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- PROJECT HELP
- WHITE PAPERS
Retailers are being warned that smartphones are a threat to their margins as customers shop in-store but buy from cheaper online-only competitors. But perhaps the devices aren't the enemy of retailers after all and instead provide the key to shoppers' wallets this holiday season by creating a better, stronger connection between retailer and customer.
According to Deloitte's annual holiday survey of consumer spending intentions and trends, half of consumers surveyed own smartphones, and nearly 7 in 10 (68 percent) plan to use their phones for holiday shopping this year. These shoppers will primarily use their devices to get store locations (62 percent), check and compare prices (58 percent) and obtain product information (50 percent).
Those are significant numbers, and retailers will be looking for any ways to activate mobile in-store. Here are some more interesting figures: Smartphone-toting holiday shoppers are expected to shell out 72 percent more than those who do not plan to use smartphones, spending a total $1,428 on the holidays across categories that include gifts, entertaining at home, socializing away from home, non-gift clothing, home and holiday furnishings, and other holiday spending.
"We anticipate that retailers will increasingly interact with mobile shoppers this holiday season," said Alison Paul, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP, and retail and distribution sector leader, in an announcement from the company. "Deloitte's research into smartphones' influence on in-store sales indicates that the conversion rate for shoppers who use a retailer's dedicated mobile application is 21 percent higher than those who do not. This holiday season, branded applications, Wi-Fi connectivity and personalized, location-based promotions from retailers can enable shoppers to make an immediate buying decision in the store."
This year, Deloitte anticipates that in-store sales influenced by consumers' smartphone use will account for $36 billion, or 5.1 percent of total holiday retail store sales.
So how can retailers tap into the mobile shopping trend?
Mikail Damiani, CEO and co-founder of mobile marketing solutions provider Blue Bite, said near-field communications offers a ready avenue of mobile activation for digital out-of-home. While most are still focused on payments as the killer app for NFC, that is still some time away, but there are more immediate uses, he said.
"The near-term opportunity is simply about making physical/digital connections easier," Damiani said. "NFC is the most simple and intuitive bridge and allows for the delivery of the right content in the most relevant context. This will allow for targeted delivery of product information and offers which can be used right there and then."
In a recent blog post on Digital Signage Today, DOOH executive Joe Matriss said the reason why people love smartphones so much is "primarily because people love having access to everything when they want it, which is almost always right now. This trend is an enormous opportunity for digital out-of-home."
Matriss, the managing director of Park Cast Network, an ad-based DOOH network with screens in public parking facilities in New York City and Chicago, said that while much ink has already been spilled about the technical ways to integrate mobile into DOOH networks there are much more immediate ways to engage your viewers' mobiles and get them to plug in the information you want them to receive:
For example, people take photos of everything now. They photograph announcement boards, documents, plates of food (both whole and devoured) and sometimes even advertisements that capture their attention. The latter happens for two reasons: either because the information is highly relevant and needs to be stored, or because there is a reward, such as sharing something cool with friends or entering a contest.
One idea is to capitalize on the phone's camera and the viewer's desire to photograph. Create photo contests on the DOOH network. Show an image with a timer, and say that whoever takes a photo of this image and sends it to us will be entered to win something (like whatever the photo is, a product from a partner for example). If a consumer sees the message but misses the opportunity, they might wait through the loop to try it again. They also might tell their friends about it.
Alex Romanov, president and CEO of multiplatform location based messaging solutions provider iSIGN Media Solutions Inc., said that any retailer with digital signage should try simply prompting their shoppers to use their phones. Stores should have a brightly colored band or banner or a flashing message that tells shoppers to enable their Bluetooth or Wi-Fi for additional offers, Romanov said.
"We found that to be extremely successful: It's exciting because you don't know what you're going to get. So they're asking you to take another step, and if the offer is compelling, it's going to work," he said.
"People need to be constantly reminded that 'Hey, this phone is a lot more than just a talking device,' and if you're in a location and they prompt you to take look at your phone or go online or receive something by Bluetooth or Wi-Fi within proximity ... people will participate," he said. "It's a very simple conclusion or stat, but it seems to work; they just need a little bit of a push."
Read more about retail.
(Photo by ChrisGonzalez90.)
This article originally ran on DigitalSignageToday.com. James Wester contributed to this article.


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Former Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda is taking over as chief executive of Fisker Automotive from founder Henrik Fisker.
Fisker, 48, will pass daily-operations duties to LaSorda, 57. Fisker, a former Aston Martin and BMW designer, will focus on growing the company in overseas markets, building brand awareness and design. His new title is executive chairman.
Fisker Automotive is launching its first car, the Karma sedan, in the United States and Europe. The Karma runs on electric power and extends range with an Ecotec four-cylinder engine sourced from General Motors.
Fisker recruited LaSorda, who was Chrysler CEO from 2005 to 2007, to take over as his successor. LaSorda had been advising Fisker Automotive and serving as vice chairman.
“We have a great opportunity to grow this business, to make it very, very successful,” said LaSorda, who has a stake in the company.
Plans for Fisker's second vehicle, dubbed Project Nina, hit a speed bump recently when the company was forced to lay off 26 workers at its Delaware factory while ironing out details of a federal loan.
The executives, however, said work continues on the project, including virtual engineering. Additionally, Fisker says it might not take any more federal money and says it can raise sufficient funds on its own.
So far, about 2,000 versions of the Karma have been produced, and roughly 840 have been shipped to dealerships as of late February in the U.S. and Canadian markets. European deliveries are just now getting under way.

domain: news


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OK, sure, let's blame the hackers. Let's punish them. They deserve it. They've got to be taught that screwing around with other people's networks, business, and productivity is unacceptable. Illegal. Unethical. Jeffrey Parson may learn that lesson. Adrian Lamo may also learn that lesson. But what lesson has the industry learned? That dealing with intelligent, sneaky, law-breaking teens is a problem? That companies and users need to get more vigilant about installing security systems and virus protection? That even nastier bugs could be coming? That more reputation-damaging, business-stopping break-ins could be coming? Yes, all around. We all have an important role to play in understanding the severity of security breaches and the need to do something about them.
But instead of picking on the misguided teens or the companies with less-than-adequately protected networks, let's turn to the software community. It's time something changed. Remember Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing strategy and Oracle's "unbreakable" promise? Well, neither seems to be true. Any other software vendors out there willing to make bold claims? Technology users are tired of vulnerability alerts and patches. They've prompted some to explore networks with fewer PCs, to seriously consider open-source software, and even to bill Microsoft for the expenses associated with patching their software.
How much patchworking must companies endure before they can feel comfortable that the software they buy to run their businesses won't fail them? I've got a great idea for the billions Microsoft is investing in R&D--innovation in software security. Maybe the next "killer application" will be something that doesn't have bells and whistles, but rather a promise of trust that can't be broken.
The Business of Going DigitalDigital business isn't about changing code; it's about changing what legacy sales, distribution, customer service, and product groups do in the new digital age. It's about bringing big data analytics, mobile, social, marketing automation, cloud computing, and the app economy together to launch new products and services. We're seeing new titles in this digital revolution, new responsibilities, new business models, and major shifts in technology spending.
What The Business Really Thinks Of IT: 3 Hard TruthsThey say perception is reality. If so, many in-house IT departments have reason to worry. InformationWeek's IT Perception Survey seeks to quantify how IT thinks it's doing versus how the business views IT's performance in delivering services - and, more important, powering innovation. The news isn't great.


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Our experts picked top TED Talks for supply chain management and logistics. Binge watch them all here.
Category: TED Talks
How drone technology can deliver an ultra-flexible global automated logistics network.
Ikea veteran and sustainability expert Steve Howard talks about how sustainability has gone from a nice-to-do to a must-do.
Analytics expert Mallory Freeman on the impact of planning and logistics for humanitarian operations to feed, clothe, and shelter hundreds of thousands more people.
BCG’s Dustin Burke highlights the importance of building more resilient supply chains that can withstand crises and shocks with shared risk, radical transparency, and automated recommendations.
Entrepreneur Mick Mountz highlights the potential of using technology and automation in warehousing to increase productivity and efficiency.
Entrepreneur Markus Mutzk argues that humans make decisions that harm the planet or other humans because they lack the necessary information to make informed decisions


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Posted by tewfic in Chocolate Articles
A bag of candy contains lots of colouring agents, citric acids and Additives. Now there is an alternative
A bag of candy contains lots of colouring agents,additives and preservatives. Explaining why many mothers are very reluctant to give their children artifical confectionery. According to Guy Gallet of the Association of Belgian Candy Manufacturers Choprabisco, consumers ask for a natural products. That is why The Flemish Technological Advisory Centre for the Confectionary Industries (VLAZ) recently organised the seminar ‘Snoep-Goed’ (Candy is good). According to Frédéric Depypere of the faculty of bioscience engineering of Ghent University, two samples were presented there: a candy variety (based on alge and other plants) an alternative to gelatine and the natural colouring agents. Every Belgian consumes about 24 kg of candy annually, including chips and cookies. Our weakness for sweets takes up 6.5% of our food budget: 1,7 billion euros in 2005. The confectionery itself amounts to 330 million euros or 33 euros per Belgian.Check out this site for the best Natural Chocolate available.


