Under the Orwellian name of the “Anti-Pyramid Promotional Scheme Act,” the bill would create a series of carve outs and safe harbors that would prevent the FTC from protecting consumers and entrepreneurs from all but the most blatant pyramid schemes.
Today’s actions by the FTC demonstrate the need for continued consumer protection under its existing authority. NCL opposes pyramid scheme legalization bills like the Anti-Pyramid Promotional Scheme Act, which is even now being peddled by industry lobbyists. We hope this bill will once again be stopped from gaining momentum by members of Congress.
About the National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.


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The Oregon Remodelers Association‘s 34th annual Home Improvement Show auction event will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon (and southwest Washington). The event is at 5:00PM on Thursday, September 24th, the first day of the show, like the rest of the show, is at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland (not the Expo Center).
Guests can enjoy the show, visit exhibits and bid on tremendous packages that will be auctioned off, while enjoying food and wine from local restaurants and wineries. 100% of the proceeds from the live and silent auctions will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Oregon.
Wristbands for the event will be pre-sold for $55 and will also allow entrance to the show throughout the entire weekend. 70% from each wristband sold will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Oregon.
Thursday, September 24th 2:00pm-8:00pm
Friday, September 25th 11:00am-8:00pm
Saturday, September 26th 10:00am-8:00pm
Sunday, September 27th 10:00am-6:00pm


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3 food and wine events: Foragers festival, Zinfandel event, Slow Wine tasting
We’re all busy writing up our New Year’s resolutions, right? If yours include the intention to learn more about foraging or wine, we’ve got three events coming up in January that may further your education in those directions.
Got a lock on a Big Sur rental mid-January? Or are lucky enough to have friends with a guest room there? Good. Then you can go to the Big Sur Foragers Festival Jan. 16 to 18. The grand finale is the Foragers Dinner at the Restaurant at Ventana Inn & Spa on Jan. 17. And guess who they’ve got coming to cook dinner? Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinki, the chef/owners of State Bird Provisions in San Francisco (The James Beard Foundation’s Best New Restaurant 2013). They’ll be creating a multi-course menu with Ventana’s executive chef Paul Corsentino ($175).
What else happens at the festival? On Saturday morning, there’s a Wild Foraging Walk and Talk at Pfeiffer State Park, and another for more advanced hunters and gatherers in the Big Sur Wilderness ($35). That afternoon, Ventana Inn hosts a Fungus Face-Off, rounding up local chefs for a friendly competition that involves chanterelles and other fungi ($60). On Sunday afternoon, local chefs are giving a master cooking class called The Forager’s Kitchen at Big Sur Lodge ($30).
For more information, call (831) 667-4210; tickets are for sale here.
And since you’re already that far north, point your car toward San Francisco and you can catch the three-day, 24th annual Zinfandel Experience aka ZAP at the Presidio. If you don’t have a college roommate or fellow Zinfandel enthusiast to bunk with, the Four Seasons San Francisco is offering a Saturday night special (The night of Jan. 31 at the hotel, and two tickets to the big Tasting) for $295.
The Tasting rounds up over 100 Zinfandel producers to pour samples of the latest vintages. And that’s just one of the four events involved in the Zinfandel Experience. Epicuria pairs 30 Zins with a dish from a different restaurant for $105.
Flights! is a tasting seminar focused on limited production Zinfandels from three historic regions moderated by Joel Peterson of Ravenswood ($95). And the big gala event is a winemakers reception, dinner and live auction ($295) with winemakers hosting and pouring from large-format bottles. And for Saturday’s big Tasting, you can buy an all-day ticket that gets you access to a special reserve and barrel tasting, or just go for the afternoon for $170 and $80, respectively. ZAP members get a discount on all tickets.
For stay-at-homes in L.A., Slow Wine is coming to our town from Italy (after a stop in San Francisco and then on to New York) on Jan. 27 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. An afternoon trade tasting will be followed by an evening consumer event where you’ll have the chance to taste the wines from over 50 Italian producers and 15 regions, some 100 wines in all.
Slow Wine grew out of the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy’s Piedmont region more than 25 years ago. Their mission is to search out wines that have little or no intervention, i.e., natural wines. This year the Slow Wine organization will debut the new edition — in English — of their Slow Wine Guide at the event. Tickets for the Slow Wine tasting are $60 and include a complimentary copy of “The Slow Wine Guide 4th edition.”
Follow @sirenevirbila for more on food and wine.
Eat your way across L.A.
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Warcraft Movie Promotion Video
Get a taste of the upcoming Warcraft live action movie and the free game available with it.
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- Gamepires and Croteam announce SCUM
- SCUM, an intriguing and complex open world survival game, is coming to PC via Early Access in 2017.
- Divina Officially Launches
- Gamania has announced the official launch of Divina at 3pm Pacific today (July 25).


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Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine is being sold by The Washington Post Co.'s Newsweek division to Fletcher Asset Management Inc., a New York investment firm.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. But Newsweek Inc. said Thursday that Fletcher has agreed to keep almost all of Budget Travel's employees.
Like much of the magazine industry, Budget Travel has seen advertising revenues plummet this year. The magazine, which has a circulation of about 690,000, sold 28% fewer ad pages in the first nine months of 2009 than in the same period a year earlier, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.
The print industry is suffering from both the economic downturn and the shift of advertisers and readers to the Web, where ad space is cheaper.
Washington Post Co. shares fell $1.69 to $438.81 in afternoon trading.


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It'll be quite a while before we get our first look at the lineups for the 2016 Hangout Music Fest and 2016 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. But one thing is clear: Both will have a big new social media channel courtesy of a deal with Snapchat.
Billboard has reported that concert promoter and production company AEG Live "has cut a multi-year agreement with Snapchat whereby the hugely popular social media site will cover AEG Live-affiliated festivals via Snapchat Live Stories." Participating events will include Hangout and Jazz Fest, as well as the Stagecoach Country Music Festival and FYF Fest in California and the Panorama festival in New York.
At designated events, as Snapchat users upload short-lived video and photo "snaps" of their festival experience, they can use Live Stories to contribute them to a common pool. "A team at Snapchat then curates the thousands of submitted Snaps and repackages them into a brief video that can be broadcast globally on phones or other devices," the Billboard story explains.
The upshot: Those videos have turned into a lucrative conduit for advertising. According to Billboard, such stories have received tens of millions of views so far, and partners in the deal claim that "demand from brands has been high to date, with AEG Live and Snapchat having sold all available Live Story inventory for 2016."
"Partnering with AEG Live helps us capture thousands of unique perspectives from the event, allowing our community to dive in to the story and feel like they are actually there - from backstage to the front row," adds Ben Schwerin, director of partnerships at Snapchat. "This deal also provides a great opportunity for brands to align with music content and reach our audience."
Billboard also noted a recent report at www.emarketer.com saying that fast-growing Snapchat will be bigger than Twitter and Pinterest by the end of 2016, with a user base likely to exceed 58 million users. It will remain far behind Facebook Messenger, according to eMarketer predictions.
Ironically, eMarketer Principal Analyst Cathy Boyle attributes part of Snapchat's success to the notion that its youthful audience aren't crazy about being de facto broadcasters: "Snapchat has tapped into a key change in consumer behavior: The desire for intimate one-to-one or one-to-few communication as opposed to broadcast-style sharing across an entire network," she says in the report. "This desire is particularly strong among millennials and younger consumers who don't have strong ties to the traditional social networks."


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by Mark Barley
'Distance' Kickstarter gets a new trailer
Refract studios has released a new trailer for their Kickstarter effort Distance, a futuristic racing title.
The development team is made up of defunct Studio Liverpool staffers with Distance being compared to WipEout. The Kickstarter needs $125,000 and is currently sitting at nearly $99,000. It's got four days left.


