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The “Title and Cover of the Year” Ferrari Press Awards go to Il Manifesto and SportWeek, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung conquers the “Italian Art of Living” award
Il Manifesto and SportWeek, the weekly information sports magazine of La Gazzetta dello Sport, are the winners of the 9th edition of the «Title and Cover of the Year» Ferrari Press Awards. Both newspapers will receive a prize consisting of 1,000 bottles of Ferrari Trentodoc. Il Manifesto won with the headline «Niente asilo» (No Asylum), which was printed on the front page published on September 3, 2015, together with the picture of young Aylan, a Syrian child found dead on the Turkish coast, who was portrayed in an image that moved the hearts of millions of people throughout the World. The jury motivated its decision with these words: «Impressive and appalling. The front page published by Il Manifesto perfectly conveys the enormity of this tragedy by combining, in an extraordinary symbiosis, the image of a lifeless and tiny body with a title made of two simple words charged with several meanings, one more brutal than the others: the end of all hope for a child who died while searching for hope». SportWeek conquered the title of «Cover of the Year» award thanks to a picture portraying a kiss between two men, an image that was accompanied by the headline «Chi ha paura di un bacio?» (Are you afraid of a kiss?) for a feature published on July 11, 2015, that explored the last remaining taboos of Italy. The jury’s motivation read as follows: «A most daring cover by SportWeek. You need a daring spirit to accompany a feature on homosexuality in sports with a cover showing a kiss between two men, who moreover are rugby players and therefore involved in what is considered one of the manliest sport of all». The «Italian Art of Living – Article of the Year» Ferrari Press Award, which is open to the articles published on foreign newspapers that succeeded in creatively enhance one or more aspects related to Italian lifestyle and the excellence of Made in Italy, went to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for its special issue devoted to Expo Milano 2015 and, broadly speaking, Italy. The winners were presented on Wednesday, May 11, at an evening hosted by Sarah Varetto, director of Sky TG24. The event gathered at Triennale di Milano several important stakeholders of journalism, culture, and business. Moreover, in line with the vocation of Ferrari Winery to be an ambassador of Italian Art of Living, the prize giving ceremony was followed by a debate on the values of Italian lifestyle and the way in which Italy is seen in the World, a discussion fuelled by the insightful input of two supporters of Italian values such as Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and Giovanni Malagò, respectively presidents of Alitalia and CONI, the Italian National Olympic Committee.
The winner of the “Italian Art of Living” Ferrari Press Award is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of the most circulated and respected newspapers in Germany. This is the conclusion of the Ferrari Press Awards’ jury, which had to decide which foreign newspaper during the previous year had succeeded in originally or efficiently deepening the knowledge of public opinion on one or more topics related to the Italian Art of Living, i.e. all the beautiful, tasty, and well-made things that Italy can offer. The purpose of this initiative, which is promoted under the auspices of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers, is to enhance Italian excellence, in line with the vocation of Ferrari winery, one of its most iconic ambassadors. Faz, the nickname used by German readers to identify the daily newspaper of Frankfurt, was selected by the jury from a pool of candidates composed of 230 international newspapers because of the special issue that it published in April 2015 and which was exclusively devoted to Italy. Taking Expo Milano 2015 as starting point, this special issue offered an 80-page love declaration to Italy, enhancing the excellences of Italy in several sectors. In the words of Alfons Kaiser, managing editor of the newspaper who will personally receive this award, anyone visiting Italy “comes back radically changed to his or her old life: is there any other country that can deliver such an experience?” A love declaration that was rewarded with a supply of Ferrari Trentodoc bottles and a first-hand experience of the Italian Art of Living in some of the most iconic and exclusive Belmond hotels in Italy. The award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, May 11, at Triennale di Milano, during an event hosted by Sarah Varetto, director of Sky TG24. The evening will also see the participation of Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, president of Alitalia, and Giovanni Malagò, president of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), who will discuss the values of Italian lifestyle and Italy’s reputation in the World. Furthermore, the winners of the 9th edition of the Ferrari Press Awards “Title and Cover of the Year” will be unveiled during the evening. In the race for the “Title of the Year”, five newspapers will compete for victory and 1,000 Ferrari Trentodoc bottles at stake: Avvenire, Il Giornale, Il Manifesto, QN – Quotidiano Nazionale and Il Tempo. Four contenders will instead face off in the competition for the “Cover of the Year”, with L’Espresso (two covers), Panorama, Internazionale, and Sport Week competing to conquer the 1,000 bottles of Ferrari Trentodoc that will go to the final winner.
The best victories are not those you take for granted but rather those you have to fight for, like the fifth back-to-back championship title conquered by Juventus, the 34th national success in its history, an achievement that was celebrated with rivers of Ferrari Trentodoc. The mathematical certainty of this year’s championship win came on Monday, April 25th. The whole team celebrated this success by opening bottles of Ferrari Trentodoc specially prepared for the occasion and bearing a label showing the image of the 34th “scudetto” and #hi5tory, the hashtag chosen by the team that broke the internet for the entire day. Videos and pictures portraying the players while they celebrated this success with huge bottles of Ferrari Trentodoc have immediately started circulating on the web, seizing an incredible success among fans. Although this is not the first time that Juventus decided to celebrate a win with Ferrari, it is probably the most exciting celebration for Ferrari wineries, which started an official partnership with the football team at the beginning of this season as official supplier of the Juventus Stadium.
Ferrari Trento has partnered with The World's 50 Best Restaurants in order to celebrate the Art of Hospitality, the subtle alchemy created by the perfect balance among excellence of service, atmosphere and conviviality - the elements needed to provide a full restaurant experience. This partnership is in line with the values of Ferrari: the century-old symbol of the excellence of Italian sparkling wine, which represents the embodiment of a genuine lifestyle based on sharing and enjoying life. For years, these values have been recognized by the best restaurants in Italy, the main ambassadors of Ferrari winery. This recognition has now reached an international dimension. Not only is The World's 50 Best Restaurants ranking based on the votes of almost 1,000 independent experts, but its prestigious awards event has gathered the most innovative chefs, restaurant owners, and food lovers from the four corners of the planet over the last 15 years. After 14 years with London as its host city, The World's 50 Best Restaurants is moving to New York in 2016, The first stage of its global tour will see the awards take place at Cipriani Wall Street on June 13. In addition to being the official sparkling wine partner of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Ferrari will also sponsor the "Ferrari Trento Art of Hospitality Award", which will recognize the restaurant that, according to the panel of experts, has elevated its service to create a unique experience, engaging its guests in a comfortable and yet stimulating atmosphere. “We are delighted to partner with The World’s 50 Best Restaurants to recognise the Art of Hospitality. As a producer of high-end sparkling wine and an ambassador of Italian lifestyle, we are uniquely positioned to celebrate this aspect of the restaurant experience: a glass of bubbles is synonymous with welcome and the toast is by definition an act of conviviality. Moreover, hospitality is traditionally very important in Italian culture” said Matteo Lunelli, President and CEO of Ferrari winery. William Drew, Group Editor of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, said: “Hospitality is, of course, central to any great restaurant experience and we are thrilled to be celebrating this crucial aspect of the business in partnership with Ferrari Trento. The introduction of the Ferrari Trento Art of Hospitality Award coincides perfectly with our new location for 2016: New York City.” In order to provide further knowledge on the Art of Hospitality, Ferrari and The World's 50 Best Restaurants will host an event that will gather in Milan some of the most prestigious restaurateurs in the world on April 28. On this occasion, Italy will be represented by Massimo Bottura, the owner of Osteria Francescana, the restaurant that ranked No.2 in the world in 2015.
In just a few days the jury of the Ferrari Press Award “Italian Art of Living - Article of the Year” will gather to decide which newspaper article - among the 18 selected - has been the best in enhancing the value of Made in Italy and the Italian Art of Living. The candidate list includes international magazines such as the Financial Times, International New York Times, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, China Daily, El País, and others that during the year featured stories of Italian excellence related to big names operating in sectors that go from the fashion and design industry to the tourism and incoming sector, without forgetting the experience of Expo Milan 2015, the leitmotif of this year’s Ferrari Press Award. Ferrari Winery has always played the role of global ambassador of the Italian Art of Living and, in order to emphasize all the good and beautiful things produced in Italy, it has decided to create an Award to honor the international newspaper or magazine that best communicates the value of Italian culture, creativity, craftsmanship, sense of belonging, and wine and food tradition. For the third year in a row, this award will complement the Title and Cover of the Year Awards, focused mainly on Italian newspapers and magazines. In order to select the winners of these prestigious awards, Ferrari Winery has summoned a jury composed of ten Italian VIPs belonging to the cultural, institutional, journalistic, and entrepreneurial world, who over the next few days will choose the winner. The official prize-giving ceremony will take place at the end of May.


