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Credit Crunch: Green Living Suffers
The credit crunch means that many people are no longer willing to pay more for foods which help the environment, in a move away from ‘green’ living.
According to research by Cahoot, almost a quarter of consumers feel as though they would be less likely to think about environmental impacts of the foods that they buy, perhaps because there is a cost of going green and many are worried about debt management issues.
These figures reflect increasing worries about the cost of living, as 44% are no longer to pay extra for green products. The average amount a person is willing to spend is £2.45 in every £50.
Matthew Timms, managing director of Cahoot, said: “We’re more environmentally aware than ever before but with the cost of living skyrocketing, it’s becoming more and more difficult to tempt us into parting with cash for greener foods – which are often significantly more expensive.”


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High-tech Criminals in Vietnam to Target More of Social Networks
Nguyen Tu Quang, Director of Bach Khoa Internet Security Center (BKIS), said on January 17, 2008 that with blogs, photo and video-sharing websites, and online forums becoming increasingly popular, cyber criminals find them ideal to launch attacks from. Vietnam Net reported this on January 18, 2008.
According to the BKIS center's predictions, as Vietnamese people increasingly subscribe to sites for social networking, they will become the preferred targets for hackers this year (2008). The center also said that cyber crime would not only increase in 2008 but would be ever more complicated. Further, hackers might work with security traders to change the security indexes, transaction results, or even release fake information.
Tu Quang said that online miscreants would frequently use social networks to spread illegal information resulting in breach of personal privacy and security of the nation. Hence, he added, service providers like Google and Yahoo! would be required to work with legal enforcement in Vietnam if they intend to expand their presence in the country.
Tu Quang also predicted that rootkits, adware, and spyware would deliberately attack some of the target groups in 2008. Viruses would mainly originate from Windows, Internet Explorer and USB errors, he said.
Director Tran Van Hoa of the High-tech Crime Investigation Division of the Public Security Ministry said that in an emerging high-tech crime, attackers hack into bank databases of developed countries to seize personal account information. Vietnam Net reported this on January 18, 2008.
Following this, the hackers would send someone under a false identity to open fraud accounts with local banks in Vietnam. They would then transfer large amounts of euros or dollars from the hacked accounts to the newly opened accounts and withdraw the funds within hours, Van Hoa added.
The division noted that there was a rise in use of fraudulently acquired credit cards by miscreants in Vietnam for making online payments. In addition, the lack of appropriate legal enforcement made it harder for the cyber crime police department to settle the problem.
According to Tu Quang, cyber crime in Vietnam would be more economically driven and organized, while hackers flaunting their skills would subside.
Related article: Hack.Huigezi Virus Attacks China PCs Rapidly
» SPAMfighter News - 1/30/2008
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STREETWEAR RETAILER SNIPES TO OPEN FIRST-EVER 2.0 STORE IN BROOKLYN
Snipes will open its first-ever American 2.0 concept store in Brooklyn next week. The international sneaker and streetwear retailer will open its doors on Thursday, July 9th across from the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn.
“We couldn’t be more excited to introduce the game-changing Snipes 2.0 store concept to our U.S. customer,” said Sven Voth, CEO of Snipes. “And where better to start than right across from Barclays Center in the heart of downtown Brooklyn, the cradle of sneaker and streetwear culture!”
Located at 161 Flatbush Avenue, the Snipes 2.0 concept will offer consumers an ever-evolving mix of products through a one-of-a-kind shopping experience that turns the store into a neighborhood hub and is entirely paperless. For example, instead of using cardboard standups on tables, the concept incorporates LED panels and screens throughout the store, which quickly update to always showcase the latest stories, styles, and releases. Brands sold at the new Snipes location include Adidas, Converse, Ethika, Jordan, Nike, New Balance, and Puma, among many more.
On the day of opening, there will be tons of giveaways from Sprayground, North Face, and New Era, among more, in addition to a virtual appearance by Snipes’ chief creative officer DJ Khaled, who will be announcing an exclusive giveaway of his “Father Of Asahd” Air Jordan 3.
“I am excited! Trust me when I say that we’re not playing around at Snipes – we are the go-to sneaker destination for a reason and the work we put in will show,” said Khaled. “While I will not be able to be at this grand opening physically, I will be there virtually. I want to thank everyone for supporting my Snipes family during these tough times. We are so appreciative of all the communities we serve and we will always do our best to have a positive impact there and provide a fun and safe place to shop.”
“Opening our first 2.0 store in Brooklyn, a place that truly captures the spirit of Snipes, is remarkable and we are so proud to debut what new retail looks like to us,” added Adam Herstig, head of marketing at Snipes USA. “Although we are opening this store during a difficult time, we are still very excited as we continue allowing brands we carry to tell their stories while providing a space for the community to shop safely.”
New safety measures will be put in place for the Brooklyn store opening including a 50 percent occupancy limit. All patrons must wear a face mask and keep a distance of six feet from one another while shopping.
Founded in Europe in 1998, Snipes has distinguished itself not just by offering the latest fashion trends through exciting shopping experiences, but by driving and supporting youth and streetwear culture in its neighborhoods.


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Fans are wondering if the long awaited Pikmin 4 will finally release on the Nintendo Switch this May.
Not just May, but May 26 to be exact. The reason behing this new street date is from a Greek video game retailer listing with a speculative May 26 release date.
Although it was announced over five years ago, Nintendo made a statement late last year that Pikmin 4 would be releasing sometime in 2023.
The first Pikmin game released back in 2001 and stands in a genre all its own. Combining strategy, puzzle-solving, and action, Pikmin has players take on the role of Captain Olimar.
In the first game, Captain Olimar crashlands on a mysterious planet where he befriends native creatures he calls “Pikmin”.
These creatures have myriad abilities based on their type and their unique properties open new avenues for exploration.
At present, an official release date has yet to be announced for Pikmin 4 but keep your eyes open for new details in the coming weeks.


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2008-08-27 — Share Our Strength’s Great American Dine Out™, presented by American Express, brings together restaurants from across the country and millions of consumers to participate in an historic initiative to benefit children.
During the week of September 21–28, restaurants representing the entire industry—from coffee shops to fine dining establishments—will donate a portion of their sales and contribute to the fight against childhood hunger in America.
By dining out at participating restaurants, millions of consumers can help raise funds and awareness to support the nutritional needs for America’s children. Thousands of restaurants will be participating in this nationwide dine out, including Captain D’s, Caribou Coffee, Corner Bakery, Joe’s Crab Shack, Il Fornaio, McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants, Raising Cane’s, and Union Square Hospitality Group.
The campaign has been endorsed by many of the country’s top chefs including chef and cookbook author Mary Sue Milliken and chef Tom Collichio, as well as industry executives Danny Meyer, Dick Rivera, and Wally Doolin. Food Network Star and host of the hit TV series “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” Guy Fieri, is the national spokesperson.
“The Great American Dine Out is an important program, and I am honored to be part of this historic initiative to help end childhood hunger,” Fieri says. “This event provides an opportunity for families to spend time together at their local restaurants while helping those in need.”
Restaurants can participate in the Great American Dine Out in a variety of ways, including donating a percentage of sales during the week, promoting new menu items, collecting donations from guests and/or employees, and more. Funds raised will help improve kids’ access to nutritious foods where they live, learn, and play.
“No child in the wealthiest country in the world should grow up hungry,” says Billy Shore, Executive Director of Share Our Strength. “Sadly, it happens every day. In fact, one in every six kids in America is at risk of hunger, which can lead to devastating lifelong consequences.”
The Great American Dine Out is presented by American Express. Founding national partners are SYSCO Corporation, San Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, Food Network, etools, National Restaurant Association, Nation’s Restaurant News, and OpenTable. Founding promotional partners are Fishbowl Marketing, The People Report, and the Elliot Group.
To learn how to get involved or for more information about Share Our Strength’s Great American Dine Out, please visit www.greatamericandineout.org.


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Lifestyle properties sold nationally have declined by 5.6% for the three months ending in July, data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) shows.
Overall, there were 1,883 lifestyle property sales in the three months to July, down by 112 from the three months to June. There were 7,251 lifestyle properties sold to July, a 12.3% fall year-on-year. The value of lifestyle properties sold was $5.86 billion for the year to July.
The median price for all lifestyle properties sold was $660,000, up $80,000 from the three months ending July 2017.
REINZ rural spokesman Brian Peacocke said it was expected that total sales volumes will ease in the mid-winter period. He highlighted that the steady reduction in total sales for the month of July was at a level similar to that of three years ago.
“The corresponding figure balancing the equation is the median price, which has increased dramatically from $525,000 for the equivalent period three years ago to $660,000 for the most recent period ending July 2018,” Peacocke noted. “Such price levels reflect a sector experiencing good health, but also a shortage of stock.
“The test will be the sustainability of the median price as the availability of property increases in due course, but certainly to date, the median price is showing a steady and inexorable increase over the recent years,” he added.
REINZ said demand for quality property remains high in all regions throughout the country, with five regions recording an increase in sales compared from a year ago. Bay of Plenty recorded the most substantial increase in sales (+18 sales).
All but three of the regions saw the median price of lifestyle blocks increase – Otago (+47%), West Coast (+43%) and Wellington (+31%) and the exceptions were Gisborne (-7%), Taranaki (-5%) and Nelson (-3%).
The median number of days to sell for lifestyle properties was two days longer in the three months to July 2018 as in the three months to July 2017, sitting at 63 days.


