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New Record: Super Mario 64 Video Game Sells For $1.56 Million
The auction price record for a video game was broken on Sunday 11 July.
A copy of Super Mario 64 sold for $1,560,000 (£1,126,000), with Dallas-based auctioneers Heritage Auctions saying it is the first game ever sold at auction to bring more than $1 million (£722,125).
The result smashed the previous world record, set just two days ago when Heritage sold The Legend of Zelda (Wata 9.0 A Sealed [No Rev-A, Round SOQ, Early Production], NES Nintendo 1987 USA) for $870,000 (£628,000), at the time the most ever paid for a video game at auction.
"After the record-breaking sale of the first game in the Zelda series on Friday, the possibility of surpassing $1 million on a single video game seemed like a goal that would need to wait for another auction,” Heritage Auctions Video Games Specialist Valarie McLeckie said.
“We were shocked to see that it turned out to be in the same one! We are proud to have been a part of this historic event, and look forward to being on the forefront of the video game hobby and serving such a dedicated collector community in the years to come.”
The game is the highest-graded copy of the single best-selling video game on the Nintendo 64 – the first 3D adventure of Nintendo's mascot, Mario.


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The favored Yuga Labs enterprise Meebits has merely made its approach to The Sandbox metaverse. On Wednesday, The Sandbox formally launched that Meebits holders can uncover this metaverse using their NFTs as avatars.
About The Sandbox x Meebits partnership
The Sandbox launched this partnership by the use of Twitter: “@MeebitsNFTs are moving into The Sandbox! Now, you presumably can play #SandboxAlphaS3 as your Meebit Avatar! Bounce correct in!” Undoubtedly, this partnership continues to emphasize Web 3’s interoperable spirit.
This isn’t the first time The Sandbox collaborated with commonplace NFT collections. It’s the nineteenth NFT assortment to be included in The Sandbox metaverse. Completely different high-profile partnerships embody Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen, Alec Monopoly’s MetaMuseum, and Paris Hilton’s Malibu Mansion.
Furthermore, just some months up to now, The Sandbox built-in one different Yuga Labs enterprise – Bored Ape Yacht Membership. On August 22, it launched the inclusion of every mannequin of every Ape into its metaverse. Because of this reality, this Meebits collaboration expands The Sandbox’s relationship with Yuga Labs.
Will these collaborations improve The Sandbox’s energetic clients?
Based mostly on present critiques, The Sandbox has 616 on daily basis energetic clients, with fellow metaverse Decentraland having 379 energetic clients. Nonetheless, every metaverses have a market cap of over $1.2 billion.
Because of this reality, collaboration with commonplace NFT initiatives like The Sandbox could improve shopper engagement and the number of on daily basis energetic clients. Undoubtedly, The Sandbox has poor on daily basis engagement as compared with commonplace Web2 video video games like Roblox, which has 54.1 million daily active users. This may be ensuing from the reality that the metaverse continues to be in its infancy and that many nonetheless see metaverses as investments, not as worlds with engaged communities.

domain: news


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- 1,816 bakery staff were at risk of job loss
- It needed to adjust to changing client demand, with fewer people buying traditional loaves.
- Bakeries at 257 sites will not be changed, with an additional 201 still offering few products baked from scratch.
The company stated that 1,816 bakery staff were at risk of job loss, with the changes taking place from May.
Tags : TESCO, Jobs, Retail, Bakery,


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Do Netflix Results Reflect Future Expectations?
Netflix has been on a good run backed up by growth in consumer subscription. Netflix Results show the number of subscribers keeps growing by the day surpassing even the entities own expectations.
The firm today confirmed that it now has over 5 million new subscribers. The bulk of the subscription comes from the international market, with 850,000 coming from the U.S alone.The reason for the drive has primarily been due to the rise in spending in a bid to create original content. This move looks to be paying off big time.
Slow U.S growth
However, it is not going to be a bed of roses for the company. There is an expectation that US subscription will be lower than it was the same time last year. The recent hiking of viewership fees is the likely cause for the lag in U.S. The bone of contention is finding a way to push market value in the midst of burgeoning production costs.
Revenue figures came in slightly higher than wall street's speculation. Though the firm remains committed to satisfying customers, the biggest worry lies in whether the entity will keep up momentum in sales figures. Netflix intends to spend roughly $7 billion of budget funds on innovative content next year.
Though revenue from viewership fees is crucial, what matters most is subscription numbers. A large subscription base translates to healthy looking profit and loss statement. The entity will have to figure out what excites their clients most to have any chance of meeting set targets. Netflix stocks have been on an upward trend but the question of U.S growth still lingers.
Netflix Earnings Reaction Muted


