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Madonna Released New Music Video via Social AppAdded: Monday, April 13th, 2015
Category: Recent Headlines Involving File Sharing > Current Events
Tags:ET, p2p, Torrent, Piracy, Peer To Peer, Network, Hackers, Internet, BitTorrent, Google, utorrent, bitcomet, extratorrent, www.extratorrent.cc, 2015
It looks like Madonna used almost every social app to promote her new album – the latest was live video broadcasting app Meerkat. Before, Madonna appeared on Instagram, Snapchat and Grindr during the campaign for Rebel Heart.
Meerkat launched less than 2 months ago as an application that enables people to broadcast video live from their mobile devices to their followers on Twitter. Thus far, Madonna is the biggest star to use the new app. It remains not clear how the singer will use it to release a music video, because it works by the broadcaster pointing camera of their device at whatever they want to stream.
Industry observers admit that if Madonna could air pre-recorded footage, it would be an interesting departure for the social app, because such functionality would give it advantage in its battle with the main competitor Periscope owned by Twitter. In 2015, Madonna also raised a rumpus on Instagram when she posted doctored images of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, John Lennon and Bob Marley. She also released her last video Living for Love on Snapchat and ran a contest on Grindr to encourage her fans to be creative.
Apparently, Madonna’s activity indicates the music industry’s keen interest in the popularity of social apps, even the ones not specifically designed for music. It should be noted that another musician, Jason Derulo, also premiered his new video within a social app – Tinder is commonly known as a dating app, but the artist used it differently: after fans who discovered his profile swiped right (as they would for a dating match they approved of), they could watch a music video Want to Want Me. The statistics say that over the 3-day campaign, more than 1.1 million fans did so.
The latest decision of Madonna to use Meerkat may come as a surprise, especially taking into account that she is one of the 16 co-owners of streaming music service Tidal, purchased back in March by Jay Z. The service is also going to use exclusive video premieres to promote itself, and other co-owners have already released their stuff on Tidal, but not Madonna. The queen chose to release only a 16-second teaser on Tidal before its full premiere on Meerkat.
Although Madonna has less than 1,000 subscribers on Meerkat, which is a very limited audience for a music star, the video premiere will of course be promoted across other social networks.Posted by: Date:
Monday, April 13th, 2015
|posted by (2015-04-15 21:34:12)|
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30 May 2019
CLAIM-supported study featured in KTH ‘Spotlight on Research’
Not long ago we’ve published a press release about the latest development in CLAIM’s nanocoating technology designed to harness visible light to degrade microplastics in an attempt to offer a solution for a growing ocean pollution concerns. The innovative nanocoating is a crucial part towards the development of a pholocatalytic device (one of the 5 CLAIM technologies) to be used in wastewater plants, this way tackling microplastics pollution even before they enter the seas.
Now the innovation, developed by a team led by Prof. Joydeep Dutta, is also recognised on the KTH website, in their ‘Spotlight on Research’ rubric, where a section ‘Sea cleanup with sunlight’ gives an overview of the method which uses solar energy to break down microplastics.
“In practice, this means that when a specific coating is applied, the microplastics will totally disintegrate purely with the help of sunlight.”
Plastic pollutants are a growing threat to marine environments. Microplastics come from synthetic leathers, tyres, cosmetics and other personal care products and plastic objects such as bottles and bags that have fragmented. These microplastics risk being ingested by marine life and then by humans in our diet.
Read the full article, which features more exiting research updates: https://www.kth.se/en/forskning/artiklar/forskare-pa-g-1.906145

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Downtown Vernon gets into the Christmas spirit tonight.
The Carnival of Lights kicks off with twinkling lights, entertainment, food vendors, crafts, games, and local holiday gift ideas at Spirit Square outside City Hall.
Festivities go from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Civic Plaza.
The lights will be turned on in the tradition of Light Up, and will glow each night through Dec. 31. They'll be back on for Vernon Winter Carnival, Feb. 3-12.
The Downtown Vernon Association will also begin its holiday festivities in earnest.
Meet Santa, take advantage of free parking Saturdays and enter your child’s letter to Santa for a chance to win one of 12 $100 'downtown dollar' prizes.


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Belgian fashion chain JBC will start selling "scarves of hope" to help the battle against tuberculosis. The company says it produces some of the countries that suffer most from the disease, and wants to give something back through the sale. Tuberculosis is the biggest cause of death of all infection diseases, which is why the Damiaanactie wants to get more people treatments.
JBC supports Damiaanactie with "Scarves of hope"
In the intense struggle for the customers' favour, Carrefour Belgium has presented a new service - featuring personal shoppers, delivery within 90 minutes and an app that can be expanded into a market place.
Commercialization of laboratory cultured meat is coming closer. Pioneer Mosa Meat has raised 7.5 million euros for the construction of a factory that will bring an affordable product to the market within three years.
Despite the multitude of stores in most European markets, discounters plan to open up to ten million square metres of store surface in five years' time. Even in so-called saturated markets they still see a lot of chances for growth, LZ Retailytics says.
Vegetable producer Greenyard is under attack after a listeria contamination in its Hungarian factory. The company says to have taken all necessary measures, but the share price plummets.
American coffee company Starbucks will ban plastic straws in their stores starting from 2020. A small step for coffee enthusiasts, but a big step for the environment, as the coffee giant uses about a billion straws every year.
In order to counter the decline of their success on the Russian market, Belgian beer giant AB InBev has placed its activities in Russia in a joint venture with Turkish Anadolu Efes.


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Next week is going to be an exciting time for the Android space. On April 14, OnePlus will finally be unveiling its highly-anticipated OnePlus 8 series for the world to see.
OnePlus phones are always fun to look forward to, as they tend to deliver top-of-the-line specs and great software at an incredible price.
Some of our AC forum members recently got to talking about why they're so fond of OnePlus, saying:
What say you? Why do you like OnePlus phones?
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Shows & Panels
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Malaysia's Perodua to invest $771 mln until 2015
Tuesday - 1/15/2013, 2:10am EST
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysian compact car maker Perodua says it will invest 2.32 billion ringgit ($771 million) over four years in an aggressive expansion after sales rose 5 percent last year to a record high.
Perodua sold 189,100 vehicles in 2012, giving it a 30.2 percent share in the domestic market and keeping its pole position for the seventh straight year.
Managing Director Aminar Rashid Salleh says Perodua, which is partly owned by Japan's Daihatsu Motor Corp., aims to sell 194,000 vehicles this year.
He said Tuesday that Perodua will spend 2.32 billion ringgit through to 2015, including building a 790 million ringgit ($263 million) manufacturing plant that will be ready in mid-2014.
Perodua will also build more showrooms and bolster its after-sales business as it seeks to be a global company.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Shares of Amazon (AMZN 3.15%) gained 24.1% in January 2018, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The e-commerce giant released a fantastic earnings report -- in early February. January's surge happened as investors put together evidence of the then-upcoming good news.
First, the National Retail Federation reported a 5.5% spending increase in the 2017 holiday season. The biggest year-over-year increase in more than a decade spurred surging share prices across the retail sector -- including online shopping leader Amazon, of course.
Later, the company increased the monthly fee for Amazon Prime, which provides free shipping on many items plus a streaming video service. Investors embraced that move, which appears designed to move monthly Prime subscribers over to the annual pass instead as part of its long-term customer loyalty programs.
So the signs were there, and Amazon delivered in grand style. Fourth-quarter sales rose 38% year over year, and earnings more than doubled to $3.75 per share -- miles ahead of Wall Street's $1.85 consensus estimate.
At this point, Amazon has delivered a market-beating 76% return over the last 52 weeks. The company is going from strength to strength, bolstering its high-volume but low-margin retail business with a smaller but far more profitable cloud computing business. If you thought you had missed the boat on Amazon's headiest growth, don't worry -- those growth rates are still accelerating in many ways:


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Genetically Engineered Food Alert, a coalition of health, consumer and environmental groups, today called for an immediate recall of taco shells produced and distributed by the Safeway Company. In a second round of independent testing, samples of Safeway brand taco shells were found to contain genetically engineered Starlink™ corn. The corn, not approved for direct human consumption, is the same contaminant discovered by the Genetically Engineered Food Alert in the Taco Bell® brand taco shells recalled by FDA and Kraft Company in September 2000.
Starlink™, a corn that contains a genetically engineered plant pesticide, marketed by the biotechnology company Aventis is currently deemed fit only for animal consumption by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Aventis has applied for an exemption to this restriction even though the EPA warned that Aventis' data indicate that "Cry9C exhibits some characteristics of known allergens." Cyr9C was found to be heat stabile and resistant to stomach acids and enzymes, indicating a potential allergen. Possible health effects of food allergens range from nausea to anaphylactic shock, but are not currently known due to lack of adequate testing by government and industry.
Recall Demanded: The coalition filed a letter with the FDA calling on the Agency to recall the Safeway brand taco shells.
"Safeway should follow Kraft Foods and recall the genetically contaminated taco shells," said Larry Bohlen, Director of Health and Environment Programs at Friends of the Earth. "Two contamination incidents in one month show that the FDA is doing a miserable job protecting the American food supply."
The coalition also sent a letter to Steven Burd, Chairman and CEO of Safeway Company, requesting that the company voluntarily remove all its brand taco shells from grocery store shelves.
FDA Oversight: Genetically Engineered Food Alert condemned the presence, as indicated by the test results, of the genetically engineered ingredient and called the second contamination incident evidence of FDA's failure to provide adequate oversight of food biotechnology corporations and food producers.
"The recall of Taco Bell taco shells distributed by Kraft and the recent finding of Starlink™ corn in Safeway products underscores the need for stronger government regulation over genetically engineered foods," said Philip Clapp, President of the National Environmental Trust. "While these genetically engineered ingredients continue to enter the market, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refuses to mandate pre-market safety testing of genetically engineered ingredients or labeling for consumers' right to know."
The coalition has called on the FDA to test for the presence of Cry9C corn in all products containing non-organic yellow corn #2, the class of corn to which Cry9C belongs. The coalition also called on the FDA to conduct a thorough investigation into numerous reports of illness made to FDA and alleged to have been caused by consumption of contaminated taco shells. The FDA is required by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to protect the public against genetically engineered plant pesticides, such as the particular kind of corn containing Cry9C, that are not approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
FDA Recall of Taco Bell taco shells: FDA officially recalled the Taco Bell taco shells on October 2, 2000, after the Kraft Company voluntarily recalled the taco shells from grocery store shells. The Agency declared a class II recall, defined as "a situation in which the use of, or exposure to, a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health effects."
Genetically Engineered Food Alert called on the FDA to take the same action on the Safeway brand taco shells. "This product poses the same potential health effects as the Taco Bell taco shells, therefore the FDA needs to immediately remove them from the market to protect consumers," stated Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety.
Aventis Company to Curb Distribution of Starlink™ Aventis, under the direction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has agreed to purchase the Starlink™ crops that are currently being grown and harvested in the United States; an undertaking estimated to cost the company $68 million, according to corn industry officials. An estimated 45 million bushels of Starlink™ corn were grown this year by American farmers.
About the Genetically Engineered Food Alert and gefoodalert.org: Genetically Engineered Food Alert founding members include: Center for Food Safety, Friends of the Earth, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, National Environmental Trust, Organic Consumers Association, Pesticide Action Network North America, and the State Public Interest Research Groups.
Genetically Engineered Food Alert supports the removal of genetically engineered ingredients from grocery store shelves unless they are adequately safety tested and labeled. The campaign provides web-based opportunities for individuals to express concern about genetically engineered food and fact sheets on health, environmental and economic information about genetically engineered food. The campaign is endorsed by more than 250 scientists, religious leaders, doctors, chefs, environmental and health leaders, as well as farm groups.
Written by: Friends of the Earth
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Future of mobile apps looking bleak
Mobile app usage in Europe is beginning to plateau and is expected to follow the US in a downward trend, according to a new Adobe insights report.
Despite smartphone traffic in Europe more than doubling between 2014-16 new and repeat use of mobile apps is starting to slow with app installs declining by 5% during the period and the number of apps opened increasing only marginally by 4%.
Adobe Digital Insights has forecast that Western European markets such as the UK and France will soon begin to mirror the more drastic declines seen in the US where mobile app installs are down by 38% since 2014, with a 28% decrease in apps opened.
John Watton, marketing director at Adobe, maintained that if mobile apps were done right they can be crucial in boosting repeat visits and loyalty.
“Five in ten apps are still used more than ten times after download, showing that brands still have a large, captive mobile audience and an opportunity to capitalise on this usage,” said Watton.
He added: “With this in mind, it is critical for brands to look at ways of making the mobile app and browsing experience more compelling and relevant for their consumers, whether through more personalised experiences or with the integration of new technologies such as mobile wallets or location beacons.”
While app use is in decline, Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) has saw a huge increase. Since April 2016, Google AMP page hits have grown almost fivefold, and now account for 7% of all news article clicks globally. Traffic peaked in November, with an 896% global increase in Google AMP growth driven by news around the US presidential election.


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My fellow Americans,
Today in America, a brewer began crafting a new recipe that will be enjoyed by millions.
A distributor took a truck full of beer to bottle shops, bars and restaurants.
A beer lover stood in line for hours, waiting for the chance to buy some rarity that will add a notch on their belt few others can claim.
Today, as we sit here and reflect on the bounty of choices we have when it comes to our beer, one thing is clear: the passion of Americans drive this industry and right now and that passion is all about hops.
Here are the results of that passion: India pale ales continue to lead all craft beer styles in growth year to year, 60 percent of Harpoon’s sales are of IPA … outdone by Dogfish Head’s 60 and 90 Minute IPAs, which make up 68 percent of that company’s sales. Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo, the best-selling IPA in the country, saw sales growth of 25 percent last year, bringing in $42.8 million for the company. This doesn’t even count the release of Founders’ All Day (session) IPA, which became the brewery’s best-selling brand three months after its debut and grew 569 percent in 2013. By the end of this year, All Day will account for 35 percent of Founders’ production.
That’s why I believe 2014 will be yet another breakthrough year for the style. After five years of voting Pliny the Elder as the best beer in America – despite the fact it’s only shipped to a few West Coast states – it’s clear the mythical status of that IPA and its hoppy brothers is enough to make you go crazy for anything that includes those three letters.
Voting begins soon to determine 2014’s “best beer,” and I have no doubt you’ll show your grit and determination again, anointing Pliny as the best beer you think exists, even though that brewer down the street is working hard on something just like it.
The question for everyone popping open a bottle, seemingly running through every beer drinking decision we will make this year, is whether we are going to drink something different. But how can we achieve that when IPAs line shelving and tap walls like never before?
IPA just means Improves Profit Automatically. Dump in a box o’ hops and bolt those letters on. Bam! Genius!
— Kevin Pratt (@brewfun) January 31, 2014
For several years now, beer lovers have been consumed by a never-ending search for the Next Great IPA. It’s an important search – one that dates back to the 18th century. But when our obsession with hops prevents us from trying other beers full of nuance and subtlety, when our typical preferences shut down the potential for enjoying another kind of beer, we are not doing right by our innovative brewers who have skills that surpass the process of dumping pounds of hops into a beer.
Just look at our online discussions. Not only are they focused on finding one IPA to Rule Them All, but our comments and engagement goes on and on with what we believe to be the best India pale ale. Why are there so many to choose from? Because every brewery has to make one these days.
Toward the close of last year, the highest-gaining “bottle” brands at bars, clubs and restaurants were Angry Orchard, Redds Apple Ale, Dos Equis and Lagunitas IPA. That says a lot. It tells us that a brewery doesn’t need a barrage of advertising to reach national recognition, as long as focusing on quality. It may also tell us that having “IPA” slapped across a label doesn’t hurt, either.
My fellow Americans, succeeding in the beer business isn’t easy. Crafting something unique and so universally loved has never been easy. Sometimes brewers stumble, make mistakes and get frustrated or discouraged.
But the beer we want for our kids – when they grow up to be 21, of course – is turning out to be one kind of style, where honest work simply consists of adding more hops. Prosperity for all beer should be widely shared. Opportunity for all styles lets us go as far as our taste buds will take us.
Let’s work together, knowing that a new kind of beer that we’re certain to enjoy is within our reach.
- Red, White and IPA: The American Love Affair Continues
- Long Live the King? Hops, IPAs and Beer Business
“Don’t drink to get drunk. Drink to enjoy life.” — Jack Kerouac