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PLANS are being drawn up to improve a rundown shopping arcade in Brighouse town centre.
Calderdale Council will be asked to approve plans for Wellington Arcade, off Commercial Street.
The property's owner, Draincraft, of Slough, Berkshire, has promised to draw up formal plans in the next few weeks.
The move comes after the firm had long talks with council officials and the Brighouse Regeneration Forum.
Planned improvements include new paving throughout the arcade, roller shutters, better lighting and gates for all three entrances, which can be locked at nights.
Bollards will also be fitted to prevent ram-raids.
Huddersfield-based building products firm Marshalls is expected to provide block paving for the arcade walkways.
Wellington Arcade, which dates back to the 1970s, has seven tenants, including high street chain Boots.
Mark Aylward, council regeneration officer for Brighouse, said: "We have been working with the owners of the arcade over the past few years to improve the security of the premises and the look of the place.
"We have received preliminary drawings from the owners, who are now drawing up a formal application to put to the council."
Mr Aylward said the improvements would benefit shoppers and traders, deter vandals and encourage potential tenants to take empty shops.


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Amazon launches Style Code Live
The biggest content marketing news this week was Amazon’s launch of a live shopping show. Dubbed Style Code Live, it is hosted by Australian Lyndsey Rodrigues (who is a former host of MTV’s Total Request Live) and Rachel Smith of ABC News.
Coca-Cola does International Women’s Day
Unless you were alone in a tent in north-west Scotland, you will have noticed this week brought International Women’s Day. Cue brands and companies trying to shoehorn some related content.
This piece by Coca-Cola UK took the eye. Not because it was good but as a prime example of box ticking. Surely, there is more to be said about its 5by20 programme?
Trump and the credibility deficit
We have written a number of times about Donald Trump. His ability to generate headlines rather than spend millions on ads has led to him being described as a marketing genius.
FirstWord founder Adrian Michaels asks a very reasonable question. If credibility is everything, why is Trump – the man who wants to build a wall along the US border with Mexico – doing so well?
Vice’s move into TV
Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial television in the UK, has given its approval for the launch of Viceland in the UK and Ireland from later this year. Vice Media launched the 24-hour channel in the US last month. It will be available to all basic-package Sky customers.
Facebook Instant for everyone
Facebook Instant, the service that allows Facebook to publish content for mobile devices, is set to be rolled out next month. It will permit companies to push content with faster load times, with video set to be one of the major beneficiaries.
WordPress, which powers 20 per cent of the web – including this site – is providing a plugin to make it easy for those wishing to use the service. This post contains more information on how to use Instant.
Amazon Style Code Live is part of Content24, the online magazine for London content marketing agency FirstWord.


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Latest study conducted between June and August 2019 by Illicit Cigarettes Study (ICS) shows Malaysia’s illegal cigarette trade has worsen to 64.6 percent as compared to 59.7 percent recorded previously.
The study which is conducted by Nielsen also showed that twelve states in the country recorded an increase with the exception of Kedah and Perlis. The highest recorded increase are Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur (+9.4 percent), Penang (+8.3 percent) and Melaka (+6 percent).
The latest results are very concerning for Malaysia.
Although there are certain parties that have refuted these statistics by claiming that the numbers are overly exaggerated by the tobacco industry, but they themselves have not published any proper study.
The ICS is the most indepth and most recognised study globally on illegal cigarette incidence which is conducted three times annually in Malaysia with 51,000 samples of discarded cigarette packs collected nationwide. The packs are coded and verified for their security features and absence of local tax stamps, signs of non-genuine packaging or fake stamps and other indications of potential tax evasion or contraband products.
“To think that any legitimate industry can be corroded to this extent to the benefit of criminal gangs casts Malaysia in a poor light on the international stage,” Cormac O’Rourke, Managing Director of JTI Malaysia said.
This is a national crisis that needs addressing urgently by all the relevant institutions of the state.
O’Rourke highlighted concerns regarding the Government’s plans to add more regulations such as increasing the minimum cigarette price of packs which would further worsen the situation of the uncontrolled illegal cigarette trade.
Malaysia cannot afford to have further regulations imposed on the legitimate tobacco industry by the Ministry of Health (MOH) at a time when the country is facing serious smuggling crisis where 65 percent of all cigarettes consumed are illegal and sold below the current Minimum Cigarette Price (MCP).
“We are dismayed to learn that there is a proposal to increase the MCP from RM10 to RM15. Policy proposals of this nature are reckless and serve no genuine purpose. To raise it by 50 percent is an attack on legitimate retailers and law-abiding consumers alike,” O’Rourke added.
JTI welcomed Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s recent announcement on more needs to be done in enforcement to curb smuggling – a call consistently made by the legal tobacco industry for years.
We also welcome the Government’s RM235 million allocation to purchase twenty additional cargo scanners to be placed at strategic ports of entry.
“We are hopeful that from now on, the Government will seriously look at holistic and innovative solutions to tackle the ‘out of control’ illegal cigarettes smuggling situation at the country’s porous borders,” O’Rourke said.
JTI will continue to highlight potential solutions such as:
- A further excise tax moratorium for the next two years to avoid further price shocks leading to more smokers switching to illegal cigarettes
- A ban on transhipment for cigarettes at entry points in Malaysia. There should only be a single point of entry for any importation of cigarettes into Malaysia.
- Establish an independent body to lead a special taskforce.


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Samsung's customer care reps are doing it again and raising hopes that a Galaxy flagship may actually end up getting a third major Android OS upgrade. A disgruntled Galaxy S8 owner reached out to Samsung customer care to ask why their phone will not be getting updated to Android 10 and was told that the Android 10 update is planned for the device.
The customer rep did not provide any further info, and given the poor track record Samsung's customer care has had over the years in matters like these, it's hard to believe the Galaxy S8 and S8+ will get Android 10. Of course, it would be awesome if it did, but there's a much higher chance of this being a false alarm. Providing the Galaxy S8 and S8+ with a third Android version upgrade would also open a can of worms for Samsung, as owners of other Galaxy devices would start demanding that they receive the Android 10 update as well.
Again, it would be great if Samsung finally ends its tradition of only providing its devices with two big Android updates, especially those in the flagship segment. But we would suggest being skeptical until there's more concrete evidence that the Galaxy S8 will get Android 10. We have reached out to Samsung on the matter and will let you know as soon as the company gets back to us.


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Dollar General facing more OSHA finesPosted On: Nov. 16, 2016 1:01 PM CST
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued $117,579 in proposed fines against discount retailer Dollar General Corp. for allegedly putting workers and customers in danger by allowing emergency exit routes to be blocked.
Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based Dollar General operates more than 12,500 stores in 43 states and employs about 100,000 workers, according to an OSHA statement on Tuesday. In fiscal 2015, the retailer recorded sales of $20.4 billion.
At a Dollar General store in Pioneer, Ohio, OSHA inspectors found merchandise blocking exits during an August inspection. OSHA issued one willful safety citation last week to the Dollar General store, the agency said in the statement.
OSHA said it has recorded more than 100 safety and health violations at Dollar General stores throughout the U.S., and assessed more than $1 million in proposed fines against the retailer since 2010.
"Dollar General's continued pattern of ignoring its responsibility to protect its employees and its customers in all of its stores is cause for real concern. Obstructed exits are a real danger. Seconds matter in an emergency, and no one should have to struggle to get out of a store safely," Kim Nelson, OSHA's area director in Toledo, Ohio said in a statement.
In a statement to Business Insurance, Dollar General said it “has taken immediate actions to address the situations referenced in the OSHA citation.”
“Dollar General is committed to providing a safe work environment for its employees and safe shopping experience for its customers. The company employs a number of measures designed to ensure store managers and their teams understand the necessary steps to create and maintain a safe store environment,” the statement reads.


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Psychonauts is now playable on PlayStation 4, according to the PlayStation Store. This is despite Sony refuting its own announcement that the cult favorite adventure title would be coming to the console this week.
On Sunday, the PlayStation Blog included Psychonauts' PS4 debut among the games launching on June 7. An update later that day removed the game from the list, however.
"Psychonauts is coming out soon, but not this week," the post was edited to read. "Apologies for the error. Stay tuned for final timing!"
Despite that, Psychonauts is now up on the PlayStation Store as originally planned. The PlayStation 2 classic, first announced for a PS4 re-release in January, is available for $9.99.
A sequel is in the works for, among other consoles, PlayStation 4, as is a PlayStation VR spinoff. Both remain unscheduled.


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Microsoft poster boy Phil Spencer has revealed that Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 sold far greater than what the format holder had initially forecast.
Spencer confirmed during an interview with Giant Bomb that Rare's multiplayer plunder-'em-up moved 'significantly more' copies than Microsoft's internal projections.
'On those two games (Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2), we sold more copies of those games than we expected,' the executive said. 'The same thing was true of State of Decay.'
Both titles are of course available on the Xbox Game Pass, although interestingly Spencer revealed that pass users actually buys more games than other Xbox owners.


