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Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has announced its “Greatest Deal Ever” with 35 per cent off all cruises and fly-cruises packages in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The line has also opened bookings for sailings right through to summer 2024: the largest number of itineraries in its history.
New itineraries feature 35 departure ports across the globe, including two new-to-brand homeport destinations: Haifa, Israel and La Romana, Dominican Republic.
The itineraries also include new ports of call, including Sendai (Ishinomaki), Japan; and Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
The discount is available now on all departures, all itineraries and all published voyage dates from 2021 to summer 2024.
Guests who want to upgrade can also receive all packages from £99 per person, including Open Bar, Speciality Dining, Shore Excursions Credit, and wifi.
Harry Sommer, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line, said: “We are proud to be able to provide our guests with an even greater selection of sailings and the best value at sea to help them plan an unforgettable cruise holiday.”
He added: “So many travellers have been looking to make up for lost time and now we’re providing them with unique itineraries to check off those bucket-list destinations they may have longed for over the last year and a half. These port-rich itineraries allow our guests more time to explore unique destinations like a local and indulge in the cultural experiences around them.”


text: VF Corp. ( VFC) said Tuesday that it plans to sell its intimate apparel brands to underwear giant Fruit of the Loom for $350 million. The news sent shares of VF down $4.23, or 5.3%, to $76.12 in recent trading. The intimate apparel business includes names such as Vanity Fair, Lily of France and Vassarette. The sale will leave VF to focus on its jeanswear, sportswear and outdoor clothing brands. "This marks an important chapter in VF's ongoing transformation toward becoming a higher growth, higher margin lifestyle company," said VF Chairman and Chief Executive Mackey McDonald in a statement. VF's intimates business generated more than $800 million in revenue in 2006, equal to about 12% of the company's total top line. The unit's operating income was about $50 million, or 6% of VF's total. The company will use proceeds from the sale to repurchase shares in 2007. VF also expects to record a loss of $45 million, or 40 cents a share, on the sale of the business. VF said 2006 earnings from continuing operations will be 2 cents to 4 cents lower than its previous guidance, reflecting a "more difficult mass channel retail environment in the fourth quarter." The company predicted 2006 earnings from continuing operations of $4.70 to $4.72 a share, with revenue of $6.22 billion. Looking ahead to 2007, VF forecast 10% growth in earnings per share from continuing operations, with an 8% rise in revenue. The sale to Fruit of the Loom, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.A), is expected to be completed in the first quarter.

domain: news


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After selling millions of bagless vacuum cleaners, towel-less dryers and bladeless fans, Sir James Dyson has moved into the electric heater business with a new device for warming rooms.
Sir James said he hoped the new product – which will retail at $400 – would be “faster and more efficient” than comparable products and achieve annual sales of at least $150m within the next three years.
“This business [electric heaters] is at least as large as the vacuum cleaner sector and I hope we will do as well in this as we have done in floor cleaners,” said Sir James. He remains chief engineer and sole shareholder in Dyson, the company he founded in 1993, although he has given up the chairman’s role.
Last year Dyson had sales of $1.2bn with most of this coming from vacuum cleaners and the rest from other products including bladeless fans for cooling and towel-less hand dryers.
The company is best known for its distinctive and brightly coloured vacuum cleaners which compete in a global business with annual sales last year estimated at $8bn. It has moved all its production to Malaysia and Singapore on cost grounds but retains its engineering and administrative headquarters in Britain.
The new electric heater uses the same “air movement” technology which features in its bladeless fans, and uses ideas borrowed from jet engines and turbo-chargers. With the help of the fan, air is “blown” at 10-15 litres a second past a heating element, and passed through tiny apertures to heat a room particularly quickly and with little waste of energy, according to Sir James.
“One of the benefits of the new device is that it will heat all the air in the room to reduce the effect of hot and cold spots. Sensors measure the temperature of the surrounding air so that once the desired temperature is reached, the system cuts out, making the product much more efficient and useful than comparable heaters,” he said.
The machine is envisaged as being useful as a “spot heater” for rooms such as conservatories that need warming in short bursts. However, a network of the devices could form an alternative to central heating in some cases, Sir James said.
“Central heating is not particularly efficient and in some instances not as useful as many people think,” Sir James said.
He said the new heater was part of the company’s effort to turn itself into a “broad-line technology company” rather than being regarded as principally an appliance maker.
“I would not limit the company to particular areas of technology or markets. We are developing a range of technologies to improve both industrial and consumer products so that the people using them get a better experience than with the comparable items that currently exist.”
Neil Bumford, senior manager at Bumford Heating, a UK distributor of heating equipment, said: “This looks like it will be an aspirational product.


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After the RBI’s directive to payment system operators in the country to store data within India, the finance ministry has now proposed relaxing the directive.
Reports have surfaced that in a meeting held in June with RBI officials and executives from payment companies, the finance ministry suggested that a possible solution could be that companies would be allowed to store their data offshore, as long as a copy was kept in India.
Since the RBI issued the directive, companies have been opposing the apex bank’s restriction on storing data overseas and have been lobbying that the directive be revoked.
The finance ministry also proposed that the RBI issue a clarification on the kind of data that needs to be stored in India and the time given to companies implement the directive.
The meeting in June was chaired by the government’s economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg and attended by other ministry and RBI officials, as well as executives from companies such as MasterCard, Visa, and American Express.
At the meeting, RBI executive director S Ganesh Kumar said that the bank had been approached about the companies’ concerns and was in the process of issuing a circular to clarify the rules.
Suggestions made at the meeting would be helpful in deciding the matter, Kumar said.
In the beginning, RBI had resisted the lobbying asking companies to comply instead of complaining.
The industry has raised its concerns mainly over restricting data storage to India, a lack of clarity on the type of data that needed to be stored and the timeline to implement the rules.
During the June meeting, representatives from US lobby group US-India Business Council (USIBC) said that storing the data only in India would be a security risk, as in the event of a natural disaster no-one would have access to it if it was all stored in one place.
The representatives added that only after understanding the kind of data that needed to be stored would they be able to estimate the time needed to set up the necessary infrastructure.
At present, Global payment firms currently store and process Indian transactions outside the country.
The payment system companies had been given six months to comply with the newly-released norms. According to the RBI, currently, only a certain percentage of payment system operators and their outsourcing partners store the user data within the country, either partially or completely.
The development came in line with reports claiming that Cambridge Analytica harvested the profiles of up to 50 Mn Facebook users without their approval during the last US elections, privacy advocates in India, as well as the government itself, have raised concerns that a similar breach could happen here to target voter opinion.
Later, it was revealed that data of over 87 Mn users was shared with Cambridge Analytica. Recently, Facebook Chief Mark Zuckerberg made the revelation that 562K people in India were ‘potentially affected’ by this global data leak crisis.
In April, RBI said that the payment ecosystem in India had “expanded considerably”, making it necessary to ensure “the safety and security” of data.
The directive by RBI received the support of players like Paytm, Google and Microsoft, while the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) said that app makers were already heavily regulated under the IT Act.
Also, a white paper by the Srikrishna committee had examined the data localisation mandate saying that it could help protect rights of users and prevent foreign surveillance.
However, it also emphasised that a localisation mandate will have its costs for companies as servers and data centres will have to be put in place, adding “economy-wide data localisation requirements have led to a negative impact on GDP in several countries where such requirements have been considered”.
The data localisation mandate was introduced in view of increasing data breaches across the world and in India. The move by the finance ministry to relax the norms is likely to brew trouble in such a scenario.
[The development was reported by Reuters.]


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Tim Cook: Apple iPhone 6 has 99 % customer satisfaction rate (looks like a fat lie)
Did Apple CEO Tim Cook just utter one of the biggest lies in corporate history? According to the man who succeeded the legendary Steve Jobs — who produced the first Apple iPhone — the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus has “99 % customer satisfaction.”
OK let’s cut the CEO some slack, Cook said this at Apple’s “Spring Ahead” event, where the amazing Apple Watch was launched. But then, hasn’t he heard about something called #bendgate? Did staff at Apple Stores lie to their employer about the returned iPhones and stuff — of course somebody must have returned a phone or two? Did “customer satisfaction” suddenly change meaning overnight?
Whatever the CEO is smoking shouldn’t be sold to kids. That’s all. What do you think of Mr. Cook’s comments?


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Apple has pulled an iPhone application which simulated shaking a baby until it fell asleep. But the firm hasn’t given a clear explanation as to how it was approved in the first place.
The application was produced by third-party firm Sikalosoft and approved for sale through the App store section of the iTunes store. Costing 99c to download, the app was promoted with the line “See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!”
Players were presented with a drawing of a child and could then shake the phone until the child’s eyes were covered with red crosses.
As you’d imagine, news of the app caused outrage. Jennipher Dickens, a spokeswoman for the Sarah Jane Brain Project and a mother of child left brain damaged after being shaken, said “Words do not even adequately describe how much [the app] disheartens me.”
Sikalosoft isn’t commenting on the app. Apple has confirmed it went on sale on Monday and was withdrawn yesterday, but hasn’t answered any other questions, including how it got approval or how many copies were sold.
It’s the latest in a long string of confusing decisions by Apple over its vetting process, which can take several weeks. The firm has rejected apps including an official South Park clips app (despite the same content being available on iTunes), an internet radio station app which had been approved three times in previous editions, an app allowing users to download podcasts wirelessly to the iPhone, and a movie listing service.
However, it has approved a Google voice search app (which contravenes a ban on using the phone’s sensor which smaller firms have had to follow), an app turning the iPhone into a wireless modem (which breaches the service agreement US users have with AT&T), and a screensaver retailing at $999.