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In the light of a viral video that shows two Black men (Their names have not been released at this time) being arrested at Starbucks in Philadelphia, has prompted the company to make a radical decision. All U.S. stores will be shut down on May 29 so employees can have racial-bias education. The two men who were arrested, were doing what thousands do every day, waiting at a Starbucks to meet someone. Only this time the store manager called the police and the men were arrested for trespassing. The charges were eventually dropped for lack of evidence.
Instances, of racial bias are nothing new but what has changed is the public's tolerance for companies not taking action. We are used to hollow apologies and then it's back to business as usual, so Starbucks' move to take action is being met with positive feedback. Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson did apologize and extended an invitation to the two men for a face-to-face meeting to apologies in person. In a statement he said:
I’ve spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong and the steps we need to take to fix it. While this is not limited to Starbucks, we’re committed to being a part of the solution. Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities.
The company’s founding values are based on humanity and inclusion. We will learn from our mistakes and reaffirm our commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment for every customer.
The closing of the nationwide stores and training of all employees is a massive undertaking. It will cost Starbucks millions in revenue (which is a small price to pay to earn the public's trust once again), and include curriculum by race relation experts Bryan Stevenson, (Equal Justice Initiative) Sherrilyn Ifill,(NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund), Heather McGhee (Demos), Jonathan Greenblatt (Anti-Defamation League) and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Executive chairman of Starbuck, Howard Schultz, recently sat down with CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King to talk about the arrests and how the company plans to take action:
I'm embarrassed, ashamed. I think what occurred was reprehensible at every single level. I think I take it very personally as everyone in our company does and we're committed to making it right. The announcement we made yesterday about closing our stores, 8,000 stores closed, to do significant training with our people is just the beginning of what we will do to transform the way we do business and educate our people on unconscious bias.
It will cost millions of dollars, but I've always viewed this and things like this as not an expense, but an investment in our people and our company. And we're better than this.
The training will be incorporated into onboarding all new employees.
@Starbucks The police were called because these men hadn’t ordered anything. They were waiting for a friend to show up, who did as they were taken out in handcuffs for doing nothing. All the other white ppl are wondering why it’s never happened to us when we do the same thing. pic.twitter.com/0U4Pzs55Ci— Melissa DePino (@missydepino) April 12, 2018
On 5/29, we'll close US company-owned stores to conduct racial-bias training to address implicit bias & prevent discrimination. We're taking a hard look at who we are as a company. We’re ashamed & recognize that racial bias is a problem we must address. https://t.co/xIYc75BJPj— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) April 17, 2018
In a series of tweets, senior writer for Rolling Stone, Jamil Smith noted the closing of the stores and the new training is a step in the right direction but certainly the public needs to continue to hold corporations accountable.
On the afternoon of May 29, @Starbucks will close all of its more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the United States “to conduct racial-bias education geared toward preventing discrimination in our stores." This is a positive step. https://t.co/XrCO7Mue6d pic.twitter.com/BSzIVOotFe— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) April 17, 2018
I say that the @Starbucks anti-bid training is a positive step because I didn’t expect them to take any steps. The trainings, effective or not, are somewhat beside the point. Starbucks knows this can’t happen again, and its employees should, too, if they hope to keep their jobs.— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) April 17, 2018
Saying that it’s a positive step for a company to realize its culture needs to change—and that the Philadelphia incident may be a sign of something more systemic—is not a signal to stop pressuring them to make that change.— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) April 17, 2018
While many see the step as positive, there is a reluctance to trust.
So Starbucks are closing for a day of racial bias training? It’s not something I’m going to applaud BUT it is better than an empty social media sorry statement. Other companies/institutions should follow suit tbh.— Tobi Oredein (@IamTobiOredein) April 18, 2018
If the training is not followed up by clear measurements and employee expectations -connected directly to job performance-then one day won’t make much difference, @starbucks.— Brittany Packnett (@MsPackyetti) April 18, 2018
I’ve done this for my employers. I know what I’m talking about.
Awaiting your response.
I hope you understand this topic is more than a one day training. Hopefully you are committed to on-going training.— Michael Richardson (@fcnpastor) April 17, 2018
Others were willing to give Starbucks the benefit of the doubt.
I think you're handling this well. We must face the hard fact that this is who American culture is. I guarantee every company has implicit racists operating and doing these same things everyday. This is what POC have always dealt with.— Christel (@ChristelJGW) April 17, 2018
Things aren’t always going to be right because we are not perfect. The reason why we must always take responsibility to make it right when it goes wrong!🙌— kimberlee Lenz (@LouisKimberlee) April 17, 2018
I am a loyal customer that worships my morning coffee from Starbucks all over the world daily. I was immediately shook and angered by the events in Philly. I was willing to never walk into another Starbucks if this wasn’t Fixed! Great start & good job.Respect should be always!— James Buford (@jcboneon1) April 18, 2018
Thank you, as an employee, you don’t understand how much ignorance I have came across from other employees. It may not quickly eliminate it, but it’ll definitely help— Arrjay (@IamARRJAY) April 18, 2018
There was hope other companies would follow Starbucks lead.
I'm proud to work for a company that actually cares. While this never would've happened at my store, I'm still glad the entire company is taking action. Wish more companies did.— Miss Laura Renée (@LauraReneeWest) April 17, 2018
Our company had a training on Dignity and Respect by @Candi Castleberry-Singleton. It was tremendous and our employees loved it. It’s received the most positive feedback of any training we’ve had. I highly recommend companies do these types of employee trainings.— #NeverAgain (@Thursdays1Ed) April 17, 2018


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“I think the model will change and you won’t pay for the window of availability. A movie will come out and you will have 17 days, that’s exactly three weekends, which is 95% of the revenue for 98% of movies. On the 18th day, these movies will be available everywhere ubiquitously and you will pay for the size. A movie screen will be $15. A 75” TV will be $4.00. A smartphone will be $1.99. That enterprise that will exist though out the world, when that happens, and it will happen, it will reinvent the enterprise of movies,” he is quoted as saying.
You can expect plenty of exhibitor sabre rattling in response to Katzenberg’s prediction. Even if he’s correct about most movies playing themselves out within the first 17 days of release, exhibitors are justifiably concerned about the prospect of movies being available on non-theatrical platforms so soon after their theatrical debuts. One of the things that exhibitors bank on is the combination of an exclusive availability window and the fact that seeing a movie in a theatrical setting with an audience is a very different visceral experience than watching that same movie on a 3” smartphone screen, a 10” tablet or even the 75” home theatre screen Katzenberg talked about.
If consumers know up front that they’ll be able to watch these recent movies on their personal devices within three weeks of a movie’s opening, exhibitors are understandably concerned that this rapid non-theatrical availability will encourage a very large portion of their customer base to simply wait until the home entertainment release. It will also put a lot more pressure for those movies that do get a theatrical release to hit it big right out the gate. It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that studios will focus even more the crap shoot known as big budget tent pole releases.
While I’m skeptical of Katzenberg’s prediction that the cost of seeing movies will soon be directly tied into the size of the screen, it is inarguable that digital technologies will continue to trigger major changes in the way content is produced, distributed and consumed. On the theatrical side, we’re seeing more and more alternative content from companies like NCM Fathom Events, along with improvements in projection technology, more immersive sound systems like Dolby Atmos and increasingly upscale fare at the concession stand – all to put more and more butts in seats, especially on week nights.
On the home front, streaming products like Roku, Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire are now providing easy entrée into millions of homes for producers. Roku adds dozens of new channels every month and makes its software development kit easily available to anyone who wants to download it. “2nd Screen” technology has become an increasingly important marketing tool as well as a new lucrative means of repurposing ancillary content. For the past several years, industry observers have pointed out parallels between the world of online broadcasting and the rise of basic cable stations in the 1980s, with the Web serving more and more often as a means for content creators to cost effectively develop their concepts, though we’re seeing production values for web series starting to approach syndicated, and even network TV.
The point is to remind you, gentle reader, that along with the dramatic changes that new technologies bring to the world of entertainment, come new opportunities for those with vision and the ability to create, or just embrace new paradigms. Smart producers will create platform specific products optimized for select screen sizes. But at the end of the day, no matter what slick technological advances the public embraces, the ultimate success or failure of products, including “unscripted” and non-fiction content, depends on telling compelling stories with fascinating characters.


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Juneteenth, given federal status in 2021, sees a growing awareness and celebration of the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in Galveston, Texas.
Historical context: Juneteenth began as a regional celebration in Texas and spread across the country as Black Americans migrated to different parts of the United States.
* The holiday became a symbol of both strength and triumph for African-Americans during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Raised awareness: In 2021, only 37% of American adults knew about Juneteenth, but that number rose to nearly 60% by 2022, according to Gallup polling.
* Many Black Americans appreciate the wider recognition of African-American history in the United States.
Potential drawbacks: Some concerns have been raised about the commodification and commercialization of Juneteenth, with retailers offering themed products deemed tasteless and appropriative, and possible politicization of the holiday.
This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.


