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Other branding experts say SeaWorld's handling of the situation has gone against just about every tried-and-tested rule of handling a crisis. Karen Post, author of "Brand Turnaround," a book examining how brands with tarnished reputations can improve their image, says that SeaWorld has done a poor job of "staying ahead of the story."
"Once you know there's a situation, you can't just wait and respond defensively, you need to do proactive things to remedy the issue," she says. "They don't have to admit they're guilty, but they have to let the public know that, yes, we're the company behind the brand and we're doing things to respond to the situation."
Along the way, though, SeaWorld has yet to be able to point to any inaccuracies in the film. As "Blackfish" director Gabriela Cowperthwaite maintained to the Wall Street Journal: "It's an air-tight document and anybody can look up the information in the film at any time and find out on their own."
And there have been other, smaller stumbles, like the apparent rigging of a web poll for the Orlando Business Journal. And the unfortunate promotion of a SeaWorld Trainer Barbie as holiday stocking-stuffer fare. That was a particularly tin-eared move, considering the tragic 2010 death of blonde, pony-tailed trainer Dawn Brancheau is the central event of "Blackfish."


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On Saturday I had the pleasure of being invited to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls fundraising gala in London. It was a fantastic evening, made all the more special by receiving the Orange Heart Award. I made a short speech after receiving the award from Aldijana Sisic, Chief of the UN Trust Fund, which I wanted to share with you here.
We will shortly be in 2018, which is the centenary of female suffrage in the United Kingdom. So 100 years have passed women first receiving the right to vote. However in many ways, we haven’t moved on. Exploitation and violence against women remain huge issues, in fact many rights women felt were already secured, are once again under threat.
London College of Fashion is essentially a women’s college – 85% of our students are female and I’m delighted to say many of them are politically engaged. Fashion is an industry dominated by females, with over three quarters of garment workers being women, and their exploitation remains one of the industry’s most significant challenges. So, when I first met Aldijana and heard about the work of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and Girls, I felt compelled to support her.
That first meeting was some three years ago, and I feel very proud to stand here today to receive the UN Trust Fund’s Orange Heart award. For me, this award reflects the growing partnership between London College of Fashion and the UN Trust Fund, something that we want to continue to build on over the coming years.
Images via Lightening Photography
We first worked together on the 2016 campaign where we designed the Orange Label, which could be used not only as a clothing label, but also by all sorts of companies all over the world to badge their products to show their commitment to raising awareness of violence against women and girls.
Alongside this we created Fashion Says No to Violence Against Women, a an international student competition to produce an art work using the colour orange and the Orange Label symbol. The many unique interpretations of the brief, and the use of creative practice to highlight this issue in such a forward thinking, collaborative way was fantastic to see.
Those student works became a striking display of voices from the next generation of the fashion industry, both men and women, who are committed to ending the global epidemic of violence against women and girls all over the world. We were then able to showcase the images on social media, to turn social channels orange on 25 November with Vogue and SHOWstudio turning orange for us too.
We saw orange images from India to Singapore, and Nigeria to Australia, as we worked internationally with other fashion education intuitions. What is inspiring is that those fashion education institutions continue to raise awareness of violence against women and girls. International collaboration is vital. To address such a serious issue we all must work together, to inspire each other and bring together our different expertise, to end it once and for all.
This year we chose to run the competition within LCF’s School of Media and Communication – a community of fashion image-makers – because we know that traditionally fashion media has been a culprit of a perpetuated stereotypical and over-sexualised portrayal of women. We want our students to turn a lens on their industry, and to be thoughtful and aware from the very start of their journey with us. We want to develop a new generation of practitioners who don’t just do things because this is how they have always been done, but who will challenge the industry where it falls short and who will change it from the inside out.
We hope you will join us once again in filling our social media channels with orange today, 25 November and for the next 16 days of activism. Sharing the Orange Label project globally will maximize its impact.
Despite the work of the suffragettes almost a century ago, many female rights, be it abortion rights or equality in the workplace, remain under threat.
At the London College of Fashion we believe passionately that fashion is so much more than the clothes we wear. It can be used as a force for real change. We very are proud to work with the UN Trust Fund to utilize the power of fashion to continue to support and campaign for the rights of women and girls across the world.

domain: news


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At one time a 1.44MB floppy disc used to be enough and now that can’t even fit a decent image on it. As technology improves, so does file size. Our requirement for storage is increasing on a daily basis. And so Samsung announced the release of the world’s largest SSD, the PM1633a.
The PM1633a is 16 terabytes, which is a whole 6TB larger than the previous record holder. Still not getting how huge that is? Lets put that in terms everyone can understand: 16TB would hold over 3 million MP3s, more than 4,000 movies, nearly 5 million digital photos.
Sebastian Anthony from Ars Technica explained how Samsung achieved this accomplishment: “The secret sauce behind Samsung’s 16TB SSD is the company’s new 256Gbit (32GB) NAND flash die; twice the capacity of 128Gbit NAND dies that were commercialised by various chipmakers last year. To reach such an astonishing density, Samsung has managed to cram 48 layers of 3-bits-per-cell (TLC) 3D V-NAND into a single die. This is up from 24 layers in 2013, and 36 layers in 2014″.
An SSD for organisations, not your laptop
Now the product is going to be solely available for the enterprise market for the time being since it’s commercial use is yet unknown. It’s not like you have 5 million photos to back-up, right? Larger multinational corporations and government entities are their current target audience. And the product is going to cost about $8,000 (Dh29,400).


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Nervous shoppers are paying off their credit cards at the fastest rate for nearly six years, the Bank of England said yesterday.
Its latest figures showed shoppers paying back £147m in July, the highest since August 2006. The caution comes against a backdrop of a double-dip recession and worsening prospects for the UK economy this year, according to the CBI and the British Chambers of Commerce.
Nida Ali, economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club, said: "With the outlook so uncertain consumers may be tentative and the recovery is likely to be slow."
The mortgage market bounced back from a Jubilee slump in June as 47,312 loans for house purchases were approved, but lending remains nearly 10 per cent below the average of the last year. Figures from the Bank also showed average rates on outstanding mortgages edging up to 3.37 per cent, the highest for nine months.
The CBI blamed unexpected weakness in the first half and the eurozone crisis for hitting exports as it cut its growth forecast to minus 0.3 per cent for 2012 and 1.2 per cent next year.Reuse content


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Apple has been making money hand over fist on the basis that Steve Jobs can consistently come up with brilliant ideas which will be bought by everyone.
The fact that Apple might ever might make a lemon had never occurred to anyone.Now that Consumer Report is telling the world+dog that it cannot recommend the iPhone 4 because of its connection problems, shares have taken a tumble.
Shares of Apple slid more than four percent on Tuesday after the review came out and news of complaints about the iPhone flaw started to be noticed.
Analysts thought a recall unlikely, but have hinted that Apple needs need to move quickly to avert longer-term damage.The tame Apple press has been reporting the share crash but has been doing its best to limit the disaster by sprinkling words like “magical”, “hot-selling” and “widely respected brand” in their articles
.However it is difficult to find a rational techie who thinks that the iPhone flaw is a good idea. Apple has called the iPhone 4’s June debut its most successful product launch ever. It is refusing to comment about the broken phone.
Jobs claimed it was a “non-issue”. We guess it is a non-issue for him while people are dumb enough to buy it. One analyst said that while people are lining up in droves to buy this phone there is nothing to recall
In short, while Apple fanboys are stupid enough to let Jobs penetrate their back pocket selling them broken gear, nothing is going to change.
What is alarming is that if Jobs does fix the phone, then it will not have been a customer revolt telling him to peddle goods that “just work” as promised. But, rather, it will be a shareholder revolt of people worried that Apple fanboys might wake up to the fact that he has peddled a polished turd with a fruit logo on it.
* Meanwhile, betting company Paddy Power has shortened the odds on whether the iPhone 4 will be recalled from 2/1 to 4/6 – so it’s odds on the device will be recalled. “Complaints about poor reception and a scathing report by an influential consumer guide sparked a betting frenzy over the past 24 hours with hundreds of shrewd punters backing a potential recall with Paddy Power before the bookie had a chance to react,” said Paddy Power. Bookmakers don’t usually lose whatever happens.


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Volta Trucks is set to make two new appointments in a bid to strengthen its position as a global leader in the manufacturing of electric commercial vehicles and services.
Following the recent launch of the Volta Zero, the first purpose-built full-electric large commercial vehicle, Volta is to appoint Essa Al-Saleh as the new chairman of the board of directors, while Peter Bardenfleth-Hansen is to join as a new board member.
Al-Saleh will join Volta after 22 years with Agility, having spent the last 13 years as president and CEO of the company. In his tenure, he led the development of Agility’s Global Integrated Logistics from 300 to 18,000 employees and from $150m to $4bn of revenues, with operations in over 100 countries.
Bardenfleth-Hansen will bring to Volta 10 years of commercial experience of scaling Tesla in the Nordics, EMEA and Japan, culminating as director of EMEA business development. Most recently, he’s been chief growth officer for StreetScooter GmbH, a DPDHL subsidiary that manufacturers a two-seat, last mile and inner-city logistics vehicle, where he is responsible for international sales and after-sales, marketing and product.
Both announcements will follow the appointment of Dr. Seshu Bhagavathula who joined the Volta Trucks’ board of directors in August.
Co-Founder of Volta Trucks, Carl-Magnus Norden, said; “I’m delighted to be welcoming Essa Al-Saleh as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Volta Trucks. His extensive understanding of the global logistics industry, as well as his clear experience of growing fledgling organisations into globally successful businesses, will bring great benefits to the start-up Volta Trucks company.
“With Essa, Peter and Dr. Seshu Bhagavathula, the board of directors of Volta Trucks has extensive global knowledge and experience of the automotive and commercial vehicle industry, as well as the needs and expectations of our logistics operator customers.”
Byggmästare Anders J Ahlström and Carl-Magnus Norden, together representing more than 50 per cent of the shares and votes of Volta Trucks, intend to vote in favour of the nominations at an EGM that will be held soon.


