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Industry News | 2013-11-25 12:14:49.0
Multitest announces that its leading solution for 3-axis magnetometer plus 2-axis low g-test and calibration fully supports the technical features of today’s advanced 3D hall sensors.
Industry News | 2019-08-27 23:34:56.0
Murray Percival will be available to demo the MIRTEC MV-6 OMNI 3D AOI machine at booth #305 at SMTA International. The all new MV-6 OMNI 3D AOI Machine combines MIRTEC’s exclusive 15 Mega Pixel CoaXPress Camera Technology with their proprietary OMNI-VISION® 3D Digital Tri-Frequency Moiré Technology to provide precision inspection of SMT devices on finished PCB assemblies.
Industry News | 2009-05-11 11:25:21.0
LOGAN, UTAH � May 2009 � Inovar Inc., a leading contract electronics manufacturer (CEM) dedicated to providing flexible solutions to OEMs in the fastest growing segments of the electronic industry, announces that despite the trying economic times, it has again demonstrated its continual dedication to growing the services offered to the company's OEM partners.
Industry News | 2010-05-20 12:51:51.0
FREMONT, CA — Victron, Inc., a premier electronics manufacturing services (EMS) supplier of end-to-end manufacturing solutions to Fortune 500 companies, announces that it has passed certifying body UL DQS' tri-annual audit of ISO14001:2004 Environmental Management System, and its annual audits of ISO9001:2008 and ISO13485:2003 Quality System.
Industry News | 2010-05-26 13:19:58.0
Rosenheim, Germany - For high pin count devices, the capability of multisite testing generally is limited by the required contacting force. Additionally, there are even complex, integrated ICs with an extremely high pin count for which even single site testing is critical because of too little contact force. The well-established tri-temp pick-and-place handler, MT9510XP, now offers an option to substantially increase the contact force. This new feature enables users to test even high pin count devices in up to eight contact sites in parallel.
Industry News | 2010-08-19 13:06:49.0
BTU International, a leading supplier of advanced thermal processing equipment for the alternative energy and electronics manufacturing markets, today announced the receipt of a follow-on order from an existing Tritan™ customer in Europe for multiple Tritan metallization firing systems. All of the units are scheduled for shipment in the fourth quarter of this year.
Industry News | 2011-02-03 14:33:39.0
BTU International will introduce its next-generation thermal processing equipment in Booth I-33 at the upcoming International Power Generation Expo. This event is scheduled to take place February 16-18, 2011 at the Kintex - Korea International Exhibition Center in Goyang, Korea.
Industry News | 2011-10-03 16:25:18.0
Multitest will exhibit its leading test solutions in Booth #1.342 at the upcoming SEMICON Europa,
Industry News | 2011-12-19 17:10:27.0
BTU International announces that its TRITAN™ HV90 dual-lane metallization firing system exceeds industry standards for wafer breakage. The three-belt, three-speed system boasts a yield better than 99.99%, exceeding the industry standard for metallization firing.


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- Clients »
PICKING UP GOOD VIBES IN FRANKFURT AND BEYOND
Live Production Companies Embrace VirtualXpo’s New VIBE App
Less than three weeks after announcing the launch of VIBE, the world’s first virtual trade show for the live event production industry, Paul Nicholson and Jay Green of VirtualXpo have signed up a wide range of companies to its innovative digital marketing platform.
Over 200 businesses alone joined VIBE at ProLight+Sound in Frankfurt, giving a resounding vote of confidencethat the app is destined to become the definitive marketing platform for the industry.
The revolutionary VIBE app will bring the industry to a single point where all the component parts can be found with just four taps of a screen. From there, visitors will be able to interact directly with exhibitors and vice versa in an immersive multimedia format 24/7, all year round, wherever they are… rather than just for a few days in a static hall.
Paul Nicholson, the founder and MD of VirtualXpo, said: “We have designed an ultra cost-effective marketing platform that ticks all the boxes and redefines the genre. The most frequent comment we heard at ProLight+Sound when describing and demoing the app was that VIBE is a ‘no brainer’. We’re now looking forward to welcoming a significant number of additional companies to the show in the run-up to the launch in July. We are confident from the reaction so far that VIBE will become the definitive route to market for everyone in the live production industry.”
The VIBE app will also provide a communications and marketing hub for its exhibitors as every facet of their company and network will be available in one place. As visitors will be asked to register just as they do in the real world, exhibitors will be able to communicate with them on a P2P basis through the Fingerprint analytics feature.
Sales director Jay Green commented: “The beauty of VIBE is that it offers an even playing field with 100% show interaction for any exhibiting company or individual. VIBE provides an ultra cost-effective shop window for all companies and the people we met at PL+S were excited by the prospect of never missing a business opportunity through the app, be it local or global. All in all, it was a very encouraging few days in Frankfurt.”
James Ross Heron, the sales & marketing director at video hardware and software specialist, Green Hippo, was one of many to voice their positive reaction to the announcement of VirtualXpo’s VIBE app. He said:
“There's something refreshing and reassuring about VirtualXpo that caught our eye immediately. At a time when the AV industry's virtual media seems to be a patchwork quilt of tenuously linked product focuses, articles and features, VirtualXpo's navigation and structure bucks the trend by being clear and concise, giving quick access to the information customers seek, especially on hand held devices. We're looking forward to seeing what VirtualXpo can do for us over the coming year and beyond.”
In the audio sector, Paul Timmins, the general manager at leading rental company, Capital Sound Hire, commented: “The thought of having a 24/7 trade show is genius. To have your service only a few clicks away on mobile devices for such an affordable fee is a no brainer. We are pleased to be one of the VIBE trade show exhibitors!”
The final word comes from industry PR and marketing representative, Sarah Rushton-Read: “This refreshing approach to the trade show made perfect sense to me. I am genuinely excited about VIBE's potential as a marketing tool, especially as it demonstrates tangible return on investment reporting in real time. As it develops momentum it will undoubtedly help me do my job more creatively and more efficiently. It also better echoes the high tech online and social media landscape in which we are all operating and communicating.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg and I hope to see VIBE pull the industry together in a way that it is never has been connected before. Not only that, it seems an extremely cost-effective way to stay in touch with the people we want to do business with. In time I expect to see it become a dynamic, 24/7, 365 days a year trade show with all the people and businesses you could ever wish to hang out with in one single place… genius!”
For further information, please contact:
+44 (0)7748 115007

