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Health-conscious US consumers weigh in on low-calorie chocolate: Lucintel
In its ‘US Chocolate Industry 2013-2018: Trends, Forecast and Opportunity Analysis’ report, the organization projects that the industry will grow to an estimated $19.3bn by 2018. It expects the US population, a third of whom are obese, to explore healthier options in the years ahead.
Sugar-free chocolate: Mainstream or niche?
It predicts that the “hectic lifestyle of consumers and innovative chocolate products, doubling as health supplements, chocolate for the diet conscious, low calorie chocolates etc. [will] lead to significant market growth”.
The report runs contrary to ConfectioneryNews predictions for 2014, which anticipate the sugar-free chocolate segment to remain a global niche, mainly due to the added cost of sweeteners, and their supporting ingredients, compared to using sugar alone.
Where do calories in chocolate come from?
Almost half of calories in chocolate comes from fat – the main source of which is milk fat in milk chocolate and cocoa butter. Sugar accounts for about 30-40% of the calories.
Euromonitor valued the global reduced fat chocolate market at $439.5m in 2012 and forecast 13.4% growth for 2013, driven by the US, which accounts for over 80% of sales in the sector.
Big players and low-calorie chocolate
Hershey, the leading US chocolate player has sugar-free options for leading brands such as Hershey and Reese’s, which use maltitol and polyglucitol instead of sugar. It claims these products contain 20% fewer calories than their sugar counterparts. The firm also launched portion-controlled brand Simple Pleasures in 2012, which it says contains 30% less fat compared to the average leading milk chocolates.
Nestlé has had great success with its Skinny Cow brand, which contains 110 calories and 6g of fat per bar. The product uses a wafer coated with milk chocolate and carries the term “milk chocolate flavor”
For chocolate to be considered chocolate under CODEX standards, it must contain 35% total cocoa solids, of which no less than 18% must be cocoa butter. Those that don’t meet this standard often use the term “chocolate flavor”.
Labeling and government pressure
The US chocolate industry has committed to putting calorie information on the front of packs, through the National Confectioners Association (NCA) ‘Treat Right’ program.
However, the US chocolate industry has yet to make sweeping pledges to reduce calories, unlike in the UK where some major manufacturers such as Mars have signed up to a government-led calorie reduction pledge.
Lucintel’s report also identified potential barriers to industry growth.
“Rising prices of raw materials, especially for cocoa beans, is affecting the manufacturing cost of chocolates which can pose a challenge for market growth,” it said.
Rabobank has projected that cocoa prices will rise around 12% this year compared to 2013 levels due to adverse weather in the Ivory Coast and rising demand for chocolate products in Asia.
“Other factors such as intermittent raw material supply and lack of efficient distribution channels in emerging markets create challenges for the chocolate industry,” continued Lucintel.
Traditional retailers still account for almost 40% of retail sales across China, a key growth market for the chocolate industry. Negative performance in this emerging market could impede investment in developed markets like the US.


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We are pleased to announce that our Director of Permitting, Dr. Lorraine Gray has been named to Mission Critical Magazine’s Top 25 Women in Technology list.
“Every person has a unique story and has had experiences that have shaped them to be the individuals they are today. Different perspectives allow us all to not only approach problems more efficiently to find creative and productive solutions, but they provide us with the opportunity to view the world from the point-of-view of another.”
Q: What aspect of the industry do you think has the most potential for growth, and, on the other hand, which aspect do you think needs the most improvement?
A: The subsea fiber industry is experiencing a boom right now, due to humanity shifting entirely online for everything from streaming television shows to playing games with friends to holding video conferences for work. Everything is taking place at home.
This will persist beyond the pandemic for the next 10 years at least, but we desperately need the supply chain to keep up — data centers, spare parts in the manufacturing process, cable ships, to name but a few.
Read her full profile here.

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SHELTON, Conn. -- Residents hit the streets Sunday for Celebrate Shelton, enjoying the vendors, shops, food and entertainment set up downtown along Howe Avenue on a gray fall day.
Celebrate Shelton is a citywide initiative focusing on small businesses and the community that surrounds them.
“This was really something nice to come to. I am new to Shelton, so it was a great way to meet the people in my town,” said Brenda Thomason.
It was started in 2014 by small business owners Michael Skrtic, of The Glass Source, Nicole Heriot-Mikula, of bringtheHoopla as well as Jimmy Tickey.
Shelton Day is also the start of the Downtown Handmade Market season.
The food trucks on site included Falafel on Wheels offering Greek-inspired foods, Anteen with barbecue, Jim’s Soft Serve ice cream, Rita’s Italian Ice, Paradise island & Café, Donut Crazy and more.
“There was so much food. My favorite was the fried Oreos,” says Russ, 8, of Shelton.
In addition to the vendors and the handmade market was a carnival offering traditional rides for kids.
Other vendors included Shelton High School, which was showing off robotics built at school. A local Girl Scout troop showed the community what it does in the town's schools.
Many political booths were set up to inform voters about candidates for Elect Day, which is on Nov.8.
Among the booths, too, was author, Marcela Osello who published the book, "Terry the Thankful Turkey" just in time for Thanksgiving.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Shelton and receive free news updates.


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Ghost Kitchens: Location + Specialization Are The Keys to the Future of Food Delivery
Since releasing our 2019 Fifth Wall Retail Trends & Predictions, the one we’ve been most inundated with questions about from partners, LPs and media is Ghost Kitchens — both in terms of what they are, and how they tie into Fifth Wall’s overall vision of helping connecting the world’s largest owners and operators of real estate with entrepreneurs and innovators who are using technology to make a significant impact on the built world. We were excited to be included in The Wall Street Journal’s first major piece on the topic this week, “Food Delivery Startups Cook Up New Model That’s All About the Kitchen” by the very prescient Marc Vartabedian — and wanted to expand on our thoughts around what we view as a massive opportunity.
Food is one of the largest categories of consumer spend in America. People like good food, and they don’t mind spending their disposable income on said good food. Yet while food is a massive category of spend, it’s practically in the stone ages when it comes to e-commerce. The perishable nature of food and lack of readily available delivery personnel prior to the rise of the gig economy drove this lag. However, in the early 2010s, after early services like Grubhub and Seamless (now merged) had established market demand for ordering food online, Postmates, Caviar and Uber Eats burst onto the scene to provide delivery-as-a-service. These new players quickly established how enormous the opportunity could be: In the United States alone, the online food delivery market is forecast to hit $30 billion in 2022.
For existing restaurants, partnering with large on-demand fleets seems a much more efficient value proposition than each restaurant keeping a delivery team employed. And the ones that go even further with delivery of people (i.e., Uber) have an opportunity to drive higher utilization of their drivers and greater economies of scale. Their specialization — the delivery of goods and people — is a key to their success.
The addition of e-commerce elements to the restaurant economy added both an opportunity and a challenge — the most popular restaurant brands (like Sugarfish, our go-to Postmates order here at the Fifth Wall offices in LA!) could no longer keep up with the pace of delivery orders with their existing kitchen facilities and locations. (To put in perspective, on average adding e-commerce delivery capability increases revenue 20% for restaurants when offered, and in one example known as the “GrubHub Effect, small restaurants typically see revenues increase 50% after signing up on the platform.)
Enter ghost kitchens, a simple fix that will help better facilitate the fast delivery of good foods. Ghost kitchens are essentially restaurants without a front-of-house staff. Think head chef, line cooks, prep cooks — everything but the servers, bartenders, and sommeliers.
There have always been commercial commissary kitchens for caterers, food truck operators, and local makers, but those were typically built in light industrial areas, often far away from where people live. Ghost kitchens take that basic concept and re-orient it as a real estate problem: Because quicker delivery times drive demand, the ghost kitchens that will succeed to be as close as feasibly possible to their customers. In other words: location, location, location. We believe Fifth Wall and our strategic LP’s, who control over 3 billion square feet of US Commercial real estate in the most desirable high-density locations, are uniquely equipped to grab the jump ball. Across real estate verticals beyond the obvious light industrial — we believe that the unused or remnant space in office buildings, shopping centers, multi-family buildings, where office workers, customers and tenants spend their days actually present a huge opportunity.
Like the restaurateurs and delivery apps that helped propel them into existence, ghost kitchen operators are succeeding because they are specializing. They’re doing one thing and doing it exceptionally well: finding the real estate near high delivery areas and building out multi-brand ghost kitchens. It gives restaurateurs an opportunity to capture new demand that they couldn’t serve efficiently on their own. And restaurateurs can capture that demand — and grow their business — without having to make huge capital investments in a new space. It’s a turnkey operation — kitchen-as-a-service.
It’s all about best-in-class companies facilitating each other’s growth along a dynamic value chain: do what you do and do it well. Uber Eats and Grubhub can deliver food. Ghost kitchen operators can build and maintain best-in-class kitchens. This allows chefs to focus on their specialization — developing and cooking delicious meals — while simultaneously expanding their footprint and growing their businesses. (And if you have an incredible business that falls within the above, or a different perspective — Fifth Wall and our Anchor LP’s would love to get to know you better.)