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As Samsung falls behind Huawei, placing second for global smartphone shipments in the second quarter of 2020, only two top-ten manufacturers actually increased sales or market share in the same quarter. One of these youve likely never heard of.
The first, placing at number three, is Apple. With the launch of the iPhone SE, the company is beating Android flagship-makers at their own game. As for the other brand on the up, meet Apples unlikeliest rival; Realme.
Who? Unless youre a smartphone forum fan after a bargain, or subscribe to mobile tech YouTubers, theres a good chance the waves Realmes been making havent rocked your boat yet. The latest Counterpoint report, however, suggests its time to pay attention.
Realme is a Chinese smartphone manufacturer thats only a little over two years old. Its part of BBK Electronics Corporation, which has a complicated history spawning brands like iQOO, and the better known OnePlus, Oppo and Vivo. Realme was created in a similar way to OnePlus, built as a separate brand from BBK and Oppo, but given access to Oppos IP, economies of scale for buying components, as well as its extensive factory lines. While OnePlus doesnt featured in the top ten list of second-quarter shipments at all, and Oppo has taken a hit in terms of devices shipped, Realme appears to have flourished. But why?
Realme’s founder, Sky Li, is an ex-Oppo protege. Li masterminded Oppos international expansion, and with a proven track record has kept Realmes business uncompromisingly singular in message: excellent value. Since launching, its portfolio has swollen into a budget banquet of premium features at competition-beating prices perfect for brand-agnostic, Covid-era buyers.
But Realme didnt launch in its native China. The brand was originally designed to disrupt the highly prized Indian smartphone market, which has over one billion adults. Smartphones and phones, in general, have played a huge part in Indian culture for decades. Their importance as status symbols is likely on an equal footing with their utility as communication tools. Naturally, not everyone, and, more specifically, not everyone in India can afford a £1,000 smartphone, so while many Indian buyers may aspire to own iPhones, many land on brands like Realme.
Realme has done well, growing in a relatively small base in key markets such as India, South East Asia and, more recently, with an expansion in Europe, says Neil Shah, an analyst at Counterpoint. Its low-cost and aggressive pricing, as well as its e-commerce-based go-to-market strategy has helped Realme drive growth in these markets in particular.
That strategy has its downsides. By selling direct through retailers such as Amazon, Realme is able to cut costs. Ben Woods, chief of research at CCS Insights, points out that the firm doesn’t get its devices certified by the GCF which means it cant be sold by most mobile network operators.
The rise of Realme can also, in part, be attributed to the change in Indias smartphone usage habits, too. Many Indians dont have fixed broadband. To put into context how big a deal mobile data is, the average smartphone user in India churned through 12GB of data per month in 2019 according to telecoms company, Ericsson thats the highest consumption per head in the world. This likely explains why the countrys networks are upgrading from GPRS to 4G data speeds in many areas, totally leapfrogging 3G.
Combine improved connectivity, increased data needs and usage, and affordable 4G phones entering the market from the likes of Realme, and youve got the perfect conditions for a value brand to thrive.
After success in India, Realme has started to make moves into Europe. The first Realme phone to launch on the continent was the 199 Realme 3 Pro. Next, the Realme X2 Pro was a headline-grabber the worlds first phone with a 64MP camera plus flagship power at 399. Since then, Realme has produced quad-cameras, superzooms, 5G phones, high refresh rate HDR OLED screens and more. But one thing it hasnt done is charge big bucks.
At the time of writing, Realme has no less than six 2020 smartphones on sale in the UK, starting at £189 for the Realme 6i, through to the £299 Realme X50 5G a cheaper OnePlus Nord-a-like, all the way to Realmes flagship, the £569 Realme X50 Pro 5G, a lower cost, better-specced alternative to the OnePlus 8.
Remember that OnePlus, which launched in 2013 in China, started life with the moniker flagship killer, and the slogan Never Settle. From flagship killer, to flagship maker, however, the companys strategy has become muddled, with the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro being the most expensive in the line, with the Pro starting at £799, and climbing to £899. Both are cheaper than most other flagships, but they arent affordable by any stretch of the imagination. So while OnePlus has worked on building a premium brand, Realme has quietly crept into the lower-end of the market.
Realme isn’t just undercutting the competition with phones. Its affordable everything business plan includes a pair of wireless in-ear buds that cost £29.99 and theyre not terrible. Meanwhile, the Realme Watch is £49.99; the brands AirPod alternatives the Realme Air Neos cost £39.99, and theres a £34.99 fitness tracker, taking on Xiaomis budget Mi Band-series head-on.
As the UK nosedives into its first recession in 11 years and the world is in economic turmoil, impressively, Realme has flourished. Of course, the smartphone industry isnt short of cautionary tales. Will Realme become the new darling brand for budget buyers happy with pay-as-you-go SIM cards? It has a long way to go but dont expect it to remain an obscure player for long.
More great stories from WIRED
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🦆 Google got rich from your data. DuckDuckGo is fighting back
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🔊 Listen to The WIRED Podcast, the week in science, technology and culture, delivered every Friday


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In a session at PowerPlex 2020, Plex customer MPI explained how IoT has delivered practical outcomes for the heat treatment business of its metal fabrication group
Swedish defence company Saab brought together all functions across the enterprise to roll-out ServiceNow HR and rethink employee onboarding.
MongoDB’s Dominic Wellington explains the importance of internships and mentoring - even in lockdown - and gives guidance on how to make them work as COVID-19 persists.
Fiscal 2020 was always going to be a challenge for New Relic as the company worked through a product transition. Then along came COVID-19...
Tibco CIO Sharon Mandell has gathered learnings from some key women leaders throughout her career in IT.
The push for COVID-19 treatments has stoked the fires on big questions about the US pharmaceutical industry, including drug pricing and conflicting data on drug effectiveness. Here's my unvarnished take.
PowerPlex 2020 went virtual yesterday with stories of how the cloud and digital connection is helping manufacturing companies respond to COVID-19
Zendesk data finds organizational agility is key as customer support operations adapt to COVID-19 demands
The COVID-19 crisis has triggered some significant changes in how organizations go about their support operations - and there's every chance that there's no going back.
Syncsort acquired Pitney Bowes’ software and data business in December. The new Precisely brand aims to give buyers clarity on the company’s future direction.
At a time when uptime is even more precious than ever, businesses must get serious about preventative maintenance, writes Anurag Garg of Plex Systems


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Planes, trains, and automobiles are largely automated to some extent or another. Cars are parallel parking without humans; commercial aircraft can fly and land without humans; trains are enabled to operate without humans. What about commercial shipping vessels? I’m talking about the big boys like the one that saved Tom Hanks in Castaway.
Victor Restis, a Greek shipping magnate, touches on the subject of commercial shipping automation in a recently published article, “COVID-19 Turning the Tides on the Maritime Shipping Industry.” He explains that today’s commercial shipping vessels are loaded with the latest communication technologies, IoT technologies, and other aspects that provide substantial cost savings efficiencies. From what the article states, automation in shipping vessels is highly unlikely, so I did a little more digging into this topic.
According to the Maritime Executive – an industry publication – we will never see fully autonomous transoceanic commercial cargo ships – at least for not a long time. It goes on to say that autonomous vessels are likely to operate in only minimal capacities. The reasoning is that the industry states there are too many vulnerabilities and intricate mechanical components to trust automation to control the vessel completely. Upon reading this, my mind brings up a video I saw of Elon Musk celebrating the accomplishment of launching a full-scale rocket into the atmosphere, have it reach inner space, then return to earth and land in the same spot that it started from – all automated. Is the shipping industry saying that their method of transportation is more complicated than space travel? I don’t know enough about either to choose a side, but it is fascinating to think about and explore. So I did.
I found an article that states, “In 2017, SEA CHARGER, a small solar-powered and crewless home-built boat completed a trip from California to Hawaii using GPS and a satellite modem for guidance and connectivity. And companies in the shipping industry are already using technologies that could eventually be used to automate larger vessels. The newest vessel of the Red and White Fleet, a San Francisco charter boat company, is a hybrid diesel-electric with a 160-kilowatt lithium-ion battery pack that provides enough power for the ship to do a one-hour Golden Gate cruise on battery power alone.”
So, it seems possible even if the shipping industry isn’t quite ready for it. It appears that to equip a large cargo ocean liner fully requires an enormous expense and design complexity, something that isn’t a viable option at this point. Perhaps as older ships are retired, and new ships are designed and built, we will start seeing more technological integration toward fully automated commercial shipping vessels.


