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Certainty launch schedule New Honda Vario is obtained after okezone obtain official invitation from the AHM.
Planned to launch in the procession will be present in the management of AHM as President Director Miki Yamamoto, Executive Vice President Director Johannes Loman, Marketing Director Julius Aslan, Marketing Director Takashi Nakamura, Senior General Manager of Technical Service Division Tedjosiswojo U.S., and General Manager Marketing Division Sigit Kumala.
This means that the schedule forward a day from the information expressed the AHM before, that the scooter matic (skutik) latest Honda will present the title in the Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) 2009.
Senin, 14 Januari 2013
08.09 deri oon No comments
The presence of the mystery new Honda Vario finally revealed. PT Astra Honda motor (AHM) as the holder of the Honda brand motor ensure New Honda Vario will launched Thursday (7/23/2009) future.


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Last year, comedian Sam Tallent released his first novel, Running the Light, which was praised by his fellow comics such as Marc Maron and Doug Benson for capturing the world of stand-up so accurately. And now, Tallent has a new special coming out with Comedy Dynamics.
According to the official release, Waiting for Death to Claim Us “follows America’s dogged stand-up scion Sam Tallent through 13 different venues across America from the sold-out theaters, to house parties and rib-joints, all while COVID barrels down on the nation in early 2020. This is the last comedy special filmed before the country went into lockdown.”
“Sam is one of those comedians that will have you laughing from the beginning to the end of the set, and we’re excited to be releasing his new special!” said Brian Volk-Weiss, Founder and CEO of Comedy Dynamics.
“I just hope people watch this,” added Sam Tallent.
“Sam Tallent is and always has been one of the true originals. He’s as much a myth as a man, like a character who wandered off the pages of a Kerouac novel.” Said Chris Gethard.
“A hell of a fucking writer!” said Ron White.
The special hits Comedy Dynamics platforms on September 7th, including Comcast, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Spectrum, Peacock, Dish, Google Play, Vimeo, YouTube and more. The album will be available on Sirius XM, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora and more starting September 10, 2021.

domain: news


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(28 January) Today, Monday, in the course of the morning, the Zurich city police recovered the Swiss Post drone which had come down into Lake Zurich. We are relieved that the drone was located in the presumed search area over the lake near Landi-Wiese park and was successfully salvaged by divers from the water police. […]
Articles for Logistics
Whether from the sofa, commuting on the train or during lunch breaks, more and more people in Switzerland are buying goods online from around the world and having them delivered conveniently to their home. The new “Federal Tax Administration (FTA) Mail Order Regulation” for international consignments came into force on 1 January 2019 – and has resulted in lots of questions for Swiss Post.
“Black Friday” and “Cyber Week” brought a first flood of parcels with record volumes for Swiss Post. During this period, Swiss Post handled around one third more shipments than it normally would in its three parcel centers. But what happens to a parcel after a customer drops it off at the Swiss Post counter? Barbara Schluchter-Donski from the newspaper “Thuner Tagblatt” wanted to find out more, so she sent a Christmas parcel on a journey through the yellow world from Thun to Mürren. Curious children were waiting for the red parcel at its destination, a village at 1,650 metres above sea level in the Bernese Oberland.


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The third-party logistics and freight forwarding arm of the Deutsche Post DHL Group launched SameDay Speedline, a global expedited airfreight service for urgent delivery of spare parts, critical medical supplies, or newly launched products.
A report released by the STB shows that “changes to the existing regulatory structure…would not benefit the larger transportation system,” Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, said in a statement.
Under the strategic partnership, Herzog Technologies will provide short-line railroad operator Watco Cos. with positive train control program management and back-office hosting services, according to a spokesperson for Watco.
Registration takes less than 1 minute.
Kalmar, a subsidiary of cargo-handling equipment and systems manufacturer Cargotec, appoints new head of the Asia-Pacific region, while the Florida East Coast Railway names VP of carload sales.
Several ocean carriers have decided to launch various routes in order to fill the void from Hanjin’s halted operation.
project44 has appointed chief IT architect and VP of global sales, while the Transportation Intermediaries Association names marketing director.


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Group seeks to overturn Wisconsin ban on selling homemade food items
MANITOWOC COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) - Mark and Paula Radl live in Manitowoc County and thought it would be worthwhile to sell roasted coffee beans.
“I bought a commercial roaster and just started getting familiar with that and using that unit,” Mark said.
Yet, the Radls called county officials and soon learned they couldn’t sell coffee made in their home. If they did, they could face consequences.
“Initially, we were like going to sell at farmers markets, direct to customers so that they know who it’s coming from, and friends and family and branch out from there. But we can’t even start anywhere,” Paula said.
With help from the Virigina-based Institute for Justice, the Radls joined other Wisconsinites in a lawsuit challenging that ban.
“Most homemade foods across the state of Wisconsin, you’re banned from selling it,” Institute for Justice lawyer Suranjan Sen said. “If you were to sell even a single bag of roast coffee beans, even a single a doughnut, even a single piece of homemade fudge to your neighbor, you’ll be risking up to six months in prison for that first offense.”
Sen added, “[County officials] told them, you know what, ‘this looks safe. This looks like your coffee is going to be real safe for people to put in their coffee machines and use. Nevertheless here in Wisconsin, you’re not allowed to sell your homemade foods.’”
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection sought to have a judge dismiss the lawsuit and leave the current regulations in place.
However, it cleared a major hurdle this week when a Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge on Wednesday ruled it can proceed.
Up until 2017, the Badger state was one of two states that also banned the sale of home baked items. New Jersey is the other state.
The Institute for Justice challenged Wisconsin’s policy and won allowing people to sell the cookies, cakes, pies, and muffins that’s made out of their kitchen as long as it doesn’t need to be refrigerated.
“We’re not saying that this is kind of food can’t be regulated at all. We’re not saying that it can’t be inspected at all. We’re just saying there needs to be some sort of reasonable way to let somebody sell their homemade foods,” Sen said.
Those who support the current policy have said it’s about food safety and preserving quality.
Copyright 2021 WBAY. All rights reserved.


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An online fundraising effort has raised more than $840,000 for an Indiana pizza shop hounded by critics after one of its owners said she would decline to cater a gay wedding because of her religious beliefs.
Memories Pizza temporarily closed its doors after the Walkerton business came under intense criticism following comments made by one of its owners, Crystal O'Connor, to a news station as controversy raged over Indiana's "religious freedom" law this week.
"If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no," O'Connor, who described the business as a "Christian establishment," told ABC57.
A GoFundme page set up to support the business raised $842,592 by Saturday morning. Donations are no longer being accepted. The fundraiser was set up after critics attacked pizza shop online, posting scathing reviews on Yelp and in one case threatening to burn down the business.
The GoFundMe account was set up by Lawrence Billy Jones III, a contributor for the conservative news platform The Blaze.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill Thursday clarifying that the law doesn't allow businesses to refuse serving gay people or other minority groups. The online fundraiser raised the staggering sum in just three days.
This story originally appeared on NBC News


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Check her out! Rihanna sends fans into a frenzy as she goes Christmas shopping in Barbados wearing a patterned suit
She's one of the most famous solo artists in the entire world, but when Rihanna is back in her home country of Barbados, the singer likes to keep things real.
Her fans couldn't believe their eyes when they spotted the Pour It Up star indulging in a last-minute festive shopping spree on Christmas Eve.
The 25-year-old headed to Cave Shepherd, the largest department store in the Caribbean in order to stock up on a few gifts.
Is it really her? Rihanna got mobbed as she enjoyed a spot of last-minute festive shopping in Barbados on Christmas Eve
The stunning star looked like she had dressed for the catwalk, wearing a checked two-piece suit which consisted of a cropped blazer and baggy drawstring trousers, with nude heels.
She showed off her toned tum in a mesh bralet which she accompanied with a series of gold necklaces and bracelets.
Rihanna was spotted carrying a vanity case and a soft child's toy and she smiled as she was surrounded by eager fans who took pictures of her on their phones.
Splashing out: The stunning star picked up a vanity case and a soft toy during her spree
Rihanna is currently on holiday with her family in Barbados and in October she bought a $22million beachside home on the island - after renting the property last year.
She returns to the place she was born and raised every Christmas and no doubt she's enjoying some time off from her hectic working schedule.
Earlier in the day, she uploaded a picture of herself wrapping presents while smoking a roll-up and lip synching to Mariah Carey.
She wrote: 'Lip synching to @mariahcarey Christmas album is my favorite thing to do at this kinda time!!! #MERRYCHRISTMAS.'
She's so kind: The star stopped to cuddle a cute little girl
Rihanna has a lot to look forward to as she is nominated for two Grammy Awards at the January 26 event at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.
She's up for Best Urban Contemporary Album, for Unapologetic, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her single Stay, which features Mikky Ekko.
She's also set to front French fashion line, Balmain and on December 17th, she took to Twitter to express her excitement.
She wrote: 'Guess who's the new BALMAIN Woman???!!!!!!! #BALMAIN #MommaImadeIt #CaribbeanGalRunTing @orousteing'
The singer, who has a hand in designing her own range of outfits for River Island, will be the face of label’s Spring 2014 range, which launches next month.
Christmas tradition: Rihanna shared this snap of herself smoking a roll up whilst listening to Mariah Carey songs and wrapping presents
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Now Samsung is poised to release the successor to the Galaxy S3 – a smartphone that will likely be called the Galaxy S4. "March 14. Ready 4 the show? #UNPACKED," reps for Samsung wrote in a Twitter message posted earlier this week. Included in the tweet was a faux-movie poster, with a link to a YouTube channel, and an invitation to "meet the next Galaxy."
The press event will be held in New York, but it will be live-streamed via YouTube.
"We introduced the Galaxy S III in London last year, and this time we changed the venue [to New York] ... as we were bombarded with requests from U.S. mobile carriers to unveil the Galaxy S IV in the country," Samsung mobile division chief JK Shin has said.
Samsung hasn't said exactly what kind of features will be available on the Galaxy S4. (We assume it's going to be called the S4 because of all the "4" branding in the Twitter message. We could be wrong.) But smart money is on a bigger processor, a better – if not necessarily larger – screen, and a more durable build.


