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These days, we’re spoilt for choice with a variety of internet-connected consoles, mobile games, and virtual reality setups that has taken the experience of gaming to unimaginable levels (and certainly well beyond the ‘evolutionary’ advancement of the Gameboy light and magnifier clip-on that would let you play into the night).
Beyond the entertainment of video games, it’s a serious business, with an estimated US$134.9 billion generated by global video game markets in 2018 alone.
It’s also one of the most popular industries with more than 2.5 billion gamers worldwide.
From Pac-Man arcade games and PC Sims to Wii Sports, Fortnite and Catan VR, the gaming industry has already undergone huge hardware transformations.
Now, blockchain is set to revolutionise the concept of gaming itself.
Traditionally, video game companies have had fun and entertainment top of mind when it comes to developing new games and generating revenue.
But what if players could also simultaneously earn money – not just for winning tournaments or being an influencer, but in simply playing a game, no matter the player’s ability?
Blockchain can unlock opportunities for in-game experience monetisation through its core function as a platform for hosting ownership of digital assets.
For global game publishing platform MIXMARVEL, the concept of ‘play to earn’ is its biggest focus.
MIXMARVEL is paving the way in blockchain game development, recently launching in the Australian market, following a series of roadshows across the country.
The company has developed MIXMARVEL SDK, a platform that lets users easily make centralised (traditional) game projects decentralised, managing accounts, wallets, and transactions.
MIXMARVEL also provides the Rocket Protocol platform, which aims to give blockchain game developers more prominence.
Projects that have been integrated on this platform include Hyper Snakes, Marvel Clans and Go Hyper Dragons.
MixMarvel co-founders Mary Ma and Jade Zhang visited the Blockchain Centre Perth, joining a panel discussion of industry experts on the future of blockchain and digital gaming.
Ma said for gaming to effectively integrate blockchain, developers would have to alter their logic.
“The focus will be different. Before they were only focusing on user feelings, but with a token economy is integrated with lots of different parts, and they will have to balance that whole system like building a country,” she said.
“Companies will also have to realise that with the token economy, they’ll have to share revenue with communities, to incentivise players and create something really valuable for them.”
Animoca Brands is another company using blockchain in the gaming space to enhance the player experience
Animoca Brands chairman Ya Siu, who was also on the recent Blockchain Centre Perth panel, said ‘play to earn’ represented both an opportunity and a challenge for gaming companies.
“Game companies used to focus a lot on entertainment and fun, now we think the future of game companies is about delivering value to players,” he said.
“So this will be the big challenge for traditional game developers – not just making money for the company but actually earning value for the player and being able to share that value.”
Using blockchain in video games creates the opportunity for trading in-game items for digital assets.
Blockchain could also enable the fractionalised ownership of items or characters, creating the opportunity for users to ‘invest’ in a character.
One of the world’s first blockchain games, CryptoKitties, is based on the concept of ‘digital collectibles’, operating in a similar way to when trading Pokémon cards were all the rage in the early 2000s, centred around breeding, collecting and trading cats.
At its all-time high, a user paid US$155,000 for just one CryptoKitty – so there’s no denying consumer appetite.
With blockchain technology, users could also essentially ‘lease’ their characters or items to other gaming worlds for a fee.
“Imagine if World Of Warcraft was on the blockchain. How many other gaming companies would make their compatibility available for these World Of Warcraft items?” Siu said.
Without naming and shaming, there’s some professionals in our office that have spent over a year of their life on that game.
Imagine the value they could have created in that time!
OPSkins, a marketplace of virtual goods for games, is already exploring user monetisation with its platform WAX.
WAX facilitates the trading of in-game items in real-time and we were pleased to host them at the Perth Blockchain Centre this week.
“Game companies will have to start thinking of the vested interests of players, and not simply looking at content as a form of making money, but essentially running their games as economies,” Siu said.
The world of gaming might be some way off making the scenes of 2018 thriller Ready Player One a reality, but with blockchain, the concept is not entirely impossible.
Like any emerging tech, adoption is key to success.
Virtual Gaming Worlds rep Chris Teskey was another panelist at the recent Blockchain Centre Perth event and said consumers already had an appetite for the experiences blockchain could create.
“We can see that consumers already want to take the different IPs (entities) that they love and putting them together in some other format – there’s some of this already with classic fighter games; they’ve got Marvel characters with Capcom, Nintendo does the same thing with Smash Brothers,” he said.
“With a game like Candy Crush, you don’t need to worry about the ‘economy’, you’re just looking at getting certain points.
“Blockchain means you have to start looking at the design in a much more complicated way, we might see professional economists involved.”
When it came to the major gaming brands embracing blockchain, there were only a select few.
“No one really wants to take the risk of going first. There’s lots of small companies making small games but we haven’t seen a lot of the big players,” he said.
“A lot of it is still trying to work out what all the problems will be and how they’re going to solve it before putting money into it.”
So, will blockchain be a fad or is it here to stay?
The gaming industry was one of the first to monetise massive technology inventions, firstly with the internet, then mobile and now blockchain. I’m betting that trend continues!
Watch the panel discussion:
Nintendo has something in store for the holiday as a report by Bloomberg claims that…
Dead by Daylight is ushering in a new chapter in its game of cat-and-mouse and…
After almost a year of heated discussion about the News Media Bargaining Code, there will…


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Robbie Cooke is Queensland's newest CEO but if he is nervous, he certainly isn't showing it.
The 41-year-old north Queensland-born executive was yesterday officially handed the reins at one of the state's fastest-growing success stories, Wotif.com.
He is now in charge of steering the online accommodation booking company through what is shaping up as a period of rapid change.
The company is in the midst of a takeover bid for travel.com.au, a deal that would give Wotif.com fingers in quite a few new pies, including online flight, car, cruise and holiday bookings.
The Herberton-born, Brisbane-based Cooke acknowledges his brief is challenging but says it is just reflective of the industry.
"The online accommodation space is dynamic, rapidly expanding and highly competitive," he says.
Cooke also says the leadership transition process (former CEO and founder Graeme Wood has moved to the position of executive director) had started more than a year ago when the company listed.
"Graeme and I have been working very closely together over that period. There's close alignment on our strategy going forward for the business."
Looming large in that strategic picture is the company's $57 million bid for the loss-making travel.com.au, which includes the sites lastminute.com.au and its New Zealand equivalent.
"We've never operated in the flights and ancillary product market," he says.
"Those brands give us an ability to push into the flights area in particular but we can also improve those brands' hotel offerings."
The market has so far embraced Cooke and Wood's vision; Wotif.com has steadily risen since the offer was announced at the beginning of the month and is hovering around $5.80.
But while a bidders' statement is being thrashed out, Cooke is also focusing on the organic growth of the company.
Room night sales up to October 15 this year are up 21% on the same period last year.
After-tax profit was also a bright spot which, at $26.4 million, was $7 million more than forecast.
Then there are the company's 180-plus staff spread over 40-plus countries to think of, as well as the recent refurbishment of Wotif.com's Milton headquarters.
"We purchased the building in last 12 months and refitted it internally so we could fit everyone in it," he says.
"It's still not much to look at from the outside but it's a whole lot better on the inside."
For this young public company the pace of its second listed year is shaping up to be just as frenetic as its first.

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Abbey National last week unveiled a separately branded interactive bank called 'cahoot', set to launch in June. In addition to banking services, the online operation will offer additional content from e-commerce partners.
cahoot, a stand-alone operation, is designed to attract a highly targeted group of affluent, technically savvy consumers and will not impinge on the company's Retail Bank customer base.
Abbey, as part of its £200m e-commerce strategy, will also launch Internet and digital television transactional services for its Retail Bank customers.
cahoot services will be available both over the Internet and WAP mobile phones and hopes to reel in the "cash rich, time poor," according to a spokeswoman.
"cahoot is aimed at a totally different customer market [from the Retail Bank]," she adds. "It's for people who are happy and relaxed with technology and using it, financially sophisticated and successful."
The company plans to establish the new bank as a complete "lifestyle package" and is teaming up with a number of non-financial partners, including Blackstar, Boxman, Thomas Cook, Dell and BT to offer its customers additional value-add services.
These e-commerce partners will help attract customers back to the site, but will not necessarily be offering discounted goods and services, reveals the spokeswoman. "cahoot customers will be willing to pay more for high quality services," she predicts.


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It looks like Apple is planning on diving further into ‘smart home' technology this year as reports this week claim that a Siri-powered Amazon Echo rival is on the way. The tentatively named ‘Siri speaker' would be a high-end smart home device that you can throw voice commands at but will apparently be more powerful than the Google Home or Amazon Echo.
This particular rumour surfaced over at 9to5mac, where well-sourced Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, predicted that Apple may possibly come out with a Siri speaker at WWDC in June, which would then go on sale before the end of the year. The chances of a WWDC announcement happening are ‘greater than 50 percent', though Kuo does seem more confident about the device releasing some time in 2017, even if an announcement doesn't land in June.
This isn't the first time we've heard news about a potential Siri speaker. Last month, a leaker by the name of Sonny Dickson claimed that Apple would announce the new device at WWDC and would pitch it as a Siri/AirPlay device. As an AirPlay device, it would act as a speaker for other Apple devices, allowing you to stream audio to it.
Apparently the Siri speaker will look similar to the Mac Pro, though rather than having a glossy covering, it would have mesh.
KitGuru Says: Apple has been building its Smart Home platform ‘HomeKit' for a while now, so the Siri speaker would fit in with that quite well. As a speaker, perhaps even some Beats branding could be involved. Either way, if this is something Apple is coming out with, we will see some more concrete leaks eventually.