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Monnari with backup
The Monnari clothing store chain has received financial support.
The aforementioned financial support was granted under the program entitled “Financial Shield of the Polish Development Fund” and amounts to nearly PLN 7.4 million. The granted funds are intended to support the chain of clothing stores in its day-to-day operation. It is worth recalling that in February, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and temporary lockdowns, some Monnari stores located in shopping centers were closed.


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Takeaways and fast food take off as time-strapped consumers stop cooking, by Euromonitor International
The market for takeaways and fast food is booming as on-the-go consumers increasingly look for quick meal solutions, according to the latest report from Euromonitor International, Consumer foodservice in the UK.
Takeaways and fast food reap the benefits Home delivery takeaways, fast food outlets and street stalls are currently benefiting from the growing focus on leisure time and increased disposable incomes of UK consumers. Euromonitor International's latest research shows that in 2005, home delivery/takeaway sales increased by 5.1% while fast food sales grew by 8.8%.
The convenience and speed offered by fast food and takeaways are particularly attractive to modern day consumers, who are increasingly finding themselves eating on the move. Even in the home, people are now more likely to buy a takeaway rather than spend hours preparing a meal.
Ian Bell, Senior UK Research Analyst at Euromonitor International explains, “There is a growing number of 'cash-rich, time poor' consumers in the UK, who are turning to foodservice options offering high levels of convenience, as an alternative to getting their hands dirty in the kitchen.”
Higher quality also drives sales of fast food An improvement in the quality of food on offer is another important factor driving sales of fast food, according to Euromonitor's Consumer Foodservice in the UK report. In an increasingly health-conscious society, a quick burger and chips will no longer suffice and consumer demand has led to the improved quality and range of convenient food.
Euromonitor's Ian Bell comments, “Fast food in the UK has improved in quality in most sectors to such an extent that it is now often equal to what one would find in a full service restaurant.”
Takeaway market is a golden opportunity for restaurants The growing trend for quality fast-food is providing a valuable opportunity for full-service restaurants. While demand for takeaways is increasing, the traditional takeaway market is itself mature and very well-developed. In addition, eat-in meals still account for the large majority of the 4.7billion foodservice transactions recorded in 2005. There is therefore great potential for non-traditional areas to reap the rewards of developing takeaway and home delivery services.
Full service restaurants are in a particularly good position to take advantage of their quality offerings to compete with booming take-away market. Ian Bell comments, “This trend is so strong that many full service restaurants are opting to offer takeaway services, rather than risk losing their business to their rivals.”
Mobile phones lead to mobile food Improvements in technology will be another key trend to watch in the UK consumer foodservice market, according to Euromonitor International's new report and will help to drive 35% growth of the home delivery/takeaway market over the next 5 years. Increased penetration of advanced technology will enable consumers to order takeaways over the internet or by mobile phone, further enhancing the convenience factor of this sector. Euromonitor International forecasts that the UK foodservice market as a whole will follow the example of the US market, by fully integrating eat-in services with e-commerce functions and home delivery/takeaway provision.
For further detail about this article and other related findings, please visit Euromonitor International by clicking here.


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Google announced quite a few new features for Google Lens at its I/O conference in early May, and now the company's confirmed that those are now rolling out to Android users everywhere.
The two big features for Lens are Style Match and Smart Text Selection, with the former allowing you to scan various objects around you and show things that are similar to it. For example, scanning a shirt with Lens will show other clothing items with the same design/aesthetic and provide quick links for buying them, too.
I'm personally most excited about Smart Text Selection, a feature that enables you to scan the text on a book, letter, etc., copy it, and then paste it into a text field on your phone. I'm not sure how I'll use that in my day-to-day workflow, but it's insanely cool.
Last but certainly not least, Google Lens is now making its way into your phone's main camera app. This is something that was also announced at I/O, and supported phones include ones from Google's own Pixel line, Sony, LG, Motorola, Nokia, OnePlus, Asus, TCL, Xiaomi, BQ, and Transsion.
If you don't own a compatible phone from one of the above brands, Google also says that it'll soon have a dedicated Lens app you can download.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
Android AirDrop competitor Nearby Sharing gets shown off in hands-on video
Thanks to the guys over at XDA-Developers, we are getting a first look at Android's upcoming AirDrop competitor Nearby Sharing, formerly Fast Share.
YouTube moderators have to acknowledge growing risk of PTSD — or else
Accenture, the firm behind YouTube's moderation services, has been found forcing its contractors to sign a document acknowledging the potential for mental health decline. While pitched as voluntary, deferring contractors have been threatened with firing.
When will my phone get Android 10?
Android 10 is here! So, why isn't it on your phone yet? Here's a breakdown of which phones are confirmed to get the update and when you can look forward to it.
Honor the best Honor phones available right now
Huawei's ongoing trade ban has affected its Honor sub-brand as well, with the manufacturer launching fewer devices than usual last year. That said, we got to see a few standout phones in the likes of the Honor 20


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Leading Guest Posting Service Provider For Automotive Industry!
UK (PRWEB) July 05, 2013
GuestPostingService.co.uk is a renowned provider of guest blogging services in UK markets, and looking at the demand guest posting in automotive niche, the firm has just launched exclusive automotive guest posting service.
Plenty of online used car portals have surfaced over the Internet in past 18-24 months, and the demand for guest blogging services to promote such sites has been simply growing. Identifying a niche market, and comprehending that there’s a serious lack of specialised services in the market, GuestPostingService.co.uk has just rolled out its niche blogging service for automotive websites.
Take a look at specialised automotive guest posting service offered by the firm.
Talking about the strategic move, the founder of the firm was quoted as saying – “We saw a huge potential in the market, because there are no specialised automotive guest posting providers in the markets. Besides, it’s always a good thing to cater to niche markets, because the competition is always lower.”
The other niche guest posting services offered by the firm include technology, education, health, shopping, and SEO guest posting. The firm mainly receives bulk orders from SEO resellers and larger agencies, and currently trying to cater to even individual webmasters, and website owners to assist them in the process of promoting their web properties.
GuestPostingService.co.uk is currently in the process of creating specialised packages for guest post packages even in real estate, and fashion verticals, which will shortly be rolled out over the next few weeks.
About the Firm
GuestPostingService.co.uk is a specialised guest posting service provider that has been catering to UK as well as US/Canadian customers over past 14 months. The niche guest blogging packages provided by the firm have been a rage ever since Google rolled out its Penguin update.
To know about all the services offered by the firm, visit http://www.guestpostingservice.co.uk.


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Mike brews a caffeine hit Burleigh to the world
HE started selling coffee machines to businesses in the Q Super Centre from the boot of his car.
Fast-forward 13 years and Mike Koolen and his Essential Brands Group has international offices throughout Australasia, Asia, the UK and Europe.
The Burleigh-based EBG, with the help of City of Gold Coast, has now brewed up a $US2 million ($A2.15 million) contract to distribute its systems in the Middle East.
The deal was stitched up as a result of Mr Koolen attending a council-assisted Arab health trade show in Dubai.
Mr Koolen said the deal would see EBG’s I Luv Coffee, I Luv Slush and I Luv Frozee yoghurt brand systems supplied throughout the Middle East.
For he and wife Gayle, the global growth of the business is the result of years of hard work and success is sweet.
Mr Koolen and his family had moved to the UK but struggled to find a foothold in a difficult market after selling the Australasian rights to his previous Kools brand chicken business to Gold Coast-based Retail Food Group.
“We started EBG on the smell of an oily rag in a garage after returning to the Gold Coast from overseas, broke and with two kids to look after,” Mr Koolen said.
He came up with the idea of supplying cafe bar-style coffee machines to businesses, struck up a relationship with an Italian manufacturer, and started doorknocking potential customers.
“I started with four machines, then eight and it grew from there,” Mr Koolen said.
EBG went on to franchise the concept in Australasia and operates through partnership deals in Singapore, the Philippines, Europe, the UK and now the Middle East.
“We now represent 60 per cent of our Italian manufacturers’ business,” Mr Koolen said.
The Essential brand has expanded to include slushie and frozen yoghurt machines and there are plans to expand the brand systems with I Love Pasta and I Love Pizza franchises.
EBG now has a national annual turnover of $16 million and projected growth of 15 per cent a year.
Essential Brands Group boss Mike Koolen with one of the machines he’ll be taking into the Middle East.


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8 February 2024
~1 minutes read
Dáil hears medical card dental scheme “falling apart” in Galway
The Dáil has heard that the medical card dental scheme is “falling apart” in Galway.
The issue has been raised repeatedly in recent years, as card holders struggle to find a dentist with availability.
The core problem is a lack of dentists participating in the scheme – which means those that are, are often completely full.
Government has taken some measures, including increased fees, to tackle the situation, with limited results.
Deputy Eamon O’ Cuiv says at a time of unprecedented wealth, it’s unacceptable that people are left to suffer.