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Many folks know the SXSW (South by Southwest) festival in Austin for the exceptional music that is featured there, but in fact, the event has really grown into an interesting amalgamation of music, film, gaming, tech and more. It’s quite interesting what has evolved, and fintech is part of that mix and includes a fintech panel and a fintech silo within their ninth annual SXSW Accelerator® Pitch Event.
The panel was entitled :FinTech’s Future: Banking & Beyond: and occurred on Saturday and included speakers from Finovate, Santander InnoVentures, FT Capital and CRMNXT.
It’s description: “Banking and the larger financial services ecosystem have undergone major changes in the last few years—and this is just the beginning. New financial technologies and regulations are changing the way we interact with our money. This panel will bring together a few of the most connected leaders within the FinTech space to give the audience an inside look at what is occurring today and what tomorrow might bring. As connectors working with financial institutions and other buys of FinTech, these luminaries see some of the most interesting new financial technologies before they become mainstream, giving them a deep understanding of how emerging FinTech’s can prosper.”
In addition, SXSW has a Startup Village and offers a pitch event in ten categories, one of which is fintech. The finalists for the fintech category were the following:
- AssetVault, which allows customers to secure digital and physical assets together
- CNote, which offers a savings product with a 2.5% yield, utilizing community development financial institutions (CDFIs).
- Envudu, a budgeting app that employs digital envelopes — a mix of old-school and newfangled saving tech.
- Hip Pocket, which offers Hip Money, a tool that lets savers to put money aside with a single click, and
- Kickfurther, a crowdfunding play that allows users to invest in new businesses and help get their products to market.


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Numerous reports have been compiled on Botswana’s internet infrastructure and despite the significant amount of money injected into its development the country’s internet connectivity remains a glaring limitation. Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) found the country’s internet connectivity, penetration rate and speed to be relatively low. Even if Botswana’s population could grow exponentially overnight the level and quality of internet connectivity stacks e-commerce against great odds.
As a matter of comparison China is an example of e-commerce done right. China’s population is the propeller to the success of e-commerce, a trade which is proving to be unparalleled in the world. China’s size of internet users (netizens) was estimated at around 45 percent of its population of 1.4 billion people. Additionally, this country’s internet penetration rate was put at 53.2 percent. It was found that the most common device used to access the internet were mobile phones at about 81 percent, followed by desktops at around 23 percent and lastly laptops at 14 percent. The size of mobile netizens out of the total internet users was found to be 95.1 percent. These figures paint a picture of what is digitally happening in China as reported by the China Internet Network Information Center 2017 statistical survey on the country’s internet development.
Granted, the size of China’s readily available netizens contributes significantly to the success of e-commerce but it would be remiss to look at the feat of this form of trade simply through the eye of numbers. Though serving as an important enabler to the digital economy the numbers are only part of the magic behind its achievement. Looking at the bigger picture beyond the numbers could give countries such as Botswana, with a miniature population compared to China, the opportunity to acutely interrogate ways of building towards the realisation of e-commerce even with such an inherent limitation of a small population. This involves assessing the infrastructure behind China’s e-commerce and identifying areas where Botswana could focus on in the assemblage of the e-commerce masterpiece.
Sun Ping, a lecturer at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences used the example of Alibaba, China’s giant e-commerce company, to give context to the e-commerce components. First is the digital infrastructure, either website or App, which facilitates the interaction between buyers and sellers. Second is the financial settlement platform which provides the means through which buyers pay for products bought and traders receive money for products sold. Third is the transport system which facilitates the delivery of purchased products to the buyer. The real success behind China’s flourishing e-commerce is the payment solution embedded in China’s flagship social media App, WeChat.
This is how it works. According to Walkthechat website, producers/traders can link WeChat Pay account to either their websites, Apps or WeChat shop. Buyers will as a result interact with the trader’s account through four ways. One, a trader embeds in App web-based payment into their WeChat shop, in that way when buyers make a payment, they will just need to enter 6-digit pin code or scan of finger print. Second, a QR code will be automatically generated by the WeChat payment system through which buyers just need to scan it with WeChat or Alipay to make the payment. Three, inside a physical store the WeChat payment solution can be connected with the trader’s POS system. The trader then scans the buyer’s payment QR code from the mobile phone. These settings within WeChat Pay enable financial settlement between buyers and sellers, a digital infrastructure which has not yet found its place in Botswana.
Botswana could, like countries such as Japan, Australia, New Zealand, West and USA integrate WeChat cross-border payment solution. This solution, according to walkthechat, was developed to help foreign merchants collect payments from Chinese tourists. It automatically translates the price into Chinese currency RMB so that the Chinese tourists can pay with WeChat wallet, and the foreign merchant can receive the payment in their local foreign currency. It is said that Tencent, the company that owns WeChat, is actively looking for payment solution providers to help bring WeChat cross-border payment to other countries. There is however a requirement which seemingly disqualifies Botswana, at least for now. “As long as you have a physical store in a popular Chinese tourist destination, it is possible to setup in-store WeChat cross-border payment,” states walkthechat. Though Chinese travel to Botswana regularly, the country isn’t necessarily a popular Chinese tourist destination. The other option would be for Botswana to build and develop its own payment solutions with similar capabilities as the WeChat Pay or better. This would provide the needed thrust to e-commerce uptake in the country. With the financial settlement facilitation guaranteed this would then provide the much needed impetus to improving the transport system in the country to a level that will make delivery of goods sold efficient and cost effective. China’s swift and sophisticated transport system is also a large part of the fire behind her e-commerce. For Botswana to arrive where China is she would have to pay heed to the crucial digital infrastructure which would simply put to use the existing state of the art physical internet infrastructure.
Despite that China is leading the pack in e-commerce the country continues to actively connect more of its people to internet. The Chinese government committed to ramping up internet connectivity to 85 percent of the population to 4G mobile internet by 2020. In fact it was recently reported that superfast data speeds networks at 5G are currently under pilot stage. On the other hand Botswana took the bold and forward looking step of establishing world class internet infrastructure but it would appear that it faltered in taking it all the way to make connectivity readily accessible to people. The move towards increasing internet connectivity would pay off. A study by Steve Esselaar and Sebusang Sebusang found that mobile phone ownership penetration was 80 percent in Botswana, the second highest penetration percentage among the 12 African countries, coming in behind South Africa. This is because 95 percent of internet subscribers in the country are connecting via wireless mobile services, which would result in dramatic uptake of e-commerce. Botswana in that regard presents an ideal environment for e-commerce to thrive but the reality is she is not remotely close to taking advantage of such an opportunity. The reason is that e-commerce needs a combination of things to be available and the ones missing starkly from Botswana’s landscape is the digital infrastructure that allows interaction and payment capabilities between buyers and sellers.


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Farm Bureau urging support for trade deal by State's governors
The United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal (USMCA) is a win for farmers and ranchers in Utah, and throughout the country. Farm Bureau's ad in The Washington Examiner shared this message as the nation’s governors gather this week for their @NatlGovsAssoc winter meeting in Washington, D.C.
On November 30, 2018, the U.S., Mexico and Canada joined in the successor to NAFTA, the U.S.- Mexico -Canada Agreement (USMCA). NAFTA removed barriers to intraregional trade, including agricultural products traded between Mexico and the U.S. and most agricultural products traded between the U.S. and Canada since it was implemented in 1994. Agricultural exports from the U.S. to Canada and Mexico increased from $8.9 billion in 1993 to $39 billion in 2017. The USMCA not only locks in market opportunities previously developed with our North American neighbors, but also builds on those trade relationships in several key areas.
More information is available at https://www.fb.org/issues/trade/usmca/.
Want more news on this topic? Farm Bureau members may subscribe for a free email news service, featuring the farm and rural topics that interest them most!


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Published on : Wednesday, November 15, 2017
At the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Conference this theme park has gone on to reveal some brand new attractions.
One of them includes the world’s tallest drop.
The IAAPA actually hosts as many as 32,000 attendees and features 9 miles of aisles. Though it is not open to the public whatever is offered at this event would definitely be an immense delight to parkgoers everywhere.
The attendees are from more than 100 nations.
There are 150 companies from Florida and this is inclusive of over 50 from Central Florida comprising SeaWorld that had demonstrated seven new upcoming attractions at IAAPA.
SeaWorld has announced that it would be opening Infinity Falls next summer.
Apart from this, water is also the key to a new park coming to Lake Nona next summer. The German makers said that a real water park needs to be in the water, and in this case, Lake Nona.
The IAAPA has its official headquarters is located in Orlando and runs through Friday at the Orange County Convention Center.