domain: news


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Will ‘Federated Learning of Cohorts’ preserve user privacy? The jury is still out
Over the years, web developers have dreamed up dozens of cute error pages to remind visitors to switch on cookies in their browsers.
Most are riffs on the eponymous baked snack (“Will work for cookies”) or Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster.
But the Cookie Monster may soon have fewer job opportunities – at least, that’s if Google gets its way. The internet giant plans to replace at least part of the cookie ecosystem with its own technology. And these changes could have a far-reaching impact on security and privacy on the web.
The cookie crumbles
In 2020, Google announced that it would phase out support in Chrome for ‘third-party’ cookies, which are used by advertisers, and others, to track users as they move across the internet.
According to Gareth Haken, an analyst at the Information Security Forum (ISF), third-party cookies are favored by the large social media companies and are often placed on sites via social media buttons. But, he says, the tide has been turning against third-party cookies for some time.
Safari and Firefox blocked the technology some time ago, so Google is playing catch-up.
“This will speed up the death of third-party cookies, especially with Chrome banning them… but this will affect only those looking to track users around the internet, such as advertisers,” Haken told The Daily Swig.
What will not change is the way websites use their own cookies. Cookie technology is here to stay, with Google – and others – maintaining that first-party cookies are essential to the smooth running of the internet. “First party cookies are really useful. For instance, they mean you don’t have to log in each time you navigate to a new page on a website,” Haken explains. “It is third-party cookies that are more contentious.”
Google joins the FLoC
Unlike Apple and Firefox developer Mozilla – and unsurprisingly given its dependence on advertising revenues – Google is not doing away with tracking altogether. Instead, it aims to replace third-party cookies with its own technology: FLoC.
The system is part of Google’s wider Privacy Sandbox initiative.
FLoC – or ‘Federated Learning of Cohorts’ – allows advertisers to track internet users without revealing their identity. Instead, users will be placed within cohorts, according to their interests.
Internet privacy watchers say it is not yet clear exactly how this will work, although it is understood that browser history will play a part. All information will, though, be processed client side.
Google FLoC allows advertisers to track internet users without the need for cookies
According to a paper provided by Google to The Daily Swig, “federated learning simply means using machine learning and analytics without collecting and storing any raw data away from users’ devices.
“The main advantage of federated learning is that it enables product improvements and privacy without requiring sensitive data to be uploaded to datacenters. Instead machine learning models run on users’ devices and only the results of the computation are securely uploaded to servers.
“This also helps protect against potential risks relating to centralised data collection like theft and misuse of many users’ data at once.” (Google declined to comment further.)
Advertisers will be able to target ads at these interest-based groups. And, as the system combines cohorts, Google should be able to offer more granular targeting.
But it is the intersection between cohorts that raises worries among privacy advocates.
FLoC, and privacy red flags
Removing the need to store web users’ information on servers should boost privacy. And Google argues strongly that FLoC offers stronger privacy controls than third-party cookies, or alternatives such as browser fingerprinting.
Google describes FloC as a “privacy-preserving API”, in part because advertisers only have access to the cohort ID, not the identity of individual users.
But as cohorts shrink – or in advertiser speak, become more targeted – the risk of inadvertent identification grows.
“If I am a trader specialising in performance motorbikes anybody visiting my site will be placed into a cohort based partly on their interest in performance motorcycles,” explains the ISF’s Haken.
“If we say 1,000 people visit my site in one month and 500 of those people also visit a football website, they would in theory become part of the football liking motorcycle enthusiast cohort. If 300 of this cohort also visit sites concerning craft ale a new cohort would be formed and so on.”
DON’T FORGET TO READ Raising the bar: Tiki app aims to hand data ownership back to the individual
The privacy risk would become greater still if cohorts are created based on small geographical areas, or other links, such as to an employer. If just one craft ale-drinking biker worked for a particular employer, it might be possible to identify him or her.
Some interests will be kept out of cohorts – adult sites and medical information will not be tracked, for instance. But, Haken says, these interests are grouped together as ‘sensitive’ by FLoC; the system might not be able to distinguish between a history of viewing adult material from researching, say, Covid-19 symptoms.
Potentially, a website owner with access to their customers’ personal identifiable information could use that data to associate cohorts with individuals, Haken warns.
As yet, it’s not clear exactly how FLoC’s cohorts will work in practice, but Google staff have admitted that the system will not be trialed in the EU, over concerns that it breaches parts of the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive.
Instead, FLoC is being tested in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, and the US.
Privacy groups have urged caution over the rollout of FLoC
To the barricades: Why is FloC being met with resistance?
Support for FloC outside Google appears to be limited.
Privacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), for instance, describes the technology as “a terrible idea”.
The maintainers of WordPress, the most widely used content management system (CMS), are suggesting that FLoC should be treated as a security issue, while developers working with Drupal, another popular CMS platform, have similar concerns.
“So far, no major browsers besides Google Chrome are planning to include an implementation of FLoC, Joshua Long, chief security analyst at Intego, told The Daily Swig.
“Mozilla, the developer of Firefox, has explicitly stated that it has ‘no current plans to implement [FLoC] at this time’.”
Developers of other Chromium-based browsers, including Brave and Vivaldi, are even stronger in their opposition, even though they share much of the same codebase as Google Chrome.
As of last year, the most-used Chromium-based browser is Microsoft’s Edge.
If Microsoft opts not to support FLoC – and the company is working on its own alternative proposal, Parakeet – the system could struggle to gain traction.
There is also skepticism about Google’s motives.
“What I’ve been saying all along, whether it is FLoC or [other] alternatives to cookies, is who stands to make money here,” Cory Munchbach, a privacy advocate and former industry analyst, and now chief operating officer at customer data platform BlueConic, told The Daily Swig.
“That is why you can insert a layer of skepticism about this proposal. FLoC benefits Google and consolidates their influence under the guise of privacy.”
Most privacy and security experts do concede, however, that FLoC is preferable to the status quo.
Whether many internet users will worry about FLoC will depend largely on their perception of targeted advertising and sharing data.
Without revenues from targeted advertising, some web companies would no doubt struggle, although publishers will, of course, still be able to use first-party cookies.
“We are heading to the point where we need to have a conversation about why we say the internet is free,” says Munchbach. “It’s never been free!”.
Many internet users will no doubt continue to willingly trade privacy for free access to content.
For the rest, blocking FLoC is relatively easy. “The easiest way to avoid FLoC is to use literally any browser other than Google Chrome,” says Intego’s Long. And even Chrome users can block the technology by blocking third-party cookies in the browser settings.
Web developers can opt out of FLoC too. Mainstream web applications are unlikely to be impacted directly, as they use first party, rather than third party, cookies.
An uncertain future for web tracking
The main impact of replacing third-party cookies with FLoC will be on advertisers. To continue tracking, they may have to get on board with FLoC, or accept that advertising can no longer be so finely targeted.
Intego’s Long suspects a cynical motive behind FLoC.
“The whole idea seems to be that, since a lot of people block third-party cookies anyway, Google needed an excuse to develop a new tracking technology that they claim is better than cookies,” he says.
“Google is well known as a company that makes the majority of its revenue from ads and tracking. The fact that everyone else in the industry seems to be saying ‘no’ to FLoC is quite telling.”
Back in the late 1800s, the US retailer John Wanamaker is reported to have said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half”.
If privacy proponents get their way, that could eventually become true again for online advertisers.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE Google and Mozilla will bake HTML sanitization into their browsers


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On our last full day in L.A., Stick Shiftwent out for breakfast. But though the restaurant featured many familiar markers of Gay Brunch—bloody marys, egg-white omelettes, people still drunk from the night before—this was no ordinary Sunday-morning homosexual feed-fest. This was the kickoff to the first ever “Gay Day” at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Sponsored by forward-thinking manufacturer General Motors, the event was intended to showcase the car maker’s ongoing (and often groundbreaking) support of the LGBT community, as well as the new products from their three gay-identified brands: Saturn, Saab, and Cadillac. “We make cars. Gay people buy cars. It’s a perfect fit,” said Shad Balch, The General’s environment and energy communications specialist, and one of the company’s openly gay spokespeople. “The LGBT community are also early adopters of new technology,” he went on. “So in addition to showing support for our people, events like this are just being smart about where to put our resources”
“It feels especially relevant to do an event like this now,” said Diedra Wylie, G.M.’s not-gay but very homo-friendly assistant manager of communications. “With Prop 8 passing here, we thought it was important to do something celebratory to bring the community out.”
Photograph by Helena Ruffin.
And out we were. While only 30–40 people were initially expected to attend the festivities, hundreds R.S.V.P.’d and even more attended the show. In order to demonstrate our queer solidarity, we all wore green—likely causing some unwarranted cruising for those straights who happened to go verdant that day—and descended on the Convention Center in a rainbow-flag-bedecked bus.
Photograph by Helena Ruffin.
I’d already spent a couple days at the auto show, but since General Motors bought my huevos rancheros that morning, I paid extra special attention to their vehicles during this visit. And guess what? Naysayers and Auto Apocalyptics be damned. In addition to its social activism, the General had some humpy product to show off. Loyal readers already know that I’m a big fan of the Caddy CTS sedan, and since I also adore an upscale wagon (Fagons, in the argot), I was gaga for the handsome new CTS variant, which translates the four-door’s hot angular lines into … a hot, angular five-door. I’m seriously considering condensing my BMW and Suburban into one vehicle, and nabbing one when it comes out.
While I’m not sure screaming, big-engined coupes are going to be the salvation of the industry, I think the new Chevrolet Camaro is by far the hottest looking of the new retro-inspired breed of modern muscle cars. Where both the Ford Mustang and the Dodge Challenger adhere to past designs with a sincerity that borders on pastiche, the Camaro feels far more original, and looks like a truly modern interpretation of a pony car (and I love it’s mean, punishing eyes.) I’ll take mine with a six-speed and the buttery direct injection V-6 engine from the CTS: plenty fast, and more frugal at the pump.
I’ll pass on the Saab Bio-Fuel concept thingy, which looked to me like a dirty Jack Purcell. And Portland families can have this weird Saturn minivan with the Segways coming out of its butt. But the production Chevy Volt stopped me mid-prance with its sharp good looks, futuristic interior, and radical extended-range, electric vehicle technology. Here’s to G.M. building an advanced, good-looking, small car that breaks their punishing 25-year cycle-of Cavalier/Cobalt design blandness. I’m hoping my get my narrow, toned ass into one of the Volt’s four narrow, toned bucket seats very soon.


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ORLANDO, Fla. Northwest Natural Products on Tuesday launched a new Omega-3 nutritional supplement product as part of its L’il Critters line. Omega-3 Gummy Fish is formulated with a chia seed extract as the source of Omega-3s.
It is being marketed against the potential for brain development in children.
According to the company, chia seed extract is plant-based, has a higher Omega-3 concentration and a much cleaner taste profile than other sources like fish oil and flaxseed oil.
“When you’re making a product destined for use by children, taste is the one issue that cannot be compromised,” stated Kate Jones, Northwest vice president.


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Frostpunk’s expansions are coming to console this month
11 Bit Studios has announced that all three of Frostpunk‘s expansions will be coming to PlayStation and Xbox on July 21st.
First up is On the Edge, which introduces Settlements and Safe Routes to keep the settlement fed, a Construction Team unit that is used to build Trading Depots, 16 new areas to explore in the Frostland, three new city structures, and seven new technologies. Joining it is The Rifts, which includes an Endless Mode map, The Bridge construction building, and new mechanics.
The third and final expansion is The Last Autumn. This DLC acts as a prequel to the main game and shows the events that led to the world of Frostpunk. Players will get to play through a new scenario, take on a new Endless Mode variant, and deal with new threats. There’s also a new technology tree, 25 new buildings, and new social classes.
Each of these expansions can be purchased separately or as part of the season pass.
Forstpunk: Console Edition is available now on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Matt is one of the longest-serving members of the EGMNOW team. An ability to go many hours without sleep and a quick wit make him ideal for his role as associate editor at EGMNOW.com. He often thinks back to the days when the very idea of this career seemed like nothing but an impossible dream.


