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Happenings Around Ivy City
There are many new opportunities and events taking place around us. The long awaited street car is expected to start carrying passengers on Saturday, February 27th, with an opening ceremony scheduled for 10 am at 13th and H (see the website for details). There are also many new openings and happenings taking place in Ivy City that will benefit Trinidad residents. If you haven’t been over that way in a while, it would be worth checking out some of the new places.
Petco: They are expecting to open the store in the very near future. One employee noted that they were aiming for a February 22nd date for a soft opening but that may change as they continue to stock shelves. They also indicated that there would be many sales items and coupons available as they open. The store is located on New York Avenue, next to the MOM’s Organic Market.
Ivy City Smokehouse and Tavern: The Smokehouse is already open for purchase of fresh fish and the neighboring tavern is expected to open in the next two weeks.They expect a menu of seafood related items as well as burgers. You can follow their Facebook page for news on the opening.
Gyms and Fitness: The Planet Fitness, Crossfit Hierarchy, and Bikram Yoga studios have been open for business in Hecht’s Warehouse. Entrances for all three facilities are on Okie Street.
Bicycle Space: The new bike shop has started installations on Okie Street. The soft opening will be in March and the grand opening is expected in early April.
Big Chief: The restaurant on the corner of Fenwick and Okie Streets is opening in the next two months but did hold a sneak preview of the space for a recent event.
Posted on February 18, 2016, in Community Resources, Development and tagged bicycle space, big chief, bikram yoga, crossfit hierarchy, Ivy City, Ivy City Smokehouse, planet fitness, Streetcar. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
Pingback: Petco Grand Opening on Saturday | Trinidad Neighborhood Association


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Amazon, Impossible Foods Lead Two Different Green Revolutions
In the world of B2B this week, both grocers and tech giants are going green. They are just doing it in different ways.
Impossible Foods, producer of plant-based-meat meals is now available in 27 California-based Gensler’s Markets. Consumers in the rest of the country will have to wait for now, but the company does plan on expanding soon. For more thoughts, listen to MarketScale’s interview on the subject with University of Denver professor HG Parsa.
Amazon has long reached customers all over the world, but it will soon be doing so in carbon-neutral vehicles. The company announced it plans to have a delivery vehicle fleet of 100,000 by 2030 all running on electricity. It will begin this movement in 2021 and hopes to have 10,000 of such vehicles on the road by 2022.
Distribution is about to get significantly easier in esports. A pair of entrepreneurs raised $17 million to fund a new 24-hour esports television network set to debut in 2020.
‘VENN’ will broadcast live events, reality TV and more. For further perspective on the business of esports, stay tuned to MarketScale and check out our upcoming interview with SMU professor Gary Brubaker.
Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

domain: news


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‘New artists, producers and writers need work, and they need to be likable and get booked in sessions, and they can’t make noise — but if I can, then I’m going to,’ she told Billboard.
She’s not the only one who’s spoken up about this before. American singer-songwriter Prince, who famously told Rolling Stone that he felt like a slave to Warner Records, said: ‘When you stop a man from dreaming, he becomes a slave. I don’t own Prince’s music, and if you don’t own your masters, your masters own you.’
While Swift is setting a new precedent, not every small artist can afford to take the risk of splitting from the monopoly that is the music industry. The UK, for example, is dominated by three major labels — Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music.
Known as the ‘big three’, they’re also the labels with the most significant market power in the global music industry.
This year, however, Sony Music has been in hot water with the UK’s competition authority, after it tried to purchase AWAL, a DIY platform for musicians to upload their own music. The deal, which cost Sony €365 million, has already been approved in Austria and the US — the only other countries that it affected.
The UK’s competition and markets authority claimed that AWAL was the only label outside of the major three that stood a chance at levelling competition in the country.
Sony Music argued, however, that this investigation was ‘perplexing’ and was opened based on an ‘incorrect’ understanding of AWAL’s position in the UK. It added that it ‘strongly’ felt that the purchase of the platform was key to AWAL’s future success.
If Sony Music completes the purchase, what will this mean for artists?
For starters, Sony will now own work uploaded via AWAL’s platform. Also, any chance at dissolving the triopoly of Universal, Warner, and Sony will disappear. It might take years before anyone else is able to stand up to them competitively.
And yes, you guessed it, artists in the UK will be, yet again, in a crisis fuelled by the public’s obsession with easy and accessible streaming avenues.
It’s obviously not as simple as boycotting certain services or musicians. Unless an artist streams their music on an independent platform, we can’t be certain that it hasn’t been copyrighted by the ‘big three’.
But it’s not all doomed. On Wednesday, MPs called on the country’s competition authority to investigate the ‘pitiful returns’ that most musicians have to put up with as a result of streaming.
MPs demanded that the labels be probed for the way their dominance might be benefitting them at the expense of independent labels and self-releasing artists.
The call came after the government released a damning report on the music industry in July, which found that only 13% of revenue goes to an artist, while 42% goes to labels and 30% to streaming services.
The government is speaking up for musicians. It’s taken scary statistics and possibly the wipe out of any potential competition for it to happen, but it’s happened.
Swift has said that the world is ‘galloping toward a new industry’ but not thinking about recalibrating the financial structures that look after producers and writers.
‘But,’ she says. ‘There’s power in writing your music.’
Every week, Swift receives several demands for use of her tracks in adverts and trailers. The reason she started re-recording her music was so that she could have it live on.
‘I do want it to be in movies, I do want it to be in commercials,’ she said. ‘But I only want that if I own it.’


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Earned Recognition operators will be given a 12-month MOT exemption on their HGVs and trailers as the DVSA tries to ease a huge bottleneck. Operators have been making use of three-month exemptions since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, but the enforcement agency said it was expanding the exemption period for certain operators it considered to be safer, in a bid to ease demand for MOTs. As well as companies who are signed up to the Earned Recognition scheme, the […]
The DVSA has suspended dangerous goods vehicle (ADR) inspections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Give furlough scheme immediate flexibility to avoid tidal wave of redundancies,” FTA urges government
The furlough scheme must allow for part-time working and flexibility this month if UK logistics is to stave off a tidal wave of redundancies, according to the FTA.
Trade associations welcomed the new London Freight Enforcement Partnership launched by TfL and partner agencies earlier this week, although the RHA called on the transport body to make the results of the enforcement project more visible to the industry.


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The Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) has announced the winners of the coveted and sought after PATWA International Travel Awards 2024 at an impressive award ceremony at ITB, Berlin which is the world’s biggest travel fair.
The award winners at the PATWA International Travel Awards at ITB, Berlin
The event was graced by eight tourism ministers, four governors, two senators, ambassadors, the leadership of various hotels, airlines, industry stalwarts and international media. The event partners were Malta & Goa.
It was preceded by the PATWA World Tourism & Aviation LeadersSummit on ‘Tourism & Climate Change‘. The summit had a spectacular line up of four speakers, more specifically tourism ministers of Malta, Brazil, Seychelles and Jamaica.The speakers emphasized on the need for the industry to prepare for the challenges the world faces from the effects of climate change and find solutions to confront the problem head on.
PATWA Secretary General, Yatan Ahluwalia opened the summit saying, ‘climate change does not know political, geographic, economic, or social boundaries and we must begin to take responsibility to make a difference’. He also announced the launch of the hashtag #icanstopclimatechange and encouraged the use of this across social media to post aspirational stories on steps they were taking on a personal level.
PATWA International Travel Awards
The PATWA International travel awards have been instituted independently and are now in their 24th year. They have a stringent selection and nomination process and have earned a reputation as the first and foremost awards of the travel, tourism, aviation, and hospitality industry.
The awards recognise governments, organisations, brands, ministers, and individuals who have excelled in the promotion of tourism. This includes airlines, hotels, travel agencies, tour operators, destinations, government bodies, tourism ministries, and other service provider(s) related directly or indirectly with the trade.
The 2024 winners are:
1.Destination of the Year – Culture
2.Destination of the Year – Farm & Rural Tourism
3.Destination of the Year – India
4.Destination of the Year – Mediterranean Region
5.Destination of the Year – Honeymoons & Romantic Holidays
6.Destination of the Year – Ecological Tourism
7.Destination of the Year – History
8.Destination of the Year
1.Best Organisation – Inclusivity
IGLTA – INTERNATIONAL LGBTQ+ TRAVEL ASSOCIATION
1.Best City Hotel – New Delhi
LE MERIDIEN, NEW DELHI
2.Best Hotel Chain – South Asia
RADISSON HOTEL GROUP
3.Best Hotel Chain – Service Standards
1.Best Woman Professional – Hospitality Management (India)
KANIKA HASRAT – IHCL
2.Best Professional – Hospitality Development (India)
MEENA BHATIA, LE MERIDIEN
3.Best Professional – Hospitality Operations (India)
K. MOHANCHANDRAN – IHCL
4.Best Critic – Airlines & Aviation
5.Best Professional – Hospitality (India)
PATWA Gold Awards
DR. SAGNIK CHOWDHARY
3.Travel & Tourism
ALAIN ST. ANGE
1.Global Icon – Governance – Jamaica
H.E. EDMUND BARTLETT
Excellence In Governance
This exclusive award category recognises the work done by countries, states, provinces, regions, districts and cities through and by their elected representatives to promote sustainable travel with policies, guidelines, and incentives for their destinations and the hospitality, aviation, and tourism sectors.
The awards are given to governments including, but not limited to, ministers, governors, parliamentarians, and mayors. PATWA is the first organisation to have awards dedicated to excellence in governance on a regional, national and international level.
The winners in this category are:
1.Woman Tourism Minister of the Year – India (Punjab)
H.E. ANMOL GAGAN MAAN
2.Woman Tourism Minister of the Year – South America (Guyana)
H.E. ONEIDGE WALROND
3.Tourism Minister of the Year – India (Goa)
H.E. ROHAN KHAUNTE
4.Tourism Minister of the Year – Indian Ocean Region (Seychelles)
H.E. SYLVESTRE RADEGONDE
5.Tourism Minister of the Year – Mediterranean Region (Malta)
H.E. CLAYTON BARTOLO
6.Tourism Minister of the Year – South America (Brazil)
H.E. CELSO SABINO
Quotes on the awards
Yatan Ahluwalia, Secretary General
“The jury’s focus this year has been on the Mediterranean and South American region, besides the Indian subcontinent. Sustainability was a key factor for our selection. Besides recognising organisations and individuals, our excellence in governance category included awards for 8 tourism ministers from around the globe who have made an impact with their policies and vision.”
The Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA) is a non-profit, non-government professional, international media organisation. PATWA’s primary objective is to serve as a catalyst for responsibly developing the travel and tourism industry. Our founding philosophy is to support the sustainable development and growth of travel, tourism, hospitality, and aviation worldwide.
PATWA works with governments, organisations and companies in both the public and private sectors. PATWA adheres to the fundamental principles of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations (UN), and UN Tourism. PATWA is an Affiliate Member of UN Tourism.


