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Microsoft's Ballmer Ribs Android, Praises "Beautiful" iPhone
October 19, 2011 11:38 AM
comment(s) - last by
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer argues that he'd rather have Windows Phone handsets be like Apple's iPhone than like Android phones.
"You ... need to be a computer scientist to use... an Android phone" -- Steve Ballmer
Is Google Inc.'s (
) Android to complicated for the public?
tens of millions of smartphones
it is unloading on the U.S. market and its
dominant market share lead
would seem to suggest otherwise. But that didn't stop Microsoft Corp.'s (
) boisterous chief executive, Steve Ballmer, from sharing his thoughts with whoever would listen.
At the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, California, he
reporters, "You don’t need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows phone and you do to use an Android phone…It is hard for me to be excited about the Android phones.
Mr. Ballmer had kinder words for Apple, Inc. (
), with which it hopes to via for second place in the market. Mr. Ballmer revealed he's a fan of Siri,
the "humble personal assistant" found in the iPhone 4S
. He comments, "Apple is a good competitor, but a different one. Both [an iPhone and a Windows phone] are going to feel very good in your hand and both going to look very beautiful physically…"
"But when you grab a Windows phone and use it… your information is front and centre… and you don’t have to scroll through seas of icons and blah blah blah. A Windows phone gets things done."
The one thing it
can't seem to get done
is generating market share. Despite a
promising Mango update
, Microsoft remains a distant fourth place in the platform wars behind Research in Motion, Ltd. (
), Apple, and Google.
Despite his love for the iPhone, Mr. Ballmer says that Microsoft won't opt to follow in its footsteps and release first-party hardware. He comments, "We are [only] focused on enabling hardware innovation…We have been very successful enabling hardware innovation and will continue to do so."
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Microsoft vs Android
10/19/2011 2:35:51 PM
Both Microsoft and Apple really don't care how successful Android is becuase, Microsoft gets over $15.00, and Apple over $35.00, per android phone sold due to patent licensing. This why Google bought Motorola to try and get away from all the licensing cost it pays to both Apple and Micosoft. Even with the purchase of Motorolla, Goolge will still have to pay Microsoft, but may reduce the amount paid to Apple. Right now Google is actually in the red for every phone sold, and is only making its money back from Apps sold and advertising on free apps. Samsung has the same problem with it Galaxy tablets because it has to pay both Microsoft and Apple for licenses. Don't let the media fool you into thinking Google is really on top; look at the profit and revenue margins of each of these companies and you will see Google if far to the rear.
RE: Microsoft vs Android
10/20/2011 2:03:29 AM
Where did you get "Apple gets over $35 per Android phone sold" ?. Apple has no such licensing policies!. If it did, it could not really sue SamSung for all those patent infringements !.
Ignorant as Balmer is, he still does not get the phone market. WP7 will die in 2 years when Apple wakes up and drop the price to match some of the Android handset competitors.
MS is a big patent troll over Android handset makers. And I hope the Justice Department does something about such commercial blackmail.
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J.D. Power announced Tuesday its acquisition of ZappyRide, an electric vehicle data company that builds white-label software and tools for automakers, electric utilities and more green technology stakeholders, the company said in a release.
The purchase is a part of the analytic giant's E-Vision initiative, a program focusing on maximizing the company's EV data, analytics, insight and solutions, the release said. In addition to this purchase, J.D. Power said more products will be announced this quarter.
J.D. Power CEO Dave Habiger said ZappyRide delivers software and solutions for EV stakeholders to make well-informed decisions faster.
ZappyRide launched in 2018. It offers EV education and decision-making platforms for consumer and commercial stakeholders, commercial fleet planning tools, an incentive application assistant for EV charging equipment and several APIs covering data on nationwide incentives, charging equipment, vehicles and their specs, electricity sources and their emissions, the release said.
"The U.S. market saw approximately 20 new EV models launched in 2022 alone, and with roughly one-fourth of Americans now indicating that they are 'very likely' to consider an EV for their next purchase or lease, it has become clear that the world as we know it is changing quickly," said J.D. Power Autodata Solutions President Craig Jennings. "J.D. Power has been on the front lines of that transformation for the last several years, and — with the acquisition of ZappyRide — we are further solidifying our position as a one-stop shop for critical data, analytics and consumer intelligence on all aspects of the EV economy."

domain: news


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GRASS GROWS, DOGS BARK and Android phones get hacked, such is the way of the world. The latest of the latter can be found with a cryptocurrency mining site that managed to hijack Android devices and press-gang them into mining the Monero virtual currency.
Researchers at cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes discovered that the so-called 'drive-by cryptomining' malware had managed to infect Android phones and redirect them to a website running cryptocurrency mining code that automatically sucks a phone's processing power to crunch equations needed to generate Monero.
Malwarebytes' clever bods noted that the website serves up a warning notifying users that there's "suspicious surfing behaviour" and that they need to solve a Captcha request otherwise a cryptominer running in the background will continue to churn away.
At the same time, the researchers found that a device's CPU was pretty much maxed out.
The 'cryptojacking' campaign was discovered by Malwarebytes in January but the researchers reckon it has been running since November 2017, covers five web domains and has seen millions of people visit the sites.
The average time spent on the sites was around four minutes, so when combined with the number of visits, it's estimated that a few thousand dollars of Monero were generate on a monthly basis; not a stellar number but still a decent earner when it's someone else doing the work.
Cryptojacking may not appear to be the most malicious of attacks but it can lead to device slowdown and having a processor running at full whack all the time is a good way to knacker it out. In some cases, this could even lead to a chip overheating and wrecking the device or even causing a fire. Basically, cryptojacking is bad news.
Malwarebytes hasn't pinpointed exactly where the redirecting malware stems from, but it reckons it probably lurked in Android apps posing as legitimate software yet harbouring malware-riddled adverts.
"While Android users may be redirected from regular browsing, we believe that infected apps containing ad modules are loading similar chains leading to this cryptomining page. This is unfortunately common in the Android ecosystem, especially with so-called "free" apps," the researchers said.
"It's possible that this particular campaign is going after low quality traffic—but not necessarily bots —and rather than serving typical ads that might be wasted, they chose to make a profit using a browser-based Monero miner."
Using mobile security tools and only downloading legitimate apps from Google's Play Store can help avoid such malicious activity. But the expanding popularity of cryptocurrencies and easy-to-use mining tools means we can expect to see cryptojacking attacks and activity become a common fixture in the threat landscape. µ
But it might never see the light of a PC bay
It's nothing we haven't seen before, but it's still the best iPhone yet
Firm gives scanner flaw the finger
Ermine is the same but stoat-ally different


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11:28 | 05/01/2023
The Republic of Korea (RoK) posted a trade surplus of over USD 34 billion with Vietnam in 2022, and with the figure, Vietnam has become the largest trade partner of the RoK for the first time
06:15 | 30/11/2022
Vietnam News Today (Nov. 30): Vietnamese top legislator’s visit to deepen bilateral parliamentary partnership; Vietnam welcomes 2.95 million foreign tourists over 11-month period; Vietnam's overseas representative agencies to step up economic diplomacy; National Sports Games to take part in December.
07:44 | 15/11/2022
Vietnam News Today (Nov. 15): Vietnam records 206 new Covid-19 cases on November 14; Vietnam, New Zealand set sights on US$2 billion trade target in 2024; Made-in-Vietnam product week launched nationwide; Monkeypox in Group B of infectious disease in Vietnam.
06:31 | 24/10/2022
Vietnam News Today (Oct. 24): Covid-19: National caseload rises to 11,496,987; Exports bring in more than US$14 billion in first half of October; Italian, Vietnamese localities look to expand economic cooperation; Vietnamese tech firms have room to grow.
00:00 | 30/08/2022
Vietnam News Today (Aug. 30): Vietnam, South Africa seek to promote cooperation; HCM City seeks to develop electric bus system; US$3.96 billion trade surplus for Vietnam over eight months; Ninh Binh ceremony to mark 50 years of UNESCO convention on cultural, natural heritage protection.
08:24 | 30/07/2022
Vietnam News Today (Jul. 30): Vietnam, US hold fourth energy security dialogue; UN official impressed by Vietnam’s climate commitments; Seven-month trade surplus reaches US$764 million; Numbers of firms, employees in FDI, non-state sectors soar.
Vietnam News Today (Jul. 9): New Covid-19 Subvariants Reported, HCM City Ready to Reactivate Field Hospitals
08:11 | 09/07/2022
Vietnam News Today (Jul. 9): New Covid-19 subvariants reported, HCM City ready to reactivate field hospitals; Vietnamese firms interested in Cuban market: Ambassador; Vietnamese edtech startup raises USS$2.4 million from foreign funds; Vietnam aims to expand foreign labour markets in the post-pandemic period.
07:56 | 30/05/2022
Vietnam News Today (May 30): Covid-19: Daily caseload drops to 890 on May 29; Vietnam enjoys trade surplus of US$520 million over five months; Mural depicting Vietnam-US friendship inaugurated; Outstanding athletes at SEA Games 31 honored.
08:07 | 21/03/2022
Vietnam News Today (Mar. 21): Covid-19: Cumulative tally hits close to 8 million in Vietnam; PM orders research on Covid-19 inoculation for children aged 3-5; Vietnam enjoys US$4.8bln in trade surplus with UK; Official song for SEA Games 31 unveiled.
11:42 | 16/02/2022
The country recorded a trade surplus of nearly US$1.4 billion in the first month of Lunar New Year.
15:44 | 27/01/2022
The nation posted a trade surplus from 54 out of 86 major import and export markets across the globe last year, fetching over US$1 billion from 18 markets, and US$4.5 billion from five markets
23:55 | 26/01/2022
Vietnam News Today (Jan. 27): Vietnam confirms 15,885 local cases; Vietnam among top 20 World’s Best Places to Retire in 2022; HCM City continues with vaccination during Lunar New Year festival; Vietnam enjoys trade surplus from 54 export markets globally.
08:16 | 08/10/2021
Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of $0.5 billion in September after five consecutive months of trade deficit, giving a hope for trade balance this year.
07:23 | 31/05/2021
Vietnam posted a trade surplus of US$3.27 billion from agro-forestry-fishery trade in the first five months of 2021, down 28.3% year-on-year.
08:12 | 30/03/2021
Vietnam’s total import-export turnover in the first quarter of 2021 was estimated at $152.65 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 24.1%. Meanwhile, the country racked up $2.03 billion in trade surplus.
14:26 | 17/03/2021
Vietnam’s export turnover in the second half of February reached more than US$10.2 billion, up nearly 3% compared to the first half, raising the total export turnover in the first two months of the year to over $48.7 billion, increasing by almost 24%.
10:55 | 24/02/2021
From the beginning of January to February 15, Vietnam posted a trade surplus of US$2.76 billion. Only in the first half of February, the country's export revenue hit US$9.94 billion, representing a 2.5% year-on-year increase, according to data released by the General Department of Customs.
16:43 | 01/02/2021
Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of US$1.3 billion in January 2021 mainly thanks to the FDI sector, according to the preliminary data released by the General Statistics Office.
09:19 | 08/01/2021
Vietnam is determined to work closely with the U.S. to obtain balanced and sustainable trade relations, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told a forum on January 7.
17:19 | 17/12/2020
According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai, in the first 11 months of 2020, Vietnam hit a record trade surplus of 20.1 billion USD. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, exports have turned out a highlight and key foundation for the country’s economy to start a new year.
10:56 | 01/02/2023
10:52 | 01/02/2023
07:59 | 01/02/2023
07:00 | 01/02/2023