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Voting for the first FIFA 21 PL POTM is now underway, with EA confirming the nominees for the September award.
The FUT Premier League Player of the Month promo will continue throughout the FUT 21 campaign, with the best performing players from each calendar month in the PL nominated to receive a special PL POTM promo card in FUT 21, with significantly upgraded attributes.
Fans are able to vote to decide which player will eventually receive this special PL POTM card, with eight players nominated in total. And now it's time for the September PL POTM voting to start, because EA have confirmed the eight players who have been nominated for the award.
Voting for the FIFA 21 Ultimate Team PL POTM for September is now underway, you can caste your vote via the official EA SPORTS FIFA website. Here are the eight confirmed nominees for the award.
FIFA 21 PL September POTM Nominees
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford , Everton forward Dominic Calvert Lewin , Leicester City new signing Timothy Castagne , Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane , Brighton and Hove Albion full-back Tariq Lamptey , Liverpool forward Sadio Mane , Everton playmaker James Rodriguez and Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy have all been nominated for the PL POTM in September 2020.
Based on form, it looks like Toffees striker Calvert-Lewin and Foxes forward Vardy are favourites to win the September PL POTM award, after both scoring five league goals in the opening three games of the 2020/21 Premier League season.
However, if Leeds striker Bamford or Seagulls full-back Lamptey won the award, they would receive huge upgrades to their current silver cards, so it could be that fans choose them in the hope of getting a boosted PL POTM card.
FIFA 21 will be released in the UK and worldwide on October 9, 2020, but if you buy the Ultimate or Champions Edition of the game, you can play from October 6.
The FIFA 21 EA Play early access trial period is now live, with EA Play subscribers now able to download a full version of FIFA 21 on Xbox One, PS4 and PC, but players are only able to access a ten-hour trial of the game until the full release date.
FIFA 21 will be playable on the next-generation edition of gaming consoles, the Playstation 5 and the Xbox One Series X/S. These consoles will be released in November.


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Cash vs. Digital
Zimbabwe’s cash shortage sparks rise in bank card fraud
Cash is on the decline, but it’s far from finished
A two-day crash in Zimbabwe’s mobile money system shows the vulnerabilities of going cashless
Has The “Cashless” India Reverted Back To Its Cash-Payment Preference, Yet Again?
Mobile payment firms struggle to dethrone cash in Southeast Asia
Is a cashless world close at hand?
‘We don’t take cash’: is this the future of money?
Invest in real money, says SA Mint
World Bank: 118 million Nigerian adults do not have bank accounts
Why are 10,000 ATMs about to disappear across the U.K.?


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The way Tom Davies tells it, the quintessential American Main Street existed for decades just blocks from his downtown Annapolis home.
Everybody in town walked to Rookie's grocery store near the City Dock to buy Thanksgiving turkeys, up Main Street to Rite Aid for aspirin, and hardware and clothing stores -- even a gas station -- were among businesses downtown that provided day-to-day essentials.
Last month, a final vestige of that small-town past disappeared when Rite Aid shut down after 21 years in downtown Annapolis. The city's metamorphosis into Maryland's touristy sailing capital has entitled downtown property owners to high rents that chi-chi restaurants and T-shirt stores -- but not neighborhood drugstores -- can well afford.
"Annapolis is kind of under siege, to the point that it's no longer a functioning town but it's kind of an amusement park," lamented Davies, 52, who has lived three blocks from Main Street since 1972. "It's now a tourist destination rather than a place that people live."
While Annapolitans are glad their city is thriving, many wish there could be a balance between keeping Annapolis successful and ensuring that residents can live in it comfortably.
City officials have tried to achieve this balance by curbing the encroachment of businesses -- for example, limiting the number of bars that can stay open until 2 a.m. But with the Dec. 11 closing of Rite Aid, Davies and others wonder if officials shouldn't do more.
"I feel sorry for the elderly people" who live in downtown Annapolis, said Jean Chance, whose husband's family has owned W.R. Chance Jewelers on Main Street since 1949. "They won't be able to walk to get any of the services they need now. You have to get in your car and drive five miles away if you want to get a prescription or even bottled aspirin."
The city lost its down-home ambience over the years as grocery stores that once flourished downtown folded, Annapolitans say, but the big change came in the 1980s when the historic district and sailing events began reeling in tourists and commercial rents downtown skyrocketed.
Bill Greenfield, a lifetime Annapolitan and a real estate agent who has leased many Main Street stores, said rents downtown in the 1960s were about $9 or $10 a square foot. By the time Banana Republic and The Gap moved into their City Dock locations in the early 1980s, rents were $30 or $40 a square foot. Some downtown properties now command as much as $50 a square foot, Greenfield said.
"You can just about count on one hand the remaining independent operators downtown, and most of them own their own buildings," he said. "None of them are paying the high-dollar rents. That's the key."
Greenfield should know -- his family owned Peerless Clothing at 141 Main St. from 1937 to 1990, when a real estate agent brought by a potential tenant "who was willing to pay me more money in rent than I was making in my business."
Avoca Handweavers, a store selling Irish hand-loomed clothing, occupies his family's old store.
A need for space
Susan K. Zellers, city economic director, said high rents aren't the only deterrents to groceries and drugstores. Some national chains have chosen the city's outskirts over Main Street because the downtown stores are too small.
"It's one of the worst problems that downtowns have," Zellers said. "The bottom line is, you've got to have larger square footage."
Grocery and drugstore chains want 20,000 or 30,000 square feet, and most Main Street stores are in the 1,000- to 3,000-square-foot range, Greenfield said. The largest property on Main Street is Hopkins Furniture, which has 20,000 square feet over three stories.
And Spencer Hopkins, 70, whose family has owned the store at 123 Main St. for 75 years, is not interested in renting. He said real estate agents and business owners have made inquiries.
It has been tempting to sell out to a business "that pays a lot of money to help Spencer Hopkins," he said. "But we've got a lot of history invested in this."
Hopkins said he was sorry to see other original businesses go. The Woolworth's at the top of Main Street and the A&P; near the City Dock disappeared decades ago, and Rookie's shut down in the early 1990s.
"People are always saying, 'Gee, I wish it was like it used to be,' " Hopkins said. "But the supermarkets aren't there any more because of one reason -- people didn't go to them. It ain't ever going to be like it used to be, unless you make it productive enough so 'it used to be' never leaves."
Decreasing profits are the reason Rite Aid officials give for leaving Main Street for the 11,000-square-foot location on Taylor Avenue near the U.S. Naval Academy Stadium the company bought in November.
Rite Aid has the lease on the 3,700-square-foot Main Street store until August 2001 and will sublet it to Bayfront Sportswear Feb. 1.
Zellers and Greenfield said they are scouting for a drugstore for Main Street. Other cities that have fought to keep such stores in high-rent downtown areas have succeeded with help from state agencies and high-level government officials.
Molly Lambert, Vermont's commerce secretary, said towns have faced difficulties similar to Annapolis'. That state's governor flew to Arkansas to offer Wal-Mart officials financial breaks if they chose sites in downtown areas instead of in the suburbs. Last year, Wal-Mart opened in the heart of Rutland, Vermont's second-largest city.
Sense of frustration
"I would like to see City Hall and the economic development [office] take a more aggressive approach in dealing with the problems that we have downtown," said Alderman Louise Hammond, a Ward 1 Democrat who represents downtown Annapolis. "They ought to be out talking to any [drugstore chains] they can get ahold of."
Hammond said a 1993 study showed that some residents were moving out of Ward 1 because "they've gotten frustrated with what they see downtown becoming. The biggest issue for residents is the quality of life, and if that's not given enough weight on the scale at City Hall --"
City Hall, Davies said, needs to recognize that bringing in amenities will keep the residents who make the downtown area -- and Annapolis -- a community of real people.
Washington's "Georgetown has become a regional entertainment center. We don't need to be that," Davies said. "That's not what we want to grow up to be."
Pub Date: 1/04/99


