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Brewgrass, the original Asheville beer fest is officially back for its 18th year. Tickets are now on sale for the Sept. 20 event, to be held at Memorial Field, at brewgrassfestival.com.
In years past, there was little but Bele Chere when it came to Asheville festivals ahead of Brewgrass in the hot summer months. But this year promises to be different. While there will be no Bele Chere, we’ve already had our first new fest with the action-packed debut of Burning Can from Oskar Blues in Brevard. Below are three more to look forward to.
Highland’s Ale Share Festival — July 26
When Highland Brewing found out Bele Chere would be no more, it quickly moved to fill the void.
According to Highland Vice President Leah Wong, this new festival, dubbed Ale Share, will “further the community-minded spirit of craft beer in Asheville,” with most of the 20-plus participating breweries coming from WNC. Every brewery will bring at least one flagship and at least one harder-to-find specialty beer, according to Wong.
The sharing comes into play because 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the Asheville Parks and Greenway Foundation. Many of the breweries taking part also offered to donate their beer. “We offered to pay [for the beer] … but we’re thrilled by the generosity of our brewing community,” says Wong. It means that even more money from the festival goes to charity.
Highland hospitality manager Grant DaSantos spearheaded the idea for this new festival, and he says to expect plenty of live music in the Bele Chere spirit — including, perhaps, some of the bands that have played Bele Chere in the past. Tickets will be $35 for standard admission, $50 for VIP (with early entry and a commemorative T-shirt), and $15 for designated drivers. They are available now at the brewery and online at
Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp Across America — Aug. 3
If you’ve been anxiously awaiting a glimpse of Sierra Nevada’s new North Carolina brewery, this next festival is for you.
From July 19 to Aug. 3, Sierra Nevada’s team is traveling across the country for Beer Camp Across America. Every craft brewery in the United States — more than 2,700 — has been invited to take part in the massive multi-city fest.
“We’re about to open a second brewery in North Carolina, and while that’s exciting for us, it’s an even greater reason to celebrate the future of craft brewers everywhere,” says Ken Grossman, Sierra Nevada’s founder. “We’ve watched and learned from each other for decades, and together we’ve seen tastes change and craft’s momentum snowball. Beer Camp Across America is our way of reflecting on this — with thousands of brewers, fans and great beers. It should be pretty fun.”
The first stop will be at Sierra Nevada’s original brewery in Chico, Calif., on July 18, and the last stop will be the first big event at the company’s new facility in Mills River on Aug. 3. The event will double as the official launch of the Mills River brewery.
Every festival will feature a roster of guest breweries, including however many regional breweries want to attend and pour. So far, 63 North Carolina breweries have decided to take part in the Mills River edition of the festival, with even more from other Southeastern states joining the party.
Food vendors will be on hand, and every festival will feature live music from the MarchFourth Marching Band. The $65 tickets ($30 for designated drivers) are on sale now at sierranevada.com/beercamp. Proceeds will go to the state brewers guild, and to hops and barley research.
Sour Fest at Thirsty Monk — Aug. 4-8
Thirsty Monk will be taking part in the Sierra Nevada opening excitement in a couple of ways. There will be Sierra Nevada Pint Nights every Wednesday July 9-30 at the various Monk locations, and each night will offer attendees a chance to enter a raffle for tickets to the Mills River event. Then, on July 31, the Biltmore Park location will host a tap takeover with the dozen official Beer Camp Across America Beers. (While there will be hundreds of beers at the Beer Camp Across America Festivals, there is also an official 12-pack of bottles and cans featuring collaboration beers between Sierra Nevada and breweries like Russian River, Ninkasi, Cigar City, Oskar Blues and more.)
Thirsty Monk is also throwing its own August event. Sour Fest, a celebration of domestic and imported sour beers, will run Aug. 4-8. This year, expect everything from Boulevard’s Saison Brett and The Bruery’s Sour in the Rye to Birrifico Del Ducato and BFM Vintage Bon-Chien. As in past years, it will be a pay-per-beer event, rather than unlimited sampling for an entry fee.


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While Elon Musk keeps banging on about the Tesla cars the take up of them and similar electric vehicles has been slim in the United Kingdom. That’s not because we don’t want a cleaner, greener way to move around but because charge points for these vehicles are so hard to come across!
So it’s great that the Department for Transport has announced they will be expanding their electric vehicle homecharge scheme to provide £350 of the cost towards installing a charge point to people in rented accommodation, leasehold accommodation and small businesses. Although the scheme is not set to roll out until next year (let’s face it we can’t drive out of our local area during lockdown anyway!) it is hoped that this scheme will be particularly helpful for rural homes, tourism and for those living in the suburbs who often worry about travelling lengthy distances in electric cars.
Transport Minister Rachel Maclean said:
Whether you’re on the school run or travelling to work, or don’t have access to a private parking space, today’s announcement will bring us one step closer to building and operating a public chargepoint network that is affordable, reliable and accessible for all drivers.
As the UK accelerates towards net-zero emissions by 2050, we are determined to deliver a world-leading electric vehicle charging network, as we build back greener and support economic growth across the country.
The Department of Transport is also looking at ways to make charge points easier to use so that more will feel encouraged to invest in electric in the future.
A cleaner, greener Britain is on the way…Now where to find the money for that Tesla…

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The coronavirus crisis with its generalized and planetary lockdown measures has generated the deepest recession since World War II. Signs of recovery are appearing, even if the forecasts made by international organizations remain pessimistic. Ultimately though, this crisis could be a tremendous accelerator for innovation and change in supply chains.
The latest World Bank forecasts estimate that the measures taken to stem the coronavirus epidemic by halting activity will cause a 5.2% drop in global GDP in 2020, followed by a rebound of 4.2% in 2021. For its part, the IMF is a little more optimistic estimating a 4.9% decline in global GDP for 2020, but with considerable regional disparities. Developed countries will be the hardest hit with a drop of 8%, while emerging countries will suffer a more moderate impact of a drop of 3%.
Source : IMF, Upply
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), for its part, is more pessimistic. A first scenario estimates the decline in global growth of 6% in 2020, with a rebound of 5.2% for 2021. The analysis is based on the “single-hit” scenario, that is to say the current phase of Covid-19, associated with a restart of economic activity and the absence of a 2nd epidemic outbreak, followed by a phase of sustainable economic recovery combined with a treatment or a vaccine. A less optimistic scenario is based on a 2nd epidemic outbreak whose consequences are more uncertain, with a risk of recession of 7.6% for the global economy in 2020 and then a growth of 2.8% in 2021.
Despite these slight disparities, international organizations unanimously evoke a strong global growth forecast for the year 2021. However, it will take at least another year before a return to 2019's levels is achieved.
Major support plans
All the world's economies suffered a shock of unprecedented magnitude in the 1st half of 2020, but the support and recovery plans from European and American governments clearly met the needs of economic actors, even if improvements to these plans are still possible in some sectors. EU leaders have agreed to an economic recovery plan funded at 750 billion euros and a common multi-annual EU budget of 1,074 billion euros over seven years (2021-2027). Faced with an unprecedented crisis, Europe has provided an innovative response. For the first time ever, the Commission will borrow on behalf of the European Union and then allocate the necessary loans and grants to member countries.
The US government has also implemented a massive $ 2 trillion stimulus plan of unemployment support and business loans. In addition, a new plan of 1,000 billion dollars is being prepared for cities and school districts but also especially for small and medium-sized companies which employ nearly half of all private sector workers and represent nearly 44% of the American GDP.
The US economy is showing some signs of buoyancy with a revival of manufacturing production. Monthly surveys of US purchasing managers (PMI) show a 19-month high with a figure of 53.6 for the month of August. For the European economy, this same indicator stands at 55.7 which is its highest value for 28 months.
On the other hand, Upply's data on freight prices for French sea, air and road modes shows that with the resumption of activity over the summer comes an increase in prices.
Furthermore, Composite Leading Indicators calculated by the OECD show a significant resurgence of growth in developed economies. The situation in China is even showing signs of a return to pre-crisis levels. Nevertheless, the second half of the year will continue to be dependent on the evolution of the global health crisis and the potential risk of a second wave.
Three post-vacation scenarios
Several hypotheses are on the horizon for the beginning of the last quarter of the year.
- The economic situation worsens with a second wave of the epidemic, which governments will have difficulty in containing this time, which provokes serious societal consequences, redundancy plans and a stock market value correction
- The economic situation recovers rapidly in a V shape curve and cases of contamination no longer lead to death given the conclusive progress in available treatments
- The economic situation adopts a gradual but asymmetric pace of recovery which will be highly dependent on the essential characteristics of each economic sector.
The last quarter of 2020 will be decisive because the entire impact of lockdown measures will then be integrated into company accounts and a significant increase in the number of companies going into payment default or bankruptcy will be expected. However leading economic indicators, dynamic production and consumer confidence levels show that an economic recovery should overcome the fear generated by the health risk. A rebound can be expected in 2021, based on a scenario of gradual and asymmetric recovery. In a number of sectors, the consequences of the total shut-down of certain territories will take several more quarters to dissipate, for example in the hotel and automotive industries, or even several years in the case of the aeronautics sector. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that the global shortfall for the sector $419 billion and that a return to the normal pre-crisis situation will not be not possible before 2024.
Whatever the outcome, economic development remains uncertain. To face potential risks, preserving the income of a company requires diversified management of its supply chain which, when combined with protection provided by financial mechanisms, can mitigate the risk of volatility.
This type of extreme situation is also an accelerator for economic change. Market players are more likely to adhere to innovative products and companies are positioning themselves in new markets. Innovation, digital solutions, and operational resilience of supply chains will guarantee a long-term operating margin.