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Manu Balachandran is a writer for Forbes India, based in Bengaluru. At Forbes India, Manu writes on automobiles, aviation, pharmaceuticals, banking, infrastructure, economy and long profiles among many others. He also moderates many of Forbes India's CEO and CXO events and hosts Capital Ideas, a podcast on the most riveting success stories from the business world. He has previously worked with Quartz, The Economic Times and Business Standard in Mumbai and New Delhi. Manu has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University and a degree in economics from the Loyola College. When not chasing stories, he is most likely obsessing over Formula 1 (Read: Lewis Hamilton), historical events and people, or planning long weekend drives from Bengaluru
Ola will launch an electric vehicle that has a range of over 500 km, and even zooms from 0-100 in less than 4 seconds
For a few years now, Bhavish Aggarwal, the CEO of Ola, has made it a habit of making a splash around Independence Day. Exactly a year ago, on August 15, Aggarwal and Ola Electric launched their much-anticipated electric scooter, which had by then already mopped up bookings of 100,000.
Then, on August 15 this year, as India celebrated her 75th Independence Day, the CEO of Ola Electric went all out to tell the world that it was time to put an end to the era of internal combustion engines. To do that, and in the process make India a hub for the global electric vehicle revolution, Aggarwal and his team at Ola are bringing their electric car by 2024. Unlike a mass-market electric vehicle, this time, Aggarwal and his team are planning to bring something of a sporty high-performance vehicle, albeit on the expensive side, with the potential to rival some of the world’s best high-performance cars.
Ola Electric—which began manufacturing two-wheelers only last year—will launch an electric vehicle that has a range of over 500 km, and even zooms from 0-100 in less than 4 seconds, which Aggarwal claims will be the sportiest car made in India. The car will deliver a drag coefficient of less than .21, which would be the best in its class according to Aggarwal, and will feature an all-glass roof and a smooth aerodynamic body.
“The cars being built today are dull and boring,” Aggarwal said in a video presentation on August 15. “Indian carmakers are conservative, thinking that we only want small cars or mid-sized cars. Global automakers think that the Indian market is not ready for world-class technology and hence sell their hand-me-down tech in India. Now we need to change this. We deserve a car that defines this new India, an India that is fearless and believes in writing its own destiny."
The company plans to launch its first car priced at less than $50,000 compared to the global price tag of around $70,000, according to Aggarwal. “It will be the sportiest car ever built in India,” the 36-year-old said at the launch. “With these goals, this is the most ambitious car project ever undertaken in India. Built in India, by Indians for the entire world.”
Already, despite some criticism surrounding the quality of its two-wheelers and its services so far, Aggarwal has shown that he means business, and most certainly deserves credit for scaling up an electric two-wheeler business, including acquiring land and setting up what’s touted to be the largest two-wheeler manufacturing facility in the world. That was done in less than a year, and production commenced in 2021 with deliveries starting shortly after. But since then, sales have floundered, and Aggarwal had to reintroduce a variant last week after the company had put a halt on manufacturing early this year.
“Pragmatically speaking, one may want to deliberate on the underpinnings of this announcement as they have a lot of initiatives playing out and lots of commitments to fulfill,” says Harshvardhan Sharma, head of auto retail practice at Nomura Research Institute. “I believe they can surely disrupt with such a product, there is surely a market albeit niche, but the challenge is always how to scale.”
Until July this year, Ola Electric had sold a little over 45,000 units, and reportedly vehicles had begun piling up at the factory, leading to a shutdown of the plant. Ola, however, denied that that was the case and said that the move to shut the factory was over planned maintenance, as is the practice across the world.
“Ola is best known as a key disruptor in the mobility space in India with its shared mobility services,” Bakar Sadik Agwan, senior analyst, automotive, at GlobalData PLC says. “Its experience and depth of coverage of its shared mobility services in the country have given it a better understanding of the personal and passenger mobility market dynamics. The company holds the potential to disrupt the e-mobility space with its two-wheelers, but that said, with the announcement to enter the electric passenger vehicle business, Ola is stretching itself too thin.”
In the 365 days since the last Independence Day, Ola has had a tumultuous journey. Many of its top leadership have left the company, a scooter had caught fire forcing the company to recall some vehicles, and customers were let down by the scooter’s real-world offering, particularly its range and after-service. That seemed to have affected sales. In July 2022, the company sold 3,426 units of scooters, cornering a paltry 0.34 percent of the domestic two-wheeler market with other electric two-wheeler makers such as Okinawa and Ampere outperforming the Bengaluru-headquartered electric automaker. In July, Hero Electric sold 8,679 vehicles followed by Okinawa Autotech with 7,999 vehicles, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association.
“Ola is new in the two-wheeler business and is yet to prove itself as a sustainable player,” adds Agwan. “The recent incidents of battery fires, faulty BMS (Battery Management System), software issues and degraded EV range have negatively impacted the company’s reputation and acted as one of the factors behind decreasing sales and hence inventory pile-up.”
Does it have what it takes?
Ola’s announcement to foray into the four-wheeler business came on the same day that the 77-year-old Mahindra Group announced its plans to launch five new electric vehicles, indicating a serious ambition from domestic automakers to push forward with electric vehicle plans as India looks to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
Mahindra has already announced plans to set up a subsidiary to focus entirely on building electric vehicles and the company had roped in British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, to invest in the new subsidiary valuing the subsidiary at $9.1 billion.
Already, Mahindra’s homegrown rival, Tata Motors, India’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, has set up an electric vehicle subsidiary, raising $1 billion from private equity major TPG Rise Climate. The deal had valued the subsidiary at over $9 billion. Tata Motors is India’s largest electric vehicle carmaker cornering some 75 percent of the market, led by its hugely popular Nexon EV which currently receives some 4,000 orders a month and is priced between Rs 14 lakh and Rs 20 lakh, almost half the price at which Aggarwal’s Ola plans to sell its cars.
India’s electric vehicle (EV) market is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 90 percent in this decade to touch $150 billion by 2030, according to a report by consulting firm RBSA Advisors. Yet, EVs are in their infancy in India, and lag in markets like China and the US, as domestic sales pale in comparison to what carmakers sell on the internal combustion engine (ICE) platforms. India is a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement, which means that the country needs to reduce its carbon emissions by around 35 percent of its 2005 levels by 2030. The government has tried everything—from tax cuts to manufacturing incentives in the automobile sector—to kickstart an EV revolution in the country.
“Established players such as Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki have taken their own sweet time to bring in their core EV products,” adds Agwan. “Many market players share common thoughts that India is not yet ready for mass electrification as far as passenger vehicles are considered. Given that Ola has no experience in car manufacturing and battery manufacturing, partnerships look to be the last resort for the company.” Also read: Can Ola kickstart India's electric vehicle revolution?
To build its own ecosystem, Ola had recently showcased its first indigenously developed lithium-ion cell and signed an agreement under the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to manufacture advanced cells in India. The company had also announced plans to invest some $500 million in setting up its battery innovation centre (BIC) in Bengaluru, which will focus, among others, on core cell technology and battery innovation.
“Multiple new players and incumbent battery manufacturers are entering the EV battery space in India,” Mohit Mittal, partner at Praxis Global Alliance, says. “Localised battery and cell manufacturing are being promoted on a large scale by the Government of India through the PLI (production–linked incentive) scheme for (ACC) advanced cell chemistry manufacturing. Ola Electric has already been granted, along with three other players, the incentive for producing 80 GWh of power locally. Further, Ola Electric can bring down prices through long-term contracts with vendors, bundling of services, in-house manufacturing, and R&D of components such as motor and chassis.”
When fully complete, Ola says its factory will produce one million cars, 10 million two-wheelers, and 100 gigawatt-hour of cells.
As of 2021, EVs account for 1 percent of total vehicle sales in India. That number is expected to grow rapidly to 39 percent by CY27, driven largely by electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) and electric three-wheelers (E3Ws) according to a report by EY. While e-buses have a lower adoption rate, state government initiatives could significantly ramp up sales in the coming years. However, the large-scale adoption of electric four-wheelers (E4Ws) is expected to take longer due to range anxiety, varying duty cycles, and sparse charging network issues, according to EY.
In 2021, the Indian EV industry attracted investments of $6 billion and is projected to attract $20 billion by 2030. According to Niti Aayog, the country’s EV financing industry is projected to be worth Rs 3.7 lakh crore in 2030, about 80 percent of the current retail vehicle finance industry. Between 2020 and 2030, the estimated cumulative capital cost of the country’s EV transition will be Rs 19.7 lakh crore across vehicles, electric vehicle supply equipment, and batteries (including replacements).
“Like any new entrant, they are learning from the market and hopefully improving their offerings. It’s a process,” adds Sharma of Nomura. “However, given the scale of commitment made regarding their (Ola) scooter business, it may be prudent to recalibrate downstream and upstream functions in line with consumers and a competitive environment from incumbents. Surely Ola has made an impact with their stellar entry, however, as we know, Indian consumers are very demanding, especially at that price point and hence the product and aftersales both need more nurturing. It’s an organic process and takes time to build the capability. There can’t be a 'minimum viable product’ mindset when it comes to customer experience.”
All that means that it becomes even more important how Ola manages its battery and the wider ecosystem. Today, most electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries that require metals like lithium, magnesium, cobalt, and nickel. With an inadequate supply of these resources in India, the country has been heavily dependent on imports, and according to EY estimates, India spent $865 million to import 450 million units of lithium-ion batteries.
“Also, the global EV industry is fearing a shortage of EV battery materials by the end of the decade, over and above the existing semiconductors shortage. It will be ‘wait and see’ if Ola can bring in a car at a lower ticket price than global standards with the committed range and features in such a scenario,” adds Agwan.
Ola has meanwhile expanded its factory to accommodate car manufacturing and battery manufacturing in addition to its two-wheeler plans. “We are doing a lot of development and testing, comprehensive testing here in our Battery Innovation Centre, and by the end of next year we’ll have them in our products,” Aggarwal said on August 15. “India is going to be the epicenter of the global EV revolution.” When fully complete, Ola says its factory will produce one million cars, 10 million two-wheelers, and 100 gigawatt-hour of cells.
Rising fuel prices in addition to new launches and a wider concern for the environment could be a key factor in pushing sales. In addition, setting up charging infrastructure could further push demand in the coming years. India’s import of crude oil required for vehicular fuel has been increasing over the years and stood at $40 billion in 2017. That number is projected to more than double to $90 billion by 2030 at the current pace. At the same time, battery cost has reduced from $800 per kilowatt-hour in 2011 to $137 per kilowatt-hour in 2020.
“Battery prices are estimated to not fall below $100 per KwH but associated commodity and semiconductor prices are also rising, cancelling out any further cost consolidation unless a new chemistry is deployed besides LiB, but it would still take some more time to get commercialised and maybe 2024 is too optimistic of a view,” says Sharma of Nomura. “But having said that, it’s possible with subsidies, and the entry version may be able to hit that number as a promotion strategy.”
In addition, Ola will also need to build up an ecosystem, similar to what the likes of Tata have done, or what Mahindra is planning to do. “Today many OEMs are looking at collaborating to explore synergies,” adds Sharma. “Case in point is large OEMs such as VW and M&M or Toyota and Suzuki. Such a collaboration is symbiotic in nature and paves the way for economies of scale. Therefore, we might witness collaboration instead of competition going forwards. Car manufacturing is a CAPEX intensive business prone to many demand and supply volatilities, and hopefully new entrants will try to examine the merits of collaboration instead of roughing it out standalone.”
The Tata group has set up Tata UniEVerse, an ecosystem that will leverage group synergies, where several Tata companies have come together to provide EV solutions to consumers. The company has partnered with Tata Power to provide end-to-end charging solutions at home, the workplace, and public charging facilities. Under this partnership, the company has installed fast-charging stations in metros, including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, in addition to chargers on highways. So far, Tata Power has set up 1,000 EV charging stations across India in some 180 cities.
The company has also tied up with Tata Chemicals in its attempt to build a component supplier ecosystem and manufacture lithium-ion battery cells, in addition to looking at active chemical manufacturing and battery recycling.
Last year, Ola said that the company is planning to set up its Hypercharger Network, which the company claims will be the widest and densest electric two-wheeler charging network in the world, with more than 100,000 charging points across 400 cities. In the first year alone, Ola is setting up over 5,000 charging points across 100 cities in India, more than double the existing charging infrastructure. The company is also spending some $2 billion over five years for that.
“Ola has always adopted ‘scale’ as a mantra to ‘disruption’ across all its business models,” says Agwan. “Likewise, for electric cars, it is aiming to achieve economy of scale with mass production and a high degree of localisation including batteries to bring down manufacturing costs and hence product acquisition costs. However, in the absence of a clear roadmap regarding partners for EV and EV battery manufacturing and supply partners, it remains difficult to comment on the future of Ola’s electric cars.”
Whether he can scale up and crack the market remains to be seen. But one thing is certain. Aggarwal has moved quickly in one of the world’s fastest growing segments. Now he needs to make the most of it.


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The NSW Government today unveiled the next phase of its ‘Feel New’ tourism marketing campaign to accelerate the recovery of the visitor economy.
Billed as ‘Renew’, the new campaign has been timed to leverage the restart of intrastate travel and the progressive re-opening of state and territory borders.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, and Minister for Industry and Trade Stuart Ayres said the ‘Renew’ campaign would tap into the sentiment of consumers seeking to visit somewhere new, experience something new, and renew themselves following months of restrictions and lockdown.
“We’re inviting Australians to renew themselves by enjoying what NSW uniquely offers in terms of destinations, experiences and road trips, and help turbocharge the recovery of the hard-hit accommodation, cultural, entertainment, hospitality, tourism and events sectors,” Mr Ayres said.
“The ‘Renew’ campaign encapsulates the feeling we all have right now – to be re-energised after an incredibly challenging long haul – and, with NSW leading the country in opening up, now is time to hit the road and explore NSW and give our visitor economy the kickstart it needs and deserves.
“This new element of the ‘Feel New’ campaign, combined with the Government’s continuing injection of funds into visitor economy support programs, is exactly what’s needed to fast-track the state’s recovery.”
The ‘Renew’ campaign will run on radio, digital and social media, in key domestic markets until February 2022.
For more information on the ‘Feel New’ and ‘Renew’ tourism marketing campaigns visit www.destinationnsw.com.au/tourism/feel-new-visitor-brand and for travel inspiration go to www.visitnsw.com and www.sydney.com