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In recent of years, touch control technology has completely changed the way we interact with our electronics. And you can't forget about voice-command systems and motion-based controllers like the Leap Motion and Kinect. Samsung, along with researchers at the University of Texas, are onto what could be the next step forward--controlling a tablet with our minds.
A mind control system isn't just a thought, either--the researchers are already experimenting with an EEG cap that allows patients to select apps on a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. In addition, an MIT Technology Review video shows how you can choose to play and pause music, return to menus, and use the tablet to communicate via prerecorded messages--all with mind control. Sorcery!
Currently, the system can correctly recognize thoughts about 80 to 95 percent of the time. Despite its fairly good accuracy, the system is still painfully slow, allowing you to only make a selection every five seconds. With that in mind, it might be a while before we get to controlling computers as fast as we blink.
Mind-controlled electronics aren't just novelty devices: The technology could make it easier for disabled users to interact with devices that regularly require precise touch controls. And it may be a better option than voice recognition software that only works part of the time.
For now, the technology is being developed for the disabled who really need it. There is no indication of if or when this technology might be ready for mainstream use.
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WASHINGTON — Sales of existing U.S. homes fell in March after a huge gain the previous month, held back partly by a sharp slowdown among the most expensive properties.
The National Association of Realtors said Monday that home sales fell 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.21 million, down from 5.48 million in February. The drop followed an 11.2% gain the previous month, the largest in more than three years.
Home sales are struggling to rebound after slumping in the second half of last year, when a jump in mortgage rates to nearly 5% discouraged many would-be buyers. Spring buying is so far running behind last year’s healthy gains: Sales were 5.4% below where they were a year earlier.
The Midstate region has also seen a slowing of home sales, according to data from the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors, albeit on a longer time scale.
Total sales for March were up from February, with 490 homes sold in the Cumberland-Perry-Dauphin tri-county region last month versus 393 in February. But sales this March were weak compared to March 2018, which saw 622 residential sales.
In year-to-date terms, the first quarter of 2019 saw 14.6 percent fewer residential sales in the tri-county market than the first three months of 2018.
Most analysts expect sales to rebound in the coming months. Borrowing costs have fallen back to an average of 4.2% on a 30-year fixed mortgage. And solid hiring is pushing employers to pay higher wages, making it easier for more Americans to afford buying a home.
Applications for mortgages to purchase homes have been running at a healthy pace in recent months, evidence that final sales should pick up in the coming months. Demand remains strong, with homes on the market for an average of 36 days in March, down from 44 in February.
“We look for a combination of strong demand and lower mortgage rates to support modest growth in sales over the balance of the year,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.
GHAR data shows the same trend in the Midstate, with median days on market dropping to 31 days for homes sold in March 2019 versus 40 days for homes sold in February 2019. Fewer homes sold, despite a faster-moving market, would indicate that the slowdown is an issue of supply, not demand.
"It’s absolutely the case. It’s an inventory shortage," said Ray “Buz” Wolfe of Wolfe & Co. Realtors in Carlisle. “It’s the same thing we saw last year and is probably more the case this year."
GHAR data shows a total inventory of 1,459 listings last month, versus 1,945 open listings at the same time last year.
Nationally, a split in the market has emerged, thanks partly to the Trump administration’s tax cut law. Sales increased slightly among midpriced homes but fell sharply among homes priced at $1 million or more.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, said tax changes have limited the ability of wealthier homeowners to deduct mortgage interest payments and property taxes. That’s discouraging sales of more expensive homes.
Developers have built more expensive homes in recent years while pulling back from cheaper properties, even as middle-income Americans are eager to buy.
“The lower-end market is hot while the upper-end market is not,” Yun said.
Properties valued at $100,000 or less, mostly condos, also saw a sharp drop in sales, though that reflects a lack of available homes at that price point. The slowdown among higher-priced homes has occurred because of weaker demand.
The price divergence seen nationally is more muted in the Midstate, given the limited number of million-dollar-plus listings in the Harrisburg metro zone relative to larger metro areas in the nation.
Most of the tri-county region’s home sales are in the sub-$200,000 range, according to GHAR data. While the number of homes sold in that price range dropped about 27.6 percent from March 2018 to March 2019, that market also heated up the most, with the average days on market for sub-$200,000 homes dropping from 70 days last March to 54 days for homes sold in March 2019.
At the same time, the overall median home price in the tri-county region jumped from $169,900 to $179,900, according to GHAR data. The accelerating speed of sales and appreciation on the lower end of the market can be attributed to millennials, long shut out of the market due to slow wage growth, finally having enough to buy their first home.
"The millennials are finally entering the market so the entry-level stuff gets gobbled up fast,” Wolfe said. But there’s still too little inventory in the Midstate to satisfy the demand, and no quick fix in sight, he said.
Sales of homes up to $299,000, and sales of homes over $400,000, also showed fewer but faster sales in March 2019 versus a year earlier. However, homes in the $300,000 to $399,000 range saw an increase in sales, from 48 to 58 units, but with a slower average sale time of 71 days in March 2018 versus 80 days in March 2019.
One of the factors that contribute to the tight market locally is that older homeowners who are looking to sell their home and build a new one are finding limited land options and rapidly rising construction costs, and are thus delayed in putting their old home on the market, Wolfe said.
“You have that food chain effect,” Wolfe said. “The bottom is active now, but a lot of the trade-up buyers are reluctant to put their house on the market.”
Sales fell in all four major U.S. regions, with the biggest decline occurring in the Midwest. That may have partly reflected the impact of massive flooding in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska last month.
The broader U.S. economy is looking much better now than it did a couple of months ago, when the government shutdown, slumping retail sales and slower global growth threatened to drag down the U.S. economy.
Earlier this year, economists forecast growth could fall to as low as 0.5% at an annual rate in the first three months of the year. Now, analysts expect the government on Friday could report growth as high as 2.8%.


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What is it with Mercedes-Benz SL-Class owners that makes them a magnet for speeding tickets? It sure beats the hell out of our gray matters. If there’s anything that’s certain, it’s that SL owners have been found to be four times as susceptible to getting pulled over and issued a ticket as compared to other high-stake ball rollers. That is, according to a study by Verisk Analytics, the complete opposite to what a Buick Rainier owner would be worrying about.
So what empirical evidence does Verisk have to back up their extremely outlandish and fantastic conclusion? Well, we don’t really have any figures. You just have to trust the research company because that’s what they do. And if you’re anywhere near an SL, you’ll probably know the real reason why they came to such a conclusion. SL owners, or Mercedes-Benz owners in general, just want to go fast. Not in the level of young, brave and stupid fast. That’s were Toyota and Scion owners are known for—being young, and being inexperienced.
Well, at least, that’s what Verisk says. What do you think? Are Mercedes-Benz owners really fatally attracted to speed, even if it means paying for speeding tickets? Or is it just because of the aura of safety that emanates from each and every Mercedes-Benz car on the road? You be the judge.


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According to Weibo tipster (Peng Peng), Huawei’s new smart screen is initially scheduled to be released on March 25, which is expected to be launched with new capabilities. This smart screen may launch in three variants high, middle, and low price range.
The last smart screen product released by Huawei is the S series smart screen including S (55″60Hz)\S (65″)\S (75″)\S Pro (65″) \S Pro (75″) models, retail prices are 3299/3699 yuan, 4999 yuan, 6999 yuan, 5699 yuan, 7999 yuan.
To recall, the TVs has a 4K LCD with 92 percent coverage of DCI-P3 color space, 5,000:1 contrast ratio, and 16:9 aspect ratio. The 55-inch model tv comes with a 60Hz refresh rate and 300 nits top brightness. All the other Smart Screen S and Smart Screen S Pro models come with 120Hz refresh rate displays with 350 nits of high brightness. The new TV models are powered by an Honghu Smart Chip that includes a quad-core CPU with two Cortex-A73 cores and two Cortex-A53 cores. With a quad-core Mali-G51 MP4 GPU system.
The Smart Screen TV models come with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of in-built storage. Taking about the audio in these TVs a 10W full frequency speakers and two 10W high-frequency speakers. And the Connectivity options included all the common features like dual-band Wi-Fi, and HDMI 2.0, AV (3 in 1), USB 3.0, SPDIF, and RJ45 ports.
It has a camera with 180-degree area covers. This allows you to connect on video calls directly from the TV with various apps like Skype and Facebook. These Smart Screen TV models run on the HarmonyOS based on Android.


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Starcraft II gets July 27 release date
Digital Data to Earth: You have run out of memory
Paranoid parents say no to Android porn
IBM touts "real-world" sim for urban woes
Nvidia claims Moore's law is dead…for CPUs
Is the Android-powered Aigo an iPad killer?
Roger Ebert says 3D movies add "nothing essential"
Chrome’s gain is Microsoft’s loss
IP shortage leads to increased Black Market demand
Microsoft preps Halo Reach beta launch
Apple iPad sales exceed one million units
WiFi-enabled TVs to explode by 2014: report
Google pockets 3D desktop developer
Developers slam video game censorship
Dev Team jailbreaks Apple iPad 3G


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Death and loss is universal. So a student organization invites people across campus to share photos of their loved ones in an act of remembrance.
Dia de los Muertos — Day of the Dead — is a holiday that focuses on celebrating deceased loved ones through sharing their favorite foods, displaying items that remind you of the person and storytelling. The celebration is widely observed in Mexico on Nov. 1 and 2.
On Tuesday, Alpha Psi Lambda Latino co-ed fraternity created a Día de los Muertos ofrenda in the University Center’s Wolverine Commons. It will be up through Nov. 8 for people to add framed photos of family and friends. There’s also a digital photo frame — if you want to share an image to include on it.
“No matter your identity, it’s important to celebrate loved ones and remember them. Everyone remembers someone they lost,” said Alpha Psi Lambda President Ivett Facundo, a senior studying anthropology. “We wanted to set up a beautiful space for people to share that loss and celebrate that person.”


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Microsoft recently put out a press release detailing several new features coming to Xbox One in the system’s latest update. One of the chief features is the addition of the Amazon Music service. The app is already available to customers in the United States. However, more countries should be added soon. This isn’t the only service customers can use to stream music on the system, of course. Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Pandora are also present, as well as YouTube. But now Amazon Prime users can stream music from their consoles with no added costs to worry about. So that should make some fans happy.
These weren’t the only features announced, however. The press release detailed a number of other major changes. The biggest is probably the keyboard and mouse support for the system. While it was announced by Phil Spencer in September, this update brings the feature to the live service. Now developers can opt-in to mouse and keyboard support for games on Xbox One consoles. Of course, the first game to take advantage of this feature is Fortnite. Additionally, Microsoft is partnering with Razer to bring mouse-and-keyboard sets designed specifically for Xbox, which comes with several unique features, specifically for gaming on Xbox and Windows 10.
The press release also provided some new details on the Xbox Skill for Cortana and Alexa. The Xbox Skill for Alexa is now in beta for UK customers. And the Xbox Skill for Cortana now comes with some new improvements. It now automatically discovers and pairs with the user’s Xbox, removing the need to log in. And both the Cortana and Alexa got several new commands. It lets customers quit games or apps, as well as enter a new navigation mode to use the assistant as a controller. Though one wonders if that particular feature might be a bit convoluted. Fans will have to test it and see for themselves.
What are your thoughts on the recent new features for Xbox? Let us know in the comments below!