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Meituan, a leading local life services platform in China, on September 18 attended the 2022 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference (WICV), where it unveiled a new generation of automatic distribution vehicles.
A new kind of vehicle that doesn’t require drivers seems to be just around the corner. Tech giants, startups, car makers, and ride-hailing firms are now racing to get the autonomous vehicles (AVs) on public roads.
China’s electric vehicle (EV) startup NIO signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the German engineering and electronics company Robert Bosch GmbH on July 9. The agreement focuses on cooperations in the areas of sensor technology, automated driving, electric motor controls and intelligent transport systems.


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LeBron James and Dwayne Wade cost themselves a combined $10 million to $15 million in potential new endorsements. Dirk Nowitzki has a boatload of cash in front him - if he wants it.
That's the gist of NBA Finals endorsement wrapup, according to sports marketing expert Bob Dorfman of San Francisco-based Baker Street Advertising. The most compelling story of a compelling postseason seems to be mysterious case of LeBron James disappearing in the fourth quarter of some key games, an angle already set against the story line of LeBron as villain, brought about by his unpopular "decision" last summer.
And it's certainly true that LeBron's failure to capture a ring this year hurts his sponsorship growth potential, at least for now. What's interesting to note, though, is that while the whole world seems to be piling on LeBron in the immediate wake of the series, the man still sells like crazy. Dorfman points to a slew of evidence: James' top selling NBA jersey, his featured spots for McDonald's, State Farm and Sprite that ran during the finals, plus a roll in the upcoming movie "Ballers," a basketball comedy. So don't count on James losing any of his $30 million annual endorsement portfolio. "LeBron's brand is global, and his celebrity transcends his sport," says Dorfman. At the same time, he estimates that the polarization of the LeBron, combined with his failures in the clutch, probably cost him some $10 million in new opportunities.
Dwayne Wade, never in LeBron's class as a marketer to begin with, forfeited "a few million" in potential new earnings thanks to the Heat's failure to take the title, estimates Dorfman. Wade's most significant off the court business are his T-Mobil spots. On the plus side: Wade, a mostly low-key star, didn't have as far to fall as LeBron did. He already has a ring from 2006, and he outplayed LeBron in the finals. But as he pushes 30, "Unless the Heat go all the way next season, marketers may find their money will be better spent on younger stars like Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose or Blake Griffin," says Dorfman.
The wild card in all this is Nowitzki, a 13-year NBA star who now adds champion to his resume. Dorfman thinks he could easily rake in $3 million to $5 million in annual endorsement cash. Thing is, Nowitzki isn't particularly charismatic, and he's never shown much interest in chasing endorsements. Ironically, that approach is now a huge potential asset for Nowitzki, whose regular guy persona was beamed to a huge audience during the finals.
Should he change his tune, Dorfman has the perfect suggestion: leveraging Dirk's Game Four effort, in which he overcame a 102 degree fever to help the Mavs pull out a key win, into a pitchman spot for Bayer Aspirin, Campbell's chicken soup or Lipton Tea. Or, asks Dorfman, "How about an "I'm going to Euro Disneyland' spot?"


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Lam’s Extradition Bill and Hong Kong’s 2018 tax transparency agreements are catalysts for the growing capital flight to Singapore
The pervasiveness of brand engagement through tactical tools like thematic events and online advertising has democratised luxury, so how does one cater to the brand’s ultra high net worth customers?
Forbes’s richest self-made women list has proved that female entrepreneurs are now breaking stereotypes and scaling greater heights by building billion-dollar companies from scratch. Words by Angelyn Tan
Through the casualization of fashion, or the commoditisation of air travel, luxury is no longer the straightforward signifier of wealth that it once was
Here’s another crazy rich Asian that manage to slip under the public’s radar
With official releases pegging China’s third-quarter GDP growth at 6.5%, the “world’s factory” is hitting its slowest pace in nine years and if the luxury goods industry continues to depend on the market for revenue growth, it would a recipe for disaster.


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Economy Watch: Pending Home Sales Surprise With Uptick
- Sep 03, 2010
September 3, 2010
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday that its pending home sales index increased in July to 79.4, a rise of 5.2 percent. Pending home sales aren’t actual, close-the-deal home sales, but they are a bellwether for sales in about two months, and as such the upward movement surprised economists.
Not that it’s a terrific number by itself. On this particular index, anything over 100 indicates pending sales activity higher than in 2001, which was the case through all of the mid-2000s, but not since 2007. June 2010’s reading of 75.5, in the immediate wake of the expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit, was the rock-bottom lowest the index has ever been, meaning July’s number is a little better than the pits.
Even the professionally optimistic Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR, could only offer so much comfort in the face of this kind of market. “Recovery looks to be a long process,” he said in a statement on Thursday. “Home buyers over the past year got a great deal, and buyers for the balance of this year have an edge over sellers. For those who bought at or near the peak several years ago, particularly in markets experiencing big bubbles, it may take over a decade to fully recover lost equity.”
Employment Treads Water
New claims for unemployment fell during the week ended August 28 by 6,000, to a seasonally adjusted 472,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The four-week moving average of claims, which is less volatile, was also down by 2,500 to 485,000. That average had been creeping up during much of the summer.
Both are small fluctuations in the labor market, but at least positive ones. Moreover, they might mean that while the economy had a bad summer, at least a lot of employers aren’t in a panic to fire everyone in sight, as they famously were during the fall of 2008 and into 2009.
Earlier in the week, the latest report from Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. noted that planned firings in August 2010 were down 55 percent from the same month a year earlier. So it seems that employment is running in place–no way to grow out of a recession, but not necessarily a recipe for another helping of abject, 2008-style recession.
Shoppers Do a Little More Shopping
In August retailers have traditionally use back-to-school to move the merch, and U.S. consumers went for it a little more than expected this year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers index of 31 major retailers, which was up 3.2 percent during the month compared with July. The sales are measured in stores that have been open for at least a year.
Naturally, there were some winners and some losers among the 31 retailers. The likes of Costco Wholesale Corp. (sales up 7 percent for the month), Limited Brands Inc. (Victoria’s Secret et al., up 10 percent) and Macy’s (up 4.3 percent) did well. Some teen retailers–always tough territory, considering the fickleness of the customer base–didn’t do that well, such as Aeropostale Inc., which saw a 1 percent decline in sales during the month.
Wall Street had another up day on Thursday, perhaps buoyed by the modest economic improvements detailed above. In any case, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 50.63 points, or 0.49 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were up 0.91 percent and 1.06 percent, respectively.


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The Toyota Yaris Hybrid takes some of the tech that has made the Prius such a massive hit and miniaturised it. Jonathan Crouch checks out the revised, now more affordable range.
Toyota has concluded that UK customers for its vast Land Cruiser V8 4x4 aren't interested in belt-tightening or compromise. So, as before, the most recently revised line-up is only one model wide, and we do mean wide. It has everything, including a price tag to match its size. David Vivian reports
Is the future here yet? Toyota seems to think so and has named one of its most innovative models after the Japanese word for it. The experts at Car & Driving grapple with the Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology that allows the Mirai to live up to its name.
The fourth generation Prius promises many improvements, and represents a significant step forward for Toyota. The experts at Car & Driving find out more.
Toyota's improved Prius+ brings petrol/electric hybrid technology to the seven-seat MPV sector. Jonathan Crouch reports.
The ProAce is Toyota's replacement for the HiAce, but it's a bigger and far more sophisticated thing.Jonathan Crouch reports
Four-wheel drive comes no more fashionably
than Toyota's latest RAV4. June Neary checks it out
Toyota's latest generation RAV4 has become quite the polished item. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.


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Red wine, chocolate sharpen your mind
London: Red wine and chocolate make for a deadly combination to keep your mind sharp and alert, a study suggests.
Polyphenols, plant chemicals abundant in dark chocolate and wines, dilate blood vessels, speeding the supply of blood to the brain.
This provides it with a rush of oxygen and sugars, making complex calculations easier and quicker. Besides polyphenols are more effective in combination than alone, the Daily Mail reports.
The theory follows two Northumbria University studies into the effects of polyphenols on the mind. In the first, healthy adults were set a series of tests after taking a capsule packed with resveratrol, the `wonder ingredient` in red wine.
Scans showed a marked increase in blood flow to their brains after taking the supplement.
Greater improvements may be seen in the elderly, said doctoral researcher Emma Wightman from Northumbria, because blood flow to the brain naturally decreases with age.
Unfortunately for wine lovers, the quantities of resveratrol used in the study would equate to drinking crates of the stuff. But it is easy to get the same amounts from supplements sold in health food stores.
And with resveratrol credited with abilities from extending life to burning off junk food, Wightman says there is nothing to stop people from stocking up.
"There is research showing quite a lot of health benefits and there is nothing to suggest there are any adverse effects. You are not going to come to any harm," she said.
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In an interview with Bloomberg, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said the company hopes to achieve as much success with Super Mario Run as Niantic (and the Pokemon Company and Nintendo) have achieved with Pokemon Go.
“In terms of expectations, we all saw what happened when we delivered Pokemon Go,” Kimishima said. “And honestly I was quite surprised by it myself. There’s no doubt that more people are using smartphones to play games. And as this time we’re
using Mario, that’s a very important intellectual property for us.”
“And as Tim Cook mentioned, more than 20 million people have already registered to receive notifications when the game is available,” Kimishima said.
Pokemon Go has just surpassed the $600 million mark worldwide. Super Mario Run will be available in 150 countries all around the world.
Coming this December for iPhone and iPad.