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Bottom Line: A new study by the international organization Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network highlighted the growing concerns of tech companies, governments, academics, activists, and international organizations of the state of the Internet. 95% of the contributors to the study felt that the near future will see an increase in clashes between different countries’ digital rules. Whether it be China’s Great Firewall, Russia making specific apps mandatory on phones and computers, or different interpretations of Europe’s GDPR, applying national laws and sometimes cultural influences rules on the globally accessible content on the Internet is a growing problem.
This means that the big tech companies who have the resources and wherewithal to keep up with the patchwork of regulations may need to spend a little more to continue to do business globally. However, more importantly it means that new entrants and disruptors who could provide competition to big tech will probably increasingly have a regional focus and have difficulty connecting users across the globe… you know what the internet was intended for.
Bottom Line: Slack (NYSE: WORK) is a stock we’ve been following since it’s IPO back in the summer. Since its debut, the stock has lost more than 40% of its value, thanks in part to the narrative that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is getting traction with its competitive and comparable product, Teams. But as our own Scott Willis outlined in his note yesterday, the Software as a Service (SaaS) collaboration platform is continuing to rack up big enterprise customers, fuelling healthy growth and solid retention rates.
Bottom Line: HSBC (LSE: HSBA) is going to digitize paper-based records of private placements using a proprietary blockchain to manage custody by March of next year. The goal of the company’s new Digital Vault platform will be to give investors real-time access to records of private placements.
While in theory the move to digitize these records on the blockchain should reduce costs for maintaining and accessing the paper records, it may take some time for those savings and efficiencies to manifest. With HSBC expecting the value of private placements to grow 60% in the next 5 years, the new platform will be one of the biggest tests thus far of blockchain technology by a major bank.
Bottom Line: With the big cloud computing players like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) each having their own ways to approach quantum computing, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) didn’t want to be left out of the party. The company recently announced that their cloud computing service, AWS, will be partnering with quantum computer makers, D-Wave, IonQ, and Rigetti to offer access to their systems through a new AWS product called Braket.
Amazon has basically given its AWS users early access to develop and test early quantum algorithms without the exorbitant costs associated with building a quantum computer. The partners also benefit by exposing their nascent systems to more developers and potential applications.
Bottom Line: Did you beat the bots at one of those great deals on a smart TV over Black Friday-Cyber Monday? While setting up that TV you likely clicked through an opt-in to allow the TV manufacturer to collect data on everything you’re watching and doing on that TV.
Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology used by most TV manufacturers typically takes a snapshot of what is on the screen of the TV as much as once a second and relays that back to the manufacturer who can then use the image to determine what you’re watching. Along with capturing the IP address of the TV, the manufacturers then link the data to the rest of your online life and sell that data to marketers and advertisers. The good news is you can opt out of this tracking and not lose any of that smart TV functionality.
Tech Investing Chart of the Week
5G is one of those emerging technology stories we like to keep an eye on, so when Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) released a Mobility Report including forecasts of 5G subscriber and data growth it caught our eye.
Based on Ericsson forecasts seen in the charts below within the next 5 years, 5G will grow to about 30% penetration in subscribers led by North America, Western Europe and North East Asia (i.e. China). Compare this to 4G taking up only about 17% of subscribers 5 years after its debut.
While 5G is definitely going to be an area of interest and capital investment for telecoms, chip makers, and anyone in the mobile space in the coming years, there really isn’t anything groundbreaking about it other than faster mobile speeds.
Mobile Subscription Forecast by Technology
Forecast Mobile Subscriptions by Region and Technology
TOP TECH STOCKS NEWS
- Comparing Dell, HP Enterprise Company and HP Incorporated after their recent results
- The Top Tech Sector Momentum Stocks for a Year End Rally
- Slack 3Q Earnings Deliver – Turning Point is Near
- These 3 Legacy Technology Stocks are Destroying the FANGs in 2019
The opinions provided in this article are those of the author and do not constitute investment advice. Readers should assume that the author and/or employees of Grizzle hold positions in the company or companies mentioned in the article. For more information, please see our Content Disclaimer.


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When Ryan Shakes made the decision to drop out of school and pursue a full-time career as a social media influencer and personality, his family, especially his mother, was not quite sure how to react. “In the beginning, of course, it was a little like iffy, since she didn’t really understand what was going on,” Shakes said. “But as time passed and as the numbers got good, it became clear that this was becoming a bigger thing.” With over 5 million followers and 160 million likes on TikTok, Ryan Shakes is looking to capitalize on the position he is in.
In November 2017, the app Muscial.ly, which allowed for the creation and global sharing of short videos, was purchased by the China-based company ByteDance Ltd. While the premise of the app remained the same, the logo and name were effectively changed to TikTok. At the time of the acquisition, Ryan Shakes had already been making content on the platform for over a year. Shakes recalls that before school each morning, he would create one 15 second video and post to his account. His content, which he often filmed with his younger sister Zayla, was focused on comedy, dance, and lip-sync videos. When the app transitioned to TikTok, Shakes did not expect the rapid growth that his account would undergo.
As Shakes’ account grew to the size it is today, he realized that, if done correctly, he could turn it into a career. Last fall, he dropped out of school and began focusing on monetizing his newfound social media fame. Through partnership and brand deals, Shakes started his rise to becoming a certified TikTok superstar. His biggest success, so far, has been the creation of his ShakeyFam online store. Shakeyfam.com is home to all types of branded clothing and merchandise. In its first month, Shakes reported over $125,000 in sales and has been looking to expand the store ever since.
That expansion is due at the start of November, and it will be bigger than anyone could have expected. Along with a wider release of clothing, ShakeyFam will also be releasing branded slippers and LEDs, called ShakeyShoes and ShakeyLEDs. The most exciting item being released, though, is the ShakeyFam branded wireless earbuds, called ShakeyPods. As a cheaper alternative to headphones like the Apple AirPods, the ShakeyPods are targeted towards students who cannot afford those expensive earbuds.
As TikTok has exploded as a social media platform over the last few years, Ryan Shakes has been along for the ride since the beginning. Being in the position he was in when TikTok was formed, Shakes has built an online empire through bis ShakeyFam brand and is looking to expand in as many fields as he can. Check out Ryan Shakes on TikTok, and take a look at the ShakeyFam merchandise at Shakeyfam.com.