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Trina Solar will spend $200 million on constructing a factory in Texas to avoid tariffs on imported panels
China will set up a recycling system for ageing wind turbines and solar panels
China's share in all the key manufacturing stages of solar panels exceeds 80% today
TCL Zhonghuan cooperates with Vision Industries to build a solar wafer plant in Saudi Arabia
TCL Zhonghuan(TCL中环) is to build a 25GW solar cell plant in Guangzhou Development Zone of Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong Province.
Japanese ceramics and electronics manufacturer Kyocera has closed its facilities that mainly produced commercial solar panels in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin
U.S. imports of solar panels are finally picking up after months of gridlock
China plans to speed up solar panel recycling


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The music industry is coming to ad tech.
Behavioral and affinity data about music artists can create valuable targeting information for the right advertising campaign. Imagine being able to target people who have visited a hip-hop artist’s tour site or watched an artist’s YouTube video.
But the giant music labels didn’t package that data for advertisers – an opportunity spotted by Audigent’s co-founders, Brian Brater, Drew Stein and Shelton Mercer. The trio created a data agency powered by unique access to music, lifestyle and sports data, brokered by Brater’s own music industry connections.
To accelerate their vision, Audigent raised a $6.7 million Series A funding in November, with backers from the music industry, including the Warner Music Group as well as record executive and Taylor Swift’s latest punching bag Scooter Braun. Founded in 2015, the company first built the platform, then started recording revenue last year, Stein said.
The founders reflect a mix of music executives and ad tech execs coming together. Stein founded the recently-shuttered video SSP DashBid. That company “struggled to make it through the transition when verification platforms were turned on,” Stein said – one reason why Audigent focused heavily on clean data from the outset, he added.
And Brater founded the music label Rawkus Records – which worked with artists such as Eminem and Talib Kweli before selling to Universal Music Group – and later founded musical publication Uproxx. He also founded and sold a YouTube multi-channel network.
Brater’s entertainment industry connections have come in handy.
Clients who want to use Audigent’s data can buy it as they would third-party data. But many prefer to use Audigent’s traders to buy and manage their campaigns.
Using the trading desk also gives buyers access to one unique data set. With Google’s DV360, brands can reach people who have watched specific YouTube music videos from Audigent’s music publisher clients. These unique data-informed offerings have attracted agencies such as Grain Group, which focuses on CPG, travel, beverage and luxury startups.
Grain Group used Audigent for six brands over the past year. Audigent can provide granular information about what music, sports or entertainment preferences a brand’s customers have, which inform its broader media strategy. Some of these insights can be applied outside Audigent, like for branded content or social media campaigns.
“Not a lot of programmatic managed services partners out there have insights that are actually interesting to our clients,” said Grain Group founding partner Ben Jurist.
Audigent is now pitching a service called “smart PMPs,” where it takes a more active role managing publishers where its clients’ ads appear. For instance, Audigent will go into an SSP like PubMatic and turn on or off publishers at the URL level to optimize campaigns, Abraham said. It can also forecast more precisely the availability of a brand’s narrow target audience, a feature Grain Group finds valuable.
Though many agencies have soured on using outside trading desks because they’ve been burned by hidden fees, Jurist said that Audigent bucks that trend. It can log in to Audigent’s platform and knows where its clients’ media runs.
And Grain Group freely receives insights about its clients’ audiences pre- and post-campaign, which they highly value to make more intelligent decisions about the size of their target audience and what they like. “There’s been exceptional transparency from the team which we haven’t gotten from other places,” Jurist said.
As Audigent forges ahead with its Series A funding, it wants to move beyond its roots in music, sports and entertainment data to appeal to an even broader array of buyers. Some clients value not what a person watched, but the fact that a person will watch videos on Facebook and mobile apps but not YouTube, for example. Details about where people watch video can make for smarter video ad buys, Abraham said.
Although data aggregation and profiling is in jeopardy as cookies disappear from browsers, Audigent sees opportunity in tracking data where it remains instead of relying only on social media. “If you’re stuck always renting that audience from the social network, you’ll never get out from under that,” Abraham said – a pitch that he sees resonating with its customers.


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CURE debuts “CUREinside” quality mark on the packaging of ReLeaf Europe’s sublingual tinctures and new topical cream product lines
OXNARD, Calif., Feb. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CURE Pharmaceutical (CURR), an innovative drug delivery and development company, announced today that it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with ReLeaf Europe, one of Europe’s leading pharmaceutical groups specialized in medicinal cannabis products. The agreement grants ReLeaf Europe exclusive access to CURE’s encapsulation technology for certain oral and topical cannabis products in the Netherlands, the world’s first medical cannabis market. ReLeaf Europe products will be the first to use the CUREinside™ quality mark to bolster consumer confidence.
According to market research, Europe is one of the world’s largest medical cannabis markets due to various governments’ approval for medicinal purposes.
“ReLeaf Europe is one of the few pharmacy providers of pharmaceutical-grade medicinal cannabis oils in Europe and an ideal partner for our first step into the European market because of its commitment to establishing clinical evidence and following EU GMP and GDP standards,” said Jessica Rousset, COO of CURE. “Through this agreement, we will roll out our powered by CURE strategy that includes exclusive licensing relationships to build global market share.”
ReLeaf Europe is tackling the largest market in the world for cannabis by establishing a foothold in Holland – a market estimated to reach $2.6B by 2028 – and by pursuing innovative delivery systems and distribution networks.
“We are standard-bearers in clinical cannabis care in Europe and CURE shares our values in its science and manufacturing practices in seeking the highest of quality standards,” said Jesse Kuijper, CEO of ReLeaf Europe. “This collaboration will help accelerate our market presence through highly differentiated products.”
CURE will power several ReLeaf Europe products, including one sublingual tincture and two topical creams to be launched in 2020.
About CURE Pharmaceutical
CURE Pharmaceutical® is a vertically integrated drug delivery and development company committed to improving drug efficacy, safety, and patient experience through its proprietary drug dosage forms and delivery systems. CURE has an FDA- and DEA- registered, cGMP manufacturing facility and is a pioneering developer of CUREform™, a patented drug delivery platform. CUREform™ includes CUREfilm®, one of the most advanced oral thin films on the market today; microCURE™, an innovative emulsion technology utilizing proprietary encapsulation techniques; and CUREpods™ a novel chewable delivery system. CUREform’s combined technologies provide opportunities for both immediate and controlled-release drug delivery of a wide range of active ingredients. CURE partners with biotech, pharmaceutical, and wellness companies worldwide and has positioned itself to advance numerous therapeutic categories, including the pharmaceutical cannabis sector, with partnerships in the U.S.A, Canada, Israel, and other markets. The company’s mission is to improve people’s lives by redefining how medicines are delivered and experienced.
About ReLeaf Europe
ReLeaf Europe bv is active since 2017 in the European pharmaceutical market. All products are distributed through licensed pharmacies, OTC as well as prescripted. Clinical Cannabis Care bv is a compounding pharmacy based in the Netherlands producing cannabis products for delivery direct to patients or through pharmacies. Cannadis Europe bv is developing EU-GMP THC and CBD API’s (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) for pharmacists in Europe as well API’s for scientific research studies to be launched in 2020. Both Clinical Cannabis Care bv and Cannadis Europe bv are part of ReLeaf Europe bv.


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The anti-collision drone manufacturer Flyability and the aerial image processing and transformation software developer Pix4D are joining forces to add a Pix4Dmapper photogrammetry module – the industry leading solution – to the Elios 2 rough terrain inspection robot.
The two companies are located in the canton of Vaud, very close to each other, which has greatly facilitated this collaboration. “We have been in contact with Pix4D since the beginning, and we started discussing a possible collaboration shortly before the launch of Elios 2 in May 2019,” explains Marc Gandillon, Marketing Manager at Flyability, also highlighting the growing demand for confined space modeling tools.
“The innovative tool offered by Flyability’s technology to access inaccessible or dangerous areas is unique. This drone opens up new applications for our software that were previously unthinkable”, explains Nikoleta Guetcheva, Marketing Director of Pix4D. The result of this partnership will be a product for anyone who wants to tackle indoor 3D modeling.
A flourishing ecosystem for drone companies
The association between these two scale-ups is proof of the dynamism of the Drone Valley of the canton of Vaud. “We certainly benefit from this flourishing ecosystem, particularly in terms of sharing experiences and mutual support,” explains Marc Gandillon. Nikoleta Guetcheva adds : ” the proximity of the many companies in this industry in Switzerland has created a unique ecosystem, ideal for fostering partnerships and innovation.”
Founded in 2011 as a spin-off of EPFL, Pix4D employs 130 people at its Swiss headquarters and 75 in its offices around the world : in Denver, Berlin, Madrid, Tokyo and Shanghai. Flyability was founded in 2014, employs 85 people and exports its drones to more than 50 countries.


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To celebrate Small Business Week, which is honored in the U.S. May 2-5th, Kiva is excited to announce our partnership with Umpqua Bank. Through the partnership, Umpqua will match loans made to women and BIPOC entrepreneurs in the states it operates, including Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California. The partnership will continue until Umpqua reaches its goal of $1 million lent to underrepresented entrepreneurs.
Individuals interested in helping minority and women entrepreneurs secure a microloan to launch or grow a business can do so by contributing any dollar amount through the Umpqua Bank Managed Loan Fund. Anyone interested in becoming a funder can visit www.kiva.org/team/umpquabank to learn more.
According to Umpqua’s Chief Marketing Communications Officer Eve Callahan, who oversees the bank’s partnership with Kiva, Umpqua is leveraging Kiva’s innovative platform and focus on storytelling to create deeper connections between aspiring entrepreneurs and ordinary people that ultimately lead to greater investments and prosperity across its communities.
“The power of Kiva’s model is that it not only creates opportunity for entrepreneurs, it also gives anyone who cares about economic justice and opportunity a way to make a real, meaningful difference,” said Callahan. “Our partnership with Kiva gives people a chance to learn about entrepreneurs’ stories, understand their goals, and then become part of their success by contributing any amount, small or large, that we’ll triple-match.”
Since launching earlier this year, people from all over Umpqua’s footprint have contributed towards a BIPOC or women entrepreneur that Umpqua has matched through its loan fund. So far, nearly $350,000 has helped fully finance the needs of roughly 80 entrepreneurs.
In Oregon, Umpqua’s loan fund has helped a women-owned farm unable to secure a USDA microloan purchase equipment needed to grow, harvest and sell organic produce. The fund has also enabled an immigrant family business that buys and sells artisanal goods from Mexico diversify and expand inventory.
More than 25 entrepreneurs are now actively seeking funding through Umpqua’s loan fund for accelerated access to crowdfunded microloans of varying amounts. Their stories and how they will use the capital to launch a business or add new products, equipment, and jobs in local communities can be found here.