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I was featured in Malaysian Digest’s article entitled “When Businesses Use Your Photo Without Permission, Here’s What You Do” on 24 January 2018 on what customers can do to protect their personal data. I said the following:-
Customers Need To Be Proactive To Protect Their Privacy
What then do we, as customers, can do to protect our privacy and what rights do we have as a civilian?
Foong Cheng Leong, founder of law firm Foong Cheng Leong & Co. and the Bar Council cyber law and information technology committee deputy chairperson, explained that when it comes to invasion of privacy, it depends on the scenario.
If it’s a photo taken in a public place with many other people like a group photo, it is unlikely an invasion of privacy nor it is anything unlawful.
“If the photo was a photo taken during the business transaction between the customer and the business, it could amount to a breach of Personal Data Protection Act 2010 or invasion of privacy. For example, a photo taken by a doctor of its patient during treatment.
“Also, if the photo belongs to the customer, it could amount to copyright infringement,” he said, while advising that it would be prudent to add a watermark to our photos.
And if we do find our photo being featured in advertisements without consent, we should write to the business asking them to remove it.
“They can also consider filing a complaint to the Personal Data Protection Commissioner for them to investigate the matter,” he advised.


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- By Hamzakhan
- March 24, 2023
Google was fined €500m (£427m) by French Competition Authority over an understatement negotiation related to the Google news service content issues.
The French competition authority accused Google of failing negotiation “in good faith” with news organizations and not taking orders seriously.
The decision “ignores our efforts to reach an agreement,” told Google.
The battle between tech firms and news organizations over a global copyright issue results in a fine, which is the latest skirmish.
Autorité de la concurrence told that Alphabet Inc. ignored the decision made last year on negotiation in good faith for emerging snippets of articles on its Google News service. For a single company, a fine is the second biggest antitrust penalty in France.
Google is the world’s largest firm, looking at its apps, search, and advertising business, but also facing the global onslaught as regulators sharpen scrutiny across the globe. In Russia, Google is trying to reach an out-of-court settlement following a court ruling that would require it to unlock the YouTube account of a TV channel owned by a US-backed supporter of President Vladimir Putin.
“The sanction of 500 million euros takes into account the exceptional seriousness of the breaches observed,” said Isabelle de Silva, president of the French agency.
The decision was very dissatisfied for and considers it “acted in good faith throughout the entire process,” a spokesperson said. An agreement with Agence France-Presse is about to arrive that included a global licensing agreement, Google added. On Tuesday, Google may appeal the announcement of the fine.
French regulators are soon going to show their strength with Tuesday’s fine as it vies with its EU and German counterparts to be the region’s toughest watchdog of US tech firms. Over the last few years before the end of probes, the authority has ordered behavioral changes, which can prolong for years. While other antitrust agencies are encouraged to emulate the tactic, Google’s defiance risked jeopardizing it.
Google entered into a deal to remunerate a grouping of French newspapers earlier this year — Alliance de la Presse d’Information Générale. But the regulators dismissed Google’s offered remuneration as “negligible.”


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Up to 100 staff to lose jobs at Viking Direct
AROUND 100 people are being made redundant at office supplies company Viking Direct Ireland, with around 20 people remaining at the Irish operation.
Viking’s parent Office Depot said it was consolidating warehousing operations in Ireland and the UK in order to “create a solid foundation for the future”.
“This is part of the company’s strategy to improve efficiency and optimise costs, while providing customers with quality products, great prices and world-class service,” an Office Depot spokesman told the Sunday Independent.
The company would not say what effect the move would have, if any, on its fulfilment of Irish contracts.
It’s understood to have won business from the State.
A small number of staff will remain at the company’s operation here which will now be serviced in large part from the UK, it’s understood.
Florida-based Office Depot last year tried to merge with rival company Staples, but the deal was blocked on competition grounds. Staples has recently been bought by a private equity firm and reports in the US have said Office Depot may look to buy Staples’ retail outlets there.
The companies are competing with Amazon, which has set up a fast-growing office supplies business.


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It's never too early to start up.
Jasmeet Singh hadn't even reached adulthood when he joined — a little known travel booking company back then — as an intern in 2000.
Despite pressures from his family to earn a college education, Jasmeet didn't give up, and went on to work long nights as a database operator at MMT. Soon, he would find himself taking up leadership roles at the firm, which became one of India’s earliest internet majors. Twenty-one years later, Jasmeet now serves as the Senior Vice President of MMT, and — along the way — has built his dream house, and bought his dream car (a BMW 3 Series M Sport).
MakeMyTrip Founder Deep Kalra often says that the company is not enamoured by just degrees. Jasmeet Singh has been a great example of that.
With climate change becoming a critical conversation globally, the need to switch to renewable sources of energy is becoming more imperative by the day. Sumant Sinha, Chairman and MD of ReNew Energy — one of India's largest cleantech startups — shares insights on the changing paradigm of energy, and how India is taking strides towards achieving its renewable energy goals.
Editor’s Pick: Techie Tuesday
For Sathvik Vishwanath, just being well-versed with technology was never enough; he always wanted to know more about its business implications and use cases. Having had an interest in computers early on, he learnt to build websites, develop programmes, and even work on popular games like Second Life. By 2013, as blockchain and cryptocurrency started gaining attention in the West, Sathvik — a natural early adopter — jumped onto the bandwagon to set up Unocoin — a bitcoin exchange. Read more.
Last year, India opened up the space sector to private players to meet the rising demand for space-based applications. Founded in 2018, Read more.is involved in designing and developing a cluster of earth-observation nanosatellites that can be programmed to stream near real-time, high-resolution videos.
News & Updates
- Reliance is developing JioBook — a low-cost, 4G-enabled laptop that could launch by the end of 2021. The "larger-screened device" is expected to run a version of Android OS — which could be dubbed JioOS — and will bundle Jio's suite of apps that can be accessed through a Jio 4G LTE connection.
- Zostel Hospitality, which was embroiled in a legal battle with OYO for the last three years after merger talks broke down, claimed that it had won against Oravel Stays, which owns and operates the hotel chain, and was entitled to get a cost from the hospitality unicorn.
- Zerodha recorded Rs 442.4 crore in standalone profit for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, helped by a massive jump in users and trading volumes on its platform. counted 3.14 million users on its platform as of January 31, 2021, according to the NSE.
- Prosus has announced the launch of its new higher education and employment initiative called 'Prosus FLIGHT' for marginalised women and girls in India in partnership with UN Women.
- Google announced a series of efforts to support the economic empowerment of women at the virtually held Google for India event called ‘Women Will.’ Google announced $25 million in grants to nonprofits and social enterprises in India and around the world.
Before you go, stay inspired with…
“I believe the greatest lesson this pandemic has taught everyone, even the sceptics, is that scientific discovery is crucial to human flourishing.”


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Nintendo has unsurprisingly confirmed that it will not be hosting a large-scale conference at this year's E3.
It's time for Nintendo's new console to replace its miserable failure old console.
You can test out the first level of Portal Knights on your console now.
Ever wish you could play a 2D Zelda with the physics and emergent gameplay of Breath of the Wild? Now you can.
If you're a big Mario Kart fan, it might be time for a trip to Target.
What's taking other Breath of the Wild gamers months took this player barely two days.
Who can say no to 'general system stability' updates for the Switch?


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A new Facebook feature for brands, available to “priority accounts” only, gives these brands the ability to see what TV shows, bands, and movies their fans like. This has broad reaching implications. Previously this data has never been made public. But if brands know what media their fans prefer, strategic partnerships can start to form, targeted media buys can start to happen, and brands win.
Priority accounts, one can only assume, are those brands that shell out the most money on pay per click ads and sponsored/promoted stories.


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Amazon and Best Buy announced a partnership in selling TV displays equipped with Amazon’s Fire TV operating system.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Best Buy’s CEO Hubert Joly made the announcement on Wednesday in a store near Amazon’s HQ in Washington state.
I give Best Buy until next Jan. before it either is taken out by Bezos as a brick & mortar storefront for Amazon’s product or declares bankruptcy.
Case in point, Amazon agreed to power Toys ‘R’ Us web site and e-commerce operations and then undercut Toys pricing on games and such forcing Toys to file for bankruptcy earlier this year.
Amazon’s business operations are so different from Best Buy’s that this end is inevitable. Bezos in his annual shareholder letter released Wed. stated as much. Bezos said that there are more than 100 million Amazon Prime customers.
The CEO — while extolling the virtues of the Amazon way of providing excellent service — never brought up the topic of workers peeing in water bottles in order to fulfill their quota of orders processed.
He did broadly compliment his workforce with: “Congratulations and thank you to the now over 560,000 Amazonians who come to work every day with unrelenting customer obsession, ingenuity, and commitment to operational excellence.”
I believe Mr. Joly will rue the day he teamed up with Amazon in order to keep his retail store doors open. But it will only last until after the holidays this year before he succumbs to the Amazon way.