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The National Security Agency and Britain's Government Communications Headquarters have reportedly tapped into the fiber-optic cables which connect Google and Yahoo's overseas servers and use this to copy emails and other information that flow through these cables. This is according to the latest round of documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward J. Snowden. These government agencies have taken advantage of this data as it is traveling around global data centers. Both Google and Yahoo denied an awareness of this program.
Most American parents would rather consult with their pediatricians over email than go into the office when their child is a little bit sick, according to a new poll by Medicine Net. Many parents just want a little bit of advice and don't want to have to pay a co-payment if their kid has a minor cold. At the same time, parents do not want to have to pay for online consultations. Most doctors don't charge for email consultations, but many expressed concerns that email consultations do increase their workload.
Despite the fact that marketers say they'd like to be more customer-centric, they are not spending their money to make a more personalized cross channel approach, according to a new report by Forrester Research which was underwritten by email services firm Responsys. According to the report, 48 percent of marketers are focused on building long-term customer relationships and 45 percent want to enhance the customer experience across channels. Despite that fact, when Forrester asked marketers which marketing channels they plan to spend more on in 2014, 59 percent said that they plan to spend more money on batch and blast …
Email encryption service companies Lavabit and Silent Circle, both of whom shut recently, have returned with a new protocol called Dark Mai. The collaborative project promises to keep messages from the eyes of snooping governments without being subject to court orders. The new system offers a sophisticated encryption with a red-light/green-light interface that shows whether an email is being sent over unencrypted channels. The protocol limits metadata so that it is difficult for an observer to track each email's sender and recipient.
Amherst College has apologized over an email sent out by a residential area coordinator ahead of homecoming weekend. According to reports, the email warned about "unwanted sexual advances" by drunken alumni. "Keep an eye out for unwanted sexual advances. A lot of alums come back for Homecoming pretty jaded with the bar scene and blind dating of the real world and are eager to take advantage of what they now perceive to be an 'easy' hook-up scene back at Amherst," the email read.
Consumers are 15 times more likely to open brand emails on an iPad than on an Android tablet, according to a new report from email services provider Movable Ink. The "US Consumer Device Preference Report: Q3 2013" also revealed that mobile devices continue to lead desktops in email opens. In fact, 61 percent of email opens take place on a phone or a tablet. The iPhone is the most popular mobile device to open a brand email on with 36 percent of emails being opened on the device. The iPad commands 14 percent of brand email opens, Android phones take …
Seventy-percent of consumers delete emails that don't render well on the device that they are opening it on, according to metrics from BlueHornet. In addition, according to other industry stats more than 50 percent of email opens occur on a mobile device.
The Delhi High Court has asked the Indian Government to establish an email policy for government employees within a month. The request is part of the Public Records Act and is aimed at making sure that official data is not transferred to a server outside of India. The court is also asking the government to issue electronic signature notifications when someone sends a complaint to the government through email to Facebook in order to better track issues.
After yesterday's financial press conference, Apple's CEO Tim Cook sent an email out to Apple employees going over the highlights of the latest quarter and praising staffers. "I'm extremely proud of the collaboration going on across the company and everything we've accomplished as result of this great team effort," he wrote in the email.
Golf Pulp Media is offering golf companies the opportunity to send holiday email marketing campaigns that reach 20,000-100,000 golfers through a flash sale campaign offering. Golf product sellers can partner with Golf Pulp Media to sell merchandise through these limited-time email promotions which will be available to consumers for a limited time.


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Competition in residential retail water market could prevent customers being left behind
Introducing competition to the residential retail water market could be worth almost £3bn and prevent water customers being left behind in a retail revolution, a new report suggests.
The assessment comes as Ofwat publishes its report on the costs and benefits of introducing competition to the residential retail water market in England, as requested by the government.
In its assessment, Ofwat stressed the uncertainty in predicting the outcome of opening the market, but has identified a range of potential financial and service benefits.
The financial benefits from opening the market to competition could be worth £2.9bn over 30 years, which amounts to £8 per customer, per year.
Ofwat’s report suggests that reductions in customer bills are possible but likely to be small, especially in the short term. However, it could lead to innovation, improved customer service, new offers – including bundling of products such as energy and telecoms with water – and, crucially, give customers the freedom to choose their supplier – ending the final retail monopoly. Customer research suggests that 56% think having choice would be a good thing.
In the course of its review, Ofwat heard from a number of potential new entrants, who can see the opportunity from a new market to provide retail services more efficiently, to offer new products and services, and make customers’ lives easier.
Ofwat’s modelling of potential costs and benefits also identifies possible improvements in water efficiency and in reducing bad debt costs, as retailers get better information about customers and their water use.
Of course, in setting up a new market, there would be significant costs which would ultimately fall on companies and customers. Some of these can be minimised with a well-timed, well-planned process to open the market and by learning from other markets including the opening of the business customer retail market in England.
Cathryn Ross, Chief Executive of Ofwat, said:
“We are living in an age of retail revolution, but water customers are being left behind.
“The service offers from water companies can feel behind the curve compared to the innovation customers benefit from when buying other goods. The uncomfortable truth is that, when it comes to retail offers, water companies provide an analogue service in a digital age.
“Customers tell us they think they should have the freedom to choose and don’t understand why water is the only retail market in which there isn’t some form of competition.
“But, of course, this isn’t a one-way street. There are significant costs to be considered, and it will be important to ensure that customers are treated fairly in a competitive market and that vulnerable customers are protected. The decision for the government to make is whether the potential benefits outweigh the costs and risks.”
Ofwat has submitted its assessment to the government of the potential costs and benefits of opening the residential retail water market in England.
It is for the government to decide whether in principle it wants to introduce competition and, if so, how and when to do so.
Notes to editors
- The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) is the economic regulator of water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. It exercises its powers in a way that it judges will protect the interests of consumers, promote value and safeguard future water and sewerage services by allowing efficient companies to carry out their functions properly, and finance them.
- Further details on the residential retail water market are available on the Ofwat website
- Media enquiries to Ofwat Press Office on: Mark Anderson 0121 644 7642 and 07884 117 760 /Mark.Anderson@ofwat.gsi.gov.uk
Latest News from
Ofwat boss says water companies must work harder to keep the trust of their customers18/10/2017 10:15:00
Everything water companies do – from their performance, to shareholder dividends to executive pay – is being scrutinised more than at any time in the last 30 years, according to Ofwat chief executive Cathryn Ross.
Ofwat boss talks of the ‘decade of falling bills’16/10/2017 10:15:00
Ofwat’s chair, Jonson Cox, has signalled that water customers could be at the start of “the decade of falling bills” as he suggested prices could fall in real terms until 2025 at least.
New sewage market: a resource which should not go to waste12/10/2017 12:25:00
Ofwat has taken the next steps in opening a new market that uses treated sewage to generate energy.
Ofwat study identifies scope for NAV market to work more effectively11/10/2017 10:25:00
The market for new appointments and variations (NAVs) may have some way to go in order to reach its potential according to a study published yesterday by Ofwat.
Ofwat to report on how water companies help customers in vulnerable circumstances06/10/2017 15:15:00
For the first time, Ofwat has announced that it is going to report on how each water company serves, supports and protects customers in vulnerable circumstances, showing clearly those companies that are leading the field and those that are letting their customers down.


