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Money & Banking
"Disturbing" Rebel Wilson ad slammed by experts
An ad starring Australian starlet Rebel Wilson has been deemed “disturbing” by financial counsellors.
The Afterpay advertisement stars Wilson telling a young girl that “if credit cards and cash had a baby you could pay it over time without ever paying interest”.
Financial Counselling Australia chief executive Fiona Guthrie said the campaign has gone a step too far.
“It minimises the risks of using buy-now, pay-later products and the fact she is talking to a young child, explaining a credit product, is very disturbing,” Ms Guthrie said on Tuesday.
She went on to say financial counsellors are seeing more and more people who use the buy-now, pay-later scheme calling into increasing debt.
“People think they’re harmless, but the reality is they are a form of credit and should be treated that way,” she said.
FCA has written a number of complaints about the Wilson clip to Ad Standards, which manages complaints about advertisements under the industry’s self-regulated system.
“We want it discontinued as soon as possible,” Ms Guthrie said.
She went on to say the AD is one of several that Afterpay is currently running.
“Why these celebrities want to associate themselves with a product that can cause such harm is beyond us,” Ms Guthrie said.
“ASIC’s 2020 report found that one in five people are missing payments. It also found that as a result some people are cutting back, or going without essentials, such as food.”
“These slick and expensive campaigns only serve to lull consumers into using buy-now, pay-later more. There is a high risk of getting into debt, especially if you are using the product multiple times or have more than one account.”
In her complaint to Ad Standards, Ms Guthrie said Afterpay wasn’t available for people under 18.
“It would not be acceptable to explain the benefits of personal loans or credit cards to children in an advertisement and it should not be acceptable in this case,” she said.
“The use of children is gratuitous and inappropriate.”
She said the ad also failed to show how buy-now, pay-later products worked.
She also went on to say that anyone who missed an instalment would cop late fees.
“We urge Ad Standards to review this advertisement and ensure it is discontinued from all platforms in Australia as soon as possible,” she said.
Earlier this week, Afterpay and its competitor Zip Co claimed that banks were forcing mortgage applicants to delete their accounts before approving home loans.
In a statement to TND Afterpay defended its advert, saying it was proud to divert Australians away from credit cards.
“Afterpay has strict controls in place to ensure that only consumers who are 18 and over can use our product. We verify the identity of all our customers,” the spokesperson said.


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Healthy Diets Lead to More Food Waste, But You Should Still Eat Your Vegetables
August Muench / Flickr
By Dan Nosowitz
It’s commonly cited that the U.S wastes about 40 percent of the food supply. In recent years, with a new focus on reducing food waste for environmental and public health reasons, researchers have begun to get ever more granular in their study of exactly how, why, when, where and what food gets wasted. A new one, this time from the University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire and the USDA, takes a look at how diet is correlated with food waste, and comes up with some interesting conclusions.
The new study relies on publicly available USDA data on the roughly 150,000 tons of food per day that goes to waste. Food waste comes from a variety of sources: spoilage, people being unwilling to purchase items they perceive to be bad or to have gone bad, and from extra food simply getting tossed in the trash (say at a restaurant or cafeteria). It is a massive environmental and infrastructure issue—food take a lot of energy to produce, and it builds up in landfills as methane-emitting waste. And let’s not forgot the most important issue here: there are millions of food-insecure people in our country. It’s a shame!
This is the first study we’ve seen that specifically examines food waste in the context of diet. It found that certain types of food tend to produce different amounts and different types of waste.
- Fruits and vegetables were found to be the most wasted, at 39 percent of the total.
- Dairy (17 percent) and meat (14 percent) are the second and third most wasted.
- Those with healthier diets (defined here as one higher in fruits and vegetables) may contribute more food waste.
- Further, from the study’s release: “The study also found that healthier diets used less cropland than lower quality diets, but led to greater waste in irrigation water and pesticides, which are used at higher rates on average for growing fruits and vegetables.”
This is all true, but, as the study’s release makes clear, not the full picture. The majority of cropland in the U.S. is used for feed for animals; when you eat meat, you’re also relying on that cropland. And a previous study found that producing meat is significantly-more energy intensive than growing plants.
Another issue: plant discards from fruits and vegetables can be composted, which encourages the rapid breakdown of that waste into something useful. But most cities do not allow meat and dairy waste to be composted in municipal systems; this is partly to keep away pests, partly because rotten meat can spread bacteria, and partly because rotten meat and dairy smells really bad. (Seriously.)
In other words, nothing is simple and everything is killing the planet. The only solution is to eat ugly produce.
Reposted with permission from our media associate Modern Farmer.

domain: news


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Trade Pfizer Vaccine Stocks and Bitcoin on Bittrex
Crypto exchange Bittrex Global will allow users to trade tokenized stocks alongside cryptocurrency markets.
Share this article
Bittrex Global announced today that users can now trade tokenized versions of Tesla, Amazon, and other traditional stocks.
Trade Vaccine Stocks on Bittrex
Tokenized stocks are collateralized 1:1 to traditional stocks, mirror the underlying stocks’ market performance, and even entitles users to dividends.
Bittrex Global has listed the following tokenized stocks:
Amazon (AMZN), Tesla (TSLA), Apple (AAPL), Netflix (NFLX), Pfizer (PFE), Google (GOOGL), Beyond Meat (BYND), Alibaba (BABA), Facebook (FB), BioNTech (BNTX), and Bilibili (BILI).
Traders in the U.S. are prohibited from trading these assets.
Bittrex Global has partnered with CM-Equity to enable this service, a financial company licensed to offer tokenized stocks.
Earlier in October, leading crypto exchange FTX also tied up with CM-Equity to launch a similar offering.


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New Metro ads likely to stir up controversy
WASHINGTON – It wouldn’t be the holiday season without a little controversy concerning God.
Starting next week, Metro will roll out a set of advertisements on its buses sponsored by the American Humanist Association (AHA), a non-theist group. The ads will show a picture of a fake and read: “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake.”
“The idea being ‘why believe in a god?’ It is just not necessary,” says Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the AHA. “And ‘just be good for goodness’ sake’ meaning, why not truly do what we can to be good for the sake of goodness.”
The ads will be displayed on the sides and taillights of more than 200 Metro buses starting on Nov. 18. The interior posters will go up Dec. 1. The campaign is costing the AHA about $40,000.
“For the most part, we are reaching out to non-theists, to atheists who thought they were alone and now realize there is a way to connect with like minded folks,” Spekhardt says. “But this will also give those people on the fence something to think about.”
The AHA thought about campaigns in other cities, but chose D.C. because they believe the message will reach the widest swath of people without getting lost in the mix of other ads. The group defines humanism as “a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity.
The timing of the ads is also intentional.
“We really are hoping to reach out during the holidays. When Thanksgiving comes, and everyone gets around to say grace, maybe the non-theist in the room can say, ‘maybe I should be excused,’ or ‘maybe I can say something this time’ and say something that doesn’t give credit to something that doesn’t exist for all that we have done on this planet.”
The AHA says it will think about expanding the ad campaign, based upon the reaction it gets.
The campaign comes as conservative Christian groups gear up their efforts to keep Christ in Christmas. In the past five years, groups such as the American Family Association and the Catholic League have criticized or threatened boycotts of retailers who use generic “holiday” greetings.
In mid-October, the American Family Association started selling buttons that say “It’s OK to say Merry Christmas.” The humanists’ entry into the marketplace of ideas did not impress AFA president Tim Wildmon.
“It’s a stupid ad,” he said. “How do we define ‘good’ if we don’t believe in God? God in his word, the Bible, tells us what’s good and bad and right and wrong. If we are each ourselves defining what’s good, it’s going to be a crazy world.”
Also on Tuesday, the Orlando, Fla.-based Liberty Counsel, a conservative Christian legal group, launched its sixth annual “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign.” Liberty Counsel has intervened in disputes over nativity scenes and government bans on Christmas decorations, among other things.
“It’s the ultimate grinch to say there is no God at a time when millions of people around the world celebrate the birth of Christ,” said Mathew Staver, the group’s chairman and dean of the Liberty University School of Law. “Certainly, they have the right to believe what they want but this is insulting.”
Best-selling books by authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have fueled interest in “the new atheism” – a more in-your-face argument against God’s existence.
Yet few Americans describe themselves as atheist or agnostic; a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life poll from earlier this year found 92 percent of Americans believe in God.
There was no debate at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority over whether to take the ad. Spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the agency accepts ads that aren’t obscene or pornographic.