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General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have about a 46% chance of default within five years, according to Bloomberg .
Edward Altman, a New York University Stern School of Business professor, told Bloomberg that these auto companies are on the verge of bankruptcy based on their Z-scores, a mathematical formula that Altman created to measure bankruptcy risk.
The Z-scores for GM and Ford, which were based on 1Q finances, give both a bond rating equivalent to a 'CCC' ranking, though GM is in slightly worse condition than Ford, according to Altman. GM reported a $38.7 billion loss in 2007, the biggest in its 100-year history, and hasnt posted a profit since 2004.
Moody's Investors Service said July 15 it may cut GM's 'Caa1' senior unsecured debt rating because the automaker's plan to raise at least $15 billion by suspending its dividend, cutting management payroll by 20% and selling assets may not be enough to offset losses.
Standard & Poor's also said in June it may lower GM's 'B' rating. Altman said the plan is to raise $15 billion may improve GM's outlook.
Ford is rated Caa1 by Moody's and B by S&P, which said in June that Ford's rating may also be cut.


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Want to join the conversation?
Financial services company $SYF said its CareCredit service has entered into a multi-year agreement to provide consumer financing options for the purchase of Bowflex fitness equipment from Nautilus, Inc. CareCredit's cardholders will be able to use their card for Bowflex fitness equipment and other health, wellness and personal care expenses.
$YHOO is reporting today after market close. Nobody cares about this stock.
$WBA is yet to receive US anti-trust clearance for its Rite Aid acquisition. The deadline for the deal expires on January 27.
$BMY plunge 7.2%. No credits to the non-acceleration of approval for lung cancer combination treatment.


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Chicago is looking to be the first major city to outright ban cooking oils containing trans fat. Alderman Edward M. Burke leads the push:Monica Davey of The New York Times reports
Edward M. Burke, who has served on the Chicago City Council since 1969, when cooking oil was just cooking oil, is pressing his colleagues to make it illegal for restaurants to use oils that contain trans fats, which have been tied to a string of health problems, including clogged arteries and heart attacks.The move is a reaction to Men’s Fitness magazine proclaiming Chicago the fattest city in the nation. Burke also points to increased occurrences of diseases linked to trans fat:
If approved, nutrition experts say, the ban will be the first in a major city, following the lead of towns like Tiburon, Calif., just north of San Francisco, where restaurant owners have voluntarily given up the oils.
Mr. Burke, pointing to increases in obesity, diabetes and heart disease, is unapologetic. He does not profess that better oils would suddenly make Chicago skinny but says that they would at least begin to alleviate some of the related coronary concerns.Burke’s mission is not without merit. In Eat to Live Dr. Fuhrman stresses avoiding trans fat, even going as far as to call it poisonous.
“If it were just about adults, I would say, ‘O.K., we should butt out,’ ” Mr. Burke said in an interview. “But youngsters are assuming diets that are unhealthy.”
Trans fat is larger threat to health than most people know because not only can it be found in obvious foods like French fries and fried dough, according to Dr. Fuhrman it lurks in less suspicious foods as well:
Trans fats are found in ubiquitously in processed food: crackers, cookies, cakes, frozen foods, and snacks. Most of these enticing desserts, fried foods, and convenience foods are deadly, heart-attack-causing foods, even if they contain no animal products and no cholesterol, because of the trans fats they contain. Even Orville Redenbacher’s natural microwaveable popcorn contains artery-clogging trans fats.


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The Food and Drug Administration announced a voluntary recall of certain muffin products due to potential contamination of listeria, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people.
Give and Go Prepared Food Corp. said consumers should dispose of the productS and not eat them.
The muffins are commonly sold at convenience and bulk stores such as 7-Eleven, Stop and Shop, Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs.
Consumers can contact the company at 1-844-366-1171 to obtain more information about the recall 24 hours a day.
Find more info hereon all the muffins part of the recall.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.


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YouTube TV is a live TV streaming service like Sling TV, DirecTV Now, or Hulu. It’s currently available in 83 of the top 217 US Markets. You can check here to see if your local market is served. If they are YouTube TV has already secured local broadcasting rights from: NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX. Currently, the cost is $35 per month. In addition to the local channels, you’ve got all these channels – i.e. ESPN, CSN, FOX Sports, USA, Disney, AMC, E!, Bravo, SyFy, FXX, National Geographic, MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, and more. Currently, in Ohio only the Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo markets are available. However, with a local antenna and hulu you can secure pretty much the same programming. Call SkyNet Piqua for more details. (937)773-0998.
- Unlimited DVR – YouTube TV also comes with Cloud DVR which allows you to record your favorite shows as they air and save them, so that you can watch them later. YouTube TV promises unlimited storage for shows up to nine months. An advantage over the competition, which usually only offer 28 days of storage. YouTube says that its service will allow up to six people in the family to access the service and will allow up to three of them to tune into the service simultaneously on the same account.
- Cord Cutters and Cord Nevers? By the end of this year it is estimated that a total of 22.2 million US adults will have cut the cable cord (Cord Cutters) to traditional content providers. (ie. Time Warner, Charter, Comcast, DirecTV) Cord Cutting is when households elect to give up cable television and instead access the channels they would like online through an internet service such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Sling or YouTube TV. This is up 33% from 16.7 million in 2016. Many of them supplement their local channels with an over-the-air local channel antenna. Check out our options here. Believe it or not there is a growing population of millennials that have never had cable television. This group called Cord Never’s and by the end of this year that group will rise 5.8% to an astonishing 34.4 million.
- After being in business for 20 years our number one request from customers is to pick and pay for the channels they want. Cord-cutting is the first good news that a la carte option is available.
- YouTube has announced that, in less than a year’s time, YouTube TV has already reached the 300,000-subscriber mark. This puts it just behind Hulu with Live TV, which has an estimated 450,000 users, but in growing contention with AT&T’s DirecTV Now and Dish’s Sling TV, which have around 1 and 2 million subscribers respectively.
- YouTube TV is compatible with iOS and Android phones and tablets, meaning you can stream app video content to your television too. That makes both the Chromecast and Apple TV compatible by extension, and Google confirmed in September that it’s working on both an Android TV and Roku app for YouTube TV.


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We’ve seen RC’s biggest brands make a push to the full-size motorsports scene by sponsoring vehicles and teams in short-course racing, motocross, and other power sports, but the latest news flips that trend upside down–now a big mainstream “action sports” brand is coming to RC. To be precise, Monster Energy has signed on as a sponsor of the Reedy Race. Hopefully this will be a trend, and we’ll see more mainstream sponsors coming to RC, and bringing their motorsports fans with them. See the official press release from Reedy below:
The Reedy Race is pleased to announce that Monster Energy has signed on as an event sponsor for the 2014 Reedy International Off-Road Race of Champions. With their vast marketing opportunities, unique branding and popular products, Monster Energy is an industry leader in the energy drink market.
Billed as “A lifestyle in a can,” Monster Energy is all about action sports and embracing niche markets with passionate fan bases. With RC racing’s crossover potential, high-profile athletes are already finding the competition, precision, and technical skills required to compete at events around the world very addicting.
As part of their sponsorship, Monster Energy is giving back to the racers. With lots of give-a-ways, drinks, and Monster Trophy Girls, racers will be well aware of their contribution at the event. Monster Girl Magda will be “Miss Reedy Race” this year and will be in attendance for photo opportunities and to congratulate the winners
Join us in welcoming Monster Energy to the Reedy Race, and we’ll see you at the event!


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HMV has released details of its trading over the ten weeks to January 5, with an overall like for like sales growth of over 14 per cent.
Much of that improvement has come from strong hardware and software sales, which now make up 23 per cent of the group's overall sales, and while the overall market for videogames was up 32.1 per cent, HMV's videogames numbers were up by 44.1 per cent.
An HMV spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz that while the numbers were pleasing, as more supply of Nintendo hardware becomes available and software sales increase as a result, there's "still a lot of growth to come."
And in the company's financial statement chief executive Simon Fox saw these results as a good base to work from.
"Less than a year into our transformation programme the initiatives we are undertaking to revitalise our business have helped to deliver a highly successful Christmas.
"Having stabilised the business, we will continue to focus on revitalising our store propositions as well as growing new channels to market and carefully managing margins and costs. The Group is, therefore, well positioned for the next phase of its turnaround."
Market estimates for the company's profit before tax stand in the GBP 43-53 million range, and at the opening of the London market the HMV share price had jumped almost 12 per cent to 112.75 pence.
HMV's results come just a few days after GAME posted a Christmas sales jump of 76 per cent.