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Since March 2020 when COVID-19 was deemed a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, every industry has experienced disruptions in supply chains (Illustrated here in a New York Times interactive flow chart). According to sources quoted by The New York Times, the subsequent disruptions throughout the following two years started with a shortage of shipping containers in China relating to demand for the personal protective equipment.
The resulting confusion and delays at ports – where many shipments sat unclaimed – ostensibly upset the intricate web of global supply and demand, leaving the design and construction industry with more questions than answers. Kermit Baker, AIA’s Chief Economist, offered additional nuance and an alternative explanation in a recent interview, stating that the situation stems from long-brewing supply chain issues particular to the nature of globalism, just lying in wait for a pandemic or another major event to serve as a catalyst for crisis.
Regardless of the underlying factors, the “Great Supply Chain Disruption” represents perhaps the largest coincident event of the pandemic, and has profoundly impacted design and construction. As also reported in the New York Times in February of this year, the end to the supply chain turmoil is not yet in sight and may not have an “end” as such, but rather an evolution. Indeed, perhaps the disruptions resulting from the pandemic are best viewed as a warning for the future, and as strong argument for completely rethinking how the industry sources its materials. Read more>


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March 9 2011
Food security: Worrying situation in North Africa and Middle East region
Food security definitively is a challenge in the North Africa & Middle East region. The first victims are children and families living in poverty - with long-lasting effects on their health and development. It is also blamed for the unrest unsettling many countries in the region. At present, SOS Children's Villages is facing food prices in 'danger territory'.
Photo: Joris Lugtigheid
Worldwide, there is growing concern over another possible full-blown food crisis only three years after the last one. When international food prices start climbing, the Middle East, among other regions, was especially vulnerable. In the past two decades, the region has been shaken three times by waves of food rioting, most recently in 2008 when prices spiked higher. Now, prices are climbing again; and higher prices are partly to blame for the social and political unrest that unsettled many countries in the region with major demonstrations in Algeria, Jordan and Sudan - without mentioning the downfall of the Tunisian and Egyptian regime also triggered by grievances over prices of food.
The Sahel countries and particularly Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal are also among those most-threatened by food deficit according to the UN list published in January 2011. The world situation is combined with the persistent effects of 2009 and last year's food crisis and flooding in northern Burkina Faso and north-eastern Mali in August and September 2010. Rice and wheat are very important as part of daily diets and these three countries import sizable amounts of rice. Dependency on international markets is high and with the worsening of the crisis in Ivory Coast, the entire region is holding its breath.
Bread and rice is so essential it also translates into meaning life. The popular bread is one of the few items those living in poverty can afford. But rising food prices has put even bread out of reach for many. The risk is in having poor families have to spend up to 75% of what they earn on food, with prices going up further; the direct result is that children are at risk of becoming malnourished. It also means that parents are unable to afford medical care or school fees anymore. Food price increases are likely to increase poverty in the short run, with the poor in urban areas and the rural landless falling on hard times. Long-term it is highly dramatic for the most vulnerable, including small children and pregnant women.
Policies of local government are being implemented, yet full scale crisis is looming
Faced with hunger rioting, some countries decided to damper the effect of the jump in food prices with across-the-board price controls or generalized subsidies: In January, Algeria has decided to cut the cost of some foodstuffs and to increase the amount of soft wheat it supplies to the local market each month by 18 percent. Jordan announced a $225 million package of cuts in the prices of some types of fuel and of staple products, including sugar and rice. Morocco introduced a compensation system for importers of milling soft wheat aimed at keeping prices stable. In Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria, their farmers now get guaranteed prices for staple and industrial crops, as well as a large gamut of input subsidies but this imposes a heavy fiscal burden on the countries. Since the last crisis, many strategies were launched to support farmers in boosting productivity and home-grown harvest. Still, it is a struggle in many countries of the region.
Impact on daily life of SOS families
SOS mother is cooking the meal for her children (Kita, Mali) - Photo: SOS Archives
"To be active and healthy, children need to have sufficient and nutritious food. To families, this means to be able to afford food. Now this is a concern", says an SOS mother from SOS Children's Village Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso. "Every week I buy rice, sugar, milk, oil pasta and eggs, sometimes meat and fish. Now I need more money for my weekly food basket and I have to deprive the children of very nutritious food: children now have eggs four times a month compared to eight times not so long ago. The price of a plate of 30 eggs has increased by 65%, prices of maize and sugar by 45%. As milk powder almost doubled, milk was also removed from the afternoon snack. Children only get it for breakfast. Children noticed it and come up with questions: I try to explain what is going on." Burkina Faso is a landlocked country - geographically in the Sahel - where child malnutrition in very poor families never really stops and where the lasting effects of the 2009 crisis have not completely vanished yet.
The story is along the same lines at SOS Children's Villages Ouagadougou in the north of the country: children eat fish and fruit less often. For budgeting reason, this means that outings for entertainment have been cut back on, too: from time to time, children used to go to the Faso Park, a playground for children; that will not be the case for sometime; of course, they say they'll miss it. The SOS family strengthening programme in Bobo-Dioulasso helps in reducing the impact of food price inflation in all areas, namely education and health. There is also a regular specific contribution of cereals. Families - organised in an association - now get together regularly to discuss the price issue and do small contributions to support each other, like buying in bulk. In Bobo-Dioulasso, starting with the crisis 2008/2009, donations of rice, meat and maize decreased considerably and finally stopped in 2010, while in Ouagadougou the canteen received a large donation in beans and couscous.
Here is what the accountant of the national office of SOS Children's Villages Burkina Faso had to say on this: "On top of the sharp rise of food utilities, prices have also gone up with electricity, gas and petrol. Travelling by bus from Ouaga to Bobo now costs 6, 000 CFA Francs, while it used to be 4, 000. A 150% rise is a lot. And even if there is more breeding in the north and east of the country, meat becomes more expensive because of transport. And since a lot of food comes from Ivory Coast, due to the political unrest there, prices are going up even more: a litre of cooking oil - mostly coming from the neighbouring country - has increased by 30% between November 2010 and January 2011. This makes things difficult to sustain."
The situation is also tense in Sudan (SOS Children's Village Khartoum) - Photo: SOS Archives
In Senegal, it is pretty much the same situation: "Look", says SOS mother Maty in Kaolack, "I cook traditional meals for the children, all of them contain rice, from thiébou diène, yassa, domada, thiou, mafé and also kandia soup. This is difficult to change. I try to bargain a little more and look for an economic diet. The crisis was huge three years back, but now it is not only cereals, but also all prices rising, from tea and coffee to sugar and oil." In many villages, in order to maintain the quality of education and medical care for children, family budgets are adjusted namely when it comes to clothing expenses.
Treats like cakes, chocolate and fruit are over and out in Jordan. An SOS mother from SOS Children's Village Irbid, in the north of the country, tells us that prices for sugar, maize and chicken have increased by 30% and bread by 10% (because it is subsidised). Petrol and electricity are also up by 10%. Youth who have reached to age of being able to understand it learn that the economy worldwide is very much connected and listen to explanations on the importance of water resources and sharing food.
Lunch at the SOS Social Centre in Imouzzer - Photo: SOS Archives
In Morocco, the government compensation programme delayed the impact of international food prices and the surge in oil prices on households. But climate change is a reality: this winter, rains were both delayed and reduced and when it rained, record flooding - when compared to the past 30 years - left its mark on the two grain producing regions, the Sousse and the Gharb. While prices of wheat are compensated for, too, vegetable prices have also soared. SOS Children's Villages Morocco decided to focus on school meals, concentrated in locations with food insecurity with high poverty levels as a safety net mechanism and an incentive to maintaining the enrolment of girls and boys in schools. Since October 2010, more than 80 school children have received lunches and afternoon snacks at the canteen of the SOS Children's Villages family strengthening programme in Imouzzer Kandar, a Middle Atlas mountain town with large pockets of deep poverty. Oftentimes, these children would not have had anything to eat in the evening and would not have done their homework as there was no light - wood and electricity are too expensive. Now they do their homework at the SOS Family Centre with an educator. A similar programme also operates at the SOS family strengthening programme in Imzouren in the Rif Mountain up north.
In Egypt, 50 % of the very poor eat onion and bread at the best of times. In the long run, this is not the most nutritious food. Today, some just cannot afford milk power, having experienced a 125% price increase, one litre of milk costing around $10. Baby milk is unaffordable to many. To make it less expensive, it is sold mixed up with flour, with infants ending up malnourished, which impacts on their development and health. Prices for sugar increased by 100% and for bread by 200%. An egg costs 1 Euro. Soaring food prices eat up a poor families' budget, making them even more vulnerable. Faced with this, even the SOS family strengthening programmes have to carefully consider when deciding on taking on additional children at risk to participate. But for how long could it go on that way?
Reasons for severe effects on North Africa, Middle East and the West of Africa
Middle East is a region where increased occurrences of water shortage are decreasing cereal harvest. These are countries where any tiny drop of water has a role. With an agricultural sector limited because of water supply scarcity, limited and even diminishing arable land and climate change, the region is particularly vulnerable to food price shocks. Combined with some of the highest rates of population growth in the world (1.9% much higher than the world rate of 1.2%), they are large food importers and many have to rely on imports to meet about 50% of their food needs. Wheat is Middle East's most popular foodstuff. According to the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development, "today Arab countries are the largest importers of cereal in the world - more than 58 million metric tons in 2007 - and most import at least 50 percent of the food calories they consume." The region is highly exposed to international prices. The number of "food-insecure" people has been increasing in the region.
A shopkeeper from Lebanon - Photo: SOS Archives
Moreover, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal, along with Sudan and Egypt, will be amongst the possibly worst-hit by soaring food prices because they combine low income and a high recorded level of their food import on most common foodstuff, says the FAO low-income food deficit countries (LIFDC) review in January 2011.
Response of SOS Children's Villages
In 2008/2009, SOS Children's Villages was not isolated from the food crisis. To protect every single child in care from the consequences of the soaring prices of mainly cereals, SOS Children's Villages took a closer look at the most hard-hit countries and implemented specific food programmes in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Tunisia. This was aimed at helping children living in the SOS Children's Villages, SOS mothers, youths, families from the family strengthening programmes and all children attending SOS Schools and Kindergartens.