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Department of Commerce to help exhibitors & international buyers connect
PACK EXPO International has again been named to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (DOC) International Buyer Program (IBP), bringing global business to the show floor.
“PACK EXPO is truly an international event, and the Department of Commerce’s IBP is a big part of that,” said Jorge Izquierdo, vice president of market development, PMMI. “We have more than 30 delegations coming to this year’s show, and the DOC is on hand to help exhibitors and buyers make the most of their time on the show floor.”
As part of the IBP, PACK EXPO International 2010 will welcome delegations from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Central America, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, India, Iraq, Jordan, Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, Venezuela and more.
The DOC will also provide guidance at the PACK EXPO International Business Center (Room N427). Staffed with trade specialists as well as staff from PMMI’s China and Latin America offices, this location will be a hub for international activity. Services will include international attendee registration, aid in sales negotiations, matchmaking advice and other resources that can connect exhibitors and buyers from around the world on the show floor. The International Business Center also provides interpreter services and export counseling for exhibitors.
Throughout the year, the U.S. Commercial Service uses its 109 offices across the U.S. and U.S. Embassies and Consulates in more than 77 countries, to connect international buyers with American companies that can meet their needs.
“The tools exhibitors and attendees find on the show floor are only extensions of the services we perform year-round to make American manufacturers successful,” said Janet Bauermeister, International Trade Specialist, U.S. Department of Commerce. “PACK EXPO is a great place to get your foot in the door to trading on a global scale, but the Department of Commerce’s efforts go beyond the show floor.”
In addition to the resources available in the IBP and IBC, the U.S. Department of Commerce provides critical guidance and opportunity to increase international sales in the U.S. Export Pavilion (Booth N-4300). From market research to financing international buyers, agencies represented at the U.S. Export Pavilion give American businesses all the resources they need to succeed in the global marketplace. Representatives from the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Export Import Bank and other groups are available to discuss trade opportunities with exhibitors and attendees.
Visit www.packexpo.com to register for PACK EXPO International 2010.
PMMI is a trade association of 560-plus member companies that manufacture packaging, processing and related converting machinery in the United States or Canada; machinery components and packaging containers and materials. PMMI’s vision is to be the leading global resource for packaging, and its mission is to improve and promote members’ abilities to meet the needs of their customers.
PMMI organizes the PACK EXPO trade shows: PACK EXPO International, PACK EXPO Las Vegas and EXPO PACK México, connecting participants in the packaging and processing supply chain with their customers around the world. Coming Up: PACK EXPO International, Oct. 31–Nov. 3,2010, at Chicago’s McCormick Place; EXPO PACK México at Mexico City’s Centro Banamex, June 21–24, 2011, and PACK EXPO Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center Sept. 26–28, 2011.
Learn more about PMMI and the PACK EXPO trade shows at PMMI.org and Packexpo.com


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For years it has pretty much been assumed that Coke would always be the world's most valuable brand. Now, your favorite seach engine is challenging that. Google is moving in on Coke's dominance!
From The Guardian:
Google is challenging Coca-Cola and Microsoft for global fame after becoming the fastest growing brand in the world, only eight years after it was set up in a California garage by two college friends.
The search engine has dispelled the cynical boom-to-bust view of internet ventures and now outranks old media stalwarts such as Sony, MTV and Reuters in terms of worldwide renown, according to Interbrand, the brand consultancy. A survey of the world's best global brands, published yesterday, pointed to Google's "almost limitless" potential as a company that has expanded beyond search and into email, advertising and aerial maps. The $117bn (£63bn) business is ranked 24th by Interbrand, one year after it first entered the top 100 of the annual brand survey. The survey estimates the proportion of a company's sales that are driven by its brand. (GUARDIAN, UK)
1. Growing Brand Potential - The rapid growth and expanding services of Google highlights the potential for brands to continuously evolve and capture market share.
2. Disruption in Traditional Media - Google's rise in global fame challenges and potentially disrupts traditional media stalwarts, showcasing the power of digital platforms.
3. Diversification of Business Offerings - Google's expansion into email, advertising, and aerial maps signals opportunities for companies to diversify their offerings and enter new markets.
1. Technology - The technology industry can explore disruptive innovation opportunities to create new and diverse digital services.
2. Media and Advertising - The media and advertising industry should embrace digital platforms to stay competitive and adapt to changing consumer preferences.
3. Location-based Services - The location-based services industry can leverage Google's success in aerial maps to offer innovative solutions for navigation and geospatial applications.


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Temecula may be one of California’s best-known wine regions, but I’ll always remember it for something else: the fresh fruit we harvested on a recent visit to this out-of-the-way Southern California destination. That’s right, we saw the horde of tourists go one way, and we went in the other direction.
Many travel sites claim you can sometimes save money by booking two one-way airline tickets instead of a round-trip ticket. But is there a downside to this practice?
It was a random thought at the end of a recent column about unfriendly TSA agents. “I wonder if the rude agent is a reflection of an even ruder traveler,” mused David Kazarian, a pharmacist from Tampa.
It started a debate with a real purpose.
Stan Shopa is disappointed to miss his Qantas connection from Los Angeles to Melbourne. The airline rebooks him on a flight the next day — but downgrades his seat from premium economy to standard economy. So shouldn’t he be entitled to a price adjustment?
When Jennifer Tudor rented an apartment in a Brooklyn brownstone through Airbnb, she may not have understood what to expect. Unfortunately, this led to an unpleasant rental experience for her — and for the owner. Now she wants all her money back. Is this reasonable?
During her recent Caribbean cruise, Kathy Hoffarth purchased a $16,000 diamond in Jamaica. At the next port, she exchanged it for a larger, more expensive one. Now that she is home she doesn’t want that diamond, either, and she wants her money back. But is that possible?
Red-eye flights are hard enough. But when you’re heading to a hotel after a marathon trip, all you probably want to do is drop your bags and sleep, even if just for a few minutes. Will your room be available?
Want to start an argument? Tell your travel companion you won’t be arriving two hours before your flight.
Go on, try it. I’ll be right here.
Fellow travelers, it’s not too soon to start thinking about your 2018 itineraries.
Travel bans. Shootings. Viral passenger videos.
No one will forget the past year in travel. How could they? But what does it all mean for your 2018 trips?
Yarisa Smith knows she has a good travel agent.
“He’s made cruises and European trips special,” says Smith, a manufacturer’s representative from Dallas. “His itineraries and attention to detail have made every trip flawless. He’s even managed to successfully intervene when acts of God have waylaid my plans.”
Yet you might not know by looking at Clark Mitchell, who works for Dallas-based Strong Travel, whether he’s the real deal. Yes, his agency is cited as a source for its travel expertise by mainstream news outlets. It also prominently lists its membership in Virtuoso, an exclusive travel agency consortium.
But until now, there’s been no instantly recognized certification that says an agent is legit. That may be about to change.
Travelers make mistakes every day of the year. Believe me, I know. I’m one of them.
It’s that time of year when an already tight space on a plane, train or automobile seems even tighter, thanks to those extra holiday presents or layers of bulky winter clothing you’re wearing. Maybe it just feels worse because of the airspace intrusion of an oversized seatmate or a yapping emotional-support poodle.
When it comes to planning your holiday travel, sooner is better. Or is it?
Pamela Mazerski didn’t wait to call her travel insurance company until she had to file a claim.
“I’m weary of those entitled passengers who are continuously whining and complaining,” says Lisa Thomas, a veteran flight attendant based in Denver. “I feel like telling them, ‘Take some responsibility for your choices.’ ”
Thomas’s comments, made to me after a recent column about the rise of fees in the travel industry, triggered a fascinating debate. Many travelers say that they think fees are out of control, particularly in the airline business. The top 10 airlines collected more than $28 billion in revenue from extra fees and services last year, up from about $2 billion a decade ago, according to a recent study by the consulting firm IdeaWorks.
At the same time, many in the industry say that they think people are getting exactly what they paid for: a quality product at a ridiculously low price. Industry employees like Thomas suggest that travelers have become spoiled.
If you’re reading this, chances are something horrible has happened while you’re on vacation — a health scare, a disruption, even an unexpected death.
Maybe you’ve phoned your travel insurance company and the wheels are now in motion for a claim. And you’re wondering: What now?
David Kresl found out the hard way that Uber’s ride scheduling window is a guideline and not a guarantee. Now he wants the ride-sharing service to pay for his sister-in-law’s trip to St. Martin.
Nothing changes you like travel does. I know, because after 26 years of suburban stability, I recently sold my house, pulled up my stakes and hit the road. I’m a different person because of it.
When Rich Winer booked flights for himself and his wife on Lufthansa, he paid an extra $200 to reserve specific seats. Lufthansa confirmed in an email to Winer that he had reserved those seats.
Something about Nina Bucki’s story doesn’t quite add up. She’d planned a trip to Poland with her two daughters, but didn’t take it. She asked our help in getting a refund or credit for her unused airfares.
Geoffrey Small pays an extra $150 for an economy plus seat on El Al, only to find that nothing in that seat works. As compensation, El Al offers a $150 voucher. Is that sufficient compensation for Small’s malfunctioning seat?
Sometimes, travel isn’t fun. Jane Hatch’s last-minute winter flight from Baltimore to Milwaukee was for the worst reason of all.
So what if the motorcycle rumbles like a purring cougar with smoker’s voice? Anyone got a problem with that?
United Airlines flight 1031 was about 80 miles east of Cancún, on its way from Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, when it encountered turbulence earlier this summer — severe turbulence.
It wasn’t that long ago that travelers who wanted to read up before their trips were limited to paper guidebooks and novels featuring the destination.
Oregon’s cool and mysterious coast isn’t a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of place. Only repeated visits allow you to discover why it’s one of America’s most underrated destinations.


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250GB Kinect Xbox 360 Slim Model Spotted
Joystiq has spotted a 250GB Kinect bundle.
The bundle comes packed with Kinect, a Xbox 360 Slim and a 250GB HDD.
It also includes a headset, composite cable and Kinect Adventures, while the hard drive comes with pre-installed games and demos.
Microsoft has only confirmed the 4GB version of Kinect and is yet to announce this officially.
Kinect is set to release on November 2010.


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California's loosening laws are making it easy for on-demand services to deliver marijuana to patients stuck at home.
It could be the most isolated planet in any solar system, and CNET's Eric Mack thinks he can relate.
For Road Trip 2015, CNET uncovers where tech workers -- everyone from programmers to CEOs to venture capitalists -- line up for lunch in downtown San Francisco.
As part of Road Trip 2015, CNET looks at how new skyscrapers are defining a new era in the City by the Bay. The winners: tech. The losers: pretty much everyone else.
Software maker to begin offering new mothers up to 26 weeks of paid leave from their jobs, following similar policy updates made last week by Netflix and Microsoft.
More than 160,000 drivers could be joining lawsuit for employee status against the ride-sharing giant.
For Road Trip 2015, CNET went to San Jose, California, to talk with Vietnamese Americans who traveled a long way to get to where they are today.
Thanks to the success of the iPhone, Apple has nearly $203 billion in cash. That could go a long way.
Steve Jobs' 2010 appeal for a Flash-free world echoes again from Facebook and from Firefox maker Mozilla after revelations of just how vulnerable Adobe's animation software actually is.
A former DEA agent admits to pocketing more than $100,000 worth of bitcoins that he solicited from Ross Ulbricht, founder of the online bazaar for illegal drugs.


