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(For more market insights, including options activity, click on ; for the Day Ahead newsletter link.reuters.com/mex49s; for the Morning News Call newsletter, link.reuters.com/nex49s) U.S. stocks edged higher in volatile trading on Thursday, as a strong read on manufacturing offset weak results from Wal-Mart and geopolitical and economic uncertainty around the world. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.47 percent at 16,116.75, the S&P 500 was up 0.37 percent at 1,835.58 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.29 percent at 4,250.113.
** FACEBOOK INC, $66.66, -2.06 pct
** BLACKBERRY LTD, $9.52, +5.66 pct
Facebook’s purchase of fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion stunned the markets but analysts said the deal made strategic sense as it will solidify the social network’s position as a leader in mobile.
For a graphic on price paid per user, (link.reuters.com/mej96v)
The stunning bid pushed up shares of BlackBerry Ltd as investors placed bets that the smartphone maker’s own messaging platform has been undervalued.
** WAL-MART STORES INC, $73.64, -1.62 pct
The world’s largest retailer forecast a lower full-year profit than analysts expect, as fewer food stamps, higher taxes and tighter credit erode its sales. The world’s largest retailer expects net sales growth this year to be at the lower end of its forecast range of 3 to 5 percent.
For a graphic on earnings, (link.reuters.com/gup96v)
Stock vs S&P, (link.reuters.com/guw84v)
** TESLA MOTORS INC, $209.34, +8.11 pct
** KANDI TECHNOLOGIES GROUP INC, $13.65, +2.25 pct
Tesla Motors, led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Wednesday and said deliveries of its luxury Model S electric sedan would surge more than 55 percent this year.
At least three brokerages raised their target price on the company’s stock on Thursday. Jefferies & Co raised its target price to $220 from $190, while J.P. Morgan Securities raised the target price to $137 from $115. Robert W. Baird & Co raised the target price to $245 from $215.
Shares of the Chinese electric vehicle maker, Kandi, also rose.
** SAFEWAY INC, $35.99, +3.99 pct
** BLACKHAWK NETWORK HOLDINGS INC, $22.255, -20.74 pct
The second-largest U.S. mainstream grocery store operator, said on Wednesday it is in talks about a possible sale of the company. Safeway has been trying to streamline its business by selling off non-core units.
It spun off its gift card provider, Blackhawk Network Holdings, into a separate publicly traded company, selling a 19 percent stake. It also sold off its Canadian operations to Empire Co Ltd, the operator of Canadian retailer Sobeys, for $5.8 billion in cash.
Separately, Blackhawk Network reported fourth-quarter earnings of 81 cents, missing analysts’ average estimate as higher costs and marketing expenses hurt margins.
** GOL LINHAS AEREAS INTELIGENTES SA, $4.75, +4.40 pct
Air France-KLM SA will invest $100 million in the Brazilian airline as the European carrier seeks to take advantage of a potential surge in travel demand during the coming soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, which will happen in Brazil.
** AMERICAN RAILCAR INDUSTRIES INC, $55.7099, +11.49 pct
The railcar maker reported fourth-quarter profit above analysts’ estimates as lower costs more than offset a drop in revenue.
** DANA HOLDING CORP, $21.27, +5.66 pct
The maker of drivetrain technologies and sealing systems reported fourth-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates due to the strong global light-vehicle production demand in 2013. The company said it expects FY 2014 revenue to be about $6.8 billion to $6.9 billion. Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $6.94 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
** ONCONOVA THERAPEUTICS INC, $7.93, -42.79 pct
The company said its experimental blood disorder drug did not meet the main goal of a late-stage trial. Rigosertib, the company’s lead drug, is being studied as a potential treatment for patients with a higher risk of myelodysplastic syndromes who had not responded to prior therapy.
The company’s shares fell 45 percent in extended trading on Wednesday.
** RAPTOR PHARMACEUTICAL CORP, $16.89, +13.20 pct
The drug maker said its experimental brain disorder drug slowed the loss of muscle control in patients with Huntington’s disease after 18 months of treatment.
** CONN’S INC, $38.1329, -31.66 pct
The electronics and home appliance retailer lost more than a third of its market value after it cut its profit forecast due to bad debts and weaker sales growth for TVs.
** PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES INC, $58.72, +16.32 pct
The company said it would buy Norway’s Aktiv Kapital AS for about $880 million to expand its fee-based debt collection services in Europe. The company also reported a higher-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter profit.
** AVG TECHNOLOGIES, $19.72, +13.92 pct
The anti-virus software maker on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter revenue above analysts’ average estimate, helped by a 25 percent jump in subscription revenue and strong growth in mobiles.
** HOMEAWAY INC, $48.18, +12.15 pct
The vacation rental company reported fourth-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates due to a rise in paid listings.
** YANDEX NV, $36.17, -9.19 pct
Russia’s biggest search engine said on Thursday it expects revenues to grow by 25-30 percent this year, a slowing from the growth achieved in 2013.
** PENN VIRGINIA CORP, $13.57, +5.11 pct
The oil and gas producer on Wednesday forecast 2014 product revenues below analysts’ average estimate after reporting lower revenue in the fourth quarter due to a decline in selling prices. Product revenues, excluding the impact of any hedges, are expected to be $587 million to $630 million this year, below the average analyst estimate of $655 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
** JACK IN THE BOX INC, $57.19, +6.96 pct
The San Diego-based restaurant chain on Wednesday reported first-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates, helped by growth in same-store sales at its Jack in the Box and Qdoba Mexican Grill outlets.
Barclays Capital raised its price target on the company’s stock to $49 from $47 on Thursday.
** GOODRICH PETROLEUM CORP, $12.06, -21.12 pct
The oil and gas producer reported a larger-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter as production was hurt by drilling delays at the Tuscaloosa Marine shale field located in Louisiana and Mississippi.
** RUBICON TECHNOLOGY INC, $11.93, +10.46 pct
The company, which supplies sapphire substrates and products to the LED, semiconductor and optical markets, forecast first-quarter revenue slightly below analysts’ estimates due to a slowing LED backlighting market.
** MILLENNIAL MEDIA INC, $6.26, -13.06 pct
The company, which helps mobile app developers and advertisers to focus on smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, forecast first-quarter revenue below analysts’ expectations and an adjusted core loss of $5 million to $6 million.
Evercore Partners analysts cut their price target on the stock to $9 from $10, but maintained their ‘overweight’ rating.
** INFOBLOX INC, $20.08, +4.64 pct
Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the network equipment maker’s stock to “buy” from “neutral”, according to Theflyonthewall.com.
** KAYNE ANDERSON MLP INVESTMENT CO, $36.92, -4.87 pct
The investment company priced its offering of 8 million shares at $37.05 per share, a 4.5 percent discount to the stock’s Wednesday closing price.
** QUANTA SERVICES INC, $34.44, +7.29 pct
The provider of industrial infrastructure reported fourth-quarter results that beat the average analyst estimate due to an increase in sales in its electric power business. The company also forecast FY 2014 revenue to be largely above analysts’ average estimate.
** APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, $17.62, +17.31 pct
Analysts at Cowen and Co highlighted the networking component maker’s stock among their favorite investment ideas, citing Google Inc’s plans to roll out the Google Fiber initiative to additional cities. The expansion, the brokerage said, could be a catalyst for increased capital expenditure in wireline networking and communications equipment in the United States.
** PDC ENERGY INC, $56.2, +6.04 pct
The oil and gas producer reported a profit in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss a year earlier, as total output jumped 58 percent, driven by production from its Wattenberg field in Colorado.
** TRANSALTA CORP, $12.01, -10.37 pct
The Canadian power company forecast full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) that missed analysts’ average estimate. Based on current estimates for power prices in Alberta and the Pacific Northwest, TransAlta expects 2014 EBITDA to be between C$1.015 billion and C$1.065 billion, below the average analyst estimate of C$1.072 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
** NABORS INDUSTRIES LTD, $22, +4.02 pct
At least five brokerages raised their price targets on the U.S. oilfield services and drilling company’s stock after it reported on Tuesday an uptick in fourth-quarter margins from its international business due to lower costs to move rigs and other items. Analysts expect Nabors to do well this year, partly due to a recovery in its home market, where demand is starting to rebound as natural gas prices go up.
** SEANERGY MARITIME HOLDINGS CORP, $1.97, +24.53 pct
The drybulk company reported a quarterly profit, compared with a year-ago loss, helped by a $20.2 million gain from the sale of three vessel-owning subsidiaries.
Seanergy also said market conditions in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 were better than in the same quarter a year earlier. Time charter equivalent earnings - average daily revenue of a vessel per voyage - for the company's fleet rose by 42 percent in the quarter. (link.reuters.com/fup96v)
** AVIS BUDGET GROUP INC, $43.155, +7.89 pct
** HERTZ GLOBAL HOLDINGS INC, $26.82, +3.91 pct
Car rental company Avis reported fourth-quarter results above analysts’ estimates as an increase in rental days and its acquisition of Zipcar boosted revenue. Vehicle rental days increased 6 percent in North America. Zipcar, which Avis bought early last year, contributed 4 percent to total revenue, which rose 9 percent to $1.85 billion.
Shares of rival Hertz also rose.
** EMPLOYERS HOLDINGS INC, Wednesday close $24.29, -19.76 pct premarket
The insurer reported a fourth-quarter loss of 3 cents per share on an adjusted basis as its losses and loss adjustment expenses rose to $136.9 million from $22.8 million a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 27 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
JMP Securities cut its rating on the company’s stock to “underperform” from “market perform.”
** CYTOKINETICS INC, $9.01, -8.53 pct
The drug developer said its common stock offering of 4.4 million shares is priced at $8.00 per share, a discount of 18 percent to the stock’s Wednesday closing. Cytokinetics will spend a part of the estimated $35 million gross proceeds on research and development.
** BIOLASE INC, $3.29, +16.25 pct
The dental laser maker said it would distribute 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys Inc’s Objet30 OrthoDesk printer, which uses dental printing materials to create aligners, retainers and surgical guides.
Biolase said it would also distribute some of Stratasys’ Design Series printers.
** BASIC ENERGY SERVICES INC, $22.7, +13.50 pct
The oilfield services provider reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as its efforts to control costs paid off and the company said it expects first-quarter revenue to inch up 4-5 percent from the fourth quarter, partly due to increased drilling activity. (by Shailaja Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)