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Japanese retailer Nishimatsuya Chain experienced a noteworthy surge in its shares, rising by 6.16% to reach 1,670 yen on Thursday. This significant increase came as a result of the company’s robust first-half net profit growth, which reached 4.76 billion yen ($31.8 million), along with a rise in revenue to 88.47 billion yen. Despite the stock market taking a downturn, Nishimatsuya Chain managed to thrive due to strong sales of spring and summer clothing, as well as baby formula and diapers. The company also saw growth through the opening of 33 new stores, increasing the total number of outlets to 1,090.
In addition to its impressive performance, Nishimatsuya Chain unveiled plans to enhance dividends per share from 26 yen to 27 yen and repurchase shares worth 300 million yen. Looking ahead, the company forecasts a net profit of 9.28 billion yen and expects total revenue to reach 180 billion yen. With these positive developments and strategic initiatives, Nishimatsuya Chain aims to continue its successful trajectory.
This news highlights Nishimatsuya Chain’s remarkable growth amid a challenging market environment. By capitalizing on strong sales of popular products and expanding its store network, the company has not only achieved significant profit growth but also attracted investors’ attention, as evidenced by the rise in share prices. With its plans for increased dividends and share repurchases, Nishimatsuya Chain aims to enhance shareholder value. Moreover, the company’s positive outlook for future profitability and revenue demonstrates its confidence in sustaining its growth momentum.

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A survey has found that a notable percentage of UK-based businesses are not ready to meet the new PCI DSS regulations, putting many organisations in a position where they may breach new rules which will be gradually applied from June 2010.
A total of 100 firms from various sectors, including retail and finance, were questioned as part of the survey and only 11 were found to be certifiable under PCI DSS regulations.
PCI DSS rules were first proposed in 2004 and the newest changes will require universal compliance by September this year. The biggest players in the industry, including Visa and MasterCard, are all in support of these standards which are intended to cut down on fraud.
Redshift Research published the results of the survey, which was carried out in order to assess the typical attitude towards PCI DSS changes within UK businesses.
An 89 per cent level of non-compliance was indicated by the survey and it was also revealed that over a third of the businesses questioned did not comprehend the necessity of PCI DSS certification.
Many of the businesses that are still unable to meet the PCI DSS are uncertain as to whether they will be able to make the necessary changes before the September deadline.
Redshift Research’s Guy Washer said that his firm approaches many businesses in the course of a typical survey and around 40 per cent of potential respondents turned down the chance to participate, which is nearly twice as many refusals as normal.
Mr Washer believes that many firms were uneasy about participating because they were already aware that their current payment card practices were inadequate in the face of impending industry security improvements.
Under PCI DSS rules, four tiers of responsibility differentiate between the firms processing the largest and smallest number of card transactions annually.
It is believed that whilst larger firms are fully aware of their responsibilities relating to payment card security, small and medium sized businesses which deal with fewer transactions each year are failing to grasp the changes required under new regulations.


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Sony UK's sales director Mark Howsen has told GamesIndustry.biz that first week sales of the PlayStation slim have exceeded expectations.
The new unit went on sale last Tuesday in the region priced at GBP 249, with Chart-Track data revealing today that sales were up over 1000 per cent.
"The first week's Chart-Track numbers for sales of the new PlayStation 3 were ahead of our expectations, so we were extremely pleased," offered Howsen.
"A new price point and a new machine has proven a significant catalyst to help consumers make the move onto PS3."
Howsen said that the company intends to maintain momentum over the coming months with the new GBP 82 million ad campaign promoting the system, exclusive games and the recently announced PlayStation Video Store.
"Our new advertising campaign, The Game Is Just The Start, is also demystifying the value proposition," he said. "This ongoing campaign and the addition of some great exclusive and new IPs - Uncharted: Among Thieves, EyePet, Heavy Rain - and services [such as] PlayStation Video Store, will hopefully provide even more trigger points to drive future purchases of PlayStation 3."
The PlayStation 3 became the lead hardware format in the UK last week, a position it had not occupied since the first week of 2008.
Software sales for the system also jumped 17 per cent by unit share and 5 per cent in terms of value, with Activision's Call of Duty: World at War shooting back up the charts to number three due to bundled promotions.


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This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Ford Edsel, long considered the premier example of over-hyped commercial failure. New Coke has nothing on the Edsel!
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Regulatory credits have been a controversial topic for Tesla investors in the past. (see our updates below) These credit sales, which are almost pure profit, have been a key driver of Tesla’s margins over the years and the company largely relied on these credits to post operating profits in multiple quarters in 2019 and 2020. While credit sales have been quite volatile, there have been quarters where credit sales alone have topped $500 million, and have bolstered Tesla’s gross margins by as much as 6%. That said, with Tesla’s vehicle deliveries ramping up nicely and economies of scale kicking in, Tesla now appears to be solidly profitable even without credit sales. For perspective, for the first three quarters of 2021, we estimate that pre-tax profits would have stood at over $2.5 billion, excluding tax credits. This compares to 2020 when Tesla would have posted a pre-tax loss of over $400 million, excluding credits. See our analysis on How Do Regulatory Credits Impact Tesla’s Gross Margins? for a detailed look into Tesla’s regulatory credit sales and how they impact Tesla’s margins and profitability.
So are regulatory credits likely to remain a driver of Tesla’s profitability going forward? Governments are doubling down on regulation to decarbonize the automotive industry, given the urgent need to address climate change. This could drive Tesla’s credit sales in the next few years, given that the company remains one of the leading EV players by volume. However, mainstream automakers are also doubling down on their own EV programs, meaning that they could become less reliant on Tesla for credits. For example, Europe’s Stellantis, once Tesla’s largest customer for emissions credits, intends to sell more of its own zero-emission vehicles, noting that it was likely to meet its CO2 emission targets in Europe for 2021 on its own. Considering this, it’s likely that Tesla will have to rely more on cost improvements, higher deliveries from its new factories, and software sales to drive its profit margins in the longer run.
[7/23/2020] Soaring Emission Credit Sales Drive Tesla’s Q2 Beat
Tesla published Q2 2020 results on Wednesday, posting a net income of $104 million – well ahead of consensus estimates that projected a small loss. So how did Tesla manage to beat expectations by such a wide margin? Soaring regulatory credit sales were the primary reason.
The sale of regulatory credits rose to around $428 million in Q2, up from about $354 million in Q1 and just $111 million in Q2 2019. As these credits are almost pure profit (Tesla probably incurs no direct expenses to earn them), the company would very likely have reported a loss on a GAAP basis, if it didn’t recognize these revenues. Moreover, we estimate that Tesla’s Automotive Gross Margins would have been lower by over 600 basis points (6%) in Q2 2020, if not for these sales.
So why are Tesla’s emission credits sales soaring, when its automotive deliveries grew by just 3% sequentially and are down by about 5% year-over-year? Firstly, revenue recognition for these credits is quite lumpy and Tesla could sell vehicles in a quarter and recognize revenue from related credits in future quarters. Secondly, stronger demand for credits might also be driving up the price. The European Union introduced more stringent emission norms this year, requiring average Carbon Dioxide emissions per kilometer to drop to 95 grams from an average of over 120 grams in 2018 for passenger cars. Considering this, automakers need to buy credits from clean vehicle manufacturers such as Tesla in order to avoid large fines for breaking these new emissions rules. Fiat Chrysler is a large customer for Tesla’s credits – agreeing to buy credits worth roughly $2 billion over 2020 and 2021.
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To be sure, this cash cow won’t last for too long. In the medium- to long-term, mainstream automotive companies will scale up their zero-emission vehicle sales, reducing the need to buy credits from Tesla. However, Tesla should continue to improve its margins and profits via higher software sales and battery improvements (related: A Detailed Look At How Tesla’s Battery Costs Impact Its Gross Margins). Tesla’s self-driving software upgrades, which cost about $8,000 per vehicle currently, are highly lucrative and we estimate that they contributed about 400 basis points (4%) to Tesla’s Automotive Gross Margins of 21% in 2019. (See our analysis: How Do Tesla’s Software Upgrades Impact Its Margins?)
[5/1/2020] How Emission Credit Sales Helped Tesla’s Q1 2020 Results
Tesla posted a stronger than expected set of Q1 2020 results, despite the coronavirus pandemic, with revenues growing by ~32% year-over-year and adjusted profits coming in at $227 million, versus a loss of about $494 million a year ago. While the company benefited from strong deliveries of the Model 3 and a production ramp at its Shanghai factory, much of the improved profitability came from higher sales of emission credits which soared to about $354 million from an average of about $150 million over the last four quarters. If not for the spike in regulatory credit sales, Tesla would likely have barely broken even. Below, we take a look at how sales of regulatory credits have helped Tesla and why we believe the near-term outlook for the company looks quite challenging.
For more details on the outlook for Tesla’s revenues, view our dashboard analysis Tesla Revenues: How Does TSLA Make Money?
What Are Regulatory Credits And How Do They Help Tesla?
Several U.S. states and countries have Zero Emissions Vehicle regulations that require that clean vehicles account for a certain mix of auto manufacturers’ sales each year. If automotive companies, which still largely sell internal combustion engine-based vehicles, don’t meet these standards, they can buy credits from the likes of Tesla that earn credits, as they only sell electric vehicles. Although the revenues from these credits are quite volatile they are very lucrative for Tesla, as it likely incurs no direct costs to earn them. The bump in these regulatory credit sales is likely to be partly responsible for the company’s automotive gross margins expanding 300 bps sequentially to 25.5%. While it’s possible that such credits could become more valuable in the medium term, as new emissions regulations come into play in Europe and states in the U.S. look to enforce stricter norms, the current collapse in global auto sales could hurt revenues from ZEV credits in the near-term for Tesla.
Outlook Remains Tough For Tesla In The Near-term
Tesla is likely to face significant near-term revenue pressure and the company has put its 2020 guidance on hold, due to uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and the broader economic recovery. There is little reason for people to buy expensive cars right now and Tesla’s production at its Fremont facility, which accounts for about three-quarters of its annual capacity, remains suspended and there’s no clarity as to when it could resume.
However, despite significant near-term headwinds, the company’s stock has continued to rally, almost doubling year-to-date. The company trades at a P/S multiple of about 6x, compared to GM which trades at about 0.3x, based on trailing revenues. This means that the stock has significant valuation risk, making it react more strongly to negative news compared to its peers.
What if you’re looking for a more balanced portfolio instead? Here’s a high-quality portfolio that’s beaten the market consistently since the end of 2016.
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Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm based in Manhattan and run by Joshua Kushner, has raised $150 million for its latest fund as it seeks to raise its profile and become more competitive against larger firms.
The firm spent about 10 weeks raising the fund, receiving commitments from new and existing limited partners, a group that includes Princeton University, Hall Capital Partners and the Wellcome Trust.
The fund, which was oversubscribed, will operate under a broad mandate, with the flexibility to pursue early or later stage start-ups in the Internet sector. In total, Thrive has raised about $200 million across three funds.
“Thrive is opportunity driven,” Mr. Kushner, 27, said in an interview by phone. “We invest in assets as opposed to stage or geography.”
Mr. Kushner, son of the real estate magnate Charles Kushner and brother of Jared Kushner, owner of The New York Observer, has spent the last three years investing in social and e-commerce Internet start-ups.
He was an early backer of Fab.com, a flash sales site that recently raised $105 million; Hot Potato, which was sold to Facebook; and GroupMe, a messaging service acquired by Skype last year.
His firm was also one of the lead investors in Instagram’s $50 million financing round in April. The investment, which valued the photo-sharing service at half a billion dollars, was closed mere days before Facebook purchased the company for roughly $1 billion. However, the value of the deal, a combination of cash and stock, has since fallen as Facebook’s stock price declined sharply.
Though Mr. Kushner says he recognizes the weakness in the I.P.O. market, he remains bullish on the technology sector and the disruptive power of the Internet. And while Thrive has largely been defined by its consumer Internet plays, he said he was willing to invest in a broad array of start-ups, in the United States, Latin America or elsewhere.
“Many see the way the Internet has already transformed our daily lives and conclude that most of the change that was going to happen already has.” he said. “I am of the belief that it is only the beginning.”
The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that Thrive was seeking to raise $150 million.