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Julia Fox debuts bleached eyebrows with an all-leather look
The ‘Uncut Gems’ star’s latest ‘fit is business in the front, party in the back.
By Harper’s BAZAAR International.
JULIA FOX added a daring beauty look to her latest edgy outfit.
The No Sudden Move actor was photographed out and about in Los Angeles, pairing a dark look with brand-new bleached eyebrows. In the pics, she wears an inventive full-length black leather coat — while the front is worn closed with structured high shoulders as the highlight, the back is completely cut out under the shoulders, with only a matching belt holding the sides together.
She paired the eclectic outerwear with a matching leather bra and miniskirt set, finishing the monochrome look with thigh-high stiletto boots, nylon gloves, and a Balenciaga Hourglass bag. She also wore a thin cat eye under her near-invisible brows.
The former dominatrix loves head-to-toe looks in fabrics like leather and nylon, both in the traditional black and brighter hues. While celebrating the wrap of her forthcoming film, The Trainer, earlier this month, the star chose a bright-red, ab-bearing nylon set from Berlin-based designer Sia Arnika.
She finished the look, comprised of a puffy long-sleeved bra and maxi-length skirt, with matching fiery-red gloves and knee-high boots, as well as a metallic silver gift bag purse from Medea.
The star has solidified her street style with several risqué looks since her short-lived romance with Kanye West — from an Oscars after-party gown including a clawed hand wrapped around her neck, to a grocery-shopping fit involving an Alexander Wang bra-and-underwear set. In an interview with The Cut, she spoke on learning to embrace her personal style as her profile grows in Hollywood.
“[Her publicity team was] like, ‘Oh, they’re a little too editorial,’ ’It’s too sexy. It’s too provocative. It’s too out there,'” she said. “I was just like, ‘Okay, I guess I just have to be more Hollywood and more bland.’ But fuck that narrative if I want to pop out and wear crazy shit — which is what I want to wear.”
This article originally appeared on Harper’s BAZAAR.


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Yesterday, Google said it will be building its own processors for the Pixel 6 smartphone, built on the Tensor chips it already has for the data center space. This sparked rumours that the company is abandoning Qualcomm forever, but that might not be the case. According to a report by CNBC, the American chip giant said that the companies will be working together going forward, though it didn’t say exactly what kind of partnership the two companies will have. Qualcomm said it will be working closely with Google for current and future “products” based on the “Snapdragon platform”.
The chip Google announced, called Google Tensor, is essentially a take on the Tensor Processing Unit, which Google built for implementation in cloud computing. Google Tensor is a system-on-chip (SoC) like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips, and it will power the Pixel 6 devices which launch this October. The company claimed that the Tensor chip will bring improvements to video and photo processing on phones, two areas that have been a cornerstone for Pixel smartphones so far. It also has dedicated CPU and GPU units, along with an image signal processor (ISP).
At the moment, Android smartphones send a lot of data to the cloud for various kinds of processing. With the Tensor chips, Google will be able to bring more of this processing on-device. Google hasn’t said what all will happen on the device, but it’s safe to assume that the Google Assistant will be an important element in these developments. Processing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms on-device could improve user privacy.
Google may take cues from Apple, which recently improved Siri’s functioning on iPhones. The company said Siri will be able to process more commands on-device, which not only improves privacy but also makes the voice assistant faster. Bringing more processing on-device will reduce dependence on connectivity, which obviously means voice assistants like Siri will become more useful.
Further, Apple also ditched Intel for its Macbooks recently, building its own M1 chip. Speculations are that Google Tensor might soon make it to Chromebooks and Nest smart home devices, bringing closer integration between Google’s ecosystem of products.


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Children’s trade show Bubble London will unveil a line-up brimming with strong new signings, when it returns to Islington’s Business Design Centre on 12th and 13th July, 2015.
This season, a host of first-time exhibitors are set to make their debut appearance at Bubble, which is renowned for bringing new and emerging design talent to the marketplace.
Debutantes include fashion and lifestyle label Bakker Made With Love, artisan footwear specialist The Little Shoemaker, and Tom and Teddy, which creates matching swimwear for fathers and sons. Elsewhere, Miss Nella will unveil a range of colourful, peel-off nail varnish, while East End Highlanders showcases its luxury shirts.
The event will also play host to a raft of exciting new launches – from fun, chic children’s label Where’s That Bear?, to Baby Acorn, Australian girlswear brand Tinker and Boo, and the innovative Dotty Dungarees.
These first-time exhibitors will be joined by big-hitters Bench, Camper for Kids and Replay & Sons, which are set to unveil their new season collections alongside Bubble favourites Rachel Riley, Lilly and Sid, Frugi and Aden and Anais.
Some of Bubble’s most promising new launches will once again compete for the title of Rising Star, while A/W15 winner, girlswear label Oh…My!, returns to claim its prize – a free stand in curated area Nest.
Following the success of its debut outing last season, Perfect Pitch is also set to make a welcome return. The programme sees up-and-coming Bubble Designers deliver a Dragon’s Den-style ‘pitch’, during which they tell their story, introduce their product and share their plans for the future. For visitors and retailers, it’s an opportunity to learn more about the industry’s best emerging design talent.
Bubble’s Look Who’s Talking seminar programme, meanwhile, will move to a new location on the main floor, enabling brands and buyer alike to benefit from the expert business advice and trend up-dates on offer.
The event is also set to showcase S/S16’s hottest trends in a special look-book, which will be produced alongside CWB Magazine and product photography specialist uShoot Studios. The project will see industry professionals invited to choose and style an outfit from the collections on offer, with previews available throughout the show.
This trend look-book is just one of numerous ways Bubble London will showcase fresh collections and exciting new brands for S/S16, which promises to be its most varied and diverse season yet.
Have a look at:


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Some, like the massive SXSW festival held in Austin, Texas, had been reassuring attendees that the programming would be going ahead as planned until their hands were forced by cities banning gatherings of several hundred people; others have reacted to the increasing unease and withdrawals from both attendees and sponsors by proactively postponing or cancelling their events.
However, a number of events have found a way to continue with their programming while still preventing the undue spread of coronavirus: they’re going virtual. Events like Google’s Cloud Next in April, Adobe Summit in late March, and tech conference Collision in June have announced that attendees will be able to join from home as they shift talks, panels and discussions to streaming platforms and apps. Some new events have also sprung up, like Virtual Commerce, an online alternative to the retail-focused ShopTalk conference in March.
But with conference-going a staple of many marketers’ calendars, providing a chance to learn, network and socialise with industry experts and peers, how will the virtual conferencing experience compare? How can event organisers replicate the experience of attending conferences as closely as possible using digital tools, and prepare for the inevitable infrastructure demands as attendees log on to streams and apps? Might there even be some advantages to as digital event? And will we see a long-term impact on how conferences are carried out in the industry?
Replicating the in-person event experience
Collision is a global technology conference held in June every year that bills itself as the “anti-CES”. Last year, it drew upwards of 25,000 attendees from 125 countries to its venue in Toronto, Canada. This year, however, its thousands of attendees will be tuning in to speakers like Thuan Pham, the CTO of Uber, Jonah Peretti, Founder of Buzzfeed, and Anna Gedda, Chief Sustainability Officer at H&M, from home.
Collision has rebranded its 2020 edition as “Collision from Home” and is preparing to host its 30,000-plus attendees (including 1,600-plus CEOs and more than 1,300 journalists) entirely in cyberspace. The event’s organisers moved quickly to rethink the event’s logistics as coronavirus spread across the globe, and by early March, had announced that Collision would be going ahead online.
“One of the reasons that we felt confident about moving Collision online is because we have networking capabilities within our app,” says Katherine Farrell, Communications and Media Co-ordinator for Collision and Web Summit, Collision’s sister conference and the largest technology event in the world. “Our engineering team has been building out this app for the last five to six years – it’s there to complement your offline experience.
“You can enter in the details of the talks you want to see, the panels you want to see, the roundtables you’re going to; if you’re an investor, you can also use it to select the start-ups you want to meet – and the app schedules everything and then recommends people that you should meet that you might not always have thought about. It’s a digital representation of you – but it’s also recommending people that you might like.”
For Collision, replicating the in-person networking experience is the most crucial part of running its event virtually. Farrell is reasonably confident about the event’s ability to hold video talks and livestreamed panels, but event content is just the “icing on the cake” compared to the networking opportunities that Collision offers for senior CEOs, investors and technology start-ups who will meet, form connections and discuss business at the event.
“On that exhibition floor, we have a lot of lounges and spaces where we provide other experiences as well as the content for attendees,” says Farrell. “The reason that attendees come to our event is because they want to meet people. We want to build in every kind of Collision experience into the app – all that serendipity that you can get offline. That’s the challenge that we have now for the next three months: to build all of these experiences in-house and incorporate them into the app.”
Collision has something of a head start on the infrastructure needed to run an optimal virtual conference. It already has a featureful app with capabilities like the recommendation algorithm, which also recommends talks for attendees based on their interests; and organisers had already planned to build in the additional networking capabilities to support their offline conferences – but for 2021 or 2022, not June 2020.
“We definitely have the resources for doing it – we already have the app, we’ve already built the software,” says Farrell. “We’re constantly adding new features into it all the time. But obviously we’re going to have to work now at a faster pace!”
Building a virtual community
Farrell acknowledges that a virtual conference won’t be able to replace or entirely replicate “the richness of face-to-face interaction” – but she sees a number of other advantages coming from the situation.
“I think there’s going to be a great networking effect with this,” she says. “So far, a lot of people have registered interest to come, and more than 250 speakers have agreed to run panels online as well. It’s easier for us to get more people involved, because they don’t have to travel – they only have to give that 20, 25 minutes for the panel, to come online or meet up with someone, if they’re all doing it from home.
“Of course, the usage of the app will go through the roof, so we need to prepare the infrastructure for that as well.”
Another, smaller-scale event that has taken the ‘plunge’ of going virtual is SEO in the Shed, a London-based event run by search platform Pi Datametrics. The event began as a video series hosted by Pi Datametrics CTO Jon Earnshaw, and aimed at building an SEO community geared around people learning and sharing with one another.
Last December, the company ran its first in-person event with talks and networking opportunities, which was well-received by attendees, leading Pi to subsequently launch SEO in the Shed as a quarterly event series. However, as the coronavirus outbreak spread, the company decided to rethink its plans and make its March event, due to be held on the 18th, a virtual experience instead.
“It’s actually been relatively easy to re-plan SEO in the Shed as a virtual event,” says Sophie Moule, Head of Marketing at Pi Datametrics. The event originated, after all, as a video series – and luckily, all of Pi’s booked speakers are comfortable with using webinar tools. However, Pi doesn’t want to lose the interactivity and community that it had started to build with the in-person events.
“Obviously, the social activities and networking are more difficult to replicate online, but one of the first things we did was to purchase some additional webinar software, because we haven’t run large-scale webinars before,” says Moule. “It includes features that will allow the audience to take part via Q&As and ‘raising their hand’ – and we’ve also been exploring ideas for ‘virtual happy hours’ and audience interaction.”
Moule is upbeat about the impact of holding a virtual event on the community that Pi has been building around SEO in the Shed – for one thing, it has opened the event up to registrants outside of London and the UK. “We have more global sign-ups now, which is really positive,” says Moule. SEO in the Shed has now seen more than four times the number of registrants than had originally signed up for the physical event. “I think this is a really good opportunity for marketers to move events online, rather than postponing or cancelling them, if they can.”
The future of virtual conferences
Both Moule and Farrell are positive about the networking and interaction prospects offered by a virtual event – and while they obviously would be, there are plenty of advantages to recommend online events, particularly in the current climate with an increasing percentage of the workforce working remotely.
A recent Econsultancy and Marketing Week survey of more than 2,200 global marketers found that of those 539 respondents working in the marketing and advertising sector, 44% believe the ability to adapt to a move to virtual meetings and events will be critical for competitiveness over the coming months, while a further 48% believe it will be important.
“With more and more people working remotely, they might want to access the content and the community online more often than once a quarter – so we’re thinking that we might up the number of these events to be a lot more frequent,” Moule observes. “If people are working from home, and they don’t have access to that community, that’s something that we might be able to facilitate. We can still achieve our community-building objective, but just in a slightly different way.”
Going forward, Moule predicts that the virtual event experiences and online communities built during this time period will have a long-standing impact on the industry. “I think flexible working, and people proving that that’s a viable way to work, is such a positive thing for so many different industries. It just gives people an opportunity to work in a way that’s right for them.
“As for events – I think people will continue to run physical events, but they might make the online content more accessible, as it’s a way of engaging people who can’t necessarily make it to the event, who might be based in different locations, or whose company isn’t able to pay the price of a ticket to the event. Also, having more talks and thought leadership online might provide a chance for people who aren’t that confident in getting up and speaking in front of a big room of people to give talks and present their views to their community. So, hopefully we’ll see some additional ‘influencers’ coming out of online events.”
Similarly, Farrell believes that while “nothing will replace face-to-face interactions” at conferences, an increasing number of offline events will need to find creative ways to adapt to the current circumstances. “I think conferences in general will be changed forever,” she says. “We might see completely online conferences, or we could see more online interaction complementing offline.
“The reception around Collision from Home has been extremely positive, and obviously people are very understanding about the times we’re in – but they’re also really excited to take part in the online elements of the conference. Going forward, it’s just going to be about becoming super adaptive and super creative, and thinking about how we can add in extra value for start-ups and investors. We’re in constant contact with speakers and partners as well, to understand what their objectives are and what they want to get out of the event.
“Overwhelmingly, it’s the networking element – they want to be able to log off and know that they’ve met someone who will be of extreme value to their company. So, the challenge will just be bringing that online.”
After publication of this article, Google announced that its virtual version of Google Cloud Next, Google Cloud Next ’20: Digital Connect, would be postponed “out of concern for the health and safety of our customers, partners, employees and local communities, and based on recent decisions made by the federal and local governments regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19).” The company has not yet given further details about the issues with running the event or when it might be held.
For more on the impact of coronavirus on the marketing industry, visit our coronavirus topic page.


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Apr 07, 2022
In Welcome to the Forum
Unconsciously, pets have occupied a very important position in people's daily life, and people's attention to pets has been further improved. Recently, the "Pet Blind Box" incident and the "Golden Retriever Siri Incident" reported on the Internet have aroused telemarketing list widespread heated discussions among netizens, which also reflects the expansion of the pet population. According to the data of the "2020 Pet Industry White Paper", the number of pet dogs and cats in urban areas across the country will reach 100.84 million in 2020, an increase of 1.7% compared with 2019. With the continuous expansion of pet owners, the potential of the pet economy has been further released, and a huge market has been born. 1. "It economy" stands out According to iiMedia Research data center data, in the first half of 2021, a total of 25 financing telemarketing list events occurred in the pet industry, and the financing amount reached 6.056 billion yuan. And there are certain reasons why the "it economy" attracts capital to overweight frequently. On the one hand, the continuous expansion of the group living alone has stimulated the expansion of the pet population. Whether it is an "empty nester" whose children are not around or young people who choose to live alone, they will feel more or less lonely, and keeping pets can alleviate this loneliness to a certain extent, giving them company and spiritual comfort . According telemarketing list to the "2021 Pet Food Industry Consumption Insight Report", the number of adults living alone in my country will be close to 100 million in 2021, and the number of pet owners will reach 62.94 million. On the other hand, people's concept of raising pets has changed. According to the iiMedia Research report, in the first half of 2021, 37.1% of pet owners in my country regard pets as their friends, 23.5% of pet owners regard pets as their children.