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IZ*ONE 1st Asia Concert Tour “Eyes On Me”: Cities And Ticket Details
The lovely 12 girls from IZ*ONE will be greeting their fans in several Asia cities!
Not long ago, they had just announced their very 1st Asia concert tour “Eyes On Me” and they will be holding it first in Seoul! They will then be heading to other cities such as Bangkok, Taipei and Hong Kong.
Many fans are excited over this piece of exciting news and could not wait to see if they will be releasing more shows for other cities as well.
IZ*ONE 1st Concert Asia Tour “Eyes On Me”
June 8-9, Saturday & Sunday- Seoul (Jamsil Indoor Stadium)
June 16, Sunday- Bangkok (MCC Hall, The Mall Bangkapi)
June 29, Saturday- Taipei (XinZhuang Gymnasium)
July 13, Saturday- Hong Kong (AsiaWorld-Expo, Hall 10)
Seoul: Link (Fanclub sales open on May 7th. General opens on May 9th)
Bangkok: Link (Sales open on May 11, 10 am local time)
Hong Kong: Link (Sales open on May 17, 10 am local time)
Taipei: Link (Sales open on May 12, 1 pm local time)


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Leading Swedish e-gambling group, Mr. Green Online Casino, recently posted very impressive numbers for the first quarter of 2014 which shows considerable growth in terms of revenues as well as into new markets.
Total revenue for the online casino group showed an increase of 42 per cent compared to the same time period of first quarter of 2013, up to SEK 154.6 million (£14 million), while earnings showed an increase of 50.7 per cent to SEK 37 million year on year.
Mr. Green Online Casino currently has 72,503 active registered customers – up from 68,611 in 2013.
Mr. Green Online Casino will, therefore, be paying out a dividend of SEK 1.30 a share of SEK 46.6 million in all.
The most meaningful part of Mr. Green Online Casino’s report was the success that the company has experienced with its international growth plan.
The majority of Mr. Green’s business (54.5 per cent) is derived from its native Nordic region while the rest of its business (45.1 per cent) comes from players in other parts of Europe.
Michael Pawlo, the Chief Executive Officer of Mr. Green, stated that they are becoming increasingly international and that there is a decrease in dependence on individual markets. Pawlo added that this has led to them having higher quality in the player base which is distinctly reflected in earnings.


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IMA conference addresses how marketing and brands can thrive post-pandemic
Share this post
Under the theme “Moving Forward”, the Israel Marketing Association (IMA) held their first-ever virtual annual marketing conference which was broadcasted online and on local TV networks.
The conference featured one-on-one conversations, TED-style lectures and CEO panels. Senior marketing and business leaders including from Unilever, AIG, Strauss Group, Tnuva, Shufersal, Isracard and Israel Electric Corporation discussed how marketing and brands responded to the pandemic and reinvented themselves, and how businesses can succeed post-pandemic.
During the event, IMA CEO Talma Biro named Imri Galai, Regional General Manager - Central and South of Europe of food delivery company Wolt, as the association’s Marketing Person of 2020. Galai led the Finnish company’s entrance and expansion into the Israel market and transformed it into an innovative, consumer-focused brand. During the pandemic, Wolt supported local restaurants and provided permanent employment for people who lost their jobs or income.
You can watch all sessions from the conference on IMA’s Facebook page.
For more information, contact the IMA.


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The openness and readiness of the China market to embrace innovations have opened up opportunities for DHL to push forward with new technologies.
BONN, Germany, March 10 (Xinhua) — There is no end of opportunity and innovation in China, said John Pearson, global chief executive officer of DHL Express, in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Some of the big Chinese E-commerce companies which have become DHL customers could have driven DHL’s global market share, said Pearson, adding that the contributions of its business in China during a span of three years are extraordinary.
As one of the leading logistics companies in the world, DHL had a 43 percent market share globally in 2021, according to a survey published by the DHL group. The company successfully enlarged its slice of the global market to 47 percent at present, thanks largely to its booming E-commerce business in China.
The openness and readiness of the China market to embrace innovations have opened up opportunities for DHL to push forward with new technologies. China was one of the few countries in the world where DHL put fleets of electric and hydrogen trucks into operation.
A fleet consisting of eight hydrogen trucks operated by DHL in China, the aggregate operation mileage of which adds up to 20,000 km, can reduce CO2 emissions by 170 tons annually.
“China actually is one of our best countries in terms of explaining and selling that (sustainable) service to those customers,” said Pearson.
The unlimited technological developments in China avail DHL of technologies that drive customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and operational efficiency, he said.
He also said that it was China’s openness that drew companies like DHL into its market and that DHL enjoys a “very good partnership” with Chinese partners and grows together with them.
“We welcome the openness because it drives trade,” he said. ■


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Comcast will begin charging its Xfinity video and Internet customers for the premium tier of streaming service Peacock in mid-June, which will see many customers lose access to a great perk that was included as part of their service plan for three years.
Starting June 26, Xfinity video and Internet customers will have to shell out the same $5 a month for Peacock Premium that non-Xfinity customers do if they want to continue accessing its full library of television shows, blockbuster movies and streaming sports.
Comcast has offered eligible Xfinity customers access to Peacock Premium since it launched in early 2020. Subscribers who had access to an X1-powered set-top box or a Flex streaming TV device were able to get the freebie when they signed up for a Peacock account through their TV set.
The perk helped Comcast grow the number of users with a Flex-powered device into the millions, though it’s not clear how many of those customers actually used them versus the number who simply agreed to have a Flex box to get Peacock. Likewise, Comcast has grown Peacock’s subscribers to well north of 22 million, though, again, it’s not clear how many of those customers were getting Peacock Premium for free.
In April, Comcast said Peacock lost more than $704 million, and the streaming segment of the business has never been profitable. For this reason, Comcast executives first floated the idea last year of pulling back on free access to Peacock. The company started by eliminating a limited, free tier of service available to everyone late last year. In January, both Comcast and Cox stopped offering free access to Peacock Premium for new customers.
Starting June 26, Comcast will end its free Peacock perk for all video and Internet customers. Some “eligible” customers will receive a special code that will allow them to continue paying for Peacock Premium at a discounted rate, but Comcast hasn’t said which customers will be eligible for this or how much the discount will save them. The cable company did affirm that the discount will be “a limited time offer,” and that customers will have to re-subscribe through their X1 or Flex boxes to get the deal.
Streamers who don’t take steps to convert their free Peacock Premium account into a paid one won’t be billed after June 26, Comcast said, but they also won’t get access to Peacock Premium from that day on. Instead, they will get a “free sampling….of shows and movies on demand, as well as a collection of channels,” Comcast said. The first episode of Peacock’s original programs will also be included, as well as new NBC series that debut throughout the year.
New and current customers of Peacock Premium always have the option to upgrade their account to Peacock Premium Plus, which removes advertisements from most on-demand TV shows and movies, and unlocks a live stream of a customer’s local NBC affiliate.