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Amazfit is an amazing company which has wonderful products for people. Recently the company has launched a gadget for its users. This gadget is Amazfit GTS 2 Mini. The device was launched in India last week. As it was sale numerous consumers purchased this device. But it seems a long wait to get this device in hand for them. To solve this big confusion among the users as when they could get this watch in hand. The company took their social media handle twitter to announce that there will be a delay in delivery. The reason behind the late delivery is that there is some logistics issue in delivering the products by Amazfit. But this delay seems like a benefit for the users who have placed the oder till Friday. As company announced that they will make up the oder by the first week of January and even they will give a extra strap for the watch those who have orders it till Friday.
Amazfit GTS 2 Mini Price
Amazfit GTS 2 Mini is the scaled down version when the company has partnered with GTR 2 and GTS 2 in GT2. The amazing watch has been priced for INR 12,999 in India.
Amazfit GTS 2 Mini Specifications
- The watch is available in 1.55 inch AMOLED display
- It has 354 × 306 resolution
- The watch is has an aluminium alloy case.
- The body the watch is made up of plastic material
- It has 2.5D curved glass on top
- The watch has always on display feature
- It can work perfectly with Android and iOS
- It has Bio tracker 2 LPG optical sensor
- The device could measures the heart rate monitoring and ecen heart rate during exercise.
- It also has features which could track menstrual cycle, sleep tracking, stress tracking with breathing exercise guidance.
- It also has acceleration sensor, Gyroscope, geomagnetic, and ambient light sensor
- It has 70 in built sports modes
- The battery of the the watch can last up to 14 days
- It is available in three colors Sage green, pink, and black.
- It gives you regular notification and even the sports notification.
The smartwatch has amazing specifications and features. Also the price and specifications go hand in hand with each other.


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Has the hype around cryptocurrency blinded people to the drawbacks? Is it a payment method or an investment? Will it still be relevant in 20 years?
With all the noise around cryptocurrency, it can Read more
Some businesses found themselves as well positioned as they could have been for the disruption left in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world shifted to remote interaction and online shopping, companies Read more
As a new generation gets into sports memorabilia, auctioneer Ken Goldin — market maker, evangelist, therapist — is cashing in on priceless pieces of cardboard. Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw discusses Read more
SYDNEY, Australia, June 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Former executives from Airbnb, Expedia, and other global technology companies have joined forces with Binance-backed Travala.com to launch Read more
The Asian themed entertainment and leisure market – particularly in China – is experiencing rapid expansion. Prior to the pandemic, 2019 saw OCT Parks China, a Chinese theme park group, leapfrog Read more


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Since the beginning of SEO, marketers and business owners alike have been trying to crack the way Google’s algorithms work.
All the questions they’ve been asking inevitably boil down to a single one:
What criteria does Google employ to rank a site?
Before we unravel part of the mystery, first things first – the ‘’criteria’’ Google uses are called signals, and Google has around 200 signals to rely on when ranking a site.
On a more encouraging note, if you have been employing white-hat SEO practices for your site, it’s not that difficult to pass even the strict ‘’200 signals’’ test.
However, the appearance of a yet another signal can be somewhat disquieting especially if it affects your site. If you experienced a sudden drop in rankings in the past month, you probably wondered if anything went permanently wrong. The answer is – it absolutely did not.
What happened is that Google included Penguin as part of its core algorithm in September and this update affected the rankings all over the place almost immediately. Almost equally quickly, though, rankings started going up again. So what did actually happen there and what are the implications for the future?
Basically, the way Penguin works is not news. As one of the signals Google uses for ranking, it determines whether you are using black-hat link schemes to manipulate search rankings. While Google’s algorithms have always targeted webspam, there were some essential changes to Penguin that took the SEO race to a whole different level.
Luckily, the new Penguin update introduced some significant changes, and we can say they are for the better.
Penguin 4.0 Rises
Google’s latest algorithm update Penguin 4.0 went down hard on everything that even remotely seemed like webspam, and it went down fast, which is why there was a sudden drop in rankings.
One of the reasons the rankings were able to go back up again are the new features of this year’s Penguin update. Interestingly enough, these features were actually introduced at the request of webmasters. While it definitely doesn’t mean Google has grown soft or in any way more lenient, it surely has its benefits.
Penguin is now Real-Time
It sounds terrifying at first, doesn’t it – having a watchful eye fixed on your site at all times. But in reality, this new feature is actually a positive thing.
In the past, once a site was affected by Penguin, it took some time for the algorithm to pick up on the changes the webmasters made to eliminate the reasons the site was affected in the first place. Even after the site was recrawled and reindexed, Penguin still needed to be refreshed for the changes to work.
By contrast, Penguin’s data is now refreshed in real time, meaning the algorithm will acknowledge the improvements much faster, immediately after the recrawling and reindexing. The result – the penalized site’s ranking will go up again much faster.
Penguin is now More Granular
Penguin used to negatively affect the ranking of an entire site even if the spam signals were triggered only on parts of the site. Fortunately, Google now uses Penguin to devaluate spam on particular pages, rather than the entire domain.
The good news doesn’t end there, though. Since Penguin now targets specific pages, in order to get the ranking up again, webmasters have to improve the content, page layout, page load, responsiveness and other indicators of user experience on the affected pages only.
What would have they done in the past?
They would’ve employed the time and resources for some serious damage control on the whole site. Ouch. Luckily, there’s no need for that now.
The bottom line is this:
If you happen to make an SEO mistake on your site, Google will be able to punish you almost instantly. And yes, that’s pretty scary. On the other hand, the issue can be fixed almost equally quickly.
And another thing.
It’s high time everyone realized that Google isn’t going to tolerate any ‘’foul play’’. Negative SEO will now be punished severely and immediately.
Luckily, Google gave us plenty of insight into the things it values (and rewards), so we have a pretty good idea how to use that information for Local SEO purposes. Let’s just say that brand awareness and great content have never been more important. Stay tuned!
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In the past few months we have witnessed an increase in tariff, some are direct increase in the cost of the voucher and some are in the form of decreasing the freebies under special tariff vouchers. But now airtel has come up with a new offer for its customers offering 25% Extra Data.
Airtel has today launched 3 new Special Tariff Vouchers for the people of Rajasthan offering STD Calls at just 35p/min without any Fair Usage Policy. The other 2 New Special Tariff Vouchers offers both Local & STD Calls at discounted rates.
Airtel and Idea today announced Roaming FREE Plans for its customers across India offering FREE Incoming Calls in Roaming as per TRAI’s order issued last month. The prepaid plans rolled out by both the Operators are definitely not so pocket friendly and Airtel is the only Operator to announce Postpaid Roam Free Plans as well.
Vodafone India has yesterday announced the reduction the default charges for 2G Data/GPRS customers by up to 80%. And within a day of such announcement by Vodafone, Airtel too announced the same reduction by about 90% for its customers. But this reduction will not have any affect on many of us as this reduction is […]
The largest Pan India Mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, has announced the launch of the its commercial Mobile Service in the Kargil District making it the first Private operator to offer any such service in one of the toughest regions of India. Also with this launch, Bharti Airtel has now presence in all 22 Districts of […]
If you are a Facebook fan boy and an Airtel customer, we have some really good news coming your way. Airtel has decided to offer its prepaid customers Free Access to Facebook on mobile free for a month tough with a certain limit.
Airtel has come up with an exciting idea that lets you share your 3G Data Plan with your family and friends without any additional cost. In case we need to share our 3G Connection with our family or friends now, we need a Mi-Fi device but that is not the case under the Airtel’s Data […]
If you are planning to get a new BlackBerry this festive season, this is the right time to go ahead and grab a new Curve along with a 1 year subscription of popular BlackBerry Messenger absolutely FREE. RIM India has announced that it will be offering free BBM for a whole 1 year to every […]
Airtel has today announced the commercial launch of the 4G LTE in the city of Pune, Maharashtra. Pune has now become the 3rd city in India, after Kolkata and Bengaluru. to get 4th Generation High Speed Data Service. Earlier this year, Airtel launched the 4G LTE services in Kolkata followed by Bangalore. Airtel has kept […]
Airtel is one of the oldest telecom operators in Punjab. Airtel Punjab offers some really good GPRS (Internet) Packs for the people of Punjab starting with just Rs. 10 having a validity of a day. Airtel has about 7 GPRS Packs in Punjab with Rs. 10 being the lowest and Rs. 398 the highest priced.