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2015 World Beard And Moustache Championship
Leogang, Austria, just held the 2015 World Beard And Moustache Championship which featured over 300 contestants from 20 different countries.
A panel of judges chose the world’s most attractive, original and unusual beards from a variety of categories under three divisions: Moustache, Chin and Stubble Beard, and Full Beard.
Thanks to Austrian photo journalist Jan Hetfleisch, here’s a look at some of the unique beards that entered the competition…
Source by sunnyskyzShare:


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The woman thoroughly checks the bride by grabbing the bride's nose and ears before pinching her lip to check her teeth.
"An important decision must be made carefully", a voice is then heard saying, according to an English translation, with the video cutting to footage of an Audi.
Some even suggested boycotting Audi, whilst another called it "a bad ad!" and others, "disgusting".
It's an ad from Ogilvy & Mather Beijing promoting used Audis that have been checked out and officially certified for resale.
A growing number of Chinese consumers have taken to Weibo, China's Twitter, to slam the German carmaker.
Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput Special
Redefining and owning the terms, debonair and dashing was the Nawab of Pataudi, Saif Ali Khan who gave us two unbelievable looks. Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt , the proud winners of the IIFA 2017 - The New York City, that never sleeps.
Comparing a woman to a certified used auto just doesn't look good because it implies that a lady's physical flaws would be enough to break off a marriage.
AW-Volkswagen, the joint venture, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It treats women like objects by comparing us to used and second hand cars'.
The anger over the China advert comes just a day after an announcement by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority which bans adverts encouraging gender stereotypes.
FAW-Volkswagen Automotive sold 253,635 Audi cars in the first half of 2017, down 12.2 percent from past year.
"So many powerful women in China are also potential customers for Audi, and this is how Audi is sending its message to buyers?" said Guo Zimeng, a Shanghai-based lifestyle editor. The man emerges from the wash as a clean, light-skinned Chinese man.


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Revved: Ford's C-Max Energi boasting fuel economy numbers better than plug-in Toyota Prius. Battle of the electric plugs.
Revved: Chevrolet plans 13 new or refreshened vehicles in 2013. No jinx.
Stalled: Toyota announces its largest recall ever -- 7.43 million for power-window switches. Toyota's recall problems not over.


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VANA MEMBER PROFILE – Wendouree News And Lotto
Wendouree News and Lotto
1215 A Howitt Street, Wendouree, Ballarat, Victoria 3355
Satnam Singh Aulakh & Jasbir Aulakh
Years as a newsagent: 2
Giftware, Greeting Cards, Stationary, Lotto, Newspapers, Magazines, AFL Footy stock
Satnam purchased Wendouree News and Lotto in 2018, prior to that he was running a gift shop and small supermarket.
The newsagency is currently managed by Satnam and his wife Jasbir as well as one staff member Christine, who has been working at Wendouree News and Lotto for nearly 30 years!
In order to cater to the needs of local residents, Satnam and Jasbir have increased the stock range by introducing reading glasses, gloves, beanies, gifted items, puzzles and other educational products.
Satnam and Jasbir consider every product opportunity carefully in their shop, in the context of how they see their business growing and the types of customers they are keen to attract. During COVID-19, they have been trying to keep plenty of stock such as hand sanitiser, face mask and other hygiene products.
Overall, Wendouree News and Lotto are doing really well as a newsgancy in regional area during this pandemic.
Wendouree News and Lotto have sold two first division prizes over the last two years! The first was a TattsLotto division one winner and the second was a Powerball $8 million prize, won by a loyal customer with a QuickPick entry at the shop.


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TAIPEI -- In early December, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook toured a Shanghai factory owned by Luxshare ICT, a Chinese company that has risen from obscurity in the last decade to become a key supplier to the U.S. tech giant. Reflecting later on what he saw, Cook praised Luxshare founder Grace Wang, who started out as a factory worker on a Foxconn production line and ended up the leader of a tech company with more than 20 locations around the world. "This is an extraordinary example of a Chinese dream being realized," Cook said.
Apple's Chinese suppliers catapult to a new level
Luxshare, hailed by Cook, is among the winners


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Watch this exclusive interview with the CMO at Tata Consultancy Services, Europe & UK, Ashish Babu, while he discusses his role as a marketing leader today.
Ashish Babu has worked in a variety of senior marketing roles across different industries for more than two decades. He has held five senior marketing roles in his 14 years at Tata Consultancy Services.
In an interview with Peter Stojanovic, Ashish provided valuable insights when discussing the core principles of marketing and the role of the B2B marketer today.
The core principles of marketing
Ashish believes we are in the process of an “evolution”. He likened the shift from physical to hybrid working as a sprint, arguing that the company had to think up new experiences to accommodate these new changes. “The virtual world has opened up to another level of evolution where our customers want to be treated differently”, he said.
In terms of the changes made, Ashish highlighted how people are going into the office less, keeping traveling to a minimum and spending more time online.
On the other hand, he thinks that as a marketer, things are still fundamentally the same. It’s still about “convincing a customer or a buyer to work with us or partner with us”, according to Ashish. While this is a priority, he wants marketers to get better at understanding their consumer’s needs. This, in his opinion, is a work in progress.
B2B and B2C experiences
His argument is that we’re not convincing one individual to buy into a marketing strategy - you’re trying to appeal to a whole group of people. Ashish feels that creating opportunities and engaging with people should be a top priority.
“Create an environment where they can actually meet you”, he commented.
Differences to the marketing role
“Our consumers are changing consistently and they want to be dealt with in a different way”, said Ashish. He argued that with changing customer mindsets, marketers must also make sure they are being consistent and continue to provide them with better experiences.
Ashish’s advice to marketing leaders is to focus on the human aspect. He pointed out that they are marketing to humans, their “mission” and “passion”. Using every piece of data available about the target audience and consumers is essential for generating an experience that is easy to consume. He commented that “it goes back to the fundamentals”.
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Content Creators; YouTube Will Allow You Monetize #Covid19 Videos
Written by Smooth FM on April 3, 2020
Google-owned video giant; YouTube announced on Thursday that creators in its partner program “can now monetize COVID-19 related content.”
According to YouTube it will show a limited number or even no advertisements on content that contains “distressing footage,” for example videos that contain people “visibly suffering” from COVID-19.
The platform will also extend these ad policies to coronavirus-related pranks and challenges, such as creators licking toilet seats, coughing or sneezing on bystanders, or trying to scare people into thinking they are sick with the coronavirus.
YouTube also specified that it will demonetize content containing medical misinformation. The platform defines this content as “false/unsubstantiated claims about the cause, promotion of dangerous remedies or cures, origin or spread of COVID-19 that contradict scientific consensus.”
Videos claiming that governments or corporations created the virus as a bioweapon or that it’s spread via 5G technology fall under this category. It also includes content that says COVID-19 is targeting certain ethnic groups and videos that claim the pandemic is a “hoax, cover-up or deliberate attack.”
Along with its monetization guidelines, YouTube recommends some best practices when creating coronavirus-related content. The company urges creators to fact-check their work and “be sensitive” to the crisis affecting people around the world.


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Nancy Pelosi knows how to make a fashion statement.
After a heated televised meeting with Sen. Chuck Schumer and President Donald Trump earlier this week, the House minority leader made a grand exit from the White House rocking a burnt orange, rust-colored Max Mara coat.
It's not back in stock yet, but we love this similar Max Mara coat too.
With its high-buttoned collar and statement color, Pelosi's coat would stand out from the crowd on a normal day. But people are calling attention to Pelosi's seemingly deliberate decision to wear this very coat to emerge from a contentious meeting.
After debating security at the U.S.-Mexico border and a possible government shutdown, Pelosi strode out of the White House with her head held high. She promptly broke out her sunglasses before slipping her hands in her pockets and addressing the media outside.
What happened next is proof of the power of social media.
Twitter users proceeded to create a string of memes referring to the politician's sartorial move.
A Twitter account dedicated to the coat even popped up later that day.
It's not the first time Pelosi has worn the stylish coat. Back in 2013, she sported the same style at President Barack Obama's second inauguration ceremony.
This time around, however, the coat has inspired a strong reaction. The high-profile politician, who was recently nominated as speaker by House Democrats, inspired the coat's designer, Max Mara, to reissue the retired design.
Max Mara sent out an official announcement yesterday afternoon, saying that the Rust Glamis Coat, previously from their 2013 collection, will be re-released in 2019, in a "variety of colorways."
Did you miss the memes surrounding Pelosi's major fashion moment? Take a look at some notable reactions.
Social media users agree: Pelosi made an explosive fashion statement.
Many couldn't resist comparing Pelosi's power moment to Beyonce's "Lemonade" music video.
Fans of "The Devil Wears Prada" also saw similarities between Pelosi and the movie's powerhouse boss, Miranda Priestly.
"Scandal" fans think she might just have what it takes to be a gladiator.
And Pelosi sure did make RuPaul proud with her sassy statement.