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UPDATE: July 26, 2016 at 5:03 p.m.
Remember the election-theme promotion M&Ms launched last fall? You know, the one where they placed coffee nut, honey nut, and chili nut up against each other. Well apparently the winner has been revealed and it's going to stay on store shelves permanently.
A surprise to us, the coffee nut flavor reigned supreme. Before getting covered in chocolate and a candy coating, the peanuts are flavored with coffee—yet they don't contain any caffeine. The new Mars treat will make its debut in stores nationwide starting in August.
More From Delish
ORIGINAL POST: October 14, 2015 at 12:26 p.m.
You'd be surprised how much food factors into an election season. Whether or not Hillary drinks pumpkin spice and if Donald Trump ever plans to eat Oreos again can sometimes be enough to sway a vote. Okay, maybe not entirely, but it definitely doesn't hurt their polls if a candidate swings by Chipotle now and then. After all, America is so food obsessed that sometimes it seems like we'd be better off voting our favorite snack into office.
While we may never get to see a slice of pizza leading our country (though a girl can dream), M&Ms has picked up on the food-fueled political heat and decided to do something about it: Beginning this month, the candy brand is holding a contest that lets you decide its next peanut flavor.
Like Lay's annual Do Us a Flavor campaign, the Vote For Your Favorite Peanut contest lets you choose among four flavors, both new and old: chili nut, honey nut, and coffee nut, will go head-to-head against the standby original peanut flavor.
The polls are now open, which means you can cast your vote at peanutflavor.mms.com or by texting the word "vote" to 87654. It's key to know that you can vote once a day now through June 17. And though it's going to be a while before a winner is declared, Mars—who has thoroughly tested the flavors among focus groups—reports that coffee has the overall highest purchase intent, chili is the leading flavor concept, and honey is the most requested. Despite the odds, however, we think the traditionalists out there will give original peanut a real fighting chance.
Follow Delish on Instagram.


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Teens and their parents often have similar technology profiles in the gadgets they use and the frequency with which they use them. But teens are notably more likely than their parents to say that the internet and related technology has made their own lives easier: 89% of online teens say the internet and other devices in their lives like cell phones, iPods, and digital cameras make their lives easier, while 71% of their parents agree.
Furthermore, while a majority of parents with online teens still believe the internet is a beneficial factor in their children's lives, the number of parents who see the internet as a good thing for their children has declined since 2004.
At the same time, there has not been a corresponding increase in the percentage of parents who think the internet has been a bad thing for their children. Instead, more parents are neutral about the internet's impact, saying it has not had an effect on their child one way or the other.
View the full report on the Pew Research Center Web site.


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Meter Maids ‘yanked’ from Surfers streets
THE furious longtime owner of the Gold Coast's world-famous Meter Maids has pulled them from working the streets of Surfers Paradise, alleging "harassment" from council staff.
Meter Maids brand owner Roberta Aitchison revealed to the Gold Coast Bulletin this morning she had told all her Meter Maids to have the day off because they were feeling "intimidated" and scared about risking hefty fines.
The golden bikini-wearing Meter Maids have been strutting the streets of Surfers Paradise for 53 years under Akubra hats, feeding meters to save motorists from parking fines.
In recent years, they have been posing for photos for donations and selling merchandise such as beer coolers, calendars and key rings under Ms Aitchison's private ownership.
Earlier this week, she claimed in the Bulletin that council staff were giving her staff more attention than normal and she believed it was aimed at trying to get them off the streets during the Commonwealth Games, officially starting tomorrow.
The row is now making national news bulletins.
Ms Aitchison said her girls are allowed to sell merchandise if within one metre from commercial premises as it is not deemed council land.
""But none of my girls want to go out - they are too scared. None of them want to get a fine.
"I don't know how to deal with it. They say the wardens are telling them they are going to fine them $650 personally.
"I've said have the day off. A lot of them are feeling timid, feeling harassed and verbally abused - they are being told they have no right to be here and to get off the streets.
"The girls are finding it intimidating," Ms Aitchison said.
Asked if her girls were breaking the rules and selling merchandise where they shouldn't be, she said they were instructed not too.
Earlier this week, a city council spokesman said the Meter Maids were not being approached by wardens any more than normal and denied there was Games conspiracy against them.
The spokesman said as long as they were not soliciting customers to come to their new Meter Maids bar down Orchid Avenue or selling merchandise in public spaces they were fine.
The Gold Coast Bulletin has this morning asked the City of Gold Coast for further comment about Ms Aitchison's claims her girls are being "harassed, intimidated" and threatened with $650 fines.
The stoush comes after Ms Aitchison warned the Games organising committee GOLDOC against using anything appropriating her brand in the opening ceremony after they were ruled out from having a role in the spectacle.


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It's CES 2021! We’re discussing the latest TVs, wireless surround sound getting easier, NVIDIA's new GPU, and so much more!
Discovery+ is here and we’ve got all the details. Roku may buy Quibi’s library. ESPN+ sees a price increase while fuboTV is experimenting with pricing.
HBO Max comes to Amazon Fire TV, AirPlay is on Roku, Sonos hopes you’ll pay for high-quality radio, and we get a sneak peek at xCloud on PC.


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Truseal Technologies Promotes Coppola to Senior Vice President at Quanex Building ProductsJuly 19th, 2010 by Editor
Quanex Building Products Corp. announced today that August (Gus) J. Coppola was promoted to senior vice president of Quanex Building Products, reporting to David D. Petratis, chairman and chief executive officer. Coppola was formerly the president of the company’s Truseal business. In his new role, Coppola’s key responsibility will be to serve as the champion of Quanex’s Project Nexus initiative.
Project Nexus is a sales growth initiative formally launched by Quanex earlier this year. The initiative calls for the integration of its Engineered Products Group (EPG) sales, marketing and product development teams. Coppola and his EPG team will be focused on customer needs, and the team will be bringing more product solutions to current customers while reaching out to new customers.
“Gus brings the essential experience, background and management philosophy necessary to champion this strategic initiative,” said Petratis. “I believe Gus’ energy, years of experience in the industry and management skills suit our needs perfectly.”
Quanex also announced that David Marlar was promoted to general manager at Truseal, and will assume most of Coppola’s former responsibilities. Pete Donoghue was also promoted to vice president sales – EPG. Donoghue will be working with Coppola to further refine the structure of the EPG sales and marketing organization.


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WTO sends 'strong signals' to Russia on EU exports - but will Kremlin take any notice?
22nd Aug 2016 / By Alistair Driver
Russia and its combative president Vladamir Putin are not known for taking notice of 'strong signals' from global bodies informing them they are in breach of some international rule or other.
Nonetheless, the European Commission has taken heart from a ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Russia's 'illegal' import ban on live pigs, fresh pork and other pig products from the EU.
The ban was imposed in early 2014 because of a limited number of cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) in areas in the EU close to the border with Belarus.
The WTO has ruled, after lengthy consideration, that Russia's refusal to accept imports of certain EU products and to adapt EU-Russia import certificates amounted to an EU-wide import ban.
Yet the measure was not based on the relevant international standards and violates the rules of the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement), the WTO concluded.
What the ruling will ultimately means in terms of the resumption of EU-Russian pork trade remains unclear, however.
The first point to make is the ruling does not affect the 'other' Russian ban, imposed a few months later in 2014 in response to a political dispute with the EU over Ukraine and covering virtually the entire range of EU agri-food products.
So, if Russia relented and lifted the ASF-related ban, this would allow exports of fat, lard and offal to resume. But other higher value, core pork products covered by the political ban would remain off limits.
This has quite rightly not stopped the Commission from basking in the glow of a victory against Mr Putin, however insignificant it might prove to be.
Brussels has faced significant pressure – and has the scars to prove it from some fractious EU farmer protests - to help EU producers across the sectors who have suffered from the market downturn resulting from the Russian bans.
The Commission acknowledges the limited material effect lifting the ban would have this would have.
But it describes the WTO's findings as being of 'systemic importance, reminding Russia about its international obligations and the fact that these cannot be arbitrarily ignored'.
Specifically, it stresses, a 'strong signal' has been sent to Russia, and all WTO Members, as regards their obligation to respect international standards.
In this case, this is in respect partly to the principle of regionalisation, which should allow trade from individual areas of a country recognised as pest or disease-free, even if the health status in the rest of the country is unfavourable.
The other key principle ruled upon is that any import bans imposed in the name of sanitary concerns must be done so on the basis of a risk assessment underpinned by scientific evidence and in line with WTO rules.
"EU products are safe and there is thus no need for any country to maintain unjustified import restrictions," the Commission said.
The panel report can be appealed within 60 days. If no appeal is filed within that deadline, the report will be adopted and Russia will be bound to comply with the recommendation.
A line in the sand has been drawn. Whether Russia, which is itself battling to contain ASF in wild boar and domestic pigs, will now refrain from stepping over it remains to be seen.


text:
M&M’s, the multi-colored button-shaped chocolate brand, has announced a collaboration with KINGSHIP, the supergroup composed of rare Bored Apes and a rare Mutant Ape that are revolutionizing the music industry.
As a result of the collaboration, M&M’s launched three limited edition products (Gold 100 gift box, Celebratory gift box, Gift jar) unique packs that feature all six colors of M&M’S, with custom printed candies depicting KINGSHIP group members Captain, KING, Arnell, and Hud.
The KINGSHIP virtual band, which was formed in March by Universal Music Group, consists of four NFTs: one mutant ape and three bored apes (the newest member, Bored Ape #5537, was purchased in March) and exists only in the digital realm, with ambitions to compose new songs and play in the metaverse.
Since its inception, the virtual band has conducted a number of successful initiatives that have caught the interest of the NFT and music community.
Universal Music Group, for example, recently unveiled and sold out of the KINGSHIP NFT collection, which includes 5,000 access-enabled Key Cards NFTs that unlock products, experiences, and a token-gated community.
M&M’s and KINGSHIP have reserved 1,000 Celebratory Boxes exclusively for Key Card holders. Allocations will be distributed following the public sale of Celebratory Boxes.