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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Apple Inc. may be selling the higher-margin iPhone 6 Plus at a faster clip than it expected in China, according to new data.
A chart published Wednesday by mobile marketing company AppLovin shows that iPhone 6 Plus usage in the world’s largest consumer market is catching up to the smaller-screen iPhone 6.
This could spell “strong earnings for Apple”
This backs other bullish data from Wall Street analysts, including UBS, which said iPhone sales in China outstripped those in the U.S. during the December quarter for the first time, and Morgan Stanley, which estimated that the Plus’ profit margins are as much as 61% higher than the iPhone 6.
In AppLovin’s latest iPhone report, it said iPhone 6 to iPhone 6 Plus usage is at a ratio of 60/40 in China, up from 65/35 a few weeks ago, which indicates usage has shifted in favor of the Plus in recent weeks. The trend has also occurred in the U.S., though to a lesser extent.
“We aren’t financial analysts and are not giving investment advice,” the company said. “Having said that, all indications (our data and that of analyst reports) are that Apple’s December quarter was a big one.”
Apple is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 27.
The Cupertino-based iPhone maker’s shares closed up 0.76% to $109.55 on Wednesday, pushing them up 39.7% over the last 12 months.


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More could get Tinder Plus for $9.99 a month. If you don’t’re above the age of 30.
Heads up, on the internet daters. The gossip about Tinder Plus had been real.
As expected, the internet dating software on saturday morning formally founded a premium level with a few rewards you simply won’t see in the cost-free variant — along with the capability range around prospective hotties in a unique area, undo the last swipe in the event that you smudged, and like an endless volume consumers.
But on a wrong know, you possibly will not end up being too glad with the cost — particularly if you’re avove the age of 30. Those who have really been inside ground for three years or longer will have to spend $19.99 per month for these new features. All other people get Tinder advantage for $9.99 30 days.
A Tinder spokeswoman claimed the purchase price divide was purely an organization commitment generated after “extensive” examination numerous places.
“We have now charged Tinder Plus dependent on a combination of issues, like whatever you’ve figured out through our very own examination, and we’ve found out that these price points are implemented perfectly by certain period demographics,” the spokeswoman wrote in a contact to PCMag.com. “a lot of merchandise supply differentiated price tag levels by period, like Spotify does indeed for students, case in point. Tinder is no various; during the examination we have now learned, unsurprisingly, that young consumers are just because worked up about TinderPlus, but they are a whole lot more allowance limited, and require a lower life expectancy rates to pull the activate.”
She added about the “majority” of Tinder users were underneath the young age of 30.
On the other hand, the price huge difference is even bigger some other aspects of your message like U.K., just where those underneath the age 28 will pay ?3.99 ($6.39) four weeks for Tinder Plus but those 28 and over require pay out ?14.99 ($23.03) a month — not simply two fold, but virtually four times all the — for the same actual couple of qualities.
Far more, witness PCMag’s roundup of the most effective Online Dating Sites.
But on a wrong know, you will possibly not become also excited on your price — especially if you’re over the age of 30. Folks who suffer from already been about this ground for three many years or higher would have to pay $19.99 four weeks for those extra features. Everybody else may Tinder advantage for $9.99 four weeks. \r\n\r\n
A Tinder spokeswoman stated the purchase price divide got totally an industry commitment produced after \”extensive\” examining in several places. \r\n\r\n
\”we now have charged Tinder Plus predicated on combining points, contains what we’ve read through the assessment, and then we’ve hot Travel dating found that these price points were embraced wonderfully by particular age class,\” the spokeswoman composed in a message to PCMag.com. \”quite a few equipment provide separated expenses sections by age, like Spotify will for college students , for example. Tinder is not any different; during our very own testing we now have read, not surprisingly, that more youthful people short-lived just as enthusiastic about TinderPlus, but are most finances limited, and want a diminished expenses to pull the cause.\” \r\n\r\n
She added which \”majority\” of Tinder individuals tends to be under the period of 30. \r\n\r\n
Meanwhile, the value differences is additionally even larger various other aspects of the phrase like U.K., where those under the period of 28 can pay ?3.99 ($6.39) a month for Tinder Plus but those 28 and over must spend ?14.99 ($23.03) four weeks — not only double, but practically fourfold as much — for similar specific number of services. \r\n\r\n
Your own registration is confirmed. Check your own inbox!


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Australian Farm Groups Urge Government to Reject EU Trade Deal
Australian farm industry groups have called on the government to reject a trade deal with the European Union (EU) unless it provides greater market access for Australian agricultural products. The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) expressed concerns that signing a “dud deal” would disadvantage Australian farmers in the global market for years to come. The NFF president, Fiona Simson, stated that the EU has yet to offer a commercially meaningful agreement that benefits the Australian agricultural sector.
Australia, a major exporter of farm goods, including wheat, beef, wool, and wine, has been engaged in trade talks with the EU since 2018. In July, Canberra walked away from a deal it deemed inadequate for its farmers, but negotiations have since resumed. Trade Minister Don Farrell is scheduled to meet his EU counterpart at a G7 trade ministers’ meeting in Osaka, their first face-to-face encounter since July.
The NFF and other industry groups, such as Meat and Livestock Australia, insist that the trade deal must be improved before being signed. They criticize the EU’s position on red meat quotas as highly restrictive. The Australian farming community is united in its message to the government: if it’s a dud deal, don’t sign it. Farmers fear that a disadvantageous agreement would hinder their competitiveness against other global exporters.
Trade Minister Don Farrell emphasized that while Australia seeks a trade agreement with the EU, it won’t settle for just any deal. He stressed the importance of practical benefits for Australian businesses, including improved market access for farmers and producers. Both sides have not disclosed their negotiating positions, but recent reports indicate that proposed EU import quotas for Australian sugar are commercially unviable.
Australia aims to secure access to EU markets for its agricultural output, which currently faces tariffs and quotas. In return, the EU is likely to gain simplified investment access to Australia’s critical minerals industry. The negotiations will determine the balance of benefits for both sides.
In conclusion, Australian farm industry groups are urging the government to prioritize the interests of farmers and reject a trade deal with the EU unless it offers substantial market access for agricultural products. The ongoing negotiations will shape the future of trade relations between Australia and the EU, impacting the competitiveness of the Australian farming sector.


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Shane Patterson became president of the family-owned Flash Market convenience store chain following the death of his father, Harold Patterson, in May 2010.
With more than $1 billion in sales during fiscal 2013, Flash Market took the top spot in the energy sector on Arkansas Business’ most recent list of the state’s largest private companies. Flash Market began in 1985 and owns, operates or supplies fuel to more than 150 locations across in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri and Mississippi.
Arkansas Business Staff
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NEWS: 02.05.21 – Get buckled up (and, fully charged up) because an Apple-branded autonomous automobile powered by electricity is almost ready to hit the streets.
A new report out Wednesday from Fox Business has revealed details of a $3.6 billion deal inked between Apple, Inc. and Kia Motors, Corp. in an agreement that will see the Korean automaker producing an Apple-branded autonomous automobile — specifically, an electric vehicle (EV) — for the iPhone maker. News of the newly-formed partnership between the two companies follows months of speculation that the end of the road was near for Apple’s self-driving car project and the Cupertino, California-based company was ramping up production on its so called “Apple Car” (as it has been dubbed by the media).
According to the report from Fox Business, per sources familiar with the deal, an official announcement regarding the Apple-Kia partnership is expected later this month (both the iPhone maker and Korean automaker declined to comment on the story).
Cited in the report from Fox Business was an earlier story published by Reuters from the week prior which revealed that Apple’s self-driving car project had been originally offered to Hyundai Motor, Co., According to the report, Hyundai — which revealed back in December of last year that it had been approached about building an electric vehicle designed by Apple — rather than be known as a contract manufacturer, in order to preserve its image as an independent automobile manufacturer? The Seoul, South Korea-based company decided instead to shift the project over to its subsidiary, Kia.
Shares of Kia Motors, Corp. reached their highest levels since 1997 following the news of the $3.6 billion deal inked between Apple and Kia
Based on information previously published in the Korean newspaper, Dong-a Ilbo, Fox Business reported that as part of the deal, Kia has agreed to build a U.S.-based automotive manufacturing plant — expected to be located in Georgia — where the “Apple Car” will be exclusively produced starting in 2024. The facility will produce the Cupertino, California-based company’s electric vehicle at a rate of 100,000 cars annually, with the capacity to ramp up production on the self-driving car to a 400,000 car-per-year rate.
Founded in 1944 with its origins manufacturing bicycles, Kia is Korea’s oldest automobile manufacturer and, since, has grown to become the world’s fifth largest. As a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor, Co., the Seoul, South Korea-based company (like Hyundai) is part of the larger Hyundai Motor Group. According to information on the company’s website, today, the Korean automaker produces more than 1.4 million vehicles a year.
Of the many styles of vehicles Kia manufactures and sells, one model is an electric vehicle of its own: the Niro EV.
Looking Into The Rearview Mirror
The news of an Apple-Hyundai partnership in its early stages was first reported by Reuters back in December of last year after details regarding preliminary discussions between the two companies over an electric vehicle and battery platform (e.g., Hyundai Motors E-GMP battery and EV platform) — presumably, for Apple’s self-driving car project — were made public locally by Korean media outlets. Prior to that report, the international news agency reported weeks earlier that Apple was actively working on autonomous automobile technology and was aiming to produce, as early as 2024, an electric vehicle with an innovative and breakthrough battery system. After the story broke, shares of Hyundai Motor, Co. were sent surging, a price surge of 24.8% which added nearly $8 billion to the Seoul, South Korea-based company’s market value.
At the time, Reuters noted in its report that it was still unclear who would assemble an Apple-branded autonomous automobile but analysts have said that they expect the Cupertino, California-based company to rely on a manufacturing partner within the automotive industry for its production.
This past January, in a report from Business Insider with regard to an Apple executive stepping down to take on a new project — and speculation over what it might have entailed, such as Apple’s self-driving car project — the news outlet noted that the announcement from the Cupertino, California-based company regarding its former hardware engineering chief came amid the reports of the company’s talks with Hyundai as originally reported by Reuters in December. As part of Business Insider’s report, cited in the story were experts who speculated that among the top contenders within the automotive industry most likely to build the “Apple Car” were German automaker Volkswagen and Fremont, California-based Tesla, Inc.
In its report back in December of last year, Reuters noted that an electric vehicle designed by Apple could pose a big threat to Tesla, since the Fremont, California-based company is a leader in the electric vehicles (EVs) market.
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Playing With Cars
Last year, Business Insider — in a feature published in the pages of Inc. magazine on everything known to date about the “Apple Car” (specifically, with regard to Apple’s self-driving car project) — reported that the Cupertino, California-based company was working on something that will, according to an Apple employee who privately reached out to the news outlet, “…give Tesla a run for its money.”
In the report was the clearest evidence yet that Apple was working on autonomous automobile technology, with Business Insider citing a credible report from February of last year originally published in the Wall Street Journal that made reference to the codename for Apple’s self-driving car project… “Project Titan” (presumably, the “Apple Car”). Based on information from a source with knowledge of the project, the WSJ reported that the Cupertino, California-based company had hundreds of people working on an electric vehicle: the prototype reportedly resembled a minivan (see author’s note at end of article). The project is said to be headed up by Steve Zadesky, a veteran of Ford Motor Company who helped build the first Apple-branded MP3 music player back in 2001 (the iPod).
The very same week that the WSJ story broke came a separate, but, related report in the Financial Times which revealed that Zadesky, the Ford veteran turned Apple employee, had apparently been making trips across the globe, specifically, to Austria, to find a manufacturing partner to build an Apple-branded autonomous automobile. Per the Business Insider report, a source told the FT that, “…three months ago, I would have said it was CarPlay. Today? I think it’s: a car.”
At the time, Business Insider reported that the “Apple Car” is believed to still be years away.
Business Insider noted in its report that an Apple-branded autonomous automobile would be the most ambitious foray into a new product category for Apple, Inc. since 2007 when an Apple-branded smartphone (the iPhone) was launched. On the notion of the Cupertino, California-based company entering a new product category (the last was actually in 2014 when an Apple-branded smartwatch was introduced: the Apple Watch), in a report this past January from Bloomberg unrelated to Apple’s self-driving car project, the news outlet broke the story that an Apple-branded VR headset — a device reported to be a precursor to a pair of Apple-branded AR smart glasses (dubbed by the media as, “Apple Glass“) — is scheduled to launch sometime next year in 2022… two years before a car designed by Apple is expected to come into play.
A Note from the Author: for a digitally rendered 3-D concept of the “Apple Car” prototype mentioned in this article, see photograph from report on the Apple-Hyundai partnership published in January of this year in Car and Driver magazine.