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Social Media In Real Life: Have you ever wondered what our everyday social media habits would look and feel like in the offline world?
“Data”, an ad by Ogilvy Johnnesburg, originally created to advertise the company Cell C, a leading mobile provider in South Africa, wonders how social media interaction could take place in real life. The ad was first launched back in 2013 but still feels very relevant today.
Just think how different life would if we used a Polaroid camera instead of Instagram or if updating a status required you to shout it aloud in public. This film challenges the audience to think outside of the box and imagine a world without social media.
Here is what life would be like without data:
While in most cases online identities mirror offline personalities, this does not always hold true! The majority of social media users can attest that receiving attention on their posts (whether it be tweets, statuses, photos, etc.) is what they enjoy most about the world of social media. Audience engagement is what drives most users to post consistently.
Social media audiences can greatly influence an account’s content and even pressure users to maintain a certain image, which is typically an elevated version of themselves. In some cases, content is deliberately exaggerated to gain the desired reaction – or a reaction in general!
When a user’s content is fabricated, their authentic self is lost; thus an online identity is born.
So, can we follow you?
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TikTok has announced that applications for this year's 'Support Black Businesses' are now open to black-owned small businesses.


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Melamine in milk products in China: Examining the factors that led to deliberate use of the contaminant
"On September 11, 2008, the Chinese government announced a recall of infant milk powder that was tainted by melamine, a chemical usually used in plastics. Consumption of melamine caused infants to develop kidney stones which, if left untreated, could cause renal failure and death. More than 290,000 people (most of them infant children) were poisoned and at least six babies are confirmed to have died from ingesting the melamine contaminated infant milk powder. The Chinese government imposed very high penalties on people and companies involved in the melamine scandal, including lifetime prison sentences and even executions. The problems in China’s dairy industry were a result of rapid growth fueled by large investments from multinational dairy firms, development of a highly modern and concentrated processing sector that obtained its raw materials from millions of small, poor and uneducated traditional farmers and government support and encouragement for growth but with little emphasis on inspection and safety issues. The melamine crisis prompted the Chinese government to bring in a new food safety law, mandate regular inspections of all companies involved in the food business with no exemptions and set new allowable tolerances for melamine in dairy products."


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LONDON - March 2024
- kp (Klöckner Pentaplast), rigid and flexible packaging and specialty film solution specialist, is celebrating success at the prestigious Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) Awards 2024, held at the Grand Hotel, Brighton, UK on 7th
At the awards event, which is one of the most renowned in the foodservice packaging category, the judging panel awarded kp the winners award in the Marketing Campaign category. The award underlines kp’s commitment to driving bold innovation in pursuit of a more sustainable foodservice packaging industry.
kp took home the Winner Marketing Award for its Beating the Ban: kp Infinity® TikTok campaign, targeting food-to-go vendors, and engaging with end users. The campaign saw a collaboration with influencer and food vendor, SpudMan, and totalled almost four million impressions.
Vincent Gass, VP Strategic Marketing & Innovation at kp, expressed delight at the company's FPA Awards 2024 success, stating, "At kp, we’re working hard to push the foodservice packaging sector forward in new ways, and it’s fantastic to have the exemplary work of our team recognised in this way. The judging panel at the FPA Awards saw how we’re using our expertise in pursuit of a more sustainable and effective foodservice packaging supply chain, and we’ll be using our award win as a springboard for further progress. Our thanks of course go to our talented team, which continues to raise the quality bar throughout the foodservice packaging industry.”
To learn more about kp and its recyclable flexible packaging film products, please visit https://www.kpfilms.com/ About Klöckner Pentaplast
Focused on delivering its vision: The Sustainable Protection of Everyday Needs, kp is a global leader in rigid and flexible packaging and specialty film solutions, serving the pharmaceutical, medical device and protein markets, amongst others. With a broad and innovative portfolio of packaging and product films and services, kp plays an integral role in the customer value chain by safeguarding product integrity, product brand reputation and improving sustainability. kp’s “Investing in Better” sustainability strategy solidifies its commitment to achieving ten clear targets for long-term improvement. kp has earned a gold rating from EcoVadis, the leading platform for environmental, social and ethical performance ratings, putting kp in the top 3% of companies rated in the manufacturing of plastics products sector. Founded in 1965 kp has 30 plants in 18 countries and employs over 5,600 people committed to serving customers worldwide in over 60 locations.Media Contacts:
Marketing Communications Director, Food firstname.lastname@example.org
+33 (0)7 84 03 04 40
Group Director, Global email@example.com
+44 (0) 7393 249 967
For more information visit https://www.kpfilms.com/en/food-packaging/


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American Express Partners With Ripple For Easy Cross-Border PaymentsJun 8, 2018, 3:52PM
Ripple and American Express representatives spoke about their partnership during Money 20/20. They aim to improve cross-border payments for SMEs.
Ripple (XRP) and American Express spokesmen discussed the challenges small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are facing with cross-border payments in a panel, during the Money 20/20 conference that took place this week in Amsterdam. Cross-border payments are a costly process for SMEs. Ripple aims to change this.
SMEs are the vast majority of businesses globally and emerging economies are widely dependent on them. Since so many are focused on e-commerce nowadays, executing cross-border payments occupies a notable amount of their resources. A McKinsey study shows that a whopping 60% of cross-border transactions require a manual intervention of up to 20 minutes. The panel, including Joy Macknight, Deputy Editor of The Banker; Colin O’Flaherty, American Express’s VP & General Manager of Global Commercial Services UK & Russia; and Marcus Treacher, Ripple’s SVP of Customer Success, shared their ideas about the need for fast and reliable payments, without intermediaries.
Colin O'Flaherty described Ripple's solution,
Ripple offers instantaneous, point-to-point conversations between the sender and receiver of funds and that provides a real opportunity to alleviate most of the issues our customers are facing.
The discussion outlined the ways this partnership between Ripple and American Express could optimize cross-border payments and change SME owners’ relieve much of the burden that such transactions have on business. American Express has already adopted Ripple’s xCurrent, a blockchain-based infrastructure for global payments. US customers are already experiencing the benefits of blockchain technology, which is reflected by a marked decrease in customer queries about payment statuses.
According to Ripple’s Marcus Treacher,
The consumption of Ripple technology is not a heavy lift for SMEs. This is because we’re implementing within the existing payment networks and banking world.
The Ripple AMEX partnership goes beyond technological advancements, to address everything from fraud to user experience and customer service. O’Flaherty admitted that the project is still nascent, but blockchain technology offers great opportunities to solve real customer needs.
Disclaimer: information contained herein is provided without considering your personal circumstances, therefore should not be construed as financial advice, investment recommendation or an offer of, or solicitation for, any transactions in cryptocurrencies.


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It is India's largest-ever IPO.
But Paytm didn't get off to a good start on its market debut Thursday (November 18).
Shares in the digital payments firm plunged 25% on their first day of trade in Mumbai.
Speaking earlier in the day Chief Executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma had sounded bullish:
"Today is the day when I believe India rages up to another milestone when not just the Government of India enterprise or a large corporate conglomerate enterprise can proudly say that we could list."
Investors have questioned the firm's business model, and its lack of profits.
Paytm grew rapidly after the Indian arm of Uber made it a payment option.
It's since expanded into a host of different services, including insurance, gold sales, movie and flight ticketing and more.
A Reuters source says it now expects to break even late next year or in early 2023, though its share-sale prospectus made no such promise.
Sharma remains confidentabout the benefits of the IPO:
"Individually I see it as an opportunity to build Paytm into a global, identifiable technology company. I see it as that today we are at a stage where we are serving India and I think there is a tremendous opportunity of doing the same things in the rest of the world."
Despite the slide, the IPO valued Paytm at just over $14 billion.
The firm's success has made school-teacher's son Sharma a billionaire.
Investors, however, remain to be convinced that his company has a clear path to profitability.


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"A total lie." "Untrue." "Misleading." "Complete fabrication." "Way beyond misleading."
Arrington, for those who don't have Techmeme on their morning reading list, is the former securities lawyer and serial entrepreneur who runs TechCrunch, arguably Silicon Valley's most influential tech blog.
The letter he's referring to is Apple's formal response to an inquiry by the Federal Communications Commission into the role AT&T (t) played in Apple's rejection of Google's (goog) powerful Google Voice app. See here.
Arrington's response: Apple is lying through its teeth. In particular, he writes:
<!-- more -->
Apple: “Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it.”
Reality: One third party Google Voice app developer disclosed to us in July that Apple SVP Phil Schiller told them that Google’s own app would be or already was rejected. Google also confirmed this to us later. There is overwhelming evidence that Apple did in fact reject the application.
Apple: “The application has not been approved because, as submitted for review, it appears to alter the iPhone’s distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone’s core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail ...”
Reality: This strongly suggests that the Google Voice app replaces much of the core Apple iPhone OS function. This certainly isn’t accurate, and we believe the statement is misleading ...
Apple: “... The Google Voice application replaces Apple’s Visual Voicemail by routing calls through a separate Google Voice telephone number that stores any voicemail, preventing voicemail from being stored on the iPhone, i.e., disabling Apple’s Visual Voicemail.”
Reality: Not true and misleading. The Google Voice application has its own voicemail function, which also transcribes messages. But it only works for incoming Google Voice calls, not calls to the iPhone. The Google Voice app in no way “replaces” Apple’s voicemail function.
Apple: “Similarly, SMS text messages are managed through the Google hub — replacing the iPhone’s text messaging feature.”
Reality: Not true and misleading. The Google Voice app doesn’t replace or in any way interfere with the iPhone’s text messaging feature. If someone sends a text message to your Google Voice number, the Google Voice app shows it. If it is sent directly to the iPhone phone number, nothing is different.
Apple: “In addition, the iPhone user’s entire Contacts database is transferred to Google’s servers, and we have yet to obtain any assurances from Google that this data will only be used in appropriate ways. These factors present several new issues and questions to us that we are still pondering at this time.”
Reality: Complete fabrication, way beyond misleading. The Google Voice app can access the iPhone’s contacts database, like thousands of other iPhone apps. But the Google Voice app never syncs the contacts database to their own servers. There is no option for users to do this ... (link)
Apple has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Arrington it must be said, is not an entirely disinterested party. His company is preparing to market a Web tablet -- the CrunchPad -- that might compete directly with the tablet Apple is rumored to be building. And after enthusiastically embracing Apple's iPhone, he announced in July that he was abandoning it for a BlackBerry Curve that will run Google Voice (see here).
Moreover, Arrington's TechCrunch 50 conference, now in its third year, is scheduled to begin Sept. 14 (tickets cost $2,995 at the door), which gives him even more motivation than usual to make himself the center of attention.
In the end, Arrington believes, Apple will find a face-saving way to accept the Google Voice application. "They have to," he writes. "Any serious investigation into the app by the FCC will show that the complaints around the app are unfounded and that it does none of the things Apple accuses it of doing."
Arrington's colleague Steve Gillmor goes one step further. He writes in TechCrunchIT that the whole Google Voice affair is a Machiavellian plot against -- you guessed it -- AT&T.
"Strip away the religious fervor of the Arrington plan ... and you might glimpse the true reality of what’s going on. Namely, that Apple is conspiring with Google to force the FCC to 'force' Apple to, regrettably, open the door to VoIP and the Universal Inbox."
We won't hold our breath.