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by SUSAN MANN
Health food development company, Katan Kitchens, has been selected to appear on the Dragon’s Den television show in March.
The company is seeking funds to develop a gluten-free processing facility potentially in northern Ontario to clean their quinoa varieties, called Quinta, for sales in North American and global markets.
Katan Kitchens has been working on raising funds for a facility for about the past two years. Jamie Draves, the company’s president and CEO, first announced his intention to build a facility in 2013. At the time, he had hoped to have the plant operational in the fall of that year.
However, the plant hasn’t been built yet because he has been going through a capital fundraising campaign, he says. "It's just the challenge of raising the funds to get the facility up and running the way it should be," he says of the development’s delay.
The project has also changed somewhat because his focus isn't solely on processing quinoa, he adds. Once it’s functional, the plant will also process oats, buckwheat and hemp and possibly other crops in the future.
However, the budget for the 8,000 square feet facility remains the same as in 2013 – $2 million to $3 million. He says he almost has all the money raised and his plan is for the processing plant to be completed this summer to be ready for this year's crop. But "we're kind of late now so it could get delayed," he says.
He says the Dragon’s Den show has already been taped but a confidentiality agreement prevents him from revealing details and the outcome of his request.
Dragon’s Den is a show where aspiring entrepreneurs are invited to pitch their business concepts or products to a panel of influential Canadian business people who decide if they want to invest in their ideas. The show featuring Draves airs March 11 at 8 p.m. on CBC.
Draves is currently working with Value Chain Management International Inc. on a multi-year project researching and developing a local value chain for Ontario-grown quinoa. Value Chain Management International helps mainly agriculture and food businesses enhance their long-term profitability and environmental sustainability.
Draves says to develop the quinoa value chain, they’re working with farmers, transport companies, consumers and retailers “to ensure that we have a high-quality crop that fits all of those interests.”
Currently there’s a large demand for quinoa, a gluten-free, highly nutritious cereal grain, both globally and in Canada. “The retail value of quinoa in Canada is well over $50 million a year,” he says.
Most Canadian-consumed quinoa comes from South America. But there are challenges with the quality and purity of South American quinoa. “That’s the opportunity for us in Ontario is to ensure we’re maximizing on that purity of the quinoa and meeting the interests of the food trends, which is high quality, high protein.”
Before Draves started his quinoa project, the crop wasn’t grown commercially in the province. Crops that have been grown so far have been used to “build up our bank and we've been continuing to optimize the quality and the yield," he says.
The crop will be grown on at least 100 acres this year across Ontario. More growers of both organic and conventional quinoa are needed.
Draves says “we go through a system to try to ensure the farmers are set up for success.” Farmers need to have well-drained soil and good weed management practices.
Martin Gooch, CEO of Value Chain Management International, says quinoa is reasonably easy to grow “but challenging to grow well.”
Value Chain Management International is leading the analysis for the project “to identify where opportunities exist to improve the crop’s performance at the farm and processing levels to be able to capture end-market demands more effectively and efficiently,” Gooch says.
He says the project is showing quinoa grows well in Ontario “and we’re just exploring what are the best management practices from production to grading, processing and then sales to consumers.”
Proper processing is key to the crop’s success because if the coating that’s on the seed isn’t removed correctly it is a stomach irritant, he notes. BF


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The US shopping spree known as Black Friday is attracting more Chinese customers as online shopping sites try to cash in with big promotions.
Cindy Wu, who works as a part-time traveling shopping agent who buys and ships goods to China, said she went on a shopping spree Friday at well-renowned handbag shops in Phoenix, Arizona.
"Every shop here is stuffed with Chinese consumers. Some of them are students shopping for their families in China; others are daigou [purchasing agents]. Some shops are too crowded that I decided to return instead," she told the Global Times on Friday.
Another daigou who sells handbags through WeChat told the Global Times that for this year's Black Friday, more domestic consumers have approached her to buy handbags compared with the previous year.
"US cosmetics and handbags are the most popular goods on Black Friday," she told the Global Times on Friday.
Wu nevertheless said that the number of orders she received from Chinese consumers are about the same as last year.
Retailers in and out of China are also trying to win the spendthrift Chinese customers. Amazon China, for example, has launched a 72-hour Black Friday campaign on its website, its largest since entering the Chinese market in 2005.
Domestic e-commerce retailer mei.com is offering shopping coupons in its 2017 Black Friday sales campaign, as shown on its official website.
Another domestic online retailer, kaola.com, also launched a "Black Day Festival" from Friday to Monday with various discounts.
A report on enterpriseinnovation.net on Friday said Chinese spending on Black Friday is expected to rise by about 37 percent from the same period last year.
The report also cited Phil Pomford, general manager for Asia-Pacific at Worldpay, as saying that 2017 is turning out to be "another solid year" for the shopping event. Chinese consumers spent about $3.4 billion on last year's Black Friday, according to media reports.
But Chinese spending on Black Friday has still been relatively small compared to that on Singles' Day on November 11, the largest online shopping spree designed by the country's top online retailer, Alibaba.
On this year's Single's Day, consumers from China and abroad spent 168 billion yuan ($25.5 billion), compared with 121 billion yuan in the previous year.


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Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Company Ltd, a joint venture company between French company PSA Peugeot Citroen and Chinese automobile company Dongfeng Motor Group is recalling nearly 20,000 cars due to a faulty alternator.
An alternator converts alternating current into direct current to supply power to car components. The models affected are the Elysee and Fukang vehicles made between 1 December 2005 and 9 March 2006. The faulty alternator will be replaced for free.
There has been 11 recalls this year in China, showing that Chinese car manufacturers take their vehicles seriously and are responsible with after-sales support. But of course, this has been encouraged by the Chinese governmetn in the form of the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine which enforces auto recall regulations put in place back in October 2004.


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The modular 3D printer line, available in 3 models, is now available for pre-order from Snapmaker.com after becoming the most-funded technology project on Kickstarter
After breaking multiple records with the Snapmaker 2.0 Kickstarter campaign, Snapmaker is today announcing that the 3D printer line is now available for pre-orders on Snapmaker.com. The Snapmaker 2.0 raised $7,850,866 USD by 7,388 backers on Kickstarter, making it the most funded-technology project ever on the platform, and one of the top ten most-funded projects on Kickstarter overall. The Snapmaker 2.0 is available for pre-orders on Snapmaker.com starting at $799 USD. Orders will ship worldwide and will be delivered in March 2020.
Snapmaker first launched the Snapmaker Original 3-in-1 3D printer on Kickstarter in 2017, ending the campaign with over $2 million in pledges and fulfilling all orders. With feedback from the community, the Snapmaker team began to work on even more innovative improvements for the Snapmaker 2.0, pushing modularity to the next level and giving creators even more flexibility. To achieve this goal, Snapmaker adopted CAN (Controlled Area Network) bus expansion, a technology that allows microcontrollers to ping information without the need for a wired connection. This enables Snapmaker to add new features to the Snapmaker 2.0 with just software – no hardware upgrades necessary. Snapmaker 2.0 is the first 3D printer using the CAN bus protocol.


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Divergent just finished leading investment in the seed round of Appuri, a SaaS application which enables companies to capture, analyze, and understand online customer data at scale. You can read about the funding in the article today on Geekwire. We invested in Appuri because it has a great team and addresses a real problem with easily adapted solutions. Appuri is in our theme of data driven apps that use new database, cloud infrastructure, and advanced algorithms to solve new kinds of problems for customers. What makes Appuri unique is that it provides a broader platform and is more easily deployed than its competitors. Without a lot of consulting, users of Appuri can quickly get answers to questions about their customer-retention, helping them understand in-depth who is leaving, why they are leaving, and what can be done in the future to stop churn.
To answer these questions, Appuri provides a Customer Data Platform provided as a service targeted at B2C companies. The platform has company-specific customization with a developer-friendly interface, making integration easy.Customization is obviously important with online subscription services coming in such different sizes and shapes from gaming to auto insurance. Furthermore, customers of Appuri can deploy data processes in a secure way by having their own virtual private cloud, ensuring sensitive or private information remains safe. Data from third party sources can also be augmented in the Appuri interface, enabling companies to more comprehensively understand subscribers. Lastly, Appuri is capable of handling data at scale enabling it to continue to be useful to companies as their consumer base grows.
Appuri provides a smart data pipeline that coalesces information from multiple sources within a company, provides alerts and normalizes that data and fuses it with information on location and demographics. It then applies advanced machine learning to predict churn and provide a SQL accessible data warehouse.
We were impressed by the team. Co-founder and CEO Damon Danieli has a history of entrepreneurship. He previously was a founder of Z2 a gaming company which was acquired by King.com. Bilal Aslam, co-founder and CPO, is a passionate developer who has filed 15 patents, and built and ran Microsoft Azure Marketplace. They are backed by a team with a wealth of experience, mostly former Microsoft employees.
Appuri’s target customers are online service subscribers seeking to optimize user retention. This market will only continue to grow as more and more companies begin using online-subscriptions as a way to sell their products. Appuri can greatly help these companies: research shows that a 5% increase in customer retention produces over 125% in profit and that repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers. These stats show that minimizing churn is not just helpful for a company, but integral to its success. With Appuri, a company does not need to hire its own data team to try and improve retention but can simply use this platform.
Having already been adopted by sophisticated customers, we are confident Appuri will his continue to gain traction and grow, enabling more companies to better interact with subscribers.