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Lion acquires New Belgium Brewing: gaining 'immediate scale' in the US craft market
Founded in 1991 in Colorado, New Belgium Brewery is now the fourth largest craft brewery in the US, according to Brewers Association figures, with locations in Colorado and California, and distribution across all 50 states.
The acquisition gives Lion Little World Beverages ‘immediate scale’ in the US craft market, which it entered earlier this year with a microbrewery for Aussie craft brand Little Creatures in San Francisco. Lion has also recently acquired UK craft beer brands Fourpure and Magic Rock, while Little Creatures also has venues in London, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Expanding Kirin's craft portfolio beyond Australasia
Established in 2015, Lion Little World Beverages is the global craft beverage business of Australia headquartered Lion. The division has been given the task of leading Japanese parent company Kirin’s global craft beer strategy beyond Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Of particular interest is the pioneering US craft beer market: while the craft craze has extended well beyond its borders, the US still represents two thirds of the global craft beer market by volume.
Stuart Irvine, Lion CEO, said: "We’re excited to welcome New Belgium Brewing into the Lion fold and take a significant step forward in the largest craft beer market in the world. We’re confident that our shared values and commitment to purpose and culture will provide the foundation for a great partnership in the US.
“Today’s announcement is an important milestone as we look to drive growth in markets beyond Australia, New Zealand and Japan.”
New Belgium Brewing’s brands include Fat Tire Amber Ale and Voodoo Ranger IPA, and it has two state-of-the-art brewing facilities in Fort Collins, Colorado and Asheville, North Carolina, alongside a national distribution platform.
New Belgium Brewing headquarters will remain in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Steve Fechheimer will continue as CEO with the management team remaining in place. Co-founder Kim Jordan will also play a key advisory role in collaborating with the Lion Little World Beverages network, ‘ensuring the core tenets of craft beverages are aligned with the strategic vision for Lion Little World Beverages in the US and around the world.’
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2019, pending approvals by regulators and the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in addition to other customary closing conditions.
Lion Little World Beverages also has a wine portfolio in the US: including Argyle Winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, MacRostie Winery from the Sonoma Coast, and Markham Vineyards in the Napa Valley.It also imports Wither Hills from Marlborough, New Zealand, and represents contemporary wine brands TEXTBOOK Napa Valley and The Counselor from the Alexander Valley.


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May 18, 2012
Mitten Earns Award
Mitten Inc. earned the ‘2012 Company of the Year Award’ at the ‘Chamber of Commerce Brantford-Brant Business Excellence Awards’ ceremony. Contenders for the award were judged on business achievements; high standards of employee and customer relations; exemplary corporate citizenship; positive image and impact in the region; strong corporate philosophy; embracing new technologies and markets; strong sales and/or employment growth; and demonstrating environmental responsibility. Established in 1959, Mitten Inc. began as a small operation with one extruder in a basement. Today, it is one of Canada’s leading vinyl siding manufacturers as well as a distributor of premium exterior building products. It is based out of Brantford, ON, with an additional 21 distribution locations across Canada.
Sears Spinning Off Canada
Sears Holdings Corp. has announced plans to pursue a partial spinoff of its interest in Sears Canada. The move will reduce its stake in Sears Canada from 95 per cent to about 51 per cent. Sears Holdings believes that the spinoff will permit it to focus on its respective businesses and allocate resources to best optimize returns on assets employed.
Contractors Get App
Delmar and DeWalt have launched DeWalt Mobile Pro, a mobile application for construction professionals. Developed specifically for contractors and tradesmen in the construction industry, the app is available as a free download and contains a construction calculator for solving complex jobsite math in the field and five basic calculations with integrated reference materials to offer help, examples, and illustrations. The app also provides a running history of recent calculations, a customizable list of favorite calculations for quick and easy access to those used most often, and the ability to instantly eMail calculation results. The app is available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad and has been designed with custom interfaces to suit the various screen sizes of each device.
Wal-Mart Sees Earnings Rise
Wal-Mart earned $3.74 billion in the quarter ended April 30. That compares with $3.39 billion in the year-ago period. Its first quarter was boosted by strong results at its namesake U.S. division. The unit turned in its best performance in three years. Customer traffic was up for the second quarter in the row. Revenue at stores opened at least a year rose 2.6 per cent in the division. Wal-Mart's international business, which accounts for more than a quarter of net sales, posted a 15 per cent increase to $32 billion.
May 17, 2012
Sears Sees Income Shrink
Sears Canada Inc.’s total revenue for the 13 week period ended April 28 was $915.1 million compared to $992.5 million for the same period in 2011, a decrease of 7.8 per cent. Same store sales decreased 6.3 per cent. Net earnings for the quarter this year were $93.1 million compared to a net loss of $47 million last year. "Although not reflected in our top line sales, there are positive signs of progress in many areas of our business," says Calvin McDonald, president and chief executive officer, Sears Canada. "We are making progress on our transformation.”
Target Profit Increases
Target Corp. had a 1.2 per cent increase in first-quarter profit. It earned $697 million in the quarter ended April 28. That compares with $689 million in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 5.9 per cent to $16.86 billion. Revenue at stores opened at least a year rose 5.3 per cent, the strongest performance in six years for that period. The measure is considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.
U.S. Retail Sales Barely Rise
Sales at U.S. retailers barely rose in April as the boost from an unseasonably warm winter faded, pointing to some loss of momentum in consumer spending early in the second quarter. Retail sales edged up 0.1 per cent, held back by a decline in receipts from building materials and clothing stores, says the Commerce Department, the smallest gain since December, when sales were flat. Building materials and gardening equipment fell 1.8 per cent – the largest drop since January last year – after surging 2.7 per cent in March.
Combi Represents Honeywell
Combi has been contracted for sales representation to the hardware retail market in the province of Québec for Honeywell. It will represent Honeywell Safety Products’ assortment of personal protective equipment.
Remodeling Projects Increase
Permits for residential remodeling projects in the U.S. increased 10 per cent in March from 2011, but slipped slightly from an unseasonably warm February, says the ‘BuildFax Remodeling Index.’ Permits were issued at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.78 million compared with 2.8 million, a drop of about one per cent. On a year-over-year basis remodeling was up in the Midwest (15 per cent), West (12 per cent), and South (10 per cent), while the Northeast dropped nine per cent.
Inventory Distortion Expensive
Out-of-stocks and overstocks are more than just a major source of frustration for retailers, says IHL Group, a retail analyst firm. The combined costs of out-of-stock and overstock – caused by inventory distortion – adds up to $800 billion annually. Inventory distortion has been part of every organization and supply chain for decades. However, as the number of SKUs, channels, systems, and people increase, in both number and complexity, so will lost revenue opportunities. The underlying causes of inventory distortion range from forecasting and allocation errors to behavioural issues. Retailers can reduce, if not eliminate, profit leakage by maintaining the integrity of the profit pipeline. Most of the value in profit leakage can be identified and recovered in repeatable patterns. Analysis of those patterns can link profit leakage to discrepancies between what should be the case and what is the case in data, processes, and task performance.
Holiday Should Stay On Sunday
A federal law aimed at giving people a Canada Day long weekend is, instead, pushing retailers to stay open on July 1. The national celebration falls on a Sunday this year, which means, according to the federal Holidays Act, employees get a day off on Monday, July 2. “I can’t stress enough that there are some retailers that will still decide to close on Sunday, Canada Day. That’s their right and their prerogative,” says Jim Cormier, Atlantic director of the Retail Council of Canada. However, the competitive nature of the business makes it not much of a choice for some retailers because if their competitors decide to open, then they have to be open. He is lobbying the Nova Scotia government to change the legislation so businesses in the province can stay closed Sunday and open Monday.
May 16, 2012
Castle Adds Seven New Members
Castle Building Centres Group Ltd. has added seven new independent members. The new members represent 10 locations across Canada and join the more than 280 retail, commercial, and specialty dealers that are part of its independent network. The new members are:
• Saddle Lake Building Supplies Ltd., Saddle Lake, AB, is involved in the construction of new homes & RTMs and is now opening a retail hardware/building supplies business and an additional cabinet manufacturing facility
• Alberta Drywall & Stucco Supply (Calgary) Inc., Calgary, AB, which operates facilities in Edmonton and Calgary, specializes in the supply of drywall, stucco, and related products to both contractors and the commercial/industrial segment
• TJ Windows, Doors & More, Charlottetown, PEI, is a specialty operation that supplies and installs exterior products
• Eastway Building Supplies Ltd., Markham, ON, has locations in Scarborough and Markham, selling building material and specializing in the manufacture of commercial millwork and custom kitchen cabinetry as well as a high end line of plumbing fixtures and flooring
• R&D Lumber Inc., Rosthern, SK, was recently purchased by Wilf and Shawn Sten who are implementing a retail area expansion and adding new interior and exterior signage as well as staff
• Aluminum L. Hawkins et Fils Inc., Sainte Agathe des Monts, QC, sells both to both consumers and contractors in the area from locations in Tremblant, QC, opened in 2010, and a new location it moved to this year
• Peacock Building Supplies, Belleville, ON, which was recently purchased by Rehill Building Supplies, a member of Commercial Builders Supplies Inc., in Peterborough, ON, specializes in the light commercial, institutional, and residential markets.
Resale Activity Edges Higher
National resale housing activity edged up by less than one per cent in April 2012, says the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Sales edged up 0.8 per cent from March to April 2012, putting them on par with levels reported in the same month two years earlier. It says 157,804 homes have traded hands so far this year, up 6.4 per cent from levels reported in the first four months of 2011 and about four per cent above both the five- and 10-year averages for sales during the first third of the year. Nationally, the number of months of inventory stood at 5.6 months at the end of April, unchanged from levels reported in March. The number of months of inventory represents the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity and is a measure of the balance between housing supply and demand.
Home Depot Sees Sales Increase
The Home Depot had sales of $17.8 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, a 5.9 per cent increase from the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Comparable store sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 were positive 5.8 per cent. Net earnings for the first quarter were $1 billion, compared with net earnings of $812 million in the same period of fiscal 2011. "We saw a stronger-than-expected start to the year, driven by record warm weather and continued demand for core products," says Frank Blake, chairman & CEO.
Ace Reports Higher Revenues
Ace Hardware Corp. posted total revenues of $908.2 million for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 6.3 per cent compared with 2011. Net income was $10.2 million for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 49.3 per cent compared with $6.8 million in 2011. Ace added 30 new stores and canceled 25 stores in the first quarter and ended the quarter with a total domestic store count of 4,077.
Home Improvement Ability Displayed
Walmart will display its home improvement ability through a digital marketing campaign in the U.S. centered on a ‘Projects Made Simple’ area at Walmart.com. The area is organized by home improvement project such as how to stain a deck, install a water filter system, or install a towel bar. The website also lets users download a project sheet with tips and instructions.
Panasonic Renames Division
Panasonic Corp. of North America has renamed its Home and Environment as the Eco Products Division. The division houses its ventilation fan business, a product line that includes 18 products.
Valspar Earnings Jump
Valspar's earned $76.5 million, up from $56.3 million in the same quarter last year. Sales rose four per cent to $1.03 billion from $992.7 million. Its second quarter profit jumped 36 per cent.
May 15, 2012
Gray Tools Purchased
Gray Tools, the Canadian industrial-quality manufacturer of hand tools, was purchased by its president Gary Nuttall and marketing director Frank Dominguez from Alex Gray, its third-generation owner. Gray will remain as chairman and will continue to play an active role with the company. "We're excited to build upon the strengths of this 100-year-old Canadian icon," says Nuttall. "We have exciting plans for the future and believe that our Canadian manufacturing capability gives us a competitive advantage. Customers regularly turn to [us] to see if we can design a special tool for them. Because we manufacture in Canada, we can do this quickly." The company is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary.
More Woman Are First-Time Buyers
Among Canadians planning to buy a home within the next two years, women (49 per cent) are more likely than men (35 per cent) to be first-time buyers, says the ‘19th Annual RBC Homeownership Poll.’ "We are seeing more single women entering into the housing market as income levels, changing demographics, and lifestyle patterns shift purchasing habits," says Marcia Moffat, head of home equity financing at RBC. "But women are being more cautious than men, weighing cost, affordability, and job security before buying a home." The idea of financial security arises once again when it comes to choosing a mortgage. Results show Canadian women (16 per cent) were less likely to take on a variable mortgage than men (25 per cent). However, both sexes are similarly comfortable with the prospect of taking on a fixed rate mortgage (women: 40 per cent; men: 44 per cent), which largely reflects the current trend where Canadians are now looking to lock in at historically low interest rates.
NCI Building Systems Purchases Metl-Span
NCI Building Systems has purchased Metl-Span from a subsidiary of BlueScope Steel North America Corp. Metl-Span, a manufacturer of insulated metal wall and roof panels for more than 40 years, operates five manufacturing facilities in the United States serving the non-residential building products market. For 2011, it had estimated revenues of $170 million. NCI says the addition of Metl-Span’s products and capabilities will enhance its diversification and strengthen its position as a supplier to the non-residential building products industry in North America.
Leon’s Sales Increase
Leon's sales of $200 million, including $43.2 million of franchise sales, are up from $191.5 million, including $40.8 million of franchise sales, in the first quarter last year, a 4.7 per cent increase. Same store sales were down 0.7 per cent from the prior year first quarter. Net income was $8.5 million, down from $10.3 million in 2011. The profit decrease in the quarter was mainly due to higher marketing expenses and opening costs related to the opening of four new stores in the latter part of year.
May 14, 2012
Canadian Tire Reports On Sustainability
The Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited first quarter business sustainability strategy is up ten-fold primarily due to the large-scale road-to-rail conversion the company undertook in connection with transportation. More efficient from both an operational and environmental perspective, the result is a change to the mix of Eastern Canada shipments from 75 per cent road and 25 per cent rail, to 20 per cent road and 80 per cent rail. These efforts are forecasted to annually avoid significant costs and more than 6,600 tonnes of GHG emissions, equal to taking more than 1,500 cars off the road. Additionally, its business sustainability strategy saw incremental new business as in-store events designed with utility groups across the country drove $2 million in retail sales of energy-saving products. The ongoing integration of sustainable practices into its business operations resulted in the completion of 132 initiatives in the first quarter, which are forecasted to annually avoid over $715,000 in costs, 390 tonnes of waste, and 8,600 tonnes of GHG emissions.
Chatham Joins TIM-BR MART
Chatham Kent Construction Products, of Chatham, ON, is the newest member of TIM-BR MART. Rick Zavitz and his partners have operated this building supply operation for over two years. Their project-based approach is directed at the end user, selling project packages to the customer and then linking them to a few selected contractors. The business operates on two acres of land which also includes storage units used mainly by contractors. Future plans include expanding the retail portion of the building and participating in TIM-BR MART programs such as AIR MILES, flyers, and merchandising.
Ply Gem Sees Sales Rise
Ply Gem Holdings, Inc., a manufacturer of exterior building products in North America, had net sales of $239.2 million, an increase of $39.1 million, or 19.5 per cent, compared to the prior year first quarter of $200.1 million. First quarter operating earnings were $1.2 million compared to a $7.6 million loss for the first quarter of 2011 after excluding $6.7 million of inventory buyback expense in 2011 associated with a significant new customer win. Ply Gem produces a product line of vinyl siding, designer accents and skirting, vinyl fencing, vinyl and composite railing, stone veneer, and vinyl windows and doors used in both new construction and home repair and remodeling in the United States and Western Canada.
Trex Net Sales Increase
Trex, a manufacturer of composite decking and railing products, had net sales for the first quarter of 2012 of $96.1 million, a 39 per cent increase over net sales of $69 million for the same period in 2011. It had net income of $12.3 million for its first quarter, which ended March 31, 2012. This compares to net income of $5.1 million for the prior-year period.
Beacon Posts Higher Sales
Beacon Roofing Supply, a distributor of roofing and other housing exterior materials, posted net sales of $395.1 million for its second fiscal quarter of 2012, a 33.4 per cent increase over sales of $296.3 million in the same quarter in 2011. Existing market (organic) sales, which exclude branches acquired after the beginning of last year's second quarter, increased 28.2 per cent. Net income for the second quarter, which ended March 31, was $3.1 million compared with a net loss of $6.2 million a year ago. Warm winter conditions boosted roofing and exterior remodeling activities, especially residential re-roofing.