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There’s an interesting relationship between Apple and Google. The two companies need each other; Apple needs to provide its users with access to Google’s great, in-demand services, and Google needs those users on its services since it clearly can’t get them hooked in with Android. But it’s probably not a very happy marriage considering the competition between Android and iOS, so it’s not entirely surprising to hear that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is making progress in wooing Apple execs to make Yahoo iOS’s default search engine.
David Pogue trashed essentially all tech journalists and every tech site on the Internet just a few hours ago on stage at CES during the Yahoo keynote. Normally this kind of publicity stunt doesn’t bother me but this time it did–and not for the reason you may think. It bothered me for a couple of reasons, the first is because he thinks he’s the only one interested in serving the “normal people” and he would be wrong. The second reason it bothered me (which is actually a good thing for BestTechie) is [...]
Back in October, our own Jeff Weisbein asked a question about whether or not Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer might be slipping in her attention to detail—specifically because of the big, big problems regarding the revamped Yahoo Mail service. While I think Mayer’s moves as CEO have been pretty revolutionary for the company on the whole, the Yahoo Mail debacle is a gnarly blemish that is straight-up impossible to ignore.
Now, an update on Yahoo’s help blog indicates that the most recent outage of the service is coming to an end, and [...]
Earlier this year, Yahoo and its (then) new CEO Marissa Mayer made headlines when the company bought the hugely popular microblogging platform Tumblr for $1.1 billion. Since then, Yahoo has been brute-forcing its way back into relevance by gobbling up lots of other companies over the past few months, like PlayerScale, Rockmelt, Admovate, and more. But a post on Business Insider today reports that Yahoo may be considering another high-profile acquisition, this time for Imgur, the preferred image-hosting site for users of [...]
Marissa Mayer, now CEO of Yahoo [former Google exec], has developed a reputation over the years of her career as someone who pays extremely close attention to detail and data. Just how extreme is extreme? During her time at Google, Mayer once had her team test 41 different shades of blue to determine which generated the optimal number of clicks. But with some recent changes at Yahoo, I’m starting to wonder where all that attention to detail and data went?
Yes, Yahoo has improved a number of its apps, some of which people [...]
Yahoo!’s 18-year old brand is not just being reenergized by a a fresh face at the helm, but also by a new logo that’s more modern and sleek, moving away from it’s cowboy tooting, giant purple bubble look (yes, that’s my own analysis).
The new logo retains much of the old logo’s look, it’s still purple, still has an exclamation point at the end, but it’s lost weight; it’s slimmer and more refined. It looks like it just came back after a detox diet at a spa somewhere out [...]
This morning Yahoo released those inactive usernames to people who were the first to put them on their WishList. In addition to the release of the inactive usernames, the company announced that users who did not receive an email with the option to activate a username on their WishList now have the choice to stalk them (up to five) for $1.99. For those of you who are trashing the idea of Yahoo charging $1.99 for the ability to track up to five usernames for three years, let me be the first to say, you are completely missing the point [...]
Since Marissa Mayer took over as Yahoo’s CEO last year, she’s made a number of high-profile moves and acquisitions that have put the company in headlines. And unlike so many news stories surrounding big name corporations these days, the majority of the headlines she’s garnered have been positive. And it seems as though her moves are actually paying off: market research firm comScore reported yesterday that Yahoo actually edged out her former corporate home of Google in traffic for the month of July. Apparently, this marks the first time [...]
It’s a day of the week that ends in ‘Y,’ so that means Yahoo has purchased yet another tech startup. Today its Rockmelt, a “social browser” that had attempted to enter the desktop web browser market a few years ago with social network integration, but failed to make a dent in the stranglehold of more mainstream browsers like Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer, to name a few. Apparently the start-up has focused more on mobile in recent years, and that focus seems to be why Yahoo has taken an interest in the start-up.
A post on [...]
You know those times when you’ve got some cash in your pocket, and you know that you ought to stick it in your bank account (or under your mattress), but you just can’t help going from store to store to spend it until there’s nothing left? That seems to be what Yahoo’s been doing under the leadership of CEO Marissa Mayer, as the company announced the acquisition of mobile advertising company Admovate today.
While Admovate doesn’t have nearly the same kind of name-brand recognition as Flickr and Tumblr—two of Yahoo’s high profile [...]


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The upcoming Layers of Fear remake is set to be the first third-party game to use Unreal Engine 5. Epic’s newest game development engine, and its cutting edge features like Lumen and Nanite, drove last year’s lauded graphical overhaul of Fortnite. Now, horror fans will be pleased to hear that Layers of Fear will enjoy these same niceties.
Epic’s Unreal Engine has a long and distinguished history in the game development world. Back in 1998, the studio developed Unreal as a competitor to Quake II and, for the time, it looked fantastic. It wasn’t long before other game developers came calling, wanting to use Unreal Engine for their own games. 25 years, and hundreds (if not thousands) of industry-defining games later, Epic have refined their engine to its fifth iteration.
A headline feature of Unreal Engine 5 is Lumen. According to Epic, Lumen allows for “high-quality ray traced reflections on glossy materials and water” and “real-time global illuminations”. In short, it’s the reason Fortnite, not exactly known in the past for its graphical fidelity, can now look so damn good.
Speaking to WCCFTech, Layers of Fear programmer Krzysztof Kansy waxed lyrical about what it was like making a game in Unreal Engine 5, calling the experience “fast and very enjoyable”.
When asked about the dreaded stuttering issues that plagued recent triple-A releases like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Redfall, Kansy said “[Most] of the stuttering in our game would be caused by Pipeline State Object generation during the gameplay… we are incorporating the PSO Cache system to mitigate this source of issues. It’s a built-in tool that allows us to gather relevant PSO information during development and cook it into the build. We can then generate and cache actual PSO in runtime beforehand instead of generating it during the gameplay.”
Although its status as Unreal Engine 5’s first third-party game should save the Layers of Fear remake from most poor performance issues, there’s nothing that can help the nightmare of your rig not being up to scratch! Don’t be afraid: check out the Layers of Fear system requirements to ensure your PC can handle the horror.


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Subaru has recently unveiled one of the company’s newest vehicle models that will be sold in the US automobile market this year and this is the 2013 Subaru BRZ Sports coupe. The BRZ made its first appearance in the USA at the 2012 North American International Auto Show held in Detroit last January. Upon seeing the 2013 Subaru BRZ, a lot of car buyers, vehicle experts, and other car enthusiasts were impressed with the sports coupe’s appearance. In addition to this, they were also amazed by some of the vehicle’s significant features.
The 2013 Subaru BRZ sports coupe has lower vehicle weight, very precise steering, and low center of gravity just like most sports car models in the market. This is powered by an FA-series 2.0-liter Boxer engine mated to either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission. The Boxer engine is capable of producing up to 200 horsepower and the power produced by the engine is passed into the vehicle’s rear wheels. The power output produced by the sport car’s engine is considered to be common in its segment but Subaru expects that the overall performance of the BRZ will be able to stand out against its closest competitors in the segment.
The FA-series Boxer engine used in the BRZ is exclusively used by the model alone and this is not shared with any other Subaru vehicle. In addition to this, the materials used in the producing the engine is lightweight and these are capable of reducing the amount of friction produced when the vehicle is running. Due to this the BRZ is expected to offer an impressive running performance without the need to consume larger amounts of fuel.
Aside from the characteristics enumerated earlier, a lot of car experts have also noted that the 2013 Subaru BRZ sports coupe has frameless doors. But despite of the absence of the frames, the vehicle’s doors are obviously strong and this could be considered as a boost in its safety features. Thanks to the company’s use of the so-called “ring structure.” In addition to this, the doors are made of high-tensile-strength steel that further improve the doors’ sturdiness and resilience in the event of side crashes or collisions.
Given all of these features, it is very much possible for the 2013 Subaru BRZ sports coupe to emerge as one of the most sought-about sports car models for this year. This possible outcome could be considered as a very important event for the company since most of the sport car models in the market are also subjected to upgrades to further enhance their own performance.


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Gemini to provide crypto payments to sports memorabilia auction venue Goldin
March 30, 2021, 10:35AM EDT
1 min read
Goldin Auctions, a leading venue for sports memorabilia trading, announced Tuesday that it would integrate crypto payments with the help of crypto exchange Gemini.
The new Gemini integration will allow bidders and cosigners to use Bitcoin and Ether when trading on Goldin's platform. The announcement comes as the overlap between the crypto industry and collectibles reaches an inflection point, with non-fungible token providers like Dapper Labs receiving significant new funding from investors.
The latest crypto integration comes on the heels of a $40 million capital raise by Goldin.
Of the news, Goldin's Ross Hoffman said in a statement: “We’re incredibly excited about our partnership with Gemini as we see significant overlap between the crypto community and the hobby. This is especially true for new collectors who view collectibles as a key piece of their portfolio.”
Alongside Gemini, crypto payments platform and stablecoin operator Circle has also been quick to involve itself in the rise of NFTs. The firm rolled out new payment infrastructure intended for NFT marketplaces last week.
Swash is one solution empowering people, businesses, and developers through an ecosystem of tools and services designed to unlock the latent value of data by pooling, securely sharing, and monetising its value
The Block Research was commissioned by Forte to create “Blockchain-Based Gaming: A Primer” which provides a comprehensive introduction to how blockchain technology is being employed in video gaming experiences.