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The New York Times reports that application developers may be able to access users’ photos on the iPhone in addition to their address books.
Hours after it announced arrests of 25 suspected members of the hacking group Anonymous, Interpol’s website was knocked offline, according to The New York Times.
U.S. authorities have shut down the online gambling site Bodog.com, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Some Chinese users have managed to breach the country’s great Internet firewall to access blocked sites such as Facebook and YouTube, Reuters reports.
Apple told a Chinese court that allowing a Chinese firm to use the iPad trademark would harm consumers, Bloomberg reports.
With a stock market value of $500 billion, Apple is now worth more than Poland, CNN reports.
A San Jose Mercury News columnist argues that Apple’s stock should be added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Companies are restricting use of social networking sites by employees on their networks, USA Today reports.


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Consumers are more likely to change providers due to environmental reasons than customer service or product quality, according to a recent survey by GHD.
37% of consumers surveyed by the professional services company would change providers for a more environmentally friendly product/service, compared to 28% who would switch if they were offered products/services of a higher quality and 26% who would switch providers if they offered better customer service.
Tim Mawhood, Executive Director UK, Europe & Middle East, at GHD, commented on the survey’s findings: “It’s no secret that consumers are becoming increasingly environmentally conscious, but it’s remarkable to see that people would now prioritise a less environmentally damaging product over one of higher quality.
“This demonstrates how seriously consumers are taking the threat of climate change in their purchasing decisions – and therefore how seriously companies need to take their ESG policies in order to remain competitive.
“This is more important than ever following the introduction of mandatory TCFD-aligned requirements for Britain’s largest companies in April.
“This is especially true for the Energy and Retail sectors, where our survey shows consumers are most likely to switch providers as a result of companies not meeting their ESG targets.
“However, whilst our research shows that Energy organisations are among the most likely to meet their net zero targets, Retail companies are the least likely, highlighting that the sector could be at real risk of disruption if significant resource isn’t allocated to improving sustainability.
“Companies need to think about how sustainable every point on their supply chain is. Right now, the ability to understand and declare with confidence that your whole supply chain is net zero is an impossible task.
“Not only that, for many businesses having full control, transparency and sustainability of their supply chain is not currently a commercially viable model – but this will need to change.
“Ultimately, organisations need to evaluate their business models and fully embed ESG into operations to remain investible and be better prepared when disruption occurs.
“However, striking a balance between investment in ESG and profitability will be one of the biggest challenges for all sectors — from a societal and regulatory point of view, as well as a business standpoint.”
Two surveys were conducted among over 2002 consumers and 306 business leaders in the UK. The interviews were conducted online by Sapio Research in January 2022 using an email invitation and an online survey.
The survey formed part of the extensive research carried out to create GHD’s inaugural UK Disruption Index, which evaluates which UK industries have established resilience, and which are most at risk of being disrupted.
As part of this Index, the water sector was identified as the most resilient to future disruption, ahead of the Information & Communication industry in second place and Energy in third.
Further survey highlights include:
- 59% of consumers would always look to buy from net zero companies, but only 25% would do so if it meant spending more.
- In order to reduce their carbon footprint, over the next two years consumers are most likely to buy alternative everyday products or find an alternative energy provider, followed by finding alternatives to driving.
- Nearly half of consumers (49%) would pay to reduce their personal carbon emissions by 50% if it cost less than £100 a year; 27% would pay more but 24% would not be willing to pay anything.
The full Disruption Index and accompanying whitepaper, “Recovery, Resilience and Reconnection: Designing business for an ever-present state of disruption”, can be found on the GHD website.


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Saturday, June 01, 2013
Sliding curtain walls provide temperature control for warehouse and workers.
Voice-enabled mobile computers can condense the benefits of two or more technologies into one productive platform.
Developing baseline wrapping standards can help reduce waste and damage in your operation.
Flexible, modular panels control climate, quality and costs for glass manufacturer.
A look inside the second-largest Internet retailer’s Secaucus, N.J., fulfillment center to explore its network-wide transformation from a few standard box options to an almost limitless number of custom, right-sized boxes.
The pressure is on retailers to deliver anything, anytime, from anywhere. Three experts answer four key questions that will help traditional brick-and-mortar retailers revolutionize their use of WMS and their shipping processes on the way to a multi-channel transformation.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Award honors southeastern Wisconsin businesses for innovation in products and services.
Posted on 05/31 at 10:06 AM
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The Ergonomic Assist Systems and Equipment (EASE) Council of MHI has produced a new brochure to help promote safer, healthier and more ergonomically correct workplaces.
Posted on 05/30 at 09:21 AM
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Rice Lake to relocate European division to the Master Engineering facility.
Posted on 05/29 at 01:05 PM
Rice Lake •
Calderón to share perspectives on how to ensure that countries forge economic ties amid challenges.