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Bitcoin Drugs Market
Was shocked when roughly 1 billion in bitcoin was emptied from a digital wallet connected to dark web drug marketplace the Silk Road. 4 days ago Representationsof virtual currency bitcoin are seen through broken glass in With new rules looming, crypto markets were skittish to the. Criminal ring used 'dark web' marketplaces to sell drugs, to be the 'Amazon Marketplace' for thousands of drug addicts and drug dealers. By F POLICY 2019 Cited by 540 This staggering number is close to the scale of the US and European markets for illegal drugs and suggest that cryptocurrencies are transforming the black. Empire Market features 2FA, PGP, Escrow, supports Bitcoin, Monero, forum that suits basically everyone. is it drug site, porn site, hacking stuff. 29 minutes ago Online black market Silk Road was one of several marketplaces that used Bitcoin for money laundering, illegal drug transactions and other.
Tor Browser Installation-step 1. these dark web market also offer escrow use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency to purchase everything from drugs to guns. Bitcoin is the hottest investing trend since the Internet, according to by the infamous drug market Silk Road that accepted bitcoins as. Government agents investigating Ross Ulbricht, the 29 year old who allegedly founded the online drugs market Silk Road have found 28m in. By K Porter 2018 Cited by 27 Aug 2017, Markets and vendors (1), drugs and law enforcement (3), cryptocurrency (5), discussion about Silk Road (7), anonymity (8), DHL how to access the darknet market market??? (9). 6 hours ago Currently, the Smart Contracts category has a market capitalization of 694 billion and a dominance of around 31 percent. Ethereum (ETH) which. Hosted on the anonymous Dark Web, the service brought together sellers and buyers of drugs, fake IDs, and just about any other kind of.
All Oxygen info, Oxygen market share and Oxygen market cap, Oxygen crypto a gift of vital pharmaceutical drugs and PPE in partnership with the US. Select a product Buy Bitcoin Pay for the product and get the address of the treasure. How to Buy Drugs Online from Darknet Markets Tor Browser. Approximately 13,648 listings for drugs are now available on Silk Road their bitcoins to their real bitcoin drugs market Additionally, black markets do not have. The cryptocurrency is a bad long-term investment, but that doesn't and allows for illegal voluntary transactions such as drugs, bribes. ByPhemie. bitcoin drugs market. Bitcoin drugs market. The growing trade in narcotics being sold over Crypto-Drug Markets (CDMs) is causing academics, law enforcement. The US government has hired how to access darknet markets a cryptocurrency company to store all the player in the crypto marketplace in the months and years to come.
Since the bull market of 2017, the use of Bitcoin for illegal purposes as a percentage of its total use has dwindled. Chainalysis has found that. Was shocked when roughly 1 billion in bitcoin was emptied from a digital wallet connected to dark web drug marketplace the Silk Road. That couldn't hansa market darknet be further from the case. People already see Bitcoin as a currency whose domain extends beyond the black market. Drug sales. There are now numerous startups dedicated to serving as Bitcoin exchanges, banks, e-wallets, etc. Notably, there are not yet any futures markets. The actual criminal market value of e-currencies is hard to estimate accurately bitcoin criminal, Ross Ulbricht, who used the currency for illegal drugs. On the COVID treatment front, Merck () received authorization from the bitcoin drugs market. Food and Drug Administration for its at-home COVID-19.
No, it's not getting into the hansa darknet market virtual currency market, rather it's selling seized bitcoins from its big takedown of the defunct online drug. 8 days ago and later the company has supplied to its US-based subsidiary for distribution in the US, the world's largest market for generic drugs. Of bitcoin this week that was allegedly linked to a dark web market. in bitcoin tied to illicit drugs and goods on the dark web. Selling illicit drugs, or more than 55 if single-vendor markets are included. Cryptocurrencies, the most famous of which is Bitcoin. Silk Road, the online drug marketplace, is now under FBI control. The use of bitcoin helped Silk Road become a giant money laundering. The Silk Road website, also known as the bitcoin drugs market of drugs, was a dark net black market that operated from February 2011 until October.
Last mile delivery bitcoin drugs market is the final movement of a product from a transportation hub to the final delivery destination. Torigon Cyber Security is a forum on the Tor Network dedicated to discussing cybersecurity-related topics. Figure 6 displays the distribution of deep Web sites by type of content. Prior to the pre-sale, Vacay burned approximately 500,000,000 tokens or 50 percent of the total supply. The hacker has either a certain individual(s) or organization they want to compromise and are after more valuable info than credit card data. The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Queen Mathilde of Belgium dons joggers and a white t-shirt as she takes part in annual 20km. Also you can define the vendor origin by country and as well as supported shipping destinations. To make purchases in the store you must obtain an individual access code. We gather to learn and share our knowledge about the use and best practices. Although they seem to have coded the whole thing from scratch according to their press release.
It offers multiple products, everything from drugs, fake documents, digital goods, software, malware, guides, hacked accounts etc. The reviews are given by their previous customers along with the ratings. The Hidden Wiki is usually presented as your one-stop-shop for dark web links. In 2021, authorities have taken down the largest dark web marketplace DarkMarket, along with arresting the Australian guide to darknet markets man who was believed to be the operator of the website.


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A third of Brits is considering buying a used electric vehicle (EV) as their next car.
Research from Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) UK has revealed that 35 per cent of British people are more likely to consider an EV as their next car as a result of the fuel crisis, with 32 per cent stating they would buy it second hand.
While the numbers of used diesel and petrol cars being bought have fallen by 23 and 37 per cent respectively, the market of used EVs has boomed in the last year, increasing by 76 per cent among VWFS customers.
“Electric vehicles have never been more popular than they are today and it’s clear from our research that the recent fuel crisis has only accelerated the surge in demand for electric cars and their new technologies,” said Rebecca Whitmore, VWFS electric vehicle senior product owner.
“As EV technology continues to improve and these vehicles continue to become more affordable and accessible, it won’t be too long before we have mainstream adoption in the UK.”
A lot of people have decided to switch to electric cars following the recent fuel crisis that hit British motorists.
Data from Volkswagen showed that young people were more likely to panic buying fuel compared with more mature motorists. People aged between 25 and 34 where the most likely to panic buying, with 31 per cent of respondents admitting to stocking up, followed by 18-24 year olds at 30 per cent.
Only 7 per cent of 55-64 year olds admitted to stockpiling, while for people aged between 65 and 74 the percentage was around three.


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TOKYO -- Japan welcomed 2.76 million foreign visitors in March, a rise of 5.8% from the same month last year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Multiple spring campaigns launched by the organization drew many foreign tourists into the country to enjoy its famous cherry blossom season, the JNTO said in a report published on Wednesday.
Of the arrivals, 691,300 came from China, a rise of 16.2% from last time, and the largest amount of visitors by country and region. Eased visa requirements contributed to this effect.
From the U.S. 176,600 guests arrived, a rise of 17% and a record high for a single month, with cherry blossom season providing a significant draw. Visitors from India, Canada, the U.K. and Germany also reached their highest levels for a single month.
Travelers from South Korea numbered 585,600, a drop of 5.4%. The plunge reflected the country's economic slowdown, as well as the rise of Vietnam as a holiday destination for South Koreans.
The Japan Tourism Agency announced pleminary data on Wednesday that showed total spending by foreign visitors hit 1.11 trillion yen ($9.98 billion) between January and March, up 2.6% from the same period in 2018. Spending, including on shopping and lodgings, grew amid the rising number of tourists.
However, their per-capita spending has slipped to 143,206 yen, a drop of 5.9%. Each Chinese visitor spent 207,235 yen, a 12.3% decrease.


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Samsung’s Galaxy S for Sprint, the Epic 4G, is now on sale. The WiMAX-enabled smartphone is now available online and in Sprint stores, which open at 8AM today. The Epic 4G features a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor, a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, and a massive 4-inch Super AMOLED display. The Samsung Epic 4G costs $249.99 after a $100 mail-in-rebate, when purchased with a two-year Sprint service agreement.
Samsung Epic 4G WiMAX smartphone now available from Sprint
4 hours ago
- 1.Google on the Nexus 6: try it, you may like it
- 2.Samsung will ‘fundamentally reform’ its smartphones going forward
- 3.Motorola Droid Turbo official: huge battery, Quad HD screen, powerful specs
- 4.Samsung’s Q3 net profit down nearly 50% year-on-year
- 5.Inbox users to receive more invitations to share today


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- Shivani Vora The New York Times
Christmas and the days leading up to the holiday are a magical time to visit Ireland, according to Siobhan Byrne Learat, founder of Adams & Butler, a Dublin-based company selling trips to Ireland.
“The Irish go all out for Christmas with décor and celebrations, and the mood is cheerful and generous,” she said. “And over the years, it has become more of a cultural holiday for us than a religious one.”
Learat said that while pubs and restaurants throughout the country are full of revelers, hotels have a lull in business, which means that enticing, amenity-inclusive holiday deals abound.
— Lynott Tours has a seven-night Ireland Bed and Breakfast Christmas package that includes accommodations in your choice of more than 400 locations throughout Ireland, breakfast, a rental car and round-trip airfare on Aer Lingus from a dozen cities in the United States including Boston, Los Angeles and New York to Dublin International Airport. Valid from Dec. 21 to 29. From $1,568 a person. Book by calling 800-221-2474 or emailing firstname.lastname@example.org.
— Authentic Ireland offers a four-night Christmas in Ireland package, which includes accommodations in two upscale castle hotels, Abbeyglen Castle and Contarf Castle. Breakfast and a rental car are also included. Valid from Dec. 24 to 28. From $1,648 a person. Book by calling 888-443-5259.
— The upscale Adare Manor in County Limerick offers a two-night, family-friendly Christmas Beyond Everything