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Once again we see complete muddle and disorder as the government tries to fix a problem in retail without having any real world experience on how the private sector works.
We have seen in the media pictures of empty shelves as the supermarket supply chains have struggled with availability due to a shortage of qualified drivers to deliver the goods around the country.
This in turn has influenced some people to go out and panic buy when they really do not need to. Right back at the beginning of the pandemic when we saw the same situation arise, we saw retail leaders explaining why there is no need to panic, including Justin King former CEO of Sainsbury's who appeared on the BBC radio four Today programme.
What people need to realise is that retail replenishment software learns and reacts to market trends and will increase supply as demand increases. This does not always happen overnight but can take a few days to filter down the chain.
The spanner that the Government has put in the wheels this time is they have affected the supply of drivers. With the contact and tracing app continually pinging drivers to isolate, even though they have no symptoms the government has caused this problem themselves.
Having worked in the retail industry both in the food and non food sectors for 35 years I know that delivery drivers do not need to come into direct contact with the store colleagues to deliver the goods. There are safe ways to deliver.
I think we would all really like to know the thought process of those who made the decisions around this mess.
Were retail leaders asked for advice and consulted on this plan?
What contingencies if any were put in place to mitigate the risk of hurting the supply chain?
The continuing problems that we are witnessing with decision making are due to those people not having the knowledge to make such decisions. How can the current transport secretary, Grant Shapps make any decisions around supply chain when he has no experience in the supply or retail industry?
His background is in publishing and website publishing. The same must be said about Civil Servants making those decisions also with no prior experience.
There is a saying in retail and that is "having the right people in the right job at the right time."
This government has the wrong people in the wrong job at the wrong time.


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We all know Starbucks baristas have a curious habit of misspelling names on cups. But it’s not every day their bloopers end up in a feature film.
In a new interview with CNN, “Star Wars: Rogue.. Huffington Post
New York-based premium bottled water company OUNCE WATER® has been named the official bottled water partner of Empire Outlets in Staten Island, NY. Announced today by OUNCE WATER Founder/ CEO, Theo.. PRWeb
www.instagram.com If you are a Starbucks fanatic, you know all about the secret menu. But it turns out that not enough people know about Starbucks’ region-specific menu items. Thus, we need to try.. Source: Hello Giggles -
Starbucks has always given us what we want. In fact, Starbucks made it even more difficult with a new drink lineup for 2017, which included the winter exclusive Cascara Latte. That doesn’t even.. Source: Hello Giggles -
On March 27, 2017, Indiana Xpress Ortho Care opens its doors at 875 Joliet Street in Dyer Indiana at the Dyer Town Center next door to Starbucks. Indiana Xpress Ortho Care will serve the communities of.. PRWeb
New book teaches small businesses how to win in today's intense competitive environment.
Federal Way, WA (PRWEB) March 28, 2017
Technology’s continued advancement has created a huge problem for.. PRWeb
(Photo: AP/Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen
There’s no story that better illustrates the power of the growing anti-Trump grassroots resistance movement than.. The American Prospect
Target Corp. on Monday unveiled design elements for some of its future stores and remodeled locations, showing off stores with two entrances, one for convenient quick trips and the other to browse.. bizjournals
You know exactly the direction that your day is going to go when you go to Starbucks, tell them your name is Jeff and get a cup with "Jessica" scrawled on the side.
But while most of the time its.. Mashable
In an industry plagued with piecemeal solutions for credit, collections, deductions, cash application, EIPP and Payments, FinTech software company HighRadius launched an Integrated Receivables platform.. PRWeb
Starbucks Corp. Chief Technology Officer Gerri Martin-Flickenger says the coffee company plans to launch and expand new tech features this year. Seattle-based Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) has long flown.. bizjournals
In the age of Airbnb and Uber, people are sharing their homes, their cars, and now they’re sharing workspaces. Chicago has seen a boom in “coworking spaces” due to the rapidly growing rate of.. bizjournals
Smartphones are about to change coffee shops as we know them, as Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks prepare to build the "coffee shop of the future."
"As we think about what that coffee shop of the.. Business Insider
In several major economies *it's crunch time for the future of cash*. Goldman Sachs notes that this is *largely policy-driven*: tangible steps are being taken to wean economies off cash (e.g. India,.. Zero Hedge
In this week’s episode of “Scheer Intelligence,” Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer interviews Boyah J. Farah, a nonfiction writer whose work has appeared in Salon and The Guardian.
Farah.. Huffington Post
Never were the words of the Grateful Dead so fitting in the world of politics. “Trouble ahead, trouble behind” is indeed a perfect description of the spot Paul Ryan and Donald Trump found.. Huffington Post


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News: Uniross launch PR campaign in UK to promote rechargeable batteries, based on findings of a recent LCA study by Bio-Intelligence Service in France
Uniross, European leader in rechargeable batteries, today announced the results of the worlds first independent study that compares the environmental impact of disposable batteries with rechargeable batteries.
Monday, 14th January 2008
Survey launched for Printer Cartridge Reuse project
The European Commission has commissioned a study to support compliance promotion relating to the implementation of Directive 2012/19/EU on WEEE and the CRR is investigating the case study of printer cartridge reuse
Request for stakeholder engagement from the Wuppertal Institute
The Wuppertal Institute are looking for reuse and remanufacturing stakeholders to contribute to two projects analysing the barriers to reuse and remanufacturing in Europe.
European Remanufacturing Council launches with a nod to Hollywood
The newly-launched Conseil Européen de Remanufacture plans to represent companies which produce €30 billion of remanufactured products and employ 190,000 people across Europe.