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Serta Simmons Holdings has announced that Bob Sherman, CEO of National Bedding Company (doing business as Serta International), has decided to leave the company to pursue other interests, effective immediately.
The company stated that during his 25-year tenure, Sherman drove a combination of groundbreaking product innovation, strong customer relationships and operational excellence that led Serta to become the top mattress brand in the United States.
Among the many accomplishments under his leadership, Serta’s “Counting Sheep” advertising campaign was named Advertising Icon of the Year in 2008 and Serta’s revolutionary iComfort product line set an industry record by being the fastest brand to reach $1 billion in retail sales. His career in bedding spans 45 years, from delivering mattresses in his home state of Minn. at age 16 to leading the mattress brand.
Also leaving the company is SVP of marketing and merchandising Barbara Bradford. Bradford has 42 years of industry experience and is Sherman’s wife. Bradford played a key role in the development of the iComfort series and was responsible for developing Serta’s branded collections, including Trump Home.
“Bob has been a true leader in the mattress industry,” said David Swift, the company’s chairman. “On his path to building the leading brand in the mattress business, he also delivered one of the most successful product launches and some of the most successful marketing campaigns in history. We thank Bob for creating such a strong and lasting brand in Serta, and we’ll endeavor to build upon his legacy as we move forward.”
Gary Fazio, the current CEO of Simmons Bedding Company, will become the CEO of the Serta Simmons Holdings. He will be responsible for overseeing both the Serta and Simmons businesses, which will continue to maintain separate product development, marketing and sales divisions.
Fazio has 41 years of bedding manufacturing and retail experience. He joined Simmons in 2010 after the company’s restructuring. Prior to joining Simmons, he was the CEO of Mattress Firm for nine years before being named chairman in 2010.
“We have great people at Serta and Simmons. Together we will continue to lead the industry delivering innovative products, investing in all of our brands and providing differentiated services to our channel partners and end consumers,” said Fazio.


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By Patrick Avenell
GAF Control has appointed former Retravision Southern major appliances buyer Nick Fry as its new general manager. GAF Control currently distributes the Heller, Tiffany, Sunair and Pye brands of small and seasonal appliances.
In a brief interview confirming the appointment with Current.com.au, GAF Control managing director Stuart Foley said Fry begins his new role tomorrow (Tuesday 10 July 2012).
“Nick is an impressive young man, he knows the industry and he certainly knows about buying, which is very important to understand, because it’s a really very moving industry right now and we’ve got to make sure we’ve got somebody who is capable of handling this very difficult task,” Foley said.


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Have you heard of Pluto TV .m3u? This Illegal IPTV service tried to use the Pluto TV name and logo to grow this service. Now the Motion Picture Association has filed a DMCA takedown request to shut down this illegal IPTV streaming service that used the Pluto TV name, according to TorrentFreak.
Pluto TV is a legal streaming service owned by Paramount. It offers a wide range of ad-supported programming. Some of this is owned by Paramount, other content comes from 3rd parties that Pluto TV licensed it from.
Pluto TV .m3u was a playlist IPTV service you could download to watch movies and TV shows for free according to the MPA’s DMCA takedown. It even used the Pluto TV logo to make it look like it was a legal way to stream content.
Some .m3u playlists do just point to legal streams from Pluto TV It seems that this one though was offering content not licensed or paid for leading to the DMCA takedown requests.
As alwasy becareful about using 3rd party apps and streaming services the claim to give you access to everything that Pluto TV or Netflix has to offer for example. Increaslingly they have been using legal service names to offer pirated content.


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Companies in the U.S. need to take online security more seriously and should outsource it to security experts, said a Jupiter Media Metrix Inc. report released on Wednesday.
U.S. businesses are more worried about their customers' perception of security breaches than about the financial implications, and are generally unconcerned about potential attacks on or via their Web sites, the report, "Enterprise Security: Managing Services for Maximum Coverage," said.
Only 12.1 percent of companies surveyed were worried about the direct financial loss due to a security breach, while 40 percent worried about the impact on consumer confidence, Jupiter said.
Less than half of U.S. companies with Web sites show enough concern about the security of their online data, said Jupiter. A survey of executives in July found that 49.5 percent of Web site managers and chief information officers (CIOs) consider their sites' data to be "low" sensitivity, and their risk of attack also to be "low," the report said.
Even if files on the Web server itself are inconsequential, a hacker can reach through to data used by other systems, said Jupiter.
Companies should therefore take security more seriously and outsource it to an expert provider, the report said. While security should be monitored internally, most companies need the expert advice, technology and 24-hour response that a security service can provide, it said.


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Elite Daily claims the Nutella company is hiring 60 taste testers to sample products at their Italy headquarters. The job listing says ideal candidates will be eager to learn “how to taste cocoa, hazelnut powder, and other semi-finished sweet products.” The testers will work four hours per week.
The Daily Mail claims Beer Yoga has become a hot fitness trend.. Nicknamed Boga, the classes involve people performing difficult poses while holding a beer in one hand. Boga participants take a swig of beer every time they complete a stretching move. Classes typically last 60 minutes.
NBC says someone recently broke into Mindy Marshall’s Girard, Ohio home. They stole money and a stereo system. Before leaving, the thief rearranged Mindy’s taxidermy animals. She says when she opened her front door a cold beer was sitting in her stuffed raccoon’s hands.
(Maybe the raccoon was practicing beer yoga.)


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After much anticipation, The Bohlsen Restaurant Group plans to open its second location of H20: Seafood and Sushi in East Islip on Tuesday, Dec. 20.
“The opening will kick off with a few weeks of ‘soft openings’ where guests can come join us for dinner as we work out our kinks,” said Kelsey Peacock of The Bohlsen Restaurant Group.
As a gesture of appreciation for guests who seek to be among the first taste-testers, those who visit H20 at 166 West Main Street during the soft opening will receive a gift card worth 50 percent of their dining total to use in a future visit in the New Year.
GreaterBayshore.com had previously reported that the restaurant was set to open on or around Thanksgiving.
The new H20 will not be an exact replica of its sister restaurant in Smithtown, Michael Bohlsen previously told greaterbayshore.com.
The menu will continue to favor local ingredients and a vast selection of international wines, but will also include some dishes and drinks crafted especially for a South Shore clientele.
As well, the East Islip location plans to open for brunch “sometime in early January,” said Peacock.
After the Beachtree Café closed in April, The Bohlsen Restaurant Group gutted the building for a complete renovation.
Details on price fixe menus for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are forthcoming.