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Weak global sentiments and subdued macroeconomic indicators have added to the bearish mood. The US threats to impose tariffs on more trading partners; a slippage in India's GDP growth to 5.8 per cent in January-March period, its slowest pace in 17 quarters, dented investor sentiment.
Even though equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended Friday’s session in the green, both suffered losses on a weekly basis, breaking the winning streak of three consecutive weeks.
Going into a new week, global cues, flow of foreign funds and movement of crude oil prices will have their sway on the market. Investors will be watching the inflation print due earlier in the week.
Let's take a look at the factors that will impact the market in the week ahead:
Progress of monsoon
Delayed by a week, annual monsoon officially arrived on the coast of Kerala on Saturday. The seasonal wind, which delivers about 70-75 per cent of the country’s rainfall, has a larger impact on the Indian economy, as almost half of India's farmland depends on it for irrigation. The rainfall is expected to be average as projected by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). In the days to come, the progress of monsoon will remain a key monitorable for the market.
India's retail and wholesale inflation prints for May will be released on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. RBI, in its last monetary policy meet, raised retail inflation forecast marginally to 3-3.1 per cent for the first half and 3.4-3.7 per cent for the second half of this financial year. If the coming inflation data conforms to RBI's estimates, hope of yet another rate cut will be bolstered.
IIP data for April
India's industrial production data for April will be released on Wednesday. The country's industrial output declined by 0.1 per cent in March, hitting a 21-month low, due to a contraction in manufacturing, capital goods and consumer durables. Manufacturing, which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), shrank 0.4 per cent in the month. The market will take a close look at this significant indicator of the country's economic health.
Trade war and indicators of a global economic slowdown are fanning worries of an approaching recession. As per Reuters, US job growth slowed sharply in May and wages rose less than expected, raising fears that a loss of momentum in economic activity could be spreading to the labour market, which could put pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year. Markets across the globe will closely observe Japan's first quarter GDP numbers and inflation prints of China and the US in the coming week. Besides, China's trade balance data for May and the US retail sales data will tell more about the direction of the world economy.
Flow of foreign money
June so far has seen the continuation of bullish stance of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) on the Indian market. As per available data with NSDL, FPIs have pumped in Rs 7,095 crore into Indian debt and equity markets in June so far. However last Friday, when the market ended marginally higher, FPIs took out Rs 478.84 crore, NSE data showed. The flow of foreign funds will remain an important trigger for the market in the coming week.
Direction of crude oil & rupee
Trade war jitters and signs of weakness in the global economy have dragged oil prices down as the market fears a drastic fall in demand of the commodity. As per Reuters, with pricing sliding suddenly to five-month lows, analysts have been left wondering if demand for the black gold is weaker than earlier thought. Such heavy selling is pretty rare, particularly outside recessions. Falling crude augurs well for the Indian economy, easing pressure from its fiscal books and pushing the currency higher.
Tech indicators show market indecisive
Nifty50 on Friday formed an indecisive Doji candle on the daily chart. On the weekly scale, the index formed a bearish Dark Cloud Cover. Since this pattern formation took place on the weekly time scale, any corrective action could be significant, said Arun Kumar, Market Strategist, Reliance Securities. However, analysts say consolidation, if any, will be healthy and should be used as an opportunity to buy on dips. "We believe index would undergo healthy consolidation in the broad range of 11,600–12,000 and form a higher base for the next leg of the up move. Price structure in the Nifty remains firmly positive and we do not foresee the index breaching the exit poll session low of 11,591. Any dips should be used as a buying opportunity for the up move towards 12,000," said Dharmesh Shah, Head – Technical, ICICI direct.
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The Royal Enfield Super Meteor will be unveiled by late November at the EICMA show
Royal Enfield is likely to name its new 650cc cruiser the ‘Super Meteor’ and officially unveil it at the 2021 EICMA show scheduled for 23rd to 28th November in Italy.
Until now, Royal Enfield was expected to use the Shotgun moniker for the middleweight cruiser motorcycle, the trademark for which was applied back in April this year.
While the bike will be revealed in November, its launch is set to take place in India by early 2022 and it is likely to be positioned above the current 650 twins from the brand – the Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650.
The Royal Enfield Super Meteor will borrow the 648cc parallel twin from the above-mentioned bikes. It should produce 47 HP and 52 Nm and be paired to a 6-speed gearbox.
Featuring retro-inspired styling, the middleweight cruiser bike will come with a circular headlamp, twin dials, one of which should be used for the Tripper navigation assist, teardrop shape fuel tank, comfy seats, circular taillight and long fenders.
The bike will sport inverted front fork, twin rear shocks, twin exhausts, a disc brake on each rim and alloy wheels. Expect the switchgear to be shared with the other 650cc models from Enfield and the cruiser bike should have dual channel ABS too.


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fans of the universe Harry Potter and the DC superheroes are in luck. As confirmed by Jason Kilar, CEO of WarnerMedia, both Hogwarts Legacy What Gotham Knights will finally reach physical and digital stores at the end of this year, although at the moment neither of them has an exact release date. Both titles were delayed to 2022 and certain rumors suggested that they could suffer a new delay, although a source recently confirmed that Legacy would arrive in 2022, something that we can finally corroborate with the statements that Kilar has shared.
This mission, this strategy continues in 22 with a sense of urgency: launching HBO Max in many more countries this quarter and the balance of the year, launching CNN+, delivering of a full slate of highly anticipated games. 10/x pic.twitter.com/CY5jYAhxU5 Jason Kilar (@jasonkilar) January 26, 2022
“This mission, this strategy continues on the 22nd with a sense of urgency: launch of HBO Max in many more countries this quarter and the rest of the year, launch of CNN+, delivery of a complete list of highly anticipated gamesKilar explained in a thread to talk about WarnerMedia’s financial results for 2021 and the company’s strategy in 2022. As you can see in the attached tweet, Hogwarts Legacy Y Gotham Knights they appear within the 2022 strategy in the section that mentions “a complete list of highly anticipated games”. Knowing this information, it would not surprise us that sooner rather than later we learn something more about how its development is advancing along with images not seen until now.
Two of the most anticipated games of this 2022
“One of his great promises is to make us make tough decisions during the course of them, something that, said like this, could remind us of what was seen in The Witcher 3, although no further details have been given regarding the operation of this system or the scope of the consequences of our actions, so we will have to wait a little longer to find out for sure”, we commented in our report on Hogwarts Legacy. “The game could not be more promising for anyone who has enjoyed the Arkham saga, although its story does not continue that plot: it will be original and independent of what we have seen in the comics or other games. The duration promises to be generous, as the first gameplay demo takes place after 12 hours of gameplay,” we explained in our full coverage of Gotham Knights.