text:
Five years ago, Christian LaBeau couldn’t imagine working in a place like Josey Records Kansas City.
“A store this size?” he said. “No. No way.”
LaBeau had spent 14 years working for Streetside Records in Kansas City and St. Louis when the Streetside store at 4128 Broadway closed its doors for good. Streetside was the last of the big music stores in Kansas City to close, victim of the rapid decline in CD sales and the switch to digital music.
He found work in another record store when Vinyl Renaissance & Audio opened on 39th Street in March 2011, then at Mills Record Co. in Westport in 2013. Both are smaller than Streetside, but both were evidence of the rising popularity of vinyl, now the lifeblood of record stores.
Then through a fellow record collector, LaBeau got word that the owners of a 16,000-square-foot record store in Dallas wanted to open a store in Kansas City.
“We started talking, I went to Dallas, and they asked me if I wanted to manage the store,” LaBeau said. “I said sure.”
He is standing at the front of the 6,500-square-foot building near 18th and Oak streets, helping other workers price and stock a shipment of 1,500 new vinyl records that had arrived that day. Another large order was due the next day. Vinyl, new and used, will constitute the large majority of an inventory that will exceed 60,000 items. CDs and cassettes will also be available.
Saturday, Josey Records will throw a grand opening. On hand will be the owners of Josey Records and Music in Dallas, who brought Josey Records to Kansas City.
“We really liked Kansas City when we would come up here,” said Waric Cameron. “We liked the vibe, the people we ran into and the deep music history of Kansas City.”
Cameron is one of the three owners, all of whom are DJs who visited Kansas City regularly during the early 2000s. The other two are Luke Sardello, LaBeau’s record-collecting friend, and J.T. Donaldson.
“We all used to come up to Kansas City to DJ for the guys who owned Deep Fix Records,” Cameron said, referring to a now-defunct store on West 39th Street. “And we’d go shopping.”
One record store in particular became a favorite.
“We’d go to the Music Exchange,” Sardello said. “We fell in love with that place. We’d make road trips just to go to that store.”
“I took a road trip up here in 2007, not knowing it had closed,” Donaldson said. “Pretty depressing. A seven-hour drive each way.”
Donaldson said the trio’s background as DJs and in record collecting made opening a record store a natural move, given the rise in popularity of vinyl.
“When we were younger, the record store was the place where we’d meet up before the weekend started,” he said. “We really didn’t have that in Dallas.”
They opened the first Josey Records in October. A couple of months later, they started talking about opening a second store out of town, deciding pretty quickly on Kansas City. They secured the building at 1814 Oak St. in early April.
“We got lucky,” Sardello said. “It was an event space, the Promise. But they needed a bigger space, so we snapped it up.” Its locale in the burgeoning East Crossroads district was an attraction.
“Friends here pointed us in this direction,” Cameron said. “We spent some time here and really liked it. Kind of what’s happening here is on the forefront of what’s around the corner in Kansas City.”
The Kansas City store will feature live music regularly, from bands and DJs.
“Kansas City for sure is a big live-music town,” Cameron said. “We are going to embrace that.”
There’s plenty of room for live music in the large space, which, Donaldson said, is meant to revive the glory days when stores stocked thousands of records, CDs and/or cassettes.
For LaBeau, that means a lot more inventory to manage and stock, but he’s fine with that.
“No, I didn’t really see this coming again,” he said. “But I think it’s great.”
Josey Records Kansas City, 1814 Oak St., will throw a grand opening party from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. Live music starts at 7 p.m.
Here are other record stores in Kansas City and Lawrence that sell vinyl records.


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William L. Murphy, a sixty-nine year old FedEx Freight driver, was found dead at the company’s distribution center in East Moline, Illinois, on the morning of January 31. He died, according to the coroner, from a traumatic head injury after falling between two semi-tractor trailers. The center was closed, according the FedEx Freight, due to the historic cold weather. In nearby Moline, for example, temperatures dropped to 33 (F) degrees below zero, the coldest temperatures ever recorded there.
Murphy was discovered by a co-worker at 9:30 AM. The local police were called and arrived shortly after. How many hours Murphy was lying there, injured and unconscious or semi-conscious, is unknown. But it was surely a horrible way for Murphy to die, lying severely injured in the deadliest weather any of us ever experienced.
UPS, FedEx, and Target, along with other corporations, were criticized for having their employees report to work during the polar vortex, with its deadly cold temperatures exacerbated by howling winds. Many of the big logistics companies did limit their deliveries and pickups operations — not out of a deep concern for their workers, several Chicago logistics workers told me, but because many of their customers were closed. UPS, for example, still required hub workers, package delivery drivers, and over-the-road drivers to report to work and drive their routes.
The United States Postal Service (USPS), according to one local letter carrier, made no deliveries on January 30 and 31, largely because of public pressure, but had everyone report to their post office stations to sort their routes.
Twenty-one people across the Midwest died during the vortex. No one should have been outside for any reason.
That FedEx was scrutinized over its workplace practices is unique. Unlike the Post Office, UPS, or Amazon, all of which have been lambasted in the past for their horrendous working conditions, FedEx’s workplace practices have rarely come under the spotlight. But the company has seen a series of workplace deaths since 2014.
Murphy’s horrific death points to a serious worker safety problem at FedEx. And it comes just as President Donald Trump has nominated, for the third time, FedEx Ground’s Scott Mungo as head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the most important position overseeing worker safety in America.
FedEx invented the overnight shipping business in the United States. It was the brainchild of its founder Frederick W. Smith, who remains its board chairman and CEO nearly fifty years later. After leaving Yale, he completed two tours in Vietnam for the Marine Corps, where he was trained not as a pilot but with pilots to coordinate ground action. Smith flew over 200 missions in which he “observed military procurement and delivery procedures carefully,” according to one profile, “with an eye toward someday realizing his dream of a vast network dedicated to overnight delivery.” This was not the first nor the last time that military logistics impacted civilian business, and visa-versa.
In 1971, he founded Federal Express Corporation, later shortened to FedEx. Business writers Mike Brewster and Frederick Dalzell saw that both Federal Express and UPS had revolutionized the package delivery industry:
By the early 1980s, FedEx had revolutionized the airfreight business and established itself as the leading overnight delivery provider. What UPS had done for ground-based consolidated delivering in the 1920s and 1930s. FedEx did for next day air operations in the 1970s and early 1980s.
From the 1980s onward, the intense competition between FedEx and UPS would reshape the industry and the structure and services of both companies. Their fates became intertwined.
Many people still think of FedEx primarily as an overnight delivery service, with its white courier vans that dot the business districts of major cities across the United States. But FedEx has morphed into much more than that since its founding, with subsidiaries that include FedEx Office, Express, Ground, Freight, Supply Chain, Custom Critical, and Trade Networks Services.
It flies to 220 countries each day. Its gross revenue in 2018 was over $65 billion, with over $4 billion in profits. Today, FedEx employs over 425,000 workers across the globe with its headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee, also the location of its vast “Superhub.”
FedEx was a child of the neoliberal era and the logistics revolution that have reshaped the global capitalist economy over the past four decades. Unlike older letter and package delivery or freights companies that had to adjust to the new do-or-die world that followed the deregulation of the aviation and trucking industries in the late 1970s, FedEx was tech savvy — far more so than UPS, USPS, or DHL. While other companies were still working off of paper, FedEx used the latest computer technology and barcodes to track packages.
It also pioneered television advertising for the shipping industry with television commercials in the late 1970s that were both memorable — “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” — and hilarious. FedEx had a glamorous image in its early days, with sleek jets crisscrossing around the country compared with the boring brown ground delivery trucks of UPS. Even the early uniforms of FedEx driver were to give the impression of “pilots on the ground.” In 1988, Fred Smith mocked UPS’s stodgy image and business strategy in the Wall Street Journal: “UPS is like — I don’t mean this disrespectfully — the Politburo. And with those zillion brown trucks, like the Russian Army.”
But UPS’s slow response to FedEx didn’t last. With huge concessions granted to UPS in the 1980s by the Teamsters — creating, among other things, a permanent two-tier wage structure for part-timers in the traditional ground package handlers and sorters in their ground operations and later in its air division — UPS took on FedEx. An industry-wide wrestling match followed, called the “Package Wars” by the business media.
While each tried to get the upper hand, FedEx and UPS began to mirror one another in structure and services. FedEx got into the ground package delivery business in the late 1990s with its purchase of Roadway Package Service (RPS), which was conceived as a low-cost home delivery competitor to UPS. It became FedEx Ground. With its purchase of American Freightways and Viking, FedEx moved into the freight industry.
The vertical integration of both companies was completed in the first decade of the twenty-first century with the purchase of retail storefronts. FedEx bought Kinko’s, later rebranded FedEx Office, that exclusively handled FedEx shipping.
FedEx and Unions
FedEx has been very clever through the years manipulating federal laws to thwart unionization efforts and keeping its various division separate from one another. It has largely, but not always, succeeded. Because it started out as an airline, FedEx pilots was are covered by the employer-friendly national Railway Labor Act. Despite this, FedEx’s nearly five thousand pilots are the company’s only unionized workers. FedEx’s remaining massive workforce is non-union, in sharp contrast to the 280,000 workers represented by the Teamsters at UPS.
In 2005, James P. Hoffa, the general president of the Teamsters, broke from the AFL-CIO to join a new labor federation called Change to Win. He promised more organizing. “What was to be done at the AFL-CIO is not working,” Hoffa said. “We’re going to do something new.”
With over 15,000 drivers at FedEx Ground in 2006, who deliver packages to homes and businesses, Hoffa, declared “FedEx [Ground] is an important target for us.” Many Teamsters efforts were at small regional centers where the FedEx management had the upper hand and fired dozens of union supporters. Hoffa complained that FedEx Ground was using “anti-union tactics that come out of the 1930s.”
In Brockton, Massachusetts, in 2011, union supporters signed up 75 percent of the package handlers at the FedEx Ground center there and seemed headed for a victory. At the last moment, the Teamsters called off the election. Why? Members of Socialist Alternative, a small socialist group whose most prominent public figure currently is Kshama Sawant, a Seattle City Council member, were playing a leading role in the organizing drive. One key organizer of the failed drive in Brockton told me he thought that the anti-communism of the Teamsters was a motivating factor for the union to call off the election.
FedEx Freight said Friday the National Labor Relations Board revoked union certification for drivers at a Monmouth Junction, New Jersey facility after Teamsters Local 701 disclaimed interest in representing the drivers. The company said the revocation comes after drivers at other facilities in Croydon, Pennsylvania and Charlotte, North Carolina voted the union out.
Over the last decade and a half, instead of doing “something new,” the Teamsters have continued an old and familiar pattern of failure at FedEx Freight or FedEx Ground, similar to their failed campaign at the rising freight giant XPO. The major flaw at the heart of all of these failed campaigns is trying organize one location at a time at these logistics behemoths rather than pursuing a national organizing strategy.
FedEx Deaths On the Job
In 2018, FedEx was listed as one of the best places to work by Fortune. It has made the list thirteen out of the last twenty-one years. Yet a series of workplace deaths says something about how dangerous a place it is to work, and how little FedEx thinks of its employees.
Not surprisingly, the deaths are concentrated at FedEx’s Superhub in Memphis, Tennessee, the center of its global operations. In the early morning hours of Thanksgiving Day 2017 , the body of Ellen Gladney, a popular team leader and grandmother, was found under a mobile conveyor belt system. Two years earlier, Christopher Higginbottom, an eighteen-year veteran of FedEx and father of twin boys, was crushed to death by a tug, a motorized vehicle pulling carts. In 2014, Chandler Warren was crushed to death by a cargo lift. In each case, fines of several thousand dollars levied by the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) were appealed by FedEx and reduced.
One former and two current employees at FedEx’s LAX location were collectively awarded millions of dollars after a jury found they were wrongfully disciplined by the courier giant after coming forward to report their allegations that the company put profits ahead of safety by not maintaining its aircraft consistent with FAA safety requirements.
With a record like this, it’s no wonder that the nomination of Scott Mungo, the vice-president for Safety, Sustainability and Vehicle Maintenance at FedEx Ground in Pittsburgh and former managing director for FedEx Express Corporate Safety, Health and Fire protection in Memphis, to lead OSHA has raised red flags. Democrats continue to block Mungo’s nomination as of early February, but this is the third time that Trump has nominated him. Trump clearly wants Mungo in the job.
William L. Murphy’s death is the latest in a series of on-the-job deaths at FedEx. These deaths should raise serious questions about Mungo’s qualifications for leading the most important federal agency for protecting workers lives. His nomination should be opposed by the labor movement. The impact of someone like Mungo working to dismantle an already underfunded agency would be devastating for worker safety and only lead to more worker deaths like Murphy’s.