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Wal-Mart spends $2 million fighting OSHA stampede fine
The fight is more about principle than monetary damages, obviously. According to The New York Times, the retail chain had already agreed to a settlement with the district attorney of Nassau County, New York, where the stampede occurred, creating a $400,000 fund to compensate those injured in the incident and donating $1.5 million to county programs. The company also agreed to implement new crowd control measures in its 92 New York state stores.
So why would Wal-Mart fight a measly $7,000 fine? Precedent. In imposing this fine, OSHA is expanding the interpretation of its mandate. By defining crowd control as an employee health and safety issue for which retailers have a legal obligation, it puts a new burden on the shoulders of all Wal-Mart stores, as well as other retailers. Should more stampedes occur, and they surely will, the retailers could be fined by OSHA . Their defense in civil suits after such stampedes could also be weakened.
Addendum: Greg Rossiter of Wal-Mart said in an e-mail, "OSHA wants to hold Walmart accountable for a standard that was neither proposed nor issued at the time of the incident. The citation has far reaching implications for the retail industry that could subject retailers to unfairly harsh penalties and restrictions on future sales promotions."
He also told WalletPop, "Last year, we worked with nationally recognized crowd management experts to create and implement a successful, comprehensive and first-of-its-kind nationwide plan that incorporates proven crowd management techniques into the unique circumstances of a retail setting. The plans worked very well during our holiday sales events."
The National Retailer Federation has published a handbook on effective crowd management. The next time you join a throng waiting for the doors to open at a big box retailer, look for ample signage, designated lines, public address announcements, tickets or wristbands, defined entry and exit sites, and sale items dispersed through the store. If you don't see any sign of such crowd planning by the store, you might be wise to back away. When the gate drops at opening time, it could get ugly.


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Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Isn't That Like Prohibition?
Interesting story on the gyrations UT is going through to get “alco-pops” out of grocery stores and into state liquor stores, which may not be able to actually sell them. Hence, folks are talking “ban.” But I love the response of a legislator: However, Senate Majority Whip Dan Eastman, R-Bountiful, said he can't see the state going so far as to ban the product. "Why would you ban it," Eastman said. "Isn't that like Prohibition?" Or, like, you know, the War on (Some) Drugs?


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Is the European Union going to be the first major global economy to embrace the digital economy advancements, all the benefits it brings forward, and all the digital banking solutions that are coming along the evolution of tech services? What will the EU Single Digital Market bring up on the business horizon?
It looks like it and that makes perfect sense given the naturally occurring EU single digital market that is underpinned by the Euro currency and the policymakers in Brussels.
But why is the EU going to be so far ahead of the pack when compared to its global brethren on digital currencies?
And here is something we want to dedicate the following lines to. It might have to do with the Union’s comprehensive digital economy strategy.
The European Union’s Digital Economy Agenda for the Future
As part of a deepening of ties and economic integration, the European Union Council’s digital strategy seeks to smooth and harmonize bureaucratic processes across all of the member states, as well as drive business and economic prosperity on the front lines of the main agenda.
Through the integration of various legacy systems with a new digital nexus, the EU not only hopes to position itself as a leader in artificial intelligence, tech advancements, and integrated digital systems technology but also to make itself a more competitive zone within which to conduct business. Who wouldn’t love this?
The Six Pillars of the European Union’s Digital Strategy
The European Union’s drive to integrate processes within member states is driven by policy along six primary lines. These pillars of the EU’s strategy to bring its economies fully into the next phase of the digital age is not only a collection of new laws and regulations but also brand new business and government partnerships as well. Something a thriving digital world and digitized economies desperately waited for.
The pillars of this strategy include:
- digital value chains
- data economy
- artificial intelligence
- digital platforms
The Primary Benefits for International Business embracing the “Digital”.
Aside from speeding up payments reconciliation and other digital banking processes, the integrated and harmonized system proposed by the EU also gives its economies the infrastructure that prepares it for a dynamic and ever-changing global situation.
Given the myriad of complexities that many new businesses face, the digital strategy envisioned by The Council eliminates red tape while freeing up resources for deeper collaboration on the local level between businesses and the government in the form of grants, loans, and other programs.
Why Digital and Why Now?
Aside from the drive to advance the economy to the next stage of the digital era, there is a keen sense of not wanting to get left behind in the future economic discussions surrounding digital businesses, tech services, digital banking, and the data economy.
Rather than find itself responding to new trends, the EU would like to start creating them and pioneering them on its own. And, if possible, it would like for its companies to start dictating the future course of the digital economy on a broader scale.
Outside of that, these tools also give legislators both locally and at the Union level more power to grapple with future economic crises and downturns. Risk is lower, security is stable, and the good news is that Brussels dictates that and wish it to be that way.
With more strategic and precise management of the economy using digital mechanisms, it is believed that the efficiencies to both business and the broader government will pay massive dividends in the forms of economic growth and development.
Helping businesses advance in the digital economy
Along with all those facts and conclusions, want to stress that digital banking solutions also promise a much more advanced and flexible business model application that many industries desperately need nowadays.
A number of online games businesses, online dating websites, B2B merchants, e-commerce companies, and other tech services businesses have already applied our reliable and flexible digital banking solutions. As an Authorized Payment Institution in the United Kingdom Monneo provides innovative financial services in full compliance with the highest security and safety standards applied to protect merchants’ data and funds.
Contact us to learn more about how Monneo can help you with cross-border digital payment solutions or apply directly for your virtual IBAN on our website.


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Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is by far the most anticipated title in the history of the FPS game franchise. While the game is set to release in October 2022, a few facts surrounding what’s going on inside the studio may have fans a little concerned about the future of the gaming giant.
A recent exclusive from popular Call of Duty leaker Ralph Valve revealed some interesting details about what goes on inside. the report in What’s game? It further hints at the future of the franchise and what we might experience in the next iteration of Modern Warfare.
What does the future hold for Call of Duty?
Call of Duty is probably the biggest FPS franchise in the world right now and Activision’s biggest franchise. With their multiplayer gameplay, campaign, and everything they offer, including Warzone and a mobile experience, it’s no surprise that Activision requires a lot of manpower to run properly.
While Microsoft and Activision have already acquired the company and are facing numerous lawsuits, the cost of Call of Duty attrition has made matters worse. Multiple core developers, designers, and company employees have quit their jobs to protest discrimination, unfair pay structure, and working conditions. In their latest annual report, they stated:
“First, we have devoted even more resources to investigating reports of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation made through various reporting channels, and have taken appropriate action. We announced new policies and practices regarding harassment prevention, discrimination and retaliation.”
However, that didn’t keep many employees from sticking around. Eventually, to perfectly create the definitive Call of Duty experience in Modern Warfare 2, the franchise needed fresh faces.
Should fans be worried about the future of Modern Warfare 2?
Almost ten studios have worked on Modern Warfare 2 with Infinity Ward at the helm and are still working to improve it. Many new hires were new to the industry and felt quite lost and ignored based on the scoop given by Ralph.
Another employee who had told Ralph this,
“I love the Infinity Ward team, but I hate the way they handle people. They like to use and abuse people. A lot of talented people, a part of the team and various departments, will be splitting up after this game has been So keep that in mind: It should be a great year for IW, but after this next title I don’t see [Call of Duty] doing well in general.”
This statement refers to the future of Call of Duty. The reporter further stated that the next iteration, Modern Warfare 2, is in excellent shape right now. However, if fans are expecting a flawless product, that might not be possible due to everything going on.
As for the future of the franchise itself, the way it’s headed, all the upcoming projects after Modern Warfare 2 releases may be difficult to develop.
Previously, Activision has already confirmed that they won’t be releasing any CoD titles in 2023, which is the first time in the franchise’s history, indicating that they want to build their next CoD experience on a thoughtful and non-rushed product. However, a statement from the associates could have fans concerned about what the future holds for their favorite FPS game franchise.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the views of the writer.