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What You Can Expect If Your Company Requires You To Relocate
September 5, 2013
Since Oklahoma City is among the top cities in job creation and economic growth across the country, many people are relocating here for a job either as a new hire or with their current company. Here are a few things to consider and expect if you're going through relocation. Of the firms surveyed in the 2012 Atlas Van Lines survey*, 63% offer full moving reimbursement; 84% of companies surveyed have a formal relocation policy, and 52% of job relocation in 2012 were new hires. According to the survey, 76% of the firms that responded give 2 weeks or less for the employee to accept the offer. As far as moving expenses go, more than half of the companies surveyed indicated they pay to pack household goods, move a car, and allow unlimited weight. On the home buying and finding front, more than half of the companies surveyed say they offer transferees and new hires a temporary housing allowance, home finding trips, and storage. Since 53% of those who relocated were actually homeowners, some companies will reimburse or pay for home sales costs, and others even pay for home buying costs on the other end. For renters, more than half the firms will pay or reimburse individuals who are penalized for breaking a lease. When considering application for a transfer or a new position in a new city, it's important to research the city ahead of time and get familiar. On Movoto.com you can find great articles about things you should know about various cities, including Oklahoma City. These types of articles and research will help if you are faced with a quick decision when the job offer comes through. Usually if you are looking at relocation, the official company policy will be discussed in the interview process. This will give you a heads up on what to expect. And remember, everything is negotiable. Nine out of 10 firms said that offering more incentives to move almost always is successful in convincing an employee to relocate. *All statistics are according to Atlas Van Lines' 46th Annual Corporate Relocation Survey. For more detailed information check out the full report.

domain: news


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The iPhone is now officially fresh meat: Metasploit creator HD Moore has added iPhone-hacking features to the wildly popular freebie penetration testing tool. (See Now Playing: Metasploit 3.0.)
Metasploit 3.0 now has Apple iPhone shellcode, with "payloads" for writing exploits using the Metasploit framework. "The addition of iPhone payloads to Metasploit makes it easy for a researcher to write exploits," Moore says. "The payloads also provide an example of how to develop new shellcode for the iPhone, which could accelerate exploit development for the platform."
In addition to a fun payload that lets an attacker make a victim's iPhone vibrate, Metasploit also comes with two other payloads that give an attacker remote shell access. Moore is also currently in the process of adding existing iPhone exploits, such as one in the Perl Compatible Regular Expressions (PCRE) library in Safari, to Metasploit -- as well as some zero-day ones. Moore, who is also director of security research for BreakingPoint Systems, says he hopes to complete these exploit modules this weekend: "I have a few crashes in various apps -- MobileSafari and MobileMail [for instance] -- and with any luck, these will turn into working exploits."
It was only a matter of time before the iPhone became part of the Metasploit hacking arsenal. The minute the iPhone hit the street, researchers were clambering to be the first to find bugs in the device. Most recently, hackers have been focused on unlocking the phone's ties to exclusive carrier AT&T. (See i Caramba! iPhone Hacked Already and Apple: Bypassing AT&T Can Break Your iPhone.)
The underlying problem is that most iPhone users don't realize their phones are basically a "portable Mac," says Barnaby Jack, staff security researcher for Juniper Networks and an expert in exploiting embedded devices. "People tend to not realize that they're walking around with a portable computer that can be compromised. As well as data theft from the phone itself, the phone can also be used as a platform to launch additional attacks over the Internet."
"I think the real eye-opener will be when malware targets the actual cellphone capabilities. It is not far-fetched that software could be developed to remotely bug the phone calls of the user, or remotely track a user's location," Jack says.
Meantime, the new Metasploit iPhone payloads give attackers full control over the device when they get integrated into a remote exploit, he says. "Once shell access is obtained, any software may be downloaded and installed."
Even more unsettling, however, is the potential for a rootkit to be set loose in an iPhone -- every process runs as "root" on the iPhone, with full root privileges. "What will be more interesting, in my opinion, is the rootkit-style software that will no doubt be developed for installation on the iPhone after it has been compromised," Jack says.
That's a risk that Moore is well aware of. "A rootkit takes on a whole new meaning when the attacker has access to the camera, microphone, contact list, and phone hardware. Couple this with 'always-on' Internet access over EDGE and you have a perfect spying device," he wrote last night in a blog post on Metasploit.
Meanwhile, Moore says the most significant Metasploit features for hacking the iPhone are still in the works. "The shellcode itself is neat, but having a working exploit to play with is much more interesting."
"I hope that support for the iPhone in Metasploit will kick-start exploit development and result in the discovery of new attack vectors."
Have a comment on this story? Please click "Discuss" below. If you'd like to contact Dark Reading's editors directly, send us a message.


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To me, there's nothing more sad than when a bookstore closes. I used to love getting lost in books, and bookstores, which is a pretty common story among people who end up writing for a living.
So news of places like Murder By the Book on Southeast Hawthorne Blvd. (closed in April), the Hollywood District's Second Glance Books (closing in July), and Beaverton Paperbacks (closed in May 2011), bring about a sense of loss, of a missed opportunity. Those were shelves that I'll never get the chance to get lost within.
In this Friday's print edition of the Portland Business Journal, we'll explore a few reasons why some independent book stores are struggling. To anybody who reads their books on a Kindle or browses the shelves of Powell's Books before ordering their choices on Amazon.com, some of the root causes may be apparent.
Yet amid the general doom-and-gloom in what some might perceive as a dying industry, you can see some light.
The American Booksellers Association reports its membership has grown to 1,632 companies with 1,971 stores. While the total is a far cry from the 5,000 stores counted by the trade group back in 1995, this year's store count represents a 19 percent increase from 2009.
I spoke last week with Dan Cullen, content officer for the American Booksellers Association, who offered three primary reasons why independent booksellers are on the upswing.
1. Borders' demise
The 2011 bankruptcy and liquidation of the more than 600 Borders bookstores knocked a big competitor off the map for independent bookstores, which took advantage of the opportunity, Cullen said.
“Either on their own or in collaboration, a lot of bookstores were concerted in their efforts to reach out to customers in their area,” Cullen said. “There were customers looking for a new local store and they were often able to make a new connection.”
2. The "democratization" of technology
Cullen said that a lot of technology that was either proprietary or too expensive for booksellers is now readily accessible. That includes everything from social media platforms, which provides a zero-cost method of creating one-to-one customer relationships; analytics software; or software that helps them more easily manage staffing schedules. “All of this allows booksellers to operate more efficiently,” he said.
3. The "buy local" movement
Cullen says “localism” — as in, customers going out of their way to buy from local proprietors rather than big national chains — has reached a tipping point.
“Customers are making decisions to patronize locally owned retail stores because they recognize that where they spend their money makes a difference,” he said. “They’ve seen the closure of important local stores or institutions and kind of woke up to what’s important from that regard.”