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US retailer GameStop is making laying off some of its staff, including its chief operating officer, Mike Recupero.
That's according to Axios' Stephen Totilo, who reports that this will impact people from across the retail business, as well as its Game Informer magazine. There's no indication as of yet how many staff are going to be affected by these cuts.
GameStop has said that it will be investing in store leaders and field employees moving forward, as well as saying that it is also going to be launching a blockchain group.
Recupero had only been chief financial officer for a year before being fired. He is going to be replaced by chief accounting officer Diana Jajeh.
News of the job cuts was confirmed by Kotaku's Ethan Gach, who got his hands on the email sent out to staff by GameStop.
"This means eliminating excess costs and operating with an intense owner's mentality," the company wrote. "Everyone in the organization must become even more hands-on and embrace a heightened level of accountability for results."


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Mindtree and IGD roll out inaugural E-Commerce Award
New Delhi, India, April 25, 2014: Mindtree, a global information technology services company, and IGD, a membership organization for retail and consumer goods industries with 800 members worldwide, has announced a new award category to recognize excellence in e-commerce among CPG and Retail enterprises.
Companies in the CPG and Retail domain that have demonstrated true leadership, innovation and excellence in e-commerce or m-commerce are invited to submit their nomination. The nominations will be considered by an esteemed panel of jury from ASDA, Unilever, IGD and Mindtree. The winning entry must showcase enhancements that have significantly improved the shopping experience of consumers through any online or mobile sales platforms. Specific parameters include:
·Understanding and influencing consumer behavior
·Impact on sales and market share
·Collaborative implementation with trading partners
Radha R, Senior Vice President and Head of Retail, Consumer Products and Manufacturing at Mindtree, said, “With consumers being loaded with choices, the need to differentiate from the competition is as great as it has ever been in this industry. Mindtree is at the forefront of e-commerce and m-commerce innovation for retailers and CPGs and we have seen the level of profitable growth these initiatives can drive. Hence, we believe, it was important to support an award program that recognizes exemplary work in this area. We are not just rewarding innovation in e-commerce, but also fostering it by instilling a little friendly competition in the industry.”
David Shukri, IGD Head of Channel Insight and e-commerce award judge, said, “We are delighted to welcome Mindtree’s support for the new e-commerce award. Given its global reach and experience, Mindtree brings immense value to this category and I’m excited to benefit from their expertise throughout the awards process.”
The closing date for entries is May 31st and details about the application process can be found on Mindtree and IGD websites. The inaugural winner will be announced and recognized at the annual IGD awards ceremony on October 7, 2014.


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Members will also receive their member premium on April 20
First Milk has announced its member milk price will increase by 0.5ppl on a manufacturing basis from May 1. This takes the price to 29.43ppl.
The change to reporting on a manufacturing standard litre is due to all members now being paid on manufacturing contracts. The dairy said the 4.2 per cent butterfat and 3.4 per cent protein also more accurately reflects the quality of milk members were producing.
Members will also receive their member premium on April 20 for the milk they produced in 2020/21 milk year. For the average member this is just over £4,800.
Robert Craig, farmer director and vice-chairman, said: “I am delighted we are able to increase the price paid to our members.
“It goes some way to reflect the increasing costs they are experiencing in their businesses.”


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It’s Earth Day, and the world’s giant technology corporations are aboard the bandwagon and promoting their green credentials. We’ve already featured Apple’s video, and Google are not to be outdone, with a delightful Google Doodle featuring exotic species: the Rufous Hummingbird, the Japanese Macaque. the Veiled Chameleon, the Puffer Fish and the Dung Beetle.
From its beginnings the USA in 1970, Earth Day is now a global event aimed at celebrating the environment and promoting environmentalism. This year, the Earth Day Network is promoting a Green Cities campaign.
In addition to the Google Doodle, Google+ is also inviting photography submissions tagged #MyBeautifulEarth. And they’re promoting Google Glass as an innovation which can help environmentalists in the field. That one might be a little hard to swallow, in fairness, but at least they have donated $5m to the World Wildlife Fund. And they are offering to aid other non-profits that can come up with a way to use Glass in their work:
If you work at a nonprofit and have an idea for how to make more of a difference with Glass, share your ideas atg.co/givingthroughglass by 11:59 PDT on May 20, 2014. Five U.S.-based nonprofits will get a Glass device, a trip to a Google office for training, a $25,000 grant, and help from Google developers to make your Glass project a reality.


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Jaya Holdings, which builds, manages and charters ships, said it will convene a board meeting for the proposed voluntary liquidation of the firm.
Jaya Holdings said it had submitted a proposal in relation to the proposed liquidation to the SGX-ST on October 25 and will be convening an extraordinary general meeting for the approval and the appointment of a
As at June 30, 2017, Jaya had net cash of S$1.51 million.
The company came to this proposal after the SGX deemed that it was a cash company with no underlying business.
Jaya Holdings added that there "no other feasible exit strategy" immediately available to the company, which is in a net cash position.
Jaya, previously an offshore shipyard owner, became a cash company after it sold its businesses for S$625 million in 2014 to Mermaid Marine Australia.
Shares in Jaya Holdings were unchanged at S$0.03 on the Singapore Exchange. Trading of Jaya's shares will continue until 5.05pm, November 1, after which trading will remain suspended until completion of the delisting.


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Amazon UK will allow customers to continue buying products using Visa credit cards after January 19, according to Yahoo! Finance. It comes after a decision in November by Amazon to stop allowing Visa credit cards to be used on its website because of the high fees it believes Visa charges.
In an email to customers today, Amazon is quoted as having said:
“Should we make any changes related to Visa credit cards, we will give you advance notice. Until then, you can continue to use Visa credit cards, debit cards, Mastercard, American Express, and Eurocard as you do today.”
While talks between Amazon and Visa have led to a reprieve for Visa credit cards, the message sent out to consumers makes it sound as though Amazon is not fully satisfied and could remove support for Visa credit cards further down the line. Should Visa credit cards ever be banned, customers will either have to shop elsewhere or use another type of card such as a debit card or a Mastercard credit card.
According to Yahoo! Finance, the decision in November by Amazon was prompted by Visa upping its interchange feeds in mid-October for credit cards from 0.3% to 1.5%. Amazon thought this was too big an increase and said it didn’t want to support those cards anymore. For the time being, though, Visa credit card users do not need to find a new payment method.


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New White Paper: The CSCO Steps Up: The Rapid Ascent of the Chief Supply Chain Officer Since COVID-19
Rebuilding the Plane While Flying It
The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a rapid shift in priorities and resource allocation at hospitals across the country, but it also has produced a powerful catalyst for hospitals to take the leap from tactical supply chain management to strategic supply chain leadership. As a result, hospitals across the country are rolling a new chair into the C-suite for an increasingly important member of the team: The Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO).
This White Paper Explores
- How the role of the hospital CSCO is evolving
- What hospitals expect from CSCOs
- How CSCOs can help hospitals recover from COVID-19 financial losses
- How CSCOs can help hospitals fortify against future disruptions


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Starting this month, locals will have the chance to score a modern taste of Oktoberfest in downtown Tampa. The Tampa Downtown Partnership recently teamed up with a cultural arm of the German government, Goethe-Institut USA, to bring a pop-up biergarten known as "Wiesn in a Box" to three locations.
The traveling experience plans to offer products from the world-famous Hofbräuhaus (so, yeah, big-ass mugs of beer) and freshly baked pretzels from a little Bauhaus-style trailer with an order window, in addition to traditional seating. Games and music are also featured.
Wiesn in a Box will occupy MacDill Park Feb. 15 to 17, then the Barrymore Hotel Feb. 25 to 27. Its tour wraps up locally after a stint in the Grand Central at Kennedy courtyard between March 1 and 3.


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Dairy foods are ideal components of a sensible weight management plan, but added sugars can sabotage the healthy aspects of those foods.
Gen Xers, for example, are now in their 40s and 50s, the age where it becomes increasing difficult to stave off those extra pounds. According to the International Food Information Council, a full 78% of this group is trying to limit or avoid sugars (https://tinyurl.com/v9zksv5).
Jan. 1, 2020, was the deadline for large food manufacturers to switch to the new Nutrition Facts labels and declare “added sugars.” Surveys indicate that consumers are scrutinizing the new labels closely to limit both total and added sugars in their diet.
“Sugar reduction in dairy is often complicated,” notes Christine Addington, senior dairy technical service specialist for Cargill, Minneapolis. “It not only provides sweetness and flavor, it also contributes to mouthfeel, texture, moisture control, freezing-point depression, microbial control and more. As a result, successful sugar reduction often requires a combination of ingredients.”
Fortunately, dairy formulators have a sophisticated range of ingredients for sugar reduction in their toolbox. Two of them — allulose and stevia — deserve special mention.
In April 2019, the FDA released draft guidance on allulose, a rare sugar, indicating that it did not have to be included in total or added sugars on the food label.
“In dairy applications, allulose provides freeze-point depression, making it an excellent candidate for sugar and calorie reduction in frozen desserts like ice cream,” says Didem Icoz, senior business scientist for Westchester, Ill.-based Ingredion Incorporated.
“Allulose also does not crystallize in high-solid food systems such as fruit preps used in blended yogurts,” Icoz adds. “It provides superior refrigerated storage stability in fruit preps for yogurts for at least three months. Allulose is about 70% as sweet as table sugar.”
And since 2008, the FDA has received over 50 Generally Recognized as Safe, or GRAS, petitions for various stevia extracts. The latest generation of steviol glycosides consists of cleaner ingredients that provide synergy with other sugar-reducing ingredients.
“We’ve been working with flavored milks for years, getting all the way to no sugar added, using our next-generation stevia products coupled with carrageenan, chicory root fiber or native starches to replicate the mouthfeel of a full-sugar offering,” Addington notes. “In yogurts, sweetener solutions must balance the product’s inherent acidity.
“Ice cream is especially difficult because sugar brings so much to the table,” she adds, “impacting freezing point and many sensory characteristics. Erythritol can help replicate some of sugar’s functional roles, especially freezing point depression. But to replace all of sugar’s sweet taste, it’s often paired with stevia, along with other bulking agents like inulin to help with mouthfeel.”
There’s a lot of innovation in the dairy aisle, and industry is utilizing an amazing array of different sweeteners.
For example, a 15.2-ounce bottle of Bolthouse Farms lower-sugar coffee protein shake, made with whey protein concentrate, has only 16 grams of sugar, 70% less than similar products. It is sweetened with monk fruit juice concentrate.
Noosa, a brand that’s synonymous with indulgence, uses cane sugar to sweeten its new Noosa Hīlö yogurt line, which weighs in at just 12 grams of sugar per 5.3-ounce serving. And FAGE TruBlend yogurt boasts “no added sugar” and “no sweeteners.” A 5.3-ounce serving delivers just 6 grams of sugar. Chicory root fiber provides natural sweetness.
A half cup of Halo Top Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, meanwhile, contains just 7 grams of sugar. It is sweetened with erythritol, cane sugar, prebiotic fiber and stevia leaf extract.
With so many options, there’s a lower-sugar dairy treat for every sweet tooth.