text:
NHTSA Proposes Legislation Requiring Backup Cameras on All Light Vehicles
March 31, 2014 5:00 PM
comment(s) - last by
This spans cars, SUVs, trucks and vans
It's official: all new light vehicles will be required to have
by May 2018.
According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (
), it has issued a proposed regulation Monday that will require all vehicles with a gross weight rating up to 10,000 pounds to have the
. This spans cars, SUVs, trucks and vans.
The backup cameras are a result of feedback from consumer groups and families who have or have been affected by a vehicle backing over a child or loved one. Some parents have accidentally backed out of their garage, for example, and did not see their child playing behind the car before doing so. They have called for enhanced auto technology that can allow drivers a clearer view behind the vehicles.
The backup cameras being pushed by the NHTSA will give drivers the ability to see a 10-foot by 20-foot zone directly behind the vehicle.
"We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable victims of back-over accidents—our children and seniors," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "As a father, I can only imagine how heart wrenching these types of accidents can be for families, but we hope that today's rule will serve as a significant step toward reducing these tragic accidents."
NHTSA estimates that 58 to 69 deaths will be prevented annually once the entire road vehicle fleet has the rear-view systems -- which will likely be by about 2054.
The conversation about backup cameras has been ongoing since 2007 when Congress passed a law that ordered the Transportation Department to have a rule regarding backup cameras on light cars and trucks in place by 2011. The original goal was for all light vehicles to be equipped with them by the 2014 model year, but this has been delayed by many public
comment periods and other delays
The legislation would begin phasing backup cameras into 10 percent of vehicles after May 1, 2016 models, 40 percent a year later and 100 percent in May 2018.
In further efforts to prevent annual auto-related deaths, the NHTSA decided in February to require
vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems
in all new cars and trucks. The DOT and NHTSA have not yet set forth an exact date for when vehicles will be required to implement V2V technology.
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Critical error in reasoning, as usual
4/1/2014 10:33:19 AM
Not every fatality involving a vehicle in reverse would have been prevented with the use of a backup camera.
1. You have cases where people simply arent paying atention. Give them all the cameras in the world and there will still be people not paying attention.
2. You have cases where a pedestrian enters the path of the reversing vehicle, and are simply hit before the driver can react. This will still happen. Again it comes down to people not paying attention.
3. You have cases where the pedestrian is out of the view of the camera. For example, they could be under the rear bumper. When this inevitably happens, will there be a mandate for undercarriage cameras?
This is about as big a waste of money as you can get. It might save a dozen lives a year. Let the market address this issue. There are already bluetooth cameras that tether to a smartphone. In 5 more eyars, everyone will be able to get one of these cameras for $20, and it will have a buttery smooth app to display the imagery. There is no need to force yet another massive malinvestment in the vehicle's outrageously overpriced center console.
RE: Critical error in reasoning, as usual
4/1/2014 1:06:03 PM
1) No one claimed it would prevent all such injuries. But it will certainly prevent many, if not most of them.
2) This is cheap. As I have pointed out, aftermarket solutions start at about $50. Integrated factory systems would cost a fraction of that.
3) These systems are beneficial for more than just injury prevention.
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text:
The FTSE 100 is pointing to a higher open as the US stimulus hopes and upcoming Wall Street earnings excite investors. The index is also rising after Boohoo announced that it would acquire the Debenhams brand. It is trading at £6,667, which is in the same range where it has been in the past few days.
What’s happening: The FTSE 100 index is rising as traders continue being optimistic about the upcoming stimulus in the United States. The first package worth about $1.9 trillion could be approved in the next few weeks since several Republicans seem open to the idea of more funding. Such a package will be positive for the FTSE 100 since UK companies do a lot of business in the US. Also, it will boost confidence in the market.
The earning calendar in the UK will be relatively muted this week since only a few smaller companies will publish their trading updates. Still, earnings from American tech giants like Apple and Facebook will have an impact on the FTSE 100.
The FTSE 100 is reacting to the decision by Boohoo to acquire the Debenhams brand. The company will then close most of its retail stores and only remain with its online brand. The total transaction will be worth about £50 million. In another deal, Asos will likely acquire Topshop from Arcadia Group.
FTSE 100 technical outlook
The FTSE 100 index has been in a tight range in the past few days. On the four-hour chart, it has formed a small descending channel that’s shown in purple. It is also at the same level as the 25-day exponential moving averages (EMA) and slightly above the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level.
Therefore, for today, I suspect that the index will remain in the current range since there’s not much going on. The key support and resistance levels to watch are £6,655 and £6,780.
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text:
WarHorse hires Amazon games exec as new CCO
Sebastien Pacetti will devote his time to the company's crowdfunded RPG, Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Warhorse Studios has created a new position within the company to accommodate Sebastien Pacetti, a veteran of Amazon, Ubisoft Massive and Gameforge.
Pacetti will be WarHorse's new Chief Commercial Officer, a role that didn't exist at the company previously. In terms of experience, Pacetti has the chops to justify that effort: he was an associate director at GameForge, business development director at Ubisoft Massive, and, most recently, head of digital software and video games at Amazon.
Pacetti will join the WarHorse executive team, where his time will be devoted to Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Buoyed by more than £1 million in crowdfunded money, Kingdom Come and its 35,000 backers will present Pacetti with a unique new challenge.
"The support Warhorse Studios is getting from the community is mind blowing," he said in a statement. "I am excited and also proud to join Warhorse Studios in this new role; working within such a talented and passionate team is a fantastic opportunity. Kingdom Come is an ambitious project and our community expect us to raise the bar everyday."
WarHorse was founded in 2011 by an elite team of AAA developers, including Daniel Vávra, who was a key figure in the development of the Mafia franchise at 2K Czech.
Kingdom Come is WarHorse's first project, an open-world RPG set in medieval Europe. It how has 70 people working full time on the game, with a release tentatively scheduled for 2016.


text:
New team member
Olivier Van Espen joined the ContactOffice sales team as a new Business Developer.
He will be assisting Patrick De Schutter, our Sales & Marketing Office, from the ContactOffice head office in Brussels.
This 27 years old young professional has a strong passion for the ICT world. With a Commercial Engineer background he started his career as a Business & Functional Consultant on a European project for Key Business. Before joining the ContactOffice team, he participated in the launch of a start-up in the Media sector as an Account Manager.


text:
Columbia's campus currently ranks last among the Ivy League in terms of square footage of space per student, but the administration is busy trying creative new ways to change that. According to a recent post by the Lion, Campus Services is considering removing the Lerner mailboxes to open more social space. Among the proposed changes, listed in the post, are:
- A single, unified package center mecca. We're thinking something just a bit smaller than an Amazon warehouse.
- Increased lounge space.
- A Broadway room expansion, including a bar. Cooler senior pub, anyone?
- Relocation of Cafe 212.
Spec has sent Scott Wright, Vice President of Campus Services a quick email asking to see a blueprint of the proposed changes. Pending a response, we're all curious to guess at how much space Wright is looking to free up. The current Lerner Hall blueprints are not explicitly clear about the back-workings of Lerner, but it seems that even a small change might open up a space roughly the size of Lerner.
Lerner Hall 4th floor. The orange dotted line and question mark show my guess at what will change. Original image courtesy of lernerhall.columbia.edu.
The exciting part is that the changes will probably materialize by next year. Go Columbia!