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Global logistics Supply Chain Company in both freight management and contract logistics, CEVA Logistics recently announced they have appointed Serge..
Tag Archives: Xavier Urbain
One of the world’s leading Logistics and Supply Chain management companies CEVA recently celebrated their first day of trading for..
One of the world’s largest supply chain and logistics management companies CEVA Logistics has appointed a new Managing Director, Mr...
CEVA Logistics has announced that Jérôme Lorrain has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer Freight Management adding the responsibility for Air..
CEVA Logistics has announced the appointment of Carlos Velez Rodriguez as Managing Director for its Australia & New Zealand cluster...
In the fast-paced world of airfreight, the business is ever-changing and continually evolving. In this industry, businesses that fail to..
CEVA Logistics has announced the appointment of Peter Waller as their new Chief Finance Officer and member of the Executive Board with..
CEVA Logistics recently announced that Mr. Christophe Poitrineau has been appointed to the position of Executive Vice President and head of its..
CEVA Holdings LLC, one of the world’s leading asset-light based supply chain management companies, today reported results for the first..
Xavier Urbain Chief Executive Officer of CEVA Logistics, has made it his goal to drive the attitude of entrepreneurship within CEVA Logistics …


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Miracle Dojo Blog
STEFAN, OUR CTO, ABOUT CLOUD GAMING SERVICES
FOR LEADING BALKAN TECH PORTAL
A few years ago, gaming and cloud technologies were almost incompatible, first of all, because of the lack of infrastructure which needs to support huge server load. New services from Google and Apple show us that gaming and cloud are closer than ever.
End of March this year, tech giants from California presented us their latest products which are tending to be revolutionary when the gaming industry is concerning. Google Stadia and Apple Arcade are new cloud gaming services which allow playing video games online thanks to the very powerful servers regardless player’s PC, mobile phone or tablet configuration.
Furthermore, those services still need to be published and to pass major tests from user’s side. Nevertheless, a series of questions are needed to be answered, like some technical questions such as problems with latency, or questions related to the development of gaming industry – how this cloud services can popularize video games even more.
Miracle Dojo CTO, Stefan Djordjevic has a little bit skeptic opinion about which impact these services could have on the gaming industry. Stefan believes that these services could change the gaming industry in theory, but he thinks that brings more problems than solutions:
“Essentially, this type of services doesn’t solve any existing problem and it will probably experience similar or a little bit smaller hype like VR had once, and after that disappear from the stage.”
Stefan thinks the only real benefit could be if these services succeed to eradicate microtransactions and ads from video games and offer a totally new, better model of monetization in games. He said that if games are paid per hour, video games should be exciting and with overall higher quality by itself, but considering the fact that Google’s business model depends on Ads to a large degree, that hardly going to happen.
From the technical side, Stefan explained a crucial problem with this type of gaming which is reflected in time delay which occurs from the moment player hit the button to the real response on the screen:
“For example, in highly popular multiplayer games, there is an “input lag”, but it is masked using several standard techniques. The point of single player games is that there is no “input lag” at all and players could play them without an internet connection, so I can’t find any essential reason players would migrate from the existing solutions to these new.”