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Yellow Card, a pan-African cryptocurrency exchange, has raised $15 million in a Series A round, the largest ever raised by an African cryptocurrency exchange, to expand its personnel and expand across the continent.
Square, Inc., Blockchain.com Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, BlockFi, Fabric Ventures, Raba Partnership, MoonPay, GreenHouse Capital, and others participated in the round, which was led by Valar Ventures, Third Prime, and Castle Island Ventures.
Yellow Card, which was launched in 2018, allows anyone in Africa to buy cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT Stablecoin using cash, mobile money, a credit card, or a bank transfer.
Since the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has grown to have a presence in 12 African countries, with a nearly 30X increase in consumers. Its Series A capital round will be used to expand the company’s operations and workforce, which now numbers 110 people
“Our mission has always been to make cryptocurrency accessible anywhere and everywhere across the African continent. Now, we have the backing to make that a reality, alongside an amazing team of investors who share our vision,” said Chris Maurice, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Yellow Card.
Valar Ventures’ James Fitzgerald said Africa was poised to benefit tremendously from cryptocurrency’s potential to transform financial services.
“We believe in Yellow Card’s vision of a pan-African cryptocurrency platform. What cemented the deal is their multi-national team, which we believe has the local knowledge, technical expertise, and unequivocal passion to address the basic financial services needs of the continent,” he said.


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Microsoft profits rise despite Xbox problems
Microsoft has posted massive profits in its latest financial report. The figures come despite relatively low demand for its new operating system, Vista, and the fact that the company has had to set aside $1 billion (£500 million) to cover the cost of repairs to faulty Xbox 360 game consoles and extending warranties.
Net profit was $3.04 billion, or 31 cents per diluted share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, up from $2.83 billion, or 28 cents per diluted share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue rose 13 percent to $13.4 billion.
The company slightly raised its fiscal 2008 earnings-per-share forecast range to $1.69 to $1.73 from its previous estimate of $1.68 to $1.72. It lifted its fiscal 2008 revenue range to between $56.8 billion and $57.8 billion from its prior forecast of $56.5 billion to $57.5 billion.
Microsoft said it continued to see strong adoption of its new Office 2007 business software suite, launched earlier this year.


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Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone (ADAFZ), a subsidiary of AD Airports, revealed that they are approaching successful completion of the Cargo Village and Terminal rehabilitation project.
As part of an expansion strategy to increase cargo capacity, enhance operational capabilities and attract new business opportunities, the project has equipped the cargo facilities within ADAFZ with vital upgrades that meet the latest aviation industry standards.
Among the most vital upgrades is the new cool storage facility, developed in collaboration with Etihad Airport Services and Etihad Cargo, which will enable the airport to handle temperature-sensitive air cargo, such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare and life sciences products, in optimal conditions. With a dedicated temperature-controlled area of more than 3,300 square metres, the cool storage facility broadens the AD Airports capabilities to handle all import and transit shipments, and store loose cargo and unit load devices (ULDs).
His Excellency Eng. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Airports said: “Today’s announcement represents the latest milestone in our enduring strategy to enhance the regional air cargo and aviation industries. With the conclusion of essential upgrades at Cargo Village and the Cargo Terminal, our abilities to align with Abu Dhabi’s vision, support logistics and drive economic diversification will soon be elevated further. Now more than ever, infrastructure advancement is a central enabler for vibrancy and sustainability across business and industry, something we aim to capitalise on alongside all existing and potential free zone partners with cargo requirements.”
ADAFZ is committed to better support companies and their cargo strategies, as well as the logistics industry and cargo market share regionally. Increased cargo volumes and direct airside access to the Cargo Village are also available for businesses interested in direct import and export operations, aligning with the ADAFZ objective to establish a unique and preferred business destination for local and international organisations across all sectors.
The Second International Pharma Logistics Masterclass, held in Abu Dhabi 5-9 September 2022, attracted 120 delegates and members of the industry from over 20 countries. The delegation was given a tour of the new facilities at the Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone and Cargo Village. Once complete, the new facilities will cater to the Pharma industry and other sectors that require temperature-sensitive air cargo facilities.
ADAFZ is the sole provider of air cargo facilities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and boasts a convenient strategic location for regional and international companies to establish business operations locally within its premises, providing a host of world-class operational support system (OSS) services. Multiple ADAFZ strategic stakeholders will also operate from Cargo Village, which will enhance partnerships, facilitate logistics processes for ADAFZ clients, and bring services together under a one-stop-shop.


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In a jaw-dropping turn of events in the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a CryptoToadz NFT was recently sold for a staggering $1.6 million, leaving the crypto community buzzing with speculation about whether it was a colossal mistake or a potential case of money laundering.
The CryptoToadz project, which features a collection of unique digital toad-themed NFTs, has gained attention for its quirky and visually striking artwork. However, the recent sale of one of these toads for such an exorbitant amount has raised eyebrows and sparked numerous questions within the crypto community.
The transaction in question took place on a popular NFT marketplace, with the buyer reportedly paying the eye-popping $1.6 million for a single CryptoToadz NFT. While the CryptoToadz project had gained a following, few expected such a massive sale, prompting some to wonder if it was a simple error in typing or a conscious decision to inflate the value of the NFT.
Critics argue that such an astronomical price for a digital toad-themed NFT is not only irrational but could potentially be a money laundering scheme. Money laundering involves the process of disguising the origins of illegally obtained funds, often by passing them through a complex sequence of banking transfers or commercial transactions. High-value NFTs have been used in the past as a means to launder money, as they allow for a degree of anonymity and can be easily moved across blockchain networks.
The identity of the buyer remains unknown, adding further mystery to the transaction. Whether this purchase was driven by a passionate CryptoToadz enthusiast or by a more nefarious motive is yet to be determined.
CryptoToadz creators and the NFT marketplace have not released official statements regarding the sale at the time of this writing. However, the transaction underscores the ongoing debate surrounding the valuation of digital assets in the crypto world, with some arguing that speculative fervor is driving prices to unsustainable levels.
The $1.6 million CryptoToadz NFT sale has sent shockwaves through the crypto community, with questions swirling about whether it was an accidental misstep or a case of money laundering. As the crypto space continues to evolve, regulatory scrutiny and investor caution are likely to intensify in response to such eye-catching transactions. Only time will tell whether this jaw-dropping sale will ultimately be remembered as a historic anomaly or a cautionary tale in the ever-expanding world of NFTs.


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Chrysler, a once-dominant automaker, stated in early 2022 that it aims to rebrand itself as an all-electric automaker by 2028. The Chrysler Airflow, a new crossover notion shown virtually for the CES client technology exhibition in Las Vegas, is the first step in those proposals. As stated by Chrysler CEO Christine Feuell, the tech-savvy concept of the automobile is “a nod” to an automobile that the firm wants to sell in 2025.
The first new Chrysler design in recent years appears to be an electric crossover with the Airflow trademark. We now have additional details on this concept automobile, which was first displayed at Stellantis’ EV Day event in 2021 and is supposed to promote new technology such as electric platforms, driver-assistance capabilities, and infotainment software. At the firm’s Software Day presentation, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said it’s “more than a pure concept” and suggested that this automobile go into production by 2024, supported by United States trademarks for the Airflow brand filed in 2019 and 2021.
It’s no surprise that this Chrysler has a shape and dimensions comparable to the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which is currently selling well. Although we don’t know the Airflow’s precise measurements, it appears to be a competition for the Mach-E and other compact-crossover EVs like the Tesla Model Y and Volkswagen ID.4.
What To Expect
STLA Small, STLA Medium, STLA Large, and STLA Frame are the four new Electric Vehicle platforms revealed by Stellantis. The Airflow appears to be a good fit for STLA Medium. According to prior statements made by Stellantis regarding its new Electric Vehicle models, it might have a spectrum of up to four hundred and forty miles and use electric motors of one hundred and sixty-seven to two hundred and forty-one hp. A dual-motor all-wheel-drive system will likely be available.
Interior And Exterior Design
The Airflow has a slew of screens on the inside, including a massive central infotainment display flanked by separate panels for the driver and passenger. There are additional entertainment screens in the backseat. Over-the-air upgrades and auto-to-auto communication are likely to be among the connectivity options. The automobile’s features, particularly the vast screens, seem to be identical to some of Stellantis’ recent products, like the Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV.
The crossover’s exterior has a revised “Chrysler Wing” insignia connected into a cross-car grille and LED light blade, as well as a new design direction for Chrysler. A full-width LED taillight also runs the length of the car.
Fuell noted that from its beauty to its dynamic posture, the design concept is a tribute to the design direction we want to take Chrysler in and truly unify that theme over the whole portfolio.
The debut of the Chrysler Airflow as a production design has yet to be determined; however, given that the concept features side market lights and outside mirrors, we believe it will arrive in showrooms shortly rather than later. Stellantis plans to release its new platforms in 2024, so this Chrysler might debut in the United States in 2025.
Are you a lover of Ev’s and will love to lease one? Reach us at 32 US-46, Lodi, NJ 07644, (201) 749-4339, https://vipautonj for easy assistance.