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The S&P/ASX 200 index has returned from the long weekend and stormed notably higher. In afternoon trade the benchmark index is up 1.3% to 6,528.6 points.
Four shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they have started the week strongly:
The Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX: LNG) share price has risen 7.5% to 28 cents after providing an update on its Magnolia operation. According to the release, the LNG producer has received notice of intent from the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that the agency will prepare a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the incremental 0.8 million tonnes per annum production capacity increase application for the operation. This would lift its output by 10% per annum.
The Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) share price has zoomed a further 7.5% to $3.44 despite there being no news out of the aerial imagery technology and location data company. However, late last week, Morgan Stanley retained its overweight rating and $4.20 price target on the company’s shares after it announced the launch of new products. It has noted that previous product launches have generated a meaningful increase in demand.
The Prospa Group (ASX: PGL) share price has stormed 19% above its IPO price to $4.50 after finally hitting the ASX boards at noon. Prospa is Australia’s number one online small business lender, with over $1 billion in originations in Australia and New Zealand and a current net loan book of over $300 million. Its shares listed on the ASX at $3.68, raising $109.6 million to fund its future growth.
The Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC) share price is up 8.5% to $4.15 after receiving a takeover offer from AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL). The energy retailer has made a non-binding, indicative proposal to acquire the telco company for $4.85 per share. It believes the acquisition of Vocus could create material shareholder value and drive customer loyalty, amongst other things.
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Google’s Android Gaming Venture Could Arrive as Google Playground
Ever since some files to came to light last month that pointed towards Google’s development of a feature-packed online gaming service for Android users, we’ve wondered when we might hear the company officially launch it. With Google I/O on the horizon, that seemed like a prime candidate for the venue, and now an invitation that’s going around may just reveal how Google intends to brand this service, arriving as Google Playground.
Now, we say “may” because some of this rumor is a little weak. Android Guys doesn’t divulge where it obtained this image, and has its own doubts about its legitimacy. We’ve got questions as well, mostly about the Playground name.
Capitalizing Playground sure makes it sound like the name of a service, but could it be something Google already has? For instance, I/O is all about development, and there’s already a tool called the Google Code Playground, for experimenting with and debugging API calls. “Reinvent” also could suggest that this is a refresh of an existing service.
Google tossed around the word “playground” on the invites for the canceled event last fall that was to announce the Nexus 4. Maybe it just really like the sound of the word? For the moment, we’ll keep this theory that the Google gaming service could arrive as Google Playground in mind, but we’ll need some more convincing.
Update: More voices chime-in thinking this probably isn’t legit.
Source: Android Guys


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- Telefónica’s home security JV in Spain shows signs of customer growth after initial launch was hindered by pandemic.
Movistar Prosegur Alarmas (MPA), Telefónica España’s home security joint venture (JV), is hitting its stride on customer acquisition after a crisis-ridden start to operations at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to results presented by Prosegur, the global security services group and Telefónica’s JV partner, MPA has been adding new customers since end-July 2020 at three times the rate that Prosegur previously achieved in the country. By the end of September 2020, MPA was averaging 10,000 additions per month, according to Prosegur.
MPA’s portfolio includes: an alarm connected to the Alarm Receiving Centre; a video camera with two-way audio; video recording for residential customers; 24-hour video recording for business customers; the MPA smartphone application; three hours’ back-up power supply in the event of a power outage; and the Acuda key holding and alarm response service.
MPA finally sees customer growth
The surge in new customers shows that MPA’s business activity is starting to recover after launching at a near-standstill for the first four months of operation. MPA began operations in early-March, which coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions that halted trading for many small businesses. Prosegur reported in July that MPA had not been able to meet its initial sales forecasts (Telefónicawatch, #146).
During the weeks following the venture’s launch, attention was diverted away from new services and customer acquisition and instead focused on the economic fallout from the pandemic, in particular closures of small businesses that put customer retention and churn rates under pressure. MPA noted that it did not begin more constructive commercial activity until mid-June 2020.
MPA was not able to add “any significant number of new clients” for the first four months of the health crisis, according to a transcript of Prosegur’s earnings call for the nine months to September 2020, provided by CQ FD Disclosure. However, Prosegur described MPA’s recent customer growth as an “outstanding milestone” and all the more impressive given that the JV’s “commercial infrastructure… is not yet fully operational, and the market is still partially paralysed, mainly in the small commerce client side”.
Telefónica Chief Operating Officer Ángel Vilá mentioned the JV in response to an analyst question on the Group’s Q3 earnings call and indicated that it contributed to bolstering and diversifying average revenue per user (ARPU) in the Spanish consumer business. “Our ARPU is made of more services per customer than the ARPU of some of our competitors. And we continue adding new services to appeal to our customers. For instance, our home security solutions in the joint venture with Prosegur are getting spectacular traction”, he said.
MPA signalled in October 2020 that it was entering a new commercial phase and that it could start to focus on developing new services with the launch of a personal security service called ContiGo (“With You”) (Telefónicawatch, #148). The new service combines Telefónica’s network connectivity with MPA’s home alarm application.
With the JV’s creation, Telefónica is taking a more robust approach to integrating security services into its wider offering. The operator was forced to shutter a former Movistar VeriSure Hogar smart-security solution in 2018, which appeared to be prompted by the withdrawal of services from Prosegur rival Securitas Direct (Telefónicawatch, #98 and #127).
Alarm tie-up wakes up rivals
The apparent go-to-market traction for MPA appears to have spurred Telefónica’s rivals into action. Vodafone Spain was recently reported by Expansión to have signed a strategic marketing agreement with former Telefónica partner Securitas Direct, which would mark Vodafone’s entry to the Spanish household security market. MásMóvil, meanwhile, was reported by Cinco Días to be teaming up with retailer El Corte Inglés on home security solutions.


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Farhad: Hey, Katie! Mike is off snorkeling in Hawaii, so I’m thrilled that you’re free to help me make sense of this week’s tech news. You have some small shoes to fill!
Farhad: Er… so, on to this week’s news! Hackers posted a huge cache of data stolen from Ashley Madison, a site that claimed to let married people securely seek affairs online. Apparently that was not true. The breach is a pretty frightening illustration of the life-ruining possibilities of cybertheft — what John Herrman of The Awl calls “in some ways the first large scale real hack, in the popular, your-secrets-are-now-public sense of the word.”
It wouldn’t be a tech newsletter without an appearance by Uber: This week, prosecutors in San Francisco and Los Angeles said the ride-hailing service had failed to uncover the criminal records of 25 drivers in those two cities. Uber countered, saying that the taxi industry’s background-check process isn’t perfect either — which, to me, seems a small comfort.
Of course, the big news involved the online retailer Amazon. Last week, The New York Times published an article detailing Amazon’s bruising corporate culture. The piece drew criticism from Amazon — Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder and chief executive, wrote in a memo to employees that he did not “recognize this Amazon” — but it also set off a wide-ranging conversation about the way the tech industry treats its workers.
So maybe we should start with that larger lens. You have covered this industry for a while, Katie. Does Amazon stand alone, or does the work-all-the-time culture described by our colleagues echo a larger problem in tech?
Katie: Maybe the work-all-the-time — and work-at-all-costs — culture that the article explored at Amazon wasn’t a tech-specific issue.
The world’s most successful consulting firms, law firms, banks and hedge funds accept that this is the cost of excellence. Rather than deny that the grind exists, employees and managers at elite companies in these fields see it as part of what makes them better. It took a Bank of America intern dying for other leading banks like Goldman Sachs to cap the number of hours that an intern can work at 17 hours a day.
Perhaps one reason the story hit a nerve is because the tech industry seems to want not to be lumped in with the Goldmans and Skadden Arpses and McKinseys of the world, as if tech companies can achieve superior results in some other way. But that’s probably not true. Witness the emotional and physical abuse that Apple employees underwent to make the first iPhone a reality. And as the early Facebook employee Dustin Moskovitz describes, physical and emotional burnout is an accepted part of start-up life.
Perhaps what separates the best tech companies from the rest of the elite white-collar world is the ability to wear flip-flops to work and eat better cafeteria food. But at the end of the day, the ethos — push yourself to the limits for your company — is always the same if you want to be No. 1.
Farhad: Forget law firms and investment banks — look at our own business! I’m a diva columnist who writes at a leisurely pace, but many people at The New York Times and other successful news companies don’t exactly get to sleep on the job. Miguel Helft, a former Times reporter who is now at Forbes, said on Twitter that the closest he had come to crying at his desk was when he worked here. I think he was joking.
Still, even if most white-collar work isn’t easy, I do think it’s important to draw a distinction between, on the one side, Apple and Amazon and, on the other, pretty much every other company in tech. Working at Google and Facebook isn’t a cakewalk, but these companies are known to be generally less torturous in terms of work hours, and more lavish in terms of benefits, than Amazon and Apple (especially Apple under Steve Jobs).
Ben Thompson, the analyst who runs Stratechery, has a good theory about why: Apple and Amazon produce superior consumer products, the sort of hardware and e-commerce services that never fail to delight end users. (Who among us hasn’t been thrilled beyond belief when an Amazon box showed up the day before it was promised?) Google and Facebook are software companies that try to create delight in the aggregate, from data. A failed Google search isn’t seen as an issue that needs Larry Page’s attention; it just calls for a better algorithm. But a single late delivery of a “Frozen” doll? That’s a real hardship, and Jeff Bezos could well get involved.
Which leads to a larger question: How bad should we feel for Amazon’s white-collar workers? As Ezra Klein of Vox points out, unlike Amazon’s warehouse workers, the people at its corporate offices are well paid and could easily work anywhere else. Honestly, that fact mitigates any guilt I may have harbored about shopping there. How about you — are you still visiting “the everything store”?
Katie: “The everything store” just sent me 24 rolls of paper towels, and, indeed, I was delighted.
Regarding your take on Apple and Amazon versus Facebook and Google, hierarchies of excellence also exist in all industries. In corporate America, people pay a high cost to stay on top. Apple is the most valuable company in the world, and Amazon became a cloud computing leader with Amazon Web services. Conversely, Facebook integrated Instagram and WhatsApp to fight obsolescence and, as Mr. Thompson pointed out last year, Google is starting to look like Microsoft in all the wrong ways.
It’s condescending to feel bad for people who choose a grueling lifestyle. It’s more interesting to debate whether there’s an alternative management style for companies that want to reach Apple- or Amazon-level success. When tech companies blaze a different path to the top, then they’ll really be different from the rest of corporate America. That sounds like the sort of impossible problem that the industry says it loves to tackle. In the meantime, there will be no end to the Amazon boxes arriving at my door.