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The Conn Man's Shops, Inc., a national clothing chain, has sales of $300 million last year. The business has a steady net profit margin of 8 percent and the dividend payout ratio of 25 percent. Balance sheet for the end of last year is shown below.
Firm's marketing staffs have told president that in coming year there will be the large increase in the demand for overcoats and wool slacks. Sales increase of 15 percent is forecast for the company.
Every balance sheet items are expected to maintain the similar percent-of-sales relationships as last year except for common stock and retained earnings. No change is scheduled in number of common stock shares outstanding, and retained earnings will change as dictated by the profits and dividend policy of the firm. (Remember the net profit margin is 8 percent.)
a) Will external financing be required for the company during the coming year?
b) What would be the need for external financing if the net profit margin went up to 9.5 percent and the dividend payout ratio was increased to 50 percent? describe briefly.


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GM Veselin Topalov, GM Shakhryiar Mamedyarov, GM Alexei Shirov, and GM Ruslan Ponomariov (winner of 2007) will be the top seeded players at the XXIII edition of the Villarrobledo chess festival. Besides them a total of 45+ titled players will participate among which GM Vadim Milov, GM Vladimir Malakhov, GM Predrag Nikolic, GM Ivan Sokolov, GM Loek Van Wely, GM Ilia Smirin, GM Arizmendi, GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic, GM Agrest, IM Elizabeth Paehtz, etc.
The tornament will take place 2-3 August, 2008, in the Spanish city of Villarrobledo. It is a traditional event famous for giving interesting prizes. In the past, the top players were awarded their wieght in wine or cheese. The organizers have not revealed what will be the surprising prize this year, but have confirmed that the money part of the prize is 3000 eur for 1st place.
The tournament will be a Swiss event with rate of play 20 minutes + 3 sec.
The festival will start with several simuls on July 31 and will continue with a rapid team chess event and conferences. Expect detailed daily reports on Chessdom.com


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To serve the national rural revitalization strategy, carry out the new development philosophy, and further improve the brand awareness of China Post’s rural e-commerce, China Post Group Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as China Post Group) decided to launch the fifth “September 19 E-commerce Festival” from September 1 to 30 and go all out to boost the high-quality development of its rural e-commerce. With the theme of “More Shopping on ULE, More Happiness with Families” and featuring the integrated online and offline development mode of China Post, the constant, multi-perspective and all-around promotional campaign will comprehensively improve the awareness and influence of the festival.
It is said that the fifth “September 19 E-commerce Festival” is about to launch three blockbuster activities including B2C retail, B2B platform wholesale and value-added convenience services. Besides, incentives of nearly 1 billion yuan (154.6 million US dollars) will be offered.
In terms of B2C retail, this ecommerce festival will take into account the Chinese Farmers’ Harvest Festival to design relevant business scenarios and launch member benefit services. According to the schedule, the warm-up period is from August 16 to 31. The formal campaign is from September 1 to 23, which will be further extended from September 24 to 30 with special offers of the campaign still valid during this period. The campaign will foster 300 agricultural products of over 10, 000 orders and offer 20,000 “postal golden beans (similar to the function of vouchers)” for each postal financial outlet.
In terms of B2B platform wholesale, the festival will, focusing on ULE stations, members, items with hefty orders and information accessibility, further promote the digitization of ULE stations, push forward the implementation of “outlets plus stations” management mode, and develop an ecosystem combining the platform, businesses, outlets, stations and members, thereby making businesses satisfied, facilitating outlets to acquire more customers, activating ULE stations, benefiting members and increasing sales. During the campaign, supermarket-like ULE stations will be fully activated and all wholesale stations will generate orders. 1000 promotional activities of farming materials will be held to boost the coordination of businesses. According to the schedule, campaign introduction will be released through all available channels and first-round offline promotions will be carried out by putting up relevant posters and releasing flyers during the warm-up period. Traffic driving activities will go on through all available channels, and marketing activities targeted at stations and members will also be held during the formal campaign period, and all the activities will be extended September 30. During the campaign, the online campaign of the ULE platform will take the slogan of “stocking up economically at ULE system”, while the offline campaign will take “getting your best buy at ULE stations” as their slogan.
In terms of value-added convenience services, during the festival, postal branches will make use of the ULE stores and China Post vehicle affairs channel to assist in marketing insurance and telecommunication products, and facilitate the transformation and development of value-added services through a series of activities like special offers for insurance purchase and discounts for card application.


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LAST UPDATED : May 26, 2020, 02:35 PM IST
- UP couple name their son Sanitizer as Covid-19 triggers naming spree
Born in the midst of coronavirus scare, a baby boy in UP’s Saharanpur was named Sanitizer by his parents. It comes days after a couple in Chhattisgarh named their newborn twins Corona and Covid, while in UP’s Basti district, a child was named Lockdown. The trend of using keywords related to novel coronavirus as names of newborn is picking up in parts of the country.
- Government bans export of alcohol-based hand sanitisers
The government on Wednesday banned exports of alcohol-based hand sanitizers to boost its availability in the domestic market amid coronavirus pandemic. "Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are prohibited for exports," directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification. Sanitisers are used as a disinfectant to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
- Government caps maximum retail price of 200ml hand sanitizer at Rs 100 till June
The government has capped maximum retail price of hand sanitizer at Rs 100 per 200ml bottle till June 30 this year amid sharp rise in the prices of this product amid the coronavirus oubreak. Similarly, price of a 2 ply (surgical) mask has been capped at Rs 8 and that of 3 ply (surgical) mask at Rs 10 till June 30, consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in a statement.
- Ludhiana businessman develops automatic sanitation machine
A city-based businessman Kanwaljit Singh has developed an automatic sanitisation machine which he has installed in his car and without involving any person he has been doing sanitization in various parts of the city from over a week. The sanitization machine is installed at the backseat of his SUV and he drives the car while nozzles of sanitization machine come out of the window panes and spray of medicine continues on the gates of houses in lanes.
- Louis Vuitton owner just moved the internet by announcing that its perfume factory will produce hand sanitizer to fight Coronavirus
LVMH, the parent company of Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Sephora etc is now all set to make sanitizers. The luxury conglomerate announced on Sunday that its cosmetic and perfume factories will start manufacturing large quantities of hand disinfectant gel to fight Coronavirus.
- Ensure hand sanitizers in aircraft; minimise crew interaction with flyers: DGCA tells airlines
All aircraft need to have hand sanitizers and ensure that their crew are given personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks and gloves. DGCA on Tuesday directed all airlines to place hand sanitizers in "sufficient quantity and placed in common areas such as lavatories/ galleys. Availability of soap in the lavatories shall also be ensured."


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“We're evaluating it right now,” Lee said of the tablet application. “It's certainly coming in the near term.More at: Media-Saver Tech Blog - Roku planning second-screen tablet app
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Roku App Coming to the Second Screen
Streaming video provider Roku is currently testing a second-screen application for tablets that the company hopes to release in the "near term," according to Ed Lee, vice president of content acquisition for Roku. He stated in a presentation at this week's OTTCON conference that the company is "thinking about the second screen quite a bit." He declined to provide specifics on the Roku's plans for the product, but said it would work on Roku owners' tablets and allow them to obtain additional information on the content they watch via their Roku device.


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The FlexxCORE technology enables robots to securely connect and communicate with all types of automation equipment in the smart factory.
Flexxbotics, a spinout of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, focuses on improving robot utilization and efficiency to shorten a customer’s return on investment.
Productive Analytics is currently available for free to users of Productive Robotics’ OB7 cobot and is designed to help monitor jobs such as machine tending.
Collaborative robotics market leader Universal Robots and software company Rocketfarm have announced that UR cobots can now support the OPC UA industry-standard communications protocol.
Körber Supply Chain said it brings unique depth and breadth of expertise in technologies such as autonomous mobile robots to simplify supply chain complexity.
Productive Robotics, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based developer of collaborative robot arms, launched a software update for its line of OB7 cobots. The software update enhances the connectivity features of the OB7 cobots. The company said the updates include: The ability for OB7 cobots to directly monitor and control machines they’re working with. This includes instant connection […]
Kassow Robots’ lineup of 7-axis collaborative robot arms now comes standard with three I/O ports and a free drive button. The Denmark-based company was launched in part by former Universal Robots Co-founder Kristian Kassow. The company had its coming out party at Automatica 2018. Head of Sales Dieter Pletscher said the I/O ports will streamline […]
OnRobot’s unified interface connects any of the company’s end effectors to a wide range of robot arms, and it was recognized in the Leadership in Engineering Achievement Program’s awards for industrial automation.
Collaborative robot arms and end effectors can be used for a widening variety of applications, thanks to Soft Robotics’ new coDrive technology, which provides a portable pneumatic power supply for its soft grippers.