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The Google Pixel 3 is undoubtedly one of the most awaited phones of 2018. Google’s next flagship is indeed almost certainly going to bring some neat new features as well as some old ones that have already given an edge to Pixel phones over the competition such as the great camera software and things like
The Pixel 3 has been confirmed to be coming on October 9th, along with the bigger Pixel 3 XL, a Pixelbook, a wireless charging stand and the 4th generation Chromecast player. Thanks to today’s news, we now also know when it’s going to go on pre-order – as soon as launch event is concluded.
Of course, this does not mean that Google or whom for them are going to ship either the Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL the day after, but more likely in the following week, hopefully within the month of October.
Gizchina News of the week
A very interesting detail we learn from the email Google sent to inform users about pre-orders, is the confirmation that the handsets are coming in both black and white, with a mint colored power button.
Other specs on the Google Pixel 3 will most likely include a Snapdragon 845 chipset and a AMOLED display along with the very discussed top notch.


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Tashnuva Anan Shishir, become the first Bangladeshi trans woman to walk the ramp of the New York Fashion Week on Saturday (12 February).
She displayed the works of designer Oscar Gonzalez Montañez during her debut ramp walk.
The semi-annual event with international collections is held twice a year on February and September.
This year's February session started on 11 February and will continue till 16 February.
Shishir became the country's first transgender news presenter last year on Woman's Day (8 March).
She went to New York on 2 December to accept the honour as the Best Bangladeshi News anchor ar Showtime Music Awards in North America.
She received the award on 4 December.
During her visit, a Strategic Partner of the New York Fashion Week, Omar Faruk, and 4M TV USA Executive Producer MD Ariful Islam asked her to make a guest appearance at the prestigious Fashion week.
Shishir told the media that she has been receiving immense respect and being treated normally in New York due to the "awareness and knowledge" of the people, unlike her home country where she was ridiculed for a long time for her identity.
Earlier, popular Bangladeshi models Jannatul Ferdous Peya and Mozeza Ashraf Monalisa walked the fashion runway of NY fashion week.


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It’s been a chilly start to winter for three Australian organisations, who’ve this week reported major privacy and security breaches.
Up to 100,000 Australians’ personal information has been exposed in a hack affecting Westpac Bank. Westpac confirmed on Monday that details of Australian bank customers (not just those of Westpac) were exposed in a cyberattack on real time payments platform PayID. The banking giant says it noted a high volume of PayID lookups in 2019 on a semi-daily basis, which was a result of attackers trying to guess phone numbers, which, if guessed correctly, would give them the name of the account holder to which the number is linked. Despite the hack, Westpac says that no customer bank account details were compromised as a result of this cyberattack. Nevertheless, experts warn that the details accessed could still be used to commit fraud.Read More


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Funding for companies in the digital health space surpassed $6B in the first two quarters of 2018, breaking previous records.
- Early stage deals dominate market
- Patient empowerment is most funded type of company (104 deals)
- Companies headquartered in San Fransisco, New York City, and Boston lead deal count
- 3 of the top 10 deals were outside the U.S.
- China funding rivaling U.S.
Despite this growth, only 13% of health-care chief strategy officers feel their organization is prepared for technology transformation.
The majority of officers lack expertise to grow and maintain ecosystem partnerships, develop cross-industry platforms, and build collaborative operating models.
Creating platforms with open architectures are critical to connecting customers with care providers across disparate services, yet most non-tech centric health-care companies don’t know where to start.
Enter Amazon and their recent acquisition of online pharmacy business PillPack, who’s team has deep experience in pharmacy and tech.
Amazon has changed the shopping behavior for nearly every major industry, and now they have their eyes set on pharmacy, and by association, health-care.


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Apple may be using its own custom designed Arm-based processors from 2021, if a rumour from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is anything to go by.
Originally reported by MacRumors, Kuo has announced that he believes several Mac laptops and desktop computers will switch to Arm processors instead of x86 Intel CPUs from 2021. It's a rumour he suggested around this time last year with the idea that it would be implemented in late 2020. Presumably, a delay is occurring due to the state of the world, assuming Kuo is correct, of course.
The thinking behind it is that Apple switching to its own processors could reduce CPU costs by between 40 and 60 percent, while also saving the firm the need to rely on Intel's roadmap plans for processors.
It would make a lot of sense on the hand, especially as the x86 architecture is pretty old now, and Arm chips could utilise smaller process nodes and therefore run more efficiently. However, compatibility could be a major issue for developers when it comes to porting programs over to the new architecture. It would also mean significant changes for Mac OS which could slow things down a lot, while also making things a lot more expensive in the short term for Apple.
Alongside such CPU related rumours, Kuo also suggested that Apple will integrate USB 4.0 in its systems by 2022 which is a far more promising proposition. USB4 is expected to converge the Thunderbolt and USB protocols which has to be good news, and should in theory result in cheaper and more extensive availability of Thunderbolt accessories.
Of course, for now, both these prospects are squarely placed in the 'find the salt and pinch it' category, but Kuo has been pretty knowledgable in the past about such things. The main thing that makes us wonder if it'll actually happen is that Intel is expected to achieve a lot in 2021 with some significant process improvements ahead, which surely Apple would like to be a part of.
It wouldn't be the first time Apple implemented an architecture change, given it went from PowerPC to x86 back in 2005 and Apple could probably do with shaking up a few things, but, well, where did we put that salt?
In the meantime, there's the recent addition of the 10th Gen Intel CPU to the latest MacBook Air to whet your appetite.
October 14 2021 | 15:04


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Tony Fadell—father of the iPod and cofounder of Nest, Inc.—has stepped down from his position as head of Nest Labs, the hardware division formed by Google parent Alphabet. The departure comes after months of criticism and controversy over his management style and a lackluster record of new product releases from the division. It also continues a track record of former Apple top executives who have less success outside that company.
Mr. Fadell has enjoyed what was arguably the most success after he left Apple. He founded Nest with Matt Rogers, another former Apple engineer, in 2010, some two years after leaving Apple. That company made a big splash with Nest Learning Thermostat, and Google bought Nest in 2014 for US$3.2 billion.
Compared to other former Apple executives like Jon Rubinstein, Ron Johnson, and Scott Forstall, that buyout made Tony Fadell the star student outside of Apple. But two years after the purchase, and after Nest was reorganized to be Nest Labs, Mr. Fadell churned up major controversy from disgruntled employees who complained about their boss publicly.
Nest was also criticized for failing to deliver new products, and for having trouble with some of the products it did release, like the Nest smoke and carbon monoxide detector, which was recalled. The one major new rollout Nest had was a new camera from the Dropcam team acquired under the Google moniker and added to Nest Labs.
All of which makes his stepping down from Nest Labs appear somewhat ignominious, though it does appear to be voluntary. Mr. Fadell tweeted two very positive goodbye messages, and he is officially being retained as a "consultant" to Alphabet CEO Larry Page.
He also gave an interview to The New York Times ahead of his departure on condition that it be withheld from publication until after that departure was announced. In the interview, he defended his record at Nest in part by touting double digit revenue growth despite the lack of new products, and said that while some employees complained about him, they were a small fraction of Nest Labs' staff.
He also made a very compelling admission, saying, "I'm a guy who's at the beginning of things. I don't like to do maintenance mode. It's not what gets me out of bed."
Accordingly, what is most likely to define Mr. Fadell's legacy is what he does next. If he could be at the heart of a third successful product, any controversy at Google will likely be viewed as a minor hiccup or a learning experience (i.e. don't stay long once your new company is purchased).
If not, he will most likely be lumped in with other Apple superstars who don't do as well when they leave the company.


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Nintendo expects Wii shortages this yearBy Justin Mann
The Wii has done exceptionally well, though despite the stunning sales Nintendo has still faced supply issues around the world. Those issues are becoming even more apparent as the end of the year approaches, with Nintendo warning that demand will likely vastly exceed supply during the holidays this year.
As the one vendor who currently pulls a profit for the actual hardware itself, it is curious as to why Nintendo is stuck with supply issues. They have been tight-lipped as to why, though they are producing 1.8 million a month, which is apparently their capacity.
Will demand wane in the face of empty shelves, or will they work to find ways to produce more? According to several sources, the Wii has now overtaken the Xbox 360 for total consoles shipped, and if this trend continues it will continue to do so.