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Reduce duty on English wine to make it more competitive, says award-winning grower
- Credit: Archant
Toppesfield Vineyard hosts the launch of the Sourced Locally Fortnight initiative to promote produce from East Anglia.
Lowering the duty on English wine and encouraging fresh investment in wine-making facilities are two factors that will enable the burgeoning English wine sector to continue to grow, according to a prize-winning East Anglian wine grower.
Husband and wife team, Jane and Peter Moore, run Toppesfield Vineyard in North Essex and 18 months ago saw their Bacchus Reserve and Pinot Noir Rosé wines selected to go on sale in six East of England Co-op stores local to them. More recently, the supermarket chain has expanded the vineyard's presence, so its wines can be found on shelves across its estate of 80 stores in the region.
For this reason, East of England Co-op selected the 'boutique' vineyard near Halstead to host the launch of its annual Sourced Locally Fortnight initiative, which kicked off this weekend. The campaign, now in its 13th year, encourages customers to swap their named-brand groceries for local alternatives with the aim of promoting producers from the region.
Over a glass of wine, Mr Moore spoke about the support the co-op has given his business and how attitudes towards English wines are changing. "The East of England Co-op has taken the product and focussed on it in the stores and actually helped change the perception of what English wine is like," he said.
"Previously, people might not have thought much of English wines but as they try more, people are realising it's right up there. We have been impressed with them [the East of England Co-op] - they have shown they are prepared to sacrifice a part of their margin to support us."
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According to industry body WineGB, around three million vines are due to be planted in the UK this year, making the British Isles one of the fastest growing wine regions in the world. Mr Moore said there are almost 70 vineyards operating in East Anglia alone. But, he added, for the business side of the sector to really take off, English wine needs to be more competitive on price with wines from Europe while there is also a need for more infrastructure.
"There are some great products being made by some great wine makers, who are getting their grapes from some great growers," he said.
"But we do need some help from our Government- we pay far more duty on a bottle of wine compared with an imported wine.
"For example, a French wine maker will probably make more profit on a bottle of wine selling for £7 than an English wine maker would see from a £10 bottle. We don't know what will happen after Brexit - maybe it might bring an extra £1 on each bottle [from Europe]."
He continued: "Everybody is producing grapes but where we will struggle is with good wine making facilities. Relatively speaking, growing grapes is the easy part - it costs around £18,000 to plant an acre of vines. But it costs a lot more to invest in wine-making facilities and people aren't ready for that yet."
Jane Moore said with East Anglia's clay/chalk mix soil, and climate change bringing warmer temperatures, the region's "terroir" in the region is ideal for growing certain grape varieties, including the Bacchus grape. Back in 2016, the vineyard won a Gold award in the Sommelier Wine Awards (SWA) for its Bacchus Reserve - the judges remarking on its "elderflower notes" and "light nuances of gooseberry and greengage".
Ms Moore also pointed to a "growing professionalism" in English wine-growing, as a reason why wines from these shores now compare favourably with products from traditional wine-growing countries such as France and Germany.
Both Jane and Peter lead busy lives, working in the City in London most days of the week before coming back to Essex at weekends to focus on their two and a half acre vineyard, which last year produced 11,000 bottles. Both work in the technology sector, Peter running a company developing facial recognition payments systems and Jane as a consultant.
And it is because of her background as a consultant that the couple sought the best advice for planting and caring for the vineyard from the start. They initially hired an expert to analyse their soil and to identify the right root stock, which was planted in 2012, and still pay him a retainer, so they can call for advice when needed. They also hire specialists - a company called Vinesmiths from nearby Sible Hedingham - to prune and cut back their vines every winter.
"We could have tried to do it all by looking at Google but we wanted to avoid any mistakes," said Mrs Moore.
"It [using consultants] may have cost x amount of thousands for the first couple of years, but then we knew we had got it right from day one."
But not every job on the vineyard requires experts. At harvest time, people living in the village are invited to come and help collect the grapes in return for some free produce.
Mrs Moore added: "We had 53 people turn out last year and we got through 80 bottles of wine. From an economic point of view I'm not sure it works but we had a great day."
Toppesfield Vineyard is one of over 100 producers who supply East of England Co-op stores across the region that will see their brands promoted throughout the duration of Sourced Locally Fortnight, which runs until June 15. The company says thousands of products are available, ranging from fruit and vegetables, jams and chutneys, to meats, fish, pies and fruit juices.
Joint chief executive at the East of England Co-op Roger Grosvenor, said: "This is a wonderful chance to celebrate that journey from field and farm to fork.
"We have some fabulous offers in place which will hopefully encourage shoppers to try something new. Sourced Locally Fortnight is a fantastic opportunity for local producers to meet customers and talk about their journey."


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The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a recall alert of 377,000 ceramic space heaters sold by Amazon.
AmazonBasics 1500 watt ceramic space heaters are being recalled due to the risk of fire and burn hazards. According to the recall, Amazon has received 25 reports in the United States of the heaters overheating, burning, or sparking. Two of the reports included damage to outlets. No injuries have been reported.
For a list of the models and what to do if you have an affected product, click HERE for more details.


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The Coronavirus pandemic has caused huge upheaval in the milk market and had a marked impact on the fortunes of local dairy farmers. Photos in newspapers of milk being tipped down the drain on farms, have appeared alongside empty milk aisles in the supermarkets. This has led anxious shoppers to seek out local suppliers and many have been rewarded with the wonderful taste of super-fresh milk from farms just down the road.
Due to the restrictions imposed by social distancing measures, many businesses are now turning to technology to communicate with customers and get their message across. Free Range Dairy Network would usually organise visits to Gloucestershire dairy farms, at this time of year, to give people the chance to meet the farmers and cows that produce free range milk for Cotteswold Dairy, in Tewkesbury.
Since large groups cannot visit farms this summer, the organisation has decided to give milk lovers the chance to enjoy a ‘virtual farm walk’ and meet dairy farmer and cheesemaker Liz McNab-Jones on her farm near Stroud through Facebook Live.
FRD Network are inviting everyone to join in the event on 24 June 2020 at 7.00pm. Neil Darwent, Director, will be talking to Liz about her farm, her cows and the Pasture Promise free range milk she produces. To take part go to Free Range Dairy Facebook page between 7.00 and 7.30pm, on Wednesday 24th June.
Neil Darwent Director Free Range Dairy Network:
“With my family roots in Gloucestershire, I am really pleased to be working with Cotteswold Dairy and eight of their farmers, to deliver Pasture Promise free range milk. There is a real local feel to what we do, with the milk available to buy in Mid-Counties Coop stores around the county. We are delighted more and more people are getting behind our initiative that gives cows the freedom to graze for a minimum of six months a year and Facebook Live gives us a great opportunity to tell others about the Pasture Promise scheme.”
Free Range Dairy Network recently commissioned a survey with Censuswide UK which revealed that 63% said they were likely to continue buying local produce once the Coronavirus pandemic has died down. In addition, 54% said they were more likely to buy local produce because of the Coronavirus pandemic and 75% said were glad that British farmers could continue to produce fresh milk and dairy in the current crisis’.
74% of people surveyed believed it is vital that we build strong local food networks to safeguard domestic food supplies. Free Range Dairy Network is working with farmers from the Yorkshire Dales to the Cornish coast, to make great tasting free range milk available to local communities all around the country.
Neil will be chatting to Liz about what it means to be a Free Range Dairy farmer and why it’s important that people understand more about how milk is produced on farms and how their milk choice impacts on the lives of farmers and cows.
Notes to editors:
Survey of 1,000 UK adults carried out on behalf of the Free Range Dairy Network by Censuswide UK, March 2020.


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The car industry in England is concerned about the effect any loss of unfettered access to the EU, its largest export market, could have on plants after Brexit.
Buy now, or hope that the pound rebounds soon.
Musk also says Tesla is planning to build gigafactories in Europe at the earliest convenience.
Could Ssangyong succeed in the US? While its lineup has just the sort of vehicles Americans crave, they're almost all diesel-powered with standard manual transmissions – at least the journalists will be happy.
Following the UK's decision to leave the European Union, Jeremy Clarkson took to Twitter with some unusually sage advice.
Stock prices worldwide have taken a hit in the wake of the UK referendum. The long-term impact is still unknown, but companies across the auto industry are seeing immediate consequences.
The UK has voted to leave the European Union, and it could lead to tariffs that hurt export of UK-built cars, and affect foreign automaker profits.
If Britons vote for a Brexit this week, then cars made in the UK could be hit by a 10 percent levy when they are exported to the rest of Europe.
The hosts of The Grand Tour weigh in on Britain's EU referendum for some reason.