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Langton Capital – 2019-01-07 – Xmas & early Jan, discounts, CVAs, holiday bookings etc.:
Xmas & early Jan, discounts, CVAs, holiday bookings etc.:
A DAY IN THE LIFE:
Langton was in Brussels on Friday testing out the Eurostar but, this now being the first full week of 2019, we are running out of excuses as to why we’re not getting down to work.
See comments on Hard Work in Leisure below. On to the news:
CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR 2018:
• Overall feel that Christmas & very early January has traded well. There are some very impressive LfL figures out there.
• Weather comps have been helpful and, materially, with a late Easter this year, there has been no hurry to get the kids back to school this year. Many start tomorrow meaning that Christmas has been extended.
• Food operators & the like suggesting that the week just commencing could be the first truly comparable one for some time.
• That said, the negative pressure could be substantial given ‘borrowing’ to spend over Xmas and some allowances will need to be made if trading this week and next (and in the long run up to the January pay-day) seems to be unduly bad.
PUBS & RESTAURANTS:
• Discounting picking up. Toby & Harvester (M&B) offering 40% off mains, Pizza Hut 41% off food, Pizza Express 2-4-1 (about 50% off), Carluccio, second main for £1 (about 45% off). Prezzo offering 30% off mains & Jamies Italian also offering 30% off main courses.
• Salad chain Tossed has reported full year March 2018 numbers to Companies House saying that ‘the group operated from 17 company-owned Tossed-branded stores at the start of the year and opened one more and closed two during the period’. The acquisition of Vital adds 13 stores to the company’s estate.
• Tossed reports that revenues slipped from £10.0m last year to £9.4m for the year being reported. The group made a 2018 operating loss of £1.4m (2017: loss of £82k) and it now has has accumulated losses since incorporation of £4.7m. The group has negative shareholders’ funds of some £125k.
• Tossed reports that ‘cost inflationary pressures meant stores are converting the lower turnover at reduced margin.’ It says the group reported a negative EBITDA in 2018 but adds that ‘since the year end, this position has reversed, and we have been enjoying a steady period of growth in normalised EBITDA’. The group will have been aided by the hot weather during summer last year.
• Kerb Food has reported full year numbers to end-March 2018 to Companies House showing that retained profits rose by around £75k to c£153k. The group has positive shareholders’ funds of c£153k.
• Accountant Deloitte has reported that 125 retailers went into administration in 2018, up 6% from 2017. It says within this number were 26 were large retailers, compared to 17 in 2017.
• Deloitte says there was a ‘53% increase in retail CVAs in 2018 – and a seven-fold increase in the number of large retailers choosing CVAs as a restructuring method’. It says ‘the number of large multi-site retailers (those with more than 10 stores) entering into a CVA last year increased significantly to 13, from just two in 2017. Large multi-site retail administration appointments also increased from 17 the previous year to 26 in 2018.’ Deloitte reports ‘consumer confidence fell in the third quarter of 2018, which, combined with inflation-driven pressure on disposable incomes, has contributed to twelve consecutive months of declining footfall.’
• Deloitte comments ‘the rapid decline in the performance of the high street has driven bricks and mortar retailers to increase their levels of discounting to counter this. This comes as retailers continued to face increasing staff and property costs, and a weaker Sterling. Online retailers however have fared better, accounting for a record 21.5% of all UK retail sales in November.’
• Caprice Holdings has reported that a fire that broke out at its Manchester Ivy restaurant was ‘quickly contained’.
• Research from CGA has indicated that the trend towards lower calorie, alcohol-free and vegan foods is to extend beyond Dry January or Veganuary. November’s Business Confidence Survey from CGA and Fourth, for the out of home eating and drinking sector, has revealed that healthy options have increased in importance for over half, 55%, of businesses.
• EI Group Friday bought back 270k of its own shares at 191p.
• Gizzi Erskine and Rosemary Ferguson have launched a three-month residency of their vegetarian burger concept F!lth, in Shoreditch, London.
• Brewdog has recorded LfL sales up 4.1% in the UK in 2018, with the group announcing it intends to open another 20 in the next year taking its estate to around 90 bars globally.
• Carluccio’s has stated that it will pay fees for its 1,550 EU staff member to apply got ‘settled status’ in the UK, if they so desire.
• Research from the British Beer and Pub Association has estimated that three million traditional dinners were served up on in pubs on Christmas Day.
• Manchester Gin is set to open a new distillery, bar and restaurant in Manchester.
• Gusto reports December sales up 7% LfL, with the Italian restaurant operator experiencing strong performance for the year to date.
• In the US, Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group reports LfL sales up 0.2% in Q4 to 25 December across all four brands combined.
HARD WORK ON LEISURE:
Langton decided that it would use ‘supporting the leisure industry Europe-wide’ as an excuse to get some in over the weekend. Below is an incomplete list of what we got up to:
• Friday. St Pancras Costa Coffee. Quite busy, efficient service, quality good, price scandalous for a half pint of hot milk with an expresso dunked in it. But wadya gonna do?
• Eurostar. Buffet car too far away. Coffee Brussels. Moevenpick. Miniscule with a titchy chocolate. Pricey at €15 for four (incl. tip). 30c to use the loos. An experience.
• Meal, Brussels. Price around €85 for four, quality probably OK but hard to tell, given the pervasive taste of prunes. Odd with beef. Service? Pretty much what you’d expect when ‘capital city meets foreigner’. Bit of sneering going on & the odd curled lip. Water off a duck’s back. Witbier strong. Bit of a buzz on.
• Museum, Grote Markt then waffles & coffees. Brussels. Haagen Daz. Price, can’t remember but around €25 for four. Calories? Don’t ask. Probably north of a thousand per serving. Service, somewhat bemused.
• London, Portobello Road market, Saturday. Asking price for ‘potato springs’ (spiral fried potatoe peel on a stick), £4.00 for half a spud. Street food looked interesting.
• Franco Manca Westbourne Grove, mid-afternoon pizza for four. Bill £52.30 including beers & tip. Service authentic. Product good. Restaurant ticking over at 3.30pm with c20 covers active. Nearby restaurants deserted.
• Queensway Skate, Dine & Bowl. Pretty busy but checked it out. Did none of the above.
• Cittie of York. Sam Smiths. Moderately busy. Old Brewery Bitter £3.40 per pint. Service pretty good, décor interesting, cavernous etc. Honest, no frills etc.
• Bank of England Pub. Fleet Street. Fuller’s. Empty. Frontier Lager at £5.85 per pint. Service fine. Maybe a hint of smirk when presenting the bill. Décor wonderful but unit very pricey.
• Cheshire Cheese. Sam Smiths. Pretty busy. Tadcaster’s best White Beer at £4.95 per pint. Intriguing pub known to many with an interest in these things.
• The Blackfriar’s. Mitchells & Butlers. Camden Hells at £5.45. Best not to think about the price. Nicely busy. Some seats available. Service professional, unit known to many. Interesting, nonetheless.
• Sunday. Petticoat Lane, Spitalfields, Brick Lane & Colombia Road Flower Market. Overdosed on markets. Couldn’t get a seat in The Birdcage. Bit of streetfood.
• Food too fussy for a picky 12yr old in a number of Shoreditch pubs (Water Poet, Owl & Pussycat, Crown & Shuttle etc.) so it was the Crosse Keys. JD Wetherspoon. Hop House lager rolled in with meal. £43.65 for four. Price can’t be beat. Quality OK. Décor: suffering a bit post Christmas & some tweaks re carpets etc. going on.
• Coffees maybe 20. Meals bought out, around 12. Snacks, numerous. Vouchers used, nil. EDLP (everyday low pricing) outlets used, two. Pretentiousness count, low.
• More tired after a ‘rest’ than was before it, alco units: material, calories consumed: high, steps c60,000. So let’s call that one ‘broadly’ even.
• A lot of European tourists in London, fewer UK tourists in Brussels. Eurostar; easy going out, less easy getting back to the UK given border checks etc.
• Cost? Don’t go there. Didn’t push the boat out but trains to London then Brussels, meals, drinks, museum entry, knick knacks etc and it all adds up. May have to root out cheaper options going forward.
HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:
• Travel reports a positive start to 2019 bookings with up to 5.2m people predicted to book a holiday this month, with 5 January dubbed ‘Sunshine Saturday’. However, some companies forecast a late sales surge due to Brexit fatigue.
• STR reports US hotel occupancy down 1.8% to 50.9%, ADR down 0.5% to $130.57 and RevPAR down 2.3% to $66.52 for the week ending 29 December.
• Venice is set to introduce an entry fee of up to €10 for day visitors, with the mayor describing it as a ‘landing tax’. The tax is designed to better manage the tourism burden on the city.
FINANCE & ECONOMICS:
• Services PMI a little ‘subdued’ says Markit. Came in at 51.2 in Dec up from 50.4 in November. Markit says ‘subdued growth conditions persisted across the UK service sector at the end of 2018, with business activity rising at one of the slowest rates seen over the past two-and-a-half years.’
• Markit says ‘new work increased only marginally during December, which contributed to a slowdown in job creation to its weakest since July 2016.’ Input cost inflation has moderated somewhat, largely as a result of lower oil prices.
• Markit comments ‘the service sector…is now showing worrying signs of having lost steam amid intensifying Brexit anxiety. The final two months of 2018 saw the weakest back-to-back expansions of business activity since late-2012 and highlight how clarity on Brexit is needed urgently in order to prevent the economy sliding into contraction.’
• PMI all Sector PMI indices rose marginally to 51.6 in December from 51.0 in November.
• Nationwide reports British house prices are rising at their slowest rate since Feb 2013 with prices up well below the rate of inflation at 0.5% in the year to December.
• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said that the US Central Bank may be more patient re rate rises going forward.
• Sterling up at $1.2748 and €1.116.
• Oil up at $57.85
• UK 10yr gilt yield up 8bps at 1.28%.
• World markets all higher Friday with Far East up today.
o Back to ‘normal’ with the House of Commons debating Brexit before voting on Mrs May’s deal on 14th or 15th.
o Mrs May says the vote will ‘definitely happen’ this time. See her December comments on the same issue, on the promise of no snap election in 2017 etc.
o Mrs May has said there will be no referendum. But see comment above. Mrs May is being accused of trying to run down the clock in order to bounce doubting MPs into supporting her deal. DUP says is remains dissatisfied with proposals to tie Ulster to the Republic.
o Reuters reports YouGov poll as saying that majority of UK voters now wish to remain in the EU. Voting would be 46 to 39 YouGov says. The number of ‘unknowns’ remains material.
START THE DAY WITH A SONG:
Last Friday’s song was Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel. Today who sang:
When I hold you in my arms,
I know that I can’t do no wrong
And when I hold you in my arms
My love won’t do you no harm
RETAIL NEWS WITH NICK BUBB:
• Saturday Press and News (1): There were a few snippets in the Saturday’s papers about the big losses filed by the once booming Online fashion business Missguided (eg in the Telegraph and the Daily Mail) and the profit warning from the music chain Gear 4 Music. More substantively, the main Business story in the Telegraph was about the full December overview from the BDO High Street Sales Tracker, headlined “Christmas crash caps worst year for the High Street” and showing that LFL sales fell by 1.9%, despite a last-minute boom on Christmas Eve. The Times had a preview of the key trading statements expected next week from Retailers (noting there were “no champagne corks popping” at M&S HQ) and there was also a typically pompous Editorial in the main section of the paper about the need for the High Street to reinvent itself.
• Saturday Press and News (2): Many of the stockmarket reports (eg the Daily Mail) noted that Sainsbury was hit by a downgrade from HSBC on Friday. The Daily Mail led its Business coverage with a slightly odd story that “vulture funds” (ie hedge funds shorting the shares) are still circling M&S, whilst its “Hero of the Week” was the estimable Simon Wolfson of Next, after he reported that “Christmas wasn’t the massacre that might have been expected”. Finally, there was an excellent profile of the aforementioned Simon Wolfson of Next in the FT (“Chief’s keen eye for detail keeps Next looking good”), noting that he got his big break when former CEO David Jones took on the “shy and intense” young man as his personal assistant in 1991
• Sunday Press and News (1): Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury were both in the spotlight in the Sunday papers, ahead of next week’s updates. The papers couldn’t, however, quite agree on what line to take over M&S: one of the main Business stories in the Sunday Times was headlined “M&S reprieved by last-minute spending spree”, but the main Business story in the Sunday Telegraph was headlined “Festive season sales slump leaves bad taste for M&S” (noting City concern about M&S Food performance), whilst the main Business feature in the Observer mocked CEO Steve Rowe’s grand five-year plan and noted that M&S has not exactly been working overtime to dispel our “brutal” view that Steve Rowe is “the obvious guy to blame for disastrous Christmas trading”.
• Sunday Press and News (2): As for Sainsbury, the Sunday Times had a big feature about CEO Mike Coupe (headlined “Coupe the dealmaker needs to focus on his shopping”), noting that “Sainsbury’s boss must clinch his Asda deal to avoid passing his sell-by date”. The Mail on Sunday turned the spotlight to Waitrose, flagging that Waitrose was the big loser at Christmas, “as Lidl and Aldi steal festive food sales crown”. The Mail on Sunday also highlighted that Ted Baker will reveal on Wednesday whether the “hugging” row hit sales at Christmas and flagged that the shareholder adviser ISS has raised concerns about the suitability of former Conviviality Chairman David Adams as a non-exec Director of Debenhams. The Sunday Telegraph had a feature on how the US fashion business Abercrombie & Fitch has reinvented itself and the Sunday Times noted the record results reported by the Space
News Flow This Week: There is plenty of company news scheduled this week, peaking on “Super Thursday” (traditionally the best day to “bury bad news”). Notwithstanding today’s SMMT New Car sales figures for December, the week starts with a Food Retail focus, in the form of the Morrisons update tomorrow, closely followed by the latest Kantar/Nielsen grocery sales figures. Wednesday then brings the Sainsbury Q3 figures, the Greggs Q4 and the Majestic Wine trading update and then on Thursday we get the Tesco Q3 and the JLP update on Waitrose trading. In terms of General Retailing, tomorrow brings the Joules update and Wednesday brings Ted Baker’s update, the Shoe Zone finals and the Topps Tiles Q1. Then on Thursday we get the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales figures for December, the much-awaited Marks & Spencer Q3, the B&M Q3 figures, the DFS update, the Mothercare Q3, the Card Factory update,
• After a strong, discount-driven end to December (skewed to Online sales), as flagged by John Lewis and Next, the risk of a rash of profit warnings has diminished, but there is still plenty of scope for disappointment in the January reporting season, which will be overlaid by continuing political chaos and uncertainty ahead of the key Brexit vote on Jan 15th…
• Thursday Jan 10th will be “Super Thursday”, traditionally the best day to “bury bad news”, given the plethora of retailers all reporting at once that day, including the struggling Marks and Spencer (with its Food performance likely to be the main focus again) and the embattled Debenhams…