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How Many Users Does Facebook Have? Friends, Facts, and Figures
Updated: May 16,2022
No one had ever heard of Facebook before 2003 - except at Harvard.
Harvard’s 12 houses - Ivy League versions of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin - published printed books of student photos at the beginning of each school year - face books. Sophomore Mark Zuckerberg put the photos on a website (originally called Facemash) and presented photos in pairs, allowing users to decide which was hotter with a thumbs-up “like” vote. The website was popular at Harvard and quickly spread to other college campuses, eventually becoming the Facebook we know today.
How many users does Facebook have these days? Let’s just say that over a quarter of the planet’s population is using FB, and not even the frequent data leak scandals can stem the tide. Below are some of the most important stats for the world’s most popular social network, so let’s take a look, shall we?
Facebook Usage Statistics
1. Facebook is the world’s fourth most visited website.
According to Alexa’s Facebook traffic stats, the only websites with more traffic than Facebook are Alibaba’s e-retail marketplace Tmall.com and Google’s two properties, the Google homepage and YouTube.
Facebook ranks third in the United States. YouTube reigns as the most visited website, followed by Wikipedia, while Twitter and Amazon are just behind Facebook.
2. 74% of users in the United States log in to Facebook at least once a day.
(Pew Research Center)
When it comes to time spent on Facebook, statistics by Pew Research Center show that it’s a very active platform. In the United States, 51% of its users visit the platform several times a day, and another 23% do so about once daily. Only 26% mentioned doing so less often. In this regard, Facebook is still ahead of its competitors Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, as well as Youtube.
3. 71% of adults in the United States use Facebook, and 52% get their daily news from it.
(Pew Research Center)
According to statistics about Facebook users in the United States, over half of the adult Facebook users use the site as their primary news source. This makes it by far the most popular social network for news. For reference, only 28% get their news from Youtube, 17% from Twitter, 14% from Instagram, 8% from LinkedIn/Reddit and 6% from Snapchat.
4. The average Facebook user likes 13 posts per month.
According to Hootsuite’s Facebook facts and statistics, the average Facebook user will also make around five comments and share one post per month.
5. Over 1.4 billion people are active on various Facebook groups every month.
(Facebook for Business)
Facebook page statistics gathered by the company for its Business Insights page also touch upon a popular feature of the social network - groups. This long-standing feature represents the company’s way of letting its Facebook demographics profile themselves according to their various interests. According to Facebook, activity within the over 10 million groups on the network represents a big part of Facebook’s global monthly activity.
6. 300 million people use Facebook Stories every day.
Inspired by competitor Snapchat, Facebook launched the Stories feature back in August 2017. It provides users with an alternative way of posting updates about their life, which disappear within 24 hours, unlike traditional posts which are there until you delete them manually. These are also promoted to Facebook friends on their feeds, and can have various visual effects added. Around two million advertisers are part of those 300 million active users of the Story feature. Modern marketers have long since realized the power of Stories, as many Facebook marketing statistics show.
7. 36% of the top stories on Facebook are related to politics.
Facebook pages and political discourse have a complicated relationship. But How many Facebook users out there are discussing topics other than politics? According to Statista, Facebook trends show that other popular story categories are soft/general interest (17%), death (11%), science (10%), hard/general and economics (6%).
8. 15% of Facebook users make use of the site as a shopping platform.
According to EMarketer’s Facebook statistics for 2019, 15% of users mentioned that they shop on Facebook. The most common activity remains viewing photos (65%), followed by content sharing (57% to your timeline and 43% to individual users, watching videos (46%) and reading the news (38%).
When it comes to the percentage of people who shop on social media, Pinterest with 47% is the only site with more success than Facebook. Instagram is third with 11%, followed by Twitter with 7% and Snapchat with 5%. On the other hand, most users promote their businesses on Instagram (9%), followed by Facebook and Twitter (7%), and Snapchat (6%).
9. More than 90 million small businesses use Facebook Business Tools and other FB products.
According to Facebook business statistics, nearly 100 million small business owners make use of tools such as Facebook Pixel, Login and Account Kit, APIs and SDKs and various social plugins. According to the company, these services help businesses to create millions of jobs.
10. Facebook had to remove 2.2 billion fake accounts from its platform in the first quarter of 2019 alone.
Facebook profile statistics show that the trend is worsening. The company had to delete 600,000 fake accounts in the first quarter of 2018 and 1.2 billion during the year’s final quarter. Just how many people on Facebook are using it for nefarious purposes, though? It’s impossible to tell, as many fake account creators are spammers or impersonators, creating large volumes of fake accounts at one time.
It’s also difficult to gauge the precise numbers of fake accounts, because the company has several rules which can yield confusing results.
For example, if you want to create a Facebook business account and instead accidentally make a personal one, the system can flag the Facebook account as fake.
Facebook User Statistics
11. There are 2.45 billion monthly active Facebook users worldwide.
The key word is active - these are not just any Facebook users that statistics show, but these are people who log in and use their accounts at least once per month. According to social media statistics, networks that see less total user traffic, such as LinkedIn, often boast total instead of active account numbers. More active networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter focus on the number of people who are actually logging in with some regularity.
People often ask the question: how many users does Facebook have in total? But these numbers are hard even for Facebook to determine. What we can be sure of though is that the site’s active user base is continually growing, according to Facebook traffic statistics.
12. 57% of Facebook users globally are male.
According to Statista’s Facebook demographic statistics, men use the popular social networking platform more than women do globally. These stats look at only the main site’s users and do not count people using the popular Facebook Messenger app or other Facebook properties.
If we look at the United States, things are quite different. Facebook user demographics in America are slightly skewed towards women - 53.7% of American users are women, while only 46.3% are men. Considering that the United States is the world’s second-largest Facebook market, we can conclude that the ratio of female to male FB users is even smaller in the rest of the world.
13. 26.3% of the global population is on Facebook.
On a global scale men contribute more to the total number of Facebook users than women do. But how many internet users are actually on Facebook? According to Statista’s Facebook statistics from 2017, over one-quarter of the world’s population.
The percentage varies by continent and is by far the highest in North America (Canada, the United States and Mexico) - 72.4%. Latin America and the Carribean are next with 57.3%, while Australia and Oceania average around 48.1%. 41.7% of Europe’s population and 34.6% of people in the Middle East are on Facebook. Finally, 13.8% and 12.7% of people in Asia and Africa are on Facebook, respectively.
Statistics on Facebook usage in Asia are heavily affected by China’s ban on the social network. So, how many users does Facebook have in China? It’s hard to tell. Many people there use VPNs, and many more use local alternatives such as QQ and WeChat, instead.
14. With 269 million active users, India has the largest Facebook population worldwide.
According to Statista’s research on the number of Facebook users by country, India has, by far, the largest active population in the world, whether they access FB from desktop or mobile devices.
The United States is second with 183 million, followed by Indonesia with 123 million and Brazil with 120 million. Mexico has 82 million, while the Philippines have 68 million active monthly users on Facebook. As of 2019, other top countries include Vietnam, Thailand, Egypt and Turkey.
15. Over 50% of Facebook users worldwide speak a language other than English.
English is one of two official languages in India, the country with the world’s largest number of Facebook users. Then there’s the United States, the world’s second largest FB market.
Despite that, Facebook’s global usage is driven primarily by people who do not speak English. This is why the company has an ongoing localization program, catering to over 100 languages that are in use on the platform today. AI technology is also utilized in expanding the localization efforts. With each major Facebook update, the company refines its process, although they, themselves, admit a lot of translation errors still occur.
16. In the United States, Facebook is most popular with people aged 25 to 29.
(Pew Research Center)
When it comes to Facebook age demographics in the United States, it’s clear that the network’s primary user base is a bit older these days compared to the average some years ago. 84% of people between 25 to 29 mentioned that they’ve used Facebook at least once. Those aged 30-49 were the second largest group with 79%, while the 18-24 group had 76%.
17. People aged 65+ are the largest growing Facebook demographic.
(eMarketer) (Pew Research Center)
Facebook statistics by age presented by EMarketer and Pew Research Center found that while only 26% of people born in 1945 or earlier used Facebook in 2018, the number rose to 37% in 2019. A slight increase was also noted for Baby Boomers and Millennials, while Gen X usage declined. Meanwhile, EMarketer used its statistics about Facebook to predict that we will see a 7% increase in the number of people over the age of 65 using Facebook worldwide. While it’s still a platform primarily used by younger people, these Facebook use statistics show that the platform’s average population is slowly becoming older.
18. Around half of US teens (ages 13-17) use Facebook, but it’s the most used social network platform for only 10% of them.
(Pew Research Center)
According to Facebook statistics from 2018, teens are not huge fans of Facebook. While 51% of US teens interviewed by the Pew Research Center say that they use Facebook, only a measly 10% say it’s their favorite social network. That honor belongs to Snapchat - 35% of the respondents in the survey mentioned it as their most-used social networking platform, just ahead of YouTube, which got 32% of the votes.
19. 87% of employees are connected with their coworkers on Facebook.
According to Facebook friend statistics compiled by Igloo Software, Facebook significantly outperforms LinkedIn when it comes to the number of colleagues that the typical user has on his or her friends list. In fact, the average number of Facebook friends who work together outperforms both LinkedIn and Instagram put together, as each of those networks has only 42% of work related connections per user.
Twitter came in fourth with 38%, followed by Snapchat with 16% and Pinterest with 9%. At a nearly 90% chance that your coworker is also a Facebook connection we can safely say that Facebook is an important pillar of work-related social networking, even if that is not its primary purpose.
20. Women are 40% more likely to create a Facebook Group that will become useful to people.
(Facebook Investor Relations)
According to Facebook Group statistics, women are more adept at creating groups that people will find useful in the long run. This probably has to do with the fact that men tend to join and create a lot more casual content groups, while women are more interested in groups that cater to a particular sphere of interest. For example, there are many groups where mothers and future mothers discuss parenthood and give helpful tips about raising children.
Another reason, as noted by Facebook investor relations, is that women create 70% more fundraisers on the platform than men do.
21. 57% of American Facebook users believe they don’t have much control over what appears on their news feeds.
(Pew Research Center)
Personal Facebook statistics gathered by the Pew Research Center show that nearly two-thirds of people using Facebook in the United States are convinced that there isn’t much they can do to affect what appears on their news feed. In fact, only 14% believe that they can have a significant influence on what appears there, while 28% said that they have no control whatsoever.
How many users does Facebook have who actively tried to change something, though? According to Pew Research Center, not that many. 63% of those interviewed said that they have not tried to actively influence what appears on their news feed. Therefore, we can conclude that a bit of the blame here is on the users themselves, as well. That being said, 53% said that they do not “get” how the algorithm behind the news feed works, and why certain content appears. Considering the number of Facebook users who are confused by the system, clearly it’s not explained well or honestly enough by the company.
22. 54% of Facebook users in the United States made changes to their privacy settings after finding out about Facebook data collection.
(Pew Research Center)
Remember the Facebook data collection scandal? There have been multiple allegations of Facebook data collection, but the largest one resulted in claims that Facebook sold personal data from about 87 million users to Cambridge Analytica.
Many people changed their approach to Facebook after the news leaked. Pew Research Center’s study found that 42% of people took a break from Facebook for a few weeks or more, while Facebook messenger statistics indicate that 26% deleted the app from their phone.
23. 74% of Facebook users in the United States are unaware that the platform collects data about their interests and personality traits.
(Pew Research Center)
We’ve covered a lot of Facebook facts and statistics so far, but this might be one one of the most worrying ones. Most people in the United States have absolutely no idea how Facebook makes its revenue and just how much of their privacy is compromised by actively participating on the platform. To be fair, while Facebook ad statistics can be easily accessed by the public, the company doesn’t exactly make a point to familiarize their users with the “Your Ad Preferences” page. 51% of people interviewed said that they don’t feel comfortable with the fact that Facebook collects this information and 27% don’t believe that the information gathered even represents them accurately.
Facebook Revenue Statistics
24. Facebook has a market cap of $592 billion as of December 2019.
Facebook statistics by YCharts show that the company is still going strong, despite the setbacks caused by the data collection scandal. The Facebook net worth and market cap dropped dramatically between July and December 2018 and to a lesser extent during mid 2019. This aligns with renewed interest in the data leaks and Mark Zuckenberg’s trial.
Nevertheless, as things settled down by the end of September 2019, the company started experiencing a growth trend, and is slowly catching up to its record market cap value of $627 billion from July 2018.
25. Facebook’s annual revenue for 2018 was $55.8 billion.
According to Facebook revenue statistics, despite the data leak controversy, the company still recorded a revenue of $55.8 billion in 2018. This represents a growth of over $15 billion from a revenue of $40.7 billion in 2017.
26. Facebook earned $17.65 billion in revenue during the third quarter of 2019.
According to Statista’s Facebook site statistics, the company’s revenue gain has been dropping between Q4 of the previous year and Q1 of the next year for several years now. During the first three quarters of 2019, Facebook saw an increase in revenue from the first quarter’s $15 billion to a new record of $17.65 billion by the end of Q3.
This represents a year on year increase of nearly $4 billion, and the largest global revenue Facebook has made thus far. Advertising, especially on mobile devices is a key driver for these results.
Facebook Advertising Statistics
27. There are around seven million advertisers on Facebook.
Facebook ads statistics show that this number has increased by around a million advertisers since the first quarter of 2018. The main source of Facebook’s massive income is digital advertising, so while the company is allegedly dedicated to protecting its users’ privacy in the future, we need to be realistic. By posting Facebook photos, contributing to Facebook live statistics, sharing content, liking pages and participating actively, whether through FB mobile or other means, we’re actively helping them gather the data to sell to advertisers. In return we get to stay in touch with people around the world, shop and stay up to date with the latest events worldwide.
28. 94% of marketers use Facebook for advertising.
(Social Media Examiner)
Mark Zuckenberg’s platform is an incredibly dominant force in social media advertising. Nearly every marketer makes use of it for advertising purposes, but what about other social media statistics? Facebook’s other property, Instagram, is the second most popular network with marketers, growing from 66% to 73% usage in 2019. Twitter remains third, but dropped from 62% in 2018 to 59% in 2019. It’s closely followed by LinkedIn (58%) and YouTube (54%). Other Facebook competitors fared far worse, with Snapchat scoring only 6%.
29. Facebook is the most important social networking platform for 61% of advertisers.
(Social Media Examiner)
How many users does Facebook have who are not being advertised to actively? Not that many, considering how active advertisers are. Not only is Facebook used by just about every marketer, but two-thirds of advertisers say that it’s their preferred social network. This is a bit of a drop compared to 2018, when it was the social platform of choice for 67% of advertisers. However, Facebook is still a majorly dominant force considering that runners up LinkedIn and YouTube in second place are each the favorite platforms for only 14% of advertisers.
30. The average user clicks on 11 Facebook ads per month.
According to Hootsuite’s statistics on Facebook ads, a typical user of the platform clicks on just over ten advertisements every month. Women in general tend to click on more ads (14) compared to men (10). This roughly translates to women clicking on an ad every other day while men do so on average once every three days. Considering how bombarded we are with advertisements on Facebook, this does not seem like such a large number, but it still adds up.
31. Facebook ad revenue in the United States is expected to reach $39.4 billion by 2021.
Facebook advertising statistics show that it’s a rapidly growing industry. The company’s $23.7 billion dollar advertising revenue in the United States is going to nearly double by 2021. The vast majority of it comes from mobile devices but Facebook desktop has a share in the revenue stream as well.
32. The average click-through rate for Facebook ads is 0.90% across all industries.
If you’re wondering what a click-through rate is, it is basically a ratio of consumers clicking on a link versus the number of total consumers who view a page or an ad. Across all of the industries making use of advertising, the rate is just shy of 1%. Facebook statistics show that legal advertisers have the highest click-through rate (CTR) with 1.61%, followed by the retail (1.59%) and clothing (1.24%) industries. On the other end of the scale, employment and job training see a CTR of only 0.47%, while finance and insurance are at 0.56%.
33. The average industry cost-per-click on Facebook ads is $1.72.
Cost-per-click or CPC is sometimes also referred to as pay-per-click ( PPC). It is a measure of how much money the advertisers are willing to pay per click on the advertisement that drives consumer traffic to their website. According to Wordstream, the finance and insurance industries are willing to pay the most money to generate traffic ($3.77). Customer services are willing to pay $3.02, while home improvement advertisers are willing to shell out $2.93. On the other end of the spectrum, advertisers in the clothing industry are willing to pay only $0.45, while those in the travel and hospitality field will pay around $0.63.
34. The average conversion rate for Facebook ads is 9.21% across all industries.
If a click-through rate is how many people have clicked on an ad after seeing it, a conversion rate simply refers to the number of actual purchases made compared to the number of clicks, i.e. how many people actually bought a product after clicking on an ad for it. Wordstream’s Facebook page traffic statistics show that across all industries, about one in nine clicks results in an actual purchase. The number is highest in the fitness sector (14.29%), followed by education (13.58%) and employment/job training (11.73%). On the other hand, technology (2.31%) and travel/hospitality (2.82%) have the lowest click-through rates across all industries on Facebook.
35. The average industry cost-per-action rate for Facebook ads is $18.68.
Cost-per-action or CPA is a metric used to determine how much it costs an advertiser in order to get their consumers to take action. Sometimes also referred to as cost-per-acquisition, it usually refers to sales, but not always. It can also refer to users filling out a form (registration, newsletter sign-up etc.) or even simply making a click. WordStream’s Facebook ad statistics show that the average cost across all industries is almost 20 bucks. The numbers here are much more extreme, though. On one end of the spectrum, we have the tech industry with an average CPA of $55.21, while on the other hand, the education CPA costs only $7.85. Other high spenders include home improvement ($44.66) and finance/insurance ($41.43), while the clothing industry ($10.98) and healthcare ($12.31) are among the lowest CPA spenders on the platform.
36. Facebook ads with headlines that contain four words tend to perform best.
Hubspot’s Facebook post statistics show that people love advertisers who are concise. Headlines of just a few words tend to be attention-grabbing, while link descriptions, themselves, can tell you more about the product being advertised. Even those shouldn’t be too elaborate, though. The word limit on link descriptions is 45 words, but people prefer them to be no longer than 15. If we’re talking about B2B, though, longer descriptions may be necessary, but headlines should still be kept short.
Facebook Mobile Statistics
37. Facebook owns all four of the most downloaded apps in the past decade.
We often hear talk of worrying topics like Facebook addiction statistics, Facebook bullying statistics, and Facebook stalking statistics. But there’s more to Facebook than just...well, Facebook. According to App Annie, in addition to FB and FB Messenger, the company’s two big acquisitions WhatsApp and Instagram are also in the top four most downloaded apps in the past decade.
Facebook app statistics dominate the market, but what were other notably popular apps during the last ten years? Fifth place was taken by Snapchat, sixth by Skype, followed by TikTok, UCBrowser, YouTube and Twitter.
38. 96% of active users access Facebook from mobile devices.
Facebook Mobile tops the app popularity charts. The Facebook app and the company’s dedicated FB Messenger are installed on almost every mobile device. An overwhelming majority of both Android and iOS users contribute to Facebook mobile stats on a daily basis.
This doesn’t mean that 96% of people using the social network are doing so exclusively from mobile phones, simply that this is one of the main methods to make a Facebook login. Only 25% of its users access Facebook from desktop computers and just 16% do so from tablets.
39. The Facebook app has more than 5 billion downloads and 94 million ratings on the Google Play Store.
(App Store) (Google Play)
Mobile Facebook apps are huge on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Facebook’s main app is much better received on Android, though. The average rating on the Play Store is four stars, while the 388 thousand or so raters on App Store gave the app a fairly low 3.1 average rating. FB has also been downloaded over 5 billion times on Android.
40. With 1.3 billion active users, Facebook Messenger is the second most popular messaging app worldwide.
Only WhatsApp is ahead with 1.6 billion active monthly users. Facebook profile stats show that while a lot of people share Facebook images or use the Facebook people search, chatting on Messenger is still the most popular FB-related activity. Other popular messaging apps are WeChat ($1.133 billion), QQ Mobile (808 million), and Snapchat (314 million).
41. 92% of Facebook’s ad revenue in 2018 came from mobile advertising.
Facebook ad revenue is primarily driven by mobile devices. Facebook earned over $50 billion in advertising revenue in 2018 alone. The percentage of the mobile revenue share has been steadily increasing over the past seven years, from a measly 11% in 2012, to well over 90% today. Mobile devices are an integral part of Facebook’s revenue-making strategy, and we can expect the platform to become even more focused on the mobile experience in the future.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are nearly 2.5 billion active Facebook users as of Q3 2019. If we were to add the inactive accounts as well, the total number of Facebook users would be much higher, but even looking at only the active members we can conclude that over a quarter of the world’s entire population is on Facebook.
India. Believe it or not, despite the popularity of Facebook in the States, the United States is only second with 183 million FB users. India leads the pack with 269, while Indonesia is third with 123. The top five is also occupied by Brazil (120 million) and Mexico (82m).
Yes. This is the main reason why China isn’t charting when it comes to FB popularity, although a lot of people there still use it through VPN proxies. Local alternatives such as WeChat are there in place of FB.
Mostly through advertising. According to various Facebook statistics, mobile advertising in particular is a primary source of revenue for the company.
Yes and no. How many users does Facebook have that haven’t asked themselves this question? The answer is not that simple, though. While the company says it doesn’t sell your private data, it admits to offering enough data on its users to advertisers that they’ll be able to form a customer profile. Data and identity theft scandals in the past have shaken many people’s faith in Facebook’s privacy policies, but the company claims that it doesn’t sell personal data.
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A true tech and gaming savant, Ivan has been fascinated by the digital world since the early days of gaming on antiques such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore’s beloved Amiga. Whether you’re interested in the latest PC and console gaming news, antivirus software, or smartphone reviews, or simply want to learn about the newest geeky gadgets around, we at KT have you covered, and Ivan’s likely the one we’ll ask.