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From rugby styles to highly textured ribs and novelties, look for plenty of options in stripes.
Textiles go blue with indigo shades for denim, corduroy, chambray, jersey stripes and novelty knits.
Designers look for inspiration from across the world for textiles inspired by block prints, ikat patterns and woven fabrics made with novelty yarns
Textile designers head to the garden for floral patterns ranging from tiny ditsy prints to dramatic oversize blooms.
Textile makers take a cue from interior design with wallpaper prints and upholstery patterns.
Geometric prints range from clean, modern patterns to intricate styles that draw inspiration from traditional global motifs.
Longtime textile and apparel sales representative Ida Myers died on Sept. 25. She was 88.
A live online auction for the assets of Southern California garment and fabric printer Avid Ink will be held on Sept. 29.
Fiber & Fabric Textile Trends
Knitwear designers and manufacturers looking for insight and inspiration have a new destination in the Los Angeles Fashion District with the recent opening of a permanent showroom and design center for Japanese knitting machine and software maker Shima Seiki at the California Market Center.
Performance characteristics such as moisture management, water repellency and odor control are familiar territory for consumers of activewear while enhanced performance features are relatively new for casual apparel and ready-to-wear.
Sequins, foil prints and gold and silver metallic accents add luxe sophistication and fun to animal prints, abstract designs, florals and stripes.
Day-glo colors and psychedelic swirl prints have textile designers seeing Mod with ’60s-inspired abstract prints.
California is known for its high-quality Pima cotton, but the state’s ongoing drought has had an impact on cotton yields and prices.
Print solution company Epson has the fashion industry in its sights, hoping to win designers over with the promise of creating their own graphic prints on demand.
Sourcing and Fabric, August 2015 Textile Trends.
NEW YORK—After celebrating its 10th anniversary in Milan, Italian textile trade show Milano Unica took a small group of mills on the road for its first edition in New York.
Last year, Cubukcu and Topcuoglu began developing Fabrium, an online sourcing site to connect textile mills with designers and manufacturers.
Location is only one of the changes planned for Kingpins; the show will also shift its dates from its traditional January/July schedule to a November/May schedule beginning with its Nov. 3–4 show at Pier 36 NYC (Basketball City) in Manhattan.
Two years ago at Texworld USA in New York, Los Angeles knitting mill SG Knits met with a potential customer. The two companies stayed in touch, and two years later the potential customer has become an actual one.


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A team of students from the University of Nottingham has won the gold prize at Ecotrophelia UK for its Indian-inspired ‘Gulab Jamun’-sweets.
Team Re-Dessert took home a share of the £2,000 top prize sponsored by PepsiCo for its reinvention of Gulab Jamun, a syrup infused fried sponge-like doughball. Its recipe incorporated surplus bread, along with new flavour variations such as jam roly-poly.
Team Re-Dessert said: “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be the winners of the UK Ecotrophelia Final 2020. Due to Covid-19, the competition was virtual this year and so we had the added challenge of finding a way to convey our delicious product. Many Zoom calls later, we believe we achieved this.
“We are very excited to compete in the European finals later this year, allowing us to share our passion for our product and to develop our ideas further. It will also be a great opportunity to see what exciting and innovative products other groups have been creating.”
Now in its eighth year, Ecotrophelia UK challenges teams of UK students to develop innovative, eco-friendly food and drink products. From idea generation through to the final packaged product, the teams get hands-on experience of what it takes to bring an eco-friendly food or drink product to market.
“The food and drink industry is particularly dynamic and continues to present challenges, particularly those related to innovation and sustainability. To ensure the industry continues to grow and meet these challenges both now and, in the future, it is essential to attract creative, intelligent, gifted students.”
The teams pitched their ideas to judges from leading names in the food and drink industry who also sponsor the competition including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Food Manufacture, Marks & Spencer, Mondelez, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Unilever, Warburtons, Nestle Research and Development, Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and Campden BRI.
Team PLANT UP from the University of West London secured the silver prize and £1,000 for its vegetable pasta (one beetroot and one sweet potato) which are suitable for vegans, vegetarians and coeliacs. They are high in protein and prepared in under 10 minutes.
The bronze prize and £500 was awarded to the second team from University of Nottingham for its ‘CocoWaffle,’ a gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan, Dutch-inspired waffle sandwich with a coconut caramel filling. The recipe uses the whole coconut, minimising food wastage.
All three prize-winning teams will also receive a one-year IFST membership.
Helen Munday, IFST president and chief scientific officer at the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) commented: “As always, Ecotrophelia has proven to be an excellent opportunity to develop and engage with the next generation of food scientists and technologists, bringing industry and our students together.
“The students were challenged to be innovative and environmentally conscious and demonstrate leadership through their product development and presentations. As the food sector adapts to the Covid-19 situation, the students also had to adapt by presenting on a virtual platform. All the teams did a brilliant job in modifying their pitches to the ‘dragons’, and as a judging panel, we learnt a lot from them. It was a highly engaging event for all involved and the standards demonstrated by all the teams were of the highest level.”
Bertrand Emond of Campden BRI, co-organiser of the Ecotrophelia UK competition and member of the European judging panel, said: “The food and drink industry is particularly dynamic and continues to present challenges, particularly those related to innovation and sustainability. To ensure the industry continues to grow and meet these challenges both now and, in the future, it is essential to attract creative, intelligent, gifted students.
“Ecotrophelia encourages the brightest students to consider a career in the food and drink sector and gives them a unique opportunity to participate in a ‘real-life’ food innovation and development process and gain key practical skills that you just cannot get from a textbook. As the world’s largest independent membership-based organisation carrying out research and development for the global food and drinks industry, we are committed to supporting young and emerging talent in the food and drink industry and are proud to support Ecotrophelia.”


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Digital TV News: Harris
StreamMetrics introduces esports streaming audience measurement service
Jul 30, 2019 – StreamMetrics has launched StreamMetrics Audience Measurement, a syndicated data service that demystifies live-stream and esports viewership by accurately measuring audience size, demographics, and engagement to provide geographically-relevant data.
News categories: StreamMetrics, Gearoid O’Brien, Seamus McAteer, Scott O’Neill, Big Data, Digital TV, OTT, Worldwide
The DPP reveals the greatest risks to a full IP future
Jun 6, 2019 – The DPP has released a report which looks at the challenges posed by the transition to full IP distribution of content to consumers. The report outlines the challenges that a group of experts believe could constrain the delivery of IP-based content distribution.
News categories: The DPP, Mark Harrison, Ian Munford, Digital TV, Market Research, OTT, UK, Worldwide
Telestream and NPAW integrate video monitoring and analytics platforms
May 14, 2019 – Telestream and NPAW (Nice People At Work) have announced partnership that sees the companies integrating their video monitoring and analytics platforms. This enables Telestream and NPAW to implement cross reference selling strategies across a range of markets.
News categories: Telestream, NPAW, Calvin Harrison, Sergi Vergés, Big Data, Digital TV, QoE, Worldwide
Majority of US now streaming Over The Top content
Apr 10, 2019 – OpenX has announced the findings of a nationwide survey showing that a massive consumer shift toward OTT video content consumption is well underway. The study highlights how OTT has become the primary video content channel for nearly all age groups in the US today.
News categories: OpenX, Dallas Lawrence, Advertising, Digital TV, Market Research, OTT, USA
GatesAir wins Ivory Coast DTT transition contract
Feb 26, 2019 – GatesAir continues its long-standing business relationship with the Republic of Ivory Coast through a turnkey equipment and services contract to support the African country’s national digital TV (DTV) network.
News categories: GatesAir, Ivoirienne de Télédiffusion, Bruce D. Swail, Content Distribution, Côte d'Ivoire, Digital TV, DVB-T2
Ooyala teams with DPP on metadata for news production
Feb 5, 2019 – Ooyala has announced that it will work with the DPP on its efforts to advance global news-industry standards for metadata. The DPP’s initiative is designed to help establish standards for application in every step of delivering news content.
News categories: Ooyala, DPP, Bea Alonso, Mark Harrison, Big Data, UK, Worldwide
NBCUniversal announces Direct-to-Consumer streaming service
Jan 14, 2019 – NBCUniversal has announced the planned launch of a new streaming service providing consumers access to premium content for free, with valuable partnership opportunities for advertisers and distributors.
News categories: NBCUniversal, Bonnie Hammer, Steve Burke, Maggie Suniewick, Digital TV, Europe, OTT, USA
U.S. 2018 TV and radio M&A deal volume highest since 2008
Jan 3, 2019 – According to Kagan, U.S. broadcast station mergers and acquisitions (M&A) volume reached $4.31 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018. 2018 closed with an $8.87 billion deal volume, representing an increase of 8% over 2017.
News categories: S&P Global, Digital TV, Market Research, MnA, USA
Verizon begins Fios TV One rollout
Dec 11, 2018 – Verizon has begun the rollout of Fios TV One, the next level of Fios TV service with voice remote, WiFi-connected set-top boxes, 4K capability and more. The rollout across all Fios markets will be completed in January.
News categories: Verizon, Digital TV, IPTV, Set Top Box, USA, UX
- PAOK FC OTT platform built with Insys Sport on AWS
- SLING TV in-app guide integrates local OTA channels on LG Smart TVs
- Conviva releases State of Streaming Q2 report
- Stay-at-home providing springboard for French SVOD
- Survata announces enhanced CTV measurement suite
- Ofcom releases Media Nations 2020 report
- RADIO.COM expands connected TV footprint with Vewd
- NAGRA multi-DRM selected for Grupo Express OTT service in Argentina
- V-Nova and NETINT collaborate on MPEG-5 LCEVC transcoding
- ViacomCBS to launch connected video ad platform
- Bell Canada releases Android TV 4K HDR streaming box
- ORS chooses 3SS to deliver simpliTV service in Austria
- Mongolia's Skymedia upgrades to Minerva 10
- Express-80 and Express-103 satellites launched
- INVIDI extends addressable TV partnership with Tata Elxsi
- Finecast brings audience measurement to Australian BVOD platforms
- SVOD subscriptions grew by 28% in 2019
- Strong recovery expected for Mexico’s video entertainment market
- ATEME negotiating acquisition of ANEVIA
- Charter residential video customers up 102,000 in 2Q 2020