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Snapping its three-day losing streak, both gold and silver gained on the bullion market on Wednesday on emergence of stockists buying at existing lower levels for the upcoming marriage season amid a firm global trend.
While gold went up by Rs 225 to Rs 28,465 per 10 grams, silver soared by Rs 800 to Rs 65,000 per kg.
Trading sentiment turned better after gold advanced in the global markets as concerns about Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis spurred demand for the metal as an alternate investment.
Gold in global markets, which normally sets the price trend on the domestic front, rose by 0.6 per cent to $ 1,844.98 an ounce in Singapore.
In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity recovered by Rs 225 each to Rs 28,465 and Rs 28,315 per 10 grams. The metal had lost Rs 350 in the previous three sessions.
On the other hand, sovereign, remained stable at Rs 22,700 per piece of eight grams in limited deals.
In a similar fashion, silver ready spurted by Rs 800 to Rs 65,000 per kg and weekly-based delivery added Rs 960 to Rs 65,360 per kg.
Silver coins also jumped up by Rs 1,500 to Rs 73,000 for buying and Rs 74,000 for selling of 100 pieces.
Keywords: bullion rates


text: Annie Oakley® Perfumery Studio—owned by Northeast ISBDC client Renee Gabet–is planning to celebrate the studio’s fourth anniversary in conjunction with National Day of the Cowboy, a U.S. holiday that falls each year on the fourth Saturday of July. The three-day Annie Oakley® event July 22-24 will offer free VIP Sensory Tours daily at the firm’s headquarters in Ligonier, enabling visitors to see a perfumery in action and create their own essential oil fragrance. The celebration will also include complimentary treats and specialty soft drinks. On the last day of the celebration, Friday, July 24, award-winning wines will be offered at a wine tasting to take place from noon to 2 p.m. Participants will also have the opportunity to sign up for door-prize drawings. The celebration is free of charge and open to the public. Groups are welcomed, but should call ahead to schedule at 260-894-7219. For more information, see the attached news release.


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Kevin Bryant, a computer tech and owner of Media Esteem Business Services in Barriere, says he wants to warn the general public about some nasty computer viruses that are currently making the rounds.
“Over the last few weeks,” Bryant stated, “I have seen some really bad viruses; destructive viruses that are invading the computers through a popular program called Java. Destructive viruses cause a lot of hassles for computer users, not to mention repair costs; and this could be just the tip, since 99.9 per cent of computers have Java installed (including Macs).”
Java is a computer language that enables programmers to write software utilizing just one set of code that will run on virtually any type of computer, including ones that use Microsoft Corp’s Windows, Apple Inc.’s OS X and Linux, an operating system widely employed by corporations.
Computer users access Java programs through modules, or plug-ins, that run Java software on top of browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Hackers have figured out a way to exploit Java to install malicious software enabling them to commit crimes ranging from identity theft to making an infected computer part of an ad-hoc network of computers that can be used to attack websites.
Bryant tells that Oracle, the company that owns Java, is working on a fix for the problem, but until their fix is ready, it is recommended to disable the Java plug-in on your computer.
Bryant also noted, “A lot of Facebook games might not work with Java disabled, so in the meantime we just have to wait for Oracle to release the solution to this virus.”


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Everspin on Wednesday said its MRAM magnetoresistive random access memory is trickling into products that require reliable, fast non-volatile memory that can preserve data in the event of a power failure. via Could MRAM Ultimately Replace DRAM? < Other PC Hardware Components, Technology, RAM, Components, Technology < PC World India News < PC World.in. Magneto-Resistive… Continue reading Could MRAM Ultimately Replace DRAM? < PC World.in
I used to follow all the achievements and exploits of the research departments working on advances in non-volatile memories (anything not DRAM). Magneto Resistive materials looked very promising both Magnetic RAM and Ferro-Electric RAM had been worked on for years. But each new project seemed to spur others on to look for different techniques and materials. So the New Scientist has surveyed the landscape and is reporting back it’s findings. What technology will ultimately win the race?


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ECONET UNFOLDS PLANS TO TAKE OVER VMOBILE READY WITH USD230M BID FOR MAJORITY SHARE
Econet Wireless Interna-tional says it is now ready to take up and fully pay for a 50 per cent plus one majority shareholding of cash-strapped Vmobile Nigeria, months after it had its management contract terminated. In an exclusive interview with This Day in Johannesburg, South Africa last week, the Group Chief Executive of EWI, Strive Masiyiwa, said that EWI is believes that the international tribunal will rule in its favour.
After the ruling of the tribunal, Masiyiwa said that EWI will then exercise its right of pre-emption over the failed Vodacom offer for the Nigerian company and it would then pay for the 50 plus one per cent shareholding offered to Vodacom.
He disclosed that before the board of directors of the Nigerian mobile company severed relationship with EWI, the plan by the Zimbabwean firm to buy 33 per cent of Vmobile which was on offer then at USD150 million, had been approved by the shareholders.
But rather than proceed with the EWI offer, he added that some members of EWN's board decided to severe relationship with EWI and offer a 50 per cent plus 1 share of the company to Vodacom and "we have since taken the case to arbitration."
"In fact, we now want to exercise our right of pre-emption on the Vodacom offer. We are before the arbitration saying we have right of pre-emption over the offer made by Vodacom. Never mind our original offer, we have rights of preemption.
"Because the board and the shareholders met to accept the offer from Vodacom, we have right of pre-emption over that offer. That offer was for 51 per cent. If the tribunal rules that we have right of preemption, we are going to be given 30 days to pay. And if we have USD230 million, that day money has to speak or forever hold its peace.
"That, interestingly is the irony of this whole thing. We set out only to buy 33 per cent with USD150 million. These guys (Vodacom) put up an offer. We are now claiming right of pre-emption over this offer. And we cannot claim rights of pre-emption over part of the offer, we have to claim rights of pre-emption over the entire offer.
"Now I have been quiet, the legal stuff is for the lawyers while I have only been interested in one thing: making sure my money is there should we win. We are only going to have 30 days. That money is there and I am just making sure it goes nowhere", he told This Day.
Masiyiwa who welcomed the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) investigations into Vmobile and the Vodacom transaction lamented that "this issue should never have got to this. I am so grateful when I heard about this EFCC stuff, I said thank God, at last, the Nigerian government at least is now paying attention."
The EWI Group Chief Executive said he was very happy when the EFCC wrote to EWI to request "our own side of the story. We are very happy that an agency of government is interested in the whole issue and we are confident that the truth would soon come out and we would be vindicated."
Masiyiwa said that telecoms business is a public business but "some of my colleagues think it is a private business. No, we are not running a fish and chip shop. There are stakeholders in this business who have a bigger say than even us which is the general public. In this particular case, over a million people sit on this network. They deserve better services not this confusion of waking up one morning you are called Econet, now you are called Vodacom and then you have V whatever."
The Board of Directors of EWN, now Vmobile, had sacked Masiyiwa, its founding partner, as a director of the company November 10, 2003 for what was described as "abuse of his fiduciary rights by disclosing confidential company information and leaking confidential company documents to a third party."
According to the company, other reasons for Masiyiwa removal were his "refusal to take cognizance of the business interest of the company in considering the investment offers, but only thought about himself and his company" and "persistent embarrassment of the company by mounting pernicious media propaganda against the interest of the company, the staff and the shareholders".
"Please note that your seat on the Board of the company is hereby consequentially deemed as vacated with immediate effect and you are therefore not entitled henceforth, howsoever, to any of the rights and privileges that attach to the office of a director of the company neither do you have the attendant responsibilities, duties and functions thereof", the company's letter to him read in part.
The shareholdings structure of EWN (Vmobile) had been restructured few months after it got its licence in 2001 with the parent company, EWI, holding 5 per cent.
Before the restructuring exercise, the shareholding ratio of the company had EWI holding 40 per cent, First Independent Limited, a consortium of Nigerian investors, 40 per cent and First Bank of Nigeria 20 per cent .
The Nigerian consortium picked up the balance of EWI's shares, bringing its shareholding to over 60 per cent as a result of the alleged inability of Masiyiwa to remit funds to cover his shareholdings.
EWN's Board of Directors later at a meeting unanimously allotted 40 million shares out of a total of 120 million shares of the company to Vodacom, representing 33.3 per cent. According to the company, the value of the shares is USD150 million, which is the equity required.
The Board also resolved that all existing shareholders will sell off part of their shares on a pro rata basis to Vodacom to enable the company come up to 50 per cent plus one share.
Masiyiwa had opposed Vodacom's bid to take over the company accusing EWN's board of breaching contractual agreemtents. There had been a dispute between EWI and EWN when EWN board invited Orascom of Egypt and Vodacom to carry out due diligence on the Nigerian firm which resulted in EWI's filing for arbitration in a Lagos court.
EWI in its request said that the Board of EWN contravened a board resolution on November 29, 2002 which states "that the company is hereby authorized to raise additional equity as required by its business plan by private placement (targeted at existing shareholders, high networth individuals and institutional investors) subject to the proviso that the existing shareholders shall be given full allotment for the amount they applied for".
But Vodacom has since pulled out after taking over and entering into a management agreement with the Nigerian company. Vodacom pulled out because of a payment it said breached good corporate governance and trusts. This decision prompted the EFCC investigations.