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Twill set for volume boost as it supports South Korean SME exports
Maersk’s under-the-radar digital freight platform, Twill, could be set to a receive a volume boost ...
Forwarders need to rein back their “monopolistic” tendencies and learn how to collaborate and share data to ensure a successful future.
“Forwarders now want to keep their options open; they hope they might get a better rate with a different carrier. So for less than 10% of shipments, they will hijack the whole logistics chain,” said Arnaud Lambert, CEO of IT company Champ Cargosystems.
“We need to change the mindset – there is bigger value if you share than if you keep the data. Otherwise you hold 90% of the chain hostage.
“The fundamental question is about sharing,” he said, speaking at TIACA’s Air Cargo Forum last week in Toronto.
Shippers also expressed their support for greater transparency from forwarders.
“Fragmentation is delaying and making the coordination of data more complex,” said Denis Choumert, chairman of the European Shippers’ Council.
Customers should be at the heart of technology decisions, he added.
“If this industry is to retain its margins, it needs to get smarter in the way it responds to customers,” agreed James Hookham, secretary general of the Global Shippers’ Forum.
“Thousands of new customers are looking for ways to distribute goods. But we need common ownership of data. Shippers don’t just think uni-modally. The 2017 spike in air cargo was transfer traffic from deepsea shipping. Shippers expect and need a common definition and visibility.”
However, visibility from individual forwarders is not sufficient, argued the panel.
“Transparency is very important. What a forwarder shares with a customer is not transparent – they need access to all information,” said Bart Pouwels, head of cargo for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
“That’s where we need to go. I don’t believe in a supply chain, but a supply community.”
Lars Magnusson, business architect for Ericsson, said: “As a freight buyer, you can get integrated solutions from your service provider. But you don’t hear the door close behind you – and then you are stuck. These type of monopolistic approaches are not for the future.
“You need to configure your supply chain for specific processes. The days of fixed supply chains and massive lanes are over. You need access to data across many shipments.”
Mr Choumert added: “Small shippers would like a one-stop shop, but larger shippers would like an interface with different parts of the supply chain. “
Lack of transparency gave forwarders too great an opportunity to overcharge at the expense of shippers, argued Mr Magnusson.
“We need network sharing. I can tell the service provider that I need this shipment on this date. So perhaps I could truck it all the way at a lower cost. But I want an upfront and honest answer – and not to end up having to pay for air freight.”
Mr Hookham argued that quality measures should be included in the shared data.
“The industry has got to start demonstrating how shippers have benefited from this supposed visibility. I want to see real examples.”
The technology is there, and investment need not be more than 1% of revenue – and the benefits could be huge. Artificial intelligence, for example, could be used to predict which customers would opt for which solution, they said.
“Digitisation is the way to go – but in small bits. Use existing ecosystems, use each other’s learning,” said Dheeraj Kohli, global head of Unisys.
“It’s an exciting time. Adoption and education is key. If not everyone adopts, it will not work. And if we are going to build the future, we have to act today.”


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By Jonathan Shieber.
Collecting is at the heart of most human endeavors… and it’s why the three founders of Covetly, one of the companies graduating from Y Combinator’s latest accelerator batch, launched their business — to make collecting even easier.
Each Covetly founder is a collector himself. For 39-year-old Reid Nahm, who previously worked for a lost and found recovery service, it was comic books (specifically Spider-Man); 28-year-old Brian Law was a Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering card aficionado; 37-year-old Evan Beland stocked up on “every toy category that’s vintage.”
“Brian and I had been working on this pretty much from the start,” says Nahm. “The first version of Covetly in 2015 was almost like a Tinder for stuff. Users told us they wanted an app to trade things… and great people were matching with each other, but they didn’t know how much their stuff was worth.”
To solve the problem, Covetly began offering pricing and curation services as a way to make the process of buying and selling even smoother on mobile devices.
Read more at TechCrunch.


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Ohio postal manager indicted
A Cleveland grand jury indicted a postal manager for stealing mail, distributing drugs, and money laundering. U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced the indictment on Monday. He said Anthony Sharp, 30, of South Euclid opened packages he believed to contain illegal drugs and kept the drugs for himself. Sharp then allegedly sold those drugs. Officials said he made a lot of money.
“Postal employees are paid to deliver mail and parcels, not steal and distribute drugs in the community. When a postal employee decides to violate the public’s trust, special agents with the USPS OIG will work with our law enforcement partners to see that they lose their job, their pension, and their freedom,” said U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Kenneth Cleevely.
Sharp in a Postal Service Manager in Cleveland. His employers launched an investigation after becomiing suspicious he had opened mail containing controlled substances and took the contents for himself.
Back on July 22, agents watched Sharp arrive at mail processing facility to assist in sorting express mail by hand. They observed him remove two packages and put them in his own mail hamper. Sharp later took them to his own vehicle. Those packages contained meth and cocaine. Officer later stopped Sharp for a traffic stop. In addition to the two packages they saw him take, officers also found a package containing fentanyl. All of the packages were open. Police found multiple empty Express and Priority Mail parcels in his trunk.
The court seized a Harley Davidson motorcycle, a Polaris Slingshot, and $100,000 from Sharp. Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Sweeney and Kathryn Andrachik will prosecute the case. U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman did not say when Sharp is due back in court. He did say that if, convicted, “The defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case.”


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Internet of Things , AI to drive business value for fleet management firms
At a very basic level, fleet- tech helps continuously protect this vital asset from theft
The pandemic underscored the importance of commercial vehicle fleets, amid mobility restrictions and limited supplies of essentials. It also highlighted the need for technology solutions to manage goods movement efficiently. Fortune Business Insights says global fleet management software market will grow 3.7X between 2022 and 2029, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.3%. Fleet-tech is no more about achieving efficiency alone, but leveraging the power of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).


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According to a new survey by a local web portal, it was found that one in every four of the UAE residents have debts of more than AED 250,000 ($68,119). It was also found that more than 20 percent of the residents are not even aware of the repercussions of the debt they are in.
The survey also shows that nearly 40% of residents have personal loans of between $27,247 (AED100,000) and $54,495 (AED200,000).
The UAE debt isn?t just concentrated on personal loans; the results show that 12 percent of residents own more than six credit cards, with 15 percent of those still have outstanding balances of more than $27,247. The case is worse with car loans, where nearly a quarter of all UAE residents owe more than $27,247.
As per a report published by Lafferty Group, it stated that total consumer debt across the GCC was $139billion, with the UAE having one of the highest take ups of credit cards anywhere on the planet, with 199.4 cards per 100 people


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A veteran living with post-traumatic stress disorder says he has suffered sleepless nights - after a road-rage spat with an Asda delivery driver left his car written off. Erich Modrowics, aged 65, was driving when the incident unfolded.
He says he was hit by the Asda vehicle after 'it all kicked off' when the road merged from two lanes into one. The supermarket chain admitted liability in a letter to Erich.
But the former trooper, who served in the Queen's Own Hussars until 1979, says the ordeal has caused him anguish.
READ: Asda shopper 'boycotts' Uber Eats after £16.08 order mix-up - Out-of-pocket Thomas Heath, from Chell, ordered cat food from the Tunstall Asda store - and ended up with butter and fruit
READ: Angry shopper: 'I've been banned from Asda store after complaining about toilets' - Customer Andrew Gregory pulled his groin and tweaked his back after claiming he fell over in the loos at the Tunstall store
Erich said: "I suffer from PTSD and all this has really affected me. I have relived the moment several times. I am a victim here. I have had sleepless nights too. I just don't know what to do. My car has been written off and collected."
Dashcam video shows Erich overtaking the Asda van in the outside lane. The footage then carries on and shows the branded vehicle trying to pass Erich - on the wrong side of the road. The two cars then visibly collide, and both end up on the pavement.
Erich said "He started flashing his lights at me and beeping his horn. The further down the road we got he started swerving. He had the opportunity to overtake me but he swerved into my lane, didn't overtake and went into the side of me. Luckily, my car was driveable so I made it back home."
Erich's 2017 Peugeot 207 has since been written off. He and the delivery driver exchanged details at the scene.
Erich received a letter from a legal firm representing Asda, who admitted liability.
He said: "I got in touch with my insurance and a couple of days later I got a letter."
An Asda spokesperson said: "We have apologised to Mr Modrowics for this incident and understand that he has received a payment for his vehicle. We will continue to work with Mr Modrowics to resolve any other concerns that he has."
If you're on the lookout for local news, we have you covered with our FREE email newsletter - sign up in the box at the top of this story or click here.


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23 March 2018
Fashion Department of the University of Applied Arts Vienna announces 'Show Angewandte 18' (5 June)
Recently, the Fashion Department (headed by Hussein Chalayan) of the University of Applied Arts Vienna published the dates of the upcoming annual 'Show Angewandte' with a photo series by Kim Jakobsen To depicting fashion pieces by five students who are currently finalizing their studies such as Patricia Narbon.
fig.: Outfit by Patricia Narbon. Photo by Kim Jakobsen To for 'Show Angewandte 18'. Make-up/Hair by Wolfgang Lindenhofer with products by Sisley.
The runway show with sound by musician and media theorist Ana Threat will happen on 5 June at 18.30 and 20.30 at Expedithalle, Anker Brotfabrik, Absberggasse 27 in the 10th district of Vienna; tickets are already available (details on dieangewandte.at).