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One of Tesla’s future plans is to roll out a network of self-driving “robotaxis,” dubbed “Tesla Network.” In today’s Tesla shareholder meeting, CEO Elon Musk fielded a question from a shareholder about the possibility of having a human-driven rideshare fleet prior to the rollout of Tesla Network.
This would be similar to Uber/Lyft or other rideshare services, but driven through an owner’s own Tesla app which they already have installed.
Musk seemed responsive to the idea, stating that while the end goal is to have autonomous ridesharing, this might be a good stopgap prior to Tesla gaining regulatory approval for their robotaxi fleets.
The question came up from shareholder Francois H. on Tesla’s public page aggregating questions for the meeting:
“Would Tesla Condisder Pushing out an update to its App for Ride Share Service soon so at least for both Tesla and Current Owners as an easy way to make revenue now and fix bugs along the way till they get to FSD and Robo Taxis in the future with no Driver?”
This has been suggested before but Musk previously didn’t seem interested in the idea and preferred to wait for full self-driving capability before launching any type of ride-sharing service.
For the first time today, he appeared open to the idea of launching the service with human drivers.
Similar to the way that the current autopilot beta software works, this would give Tesla real-world practice at fixing bugs in the system under human supervision. Not only would this help the rollout of the software because bugs could be fixed ahead of time, but owners could also benefit financially from it.
Given that the Model 3 is one of the most efficient cars ever made and doesn’t require annual service, it can be an ideal car for ridesharing service, where drivers can keep a bigger share of their earnings if their running costs are low.
We have no details yet on how this system might work, but if it’s anything like Uber and Lyft, it could be a huge financial boon not just for drivers but for Tesla itself. Those companies currently have market caps of $72 billion and $17 billion respectively, while Tesla’s current market cap is $38 billion. If Tesla gained just a fraction of the market that Uber and Lyft has, that could result in significant future revenues for the company.
Not to mention Waymo, Google’s self-driving taxi startup, which recently was valuated at over $100 billion.
Musk also reiterated today that Tesla still plans to have 1 million cars on the road capable of becoming robotaxis by the end of next year. While cars being delivered today are not equipped with the hardware or the software for full self-driving, the former is a matter of a service visit for a computer swap and the latter is only a software update away.
So as long as that hardware and software is ready, at today’s production numbers, there will be 1 million Tesla vehicles built by then which have this capability.
Regulatory approval is another question, though. Whether or not cars are capable of driving with no human assistance by the end of next year, governments will have to allow this to happen. That seems at least as unlikely as the technical capability being available, especially with the level of lobbying we’ve seen at all levels to try to stop EVs.
Whether it’s punitive, unfair taxes on EVs being pushed by the Koch brothers, relaxed fuel economy restrictions being pushed by automakers, direct-sales bans being pushed by dealership groups, or anti-public-charging campaigns being pushed by the oil industry, Tesla and EVs are being attacked on all fronts. You can guarantee that all automakers which don’t have a self-driving system, all taxi organizations, and likely the other ridesharing apps will resist Tesla Network as soon as it becomes technically feasible (and beforehand, as well).
Musk is often optimistic about timelines, and “robotaxis by 2020” seems to me like another instance of that. While Tesla’s Autonomy Investor Day was reassuring in many ways, it still seems very unlikely that cars will be able to drive with nobody in them just a year and a half from now.
Autopilot does get better all the time, and is better now than when the Model 3 came out.
In my Model 3 review, I mentioned how the car was designed with Tesla Network in mind. Even years before this idea is technically possible, Tesla designed and built a car which has features focused on complete autonomous driving. The phone-as-key, internal camera, and design of the central display are all autonomy-focused design touches.
What’s interesting about this is that it’s very rare for automakers to release a car which is designed to be future-proofed. Usually, if a new capability comes in, automakers use that as a method to sell the new model year, to get old owners to upgrade their cars.
Tesla, however, isn’t doing this. They can do so because they are still a small company, and the market isn’t saturated with their products (well, except some parts of California and Norway).
While most automakers would not want to do this because they feel it would cut down on future demand from customers who want an upgrade to the latest mode, this mentality will actually make Tesla more nimble when fully autonomous driving becomes available. Since Tesla will have more than a million cars on the road by then which are capable of being driven autonomously, all they need to do is flip a switch and they’ll instantly start dominating taxi and rideshare markets. They won’t need to build a million more cars, they won’t need to convince customers, they’ll just need to push a software update.
Of course, this all depends on fully autonomous driving being possible with the Tesla system, and it depends on Tesla beating other automakers to the punch. Tesla so far has gone their own way with their vision-focused autonomy system (rather than LIDAR), so there’s no guarantee that they will win the race. But if they do, you can add those Uber and Lyft market caps right on top of Tesla’s that very same day.
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Partypoker has re-entered the Czech Republic after exiting the market almost two years ago.
The re-entry follows the second International online gambling licence award from the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Finance.
In anticipation of its launch the online poker operator has partnered Kings Resort Rozvadov, both of whom hint at ambitious and exciting plans to come.
Tom Waters, managing director of partypoker:
“We are currently in the final stages of completing the technical set up and look forward to announcing further launch promotions and events and full details of our product offering in the coming weeks.”
Leon Tsoukernik, owner of King’s Resort:
“It is a great honour to co-operate on such an interesting project with such an important partner on a global level for us. We will be able to offer players great connection between the online and live game to maximize their gaming experience. King’s Resort is already a major player in the poker world, hosting Europe’s largest live poker room, and this is a further big step forward in our commitment to players.”
partypoker will initially be available on Mac and PC.


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TEMPE, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / January 14, 2021 / Genius Monkey, a leading programmatic advertising platform, has revealed the skyrocketing power of OTT in a recently-released case study showcasing how a higher education client/user of theirs improved the timeline of conversions by over 20%-simply by adding OTT to their ad mix. As more and more OTT channels continue to emerge across the globe, Genius Monkey only expects to see more results like this in the future.
Case study shows OTT greatly reducing the path-to-conversion
In their recent case study, Genius Monkey was engaged by the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) to help boost student enrollment through greater brand awareness. The Advanced Training Institute already had a strong display campaign and budget in the works, but at Genius Monkey's suggestion, they added OTT channels to their ad mix and saw remarkable results.
Prior to adding OTT to their marketing efforts, only 5% of ATI's conversions occurred in less than 2 days of the user seeing their first ad. After a month of including OTT, that number jumped to a staggering 22.6% of users converting in less than 2 days! The addition of OTT channels to their campaign strategy helped ATI shrink their path-to-conversion time. Here are the highlights of results:
Users who took over 90 days to convert decreased from 63.5% to 35%, a 28.5% improvement
Users who took less than 2 days to convert improved to 22.6% from 5.1%, a 17.5% improvement
Genius Monkey has seen a dramatic improvement on nearly all campaign metrics when OTT ads are included in their clients' marketing strategies, particularly when it comes to improving path-to-conversion timelines. And given the exponential growth 2020 has seen in regard to video streaming, they expect to see increasingly positive results with OTT up ahead.
But don't put all your eggs in the OTT basket just yet. The strength of OTT is really found in its additive power. OTT alone isn't enough to boost campaign numbers so impressively. But when added to an already-strong digital campaign mix, OTT can significantly enhance reach, ad repetition, and conversion potential by reducing the customers' journey and time it takes to convert.
Another key takeaway is to always make sure and use proper conversion attribution with OTT campaigns. With an OTT ad placement on a television, it's not possible for the user to click on the ad and make a purchase right then and there. So without impression level attribution tracking, you have no way of knowing the effects of your campaign or if the user converts after the fact. This is why having attribution on all programmatic mediums is essential in building a sound digital marketing strategy.
OTT marketing trends continue to grow
Due to lockdown and social distancing measures keeping people indoors this year, screen time has shot through the roof! Particularly when it comes to streaming media content. According to Nielsen, streaming grew from 19% to over 25% of total TV minutes viewed in the first half of 2020, making it an increasingly attractive platform for marketing campaigns.
The rapid increase of emerging streaming platforms, such as Apple TV, Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu in the digital media field has also posed a challenge to traditional television-specifically cable TV. In fact the number of Americans that subscribed to cable or satellite in 2011 was 84.8%, whereas in 2020 it has dropped to 68.6%.
In a recent pay TV forecast, eMarketer said they expect nearly 6.6 million U.S. households to toss aside traditional cable television in favor of streamed content options. This large number of "cord cutters" is nothing new as the traditional TV industry has seen a 7.5% decline, year-over-year, in dedicated viewership. And this cord-cutting trend is only expected to grow.
This is good news for advertisers looking to expand their reach and be more targeted at the same time because Genius Monkey can help them find audiences across OTT and CTV that aren't possible through traditional media channels-with greater results. Streamed ads that run on OTT platforms are far more targeted, brand-safe and trackable, and are therefore, highly-effective.
Big opportunities with OTT ads
There are many reasons OTT appeals to advertisers, and the data continues to grow upward. A few benefits of advertising via streamed content channels include:
Access to 80 million US CTV Households and 39 billion monthly available impressions
Matching of 87% of bid requests to household-level targeting profiles
Access to CTV supply across more than 20 exchanges and 100 networks, apps, and channels
The marketing opportunities with OTT are filled with potential as the consumption of streamed content continues to increase with a switch from traditional media to digital media. Genius Monkey helps advertisers connect with these opportunities and increase conversions by delivering ads through all available OTT and CTV platforms.
"We believe that the acceleration in streaming advertising will be a sharp one this year," Jeremy Hudgens, CRO and Director of Client Solutions at Genius Monkey said. "Linear ad-spend budgets aren't going anywhere, they're just shifting more and more towards OTT, CTV and other programmatic ad buys, where there are more options like behavioral targeting and attribution tracking. Traditional TV ad spending will drop by 15% this year to $60 billion, which is the lowest it's been in the last ten years."
About Genius Monkey
Genius Monkey is a digital advertising technology firm with an advanced full-service marketing platform designed for today's real-time programmatic advertising and tracking needs. Our media and device agnostic systems are only the beginning of our performance success. Our advanced marketing technology and services make it possible for advertisers to reach millions of targeted customers with ease and convenience at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing with the best performance attribution in the industry. To learn more about how Genius Monkey can help your brand evolve, visitgeniusmonkey.com.
Director of Operations
SOURCE: Genius Monkey
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Foreign investment in Canada’s food production is on the rise, and for good reason. More and more manufacturing and processing companies are choosing to establish themselves in Ontario, the country’s the largest food processing industry, because it allows ease of access to the US market and beyond.
Vancouver's entrepreneurial spirit continues to diversify, this time with an impressive dessert culture. Starting a small business is both exciting and thrilling when you possess the knowledge and skills necessary for success.
Canada is poised to witness a boom in e-commerce industry. Forrester Research Inc. estimates that nearly 10 per cent of Canadian retail spending in 2019 will take place online. This is an increase from the 6 per cent noted in 2014. The rise in technology innovation and e-commerce will require leaders who possess entrepreneurial problem-solving skills.
As venture capital investing increases in Canada so does the funding for entrepreneurs, which is an ideal landscape for start-ups. Even with the plunging loonie and declining oil prices, business students can flourish by using their knowledge and taking opportunities.
An MBA degree is invaluable. Graduates gain a variety of marketable skills which prepare for leadership in the global stage. Some of these skills include Leadership, Risk Management, Public Speaking, Project Management skills.