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The ultimate group discount? Or a case of “pop” as the sound of the group buying mania evaporates in a cloud of, well, discounts thanks to accounting reality hitting the already tottering market leading Groupon of the US?
Reports over the weekend said Groupon had changed the way it presents its revenue, slashing its top-line sales figure by more than half ahead of a float that’s already been delayed by three months or more. Instead of Groupon counting as revenue the full dollar amount of its coupons, it will now count only the commission the company gets above the coupon price. (That’s commission it receives on the amount remaining after the discount, say 50%).
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday Groupon cut its 2010 sales from $US713 million to $US313 million after deducting the fees paid by merchants.
It also adjusted first-half 2011 reported sales downwards from $US1.52 billion to $US688 million. Groupon said the previous documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission had “an error in presentation”. (That’s like saying the “dog ate my homework”). Errors in presentation should have been easy to fix up once you had checked the presentation itself, you’d have thought?
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“The Consolidated Financial Statements have been restated for the presentation of revenue on a net basis for all periods presented. See Note 2 to our Consolidated Financial Statements. In addition, the six month period ended June 30, 2011 has been restated to reduce selling, general and administrative expense to correct for an error. See Note 2 to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements,” the SEC filing said.
And Note 2 read: “The Company has restated its previously issued Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2008, 2009 and 2010 to correct for an error in its presentation of revenue. Most significantly, the Company restated its reporting of revenues from Groupons to be net of the amounts related to merchant fees. Historically, the Company has reported the gross amounts billed to its subscribers as revenue.”
In other words, the Groupon accounts have been tidied up and regularised accounting to more conventional accounting. But no profits, of course.
So, for instance, the company is now reporting revenue of $US392.6 million for the second quarter of this year, on gross billings of $US909.2 million. Previously, it claimed $US878 million.
The restatement, which could delay its plans for an IPO, came on the same day that the company lost its number-two executive, a bad look for a company still looking to float and allow insiders to cash in.
Margo Georgiadis, chief operating officer, has left after just five months at Groupon. In something of an indictment of Group, she has returned to where she came from, Google, the company which offered $US6.4 billion for Groupon, but was rebuffed.
Georgiadis returned to a job as head of Google Americas. According to various media reports, she wrote in a departing note that she had “complete confidence in the team’s ability to realise its mission”, she left the Chicago-based company to return to Google as president of the Americas region. Georgiadis had struggled in dealings with Andrew Mason, Groupon’s young chief executive, she told associates, according to reports in The Financial Times and other papers on the weekend.
“She was brought in to implement strategy and operational discipline and she did it, but Andrew was fighting her every step of the way,” one colleague told the Financial Times. This person described the former McKinsey consultant as effective but corporate in outlook, while Mr Mason made decisions more instinctively.
The next issue to watch for with Groupon is slowing revenue growth. There are already reports (anecdotal) that the company and its competitors are facing slower growth in transactions, which are generating less revenue because of bigger revenue shares being paid to selected retailers and merchants who generate good sales.
And the news of the restatement and possible delay to the float of Groupon in the US (nothing could be sold in the present febrile climate in the sharemarket) is bad news for the Australian wannabes, such as James Packer, who with a group of investors, has bought a stake in local coupon sites, Scoopon.com.au and Catch of the Day. The group invested $80 million in the two websites. Media reports in May said the buyers including James Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings, Seek co-founder Andrew Bassat and American hedge fund Tiger Global. The investment valued the group at $200 million.
There’s been talk that Nine Entertainment is looking to sell its stake in its Cudo coupon site for around $30 million, if partner Microsoft sells.
If Groupon can’t get its IPO away, investors belief in the coupon industry will fade, especially if there are any more accounting restatements. Friday’s was the third so far this year. Certainly floats and sales of Australian sites won’t happen for months and months given the market volatility at the moment.


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In order to boost the government’s Startup India, Standup India movement, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has proposed for a reality show for Indian startups.
The idea came along the lines of Shark Tank – an American reality television series where aspiring entrepreneurs from around the world pitch their business models to a panel of investors.
In the desi (Indian) version, entrepreneurs will be grilled on their ideas pitched to the panel of judges. Also, the idea should be modelled on solving existing industry problems. As shared by a senior DIPP official to ET, an agency would be hired to scout for startups and investors to feature on the show. “Also, the winners will be provided with the funding,”he added.
Interestingly, there are plans to air the show on Doordarshan – one of India’s largest and the oldest broadcasting organisation, which has only a small share of the country’s viewership. Other details regarding amount of funding, judges to be invited, etc., is still under consideration
Also, a TV channel dedicated to startups is there in the offing, for which DIPP has written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Earlier this month, a reality TV series – The Vault has also been launched for SME’s, student community, household and rural ventures, and startups at the incubation stage. At present, the show organisers are collecting startup applications and the show will go live in October.
Other Indian shows revolving around startups are TVF Pitchers, Hauslay Ki Udaan, IndianStartupShow, Baked, and ShaadiBoys.
A platform to pitch in front of a national audience will definitely grab the attention of many potential investors. Also, it will bring in focus the inherent problems in the various industries and adding in the skills of the workforce engaged, it will only drive the Skilled India, Startup India movement forward.


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The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) invites you be a part of the 15th Annual Business Law Conference.
This year’s conference is a hybrid conference and will take place at Harbour Point Lagos and will be streamed online on Whova and Zoom from Wednesday July 14th to Thursady July 15th, 2021. Our theme this year is Re-tooling Businesses for Change; Leveraging the Tech Explosion.
In this Conference, we will be convening a host of esteemed speakers both international and domestic who will discuss key topics within our theme
The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) is currently requesting for Expression of Interest from tech innovators who have designed or are in the process of designing solution-driven apps as part of our annual conference in a session tagged “Innovation Hub Challenge”.
As startups use technology to shape the way we live, work, and learn, they are taking on challenges in all critical sectors of the economy. The NBA-SBL recognises the need to support innovators and entrepreneurs in the quest to develop technological solutions that have the potential to accelerate economic and social growth in our emerging digital economy.


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How many licks does it take to get to a problem with this piece?
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Apple is planning to cut orders for the iPhone 5c. But don’t go shouting "Apple's plastic iPhone is doomed" off the rooftops just yet -- here's why this isn't really anything to worry your head over.
The road to which is paved with iPhones.
Everyone's wrong, including you!
This week’s iPhone-case roundup is all about power and pockets, with a few accessories that protect your phone while giving its battery life a boost, and others that give you additional carrying options when you want to travel light.
Some executive statements are just marketing. Others are just nuts.
The latest smartphones from Cupertino will expand their worldwide presence over the next several weeks, coming to more than 50 new countries by November 1.
As long as it's bad for Apple, it's good to print.
In the latest edition of our weekly iPhone-case roundup, you'll find everything from the thin to the waterproof, including one protective accessory that keeps both your phone and your secrets safe.
You'll never believe this but Apple's products are a ripoff!


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- News tagged "802.11ad"
Wednesday, 3 Feb 2016
Intel and Qualcomm, two leading wireless semiconductor vendors, have teamed up to create a comprehensive WiGig ecosystem to ensure smoother adoption when the technology finally arrives in the mainstream market.
Sunday, 10 Jan 2016
TP-Link has just announced its new Talon AD7200 multi-band Wi-Fi router, which also happens to be the world's first router to support the new 802.11ad wireless standard.
Monday, 13 Oct 2014
Samsung has developed a new 802.11ad standard 60GHz Wi-Fi technology that aims to deliver transfer rates of up to a whopping 4.6Gbps, an increase of over five times the current speed limit.
Friday, 18 Jan 2013
IEEE has recently adopted WiGig as a new wireless standard. Also known as 802.11ad, this standard was first announced in May 2009 and this newly adopted standard supports 7Gbps speeds over 60GHz frequencies and is slated to appear in consumer electronics as soon as next year.


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Australia’s growing appetite for corporate bonds
The rise of the social enterprise
A strong global economy underpins rising optimism and risk appetite
A special article produced for the 2018 World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit.
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Spain’s Inditex, the owner of Zara fashion brand, saw the brand’s net profit surge more than 70% in India in 2017-18, even as the world’s largest fashion group grew at one of its slowest rates in the country amid increasing competition from global rivals.
Inditex operates in India through two joint ventures with Trent, the Tata Group’s retail arm, one for Zara and another for bridge-to-luxury label Massimo Dutti. Zara and Massimo Dutti collectively saw 20% revenue growth in India during the year. While the flagship Zara posted 73% growth in net profit to Rs 82.59 from Rs 47.6 crore a year ago, Inditex’s overall profits in the country were eroded by a net loss of Rs 2.73 crore that Massimo Dutti suffered during the year.
Zara has been a success in India since its arrival in the country in 2010. According to market watchers it has been going strong despite competition from its global rivals including Sweden’s Hennes & Mauritz (H&M). While Zara has opened 20 outlets in India, H&M has been more aggressive in store expansions, opening a store a month on average since its entry in the country in 2015 and taking the tally to 32 outlets till May this year.
H&M, the world’s second-largest clothing firm, plans to open 50 stores in India by 2020 with an investment of Rs 700 crore. H&M’s sales in India in the six months to May went up 19% to Rs 535 crore from Rs 450 crore a year ago, according to the financial report on its website, helped by addition of new stores as well as merchandise priced lower than that of most rivals.
Each store generated annual sales of Rs 33 crore on average, making H&M’s performance among the best in the apparel segment in the retail market, but it paled in comparison to Zara’s almost double sales of Rs 61crore with its 20 outlets.