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A partial trade agreement between the United States and China has reportedly been reached on Friday, with President Donald Trump calling it a “substantial deal” that serves as a temporary truce to a more-than-yearlong financial dispute.
However, members of the footwear industry are apparently unappeased. In a statement to FN, Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America president and CEO Matt Priest said, “In this ongoing, uncertain trade and business environment, any talk of a potential deal is a positive development. However, we will not be fully satisfied until President Trump removes all of the China 301 import taxes hitting American families and American businesses.” (The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative declared the tariffs following a Section 301 investigation that determined China’s technology transfer and intellectual property practices were “unreasonable and discriminatory.”)
Priest added, “The tariffs have already raised consumer costs and prevented shoe companies from growing. One step forward when we’ve taken three steps back on trade policy isn’t a real win for American shoe companies. We urge trade negotiators on both sides to keep working to a full agreement that rolls back all recent tariffs so everyone sees lower costs and shoe companies can unleash innovation and create new jobs.”
Similarly, American Apparel and Footwear Association president and CEO Rick Helfenbein said the organization “welcomes the president’s decision” but added that “the reality is that everything currently being hit with punitive tariffs is still being charged.”
“As we have said throughout this trade war, we do not believe continuing to tax Americans gives us leverage at the negotiating table with China, and it is past time that these misguided tariffs were removed,” he added. “The continued costs and uncertainties associated with this tariff policy mean the Grinch still has stolen our Christmas.”
Following a scheduled meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, Trump said today that the world’s two largest economies have agreed to a “phase one” deal that includes China’s purchase of $40 billion to $50 billion worth of American agricultural products as well as guidelines on intellectual property, reported The New York Times. It also puts a pause to the U.S. leader’s planned tariff increase on Oct. 15, which would’ve boosted to 30% the existing duty of 25% already in place on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, per NYT.
The limited agreement is said to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive deal that Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping could sign in mid-November when they meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit.
Over the past year and a half, the U.S. and China have imposed new duties on billions of dollars in imports coming from either country. On Sept. 1, Washington hit Beijing with a 15% levy on $112 billion worth of goods, the first portion of the fourth tranche of tariffs set to be implemented by the U.S. (China retaliated by slapping American products with new duties that range from 5% to 10%.) Tariffs on a remaining $188 billion — for a total of $300 billion representing the complete fourth tranche — are expected to take effect on Dec. 15.
Ahead of December Tariffs, Retail Imports Could Hit Their Highest Level
Run the Numbers: Less Than Half of Americans Will Buy a Product That Costs More Due to Tariffs


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Last Updated on 07/12/2021 by Riya
Researchers discovered various flaws in Eltima’s third-party driver software, which has been “unintentionally adopted” by cloud pc solutions including Amazon Workspaces, Acops, and NoMachine, and can allow adversaries to carry out a variety of destructive operations. In a post published in The Hacker News, SentinelOne researchers warned that,
“Such flaws empower cybercriminals to gain permissions to deactivate antivirus software, rewrite critical components, disrupt the os, or execute harmful tasks freely.”
Amazon Nimble Studio AMI, Amazon NICE DCV, Amazon WorkSpaces, Amazon AppStream, NoMachine, Accops HyWorks, Accops HyWorks DVM Tools, Eltima USB Network Gate, Amzetta zportal Windows zClient, Amzetta zPortal DVM Tools, FlexiHub, and Donglify have all been updated to remedy the vulnerabilities.
The issues are rooted in an Eltima product that supports “USB over Ethernet” functionalities, allowing desktop virtualization providers including Amazon WorkSpaces to route associated USB devices including webcams to their remote pcs.
The flaws can indeed be discovered in two USB redirection drivers, “wspvuhub.sys” and “wspusbfilter.sys”. According to SentinelOne researchers,
“The threat actors having exposure to an organization’s network may also be able to run code on unsecured systems and leverage this weakness to access special local right acceleration.”
“Threat actors can use additional strategies, including techniques to go deeper into a network in search of sensitive data, to switch to the larger network.”


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Business spending on equipment and investment in home construction helped boost third-quarter GDP growth.
But total housing inventory at the end of last month was 4.5% lower than one year ago, according to the NAR.
The National Retail Federation said that holiday sales should increase 3.7%, to $630.5 billion, this year, a deceleration from 2014's growth.
Business managers are not getting the message about the Federal Reserve's inflation expectations, says a new study.
August’s fall in import prices was led by a steep monthly decline in the price of imported fuel, which plunged 13.3%.
'The creation of jobs added at a steady clip and the prospect of higher mortgage rates and home prices ... is encouraging more households to buy.'
Analyzing data may be second nature to finance chiefs, but can they get their C-suite colleagues to buy in?
Operating profit totaled nearly $2.6 billion in North America, a company record for any quarter.
Many companies are back to the habit of holding on tightly to their cash reserves. Is a softening in business confidence to blame?
Convert a table of numbers to a visualization.


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The Asia Auto company from Kazakhstan has been named a potential buyer, a source at Vedomosti said. Interestingly, this company has a license to produce Volkswagen and Skoda cars. Therefore, in theory, it will be able to continue the production of German cars, but already under its control. According to the publication, Volkswagen should make a final decision on the plans before the end of this year.
Asia Auto will assemble Lada, Kia, Skoda and Chevrolet cars in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan until 2021. However, now the manufacturer is experiencing problems due to non-compliance with production localization requirements.
This raises doubts about the ability to acquire a Russian factory; the publication failed to contact the Asia Auto concern. It is clear that it is important for Volkswagen to maintain a presence in Russia, too much effort and money has been invested in local production, so perhaps this is just one of the legal arrangements.
The VW representative makes no unequivocal comments, only noting that the company is constantly monitoring current events and considering different scenarios, but no decisions have been made.
Source: Z R


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This article is more than 1 year old
Apple’s M2 chip isn’t a slam dunk, but it does point to the future
The chip’s GPU and neural engine could overshadow Apple’s concession on CPU performance
Analysis For all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Apple's move to homegrown silicon for Macs, the tech giant has admitted that the new M2 chip isn't quite the slam dunk that its predecessor was when compared to the latest from Apple's former CPU supplier, Intel.
During its WWDC 2022 keynote Monday, Apple focused its high-level sales pitch for the M2 on claims that the chip is much more power efficient than Intel's latest laptop CPUs. But while doing so, the iPhone maker admitted that Intel has it beat, at least for now, when it comes to CPU performance.
Apple laid this out clearly during the presentation when Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, said the M2's eight-core CPU will provide 87 percent of the peak performance of Intel's 12-core Core i7-1260P while using just a quarter of the rival chip's power.
A concession by Apple on CPU performance, but the M2 is much more power efficient. Click to enlarge.
In other words, Intel's Core i7-1260P is nearly 15 percent faster than Apple's M2, and that's not even considering the fact that Intel has two more powerful i7s in its so-called P-series lineup: the higher-frequency i7-1270P, which has same number of cores, and the 14-core i7-1280P.
The company did claim that the M2's CPU is 1.9x faster than Intel's 10-core Core i7-1255U while using the same amount of power, but while this may be a more appropriate comparison, the fact is that Apple doesn't have a CPU for ultra-thin laptops that is as powerful as Intel's best.
Regardless, Apple is claiming that performance-per-watt, where the M2 really shines, is the more important metric, building upon the original argument it made when the M1 debuted in 2020.
"Unlike others in the industry who significantly increase power to gain performance, our approach is different. We continue to have a relentless focus on power efficient performance. In other words, maximizing performance while minimizing power consumption," Srouji said.
But performance-per-watt isn't the only way Apple hopes the M2 will stand out when it lands in the MacBook Air and 13" MacBook Pro next month.
The tech giant is also making a bigger bet on the chip's GPU and neural engine because it believes an increasing share of applications in the future will be rely on graphics and AI, according to veteran semiconductor analyst Kevin Krewell of Tirias Research.
This is reflected by Apple's decision to dedicate more transistors for the M2's 10-core GPU and 16-core neural engine compared to the M1, Krewell said. These design decisions allowed the Mac maker to claim a 35 percent boost for the GPU and 40 percent boost for the neural engine compared to the M1. On the other hand, the M2's CPU only improved by 18 percent in multi-threaded performance, according to Apple.
But even then, Krewell said, applications that are heavily reliant on the CPU, like web browsers, don't have as great a need for faster chips, which is why he believes it's important to put more weight on the GPU and neural engine since they could make a bigger difference.
"Web browsers don't need a whole lot more performance, so the comparison on industry performance is probably less relevant in my mind, though overall power efficiency is good. Apple wants to show they are competitive with Intel and that in some ways they may be ahead with neural processing and better graphics," Krewell told The Register.
While Apple didn't provide a competitive comparison for the M2's neural engine, it did claim that the 10-core GPU is 2.3x faster than the integrated graphics within Intel's Core i7-1255U while using the same power. Conversely, Apple said the M2's GPU can provide the peak performance of the i7-1255U while using only one-fifth of the power. The caveat is that Apple didn't provide a comparison to the i7-1260P, which does have a faster built-in GPU than the i7-1255U.
By its own admission, Apple may not have the fastest CPU in the industry for an ultra-light laptop. But its bigger emphasis on the GPU and neural engine lends to the growing trend in the compute world that having a faster central brain may be less important than having dedicated accelerators for increasingly important areas like AI and graphics. ®