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J.M. Smucker Co. SJM, +1.91% approved a 12% hike to the food company's dividend, an increase that will cost the firm an additional $25 million a year.
Chief Executive Richard Smucker said the increase reflected the company's confidence it can continue to generate strong cash flow. Raising the payout "remains an important component of returning value to our shareholders," he said.
J.M. Smucker, known for brands like its name-sake fruit spreads and Jif peanut butter, gets most of its revenue from its U.S. coffee business, which includes brands such as Folgers.
For the latest fiscal year ended April 30, sales jumped 7%, though the bottom line dropped in the most recent quarter as sales for the U.S. retail coffee business slightly declined.
Shares rose three cents to $106.69 in after-hours trading Monday. The stock has gained 24% in 2013, better than the broader market's gain.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires


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Update: Added statement from a Cadillac representative.
The global microchip shortage strikes again. A reliable source contacted Motor1.com with information showing Super Cruise was, at least temporarily, being cut as an option for the 2022 Cadillac Escalade. A specific reason wasn't provided, but it's not exactly a risky leap to say the enduring semiconductor shortage is behind it.
Upon receiving this news, Motor1.com contacted Cadillac to confirm the information and it is accurate. A Cadillac representative offered the following statement.
"Super Cruise is an important feature for the Cadillac Escalade program. Although it's temporarily unavailable at the start of regular production due to the industry-wide shortage of semiconductors, we're confident in our team's ability to find creative solutions to mitigate the supply chain situation and resume offering the feature for our customers as soon as possible."
With Super Cruise temporarily pulled from the Escalade, it means the highly touted semi-autonomous driving system originally launched three years ago is virtually non-existent in GM vehicles. Super Cruise is coming to the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado, but not until the spring of 2022. Production of the Chevrolet Bolt – which also offers the feature – was expected to resume at the end of September amid issues with its battery pack, but it's unclear if the line is up and running. Super Cruise still shows as an option for the CT4 and CT5 with availability in late summer 2021. It's unclear if the feature is now shipping on the sedans.
Gallery: 2021 Cadillac Escalade: First Drive
In 2020, the Escalade outsold both the CT4 and CT5 combined. With shortages of key microchips being the problem, it makes sense to pull the option for the Escalade and continue production as opposed to sidelining the high-dollar, high-profit luxury SUV. We've certainly seen a similar strategy from a range of other automakers, including the aforementioned Silverado being built without cylinder deactivation systems. With the chip shortage expected to spill over into 2022 and possibly stretch to 2023, it seems the overall situation won't be rectified anytime soon.


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Lomography released the Konstruktor camera a while back, which is in fact the company’s first SLR style camera. It was only a matter of time until they released new accessories for it. Today, the company is announcing a new magnifying hood for the viewfinder, a close up lens, and a macro lens. Not much details have been given otherwise.
But despite the lack of details what this means is that beyond the Bel-Air, Lomography is considering making this a fully functional system perhaps with glass lenses on the way.
Product images are after the jump. When we get more details, we’ll share with you.


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Attorney General Gansler Asks Secretary Colmers to Exercise Statutory Authority to Remove Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages from Store Shelves
MD ( Nov. 19, 2010) -Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler today sent a letter to Department of Health Secretary John Colmers requesting that the department act quickly to remove inventory of caffeinated alcohol beverages from store shelves in Maryland. Earlier this week, at the urging of attorneys general across the country, the Food and Drug Administration notified the makers of the most popular caffeinated alcoholic beverages that they were “adulterated” and in violation of federal food health standards.
Attorney General Gansler asked Secretary Colmers to exercise his authority under the Maryland Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to take all steps available to prevent any further distribution and sale of these unsafe, adulterated and mislabeled products wherever found in Maryland.
“Recent news reports indicate that as a result of the FDA's action, there is a rush to purchase and consume the CABs that remain on store shelves,” said Attorney General Gansler. “The danger to the health and safety of Marylanders, especially our youth, will not be alleviated until the last cans and bottles of these adulterated and mislabeled beverages are removed from all store shelves in Maryland.”
Last year, Attorney General Gansler asked the FDA to determine that the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages is not “Generally Recognized as Safe,” or “GRAS,” under FDA law (http://www.oag.state.md.us/Press/2009/111309.htm). Last November, the FDA informed manufacturers of AEDs that it was not aware of any basis for concluding that the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages is GRAS and gave them 30 days to submit substantiating data, warning that if it determined that the use of caffeine in their alcoholic beverages is not GRAS, the FDA would take appropriate action to ensure that the products are removed from the marketplace. FDA's warning letters issued this week require that the manufacturers take prompt action to correct their violations of federal law, and that failure to do so may result in enforcement action.


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NCAA Football 16 Would Have Been Released Today
As we all know, EA sports currently has the rights to produce college football games but due to a recent lawsuit there are no further plans to make a new game. The last game produced was NCAA 14, which was released in 2003 for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
How would things look if NCAA Football 16 were released as scheduled? Well, check out the artwork above. The title likely would have featured Marcus Mariota as the cover athlete with all of the game modes you’ve come to enjoy such as Road to Glory, etc.
Thankfully there are modders out there on Operation Sports and other sites who upload up-to-date rosters. Will there ever be another official EA Sports release? Who knows….


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Xbox One Game Install Sizes Revealed For Launch Lineup
Posted on Monday, November 11 @ 11:08:56 PST by Alex_Osborn
One lucky consumer managed to get their hands on an Xbox One early thanks to a shipping mistake on the part of Target. The proud new console owner then proceeded to share their findings, which ultimately made their way to NeoGAF, revealing the install sizes of each launch game.
Here's the full list:
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.
Serious Sam VR
The Last Hope Valtos Update trailer. (0:26)
War of Crown
Official trailer. (1:17)
Hearts of Iron IV
Death or Dishonor announcement trailer. (1:04)
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
A trio of threats, DB Super Pack 3 launch trailer. (1:36)
Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality
Rick and Morty Virtual Rick-ality official trailer. (1:30)
|More On GameRevolution|


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Sedan Defection to SUVs Slows. As many auto manufacturers shift their future product plans away from sedans in favo… https://t.co/QP3Aod6T55
Will UK consumers consider owning a full BEV in next five years?
A major study into consumer attitudes around electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK has shown that only around one in four consumers would consider buying an EV as their main vehicle in the next five years. The study which was conducted by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), which is owned by a not-for-profit foundation overseen by transport industry companies, is one of the most comprehensive and detailed yet undertaken of consumer attitudes to EVs. Other key findings were that around 50% of participants indicated they were fairly or very likely to choose a PHEV as a main or second household car, or a BEV as a second car, in the next five years. In terms of range capability influencing the potential buying choice, it was also found that an all-electric range (AER) of at least 200 miles was needed for 50% of participants to consider owning a BEV as a main car, while an AER of 300 miles increased that percentage to over 90%.
One of the interesting elements of this survey was the methodology. It actually involved 200 mainstream consumers being given access to a conventional ICE (VW Golf hatchback GT Edition), a pure EV (VW e-Golf hatchback) and a PHEV (VW Golf GTE hatchback) version of the current Volkswagen (VW) Golf for three or four days. They were then surveyed on their responses to using the various fuel types.
Outlook and implications
The study is likely to make for sobering reading for the OEMs that are currently committing billions to electrifying their model offerings, of which VW is obviously just one. It is going to take a big commitment to selling and marketing the benefits of EVs to consumers, if take-up is going to accelerate. And while this is one survey in just one market, it is probable that similar results will be replicated across the other major Western European passenger car markets. Many Western European governments such as France and the UK are already talking about banning ICE vehicles wholesale from 2040. However, it should also be noted that any administration that bans ICE cars and forces consumers to make an expensive new BEV vehicle purchase without significant subsidies will face a considerable political backlash.
Read more articles like this one. Get a free trial to AutoIntelligence Daily
- Brazil receives 30 different proposals on EV charging infrastructure
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- Vehicle production in Turkey declines 6% y/y during 2019
- South Korea to increase e-mobility subsidy budget for 2020
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What list price hits the sweet spot for your new vehicle launch? Download the full infographics… https://t.co/ILDo9Oafo1
Brazil’s electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure is being boosted with 30 different proposals from the Effici… https://t.co/kzDddOwfh3