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The Hadoop and NoSQL implementers find the right mix of skills and real-estate in the capital and moves its first international HQ to London.
Showing results 1 to 20 of 28
Amazon UK will open new offices in Silicon Roundabout with capacity for 5,000 employees.
Amazon Web Services, Google Compute Engine, and Microsoft Azure are likely to be the three lead dogs in cloud infrastructure services. Why? Economics, scale, and skills.
Deceptively simple in concept, big data — the idea that all you need to solve the world's biggest problems are zettabytes of data — has some problems in front of the potential solutions.
An alliance between Seattle-based 2nd Watch and Slalom Consulting combines the skills of two of the Amazon Web Services' leading integration and consulting organizations.
Amazon's Digital Media Development Centre is building new services for streaming video to a wide range of devices. ZDNet went for a tour.
Amazon's plan to add 100 more staff to its Digital Media Development Centre in London will see the company hiring university leavers.
Amazon is looking to recruit 100 more workers at its Digital Media Development Centre on the fringes of London's Tech City.
The development centre in Tech City is looking for local talent to help create technology for putting TV shows and other digital media onto PCs, smartphones and games consoles, alongside the Lovefilm and Pushbutton teams.
Just days after Amazon said London would be its digital media development hub, Facebook has set up a team in the city that will focus on 'key areas like mobile and platform'
The company is to open up a new centre near the Barbican, bringing together the teams from Lovefilm and Pushbutton, the Amazon subsidiary that developed Lovefilm's apps for smart TVs, consoles and the iPad
The London-based hosting company has introduced two services to its cloud for small businesses that want to provision servers or host simple websites, going up against Amazon with bundled support
Small start-ups have taken a lead on enterprises in their adoption of big data, by embedding analytics into the heart of their applications, according to Amazon Web Services.As the cloud has grown, prices for rentable computing power have come down, while scale-out applications like Hadoop have evolved to analyse large quantities of data, Werner Vogels, Amazon Web Service's (AWS) chief technology officer, said in a keynote speech at the AWS Summit 2012 in London.
Amazon Web Services has brought its Direct Connect technology to the UK, which allows customers to establish a dedicated network connection between their datacentre and the local Amazon Web Services facility.The announcement, made on Wednesday, means UK customers can connect to Amazon Web Services' EU West (Ireland) region via the Telecity Sovereign House datacentre in London at guaranteed port speeds of 1Gbps or 10Gbps.
No one should be surprised to learn that Amazon has retained the top spot in the fifth annual list of the UK's 100 'Hot Shops' published by IMRG and Experian Hitwise. However, there are three notable new entries, with the London 2012 Ticket site appearing in 35th place, followed by H&M (52) and Etsy (53).
UK lacks seasoned cyber security staff to police the games, warns Eurim...
The financial fall-out from the recession has caused downward pressure on IT wages in London firms, according to public sector body E-skills
Confusion has broken out within government circles over the 2Mbps universal broadband coverage that was called for by Stephen Carter's Digital Britain report.At a Parliament and Internet conference held in London on Thursday, the head of broadband policy for Lord Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said the government had "never said there will be 2Mbps [provided to UK citizens] at any given time".
Canonical, the London company that founded the Ubuntu Project, today announced professional services to support companies who are building "private cloud" infrastructures behind their corporate firewalls.Earlier this year, the company released a technical preview of Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC), an open-source system that allows companies to build private clouds that match the Amazon EC2 interface.
The 'Australia Needs Skills' expo in London is looking to attract a growing list of IT specialists needed to address the country's skills shortage
The best of ZDNet, delivered
- 1 ZDNet Cloud TV: Hurdles to overcome (highlights)
- 2 Perfectly legal ways you can still get Windows 7 cheap (or even free)
- 3 34 ways to improve your iPhone's battery life
- 4 How much does an iPhone 6 really cost? (Hint: It's way more than $199)
- 5 So you have an app idea and want to make a bajillion bucks


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PMI on life after the tobacco wars | WARC | The Feed
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PMI on life after the tobacco wars
Philip Morris International expects that a decade from now there will no longer be a market for cigarettes and sees a “lucrative” business in converting smokers to the range of non-combustible alternatives it has developed.
Why it matters
The world’s largest tobacco company is preparing for a future in which the number of cigarette smokers around the world continues to fall to the point where governments may introduce regulations to help push remaining smokers into reduced-risk areas.
At the same time it is looking at the potential of related areas beyond nicotine, such as marijuana, botanicals and respiratory drug delivery technology.
- PMI has invested more than $8bn in developing its smoke-free business – the IQOS heated tobacco system and e-cigarettes – and says a quarter of its revenue is coming from these new products.
- It claims its IQOS product contains 90 to 95% fewer harmful chemicals than a traditional combustible cigarette.
- Around 70% of those trying IQOS are able to switch away completely from combustible products.
- PMI sold 76 billion of the consumable equivalent cigarettes in the heated tobacco system in 2020 and is aiming to double that by 2023 of 140 to 160 billion units.
“Converting the world’s smokers is an extremely positive and lucrative business for us. In 10 to 15 years, we think cigarettes can be out of the market entirely – people will quit or, if they’re still using nicotine, it’ll be in a non-combustible way” – Martin King, chief executive of Philip Morris International America.
Sourced from Los Angeles Times
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Cocoa Beach installs mobile-only parking payment program to save money
The public parking program does not offer any cash option or parking equipment. Payment for parking can only be done via the ParkNow! mobile app or by calling a local number from their mobile phones.
“For those who are visitors to Cocoa Beach, they are a demographic that uses mobile for a lot of purposes already and this accommodates that demographic really well,” Amie Devero, president of Solutions 4 Cities.
“Cities are struggling to deal with budget issues,” she said. “Traditional parking like meters has a significant cost to the cities, for equipment, maintenance and manpower.
“The mobile payment method is entirely cloud-based, the technology itself has no cost to the city at all so it is a significant savings for taxpayers. The only cost has been painting roads, putting up signs and purchasing smartphones for parking enforcement officers — everything else is paid for by vendors or by a customer convenience fee.”
Solutions 4 Cities is a consultant working with the city to implement the mobile payments program.
Paid parking zone
Approximately 200 formerly free, non-metered spaces in downtown are being converted to paid parking for anyone without a parking permit to insure that beachgoers do not fill up the downtown parking spots that are meant for visitors to local restaurants, bars, shops and other businesses.
The mobile payments program is also being applied to 30 metered spots and will roll out to additional metered spots in the future.
Since no meters currently exist at the formerly free spots, Cocoa Beach – by using mobile – is able to create a paid parking zone without the need to invest in additional equipment, maintenance or installation. This keeps the cost to the town and taxpayers to a minimum.
Anyone without a parking permit will have to use their mobile phone to pay for parking at one of the 200 spots or look for a metered parking spots around town.
To pay for parking, users can download the free ParkNow! app for the iPhone or Android phones and provide either a credit or debit card number. Then users scan the QR code on the meter or sign for that space or enter the space number on the curb and indicate how long they would like to park.
App users can also choose to have reminder text messages sent to alert them that time is about to run out and needs to be extended. Users can extend the time without having to go back to their car to feed the meter.
Users pay a fee of $.30 to park or extend their parking and $.10 for reminder text messages
The ParkNow! service is offered by MobileNow!.
Enforcement made easy
The system automatically updates handheld parking enforcement devices used by parking officers so they can whether or not a space has been paid for.
Visitors are being made aware of the program via decals and signs where the spaces are available.
Those who do not have an iPhone or Android phone can pre-register by going to the Web site, www.ParkNow!.US, and creating an account. Then they call the posted local phone number to start a parking session.
The ParkNow! system will automatically detect the cell phone being used and the account that goes with it. All the user has to do is indicate how long they want to park for.
“Mobile payments for parking is all over the country – it is spreading faster than you can imagine. This is the only city that has a mobile-only payment program,” Ms. Devero said.
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York


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The Swiss-based food giant also published its ‘Creating Shared Value and Sustainability Report’ and the company explained how it is supporting ‘the just transition towards climate-friendly and nature-positive food systems’.
Nestle claimed it is delivering on its climate roadmap and reports that it has passed peak carbon levels. For the last two consecutive years, Nestlé said it has reduced its absolute greenhouse gas emissions, even while its business volume has grown significantly.
Specifically, it has achieved a reduction of 4.0 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents, by switching to renewable electricity, or encouraging the use of natural fertilizers in farming. And it has initiated removals of 9.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents through nature-based solutions within its value chain.
It said innovation is driving forward products with reduced environmental impact and several new plant-based, lower-carbon food and beverage products were launched in 2021.
The new Les Recettes de l’Atelier Incoa, a 100% cocoa fruit chocolate is one example of sustainable production, by using a proprietary innovation to create dark chocolate made entirely from cocoa fruit, reducing waste by using cocoa pulp as a natural sweetener.
The successful launch of KitKat V, the vegan version of the iconic KitKat bar, offers the same perfect balance between crispy wafer and smooth chocolate for consumers that are seeking out plant-based alternatives in their diets.
KitKat V was developed at the original home of KitKat: Nestlé’s Confectionery Research and Development Centre in York, UK.
By combining Nestlé’s expertise in chocolate innovation and non-dairy alternatives, its scientists managed to perfectly blend the smooth chocolate with a rice-based alternative, resulting in the certified vegan KitKat V.
The new plant-based bar is made from 100% certified or verified cocoa sourced through the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, in partnership with the Rainforest Alliance, for better farming, better lives and better cocoa.
KitKat V was launched in 2021 on shelves in Australia, Brazil, several EU countries, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, with other countries to follow in 2022.
"We used our expertise in ingredients together with a test-and-learn approach to create a delicious vegan alternative," said Louise Barrett Head of Nestlé Confectionery Product Technology Centre United Kingdom.
The Nestlé Cocoa Plan Nestlé is also investing in cocoa communities such as Didoko, Côte d’Ivoire, to help children access good quality education, the company said.
Respecting human rights
The company said: “At Nestlé, we are determined to respect and promote human rights in our value chains. Farmer livelihoods and resilient farming communities will be essential for a just transition to regenerative food systems that can provide quality, affordable food for the long term.”
The company grew its e-commerce sales by another 15.1%, increasing e-commerce’s share of total Group sales to 14.3% in 2021.
Nestlé said it further deployed its connected operations technology last year, with more than 100 sites now benefitting from a more connected workforce, better visibility across the entire production process and local flexibility.
In a year that saw supply chain constraints, Nestlé claimed it was able to identify changes in demand and supply in real-time and deal with issues much faster.