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The name Environmental Protection Agency seems impressive. A government agency that will protect the environment, including our air, land and water, and ultimately the health of the American people. But apparently the EPA doesn’t feel factory farm operations fall into the same category of industry as say, mining or auto manufacturing.
And so an industry under the guise of being an agricultural endeavor, one that produced more greenhouse gasses than all the automobiles on the road, pollutes our groundwater with animal waste that often results in massive fish kills and “dead zones” in the oceans, and is responsible for creating super-strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria, goes essentially unregulated.
It’s anyone guess (maybe) why the EPA won’t apply the same standards of regulation to factory farms as other industries, but it probably has to do with the influence Big Ag has on our government, in other words, Big Ag dictates what the government will do, not the other way around, which begs the question why do we need the EPA at all?
Government is not looking out for our health and well being, at least not when it comes to factory farming operations and the well-being of the environment, workers, public health, and let us not forget the animals that have been reduced to mere machines that produce meat.
The simple solution to the problem is to stop eating meat, but it’s not an easy solution with so many people addicted to eating meat.
You can do your part. If you can’t stop eating meat then start by reducing meat consumption, not supporting fast food restaurants that rely on factor farms as a cheap source of meat, and only buying meat from certified humane producers that have “real” farms. As a consumer you have the power to do what the EPA can’t, or won’t do – protect our environment and health.


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Image source: Office for National Statistics
COVID-19-related travel restrictions, stay-at-home orders and business closures in 2020 caused the British economy to suffer a record decline.
Output shrank 9.9% last year, more than double the decrease in 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis and narrowly worse than the 9.7% slump in 1921 when the country was recovering from World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Friday.
According to ONS statistics, the service sector, which represents about 80% of the country’s economy, declined 8.9% last year. Output from hospitality businesses tumbled 55% from pre-pandemic levels, while construction fell 12.5% and manufacturing dropped 8.6%.
The UK’s top treasury official, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, said in a statement, “Today’s figures show that the economy has experienced a serious shock as a result of the pandemic, which has been felt by countries around the world.”
“While there are some positive signs of the economy’s resilience over the winter, we know that the current lockdown continues to have a significant impact on many people and businesses,” Sunak said.
The Chancellor said he plans to unveil new measures to protect jobs and boost the economy during his annual budget statement to officials next month.
Britain’s economy was hit harder by COVID-19 than most other industrialized countries. In 2020, GDP shrank 8.3% in France, 5% in Germany and 3.5% in the US.
During the final months of 2020, there were some positive signs, with UK GDP estimated to have grown 1% in the fourth quarter following record growth in the third, according to ONS data. October and December, however, saw big swings in output due to restrictions imposed to contain spikes in coronavirus cases.
ONS deputy national statistician Jonathan Athow told BBC News he believes “an increase in COVID-19 testing and tracing also boosted output” and that “despite the additional restrictions in November,” the economy “continued to grow in the fourth quarter as a whole.”
The latest lockdown, which went into effect Jan. 5, is projected to hit the economy hard during the first quarter of the year and reverse the trend of growth.
In an effort to relax restrictions, the UK has been focused on rolling out vaccinations across the country. More than 13.5 million people, about 20% of the population, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, The Associated Press reported.
The ONS first measured GDP following World War II, and output has never previously dropped more than 4.1% in a year. Bank of England’s records go back centuries and shows 2020’s contraction was the largest since 1709, when a cold spell caused a 13% drop in what was then a primarily agricultural economy, BBC News noted.
Source: Equities News


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Personalized Advertising Is Powerful, And Consumers Will Trade Personal Data For It
Consumers are okay with advertisers collecting some form of personal data about them, as long as the advertising is relevant to them. This finding comes from programmatic and social media video and display ad platform provider Cinch, who in a survey of 500 U.S. consumers, found that 64 percent are comfortable with brands collecting some form of data—from demographic to social media profile information—to deliver a more relevant, personalized ad experience.
Roughly one-third (31 percent) of consumers feel that ads on social media are personalized or tailored to them 75 percent of the time or more. In addition, 35 percent indicated that they see the same ad too many times, which Cinch identifies as a sign that brands aren't using the data being collected to their full advantage.
While technology is available for brands to leverage data to reach consumers in more personalized ways, many brands aren't tapping into this capability. Cinch CEO Oz Etzioni says, “Not recognizing the power of personalization is a big misstep among marketers. The data, creative tools and technology are available. Brands need to commit to building personalization-first strategies to create more meaningful consumer connections."
The Cinch survey found that most consumers—79 percent—cited Facebook as the most effective social media platform for brands to reach them, followed by Instagram (56 percent) and YouTube (47 percent). A third of consumers said that a combination of static and video ads on social media influenced them to make a purchase.
Etzioni adds, "Personalization needs to be pervasive across platforms and ad units. Unifying data and creative to create holistic campaigns is critical as consumers move through their digital lives consuming all different types of content throughout their day."
Well-executed social media campaigns are increasingly driving direct sales. According to the survey, 70 percent of consumers have purchased a product or service after seeing an ad on social media. In fact, more than half (57 percent) made a purchase in the past 12 months and, of those consumers, 60 percent have purchased between two and five products because of social media ads. Also, after being exposed to an ad, 80 percent of consumers reported using a search engine to find the product, and 61 percent indicated they have visited a physical store location.
"While there is no question that social ads are powerful, marketers must amp up their creative strategy,” says Etzioni. “An effective social media video shouldn't feel like an ad at all. It should be personalized to the viewer and create an experience, rather than just deliver a sales message. Brands who follow this approach will not only see a direct sales lift, but they will also see increases in search and in-store traffic, as well."


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As Microsoft inches closer to the expected June rebranding and launch of the latest iteration of its search engine, company officials are sharing selective bits and pieces of what the Redmondians are planning.
In an April 8 Wall Street Journal story about Microsoft's search-branding challenges , Yusuf Mehdi, the Senior Vice President of Microsoft’s Online Audience Business Group, mentioned "Kiev." Kiev, a codename I first heard about via LiveSide, seems to be the uber-brand for Microsoft's upcoming search release. Kumo, the codename for the search-engine component, is one piece of Kiev, Mehdi confirmed with the Journal.
(Other Kiev components, I've heard, include the vertical search areas where Microsoft has been focusing its attentions -- product search, celebrity search, travel and healthcare. I'm not sure what the codenames are for the next releases of each of those elements....or if each vertical has a separate codename.)
From what I'm hearing from various quarters, "Kumo" is looking less and less likely to be the final new name for Live Search. Users, current and potential, just don't seem that keen on it. Bing is now sounding like the leading candidate. (But Bing also could end up as the new brand for Microsoft local search/mapping, based on how Microsoft recently applied for the Bing trademark.)
Unless Microsoft has yet another search name hidden away, I'm now betting Bing is not just a "Plan B" but is likely to be Microsoft's new search brand.


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Score one for consolidated shelf space. A listing for Hitman Trilogy HD, a compilation which sounds innevitable but has yet to be announced by Square Enix, has been spotted on Amazon. It's even complete with a promotional image that shows the package's contents: Hitman Contracts, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, and Hitman: Blood Money.
In addition to these three titles, there's a slick-looking art book featuring 22 reinterpretations of "classic moments" included with the first run of Hitman Trilogy HD. The right-hand page shown looks pretty neat! Amazon has the game listed for January 29, 2013, but that might not necessarily be the date that sticks.
Now that Hitman Absolution is out, I'd imagine the series has garnered some new fans. Boy, they're in for a surprise should they have played the new installment on one of the easier difficulties.
|3:30 PM on 01.28.2013|
Relive the past with Agent 47 in this Hitman HD trailer
Hitman HD: Trilogy is nearly ready for release, so IO Interactive has whipped up a trailer that showcases footage from all three games, and a small teaser for the brand new Hitman: Sniper Challenge bonus. Whether you're a se...more
|9:00 PM on 05.02.2013|
Zone of the Enders HD frame rate patch coming to PS3
Not all platform releases are born equal. PlayStation 3 owners got the short end of the stick with the release of Zone of the Enders HD Collection. While the game played favorably on Xbox 360, the game's frame rate took a ser...more
|10:30 AM on 04.19.2013|
Jak and Daxter Collection coming to the PlayStation Vita
That rumored Vita release of the Jak and Daxter Collection has been confirmed today, at a $29.99 price point. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, and Jak 3 will comprise the collection, just like the PS3 version. R...more
|10:30 PM on 04.09.2013|
Capcom: Novelty of fighting game re-releases wearing off
After a slew of high-def fighting game re-releases on modern consoles -- recently, Darkstalkers Resurrection -- you might be wondering which properties Capcom will turn to next. I'm sure there's an individual title ...more