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Zuckerberg takes over the AI baton and gives developers a fluffy llama
Meta* and Microsoft have released the open source Llama 2 model.
International IT giant Meta* introduced a new set of AI models called Llama 2. Unlike the previous LLaMA model, this version is available for free download and use not only for scientific purposes. Developers can use Llama 2 for their commercial and creative projects.
The set includes AI programs of various sizes, from seven to seventy billion parameters. More than 1 million user annotations were taken into account for training. The developers used controlled finishing techniques and reinforcement learning to improve quality and safety. Models available on cloud platforms Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Hugging Face.
Meta* CEO Mark Zuckerberg stressed that open source is driving progress because it allows more users to try out new technologies. Therefore, it was decided to make Llama 2 open as well. “When software is in the public domain, more people can study it and notice potential problems,” Zuckerberg said.
However, there are still limitations. Companies wishing to use the program to support over 700 million monthly active users must request a special license from Meta*.
The new version is based on the architecture of the previous one, but is trained on more tokens and is able to process more text. However, experts warned that Llama 2 is not yet perfect and may generate “offensive or biased content.”
The developers are confident that the free Llama 2 will open up new horizons for companies to experiment with AI. For example, chip maker Qualcomm has already announced plans to create “AI implementations based on Llama 2” for smartphones and PCs starting in 2024.
The first LLaMA was announced in February. Then Mark Zuckerberg emphasized that the development “will provide promising opportunities in the field of generating texts, dialogues, summarizing text data and performing more complex tasks, including proving theorems and predicting the structure of proteins.”
* Company Meta and the company’s products (Instagram and Facebook) are recognized as extremist organizations; their activities are prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation.


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투썸플레이스, 코로나19 극복 위해 3차 가맹지원 나선다
가맹점과의 지속 성장 위한 과감한 투자 통해 브랜드 경쟁력 강화하고 성장세 유지
*아래는 위 기사를 구글 번역기로 번역한 영문 기사의 [전문]이다. [Below is the [full text] of an English article translated from the above article with Google Translate.
Twosome Place, 3rd affiliate support to overcome Corona 19
Strengthen brand competitiveness and maintain growth through bold investments for sustainable growth with affiliates
[The story of the case / Reporter Park Yeon-pa] = A twosome place, a premium dessert cafe, is planning to provide additional support and quarantine supplies to share the troubles of merchants arising from Corona 19 (new coronavirus infectious disease-19) that lasted for more than a year.
Twosome has prepared this support plan to help franchisees suffering from repeated business restrictions due to the spread of Corona 19 and to proactively respond to the prolonged Corona 19 situation. To about 1,300 affiliated stores nationwide, it will provide support for 1 million won in raw material purchases and 1.5 billion won in quarantine supplies.
Twosome's affiliate store support for overcoming the Corona 19 crisis is the third time, with a total of 4.5 billion won, including the 1st and 2nd support. Twosome has been quick to respond by providing subsidies, quarantine supplies, and quarantine work to affiliated stores across the country in the first spread of Corona 19 in February last year. Twosome also formed a special budget to support affiliate stores even in September, which had a difficult time due to the ban on eating in stores.
Along with this, Twosome continued to make bold investments for the sustainable growth of its affiliated stores and brands despite the crisis. Last year, Twosome invested about 40 billion won in improving the store environment, expanding IT infrastructure and production facilities, building an R&D center, and expanding O2O services to increase affiliate sales. Build and maintain growth. This year, the company plans to continue investing in the full reorganization of mobile apps that upgraded the existing membership system and construction of new factories.
Twosome Place continued with Corona 19 and said that it has come up with additional support measures for affiliates in order to share the difficulties of the field.Although the head office is also in a difficult situation, as a shared growth partner of about 1300 affiliates, to share the difficulties of the affiliates and overcome the Corona 19 crisis. He said he would do his best.
Meanwhile, Twosome closely monitors the government's quarantine guidelines so that customers can use the cafe safely and conveniently, and strictly follows the guidelines for social distancing in stores.
<저작권자 ⓒ 사건의내막 무단전재 및 재배포 금지>


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Cattle producers in the state of Florida see an opportunity to enhance state pride in the beef industry and grow sales by connecting with the “Fresh From Florida” marketing campaign.
Joining the campaign with a seal that already appears on product labels for alligator, tomatoes and oranges may be a challenge as state officials determine what “Florida beef” means. Although the Florida Beef Council says the state’s cattle industry is one of the 15 largest in the United States, most of the cattle are sent west for finishing.
According to 2011 data, Florida’s home to almost one million head of cattle, but most are finished and processed in other states including Texas and Oklahoma. The Associated Press reports there’s only one large slaughterhouse in the state with facilities to handle 150 head per week and only a handful of feedlots.
Consumer interest in sustainable, local products is driving interest in adding beef to the Fresh From Florida label. The option would motivate producers to seek finishing and processing options within the state and develop a sense of state pride in the beef industry from producers to retail markets.
"Let's face it. If went into the supermarket and you saw `Fresh from Mexico,' `Fresh from Arizona' and `Fresh from Florida,' and you're in Florida, which one would you buy?" said Florida rancher Tom Harper.


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Container volume at Port Houston (Texas) container terminals remains vigorous as cargo movement continues to lead last year’s pace showing a 10 percent growth through the third quarter. In 2015,… Read More
Port of Houston
Freight Management Logistics LLC (FML) recently launched a subsidiary company, FML Warehousing & Logistics Services LLC (FML Warehousing & Logistics), and commenced the operation of a new warehouse facility. The… Read More
The amount of cargo handled at Port Houston was up 7 percent through the first two months of 2018, signaling another strong year, Executive Director Roger Guenther announced March 27. Read More
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World News: 03:49 GMT Sunday 10th November 2019. [Yahoo Business News Feed via SPi World News]
The broader market average all closed at record highs on Friday, as U.S. stocks added to recent gains this week. Financial names led the way higher, while real estate and utility stocks trailed the market.Investors kept a close eye on trade talks between the U.S. and China this week. While a formal resolution has yet to be announced, multiple press reports suggested the two sides could announce a “Phase One” deal before the next set of tariffs are scheduled to take effect, on Dec. 15.Earnings Parade EndingThird-quarter earnings season effectively ended this week, as 446 companies in the S&P 500 index have now announced results. 74% of the names have exceeded expectations, which is above the historical average. On the other hand, aggregate profit is on track to decline 0.5% for the period.Kroger (KR) was the big earnings-related winner this week. The grocery retailer gained 11% a session after providing upbeat profit guidance. On the other hand, online travel names Expedia (EXPE) and TripAdvisor (TRIP) both lost more than 20% a day after disappointing the market with their respective quarterly results.Looking ahead to next week, Cisco Systems (CSCO), Viacom (VIAB) and Wal-Mart (WMT) are scheduled to post quarterly reports. The bond markets are closed on Nov. 9 for the Veterans Day holiday and the economic calendar will be relatively quiet next week. Knowing what and when to buy can be challenging for any investor. However, the fact remains that attractive investments are out there, if you’re willing to dig a little deeper.One such consumer name with strong earnings momentum is worth a closer look and is our Stock of the Week below… Stock of the Week: CVS Health (CVS)The company is probably best known for its portfolio of nearly 10,000 retail pharmacies, but acquisitions over the past several years have broadened its business portfolio.CVS Health provides medical insurance to 38 million users through Aetna and covers pharmacy benefits for 102 million customers, by way of Caremark. In addition, the company treats patients directly through its network of over 1,100 Minute Clinics.The stock gained nearly 8% this week, as management delivered better-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday.Looking ahead, these gains should keep on coming. Here’s why:The retailer earned $1.84 a share in the third quarter, as revenue increased 36% from the previous year, to $64.81 billion. The sales growth was primarily from the Aetna acquisition, which is approaching its first anniversary. Management said on the conference call that all of the company’s core businesses grew at or above plan in the period.Following the results, 5-stare Cantor analyst Steven Halper raised his price target on the stock to $85, citing:> “In our view, CVS is executing on its strategy to integrate medical and pharmacy offerings to drive differentiation in the marketplace, through efforts such as HealthHUB expansion. Over time, we believe this should drive continued share gains and improvement in operating performance across the company's business units. As the company executes on these initiatives, share valuation should expand from current levels.” CVS Health generates steady cash flow, which it returns to investors. The shares offer a quarterly dividend of $0.25 a share (1.4% yield). Management also paid down $2.9 billion of net debt in the most recent quarter.In the meantime, the company is attractively priced at just 10.1x expected full-year earnings of $7.21 a share. This is an 11% discount to the median industry value and well below the average market multiple.It’s also worth noting that CVS Health carries a Smart Score of 10/10 on TipRanks. This new proprietary metric utilizes Big Data to rank stocks based on 8 key factors that have historically been a precursor of future outperformance.On top of the positive aspects mentioned already, Smart Score says the company has seen positive sentiment from investment bloggers and news.FYI: This is just 1 of the 20+ stocks selected for the Smart Investor portfolio. That’s where we share more detailed insights on our weekly stock picks. You may also want to learn more about how we use TipRanks indicators to find stocks that are primed to outperform. (Discover the Smart Investor portfolio here)
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By Denis Slattery
New York Daily News
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) The governor says the state is giving store owners the right to say, “if you’re not wearing a mask you can’t come in.”
Businesses in New York can now tell customers: no mask, no service.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an order Thursday allowing shops and stores in the state to deny service to customers who refuse to wear masks once they reopen.
The governor added a little star power to his daily coronavirus briefing in Brooklyn as comedian Chris Rock and actress Rosie Perez joined Cuomo in calling on New Yorkers to wear masks, get tested and help combat coronavirus.
“Everybody that can get tested should get tested as soon as possible,” Rock said as he heaped praise on Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic.
“Everybody, please, spread love the Brooklyn way, get tested, wear a mask,” Perez said. “Our governor is a rock star and he makes me proud to be from New York.”
“You guys are the rock stars. I’m just a fan,” Cuomo replied.
The governor, who earlier this week declared wearing a mask the cool thing to do, said he enlisted the celebrities to boost his message to New Yorkers about respecting one another and taking precautions to stem the spread of the virus.
“They are amazingly effective and we’ve made them mandatory in public settings,” Cuomo said of face coverings. “But when we’re talking about reopening stores and places of business, we’re giving the store owners the right to say if you’re not wearing a mask you can’t come in.”
Cuomo said state officials are focusing on COVID-19 “hot spots” in low-income and minority neighborhoods across the city and said the Big Apple still has a little way to go before reaching remaining benchmarks to begin reopening.
“We have to make more progress on some of the metrics,” Cuomo said.
Outside of the city, most regions are soon expected to enter the second phase of the state’s reopening plan, meaning barbers, hairstylists and some offices can open.
The city, which has been the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., still needs to up its hospital capacity and add contact tracers to meet the state-mandated marks to allow construction and manufacturing to reopen.
Cuomo reported that another 74 New Yorkers died from COVID-19, noting that as the number of deaths and hospitalizations drops, the virus will “remain a cause of death for the foreseeable future.”
More than 700 people were dying a day at the height of the pandemic.
However, the governor warned that the tragedy is far from over.
“We have a large state, and the COVID virus tends to attack those who are seniors and those who have underlying illnesses and will remain a cause of death for the foreseeable future, I’m afraid to say,” Cuomo said. “But we want to get this number down as low as possible.”
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