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De Beers has announced rough diamond sales totalling $US630 million at the seventh cycle of 2022.
De Beers is the world’s largest diamond mining company by value, with operations in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Canada as well as plans to resume mining in Angola.
The seventh cycle represents rough sales completed between 15-30 August. This year’s sales exceeded the 2021 sales ($US522 million) by more than 20 per cent.
The previous cycle sales totalled $US638 million.
De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver said upcoming festivities in India were likely to impact upcoming sales.
“De Beers Group rough diamond sales continued at a steady level in the seventh sales cycle of 2022,” he said.
“In line with normal seasonal trends, we anticipate that sales in the next few cycles will be affected by the temporary closure of polishing factories for the Diwali holidays.”
De Beers completes 10 sales cycles each year.
Strong sales for De Beers amid robust demand
De Beers returning to Angola after strong start to 2022
Alrosa and De Beers reportedly hike prices of rough diamonds
De Beers extends contract in Botswana; forecasts positives in India
De Beers and Petra diamond sales increase, could benefit further from sanctions in Russia
De Beers uncertain to meet rough demand while diamond shortage worsens


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Last year, when I first introduced the concept of ecofrugality back on the old blog, I speculated that the Great Recession could be "the dawning of the age of ecofrugality," as people adopt green habits to save money. Now a new Associated Press survey suggests that I might actually have been right. Of 44 economists surveyed, two-thirds say that they believe the recession has created a "new frugality" that will continue even after the economy recovers. Interviews with ordinary American consumers support this view, as many say they no longer feel confident spending with abandon. The interviewees say they're sticking to new frugal habits such as gardening, air-drying her laundry, living without a landline phone, and shopping at Costco. As the AP article puts it, "many who became penny-pinchers during the recession are in no mood to start shopping again with abandon for clothes, cars and home additions. They've discovered the peace of mind that comes with rebuilding savings, shopping more prudently and learning to live with less." In a word: ecofrugal!
Which reminds me: my tenth article (and probably my last for the time being) is now up at Associated Content. It's a product review of Swheat Scoop, our favorite cat litter (and one that I consider highly ecofrugal, for reasons discussed in the article). So check that one out, and then I promise I'll stop bugging you for a while.


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At the end of an incredibly challenging year, we’d like to take this opportunity to extend our very best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season. Continue reading Happy Holidays from Capacity!
How do you hold a holiday party for hundreds in a warehouse? With a little loving care and a whole lot of logistics!
Today the team at Capacity took a couple of hours away from the boxes… or, at least, away from packing them. The lunch gathering and gift-giving took place right here at our New Jersey fulfillment campus, and we’re happy to give you a glimpse inside the event below. Continue reading Capacity Brings Holiday Happiness to the Warehouse
The last-minute orders are shipping and final deliveries being made, leaving only the logistics of getting your gifts wrapped (and perhaps hiding the sherry from Grandpa) to take care of.
Before you head back into the holiday madness, take five to put your feet up and enjoy some of these crazy logistic of Christmas statistics that bring out the best (and worst!) of the season: Continue reading Silly Hats and Santa Stats: The Logistics of Christmas
If you think Santa has an impossible delivery job on his hands at this time of year, try working in order fulfillment…
Sure, there’s some seasonal magic in there. But when it comes to the heavy lifting that makes the big man in the red suit look good through the holiday season, it’s the warehouse, distribution workers that can’t afford to put their feet up! Continue reading Santa’s Supply Chain: The Reality of Seasonal Order Fufillment
Black Friday? More like Bleak Friday, as retailers reported an 11% drop in sales revenue on this important post-Thanksgiving celebration of deep discount sales.
Cyber Monday, meanwhile, rose only 8% on last year’s figures, which also fell short of expectations (with the exception of Wal-Mart, who came up smelling of roses.) The reality failed to live up to the hype of the holiday, following widespread predictions of a record-breaking start to the season.
Overall it was a bit of a bust for most retailers and left them looking hopefully at the next few weeks of spending season to bridge that gap in expectations. Dollar and discount stores generally fared better over the four day spending spree weekend, leading some analysts to conclude that the economic reality .
In that scenario it’s economists that are experiencing the reality gap by taking indicators like stock market performance and corporate revenues over “on the ground” measures like consumer spending and confidence indices. But is this really the right place to look, or should retailers be taking a good long look in the mirror for stretching the holiday season start line to breaking point?
“Black Friday Fatigue” is what the New York Times chose to label this year’s spending, and only their choice of day might be in question.
Think about how the holiday discounts applied to your inbox… if you’re anything like us, you started to see special offers well before Thanksgiving.
Add to that the controversy over physical store opening hours creeping into Thanksgiving day, preventing some employees spending it at home with their families as is traditional. Add again the extension of Cyber Monday to Cyber Week (and let’s face it, that’s not where the ads stop), and we have two full weeks of holiday shopping blitzkrieg… that’s enough to tire even the most festive family shopper you can think of.
The reality for retailers seems to be that sales are simply be too common now for their own good. Deep discounts are de rigeur and engaging in price warfare could simply spark a race to the bottom, which will only benefit those with the deepest of pockets.
If that’s not you, what can you do to cut through battle of the bargain basement?
For many it’s likely to be better to focus on another area of holidays or pushing another area of competitive advantage, such as service, presentation, quality, or even geography. There’s a trend towards buying locally and ethically in recent years; can your business position itself along those lines? Or perhaps your product is suited to getting the orders in early, or even a last-minute local bonus that consumers can pick up as an additional gift.
The goal for most businesses is to stand out from the crowd, which in many ways makes the rush to join the Black Friday/Cyber Week madness exactly that: mad.
Rather than compete with everyone at exactly the same time, on price alone, what can you do to pick your spot, reach customers clearly and avoid getting caught in the retail stampede?


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has announced its latest product, the 'Parrot Bebop-Pro 3D Modeling' pack, that allows users to take aerial imagery and create 3D models. Pocket-lint
, the consumer tech publication for the tech savvy, provides more details on what this product can do for real-estate and building professionals.
RealWire Influence Rating
is the premier gadget news and reviews site in the UK. Pocket-lint was created in 2003 to offer web surfers the chance to get independent reviews on all the latest gadgets without having to wait weeks for the next issue to come out. Pocket-lint aims to provide readers with the latest news as it happens, and the latest reviews before anyone else.


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LG initially stated that it will not roll out the Nougat update to its 2015 flagships, but the company has reversed course following backlash in its home market. According to an LG official speaking to Korea Times, the LG V10 will pick up the update sometime in the second quarter, while the LG G4 will receive the update in the third quarter. That's for the Korean market, and it is likely that we'll have to wait slightly longer for the global
LG was worried that the hardware — specifically the Snapdragon 808 SoC — on the G4 and V10 would cause compatibility issues on Android 7.0 Nougat, but with the Nexus 5X featuring the same chipset and running Nougat without any problems, LG decided to offer the update to its flagships.
With profits from its mobile business shrinking, 2017 will prove to be a pivotal year for LG. Last year's modularity experiment with the G5 failed to gain momentum with consumers, but the G6 is turning out to be a step in the right direction. Reliability issues with the G4 and V10 have also affected the brand's image, and it looks like that is an area LG is looking to fix this year.
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The U.S. is reportedly close to restoring Huawei’s global chip supply
According to a report from Financial Times, the U.S. Department of Commerce will soon grant licenses to chipmakers to resume the supply of components for use in Huawei’s mobile devices.
5 Chromebook trends that need to die
There's a lot of good things Chromebooks have added in the last few years, but just as there are some rumors that refuse to fade, there are a few trends in the Chromebook world that are hanging on with an unnatural grip that need to be hacked off before they drag the next generation of Chromebooks under.
Review: Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro makes the 108MP camera accessible to everyone
With the Mi 10T Pro, Xiaomi is redefining the value segment. The phone features an outstanding 108MP camera, Snapdragon 865 chipset, and a 144Hz display backed by a massive 5000mAh battery. But the standout feature is the asking price, with the Mi 10T Pro available for just ₹39,999 ($542), making it a standout value.
These are the screen protectors you'll want to get for your Galaxy S20 FE
The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE has arrived and is surely going to compete with the top Android phones for the months to come. If you're planning to hang onto this device for the next few years, you'll want to make sure it's protected from every angle. These are the best screen protectors for the Galaxy S20 FE that you can get today.