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Centura Foods has promoted Sue Knight to the role of brand director following a reshuffle of its senior management team.
Knight has been covering the role for eight months and was previously head of marketing for the company’s Sharwood’s food brand.
She takes over from Ginny Knox, who was on secondment to Centura’s innovations unit and has returned as the company’s managing director. Former Centura managing director Patrick Irving has left to join Manor Bakeries in the same role.
As well as having responsibility for Sharwood’s, the top-selling Indian food brand in the UK, Knight will oversee brands such as Bisto, Paxo and Robertson’s Preserves.
Sharwood’s has launched a raft of new products over the past year and revamped its packaging by putting the whole range in square jars. It has backed this with a &£5m advertising campaign created by TBWA/London, which aimed to show that cooking Asian food is a rewarding experience.
The ads introduced the new strapline “Stirring stuff” and featured Mariella Frostrup (MW September 26, 2002). Sharwood’s also moved into the Chinese food sector at the beginning of this year with its Oriental Essentials brand featuring flavours such as Wok Soy, Wok Oil and Thai Chilli.


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Hill’s Pet Nutrition Products Pulled From Pet Store Shelves
Petco and PetSmart have pulled Hill’s Pet Nutrition products out of their Topeka and Lawrence, Kan., stores in what some industry observers are describing as a shot across the company’s bow due to its e-commerce and potential channel-hopping approach. The choice of locations, which was first reported by local media outlets, is significant as Hill’s Pet Nutrition is headquartered in Topeka.
Although officials from Petco, PetSmart and Hill’s Pet Nutrition did not immediately respond to our inquiries yesterday, multiple sources within the industry confirmed the local media reports, and calls to the affected stores revealed that Hill’s products are no longer available in those locations. An associate at PetSmart’s Lawrence store described the change as part of the company’s efforts to expand the shelf presence of other food brands; while at Petco’s Topeka location, the associate who answered my call helpfully pointed out that Hill’s products could still be ordered from the retailer online.
This appears to be just the latest salvo in the pet specialty channel’s battle against the growing competition it faces from online retailers. Independent pet retailers, in particular, have expressed increasing concern about the role that online outlets are playing in pet food manufacturers’ go-to-market strategy—particularly as it relates to product pricing. Given the size of the retailers at play in this case, it could set a major precedent.
It is being speculated that the developments in Kansas mark the beginning of the end for Hill’s products in the big-box pet chains overall. There is also a rumor that another major chain will soon follow suit. If all of this is true, things could become very difficult for Hill’s Pet Nutrition very quickly. As one independent retailer told me, “Hill’s is on the wrong side of two of their biggest customers, and their upside is to gain websites like target.com? That doesn’t seem to make much sense.”
This particular retailer went on to note that the move by Petco and PetSmart could actually end up pushing Hill’s even further from its pet specialty channel roots. “If they did lose Petco and PetSmart, they would probably have to go to Walmart/Costco/Target or grocery. They can’t have idle factories.”
Stay tuned for further insights as this story develops.


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Credit: Getty Images
BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 29: A model showcases designs on the catwalk during Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology Graduates Show 2012 of China Fashion Week at Beijing Hotel on March 29, 2012 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
Posted on April 3, 2012 at 8:58 AM
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TECNO is the first smartphone brand to release the Android 13 Beta version. TECNO is a leader in bringing the latest technology to its customers and now takes a leap forward with the upcoming CAMON 19 Pro 5G.
Android 13 beta for TECNO CAMON 19 PRO (Not to be confused with TECNO CAMON 19); Google officially revealed the Android 13 Beta 2 during the Google I/O 2022, which took place from May 11-12. TECNO, the global leader in innovative technology, announced that the Android 13 beta program will be available in the latest CAMON 19 Pro (5G) version. This will provide superior performance as well as privacy & security for users. TECNO also announced that the Android 12 will be updated on its CAMON 18 series.
Android 12 for TECNO CAMON 18 Series “We are glad that through the long-term partnership with Google, TECNO has been providing our users with the latest Android system to bring them extraordinary using experiences. The TECNO CAMON 19 Pro (5G) with Android 13 Beta will definitely allow our users to be among the first to access new features and bring them pleasures”, said Stephen HA, Vice President of TRANSSION and GM of TECNO Mobile.
TECNO’s “Stop At Nothing” spirit encourages users to explore endless possibilities and make them early adopters of new systems. CAMON 19 Pro (5G), TECNO’s highly anticipated smartphone, is set to arrive in the near future. It will be a high performance smartphone that’s specifically designed for young fashionists.
Android 13 includes some key optimizations.
- Stricter Notification Permission — Privacy and trust are the core principles of Android products. Android 13 introduces the new runtime permission POST_NOTIFICATIONS – to give users control over which notifications they wish to receive. Apps will need to ask users for notification permissions before they can post notifications.
- Android 13 now supports color vector fonts. The new COLRv1 font format is compact and renders fast at all sizes. For the app, COLRv1 is available starting in Developer Preview 2.
- Convenient text conversion API – Android 13 allows apps call the new API for text conversion. This will make it easier to find what you need faster.
- Upgraded Bluetooth LE Audio – With Low Energy (LE) audio, users would be able to share and broadcast their audio to others, or subscribe to public broadcasts for information, entertainment, and more, while seamlessly switching between different use cases.


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Almost 600 people attended a meeting last night (Wednesday) to discuss Tescos plans for a new Express store in Goring.
Residents have formed an action group called Stop Tesco in Goring and are calling on the supermarket giant to back down.
The village hall was packed and hundreds more people spilled on to the streets outside under umbrellas. A loudspeaker system was set up so that people outside could hear the debate.
Tescos representatives answered questions and there was also a presentation by Rob Jones, founder of the action group, which called the meeting.
A vote was taken and most of the 300 people inside opposed the scheme. Twelve abstained and just three were in favour.
About 1,300 people have signed the action groups petition, which was circulated online and among local shops and businesses.
Gorings independent traders have weighed into the debate, saying a Tesco in the village would destroy their livelihoods. Many are displaying posters and banners in their windows bearing the slogan Stop Tesco in Goring.
Residents are also displaying the posters on their front doors and gates and some have been attached to lampposts.
Tesco wants to open a convenience store at the old Queens Arms pub in Reading Road, which shut in November.
Its owner Greene King sold the freehold to Ascot Developments, a company based in the British Virgin Islands, for £852,128.
Land Registry records show that Tesco then bought the leasehold for an undisclosed sum.
A full report of the meeting will appear in next weeks Henley Standard.


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Companies that help transform businesses through automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are good prospects for growth investors. Unfortunately, technology (-34.65%) is the second-worst performing sector thus far in 2022 after healthcare (-46.67%). Amid the downturn, many of its constituents are trading at deep discounts.
However, if youâre interested in AI stocks, Tecsys Inc. (TSX:TCS), Coveo Solutions (TSX:CVO), and VIQ Solutions (TSX:VIQ) are too cheap to ignore. These companies have very bright futures, given the vast addressable market in the AI industry. Fortune Business Insights projects the AI market size to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.1% to US$1.4 trillion by 2029.
Supply chain AI technologies
Tecsys is an implementation partner for practical supply chain AI technologies. The $430.3 million company develops solutions integrating warehouse management systems (WMS) and other digital infrastructure. Currently, this AI stock trades at $29.54 per share (-43.5% year to date) and pays a modest 0.95% dividend.
AIâs role in modern warehouse management operations is ever-growing. Crucially, the AI warehouse AI applications that Tecsys provides in the supply chain augment human decision-making. For example, the AI technology enables warehouse operators to become more competitive.
In Q1 fiscal 2023, software-as-a-service (Saas) revenue and annual recurring revenue (ARR) increased 42% and 21% year over year to $8 million and $65.1 million, respectively. Peter Brereton, President and CEO of Tecsys, said the companyâs SaaS solution is well-suited to the demands of a market ripe for transformation.
According to its CFO, Mark Bentler, the record SaaS revenue during the quarter indicates solid topline growth and substantial SaaS ARR bookings (256% growth). Because of demand signals and buyer intent for more robust supply chain software, management said it is fully prepared with the right software and market position. Going forward, investors can expect Tecsys to deliver customer and shareholder value.
Digital experience economy
Coveo Solutions takes pride in its AI-powered relevance platform that helps businesses compete and win in the new digital experience economy. Specifically, the $644.8 million company provides solutions for commerce, services, websites, and workplace applications.
The solutions help drive conversion and revenue growth while increasing profitability and reducing support costs. In Q2 fiscal 2023, total revenue and SaaS subscription revenue increased 43% and 47% year over year to US$19.5 million and US$25.5 million, respectively.
Notably, the net loss improved to US$9.9 million from US$61.9 million in Q2 fiscal 2022. Its Chairman and CEO, Louis TÃªtu, said management had built a firm foundation to help the AI company execute its growth plans. Coveo trades at $6.16 per share (-62.7% year to date).
Ultra-cheap AI stock
VIQ Solutions is ideal for newbies or investors with limited capital to invest. At only $0.445 per share, the tech stock is down 85.1% year to date. VIQ’s integrated suite of AI-driven voice and video capture technology and services helps individuals and teams in a niche market operate more efficiently.
Its customers include lawyers, police officers, investigators, court reporters, and insurance adjusters. Importantly, VIQâs sophisticated, user-friendly workflow solutions help these people focus on their time-sensitive, higher-value tasks. CEO, Sebastien ParÃ©, said VIQ is still transitioning towards a subscription-based ARR model. However, he expects higher revenue and overall margins in due time.
Tecsys, Coveo, and VIQ are promising high-growth stocks. As noted, demand for AI business solutions is rapidly accelerating. These firms should rise to prominence as more clients adopt and use their critical AI technologies.
Before you consider Tecsys Inc., you’ll want to hear this.
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Fool contributor Christopher Liew has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tecsys Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Tag Archives: lenses
30 articles found
Cooke Optics is promising to ship its new 25mm and 135mm Anamorphic/i lenses in time for NAB. Announced at IBC last year, the lenses will bookend the existing range of 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm lenses. Among the first …
Panavision's new Primo 70 series of lenses is in stock and ready for rental, the company said. The lenses, which were officially introduced at NAB 2014, have been used on two feature films and a number of commercials, Panavision said, …
Canon is set to ship a new, extremely long 4K zoom lens early in 2015. Aimed at field production using 4K Super 35-style cameras like Canon's own EOS C500, Canon is billing the Cine-Servo 50–1000mm T5.0–8.9 Ultra-Telephoto Zoom as "the world's …
Following the recent addition of UHD and 4K upscaling options for the Amira and Alexa, ARRI revealed the next stage of its high-resolution capture strategy with the announcement of the Alexa 65 camera system at the Cinec Munich trade show. Boasting a sensor …
Don Schafer on the new Cine-Xenar and Xenon full-frame prime lenses.
Les Zellan on how a big plan for some new anamorphic funkiness came together at last year's NAB.
Eva Paryzka introduces James Mathers to the new Optimo Style line of zoom lenses as well as some wider anamorphics coming in time for NAB 2015.
Seth Emmons introduces the Summicron C line, a new series of cine prime lenses from Leica manufacturer CW Sonderoptics.
Band Pro's Jeff Cree shows us Leica's T2 spherical Summicron lenses, designed as an affordable alternative to the Summilux lenses for Super 35-style electronic cinematography, and talks about production workflow for 4K cameras in the Band Pro booth.
Zeiss's Richard Schleuning talks about the third member of Zeiss's Compact Zoom family. (First released last year, the Compact Zooms are a winner of this year's Studio Prime Award for products introduced in 2013.)