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It’s all thanks to Intel’s Realsense ZR300 camera, which when added to the IonVR via an upcoming Intel smartphone gives the headset a realtime 3D look at your environment. This means that future VR environments could supplement the world around you, adding a layer of virtual over the boring old analogue world you usually live in.
“It’s an incredible immersive VR experience where people can literally walk around, reach out and touch something,” says an IonVR press release. “With this new technology, users can be aware of the real-world obstacles while being fully immersed in a virtual reality experience.”
IonVR, a lesser-known maker of virtual reality headsets, claims to have solved the VR sickness problem. The firm is using its presence at CES to show off its new headset, and is making big claims about what it can do when coupled with Intel’s 3D camera.
The experience is untethered, meaning you wear the headset on your head without any cables attached. This helps if you want to walk around, but there’s not much point to walking around with a headset on if you’re going to crash into your table. That’s where the 3D camera comes in, letting your headset “see” real-world obstacles and stopping you from simply walking into them.
This is all very experimental. IonVR’s headset is currently available for $229, and is expected to ship this quarter. The headset works with any Android or iOS smartphone, but the 3D camera capabilities depend on you also having access to an Intel Realsense Smartphone. The phone is currently for sale as part of a $399 developer kit, meaning none of this is exactly intended for consumers yet.
Still, it’s cool that someone is working on a headset you can use without bumping into things. It will be fascinating to see how this all ends up.
- Meta wants you to use its creepy Portal as a secondary monitor
- VR in a pair of glasses? New research just made it possible
- Apple mixed-reality headset: Everything we know about Apple’s VR headset
- Apple’s AR/VR solution might require two Apple Watches to work
- This throwback mini computer puts a Windows 11 PC in your pocket


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Vastint Poland was awarded LEED-Platinum for the first phase of Business Garden Wrocław. Once completed, the complex will comprise nine office and retail buildings with a total leasable area of 117,000 sqm.
Business Garden Wrocław is being constructed at Legnicka Street, in the vicinity of the shopping and leisure centre Magnolia and Mikołajów railway station, not far from the city centre. Ultimately, the complex will comprise nine office and retail buildings with a total leasable area of 117,000 sqm. Tenants include companies such as Capgemini, Becton Dickinson and Dolby Laboratories.
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text: Photo Gallery of Opel K-180 Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest Uploaded by: MarCHeno Date: 22.10.2018 Image "HEX" Code: #2601417 Image size: 400x211 You can download photo Opel K-180 or use this pic as wallpaper or poster for desktop. Full size link https://cloudlakes.com/data_images/models/opel-k-180/opel-k-180-05.jpg We have more photo of Opel K-180 in our gallery. If you interesting to view them, you can follow on links below. Also you can see full gallery of Opel K-180 on this page. If you have your own good photos of Opel K-180, you can upload them on our website and become one of our authors. See more photos Opel K-180 from our users Recent automotive trends, reviews, test drives and the latest news from the world of cars New Nissan 370Z will show in Tokyo? There were hearings that the premiere of new generation of a sport car 370Z will take place on an auto show in Tokyo. Audi shows the first image of the new TT Audi still want to generate a bit of mystery about the new generation TT will be presented to the public at the Geneva Motor Show next week. So, revealed on Friday (28) just a teaser-image model. Daimler confirms Smart ForFour for July The brand new smart ForFour already has a date to be revealed: July 2014. Who confirmed the information was Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler. BMW can advertise factory in Mexico: report In September 2013, there were rumors of negotiations between BMW and Mexico for installation of a factory in the country . Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, the German automaker "is in advanced talks with the Mexican authorities.