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JJB Sports to continue expansion
RETAILER JJB Sports has pledged to continue its store expansion programme after taking its financial figures to another high.
The Wigan-based group successfully sustained its record of improving turnover and profits every year since flotation in 1994. The latest improvement came after JJB continued its policy of switching to larger superstores and attracting customers with targeted promotions.
Turnover in the six months to 31 July lifted 14% to £347.9m, while pre-tax profits rose to £40.9m from £22.1m last time.
The group said it was still wary of a slowdown in spending caused by the US terrorist crisis but said it was satisfied with trading in recent weeks. It plans to step up its policy of closing high street stores and replacing them with more profitable superstores, usually in the same town or city.
JJB has identified 21 sites for the larger format and will close 16 smaller high street outlets in the second half of the year as a result. The group, which has 432 outlets, said it remained confident of opening between 30 and 40 superstores every year, with 23 superstore sites already identified for next year.
Expansion on to the continent is also being considered and JJB will open a high street superstore in Rotterdam, Holland next month.
JJB added its new price promotion policy had also reaped dividends in the first half of the financial year. Instead of more aggressive, store-wide promotions backed by television advertising campaigns, the group has targeted reductions on specific products.
The strategy lifted gross margins from 46% to 48.5%, with like-for-like turnover ahead 9% during the period. The latest figures show around 43% of JJB's sales came from clothing, with footwear accounting for another 32%. Equipment and accessories took a 12% share of turnover.
David Whelan, chairman, said comparisons for the nine weeks to 30 September had been distorted by last year's fuel crisis but that like-for-like turnover in the period was ahead 8%.
However, he remained on his guard against a worsening economic slowdown. Whelan added: 'The current uncertain outlook requires a more cautious stance. The board is therefore carefully monitoring current market trends and will be able to react quickly and decisively to any changes in the business environment.'
Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 2.25p, up 29% on a year earlier.
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But the second phone has hit 100,000 pre-orders in just over a month.
Solana Mobile’s “chapter 2” smartphone crossed a key threshold on Monday; it had previously set the 100,000 preorder milestone as a precondition to developing a second device. Now with a $45 million warchest, the company plans to proceed and hopefully deliver units to customers in early 2025.
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UNC’s business college opens resource center
October 19, 2004
The Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado announced Tuesday the opening of an information and resource center for small- to medium-sized businesses throughout Colorado.
The Colorado Business Resource Center will be staffed by trained business students. It will serve business owners who are seeking information on issues ranging from how to establish a business in Colorado to federal, state and licensing requirements.
The center was established through a partnership with Aims Community College in cooperation with the Governor’s Small Business Advisory Council. The resource center also will receive support from the Greeley/Weld Small Business Development Center and sponsorships by area financial institutions.
“The Resource Center is an excellent way for small businesses to get additional information to increase their opportunity for success,” said Kelly Manning, state director of the Small Business Development Center Network. “The Center’s new location within the Monfort College of Business will open more doors and add additional resources that entrepreneurs can take advantage of.”
The center is staffed by trained business students who volunteer as information specialists in handling in-bound calls, walk-ins, mail and e-mail inquiries. Students receive an opportunity to hone business skills while providing important information to business owners. The center offers clients informational assistance packets customized for specific business scenarios. Clients also are directed to a variety of electronic information resources including government-sponsored Web sites and industry and trade databases.
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“This is a class example of what can be accomplished when multiple organizations pool their resources and talents toward a common goal,” said Don Abbott, director of the Weld County Small Business Development Center.
Information specialists are available to assist existing and potential business owners from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.


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Event highlights opportunities in marine energyNews // March 29, 2011
Businesses will have the chance to learn more about the marine energy opportunities for the Orkney and Pentland Firth waters in the UK at an event in Caithness on Tuesday 5 April.
Organised jointly by North Scotland Industries Group (NSIG), Caithness Chamber of Commerce, Orkney Islands Council, The Crown Estate and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the event is open to members and non-members and will be held at North Highland College, Thurso from 10am to 4.30pm. John Thurso MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross will be the keynote speaker.
The event will include a seminar on potential business co-operation, a share fair to allow businesses to promote their own services, important update presentations from Crown Estate and HIE, and networking focussed on marine energy developments and supply chain opportunities. Attendees will also receive a tour of the newly extended North Highland College and an update on available services related to energy prospects in the area.
NSIG chief executive, Ian Couper said: “This event will be the first in a series of annual events alternating between Caithness and Orkney. There is still a lot of uncertainty and lack of information for the future supply chain in these areas with regard to an industry that will undoubtedly be of great benefit to Orkney and Caithness in the years to come. This event is designed to provide annual updates as events move on and timescales change. All the co-ordinators agree that we need to work together on this to cut down on potential overlapping events that will be discussing the same themes.
“This event, and those in the following years, will enable potential supply chain businesses to make important business decisions on when, for example, to enter the market, how their business costs might be affected, and when and how to promote their services, indeed, all they need to plan for their future involvement in this energy market.“
Trudy Morris, chief executive of Caithness Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is extremely important that supply chain businesses are kept informed of opportunities and receive information that then empowers them to make business decisions. There have been many renewable events held over the past year covering the same topics. Our involvement in this event has been driven by the need to give the supply chain new information. With the topics covered and the Crown Estate presenting on its ‘Build out’ story, we believe this event will do just that.”
Keith Muir, senior development manager at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, said: "HIE, along with our partners, are working very hard to ensure that our local businesses and communities derive the maximum benefit from the development of Renewable Energy in the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters. We believe that the more our supply chain businesses understand about the developments, the better they will be able to equip themselves to capitalise on the opportunities as they arise."
Lucy Parsons, Marine Renewables project manager at Orkney Islands Council, said: “Research and development work in Orkney at the European Marine Energy Centre over the years has given businesses substantial experience in this new industry, but not yet at a commercial scale for which joint venture working and long term alliances will be needed.
The event will be valuable as much for businesses to meet each other, as for the information from PFOW lease option developers. At this early stage in the industry, knowing the timescale on decisions and when information will be available is immensely useful to businesses evaluating this potential industry as a prospect for growth.”
Anyone who wishes to attend should contact any of the co-ordinators or visit NSIG’s website to book online at http://www.nsig.co.uk/Events/110405-Marine-Energy-Event.aspx


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Learning, development and improvement are crucial in the uncertain business climate caused by Brexit, says Neville Stein.
These shrubs have stunning pea-like flowers, good scent and an undeserved reputation, Miranda Kimberley explains.
Higher crop prices and increasing demand for food are driving the latest advances, but what does the future hold for growers? Sally Drury investigates.
One of the big retail chains has flower seeds on sale at 25p a packet, while one of the specialist mail-order companies has six nigella plants on offer at £15 plus £4.95 carriage charges.
Over the past week it has been the great privilege of the Horticulture Week team to welcome more than 700 leading horticulture professionals to three great industry events - the Garden Retail Awards 2017, the UK Grower Awards 2017 and the third Garden Retail Summit, all hosted by Horticulture Week.
Welcome to this special presentation of the achievements of the outstanding winners of the UK Grower Awards 2017.
Garden Centre Plantarea Horticultural Manager | Berkshire
Assistant Horticultural Manager – Mediterranean Area
Common Wealth War Graves Commission Larnaca (CY)
Team leaders and supervisors
Goddards (Landscape Contractors) Ltd Dorset
Commercial Hard Landscaping Project Manager
Gail Manning London (Central), London (Greater)
Work Based Tutor in Sportsturf/Horticulture - Midlands Area
Myerscough College West Midlands
The latest pest and disease alerts, how to treat them, plus EAMU updates, sent direct to your inbox.Sign up here


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Toyota to replace pedals on 3.8 million U.S. cars
Toyota has agreed to replace the accelerator pedal with a shorter one on 3.8 million cars sold in the United States as part of its biggest factory recall in history. Cars receiving the modification will include the Toyota Camry, the Toyota Avalon, the Lexus ES and the Lexus IS.
The recall comes as part of additional action after numerous reports that the accelerator pedal was being jammed by the floor mats, resulting in unintended acceleration. One incident led to 5 deaths in the United States, causing an uproar in the media. Furthermore, as part of modifications on recalled cars and future models, Toyota apparently says they will programme all their cars so that pressing the accelerator and brake pedals together will result in fuel cut-off to kill engine power.
One consequence of this paranoid move is that the Lexus IS will become the most boring sports sedan on the market. Anyone with half a brain knows that you need to press both pedals to create a smoky burnout.
The recall is not being conducted anywhere else outside America, but the mods will likely make it to all future models.


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Almost a quarter of a million pounds loaned by a council to its own marketing firm may never be recovered, it has emerged.
Marketing Gloucester, which is being liquidated, was loaned the cash by the city council last year.
It ran some of Gloucester’s biggest events such as the Tall Ships Festival.
The authority’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee heard the council loaned the money “in good faith” but the money would never have covered its debts.
Marketing Gloucester was set up and owned by Gloucester City Council, but was not run by the authority.
‘Not factually correct’
Councillor Jennie Watkins, chairman of Marketing Gloucester’s board, told the committee meeting she was assured the £240,000 was “enough to get the company to the end of March”.
But after the loan was paid it became clear the money would never have covered debts and other costs.
A review of Marketing Gloucester found its financial position was “untenable”, the local Democracy Reporting Service said.
Last month it ceased trading and all seven members of staff lost their jobs. Liquidator Bishop Fleming is due to start an insolvency investigation.
Marketing Gloucester’s former chief executive, Jason Smith, was sacked in December after a review into the company’s governance and operations, and his interim replacement, Steve Brown, was appointed in January.
Ms Watkins said: “I was told in good faith the loan of £240,000 that would help Marketing Gloucester get to the financial year was right, but as you now know it wasn’t.
“I was told the figure was enough to pay off the creditors, deal with any salary payments and overheads. It wasn’t factually correct.
“The way it had been ran is the reason we are here today. It is possible that the city council won’t get back the £240,000 it loaned.”


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Nike has collaborated with FaZe Clan to create a sneaker inspired by the world of competitive gaming.
This collaboration, which is the first between Nike and FaZe Clan, will yield the Nike LeBron Nxxt Gen x FaZe Clan sneaker. The look was designed in a creative process with Nike and the FaZe creative team, including FaZe Clan creative director Jay “JVY” Richardson and stylist Toreno Winn.
The collaborative low-top sneaker is executed in FaZe Clan’s team colors, red and black, with eye-catching holographic Swoosh branding and a semi-translucent red outsole with a motherboard motif. This, according to a statement, represents the connection between athletes and gaming culture.
“Our hope is that our first collaboration with Nike solidifies gamers belonging in the same realm of professional athletes,” JVY said in a statement. “The design of this shoe is inspired by the analogy that just like motherboards buried underneath the shell of technology, all great talent comes from beneath, and we all use different internal functions to power us as athletes and gamers.”
Sierra Canyon and Bronny James, the son of NBA icon LeBron James, will debut the shoe during the Sierra Canyon vs. Notre Dame game at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion today at 8 p.m. PT.
The “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” team is described as a global lifestyle and media platform rooted in gaming and youth culture. Since its conception in 2010, FaZe Clan has established itself as one of the world’s most prominent and influential gaming organizations known for its disruptive original content and hyper-engaged global fanbase of more than 510 million combined across social platforms.
The collaboration will be available on March 9 via the SNKRS app and Fazeclan.com.