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Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., whose founder is serving time in prison for obstructing justice, is closing its money-losing catalog business in February.
The company, announcing what it called "our final sale" on its website, offered no explanation for the action. A spokeswoman for New York-based Martha Stewart Living, Elizabeth Estroff, said the closure was part of a previously announced plan.
The company's Internet/Direct Commerce unit, including its catalog and website operations, was losing money even before Martha Stewart's legal troubles began, said Dennis McAlpine, an independent analyst based in Scarsdale, N.Y.
"A lot of the customers that Martha Stewart had probably weren't Internet users in the beginning," McAlpine said. "If you were an Internet customer, you could go to Kmart and get the stuff. A lot of the customers just went to Kmart."


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Samsung's efforts to seek injunctions against Apple for standards-essential patents in the mobile phone market may be an abuse of its dominant position and a violation of European Union antitrust rules, the European Commission said Friday.
Europe's top regulatory authority is to charge Samsung over abuse of patents.
Penguin Group has become the latest book publisher to reach a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in a lawsuit that alleges that Apple and five publishers had conspired to raise e-book prices.
A former executive at Taiwanese LCD marker AU Optronics has been convicted of participating in a worldwide conspiracy to fix the prices of LCD panels, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
The European Commission has given Google a January deadline to respond to the European competition agency's concerns over alleged antitrust behavior by the company.
Apple and four other e-book publishers have settled an antitrust battle with the European Union.
Seven international electronics manufacturers were fined a total of €1.47 billion by the European Commission on Wednesday for conspiring to fix the price cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) in two separate cartels between 1996 and 2006.
Hewlett-Packard has filed a complaint against display manufacturers Chunghwa Picture Tubes and Tatung Company of America, seeking to recover damages it claims it suffered as a result of their involvement in a price fixing scheme.
The chief European and U.S. antitrust regulators will meet on Monday in Brussels, and the probes both have into Google's market domination is likely to be high on their agenda.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission may be headed toward an "unwarranted" power grab in its antitrust investigation of Google, two lawmakers from Silicon Valley have said.
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit accusing eBay of entering into a "handshake" agreement to not recruit or hire employees of software maker Intuit.
A U.S. judge has indicated she will accept the terms of a settlement deal between Google and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in which Google will pay a $22.5 million fine for circumventing privacy protections in Apple's Safari browser.
Daily Firefox downloads decreased by 63 percent during the nearly 15 months that Microsoft failed to show users of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 a court-mandated browser choice screen, according to figures released by Mozilla.
The European Commission has made a formal statement of objections to Microsoft over the company's failure to fulfill its commitment to offer Windows users a free choice of browser in settlement of an earlier antitrust case, the Commission said on Wed...
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With an estimated 50 per cent of B2B marketers now using social media to generate leads, the benefits channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram are also considered by B2B marketers to play a role in reducing marketing expense, improving sales, growing business partnerships, establishing thought leadership and generating leads. Additionally, according to an infographic compiled by Digital Information World, 90 per cent of B2B marketers see social media as a way to increase exposure overall in their marketing efforts. The consensus amongst key marketers in the B2B sector is indisputable with 90 per cent of enterprises saying that they respond to customer service enquiries on social media, while 54 per cent of B2B marketers say they use social media to generate leads, and 72 percent of the followers are likely to make a future purchase from the brand.
One of the key attractions that social media has for business is that the target market can go 24/7 on multiple platforms, according to the infographic.
Amongst B2B marketers, the top social media sites fall into a somewhat predictable pattern with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram leading the pack — but user numbers continue to increase. It is estimated that by 2017, social network ad spending will reach $35.98bn, representing 16 per cent of all digital ad spending globally. Additionally, this year it is estimated that B2B service companies will spend 16 per cent of their marketing budget on social media.
When it comes to content marketing, it is estimated that infographics are liked and shared three times more than other content and users are 30 times more likely to read them than text. Further, YouTube is estimated to be the most highly-engaged website of all social media platforms. Photographic images are also essential with blog posts resulting in 64 per cent more Facebook shares and 20 per cent more Twitter shares.
Amongst the biggest challenges for B2B marketers, according to the infographic is that only 30 per cent of marketing projects run by B2B service companies use marketing analytics, with 17 per cent of marketers finding it difficult to show the impact of social media on their business. Additionally, 15 per cent agreed that their top challenge as digital marketers includes “meeting the expectations of the always-connected customer.”
The infographic, compiled using information from a series of industry case studies, white papers and reports, concludes with some key strategies for fine-tuning social media campaign strategy including more live streaming on Facebook Live and Periscope, tweeting images that have received the most page views on other social media platforms or investing in content that is shareable.


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NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - The European Union's antitrust probe into Google sparked a big rally in Russian search engine Yandex NV last week, even though the "Russian Google" still faces significant challenges, competitive and otherwise.
Yandex has amassed a $6.54 billion market capitalization, mainly by selling advertising against the web browser used on 64 percent of Russian desktop computers.
01:20 Google reportedly bringing affordable Android One program to US20
05:09 Sterling slides to 3-month lows on 'hard Brexit' fears13
01:03 Sterling slides to three-month lows on 'hard Brexit' fears13
10:27 India's Tata Consultancy third-quarter net up 10.9 percent, beats estimates20


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Rendcomb's Young Enterprise pupils pitch business ideas to the Cirencester Chamber of Commerce
Six sixth form representatives from Rendcomb College’s Young Enterprise teams got up a little earlier than usual to attend the Cirencester Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting at Diversitea Café in Cirencester on Thursday, 17 October.
At the breakfast meeting the pupils were able to pitch their business ideas to the room full of members and offered the members an opportunity to ask questions about their business ideas. The meeting finished with business networking, where the Rendcomb pupils found themselves very popular with the local business people. There was a lot of positive feedback from the businesses and they gave them some good ideas and opportunities to help progress their businesses further.
Mrs Hannah Ash, Head of Economics at Rendcomb College said: “I was incredibly proud of how confidently they all presented to the Chamber of Commerce and the wonderful praise they all received from the local business people in attendance. I think this experience has helped motivate them to push them forward with their businesses and the networking they did has certainly helped to build their communication skills. “


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This week, WalletHub released its 2021 Oscars Facts report, which was filled with some pretty juicy info for those of us who love numbers and facts. It not only gave us an inside look into how much actual money it costs to run this iconic annual award show, from how much is spent on fashion, goodie-bags to the red carpet, the report also shared some really fascinating facts about this year’s nominations.
All about the money
- $40M+ is the estimated total cost of the Oscars’ ceremony
- $129M is roughly the amount of ad revenue that ABC is expecting to make on Oscar Sunday
- $2M is the cost of a 30-second commercial during the Oscars, that’s 64% less than the cost of an ad during the Super Bowl
The red carpet and goodie-bag
- $24.7K is the cost of the 50,000-square-foot Oscars red carpet and it takes 900 hours to install the red carpet with an average of 18 crew members
- The average value of an Oscar‘s goodie bag is about $225k
- The most expensive goodie-bag item ever was a 12 day cruise on the Scenic Eclipse Yacht
It’s not cheap to look that good!
- $10M is the average cost of the look for an A-list actress attending the Oscars and the average spend of other attendees is $1.5 million for their red carpet looks.
- Cate Blanchett wore the most expensive attire in Oscar’s history, at $18.1M. While most of that figure we attributed to the jewelry she wore, her Armani Privé dress was also worth $100,000 and made with Swarovski crystals.
Yes! women are breaking Oscars’ glass ceilings
- 32%: Share of this year’s Oscar nominees who are women (highest percentage ever).
- 70 women received a total of 76 nominations this year
- 2 women are up for best director this year for the first time in history:
- Emerald Fennell
- Chole Zhao
- New members were added to the Academy in 2020 and 45% of them are women
Diversity is is making history
- Steven Yeun is the 1st Asian American actor to ever be recognized in the best actor category
- 9 actors of color are nominated this year, setting a new record
- Steven Yeun
- Viola Davis
- Leslie Odom Jr.
- Chadwick Boseman
- Andra Day
- Daniel Kaluuya
- LaKeith Stanfield
- Riz Ahmed
- Youn Yuh-Jung
Netflix is dominating the industry
- It is no surprise that Netflix is dominating the industry with 35 nominations, which accounts for almost 40% of all nominations this year


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Canada's wheat exports (excluding durum) remain solid as we move into the final weeks of the 2018-19 crop year. Week 43 exports through licensed channels, covering activity for the week ending May 26 (excluding durum) was reported at 462,000 metric tons, while the previous week saw 531,400 mt shipped, for a two-week total of 993,400 mt. This is the largest two-week volume shipped for several crop years, while cumulative shipments as of week 43 are 13.9% higher than the same period in 2017-18 and 14.6% higher than the five-year average.
As seen on the attached chart, the weekly volume shipped through licensed facilities (green bars) exceeded the weekly volume needed each week to reach Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's latest crop year export estimate of 18.8 million metric tons (blue line) in four of the past six shipping weeks, while excluding the effects of unlicensed exports and the export of flour. This 18.8-mmt export demand forecast was revised higher by 100,000 mt in May's supply and demand tables.
While a simple ratio would project forward to crop year exports of 18.4 mmt, below the current government forecast, the historic pace of movement would point to the potential for exports to exceed current forecasts. Over the past five years, an average of 77.7% of total crop year exports were reported in the CGC's week 43 cumulative export volume total, a pace that would project forward to crop year exports of 19.7 mmt, or 900,000 mt higher than the current government forecast.
Durum exports as of week 43 total 3.544 mmt, up 5.5% from the same period in 2017-18 while 5.9% lower than the five-year average. While AAFC recently revised its export forecast higher by 100,000 mt, to 4.2 mmt, the current pace could allow volumes to exceed this target. Over the past five years, an average of 78.4% of total crop year exports were realized as of week 43. This pace would project forward to total crop year exports of 4.5 mmt, or 300,000 mt higher than current forecasts.
The projected wheat and durum exports based on the five-year average pace of movement would result in Canada's all-wheat exports of 24.2 mmt, in-line with the USDA's 24 mmt forecast and compares to AAFC's May estimate of 23 mmt.
DTN 360 Poll
This week's poll asks which crop will have the greatest potential for price improvement over the upcoming crop year. You can weigh in with your thoughts on the lower-right side of your DTN Home Page.
Cliff Jamieson can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org
Follow him on Twitter @CliffJamieson
© Copyright 2019 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.