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By Glenn Porter, Managing Director, GBG
Fuelled by a decade of benign economy, the demand for UK consumer credit has expanded rapidly since 2013, growing at a steady annual rate.
To some extent demand is being driven by supply. From low rate credit cards and clever ‘take time to pay’ agreements through to car finance and personal loans, consumers have never had more choice for borrowing.
The growing market activity has encouraged new entrants into the consumer credit market. Perhaps the most notable entrant is Goldman Sachs, who recently announced an expansion of their US consumer lending product, Marcus, into the UK and Germany. The announcement early coincided with the highest peak of unsecured debt in the UK since the financial crisis.
Marcus has been involved in over $3bn worth of loans since its inception in the US and plans to lend 28 times as much by 2020. The bank has frequently talked of Marcus as a response to the growing number of tech-driven start-ups entering the lending market.
It’s clear then that even some established banks have been working hard on building and investing in new technology that allows them to be confident at speedy credit decision-making with minimal spreads.
In this fiercely competitive market, the providers that are most successful will offer the best customer experience, least friction, fastest on-boarding process, and terms of business tailored and flexible to balance risk with profit.
However, the consumer finance industry is also a particularly attractive target for fraudsters due to the potentially lucrative gains. Whilst most providers will have systems in place for performing various checks, fraud attempts are becoming increasingly sophisticated. When weaknesses are discovered that allow loans or credit to be granted on false or manipulated applications, the fraudsters continue to reapply tactics elsewhere looking for ‘easy target’ organisations.
The implications for providers that don’t perform proper checks for new applicants can include heavy fines, reputational damage and, potentially, jail sentences. Taking shortcuts is not a viable option.
So just how can you marry great user experience with secure data and fraud protection?
The weapons to have in your armoury
- Automated document validation
When providers ask for identity documentation from applicants, there is technology available to perform an automated validation of the document supplied, to check it is genuine. This is through a series of sophisticated business and technical checks, while OCR (optical character recognition) technology is used to extract and populate the data fields used to capture applicant information. As an additional security layer facial recognition should be measured against the photograph presented on the identity document.
- Electronic identity verification
Identity verification checks allow finance providers to check applicants against existing data provided on individuals which has been held on a wide number of databases (e.g. an identity register, address files, telephone & mobile files, electoral roll, credit header data, PEP & Sanction lists, etc.). This quickly authenticates their identity and meets regulatory requirements to process the application.
- Fraud detection solution
A dedicated application fraud detection solution flags any attempts by fraudsters to circumvent or mislead the existing checks performed on all new applications. This involves the use of sophisticated rules, scorecards and alerts to flag suspicious applications through checks against historical applications, blacklists, watchlists and reference data to block or flag potential fraudsters.
- 4. Process decision engine
When a number of checks are required against a number of different systems, manual processes such as the need to re-key customer data into other systems and wait for time consuming responses will risk the loss of potentially profitable customers who go elsewhere. A credit, decision and strategy engine provides a single platform with which to process applications, calling out to any internal or 3rd party systems with cut off strategies, policy rules and business strategies to offer consistent decision making with terms of business tailored to the applicant’s risk or profit potential.
We can already see that the fastest-growing companies in consumer credit are being driven by technology and data-powered lending platforms such as Auxmoney in Germany orZopa in the UK.
As credit products use more and more sophisticated technology, traditional banks could fall behind. To mitigate that risk, they need to invest in technology that can accommodate automated online solutions for fast and accurate identity verification and fraud checks in advance of on-boarding new customers.
Glenn Porter is Managing Director at GBG who offer a series of solutions and consulting services to help organisations quickly validate and verify the identity and location of their customers and detect fraud.
GBG products are built on an unparalleled breadth of data obtained from over 200 global partners. Its innovative technology leads the world in location intelligence and enables it to verify the identity of 4.4 billion people globally.
Hackers can now empty out ATMs remotely – what can banks do to stop this?
By Elida Policastro, Regional Vice President for Cybersecurity, Auriga
In 2010, the late Barnaby Jack famously exploited an ATM into dispensing dollar bills, without withdrawing it from a bank account using a debit card. Fast forward to the present day, and this technique that is now known as jackpotting, is emerging as a threat and is growing as an attack on financial services. Recently, a hacking group called BeagleBoyz in North Korea have caught the attention of several U.S. agencies, as they have been allegedly stealing money from international banks by using remote hacking methods such as jackpotting.
The reality behind jackpotting
Jackpotting is when cybercriminals will use malware to trick their targeted ATM machine into distributing cash. As this criminal method is relatively easy to commit, it is becoming a popular tool for cybercriminals, and this trend will sure continue in 2021, unless financial organisations implement policies to prevent this and protect consumers.
During this difficult time, when access to cash has never been more important to banking customers, it is imperative that banks give their customers reliable ATMs that work, 24/7, 365 days a year. However, due to the sensitive data that ATMs possess, such as credit card or PIN numbers, they have now become a profitable object for cybercriminals to manipulate. As cybercriminals have been evolving in their efforts of attacking the IP in ATM machines, we will definitely see more jackpotting stories emerge in the coming months, especially with the large return on investment.
How criminals exploit the vulnerabilities found in ATMs
Since ATMs are both physically accessible and found in remote locations with little to no surveillance, this gives an opportunity for criminals to carry out jackpotting, especially with the software vulnerabilities that may exist in many ATMs.
ATM machines have been easily manipulated due to the outdated and unpatched operating systems that they run on. If banks wanted to resolve this issue and update these systems, it would take large amounts of time and money to do so. However, some banks do not have such resource and because of this, cybercriminals take advantage by penetrating the software layers in ATMs and exploiting the hardware to dispense cash.
How can banks tackle this?
As the sector has a complex technical architecture, banking organisations will have to make sure that they have control over the transactions that take place, and this includes the management of security when it comes to communication between various actors. When financial organisations are reviewing their ATM infrastructure, they will also need to protect their most vulnerable capabilities within their cybersecurity. Banks, for example, can encrypt the channels on the message authentication, in the event bad actors try to tamper with their communications.
Because ATM networks need to be available 24/7, banks not only, need to implement greater protection over their systems, but they need to do so with a holistic approach. One action that banks can take is to implement a centralised security solution that protects, monitors and controls their various ATM networks. This way banks can control their entire infrastructure from one location, stopping fraudulent activities or malware attempts on vulnerable ATMs.
Another way for banks to reduce the risk of jackpotting attacks is to update their ATM hardware and software. To do this, they will need to closely monitor and regularly review their machines in order to spot any emerging risks.
What the future holds for the banking industry
As confirmed by the warnings from the U.S. agencies, jackpotting remains a very serious threat for financial organisations. Evidence has also emerged, which shows hackers are becoming more innovative in their tactics. It was reported last year, for example, that hackers stole details of propriety operating systems for ATMs that can be used to form new jackpotting methods.
The emergence of jackpotting highlights the need for banks to actively work to protect their customers’ personal information and critical systems now and for the foreseeable future. In order to stay secure and reduce the risk of attacks, they will need to put in place the aforementioned solutions, which include updating their ATM hardware and software as well as closely monitoring and regularly reviewing their ATMs. As cybercriminals continue to become more innovative in their ways of attacking the machines, the issues mentioned will only continue to rise if they are not addressed. Although the method of jackpotting requires little action from cybercriminals, if financial organisations can implement a layered defence to their ATM security, they can stop themselves from becoming another victim to this type of attack in the future.
SoftBank Vision Fund set for new portfolio champion with Coupang IPO
By Sam Nussey and Joyce Lee
TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) – SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund is poised to have a new number-one asset in its portfolio with the upcoming floatation of top South Korean e-tailer Coupang, furthering a turnaround that has seen the fund yo-yo from huge losses to record profit.
The $50 billion target valuation that Reuters reported this month would likely see the decade-old firm surpass recently listed U.S. food deliverer DoorDash Inc on a roster of assets that also includes stakes in TikTok parent ByteDance and ride-hailers Grab and Didi.
The Vision Fund built up its 37% stake in Coupang for $2.7 billion, mostly at an $8.7 billion post-money valuation, a person familiar with the matter said. The fund is not expected to sell shares in the initial public offering (IPO) that Coupang filed for in New York, the person said, declining to be identified as the information was not public.
SoftBank Group Corp and Coupang declined to comment.
Achieving a $50 billion valuation would add to good news for the fund which is bouncing back from an annual loss in March. This month, it announced record quarterly profit, driven by the listings of DoorDash and home seller Opendoor Technologies Inc and share price rise of ride-hailer Uber Technologies Inc.
The fund has written big cheques for late-stage startups to fuel rapid growth, with two-thirds of the value of its portfolio concentrated in 10 assets including Coupang.
The 10 include 25% of British chip designer Arm – to be sold to Nvidia Corp pending regulatory approval – but not stakes in high-profile stumbles like office-sharing firm WeWork.
The fund’s largest assets include its 22% stake in DoorDash, whose share price has doubled since the firm’s December IPO, sending its market capitalisation to $65 billion.
FACTBOX: Vision Fund’s investment hit parade
SoftBank initially invested in Coupang in 2015, adding it to a stable of e-commerce hits that included 25% of China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, before placing it under the fund.
The e-tailer has grown rapidly during stay-home policies while the COVID-19 pandemic has forced other portfolio firms like Indian hotel chain Oyo to scramble to preserve cash.
Analysts see Coupang’s $50 billion valuation as feasible given its first-mover status and as it expands beyond replacing brick-and-mortar retail with a rising number of online channels.
It is the biggest e-tailer in South Korea that directly handles inventory, with 2020 purchases at about 21.7 trillion won ($19.62 billion), showed data from WiseApp.
“The market’s assessment isn’t exaggerated,” said analyst Park Eun-kyung at Samsung Securities. “Coupang’s market leadership is a premium factor.”
($1 = 1,106.1800 won)
(Reporting by Sam Nussey in Tokyo and Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
Five things to look out for in HSBC strategy update
By Alun John
HONG KONG (Reuters) – HSBC Holdings PLC will update its “transformation” plan announced a year ago on Tuesday, when the Asia-focussed lender also reports annual results.
As part of its latest strategy, the bank said in February last year it would shrink its investment banking operations and revamp its businesses in the United States and Europe resulting in 35,000 jobs being cut.
HSBC’s pretax profits for 2020 is expected to fall 38% to $8.3 billion, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by the bank, because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are five key things to look out for in the new plan to revive its growth —
1. How will HSBC boost fee income?
The bank has promised details of its plans to make more money from the fees it earns from selling products to customers than it does by pocketing the difference between the interest rates it offers savers and charges borrowers.
This could involve selling more products to wealth management clients, charging corporate clients in different ways, and maybe even charging retail clients for basic banking services.
2. What do the plans to double down on China and Asia mean?
HSBC intends to refocus resources from elsewhere on what it calls its “high returning Asia business”, but investors want to know what this means in practice for markets and business lines.
Politics could make this harder. HSBC has been attacked by British lawmakers for assisting Hong Kong police with investigations into pro-democracy activists, including freezing some bank accounts.
CEO Noel Quinn said last month the bank had to comply with police requests and he could not “cherry-pick which laws to follow”.
3. Will HSBC resume paying a dividend?
HSBC has not announced a dividend since the third quarter of 2019, on instructions from the Bank of England. This angered retail investors in Hong Kong who tried unsuccessfully to have the policy changed.
The regulator has since lifted the ban, and British rival Barclays said Thursday it would pay a dividend of one pence a share. However, despite beating analyst expectations with its 2020 results, Barclays shares fell as a vague outlook without profit targets left investors underwhelmed.
HSBC investors will be looking beyond the day’s numbers for concrete commitments towards improved returns and a more positive outlook for key economies.
4. How will HSBC shrink its U.S. and European footprint?
HSBC’s French high street banking operations are up for sale, but it has had trouble finding a buyer.
The market is due an update on whether HSBC has managed to find a buyer on terms it will accept, or whether it will seek to wind the business down more gradually.
HSBC will also give details of how it will accelerate its existing efforts to shrink assets, staff and branches in the U.S., which accounted for 0.5% of the group’s pre-tax profit in the first half of last year.
5. More job cuts on the way?
HSBC employed 307,000 people at the end of 2010. The bank’s management said last year it was aiming to reduce the headcount of 235,000 closer to 200,000 by 2023. Investors want to know whether the new plan will mean deeper cuts. Nearly every new strategy launched by HSBC in the past decade has resulted in fewer people being employed by the bank.
(Reporting by Alun John; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee & Shri Navaratnam)
Australia says no further Facebook, Google amendments as final vote nears
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KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia will host three mega shopping carnivals to draw in tourists for Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and to meet the targeted RM44 billion (US$12 billion) tourism receipts during Visit Malaysia Year 2007.
The shopping frenzy kicks off with the Kuala Lumpur Grand Prix City Sale from March 24 to April 22 in conjunction with the Petronas Formula One Grand Prix, followed by the Mega Sale Carnival from June 15 to Sept 2 and the Year End Sale from December 1 to January 1, 2008.
Tourism minister Tengku Datuk Seri Adnan Tengku Mansor said the biggest foreign spenders were tourists from Qatar, Pakistan and Kuwait, with average spending of RM4,500 per person.
Shopping contributes RM7.7 billion or 20.8 percent of the RM31.9 billion tourism receipts last year. The ministry is expecting 20.1 million tourists for VMY 2007.
SpotLight: Sale! Sale! Sale! Playing catch-up
22 Oct 2006
IN 2000, the Culture, Arts and Tourism Ministry decided to turn Malaysia into a leading shopping paradise in Asia.
The key strategy was the introduction of the nationwide Mega Sale Carnival that was held thrice a year — in March, August and December.
The then minister Datuk Paduka Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said the tri-annual sale frequency is a reminder that there is an emerging international shopping destination in the region. He said holding it thrice a year also shows the sense of urgency in achieving this target as Malaysia is behind the leading shopping destinations in the region. In the event the sales are held less frequently, they will widen the gap between Malaysia and the other shopping destinations.
Following feedback from retailers that the three nationwide sales were one too many, the Tourism Ministry under Datuk Dr Leo Michael Toyad decided to hold the nationwide sale once a year. Instead, two other regionwide sales, covering the northern and southern Peninsular Malaysia, were held at different times of the year.
What we have now is three nationwide sales carrying three different names — Grand Prix (in March), Mega Sale (August/September) and Year End Sale (December).
Spending but not shopping enoughFOREIGN tourists spend only about 20 per cent annually on shopping in Malaysia.
The bulk of the spending is on accommodation, which makes up about 30 per cent of total spending here although average room rates of hotels in Malaysia is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, in the world.
In contrast, destinations which already enjoy international shopping status see more being spent on shopping compared to accommodation, although hotel rates in the same star category could be at least three times more.
A Mastercard International Insights research on ‘Kuala Lumpur as a Travel-Shopping Destination’ in the third quarter of 2005 indicated the Malaysian capital had the lowest spending among key shopping centres in Asia at 22 per cent.
This compares with Singapore’s 53 per cent, Hong Kong’s 50 per cent and Seoul’s 45 per cent. The report also stated that in order for Kuala Lumpur to compete successfully as a shopping centre, it has to move upmarket to become a premium hub for shopping, as being "inexpensive" may no longer be enough.
"Only by going upmarket can Kuala Lumpur be successfully re-positioned, thus avoiding comparison with either Bangkok, China or India," the report added.
Source : TravelWeekly New Strait Times
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news]