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Kirin holdings, a large Japanese beverage manufacturer, officially announced yesterday that it had agreed to sell 40% of China Resources Kirin beverages, a joint venture with Chinese enterprise China Resources Group, to investment agency platform consumer Ltd for about US $1 billion.
The company said that the sale of China Resources Kirin Beverage was part of the company’s business portfolio review and expected that the transaction would bring about US $337.4 million to the company. Affected by the news, Kirin’s share price rose 2.9% in early trading in Tokyo yesterday.
It is worth noting that Kirin holdings also stressed that its business cooperation with China Resources Group in China will continue despite Tsinghua run Kirin Beverage Co., Ltd. In addition, although Kirin withdrew from China’s soft drink market, it will continue to operate China’s beer business. It is understood that Kirin has a wholly-owned subsidiary – Kirin Beer Co., Ltd. in China, but the profit of mass-produced general beer and beverage products is not high.
According to the information on the official website, Putuo was established in 2008, and its fund management company is the first batch of professional investment management institutions focusing on equity investment fund management business filed in accordance with relevant national regulations. Since its establishment, Putuo has led the mixed restructuring of enterprises affiliated to large central enterprises such as AVIC and China Huadian and the investment cooperation of large private enterprises. The asset scale of investment holding / holding enterprises has reached hundreds of billions of yuan.
In January this year, Nikkei Chinese reported that Kirin would cancel its non-alcoholic beverage joint venture with China Resources in China. All the shares of the joint venture will be sold to Chinese funds at a price of about 100 billion yen. Kirin will change its overseas strategy and invest in highly profitable refined beer.
Public information shows that Kirin Group was founded in 1907 and has been growing for more than 100 years. Starting from the beer business, it has expanded its business to the fields of food and beverage, medical treatment and health science. In 2011, China Resources venture, a subsidiary of China Resources Group, established cooperation with Kirin company of Japan. The two sides established a joint venture with a shareholding ratio of 6:4. The joint venture focuses on non-alcoholic business. Both sides will inject non-alcoholic beverage business in the Chinese market into the joint venture.
Through this cooperation, China Resources grafted the R & D capability of Kirin company and its own channel capability accumulated for many years, comprehensively enriched the product line and completed the transition from single category to multi category. Kirin also successfully launched a series of new products in the Chinese market, such as afternoon milk tea, hot coffee, magic and so on.
However, due to the failure to overtake uni president, Master Kang, Nestle and other brands in the corner, the afternoon milk tea, hot coffee and other products cooperated by the two after the marriage failed to become popular in the industry, and its core business is still Yibao aquatic products. In 2015, China Resources venture announced that it would divest 80% of its retail, food and beverage businesses and sell them to its parent company, China Resources Group, leaving only the most profitable and promising beer business. Since then, China Resources entrepreneurship has also been officially changed to China Resources beer.
According to insiders, due to the failure to surpass other major beverage brands and the success in making non-alcoholic beverages of both sides popular, the new beverage products have made limited contribution to the revenue of China Resources. Although the cooperation between the two sides has not broken, it has reached the bottleneck. Different business development demands are likely to be an important factor in the breakup of the two sides.
It is worth noting that gradually withdrawing from foreign markets, returning to Japan and reducing the scale of business are also one of the transformation directions of Kirin in recent years. In order to enter emerging market countries, Kirin began to acquire beer companies in emerging countries around 2010, but was squeezed by large European and American enterprises and local enterprises in various countries, so it had to restructure its business. According to public reports, Kirin sold its beer business in Brazil and its beverage business in Australia in 2017 and 2021; Two days before announcing the withdrawal from the joint venture, Kirin holdings had just “decided” to withdraw from its business in Myanmar.
Japanese funded enterprises, which have always been proud of their global expansion, have to start shrinking their living space to the mainland, which is regrettable.
Japanese enterprises “fall behind”
In the context of the increasing “progress” of domestic enterprises’ innovation and management ability, Kirin’s divestment can be said to be another epitome of Japanese enterprises gradually “falling behind” in the competition in China’s market.
In recent years, Asahi holdings, another beverage giant from Japan, has gradually withdrawn from its beverage business in China. Over the past few years, Asahi Holdings has not only successively sold its shares in China’s agriculture, milk companies and Master Kang drinks, but also transferred its stake in Tsingtao beer. In the process of operating in China, the beer business of Asahi Holdings has not developed smoothly. Since 2014, beer production has been in the trend of large-scale decline, which has not been effectively alleviated until 2017.
In fact, the phenomenon of Japanese enterprises gradually falling out of favor in the Chinese market does not only occur in the FMCG industry. In recent years, Japanese enterprises, which once had unlimited scenery, have encountered all kinds of “Waterloo”.
Last September, Nikkei reported that Dalian Toshiba, which has been in China for 30 years, will close down and its related products will be produced in Vietnam and Japan. At the beginning of this year, Canon, a Japanese camera brand, decided to stop production because of unprecedented difficulties in operation. As early as 2015, Panasonic closed its last color TV factory in China.
Is it true that the era of Japanese enterprises is going to pass?
In fact, in the 1980s, people talked about Japanese enterprise management in a completely different tone. The art of Japanese business management, published in 1981, was one of the best-selling business books at that time. At that time, the most popular management fashions were lean production, total quality management, continuous improvement and timely manufacturing – that is, the management mode of Japanese enterprises in the eyes of the world.
However, in today’s mobile Internet era, Japanese manufacturing enterprises are facing the embarrassment of multiple attacks: being squeezed by European and American countries in the upstream of the industrial chain; Facing the competition of Korean enterprises at the same level; In low-end markets such as FMCG, Japanese enterprises also need to face the competition of Chinese enterprises.
An expert believes that Japanese enterprises’ long-term over dependence on the once successful operation and management model is the biggest fatal injury. Their best management experience has long been imitated or even surpassed by Western and Chinese companies.
Taking consumer products as an example, the cost performance advantage of Japanese products is no longer a moat in today’s “era of low profits”. Due to the survival mode of Japanese enterprise groups, materials, production equipment, R & D and manufacturing are completed in Japanese enterprises. This closed mode can ensure high quality and high technology content; However, in the era of smart devices, the marginal utility of these advantages of Japanese enterprises is rapidly diminishing.
According to incomplete statistics, among the mainstream multinational companies, 78% of the executives of European companies are local people, and about 82% in the United States; 99% of the executives of Japanese enterprises are Japanese, and there is no foreigner in the senior management of some Japanese multinational companies. As a result, when the company makes major decisions, especially when formulating the global strategy, no one can inject a different perspective into the strategy.
This also eventually led to two results: on the one hand, the technology of Japanese enterprises often can not be effectively combined with the market demand, which often increases the cost and misjudges the development trend because of the “pseudo demand”; On the other hand, Japanese enterprises tend to emphasize technology over marketing and R & D over users. However, the deeper the industrial chain and the more subdivided the user market, some Japanese brands used to centralized R & D become unable to adapt to environmental changes and are eventually eliminated by the market.
It must be admitted that, in addition to the advantages brought by inherent geopolitical factors, Japanese enterprises also have some excellent qualities that Chinese enterprises lack, such as being down-to-earth, meticulous and serious, no one can shake their R & D advantages, and pay more attention to the image of public opinion. However, the trend of the times is rolling forward. No matter which enterprise, no matter how brilliant it has created, if it can not keep up with the times and seize the opportunity, the living space left for it will be more and more narrow.
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- Amazon has gained 1.27% since December 9, 2021, but lost 1.81% YTD.
- Amazon’s global minimum tax inclusion will be based on cloud computing and advertising revenues.
- Amazon introduced the online pharmacy to boost PillPack’s revenues.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) gained 2.07% on June 8, 2021, to close at $3,264.11 from the previous day. Post-market trading of the e-commerce giant inched up 0.15% (adding 4.89 points) to close at $3,269.00. The stock has gained 1.27% since December 9, 2021, buoyed by strong gross profit growth in Q1 2021 at $48.115 billion from $46.271 billion in Q4 2020 (+3.99%). However, Amazon’s revenue declined 13.57% from $125.555 billion in Q4 2020 to $108.518 billion in Q1 2021, while it surged 41.47% YoY. The share price has lost 1.81% year-to-date.
Amazon’s share price YTD
Despite the quarterly revenue decrease, Amazon was included in the proposed global minimum tax ratification plan by the G7.
The proposed plan by the G7 seeks to have international companies whose profit margin is above 10% pay a global minimum tax in the respective countries. Amazon was included in this category despite announcing that its operating margin in the FY 2021/22 would be 7.1%. Amazon’s inclusion is based on the more profitable sections of the company- cloud computing under Amazon Web Services (AWS) and advertisements. The company’s heavy investments (with total liabilities at $219.757 billion) and minimal retail profits have weighed down the overall revenues. Under this special consideration, only the two segments will be considered for the tax plan.
AWS — Amazon’s most profitable segment — raked in $13.503 billion in Q1 2021 (an increase of 32.1% YoY). Operating income increased by 30.03% (YoY) to $29.775 billion in Q1 2021, with AWS accounting for 47.1% of this total. Advertising revenues surged 76.8% at $6.905 billion in Q1 2020 (YoY) from $3.906 billion in Q1 2020. With the completion of the tax plan expected in July 2021, G7 leaders in Europe under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are looking at ways of including multinational e-commerce companies. Additionally, the proposed 15% minimum tax is seen as a solution to the availability of tax havens used by international companies to evade taxes.
In a bid to improve the online pharmacy market, Amazon announced an offer of up to 13 prescription drugs at $6 for six months. The drugs are used in the treatment of diabetes, blood pressure, among other conditions. Customers will require a prescription before ordering, and the company will also include a 2-day free shipping service in the offer.
Amazon’s online pharmacy went live in November 2020, two years after the acquisition of PillPack, an e-commerce pharmacy firm. The prescription drug market in the US is estimated to be worth $360 billion. Amazon’s pharmacy is a major step towards tapping into this mine and a way to boost PillPack’s fortunes. The company will buy the drugs in bulk and at a discount then offer two annual deliveries to customers. Other retailers in the prescription market include Walmart Inc. (WMT), Kroger Co. (KR), and Costco Wholesale Corp (COST). Amazon announced that Prime subscribers (under this program) will save 80% when they shop generic drugs and 40% on brand-name-based prescription drugs.
Six-month prescription medications are not covered by most insurance companies in the US. Amazon’s target will give an affordable medication plan for the uninsured and insured population.
Amazon trading Chart
Amazon is trading above the 200-day SMA pegged at 3214.08. The stock hit a significant level after it crossed 3246.07. Buying activity is yet to increase among traders since the 14-day RSI is at 49.52.