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Ballito Town Centre shows enormous change
Ballito is situated approximately 40 kilometres north of Durban. The town was established in 1954 and what started out as a charming small coastal town which it still upholds today, has become a popular holiday destination. Ballito has achieved a great deal in terms of new shopping centres, hotels, restaurants and more.
The King Shaka International Airport, which opened its doors in May 2010 is perfectly situated just ten minutes away from the Ballito town. With the new addition to the area, including The N2 interchange, by 2012, Ballito became the biggest growth area in KwaZulu-Natal.
- Ballito only 20 minutes from Blythedale, will become a prime shopping hub for Blythedale Coastal Resort residents. The new Ballito Junction mall is in the process of being built, with a total gross letting area of 85,000m2 with the latest anchor tenant being Checkers. The mall is situated next to the p445/Ballito Drive and opposite the Ballito Lifestyle Centre. The Ballito Junction Regional Mall website stated that “it is already more than 80% full, and is due to open in March 2017.”
The plans for the Ballito Junction is to develop a regional mall according to Patrick Flanagan, Joint-Chairman of Flanagan & Gerard. The new mall will offer 130 stores, which include a range of international brands, independent retailers and family entertainment, to complement its line-up of popular national retailers, some of which include: Woolworths, Pick n Pay, Cotton On, Factorie, Lorna Jane, The Nail Factor, Carlton Hair, iWorld, Dis-Chem Vision, Coricraft, Goldrush including our own movie theatre NuMetro and many more.
Blythedale Coastal Resort
With Durbanites heading up north and Gautengers looking for lifestyle living on the coast we begin to witness the exponential growth that this small town has seen over the past few years, the shift is now heading toward Tinley Manor and just 15 minutes north of that Blythedale Coastal Resort. With plans to build schools, colleges, an amphitheater and much more, including lifestyle and entertainment attractions where families will enjoy 320 hectors of indigenous forest, 3.2 km of unspoiled beaches, championship Golf Course, bridle trails set in the 1000 hector Blythedale Coastal Resort, this mix use residential and hospitality development will be become a well-recognised area that is already attracting both local and foreign investment.
The development directors of Blythedale Coastal Resort are excited to witness a profound shift of people toward the North and we look forward to contributing to future growth and the creation of 10 000 new jobs.