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Aged Rosés Add Unexpected Complexity to Winter-Weather Pairings
December 5, 2021 8:39am
Rosé is a blockbuster among wines. While all U.S. wine sales increased just 1.5 percent between 2015 and 2020, according to IWSR analysts, rosé jumped 115 percent. And that wasn’t just during patio season, when it’s most popular. Sales are increasing year-round.
For Madeline Maldonado, former beverage director of New York City’s da Toscano, diners’ insatiable interest in rosé presents opportunities for the off-season. “Most of us treat...


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Photos of Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 powered by Intel processor leaked
It seems that Xiaomi is looking to launch the successor to its hugely popular Mi Pad tablet, named Mi Pad 2 soon. Certain photos of the upcoming tablet have been leaked online, according to a Chinese forum.
The rumored specs of the tablet include a 7.9 inch screen and 2GB RAM. But, the tablet will be powered by an Intel chipset clocked at 1.8GHz, instead of Nvidia’s chipset. It will run on MiUI based on Android 4.4 Kitkat.


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Tuesday 4 December, 2012. The Green Piece Column.
The Los Angeles Auto Show opened last week and now runs to middle of next week ( December 9, 2012). The final delight of the US motoring calendar, the show is an important opportunity for the carmakers to showcase near imminent launches for the New Year and, as it’s in the heart of the eco-conscious state of California, it is also the perfect place to showcase green innovations.
With that in mind we’ve pick out our top ten of LA’s finest green cars.
Los Angeles Auto Show Top Ten Green Cars
1. BMW i concepts
Not the first time this year we’ve seen BMW’s first couple of models it has planned to launch under its electric i sub-brand, but this year the i3 supermini and i8 plug-in hybrid are joined by an i3 coupe concept model this year. Although not confirmed for production unlike the hatch model, the coupe version gives us an idea of where next the brand could go next after the i3 and i8 launch in 2013 and 2014 respectively (More info details).
2. Fiat 500 e
Sadly not one for us, just a limited production run of around 500 models are to go on sale in the US some time in the middle of the year. Presented at the Los Angeles Auto Show as a sexy alternative to boxy current alternatives, we are very sorry it won’t be more widely available, so we’ll just have to eye this one with envy (More info here).
3. Chevrolet Spark EV
Yet another tasty new EV which we won’t feel the benefit of (sob). Chevrolet says its new electric version of its popular Spark supermini will have class-leading range, beating the likes of the Nissan LEAF when it goes on sale next year in selected states. (More details).
4. Honda Accord Plug-in
Due to hit the showrooms in early 2013, the new Accord Plug-in will give the current competition something think about with a class-leading EPA rating of 115mpge despite having a limited fully electric driving range of just 10-15 miles. (More details here).
The Mazda6 is the second model in the Mazda line-up to get the Skyactiv treatment, adding a range of highly efficient, turbo-boosted engines. Set to launch in the UK in January, the new Mazda6 will emit as little as 108g/km and have combined cycle fuel economy of 67.3mpg (More info here).
6. Dodge Dart Aero
The first Dodge vehicle based on a Fiat architecture, the new Dodge is designed to give the brand an important entry into the compact sector. Making use of Fiat’s range of MultiAir engines, the new model achieves fuel economy as strong as 41mpg according to EPA highway rating (More details here).
7. Infiniti LE Concept
Having made an appearance at the Paris Motor Show in the autumn, we still can’t help but get excited to see the luxury car brand’s first electric car on display again. A ‘production-intent’ model according to Infiniti, we’re no closer to knowing an actual launch date, but nonetheless this luxury saloon cousin of the Nissan LEAF looks stunning in the showring once again (More details here).
8. Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost
The supermini Fiesta is the next model of the Ford line-up to make use of the brand’s highly efficient and yet not sluggish 1.0 EcoBoost engine. Despite an American tendency to drive large-engined vehicles, the Fiesta 1.0 litre will launch in its native country, with Ford hoping that both the engine and the car will prove that good things really do come in small packages (More details here).
9. Lexus LF-CC
Lexus’ new D-segment hybrid coupe teams a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with a new hybrid system to offer more power and economy than previous hybrid models. Work to bring the car into production is expected to start next year.
10. Ford Fusion hybrid
Winner of the Green Car of the Year, this latest US-version of the Mondeo is set to launch with a hybrid and plug-in hybrid version as well as making use of that famous EcoBoost engine technology to achieve impressive fuel economy credentials. A new Mondeo is expected to launch soon in the UK too, expected around March. In the US, the hybrid model is rated 47 mpg according to EPA while the plug-in hybrid model is expected to top 100 mpg equivalent (More info here).
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President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of funds for the payment of itinerant workers engaged under the Special Public Works Programme.
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, SAN, stated this in a tweet via his official handle on Saturday.
The minister in the tweet, said he had directed the National Directorate of Employment, NDE, to commence the processing of payments for the workers engaged in the 774 local government areas.
Keyamo in his verified Twitter handle wrote: “President Muhammadu Buhari has graciously directed a release of the funds for the payment of stipends to the 774,000 participants of the SPW programme.
‘’I have consequently directed the NDE to begin processing the payments and participants should begin to receive payments soon.
“In order to eliminate fraud and/or double payments, I have also directed that every payment to participants should be made using the BVN of their accounts so we can have an audit trail of every single payment. Those who registered with different names shouldn’t expect payments.”
Recall that the Federal Government had in January this year, flagged off the 774,000 jobs, with each participant expected to receive N20,000 for the next three months.
The minister said participants will be paid through their bank verification numbers, BVN, to eliminate fraud and/or double payments to participants.