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Apple TV 4K, iPad Pro 2022, iPad 2022 launch: After the September launch event, the US-based tech giant Apple on Tuesday night silently launched new range of products – Apple iPad Pro 2022 with M2 chip , the 10.9-inch iPad 2022 with a completely new design and added an updated Apple TV 4K with USB-C Port. The company unveiled these new devices via press releases and updates to the Apple Store.
Apple iPad Pro 2022 price, how to pre-order
The new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro will be available in silver and space grey finishes with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations. The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at Rs 81,900 for the Wi-Fi model and Rs 96,900 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at Rs 1,12,900 for the Wi-Fi model, and Rs 1,27,900 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.
Apple Pencil (2nd generation), available for purchase separately, is compatible with the new iPad Pro for Rs 11,900. iPad Pro is available for pre-order on the Apple India store and website and will be available from October 28.
Apple TV 4K price, how to pre-order
The new Apple TV 4K with Siri Remote will be available starting at Rs 14,900 from apple.com/in/store and at Apple Store locations. Apple TV 4K is also available through Apple Authorised Resellers and limited pay TV providers. Interested customers can order the new Apple TV 4K now, with availability starting Friday, November 4.
Apple iPad 2022 price, how to pre-order
The iPad comes in two variant — Wi-Fi and Cellular. The Wi-Fi version price starts at Rs 44,900, while the Wi-Fi+ Cellular variant is priced starting at Rs 59,900. The new iPad is now available to pre-order via apple.com/store and Apple Store app in 28 countries. It will go on sale starting October 26.
Meanwhile, Apple has announced to roll out iOS 16.1 update with new features, including ‘Live Activities’, ‘Clean Energy Charging’ and more. The new Apple iOS 16.1 update will be available on October 24. Any iPhone that can run iOS 16 will be able to get iOS 16.1, which includes the iPhone 8 and newer models. There will be some major changes in the new update.


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Shopping back in fashion this autumn
DUBLIN retailers have suffered a 20pc decrease in footfall, but they are fighting back with a three-day Fashion Festival between October 1-3 aimed at wooing shoppers.
Reduced parking rates of €5 for three hours, late-night Friday shopping, 15-20pc discounts in certain stores and fashion-themed menus and cocktails in restaurants and bars are part of the autumn campaign.
Dublin Festival of Fashion -- a celebration of Irish style -- has been created by Dublin City Business Improvement District (BID), which was responsible for the successful Dine In Dublin event, which attracted 25,000 diners into the capital.
"There's no doubt that it's been a tough environment and consumer expenditure took a fall from 2008, but things are stabilising and the view of a lot of retailers is that we've probably passed the worst of it," said Richard Guiney, chief executive of Dublin City BID.
The decline in shoppers has been more dramatic on the southside than on the northside, Mr Guiney confirmed, and the figure of a 20pc fall was consistent with what had happened across the country.
"Things have been moving in the right direction since about April or May and we are catching up. It is tentative, consumer confidence is still very fragile but we hope that Dublin Festival of Fashion will help instil some confidence," he said.
While the Dublin Festival of Fashion is aimed at shoppers, Dublin Fashion Week has gone on ice for the second consecutive season. Director Sonia Reynolds confirmed to the Irish Independent that the event "is currently suspended due to its difficulties attracting sponsors".
The event, which was formerly sponsored by Motorola, did not go ahead last spring but there are hopes it could be revitalised for the autumn-winter 2011 season.


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Actor Rob Brown Settles Lawsuit With Macy’s
Rob Brown of HBO’s Treme has settled his lawsuit against the major department store Macy’s.
Brown, 30, filed the suit last year after he was detained and accused of using a fake credit card while trying to buy a $1,300 watch at a flagship store in New York’s Herald Square.
The suit charged Macy’s with “false imprisonment, negligent training and civil rights allegations,” the Daily News reports. He also sought a court order forcing Macy’s and the NYPD to stop racial profiling at high-end stores.
The settlement was confirmed by Brown’s lawyer; however, he can refile the lawsuits within 60 days if the settlement falls apart.
“Our company strictly prohibits discrimination of any kind and has zero tolerance for racial profiling,” commented a spokeswoman for Macy’s.


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TWO OF Britain’s largest car hire firms have said they will ignore a new government system for checking driving licence details because the measures threaten to cause chaos at rental desks.
Avis and Budget, which together account for more than 10% of car hire business, will no longer review how many penalty points a driver has or whether he or she has a serious motoring conviction before handing over a vehicle because they claim the new system set up by the DVLA could result in disruption for customers.
The move comes ahead of the abolition of the paper counterpart driving licence, which takes effect on June 8.
Under the current system, anyone wanting to hire a car needs to show both parts of their driving licence — the plastic photocard and its paper counterpart. The latter contains details of endorsements for contraventions such as speeding or drink driving, as well as details about what type of vehicle the holder is qualified to drive.
Next week the paper counterpart will be replaced by a central database that holds drivers’ details and must be accessed via phone or online. Those wanting to hire a car in the UK or abroad can access the database and enter their driving licence and national insurance numbers, as well as their postcode, to view their entitlements and penalty points.
They can share this information by generating a code on the website and passing it to the rental company. The code lasts for only 72 hours and there are expected to be many customers who forget to create it, or who do not realise they need to do so.
To avoid long queues and delays as well as disappointed customers, Avis and Budget have said they simply won’t carry out the checks. “This change is taking place over our busy summer period,” said Avis. “So, to make sure our customers do not face any disruption, anyone collecting their vehicle from one of our UK stores will only need to bring their photocard licence.”
The rest of the industry has taken different approaches. Europcar says customers will need to generate a code, while Hertz is asking customers to print out their driving licence details from the government’s site.
The confusion is the latest in a series of problems to hit the plan to scrap the paper counterpart licence. It was originally scheduled for January but was delayed until the checking service was created, pushing the date to the start of the summer holiday period.
Government officials estimate that the measure will save drivers £8m a year in the cost of replacing lost documents. It is part of the DVLA’s “bonfire of the paperwork”, which has also included scrapping tax discs and no longer requiring car owners to produce insurance certificates.


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High Tide Opening New Canna Cabana Store in Winnipeg
High Tide will open a new Canna Cabana recreational cannabis store in Winnipeg on Friday.
The store at 481 River Avenue will be the firm’s 159th Canna Cabana-branded location in Canada, the 11th in Manitoba and the sixth in Winnipeg, which is the province’s capital and largest city. In addition to selling cannabis products, the store will sell consumption accessories for adult use.
“Becoming meaningfully cash-flow positive prior to the end of this calendar year has opened up space for us to hit the gas pedal again on new organic store openings across the country,” said Raj Grover, High Tide’s founder and CEO, in a news release.
The new Winnipeg store is among three Canna Cabana locations that Calgary-based High Tide is in the process of launching. New Canna Cabana locations opened earlier this week in Saskatoon and Vancouver.
Monte Stewart serves as Content Director - Canada for Connect Commercial Real Estate.
Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monte provides daily news coverage of major Canadian commercial real estate markets, including Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. He has written about the real estate sector for various media outlets and Avison Young since the early 2000s.
In addition, he has covered sports, general news and business for several leading wire services and publications, including The Canadian Press, The Associated Press, The Calgary Herald, The Globe and Mail, Research Money, The Daily Oil Bulletin, Natural Gas World and The Toronto Star.
Monte is active in his community as a youth basketball coach and raises funds for such charitable causes as Movember.