text:
Sahara Centre schedules a sizzling summer of surprises
Sahara Centre has scheduled a sizzling summer of surprises that have been specially created to enthrall its customers.
The popular Sharjah lifestyle and leisure destination has combined two major events on the retail calendar into one to offer an extensive array of in-mall activities, as well as two great automotive prizes and a package trip to Germany to be won in the promotion ‘TAKE THE WHEEL LIKE NEVER BEFORE.’
Pulling both its Ramadan and summer promotions into a single activity this year, Sahara Centre has scheduled an event that starts on June 12 and runs until August 31. Up for grabs during the two-month long campaign are two Audi R8 performance cars, with an additional prize of a package trip to Germany for a couple to visit the Audi car factory and museum.
The first draw for one of the Audi R8 sports cars will take place on July 21 at 10pm, with the draw the second car and the draw for the package trip taking place on August 31 at 7pm. The raffle competition is open to anyone spending Dhs200 or more at the mall’s outlets during the promotion.
Sharjah Centre is not forgetting the FIFA World Cup either, with the world’s largest and most popular sporting competition taking place during the mall’s promotion timeframe. Between June 12 and July 13, World Cup matches will be shown on wide screens at the centre’s new restaurant area at the East Atrium.
For those who are not so keen on the on-pitch action but still want to enjoy a bit of World Cup-related fun, the centre will feature a range of themed activities from June 15-27 in its Promotion Area.
With more than a nod to the country that is hosting this year’s World Cup, Sahara Centre will be putting on Samba Parades and demonstrations of Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music for a fascinating display. There will also be a World Cup Exhibition.
With so much in-mall entertainment, two top-of-the-range Audi cars and an Audi automotive holiday to be had, World Cup football on big screens and a host of Ramadan deals, Sahara Centre is without doubt the coolest place to be this summer.


text:
"Car Nation" Take Over at The Mall
Last updated 1/23/2020 at 10:18am
Following the annual Borrego Days Parade Saturday Oct. 19, a car show was held at The Mall, put on by Bill Daemke.
The car show, dubbed as, "Car Nation," was an addition to the Borrego Days festivities this year, and was moved up to The Mall. The new location allotted more space for a bigger pirate encampment and kids zone at the Circle. It also gave visitors a chance to shop at the various stores in The Mall.
It was all about the Alfa Romeo cars, however, all cars were welcome, vintage and otherwise. It is not unusual for vintage cars to have an investment of over $100,000 or more in them. There were a total of 19 cars in the show. Two new (2019) Alfa Romero sedans and nine vintage Alfa Romero's, two '67s, a '72, '78, and a '84 two-door GT.
The '84 GT was powered by a V-6 motor that Alfa Romeo had purchased the rights to reproduce from Ferrari. This engine looks just like what it is, a Ferrari V-12 that was engine was a very reliable, good performing engine for several Alfa Romero models over the years.
There was also a very well-restored '71 Lincoln Mark III in the show, along with a nice '72 MGB roadster. The nicest vintage car was a 1939 Ford Woody that belongs to Roger Evans of Borrego Springs. Of course, Henry the Truck was there too making its spiffy appearance.


text:
AUSTRALIA: Hot Tuna Names New CEO
The new owners of Australian surfwear and extreme sports label Hot Tuna said today they had appointed respected action sports executive Rod Williams as its chief executive officer. In a news release, the company said Mr Williams has been in the action sports industry for 20 years, mainly in Europe and the US, working with global brands Rip Curl and Timberland.
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- Southeast Asia strategic sourcing review – a focus on Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar
- Global market review of lingerie – forecasts to 2022


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- Audi and Volkswagen have revised their brand logos to promote social distancing.
- Social distancing is being put in place in many different countries because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- It comprises a set of actions meant to slow the spread of infectious disease, such as keeping six feet of space between yourself and other people.
Many automakers have disrupted production because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now Audi and Volkswagen are changing their logos—at least temporarily. To promote social distancing, a measure being used throughout the world to combat the spread of the virus, VW and Audi have put a bit of extra distance in their own logos.
The updated Audi logo separates the four rings from each other, while the Volkswagen badge—which was recently redesigned—puts some extra space between the “V” and the “W.” The automakers have so far posted animations and logo images on various global consumer and media websites, as well as on social media channels.
Governments and health organizations worldwide have said that six feet of physical separation from other people will help prevent transmission of coronavirus. Other social distancing measures put in place in many countries include school closures, cancellations of large gatherings, and travel restrictions.


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Monday Report and kids games build record traffic for CBC.ca site
News | 03/03/2004 5:00 am EST
CBC.ca is crediting the popular success of the new Rick Mercer vehicle Rick Mercer’s Monday Report, as well as the growing strength of its online children’s games, for leaping to the top of the pack as a web draw for Canadians. According to data from ComScore Media Metrix, the public broadcaster’s web site drew more than three million unique visitors in January, a huge number which represents 17.6% of the at-home media market. Company officials say internal numbers, which include the large number of CBC.ca users who access the site from somewhere other than home, show that CBC.ca drew nearly nine million unique visitors in January.


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Third-generation Android Wear smartwatches like the Huawei Watch and the LG Urbane LTE were based on Android Wear 1.5, and released a few months ago with new features like an ability to act as a Bluetooth speakerphone. Google unveiled Android Wear 2.0 during Google I/O 2016, and this update is expected to be pushed to the second-generation and third-generation smartwatches later this year. While that happens, Google is reportedly working on two new Android Wear smartwatches.
According to Android Police, Google is busy developing two new Android Wear-based smartwatches – codenamed ‘Angelfish’ and ‘Swordfish’. These two smartwatches will have the Google Assistant built into their software. Angelfish is said to feature a large display (anywhere between 42mm and 46mm), LTE, GPS, a heart-rate monitor and has three physical buttons. Design of both smartwatches is said to be inspired from Lenovo’s Moto 360 (2nd Gen) and LG Watch Urbane.
Swordfish will feature a smaller circular display and its design will resembles the Pebble Time Round with minimal bezels. Unlike the Angelfish, the Swordfish features only a single button and lacks LTE, GPS, and a heart-rate monitor. It could be priced cheaper, which can attract a lot of audience to Android Wear smartwatches. It could be the Android One of smartwatches.
[Source: Android Police]


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Co Down indoor entertainment group to create 80 jobs with £3m expansion in Newtownabbey and Craigavon
IRISH indoor entertainment company Airtastic has announced a £3 million expansion in the north creating up to 80 jobs.
The Co Down company opened its first indoor trampoline park in Bangor in December 2016. Centres in Cork, Belfast and Craigavon have followed, employing around 300 people.
Subject to planning approval, Airtastic says it will open a new 45,000 sq ft centre in the former Toys R Us unit in Newtownabbey in mid 2020. It will feature ten pin bowling, indoor mini golf and a ‘ninja park' concept.
The former toy superstore closed last year after the company entered administration.
Airtastic is also planning to expand its presence at Marlborough Retail Park in Craigavon with a new 46,500 sq ft entertainment venture.
Based in the former B&Q superstore, the massive retail space has been redeveloped in recent years, with M&S and O'Neills opening new units. Airtastic's latest offering, which will include its new ninja concept along with amusement arcades, is due to open in early 2020.
The Co Down company is also planning licensed restaurants at both locations.
The announcement follows the start of a €1.5m (£1.3m) upgrade of its Cork facility, which will create another 30 jobs.
Airtastic is owned by the SMS Platinum Group, which also owns the Captain Green's Space Adventure Golf and the Funky Monkeys Soft Play Centre brands. Based out of Raithfrailand, the group is headed by Alison Simpson, Mark Simpson and Henry Moore.
Sharyn Ingrey, area manager for Airtastic Entertainment Centre said ten pin bowling is a new venture for the company.
“Our new centres in Newtownabbey and Craigavon will be a one stop shop for entertainment where our customers can bounce, ninja, play ten pin bowling, space adventure golf, play to win tickets in our amusement arcades and exchange them for prizes and enjoy our restaurant NY Kitchen and all in one location.
“Combined with our other four centres, Airtastic is now the largest leisure operator in Ireland providing the best entertainment to wide range of people.”