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The U.S. economy improved in 2017, and all signs are pointing to continued prosperity in the new year. While distribution also performed well in the past 12 months, can it keep pace?
This is the 10th year MDM has partnered with Baird for a quarterly industry survey. Collaboratively, we compile the most comprehensive and granular snapshot of distribution economic trending for the most recent three-month period to accurately gauge how business conditions are likely to shape up in the quarters ahead.
The results of the latest survey, which is now closed, will be in the Jan. 25 edition of MDM Premium.
Distributors averaged 3.9 percent revenue growth in the third quarter, according to the last MDM-Baird Distribution Survey, taken in October. That was down slightly from second quarter but up significantly from the nearly flat performance of 3Q 2016. It also fell shy of the 4.5 percent revenue growth distributors projected for the quarter.
Hurricanes stunted growth in 3Q by disrupting building material supply chains in places like Texas and Florida, offsetting strength in the industrial sector, but the weather didn’t diminish distributors’ hopes for a steady finish to the year. Survey respondents projected revenue growth of 3.9 percent for the fourth quarter and 4 percent for 2018. Will those expectations hold up?
The early indicators out of Washington have been mostly positive. Here’s our coverage of key economic trend reports from the first week of 2018 that show the economy is on the right track:
- NFIB Small Business Optimism Hits New Record in 2017
- Conference Board Employment Trends Index Increases in December
- CEO Confidence Bounces Back in 4Q
- Manufacturing Sector Expands in December
- November Construction Spending Up 2.4% Year-Over-Year
Where will we go from here? Recently passed tax legislation holds the promise of increased capital investment, while renegotiated trade deals such as NAFTA could provide an economic stumbling block.
The MDM-Baird Distribution Survey provides a quarterly snapshot of sales trends and other key metrics across the distribution industry. The survey is conducted by the Distribution Research Team at Robert W. Baird & Co. All individual information is held strictly confidential and responses are aggregated to provide a gauge of overall trends.


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Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here.
The news that Norway’s Opera Software accepted a $1.2 billion buyout offer doesn’t have everyone popping champagne corks.
At first glance, it seems nothing short of miraculous that the company, founded in 1995 during Netscape’s heyday, hung on long enough to see a sizable exit. But the deal also comes just as Opera had finally hit its stride in recent years, and executives were starting to dream about achieving the status of global tech powerhouse that had eluded them for so long.
Sitting in a conference room recently at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Opera CEO Lars Boilesen hinted at his disappointment that his team might not get a chance to see whether it could, at last, fulfill its potential on its own.
“We were fine being independent,” Boilesen said. “The fact that the board wanted to start a strategic process was a decision by the board.”
Of course, executives aren’t actively opposing the deal either. But in a conversation with Boilesen and Opera chief technology officer Håkon Wium Lie, the executives noted (several times in our interview) that it must still win shareholder approval and likely won’t close for several months. After Opera’s board announced last fall it would begin a formal process for evaluating offers it was starting to receive, it fell to the executive team to vet these offers and determine which — if any — might be a strategic fit.
And in that regard, Boilesen and his team agree that there are potential benefits to the acquisition by China-based firms Kunlun Tech, which makes mobile games, and Qihoo 360, which makes antivirus and search software. The companies see Opera’s browser, which is very popular in several Asian markets, as a platform to expand the reach of their products into places like India and create an ecosystem for users, much like Apple has done with Safari and Google with Chrome.
The Chinese companies bring tremendous resources and access to even more Asian markets that could accelerate Opera’s growth in the short term. And by no longer being a publicly traded company, Opera won’t face the same pressures to deliver quarterly profits, letting it invest in expansion to pursue its goal of being a truly global company.
“We have to crack the western world,” Boilesen said. “And that can be a bit hard if you have to deliver profits every quarter. You have to invest in technology and new features.”
Whether or not the deal is officially consummated, the fact that Opera, a company founded in the Internet’s paleolithic era, has reached this point means they have beaten some fairly long odds. Even web browser pioneer Netscape, which so famously went public the same year Opera was founded, didn’t last more than a few years before being crushed by Microsoft.
Opera was spun out of Norway’s main telecom company, Telenor, and released its first web browser in 1997. But Microsoft’s move to integrate its own web browser, Explorer, into Windows 95, devastated Netscape and also made it hard for Opera to get global traction on the desktop.
But Opera managed to gain an advantage briefly when it started working early on a mobile version of the browser. Released in 2000, for several years it was a popular choice for the growing range of mobile devices with Internet connections in the pre-smartphone era.
The arrival of the iPhone and then Android seemed like it had sealed Opera’s fate, creating a new category of phones that were mainly dominated by Apple’s Safari browser and Google’s Chrome browser.
Opera’s saving grace came in an unlikely deal the company made in 2010. Opera bought AdMarvel, a mobile advertising product, for $8 million. The company used that to launch its Opera Mediaworks in 2013, a mobile advertising platform that included a video component.
According to its financials for the fourth quarter of 2015, the company overall reported $193.5 million in revenue, up 25 percent from the previous year. Of that total revenue, mobile advertising products accounted for $145.4 million. And within ad revenue, mobile video ads were 60 percent.
“It was a small acquisition,” said Boilesen. “We were lucky to find it. And as result, we became the mobile advertising alternative to Google.”
Meanwhile, Opera’s browser market share had dropped to 5.5 percent, placing it sixth in the world, according to metrics firm StatCounter. (Chrome, Safari, Explorer, Firefox, and Alibaba’s UCWeb are all ahead.) But Opera remains strong in emerging markets, likely in part due to the fact that its compression technology helps it run faster on low-performance phones.
“We gave people the ability to get online in places where they are mobile first,” Boilesen said. “Through the Opera Mini browser, we could compress data and a browser on a feature phone. It became known as a cheap way to access the Internet.”
Indeed, according to StatCounter, Opera is the number one browser in Africa, fourth in Indonesia, third in Russia and India. However, in the U.S. and Europe, Opera has fallen off the radar.
“I cannot convince my neighbor in Norway to use Opera,” said Håkon Wium Lie, Opera’s chief technology officer. “But it’s very easy to convince 1,000 students in Indonesia.”
But with a sounder financial footing, the company has been reinvesting in the browser. And it has begun studying ways to get back into those western markets.
“We should be serving more than our share in U.S,” Lie said. “We’re not going to stop. We’re adding things to the desktop browser. We have had the web product for 20 years. It’s a vital part of the infrastructure of using the Internet for people. We need to make it a vital tool that has some features that are not currently there.”
As part of that strategy, the company this month announced the release of the developer’s version of the desktop browser with new ad-blocking technology built in. The company claims that by having the ad-blocking technology built into the browser’s code, the load time for web pages increases on average by 40 percent compared to third-party ad-blocking extensions.
The ad-blocking technology is just one example of how over the past year the company had begun aggressively investing in enhancing the browser. But while work on these new features was underway, the success of its mobile advertising business started getting Opera noticed. And offers started coming in from interested buyers.
With Internet traffic and video continuing to shift to mobile devices, having a red-hot mobile video advertising product suddenly became very attractive.
“Personally, I’m not very surprised,” Boilesen said. “We have experienced growth in our user base. And people started circling.”
It seems very unlikely that shareholders will turn down the offer, which represents a 50 percent premium over the value of Opera’s stock on the day it was announced.
But executives take comfort in the fact that the potential new owners have said Opera would continue to operate with a degree of independence. And for now, they’re trying to focus on the deal’s upside.
“We have the products,” Boilesen said. “We’re just looking for owners who can take us to another level. If the deal comes through, we hope it will help us move faster.”
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Pokemon X And Y Anime: New Character Bios And Teaser, Photos For Episode 4, 'Pikachu And Dedenne! Nuzzle!!'
By Staff Writer | October 31, 2013 11:13 AM EDT
The Pokemon X and Y anime is officially underway, and more information regarding the new characters as well as the latest episode has surfaced!
For those who are trying to catch up with the Pokemon X and Y anime, several new characters have been introduced, including Serena and Clemont.
Here are some quick information about these new characters so X and Y fans can catch up with the anime.
Clemont, like in Pokemon X and Y the 3DS games, is the Lumiose City Gym Leader. He meets Ash when the gym mechanism malfunctions and nearly kills Ash! He is quick with making new inventions, and joins Ash on his journey after the incident at Prism Tower.
Serena is a new trainer who wants to be a Rhyhorn racer just like her mother. She has some unknown history with Ash, and is very interested in fashion.
And it seems in the latest Pokemon X and Y anime episode, both Serena and Clemont gain new Pokemon!
Check out a preview of episode 4, titled "Pikachu and Dedenne! Nuzzle!!"
This Pokemon X and Y anime episode has just aired in Japan, and soon it should be available online for fans to watch, perhaps even with English subtitles!
In the meantime, these screencaps will have to do! Stay tuned!
© Copyright 2016 KpopStarz.com. All Rights Reserved.
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Samsung recently launched its new line of smartphone accessories, one of which is EXO Smart Cover. The sophisticated cover will make Galaxy S8 an EXO-themed smartphone.
Singer Shim Mina shared what it feels like to date a man 17 years younger in an interview with OSEN.