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The Economic Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana
Marijuana initially saw its way into mainstream light for its medicinal benefits. Before recreational use, states were legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. The sweet leaf plant of the world had many advantageous health benefits. It seems like every day there is a new medical discovery linking the benefits of marijuana to an illness or disease. Yet with time, practice, and openness, cities, states, and countries found that the legalization of cannabis had other benefits. Most notable of which would be the economic benefits of legalizing marijuana. As a result, more and more states moved towards legalizing marijuana for recreational use to rake in profits. As it turns out, you legalize one green to bring in another. So exactly what are the economic benefits of legalizing marijuana?
One of the benefits of legalizing marijuana for recreational use is to take advantage of the sweet leaf capital. That is the direct cause and effect of cannabis legalization. Legalization presents states and their constituents with many business opportunities. For instance, people can start to invest in marijuana dispensaries, which are the go-to retail stores for marijuana purchases. They can also invest in marijuana tech, which would be any sort of technology or mobile app that facilitates the production or sale of marijuana. There’s a large spectrum of options and possibilities to explore. Because the marijuana industry is so new, and recent, there haven’t been a lot of investors that have exhausted every effort out there.
Investment in cannabis has grown in both momentum and volume. Today, there are several publicly traded marijuana companies listed on stock exchanges, where any investor can purchase equity. The cannabis industry continues to gain fandom and popularity. All while remaining illegal on the national level, which only leaves many people fantasizing about the opportunities if it were to ever be legalized nationwide.
Besides investment into the cannabis business, and purchasing cannabis stock, the legalization of marijuana does set forth other fortuitous benefits.
As it stands, marijuana legalization and the impact it has had on the state tax revenue have been higher than expected. The numbers are not promising, they’re staggering. We’ve seen it in Colorado, Washington, and Illinois where tax revenue outpaces liquor. A reason why is the record sales that the marijuana industry in its entirety brings in on a yearly basis. In Illinois alone, marijuana sales set yet another record high. In the month of 2021, the state of Illinois brought in more than $150 million worth of recreational and medical cannabis sold. That’s in one month alone. As for the entire United States, sales are expected to increase from $12.2 billion in 2019 to $31.1 billion by 2024.
Coffers being flush with Sweet Leaf Capital is the main reason why many states opt for the move towards legalization. There is no hiding just how much money marijuana brings in, and the different opportunities that money can provide.
Finance and Lending
More money equals more opportunities for people to receive financing and funding. A booming industry attracts the eyes of many investors, institutions, funds, and anyone who is looking for an entry into that market. With the emergence of so many different businesses in the cannabis industry comes the need for affordable credit to brands and dispensaries. For instance, an investor looking to invest in and opening their own marijuana dispensary will require the start-up money to kickstart that business for him. This could see the introduction of cannabis real estate loans, where applicants can take out a loan to finance the underlying real estate of their cannabis business.
However, cannabis businesses are wide-ranging and varying, so the loans don’t necessarily have to stop there. For instance, those that work in the manufacturing aspect of the cannabis industry will find the need to receive financing in terms of cannabis equipment. Cannabis equipment financing will help bolster the manufacturing industry as a whole, and inject new life into that subset of the economy. Whether it’s manufacturing, or cannabis real estate loans, the point is more sweet leaf capital for the economy will lead to more growth, which will ultimately lead to more work opportunities.
Income and Jobs
The first line of benefits comes at the ground floor. In the case of cannabis, the ground floor of economic stimulus and benefits will be seen at the dispensaries and marijuana shops. Ultimately, those types of businesses will be the first to pop up because of the ease of opening and operating, and because of the need to meet the roaring demand that has just been let out at the gate.
With that being said, the rise in dispensaries and retailers should have an immediate impact on employment because of the need for workers in those shops. However, down the line, cannabis legalization will show an impact on the overall job sector, by achieving and maintaining a steady job growth year in and year out. Looking at the case of states like California and Nevada where legalization has been established, the data and statistics already exist, the economic impact has become more measurable as the sector has grown with time.
However, a lot of cannabis research hubs and think tanks have lamented the positive employment impact of legalizing marijuana. Leafty, a cannabis information hub, says that the cannabis industry can create up to 211,000 jobs in America. This number of jobs exceeded that of coal mining (52,000) and textile manufacturing (112,000) in the few years after cannabis legalization.
Any new industry that gets latched on to an economy is bound to increase that economy and grow it. However, an industry that has, for decades, been booming underground, to finally come above ground and see the light through legalization, is a different story. Cannabis has always been a prospering industry. The issue was the state’s refusal to push it below ground, instead of legalizing and regulating it. This new drive towards legalization has made the benefits of the latter abundantly clear. This is why the economic benefits of marijuana, although several, have only just begun to blossom.


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Shopping Cart Parade set for April 9
Rally round your best business buddies, club comrades and family to help provide food for families at the 7th annual Hibiscus Festival Shopping Cart Parade slated for April 9 at 3 p.m. at the Hibiscus Festival in historic downtown Vero Beach.
Make a pledge to decorate a shopping cart donated by Publix and conduct a food drive to fill it. The carts will be delivered to parade participants before the event and can be displayed where patrons and employees can donate shelf stable food items. To register visit TheBreeze.fm or Miguel Santiesteban at email@example.com.
Food gathered will be donated to the Emergency Food Pantry at United Against Poverty.
To take a tour of the campus, make donations or volunteer call 772-770-0740 or visit UnitedAgainstPoverty.org.


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Starting Monday, the shipping company will charge customers a higher fee for certain packages delivered via certain means.
Under the old regime, a Fedex Express customer in Canada would pay a 7.75 per cent fuel surcharge for a domestic delivery and a 0.75 per cent charge for international delivery.
As a result of the new guidelines:
- The domestic fee stays the same but the international fee jumps to 2.75 per cent.
- A Fedex Ground customer formerly would have paid a 3.5 per cent fuel surcharge, but starting Monday that fee jumps to 4.25 per cent.
- Fedex Freight, which is the part of the business that deals with delivering huge container-loads of goods, will also now have higher fuel surcharges. Shipments of up to 9,999 pounds used to pay an 11.9 per cent surcharge, and loads of 10,000 pounds or more would pay an extra 24 per cent. As of today, those surcharges will jump to 14.3 per cent and 25.5 per cent.
It's the second time this year that Fedex has moved to raise its fuel surcharges. Rival UPS has done the same.
Cheaper fuel prices are a double-edged sword for package deliverers, as fuel such as diesel for delivery trucks and jet fuel for planes are some of the company's biggest expenses.
But Fedex said last month that its fuel costs were rising because it was delivering more heavy packages — which require more fuel to deliver — and more overall deliveries to residences, which have higher fuel costs than those to depots or businesses because they are more spread out.
In its last quarterly earnings, Fedex said all in all, fuel costs had a "slightly negative net impact to operating income" last quarter.
The hike in fuel surcharges comes just ahead of a key time for shipping companies, as package deliveries peak before the holiday season.
In many cases, those who have packages delivered to them won't bear the cost of the higher fuel fees directly. But retailers who promise customers free shipping on goods right up until Christmas will have to pay the new higher fees to live up to those promises. That's likely to filter down to prices if the surcharges stick around for any length of time.
Fedex rival UPS says it expects to deliver about 630 million packages across the U.S. between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve, an increase of about 10 per cent from last year's level.
Fedex is expecting a similar spike to 317 million pieces, which is 12 per cent more packages delivered this holiday season than last year.


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Digital Transforming Consulting Market Receives Significant Impetus During COVID-19 Outbreak; Demand to Sustain Post Pandemic
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Sep 07, 2020 (TS Newswire via Comtex) —
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Prepare for a run on cases of Tab as Coca-Cola says goodbye to its pioneering diet-soda.
Debuted in 1963 and hit peak popularity during the 70s and 80s, the brand has achieved cult-like status with fans who call themselves “TaBaholics” and “TaBbies.”
The company announced plans to “retire select underperforming products” at the end of the year, which also includes Diet Coke Feisty Cherry, Zico coconut water, and Coke Life, plus a few regional flavors.
According to Coke’s press release, the pandemic and “shifting shopping behaviors” bumped up the retirement.
When was the last time you drank Tab? Which non-major soda/pop drink brands do you love?


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5 August 2018
We seem to be meeting more and more retail tech startups from San Francisco these days. It’s funny, because I used to avoid West Coast deals because I believed a Texas VC could only get in trouble out here! Thanks to direct referrals from mentors and portfolio companies, we’re connecting to a wealth of great talent.
After meeting with a couple prospective investments on Thursday, I spent Friday meeting with our newest investment, Xenio Systems, and a company in which we first invested in 2016, Dor Technologies.
Xenio works out of a hardware lab and seed fund called Bolt. This team, led by Reza Raji, has a product that bridges the gap between what a retailer knows about an online customer and an offline customer. Today, retailers know much about their online customers as they click in and navigate the website, but they know very little about the customers that walk in and navigate the physical store. Xenio is working to bridge that knowledge gap and is currently in a trial phase with three well-known brands. Hopefully, this team will realize a similar success to what they had with a previous company, iControl, that was sold to Comcast a couple years ago.
After visiting Xenio at Bolt, I headed over to Dor’s new digs. Since closing earlier this summer on an $8M Series A raise, the company has moved into a beautiful new space that’s easily 3x the size of their last space. And they are staffing up! I had the chance to visit with the company’s new head of sales, Woody, to discuss the expansion strategy. Dor scaled their traffic analytics solution to 1,000 stores faster than any other company in our portfolio. After today’s discussion, I believe they’ll be in over 10,000 locations by 2020.
My last stop of the Day was to visit Vincent Diallo, of Bleu Capital (www.bleucap.com), over at the Bespoke co-work facility at Westfield Mall. Amazing space! Vincent and his partner are entrepreneurs-turned-VC’s with a shared focus on retail tech. With one partner in New York and the other in San Francisco, they see a lot of deal flow. A fast-growing company in their portfolio is Skip, which turns a consumer’s phone into a self-checkout kiosk. Blue Capital and RevTech have a lot to collaborate on!
I have a feeling RevTech will be in San Francisco more often, as we provide a great way for Bay Area talent to “fly under the radar” as they build early traction.