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Matt is the former News Editor for The Next Web. You can follow him on Twitter, subscribe to his updates on Facebook and catch up with him Matt is the former News Editor for The Next Web. You can follow him on Twitter, subscribe to his updates on Facebook and catch up with him on Google+.
In a retrospective measure to restore balance to some apps affected by a DRM bug that would render them unusable, Apple has begun removing negative reviews from App Store apps that have been unfairly discriminated against by users, wiping the slate clean in most cases.
As MacStories points out, Apple has wiped the negative reviews from apps including Instapaper, GoodReader and The Early Edition. A quick check shows that Please Stay Calm, Metronome+ and many other titles have seen reviews wiped too.
Last night, Apple issued a statement stating that the app corruption issue that has been plaguing the App Store had been corrected. Apple said it affected a ‘small number of users’, though we saw relatively widespread reports of the problem.
The statement from Apple:
We had a temporary issue that began yesterday with a server that generated DRM code for some apps being downloaded.
The issue has been rectified and we don’t expect it to occur again. Users who experienced an issue launching an app caused by this server bug can delete the effected app and re-download it.
The issue surrounded the packaging of apps with Apple’s FairPlay DRM. Developer’s apps would crash immediately on launch, causing the users to believe it was a poor update. It caused major problems for some developers as one-star reviews were submitted for an issue completely out of their control.
Instapaper developer Marco Arment was first to notice the issue (his app Instapaper was one of the apps that saw many 1-star reviews), sharing his experience in a blog post. Apple began telling developers that it was working on a fix earlier yesterday.
If you are finding that many of your apps are crashing when they open (and hadn’t before), Apple recommends that you delete and re-download them from the App Store. It is also pushing the latest update for that app again, prompting you to update to a non-buggy version also.
[Image Credit: Jon Rawlinson]
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The owner of a business is arguably the single most important employee on the payroll. As such, the findings from a recent survey of business owners conducted by The Alternative Board are revealing.
According to the survey, which was conducted in May 2017, the typical business owner reports having only about 1.5 hours of uninterrupted, high-productive time per day.
Four in five of the business owners reported that they feel most productive in the mornings. It stands to reason, then, that nearly nine in ten respondents reported that they prefer to get the most important tasks of the day out of the way first.
The majority of respondents reported that they are most productive working from the office, but nearly one-third of them reported that most of their work is done from their home.
A majority of the respondents also reported that they spend the biggest block of their daily time on e-mail activities. Tellingly, less than 10% feel that this is the most important use of their time.
Asked to report on what factors are working against their employees achieving a high level of productivity in the owner’s business, these following four factors were named most frequently:
- Poor time management: ~35% of survey respondents cited
- Poor communications: ~25%
- Personal/personnel problems: ~18%
- Technology distractions: ~16%
Taken as a whole, these findings suggest that while there are certainly issues that affect business productivity, business owners have it within their power to improve time management, foster better communication between employees, and ultimately run a tighter ship.
More findings from the TAB research can be found on this infographic.


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In the statement made by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, it was stated that Waldemar W sold a total of 715 thousand euros to a company producing military equipment and accessories in Russia 26 times between January 2020 and March 2023 through his company in the west of Germany.
In the statement, it was stated that Waldemar W is the general manager of two companies for the international trade of electronic parts, and the parts he sells are used in the “Orlan 10” unmanned aerial vehicle flown by the Russian armed forces in Ukraine.
It was stated in the statement that Waldemar W first imported the electronic parts from abroad to Germany in order to break the embargo, and then transferred these parts to two front companies in Russia.
The statement alleged that later shell companies sent the parts to a Russian military equipment manufacturer, and after the start of the Russia-Ukraine War, Waldemar W started shipping the goods via other countries such as Dubai and Lithuania with the help of fictitious buyers abroad.
The electronic parts in question were covered by the European Union’s sanctions against Moscow for its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.


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The HTC Bliss, a female-focused Android handset due in late September is expected to be among the first to feature HTC’s latest iteration of Sense. With one month to go before the phone debuts, we recently started to see pictures of the Bliss and its custom UI. Images are nice, sure, but they hardly tell the whole story. Thanks to another leak out of XDA.cn we are getting five minutes of the how and what in Sense 3.5. Hit this link to check out a great hands-on demo and early look at the new lock screens, animations, dock bar, widgets, and more!
The tech gods have settled a longstanding feud. Google is returning the official YouTube app to Fire TV. In response, Amazon is opening Prime Video to Chromecasts and Android TV.


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A snarky social-media manager at the New York Times openly criticized the paper’s own fashion coverage this week.
On Tuesday, the paper’s fashion news Twitter feed @NYTFashion promoted a gushy story headlined “Life After the Runway” on what former fashion A-listers, such as Jenna Lyons, Alber Elbaz and Peter Copping, are up to after leaving their high-powered jobs.
But the feed’s social-media editor posted with the link: “Do you ever sit around wondering what Jenna Lyons is doing these days? Yeah, no, me neither haha.”
If the dig at the deposed J.Crew creative director wasn’t enough, the Times’ social-media maven tweeted again, “BUT FOR THOSE WHO ARE CURIOUS: the answer is NOTHING!” (In the piece, Lyons admitted, “Since leaving J.Crew I haven’t been working on anything,” but, “It really has been the best 18 months. I needed time.”)
Even sassy social-media star Bryanboy thought the Times tweeter was too catty.
He posted, “This kind of nastiness should never ever come from the New York Times. Ever. To interview subjects and to ridicule them for click bait is just low. Who writes these tweets? Interns?”
The cheery article said of the designers, “Just because they are no longer taking bows at the end of shows, [they’re doing] quite a lot, as it turns out.”
Except apparently for Lyons, who said, “I have taken naps.”
Others interviewed included former Gucci creative director Frida Giannini and ex-Diane von Furstenberg chief creative officer Jonathan Saunders.
A Times rep did not comment.


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Goodyear will unveil new 37-inch LT tire next month
The 37x12.50R15 LT Wrangler MT/R will fit 15-inch rims and is the size off-road enthusiasts request the most, according to Goodyear officials.
"Not long ago, the 31x10.50R15 LT and 33x12.50R15 LT tires were considered large," says Mark Cherveny, Goodyear's product manager for light truck tires. "Now the 35- and 37-inch tires are in demand."
The tire will be made at Goodyear's OTR tire manufacturing plant in Topeka, Kan.
The Wrangler MT/R is currently available in 20 15-, 16- and 17-inch sizes.


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A recent study by the Silicon Valley law firm Fenwick and West seems to indicate that--in Silicon Valley, at least--the battle for Series A funding is getting even tougher.
The study analyzed 61 transactions between Silicon Valley companies and their investors in 2012 and 56 transactions in 2011. It found only 27 percent of the companies that found seed funding in 2011 had raised Series A financing by the end of 2012. Compared to the year before: 45 percent of seed funded companies in 2010 had raised Series A financing by the end of 2011.
But the causes behind this dirge of cash may be more positive than you think.
“We are seeing so much activity in the seed fundraising environment right now--and most of that is good,” says Fenwick partner Barry Kramer.
Kramer explains that a growing number of incubators, accelerators, and angel investors have helped many start-ups to win seed funding that may not previously have been available to them. This increased accessibility to early stage funding, paired with the fact that many tech companies don’t require huge amounts of money to launch, may actually help some companies to skip the Series A round all together, he says.
“It takes so little to get them going that they just raise seed and that’s enough,” says Kramer. He adds that another possible explanation for the shortage of Series A funded companies may be early stage aqui-hires.
“Sometimes the Google’s and Facebook’s swoop in and buy them early,” he says, “Either because [the company has] a great idea, or because they’ve assembled a great team.”
According to Kramer, these factors all contribute to the 73 percent of start-ups that don’t manage to raise their Series A goals. Of course, he acknowledges, it would be foolish to forget that many budding businesses fail.
Kramer insists that while a lot of companies may not raise their Series A funding on the first try, that doesn’t mean they’re done for. In fact, Fenwick and West’s study indicates that more previously funded companies went back for a second round of seed funding than they have in previous years--23 percent in 2012 as opposed to 12 percent in 2011. Kramer explains that this may be the result of venture capitalists requiring a little more evidence of progress from companies before they invest.
Even if the venture capitalists don’t want to shell out the big bucks yet, he says, “It’s a good sign if your seed investors are willing to give you more money.” Hint: that means they still think you have potential.
“Starting a company is risky and it may not be easy to raise Series A, but there is enough money out there for good companies to get funded,” Kramer says. “I wouldn’t not do this because you’re worried about there not being enough money.”


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When the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) made consumer bankruptcy more expensive for all debtors, it inadvertently reignited a debate about how to make the system more affordable for its neediest beneficiaries. Even before BAPCPA, consumer bankruptcy suffered from the irony that those who needed it the most were often too poor to take advantage of its relief.
The seemingly obvious solution to this problem is to eliminate the major cost that consumer bankruptcy filers bear, that of paying their own lawyers. But in our rush to undo the harm caused by BAPCPA’s worsening of the affordability problem, we risk moving consumer bankruptcy too far in the opposite direction and undermining the benefits that a judicial system with paid consumer lawyers has provided. The cost increases driven by BAPCPA were not a bankruptcy-only event, but rather were part of a broader movement in which policymakers generally sought to make safety net programs less accessible. Consumer bankruptcy’s lawyer- and judge-based framework may have protected it from the worst effects of this trend.


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XBLA sales for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD are off to a solid start.
The update to the skateboarding series racked up 120,000 copies sold in its first week, Josh Tsui of Robomodo told Gamasutra.
Tsui added that sales have remained consistent since the game’s launch thanks to good word of mouth along with the ease of trying out a smaller, downloadable title.
The game is heading to PSN sometime in late August and was recently confirmed for a PC release later in the year. Tsui was particularly intrigued by the upcoming PC offering:
It should be interesting to see the sales on PC—we’ve been surprised how many people are asking for that.”


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April 15 – 19, 2019, a week of Kyrgyz culture is held in Seoul during the festival dedicated to the celebration of Nooruz. In the Korean Foundation gallery there are stands of the national applied art of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Yurt, the Kyrgyz shyrdak, as well as products made of felt and leather, household items and information about Manas hero.
The opening days of the Kyrgyz culture was held on April 15, 2019 with the participation of the dance ensemble "Aiperi". The guests of the gallery managed to enjoy brilliant Kyrgyz dances and dresses of Kyrgyz beauties.
In the framework of the Kyrgyz culture week the Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic in South Korea Dinara Kemelova made a presentation about Kyrgyzstan, in particular about the history, culture, tourism and investment opportunities of the country. After the presentation, the Embassy organized a tea party, as part of which the guests were invited to taste Kyrgyz dishes (borsok, chak-chak, sanza, etc.), organic products from honey, raspberries, currants and dried fruits.
On April 18, 2019, within the framework of Kyrgyzstan week, the Kyrgyz diaspora in South Korea will acquaint citizens and guests of the Republic of Korea with the tea ceremony, traditions and customs of the Kyrgyz people, and on April 19, the day will be devoted to the Manas epic.
The Kyrgyz culture week will end on April 27-28, 2019 with a big concert on the central square in Seoul with the participation of the Nuska group, designers from the Kyrgyz Republic and demonstration.