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Sumner Redstone is a veritable deal junkie. Many of his deals have been transformative -- bet-the-house kinds of transactions -- that built a media empire, Viacom
At 80, Redstone is still cutting deals. One of the most interesting forays is his pursuit of Midway Games
Redstone's buying has pushed up the value of Midway to a $1 billion market capitalization. He even named his daughter to the board. But, hey, when you have majority control, you can call the shots. And Redstone has always indicated that his investment is merely personal.
Well, last week Viacom filed a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating it set up a special committee of three independent board members. The company is exploring possibilities of buying video game firms or engaging in licensing deals. For example, Viacom already has a licensing deal with THQ
Such a play makes a lot of strategic sense. Video games have exceeded the size of the movie business. Also, video game companies, such as Activision
True, Viacom may be seriously looking at buying Midway or another video game company. Mega companies always explore such possibilities. But that's not a good reason to buy a stock such as Midway, which is already up more than 200% this year. Basically, the only definitive thing an investor can glean from Viacom's filing is that the company is trying to distance itself from the conflict of interest its CEO has created. And, in this age of corporate governance and Sarbanes-Oxley, it was a smart move to, well, not play any games.
Get your game fix on the Fool's Computer & Video Gamers board.
Fool contributor Tom Taulli is the author of The EDGAR Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements . He does not own any shares of the companies mentioned in this article.


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IBM has demanded a settlement of $167 million in its latest lawsuit at U.S. federal court, alleging that e-commerce marketplace Groupon is using IBM's technology without authorization, reports Reuters.
John Desmarais, IBM lawyer, informed a jury in a federal court in DE about Groupon overstepping patents that describe foundational e-commerce technology which has already been licensed to Facebook Inc., Amazon Inc., and Google's Alphabet Inc., for an amount between $20 million and $50 million per company.
Addressing the jury IBM lawyer John Desmarais said: "Most big companies have taken licenses to these patents".
Groupon's lawyer reportedly argued that IBM exceeded the coverage of its patents and claimed ownership of fundamentals of the internet. It describes a system for showing applications and advertisements that reduces server loads.
Groupon's legal representative hit back however, saying: "A key question for you in this case is whether these patents cover the world wide web". IBM uses its "huge stock" of patents "as a club" to ensure that any company doing business on the web must go through IBM, he said. Another patent concerned "single sign on" that enables customers to log-in to a merchants website without the need to use a Facebook or Google account.
Desmarais told jurors IBM is a prolific innovator and seeks to license its patents on reasonable terms. "We are here because IBM has another business that IBM does not talk about in its commercials", he said.
IBM is asking jurors to award the company $166.5 million for using four patented technologies.
Early this year IBM sued Expedia accusing that the travel portal has been infringing on several of IBM's patents for some years now.
In response, Groupon countered with the argument that IBM is being unreasonable with its efforts to grab money from noteworthy internet firms.
IBM is suing coupons site Groupon for $167m over allegations the company used patented technology without permission.


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04 October 2016, India :
Bharat Bazaar has raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from a clutch of investors. The investors participated in the round included BeeNext, a Singapore-based early-stage technology fund; TV Mohandas Pai, chairman, Manipal Global Education Services and Aarin Capital; and Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon, co-founders, FreeCharge.
The funding will be used to increase team size and presence across multiple Indian cities. Bharat Bazaar aims to target 50,000 active users by year ending.
“There has never been a better time to digitize agriculture in India. Supply channel bottlenecks and lack of a proper marketing channel are problems for a farmer who is already burdened with a host of troubles. We plan to tackle these issues,” said Saurabh Jain, co-founder, Bharat Bazaar.
Other investors who participated include Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl (Snapdeal co-founders), Anupam Mittal (co-founder, Shaadi.com), Amit Gupta (co-founder of Inmobi), Tracxn Labs and others.
“The grocery supply chain, in its current design, has a lot of middlemen and this presents a significant untapped opportunity to introduce efficiency across the whole value chain. By leveraging technology, Bharat Bazaar has streamlined end-to-end procurement processes. The B2B grocery delivery market for fruits & vegetables has a very large addressable market, with customers ranging from wholesalers, kirana stores, hyper markets, hotels, and B2C delivery startups,” said Neha Singh, co-founder at Tracxn.
Founded in July 2015, Bharat Bazaar is a mobile app that helps facilitate increased choice, trust and transparency between buyers and sellers, and bring in transactional ease into the fruits and vegetables wholesale supply chain. The startup partners with farmers, local aggregators, wholesalers, bulk buyers, food processing industries and exporters and has a buyer base in Maharashtra, Delhi, MP, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. Source- The Hindu Businessline
GOOGLE PIXEL IMAGES LEAKED AHEAD OF ITS LAUNCH
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LEVELLAND, Texas — No injuries were reported after a vehicle crashed into a Levelland retail store early Monday afternoon.
The crash occurred around 12:30 p.m. at the Dollar Tree located in the 500 block of State Highway 114.
The Levelland Police Department told EverythingLubbock.com the driver thought the vehicle was in park, but then it started to roll.
The driver then pushed the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal.
The vehicle then accelerated forward, sideswiped another vehicle, took out a handicap sign and then crashed into a store window, LPD said.


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RBDR is sponsored by Curiosity InsightStream, a consumer insights company helping clients derive deep human insights through social media listening.
Find out detail about clients that have benefitted from working with Curiosity Insight Stream at: http://www.curiosityinsightstream.com/case_studies
Today on RBDR: 1) The first major news organizations adopt non-probability sampling sample for polling. YouGov is the sample provider; New York Times & CBS News are the users. 2) J.D. Power III is accepting congratulations for his election to the Automotive Hall of Fame. 3) Twitter is about to launch a research tool that helps brands analyze key words from conversations during a one-week period. 4) RBDR’s report about Canvas Fingerprinting Web tracking proved to have some holes. It is basically only workable on smaller websites and it is blockable.


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- Founded by Mohamed Elmasry, Mohammad Hassan and Sherif Khairallah, Tactful is a unified customer experience platform that provides businesses with a single dashboard through which to manage, engage, augment, and understand customers’ journeys across various touch points.
Dstny, meanwhile, offers a series of interactive communication tools that brings employees and customers closer together, and the acquisition of Tactful AI extends its product portfolio and helps companies enhance customer engagement operations across modern digital and traditional voice channels.
“With Tactful onboard, we are not only strengthening ourselves with next-generation customer engagement technology, we are also adding an excellent team to our group,” said Daan De Wever, CEO of Dstny Group.
Elmasry said Tactful and Dstny shared the same vision – to bring employees and customers together through interactive communications tools.
“We both believe we can positively impact people’s lives even better together. By joining Dstny, we are excited to accelerate our go-to-market strategy and bring even more value to our customers,” he said.


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Scary waste: Halloween pumpkins could make soup for everyone in Britain
This weekend, homes across the UK, and the world, will display flickering pumpkins to mark another Halloween, but here's a frightening thought: according to research by Unilever and behaviour change charity Hubbub, 15 million pumpkins per year go to waste instead of being eaten in UK – enough for a bowl of pumpkin soup for everyone in Britain.
One of the main issues with pumpkin waste is that over half of people asked in a Consensuswide survey didn't think of a Halloween pumpkin as food, often mistakenly believing a carving pumpkin is not edible. Seven out of 10 pumpkins carved for Halloween don’t get eaten.
This year, Hubbub and Unilever are relaunching their #PumpkinRescue campaign to encourage people to ‘turn their carvings into cravings and save their pumpkins from a spooky end’.
The campaign encourages using everyone’s ‘favourite spooky staple as a prop to talk about the edible food we throw away’ and outlines ways to eat it instead. In the next week, over 40 cooking and composting events and festivals will be taking place across the country as part of the campaign.
The aim of the campaign is to tackle the seven million tonnes of food and drink thrown away annually, more than half of which could have been eaten. It will be the third such campaign from Unilever and Hubbub as part of their Joint Ambition for a Zero Food Waste Britain, which was launched in Summer 2016 to reduce UK food waste.
Halloween is now Britain’s third biggest commercial holiday, and the Consensuswide survey of 2,000 UK adults found that two in five British households carve pumpkins for Halloween and most of those go for at least two pumpkins.
Eight out of 10 people said they would like to reduce the amount of food they waste, but half of those asked said they had never eaten pumpkin before. Hubbub says that it may be this unfamiliarity that leads six in 10 to say they wouldn’t know how to cook pumpkin.
Most (73 per cent) of those who had tried pumpkin said they liked it, with pumpkin soup coming out as Britain’s favourite pumpkin dish.
Since the #PumpkinRescue campaign’s launch in 2014, 25 tonnes of pumpkin has been directly diverted from landfill and 73 local events and workshops have been attended by 3,100 people.
Charlotte Carroll, Sustainability Director for Unilever, said: “The frightful volume of delicious and healthy pumpkins going uneaten is a food waste horror story.
“This Halloween, with our much loved Knorr, Flora and Stork brands, we want to inspire the nation to turn their pumpkin carvings into cravings with a selection of scrumptious seasonal recipes.”
Trewin Restorick, Founder and CEO of Hubbub, added: “As Halloween continues to grow in popularity in the UK, it’s really important that this doesn’t create an ever larger mountain of food waste.
“We must recognise that pumpkins are a valuable source of food and not just for decoration. Halloween is a great opportunity to help our children understand where food comes from and involve them in cooking a simple meal with their pumpkin carvings.”
Food waste in the UK
Almost 50 per cent of the total amount of food thrown away in the UK comes from our homes. Fruit and veg make up 19 per cent of avoidable food household food waste.
Wasting this food costs the average household £470 a year, rising to £700 for a family with children, the equivalent of around £60 a month.
If we stopped wasting food that could have been eaten, the benefit to the planet would be the equivalent of taking one in four cars off the road.
More details of #PumpkinRescue campaign events, along with tips on carving and cooking your pumpkin, can be found on Hubbub’s website.