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Elsewhere on Department of Agriculture
- World Trade Organisation
- Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS Agreement)
- Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
- Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
- Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
- Office International des Epizooties (OIE)
- International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)
The role of overseas staff
The Department of Agriculture has more than thirty agricultural specialists working in Australian missions in key overseas markets. They work to develop and maintain markets for our agricultural exports, which account for 60% of Australian farm production.
A number of our overseas officers are based in our three key export markets – Southeast Asia, China and Japan. Together, these regions account for almost 50% of Australian exports.
The negotiations for access to overseas markets, including technical consultations about the importing nation’s biosecurity requirements, can sometimes take years to work through. Department of Agriculture’s overseas officers play a key role in this process.
Department of Agriculture agricultural specialists organise and lead discussions, respond to requests for information, and facilitate visits and inspections to progress market access requests. They work closely with industry, overseas authorities, and Department of Agriculture’s Canberra head office in the process.
Overseas agricultural specialists also play a significant role in rectifying any problems with Australian agricultural goods on entry to their foreign destinations.
You can read the latest news from our overseas officers by browsing the below stories.
View locations of overseas Department of Agriculture officers
Australian canola producers regain access to huge chinese market
Australian canola producers can look forward to new market opportunities in China with the resumption of bulk shipments of canola now underway.
Continue reading about canola market
The trade came to a halt in 2009 after China introduced emergency measures aimed at preventing the entry of Leptosphaeria Maculans (blackleg fungus). Unfortunately, Australia could not certify shipments as “free” of this fungus.
The Department of Agriculture’s counsellor of Australia’s Embassy in Beijing, Mr Rob Williams, has worked closely with China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) over the last couple of years to resume the trade.
In June 2013 the first bulk shipments since 2009 of Australian canola landed in China as part of a new joint research agreement between the two countries.
The joint research program required great technical detail to properly address all of China’s concerns. This included specific conditions that: canola can only be sourced from areas in Australia of low pest prevalence for blackleg; only 8 ports in non-canola producing provinces in China are to receive shipments; and the trade will be supported by a joint Australia-China research program into managing the fungus.
Since reaching the agreement Australia has already shipped $80 million worth of canola destined for the Chinese market. The commercial trade in canola to China is estimated to be around $300 million this year, representing a significant market access gain for Australian exporters.
Strengthening trade ties, even through unexpected opportunities
The department, through our overseas posts in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and New Delhi, and support from Canberra based staff, have seized an opportunity to enhance relationships with Thai, Malaysian and Sri Lankan Governments. Unusually, this opportunity came from a dairy product contamination issue that had the potential to significantly affect our local dairy exporters and our trade interests with these three countries.
Continue reading about trade ties
The department’s overseas posts responded quickly to the situation, providing timely and factual information to all three governments. Posts explained Australia’s animal health and food safety systems effectively, including our export inspection and certification systems that underpin the safety and integrity of our dairy exports. Our responsiveness and openness to all inquiries ensured that government officials remained confident in Australia’s dairy system. As such, the impact on trade was minimised and there were no market disruptions or closures.
The event also helped to reinforce our existing strong relationships with key officials dealing with dairy trade in these markets, relationships which are highly significant to our dairy exporters. Australia’s exported dairy products to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia in 2012–13 was valued at about $209 million.
Australia to lead international body for plant genetic resources
The department’s Minister-Counsellor in Rome, Matthew Worrell, has been elected as the chair of the governing body of the International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Continue reading about plant genetic resources
This marks the first time, since the United Nations adopted the treaty in 2001, that Australia will chair the chief governing body. The treaty, negotiated under the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, provides a framework for the conservation, sustainable use and exchange of plant genetic resources into a global pool to enable research, training and breeding of agricultural crops and to safeguard these resources for the future.
The treaty provides the opportunity for Australia to share and access plant genetic resources to assist in the development of new crop varieties that are better adapted to climate variability, pests, diseases and threats.
Mr Worrell currently represents Australia and the other countries of the South-West Pacific on the Treaty Bureau. He will chair the governing body through to late 2015.
Japanese consumers continue to enjoy Australian slushy drink following consignment release
A consignment of dairy beverage mix by the iconic Australian ice-cream company Frosty Boy has made its way to Japanese KFC stores and consumers after initially being detained by Japanese authorities following a quality control problem with an earlier batch. The consignment, valued at approximately $100,000, was released following successful negotiations with Japanese officials by the Department of Agriculture’s Tokyo post, Canberra-based staff and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.
Continue reading about Australian slushy drinks
Aussie lamb, pork and goat meat return to Indian market
Over a decade’s work contributed to the reinstatement of lamb and processed meat market access to India, involving the Department of Agriculture, our counsellors based in New Delhi, and the Australian meat industry.
In 2001, India changed its import certification conditions for meat and meat products, and, as a result, Australia could no longer export these products there.
Continue reading about lamb and processed meat exports to India
In September 2012, the department reached an agreement with its equivalent agency in India, the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DAHD), again permitting Australian lamb, pork and goat meat exports to India.
Staff in Canberra and New Delhi worked with their overseas counterparts to have elements of Australian certification systems recognised in the final agreement. Australia’s animal health system, export inspection and certification system and residue monitoring system were all recognised. During the 11 year process, the department’s current agricultural counsellor based in India, Slava Zeman, and her predecessors were active in negotiating approval of the new export certificate and correctly understanding India’s approach to negotiations.
Former counsellor in New Delhi, Ian Mortimer, attributed the success reinstating market access to India to fostering good relations between the countries based on understanding and trust.
“It’s all about managing expectations and addressing the sensitivities between trading partners first and foremost.”
The negotiations culminated in a meeting between the department’s Food Division with DAHD officials in New Delhi in July 2012 where it was explained how Australia planned to meet India’s conditions.
The department then negotiated acceptance of the proposed agreement with local industry.
As a result, Australian lamb is now available in top Indian restaurants, hotels and some specialised retail chains. Although the Indian population is largely vegetarian, the number of non-vegetarians is still in the hundreds of millions.
Both industry and Austrade play an active role in developing markets for exporters in India. Meat and Livestock Australia have appointed an agent to India to assist. The New-Delhi based counsellor helps by interpreting India’s import requirements to local importers and Australian exporters.The re-establishment of Australian lamb, pork and goat meat exports to India opens up another major export destination for local exporters alongside established markets including China and the US.
13 Dec 2013


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DOGE (Dogecoin) is an open-source, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and is an altcoin and a cynical meme coin. Launched in December 2013, Dogecoinfeatures the image of Shiba InuNai as its logo. Although it was designed as a joke, Dogecoin’s blockchain still has value. It is built on the Litecoin blockchain technology. The low price and limitless availability, which use a script algorithm, are notable features.
There has never been a better wealth builder than the stock market in the long run. According to a study published by Crestmont Research, the broad-based S&P 500’s rolling 20-year total returns (including dividends) have never been negative between 1919 and 2020. To put it another way, if you purchased an S&P 500 tracking index in 1919 and kept it for 20 years, you made money.
Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, have outperformed standard stocks over the last decade. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), the world’s largest digital currency, gained more than 700 percent in the previous year, from April 21, 2020, to April 21, 2021. Meanwhile, Dogecoin stocks (CRYPTO: DOGE), the most common cryptocurrency, has risen nearly 16,000 percent in the last year.
Dogecoin is soaring to an all-time high
According to cryptocurrency news and data provider Coindesk, the virtual currency, which has a Shiba Inu dog’s face as its emblem, soared more than 100 percent to an all-time high of $0.298 on Friday morning. This is the milestone for Dogecoin, and this time, it may thank one of the worlds of richest man Elon musk.
This isn’t the first time Musk’s tweets have boosted Dogecoin’s value, which began as an internet joke over seven years ago. In February, a series of tweets from the tech billionaire, who has more than 50 million Twitter followers, pushed the bitcoin rival’s price up by more than 50%.
Surge price of Dogecoin
Dogecoin continues to be one of the social media’s favorite subjects, since it has been trending for quite some time, owing largely to Musk’s frequent tweets regarding it.
Dogecoin is used to buy and sell products and services on websites that support it. Also, be exchanged for fiat currencies such as the United States dollar. Since Dogecoin is not supported by any government, its value fluctuates like that of other cryptocurrencies. Dogecoin currently has a market capitalization of $16.9 billion. Its increased value is mostly due to its profitability and the long-running online humorous chatter surrounding it.
Yes, people have made a lot of money by purchasing Dogecoin stocks at https://www.webull.com/newslist/ccc-dogeusd, and while it was designed as a joke currency at first, if you can afford to invest a small amount of money in it, it may not be such a bad idea.


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Google is set to face a record-busting EU antitrust fine this week over its Android mobile operating system but rivals hoping that an order to halt unfair business practices will help them may be disappointed.
One of the abiding mysteries in luxury is the far greater ability of Paris brands to outperform their venerable, respected and often very classy London rivals. Dunhill may be about to become a significant exception.
Ybrands has released a new study ranking the most trustworthy brands according to consumers aged 13-36. While Dove took the top spot across all product categories, Nike reigned supreme among fashion brands.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said that he plans to meet with the chief executives of Amazon and Alphabet next week to enlist their support for helping the South American nation make technological progress.
Businesses engaged in online advertising are taking divergent approaches to a new European data protection law, with some shutting services to ensure compliance while others test the limits of what is allowed.
Google’s delayed entry into a consortium of advertising tech companies has spoiled the members’ push to comply with a new European privacy law, people involved in the program said, leaving some firms exposed to fines.


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A total of 15 new jobs have been created at Plymouth's first Drive Thru Starbucks store – which has opened for the first time.
The store located at Coypool Retail Park in Plympton and operated by Starbucks licensee, Cobra Coffee, opened at 6.30am on Wednesday, January 19.
And to celebrate the opening, the store will be offering 50 lucky customers complimentary reusable cups every day for the first week.
Starbucks also offers a 25p discount to all customers who bring a reusable cup when purchasing a drink.
The new store will be open from 6:30am to 7:00pm Monday to Friday, from 7:00am to 7:00pm Saturday, and from 7:30am to 6:00pm Sunday.
Store Manager Emma Swain, who started her career at Starbucks as a Barista in 2014, said: "After eight years with Starbucks, I am looking forward to opening Plymouth's first Starbucks Drive Thru.
"The team will continue to closely follow the latest guidance from both the Government and health authorities to keep everyone safe. We are all looking forward to welcoming lots of new faces at the new store."
The Drive Thru store comes complete with inside seating. Or, for those who prefer to stay at home, delivery will be fully available within a month of opening to all customers via Uber Eats.
Cobra Coffee, which already runs the nearby store in Drakes Circus, Plymouth, is part of an independent co-operative based in the south of England.
The coffee chain saw it's planning application for the cafe off Plymouth Road at Plympton approved by Plymouth councillors back in 2019, despite concerns about its impact on local traffic.
The city council's planning committee voted in favour of the scheme by seven votes to six. Conditions include a management plan to monitor parking, the queue and any impact on traffic on Plymouth Road.
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Fresh Milk And Pasteurised Milk Exempted From Goods And Service Tax (GST):
The Government of India clarified that fresh milk and pasteurised milk are fully exempted from Goods and Service Tax (GST).
- Further, milk products like curd, lassi, butter milk and paneer are also exempted from GST if sold in forms other than those pre-packaged and labelled.
- In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said a nominal GST of 5 per cent applies to curd, lassi, butter milk and paneer when sold in pre-packaged and labelled form, and Ultra High-Temperature Milk.
- Further, a GST of 12 per cent applies to condensed milk, butter, ghee and cheese. GST exemptions and rates apply uniformly across States.
- She said GST rates are prescribed on the recommendation of the GST Council, which is a constitutional body comprising of representatives from both Centre and the States and Union Territories.