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RBC says the addition of Shoppers Drug Mart to Loblaw's portfolio cuts the proportion of revenues from challenged conventional store formats roughly in half to 20%
Shoppers Drug Mart's Q2 earnings came in above consensus, but investors are focused on the Competition Bureau's review of Loblaw's takeover
Loblaw’s $12.4-billion offer for Shoppers Drug Mart could make for a more powerful tenant
What the Street is saying about Loblaw's $12.4-billion takeover of Shoppers Drug Market and the Canadian retail landscape going forward
Shares in Loblaw spinoff Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust were slightly lower in initial trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Sobeys grocery chain parent Empire Co.'s purchase of 213 Safeway stores caught some analysts off guard, but was the price tag reasonable?
Investors are wagering Hudson’s Bay Co. will follow Canadian Tire Corp. in spinning off its property into a real estate investment trust
While the retail operations at Loblaw Cos. Ltd. don't appear poised for any major improvements this year, the company's REIT IPO should be a big catalyst
Safeway Inc. looks less likely to sell its Canadian assets after the supermarket chain's fourth quarter profit beat estimates
The recent rally in Safeway Inc. shares is at least partly the result of speculation that the grocer may sell its Canadian assets
As the debate rages on about foreign speculators and housing bubbles, people on the ground say this boom is a lot more sustainable than many think
For over 50 years, OPEC has been a major factor in setting the global price for oil. But the structure of oil markets have changed. So, is OPEC still a thing?
Bradley Birkenfeld, who blew the lid off a UBS tax evasion scheme, says Canada, compared with the U.S., has let cheats off and foregone an unpaid taxes windfall
Permian production growth is at the centre of wider fears that prices may not realize the expected boost from OPEC’s output agreement signed late last year
Job cuts under the former CEO have white-collar workers regularly riding the rails creating, according to the union, a potentially dangerous situation


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YouTube in the face of backlash around its advertising content has announced new ways punishing “hateful” on its network especially by banning them from making money on YouTube. Ariel Bardin who is YouTube’s VP of product management announced in a blog post yesterday that “We’ve heard loud and clear from the creator community and from advertisers that YouTube needs to broaden our advertiser-friendly guidelines around a few additional types of content.”
The issue at heart was complaints by brands that some videos by YouTube creators were offensive and would not be advertising on YouTube. To come up with a way to make everyone happy, YouTube updated its guidelines to determine which videos can run ads.
With the updates, it means that videos that promote hateful content will not be making money from ads which means YouTube won’t allow them run ads at all. So content which “promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates an individual or group of people” will no longer be accepted. Earlier in the year, Disney and other advertisers pulled their ads from a high profile YouTube creator Pew Die Pie’s videos over anti-Semitism.
Here’s how YouTube defines hateful content;
Hateful content: Content that promotes discrimination or disparages or humiliates an individual or group of people on the basis of the individual’s or group’s race, ethnicity, or ethnic origin, nationality, religion, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other characteristic associated with systematic discrimination or marginalization.
Inappropriate use of family entertainment characters: Content that depicts family entertainment characters engaged in violent, sexual, vile, or otherwise inappropriate behavior, even if done for comedic or satirical purposes.
Incendiary and demeaning content: Content that is gratuitously incendiary, inflammatory, or demeaning. For example, video content that uses gratuitously disrespectful language that shames or insults an individual or group.
But the Google owned company acknowledged that it might not be able to implement its new polices for every video. Bardin says “While it’s not possible for us to cover every video scenario, we hope this additional information will provide you with more insight into the types of content that brands have told us they don’t want to advertise against and help you to make more informed content decisions.”


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Wednesday's rare moment of weakness arrived as investors closely watched the company for signs of lingering damage following months of bad press, user outrage, and regulatory scrutiny.
In a conference call with analysts David Wehner, who’s Facebook CFO said sales growth may drop as the company prioritizes new formats like Stories and gives users "more choice around privacy."
David said a focus on "putting privacy first" in its product development process will possible "have some impact on revenue growth." Complying with extensive new data protections in Europe will also have a "modest impact" on growth.
Click the button below to see what's next


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Ryanair To Raise Baggage, Check-In Charges
Ryanair said on Monday it would increase charges for passengers checking in bags in a bid to encourage more people to travel with hand luggage only.
Europe's biggest low cost airline said from May 5 passengers who pre-book baggage they want to check in to the hold will be charged 10 euros (USD$15.66), up from 9 euros previously.
Customers booking for their flight at the airport rather than online will also incur an additional check-in charge of 5 euros versus 4 euros previously.
"Ryanair encourages passengers to avoid these charges altogether by travelling with our 10 kg hand luggage allowance and checking in online," it said in a statement.
The company said it would may continue to raise baggage fees until half of its passengers checked in online.


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Samsung Galaxy S developers must have been bewildered when they heard the news of their latest unreleased product pictures unveiled on Gizmodo Brazil official site. The officials had previously announced the phone to be launched in mid-summer during the first week of May, which is speculated to be later branded as the official smartphone of the London Olympics 2012.
Going by the latest pictures, we are thoroughly disappointed since the authority had promised a major overhaul, but by the looks of it, it seems nothing but an incremental update. However this news may turn out to be nothing but a rumor and expose the failed attempt at a cheap gimmick. Already GSM Arena is contesting the legitimacy of the picture, claiming that the serial number displayed on the phone (Samsung GT-I 9300) is that of the Galaxy M. But recent Samsung strategies leave room for speculation. The company has allowed employees to take the phone outside the company premises as procedure for using it as ‘generic test boxes’. But in the recent turn of events, Verge has announced that the model is indeed a fake and is similar to that of one of those dummy text boxes and is far from the real Galaxy S III.
The model picture of the Galaxy S III sports a 12 megapixel camera and looks thinner, but at the same time looks heavier still. A major difference that we spotted was the absence of the physical home button, which is run on Android ICS 4.0 .3.


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Boity Thulo’s feeling very bad for the people who have to work while most of South Africa goes into lockdown for three weeks.
The majority of businesses will have their doors closed but essential services will remain open during this time.
This means that many general workers will have to continue working despite earning a minimum wage (sometimes less) and Boity is sad for them.
According to Briefly companies that are essential to the production and transportation of food, basic goods and medical supplies will remain open.
Everyone who is not involved in these vital services will be expected to stay home during the lockdown.
Boity supports the hope that these people will receive better salaries once the lockdown has past.
This post 😪😪
— #OwnYourThrone (@tandolive_) March 24, 2020
— Thulani Zikhali (@Mthezikhali1) March 24, 2020


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Gumball India and Wheeling Happiness have already announced two free entries to the 2021 event by crews of specially abled drivers.
We are further pleased to announce that Readywire ERP has come forward to support one of the entries with a car to drive during the event and also fuel cost for the competition.
We are sure that the team will do full justice to their whole hearted support. A big thank you from Gumball India and Wheeling Happiness.
A cloud-based ERP system that empowers automobile dealerships with the technology of tomorrow.
Readywire’s robust business management platform leverages industry-leading technology to help streamline all dealership operations into a seamless digital system giving thorough visibility and complete control over the entire business so a dealership can focus on what they do best – sell cars.