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The recent roll-out of Google’s September 2023 update for its handsets meant that several Pixel smartphones finally received the latest Android security patch, including several devices such as the Pixel 6 and 7 series phones. With that in mind however, a fairly recent Pixel phone was not included in the list, which might be puzzling to some.
More specifically, the fan-favourite Pixel 4a (4G) was not included in the list of smartphones which were eligible for the new security patch, although the larger 4a 5G model was included, having been launched in the same year.
For those unaware, the answer is quite simple – Google has finally ended software support for the Pixel 4a moving forward, with the device receiving its last software update back in August 2023. While Pixels do get frequent software updates from Google, there is of course a limit to how many years a device will be supported. As stated in Google’s official support page:
Pixel 4, 4 XL, 4a, 4a (5G), 5, and 5a (5G) phones get Android version updates and security updates for at least 3 years from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US.
This then means that the Pixel 4a won’t be getting Android 14 once it launches, although users with the Pixel 4a 5G can expect the update to arrive for their devices later this Fall.


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Sony today announced the LSPX-S3, a new wireless glass sound speaker that creates the perfect blend of audio and illumination for a deeply calming ambience. The Sony LSPX-S3 is a sleek and..
Tag Archives: Organic
Fujifilm and Panasonic developed organic CMOS image sensor achieves performance beyond that of conventional image sensors
Fujifilm and Panasonic have developed an organic CMOS image sensor technology that uses an organic photoelectric conversion layer with a photoelectric conversion property at the light receiving section of an image sensor..
Panasonic develops artificial photosynthesis system which converts carbon dioxide to organic materials
Panasonic has developed an artificial photosynthesis system which converts carbon dioxide (CO2) to organic materials by illuminating with sunlight at a world’s top efficiency of 0.2%. The efficiency is on a comparable..
Panasonic to showcase its total solutions for creating, storing, saving and managing energy at the Milano Salone del Mobile 2012
Panasonic will showcase its total solutions for creating, storing, saving and managing energy at the Milano Salone del Mobile 2012 exhibition, which will be held in Milan this April. At this year’s..


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Artificial intelligence (AI) represents a huge opportunity for companies and investors as it grows into a roughly $1.4 trillion market by 2029, a massive increase from its $387 billion size right now. https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/09/13/2514767/0/en/AI-Market-Size-to-Reach-USD-1394-30-Billion-by-2029.html
1. The Trade Desk is advancing the ad market with AI
If you're not familiar with The Trade Desk, the company has an ad platform that helps companies buy ads on the internet, television platforms, and mobile apps.
The Trade Desk's AI angle comes from the company using algorithms and artificial intelligence to automate what types of ads are displayed at different places online, making ad buying and placement easier and more efficient for its customers.
Even in the fickle ad market, The Trade Desk's business is booming. Sales spiked 31% in the third quarter (ending on Sept. 30) to $395 million and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings rose 44% to $0.26 per share.
The quarter was impressive enough on its own, but it also came at a time other companies in the ad space experienced declining ad sales.
The Trade Desk's resilience shows that this company knows how to successfully tap into the growing digital ad space, which will be worth an estimated $315 billion by 2025.
While The Trade Desk's current price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of about 16 isn't exactly cheap, it's still far less expensive than its P/S ratio of about 40 this time last year.
2. Amazon is an AI powerhouse
Some investors may not be aware that Amazon integrates AI into many aspects of its company. Amazon's algorithms help recommend deals and products to online shoppers on the company's massive e-commerce store, and help the company optimize its complex delivery network.
AI is also on full display at the company's Amazon Go stores, where machine learning (through cameras, sensors, and algorithms) keeps track of the products people put in their baskets and automatically charges them when they walk out of the store.
Additionally, Amazon Web Services (AWS) -- the company's cloud-computing business -- offers AI services to its customers for everything from text-to-speech applications to online chatbots.
Amazon's share price has slid along with the broader tech sector over the past year, as macroeconomic headwinds put some pressure on the company. But long-term investors shouldn't overlook the company's current growth, including Amazon's total sales increasing in the third quarter (ending on Sept. 30) by 15% to $127.1 billion and AWS revenue jumping 27% to $20.5 billion.
Amazon is using AI to take the lead in e-commerce and cloud computing, and the company's share price is currently looking pretty cheap. Amazon's shares trade at just 1.8 times the company's sales, down from a P/S ratio of 3.9 at this time last year.
3. Nvidia's chips are leading the AI revolution
Behind all of the whiz-bang AI technologies, there are physical microchips making artificial intelligence a reality. And for many companies, their go-to AI processors are made by Nvidia.
Nvidia's processors have proved rather adept at AI tasks, and the company's data center sales have expanded as a result. Nvidia's data center revenue increased 31% in the most recent quarter to $3.8 billion.
While Nvidia faced some headwinds with some of its other businesses, data center growth continues to expand as the company's processors tap into the massive AI chip market, which will be worth an estimated $195 billion by 2030.
In addition to its AI opportunities in data centers, Nvidia is also helping automakers create smarter vehicles with more semi-autonomous driving capabilities. The company's chips are helping power the next generation of driver-assistance systems and helping the company grab yet another AI market.
With Nvidia's shares trading at about 68 times the company's earnings, Nvidia's stock isn't exactly cheap right now. But it is lower than the 100 price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio that the stock was trading at this time last year.
Play the long AI game
Tech stocks are a bit frantic right now, and more short-term instability could be ahead as investors try to figure out how the U.S. economy is performing and where inflation is going.
Those are real concerns, but they shouldn't worry long-term investors. Instead, investors should be looking for opportunities in the market right now -- including in tech -- and investing in great companies with competitive advantages.
Nvidia, Amazon, and The Trade Desk have all proved that they have a unique angle in the AI space, and their share price dips over the past year could be a good buying opportunity for those looking to start an AI position.