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Continuing a focus on health related products, such as its HealthKit and Apple Watch, Apple has been granted a patent (number 9,916,474) for a “wellness registry” for receiving and sharing wellness data.
The wellness data can be received by a user device from any number of sensors external or internal to a user device — from a user manually entering the wellness data, or from other users or entities. The user device can securely store the wellness data on the user device and transmit the wellness data to be stored on a remote database. A user of the device can share some or all of the wellness data with research entities conducting research studies, friends, relatives, caregivers, healthcare providers, or the like.
In the patent filing, Apple notes that approximately 133 million Americans currently suffer from at least one chronic condition. This number is expected to rise to approximately 165 million by the year 2020. As a result, the cost of healthcare in the U.S. is expected to increase dramatically.
Apple says attempts have been made to improve the health of individuals by providing them with tools to monitor and track their wellness data. Wellness data can generally include any type of data associated with a person’s health, such as their weight, heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose level, medication compliance, activity level, or the like.
Apple wants users to be able to monitor their wellness using devices, such as blood pressure cuffs, blood glucose monitors, electrocardiograms, step counters, and the like. Software apps associated with each of these devices have also been developed to allow users to track their wellness data over time. While each app can be used to view useful information about a user’s health, current applications are limited in their ability to allow users to store, view, and share wellness data collected by different devices. Apple wants to change this via a wellness registry.
Of course, Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product.


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Crowd1, OneLink & Vitae fraud warnings issued in Vietnam
Vietnam’s Competition and Consumer Protection Department has issued fraud warnings against Crowd1 and OneLink.
The CCPD has observed Crowd1 and OneLink being promoted across social media networks in Vietnam.
The regulator warns that both companies are “not in compliance with the law”.
“The Department of Competition and Consumer Protection assessed that the operational models of (Crowd1 & OneLink) showed signs of pyramid investment and prohibited acts under the current regulations”, (a) Department representative said.
In order to avoid physical and legal risks, the Competition and Consumer Protection Department also issued a warning to people not to invest, or develop business systems into the projects with (Crowd1 and OneLink).
Crowd1 is a European scam that up until recently was primarily promoted across Africa. The Ponzi scheme has received regulatory warnings from multiple countries.
OneLink is a Ponzi scheme created by former OneCoin Master Distributor Simon Le.
Vitae, not to be confused with Vitae Global, also gets a mention. Vitae is run by serial-scammer Michael Weber and markets Vitae token Ponzi points.
At the time of publication Alexa cites Vietnam as the second largest source of traffic to Vitae’s website.
About time for Crowd1.
RE: (The relatively new) OneLink scam – makes me wonder if Simon Le is in deeper shit than he realizes?
The latest to keep the sucker round up going.
Mein Gott… the overt scamming idiocy of this is hilarious in a sad way.
^^ What a load of long-winded say nothing waffle.
Explains the braindead Ponzi zombie comments we get on our Crowd1 coverage.
Can regulators across EU do their damn jobs already? Or is this going to be another OneCoin saga?
If you shout what that Johan guy is saying in a Trinidadian accent, it is remarkably like King Jayms. OneCoin loves the “learning to walk” metaphor too.
He’s been mostly pulling strings from the shadows for a couple months now, after putting himself in the front for a short while at the beginning of the project.
Like I said before, local police have already put him in a blacklist and perhaps he sniffed it too.
Oz, I would love to report Crowd 1 to UK FCA, but so far they have not run any events here in the UK – only promoted online so far.
I will file a report with City police, since they do look at digital fraud.
Now if you have evidence they have held meetings in UK, I will gladly write to the FCA and make a formal complaint?
Crowd 1 remains banned in all my Facebook groups.
Crowd1 isn’t really marketing in western countries. Euro scammers going after low-hanging fruit in Africa/Asia again.
I love your determination. The FCA wouldn’t be the correct body to report to in the UK. They have a very limited brief. Go directly to ActionFraud or the City of London Police. They are responsible ultimately if anyone in the UK got burned and are more proactive than the Met. You can do everything online


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YouTube Offering Paid Subscriptions for Individual Channels
May 10, 2013 10:50 AM
comment(s) - last by
Some will be as low as 99 cents per month
YouTube is launching a pilot program for some of its partners that
will allow content
creators to offer paid subscriptions for their channels.
YouTube said it's letting a small group of partners offer paid channels via subscriptions on its site. These partners are part of the partners program launched in 2007, which helps content creators earn revenue for their videos.
Every channel with a subscription has a free 14-day trial, and many subscriptions are as low as 99 cents per month. Once a customer subscribes, they can view content from a computer, TV, phone or tablet.
"This is just the beginning," stated members of the YouTube Team. "We’ll be rolling paid channels out more broadly in the coming weeks as a self-service feature for qualifying partners. And as new channels appear, we'll be making sure you can discover them, just as we've been helping you find and subscribe to all the channels you love across YouTube.
“Just as the partner program empowered creators to take their channels to the next level, we look forward to seeing how this great community of creators moves ahead with a new way to reach the fan communities that made their channels a hit."
A couple of the channels with paid subscriptions will be Sesame Street and UFC.
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
5/10/2013 1:04:40 PM
What does production value have anything to do with 1st amendment rights?
5/10/2013 4:15:34 PM
a comment made on the sf cell phone warning post:
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Most of my patients including the few remaining diehard smokers will tell you I consider smoking an unhealthy and filthy habit. So it was no surprise recently when a patient handed me an advertisement touting a so-called ‘green’ cigarette in an effort to prove otherwise. New magazine ads touting cigarettes with “additive-free” “organic” tobacco use the term “eco-friendly” is prompting smoking foes to cry foul.
Ads for Natural American Spirit cigarettes have appeared in magazines such as Elle, Mother Jones, Field & Stream and Esquire.
The cigarettes manufactured by Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company is owned by Reynolds American Inc.
The company says it’s not saying its cigarettes are safer but that its manufacturing is greener.
Reynolds says its facilities are wind-powered, its farmers use fewer chemicals and 70% of its sales staff, drive hybrid vehicles.
“We try to be good stewards of the environment,” says spokesman Seth Moskowitz. He adds a sister company helps fund Keep America Beautiful.
“The ads are egregious. They are attempting to ‘greenwash’ a deadly and addictive product,” says, Vince Willmore of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids adding research shows cigarettes are not only unhealthy but are also the No. 1 source of litter.
Like my patient, the average person believes “eco-friendly” is better for you. That’s why the new ads are dangerously misleading.
Reynolds has made similar advertising claims. In 2000 the tobacco company ran afoul of the Federal Trade Commission, after advertising its cigarettes are free of additives.
The FTC negotiated a settlement that required the company to include this statement: “No additives in our tobacco does NOT mean a safer cigarette.”
In 2010 the company returned with ads marketing its “organic” tobacco. 33 state attorneys general demanded a disclaimer saying the cigarette was not safer as a result. For the record, tobacco smoke is a complex mixture of more than 4000 chemicals in the form of gases, particles or both. When you inhale cigarette smoke, dozens of harmful substances enter your lungs and spread through your body. They can reach your brain, heart and other organs within 10 seconds of the first puff:... (Do you think that's enough to qualify smoking as an unhealthyhabit....??)
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The Dollar Tree company held it’s ribbon cutting for their new 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center in Warrensburg.
The new facility was announced last year, and Governor Mike Parson performed the ceremonial cutting.
Dollar Tree will be investing $110 million and create 375 new jobs in two years.
One of only 23 distribution centers, the new Dollar Tree facility plans to support its retail store network throughout the Midwest.
The facility expects to see inbound/outbound traffic of around 150-200 trucks per day.