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France’s GDP grows in line with expectation in Q1
According to data released by INSEE, France’s GDP growth is expected to reach 1.2% in 2015. Meanwhile, gross domestic product is expected to grow by 0.3% in Q2 and Q3 and will rise 0.4% in Q4. The statistical office stated that this growth will stem from stronger manufacturing and the rebound in energy and market sector services. INSEE also pointed out that it is unlikely that French GDP growth will match the levels of 1.9% in 2010 and 2.1% in 2011 due to declining household and corporate investment.
France’s GDP grew by 0.4% in both 2013 and 2014.
More free plastics newsPlastic resin (PP, LDPE, LLDPE ,HDPE, PVC, GPS; HIPS, PET, ABS) prices, polymer market trends, and more...
- Bearish PP trend takes no respite on lackluster demand in Turkey
- India import PVC market recedes from all-time high on COVID-hit demand
- Stats: China’s total PP, PE imports in Q1 mark lowest volume in a year
- Vietnamese PE buyers hold off purchases on fears of further price pullback
- European PS on brink of a softer trend after 6 months
- Turkish PP and PE players voice bearish expectations for May
- China’s local homo-PP prices slide below imports
- Irregular PE origins emerge at competitive prices in Europe
- Mid-Eastern sellers backpedal in Africa on competitive PP, PE offers from Asia
- European PVC set to extend longest rising streak into May


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The Honda Clarity Fuel Cell not is a model completely new in the range of the manufacturer Japanese. It has been since a time exhibiting in the United States under a regime of rent to a group of clients who participate in a mobility scheme. However Honda has dear bring to your model of pile of hydrogen to Europe to start to market it in certain countries under the same regime that in them United States.
According to has informed the brand in a connected official already have arrived the first six units of the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell to soil European. These first units will be destined to several customers that reside in the cities of London and Copenhagen. For adjudication have decided to participate in a program called by the HyFIVE brand and its use will help her put to test this technology in the old continent.
The HyFIVE plan to mark put into circulation these models is co-funded by the European hydrogen and fuel cell plan FCH JU. Through this program will be delivered around 200 vehicles of hydrogen fuel cell of five different brands to customers in Denmark, Austria, Germany, Italy, Sweden and United Kingdom (Spain as usual is out) to study the feasibility of this form of energy , and know how can be improved to make it more accessible to the public.
They According to Thomas Brachmann, responsible for the project Clarity Fuel Cell Europe and head of research and development of the brand, have high hopes in this type of energy. Depending on the brand in the year 2030 two-thirds of its sales worldwide correspond to this type of models. By this are an of them companies that more time and resources have been invested in the mobility by hydrogen.
We will have to wait and see how it develops this program to find out if you arrive soon or not to Spain, although without the necessary infrastructure see it a little complicated.
Source-Honda Motors Corporation


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Happy Harbor Comics is in need of a hero after a rare comic was stolen.
Store owner Jay Bardyla says sometime in the last week a low-down, no-good dirty villain stole a rare Superman comic that was displayed high on the wall.
“The book isn’t what we consider to be a high-grade condition, it was a very low-grade. It had some tears in it and some stuff like that,” he said. “We had it valued at about $2,000.”
Staff put out the word to other crime fighters in hopes of finding the comic. Collectors like Scott Molnar say it should be easy to spot — Superman No. 3 was printed just after the start of World War Two so there aren’t many copies left.
“What do they think they’re going to do with it after? Like, you can’t sell it… it’s like having the Mona Lisa. People are going to know it’s the one that was stolen. I find that surprising, but people will do just about anything these days, I suppose.”
The question remains: Who will save Superman? Tune in next week to find out if the comic book caper will finally be caught.


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The owners of nearly 70 businesses, bars and restaurants have paid a $250 fee to continue to allow smoking in their establishments.
The smoking ban began in February, but it allows the $250 annual exemption fee through 2011.
The exempted bars include some of the city's most popular spots, such as Sammy's Tavern, Johnny's Sports Bar and some restaurants at the Legends shopping area.
The business license department for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., said 50 of the 316 restaurant and bars in the city have bought exemptions.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


text: Telecom operators are pushing the government to explore legal ways to bring back Aadhaar based customer verification by either approaching the Supreme Court for allowing voluntary use of the unique 12-digit number for the electronic know your customer (e-KYC) process or bringing in a legislative framework. The view is that if mobile phone companies are allowed to offer Aadhaar-based verification as a voluntary option to customers, then they do not need to implement any other digital KYC method, a time-taking and costly affair. This comes even as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and carriers have worked out a new way of e-KYC — a live picture of the user with time stamp and photo of a government-issued ID card. But by the time the order came, 90% of new subscriptions had already used the unique ID due to factors such as convenience, though some avoid giving the biometric ID on fears of privacy and data leakage. More than 500 million, or about half of India’s mobile phone users, have linked Aadhaar to their phone numbers.


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BUSINESSMAN Datuk Eddie Ong Choo Meng — who, in the last few years, has invested in several public-listed companies that manufacture gloves, agrochemicals, furniture, plastic and industrial products — has now ventured into fibre optics.
Last month, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir, son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, ceased to be a substantial shareholder of Opcom Holdings Bhd — which he co-founded in 1994 — after disposing of 24.63 million shares, or a 15.28% stake, in the fibre-optic manufacturer.
Few are aware that Ong was the buyer of that block of shares, which were acquired at 84 sen apiece, or a total of RM20.69 million, on Feb 10. This made him the largest shareholder of Opcom. Ong is also a major shareholder of listed companies such as Hextar Global Bhd, SCH Group Bhd, Rubberex Corp (M) Bhd and, most recently, SWS Capital Bhd.
The acquisition price for Opcom, however, represents a 25.6% discount to its share price of 62.5 sen last Thursday. The stock had risen to an intraday high of 83 sen on Feb 16. Over the past five years, the shares have traded at between 19.5 sen and RM1.17.
Ong is not too concerned about the share price movements, as he sees value in the company. “We [Opcom] want to expand into 5G. As Malaysia will be doing a lot of cables to push for 5G development and Opcom is the only company that manufactures fibre-optic cables in the country, we are looking at big projects,” he tells The Edge.
Ong’s representative Teh Li King was appointed to the Opcom board as a non-executive director on Feb 24. Teh is also a director at furniture and plasticware maker SWS Capital, in which Ong has a 14.57% stake.
Opcom saw the emergence of another substantial shareholder in Dynamic Prestige Consultancy Sdn Bhd, which bought 11.07 million shares, or a 6.87% stake, on Feb 24.
Two days earlier, Opcom had proposed a private placement to raise about RM10.8 million to fund future business projects and working capital. “We need more cash reserves to take up bigger projects in the 5G territory,” says Ong.
With the cash holdings, the company is looking to diversify its business, he adds without disclosing details. “We are reviewing some proposals right now.”
It should be noted that Opcom was in a net cash position of RM20.3 million at end-December 2020. The company has been profitable except for the financial year ended March 31, 2020, in which it incurred a net loss of RM7.9 million, owing to competition from imports and lower order volumes.
For the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2020, its net loss widened to RM1.44 million, from RM697,000 in the previous corresponding period, mainly because of higher operating expenses. For the nine months ended Dec 31, 2020, its net loss narrowed to RM1.46 million, from RM1.95 million.
Ong says the company would have returned to the black had it not been for impairments incurred. “It has become a healthy company with cash holdings of about RM18 million.”
In its financial statements accompanying its latest quarterly results, Opcom says it is positive on its fibre-optic cables supply business in view of the government’s initiatives such as the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP), the RM21 billion Jalinan Digital Negara (Jendela) and the recent launch of the MyDIGITAL Blueprint.
Ong made the headlines in 2017 when he and his father, Datuk Ong Soon Ho, took over listed competitor Halex Holdings Bhd, later renamed Hextar Global. The agrochemical product manufacturer’s share price has since doubled to RM1.27 last Thursday.
Ong is executive director of Hextar Global and holds a direct and indirect stake of 3.81% and 62.6% respectively in the company. Prior to the corporate exercise, he was running the country’s largest pesticide producer, Hextar Holdings Sdn Bhd.
In a Feb 23 note, PublicInvest Research says it maintains its “outperform” call on Hextar Global, with a target price of RM1.30. “We continue to like its prospects, with scope for growth and upside still ample, even though it is already the market leader in the domestic agrochemical space. We gather activity on the acquisition front will pick up this year.”
Ong is also non-executive director at SCH Group, in which Hextar Global has an indirect stake of 30.91%. SCH, an industrial product supplier, recently obtained shareholders’ approval for a name change to Hextar Industries Bhd, a 3:1 share consolidation and a rights issue to raise up to RM155 million.
Meanwhile, Ong’s investment in Rubberex has come under the spotlight as the glove sector has been battered by weak investor sentiment amid hopes of a global economic recovery. He says he remains committed to his investment in Rubberex. “The company is still very healthy. If you talk about the share price, then the sentiment is not so optimistic because of the vaccine rollout.”
Having emerged as a major shareholder of Rubberex a year ago, Ong’s shareholding in the company has increased to slightly more than 50% through Hextar Rubber Sdn Bhd. He first emerged as a major shareholder of Rubberex with a direct stake of 26.68% on Feb 28, 2020, before raising it to 32.5% on April 16 last year.
Ong, 43, has a bachelor’s degree in business from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia. He started his interior design business in 1999 at the age of 20. A year later, he ventured into a new business by acquiring a juice brand. However, the businesses wound up a few years later, owing to the impact of the Asian financial crisis, and he decided to join his father’s company, Hextar Holdings.