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The government’s decision to scrap old high-value currency notes to fight corruption and push India towards a less-cash economy will have a far deeper impact, said panellists at a VCCircle event in Mumbai on Thursday.
The panellists, who were speaking at a discussion on the second day of the News Corp VCCircle Startup Summit 2017, were unanimous that demonetisation was, in fact, a unique way to make financial inclusion a reality for the unbanked.
Adhil Shetty, founder and chief executive of financial marketplace Bankbazaar.com, said that after demonetisation the number of people looking for financial products has increased. “People need to put money to use, be it in mutual funds or insurance products, more so, with asset purchases like realty are going down. A lot more people are getting savvy about online transactions.”
ClearTax.in’s Archit Gupta said the number of queries on his online tax returns filing platform went up four times and, finally, stabilised at two times. “The number of people paying taxes will go up. The tax payers’ base is expected to double and demonetisation will be a huge boost to that.”
Investors say they are cautiously optimistic on the impact of demonetisation with a few companies witnessing dramatic differences in their profit and loss statements in November and December. “Some saw a jump of 20-30% in the topline, while others saw a fall, depending on how essential the service was. We are seeing cash coming back into the system though not as much as it was before November. Net, net, it is a positive move and UPI, Adhaar and more sustainable financial inclusion (will help in the long run),” said Abheek Anand, principal at Sequoia Capital, a marquee investment firm.
Sucharita Mukherjee, chief executive, IFMR Holdings, a financial inclusion platform, stressed on the need to design interfaces in local languages to reach out to the financially under-privileged. “We need more interface developers who are proficient in local languages. I don’t see it as a barrier, but as an investment that needs to be made.”
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Starbucks wants more business under a bigger roof.
With most of its units pulling in $800,000 to $900,000 in annual sales, Starbucks Corp. is moving toward a bigger concept-store program, triple or quadruple the space of its traditional coffee bars, which average 1,300 square feet.
These new stores-only four are open, with another scheduled for Chicago in July-offer more seating and a wider menu.
At Starbucks' larger store in Bellevue, Wash., there's even a fireplace to provide a "warmer environment" for customers.
In recent months, Starbucks has opened of two of these bigger stores in New York. One of them even had a grand piano with live jazz. A Starbucks spokeswoman says a number of Starbucks units across the nation have live jazz.
The "super" Starbucks opening at Oak and Rush Streets-No. 56 in the Chicago area-will be a two-level, 5,000-square footer.
Starbucks, the leader in its field, operated 556 stores in the United States and British Columbia as of late April.
In the U.S, Starbucks has no presence in a number of markets. The Seattle-based firm will soon enter the Philadelphia and Cincinnati markets, then Baltimore.
P&G pampers Brazelton: Every good doctor should have marketing dynamo Procter & Gamble on his or her side. With a big stake in diapers-its Pampers is one of the top brands-P&G is coming up with financial aid to renowned pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton's newest venture-the Brazelton Center for Infants and Parents at Children's Hospital in Boston. This "news" nugget surfaced during a Family Circle magazine lunch earlier this week honoring Brazelton as well as First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Procter, already a sponsor of Brazelton's TV show, "What Every Baby Knows," won't reveal how much it is spending on Brazelton's ventures. Steered by Family Circle, Brazelton and Clinton appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show before the lunch. However, getting Oprah to the Hotel Intercontinental luncheon, attended by many advertising decision-makers, wasn't so easy. She reportedly was taping another show. Brazelton, 77, is still going strong and into his 10th year with Family Circle, writing a column called "The Early Years" in 12 of its 17 issues yearly. Brazelton previously was a contributing editor to Hearst's Redbook magazine, but he left, he told the audience, because "Redbook was getting a little too sexy" for him.
The bottom line on the Clinton-Brazelton visit to Chicago: Family Circle pulled off a real coup.
- Leap Partnership and its new client, Tommy Armour Golf, on Wednesday met with three Chicago media-buying services to decide on an outside resource for that responsibility. Leap, which has no media capability, won the creative portion of the client's advertising account.
On the move: Sarah Kocmond named media director and Yvonne Nillissen promoted to associate creative director at Kurtzman Slavin Communications, Northfield. . . . Tammy Russo appointed marketing manager, Williams Electronic Games Inc. . . . Jim Petzel named Midwest regional manager, Allied International, Naperville.
Strictly personal: Birthday greetings to J. Vincent Kent, Ray Lewis (Wisconsin Energy), Kevin V. McGarry, Janie Libles, Julie Dillon and Mike de Maio.
Detroit Piston Grant Hill, one of the NBA's rookies of the year, is fast catching on with advertisers. His endorsements already include Coca-Cola and General Motors' GMC truck division. Soon you'll be able to catch him on the front and back panels of Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats, a special edition package that will soon be on the market.
- Magazine Publishers of America, a Manhattan-based organization, is considering Chicago or Detroit to announce its Kelly Award winner next year for the best magazine advertising. This event is usually held in New York, but the Chicago magazine ad community did host the event in 1993 at the Field Museum of Natural History, and the group was pleased with the turnout. Meanwhile, Chicago Magazine Day is scheduled Monday at an Intercontinental Hotel lunch, where the group will give a presentation on the 25 Kelly finalists, including the winner, Norwegian Cruise Line.


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Lithia Motors, Inc. (LAD) Stake Lifted by Rothschild Asset Management Inc.
Rothschild Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 235,697 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,396 shares during the period. Rothschild Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.94% of Lithia Motors worth $28,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LAD. Teachers Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lithia Motors by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Advisors LLC now owns 41,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,576,000 after buying an additional 1,782 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Lithia Motors in the 1st quarter valued at about $292,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 614,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,662,000 after purchasing an additional 34,614 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 1,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Lithia Motors by 77.8% in the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.47% of the company’s stock.
A number of analysts have issued reports on LAD shares. Jefferies Group LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Lithia Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Berenberg Bank began coverage on shares of Lithia Motors in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $126.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Lithia Motors in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.29.
Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (LAD) traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $114.71. 143,600 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 270,047. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 1.21. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.88 and a 1 year high of $123.50. The firm has a market cap of $2,832.98, a PE ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.72.
Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $2.37 by ($0.19). Lithia Motors had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 21.02%. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 8.33 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 9th. Lithia Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.12%.
In related news, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 65,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.77, for a total transaction of $8,001,628.47. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $173,035.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sidney B. Deboer sold 831 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.32, for a total transaction of $94,168.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 433 shares in the company, valued at $49,067.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 112,573 shares of company stock valued at $13,465,667. 7.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
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Lithia Motors Profile
Lithia Motors, Inc is an operator of automotive franchises and a retailer of new and used vehicles and related services. As of February 28, 2017, it offered 30 brands of new vehicles and all brands of used vehicles in 154 stores in the United States and online at Lithia.com, DCHauto.com and CarboneCars.com.
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Opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of MRD.
The revelations of Facebook having provided data to a 3-party without users' consent has brought much due attention, again, to the matter of... what the hell are these companies doing?!!!
Firstly, let's get this out of the way. Many refer to Google, Facebook, as technology companies. When in fact, the are advertising companies who use/develop technology. They make money from advertising, not technology.
Let's now survey Internet advertising and see what's currently happening.
Internet companies with hyper-scale user-bases are sucking up as much data about those users, sometimes without express consent, so as to target advertisements to them which are paid by entities selling something.
Online advertising is rot with fraud whereby companies pay for their brands to reach eyeballs via online ad exchanges, receive reports of the numbers of eyeballs having seen the those costly ads, and yet actually it's it's not possible to know because human and bot attention can't be proven distinguishable. And ad providers, platforms, etc. have incentive to use such attention bots.
There's "ad wars". This nonsense amounts to recursive blocking of ads, ad-blockers, ad-blocking blockers, ad-blocking-blocker blockers, etc. ad infinitum (pun intended).
Then there's malvertising. Yeah, that's a thing, whereby ad platforms are used as vectors for malware (e.g. ransomware, etc.).
And very sadly just yesterday, there was the incident at Youtube's headquarters involving shootings. Which it now appears to have been aggravated by... advertising.
One struggles to find anything good about any of this. Except perhaps those Internet, ahem, advertising companies with hyper-scale user-bases. The negative aspects of it all for society now seemingly outweigh it's benefits. Perhaps we need not online advertising anymore anyway; maybe never did? With "Web 3.0" technologies maturing, this might finally be realized.


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Veridos to deliver electronic ID cards to Zambia
Veridos has won a contract with The Republic of Zambia to deliver polycarbonate electronic ID cards to the country.
Based on the German eID card concept, there is a contactless security chip embedded in the new ID card which supports multiple applications for biometric identification, authentication, and digital signature services. International standards including X.509 certificates for secure authentication are applied and biometric information is stored on the card.
“We are pleased to provide the Republic of Zambia with new state-of-the-art eID cards,” says Veridos CEO Hans Wolfgang Kunz. “Zambia’s citizens will profit from a contactless ID card infrastructure that offers various application options, including convenient access to eGovernment services, for example.”
“Following the delivery of national passports and passports for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, this is the third project that we are implementing for the Republic of Zambia, a reflection of our continuous and valued partnership,” added Thomas Morian, vice president sales Africa.
Earlier this month, Veridos announced that it has been commissioned by the Police Grand-Ducale Luxembourg to install ten eGates for automated border control at Luxembourg international airport.


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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Retail stocks moved off the flat line in midday trading Monday as the sector's main measure won its stuggle to find positive terrain.
The S&P Retail Index $RLX moved higher by 3.1 points to last stand at 461.1.
Shares of Home Depot HD, +0.39% a Dow Jones Industrial Average component and a heavyweight within the sector index, shifted into the upside to trade at $41.28, up 6 cents.
Best Buy Co. BBY, +0.22% shares did the same, trading higher by $1.22, or 2.5%, to $50.01.
Also gaining traction were shares of Saks Inc. SKS, -7.13% climbing by 78 cents, or 3.8%, to $21.36.
Sears Holdings Corp. SHLD, +0.00% however, couldn't make the turn from earlier losses, falling further to $130.96, off $1.78, or 1.3%.
Shares of Bombay Co. BBA, +0.38% shook off news that the company has lost 93 selling days to Hurricane Katrina, or 1% of total chain-store selling days because it's got insurance to cover the losses.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based retailer said three stores in New Orleans remain closed. But Bombay said its insurance covers its physical property as well as loss of income because of business interruption.
Elsewhere, shares of Bakers Footwear Group BKRS rallied better than 10% after the St. Louis-based footwear retailer reported robust quarterly earnings and said it is opening more than two dozen new stores this year.
For the second-quarter that ended July 31, the company easily outpaced Wall Street's expectations by making $1.2 million, or 19 cents a share, up from a year-ago loss of $500,000, or 10 cents a share.
Sales jumped 27.8% in the latest three months to $45.3 million from $35.4 million in the same period a year earlier. Same-store sales rose 12.7% in the July period.
At Thomson First Call, the average estimate of analysts polled was for a profit of 12 cents a share in the latest quarter.
Looking ahead, the company said it expects to open 30 to 32 stores this year, and to remodel about 25 stores to its new format.
Shares were last trading at $14.35, up 9.1%,or $1.20.