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Ripple joined the development of a digital pound by partnering with the Digital Pound Foundation
Ripple has officially joined the development of a digital pound by partnering with the Digital Pound Foundation as a foundation member. This non-profit organization seeks to facilitate the rollout of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pegged to the Great British Pound in the United Kingdom (UK).
— 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸XRP (@BankXRP) October 14, 2021
Ripple joins the development of digital British pound CBDC
In a press statement, Ripple indicated that the move is part of the company’s efforts to work with central banks, assisting them with the technical and policy aspects of CBDC development. The firm will be represented at the Foundation by Susan Friedman, who also serves as the Head of Policy.
Susan Friedman, head of policy at Ripple, will represent the corporation at the Digital Pound Foundation.
“We are excited to support the design and implementation of a digital Pound in partnership with the Digital Pound Foundation. The Foundation will help advance the UK’s goal to build a more inclusive and sustainable financial system”, she stressed the importance of this partnership for the evolution of the global financial system.
Ripple chose the UK because the digital pound will highlight the height of the country’s support for innovation in the crypto space. Elsewhere, this partnership comes just a month after Ripple partnered with Bhutan’s central bank, the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA). This agreement aims to conduct a pilot project to facilitate cross-border payments and wholesale through a CBDC solution.
In addition to Ripple, the forum is supported by other players, including Accenture and CGI Group. The Foundation argues that the implementation of the CBDC will underpin the UK’s transition to an innovative, inclusive digital economy and society.
Currently, global central banks are increasingly considering the idea of CBDCs. Notably, the Bank of England is actively launching a digital Pound as it has taken various steps.
Ripple adds that experiments with GBP-based CBDCs will help the UK secure its place in the global financial landscape of the Web3 era.
- ERG Lead, Cassie Craddock, Has Parted Ways With Ripple While The On-Going Lawsuit With SEC
- Ripple Invests $44 Million To Provide Funding For American Solar Power Projects


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It is possible to say that most situations in the technological world are just a matter of time before they happen, especially in the hacker world, where constantly new technologies and products pass through the hands of experts in unraveling them – like the AirPlay 2, which was “Cracked” recently.
Announced in mid-2017 (and released only with iOS 11.4), Apple’s broadcast protocol is becoming compatible with more and more devices; however, there are still a huge number of gadgets that are not supported by technology.
To “solve” this problem, a trio of developers worked for a long time to break the barriers of AirPlay 2 – and this happened this week. The original announcement was made in a group on Slack and later published in a discussion on GitHub that started in 2017.
Guys… are you ready? I can finally confirm that AirPlay 2 is working, including multi-room! Data from streaming properly recovered, decrypted and decoded audio files!
Hackers used reverse engineering techniques to understand how AirPlay 2 works and, thus, to be able to change the Apple code responsible for allowing devices with protocol support to connect to iGadgets.
It is worth noting, however, that breaking the Apple protocol was just the first step for developers, who still need to automate this action in an app or other type of software, in addition to hardware that can run it – such as Raspberry Pi, launched in 2012 and which helped “crack”The first version of AirPlay.
With this, it will be possible to take the features of AirPlay 2 to almost any device, even if it does not offer native support for the protocol. Of course, perhaps these days this option is not so urgent, since several smart TVs and speakers already support Apple technology; still, it will be interesting to monitor the potential of this.


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Leading pan-African TV Show and organisers of the leading music video awards in Africa, WatsUp TV has officially opened nominations for the 2017 edition of the WatsUp TV Africa Music Video Awards (WAMVA).
Notable winners from the 2016 edition which was hosted in Accra, Ghana are Diamond Platnumz, Shatta Wale, Wizkid, Beyonce, Mr. Eazi, Desiigner, Godfather, Cassper Nyovest, DJ Arafat, Ibtissam Tiskat etc.
In an exclusive interview with the CEO of WatsUp TV, ABD Traore, he noted, the awards was launched to create the best opportunity to judge African Music Videos from various Anglophone and Francophone thereby bridging the gap between the music industries in Africa.
He also shared, Nominees for the 2017 edition of the WAMVA will be announced during the 3rd anniversary (7 October 2017 ) of the TV show in Ghana.
Interested musicians and fans who are interested in submitting their videos, can do so through wamva.watsup.tv.
Categories which have been opened for nomination include: Best African New Comer Video, Best African Reggae/Dancehall Video, Best Afro Pop Video, Best African Hip Hop Video, Best African Rnb Video, Best African Traditional Video, Best African Performance, Best African Dance Video, Best International Video, Best African Combo Video, Best African Male Video, Best African Female Video, Best East African Video, Best Central African Video, Best North African Video, Best South African Video, Best West African Video, Best African Group Video, Best African Video Director, Watsup TV Viewers Choice Award and African Video Of The Year.
For more details on sponsorship and partnership, please contact Ghana : +233246510246 France: +33623854009 – email@example.com


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Swiggy has announced a marketplace for food packaging for partner restaurants called ‘Swiggy Packaging Assist’. This e-store stocks a range of custom delivery containers, categorised for dry starters and snacks, gravy items, carry bags, paper and pizza boxes and cutlery. The focus is on providing partner restaurants with sustainable, eco-friendly and food-grade certified material.
The marketplace lists 30 products that serve different functions—leak-proof, sturdy, stackable and heat insulant, for instance. Many of these are made with paper or aluminium that is recyclable. Wooden cutlery is available too. “Packaging material for food delivery is fraught with challenges,” Swiggy said in a statement. “With over 40,000 restaurants on the platform, we want to enable them to have seamless access to quality, eco-friendly material.”
Swiggy launched a pilot phase in Bengaluru two months ago and in Maharashtra in August. So far, 300 partner restaurants have made purchases with the service. “We wanted to be environment-friendly, but the challenge was to source the right quality products at the right price,” says Girish D Kulkarni, owner of Maharaja Wada, Pune, a restaurant that uses the platform. “We have received compliments from customers for our packaging, especially those that are sustainable options to plastic.”