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Family opens second Poké Fresh Hawaiian eatery in Brighton, planning a third
In less than a year, a Livingston County family's new restaurant venture has already grown to two locations.
The Bachuwa family started serving customers at their new Poké Fresh location Thursday in the Grand Crossing shopping center at 9864 Grand River Ave., Suite 120.
They opened their first location in August at 4230 E. Grand River Ave. in Genoa Township.
"It's fast growth," said Kylie Bachuwa, 23, a Hartland Township resident who co-owns the restaurants with her parents Chris and Tracy Bachuwa. "I think the support from the Livingston County has helped a lot, because we're gotten a lot of good reviews and word of mouth."
Bachuwa said the initial success of the first restaurant motivated the family to open a second location more quickly than they had planned.
"We would definitely like to do a third one in the area, not going too far, hopefully within the next year," she said. "We're hoping in the future to franchise."
The dishes they serve are inspired by Hawaiian cuisine.
Like the Hawaiian dish poké, the menu features a long list of ingredients — diced raw fish, cooked chicken, tofu, edamame, Mandarin oranges and jalapeno peppers to name a few — that customers can mix and match.
The ingredients are mixed together in a bowl on top of spring salad greens, sushi rice or brown rice. And the meals can be topped with a variety of sauces.
Some customers build their own custom poké bowls. The restaurant also offers several pre-planned signature dishes.
New location, new offerings
The Brighton location features seating for about 36 people, larger than the Genoa Township location which has limited seating for 14 at one long communal table.
The Brighton location will soon feature a marketplace area where people can purchase ingredients to make their own poké bowls at home.
"We're going to set that up really soon," Bachuwa said.
The new location is also adding shaved ice desserts to the menu, including one called "Tropic Like It's Hot" that features piña colada-flavored shaved ice, mango jelly, strawberry-flavored boba balls, pineapple and a cherry on top.
"Next week, we'll be offering five different kinds of shaved ice," Bachuwa said.
Both locations will take orders for delivery online through Five Star Food Express of Brighton, at www.brighton.express. The Genoa Township location already uses the delivery service. The Brighton location will begin using it next week.
Chris Bachuwa was inspired to pursue opening a poké restaurant after dining at several out west. Such eateries are more common in that part of the country. He said Ahipoke Bowl in Pheonix, Ariz. impressed him.
The eatery's new location was previously occupied by Big Apple Bagels, which closed earlier this year.
A couple dozen customers showed up within the first two hours of the new eatery's soft opening Thursday.
Carly Anderson said she is already a regular customer of their Genoa Township location.
"I go to the one (near) Howell all the time, so I was thrilled there was one opening here," Anderson, 38, of Brighton, said after ordering a meal to go.
"I like that it's a healthy option. You can get salad or make it vegan and they do tofu, but I always get fish in mine," she said.
On Thursday, she custom ordered a bowl with a spring mix salad base, marinated tuna and a slew of vegetables, including carrots and cabbage, among other ingredients.
Support our journalism and become a digital subscriber and download our app today. Click here for our special offers.
Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Timar at 517-548-7148 or at firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow her on Facebook @Jennifer.Timar99 and Twitter @JenTimar99.


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Nearly 2.3 million media tablets were sold in Australia in the first half of 2013, almost as much as the whole of 2012, according to new research released today.
Nearly one in ten UK kids owns a mobile phone by the age of five, new research shows.
Australian and New Zealand businesses are spending a paltry amount of their digital marketing budgets on optimisation, despite evidence showing those who optimise are reaping thousands of dollars return for every dollar spent.
Returb iPhones are cheaper than ever - definitely worth buying one :-)
The Murdoch led LNP is talking crap again. The Murdochracy are out again asking the Government for something for nothing[…]
They're bluffing. The potential losses to Google far outweighs the pittance they will be asked to pay. Call their bluff!
Duck Duck Go.Google is an evil empire.
No, Australian politics is a truth-free zone thank you very much!


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BINGHAMTON, NY – A new app has been designed to make it easier to connect job-seekers with employment opportunities.
Chip and Rawley Filbin, owners of the 44 year-old family-owned business, Filbin Painting, struggled to find reliable help.
So they created a new app called USEFUZE.
USEFUZE is a marketplace that connect businesses and homeowners with qualified individuals looking for work.
Anyone looking for work simply downloads the app and enters their skills, rate of pay, and sync their Google or Apple calendars.
Rawley Filbin says he’s aware of the difficulties facing employers.
“Drive down any Main Street, listen to the radio for 30 seconds and you would gladly agree that there’s no shortage of now hiring and employment opportunities,” says Filbin.
Only qualified applicants are matched with job posts that apply to their skills.
Another part of the app is USEBUCKS, a loyalty program where points are earned for every hour worked.
USEFUZE is available on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
Visit, USEFUZE.com for more information.