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Once a service provider to commercial banks in Nigeria, TeamApt has rebranded as Moniepoint. In taking the name of its most popular product, it is aiming to be a household name and build a pan-African business.
For years in the Nigerian fintech space, experts have mentioned TeamApt as one of the leading fintechs in the country. Two of the company’s products, Moniepoint and Monnify, have had impressive levels of success in the agency banking and payments space, respectively. But last week, the Nigerian company announced that it would drop the TeamApt name—a name that has been in use since 2015 but has yet to attain household status—and adopt that of its most popular product, Moniepoint.
Launched in 2019, the Moniepoint product first started as an agency banking solution and, by 2021, had processed over 120,000 active merchants and served 18 million unique customers. Per the company’s report, Moniepoint also processed over $4 billion in monthly transactions in 2021.
The following year, 2022, the company processed an annualised total payment volume exceeding $170 billion. Those numbers put the company in the same league as fintech giants, Flutterwave, OPay, and Interswitch.
In April 2022, the Moniepoint product evolved into a business bank after receiving a microfinance licence from the NDIC. This evolution allowed it to provide credit, insurance, multi-channel payments, and other solutions to businesses. By the end of 2022, it had disbursed working capital loans totalling $1.4 billion; and claims that its average default rate is less than 0.1%.
Despite the success of TeamApt’s products, it does not enjoy the same level of brand awareness in the Nigerian customer scene as its competitors like Opay and Paystack. One theory is that because TeamApt started as a B2B company focused on serving Nigerian banks, it didn’t connect with the customers who ended up using its technology.
With products like MoneyTor and AptPay, TeamApt made its name working in the background. Through the aforementioned products, TeamApt provided financial and payment solutions to commercial banks like ALAT, Zenith, and UBA. This history of providing backend services to banks did not necessarily demand the type of brand awareness that would later be demanded by consumer-facing products like Moniepoint.
It is not unusual for a service provider to not have brand awareness in the customer scene. Fintech service providers like Appzone and Accelerex despite having a considerable impact across the continent probably share the same level of brand salience as TeamApt. However, these companies strictly provide services in the B2B sector and do not have consumer-facing products, like TeamApt.
TeamApt’s products, however, have a higher level of brand recognition than the parent company. Moniepoint’s ubiquity—the company claims to process more than half of all POS transactions in Nigeria—and Monnify’s performance has skyrocketed their influence and popularity.
According to a marketing expert who spoke off the record, the company’s recent rebranding was motivated by the TeamApt brand’s lukewarm reception with the general public. He shared that because TeamApt was the name of the parent company, it would have taken people a while to reconcile the fact that the Moniepoint brand—which was synonymous with awards, recognitions, and several positive customer reviews—was under the umbrella of TeamApt.
In a 2019 research paper about the impact of rebranding on banking institutions, the author, an economics professor, concluded that financial organisations “increasingly use corporate rebranding to enhance brand relevance and improve operational efficiency”. She also added that a corporate name should be easier to remember, identify, and refer to.
Two sources close to the situation told TechCabal that the move had been in the works for a while, adding that it made sense since Moniepoint has become a household name. The company’s statement also alludes to this, as it shared that the rebrand hoped to leverage the trust Moniepoint’s brand had established and remove barriers between customers and the brand.
TeamApt’s rebranding also accounts for the stringent regulations that govern the financial sector. Like the majority of fintech companies in Nigeria, it was registered in Delaware and only changed the name of its holding company to Moniepoint. This was done to accommodate the two separate entities holding the Switching and Processing License—arguably the most valuable CBN license in Nigeria—and the Moniepoint microfinance bank license.
A new dawn
It’s impossible to discuss TeamApt without acknowledging the company’s ambitions to become a unicorn. In June 2021, Tosin Eniolorunda, the company’s CEO, told TechCabal: “We expect the company to reach unicorn-type valuations soon.” In November 2021, Bloomberg reported that the company was raising $150 million at a valuation of $1 billion; in the end, a $50 million investment came at a slightly lower valuation.
The company might only achieve its aspirations now, with Eniolorunda sharing that the company’s revenue was close to $200 million in 2022. A key piece to achieving the feat will come down to storytelling. It will also come down to positioning Moniepoint as one of the most important business banks in Africa.
For many people, the TeamApt name seemed to be a relic of the days when the company provided services to Nigerian banks. In that sense, this week’s name change is right on the money.
With an East and North African expansion in the works, the name change may be especially useful in winning the trust of new customers given its relative popularity. Moniepoint will be hoping that this rebrand goes swimmingly, much like Kudy’s rebrand to Nomba, and will undoubtedly double down on its storytelling as it looks to move from “soonicorn” to unicorn.
Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to TeamApt’s 2022 total payment volume figure as annual. The correct term is “annualised”.


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America Movil announced Wednesday that Mexico’s National Securities and Banking Commission has given approval for the company to list shares of its Telesites tower business on the Mexican Stock Exchange.
Trading is set to begin on December 21.
The move marks one of the final steps in America Movil’s efforts to spin-off the Telesites business, which is “mainly comprised of the passive infrastructure used by its wireless operations in Mexico.”
The sale was approved by America Movil’s shareholders in April.
America Movil said the end of December share listing will conclude the spin-off, after which Telesites will operate independently.
And Telesites may soon have some major partners.
In November 2014, AT&T leapt into the Mexican carrier space with the $2.5 billion acquisition of Mexican wireless provider Iusacell. The purchase netted AT&T Iusacell’s licenses, network assets, retail stores as well as its approximately 8.6 million subscribers.
The U.S.-based carrier followed up with the acquisition of Nextel Mexico in May and in June announced plans invest $3 billion to expand its network in Mexico to cover 100 million people by the end of 2018. AT&T also revealed the start of a new rebranding effort south of the border that is expected to take until the end of 2016 to complete.
Filed Under: Infrastructure


text:
Happening - Fender Endorsement - Omar Torrez
Seattle guitarist Omar Torrez has signed a rare promotional endorsement
contract with guitar maker Fender International.
The local recording artist apparently brought all activity to a halt when
he picked up a new prototype Guild "Paloma" classical electric/acoustic
guitar at the Fender booth at a Los Angeles music-industry convention
and began playing.
Fender has since dubbed Torrez the company´s "most exciting
rising star." Torrez, the first new artist the company has worked
with since Jonhy Lang, will perform nationwide with fender´s promotional


text:
Xbox gamers now have a way to access their email inboxes from within their favorite gaming console, if they are willing to pay the price.
Created by RedWater Technologies, MailOnX is the first email application to launch on Microsoft’s gaming device. Ironically, the first email application introduced to Xbox is not Outlook, even though Xbox is a product of Microsoft.
With a price tag of $10, MailOnX contains most of the email features that consumers have come to expect from their email providers. Users can receive and send emails from multiple email accounts and providers, including Microsoft’s mail suite, Yahoo, Gmail and iCloud, as well as establish a personalized email signature or filtering mail by email address or domain.
Built on Windows 10, MailOnX is thus far exclusively available on Xbox. Microsoft has not revealed how many Xbox One units have been sold, but the company revealed in January that Xbox live, the company’s online gaming service, had more than 48 million active users.
One major deterrent, however, is the fact that MailOnX does not have any in-game pop-up windows, so gamers have no ability to actually know whether they have received email unless they exit their game and check the application. For now, checking email by smartphone may be a better solution to staying up-to-date on the contents of your inbox while playing "Gears of War 4" or "Forza Horizon 3."


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Merkle’s Gaia Read and Andreah McCartney embarked on a journey in 2021 to create a podcast that would educate and excite listeners about the ins and outs of digital marketing. One year, 27 episodes, and 34 guests later, they’re excited to share what they’ve learned, how the show has helped them grow as marketers, and what listeners can look forward to in 2022.
This year, Google made a slew of announcements about changes in their products and platforms. Individually, they were not surprising or revolutionary to day-to-day campaign management, but all together they solidify a future where leveraging automation is no longer an edge, it’s a must-have to not fall behind.
Traditional local media stalwarts, like TV, cable, radio, print, and out-of-home (OOH), continue to be drivers for retail sales across the country and a huge part of the delivery throughout a full funnel plan. The smartest approach to managing a client’s money is focusing on the entirety of the funnel, with a combination of online and offline, as the secret to successful retail advertising in 2022 and beyond.
Retailers faced new challenges this year over the Cyber Five, stemming from the continuing pandemic and its impacts on consumer behavior, logistics, and more. As advertisers adapted, three key themes emerged that shaped performance across digital during this critical period, and will likely endure throughout the rest of the holiday season.
Topic: All Performance Media


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The move would allow local raisers to supply the requirements of their respective regions and help strengthen biosecurity protocols among smallholder farmers.
“We want to provide our local piggery businesses a chance to thrive in these trying times, and encourage more smallholder farmers to grow this industry locally and responsibly,” said San Miguel Corporation President and COO Ramon S. Ang.
As bans on the transportation of pork and pork products remain in place across the country due to the African Swine Fever, Monterey, a national player, has found the situation challenging, which made it decide to shift gears and transfer inventories to local raisers.
“This is one way to stabilize the supply of affordable pork in the country. More importantly, it will help boost the local hog raising industry. They can run this business at a lower cost, making it more sustainable. This also opens the doors for more Filipinos to become agri‐entrepreneurs,” Ang said.
Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr appealed to pork sellers to continue selling pork amid the threat of a pork holiday as suggested by some trader and consumer groups.
“Sinusuportahan po natin yung advocacy na alternative pork choices pero nakikiusap po kami sa ating mga nagtitinda, sana po ipagpatuloy ninyo ang pagtitinda ng baboy,” said Secretary Roque in a press briefing on February 8, 2020.
The Palace official assured that the national government has taken steps to help pork traders, including getting pork supply from Visayas and Mindanao and in ASF-free areas in Luzon.
A group of swine producers in Cotabato has committed to supply 10,000 heads of hogs per week in Metro Manila, said Secretary Roque.
“Gobyerno na po ang mag-aangkat niyan at gobyerno na rin po ang magpapakalat niyan sa merkado so hindi naman po tayo magkukulang. At ang presyo po ng baboy na inaangkat sa South Cotabato ay nasa P145 per kilo,” Sec. Roque said.
Further, Sec. Roque said that apart from importing from Visayas and Mindanao and in ASF-free areas in Luzon, the government will also provide transportation subsidy for the transport of pork products.
“Yung mga manggagaling ng Mindanao, gaya nitong galing sa South Cotabato mayroon na po tayong P21 [per kilo] na subsidy na binibigay para sa transportasyon. Mayroon po tayong P15 [per kilo] na para sa mga baboy na manggagaling sa Visayas. Mayroon din po tayong P10 [per kilo] para sa mga baboy na manggagaling sa iba’t ibang parte ng Luzon na walang ASF,” said Roque.
Moreover, Roque said that the government has made financial or loan assistance available to pork vendors and assured that if importing from Visayas and Mindanao will not be enough, then the government can also import from abroad as a last recourse. – BusinessNews.ph


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One of the biggest reasons for solar's renewed popularity has to do with aesthetics. In the 1970s, going solar meant mounting panels the size of ping-pong tables in cumbersome racks on your roof. But in the past five years, the industry has become more architecturally savvy, offering up solar-powered shingles that blend almost seamlessly with traditional roofing materials. | Tiny Homes
Exciting news in the world of green energy and living! Tesla just announced their new solar roofing tiles. They are as attractive as slate and lower cost than a traditional roof when combined with projected utility bill savings.
Steelsparrow is a Genuine Quality Supplier for Solar Panels and its Accessories.We Deal Directly from manufacturers to get Genuine Product with Affordable Price Ranges.We are Authorized Dealers and Suppliers @ www.steelsparrow.com