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NEW YORK, March 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Dstillery, the custom audience solutions company, today announced it has joined as an official member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the international standards organization that helps shape the future of the web.
W3C is an international community where members, staff and the public work together to develop web technology solutions and shape the future of the web. By creating technical standards such as HTML and CSS, W3C has been instrumental in working toward accessibility, security and privacy. Member organizations help drive the direction of core web technology, work toward a framework of technological ethics and exchange ideas with industry and research leaders.
As a member, Dstillery joins the ranks of some of the most innovative advertising partners in the world including Apple, Google and Microsoft.
“Joining W3C allows us to work more directly with leading companies on the web,” said Evan Hills, Dstillery’s Senior Vice President of Partnerships & Strategy. “Collaborating with and sharing our expertise with other members gives us the opportunity to further shape the future of the web and, more specifically, the relationship between individual web users and the businesses interacting with them. We’re proud to support W3C in facilitating strategic discussions about what the future of the web holds, as we continue to empower the world’s top brands and agencies to reach their best customers.”
As a member of this international organization, Dstillery will be able to better engage with the broader web community on the future of internet privacy while continuing to play a leading role in future audience solutions and advertising technologies.
Dstillery, the custom audience solutions company, empowers brands and agencies to reach their best customers across the programmatic web. Backed by our award-winning data science, Dstillery has earned 16 patents for the AI technology that powers our precise, scalable solutions. Our newest innovation, ID-free Custom AI, is a privacy-by-design behavioral targeting solution that performs on par with cookies — without user tracking. Our ID-based premier product, Custom AI Audiences, is a just-for-your-brand targeting solution that continuously scores hundreds of millions of users to deliver the best audiences for your brand. To learn more, visit us at www.dstillery.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
About the World Wide Web Consortium
The mission of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is to lead the web to its full potential by creating technical standards and guidelines to ensure that the web remains open, accessible, and interoperable for everyone around the globe. W3C well-known standards HTML and CSS are the foundational technologies upon which websites are built. W3C works on ensuring that all foundational Web technologies meet the needs of civil society, in areas such as accessibility, internationalization, security, and privacy. W3C also provides the standards that undergird the infrastructure for modern businesses leveraging the Web in areas such as entertainment, communications, digital publishing, and financial services. That work is created in the open, provided for free and under the groundbreaking W3C Patent Policy.
W3C’s vision for “One Web” brings together thousands of dedicated technologists representing more than 400 member organizations and dozens of industry sectors. W3C is jointly hosted by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) in the United States, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) based in France, Keio University in Japan and Beihang University in China. For more information see https://www.w3.org/.
BLASTmedia for Dstillery
317-806-1900 ext. 176


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Whataburger is looking to expand its empire by opening restaurants in more states, that look different from what Texans are used to.
A Chicago firm bought the fast food franchise last year, sparking concerns from many and at least one musical rant.
The company says that through the next year, it will build 40 new restaurants, starting with sites in Tennessee and Kansas City.
Whataburger also plans to being franchising restaurants for the first time in almost 20 years. The company says that will allow it to open in more areas, offering employment opportunities to hundreds of people.
The classic ‘A’ frame Whataburger restaurant will undergo some changes as well. The company says it will introduce new restaurant models and remodels that have a reduced environmental impact by using renewable resources when possible, LED lighting and more efficient equipment for 24-hour use.
One thing that won’t change, according to the company? The orange and white stripes will still be on prominent display.
Here are some of the new designs for the restaurants:


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History in the Metaverse – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues to confirm its interest in web3 technologies. In this match, Dubai is not lagging behind† Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, metaverse: the kingdom keeps pace. Now it’s the government’s turn to set foot in the metaverse. Regulatory body VARA is taking the first step by settling in the pixelated universe of The Sandbox.
A controller at The Sandbox
Let’s look at VARA first. A government agency in Dubai, the regulator’s mission is to provide a “safe working environmentin the metaverse. By doing so, by affirming its interest in a virtual social space, Dubai aims to support the development of the blockchain:
“Virtual assets are an integral part of the future digital economy. ††
VARA official press release
So, the government of Dubai wants to allow the blockchain industry to engage in it. This allows members with a VARA license to develop securely in The Sandbox:
†VARA joins the metaverse and becomes the first government agency in Dubai – and the Metaverse – ushering in a new era in which the Dubai government uses modern innovations to expand its services and regulatory power (…) VARA represents a serious effort to create a powerful new economic sector that contributes to the national economy and creates new investment opportunities. This is possible thanks to the secure and modern regulatory solutions we envision. Our presence in the metaverse therefore marks the beginning of a new phase in the Dubai government’s march into the future; one that will have a positive impact in the long run.”
His Highness Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council
>> Want to treat yourself to a virtual country? Start buying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum on FTX (affiliate link) †
Specific VARA META HQ, Regulator Headquarters will open its virtual doors in The Sandbox. Still according to government statements, therefore, it is up to His Highness to place Dubai as the capital of fintech and blockchain:
† Dubai maintains a leading position at the forefront of technological transformation. We’ve moved from an early adopter to an innovator and be a part of shaping the future of this technology. †
But what will VARA’s mission be in the metaverse? The regulator wants to provide a decentralized and secure commercial space for everyone. The basic principles are clear:
† (…) secure cross-border interoperability, informed investor adoption, prioritization of market protection and industry accountability.”
† Guardian of governance and industry shapers The VARA will offer state and government participation in exchanges, and will provide regulation in the metaverse.
The questions of economic freedom then arise. Because regulation a priori seems to conflict with any form of decentralization.
VARA META HQ already wants to answer these questions by committing itself to development and support. Meta HQ then has the following missions:
- reach out to private sector players and provide them with a legal framework
- provide a safe social space
- giving access to consumer products
- become a trusted intermediary with VASPs (PSAN equivalent in France)
- offer promising young developers the opportunity to evolve in a safe virtual world. They can then share their knowledge and make as many people as possible aware.
In addition, the presence of the regulator offers the government a new way to generate income. Helal Saeed Almarri, Managing Director of the Dubai World Trade Center Authority, says:
“VARA’s land acquisition in the Sandbox symbolizes our confidence in this sector, and it behooves us as a government to be the bridge that enables investors and consumers to securely adopt and scale the sharing economy. In addition to generating direct economic benefits and accelerated GDP for Dubai, VARA sees this as the first step towards shared learning.”
The approach proposed by the government of Dubai is avant-garde. Some questions remain unanswered, in particular the accessibility of this metaverse to the general public and the rules that will govern it. The approach of the VARA remains remarkable: it is a first. Dubai confirms the trend and seems to be the trend new eldorado for blockchain and metaverse companies.
From Bitcoin or Ethereum, whoever wins, make sure you are a winner every time! Register without delay on the FTX benchmark crypto platform and take advantage of a lifetime discount on your trading costs (affiliate link, see conditions on official website).


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Facebook raised quite a few eyebrows after deciding to buy WhatsApp for $19 billion
Family, curiosity and hunger for knowledge define me.” That’s hot new Microsoft honcho Satya Nadella speaking. The father of three children, two with special needs, has made his priorities mega clear to world media gulping every byte of his gyan
A new study names Candy Crush and Outlook among the top ‘battery-sucking’ Android apps
Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella has been named Microsoft’s new CEO; Bill Gates steps down as chairman of board, will take on the role of technology advisor
Software giant Microsoft today named Hyberabad-born Satya Nadella as its new Chief Executive Officer, replacing Steve Ballmer.
Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella, in charge of Microsoft's enterprise and cloud businesses, is emerging as the software giant's pick as CEO Steve Ballmer's successor, according to various media reports
There's a new Windows in tech town � Windows 8.1, the first significant update to Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system. It might look and feel largely the same, but there are a number of nifty touches beneath that familiar hood. We take a closer look
Microsoft has finally released the updated version of its latest OS, Windows 8.1, complete with the earlier missing 'Start button', a separate Facebook app along with host of other upgraded features
A leading Finnish research institute lowered the nation's economic growth forecast, and attributed it to the decline of Nokia, which sold its mobile businesses to Microsoft earlier this month
Will be available in 21 countries by October 22, India will have to wait
Developers have reportedly forced software giant Microsoft to give them early access to the tweaked version of the latest Windows 8 OS
Global software major Microsoft has built a dedicated portal for its Indian developers with a community-based platform to network and engage, its Indian subsidiary said Thursday
Software giant Microsoft today said it will acquire Finnish handset maker Nokia's handset business for 5.44 billion euros (USD 7.17 billion) in cash, in an effort to strengthen its position in the smartphone market
Perhaps his former CEO at Microsoft Steve Ballmer whose announcement this week that he would step down from his leadership position created such waves should peruse Ravi Venkatesan, Microsoft's erstwhile India Chairman's book Conquering the Chaos: Win in India, Win Everywhere, (Harvard Business Press
Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates visited Biological E. Ltd, a leading vaccine manufacturer, and the International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) yesterday on a private trip kept completely under wraps
Microsoft unveiled a new Xbox console Tuesday that represents a major upgrade on the US-market-leading Xbox 360 model
Amidst Congressional debate on the comprehensive immigration reform, a top US Senator has accused big Indian IT companies - TCS, Infosys and Wipro - of abusing the H-1B visa system.
Microsoft's latest keyboard and mouse don't come cheap, but definitely turn heads with their impressive design
Although Microsoft's much-hyped Surface tablet hybrid has not come to the Indian market yet, Acer has delivered something very similar with its tablet-keyboard combo, the Iconia W510. But does it deliver the same magic?
Overtaking Microsoft, the tech giant has a stock value of $623.51 billion


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Board rejects Sarto’s veto
December 5, 2007
CARPENTERSVILLE — The police department will continue to sell old handguns to federally licensed dealers, rather than destroy them, as suggested by some trustees.
The board revisited the gun issue Tuesday night after Village President Bill Sarto exercised his veto authority two weeks ago, overruling the original 4-3 vote that favored selling the guns to a dealer for $3,000.
“Frankly, I cannot put a price tag on anyone’s life,” Sarto wrote in his veto message — his first since his term began in 2005.
“When people break into a person’s home, generally they look for a few things: cash, obviously, jewelry, things that can easily be pawned off, and guns,” Sarto said before Tuesday night’s meeting. “Even if a law-abiding citizen would purchase these weapons, they could unwillingly end up in the hands of the wrong people.”
The board voted 5-1 Tuesday night, overriding Sarto’s veto. Sarto did not vote because he previously exercised his veto authority.
Trustee Keith Hinz originally voted against selling the guns, but changed his vote Tuesday night, with the thinking that the guns could be sold to benefit other police departments and municipalities.
Of the 30 guns the department wants to unstock, 24 are handguns.
The department historically has sold the guns to federally licensed firearm dealers who specialize in police equipment, according to a report from Police Chief David Neumann.
Trustee Kay Teeter, who comes from a family of hunters and has a brother who hunts with a pistol, voted to continue selling the guns to a licensed dealer.
“There’s never been any problem … there’s no real reason not to do what we’ve done in the past,” Teeter said before the meeting. “People don’t just do bad things with guns.”