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Special report: Debating the future of digital advertising
From gaining the creative agency buy-in for a programmatic era, to the lurking threat of brand safety 'black holes', senior experts from around the media industry had a lot to talk about at dmexco 2017. David Pidgeon reports.
Is 'programmatic' still a dirty word in creative agency circles, or have the advancements of adtech, coupled with migrating audiences and increased digital investment from the client side, made them rethink?
Programmatic now has the capabilities to serve rich media in a variety of innovative ad formats, meaning the artistry of more traditional advertising now has a better home online where it can be used in conjunction with sophisticated audience targeting. In short, the industry has moved on from the flashing banner ad.
Programmatic creative opened a debate between senior figures at this year's Dmexco, Cologne, where, amongst the praise of its growing power, there were words of caution about the barriers holding it back.
“To be really honest, [programmatic creative] hasn't been done a lot,” says Amit Kotecha, marketing director, EMEA, Quantcast.
“I think a lot of the data is still used retrospectively. So, a campaign finishes, we then tell the client what happened. We make sure there's an analysis by the creative side, then they may make some changes for the next campaign. That's obviously not ideal, because the campaign's finished. You've spent the money.”
Kotecha says the ideal scenario is to be able to adapt the creative while the campaign is live - using data to modify and fine-tune the campaign for improved effectiveness.
“That's the mission the advertising world has been on. But I believe that with the data that's available, the way it's most useful is when it’s used in the planning process, so that you're actually making decisions before you launch a campaign."
Kotecha adds that using more sophisticated data to understand customers can help the creative process - but there is an ongoing issue of scaling the output.
“If you talk to any creative agency, they don't want to make a thousand different versions of one ad. That's not a scalable solution for them. So, we have to find this kind of happy medium in between.”
But back to data, and Sue Hunt, sales director, Mail Online, says there's still a challenge with what is being used, and its integrity.
“The consumer is increasingly on a mobile device, but the vast majority of businesses are still relying on cookies [which are not used on mobile].
“So, the nature of the data is not matching the execution that's required for the creative,” she says.
For Inskin Media’s chief commercial officer, Steve Doyle, programmatic creative is still a work in progress, but Doyle has a good idea what it takes to improve its adoption.
“A lot of the technology we’re using is relatively new and media people are still grappling with how they marry their creative execution with the data that they want to use. There are a handful of clients that are quite advanced in this, and there are other clients who are not as advanced.
“But marrying up data, in the planning process, for us, is key, because it allows us to say: not only are you able to execute creatively, but you're able to execute data on top of that. I think that's becoming more and more part of the mainstream part of our internal planning process.”
Doyle says that his business talks with creative agencies, and thinks they are starting to buy into the programmatic world to some degree, but there remains a big challenge: “They are still fixated on the thirty-second TV spot.”
Julia Connaughton, head of digital at the7stars, says cutting a TV ad down for the digital creative is very difficult, while noting that creative agencies make no money out of it, so there’s no real incentive to focus on programmatic creative.
“That means the media agency will do it, or the job will be outsourced to the publisher.”
Kotecha says this is worrying.
There's still a challenge with data and data integrity, full stop"
“You don't really want a media agency controlling that. It should be the job of the creative agency because they've spent probably six months planning a great campaign; they've done all of the customer research; they really understand the customer. Then it gets to the digital execution, and it's just a digital cut-up.
“We need to educate the creative agencies," says Doyle, who has employed someone in his own business to do just that.
“Otherwise it's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy," he says. "If [creative agencies] don't put the time and effort into the assets, then they'll never get what they want out of it. If their perception of digital is that it has nothing to do with the brand, it will be like that in perpetuity.”
Meanwhile, Jon Mew, CEO of IAB UK, says it’s too easy to blame creative agencies.
“I think we have to take some responsibility on this side of the fence to help them and to educate them and improve.
“There's a value in doing it and I think we’re starting to prove that to them now.”
Can brands be built online?
“Ten years ago, if we'd gone out and said, ‘Hey, digital is a brand-building medium,’ everyone would've laughed,” says Kotecha.
But over the last three years something has changed. Digital formats - including social media in-feed ads, paid content, online video and native advertising - are helping to fuel the growth in global advertising.
According to a recent report from Zenith, between 2016 and 2019 innovative digital ad formats will drive 14% annual growth in total display advertising.
“Historically, we have tended to pigeon-hole what different type of media can do, placing each one in a different sort of bucket," says the IAB's Mew. "And I think the bucket that online got put in from the start was direct response, because there is nothing else; no other media can measure direct response like online can.”
But the online world is different because it has the ability to evolve much quicker than many other types of media. New formats, new applications of data, consumer tracking, and the ability to borrow from other media have all contributed to making online advertising a hugely enticing place to spend client money.
And recently, with improved video formats, it’s been borrowing from TV - arguably the best brand building media out there, with a long history of effectiveness.
“That's the difference now,” says Kotecha. “Three years ago, it would have been very difficult to even assist a brand ad or just run alongside a brand ad because there were no high impact formats or there wasn't that much video.
“But using those video formats now, I do feel like there are a lot of brands that are actually using it alongside their TV buys or their big brand advertising that they have on billboards, and it's helping build brands, because it's part of the consumer journey.”
Yet, as adspend moves towards digital and online formats improve, it is important marketers don't tip all their resources into just one bucket.
“I don't think you can just use digital just to build a brand,” says Connaughton.
“Even if you took some of the big brands, like Amazon or Google, they started online. They were an online brand. Yet to build their brands, they did TV and press and other offline channels.”
“Online should be viewed as part of the media mix,” says Mew. “I think it'd be odd to think you could ever just use digital. For most big brands, it wouldn't be sensible.”
However, citing an on-going research project the IAB is involved with, Mew says the body of evidence that proves digital works is growing - and this means online can help other media become more effective.
Research conducted with AIMIA, I2C and MTM using Nectar card sales data shows the impact that exposure to digital advertising had on offline sales.
On average across five brands - Nescafe, Magnum, Haagen Dazs, Maille Mustard and Persil - each £1 spent on programmatic display generated £1.47 in sales in Sainsbury's, a figure that would be even higher if sales in other supermarkets were also factored in. This is in addition to driving up brand metrics.
However, Doyle argues that - outside of respective marketing and trade bodies - there simply isn't enough research on building brands online to persuade average marketer.
“There is a perception in the average marketing manager and the average small client, that digital is a direct response media and nothing else. So in terms of the brands online, there needs to be more proof points, and they need to come from outside of the marketing and trade bodies.”
With a broader and impartial body of evidence in place, there is still another hurdle the industry must overcome, however.
The fragmentation of online ad formats is making things very difficult for clients.
Tim Hussain, head of digital at Ebiquity, which represents 85 of the top 100 global advertisers, argues that to build a brand you require reach and frequency, but he’s blunt about the online publishing world's problem in supplying this.
“With digital, it's a shit show, to be completely honest.
“All the top publishers have all their big branding formats, but lots of them have different formats in different places and they all work for different vendors.”
Hussain notes that for TV it is very easy and efficient to pull reach and frequency and for press, all the formats are standard.
“I've been talking to publishers recently and just saying, ‘Look, you've got Facebook and Google. It's really easy to go on and buy a single campaign and get big reach, frequency, and manage it.’
“Then you've got all of the independent publishers and they've still got different layouts. The users don't have the same experience that they do in the other platforms.
“Businesses like Inskin and Collective are two of the few companies who are going out in single formats with big impact all across multiple publishers. Otherwise, there's not enough out there.”
Speaking from a publisher’s perspective, Hunt says this is a huge challenge.
“The fragmentation of the industry has got worse and worse and there are still new players coming into the market. It's such a low barrier to entry.
“New vendors are creating solutions for problems we didn't know we had. It's absolutely exhausting...it's not about new-fangled middlemen and slicing those pieces out of the food chain. It is about efficiency.
For Hunt, anything you can buy individually with a website, you should be able to put through programmatic plumbing to automate the process.
"This is the way to achieve scale, and ultimately make life easy for brands to spend money.”
Brand safety black holes
Over the last year the ad industry has witnessed a spate of serious brand safety issues which saw ads placed alongside extremist content.
In response, GroupM, the investment arm of WPP, said advertisers have increased their brand safety and accountability expectations and were taking "a more measured view toward digital." The problem even resulted, back in July, in a downgraded ad forecast, with growth in the pure-play internet category revised down by -4%.
How do senior advertising execs feel about the problem today?
“Things are changing, massively,” says Connaughton. “But I think we could do more. It’s an evolution, but with the viable products that are out there, every client should have [brand safety] built into everything. It should be across every single publisher, every single device, every single format.”
“It needs to be part of every plan," agrees Inskin's Doyle. “It needs to part of all dialogue, too. It's a challenge for advertisers to get that balance right between buying audiences at a low price, and ensuring your brand is safe and that the context is right. But is there enough attention being paid to it? I think there is now - but it's an evolution, and it's still quite early on.”
Quantcast's Kotecha says the debacles, which made front-page news around the world following a Times investigation, hit everyone pretty hard, and he is glad it did.
"It's a hygiene issue," he says. "It's one of those things that we didn't think about, kind of like we've been living in the middle ages for a long time, and people have been eating the scraps that go to the floor. Then, what happened this year was like the Black Death."
What happened this year was like the Black Death"
Things do look better. August 2017 was the most prolific ever for the number of certificates awarded for brand safety. In all, JICWEBS - the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards - dished out 11 certificates to Teads, Media iQ, YuMe, Amnet, PulsePoint, Fifty Media, Encore, Avocet, Sovrn, IOTEC and Clearstream.
They join 35 other companies who have successfully been reviewed against the good practice principles for protecting where a client's online ads appear.
After so many set-backs, the trust and transparency that buyers demand is, it seems, truly being injected into the digital ad trading supply chain.
Most people also agree that in that in two or three years' time the industry won't have to worry about the brand safety issue, but to ensure that's the case, technology needs to improve and there are some niggling blind spots left untended.
“Brand safety is really nascent in terms of the tech because it doesn't detect video...and it’s a black hole for mobile apps," says Ebiquity's Hussain.
“Brand safety is also a bit of a catch-22. Brands make a fuss about it, and yet they're quite often investing in non-disclosed media inventory through their agency.
“If you can't track brand safety on video, and you can't track it on a lot of mobile apps, you have to have a manual approach. But if you've got a non-disclosed delivery, how do you do a manual approach? And if you go and ask for a report, the agencies turn around and say: ‘Ah, sorry, it's not in your contract, you signed away your right to have transparency.’”
Solve that, and the future will be a safer place for brands - but there's still some hard work left to do.
Lost trust: how does the industry get back on track?
P&G, the world's largest advertiser, is currently poring over every agency contract in an attempt to achieve "full transparency" by the end of 2017 - including terms requiring funds to be used for media payment only, all rebates to be disclosed and returned, and all transactions subject to audit.
That also means adopting basic viewability standards, ditching the adtech middle men, breaking down walled gardens, and getting serious about measurement.
In line with that commitment, in July P&G said - while cutting more than $100 million from its digital marketing spend - it had reduced overhead, agency fee and ad-production costs in the second quarter.
Since P&G's call-to-arms at the start of the year, other global brands have made major changes, or are planning to make extensive changes, to their media governance practices across a wide range of areas, according to the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA).
In the last 12 months, 35 multi-national companies with a total annual marketing spend of more than $30bn globally said they have taken action on issues including transparency, brand safety, viewability and ad fraud.
Transparency remains a top priority for 47% of companies, while 51% say it is rising up the list. However, 14% said it is de-escalating, which the WFA says suggests some companies are seeing progress.
So what needs to change now?
"Education, pure and simple," says Inskin's Doyle.
"DTSG would be a great example of something that's in place. It's a stamp that proves that you're transparent in what you say."
Yet, in the mainstream, DTSG - the Digital Trading Standards Group - is yet to be adopted as an acceptable currency, Doyle says.
The DTSG is comprised of representatives of the entire digital display advertising market, including AOP, ISBA, IPA and the IAB UK.
"It's brilliant, but it's just not being adopted on the buy side at anything like the rate that it should be. If we're going to be taking brand safety and transparency seriously, that needs to change."
Jon Mew agrees and wants to see more collaboration to help overcome the challenges digital faces.
"The future of advertising is really exciting, but we need to make sure that we build a future that's sustainable, and works for everyone."


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Player starting business with The Price Is Right® scratch-off prize
When Clarence Barksdale plays the Maryland Lottery, his preference is for scratch-off games. “Yeah, that’s the thing,” said the Baltimore man. “I just feel lucky.”
That lucky feeling turned into a lucky win recently when Clarence played The Price Is Right® game and won its $100,000 top prize.
“I’m feeling real good right now,” he said after claiming his winnings at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore. In fact, he felt so good, the 29-year-old busted out with an impromptu celebration rap!
In addition to playing The Price Is Right®, Clarence is a fan of scratch-off games like Old Bay Bucks and the baseball-themed Home Run Riches. “I’m an Orioles fan,” he said.
The city resident usually buys instant tickets at Baltimore’s M&M Liquors located at 2500 East Biddle Street, which is where he bought The Price is Right® scratch-off. For selling a $100,000-winning scratch-off, M&M Liquors receives a bonus of $1,000 from the Lottery.
What will he do with his big win? Clarence is certified in lead and asbestos removal and hopes to spend his prize establishing an abatement business. Although planning a move with his family, he doesn’t expect the prize will lead to a major lifestyle change. “We’re going to live like we still don’t have it,” he said, adding, “Money can go as quick as it comes.”
The Price Is Right® game launched on April 22, 2019. There are still nine remaining $100,000 prizes, and 13 unclaimed $50,000 prizes waiting to be found at Lottery retailers across the state. If you have a non-winning The Price Is Right® scratch-off, make sure you enter it into the second-chance promotion for a chance to win up to $100,000. For details, visit mdlottery.com/thepriceisright.


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At a time when the economy is struggling and companies are downsizing, Fluid Innovation is creating opportunities for individuals out of work or looking to improve their financial situation
Austin, TX (PRWEB) January 14, 2009
Fluid Innovation (http://www.fluidinnovation.com), the leading provider of software commercialization services , today announced the launch of its Referral and Finders' Fee Programs, offering an opportunity for individuals familiar with software commercialization, intellectual property practices and/or new product development to earn significant supplemental income.
As companies search for new low cost, low risk growth strategies, they are increasingly turning to open innovation and software commercialization. Fortune 1000 companies value the ability to generate new revenue streams from internally developed applications that are not core to their business. And independent software vendors (ISVs) are recognizing the benefits of licensing these applications, getting to market faster with proven solutions that require less upfront costs.
Members of the Fluid Innovation Referral and Finders' Fee Programs have the opportunity to help these companies as well as themselves. Whether they just want to introduce Fluid to an individual or company who may be interested in an application listed on the Fluid Marketplace or they want to get more involved in nurturing and closing the deal, Fluid Innovation offers an opportunity for them.
"At a time when the economy is struggling and companies are downsizing, Fluid Innovation is creating opportunities for individuals out of work or looking to improve their financial situation," said Chris McKinzie, CEO for Fluid Innovation.
For more information on Fluid Innovation programs, contact Linda Kish or visit our Referral and Finders' Fee Programs Web page.
About Fluid Innovation
Fluid Innovation, founded in 2005, is architecting the weightless economy through technology, processes, and community. Fluid helps Fortune 1000 enterprises generate revenue by discovering, assessing, and licensing their internally-developed technologies to companies that commercialize and market them.
Fluid is considered one of three "Cool Vendors in Intellectual Property, 2008" as reported by Gartner Research.