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KOLKATA: Despite its Lok Sabha seat count in West Bengal down to zero and reduction of vote share in the last general elections, the publishing house of CPI (M) has made an encouraging business during the Durga puja festival with increasing sales of the Marxist literature.
The publishing arm of the party, National Book Agency (NBA), has received an overwhelming response for former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's recent book on China and witnessed a huge footfall of visitors in its stalls in the state, party sources said.
"Both the sales and curiosity about the books in our stalls have increased by leaps and bounds this time.
Two editions of Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's latest book on China -"Swarger Niche Mahabishrinkhala (Chaos under Paradise)"- have already been sold out.
We are going for the printing of the third edition," NBA chairman Anirudha Chakraborty told PTI.
However, Chakraborty declined to divulge the details of the sales figure and the number of books sold in the stalls.
The NBA had come up with more than 1,100 bookstalls in the state during the puja this year.
"Unlike last seven years, we have not faced any problem from the ruling TMC or any harassment by the police for setting up of bookstalls in the state," said a CPI(M) leader.
The CPI(M), which has been facing a tough time in the state in coping with the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP, was encouraged by the visitors' passion to make a turnaround in state politics.
"The response from the people for Marxist literature is both astonishing and encouraging.
We feel that due to the rise of ideologically driven RSS-BJP in Bengal, people of the state are also looking for an alternative which is driven by opposite ideology.
TMC is an opportunist party and has no ideological base," a senior CPI(M) central committee member said.
The BJP and TMC, however, declined to attach much importance to growth of book sales at NBA stalls.
"In our books stalls, there has been a huge response among the masses. People from all walks of life have visited our stalls and interacted with our party workers. They inquired about the books that were up for sale.
It is absurd to say that the CPI (M) is making a turnaround with increasing sales of the Left literature," senior BJP leader Pratap Banerjee said.
The saffron party this time had set up more than 10,000 stalls outside puja pandals to display books on its ideology and making people aware of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).
TMC secretary-general and state minister Partha Chatterjee said there have been huge sales of books written by party supremo Mamata Banerjee at its Jago Bangla stalls.
"The CPI(M) is a spent force in Bengal. It is only TMC which is fighting against BJP in the state. The CPI(M) has a covert understanding with the saffron party," Chatterjee said.
Durga Puja draws the maximum number of people to the pandals in West Bengal and the ruling and the opposition parties are using the occasion to reach out to them.
Like previous years, the political parties this time had set up stalls to sell books espousing their ideologies and to connect with the people.


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BAHRAIN: Waitrose to open Bahrain store
The Bahrain store will add to Waitrose's two Dubai stores in the Middle East
Waitrose is to build on its presence in the Middle East with the opening of its first store in Bahrain.
The 22,000sq ft store will open in December through a partnership with Fine Fare Food Market (FFFM) at The Lagoon, a new complex on Amwaj Island on the North East coast of the country, the retailer said today (23 June).
The partnership has already seen Waitrose open two shops in the Middle East, in Dubai during 2008.
The store will employ around 70 staff and FFFM will run its daily operations.
Mark Price, Waitrose managing director, said: “Our shops in Dubai have achieved a very strong sales performance and have been warmly received by our customers there, we are delighted to be expanding our presence in the region. The Lagoon is a very exciting development and is the perfect location for us to open our first shop in Bahrain.”
Waitrose said the shop will “embrace the ambience” of Waitrose while catering for the specific needs of the local communities.
It will offer a range of fresh foods and groceries as well as a delicatessen, meat, fish and cheese counters.
Evolution, not revolution. It's a favourite phrase of Marks and Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland and tomorrow (9 November) the City and the food industry will hear just what the Dutchman has in st...
Analysts have rubbished speculation that UK grocer Morrisons might be considering bidding for online retailer Ocado....
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Sir Philip Green has unveiled details of his long-awaited Topshop flagship store in New York and said he plans to open up to 15 US flagships.
Green said he wanted to have between 12 and 15 flagships in cities such as Miami, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He said he was also looking at Canada for possible store locations.
The US$20m (£14m) New York store will house exclusive collections from US designers and will have a no-Sale policy. Green said: “Not everybody wants to be in the $2 range,” saying that product would be key and that it was in America for “the long haul”.
Green also explained the delays, which moved the date to this year, when it had initially planned to open last autumn. “Floods, fire, everything possible has happened to us,” he said.
He also said that despite difficult trading hitting many retailers his businesses “are still in positive territory". He also said that in the UK Topshop’s post-Christmas Sale had been the biggest in its history.
Supermodel Kate Moss will be at the opening of the store on April 2. Moss is currently working on a lingerie range to run alongside her fashion range for Topshop.


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- Articles tagged "aventage"
ASUS and Yamaha team up for an audio extravaganza. Yamaha in particular has launched a slew of products ranging from AV receivers, amplifiers, speakers and much more. ASUS has also announced their new flagship Essence III product.
Check out some of Yamaha's latest AV receivers showcased at the International Sound & Sight event, including the flagship RX-A3010 and 'entry-level' RX-A810. Yamaha also took this opportunity to set up an informative session for HardwareZone members and we covered both of these highlights in this article.
- HTC One M9 availability and pricing finally revealed
- HTC One E9+ Dual-SIM model coming soon to Singapore?
- HOOQ signs deal with Disney to bring video content to Southeast Asia
- Singtel to waive local mobile data charges for all postpaid customers on May 1
- Here’s what you need to play Batman: Arkham Knight
- BenQ's MW665+ and MX666+ projectors use NFC to reduce wireless presentation setup headaches
- Watch the Apple Watch get taken apart
- AMD will skip ahead to 14nm fab process for its next-gen GPUs


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Researchers are searching for clinical trials to the effectiveness of marijuana for treating opioid use disorder after a recently published study found that cannabis can alleviate many common signs of opioid withdrawal.
Robert Garrigus advised Golf Channel he utilized medical cannabis to deal with knee and back pain in accordance with state law in Washington. Performance enhancing substances that provide players and unfair benefit should remain illegal, he explained, but”everything else ought to be a discussion”
Though conventional requirement for THC has generated an oversaturation of high-potency goods, many customers are beginning to prefer less extreme products which are reduced in THC and greater in the non-intoxicating chemical named CBD (cannabidiol).
Cannabis has come a very long way to become the multi-billion industry it’s now. Overcoming the stigma and false reporting in the prior decades, it’s definitely become a top business and also a source of livelihood for all across the world.
Back in the year 1996, California became the first nation to legalize the use of cannabis at a landmark judgment that sent waves all around the world. Ever since that time, 10 countries in North America have legalized its own recreational usage and 33 have legalized its own medical usage.
With the arrival of the era of information, largely via the web, a whole lot more folks are currently armed with details about the plant and are currently aware of a lot of its properties and uses. With more understanding came more recognition and more recognition came more firm thoughts. Innovation knocked on the door of this business and caused it to a few wonderful cannabis solutions. Here’s a listing of the present best-selling ones.
Buying cannabis can be intimidating. When you enter a cannabis shop, you’re met with a massive choice of products. How can you even begin to navigate your alternatives? Why would you spend $60 on an eighth of Purple Punch that is 23 percent THC when there is a $20 eighth out of a different brand with 28% THC? And it may be even harder if you are buying online and can not find this item. Continue reading “How to Buy Good Cannabis”