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Samsung Paid $250 Million for LoopPay, to Rival Apple Pay
There is a price you need to pay to compete with Apple Pay. For Samsung that bill is said to be $250 million: That’s how much the South Korean manufacturer paid for LoopPay, whose technology will power the Samsung Pay mobile payments system, Re/code reports.
While the Apple Pay mobile payment system is limited to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and NFC-enabled POS terminals (which obviously reduces the number of stores where you can pay with your phone or Watch), the LoopPay technology will enable Samsung Galaxy 6 users to pay in just about any store in the US.
Since Samsung’s flagship handsets include an NFC chip, the devices will be compatible with the NFC-enabled POS systems.
Apple is one step ahead, however: It launched Apple Pay last year, and since then the adoption rate has been fabulous, according to reports. The company made a big bet on future trends in the payments industry, which seems to be mobile transactions.
Samsung’s LoopPay acquisition joins that trend, but let’s not forget about PayPal’s $280 million spending for Paydiant, the firm behind the mobile wallet technology on which CurrentC is built.
By the way, Canadians are ready to leave their wallets at home and user their mobile devices/Watch to pay for goods and services. Those eager to do that can choose between the available options, but local players seem to be waiting for the arrival of Apple Pay to boost adoption, as it currently lags.


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A fish and chip shop is to change the way it serves its food after signing up to an anti-plastic pledge.
Seabreeze, on Lobster Road, Redcar , has committed to becoming Redcar’s first Surfers Against Sewage “PlasticFreeBusiness”.
It means that when they reopen after a refit, they will be replacing large and small plastic forks, stirrers, polystyrene cups and containers and plastic bags.
Instead, wooden forks and stirrers, plus reusable bags, will be among the items used.
Nationally, with 5,000 items of marine plastic pollution per mile of beach in the UK, the Surfers Against Sewage group has launched a “Plastic Free Communities” campaign against single-use plastic.
And it’s that campaign Seabreeze has signed up to - with the Friends of Redcar group (FRED) hoping other local businesses will follow their lead.
FRED organises regular beach cleans, during which lots of plastic material is found, and is now “leading” in Redcar on the Surfers Against Sewage campaign.
FRED chairman Carl Quartermain presented Seabreeze staff with a certificate proclaiming its “plastic-free approved status.”
The Seabreeze - named Teesside’s favourite in a Gazette poll last year - is currently closed for refit, but is due to reopen, complete with its new plastic-free policy, on Monday February 11.
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Slovakia extends ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine and adds new items
Slovakia will extend the ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine. In addition to grains, the ban will also apply to imports of honey, sugar, malt, and soybeans, Novinky.cz reports.
The Slovak government, headed by Prime Minister Robert Fico, has decided to extend the ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine and tighten transit rules.
“In addition to wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, the ban will be extended to imports of honey, sugar, malt and soybeans. According to the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture Richard Takacs, the transit of all other agricultural products and food from Ukraine will be subject to a customs ban. This means that the cargo will be sealed at customs,” the newspaper writes.
In its proposal, the Ministry of Agriculture noted that the measures are necessary, including due to the lack of a pan-European solution for Ukrainian goods.
To recap, Slovakia’s Defense Minister confirmed to the NATO Secretary General the refusal to provide Ukraine with weapons. According to him, this decision is respected by Slovakia’s foreign partners. According to Kaliniak, despite this, his country offers a wide range of humanitarian, civilian, and non-lethal technical assistance. And foreign partners respect the decision of the new government.
Growing demand for corn in Vietnam points to increased imports
BLACK SEA GRAIN. KYIV conference brought together grain market participants and ex...
Argentina bug invasion knocks $1.3 billion off corn crop
Growth of corn prices in Ukraine limits the fall in world prices
Argentine farmers call for ‘urgent’ end to wheat export taxes
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We are firmly in the second wave of prepared meal kit delivery. Companies are specializing, doing more of the work for you, and are even built around specific devices. Which is what makes FirstChop intriguing, as it combines all of these new wave trends in its forthcoming service.
Launching in December, FirstChop is looking to stand out in the competitive meal shipping space in few ways. First, it only does meal proteins: chicken, beef, lamb, etc.; no vegetables, no starches. Second, all those proteins are cooked, and then frozen and vacuum sealed, so you can eat them on your own schedule. And third, the Bay Area-based company is basically giving away a sous-vide wand so all customers have to do is put the frozen bag of meat in hot water to prepare it.
For $109 (during pre-order, then it goes up to $139), customers can order the Starter Kit, which includes a sous vide wand and 9 servings of protein. There’s also the Family Box for $119 ($129 post pre-order), for 24 servings, and Co-Founder and CEO Ajay Narain told me that a third option with 14 servings will sell for $79. There is no monthly commitment.
The sous-vide wand is a third party device from a “reputable” manufacturer that FirstChop is just putting its name on. When asked about the sous-vide prepared meal delivery players already available like Nomiku and ChefSteps, Narain told me, “We’re the reverse. We’re starting with food and giving away the sous vide machine.”
Narain, along with Co-Founder and Chef Marc Rasic are looking to avoid the pitfalls that have befallen some of the first gen meal delivery companies. Rasic worked as a chef for the royal family of Luxembourg, ran the kitchens at Google as the search giant went from 2,700 to 65,000 employees, and worked at Munchery as that company went to market.
What they learned from their own personal experiences with meal kits, as well as scaling up kitchen production is that FirstChop doesn’t need or want to ship items like broccoli. Fresh food spoils if you don’t cook it soon after it’s received. Plus, adding fresh food complicates the logistics of packaging and shipping, and most people already have easy access to broccoli.
What people don’t have access to, is braised short rib, cooked for 16 hours, or Black Garlic Pork Loin, Petite Beef Medallions, or Peruvian Grilled Chicken. Cooking such protein, Narain says, is the hardest part of making a meal. Additionally, Rasic learned from his time at Munchery that “A lot of people hate touching [uncooked] proteins.”
By pre-cooking and freezing the meats, FirstChop believes it can simplify the shipping process, while giving the user more flexibility as the ingredients last longer. Additionally, they can serve the whole continental United States at launch to introduce people across the country to new meals they normally wouldn’t get (and no touching raw chicken!).
FirstChop is privately funded and its service be available in early December of this year. We’re excited to try it, and see how this focused approach helps shape the next phase of meal kit delivery.


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CORDOBA, Argentina – July 31, 2018 – Nissan has begun producing the Nissan Frontier in Argentina, making it the fifth country to manufacture the company’s most popular pickup as global demand continues to grow.
The expansion of Nissan’s global manufacturing footprint, at Alliance-partner Renault’s Santa Isabel plant in Cordoba, is a big drive for the company. Nissan has announced a mid-term plan to increase sales of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) by 40% by 2022.
This version of the Frontier is known as the Nissan Navara outside South America. Thanks to its popularity, it is now produced at facilities in Spain, China, Mexico, Thailand and Argentina. The Frontier is available in 38 markets across Latin America.
To read the full press release, click here.


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Tik Tok partners with IPG Mediabrands on a three-year initiative to provide the network’s clients with custom programs to help them build “an authentic presence” on the platform. The companies are forming what they are calling a “Creator Collective,” which will offer IPG Mediabrands’ clients with hands-on guidance to ensure that their content connects with TikTok’s audience. The campaign’s first program will be a quarterly series of “Creator Camps” where creators will offer strategic counsel and feedback on clients’ upcoming campaigns. Tik Tok president of global business solutions says that the partnership is intended to help clients “create a steady stream of content that resonates with our community .”
New York Times columnist Frank Bruni is heading to Duke University, where he will join the faculty of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy, starting July 1. He will continue to write his newsletter for the Times, in addition to staying on as a contributing opinion writer. Bruni joined the Times staff in 1995, and has served in a wide variety of positions there, including restaurant critic, metropolitan reporter, White House reporter and Rome bureau chief. Before coming to the Times, he worked at the New York Post and the Detroit Free Press, where he was a finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer for feature writing. “I’ve worked with Frank in Washington and know that he is a rare talent in American journalism,” DeWitt Wallace center director Bill Adair told the Duke Chronicle. “He will bring tremendous depth to our program.”
Amazon now accounts for more than 10 percent of all digital ads in the U.S., according to a report from research firm eMarketer. The company’s ad revenue climbed to $15.73 billion in 2020, which eMarketer estimates is a jump of 52.5 percent from 2019. While Google (28.9 percent) and Facebook (25.2 percent) still top Amazon by a fairly wide margin, the report predicts that the company’s share of the digital market will continue to experience steady growth, hitting 12.8 percent by 2023. Google appears to be on the losing end of Amazon’s rise, with eMarketer predicting that its share of the digital ad marketing will fall to 26.6 percent by 2023.


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Computing last week revealed that the government scheme established to promote online learning is under review. The announcement of a Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) investigation...
SAP digs deep to acquire Qualtrics' 'customer experience' software
The regulation should make it easier to switch cloud providers or recover data from them
The Women in IT Forum covers diversity, education, thought leadership and sexism
93 per cent of CEOs store their work on a laptop or other personal device outside of official company storage, finds survey