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Google has announced a definitive agreement to acquire DoubleClick Inc., for $3.1 billion in cash from San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman along with JMI Equity and management. Many companies were vying for control of DoubleClick such as Microsoft.
Google has identified a number of advantages such as:
?¢‚Ç¨¬¢ For users, the combined company will deliver an improved experience on the web, by increasing the relevancy and the quality of the ads they see.
?¢‚Ç¨¬¢ For online publishers, the combination provides access to new advertisers, which creates a powerful opportunity to monetize their inventory more efficiently.
?¢‚Ç¨¬¢ For agencies and advertisers, Google and DoubleClick will provide an easy and efficient way to manage both search and display ads in one place. They will be able to optimize their ad spending across different online media using a common set of metrics.
The deal means that most advertisement you see on the web will be from Google and has hampered Microsoft?¢‚Ç¨‚Ñ¢s attempts of entering the market.
Reference for posting: http://www.i4u.com


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November 30, 2019 toNovember 30, 2019
05:00 PM until 07:00 PM
Enjoy festive activities including FREE photos with Santa, live music, food trucks, face painting and a tree lighting ceremony led by Mayor David Holt. Returning this year, Lyric Theatre’s cast from “A Christmas Carol” will open the show by singing carols. Other performers include Academia OKC’s intermediate Mariachi group, local hip-hop artist Jabee and former American Idol finalist Tony Foster Jr. Mayor Holt will take the stage at 6:15 p.m. to light the Christmas Tree with Santa.
In order to celebrate opening day of LifeShare WinterFest and the Tree Lighting Festival, WinterFest snow tubing tickets will cost $10 and will be valid for unlimited rides from 2-8 p.m. Junction Coffee and Taco Nation will be on site for guests to purchase food, coffee and hot cocoa during the event, and Mickey Mantle’s Steakhouse will be giving away complimentary holiday treats. The Curbside Chronicle will also be on site selling holiday wrapping paper for the "Wrap Up Homelessness" campaign.
The Bricktown Christmas Tree serves as the centerpiece for Downtown in December and will be on display at the 3rd Base Plaza at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark until Jan. 1.
LocationChickasaw Bricktown Ballpark View map
2 S. Mickey Mantle Dr,
Oklahoma City, OK, USA


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American casino operator Churchill Downs Incorporated has announced that it is partnering with Scientific Games Corporation and Ainsworth Game Technology in order to introduce its customers in Kentucky to a brand-new range of advanced historical racing games.
The Louisville-headquartered firm used an official Wednesday press release to detail that the arrangement is set to see its Derby City Gaming venue roll out the newly-developed titles from Scientific Games Corporation utilizing a proprietary system supplied by Ainsworth Game Technology.
Churchill Downs Incorporated explained that these coming games were recently approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and are to utilize its very own historical data so as to allow patrons in the southern state to wager on the outcomes of previously-run horseraces. The operator stated that the new titles will moreover permit punters to manually handicap selected contests before sitting back to watch an animated replay of their race as part of an entertaining game theme with spinning reels and cascading symbols.
Located less than six miles from the historic Churchill Downs racetrack, Derby City Gaming already offers some 1,000 slots while the operator pronounced that the new alliance is to involve this selection being boosted with popular versions of the Quick Hit, Tree of Wealth, 88 Fortunes, Ultimate Fire Link and Lock It Link titles from Scientific Games Corporation. It clarified that these innovations are expected to be available to punters at the northern Kentucky venue before the end of next month housed in the gaming machine giant’s TwinStar family of cabinets, which includes the TwinStar Slant, TwinStar J43, Wave XL and TwinStar 24/24 advances.
Austin Miller, Gaming Operations Senior Vice-President for Churchill Downs Incorporated, used the press release to declare that the new historical racing games are furthermore destined to become a prominent feature at his firm’s coming Turfway Park and Oak Grove Racing and Gaming facilities from later in the year.
Read a statement from Miller…
“Scientific Games Corporation makes some of the best-performing games in the industry and we are delighted to add its product to our historical racing machine properties. Our guests will recognize the Scientific Games Corporation themes and they will love the way the games play.”


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Available in 12
locations and 7
Asia’s leading international firm, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), has confirmed the promotion of 32 lawyers in China and ten lawyers in Australia to 更多
How can the brand centric beauty industry which traces its origins to ancient Egypt remain fresh to modern day consumers? By updating claims and science. Advances in science filter through to greater 更多
With little fanfare, on 29 April 2021, the National Security and Investment Act (the “NSI Act”) was granted Royal Assent following the approval of the National Security and Investment Bill 2020
Asia’s leading international firm, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), has confirmed the promotion of 32 lawyers in China and ten lawyers in Australia to partner.
KWM London has advised European private equity group AURELIUS Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA subsidiary Office Depot Europe on the sale of its larger contract customers
The UK economy remains open for business and overseas investment although since November 2020 there are new controls on FDI will need to be navigated as updated in March 2021 as below.
By way of 更多
How the new regulations will affect cosmetics in China.


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A so-called Smart Green Nudge can give consumers an incentive to behave in a more environmentally conscious way. Such a nudge can be conceived as a gentle hint that is intended to induce people to change their behavior without exerting pressure so that fewer goods ordered on the internet are returned. This creates a win-win situation: resource consumption decreases and company profits increase. These are the findings of a working paper published by the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE, which describes a field trial conducted by the researchers together with a major German fashion store.
Returned goods in online shopping pose major challenges for both society and retailers. For example, immense resources are consumed for transport and packaging, which increases greenhouse gas emissions and packaging waste. Furthermore, companies face considerable costs because the returned goods have to be transported, recorded and, if necessary, processed for resale.
Behavioral nudge creates a win-win situation
“The Smart Green Nudge we developed as part of a field study can reduce product returns by around seven percent," says Dr. Kevin Bauer, a researcher in SAFE’s Financial Intermediation Department and one of the study’s authors. But it’s not just the environment that benefits from the approach since the fashion store also profits: “In total, the Smart Green Nudge can increase company profits by more than twelve percent,” adds SAFE Bridge Professor Oliver Hinz, coordinator of the Digital Finance Network at SAFE and also one of the authors.
The researchers from SAFE and Goethe University Frankfurt, together with a consulting firm, developed the Smart Green Nudge in a two-stage behavioral economics approach in collaboration with a major German fashion retailer starting from a seven-week field experiment. Half of the nearly 50,000 visitors to the German online store were randomly shown a notice appealing to their environmental awareness. The customers' shopping and return behavior was precisely documented.
Subsequently, the information collected in the field trial was combined with additional data to develop a machine learning system that optimizes the display of the green nudge. “This is aggregated data that is publicly available and cannot be used to infer individual customer characteristics – so data privacy is guaranteed in our experiment,” Bauer says. Thus, an extended digital footprint was created, which was used to train a causal machine learning (CML) system. The trained CML system identifies people for whom the Smart Green Nudge can be used successfully, who actually return fewer goods when they are made aware of the environmental damage caused by returns.