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According to a recent press release, the cast of the ABC sitcom has partnered with the educational retailer to raffle off several $500 Lakeshore Learning gift cards to lucky teachers from all over the United States.
To enter for a chance to win the grand prize, teachers must post a photo of their classroom (with no students, please!) to Instagram using #AbbottElementarySweepstakes and follow the official Abbott Elementary account (@abbottelemabc).
As per the release, all teachers who visit a Lakeshore Learning store between Sept. 16 and 18 will receive "$5 off their purchase [with a valid teacher/school ID and minimum $5 in-store purchase] and Abbott Elementary giveaways," as well as double Loyalty Points for all Rewards Members when they shop either in-store or online.
"Teachers are truly at the heart of everything we do and we're always looking for ways to help them especially during back-to-school time," Lakeshore's president and CEO Bo Kaplan stated in the release.
Kaplan continued: "We're passionate about our educators and excited to invite them in store to take advantage of these fun giveaway opportunities made possible through our partnership with ABC."
For full sweepstake details or to find a Lakeshore store near you, visit https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/l/abbott-elementary.
Check out our guide to Season 2 of Abbott Elementary for everything we know about the cast, where to watch, and more.


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By KEVIN TAN
PASSIONATE and driven are just two words one can use to describe Fariz Hanapiah.
At 28, Fariz is the co-founder and executive creative director of Motiofixo, a motion graphics studio and most recently, he emerged as the winner of the Young Creative Entrepreneur Media (YCEM) Award 2012.
The competition organised by The British Council Malaysia aims to identify and recognise young Malaysians for their innovative entrepreneurial skills. The winner’s awarded with the grand opportunity to travel to London and connect with some of the region’s top creative minds.
Fariz basically stood out from other finalists when he presented his own company, Motiofixo as a case study at the YCEM awards. Co-founded by Fariz, Idril Mihat, and Shamsul Nashriq, Motiofixo consists a team of 16 young and talented individuals that distinguishes itself as one of the new generation of daring motion graphics studios.
“I basically showcased Motiofixo; how the operation works and highlighted the importance of getting the best talents. It is crucial for a company to be passion-driven and creatively motivated by it’s own people,” said Fariz during an interview at Motiofixo in Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur.
Founded in 2007 with relatively low budget, Motiofixo started out by making music videos for indie bands in Kuala Lumpur. Now, the motion graphics studio boast a list of notable clientele that includes Honda, Samsung, Mastercard, Hugo Boss and Volkswagen.
“I never thought that I would win, I was very surprised. I also personally knew the other finalists, and it was a tough challenge,” he said.
Grey Yeoh, British Council Arts and Programmes manager said the enthusiasm and energy in Fariz’s presentation was “very impressive”.
“There are a lot of young creative people who are very aspirational and they are constantly trying to push their own ideas through. The award is about being entrepreneurial and Fariz’s presentation stood out because he highlighted the reality of the business,” said Yeoh.
British Council programmes deputy director, and one of the competition’s judges, Clare Walker, added that Fariz would benefit from the award the most, considering he works specifically in the digital creative media field.
Fariz pointed out that although Motiofixo has its own trademark in doing motion design, it is always are open to introducing new ideas and solutions to meet their clients’ needs.
“One thing I learned is that you cannot really determine yourself as a particular professional; instead you should position yourself as a solutions provider in terms of creativity. So this has been the way we’ve been working,” Fariz explained.
During his recent trip to London, Fariz was inspired to depend more on his own thinking and wits, as opposed to being too reliant on technology to come up with all the design solutions.
“Ironically, the more traditional the people are, the more open they are towards technology. They just try not to rely on it too much as they prefer to have the human element in their work,” he said.
He noticed that computers were the last thing people would use, as they only serve as a tool to help implement the ideas.
It appeared to him that Malaysian youth are too dependent on computers to the point it limits their creative thinking skills. With that, Fariz sees the need for a shift of mindset among makers and thinkers in Malaysia.
Fariz also had the opportunity to meet the brains behind some of Britain’s most critically acclaimed creative works. He even got to experience the working environment of their creative agency.
“The trip really inspired me to look farther – not just Malaysia – but globally. So my goal is to have clients outside of the country.”To be successful, Fariz encouraged young people to first find their niche, and try make a living out of it.
“That is the biggest challenge, to be smart and transform the things that you love into something that you can make money out of.”


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As more consumers approach health and wellness in a holistic way, functionality is being sought in a highly complementary way via supplements and functional foods and beverages. Historically, beverages were a more culturally acceptable vehicle for functionality, but now we see as much or greater interest in obtaining specific benefits from functional foods. While supplements used to be largely relied upon as “insurance” in case healthy eating regimens weren’t enough, now more consumers use supplements for targeted benefits, and that’s especially true of younger consumers. There’s considerable room for growth in functional foods/beverages as there are much larger proportions of consumers who are interested in trying them for a variety of benefits than are currently using them for those benefits.
On this podcast episode, Dr. Shelley Balanko shares new insights about supplements and functional foods, including the impact of COVID-19 on consumers’ interest in benefits like immunity and digestion, based on a new report by the Hartman Group.
Full shownotes and resources at www.SoundBitesRD.com/159


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Public and private markets raced through the pandemic, and many of the breakout IPOs and newly enriched start-ups also raced above it — in the cloud. The software boom of 2020 found an unlikely and gruesome tailwind in Covid-19, and it has been the talk of Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
DocuSign, Zoom Video Communications, Fastly and Cloudflare, as well as e-commerce enablers like Etsy and Shopify rode the accelerating digitization wave to stock market gains of at least 160% since mid-March. Many players in the private market also made impressive gains, as their tech-enabled business strategies went from encouraged to indispensable, literally overnight.
“If you’re not online, you’re not in business,” says Andrew Bialecki, founder and CEO of marketing automation platform Klaviyo, which after a $200 million Series C funding in November raised its valuation from $800 million to over $4 billion.
In a robust year for venture capital investments, Klaviyo and dozens of others rode the digitization tailwind into unicorn territory. According to CB Insights, Q3 2020 proved to be the second-strongest quarter on record for venture capital investments to U.S.-based companies. And Q4, so far, hasn’t disappointed either. Of over 100 companies that achieved a $1 billion-plus valuation this year, 28 of them hit so-called unicorn status in October and November alone.
MessageBird, the nine-year-old Dutch cloud platform facilitating communications for companies like Uber, SAP, and Lufthansa across Southeast Asia, Europe, and Latin America, more than tripled its valuation to $3 billion when it raised a $200 million Series C round in October.
Unqork, a NYC-based no code software platform, also raised a mega Series C in October, bumping the three-year-old start-up’s valuation to $2 billion.