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The first Creators of the Metaverse Fest will take place on February 23, 2023 as part of the E-Commerce Berlin Expo. Inclusivity, education and networking are the focus when Web3 and VR experts such as Anna Graf (Arvato Systems, Bertelsmann), Urs Rahne (BCG Digital Ventures), Kai Herzberger (Meta) or Dr. Su-Zeong Fröhlich (Visiblr), hundreds of crypto and NFT enthusiasts and more than 9,000 Expo visitors exchange views on blockchain technologies and VR in e-commerce. Entry is free.
Participants learn more about the status quo of the metaverse. What is hype and what will soon be real? How do virtual realities generate real added value for customers and companies in B2C and B2B? How can brands increase their visibility through advertising in virtual worlds?
Use cases for VR, NFTs and blockchain beyond crypto speculation.
The 17 speakers at the Creators of the Metaverse Fest offer a wide range of topics that make Web3 and VR accessible. They will cover how artificial intelligence and digital clothing are transforming the fashion industry, how to use NFTs and a community to fund the world’s first Web3 brewery, how to set up near-free payment systems worldwide via blockchain, how to rethink customer loyalty programs, or encourage women in the tech industry via Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). On site it will be possible to get a free NFT, which was designed in cooperation with the web3 agency Elfz’n’Trollz as a festival accompaniment. The VZNZ team supports visitors in experiencing VR and augmented reality via the advanced VR glasses HoloLens.
Increasing interest of women in jobs in Web3 and VR
According to the consulting firm McKinsey, the shortage of skilled workers in the MINT field is noticeably slowing down economic development in Europe. In Germany alone, there will be a shortage of 780,000 workers in this area by 2027. A major lever lies in the promotion of diversity and inclusion, as only 22 percent of jobs in this area are held by women in the EU member states. Doubling the proportion of women in tech positions to up to 45 percent by 2027 could increase European gross domestic product by 260 billion to 600 billion euros. This is one of the reasons why the organizers of the Creators of the Metaverse Fest offer a diverse selection of speakers. The different representatives and perspectives should help to promote knowledge exchange, inclusion, networking and innovation in Germany.
“Blockchain-based technologies, virtual realities and the metaverse will change every industry and every area of private life. However, metaverse platforms in particular do not yet live up to the hype. As such, the importance of fostering diversity among those influencing essential elements of the future Metaverse now is underestimated. Only through diversity do we create a complementary digital layer that offers new opportunities for all equally,” explains Ben Harmanus, Founder of the Creators of the Metaverse Fest and International Product Marketing & Storytelling Lead at HubSpot.
Inclusive festival instead of a one-way street
In the speed networking area, visitors can also make new contacts. At noon, the organizations wom3n.DAO, Crypto Girls Club, HER DAO and Women in Blockchain Talks (WiBT) jointly invite you to a community meeting to promote diversity in the digital industry and carry it into the Metaverse. Speaker meetups, an NFT art exhibition, and complimentary drinks to end the day complete the program.
Creating the Metaverse: United or Divided?
Tech giants like Meta and Apple are developing VR headsets and virtual experiences without blockchain. In contrast, emerging Web3 startups aspire to an open, interconnected network of Metaverse platforms. In a concluding panel discussion, Jürgen Geuter (ART+COM), Jocelyne Royer and other experts will discuss whether current metaverse developments will lead to isolated communities and unequal opportunities.
Participation is free
Registration for the E-Commerce Berlin Expo is free, as is access to the Creators of the Metaverse Fest in Hall 8 of STATION Berlin. Visitors can register for a ticket here.
Further information: https://www.creatorsofthemetaverse.de/fest


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Feds' Hoax Warns Online Investors
Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, January 29, 2002
Associated Press Writer
Bogus Web sites offering investment opportunities in phantom companies are popping up on the Internet in a government effort to point out the risks of online investing.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has created three hoax Web sites, mimicking a technique used by the con artists whom federal regulators want to stop.
"The crooks figured this out a long time ago and we think it's about time we used the exact same tactics to fight back," SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt said Wednesday at a news conference.
"The only difference between our scams and the ones that the fraudsters put on is that we won't take any money from investors," Pitt said. "We will try to give them something to learn from."
Susan Wyderko, who runs the SEC's investor education office, said the trick Web sites are a legitimate and ethical approach. She said people would not be prosecuted for similar deceptive techniques as long as no fraudulent requests for money were made.
McWhortle Enterprises, the one fake company the SEC identified, touts a "Bio-Hazard Alert Detector." It is described as a battery-powered device that fits in a jacket pocket and beeps and flashes in the presence of all known biohazards, including anthrax.
The McWhortle Web site includes an audio interview with the company president and testimonials from an analyst with a "major investment banking firm" and the chief financial officer of a "Fortune 100 Company."
People who continue clicking to invest their money get the message: "If you responded to an investment idea like this … you could get scammed!"
On Friday, the SEC issued a news release on behalf of McWhortle, saying the company would go public Wednesday and the company's president would hold a news conference at SEC headquarters. The release was distributed mainly to Web sites by a service for financial news. Financial news agencies that received the fake release were warned.
In the three days after the release was sent, the McWhortle Web site received more than 150,000 visits, the SEC said. People who tried to contact McWhortle, sometimes offering personal information such as Social Security numbers, received responses from the SEC disclosing the true purpose of the Web site.
Pitt said potential investors should do their own research to make sure a company exists, that its products are genuine and its claims legitimate.
"Don't be fooled by a pretty Web site," he said. "If you don't understand an investment, don't buy it."
Pitt said the SEC, working with other U.S. and international agencies, will be making many more of these sites.
Wyderko would not identify the other two hoax Web sites now online, but she said one site produced with the help of the Treasury Department involves a banking scam.
Barbara Roper of the Consumer Federation of America said she did not have a problem with the government's methods.
"There's clearly no intent here to do anything but educate the public in a way that might actually catch people's attention and make them realize they were that close to being scammed," she said.
The Federal Trade Commission has used these kind of "teaser" Web sites to educate consumers about business scams and dubious products since 1997 and now has 14 on the Internet, FTC official C. Lee Peeler said.
The FTC, along with the North American Securities Administrators Association and the National Association of Securities Dealers helped produce the McWhortle site.
On the Net:
Securities and Exchange Commission: http://www.sec.gov
Federal Trade Commission: http://www.ftc.gov
Fake McWhortle site: http://www.mcwhortle.com


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AT&T has increased its portfolio of handsets by launching a new phone LG Neo II. Its a new side-slider phone from LG which sports a slide out QWERTY keyboard and voice guided GPS. The keyboard contains keys in a round fashion giving its a trendy look. It sports 2.4-inch 320 x 240 display, a 2-megapixel camera.
Specifications in detail:
Smartphones have become a necessity in today's digital age. Be it browsing the web or connecting with you...


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That's the most used – or misused – Social Security number in history, and it belonged to a woman from Lockport.
The federal government originally issued that number to Hilda Schrader Whitcher in the 1930s. But over the next four decades more than 40,000 people mistakenly claimed it for themselves.
How and why that happened is an intriguing story told by various media outlets over the years, most recently last week on National Public Radio's "Planet Money" podcast.
The Social Security Administration even devotes a page on its website to Whitcher's number.
It all began in 1938, when Whitcher's employer, the E.H. Ferree Co., a maker of leather goods based in Lockport, wanted to boost sales of its wallets. The company thought it would help to show customers how they could put their Social Security card in the wallet.
Douglas Patterson, an E.H. Ferree vice president and treasurer, decided to use the actual Social Security number of Whitcher, one of the company's leather cutters, on the display cards inserted into every wallet. He did it without her knowledge or permission.
"It seems like they should have thought this through better," said Ann Marie Linnabery, assistant director of the Niagara County Historical Society, which has written about Whitcher's number.
Now, Social Security, with its system of assigned numbers and cards, was relatively new at this point. The federal government had issued the first cards in 1936.
Maybe it's not surprising that a number of people buying an E.H. Ferree wallet from Woolworth's and other department stores mistakenly thought the card inserted inside was their official Social Security card, or they needed a number quickly to get a job.
That's despite the fact the E.H. Ferree cards were a different color than an official Social Security card, were smaller than an official card, had "Specimen" written across them – and came randomly in a wallet anyone could purchase.
In a 1983 interview with The Buffalo News, Whitcher recalled arriving at work one day to find co-workers singing, "I found a million dollar baby." Whitcher said she completed the refrain of the song popular at the time – "In a five and ten cent store" – but didn't understand what was going on.
It was only later that she learned her Social Security number was famous.
"I didn't know what to say. I was dumbfounded," Whitcher told The News.
In 1943, when the level of confusion was at its peak, 5,755 people were simultaneously using Whitcher's number.
The Social Security Administration publicized the problem in an attempt to get the public to stop using the erroneous cards. The agency also voided the number and issued Whitcher a new card.
As late as 1977, the government found 12 people still using Whitcher's original number.
Whitcher said in later interviews that the card mistake largely was an annoyance. Her husband, Hiram, told The News that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents even questioned her once about the widespread use of her Social Security number.
She said she couldn't believe how the problem snowballed among wallet shoppers.
"They started using the number," Whitcher told The News. "They thought it was their own. I can't understand how people can be so stupid. I can't understand that."
She said she didn't know how much money was mistakenly deposited into her Social Security account over the years before the agency straightened it out.
"I'd probably be a millionaire today if I had all the money," Whitcher said in 1983, four years before her death at the age of 88.
The E.H. Ferree company was at 57-61 Richmond Ave. in Lockport from 1914 until 1955. The building, renamed 57 Canal St., is now owned by Iskalo Development.
Linnabery, from the Niagara County Historical Society, said the misuse of Whitcher's Social Security number resonates today.
"We talk about identity theft now," she said. "That was basically what happened to her back in that time, although people weren't thinking about identity theft in those days."


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Business Student Joanna Garza Places in Top 10 in Social Media Competition
Joanna Garza, a senior management major in the UTSA Carlos Alvarez College of Business, placed in the top 10 in the Mimic Pro Digital Marketing Competition.
Stepping into the role of a digital marketer, she competed against other business students to see who could earn the most revenue for a fictional apparel client. She participated in six challenges over the course of two weeks.
Garza credits the skills she learned in her digital marketing course with Wendy Gratereaux, MBA ’11, associate professor of practice in marketing, with helping her succeed in the competition.
“She posted about the challenge in our class Slack channel,” said Garza, who is co-secretary of the Professional Businesswomen Society. “We were using the Stukent simulation program in class, which is the same program used in the competition.”
Experimenting with techniques she learned in class, she created display and search ads, optimized keywords and learned how to allocate her budget to garner the most revenue for her client.
“I tried to enhance the appeal for their products through digital marketing,” she said. “We learned as part of our class that in addition to studying the demographics of customers you also need to study what their competitors are doing as well.”
Working and taking classes while she participated in the competition, Garza learned to refine her campaigns by reviewing the metrics regularly as the competition pace increased at the end.
“There is no set formula for anything in marketing,” she said. “Your campaigns have to change and adjust reflecting consumer responses.”
Looking to enhance her knowledge in this field, she is currently taking a social media marketing class with Gratereaux this semester. “Professor Gratereaux is one of the most interesting faculty members that I’ve had,” she said. “She has a very diverse and applied background, and she works to get the best technology for her students.
“This project lit a fire in me,” she said. “I’ve always been a creative person and digital marketing allows me to explore my creativity.”
As a top competitor, Garza received a scholarship for her efforts as well as an opportunity to interview with recruiters from HP, the sponsors of the competition.