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BlackBerry's latest Z10 smartphone — which could help turn around the struggling company — is rumored to go on sale at AT&T stores starting Friday, March 22.
The March 22 date was first reported by a Bloomberg report citing sources close to the matter. BlackBerry has not yet announced when the BlackBerry Z10 will debut, but said last month that it will be available by the end of March.
Also in the rumor mill is that the device will come to T-Mobile in the following weeks and then to Verizon Wireless in April. Sprint will not carry the Z10, but it will offer BlackBerry's Q10 (with a qwerty keyboard) sometime this year.
The BlackBerry Z10 features a 4.2-inch display (1280 x 768 resolution) and dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor. It will cost $199 with a new two-year contract.
Image by Mashable


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In late August, the 24th edition of the Hot Chips event will take place in Cupertino, America. Registration has started, and the organisation has published the event's programme. It reveals that AMD will be discussing its next generation of efficient x86 chips. Intel, in its turn, will provide more details on Knight's Corner, the multi-core x86 processor for high-performance computing which is to consist of at least 50 cores.
'Jaguar' is the codename for AMD's new efficient architecture that is to replace the current Bobcat chips. At the time of writing, only little information is available on these chips. A year-old road map shows that the Jaguar will be used for the CPU-part of the mobile 'Kabini' and 'Samara' APUs, which are part of AMD's Fusion strategy. Several Jaguar chips will be spread across the manufacturer's platforms, ranging from ultra low power up to mainstream. The architecture will be compatible with both DDR3 and its efficient counterpart, DDR3L memory.
As mentioned, Intel will hold a presentation on its Knight's Corner, which was recently officially introduced as the Xeon Phi co-processor. What once began as the Larrabee GPU has evolved to a PCI-Express expansion card with over 50 x86 cores, to be used for parallel processing. The unit also features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and is produced using the same 22 nm Tri-gate transistor process Intel uses for its Ivy Bridge processors.
Apart from these large players for the consumer market, corporations such as IBM, Oracle and Applied Micro will also showcase their products. IBM will introduce two new chips, called Power7+, the likely successor to their current Power7 models. Oracle will talk about its 16-core Sparc T5, which is based on 28 nm transistors. Lastly, Applied Micro will reveal more details of its design of a 64-bit ARM system-on-a-chip server processor, called X-Gene.


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Now that it’s past the halfway point of the year, it’s time to take a look ahead at what’s in store for the meetings industry.
The Global Business Travel Association reported their pricing predictions for 2016. Their report predicted the following:
- Overall, hotel rates will continue to climb into 2016. Estimates have put the increase around 4.3 percent.
- Food and beverage costs will see an increase of about 4.5 percent per attendee per day.
- Airline costs will stay relatively flat in 2016. No noticeable increase or decrease is predicted in the United States.
Although there are expected increases, these predictions come at an opportune time when planning the 2016 budget. With some nifty budget work, you can control the cost on your terms.


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The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) reported that their combined sales in April this year increased by 21.8 percent to 30,643 units from 25,149 units a year ago.
Both year-on-year sales of passenger car and commercial vehicle segments improved by double digits.
Passenger cars sold a total of 7,317 units last month, 16.9 percent higher than the 6,259 units sold in April 2022.
Commercial vehicle sales increased by 23.5 percent to 23,326 units in April 2023 from 18,890 units a year ago.
“The improving economic indicators, which in fact remain favorable until the end of the year according to a government report, is an essential metric for the continued growth of the auto industry. At the same time, this is perfectly timed with the market availability of a wider range of motor vehicle models being offered by our members, responding to the growing needs of customers,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement.
From January to April 2023, CAMPI and TMA sales jumped by 28.1 percent to 127,927 units from 99,903 units in the same period last year.
On a year-to-date basis, sales growth of passenger cars was higher than the commercial vehicle segment at 30.5 percent and 27.3 percent, respectively.
Sales of passenger cars in the first four months of 2023 reached 32,070 units compared to 24,582 unit sales in the same period in 2022.
Commercial vehicles sold 95,857 units in the January to April 2023 period, higher than the 75,321 units sold in the same period last year.
“As the economic outlook remains favorable, the auto industry is optimistic to attain full recovery from the pandemic-induced challenges –well-positioned to grow to significant levels, even higher than the pre-pandemic figures. It is worth noting that the industry has already recorded this growth trajectory in the past four months compared with the 2019 levels,” Gutierrez added.
Top vehicle brands in the country as of end April 2023 were Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Ford, and Honda.
CURRENTPH NEWS SERVICE


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Young people who are savvier about interpreting social media images of tanned individuals are less likely to subscribe to the ideal of the golden tan.
This finding from an Australian study suggests that interventions to promote media literacy—in this case the ability to critically evaluate social media posts—could reduce rates of tanning, which can cause skin cancer.
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer around the world. Each year, the global population is diagnosed with 2 million to 3 million non-melanoma skin cancers and 132,000 melanoma skin cancers.
John Mingoia, PhD, of the University of South Australia, conducted a study with 151 Australians 18 to 29 years old, including 61 men and 90 women. The participants were randomly assigned to look at social media photos of models who either had tanned or pale skin.
The investigators tested the participants’ media literacy skills with the Media Attitudes Questionnaire, which asked people to rate statements including “Models in social media have perfect tans,” “I could look like the models in social media” and “I could be as tanned as the models in social media.”
The participants reported using social media for an average of nearly three hours per day. Ninety-seven percent of them used Facebook, 85% used YouTube, 70% used Instagram and 70% used Snapchat.
The participants were also surveyed for the internalization of the tanned ideal and their tendency to compare their own appearance with the those of the models after viewing the social media images.
Participants who were more media literate were less likely to internalize the tanned ideal after seeing the pictures of the models, while those who were less media literate were more likely to internalize that ideal. Also, the participants’ exposure to tanned models, compared with exposure to the pale models, was linked to a higher tendency to compare their own appearance to that of the models.
“The challenge is that people are exposed to images of the ‘tanned ideal’ on social media platforms—Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube—where their perceptions of attractiveness are shaped and reinforced by images from advertisers, influencers, bloggers and friends, many of which have been artificially enhanced or manipulated,” Mingoia said in a press release. “It’s this kind of everyday organic content that we’re trying to combat so that young adults can more easily identify the pervasive way that social media can influence their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors.”
“Future interventions to reduce skin cancer risk should address the role of social networking sites in proclaiming tanned skin as ideal and increase skepticism about photos of tanned models online,” the study authors concluded.
See related content, “Indoor Tanning Is Addictive, Especially If You’re Depressed.”
Click here to read a Cancer Health primer on skin cancer.
To read a press release about the study, click here.
To read the study, click here.


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Healthcare Law Confusion Brings Out Scammers
CHICAGO (AP) – A consumer protection group says scammers are trying to take advantage of confusion over the national health care law.
Steve Bernas of the Better Business Bureau says identity thieves are calling consumers claiming they’re eligible for health insurance cards in exchange for personal information.
Consumers should hang up the telephone if they get such a call. And they should never give out a bank account number, date of birth, credit card number or Social Security number to a caller.
The Better Business Bureau adds that consumers shouldn’t rely on caller ID. Some scammers are able to display a company’s name or phone number on the caller ID screen of a telephone. That information may be false and part of the scam.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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- Folks Flock To Lake Arlington On Memorial Day
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- Veterans Share Disappointment About Fall Of Ramadi To ISIS


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Live and feeder cattle prices were up again on Thursday. Live cattle prices gained 20 cents to $155.80. The 27-day average price rose to $156.36. Feeder cattle prices rose 8 cents. Prices hit $214.68, bringing the 27-day average price to $203.15.
Lean hog prices fell another $1.83 on Thursday. Hog prices fell to $62.30. The 27-day average price fell to $65.43.
Crop prices were mixed on Thursday, both corn and soybean prices fell 2 cents. Wheat prices were up 10 cents to $5.13.
|Morning Farm Report|