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Opera introduces Opera 12.10 beta for desktop
SOFTWARE| Oct. 2, 2012, 10:07 a.m.
Opera 12.10 beta for desktop is now available for download, supporting new OS features.
Developers can now allow their extension to work with Opera’s context menu. By allowing this, users can highlight text and make use of the extension for social networking, translations and more.
Screenshots can be tricky to do and difficult to share. With the Screenshot API developers can integrate a screenshot feature in their extension and easily allow Opera users share what they see in their browser.
In addition to the new APIs, Opera has also included more web standard support. The Fullscreen API, along with the Page Visibility API, lets developers have more say in presentation of content and better manage resources in the browser.
For developers yearning to get going with web sockets, Opera 12.10 includes the latest Web Sockets implementation with richer functionality for developers and an improved experience for end users.
Among a long list of speed and performance improvements, Opera is introducing the SPDY network standard as a supplement for the HTTP protocol, promising even faster downloading of webpages. In Opera 12.10, SPDY is turned on by default and works with webpages that support the standard. As of today, several large-scale websites such as Twitter and Gmail support the SPDY standard in addition to the traditional HTTP protocol.
“During the planning of Opera 12.10 we listened to the web developers,” says Krystian Kolondra, SVP Desktop, Opera Software. “The web developer community is thriving like never before and we want to support that in every way we can. With the new APIs, developers are better suited than ever to create extensions that give users of Opera for desktop a unique browsing experience.”
The times are a-changin’
In both the Windows and Mac worlds, there are new and exciting operating system updates this fall. Opera for desktop includes several updates to take advantage of the new features in the operating systems.
With the launch of the Mac OS X Mountain Lion, a number of new features have been included directly in the operating system. Opera 12.10 for Mac supports a number of the new MacOS X Mountain Lion features, including Notification Center, Retina Display support and built-in sharing of content to social networks.
Soon, the Windows 8 version will also be publicly available, and Opera 12.10 includes updates to accommodate Windows 8 enhancements. These include touch support for Windows 8 Classic mode, with the added bonus of working on Windows 7, as well.
MORE SOFTWARE NEWS
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Riding the wave of West Africa’s digital economyCompanies in Nigeria and the rest of the region who do not embrace the digital world will be at a serious disadvantage to their competitors, says Sage. Read More
Technology driver of other sectors, says Asseco chiefNigeria’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Odein Ajumogobia, has advised businesses wishing to optimise resources and increase production to embrace technology, adding that it is the force that sits at driving seat of economic development. Read More
Uganda’s Infinity Computers awards services, cloud deal to IBMLeading Ugandan IT services provider Infinity Computers has chosen IBM to deliver cloud, analytics and IT services to support a wide range of new web and mobile offerings for its clients. Read More
Red Hat Brings Open Source curriculum to EMEA studentsRed Hat Academy, an open source education programme, is now available to universities with the required technology and support environments in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region. Read More
Luba Freeport streamlines its sea of paper with Sage X3Luba Freeport has implemented the Finance and Distribution modules of the Sage X3 business management solution to automate its business processes across finance and operations. Read More
Microsoft releases Office 2016On Tuesday, Microsoft Corp. began the worldwide release of Office 2016. Read More
Harley’s accelerates its business processes with Sage X3Harley’s Limited, a Kenyan company that imports and distributes medical equipment and pharmaceuticals into the East African market, has streamlined its business processes and improved agility by rolling out the Sage X3 applications suite. Read More
Global Study finds DevOps a key contributor to bottom lineCA Southern Africa has revealed details of a recent study which shows that having a DevOps strategy helps drive tangible business benefits to enterprises. Read More
Enterprise app stores the cornerstone of enterprise mobilityUltimately, an enterprise app store is the future of enterprise mobility, says In2IT Technologies South Africa. Read More
FEATURED STORYeCommerce in Africa urged to take advantage of mobile
The Executive Chairman of Alltel has urged operators of eCommerce in Ghana and Africa as a whole to take advantage of the current trend for Africans to trade online via their mobile handsets.
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IN DEPTHNigeria needs $25b investment in broadband, says Wood
Telecoms executive Adrian Wood speaks to Kokumo Goodie about investment potential in Nigeria.


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AMD Ryzen packs in true machine intelligence with 8 processor cores, 16 threads and an astonishingly efficient 65W TDP. As AMD continues to make inroads into CPU space with its Ryzen line of processors, more and more manufacturers are looking at incorporating Ryzen into their laptops and PC. With reports about Apple planning to make MacBook Pro 2017 unbeatable with AMD Raven Ridge APU, it looks like Microsoft is also seriously considering integrating (or has already integrated?) AMD Ryzen in Surface Pro 5.
Microsoft Surface Pro 5 to come with AMD Ryzen?
The successor to Microsoft Surface Pro 4 has set high expectations. Microsoft Surface Pro 5 could make its arrival this Spring and it could come with the latest and greatest offering from AMD – AMD Ryzen! Trailer for Alien: Covenant flaunts a new Microsoft Surface device. And guess who’s sponsoring the movie? Well, you got it right. AMD. The trailer’s description says it loud and clear “Intelligence powered by AMD, Ryzen and Radeon”. Well that’s good enough a indication that the next Surface Pro offering from Microsoft could come with AMD Ryzen.
Microsoft Surface Pro 5 release date
With Windows 10 Creators Update all set to be unleashed this Spring, it’s very likely that Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will make its appearance soon, with few rumors even hinting at a Q1 launch. Surface Pro 5 is expected to come with a stunning 4K display, USB Type-C and a magnetic stylus that supports wireless charging. If the Surface Pro 5 is to release in Q1, Intel Kaby Lake is a high possibility since AMD Ryzen simply doesn’t fit into the timeline. But if Microsoft has already decided to go with AMD Ryzen, we may see a power-packed Surface Pro 5, one that’ll definitely give the competition a run for money!
Watch the trailer of Alien:Covenant –


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There’s been a machinery revolution in recent times, with a focus on energy costs, sustainability…
Pantone has announced that their Colour of the Year for 2024 is ‘Peach Fuzz’, a warm and welcoming shade which is set to bring a new found creativity and gentleness back to interior spaces.
Speaking of the new interior trend, Jennifer Porter of bespoke fitted furniture designers Neville Johnson says: “The ‘Peach Fuzz’ shade is the perfect balance between warm and cool and features a soft hint of femininity without being too in your face. Whether you want to make an on-trend statement or simply add a touch of colour, there are many options to choose from to achieve peak peach interiors.”
Porter is also predicting that other sorbet shades, including pistachio greens and pale lavenders, will also be popular choices. It’s certainly a change from 2023’s Pantone Colour of the Year, the vibrant Viva Magenta, while in 2022 the heralded shade was Very Peri, a blue edging towards purple.


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Title: BudBlockz (BLUNT) is on track to be a top 10 utility token surpassing Solana (SOL) and Monero
ep 13, 2022 06:00AM ET
Real utility is the most important thing for crypto coins and tokens. In general, only cryptocurrencies with real-life use cases grow and dominate the market. According to blockchain experts, BudBlockz is a project that could soon become one of the top 10 utility tokens. But what is BudBlockz, and what is unique about the BLUNT token?
Applying the Power of Blockchain to the Cannabis Industry: BudBlockz is a revolutionary project with a clearly defined mission: to disrupt the multi-billion dollar cannabis industry with the power of decentralized solutions like blockchain, crypto, and NFTs.
The core element of the BudBlockz ecosystem will be a powerful utility token called BLUNT, which you can already invest in via presale on the official BudBlockz website.
The most important advantage of the BLUNT token is its powerful utility and large number of use cases. BLUNT will allow cannabis enthusiasts to transact on a completely legal, secure, and private e-commerce platform.
According to experts, BudBlockz has the potential to revolutionize the rapidly growing cannabis industry.
Thanks to BudBlockz, millions of people around the world will be empowered with easy access to an open, fair, and decentralized environment where new and experienced enthusiasts will enjoy the global cannabis market in a completely safe way.
The decentralized marketplace created by BudBlockz will operate 24/7 within legal jurisdictions while fully respecting users' privacy rights.
If blockchain analysts are correct, the BLUNT token will soon compete with the most popular utility tokens such as Solana (SOL) or Monero (XMR). Although BudBlockz has not yet started trading publicly on exchanges, crypto enthusiasts are already convinced that BLUNT will become one of the most important cryptocurrencies in 2023.


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|Bid||96.31 x 900|
|Ask||96.40 x 800|
|Day's Range||94.42 - 96.82|
|52 Week Range||62.12 - 197.40|
|Beta (5Y Monthly)||1.27|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||16.07|
|Forward Dividend & Yield||N/A (N/A)|
|1y Target Est||N/A|
iRobot's (IRBT) Q1 results benefit from solid demand for products, both domestically and internationally. It raises revenue projection for 2021 while maintains that for earnings.
Shares of iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) were off 13% through 11:04 a.m. EDT today -- a curious reaction indeed to the astounding earnings beat that the company turned in last night. Analysts had forecast that iRobot would earn a mere $0.09 per share in profit on sales of just $264 million for its fiscal first quarter 2021, but when iRobot released its results, it reported more than four times as much profit -- $0.41 per share, pro forma -- and quarterly sales of $303.3 million. Lockdowns were just taking effect -- locking homeowners into their homes, locking their cleaning services out, and presumably raising interest in automated home-cleaning solutions like iRobot's Roomba robot vacuums.
iRobot (IRBT) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of 583.33% and 15.94%, respectively, for the quarter ended March 2021. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?


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The list of companies in the Epsilon hack grows
Reuters reports we can add Verizon to the list of companies whose customers’ email addresses were obtained by a hacker in the recent Epsilon data breach. Meanwhile, CNet and the Wall Street Journal examine exactly what Epsilon and companies like it do and how much data about us they have. Epsilon and companies like it are filling a void for businesses like Target and Best Buy because taking care of the millions of emails that go out to millions of customers is really complicated.
From the Wall Street Journal: Companies like Epsilon know not to send a promotion for a winter coat to someone who lives in Miami, for example, or an email boasting low rates for mortgage refinances to people who don’t own their homes. “We may receive an email from the same retailer but they would be completely different,” said Dave Frankland, an analyst at Forrester Research. “Managing that across millions of customers is really complex.”
That same Forrester Research analyst told CNet that Epsilon has a LOT more info on you than your email address. We’re being told now that the hackers only got our email addresses. Maybe that’s true.
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