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Governor Liyel Imoke
Experience Cross River is a tourism product packaged by private hotels association to woo tourists to the state at the most cost effective price for the most satisfactory services, writes Jude Okwe in Calabar
Accelerated tourism growth is a consistent theme in Cross River State. Though the state’s income from tourism is yet to meaningfully impact the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) profile of the government, there is no slowing down in laying the foundation for a prosperous economy anchored on tourism in a state that has many tourist spots and over 4,000 hotel rooms.
Cross River State remains a prospective tourism hub even though the road to the Promised Land is still far off. This requires change, innovations, new ways of doing business, a novel attitude, how and what to do to woo tourists with. Experience Cross River is out to achieve this. It is tourism package seeking to make the state a must -visit at the cheapest rate after easily accessing the facilities on offer through the internet. Members of the Private Hotels Association in the state are powering this product which offers travels, tours, events, hotels and car hire services.
First time visitors to Cross River State are usually impressed by something that its citizens now take for granted- the pervasive signs of tourism development and cleanliness. Rural communities in the state are also undergoing construction works while the urban centres are clogged with cars and booming with businesses- all signs of development. But how to get tourists in their large numbers to the state all year round has remained a problem hence the launch of this product.
Zero Tolerance to Crime
To local and international tourists uncertain of the peace of Nigeria, Cross River remains the only place they can still find a special amalgam of innocence and relaxation. The state has zero tolerance for crime and this explains its lowest crime rate in the country. Through the provision of infrastructure to some tourist sites and comprehensive face lift of such sites, the world today is fully in love with Cross River. Politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, fun-seekers, etc vie for invitation to attend conferences or seminar in Calabar and other towns. Tourism to the state has gone from a privilege to a fad. Indeed, in the situation ethics of economic diversification, many opportunities abound for investment. Tourism is one of them.
Experience Cross Rivers
Tourism development has since 2000 been a recurring project in the annual budget of the state government. Under the administration of Mr. Donald Duke, the state got a bond of N4.6 billion from the capital market to develop the Obudu Ranch Resort and Marina Beach Resort in Calabar. Many tourist sites in the state are yet to enjoy similar turnarounds though the Liyel Imoke administration is doing something in that direction.
Though the civil service economy of the state has been worrisome to both the public and private sectors, the private sector which drives the economy has decided to take its destiny in its own hands. This explains why the hotels association in the state has become innovative all in a bid to better the economy of the state. To this end, it is united in its goal of attracting more tourists to the state in a healthy competition.
The association in a press release in Calabar explained that “one of Africa’s best destinations, Cross River State, now presents an opportunity to reach more people in the world to showcase the best of attractions, accommodation and transport with a click of the mouse. Already, the state is the site of the one of Africa’s biggest street party, the Carnival Calabar, and the Obudu Mountain Resort, which is one of the Seven Wonders of Nigeria.
“Most Nigerians now make their bookings online. With about two million blackberry smart phones in Nigeria, it is believed that 50% of all travellers use the smart phones for easy and convenient bookings and enquiries.
“Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.,” the statement said.
“It will also provide full vacation and holiday packages as well as handle all events planning and implementation. This is the only platform that offers transport, tours, hotel and airline booking that is fashioned on request to accommodate customers plan. You can make your trip and vacation cheaper by using the website as it offers unbelievable discount on rooms, tickets, transport and for all your vacation packages, honey moon packages etc including free airport transfers”.
The association said this product was similar to that of Wakanow, Aero Contractors etc which shows that the Nigerian market was large and sophisticated enough for such products but the difference lies in the fact that Cross River’s is a private sector initiative to up the ante on the patronage of tourist sites in the state. The internet site could also be accessed on facebook, google and other social media networks.
Ensuring Lasting Memories
Chairman of Hotels Association in the state, Mr. Charles Ogar, explained in an interview that Experience Cross River is all about travellers, tours, events, hotels, car hire and comfort. It seeks to ensure that everyone coming to Cross River for business and leisure comes in cheaper and leaves with long-lasting memories. This is one product that would increase the traffic of tourists to the state, Ogar who is also the chief executive officer of Pyramid Hotel, Calabar added.
“Experience Cross River is an exciting event. This is a product fully endorsed by the hotels association of the state. It’s going to be marketed vigorously, increase the number of heads on our hotel beds. The whole idea is to have affordable beds in all star tourism events in the state. It is also aimed at bringing people to our state and making them travel out with ease. We are going to be bringing in people on discounted rate under healthy competition,” he said.
A prominent member of the association and chief executive officer of Remlords Group, Mr. Nkereuwem Onun, maintained that since the Cross River State government has developed tourism under the economic principle of comparative advantage, everything has to be done to reap the investment. The association, he added, was taking the lead in ensuring that tourism works in the state because the sector by nature is private-sector driven.
“Experience Cross River is out to project the state and showcase its tourism potentials. You are going to get car hire at cheaper rate, hotel rooms cheap, air ticket to and from Calabar/Obudu Ranch Resort cheap etc. Already, two million people have made online booking to Experience Cross River. Through this initiative, we hope to have busy schedule in all tourist events of the state besides regular tours,” Onun said.
He is convinced that this initiative would make Cross River more accessible from any part of the globe noting that with this package one can easily access hotels in the state including facilities on offer and tourist sites. A package of this nature, he revealed, is needed on the internet including all the social media to enable people, tourists and businessmen/women to be in the know and make informed decisions.
“Experience Cross River will further bring to light the 7 Wonders of Nigeria of which the Obudu Ranch Resort is leading. It is one experience that would take you to the destination of your choice, make you experience the hospitality of the people and leave you with unforgettable memories.
“This is a private sector approach to promoting tourism in Cross River State. We are now in the age of sustainable approach. We as tour operators have to illuminate the package. The coming together of tourism practitioners in Cross River would make the management of tourism in the state easier. It is a great approach which the association has agreed to leverage on,” Onun stated.
Eliminating Middle Men
Project Director of the 7 Wonders of Nigeria and consultant to the Hotel Association, Mr. Ikechi Uko, who spoke during the launch of the product in Calabar, said it was difficult for Nigerians to come to Cross River because the state is expensive. This, he revealed, informed the resolve to devise ways of reducing the cost of travelling to the state and hotel accommodation. The product, he added, would help to eliminate dealings with middle men who do exploit tourists.
“After some years of helping 30 million Nigerians travel abroad, we have devised ways of making Nigerians travel within. This informed the 7 Wonders of Nigeria discovery. We want to make our 7 sites traveller-friendly. $1.5billion was spent by Nigerians last year on air ticket abroad. This has forced Etihad and other foreign airlines to open Nigerian routes. Let’s patronise our own,” he said.
Uko advised hoteliers in the state to close ranks and negotiate with airlines flying to Calabar, and how to increase the number of airlines to the state. “Risk owners need to get involved in flight access. Risk owners should solve flight problems because their customers are not in Calabar but outside. Nigerians are the largest travellers in Africa. Why is it that they don’t travel within the country? Why do people come to Calabar only during the carnival and not all –year-round?
“The Gambians have seen their hotel association as a brand. The best hotel environment in West Africa is in the Gambia. Workers in Gambian hotels know why they are working there. Hoteliers in Calabar should not see themselves as competitors. There is no need to price yourselves out of the market. Do peer review regularly, standardise your services/products and do the right thing always. Know your high and low season and charge accordingly. Know also when to introduce low fees for late travelers to your city,” he said.


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The company invited fans to post one-word comments in addition to previous posts on the company’s Facebook page, but it ended in customers attacking each other.
‘Here is a little social experiment Add a word to the person above you to create a happy story!’
However the story written wasn’t so ‘happy’ with some of the responses including insults and obscenities, sometimes aimed at other company ‘fans’.
The campaign attracted over 700 responses and the company confirmed that it was forced to delete many of them.
‘Earlier this week, we posted a status update that attracted 781 responses,’ Coca-Cola said. ‘Around 70 responses were removed as they were not in keeping with our ‘house rules’.’
It follows a recent string of botched social experiments in the Australian media.
In October, Qantas launched a Twitter marketing campaign that ended badly, with customers using the hashtag #qantasluxury to insult the company’s customer service.
Story source: www.bigpond.com


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If you're getting ready to deal with a worker's compensation claim, read these tips on how you can survive -- whether you're an employee or employer.
The suit seeks millions in damages including, in some cases, child-rearing expenses up to the age of 18.
The cyberattack affected the information of 83 million people.
The case raises questions about how much companies protect the privacy rights of their customers.
Radicals & Visionaries
In response, Lonsdale has dropped his counter suit and each party will pay for their own court expenses.
The man was found guilty last month and has received the maximum sentence.
The company says that complying with the request will 'threaten the trust between Apple and its customers and substantially tarnish the brand.'
The European Court of Justice ruled the virtual currency can be treated in the same way as traditional money.
The company told a U.S. judge that it strengthened encryption methods and could only access data on 10 percent of its devices using an older operating system.
But the Big Apple isn't the only area that is undergoing this kind of transportation change.
A task force is being asked to flesh out how the registration will work to put a system in place ahead of the holiday season.
Some Fiverr users were allegedly paid to publish Amazon reviews.
The processors in Apple's iPhone 5S, 6 and 6 Plus -- along with some editions of the iPad -- violated the patent.
Ready To Launch
You have formed a limited liability company. What should you do now?


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Hotel owners turn to coffee company's innovative pods to boost green credentials
INNOVATIVE compostable coffee pods from a multi-award-winning pioneering company are helping to save the planet one brew at a time.
Penningtons corn starch coffee capsules are being snapped up by environmentally-aware hotel owners in the English Lake District National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As consumers look for alternatives to aluminium and plastic, Penningtons eco-friendly coffee pods are also proving popular with the public through the company’s online shop.
Once used, the 100 per cent compostable pods fully biodegrade in as little as 12 weeks, an ethical approach which is resonating with businesses, hotel owners and the public alike.
At Penningtons HQ and roastery at Kendal, everything is powered by renewable energy and every effort is made to ensure the family business’ processes are as waste-free as possible.
Gina Pennington, a director of Penningtons, said when they formed the company in 2018 a top priority was to make sure their products were eco-friendly.
Gina said: “In the world we are living in today, it is more important than ever to respect nature and give it the love and nurture it deserves. So we work hard to make a positive difference through our own processes and actions, but also through the products we create and sell.
“Along with our compostable coffee pods, our tea bag boxes and wrappers are 100 per cent recyclable too.
“We are finding that businesses are becoming more discerning in choosing who they want to endorse and stock.
“There has been a step change in recent years and many companies are moving towards operating in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
“Certainly that is the case in the hospitality business and we are delighted that our coffee pods are enabling hotels and B&Bs to move towards a greener future.”
It is estimated that billions of plastic coffee capsules go to landfill across the world every year, with standard capsules taking up to 500 years to biodegrade.
Since being launched at the beginning of the year, Penningtons compostable coffee capsules have become a feature at a host of prestigious hotels.
Among some of the Lake District venues using the pods are The Cragwood Country House Hotel in Windermere, Lindeth Howe Hotel in Bowness and the Victorian House Hotel in Grasmere.
Joe Cobb, Executive Commercial Manager at Lake District Country Hotels, which owns Cragwood Country House Hotel, Merewood Country House Hotel and Briery Wood Country House Hotel, all in Windermere, is full of praise for Penningtons environmentally-friendly approach.
Joe said: “At Lake District Country Hotels we have plenty of initiatives to support the environment, from supporting local conservation charities such as the Lake District Foundation to rearing our own cattle.
“That is why when we heard that Penningtons had introduced 100 per cent compostable coffee capsules we were keen to work with them.
“Our guests have commented on them being a fantastic initiative with a lovely taste.
“Working with a local company where customer care is as good as the coffee makes Penningtons a real ‘win, win’.”
Using Penningtons compostable pods also helps hotels to achieve The Green Key Award, the leading standard of excellence for environmental responsibility and sustainable operation in the tourism sector.
The prestigious eco-label not only holds businesses to account, in that they must adhere to the strict criteria set by the Foundation for Environmental Education, but it is also a promise to guests that where they are staying is helping to make a difference to the environment.
The Penningtons team (from left): Craig Pennington, Dave Pennington, Gina Pennington and Dean Pennington
Penningtons helping to save the planet with its 100 per cent compostable pods which are proving extremely popular with environmentally-aware hotel owners in the English Lake District
Please contact James Higgins on 07553203234 if you require further information.