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Justice and Public Safety Cabinet
Third Annual – Christmas Spree with KVE in Clay County
(London, KY) – With the holiday season here, Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement (KVE) recently hosted its third annual Christmas Spree with KVE charity event. Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement and the Manchester Police Department combined efforts to make the holidays brighter for less fortunate children throughout Clay County. On Friday, December 15th, officers took 65 special young guests to Wal-Mart in Manchester for an evening of shopping, eating, gift wrapping, and fun.
The students were chosen through Family Resource Centers at local schools. The evening began with the kids eating pizza and taking pictures with Santa Claus. The kids were then taken on a shopping spree and given $100 each to spend on clothing, toys and other needs.
“During the holidays, it’s a great feeling to be able to do something special for these kids,” said KVE Sergeant Brian Jackson. “The generosity of our sponsors and the hard work of the Manchester Wal-Mart employees made it all possible.”
The money to fund the shopping was raised by local businesses across Clay County. Donations exceeded $6,500.


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While Taco Bell has had a dedicated vegetarian menu for a few years — and you can pretty much make anything else on the menu meat-free as well — the chain has now announced the addition of its first-ever vegan item.
The new Vegan Crunchwrap looks just like the fast-food restaurant’s original Crunchwrap, but is made with ingredients that are certified vegan by the American Vegetarian Association, including vegan seasoned beef, cool vegan blanco sauce and warm vegan nacho sauce. It also comes with tomatoes, lettuce and a crunchy tostada shell all wrapped up in a soft flour tortilla.
For now, the vegan item will only be available in three cities that Taco Bell says have “notable vegan populations.” The company specifically listed a Los Angeles location at 6741 Hollywood Boulevard, a New York location at 976 6th Avenue, and an Orlando restaurant at 11893 East Colonial Drive.
It’s only around for a limited time while supplies last. If this launch goes well, there’s always a chance it may appear on menus nationwide.
The Vegan Crunchwrap comes one year after Taco Bell first tested its plant-based protein option in Birmingham, Alabama. A blend of soy and pea protein that’s inspired by classic Taco Bell flavors, the proprietary “meat” was used then for both a Nachos BellGrande and a Crispy Melt Taco.
If you’re not in one of the cities where you can get the new Vegan Crunchwrap, Taco Bell’s vegetarian menu is also certified by the American Vegetarian Association and includes a total of 19 items ranging from a Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito to a Black Bean Crunchwrap Supreme (neither of which are vegan).
You can also make your own version of a Crunchwrap at home using your favorite meat and dairy-free alternative. Simply follow a recipe like this Copycat Crunchwrap Supreme from Spend With Pennies, but instead of using beef, use beans or a meat alternative like MorningStar Farms Veggie Grillers Crumbles.
Are you hoping to see some vegan items at a Taco Bell near you?


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One year ago, Apple was furiously putting out a fire of its own making as iPhone owners realized that the company was slowing down phones with older lithium-ion batteries that were losing their ability to hold a charge. Batterygate eventually led to Apple allowing users to choose whether to throttle their phones or not, and offering one-time battery replacements for $29 to iPhone owners.
As Apple watchers continue to wrap their head around Apple’s historic warning letter to investors that it would miss its forecasted revenues by a significant margin due to soft sales, some wondered whether iPhone owners replacing their batteries instead of buying new phones could have played a part in that miss. After all, an iPhone owner who replaced a battery is likely an iPhone owner who will hold on to their phone for longer, meaning one less new sale for Apple.
The problem? It was hard to tell just how many iPhone owners had replaced batteries in 2018 versus in prior years, leading to a lot of best-guess estimates. But Apple enthusiast John Gruber, author of the popular blog Daring Fireball, passed along hard numbers from someone at Apple who attended the all-hands meeting Tim Cook gave to Apple employees shortly after his warning letter to investors. Per Gruber, Apple swapped out 11 million batteries while running its $29 replacement program. In a normal year, Apple would have expected about 1 to 2 million battery replacements.
So that is — on the high side — an extra 10 million phones that got replacement batteries, and if we’re putting our thumb on the scale for the argument that replacement batteries led to lost sales, 10 million vanishing for Apple. Apple sold about 216 million iPhones in 2017, so taking that 10 million number, you get 4 percent of its total sales. (This is where the math gets even more back-of-the-envelope: It’s likely that in 2018, Apple actually sold less than 216 million phones — the smartphone decline means that Apple has been selling fewer phones for higher prices for a while — but we don’t know those numbers, and thanks to Apple’s no longer reporting its actual unit sales, we may never know.)
But as Ben Thompson at Stratechery points out, those 11 million Apple customers taking advantage of the cheap battery replacement may not be the full story. Up until Batterygate and its fallout, iPhone owners were likely aware that if their phone screen shattered, they could get a new screen, either from Apple or from a third-party vendor. But Batterygate likely led to many, many more Apple customers also becoming aware that if their phone was working fine in all other regards, they could swap out the battery and keep chugging along. All of that elongates the upgrade cycle for Apple, which is already longer than average compared to the rest of the smartphone market.
But this isn’t the end of the world for Apple. Tim Cook has been clear that the future of Apple isn’t in selling more phones, but in increasing its services revenue — everything from Apple Music subscriptions to iCloud storage to the 30 percent it takes from every sale on the App Store. Even if Apple is perhaps losing out on selling a few new iPhones because people are replacing batteries, for Cook and company, the future of Apple is about having as wide an install base as possible. You can extract some subscription revenue for a phone with a replaced battery just as easily as you can from a brand new iPhone XS Max.


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The IoT (internet of things) is at the center of an explosion with the increase of connected devices.
However, there are only a few individuals that have the right skills to execute and manage IoT tasks.
Therefore, as many people anticipate IoT to be the next revolution in the technology industry, there is a need to have adequate staffing and expertise for companies and individuals to realize IoT benefits.
Research shows that 33% of organizations can benefit from the additional skills, whereas 47% of the organizations say they do not have IoT skills entirely.
More companies are making significant efforts in tackling IoT skills deficiency as they find their way within the industry.
For that reason, it is essential to acquire IoT skills to boost your career as they will give you a competitive advantage over others.


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In honor of Small Business Week, Inc. reporters deployed to several cities where they spent one day talking to owners and entrepreneurs in a particular sector about their challenges.
Robots allow manufacturers to operate more cheaply. But robots themselves aren't cheap, limiting the ability of small manufacturers to compete with larger companies or win back business from overseas. A Baltimore startup thinks it has a solution: robots as a service.
Industrial robots typically sell for $75,000 or more, a significant capital outlay. And that price tag escalates dramatically with operational costs. Ready Robotics, a startup housed in City Garage, a Baltimore center for makers, charges $1,500 to $4,000 a month for use of one of its robots, called the TaskMate. The TaskMate is easy to program and move around a factory floor. That suits it for the short production runs on which many small manufacturers survive.
Kelleher Guerin developed the underlying technology for TaskMate while working on his PhD and then as a post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University. He built a prototype and partnered with Benjamin Gibbs, a tech transfer official at the university. Their focus was on medical applications until they met Drew Greenblatt, owner of Baltimore-based Marlin Steel, a 30-employee maker of industrial baskets. Greenblatt invited them to tour Marlin's factory floor, where he explained the practical challenges faced by small manufacturers like himself. Soon after, Guerin and Gibbs pivoted toward industry.
Ready Robotics launched in June of last year, with Gibbs as CEO, Guerin as CTO, and Greenblatt as industry adviser.
"When Ford deploys a bunch of robots to make a new car, and it takes a year to set up the factory, they are fine with that because they're going to make that car for 10 years and amortize the effort," says Guerin. "Drew might have a job that takes two weeks. We were thinking, how do you have an industrial robot that helps in that situation?"
Ready Robotics' solution is a robotic arm that can be swiftly programmed to perform new tasks and is packaged with an assortment of grippers, pneumatic air tools, and other peripherals that transform it into a kind of automated Swiss Army knife. The robot, which comes with a stand, can also operate existing tools such as lathes, mills, and band saws, freeing up workers for more valuable assignments. While TaskMate is deployable in most industries, the company's initial focus is on metal forming, food production, plastics, and textiles.
The product is optimized for use by a blue-collar workforce. "We have trained people to do this in under two hours who are complete novices," says Guerin. "No automation experience. No robotics experience. The bar is very low."
Johns Hopkins owns the core technology, which Ready Robotics licenses on an exclusive basis. "We have been filing our own patents on top of that," says Gibbs. "So we have a really robust portfolio protecting the technology."
Ready Robotics, which has 12 employees including Gibbs and Guerin, has raised $3.75 million in a seed round and is embarking on a Series A. That money will allow the company to expand outside the Baltimore market, where it has two customers--one of them Marlin Steel--and proposals out to another three. Guerin estimates that within six months it will have produced and rented 60 units. In a year: double that.
On a recent day, a TaskMate could be found making wire forms for a telecom product near the entrance to Marlin's factory floor. It is the ultimate utility player, explains Greenblatt, switchable within a few hours among most of the 10 or 12 jobs the plant has going at one time. (Greenblatt is a nationally known voice for small manufacturing. Ready Robotics is his first entrepreneurial venture; he acquired Marlin.)
"The real American factory has runs of five and then 300 and then 50 and then 600--peanut runs," says Greenblatt. "You have to be nimble, adaptable, constantly changing over and making new fixtures."
"This is how small companies are going to automate," says Greenblatt. "This is how we will revolutionize American industry."