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Plans to put a Home Depot in a busy area of North Oakland appear to be no longer on the table. The developers behind the project, which faced a huge wave of backlash from pretty much everyone, have pulled out of the project in an area adjacent to the Rockridge neighborhood. Preliminary applications were filed to put the hardware superstore on the property at 5050 Broadway, as reported by Hoodline in April. The site was once the home of the Rockridge Shopping Center, which contained a Safeway market. The shopping center was demolished about five years ago — the Safeway store moved to an adjacent property — and the lot has been vacant ever since.
Empty Lot at 5050 Broadway. | Photo Credit: Google Maps
According to the East Bay Times, Oakland's Planning and Building Department told the developers of the Home Depot project that current zoning regulations prevent big-box retail stores from being built at the site. That news resulted in the developers pulling their application for the 102,000 square feet store and the accompanying 421-car parking lot. It's great news for the hundreds of people who vocally opposed the project. "Practically everybody in the community thought this was a bad location for a Home Depot. What we hear is, 'We need a good housing and retail combination, not a big box store,'" Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb, who represents the district where the 5050 Broadway property sits, told SFGate.
The city had already approved a new shopping center for the site long before the plans for the Home Depot were established. The rights to build the new shopping center were given to developer Terramar Retail Centers (TRC), which is based in Orange County, but the developer has failed to find an anchor tenant for it. Kalb now hopes that TRC revamps the plans for the shopping center by adding four to five stories of housing on top of it. Kalb says the property owner still needs to give the green light to the developer to add residential units to the project. "At this point, he's not allowing any housing. I've heard secondhand that he's saying he might be open to it, but nothing's in writing. So as of now, there's no legal way to put housing there, and the developer is kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place," Kalb told SFGate.
5050 Broadway is not far from the Rockridge BART Station, as well as the busy retail corridors on Telegraph, Piedmont, and College Avenues. Nearby residents seem to favor more housing on the site over shopping, but Kalb believes a residential component and a retail component in the project are equally important. "A lot of our residents in Oakland are going to Emeryville and Walnut Creek to do their shopping when they could stay in Oakland if we had more places for them to shop. So I want to keep a retail feel to it and a good architectural design, which is very important," Kalb told SFGate.


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The team has created ultraporous crystalline materials that it thinks could change the way we store gases. NuMat uses proprietary algorithms to find and make materials that soak up gas like a sponge, allowing for low-pressure storage. For example, natural gas in cars could be stored at one-fifth the pressure.
In the next 10 years, more than a billion square feet of urban industrial space will be vacant. Already, small businesses are laying claim to the post-industrial lots, often at a bargain.
|Snuggie maker pays $8 million to settle fraud charges|
|You'll have to wait for your giant iPad ... but it'll be worth the wait|
|'Daily Show's Samantha Bee gets own show on TBS|
|Inventor of K-Cups regrets the idea|
|Mark Cuban: 'Uber, Twitter, Facebook' driving a new tech bubble|


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Read Stock Insights by ET for a quick analysis
For the quarter ended 30-06-2019, the company has reported consolidated sales of Rs 76325.39 crore, up 2.63% from last quarter sales of Rs 74367.18 crore and up 6.30% from last year same quarter sales of Rs 71805.07 crore. The company has reported net profit after tax of Rs 1406.45 crore in the latest quarter.
The brokerage sees limited upside after the sharp outperformance against other OMCs which effectively prices in potential rerating of valuation multiple from strategic privatisation; any further upside will be contingent on improvement in earnings that may take time to percolate. A nonstrategic transaction like ONGC-HPCL may lead to de-rating of the stock, said KIE.
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Retailers, consumers and prices
Check Out Line: Sales strength back at U.S. golden arches
Check out the strong sales at McDonald’s in the … United States?
The world’s biggest restaurant chain posted its largest monthly U.S. same-store sales gain since February, when Leap year added an extra selling day. Barring the Leap year, July was the best month in 11 months.
It seems like only a few months ago people were worried that cash-strapped U.S. consumers would start shunning restaurants altogether, even the less expensive ones like McDonald’s.
In fact, it was. The company posted a drop in U.S. same-store sales in March, the first such decline in five years.
But the U.S. rebounded and strength in U.S. sales in July is a sign that the company is benefiting as consumers trade down from casual-dining restaurants like Red Lobster and Applebee’s, and that the value message of McDonald’s is attracting customers, analysts said.
Growth in high-margin items like drinks could also help the company offset rising hamburger commodity prices, UBS restaurant analyst David Palmer said in a research note.
Also in the basket:
Hormel gives lower 3rd-qtr view; cuts ’08 outlook
Rising grain costs hit consumers (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)


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Showgoers Get Down to Business16 Jul, 2002 By: Joan Villa
While a 20-foot Gumby inflated at the exhibit hall entrance lent a festive air to Home Entertainment 2002, retailers and suppliers geared up to do serious business.
With a new convention format that emphasizes meeting suites over flashy exhibit booths, only about 50 exhibitors are on the show floor, with more than 100 reserving suites instead.
While declining to give exact registration numbers, Video Software Dealers Association president Bo Andersen said the preregistration tally was a little bit ahead of last year's. Andersen said the new show format is “in test mode.” In fact, no dates or venue have yet been set for the show next year, he said.
He also said the association is exploring other sources of revenue, including consumer shows.
The new format didn't faze registrants who were lining up their own agendas for the show.
“We're all wondering how the VHS-DVD mix is going to go and how long it's going to be until DVD takes over. That's the searing question,”said Jim Loperfido, a DVD seminar panelist and owner of two Emerald City Video stores in Syracuse, N.Y.
It will be “a different kind of busy,” predicted Arny Schorr, SVP and general manager of Rhino Home Video. The supplier's suite is booked for “wall-to-wall” meetings, he said, promoting DVD editions for Transformers, Elvis, Ed Sullivan and Gumby (hence the Macy's parade-style Gumby greeter). “Since we don't have a large sales staff, exposure is always an issue for us,” Schorr said. “The whole idea is to set up meetings with key retailers.”
One thing nobody missed was long registration lines — those who registered in advance received show badges by mail this year.
At the VSDA board meeting yesterday, chairman Tom Warren ran unopposed and was re-elected as head of the 17-member panel — the first chairman ever to serve a three-year term; Terri Schumacher will continue as vice-chair; and Martha Vance Sims was re-elected as secretary. Bob Geistman of Ingram Entertainment was elected treasurer, replacing Marty Graham of Rentrak Corp.
Addressing a recent Federal Trade Commission report on marketing films to parents and children, the board directed staff to develop guidelines for retailers, said Sean Bersell, VSDA's VP of public affairs. The board also issued two policy statements: one reaffirming the association's position that all DVD, VHS and pay-per-view (PPV) movies be copy protected following a publicized incident in which DVD copies of Warner Home Video's Harry Potter did not block copying to VHS. The other urged studios to provide PPV dates on video announcements.
In other board news, appointed member Joe Pagano of Best Buy completed his term, Blockbuster's Nigel Travis was reappointed to a second term, and Amazon.com's Jason Kilar was replaced by Amazon's William Carr. Hollywood Video president Mark Wattles yielded his seat to Hollywood EVP F. Bruce Geisbrecht. Elected directors Bob Webb and John Merchant also ended their terms.


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Domino’s Pizza locations in New York and Connecticut have been hit with a class action alleging wage violations against Domino’s and twenty-eight franchises. The franchise operator, identified in the complaint as Robert Cookston, is one of New York’s largest Domino’s franchise operators.
The Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court alleges that assistant store managers and customer service representatives at Domino’s locations throughout New York and Connecticut were systematically denied overtime wages, spread of hours pay, were required to work off-the-clock, and management retained their gratuities. Riad Kucher, who worked as both an assistant store manager and a customer service representative at five of the named locations, also alleges that he was unlawfully terminated after complaining about not receiving his paycheck for five weeks. The lawsuit alleges that Domino’s franchise operators are still violating the wage and hour laws despite increased scrutiny by the New York State Attorney General’s office and several federal class action lawsuits that together have resulted in nearly $3,000,000 in settlement monies paid by Domino’s franchisees. The wage theft lawsuit seeks to hold franchisor Domino’s jointly responsible for the wage and hour violations of the franchisees.
In April 2015, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman stated, “In the past two years, the owners of over fifty New York Domino’s franchise locations have admitted to violations of some of the most basic labor law protections – an appalling record of ongoing disregard for workers’ rights. Franchisors like Domino’s need to step up to the plate and fix this problem.” The Complaint alleges that franchisor Dominos controlled the work performed by workers at the franchise locations through routine inspections of the franchise locations, control of advertising, dictating employee uniforms, controlling inventory supply chains and menus, and employing an operation support team that instructs franchisees on “the creation and implementation of bookkeeping, accounting, inventory, and general operating procedures.” Domino’s allegedly also implemented a uniform proprietary point of sale system called PULSE, in no less than 99% of its franchised locations. The Complaint also alleges that franchisee workers are trained according to Domino’s policies and practices and franchisees send profit and loss statements, which include operating, and labor costs, and Domino’s has the right to audit the franchisees’ sales reports.


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Abbey Road has seen its share of musical history. It was the home of pretty much the entire Beatles recording sessions while also being the place where Pink Floyd created Dark Side of the Moon, Oasis made its Be Here Now and Lady Gaga recorded Born This Way. (Not to mention that it’s also the place that Naked Eyes created its hard-to-get-out-of-your-heard-once-you’ve-hear-it version of Always Something There to Remind Me. Sorry.)
— Airbnb (@Airbnb) September 30, 2016
Now anyone might be able to create their own piece of music history at the place, thanks to Airbnb. The brand that has been promoting itself through a series of innovative sleepovers and now it is adding Abbey Road to the list.
A contest winner and three friends will get to stay at the famed studio for one night and be hosted by producer/DJ Mark Ronson, the man responsible for such things as Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk, Adele’s Rolling in the Deep and Amy Winehouse’s Rehab, among plenty of other classics.
To join the party, those interested had to write to Airbnb by Oct. 6th to share which song they wish they’d seen recorded at Abbey Road and why. Winners will be put up at the studio and flown in from wherever they are in the world.
Billed as #NightAt branded experiences, the sky’s the limit when it comes to Airbnb’s sponsored promotional getaways. Take the partnership with the Art Institute of Chicago to recreate the bedroom in famed Van Gogh painting; Airbnb members could spend the night dreaming of Van Gogh (and whatever else they chose).
Last month, Airbnb offered a unique sleepover at an indie Brooklyn record store with the backing of the Sonos consumer electronics audio brand.
A recent Audi ad featured an actual Airbnb location in Death Valley. The commercial offered viewers the chance to stay at the desert outpost and drive an Audi to boot at one of its most desolate, but certainly memorable, locations in America.
Promoting the return of one of its most popular original series, Cartoon Network is offering a #NightAt Grandpa Max’s Rust Bucket as a treat for fans of the Ben 10 animated series in the UK:
— Cartoon Network UK (@CNUKTweets) October 6, 2016
In another innovative branded guest experience, Taco Bell in Canada is now offering a “SteakCation” in one of its Ontario brick-and-mortar stores. The new Airbnb listing can accommodate one winner and three guests, with two bunk beds and two bathrooms. According to the Airbnb page, festivities include “playing games, watching TV, and, of course, eating plenty of Steak Doubledillas.”
Other brands have taken notice. High-end bedding manufacturer Parachute recently created a one-room hotel in Venice Beach, California, that costs about $600 a night and has a two-night minimum.