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November 29, 2011
office-365-logoMicrosoft announced a range of Office 365 customer wins and cloud enhancements today, but the chatter didn’t mention whether cloud services providers and channel partners were participating in the Office 365 momentum.
First, the official news. According to a blog from Andrew Kisslo, group product manager, Office 365, Microsoft has:
Launched Office 365 trials in 22 new markets, extending Office 365’s reach to 63 countries.
Added 30 feature enhancements, including support for Lync on Mac; SharePoint Business Connectivity Services; and tighter integration between SharePoint Online and Windows Phone 7.5. Certain SkyDrive updates also make sharing and accessing Office docs easier.
Won Office 365 business with with Group Marie-Claire and Campbell Soup Company.
Paul Thurott’s Supersite for Windows notesthat over 90 percent of Office 365 subscribers involve small businesses with 50 or fewer employees. That’s good news for Microsoft, which is aggressively promoting Office 365 to smaller companies.
Office 365 Partners?
But big questions remain, including:
What is Office 365’s true installed base? Anecdotal wins are good to hear about, but Microsoft hasn’t said much about its cloud-related revenues during recent earnings call.
Are channel partners engaged? Kisslo didn’t mention if channel partners were helping to drive the recent Office 365 customer wins.
Telco partners? Microsoft also didn’t say if more telcos and service providers have signed up to become Office 365 syndicators. Office 365 syndicators basically resell Office 365 while wrapping additional services around Microsoft’s cloud suite. Those value-added services allow syndicators to manage billing and pricing for Office 365, a luxury and Microsoft partner perk that traditional VARs and MSPs lack.
We’ve reached out to Microsoft for an update on each of those points. A spokeswoman for the company is reviewing our questions and plans to loop back with Talkin’ Cloud.Microsoft launched Office 365 as the successor to BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite) in June 2011. The Office 365 suite, starting at about $6 per user per month, can include applications like Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync — a unified communications platform that will ultimately evolve into a full-blown hosted PBX.
Generally speaking, I think Office 365 will gradually become a very successful cloud platform, especially in businesses that no longer want to manage on-premise Exchange servers. But Office 365 has hit some bumps and suffered a few outages since launching, and some partners remain wary of Office 365 since Microsoft handles the billing and pricing relationship with end-customers.
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A lot of developments in the podcasting space. The bottom line? The players are positioning themselves to take advantage of the eventual goldrush, which they believe is a foregone conclusion. Roundup #17.
Swedish podcast platform Acast announced a partnership with A Million Ads to deliver personalized ads. Using data such as time, weather, device type and more, A Million Ads can churn out thousands of variants of the same creative to target users.
The new partnership launched a new campaign for British virtual mobile network
At this point, I can’t help but think of this article by Peter Kafka, senior editor at Recode and host of the Recode Media podcast.
Don’t tell anyone, but one of the reasons podcasts are fun to listen to is because the podcast ad business is so tiny.
Programmatic advertising, in spite of concerns raised by numerous industry bigwigs, is here to stay. That said, we are already seeing bad dynamically inserted ads, long ad filled show openings, creepy ads by harmful brands and so on. But, evolution, I guess, is always messy!
Global, the UK based radio broadcaster is adding podcasts to its Global Player app. A slate of 1500 curated podcasts will be available on the app initially. Global also owns DAX, which it claims to be the largest audio advertising platform in the world.
Digiday ran a piece about this development. Here’s an excerpt which just about sums up the reason for this radio giant to leverage podcasts:
With podcasts that Global has commercial relationships with the publishers it can monetize the content through Dax, its digital audio ad platform. Dax makes it easy to monetize U.K. audiences on U.S. podcasts, which tend to advertise DTC brands like food delivery kits or mattresses that don’t ship overseas.Digiday
Seems like a smart move to leverage podcasts to attract prospective advertisers.
DAX also partnered with podtech (podcast technology) platform Voxnest to provide a one stop solution, right from creating content to monetizing it in the UK. Voxnest owns Spreaker, the popular podcasting platform.
Continuing with the dirty talk about programmatic, here’s an excerpt from a branded (paid) post on Folio Magazine featuring a Q&A with Joel Withrow, director of product at Panoply Media:
Perhaps the biggest shift we’ve seen, though, is in the precision of targeting that advertisers can now access in podcasting. For years, sales teams have been educating the market about the limitations of podcasts: ‘You can’t target demographically; you can’t measure conversions; you can’t run attribution studies.’ With Panoply’s investment in audio ad tech, we’re now flipping all of that on its head.
Last year, we saw dozens of brands jump into the space to test our demographic and intent-based targeting. Many have re-upped for additional campaigns, which points to significant growth in 2019—especially as other platforms catch up and begin offering similar capabilities. Next year, I expect we’ll also see new ad networks forming between publishers to provide significant reach to those more narrowly targeted budgets.
This ought to be good. By the way, if you want a low-down of the state of programmatic, this piece on the e-Marketer is really good.
Despite this progress, spend on programmatic audio is minuscule compared to programmatic display, video and native.
What has limited programmatic audio’s growth thus far is that digital audio advertising as a whole, whether it is sold directly or programmatically, hasn’t grown at a commensurate rate with the amount of time users spend with digital audio content.
The Verge published a feature by Ashley Carmen chronicling the whole mess with Apple iTunes podcast charts. This is based on the experiences of John Perotti, a production manager at WBUR who paid $5 dollars to get his podcast higher on the iTunes charts.
The latest episode of The Darknet Diaries podcast is a deep-dive on the issue.
The podcast charts still mean something, especially to smaller shows that use it to prove themselves. But it seems that pretty soon — maybe even now — they won’t matter much at all.
Panoply published this piece which analyses if iTunes podcasts ratings actually matter.
A podcast advertising saga
If you wanted to advertise your blog, for example, all you have to do is to
Once you have Google ads and Facebook accounts, the process of creating and running a promotion is very straightforward. But podcast advertising today is anything but. There is no Google or Facebook for podcast advertising. It is time consuming, tedious, and requires your attention every step of the way.
Here’s a fascinating account by Rebekah Bek on what takes to advertise on podcasts.
But how do I measure?
Any post about podcast advertising is incomplete without a mention about the lack of measurement standards in podcasting. Here’s this week’s customary mention. In this column, Steven Kritzman SVP of advertising sales for Pandora writes about the need for podcasting to avoid the fate of music streaming.
Ok, by now you’d have read about the new Sponsorships feature on Anchor, the podcasting platform. Here’s a brief anway, it kinda works a bit like Tinder. If you have a podcast on Anchor, you turn on the Sponshorhsips feature and Anchor will match you with potential sponsors. Once you’ve found a match and if you accept it, you’ll have to record the ad and place it in the show and you’ll get paid for each listen. In return, the company takes a 30% cut. Seems pretty straightforward and the feature is limited only to the US. Although, it’s probably an easy guess that the company wants to do this word over.
The company now powers, 1 in 3 new podcasts according to it’s CEO.
Here’s a clip from November 15th of Michael Mignano, CEO of Anchor speaking to Josh Machiz of Nasdaq:
In the previous issues, I’ve often referenced the troubles of digital publishers. Well, here’s another story. Mic, the millennial focussed publisher which had raised $60 million and was at one point valued at $111 million was acquired by Bustle Digital Group for $5 million.
The entire editorial staff except Jake Horowitz, the co-founder was laid off. Here’s a letter from publisher Cory Haik:
What do these morose tidings have to do with podcasting you ask? Well, digital news publishers are facing an existential crisis. A lot of them have perished and a
What’s the solution? I don’t know! But I do know that there is a distinct possibility that we may very well have the same conversation about podcasts down the line.
Castro, the popular podcast app was acquired by Tiny last week. Castro will be part of an insane portfolio that Tiny holds, here are some of the big ones:
Looks like the company has found a really good partner to fuel it’s growth.
The daily news podcast battles are heating up. “Post Reports,” the new daily news podcast by The Washington Post will air on December 3rd. Each episode will be 20 minutes long and will be published at 5 PM. The Guardian also launched its daily news podcast Today In Focus recently.
Leon Neyfakh, the host of the hot podcast Slow Burn announced on Twitter that he is leaving Slate to start his own venture. He also announced that his team is working on a new show titled “FIASCO,” a show about why history played out the way it did.
A New York Times profile of Guy Raz, the host of How I Built This.
Dirty John, the TV adaption of the podcast aired to some mixed reviews. Expectations were high after the success of “Homecoming,” again based on the podcast of the same name. Dirty John boasts of a stellar cast with Eric Bana and Connie Britton in lead roles.
These two shows
The prison sentence of Earlonne Woods, the co-host of the popular podcast “Ear Hustle“ was commuted last week by Jerry Brown, the governor of California.
Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, host of My Favorite Murder have officially launched their podcast network, Exactly Right.
Sean Woods, the Deputy Editor of Rolling Stone in conversation with Malcolm Gladwell.
Piqd, a new podcast discovery platform.


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A number of automotive companies owned by private equity firm Kinderhook are to be brought together under one umbrella brand.
BlueDriver, asTech, adasThink, FleetGenix, Mobile Tech RX and RED (EU) will be marketed as being part of a new group to be called ‘Repairify’. The new brand will have a public debut at the SEMA show in November.
While the brands are disparate in origin, all of them are related to automotive data technology, and each will have the slogan ‘Driven by Repairify’ on their marketing material.
“By growing our organisation through the acquisitions of like-minded industry innovators, we have established a powerhouse of brands that are all playing critical roles in transforming the way today’s increasingly complex vehicles are repaired, serviced, and maintained,” said Cris Hollingsworth, President of Repairify.