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Ipsos’ Global Consumer Confidence Index this month reads at 48.5, down 0.2 points from last month. The Current and Investment indices declined nearly one point each (-0.7 and -0.8, respectively), while the Expectations and Jobs indices show stability since February.
The Global Consumer Confidence Index is the average of all surveyed countries’ Overall or “National” indices. This month’s installment is based on a monthly survey of more than 23,000 adults under the age of 75 from 32 countries conducted on Ipsos’ Global Advisor online platform. This survey was fielded between February 17 and March 3, 2023.
This month, six countries show significant month-over-month gains in their National Index (i.e., 2 points or more): Chile, China, Belgium, Italy, Israel, and Hungary. As many countries also show significant declines: Australia, Argentina, Peru, Turkey, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
China (77.3) holds the highest National Index score this month. Saudi Arabia (71.6) and the United Arab Emirates (70.7) are the only other countries with a National Index score above 70.
Nine other countries show a National Index above the 50-point mark: Indonesia (62.3), India (57.2), Brazil (56.2), Mexico (55.8), Singapore (55.3), the Netherlands (53.0), Malaysia (51.5), the United States (51.4), and Israel (50.1).
On the other hand, seven countries show a National Index below the 40-point mark: South Africa (38.6), Poland (38.3), South Korea (37.7), Japan (36.1), Argentina (35.3), Hungary (32.1), and Turkey (31.6).
Compared to 12 months ago, Hungary (-12.5) and Sweden (-10.1) show the steepest drops in consumer sentiment, while Mexico (+9.6) and Brazil (+9.2) show the largest gains.
Ipsos’ Global Consumer Confidence Index currently reads at 48.5. Excluding the nine new countries that were recently added, it would read at 47.0, in line with its reading from last month.
The Current sub-index, reflecting consumers’ perceptions of the economic climate and their current purchasing, jobs, and investment confidence, shows an average decline from last month across the 32 countries of 0.7 points to 39.6. Just five countries show a significant month over month gain (at least 2 points) in their Current index, while eight countries show a significant loss.
Likewise, the Investment sub-index, indicative of consumers’ perception of the investment climate, records a 32-country average decline of 0.8 points since last month to 41.6. Eleven countries show a significant decline, compared to just six that show significant gains.
The Expectations sub-index, indicative of consumer expectations about future economic conditions, is up 0.4 point and sits at 57.5. The economic outlook rebounded in China, where it is up four points since last month, while it declined nearly four points in Australia. In total, eight countries show significant gains in their Expectations index, while only four show significant losses.
The Jobs sub-index, reflecting perceptions about jobs security and the jobs market, is up a mere 0.2 points this month. Jobs sentiment has also rebounded in China, while it is down significantly in Turkey, Colombia and Australia. Seven countries show significant gains in their Jobs index, and six countries show significant losses.
About the study
These findings are based on data from a monthly 32-country survey conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online survey platform and, in India, on its IndiaBus platform. They are first reported each month by Refinitiv as the Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI).
The results are based on interviews with over 23,200 adults aged 18+ in India, 18-74 in Canada, Israel, Malaysia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States, 20-74 in Thailand, 21-74 in Indonesia and Singapore, and 16-74 in all other countries
[WEBINAR 27/5] Turning a Myriad of Data into Actionable Insights
At Ipsos, one of our core beliefs is that an abundance of data and information does not lead to an abundance of insight. And today, so much data is being generated every day that it has led social experts to argue that we live in an age of infobesity. On this webinar our dedicated curators at Ipsos show you how we navigate and utilize these existing and disparate data points to do what we love most: giving value to you, our clients.


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The logo’s still green, but that’s about the only thing in common between the new tenant at 2701 N. 21st St., Tacoma, and what was there before. Replacing a retail pot shop in the quiet Three Bridges area is Young at Art, the only gallery in Tacoma devoted entirely to showing and selling children’s art. Even the logo — a lime-green heart — was designed by a child. And at the opening event Nov. 12, patrons get the chance to support young artists in a way that goes beyond sticking a school project on the fridge.
“Not all (children) can be straight-A students,” explains owner Kim Tosch. “This is another way to express themselves and get validation.”
For Tosch, who has spent the last six months renovating the space, Young at Art began as a highly personal experience. Several years ago, impressed by her oldest daughter Monet’s talent for art, she decided to print out some of her designs for greeting cards. The result was so popular with family and friends that it became a regular tradition, taken up by her youngest daughter Nora as well. Then, last year, Tosch took the project beyond her immediate circle and began selling the cards to shops in Portland, where the family had been living. The cards sold out.
“It was huge for (Nora), huge,” says Tosch. “She has to work very hard at school (to get good grades), but didn’t have anything of hers that could shine. When people wanted to buy her art, her self-esteem just grew.”
Inspired, Tosch looked around for local galleries that might show and sell children’s artwork. She found none. So she decided to start her own.
In the atypical world of galleries as businesses, Young at Art is even more atypical. Tosch isn’t expecting to make much money, but then she’s getting a free lease from the building’s owner, Jay Berneburg, Tosch’s ex-husband and a Tacoma lawyer. She’s also chosen to ask only half of the usual 50 percent commission on sales, due to her artists’ ages — and has absolutely no idea how much those sales will even total.
“No one knows what children’s art is worth,” says Tosch, who has five children herself. “I’m not doing this for the money.”
Instead, the children themselves will put an initial price on the work, which will then be sold by silent auction at regular gallery events like next week’s opening.
To recoup some of her costs — she’ll need to pay rent at some point, she says – Tosch will sell T-shirts and coasters, hand-printed herself, that use the artists’ designs.
And those designs are quite adorable. From Cadence Chavez, 8, come cheeky bright acrylics of a red bird with a cross for an eye, or a yellow blowfish with a French beret. From Vivian McMeekin, 12, there are watercolor ducks lovingly detailed in front of dramatic landscapes — an orange sunset, a stormy gray sky. Madeleine McKeown, paints a Tim Burton-esque tree with a vivid pink-yellow background and buttons on the tips of its tendrilly branches; Nathaniel Hunt, 12, creates tiny “doodles” with pen and color like abstract graphic-novel characters; and from Tosch’s daughter Nora Tosch-Berneburg, 11, come butterflies, hearts and flowers with highly textured and blended pastel colors — as well as the heart on the gallery’s logo.
The youngest of the 10 artists currently in the gallery is 1-year-old Kaia Brimer from Colorado — the only non-Tacoma artist, and one whose bright finger paintings are also on view in an online children’s gallery for The National Gallery in London.
Even the space, wide-open and airy with two walls of windows, has artistic touches thanks to Tosch, who not only removed walls and repainted over the pot shop’s lime-green décor, but also added little friezes of white geometric shapes along transitions on the ochre floor. The paintings are displayed on both the walls and some donated easels, and are framed by parents.
“I also wanted to show parents the business of how to sell art, with framing and matting,” says Tosch.
She still has no idea about whether the concept of a children’s gallery will take root in Tacoma. Getting the word out to parents was hard enough, and for a long time she didn’t have enough submissions. Now she’s talking with folks at the Children’s Museum about possible partnerships, and is planning future workshops for kids with local guest artists. The gallery will be open for regular events, as well as by appointment.
“I’m hoping parents are going to see it’s a serious thing,” Tosch says. “If nothing else, I’ll have a great party for these kids at the opening!”
IF YOU GO
What: Young at Art opening exhibition.
When: 6-8 p.m. Nov. 12.
Where: Young at Art gallery, 2701 N. 21st St., Tacoma.
Cost: Free; silent auction for artwork; coasters $10 or $25 for three, T-shirts $25 for adult sizes and $20 for kid sizes.
To submit: Artists must be under 18.
Information: 253-820-3841, youngatartgallery.com.


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Rolls-Royce, which enjoyed a 20 percent sales increase in 2008, is bracing for another strong year in 2009. In fact, the luxury automaker announced this week that it would be increasing its manufacturing work force by 50 percent. The company said in a press release that it is looking for craftsmen to work in its paint, leather and woodworking shops.
Although the company laid off several dozen temporary workers late last year and idled its factory for a few weeks as orders slowed slightly around the holidays, a rush of new orders has been received for its new, smaller Ghost model. The concept was unveiled last month at the Shanghai auto show, and the production version should be ready to make its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Production should be fully ramped up soon after that.
“By the end of 2009, Rolls-Royce will have created almost 400 new jobs in under two years,” said Karen Vonder Meulen, a Rolls-Royce spokeswoman, in a phone interview. Total employment at the Goodwood plant in West Sussex, England, is expected to approach 900.
Tom Purves, Rolls-Royce’s chief executive, said in a news release: “Our new model, the Ghost, has enjoyed an extremely positive international response and we now need to put people in place to bring the car to market.”
Rolls-Royce sold 1,212 of its ultra-luxe Phantom saloon, coupe and convertible models last year, up from 1,010 in 2007. The current company, owned by the BMW Group, has only been producing cars only since 2003 after having been split off from Bentley, which is owned by Volkswagen.
Times have been a bit tougher at Bentley, which experienced a drop in sales last year. But David Reuter, a Bentley spokesman, said Bentley buyers also seem to be coming out of hibernation.
“Over all, things appear to be improving,” he said in an e-mail message. “We’ve had three straight months of month-over-month sales increases and we’re working on our fourth straight month of market share increases. While the numbers aren’t huge, they are heading in the right direction, which is something we haven’t been able to say for nearly a year.”