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GTA Online has been one of the biggest successes for Rockstar Games, and while the game has been the subject of much criticism from fans, few can deny the game's quality.
GTA Online is one of the most astonishing online experiences and might initially even seem daunting due to the countless amount of activities available to the player. While the game has seen a steady audience since its launch, the player base always witnesses a spike during the release of a new content update.
The game's last significant content update came in the form of the Diamond Casino Heist in December 2019. With the news of GTA 5 and Online coming to the PS5, players had expected no more updates until the game comes out on next-gen consoles.
However, Rockstar Games surprised everyone with not one but two updates planned for the year. One smaller update has been planned for the summer while the other will arrive later during the year, possibly December.
Rumours surrounding GTA Online 2020 updates
1) Mile High Club Business
The Mile High Club appears both in GTA V and GTA Online as an under-construction building. It has been the subject of much speculation amongst the community as players often question when the actual structure will become usable.
Fans now speculate that the Mile High Club is likely to finish construction with the summer update and might even open up another business.
This authenticity of the rumour is yet to be confirmed but it has a lot of traction on forums and subreddits across the internet.
2) Remastered Liberty City and Heist
This is one of the most ambitious rumours doing the rounds and is the one with the least legs to stand on. Given that Rockstar Games have worded their announcement with "an entirely new location", it quickly rules out previous cities and locations.
Therefore, the new location is much more likely to be a smaller and more realistic location than an entirely new open world such as Liberty City.
The rumour suggests that a new heist with a massive $10 million will take place in the city's gold reserves. This is extreme over-reaching and is more of a shot in the dark than one actually supported by information and facts.
3) Niko Belic returns to GTA
Niko Belic, the protagonist of GTA IV, is a much-beloved figure of the GTA mythos. Therefore, fans would love to see him return to the GTA universe. However, it wouldn't make much sense thematically as Niko's story had ended quite definitively, and there is not much reason for him to go back to a world of crime.
While the game has brought back many characters from previous games such as Brucie and Tony Prince, the return of Niko does seems like a very far-fetched option.Published 31 Jul 2020, 14:07 IST


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AMD has started rolling out their open-source Linux graphics driver support code for their recently announced Mullins and Beema APUs.
AMD has now revealed their newest APUs, codenamed "Beema" and "Mullins" while their Linux fate remains unclear.
The Linux Foundation will be announcing tomorrow that AMD and Mentor Graphics are partnering up with the embedded Yocto Linux project as advisory members.
After yesterday's testing of the GeForce 700 vs. Radeon Rx 200 Series With The Latest Linux Drivers test results were made available, the official Catalyst 14.4 Linux graphics driver was offered up to the public.
AMD's R600 Gallium3D driver that supports the Radeon HD 2000 through HD 6000 series graphics cards received a number of bug-fixes on Thursday.
AMD has kicked off a new week by releasing the Catalyst 14.4 release candidate for Linux. The big items with this release include R9 295X GPU support and full support for OpenGL 4.4.
For the many owners of "RV770" hardware out there with the once popular Radeon HD 4850 and HD 4870 graphics cards, AMD open-source developers are now proposing the dynamic power management (re-clocking) support be disabled by default to deal with open bugs.
AMD has decided to disable the LLVM compiler back-end by default within the R600 era Gallium3D graphics driver.
This week AMD announced Athlon and Sempron APUs for their new AM1 platform that's comprised of socketed Kabinis with Radeon R3 (GCN-era) graphics. I delivered a launch-day Linux review of the AMD Athlon 5350 that is the highest-end AM1 APU currently offered while arriving today were the three other AM1 APUs: the Athlon 5150 and the Sempron 3850 and Sempron 2650 APUs.
Alex Deucher sent out a set of three patches today to update the microcode used by the AMD "Southern Islands" graphics processors.
AMD published two new OpenGL extensions today that the graphics giant has developed.
AMD and Mentor Graphics are teaming up to push open-source Linux development for embedded systems.
The two most interesting things I learned from AMD at the Game Developer's Conference last week were already covered on Phoronix: they're looking at a new Linux driver strategy with an open kernel driver for Catalyst and they are still evaluating the feasibility of Mantle on Linux, but there were also some other random things I learned from various AMD employees.
This week when at the Game Developer's Conference one of the topics that many Phoronix readers wanted me to find out more about was in regards to AMD's Mantle API being supported on Linux.
AMD has released a new Windows and Linux Catalyst proprietary graphics driver. The Catalyst 14.3 Beta for Linux doesn't advertise any new features, but it comes with some bug-fixes.
Older AMD (ATI) Radeon GPUs can now optionally use GLAMOR for 2D hardware acceleration in place of EXA when using the latest open-source graphics driver.
While the open-source AMD Linux driver continues gaining ground on Catalyst, one feature you will likely not see from the open-source Linux driver in the foreseeable future is support for AMD's CrossFire technology.
In a follow-up to this morning's article about AMD Press Talks Up Major Open-Source Linux Driver Features, AMD Global Communications said there would be no Catalyst 14.2 Beta for Linux, but a new driver was in fact released today.
Good news: AMD's press / global communications team is finally talking up their open-source Linux graphics driver features. Bad news: they appear to still need lots of training over their own Linux graphics drivers. Or is there some Linux driver shake-up happening? Here's some of what they are promoting right now with the AMD Linux graphics driver.
AMD has mainlined its support for hardware-accelerated open-source H.264 video encoding into Mesa for recent Radeon GPUs.
AMD has published a second version of their open-source Linux driver code for exposing the "VCE" video engine on modern Radeon GPUs under Linux via OpenMAX for accelerated H.264 video encoding.
Christian König has added an H.264 encoding interface to the general video code for Gallium3D that will ultimately be leveraged by the RadeonSI Gallium3D driver.
The Radeon R600 Gallium3D driver has picked up support for another OpenGL extension that's mandated by the OpenGL 4.1 specification.
Since last month's debut of the AMD Kaveri APUs there have been many Phoronix articles delivering Linux test results of the A10-7850K high-end APU. For those that unfortunately don't read Phoronix on a daily basis, here's a recap of some of our findings to date.
After previously talking about the patches, as of this evening the OpenGL 3.3 support has officially arrived within Mesa for the AMD R600 Gallium3D driver with the Radeon HD 2000 series and newer GPUs.
AMD is doing another large and important open-source graphics driver code drop this morning. This morning AMD is publishing their VCE code that allows for hardware-based video encoding.
Following the GCC 4.9 Kaveri benchmarks and Clang 3.4 benchmarks with Kaveri, here's some other benchmarks from GCC looking at the impact of "-march=bdver3" and other CPU tuning flags from the AMD A10-7850K APU on Ubuntu Linux.
The first major Linux Catalyst 2014 release is now available.
Yesterday I wrote about Geometry Shaders support proposed for the R600 Gallium3D driver, a major OpenGL 3.2 feature and is needed for getting the R600g driver up to par with RadeonSI and the other Mesa/Gallium3D drivers either at or nearing OpenGL 3.3 compliance. Some Phoronix readers expressed outrage that this initial GS support was limited to the Radeon HD 5000 series and newer, but now there's an early patch to provide geometry shaders to older AMD hardware.
AMD launched their new Windows graphics driver today that supports their new Mantle API as an alternative for game developers to Direct3D or OpenGL. However, there's still no indications of foreseeable Linux support.
775 AMD news articles published on Phoronix.


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Serbia: Latest beverage news & analysis
The sale of Serbia's Vrsacki Vinogradi winery to Chinese firm Guan Nan is under investigation by the country's prosecutor's office.
Heineken and Efes have agreed to unwind their four year-old partnerships in Kazakhstan and Serbia following a “strategic review”.
Heineken and Efes Breweries International have confirmed further details of their joint-venture in Serbia, and the closure of one of their breweries in the country.
Heineken has won the race to acquire Serbian brewer Rodic.
Carlsberg is looking to invest in its Serbian unit next year, according to local reports.
Heineken has declined to comment on speculation that it is looking to buy the Serbian brewery Pivara MB.
Global brewers have stayed silent over their interest in the possible acquisition of Serbian brewery Pivara MB.
A consortium between the Swedish brewer United Nordic Beverages and Lithuanian Alita plans to invest in the development of Serbian brewery Beogradska Industrija Piva to boost its brewing capacity.
A consortium between the Swedish brewer United Nordic Beverages and Lithuanian Alita has bought a stake in Serbian brewery Beogradska Industrija Piva.
Carlsberg has launched a new high alcohol beer from its Celarevo brewery, making it the strongest beer available in the Serbian market.
- Is Brown-Forman at the end of the SoCo road?
- Is time right for TWE to move for Diageo's wines?
- Will a sexed-up SABMiller tempt AB InBev?
- Is Brown-Forman doing a Jack Daniel's in Ireland?
- AB InBev, SABMiller - Here's what'll happen next
- AB InBev makes formal offer for SABMiller
- Diageo secures Xerox Corp CFO as finance head
- Tesco pulls several Carlsberg SKUs in UK
- Former Pernod Ricard exec joins Wakefield Wines
- Diageo makes US$780.5m beer deal with Heineken
- The IWSR Duty Free/Travel Retail Summary Report 2015
- Future growth opportunities for global spirits
- Global gin insights - market data, product innovation and consumer trends research
- Global non-Scotch whiskies insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends research
- Global Scotch whisky insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends research