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Even if you don’t have high blood pressure, chances are someone else in your life does. Just take a look at the numbers: According to the CDC, nearly 120 million Americans have hypertension, defined as a systolic blood pressure greater than 130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure greater than 80 mmHg. And more than half a million deaths had hypertension as a primary or contributing cause. But it’s not just death that makes high blood pressure so concerning. When hypertension isn’t brought under control, it significantly raises your chances for heart disease or stroke.
But there is good news. Research suggests scooping up a bowl of yogurt for breakfast and making milk the base of your post-workout recovery smoothies might be one way you can use your diet to help prevent blood pressure creep. Yes, you read that right: Much-maligned dairy could actually do the heart some good.
And, no, this dietitian isn’t on the dairy council payroll. It’s just a matter of fact. The nutritional makeup of dairy, especially certain types, may make it a notable ally in the battle against hypertension. Well, as long as you aren’t lactose intolerant or sensitive to the stuff, that is.
Here’s why you might feel a little better about your Greek yogurt addiction if you’re keeping your heart health in mind.
The connection between dairy and blood pressure
It’s looking pretty good when it comes to the role dairy plays in helping regulate blood pressure.
A large international study involving nearly 150,000 adults from 21 countries published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care found that consuming at least two daily servings of dairy over a 12-month period is linked to lower risks of high blood pressure, as well as diabetes and metabolic syndrome, which is the cluster of factors (such as high blood triglycerides) that heighten cardiovascular disease risk.
At least 2 servings of total dairy per day was associated with an 11 to 12% lower risk of both high blood pressure and diabetes. That benefit rose to a 13 to 14% lower risk for 3 daily servings.
What dairy did the researchers test? Their dairy products included milk, yogurt, yogurt drinks, cheese and dishes prepared with dairy, and were classified as full (2% milk fat) or low fat (1% or less). Interestingly – and good news for those who can’t stomach skim milk – the observed associations were strongest for higher-fat dairy products, keeping in mind that this category did not include butter, cream or yogurt products with a milk fat percentage higher than 2 percent.
What makes dairy so beneficial for high blood pressure?
Dairy foods are rich in all the right nutrients. These items provide high-quality protein and a wide range of essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, and vitamins A, B12, and riboflavin – all nutrients that may help in the battle against hypertension.
Therefore, the potential impact of dairy on health cannot be projected solely from its saturated fat content. The overall nutrition matrix of certain dairy products (i.e. not greasy pizza) is what might make them good news for heart health, when consumed in reasonable amounts and as part of a predominantly whole food diet.
Plus, the fat in dairy can make what you’re eating more satiating, a detail that may help you maintain better overall calorie control in their diets. There could even be something special about the makeup of fat in milk and its ilk that sets it apart from the fat you’d glean from other animal-based foods like beef and pork.
The study’s authors acknowledged the heart-healthy patterns they noticed may be linked to participants’ overall diet, although they took steps to adjust for this in their analysis. And since this is an observational study, and as such can’t establish a proven cause and effect, there’s only a link. Still, the study suggests that dairy, including products with some fat, is probably a safe component of an overall healthy diet geared towards better blood pressure numbers and other health measures. And it adds evidence that a range of dietary patterns can support long-term health, including those that include or eschew dairy.
There’s more heart healthy news
This isn’t the only data released in recent years showing that a dairy habit can help drive down blood pressure numbers. Other research suggests that enjoying dairy-based foods may have a positive effect on hypertension and heart health in general
An investigation in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition randomly assigned overweight adults to follow one of two equally caloric diets for six weeks: a low-dairy diet containing one or fewer servings daily or a high-dairy diet providing 5 and 6 servings of lower fat dairy for women and men, respectively. After a four-week washout period where people went back to following their typical diets, they then followed the other dairy diet. Blood pressure was measured at the start and the end of both intervention diets.
The results showed that higher dairy intakes resulted in a greater reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels. The authors speculate that a rise in calcium intake could be a principal factor behind these results. It’s thought that calcium plays a role in better blood pressure management because it helps blood vessels tighten and relax when needed.
Additionally, another study which compared a normal Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern to one that swapped out low-fat dairy foods for full-fat versions discovered that the modified DASH diet, which was still high in fruits and vegetables, was just as effective at lowering blood pressure numbers in participants as was the regular DASH diet – but the modified version was even better at reducing blood triglyceride and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) levels. This can be beneficial in helping stave off heart disease. The lower-fat DASH diet, however, was better at reducing LDL cholesterol.
This is more evidence indicating that dairy, even higher-fat versions, may not negatively impact cardiovascular risk factors when consumed as part of a nutritious diet.
Going forward, we can only hope there are large randomized trials of the effects of different types of dairy products on long-term blood pressure and other health indices to shed further light on the links highlighted in the aforementioned studies.
Making dairy work harder for you
While your overall dietary pattern is more important when it comes to blood pressure and general health than any one food, there are ways to get more out of the dairy in your life. Try these five tips to reap the heart-healthy potential of your favorite dairy foods.
1. Opt for fermented dairy foods
Ideally, at least one of your daily dairy servings will be fermented such as yogurt, kefir or cultured cottage cheese. There might be an extra advantage to the beneficial microorganisms they supply.
Researchers from Tufts University in Boston found that over 14 years, people who reported that at least 2 percent of their daily calories came from yogurt were 31 percent more likely to maintain healthier blood pressure numbers year after year. And new research out of the International Dairy Journal found that older people with hypertension had significant improvements in systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure (a measure of the average pressure on one’s arteries when their heart beats) with frequent yogurt consumption.
2. Greener pastures are better for you
Preliminary research suggests that milk squirted from dairy cows nourished on pastures is higher in mega-healthy omega-3 polyunsaturated fat and perhaps a few important nutrients like iron and vitamin E. But it remains to be determined if the extra levels of these nutrients are high enough to make much of an impact. You can look for products with the green American Grassfed Association logo for a guarantee that you’re getting what you’re paying for.
3. Go with the big O
Dairy with the USDA organic seal must come from cows that are not administered hormones (used in some conventional dairy farms to increase milk production) and must spend at least four months of the year roaming and nibbling on pesticide- and GMO-free pasture, but organically grown grains can also be a part of their diet.
If your food budget won’t allow for a shopping cart full of organic dairy, you can mix and match organic (or grass-fed) and conventional. That will still give you some nutritional and environmental brownie points.
4. Shelve the sugar
To reap any potential blood pressure or other health benefits from dairy, it’s important to steer mostly clear from products that contain hefty amounts of added sugar. A serving of flavored yogurt can have three times as much of the sweet stuff as plain versions.
5. Don’t go crazy for fat
Yes, it seems like including some dairy fat in your life is nothing to be concerned about, especially if it’s part of a whole-food diet. But none of the results outlined above should give you permission to chug a carton of whole milk and drown your broccoli in butter.
The majority of scientific literature still says it’s a good idea to keep overall saturated fat intake in check for better health long term. So go easy on the heavy cream, butter, cheese and extra fat yogurt. Products like 2 percent yogurt and 2 percent sour cream can be a happy medium.


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Apple Inc. is upgrading security protections on its devices, adding the ability to encrypt iCloud data backups for the first time.
Apple Inc. is upgrading security protections on its devices, adding the ability to encrypt iCloud data backups for the first time alongside new safeguards for iMessage and account logins.
The most significant new feature, Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, will end-to-end encrypt the storage of iCloud backups — a nearly full copy of the data on a user’s iPhone and iPad — in addition to notes, photos, files, voice memos and messages. Previously, only some features, such as health data, passwords and payment information, were end-to-end encrypted.
End-to-end encryption means that the encryption keys are stored only on a user’s devices instead of in data centers. That means that a hacker can’t get the decryption key by breaching a server and then accessing a user’s data.
The changes help fulfill longstanding customer requests and bolster an iCloud services business that has been a growth area for Apple in recent years. The iCloud offerings helped contribute to more than $78 billion in services sales for the company in the last fiscal year, up 14% from 2021.
While Apple’s physical devices — like iPhones, iPads and Macs — already offer high-end encryption and advanced security tools, cloud storage has long been seen as more vulnerable. The latest moves aim to close that gap. Still, the end-to-end encryption won’t support iCloud email, contacts and calendars. The company said that’s because those features rely on legacy technologies and are used within third-party apps.
In the Messages app, Apple is adding Contact Key Verification. This feature, which is also offered by encrypted messaging apps like Signal, will let users verify who they are messaging with. The mechanism shows both texters the same code, which they can use to ensure their identities. The Messages app will notify users if a contact’s code changes so they can verify it is indeed still the same person.
“Conversations between users who have enabled iMessage Contact Key Verification receive automatic alerts if an exceptionally advanced adversary, such as a state-sponsored attacker, were ever to succeed breaching cloud servers and inserting their own device to eavesdrop on these encrypted communications,” Apple said in a statement.
In some cases, there are trade-offs to using the enhancements. The extra security in iCloud means that Apple can’t restore a user’s account because it no longer holds the encryption key. Instead, a user would need to use a recovery contact or save a recovery key. Another compromise: Access to iCloud data via the web needs to be manually enabled.
Apple is also joining companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google in offering support for physical security keys for logging into accounts. This feature will allow users worried about online threats to have a physical key inserted into their devices — in addition to using their Apple account password — before they can log in. This would replace a notification or text message with a code, the most common form of two-factor authentication for online accounts.
Both the new iCloud and iMessage features are launching for all US users this month and will begin rolling out globally next year, Apple said. The physical security key feature is also coming next year. The first two features will come as part of iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2 and macOS Ventura 13.1. New beta versions with support for the enhancements were released Wednesday.
Along with the new security features, Apple said it’s fully canceling a plan to apply detection of child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, to photos stored in iCloud. The company first announced that plan last year, but then paused the launch after an outcry from security researchers and privacy advocates. The company has, however, launched CSAM detection in its Messages app and added new features in Siri to educate users about the issue.
“We have further decided to not move forward with our previously proposed CSAM detection tool for iCloud Photos,” the company told Wired, adding that it is deepening its investment in communication safety features. “Children can be protected without companies combing through personal data,” Apple said, and it will continue working on ways to protect children and preserve their privacy.