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JAKARTA, NNC - On November 7, 2018, a large transaction was recorded for the purchase of shares of PT Yelooo Integra Datanet Tbk (IDX:YELO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), which amounted to 19 million shares or five percent of YELO's shares as a whole.
Through information disclosure on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, it was noted that the purchase was made by UOB Kay Hian Holdings Limited, a Singaporean company engaged in brokerage services, personal wealth management, investment banking, investment management, and financial research.
The five percent purchase of YELO's shares by UOB Kay Hian Holdings Limited can be seen as a signal of market optimism, including foreign and retail investors in the business run by Passpod.
Since flooring at the Indonesia Stock Exchange on October 29, 2018, Passpod has released 130 million new shares or the equivalent of 34.21 percent of the total issued or fully paid-up capital.
With the entry of UOB Kay Hian Holdings Limited, the composition of Passpod shareholders became PT Agung Inova Teknologi Indonesia amounting to 42.07 percent, PT Prima Jaringan Distribusi 18.45 percent, PT Digital Indonesia Raya 5.26 percent, Andika Sutoro Putra 5 percent, UOB Kay Hian Holding Limited 5 percent, and the rest owned by the public.
Starting operations in 2016, the number of Passpod customers has now risen 700% to 58,500 users as of June 2018 with the returning consumer by 30%. As of April 2018, the company was also able to increase its net profit by almost 1700 percent compared to the same period the previous year.
The Passpod 4G modem is also currently available to Indonesian travelers in 70 countries and Passpod also plans to expand its business to 5 countries in Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and South Korea.


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NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) – The 51st version of the Tremendous Bowl will kick off on Sunday from Houston’s NRG Stadium, pitting the brand new England Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons. NEW YORK, turbotax 2020 download Jan 25 (Reuters) – The 51st edition of the Super Bowl will kick off on Sunday, Feb. 5 from Houston’s NRG Stadium, pitting the brand new England Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons. That huge audience makes the Tremendous Bowl a prime spot for turbotax download advertisers, who are paying 21st Century Fox Inc as a lot as $5 million for a 30-second spot.
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Moreover, it helps to bypass geo-blocking – you can entry any content material despite the place in the world you might be. Stocks have fallen sharply world wide amid information of outbreaks in more international locations. Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on the IRS to organize the tax returns for most Americans, a move that comes amid outrage over diminished refunds this year. Broader markets also fell sharply amid heightened coronavirus fears.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – The widening coronavirus outbreak threatens to seriously disrupt the global economic system simply because it was steadying itself towards the headwinds from the U.S.-China commerce dispute. The corporate took the wraps off the brand new Mate Xs by video instead of a press launch, Finger Skateboard as the tech present in Spain the place it had planned to carry the unveiling was cancelled over worries about the new coronavirus outbreak.


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Jan 9, 2017Teens Using Creatine
A study published in Pediatrics reports that health food stores routinely recommend creatine to teenagers, despite medical organizations discouraging those under 18 from using it.
According to HealthDay, a researcher from the study posed as a 15-year-old football player looking for ways to gain muscle mass, and found that two thirds of sales attendants at health food stores recommended creatine. Close to 40 percent recommended it without being asked about it, and 29 percent recommended creatine after the researcher mentioned it.
Dr. Ruth Milanaik, one of the researchers, said that creatine can cause dehydration, damage the kidneys and livers, and affect how young people’s bodies handle toxins, and she feels it is not a healthy choice for teenagers.
“None of what the vitamin shops and the health food stores did was illegal in any way, but they didn’t have the best interest of the 15-year-old customer at heart,” Milanaik said.
Robert Glatter, an emergency physician for Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said he hoped the study would be “a wake-up call” to teenagers, their coaches, and their parents, as well as proof that doctors and nutritionists are better sources of advice than health food stores.
“People who work in health food stores are not experts,” Glatter said. “They may rattle off a bunch of terms and detail how the product may help you look better or feel better, but these are not experts. These are salespeople. People need to recognize this.”
Tomi Akanbi, a registered dietitian and clinical nutrition coordinator with Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center in New York City, said supplements were not the best way for teens to become stronger.
“Over-the-counter supplements are unregulated and often contaminated, which pose significant health and safety risks to adolescents,” Akanbi said. “A well-balanced diet combined with age-appropriate athletic training can help adolescents build muscle mass and improve athletic performance.”


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Foodpanda Losses Widen to Rs 756.4 Crore in FY19, Company Continues to be Optimistic
Pisces Eservices, which operates Foodpanda, had registered loss of Rs 227.95 crore in FY2017-18. However, revenue from operations and other income increased 12.2 per cent to Rs 81.77 crore in FY19 from Rs 72.84 crore in the preceding fiscal.
Foodpanda Now in 100 Cities Across India: Here is The List (Image: Foodpanda)
New Delhi: Foodpanda, owned by ride-hailing company Ola, has posted a wider loss of Rs 756.42 crore for FY19 compared to the previous fiscal, as per regulatory documents.
Pisces Eservices, which operates Foodpanda, had registered loss of Rs 227.95 crore in FY2017-18, documents filed with the Corporate Affairs Ministry and accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler showed.
However, revenue from operations and other income increased 12.2 per cent to Rs 81.77 crore in FY19 from Rs 72.84 crore in the preceding fiscal.
"The online food ordering market is a multi-billion industry and provides ample opportunity of growth. We being an early player in the online food ordering and processing market have a deep understanding of the market dynamics and the revenue and profitability levers," Foodpanda said in the filing.
It added that the management is revamping the entire process to focus on becoming leaders in food manufacturing and processing.
"To achieve this, we have built state-of-the-art kitchen infrastructure and launched various brands in different segment like shakes, khichdi, biryani, rice bowls and desserts. Our focus this year would be on further improving the customer experience and increasing our market share through a diverse and comprehensive product portfolio," it said.
This, Foodpanda said, would be supported by investment in technology, logistics and brand. "Our understanding of consumer needs driven by data science gives us a competitive advantage in terms of customer experience, while increasing the capital efficiency," it added.
The company continues to be optimistic about the business and is hopeful of better performance with increased revenue in years to come, the filing said. Foodpanda did not respond to emailed queries.
Tofler CEO Anchal Agarwal said Foodpanda's burn rate of Rs 756 crore over Rs 82 crore of revenues is one of the highest among Indian startups.
"The significant increase in expenses from the last year is contributed by discounts provided and delivery charges incurred. It is interesting to note that the company has incurred delivery charges of Rs 267 crore compared to its revenues of Rs 82 crore. The discount expenses were to the tune of Rs 137 crore (that's nearly 1.5x of revenues)," she said.
Agarwal said Foodpanda's decision to build out cloud kitchen brands "makes sense in light of the surging expenses the company seems to have incurred in the previous year". "They have also infused USD 100 million in form of debt in the company," she added.
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JoyUp, an AI marketing assistant company for food brands, has announced an integration with Square’s point-of-sale system that would enable merchants to receive their Facebook Messenger orders directly, according to a press release.
Joy interacts with customers on sellers’ behalf to provide them with conversational menu information, enabling customers to skip the line, instantly order through Facebook Messenger, and complete the purchase with payment methods such as Apple Pay. Once submitted, the order pops up in their respective Square POS for the restaurant to acknowledge.
“Facebook Messenger ordering delivers an exciting, new, frictionless experience for consumers and a new revenue opportunity for food brands,” Abhinav Kuru, CEO at JoyUp, said in the press release. “No apps need to be downloaded or installed. Customers search their beloved business on Messenger and order.”