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The Philippines lagged behind ASEAN countries in logistics development and investments as it concentrated in the services sector, but the country is expected to catch up as opportunities for investors abound.
During a virtual webinar on Freeports to Free Shipping: The Evolution of Manufacturing, Logistics & e-Commerce in Luzon, Tom Over, JLL Philippines director for Industrial and Logistics tackled the country’s logistics sector and prospects despite being behind its neighbors.
JLL Philippines estimates that demand for logistics space in the Philippines to grow by approximately 160,000 sqm per annum in the next 10 years. Their estimates showed lower take-up by end-2020, reflective of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, a possible rebound may take place in 2021 given the pipeline build-up due to deferred transactions. The overall growth in logistics take-up is anticipated to outpace the current pipeline of identified stock, suggesting a possible supply gap in the market in the coming years.
Global macro situation is challenging in these times, but Over stressed that everybody is looking at Southeast Asia and in Asia Pacific as a whole.
For the past several years though, Over noted that large corporation have focused on retail, commercial and residential development. Thus, logistics is a different type of product in property development in the country. With that, he said, this product type is still trying to get scale. market. “There is an opportunity for first movers,” Over said adding the development of the critical supply chain.
Over said the country’s logistics industry has not yet attained the international standards. This means, there are opportunities for individuals with huge landbanks along junctions and expressways, and for investors for joint venture partners to build facilities that are of international. This will pave the way for more international investments in logistics.
To further attract investors in the logistics sector, Stuart Ross, JLL SEA head of industrial, presented a study showing that 81 percent of investors planned to increase their exposure to logistics by end 2021 as the sector continued to be undervalued. “More groups are trying to get in the logistics sector,” he added.
Ross stressed that without a doubt, major foreign logistics investors are looking at Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.
He suggested that the Philippines improve its infrastructure, roads and ports, stressing these are critical components to bring efficiency and competitiveness in the logistics sector.
In addition, he cited tax incentives and free trade agreements as important add-ons to bring in key to
bring in foreign investments.
In addition, Over cited a World Bank study that should explain the Philippines stature behind its ASEAN neighbors in the logistics sector.
The study indicated that the Philippines is behind its peers as it posted significant declines in output structure (2007 vs. 1980) in terms of percentage of GDP in the manufacturing, industry, and agriculture sectors. It showed that the Philippines declined the biggest in agriculture (-12.4%), industry (-7.2%), and, manufacturing (-3.8%).
But, the Philippines shone brightly in the services sector with 18.1 percent increase the services. The Philippines is one of the world leading business process management or outsourcing destinations.
Other countries though performed better in industry and manufacturing sectors. In the industry sector, Thailand posted a positive 16 percent, Indonesia 5.1 percent, and Malaysia 6.7 percent.
In manufacturing, Thailand posted a positive 14.1 percent, Malaysia with 6.4 percent and Thailand with 14.1 percent. In services, Indonesia posted a positive 5.1 percent, Malaysia 5.7 percent, and Thailand with negative 3.4 percent.
In terms of employment, the Philippines scored negative in agriculture (-15.7%), industry (-0.3%) and manufacturing (-1.7%). In contrast, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand posted positive mostly positive in three sectors, except for agriculture where Indonesia posted -5.2 percent, Malaysia -22.4 percent, and Thailand -29.1 percent.


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Food processing jobs promised for SA as Thomas Foods signs export deal with Thailand’s CP Group
A South Australian food company is promising a significant number of local jobs out of a deal it has reached with a group of Thailand’s biggest private businesses.
Thomas Foods International has signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand’s CP Group to build an advanced food processing centre to produce ready-made meals for export.
Thomas Foods chief executive Darren Thomas said it could lead to tens of millions of dollars of investment.
“It will be one of our company’s biggest investments so it’ll be in the millions of dollars and the jobs will be there and they’ll be significant,” he said.
The SA Government hoped the deal might benefit Adelaide’s northern suburbs, where the unemployment rate is expected to rise once Holden shuts its car manufacturing plant by 2017.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the northern suburbs and the land availability,” Mr Thomas said.
“If you look at land availability … it would be a logical choice to be looking there.”
Auto workers might move to food processing
Mr Thomas said some of the automotive workers losing their current jobs might be well-suited to the potential work in food processing.
“[That is] because of the high technology and automation, in that there are some skill sets there that I think would be useful and we’ve had discussions along those lines,” he said.
The memorandum of understanding arose from a recent South Australian trade mission to South East Asia, during which the State Government and Austrade introduced the two companies.
Premier Jay Weatherill said there was no decision yet on where to build a processing plant, but he would be keen to see it in the northern suburbs.
“While manufacturing generally in South Australia has been in decline, food manufacturing as a category has actually been going up,” he said.
“So there are bright spots in the manufacturing sector and food is one of them.”
By Leah MacLennan
The company expects to eliminate 1.2 billion tons carbon dioxide equivalent of methane emissions by the end of the decade. The company says that it already reduced its methane emissions by around 14% between 2018 and 2020.
The “first-of-its-kind” pilot project will develop and demonstrate an affordable modular bioprocessing system to produce biodegradable bioplastics from food waste diverted from landfills. The three-year grant will test the scalability and feasibility of the conversion on a national and global scale.
Arkeon is allying with specialty mineral giant ICL to support the scaling of its fermentation bioprocess that converts CO2 into the 20 proteinogenic essential amino acids needed in human nutrition. The process, hailed as carbon negative, is based on the use of archaea, a group of microorganisms that naturally feeds off the greenhouse gas.


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New photos and a hands-on description have compared Google's custom-built Nexus One handset, rumored to be for sale to the public next month, with Apple's iPhone [updated with hardware specs].
Jason Chen of Gizmodo received some hands-on time with the hardware thanks to an anonymous source. He called the long-rumored, supposed Google Phone a "Droid killer" -- ironic, because Motorola attempted to position its Droid, which launched in November, as an "iPhone killer."
Chen said the Nexus one is slightly thinner and lighter than the iPhone 3GS. The back is somewhat rubbery, and feels less "cheap," he said, than the iPhone's plastic back.
"You can call the design the antithesis of the Droid: smooth, curved, and light, instead of hard, square and pointy," he said. "It feels long and silky and natural in your hand -- even more so than the iPhone 3GS."
Loading a Web page over Wi-Fi, the Nexus One was found to be the fastest of the three phones. The iPhone 3GS reportedly loaded a page "a few seconds later," while the Droid came in third. Chen said the results were consistent with a number of Web sites.
The Nexus One screen was described as superior, with "vibrant" colors and darker blacks than its competitors. It was also said to be brighter. In comparison, Chen said the Droid and iPhone screens seemed "washed out."
"This is probably the best screen we've seen on a smartphone so far," he said. "Probably."
The Nexus One's 5-megapixel camera includes flash, though the picture quality was said to be unspectacular. The camera has autofocus, but does not have the tap-to-focus feature seen on the iPhone 3GS.
Google's handset also lacks multi-touch, was said to have mediocre music playback over it speakers, and call quality was not tested.