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Fierce anti-alcohol lobbies, poor exports and falling consumption levels… Is France falling out of love with wine, asks Panos Kakaviatos
The culture of wine in France is dying, says Olivier Magny, founder of O Château which organises wine tastings in Paris. According to Magny, in the past 30 years politicians and the media have ‘almost criminalised’ wine consumption.
‘Drinking wine in France is not the sophisticated thing it is elsewhere. Since 1970, wine consumption here has halved; meanwhile, consumption of anti-depressants has multiplied fivefold. Yet wine is being vilified. This is the new French paradox.’
It was in 1991 that US television news programme 60 Minutes broadcast an influential feature on the original ‘French paradox’, the observation that the French have lower cases of coronary heart disease despite a diet rich in saturated fats. Since then, there has been a slew of studies proclaiming the health benefits of wine, mainly reducing the risk of heart disease from polyphenols in tannic wines.
And over the years, annual consumption of wine around the world has risen – from four litres per person in early 1970s US (and six litres in the UK) to 11 litres per US person (and 19 in the UK) today.
The situation is reversed in France. Per capita annual consumption has halved over a similar period, from 120 litres in the 1970s to 60 litres by 2010. The drop can partly be explained by demographic shifts, also seen in other Old World wine producing countries such as Italy and Spain, where wine used to be a populist, blue-collar ‘everyman’s drink’. Today it is enjoyed more by the middle-to-upper classes and white-collar workers – a smaller proportion of the population.
However, what has really dented wine enthusiasm in France in recent times are campaigns by influential anti-alcohol groups to fight drink-driving, campaigns that highlight the health risks of wine, and the use of pesticides in viticulture.
Magny, whose customers are 70% non-French, observes that ‘drinking wine is almost a guilty habit these days in France’. I was reminded of this at a dinner party in Strasbourg to which I brought a bottle of Bordeaux. One guest remarked, between sips: ‘This is good, but
I gather research shows wine can cause cancer.’
Such health concerns were raised in a February 2009 report from the French Cancer Institute, backed by international research, which found that 100ml of wine a day could increase the risk of cancer (100ml, the official measurement in France for a glass of wine, is almost half the size of the 175ml glass served in the UK or US).
Dr Alain Rigaud, president of the French anti-alcohol lobby group ANPAA (Association Nationale de Prévention en Alcoologie et Addictologie), questions the benefits of wine, stressing that ‘people forget wine is an alcoholic drink with the same risks as other alcoholic drinks. And the alcoholic drink of choice in France is wine’. The statistics back him up. Of those in France who say they drink alcohol, 81% drink wine, ahead of spirits (58%) and beer (54%).
Furthermore, the measure used for the Cancer Institute’s study findings, and for wine industry guidelines, is based on a wine with 12% alcohol. But many French reds contain at least 13%. In some regions, like Châteauneuf-du-Pape, wine often reaches 15%, meaning two glasses can approach the alcohol levels of three glasses of a moderate-strength wine.
A late-2008 statement from Crédoc, a French research centre studying lifestyle habits, proclaimed that wine, once seen as ‘a product of terroir, a symbol of France’s gastronomic heritage, today is perceived as risky’. Crédoc cited a survey which found that 51% of respondents placed wine second on a list of ‘risky products’, just behind cured meats and cold cuts.
[In 2003, only 26% of French people considered wine risky.] These sentiments were reinforced by TV news reports such as ‘Wine: is it still natural?’, viewed by millions in October 2008 on the national channel France 2, which claimed pesticide traces in wine may lead to illness, and described chaptalisation (the addition of sugar) and the use of non-indigenous yeasts in fermentation as ‘unnatural’.
Protest letters were sent to the channel by French wine industry representatives, reflecting a growing frustration with the anti-alcohol lobby. Yet the very same month came news of a proposed new law to tackle binge drinking in France. Article 24 of the Hospital, Health, Patient and Territory bill would have made it illegal to offer free alcoholic drinks for promotional reasons, including wine tastings such as Bordeaux’s en primeur campaign.
The bill was passed in May 2009, without a ban on tastings. Marie-Christine Tarby-Maire, president of the industry action group Vin et Société said: ‘We certainly understood the problem, but wine tastings are the life blood of sales. We had to work hard with parliamentarians and the health ministry to remove that clause.’
Another proposal last year would have seen the extension of France’s Loi Evin, which prohibits alcohol advertising on television or in cinemas, to also cover the internet. The move failed. ‘We were only made aware of these proposals 15 days before they were submitted for debate,’ Tarby-Maire said. She claims the French government is biased against the wine industry. ‘The EU at least includes wine industry representatives in any discussions concerning possible initiatives about alcohol. That’s not the case in France.’
Vin et Société includes representatives from all major French wine appellations, from table wine producers to big players in Bordeaux and Burgundy. Yet its annual budget averages just €200,000 – a far cry from the €65m that funds the ANPAA. Last year, Vin et Société members voted for a €2m annual increase in funds to counter the effects of the anti-alcohol lobby and what it calls the French government’s ‘vilifying’ of wine.
The initiative was announced by Pierre-Henry Gagey, then president of the BIVB, the Burgundy wine trade body, last November, who called it a move against the ‘prohibitionist agenda ravaging France’. His successor, Michel Baldassini, was preparing for a meeting in Paris with Vin et Société as this article went to press. His message was urgent: ‘We produce 45m hectolitres of wine a year and export one third of that, so national consumption is about 30 million.
Yet we are losing one million hectolitres a year [in domestic consumption]. When the anti-alcohol lobby attacks wine, it hurts the industry, especially as we face competition in export markets.’ French wine saw a 12% decline in UK sales last year. Tarby-Maire claims increased funding for Vin et Société will counter negative publicity through more vocal support of scientific studies which show the beneficial health effects of wine.
It will stress the work done to reduce pesticides in vineyards, and show that the risk of illness is exaggerated. A recent campaign called A Toi de Choisir (‘For you to choose’) aims to fight youth alcoholism. Two new websites propose interactive information for teens with education tools designed for teachers and parents. The organisation will also place ads in publications targeting youth aged 13 to 16 as well as adults, ‘to educate them about wine and moderation’.
The youth focus is key. In France, it has long been illegal for under 18s to buy hard liquor and spirits. But only since 2009 has the law applied to wine and beer. Despite this tightened approach, there are signs that the Government recognises wine’s place in French culture, and is keen to treat it differently to other alcoholic drinks.
A new government-commissioned report recommends that university canteens hold wine-tasting sessions to educate the young in the virtues of moderate consumption. The report, commissioned by the minister for higher education, gives a range of proposals on students’ consumption, but it is the proposal outlining ‘initiation to a moderate consumption of wine’ that has attracted most comment.
Jean-Robert Pitte, former director of Paris’s Sorbonne University, believes ‘allowing [students] to taste wine in very moderate quantities’ will ‘show them that it is a pleasure, good for their health, and part of their national heritage.’ The ANPAA’s Rigaud, though, said it was ‘shocking’ that such respected figures could advocate such an approach. ‘It’s naive to think we are going to reduce binge drinking this way,’ he said, dismissing the proposal as wine industry marketing.
The wine industry, though, is doing what it can to curry political favour. Vin et Société will promote the recently launched Bienvenue à la Modération (‘Welcome to moderation’) campaign, which defines ‘moderation’ as three 100ml glasses of wine a day for men and two 100ml glasses for women. It is worth noting, though, that the independent World Cancer Research Fund advises a maximum of two glasses a day for men and one glass for women.
In the scientific community, researchers agree that too many reports tout the health benefits of wine without also noting the risks associated. ‘Wine, viticulture and the wine-loving tradition in France indisputably constitute a national heritage,’ says Rigaud. ‘But this should not erase the fact that wine is an alcoholic beverage that contains 10 to 15 grams of ethanol per 100ml.
To consume more than 20 or 30 grams a day could risk one’s health.’ A silver lining, perhaps, for the wine industry are demographic trends which indicate that even though fewer people are drinking wine, increasing numbers of educated people appreciate it ‘as a drink not to over indulge in, but to appreciate over a fine meal’, says Tarby-Maire. ‘So it is a question of education and of spreading this message to the larger public.’
O Château’s Magny hopes so. ‘The anti-wine lobby has been tearing down wine culture in France for three decades. The sad part is that French authorities are the accomplices of this evolution when they issue reports with bogus calculations to tell the French that wine gives you cancer,’ he said.
‘Of course it’s correct that there should be a crack-down on drink-driving, but that should not destroy an industry and a culture that is several thousand years old. We – French people who drink and enjoy wine – need to start La Résistance.’
Written by Panos Kakaviatos


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Allianz has announced that it is now offering a new service, wherein its engineer surveyors will inspect charging points for electric vehicles in new buildings.
The insurer’s surveyors can check Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment (EVCE) during a standalone inspection or as an addition to a fixed wiring electrical inspection service. Allianz also revealed in a release that all its engineer surveyors completed training for EVCE inspections for mode 3 charging points, for both commercial and industrial locations.
The new service comes months after the amended Building Regulations 2021 came into force in June. The new regulations – which apply to all new buildings, as well as large offices and supermarkets undergoing major renovations – require those facilities to be equipped with charging points for electric vehicles.
Allianz will offer its charging point inspection services for businesses that already use the insurer’s inspection services or insurance policies. The insurer is also offering the service to new customers.
During the 10th Allianz Motor Day, Allianz SE board of management member Klaus-Peter Roehler spoke of the need to expand the usage of electric mobility to help the EU attain its sustainability goals.
“We take a holistic approach to the topic of sustainable mobility,” Roehler said. “And one thing is clear – without sustainable mobility and the consistent expansion of electric mobility, the ambitious goals of the EU cannot be achieved. To make electric mobility sustainable for the masses, all market participants must create customer-friendly solutions. These include, among other things, faster expansion of the charging infrastructure, competitive prices and useful services related to electric vehicles.”


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Press Release National ACSI Q2 2017
For more information contact:
ACSI: Deteriorating Customer Satisfaction Indicates Troubled Economy
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (October 26, 2017) — According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) the national level of customer satisfaction fell in the second quarter of 2017, retreating 0.4 percent to a score of 76.7 (on a 0-100 scale). This is the first drop in ACSI since the fourth quarter of 2015.
ACSI improved each quarter in 2016, and again during the first quarter of 2017, resulting in somewhat stronger consumer spending growth over the period. But deteriorating customer satisfaction, should the trend persist, will dampen spending – a troubling economic outlook.
Economic growth has been steady – but tepid – since the Great Recession ended eight years ago. There is no mystery about what is needed: greater consumer demand.
Stronger wage growth for households would certainly help create demand, as would higher levels of customer satisfaction. The latter increased sharply in 2015, but consumer spending has not grown anywhere near the same pace. Although customer satisfaction shifts the demand curve upwards, discretionary household income has to improve as well.
Three factors propel consumer spending growth: wages, inflation and customer satisfaction. None of these indicators are currently showing strong growth. At this point, all three need to move in concert for the economic outlook to improve.
This press release is also available in PDF format.