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Back in July, Apple announced it would buy Intel’s smartphone modem business for about $1 billion. Today, Intel announced that it has completed the sale of its smartphone modem business to Apple. “This agreement allows us to focus on developing technology for 5G networks while retaining the key intellectual property and modem technologies that our team has created,” Intel CEO Bob Swan said in a July announcement. We have long respected Apple and we are confident that Apple will provide the right environment for this talented team and important assets that are evolving. We look forward to investing 5G to bring it to the needs of our global customer base, including network operators, telecom equipment manufacturers and cloud service providers. ”
“We’ve been working with Intel for many years and know that the team is as keen as Apple to design technologies that provide users with the best experience in the world,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technology. With so many great engineers joining our growing cellular technology team, Apple is pleased that they will thrive in the creative and dynamic environment that Apple offers, and that our extensive acquisition of innovative IPs will help accelerate our development of future products and move Apple forward. ”
Currently, Apple relies on Qualcomm to supply the iPhone with 4G LTE and 5G modems. With the acquisition, Apple plans to develop its own iPhone smartphone modem in 2021.


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Economists worldwide are stipulating the potential advantages and disadvantages to a return to the gold standard as the basis of the financial system and also how to jump-start global trade again. Hungary, which is years away even from introducing the euro, has found an alternative to increase entrepreneurs’ business turnover, even if this is only a local solution for the time being.
More than hundred companies and businessmen have launched Hami European Cooperative to issue “blue francs” as a local currency in the Hungarian city of Sopron, near the Austrian border, borrowing the name from a local grape and also one of the region’s popular red wines, called “Kekfrankos”. The system, similar to a loyalty scheme, follows the examples of similar projects launched abroad, said national daily Nepszabadsag.
Interested participants can subscribe up to 40 “shares” each worth EUR100. “This is a business partnership but does not follow profit goals, rather aiming to increase members’ turnovers,” said Tamas Perkovatz, chairman of the cooperative. The “blue francs” will be issued by a local savings cooperative with full collateral in forints. The rationale behind is that while the forint collateral functions as a deposit and thus will accrue interest. The “blue francs” in circulation, however, don’t bear any interest, thus there’s an incentive for a more frequent use as there’s no point in piling it up.
The new payment mean, which is expected to go into circulation in 2010, has nothing to do directly with the tasty wine, though.


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Japan's stock market had its worst year on record in 2008, with the Nikkei share index losing 42% of its value.
Share prices have plunged due to the global financial crisis and the soaring yen, which has made Japanese products more expensive.
A deepening recession in Japan has knocked confidence in many businesses, especially those which rely on exports.
Companies such as Sony, Toyota and Panasonic have seen demand for their goods fall both in Japan and abroad.
The last time the Tokyo stock exchange suffered a fall of similar magnitude was 1990, at the beginning of a prolonged economic slump, when the Nikkei fell 39% during the year.
However, the market ended 2008 with a modest rally - the Nikkei was up 1.3% on Tuesday. The market reopens on 5 January.
The index was established in 1949. Japan is the world's second-largest economy.


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Strategizing Success: For a Stronger, More Competitive National Economy in an Emergent Market Facing Crisis
Strategizing for success can be the lifeline of your business. Focusing on surviving may actually be your extinction.
In a crisis-struck economy, such as Jordan, a newly emergent free-market economy, suffering from slowdown, and possibly even recession, a massive border lock-down, survival just won’t cut it.
Granted, competing in a slow market, while opening up to the world’s most advanced and capacitated corporations, whose eyes are set on the virgin potential of new markets, is to say the least, not easy.
It is more difficult to compete, as a start-up or a conventional SME or family-businesses, in such a setting, that it is to compete in what may seem as a saturated market.
The thing, however, is that there are only a few main steps to making it through the stormy seas of economic crisis in an emergent market.
The Economy of Crisis
A market is an evolving organism. It is an ongoing cycle, and the only factor, which may break it, is political strain.
The political situation is perhaps the only subjective factor in a state’s overall macro-environment, which affects the macro-economy, and vice-versa.
Economic crises reflect on the country’s politics, which reflects back on the economy, making it less appealing for investments and foreign business.
Domestically too, the national business sector begins to wobble under the weight of deteriorating purchasing powers, hesitance to invest, and the public’s increasing tendency to stock-up on whatever excess currency they have, if any.
More so, rising inflection also contributes to the erosion of purchasing power and the incomes of middle-class segments in society.
In general, inflation worsens living conditions, which imposes massive pressures on a country’s political economy.
This is especially true in newly emergent free-market economies like Jordan and other third world countries.
This does not mean that the economy, or the country for that matter, is destined to damnation.
On contraire; with enough reforms, guided by accountable governance and economic wisdom, a country’s economy can prosper through the storm.
In the case of Jordan, where the political situation is fairly stable, despite the enflamed region, the root of unrest and strain is economic, for the most part.
Jordanians, having waited out the ‘Arab Spring’ and seen its outcomes, are not interested in any such ventures.
If anything, Jordanians want the economic noose to loosen up, more than anything!
The only threat to Jordan’s stability, thus far, is ISIS, and their threat is marginal.
The country’s main issues are poverty and unemployment, despite immense unexploited natural and mineral resources, next to a huge reserve of untapped entrepreneurial opportunity, innovation, and an obsolete education systems, an issue currently being addressed.


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Cloud Computing: 10 Intriguing Things You Should Know About Google TV
Google spawned more questions than it provided answers with its introduction of Google TV May 20 at Google I/O. The initial demo was a two-hour plus affair fraught with technical difficulties mostly as a result of dodgy Internet access. Since then, much more has come to light thanks to the FAQ sections for consumers and developers buried in the Google TV landing Web page. eWEEK highlights the important details in this slide show.


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Gamesys CEO Noel Hayden to speak at Social Gambling Conference
29 Oct 2012
Gamesys hit the headlines in August when Facebook announced that it would be opening its platform to real-money gaming in partnership with the U.K. operator. After months of work behind the scenes, Gamesys launched Bingo Friendzy on August 7, becoming the first real-money gaming application on Facebook.
“I am absolutely delighted Noel will be joining us in London as a speaker,” said conference Chairman and iGaming expert Michael Caselli. “He will discuss his recent deal with Facebook and the significance for the wider industry, a key topic for anyone that wants to define their own unique opportunities in the developing social space.”
The November 16 conference will provide insight into where the leaders and innovators in the space are directing the industry. Sessions will cover topics including: the transition between social and real-money gambling, the regulation of social games, monetization and the opportunities in social gambling. Attendees can register at www.SocialGamblingConference.com.
Gamesys CEO Noel Hayden to speak at Social Gambling Conference is republished from GamingMeets.com.


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Sincerest congratulations and thanks to Dongsong Zhang of Limin Audio for successfully exhibiting a variety of Puritan products at the Shanghai Hi-End Audio Show this past month. We look forward to working closely with Limin to bring mains purification technology to the Chinese market proper over the coming years.
In addition and following the effective demonstration of our products at the Stockholm Highend 2018 Show by our friends at Lukase Audio; we have begun to receive increased interest in our range of purifiers from across Scandinavia. Many thanks to Lauri Pappinen and the team at Lukase, who we are very excited to continue our partnership with moving forward.
Finally, this month we will be beginning to make preparations for the North West Audio Show, where we will be exhibiting between the 23rd and 24th June. Our friends at Brian and Trevor’s will be exhibiting alongside us this year, and will be demonstrating the impact of incorporating our mains purification technology into a variety of high-end hi-fi systems. We invite you all to attend, and witness the devastating efficiency of our mains purification technology first-hand!