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Home Depot said Tuesday it was investigating a possible breach of its systems holding customer payment information tied to credit and debit cards.
A targeted attack focused on user names, passwords and security questions of Apple accounts gave hackers access to nude photos of celebrities that were then leaked over the weekend on the Internet, the company said Tuesday.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a "global compact" on surveillance and the use of collected data, saying the U.S. isn't the only country that does it and American technology companies are unfairly targeted for the government...
Email addresses and encrypted passwords of around 97,000 users who tested early builds of the Bugzilla bug tracking software were left exposed for three months following a server migration.
Future versions of the Firefox OS mobile platform will allow users to control application-specific permissions, a feature with both privacy and security benefits that's missing on Android.
The U.S. National Security Agency built a "Google-like" search engine to give domestic and international government agencies access to details of billions of calls, texts and instant messages sent by millions of people, according to The Intercept.
A senior U.S. senator is asking airlines about their data privacy practices, saying he's concerned about what information the companies are collecting and sharing with third parties.
Thirty U.S. data brokers and data management firms, including Adobe Systems, AOL and Salesforce.com, are violating privacy promises they've made regarding their handling of the personal information of EU residents, a privacy group said in a complaint...
The U.S. National Security Agency has a cyberwarfare program that hunts for foreign cyberattacks and is able to strike back without human intervention, according to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
China's Xiaomi has apologized for causing privacy concerns, after the fledgling smartphone maker faced scrutiny over whether it can be trusted with users' personal data.
Key technology companies including Google, Microsoft and Twitter have filed in support of Facebook's dispute with the New York County District Attorney's office over the collection of user data in bulk under a gag order for a fraud investigation.
A 'class action' suit against Facebook over its privacy policies was rejected by the commercial court of Vienna, and referred to the regional court in the same city, a commercial court spokesman said Friday.
The Russian government will allow Edward Snowden, the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor who leaked details of the agency's worldwide surveillance programs, to stay in the country for three more years, according to Russia news reports.
Google has removed over 50 links to Wikipedia from its search results on European domains as a consequence of the EU's "right to be forgotten" ruling which, according to Wikimedia, "punches holes in free knowledge."
As Facebook privacy suit reaches 25,000 participant target, court is still unsure if it will allow it
An Austrian 'class action' lawsuit against Facebook over the company's privacy policies is expected to reach a limit of 25,000 participants on Wednesday. It remains however uncertain if the commercial court in Vienna will accept the case.
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Pacific Trade to open plant in Glen Burnie
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- Daniel J. Sernovitz
Rockville candle maker Pacific Trade International plans to open its first U.S. manufacturing plant this summer in Glen Burnie, Md., where it hopes to meet a rising demand for its Chesapeake Bay Candle products.
The company was on the hunt for space for about six months before settling on a 117,200-square-foot industrial building at the Baymeadow Industrial Park, said Scott Skogmo, a broker with Sperry Van Ness/Skogmo Commercial Real Estate LLC who represented the company in its negotiations. Skogmo declined to disclose lease terms.
Pacific Trade spokeswoman Mareike Finck said in a telephone interview she expects the plant will be operational by late 2010. Specific details, including how many people will work at the facility, are still being determined. The company plans to make a formal announcement once those details are finalized, she said.
The company is based in Rockville, but its Chesapeake Bay Candle products are produced in Vietnam and China. Finck said the majority of its candle sales come from the U.S., distributed through retailers including Target Corp. and Kohl’s Corp. That business brought in about $50 million in revenue last year, she said, which was a factor in Pacific Trade’s decision to open a plant in Glen Burnie.
The company, which has three manufacturing plants in Asia, was founded in 1994 by Mei Xu, a University of Maryland, College Park graduate. Pacific Trade will be moving into space at 6720 Baymeadow Drive, which is now occupied by liquor distributor Reliable Churchill LLLP . That company plans to vacate the building in June, Skogmo said. The building was being marketed by NAI KLNB brokers John Boote and James Caronna. Representatives from Reliable Churchill could not be immediately reached for comment.
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Free Shipping Day is Thursday, December 17, 2009.
Ft. Collins, Col. (PRWEB) December 15, 2009
For most of us, the frenzied schedules that confront us in December lead to unfinished shopping lists with little time to spare. Holiday shopping procrastinators have a day designed especially for them. Free Shipping Day is a reward for people who wait until the last minute to cross those final gifts off their list.
Set for Thursday, December 17, Free Shipping Day is a one day shopping event when participating merchants offer free shipping to their customers with delivery by Christmas Eve. More than 600 retailers have already signed up to participate, eclipsing last year’s final tally of 250.
“We are a nation of procrastinators, especially during the holiday season, thus the reason Free Shipping Day has so much appeal,” said Luke Knowles, who created the event last year. “The event is ideal for retailers because it extends the online holiday shopping season and gives them exposure to new customers. Free Shipping Day is perfect for consumers because it gives them a chance to finish their shopping online and still get great deals.”
“Experience indicates that many consumers wait until the last second to cross off their lists, and numbers show that online shopping dramatically slows after December 12th,” Knowles said. “Free Shipping Day encourages people to continue buying items online later into the month of December.
Knowles - who created FreeShipping.org with his wife, Maisie, in 2007, hatched the idea for Free Shipping Day just two weeks before the event last December. In an abrupt brainstorm, he thought that retailers would relish the opportunity to extend the online holiday shopping season, which typically peaks in early December because consumers are concerned about their gift orders arriving to their intended destination in time for Christmas.
Knowles expected a favorable response from retailers and consumers last year, but he didn’t anticipate the overwhelming interest that the event actually received. Free Shipping Day attracted more than 250 merchants and the FreeShippingDay.com web site saw 250,000 hits in a 10-day period, including 100,000 on the actual day itself.
“This year, we have had all year to prepare for Free Shipping Day,” Knowles said. “Retailers had a good experience because of all the traffic and sales they received during last year’s Free Shipping Day, and more exposure leads to more interest from retailers. This ultimately benefits consumers since they have a wide selection of retailers to choose from.”
Free Shipping Day is a one day online shopping event on Dec. 17, when participating merchants offer free shipping to their customers with guaranteed delivery by Christmas. Participating merchants include Toys R Us, JCPenney, Apple Store, Nike, Sears, Babies R Us, Eddie Bauer, PacSun, Ralph Lauren and Adidas. For more information, visit http://www.freeshippingday.com.
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The Bake Sale Returns to Its Political Roots
Pastry chef Willa Pelini of Emilie’s in Washington, DC, felt a deep sense of urgency after learning about George Floyd’s brutal murder. “I was born and raised in Minneapolis and grew up in the neighborhood where the killing took place. I was thinking what can I do? How do I channel all this weird anxiety in a productive way?” She reached out to fellow pastry chef Paola Velez who is on furlough from her job at Kith and Kin to discuss doing a pop-up, but Velez had bigger plans. “I was frustrated because my soul hurts, and my mind hurts,” says Velez. “A pop-up felt like a drop in the ocean. So I thought, if there were more of us, how much could we raise?”
That’s how Bakers Against Racism was born. Together Velez, Pelini, and chef Rob Rubba (of DC’s OysterOyster) hoped to convince 80 bakers to make 150 desserts to be sold at $8 a piece. “We figured, if there are 80 of us we could raise $96,000,” says Velez. Within three days of posting the event earlier this month—it has evolved into a massive global bake sale. The team has over 2,400 confirmed participants from 38 states and 15 different countries including Australia, Denmark, and Turkey baking everything from thick slices of pound cake dripping with a bright and sticky strawberry glaze in New York City to earthy and chewy black sesame seed cookies in Paris.
Bakers Against Racism is just one recent example of a modern and powerful grassroots movement fronted by pastry chefs who are reimagining the bake sale as a vehicle to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for political causes. “Bake sales are a form of protest,” says NYC-based pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz. “They are organizational frameworks that can be used to support or enforce certain values and movements.”
Pickowicz kicked off the movement of pastry chef-led bake sales in 2017 when she gathered 20 local chefs to throw her inaugural Planned Parenthood NYC bake sale. The event was a reaction to the results of the presidential election the previous year and the policy changes that were being made by the Trump Administration. “I wanted to do something based on my love of community and rallying people together,” she says. “And bake sales have a universal nostalgic appeal.” Her first year she managed to raise almost $9,000.
Since it first began, Pickowicz’s bake sale has grown exponentially, becoming an event that requires multiple detailed spreadsheets, intricate floor maps, and nearly a year of meetings to plan. The line to get into last year’s event was 90 minutes long and snaked down the block outside of Cafe Altro Paradiso where Pickowicz helms the pastry program. By the end of the day, Pickowicz and her pals—a 60-person group, mostly pastry chefs with a couple of savory chefs and cookbook authors mixed in—had raised $100,000.
The movement has spread rapidly across the country taking place in cities like Denver, New Orleans, San Francisco, Detroit, Los Angeles, Birmingham, Alabama, and now online thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. And it has raised money to support causes like Planned Parenthood, AIDS organizations, women's leadership programs, disaster relief, and bail funds along the way.
Pickowicz says she regularly gets calls from pastry chefs from every part of the country hoping to throw their own bake sales. “It’s nice being able to help or guide them or give them just the small amount of wisdom I've gleaned from doing this.” In fact, she has received so many calls that she recently launched The Bake Sale Project, which “aims to document the radical potential of the bake sale” while also creating an “equitable, free, collaborative, inclusive, and radical framework for learning and engagement” by providing templates, talks, recipes, contacts, and more.
The bake sale as a powerful political tool is not a new concept. Since the bake sale originated in the 1800s, it’s been a popular way for people, especially women to raise money for causes. While you might associate bake sales with brownies made from box mixes funding gym equipment for the local middle school, they’ve also been an important political tool: during the Civil Rights movement, Georgia Gilmore, a midwife and single mother of six, organized a robust underground network of black women to sell sweet potato pies and pound cakes door-to-door to help fund the Montgomery bus boycott. Women, who make up the majority percentage of professional pastry chefs, are also the ones leading this modern bake sale movement.
It’s easy to see why this movement has taken off: Bake sales are an incredibly accessible way to support causes you believe in. “I am not interested in these grand galas and political benefit dinners where it’s $10,000 a table to have things cooked for you,” says Pickowicz. “I wanted to create something that would be really accessible for everyone in my community to participate in.”
Unlike the spendy gala dinners, for about $5, attendees can pick up high-caliber desserts—such as custardy slices of turmeric and raspberry pie and zippy kolaches—by some of the best pastry chefs in the country, whose desserts might be hard to access otherwise.
And it’s an affordable way to fundraise. “I have no money to give,” says food stylist and former pastry chef Alexander Roberts. “But I can bake.” So Roberts put together a plan to sell a handful of cakes—crafted from layers of tender victoria sponge, homemade jams, and fluffy Swiss meringue buttercream—to raise money for the LA Bail Fund and BLM. He was hoping to sell four or five cakes through his Instagram for $30 a piece. So far, he has managed to sell nearly 50. “It’s more cake than I ever made in my career total as a pastry chef,” he says with a laugh. So far, Roberts has managed to raise $1,500, so far through his online bake sale called Bake Sale 4 Bail. “It’s more money than I could have ever donated myself.”
It’s also a joyful way to support a cause. “There are so many emotions going on with everyone right now and anger is a super important emotion to acknowledge to harness and feel but it’s not sustainable,” says Pelini. But to her bake sales “a joyful expression of unity and activism and joy is a sustainable emotion.”
These bake sales haven’t just helped raise money—they’ve also helped strengthen the sense of community among their organizers. Pastry chefs don’t often get the spotlight, says pastry chef Zoe Kanan. “I feel like I made countless friends that I've interacted with in all kinds of ways, in person and online, since I started doing these,” she adds. “It has brought me to other communities and people that I wouldn't have known about otherwise,” notes Pickowicz. It’s not unusual for pastry chefs to travel to participate in bake sales in other cities, too. In Nashville, pastry chefs like Sasha Piligian and Kanan, who both were at Pickowicz’s event, gathered once again, this time for a Halloween-themed bake sale thrown by Piligian’s then place of work, Lou, to raise money for a local non-profit.
Velez says these bake sales are also a way for people to get to know their communities better. The Bakers Against Racism team made the decision to decentralize where the fund raised would go, instead empowering each participant to do their research and pick an organization that will positively impact their own communities. “My goal is not to have one organization get all of the donations, but each donation that is raised go somewhere that is absolutely necessary.”