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Tag : trading update
Next to report further dip in salesSubscription
Next is expected to release another disappointing trading update this week, as weak consumer confidence offsets a boost from the warm weather in March.
Multiples across the UK are readying for a bumper Easter bank holiday weekend as shoppers are expected to take to the high street in the warm spring weather.
John Lewis sales edged up 3.7% year-on-year to £89.1m for the week to 14 January 2017, but fashion sales fashion sales tailed off following earlier strong trading.
Total sales at Primark were up 11% on a reported basis (22% on a constant currency basis) for the 16 weeks to 7 January 2017, driven by an increase in selling space.
Mothercare's UK sales bolstered by online growthSubscription
Mothercare’s like-for-like sales in the UK edged up 1% in the 13 weeks to 7 January, driven by a 5.5% uplift online.
Christmas sales rise at Superdry Subscription
SuperGroup has reported revenues of £162.1m in the 10 weeks to 7 January 2017, up 20.6% year on year, boosted by rapid international store expansion and the drop in the value of sterling.
Debenhams reports Christmas trading boostSubscription
Debenhams has reported a 5% increase in like-for-like sales in the seven weeks leading up to 7 January 2016, driven by strong performance in beauty and gifts.
Halloween boosts October fashion sales Subscription
Non-food retail like-for-like sales have edged up 0.6% for the three months to 31 October, thanks to new season ranges and Halloween spending, according to the KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.
Tourist spend soars in London’s West EndSubscription
Tax-free tourist spend in London’s West End during August jumped 44% year on year, as overseas visitors took advantage of favourable exchange rates following the Brexit vote.
Bank holiday promotions fail to buoy trade Subscription
The August bank holiday weekend fell flat for multiples as warm weather and flash promotions across the high street failed to tempt shoppers into stores.


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Whether you're a girl that loves or hates trying on dozens of styles to the "oohs" and "ahhs" of admirers in the dressing room, knowing the styles and trends for prom this season may help local girls select that special dress in which they'll soon dance the night away.
Traditional long gowns will always be associated with the big event, but some fashion-forward prom-goers may also opt to wear one of the new "in" styles.
Laura O'Farrell, owner of the Ooh la la Boutiques in Altoona and Johnstown, carries short prom dress styles, including a turquoise dress worn by Kendall Jenner on the cover of Teen Prom magazine. O'Farrell said the dress has already sold in Johnstown, and many manufacturers are promoting short dress styles this year.
Mirror photos by Patrick Waksmunski
Lauren?O’Farrell, 15, of Ebensburg models a prom dress at Ooh la la Boutique in the Logan Valley Mall. The dress was on the cover of Teen Prom magazine. Short dresses are one of the prom fashion trends this year. Lauren’s mother, Laura O’Farrell owns Ooh la la.
Bellwood-Antis junior Alexis Shade, 15, chose this bright orange prom gown at Pine?Ridge Bridal in?Duncansville.
"I think it's new," she said of the trend. "They're saying that someone who's a little more fashion-conscious is going to wear a shorter dress to be a little bit more trendy."
O'Farrell said other trendy styles include long, flowing silhouettes, feathers, split leg and asymmetrical hems and cut-out styles. She would urge girls to consider some of the trendier styles for a very unique look.
"It's a special time to get dressed up, look pretty and look different," she said. "It's not fun seeing yourself in what everybody else is wearing."
Cathy Alberts, owner of LuCretia II Bridal and Formals in Altoona, said even if it comes down to working it out with mom, girls usually end up with the style of dress they want - whether that be more traditional or more modern.
"I don't even know what's traditional in prom anymore," she said. "Girls are strong. They know what they like."
Alberts said LuCretia's best-selling style this year is the mermaid dress. Though the style tends to be close-fitting throughout the bodice and flair out only when it hits the mid-calf area, Alberts said mermaid dresses can look good on girls of all sizes.
"Even on girls that are a little larger, it just seems like they like the proportion and showing their curves," she said.
Alberts said girls may gravitate toward certain styles each year if it's what they see in advertisements or on the red carpet. Some trends also come as a surprise - dresses with short hems in the front that then become longer in the back, along with shorter dress styles, have been doing better than Alberts thought they would this year.
"Some girls are like 'Oh, I wore the big thing last year, now I want to be comfortable this year,'" she said. "I think that's why they end up going for those styles."
Alberts said they didn't get as many dresses with prints this year as they have in the past three or four years, but neon colors remain popular.
The scene when Alexis Shade, 15, of Bellwood, tried on a bright orange tiered gown at Pine Ridge Bridal in Duncans-ville would suggest truth behind this trend. Shade said she liked the eye-popping color and the funky style of the dress, and chose it over a shorter piece with a camouflage print.
"It feels more prom-like," she said of the longer dress.
On the other end of the dressing room, Rachel Johnson, 15, of Altoona, stuck with slinkier dress styles in shades of purple and pink.
Rachel's mother, Missy, said they had started their dress search at Pine Ridge without any idea what style Rachel would chose.
"We came in totally open-minded and had no idea what color, or anything," Missy said.
And though Rachel doesn't usually wear pink, she took the advice of others in the dressing room and chose a dress in a medium shade that had sequins and a cut-out style.
"All my friends say I look nice in pink," Rachel said. "I like to try different things."
Autumn Pruonto-McKinney, owner of Pine Ridge Bridal, agreed that asymmetrical hems were big this year, and added that they also carried a few styles that were short skirt dresses that also came with a long overskirt, and could be worn either way.
"I have girls that are going to two proms, so they're wearing the same dress but they have a totally different look for each of the proms," she said.
Pruonto-McKinney said ballgown styles are still really strong sellers because of the "Cinderella feeling" they can give girls on prom night. At the same time, prints like peacock, feathers and other animal prints have also been selling well, she said.
"It's fun, and you want to have fun for prom," she said.
No matter what style of dress they chose, Pruonto-McKinney said consultants are always on hand to make sure girls leave with exactly what they want, and what looks good on them.
"What our consultants try to do is match the girl's body type with the dress to maximize her best look," she said. "The last thing you want is someone going 'where did she get that dress' in a nasty way!"
Mirror Staff Writer Beth Ann Downey is at 946-7520.


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Allegations of LinkedIn and Reddit snooping on iOS clipboard data have been reported. Reportedly, numerous iPhone iOS 14 apps are snooping on the phone’s clipboard data. Forget the Chinese TikTok, even popular ones such as LinkedIn and Reddit, are also facing similar accusations.
The recently unveiled iOS 14 beta for developers is affected by bugs. The latest code informs the Apple user if any application tries to access personal data from the device’s clipboard. Surprisingly, many users are getting alerts regarding numerous popular apps.
LinkedIn and Reddit snooping come as a surprise
The clipboard data is shared publicly with other iOS devices nearby. Contents of clipboard data include sensitive information, including financial data such as crypto addresses besides other personal user data. Shockingly, the shortcoming was reported by Mysk researchers way back in March, but Apple hasn’t bothered to rectify the issue so far.
LinkedIn is copying the contents of my clipboard every keystroke. IOS 14 allows users to see each paste notification.
I’m on an IPad Pro and it’s copying from the clipboard of my MacBook Pro.
Tik tok just got called out for this exact reason. pic.twitter.com/l6NIT8ixEF
— d (@m0nald) July 2, 2020
LinkedIn and Reddit snooping on data aren’t as dangerous as per both companies. If an application triggers the alarm, it does not necessarily mean that user clipboard data is being shared publicly. However, it is unnerving for iOS users as even mainstream trusted applications are triggering alerts.
Don Morton found that the Reddit iOS app was accessing the user’s clipboard data. Reddit was quick to reply to the allegations and explained how they have resolved the issue. The suspected malfunction is happening results from a codepath that suggests URLs as the user types any URL. The social media giant further clarified that it does not store the user’s clipboard content. The said code is now updated and latest app version will go live on July 14th.
LinkedIn was also subjected to similar accusations. A prompt reply from Erran Berger of LinkedIn saved the day. He tweeted that the alleged code has been traced. It pertains to the text entered in the paste box. He also reiterated that the firm does not store this data.
iOS 14 is facing controversy before release
Long before LinkedIn and Reddit snooping began, the controversy began with TikTok. In March 2020, users discovered that the Chinese app was stealing the iOS clipboard data. However, despite assurances from TikTok, the fix never came.
A TikTok spokesperson replied to the allegations explaining that the malicious code would be removed soon. Other notable mentions include PUBG Mobile, ABC News, CBS News, Russia Today, and more.