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Alibaba’s Big Contributions to the U.S. Economy
Alibaba’s online marketplace provides American businesses of all sizes with access to over one billion consumers in China. As a result, U.S. brands sold $66B in products to Chinese consumers in 2022, a 47.4% increase since 2019.
These sales not only benefit the companies doing business with Alibaba but have a profound impact on the U.S. economy. According to research firm NDP Analytics, which recently released its 3rd annual study, Digital Commerce: Alibaba’s Contributions to the U.S. Economy by State and Industry, sales by American businesses to Chinese consumers on Alibaba added $52.9B to the U.S. GDP in 2022.
NDP’s study also found that these sales supported roughly 403,000 American jobs (a 57% increase from 2020) and over $36B in U.S. wages (a 73% increase since 2020). In fact, U.S. brands such as Timeless Skin Care from Texas and Instinct Pet Foods from Missouri are hiring employees and building new factories to keep up with the growing demand from China.
For the first time, NDP Analytics went a step further to measure the impact Alibaba has on U.S. small businesses. The study reports that nearly 14% of U.S. brand sales on Alibaba were generated by small businesses, equating to $6.7B in goods sold, including from companies like DS Laboratories in Florida and Phyto-C in New Jersey.
“Our company experienced a 600% increase in revenue since selling on Alibaba,” said Phyto-C CEO Dr. Eddie Omar. “As a small business, none of this would have been possible without Alibaba.”


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To realize how much influence the James Bond film franchise has had, consider that the first film of the theatrical series was released in 1962. But it wasn’t the first time there was a visual interpretation of one of Ian Fleming’s best selling novels. A version of Casino Royale was produced as part of the TV anthology series Climax! in 1954, starring Barry Nelson as 007.
You don’t remember? I don’t either, and I was alive at the time.
For all practical purposes, Bond actually debuted with “Dr. No,” one of the few films that actually had a passing resemblance to the novel of the same name. After all these years, the most famous — and arguably the best — Bond was the star of that film, Sean Connery. After a procession of actors, the character is currently being played by Daniel Craig, who has decided to do one more film after evidently holding out for a bigger bundle of cash.
But rather than worry about the history of the franchise, the future may be more interesting, because Apple may be involved. And no wonder. Including price adjustments for inflation, the franchise has so far grossed over $14 billion in box office revenues.
So there is a published report that Apple has joined the bidding war to take over the film rights, which would include streaming. The previous deal for 007 expired in 2015, and Apple is said to be competing with Amazon and Warner Bros. to assume the rights.
Now anyone who has followed the long procession of rumors and speculation about anything Apple might just wonder whether Bond, James Bond is actually under consideration. But this story comes from no less than The Hollywood Reporter, a respected trade paper, which conveys an extra degree of credibility.
Regardless of who gets control of the rights, the next Bond film is due for release on November 8, 2019, when Craig will be 51. While that might seem a tad old for a 007, the late Roger Moore played the character well into his 50s. On the other hand, Craig is the sort of actor who does many of his own stunts, whereas the upper crust Moore was said to use a stunt double even to walk across the room. He was also said to be averse to handling guns, so when he conveyed the impression of being above the battle, it appears he didn’t have to do much more than read his lines.
But that’s me. I suspect some people out here cut their teeth on Bond when Moore was involved and might prefer his portrayal.
Is this report about Apple entering the Bond bidding war even possible? Well, the franchise is reportedly valued at between $2 billion and $5 billion, which is little more than a casual expense for Apple. It’s not just about the money, however. It is reported that the long-time 007 producers, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson of Eon Productions, would have to be persuaded to embrace Apple’s focus on digital content. They still evidently believe in traditional movies and traditional movie theaters.
I suppose it’s also possible that Apple’s rumored presence in these negotiations may also be designed to convey the impression that the company is really serious about content. Recently Apple hired former Sony TV executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to manage content creation. These executives are best known for such programs as ‘The Blacklist” and “Better Call Saul,” the spinoff to “Breaking Bad.”
Another four hires, also former Sony TV executives, have been added since then. Clearly things are ramping up.
Does that mean that Apple Music is destined to become Apple Music and Video and thus became an all-encompassing medium to present a wide variety of streaming content? If that’s the case, it would put Apple in quite a different category than Spotify, which has been, up till now, basically a music medium.
Remember, this is not a casual enterprise. It was already reported that Apple plans to spend $1 billion to acquire new or existing TV-related content. The move would still put the company way behind Netflix, which is reportedly spending $6 billion this year, and $7 billion in 2018 to develop or buy up the rights for new shows.
But if Bond has suddenly entered the picture, Apple may just have a wider aspirations in content creation than previously suspected. But this isn’t the first time Apple has been named in negotiations to buy an entertainment property. In the past, a possible purchase of Warner Bros. — all of it — has also been mentioned without any direct confirmation.
On a practical level, though, I just wonder when there will be a surfeit of good stuff to watch. There are more quality scripted dramas to watch than ever before, but you need to sign up with an increasing number of streaming services to watch them all since many are exclusive to a single service. Even if you have cable or satellite for your daily TV diet, you need these extra services to get the full range of content.
At some point, I suspect many people will come to realize that cutting the cord may not save any money, so there may be some level of cutting back. When will the saturation point be reached? For me, it’s already there. There’s too much good stuff for me to watch, or even afford, right now. I have to decide what to give up, or what to avoid, and I can’t be alone in being put in that position.
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Wrangler invited customer and staff for the s/s 15 launch.
12 Jun. 2014
Wrangler: Collection news for s/s 2015Tuesday night, denim brand Wrangler hosted an exclusive sales launch to a selected audience. More than 250 retailers, sales reps and key accounts of Wrangler were invited to have a closer look at the upcoming spring/summer 2015 collection and enjoy the Wrangler fashion show.
The event took place in Ronse/Belgium, in an old factory building. The settings and the very detail-loving decoration of the showrooms made very clear, where the inspiration for the summer collection came from. "Fishing and everything that evolves around this topic, this was our main inspiration source", says Davide Mateazzi, Senior Product Manager Wrangler.
With Bostin, Wrangler introduces a new fit for S/S 15. Bostin is a slim version of the standard Greensboro, appealing to a more contemporary and fashion-forward consumer. The fit is offered in Coolmax, Coolmax Plus, Water Resistant and Proud to Be Blue styles.
For the womenswear segment Wrangler announced that this fall/winter 14/15 delivery will be the last one for the Denim Spa collection. “Due to our consumer feedback, we came to the conclusion, that the Spa Denims didn’t perform as well as we have wished, so we decided to focus on classic items, like our shape keeper denims“, explains Marc Svojanovsky, Senior Director Sales - Wrangler Europe, Middle East and Africa.
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Eguan published the report of Chinese third party on-line payment industry trend, and it continued rapid growth in 2011 too.
The report said its annual trade in 2011 was 2161000000000 RMB, and its growth was 99.0% compared with 2010.
And the report also said its annual trade in 2014 will reach 99429000000000 RMB.
The quarterly trade amount from Q4 '10 to Q4 '11 is as following:
In Q4'11 its annual trade amount was 738600000000 RMB, and its growth rate compared with Q3'11 was 30.9%
And this graph is a market share by each services.
#1 Alipay(Alibaba group) 46.0%
#2 Tenpay(Tencent group) 21.2%
#3 UnionPay 10.8%
#4 99bill.com 6.2%
#5 ChinaPnR 6.1%
According to this report, it may occur the movement such as acquisition in 2012, so we have to keep attention this market too :-)
Original article => Eguan


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Investors have been wondering when will $20,000 Bitcoin high be broke. Bitcoin has not been even near to achieving that feat for over two years. However, a remarkable cryptocurrency analyst posted a poll and it suggests that many are thinking Bitcoin will soon trade above its $20K high.
Majority of the Respondents thinks Bitcoin Will Trade Above $20K
On July 13, a pseudonymous Bitcoin analyst, “PlanB” (@100trillionUSD on Twitter) posted a poll. He asked the opinions of his followers regarding the Bitcoin’s 12-18 month price outlook.
Out of the 13,339, 69.9% chose the option saying Bitcoin will trade above $20K by the end of this year. 16.6% said that they believe Bitcoin will stay below that ever-important price point. Lastly, 13.8% said that they do not have a clue.
Here is the screenshot of the poll:
PlanB said that the price will soon shoot to $14K, or that his followers are quite optimistic regarding the Bitcoin price that current buyers and sellers on markets.
In Good Company
Many of PlanB’s followers are in good company. That only means, there are remarkable names in the cryptocurrency space who anticipate Bitcoin setting a new high in the coming year or so, as well.
Raoul Pal, the former head of Goldman Sachs’ hedge fund sales division stated in March that Bitcoin will rally to its $20K high by the end of this year.
He then later attributed this thought process to a number of trends. It includes Bitcoin’s halving, societal discourse, the money printing by central banks, amidst other trends.
Mike McGlone, a senior commodity analyst at Bloomberg was also bullish. He discussed in a June report that if Bitcoin will trade above $20K by the end of 2021 if it followed the path it took after 2016 halving.
Furthermore, it was added that currently, there exists a perfect storm of fundamental factors that would surely drive the Bitcoin even higher. These factors are believed to be so influential. McGlone even said that there needs to “go wrong” in order for Bitcoin “not to appreciate here.”
Out of these factors, many correspond that the unprecedented central-bank monetary policy will be the most bullish.
Regardless, what Bitcoin does at the moment, before the high, is anyone’s guess.