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Published Oct 27th, 2023 4:30PM EDT
X (formerly known as Twitter) now has three different subscription plans.
The company has been rumored to be releasing more tiers for X Premium, its subscription service for the social media app that gives users that now-controversial blue checkmark and a slew of other advantages on the platform. Today, that became a reality, as X announced X Premium+ and X Premium Basic.
In a post on the platform, the X Premium account announced Premium+, a new tier of service that — according to the company — completely removes ads…from seemingly certain areas of the app. According to the announcement, subscribers to Premium+ will no longer see ads in the For You or Following feeds, but it indicates that they may still see them in other areas. We’ll have to see how that plays out as people sign up.
In addition, X Premium+ gives subscribers a larger boost to their replies — so more people will see them — and access to all of the company’s creator tools. X Premium+ will cost a whopping $16 per month, putting the subscription service in company with many streaming services like Max and Netflix.
In addition to X Premium+, the company has also announced a cheaper tier called X Premium Basic, which will cost subscribers $3 per month. That plan will be the cheapest paid version of service on the platform but does rip out the most notable benefits of X Premium. For one, the Basic plan will not get rid of ads at all. It will also not include the blue verification checkmark. Basic subscribers will at least get a “small” boost to their replies, but it is unclear exactly how much that is.
If you want to subscribe to the new Premium+ or Basic plan, you’ll need to do so on the web — neither plan is currently available for purchase in Apple or Google’s app stores. If X does make those plans available in the app stores, it will be sure to increase the cost to pass along the fees it pays Apple and Google. That means the Premium+ plan could surpass $20 per month if offered directly through the app.
The post X’s new Premium Plus plan costs a whopping $16 per month — here’s what you get first appeared on bgr.com


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The news has been met with skepticism, and understandably so.
Back in 2016, BSA was bought out by Indian-owned Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) for $5,400,000, with the company’s intentions to eventually revive the brand.
Apart from a few sketches and rumors, the company has been relatively quiet in the follow-up of any motorcycle release – that is, until the end of last year.
Today, Classic Legends – owned by M&M – has secured funding of 4.6 million GBP from the UK government to set up a technical and design center, complete with engineers recruited across different departments to revive BSA – all dedicated to the revival of BSA.
If plans stay on schedule – which they rarely do – we’re looking at a global debut of the BSA 650 Twin at the 2021 EICMA show in Milan, Italy – though that news may be more speculation, as the consensus at Classic Legends is that the bike isn’t quite road-ready.
Time will tell the reveal of this long-anticipated piece of history. Until then, stay tuned for updates and head over to WebBikeWorld for all things BSA.


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KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Some local students got a big surprise from Amazon Thursday.
As part of the donation, the Kansas State School for the Blind received more than $10,000 in technology and equipment.
The new school year kicks off in about six weeks, and this year students will have a lot more to learn with.
Some students helped with the big reveal.
Amazon asked the school for a wish list and then picked more than $10,000 in S.T.E.M.-related items to donate.
On the list was a 3-D printer, fire tablets which are voice activated, kindle e-readers specially formatted for the blind and visually impaired, robotics kits and $1,500 in gift cards.
School officials say the donation means a lot and will give the students an opportunity for deeper learning.
"Our big thing was of course a 3-D printer," interim superintendent Jon Harding said. "We had a chance this summer to explore the printer, but we went a little bit bigger and nicer, so we're just thrilled for students to get the opportunity to work with the new technology."
Amazon made a similar donation to the Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe Wednesday.


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Health systems using big data in this manner include Carolinas Healthcare System and UPMC Health
Big data is all the rage in healthcare these days. However, one interesting development in this field is how hospitals are integrating consumer data with clinical data to identify patients at high risk. For example, if the post-surgical heart patient buys a package of cigarettes, some hospitals say they want to know.
This is a trend with interesting implications for clinical laboratories. For example, will hospitals using big data in this fashion want to include medical laboratory test results in the mix of information they collect and analyze on their patients? If so, are there ethical issues associated with using such lab test data in this manner?
Major Health Systems Are Assembling ‘Big Data’ on Their Patients
Recent news stories describe how prominent health systems, such as the Carolinas HealthCare System and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), are taking their first steps to integrate consumer data—such as what people buy or characteristics of their zip code—with clinical data, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek story.
The providers are tapping detailed consumer information compiled by data brokers from credit card transactions and public records. The idea is to “identify those most likely to get sick, so the hospitals can intervene before they do,” Bloomberg reported.
Some experts say that providers are motivated to make their big data bigger with the consumer health information, because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA rewards hospitals for quality outcomes, as opposed to paying fees for services.
Additionally, since 2012, ACA has penalized hospitals for excessive Medicare patient readmissions related to select conditions. These include acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia. Meanwhile, accountable care organizations (ACOs) and patient-centered medical homes are reimbursed based on “right care at the right time and unnecessary duplication of services.”
Consequently, providers are exploring resources—including big data—that give them a peek at people’s habits. Pathologists and medical laboratory professionals need to be aware of this new healthcare trend and its related privacy issues. That’s because clinical lab data is expected to be part of the clinical information that gets matched with consumer information.
Healthcare Systems Use Consumer Data to Profile Patients
Carolinas HealthCare System is integrating consumer data—purchases made with credit or store loyalty cards—into “algorithms designed to identify high-risk patients,” the Bloomberg article shared.
“What we are looking to find are people before they end up in trouble. The idea is to use big data and predictive models to think about population health and drill down to the individual levels to find someone running into trouble that we can reach out to and try to help out,” said Michael Dulin, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Clinical Officer for Analytics and Outcomes at Carolinas HealthCare System, in the Bloomberg article.
Pictured above is Michael Dulin, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Clinical Officer for Analytics and Outcomes at Carolinas Healthcare System (CHCS). He told Bloomberg Businessweek that the CHCS, a 900-care-center system, may have patient risk scores, based on predictive models, available to doctors and nurses in just two years. An asthma patient’s score, for example, will rise with consumer data showing missed medication refills at the pharmacy, cigarette purchases and residing in an area with a high pollen count. (Photo copyright Carolinas Health Network.)
Dark Daily reported earlier this year on CHCS’s in-house data arm, Dickson Advanced Analytics. This business unit is targeting population health management, individualized patient care, and predictive modeling. (See Dark Daily, “Hospitals Mine Clinical Data to Help Reduce Costs and Avoid Readmissions, Creating Opportunities for Clinical Laboratory Pathologists to Contribute to Improved Patient Outcomes,” April 4, 2014.)
Mining Big Data at UPMC in Pittsburgh
Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania’s UPMC’s Insurance System reviews demographic and household data, such as whether a car is owned and number of people per household. A UPMC spokesperson told Bloomberg that such data on two million members helps predict people likely to use the emergency room or urgent care.
Data analytics that go beyond clinical data is important to the success of an ACO, according to Mark Caron, Senior Vice President and CIO of Capital Blue Cross in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Analytics must also include patient accountability so individuals are held to more responsible lifestyle behaviors in the accountable care structure, reported Fierce Health Payer in its story about how hospitals are using big data.
Privacy Advocates Voice Concerns
But not everyone wants Big Brother to call and advise them to lay off the cupcakes. Privacy advocates and patients reportedly have expressed concerns about the intrusive nature of big data in health, including the doctor-patient relationship. Lifestyle choices are regarded as personal matters.
“Other people are saying they have had a hard enough time getting in touch with their doctor as it is. So this (consumer data use in healthcare) seems like a weird next step,” reported St. Louis’s KMOV.com, which was one of many media outlets nationwide that picked up the Bloomberg story.
Still, it’s hard to stop this particular train. Data brokers are companies that collect and store billions of data elements from nearly all U.S. consumers. Sources include social media, the Department of Motor Vehicles, retailers, and more, reported Consumerist in its story.
The Obama administration in May made six recommendations to protect people’s privacy. This included a consumer bill of rights and national standards for data breach notifications, Bloomberg reported in another story.
Big Data Means Big Money, Knowledge
Big data also means big money. Last fall, the Direct Marketing Association issued an economic study on the value of data. It showed that data shared online by consumers added $156 billion in revenue to the U.S. economy in 2012 and contributed to creation of 675,000 jobs.
The popular adage, “knowledge means power,” has relevance here. With more knowledge—suggested by the consumer data—and good intentions, healthcare providers may succeed in their outreach efforts to engage patients at risk of many diseases and health conditions before any type of acute or episodic event occurs.
Meanwhile, clinical laboratory managers and pathologists may want to be alert to big data initiatives happening within the hospitals and healthcare systems they serve. Because the use of consumer data with clinical data is such a new development, there may be as many pitfalls as benefits from the use of such information as there are benefits in providing a method to identify and approach individual patients deemed at highest risk for serious health conditions.
—By Donna Marie Pocius