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Scollar Inc, a Silicon Valley-based animal health technology startup, announced plans to relocate its headquarters to Kansas City, Missouri, to launch its suite of products and expand the company in the Animal Health Corridor. Scollar will scale its administrative, customer success, sales, and marketing teams in Kansas City.
“We are thrilled to welcome Scollar to our state,” said Missouri Governor Mike Parson. “Missouri has more than 8,000 projected tech openings across the state, and we are determined to fill them. We look forward to working with companies like Scollar to continue growing and developing high paying, high demand technology jobs in Missouri.”
Designed for everything from cats to cattle, Scollar is a full stack open platform consisting of three tightly integrated technologies – a modular smart collar, a mobile app, and a data cloud service. The technology is designed to address the needs of pet parents, protein producers and veterinarians, as well as animal service providers and product manufacturers.
Scollar CEO and Co-Founder Lisa Tamayo selected Kansas City after presenting at the Kansas City Animal Health Investment Forum in 2018.
“I was delighted with the vibrant community here in Kansas City and believe it is the perfect place for Scollar to rapidly scale in the US and globally,” Tamayo said.
“We have been very impressed with Scollar since their selection to present at the 2018 Animal Health Investment Forum – they are truly helping to shape the future of animal care,” KC Animal Health Corridor President Kimberly Young said. “I am confident they will fit right in to KC’s existing animal health ecosystem and grow quickly due to the globally significant concentration of expertise in our area.”
Scollar plans to create a developer community to grow the features and functions of its platform and will be recruiting a tech-savvy workforce for its staffing needs. In the next 4 years, the company will begin recruiting engineering and development teams, sales and marketing professionals, as well as general and administrative management.
For more information on why Missouri could be a prime location to launch or grow your business, contact Subash Alias, Interim CEO of Missouri Partnership, at 314.932.3973 or via our contact form. We’d be happy to answer any questions you might have, and show you how Missouri Partnership can help with your business expansion, collaboration and investment needs.


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Tv-channel Nelonen, a part of Sanoma Group, has today introduced its renewed slogan and visual identity. Nelonen aims at entertaining the Finns by making them laugh and cry, relax and get excited. In 2001, Nelonen introduced the slogan "Something Else", that emphasised the channels's role as a new and fresh alternative. Nelonen continues to bring forth entertainment with its new slogan: "Entertainment Does You Good".
"Nelonen's role as an entertainer has not changed but the world around us has. With its expanded channel offering Nelonen is not the challenger anymore but one of the main channels that almost 80% of Finns follow weekly," says Nelonen's senior vice president sales and marketing Pia Kalsta.
In addition to the new slogan, the visual identity of the channel changed. Nelonen's viewers are used to see the visual identity renew and live in time. The new look promotes Nelonen's brand in all visual elements of the channel.
"The new look is based on themes that change daily and during the day," says Nelonen's creative director Tuomo Kulomaa, who was responsible of designing the new look.
Nelonen Media is a part of Sanoma Group's Sanoma Entertainment division.


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Freddy’s Bar is extremely proud to announce an exhibition of Art work by Fashion Moda founder and artist Stefan Eins. –Solo Exhibition:
Called “Visionary” by The New York Times, “Utopian” by Art in America, and “Seminal” by TimeOut NY.
“Eins’ Apple is the one that Einstein threw on Newton’s head,” from ARTFORUM.
Stefan Eins, “the founder of Fashion Moda, the seminal alternative art space that began in Soho in the 1970s and moved to the SOuth Bronx, where the downtown scene and the world of hip-hop and graffiti cross-polinated.” (Art International – JOHN MENDELSOHN)
“…Fashin Moda, a legendary gallery that brought together downtown hipsters and uptown hip-hoppers. But all along he has pursued his own art, teasing meaning from otherwise-random lines, spots and cracks that most New Yorkers pass without noticing.
Mr. Eins’s work has been exhibited at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in Queens, in Vienna and in Kyrgyzstan, where he has curated two shows and plans another this year. Writing in Art in America in 2000, David Ebony described Mr. Eins’s spray paint splatters as “spare and lyrical” and “poignant.” (The New York Times – DAVID GONZALEZ) https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/arts/27urbanart.htm


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A disgruntled investor once called Papa John's CEO John Schnatter to suggest that he buy cheaper ingredients to cut costs and shore up the company's shares, which then hovered around $8.
Schnatter, whose company flaunts the motto "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza," wasn't having it. “I said... 'Take your Papa John’s stock, put it under your pillow, and over the next two to three years we’ll do you a good job,'" he recalled in a 2016 video interview with Purdue University.
The CEO, often seen in a red shirt emblazoned with he company's logo, delivered on his promise when the stock more than doubled to $19 in early 2012, three years after the investor’s call. Shares have more than quadrupled since, enjoying a 58% increase in the last 12 months alone that boosted Schnatter’s net worth to about $1 billion. The pizza mogul declined to be interviewed for this article, but said in emailed remarks: "As long as our quality and company continue to get better, by nature, we will get bigger."
In the last three decades, Schnatter has turned the company that he started out of a broom closet in 1984 into a pizza giant with $1.64 billion sales in 2015 from more than 4,900 locations in 44 countries and territories.
“He’s very passionate about (Papa John's) and takes a lot of pride in the performance of the company," said Peter Saleh, a managing director at financial services firm BTIG. "I think he’s a visionary that keeps this engine humming along."
Becoming Papa John's
Forbes was able to put together a timeline of Schnatter's career using four video interviews and feedback from Papa John’s press office.
The great-grandson of a German immigrant who arrived in the U.S. in 1867, Schnatter grew up among entrepreneurs. His grandfather owned three successful businesses, while his father started 20 outfits that all faltered. At age 8 Schnatter founded a grass-cutting company with his younger brother, and at age 12 a gutter-painting startup.
Three years later, Schnatter landed a job as a dishwasher at Rocky’s Sub Pub, a restaurant in his hometown of Jeffersonville, Ind. where he was eventually allowed to make pizzas. “I just fell in love with it,” he said in an interview with CNBC. While at Rocky’s, Schnatter bought a 1972 Camaro Z28 for $1,600.
He graduated from Indiana’s Ball State University in 1983 with a business degree but struggled to find work. So in early September of that year, Schnatter turned to managing his father’s pub, Mick’s Lounge, which he has described as the "dirtiest, nastiest, stinkiest ... beer joint in the world."
The bar had racked up $64,000 in debt, so Schnatter sold his Camaro for $2,800 a month after joining the company to pay the bar’s employees and buy beer for a week. He settled the pub's debts in about 4 months.
“I didn’t like the bar business. I didn’t like all the fights, all the cussing, the drinking … but I loved running the business,” Schnatter said in the Purdue interview.
Combining his two passions, Schnatter knocked down the broom closet at Mick’s Lounge one day in 1984 and started selling pizzas out of the back of the bar. A year later he opened the first Papa John’s restaurant in Jeffersonville, personally making every pizza during the company’s first year in business.
“He just saw an opportunity for someone to offer better pizza, and that consumers would taste the difference,” said Jefferies analyst Alexander Slagle.
Papa John’s sold its first franchise in 1986 and opened its 100th restaurant five years later. Schnatter took the firm public in June of 1993, listing it as "PZZA" on NASDAQ.
“In 1991 I didn’t have $2,000 to go on vacation. In 1994 the company was worth $200 million,” Schnatter said in an interview with CNBC. “We literally went from nothing to literally having a lot of blessings in a short period of time." By 2009, Schnatter had enough money to pay $250,000 for the 1972 Camaro he had sold for a couple grand in 1983.
Wall Street has continued to salivate over Papa John's, which has achieved a market cap of about $3.2 billion under Schnatter's leadership. Drivers of the growth include the firm's sustained commitment to quality ingredients and its early investment in technology, Slagle said. In 2001, Papa John's became the first pizza chain to offer national online ordering. By the first quarter of 2016, 55% of the chain's orders came in through digital platforms.
"They’ve worked hard to continue to improve the quality of their product and positioning," Slagle said, "They’ve worked hard investing in technology to be the leader and have the most convenient online ordering app and experience for the consumer and it’s paying off."
Despite its massive success -- the chain hasn’t posted a negative same-stores sales number, even during the recession, Saleh said -- Papa John's has only captured about a tenth of the pizza market in the U.S, according to BTIG estimates. Its two largest competitors, Pizza Hut and Domino's, together have seized about 30% to 40% of the pie, with the remaining share in the hands of local and regional pizza joints. But, in Saleh's view, Papa John's could gobble up market share in the future.
“I think their same-store sales are going to continue to be robust and if that’s the case I think you’re going to see franchisees continue to invest to build new units," Saleh said.
In his 32 years at Papa John’s helm, Schnatter has largely skirted scandals. But he landed in hot water in 2012 for saying the Affordable Care Act would force the company to raise prices by 11 to 14 cents per pizza, a cost he said the company would pass on to consumers. He also received backlash for a comment, which he said was misinterpreted, that seemed to suggest Papa John's would cut employee hours to avoid providing them with health insurance. Shares slumped about 4.2% as the controversy raged on.
Almost five years later, stockholders seem to have forgotten about Schnatter's comments. "The bigger concern among investors would be if and when John retires," said Saleh. "People would be concerned (that losing) his vision and his knowledge base would negatively impact the company."
At least for now, shareholders and pizza fans can breathe easy, as the 55-year-old has no plans to retire, a spokesperson for Papa John’s confirmed.
“I have a goal of being the No.1 pizza company in the world,” Schnatter said a few years ago. “...I’ve got all the patience and all the work ethic and all the time in the world to get that done.”