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Shipping firms, dockers union reach tentative deal on US ports
US West Coast dockworkers and port operators have reached a tentative deal on a new labor contract, officials said late Friday, averting a shutdown that would have hit about half the country’s trade.
The tentative five-year agreement, details of which were not immediately available, should free up operations at the ports, with business “restored to full capacity” beginning Saturday evening, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez told a conference call.
Operations had slowed significantly since the labor contract expired in July at key ports for trade with Asia.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), representing 20,000 dockworkers, still must approve the deal with the Pacific Maritime Association, representing management for all 29 West Coast ports.
The union’s steering committee, however, was unanimous in its support.
“After more than nine months of negotiations, we are pleased to have reached an agreement that is good for workers and for the industry,” PMA president James McKenna and ILWU president Bob McEllrath said in a joint statement.
“We are also pleased that our ports can now resume full operations.”
Perez oversaw four days of negotiations in San Francisco between the two parties.
“There were far too many victims across the country, and that’s why the president sent me here” Perez said Friday.
The labor secretary had warned the two sides to strike a deal for a new dockworker contract now or see talks move to Washington, which would place more federal pressure on the two parties.
The agreement is “a huge relief for our economy — particularly the countless American workers, farmers and businesses that have been affected by the dispute and those facing even greater disruption and costs with further delays,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.
The president called on the two parties to tend to backlogs as they finalize the deal, Earnest added.
The National Retail Federation hailed the agreement as well, saying “it is now time for the parties to quickly ratify the deal and immediately focus on clearing out the crisis-level congestion and backlog at the ports.”
“As we welcome today’s news, we must dedicate ourselves to finding a new way to ensure that this nightmare scenario is not repeated again,” added the NRF, the world’s largest retail federation.
Since October, the dockworkers have steadily slowed the processing of incoming and outgoing freight at ports that handle about half of the country’s trade.
In response, the port owners have canceled shifts and had multiple-day lockouts to deny the longshoremen holiday and overtime pay.
The result has been a backup of billions of dollars’ worth of cargo, with heavily laden container ships lined up outside ports from southern California to the border with Canada.
Pressure grew on both sides to compromise over what has been for weeks the key remaining issue, the arbitration system for labor disputes on the docks.
The ILWU sought more say on who can serve as an arbitrator, amid reports that the union claims the system has become more biased in favor of port management.
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NEW YORK (AP) – Visa Inc said on Tuesday that its fiscal third quarter profits rose 32 per cent from a year earlier, helped by yet another double-digit rise in the amount of money processed on its credit and debit card network.
The payment processing company said it earned a profit of USD3.4 billion, or USD1.60 a share, compared to a profit of USD2.57 billion, or USD1.18 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Excluding one-time costs, Visa earned USD1.98 per share this quarter, which was much better than the USD1.75 a share that analysts had been expecting, according to FactSet.
San Francisco-based Visa has been benefitting from a worldwide migration from cash to digital forms of payments, either through online shopping or through the increased use of contactless payments. The company processed USD2.939 trillion on its network last quarter, up 12 per cent from a year earlier. Visa earns a small fee from every transaction that crosses its network, depending on the type of transaction and the merchant who used it.
Most notably cross-border payments were up 40 per cent from a year earlier, a signal that consumers are returning to their pre-pandemic travelling habits.
“Consumers are back on the road, visiting various corners of the world, resulting in cross-border travel volume surpassing 2019 levels for the first time since the pandemic began in early 2020,” said Visa Chairman and CEO Al Kelly in a statement.


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igor - Fotolia
Out of the 20% of UK businesses hit by cyber attacks in the past year, 42% were companies with more than 100 staff, compared with 18% with fewer than 99 employees, according to the survey of more than 1,200 businesses by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
The results indicate that 63% of businesses are reliant on IT providers to resolve issues after an attack, compared with just 12% of banks and financial institutions and 2% of police and law enforcement organisations.
The findings show that while 21% of businesses believe the threat of cyber crime is preventing their company from growing, only a quarter of businesses have cyber security accreditations in place, such as the UK government’s Cyber Essentials Scheme or ISO 27001.
Smaller businesses are far less likely to have accreditation, with 10% of sole traders and 15% of those with 1 to 4 employees having accreditations, compared with 47% of businesses with more than 100 employees.
Of the businesses that do have accreditations, nearly half believe it gives their business a competitive advantage over rival companies, and a third consider it important in creating a more secure environment when trading with other businesses.
“Firms need to be proactive about protecting themselves from cyber attacks,” said Adam Marshall, director general of the BCC.
“Accreditations can help businesses assess their own IT infrastructure, defend against cyber-security breaches and mitigate the damage caused by an attack,” he said.
Marshall said accreditations can also increase confidence among the businesses and clients that organisations engage with online.
He said businesses that use personal data should be mindful that they will have to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from 25 May 2018.
Read more about GDPR
- Businesses dealing with EU citizens’ data urged to ensure they are on track to comply with the GDPR in less than 16 months, as the world marks Data Protection Day 2017.
- The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has set out its plans for publishing guidance on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- Business demand for consumer identity management capability is growing to enable new business models and improve customer engagement.
“This will increase their responsibilities and requirements to protect personal data, and firms that don’t adopt the appropriate protections leave themselves open to tough penalties,” said Marshall.
In October 2016, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) warned that UK businesses could face up to £122bn in penalties for data breaches under the GDPR, which will introduce fines for groups of companies of up to €20m or 4% of annual worldwide turnover, whichever is greater – far exceeding the current maximum of £500,000.
Using UK data breach statistics for 2015 and a maximum fine of 4% of global turnover, the fines paid to the European regulator could see a near 90-fold increase, from £1.4bn in 2015 to £122bn, the PCI SSC calculated.
Commenting on the reliance of most UK companies on IT support providers to resolve cyber attacks, Marshall said more guidance from government and police about where and how to report attacks would provide businesses with a clear path to follow in the event of a cyber-security breach, and increase clarity around the response options available to victims.
Read more about the NCSC
- The National Cyber Security Centre is unashamedly ambitious in aiming to make the UK the safest place to do business online, which chief Ciaran Martin sees as an achievable goal.
- The UK’s NCSC and NCA publish a joint report on the cyber threats facing UK businesses, outlining the best response strategies.
- The NCSC has the right pedigree to coordinate and balance the cyber security efforts of government, industry and academia, says GCHQ director Robert Hannigan.
However, the report said UK businesses should not be defeatist. There are ways of mitigating attacks, the report said, adding that the NCSC is working with government agencies, tech companies and industry to fix some lower-level threats automatically and at scale to enable information security professionals to focus on the most damaging threats.
The report also said businesses should improve basic defences. Cyber attack is inevitable, the report said, adding that even basic cyber defences can protect against most of the attacks affecting businesses and that weak defences are likely to invite repeated attacks.
Businesses should handle all data assets as potential targets because there is a market value for all data that can be exploited by criminals, the report said. It also recommended promoting awareness of stronger basic “cyber hygiene” to customers and employees.
Businesses should be more open to sharing knowledge and expertise, as all businesses can benefit from doing so in a secure, confidential and timely manner through services such as the Cyber-security Information Sharing Partnership (CiSP), the report said.
Developing cyber skills and awareness was another key piece of advice. Partnership work between law enforcement and industry, the report said, has led to the improvement of cyber knowledge for the wider public and industry.
Finally, businesses should report the crime to Action Fraud. If cyber attacks are reported, the report said law enforcement agencies can investigate, arrests can be made and preventative actions can be taken.


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Brits spending loan money in pointless purchasing
A recent research reveals that Britons have spent over £169 billion in useless buying using borrowed money.
PR9.NET July 23, 2007 - London - Since credit cards and unsecured loans are widely available in the UK financial market, many Brits are wasting their money in senseless shopping.
A study from Abbey Savings shows that an average consumer has made pointless purchasing worth £3,700 using credit cards and personal loans. People had bought items like clothes, games consoles and gym equipment that were never taken out of their boxes.
The study pointed out that around one-fourth of Britons own a piece of exercise equipment and bicycle that are hardly bought to use.
The fact that credit is available so easily in the market makes people think seldom before buying redundant items, using the credit cards and fast unsecured loans.
Reza Attar Zadeh, Abbey's Head of Savings, stated: "It seems that the majority of Brits aren't making their assets work hard enough for them. With 64% of UK adults having bought a big ticket 'pointless purchase', we'd recommend that people consider carefully where they are investing their hard earned cash."
For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release (or for a sample, copy or demo), contact Webmaster or visit http://www.online-unsecured-loans.co.uk/
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In hotel news this week: Virgin Hotels buys into Las Vegas. Marriott breaks ground in San Francisco on a new 17-story tower. The Los Angeles area is adding three new hotels, including a Marriott affiliate near LAX in Manhattan Beach, a new long-stay concept property in Culver City, and a Sheraton in San Gabriel; a new full-service Marriott comes to Orange County; Marriott opens a Courtyard in the heart of Boston; and Choice Hotels International cuts the ribbon on a Cambria in downtown Philadelphia.
Virgin Hotels and several partners announced the purchase of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Friday. The group plans to open a "re-conceptualized and revitalized property," the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, in the late fall of 2019. "Las Vegas has long held a special place in my heart," said Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group. "Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America have enjoyed flying to Las Vegas for years and I've always known that Virgin Hotels could thrive there as well. I'm really looking forward to painting the town Virgin red." The property, located at 4455 Paradise Road, will continue full service operations under the Hard Rock flag until it opens as a Virgin Hotels hotel. Its 1,504 guest rooms, restaurants and public spaces will undergo a face lift, expected to cost in the hundreds of millions, with the final product being "a showcase of Virgin's signature sleek and stylish design with an eclectic mix of social spaces." Virgin Hotels Chicago is now open and its San Francisco property (near Moscone Center) is expected to open this year. The company says locations in Nashville, Dallas, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, New York, Silicon Valley, Palm Springs, Edinburgh are in the works.


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Fed's Bullard: 'Tangible' risk inflation could be even stronger than expected
Comments from Bullard:
- Policymaking needs to account for new inflation risks in the coming months
- Full reopening in the US and globally could mean more tailwinds for the US economy and faster price increases
- Upside surprise in inflation could push prices beyond what's needed for Fed to account for weak inflation in the past
No one is on the wires more than Bullard. This is already the 3rd or 4th time he's spoken since the Fed decision.