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There are a couple of Manhattan-sized secrets nestled in rural Marion County, Tennessee.
About 25 miles west of Chattanooga and right inside the Central time zone, this county of fewer than 30,000 residents has a Texas-sized high school football history. The state's longest continuous rivalry between Marion County and South Pittsburg high schools has produced more than a dozen state championships teams through the years.
And nestled right there in the industrial park in South Pittsburg is a company that has woven a rich history that started during the South's reconstruction after the Civil War.
How long has U.S. Stove Company been producing high quality stoves, heating apparatuses and iron products? When the Chattanooga Times Free Press - which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year - opened its doors in late 1869, the founders of U.S. Stove were already in operation.
The finished product
U.S. Stove has nearly 150 employees who work diligently offering stove and heating products and parts to the public. The advantage of experience is something the company treasures.
The U.S. Stove company website touts the company's history with the tag line: "Expertise through longevity: With 150 years of experience in keeping America warm, let us guide you to the proper heating solution for your family."
"We have focused our attention on tradition, quality and affordability," U.S. Stove Vice President of Business Intelligence Paul Williams says. "We make good products that people can trust and afford. When they have questions or problems, they know we're here. We have also made sure to diversify our lineup so to stay relevant within the marketplace. What we've seen, when energy prices are high, people will lean on wood burning appliances to supplement their heating needs. When gas prices are low, we see strong gas sales."
That balance and diversity has allowed U.S. Stove to endure hard times and thrive during the good ones.
Moving forward, like most companies that deal in the heating or the fuel-based world, dealing with cleaner models and more regulations is at the forefront.
"A huge immediate hurdle are the regulations that are being forced on our industry by the EPA," Williams says. "While we support the cleaner regulations, it is the forced timing that makes it very difficult."
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, older uncertified stoves release 15 to 30 grams of smoke per hour. The new EPA-certified stoves must produce no more than 4.5 grams per hour. The new limit was set in 1988 and mandated by 1992. By May 15, 2020, the EPA will lower that standard by more than half to 2.0 grams of smoke per hour.
Williams is confident in U.S. Stove's ability to meet that standard because of the company's leadership and committed employees, he said. But that overhaul will not come without some heartaches - for manufacturers and customers alike.
"These new requirements will force many manufacturers out of business and most of the products on the market now to be removed," Williams says. "The result, consumers will see higher prices with fewer alternatives. With the consolidation of the market, we have the challenge of filling the capacity with a modern retail and e-commerce solution."
The long and winding road
It's hard to imagine the founders of the parent company of U.S. Stove worrying about something like e-commerce considering the interesting road the company has traveled.
John S. Perry began building wood stoves in 1843 in Albany, New York, long before truck transport, environmental regulations and the Internet.
But his initial venture proved short-lived when his funds ran out and the company went bust in 1860. But the spirit that lives through the factory in South Pittsburg to this day was evident even then as Perry borrowed $13,000 from his wife and reopened in 1862. That wife died and Perry reorganized with his new wife and family. His second wife died in 1869, and the company's restructuring then is what U.S. Stove considers their founding.
At the time, the company sold tea kettles for 70 cents and some of the more fancy iron cooking stoves went for about $13.
And the heat-generating casts sold like hot cakes, as the company was producing more than 90,000 stoves annually and by the 1880s had nearly 1,200 employees, many of whom were prisoners in Sing Sing Correctional Facility. That working arrangement was made illegal in 1886, which in some ways pointed the company south.
With the end of the Civil War, the rebuilding of the South and the labor contract loss, a wealthy businessman, John Hamilton Inman, worked with an Albany Stove company to move to South Pittsburg. Inman was a powerful coal land owner in the Sequatchie Valley and investor in the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Co.
In June of 1886 a "Mammoth Stove Foundry" was built and the hiring of 500 men and boys began. "Experienced and sober" applicants could make 40 cents an hour. Others were paid $2 per day or less.
In 1888, a boiler explosion killed six men. The boiler landed almost two football fields away and destroyed a house.
In 1927, an historic union fight occurred at the business on Christmas night. Following the gunshots, several lay dead and the stove company could not rebound. It closed until S.L. Rogers reorganized and incorporated U.S. Stove Corporation in 1930.
The Rogers family still owns and operates the company today with Richard Rogers sitting as the chairman of the board and his nephew August Jones serving as the company president.
The festival for the rest of us
Other than high school football, of course, arguably the biggest event in South Pittsburg is the annual cornbread festival, and U.S. Stove is right there every year as a sponsor and participant.
"Celebrating 150 years, we are looking forward more than ever to the annual festivities with our local Marion County community." Jones says.
U.S. Stove will be part of the ever-popular Scavenger Hunt as well as introducing a new line of Pellet Grills and hosting several other events and activities.
"The entire city of South Pittsburg volunteers and supports this National event. We provide the space for the weeklong carnival," Williams says. "It's a great event."
For those who have been, it's hard to disagree. For those who have not, the Cornbread Festival is the perfect outreach for U.S. Stove. This company is about community.
"We are a family-owned business made up of a few hundred families," Williams says. "I think that is a lost attribute. We've seen generations come through our doors and work with us to produce the kind of product they would want their family to have. To have employees be with you over 50 years says a lot. That longevity gets you the tradition and quality we're looking for."
It also is the right recipe to be in business for 150 years and counting.


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Major Changes Made to the EV Tax Credit Expected to Impact Consumers
In an unexpected turn of events, new legislation for electric vehicle (EV) tax credits has been passed and will take effect starting in 2024. With these changes, consumers are faced with new regulations and increased uncertainty when it comes to purchasing electric vehicles.
The main alteration is that the price-cap for eligibility has been lowered substantially. Buyers can only benefit from the credit if they purchase a vehicle priced below $35,000. While some models like the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range would still be eligible, many other luxury EVs, such as Audi’s E-Tron or Tesla’s Model S, would not qualify for the thousands of dollars in tax savings previously available.
Changes in Available Tax Credit Amounts
To complicate matters further, the EV tax credit amount available also varies depending on the number of electric vehicles sold by each manufacturer. This change aims to encourage smaller manufacturers to invest more heavily in developing electric vehicles while keeping larger manufacturers in check and preventing them from monopolizing the market.
Under the new rules, once a given automaker sells 200,000 qualified electric vehicles, the available tax credits for their products begin to phase out gradually. As a result, early adopters who purchased vehicles from well-established EV manufacturers may no longer qualify for the full credit as the threshold nears. Although this may cause frustration for some, newcomers to the field stand to benefit from increased incentives as long as they opt for eligible models from eligible manufacturers.
Federal versus State-Level Incentives
An added layer of complexity stems from the interaction between federal and state-level incentives. Federal tax credits are set to be modified with the recent legislation, while individual states can choose whether or not to adopt these changes. Consequently, specific incentives could vary from one region to another, making it especially crucial for prospective EV buyers to research local regulations and evaluate their eligibility before moving ahead with any purchase.
In response to this mix of regulatory developments, some automotive manufacturers have decided to absorb a portion of the lost tax credits by offering new rebates and discounts on their electric vehicles. While these price adjustments might help to support continued consumer interest in purchasing electric cars, they are unlikely to entirely bridge the gap left by the reductions in tax credits.
A Time-Sensitive Decision for Consumers?
As 2024 approaches, customers interested in acquiring an electric vehicle may find themselves under increasing pressure to make a purchase before year-end. Making an EV purchase sooner rather than later allows potential buyers to take full advantage of existing tax credit amounts before more significant changes occur.
It is essential for consumers to act now and educate themselves on this rare opportunity, as waiting too long to decide may lead to considerably higher out-of-pocket expenses.
The Future of Electric Vehicle Adoption Rates
One lingering concern surrounding these drastic alterations to the EV tax credit system is how they could impact adoption rates of electric vehicles. With the U.S. government’s goal to achieve a cleaner transportation sector and reduce carbon emissions, the success of this strategy largely hinges on widespread consumer acceptance and investment in EV technology.
These tax credit adjustments could have severe implications if they deter potential buyers, who might return to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles due to perceived economic benefits or opt to postpone their decision until further policy clarifications arise.
Still, the automotive industry remains optimistic that these changes will eventually drive competition among manufacturers and lead to more affordable choices for consumers. With increased R&D investment in EV technology and continuous improvements in battery capacity, it’s hoped that the gap between electric vehicles and traditional gasoline-powered cars will narrow over time, remaining a viable option going forward despite shifting financial incentives.
Final Thoughts: Stay Informed and Adapt to Change
The new twist in the EV tax credit system is undoubtedly causing ripples among buyers and the broader transportation industry alike. As these changes continue to evolve, keeping an eye on related developments and staying informed is crucial.
Consumers need to educate themselves about potential tax credit eligibility, future changes around state-level incentives, and individual manufacturer rebates when considering an electric vehicle purchase. By understanding how these dynamics intersect with their buying decisions and adapting accordingly, prospective EV owners can balance environmental responsibility with economic sense and make the right choice in this rapidly transforming market landscape.
William, a fellow graduate from the same esteemed journalism school in New Jersey as Peter, is a cornerstone of ‘The Signal’. Specializing in finance, business, and international news, his passion for politics adds a critical depth to his reporting. William’s analytical skills shine through in his coverage of complex financial trends and global political landscapes. His ability to dissect and convey intricate economic concepts in a relatable manner sets him apart. A true connoisseur of the global market’s ebb and flow, William’s contributions are not just informative but pivotal in understanding the interplay of business and politics in today’s interconnected world.