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It is the season to be merry for consumers, but for brands in consumer durables, garments and food, the festive months are no holiday.
Sure, new sale occasions are created all year round by retail chains—such as the Independence Day sale from Big Bazaar and the New Year’s day sale by Chennai-based Vivek’s. But the festive season, particularly Diwali, is still an opportunity no brand can afford to miss.
In the case of durables, Diwali alone accounts for 30% of annual sales. Paint companies get 30-35% of their revenue, while premium branded apparels get a third of their sales this time of the year.
Coming after a less-than spectacular year, the branded apparels category in particular has a lot riding on Diwali 2009.
Selling time: Durables companies are pushing high-end products to premium consumers ahead of Diwali.
The year saw practically every brand indulge in unprecedented levels of discounting, with discounts reaching the almost absurdly high levels of 70%. Growth in organized retail in the premium category declined to a mere 18-20% from a heady 35%.
Some argue that Diwali is perhaps the wrong horse to bet on for the industry, since consumers are likely to have already finished their festive shopping when just about every brand was going for a song.
But many players in branded garments are hoping that fresh stock in stores and the age-old tradition of new clothes at Diwali might bring consumers back, even if there are no discounts or promotional offers to sweeten the deal.
According to Ashish Dikshit, president, Madura Garments, “The category’s fundamental values are fashion, product innovation and better styling. A lot of our efforts are around building more fundamental value instead of any large promotion or below-the-line activity.” However, it seems unrealistic to expect that consumers will pay full price for products they’ve been getting at a bargain.
Sunil Alagh, founder of the consultancy SKA Advisors Pvt Ltd, recommends, “Apparel firms would have lots of stock which did not get sold. Here’s an opportunity: if they’ve got a new range now, they should use the old stocks as promotional items. ‘Buy two new shirts and get one free’ for instance. And the free shirt should be from the older inventory.”
Durables make it to the festive season after a much better year, a slow first quarter notwithstanding. Both LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd and Samsung Electronics India Pvt. Ltd expect a 45% increase in sales over Diwali 2008. And just about every durable company worth its salt has its eyes set on the premium consumer. Samsung is aggressively pushing its high-end LED television sets. It’s throwing in a free 22-inch LCD TV set with every LED model above the 40-inch mark. The costliest sets in this range carry a tag well above Rs3 lakh.
The “buy one get one free” strategy is being pushed across the company’s portfolio. LG has already started off a high decibel campaign that encompasses its entire range of products—from LCD TV sets to cellphones. Philips hopes to build buzz around new launches—Blu-ray home theatre and high-end cinema systems all above the Rs1 lakh range.
Old favourites such as “scratch and win cards” and “assured gifts” such as digital cameras and watches are very much in vogue, but many firms are driven by the desire to better integrate the offers with the products being bought.
Ravinder Zutshi, deputy managing director, Samsung India, observes that the customer is more brand oriented and puts a greater value on quality and technology: “If we give him something that complements his purchase—a DVD player free with a TV, or a smaller LCD TV with a larger LCD TV, he feels a lot more comfortable.”
Consumers are looking for a value in the purchase beyond gifts, which are almost taken for granted, according to Vivek Sharma, chief marketing officer, Philips: “They understand that the value of the gift can never make up for the long-term value of the product.”
Firms across the board have raised ad spending in the hope of meeting their ambitious sales targets. Campaigns flogging Diwali offers are out even before Navratri is over and done with. Of course, not all the money is being spent on mainstream media. Britannia is using “Diwali Mela”, an initiative to take the brand closer to customers who have problems physically accessing it across select markets in North India such as New Delhi, Chandigarh, Kanpur and Lucknow.
Besides, according to Shalini Degan, category director—lifestyle and delight, Britannia, “We spend a lot more money on creating the festive mood in stores rather than above-the-line communication. It’s a fair percentage of the overall business—6% to 7% of Rs 20 to 24 crores.”
Storyboard airs tonight at 7:30pm on CNBC-TV18


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Hawke's Bay's 2012 apple harvest has the smallest fruit in living memory, says Agfirst consultant John Wilton.
He said among the reasons for the smaller apples were poor pollination, a cool spring, quick colour development, ineffective thinning and a conscious decision to grow smaller fruit.
Poor pollination had showed up mainly in the Royal Gala types of apples.
"Some varieties flowered late which meant they didn't have other varieties around them to cross-pollinate," he said. "Some growers pulled out some uneconomic varieties, forgetting about the contribution they make to pollination - the bees had no pollen with which to transfer."
A cooler-than-normal spring held back growth but then fruit had ripened quickly, lessening growing time.
"Normally, they have to wait around for colour. They put on about 10 grams a week, so if you harvest a bit early that's 10 grams you miss out on."
Chemical thinning had been less effective than usual.
"I think it may have been too cold," he said.
Hand thinning also was below par.
"One would think there was less hand thinning done, due to an affliction out there known as banker's blight."
Many growers were aiming for smaller fruit, which was the preferance in Asian markets, but some growers had "overcooked it a bit".
He said: "You can panic and go the other way."
New Zealand exports are increasingly swinging towards Asia. This season just under 33 per cent of apple exports went there compared with 28 per cent to continental Europe. Last season, Asia took 27 per cent and Europe 35 per cent.


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Horizon Zero Dawn launched last year to massive critical acclaim. Fans were fascinated by the prehistoric environment filled with mysterious prehistoric dinosaurs – where did they come from? Why is this game in the future but in the past? Guerilla Games took this element of complete mystery to craft an intriguing game which resonated with fans across the globe.
So last month I covered an interesting project called, TriForce Tokens, a cryptocurrency project which, intends to create an umbrella currency for all gaming platforms using blockchain technology. This was the first introduction I got to blockchain being used for a gaming purpose, and it fascinated me, so I decided to research up other projects using blockchain for gaming. Here I came across a project just as interesting – Play2Live.
There was a time when hackers simply defaced websites to get attention, then they started hijacking them to spread banking trojan and ransomware, and now the trend has shifted towards injecting scripts into sites to mine cryptocurrencies.
ABZU the gorgeous deep-sea exploration game from Giant Squid Studios is running for 50% off for Xbox One gamers on the Microsoft Marketplace.
The first week of PUBG’s launch seemed quite fruitful for Microsoft. According to VGChartz Global Weekly Chart for the week ending December 16, PUBG sold an estimated 581,761 units at retail – this means that digital sales were not accounted for (we can assume that digital sales were likely much higher).
Epic Game’s co-op survival title, Fortnite is set to get a 60fps mode for all consoles – optimised for whichever platform you happen to own.


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The UK's largest ISP, Freeserve (quote: FRE), announces a two pronged unmetered package Tuesday. Starting May, customers will have unmetered access to the Internet through BT at off-peak times for £6.99 per month.
In a statement, the company says the new offer is applicable to the 85 percent of Freeserve users who use BT phone lines. The offer was first reported by ZDNet UK News earlier Tuesday.
Alternatively Freeserve and its partner Energis will extend the existing 'Freeserve Time' to include full unmetered access in exchange for a minimum of £10 per month spent on voice calls with Energis. Energis can be accessed by either dialling a code before making a call or by purchasing a 'router' box.
Free and unmetered internet access has been on the agenda for some time -- right now the battle is on. Go to AnchorDesk UK to get the news comment from Tony Westbrook.
Find out more about free Internet access in our Unmetered Access Guide.


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Last month, Shaun King announced that he would debut a "private fashion line" on September 8th. Well... today is September 8th, and there is no news about the fashion line. The alleged scammer claimed that the brand, A Real One, would be "a fully Black owned fashion brand that will change the entire supply chain."
An Instagram for the probably nonexistent brand offers a link, but that links takes you to a newsletter signup sheet. I know because I signed up and there is still no word about my private fashion items, Shaun!
Various high-profile black activists and actors, including iCarly actress Laci Mosley, tweeted about his "fashion line."
What is your favorite fashion-related nickname for Shaun King?


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The Antitrust Probe Into Facebook Heats Up
Social media giant Facebook’s rough patch with regulators is not showing any signs of improvement for Mark Zuckerberg and company.
A total of 47 state attorneys general have joined an investigation into whether Facebook violated antitrust law by putting user information at risk and artificially inflating advertising prices, according to Reuters. The top public lawyers in those states are being led in the probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“Facebook has played a major role in shaping our global online economy as one of the largest social media platforms in the world. It is illegal for a business to use its market power to engage in anticompetitive conduct in an effort to achieve or maintain a monopoly,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said after joining the investigation. “Our personal data is the biggest commodity in today’s online economy and, as the chief law enforcement officer of the state, it is my duty to ensure Michigan residents’ personal data doesn’t continue to be pillaged in a monopolist’s quest to control social media and advertising markets.”
The probe was originally announced in September. Facebook is also facing a separate investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, related to undisclosed antitrust concerns. The FTC in July hit Facebook with a $5 billion fine for allowing Cambridge Analytica to access some 87 million Facebook users’ data without their consent.
Legal Remedies for Data Breaches, Antitrust Violations
The Facebook probe is the latest reminder that companies often play fast and loose with their customers’ personal information.
At Glancy Prongay & Murray, our attorneys help people protect themselves from data breaches and other attacks on their private information. We also help consumers exercise their rights to seek compensation for the financial damage caused by antitrust violations.
That includes by representing clients in class actions, lawsuits in which a number of people harmed by the same antitrust violations or other unlawful conduct join together to seek compensation for their injuries. This legal tool allows people to share the cost and risk of litigation and leverage their claims to try to force companies to the negotiating table.
We take most of our class action cases on a contingency fee basis. That means we largely only get paid if we win the case at trial or through a negotiated settlement.
How an Antitrust Lawyer Can Help You
If you are considering legal action against a business responsible for data breaches or engaged in anticompetitive activity, it is vital that you consult an experienced antitrust lawyer. At Glancy Prongay & Murray, we have decades of combined experience in antitrust and other related cases. We guide clients through the legal process with experience and personal attention.
Our firm has been representing people in antitrust and other similar cases for more than 25 years. We have a strong track record of success in these cases. Call us at (310) 201-9150 or contact us online to speak with an antitrust lawyer today.