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Banks raising credit card borrowing limits for subprime customers
The nation’s major banks are more readily raising borrowing limits for credit card customers — including those with blemished credit histories — and are facing higher risks as a result.
With profits pinched by tighter regulation and low interest rates, banks are easing lending standards at a time when loan losses have plunged, labor markets are stabilizing and consumers are spending more, industry analysts said.
Consumer advocates, however, worry that banks’ pursuit of profits could result in sticking struggling consumers with more debt than they can handle.
Credit card firms approved 61% of the requests from cardholders for higher borrowing limits in an October survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. But that approval rate shot up to 76% in February’s national survey.
“Credit card issuers are feeling a lot better about the economy and their position,” said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com, a credit card comparison website. “They want to generate some new business.”
Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings.com, said it’s part of a pattern of banks relaxing credit standards after years of tight restrictions imposed by regulators after the financial crisis.
“Slowly, issuers have gotten more and more aggressive, not just with credit-line increases, but with lower rates, lower fees,” offering longer periods with zero percent rates and the like, he said.
In some cases, banks are unilaterally raising credit limits on certain customers without them even having to apply, Arnold said.
The biggest increase in approvals of higher limits was for a middle tier of cardholders with credit scores of 681 to 759. These customers, considered prime-quality borrowers, were granted increases about 90% of the time, compared with 70% in October.
So-called subprime customers, those with credit scores of 680 or less, succeeded nearly half the time in February in getting increased borrowing limits. In the October survey, their requests were granted only about a third of the time.
Typically, subprime cardholders face much higher interest rates and fees, which generate higher profits for lenders. A separate survey last week by a bankers’ trade group showed that subprime borrowers already are opening more accounts and taking on more debt.
“Credit cards are very useful for many people,” said Lauren Saunders, managing attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “But it’s way too easy to get in over your head, and we do worry about extending too much credit to people who should be trying to live within a budget instead of taking on more debt.”
Already troubled by the surge in subprime auto loans, Saunders argued that banks should extend credit only to cardholders who can repay their debt quickly and not get trapped into making minimum payments for years. She pointed out that some subprime credit cards have enormous annual fees as well as sky-high interest rates.
Arnold said the hike in credit limits can be a benefit to consumers with fair to poor credit scores after years in which only prime customers were offered credit-line increases.
With interest rates poised to rise, he said, now is a good time for consumers to consider seeking extra credit — assuming the purpose is to improve their credit rating or have access to credit for emergencies, not merely to increase spending.
Christine Pratt, a senior analyst for Boston consulting firm Aite Group, said she wasn’t too worried that the New York Fed’s findings reflected a dangerous level of risk, partly because overall demand for credit remains relatively light by historic standards.
What’s more, she said, the change involves increasing existing credit lines, as opposed to new accounts, meaning that the banks are familiar with the borrowers.
“You already know what they’re doing,” Pratt said. “You know what they look like. It’s not like you’re going out and grabbing new ones.”
Still, looser lending standards probably would increase the number of missed credit card payments at some time in the future, analysts at Standard & Poor’s Investor Service said.
They also noted, though, that there is room for delinquency rates to rise without causing serious harm to lenders or investors in bonds backed by credit card payments. That’s because the incidence of troubled credit card accounts has fallen so low as a result of tight lending standards imposed after the financial crisis and the Great Recession.
A Federal Reserve quarterly survey of credit card delinquencies, which includes accounts charged off as uncollectable, topped out at 6.8% in the second quarter of 2009. The survey dropped below 3% three years later for the first time in its history and has continued to decline.
In the final three months last year, only about 2.2% of credit card accounts were in arrears or charged off, according to the Fed survey, which covered 1,200 consumers.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, has been monitoring the increasing risks that banks have been taking on.
Relaxed standards in certain other loan categories began raising risk concerns as long ago as the second half of 2013 as banks vied for new business amid tepid economic growth and low lending rates that cut their profit margins, the regulator has said.
In a report last June, the agency termed lending for corporate takeovers, car loans through auto dealers and commercial finance as problematic.
More recently, a Federal Reserve survey of senior bank loan officers in January showed some large banks have eased lending standards for jumbo home loans and mortgages eligible for purchase by home finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Fannie and Freddie recently agreed to back home loans made with down payments as low as 3%.
The New York Fed report divided credit card users into three categories: subprime, prime and super-prime, those with credit scores of 760 and above.
About 24% of the subprime group had requested higher borrowing limits in the last year, the February survey showed, compared with about 14% of the middle group and 6% of the top tier.
Separately, a study released last week by the American Bankers Assn. showed that subprime cardholders were taking on more debt, by percentage, than other categories as of the third quarter last year, the latest data available.
Their monthly credit card purchases rose 5.2% from the second quarter to an average of $182 billion a month.
Purchases by prime cardholders rose 2.6% to an average of $373 billion a month, and purchases by those in the super-prime category increased 1.2%, to an average of $519 billion. All three levels were at their highest since the Great Recession, the bankers’ trade group said.
In addition, it said, the subprime category saw a 21% increase in new accounts, with 17 million opened in the quarter compared with 14 million in the year-earlier period. New prime accounts also rose 21% and new super-prime accounts edged up 4%.
Reckard reported from Los Angeles and Starkman from New York.


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Court approves deal on Tuš Holding financial restructuring
Ljubljana, 18 November - The Celje District Court approved on Wednesday an agreement on financial restructuring for the heavily indebted retail group Tuš. Thus the Alfi fund, which owns more than 80% of all claims to the group, is gradually taking over the managing of the Celje-based group.
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Forget the orange and black—the Giants may just be the greenest team in Major League Baseball this year. The San Francisco Giants (who today open their 124th season) will be the first team to install solar panels within their stadium, mount a new energy-efficient scoreboard, offer sustainably-farmed Niman Ranch meat products, and ban trans-fats from all foods served at the ballpark.
The timing of these upgrades is timely, as San Francisco will host the 2007 All-Star Game – giving the Giants a chance to showcase their environmentally-conscious choices and encourage other teams to do the same.
The 590 solar panels will be owned and operated by PG&E and will provide 120 kilowatts of energy, or enough to power several homes. The cost of the installation will be covered by the company’s 15 million customers – at a nominal cost of 10 cents each. But the biggest benefit to the plan is awareness about renewable energy.
“What we provide here gives the chance to help publicize a very different story,” said Giants’ owner Peter Magowan at a press conference last month. “I think it is good PR for the concept of solar energy.”
The new scoreboard that sits out in center-field is another step towards greening baseball, as it will use 78 percent less energy than the previous two-screen system. And as important as the environmental changes are, the high-definition scoreboard is also promised to greatly enhance the ballpark experience by providing real-time statistics and detailed, mutli-angle replays.
And now, while watching all the action, you can eat without ensuring heart surgery at some point in your life. All foods at the ballpark—even the beloved garlic fries—will now be trans-fat free. The man-made fat has been linked to multiple lethal health problems and is slowly being removed from varying sources.
In addition, Niman Ranch will be offering hamburgers, hot dogs and andouille sausage for sale around the stadium. Niman Ranch meats are commonly found in high-end restaurants and is known for growing its products relatively humanely on family farms.
Of course, the major drawback to providing such high-end meat products is that only the more affluent patrons of Giants games can afford the products. Nevertheless, introducing such products at a venue which routinely seats over 40,000 fans a game and 3 million a year can only support the spread of sustainable farming.
AT&T Park, originally known as Pacific Bell Park, was designed to save energy from the start by using fluorescent lighting, motion sensor lighting and energy management systems.
It should not be forgotten that Major League Baseball (MLB) generally acts in an exploitative fashion, like any other multi-billion dollar American corporation. For example, the $700 million, seven-year deal with DirecTV has been derided as a massive money-grab by the team owners – and has prompted Democratic Senator John Kerry to get involved to protect fans.
Separately, the spread of new ballparks across the country has raised housing rights issues – including the near-demolition of Philadelphia’s Chinatown to make way for the Phillies. And who exactly sews the 108 stitches on the 600,000 baseballs made each year for the MLB? (Yes, they are still all stitched by hand.)
But this typical corporate background makes the steps the Giants are taking all the more impressive. While it would be naive to believe that the prime motivations for the environmentally sound changes are driven by anything but profit or stronger public relations, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Showing that such choices can be economically worthwhile is an important step towards making them commonplace.
In an era where there is a perception that teams don’t represent their home cities the way they used to, the fact that the Giants are reflecting San Francisco’s commitment to the environment is reassuring.
Contact Peter Lauterborn at email@example.com under: Archive


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Wolves' review may brew offer
Takeover target Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries has begun a strategic review that could lead to its sale.
The group rebuffed a potential offer from private equity group Botts in August, which was understood to have valued the business at 500p-a-share, or £472m.
And last month it said it had increased turnover by 38% in the 47 weeks to August, to £535m. Margins were improving and like-for-like sales were in line with the previous year.
Wolves said today that, further to that trading update, it had decided to start a strategic review which 'may or may not lead to an offer for all or part of the company'.
Botts is still thought to be interested in buying the Wolverhampton based brewer, and could yet increase its offer to 550p-a-share or £517m.
Wolves last year spent more than £500m snapping up rivals Marston Thompson & Evershed and Mansfield Breweries.
It now has more than 900 managed pubs in its estate.
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