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For those buying a Christmas tree every year, it’s often not worth it to dampen the holiday cheer by lingering too long on the price of the evergreen strapped to the top of the car, let alone the price of last year’s tree.
Growers agree that costs aren’t going down year by year. According to the National Christmas Tree Board’s annual survey, 25% of Christmas tree growers expected a likely wholesale price increase of more than 5% this year. It’s better than last year, where 84% of growers said the same.
But sellers say they’ve tried to keep their prices the same, including Shannon Von Eschen, co-owner of Creekside Tree Nursery, which runs a Christmas tree lot in Niwot with both pre-cut trees and cut-your-own-tree experiences. They’ll often use the same price tags…
All news and articles are copyrighted to the respective authors and/or News Broadcasters. RockyDailyNews.Com is an independent Online News Aggregator
Read more from original source here…


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Saturday July 2, 2016
Autumn of last year I wrote an article about consumers beginning to revolt. Interestingly, the prediction the article was constructed around is slowly playing out. Companies like Shapeshift and Poloniex sound exactly like this prediction:
…one of them is that consumers revolt, entrepreneurs intervene, before the end of 2015 there’s about a thousand to a million different Bitcoin forks, each with its ten million-ish monetary base worth about a dollar, on global average. The size of the inter-Bitcoins market, the complexity and confusion ensuing makes pretty much everything unmanageable for the “ordinary person”. Hedge funds and banks (the ones a little ahead of using Excel) that trade in this murky complexity make a killing and become the principal driver of economic growth worldwide
Although the hard fork missile crisis has yet to be fully resolved with a treaty, the block size ceiling remains at 1 megabyte, which has begun to price lower value transaction out of the network with increasing fees. These lower value transactions found their demand being filled by Ethereum, a system in which users huff toxic gas from a paper bag. Hype generated around Ethereum inflated the market cap to nominal highs of $1.5 billion – Ethereum was fueled by the consumerist mentality the mass adoption crowd believes Bitcoin needs to succeed. The war profiteers charging fees for facilitating the exchange of BTC and ETH, were poised to make significant revenue from consumers revolting.
When The DAO was properly executed, Poloniex reported a 24 hour volume of over 100,000 BTC of ETH/BTC trades. The lowest fee tier for Poloniex is 0.1%, thus Poloniex made at minimum 1,000 BTC in revenue generated by fees on ETH/BTC trades alone – approximately $900,000 worth of bitcoins using today’s prices. Shapeshift uses a different monetization strategy. Instead of charging a fee per transaction, they exchange for a 0.3% markup on what one would pay at an exchange – charging for what the consumer has come to expect.
Inciting consumers to revolt creates demand for using these exchanges. Among the many lessons learned from The DAO, it’s clear there is a lot of money to be made from popping a bubble with a heist. Of course, this bubble has been inflated with mostly consumer hype and idealism.
The dark pool of liquidity that exists in the Bitcoin world, has been growing significantly as regulation has tightened its grip on fiat-bitcoin interfaces. While consumers cause a storm on the surface, underground entrepreneurs who intervene will find their infrastructure creates much needed utility. The war on Bitcoin and cash through overzealous and misguided laws will create incredible demand for unregulated markets.
The prepaid card market exploded over the past decade. In 2014 the prepaid market hit approximately $200 billion in merchant sales, and is expected to grow into the $1 trillion range worldwide by 2022. The underbanked have flocked to prepaid cards as a banking solution. Mass adoption of this technology predictably drew the attention of fraudsters, for example Russell Simmons’ Rush Card was accused of charging excessive undocumented fees. Whenever scammers make headlines, regulation soon follows.
During the initial boom of prepaid cards in the 2010’s, two categories of products arose: the anonymous prepaid card, and the registered prepaid card. In 2011, the US began enforcing new laws that required all prepaid cards containing value of more than $1,000 to require some form of KYC (know your customer) registration. The anonymous prepaid card market unintentionally created a money laundering market, where placement was fulfilled through the purchase of anonymous prepaid cards.
Preloaded, one time use, prepaid cards are essentially seen as cash. In fact, card issuers tend to lock these cards in vaults before distributing them. Even in an attempt to abolish cash, regulators have merely created a new set of money laundering concerns.
Green Dot’s MoneyPak was a good friend to Bitcoin in the early days of OTC exchange. In fact some of my first Bitcoin trades were done by exchanging MoneyPak numbers. Before the onslaught of regulation on prepaid cards, a MoneyPak could essentially be liquidated for cash without presenting any identification. It allowed anyone to purchase or “load” an anonymous prepaid card, as MoneyPak didn’t require any identification to use their services. In the US, the postal service has these neat money orders endorsed by the Federal Reserve, which can be purchased via cash or VISA/Mastercard, which includes anonymous prepaid cards. These money orders can be made out to “Cash”, just like personal checks, allowing any check cashing bodega to turn the money order into cash, without the need of an ID from the payee.
This launders the Bitcoin into clean cash – it is placed into MoneyPak cards, layered in multiple postal money orders, and finally integrated as either clean cash or alternatively can be deposited into a bank account, and subsequently filed as income for taxes without much issue.
In 2012, Green Dot had to terminate its agreement with TSYS, and began building its own processing platform. Although this bought Green Dot some extra time allowing them to continue to offer anonymous products, the money laundering potential was too great. Today, the use of a MoneyPak requires the user to disclose their social security number.
Hopefully these challenges do not prevent the anonymous entrepreneur from being industrious. Consumers rioting against an obfuscated enemy creates a large shadow under which peers can productively operate without interruption. Open Bazaar and BitSquare provide a strong case for WoT-enabled transactions becoming more easily adopted. Enterprising entrepreneurs will find an ever increasing incentive to act as producers, as investment capital is more responsibly allocated. The MoneyPak of the past may be dead, but the spirit of the anonymous prepaid card lives on. Anonymous prepaid cards can still be purchased with cash from various stores without ID, and the technology to program a magnetic stripe with specific card information has become mainstream.
The incentives in the Bitcoin market to create and produce useful goods and services seems to be increasing. Undiscovered trade routes resulting from this new market have the potential to bypass misplaced and misinformed consumer demand, so it can find its way to fulfill productive demand from educated consumers. Regulators will likely be too busy calming down surface-level consumer riots to chase down a decentralized network of invisible entrepreneurs and consumers. While the vocal and unacceptably demanding consumers inflate bubbles, the growing decentralized markets will present unprecedented opportunity that can be exercised without much interference.


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Looks as if Nokia uttered the first words in the camera phone business, and is trying to have the last word, too.
"The company would then be known as a successful and innovative maker of camera phones. The Nokia 3600/3650 was the first camera phone on sale in North America in 2003. In April 2005 Nokia partnered with German camera optics maker Carl Zeiss AG. That same month Nokia introduced the Nseries, which would become its flagship line of smart phones for the next six years. The Nokia N95 introduced in September 2006 became highly successful and was also awarded as "best mobile imaging device" in Europe in 2007."


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Single-use plastic items such as straws, forks and knives as well as cotton buds will be banned in the European Union by 2021 following a vote by EU lawmakers on Wednesday as the bloc pushes manufacturers to step up their recycling efforts.
Growing concerns about plastic pollution in oceans and stories of dead whales with plastic in their stomachs, together with China’s decision to stop processing waste have prompted the EU to take more drastic steps to tackle the issue.
WATCH: 88 pounds of plastic found inside whale’s stomach
Marine litter has come under the spotlight because 85 percent of it is plastic.
The European Parliament voted by 560 to 35 in favor of banning 10 single-use plastics including plates, balloon sticks, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene and all products made of oxo-degradable plastic. These are the 10 most found items on EU beaches.
EU countries can choose their own methods of reducing the use of other single-use plastics such as takeout containers and cups for beverages. They will also have to collect and recycle at least 90 percent of beverage bottles by 2029.
Tobacco companies will be required to cover the costs for public collection of cigarette stubs, which are the second most littered single-use plastic item.
WATCH: Plastic ban could have negative impact on people living with disabilities
“Europe is setting new and ambitious standards, paving the way for the rest of the world,” European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said. The Commission had recommended the regulations approved on Wednesday by the bloc’s parliament.
The EU recycles only a quarter of the 25 million tonnes of plastics waste it produces per year. Single-use plastics are disposable plastic-made products that are designed to be used only once over a short time span before being thrown away.
Lobbying group EuroCommerce, whose members include Tesco , Lidl, Carrefour, and Metro, said governments also need to do their part to help make recycling a success.
“Without a proper waste management infrastructure and sufficient recycling facilities we will not achieve a circular economy or the objectives of this directive,” EuroCommerce Director-General Christian Verschueren said.
Environmentalist group Greenpeace welcomed the ban but criticised the lack of targets for EU countries to follow on some plastics.
WATCH: 4 tips to reduce plastic pollution


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Cellular growing consumer group Honor has reinforced their investment in AI with a promise to transform how users work and live. The smartphone industry…
I’M IN Accelerator, a programme that focuses on early-stage tech startups founded by black women, has officially opened applications for its fourth cohort.
Applications are open until 5 March 2021
I’M IN Accelerator programme
The accelerator aims to produce a pipeline of investment-ready startups for follow-on capital, commercial opportunities, and market growth for the tech ecosystem.
Selected participants will take part in the 10-month programme, receive R1,5-million in pre-seed capital, business mentorship growth, technology improvement support, and commercialisation enablement with access to markets and follow-on investment.
Octavius Phukubye, I’M IN Accelerator Manager explains that accelerator is on the search for boundary-pushing and innovative tech startups.
“We are looking for exciting and disruptive technology solutions across all verticals. More importantly, we want to partner with early-stage start-up Black women founders that are obsessed with execution, are mission-driven, and very knowledgeable in their markets.”
The accelerator recently launched a pre-accelerator programme that addresses the challenges of the existing funding gap and market access.
Applications can be completed online.
To qualify for the accelerator, applicants must adhere to the following requirements:
- Startups must have a minimum viable product
- Must be a South African company with 51% black-ownership from a BBBEEE perspective
- The startup must have visible traction in the market
- The team must be committed, skilled, and have a vested interest in the long-term sustainability of the business.
Polo Leteka, Founder and Director of I’M IN Accelerator explains that the accelerator is focused on investing in black women-owned tech startups in South Africa.
“For our 2021 cohort intake, we are deliberately looking to invest in early-stage technology start-ups that are led or co-founded by Black women. We believe that there are incredibly talented Black women out there solving real problems, and deserve an investor to support their growth plans.”
Featured image: Christina @ wocintechchat.com via Unsplash