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Ocean container shipping operators intend to impose new “emergency” surcharge
As a throwback to bygone days of “cartel” action, this tactic was done in unison, placing higher costs on existing bunker surcharges
Transportation in the NewsMay truck tonnage sees some gains but trends down due to tough annual comps, reports ATA Cass Freight Index reports more shipment and expenditures declines in May U.S. waterborne shipments are up in May, reports Panjiva Annual truckload and intermodal pricing gains remain intact, reports Cass and Broughton Capital U.S. rail carload and intermodal volumes are down for week ending June 8, reports AAR More Transportation News
Transportation Resource2nd Annual Trucking Fleet Management Survey Download This Complimentary eBook – 2019 Descartes Fleet Management Benchmark Study Findings
For many global logistics managers, the ocean cargo container shipping industry appears to move from one crisis to another without addressing fundamental supply and demand business practices. Further evidence of this surfaced in recent weeks when the world’s leading vessel operators announced the introduction of “emergency” bunker surcharges in response to rising fuel costs.
As a throwback to bygone days of “cartel” action, this tactic was done in unison, placing higher costs on existing bunker surcharges.
, Secretary General of the believes this move is an indictment on the liner shipping industry that is still using collective pricing methods to impose surcharges.
“GSF is adamant that few transport operators in other sectors would risk imposing such short-notice emergency surcharges because of the likely strong reaction from shippers, including the loss of business,” he said.
In a letter to his constituents, he added that container ship operators need to ‘”fess-up’” by taking responsibility and greater control of their costs rather than announcing vaguely explained short-notice unrecoverable surcharge costs.
According to Welsh, the imposition of emergency surcharges has no place in a modern liner shipping market where costs and prices should be mutually agreed between customers and suppliers, preferably in mutually agreed service contracts.
“Such arrangements enable the parties to build long term business partnerships, as well as providing clarity on the terms and conditions for the services provided and for appropriate remuneration,” he added.
Finally, Welsh noted that the use of emergency surcharges is a “none too subtle” attempt to impose non-negotiable charges on customers.
“The liner industry needs to employ more appropriate pricing arrangements, in conjunction with its shippers, if it is serious about developing partnership approaches and improving individual relationships,” he said.
, principal with ocean industry consultancy , observed that the carriers are in financial distress due to overcapacity and depressed rates, and looking for any means to raise those rates.
“Industry consolidation facilitates what used to be called ‘price signaling’ in which one seller announces prices and others follow, or ‘barometric’ price leadership, in which some implicitly chosen metric signals higher prices,” he said. “We are down to under 10 major carriers, but herding 10 cats is still tough unless they all want to go in the same direction anyway.”
According to Smith, when capacity was tight at the beginning of this century, the Transpacific Stablization Agreement (TSA) and its predecessors looked like strong cartels. When capacity was loose, TSA could not sustain higher prices against its members’ desire to fill their ships.
As reported in LM, the TSA dissolved itself earlier this year. Since the effective demise of tariffs, the world is split into contract rates and spot rates. Smith now says the question is this: which shippers are complaining about their current contract rate?
“Are these emergency surcharges permissible under existing contract terms? Are major importers going to pay it? If so, the carriers may have found a loophole, but that loophole is likely to be closed tight in the next round of negotiations. Shippers have long memories.”
, head of Drewry’s logistics practice, notes that any shipper who has a “no new carrier surcharge” clause in their contract will not be affected by the new rate hike. However, medium companies and spot buyers who do not prohibit new surcharges will definitely be exposed and face large, unexpected cost increases.
“The ocean carriers who have just introduced this new emergency surcharge at the same time have a lot of explaining to do and shippers will be suspicious about this coordinated response by carriers,” he said. “It is a fact that fuel prices have surged from $320 to about $460 per metric ton in the past year, but the fuel adjustment formula should be the sole mechanism to deal with increases in external costs like fuel – not new surcharges.”
About the AuthorPatrick Burnson, Executive Editor Patrick Burnson is executive editor for Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review magazines and web sites. Patrick is a widely-published writer and editor who has spent most of his career covering international trade, global logistics, and supply chain management. He lives and works in San Francisco, providing readers with a Pacific Rim perspective on industry trends and forecasts. You can reach him directly at
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Once upon a time, record stores were the original social networking site. Music geeks would gather around the new releases, talk about old favorites and get news on the latest bands and upcoming gigs.
For more than a decade, the Albany-based Last Vestige offered that opportunity in Saratoga Springs with a satellite store specializing in hard-to-find and used records and CDs. Brittany Nasser worked at Last Vestige for seven years, so when the store opted to close its Spa location in February, she jumped in to become owner of the newly dubbed Divinyl Revolution. The 24-year old Nasser is a businesswoman, no doubt, but at heart she just wants to keep Saratoga rocking.


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An insufficient ad budget for a vast region, inadequate support from industry players, and a media buying system that has yet to resolve key issues its predecessor also had failed to address.
These are the main challenges facing Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Asia-Pacific senior director for digital marketing, Janice Chan, who spoke candidly in a phone interview with ExchangeWire, during which she discussed her experience with programmatic and as a marketer in this [...]
Tags Ad ExchangeAd NetworkAd VerificationAdvertiserAgencyAgency Trading DeskAnalyticsAPACAttributionAudience BuyingBehavioural TargetingBrandCross-ChannelDataData Management PlatformFragmentationMarketermeasurementMedia BuyingPerformance MarketingProgrammaticPublisherRetargetingSingapore
In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates on ad tech from around the Asia-Pacific region – and in this edition: Marketers drowning in whirlpool of data; BuzzFeed inks joint venture with Yahoo Japan; APAC mobile users most active on Wednesdays; and Dentsu Aegis releases whitepaper on Asia user engagement.
Marketers drowning in whirlpool of data
Marketers across the Asia-Pacific region have access to ample data, but are struggling to extract useful information that can help them make better decisions.
Following a survey that found Singapore to be severely lacking in effective ad metrics, IAB’s local chapter has called on ad tech vendors to reach an agreement for digital measurement and for marketers to start educating themselves.
Without a proper measurement framework, distrust between brands and agencies, as well as vendors, will continue to play out and the gap between marketers and consumers will widen, says Peter Hubert, who is co-chair of IAB Singapore’s Measurement and Standards Committee and also [...]
Video advertising offers the perfect platform for a marriage of data and creativity, but many advertisers are unaware of the creative opportunities available, argues Justin Taylor, UK MD Teads.
Advertising has come a long way since the first TV ad aired in the UK sixty years ago. When the ad for Gibbs toothpaste featured on ITV, it would have been a novelty for British audiences. Nowadays, we’re much more seasoned.
We watch videos across multiple screens at multiple times of day, sometimes [...]
Gareth Davies, co-founder & CEO, Adbrain (pictured) speaks exclusively to ExchangeWire about how the technical revolution which is reinventing the way people behave, companies innovate, economies operate, and governments regulate, faster than many of us can comprehend.
The exponential growth of technology, loosely defined by the repeated doubling of computer power every 18-24 months, coupled with rapidly maturing technologies: the cloud (infinitely scalable computing power), artificial intelligence, and connected, sensory-aware devices, is behind the changing behaviour of consumers worldwide.
As a result [...]
No one can deny that ad tech has transformed the way brands conduct media buying. Gone are the days of sales calls and signed IOs. Today’s automated world sees media transactions happening in milliseconds across a variety of devices and channels. Today, we’re on the brink of yet another huge technological development, the Internet of Things (IoT), which will bring increased device/publisher fragmentation and more advertising opportunities. Nick Graham, global digital director at Huawei Technologies speaks exclusively to ExchangeWire about [...]
In this weekly segment, ExchangeWire sums up key industry updates on ad tech from around the Asia-Pacific region – and in this edition: Effective ad metrics sorely lacking in Singapore; Zeotap raises Series A for global expansion, Indian centre; China’s iClick acquires mobile ad platform; AdNear takes out the Ad; and Ogilvy opens up in Brisbane.
Effective ad metrics sorely lacking in Singapore
Senior marketers in Singapore rate the level of sophistication of digital ad measurement at just four out of [...]
Tags Ad NetworkAd VerificationAd VisibilityAgencyAnalyticsAPACAttributionAustraliaBehavioural TargetingBig DataChinaCross-ChannelDataDigital MarketingIndiameasurementMobilePerformance MarketingProgrammaticPublisherRetargetingSingaporeSoutheast AsiaSSP
In this week’s ExchangeWire European Weekly Roundup: Google reacts to EU cookie ruling; InMobi partners with Samsung; According to the Eyeota Index audience data spend soars in the UK; and AOL relies on Java 8 for the push into the programmatic future.
Changes to Google’s User Consent Policy Affecting Publishers
Reacting to the EU cookie-notification ruling, Google has updated its user consent policy. The European compliance regulations around [...]
Europe’s mega ad tech/digital advertising/digital media week is nearly upon us – when senior level agency, marketer and tech execs descend on Cologne with big volume deals to sign and custom algos to flog.
All of this will of course be kicked off on Monday September 14, by the must-attend event of the year, namely ATS London .
Yes, readers, it’s time to stuff your suitcases with ill-fitting lederhosen and book those flights.
ATS London remains the biggest and best programmatic event [...]
The rise of programmatic ad trading and the entry of generation Z to the workforce has resulted in new approaches to talent acquisition and retention. Wayne Blodwell, Head of Programmatic at iProspect spoke to ExchangeWire about today’s best talent, what motivates them, and what’s the talent of the future.
Finding the proverbial needle in a haystack
iProspect have a team dedicated to programmatic and hiring people for roles within this team has been difficult over the last 12 months since launching. Finding [...]