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Ken Kutaragi has once again stated that gamers can expect a wallet-busting price point when Sony's PS2 successor hits the stores sometime next year.
Speaking at the Playstation Meeting in Japan, Sony's president did however go some way to explaining exactly why the PS3 is likely to warrant all that extra overtime.
Sony hopes that its next-gen console will have a ten year lifespan, meaning all that technical gubbins inside the machine is going to have to be pretty spiffy from the off, if games are going to look as good in 2016 as they will in 2006. Kutaragi explained, "We're currently shifting from standard TVs to HD TVs. But in the next couple of years, most flat-panel TVs will be full HD. We're releasing the PS3 with full HD features from the start so that consumers won't have to buy another version of the console in the future. For the same reason, we're using Blu-ray as the PS3's disc format."
The outspoken Sony exec went on to admit that the company is aware the console's price is likely to be out of reach for the mass market initially but hopes the machine will be desirable enough to attract the hearts, and hard-earned cash, of hardcore fans at launch: "I'm aware that with all these technologies, the PS3 can't be offered at a price that's targeted towards households. I think everyone can still buy it if they wanted to."
Whether Sony's predictions are right and its silver box is genuinely equipped to cater to gamers for the next decade remain to be seen. However, we'd kind of hoped that by 2016 we'd all have microchips in our heads, beaming virtual reality Mario 1280 holo-graphics down our nostrils.


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Creating strong connections with customers is vital for Australian retailers looking to expand into Southeast Asia.
One of the biggest barriers to a great business conversation is a person’s job title.
The ABS Australian retail sales report has arrived, revealing this key industry continues to be dogged by a lack of growth in turnover. But that doesn’t mean individual retailers can’t buck the trend.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership’s back on: now what? The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been signed, but what does a piece of paper in Chile mean to small businesses in Australia and New Zealand?
If you listen to the talk online, you might assume that the cold call is now a thing of the past. But cold emails aren’t necessarily more effective, so knowing which to employ is a critical success factor.
Engaging video content not only increases your hospitality business’ profile on social media, but is statistically proven to deepen customer trust, increase your ROI and boost profit margins.
Helping your customers to find you is key to a thriving business in the building and renovating game.
It’s still possible to build a business on platforms like Instagram – but it is more difficult than in the ‘golden days’ of social media. Here are some tips on how to make it work.


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Oct 27, 2020|
JD Logistics Awarded Best Social Enterprise in Greater China
by Yuchuan Wang
JD Logistics, JD.com’s logistics arm, has been awarded by HRoot, China’s leading human resources media company, as one of the total 14 enterprises including Manpower Group, Bayer China, SGS China and Dalian Wanda Group won the Best Social Enterprises in Greater China award on October 24th.
With the mission “Powered by technology for global efficient circulation and sustainable development”, JD Logistics received the award for combining revenue growth, profitability, and for creating value for its employees, clients, the industry, the society and the environment.
As of now, JD Logistics has served 200,000 business clients to provide integrated supply chain and logistics services. Its logistics network is able to deliver 90% of JD.com’s first party orders in 24 hours, providing an efficient logistics experience that no other company at this scale in the world can match.
Despite the rapid development of business scale, JD Logistics is committed to providing its employees a dignified, happy and fulfilling working experience. With more than 200,000 full-time logistics employees, the company continues to provide staff with competitive salaries and benefits, incorporating advocacy of social responsibilities.
The Green Stream Initiative is JD Logistics’ key sustainability strategy. Since its launch in 2017, JD Logistics has been leading the industry in cutting its carbon footprint such as application of recycled packages, new energy logistics vehicles and photovoltaic power generation.
With the goal of becoming a world-leading supply chain logistics enterprise, JD Logistics will keep promoting rapid industry growth and sustainable development.


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Finland plans to expand its digital terrestrial TV services to reach 99.9% of the country, up from a current coverage of 72%. The extended reach is expected to push into high gear the sale of digital…
Sony has delayed the release of its popular PlayStation 2 videogame system in China for the second time, again without explanation.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" leads the list of nominees for the 2003 awards presented by the Online Film Critics Society.
LucasArts' "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" and Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker" are the big winners in end-of-year awards from some of the most popular Web sites for gamers.
A $100 iPod may be on the way, according to Apple industry watchers, who report CEO Steve Jobs will announce a new line of less expensive iPods at MacWorld Expo next week.
Finland is planning to launch a pilot program designed to beam digital TV channels to mobile phones. Coin for this test will come from the public and commercial chanels, Nokia, telcom TeliaSonera and…
With the digital music market advancing so fast in the past year that its inquiry became largely irrelevant, the Justice Dept. has dropped an antitrust investigation of Pressplay and MusicNet, the…
Comcast's efforts to boost its programming assets and subscriber reach will be rewarded next month when it is expected to acquire Paul Allen's computer-info channel TechTV to merge it with Comcast's…
Microsoft is being sued by vidgame developer Mythic Entertainment, which charges the tech giant's upcoming massive multiplayer online role-playing game Mythica infringes on its trademarks.
Writers and studios are on a collision course over the red-hot DVD market. The Writers Guild of America, responding to rising ire among members over their slim slice of the revenue pie, has elevated…
"Lost" has found its DVD date, smack in the middle of awards season. Universal Studios Home Video will bow "Lost in Translation" on video Feb. 3; pre-book is Jan. 6. It has a suggested retail price…
2016-2017 Oscar Predictions
- Oscars: With Historic ‘Moonlight’ Win, the Academy Embraces Empathy Over Escapism
- Oscar-Winner Casey Affleck Calls Denzel Washington ‘One of the First People Who Taught Me How to Act’
- Epic Oscars Mistake: Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty Announce Wrong Best Picture Winner
- ‘La La Land’ Makes Damien Chazelle Youngest Best Director Winner in Oscars History