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Decide the greatest NBA team ever in NBA 2K12
2K Sports will give NBA fans the chance to settle once and for all the argument over which NBA team from history is the all-time greatest with NBA 2K12.
After seeing huge amount of success last time out with the extensive tribute to Michael Jordan's career in his Hall of Fame year with NBA 2K11, This year's game will feature a whole host of legendary line-ups featuring the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Julius 'Dr J' Irving, Larry Bird and Avery 'Magic' Johnson.
As well as playing through classic match-ups from some of the greatest games of all time players will be able to pit these historical team lineups against the best today's NBA has to offer.
NBA fans will be able to see in Kobe Bryant's Lakers are a patch on Magic Johnson's or Kareem Abdul-Jabar's or see if Larry Bird's Lakers can match up to the Jordan-era Bulls.
NBA 2K12 is out on Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP and Wii on October the 7th.
- Microsoft doubles down for April's Games With Gold
- Every wondered what it would be like in James Bond and Joanna Dark met? Cara Ellison and Irene Koh have answered that question
- Dirty Bomb beta is back online
- Obsidian's saviour Pillars Of Eternity launches today, Watch it streamed live here later today
- Infinite Crisis launches fully today on Steam
- Here's what the new Hunters and the Behemoth for Evolve look like in action
- Blood and Burning and Celts Culture DLC Packs arrive for Total War: Attila
- F1 2015 coming to PC, PS4 and Xbox One this summer, first screenshots released
- Ubisoft introduces Alex Parizeau, the new head of Ubisoft Toronto


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By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com
Playing a bit of catch-up…
August wasn’t a good month for Triumph’s Tiger 800 and Tiger 800 XC as recall notices were issued in the past week or so not once but twice. A problem with the engine management software on certain 2011 and 2012 models, which could cause lower RPMs and stalling when decelerating, affected as many as 1,485 bikes. Dealers are fixing the glitch by downloading new software. Also causing a problem on some 668 bikes is a defective return spring on Tiger’s optional center stand. Dealers are replacing the springs.
Over in Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has kicked off his re-election campaign by getting his biker buddies together and riding a Harley-Davidson trike to a rally at a battleship. Here’s the YouTube video:


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Mary Lawless Lee is looking to be the mother of her latest business venture.
NS influential people, the man behind the website Happily Gray, the brand and Nashville Store and a mother of two, launched their latest project this week called Nēmah, a skin care brand focused on pregnant mothers. The brand has been in business for two years and hit the market with two products: a scar repair treatment for $28 and a stretch mark repair cream for $34. Lee and her husband Madison Lee co-founded the brand.
“A big part of the inspiration behind this has been the conversations I’ve had over the past two years with my readers about what they’re using,” Lee said. “Hearing from them and talking to them about their journeys like IVF and miscarriage and all the different paths to becoming a mother was definitely something that we wanted to highlight.”
The products were perfected a year ago, Lee said, but she waited to launch the brand to develop the community side of Nēmah, which, as a mother, is an important ingredient. for her to deliver along with the products.
Nēmah’s website offers a Diary tab, where customers can read entries from actual mothers around the country about their motherhood journey. The blog posts are divided into five sections – Baby, Pregnancy, Health, Postpartum and Breastfeeding – and cover topics such as managing a baby’s sleep schedule, doula exercises, and coping with illness morning sickness.
“That’s really important because we’re looking at this community aspect and we thought, we can’t just have these educational groups, we really need a storytelling aspect because that’s what we’re going to do. part of the community. It’s a mix of both of those things,” she said. “That’s what has saved me as a mother, ‘aha’ moments like ‘Oh thank God, I’m not alone,’ it’s like she’s going through this too. It’s a feeling of relief and that’s what we want to cultivate.”
The Nēmah website already offers several blog entries by vertical and will continue to post new articles regularly. The brand will also launch a series of “The Life They Live” early next year, in which real moms share their stories about IVF, miscarriage, postpartum and a variety of topics is different.
As a former ICU nurse, Lee says it’s important for her to offer clinically dermatologist-backed products to make sure they’re safe to use. Nēmah has a medical advisory board that includes Dr. Kira Mayo, a dermatologist, and Dr. Bob Geng, an allergist and immunologist.
“We want to make products [mothers] being able to really trust and be backed by science because I come from a nursing background, which is very important to me,” she explains. “We’re in a time where influencers are launching lines and there’s a lot of different things out there, so if we’re going to do it, we have to do it this way. It took us twice as much money and resources, but it’s backed by science.”
Lee is also leveraging his decades of experience running Happily Gray for Nēmah. NS influential people has spent the past few years promoting and selling other brands’ products, which has shown her the right price point and what her readers want.
“There was a lot of affiliate sales data that we looked at over the last decade to generate product prices, feel and colors,” she says. “That is beauty, beauty for over a decade have been working on building this brand and now coming to the point of how can we create something other than just marketing the products of other brands”.
While Nēmah’s product line is geared towards pregnant and postpartum moms, Lee plans to expand into other categories devoted to motherhood and family. Her next launch will be a lip balm and nipple cream to be released in the first quarter of 2022 and then expand the category to baby products, such as shampoo, lotion and shower gel in the spring. She also aims to expand into household products, such as household cleaners and detergents.
READ MORE HERE:
https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/mary-lawless-lee-nemah-brand-details-1234999613/ Mary Lawless Lee Launches Nemah Skin Care Brand: Exclusive Details – WWD


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WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Treasury and IRS will begin sending nearly 4 million economic impact payments by prepaid debit card, instead of by paper check.
Card recipients can make purchases, get cash from in-network ATMs, and transfer funds to their personal bank account without incurring any fees. They can also check their card balance online, by mobile app or by phone without incurring fees. The card can be used online, at ATMs or at any retail location where Visa is accepted. This free, prepaid card also provides consumer protections available to traditional bank account owners, including protections against fraud, loss and other errors.
Treasury has already delivered more than 140 million economic impact payments worth $239 billion to Americans by direct deposit to accounts at financial institutions, Direct Express card accounts and by check.
The cards are being mailed to qualified individuals without bank information on file with the IRS. It will arrive in a plain envelope from “Money Network Cardholder Services.” Each mailing will include instructions on how to activate and use the card.
The card is part of Treasury’s U.S. Debit Card program, which provides prepaid debit card services to federal agencies for the electronic delivery of nonbenefit payments. MetaBank was selected as Treasury’s financial agent for the U.S. Debit Card program in 2016, following a competitive selection process conducted by the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
To learn more about economic impact payments, click here.
To learn more about the economic impact payment card, click here.


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Travis Kalanick resigns as Uber CEO under investor pressure
Uber's Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick has resigned, capping a series of controversies that have rocked the world's largest privately backed startup. (Bloomberg)


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CHICAGO (CBS) — It’s hard in this high-tech world to survive this economy, with all sorts of gadgets using up lots of electricity in our homes.
Remember the Wrights? The suburban couple has four kids, who are always plugged in.
But, after one month and some expert advice, they’re saving big on their electric bill.
CBS 2’s Dorothy Tucker explains how you can save, too.
Before the Wrights experienced their electricity education, they were like a typical family.
“I had my laptop running and plugged in, I had my phone charging. My kids have, you know one has her iPod playing,” Marcus Wright said. “My son’s got a game going on at the same time, while there’s lights everywhere on in the house.”
Then, ComEd’s “energy doctor,” Mary Freestone, paid a visit.
“A lot of appliances will use energy, even if they’re turned off,” she said.
Freestone showed the Wrights how much energy and money they were wasting by leaving small appliances and computers plugged in when they weren’t being used.
She explained they could knock at least $10 a month off their bill, just by turning down the thermostat 6 to 8 degrees at night.
“The fewer hours that you’re heating saves more energy,” Freestone said.
In November, the Wright’s electric bill was $93, but after a month of energy consciousness, it dropped to $71; a savings of $22.
“It’s an attitude change,” Sinora Wright said. “We understand that the lights need to be off.”
“So now I’m like turn them off, turn them off, turn them off. Unplug this. Stop doing that. You don’t really need this right now,” Marcus Wright said.
“I think that’s a big start and I think that’s the key to keeping you on track,” Sinora Wright said.
Let’s recap how much the wrights have saved: $22 on their electric bill, $137 on credit card debt after some advice from a financial expert, and $360 after they cut back on fast food.
That’s a total savings of $519 so far.