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The leading online casino developer, Blueprint gaming has an exciting announcement to make. Blueprint Gaming has secured its position as the primary developer for the popular Deal or no Deal™ iGaming branded content. All of this is possible with the establishment of the new agreement with the leading licence holder and Blueprint Gaming’s long-term partner, Banijay Brands.
If you are interested in looking more into this exciting partnership, then you have come to the right place. Let’s start exploring the most important elements that this global licence deal has to offer. So, with all of this said, let’s begin!
What This Deal Represents?
With the establishment of this deal, Blueprint will get the chance to continue with its development of unique content that is centered around the most popular Deal or no Deal™ game show. Knowing this, Blueprint will be the main game developer for the upcoming Deal or no Deal™: Banker’s Bonanza game release that is expected to launch in February.
In addition to all of this, with the increased success rates of the Deal or no Deal™ game for the UK market, Blueprint Gaming and Banijay Brands will release an additional version that will be also available within the Canadian market. With all of this, Blueprint Gaming will also get the chance to access multiple global brand IPs that will only expand their reach across various markets. All of this will only enlarge their slot game portfolio.
There are so many thrilling projects that are going to be released in the near future, so stay tuned for all of the upcoming game releases that will come out of this partnership.
Exciting News for the UK Land-Based Market
In addition to all of this, Blueprint Technologies has managed to enlarge the existing deal with their long-term parent, Banijay Brands. This allows Blueprint to continue working on developing and supplying exciting branded games for the UK land-based market as well. One of their leading branded games is the well-known Deal or no Deal™ game. In addition to all of this, players can expect to explore an exciting number of game titles including Deal or no Deal Diamond Jackpot™, Deal or no Deal Lightning Spins™, Deal or no Deal What’s in Your Box™, and so much more.
What Experts Have to Say About This Deal?
The Head of Commercial at Blueprint Gaming, Lauren Bradley, said that they are quite delighted to be working head-to-head with their long-term partner, Banijay Brands. They are also excited to be able to deliver content for global IPs.
The Commercial Director, Gaming and Gambling at Banijay Brands, Lex Scott, said that they are thrilled to continue working with Blueprint Gaming, especially when it comes to developing and supplying games like Deal or no Deal™ and provide exciting gaming possibilities for players from all over the world.
Don’t miss the latest game release by Blueprint here.


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Jeff Garzik, a lead developer of the Linux operating system and the Bitcoin Core project, announced the launch of NextCypher Productions on Aug. 2.
This is an independent entertainment company, geared towards using Web3 tools to produce sci-fi movies.
EXCLUSIVE: Cryptocurrency pioneer Jeff Garzik has launched NextCypher Productions, a new independent entertainment company that will focus on using the emerging technology of Web3 to empower the sci-fi community to turn fantasy into reality https://t.co/5TahZnBYi4
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) August 2, 2022
Jeff Garzik is known as the co-founder of Bloq, Spacechain and Vesper Finance. Not only that, he is also considered one of the people who contributed the most to the development of Bitcoin Core.
Regarding the new project, Garzik said NextCypher allowed him to return to his passion for science fiction, the field that led him to crypto in the first place. Garzik revealed that in his opinion, the roots of Web3 can be found in the pages of books of the Cyberpunk genre. This category includes popular titles like William Gibson’s Neuromancer, Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash, and role-playing games like “Shadowrun” and “Cyberpunk.”
To kick off the project, Garzik invested $1 million of his own money to fund NextCypher, which plans to launch the first television project, Deathlands (based on the novel by Jack Adrian, produced by Altman and Vitale. production) and Looking Glass, a groundbreaking idea from Garzik in the past, is expected to be released in 2023.
In addition, Garzik is also looking to leverage Web3 technologies such as NFT to link to digital content, providing proof of ownership for works produced by NextCypher. He affirmed that NFT will be the gateway to a Hollywood-class NextCypher experience.
“We’ve tried to think of all the fun, amazing, engaging ways fans want to experience going from *conception* at the concept stage, to post-production and streaming on YouTube. Amazon or Netflix.”
Finally, Garzik shared that NextCypher’s development team is still figuring out which blockchain NFTs will be minted on, but noted the direction is to avoid the high fees currently associated with Ethereum.
“We are currently looking for the best home for that. So the default answer is a sidechain connected to Ethereum, like Polygon or Avalanche. We are still negotiating between projects to see where we will choose to *land.”
However, Jeff Garzik’s case for turning in a new direction is not so new when we refer to the current career path from Bitcoin Core core developers. As of late 2021, developer John Newbery and maintainer Samuel Dobson have left Bitcoin Core for a number of personal reasons. Recently, Peter Wuille – another maintainer also narrowed his scope of activities for the project.
Maybe you are interested:
#Veteran #Bitcoin #Developer #Jeff #Garzik #Starts #Film #Production #Company #Web3


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Apple Pay point-of-sale transactions have increased in recent months, states a report by Pymnts, which notes a rising preference for touchless payments since the pandemic began. Eight percent of US consumers who have the feature enabled say they have used it, compared with 4.9% surveyed before March.
AV integration firms: If you're planning to enter SCN's Top 50 Systems Integrators program, the deadline is fast approaching. This year, entries will be judged on a three-year average of revenue in lieu of predicted one-year revenues in light of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the industry. Entries are due by 11 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
As campuses deal with on-again/off-again in-person instruction, AV/IT directors and educational technologists need to be prepared. Join directors from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Southern California, and experts from 1 Beyond and Nureva to learn how to ensure the best quality outcome. Register now for the free webcast, which starts at 2 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Apple is enhancing HomePod with the rollout of intercom capabilities, giving users the ability to talk to family members in different parts of the home. Alarm customization, more Siri functions and multiple-user voice support for podcasts also are being added.
Microsoft and MIT researchers have partnered on GazeCapture, a system that gathered eye-tracking data to develop a gaze tracker that is compatible with any webcam. The hope is that this will lead to expanded gaze control capabilities across any computer, smartphone or tablet.
BenQ's RP02 Series interactive flat panels are designed for in-person and remote collaborative meetings. The 4K UHD IFP series is available in three models: the 65-inch RP6502, 75-inch RP7502, and 86-inch RP8602.
By Emil Delgado
Shure is positioning its MXA710 linear array microphone and MXN5-C PoE ceiling speaker as a conferencing ecosystem designed to form the audio core for conferencing spaces in today's world. We tested it out to see how it delivers on this promise.
The Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai has deployed an extensive digital signage solution throughout the hotel and across its extensive conference and event facilities.
Data can play a pivotal role in learning during remote learning. Read how the University of Wisconsin, Madison is using analytics to track student engagement in real time, quickly connecting struggling students with support.
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Whitbread Appoints New Director
December 15, 2008 // Franchising.com // Whitbread PLC, UK's largest hotel and restaurants company, has today announced the appointment of Patrick Dempsey, managing director of Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, as an executive director. He will join the Board with effect from 1st January 2009.
Patrick (49) joined Whitbread in 2004 and took over the running of Whitbread's budget hotels business in 2005. Since that time Premier Inn has grown by nearly 10,000 rooms, undertaken a major rebranding and Patrick led the integration with the Whitbread restaurants business. Patrick spent 20 years at Forte and has worked in hotel and restaurant businesses throughout his working life.
Anthony Habgood, Chairman Whitbread PLC commented: "I am delighted that Patrick is to join the Whitbread Board where we will benefit from his strong operational experience. Patrick has been extremely successful in growing Premier Inn and improving our restaurants performance."
Notes to Editors
Whitbread PLC is the UK's largest hotel and restaurant company operating market-leading businesses in the budget hotels and restaurant sectors. Its brands include Premier Inn, Beefeater, Table Table, Brewers Fayre, Taybarns and Costa Coffee.
Whitbread PLC employs over 33,000 people and serves 8.5 million customers every month in its 1,500 outlets across the UK.
In the first half of the financial year ended 28th August 2008, Whitbread PLC reported a 12.6% increase in Group Revenue to £682.2 million and 24% increase in Pre-tax Profit to £123.3 million.
Whitbread PLC is a FTSE 100 company, listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is also a member of the FTSE4Good Index.
Patrick joined Whitbread in September 2004 as Managing Director of Whitbread Hotel Company. Following the sale of Marriott hotels he was appointed Managing Director for Premier Inn, which has since grown to become the UK's largest hotel chain operating some 40,000 rooms in the budget sector.
In February 2008 it was announced by Whitbread that Premier Inn and the Restaurants Division, including Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table and Taybarns would merge to form Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants, of which Patrick was appointed Managing Director.
Prior to Whitbread, Patrick was Chief Executive of Macdonald Hotels and Managing Director of Forte Hotels UK and CEO of Restaurant Associates, part of the Compass Group.