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Dedham-based iParty Corp. considers putting itself up for sale after scary Halloween season
After enduring his second Halloween nightmare in two years, iParty Corp. CEO Sal Perisano is now bracing for the possibility that the Dedham-based retailer could be up for sale.
Perisano had been hoping that the Northeast wouldn't get crushed with another pre-Halloween storm, as costume sales typically make October the party supplier's busiest month of the year. The snowy nor'easter that wrecked the 2011 Halloween for so many Massachusetts kids had also cost iParty (NYSE: IPT) roughly $2 million in lost revenue.
Unfortunately, Sandy would prove to be another another horror show for iParty this time around. The 54-store chain disclosed today that its sales fell 6.5 percent last month from October 2011, largely because of storm-related impacts. The anticipation of the hurricane disrupted business at iParty stores in the days leading up to Oct. 29, and closed most of iParty's stores that day.
There's at least some good news: Sales at iParty stores open at least a year have risen 1.3 percent for the year so far through October, and total sales rose 0.8 percent compared to the same time last year, to nearly $70 million.
That news wasn't good enough to head off talk of a possible sale of the company. IParty's press release included the telltale headline: "Strategic Alternatives." That buzzword usually means that a sale of the company is on the table. In this case, iParty has hired investment bank Raymond James & Associates to advise it on a broad range of alternatives, including a possible sale (other options include raising additional financing). The iParty board has formed a committee of independent directors to explore these future alternatives, although no deadline has been set for a decision.
Company execs had considered taking out insurance against the possibility of another freak storm crashing iParty's Halloween party this year, but deemed it wasn't worth the expense. Perisano says they had hoped lighting wouldn't strike twice. But Perisano and his team learned the hard way that just because you're struck once doesn't mean you're immune from being struck again.
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Apple and the tough sell of privacy
To the degree that people are concerned about the amount of data being collected by Big Tech, Apple would seem to be the big beneficiary. It gets its money from selling products (and to a lesser degree content and services) rather than through advertising.
Why now: It's a point CEO Tim Cook has been driving home after Facebook's big privacy lapse, including during an interview on Wednesday with Recode's Kara Swisher, when he said:
"The truth is, we could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer — if our customer was our product. We’ve elected not to do that."
Not so fast: As well positioned as Apple is, it faces one big obstacle: Privacy tends to be a very tough sell.
- Historically, people have gladly traded less privacy in exchange for greater utility and added features. Plus, privacy, like security, is tough to see — we pay attention to it only when it goes away.
- Also, Apple isn't exactly in the same business as Facebook and Google. The iPhone might get some boost over Android if consumers start paying more attention to privacy. But Apple doesn't compete directly with Facebook or even with most of Google's online services.
Another possible winner: To the degree that consumers do shift toward favoring companies with stronger privacy protections, another potential beneficiary is Microsoft. While it does make money from advertising, its history of regulation has made the company more privacy focused than its rivals.


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After making a fortune online, digital marketing guru Neil Patel realised that money can't buy family or friends. He still works around the clock - but has sold his home, ditched his possessions, and is trying to live a lighter life.
Neil Patel totally owns being a geek. The slight-framed US entrepreneur cracks jokes about his Indian heritage and peppers his conversation with anecdotes about the money-making strategies of IT gurus like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and tech companies like Dropbox.
A self-described analytics junkie, Patel has co-founded three companies (Kissmetrics, Crazy Egg and Hello Bar) based on products that track and report on website visitors, to help companies improve their online pull.
Despite his immersion in the full-throttle world of online marketing, Patel is disarmingly low-key, his laid-back demeanour belying his constant biz-talk.
He's always worked long hours: “I work every, single day," he says, happily. But these days, he says, his focus has switched away from just making money, to finding meaning beyond accumulating 'stuff.'
And this year, Patel made a very big life change: he sold his apartment and all of his furniture, got rid of most of his possessions, and now travels very, very light, with nearly everything he owns contained in one small suitcase.
“I'm kind-of homeless right now," he says, with a smile.
Patel, often top-billed at online marketing conferences around the world, last month made his second-ever visit to Australia at the behest of his old friend, Aaron Agius who heads digital marketing agency Louder Online.
At a Sydney “thought leadership" lunch, Patel discussed the next big trends in the digital ecosphere with over a dozen attendees.
He doesn't see a big change in the major players: Facebook and Google are still hot, hot, hot.
“Facebook's business model now, is getting people to pay for Facebook ads, to drive traffic back to Facebook; it's genius," he says.
Personalised content is a growing trend, too; but Patel says that the key to success online is still analytics. “You need to know what works and what converts."
Patel's brand of homeless doesn't seem to involve great hardships. Between attending meetings and speaking engagements over his week-long jaunt to Australia recently, Patel took in the sights, girlfriend Marie in tow; one day, cruising Sydney Harbour aboard a private yacht, another day touring the Blue Mountains by helicopter.
But he recently went public with a personal epiphany: like many multi-millionaires, he's realised that money - and the lavish lifestyle it facilitates - wasn't making him happy.
“I realized that my entire life goal - rising from my middle class environment and making millions of dollars - didn't satisfy me at all," he wrote.
A few years back, Patel bought a new home: a multi-million dollar luxury condominium overlooking the Las Vegas strip, complete with glamorous furniture.
But he was rarely home and maintaining his luxury pad made it more hassle than haven.
This year, Patel had a revelation: all this high-end stuff wasn't making him happy, and took him away from his real passions: working, helping others and spending time with friends and family. Following the advice of a mentor, serial entrepreneur Mukund Mohan, Patel decided to sell his home, jettison most possessions, and live in hotels full-time, rather than part time.
He does have a home base, of sorts; “Every couple of months, I stay with my parents in California for a while," he says.
“You help people outright, or you can see people grow with your advice. It's rewarding."
Patel admits that he took a very long time moving out of his parents' home anyway, and – as he wrote in a Forbes column recently - until the age of 23, “I was that guy: the twenty-something nerd without a real job, living in his parents' house, and spending all his time on the internet."
But by 23, he had also graduated from college, started seven (and crashed five) separate businesses, earned (and lost) a million dollars – and thanks to his parents' support, learned to 'hustle' and work hard to regain the fortune he'd lost in an earlier start-up.
“I worked insane hours, made risky decisions, and hustled like my life depended on it," he reflects.
'Hustle' is the title of Patel's new business book, co-written with two entrepreneurs, which exhorts readers to tap into their ambition and take steps to become successful.
“As an immigrant family, my parents never had the mentality of 'do what you love,'" he reflects. “They believed that you do whatever it takes to put food on the table and a roof over your head."
From a young age, Patel says, he yearned to make his fortune. He saw business as the key to financial success, creating his first website at 16.
Despite some big setbacks, his work ethic and commercial nous helped him make a lot of money early on, and by the time he was thirty, he'd achieved the financial security he craved, and a solid customer base that included Amazon, NBC, GM, HP, Viacom, Outbrain and 99 Designs.
Patel's various awards include one from the UN (as a Top 100 entrepreneur under age 35) and President Obama (as a Top 100 entrepreneur under age 30).
His Quicksprout blog attracts millions of readers each year who are keen to learn about internet marketing.
But Patel's ambitions have changed. His fortune secured, now he's writing about the excitement and joy that comes from donating money to charity or helping someone out.
“My most joyful spending experiences were when I spent money on other people," he writes.
Growing to discover his passions
Patel was born in England but his family relocated to California when he was just two, and he grew up in a modest household. His father worked for his uncle's business and his mother ran a daycare centre – but Neil's own dreams were bigger.
In high school, Neil began buy cable boxes and then automotive parts in bulk on eBay, and reselling them to his classmates for a profit.
The profits weren't reliable though – so at 15, Neil found himself a “real job" after school hours, working as a janitor at Knott's Berry Farm.
His next job - selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door on commission – taught him a lot but wasn't a great earner. Eventually, intrigued by the success of the Monster.com job site, Patel decided to set up his own online job board, investing $5,000 in web design.
Attracting customers was his next challenge; so Patel engaged a marketing firm, only to discover it made zero difference to his sales, so he decided to learn internet marketing to improve his own site. His efforts worked – a bit – but his job board was never very successful.
However, a speech Patel gave later about internet marketing, to meet a homework requirement, led to a gig helping a classmate's company improve their online sales.
He founded an Internet marketing company with his sister's then-boyfriend, Hiten Shah, while still studying marketing at California State University Fullerton.
Since then, while analytics have generated more profits, it's blogging that has captured his heart.
“Out of everything I do, I enjoy blogging the most," he admits. "You write smart, get some traffic and then figure out how to monetise. It's the least successful business that I have, but it generates a good enough income."
The real attraction that work holds for him now, though, is not the money. “You help people outright, or you can see people grow with your advice. It's rewarding."