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In the past two years, NAND flash memory market price is low, the competition among major manufacturers is fierce, and Intels market share has not improved significantly. At the same time, AMD and NVIDIA are also pressing Intel in the fields of CPU, data center and artificial intelligence.
In this regard, commentators believe that it is wise for Intel to withdraw from the storage business at this time, and the company needs to focus on its main business: CPU chips. If Intel loses its technology leadership in the CPU market, other areas will become irrelevant.
Intel stock price trend.
Six consecutive quarters of losses
Intel is likely to give up its own NAND flash memory and buy it from a third-party supplier. In March this year, a report by foreign science and technology media did not attract much attention. At the time, intel was experiencing a sixth consecutive quarter of losses in its storage business.
Half a year later, the NAND flash business, which was regarded as a big bet by Intels chief financial officer, George Davis, has successfully helped the entire storage business to turn a loss into a profit. However, Intel lost patience and did not want to continue.
On October 20 local time, SK Hynix, a South Korean semiconductor giant, announced that it had reached an acquisition agreement with Intel. The former will purchase Intels NAND flash memory and storage business for us $9 billion (about RMB 60 billion).
The two companies hope to obtain the required government permits by 2021. If the deal is finally concluded, SK Hynix will surpass kioxia to become the second largest manufacturer in the global NAND memory market, and further narrow the gap with Samsung, the industry leader.
Screenshot of SK Hynix official website
According to the agreement, Intel will sell all of its NAND businesses, including nandssd business, NAND components and wafer business, as well as its NAND flash memory manufacturing plant in Dalian, China, but the company will retain its unique Intel Artem business.
Sk Hynix disclosed the details of the transaction on its official website. After obtaining the relevant license, SK Hynix will purchase nandssd business (including nandssd related intellectual property rights and employees) and Dalian factory from Intel by paying the first phase of consideration of $7 billion.
After that, SK Hynix is expected to pay the balance of US $2 billion at the final delivery in March 2025 to acquire other related assets from Intel, including intellectual property rights related to the production and design of NAND flash wafers, R & D personnel and employees of Dalian factory.
According to observer.com, Intel Dalian factory was put into production in 2011, initially mainly producing chips with 65nm technology. Then, the company spent 5.5 billion US dollars in 2015 to upgrade the Dalian factory to a non-volatile storage (NVM) manufacturing plant, which is the largest single investment of Intel in China so far.
Intel SSD products image source: Official Website
In July 2016, the first phase of the project was put into production after the upgrading of the Dalian plant. Some of the data center level solid-state disks released by Intel the next year used the 3dnand produced here. In September 2018, the phase II project was put into operation, and Intels most advanced 96 layer 3dnand was produced in this plant.
However, in Intels business, the storage business is not as well-known as the data center and PC business, and its 3dnand products are sold under the NSG (non volatile memory solutions group) business group. In the 2016-2018 fiscal year, NSG business achieved revenue of US $2.58 billion, US $3.51 billion and US $4.3 billion, with an annual compound growth rate of about 20%.
However, due to the heavy investment in the early stage of 3dnand and the depreciation period of equipment in Dalian plant, NSG business has been in continuous loss since 2016. From 2016 to 2017, NSG lost $540 million and $260 million respectively. In 2018, after receiving $160 million in government subsidies, it still lost $5 million.
The domain that cannot be dominated
Global NAND flash market price trend picture from: Forbes
At the same time, Intels market share has not improved significantly.
According to Chinas flash market data, Intels share of NAND market in the fourth quarter of 2019 was 9.8%, an increase of 1.8 percentage points compared with the first quarter of that year, and the industrys first Samsung increased by 4.1 percentage points in the same period, and the market share reached 35.1%.
In 2020, Intel NAND business lost money again in the first quarter.
With the popularity of the new crown in the second quarter of the world, home office and online education have brought huge demand to the intelligent terminal market, and NAND market price has also begun to rebound.
In this context, Intels storage business achieved revenue of US $1.659 billion in the second quarter, with a year-on-year growth of 76.5% and a month on month growth of 24%, setting a record high. The operating profit was $322 million, ending six consecutive quarters of losses.
But Intel is obviously lack of confidence, has no love war..
Although the second quarter benefited from the new outbreak, investors are worried that if the second wave of the epidemic starts again, the driving force for technology products will be greatly reduced compared with the beginning of the first wave. After all, in order to maintain the demand of home office and online education, PC, tablet, etc. are basically replaced. Moreover, the service life of these products is very long, so it is impossible to maintain the demand for machine replacement for a long time.
The research organization China flash market also pointed out that under the new crown epidemic situation facing the rebound in autumn and winter, the high unemployment rate, and the tense Global trade situation, the channel market customers are still strictly controlling the inventory, and the enthusiasm of pulling goods is poor, reflecting the pessimistic attitude towards the future development.
An executive at a solution provider with Intel said frankly that the decision to sell NAND was not surprising given that Intel was far from the largest player in the SSD market. The companys NAND flash memory revenue accounted for 11% of the market in the second quarter, lagging behind SK Hynix, micron, Western Digital, Toshiba and Samsung.
Global NAND market share in the second quarter of 2020
In fact, in the field of NAND flash memory market, Chinese enterprises are also trying to catch up.
The first phase production line of Changjiang storage has a monthly production capacity of 100000 pieces, which has been climbing since this year. For mass production time, the company disclosed to observer. Com that with the above capacity, 128 layer NAND flash memory will be in mass production from the end of this year to the first half of next year.
In the wake of the deal between Intel and SK Hynix, commentators from the news agency commented on Intel can leave the storage game to Samsung, praising Intel for giving up its memory business in a gloomy future.
The article believes that this is a battle that does not require Intel to participate, and the company needs to give priority to its main business: CPU chips.
A screenshot of the blog
According to the data released by mercury research, as of the fourth quarter of 2019, amd has increased its market share of X86 CPU for the ninth consecutive quarter, with a share of 15.5%, up 3.2 percentage points year on year.
The agency believes that AMDs market share increase is related to the shortage of Intel processors, but the performance of the sharp dragon mobile processor is also commendable, and with the release of ryzen4000 series processors, the company should get more shares in 2020.
In addition, due to the poor progress in the manufacturing process and other reasons, Intels the largest semiconductor enterprise in the United States was also taken away by NVIDIA. The latter benefited from the rapid growth of data center business, and its share price has risen by 130% since this year, and its market value is now 100 billion US dollars higher than Intel.
While a $9 billion deal doesnt solve all the problems of a $200 billion company, every step Intel takes toward a more focused approach is positive, and if the company exits the storage business, its annual free cash flow could increase by $2 billion. According to the article.
While Intel is selling NAND, it is also devoting resources to other fields.
The company disclosed that it plans to use the funds obtained from the transaction to develop industry-leading products and strengthen its business focus with long-term growth potential, including artificial intelligence (AI), 5g network and intelligence, and edge equipment related to automatic driving.
For Intel, this deal will allow us to focus more on investing in differentiated technologies, which will enable us to play a more important role in the success of our customers and deliver substantial returns to our investors. Intel CEO Bob Swann said.


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LOS ANGELES - Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. But just how common is it? According to a new estimate, more than 2.1 million Americans were treated for 3.5 million cases of the cancers in 2006.
Since cases of non-melanoma skin cancer usually aren't reported to cancer registries, experts must rely on estimates. Until this week, the most recent national estimate had been from 1994 - back then, researchers pegged the number of cancers at between 900,000 and 1.2 million per year.
To reach the new figure, researchers used two Medicare databases to tally the number of skin cancer procedures performed on patients covered by the government health plan. Then they used national survey data to extrapolate those figures to the entire U.S. population.
The results indicate the incidence of skin cancer is "about double" what it was in 1994, the researchers wrote in Archives of Dermatology. Not only are more people getting non-melanoma skin cancer, but the number of procedures per patient is rising too. "There is an epidemic of [non-melanoma skin cancer] in the United States," according to the report.
This type of skin cancer usually isn't deadly if found early, but the toll is still significant. The American Academy of Dermatology says treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer cost $1.5 billion in 2004.
The researchers didn't say why they thought the rates were rising so fast - perhaps the rise of tanning salons is partly to blame. They did note "educational programs emphasizing sun protection have mainly been disappointing in slowing skin cancer rates," and said more research is needed. - Los Angeles Times


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Credit Card Debt Reaches 8 Year Low
In the second quarter this year, the amount owed by consumers on their credit cards fell to a low we have not seen for more than eight years. In this uncertain economy, those with credit cards went right along paying off their balances.
In the three months ending on June 30th, the combined debt (on average) for credit cards issued by a bank - for example those including a Visa or MasterCard logo - fell more than 13 percent, from $5,719 same time last year to $4,951, as is reported by TransUnion.
Reporting on credit, the agency said this was the first quarter in which they saw card debt decrease under five thousand dollars since the first three months of 2002.


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While the share price for Activision has been declining over the past several months, market speculation has pointed to the game publisher giant being the next big acquisition for the entertainment industry. Furthermore, one of the Walt Disney Company’s main investors has suggested the media corporation should acquire Activision.
The news comes via an interview with Gerber Kawasaki’s (the investment and management firm behind the Disney-Fox merger) Nick Licouris and Bloomberg, where the market specialist noted the time for Disney to buy up Activision has arrived.
“Ideally for an investor you want this to happen now,” Licouris said in the interview. Despite the promising turnaround from an investor standpoint, Disney is probably years away from such a move.
Currently, Disney has a long-term Star Wars licensing deal with Electronic Arts, and has been licensing out their Marvel franchises quite a bit as well.
This doesn’t mean someone else acquiring Activision won’t happen, though. Tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Apple have all been pushing their entrance into gaming quite hard recently, and acquiring a large publisher like Activision would be quite the power move.
We’ll keep you guys posted. How would you feel about Activision being acquired by a large media corporation like Disney? Google? Sound off in the comments below!