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Here’s something you probably didn’t know you wanted. 3M has come up with a handheld projector—or “picoprojector”—with a Roku Streaming Stick built in. That means the $300 device can function as something of a portable TV, with access to Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, and the like.
BGR was one of the first to spot 3M’s press release on the topic a few days back. In it, 3M touted a projector “small enough to fit in your hand, yet able to project an image up to 120 inches,” one that was “perfect for family movie nights, sleepovers and evening backyard parties” with its (claimed) two hour and forty-five-minute battery life. 3M also called the device “first-of-its-kind,” promising a shipping date by October 22. (It can be preordered here, for now with a promo offering a $20 credit from Amazon Instant Video.)
The good people of CNET have already gone hands-on with the device, which they grant 3.5 stars out of 5: “very good.” They call it the first mini-projector with “some mainstream appeal.” They also dub it a “well-thought-out gadget” and especially recommend what seems to me the delightful experience of projecting video onto the ceiling while in bed. CNET’s principal quarrels are that the resolution is merely DVD-level, and that the device only puts out 60 lumens. You’ll need to be in a pitch- black room with the whitest of walls if you really want to get up to that 120-inch screen. (Here, a deep dive on their image test data.) The biggest problem CNET identified is that the battery life, in practice, appeared to actually be closer to one hour and forty-five minutes–barely enough for a movie.
Technology Review has written a fair amount on handheld projectors in the past. For more info on the project of integrating them with smartphones, see “The Galaxy Beam: 15 Lumens and a Lot of Cheese” and “In Quest for Smartphone Projectors, a Focus on the Lens.” And for a look at the research that went into the narrowest pocket projector out there—a mere six millimeters thick—check out Duncan Graham-Rowe’s article “An Even Smaller Pocket Projector.”
The 3M projector isn’t cheap, but I like the sentiment at the end of this video: “It’s time to share the big screen together.” In an era in which we would sooner cluster around an iPhone with friends to share a tiny YouTube video than head out to the cineplex for some old-fashioned movie magic, this picoprojector recaptures some of the cinematic experience in a device not so much larger than the gadget in your pocket.
DeepMind’s cofounder: Generative AI is just a phase. What’s next is interactive AI.
“This is a profound moment in the history of technology,” says Mustafa Suleyman.
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New variants will pose a challenge, but early signs suggest the shots will still boost antibody responses.
Human-plus-AI solutions mitigate security threats
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Next slide, please: A brief history of the corporate presentation
From million-dollar slide shows to Steve Jobs’s introduction of the iPhone, a bit of show business never hurt plain old business.
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Samsung has been in the headlines recently for losing a mammoth patent tussle with Apple, which resulted in the Korean giant losing $1.05 billion to their rivals. Regardless of which side you have been on, you are all going to love hearing this latest story which is the new Samsung talking point for the moment.
Forget about the Galaxy Note 2 which has everyone excited right now, as you don’t often see generosity like this. Samsung Canada has donated a customized Samsung Galaxy S3 to one lucky consumer who drew a rather ‘epic’ picture of a dragon along with a personal request to Samsung.
After declaring himself a fan by acquiring a whole set of Samsung electronics goods, consumer Shane decided to try his luck in sending a message to Samsung via Facebook, asking them for a free Galaxy S3 handset in return for his loyalty. Along with the picture was a very cool picture of a dragon and to his surprise, he received a swift response from Samsung.
Samsung initially turned down his request politely, stating that if they gave him a handset, they would go out of business by having to give everyone free handsets. Along with their reply though, they too decided to draw Shane a picture, this time an equally as epic Kangaroo on a unicycle sketch.
Several months later, Samsung Canada has now sent Shane a truly wonderful gift, in the form of a custom Samsung Galaxy S3 which features the original dragon design that he drew and sent into Samsung. Not only that, but Samsung tinkered with the insides of the device as well, installing a custom dragon launcher as a further gesture of goodwill.
How about this from Samsung folks, considering that they have just lost all that money to Apple as well. It’s also a positive thumbs up to the powers that social media can have, but it could now spark something of a frenzy with everyone drawing pictures for their favorite companies in return for free gifts.
Do you wish you had this custom dragon Galaxy S3? – It’s the only custom built S3 in Canada according to Samsung.
*Identifying Monetised Links - outgoing links that we monetise are marked with an '*' symbol, or (AD). Also, prices and information correct at publish time and date.


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This refers to “Walking a tightrope” (September 24). “Low inflation and low growth environment is the new normal”: This might be true for the developed countries, but in the Indian context, there is low growth but not low inflation. First, while calculating inflation, we are not considering fuel inflation that has increased substantially. Food inflation has also been up and down, albeit seasonally, but it affects the purchasing power of the common man. Second, till now we are calculating only goods inflation; we have to calculate services inflation as well. No one is calculating that. Recently, after GST implementation, services costs have increased drastically. The minimum increase in services inflation may be to the extent of 18-28 per cent with the GST rates. Everybody is feeling the heat and the services inflation might be one of the reasons for the current slowdown.
Anand Deshpande, Pune
B Prasanna responds:
Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation, which is used as the current measure for retail inflation, proxies for fuel inflation through the petrol and diesel prices, unsubsidised LPG, among other components. Recently, global crude prices have been coming down since their peak in October 2018 and this is reflecting in headline inflation. While food prices are volatile, driven by fruits and vegetables, food surplus in the last few years and buffer stock management by the government has reduced the risk of substantial overheating in food prices.
Core inflation (excluding food and fuel) includes services as well. Services inflation has a weight of approximately 28 per cent in CPI and while it includes some goods, it does cover a big component of services including transport, health, education and personal care. These components have also been showing low inflation for the past several months, which is in line with the continued slack in the economy.


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With overseas demand for its line of restaurant and food-preparation equipment dampened by weakness in foreign economies, Middleby Corp. said Tuesday it would take a pretax charge of $1.25 million in the third quarter to streamline and downsize some international operations.
By early 2000, Middleby expects to close the Florida headquarters of its international distribution division and move the Latin American sales operations to Mexico City. Other employees there will be transferred to the company's Rolling Meadows headquarters. Middleby also will downsize operations at its Philippines plant after a drop in orders from its major customers in Asia.
In addition, the company acknowledged significant operating losses in its Japan sales subsidiary, which has prompted the departure of the office's president. But John J. Hastings, the firm's chief financial officer, said it will keep the office open in hopes that an improved Japanese economy will spur more restaurant openings.
Middleby makes cooking equipment for commercial and institutional restaurants, including refrigeration units, pizza ovens and automated conveyor cooking equipment.


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The increase is a “sign of confidence in the company’s continued growth,” Alibaba said.
In multiple high-profile cases, particularly during China's brief #MeToo movement in 2018, victims were sued by the men who allegedly harassed them.
Earlier, the company had planned to raise Rs 16,600 crore from its IPO, but higher demand from investors made it increase the issue size.
Jack Ma retired as Alibaba's chairman in 2019 on his 55th birthday, sparking speculation about his sudden decision to step down from the helm.
Another e-commerce company, Pinduoduo Inc., promised last month to spend $1.5 billion on agriculture and other rural development projects.
There was no evidence to indicate the men committed rape, a different charge under Chinese law, the police statement said.
The employee said the company didn't take the matter seriously when she reported the assault, and that she was told the suspect would not be fired from the company, according to her post.
The investigation comes after an unidentified female employee wrote an internal post alleging her manager sexually assaulted her in a hotel room during a business trip.


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Live streaming app, Meerkat has been getting a lot of attention from both tweeters and investors over the last few weeks, but a move from Twitter is now threatening the future of the app.
The app linked to Twitter accounts, allowing users to connect their Meerkat accounts to their Twitter profiles, automatically syncing who you are following, and who follows you.
Meerkat then allowed you to live stream video to your followers - automatically tweeting the stream and notifying followers, and deleting the stream once it is finished.
The app's bright yellow logo, and ephemeral nature have drawn comparisons with Snapchat.
Twitter announced over the weekend that it will no longer allow Meerkat to automatically connect to Twitter accounts. This comes days after it was learned that Twitter has bought a competing live streaming social app called Periscope.
As all Meerkat users were previously linked through Twitter's network, this is a major setback for the company.
The app was only launched in mid-February and had been recording exceptional engagement figures.
Meerkat CEO, Ben Rubin spoke with Yahoo Tech at SXSW - he acknowledged that, "Twitter would be upset at some point," but adds, "We did not know they were buying a company in this space."
Twitter says that it is imposing its own "internal policy" to not let third parties to use its social graph "in a competitive way." Mr Rubin criticised the citing of "internal policy" and said that the network's rules for platform companies should be clearer.
The Meerkat had been working directly with Twitter and felt that the company could have given it more notice.
He insists that the app will grow its own network, saying: "The idea was to jump-start the community on top of Twitter, but the idea was never to build the social graph on top of Twitter."
Twitter took similar action in 2012 when it blocked Instrgam's "Find Friends" feature from accessing users' Twitter followers. It also stopped users directly posting Instagram photos as tweets and invested in its own photo filer software.
Instagram overcame this setback - and now has more active users than Twitter - Meerkat will hope to follow that lead. The CEO says that he has no hard feelings towards Twitter:
"You know, we were lucky. Twitter was very nice to us. And it’s their house. We need to be the best guest there is."
"We need to acknowledge the fact that we would not be sitting here were it not for Twitter," he told the SXSW crowd.
The app will now start to work on building its own social graph.


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Austria plans to reopen smaller shops next week
Restaurants and hotels, meanwhile, will have to wait until mid-May at the earliest and no events will be held until at least late June, the conservative chancellor ebastian Kurz said
Austria plans to reopen non-essential shops of up to 400 square metres, as well as all DIY shops and garden centres, on Tuesday. It's likely to become the first Western country to attempt to reopen its economy since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Austria, locked down since March 16, is among a small number of European countries that have announced plans to ease restrictions on social life, transport and cross-border travel. Shopping malls, hairdressers and larger stores should reopen from May 1, though the plan could change if infections accelerate.
Restaurants and hotels, meanwhile, will have to wait until mid-May at the earliest and no events will be held until at least late June, the conservative chancellor ebastian Kurz said.
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